Transmigrated into the Scum Female Consort - Chapter 2

Ye Xuejin was clutching the coarse flatbread in her hand, but she was not eating it; she lowered her eyes, seeming lost in thought.

Yun Chi pondered for a moment. Since making friends would be difficult, the best course was to keep her distance and avoid hostility. She just needed to survive the next two weeks.

Having made up her mind, she held out the wōwotou (steamed cornbread): “Although we performed the wedding rites, we have not consummated the marriage, so there is no real affection between us. Take this wōwotou, and from now on, let us go our separate ways.”

As long as she did not act like the original owner—stealing Ye Xuejin’s food and clothes, or beating, scolding, and humiliating her—this woman should be able to survive until the day of her wrongful vindication, which was only half a month away.

Ye Xuejin stared woodenly at Yun Chi for a moment before lowering her head again, neither taking the wōwotou nor acknowledging her.

Seeing this, Yun Chi explained, “This wōwotou was entrusted to me by Shusshi to give to you.”

Hearing this, Ye Xuejin looked up at her again, pursed her lips, took it, and softly uttered two words: “Thank you.”

As the “thank you” was spoken, Yun Chi froze on the spot.

[You have presented one wōwotou. Please choose your reward: One waterskin or ten taels of silver]

Two lines of faintly glowing characters abruptly appeared in mid-air, bizarre and out of place.

A look of surprise flashed across Yun Chi’s face, but she quickly composed herself. Feigning composure, she looked over at Ye Xuejin.

Ye Xuejin seemed completely unaware, her head lowered so her expression was hidden.

Yun Chi quickly looked at the others.

The prisoners were all in place, and the constables were eating. Occasional glances swept over, but no one acted strangely; it seemed only she could see the characters.

Yun Chi’s heart quickened. Could this be her cheat ability, her “golden finger”?

Were the activation conditions helping someone deliver something? Or was it activated simply by sending something through her hand? Or was it specifically related to Ye Xuejin?

With these thoughts swirling, she tentatively asked, “Ye Xuejin, look over there quickly, isn’t that a butterfly?”

Ye Xuejin instinctively raised her head and looked in the direction of Yun Chi’s finger, seeing only the distant blue sky and white clouds, but no butterfly.

“I don’t see one.”

Yun Chi’s face showed no change, but her heart was pounding with excitement. She confirmed it: she truly was the only one who could see those characters.

While she was deep in thought, another line of text appeared: [Selection countdown: Ten, Nine, Eight…]

Yun Chi was startled. Ignoring the impulse to investigate further, she quickly asked, “Ye Xuejin, if we get thirsty, will the constables give us water?”

“No,” Ye Xuejin replied flatly with two words.

Hearing this, Yun Chi had no time to think and frantically yelled in her mind: I choose the waterskin! I choose the waterskin!

The characters in the air instantly vanished, and a flat, round waterskin, about the size of two palms, materialized out of thin air in her right hand.

Fortunately, her sleeve was wide, covering most of it, but she still could not be careless.

Yun Chi pushed the waterskin in her hand further up her sleeve, then shook her arm. Feeling that there was water inside, she let out a sigh of relief. It was not empty, thank goodness.

That was terrifying. Luckily, she reacted quickly.

Since the waterskin was presented as an equal option to ten  of silver, it could not be judged by normal standards. The safest method was to consider her current situation and choose based on necessity.

After that nerve-wracking moment, Yun Chi calmed herself, tried to relax, and casually said, “Why aren’t you eating?”

Ye Xuejin glanced at her, tucked both the wōwotou and the coarse flatbread into her bosom, and said nothing.

Yun Chi couldn’t help but overthink it: “You aren’t afraid I poisoned the wōwotou, are you?”

Ye Xuejin, however, shook her head, still remaining silent.

Seeing the denial, Yun Chi did not continue the topic, turning instead to ask, “You just said the constables won’t give us water. We can’t stay thirsty forever, can we?”

This time, Ye Xuejin spoke: “Look over there.” Succinctly put, her voice was still low and hoarse.

Not far away, the two similar-looking brothers were squatting by the river, cupping water with their hands and drinking.

Perhaps because the spot where they were drinking was within sight and not too far away, the constables merely glanced over occasionally and did not follow them.

Yun Chi suddenly understood. So that’s how it was. However, drinking river water directly like that was unsanitary.

But the prisoners seemed to have no other choice. Unlike the constables, who all had waterskins hanging from their waists and could even light a fire and set up a pot to cook.

Yun Chi withdrew her gaze. At the same time, she also understood why Ye Xuejin was so sparing with her words: her voice was terribly hoarse, suggesting she was very weak, and even speaking was difficult.

The red stain seeping through her clothes was indeed blood—fresh blood.

It appeared this woman was seriously injured, and the wound was constantly bleeding. If this continued, even if she did not act like the original owner, this woman would die from excessive blood loss…

Unfortunately, she was not a doctor, nor did she have any medicine for wounds; she only had water.

Just then, the constables cracked their whips again.

“Hurry up and move.”

“Get up, you lot!”

“Faster…”

Yun Chi quickly tucked the waterskin into her bosom. After a moment’s thought, she directly took hold of Ye Xuejin’s arm, half-dragging her forward.

Although she was very interested in the sudden appearance of the “golden finger,” now was not the time to test her theories.

It was better to get back on the road first.

Ye Xuejin’s eyes flickered, and she immediately tried to pull away.

“Don’t try to be strong, I’ll help you.” Yun Chi glanced at the constables behind her, leading Ye Xuejin forward.

She didn’t know why, but she felt that the bailiff who had hit her twice was staring at her.

If she truly fell behind, she had a hunch that she would be whipped again.

Ye Xuejin pursed her lips, stopped struggling, and leaned on Yun Chi’s strength to move forward.

Yun Chi sighed with relief and whispered, “Don’t worry, I will definitely not abandon you on this journey.”

To verify the trigger conditions for the “golden finger,” the only person she could use to help was Ye Xuejin.

Also, to avoid the tragic fate of the original owner, she needed to watch over this woman and ensure she stayed alive for the next fifteen days to await her vindication.

It seemed she needed to shorten the distance between them. Going their separate ways was temporarily out of the question.

Ye Xuejin’s gaze rested on Yun Chi’s worried face, a flicker of scrutiny flashing in her eyes before returning to stillness.

One moment she wanted to go their separate ways, and the next moment she vowed not to abandon her. This person’s attitude changed so quickly, there must be something suspicious.

This thought crossed her mind, and she lowered her head, giving a bitter smile. What if there was something suspicious? What did she have left that was worth scheming over?

At noon, the constables indeed stopped distributing food, and they did not even stop for a rest.

It was not until the sun set that Yu Lu reined in his horse, signaling the team to set up camp by the river for the night.

The distance from the capital to the Southern Border was approximately seven hundred li (about 350 kilometers). According to regulations, they had to arrive within twenty days, meaning they had to travel at least forty li per day to ensure they completed the mission on time.

By law, prisoners being sent into exile were meant to suffer hardship, so they certainly could not stay in inns or post stations, nor could they be well-fed.

Yu Lu glanced in Ye Xuejin’s direction, his eyes briefly flickering. He hadn’t needed to take this assignment, as escorting prisoners was a difficult job, sometimes involving unforeseen dangers. Therefore, those who took such assignments were either struggling badly or came from poor families.

After all, though the work was hard, the compensation was decent. A typical bailiff’s annual salary was only ten taels of silver, but a single trip escorting prisoners paid ten. Suffering for a few dozen days could equal a year’s income, and there were even extra profits to be made. Bailiffs from less affluent backgrounds were quite fond of this assignment.

As for the so-called extra profits, Yu Lu tied up his horse, pulled a few bottles of wound medicine from his bosom, and walked toward the prisoners.

“Wound medicine (Jinchuangyao),” he announced, a single sound that captured the attention of all the prisoners.

The other six constables exchanged a smile and, following suit, cleared their throats.

Compared to Yu Lu’s subtlety, they were more direct.

“White steamed buns, available for silver.”

“Hot soup, can be exchanged for valuables if you have no silver.”

By the river at night, only the constables’ resting area had two bonfires burning. The autumn wind blew, bringing a chill. Seeing this, the prisoners secretly exchanged glances in the dim light.

“Father, please exchange for a bottle of wound medicine for Mother. Her feet are all chafed,” someone quietly requested in the silence.

The speaker was Zhou Qishan, the eldest son of the large family.

His father had served in the Censorate before being charged with a crime.

Old Censor Zhou was a veteran minister of two dynasties and always acted with composure. He glanced at the constables slowly walking back and forth, then nodded, “Go.”

Only then did Zhou Qishan stand up and walk towards a constable.

Seeing that only the Zhou family member was exchanging items, Yu Lu frowned. Could that person be penniless?

That would be troublesome.

He could not allow that person to have an accident, but it was difficult for him to do anything without alerting the other constables.

“Lord Yu, these people came from dens of wealth, they probably don’t know the rules. Should your subordinate go and knock some sense into them?” a constable asked, walking up to Yu Lu. He seemed dissatisfied that he wasn’t making much extra money and couldn’t help but suggest this.

The man speaking was named Zeng Laosan (Old Third Zeng), and he and the two men beside him were soldiers transferred from the Garrison Command. Zeng Laosan was clearly their leader.

Yu Lu thought of the information he had gathered and nodded slightly: “Go ahead.”

In the moonlight, Yun Chi watched the constable walking toward her and suddenly had a bad feeling.

When the constable reached her, and she clearly saw who it was, her premonition came true.

Zeng Laosan was the same constable who had whipped her twice.

“Princess Consort, would you like a bowl of hot soup?”

Calling her “Princess Consort” at a time like this was clearly mocking her.

Yun Chi rejected him outright: “I don’t want any.”

She wasn’t stupid. This person was definitely a weasel paying a visit to the hen house—he had no good intentions.