(This is a fictional story! A fictional story! A fictional story!)
(This is not the real ancient Lingnan! Everything in this article is fictional, so please don't worry about the actual history, everyone.)
(Just enjoy the story and pictures. The female lead is a food blogger who is quite inexperienced in business at the beginning. If you mind this, please don't read it, or you'll feel uncomfortable. The female lead will grow later on, and this is not a wish-fulfillment story! She leads the village to gradually improve.)
(To all the babies who gave me a five-star review, I wish you all smooth sailing, abundant wealth, good health, happiness, peace, and a happy and fulfilling family life...)
"We'll be in Lingnan soon. Everyone, rest here tonight. We'll take you to Shangtang County tomorrow to register your household registration."
Afterwards, the adult men stayed behind to work at the nearby salt fields, while the women were assigned to fish villages near the town to support themselves.
During the exile group's rest period, the head official explained the upcoming arrangements.
Upon hearing the news, everyone in the exiled group gasped in shock.
Because of the long journey and lack of food, everyone was pale and thin. Upon hearing the official's words, their expressions became even more miserable.
However, no one dared to contradict the officials; they simply responded with meekness and agreement.
The five-month exile from Kyoto to Lingnan had already worn down their edges, and they knew that even if they argued back, it would be useless and would only invite a beating from the soldiers.
Just like Pei Yao, the eldest daughter of Pei Lao Er's family.
A few days ago, because she was extremely thirsty, the little girl suddenly ran towards a pond when the team passed by it. As a result, she was beaten up by the soldiers who caught up with her.
Everyone looked at Pei Yao, who was squatting in the corner in a daze, and felt sorry for her. This little girl was really pitiful.
He was beaten up and remained unconscious until he woke up half an hour ago, after which he became like this, acting irrationally.
But he was incredibly lucky to survive; he was beaten to the point of near death but still managed to come back to life.
That's really impressive.
"Sir, may I ask how long it takes for us men to work? Will we be able to return home to be with our wives and daughters afterward?" After a while, a bolder person in the crowd asked, but his voice was very soft and timid.
One of the more amiable officials explained, "The imperial order is for a five-year period. After that, you can receive your household registration and return home to live as ordinary citizens, but..."
The officer paused, which piqued everyone's curiosity, and they all strained to hear what was to come.
The official continued, "Families can also use silver to ransom their children."
A glimmer of hope suddenly ignited in everyone's hearts, and someone asked in a low voice, "How much silver is needed to ransom it?"
The officer sneered and held up a two.
Everyone guessed: "20 taels?"
"Two ounces?"
"It can't be two hundred taels, can it...?"
The official shook his finger: "It's twenty taels, but it's twenty taels of silver a year, and one hundred taels for five years."
After speaking, he gave the group a mocking look. In Kyoto, these people were all pampered rich kids, and a mere hundred taels of silver was nothing to them. But this was not Kyoto, but Lingnan, and they were no longer the high-and-mighty rich kids they once were, but exiled criminals.
Survival here is now a problem; they don't expect this group to have any extra money to ransom people.
Indeed, his words immediately silenced everyone. Before the confiscation of their property, this amount of money would certainly not have been a problem for them, but now they were all exiled prisoners. Let alone twenty taels a year or one hundred taels for five years, they couldn't even come up with two taels or two coins.
Everyone was speaking in hushed tones and discussing it privately with their families; some were even crying quietly.
Being exiled thousands of miles away to this remote Lingnan region was already devastating enough for them. Now, they also had to be separated from the men in their families. These women and children from the capital city were at a loss as to what to do in the days to come.
Even the usually composed Pei Dalang frowned in worry, turning to look at his family, unsure of what to do.
Especially seeing his little niece, who had just woken up and was still injured, staring blankly at the ground, he felt incredibly sad.
Ever since my niece woke up half an hour ago, she has been completely expressionless no matter who talks to her, as if her soul has been ripped out.
This left them both happy and sad; they were awake, but... they were stunned.
Although Pei Dalang felt sorry for his niece, there was nothing he could do, since they were exiled criminals at the time.
He sighed and could only gently remind his tearful family members of everyday things, nothing more than to take good care of themselves and the children.
The atmosphere became very gloomy for a while.
Pei Yao stared at the ground, numbly listening to the chatter and crying around her. Numbly, she took the dark, mushy mixed grain dumpling that Pei Erlang handed her and sat numbly with her family in an open space not far from the fire.
Until a four or five-year-old, thin and pale child grabbed her hand and shook it, then carefully placed a small sweet potato in her hand and said in a childish voice, "Sister, here you go."
Then she quickly ran back to her mother's arms, staring at Pei Yao with her round eyes.
Pei Yao looked at the sweet potato in her hand, then looked up at the gazes of the entire Pei family.
I finally came to my senses.
Pei Yao's numb face instantly switched to an expression of fear.
Damn it, who are all these beggars in front of me?
Ever since she woke up not long ago, this group of people have been staring at her with pity in their eyes. Especially the men and women in front of her, who have been around her the whole time. There is also a woman who claims to be her mother who keeps circling around her, asking if she is still in pain and giving her water to drink.
Didn't she get into a car accident? Did she survive? Or...?
Time travel?
Wow, this is something else! After reading so many novels and watching so many TV dramas over the years, it's finally my turn to time travel.
A surge of joy welled up inside me, but before I could enjoy it for long, a sudden headache struck, and my mind was abruptly interrupted by a series of memories.
Looking at the little girl with such expressive face in front of them, the Pei family members all showed worried expressions. What's wrong with this little girl this time?
After her headache subsided, Pei Yao finally remembered. She didn't have many memories, but she had a general idea.
I've made a simple arrangement of the memories in my mind.
First of all, the dynasty she traveled to was called the Joseon Dynasty. She had never seen it in history books, so she didn't know much about it.
Her name is Pei Yao, which is exactly the same as her name in her previous life. Perhaps it was this fate that led her to transmigrate after her death.
However, the ages are different. In this life, she is only fourteen years old, while in her previous life, she was already twenty-six years old. After graduating from university, she started her business as a food blogger in the countryside, and also helped the villagers sell their local products.
Not long ago, I was in a car accident while delivering goods to a customer. When I woke up, this was the scene before me.
That said, it's one thing for her to transmigrate, but what's with the fact that she transmigrated into the body of an exiled criminal?
The most dramatic part is that the original owner got lost from her family when she was six years old. Her family spent a lot of money searching for her everywhere. After eight years, they finally found her in a remote mountain valley before June.
After bringing her back to the capital with great joy, they didn't have a single good month. An elder in the clan who was an official in the court offended the emperor. The main culprit was beheaded on the spot, and the rest were exiled to nine generations.
His family was also implicated by this distant relative and was sentenced to exile in Lingnan.
On this trip, the Pei family and their nine clans, along with other exiled prisoners, suffered many deaths and injuries along the way, leaving only a handful of the already weak clans remaining.
The others weren't much better off. These people were all from wealthy families in Kyoto or nearby prefectures, and they couldn't withstand the bumpy ride along the way.
Pei Yao looked at the family in front of her with a bitter face and began to recognize people according to her memory.
The refined-looking man sitting next to him, along with several other people, were his eldest uncle, Pei Ze (Pei Dalang); Pei Fang (Pei Dalang's eldest daughter-in-law); and Pei Yichen (Pei Dalang's son).
Sitting next to Pei Yao were her father, Pei Wen, the second son of the Pei family, his wife Yunniang, and her four-year-old sister Pei Xuan, who was the dirty little dumpling from earlier.
This family didn't benefit from the glory days of their relatives, but now they're being dragged into this mess. They're truly suffering in silence.
......
Thinking about all this, Pei Yao felt really uncomfortable. She looked away, closed her eyes, and lay flat on the ground.
Go to sleep. This scene is just too painful to look at, and the more I think about it, the more hopeless it feels.
After countless mental preparations throughout the night, Pei Yao was finally able to accept it a little.
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