You confiscated my property, I exiled you, why are you crying when the treasury is empty?

After traveling for about an hour and a half, the rain gradually intensified and the exile team had to stop and look for a place to shelter from the rain.

There happened to be a dilapidated temple not far ahead of the exile team.

By the time everyone arrived, they were almost soaked.

There are three rooms in the dilapidated temple. Enter a room with a relatively less leaky roof.

Unexpectedly, all the people in the exile team walked into this room. Su Wanning suddenly felt a little regretful. With so many people in one room, how could they sleep at night?

But fortunately, the police came over in time and asked them to go to other rooms separately.

After taking the things off the ox cart, I wanted to make a fire to roast them, but the branches outside were almost all wet and could not be lit at all.

Just as Su Wanning was thinking about how to dry the clothes on her body, a burst of thick smoke came.

Su Wanning looked in the direction of the smoke and saw that someone in the exile team wanted to make a fire, but the branches did not burn and only thick smoke came out.

In an instant, the room, which was not big to begin with, was filled with thick, pungent smoke. Everyone in the room quickly ran out. It was still raining outside, so everyone could only stand in the corridor.

"You damn girl, do you want to suffocate me? I asked you to light the fire, but I didn't ask you to release the smoke. If you can't even do such a small thing, you won't be able to eat today." A woman kept poking the head of a thin woman with her hand.

"Mother, I'm almost starving. Is the meal ready?" A woman came out from another room in the dilapidated temple and gave the thin woman an unhappy look.

Zhan Yiran was behind Su Wanning. "That woman is the second wife of Minister Zhang's family. The thin and small one is Minister Zhang's eldest daughter, Zhang Hanqiu, also born to his ex-wife. However, his ex-wife died not long after giving birth to Zhang Hanqiu. The one who came out of the other room is the daughter of the current wife, named Zhang Zirong."

Su Wanning remembered that Minister Zhang's family was there when she was collecting supplies, but she didn't know if it was him.

"It seems like there's not much difference in age between the two of them."

"Zhang Zirong is one year older than Zhang Hanqiu." After saying this, Zhan Yiran gave Su Wanning a look that said you understand.

Although having a stepmother is equivalent to having a stepfather, Minister Zhang is such a jerk. Maybe Zhang Hanqiu's mother's death was man-made.

According to what Zhan Yiran said, since Minister Zhang already had children with someone else, why did he marry Zhang Hanqiu's mother? Then Zhang Hanqiu's grandmother should have a good family background.

Could it be that they hadn't cared about their daughters for such a long time? If they did, how could they not know about their situation?

Zhan Yiran seemed to see through Su Wanning's confusion. "Zhang Hanqiu's maternal grandparents were once wealthy merchants in Siyang City. When Minister Zhang came to the capital to serve as an official, he borrowed the influence of her maternal grandparents. But later, for some reason, her maternal grandparents suddenly fell into decline. As for whether they had any contact with Minister Zhang, no one knows."

After a pause, he continued, "We will arrive in Siyang City in a few days. If there are still people from her maternal family alive, they should have received the news of her exile by now."

Su Wanning looked at Zhang Hanqiu who had been being criticized all the time. She had been enduring it silently until now, and her eyes were dull. No one knew how she had grown up over the years.

"What are you all standing for? If you don't want to rest, let's continue on our way!" Peng Hai saw so many people walking towards him in the corridor.

Minister Zhang's wife blamed everything on Zhang Hanqiu. "It's all my damn girl's fault. She used wet branches to light the fire, and now the room is filled with smoke."

Zhang Zirong, who was standing next to them, fanned the flames, "You're all so cold now, it's all his fault. If it weren't for her, you might all be able to eat now, and wouldn't have to sit here in the corridor with the wind and go hungry."

Peng Hai glanced at the thin Zhang Hanqiu with disdain, and only when his gaze shifted to Zhang Zirong did he look slightly satisfied.

After waiting for half an hour, the thick smoke in the room finally cleared.

Su Wanning looked at the room where the smoke had just dissipated. The people in the corridor had returned to their rooms one after another, and soon the room was full of people.

The room was also hotter than other rooms because of the thick smoke. It had already been rained on and now there was no fire, which caused people from other rooms to keep coming into this room.

The smell in the room was even worse. Su Wanning couldn't stand it anymore, so she took Zhan Yiran and her things to another room.

In order to avoid sharing a room with the officials, they chose a room with a big hole in the roof and leaky windows.

The rooms are not big, so there are only a few families living there.

All the corners were occupied, so a few people could only stay in the middle against the wall.

Su Wanning had just sat down to rest when she felt someone tugging at the corner of her clothes.

"Pretty sister~"

It was the little carrot head she had met before. The clothes he was wearing should have just been changed into dry clothes. Su Wanning reached out and touched the little carrot head's hand, "Little carrot head, what a coincidence?"

The little carrot head smiled and said, "Pretty sister, your hands are so cold, let me warm them for you."

As he spoke, he reached out and took Su Wanning's hand, and put his mouth close to hers.

Zhong Jingnan, who was packing up not far away, saw the little carrot head holding someone's hand and walked over nervously, "Yaoyao, you can't do such rude things."

Su Wanning looked at Zhong Jingnan, who was the woman who had been looking for Little Radish Head in the team before.

"Mother, this is the beautiful sister who gave me candy before."

Zhong Jingnan nodded to Su Wanning with a slightly apologetic look on his face, then picked up the little carrot head.

"I see that the girl's clothes are still wet. Why don't you change your clothes first? The weather is a bit cold now. If you continue to wear wet clothes, you may catch a cold." He pointed to the corner where they were resting.

"You can change it by covering it with a sheet."

Su Wanning looked towards the corner and deliberately left a space in it. "Thank you very much."

Soon, several people changed their clothes and were now thinking about the same question: how to make a fire and cook?

After all, the branches outside are all wet, and there is no way to make a fire.

Su Wanning pulled Zhan Yiran over and walked out the door.

"Sister, I have some dry firewood."

When those firewoods passed by the imperial kitchen in the palace, he thought they might be useful, so he collected them all. He didn't expect that they would be put to use so soon.

Zhan Yiran was surprised when she heard the latter part. Just now she was thinking that she should drink a bowl of ginger soup to warm herself up after being caught in the rain today.

But now it's raining everywhere, and it's really hard to find firewood.

Just as they were thinking about it, they saw someone wearing a straw raincoat passing by on the road not far away. Then they thought back to when they came, they also saw quite a few passers-by.

Zhan Yiran took a pile of firewood from Su Wanning and ran away, but soon came back.

He carried the firewood into the room and said, "I bought the firewood."