However, Su Nuan did not press for details as Su Zhen had hoped, instead calmly brushing past her.
Su Zhen grew anxious instead, turning around to watch Su Nuan and calling out, “Hey, why are you leaving?”
Su Nuan looked back at her and said, “It’s raining. I don’t want water getting into my brain and making myself look like a fool.”
After saying this, she paid no more attention to Su Zhen and returned to the carriage, saying, “Aunt, let’s all squeeze into the carriage today. I think it will rain heavily in the latter half of the night.”
The current rain could only be considered moderate. If it were heavy rain, even the oilcloth would not be able to block the rainwater.
Xue Shi said from inside the carriage, “Come in quickly. It will get cold when it gets dark.”
Su Nuan entered the carriage and pulled out the items from the sack.
“Mother, boil some of this ginger to make ginger soup and ward off the cold.”
Xue Shi thought these things were given by Dong’er, so she didn’t ask further.
“Alright, but it’s a pity the space in the carriage is too small. I’ll go outside to see who has set up a shed and borrow a spot.”
Su Nuan shook her head, “Mother, I’ll take care of the shed problem. You all prepare the things first.”
After saying this, she got off the carriage, only to see Su Zhen as soon as she stepped down.
She said irritably, “Why are you so persistent? Do I have to beat you up?”
Su Zhen was startled by Su Nuan’s words and stammered, “Why are you so rude?”
Su Nuan had no patience to chat idly with her. She turned to check the side of the carriage and looked around.
There were only a few sparse small trees on either side of the road, which would suffice as poles to support a rain shelter.
She took out the iron pot from the back of the carriage and weighed it in her hand—it should work as a makeshift hatchet.
Su Zhen didn’t understand what she was trying to do and asked, “Are you going to cook with that pot? Although rainwater is water, it needs to be boiled before you can drink it.”
Su Nuan was truly too lazy to deal with this person. She simply carried the pot down the main road, sliding down the slope to the meadow. Trees in such places didn’t grow very tall.
Su Zhen called out, “What are you trying to do? Let me help you.”
Su Nuan was utterly annoyed. She swung the iron pot, using its edge like a cleaver to chop at a small tree.
The small tree was only as thick as one and a half fingers and, having absorbed plenty of moisture, was quite flexible. However, Su Nuan’s strength was great enough to pull the small tree out by the roots.
Exasperated, she simply used brute force to pull out a few more small trees and carried them back.
Su Zhen approached again, “Since you have a carriage, why not let Father and Mother take shelter from the rain inside? No matter what, they did raise you.”
Su Nuan slowly raised the pot, “Do you believe I’ll smash your head open right now?”
Su Zhen retreated two steps in fear, but she did not leave.
Su Nuan was puzzled. What exactly did this person who had taken over Su Zhen’s body want to do? First, she came to test the waters, then tried emotional blackmail. Had she taken over Su Zhen’s body without inheriting her memories?
She wondered if the people she had beaten up in town had gone to Jingcheng to cause trouble. Judging by Su Zhen’s current demeanor, it was impossible to tell.
At this moment, Su Zhen spoke again, “Someone in Jingcheng ruined my reputation, causing me to be disengaged and later have my family home confiscated and be exiled. It’s already miserable enough. Can’t you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
Su Nuan glanced sideways at her, “What does any of that have to do with me? It’s truly unfortunate that you were disengaged, but you brought it upon yourself. Did you think stolen goods would be easy to keep?”
“Was the confiscation and exile because of me? So, while I’m busy, you’d better scram. Otherwise, when I have time, I will definitely beat you up.”
Su Zhen took a few more steps back, biting her lip as she said, “As the saying goes, meeting an old friend in a distant land is a joy. Now we’re all exiles, and we’re family too. Why can’t we get along peacefully?”
Su Nuan thought this person had some screws loose. How big-hearted would she have to be to let bygones be bygones?
Knowing her words would be wasted, she put down the small tree and walked over to a nearby guard.
“Brother, may I borrow your knife?”
The guard was startled. An exile asking to borrow a knife? Had she grown a death wish?
Su Zhen quickly interjected, “Sorry, brother, my sister isn’t right in the head. Please pay no mind to what she says.”
Su Nuan turned and slapped her across the face. “Who’s your sister? What gives you the right to speak here? You’re as annoying as a fly.”
Su Zhen fell to the ground from the blow, clutching her face with red-rimmed eyes. “Sister, you hit me?”
Su Nuan took a deep breath and roared, “Get lost! Stop bothering me.”
As she spoke, she snatched the knife from the guard’s hand and slashed it between Su Zhen’s legs, tearing a gash in her skirt.
Su Zhen screamed in terror, scrambling to her feet and fleeing. A large wet patch covered her backside, though whether it was from the rainwater on the ground or her own urine was unclear.
The guard was intimidated by Su Nuan’s ferocity. He wanted to reclaim his blade but feared she might go mad and slash him too.
Su Nuan, meanwhile, used the knife to trim the small tree, employing the hilt as a hammer to secure the branches to both sides of the carriage.
Extending the branches and draping them with oilcloth created an effective rain shelter, allowing them to crouch beside the carriage to cook on the stove.
Since the procession traveled on the right side of the road, Su Nuan set up the shelter on the right to avoid obstruction.
She returned the knife to the guard. “Thank you, brother.”
The guard numbly took back the knife and stored it, his eyes glancing at the branches Su Nuan had cut. The breaks were clean—something he couldn’t even achieve himself. How had a young woman managed it? Was she some kind of expert?
After preparing dinner, Su Nuan gave the guard who lent the knife a bowl of ginger soup. “Thank you for lending the knife, brother. This bowl of ginger soup will warm you up.”
The guard took the soup and drank it in one gulp, the chill on his body instantly fading.
He smiled. “Thank you. In the future, just tell me what you need done. I’ll cut it for you. If others see you with a knife, they’ll kill you on the spot.”
Su Nuan nodded. “I understand. I may have to trouble you again, but I won’t ask for free—there’ll be benefits.”
The guard, merely a youth of sixteen or seventeen, recalled the sweet taste of the ginger soup and grinned foolishly.
“Alright.”
Su Nuan took back the bowl and turned to leave.
Dong’er came running and took away a large bowl of wild vegetable dough drop soup, as cheerful as ever, like a carefree sparrow.
Watching Dong’er’s retreating figure, Su Nuan thought that as long as she had herself in her world, it was complete. So in this life, she would protect Dong’er’s happiness.
Once everyone had eaten their fill, they rested in the carriage. Seeing the rain shelter empty, some came over to take shelter from the rain.
Su Nuan didn’t drive them away—as long as they didn’t bother her, it was fine.
The following days proceeded with normal travel. The rain wasn’t heavy but wasn’t light either, and many people began to cough.
Cheng Feng rode up to Su Nuan and asked, “Do you have any medicine? More and more people in the procession are coughing. I’m afraid they won’t be able to keep up.”
Su Nuan knew that coughs spread quickly but were hard to cure. If it developed into consumption, there was no telling how many would die.
She nodded, “We have medicine, but I suggest you prepare it yourselves and distribute it uniformly. Everyone must drink it—those who are sick for treatment, those who are not for prevention.”
Cheng Feng breathed a sigh of relief, “Good, give me the herbs.”
Su Nuan got off the carriage and retrieved a bag from the chest at the back, containing the herbs she had just replaced.
“These will last the team for three days, twice a day. I’ll also check along the way for more herbs—fresh ones can treat illnesses just as well.”
Cheng Feng had only come to Su Nuan out of necessity, and seeing that she indeed had the herbs, he smiled and took them.
Then he said in a low voice, “Hold on for three more days. After that, there will be many mountain caves in Heishan Ao, and we can rest then.”
Su Nuan nodded, frowning as she watched Cheng Feng’s retreating figure. This guy had ulterior motives.