Among these exiled prisoners were many officials, most of whom were implicated in the Third Prince's case. Even if they weren't doing well in the capital, there would always be one or two friends and relatives who would come with servants to see them off, and even the Dingyang Marquis's Mansion was no exception.
Wan Xueying saw people from the Chen family, who was engaged to Wan Jiangyuan, and the Lin family, who was engaged to Wan Hesu.
As for Wan Huqing? Only the people in Dingyang Marquis' Mansion were kept in the dark. Many people knew about his nonsense outside. Even though Xu had been actively looking for a wife for him, no one was interested in marrying into the Marquis' Mansion.
Wan Xueying had apparently been staying home all these years with nothing to do, but in reality, besides learning music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and knitting and weaving with Aunt Chen, she would dress up as a man and wander around whenever she had the free time, especially visiting bookstores and teahouses. Not only could she learn a lot of knowledge in these two places, but she could also get some information.
Wan Jiangyuan was twenty-two this year and should have been married long ago, with children old enough to run around. But his health was so poor that better families were reluctant to marry their daughters to him, and Xu Shi didn't like the less fortunate families either.
After much selection, they finally settled on the eldest daughter of Mr. Chen, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Miss Chen was also a miserable person. She lost her mother at a young age and had been living under the care of her stepmother. One can imagine how hard her life was. She had hoped to change her current fate by working hard, but her stepmother had set her up with the sickly Wan Jiangyuan.
However, the person who came today was not Miss Chen, but a nanny beside Madam Chen. She had followed Madam Chen to the Earl's Mansion several times, and Wan Xueying had some impression of her.
The woman Wan Hesu was betrothed to was the daughter of a sixth-rank military officer in the Patrol City Battalion. In the capital, even a civil official below the fourth rank was not considered good enough, let alone a sixth-rank military officer in the Patrol City Battalion. But after all, it was Wan Hesu who chose her.
He was twenty years old, and of marriageable age, but as the second child in the family, he could only wait until Wan Jiangyuan got married. This allowed both daughters to avoid exile.
Miss Lin wasn't particularly pretty, but she was said to be quite skilled in martial arts. She had once become acquainted with Wan Hesu after she had fought for justice and apprehended a thief. Currently, she and her maid were each riding on a horse, each carrying a small package, and constantly gazing towards the capital.
Wan Xueying and Wan Qingling had met Miss Lin twice before, and had exchanged a few words. However, she had now severed ties with the Bo family, and when she lifted the carriage curtain and met Miss Lin's gaze, she was stunned at first, then smiled awkwardly.
Wan Xueying was much more relaxed than she was. After giving her a slight nod and greeting, she asked the driver to park the carriage a little further away. She wasn't there to see him off, so there was no need to move forward.
Nearing the hour of Wei, accompanied by the harsh sound of shackles and the occasional urging calls of the escorts, a large group of exiles were escorted to Shili Pavilion.
According to the information Shunzi heard this morning, except for the sale of some slaves, the remaining 300 people will all be exiled to the northern border.
The young and strong ones will be sent to the army, and the others will be sent to the northern border to open up wasteland and cultivate land as military households with criminal status.
People like Shen Yu and Ye Chengyun are young and strong but it is too dangerous to send them into the army, so they can only become military households to open up wasteland and farm.
The Emperor showed special mercy this time, especially to the women. He did not order them to be sent to the Imperial Music Bureau or to the army as prostitutes, but instead made them military households. This made the exiled prisoners feel sympathetic, but also very grateful to the Emperor.
Wan Xueying couldn't help but suspect that the emperor still had other ideas about the third prince, otherwise he would not do such a kind thing.
As far as she knew, the current emperor wasn't a wise ruler, but he wasn't a fool either. However, his actions weren't particularly gentle. Such kindness seemed a bit strange, but she hadn't gotten any clue as to what the Third Prince would do in the future.
“Here he comes! Here he comes!” Lin Yingnan, Miss Lin’s maid Chunjiao, excitedly shouted at her when she saw Wan Hesu in the exile team, “Miss! I have seen my son-in-law!”
"Keep your voice down!" Lin Yingnan rolled his eyes at Chunjiao. "What son-in-law? I haven't even married him yet." He muttered softly, "It's not like my eyesight is bad. I saw it a long time ago."
"Hehe, I see that Young Master Wan Er looks good and still has the strength to carry people. It seems that he didn't suffer much in prison." Chun Jiao continued chattering.
"He's got a good martial arts background, so he can't see anything." Lin Yingnan felt deeply sorry for Wan Hesu. This exile had just begun, and he already had an extra burden. There was still a long road ahead, and he was going to have a hard time! Why couldn't that troublemaker Wan Huqing carry Wan Jiangyuan on his back? If it weren't for him, how could the Bo Mansion have suffered such a disaster?
In fact, Wan Jiangyuan was lying on Wan Hesu's back like a dead person. Lin Yingnan did not see his face, it was just her guess.
But I have to say her guess was pretty accurate.
Wan Hesu has been taking care of Wan Jiangyuan since he was imprisoned in the Dali Temple. Now that the family is about to be exiled, he can't just leave Wan Jiangyuan alone, right?
Wan Hesu, with shackles on his hands and feet, carried Wan Jiangyuan on his back without a word and walked to Shili Pavilion. Thanks to his long years of martial arts training, otherwise, anyone else would have been unable to bear it.
Wan Huqing, who was just mentioned, was transferred from the Ming Prison to the Dali Temple Prison last night. At this moment, he was staying with everyone in the Bo Mansion, walking in the middle of the exile team, but he did not have the slightest intention of lending a hand to Wan Hesu.
The excuse he made for himself was that he had been tortured in the Ming prison and it was already difficult for him to walk on his own, so how could he have the strength to carry Wan Jiangyuan?
Wan Chengji and Xu Shi were even less reliable. Without servants and guards to serve them, the two of them turned their attention to Wan Chengji's four concubines.
It was easy to divide them up, with each concubine supported by two. The older two supported Xu, and the younger two supported Wan Chengji.
Even so, the couple's feet had already blistered, and Wan Chengji's shackles had rubbed a large patch of skin. Perhaps seeing the light of day again, and hearing Wan Huqing say that it was Wan Qingling who helped them escape beheading, Wan Chengji looked much more energetic than before.
This time, the emperor showed mercy again. No one's face was tattooed, and the men did not wear shackles, only handcuffs and feet. In order to allow the women to keep up with the team, even the shackles were waived.
We are not afraid of them escaping. Without household registration and travel permits, no matter where they escape to, they will be sentenced to death if they are caught.
Logically speaking, Wan Huqing was deceived by the steward of the Third Prince's Mansion and harbored the spy named Lingniang. At most, he would receive a few disciplinary blows and the Dingyang Marquis' Mansion should not be implicated. But who made him drag the Third Prince into this, leading to the implicate of a large number of officials?
The Dingyang Marquis's mansion was attacked by the public, with numerous charges laid against it, exposing even the most trivial matters. To appease the public, the Emperor ultimately sentenced the entire family to exile. It must be said that the Dingyang Marquis's mansion had completely shot itself in the foot.
When Wan Xueying saw the people from the Bo Mansion from afar, her eyes did not linger, and she walked past them until the exile team stopped, and saw Shen Yu at the end of the team.
The reason why the exile team stayed at Shili Pavilion for quarter of an hour was because the journey was a life-threatening one, and the exiles had to have a chance to say goodbye to their relatives and friends.
Furthermore, the money and property of the exiles had probably been taken away during house searches or in prison. We couldn't let the hardest-working escorts not get anything for the entire journey, right?
So where do they get their money? Is it just the travel allowance they get for months of traveling back and forth?
Of course not.
They made money from the money and items given to the exiles by their relatives and friends who saw them off.
How to make money?
There are so many names along the way.
"Shunzi," Wan Xueying called Shunzi over, "I won't go over there. The three of you go up and tell Shen Yu that we're here and will be leaving with the exile group later."
"The guys will go first. You take care of yourself here and don't get bumped into by others." Shunzi said.
Wan Xueying nodded and warned: "Don't waste time, go and come back quickly!"
"I understand!"
Wan Xueying then reminded him, "Remember to have Shen Yu apply medicine to the broken skin in time."
She had asked Aunt Chen to make wrist guards for Shen Yu's hands and feet earlier, but she wasn't in a hurry to let Shunzi take them with her. The exile had just begun, and the escorts were usually strict. She would wait and see how things went.
After Shunzi, Nanying and Beiwu left, Aunt Chen got off the carriage and came to Wan Xueying, and was called into her carriage by Wan Xueying.
After Aunt Chen sat next to her, Wan Xueying asked, "Aunt Lian, what does you want to say?" Since she came here specifically to find her, she must have something to say.
"What Aunt Lian wants to say is, Aunt Lian has to thank you," Aunt Chen said with a lingering fear. "Otherwise, I would have been like Jinzhi and the others, not only being exiled with them, but also having to serve the master and mistress on the road." The Jinzhi she was referring to was Wan Chengji's concubine, who had only taken her in two years ago. She was only a few years older than Wan Xueying, and seemed to be in her early twenties.
Wan Xueying raised the corners of her mouth slightly, "Auntie Lian, why are you being so polite to me? Your blessings have just begun, and your good days are still to come!"
Aunt Chen's nose was slightly sour, "Yes! My blessing has just begun, and my good days are still to come." At the end she added, "But you are my greatest blessing." She really felt it was strange. She had such a good biological daughter, why didn't she know how to cherish her?
Over there, while everyone else was surrounded by their loved ones, Wan Chengji and his wife kept thinking about Wan Qingling. They wondered if she could come out of the East Palace to see them. They hadn't seen her for a while, and they wondered if she was doing well. Was she being bullied?
However, after scanning the people around him, he did not see anyone from the East Palace, nor did he see Wan Qingling, which made him somewhat disappointed.
The nanny named Li beside Madam Chen glanced at Lin Yingnan, and seeing that her eyes were always following Wan Hesu, she curled her lips and secretly said "fool". Then she stepped forward and bowed slightly to Wan Jiangyuan and Xu, saying, "I greet the uncle! I greet the madam!" in a very perfunctory manner.
"Why are you here alone?" Xu looked behind her. "Aren't your wife and eldest daughter here?"
Nanny Li smiled and said, "My wife is taking my eldest daughter to see someone and she doesn't have time to come over."
"Visiting someone else?" Mrs. Xu was furious when she heard this. "Your eldest daughter has already been engaged to my son. How can she visit someone else if the engagement hasn't been broken off yet?"
"Look at what you're saying. The people in your mansion are about to be exiled. We don't know when they'll be able to return to the capital, or maybe even never. Do you expect my eldest daughter to wait forever?"
"Then what are you here for?" You're not here to say goodbye out of kindness, are you?
"Let me put it this way," Madam Li said with a light cough. "Today I am here to break off the engagement between my eldest daughter and your eldest son."
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