Xie Yuancheng handed me a handkerchief from the side. I touched my face, and although it didn't smell, I still felt disgusted.
"Ying'er, don't worry, it's nothing bad."
I washed my face several more times. They still wanted to explore Linyang after they arrived, as it was still three or four days' journey to Linyang City.
Just as I was about to catch up on my sleep, it was already dawn. I started to get furious. What kind of time is this? Time flies when I'm asleep, but it drags when I'm awake.
"Ying'er~ If you're tired, we'll wait until you've rested before we leave."
"No way, let's hurry up and get going. I don't want anything else crawling on my face."
I miss Linyang too. I wonder if it's changed. When Li Ruowei left, she was several months pregnant. I've already given birth to Xizhi and Suling, so her daughter must be over a year old by now.
We continued our journey, and after crossing a large area of barren mountains, the terrain became quite flat. Linyang is quite large, but some places are uninhabitable.
Xie Yuancheng had been observing the whole way, and I knew he was about to start thinking about other things. This place was relatively flat, and there were barren mountains blocking the way, so flash floods were rare.
Linyang suffers the least from floods. Based on this alone, Xie Yuancheng should be able to rest easy. In addition, with the taxes from Linyang, he would have been promoted to a higher official rank long ago.
It's a pity that the old emperor always wanted to support those under him, so he didn't care.
Just as I was about to speak to Xie Yuancheng, I heard crying. I followed the sound and found it was a young child; the voice sounded a bit childish.
Lingwu rode back on horseback and asked, "Senior brother, shall we go take a look?"
"There is a village here, and an Echo Valley. Although you can hear the sounds, it's still quite far away."
"Yuancheng, how long is it going to take? Is this place so magical that we can hear sounds from the villages?"
"I guess the child was crying in the wind, that's why we could hear it." Xie Yuancheng squeezed the reins: "Go on, it's been a long time since I've been to the countryside."
He and Lingwu turned around and walked in the other direction. Only then did I realize that there was a small path here. The scenery here was quite beautiful; we walked for two incense sticks' time and still couldn't get enough of it.
There was indeed a village ahead. A little girl ran out of it carrying a broken bowl. Before she even reached the village entrance, someone came out from the side and kicked her down onto the embankment of the field below.
I was almost startled. Xie Yuancheng helped me dismount. There were some people gathered at the village entrance. When we got closer, there were already two or three boys kicking the little girl, and her nose was bleeding.
"Stop!" Xie Yuancheng shouted, and everyone moved aside. I saw the two boys kick him a few more times before climbing up the ridge and running towards the village.
Lingwu jumped down and helped the little girl up, and I wiped her face. Before it was even clean, she kicked off her worn-out shoes and rolled around on the ground.
“I was so hungry that my stomach was practically sticking to my back, and you still gave me dog food.”
Xie Yuancheng pulled me back, "Ying'er, stand still first, ask clearly before you speak."
A woman came over, grabbed the little girl by the ear, and said, "Eat, eat your fill, you beggar! Our village isn't rich, and we share some food with everyone, but you still complain."
I looked at the broken bowl; the contents were unrecognizable. Xie Yuancheng flicked a stone at it. The woman, who had intended to slap the little girl, was hit on the hand by the stone and cried out in pain.
At this moment, an elderly man in his forties or fifties walked over from behind, and the onlookers made way for him.
"Village Chief!" everyone shouted. It was the village chief.
"Where are you from?" The village chief's voice was strong and clear, probably because he had practiced.
“We just saw someone kick her onto the edge of the field, and when we came over, we saw some guys kicking her from below.”
I saw the little girl's nose was bleeding again. She was probably five or six years old. She looked so pitiful. My three little ones are in pain, but they are suffering.
"You've misunderstood. She's a child who ate at a hundred different families' homes here. Her parents died in an accident when she was just over three years old. She went to every single family's house in turn, eating at a different family's house and sleeping at a different family's house every day."
But she didn't know how to be grateful and complained about the food. Although our place is close to Linyang, for some reason, we started paying more grain taxes at the end of the year before last.
Life was already tight; just having enough to eat was a blessing. Everyone knew the children were growing, and she would always tiptoe into the house, hunching her shoulders, which scared several of the kids. She'd sit down and immediately demand hot food without even greeting anyone.
I looked at Xie Yuancheng before speaking: "But you can't hit the child. She's still young. Talk to her slowly, and she'll understand eventually."
The village chief sighed, "Of course we know that this was our fault as adults. We'll teach the children better in the future."
Xie Yuancheng told Lingwu and me to wait in the back while he went to talk to the village chief. I turned around to look at the little girl; she was squatting to the side, holding a bowl, and her clothes were all dirty.
She is good-looking, with delicate features, big eyes, and fair skin.
I tugged at Lingwu, urging him to come with me to see. When we got to the little girl, I handed her the dried meat I had in my arms, saying, "Here, have some."
The little girl opened her eyes wide, grabbed the jerky, put the bowl on the ground, and squatted down to eat it.
At her age, we shouldn't expect her to have good table manners; she's the kind who ruins her appearance when she eats. This time, I looked closely at the rice in her bowl—white rice and vegetables, which is considered quite good by rural standards.
Are you in the village?
"They're all bad people. They never give us hot food when they come in!" After finishing her jerky, the little girl looked up at me with her dirty little face, her eyes filled with something I couldn't understand, clear yet expectant.
I got up and asked Lingwu if we had anything to eat. Lingwu pulled my Phantom Sword to the side, and as soon as we stood up, the little girl followed behind us.
"Sister-in-law, you always like to meddle in other people's business. You haven't even asked clearly yet," Lingwu whispered in my ear.
"Give me something to eat!" The little girl stretched out her hands, covered in dust and dirt, asking me for food. I said I didn't have any, and she started rolling around and throwing a tantrum in front of me.
"We've already given you what we ate earlier. There's nothing left now, but your food is over there. It's white with vegetables, so go and eat it."
Lingwu pulled me behind her, and I didn't know what to say. She was really pitiful, and I didn't know if it was because of her environment.
"Gentlemen, the village chief just said it, but you still didn't believe him." The woman whose hand Xie Yuancheng had flicked with a stone came over again. She looked particularly fierce and had a large mole on her face.
The little girl hid from her and went around to the back of us. They actually started playing hide-and-seek with us. They had been beaten so badly just now, but now they could run fast. There were still bloodstains on their faces.
Fortunately, Xie Yuancheng arrived. The village chief ordered his men to take the little girl away, but they were really rude. They dragged her to the village entrance and kicked her a few times, sending her flying four or five meters away.
Just as I was about to shout, Xie Yuancheng pulled me away: "Yuancheng, that kid just got kicked away."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
