Truly shameless.
Ziling had seen shameless people before, but never anyone this shameless.
She immediately tucked away the bundle containing the rations and slung it over her back.
“These were sent by my uncle,” she said coolly. “If you want food, go ask your own uncle for some.”
With that, she began preparing to continue the journey.
Although the bundle looked heavy, Ziling had actually already transferred most of the contents into her storage space when no one was watching. She only carried the bundle to avoid arousing suspicion.
Hearing her words, Gong Hao burst out laughing.
This sister-in-law of his really knew how to shut people down.
The young boy himself didn’t even realize that he had already started to like this sister-in-law a little—he just refused to admit it out of pride.
Ziling glanced at the secretly laughing Gong Hao and said coldly:
“Why are you laughing? Hurry up and carry the luggage. Even if you don’t eat, you still have to carry the bags. Are you planning to wait until the officers shout before packing up?”
Gong Hao shivered inwardly.
Why did Sister-in-law’s gaze suddenly feel exactly like Big Brother’s?
Cold and intimidating.
Not daring to delay, he quickly gathered their things. In truth, there wasn’t much—just some clothes and shoes Grandmother had prepared for the family. Since they had to travel entirely on foot, they simply couldn’t carry extra belongings.
Even seven-year-old Ying’er insisted on helping with the luggage, but Ziling refused. The road ahead was still long. The little girl had already struggled greatly during the journey earlier. Twice, if Ziling hadn’t caught her in time, she would have fallen.
Just as everyone finished hoisting their heavy belongings, the officers began shouting again:
“Move faster! If you keep dawdling, we won’t reach the resting place before nightfall, and you’ll all sleep in the wilderness!”
The prisoners sat or leaned weakly against one another. These people were accustomed to traveling in sedan chairs whenever they went out. How could they endure such hardship? After merely half a day of walking, everyone was already filthy, exhausted, and unwilling to move another step.
Seeing that the prisoners still showed no intention of getting up, the lead officer Zhang Meng exchanged a glance with another guard.
The guard immediately lashed his whip twice toward the crowd.
“Move! Move! Anyone slow gets whipped!”
As he shouted, the whip cracked directly onto a man who still hadn’t stood up.
The man cried out miserably and scrambled toward the front of the group, terrified of being struck again.
After that, no one dared delay further.
The group resumed moving.
Yet after only another hour, the pace slowed again. Ten more li later, they finally spotted a village.
It was a remote, desolate place—broken down and barren, without even a trace of human life. The village appeared completely abandoned.
The officers gathered everyone into a larger courtyard and decided they would spend the night there.
After walking the entire afternoon, everyone was exhausted, starving, thirsty, and dizzy. No one even had the energy to question why the village was so deserted. Most simply collapsed onto the ground where they stood.
The officers then distributed dinner.
At noon, no food had been handed out, so everyone had relied on the dry rations sent by their families. Many had hoped they would at least get something hot tonight.
Instead, each person received only two coarse black buns.
After distributing the food, two guards remained on watch while the others gathered inside a half-collapsed house and began drinking wine.
Ziling and Gong Hao helped Gong Mohan and the family settle into a corner to rest. Ziling also searched the courtyard for several broken wooden boards so the family could sit more comfortably.
Holding the hard, black bun in her hand, she was currently trying to figure out how to secretly take steamed buns out of her storage space for everyone when those collateral Gong relatives shamelessly wandered over and sat beside them.
The middle-aged man smiled.
“Sister-in-law, we’re family. We should stay together and look after each other.”
Their intentions were obvious.
The black buns were too awful to eat. At noon, they had seen Ziling’s group eating proper dry rations, so naturally they assumed there would be more good food tonight. They came over expecting a share.
Ziling was already irritated trying to figure out how to secretly bring out the buns. Seeing this family shamelessly crowd over made her even angrier. Just as she was about to speak, little Ying’er suddenly piped up in her childish voice:
“Why are you coming over? We don’t have any rations to share with you!”
Ziling immediately gave the little girl a thumbs-up in praise.
Receiving praise from Sister-in-law made Ying’er beam happily. She wanted to continue speaking, but her mother gently stopped her.
Ziling frowned deeply.
Could it be that Mother still intended to act like one of those foolishly kind people?
The exile journey was long. Even these coal-black buns might not be guaranteed every meal. If these relatives were decent people, sharing some food wouldn’t matter. But along the journey, their side clearly had injured people and young children, yet these relatives acted as if they saw nothing and never once offered help.
Just as Ziling was about to refuse them outright, Gong Mohan suddenly spoke.
“Gong Qingshan.”
His voice was weak but icy cold.
“Our family has already fallen into exile. We no longer have anything for you to depend on. Since you previously claimed the General Manor was being punished for its sins, then from now on, you’d better stay far away from us.”
Ziling raised an eyebrow and glanced at her husband.
Not bad.
At least he could tell right from wrong.
Sensing her gaze, Gong Mohan turned his head and immediately caught the look on her face. For some strange reason, it almost felt as though he had just been praised by her.
His face darkened at once.
He turned his head away coldly and refused to look at her again.