Chapter 9 Broken House

Today's disaster is a very serious matter for the officers escorting the prisoners.

They gathered together to discuss how to report the matter to their superiors.

When they were about to arrive at the Fangling escort point, they rested on the beach for a night.

The yellow mud stuck to his body, making him feel very uncomfortable. Chen Shiyi wanted to go down to the river to wash himself.

She lowered her head and walked to Wen Zhirou's side.

"Miss, let's go down to the river and wash. If it's inconvenient for you, I'll help you wash."

When Wen Zhirou heard what Chen Shiyi said, her eyes instantly brightened.

"But, I don't have any clothes to change into. Besides, there are so many people here, what if someone finds us?"

Chen Shiyi said quickly.

"We can go under that tree to wash our clothes, and ask the Second Young Madam to help us wash our clothes. We can then come up and dry them."

When the night got darker, Chen Shiyi took Wen Zhirou and went into the water.

The water was freezing cold, but they didn't care. The mud on their bodies was too thick, and they didn't expect to be able to wash cleanly here, at least to make themselves feel more comfortable.

The hair was all stuck into a lump of yellow mud.

In the night, a gentle and soft voice murmured.

"What is your name?"

Chen Shiyi replied while helping her comb her hair.

"My father's last name is Chen. When I was born, he didn't like the fact that I was a girl, so he didn't give me a name. I was born on the eleventh day of the lunar year, and everyone got used to calling me by that name, so it gradually became my name."

"eleven?"

"Um."

"Thank you for today. If it weren't for you, I would have died a long time ago."

"You're welcome. The young master promised me that he would give me a reward when I get there."

Wen Zhirou laughed softly.

"What are you laughing at, miss?"

"We are exiled prisoners. Have you ever heard that a phoenix in trouble is worse than a chicken? We have nothing, so how can we give you a reward?"

Chen Shiyi's hand paused.

"A phoenix in distress is still a phoenix. Who knows, it may be able to fly back to the treetops one day."

Wen Zhirou found this maid very interesting.

"Thank you for your words. If I ever return to glory, I will definitely reward you."

After this incident, Wen Zhirou, like Rui'er, became an inseparable accessory around Chen Shiyi.

She kept pulling at Chen Shiyi's sleeves and clothes, and kept looking around, fearing that there would be another landslide. Even if she couldn't win, Chen Shiyi could still save her life. She had long forgotten how much she disliked Chen Shiyi before.

Perhaps because they were almost there, several people felt that the journey was much easier.

They were taken to a town called Ping'an in Fangling County.

After completing the handover procedures, they were taken away by several officials.

After walking about ten miles along the mountain road, we finally stopped in front of a green brick and tile house that looked like a post station.

They were greeted by an old man with a white beard. He was short and hunched, but his cloudy eyes were bright and sharp.

An officer whispered something in his ear. The old man looked solemn, and then he looked at the few people sharply.

After they finished the exchange, the old man slowly walked up to them and ordered someone to take away their shackles and handcuffs.

"Starting tomorrow, men will go to work in the Fengming Mine."

Wen Zhiheng bowed to the old man.

"Sir, how should we arrange for the female relatives?"

The old man curled his lips and laughed disdainfully.

"Women don't work, but we don't provide them with food and lodging either. They should find some work to support themselves."

At first glance, this does make sense.

If you think about it carefully, you will know how terrible it is to have no food or accommodation.

While being imprisoned in the cell, every member of the Wen family was checked. Even their loose hair buns were checked strand by strand, for fear that gold threads might be tangled in their hair. In addition, no one from the Wen family came to see them off, so they now estimated that they could not produce even a single copper coin.

They are unfamiliar with the place and have no money, so they are facing the biggest survival problem.

The Wen family members turned pale, but could not say a word. They only heard Wen Zhiheng ask in a neither humble nor arrogant manner.

"Sir, if you can give me some advice, I will definitely thank you in the future."

The old man put his tongue on his left cheek and said meaningfully.

"I'm afraid you can't afford my thank-you gift. Old Yu, come here. They brought their female relatives with them. Find a house for them to stay in first."

A fat official hurried over, looked at the Wen family, and said in a rough voice.

"Come on, follow me."

After walking about a mile, we saw small wooden houses scattered everywhere on the road. The houses were extremely quiet, as if no one lived there.

The fat officer named Lao Yu took them to a low wooden house and stopped.

The wooden house was rotten and dilapidated, and it seemed that no one had lived in it for a long time. As soon as I opened the door, a moldy smell hit my nose. There was nothing inside, not even the most basic bed. On the ceiling, there were large and messy spider webs, and light leaked in from some places.

"You can live here. It's six hundred copper plates a month."

"What?"

Wen Zhirou screamed in disbelief.

"It's such a shabby place, and they still charge money."

Lao Yu grinned.

"Then don't stay."

After saying this, he was about to close the door and picked up the key to lock it.

Wen Zhiheng quickly grabbed his hand.

"Wait a minute, my little sister is not sensible, don't take it to heart, big brother Yu. It's just that we are penniless now, can you let us move in first and make up for it later?"

Lao Yu's fat body shook with laughter.

"No money, okay, I'm kindhearted, I'll come back to collect the money in a month, but it won't be 600, it will be 800, do you understand?"

Wen Zhiheng suppressed his anger and smiled lightly.

"Brother Yu is really kind-hearted. I am very grateful to you."

Lao Yu admired Wen Zhiheng's awareness of current affairs, smiled, nodded, and left.

Wen Zhirou saw the person walking away and asked hurriedly.

"Brother, how did you promise him? This place is deserted, where can we find these 800 copper coins?"

Wen Zhiheng sighed helplessly.

"What if you don't agree? We can't sleep in the wilderness, right? First, find a place to shelter from the wind and rain, and then make other arrangements after you get familiar with the situation here."

While they were talking together, Chen Shiyi had already picked up new green leaves from the nearby woods, picked up soft branches from the bushes, tied a small broom to them, and started to clean up the spider webs on the roof.

Wen Zhiheng looked at the diligent Chen Shiyi, curled his lips slightly, turned his head and spoke to Wen Zhiyuan.

"You take care of them here. There's a big forest ahead. I'll go see if I can get some prey to exchange for some money."

Wen Zhiyuan nodded.

"Don't worry, bro. I'm here with you."

The sleeve cloth that was torn off last time to cool Rui'er down was still there, so Chen Shiyi simply used it as a rag. He wet the towel in a pond not far away, went back to the house, and scrubbed all the beams, pillars, and walls.

The floor of the old house was compacted earth, the corners around the walls were moldy, and some of the gray wooden wall boards were covered with many small, densely packed white fungi.

This house is too humid. I'm afraid I'll get sick if I live here for too long.

They came from the capital, and the climate here in the hilly area is very different from that in the capital.

These masters are extremely delicate and I am afraid they will not be able to adapt to the local climate.

They all suffered a lot along the way.

Chen Shiyi felt that the real suffering had just begun.