coobybook Chapter 194 Farewell at the Pavilion
Chapter 194 Farewell at the Pavilion
The city gates were open, and the Su and Shen families set off again.
Su Yunhai was still leading the team as captain.
The Su family has 25 members, Grandpa Shen's family has 16 members, and Second Grandpa Shen's family has 13 members.
There are also twenty-four bodyguards, five Silver Armor Guards in the open, and fifteen Silver Armor Guards in the shadows.
While at the inn.
Chu Jingxuan sent twenty Silver Armor Guards to support the Su family, but only Xuan Guang and four others were exposed to outsiders.
Only the Su and Shen families knew about it.
The remaining fifteen men have been assigned to the escort team, disguised as ordinary escorts.
There are a total of ninety-eight people.
The vehicle and its baggage consisted of fifteen vehicles.
In addition, there were seventeen spacious and comfortable carriages.
The Su family had five vehicles, the eldest grandfather's family had four, the second grandfather's family had three, the bodyguards had four, and the Silver Armor Guard had one.
The team still looks quite large.
This isn't about fleeing famine; it's just ordinary travel.
There were no refugees on the road, so people didn't need to worry about being attacked and robbed by refugees for showing off their wealth.
Furthermore, the team also includes bodyguards and Silver Armor Guards, so they can usually handle any danger on their own.
The elderly, women, children, and pregnant women in the family all had carriages to ride in, and the men and bodyguards took turns escorting and transporting supplies.
The city gates remained closed for more than two days.
Many people were waiting to leave the city.
With the addition of exiled troops, the two streets at the city gate were completely blocked.
After leaving the cell.
All the exiled prisoners, regardless of gender, were handcuffed and shackled by the officers and soldiers.
Each prisoner was also tied to the waist with a thick rope, making it very difficult for them to walk.
Only children under ten years old and the elderly over sixty years old are not restricted.
Therefore, the exile caravan moved very slowly.
Su Yunhai deliberately waited until the exile procession had gone ahead before leading his team to follow at a distance.
At this moment, the people were filled with indignation.
Most of the people were sown apart by those with ulterior motives, and they looked angrily at the Xie family, who had once protected their country, but had betrayed them and become traitors.
Countless rotten vegetable leaves and broken stones rained down on all the exiled prisoners.
They also attacked them with the most vicious language.
However, the most attacks came from the Xie family.
Especially Xie Chengyuan, who was still unconscious and being pulled onto a cart by his sisters-in-law, and the four male members of the Xie family.
Their exposed heads and skin were already bleeding profusely.
Su Yunhai and Shen Shuli rode tall horses ahead, and could clearly see that among the common people, there were internal martial arts masters secretly attacking the Xie family.
But there's nothing they can do at this moment.
Braving the scorching sun, the Su family's group queued for two hours before finally leaving the city.
Many people outside the city were also queuing to enter.
Fortunately, the official road outside the imperial city was extremely wide.
Su Yunhai quickly led his team around the exile procession and headed ahead to the open area.
"Father, let's go first and stop at the pavilion ahead to cook dinner," Shen Shuli said.
“Okay.” Su Yunhai immediately led the team to speed up their journey.
Outside the pavilion, ten miles away.
It was a place built by the government specifically for officials, common people, and exiled criminals to see off when they left the capital.
This place is also the only opportunity for all exiled prisoners to openly and honestly meet with their relatives and friends during their sentence.
It was tacitly approved by the emperor.
These prisoners, whose homes were ransacked, were practically penniless before being exiled.
along the way.
Although the prisoners' food, drink, and toilet needs were the responsibility of the yamen runners, these runners also received money from the government.
This sum of money ultimately went to the imperial court for expenditure.
But the emperor was unwilling to spend the money.
Exiled prisoners are responsible for their own food, drink, and toilet needs.
What should we do in this situation?
Of course, the solution is to provide assistance to exiled prisoners and their relatives and friends.
This is the purpose of the pavilion.
But how many people would risk such disrespect to meet these prisoners outside the pavilion?
So there are more.
The area outside the pavilion became a place where the prisoners' relatives severed ties and drew a clear line with them.
This place is like a park, with a beautiful landscape of lakes and grass.
Several groups of people have already gathered here, scattered around the area without disturbing each other.
Su Yunhai led his team to the outermost edge of the area to cook rice over a fire.
It was already three quarters past noon.
Everyone was starving.
The women from both the Su and Shen families were busily washing vegetables, cooking, and preparing lunch.
Not long after.
The exile party also arrived.
Many civilians followed behind the procession.
A toll is required to enter or leave the imperial city.
Those enraged citizens wouldn't spend money chasing after a criminal outside the city to hurl insults.
However, some discerning citizens knew that the Xie family and other officials had been wronged.
They followed silently behind the exile procession, their eyes red and tears streaming down their faces.
Soon.
The area outside the pavilion was packed with people.
There were more than fifty guards in charge of escorting the prisoners. They assigned them locations, gave them time and space to meet with their families.
soon.
The prisoners' relatives and friends who arrived at the pavilion early were greeted by people who went up to meet with them.
While cooking, the Su family kept an eye on the Mu family's situation.
They saw that Mu's family members were also sending them packages.
"They want me to take this opportunity to deliver some supplies to the Mu family," Shen Shuli said to her grandparents, parents, and others.
“We’ll go out with you,” Su Yunhai and Shen Yuehua said in unison.
Su Baogen, Wang Cuilan, Su Yunshan, and Su Yunlin also stood up, wanting to go over together.
Apart from Shen Shuli, no one else in the Su family has met Mu Wanjun yet.
Shen Shuli shook her head and said, "Grandpa and Grandma, please don't go for now. This is not the right occasion. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet in the future."
Mu Wanjun was a noblewoman from the capital, while the Su family were just peasants from the countryside more than a thousand miles away.
It has absolutely nothing to do with the Mu family's eight hundred words.
Shen Shuli claimed that she and Mu Wanjun were close friends because she had been switched at birth and raised in the Lin family.
Every year, the Lin family would travel to the capital to reunite with their second master, Minister Lin, so Shen Shuli had the opportunity to meet Princess Anrong.
There was no way to explain it to the other members of the Su family.
Everyone had no choice but to back down.
Su Yunhai specially prepared an oxcart, which was full of various supplies for the Mu family.
However, seeing that other relatives of the Mu family were sending them supplies, they decided not to send any more to them for the time being.
“Their hands and feet are shackled with iron bars, so carrying so many packages would be a burden. Why don’t we give them an empty cart? I don’t know if the yamen runners will allow prisoners to pull the cart,” Su Yunhai said.
"Father, why don't we wait and see how things go first?"
"Row."
An old woman with a hunched back and white hair walked shakily to the front of the line, held up a bamboo basket in her hand, and slowly knelt down in the direction of the Xie family.
Although she was thin, she spoke loudly and clearly.
"General's wife, this old woman doesn't believe that General Xie would become a traitor. The road ahead is long, General's wife, young ladies, please take good care of yourselves on the journey! This old woman will wait for you to clear your names and return to the capital!"
The old man called out more than a dozen times until his voice became hoarse.
Seeing this, the other people also knelt on the ground and shouted in unison, "Take care on your journey, General's wife!"