Chapter 24 The Sick Village Finds a Place to Stay

Chapter 24 The Sick Village Finds a Place to Stay

Anyone who tries to help at this point will only be asking for trouble; nobody wants to do something thankless.

A stranger lay on the roadside, seemingly abandoned and abused, his gaze veiled over him by the indifferent onlookers.

The wheels of the cart made a "gurgling" sound as they rolled over the man. Cheng Lanzhou lay on the cart, looking at him. She parted her pale lips as she was about to speak when she saw the eldest and second eldest sons of the Jiang family lift the man onto their own cart.

Jiang Yutang moved the things off the cart to one side and took out a bundle to place under the head.

A question arose in his mind: were the Jiang family members truly kind, or were they just pretending?

After his father passed away, he took his father's place on the battlefield to fight against the enemy. From the age of thirteen to twenty-one, he never left the military camp and was the youngest major general in the camp. It was not until he was twenty-three years old that he was allowed by the emperor to return to the capital.

After returning to Beijing, everything felt so unfamiliar, unlike the childhood memories I had before leaving.

Since returning to the capital and entering the court, he has been dealing with other civil and military officials. Without exception, everyone has the same opinion of the Jiang family: honest, kind-hearted, upright and incorruptible. Except for the youngest daughter who is a bit spoiled, the other four sons each have their own merits.

He felt a sense of admiration for the Jiang family, whose reputation was so good.

When he first met Jiang Yutang, he deliberately lowered his authority to avoid frightening her, but he never expected that his courtesy would lead to such a dramatic change.

What he didn't expect was that Jiang Shengan, whom everyone called a "good guy," would actually force him to marry Jiang Yutang.

In Cheng Lanzhou's view, once a person reveals their malice, all their previous kindness was just a pretense, which is why he later looked down on the Jiang family.

He's just pretending to be a nice guy.

But seeing this scene now, the conclusion he had already made up his mind began to waver.

"Hello."

Jiang Huaiyu looked at him seriously: "Since you want a divorce, don't try to take advantage of my little sister again."

Cheng Lanzhou thought he had misheard and scoffed, "Young Master Jiang, could it be that you have an eye ailment and have misread it?"

"Stop making excuses. You were staring straight at my little sister just now. What, Major General Cheng, are you afraid to admit it?"

Cheng Lanzhou was too lazy to argue with him, so she closed her eyes to rest.

Since he got caught in the rain yesterday, the injury on his back has started to hurt again. To avoid worrying Cheng Daier and Madam Lin, he could only endure it and pretend that nothing was wrong.

"Cough cough..."

Cheng Daier coughed twice, her hand pressed to her mouth, and looked up to meet Cheng Lanzhou's worried gaze.

"Elder sister, have you also caught a cold?"

"Ah, I do feel a little dizzy, but it's nothing serious, I'll feel better after a good night's sleep."

Cheng Daier turned her face away guiltily, but saw that Lin's face was flushed abnormally, her steps were unsteady, and her hand was always on the edge of the cart.

"mother?"

It took two calls for Lin Shi to come to her senses.

"Are you sick? Why do you look so pale?" Cheng Dai'er stepped forward worriedly, placed her palm on Lin's forehead, and exclaimed, "Mother, your face is so hot!"

Lin pulled the square scarf over her head to hide her face: "Mother is fine, it's just from the sun." Her hoarse voice betrayed her physical condition.

"This won't do! You're definitely sick!" Cheng Dai'er looked at Cheng Lanzhou in a panic. "Lanzhou, what should we do?"

“My mother’s health has been poor for many years, and now we can’t find a doctor here…” Cheng Dai’er thought of Jiang Yutang halfway through her sentence.

She turned to look at Jiang Huaiyu, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, then looked at Cheng Lanzhou.

Cheng Lanzhou silently propped himself up, a sharp pain shooting through his back causing him to pause, but he quickly returned to normal.

"First, help Mother into the carriage to lie down and rest; she can't walk anymore."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Huaiyu's eyes widened and she hurriedly called out, "Wait a minute, you're not going to make me pull both of you, are you?"

This family really treated him like a beast of burden!

Cheng Dai'er hurriedly said, "Me and you..." but was interrupted by Cheng Lanzhou raising his hand.

“I can get out of bed and walk on my own. If you don’t want to, we won’t force you.”

"You mean, you're going to pull me?" Jiang Huaiyu crossed her arms and looked at him amusedly, her gaze falling on his shoulder, the meaning couldn't be clearer.

Cheng Lanzhou looked at him silently. A light cough came from Lin Shi beside him, which made Jiang Huaiyu, who was planning to watch the show, stop.

"Forget it, I'll do it. Otherwise, if I go back now, I'll inevitably get a scolding from my older brother again." Jiang Huaiyu shrugged, looking helpless, and swung the rope back onto his shoulder.

The two were prepared for the worst, but to their surprise, Jiang Huaiyu agreed.

Cheng Daier looked at Jiang Huaiyu in surprise, and when she saw that the other party looked up at her, she quickly looked away.

Thank you.

After the two helped Lin Shi lie down on the cart, Jiang Huaiyu tossed the rope onto the cart and left.

"you--"

Seeing this, Cheng Dai'er thought he was going back on his word, but Jiang Huaiyu revealed a sly smile.

"The rope is chafing my shoulders and it hurts, so I'm using a push instead. Does Miss Cheng have any complaints?"

Realizing that the other party was teasing her, Cheng Daier glared at him irritably, then walked to Cheng Lanzhou's side and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll help you up."

The siblings then supported each other on their journey.

Today, no matter how much the officials urged and threatened them, the exiles could not pick up their pace. They had traveled a whole day but had not covered as much distance as they had covered in half a day yesterday.

Seeing that there was no other way, and that continuing like this might really lead to someone's death, they happened to be passing through a village and decided to stay there.

When the villagers heard that they were refugees, they all became wary. After much pleading, a few families agreed to let them stay overnight in their woodsheds.

Something is better than nothing; even a bare house is better than sleeping outside.

The yamen runners are lucky; some families are willing to give up their side rooms for them to rest in. It's the others who suffer.

Among the exiled people, those who still had money would contribute some to buy a hot meal, while those without money could only rely on luck.

If the family is kind and generous, they will give you food; otherwise, you will only be able to eat moldy bread.

"Is there a doctor in the village?"

Seeing the man's pale face, the villager shook his head helplessly: "We don't have a doctor in our village. If we get sick, we usually go to the town gate, which is ten miles away. But it's getting late today, so the city gates must have already closed. We'll have to go tomorrow."

Jiang Yutang's expression shifted upon hearing "Chengguan," and she pursed her lips, secretly keeping a watchful eye on things.

A kind-hearted villager stood in the middle and suggested, "Those of you who have the means should boil some ginger soup. We can't just stand by and watch someone die."

The Jiang family was taken in by a widow, and because they were a large family, the village chief arranged for them to stay there.

This family has a large yard with a big pomegranate tree in the middle. Big, red pomegranates hang from the branches, making people feel comfortable as soon as they enter the yard.

The woman led them to the woodshed and pointed inside: "You can tidy up yourselves; there's enough room for your whole family to sleep in."

After the person left, Jiang Yutang hurriedly chased after her, affectionately calling her "sister" and handing her a jade pendant, which she had obtained in exchange for her shoe insoles.

"Sister, this jade pendant isn't worth a lot of money, but it's definitely worth a few taels of silver. I'd like to ask you for three favors."