Xiao Yu cried so hard it shook the heavens, as if he were trying to pour out every grievance he had suffered for so long.
Xiao Zelan’s voice trembled.
“A-Yu… stop crying. Let’s go inside first.”
But Xiao Yu still couldn’t stop sobbing.
Bai Zhi’s face turned dark with anger as she snapped sharply:
“Stop crying already! Your brother’s legs are practically breaking and you’re still standing here?!”
Xiao Yu’s crying immediately dropped by more than half.
“Royal Brother… sob… are you alright? I’ll help you.”
The two of them supported Xiao Zelan back into the room.
Once he was on the bed, Bai Zhi quickly untied his knee guards and rolled up his pant legs.
“There’s some redness and swelling. Should we use medicinal plasters or moxibustion?”
Bai Zhi didn’t understand medicine.
Normally swelling should probably be treated with cold compresses first, but Xiao Zelan also suffered from rheumatism.
Xiao Zelan forced a weak smile, comforting both his wife and younger brother.
“It’s alright. Probably shouldn’t use the plasters yet. Give me one of the pills first.”
Bai Zhi picked up the medicine bottle by the bedside and poured out a pill for him.
Leaning weakly against the bed, Xiao Zelan looked exhausted.
Bai Zhi felt somewhat guilty.
“Sorry. At the very least I should’ve warned you beforehand so you could avoid putting pressure on your knees.”
“It’s fine. If I avoided it, how would it look real? The people in the palace are all sharp-eyed foxes. Nothing escapes their notice.”
That was exactly why Bai Zhi hadn’t warned him earlier.
She wanted the visitors to see Xiao Zelan genuinely suffering.
Otherwise, ordinary people would find it difficult to feel sympathy for a prince who had once stood high above them.
She was also gambling on the Emperor’s hypocritical concern for reputation.
According to Xiao Zelan, the Emperor valued his image above all else.
Surely he wouldn’t allow his own son to crawl out of the capital like a cripple.
Xiao Yu stayed miserably crouched beside the bed.
No matter how Xiao Zelan urged him to eat, he refused.
Bai Zhi had no appetite either.
Instead, she pulled out the slingshot frames.
“If you’ve got nothing to do, help me finish these slingshots. One for each of us.”
As she spoke, Bai Zhi also took out several irregular little iron pellets.
Xiao Yu’s attention was instantly drawn away.
Looking embarrassed, he muttered:
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed you earlier… and I definitely shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
Bai Zhi sighed.
“I forgive you. And I should apologize too. Next time I’ll discuss things with you both first.”
There were still tears in Xiao Yu’s eyes as he muttered quietly:
“You really have to tell us beforehand next time. That was terrifying.”
“Got it.”
Xiao Yu removed the leather strips from the old slingshot while the two of them began assembling the new ones.
Suddenly Bai Zhi asked:
“Are you and your brother purely scholars? Did either of you ever learn martial arts?”
“No. What princes learn is decided by Father Emperor.”
“Then can you even use slingshots?”
Xiao Yu looked offended.
“Who are you looking down on? Forget slingshots—even archery. My royal brother has excellent aim.”
“I thought you said you were pure scholars?”
Xiao Yu gave her a look that clearly said you’re stupid.
“The Six Arts of a gentleman include riding and archery too!”
Bai Zhi didn’t get annoyed.
“What are the Six Arts exactly?”
“Rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.”
“No qin, chess, painting, and calligraphy?”
“That’s part of the Eight Elegances for women. Though my royal brother knows those too.”
“Do you?”
“…”
“Play me something sometime.”
By the time the slingshots were finished, Xiao Zelan had already fallen asleep.
Sleeping was good.
At least when asleep, he wouldn’t feel pain.
That afternoon, the two of them started packing luggage again.
Each person had two bundles.
One for clothes.
One for food.
Inside went:
One set of inner clothing.
One set of thin padded clothing.
One fine-cotton padded robe.
One pair of cotton boots.
One padded hood.
Plus socks, handkerchiefs, towels, undergarments, and miscellaneous items.
Bai Zhi also found some fine white cotton cloth in her dowry chest.
Most likely her concubine-born mother had prepared it for her.
Bai Zhi rolled it into the clothing bundle as well.
Even after packing, the bundles weren’t too large.
The remaining clothes could simply be worn tomorrow.
The food bundles mainly contained pancakes.
Half the pancakes had already been packed into the basket.
The remaining half were divided among the three of them, each person carrying over twenty pancakes.
Each also had a water pouch and some medicine.
Xiao Zelan’s medicines were entirely in his own bundle:
Two large packs of moxa sticks.
One pack of medicinal plasters.
And the moxibustion box.
Bai Zhi and Xiao Yu didn’t have many belongings, so Bai Zhi added one hot-water bottle into each of their bundles too.
“Will the guards search us?”
“They will, but not strictly. Otherwise how would they make money?”
“Good.”
The remaining one tael of gold had already been wrapped around Bai Zhi’s other arm.
She had also checked the silver in the dowry chest.
There were forty taels.
Not too little.
The six gilded hairpins were hidden inside her clothes.
Beyond that, she still possessed a one-hundred-tael banknote and over forty taels in silver ingots.
Xiao Yu had a little over twenty taels.
Xiao Zelan had been confined too suddenly and possessed almost nothing.
Even his winter clothes had been brought in by Xiao Yu.
Altogether, the three of them now had around two hundred taels.
The banknote absolutely couldn’t be touched.
That left roughly one hundred taels in spendable silver.
At one tael a day for the guards’ steamed buns, it would last them three months.
Bai Zhi also cut part of the silver into smaller pieces to make spending easier.
While the other two weren’t paying attention, she wrapped the banknote in silver and flattened it into a long strip, then hid it inside her leather boot.
Metal was practically weightless to her because of her ability, so it didn’t bother her at all.
The handcart had already been moved beside the main gate.
If there truly were no prison carts tomorrow, then they would have no choice but to push the cart themselves.
But unless absolutely necessary, Bai Zhi did not want to resort to that.
Great Qi Dynasty — Xuanyuan Hall.
“You are pleading on Zelan’s behalf?”
The man seated above wore a bright yellow dragon robe, his authority overwhelming even without anger.
A young eunuch knelt trembling on the floor, his forehead already red from kowtowing.
“This servant dares not. It’s only that Xiao Zelan cannot even stand properly. If he crawls out of the capital, it may damage Your Majesty’s image.”
“Are his legs truly that ruined?”
“Every word this servant speaks is true.”
The Emperor waved a hand.
“Very well. Since the weather is freezing, let him ride in a prison cart.”
“Your Majesty’s grace is boundless. Xiao Zelan will surely weep with gratitude.”
The young eunuch wiped sweat from his forehead and backed out bent at the waist.
Yet only a few steps outside the hall, he was struck across the face by his master.
“You’ve got guts. How many benefits did Xiao Zelan give you to make you plead for him?”
“Disciple wouldn’t dare! It’s only that Xiao Zelan looked truly pitiful. His wife and Xiao Yu are both still children. This disciple simply couldn’t bear it and spoke on their behalf before His Majesty.”
The old eunuch’s anger lessened slightly, though he still scolded him.
“So because he’s pitiful, you plead for him? When you were pitiful, who pleaded for you? If Prince Huan finds out, you’ll suffer terribly.”
The old eunuch turned and left.
The younger eunuch rubbed his face and muttered quietly:
“Well, I didn’t take those golden melon seeds for nothing.”
At noon, no one had eaten properly.
So for dinner, Bai Zhi turned the leftover rice into egg fried rice.
Together with the leftovers from lunch, it made for a fairly decent meal.
That evening, Xiao Yu boiled water and medicine to prepare Xiao Zelan’s medicinal bath.
“You’re both tired today. Maybe… maybe I shouldn’t soak tonight.”
Ever since waking up, Xiao Zelan had seemed dispirited.
Though he had already believed Xiao Yu’s dream about exile before, receiving the actual decree still left him unable to accept reality.
Tomorrow would mark the beginning of the eleventh lunar month.
The next two months would be the coldest period of winter.
With legs like this, how could he possibly survive the road of exile?
That person…
Truly wanted him dead.
So urgently that he wouldn’t even wait for spring.
His fingers clenched tightly around the fabric of his padded robe, yet his face still maintained calm composure.
“Royal Brother, soak once more tonight. Otherwise wouldn’t Sister-in-law’s efforts be wasted?”
“Xiao Yu,” Bai Zhi suddenly interrupted, “don’t call him Royal Brother anymore. Call him older brother.”
The sooner they accepted reality, the better.
Xiao Yu’s voice trembled.
“Older Brother… please soak tonight. What if it helps?”