In her previous life, Jiang Wanyue had been a military doctor.
She had also undergone military training, so walking for several hours with minimal gear was no challenge for her.
Although her face was flushed from the heat, she was clearly in excellent spirits.
Throughout the morning, Shen Qingru repeatedly tried to make Jiang Wanyue switch places and ride on the donkey cart, but Jiang Wanyue refused every time.
If it weren’t for being in exile, Jiang Wanyue would have actually enjoyed this natural environment.
The only problem was that her clothes were sticky with sweat, and she had neither a change of clothes nor a chance to bathe.
Li Dashan had chosen an excellent place to rest.
There was plenty of shade and a river nearby, allowing the prisoners to drink water or wash their faces.
For lunch, the guards once again tossed each prisoner a coarse black bun.
The moment the prisoners saw the foul-smelling black buns, their hearts sank.
Not only were they so hard they scraped your throat, but they tasted awful as well.
At least there was a river nearby today, so they could wash them down with water and hopefully avoid choking.
After not eating their fill the previous day and then marching continuously, many of the prisoners were at their limit.
“Officer, these black buns are just too hard. Do you have any softer buns?”
Li Dashan casually tossed another black bun toward the prisoners.
“Sure. We’ve got white steamed buns too. Want one?”
Hearing that there were white buns, the prisoners’ eyes lit up.
“Officer, I’d like a white bun.”
“A white bun?”
Li Dashan held one up in his hand, and every prisoner’s eyes gleamed with longing.
“If you want a white steamed bun, it’ll cost you one tael of silver each.”
One tael of silver?
Normally, a white steamed bun cost no more than three copper coins.
When grain was cheap, you could even buy a smaller bun for just one copper coin.
One tael of silver for a single bun was outrageously expensive.
But this was the road into exile.
If they wanted something better to eat, they had to pay.
Unable to endure their hunger, some prisoners reluctantly gritted their teeth and bought the buns from the guards.
Xiao Jin, wrapped around Jiang Wanyue’s arm, greedily licked his lips.
“There are fish in that river. Can we catch some to eat?”
“You little glutton.”
Jiang Wanyue walked to the riverbank and observed the water for quite a while.
Sure enough, beneath the patches of water grass were several sizable fish.
The guards were also taking a break.
They had already set up a cooking pot and were preparing lunch.
However, judging by the cook’s expression, his mood was anything but good.
Jiang Wanyue wanted to catch fish, but she needed a tool.
The person she was most familiar with was Li Dashan.
She walked over to him.
“Officer, would you like to eat some fish?”
Li Dashan sat casually on the ground, fanning himself continuously.
The weather was unbearably hot.
So hot that he didn’t even feel like moving.
“Fish? You want to catch fish? Those fish in the river aren’t easy to catch.”
They had tried before.
The current there was too swift, making it difficult to catch anything.
Several attempts at improving their meals had all ended in failure.
“I have a way. Could I borrow your saber for a moment, Officer?”
The moment she mentioned his weapon, Li Dashan immediately became cautious.
“What do you need it for?”
Jiang Wanyue pointed toward the woods nearby.
“I’d like to cut down a tree branch.”
“You’re planning to catch fish with a tree branch?”
Li Dashan looked skeptical.
“Yes. If you don’t believe me, you can come with me.”
Curious about what Jiang Wanyue intended to do, Li Dashan nodded.
“Fine. I’ll come along.”
Since the forest was right beside them, finding a suitable branch was easy.
Jiang Wanyue cut a straight branch with a sturdy trunk that fit comfortably in her hand.
She trimmed away all the extra twigs and side branches.
Soon, a simple fish spear was complete.
Returning to the river…
To catch fish effectively, she needed to wade toward the middle of the river.
That meant taking off her shoes and socks.
As someone from the modern world, Jiang Wanyue had no concern about other people seeing her feet.
Still, she chose a more secluded spot before removing her shoes and socks.
As a result, no one noticed what she was doing.
The river wasn’t shallow.
In some places, the water reached above her knees.
Standing in the middle of the river, Jiang Wanyue remained perfectly still for a while.
Only after carefully locating a fish did she suddenly strike.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
The makeshift fish spear shot into the water with incredible speed and precision.
When she lifted it back up…
A palm-sized fish was neatly skewered on one of the prongs.
“Well, I’ll be! You actually caught one!”
Li Dashan clicked his tongue in amazement.
Jiang Wanyue removed the fish from the spear and threw it forcefully toward the shore.
“Mother! Catch!”
From the moment Jiang Wanyue had started cutting branches to making the spear and catching the fish, Shen Qingru had been completely bewildered.
But the instant she saw the fish and heard her daughter’s call, she hurried to the riverbank and frantically tried to catch it.
Unfortunately, the fish was far too slippery.
It flopped wildly in her hands, wriggling back and forth.
After struggling for quite a while and working up a sweat, she still couldn’t get a firm grip on it.
Shen Qingru was so flustered she was almost on the verge of tears.
Watching the grown men of the Lin family’s eldest branch stand by helplessly while Shen Qingru struggled, Jiang Wanyue called out,
“Officer, could you let my father come over and help? My mother really isn’t good at this.”
“No.”
Li Dashan refused without hesitation.
“Officer, if you let him help, I’ll cook the fish for you afterward.
I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”
“Your words, not mine.”
“Didn’t you eat the wild egg and wild scallion stir-fry I made last night? Besides, if my father comes to help, you won’t have to do any extra work.
You’ve already had to march all this way and still have to cook afterward. That’s exhausting.
If you let us do the labor, you can get some proper rest instead.”
Li Dashan pondered for a moment.
Then he beckoned to Lin Jingyuan.
“You. Come here.”
Not knowing what his daughter was planning, Lin Jingyuan immediately stepped forward.
However, the heavy cangue was still locked around his neck, making every movement slow and awkward. There was no way he could help in that condition.
“Officer… could you remove my father’s cangue?”
So that was what the girl had been after all along.
“I can take it off temporarily, but don’t try anything.”
Jiang Wanyue smiled innocently.
“Of course not. We’d never dare deceive you, Officer.”
When Li Dashan removed the wooden cangue from around Lin Jingyuan’s neck, he could hardly believe it.
The guard had actually taken it off so easily?
Although they had only been traveling for one day and he had worn the cangue for just that long…
His neck and shoulders had already become stiff and sore.
He stretched for quite a while before finally feeling some relief.
After all, the cangue weighed over twenty pounds.
Now that it was off, even a short break felt wonderful.
Seeing that she couldn’t help, Shen Qingru’s eyes filled with tears once more.
Jiang Wanyue couldn’t bear to see her mother cry again, so she quickly called out,
“Father! Go gather those long strands of water grass by the river. We can use them to string the fish together.
And… do you know how to clean fish?”
Born into a noble family, Lin Jingyuan had never cleaned a fish in his life.
But when he saw his daughter standing in the middle of the river, smiling brightly as she winked at him…
He immediately understood.
Without hesitation, he answered firmly,
“I do!”
“Great! Then you and Mother can string the fish together first. Thread the grass through the gills and out through the mouth.
If you can’t keep up, just keep an eye on them so they don’t flop back into the river.”
The long green strands of river grass were easy enough to find.
Then everyone gathered along the riverbank witnessed an astonishing sight.
Standing in the middle of the river, Jiang Wanyue repeatedly thrust her makeshift wooden fish spear into the water.
Each time she lifted it…
Another fish came flying through the air and landed on the shore.