Chapter 3

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Chapter 3: "I Am Also a Woman…"

In the low, damp, and musty storeroom, two people whispered in despair, caught between clinging to life and wishing for death.

Outside, in the yard where half-dried radishes were laid out, Liu Lao Wu eagerly led a horse. He hadn’t taken more than two steps when he heard Tan Wang say lightly, "Stay here and keep watch."

Liu Lao Wu quickly forced a smile and glanced back, but realizing Tan Wang wasn’t addressing him, he wisely sped up, leading the horse toward the kitchen on the other side.

"This is Sanqiao Post Station, our own turf…" Zhao Qi began habitually, but cut himself short with a self-mocking laugh, stopping to nod. "Alright, I’ll keep watch here."

Getting agreement so easily only darkened Tan Wang’s already stern expression. "Why agree so fast this time? Normally, you’d argue this busy place only needs the courtyard locked since prisoners are chained inside, and post staff can watch them—just like before."

"Hahaha, Tan, you know me well. Those words could’ve come from my own mouth," Zhao Qi chuckled awkwardly, glancing at the storeroom’s open door, his gaze turning somber. "But this time’s different. We’ve escorted many exiles over the years, yet never one so… privileged."

"Exiles share one status," Tan Wang caught Zhao Qi’s sarcasm and frowned deeper. After a pause, he added bluntly, "I don’t know who approached you, but Old Qi, for the sake of our journeys north and shared brushes with death, listen: some aren’t to be touched. Like every Linzhou assignment, this is routine."

"No one approached me…" Zhao Qi denied instinctively.

"You’re usually lazy. Agreeing so fast aside, volunteering to escort with me? Since when?" Tan Wang cut him off, pressing on. "Earlier, when two jumped the slope, you rushed down with me to search. Would you ever have done that before? You wouldn’t even hold a rope unless forced."

Tan Wang’s words hit home.

Zhao Qi’s face stiffened briefly. Then his eyes darted, and a sly grin returned. "Tan, I’m not the only one taking bribes. If they sought a lowly guard like me, why skip you, the head? What did they ask of you? Aren’t we aligned? Would anyone in the capital wish her well?"

Tan Wang: "…"

"I get it—it’s extra, outside our usual split," Zhao Qi admitted foolishly. Even if he was crooked, it made no sense to bypass Tan Wang for him. But with Tan Wang involved, things got easier.

Seeing Zhao Qi lean in conspiratorially, Tan Wang snorted.

"Our task remains unchanged: escort these exiles to Linzhou," Tan Wang said coldly, his scars stark as his sword sheath clanged. "I repeat: do nothing extra. Or I won’t hold back."

Just like before—but how?

Zhao Qi wavered under Tan Wang’s intensity but still frowned in confusion.

"So we’ll still pinch money on the road, like always?" Zhao Qi avoided his own plans, eyeing Liu Lao Wu by the distant kitchen.

"Yes, like always," Tan Wang eased slightly but stressed, "Stick to our duties. Some matters aren’t for our kind."

So they’d share the usual take, but his side earnings were blocked.

Though not close, their history mattered. Unconvinced, Zhao Qi said bluntly, "I won’t do much—just rough them up on the way—"

"I don’t want to know," Tan Wang interrupted.

"But the one who came to me is—" Zhao Qi persisted.

Tan Wang raised his sheath. "I said I don’t want to know. Last warning: no extra steps. She’s a regular exile."

Zhao Qi: "…"

One left after his warning; the other stood baffled, fury simmering.

Liu Lao Wu led the horse and cart away with the fierce guard, yet Aunt Tian’s heart stayed tight.

Because the guard remaining—brow furrowed, anger barely contained—seemed scarier than the one who’d left.

If possible, Aunt Tian would’ve avoided him. But she couldn’t.

After assigning her evening tasks, Liu Lao Wu had tossed in, "When you’re done, take cloth strips to bandage their wounds."

It was life or death. Though reluctant, Aunt Tian couldn’t delay until her work was finished.

Thus, Aunt Tian could only clutch a few fabric scraps, carefully edging towards the storeroom. Although she tried to walk quietly, the guard in the yard snapped his head up like a dog and glared, scaring her into raising the scraps. Luckily, he only gave her a mean look and didn’t bother her further.

Aunt Tian hurried into the low, broken room and sighed in relief. But the musty air made her cough hard.

"Cough… fabric… cough, cough…" Her eyes watered from coughing, but even blurry, she saw the brown prison clothes on the figure in the corner. She only dared to fold the fabric into a ball and toss it from far away.

The guards looked fierce, but these prisoners, guilty of unknown crimes, seemed even scarier.

Aunt Tian saw the person catch the fabric and turned to leave.

"Granny, could you watch the door a bit so I can check her wounds?" came a soft female voice from behind. Aunt Tian pretended not to hear.

They were just prisoners…

Aunt Tian braced herself and took a step forward, standing by the wall near the door.

In the corner, Jiang Wu didn’t get a reply from Aunt Tian, but seeing her move, saying thanks wasn’t needed. The important thing was to use her kindness fast.

Jiang Wu knew he was the reason this young palace maid had fallen so low. Though not welcomed in the prison, he had kept his distance. But after Du Yinsui tried to hang herself the night before, Jiang Wu stopped caring and watched her closely all day. Yet who could have guessed, with him guarding one side, Du Yinsui would jump from the other?

It wasn’t a cliff, but the hill was steep. Jiang Wu jumped down to save her but had to protect himself first. Even in a hurry, he had to leap carefully over rocks, slower than Du Yinsui’s straight fall.

When he reached the bottom, he could only watch the small palace maid lie limp on the ground, her empty eyes slowly closing.

At that moment, Jiang Wu thought he was too late and nearly passed out.

Luckily, she was still alive.

At the slope’s bottom, before their pursuers came, Jiang Wu quickly checked Du Yinsui’s injuries. The worst were a cut on her head, a likely broken left leg and wrist, and small scratches on her clothes from rolling down.

Liu Lao Wu’s medicine was better than before, as the two biggest wounds on her head and leg had stopped bleeding for now.

Now, Jiang Wu feared he might have missed some injuries in the confusion and wanted to check again.

But thinking it and doing it were different.

Before, Jiang Wu, focused on saving her, acted fast.

But now…

Du Yinsui was hungry, and the sudden smell of radish and beans nearby made it worse. She desperately wished the person had thrown food, not cloth. Why did the cloth smell so good? Maybe she should taste it.

Could she have misheard, and it was "radish" not "cloth"? She felt very weak from hunger. Recalling, it wasn’t her imagination… after five days in jail and two in exile, she had only eaten three bowls of porridge and one and a half black buns. If not poisoned, she’d starve!

Fine, if it’s cloth, let her chew on it!

As Jiang Wu quickly recited "I too am a woman" three times in his head, he carefully lifted Du Yinsui’s prison clothes, about to loosen her undergarment when a loud noise shattered the silence.

Aunt Tian, already nervous like a scared bird, jerked her head back in shock.

She then saw a woman in prison clothes, hands high, eyes more scared than hers, declare, "I too am a woman!"

"…" Aunt Tian glanced at her neat black hair, totally confused.

Wait, had she seen this girl somewhere before…

Before she could look closer, a thunderous growl sounded.

Only one person could lose composure here.

Jiang Wu lowered his head slightly. "It was me."

"I heard it was her," Aunt Tian accidentally spoke up, unable to stop herself.

Ah, why couldn’t she keep quiet!

Aunt Tian covered her mouth, regretting it.

Du Yinsui laughed to herself—in this mess, someone was still politely taking the blame?

Yes, it’s me. Definitely me! Starving me!