Chapter 16

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Chapter 16: That Wasn\’t a Pig Demon, It Was Still Du Girl.

On the fifth dawn of exile, Chu Xiulan was dragged from sleep by the fierce ache in her limbs.

Her six-year-old boy still weighed heavy… Carrying the weakened child most of the day before had pushed her to the brink. Only the Wei family girl’s pills had saved her—yesterday’s endless climbs would’ve ended her had she carried him further.

Every muscle screamed. Her head throbbed, limbs crushed as if beneath boulders. After shifting gingerly, she managed to sit up.

There, beside her father-in-law, lay her son sleeping soundly. Drowsiness vanished. Her nerves snapped taut as she scanned the tree roots chaining their family.

Qin Ruoyao’s thin chain snaked rightward. Chu Xiulan turned and locked eyes with Jiang Wu, slumped against the cart with dark shadows beneath *his* eyes. Her gaze followed the chain up the cart’s edge behind him, settling on the small form curled in Du Yinsui’s arms, snoring softly…

Fine. Two children under ten couldn’t be blamed. They’d kept watch the night prior; exhaustion was inevitable.

Seeing all safe, Chu Xiulan’s expression softened. A sigh escaped. Had she or the old man been stronger, the little ones wouldn’t have volunteered.

\"They kept watch well. *I* told them to sleep,\" Jiang Wu whispered urgently, edging closer as he caught her sigh. \"My fault—I’ve collapsed asleep these nights, forgetting the watch. Making children stand guard… I’m…\"

\"You push the cart all day! That’s backbreaking—you *need* sleep. Even without pushing, we’re too weary. The little ones *offered*; said they napped daytime. Don’t fret. Remember—Yao Yao napped on *your* cart yesterday.\" Chu Xiulan’s voice soothed. \"Out here, we’re all close. Any noise wakes half of us. No watch is fine. Now I’m up—you rest.\"

She stood decisively, stepping toward Jiang Wu as if to say: *Sleep. I’ll guard.*

Nearer to him meant nearer to the cart. Then Chu Xiulan saw it—

The cart stood empty. She stared, then turned to Du Yinsui lying sideways. \"The leftover honeysuckle—half a cartful! Did you feed it all to her last night?\"

Jiang Wu: \"…\"

Chu Xiulan took his silence as confirmation. \"Well… I never knew the proper dose anyway.\"

Done was done.

She touched Du Yinsui’s forehead—normal warmth, normal color. But… this?

Her finger brushed green smudges at the girl’s lips. Unsmudged. \"Du girl… why’s her mouth green? Too dark to see—did you grind stems and leaves with the honeysuckle?\"

\"Ah, no. That’s… moldy mung bean cake paste.\" Jiang Wu’s face twisted.

\"*What* paste?\" Chu Xiulan strained to hear.

\"Long story.\" Jiang Wu bit his lip. He’d held this in all night. Since she’d asked…

Before he could explain, Chu Xiulan watched him rise and approach the cart. Left—an empty bowl. Right—two gauze scraps. Then rummaging—out came a familiar pouch and a strange, pocket-covered… vest? Just the front?

\"Long story,\" Jiang Wu repeated, arms full. He sneaked Chu Xiulan away from the cart until their chains pulled taut.

Qin Ruoyao’s backside was thus spared—for now.

Jiang Wu began his tale: last night’s events, each item’s journey…

Chu Xiulan clutched the pouch. Shock warred with guilt: a three-year-old hiding mung bean cakes *ten days* under her nose? Or had she been too harsh, restricting sweets so severely the child dared not confess?

Her heart ached. The poor thing—starved for sweetness—stole a plate from the kitchen only for soldiers to storm in. Searched before imprisonment… yet some kind soul merely crushed the cakes. Not one bite taken. Not one.

Then came the memory: these sweet cakes were *sickness* treats. And the child gave her treasure to feverish Du Yinsui. Qin Chongli claimed illness to refuse repayment. And Haoyang… who might’ve tattled if he’d seen her midnight snack.

Such… *generosity*.

Oh yes. This bellyache… Father would be *so* proud.

As Jiang Wu spoke—the child’s kindness, her son’s delayed realization, two little fools scrambling for moldy crumbs at the bowl’s bottom—Chu Xiulan’s eyes welled. Heartbreak and laughter tangled. Tears threatened.

Just then, Jiang Wu described it—the shadow that sat bolt upright and snatched the moldy bowl.

\"What? You say Du girl woke up and sat up?\" Tears fell from Chu Xiulan\’s eyes, leaving only physical traces, her heart filled with shock.

\"Yes, and she even cleaned the bowl,\" Jiang Wu pointed to the bowl he had deliberately brought out.

\"She sat up and licked the bowl clean?\" Chu Xiulan glanced at the shining bowl, as if it had been washed.

\"Cleaned it up…\" Jiang Wu tried to help Du Yinsui maintain some dignity in a small voice.

Chu Xiulan didn\’t care about these details, suddenly realizing: \"Wait, didn\’t Yao Yao give Du girl the most food? Why didn\’t she have diarrhea?\" Not only did she not have diarrhea, but she hadn\’t gone to the bathroom in days.

\"So, Sister Chu, do you think… Du girl might have been hurt?\" Jiang Wu asked quietly.

This was one of the main reasons Jiang Wu wanted to tell Chu Xiulan about these things early in the morning. He genuinely thought Du Yinsui might have hit her head.

\"…\" Chu Xiulan furrowed her brow, \"Hard to say, maybe she just didn\’t need to go. She woke up last night and didn\’t feel the need then?\"

Jiang Wu shook his head and picked up the two pieces of gauze, \"This is…\"

Chu Xiulan was still in shock from the moldy mung bean paste story when Jiang Wu plunged her thoughts into the mess of rotten eggs the next second.

\"So, Du girl woke up, licked the moldy mung bean paste bowl clean, ate six rotten boiled eggs, then just consumed a bunch of flour… and then chewed on the remaining honeysuckle from the cart?\" Chu Xiulan felt dizzy, deciding to sit down.

Oh heavens! What was Jiang Wu talking about?

Chu Xiulan looked down at the half vest with six small pockets in her hand, no… it should be called a flour-pouch vest specially sewn for a snugger fit. If Jiang Wu hadn’t pulled this thing out, with small pockets containing actual flour, Chu Xiulan might have thought he was delirious. What was all this talk? Was he describing Du girl, or a greedy spirit?

Oh, of course, with evidence in hand, it wasn\’t a greedy spirit, but still Du (Pig) girl.

Chu Xiulan felt quite bewildered.

Beside her, Jiang Wu squatted down, earnestly explaining, \"They weren\’t outright rotten boiled eggs, just raw eggs boiled in water until set, then fished out and left to ferment.\"

Was the shape of the eggs really important now? Chu Xiulan pressed her forehead.

If Aunt Tian from Sanqiao Post Station could hear Chu Xiulan’s thoughts at that moment, she\’d nod seriously and say, \"Yes, that\’s quite important!\" After all, there they had a postmaster who would often come to the kitchen to look at eggshells. Boiled eggs could be sent, but the shells were never to be given away. Raw and cooked eggshells were significantly different.

The curiosity of Sanqiao Post Station hadn\’t been fully appreciated.

But it’s alright; Chu Xiulan was already experiencing more extraordinary encounters.

\"So, pig… putting that aside, did Du girl show any other strange behaviors? Did she say anything to you? Did she sleep after eating?\" Chu Xiulan tried to rationally analyze the increasingly bizarre situation.

\"No, she didn\’t sleep. She fainted,\" Jiang Wu responded honestly.

\"Fainted?!\" Chu Xiulan almost lost her breath. What had they been talking about all this time? She had fainted!

Jiang Wu hesitated a moment before speaking again, \"But, can people usually say \’Ah, I’m fainting\’ before they actually do?\"

Yes, Chu Xiulan thought her past self could have managed to say that before fainting.

\"So, did she just say that and then faint?\" Chu Xiulan confirmed again.

\"Not exactly. She also told me not to throw away any rotten or spoiled food in the future, that she could eat it all. She said with herbs, no matter what or how many, I should gather them all because she could eat them. Then she said…\" Jiang Wu replied slowly, suddenly stopping.

\"Said what?\" Chu Xiulan wanted to call her father-in-law to ask if Jiang Wu had learned this roundabout way of speaking from him.

Jiang Wu didn\’t answer immediately, but pursed his lips, his eyes slightly downcast.

Seeing Jiang Wu’s gradually reddening face, Chu Xiulan suddenly felt she shouldn’t have pressed further.

\"She also said she wanted me to point out who she meant, telling me to drink the water issued every morning and evening, and just spoon her a few bowls of river water to drink,\" Jiang Wu\’s face reddened slightly, his voice small. \"I told her no, she couldn’t drink raw river water, outdoor water must be boiled to drink, or she\’d fall ill. I was afraid she wouldn’t believe it, so I cited two examples from books for her, and then… she just said she was fainting and fainted.\"

Chu Xiulan thought she was about to hear something incredible.

Was that it? Why blush over that?

Come to think of it, did she truly faint, or was she just lulling from listening too much…

They didn’t come to a concrete conclusion, but as they spoke, the sky brightened significantly.

Activity could be seen among the guards resting in the distance, and it seemed they\’d soon come to call the prisoners.

\"So, Sister Chu, do you think Du girl might have been hurt?\" Jiang Wu still worried over this matter.

Honestly, Chu Xiulan, who hadn\’t seen Du Yinsui’s conscious state, suspected something else might be wrong with someone else.

\"We’ll see how things go today,\" Chu Xiulan, unable to make sense of it, decided to consult her father-in-law\’s judgement, then handed the \"food clothing\" to Jiang Wu. \"The old lady specifically said it was for you; you eat it.\"

\"We got some already, these you…\" Jiang Wu handed it back.

But Chu Xiulan quickly pushed it back toward him.

\"Better to give your pig…\" Chu Xiulan paused, her mind faltered, her face turning bright red in an instant.