Chapter 25: The County Town

“Mother, why don’t we go to the officials and buy some food? We can’t cook, and the servants won’t help us during the exile. Even if we ask them to cook, they won’t come. We’re just criminals, and their contracts are no longer valid,” Bai Luorou slowly suggested, her envy towards Su Nuoli growing as she watched her eat hot, fragrant food these past couple of days.

“Luorou, I’ll send your eldest brother. Even though we don’t have much money, we’ve got over a thousand taels. I heard in the countryside, one tael can last a whole month. That should be enough. Even when we reach the place of exile, we’ll be able to manage,” the old lady said.

With the silver in hand, Bai Zhang immediately went to find the officers. Su Nuoli, always observant through her spiritual sense, had already noticed his movements and couldn’t help but sneer inside.

Sending that wasteful young master to buy food would surely lead to a rip-off. Even though they had over a thousand taels, the journey still had three more months to go. They’d be better off cooking themselves rather than buying food. Such naivety!

As expected, Bai Zhang returned, fuming.

“What do you mean?! They charged me thirty taels for just a few bowls of rice, two plates of vegetables, and a little water! People buying pots and rice didn’t even spend fifteen taels! How did you negotiate this?” Bai Peisheng, the father, scolded.

“Thirty taels? What’s the problem? I spend that much when I go out with friends. Besides, I did buy food, didn’t I?” Bai Zhang responded stubbornly.

“You… unfilial son!” Bai Peisheng roared.

The old lady intervened, “Enough, Peisheng. Zhang’er is the eldest son and hasn’t had much experience with these matters. After thinking about it, we should also buy a pot. Otherwise, we won’t survive. We can’t keep wasting money.”

The reality was harsh. These young masters and young ladies, who had never done anything for themselves and were accustomed to luxury, couldn’t possibly cook!

As predicted, they spent more silver on food for the next few days.

After several more days of travel, they finally arrived at the county town by noon! Zhang Tou had mentioned that twenty people could go shopping today, and they could also stay at an inn.

However, criminals were not allowed to stay at inns, but those who had been demoted to commoners could pay the officers some silver for accommodation.

So, Su Nuoli immediately gave five taels of silver, ensuring that her whole family could stay at the inn. However, not everyone could go shopping—only two people could go at most.

As for the Xue family, Xue Laoye had paid his own silver. It was previously agreed that once they reached the first place to buy supplies, they would stop teaming up with Su Nuoli’s family and just travel together.

Su Nuoli felt this was a good arrangement. She couldn’t keep helping the Xue family all the time, especially since there was a concern about growing animosity over small favors.

But why did Xue Yu’s expression seem so intriguing? Was she expecting that her family would always help her? Su Nuoli couldn’t shake the feeling that the sweet, round-faced girl didn’t seem as innocent as she looked.

But who said that innocent faces couldn’t hide malicious hearts? It was too early to judge. There was still plenty of time on the exile route, so she would take things step by step.

After settling her family, Su Nuoli went shopping with her elder brother, and of course, Xue Yu also sent her younger sister, Xiao Yu, along.

Su Nuoli had already asked Zhang Tou, who confirmed that those demoted to commoners could shop. After traveling for more than a thousand miles, they could have the ropes on their feet removed, and after two thousand miles, they could ride in a carriage.

But all of this required giving silver as a bribe. This was an unwritten rule established by the officers, who needed to make some extra money on such a long journey.

They had only traveled seven hundred miles so far, so shopping was the only option available. Su Nuoli hoped the Western Qi Kingdom would fall soon. That way, there would be no more exiles, since the kingdom would be gone.

Even though she had helped, it would take time for the three kingdoms to fall, and there would still be wars. It would probably take at least two months. By then, her family would have nearly reached the exile site.

But there was no use dwelling on it. It was better to focus on shopping! And bringing Xiao Yu along would be useful for testing things out!