Pick up a princess to be your wife

A woman stepped out from the crowd. Upon seeing Wang Xiaoli, she rushed forward and hugged him tightly, tears streaming down her face.

Wang Xiaoli just sighed to himself.

"How is the old man?" Wang Xiaoli asked.

"It's okay."

The old man's condition was not good; he had broken a leg and gone blind from crying.

The woman, however, didn't know how to explain things to Wang Xiaoli.

"What are you crying for? Stop crying, don't embarrass yourself in front of the villagers," Wang Xiaoli said in a deep voice.

"Wang Xiaoli, now that you're back, you can work on the construction site for the next few days," Zheng Mao said.

Wang Xiaoli felt that the feud was over and did not want to continue to entangle with Zheng Mao.

After all, he won't live past this year, but Zheng Mao will stay in Tongling forever.

He has already killed those he should kill, and now he is further offending Zheng Mao, fearing that Zheng Mao will make things difficult for his elderly father and wife in the future.

Without saying a word, Wang Xiaoli said to the woman, "Go home, I'll do the work here."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Xiaoli shoved the package into the woman's hands and rolled up his sleeves to get to work.

The woman didn't leave either; she carried the package on her back and worked alongside Wang Xiaoli.

“Why didn’t you go back when I told you to?” Wang Xiaoli asked.

"The more people work, the more food we can get," the woman said.

Wang Xiaoli didn't say anything more and continued working.

In the evening, the officials distributed the night's rations to the people.

Everyone received white flour buns, which made the people, who usually ate coarse food every day, feel like it was New Year's Day.

They hadn't tasted the aroma of white flour in ages, and they devoured it.

But when it came to Wang Xiaoli and his wife, they only received coarse rice cakes.

"Zheng Mao, why can everyone else get white flour buns, but I only get bran buns? And there's only one of them?" Wang Xiaoli asked indignantly.

"You should be thanking your lucky stars that I'm willing to give you food! Otherwise, you'd starve to death before you even have a chance to go around killing people!" Zheng Mao said coldly.

"I want white flour buns!" Wang Xiaoli roared.

"You dare call yourself 'I' in front of me? You've gone too far!"

Zheng Mao raised the whip to strike, but Wang Xiaoli grabbed one end of the whip and lashed it back.

Zheng Mao stumbled forward and was almost pulled to the ground by Wang Xiaoli.

"I want white flour buns!" Wang Xiaoli roared.

Zheng Mao was even angrier. He immediately drew his sword and held it to Wang Xiaoli's neck.

"Wang Xiaoli, you death row inmate, do you even deserve to eat white flour buns?"

Wang Xiaoli remained unfazed and stepped forward, using his neck to block the narrow knife.

"If you've got the guts, then kill me with one blow. If you don't, then give me a steamed bun!" Wang Xiaoli shouted.

The woman tugged at Wang Xiaoli, but Wang Xiaoli wouldn't budge an inch.

He worked all day, and more than everyone else, so why should everyone else eat white flour buns while he eats bran buns?

Zheng Mao really didn't dare to kill Wang Xiaoli.

This man is a death row inmate in the Ministry of Justice. If he were to kill Wang Xiaoli in public, his adoptive father would have to explain himself to the Ministry of Justice.

His godfather might even give him a beating and ruin his future.

"Okay, okay, give him a white flour bun."

Zheng Mao said coldly.

A bailiff came forward and tossed a white steamed bun to Wang Xiaoli.

“Two,” Wang Xiaoli said coldly.

"Wang Xiaoli, you're not satisfied, are you? You don't know what's good for you, do you?" Zheng Mao gritted his teeth in anger.

Wang Xiaoli stared intently at Zheng Mao, remaining motionless.

"Okay, give him two."

After receiving the second steamed bun, Wang Xiaoli snorted coldly before pulling the woman away.

He took a bite of the steamed bun, but frowned.

Although this white steamed bun looks white, one bite reveals a distinctly damp, moldy, and sour taste.

"Damn it!"

Wang Xiaoli angrily slammed the steamed bun onto the ground.

Upon seeing this, the woman quickly picked it up.

"It's all moldy, what's the point of picking it up?"

Wang Xiaoli thought about how he had recently been imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's prison, where he was given three meals a day, each consisting of white flour buns, pumpkin soup, cabbage soup, and pickled vegetables, with the occasional taste of meat.

He's been preoccupied lately, so he hasn't been thinking about anything else.

Looking back now, I can't believe that the time I had the best meals in my life was when I was imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice.

Wang Xiaoli has now been to Kyoto and has seen the world.

But when he thought about how death row inmates in Baiyujing prison could live better than ordinary people in Hexi Road, he felt it was a great irony.

They might as well all commit some crimes and go to jail in the Central Plains. At least they'll have food and drink provided in jail, and they won't have to worry about making a living.

But he felt it was also a tragedy that he had such thoughts.

He didn't have much schooling and doesn't understand any profound principles.

But he knew in his heart why the world was so different.

Where there are good officials, the people live well; but in Hexi Circuit, the officials are all inhuman, so naturally the people live poorly.

This place is completely unfit for human habitation; he needs to arrange for his wife and elderly father to move to the Central Plains.

There, regardless of gender, everyone can find a decent job with a good income.

I'm packing my things and leaving tonight.

Wang Xiaoli made up her mind.

When Wang Xiaoli returned home, he was somewhat surprised to see the neatly built stone wall and the clean and tidy yard.

"My son is back?"

An old, withered man walked out of the house, leaning on a new cane. Although his eyes were lifeless, his expression was somewhat excited.

"Father, I am an unfilial son!"

Wang Xiaoli knelt down and kowtowed to his elderly father.

"It really is my son! How did you get back? Did you escape from prison?" The old man rushed forward, grabbed Wang Xiaoli, and kept touching his face.

"I didn't escape from prison. It was the officials in the capital who sent me home to visit my family!" Wang Xiaoli quickly explained.

"Your death sentence has been commuted?" the old man asked hastily.

Upon hearing this question, Wang Xiaoli didn't know how to answer.

The old man's initially excited expression dimmed; he already knew the answer in his heart.

The son's death sentence was not pardoned; it was only the powerful figures who showed him mercy and allowed him to go home to see his elderly wife and say goodbye to his family.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back." The old man nodded repeatedly and quickly helped Wang Xiaoli up.

"Dad, what happened to your eyes and legs?" Wang Xiaoli asked.

The old man waved his hand helplessly.

"I'm getting old, my legs aren't as nimble as they used to be, I fell down on my own."

The old man was clearly afraid that Wang Xiaoli would cause trouble again, which is why he didn't tell the truth.

However, Wang Xiaoli had already guessed why his father's leg had broken.

My father was in very good health; it was impossible for him to suddenly break a leg in such a short period of time.

But it was true that my father looked ten or twenty years older.

He knew it was definitely because of him.