Chapter 134: Farewell Meal
Yu Zhengqing let out a bitter laugh. “Forget it, from now on, let’s just settle down here. When spring comes and the snow melts, once everyone is stable, I’ll make a trip back. If nothing unexpected happens, once the Second Prince secures power, we can return to the capital.”
“We don’t care about going back to the capital. When the time comes, we will split from the family and sever all ties. We only want our freedom.”
After saying this, Yu Haojie turned around again and walked back to the tent where Ye Jiamei and their daughter were staying.
Hearing this, Yu Zhengqing watched his younger brother’s retreating figure, feeling a tightness in his chest.
He never realized before that his brother was this stubborn.
Now that their mother had been disciplined and no longer dared to treat them harshly, why still refuse to forgive him?
What Yu Zhengqing didn’t understand was that not all wrongs can be forgiven just because one tries to make amends.
To Yu Haojie’s family, Madam Chen was the executioner who killed the original host.
How could they forgive her on the original host’s behalf?
The next morning, after a simple meal, the group set off again.
Before noon, they reached the boundary marked by wooden stakes. Even before crossing over, they could see numerous stone houses covered in snow, scattered sparsely across the vast white land.
Each low stone house was surrounded by wood or stone walls, and even though it was just noon, wisps of smoke rose from their chimneys.
Even though there were signs of habitation, the endless stretch of snow still made the hundred or so people feel a deep chill in their hearts.
“We made it. Finally, we don’t have to keep walking anymore!”
Madam Chen looked at the vast desolation, the barren trees weighed down by snow, and the lifeless wilderness, murmuring softly as her eyes reddened with emotion.
“Xiao Luo, husband, how about we build a stone house like theirs? I think it must be much warmer than tents, and at least it can keep out wild animals.”
Ye Jiamei’s face was full of relief.
Even though there were still many unknown dangers, to her, it was just a different living environment.
To others, this place might seem barren and hopeless, but for someone like her—who spent her past life in an exhausting routine—this place felt peaceful and free.
“We definitely need to build a stone house. But with all this snow, who knows when it will melt? If it doesn’t melt, even finding stones will be difficult.”
Yu Luo observed the surrounding terrain.
With the snow covering everything, it was impossible to tell what lay underneath. The trees varied in size, but none had leaves—making it hard to distinguish their species.
Some tree trunks were thick, over a meter in diameter, which was probably why these people relied on them for warmth.
The land was uneven, with hills and dips. Some areas were raised as high as seven or eight meters, while others were just small mounds.
In the far distance, snow-covered mountains loomed, blending into the white landscape.
After staring at the snow for too long, Yu Luo’s eyes began to feel strained.
She knew if they weren’t careful, they could suffer snow blindness.
Thankfully, before descending from Jiuzhong Mountain, Yu Zhengqing—who had military experience—warned everyone about this.
Even their horses had black veils over their eyes to lessen the impact of the harsh white glare.
After scanning the area, Yu Luo heard a system notification.
[That hill where they’re heading? It extends 2,000 meters west, where no one else has settled. Inside that hill is a hidden cave about 30 square meters wide. If you clear the blocked entrance, your family can stay there until spring arrives and the land fully reveals itself.]
With the system’s guidance, Yu Luo immediately knew where to go.
While the others headed toward the hill, Yu Zhengqing had already spotted a flat area below the slope and suggested they settle there.
Before anyone could respond, Yu Luo whispered to her parents, “Follow me westward. Trust me.”
After walking westward, away from the others, they reached the hidden cave.
Meanwhile, as their large group moved, residents of the stone houses began emerging one by one—watching them curiously but keeping their distance.
When they reached the base of the hill, Yu Zhengqing instructed the group to set up tents and prepare lunch, while also discussing their next steps.
For the Bai and Liu families, this was the moment they had dreaded the most.
However, seeing that people had managed to survive here, they found a little comfort.
If these people could make it, then maybe they could too.
Both Liu Mingxia and Bai You believed that Yu Zhengqing had protected them along the way.
They hoped that if danger arose in the future, he wouldn’t abandon them.
As the men set up tents and unloaded supplies, the women gathered firewood, cleared thick snow, and fed dry grass to the horses.
The journey had been tough, especially on the horses.
If Yu Zhengqing hadn’t insisted on feeding them some of their grain every day, they wouldn’t have survived on dry grass alone.
Their arrival also attracted the attention of many “original residents.”
In such a resource-scarce land, even trees were a valuable commodity.
Seeing so many newcomers, the long-time exiles were worried that their resources would now be shared.
However, some weren’t just concerned about resources—their eyes were fixed on the horses and the bags of supplies being unloaded from the sleds.
Even though they didn’t understand why exiled prisoners had brought so many supplies, they couldn’t help but crave the food they saw.
“Today, let’s cook something special. Take out a bag of wild boar meat and make a hearty meat stew.” We’ll consider this our new beginning and also a farewell meal for our groups.”
The moment Yu Zhengqing said this, the faces of the Liu and Bai families fell.
They knew this moment would come—but facing reality still hit them hard.
