Lin Nanhao was the first to rush to the cell door and start shouting.
After being rebuffed by Lan Luoyun earlier, he was once again looking for trouble.
The jailers, however, had no sympathy for him.
“You’ve already been stripped of your property and sentenced to exile, and you’re still making a scene?”
“You’re lucky you’re getting food at all, yet you’re still complaining!”
Another jailer added impatiently,
“If you don’t want to eat, then get out of the way!”
“Stop getting on my nerves!”
With that, he shoved Lin Nanhao aside and tossed two rock-hard steamed buns onto the ground.
Then he deliberately stomped on them several times before sneering,
“If anyone else doesn’t want to eat, I’ll do the same thing.”
“After a few good stomps, they taste even better!”
He then forcefully stuffed the dirty bun into Lin Nanhao’s mouth.
The other jailers burst into laughter.
After witnessing this scene, the members of the Lin family no longer dared complain.
Everyone obediently stepped forward to collect their food.
Lin Nancheng also took a portion for himself and Lan Luoyun.
The buns were so hard they felt harder than stone.
Everyone struggled to chew them.
But if they didn’t eat, they would go hungry.
No matter how awful they tasted, they had no choice.
Lan Luoyun took a bite of her bun.
Crunch.
It was unbelievably hard.
This really is terrible, she thought.
Good thing I have my space.
She secretly felt pleased with herself.
Seeing that she wasn’t eating, Lin Nancheng became concerned.
“Luoyun, you should eat at least a little.”
“You can’t let yourself go hungry.”
“It’s fine. I’m not hungry.”
“Don’t worry.”
In truth, she really wasn’t hungry.
On the way to the prison, she had secretly taken plenty of food from her space and eaten it.
There was no way she would let herself starve.
However, she still wasn’t ready to tell Lin Nancheng about her space.
At the time, she hadn’t even dared invite him to share the food.
I’ll tell him eventually, she thought.
Just not yet.
At that moment, Dabao and Erbao began complaining.
“Mother, Dabao is hungry!”
“Dabao wants food!”
“Mother, Erbao is hungry too!”
“Erbao wants something tasty!”
Actually, during the journey to the prison, Lan Luoyun had already secretly fed them pastries.
There was no way she would allow her precious children to go hungry.
“Dabao, Erbao, be good.”
“Mother will find something for you.”
She reached into her robes and pulled out three pieces of pastry.
One for Dabao.
One for Erbao.
And one for Lin Nanxuan.
In Lan Luoyun’s eyes, Lin Nanxuan was still just a child.
Inside a prison cell, pastries were an extremely valuable luxury.
She instructed them to eat quietly.
If anyone discovered they had pastries, someone might try to steal them.
Lin Nanxuan, however, refused.
He thought:
These are meant for Dabao and Erbao. How can I take one?
“I’m not hungry,” he said.
The Third Concubine also spoke up.
“Luoyun, save them for the children.”
Since Lin Nanxuan genuinely refused, Lan Luoyun quietly put the extra pastry away.
By now, Dabao and Erbao had become experts at secretly eating snacks.
The two little ones hid in a corner, happily munching away.
Lin Nancheng assumed the pastries were food Lan Luoyun had hidden on her person before the confiscation.
He silently praised his clever wife.
After finishing their pastries, Dabao and Erbao carefully licked every last crumb from around their mouths before climbing into Lan Luoyun’s lap.
“Mother, Dabao wants to sleep.”
“Mother, Erbao wants to sleep too.”
The two little ones were practically piglets.
Eat.
Sleep.
Wake up.
Eat again.
“Dabao, Erbao, come here.”
“Come to Daddy.”
“Daddy will help you sleep.”
“Your mother is tired too. Let her rest.”
The children obediently climbed into Lin Nancheng’s arms.
After cuddling and acting spoiled for a while, they soon fell asleep.
Lan Luoyun took out two padded cotton jackets she had prepared earlier and spread them on the ground.
Lin Nancheng carefully laid the children on top.
Then he covered each child with another padded jacket.
After chatting for a while longer, everyone prepared to rest.
Fortunately, Lan Luoyun had collected plenty of winter clothing from the estate’s storerooms beforehand.
Because she had voluntarily surrendered her jewelry during the confiscation, the soldiers hadn’t bothered taking the old cotton garments she carried.
After thinking for a moment, she pulled out another rough cotton coat from her bundle.
She walked over to Lin Yixiao, who was sitting alone in a damp corner.
“Father, it’s cold here.”
“You should wear another layer.”
Lin Yixiao had lived his life as an upright and honorable man.
Lan Luoyun couldn’t bear to watch him suffer in the cold.
However, he worried that his beloved grandchildren might not have enough warm clothing.
He repeatedly refused.
Only after Lan Luoyun persuaded him over and over did he finally agree to put it on.
Nearby, Madam Su, Lin Yaru, and Lin Nanhao watched the scene.
They noticed that Lan Luoyun still possessed several cotton coats.
Yet she hadn’t offered any to her legal mother-in-law.
Their resentment grew.
The old matriarch was equally displeased.
Seeing that Lan Luoyun had completely ignored her, she finally spoke up.
“Lan girl.”
“Do I not exist in your eyes?”
“Didn’t your parents teach you to respect your elders and care for the young?”
Old Madam Lin could no longer hold back.
Madam Su immediately seized the opportunity.
Since the old matriarch had begun criticizing Lan Luoyun, she eagerly joined in.
“Didn’t you hear what Grandmother said?”
“At her age, and you don’t even offer her a cotton coat?”
“Are you trying to rebel?”
Originally, Lan Luoyun had intended to ignore them.
But since they insisted on pushing the issue, she finally responded.
“Mother.”
“Old Madam Lin has never liked Lin Nancheng.”
“Nor has she ever acknowledged me as her granddaughter-in-law.”
“In that case, can she really be considered my grandmother?”
The old woman was so angry she could barely speak.
She trembled where she sat.
Seeing the situation, Lin Yixiao sighed and took the cotton coat Lan Luoyun had given him.
He draped it over his mother’s shoulders.
Although the old matriarch had always favored Madam Su and made his life difficult, she was still his mother.
That was how he always justified it to himself.
Once she received the coat, Old Madam Lin stopped talking.
But her hatred for Lan Luoyun only deepened.
She began plotting ways to make things difficult for her in the future.
Madam Su was equally furious.
She had assumed the old matriarch would continue supporting her.
Instead, the coat issue had ended there.
After delivering the coat, Lan Luoyun returned to her place and lay down.
Tomorrow they would begin their journey into exile.
She needed to get a good night’s sleep and conserve her strength.
Later that night, while Lan Luoyun and the others slept soundly, Lin Nanhao and Lin Yaru quietly crept over.
The two siblings had their eyes on the cotton jackets covering Dabao and Erbao.
They planned to steal them.
However, the moment they reached out—
Lin Nancheng opened his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to steal clothes?”
The two thieves were caught red-handed.