Transmigrated into the Scum Female Consort - Chapter 22

As soon as Zhou Qiyue left the room, only Old Madam Zhou, her granddaughter Little Ying’er, and Ye Xuejin remained.

Old Madam Zhou looked at Ye Xuejin, then at the tightly closed door, and then back at Ye Xuejin.

Seeing this, Ye Xuejin calmly averted her gaze and walked toward the window.

It was precisely because of this gesture of avoidance that Old Madam Zhou finally made up her mind. She led Little Ying’er and knelt on the ground: “This old woman greets Her Royal Highness, Princess Royal He’an. May Your Highness live for ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand years.”

At these words, the room went silent.

“Old Madam, please rise quickly. There is no Princess Royal here. I am also a convicted criminal; how can I accept such a grand salute?” Ye Xuejin was startled for a moment and quickly turned to step forward, trying to help her up.

However, Old Madam Zhou refused to rise and said kneeling: “Your Highness is worthy. My old husband said that Your Highness absolutely has no intention of treason. This crime is a fabrication imposed on you. Your Highness has been wronged.”

Ye Xuejin sighed inwardly: “Old Madam, there is no need for this. If you speak of being wronged, are you not also deeply wronged?”

Tears instantly welled up in Old Madam Zhou’s eyes. Yes, where was the crime of the Zhou family?

An imperial censor’s duty was to heed public opinion and speak candidly to the Emperor. When did that become a crime?

Seeing her look sorrowful, Ye Xuejin exerted a little more force, helped her up, and then actively picked up Little Ying’er and placed the child on the bed.

“Old Madam, please do not grieve. You must take good care of your health so that you can live to see the day when the clouds part and the moon shines brightly.”

Her gentle tone and clear voice, delivered unhurriedly, seemed to have the power to soothe the heart.

Old Madam Zhou wiped her eyes and said earnestly: “Your Highness is right. Your Highness must also take care of your health.”

Only when she saw the Old Madam calm down did Ye Xuejin remind her: “It is best if the Old Madam does not associate with me in public, for the sake of the Zhou family and for the children.”

She did not want anyone else to be implicated because of her.

“Your Highness… alas, this old woman will heed Your Highness’s words.” Old Madam Zhou had just managed to hold back her tears, but now she choked up again.

She also knew that if the person on the dragon throne refused to stop, and news of the Zhou family’s closeness to the Princess Royal was deliberately spread back, their entire family might suffer an even worse fate.

Therefore, she had chosen to perform this salute when they were alone.

After this conversation, Old Madam Zhou felt somewhat relieved, and she spoke more freely.

“Your Highness has truly suffered such injustice. Exile itself is deadly, and yet you are burdened with such a Princess Consort…”

Ye Xuejin listened quietly, nodding occasionally, but did not say much.

My Princess Consort is very good; it is I who have implicated her…

Outside, as soon as Yun Chi left the room, she saw Yu Lu, who had just arrived.

Yu Lu had sent all six officers out to buy things, leaving himself to hold down the fort.

Seeing Yun Chi and Shi Niang standing together, he gave them a look and said casually: “Shi Niang, take your people out to look around, too. If the women are missing anything, they can buy it themselves.”

This “they” included Yun Chi as well.

Shi Niang waited a moment longer, and when Zhou Qiyue came out with the gold lock, the group finally left the relay station.

Zhou Qiyue couldn’t help but mutter: “How can that person go with them?” She wanted to go along, too.

Yu Lu pretended not to hear and walked away with long strides.

On the other side, after leaving the relay station, Yun Chi noticed that the five young women were a little uneasy.

They seemed very nervous, especially when men looked their way. The five girls would instinctively look to Shi Niang for reassurance.

There was a mix of dependence and awe in their dependency; they didn’t dare to get too close and just watched with hopeful eyes.

Yun Chi was deeply puzzled and couldn’t help but ask: “Are they all your people?” The girls don’t look like they are traveling with Shi Niang, and some of them already left.

“You could say that.”

“How so?”

Shi Niang explained concisely: “I was entrusted by someone to meet and assist the Princess Royal halfway. When passing through that village, I encountered a group of vicious bandits…”

The village looked ordinary, but it only contained able-bodied men. Seeing her alone, they didn’t even bother putting on an act and immediately attacked.

The result, naturally, was that her martial arts were superior, and she easily defeated those men.

After questioning them, she learned that the village was just a cover.

The bandits, disguised as villagers, would kidnap any young women they saw passing by who didn’t look like nobility, kill all the men and the elderly/infirm, and sell the women at high prices to people in the mountains.

By the time Shi Niang found the girls locked up in the cellar and saw their miserable state, she was so furious that she killed every single bandit.

That was why only they were left in the village, and why the girls were both respectful and afraid of her—they had witnessed her slaughter those bandits with their own eyes.

Yun Chi was momentarily stunned after hearing the story.

Shi Niang glanced at her, her tone casual: “Do you think I’m a cold-blooded killer, someone worse than the bandits?”

Yun Chi snapped back to reality and firmly shook her head: “Of course not. Those people deserved death. What you did was an act of great virtue.”

Shi Niang’s eyes darkened, and she didn’t say anything more.

In truth, there were over twenty girls locked in the cellar, but only a dozen or so survived.

They were clearly rescued, clearly regained their freedom…

Shi Niang’s heart felt heavy. She looked gently at the girls behind her: “Walk closer. You always have me.”

“Okay.” The five girls obediently followed.

The reason they hadn’t left, willingly traveling across mountains and rivers with Shi Niang to the Southern Border, was that they had not only lost their identity documents but all their family members as well.

They were alone and had fallen into such a dire situation. They had even considered suicide until Shi Niang told them to live.

“You must live well, and you must live brilliantly, so your families can rest in peace. Since I got involved in this, I won’t abandon you. You always have me.”

They took her words to heart. They had to live well, live brilliantly.

They also remembered that no matter what, they always had Shi Niang.

Yun Chi was also silent. After a while, she took the initiative to start a conversation: “You all look younger than me, but I bet you’re all more capable than I am. Don’t laugh, but since I can remember, I’ve been a beggar. I haven’t been able to do anything but beg until now. But I believe that as long as we don’t give up hope, life will definitely get better and better…”

Seeing her kind words and Shi Niang’s faint smile, the girls finally responded, exchanging names with Yun Chi.

The sunlight shone on their faces, bright and warm, gleaming with an unknown brilliance.

Closer to noon, the group returned to the relay station, and Yu Lu immediately called Shi Niang away.

Yun Chi smiled at the girls, speaking with familiar ease: “Shi Mei, Shi Lan, the two of you organize the things. Shi Zhu, Shi Ju, Shi Song, the three of you come with me to make the beds, hurry up.”

Her tone was soft, her smile gentle.

The girls exchanged a look and quietly agreed.

Ye Xuejin noticed Yun Chi’s unusual behavior but didn’t ask anything. Instead, she smiled and looked at the girls, chatting and helping them busy themselves.

Old Madam Zhou looked at them and nudged her daughter: “Why aren’t you helping them?”

Zhou Qiyue acknowledged with an “Mhm,” approached Ye Xuejin, and lent a hand in tidying up.

The atmosphere gradually grew warmer, and the girls’ tense expressions unconsciously relaxed.

Invisibly, the relationship between everyone seemed to have grown much closer.

After lunch, Yun Chi finally found an opportunity and quickly repeated Shi Niang’s story to Ye Xuejin.

“…They didn’t want to dwell on the past anymore, so they even had Shi Niang give them new names.”