The officers' eyes lit up. In fact, escorting prisoners to exile was a tough job. They might go back and forth for half a year without even seeing their wives and children.
Besides, it was very hard to sleep in the open air along the way.
The most important thing is that their monthly salary is not much. Normally, each person only has two taels of silver per month. After half a year of coming and going, they only have two taels more than others.
But why some people are still willing to go? Because the prisoners will give confessions.
Most of these exiled prisoners were delicate and could not endure hardship. Although their homes were searched and their belongings were clean, some of their relatives and friends would come to help them.
With these rewards, the officials could divide them up and make a lot of money after each trip.
When the officer saw Liu Qiaoer offering a hundred taels, his attitude changed.
"Well, just tell me what you want, girl."
Unexpectedly, Liu Qiaoer took out another twenty-liang silver note and said, "I know you will definitely hand over the one just now, so I'll keep this one for yourself. I hope you will take good care of me on your way."
The officer was even happier. He quietly stuffed the twenty-liang silver note into the oilcloth bag he carried with him, and then, holding the big note in his hand, he happily came to their leader.
I don't know what was said, but the leader took the silver note and nodded, and the officer turned around and removed the chains from Mrs. Pei.
"Then you should keep an eye on her on the road. If she runs away, you won't be able to survive."
"Who are you?" Mrs. Pei had never seen Liu Qiaoer before and was a little surprised. She thought someone from her mother's family had sent her to take care of her.
Liu Qiaoer glanced at Pei Yuanshan who was walking in front of her and said, "I am a female doctor. Lord Pei asked me to take care of the lady."
Mrs. Pei didn't expect Pei Yuanshan to do this. You have to know that the moment Su Xueying was sold, the couple had already formed a grudge.
When she heard that Liu Qiaoer was brought by Pei Yuanshan, she couldn't tell whether she felt aggrieved or touched. Her eyes instantly turned red, her lips trembled, and tears flowed down.
Liu Qiaoer quickly advised: "Don't cry, you are in a heavy body now, don't get excited, it's not good for the child."
Mrs. Pei held back and wiped her tears with her sleeves.
Liu Qiaoer added: "Walk slowly, don't be in a hurry, I'll take your pulse while you're at it."
During this period, Mrs. Pei had been living in prison. She didn't have enough food to eat and became very thin, with only her belly being surprisingly big.
Normally, pregnant women did not have to be exiled with the others, but Mrs. Pei had a hot temper and somehow offended the officials, so they did not report her pregnancy.
Now I can only follow along.
Mrs. Pei's family is a minor official family, and they usually rely on the Pei family for care. Now that something has happened to the Pei family, they are powerless to help. They can only send some silver bills and food, and they don't know what to do with their pregnant sister.
The Third Prince knew that Madam Pei was pregnant, but he was even more angry that Madam Pei had sold out Su Xueying. If she had not made things difficult for Su Xueying for no reason and sold her out, Su Xueying would not have turned the tables and implicated the entire Pei family.
The third prince wished that Madam Pei would die on the way to exile.
On the first day of exile, no one could bear it anymore. It was completely dark when we arrived at the first post station. No one even wanted to go into the yard and just lay down on the side of the road to rest.
Some people took off their shoes and got blisters on their feet.
The same was true of Mrs. Pei's feet. She wore ordinary embroidered shoes, and the skin on her feet was more delicate than her hands, so blisters had long been formed from them.
During the lunch break, Liu Qiaoer brought her a pair of modern sports shoes to protect her feet.
Mrs. Pei only felt that her feet were very comfortable. She couldn't see anything else because of her big belly. When she arrived at the post station, she didn't care about anything else and sat on the ground, gasping for breath.
Liu Qiaoer took the water bag and gave it to her to drink: "Take a rest, I'll check your fetal heart rate."
Mrs. Pei doesn't move often in prison on weekdays. Now she has to travel such a long distance every day. Her body can't bear it, and the baby in her belly is also uncomfortable.
Sure enough, the fetus's heartache was too fast, which made Liu Qiaoer a little worried.
He took out a ginseng pill and handed it to her: "You have been in prison for too long. You have not eaten well and your complexion is not good. You should slowly replenish yourself."
Mrs. Pei had eaten ginseng before, and she knew it was ginseng just by smelling it. She glanced at Liu Qiaoer in surprise and said, "This thing is expensive. We used to eat it often in our house, but now..."
The Pei family was raided and she lost everything, even her dowry.
"Eat." Liu Qiaoer is not a stingy person.
It was better for the officials to ride on horses. When they arrived at the post station, they were treated to good food and accommodation by the officials. The exiled prisoners were driven to the large shed in the backyard to settle down.
Liu Qiaoer had just arrived at the backyard with Mrs. Pei when she heard Chunxiao's voice.
"Qiao'er, Qiao'er."
Liu Qiaoer turned around and saw Chunxiao and Qi Ze were both in the guest room.
Chunxiao came down from the second floor and took Mrs. Pei to the guest room while the chaos was going on.
Mrs. Pei had been walking all day and was extremely tired. She sat down on the bed, tilted her head and fell asleep.
Liu Qiaoer was also tired and hungry. When she saw the food they had prepared, she began to eat it voraciously.
Chunxiao couldn't help but feel distressed when she saw Liu Qiaoer like this.
"Girl, Qi Ze has already contacted the eldest master. The eldest master has led his men to the city. If we ride horses, we can catch up with him in three or four days."
Liu Qiaoer shook her head: "Wait a little longer, or let Qi Ze take you away first. Madam Pei is about to give birth, and the child is innocent. I can't just ignore it."
Chun Xiao and Qi Ze looked at each other, and Chun Xiao made up his mind: "Okay, then I will accompany you, and let Qi Ze meet up with the eldest master first, so that at least the girl can have a good rest at the post station."
Following that group of prisoners, I had to squeeze together, eat poorly, and sleep poorly.
Chunxiao used the money to buy it, and at least he had a bed.
But Qi Ze still disagreed.
"No, the master has told me to protect the girl. If I go back early, I will be punished by the master."
Just like that, Qi Ze wrote another letter to Lu Yunzheng, saying that Liu Qiaoer would follow Madam Pei and slowly move north, and would join him after Madam Pei gave birth.
After two days of walking at this speed, Mrs. Pei finally couldn't walk anymore.
At noon that day, as soon as they arrived at an inn, Mrs. Pei held her stomach and cried out, "Ouch, ouch."
Pei Yuanshan supported her anxiously and looked around: "Someone, doctor, find a doctor, my wife has a stomachache."
Liu Qiaoer just went to the kitchen to get some hot water, and when she came back she saw Mrs. Pei with cold sweat on her face, so she quickly took her pulse.
Her pretty face sank: "I think she doesn't have a stomachache, she's about to give birth."
Giving birth? At this time
Pei Yuanshan felt sorry for his wife. If he was fine, he would have arranged three or five midwives to wait for him. Now he only had Liu Qiaoer, an unmarried girl, by his side.
"What should I do? What should I do?"
Liu Qiaoer quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, giving birth is not a short-term thing. I think you should find an official to let Madam Pei rest here for a few days. Even if she can't return to the capital, at least she can't continue to be exiled."
Pei Yuanshan regretted it, really regretted it.
"Su Xueying, I really shouldn't have brought her back to Beijing."