Chapter 62: Liang Chao’s Money-Grabbing Tactics
In less than half a cup of tea’s time, Yu Yingying felt like her lungs were about to burst!
As soon as she finished her sentence, a whip lashed towards her with a heavy strike!
Seeing the whip coming her way, Yu Yingying instinctively dodged to the side, causing the whip to land on the unfortunate Yu Meiyao behind her. The pain was so intense that Yu Meiyao, already gasping for breath, couldn’t help but burst into tears.
Yu Yingying barely escaped the whip, and when she glanced back at the miserable Yu Meiyao, she couldn’t help but feel secretly relieved.
But before she could finish her relief, another whip swung directly towards her! With no time to think, Yu Yingying, chained and shackled, screamed and quickened her pace, hopping away like a frightened rabbit!
“You don’t want to wear shackles or get whipped? Fine! I see you two are quite pretty. How about you serve us brothers well when we rest later, and maybe we’ll take off the shackles and stop whipping you.”
As he spoke, the guard’s filthy hand reached out toward Yu Yingying and Yu Meiyao, scaring the sisters into running even faster, chasing after the people ahead of them while tears streamed down their faces.
“Look at them, such scaredy-cats. Isn’t this bound to happen sooner or later? Women like you, your bodies are the only good things you have. If you don’t use them now, when will you? Or do you want to wait until you reach the wilderness and get used by those savage brutes?”
Seeing how frightened the sisters were only made the guards even more eager to harass them. Meanwhile, the legitimate branch of the Yu family could only grit their teeth, too scared to speak out.
It’s not like the two sisters had been physically assaulted—just verbally harassed.
But those words, spoken right in front of their fathers, brothers, and grandparents…
One could only imagine how infuriated and humiliated Yu Zhengqing, Chang Huilan, and Lady Lan felt at that moment.
Yu Luo guessed that Yu Zhengqing probably regretted not having slashed his two daughters’ faces along with Yu Xiangxiang’s the day before. That way, he wouldn’t have to endure this kind of humiliation now.
Not long into the forced jog, many people were already exhausted. After all, they were chained by the neck and feet. The Yu family was also carrying a lot of supplies, and Yu Zhengqing’s group was even carrying the old patriarch. Even if they knew martial arts, how many could endure such a sudden, forced march?
With a “thud,” several women in the front collapsed one after another. What greeted them was a flurry of whips, mercilessly lashing onto their bodies.
Even so, the guards didn’t show the slightest mercy. Only when the women struggled to their feet, bearing their wounds, did they continue to jog forward.
If even the adults couldn’t take it, the children were even worse off. Seeing this, Yu Luo was almost tempted to kill those guards on the spot.
Finally, someone in the front couldn’t bear it any longer and took out a stack of silver notes, attempting to bribe Liang Chao.
Seeing the five hundred taels in his hand, Liang Chao’s smile widened until his eyes became mere slits.
Seated on horseback, he turned his horse around and slowly trotted back, waving the five hundred taels of silver notes mockingly in front of the prisoners, making sure they could all see clearly.
“Anyone with money, hand it over if you know what’s good for you! Otherwise, we’ll keep running till dark—no rest for anyone!”
This blatant threat immediately broke the resolve of many. One after another, they pulled out what little silver they had left and handed it over obediently.
After all, this exile was already wearing everyone down. Even those in good health had been exhausted by this point—let alone the women and children.
In no time, the thirty-something guards had extorted nearly three thousand taels of silver from the roughly two hundred prisoners.
Only then did the satisfied guards mercifully allow the group to rest for a short while before continuing their march.
Hearing this good news, the prisoners slumped to the ground, no longer caring if their clothes got soaked by the snow.
Yu Luo’s family of three wasn’t much better off. They too had to hand over a symbolic one hundred taels of silver.
Looking up at the gloomy sky, Yu Luo seriously considered poisoning all these vile guards once and for all!
The thought sprouted in her mind and began to grow wildly. When Yu Haojie and Ye Jiamei found out about Yu Luo’s idea, they were tempted too!
“Honestly, we’re not planning on returning to this damned Lanyue Kingdom anyway! To hell with the emperor! This world doesn’t only have one country. If they push us too far, we might as well kill them all and be done with it. Otherwise, they’ll torture us to death eventually!”
Thinking about the guards’ insatiable greed and disgusting lechery, Yu Luo ground her teeth in rage.
“Xiao Luo is right. But we can’t act yet. We’ve only been out of Pingyang City for a few dozen miles. If we act now and someone escapes, they’ll go back and bring reinforcements. And then, instead of just thirty guards, they might send hundreds or even thousands.”
“Wife’s right. Let’s hold off for now. If they push us too far, then to hell with it—we’ll kill them all.”
The mother and daughter both nodded in agreement. The family reached a consensus, but that didn’t ease the tension in their hearts.
Looking at the dark mass of people around them, Yu Luo couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret for the tent they had painstakingly prepared.
They hadn’t expected that by the time they reached Pingyang City, the number of prisoners exiled to the wilderness would have increased by more than a hundred!
With so many prisoners and guards, would they even have a chance to use that tent?
As Yu Luo was lamenting about the tent, the sound of hooves suddenly echoed along the narrow path, gradually approaching.
Hearing the approaching hooves, the resting prisoners and guards all turned toward the direction of the sound. After all, anyone heading this way had to be a big shot, considering that just fifty miles ahead was bandit territory—just as dangerous as the wilderness itself.
As the horses drew nearer, the figures of the riders became clearer. When the Yu family saw who was on horseback, their eyes lit up with hope, as if they were seeing a savior!
“Commander Wu! It’s Commander Wu! Mother, do you think Commander Wu is here to take us back?”
Yu Yingying, who had been whipped at least ten times that day, stared at the man on horseback with tear-filled eyes. At that moment, Wu Dahai seemed like her last hope for salvation, making her conveniently forget the whips he had given her at the start of their exile.
