Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 17 Tempering (Part 1)

Lying in the prison cart, Madam Lu watched this scene with great heartache for her beloved grandson. She struggled to sit up and said, "Yue-ge'er, you're tired from walking. Come to your grandmother."

Pei Yue glanced at his indifferent cousin Qinghe, then quietly withdrew his left foot that had stepped out.

For the past two weeks, everyone has obeyed Pei Qinghe's orders in everything they do, from standing to sitting to lying down. Pei Qinghe has established absolute authority.

Although Pei Yue is only five years old, he already knows whose face to look at and whose words to listen to.

Pei Qinghe didn't speak or nod, and no matter how much Lu Shi coaxed him, Pei Yue didn't dare to move.

"Go to the car!" Pei Qinghe finally spoke up: "From now on, you have to listen to Pei Feng. If you misbehave again, I'll beat you up."

Pei Yue responded and dejectedly climbed onto the prison cart, clinging to his grandmother Lu's arm.

Madam Lu pulled Pei Yue into her arms and glared at Pei Qinghe, thinking she had done so subtly.

It's painless and ineffective, utterly intimidating.

Ever since it was confirmed that Madam Lu had survived, Pei Qinghe had stopped paying attention to her. She turned to Pei Feng and praised him, saying, "You did the right thing today. As the captain, you have to keep them in line."

"Anyone who dares to disobey you, I'll personally teach them a lesson."

Pei Feng puffed out his chest and nodded vigorously, like a proud little rooster.

A sudden cry drifted over on the wind.

Pei Qinghe frowned.

"I'm not walking anymore!" A young woman in her late twenties sat on the ground and wailed, "I walk every day, my feet are almost worn out."

"Let whoever wants to leave go, I'm too tired to walk anyway."

This young woman was Zhao, the twelfth wife of the Pei family. Most of the Pei family's wives came from military families, but Zhao was an exception. Zhao's father was a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Rites, and she had studied music, chess, calligraphy, and painting since childhood. After marrying into the Pei family, Zhao and her husband had different personalities and interests, and their relationship was lukewarm.

The Pei family suffered a great calamity. Zhao's only son, who had just turned eight, was dragged to the execution ground and beheaded.

The Zhao family's world collapsed. These past few days had been like a walking corpse, a daze, following the crowd. Today, they were so exhausted that it was as if a bowstring had suddenly snapped, all their energy and spirit drained away, and they wept bitterly.

Mao Hongling patiently comforted her.

Zhao cried uncontrollably, "You still have your puppy, but I have nothing. What's the point of me living? I have to suffer like this every day! I might as well just die!"

The heart is bitter, and the body is even more bitter.

Walking dozens of miles every day, my feet are covered in blisters, and my legs are sore, swollen, and numb. When will this end?

"Fourth Sister-in-law," Pei Qinghe's voice rang in my ears, "Go rest in the car for a while."

Overwhelmed with grief, Zhao said, "It's no use resting now. I'm not like you; I've been weak since childhood and can't even make it to Youzhou. Just abandon me! I don't want to live anymore..."

A sense of despondency spread instantly. Countless women turned their heads, their eyes reddening.

The road to exile is too long.

Training is really tough.

Is all their hard work and struggle really worthwhile?

Suddenly, Pei Qinghe reached out and struck Zhao Shi with her palm. Zhao Shi's eyes rolled back and she fainted, her crying abruptly ceasing. Then, Pei Qinghe ordered Mao Hongling and the others to carry Zhao Shi to the donkey cart.

The training was certainly tough.

Training is never easy.
Without hardship, where does military discipline come from? Without hardship, where does obedience to orders come from? Without hardship, where does unwavering fighting spirit and robust physique come from?

Praise is useless; you have to be tempered little by little, just like forging iron in a raging fire.

If you can't survive, you're just a piece of scrap metal. Only those who can survive become valuable assets.

The official road was not smooth, and the donkey cart bounced around constantly. Zhao was jolted awake an hour later, feeling dizzy and nauseous, and vomited twice.

That evening, Zhao developed a high fever.

Doctor Bao wrote out a prescription and brewed a bowl of strong medicinal soup, which the patient then drank.

Zhao drank the herbal medicine, but her fever did not subside. She lay on the wooden cart for several days, and on the afternoon of the third day, Zhao breathed her last.

They wrapped it in a straw mat and buried it by the roadside, without even setting up a wooden sign.

The young wives of the Pei family cried until their eyes were red, sending Zhao off on her final journey with tears in their eyes.

Amidst the sorrow, only Pei Qinghe remained calm, almost indifferent: "We've already wasted more than half an hour. Everyone wipe away your tears and continue on your way. We must reach the post station before dark."

Feeling distressed, Mao Hongling couldn't help but ask, "Is it really okay to bury him so simply? Can't we go and buy a coffin?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Pei Qinghe looked over coldly.

Mao Hongling's heart tightened.

The next moment, Pei Qinghe's cold voice rang out: "The Pei family has been exiled, and we are the families of disgraced officials. The guards of the Eastern Palace are here to protect us. Running errands and doing odd jobs is not their job."

“Anyone who doesn’t value their life, like Fourth Sister-in-law, should be buried on the spot after they die, becoming a lonely ghost.”

Mao Hongling instinctively shivered.

Just a little bit.

That night, if Pei Qinghe hadn't found her, she would have ended her life with her belt.

Then they were hastily buried and left to wander as lonely ghosts.

Sitting in the prison cart, Madam Lu felt a chill run down her spine, and waves of fear washed over her.

If it weren't for the doctor, the medicine, and the prison cart, she would have lost her life long ago.

"If you want to survive, pull yourself together, stand tall, and keep moving forward."

Pei Qinghe raised her voice: "If we miss the inn, there will be no hot water tonight, and we won't be able to make steamed buns. We'll all go hungry!"

Mao Hongling wiped her eyes hard and replied loudly, "The clan chief is right, let's keep going."

Soon, a few scattered responses rang out: "Let's go."

"Listen to the patriarch."

Pei Qinghe blew the bamboo whistle in his mouth with all his might.

Upon hearing the whistle, everyone quickly assembled and, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, resumed their journey.

There is no time for grief; everyone must move on.

Commander Sun, who witnessed this entire scene, felt a complex and subtle mix of emotions welling up inside him. Miss Pei, you were born the wrong gender. If you were a boy… no, if you were a man, you would have been beheaded long ago.

Such a ruthless and decisive temperament and the ability to control people's hearts were unprecedented in his life.

In the future, Miss Pei will surely achieve great things.

……

We were delayed by more than half an hour today, and didn't arrive at the inn until after dark.

Everyone was in a gloomy mood, and no one spoke. Even the mischievous Pei Yue was unusually quiet. He huddled next to his grandmother, Madam Lu, and whispered, "Grandmother, I'm hungry."

Lu was also hungry.

However, at times like this, no one was in the mood to cook. They could only eat the dry biscuits prepared by the inn.

The dark, dry biscuits were rough and unpalatable, with a sour taste. After eating so many white steamed buns and meat dumplings for so many days, suddenly going back to eating dry biscuits was really hard to swallow.

In the middle of the night, it started to drizzle. By dawn, the rain had intensified and was pouring down.

The rule of exile is that even if knives fall from the sky, the exile cannot stop.

Captain Sun looked at the torrential rain and hesitated for a long time.

Pei Qinghe approached him and asked, "Captain Sun, shouldn't we set off?"

(End of this chapter)