Chapter 16 The Wei family's relatives have arrived!

To be fair, the Shen family wasn't entirely innocent. Over the years, they had reaped enormous benefits by relying on the two powerful figures in the palace. The gold and silver treasures she confiscated from the Shen family's treasury would be enough for at least fifty years in modern times.

The Shen family needs to learn a lesson!

Shen Lanxi had no dreams all night. The stables in the backyard were noisy until late at night before quieting down. In the morning, after Li Mama brought back breakfast, she brought back Shen Yuanjing's words.

"Young Master, Young Master Yuanjing said that the old lady took all the silver you gave him last night! She wants you to send some more!"

Shen Lanxi was eating breakfast. It was just getting light when the exiled prisoners were about to set off.

After thinking for a moment, Li's mother took out a fifty-tael silver note from her pocket and placed it on the table.

"Miss, I used the hundred taels you gave me before to buy grain and an oxcart. This is my savings over the years. Please take it and buy some food!"

Shen Lanxi glanced at Li Mama, picked up the silver note and put it back in her hand, then had Chunxue give her a bag of silver.

“Your whole family lives with us, how can I take your money again? I’ll figure out a way to deal with the money. Give this bag of silver to my father and tell him to use it sparingly!”

Chunxue frowned and said, "Miss, we don't have much money left."

Shen Lanxi: "Use it for now, we'll figure out a solution on the way!"

Chunxue wanted to say a few words to the master, saying that the Shen family was already in such a state, even if it was to show respect to the elders, half would have been enough, why give it all away? What would the eldest son's family use if it was all given away? In the end, because of her status, she couldn't bring herself to speak.

"Get ready to depart!" The prisoners were being driven out of the post station.

On the second day, the prisoners were noticeably less energetic than on the first day. Old Master Shen and his wife could only walk for a short while before they were too tired to walk any further and had their children and grandchildren take turns carrying them.

The men of the Shen family have been pampered for years and none of them can endure hardship. Each of them carried the load for only a short while before they began to take turns carrying it.

Fortunately, there were many men in the Shen family, so there was a long break in between when they took turns. Even so, after a morning, there were still many complaints.

"Mother, why don't we have Lanxi talk to the officials and ask if you, Father, and the children can sit in the carriage or oxcart?" After walking all morning, Shen Congyi's feet were blistered. He didn't care about the pain at the moment and quickly discussed this matter. He didn't want to carry people around again in the afternoon.

Madam Shen had actually been thinking about this for a while, but yesterday her eldest son, Shen Congwen, had analyzed the pros and cons in front of the whole family, telling them to keep their distance from Lan Xi and not to expose Lan Xi's identity as a member of the Shen family.

What if they get too close and arouse suspicion?

"Go ask your older brother!"

When Shen Congyi returned, Shen Congwen followed behind him.

“Father, Mother, your son feels this is inappropriate. We’ve only just left the capital, and even if we wanted to take a carriage, we’d have to travel further. The other exiled prisoners have been harboring resentment towards us since yesterday. When I came over just now, I saw some people speaking ill of our Shen family!”

Upon hearing these words, the Shen family members were immediately enraged.

What did they say about us?

Shen Congwen: "They said that our Shen family committed heinous crimes, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and that we shouldn't be treated so well!"

Old Mrs. Shen angrily retorted, "They're talking nonsense! Our family has been wronged. Once His Majesty has investigated, he will summon us back to the capital. They are the real criminals, deserving of death!"

Shen Congwen lowered his head, his eyes vacant. Find out? It's not that easy.

"Mother, we know we are innocent, but others don't believe us!"

Old Mrs. Shen: "We can't just let them smear us. You heard that, why don't you explain it to the officials!"

Shen Congwen sighed silently. It seemed that his mother had forgotten how the constables looked at them before Lanxi had made arrangements.

"Mother, let's wait. When we've gone a bit further and are truly exhausted, the constables will worry about us slowing down. We can then make some concessions, and they'll be more likely to agree than they are now!"

Old Master Shen spoke up.

"Listen to the boss. It takes eight months to walk from the capital to Dongchuan. The other exiled prisoners will definitely cause trouble if they see us having it too easy. What if we anger the yamen runners and they stop letting Lanxi bring us food?"

Although Madam Shen looked unwell, she did not say anything more.

Grandpa Shen said, "If the children can't walk anymore, let the adults carry them. If the women can't walk anymore, let their husbands help them. We're still better off than people in shackles, so don't take our blessings for granted!"

The second, third, and fourth brothers looked at the prisoners staggering ahead in their shackles and fell silent.

During the lunch break, a group of people suddenly ran over from not far away.

"We've caught up! They're over there! It must be them!" someone shouted from the crowd.

Shen Lanxi quickly sent Chunxue and Qiushuang to find out what was going on!

As soon as the men got closer, the constables drew their swords and stood ready.

"Are there any Shen family members inside who could harm the Wei family army in the Northwest?" A man carrying a three-pronged wooden fork stepped forward and shouted!

The constables' first thought was to rescue the prisoners, but these men were dressed like poor farmers, and no one could rescue a prisoner while carrying farm tools.

Liu Laohu frowned and shouted, "Are you family members of Wei Jiajun?"

The man with the wooden fork said, "That's right, the Shen family ruined my family and killed my entire family. All three of my brothers were members of the Wei family army. We are all family members of the fallen Wei family soldiers. Today, even if we have to risk our lives, we will kill the Shen family!"

Liu Laohu shouted, "We're heading northwest. There are no members of the Shen family here. You've come to the wrong place!"

Before he could finish speaking, the fourth son of the Shen family, a concubine, collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way, and burst into tears of fear.

"I don't want to die, Father, Aunt, Grandfather, Grandmother, I don't want to die..."

Immediately, a member of Wei Jiajun's family shouted, "It's them! Don't be fooled! It's them!"

If the timing hadn't been wrong, Liu Laohu would have dragged the crying, begging brat out and whipped him to death.

"It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding!"

After speaking to Wei Jiajun's family, Liu Laohu turned and glared angrily at all the exiled prisoners as a warning.

"If I ever hear anyone crying at a funeral again, I'll cut out their tongue!"

Spring snow went to report, while autumn frost continued to keep watch.

"Miss, the Wei family's relatives have come to seek revenge on the Shen family!"

Shen Lanxi had anticipated that someone might try to kill the Shen family on the road, but she never expected the first round to be so open!

"Go see if any of those people know kung fu. If so, drag them out and hand them over to Liu Laohu."

"yes!"

By the time the spring snow passed, a fight had already broken out over there.

Twenty-odd yamen runners faced forty-odd civilians, interspersed with crying and fleeing exiled prisoners, creating utter chaos!

"Damn it, if you don't stop, don't blame me for being impolite!" Liu Laohu angrily drew his knife.

"Anyone who dares to lay a hand on me will be treated as a robber and killed without exception!" Liu Laohu shouted, and many people stopped.

"All exiled prisoners, get down on the ground! Anyone who tries to run away, behead them! Your entire family, including your nine generations of relatives, will be thrown in jail!"

More people stopped.

"Don't listen to him, it wasn't his family member who died!"

(End of this chapter)