Lying in the wild, Wei Qiuyu clung tightly to Han Jinan, as if only in this way could she feel safe enough.
At this moment, her heart could not calm down for a long time. She regretted the path she had chosen. Putting aside the hardship of imprisonment, the hardships of exile were far beyond her imagination, not to mention the hard labor that awaited them afterwards.
These were hardships she had never experienced before. She had taken things for granted, believing she could get through it, that there would be sweetness after bitterness. But even on the first day, she felt suffocated. She didn't dare even imagine what would happen next. For a moment, tears streamed down her face. This was a road of no return. What else could she do but keep going?
She shed silent tears, and Han Jinan felt it. He patted her back to comfort her, "I'm sorry for making you suffer."
Wei Qiuyu turned around, buried her head in his arms, and shook her head wildly, "This is what I want. For you, I can do anything."
Han Jinan hugged her tightly.
The following days were filled with travel, with Tian Qigang leading them to walk fifty miles or more each day. Yao Chunnuan wasn't the one lagging behind; on the contrary, she always kept pace with the group.
Yao Chunnuan had her own plans. She knew she couldn't go on like this. Forced to wear handcuffs on the road, with no autonomy at all, she had to find a way to change her situation. With this in mind, she couldn't act like a mess. She had to be a little more proactive, so the officers would see that she was someone they could easily take on.
Actually, if you think about it optimistically, it's just walking, not as hard as the prisoners who had to build canals. With this comparison, the walk doesn't seem so uncomfortable.
When they were almost exhausted, they finally reached a dilapidated inn where they would stay for the night.
Everyone was very happy that they didn't have to sleep in the wilderness.
They were arranged to sleep in a large dormitory that night, divided into men and women.
Yao Chunnuan had anticipated this. Since they were prisoners, how could they live in a single room? Having a large bunk bed was better than living in the wild.
In fact, she wasn't the only one who had anticipated this. People like Wang Lang, Han Jin'an, Xiao Jieming, and others had all anticipated this. After they had eaten the rough dinner provided by the post station, they were driven off to rest.
This time they couldn't take a shower because hot water was too expensive and the escorting officers were unwilling to let them spend that money.
There was a large vat of water at the door, which was probably what they could use. But how to divide it?
All the female prisoners looked at the vat of water and no one came forward.
Madam Han cleared her throat and said, "There's only one vat of water, so let my eldest daughter-in-law divide it. She used to manage the mansion fairly and justly."
On the Wang family side, Zhang was the most outspoken. "Who doesn't manage a mansion or courtyard? Why should your Han family be the one to distribute this vat of water?"
Old Madam Wang, Madam Wang Da, and the others were dissatisfied with the Han family's decision without consultation, so they kept silent. Although this was just a small matter, it had far-reaching consequences. If such a thing happened again in the future, would it be assumed that the Han family took the lead?
Yao Chunnuan was extremely tired and just wanted to wash up quickly and lie down. She didn't want to join them in arguing.
Just as she was about to step forward, Han Yao stopped her and said, "What do you want to do? Do you have any manners?"
The Wang family watched, and no one said anything.
Wei Qiuyu laughed sarcastically on the side. Yao Chunnuan always liked to take the lead, so she wanted to see if she would get any good results this time.
Yao Chunnuan crossed her arms and said, "Okay, this tank of water will be distributed by your Han family, but half of the female members of your Han family will have to wait in line to use the water." Anyway, the Han family can't think of using up all the water in one go and ignore the rest.
Zhang said unconvincedly, "Hey, Yao, what right do you have to make this decision?"
The women of the Han family did not say anything either. They were very dissatisfied with Yao Chunnuan's request.
"Because I'm tired and I want to wash up as soon as possible. I don't want to waste my time with your nagging and arguing! Is that enough? Do you want to wash up quickly?" Yao Chunnuan asked the female prisoners who were left alone.
Luo Suyi said nothing, but stood silently behind her, offering silent support. The others weren't stupid either, and immediately stood behind Yao Chunnuan.
Now that three forces were formed, the Wang family couldn't say anything, so the matter was settled.
The Han family women were upset that they didn't get any advantage. The Wang family women were also unhappy because Yao Chunnuan had humiliated them.
Yao Chunnuan didn't care about them. After washing first, she went into the room and took the seat at the edge.
After she sat down, she lifted her feet to examine them. As expected, she had blisters on the soles of her feet. In fact, she wasn't the only one; many other prisoners had blisters.
There was a small bottle of golden healing medicine in the package that the Yao family prepared for her. She took it out. It was sold in ordinary pharmacies. She chose the cheap one. The effect was probably limited, but it was better than nothing.
Without a needle, she had to tear open the blister with her hands and apply medicine to it.
Luo Suyi chose a seat next to her and silently sorted out his few bags.
After Yao Chunnuan applied the medicine, she handed the bottle over.
Luo Suyi looked at her.
"Take it and use it." Yao Chunnuan threw the medicine bottle to her and lay down.
Luo Suyi silently held the medicine bottle in her hand and started to apply the medicine to herself after a while. After using it, she stuffed the bottle back into Yao Chunnuan's package.
Yao Chunnuan turned over, faced the wall, and thought about the old house.
After some thought, she realized she was overthinking it. She wasn't supposed to be able to take anything from the old house casually. She only had one chance to take something out each day, and she could only take one thing at a time. Even more outrageous, the old house had set limits on the units of supplies she could take out. For example, she couldn't take a pound of eggs, nor a whole box of them, only one!
What kind of crazy restriction was this? If she wanted to take rice, would she only be allowed to take one grain?
After repeated experimentation, she finally figured out the rules. It was as if the old house existed solely to ensure she wouldn't starve to death. She only had one chance to take supplies out of the house each day. As for the quantity, it was the amount she needed for one person. For example, if she wanted rice, she could only take out two or two taels at a time—a single serving!
After figuring out the rules for using the old house, Yao Chunnuan felt melancholy, as if she owned a mountain of gold and silver, but could not become rich and could only ensure that she would not starve to death.
There was a commotion in the middle of the night, but it soon died down.
For Yao Chunnuan at this time, it was none of her business and she just ignored it. After being woken up, she didn't even get up, but just turned over and continued to sleep.
Luo Suyi had already sat up. Seeing her like this, he first looked outside, then sat there in a daze for a while, and finally lay down silently.
When I woke up in the morning, I found out that one of the male prisoners had tried to escape, but was caught and severely beaten.
After Yao Chunnuan had breakfast, she found Tian Qigang and told him her request, "Master Tian, can I not wear these handcuffs? Don't worry, I'm pregnant, and I promise not to run away. Besides, this road is in the wilderness, and if I run away, wouldn't I be courting death? Besides, my family is in Jinniu Village, Qinghe Town. If I run away, wouldn't I bring disaster to them? I definitely won't do that."
Tian Qigang objected, "That's not okay. It's against the rules." He usually changed the handcuffs and leg shackles of the prisoners he led during the journey and during breaks, allowing them to fend for themselves. This was already a risk. Didn't he see the two teams next to him? They hadn't even removed the handcuffs and leg shackles from the prisoners.
"Sir Tian, the truth is, I know some basic herbal medicine knowledge. Of course, my level is not high, only at the level of the barefoot doctor in the village. But if my hands could move freely, I could help pick some herbs along the way. In such hot weather, prisoners are prone to heatstroke, and making some cooling tea can prevent it, and it won't add burden to you, right? Honeysuckle, mint, light bamboo leaves, etc. can all be used as medicine." Yao Chunnuan tried his best to show his strengths and prove that he was useful.
She actually learned this little bit of knowledge from her grandmother later in life. Her grandmother's family had a long history of practicing medicine, but much of it was lost during the "Four Olds" era, and her grandmother only knew how to use a few herbs to treat common or less common ailments. Yao Chunnuan's knowledge was even less, but she still managed to sprinkle some water on a summer drink.
Yao Chunnuan's words moved them all.
Yao Chunnuan's actions were seen by Wei Qiuyu, who had been paying attention to her.
She was still as scheming as ever, Wei Qiuyu thought with disdain. After a moment's thought, Wei Qiuyu decided to go over and take a look, and happened to hear her last words.
He immediately interrupted and said, "Master Tian, don't be fooled by her. She and I are from the same village. How could she recognize any herbs?"
When Yao Chunnuan saw Wei Qiuyu coming to ruin her plans, she immediately got annoyed, "Are you so sure?" Here she goes again, this bitch just can't stand seeing her doing well!
"You? Don't I know? There is no barefoot doctor in our Jinniu Village. Who did you learn to identify herbs from?" Wei Qiuyu was happy that her business was ruined, and she didn't care whether she was angry or not.
"Why do you care who I learned it from? Since you are sure that I can't recognize herbs, do you dare to eat it?" Yao Chunnuan went to a place three meters away, pulled up a small shrub and threw it in front of her, asking provocatively.
"What kind of grass is this? Why should I eat it?" Wei Qiuyu looked at her warily. The plant even bore red fruits, a bit like the legendary ginseng. But she didn't think Yao Chunnuan would be so kind. Besides, ginseng didn't seem to be something you could just pick.
"Didn't you say I don't know how to identify herbs? Then it's only right that I don't know what this herb is. So I just picked some and you can eat it. You shouldn't be too worried. What? You're afraid? Are you afraid that I might hurt you?"
Wei Qiuyu was scared, "Who knows if it's a poisonous weed?"
"Didn't you say I couldn't identify herbs? How can you be so sure that the one I picked up was a poison plant?"
"No, I don't know if it's poison, but we can't just eat it, right?" Wei Qiuyu argued forcefully.
Tian Qigang looked at Wei Qiuyu, and it was hard to describe it in words. This was a heartbreaking grass. He was too lazy to talk too much and said directly, "Okay, Xiao Fang, come and remove the handcuffs from her!"
Hearing this, Yao Chunnuan knew that she had succeeded and was very happy.
Upon hearing this, Wei Qiuyu quickly said, "Master Tian, can you help me remove them? I don't want to wear these shackles anymore, and I won't run away!"
Tian Qigang's reaction was to shake his head and go to arrange departure.
Yao Chunnuan's handcuffs were undone. She moved her wrists and gave a smug smile to Wei Qiuyu beside her. She was so angry that she couldn't die.
Wei Qiuyu was so angry that her nose became crooked.
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