Chapter 19: You Still Want to Live Off a Woman While Acting Tough?

"What a black-hearted, rotten-gutted thing; taking whatever is offered, never refusing a single thing." Xie Ninglan muttered indignantly.

Xin Nian didn't care in the slightest. "Standard procedure. If the eldest aunt wants to stay, she has to pay something. What, were you expecting the old lady to give her a piggyback ride? The old lady doesn't even know how to do that."

Xie Ninglan was speechless and snuck a glance at her daughter. "Whose side are you on?"

Xin Nian chuckled. "Alright, alright, don't be depressed. I'll channel some more healing energy into you. Focus on your training; try to break through to the first rank in one go today. Once your rank goes up, your physique will leap forward, and the journey will get easier day by day."

Xie Ninglan twitched her eyebrows. "I'll take your word for it."

The mother and daughter began to absorb energy and circulate it while walking, turning a deaf ear to the miserable, long-drawn-out sobbing around them.

If crying were useful, the Great Wall would have collapsed long ago. It was better to save their energy and keep moving.

Once the sun began to beat down, everyone trudged forward under the scorching heat. Those who cried until they were dizzy and collapsed still had to be dragged along the rest of the way.

Being dragged every day meant their skin was rubbed raw and bleeding. Never mind reaching the place of exile across mountains and rivers; they’d likely kick the bucket by tomorrow.

This was only the second day, and they hadn't even taken the first step of their ten-thousand-mile journey...

Xin Wenyuan looked back at his wife and daughter. Seeing them walking with their heads down and looking fine, he felt a bit more at ease.

He turned to Mu Zhong, who was walking beside him, and exchanged pleasantries. "Ah Zhong, I owe it all to you for carrying Mo Chen this whole way. Don't worry, once Mo Chen wakes up, I'll have him repay you properly."

"How generous." Xin Wen'an, carrying his cangue not far behind him, let out a scoff upon hearing this. "A father who doesn't repay the debt himself, but makes his third son repay it once he wakes up."

Xin Wenyuan glanced at him. "What? You got a problem with that?"

This third brother was a total lunatic; he hadn't looked at him with a straight face the entire journey. It was ridiculous—he hadn't dug up his ancestral grave, so why was he being so difficult?

"I do have a problem! Fourth brother, you've become outrageous. You used to at least have some sense of propriety, but now you're becoming increasingly indecent."

"You should at least learn from the eldest branch. If you had taught Nian-jie'er even half as well as Qing-jie'er, you wouldn't be so annoying."

As soon as Xin Wenyuan heard this, he wasn't happy. He was a total daughter-slave; he would hit anyone who dared to say his girl wasn't good.

Without a second word, he punched Xin Wen'an in the face. "Who are you calling annoying? I think you're the one who's annoying. You feel restless if you don't stir up trouble for a day, don't you?"

"Whether my daughter is good or not, is it your place to judge? What are you to her? Just a lousy third uncle, and you're acting all high and mighty! I, her father, haven't said a bad word, and you're spouting nonsense!"

Seeing the two of them about to fight like gamecocks, Mu Zhong hurriedly stepped in between them while carrying Xin Mochen. "Third Master, Fourth Master, don't fight. Be careful not to attract the guards, or we'll get another round of tongue-lashings."

Xin Wen'an, who was about to strike back, hurriedly lowered his hands upon hearing Mu Zhong and covered his face, muttering, "I think you've truly gone mad!"

"You're the one who's mad, you shameless jerk. Just because the eldest branch gave you food and water skins, and we didn't give you anything, you're feeling unbalanced, aren't you?"

"What? Does my wife owe you something? It's one thing for me to be a freeloader while taking care of my mother, but do you expect me to carry you deadweights too? You aren't ashamed, but I'm ashamed for you. Xin Wen'an, what are you thinking? You aren't talking about 'insulting the scholarly tradition' now! Or do you want to eat your free meals with a hard attitude?"

"It's not like you don't have a wife; if you want to freeload, go find your own wife! Why are you always staring at someone else's lady to beg for handouts?"

Xin Wen'an was so angry he nearly vomited blood. His feet wobbled, and he raised his shackles, intending to smash them into Xin Wenyuan's face.

He wanted to tear that mouth of the fourth brother's apart!

The old lady saw this from afar, panicked, and shouted, patting Zhao Xun, who was carrying her, to signal her to hurry up.

"Stop it, all of you!"

Zhao Xun was very obedient—perhaps she wanted to watch the show herself—and carried the old lady over to Xin Wen'an and Xin Wenyuan in a few steps.

"Is it not enough that you've made a spectacle of yourselves? If you attract the guards over and get whipped, you'll all be well-behaved."

The old lady was so angry her head felt like it was going to explode. She didn't even dare to look at the surrounding eyes watching the show.

"You have no shame, but I, an old woman, still want some."

"Eh, Mother, don't talk nonsense. The truly shameless one is the third brother!" Xin Wenyuan hurriedly raised his hand to state his position. "I never once thought about having his wife send me food. Why is he thinking about my wife and daughter?"

Xin Wen'an's face turned beet red, and he tremblingly raised his shackles, wanting to smash Xin Wenyuan to death.

The old lady was so angry her chest hurt. She covered her heart with one hand and scolded, "Shut up, all of you."

The fourth son had always been a rascal, but these past two days he had been particularly unruly, speaking and acting entirely on impulse without any regard for the occasion!

"Third brother, say less." Madam Yu's words were like a basin of cold water poured over Xin Wen'an's heart. He tried to argue, just managing to call out "Mother."

The old lady waved her hand at him. "Don't keep thinking about the fourth daughter-in-law's private stash. Their family has many people, and with the sick and the young, it's not easy for them either."

Madam Zhuang, seeing her husband get snubbed, was so anxious that she dragged the others tied to the chain and jumped forward. "Mother, how can you say that? How would we covet the fourth sister-in-law's things? It was all the fourth uncle's own misunderstanding; we didn't."

"It's best if you didn't." The old lady knew the character of this third daughter-in-law well and didn't bother to talk to her.

"It's already so difficult to travel now. A family should be united at a time like this instead of having internal strife. Everyone settle down and continue the journey. No more nonsense."

"Mother, it's not that your son wants to talk back to you. At a time like this, don't try to smooth things over. If the team wants to be united, we must first clear out the parasites. For those little pests who jump out from time to time to harass other people's wives and daughters, you should give them a few slaps to show them the right path. If you don't discipline them now, it will be difficult later."

Seeing that the third brother and his wife were about to explode again, the old lady glared at her fourth son. "Stop talking nonsense and keep moving."

Xin Wenyuan rolled his eyes, carried his cangue, and turned to walk away.

The orphans and widows of the eldest branch looked at each other.

Xin Wanqing held her mother Madam Nie's hand and whispered, "Mother, do you feel like the fourth uncle has changed a lot?"

Madam Nie patted her hand. "Don't meddle in the affairs of the third and fourth branches."

Xin Nian and her mother had no idea that a scene had just unfolded in front of them. They spent the whole journey with their heads down, practicing hard and clearing their minds, paying no attention to anyone.

These guards were very experienced in escorting prisoners and were very familiar with the water sources, forests, and hills along the way.

Therefore, before the sun set, everyone was led by the guards to a stream to settle down.

Everyone was like a monkey that had walked through the Flaming Mountains, sprawling on the ground, not wanting to move at all.

There were also many exiles who hadn't had a drop of water since yesterday. Seeing the stream, their eyes turned red, and they scrambled over, diving into the water and gulping it down.

Xin Nian looked on with disgust. "Give me your water skins; I'll go to the upstream to fill them."

The camp of over two hundred people was marked out in a large area, with guards stationed on both sides of the stream to prevent escapes.

(End of chapter)