Chapter 4 The Journey is Difficult

It's still a little chilly in Kyoto in March, with grass growing, birds singing, peach and pear trees in full bloom, but this road of exile seems a little desolate.

Mother Wen dragged the heavy chain and looked back at the prosperous Kyoto every few steps.

Wen Zhirou, the daughter of the Wen family who had been supporting her, advised her.

"Mother, please don't look at us. We are guilty now and no one wants to see us."

"Yes, even your uncle..."

There was no word spoken, but everyone understood it tacitly.

No one came to see me off at Shili Pavilion. When the incident happened in the Wensu Marquis's Mansion, no one from my mother's relatives sent me a penny, and no one gave me a new set of clothes. People are truly heartless.

On the road of exile, one must walk fifty miles every day.

Chen Shiyi didn't care. He used to get up early and work late every day to do all kinds of chores.

But these pampered ladies are different.

Before they had gone ten miles, they began to whine and complain, feeling miserable.

The officials who often sent people into exile would not show any mercy. If anyone was lazy, they would be whipped and injured, and they would die on the way.

Chen Shiyi learned from their conversation that the man who had put a knife to her neck and asked her to block it was called Wen Zhiheng, the eldest son of the Marquis's Mansion. If the Marquis had not gotten into trouble, he would have been the next Marquis.

Quite powerful.

Now that his family has fallen on hard times, he remains neither humble nor overbearing, and takes great care of his family members. However, he treats himself, his maid who disobeys him, as the only one who has to endure his threatening gaze all the time.

Chen Shiyi thought that no matter how much threats he made, it would be useless. He had been looked down upon so many times since he was a child.

Don't even think about making yourself serve a family unwillingly, and that person also wants to use your life as an excuse.

After finally walking the fifty miles, it was already dark.

In the dark night, the officers lit a bonfire.

Several masters of the Marquis' Mansion sat on the ground around the warm bonfire, looking completely ungraceful.

Dinner was a black steamed bun and a bowl of thin porridge.

Several people were so hungry that they didn't care about the quality of the food and stuffed it into their mouths in a hurry.

Chen Shiyi sat a little far away from them. She dragged her feet and picked up some firewood and started a fire by herself.

It's such a cold night, and I'm afraid the night will be even more difficult to endure.

She took off her socks and the soles of her feet turned a little red.

I guess that family must be feeling even worse.

Sure enough, when Wen Zhiheng saw that the soles of his mother's feet were rubbed raw and bleeding, he could no longer sit still.

He walked up to the officer in shackles and asked for medicine.

The officer looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"You are exiles, you don't deserve this kind of treatment. It's good enough to have food to eat. How can you want medicine? How naive!"

Wen Zhiheng has always been high and mighty, and has never been looked down upon like this before. But with his current status, how can he be tough? He can only leave helplessly.

He walked up to Chen Shiyi and gave the order.

"You will carry my mother on your back tomorrow. Her feet are blistered and cracked."

Chen Shiyi lowered his head and immediately refused.

"No."

Wen Zhiheng sneered angrily!

"You dare to refuse?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

Wen Zhiheng glared at Chen Shiyi who was stubborn and then softened his tone again!

"You help me carry my mother, and I can do anything."

Chen Shiyi looked up at Wen Zhiheng and shook his head.

"You can carry it yourself."

"I am in chains, otherwise why would I beg you?"

"It's like no one is wearing chains. Besides, you have two girls over there who are older than me."

Wen Zhiheng closed his eyes slightly and sighed.

"They... forget it!"

Later, he no longer asked Chen Shiyi for help.

Chen Shiyi looked at the group of people from a distance, was silent for a while, and then groped his way into the darkness.

Wen Zhiheng looked at the red and swollen legs and feet of several people and felt extremely uncomfortable.

They have never experienced such a life of sleeping in the open air before, and now they are suddenly suffering and getting hurt like this. What will they do if something unexpected happens?

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps behind me.

Chen Shiyi threw the wild grass he had just collected in front of them.

"Crush this grass into juice and apply it to the wound to reduce swelling and stop bleeding!"

After saying that, he walked away dragging the long chain.

Mrs. Wen shouted from behind.

"Thank you, little girl."

The next day, their legs and feet felt much better, and walking was not so painful, at least it was bearable.

Wen Zhiheng saw that everyone was in a slightly better condition, and felt relieved. He slowly approached Chen Shiyi.

"Thank you."

Chen Shiyi hurried on his way with his head down. When he heard what the young man was saying, he spoke in a hesitant tone.

"That medicine is worth three eggs!"

Wen Zhiheng was stunned for a moment before he realized that the maid wanted him to give her money!

"Okay, I'll owe you the money first. I'll pay you back when we get there."

The spring rain was incessant and the roads were muddy. The four-year-old child accidentally slipped and fell several times, landing on his buttocks. He kept crying loudly, with mud all over his body.

The Wen family was very distressed, especially Mrs. Wen, whose tears were streaming down her face like a drowned person.

The Second Young Master's wife was a weak woman who could not take care of herself. Chen Shiyi had even brought her beauty soup. Now, as a weak woman, she was exiled with a child on her back. It was extremely hard for her.

Not only the Wen family suffered, the other convicts also complained bitterly, and the officers escorting the convicts also had a headache.

The muddy road was so difficult to walk on. My shoes were covered in mud and felt heavy when I lifted my feet. I felt tired and depressed.

Chen Shiyi followed the crowd and rested on the dry grass.

She pulled out some dry grass, weaved them into a few long ropes, and tied them around her shoes to prevent slipping and mud.

After doing all this, Chen Shiyi raised his eyes and saw the prince of the Marquis's Mansion standing in front of him with burning eyes.

"You tie a rope around each of us and I'll give you ten eggs."

Chen Shiyi blinked. Did he know what he was talking about?

"There are too many eggs. If you don't finish them, they will go bad."

Wen Zhiheng asked patiently.

"So what do you want?"

"I want you to stay away from me."

Wen Zhiheng was so angry that his face turned pale, but he could do nothing about it.

This maidservant refused to listen to any persuasion, which clearly showed that she just didn't want to take care of them.

They say that even eggs don't work.

When he returned to the original place, not long after, he saw the maid following him, squatting beside Rui'er, and tying a straw rope around his feet.

Rui'er's eyes were shining, and her little mouth was grinning, revealing dimples on her cheeks.

"Rui'er, thank you, sister."

Chen Shiyi's eyebrows twisted when he heard the soft and tender child's voice.

After a short rest, the exile team set out again.

Rui'er was careful and didn't fall down, which saved the Wen family a lot of trouble.

Seeing that Chen Shiyi's method was effective, they also wanted to do it themselves, but they couldn't figure out how to do it, so they had to give up.

The sky was getting darker and darker, and it was so depressing that it was hard to breathe.

There were almost no pedestrians on the vast land, only this group of exiles walking slowly.

Chen Shiyi was also a little tired.

Even though the soles of the shoes no longer slipped with the straw rope, the chains on the feet and hands were too heavy and caused pain in the hands and feet.

Many people couldn't hold on, and only completed half of the planned journey.

Most of the officers had no horses and had to walk like the prisoners, but they began to feel exhausted.