Chapter 29: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 29: Give What's Missing
Chen Xue drew back the curtain and saw a couple with a girl kneeling in front of the carriage. As they saw Chen Xue, they immediately knelt down.
"Master Chen, Miss Chen, please save us!"
Chen Xue and Chen Yuan exchanged a glance, feeling a bit puzzled. They didn't seem to know these people.
After a brief inquiry, they learned the situation. This family's surname was Yang, and they were the personal physicians of the Yuan family.
The head of the Yuan family was an official in the Ministry of Revenue, one rank lower than Chen Yuan and Zhang Yiquan. After the corruption case broke out, all the officials under the Ministry of Revenue, except for the head, were arrested.
Chen Yuan was lucky to have the protection of various officials, while Zhang Yiquan was under the direct command of the head of the Ministry of Revenue and had even voluntarily exposed "Master Chen's" merits, so they were only exiled.
However, other members of the Yuan family weren't as lucky. The head of the Yuan family, as an official in the Ministry of Revenue, was sentenced to execution by beheading, and the rest of the family members were exiled.
The Yang family had been physicians for generations and were brought into the Yuan family's service. However, shortly after joining the Yuan family, trouble arose.
Luckily, they had no blood ties to the Yuan family, so they were only exiled.
Feeling wronged but with no one to appeal to, the Yang family could only accept their fate.
However, just after being exiled, Yang Quan's daughter, Yang Xiaohua, caught the attention of the bailiffs. In order to make them submit, the bailiffs even withheld their rations.
Yang Quan was just a physician, powerless to resist even a bailiff among the exiled group, let alone one of higher rank. But he didn't want his daughter to be mistreated.
And just then, with the recent commotion surrounding the Chen family, they knew the Chen family had some influence, especially since they had seen the stationmaster personally escorting the Chen family that morning.
So, they sought help from the Chen family.
Though they said they were seeking help, in reality, they intended for their daughter to serve as a maid for the Chen family. Perhaps then the bailiffs would hesitate to harm her because of the Chen family's influence.
"We ask Master Chen to take in our daughter. She's clever from a young age, and her medical skills surpass mine..."
Yang Quan knelt on the ground. He knew that since they had no relation to the Chen family, the Chen family wouldn't risk offending the bailiffs for them. But if his daughter became a maid for the Chen family, it would be different.
Chen Yuan turned to look at his wife and daughter. He couldn't make this decision alone; it had to be discussed with his family.
Chen Xue was silent. Taking in Yang Xiaohua would mean offending the bailiffs, and not just that, but taking in her parents as well. Without a doubt, they would have to be taken in too for Xiaohua to remain loyal.
But taking in this whole family meant more mouths to feed, a significant expense. It wouldn't have been a problem if their family hadn't fallen on hard times, but in exile, with no income, their resources were dwindling.
More importantly, once they accepted one family, what would they do if others wanted to join as well? If they agreed, they wouldn't be able to support the increased number of people. If they refused, those people would be dissatisfied.
And if they harbored dissatisfaction, they might cause trouble.
Of course, there were benefits to taking in the Yang family. With their medical expertise, they would have someone to rely on if they fell ill, potentially saving lives.
The road to exile was fraught with dangers, and having a doctor with them would be invaluable, especially in the harsh conditions they would face.
After weighing the pros and cons, Chen Xue looked at her parents. This decision wasn't hers alone to make.
"If we have enough food, then we'll take them in..." Madam Chen also recognized the importance of having a doctor and suggested they accept.
As for offending the bailiffs, the Chen family had already planned to win over all the bailiffs. As long as they didn't offend them too much, they could handle it.
"Then we'll take them in!"
Chen Yuan saw that his wife and daughter had no objections and turned to look at the Yang family. When it came to external matters, Chen Yuan handled them, but decisions still required the agreement of all three family members.
"Thank you, Master, thank you..." Yang Quan was overjoyed to hear that the Chen family had agreed.
They only had one daughter, and naturally, they were unwilling to let her be mistreated. Though becoming a maid for the Chen family meant losing her freedom, it was better than the alternative.
So, in front of Xu Tian, Zhao Guang, and the other prisoners, the Yang family wrote a contract of servitude and handed it over to the Chen family.
In ancient times, a contract of servitude determined a person's life and death, so without special circumstances, servants wouldn't betray their masters.
Originally, Yang Quan had intended to give his daughter to the Chen family, but since the Chen family was willing to accept their entire family, Yang Quan naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. So, the whole family became servants of the Chen family.
They were well aware that on the road to exile, without backing, they might die before reaching their destination.
The oppression of the bailiffs was one aspect, and the shortage of food was another.
But after joining the Chen family, they found that they no longer had these worries.
At lunch, Yang Quan watched as the Chen family cooked a fish, unable to help but swallow involuntarily.
In the exiled group, the bailiffs only provided hard steamed buns that were impossible to chew and lacked nutrition. Especially after the bailiffs targeted his daughter, withholding their food, they were still hungry now. They never expected that joining the Chen family would mean eating meat.
For a moment, the Yang family was overwhelmed with gratitude, feeling that joining the Chen family was a very wise decision.
"You're called Yang Xiaohua?" Chen Xue looked at the girl, who was a few years younger than her, only about twelve or thirteen years old, and quite pretty. It's no wonder she caught the attention of the bailiffs.
"Yes!"
Yang Xiaohua seemed a bit timid, keeping her head down and not daring to look at Chen Xue.
"Your father said your medical skills are good. Do you know a lot about herbs..."
"Miss, I've memorized 'Compendium of Materia Medica' and 'Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold,' and I can recognize most herbs at a glance..."
"That's good." Chen Xue nodded in satisfaction. "When we encounter herbs on the road, you can help me identify them."
By then, they would collect the herbs, partly for cultivation in their space and partly for exchange for contribution points.
Herbs were very valuable; even a weed could be exchanged for several contribution points, and herbs ranged from tens to hundreds of contribution points. And these contribution points, if exchanged for silver,
would be a 1:1 ratio, meaning one or two silver coins for one contribution point.
So, it was better to collect resources around them for exchange rather than use silver.
Especially herbs.
They had a long way to go on the road to exile, and the places they passed were mostly undeveloped and sparsely populated, meaning the herbs had not been picked.
This played right into their hands.
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