Soon, the large group bypassed the Black Mountain Forest and arrived at the mountaintop where the moonlight was abundant.
The officers and soldiers set up camp there and gave each of them a dry cornbread. They themselves roasted and ate the rabbit that the tenant had hunted.
Song He'er quietly pulled Qin Xiaoniang and her younger brother to a dimly lit place, and took out two yams from her bosom: "Mother, I secretly dug these up on the road. No one saw me. Quick, wipe them clean!"
Qin Xiaoniang said with a worried expression, "He'er, don't always act recklessly. When you spoke up for that farmer just now, you scared me to death. If you offend those soldiers, you'll have a hard time on the way..."
"Mother, I'm fine. I'm very clever. Otherwise, how would I have dug up the yams?"
You always need to be careful.
"good!"
Parents who love their children plan far ahead for them. Although Qin Xiaoniang was timid, she ultimately loved her children.
Song He'er happily finished eating the yams with Qin Xiaoniang, and then, taking advantage of the soldiers' inattention, secretly slipped over to the tenant farmer's side, "Uncle!"
The tenant was startled and almost couldn't speak. "Oh dear, young lady, what are you doing not sleeping in the middle of the night?"
"I'm here to save you."
"Save me? Give me a break! Those soldiers are like orphans, they're already being lenient by not forcing me to give them money, let alone let me down the mountain?"
Song He'er looked at him intently with her big, watery eyes. "If I say yes, then yes, but you have to trade something with me."
The tenant became increasingly suspicious and asked, "What is it? I don't have any money."
“I don’t want your money, I want your bow and arrows, I’ll trade you… this for… how about it?” Song He’er took out a silver hairpin with pearls.
These were collected from the general's mansion's storeroom. Although they weren't worth much, they were still considered rare items for the tenant farmers who worked in the countryside year-round.
"This? For me?" the tenant asked incredulously.
Song He'er nodded. "I'm the daughter of a great general. Do you want anything from the palace?"
After much deliberation, the tenant decided that the bow and arrows were not worth the price and that the deal was a good one, so he agreed to Song He'er's request.
"Alright then, but how are you going to get me down the mountain?"
"Don't worry about it, just take advantage of the chaos to go down the mountain later!"
Song He'er happily accepted the bow and arrows, but the whole pile of things was too heavy for a fourteen-year-old girl to lift!
She could only drag them toward the bushes, find a shady spot, and put them into her own space.
After dealing with the bow and arrows, Song He'er imitated a wolf howl as she walked down the mountain, "Awoo~"
As soon as the sound came out, Song He'er pretended to panic and ran towards the group's resting place, shouting, "Quick, hide! Wolf! Wolf!"
This shout startled Madam Li, who immediately pulled her two beloved daughters to hide at the back of the line.
Qin hurriedly grabbed a torch and shielded Song He'er behind her.
The soldiers were less courageous than chickens. Upon hearing that wolves were coming, they jumped up and down in fright, grabbed torches, and ran into the cave.
Under the cover of night, Song He'er saw the tenant farmer hurrying down the mountain...
It's quite smart; it knows to run.
"What a damn bad luck! What kind of place is this?!" one of the soldiers complained.
"Alright, go to sleep now, we need to get going early tomorrow!"
After a burst of complaints, the surroundings finally quieted down.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the officers and soldiers began to count the number of people.
The leading officer inspected the ranks two or three times, then suddenly threw his clothes on the ground in a huff.
"Where is that tenant farmer?"
"Wasn't he sleeping there last night?" another soldier replied.
"Damn it! He actually got away!"
"Maybe the wolves will eat them! Alright, alright, let's hurry up and leave, who cares!" The other soldiers were terrified by the wolves and couldn't wait to leave this place, not caring about Zhang San or Li Si.
Upon hearing this, the leading officer snorted coldly and did not pursue the matter further, but instead led the team to continue moving forward.
The further they went, the less food they had. People went from eating two meals a day to eating only one meal at noon. They would starve themselves to death as long as they didn't starve.
Aunt Zhang Xiu'e, who was fat, was so big that two pancakes weren't even enough to fill her teeth, and she actually lost weight along the way because of hunger.
"Sister-in-law, let me hold Huan-ge'er for a while. I'm fat and strong."
According to Song He'er's search of the original owner's memories, this Zhang Xiu'e was one of the few good people in the General's Mansion.
She also has a five-year-old daughter. She never gossips or gets jealous, but she is a bit stubborn and inflexible.
Qin Xiaoniang was a little embarrassed: "Well... you don't look well either, never mind."
"No need, He'er is still growing, you can't let her hold you. Here, give her to me!"
Huan Ge'er is already nine months old and has gained some weight. Usually, Song He'er and Qin Xiaoniang take turns carrying him and holding him, and no one else has ever handled him.
"Well... thank you."
After Zhang Xiue took the child, she indeed carried him for a while with great skill.
They returned the child just before they were about to go downhill.
After walking for a long time, they inevitably got hungry, so the group decided to dig up some wild vegetables on the mountain, boil them in water with some salt, and that would at least give them some flavor.
The officers and soldiers simply abandoned the matter.
Anyway, they have food and drink, and when they reach the next post station, they can prepare their own meals, which are a hundred times better than what these prisoners eat.
"There are mushrooms there! Quick!"
Song Chanyue is an extremely selfish person. When she sees food, she wants to take it all for herself and will never leave anyone else even the slightest chance.
Song He'er, carrying the bamboo basket that Qin Xiaoniang had just woven, passed by Song Chanyue, glanced at the brightly colored mushroom, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips.
Song Chanyue thought she had some bad idea and immediately warned her: "Let me tell you, this whole area belongs to my mother and sister. You have no share in it. Today I'm going to show you what happens when you offend me!"
Song He'er shrugged: "You've already eaten them all, I didn't want any at all."
Song Chanyue looked at her younger sister in disbelief and asked, "Did you knock her brains out? She doesn't want such good mushrooms?"
Song Chanxing looked utterly dejected: "Did I knock her stupid? Big sister, I almost got beaten to death by her!"
"Pfft!" Song Chanyue couldn't help but laugh.
"Laugh! What are you laughing at! You better get revenge for me!" Song Chanxing said unhappily.
"Alright, alright, you wait, I'll definitely get revenge for you!"
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