At that moment, two constables stepped forward and shoved him along. One of them, a clean-shaven man with a pale face, said, “Zhang Dapeng, you’ve only had a couple of swigs of horse piss, and you’re already making trouble again? It’s true that we can put the fear of God into prisoners when they refuse to cooperate, but we weren’t telling you to actually beat anyone! Hurry up and apologize, or they’ll report you to the authorities, and you’ll be in serious trouble!”
Cheng Yao narrowed her eyes at the speaker. He was certainly a clever one—just a few words, and he had glossed over Zhang Dapeng’s cruelty and callousness.
The chief constable also stepped in to smooth things over. “Zhang Dapeng disrupted the order of the convoy. He will be denied food rations for three days.”
He walked over, picked up the bundle from where Zhang Dapeng had trampled it, and returned it to Madam Zhan. “Madam, I’m sorry. I failed to keep my subordinate under control and frightened you.”
Madam Zhan did not even care that the bundle was dirty. She hugged it tightly to her chest.
The chief constable glared at Zhang Dapeng. “What are you waiting for? Get over here and apologize!”
Zhang Dapeng lowered his eyes, hiding the resentment in them, and bowed to Madam Zhan and Cheng Yao.
Cheng Yao pointed at Hongxiu and Xiao Fu. “And these two as well.”
They were servants!
He was in charge of escorting the prisoners. If he had to apologize to two slaves, where would that leave his dignity?
As if she had seen straight through his thoughts, Cheng Yao said, “Constable, I’ll say it again. Hongxiu and Xiao Fu are free people, not our servants and not prisoners. They are our friends who came along to share our hardships. Their belongings belong to them.”
Zhang Dapeng still wore a cold expression.
Servants were servants—lowly as mud, their fate decided from the moment they were born.
Making him apologize to them would be even more painful than killing him!
But just then, someone in the convoy spoke up. “Weren’t we ordered to travel in nothing but our underclothes, without being allowed to bring even a needle? Constable Zhang didn’t confiscate their belongings, so he hasn’t done anything wrong. Why should he apologize?”
All the valuables this person’s maternal family had sent him had been confiscated. He was resentful, and he also wanted to curry favor with Zhang Dapeng, which was why he had said such a thing.
There were far too many people like him in the convoy. Once he spoke, the others chimed in as well.
“If it was an order from above, then it should be obeyed.”
“There’s no reason to confiscate our things but not theirs. That’s unfair.”
“Constable Zhang hasn’t done anything wrong. Don’t throw your weight around and bully others.”
Cheng Yao was speechless. They were the injured parties, yet somehow they had become the ones throwing their weight around. How could these people twist right and wrong so shamelessly?
She merely said, “We all share the same roots, so why turn on one another? I suppose all the ginger decoction I gave you might as well have been fed to dogs.”
The people fell silent at once.
What was more, several of them began beating up the person who had spoken and took Cheng Yao’s side.
“That’s right. Hongxiu and Xiao Fu aren’t members of the Zhan family, let alone criminals. Why should they have to hand anything over?”
“Madam Zhan’s bundle only contained ginger and a small amount of medicine. We haven’t caught colds these past few days because we’ve been drinking the soup made from that ginger and medicine. Even the constables drank it. Now they want to destroy it without a second thought? That’s biting the hand that feeds them!”
“Anyone who defends the constables is an ungrateful wretch who curses the very people who feed them!”
Amid the uproar, Zhang Dapeng finally gave in. His head drooped until it nearly touched his chest, and his voice was softer than a mosquito’s.
“I’m sorry. I’ll compensate you with ten days’ worth of food.”
Hongxiu’s eyes filled with tears. Xiao Fu gave a bitter smile. “Constable, you hold the life and death of the general’s entire family in your hands. This old servant can hardly accept your apology. I only hope that you’ll look after the general a little along the way. I would die content.”
Zhang Dapeng clasped his hands in salute and said nothing more. Just like that, the conflict dissolved.
But Cheng Yao knew that this was merely the calm before the storm.
Zhang Dapeng already held a grudge against them. The attempted assassinations would be concentrated along this stretch of road as well. Once they were farther away, help would be beyond reach, and he would be unable to do anything.
The road ahead would only become more difficult.
On this road leading straight to hell, she had to gradually seize back the initiative while quietly building up her reputation and resources.
After passing through Soulbreak Ridge, the convoy continued its arduous journey along the rugged mountain road.
The sky had turned leaden and ominous. A torrential downpour could come at any moment.
When they passed a market town, Cheng Yao pretended to pawn a pair of bracelets her maternal grandmother had given her and bought a large amount of ginger and medicinal herbs. In the evenings, she would boil some chicken soup.
Everyone begged her for medicine.
She did not refuse, but neither did she give it away for free.
“Trade something for the medicine.” Her expression was stern. “Give me something you have in exchange.”
Everyone looked embarrassed and fell silent.
The constables had ordered them to surrender the supplies sent by their relatives, but they had not searched their bodies. Most of them had hidden more or less something on themselves; otherwise, they could never have lasted this many days.
But those belongings were more precious to them than their own lives. How could they bear to trade them for a bowl of ginger soup?
Some even muttered that Cheng Yao was heartless, demanding payment for a bowl of ginger soup.
Cheng Yao said nothing.
Some people took others’ kindness for granted. The moment that kindness was withdrawn, they felt wronged and began to harbor resentment.
She did not lack those few possessions. What she wanted was to see their attitude.
At the same time, this would allow her to identify those who truly possessed a conscience.
Sure enough, after a brief hesitation and weighing of the pros and cons, someone decisively stepped forward to ask her for ginger soup.
“Sister-in-law, could I… ask for ten bowls of ginger soup?”
A sturdy, honest-looking young boy handed her a gold hairpin.
Cheng Yao recognized him. He was the grandson of Zhan Haoting’s fifth granduncle, the tenth child in his generation. His name was Zhan Yunhe, and he was a year younger than Zhan Haochen.
Whether in his studies or martial arts, he was merely average and had always been practically invisible within the family.
The reason she remembered him was that on the first day of exile, he had secretly told Zhan Haochen that he wanted to take turns carrying Zhan Haoting. His mother had caught him by the ear, dragged him away, and given him a thorough scolding and beating.
He was a pretty decent kid.
Cheng Yao nodded with a smile. “Of course. But are you planning to drink all ten bowls at once?”
Zhan Yunhe scratched his head. “I don’t need to drink any. Four bowls are for my grandparents and parents. I’ll save the other six for later.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his entire family looked at him in surprise.
The child who was usually so quiet and unassuming was actually this considerate?
Feng Xianxian found Cheng Yao’s smile irritating. Without thinking, she asked Zhan Yunhe, “Where did you get that gold hairpin?”
Zhan Yunhe frowned, his face openly declaring his contempt for stupidity. “How am I supposed to answer a question like that from you, Third Sister-in-law? If I tell you, the constables will probably confiscate it. But if I don’t, you’ll say I’m being rude.”
“Pfft…”
Snickers came from all around them.
Cheng Yao also smiled.
The boy did not have many twists and turns in his mind. He spoke bluntly, but his words struck Feng Xianxian right where it hurt.
Feng Xianxian’s face burned, and both her hands twisted her clothes nearly to shreds.
Damn that brat!
Her voice trembled. “Talking back to me in front of everyone is certainly rude.”
“I wasn’t talking back. I was just telling you the truth.” Zhan Yunhe widened his eyes, looking completely innocent. “Does Third Sister-in-law not allow people to tell the truth? Then I’d better say less around you from now on.”
“You!”
Feng Xianxian’s rage shot to the top of her head, and her face turned white with fury.
