“Stop joking around and go give your precious son some water,” Xie Ninglan urged Xin Wenyuan to tend to the still-unconscious Xin Mochen.
“Dad, hurry up. I’ll grind some medicine first to brew a pot for brother tonight.”
Xin Nian had already transferred considerable healing energy to Xin Wenyuan earlier, leaving him now full of vigor.
Upon his wife and daughter’s orders, he immediately went as if obeying an imperial decree.
Xie Ninglan glanced toward the eldest branch’s side. “Daughter, the bearded escorts have gone over there.”
“Of course. With an extra person suddenly appearing in the group, the escorts would definitely want clarification.” Xin Nian used the basket as cover to retrieve a medicine roller from her Ningzhu space.
Her maternal relatives were truly reliable—most of the herbs they provided had already been processed with roots and stems removed, making grinding much easier.
Xie Ninglan deliberately sat opposite her daughter, using her back to block many prying eyes.
“Who are those people? Why do they keep staring at us?”
“Lao Xin said they’re from Yongkang Viscount Estate and Enyi Marquis’s Residence. These two households are connected by marriage.” Xin Nian continued grinding herbs unconcerned.
Since yesterday, she had noticed people from both estates constantly observing them.
It didn’t matter though—let them look. They were all unlucky exiles anyway, and a few glances wouldn’t cost them half a piece of meat.
“Daughter, do you know why our Duke Manor was exiled?” Xie Ninglan leaned closer to Xin Nian mysteriously. “Could it be that someone in the Xin family committed treason?”
Xin Nian rolled her eyes. “Treason is a capital offense—you’d be dragged out and beheaded immediately, with nine generations exterminated. Would they merely exile you for that?”
“Nine generations?”
“From top to bottom—your grandparents, parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, daughters, sons-in-law, nephews, nieces, and so on. Even a dog passing by your courtyard gate would be killed.”
“So ruthless?” Xie Ninglan gaped. “Not even sparing the dog?”
“Exactly.” Xin Nian nodded seriously. “Those in power in the imperial court all have twisted tendencies. We’re just common folk—we must never get entangled with these nobles.”
“Then why were we exiled?”
“I heard it was due to a battlefield defeat.” Xin Nian replied absently while working the medicine roller. “Daxia—the dynasty we’re in now—constantly fights with Yan Kingdom over the border.”
“My grandfather, the Old Duke, went to battle against the Yan dogs with my uncle and elder cousins from the eldest branch. They suffered a defeat, and all four mysteriously disappeared.”
“Rumors spread at court claiming the Old Duke defected to the enemy with his sons and grandsons, now living lavishly as honored guests in Yan Kingdom. They even say my uncle became consort to a Yan princess.”
“But my uncle is almost forty! How could he compare to my handsome elder cousins? Unless the Yan princess is blind, she’d definitely choose them! Why pick some middle-aged rough fellow?”
Xie Ninglan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Daughter, this is supposed to be a serious matter, but you make it sound so comical.”
Xin Nian grinned at her mother. “We’re truly suffering unjustly. The Old Duke and his line sacrificed themselves for the country at the frontlines, yet that dog Emperor uprooted our entire Duke Manor!”
“What are your thoughts now, daughter?”
“When a great house falls, monsters emerge. I’m starting to believe that Skyfire prediction from the Sitianjian.” Xin Nian rubbed her chin. “With such a fatuous emperor, the Sitianjian must be struggling to keep up.”
“We need to prepare in advance. Who knows if they’ll hit us with something big on the road? When that happens, there’ll be nowhere to run.”
Xie Ninglan nodded with a serious expression.
“Sweetheart, look at that old man. Could he be the exiled Director of the Directorate of Astronomy banished by that damned Emperor?”
While grinding herbs, Xin Nian took a moment to glance sideways.
Everyone else was gathered in small groups, but that old man sat alone leaning against a tree with his legs crossed, scratching his back against the trunk as if bitten by lice. He looked nothing like a distinguished master—just a shifty little old man.
Not far away stood two young men, likely his two disciples.
When they offered him half a coarse rice cake, the old man waved them away disdainfully.
His disciples were quite filial—they actually went to Xin Wanqing’s side and paid silver to buy sesame cakes for their master.
Xie Ninglan hesitated briefly, glanced back at the old man, then took out a small package and sold it to the two men.
A moment later, Disciple One suddenly approached them and bowed respectfully to Xin Nian.
Xin Nian’s face was full of confusion as she looked at her bewildered mother, then at the old man’s disciple.
“What do you want?”
“Greetings, miss. My master says you have an exceptionally noble countenance, destined for great fortune. He believes we’ll surely receive your assistance on the journey ahead, so he instructed me to gift you this package of food to establish acquaintance.”
Xin Nian didn’t accept the package, instead staring at him with a questioning look.
Disciple One didn’t seem embarrassed. He pressed the package into Xie Ninglan’s confused hands, bowed, and took his leave.
“Sweetheart, isn’t this the same food they just bought from Xin Wanqing? Why are they giving it to you instead?”
Xin Nian narrowed her eyes and shot a glance at the old man, who seemed delighted to make her acquaintance. He clasped his hands and grinned, then waved the sesame cake in his hand at her.
“What’s that old man’s deal? Is he trying to befriend you?” Xie Ninglan grew somewhat nervous. “Could he have seen through something?”
“He couldn’t see through shit.” Xin Nian took the small package from Xie Ninglan’s hands, opened it, and saw five sesame cakes and half a roasted chicken inside.
She raised an eyebrow and, using her backpack as cover, tossed the items into Ningzhu’s storage.
If the old man was willing to give, she was willing to take. Every bit helped—even mosquito legs count as meat.
She had already stored many perishable foods from the flatbed cart in the same manner.
Xin Nian had calculated secretly: excluding her unconscious older brother, their current food reserves could barely feed the family for seven days.
If a natural disaster truly struck, this amount of food would be far from sufficient.
Since she couldn’t access her previous storage space at all now, she felt tremendous urgency to quickly gather a supply of food for emergencies.
After Xin Wenyuan finished giving water to their eldest son, the escorts began putting shackles on everyone and shouting for them to move out.
Many people had fallen asleep directly under the blazing sun and were kicked awake by the escorts, everyone complaining and sighing with resentment.
“Move out, move out! There won’t be any relay stations to rest at for the next few days. We need to hurry and reach the nearest water source before sunset to make camp.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you—if you can’t reach the water source, you’ll all go thirsty.”
“Pull yourselves together! After resting this long, don’t act like weaklings.”
The crowd stumbled along in their worn shoes. The straw sandals were prone to tearing, and without careful walking, some people had already worn through the soles in just two days, making barefoot walking even more difficult.
Xie Ninglan had grown accustomed to these ghostly wails and wolfish howls by now. It was as if they were singing mournful tunes whenever they set out on the road—no sooner would one end than another would begin.
She didn’t know how the main branch of the family had negotiated with the Escorts, but as soon as they started the journey, Xie Ninglan and Xin Nian noticed that the horse Xin Wanqing had ridden was now being used by Liang Tou.
Half of the two baskets of goods they had brought along had also been confiscated by the Escorts.