Chapter 7
While resting under the pavilion, Sui Yu noticed a black spot under a tree not far away. It didn't look like a fallen leaf. She stood up, put on a wooden board and walked under the tree. It was a jackdaw that had frozen to death and fell in the snow, with its wings buried in the snow and frozen.
She picked up the skinny jackdaw and returned the same way. Some people in the crowd saw it, especially those who were closest to her. They felt regretful and their eyes were scanning the snow under the tree, hoping that they could pick up a dead bird.
"Here, take it." Sui Yu handed the dead bird to Sui Liang and said, "Hold it tight. When we get to the post station tonight, we'll make a pot of bird soup."
Sui Ling's stomach started growling again when she heard the word "broth". She was afraid Sui Liang would drop it, so she reached out and said, "Brother Liang, let me hold it for you."
Sui Liang refused and quickly put his hands behind his back.
"Your sister Ling is talking to you, if you don't agree, just say no." Sui Hu tried to find a chance to get his son to speak.
Sui Liang didn't react, but lowered his head and fiddled with the dead bird.
Sui Hu pushed him and said, "Aren't you afraid of your sister? Why do you accept things she gives you?"
Sui Liang then raised his head and stole a glance at Sui Yu. Sui Yu bared her teeth at him, and he quickly retracted his gaze.
"If you talk to him more, he will respond to you." Sui Hu said to Sui Yu.
"What did you say?" Sui Yu had never raised a child, let alone coaxed one.
"It's time to go." Sui Wen'an came over and said, "Get on board."
Sui Hu and Sui Yu shared one board with Sui Liang, and Sui Wen'an and his two siblings shared one board. After the noose was tied tightly, the whistle sounded and the six people and two boards started moving.
Hundreds of people walked across the snowfield. The rustling sound of wooden boards hitting the snow extended from under the snow to the roots of the trees. The trunks were shaken, and the snow on the branches and leaves fell off. The brown bark and yellow leaves reappeared in the sunlight. The cold wind blew, and the wet fallen leaves swirled and spread on the snow.
When the daylight fades, rabbits emerge from their snow holes and appear on the snow covered with footprints. The fallen leaves on the snow become the rabbits' winter food.
At this time, Sui Yu and his group had entered the post station. While the halo was still there, they were busy carrying hay to spread on the ground. The only old horse in the stable was squeezed into the corner.
Sui Wen'an found the servant and said he wanted to climb up to the roof of the stable to clear the snow, and at the same time asked for a bundle of firewood. When he came down from the roof, most of the remaining dry firewood in his hand fell into Sui Yu's hands.
As soon as the porridge was distributed, Sui Yu asked Sui Liang to sit on the hay with the hot porridge pot to keep warm. She went to borrow a fire from someone, lay on the ground with her head close together, puffed out her cheeks and blew hard on the charcoal core covered in the hay.
Flames shot up, green smoke slowly rose into the sky, and Sui Ling cheered happily: "The fire is burning."
The prisoners who had been watching the movement here came over one after another to borrow fire. Those who had no firewood moved closer and sat down, watching the flames dance, and their bodies seemed to feel some of the residual warmth from the scorching.
"Sister Yu, all the bird's feathers have been plucked, look." Sui Hui handed the bird over. The bird was already dead, and no blood came out even after the feathers were plucked.
Sui Yu took a look in the light of the fire. She clamped the bird's neck with a stick and hung it over the fire to burn off the loose feathers.
"Everyone, be careful. Don't leave any hay near the fire pit. Be careful not to let sparks fly into the hay. If a fire starts, even if no one is killed, the stable will collapse, and that would be a big problem." Sui Wen'an patrolled back and forth in the stable and the woodshed, giving repeated reminders tirelessly.
"You're so nagging." Someone muttered in the darkness.
Sui Wen'an pretended not to hear. He turned and walked towards the door. Following the wind, he smelled the aroma of meat. He walked over and saw that the bird roasted by Sui Yu was almost cooked. There was a circle of people squatting around, and the sound of them swallowing saliva was louder than the old horse chewing the cud.
"That's enough. No need to roast it anymore." Sui Hu was afraid that someone would come and snatch it away, so he brought the food pot and said, "The porridge is cold. Put it on the fire and boil it again."
After saying that, he took the roasted bird, which was no bigger than a child's fist, tore it into pieces and threw it into the porridge. When the porridge was hot, the bird meat was almost cooked.
"Third Master, you can't finish your porridge, right? Give your grandson a sip." An old woman squeezed over, pulling a boy taller than her, and said in a shrill voice, "Xu'er, kowtow to your Third Master. We, the grandparents and grandchildren, can't even get enough to eat. We won't be able to survive for many more days. Please let us have a warm meal before we die. Third Master, please be kind."
The others moved at the sound and instantly became alert. Their eyes hidden in the darkness were more greedy than those of wild wolves.
"We don't have enough to eat, how can we give you any?" Sui Ling immediately retorted.
Sui Hui pulled her aside and told her not to say anything, but it was too late. All the people implicated by her family took the opportunity to vent their hatred and anger and surrounded her.
"You deserve to die, you little bitch..."
"You are the ones who deserve death the most... You deserve to be cut into pieces..."
"You should give us your rations. It's all your fault that we've fallen into this state."
“…Even if I die, I will drag you to death with me.”
Sui Ling was frightened, but she still wanted to talk back, but her voice was drowned out by the hoarse scolding. Not only that, her hair was pulled by someone, and in the darkness, someone hit her head with all his might.
"Stop!" Sui Hu waved the burning wood to drive back the crowd, warning them, "If you keep making trouble, we'll attract the soldiers, and we'll all be in trouble."
Some people retreated, while a few others continued to shout frantically: "It would be best if we could lure them in. It would be best if we could kill us all. No one of you can escape."
"I'll go call the officer." Sui Yu shouted in a shrill voice outside the stable, holding the food pot.
The stable suddenly became quiet.
After a while, a servant really came and brought half a bucket of hot water to drink for the horses. Now everyone in the stable became obedient.
Sui Yu took advantage of this opportunity to grab Sui Liang and quickly eat. She glanced at the person squatting beside her crying and stuffed a bird wing into his hand, saying, "If you cry any longer, we'll eat all the meat."
Sui Wen'an and Sui Hui came over after packing up the haystack. A good meal was ruined by this, and everyone except Sui Yu was in a bad mood.
"From now on, keep your mouth shut and bite your tongue before you speak." Sui Wen'an scolded Sui Ling angrily.
Sui Ling didn't dare to argue with him, so she just lowered her head and said nothing.
"Where did you hit?" Sui Hui couldn't bear it and asked with concern.
"She deserves it." Sui Hu snorted coldly, "Leave her alone, let her learn a lesson, so that she won't get us into trouble in the future."
"I'm not wrong. Now they all resent our family, but when my father was alive, didn't these people take advantage of his power to gain benefits?" Sui Ling couldn't bear the tone and cried loudly.
"If you have the guts, go over and shout. You haven't been beaten enough." Sui Yu was fed up with her stupidity and decided not to give her food tonight and let her starve.
Sui Wen'an clenched his hands and endured it again and again, but finally slapped Sui Ling in the face, to teach her a lesson and to give an explanation to the implicated clansmen.
"Dad deserves it, but the others don't deserve it. Those petty gains are not enough to make them suffer exile with us," he said.
The servant, carrying a bucket, passed by and glanced at him. Before leaving, he said in a gruff voice, "Don't make trouble. If you've had enough of life, go out and freeze in the snow."
Now everything was completely quiet. Sui Yu ate her fill quietly. She called Sui Hu to go out and give her some fresh air. After emptying her stomach, she lay down on the straw mat, covered herself with hay and began to sleep.
Sui Hu handed Sui Liang to her and said, "You and your brother go to sleep quickly. I'll keep the fire going for a while longer."
"Don't give Sui Ling any food." Sui Yu forgot to tell her.
Sui Ling had no appetite to eat. After being slapped by her brother, she sat behind the door and didn't move.
No one cared about her, and Sui Wen'an sincerely wanted to teach her a lesson. He drank the porridge in the pot, chewed up the bird bones and swallowed them, then went out with the empty pot to collect snow to inspect the fire pit. After everyone was asleep, he filled two handfuls of clean snow and returned to the door.
The clay pot was placed in the fire pit without any open flame. He went to sleep without even looking at his sister who was sitting still.
After an unknown amount of time, the person behind the door stood up, leaning against the wall. Sui Ling opened the door and walked out, then stood in the yard, thinking she'd freeze to death. However, within a cup of tea, she couldn't stand it anymore. With stiff legs and shaking hands, she pushed the door open again, drank the jar of slightly scalding snow water, and then, reluctantly, crawled under the straw mat and curled up to sleep.
No one knew about the incident in the middle of the night. After dawn, the group drank hot porridge and continued on their journey while their bodies were warm.
The flat snowfield came to an end, and after another two days of walking, a steep mountain appeared in front of us.
"Are we going this way?" The officer leading the way took out the map and compared it repeatedly. The opposite side was all white, and the road signs marked on the parchment scroll had disappeared for some reason.
"Why?" someone else came over and asked.
"The road... I don't know which way to go. The last time I passed by here was two years ago. I think I was heading in that direction."
The bearded officer called over Sui Wen'an and Sui Hu and asked them if they knew the way.
On this matter, Sui Hu and his nephew did not dare to make a hasty decision. They both said that they had never been out of Yu County and were not sure of the direction.
"Go in this direction. I remember there was a huge rock in the shape of an egg when we passed by there two years ago." The officer holding the parchment scroll made up his mind.
The team continued to move forward. Sui Hu and Sui Wen'an returned to the team with worried looks on their faces. If they took the wrong direction and got lost in the mountains, they would have to continue on their journey at night. If they stopped, they would freeze to death.
Walking around the foot of the mountain, the mountain blocked the wind, and the cold wind no longer penetrated the bones, making the group feel much better.
"We don't know how long this mountain is. It would be better if it were longer so we can walk for a few more days and stay warm." said an old man.
Sui Yu stared at the snow. There were many birds singing on the mountain. She wondered if there were any birds that had frozen to death and fallen down for her to pick up.
"There's Bai Pu Dangzi." The person walking in front exclaimed in surprise.
Everyone else looked over, even the officers and soldiers slowed their pace. The water candles in the white cattail pond stood upright against the snow. If they took some of the down and stuffed it into their jackets, they would be safe for the rest of the journey. However, they couldn't stop; they still hadn't seen the egg-shaped stone.
"It seems we have taken the wrong road. Let's turn back." The officer walking in front spoke.
A whistle suddenly blew and everyone looked up.
"Go back the same way, we're going in the wrong direction." The whistleblower gave the order.
"Then can we still get to the post station tonight?" Everyone was panicked.
"Hurry up, don't dawdle." The escort officer waved his whip impatiently.
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