Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Grudges and Right and Wrong
There was a sudden rain, which continued to fall from midnight to morning. Judging from the rain, I was afraid that I would not be able to leave in the morning.
A Xuan was wearing three layers of clothes. She was not cold, but probably because of the cold wind. She kept pinching her throat, saying that she felt uncomfortable, and lay in Du's arms and made a fuss.
Gu Youan remembered that there was some leftover children's cold medicine for his son in the space, and was just about to find an excuse to avoid them, but Mrs. Du said, "An An, hold A Xuan. I'll go to the front."
After a while, Mrs. Du came back with a handful of medicinal herbs in her hand, saying they were silver dan grass, which she picked under the eaves.
Gu Youan took a look and saw that it was mint.
While washing herbs under the eaves in the rain, Mrs. Du said, "Yesterday I saw a clump of silver dan grass under the eaves of the post station. This kind of herb is common in the countryside. It can help with sore throats and wind-heat. Boiling water with it and drinking it can help."
Bai helped out, holding a clay pot to catch rainwater, and said with a smile, "You are smart and know a lot, but I don't understand these things."
"My mother's family runs a small pharmacy, and I've been helping out since I was a kid. I can't take pulses or prescribe medicine, but I do know a few herbs. But these are just minor skills. They can't compare to you, who comes from a family of scholars and knows how to write and paint. That's a skill that people can't envy."
Bai smiled and sighed, "Don't mention it, I think those are just empty talk, you have the real ability."
At this time, Bai felt even more fortunate. It was a good thing to live with the Gu family. At least she could find some herbs to take if she got sick on the road.
"When I was just pulling the silver dan grass, I heard someone say that many people were sick at the post station. If those with weak constitutions can't get treatment, I'm afraid more people will die."
Bai sighed, squatted down to light the fire, and no longer had the mood to joke.
There was no dry firewood to boil water, so Tian Erlang took down the wood and hay from a wall and carried it to his mother.
"Can this be used if it's burned?"
"Why not? I see it's already light in the sky. The rain will probably stop by noon. We have to travel in the afternoon, so it's useless to leave the firewood here."
Gu Youan then looked up at the sky. It was so dark that it was hard to tell the rain was about to stop. He pounded his legs gently, muttering to himself, "God, please rain a little longer. Let's not rush today and let me rest."
God probably didn't hear Gu Youan's thoughts. Before noon, the rain subsided half an hour later and stopped after an hour.
Drinking the warm mint water, Gu Youan looked up at the sky and sighed.
Alas, the more she sighed, the more God went against her, and the sun actually came out at noon.
At noon, I quickly ate some dry biscuits boiled in plain water, packed up and prepared to hit the road.
The road was muddy and difficult to walk on. In order to protect their only pair of cloth shoes, both men and women rolled up their trouser legs and went barefoot.
After this day, there was no sun or rain for the next few days. It was cloudy and windy. After three or five days, the ground was completely dry. There was no need to mix it in the mud, and we didn't feel tired when we hurried on.
Whipped by the officers, they worked hard every day, like tamed cattle. Except for three who died of illness, no one tried to commit suicide for many days.
They accepted their fate and wanted to survive. They all wanted to reach the place of exile as soon as possible so that they could have some rest.
Gu Youan didn't know how many days had passed. He arrived at a post station at noon that day. Gu Youan was surprised, after all, he had never arrived at a post station at noon before.
"This is the intersection of the official roads to the northeast and northwest. From now on, those heading to the northwest and Songjiang City will leave separately."
Everyone stood there numbly. When the officer called out their names, they walked out of the crowd and stood in the open space.
Gu Jiatian had been trying his best to walk among the crowd and hide himself these days. When his name was called, Gu Youan looked around and felt a strong sense of insecurity.
The officer tucked the official document into his pocket and said, "It's you four families who will be exiled to Songjiang City. Humph, you four are so cowardly that you've come all this way and you're still alive."
Gu Youan looked up at the officer. She remembered this man. His surname was Huang. He was a leader. Several officers fawned over him and called him Master Huang.
Gu Youan looked more carefully and saw that several officers who were trying to curry favor with Officer Huang were all coming over. It was obvious that they were under Officer Huang's supervision and were going to Songjiang City.
"Sit down and rest. We will set off in half an hour."
Officer Huang looked up and snorted, pointing at everyone and saying, "We need to reach Shanhaiguan before October. If anyone dares to delay our journey, don't blame me, Grandpa Huang, for being merciless with your whip."
Gu Youan heard his father talking to Tian Qingde that Luoyang was more than 2,000 miles away from Shanhaiguan. If they reached Shanhaiguan, they would have traveled two-thirds of the 3,000 miles of exile.
Gu Youan knew that Shanhaiguan was in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, which was close to the sea. Why did he have to take a detour from there to get to Songjiang City in the northeast?
After Officer Huang left, Gu Wen said, "Of course, there's more than one way to get to Songjiang City, but the other roads aren't as easy to travel through. Generally, people going north choose to go through Shanhaiguan."
Gu Youan nodded. So that's how it is.
Tian Qingde said worriedly, "Brother Gu, we're only traveling fifty miles a day. Even if we don't get delayed along the way, it'll be cold once we get past Shanhaiguan. The further north we go, the colder it gets. We'll have to brave the wind and snow for the last few hundred miles!"
Without warm clothes and shoes and socks to protect the feet, if your hands and feet are frozen, even if you can barely reach Songjiang City, you will not be able to work and will not survive.
Gu Wen knew it in his heart.
There is no shortage of food, clothes, shoes and socks in my daughter's mysterious place, but it's too eye-catching and I can't use them. I need to think of other ways.
Tian Erlang came over and said, "Dad, Uncle Gu, do you know how to make bows and arrows?"
Tian Qingde and Gu Wen looked at Tian Erlang and immediately realized that this kid must be eyeing the fur of the wild animals in the mountains and forests along the way.
One of the six arts for a gentleman is horse riding and archery. Tian Qingde was from a poor family, so he only reluctantly learned horse riding and archery, but he didn't know how to make a bow and arrow.
Gu Wen nodded: "I know a little bit. When I was studying at Yizhou Prefecture School, my teacher of horseback riding and archery taught me."
Tian Jilang's face lit up with joy: "Then let's..."
"It's hard to say. As you saw just now, the officer in charge, surnamed Huang, is not a good person to deal with. He won't let us do what we want. Besides, bows and arrows are weapons, and we are fugitives. The officers are wary of us. Will they agree to let us make bows and arrows?"
Gu Youan whispered, "There were eight officers escorting us to Songjiang City. They only pushed four carts, and it looked like there weren't many bags on them."
The four carts were to be loaded with dry biscuits and water provided by the post stations along the way, followed by the luggage of the eight runners. Since they were willing to go out and take on this errand, it was obvious that they were not wealthy. If they were offered a share of the prey, they might agree.
They are all smart people, so Tian Qingde and Gu Wen naturally understand what Gu Youan means.
Gu Wen didn't say anything final, but just said: "Let's see on the way. If it works, we can have a better life."
If that doesn't work, they still have a basket of reed catkins to help them get by.
Tian Qingde looked at Gu Youan and said to Gu Wen with a smile: "I think your daughter is better than my two sons."
He is smart, careful, and can understand people's hearts. It is amazing that he can think of these things at such a young age.
Gu Wen smiled and shook his head, saying modestly, "Your eldest son is steady and respectable, and your second son is alert and adaptable. How can a child like her compare to them?"
The two fathers were humble to each other, and Tian Erlang glanced at the eldest daughter of the Gu family.
Gu Youan was thin and had become darker these days. She no longer had the delicate and delicate demeanor of a girl brought up in the inner chamber. To outsiders, she looked like a skinny bamboo pole. The prison uniform on her body was loose, and she looked like someone who had just come out of a coal mine.
Even though it was so lonely, Gu Youan raised her eyes slightly when she spoke. Her sharp and clear eyes made people dare not ignore her just because she was a little girl.
Gu Youan met Tian Erlang's gaze. Her eyes were cold. Tian Erlang immediately thought of her look when she wanted to kill someone. His heart trembled and he quickly got up and left.
There were four families in total going to Songjiang City. The Tian family and the Gu family took care of and supported each other along the way, and their relationship had long been as close as a family.
The other two families, the Li family and the Su family, each occupy a piece of land and do not communicate with anyone except their own people.
The head of the Li family was Li Hongwen, formerly the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He was exiled for corruption and dereliction of duty. He had accepted money from Zhang Ping and was the instigator of the falsified accounting for the Honghu dam construction. His exile was not unjust.
To be fair, if Li Hongwen was not a disciple and nephew-in-law of the Minister of Rites Liu Yong, and the emperor was not fond of Concubine Liu who came from the Liu family and was willing to give the Liu family some face, Li Hongwen should have been pushed to the vegetable market and beheaded together with Zhang Ping.
The Zhang family was bullied by other convicts along the way, and the Li family was similarly bullied, being despised by everyone.
This was not the case with Su Guang, the head of the Su family. He was exiled, which was even more unfair than Tian Qingde, the censor who took the initiative to make trouble for the emperor.
Su Guang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, had no connection with corrupt officials like Zhang Ping, nor did he take the initiative to speak up for other implicated officials to displease the emperor. He was labeled a corrupt official because many years ago, when he was still a Hanlin, he was the Five Classics teacher appointed by the late emperor to be the Prince of Qi.
The current emperor dislikes Qi Wang, who once competed with him for the throne, and dislikes Su Guang and wants to drive him away.
If Su Guang had not devoted himself to academic research when he was a Hanlin scholar, presided over the revision of the laws of the previous dynasty, and had not been quite famous among the scholars, and if many officials had not been willing to plead for him, and if he was a southerner and could only be exiled to the north, I am afraid that the Su family should not be here now, but should be on their way to Qiongzhou Island.
When Su Guang was imprisoned on the Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor told his confidants that if the old man Su Guang could survive to reach Songjiang City, he should ask his good students to take care of him until the end of his life.
The emperor said this, but he was cruel in secret. He was afraid that Qi Wang would send troops to pick up Su Guang halfway, so the news of Su Guang's family's exile was kept secret.
According to the emperor, it would be best if Su Guang died on the way.
The Tian, Gu, and Li families all knew that if they could reach Songjiang City alive, with Su Guang's help in pleading for them, even if they were exiled officials, they might be able to find a job under King Qi.
This was exactly what Li Hongwen was planning. He talked to the Su family many times along the way. Because of what he had done, the Su family looked down on him and never had a good face towards Li Hongwen.
Gu Youan munched on the dry biscuits silently, and watched Li Hongwen talking to Su Guang with a smile on his face. Su Guang ignored him, and there was no trace of anger on his face.
Although such a mean person who swallows insults in his own mouth is despised by others, it also makes Gu Youan wary of Li Hongwen and decides not to have anything to do with the Li family in the future.
A person who abandons all his face and dignity for the sake of his future, when he gets the chance in the future, he will only be more despicable and cruel to those who stand in his way.
Gu Wen reminded his daughter: "What happened before will be what will happen in the future. The Li family and the Su family have nothing to do with us."
"The Su family..."
Mrs. Du snorted coldly, "Lord Su is a respectable man. But his wife, Mrs. Lu, is abominable. Coming from a family of officials, she is very self-righteous and looks down on everyone. We can't have anything to do with such people."
Hearing her mother say this, Gu Youan vaguely remembered that it seemed that it was this Mrs. Lu who had quarreled with her mother because Mrs. Lu called her a fool.
The Su family lived not far from the Tian family and the Gu family. Mrs. Du raised her voice deliberately when she spoke so that everyone in the Su family could hear her.
Gu Youan blinked innocently. Mrs. Lu sneered and turned to her two daughters-in-law, saying, "You all come from good families. You must not learn from those petty and unpresentable people who want to remember the smallest things for the rest of their lives and are more sensitive than a needle."
The two daughters-in-law of the Su family had no words to say in front of their mother-in-law, they could only listen with their ears.
Lu sneered.
Mrs. Du sneered back loudly.
Su Guang was helpless. He had to travel hard without eating. Wouldn't it be better to save his energy? Why was he angry again?
Seeing this scene, Tian Erlang guessed that the person who said Gu Youan was a fool must be this Mrs. Lu.
Li Hongwen looked at the situation in the pot and saw clearly that the Su family and the Gu family were not on good terms.
Now that the four families have left the Gu family behind, the only one who might compete with him for the Su family is Tian Qingde.
Being stared at by the venomous snake Li Hongwen, Tian Qingde snorted and ignored Li Hongwen completely.
"Everyone, get up and get going!"
Officer Huang came out of the post station after eating and drinking his fill, and cracked his whip, not taking these fugitives seriously at all.
Officer Huang randomly pointed at a few young men and said, "You, you, and the two of you, push the cart."
It turned out that the Tian and Gu families had always been among the crowd, and those who were asked to push the carts were the marginalized families of the exiles. Now that there were fewer people, only their four families were going to Songjiang City, and including men, women, old and young, there were only about twenty people in total. Gu Wenqing was chosen to push the cart, so he had to go.
The Gu family followed Gu Wenqing, and so did the Tian family.
The officer laughed and said, "That's perfect. Each of the four of you will be responsible for pushing a cart. This will save me a lot of trouble."
A whip was lashed on the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust on the dry and hard official road.
"Hurry up!"
The Su family was close to the officer who was whipping the whip. Lu, who had just been suppressing her two daughters-in-law, was frightened and felt depressed, but she didn't dare to speak.
Gu Youan noticed it and glanced away indifferently.
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