Chapter 51: Chapter 52 - 52 "Her name is Qi Yue.

They had been walking for a full Shichen before they finally saw a chaotic living space.

Calling it a living space was less fitting than calling it a habitat.

They could see shabby grass sheds everywhere, little houses made of branches.

From time to time, they could see a few women in tattered clothes coming out from the dilapidated houses.

Outside the houses, there were tree trunks with tattered clothes fluttering in the wind.

The clerks from the supervision office allocated places for each family and instructed them on some precautions, then immediately left them behind.

The place allocated to the Zhao Family was on the farthest east side. Just less than 500 meters ahead was the deep and dark forest.

What met their eyes were the trees that took a dozen or even scores of people to embrace, their trunks covered with moss and knotted all over.

It was already approaching evening, and the depths of the forest were dark and gloomy, like a shadowy ghost.

Zhao Shuanghua and Zhao Shuangxue, among others, had never seen such a scene before; they immediately clung to each other, shivering with terror.

Zhao Yongzhe, Zhao Yonglian, and Zhao Xiyan, three grown men, had served in the military after all and managed to keep their calm.

Shen Yu was also scared and dared not glance into the forest.

Cong Zhonglan, who had arrived with them, had turned pale, but she persevered and didn’t dare show any emotion.

On the contrary, her two brothers, Zhang Qifeng and Zhang Qiyun on her back, seemed to really like this place, stretching out their hands from their swaddling clothes and cooing non-stop.

Qi Yue walked over, picked up her brother in her arms, took out the water bottle hanging from her body to moisten his lips, and Zhang Qiyun immediately laughed happily.

“Mom, let’s clean up first, at the very least let’s get through this night.”

“We’ve been walking all day, let’s make something warm to eat.”

While feeding water to the two children, Qi Yue didn’t stay idle with her mouth either, assigning everyone their tasks.

On their journey, the Zhao Family had become accustomed to following Qi Yue’s orders, doing whatever she said, without hesitation.

The young girls of the Zhao Family had turned into cooks, and looking quite professional at it, they quickly got a fire started.

Shen Yu talked to some of the locals, fetched water from the stream, and also started cooking the rice.

Zhao Yongzhe’s leg was already healed, so he went off with Zhao Yonglian to survey the terrain, planning to gather wood to build a house.

Even Zhao Xiyan was busy, wheeling his chair to help gather firewood.

Qi Yue instructed Cong Zhonglan to look after the children, then she headed into the dense forest.

There was one good thing about this place, no matter how cold it got, there was always greenery to be seen.

She had only walked a few steps when she came across a large patch of wild chives, with a field of shepherd’s purse nearby.

These were all wild vegetables and edible.

But the locals didn’t know this, letting them grow old untended.

Qi Yue gathered some, planning to take them back and blanch them to eat.

Going a bit further, she gathered some wild mushrooms as well.

As expected of the South, the resources were truly abundant. As long as one could distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous, surviving here was rather easy.

Qi Yue returned to the campsite satisfied with the wild greens, not forgetting to grab a few rabbits from the space and carry them back as well.

If there were enough time, she could probably catch a good number of game animals in this forest.

But it was too late today, and Qi Yue didn’t want to go to the trouble.

She planned to catch more game animals in the future and keep them in the space, so they could just grab them when they wanted to eat.

Qi Yue handed the wild greens to Zhao Shuanghua and her sisters to wash, and efficiently prepared the rabbits, skewering them on sticks to roast over the fire.

Seeing that there were two more rabbits that had nowhere to be roasted, Zhao Xiyan, very thoughtfully, started another fire nearby.

Qi Yue noticed this and instructed him to start another fire for boiling the vegetable soup.

While the Zhao Family was busy, the other exiles who came with them watched from a distance.

Seeing them with both rabbits and vegetables, they were all dying of envy.

A few of the bolder ones came over to inquire.

When they found out that these wild vegetables were edible, they swarmed to gather them.

After all, they had not eaten a single fresh vegetable on the road for several months.

Qi Yue thought for a while and, realizing there shouldn’t be any poisonous mushrooms in that region, decided not to pay them any more mind and continued working on her own tasks.

The rabbits from the space were already tender. When roasted, just sprinkling some salt on them made them delicious.

But today, with wild scallions, Qi Yue wanted to make the dish even more fragrant.

She placed the washed scallions in a bowl, squeezed out the scallion juice, and rubbed it onto the rabbit’s skin before sprinkling a bit of minced ginger.

The enticing aroma once again drew the glances of many onlookers.

Even people from the nearby shabby houses came out to stare incessantly in this direction.

To the mushroom soup she tore and added a bit of the remaining scallions, and the flavor became very delicious.

As for the mallow leaves, Qi Yue blanched them in boiling water until they were cooked, and then she took them out to toss with salt and seasoning to eat.

In just half a shichen, the meal was ready, with soup, vegetable dishes, and rabbit skin all edible.

“Dad, Third Uncle, it’s time to eat.”

With a robust call from Qi Yue, Zhao Yongzhe and Zhao Yonglian, who were chopping wood in the distance, also came back.

“Our niece-in-law is quite remarkable, the fragrance wafted to us from afar!”

Zhao Yonglian laughed heartily, seemingly eager to begin.

The family sat on tree branches to eat their first meal since arriving at the Place of Exile.

At the same time, Guan Yidao, carrying a bundle of food and a jug of wine, confidently walked into the Governor’s Office.

The two clerks standing at the entrance saw him and bowed their heads, respectfully addressing him as “Commander Guan.”

Guan Yidao answered them and went straight through the corridor to a large hall in the backyard without stopping.

“Old Qu? Qu Wei?”

He called out and didn’t wait for an answer before he proceeded inside, glanced around, and then walked towards the side hall.

On the couch in the side hall, a person in white clothes was sitting upright.

This person was in his thirties, with handsomely spaced features and an unparalleled sense of clarity.

“Are you meditating again? Is your headache acting up?”

Guan Yidao tossed the bundle of food onto the small table on the couch and, lifting his robe with the hand holding the wine jug, sat down opposite Qu Wei.

Qu Wei opened his eyes, took a moment to consider Guan Yidao, and his gaze settled on the bundle of food on the small table, his nostrils flaring slightly.

“Oh, quite generous today, aren’t you? Lost the will to live?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? I’m alive and well,” Guan Yidao said as he opened the food bundle and “pop” went the sound of him opening the wine jug.

The smell of fried peanuts mixed with the aroma of wine made even the surrounding space delicious.

“Can’t be bothered with you!”

Qu Wei rolled his eyes, reached for the wine jug, and took a big gulp.

“Speak, you wouldn’t come by if I didn’t have someone stop you. Today you show up on your own, bringing wine and peanuts. Which prisoner are you here to entrust us with?”

Guan Yidao remained silent, snatching the wine jug for a hefty swig himself.

Disgusted, Qu Wei glared at him, seized back the jug, and casually grabbed the bundle of peanuts for himself too.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Seeing that Guan Yidao still wasn’t talking, he shook his head and picked up a peanut to toss into his mouth.

“General Qi’s daughter, Qi Yue!”

“What?” As Qu Wei opened his mouth, a peanut got stuck in his throat, and he started coughing violently.

“Cough cough cough…”

Guan Yidao rose to his feet and thumped him hard on the back a couple of times until he managed to dislodge the peanut.

“Her name is Qi Yue,” he repeated.

After catching his breath, Qu Wei suddenly burst into laughter.

“You’re really something! You actually sent the daughter of your old General to this godforsaken place!”

“Shut up! Keep laughing and see if I don’t choke you to death,” Guan Yidao said fiercely, the scar on his brow tensing.

Qu Wei then restrained his laughter.

“Alright, alright, I know, General Qi is your taboo; I won’t mention it, okay?” he said, grabbing a handful of peanuts, popping one into his mouth and asking unintelligibly,

“Since she’s the daughter of General Qi, descended from a hero, why has she fallen to such a state?”

“Perhaps it’s fate?” Guan Yidao suggested.