Chapter 28: Administering Medicine, Controlling

At this moment, the group from the Marquis of Zhaoping’s residence had rejoined the exiled prisoner convoy.

The second-in-command, dissatisfied with the elderly, sick, and weak members of the group for their slow stone-collecting efficiency, ordered the frail women, children, and elderly to be gathered in one place, under guard. The rest of the strong and healthy middle-aged and young men were assigned to gather stones.

The mountain bandits watching over the group numbered around ten, all arranged by Guan Yue.

The second-in-command, meanwhile, was lounging on a cart, leisurely basking in the sun. As the “mountain stronghold’s wife,” Jiang Lili was bound and seated nearby, with a large red bridal gown draped over the basket beside her.

The second-in-command glanced at Jiang Lili and bellowed fiercely, “I’ll give you some time to think it over.”

“If you refuse to happily put on the wedding gown and marry our eldest brother, I will kill everyone in your household, one by one.”

The exiled prisoners working nearby couldn’t help but shake their heads upon hearing this, casting sympathetic glances at the rest of the Marquis of Zhaoping household.

“This Miss Jiang really is a calamity!”

Madam Zhang, who had been exiled with her son, couldn’t help but murmur. She had originally hoped someone would agree with her, but everyone else continued working silently, heads lowered, not responding.

Madam Zhang looked toward the people nearby. “Madam Qian, Old Xu, why aren’t you two saying anything?”

Madam Qian and Old Xu were the ones who had once mocked Jiang Lili, suggesting she should have safeguarded her purity by throwing herself to her death when Lin Gong had harassed her.

Madam Qian glanced at Madam Zhang with fear in her eyes, her lips trembling as she let out low, strangled sounds.

Madam Qian had become mute!

Old Xu opened his mouth, but his eyes were vacant. It was then that Madam Zhang realized that Old Xu’s tongue was almost completely gone.

A chill ran down her spine, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

“You probably don’t know yet, but Madam Qian was so hungry the night before last, she saw food in the mountain bandits’ baskets and stole a bite. The next morning, this is how she ended up,” a lady who was slightly familiar with Madam Zhang whispered.

“Old Xu turned like this overnight. It’s said he had a nightmare and bit his own tongue off.”

The exiled prisoners were all locked up in different places, so no one knew exactly what had happened to the two of them. It was all hearsay.

Madam Zhang looked up in panic toward Jiang Lili’s direction, and just as she did, Jiang Lili happened to glance over at the stone-gathering group.

Jiang Lili’s large eyes blinked innocently, and Madam Zhang, startled, froze when their eyes met. She trembled uncontrollably and quickly buried her head to focus on digging stones again.

Then, she remembered hearing in the stronghold a few days ago that Officer Lin’s manhood had been crushed by a falling axe. The thought sent a chill down Madam Zhang’s spine. “Those who offend Jiang Lili…”

“Repent, repent,” she muttered under her breath, too scared to say more, her hands shaking as she worked.

Xin Che passed by pushing a cart full of stones and glanced briefly at Madam Zhang, his expression unreadable, before walking away.

The sun climbed higher in the sky, and noon was approaching.

The air seemed to thicken with tension, a heavy sense of unease spreading through the group.

“Look at the sun, it’s nearly noon.” The second-in-command stood up from the cart, drew his waist knife, and swung it with a lazy motion.

“Who should I kill first?”

The words seemed to be directed at Jiang Lili, but they also felt like a reminder to the Marquis’ people.

“Brat, you dare!” The Marquis of Zhaoping could no longer keep his composure and shouted angrily. “Miss Jiang has already become my Xin family’s daughter-in-law. How could she marry again? This is absurd!”

The second-in-command grinned wickedly. “Since you say so, then I’ll kill her husband first. That way, she can remarry.”

He raised his knife and, with a few steps, approached Xin Che, who was carrying stones. In one swift motion, he brought the knife down!

In that instant, Xin Che pushed the cart of stones forward.

The second-in-command sidestepped to avoid the cart, but Xin Che quickly moved in and knocked him to the ground.

“Second-in-command!”

The younger mountain bandits, who were watching the exiled prisoners, quickly drew their knives to charge at Xin Che. At the same time, Xin Cheng and the Marquis rushed over to assist Xin Che.

After a chaotic skirmish, the mountain bandits from the Guan family stronghold were all knocked to the ground, unable to move!

Xin Che quickly untied Jiang Lili, helped her put on the basket, and then grabbed her hand as they sprinted away.

The Marquis helped Chen Fulan onto a cart, while Xin Cheng swiftly mounted his horse.

Chen Fulan, holding Xin Yan, shouted at the stunned exiled prisoners who were frozen by the sudden turn of events, “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and run!”

The others quickly snapped out of it and began running after the Marquis family, with the officers panting and scrambling behind them, rolling and crawling, fearing they would be caught if they fell behind.

Xin Che, holding Jiang Lili’s hand, seemed to run around in disarray, but in reality, they stumbled and made their way to the mountain exit route.

After several twists and turns, they managed to shake off their pursuers. Only then did they dare to stop and rest.

Wang Zifu sniffed and wiped the dirt off his clothes. During the escape, he had fallen twice.

He panted heavily, looking over at Xin Che, his gaze shifting.

In the past, he hadn’t cared about the fate of these sensitive, exiled criminals, but now, only halfway through the journey, they had already encountered a mountain bandit raid.

Wang Zifu had heard that the Lingnan region was becoming increasingly unstable, with no one knowing if there would be more wild beasts or human disasters in the future.

Now, he realized that the Marquis’ household, whom he had once feared, had become the key to this exile group’s survival.

Thinking about the fact that there were h*stages from the Marquis’ family still in the imperial palace, Wang Zifu sighed with relief. The Marquis’ family would never dare to escape.

One of the officers looked up at the sky and glanced at the surrounding mountain forests, where birds were chirping. He asked, “Captain Wang, do you know this route? Where should we go now?”

As the leader of the exile group, Wang Zifu had some experience. He instructed a few of the men, whose cold symptoms weren’t too severe, to help him climb a tree.

After surveying the surroundings from the top of a tall camphor tree, the men helped Wang Zifu back down.

Wang Zifu pondered, “If I’m not mistaken, after about seven or eight miles, we’ll be able to descend the mountain. Not far from the base of the mountain, there’s a main road. There are a few small villages nearby where we can rest for the night and ask for water.”

When the others heard this, a heavy weight seemed to lift from their hearts.

The officers began organizing the exiled prisoners into their original positions. “Everyone, get into your positions as planned and stick to the rules. This is deep in the mountains, and we don’t know what might happen next. Stay close!”

Having narrowly escaped danger, the exiled prisoners were now obedient and well-behaved.

An officer noticed the Marquis and his wife on the cart, as well as Xin Cheng on his horse, and immediately frowned. “Why aren’t you getting down right now? Cough, cough, cough!”

While coughing violently, he scolded, “Do you think this cart is for you criminals to use?!”

At this moment, Jiang Lili spoke up. “Gentlemen, I have studied some medical skills with the imperial physicians in the capital. There are many medicinal herbs in these mountains, and I can treat your colds.”

She paused and then asked, “Would you mind allowing my mother to use this cart?”

The officers, who were in poor health, immediately turned their attention to Jiang Lili.

Wang Zifu also asked seriously, “Is that true?”

Jiang Lili nodded. “I have no reason to lie. We don’t know what dangers lie ahead, and the more help we have, the better.”

Jiang Lili was already planning to ask for help in her group chat. After all, the class monitor was a medical genius who had directly entered a prestigious medical university for a master’s and PhD program. However, it seemed the class monitor had only spoken up once in the group chat so far.

<< _ >>

Related Posts

Leave a Reply