Chapter 103 Catching a Cold, Going to the City to Buy Medicine

The group continued on their way, but most of them succumbed to colds and died along the way.

There were still ten miles to go before reaching the town, and most people were too tired to walk any further.

Old Liao told everyone to rest where they were and sent one person from each household to line up and prepare to go into the city to buy things.

As long as they have money, they can buy whatever they want. Even if they eat cornbread every day, let alone these delicate people, even the strong escorts wouldn't be able to stand it.

Some households have two or three rooms. If one person is to go, who should go?

Everyone was shouting, "I'll go! I'll go!" and they all rushed to squeeze into the queue.

Old Liao saw that there were about forty or fifty people queuing up. "The exile team consists of about twenty households. Where did so many people come from? If any family has more, get back. Only one person can be left. Otherwise, you'll be whipped. I'll give you an incense stick's time to discuss it."

Uncle Xiao and Madam Wu saw Yun Zhaoxue in the procession.

Wu reached out and tried to pull her out of the line, saying, "What are you doing? Can't you see that everyone in the line is a man? What are you doing meddling in this mess? Get out of here and let my husband go."

In the eyes of the escorts, the Xiao family was still one family, and they always put them behind the eldest son's family in line.

They witnessed the Xiao family being bullied by the Shen family that morning, and assumed they were all crippled and useless, so they didn't take them seriously.

Only Yun Zhaoxue was able to move; otherwise, they wouldn't have let her, a woman, follow a couple of men into the city.

Yun Zhaoxue waved the person away: "Who says women can't go? Did you make that rule?"

“No one has a rule, but look around, which family doesn’t have men going? What are you, a woman, doing meddling? Come out here.” Wu reached out and grabbed her arm again.

Yun Zhaoxue grabbed her arm and twisted it forcefully, dislocating her arm completely.

"Ahhh!!! My hand hurts, it hurts so much..." Wu screamed in pain, her arm hanging limply, her whole body trembling like a leaf as if she had been electrocuted.

Yun Zhaoxue's cold gaze swept towards Uncle Xiao beside her, "Are you still going to try and take it from me?"

Uncle Xiao was so frightened that his legs wouldn't obey him and he moved out of the line on his own.

Xiao Xuance walked over and said, "Whether the Xiao family has split up or not, the eldest branch is always in charge."

"Achoo, achoo..." Uncle Xiao sneezed several times. "The whole family outside has caught a cold, and Xiu Ning too. You won't let me go to the city to buy medicine. People from the second and third branches of the family will die from the illness. You are heartless and cold-blooded, and you are letting your own relatives die. My elder brother in heaven must regret giving birth to such a rebellious son."

He rushed over and said, "Why do you let the eldest son go but not us? We won't survive without medicine, and we definitely won't make it to the place of exile this time. Rather than let us die of illness on the way to exile, we might as well just kill ourselves now and suffer less."

“Our whole family is injured and then caught a cold, which made things even worse. We wouldn’t have made it through without medicine.”

Not only did the Xiao family argue over the quota for entering the city, but other families with large members were also arguing, though not as fiercely.

Someone stepped forward and discussed with Old Liao, saying, "Uncle Liao, could you let a few more people into the city? Our whole family is sick. Some of them don't have a cold, and medicine doesn't work. We still need to see a doctor to treat their symptoms. Taking medicine randomly can kill people."

Yun Xiuwen also stepped forward and said, "Old Liao, my mother is unwell and needs to be carried every day. Several imperial physicians, including Physician Chen, have seen her but cannot cure her. So let me take a few people to carry her into the city for treatment."

When Lao Liao heard him address him, he sneered inwardly. It's been three days and he still doesn't recognize his own identity. He wants to enter the city?

He's dreaming. That kind of thing will only cause trouble if he goes into the city.

"Just wait outside the city, why all the nonsense? Do you want to get whipped again?"

When Yun Xiuwen saw the whip he raised, he trembled in fright and shrank back. "Master Liao, please don't be angry. Peace brings wealth, peace brings wealth."

As he spoke, he took out a silver note from his sleeve and handed it over. "Master Liao, could we discuss something else? Our family has three branches, a total of seventy or eighty people. With so many mouths to feed, one person can't carry too much. Could you allow one person from each of our second and third branches to contribute?"

"Alright."

Old Liao also took this into consideration, and temporarily changed the rules, allowing only one person from each household to enter the city.

More than forty people lined up and marched into the city in a grand procession.

They were wearing prison clothes, and when they reached the city gate, the other people entering the city looked at them curiously.

"Wow, so many prisoners! Where did they come from?"

"I guess they're from the capital again. Every year there are a large number of them. In the capital, you could easily knock out a high-ranking official by throwing a brick at someone. If you say the wrong thing, you could offend someone and be impeached and exiled."

"Sometimes I think being an ordinary citizen is pretty good."

...

Inspection at the city gate.

Old Liao took out the escort document stamped by the Dali Temple that he carried with him.

The guards checked and confirmed that everything was in order before letting them pass.

Old Liao led the group to the entrance of a large medical clinic.

"You have one hour to go shopping. Buy whatever you want quickly, and then gather here in one hour."

"One 15-minute delay, one lash; two 15-minute delay, two lashes; and don't even think about running away. If you run away, your families will be doomed, and you will become wanted criminals. You can run away, but you can't hide. Remember that?"

More than forty people answered in unison, "We've got it!"

Old Liao nodded in satisfaction. "Dismissed."