Li Xinyue was always vigilant. No matter where she went, she would first observe her surroundings.
This observation was no big deal.
She realised that most prisoners looked at the Qin hists with hostility.
Li Xinyue rubbed her eyebrows and observed again to confirm that she did not see things. It was still the same.
Some people could no longer restrain themselves and started cursing loudly at the Qin Family.
"Qin Yichen, you are a broom star who got your whole family executed. Now you've come to get us, too."
"Qin Family, I curse you all to suffer a terrible death."
"If it weren't for you, how could the Li family suffer such an undeserved calamity?"
"... "
They heard these people cursing with increasing excitement while the officers did not attempt to stop them.
This made Li Xinyue think that the despotic emperor must have prearranged for these people to be exiled from the host's Qin family to cause trouble for the Qin family.
However, no matter how she thought about it, she could not understand why these people called Qin Yichen a broom star.
It looked like the journey would not be tedious with these people around.
Qin Yichen listened to the cursing, trying hard to control his emotions so that he would not lash out at those people in excitement.
However, he still wanted to see exactly who was cursing him.
So he squinted through the fringe of his bangs to look in the direction of the voices.
He recognised some of these people, who were court officials.
There is no need to think further. Those cursing must be the families of those officials.
What was puzzling was why they would curse him.
Qin Yichen's mind raced as he considered whether he had conflicts with these people.
Soon, he was sure of the answer.
One of them had the surname He, who used to be the vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He was responsible for distributing rations when Qin Yichen was fighting wars on the border.
As a result, Li Zhiyuan embezzled rations for his gain. Qin Yichen submitted a memorial to Emperor Shunwu to thoroughly investigate the matter.
There was also Li Liang, who was a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. He had just returned to the capital when Li Liang asked Qin Yichen to take his illegitimate daughter as a concubine. Qin Yichen rejected him outright.
Other than that, he had no other dealings with Li Liang.
Looking at the ones cursing most fervently, it was Vice Minister Fang Chuanzhou of the Ministry of War.
Fang Chuanzhou used to be the vice minister of the Ministry of War and had no conflicts with Qin Yichen.
He and Li Xinyue shared the same confusion about why these people were calling him a broom star.
Could it be that when the emperor convicted them of crimes, he also implicated Qin Yichen?
Just as Qin Yichen was utterly bewildered, Sister-in-law Xie Fang ran towards the cursers in tears.
"Father, Mother, Eldest Brother, Youngest Brother, how did you all get convicted too?"
No wonder her closest family members did not come to see her off.
Xie's father looked worried. Facing his daughter, he squeezed out a smile uglier than crying.
"Father did something wrong and was punished by His Majesty."
"Father, don't lie. The Marquis's residence implicated the Xie family. Why are you hiding this from my sister?" Xie Ming was resentful, glaring at Qin Yichen, lying on the wooden cart.
Just as Xie Fang was about to ask for details, Xie Father scolded Xie Ming.
"Xie Ming, shut your mouth. Is this a place for talking?"
Xie Ming resentfully glanced at his father, helplessly shutting his mouth.
Sister-in-law also understood these twists and turns. Moreover, with so many people watching the Xie family, she could not be impatient, even if she was anxious to know the truth.
Qin Yichen and Li Xinyue saw their Sister-in-law run to talk to her natal family, and they both pricked up their ears to listen carefully to the story. However, Xie Father was prudent, and the two listened in vain.
Like sisters-in-law, they could only find another opportunity to understand what happened.
Mother Qin was steadfast. Seeing her in-laws, whether they were pleased to see her or not, she politely nodded in greeting.
The officers had finished the handover and then perfunctorily went to stop the cursing against the Qin family.
These people had not yet fully entered the role of criminals. Faced with the officers' rebukes, they could be said to be neither obedient nor convinced.
They talked back to the officers, one remark after another.
In the officers' eyes, these people were no different from dead men, so how could they indulge them?
Some immediately took whips from their waists and lashed the ones who were cursing most fervently.
"Looks like you're tired of living. Just say so if you don't want to make it alive to the northwest."
The whip lashes on their bodies instantly pulled back their sanity.
Looking down again at the coarse hemp clothes, even worse than commoners' wear, they had no choice but to believe the facts of their family's seizure and their exile.
Looking again at the whips in the officers' hands, they no longer dared to bristle.
However, they still glared at the Qin family.
The Qin ladies, led by Mother Mo, didn't even look at their faces.
This gave those people the feeling of punching cotton.
An officer shouted, "While the day is still early, let's hit the road immediately."
Just as his voice fell, a carriage came from the direction of the capital.
"Wait a moment...Please stop..." the coachman shouted.
Including the officers, everyone squinted to look over.
The carriage soon stopped in front of the convoy.
The coachman immediately jumped down and lifted the curtain.
Two people with their heads wrapped up emerged from inside.
Judging by their figures, it was a man and a woman, both seemingly elderly.
As soon as they exited the carriage, their eyes searched the crowd and finally landed on Li Xinyue.
Li Yuanming quickly handed a large silver ingot to the lead officer.
He did not want to reveal his identity, speaking to the officer politely.
"Please do me a favour?"
The officer weighed the silver ingot in his hand.
"You have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Be quick."
"Alright." Li Yuanming responded and pulled Ling Xueyan to walk towards Li Xinyue quickly.
When passing by Mother Mo, Li Yuanming deliberately pulled down a bit of the scarf wrapped around his face.
Mother Qin recognised him and sensibly led the others away, leaving only Li Xinyue.
Ling Xueyan's tears fell like broken pearls when she saw her daughter in coarse hemp clothes.
She hugged Li Xinyue's slender body tightly and choked with sobs, "Ranran, it's Mother who wronged you...Woo...Mother shouldn't have worked with your father to force you to marry into the Qin family...Woo...It's Mother's fault..."
In her previous life, Li Xinyue's parents divorced. From the time she could understand things, she was like a burden in her parents' eyes.
She had never felt the slightest bit of affection from them.
This feeling was quite strange now, being held tightly in the original's mother's arms, but she accepted it.
Li Xinyue repeatedly raised and lowered her hand, eventually placing it on Ling Xueyan's back and patting it lightly a few times.