Chapter 7
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Chapter 7: Her sense of smell didn\’t abandon her…
What meat?
Was it the braised meat from outside?
Du Yinsui\’s craving soul perked up.
The earlier porridge was tasty, but the smell of braised meat drifting in from outside was even better.
Even with only an ordinary person\’s sense of smell, Du Yinsui could recognize the long-lost scent of real pork!
After seven years in the apocalypse, she was truly tired of cheap, bitter survival soups and artificially bred white-skinned pigs that stank a hundred times worse than normal pork.
What did normal braised pork smell like…? Before the exile group arrived, Du Yinsui tried hard to smell the braised scent through the half-open door, fighting the musty air in the room. Her intense hunger almost pushed her sense of smell to its limit, and for a brief moment, she felt like her sharp ability had returned.
She caught the thick smell of beans and radishes that had lost moisture, which seemed plentiful and comforting. But among the good food smells was the unwelcome odor of the guards, like a rat in a pot of porridge. A bit farther off, a big pot bubbled with pork, radishes, beans, and lotus roots, simply cooked with green onions, ginger, and sauce, making it smell delicious. The warm steam carried the scent of steamed buns made from different flours. Nearby, there seemed to be freshly baked flatbreads with a toasted smell, and quite a few of them. Among all these smells, she picked up the scent of the old woman who had brought buns and water earlier.
The smells only lasted a moment. They weren\’t too far away, but not very clear either. She couldn\’t catch more details, and it was nothing like her peak sense of smell from the apocalypse.
But clearly, that moment was real and not something an ordinary person could sense.
Du Yinsui confirmed again that her special smell ability hadn\’t left her since she came here.
Sadly, no matter how hard she tried afterward, she couldn\’t make it happen again.
Her sense of smell, like this body, wasn\’t fully under her control, which was frustrating.
However…
It seemed hunger and craving could trigger it.
Like now, Du Yinsui was really curious if the neighbors had bought that tasty braised meat. Her stomach, which had quieted after eating porridge, started rumbling loudly again, and she actually smelled something!
Ignoring the braised meat smells and busy people from the yard or kitchen, the noisy room next door had lots of people, men, women, and children. There was no meat smell, just many burnt grain scents. The base smell was like the baked bread she\’d sniffed near the meat pot before, but… not as burnt or sour? Hmm… there were also some foods without a baked smell; two smelled like the buns from that old woman, and two seemed even more fragrant.
So fragrant, so tempting!
Wait, what was that sweeter smell…
From the room beyond that, what was that sweet scent? And that creamy one—not from a baby—wasn\’t it milk?
Which family was eating so well?
Du Yinsui tried to smell more, but the next moment, she could only smell the musty air in her own room again.
Tsk tsk tsk, exiled together, but such different lives.
Having survived the apocalypse, Du Yinsui was just curious and sighed, but Qin Chongli was truly angry.
Qin Chongli lived a righteous life, hoping for a wise ruler and peaceful times.
In his eyes, a corrupt official like Kong Fangqiu, who hurt the people of Fengzhou over and over, was a pest. He wished Kong could suffer like the people before being destroyed.
But such scum traveled with two donkey carts, walking little and now buying flour and meat, as if the exile was a holiday.
Fuming, Qin Chongli clenched his fists and beat his knees, but he couldn\’t do anything about Kong Fangqiu.
When the investigation into the Kong family started, before any solid proof was found, they admitted guilt and gave up all their property. They even dug up secret silver buried in their ancestral grave that only Kong Fangqiu knew about. Their confession was so good, revealing two more corruption cases, like turning back before it was too late. With political balances, they only got exile.
Though the Kong family was broke, Kong Fangqiu\’s wife stayed loyal. Her family ignored gossip and gave two donkey carts of luggage at the start of the exile. Her family had official rank, a rank-three magistrate. Sending this surely meant impeachment letters to the emperor the next day, but they did it anyway.
The path of exile was long and arduous, and receiving aid from family and friends was a reasonable gesture. However, people often curried favor with the powerful and avoided the fallen. Many who had connections distanced themselves to escape association when someone fell into such a state. Whether Kong Fangqiu\’s in-laws truly valued righteousness and loyalty, or if there was another reason, the two donkey carts of goods were undeniably real.
Qin Chongli wasn’t envious, just momentarily baffled by the fact that wrongdoers received beneficial treatment.
And it wasn’t only the Kong family…
When they departed the Capital at dawn, even Jiang Wu’s second uncle, Yong’an Bo—who retained his title—had arrived to see them off. Out of family loyalty, he brought luggage for Jiang Wu, whose noble title was stripped, and his exiled uncle’s family.
Naturally, Yong’an Bo, who had secured his position by exploiting the Crown Prince\’s secret while implicating others, got spat on several times by his elder brother. But despite that, they didn’t hesitate to accept the luggage…
So, the corrupt received donkey carts, those who meddled in royal affairs got large packages, and even accomplices, like Jiang Wu’s wet nurse\’s family, received goods of unknown origin.
Yet…
After eavesdropping on the noises from next door, Qin Chongli sullenly leaned against the wall and glanced at the young boy seated nearby with his back to him.
Why, was familial affection reserved only for siblings, while a nephew was like a foundling? Not afraid of being implicated by a brother, yet hesitant to send more to a nephew?
He was still wearing those soup-stained clothes, and his soft-soled palace shoes—how far could they take him on the exile road!
Qin Chongli suddenly remembered that he wasn’t dealing with his Crown Prince anymore; there was a gender difference, and he quickly shifted his gaze from his feet. A sideways glance landed on his little granddaughter, who was now smeared with dirt, resembling a sootball.
With decades of government service, it seemed Qin Chongli had failed both in official duty and personal life.
There was a difference between not wanting to burden others and having no others to burden.
Though Qin Chongli wouldn’t admit it, near the end of his life, he truly envied those who had what he lacked.
Qin Chongli found himself torn between reality and his principles, caught in a whirlwind of regret and introspection.
Unfortunately, Du Yinsui wasn’t at her peak; she couldn’t sense the old man’s turmoil. If she could, she might have said, “Every mortal being has needs—envy and jealousy are human nature, don’t pride yourself on unattainable sage-like detachment.”
“Father, are you alright?” Chu Xiulan noticed her father-in-law’s slumped shoulders and asked with concern.
“I am the incapable one, letting you all suffer,” Qin Chongli shook his head, murmuring in regret.
Chu Xiulan glanced at the wall behind her father-in-law and softly reassured, “Father, when the south receives word…”
Her comfort remained unfinished as she recalled the people who delivered goods the day before and the equally empty-handed Jiang Wu beside them.
Qin Chongli understood Chu Xiulan\’s meaning.
This daughter-in-law, though from a merchant family, was pampered at home. The incident happened swiftly, with resolutions just as fast, leaving the Chu family in the distant southwestern Qiongzhou uninformed. Otherwise, they would surely have come.
When imprisoned, Qin Chongli wished to grant Chu Xiulan a divorce order on behalf of his deceased son. Chu Xiulan wasn’t inflexible; she intended to reclaim her dowry, gaining independence and funds to follow them north, enabling her to care for others along the way. Unexpectedly, the divorce order couldn’t be processed, whether due to intent to obstruct them or anticipating their plan, so the authorities denied such convenience for the Qin family.
After discussing at length, they gave up on forcing it. Even if successful, remaining in the Capital\’s turbulent waters, defying others could invite more trouble.
When Qiongzhou could receive news, or how the Chu family would react upon knowing, were matters for later. Qin Chongli knew Chu Xiulan sought to comfort him, which only deepened his guilt.
Still, neither dared prolong the conversation, fearing their mutual apologies would burden Jiang Wu.
The room fell silent again, even Du Yinsui’s grumbling stomach softened.
The little one, now dirtied from rolling on straw, moved closer to the source of the noise, saying, “Grumble sickness, big one, got smaller.”
“Yes, after eating supper, the grumble sickness will get even smaller,” Jiang Wu said, gently removing the straw clinging to her hair.
The exile convoy’s arrival quieted Du Yinsui\’s stomach rumblings somewhat, no longer startling Jiang Wu and Aunt Tian like a sudden clap of thunder.
Jiang Wu realized the noise was purely from hunger…
As for why such loud hunger, Jiang Wu could only pray it wasn’t due to a fall.
Perhaps the neighbors had procured decent food, for their sounds dwindled to near silence.
Much time passed—a span in which Jiang Wu heard a new, soft grumble behind him—before their own door stirred at last.
The lock on the worn wooden door clicked, and Jiang Wu saw that the person opening it was the young guard he’d asked to carry a message to Tan. A hint of hope flickered in his eyes.
