Transmigrated into the Scum Female Consort - Chapter 8

A cool breeze blew, and Yun Chi looked at the coarse biscuit in her hand—a small piece.

It was clearly the ration Ye Xuejin had deliberately saved…

The path of exile was as arduous as anticipated. From yesterday morning until noon today, over a day and a half, the officers had distributed food only three times, and each time was just half a coarse biscuit. The three pieces together amounted only to the size of one fist.

It was just enough to keep a person alive, barely staving off starvation.

Although they had each eaten half a steamed bun as well, the non-stop marching during the day only intensified the hunger.

Yun Chi hadn’t eaten anything earlier, both for the sake of the act and to verify the specific conditions for receiving rewards.

Of course, the main reason she didn’t feel bad about losing that bit of coarse biscuit was that she had food in her storage space, though she did feel it was a pity.

But the only food Ye Xuejin had was this hard-to-swallow coarse biscuit.

Even so, this woman still gave her saved ration to Yun Chi.

Yun Chi felt a little uneasy. She shoved the coarse biscuit into her mouth and quickly caught up with Ye Xuejin.

“Thanks. From now on, just look out for yourself, and don’t worry about me.”

Ye Xuejin’s expression paused, then returned to tranquility. She said nothing.

The wind picked up again, whipping up dust.

The prisoners walked on numbly. As the sun was about to set, they saw a small village in the distance.

Yu Lu looked back at the lifeless procession and said in a deep voice, “Everyone, walk faster.”

As soon as he spoke, the other officers shouted one after another.

“Hurry up!”

“Keep moving!”

Under a chorus of urges, the prisoners’ pace finally quickened a bit, reaching the village entrance before dark.

This village was very small, with only a few dozen households, mostly thatched huts.

When the exile party entered the village, the villagers hurriedly closed their doors and locked their yards.

Yu Lu felt suspicious. In the exile party, only he was on horseback; the rest were on foot. Even though two days had passed, they were only about a hundred li from the capital. Logically, the villages near the capital should not be like this.

Yu Lu frowned and instructed the youngest constable, Xiao Gao, who was leading the front of the team, “Xiao Gao, go knock on some doors and see if any fellow villagers can let us stay for the night.”

Staying for the night certainly wouldn’t be free; they would give some benefit.

Xiao Gao quickly ran to knock on doors and returned shortly after trying several houses.

“Sir, the villagers here all said they have no spare rooms and no food.”

Yu Lu frowned again, vaguely feeling that something was wrong. The villagers here were far too fearful.

It was unlike the village they passed through during the day. Although those villagers avoided the exile party somewhat, many still came out to watch and didn’t refuse to trade food for silver.

It was already dark, and the prisoners were exhausted. It was unsuitable to travel at night, so they would just have to make do here for the night.

The twenty-something people stayed at the village entrance.

This time, no shed was erected, so there was no separation of men and women. The Zhou family clustered together, the two Mu brothers sat side by side, and Yun Chi sat on the ground parallel to Ye Xuejin.

Then, everyone looked expectantly at the officers, eagerly awaiting their coarse biscuits.

Yu Lu signaled Zeng Laosan to distribute the coarse biscuits, while he led Xiao Gao back into the village.

The coarse biscuits were running low; they needed to replenish their dry rations.

Zeng Laosan saw Yu Lu walk away. His eyes darted around, and he approached Yun Chi, pretending to wave his hand. “These two coarse biscuits are yours.”

Yun Chi blinked. She saw nothing.

That dog, he threw nothing but air at me.

“Ahem,” Zeng Laosan coughed twice. “If it’s not enough to eat, think of a way to please this lord.”

Yun Chi understood. The meaning was that if she wanted food, she had to beat and verbally abuse Ye Xuejin.

In the darkness, the others didn’t clearly see the exchange and were unaware of Zeng Laosan’s small maneuver.

Yun Chi also knew that arguing was pointless, so she could only endure it.

After a brief thought, she leaned in close to Zeng Laosan and tentatively asked, “Officer, could you do me a favor?”

Zeng Laosan raised an eyebrow. “What favor?”

Yun Chi lowered her voice, pretending to be ingratiating. “Of course, it’s to make it easier for me to deal with this woman. Don’t worry, I’ll really teach her a lesson this time.”

Zeng Laosan looked interested. “Go on.”

Yun Chi touched her nose, feigning discomfort. “Since we are both women, why not let me take her behind that tree over there to teach her a lesson?”

The two whispered, drawing the attention of the others, who heard only muffled words and looked on with various expressions.

Zeng Laosan thought of something and chuckled. “Go ahead.”

Yun Chi also smiled. “I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”

Then, she raised her voice and shouted at Ye Xuejin, “Get up and come with me!”

As she spoke, she deliberately kicked Ye Xuejin’s foot, though without much force.

Ye Xuejin rose. She had only taken two steps when she heard Zhou Qiyue call out, “Sister Ye, don’t go!”

The tone was urgent, and her worry was palpable.

Ye Xuejin paused but did not look at Zhou Qiyue, and continued to follow Yun Chi.

Zhou Qiyue anxiously stood up but was unable to leave because Elder Minister Zhou stopped her. “Sit down quietly.”

Zhou Qiyue clenched her fists and looked toward Madam Zhou, pleading, “Mother.”

This time, Madam Zhou did not let her continue her kindness. “Xiao Yue, listen to your father.”

Some people, though pitiful, cannot be helped if they are unwilling to resist themselves.

On the other side, Ye Xuejin followed Yun Chi to a large tree. She was not ungrateful, but the matter of acting out a scene with Yun Chi was best kept from outsiders.

This would prevent further implication of others in beatings and hardship.

Yun Chi saw that the officers had already built a fire. She simply grabbed Ye Xuejin’s wrist and led her behind the tree.

The large tree was only seven or eight meters from where the team was resting, and Zeng Laosan was watching them, so it was not appropriate for them to speak in low voices.

Fortunately, the tree trunk was thick enough to hide one person’s figure. She said loudly, “Lie down now!”

Ye Xuejin hesitated, then slowly lay down.

Yun Chi glanced at Zeng Laosan out of the corner of her eye. In the firelight, everyone was looking over, intentionally or unintentionally.

She took a deep breath and shouted, “Cover your mouth! If you dare to embarrass me, I’ll beat you to death!”

With that, she lay on top of Ye Xuejin, took the water flask from her waist, held her hands over Ye Xuejin’s head, and quickly took out five bags of milk from her storage space. While rapidly tearing them open and pouring the milk into the water flask, she leaned close to Ye Xuejin’s ear and whispered, “Shout.”

Ye Xuejin froze. Shout?

Seeing that Ye Xuejin seemed stunned and even trembled slightly, Yun Chi had to remind her again quietly, “Curse me.”

Why is this woman trembling? Does she really think I’m going to do something?

Ye Xuejin pursed her lips, turned her face away, and uttered two words in a highly unnatural tone: “You… shameless.”

The soft, slow, and melodious voice was not at all like a curse, making people’s hearts feel numb.

But it was a happy accident.

“Sister Ye!” Zhou Qiyue gritted her teeth and suddenly stood up again.

“Stop right there!” Zeng Laosan cracked his whip on the ground and laughed meaningfully. “The couple is having a moment of affection. We can’t ruin their fun, can we, brothers?”

“Exactly. Young girls really don’t understand things.”

“Haha.”

The sound of laughter rose, making the atmosphere oddly lively.

Over here, Yun Chi had finished pouring all the milk into the water flask. If she weren’t worried that the smell of the pea and minced pork noodles would be noticed due to the close distance, she would eat a few bites.

Unfortunately, now was not the right time.

“Turn your face here, and open your mouth.” Yun Chi no longer lowered her voice. These simple words caused another round of laughter.

Ye Xuejin clenched her fingers, turned her head, but hesitated to open her mouth.

She had decided to trust this person, but there was ultimately no deep affection between them. She couldn’t bring herself to fully obey Yun Chi.

Moreover, was this scene too much? It made her feel uneasy…

In her hesitation, her lips suddenly felt cool—it was Yun Chi’s finger.

Ye Xuejin stiffened. Just as she was about to struggle, a single word was whispered softly into her ear: “Drink.”

Drink…

The finger moved away, replaced by the mouth of the water flask.

Ye Xuejin realized what was happening and opened her mouth in disbelief.

The cool liquid, with the rich aroma of milk, entered her mouth, soothing her dry throat. She unconsciously began to swallow in large gulps.

Yun Chi finally sighed in relief. If the water flask hadn’t been completely empty since last night, and they hadn’t encountered a river all day, it would seem strange for someone to have something to drink. She wouldn’t have had to go through such trouble.

“Drink more.” Seeing the large text appear before her, she silently raised her lips:

[You have gifted one bag of milk. Please choose a reward: Ten taels of silver or one dagger]

[You have gifted one bag of milk. Please choose a reward: Ten taels of silver or one cotton quilt]

There was an unexpected bonus. Yun Chi thought for a moment, first choosing the dagger and then the silver.

It seemed Ye Xuejin had drunk the equivalent of two bags of milk.

Feeling that the act was complete, and seeing Yu Lu reappear by the fire, Yun Chi finally rolled off, helped Ye Xuejin sit up, drank a few gulps of milk herself, and then put the water flask back on her waist.

“Were you scared just now?”

Ye Xuejin shook her head. “No.”

Yun Chi paused, then said warmly, “Don’t be scared. Trust me.”

The sudden comfort stunned Ye Xuejin for a moment. She then realized and explained, “I… I felt pain just now.”

It was this person pressing down on the wound on my chest. That’s why I couldn’t help myself…