Chapter 63: The second wife's room had no water, so Xiao Xiuning was sent to get some.
Half an hour later.
The group dragged their heavy steps, as if each foot weighed a ton. Sweat mixed with dust streamed down their faces, their eyes were unfocused, and their lips were cracked and bleeding.
The line of three or four hundred people was stretched out and twisted like a dying snake, slowly wriggling under the scorching sun.
Some people couldn't walk anymore and gradually fell out of the line, ending up at the very back. They were whipped by the guards at the very back of the line, and a burning pain spread throughout their bodies. They had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue forward.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!..."
"Splash! Splash!..."
"Slap slap slap!!!..."
The sounds of panting, the clanging of chains, and the cracking of whips blended together.
Regardless of age, everyone was hunched over, as if dragging a heavy load behind them. They walked unsteadily, almost as if they would fall over at any moment. Nobody wanted to be whipped, so they walked forward mechanically and numbly.
For elderly people and children who are unable to walk, the adult men in the family carry them on their backs or support them as they walk.
Grandma Yun managed to walk for another half an hour before collapsing to the ground, and no one in the Yun family was willing to carry her.
The escorts, whips in hand, approached them, and a group of people carried Old Lady Yun forward quickly.
After walking a few steps, they found it difficult to carry the load, so they took turns carrying it. Each person could only walk a dozen steps before getting too tired to walk any further. They refused to let anyone take over, and after all that effort, they hadn't managed to walk more than a few steps.
Yun Yanzhe said, "Father, go find Second Sister again and ask the Third Prince to send a guard to carry Grandmother. We can't even walk on our own, let alone carry Grandmother."
"Uncle, Grandmother is too heavy, I can't carry her anymore."
Madam Yun was obese, almost twice their size.
Yun Xiuwen glanced at the line ahead, but Yun Jiaoyue wasn't there yet. His brows furrowed. "I can't even kill a mosquito," he said. "Go find them? How am I supposed to find them? I can't even see them anymore."
They glanced back and saw that the escorts were only a few meters away from them, which made them tremble with fear.
A hoarse, alarmed roar echoed, "They're here! They're here! Hurry, carry them on your back! They're coming again!"
He grabbed one of his nephews, made him squat down, and carried the old lady Yun from the ground onto his back.
Unexpectedly, the old lady was too heavy, and the nephew, who was only 15 years old and too thin, was crushed and fell to the ground, crying out, "Ouch!"
He struggled for a while but couldn't get up, let alone carry anyone.
At this moment, the escorts arrived carrying whips.
"No, no, don't hit me..." Yun Xiuwen trembled in fright, and in a moment of quick thinking, he took out a silver note from his sleeve and handed it over.
"Sir, this is a gift for you. Please make an exception. The old man is too weak and has fainted. There's really no other way. He will catch up with you and won't fall behind."
He wasn't given his title of Marquis for nothing. After being whipped a few times, he realized the situation was clear: mentioning anyone's name wouldn't work now, so he could only hope that money would be of some use.
When the escorts saw the fifty-tael note, they exchanged glances, a barely perceptible smile playing on their lips. "Good," they thought, "at least one of them is smart enough to bribe us with silver."
One of the escorts reached out and took the silver note, stuffing it into his belt pocket. "Let it go this time. Get back on track."
Yun Xiuwen bowed and repeatedly assured him, "Yes, yes, I'll follow right away."
As the escorts walked away, Yun Yanzhe asked Yun Xiuwen in bewilderment, "Father, how could you, a dignified marquis, bow and scrape to these lowly people? And even offer them money to curry favor?"
He was the son of a marquis, studying at the academy. He had already passed the provincial examination and was preparing for the metropolitan examination, but had not yet entered officialdom. He still possessed some of the aloofness and pride of a scholar and the heir of a marquis.
"Do you want to get beaten if you don't take the money? Do you know how much pain my injuries are in? It hurts so much that I wish I could faint like your grandmother."
"Stop dawdling, hurry up and carry him on your back. The sun is high, we'll be able to rest soon."
After walking for another half an hour, we passed a shady spot in a grove of trees.
Most of them collapsed to the ground and refused to move, saying, "Officer, please let us rest. We really can't walk anymore."
Old Liao was also tired from walking, so he plopped down on a rock under the shade of a tree and took a sip of water to moisten his throat.
He then stepped onto a rock, drew his whip from his waist, and scanned the crowd: "Those in the back, hurry up and follow! Listen up! Rest right here. You must report to the guards in charge of your group wherever you go. Anyone who dares to run is a fugitive! Caught, beheaded on the spot, and all your relatives will receive thirty lashes. They'll be severely bruised, if not killed!"
The crowd exclaimed, "Thirty lashes would surely leave them crippled, if not dead!"
“One lash would be fatal, I definitely couldn’t withstand thirty lashes, I might as well be chopped off on the spot.”
"None of you should run away! I don't want to die yet!"
"With our hands and feet bound, where can we run? How can we run? We can't even walk."
...
Yun Zhaoxue picked some leaves on the road and covered her head with them, but her face was still sunburned and she couldn't stand it anymore.
Washing my face with the spring water from the water bag felt cool and refreshing, and I felt much better afterward.
Xiao Xuance thought she wanted to drink it, but it turned out to be used to wash her face. His thin lips moved, but he swallowed the words that were about to come out. She had the right to dispose of the water she had prepared.
After washing her face, Yun Zhaoxue took another sip of water. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she noticed he seemed hesitant to speak and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xiao Xuance shook his head, "It's nothing."
"Your wound is bleeding. Sit down and let me take a look at it."
Wu Chuang seemed to have a grudge against them, and he went all out. The wound on his shoulder was so deep that the bone was visible. Coincidentally, he was assigned to the team that was in charge of managing the Xiao family.
I kept an eye on them the whole way. Luckily, they walked fast enough and didn't make any mistakes, so they didn't get whipped.
Yun Zhaoxue removed the gauze from his shoulder. The wound had reopened, and the gauze was stuck to the wound. The weather was hot, and the sweat seeped in like salt water being poured onto the wound. He didn't utter a sound the whole way.
Xiao Xuanwu wanted to help him push the cart, but he asked the other person to help his sister-in-law carry a child.
The three children persevered for two hours, but after the last two hours they were too exhausted to walk any further, so the adults carried them on their backs.
The vehicle looks small, but it carries a lot of stuff. The roads are all mountainous, so it takes a lot of effort to push it and it's not easy to drive.
Before tearing off the gauze, she said, "Bear with it."
"I'm not in pain."
"Everyone feels pain. There's no need to pretend to be strong. I won't laugh at you if you cry out." Yun Zhaoxue respected him as a real man. He was only twenty-two years old this year, had lost his father, been imprisoned, and had almost lost his life several times.
In her previous life, she was twenty-seven, five years older than him, and regarded him as her younger brother and the father of her future son.
“…Hmm.” Xiao Xuance responded faintly, feeling as if a feather had brushed against his heart. He looked at her with surprise in his phoenix eyes. She had changed a lot from before. Which one was the real her?
Yun Zhaoxue told him to drink some water first, then poured the spiritual spring water onto his wound. "Is it much better now?"
Xiao Xuance said, "I feel much better, thank you. But water is precious, there's no need to waste it like this."
Yun Zhaoxue wouldn't listen; she had plenty of water in her space, so there was no need to be stingy with it.
She said in a more spoiled tone, "Hurry up and heal your wound. We're counting on you to push the cart. I can barely walk, let alone push it."
The rest of the Xiao family were all too busy to take care of themselves, so if Xiao Xuance wouldn't push it, she had to push it herself.
The original owner's body was pampered and she was pregnant. Walking for two hours under the scorching sun, which is four hours, would be a miracle if she could even keep the baby.
Those around were stunned; it was such a waste to use something so precious to treat a wound.
They're dying of thirst, it would be so good to give them some water.
Xiao Xiuning, who was in the second wife's group, finished her water and saw Yun Zhaoxue washing her face with water, even washing it twice. Her face was fair and spotless.
They were covered in dust, their faces flushed from the sun, and looked extremely disheveled. They angrily exclaimed, "My third brother worked so hard to push this water all the way here, and she just wasted it like this! It's outrageous!"
Ye Hongying watched as Xiao Xuance stared at Yun Zhaoxue without blinking. Her eyes darkened, and she clenched her fists, as if she hadn't heard her words and didn't respond.
Sitting behind them, Madam Wu, panting heavily, leaned closer and said, "Ning, Ning'er, your second aunt is dying of thirst. Go and ask the young master for some water for your second aunt."
Because of prolonged exposure to the sun and lack of water, her voice became hoarse, sounding like that of a woman in her sixties or seventies.
Their whole family only has one water bag, and they've managed to survive on just a small sip each until now.
Xiao Xiuning didn't want to ask anyone for help, especially Yun Zhaoxue, and looked troubled. "Second Aunt, I've fallen out with her, she won't give it to me."
Ye Hongying said, "The young master is the head of the family. He pushed the carriage, so she has no right to stop him."
"But those things were sent by her friend..."
"Ning'er, your second aunt is so thirsty, and my wound hurts so much. Without water, wound medicine, and gauze, your second aunt won't make it to the place of exile. Your second aunt begs you..." Wu's voice was weak, as if she was about to die of thirst.
As he spoke, his eyes glazed over, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
The members of the second branch of the family rushed over and surrounded her, "Mother, Mother, what's wrong?"
"Second Aunt, you must hold on, I'm coming right now."
After Xiao Xiuning finished speaking, she hurriedly walked towards the main house. She accidentally tripped over a tree root and fell. She got up and limped away.
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