Chapter 17

The sun was blazing, the stones beneath their feet scorching, and standing on the open ground, their exposed skin burned painfully. Sui Yu and Sui Hui stood in the water, their feet cool but their faces hot. As they scrubbed the kang mat with their butts raised, sweat streamed down their faces.

"Ling'er," Sui Hui called out. She pushed the cleaned kang mat to the water's edge and said, "Drag it onto the rocks to dry in the sun."

"Sister, I seem to hear the sound of horse hooves. Is it my brother coming?" The sun rose above her head, and half of the day had passed. Sui Ling was extremely anxious.

There were other people pounding clothes and washing shoes in the river. Sui Hui was worried about arousing suspicion, so she glared at her sister and said, "Whether he comes or not, it won't change anything. Hurry up and work. We'll go back after the kang mat is dry."

The three of them spent half a day brushing thirty kang mats. While drying the kang mats, they also had to pick up feces. The ones that could not be burned were buried in the ground to make compost.

"Sui Hui? Sui Hui? Who is Sui Hui?"

Sui Hui looked up and saw that it was a strange man, and she was frightened.

"What do you want to see Sui Hui for?" Sui Yu walked out of the river.

"The housekeeper asked me to tell Sui Hui and everyone else to go back quickly. Your brother is here."

"My eldest brother is here." Sui Ling was very excited. She dropped the kang mat in her hand and ran away. "Sister, hurry up, my eldest brother is here to take us away."

Sui Hui was shaking with excitement and slipped and fell when she got out of the water. She ignored the pain in her knees and ran quickly in the direction she came from.

Sui Yu glanced at the pile of kang mats. This pile of rags was not a good thing, but there was no guarantee that passers-by would pick it up. She stopped the man who brought the message and asked someone to help carry it back.

As soon as they left, the camp prostitutes who were working around the river followed them back. Halfway through, Aunt Chun and the other five people felt more and more that something was wrong, so they all ran away.

At this time, outside the brothel camp, Sui Wen'an pulled Sui Liang to stand at the foot of the wall and look into the distance. Two steps away from him, Captain Li's men were talking to a man with gray hair.

"Brother..." Sui Ling ran back first. Even from a distance away, she couldn't wait to ask, "Are you here to take us away?"

Sui Wen'an knew he wasn't too late when he saw her like this. He heaved a long sigh and whispered, "This is the little sister of the criminal slave. She has a simple personality. Please don't be offended, my two lords."

No one paid any attention to him.

"Why are you alone? Where are your sister and sister Yu?" Sui Wen'an pulled Sui Ling aside and whispered, "Stop talking nonsense."

"They're still behind us and will be back soon." Sui Ling was extremely excited. She pulled Sui Wen'an's arm and cried, "Brother, I'm scared to death. Don't you know..."

"Shut up." Sui Wen'an wanted to slap her.

After he finished speaking, he saw Sui Hui coming back, but there was no sign of Sui Yu.

"Please wait a moment, my two lords. I still have a younger sister who hasn't come back yet." He went over to explain.

The housekeeper came out of the room and took out the deeds of Sui Yu and the other two, saying, "Master Hu, the deeds of the three sisters are here."

Lord Hu took over and said to Lieutenant Li's men, "I'll take them back and sell them for a small sum. Then they won't be camp prostitutes anymore."

"Thank you for your help, sir."

"That's too much."

As they were talking, three more men came. The leader was wearing a military uniform, and the other two were dressed as farmers. The tall man was barefoot with mud on his feet. He had just returned from the fields and was called by Captain Li before he even entered the door.

"Sir Hu, I have brought people here. Zhao Xiping and Qian Wei are both unmarried." Captain Li bowed as he spoke, and the corner of his eye had already swept over the Sui Hui sisters from head to toe. The two skinny girls were not as attractive as the widow selling vegetables. He immediately changed his mind.

"Why are there only two people?" asked Lord Hu.

"Guo Dadao, one of Captain Sun's men, is working in the fields. He hasn't returned yet. I've already instructed him to come over when he returns."

Satisfied with his words, Lord Hu turned to Captain Li's men and said, "They are all capable and brave men. The three sisters of the Sui family will not suffer if they follow them."

Lieutenant Li's men nodded and said, "Our soldiers in the northwest are all good."

After hearing this, Sui Wen'an secretly pinched Sui Ling and threatened: "If you dare to make a fuss, you will stay in the camp whorehouse and I will not care about you anymore."

Sui Ling quickly shook her head.

Zhao Xiping's face fell on the side. He finally realized that Li Baihu, that bastard, was disgusting him again. How could his clean family marry a criminal slave from a brothel?

He was just thinking about how to refuse without offending Lord Hu when he saw the camp prostitutes coming back.

Sui Yu put the kang mat into the yard, walked out and said, "Let's go."

"Are these the only three people?" Lord Hu asked. Seeing Sui Wen'an nod, he glanced at his men and said, "Since you two are here, you two can choose first."

"Then let's pick her." Qian Wei pointed at Sui Ling. This girl seemed to be a talkative person, and he didn't want to go back with a dull girl.

Sui Wen'an pushed Sui Ling over and said, "Live a good life with your brother-in-law."

"I hope you will forgive me, sir. I have a clean background and my ancestors were law-abiding people. I don't want to marry a criminal slave. It will bring shame to my ancestors." Zhao Xiping said in a deep voice.

"Wen'an, what's going on? Are you here to take us away?" Aunt Chun and her group rushed back. Seeing that something was wrong, they asked in a shrill voice without waiting to find out what was going on.

Sui Wen'an lowered his head in shame.

Sui Ling was afraid that the situation might change, so she quickly walked behind Qian Wei, fearing that he would go back on his word.

Captain Li's men ignored the situation. He walked a few steps away and urged, "Hurry up and solve this problem. The captain is waiting for me to report back."

Lord Hu looked at the frantic women in front of him. He raised his hand and pointed at Sui Hui, asking, "Can you read?"

"I can read and write and do accounting." Sui Hui nodded hurriedly.

"My old lady is in need of a maid. You can go with me."

Sui Hui was overjoyed. She didn't care about anything else and hurried over.

Now only Sui Yu was left. Captain Li kicked Zhao Xiping and urged him, "Hurry up, don't delay the adults."

Zhao Xiping clenched his teeth and said nothing.

"Hahaha—" Tong Huaer laughed. She grabbed Sui Yu and cursed, "You told me the law was wrong, but I was stupid enough to believe you. No wonder you're protecting your dog master like a lackey, and you're also thinking about escaping from this wolf's den, right? Hahaha... Don't even think about it." After that, she suddenly calmed down, knelt down and complained, "My lord, Sui Yu cursed the law last night, saying that the law was wrong to appease public anger and that we were guilty. She doesn't accept the court..."

"No!" Sui Yu screamed. She never expected that she would be bitten back. She panicked and said, "I was just talking nonsense. We had a fight last night because of a personal grudge. I was afraid that they would cause trouble again, so I just said it casually."

Captain Li's men and Lord Hu stared at her with scrutiny, and their expressions changed.

"So you said the law is wrong?" asked Captain Li's subordinates.

"Sir, my cousin is an ignorant girl who never leaves the house. How could she know such words?" Sui Wen'an understood what he meant.

"I was just talking nonsense. I didn't say that." Sui Yu quickly changed her words and knelt down with weak legs.

"She doesn't..." Tong Huaer was about to say something, but Aunt Chun covered her mouth with one hand. She glanced at Sui Yu and remembered that Sui Hu was a good man. When her eldest son was sick in childhood, it was Sui Hu who invited a doctor from the neighboring county to treat him and saved his life. She decided to help Sui Yu.

"Tong Huaer is crazy, sir, don't listen to her nonsense. The old woman was there last night, and Sui Yu didn't say such things." She said.

"Yes, Sister Yu never said that." Sui Hui chimed in.

Captain Li's men turned around, their meaning was self-evident.

Sui Yu was so scared that she broke out in a cold sweat. She broke free from Tong Huaer's hand and ran straight over without caring about Zhao Xiping's wishes.

"Stay away from me." Zhao Xiping's face was full of disgust.

"Please save me." Sui Yu was extremely panicked, her eyes filled with tears. Turning back, she saw an abyss that she couldn't see the bottom of. She could only grasp the life-saving straw in front of her, moving forward step by step, begging: "I'm sorry, please take me in."

Zhao Xiping turned his head away from her and said coldly, "I won't marry the daughter of a corrupt official. Find someone else."

"No, my father is not a corrupt official. It's my uncle who is guilty. Our two families rarely interact. My father is just a servant." Sui Yu hurriedly explained. She didn't dare look back and continued, "My father is just an unappreciated bastard. He didn't know about the corruption. Our family was implicated by my uncle."

"Hahahaha——" Tong Huaer laughed sarcastically.

"I've given you the honor, you can't be picky." Li Baihu pushed Sui Yu and said, "I've made the decision. You are his wife."

As soon as the matter was resolved, Captain Li's men immediately left, followed by Lord Hu and Sui Hui.

When Sui Wen'an saw Sui Liang about to leave, he stopped him and said, "Follow me."

Sui Liang refused, he still remembered what his father said.

When Sui Yu heard the noise, she ran over and took the burden away, not daring to look at Sui Wen'an from beginning to end.

Running to Zhao Xiping, she said shamelessly: "This is my brother. He is a fool. He didn't even know to cry out when his father died. Just give him some porridge to keep him alive. He can work."

Sui Liang looked at the man in front of him eagerly.

Zhao Xiping glared at Sui Yu with a gloomy face. Who would fool him? Does this child look like a fool?

Sui Yu smiled at him ingratiatingly, and when she saw him walk away, she hurriedly pulled Sui Liang to follow him.

When Captain Li saw Zhao Xiping with a sour face as if he had swallowed dog shit, he felt very happy and followed him with his hands behind his back.

Leaving the brothel and entering the peaceful and bustling city, Sui Yu memorized the route carefully, taking each step with care. She thought to herself that the days of despair were over, and no matter how difficult the days ahead would be, she would continue to live.

"Hey! Brother Sun, where are you coming from?" Captain Li called out to the horse riders on the street. "Is this the wild horse you harnessed this past spring? Is it tamed?"

"Haha, it's tamed."

The wild horse was unsaddled, its body covered with whip marks of varying ages. When the reins were tightened, it lowered its head obediently, but when Captain Li approached, it subconsciously raised its hoof to kick.

"Yo, the wildness never dies."