The day after tomorrow, Shi Wang indeed came and told her that the medicinal herbs had been prepared.

Pan Jinhua told him that he and Jiang Jiangong didn't need to come again, but only to see them off on the day of their exile. Shi Wang agreed. Other families also had their own in-laws; some came, some didn't. The Li family was now practically scattered after their downfall.

In the past few days, some members of the clan have been taken away one after another. It turned out that some members of the Li clan had committed crimes that were discovered. Some were beaten, some were exiled, and some were beheaded. Pan Jinhua figured that her family's court hearing would probably be in the next few days, and sure enough, the next day they were taken away by the jailers.

"Madam, the court is about to begin." The officer who came to fetch her was quite polite. Pan Jinhua bowed and thanked him, "Thank you for informing me, officer." Now that they were prisoners, they dared not let the officer be so polite. They were only relying on Master Hu's words that day. Master Hu had already repaid the favor, so they couldn't take advantage of him. They still had to be clear about their status.

As they walked out of the prison, they finally saw Li Xuming and the others again. Except for the children, all the men were in shackles and handcuffs. Neither side dared to make a sound, and they only nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Upon reaching the main hall, everyone knelt down and kowtowed as required by custom.

Hu, acting as the county magistrate, read out the imperial proclamation and arranged for the Li family members to sign and affix their fingerprints. They had no other crimes and were simply being exiled along with the main branch of the family. This was an excellent outcome, and Pan Jinhua was finally relieved. After signing, the Li family members were taken back to their respective cells.

Li Xuming felt that things had been resolved very smoothly, and he felt even more respect for his mother. The other members of the Li family also sighed that having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. They were grateful for the protection of heaven and their father, which allowed the old lady to have a premonition. If it weren't for the old lady, they would not know how anxious they would be now. Now that everything has settled down, the whole family breathed a sigh of relief and even felt a sense of anticipation for the upcoming journey of exile.

The next day, before dawn, Wednesday signed a form at the county government office, received a slip of paper, and led a few brothers to the jail to pick up the man.

The four of them joked and played around on the way. Liu Dahai hooked his arm around Zhou San's and whispered, "Third Brother, this..." He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, "Did you receive it?"

Wednesday nodded lazily, "I didn't expect that even after the Li family fell, there would still be people in their family helping us. Since we brothers have benefited, we should naturally give them some help. If you don't cause trouble for us on the road, then it's a win-win situation for everyone."

Just last night, he arrived home and someone came to visit. The visitor asked for favors for Li Xuming's family. He said that he would take care of each of the accompanying officials and gave him fifty taels of silver. He only said that he would take care of the Li family and that he should do what he was supposed to do normally without making it too obvious. If the Li family arrived at their place of exile safely, he would send another fifty taels.

His duty was to escort the Li family prisoners safely to Lingnan. He could earn a hundred taels of silver for each round trip. Such a business was hard to find even with a lantern. Even if he didn't do some shady business, he couldn't earn that much silver from the government office alone, and that was without having to share any profits.

"The Li family is indeed a powerful clan in Nanze. Even a starving camel is bigger than a horse. Who knows what opportunity they might seize to rise again?"

“Families that have produced officials in the capital naturally have some tricks up their sleeves. Let’s just hope we can get away with this peacefully and make this money without offending anyone.” Zhou San nudged his brothers, who responded in hushed tones.

The group resumed their laughter and chatter, then showed the note at the prison gate and exchanged a few words with the guards.

"Li Panshi, come out, it's time to go."

The guard opened the cell door and called out to Pan Jinhua. Pan Jinhua took Li Qingjun's hand and said, "Qingjun, come with your grandmother. Don't be afraid."

"Yes, Grandmother."

Li Qingjun had been in the prison for a long time, and his chubby little face was all dirty. He stayed by his grandmother's side the whole time, knowing he couldn't cry or make a fuss, and he endured his longing for his mother. Not only did Pan Jinhua love him very much, but Liu Yun, Mo Qiaoniang, and even the girls Li Qingruo all felt sorry for him and cared for him a lot.

Pan Jinhua led Li Qingjun out, and Liu Yun and the others also helped each other out. They gathered with the Li clan members in the adjacent prison cell. Among them were Li Si's family and two other families, none of whom were older than Pan Jinhua in terms of seniority.

Liu Yun whispered in Pan Jinhua's ear, "They belong to Fifth Uncle and Seventh Uncle's family."

Pan Jinhua nodded, recognizing her as well. "I see. It seems the others aren't coming with us."

Liu Yun agreed, and the men's and women's prisoners gathered at this time, forming a large and imposing group.

Li Xuming's family had fifteen members, Li Si's family had seven, including three children, Li Wu's family had twenty-one, and Li Qi's family had fourteen. The Li family as a whole numbered fifty-seven, while the accompanying officials numbered only twenty-three.

Don't panic on Wednesday. They all have knives, and the Li family men are still wearing wooden shackles and leg irons.

The officials divided the work and herded the Li family members into a group. They stood in the middle, with the Li family members on both sides. The Zhou family also had a simple horse-drawn cart to carry food, since both the soldiers and prisoners needed to eat and drink.

And so the group set off.

At the farewell pavilion outside the city, a large number of people had already been waiting.

Seeing Zhou San lead his men slowly over, they all rushed forward. Jiang Jiangong and his men, who were at the head of the group, were carrying hot breakfasts. "Gentlemen, you've worked hard. Please have your meal here."

It was common for prisoners to be seen off, and this was often how the exile officers made their living. Everyone has relatives and friends. On Wednesday, he waved to his brothers to come over for breakfast, letting the prisoners bid farewell to their loved ones.

Running away is impossible; they're all handcuffed and shackled.

"mother!"

The bailiffs made way, and Pan Jinhua's daughters, Li Mudan and Li Furong, squeezed through. They hugged Pan Jinhua and cried loudly, lamenting that their poor mother, over fifty years old, had to suffer like this in her old age.

“You’re a mother now, don’t act like a child.” Pan Jinhua didn’t know how to handle the situation, so she could only lecture her with a blank face.

Li Mudan and Li Furong were also crying uncontrollably. Seeing this, Shi Wang quickly comforted them, "Sister, Madam, don't upset Mother. Quickly tell her the important matter so that she can have a better journey."

Seeing Shi Wang say this, the two managed to hold back their tears.

"We've done everything we were told, and we're just hoping she'll send us a message when she arrives."

"Okay, that's good. Your third sister-in-law is currently at her parents' home, so you two need to take good care of her."

"We know that the Qi brothers also brought their third sister-in-law today."

Over there, Qi Wan, heavily pregnant, was crying with Li Xuchang, Li Qingtong, and Li Qingjun. The two children hugged their mother, who hadn't seen her in the prison for several days and was terrified. Now that they saw her, they couldn't hold back anymore and cried loudly. It was also thanks to the leniency of the court that children under ten years old were spared handcuffs and leg irons, thus avoiding physical suffering.

But Li Xuchang and the others were different. They wore wooden shackles and leg irons. Their ankles were worn raw, and their wrists and necks were covered in blood.

Qi Wan watched with tears streaming down her face, wishing she could take her place. Now her husband and child had been exiled, while she was enjoying a comfortable life at her parents' home. She didn't know how much she was suffering.

"Sanlang..."