Chapter 65: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 65: Division of Labor and Cooperation
"They actually came back?"
The bailiffs who were tracking Chen Xue and the others also returned after them. They were dumbfounded when they saw them entering the carriage.
While they were in the city, they suddenly lost track of Chen Xue and her father. Despite searching the entire county, they couldn't find them, but they did spot Zhao Guang wandering aimlessly on the streets.
After searching for a long time, they eventually gave up and decided to enjoy themselves in the county before returning. However, knowing they had lost track of Chen Xue and her father, they were distracted and couldn't enjoy themselves.
So they decided to return, and one of them even speculated to his companion that maybe the two had already come back.
The companion was skeptical but came over to check, only to find out that it was true.
The two of them looked at each other in astonishment, not knowing what to say. They had actually returned?
Nevertheless, they were relieved. Even though they didn't know how Chen Xue and her father had disappeared from under their noses and then returned, they hadn't completely failed their mission.
At worst, they could tell the captain that Chen Yuan and the others hadn't encountered any danger.
Thinking of this, the two of them left.
Sure enough, not long after, Captain Sun returned and immediately summoned the two of them.
The two of them had already prepared their response. They confessed that Chen Yuan and the others hadn't encountered any danger, so they didn't intervene.
After saying that, they held their breath, waiting for the captain's response.
As expected, Captain Sun's face darkened after hearing their report. What was Zhao Guang up to? He had such a good opportunity, but he didn't take action against Chen Yuan?
"Where's Zhao Guang?" Captain Sun asked, raising his eyebrows at the two.
The two bailiffs exchanged glances. Indeed, Zhao Guang was the one the captain had sent into the city.
"We saw him," they replied.
"What I mean is, what was Zhao Guang doing?" Captain Sun's tone turned stern. Why didn't he take action against Chen Yuan when he had such a good opportunity?
"He..." The two bailiffs were at a loss for words. They really didn't know what Zhao Guang was doing. After thinking for a moment, they answered honestly, "When we saw Zhao Guang, he seemed lost and was walking alone on the street..."
Upon hearing this, Captain Sun speculated further. Could it be that Zhao Guang had made a move but failed, and then he was threatened after being caught?
He wanted to ask for more details, but he was afraid of revealing his thoughts. Since the two bailiffs didn't mention Chen Xue and her father disappearing, they didn't know that the captain wanted to inquire about what Zhao Guang was doing by Chen Yuan's side.
The conversation between them went off track.
"Useless!" Captain Sun couldn't help but curse. He wasn't just cursing Zhao Guang; he was also cursing Guo Qiang in the capital. He had tasked Zhao Guang with killing Chen Yuan, but he ended up sending such a useless person. Was he an idiot?
However, the two bailiffs misunderstood the captain's curse. They thought he was cursing them and hurriedly tried to explain.
"Captain, it really has nothing to do with us. It's just that Chen Yuan didn't encounter any danger, so we didn't dare to act recklessly, fearing that it would ruin your plan..."
Captain Sun heard this and knew that his subordinates had misunderstood, but he didn't explain. Meanwhile, the bailiff Qian seized the opportunity to speak up.
"So, you must redeem yourselves for your actions."
"Brother Qian, how should we redeem ourselves?"
The bailiff Qian smiled. "Since Chen Yuan didn't encounter any danger, you can make sure he does!"
"This..." The two bailiffs were taken aback, then looked at Captain Sun. Although Captain Sun didn't speak, he turned and left, tacitly agreeing with the bailiff Qian's suggestion.
The two of them gritted their teeth. "Alright, tonight, we'll find someone to play the role of bandits and ambush them."
"We'll see how you perform," the bailiff Qian patted their shoulders and left happily, relieved that he didn't have to do it himself.
...
The Chen family parked their two carriages under a large tree, and the servants started a fire nearby to cook.
At some point, the masters in the family had stopped eating the food prepared by the servants, so they only needed to cook their own meals.
Although Chen Yuan asked them to take rice from the carriage to cook, they didn't take a lot. Instead, they calculated carefully. Even though they knew there were supplies in one of the carriages, they still practiced frugality.
While the servants were cooking, Chen Xue and the others entered the space.
Immediately, she took out the delicious food she had bought in the city and let her mother and Xiao Die taste it.
"You two!" Madam Chen looked at the bags of food and scolded them with a glare, "You don't know the value of things until you're in charge. Why did you buy so much?"
"Mother, this is father's thoughtfulness." Chen Xue ran over and shook her mother's arm, "Look, these are your favorite osmanthus cakes. Father bought several pounds for you!"
"I'm not a pig. Why did you buy so much? We can't finish all of this!" Madam Chen was both angry and amused.
Before she could finish her words, Chen Xue fed her a piece of osmanthus cake. Madam Chen chewed subconsciously and then had to swallow it.
"Mother, is it delicious?"
Chen Xue stared at her with big eyes, looking innocent and curious.
"It's delicious!" Madam Chen replied subconsciously, then reached out to pat Chen Xue's forehead, "You naughty girl!"
"Mother, if it's delicious, eat more."
"If I keep eating like this, I'll become fat." Madam Chen sighed. Who would have thought that she would feel a bit chubby after just a few days of exile, instead of losing weight?
If this got out, who would believe it? But it was indeed true.
Chen Xue, hearing this, subconsciously touched her stomach. "Yeah, I shouldn't eat too much."
Eating without exercise would only make her gain weight.
"Let's walk more during our usual time, and when we're tired, we can take the carriage!" Madam Chen and her daughter murmured to each other, discussing ways to lose weight in the exiled group.
Of course, they only talked privately and dared not say it outside. If other prisoners heard about it, they would definitely be outraged and tear them apart.
While everyone else was starving and thin as skeletons, they were talking about losing weight?
Anyone who heard that would feel deeply resentful and might even go crazy!
"These things should be put away quickly, or I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself later." Madam Chen urged Chen Yuan to put away the delicious food.
"Then, I'll go do some work, mother."
"I'll help too. Without some activity, we won't lose weight."
"What work do we need to do?" Chen Xue thought for a moment, "First, we need to chop chili peppers to make chili sauce, then we need to make hot pot base, and also plant the seeds we bought."
It seemed like there were a lot of things to do.
Madam Chen thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll help chop chili peppers!"
Indeed, that was the only thing she could handle.
She had never made chili sauce before, and she hadn't even heard of hot pot base, let alone tried planting crops.
"I'll go plant crops!" Chen Yuan turned and walked towards the field, "It's also a good time to familiarize myself before we reach the Southern Barbarians."
"Then I'll go teach Xiao Die how to make hot pot base!"
The group divided the tasks and got to work.
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