When being spoken to like this, Mrs. Zhao suddenly felt that her previous words were inappropriate.
"I didn't consider this carefully enough, Old Lady Qin. Please don't blame me."
Knowing that Mrs. Zhao had not come over to apologise so simply, she did not say her true purpose.
So Old Lady Qin was going to order her to leave.
"Mrs. Fang, I understand your family's feelings and appreciate your apology. If there is nothing else, you should return now to avoid being scolded by the officials."
Seeing that Old Lady Qin was starting to drive her away, Mrs. Zhao was no longer modest.
She carefully took out a gemstone ring from her rolled-up hair.
"Old Lady Mo, may I exchange this ring for some fish?"
As she spoke, Mrs. Zhao turned and pointed to where her family members were resting.
"My little son saw you all eating grilled fish and craved it so much that he cried. I had no other way, so I came to ask if you could spare us some."
Old Lady Qin looked at the gemstone ring in Mrs. Zhao's hand and then in the direction she was pointing.
Sure enough, a little boy who looked eight or nine years old was wiping his tears.
"My ninth daughter-in-law caught the fish. If you want to exchange them, go talk to her."
For such matters, Old Lady Qin felt it was inappropriate for her to make decisions on behalf of her daughter-in-law.
Mrs. Zhao politely expressed her thanks and then went towards the riverbank.
Just then, Li Xinyue caught enough fish and walked towards the shore.
She had already seen Mrs. Zhao talking with her mother-in-law and could roughly guess her purpose in coming over.
Li Xinyue did not take the initiative to speak but slowly put on her shoes and socks at the shore.
Mrs. Zhao came over, trying hard to maintain a proper smile.
"He... Mrs. He, may Auntie discuss something with you and exchange this ring for some fish?"
Li Xinyue looked at the ring. The red gem was crystal clear and, at first glance, obviously a valuable item.
It showed Mrs. Zhao was willing to spend a lot just for some fish.
At the same time, she guessed that the Fang family had no silver on them; otherwise, they wouldn't have used such a nice ring to exchange for some worthless fish.
Li Xinyue did not stand at the ceremony with Mrs. Zhao and took the ring directly.
Then, pointing to the crucian carp she had just caught, she said: "The fish are all here. Take what you need."
Seeing that the other party agreed, Mrs. Zhao profusely thanked them and grabbed some fish.
Li Xinyue just stood there watching. She wanted to see how many fish Mrs. Zhao would take.
Mrs. Zhao hesitated briefly, then took five fish.
"Is this okay?"
Given the value of Mrs. Zhao's ring, let alone five fish, even five hundred would not be excessive.
But the other party was not greedy, only taking five.
This gave Li Xinyue an excellent first impression of Mrs. Zhao.
"No problem. If it's not enough, you can take some more."
Mrs. Zhao said, "No need, I'm delighted with this."
After speaking, she reluctantly glanced at the ring in Li Xinyue's hand, then turned and left.
Just from that look, Li Xinyue could determine that this ring was significant to Mrs. Zhao.
So she chased after her and softly said,
"There must be some misunderstanding between us. If you want to resolve this, please ask Uncle Fang to find my husband after dark. Then, everything will become clear."
Mrs. Zhao solemnly nodded: "Alright, I will pass this on to my Old Master."
Li Xinyue turned around and secretly stored the ring in her space.
She thought that if the Qin and Fang families could resolve their conflicts in the future, she could ultimately return the ring to Mrs. Zhao.
Just not right now.
The sisters-in-law continued to clean the caught crucian carp. Li Xinyue grilled ten fish at Peng Wang's request, then gave them all to him. What Peng Wang wanted to do with the fish was his business.
After eating the grilled fish and seeing it was about time, Peng Wang gave the order to continue on their journey.
The two miserable labourers from the Li family reluctantly pushed the wheeled plank with pained expressions once again.
The afternoon weather remained sultry. Fortunately, Li Xinyue had brewed herbal medicine for some people to drink, sparing them from the danger of heat stroke.
The Qin family members, Xie family members, and officials were all fine.
However, it was different for the other three families.
As they travelled, some people from those families developed varying degrees of heat stroke symptoms.
Initially, it was still manageable as their family members carried or supported them and kept up with the large convoy.
However, as time passed, the number of people with heat stroke increased. The remaining few who were still relatively healthy could not care for so many people.
In a short time, the entire exiled convoy was filled with wails.
At the same time, the Xie family members and officials were sincerely grateful to Li Xinyue.
If not for the herbal medicine she prepared in advance, they would probably not escape the fate of heat stroke either.
Seeing the situation, Peng Wang knew they could no longer continue travelling and could only order them to stop.
When encountering such circumstances, the first person Peng Wang thought of was Li Xinyue.
"Mrs. He, this matter still needs you to resolve it."
But Li Xinyue disagreed.
"Officer Peng, you've seen it these past two days. They've been cursing us Qin family people. Why should I go save them?"
Li Xinyue believed she was no saint who would save anyone just because she knew medicine.
Especially the Li family and Li family people, their hatred for Qin Yichen was down to the bone.
If Qin Yichen stuck his head out, they would spare no effort to chop it off with a blade.
She would not lend a helping hand to save people harbouring such malice.
Of course, the Fang family was different. She could consider treating them.
Peng Wang also understood this reasoning.
As the head official in charge of escorting them, it was not a big deal if a few people died or were injured along the way.
But if the number were too great, he would be unable to explain it to his superiors after returning.
Therefore, he could only continue persuading Li Xinyue.
"No matter how big their mistakes are, they are still living people. You can't just watch them die, right?"
Li Xinyue's mind was set, and she crossed both arms stubbornly, not leaving Peng Wang any leeway.
"Officer Peng, stop saying more. Just because I said I won't save them doesn't mean I won't."
"You..." Peng Wang was also angered, pointing at Li Xinyue's nose, wanting to scold her a few times, but held back in the end.
"Mrs. He, I advise you to be more tactful. There is still a long way to the Northwest. Offending me does you no good."
Li Xinyue's temper also flared up, unwilling to back down.
"Officer Peng, what you said is unfair. If you were me, would you be willing to save the lives of your enemies?"
"This..." Peng Wang was left speechless by her retort.
He realised this woman, Li, had a stubborn temper. Being hard on her really wouldn't work.
So he made an effort to keep his emotions under control and spoke again in a negotiating tone:
"How about this: you choose some more agreeable ones to treat?"
Although unwilling to compromise on her pride, Li Xinyue also understood she couldn't offend Peng Wang too severely.
She should take it right when someone provides a way out.
She looked at the people with heat stroke. The Fang family was still decent. Perhaps because they ate some fish at noon, their bodies had immunity, and only three were down.
The Lin family and Li family were in bad shape. The two families had over thirty people total, and less than ten could still stand now.
"Since Officer Peng puts it this way, I will reluctantly save some as a favour."