Transmigrated into the Scum Female Consort - Chapter 9

Yun Chi belatedly recalled that Ye Xuejin had severe injuries, which had been seeping blood all the day before.

Her heart stirred, and she stood up. “Wait for me.”

Neither of them had eaten anything tonight, only drinking milk, so it was not advisable to take the anti-inflammatory medicine right now.

The act was over, and she needed to go claim her reward; otherwise, the performance would seem less authentic.

Ye Xuejin nodded, her confusion deepening. Where did this person conjure the milk from?

She stared blankly at Yun Chi’s slender, tall back, as if watching a cloud of mist.

Hidden beneath the mist were secrets she could not discern, secrets that were both curious and surprising.

In a moment, Yun Chi returned to the group.

Yu Lu had returned just now and, not seeing her and Ye Xuejin, had asked Zeng Laosan about them. Recalling Zeng Laosan’s obscene and disgusting words, he glanced at Yun Chi, not bothering to hide the disgust in his eyes.

Catching sight of the figures vaguely visible under the large tree, he frowned and said sternly, “Do not leave the team without my instruction hereafter.”

Meeting such an unreliable consort, he wondered if the Grand Princess could still endure.

“Yes,” Yun Chi replied, then looked at Zeng Laosan. “Officer, you forgot to give us our coarse biscuits just now.”

Zeng Laosan scoffed, took out two half-coarse biscuits, and threw them towards her. “I really did forget. Go eat them.”

His tone was teasing, like training an obedient dog.

Yun Chi caught them just in time and smiled. “Thank you, Officer. I’ll be right back after I eat.”

In thirteen days, Ye Xuejin would see the end of her suffering.

She could endure this.

Yun Chi turned around and returned to the big tree, handing half a coarse biscuit to Ye Xuejin.

“Eat quickly.”

[You have gifted half a coarse biscuit. Please choose a reward: One cup of watermelon juice or one watermelon]

No silver this time?

Yun Chi frowned slightly. Although she really wanted to choose the watermelon, considering the inconvenience of taking it out to eat, she ultimately chose the easier-to-handle watermelon juice.

Ye Xuejin suppressed the confusion in her heart and slowly ate the coarse biscuit, yet couldn’t help but glance at the water flask on Yun Chi’s waist.

When this person was pressing down on her, the movements made by her hands above her head… was she conjuring the milk?

Yun Chi had just finished selecting the reward and subconsciously looked at Ye Xuejin, thus not missing her gaze.

In the silence, the two shared a knowing glance.

One’s gaze was probing but discreet, while the other’s was hesitant, unsure of what to say.

During the exchange, Ye Xuejin was the first to look away, silently putting away the inquiry in her eyes.

Before long, both of them finished their coarse biscuits.

Yun Chi put her right hand behind her back, taking out an anti-inflammatory pill. “Take this before you sleep.”

After much thought, she still chose not to explain anything.

Ye Xuejin reached out and also didn’t ask anything.

[You have gifted one anti-inflammatory pill. Please choose a reward: One char siu bao or one tea egg]

“Let’s go.” Since the satiating effects were similar, Yun Chi preferred the tea egg.

Looking at the dwindling rewards, she vaguely sensed a certain pattern: when the same item was gifted repeatedly, the value of the rewarded items also became progressively lower.

Ye Xuejin silently followed behind her, trying to ignore the scrutinizing glances, and sat down after returning to their spot, looking down at the ground.

Yu Lu, seeing nothing amiss with her, signaled the officers to gather.

The remaining coarse biscuits were only enough for one more round. Since they hadn’t encountered a river on the way, they had no water to cook with. This situation could not continue.

If tomorrow was the same as today, not only would the prisoners suffer from exhaustion and severe dehydration, but even the officers would struggle; their water flasks were almost empty.

“This village is quite unusual. Everyone stay alert tonight. We will leave as soon as dawn breaks.”

“Yes.”

After giving his orders, Yu Lu decided to ride ahead early tomorrow morning to scout the road, at least to secure some water.

He looked at Zeng Laosan and couldn’t resist warning him sternly, “The current situation is not optimistic. It is best that some people put away their petty thoughts, or don’t blame this officer for showing no mercy.”

Yu Lu was not a person easily fooled; on the contrary, he was sharp-witted, or he wouldn’t have been assigned this task.

Yun Chi’s act of asking Zeng Laosan for the coarse biscuits clearly indicated some kind of arrangement had been made.

He could guess what Zeng Laosan’s backers intended, so he felt it necessary to issue a warning. It would be disastrous if any slip-up occurred.

Among the remaining six officers, the three constables leading the front—headed by Xiao Gao—were jailers from the Ministry of Justice’s prison.

Yu Lu was an eighth-rank prison supervisor for the Ministry of Justice, so they were tacitly considered his own people.

Therefore, Yu Lu’s warning was naturally directed at the outsiders.

The outsiders were the three soldiers from the Military Affairs Department responsible for following the team, led by Zeng Laosan.

For a moment, several glances fell upon Zeng Laosan’s face.

Zeng Laosan, however, was adaptable. He smiled heartily. “What the Sir says is right. Your subordinate will listen to you. If anyone dares to cause trouble, I will be the first one to object.”

Yu Lu nodded, thinking, You had better be.

The officers then dispersed with their own thoughts, finding places to rest.

Deep into the night, a sound of footsteps suddenly rang out.

The prisoners, who were sleeping on the ground and had been hungry and thirsty all day, were not sleeping soundly. So, as the noise started, they all woke up.

Yu Lu alertly got up, his hand not reaching for his whip but gripping the crescent blade at his waist.

Yun Chi and Ye Xuejin exchanged a look in the darkness and stood up, instinctively standing back-to-back.

The footsteps came from inside the village, and figures were gathering in the night.

“Step back!” Yu Lu roared, drawing his sword.

The other officers reacted, some drawing their blades, others holding their torches high.

Upon seeing clearly, everyone was stunned.

The people approaching were a group of teenage girls, each carrying a bundle, and every one of them looked gaunt.

The woman leading them was the only older one, appearing to be around thirty years old.

The woman bravely shouted, “Honorable Officers, can we follow you? We can all work and we have dry rations.”

Yu Lu looked at the group of women in astonishment. He asked, confused, “Where are the other people in your village?”

Aha, he thought, this is where the village felt wrong. When he and Xiao Gao knocked on doors, the answers came only from women, or no one answered at all. There were no other people.

“The village was struck by a plague last month. Some died, some fled, and only we are left,” the woman lowered her head, stammering with anxiety.

Yu Lu, hearing this, immediately recoiled. Plague!

“Don’t come any closer!”

The woman raised her head, her eyes red-rimmed, and pleaded, “Sir, please don’t worry. We survived, so we are not infected. We beg you, Sir, to take us with you.”

Yu Lu did not dare to be soft-hearted at all. A group of women suddenly appearing in the middle of the night, with only these women left in the whole village, sent a chill down his spine.

“All of you, back away! Don’t follow us!”

His intuition told him that these women were definitely trouble.

Alarmed, Yu Lu loudly ordered, “Everyone up! Let’s go quickly!”

The other officers, seeing his reaction, hurried to drive the prisoners to move out, holding torches and bypassing the village to travel through the night.

Yun Chi squeezed into the group and quietly held Ye Xuejin’s hand, feeling quite scared.

Ye Xuejin seemed to sense this and silently squeezed her hand back.

Yun Chi felt inexplicably reassured. She couldn’t help but look back, and her eyes widened when she did.

Those women had actually followed them.

She wasn’t the only one who saw this situation. Immediately, everyone quickened their pace.

Yu Lu frowned, reining in his horse. This couldn’t continue.

“Xiao Gao, you lead the men and continue south. I will cover the rear.”

“Sir…” Xiao Gao’s voice was worried.

Yu Lu turned his horse around and said unequivocally, “Just go! I know what I’m doing.”

He had a horse. If he could hold off these women, he could still catch up with the team.

Xiao Gao gritted his teeth and urged the prisoners to walk faster again.

Unlike Xiao Gao’s apprehension, Zeng Laosan was inwardly delighted. He wished for Yu Lu to run into trouble, so he wouldn’t have any restraints.

Yun Chi looked back again and saw Yu Lu, mounted and holding his sword, genuinely blocking the women’s path.

Suddenly, a miserable cry rang out from the team, startling everyone.

“What’s going on? Keep moving!” Zeng Laosan immediately cracked his whip at those who stopped.

The ones who stopped were the Zhou family. It turned out Madam Zhou had fallen down.

Zhou Qishan quickly lifted his mother onto his back, struggling to keep up with the team’s pace.

In the past, he could run with his mother on his back without issue, but now it was different.

After spending days in prison and marching for two consecutive days without enough food or water, his physical strength was severely depleted.

And so, after only a few steps, he stumbled, falling with Madam Zhou.

“Dàláng!” (Eldest Son!)

“Eldest Brother!”

“Eldest Young Master!”

The Zhou family burst into a chorus of alarmed cries, and the team was finally forced to stop.