Chapter 39: The Bitterness of a Female Convict

It wasn't just Lord Zhou who fell into self-doubt.

At this moment, everyone in the Xin household was plunged into deep self-negation.

Everyone looked at Xin Nian, who was busy brewing medicine and heating foot-soaking water beside Xie Ninglan and Xin Wenyuan, and then exchanged glances.

Right, they must have been blind just now.

Impossible, impossible, impossible.

How could the little crybaby, the sixth girl, have just lunged forward to pin a man down, acting so irreverent and teasing, her words dripping with mockery?

Look at how well-behaved she is now, with a look of innocent smiles on her fair little face; this was the sixth girl they were familiar with.

Yes, yes, they were blind. They must have developed hallucinations from walking all day.

The sky had turned pitch black, and everyone was silently gnawing on half a piece of dry rations.

Xin Wenyuan extended his long-suffering feet into the warm water, letting out a comfortable sigh of relief.

Xin Nian had just finished brewing the medicine when Chang Mianmian stealthily slipped up to her side. "Sister, you gave me a fright just now. That thing, Yunlin Villa—does it have anything to do with us?"

"Of course not." Xin Nian poured the brewed medicine into a bowl and had Dali carry it over to Xin Mochen.

She then washed up and tidied herself, brewing prenatal medicine for Mei Zhuqing.

Chang Mianmian nodded with a half-understanding expression, then moved past the topic to ask, "Sister, what about my brother?"

"He hasn't woken up yet, but he should be conscious by tonight or tomorrow morning."

"That's great!" Chang Mianmian's face lit up with joy. She squatted beside Xin Nian and whispered, "Sister, I just felt the energy entering my body. Practicing here is quite fast; the natural energy is very abundant."

She grinned sheepishly. "I feel like crossing over wasn't entirely a bad thing; my ability is developing quickly. And even though we've been exiled, I'm so happy to see so many flowers and plants along the way."

Xin Nian casually took a piece of flatbread and stuffed it into her mouth. "Eat quickly, then get back. Don't keep coming over to my side. It's hard for you to speak freely with the Chang family."

"What's so hard to say? I've already made it clear to my mother that you are my biological sister from a different father and mother. Once I become capable in the future, I will definitely take care of you in your old age. You can enjoy yourself without worry."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Chang Mianmian grinned foolishly. "Why are you coughing? Aside from my mother, none of my huge family matters to me. I don't need to explain myself to any of them."

"You know, Captain, I was an orphan before. I never experienced a mother's love growing up. My current mom, although she likes to cry all the time, is truly good to me..."

"In the future, I only need to be responsible to my mom; the others have nothing to do with me. Don't worry, Captain, my mom is very obedient. She listens to whatever I say. Although she's a crybaby, she's honest and simple-minded; she definitely won't cause us trouble."

Xin Nian rubbed her temples and pushed away the large head that kept nudging against her.

"Even so, won't the Chang family find it strange? I used to be a nobody, and our relationship wasn't that close. At most, we might have met a few times at a flower festival or a poetry gathering."

Suddenly becoming bosom friends for life... as long as the people from the Enyi Marquis Mansion weren't all fools, they would surely sense something was amiss.

"Oh, my branch of the family has an average relationship with the first and second branches. I'm just a non-entity in their house; they don't pay any attention to me normally."

"Besides, because of the Marquis's matter in the first branch, the whole mansion is being exiled to the far north. The people in the second and third branches might not say it, but they actually hate the Marquis and Marchioness to death."

"They are too busy fighting amongst themselves like crows pecking at each other to bother looking at me. Don't worry, Sister. You don't need to manage anything; I'll smooth things over!"

Xin Nian nodded and wrapped another meat pie for her. "As long as you know what you're doing. Your aunt has been nagging these past two days about the stream being unclean, hoping you can recover your water-type ability as soon as possible."

"Mm-hmm." Chang Mianmian nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry, Sister. I've already figured out a bit of the knack. Tomorrow night, I'll release water for you to brew medicine and for Uncle and Auntie to soak their feet."

After finishing her food in a few bites, Chang Mianmian winked at her sister. "I'm going back to work hard now. Sister, wait for my good news."

"Uncle, Auntie, we're leaving!"

Xin Wenyuan nodded in acknowledgment.

Xie Ninglan also waved. Having comfortably dried her feet, she changed into a pair of clean, soft-soled straw sandals and wiggled her toes.

Nudging closer to her daughter, Xie Ninglan touched her belly, her face filled with a faint melancholy. "Daughter, let me tell you, my 'monthly thing' has arrived. What am I supposed to do?"

"The flow isn't much today, so I used the cotton pads your grandmother secretly had someone sew for me. If we walk this much again tomorrow and I can't change the cotton in time... sigh, I reckon... it'll be a bloodbath."

"And let me tell you, oh, the women of this era have such hard lives; there isn't even a single pair of small underwear. It's so wide and loose, I feel like I'm not wearing anything at all! If that cotton pad didn't have straps to hold it, it would definitely fall off!"

"And it's been so filthy these past few days! Sigh, I don't even want to talk about it. Once that thing comes, if I don't maintain hygiene, I'm worried about gynecological issues. It'll be a real misery later on."

Her mother's description was so vivid and graphic that Xin Nian almost couldn't help but burst out laughing.

But when she met her mother's distressed expression, she felt a pang of sympathy.

Women in ancient times had it too hard!

"Mom, don't worry." Xin Nian winked at her mother. "There has been so much happening on this journey that I forgot to tell you. After I reached the third rank, I unlocked the daily necessities area of our original space."

"What?" Xie Ninglan, who had been looking sorrowful, suddenly had eyes that sparkled. "You're not lying to me, daughter? Such a big matter—why didn't you say so sooner?"

"It's true! I only recovered that one area. Come with me, I'll take you to change into some 'worry-free' underwear."

Overjoyed, Xie Ninglan hurriedly stood up and followed her daughter away from the crowd.

"Daughter, you have truly saved my life."

"Just use the overnight ones tonight. Tomorrow morning, give me a larger pair of worry-free underwear so I can wear them with peace of mind."

Xin Nian nodded. After settling her poor mother, the mother and daughter quietly slipped back to rest.

Perhaps because they were too exhausted, everyone fell into a deep sleep as soon as they lay down, without any trouble.

Early the next morning, Xin Nian was woken up by her mother.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone was not yet fully awake, the two of them ran a distance away to use the restroom. Xie Ninglan changed into her worry-free underwear and felt completely refreshed.

Just as they returned to the camp, everyone was starting to stir.

Mu Zhong rushed toward them, panting heavily with an excited face. "Fourth Master, Fourth Madam, the... the Third Young Master, he's awake!"

Xin Wenyuan jumped up.

The old lady also struggled to sit up, letting Xin Ruoyu support her as they went over together.

"Sanlang, Sanlang!" Lady Yu called out to her grandson through tears, her eyes full of hope.

Xin Wenyuan and Xie Ninglan ran to Xin Mochen's side to take a look.

The boy was pressing his head with his hand, looking toward them, his eyes slowly focusing.

"Sanlang, Sanlang," the old lady called repeatedly. "Does your head still hurt? Are you hungry? Sanlang, it's Grandmother, do you recognize me?"

Xin Mochen subconsciously tapped his head and squinted his eyes.