The head of the Mu family

Chapter 168 Seasickness

"Please, Master, don't abandon us!"

The older one said that the two of them knelt down together on the road.

“If you have something to say, get up and talk to me. Don’t you understand?”

"Keep your contracts of indenture yourselves. You no longer have masters; you are your own masters."

The two children just knelt and cried, holding the indenture, money bag, and two purses in their hands.

"Get up! What kind of appearance is it to kneel on the road!"

Huaisheng and Muxu shared some food with the two children who were crying beside them.

After resting for a while, Huaisheng told everyone to set off, leaving the two children to follow him without paying them any attention.

We stayed at an inn that night, and the two children stayed with us outside, not coming in.

Huai Sheng asked them to get some food, and that was all.

This continued for several days in a row, and the two children were so dirty that they had lost all their delicate features.

Huai Sheng and his group detoured through Pianzhou and took the sea route to Pengcheng.

The two children were finally unable to board the boat, so Huai Sheng had Uncle Xiao Mo throw them another bag of silver before turning around and going into the cabin.

After a while, someone shouted:

"Oh no! Someone has fallen into the water!"

A moment later, they heard someone shouting. When they went out to look, they saw two children in the sea, desperately struggling towards the boat.

Huai Sheng was a little puzzled:

This shouldn't be happening! What's going on?

"Uncle Mo, tell the boatman to stop the boat and rescue them."

Uncle Mo quickly followed the instructions to inform the boatman, and Mu Xu also went to help.

After the two children came up, they were quickly made to wash their hair with warm water and dry it. Huaisheng then had someone heat up a pot of ginger tea for them on the stove.

The group came out dressed in men's clothing. After washing and drying them, we found two sets of clothes for them to change into.

After the two finished drinking the ginger tea, they went to see Huaisheng and quickly placed the indenture and silver on the table next to Huaisheng.

"Why are you following me?"

The two looked at each other, and after a long while, the one with the larger voice spoke.

“We followed you because we chose to.”

At first, knowing that we were going to be given away as objects, we were prepared to die in order to preserve our integrity.

Previously in Yingtian, we both voluntarily got sold there to save our families.

Although they kept their promise and rescued them, our mother and sisters had already suffered endless humiliation, and they committed suicide after being rescued.

After hearing the news, we also planned to reunite as a family.

Unfortunately, the methods there were formidable, and he failed to die several times.

Two years ago, a man surnamed Dou came and forcibly took the two of us to Beijing.

You took us to see your free medical consultations for the people, and after we stopped resisting so much, you took us to deliver things to General Huo's residence.

This tells us how you treated Hoff.

The person surnamed Dou gave us a choice:

Either I'll serve you for the rest of my life.

Either we return penniless and earn enough money to save our families, then we'll be released.

As time went by and we gradually came to know you, we all willingly looked forward to serving you.

Deep down, I felt ashamed that having been to such a place, I was unworthy to serve you.

"Hey! Don't think like that."

No, it's not...

"No, listen to me. Later, the man surnamed Dou kept feeding and drinking us well, letting us recover from our injuries, practice martial arts, and read books."

Just having this skin wouldn't be enough for you.

We secretly visit your free clinics, and the more we learn about you, the more ashamed we feel of ourselves.

There are many doctors offering free medical consultations across the country; you are still young and haven't seen many.

"No, many of the poor people you helped no longer have any relatives."

Many, living in such a living hell, were still struggling to survive.

What I remember most is a mute man who sold roasted sweet potatoes; his elderly father was also deaf and blind.

You not only provide them with free medical consultations and medicine, but you also buy their sweet potatoes for each consultation and distribute them to those who are receiving treatment.

We also saw that during your free clinic, you secretly gave people clothes and rice.

The food you distribute during your free clinics is all bought from the homes of those poor people.

They were also taught to recognize commonly used herbs, and told to sell them to them when they found them during the free clinic. If they left, they could dry them and sell them to pharmacies.

We just want to at least live a healthy life, and follow you so that we can do things that benefit more people.

We have all read many books, but none of them have ever moved us so deeply.

The man surnamed Dou said that you don't like weak and scholarly people, so we diligently practiced martial arts every day.

I don't aspire to become a master of martial arts; I just hope to catch your eye.

I didn't expect that you still didn't like us.

However, we don't want to give up. We'd be happy to do anything with you.

"I...

I don't need anyone to 'serve' me, whether it's you or anyone else.

If you want to follow me, I will arrange other work for you, but there are two conditions:

First, never betray the Lord, or I will make the betrayer wish he were dead.

Second, you must never again entertain the absurd thought of wanting to 'serve' me.

If you can do that, then explain your origins, and from now on, address me as 'Patriarch' just like they do. From now on, you will be members of the Mu family.

"Yes! We can do it!"

The two spoke in unison, the older one saying:

"Let me tell you, I am the eldest son of the Su family of Gusu. Ten years ago, I was the most favored concubine in the palace, and later the Noble Consort Su was my eldest sister."

Later, due to court intrigues, Consort Su committed suicide. My entire female family was first confined to official brothels, and then sentenced to be whipped and exiled.

His older sister was Ge Meiren, and she suffered the same fate as my eldest sister, as did his family...

My older sister's loyal followers risked their lives to save him and me.

Knowing Qin Huai's background of being incorruptible, we went to his door to ask for his help, as I have already told you.

My name is Su Dingliang, and I'm just fifteen. His name is Ge Rong'an, and he's a year younger than me.

"Have you thought this through? If you come with me, you'll have to leave your homes and families behind."

"I would rather die a hundred times than regret it!"

"I'm just like Brother Su!"

Huai Sheng arranged for the two of them to sleep in the same cabin as Uncle Xiao Mo and the others.

I started reading for a while, but after a while I felt a little dizzy, so I rested for a bit.

During dinner, Mengyao collapsed from seasickness!

Before boarding the ship, everyone took some seasickness medicine, which helped them get through the day. The others were also pale-faced but managed to stay upright.

Huai Sheng quickly ordered more seasickness medicine to be brewed, and Uncle Xiao Mo called on Ding Liang and Rong An, two children who were fine, to help.

Finally, everyone was able to go to sleep at night.

Huaisheng: There is a big difference between boats on rivers and boats at sea.

The next day, Qingchen also collapsed. She was still taking seasickness medicine and couldn't eat any seafood.

On the third day, Uncle Mo and Huaisheng also collapsed. Mu Xu was still struggling to keep going, brewing medicine for the two children and taking care of everyone.

On the fourth day, with only two children left, Huaisheng decided to dock at Guazhou and change to a horse-drawn carriage to go to Pengcheng.

The boatman said it would take another two days to reach Guazhou.

Everyone: It's worse than death!

When we arrived in Guazhou at the end of April, we all still felt like we were on a boat.

It was all thanks to the two children finding the nearest inn, calling a carriage to help the group onto the carriage, and transporting them to the inn.

Ding Liang then went to hand over the luggage to the boatman and paid the fare. He returned and reported:

“Master, since we disembarked midway before reaching our destination, I paid the fare based on the fare to Pengcheng.”

"That's how it should be~ You've all worked hard, go and get some rest~"

“Rong An is taking care of Uncle Mo and Brother Xu in the next room. I’m at the door here. If the head of the family or the two sisters need anything, just call me.”

"Ask the shopkeeper for a recliner and a screen, and sleep in the room. Don't be so particular when you're traveling."

Rong An responded and left. Every night, as soon as the child heard Huai Sheng cough, he would immediately come over to pour water for him.