Everyone who got to eat the rabbit porridge was completely satisfied.
Those who didn’t get any craned their necks so far they were practically straining them.
The members of the Lin family’s second and third branches, who had been watching from the side, were nearly driven mad by the irresistible aroma.
Lin Jingxing kept urging Liu Shuying.
“Go take a look! They cooked such a huge pot—there’s bound to be some left. It’d be a waste if they threw it away. Maybe there’s still some at the bottom of the pot, and we can have a taste.”
“It smells so good.”
Liu Shuying didn’t want to go, but with Lin Jingxing constantly pressuring her and everyone watching, she couldn’t refuse. She was hungry too.
Yet not a single man was willing to go themselves—they were all pushing a woman to do it.
In the past, she had always been the one to take the lead, and back then there had always been benefits to gain, so she hadn’t minded.
But now that little bitch had arrived, and after being whipped, she was genuinely afraid.
Seeing that Liu Shuying hadn’t moved, Old Madam Lin glanced at her.
“Liu, go have a look. If I remember correctly, at our current pace we’ll reach Shimo Town tomorrow. I still have the banknotes Zhaohua gave me. Once we get there, I’ll treat everyone to a proper meal.”
The mention of finally entering a town rekindled everyone’s hope.
They had been walking for two days without so much as a bowl of hot soup.
Hearing this, Liu Shuying immediately stood up.
“Mother, I’ll go.”
Everyone waited expectantly, but it took quite a while before Liu Shuying returned.
She shook her head in disappointment.
“It’s all gone. They scraped the pot clean. Not even a single drop was left.”
Lin Jingzhou was so hungry he could barely stand it.
He had never suffered hardship before and had long since reached his limit.
Now he was on the verge of throwing a tantrum.
“Mother, aren’t I your favorite son? I want porridge! I want it right now!
I’m starving! Can you really bear to let your son go hungry?”
Seeing Lin Jingzhou speak up, Lin Jingxing chimed in.
“Mother, you’re so capable. Go make the eldest branch give us some porridge. If they don’t have any left, tell that little brat to cook another pot for us.
We’re all her elders. Surely she wouldn’t dare be unfilial.”
Old Madam Lin had just been whipped, and the mere thought of the lash still made her skin ache.
But seeing her two favorite sons pleading with her like this, she simply couldn’t harden her heart.
She turned to Lin Shutong, who was standing beside her.
“Tong’er, Grandma has always loved you the most. I know you’re on good terms with Officer He. Go ask him for a bowl.”
Lin Shutong’s face turned deathly pale.
“Grandmother? You know perfectly well that He Er…”
“I told you to go, so go.”
Lin Xingmian, the daughter of Concubine Jiang, had always hated seeing Lin Shutong favored. Lin Shutong had often looked down on her as the legitimate daughter of the second branch.
With a faint smile, she said,
“Big Sister, it’s not like it’s your first time. What are you afraid of?”
She deliberately emphasized the words “first time.”
Lin Shutong’s face became even paler as she shouted angrily,
“You bitch! Why don’t you go instead?”
Just as the two were about to start fighting, Old Madam Lin barked,
“Enough! Xingmian, you’re the younger sister. How dare you speak to your elder sister like that? Apologize immediately.”
Lin Xingmian pursed her lips.
Though she apologized, every word dripped with mockery.
“Big Sister, I’m sorry.”
Lin Shutong bit her lip, swaying as though she might collapse.
Was this really the grandmother who had always loved her the most?
But no one cared about her humiliation.
Instead, they all urged her on.
“Tong’er, hurry up.”
“Yes, your father is starving too.”
“Niece, please help us. Your Third Uncle has always treated you well.”
“You… you all…”
Lin Shutong’s heart turned to ashes.
Seeing her still standing there, Lin Jingxing shouted,
“Liu! What are you standing around for? Drag her over there! Or I’ll divorce you!”
Grinding her teeth, Liu Shuying grabbed Lin Shutong and dragged her toward He Er.
Lin Shutong followed like a lifeless puppet, while Lin Jingxing hurried after them.
When they reached He Er, Lin Jingxing bowed and smiled obsequiously.
“Officer He, you’ve worked hard all the way here. I brought my daughter to help relieve your fatigue. Please reward us with something to eat.”
As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on the bowl of porridge beside He Er, practically drooling.
He Er immediately understood why Lin Jingxing had come.
Rubbing his full stomach, his lecherous gaze settled on Lin Shutong.
Although she had suffered greatly over the past two days, she had still been raised as the daughter of a marquis’s household. The memory of that night was undeniably intoxicating.
Although it hadn’t been Jiang Wanyue that night in the darkness, Lin Shutong wasn’t a bad substitute.
The girl was quite pretty.
He tossed a white steamed bun onto the ground.
“Take it. That’s your reward.”
Seeing that He Er had no intention of giving him the porridge, Lin Jingxing reminded him,
“What about the porridge…”
He Er spat at Lin Jingxing.
“Damn it, what are you eyeing? Get lost, or I’ll give you a taste of my whip.”
If he thought he was getting his porridge, he could forget it.
Lin Jingxing still hesitated to leave.
He Er stood up, gripping his whip.
“What? Want another whipping?”
Terrified, Lin Jingxing stumbled backward in panic.
He tried to pick up the steamed bun from the ground, but with the cangue around his neck, he couldn’t reach it.
Liu Shuying reacted quickly, snatched up the bun first, and stuffed it straight into her mouth.
After eating nothing but coarse black buns for two days, they were so hungry they were practically hallucinating. At this point, even a plain white steamed bun tasted like a delicacy.
They had no money on them, and although Old Madam Lin still had some, she clung to it like a miser, refusing to buy buns that cost one tael of silver each. They were all on the verge of starving.
Watching Liu Shuying take bite after bite of the steamed bun, the women from the third branch rushed over to snatch it from her.
The scene instantly descended into chaos.
Lin Jingxing and Lin Jingzhou, burdened with their cangues, grew frantic.
“What are you women fighting over? Leave some for me!”
“My daughter traded for that! None of you are allowed to take it!”
“You worthless girls!”
Everyone lunged for the bun. The women of the second and third branches, who usually maintained a façade of harmony, clawed and grabbed at one another without restraint. In moments, their faces were covered in scratches as screams filled the air.
The guards immediately rushed over, lashing their whips again and again.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Amid the shrieks, the guards shouted angrily,
“What are you doing? Looking for another beating?”
“Stop it!”
“Keep it up and we’ll beat you to death!”
With the whips coming down on them, everyone was terrified.
Hardly anyone managed to eat much of the bun. Instead, it was torn into pieces and scattered across the ground in crumbs.
The surrounding exiles watched the spectacle unfold.
Shen Qingru, however, found it immensely satisfying.
In the past, it had always been the second and third branches who bullied her. Now those same branches no longer seemed so united and unbreakable.
They had nearly beaten each other bloody over a single steamed bun.
She let out a mocking laugh.
“Lin Jingyuan, take a good look. These are the ‘loving brothers’ you were always so proud of.”
Lin Jingyuan looked embarrassed.
From the moment Old Madam Lin ordered Lin Shutong to approach He Er, to the moment Liu Shuying was pressured into sending her own daughter to trade herself for a bowl of porridge, he had witnessed everything clearly.
How had he never realized that the second and third branches were so cold-blooded?
They had actually been willing to sacrifice their own daughter…
All for a single bowl of porridge.
The most ironic part was that after all that, they hadn’t gotten any porridge at all—only a single steamed bun, which they then fought over among themselves.
Shen Qingru had always urged him to keep his distance from the second and third branches, but he had always believed that, no matter what, they were his own brothers.
Blood was thicker than water. Family ties were not something that could be easily severed.
But everything that had happened today had finally planted seeds of doubt in his heart.
It had only been two days since their exile began, yet these people’s ugly true colors had already been completely exposed.