Chapter 2 Exile Begins
All the men in the Lin family who were over ten years old were shackled and forced to walk in the scorching sun. The women also had to take care of the several young children in the family. They were followed by officials waving whips and hurried them along before they could walk thirty miles.
Fortunately, the Lin family's crimes were not too serious, and the officials in charge of the trial knew very well that this was due to the anger of His Royal Highness Prince Jing. When Lord Lin was an official in the court, everyone had a good relationship with him, and they were happy to give him face. Who knows when he will come to ask for help, after all, things are unpredictable.
After walking for most of the day, the prisoners were already starving and were only able to hold on by force of will.
Not only did everyone's feet hurt, but they were also very hungry and wanted to eat ten or eight bowls of rice. I thought life in prison was hard enough, but now I know there is no hardest, only harder.
They had only walked for half a day, but their legs felt like they were filled with lead and blisters had formed on the soles of their feet.
As soon as the officer called for a break, the Lin family gathered together and sat on the ground.
Lin Yue took off her shoes with great difficulty, and sure enough, there were several shiny blisters on the soles of her feet, and her heels were bleeding from being rubbed.
Her face was covered with a layer of gray sweat mixed with dust, sweat and salt, which made her unable to open her eyes for a while.
I washed my face by the stream and felt a little better.
I had already estimated the difficulty of exile, but I didn't expect that I would be half-invalid in just half a day. It seems that I have to find a way to make myself more comfortable. There are five children in the Lin family who can't walk easily, and they were carried by the free-moving daughter-in-law of the Lin family for half a day.
In the end times, I read ancient exile novels in my spare time. The people who escorted prisoners in those novels were all the lowest-ranking court officials. They lived on the edge of a knife all year round, and each of them was a ruthless character.
However, their salaries are very low. In order to support their families or for other purposes, it is common for them to exploit exiled prisoners on the road and accept bribes to do things for you.
He touched the banknotes he had searched from Zheng Xiao, and his eyes flashed.
"Dinner is ready, dinner is ready."
The officers carried a sack and distributed a pitch-black steamed bun and a glowing green vegetable dumpling to each person.
Everyone in the Lin family looked at the food in their hands and looked at each other, hesitating whether to eat it or not.
"Sir, are there only steamed buns and vegetable dumplings?"
"What else do you want to eat? Meat? Do you deserve it? Ugh!"
The official, Dalizi, cracked his whip and said, "Eat it or not, you think you are a noble boy? You are a prisoner and you think you can bargain with me. What a jerk!"
The man who spoke screamed, and a look of regret appeared on his timid face. He didn't dare to say a word.
The officer with a pointed face and monkey cheeks walked away, whipping and cursing.
"It tastes okay, but it's a bit sore to the throat. Sister Yue, take your nieces to the river to get some water."
Lin Yue responded in a low voice, thinking that the food in her hand was not bad. You know, in the last 150 years of the world, people's food rations were basically the result of research and development, and apart from being able to fill their stomachs, they had no taste at all.
Lin Hongzhi took a small bite, chewed it with difficulty, with a faint smile on his face.
"Mom, I can't bite it!"
"Mom, this vegetable ball is so bitter!"
"Dad, I can't swallow it."
The young children of the Lin family had never eaten anything like this before, so they all went to their closest relatives to complain.
"Hurry up and eat, we still have to continue walking in the afternoon. How can we walk the rest of the way without energy? We are going to Lingnan."
As the head of the family, Lin Hongyuan still had great authority. For a moment, everyone was frightened and silently gnawed the steamed buns in their hands.
Lin Yue swallowed the last piece of black steamed bun, stood up, waved to her niece and nephew, and walked towards the stream. There was a gurgling stream, so clear that you could see the bottom, and occasionally small fish and shrimps darted through it.
Looking around, Lin Yue found a kind of smooth, large tree leaves. She patiently taught her nephews and nieces how to make a simple bucket.
At this time, Lin Yue also had to thank the education in the safe zone. She learned a variety of skills, which she didn't expect were quite practical in ancient times.
"Auntie, this is amazing. Did I do this?"
Lin Lang and Lin Yue are the same age. The two were not very close originally, but because of Lin Lang, they began to admire this aunt.
"I want to make a small bucket for my grandfather to see."
Linda was holding a strange-shaped "bucket", his face full of pride, and all the fatigue from the journey was gone.
"Fourth brother, your folding is not very good. It is impossible to hold water. Haha, you should practice a few more times."
Little girl Lin Jiao looked at the ugly thing in her brother's hand and laughed out loud.
"You little bastard, why can't mine be used? You've crushed all the leaves in your hand, and you won't have any water to drink later."
"Wow, Aunt Yue, you're so fast and beautiful. Come on, teach me."
Lin Jiao ignored her unreasonable brother and got involved with the beautiful and kind-hearted Lin Yue.
Lin Yue filled more than a dozen buckets and took the children back to the Lin family.
"Uncle, Dad, we can build a stove at night and boil some water in a bamboo tube. If we keep drinking raw water like this, I'm worried that my nephews and nieces will get diarrhea, or even get a fever and dehydration."
Lin Yue looked worriedly at her nephews and nieces who were laughing and playing together. They had been carried by their parents for most of the morning, so they still had the energy to play around now. They would definitely be more listless than each other later.
"You're right. This afternoon we'll find two bamboos and boil some water. We can't let the children get sick. Where can we buy medicine out here in the wilderness?"
Lin Hongyuan had at least studied abroad when he was young, and knew how desperate it was to be sick in a deserted place with no medicine to cure it, so he was very satisfied with Lin Yue's arrangement.
Time always passes slower in the afternoon. Along the way, Lin Yue discovered many wild vegetables and fruits that she had only seen in textbooks. She was very excited along the way and picked some edible wild vegetables and fruits to eat in the evening.
"Sir, sir, look at that woman. She has left the group and has been sneaking around. Is she trying to find a chance to escape?"
A very elegant-looking man smiled flatteringly at the foreman sitting in the carriage, but his words were not so pleasing.
Yang Dajun, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened his eyes, looked sharply at the man in front of him, then glanced at Lin Yue who was busy picking wild vegetables, and chuckled.
"Even if all the prisoners here escape, she won't run away. Put away your little thoughts. She is not someone you can touch."
Of course Yang Dajun knew that Lin Yue had voluntarily surrendered herself to the police, and the officer who handed her over even told him some gossip about her, so he had a deep impression of her. Although he didn't know the reason why she did so, it did not prevent him from admiring her.
Cheng Lei froze. He had clearly inquired about the woman's background. She was just an ordinary woman. Even her father was an ordinary citizen. Could it be that the master fell in love with her?
So what's so good about a bean sprout? It has no figure and no looks. I don't know what adults' aesthetic standards are. It turns out that I can't understand vulgar people.
"Dad, eat some fruit to quench your thirst. Uncle, aunt, let Lin Lang come with me to pick some wild vegetables so that we can have more to eat in the evening. How can we be full just by relying on the steamed buns handed down by the officials?"
Lin Yue carefully placed the fresh wild vegetables she had picked in the basket made of vines at noon.
At noon, they were very curious about the purpose of making this basket. For them, who were spoiled children, walking was already tiring, and they naturally resented the effort of carrying useless things.
It was not surprising that Lin Yue could make all kinds of things and even knew about wild vegetables, because the original owner had been naughty since childhood, sneaking out to the market for a long time and often making some strange things.
The people, whose stomachs were already bulging, were very tempted by this proposal. Now they didn't care as long as they could fill their stomachs and survive.
Since the house was searched, everyone has been hanging on by a thread, and their stomachs are so full that they have to swallow it no matter how bad the food tastes.
"How about, Mommy come along and pick them? We have quite a few people in the Lin family. How much can you two girls pick?"
Aunt Zhang also looked at Lin Yue expectantly. As the oldest one, it would be bad for her to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor while watching the younger ones suffer.
"Mom, Auntie, we need to learn about wild vegetables too. Today I'll teach Lin Lang first, and then we'll take turns picking them. If we all collapse from exhaustion, what will happen to our nephews and nieces who can't even walk steadily?"
Lin Yue did not completely refuse. She felt more relaxed if she could do less.
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