Mo Hanyue looked at Mrs. Mo with wide eyes, her face full of disbelief.
"Mom, where do I have any money?"
"If you don't have money, you can eat whatever you want." It's not that Mrs. Mo doesn't feel sorry for her daughter, but when she came out of the Mo Mansion, all the banknotes hidden in her body were confiscated, and she is now penniless.
Although several daughters-in-law have money in their hands, as an elder, she cannot open her mouth to ask for it from the younger generation.
"Mom, I have some money here, why don't I go buy some white-flour steamed buns from those officials?"
Seeing the usually lively and lovely sister-in-law shed tears because of her stuttering, the third sister-in-law felt a little distressed.
"Third sister-in-law, don't worry, see what others do."
This was He Zhiran's original intention. The entire treasury's money was in her space, so she naturally wouldn't feel bad about buying some white-flour steamed buns for her family to eat.
However, it was only the first day of her exile, and she had not yet figured out the situation of the officials and other prisoners, so she did not want to be too showy.
"What He said makes sense, let's observe first before speaking." Mrs. Mo also agreed with He Zhiran's suggestion.
The Mo family members all obeyed without making any move and remained in a wait-and-see state.
Speaking of which, the other four families who were exiled were really unlucky.
When they received the imperial edict to confiscate their homes and send them into exile, they did so almost at the same time as the Mohists, without any preparation. It can be said that they followed Emperor Wu's impromptu wishes.
Because of this, these four families can be said to be completely impoverished.
Originally, escorting exiled prisoners was a lucrative job.
They always turned a blind eye to the relatives who came to see them off, and they were happy to do so from the bottom of their hearts.
Only in this way will the prisoners have money in their hands.
If prisoners have money, they will benefit.
Unexpectedly, after calling for a tael of white-flour steamed buns for a long time, no one bought them with money.
In anger, the official changed the amount of free black-faced steamed buns per person to half a bun per person.
The Mo family is okay. Except for Mo Jiuye, they are all female relatives, and they usually don't eat much.
The sisters-in-law all thought that even though there was only half a steamed bun, as long as they didn't starve to death, it would be fine.
Unexpectedly, when they got the steamed buns, they were dumbfounded.
The black-faced steamed buns are as hard as rocks, and one bite would probably break your teeth...
"Mom, the buns are so hard, I can't bite them." Mo Hanyue cried again.
"Yes, mother, if we depend on steamed buns like this all the way, we will probably choke to death if we don't starve to death."
"Mom, my third sister-in-law and I both have some money, why not buy some white-flour steamed buns?"
After hearing the words of several daughters-in-law and daughters, Mrs. Mo didn't know why, but she naturally looked at He Zhiran.
Although she didn't know much about this new daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mo could tell that He Zhiran was very independent.
He Zhiran calmly shook his head towards Mrs. Mo.
"Mom, please be patient and wait and see again."
As soon as she finished speaking, a burst of children's cries came from the Xie family team closest to them.
The second sister-in-law quickly got up and ran to check.
"Brother, what's wrong with Lin'er?"
Xie Chao's eyes were filled with pain, and his palms were stretched out in front of Xie Fang.
"Lin'er's slightly mobile front tooth was knocked out by a steamed bun."
Looking at Xie Lin, who was only five years old, there was still blood on her lips.
Xie Lin is the only grandson of the Xie family, and this child has been well educated and has been obedient and sensible since she was a child.
Only three months after Xie Fang and Mo Erlang got married, the sad news came that Mo Erlang had died in battle.
Unfortunately, she was unable to conceive her own child after marriage.
Knowing that she would not have children in this life, she put all her thoughts on her well-behaved and sensible nephew, and even thought about letting her nephew take care of her until she died.
Therefore, Xie Fang's feelings for Xie Lin are much deeper than those of ordinary aunts and nephews.
Xie Fang felt heartbroken when she saw the blood stains on Xie Lin's lips that were still spilling out from the corners of her lips because she was crying.
She snatched the thick steamed bun from Xie Lin's hand and threw it on the ground, then turned around to argue with the official.
"Although we were exiled, we were not sentenced to death after all. We still have the right to live.
If you feed us these hard black-faced steamed buns that have been there for who knows how long, how can we reach the northwest alive?"
He Zhiran knew something was wrong and quickly ran in the direction of his second sister-in-law.
Because, with her keen eyes, she discovered that when the second sister-in-law started to accuse, an official had already taken out a whip.
It can be said that she came at just the right time.
Seeing that the whip was about to hit Xie Fang, He Zhiran stepped forward and firmly caught the end of the whip, thus saving Xie Fang from physical pain.
After working as an escort officer for so many years, this was the first time that I suffered at the hands of a prisoner, and she was still a little girl.
The official's face immediately darkened, and he cursed and shifted his target of venting to He Zhiran.
Mo Jiuye was lying on the cart listening to all this, and it could be said that he was extremely anxious.
I even had the urge to stop it.
His tense body was noticed by the attentive Mrs. Mo, who quickly patted his back to signal him not to act rashly.
After comforting Mo Jiuye, Mrs. Mo also stood up and came to the side of her two daughters-in-law.
In Mrs. Mo's opinion, the men of the Mo family are brave, and women cannot be cowards, and they must shoulder the responsibility together when something happens.
Xie Fang knew that she was impulsive and got into trouble, and when she saw the official preparing to whip her nine younger siblings, she quickly stood in front of her.
"Those words were said by me. If you have any grievances, feel free to point them at me alone. Don't blame my nine younger siblings."
He Zhiran was ready to fight the official, but unexpectedly, he was blocked in front by his second sister-in-law.
In a hurry, she grabbed her second sister-in-law by the collar and lifted her back. With her other hand, she caught the whip whipped by the officer again.
With a clever move, she grabbed the whip and held it in her own hand.
The other officers were still there deliberately eating white-flour steamed buns, intending to stimulate the prisoners and watch the show.
After seeing their companions' whips being snatched away, they couldn't watch their fun anymore.
He put down the buns in his hands, drew out the sword from his waist and surrounded the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
He Zhiran was in full swing.
"You bunch of cowards, I, the man of the Mo family, sacrificed my life and shed my blood in exchange for the stable life you have now.
Now that our Mo family has been framed and reduced to this, you people are following the example of those villains, adding insult to injury and showing off your power in front of weak women like us.
Seeing how cowardly you all are, you only have this little ability left. If you were sent to the battlefield to fight with the enemy, I'm afraid your heads would have been moved."
He Zhiran's words were so eloquent that Mrs. Mo felt her blood surge with passion.
"Well said, this is what a woman from my Mo family should look like."
As Mrs. Mo spoke, she glanced at the expressions of the officials.
It can be seen that the officials are not all evil people. Some of them have quietly put away their weapons and are waiting and watching.