Chapter 126 Yunxi's Heart Knot
The three legitimate sons who had been hitting someone immediately became uneasy when they saw that Yunxi wanted to intervene in the matter. They couldn't help but shrink back, afraid of angering the future princess.
The place they were exiled to was under the jurisdiction of Prince Xian. If they were angered, a few simple tricks could make them die quietly in exile.
When Gu Nanxiao saw Yunxi about to give meat to Shi Qingchen, his heart skipped a beat. He even regretted that he had treated Shi Qingchen too badly before, which had aroused Yunxi's pity.
Thinking of the friendship they once shared, even longer than the time he had spent with Yunxi, a murderous intent involuntarily surfaced in Gu Nanxiao's eyes.
Qi Jinxiu, however, remained indifferent, feeling that this was not Yunxi's style.
How could Yunxi possibly protect someone who repaid kindness with enmity, killed her, and humiliated her just because he was only beaten and suffered a little?
It was very quiet around them, with only Yunxi's footsteps clearly audible. Everyone was curious to see what she would do, and even the Shi family head, who had been pretending to be asleep, quietly opened his eyes.
He also held a sliver of hope that if Yunxi were to forgive Shi Qingchen, the Shi family would suffer much less. Unfortunately, his dream was destined to be dashed.
Yunxi, holding the meat, appeared to be heading towards Shi Qingchen. However, she stopped as she approached the three brothers and then divided the three palm-sized pieces of cooked beef among them.
He also added a compliment: "Well done! From now on, every time you beat him up, you'll get meat to eat."
Yunxi's words made Shi Qingchen's smile more like a grimace. Gu Nanxiao behind him breathed a sigh of relief, Qi Jinxiu unconsciously curled his lips into a smile, but the head of the Shi family closed his eyes in despair.
The three brothers stood there stunned, then burst into ecstatic joy upon receiving the beef. After thanking him profusely without any backbone, they took the beef back to share with their father, mother, wife, and children.
In their view, as long as Shi Qingchen lived, they could obtain meat regularly by beating him. So this wasn't the only meal; if they behaved well, they could even eat meat at every meal.
After today's incident, the Shi family held a small meeting to discuss how many beatings Shi Qingchen could endure in a day, and how to beat him in a way that would make him look extremely miserable without endangering his life.
After all, they now regard Shi Qingchen as a tool to produce food. If used properly, he can greatly improve their meals.
In the days that followed, Shi Qingchen was beaten at least twice a day. The number of people beating him increased from three to five, then from five to seven, and finally stabilized at ten.
Shi Qingchen's face was constantly bruised and swollen, looking like a pig's head. But he didn't feel as much pain, at least not as much as on the first day he was beaten.
In the end, he himself came to a conclusion: whenever these people started beating him, he would curl up into a ball, wait for an incense stick to burn, and then lie motionless on the ground as if he were dead.
In this way, everyone would be afraid of killing him, so they would naturally stop.
To make Shi Qingchen more resilient and prevent him from dying prematurely, his family even improved his meals. He now receives a bowl of dry vegetable porridge every day, and no one deliberately spills the bowl anymore.
After all, his life was crucial, as it determined whether the Shi family would be able to eat meat on the rest of their journey.
Besides being able to eat his fill, Shi Qingchen discovered another benefit: whenever he was beaten, Yunxi would usually come to take a look.
And this was also a good opportunity for him to see Yunxi. Although he suffered physically, he felt extremely satisfied.
The further north they went, the colder the weather became, and Shi's family was still wearing tattered single-layer clothes. Moreover, after two months of traveling, their clothes were extremely worn out.
Many people have holes of various sizes in their clothes. Not only do they fail to keep out the cold, but they also let in drafts when it's windy.
Gradually, members of the Shi family began to fall ill, and most of them developed chilblains on their hands and feet.
At this moment, Yunxi found two sets of extremely thick cotton-padded clothes and two sets of cotton shoes and hats, and asked Que'er to deliver them to the Li siblings.
The Li siblings were moved to tears when they received the cotton-padded coats. They felt that they had not done anything of any help to the deceased Miss Yun.
It was just a matter of receiving a little more respect than others on ordinary days. I never imagined that in a moment of crisis, it would be exchanged for something so life-saving.
The next day, just as Yunxi and Gu Nanxiao settled into the inn and were preparing to warm themselves by the charcoal brazier and rest, Que'er stormed over to complain that everything she had given to the Li siblings the day before had been stolen.
Upon hearing this, Yunxi wanted to go with Que'er to take a look, but Gu Nanxiao, seeing that her little face was red from the cold, pressed her back into the quilt and said he would take care of it. Yunxi nodded and let him go.
Two incense sticks later, Gu Nanxiao returned from outside. Upon entering the inn, he first went to the charcoal brazier to dispel the chill from his body before sitting down on the bed.
Then he quickly took off his outer garment, crawled into the brocade quilt, and hugged Yunxi in his arms before he began to speak: "The cotton-padded clothes of the Li siblings were stolen last night."
When I went over just now, I saw them being worn by the head of the Shi family. The women's cotton-padded coats were worn by the head of the Shi family's most beloved concubine.
Yunxi was quite surprised after hearing this. She didn't expect that even after being exiled, the head of the Shi family would still have such thoughts.
Seeing that Yunxi was interested, Gu Nanxiao smiled and continued, "I had someone take off the cotton-padded coat and return it to the Li siblings."
Then he instructed the constables to punish them severely. At first, they were hesitant to act, after all, the head of the Shi family was the patriarch of a century-old family. He was someone they had never even seen before.
Even though I've become a convict, I still wield considerable influence. So I stood there and didn't leave, and the officers, seeing this, dared not try to fool me anymore.
He then lashed the head of the Shi family and his beloved concubine fifty times each. At this moment, the head of the Shi family was on the verge of death, while his concubine was beaten to death.
During the flogging, neither Lady Wen nor her three sons stood up for the head of the Shi family. Presumably, it was his actions that disheartened Lady Wen.
I also instructed my men that even if anyone beat Shi Qingchen these next few days, they should not be given any meat as punishment. They must understand that the Li siblings you want to protect are not to be touched casually.
As Gu Nanxiao spoke, he got closer and closer to Yunxi. Gradually, his lips were already close to Yunxi's mouth, and when no one was paying attention, he suddenly kissed the corner of Yunxi's lips.
But he only dared to touch her briefly and then pull away. After the kiss, he immediately observed Yunxi's expression. Seeing that she only rolled her eyes at him and did not say anything to stop him, he boldly leaned in again and deepened the kiss.
Although Yunxi's hand was pressed against his chest, she didn't seem to be particularly resisting. This discovery greatly encouraged Gu Nanxiao.
He began to move the lingering kiss to her earlobe, neck, and down. But as he kissed her, he noticed that the person in his arms seemed to be trembling uncontrollably.
When he looked up, he saw Yunxi's eyes filled with tears, her gaze filled with fear, and her mouth murmuring something.
Gu Nanxiao immediately stopped what he was doing, cupped Yunxi's face in his hands, and asked softly, "What's wrong, Yunxi?"
Yunxi did not respond. As if in a nightmare, her gaze remained fixed on the top of the tent, and she was still muttering something.
Gu Nanxiao put his ear closer to listen, and a piercing pain immediately spread throughout his body. He felt as if his throat was being choked, and even though his chest was heaving violently, he still felt suffocated.
He heard Yunxi repeatedly murmur, "Please, stop, it hurts..."
If he weren't afraid of disturbing Yunxi, he would have loved to slap himself a few times. Gu Nanxiao carefully pulled Yunxi into his arms, gently patting her back and soothingly saying in a soft voice:
"I'm sorry, Yunxi, please don't be afraid of me. I will never do anything foolish to you again. Please forget about those things, okay?"
Gu Nanxiao's words had almost no effect, but he persisted in repeating them until Yunxi closed her eyes wearily and gradually fell asleep.
Gu Nanxiao then reached out a trembling hand and gently stroked Yunxi's cheek, his expression filled with regret as he whispered a plea:
"Yunxi, as long as you can let go of your resentment, you can punish me however you want, please don't torture yourself, okay? It breaks my heart..."
This incident caused Yunxi to suddenly become very weak.
It was through this incident that Gu Nanxiao realized that the harm he had caused Yunxi had not disappeared with the passage of time; it was just that Yunxi had concealed it well, so he hadn't noticed.
The royal convoy therefore rested in the town for a day, and the departure time was determined based on the situation in Yunxi.
Meanwhile, almost all of Shi's family members who were exiled fell ill, especially the younger children who had persistent high fevers. If they were not given medicine, they probably wouldn't survive the night.
Seeing the tragic state of his clan, the head of the Shi family knew he could no longer hide. Indeed, debts must be repaid sooner or later.
He took the initiative to request a meeting with Yunxi, wanting to ask what price he would have to pay in exchange for the typhoid medicine to treat his clan.
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