Xiang Ying rotated her beautiful eyes and pulled out a wooden pendant she had prepared from her sleeve.
It was as big as a palm, and she handed it over to Huang Huzi.
"Previously I did not know you were the team leader, I was too abrupt. This pendant is to apologize to you," Xiang Ying spoke gently.
Huang Huzi accepted it with a look of disdain, "A piece of wood, and you think you can dispense with me? Not so easy!"
Xiang Ying kicked him in the chest, and he still feels the pain now.
"This is not an ordinary pendant," said Xiang Ying, indicating he should twist the pendant in the opposite direction.
After Huang Huzi did so, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Unexpectedly, the wooden shell was just a protective cover, inside was a whole piece of pure Emperor Green Jade!
His eyes were fixed on it.
Xiang Ying's phoenix eyes gleamed beautifully, "Is this enough for an apology?"
Huang Huzi's sinister gaze sized her up.
As if weighing how much more treasure Xiang Ying might have hidden, contemplating whether to confiscate it now. But perhaps it was better to leave it and plunder later.
"This time let it be, next time, it won't be so easy," Huang Huzi, afraid the Military Supervisor might see, quickly tucked it in his sleeve, pretended to search her briefly, "Let's go, search someone else."
After he left, Tao Xue anxiously said, "Elder princess, this Huang Huzi is not a good person. Even if we gave him something this time, he will surely trouble us again."
Xiang Ying's dark eyes followed Huang Huzi's retreating figure, "I know, so I have other plans."
Many people had some silver coins hidden on them, some, like Xiang Ying, used money to bribe.
But some were not so lucky and could not give out a single silver.
The Qintianjian official was old, and had many female family members.
Due to having little money, Huang Huzi with his soldiers intended to strip the women, who cried heart-wrenchingly.
The Qintianjian official stepped forward to stop them, but was kicked down, only half alive.
The relatives around cried, calling out 'grandfather', the women knelt pleading for mercy from Huang Huzi, but to no avail.
In the end, elder ladies from their family took a stand to protect their daughters from insult in exchange for their own dignity.
Xiang Ying saw their clothes being ripped apart, and the women dragged into the forest like animals by the soldiers.
The young women huddled together, crying bitterly.
Among the onlooking civil officers, seeing this scene clenched their teeth until they bled, but could only helplessly bow their heads.
Tao Xue's lips trembled, "Elder princess, he, they actually..."
Xiang Ying remained silent, her phoenix eyes cold and dark, fixed on Huang Huzi's back.
Another tally added to his account!
She composed herself, checking on her young daughter Xiang Xiuxiu.
The little girl had just woken up, perhaps frightened, now with misty eyes, hiding behind her two brothers, looking dazed.
Xiang Ying walked over, stroking her forehead and hair. The little girl shrank away, dodging her touch.
Xiang Yuanlang pushed Xiang Ying away, silently protecting his sister.
Xiang Yuanshuo even warned with a soft voice, "One day, if you run out of money to bribe those enemy soldiers and try to sell our sister, I will make sure your death is very miserable, very miserable!"
The three children felt little affection towards Xiang Ying, not believing she would genuinely care for them.
Thus, they mistook her gentle touch as assessing their value.
Faced with the children's wariness, Xiang Ying's expression was indifferent and calm, "Don't worry, you three aren't that valuable."
"You—!" Xiang Yuanshuo's cheeks puffed up in anger, but Xiang Ying unapologetically pinched him.
Just as Xiang Yuanshuo was about to lose his temper, Xiang Ying quickly stuffed three steamed buns into his hand.
"Take your brother and sister and hide to eat them. Don't let anyone see."
Xiang Yuanshuo was stunned, but reacted quickly by turning his back, first sniffed it, then took a bite himself, making sure it was not poisoned before sharing it with his siblings.
The three little ones squatted down, wolfing down the food, while Xiang Ying stuffed two meat buns into Tao Xue's hands.
Tao Xue touched them, still warm, couldn't help but whisper in surprise, "Princess, where did these come from?"
"Hidden right here," Xiang Ying casually concocted, pointing to her chest.
Tao Xue took it seriously, her eyes widened as she admired her own princess's impressive curves.
The elder princess was truly wronged, sobbing!
Seizing the moment when no one was paying attention, Xiang Ying ate three buns, drank half a pot of water, and sneakily took a peach from her space.
She picked up a wooden stick from the nearby bushes, turned her back, felt for a small knife inside her sleeve, and sharpened the stick.
After putting away the knife, she twisted her black hair into a bun and inserted the sharpened stick into it.
Having done all this, Xiang Ying keenly felt someone watching her.
But when she turned around, she still saw the endless exile team, with no end in sight.
Everyone was troubled by the prospects of the coming days; no one noticed her.
Xiang Ying withdrew her gaze, yet a young girl now stood before her.
With porcelain white skin and almond eyes with a thin layer of anger, followed by two girls of the same age.
"Big sister, I heard you used items to bribe the team leader monitoring us? You've gone too far! What about us who don't have hidden coins, how are we to live?"
It was her again.
Xiang Ying recognized her; she was the half-sister princess who had taunted her before.
The daughter of Favored Consort Lady, Fifth Princess Xiang Qianqian.
"What does your survival have to do with me?" Xiang Ying's tone was cold.
"You!" Xiang Qianqian gritted her teeth, "As princesses of Xizhou, we should maintain our pride and dignity, not please these enemy forces. Your bribery ruins our rules and makes others look down on us. Now, hand over the rest of the money to me for safekeeping."
Tao Xue quickly came over to protect Xiang Ying.
"Fifth Princess, please don't be unreasonable."
Xiang Ying pulled Tao Xue aside, her red lips curling into a mocking, cold laugh.
"I thought you really came to question and accuse, turns out you just ran out of your own money and came with a noble-sounding excuse to plainly rob it?"
Xiang Qianqian's face reddened, "I did not!"
The two princesses behind her, ranked sixth and seventh, also chimed in to support her.
"Big sister, what you did was indeed wrong."
"Yes, we may be a fallen kingdom now, but we should not lose our dignity."
Xiang Qianqian accused, "Big sister, you're pleasing the enemy, you're stomping our last bit of face underfoot. Isn't this the case of a crooked beam leading to skewed supports?"
"Your mother, honored as the Empress, hung herself in fear before the enemy forces even broke through, unlike my mother, who stayed by the Emperor's side until the very end."
Xiang Ying's eyebrows raised, her dark phoenix eyes glinting with a dark light.
The Empress committed suicide, but was it really out of fear of facing the enemy forces?
Tao Xue stood in front of Xiang Ying, helping to rebut, "Fifth Princess, you can't speak of the Empress that way, moreover, I heard that Lady followed the Emperor in escaping with the treasures, isn't that even less dignified?"
"Lowly maid!" Xiang Qianqian's expression changed, raising her hand to strike, "Is it your place to comment on my mother?"
Xiang Ying swiftly caught her wrist, squeezing it tightly, causing Xiang Qianqian to wince in pain: "Let go!"
With a cold and proud tone slipping through her red lips, Xiang Ying retorted, "You're not even qualified to touch my people. Instead of blaming me, perhaps you should reflect on why your mother didn't take you when she fled."
With that, she thrust her hand away, and the Sixth and Seventh Princesses caught Xiang Qianqian with a shriek, helping her stabilize.
Barely steady, Xiang Qianqian flushed, repeatedly stammering, "You, you..."
Tears fell, and she was indeed made to cry by Xiang Ying.
The Sixth and Seventh Princesses shielded her as they left, while several noble ladies nearby came forward to comfort her.
"Pay no mind to the elder princess, she's insane."
"Yes, isn't it enough how ridiculous things she's done? Did you expect better from her?" The Sixth Princess shook her head in disapproval.
Between sobs, Xiang Qianqian continued to insist, "My mother didn't intentionally leave me behind, she feared I'd suffer on the escape route. She sacrificed herself for Xizhou, much better than the Empress..."
Xiang Ying listened to these remarks, utterly indifferent.
Soon enough, Xiang Ying heard uproar brewing among Xiang Qianqian and her group.