Chapter 17: Old Yu’s Two Younger Brothers Have Arrived
“Mm, Commander Wu has given his permission. He must know just how detestable some people can be.”
Watching as the three of them—carrying their backpacks with a strange mix of mockery—left the room, the Yu family members staying in the communal lodging were all dumbfounded.
Yu Yingying was practically boiling with jealousy. “Father, I really don’t want to stay in this communal lodging. The bedding is hard as stone and smells awful. Who knows how many different people have slept on that bed!”
She wished more than anything that the one treating Wu Dahai’s wound had been her mother instead. Otherwise, all these good fortunes would have come their way.
“Father, I feel so miserable—I really don’t want to stay here.”
Barely had Yu Yingying spoken when the injured Yu Xiaoxuan, lying on the bed, looked up at Yu Zhengqing with a pitiful, pleading expression.
“Having a place to stay is something to be grateful for. What more do you want? Once we reach the wild lands, there won’t even be a communal lodging to sleep in—imagine how miserable you’ll be then. All of you need to swallow your pride and put aside your haughty airs. Eat something and get some rest so that you’ll have the energy to continue tomorrow.”
In the past, whenever she pouted, her father would always compromise. Yu Yingying never imagined that with just one sentence, her father would suddenly become so stern.
“Alright, Father is right. If we have silver, we must save it—it will be extremely useful in the wild lands. This communal lodging is far better than sleeping out in the open on a cold night. Yingying, Xiaoxuan, you’re both sixteen now. In the countryside, you could both get married someday. It’s time to rein in your behavior; otherwise, our family will truly suffer.”
Having rarely spoken up before, Chang Huilan, though raised in comfort, had heard many stories about the harsh exile lands. Thinking of her three precious children—each more delicate than the last—she knew she must prepare them mentally well in advance.
“Alright, Mother, I understand,” she replied.
Just then, in the dead of night, the door suddenly burst open and a blast of cold wind swept in, startling the sleeping Yu family with a chorus of crying and wailing!
“Everyone, behave yourselves! You should still be able to sleep for another three hours—by dawn, we must set off.”
After the guards finished that order, with a resounding “bang” the door was slammed shut!
In the dim room, the weak glow of oil lamps made the space flicker, and as a huddle of people was pushed inside, the awakened Yu family all wore looks of dismay.
“This communal lodging can at most accommodate ten people, and now with all these extra folks, how can we possibly sleep?”
Looking around at the prisoners in their rough uniforms, Yu Yingying had long forgotten her father’s earlier warning. Drowsiness overwhelmed her, yet she began to grumble about being disturbed—fearing that these people would steal the blankets from her, she quickly wrapped her own blanket tightly around herself while keeping a wary eye on the intruders.
A voice of joyous surprise suddenly broke the tense atmosphere. “Big Brother, Big Sister!”
Old Yu and Matriarch Chen, who had been lying in bed without even waking up, rubbed their eyes, lifted their chins, and peered toward the newcomer.
“Little Two and Little Three!” Old Yu cried out in astonishment, leaving the entire Yu family dumbfounded!
“Boo-hoo, how could Big Brother be like this? Our family was doing so well in Tianshia City, and then suddenly a royal decree comes down and orders our confiscation and exile. Big Brother, aren’t you the Marquis of Guo An? How can this be? You’re already so old—why must you still go around flirting with noble concubines?”
Seeing his long-unseen brothers along with their entourage of numerous relatives, Old Yu felt deeply saddened.
But when they questioned him, his temper flared instantly. “This business of following a ruler is like keeping a tiger as a companion—even a marquis is no exception. Enough! This is simply our fate as members of the Yu family!”
“Hmph, for decades you’ve claimed to be a marquis, but when did we, as brothers, ever share even a scrap of your glory?
I remember when we came to the capital to seek refuge with you—how did your wife treat us then? Who would have thought that, even with a big brother who was a marquis, we brothers remained nothing but peasants, tilling the fields in the countryside all our lives.
Now that you’ve grown old, you’re still dragging us down, leading to our properties being confiscated and our exile! You really are something! You truly are my dear big brother!”
Yu Qiang, Old Yu’s second younger brother, had always been stubborn.
When he heard that their eldest brother had achieved a marquisate on the battlefield, he had been genuinely happy. Yet when their big brother prospered and neglected to care for his own brothers—even when, during his son’s serious illness, he trudged to the capital seeking a few hundred taels of silver, only to be turned away by the Matriarch. Chen—Yu Qiang had never been able to let it go.
He had carried that grievance in his heart all his life.
“Yu Qiang, you heartless bastard, what do you mean by that? When have I ever…?”
Just as the two brothers were about to quarrel further, Matriarch Chen suddenly burst out of the bedding, angrily shouting at everyone in the Yu household. “Enough, enough—it’s already late at night. Aren’t you going to sleep? My two grandsons and I still need to recover our strength; tomorrow morning we must set off again. If you keep this up, you’ll end up taking a beating, and then you’ll drag us all down. Stop fussing!”
After a day’s hard travel, now deep in the night, Old Yu and his entire family from the main branch—dragging their families along—were already exhausted, hungry, cold, and sleepy.
In order not to ruin the family ties, Yu Shanhai, the eldest son of Yu Liang’s branch, hurriedly stepped forward to mediate.
“Father, what are you even doing? This communal lodging can barely accommodate ten of us, yet there are so many of us from the second branch—bringing your whole family along!”
Yu Yingying grumbled in discontent. “Hmph, isn’t the floor spacious enough? Why must you sleep on a bed? Just sleep on the floor; aren’t you still clutching your blankets?”
The thought of sharing a bed with those lowly peasants made her skin crawl.
Besides, if everyone crowded onto the bed, there wouldn’t be room for anyone at all.
Yu Shanhai clearly sensed the disdain the Old Yu family felt toward them. “Stop—don’t you feel how cold it is on the floor? Uncle, my daughter-in-law is even pregnant…”
But as the skinny camel is still larger than a horse, Yu Shanhai knew that the outcome of this exile couldn’t be changed now; he could only cling tightly to the Old Yu family.
In the end, Old Yu finally spoke up, and the main branch of the Yu family grudgingly made a few empty spaces. “Move in a little so that there’s room for everyone. It’s not like before—the whole family must help each other. If you can’t all fit on the bed, then sleep together on the floor for one night.”
“You all women can sleep upstairs; we rugged men will sleep on the floor.”
Old Yu tossed his own bedding onto the floor and, with his two sons, consciously fell asleep on the ground.
