The prisoners exiled in ancient times were really forced to walk in shackles.
How miserable!
Huangfu Yue looked at her shackled hands, then at her family and servants who were similarly shackled in front of and behind her, all strung together on an iron chain and being pulled by a guard. Her delicate brows furrowed.
After all the members of the royal manor were led out, they were shackled by a small squad of Dali Temple guards and paraded along like cattle.
This feeling was terrible!
She really wanted to break free from the shackles, but when they were being put on, her grandmother had told everyone not to resist and had even been the first to put on the shackles herself.
She had thought her grandmother, who seemed like a very proud person, would refuse to wear shackles!
Her grandmother’s unusual willingness to wear shackles and her instruction for them not to resist and to obediently put them on must have a reason, her own considerations.
So, she would wear them for now… She just didn't know when the escorts would remove their shackles.
She hoped it wouldn't be like in the TV shows where they never removed the shackles, keeping them on all the time, even for eating, sleeping, or going to the restroom…
If that were the case, it would be truly dreadful… However, she had a universal key, so opening the shackles would be as easy as pie; she wasn't afraid of the escorts keeping them locked up.
Even without a universal key, with her strength, breaking the shackles would be simple enough.
“These shackles are so heavy! Jing’er’s hands hurt!” a childish voice suddenly cried out from ahead.
Huangfu Yue immediately looked forward, her gaze settling on a little girl who was exquisitely sculpted, very beautiful and cute, with tear-filled eyes and a pitiable expression.
Huangfu Yue sighed faintly. Everyone in the royal manor, regardless of gender or age, had been put in shackles, including little girls like Huangfu Jing, who was only seven years old.
Huangfu Jing was the daughter of Huangfu Yue’s elder brother.
“Ying’er’s hands also hurt from the shackles, Ying’er doesn’t want to wear them.”
Huangfu Ying, a year younger than Huangfu Jing, being only six, also cried out. Her childish voice, even more tender than Huangfu Jing’s, was filled with a deep sob, and she was already crying.
Huangfu Ying was the daughter of Huangfu Yue’s second elder brother.
“Ling’er doesn’t want to wear shackles either, Ling’er’s hands are already scraped raw by the shackles, it hurts so much!”
The youngest among all of Huangfu Yue’s nieces, Huangfu Ling, who was only five this year, also started crying, and she was crying very loudly.
“Ling’er, be good, don’t cry.” Huangfu Ling’s mother, Zhong Liangshu, who was behind Huangfu Ling, quickly bent down to comfort her daughter.
Seeing her younger sisters crying in a stream, their delicate little hands scraped raw by the shackles, Huangfu Xuan, who had also scraped her skin, sniffled and called out to her mother walking in front of her, “Mother, I also…”
“No crying!” Zheng Taifei suddenly reprimanded sternly.
“You are descendants of my Dai Royal Manor, you are not allowed to show weakness or shed tears in front of others, lest you disgrace the Dai Royal Manor.” Zheng Taifei said sternly to all her great-grandchildren.
Although the little ones didn’t understand why their great-grandmother, who had always been gentle and kind to them, always smiling, had suddenly become so strict, they were frightened by her rare stern expression, finding it terrifying. They quickly wiped away their tears, not daring to cry out in pain anymore.
Zheng Taifei cast a look of satisfaction at her granddaughters-in-law and instructed, “Jiayi, Yuqing, Liangshu, you three keep an eye on the children, don’t let them call out or cry anymore, so as not to cause a large commotion and attract people to gather and watch us…
The sky has completely brightened, and people in nearby houses should have woken up or be waking up.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jiayi, Sun Yuqing, and Zhong Liangshu quickly nodded. Huangfu Yue then revealed a look of understanding.
She understood!
She understood why her proud grandmother had been willing to wear shackles and told them not to resist and to wear them too. It was because her grandmother didn’t want to waste time and wanted to leave the capital as soon as possible, to avoid people in the capital waking up and going onto the streets, seeing them, and mocking, ridiculing, and insulting them. The feeling of that… was unbearable to even think about.
Compared to wearing shackles and being gawked at by the people of the capital, being mocked, ridiculed, and insulted was surely more painful and humiliating.
How glorious the Dai Royal Manor was in the past, its people were like beings from the clouds, how noble. Now, they had become criminals, prisoners, being escorted to exile. Who knew what they would be mocked as.
There was a high chance that some malicious people would take the opportunity to humiliate and bully them, throwing things at them, like vegetable scraps or rotten eggs, just like in the TV shows.
Fortunately, with her memory, they were very close to the city gate. Another short walk and they would reach the city gate and be able to leave the city.
“I can’t walk anymore, my stomach hurts…” a delicate voice suddenly came from behind.
This was Yang Wanqian’s voice. The most pitiful among this group was Yang Wanqian.
Being exiled while pregnant, and her constitution having always been weak, she was already visibly pregnant and was being forcibly dragged along in shackles. One could imagine how she felt. Her body surely couldn’t take it, and it was natural for her stomach to hurt.
“Oh no! Her stomach hurting might mean the pregnancy is unstable, it would be bad if she miscarried!” Xu Yuqing exclaimed.
Upon hearing this, all the members of the Huangfu family turned pale, each showing deep concern.
Just as Zheng Taifei was about to speak, Huangfu Yue spoke first, “With me here, Fourth Sister-in-law will be fine, I will never let her miscarry.”
Huangfu Yue said this with confidence. Facing the gazes of everyone, she explained, “When I was at the border, I studied medicine with the army doctors, and my medical skills are quite good.”
Saying this, she had no worries about being discovered to be lying.
She had only returned to the royal manor not long ago, and the people in the manor knew very little about her life at the border. She could say whatever she wanted, and she did know some medical skills.
As a soldier, she had to know a little of everything, so she had learned some basic medical skills before.
Hearing that Huangfu Yue knew medicine, the Huangfu family members were all somewhat surprised but didn’t doubt her. After the surprise, they felt fortunate, especially Zheng Taifei.
With her granddaughter knowing medicine, they wouldn’t have to worry about getting sick or injured on the road to exile and not finding anyone to treat them.
Before, she had been very worried that the journey of exile would definitely be very difficult, that someone would surely fall ill or get injured, but it would be very hard to find doctors to treat them, and she feared that someone might die on the way.
Now, there was no need to worry!
“Yue’er, quickly go and check on your Fourth Sister-in-law,” Zheng Taifei said.
Huangfu Yue nodded and immediately reached out to take Yang Wanqian’s pulse, who happened to be walking right behind her.
It was indeed a sign of an unstable pregnancy, but the problem was not significant. Taking some medicine would be enough.
Huangfu Yue immediately said to herself, “Medical System, give me a pill that can immediately treat a pregnant woman’s unstable pregnancy, in the form of an ancient medicinal pill.”
The medical system had all kinds of medicine. Asking for it in the form of an ancient medicinal pill was to prevent the medical system from giving her a pill with a modern feel, which might cause suspicion if she gave it to her Fourth Sister-in-law.
Two seconds later, Huangfu Yue felt something appear in her right hand. She knew it was a medicine sent to her by the space’s medical system.
She raised her right hand and opened her palm. Indeed, a common ancient red pill lay in her palm. She immediately brought the pill to Yang Wanqian’s mouth.
“Fourth Sister-in-law, your pregnancy is indeed unstable, which is why your stomach hurts, but taking this pill will make it better. Hurry and take it.”