RWNEFE -Chapter 15 Young Master Lan!

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Shen Lanxi had the servants give the yamen escorts a proper scrubbing and made sure the head officer, Liu, was well pleased before she began making requests.

“Brother Liu, I bought some buns and cornbread for the Shen family. Could you deliver them to them?”

The post station was not outside the city, so Liu the head officer felt confident.

“Go ahead, go ahead. You seem well-behaved. Just a reminder—they are prisoners.”

Liu didn’t believe she had nothing to do with the prisoners, but as long as the rules weren’t broken, he didn’t care about anyone else’s business.

Shen Lanxi quickly clarified her stance: “Thank you for the reminder, Your Honor. I understand. They are sinners; having committed crimes, they should be punished. They are not here to enjoy themselves. I am only entrusted to make sure they don’t die along the way!”

Liu the officer was pleased that Shen Lanxi got the point immediately. “Go ahead!”

When she arrived, two officers were guarding the prisoners.

The King of Hell is easy to meet, the little demons are tricky; the head officer requires some bribery, and the underlings even more, since they handle all the work.

Shen Lanxi left Liu’s side and went to the back kitchen to pick up the wine and dishes prepared earlier in the morning. She approached the two officers.

Two taels of silver each, along with good food and wine, plus a few polite words, and they were allowed to enter.

When Shen Lanxi carried the large bundle into the stables, everyone saw her.

The Shen family members stirred with excitement, eyes glowing as they looked at the items in her hands.

“Lanxi…”

Zhou Xinrou reached out through tears to touch her daughter’s face.

“Mother, I put some black mud on my face!” Shen Lanxi lifted a steamed bun from the bottom of the bundle and placed it in her mother’s hand.

“Mother, I’m fine. I’ll go with you all to Dongchuan. Don’t worry about me!”

Zhou Xinrou clutched the bun and sobbed uncontrollably.

Shen Lanxi’s eyes were red too, but now was not the time for crying.

“Father, this is for you!”

“Yuanjing, Yuanjun, Yuantang, Yuanqing…” she handed a bun to each of her four younger siblings.

Yuanqing, tears still streaming, bit into the bun, chewed twice, and suddenly his eyes lit up—there was meat inside!

“Big sister, there’s…”

“Shh, don’t speak!” Shen Lanxi signaled the four siblings. Yuanjun quickly stuffed the bun into his mouth.

Meat. There was meat!

After eleven days without tasting meat, the young boys, remembering their former life of luxury, had their eyes redden and devoured the food in the next moment.

The rest of the Shen family crowded around.

“Miss, what about ours?” one concubine, Wei Rulan, reached to grab a bun.

Shen Lanxi seized it with a calm, expressionless glance. “From now on, call me Young Master Lan. If anyone discovers my identity, it will be difficult for me to bring you anything again!”

Wei Rulan, initially angry, immediately understood. The Shen family were now criminals with ruined reputations. If anyone discovered this, she would surely be driven away.

After ten days of foul prison gruel and a day of hard cornbread on the road, Wei Rulan’s greatest wish was simply to eat and drink well during the exile.

“Understood, Young Master Lan!”

Shen Congwen sighed. “I will explain things to them properly later.”

Although Shen Lanxi didn’t explicitly state it, the marriage with the Prince of Zhennan’s estate was likely no longer valid.

Shen Lanxi handed buns to Wei Rulan and then to the other children in the concubine’s quarters.

Grandfather Shen and Grandmother Shen, along with their three other sons, sat a short distance away. Their faces shifted from calm at first to furious.

“Father, Mother, elder brother is too much. When there’s food, he didn’t first present it to you, but kept it in his own quarters,” the second son, Shen Conglian, said angrily, glaring at the eldest’s quarters.

The third son, Shen Congli, gritted his teeth, furious: “We are all exiled because elder brother implicated us. The main house has wronged the Shen family. Now that there’s food, they only think of themselves, not even considering our parents. Elder brother is so unfilial.”

The fourth son, Shen Congyi, looked bitterly toward the main house: “Elder brother only cares about his own quarters, not our parents, not us brothers. Hasn’t it always been like this? When he was in office, he never helped us. Now that he’s in trouble, he drags us down too. Why should we?”

Grandfather Shen and Grandmother Shen, used to a life of comfort, were already exhausted from the day’s walk, but were now roused to energy by anger.

“Second son, go call the eldest! I want to ask him if he still recognizes me and your father!” Grandmother Shen stomped in anger, unable to stand up properly twice, so she gave fierce threats in place.

At the main house, the masters got buns while the servants got cornbread. Shen Lanxi distributed the food while speaking to her parents.

“I wanted to get some rooms for you to stay in, but the officers wouldn’t allow it.”

The matter of withholding the meat had already been told to the Shen family by Yuanjing and his brothers.

After swallowing a bun, Shen Congwen said: “Having you accompany us and bring food is already very good. Anything more would be difficult to explain.”

Shen Lanxi produced a small pouch of silver and handed it to her father. “I am watching over you as a relative of the Shen family. Some matters are inconvenient to handle openly. Father, Mother, take this money to buy water and make things a bit easier on the road.”

In the past, Shen Congwen would have scorned a small pouch of silver, but now he silently accepted it.

“I have taken care of the officers. As long as the Shen family does not cause trouble, they won’t harm you.”

Seeing his daughter so organized, even after just eleven days, Shen Congwen could hardly recall the lavish young lady she once was, surrounded by servants.

“I think I smell meat?” muttered Shen Yuanqing, a son from a concubine, sniffing suspiciously.

The four siblings from the main house exchanged glances, quickly stuffing their buns into their mouths, wiping off any oil from their hands.

Yuanjing said: “There’s nothing there. You’re just crazy wanting meat.”

Shen Yuanqing lowered his head, silent.

Shen Congwen pursed his lips, saying nothing.

“Elder brother, Father and Mother are calling you!” Shen Conglian coldly threw out a remark, glanced at Shen Lanxi, and walked away.

In the past, with the support of the sensitive and refined Miss Minrou, the main house could control grievances openly. Now her title was revoked, and with the whole family exiled because of Shen Congwen, the resentment from other branches could no longer be suppressed.

“I’m going back.”

She had delivered the food; the other exiled prisoners were already restless.

“Officer, my son is too young and cannot eat the cornbread. Could you have mercy on him…”

Before the woman could finish speaking, she was whipped to the ground.

“If you want food, pay for it! We’re escorting criminals, not running a charity. No money? Get out of the way and die!”

The woman covered her face and wept as she brushed past Shen Lanxi. Moments later, curses and insults erupted from the crowd.

“You useless little wretch, can’t even beg for a bun. What good are you, you curse-bringer…”

Chunxue and Qiushuang waited anxiously until they saw their mistress exit the stables.

“Miss, next time let me deliver the food. There are all sorts of filthy people over there; don’t risk yourself.”

Shen Lanxi had explained everything and made the necessary arrangements. She would not personally deliver every day.

“Let Nanny Li deliver it. With my current identity, I am too conspicuous to appear in public frequently.”