Chapter 359 Compensation
After emerging from the secret passage, Han Cui put on the mask given to her by Princess Qiongxiao and ran straight out of the city.
Upon reaching the city gate, they found that the soldiers there were conducting a thorough search, repeatedly questioning everyone leaving the city. When they encountered young women, they would check behind their ears and necks to see if they were disguised or wearing masks.
She refused to change her human skin; Princess Qiongxiao gave her a very ordinary iron mask. She knew that if she went there, the mask would definitely be removed and inspected by the soldiers, and her own face would be a target for arrest.
Therefore, escaping out of the city is not an option.
Before the soldiers at the city gate could discover her, Han Cui quickly turned around and returned to the capital.
However, there were also many soldiers searching the city. While she was eating at the noodle shop, she saw two groups of people holding her portrait and comparing it with the girls one by one on the street.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper's position shielded her from the danger, but she dared not remain on the street. Still shaken, Han Cui sought a safe place to escape the peril.
But where is a safe place?
Returning to Princess Qiongxiao's residence was out of the question, and inns and restaurants were too risky as they might be searched by government troops. After much deliberation, Han Cui decided to go back to her hometown.
Firstly, there were relatively few soldiers in the countryside, and secondly, her relatives lived there. If she really couldn't escape, at least she could give the silver notes she had to her parents, so that their efforts in raising her wouldn't have been in vain.
She rushed back through the night and saw that her old family home had remained unchanged over the years. However, her father had been dead for several years, and although her mother was still alive, she was paralyzed on one side and mentally unstable, so much so that she could not even recognize her.
There were signs of other people living in the house, and Han Cui guessed that they must be her brothers and sisters. Just as she was considering whether to explain the situation to her relatives, she found a wanted poster of herself in the room.
She hadn't seen her relatives for many years, and her brothers and sisters-in-law were probably all married. Her sudden arrival would surely attract unwanted attention.
Han Cui wanted to leave, but she was starving and had nowhere to go.
There were leftovers in the pot, so she ate a little, took out a silver note and put it on the table. As she walked to the door, she noticed the pile of firewood in the yard out of the corner of her eye.
The firewood was piled high, taking up half the courtyard. The bottom corner was not filled, leaving a semi-circular opening.
Han Cui tried to climb in. The opening fit her body perfectly, and once inside, the space was even larger, allowing her to curl up and sleep.
She was overjoyed and immediately decided to make this place her hiding place. After her brother and sister-in-law left, she would go home to get some food and drink, chat with her confused old mother, and when she guessed that her brother and sister-in-law would be back soon, she would quickly hide in the woodpile.
She knew her brother and sister-in-law were poor, so she never took anything for free. After taking food for three days, she had already given them three hundred taels of silver.
Han Cui knew the prices outside; a hundred taels of silver could buy her enough flatbread to last her for several years. The reason she gave so much silver was that she hoped her brother and sister-in-law would allow her to stay, even if they suspected her identity, because of the money. She also wanted to ensure her brother and sister-in-law had enough money to live comfortably, so that her mother could have an easier life.
She has been living in the firewood cave for three days now. Her brother and sister-in-law have indeed not reported it to the authorities, but her mother's life is even more difficult now.
Every day, I could hear my sister-in-law verbally abusing my mother. My mother became even thinner and thinner. She would cry anxiously whenever she saw my brother and sister-in-law eating, as if my brother and sister-in-law were not feeding her at all.
Han Cui was barely able to protect herself, let alone show herself to criticize her brother and sister-in-law. She could only secretly feed her mother a little bit when her brother and sister-in-law were not around.
Hearing the sound of the courtyard gate closing outside, Han Cui crawled out of the cave, dusted herself off, and went straight to her mother's room.
In the past, Qi's mother would smile whenever she saw her and listen to her talk intently, but today she was acting strangely, making muffled noises and pointing towards the door.
Han Cui thought she was thirsty, so she went to the kitchen to fetch water for her. While feeding her, she couldn't help but say, "Mother, before, when you went to work, I was the only one who brought you water. Now that you're old, I'm still the only one who feeds you water. If you hadn't sold me into the palace back then, I wouldn't be a fugitive now, and you wouldn't be left without anyone to take care of you..."
Mother Qi finished the large bowl of water in one gulp, and when she put it down, tears streamed down her face. Her finger was still pointing to the door, and she said with great difficulty, "Escape, escape quickly..."
Han Cui was startled, and the porcelain bowl in her hand fell to the ground.
The next second, a sound came from behind the house, and then two figures pushed open the back door and entered. The man in the lead looked at Han Cui and said, "San Ya, the soldiers outside are looking for you everywhere, and you still dare to come to my house to steal things? It's been three days, and I've finally caught you. Give me back all the flatbread, porridge, steamed buns, and pickled vegetables that you stole from me. If you can't give them back, you'll have to pay compensation."
Han Cui looked at the man in front of her and saw that his face resembled her elder brother's in her memory. She quickly stood up and explained, "Brother, sister-in-law, I didn't steal anything. I paid for it. I put a silver note under the white porcelain bowl every day. One hundred taels a day is enough to cover the cost of these provisions!"
"What silver notes?" Zhou shouted. "We didn't see them. Taking them without our permission is theft! Theft is punishable by ten or a hundred times the amount in compensation. You have to pay at least one thousand taels, no, ten thousand taels. Give us all the money you have on you!"
Seeing the true colors of these two men, Han Cui realized that the reason they hadn't reported her to the authorities was simply to take all the money she had. Originally, she was willing to leave the money to her relatives, but while she could give it away, they couldn't take it from her.
Once they start snatching it, she won't give it to them.
After a brief moment of lucidity, Qi's mother quickly became confused again. Seeing her brother and sister arguing, she could only stand by and watch blankly.
Han Cui said calmly.
"I'm a fugitive, how much money could I possibly have? I've already given you my only three hundred taels, and now all I have left is my life."
Zhou was so angry that she started cursing.
"You brat, you're not being honest! Qi Dashun, go search us. This is the money the thief owes for stealing. Search us without worry!"
Encouraged by her, Qi Dashun disregarded the bond between siblings and the boundaries between men and women, and searched Han Cui from head to toe in front of Qi's mother and Zhou Shi.
Han Cui's luggage was placed under the pile of firewood. She only brought one hundred taels of silver notes with her, so Qi Dashun only found one hundred taels.
Qi Dashun slapped the silver note twice across Han Cui's face.
"You still dare to say you don't have it? What is this? Hand over the rest, and we'll let you go if you do. Otherwise, we'll report you to the authorities."
Seeing the greed in her brother and sister-in-law's eyes, Han Cui knew that even if she took out all the money, she wouldn't be able to leave today.
She straightened her clothes with a humiliating expression and said...
"That's really all. Four hundred taels of silver is enough for you to live on for a lifetime, as long as you don't squander it."
"Stop pretending!" Zhou shouted. "Don't think we don't know what you've done. It's a capital offense. You're going to die anyway. Are you going to take all that money to your coffin? We have to take care of the elderly and raise the young. How can this little bit of money be enough? Tell us now where you've hidden the rest. If you don't tell us, don't blame us for being impolite."
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