“Shizifei, Miss Suian, take care.”
Chuntao watched the procession depart, her tears impossible to wipe dry. Suddenly, she felt something at her waist.
What, what was this at her waist?
Chuntao touched it, then secretly lifted a corner to look—it was a silver note!
Chuntao’s tears fell even harder. She knelt down and kowtowed in the direction Cheng Qiqi and the others had left.
…
“I’m not going any further!”
After being beaten for the third time, Jin Yanzhi went mad, tugging at the cangue locked around his neck. But he couldn’t pull it off. In the end, Jin Yanzhi simply sat down on the ground.
Hiss.
It hurt like hell.
Jin Yanzhi thought of the days when he was surrounded by attendants, then looked at his current state—tethered like a dog, and still being beaten!
Jin Yanzhi gazed sadly at the wounds on his arms, all inflicted because he walked too slowly!
“Yanzhi.”
Lin Huilan, dragging her shackles, slipped a hidden hairpin into the official’s hand while helping Jin Yanzhi up, whispering, “Yanzhi, don’t throw a tantrum now, or else…” you’ll be beaten again!
“Mother, quickly have someone remove this damned thing! I don’t want to wear it anymore!” Jin Yanzhi said angrily.
“Yanzhi, Mother is powerless too.”
Lin Huilan raised her shackled hands; the shackles had already rubbed her skin raw. The soft cloth shoes that were comfortable to wear in the Houfu were now painfully grating on the official road.
“I don’t care.”
Jin Yanzhi stared at her and said, “You promised you could grant me anything.”
“Yanzhi…”
Lin Huilan looked troubled. Jin Yanzhi understood the answer. He shoved Lin Huilan to the ground and turned to run!
He would rather die than live like this.
“Halt!”
Scar-faced Zhang, leading the group, saw this and lashed his long whip toward Jin Yanzhi, knocking him directly to the ground.
“You still dare to run!”
Scar-faced Zhang’s face turned fierce as he brought the whip down again and again, tearing open flesh.
Jin Yanzhi curled up, trembling all over from the pain. He couldn’t die, but this seemed even worse.
“Sir, have mercy!”
Lin Huilan scrambled up and stumbled toward Jin Yanzhi, even taking a whip lash for him. She then produced another jade pendant: “Sir, Yanzhi promises he won’t run again.”
“Hmph!”
Scar-faced Zhang took the jade pendant and signaled to the yamen runner with a glance, saying, “Watch him. If he dares run, beat him to death!”
“Yes.”
The yamen runner immediately stepped forward, pulling Jin Yanzhi up roughly: “Move!”
Jin Yanzhi trembled all over from the pain, but Scar-faced Zhang’s whip, ready to strike at any moment, left him too afraid to make even the slightest move!
The Jinjia members watched this scene, their feet aching terribly, but they dared not stop walking!
When it was time for the midday meal, Third Branch’s Jin Runzhi said, “Sister-in-law, let me carry Suian.”
Cheng Qiqi’s lips moved slightly. Beside her, Liu Suyi said, “Qiqi, listen to Runzhi. They’re young and strong.”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
Jin Suian stretched out her arms toward Jin Runzhi. Her mother had carried her for half a day; she must be exhausted.
“Good girl.”
Jin Runzhi hoisted Jin Suian onto his back. She obediently lay against him, her small hands tightly clutching his shoulders: “Uncle, when An’an grows up, she will definitely repay you!”
Jin Suian’s crisp voice rang in his ears, and Jin Runzhi couldn’t help but smile, saying, “An’an knows how to repay her uncle?”
“Mother said, a drop of kindness should be repaid with many, many springs of water!”
Jin Suian tilted her head and said, “Uncle, wait for me!”
“Alright.”
Jin Runzhi glanced sideways at Jin Suian’s chubby, baby-faced cheeks, and his heart, which had grown numb from the exile, brightened considerably.
Liu Suyi remarked, “Qiqi, you’ve raised An’an very well.”
Cheng Qiqi looked at her daughter with pride. Over the past three years, her daughter had been her only salvation!
In the evening, the day’s journey finally came to a halt. Jin Yanzhi lay on the ground, letting Lin Huilan tend to his wounds. Jin Yanzhi said irritably, “Instead of crying, you should hurry and find me some medicine.”
He was in excruciating pain, and all his mother knew how to do was cry.
Lin Huilan: “…”
Her hand, wiping away tears, paused. Where would she find medicine?
Jin Yanzhi glanced in Cheng Qiqi’s direction. Lin Huilan hesitated—wasn’t this akin to bowing her head to that country girl?
“Hah, even my own mother is like this. Let me die from the pain, then.”
Jin Yanzhi sneered and lay back on the ground.
“I’ll go, I’ll go.”
Lin Huilan immediately spoke up, forcing herself to approach Cheng Qiqi.
Cheng Qiqi glanced over from afar and pretended not to see her. She picked up a pot and started a fire to cook porridge. Chuntao had been very thoughtful—this pot and two clay jars were incredibly practical!
Uncle Jin took the children to gather firewood nearby. The Jinjia collateral branch’s third household alone had five sons, and with Uncle Jin’s three, there were eight men, all strong laborers.
Not only did they gather firewood for themselves, but they also collected some for the escorting officials.
Cheng Qiqi secretly observed that the Jinjia collateral branch was quite adept at reading the situation.
She cooked a fragrant porridge, adding sweet potatoes to it. After three days in prison, the Jin family found the aroma of this sweet potato porridge incredibly enticing!
“Mother, have some porridge.”
Cheng Qiqi served a bowl to Liu Suyi. For Liu Suyi, who had eaten plain food for three days in prison, this sweet potato porridge was the first thing that smelled truly delicious!
“Qiqi, you’ve worked hard.”
Liu Suyi held the steaming bowl of porridge, recalling how, during the Houfu’s prosperous days, she had sent Cheng Qiqi and her daughter to a remote courtyard, ignoring them completely. Now, in their downfall, Cheng Qiqi was still willing to share food and clothing, making Liu Suyi feel deeply ashamed.
“As long as we work together, things will be better once we reach Lingnan.” Cheng Qiqi looked forward to Lingnan immensely—it was abundant with fruits and seafood, her absolute favorites.
Cheng Qiqi then filled a large clay jar with porridge, instantly reducing the pot’s contents by more than half.
Liu Suyi pondered thoughtfully and, sure enough, watched as Cheng Qiqi carried the porridge over to the Jinjia collateral branch.
“Uncle, Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, thank you for the firewood. This porridge is for you.”
Cheng Qiqi handed a clay jar of porridge to the Jinjia collateral branch.
“This is too little! With so many of us, how could it be enough?”
He Shi’s words had barely left her lips when Cheng Qiqi, who hadn’t walked far, turned back and said, “Aunt, if it’s not enough, buy your own.”
“How could we have any money!”
He Shi retorted irritably, adding, “After all, we’re all…” implicated by the Shizi.
“Mother.”
Jin Lizhi interrupted He Shi, quickly stepping forward and bowing to Cheng Qiqi. “Sister-in-law, I apologize on behalf of my mother. She doesn’t know how to speak properly. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Jin Lizhi’s attitude was sincere, without a hint of pretense.
“Qiqi kindly brought you food, and you dare to look down on it?”
Liu Suyi stepped forward, shielding Cheng Qiqi behind her: “He Shi, if you have any pride, don’t eat it. When Houfu was prosperous, did you not benefit from its glory?”
Though Liu Suyi wore plain cotton clothes with a prisoner’s garment draped over them, her hair held in place by a simple wooden hairpin, the dignity of the Houfu matriarch, cultivated over many years, remained intact. Her gaze swept over the members of the Jinjia branch one by one.
“Qiqi is my daughter-in-law. To bully her is to bully me.”
Liu Suyi declared with unwavering conviction, her cold eyes sweeping across the Jinjia branch: “Mo’er is gone, and Houfu has fallen, but how can you be certain it will not rise again one day?”