Chapter 83 Those who ate fish had to pay compensation, one tael each.
As the whip fell, Xiao Xuance dodged to the side.
"Hey, you still dare to hide? If you dare to hide again, I'll make your family suffer in your place. I've led so many exile teams, and I've never seen such an arrogant convict." Wu Chuang seemed to have expected him to hide, and knowing that he couldn't beat the couple, he threatened him with his family.
As he spoke, he brandished the whip again.
Xiao Xuance stood still, no longer dodging.
Yun Zhaoxue called out to Wu Chuang's back, "Master Liao!"
Wu Chuang paused in his whip-wielding hand. He turned around and saw no one behind him. "You dare lie to me? I'll whip you to death first!"
He was kicked by her at noon, and every step he took made his chest feel tight. He vowed to make them pay for it sooner or later.
That woman deserves to die too.
He lashed out with a whip at Yun Zhaoxue.
Seeing this, Yun Zhaoxue quickly dodged backward, the whip's tail slicing past her eyes.
Xiao Xuance stepped in front of her, raised his hand, grabbed the whip, and yanked it hard, throwing it to the ground.
Wu Chuang staggered forward half a step, his hand holding the whip burning with pain. Enraged, he drew his sword, but worried he couldn't win, so he called for help, "Men, come here! Someone's trying to rebel, hold them down!"
Several guards drew their swords and surrounded the people from the eldest branch of the Xiao family.
Yun Zhaoxue said, "I'm not lying to you. What I was just about to say was that Master Liao said the exiled group cannot rob other people's belongings. The second and third wives robbed us of the fish we had worked so hard to cook. When we asked them for it back, they even attacked us. We had no choice but to fight back!"
Xiao Xuance said, "You are in charge of our team. When the incident happened just now, you didn't come out to maintain order. You have neglected your duties. If you still can't distinguish right from wrong, it will be difficult to convince the public!"
Wu Chuang laughed angrily and sneered, "Win over the masses? Do you still think this is a military camp? This is an exile corps! I'm the one who calls the shots!"
Xiao Xuanwu also said, "We did nothing wrong. Our things were stolen and eaten. If the people who were robbed are at fault, then I'll rob others too."
He realized that the escort was deliberately targeting their family, trying to make black seem white.
Wu argued, “Officer, we are all family. How can we fight over a family? They deliberately made the fish look delicious so that we could smell it and our stomachs would rumble with hunger. They didn’t give us a single piece, trying to starve us to death. That vicious princess even made us swallow fish bones, trying to kill us!”
Xiao Xuance retorted, "Since we are family, our fight is a family matter. We can settle it privately and there's no need to trouble the guards."
Wu Chuang reached out, and a junior escort handed him a whip from the ground. He was too lazy to listen to these people's sophistry.
He said, "They deserve to be beaten! You deserve to be beaten too!"
Xiao Xuance said, "Xiao Wu, go and invite Master Liao to reason with us."
"Take this as a reward for Master Liao's hard work." Yun Zhaoxue handed Gu Xuanwu the ten taels of silver she had found on Madam Wu.
No matter the era, you have to spend money to ask someone for a favor; if you meet someone by chance and don't pay them, no one will listen to you.
Xiao Xuanwu took the silver and ran off, saying, "I'll go right now. I just delivered the fish; Master Liao should have had his fill by now."
Lao Liao was Wu Chuang's superior. He was a former military guard who had been on the battlefield. He had an eccentric temper, sometimes irritable and sometimes upright.
Wu Chuang didn't want to offend him, and he didn't want him to know the purpose of his trip.
He called out to Xiao Xuanwu, "Come back here! It's getting late, stay where you are and don't go anywhere! I'll let you off this time, but if there's a next time, I'll beat you to death."
Wu Chuang turned around and lashed his whip at Wu Shi.
Wu clutched her wound and wailed, "Ahhh! Officer, spare my life..."
Yun Zhaoxue walked up to Uncle Xiao and looked down at them: "Will you take it out yourselves, or will I search for it myself?"
"Take, take what?"
"One tael of silver for each person who eats the fish."
The members of the third branch of the family looked at each other, and finally their gazes fell on their daughter, Xiao Mingshu, who was huddled in the corner.
"Shu'er, quickly take out your silver."
Xiao Mingshu shook her head, "I...I don't have that much money, I didn't eat any fish..."
She only had eight taels of silver on her person, and once she gave it away, it was gone. This was the money the kind shopkeeper had given her for her embroidery work, and he had sent a servant to deliver it to her at the city gate.
The road to exile in Lingnan was long and arduous, and she had no money to rely on. Her parents only cared about her elder brother, younger brother, and nephews, and wouldn't care whether she lived or died. She feared she would starve to death.
Yun Zhaoxue didn't waste time arguing with them. She picked up the bundle on the ground and rummaged through it, finding ten taels of silver.
Aunt Xiao shouted anxiously, "That's too much! Our family doesn't even have enough people for ten people. She hasn't eaten either. She only needs six taels of silver."
"The extra amount is considered a fee for your hard work."
Aunt Xiao was heartbroken over the loss of money. The three branches of the family didn't have much money; all of it added up to only twenty or thirty taels. Taking away ten taels was like cutting off a piece of her flesh.
She lunged forward to grab it, but Yun Zhaoxue had already walked away.
"My money, my money..."
Aunt Xiao was furious that Xiao Mingshu refused to pay, causing her to lose an extra four taels of silver. Enraged, she slapped Xiao Mingshu across the face. "Smack!"
Xiao Mingshu covered her face, not daring to resist. "Mother, I told you long ago that they are not to be trifled with, and we shouldn't have taken their food..."
"What's the point of saying all this now? You brat, I told you to give her the money, why didn't you?"
Seeing this, Xiao Xiuning thought of Yang Shi. No matter what she had done wrong, she had never laid a finger on her. At most, she would only make her kneel in the ancestral hall. She would never hit her for such a trivial matter...
She then looked towards the main house and saw Xiao Xuanwu give the ten taels of silver to Yun Zhaoxue. The other party told her to give it to Yang Shi, but Yang Shi shook her head. In the end, the money was all given to Yun Zhaoxue.
To put on airs.
Seeing the Xiao family members getting along harmoniously and happily with Yun Zhaoxue made me feel suffocated.
If it weren't for Yun Zhaoxue, they should be with their families right now.
The eldest son carried the fish pot back to his own camp. The fish had long since gone cold, so he put it on the stove to heat it up before continuing to eat.
There wasn't much fish left; it was mostly side dishes.
My sister-in-law and second sister-in-law were busy feeding the baby and didn't eat enough themselves, but they kept eating.
Yun Zhaoxue disliked that people from the second and third wives were putting their hands inside, and she lost her appetite and stopped eating.
Xiao Xuanwu got hungry while cooking, and then went out for a stroll. After all that fuss, he was starving and wolfed down his food. "Delicious, delicious! Thanks to Third Sister-in-law, we can finally eat something this good..."
Yang reminded him from the side, "Xiao Wu, eat slowly, there are fish bones, be careful not to choke."
Xiao Xuanwu stuffed a mouthful of wild vegetables into his mouth and mumbled, "Mother, don't worry, take it easy."
Everyone around lay down to rest.
Yun Zhaoxue still had a craving for food. She was tired of the pastries and peaches and wanted something sour. The fruit in the room was too sweet because it was nourished by the spiritual spring water.
Her eyes were fixed on the cloth bag hanging at Xiao Xuance's waist, but she couldn't find an opportunity to make a move.
I glanced at the car, and I knew it.
He took a straw mat and a blanket from the car and tossed them to Xiao Xuance, saying, "Go spread out the mat, I want to sleep!"
Xiao Xuance found a clean spot under the tree and laid it down.
Yun Zhaoxue reached out from behind him and slowly extended her hand toward the cloth bag behind him.
If they won't give it to her, then take it yourself.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com