Chapter 569: The Exiled Female Prisoner with Two Deadly Deaths (4)
One of the escorting officers said sarcastically: "If there is not enough room, let them live outside! It's not raining anyway, it's good enough to have a place to stay. Do you really expect them to stay in an inn? They are prisoners, not here to enjoy themselves..."
The lame officer had no choice but to arrange for the prisoners to live in the corridor. Under such conditions, the prisoners had no right to be picky, and even the difference between men and women was not important. As a family unit, everyone found a flat place and lay down.
There were some prisoners who were dissatisfied with the situation and wanted to find the officers to make suggestions, but not only did they fail to do so, they were whipped instead. It was not worth it, so Lan Shichu gave up the idea.
When the moon was at its highest point in the sky and everyone was sleeping like dead pigs, Lan Shichu quietly got up, knocked out the two guards who were guarding the prisoners, and went into the woods. After making sure that no one would suddenly come in, she used a piece of wire to open her shackles, then entered the companion space and took a good bath.
After the original owner was captured, he was first put in jail, and then followed everyone on the journey to the place of exile. He never took a bath again, and his whole body was stinky and smelled terrible. However, everyone was in the same situation, and they got used to the smell so they didn't feel it was so uncomfortable.
But now she had separated from the main group and as soon as she entered her own space, the smell on her body became particularly obvious. She almost vomited when she smelled it. She quickly went into a room and washed her whole body several times, using up half a bottle of shower gel. Finally, she washed herself clean. After washing, she felt like she had lost several pounds.
There was no way she could wear that dirty and smelly clothes again, so she found a set of dark-colored, sturdy and durable clothes of similar style in the space and put them on. She felt like a human being at last. Being exiled was indeed very painful. No wonder many exiled prisoners every year could not reach their exile destinations and died on the way. Those who could survive such ordeals were all tough people. They either had very strong bodies or very strong psychological endurance and willpower.
But the original owner was neither of these two types of people, so she died on the road with two other people, becoming cannon fodder.
Gong Liangxian was quite capable. Although he was disfigured and had a broken arm in the end, he was safe and sound in the end. He also protected his wife and children, and successfully waited for his brother to rescue him with his wife and children.
If Gong Liang's family had not suffered this catastrophe, he would have gradually become a powerful official in the court. Unfortunately, he was unlucky and his body and face were damaged after being exiled. He could no longer be an official and could only stay at home and live out his life in gloom, with his ambitions unfulfilled.
Lan Shichu thought for a while, then found her makeup box, used black and gray makeup to cover her skin, made herself look dirty again, messed up her hair, and used concealer and other things to smear her shoes until they looked tattered, almost the same as before she entered the space, and then left the space.
She couldn't stay too long, otherwise it would be inappropriate if someone found out she was missing.
On the way thereafter, although there were still a lot of old, weak, sick, pregnant and young people in Gong Liang's family, they managed to hold on and did not fall down again. With the help of Lan Shichu, Liu and Gong Liangqin survived the death crisis and would not die again.
Lan Shichu knew that Gong Liang Sibai would soon catch up with them, disguised as a fellow merchant. By then, she wouldn't have to worry about Gong Liang's family anymore.
However, Gong Liangxian was still beaten by the officers because of his two children, leaving scars on his face, but his arm was not broken.
On this day, Lan Shichu was walking and exercising her internal strength as usual when she suddenly heard the sound of carriage wheels coming from behind. She looked back and saw a caravan of about twenty people coming up from a few dozen meters away. They soon arrived in front of her.
The officers escorting the prisoners stopped the convoy and shouted, "Who are you? What do you want to do?"
A manager on horseback in front of the caravan smiled and said to the officer, "Excuse me, sir. We are a caravan from Lin County and want to transport goods to Yucheng to sell. When we saw you leading a group of people, we wanted to get closer to you and walk with you to get some of your favor. That way, the robbers along the way won't dare to target us..."
The officer heard him, and saw that there were carriages and horses carrying goods behind him, as well as some escorts, so he believed him and warned him: "You can go with us, but you can't get too close. You can only follow behind. We are escorting prisoners, and outsiders are not allowed to get close!"
They say you can’t get close, but actually as long as you give enough money, everything will be fine.
The officers had been escorting the prisoners for nearly a month, and their teeth were almost broken from eating so much dry rations. However, these caravans, which had just set out, brought a lot of delicious food, so the officers couldn't help but buy some food from them, and even gradually started chatting about the nearby routes and terrain.
And those prisoners who were escorted could not help but secretly start trading with the caravan members, hoping to buy some food and medicine, but the money on these prisoners had been almost all searched out, and even the money they managed to hide was only a small amount, not much, so the prisoners seldom traded with the caravan members, and the officers turned a blind eye. After all, the emperor was far away, and as long as they didn't say anything, who would know?
If too many prisoners died and were sent to the place of exile, it would be difficult for the officers to explain to the local authorities, so they would allow them to do some small trade with the caravans.
Gong Liang's family also collected some money, which was all small change or worthless hair accessories from a few women. After all, the valuable ones had long been taken away by the police.
But surprisingly, these not-so-valuable things were exchanged for a lot of food and medicine.
"The leader is such a good man. Seeing that we are a family with old and young, including a pregnant woman, he gave us so many things at a discount." Gong Liangxian, who had come to trade, took out the things in a secretive manner and said with emotion.
After hearing this, Lan Shichu couldn't help but want to laugh. What expression would Gong Liangxian have if he knew that the kind-hearted big brother he was referring to was actually his biological brother?
Yes, the leader of the team is Gongliang Sibai. He came here for his family, so of course he would be especially nice to Gongliang's family.
Sensing an inquiring gaze looking at him, Lan Shichu suddenly looked in the direction of the gaze and saw that it was Gong Liang Sibai pretending to be the caravan manager.
She met his gaze straightly, with a cold and sharp look. On the contrary, Gong Liangsubai, perhaps out of guilt, quickly looked away after meeting Lan Shichu's gaze.
Lan Shichu then sneered and looked away.
In the original trajectory of fate, when Gong Liangsubai disguised himself as a businessman and caught up, the original owner and Gong Liangqin and his wife had already died, leaving only Gong Liangxian's family.
But now, she, Gong Liangqin and Liu are still alive and well, and it seems that Gong Liangsubai has more things to worry about. If she doesn't die, I wonder if this loyal male protagonist can still marry his sweetheart as he wishes?
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
