55 Settle Your Scores With Me
“Su Ying, my eyes hurt. Help me take a look.”
The veins on Su Ying’s forehead bulged momentarily, and she turned to glare at Xiao Jin. “Your eyes have already hurt three times this morning!” Couldn’t this guy conduct himself properly?
Xiao Jin frowned slightly, and he appeared a little aggrieved. “It really hurts a little.”
“Father, what’s wrong? Let me blow for you.”
Xiao Jin picked up the younger toddler Ling and lowered his eyes. “Father is fine.”
“But Father’s eyes are red. It must be very painful…” Ling’s childish voice was filled with certainty.
“Mother, Father is so pitiful…”
Su Ying simply couldn’t resist the child’s beseeching eyes. She could only admit defeat and turned her eyes to look at Xiao Jin’s face again. She had already looked at him countless times this morning.
She moved closer to him to take a look and realized that his eyes were indeed a little red-rimmed. “Does it hurt? Does it itch?”
Xiao Jin slowly raised his eyes and looked at Su Ying’s face, which was very close to him. “It feels a little warm.”
“Inflammation? That can’t be.” Su Ying gently blew on his eyes a few times. “How about now? Are you feeling better?”
Before Xiao Jin could say anything, the carriage suddenly jolted. Su Ying lost her balance, and her whole face was pressed against Xiao Jin’s right cheek.
“Oof!”
Su Ying steadied herself against the carriage and straightened her body, rubbing her sore nose. She raised her head and realized that she had wrapped Xiao Jin in her arms.
Her heart skipped a beat and she pushed herself away in a flash as if she had seen a ghost.
Xiao Jin moved his face away without any expression. “Be more careful yourself.”
Su Ying rubbed her nose and felt that something was wrong somewhere, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
After resting at noon, when they set off again, Su Ying simply took over Cheng Ming’s job of herding the oxen and goats so that Xiao Jin wouldn’t have any chance to summon her for no rhyme or reason again.
The closer they got to Yan City’s Western Pass, the fewer people there were. The scorching sun above their heads could melt people.
“Uncle Hea, when will we reach Yan City’s Western Pass at our current pace?”
Hea Shouyi lifted his straw hat, looked at the endless road ahead, and said, “At our current speed, we should be able to reach that place in less than ten days.”
Ten days wasn’t really a long time.
After the sun had set, the group settled down in Gebi Desert.
During the day, everyone felt that the sun could melt them, but at night, when they set foot in the desert, they felt so cold that their teeth were chattering. When the wind blew, it even caused goosebumps to pop up all over their bodies.
However, unbeknownst to everyone, Su Ying would always stick a heating pad on everyone’s body every night to ensure they wouldn’t catch a cold.
There was nothing in the Gebi Desert as far as the eyes could see, so Su Ying didn’t go anywhere after they settled down. She stayed with the children.
“There’s no justice. The person who caused our family to suffer is now eating and drinking well all day. The heavens are blind! My son is about to die in this Gebi Desert, but the person who harmed him is still fine even if his legs are crippled. Oh heavens, open your eyes and take a good look at us pitiful people.”
A woman in ragged clothes suddenly rushed to the pot that Hea Shouyi and the others had set up. She slapped her thigh and wailed while cursing at Xiao Jin in a roundabout way.
Su Ying looked at the old lady and pondered for a while. She was sure that she had no recollection of this person in her memory.
“It’s Madam Sun.” Jiang Yang recognized the old lady and walked up to her.
However, the old woman seemed to have found an outlet to vent her anger. She reached out and hit Jiang Yang. “It’s all because of you cursed lot. What does it have to do with us if you want to rebel? Now, my son is implicated and he’s about to lose his life. My pitiful son…”
Madam Sun pounded Jiang Yang’s body with all her might. Jiang Yang frowned but didn’t dodge. “Madam Sun, calm down. Did something happen to Deputy General Wang?”
Deputy General Wang was one of Xiao Jin’s capable generals on the battlefield. After Xiao Jin was imprisoned, Deputy General Wang’s whole family was also punished.
“My son is dying and it’s all because of you guys!” After hitting Jiang Yang for a while, Madam Sun sank to the ground due to her weak body and began crying and wailing loudly.
Jiang Yang turned to look at Xiao Jin with a troubled look.
Xiao Jin supported his body with his hands and came to Madam Sun. “Madam Sun, if you’re angry, you can vent it on me.”
Madam Sun glared at Xiao Jin resentfully. She grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it at him.
Xiao Jin didn’t dodge and endured the hits.
When the two little ones saw Xiao Jin being hit by rocks, they quickly ran over on their tiny legs to protect Xiao Jin.
“No! You’re not allowed to bully Father.”
“Don’t be afraid, Father. We’ll protect you!”
Madam Sun was blinded by anger, so she didn’t care if they were children or not. She simply threw the rocks in her hand at them!
As far as Su Ying was concerned, the two children’s safety was the line that no one could cross.
She quickly stepped forward and grabbed Madam Sun’s hand. She glared at her icily and said, “If you have any anger, direct it at me.”
What Su Ying didn’t know was that other than Xiao Jin and a few of his trusted aides, no one else knew that she had framed Xiao Jin. They all thought that Xiao Jin really wanted to rebel, which led to the rest of them being implicated and exiled.
Madam Sun had seen how terrifying Su Ying was, and she didn’t dare to provoke her. However, when she thought of her dying son, she felt angry all over again.
“You… you will all die a terrible death, a terrible death!”
Su Ying let go of her hand and stood in front of her with a stern face. “I’m only going to say this once. The exile punishment was caused by me, Su Ying. It has nothing to do with Xiao Jin. If you’re unhappy, take it out on me.”
Since Su Ying was using this body, she didn’t intend to escape from the mistakes that the original owner had made. Otherwise, with her temper, she would have left long ago without a care in the world.
She stayed behind specifically to make up for the stupid things the original owner had done.
Madam Sun saw that Su Ying didn’t seem to be lying, and so in a fit of anger, she slapped Su Ying.
A glint of vicious anger flashed across Su Ying’s eyes as she was caught off guard by that slap that hit home.
“Mother! You’re not allowed to hit Mother!”
The two little ones wanted to rush over, but Su Ying stopped them.
“Be good and don’t come over. Mother will solve this matter herself.”
When Madam Sun saw that Su Ying really didn’t retaliate, she thought that Su Ying was afraid and raised her hand to continue hitting her.
Su Ying endured it earlier as she was caught off guard, but when Madam Sun hit her repeatedly, she wasn’t going to put up with the old woman anymore.
Su Ying grabbed her hand, and her eyes were filled with killing intent. “Old hag, you’re looking for death!”
Madam Sun was so scared that her face turned pale. She immediately broke free from Su Ying’s grip and slapped her thigh as she wailed, “My poor son, what sin have you committed? If it weren’t for these cursed people, you wouldn’t have ended up in such a sorry state.”
When Jiang Yang saw Madam Sun crying in such a heartfelt manner, he became concerned about his comrade. “Madam Sun, tell us what happened to Wang Lang. Take us to see him. Maybe he can be saved.”
Madam Sun jumped up and said, “My son is dying. Do you still want to hurt him? I don’t need your hypocrisy. You just need to hand over the food and water.”
Xiao Jin frowned when he heard this. When she saw his reaction, Su Ying said, “You care about her son?”
Xiao Jin replied upon hearing her query, “Yes. He’s a battle comrade who has gone through thick and thin with us. He’s a trustworthy person.”
“I understand,” Su Ying said after some thought. After she finished speaking, she walked up to Madam Sun.