Upon hearing they would reach Guangmao County by noon the day after tomorrow, and with tonight’s accommodation being the Banana Palm Shed again, the group of children slept in the middle while Xie Mingzhu and Xiao Mo’er took their places on either side.
Freed from leg irons, spared from walking during the day, and with endless fruits to eat, the children were exhilarated, chattering incessantly about the birds and flowers they had seen earlier.
Xie Mingzhu lay on her side, propping her head up as she watched the children’s smiling faces. Though they now all resembled pockmarked scoundrels, her heart had grown fond of them after their time together.
Just then, she heard crying.
Crying was common, after all—there were plenty of children in the group. Just because hers didn’t cry didn’t mean others wouldn’t. They cried when it was hot, when they couldn’t get the bigger fruits, or when the fruits weren’t sweet enough.
Xie Mingzhu had long grown accustomed to such cries. Each time they erupted, she found her own children even more endearing and sensible, deepening her affection for them.
But this crying didn’t sound like a child’s—it distinctly resembled Li Jiao Xing’s sobs.
Human nature craves drama, and she was no exception. She immediately rolled over and crawled to peer out of the Banana Palm Shed.
Under the bright silver moonlight, Jiao Xing sat slumped on the ground, hands covering her face as she wept bitterly.
Her sister-in-law wore an expression of utter impatience. “Cry, cry, cry! You’ve cried away the Li family’s good fortune! Shut your mouth and scram! Don’t dirty our resting spot!”
Xiao Mo’er had also leaned halfway out at some point. “Sister-in-law, what happened?”
How strange. Just days ago, the Li sister-in-law had been coddling Li Jiao Xing, even instructing her son to honor this aunt in the future. Why this sudden hostility? Xiao Mo’er wondered if Jiao Xing had done something to harm their family.
Xie Mingzhu had some inkling, but before she could explain, Li Daren—or more accurately, Old Man Li now—emerged. His face was stern; despite his fallen status, the former high official still carried an air of authority. His presence drew the curious gazes of the crowd.
Yet his words were heart-wrenching: “The Li family has no such shameless daughter! Get out! From now on, you are no longer related to us!”
Li Jiao Xing, overwhelmed with grief, clutched her chest, speechless, her tearful eyes pleading with her mother and elder brother standing behind Old Man Li. She desperately hoped her doting brother and mother would speak up for her. Hadn’t she compromised her purity for the sake of the family? How could they treat her like this now?
Under her intense stare, Jiao Xing’s mother seemed to realize she couldn’t avoid the situation. Steeling herself, she spoke helplessly, “Jiao Jiao, Mother has no choice. Who told you to be so indiscreet? Have you ever heard of an unwed daughter with child remaining with her parents? And you don’t even know who the father is!” She was too ashamed to elaborate.
The crowd gasped in shock, their eyes collectively dropping to Jiao Xing’s flat abdomen.
She was actually carrying the bastard child of one of the Escorts.
The compilers from the Hanlin Academy cast disdainful and disgusted glances at her, as if looking at something filthy.
At this moment, Jiao Xing had completely collapsed, the glimmer of hope in her eyes turning dim and utterly despairing. “Yes, how would I know whose child this is?”
She didn’t care how others viewed her, but how could her parents and siblings treat her this way?
At first, she had refused to accompany the Escorts, but they said that if she agreed, they would provide her family with decent meals.
Thinking of her young nephew and her frail parents, she gritted her teeth and agreed.
When she returned, she expected her parents to scold her for her shamelessness, for debasing herself to those beasts just for a meal.
Recalling these memories, she seemed unwilling to accept it and raised her head. “But Father, Mother, you said our family was no longer what it used to be, and that surviving was all that mattered. You told me not to worry about these things.”
She then turned to her brother and sister-in-law. “And you, Brother and Sister-in-law, you said that even if I lost my purity, you would still be willing to support me at home for the rest of my life.”
That day, when she returned, she thought everyone would blame her for trading her body for food. Instead, no one reproached her; instead, they comforted her.
Later, her parents even complained about their poor living conditions and felt their grandson was suffering, so they asked her to plead with the Escorts.
This “pleading” required only a few words from them, but she had to endure inhuman torment all night long.
She had accompanied so many Escorts, every single one of them.
So, she truly couldn’t tell whose child she was carrying now.
Yang Defa soon arrived. Upon learning that Jiao Xing was pregnant, far from looking down on her, he was overjoyed. “Since you’re with child, that’s a good thing. When we reach the county, I’ll make sure to find you a good family.”
He happened to know that the Pig Castrator’s son, who had injured himself climbing a tree as a child, was unable to have children.
Wasn’t this a ready-made child for them?
So Yang Defa was very proactive and quickly arranged another place for Li Jiao Xing to stay.
Soon, the night returned to its original silence.
But before long, arguments erupted from the other two sheds.
Needless to say, it was Su Yurou and Lu Wanwan. Seeing how Li Jiao Xing was treated by her family, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared sorrow.
Moreover, now that the guards from Guangmao County were providing them with food and drink, removing their shackles, and even letting them ride on carts, their daughters were no longer needed.
Once they were no longer useful, they began to be despised.
They had become the shame of their families.
The others in the Su and Lu families were even more worried that Su Yurou and Lu Wanwan might also be carrying illegitimate children, just like Li Jiao Xing.
Thus, disputes broke out, and another round of quarrels ensued.
However, after what happened with Li Jiao Xing, these arguments felt like old news.
No one else went to watch the commotion, choosing instead to sleep peacefully.
But how many could truly fall asleep?
In the darkness, Xie Mingzhu suddenly heard Xiao Yunyan’s voice. “Mother, Aunt, we are not the kind of people who forget favors. Don’t worry, no matter what happens in the future, we will never abandon you.”
The other four young girls quickly chimed in agreement.
Xie Mingzhu didn’t dwell on it much, only thinking how truly cold-hearted these people were and feeling pity for Li Jiao Xing and the others.
But then again, in this era where men are superior and women inferior, how many families—whether poor or wealthy—truly cherish their daughters?
Don’t be fooled by wealthy families willing to spend lavishly on their daughters’ education in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and etiquette. In the end, isn’t it all just to package them as more valuable commodities, to be sold at a higher price?
It’s all about gaining more profit.
If they lose their value, of course they won’t be kept around.
Now that these families believe they’ve reached Guangmao County, where food and clothing are assured and they might even be allotted houses, they no longer need their daughters.
So they’ve started to find them dirty.
Yet they fail to consider: without these daughters’ filth and toil, how would they have survived until now?
She lowered her voice, “Don’t interact with those families.” Their heartlessness was truly extreme.
Xiao Mo’er and the other children all agreed, and the Banana Palm Shed fell quiet again, soon filled with the even rhythm of synchronized breathing.
But before long, dawn broke.
Having been disturbed for half the night and unsettled by these events, no one had slept well.
After quickly eating rice balls and some fruit, they prepared to board the carts.
After last night’s confrontation, Li Jiaoxing and the other two had effectively severed ties with their own families and were unwilling to ride on their family’s cart now.
Moreover, their parents also refused to let them board.
Other carts were even less likely to take them.
Thus, the three ended up on Xie Mingzhu’s cart.
Although their cart had the most people, the passengers were mostly children, so the weight was light. Yang Defa had arranged for them to join.
Once aboard, the three were visibly uncomfortable, deliberately sitting at the far end of the cart to distance themselves from Xie Mingzhu’s family.
Xie Mingzhu was puzzled. Judging by their behavior, did they think her family still smelled? She instinctively sniffed herself, then the children beside her, baffled. “We don’t smell bad. Why are you sitting so far away? Move closer, or the mule will struggle to pull the cart.”
Their family was covered in rashes and heat bumps, but that was purely from being too dirty and hot—it wasn’t contagious.
At most, they were just a bit unsightly.
Hearing Xie Mingzhu’s words, the children also assumed Li Jiaoxing and the others were avoiding them because of their appearance. They began sniffing each other, their movements as adorable as a litter of kittens.
Yang Defa happened to arrive to drive the cart and couldn’t help laughing at the sight. “What’s all this?” Noticing Li Jiaoxing and the other two at the back, he added, “Come sit closer together. Especially you, Miss Li—you’re pregnant, so you should sit further inside!”
Li Jiaoxing hesitated but eventually shifted her position. The other two also moved reluctantly closer to Xie Mingzhu’s family, their expressions stiff.
Yang Defa glanced back. “Everyone settled?”
He then raised his whip, and they set off again.
By noon, they stopped for a break as usual.
Though they were in a hurry, Yang Defa insisted that while people could go without rest, the mules needed it.
So they took the opportunity to gather firewood and cook.
The rice balls were gone, but they still had some rice left from when they’d departed the post station yesterday—a precaution for when the rice balls ran out.
Now, Yang Defa directed everyone to gather firewood and start a fire.
“Mother, it seems we don’t have a pot either.” What use was rice without one? Xiao Yunyan quietly observed that the cart carried no cooking pots, bowls, or other utensils.