Chapter 5.5 Call me by my real name, Pei Heng.
The carriage set off at dawn, stopped for a short rest at noon, and continued on its way, traveling for dozens of miles until it got dark before stopping to light a fire and cook.
The escort team was guarded by more than twenty prison guards and more than thirty soldiers from Yanjing in the north. All of them were led and managed by a captain from the Yanjing garrison.
They set up a circle in the woods by the roadside, confining the prisoners inside and forcing them to gather firewood, start fires, wash clothes, and do all sorts of odd jobs. Some of the less honest guards would even grope the female prisoners.
Sitting in the dilapidated carriage, you wouldn't be exposed to too much wind, but it wasn't very comfortable either. The carriage was bumpy and swaying, and everyone's buttocks ached and their heads were not very clear.
Even so, they dared not get off the vehicle, fearing that the guards would notice and grope them.
Yuezhi was ignorant about matters between men and women; all she knew was that she and Pei Heng had been huddled in the carriage all day, and if they didn't get out and stretch their legs, half of their bodies would be crippled.
She whispered to Pei Heng, "Are you feeling any better? Shall we get out of the car and get some fresh air?"
"My head isn't spinning anymore, let's go for a walk." Pei Heng had been lying there almost in a daze all day, sweating from being covered in his cloak, but now he felt much better.
Yuezhi lifted the curtain behind the carriage, stepped out, and helped Pei Heng down from the carriage.
Fearing that Cui Wenzhu and the others might steal things, Yuezhi specially carried both bundles that the two women had taken out of the palace on her back.
As the sun sets behind the mountain peaks, a patch of red clouds burns across the sky.
Pei Heng took a deep breath. Apart from the chill of autumn, he felt a sense of relief: once outside the palace walls, he no longer needed to constantly examine whether he was proper or obedient, and even his breathing felt so free.
During the day, in a daze, he was scolded by Cui Wenzhu. He learned that his mother had abandoned him to save him. At first, he was heartbroken, but now his sadness has faded.
My mother has always been that way; similar things have happened more than once before. Why should I cling to any mother-son bond?
Yuezhi, holding his wrist, asked curiously, "Your Highness, do you know what the Northern Lands are?"
Pei Heng snapped out of his reverie and replied, "The north is cold and snowy, with short springs and summers and long autumns and winters. The place we're being escorted to should be Yanjing, which is close to the border and has always been a place of exile."
He is young, but he knows a lot.
Whenever Yuezhi heard him talk about things she didn't know, she felt that he was just like a learned old teacher in a private school, and she both admired and liked him.
"Yuezhi..."
"Um?"
"I have been deposed. Don't call me Crown Prince anymore. If someone hears that, it will be another serious crime."
Yuezhi immediately became alert. "I understand... So how should I address you from now on?"
"Call me by my real name, Pei Heng."
The boy had a serious expression on his young face. Yuezhi blinked, hesitated for a long time before finally stammering out the words.
“Pei, Pei Heng…”
Seeing her stuttering and silly look, Pei Heng couldn't help but laugh. "That's right. Don't use 'you' in the future either. We are both prisoners, there is no difference in rank, we are the same people."
After a moment of reaction, Yuezhi moved her hand, which was resting under his wrist, upwards and grasped his warm palm.
"Like this?"
Pei Heng chuckled, "That's right."
The boy was naturally handsome, and his tender face looked like a cute little cat when he smiled. Yuezhi was delighted to see him and smiled back at him, holding his hand and swaying it back and forth.
With just a tiny change, the difference that once separated the two seemed to have truly disappeared.
When they went there, the older one helped the younger one; when they came back, their hands were naturally clasped together, like playmates who had gotten lost in the woods.
Perhaps the guards didn't want to provoke the deposed crown prince, because the two walked around the woods and not a single guard asked them to do anything. Even when they bumped into each other, the guards pretended not to see them.
Yuezhi was happy to be free and took the opportunity to search for her sworn brother in the woods. Before long, she saw him by the stream.
Zhang Ping'an was fetching water. After filling two buckets, he turned around and saw Yue Zhi and Pei Heng walking over.
He said happily to Yuezhi, "I was just planning to come find you after I finished my work, but I didn't expect you to come first."
After speaking, he looked at Pei Heng and asked, "Are you the deposed crown prince?"
Unable to hear his words clearly, Yuezhi corrected him, "Brother, don't call him that, just call him Young Master."
Zhang Ping'an gave a simple, honest reply before turning to Pei Heng and saying, "I didn't see you earlier, young master. My mother has been missing you terribly at home. She keeps saying you're smart and hardworking, and that you're so knowledgeable at such a young age. She's sure to achieve great things when you grow up."
Realizing he had misspoke, he quickly slapped his mouth, saying, "Oh dear, look at my mouth, I really don't know how to talk."
Pei Heng didn't blame her, but asked with concern, "You are Zhang Mama's son, do you know if she blames me?"
"No, no, it's not your fault. Besides, even the Empress was driven out of the palace. What goes around comes around. Who can predict what will happen tomorrow?"
Zhang Ping'an was a rough man; he would blurt out his innermost thoughts without realizing he had offended anyone.
Seeing Pei Heng's sentimental expression, Yue Zhi quickly squeezed between the two, interrupting their reminiscing.
Rather than judging the rights and wrongs of the past, she was more worried about how she would get through the days of exile.
"Brother, could you please arrange for us to sit in a carriage with fewer people? Pei Heng and I really don't want to be crammed together with the Changsun family. They hate the Empress and don't like us at all."
"Ouch." Zhang Ping'an slapped his forehead, realizing he'd just heard her say it. "I was just about to tell you about this."
He quietly observed his surroundings and only told the two of them when he found that no one was paying attention to them.
"Before leaving the city, I asked a friend in the Ministry of Justice to buy a carriage. I was worried that it would be too conspicuous to have a carriage cut in during the day, so I specifically asked him to follow slowly behind and catch up after dark. He should be here soon."
Yuezhi was both delighted and surprised. "Brother, you are so thoughtful. But buying a carriage is not cheap, it's too much of a expense for you."
She took out two silver ingots from the lining of her clothes and stuffed them into his hand.
Zhang Ping'an pressed her hand down and pushed it back, saying, "The gold you gave to your mother before, I bought a house and there's still quite a bit left. Winter is coming soon, and it's freezing cold in the north. You should keep the money so you can have a better life when you get to Yanjing with the young master."
"I have more on me, you can take these."
“You are young and don’t know how hard life is. Every kind of thing costs money, and buying a decent winter coat is even more expensive. You are unfamiliar with Beijing and have more expenses than I do.”
Zhang Ping'an resolutely refused to accept the money, and instead gave her some loose silver coins, instructing her not to flaunt her wealth.
“From now on, silver ingots should be cut into smaller pieces. You two are so small and thin; if people know you have money, they'll rob you of it in no time.”
Yuezhi and Pei Heng became serious and listened quietly to Professor Zhang Ping'an's survival experience.
—Before doing work for someone else, you should find out the local market rates first, either by signing a contract or by paying in kind, to avoid being cheated.
—Slaves confiscated by the government can pay money to redeem their slave status and go to the countryside to become free people. This is a thousand times better than being forced laborers or servants. If you have the opportunity to redeem yourself, you must do so.
—There are often human traffickers in the countryside. Women and young children should stay home as much as possible, especially at night, and never talk to strangers of unknown origin.
As they were talking, it had become completely dark.
The captain urged them to boil water and cook. Zhang Ping'an told the two to get on the carriage later and to come find them when the carriage they had bought arrived. After saying that, he left with the water.
The wind blows and the clouds move, revealing the cool moon behind the scattered cloud shadows.
Yuezhi squatted down by the stream to wash her handkerchief in the dim moonlight, while Pei Heng stood obediently to the side, carrying two bundles and waiting for her.
The girl's delicate hands were soaking in cool water, rubbing a snow-white handkerchief. Before long, her finger bones turned red.
Pei Heng glanced at the cloak he was wearing and couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. After she finished washing the handkerchief and got up, he went up to her, used his sleeve to dry the water on her hands, and took her hand in his.
The boy's palms were warm, and Yuezhi was surprised by his actions, feeling a soft warmth in her heart.
"I'm not cold."
"I'm just too hot." Pei Heng turned his face away, returned the soft bundle containing clothes and sewing supplies to her, and carried the hard bundle containing books and pens on his own.
Yuezhi saw this and thought to herself: He is such a good boy.
The two walked slowly toward the campsite where the fire was burning.
At the camp, half of the guards were on duty, while the other half were eating meat porridge around a boiling pot. The criminals were confined to an open area, with male prisoners wearing shackles and squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands, not allowed to stand up.
Pei Heng stood under the tree and glanced at the group of male prisoners, where he spotted a familiar figure: his uncle, Changsun Yi.
After his maternal grandfather died, the Changsun family lost its integrity and was left with only corrupt and greedy people. He no longer had any goodwill towards the Changsun family. However, his mother doted on this mediocre and incompetent brother and always considered the Changsun family's interests. Now that things have come to this, who can he blame?
He looked away from the pile of prisoners and silently tightened his grip on Yuezhi's hand.
Thinking about heavy issues that are inappropriate for his age puts him under a lot of pressure. Only when he is with Yuezhi can he briefly regain the ease and comfort that a child should have.
Looking up, Yuezhi stared longingly at the large pot of meat porridge bubbling away in the distance, her mouth watering.
Her stomach was growling with hunger, and her thumb unconsciously rubbed the back of his hand in response to his grip, a simple and gentle gesture.
*
After the first group of guards had eaten their fill, they distributed food to the prisoners, giving each person a dry cornbread.
Having been starving all day, the prisoners no longer cared about dignity, the distinction between master and servant, or years of friendship. They devoured their cornbread, grabbing what others hadn't finished after finishing their own. As long as they could fill their stomachs, they were even willing to grab some grass from the ground to eat.
The situation was even worse inside the carriage where Cui Wenzhu and her daughter were.
The maids ate quickly, and when they saw that Xiuyu and Caiying still had half a cornbread left to eat, their eyes turned red with envy. The two girls were so frightened that they quickly stuffed their food into their mouths and almost choked.
Cui Wenzhu had never eaten such coarse food before. She took a bite and found it hard to swallow. Seeing that the maids were starving, she threw her own cornbread to them.
In less than half an hour, she was so hungry that she felt weak all over. When she tasted the cornbread she had just taken a bite of, she found it had a sweet taste, and the more she thought about it, the more she craved it.
"Mother, I'm hungry..." Changsun Huaqing leaned against her, looking listless, cold and hungry, unable to fall asleep.
Cui Wenzhu herself was also hungry, and said impatiently, "You didn't eat the cornbread you had, and now you know you're hungry?"
"I don't have any steamed buns..." Changsun Huaqing was on the verge of tears.
Cui Wenzhu then realized that when the guards came to distribute the food earlier, the maid had not given any cornbread to her daughter. At that time, she was so annoyed by the cornbread that she did not notice that her daughter had not received any food.
"You wretched creatures!" All the pent-up anger of the day burst forth. She grabbed the maid beside Changsun Huaqing, pulled her hair, and slapped her face hard.
"We've raised you all for so many years, have we ever skimped on your food or drink? Now that we're in trouble, instead of asking you to share anything with your master, you're even stealing his food!"
The maid was beaten and cried.
Xiuyu pulled Cui Wenzhu aside and advised her, "Madam, what Yuezhi said is actually right. Now that we're down on our luck, the young lady has nothing to eat or drink. Why don't you sell your fine clothes and buy some new clothes and food?"
Cui Wenzhu snorted coldly, as if she didn't know what these people were thinking.
She ignored Xiuyu and got out of the car with her daughter in her arms.
Xiuyu rolled her eyes and was about to say something to Caiying when she realized that Caiying, who had been sitting next to her, was gone.
After getting off the bus and looking around, I saw Caiying walking back from the dark forest, her face rosy, wearing a thick coat, and smelling the aroma of meat porridge on her lips.
Xiu Yu was filled with jealousy: "Where have you been? You've eaten and dressed yourself, and you've forgotten all about us?"
Caiying didn't even look at her directly. "I have my own way of doing things. I'm already doing well enough to take care of myself. Who has the time to worry about you?"
In places like this, women can only use a few methods.
Xiu Yu angrily rebuked, "Shameless! You sold yourself for a tattered coat and a few bites of food."
Caiying retorted irritably, "You're not still dreaming of becoming the Crown Prince's concubine, are you? At this time of year, who wouldn't want to find someone to rely on to redeem themselves? I'm afraid you wouldn't even get a chance to sell yourself."
She pointed to the woods across the way, "Yuezhi is much smarter than you. She's already hooked up with a jailer and is eating much better than you."
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