Chapter 161 The former Minister of Rites returns the favor...
Yu Zong's face was flushed an unnatural red. He leaned on the hoe and coughed violently, "Cough cough cough cough...!"
"Waaah... Dad, go inside and rest, Hu'er is here." A little boy of three or four years old said indistinctly. Upon closer inspection, you could see that his lips were cracked from the cold, and his hands and feet were also injured, but the little boy was still quite energetic.
"Go back and take care of your mother and the other concubines," Yu Zong said weakly.
Along the way, even with Senior Brother Shen's secret care, his aunt and one of his concubines died on the long journey. He had two sons and a daughter in total. The eldest son was Yu Hu, who was three or four years old. The adults carried him on their backs and occasionally begged someone to put him on the prison cart, and that's how they survived.
The two younger ones were still in swaddling clothes and couldn't withstand the cold wind from the north and the humid heat from the south; they fell ill and died one after the other.
Yu Zong was heartbroken, but he became numb to it all.
Raising a child is difficult even for ordinary families; a slight mishap can lead to death. Now, he is in exile thousands of miles away, and his situation is even worse. The fact that those women were able to follow him to Lingnan alive, and that one of his children survived to reach Lingnan, is already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.
The whole family couldn't adapt to the climate here, and they all got sick from exhaustion.
As the only man still capable of handling things, Yu Zong matured a lot. Despite his serious illness and swaying body, he had to get up and work hard in the fields. He was no longer the spoiled man he used to be and became very silent.
Lingnan is full of wasteland. As long as they don't occupy land that others have already cultivated, they can find anywhere to build houses and register them.
When Yu Soo's family arrived, they were completely exhausted and could only register at a dilapidated house that had been damaged in the hurricane. They settled down temporarily and had to cultivate the fields near the house.
The government would temporarily lend them tools and seeds, as well as a bag of grain and a bushel of rice, which would be their family's food rations for the entire month.
If he couldn't grow enough vegetables to sell to the restaurants he had signed contracts with a month later, Yu Zong couldn't even think of a way to support his family. Even so, Yu Zong was very grateful that the government in Lingnan was practically feeding them.
He originally thought he would be forced to do hard labor day and night, and that he would die within a few days.
But now...
Yu Zong shivered again, feeling weak in the legs and dizzy, with no strength left to swing the hoe.
Even if there's a clear path ahead, he simply can't handle the backbreaking work of clearing land.
"Hey! You, man!" a voice called out from afar.
But Yu Zong didn't react. He had never been called that before, and he didn't realize that he was being called.
"Hey lad over there! Aren't several people in your family sick? There are apprentices at a clinic up ahead practicing and offering free medical care! Why don't you go and take a look?" someone called out from afar. The figure looked familiar; it seemed to be someone who lived nearby.
Yu Zong turned his head abruptly when he heard the word "medical clinic".
The medical apprentice, whom he had never paid any attention to before, had now become his savior.
"Hu'er! Hu'er, quickly call everyone out!" Yu Zong was overjoyed, but he had no other choice. It was unrealistic to expect his son to help the adults, as he himself was so ill that he would collapse at the slightest push. He could only hope to wake up his wives and concubines so that they could support each other.
Having finally managed to see a doctor, the apprentice quickly wrote out a long prescription and handed it to him, asking him to get the medicine. Yu Zongcai suddenly froze in embarrassment, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.
The doctor's visit... is free. But getting the medicine isn't.
Should he grit his teeth and sell some of his food rations to get medical treatment first? But that little bit of food wasn't enough to feed several people for a month, and if he sold more... would he be able to afford the medicine? If he recovers but has nothing to eat... how will he survive?
A bitter, metallic taste rose on Yu Zong's tongue, plunging him into a dilemma. His eyes stung, but remained dry; once again, he thought of his elderly father.
Father, life is so hard... to live.
"What? Don't you have money for medicine?" The young apprentice, who was only about ten years old, blinked sympathetically and handed him a voucher.
“This—” Even though he hadn’t been there long, Yu Zong already knew that this piece of paper was the ‘silver’ that circulated in several southern states.
The young apprentice didn't rush to pull him away, but instead spoke quickly and directly:
“This isn’t something I gave you. Look, do you see that statue? It’s the Little Star Lord statue, representing our Prince. Everyone likes to worship him, but the Star Lord Temple doesn’t accept many offerings… The ones they do collect are used to help poor people like you. If you want to thank someone, thank the Prince who gave the money!”
She sat up straighter and added with great pride, "Even us apprentices who came out to practice our skills for free were all granted permission by the Prince!"
In reality, they don't just give money to people who are too poor to afford medicine.
These candidates must be thoroughly understood so that every penny of the prince's money can be used effectively.
For example, the exiled prisoners... they had to carry their newly signed place of origin for everything they did, and they were confined to a certain area and not allowed to move around freely. Whether they had money or not was immediately obvious.
Yu Zong's voice was faint and uncertain: "...Your...Prince?"
What else doesn't he know?
There is only one prince who is famous in such a remote area, and that is the second prince...
Because the other party was the same age as the Third Prince and was caught between the First Prince and the Third Prince, the Third Prince's faction always thought of how the Second Prince should behave and assessed his threat level. Whenever they got to this step, everyone would tacitly skip it.
The reason is simply because the Second Prince is too weak and incompetent, lacks a powerful maternal family, and is not favored by His Majesty. It is said that His Highness the Third Prince likes to boss him around, but the Second Prince refuses to be a follower and is very stubborn and headstrong. He seems to be a complete waste.
So ever since he came of age and was expelled from the palace to his fief, Yu Zong had never paid any attention to this person again.
Now……
It was actually the Second Prince's act of kindness that saved their family?
Putting aside any talk of cowardice or incompetence, he certainly had a kind heart. He had never heard of a prince ordering that women could also learn medicine, not only providing free medical consultations but also paying out of his own pocket to buy medicine for people…
These events completely exceeded Yu Xun's imagination.
A myriad of emotions welled up inside him.
"I...I understand. We are all grateful to Your Highness. We will go to offer incense to him when we are better." The haggard young man bowed his head and thanked him, his voice choked with emotion, before leading his family to get medicine.
"Prince Rui is a very good person."
His wife took her medicine and slept for a while before she had a little strength left to express her gratitude, but also a little worried, "Sou Lang, what if the Prince's men don't know it's us...?"
She hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.
Even though they were once a well-known faction of the Third Prince, and naturally at odds with the Second Prince, everything vanished with the downfall of the Third Prince. They were exiled to the vicinity of the Second Prince's fiefdom.
But is the Second Prince still unaware? If he does, will he take back the money he gave them? Will he turn around and mistreat them? Will he still treat them so well?
"Don't overthink it." Yu Zong wasn't sure either, but he had gotten used to putting on a brave face lately, so he interrupted his wife. "Our new place of origin is clearly written on the certificate, and we gave it to her when we went to the doctor. So much time has passed... If nothing's wrong, then nothing's wrong."
"Do you think we could write to my father-in-law? We could ask him and let him know we're safe," Yu Zong's wife suggested thoughtfully.
In previous years, the father-in-law was the head of the household, but now that the young couple is in dire straits, they can only rely on him. The reason is that they have no choice but to comply; they have been exiled here, and the father-in-law's fate is unknown, so he must be very worried.
“Alright,” Yu Zong immediately agreed.
Thanks to the voucher given to him by the apprentice at the clinic, the medicine was cheap, and he could try to send a letter with the remaining money to find out the truth about this critical matter... If there was any left over, he could buy some of the cheapest food, mix it with some wild leaves that Hu'er picked, and eat it as a meal to last a few more days.
“My father’s vision…only Senior Brother Shen followed his example.” Even now, when Shen Shuzhi is mentioned, Yu Zong’s face is still full of complex emotions, and he harbors deep resentment.
He always felt that Shen Shuzhi's temporary betrayal led to the Third Prince's ultimate defeat. Without the help and cover-up from so many officials, the Third Prince was ultimately too weak and isolated.
But sometimes he would waver and couldn't help but think that Shen Shuzhi's drastic decision might have been the right thing to do. Otherwise, who knows how much bloodshed would have ensued in officialdom... just as his father had taught him...
However, humans are creatures prone to taking their anger out on others.
If he doesn't resent his successful senior brother Shen now, who should he blame? The Third Prince, who is also tragically imprisoned?
On the surface, Yu Zong has learned to control his emotions, and now he doesn't even react much when talking about Senior Brother Shen.
More than a month later.
Yu Zong's family had finally recovered from their illnesses, though they were still weak. They had managed to clear the land with great difficulty and plant some basic leafy greens. After some stumbling and asking for advice, a few of them survived—but not as many as the wild vegetables and mushrooms his concubines had gathered from the nearby area.
They managed to get through the days, and the letter eventually received a reply, albeit in a roundabout way—it was delivered by a caravan. The caravans in Lingnan were incredibly skilled; they not only dealt with pests and beasts and swept away bandits, but they were also incredibly efficient at delivering messages.
Along with the letter came a bundle of clothes and snacks such as smoked meat that keep well. They weren't very valuable, but they came in handy.
Hu'er cheered and, along with a group of women, divided the items among themselves, excitedly counting them. Yu Zong, on the other hand, couldn't wait to open the letter and see what instructions his father had.
"What did my father-in-law say?" the wife asked expectantly.
Yu Zong breathed a sigh of relief: "My father said... there's no need to worry. Even if the Second Prince and the Prince want to torment us, we can only endure it. With his kind nature, he won't take our lives."
Although the words were spoken so seriously, based on Yu Zong's understanding of his father, it was probably equivalent to nothing happening.
Yu Zong had nothing to fear. His family only had their lives left, and as long as they weren't taken away, nothing else mattered.
His father no longer liked to break things down for him in detail as he used to, and his letters were no longer as comprehensive. Therefore, Yu So had to force himself to grow up and think about what his father meant by not saying everything.
My father mentioned in his letter that although he wasn't in the capital, he had vaguely heard that the Second Prince had recently gotten into some trouble. To reciprocate, he would also lend a hand when the time was right. Anything more was unsuitable for him, and this was also for the sake of Yu Zong's family.
Yu Zong stared at this sentence and pondered it for most of the time.
...If something really happens to Prince Rui, it certainly won't be a good thing for them now.
The status quo that their family has been trying so hard to maintain is far too fragile. The slightest misstep could lead to destruction from the sidelines. For now, it would be best if Prince Rui, who is protecting them, could remain firmly in place... Father is indeed father; he always thinks so far ahead.
He felt at ease.
The family that was keeping watch nearby—a quick-witted guard named "Zhao E'mao" from the Prince's mansion—also breathed a sigh of relief.
He got the news and could go back to report!
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Author's Note: There are many unspoken implications regarding the former Minister of Rites, but Yu Zong is too far away and there's no news of him. My own political acumen isn't sufficient to know either, lol.
Updated later.
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