The entire journey was on foot, and the weather grew hotter and hotter as they went.
“Ah! I’m not carrying him anymore—this is exhausting!”
Before long, Ye Si Lan and the others who were carrying Ye Si Ming couldn’t take it anymore.
They were all pampered young masters who had grown up in luxury; after walking just a short distance, they were already complaining.
“Hurry up! What are you standing around for? Get moving!”When they stopped, the soldiers at the front immediately rushed over, whips in hand, to drive them forward.
“Officer, we really can’t go on! Can we stop carrying Big Brother and Uncle?”Ye Si Lan looked at his blistered hands, his eyes full of resentment.
“Exactly! It’s too tiring!”Third Young Master Ye Si Fei looked like he was about to cry. Why should they be the ones doing the carrying?
The soldier sneered. “If you don’t carry them, who will? If the Ye family won’t do it, then pay to hire people. Either way, don’t delay my march!”
The scorching heat had made the soldiers irritable. The whip was raised, ready to strike.
“Ah—don’t hit me!”
“Grandmother, I don’t want to carry them anymore! Big Brother is too heavy!”Ye Si Lan and Ye Si Fei wailed loudly.
The old matriarch, distressed for her sons and grandsons, said,“Mu Mianmian, they’re your husband and father-in-law. You carry them yourself—don’t drag us down with you.”
“Grandmother, we’re family,” Mu Mianmian said softly, her gaze darkening. As she looked up, she deliberately put on the appearance of a weak, bullied young wife.“My mother and I, and Ah Yun, are all weak women. Ah Jin is just a baby—how could we possibly carry both my husband and father-in-law?”
The old matriarch nearly choked in anger, cursing her silently. When they were in the manor, she had been fierce and ruthless—since when was she a weak woman? Now she dared to act pitiful in front of her!
“Stop pretending!”
“Grandmother, we really had no choice,” Ye Si Yun joined in, crying as she followed Mu Mianmian’s lead.“Big Brother is like this now… otherwise we wouldn’t trouble Second Uncle and Third Uncle. Please, Grandmother…”
She knelt down. “Yun’er will kowtow to you.”
Meiniang blinked, then hurriedly threw herself over her son and husband.“Ah Ye… my husband… why is our fate so bitter…”
Her tone was childlike, almost comical—soft and babyish, completely out of place. Yet she cried beautifully, tears falling like pear blossoms in the rain, heartbroken and devastated. Those who heard it felt sorrow; those who saw it felt pity.
“Honestly, the Ye family is too heartless. The main branch is already in this state, and they still refuse to help. It’s just carrying someone—how hard can it be?”
“Family? This is what they call family? Only able to share wealth, not hardship!”
“Back when the Night King wasn’t crippled, they wouldn’t have dared bully people like this!”
Whispers spread among the crowd. They were all fallen nobles from the capital—everyone knew the Ye family’s affairs.
“The moment someone becomes useless, they kick him aside.”
“Bah! With morals like that, no wonder they’re getting their karma.”
When the manor had been glorious, many had envied and hated them. Now that they had fallen, people were eager to kick them while they were down.
Mu Mianmian didn’t care about being mocked.
But the other Ye family members cared deeply about their reputation and feared being pointed at behind their backs.
The old matriarch’s face burned with shame. Gritting her teeth, she snapped,“Second, Third—hurry up and carry your elder brother and uncle.”
With no choice—she was still the one in charge—they had to obey.
Ye Si Lan and the others struggled back to their feet and resumed carrying them.
“No one is allowed to stop again. If you dare complain or pause, I’ll deal with you with my whip!”The soldier took a gulp of water and cursed under his breath.
…
“Officer, please—have mercy and give us some water!”
The heat was unbearable.
The place they were being exiled to was said to be a desolate frontier, one of the harshest regions in the land.
The further they went, the more barren the surroundings became.
In such heat, water was life. But all the water and food were controlled by the soldiers.
If they felt generous, they’d give a little; if not, the prisoners could only die of thirst.
Mu Mianmian had water in her storage space.
She secretly took some out to give her mother-in-law and the others. At least they wouldn’t die of thirst. But Ye Si Ming and her father-in-law were being carried by the second branch—they hadn’t had any water.
She needed to find a way to give them some too.
“Officer, please allow us to rest for a bit,” Mu Mianmian said as she approached Leader Liu.“My husband is injured. I want to find some herbs for him.”
Leader Liu wiped the sweat from his brow and glanced at the half-dead Night King lying there.
He frowned—it was hard to tell whether he was even alive. In this heat, they couldn’t march during the day.
They’d have to travel at night, when it was cooler.
“Rest where you are!” he ordered.
Then he turned back to Mu Mianmian, his expression fierce.“You can go look for herbs, but don’t try to run. If you dare escape and get caught, my whip won’t show mercy.”