Chapter 33

You’ve Led the Children Astray

“One, two, three, four, five!” Su Ying had dug out five complete pieces of ginseng; the youngest was 50 years old.

Su Ying put the ginseng away with a smile, then wrapped the python around her body and went down the mountain.

On the way, the refugees who had entered the mountains for food were scared out of their wits when they saw the giant python around Su Ying, and all hid far away.

Xiao Jin looked at the boiling congee in the pot and wondered why Su Ying hadn’t returned yet.

“Ah!” Suddenly, a scream came from behind.

Xiao Jin’s expression changed. He turned around and saw Su Ying, who had a python wrapped around her body and only had her head exposed, walking over.

The two kids were so frightened by the giant python that they hid in Xiao Jin’s arms.

Su Ying didn’t realize how scary she looked. She excitedly walked to He Shouyi and said: “Uncle He, can you take a look at this and see if it’s edible?”

He Shouyi was shocked. If he didn’t look closely, he would have thought that the python had trapped Su Ying.

“You…” She really could always create different levels of… thrill.

Su Ying removed the python and threw it on the ground as if she was throwing a rag.

“Yes, yes, it can be eaten.”

Su Ying was overjoyed. She had meat to eat again. “Tell me how you want to clean it. I’ll do that now.”

“Just clear the inside and remove the skin. Let me do it.”

“Alright,” Su Ying handed a dagger to He Shouyi and returned to the pot. She smelled the meat and felt extremely hungry.

“Mother that, that big snake is so scary.” Ling said softly in Xiao Jin’s arms.

Su Ying had almost forgotten that it would scare children. “Don’t be afraid. I can kill it with one hand. I’ll ask Grandpa He to cook it for Ling, OK?”

Ling was still a little afraid, but she nodded obediently.

“Have you all eaten?”

“We are waiting for mother to come back.” Ling shook her head.

Su Ying saw that the pot of congee was still full. It was indeed untouched.

She raised her head and looked at Xiao Jin. “If you’re hungry, eat first. Why are you waiting for me? Would you not eat if I didn’t come back?”

Xiao Jin’s Black eyes darkened. “Where would you go if you were not coming back?”

“Mother, you don’t want Ling anymore?” Ling stood up from Xiao Jin’s arms and walked to Su Ying, feeling wronged.

Su Ying choked when she saw the expressions of the father and the children. She raised her eyebrows and said: “I was just saying. I was just afraid that you’d go hungry.”

Bai Shuang took broken bowls and scooped some congee. “Madam, let’s eat first.”

Su Ying was starving. She wanted to see if there were any wild chickens or rabbits, but she was worried that they would be in danger at the foot of the mountain, so she rushed back without stopping.

Jiang Yang and He Shouyi carried the giant python to a nearby water source to clean. When they returned, they both had a large bag of cut snake meat.

“This snake meat can be left for a few days once it’s dried. What do you think?”

“Uncle, you can make your own decisions. You don’t need to ask me.”

Seeing that she trusted him, He Shouyi felt an inexplicable warmth in his heart. “OK, I’ll roast it dry later.”

Ling obediently leaned against Su Ying. She held a small bowl in her hands and ate in big mouthfuls. The way she ate actually resembled that of Su Ying.

“Mother, just now, father also said he wanted a kiss from you.”

Pfft!

Su Ying almost spat out her congee.

When Ji heard this, he puffed up his little face and said stubbornly: “It was father who wanted it. I don’t!”

Xiao Jin was speechless.

Su Ying swallowed the congee and raised her head to glare at Xiao Jin. “How many times have I told you? Can you stop having such dirty thoughts in your head? You’ve led the children astray!”

The veins on Xiao Jin’s forehead throbbed. He was angry, but he couldn’t blame the two children. He felt so aggrieved!

“There’s a convoy. Look, there’s a convoy over there.”

“So many carriages. There must be food in them. We won’t starve to death!” Someone nearby suddenly said.

Not far from the foot of the mountain, a group of people slowly approached.

The line was very long, with at least as many as a dozen carriages.

There were also guards with knives around the carriages. Even so, the hungry prisoners and refugees all stared in amazement.

The convoy got closer, and more and more people were looking straight at them.

The people guarding the carriages seemed to have sensed the danger as well. They drew their knives and looked around vigilantly.

Suddenly, a prisoner shouted: “Those who don’t want to wait for their fate, listen up! There must be food in these carriages. We’ll grab food and run. I don’t believe they can catch us.”

Some of them had wanted to run away when the bailiffs got robbed. But they did not dare to act rashly because they had no food in their possession. If they could get their hands on the food now, would they not be able to escape?

Gradually, more and more prisoners started to show signs of rebellion.

The refugees at the foot of the mountain also had their eyes on the convoy. If there were a more significant number, they could rush over together.

“You want to die, and you want to run away. I’ll beat you to death!” A bailiff raised his whip and hit the prisoners.

Who’d thought that his whip completely infuriated the hesitant prisoners?

“If you don’t want to die, do it!” The prisoners got up and threw the bailiff to the ground. They grabbed branches from the ground and rushed towards the convoy.

The rest of the people immediately followed after seeing someone take the lead.

The prisoners and refugees rushed forward like crazy and fought with the guards without regard for their lives.

The kong fu of the guards was not bad, but there were too many prisoners and refugees, and they could not stop them.

Soon, the carriages were opened. There really was food!

Su Ying frowned as she looked at those crazy people.

Li Da saw that almost all the prisoners had rushed over and stomped his feet in anger. He had no choice but to go to Su Ying.

“Princess Qi, many of those prisoners are fiendish. If we let them escape, who knows how many more people will be harmed. You have to help me.”

Su Ying swallowed the last mouthful of congee in her bowl and said expressionlessly: “I’m already giving you respect by not following suit. Do you want me to stop them? If I would help you, will you be able to let my family return to the capital and live a good life?”

Li Da choked. He was desperate.

“If they don’t go and rob the food, they’ll come back and eat you when they’re starving.” It was fine if she was alone, but now she had old and young, she would not be stupid enough to do something without benefit.

Li Da was amazed, and his eyes widened. “You’re right.”

The only thing he could do now was to report the matter to the Imperial Court. It was no longer within his control that things had developed to this point. No one could have expected a sudden flood.