The Chu family's collateral branches, who had originally hoped to use Ning Yan's status as a member of the Chu family to ask her for some food, have all become obedient.
Chu Laosi's wife is a bit difficult to deal with.
If you offend her, it would be too unfair to be beaten up by her without even knowing the facts.
However, the Chu family members had different thoughts upon seeing this scene.
Chu Lao Si: No wonder he didn't like his wife back then. She was not gentle at all, and too rude. If she could help, she would help; if she couldn't, she would just let her leave. Why be so rude?
They're just unrelated people.
The old lady nodded secretly. She hadn't chosen the wrong person for her son. This was exactly the kind of decisive and ruthless matriarch her Chu family needed. It was a pity that her foolish son had no vision and had missed the opportunity.
The Crown Prince's wife, however, did not think so. She thought that her fourth brother's wife still cared about the child, and that she might be willing to stay with the fourth brother for the sake of the child. Perhaps they could even become a family in the future.
Ning Yan: ...Please, don't overthink it, okay?
What was she thinking, picking up a rotten cucumber that someone else had used?
After everyone had finished dinner, the yamen runners were about to rest. Ning Yan had someone quietly deliver the prepared hand warmers and hot water bottles to Old Madam Chu, and also gave them cotton quilts. Only then did she hold her son and fall asleep in the carriage.
The pills Chu Zheng took had taken full effect; his dizziness and nausea had subsided, and even his face had regained its rosy hue.
The Crown Prince's wife felt embarrassed to take over her younger brother and sister-in-law's carriage, and since she had blankets to use, she brought the child to her side.
Soon, everyone fell into a deep sleep, with only the crackling sound of the burning firewood remaining.
In the middle of the night, a man quietly got up in the temple without disturbing anyone. He quietly approached the place where the constables were resting. Soon, two figures left the dilapidated temple together. About half an hour later, the two returned.
Ning Yan's carriage was parked at the temple gate. She was light-sounding, so she naturally heard the noise. Not only her, but also Zhang Qing, who was on night watch, heard it, but no one made a sound.
The road to exile is arduous; without money and not having enough to eat, one risks losing their life.
It's normal to do anything to survive.
Such things happen far too often on the road to exile.
The next day, they continued their journey. Ning Yan gave Zhang Qing a stack of silver notes and asked him to take his men to the city ahead to buy a few more carriages and replenish supplies.
Zhang Qing accepted the order and left, but did not return until more than three hours later.
He bought five carriages and a lot of meat and grain. Anyway, his master had money, so he didn't feel bad about spending it.
That evening, while resting, Ning Yan had a large pot of meat soup cooked, and then had a basin of it delivered to Jin Daofei. The rest was naturally to be shared with the Chu family.
The meat smelled so good that Liu was really craving it. After dividing the meat, Ning Yan had someone add some noodles to the soup and then added a handful of chili peppers. Everyone had a bowl, along with two warm steamed buns, which warmed them up and filled them up.
Chu Lin ate a big bowl of noodles and a steamed bun.
The old lady was sweating as she ate. She glanced at her second son, who was eating heartlessly, and sighed again. What a terrible thing!
Over the next few days, they would rest at post stations most of the time. Sometimes, the distance between two post stations was too far, so they would hurry on their way and skip the rest time in between.
Since they were already outside the capital's territory, Ning Yan simply kept her son in the carriage. With Ning Yan providing him with stewed meat every day, Jin Daofei truly managed to turn a blind eye.
His subordinates followed suit, and no one cared about them, so Chu Lin lived a very comfortable life.
That day, during the midday break, Chu Lin'er got out of the car and ran to her grandmother's side, stuffing her little hand directly into her grandmother's mouth.
The old lady instinctively tried to back away, but her grandson was quick enough to stuff the food into her mouth.
A sweet taste instantly filled my mouth. "Candy? Where did it come from?"
Chu Lin looked at his grandmother with his beautiful big eyes and said, "Is it delicious? Mom bought it for me." After saying that, he reached into his purse, grabbed a handful of food, and stuffed it into his grandmother's hand.
Then she ran to her older brother and sister to get some candy.
Old Madam Chu was both amused and exasperated. What was an old woman like her doing eating candy?
But I still put the candy away and saved it for the children.
Suddenly, the group of exiles became noisy. "Yanfeng, Yanfeng, what's wrong? Quick, go and beg the magistrate to get a doctor! Yanfeng can't be hurt!"
Ning Yan, who had just gotten out of the car and was about to stretch her muscles, looked at Yu Zhu, who immediately went over quietly to watch the commotion.
Surrounded by the crowd, Chu Yanfeng, who had been jumping up and down and shouting arrogantly just a few days ago, was now pale and sickly, coughing up black blood and on the verge of death.
At this moment, Jin Daofei squeezed through the crowd: "What happened? What did he do or eat?"
Chu Heng looked at Jin Daofei with a pleading expression, "I don't know, sir, please find him a doctor quickly, he is my only legitimate son!"
Jin Daofei: "It's probably too late to call a doctor now. I remember there's a doctor among the exiled prisoners this time. Let's hurry and invite him over to take a look."
Soon someone was pushed forward. This person was not only a doctor, but also an imperial physician. However, when a concubine in the palace suffered a miscarriage, this old imperial physician was pushed forward to take the blame. Fortunately, the concubine was of low rank, so he was not silenced but his whole family was exiled.
The old doctor glanced at him and shook his head. "He can't be saved. The poison has penetrated his lungs and internal organs. I don't have any antidote. It's useless."
Upon hearing this, Madam Chu Heng burst into tears, swaying as she cried, "How could Feng'er be poisoned? Feng'er, speak to me! Has someone harmed you?"
Chu Yanfeng was shaken violently by his mother and finally opened his eyes. But just as he was about to speak, he spat out another mouthful of black blood. His airway was blocked by blood, and in less than two breaths, his eyes were wide open. He died unwillingly!
Madam Chu Heng cried so loudly that it shook the heavens. Jin Daofei cursed his bad luck inwardly, knowing that this matter must be related to the Duke's family branch, but he would not say it outright. Instead, he ordered the coroner who was with him to come and examine the body.
Chu Heng never imagined that his son, who had been perfectly fine just moments before, would die in the blink of an eye.
Chu's mother was unwilling to let go. Her child was already dead; how could she allow others to desecrate his body?
Unfortunately, she had no say in the matter. The couple was pulled apart, and the coroner went to examine the body. He found that there was no food in the other person's stomach. The exile had only steamed buns and thin porridge for breakfast, which was very easy to digest. His stomach had been empty for several hours.
Therefore, Chu Yanfeng's final cause of death was poisoning, but the specific type of poison was never determined.
Two days later, the men who had attacked Chu Zheng and his brother that day all had an accident while gathering firewood on the mountain. One of them fell on a rock and died.
One night, he went out to urinate and never came back. The next day, when the constables went to look for him, they found him frozen to death outside.
Two others were stabbed to death, but the weapons were never found. (End of Chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
