The Twenty-Eighth Section: Suffering
The old lady, Mrs. Yun, sat in the carriage of the Cheng family, surrounded by guards, and redeemed the remaining six young girls who were sold to other families as maids from the Yun family. Every time she saw one of them safely returned, her face lit up with a smile, until all six were back, and she was overjoyed, hugging this one and kissing that one. These were all her darlings, and she examined each child to see if they had been injured or mistreated. If any had been hurt, she cursed the master of the house for being inhumane; if any had suffered, she held them in her arms and shed tears. Seeing all eight of her beloved granddaughters surrounding her, hugging and eating snacks together, she felt that all her past hardships were nothing compared to this moment. These were the daughters of her sons-in-law, some from the elder brother's family and some from the younger brother's, all unwanted by their families and considered unlucky stars, ranging in age from seven to twelve, but Mrs. Yun thought they were all heavenly angels descended to earth.
"Grandma, you won't send me to the Zhang's house again, will you? Their young master always beats me and lets their dog chase me, I'm scared." The old lady lifted up Xiaonan's skirt, her legs were covered in scars, it pained her like a knife cut. Cheng Dong was already furious, hearing this he put down his sword and walked to the Zhang's house with large strides, stopping in front of their tightly closed gate. He picked up the millstone from the doorstep, which weighed over 300 pounds, but in Cheng Dong's hands it seemed light as a feather. With both arms using force, he smashed the millstone into the black gate, only to hear a loud rumbling sound, and the two large gates shattered simultaneously. The Zhang family members who were hiding behind the door ran towards the back of the house with their pants down, a 12 or 13-year-old fatty was about to run inside with a black dog that had its tail between its legs. Cheng Dong took a step forward and grabbed the fatty's collar, with a flick of his wrist, the fatty fell to the ground with a thud, his teeth scattered all over the place. A plump woman rushed out wailing, holding onto the fatty and pointing at Cheng Dong, shouting: "In broad daylight you dare to hurt people, aren't you afraid of the law?" Cheng Dong slowly grabbed the black dog, with one hand using force, the dog let out two cries before it stopped moving. Seeing that the dog was dead, he turned around to face the mother and son duo. As soon as they saw Cheng Dong turn around, the fatty immediately stopped crying, his mouth full of blood, he hid in his mother's arms without making a sound. Perhaps maternal instincts gave this woman courage, she tightly hugged her son and loudly shouted for help. A man in his 40s ran out and kowtowed on the ground, hoping Cheng Dong would spare his entire family.
"Spare you? Your family doesn't even have the qualifications. Wait until Master returns from the Liangyou army, and you'll know what the law is all about." Cheng Dong said as he stepped over the middle-aged man's body and walked out of the courtyard. The old lady held Little Nan in her arms, standing at the gate, watching Cheng Dong punish Little Baozi. Little Nan had a big smile on his face, with his small fists clenched tightly.
"Little miss, look, the fat boy who bullied you had his teeth knocked out by a smaller kid, and the black dog that bit you was also squeezed to death by a smaller kid. Later, I'll skin it and give its fur to you as a blanket, and we can stew the meat and eat it, how about that?" Program East said with a flattering expression in front of Little Nan, although Little Nan was still wearing tattered clothes, Program East didn't dare show any disrespect. Others might think that the Program family was helping the Cloud family out of kindness, but Program East had been following his father on military campaigns since he was young and knew his father's temperament all too well. Since Mr. Cloud appeared, his father had looked up to him, and now they were like close relatives. Seeing Mr. Cloud's incredible abilities, it was only natural that he would rise to greatness in the future. If Program East didn't try to curry favor with Old Lady Cloud now, when would he?
"Wow, uncle is so amazing! Was he sent by my brother? Is my brother even more amazing than you?" Cheng Dong certainly wouldn't say that your brother was a shame to the Left Guard, who couldn't even draw a bow, let alone fight. But looking at the little girl's hopeful eyes, he could only insincerely say: "Of course, otherwise how would the Emperor have made your brother a duke."
The little girl heard this and slipped out of the old lady's arms to run to her sisters and tell them that their brother was so powerful, and they didn't have to be afraid of being bullied by others anymore. Seeing the children cheering, the old lady thanked Cheng Dong with a bow. Cheng Dong said he didn't dare, and told the old lady: "The old lady has not seen my family's young master, who is only 15 years old, but has met several other young masters from certain families, but they are all insignificant compared to our young master. Please rest assured, old lady, with our young master around, the Yun family will prosper and flourish in no time." In a few days, the certain family would return to Longyou, and Cheng Dong asked if the old lady had any messages to send to their young master. The old lady thanked Cheng Dong and asked him to come to the manor the day before he left to take a letter.
The old lady declined the invitation of Cheng Pei's family to move into the residence and instead brought 43 members of the Yun family, including women and children, to the Yun family's fief at the foot of South Mountain. After investigating extensively, the Hundred Riders only found these 43 people, with no news of the others. They had no choice but to report this to the emperor, who issued a decree to comfort the Yun family members. Empress Longsun bestowed gifts of money and silk. Madame Cheng sent over two thousand strings of copper cash as promised and brought fifty male and female servants for their use. Due to their weak bodies and many illnesses, they specially invited famous doctors to help these women and children recover their health.
Yun Yan's mouth was wide open, desperately gasping for air. Next to him, Cheng Chu Mo and Liu Jia Lao San Ge Jia Lao Xiao were also doing the same. In the water, they held their breath for over a hundred counts. This was not something that ordinary people could endure. If anyone lifted their head before the time was up, they would be hit with a stick. The ones holding the sticks were experts who knew how to make it hurt without causing injury. If you quickly finished counting, it would be okay, and your brothers could still hold on. But that idiot who was counting on purpose made mistakes, and just when they finally reached eighty, he came back down to forty-one. No one dared to speak up, whoever did would get beaten up. Yun Yan felt like the mole in a whack-a-mole game, his head was hit so many times it was all swollen, and he wanted to pass out but didn't have even a hint of dizziness. For two whole months, hellish training made two hundred miserable people wish they were dead. And they were all sons of meritorious families. Originally, there were only one hundred people, plus Yun Yan, the unlucky egg, making it one hundred and one. But then Long Sun Wu Ji heard about it and forced another hundred in. Old Cheng was furious, unwilling to let Long Sun take advantage, not wanting to be dragged into the commander's tent. Who knows what he said or did, but when the two came out of the tent, they were both smiling. Old Cheng happily agreed to Long Sun's request. It seemed that Old Cheng had gained some benefit, but didn't share even a bit with Yun Yan, making Yun Yan despise these two old men from the bottom of his heart.
Just catching breath, the whole body is wet and crawling up to the shore. The military bag made of cowhide, just like Yun Ye's backpack, was thrown in front of me. Needless to say, it was filled with sand, still wet sand that had been soaked in water. The 5km load-bearing cross-country run began, and for dinner, everyone adjusted their bodies and put on their bags, rushing to the campsite.
Yun Ye was dragged by Cheng Chu Mo, stumbling and staggering across the finish line. The two of them immediately threw away their backpacks and rushed to the dinner table, not caring if their hands were clean, grabbing pancakes and shoving them into their mouths. They didn't care about the dishes, just filling their stomachs first was the top priority. It wasn't just the two of them, all the men who reached the finish line looked the same, no longer having the so-called noble demeanor of their daily lives.
