Chapter 1
——First release
The incessant autumn rain was about to stop, and beneath the half-green, half-yellow fallen leaves, the gray earth was thoroughly wet. Another gust of autumn wind swept by, and the rain-soaked fallen leaves fell from the branches, rolling on the ground, finally coming to rest, covered in mud and water, under the eaves of a house, wedged beneath a broken tile, unable to move.
The usually tidy blue-gray house had not been cleaned by a servant for seven or eight days. Broken tiles were everywhere outside the door, fallen leaves covered the ground inside the door, and the ripe persimmons on the branches were pecked into pieces by birds, with the juice spilled all over the ground.
The rain suddenly stopped, and the wet-feathered birds came to the branches to look for food again. A yellow-haired cat quietly showed its head on the wall and climbed up the persimmon tree silently.
A brown sparrow suddenly chirped sharply, but then stopped midway, and the birds on the branches scattered in panic.
The guard who was sitting in the gatehouse heard the noise and came out. He spat and shouted, "You blind beast, you dare to come to this place and don't think it's unlucky."
As he spoke, he glanced towards the quiet backyard.
The cat was frightened and ran to the backyard with the sparrow it had not finished eating. The policeman looked up and did not stop it, but went back into the house to avoid the wind.
It was almost noon. In the past, the mansion would be busy preparing lunch at this time, but today there was no smoke from the kitchen. The cat holding a sparrow in its mouth turned and walked towards a side courtyard of considerable size as it knew the way.
"Meow--"
There was a shrill cat cry, and a figure hanging on the beam moved. Sui Yu became vaguely conscious, and the scenery in front of her was shaky. Before she could think about what was going on, the strong feeling of suffocation made her subconsciously raise her hand to grab the linen cloth around her neck.
"Help—" Before she could even utter a word, Sui Yu felt dizzy and a sense of weakness quickly washed over her. Not daring to distract herself any longer, she struggled desperately, her hands grasping the sackcloth and pulling it upward, her head desperately tilted back. She stared at the beams, vaguely feeling the sackcloth brush against her chin. She mustered her strength and struggled, but then her arms gave way and she fell straight onto the overturned table.
“Ouch…”
Sui Yu couldn't get up. She crawled on the ground in the position where she fell, crying out in pain. Her ears were buzzing, her eyeballs were hurting, and her neck and throat were even more painful. Her throat felt like it was cracked when she breathed in and out.
The guard sitting in the gatehouse in the front yard heard the noise and walked towards the back yard.
She squeezed her swollen eyes shut, tears streaming uncontrollably. It took a long moment for Sui Yu to finally sit up, propped up by her arms. Just as she was about to take in the situation, she saw a pair of embroidered shoes hanging down, motionless. She didn't need to look up; she understood what was happening. Terrified, she dragged her hips, which had slammed against the table leg, and in a panic, she saw the silhouette of a child in a dim corner. Looking again, she saw a boy sitting on a bed behind a green gauze curtain, staring blankly at her.
"ah!"
Sui Yu was so frightened that her scalp went numb. She screamed and crawled towards the light at the door. Just as she was about to stand up by holding the threshold, a man with a ferocious face appeared outside the light.
"What's your name..." Before he could finish his words, the jailer saw the person hanging in the air. He glanced at him without any surprise on his face, but frowned when he saw the person shrinking behind the door.
"What...喈..." Sui Yu trembled his lips and wanted to ask where this place was, but the sound that came out of his strangled throat was vague and hoarse.
"You managed to get down here on your own?" The guard, standing outside the door, looked up at the intact linen ring and said in a gruff voice, "Are you regretting this? Are you afraid of death? Then don't blame others."
Sui Yu vaguely grasped his meaning after hearing his words. She narrowed her eyes and carefully looked up, only to quickly lower her head after a single glance. The hanged man's face was hideous and terrifying. It was at this single glance that a memory that didn't belong to her emerged in her mind.
She came back to life.
Sui Yu, the deceased, had died alongside her aunt. A canal dam had collapsed in Yu County, and the county magistrate, Sui Jiushan, had been imprisoned for embezzling funds for flood control. All the men in Sui Jiushan's clan were arrested, their homes ransacked, and the women and children temporarily confined to their homes awaiting their fate. News arrived the day before yesterday that Sui Jiushan had been sentenced to beheading. Sui Yu had no recollection of the fate of the others, only that she had eaten a hearty meal the previous day and, when it rained today, she was persuaded to hang herself.
"Listen to your aunt, you will be clean when you die. Don't be afraid, your aunt will be with you."
The woman's last words echoed in Sui Yu's mind. She sorted out her thoughts and looked up again. The woman's face was blue and purple with astonishment. She might have been afraid of scaring the child in the inner room. She did not struggle before she died, and her face was turned sideways towards the door.
The guard outside the door had left at some point. Sui Yu touched her neck, let out a sigh, stood up, and slowly walked to the beam. She tried with trembling hands, but the hanging figure was swaying and she couldn't take it down.
Sui Yu moved and turned to look at the child sitting on the bed. The boy had pigtails and was chubby, but his face had a dull expression, the same look she had when she first saw him, without blinking.
Sui Yu tried to smile at him, but he shuddered with fear. She didn't dare to get any closer and had nowhere to go, so she had to sit down on the bamboo mat on the ground with her legs limp, and glanced at the layout of the room inconspicuously.
Before she could rest for a moment, Sui Yu faintly heard movement in the front yard, the sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps approaching the backyard. Sensing something was amiss, she quickly stood up and ran to the side of the bed to dig out the savings box. There was nothing left inside; all had been taken by the confiscating police. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the frightened boy still wearing a children's bracelet on his wrist. She quickly pulled it off and stuffed it into her bellyband.
Just as Sui Yu finished his action, someone came to the door. Four or five yamen runners with knives strode in.
"Another one dead? How did you guard him?" He kicked him.
"It's raining and windy today, and I wasn't prepared." The soldier staggered and replied in a low voice.
"Zhao Ban, there are two left. The younger one is useless, and the older one hasn't been hanged yet."
"Take them all away. It's really bad luck."
Sui Yu was pushed out of the door by the police officer. She turned back to grab her younger brother Sui Liang, ignoring his struggles and forcefully dragging him to her. As she left, she looked at the police officer guarding the door, who indifferently looked away.
…
After walking out of the door and onto the street, Sui Yu looked at the people gathered not far away and watching. She had the original owner's memories and recognized that 50% of them were familiar faces. Some of the gazes she gave them were full of hatred, while others were full of pity.
"Sui Jiushan was dragged away and beheaded at noon today. He was still alive after being beheaded. It took a while for him to die. I went to see it, and it was really painful."
"He deserves to die."
"It's a pity that he was the only one who died..."
Sui Yu eavesdropped, her ears perked up. Sui Jiushan was her great uncle, but the two families had rarely interacted. Her father, Sui Hu, was born out of wedlock and separated from the family when he got married. He found a job in the government and worked there for many years. As far as she knew, the only matter Sui Hu had ever asked Sui Jiushan for was when he wanted to take a convict as a concubine, and he used Sui Jiushan's influence to free a convict from slavery.
Sui Yu sighed. No wonder the original owner's aunt wanted to take her daughter with her even when she died. As a convict born as a slave, she knew better what a woman would suffer when she became a convict.
"Go in." The jailer pushed hard, said a few words to the jailer and left.
Sui Yu was thrown into the prison. Before entering, her quju skirt was stripped off and she was replaced with a coarse linen prison uniform. Her embroidered shoes were also confiscated. She dug through the pile of dirty, smelly shoes and found a pair of straw sandals that barely fit. Thanks to the horrific purple marks on her neck, the searcher didn't feel through her body too closely, and the silver bracelet she had tucked into her bellyband was saved.
Thinking of Sui Liang who was sent to the men's prison, Sui Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Since only Sui Jiushan was beheaded, the original owner's father should still be alive. With him taking care of her, she doesn't have to worry about the child.
Sui Yu entered the women's prison and found that there were already seven or eight people inside. She knew two of the girls, who were Sui Jiushan's two daughters. They were sitting alone in a corner and no one else paid any attention to them.
"Sister Yu..." Just as Sui Yu sat down, her eldest cousin Sui Hui came over, "Do you know anything about my father?"
Sui Yu nodded and waved her hand towards her waist to signal.
"Waist, cut in half?" Sui Hui cried.
Sui Yu nodded again. She wanted to ask how the government was going to deal with them, but she was speechless. Walking on the road and being caught in the wind, her neck was swollen, her throat was blocked, and she had difficulty breathing.
The prison was in turmoil for most of the day and didn't quiet down until late at night. Twenty or thirty people were still awake, and their heavy breathing was mixed with suppressed sobs.
Sui Yu didn't sleep either. She was walking on the road and someone hit her on the back of the head. When she regained consciousness, she traveled back to the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago and was thrown into prison. It seemed that there was no possibility of turning over. Her life and death were uncertain. How could she sleep?
She didn't enjoy any good fortune, but had to bear all the misfortunes.
Sui Yu sighed heavily and accidentally pulled her neck. She grimaced in pain and became even more annoyed.
After a sleepless night, Sui Yu stayed up until dawn for dinner. She had no idea what the porridge in her bowl was made of; it was green and yellow, worse than pig food, but at least it was warm. She went over to pick and choose, choosing a bowl that was slightly palatable. She pinched her nose and swallowed it in small sips. Her throat was still sore, but after dipping it in the broth and rinsing it, she felt better.
Seeing her drink it, others also slowly moved over, took a sip and spit it out.
"Where are your aunt and your mother? Your neck..."
Sui Yu looked over and saw an aunt from the clan. She had a wooden face and said with difficulty, "Dead...."
"What will happen to all of us? Do you know?"
Sui Yu waved his hand.
"You don't know why you hanged yourself?" someone else asked.
Sui Yu ignored her and sat down somewhere with plenty of straw, leaning against the rough wooden fence and closing her eyes to rest. She couldn't help it; she couldn't breathe lying there, and she was worried that if she slept too deeply, she would suffocate and die.
She doesn't want to die.
Sui Yu didn't know how long he dozed off, but he woke up with a start when he heard the sound of iron chains colliding. The prison door opened, and the light coming in from outside was dazzlingly white.
"You are lucky. It happened to be the time of the great victory in the northwest. The people who were sent to the frontier to cultivate the land were important. The main culprit was beheaded, and the others were sentenced to imprisonment. In the winter, you criminals were exiled to the northwest and spared your lives."
The warden left, and the cell door that let in sunlight was locked again. No one paid any attention to the women's cries in the cell.
"Exile... Exile... We have no life left. Living is worse than death." After saying that, a young woman banged her head against the pillar, and blood splattered from her forehead.
Sui Yu was shocked and ran to check it out immediately after she came to her senses. She covered the wound with her hands and cried for help from the people next to her. In the blink of an eye, she saw two people hitting the pillar.
Only then did she realize that the dark brown marks on the wooden fence were actually dried blood.
"Don't save her. She'd be better off dead. She'll be a slave, worse than a prostitute in a brothel, being ridden by thousands and slept with by tens of thousands." An elderly woman pushed Sui Yu away, her eyes scanning her neck as she said, "You're disobedient. Your aunt is doing this for your own good."
Sui Yu grabbed Sui Hui, who had rushed over, and glared at her. He pushed her aside and then slammed the still-yelling old woman against a pillar, puffing up his breath like a broken bellows and slamming each word: "You, too, die."
After she said that, her heart was pounding, fearing that this person would really bump into her.
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