I Marry a Wife for my Big Brother, Starting Out With Exile - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Chatting to Close the Distance

Even if the three members of the Li family were secretly protected by someone, they couldn’t bring out their supplies through open channels. It was better to solidify this excuse so they could use it as a cover.

Sister-in-law thinks far ahead indeed, Li Chenghuan thought to herself. Following the heroine’s lead really was the right choice.

On the other side, Grandma Li was still savoring the lingering taste of the meatball soup. Seeing Jiang Jinyue—the person who had enabled her to drink that soup—her smile was much more sincere than usual.

“Darling Jinyue, it’s good that you’re fine. This old woman was worried to death just now.” The jinx had a major backer behind her; to be able to whip up a bowl of hot meatball soup out of nowhere in these circumstances—she simply had to be coaxed properly.

Thinking of the people following the Li family in secret, Jiang Jinyue also flashed a smile: “Thank you for your concern, Grandmother. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you and the two younger sisters to carry me back.”

“Sister-in-law means that whenever we need to avoid everyone’s eyes in the future, we’ll use the excuse of her weak constitution to prevent raising suspicion.” Fearing she might slip up if she talked too much, Li Chenghuan hurriedly interjected a couple of sentences.

Grandma Li nodded repeatedly: “Darling Jinyue thinks things through so thoroughly. The next time we eat anything, we’ll just say your health isn’t doing well, and because we’re afraid you might faint, the whole family has to tag along.”

The jinx was considerate and filial enough that she didn’t find coaxing her quite so stifling anymore.

Jiang Jinyue smiled faintly and nodded, saying nothing more. She truly wasn’t used to the old lady calling her “darling Jinyue” at every turn, but in order to stay on good terms with the three members of the Li family—who clearly had someone protecting them—she would have to get used to it no matter how unaccustomed she felt.

In the end, it was the strong-framed Li Chenglale who took charge of carrying Jiang Jinyue on her back, while Li Chenghuan and the old lady supported her from left and right.

Seeing them return, most of the prisoners merely glanced at them briefly before losing interest. They were cold and hungry now, so miserable they couldn’t even fall asleep—how could they have the spare energy to worry about others?

Seeing this, Wang Yue lowered her voice and asked, “Grand Tutor, should this prince go over and take a look?” If she missed this opportunity to win hearts, she would probably lose it for good.

Grand Tutor Yu shook his head slightly: “Your Highness, going too far is as bad as not going far enough.” Tonight, it was inadvisable for them to draw any more attention to themselves.

Hearing this, Wang Yue could only suppress her thoughts and did nothing further.

Not far away, Zhou Yuan also wanted to go over and check on the situation. With a simple, honest smile, he looked at Boss Gu: “Boss, should we go take a look at how that family’s doing? In case someone dies, it’ll be a hassle.”

He had heard tales of Jiang Jinyue’s talent and beauty back in the capital. Especially since Jiang Jinyue had performed so brilliantly—quick-witted, knowledgeable in medicine, and not hiding her actions from him—it was obvious she had already seen through which faction he belonged to.

If someone so clever and capable were to genuinely meet a bad end, it would be far too much of a pity.

A lewd smile appeared on Boss Gu’s face: “You kid, you wouldn’t happen to be taken in by her beauty, would you?”

That Jiang family female was indeed strikingly gorgeous; never mind this kid, even his own fingers were itching a bit.

Seeing such a debauched expression on the boss’s face, a sense of foreboding rose in Zhou Yuan, and he hurriedly shook his head: “This subordinate wouldn’t dare! I was just thinking that since Minister Jiang wasn’t implicated, if this young lady of his house really dies halfway on the road, none of us will have a peaceful return to the capital.”

Unlike the others implicated by Wang Yue, Minister Jiang had only recently defected to her camp and hadn’t even had the chance in court to utter a single flattering word about Wang Yue. As a result, only Jiang Jinyue—the eldest daughter who happened to have just married out—was dragged into this mess.

He believed that as long as Minister Jiang didn’t fall, these escorting bailiffs would certainly not dare to mess around with Jiang Jinyue.

Withdrawing his smile, Boss Gu clearly thought of this point as well. Sooner or later, they had to return to the capital to report in. Minister Jiang was a fourth-rank high official in the imperial court; while he might not be able to deal with others, dealing with small fries like them would be as easy as plucking a weed.

Truly bad luck.

He spat out a phlegm and said ungraciously, “If something really goes wrong, it’ll just be because this young lady’s own constitution couldn’t hold up; how could they possibly blame us?”

“The boss is wise.” Zhou Yuan didn’t dare to say any more, fearing that trying to be clever would backfire and genuinely harm Jiang Jinyue.

The atmosphere quieted down. Having eaten and drunk their fill, the bailiffs curled up around the campfire and fell asleep one after another.

The prisoners had it rough. The early autumn weather remained hot during the day but turned chilly at night, especially out in the desolate wilderness.

Li Chenghuan couldn’t fall asleep either. The ground was cold and hard, and lying down felt horribly lumpy. Last night she had been unconscious the whole way here, but now that she was fully awake, she found it utterly unbearable.

“Second Sister, you can sleep in my arms too.” Li Chenglale hugged her grandmother with one arm while waving her other hand toward Li Chenghuan. Why isn’t Second Sister lying down to sleep yet? I’m getting sleepy.

Li Chenghuan shook her head and looked at Jiang Jinyue, who had been lying quietly ever since they returned.

Their eyes met, and an idea struck her: “Sister-in-law, are you too cold to sleep? Do you want to move closer to us?” Seizing every chance to show concern for the heroine was now part of her mandatory daily routine.

Jiang Jinyue sat straight up: “No need, I’m not tired yet.”

Her voice was cold, clear, and steady, while her gaze gazed into the distance with a gloomy depth, as if hiding some unknown, heavy worries.

Receiving no golden finger reward, Li Chenghuan remained undiscouraged: “Then just tell me when you get sleepy; both Chenglale and I can hold you in our arms.” If the cold beauty was willing, the two sisters could flank her on both sides.

Jiang Jinyue shifted her gaze back and shot her a sidelong glance: “No need.”

Li Chenghuan sighed inwardly; words of concern truly were cheap—the heroine hadn’t been moved at all.

However, she wasn’t the type to give up easily.

Silently inching her position over, she sat right beside Jiang Jinyue, leaving only a fist’s width of space between them.

“Sister-in-law, do you know how far we still are from the Northern Frontier?” Chatting idly was a good way to close the distance, and she genuinely wanted to know how much longer days like this would last.

Jiang Jinyue pressed her lips together, a heavy shadow flashing across the depths of her eyes.

“Eighteen hundred lis north from the capital.” At their current pace, they covered around thirty-odd lis a day. If nothing unexpected happened, they would surely reach it within two months. But they had only been on the road for two days, and people were already injured or sick, not to mention the agonizing hunger, thirst, and cold.

Their speed would inevitably slow down, and grow slower and slower. Yet the escorting bailiffs had a mandated deadline to report back and would never allow prisoners to drag out the journey. Under urging and whip lashings, only one outcome would follow: death reduced burdens.

Throughout history, the proportion of prisoners who managed to reach the place of exile alive was typically around thirty percent. In other words, out of these nearly one hundred prisoners, roughly only thirty people would survive.

Without thinking that deeply, Li Chenghuan simply made a mental calculation of the time: “Doesn’t that mean we have to walk for two months?!”

Two months of living like this? Heavens, she really wanted to thank her lucky stars.

Jiang Jinyue remained silent. Reaching the place of exile after two months only meant arriving; it didn’t mean life would get any better…

At that moment, Li Chenghuan asked again: “Sister-in-law, do you think Her Highness can still return to the capital?” She flicked her chin toward Wang Yue’s direction.

Since the cold beauty was the heroine, she certainly wouldn’t face any fatal dangers, and future wealth and honor would be added unto her. So what was the heroine pinning her hopes on? Was it Wang Yue?

Jiang Jinyue raised her chin slightly, leaning against the tree trunk as she looked toward the campfire: “If we can survive reaching the place of exile, there’s still a fifty-fifty chance.”

The reigning Empress was an orphan of a military family, lacking external maternal relatives to support her—which was both a bad thing and a good thing.

As long as Wang Yue could survive the journey of exile, the Emperor, out of regard for the merits of the Empress’s maternal clan, and with the several imperial princes no longer having to worry about Wang Yue—a female—participating in the fight for the imperial throne, could well see a day of returning to the capital if things were properly planned.

Li Chenghuan pondered this. A fifty-fifty chance meant an even split. However, what she cared about most wasn’t Wang Yue, but the heroine’s backer.

“Sister-in-law, do you think we can count on her?”

Jiang Jinyue fell silent. She had no wish to chat deeply with Li Chenghuan, but thinking of the people secretly following the Li family, she lowered her eyelids: “As long as she lives, we count on her.”

If Wang Yue could live, their greatest hope was Wang Yue; if Wang Yue couldn’t survive, they would simply have to think of other ways.

Such as the Xu father and son. The Xu family was full of upright ministers; they were the family least implicated after her own, and apart from Wang Yue, the most likely to return to the capital…

She kept these latter words unsaid, leaving Li Chenghuan to default to the assumption that her hope was pinned on Wang Yue.

“Sister-in-law, should we bring her along with us in the future?” The implication was: when they ate or drank, should they include Wang Yue?

The corners of Jiang Jinyue’s lips tightened into a straight line as she spat out three cold words: “No need to mind her.”

Not mind her? Li Chenghuan was startled. What if Wang Yue couldn’t hold on? Wouldn’t they lose all their hopes?

No, since the cold beauty was the heroine, she surely wouldn’t be left without hope. That left only two possibilities.

Either Wang Yue was guaranteed to survive all the way to the exile destination, or the heroine had other backup plans.

Thinking of the heroine’s attentiveness toward the Xu father and son, she couldn’t help probing: “Lord Xu should be able to pull through, right? I still have some medicine here, though I don’t know if it’ll be of any help.”

Jiang Jinyue’s gaze changed abruptly, her eyes turning sharp and piercing as she stared at the young girl sitting right beside her.