The Rebirth of a Farm Girl from a Military Family and a Cannon Fodder Princess

"Uncle, when you get to Stone Fortress, be patient and don't provoke the local bullies. Don't work too hard, take it easy. I hope you can come back safely every day, come back unharmed!" Zisu handed a small backpack to her uncle, giving him her heartfelt advice.

The small backpack was made by Zisu herself for her uncle. She also had Xiangli and the others make one for each of the other three. This way, they could keep their lunch and water with them at all times; otherwise, Zisu worried that someone might take their lunch and eat it, or tamper with it, perhaps adding laxatives or poison.

This is something we must be wary of, after all, Consort Mei hates the Eldest Princess to the core, and the Shangguan Chengfeng family also hates Zisu to the core. At this critical juncture, anything could happen. Now, they are newcomers, don't even have a house yet, and cannot afford any harm.

On the journey to the Northwest, Zisu paid for all the lodging and food expenses. She also had to give money to the officials and servants from time to time. Now, Zisu only had about ten thousand taels of silver left in her pocket.

Of course, she also buried a sum of money deep in the mountains near Wuliping, which she hadn't had time to dig up. Fortunately, she buried it in a very hidden place, so it shouldn't be discovered. She can still dig it up when she returns to Wuliping in the future.

Of the ten thousand taels of silver, Zisu didn't plan to use five thousand taels; she intended to save them for a rainy day. Therefore, she had to increase income and reduce expenditure. For example, she didn't plan to buy vegetables each day, but instead planned to go digging for wild vegetables and picking mushrooms.

As for firewood, the same applies. In the future, we can go to distant places to haul coal, or we can go to distant mountains to cut firewood. In short, every little bit saved counts.

Zisu was worried and reluctant to let her uncle walk twenty miles to work, so she said to Pan Kang, "Brother Pan, could you please drive the carriage to take my uncle and the others? When they are about three miles away from Stone Fort, please let them get off the carriage to avoid being discovered and assigned very heavy work! In the evening, could you please pick them up at the place where they got off this morning?"

Pan Kang smiled and agreed, "Please rest assured, young lady, I guarantee I will complete the mission!"

Watching her uncle and his family walk away, Zisu went to see the Princess and told her her thoughts. The Princess agreed wholeheartedly: "Yes, you've thought it through very well. We must be frugal, otherwise, even mountains of gold and silver will be spent. By the way, Hua'er's mother, I plan to arrange for her to go dig for wild vegetables and pick mushrooms starting tomorrow!"

Zisu: "She probably won't agree."

The Eldest Princess said, "You're right. She really shouldn't agree. She looks down on digging for wild vegetables and wild vegetables in general. But she has no choice but to agree. Otherwise, starting tomorrow, she'll have to take care of her own food and drink!"

Zisu couldn't help but grin: "Hehe, that's a good idea! However, she doesn't recognize wild vegetables or edible mushrooms, which is a problem! How about we let Hua'er teach her?"

The eldest princess waved her hand with a smile: "No, if Hua'er teaches her, she'll probably cry. I'll teach her myself. If she doesn't study hard, as her elder sister-in-law, I can scold her loudly! If that doesn't work, I can threaten to divorce her or not feed her. That should make her behave!"

Zisu sighed, "Sigh, she used to be such a good person, how did she become like this?"

The Eldest Princess said, "Ever since my second brother took two concubines, she has become even more outrageous and reckless! Day by day, she has become unacceptable and intolerable!"

Zisu remained silent, speechless. The eldest princess was also speechless; she was both heartbroken and resentful of such a sister-in-law.

The second brother's act of taking two maids as concubines truly hurt his wife's feelings. However, she herself was at fault and refused to repent. The second brother was utterly disappointed, and in a fit of anger, he took two maids in, which is understandable. If the second brother's wife were smart, she should have thought of how to deal with the two maids, or even sold them.

Unfortunately, she was completely obsessed at that time, single-mindedly focused on how to prevent Zisu from getting close to the Jiang family, and how to resent and mock Zisu. How could her second brother not be disappointed, how could he like her, how could he forgive her?

She brought this upon herself; she has no one to blame but herself! She ignored the good old days and insisted on causing trouble, pushing her husband and children away. Now, her whole family is exiled to this harsh, cold Northwest, and she still doesn't repent, remaining arrogant and haughty. Truly, ugly people often cause trouble!

The eldest princess was determined to reform her, to prevent her from ever again being waited on hand and foot. While the men toiled on the city walls, she could stay home, digging for wild vegetables and gathering mushrooms—it couldn't be more appropriate!

The eldest princess was an impatient person, and she acted on her words immediately. She went to the second wife right away and said, "Second sister-in-law, tomorrow you'll come with me to dig for wild vegetables and pick mushrooms!"

The second wife was taken aback, and then instinctively opened her mouth: "I won't go. I am the wife of the Jiang family. How can I do such lowly work?"

The princess glared at her coldly, enunciating each word clearly: "Do you perhaps think you are more noble than me, a princess of such high standing?"

The second wife retorted instinctively, "Now, you are no longer the eldest princess!"

The Eldest Princess: "That's right, you're absolutely right! But perhaps you've developed amnesia and forgotten that you're no longer a lady, but an exiled prisoner!"

The second wife said unwillingly, "Even so, I don't need to dig for wild vegetables! Doesn't the Shangguan family have plenty of servants?"

The eldest princess rolled her eyes at her disdainfully: "Those servants you mentioned, they are now law-abiding citizens, even more noble than your status as a military household member! Besides, even if they are servants, they are servants of the Shangguan family. What does it have to do with you, a member of the Jiang family? Let me tell you, you have to go dig for wild vegetables and pick mushrooms tomorrow, otherwise, starting tomorrow, you'll have to take care of your own food and drink!"

The second wife was stunned, and quickly lowered her posture to plead, "Sister-in-law, but I really can't do that kind of work!" She stretched out her pair of white and tender hands and pleaded, "Sister-in-law, look at my hands, how could they be made for rough work?"

A flicker of disgust crossed the eldest princess's eyes. Those hands were so fair and delicate! Since the family's property was confiscated, even she, a pampered princess who had always lived a life of luxury, had done a lot of housework, and her hands had developed calluses. But her second sister-in-law's hands were practically untouched by manual labor. Given the hardships they had endured, she couldn't understand how she had managed to keep her hands so well-protected.

Perhaps, while everyone else was worried about their safety along the way, all she was thinking about was how to take care of her hands and face.

"Do you think that Yue'er's father and Hua'er's father are capable of doing the hard labor of building the city wall? And Jiang Yong, who is only fifteen years old, also has to do hard labor with his father. It is said that they have to work for six hours a day, with only a quarter of an hour of rest in between. The quarter of an hour includes eating, resting and going to the toilet."

As the princess spoke, her eyes reddened: "When working, no one is allowed to linger for even a moment. If anyone is even the slightest bit slow, the whip will immediately come and strike hard on the back of their hand, or on their head or neck!"

She wiped away her tears with her sleeve and glared fiercely at the second wife: "Compared to the work they do, do you think digging wild vegetables is hard, tiring, and lowly?! If you think so, then today, as the eldest sister-in-law, I will ask my father-in-law and mother-in-law to expel you from the Jiang family! From now on, you can go wherever you want, and no one will interfere with you or force you to do work you don't want to do!"

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving the second wife sitting there in a daze.

However, no one present wanted to comfort her.

Even Hua'er quickly grabbed a basket, took Yue'er's little hand, and went to dig for wild vegetables nearby. No one was a fool to go looking for trouble with the Second Madam at this time.

As expected, Zisu was right.

When Yu Zhe and his three companions arrived at Stone Fortress, they hadn't even had a sip of water before being sent to carry stones. The baskets for carrying stones were large and deep, and they had no say in how many stones they carried. The baskets were filled to the brim with stones that had been pre-loaded by someone else.

Yu Zhe bent down, gritted his teeth, and picked up the basket. Before he could take a step, he and the basket fell to the ground. Both his palms and knees were cut, and bright red blood flowed out.

Jiang Yong quickly stepped forward and took out some hemostatic medicine from his pocket: "Uncle Yu, let me help you apply some medicine!"

"Thank you, good boy!" Yu Zhe was sweating profusely from the pain, but managed a weak smile.

Jiang Shichang said worriedly, "He can't go on like this. How can a scholar like him handle such heavy physical labor? Not only him, but you, brother, can't do it either. How about we give the captain some silver and ask him to help us arrange some lighter work?"

Jiang Shihua: "This is a great idea, but where do we get the money?"

Jiang Shichang lowered his voice and said, "I have one hundred taels of silver on hand."

Jiang Shihua asked in surprise, "Second brother, where did you get the money?"

Jiang Shichang: "Hua'er gave them to me last night. She had sewn the banknotes into her clothes, but she found them before going to bed last night and gave them all to me!"

"Oh, I see. I'll check Yue'er's clothes later to see if there are any more silver notes!" Jiang Shihua said happily. After thinking for a moment, he instructed his second brother, "Find some time to take the silver notes to the money exchange and exchange them for five-tael notes. Five taels for each of the captains will be enough!"

Jiang Shichang: "Yes, I understand. Giving too much will only inflate their appetite! If we run out of banknotes later, our workload might double! However, we don't have time to go to the money exchange; the nearest one is probably in a city over a hundred miles away. Take these banknotes back and return them to Zisu; after all, she's the one who gave them to us. As for bribing the captain, we'll discuss that with everyone when we get back tonight!"

“Well, that’s fine! But we have to get through this hurdle first. Before we came, Zisu gave your sister-in-law ten taels of silver, saying it was for us to keep in reserve in case of emergency. Now, why don’t we give it all to the captain and ask him to allow us to carry half a basket of stones each time?” Jiang Shihua said.

Yu Zhe, who had been listening nearby, quickly said, "Before I came, Zisu gave me ten taels of silver as a backup. Why don't we give the captain twenty taels of silver and ask him to arrange a lighter job for us? If that's not possible, we can carry a little less each time, which is still good! I really can't carry these two big baskets of stones. The three of you probably can't carry them either. They must weigh at least 150 jin!"

"Okay, let's do it that way!" Jiang Shihua nodded.

In this special situation, he felt a pang of heartache at having to give away twenty taels of silver, but he also knew clearly that people were more important than money.

After discussing it, the three decided that Jiang Shichang would be the one to deal with the regimental commander.

Jiang Shichang used the shrewd and resourceful methods he had when he was a manager, and finally met the high-ranking captain. He presented the twenty taels of silver with both hands and quickly explained his request.

The officer, surnamed Peng, was in his thirties and a fairly upright man. He had one flaw: he loved money. But for the sake of twenty taels of silver, he readily agreed: "There aren't any easy jobs for now, but you can carry half a basket of stones each time. I'll take care of that!"

With money paving the way, the four of them finally left Stone Fortress unharmed and arrived at the agreed meeting place with Pan Kang. Pan Kang had been waiting there for some time, and seeing their weak and unsteady state, he was greatly alarmed.

He quickly stepped forward, helped Yu Zhe up, and asked anxiously, "Sir, what happened? What happened? Are you two being beaten?"

Yu Zhe felt like he only had half a life left, and replied weakly, "No, it's from being tired from working."

Pan Kang quickly helped him sit down on the grass, then swiftly took a basket from the car and lifted the cloth covering it: "There's food and drink here. Have a few bites to fill your stomachs, and then we'll set off!"

The four were starving. Seeing the fragrant flatbread and fresh wild fruit, their eyes gleamed with a hungry, wolf-like light. Forgetting all decorum and formalities, each quickly grabbed a flatbread and began to eat rapidly.

Jiang Yong ate too fast and was suddenly choked. Pan Kang quickly handed him the gourd: "Young Master Jiang, have some water first!"

Jiang Yong, his face flushed, took the gourd and gulped down several mouthfuls, which made him feel a little better.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Shichang said with concern, "Don't rush, eat slowly, be careful not to choke!"

"Yes, Father, I understand," Jiang Yong nodded in shame.

The group returned to their campsite. Seeing her uncle's exhausted state and hearing his account of what had happened, Zisu felt an immense pang of heartache. Her hatred for Shangguan Chengfeng's family deepened even further.

If, if everyone had come to the Northwest penniless, if Shen Laihui and the others had not come to the Northwest, would Uncle's situation have been even more miserable?

Yes, it will definitely be very tragic!

First, from the capital to the Northwest, I didn't have enough to eat or sleep, and I got sick.

They also had no money for medical treatment. Along the way, they might be beaten and scolded by officials because they couldn't walk anymore; secondly, after going through all sorts of hardships to reach the Northwest, they would sleep on the empty grasslands, with wolves howling and attacking them in the middle of the night, unable to get a good night's sleep; thirdly, if they were exhausted and had to do hard labor, without money to bribe the captain, they might die from exhaustion in just a few days!

This is absolutely terrifying! You don't know until you think about it, and then you're shocked!

After dinner, everyone sat around the campfire to discuss important matters.

Jiang Shichang first handed the one hundred taels of silver note to Zisu: "Zisu, this silver note was given to me by Hua'er last night. She said she found it in her clothes. This silver note was originally given to me by you, and now I'm returning it to you. Please accept it and don't refuse!"

Before Zisu could answer, Hua'er and Yue'er both stood up and said in unison, "Sister Zisu, I still have some gold beans here, which you gave me when we were in Peach and Plum Garden!"

The two sisters spread out their palms to show Zisu the few golden beans, and said at the same time, "Sister Zisu, we've decided to hand these golden beans over to you. Here they are!"

Zisu quickly declined, saying, "I don't want it. Since it's been given to you, it's yours!"

Jiang Shichang shoved the silver note into Zisu's hand: "Who said that? Back then, this silver note was for our escape. Now that we don't need to escape anymore, and you've been paying for everything we eat and use, this silver note should naturally be returned to you!"

Yue'er and Hua'er stuffed the gold beans into Zisu's pocket: "Sister Zisu, here are the gold beans back to you. We can't be greedy!"

Zisu had no choice but to accept it. She reached out and patted Yue'er's head, smiling indulgently, "Alright, I'll take it. If you ever need money, just tell your sister, and she'll give you gold beans!"

Yue'er nodded vigorously: "Yes, I understand. If I want to buy anything, I will tell Sister Zisu!"

The eldest princess smiled with satisfaction.

That's great! Her youngest daughter isn't greedy; she's a good girl!

Tomorrow, she would carefully check her daughter's clothes to see if any money was still hidden. However, logically speaking, the possibility of finding any money was slim. While in prison, someone had thoroughly inspected their clothes. The three hundred taels of silver notes she herself had hidden in her clothes were confiscated, leaving her clothes in a terrible state.

---There will be one more update today, around midnight.