Chapter 71 Exile: Dogs Biting Dogs

"Your uncle's family brought this upon themselves, why did you go to see them off?" Wang Zhi asked without looking up, fiddling with the abacus beads.

Lin Yao pinched the purse at her waist, the ten taels of silver inside pressing against her palm. This amount was nothing to her now, but for the Lin family, who were about to be exiled, it was enough to bribe the escorting officials and ensure they would have a peaceful journey for quite some time. "I'm not going to see them off; I need to find out how they knew about the five-spice powder."

The thick felt curtain at the entrance of the restaurant fluttered in the wind. Lin Yao pushed the curtain aside, and the north wind blew in with a chill. She wrapped her cloak tighter and hurried toward the town entrance.

A large crowd had already gathered at the main entrance, mostly family members of those being exiled that day. Lin Yao even saw the original owner's grandparents among them. She was wearing a bright red cloak made from grain, which was quite conspicuous, so Lin Maode and Zhu Shi also noticed her.

A group of people were already waiting at the town gate, mostly relatives of the exiled prisoners.

Lin Yao immediately spotted the original owner's grandfather, Lin Maode, and grandmother, Zhu Shi. The bright red cloak that Liang Shi had made for her was also very eye-catching, making it difficult for Lin Maode not to notice her.

When their eyes met, the hatred in Lin Maode's eyes almost overflowed; he wished he could tear her apart. Just as he was about to walk towards her, someone in the waiting crowd shouted, "They're here!"

In the distance, several constables escorted a group of prisoners slowly approaching. Lin Maode immediately abandoned Lin Yao, grabbed a cloth bag at his feet, and squeezed into the crowd. The prisoners' families scrambled to stuff money into the constables' hands, some a few dozen coins, others a few taels, just to make their loved ones' journey a little easier. This was an old custom on the road to exile; the escorting duties were arduous, and the officials above were happy to turn a blind eye.

Lin Maode and his wife sold two acres of poor land and scraped together five taels of silver. He handed half of it to the head constable, who weighed the amount and his expression softened considerably: "You have a quarter of an hour. Speak quickly if you have something to say."

Lin Maode nodded and bowed: "Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir!" Lin Maode nodded and bowed, then turned and approached Lin Da and his son with Zhu Shi. Zhu Shi stared at her son and grandson, tears streaming down her face: "They've lost weight, they're all so thin... My son, you've suffered so much!"

Lin Maode looked at Lin Changshou and his two sons. In just one month, they had become so thin that their cheekbones protruded and their eyes were sunken. He stuffed the remaining two and a half taels of silver into Lin Changshou's hand: "Spend it sparingly. You'll have to pay your respects to the constables when you get there."

"Two and a half taels?!" Lin Changshou's cracked lips trembled, and his thin face instantly contorted with rage. "Am I not your biological son? What good is two and a half taels of silver? We don't even know if we'll come back alive, and this is all the money you give us?!"

Lin Maode's face flushed red and then paled, but seeing his son's current state, he couldn't bear to scold him. Their land wasn't good land; after selling two mu, they were left with only two mu to pay the land tax. Everyone in the village knew Lin Yao was now rich. When they wanted to borrow money, people were afraid of getting tainted by Lin Da's family and losing their chance to make money with Lin Yao. "Why aren't you my own son?" he argued hoarsely. "If all the land is sold, what will you eat when you come back?"

Upon hearing Lin Maode's words, Zhu's hand, which was wiping away tears, froze. Her cloudy eyes stared at her husband, filled with disbelief.

Lin Yao, who had just approached, also heard these words and paused in her tracks. What did this old man mean? Wasn't Lin Changkang his son? Was he so biased? So biased that he only recognized this shifty-eyed eldest son?

She couldn't help but scrutinize the Lin family: all three had pointed mouths and monkey-like faces. Lin Youfu was so fat that his features were squeezed together, and his eyes were just slits. Paired with Lin Maode, whose eyelids drooped, they were practically identical. Then she looked at Zhu Shi. She still had her eyes downcast, but it was clear that her eyes weren't big.

Thinking back to herself and her two siblings, they didn't resemble this family at all. Could it be that Jia's genes were so powerful that they had driven out the inferior genes of this family?

Just as she was pondering this, Lin Youmin saw her and immediately started cursing: "You little bastard! Did you come here to laugh at us? Don't think you'll have a good life just because we're gone. Just wait, one day you'll get your retribution."

Lin Yao rubbed her frostbitten ears and shook the purse in her hand: "I don't know about retribution, but you'll suffer on the road if you don't have any money. I have ten taels here, do you want it?"

Lin Youmin's cursing stopped abruptly, and he snorted with his neck stiff, "At least you still have some conscience."

“You’re wrong,” Lin Yao said, pulling her purse back and walking up to them. “This money isn’t free. How do you know I have a secret recipe? Whoever tells you first gets the money.”

Even after the verdict, she still felt uneasy. It's not unusual for food to have secret recipes, but how did they manage to guess it was five-spice powder so accurately?

As for why she only gave the money to the first person who told her, it's because if there really was an informant, they wouldn't willingly tell her who it was. This group would rather leave her with a hidden danger than let her find out. Of course, she also had a wicked plan. This family wasn't good people, and giving the money to only one person would surely make them fight like dogs.

Sure enough, as soon as Lin Youfu heard there was money, he immediately blurted out, "It's Wu Tong! Once, Wu Tong was playing in front of our house, stringing leaves together and sprinkling sand on them, saying it was some kind of 'fragrant powder,' and that it made meat smell really good. My dad saw it and asked if it was salt, and he said no, it was 'delicious fragrant powder,' so we guessed you had a secret recipe. Later, when you weren't home, we climbed over the wall into the old house and immediately saw the jar in the newly opened cabinet. You hadn't hidden it; we saw it right away!" After saying this, he took a few breaths to catch his breath, and desperately stretched his handcuffed hands forward, "I spoke first! Give me the money!"

Lin Yao quickly took two steps back, threw the purse far away, and walked away without looking back. Immediately behind her came the clanging sound of chains being dragged and the shouts and curses of the three people fighting over it.

Throughout the journey, Lin Yao felt a sense of helplessness, as if she had punched cotton.

When the renovation of the old house officially began, Wu Tong couldn't be of much help, so she had him assist in the kitchen. She had made barbecue once before, and since there was no cumin, she sprinkled five-spice powder instead. Perhaps he had overheard her conversation with Wang Xiaoyu then.

This served as a wake-up call for her. In her previous life, she lived in an era where recipes were publicly available, and the formulas for many spices were common knowledge. But now, this small piece of five-spice powder was the foundation of her livelihood, allowing no room for negligence. She desperately wanted to establish herself in this world, and her only reliance was this little bit of advanced culinary knowledge. However, this advanced culinary knowledge was both her reliance and her downfall; from now on, she would have to be extremely cautious.

Lin Yao did not go directly back to the restaurant, but went to the clinic instead.

Inside the clinic, only Chen Qianyuan's young apprentice was squatting in front of the medicine shelf, sorting herbs. When he saw her come in, he quickly stood up and asked, "Manager Lin, what medicine do you need?"

"Give me two jin of five-finger peach." Lin Yao rubbed her frozen hands.

While wrapping the medicine, Chen Sui asked, "Have you been having a poor appetite lately?"

"No, it's for making a pot for boiling chicken soup." Lin Yao glanced around the inner room. "Where's your master?"

"I'm out making house calls," Chen Sui handed her the paper package. "There are a lot of people with colds in town these days."

Lin Yao tucked the medicine packet into her bosom to warm it, and stamped her numb feet: "The weather turns cold so suddenly. The restaurant has new spicy hot pot and pork tripe and chicken hot pot. A bite of these in this freezing weather will warm you up from head to toe. I'll ask Doctor Chen to take you to try them when he has time."

Chen Sui's mouth watered at the thought, and he nodded in agreement: "I'll go by myself when I get paid this month." He didn't need his master to take him. His master had recently suffered a new injury and was busy taking care of him. He didn't have time to take him. Besides, his master always went to eat secretly and never took him. Humph! Stingy guy, he wouldn't take his master either.

Behind the curtain, Xu Zhiheng sat on a stone chair, chuckled as he listened to the conversation outside, and turned to look at Chen Qianyuan, who was changing his bandages: "Did you hear that? Your apprentice is going to leave you to eat alone. It's clear that you've been mistreating him quite a bit."

Chen Qianyuan suddenly exerted force on his hand, causing Xu Zhiheng to almost jump off his chair in pain. He said fiercely, "You can't eat spicy or irritating foods. Keep the wound dry and come back in two days to change the dressing."

"Just kidding, why are you getting so worked up?" Xu Zhiheng said, grinning.

Chen Qianyuan rolled his eyes at him, his hands still busy: "If it weren't for Madam Xu's sake, who would bother with you? Every day before dawn, you and your men wake me up. What have you been up to this time? Does Madam know?"

Xu Zhiheng didn't dare to joke anymore. "It's nothing. I just saw a bully harassing men and women, and I naturally had to help when I saw injustice. I just didn't expect there to be such a skilled person in this rural area. I was careless and got injured."

Knowing he wasn't telling the truth, Chen Qianyuan didn't tolerate it and directly exposed him: "Nonsense, you could have been taught these techniques by the general himself. These knife wound techniques are ruthless, how could a country bully use them?"

Xu Zhiheng scratched his head, but ultimately didn't tell the truth: "Brother Chen, please don't ask. I have to do this. I know what I'm doing."

The person who injured him was not a bully, but one of Prince Rui's bodyguards.

Lu Dazhi reported that he had seen Prince Rui buying jewelry at the Jin Yu Ge with a woman from the Jin Kingdom. He claimed that she was his newly acquired concubine, but the woman had an extraordinary demeanor and used luxurious items. More importantly, Lu Dazhi vaguely saw a peony birthmark on her forehead.

Legend has it that the Jin princess was incomparably beautiful, and the peony birthmark on her forehead made her seem like a celestial being descended to earth. However, her beauty was her least remarkable asset; she possessed a ruthless art of poison, capable of killing without a trace. If that woman was indeed Princess Wanyan Wulu of the Jin Kingdom, then Prince Rui and the Jin Kingdom were likely already in cahoots.

Upon receiving the news, Xu Zhiheng immediately led his entire household to the northern frontier.

The night Xu Zhiheng sneaked into Prince Rui's residence, he stumbled upon Wanyan Wulu dancing in the courtyard, the peony birthmark on his forehead clearly visible. He intended to leave, but overheard Prince Rui discussing with her how to instigate the emperor to execute the Xu family. These words struck him like a thunderbolt, enraging him to the point that he inadvertently exposed himself during his retreat, resulting in the numerous wounds inflicted by the guards.

Seeing that he wouldn't say more, Chen Qianyuan stopped asking and simply tightened the bandage that had been changed: "Alright, hurry back. If you keep going like this, the wound will get infected."

Xu Zhiheng responded, slowly stood up while holding onto the stone table, put away his mischievous smile, and looked through the window at the official road outside the town, his eyes as cold as ice.

Chen Qianyuan watched his retreating figure and sighed deeply. The son of a general could not escape his fate; how could this world allow him to live as an ordinary person?

-----------------------

Author's Note: [Pigeon]: Coo coo coo, if you don't understand what I'm saying, let me translate: Beautiful lady, may I add this to my favorites? [Let me see]