Chapter 9: Life And Death
The spring chill lingered, and faint cries of cold crows drifted through the night wind.
This posthouse was thirty li from the Capital City. On ordinary days, it welcomed and saw off guests, mostly magnates and nobles.
Captain Sun led his men into the posthouse. The postmaster didn’t think much of a mere Eighth-Rank Military General at all and was even less willing to let the family of a convicted official into the posthouse. He immediately said, “You can rest in the posthouse, but the family of a convicted official being exiled can only stay outside the posthouse.”
Captain Sun exhausted all his polite words and even brought up the Eastern Palace banner before the postmaster reluctantly agreed to let the Pei Family Womenfolk stay temporarily in the posthouse for one night.
After eating dry biscuits and drinking their fill of cold water, the weak elderly and young children crowded onto the bed, while the others spread some straw on the ground and slept in their clothes.
The Pei Family Womenfolk had always enjoyed fine food and clothing. Who would have thought they would one day fall to such a state?
The intermittent sobbing never stopped. The only one who could truly sleep was probably Little Doggy, tightly held in Madam Mao’s arms.
Pei Qinghe closed her eyes to rest for an hour. After midnight, she opened them and turned her head, only to see that Little Doggy had somehow ended up in Madam Feng’s arms, with no trace of Madam Mao.
Pei Qinghe sighed inwardly, quietly got up, and after looking around, found Madam Mao under a tree at the northwest corner of the posthouse.
Dim moonlight illuminated Madam Mao’s pale, ghastly face.
Madam Mao’s clothes hung loosely on her, and she clutched a long sash in her hand, her eyes brimming with pain and despair.
When Pei Qinghe’s figure appeared, Madam Mao trembled all over and bit her lips tightly.
“Can’t go on living anymore?” Pei Qinghe didn’t get angry and just asked calmly.
Tears swirled in Madam Mao’s eyes. She wanted to say something but couldn’t utter a single word.
“If you don’t want to live, no one can save you.” Pei Qinghe remained calm, her voice steady: “If you’re determined to die, take Little Doggy with you on the road. The three of you can go neatly to the Yellow Springs together.”
Madam Mao closed her eyes in agony, tears surging wildly.
Madam Feng, holding Little Doggy, stood not far behind Pei Qinghe, her face full of worry.
The posthouse wasn’t that big. The movement here woke many Pei Family Members who were already sleeping restlessly. Several young Pei Family Daughters-in-law, eyes red, came forward and snatched the sash from Madam Mao’s hand.
“The Pei Clan has suffered a great calamity. Of those who make it to Youzhou, who knows how many will hold on and stay alive.” Pei Qinghe’s cold voice rang out: “Whoever wants to live, I, Pei Qinghe, will do everything in my power to keep them alive.”
“Those who don’t want to live might as well die early and reincarnate, saving grain in the process.”
The several young wives trembled in unison and instinctively turned to look.
Under the cool moonlight, Pei Qinghe’s expression was cold, her calm bordering on cruel indifference.
That’s right!
Life and death are one’s own affair.
If you don’t want to live, who will reach out to pull you again and again?
Close your eyes and die quickly, or open them and seek to live?
Pei Qinghe dropped these words, didn’t look at Madam Mao again, and walked away. As she passed Madam Feng, she tossed out, “Give her Little Doggy. Whether she lives or dies, she takes Little Doggy with her.”
Madam Feng hesitated for a moment, stuffed Little Doggy into Madam Mao’s arms, and hurriedly followed her daughter’s footsteps.
“Qinghe, what you just said…” Madam Feng paused, then said softly: “You could speak a bit more gently and tactfully.”
Pei Qinghe said flatly: “Heart ailments require potent medicine! Whether it works or not remains to be seen. Of the three hundred plus in the Pei Clan, it would already be good if eight out of ten make it alive to Youzhou.”
Madam Feng fell silent.
Captain Sun stood by the window, taking in the whole scene.
Several confidants gathered over and watched the show together.
The square-faced Big Soldier clicked his tongue: “This Sixth Sister Pei is really powerful.”
It had naturally shifted from that girl of the Pei Clan to Sixth Sister Pei.
The others nodded in agreement: “She has a ruthless edge that makes people uneasy.”
“Pei Zhongde is the top master among the Twelve Imperial Guard Generals.” Captain Sun suddenly spoke up: “The three thousand cavalry under him are also the elite of the Imperial Guard. In terms of official position, Pei Zhongde is just a Fourth-rank Military General, yet Prince Wei’s Faction is especially wary of him.”
“Pei Boren, who serves as Palace Secretary in the Eastern Palace, is also a man of both intellect and valor. Still, he’s not quite a match for Pei Zhongde.”
Captain Sun turned around, his gaze somewhat complex: “A few years ago during military practice, I drew lots and unluckily drew General Pei. On the ninth move after we started, General Pei swept me down with one spear thrust.”
The mole-faced Big Soldier suddenly understood: “No wonder you’re especially courteous to Sixth Sister Pei, Boss. So there’s this connection.”
“A tiger father has no dog daughter. Sixth Sister Pei must be highly skilled.”
“Tch, nonsense! She said she would be clan leader, and no one in the Pei Clan opposed it. Clearly, she’s a powerful figure on ordinary days.”
The square-faced Big Soldier muttered: “Couldn’t even last ten moves, that’s too weak… Ow!”
Captain Sun withdrew his leg and instructed expressionlessly: “We need to get up early tomorrow. Go to sleep, all of you.”
……
On the road to exile, Escort Officer Captain Sun also ate dry biscuits, at most enough to fill up.
The Pei Family Members, old and young alike, each got one piece.
The dry biscuits were palm-sized, dark and mixed with bran. Biting hard could chip a tooth. They could only be nibbled slowly and chewed gradually in the mouth.
Today, there were over twenty clean water pouches added. Filled with water and rationed carefully, they would last a day.
Speaking of which, in his previous life, though Captain Sun was harsh and nitpicking, he didn’t molest the womenfolk. The dozens of big soldiers along the way only spewed some filthy language for fun and didn’t do anything outrageous. In the already rotten Great Jing army, he was already a rare good soldier.
The dry biscuits were too coarse and hard to swallow.
Madam Feng took one bite, silently turned to look at her daughter, and saw Pei Qinghe eating bite after bite, relishing it as if it were some delicacy.
Madam Feng’s heart ached and her nose soured; she turned her head away and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
Pei Qinghe pretended not to notice and kept chewing, battling the dry biscuit to the end.
The taste of hunger is only understood by those who have truly experienced it.
Back then on the road to exile, she was hungry every day. Even after reaching Youzhou, it was feast or famine. The wild game they hunted, after removing fur, bones, and innards, was only enough for everyone in the Pei Clan to have one bowl of meat broth.
Later, they plundered mountain bandits, killed magnates and robbed grain, and more and more people followed her. Then, as the court and lands fell into chaos, large numbers of refugees sought refuge with the Pei Family Army. The number of people she needed to feed grew wildly, and at her hardest as rebel army leader, she wouldn’t even eat a whole steamed bun.
Other rebel armies, short on grain, used human flesh as military rations. The Pei Family Army strictly forbade eating human flesh, so their military rations were never sufficient. She shared joys and sorrows with the soldiers under her, ladling soup from the same pot, and times of being full were rare.
The dry biscuits didn’t taste good but could fill the stomach.
Only with a full stomach is there strength to keep going.
Pei Yan, Pei Feng, and the other children imitated her, biting down hard.
With an “ouch,” Pei Feng scrunched up his little face and spat out a baby tooth that was already loose.
Pei Qinghe reached out to rub her cousin brother’s head and smiled faintly.
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