Chapter 273: Is This Yu Luo a Ghost?
“Mother, don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of your wounds!”
Seeing that Old Madam Chen had been jolted awake by pain, Lady Lan panicked and hurriedly tried to comfort her in a soft voice, instinctively lowering her posture and tone.
These people clearly didn’t intend to let Old Madam Chen die, and the moment the first short arrow was pulled out, she had woken up on her own. With no other choice, Lady Lan quickly changed her attitude and coaxed her.
Hearing Lady Lan’s voice, Old Madam Chen, who had just started wailing with her eyes closed, gasped sharply. Without thinking, she lifted her hand and aimed a slap at Lady Lan’s face.
Lady Lan instinctively dodged, tilting her head to the side. But she had overestimated Old Madam Chen’s strength—given that she still had short arrows lodged in both her shoulders, she couldn’t even lift her arm.
Her attempt at avoiding the slap was completely unnecessary. Though Old Madam Chen failed to land the hit, the pain from her wounds, combined with Lady Lan’s evasive movement, only infuriated her further.
“You dare dodge? You wretched woman, you made me suffer this much!”
Lady Lan…
How was it her fault that Old Madam Chen couldn’t lift her own arm? She hadn’t even been struck, yet she was still being blamed? Lady Lan felt utterly wronged but had no choice but to swallow her grievances.
“Yes, it was my fault. But, Mother, you mustn’t exert yourself right now. There are still short arrows in your shoulders. I need to remove them and dress your wounds first.”
As Lady Lan carefully coaxed her, Old Madam Chen’s scattered thoughts slowly came together. She rolled her eyes around, taking in her surroundings.
Gray bricks and black tiles—it was a courtyard.
Thinking about the months of exile, a glimmer of hope suddenly appeared in Old Madam Chen’s eyes. Her excitement even momentarily overshadowed her pain, fever, and hunger.
“Are… are we back? We’re no longer in the wilderness? How could there be a courtyard here? Lady Lan, has the Second Prince come to rescue us?!”
Excited beyond measure, Old Madam Chen forgot all about scolding Lady Lan. Instead, she grabbed her arm and struggled to sit up.
After half a year of hardship, even a sixty-year-old woman like Old Madam Chen, who had been pampered for decades, looked ten years older. Her wrinkled face creased further with excitement, but the sight only made Lady Lan sigh inwardly.
“Mother, please don’t move around. This isn’t home… we’re still in the wilderness.”
Lady Lan had no choice but to tell the truth. The moment she did, Old Madam Chen’s face fell.
“What? Are you trying to trick me? How could there be such a courtyard in the wilderness? No… wait! We were still hanging on the city walls at Yu Luo’s place! Her city had many gray-brick houses just like this! Does that mean… we’re still in Yu Luo’s territory?!”
Seeing Old Madam Chen shift from joy to sheer terror, Yu Meiyao wiped her nose and quickly stepped forward.
“Grandmother, we really are still in Yu Luo’s territory. You… you were just sent here. Grandmother, please take care of your wounds first. They’ve only given you one day to rest. If you don’t recover by tomorrow, you won’t be able to work.”
“Work?! What kind of work?! I have lived a life of luxury for over thirty years! I’m already this old, and you expect me to work?!”
Hearing Yu Meiyao’s words, Old Madam Chen, already shaken by the realization that she was still in enemy hands, grew even more horrified.
“Sigh, Grandmother, we’re at Yu Luo’s mercy. If she wanted us dead, she wouldn’t have taken us down from the city walls. She kept us alive because she wants to torment us. Grandmother, we just have to endure this until Father comes to save us.”
“Yes, Mother, I thought we were going to die on that wall. We’re lucky Yu Luo let us down. Please bear with it. They sent medicine for you, which means they don’t intend to let you die yet. Let me treat your arrow wounds first.”
“What? She’s keeping me alive to work? That wretched girl still hasn’t given up on torturing an old woman like me?!”
Smack!
Old Madam Chen’s sharp voice rang through the courtyard. Her wrinkled, sour face was twisted in rage.
But the moment she finished shouting, the crack of a whip echoed loudly.
Her body was already weak from starvation, exhaustion, and wounds. The additional pain drained what little strength she had left.
“Hmph! So much energy to yell? Then you don’t need to rest today—go grind grain for me right now!”
A man dressed in short, sturdy combat attire, Zhang Xiaoliang, strode into the courtyard with a leather whip in hand.
The three women turned to see him, their faces draining of color. The sinister grin on his face sent chills down their spines, and before they could even beg for mercy, he made his stance clear.
“N-no, no! Big brother, we were wrong! We won’t yell anymore! We’ll take care of the wounds and rest, and we promise to work hard tomorrow!”
Lady Lan quickly squeezed out a flattering smile, pleading with Zhang Xiaoliang.
“Hmph! If you don’t want another taste of the whip, then behave!”
With a sneer, Zhang Xiaoliang turned and left.
“This… this Yu Luo—is she a ghost? How could she torture an old woman like me to this extent and still not be satisfied?! Oh, heavens! Please strike those three wicked people down! I’m going to die at their hands!”
Standing outside the courtyard, Yu Luo listened to Old Madam Chen’s pitiful cries, a smile tugging at her lips.
“Later, send her a bowl of plain porridge. She hasn’t eaten for two days—I can’t let her starve to death so soon. The fun has only just begun. As for Lady Lan and Yu Meiyao, they don’t need any rest today. If they can’t grind two thousand catties of cornmeal, they can forget about sleeping.”
“Yes, understood.”
Three days later, Zhang Hu and his convoy, after overcoming numerous obstacles, finally reached the border of Dongfeng Kingdom.
However, the border near the wilderness was not as strictly guarded as the other national borders, where security was tighter.
Without official travel documents from the government, passing through legally was impossible.
By the afternoon of the third day, Zhang Hu’s group had reached a spot just one mile from the checkpoint, but they dared not proceed further. Instead, they waited until nightfall, quietly observing the checkpoint.
They had noticed earlier that some people, dressed like wandering martial artists, had crossed over from the wilderness without documents. These travelers appeared to be waiting for darkness to make their move.
