The Yao family finally handed her a package, which contained all the supplies that the Yao family had prepared for her overnight, including some clothes, cloth shoes, medicinal materials, dry food, etc. The most valuable item turned out to be a worn-out cowhide water bag, which was not expensive but very practical.
"You'll be walking a thousand or two thousand miles, so your shoes will wear out. I rushed two pairs for you overnight." When Yao's mother mentioned shoes, she squeezed her wrist tightly and paused before continuing, "The clothes were sewn by your aunt, sister-in-law, and second sister-in-law. And the medicinal herbs were made by your grandfather..."
At this point, Yao's mother could no longer speak and could only cry, "My poor child, I don't know how much hardship he must have endured along the way."
Yao Chunnuan understood what she meant. It seemed that there was something in the shoe. She thought about it and thought that it must be a banknote, otherwise it would not be hidden. Unfortunately, even if it was a banknote, she could not take it out before arriving in Yichun.
Before the package reached Yao Chunnuan, all the things that their relatives had prepared for them were first handed over to the officials. They would check it and then give it to them, but it was hard to say what was left in their hands.
These prisoners were sentenced to exile instead of death, which meant that they could not be allowed to die for no reason during the journey. They were responsible for escorting them, and some people could die due to accidents, but if too many died, they would not be able to explain themselves.
Therefore, the State of Daliang did not ban this. After all, exile was really hard, and having relatives and friends provide some supplies could also protect their lives to the greatest extent.
When escorting prisoners, the government would also give them a sum of money as travel expenses. With the support of their relatives and friends, the prisoners would need less money for the journey. The saved money would eventually go into their pockets. This was a common practice.
The Yao family had obviously done their best to prepare the package. The officials opened the package and checked even the corners of the clothes. They found that there were no valuables, so they only took out the water bag and gave it to her. The rest were tied up and piled casually on the carriage.
Yes, escort officers can request one or two carriages to carry luggage along the way.
Yao Chunnuan took the water bag and thanked him.
The Yao family was thoughtful and specially made a strap to tie to the water bag so that it could be carried on the back.
Such a convenient water bag attracted people's frequent scrutiny, even the officials took a few glances at it. However, the cowhide water bag was too old and it was obviously not new. There were black and red spots on it, which made it very ugly. It was not worth stealing.
Yao Chunnuan was also quite satisfied with the water bag. Few of these prisoners had water bags; most used bamboo tubes. It was quite common to see a prisoner with one or two hanging from his waist. If it weren't for the Yao family's thoughtful preparations, she would probably have been like the other prisoners.
Different from the solemn farewell scene at the Yao family's side, Wei Qiuyu waited and waited, and finally the Wei family members came.
The Wei family did come, but they didn't want to, mainly because the Yao family had come. If they didn't come, the villagers would speak harshly.
The Wei family also prepared some supplies for Wei Qiuyu, but they were nowhere near as elaborate as the Yao family's. They only had two sets of old clothes, a pair of shoes, and some cheap dry food. They didn't have any water bags, let alone any medicinal herbs.
Seeing this, Wei Qiuyu almost cried in anger and couldn't help but complain a few words.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Wei argued, "How can our family compare with the Yao family? The Yao family has had two consecutive village chiefs, and they have accumulated wealth and live better than our family. Later, you and Yao Chunnuan got married at the same time, and the Yao family kept 20% to 30% of the betrothal gifts, so they were even richer. What about you? You said that you took all the betrothal gifts back for the sake of face, to make you stand up straight, and to be able to take better care of your parents' home in the future! How can our Wei family compare with the Yao family?" At the end, Mrs. Wei was sarcastic. She now regretted very much why she listened to her daughter's nonsense and pushed away the gold, silver and jewelry she had obtained!
Wei Qiuyu was extremely embarrassed when her mother revealed all her plans in front of her husband's family.
As Yao Chunnuan and the Yao family bid farewell, the Wang and Han families were also eagerly waiting. They had many relatives and old friends, so someone should come to see them off, right? At the very least, they could get them some supplies and help out a little.
Unfortunately, they were disappointed. They didn't wait for anyone or supplies. For their relatives and old friends, this was a time of great panic. They didn't even have time to distance themselves from the matter, so how could they dare to show up?
The Han family's relatives were especially afraid to say a word. They remembered what Yao had said on the day of the final trial. Although they hadn't attended the trial, they had sent servants. When the servants came back and learned what had happened, they had a hunch that things were going to get bad.
Later, it was said that when the Third Prince heard the report below, he sneered repeatedly. They really wanted to unite themselves, for fear that they would be targeted by that person and used as a tool to help the Han family turn the tide in the future.
Wang Lang, who had experienced this once before and had long since witnessed the fickleness of the world, accepted the disappointment on his family's faces. However, he didn't expect the Yao family to be so affectionate and loyal, and to have nothing to say about their daughter Yao Chunnuan.
But these were minor matters; the quality of the escorting officer was paramount during the exile. In their previous life's exile, they had suffered greatly. This time, he had used his chips to make some adjustments, and he thought it would be better than in his previous life.
With this thought, Wang Lang's eyes inadvertently swept over the escort officer, Tian Qigang, who was also the main person in charge of this trip. This man had a good reputation, and the escort team he led was also well-known. I think they would suffer less this time.
This autumn, it wasn't just the Wang and Han families who were exiled; it wasn't just their families who were exiled to Yichun either. As soon as they left the capital, two groups of officials, each escorting twenty or thirty prisoners, arrived to join them. This meant that their group of eighty or ninety prisoners would be escorted to Yichun by thirty or forty escort officers.
Yao Chunnuan glanced at the two groups of people at the back. There were more older people than younger ones. The older people she was referring to were those over thirty. There was no other way. Life expectancy was short in ancient times, so anyone over thirty considered themselves middle-aged.
They are mainly male prisoners, there are also female prisoners, but they are few. However, Yao Chunnuan believes that none of them are easy to mess with.
These two groups of people were not like the Wang and Han families who were exiled because of their patriarch's crimes. Most of them were criminals, and many of them had probably killed people.
There were a few people here that Yao Chunnuan should keep an eye on, and among them, there were two people that Yao Chunnuan paid special attention to. They were a man and a woman, the man's name was Xiao Jieming, and the woman's name was Luo Suyi.
They were both very young, probably around 20 years old. Their looks were quite outstanding among the criminals.
The man was thin and tall, with a good-looking face. When he covered his mouth to cough, the bones of his hands looked very nice, but he kept coughing and coughing, as if he wanted to cough his lungs out of his chest.
When Yao Chunnuan saw the name on Xiao Jieming's prison uniform, she couldn't help laughing.
When he noticed Yao Chunnuan's gaze, he looked towards her and even tilted his head unconsciously, with obvious confusion and puzzlement in his eyes.
Yao Chunnuan nodded slightly and looked away, thinking, this guy is quite perceptive.
The woman had a dull expression and looked weak and vulnerable.
As the two men stood there, the other prisoners unconsciously tried to stay as far away from them as possible. Even the escorting officers treated the two men slightly differently, giving the impression that as long as the other party did not cause trouble, they would not take the initiative to provoke them.
These two people reminded her of a saying: the best hunters usually appear as prey.
After the three teams joined together, Tian Qigang did not let them rest and led them on their journey at full speed.
Exile wasn't about traveling on your own; the amount of walking you had to do each day was fixed. Furthermore, because the cremation of the Imperial Censor had delayed them a bit, they were late setting off, so the escorts had to hustle them along like ducks. After urging them once or twice, if they still refused to obey, they'd just put on their shoes.
Yao Chunnuan observed and found that although there were three groups of people escorting the prisoners together, it was obvious that when something really happened to a specific prisoner, they still took care of their own business.
But soon, Yao Chunnuan had no time to pay attention to other people's affairs, mainly because the scorching heat was too unbearable. The temperature must have been 34 or 35 degrees Celsius, and she was walking under the scorching sun with only a headscarf on. She felt short of breath and chest tightness, and she almost fainted! But she didn't dare to faint. Someone had fainted just now, Wei Qiuyu's sister-in-law, and she was woken up by being splashed with water. She didn't even have a change of clothes, and had to continue on her way.
She figured if she fainted, she'd be treated the same way. So, she couldn't faint! If only she had a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid, she desperately needed it!
As she thought about this, she immediately felt a plastic bottle in her hand. Realizing something, she immediately tucked her hand into her sleeve and touched it. Sure enough, it was the old-style packaging of Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid that her grandmother loved. Her grandmother loved this kind of liquid. She always said that the old packaging had the right flavor. One tube in the hot summer was guaranteed to make her feel refreshed and even faint.
While the team was taking a break to relieve themselves, Yao Chunnuan found a secluded spot and drank the Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid. She immediately felt much better. After she finished, the plastic bottle automatically disappeared.
When she came out of the woods, she saw Wang Lang standing at the intersection. After seeing her come out, he slowly walked back to the Wang family's resting place.
When she and Xiao Jieming passed by each other, his nose twitched and he looked at her deliberately.
Yao Chunnuan ignored all this and lowered her head, calling out to the old house in her heart.
Give her some more sugar water? She felt that she was in urgent need of energy.
No response.
How about some salt water? This is the next best thing, but I have to agree, right?
Unfortunately, still no response.
Okay, okay, then she won’t make any requests, just give her something, even a pack of tissues will do.
Yao Chunnuan looked up at the sky, facing the wind. What could she do about the old house that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't? Of course, she could just continue living there. What else could she do?
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