After being exiled, she married a rough man, and the sickly beauty was spoiled

Last night, all the memories belonging to the original owner flooded into his mind. Song Huiling hadn't fully digested them yet, so he rubbed his swollen temples.

It turned out that the original owner's lover was serving at the west gate of the garrison. No wonder she went on a hunger strike and sought death after last night. She probably didn't want to live in vain without her lover.

It is said that the original owner was born into a noble family, but his life was full of misfortunes.

Her maternal grandfather Xu Xianzhang was a meritorious official who followed the current emperor to conquer the world. When Dayan was first established, he was granted the title of Duke of Zhenguo, and served as prime minister and prince's guardian. He was a high-ranking official and enjoyed great glory.

Xu Xianzhang only had a pair of children. His son was docile and incompetent, while his daughter was bold and resolute, quite like his demeanor when he was young. Therefore, he loved his younger daughter especially.

The daughter was decisive but a love-brained person. She fell in love with a handsome young man from aristocratic family and begged her father to arrange a marriage for her. However, the man she entrusted her trust to was not the right one. Less than three months into her pregnancy, the man had a mistress on the farm. She became depressed because of this and her health was ruined.

When Xu Xianzhang found out about this, he was furious and decided to divorce his daughter's husband and take her home to recuperate. However, her daughter's health was damaged and she passed away shortly after giving birth. The child she gave birth to was also weak from birth due to her poor health during pregnancy.

Song Huiling was this child. Although she was weak, she was well taken care of by her grandfather's family. When she was sixteen years old, her grandfather decided to marry her to the newly crowned top scholar, Xie Yunsui, her sweetheart. They would get married when she turned seventeen.

But when she just turned seventeen, something unexpected happened to her grandfather's family.

That year, the emperor was critically ill. Xu Xianzhang believed that the crown prince was dull and mediocre and was not capable of the heavy responsibility, so he should be deposed and the fifth prince, who was more capable in both civil and military affairs, should be made the heir. He only mentioned it vaguely, which violated the royal family's taboo, and his entire family was sentenced to exile.

Xie Yunsui, a young man promoted by Xu Xianzhang and also a staunch supporter of the Fifth Prince's party, was also sentenced to exile for agreeing with his advice.

Xu Xianzhang and Xie Yunsui's family were exiled to Qianzhong in the southwest and became the lowest class of civilians. The young women were paired off as military wives, the young men were required to perform heavy labor, and the older men and women were sent to do odd jobs in the army. Xie Yunsui was assigned to build and expand the city wall to the west of the garrison.

Xie Yunsui was born into a scholar family and was weak and powerless, so it was reasonable for the original owner to think that he died in the collapse of the city wall.

But last night, she didn't show the reaction that the original owner should have. No wonder He Zhan looked at her with strange eyes.

Song Huiling didn't rest for long. After he recovered from the dizziness, he got up, washed up, and went to the kitchen to take the porridge and medicine prepared by Yang.

It is the spring ploughing season, and Yang has not gone to the fields for half a month in order to take care of her. Seeing that she behaved well yesterday, she dared to go out this morning.

Song Huiling didn't want to stay idle at home, so after taking a cup of tea, he found a headscarf to cover his head and face and went out. It was not because he was afraid of seeing people, but simply to avoid breathing in the cold wind and coughing again.

After leaving the He family, she walked along the stone path. All the houses in the village were built with stones, and the courtyards were distributed layer by layer along the hillside in an orderly layout. It rained a little last night, and the ground was slippery. It was all downhill, so Song Huiling walked very carefully and it took her a quarter of an hour to get out of the village gate.

Yuntunzhai was one of the hundred-household units under the jurisdiction of Qingyuanwei of Qianzhongdusi. It was similar to a small village with about 200 households, where military and civilians lived together.

Qingyuanwei was a county town, which governed more than 5,000 military households. However, only more than 1,000 military households lived in the county town, and the rest were scattered outside the county town, the farthest of which was only a dozen miles away from the county town.

Qingyuan County is not only a military stronghold, but also the largest commercial center in Qianzhong. Song Huiling's purpose today is to go to the county to investigate the situation and see if there is any way to make money. The He family is so poor probably because of her.

He Zhan was a small soldier who received a small salary every month. In addition, his mother, Yang, was a Miao girl with skillful hands. She could occasionally make some money by doing Miao embroidery.

This money and the family's farmland were enough for the He family to live a worry-free life, until they met the money-eating beast Song Huiling.

Song Huiling was weak to begin with, and she had lost a lot of strength during the exile. Ordinary medicinal herbs would not work, and she had to take tonic medicine mixed with ginseng. Yang didn't care whether she could have a long-term supply in the future, so she gritted her teeth and sold all the valuables in the house, including the loom she used to make Miao embroidery, just to buy medicinal herbs for her daughter-in-law.

Song Huiling was moved by Yang's kindness, no matter what her purpose was in being nice to her. She couldn't rely on others for her own health, so she had to do something.

Yuntun Village is not far from Qingyuan County, only five miles away, and can be reached in the time it takes to walk to the place in an incense stick. However, Song Huiling was weak, and he gasped every three steps and rested every five steps. It took him nearly an hour to get there.

Near the county town, simple thatched houses can be seen everywhere on the roadside. How simple are they?

It is a triangular frame made of wood, with a few horizontal beams laid on it, covered with some thatch, and a tattered cloth curtain at the door. These thatched huts were used by exiled prisoners who were doing hard labor.

These prisoners were either rich or noble before they were exiled, but along the way, Song Huiling met several people living in thatched huts who all had dishevelled hair and dull eyes, which was really sad. In comparison, her situation was much better.

In the distance, the gate of the county town was wide open, with two large gold-plated characters "West Gate" inscribed on the plaque. People were constantly entering and exiting the gate. One corner of the city wall showed obvious signs of collapse, with a lot of fallen rocks piled up. People wearing coarse linen clothes were clearing the fallen rocks.

Song Huiling didn't see He Zhan and walked straight to the city gate. As soon as he arrived at the gate, he was stopped by the soldiers guarding the city: "Please show your pass!"

The soldier had a dignified face, and his copper bell-like eyes glowed fiercely under his exaggeratedly thick eyebrows. Song Huiling was frightened for a moment, but she did not back down. Instead, she took off her headscarf and smiled at the soldier: "Sir, I am here to look for my husband. He is also a garrison soldier and is on duty in the city. I hope you can be flexible."

Rules are dead, but people are alive, and Song Huiling has always been able to save face when it comes to things that can be said with words.

Sure enough, the fierce light in the soldier's eyes subsided slightly, and his tone softened a lot: "What's your husband's name?"

Song Huiling's eyes curved, she smiled sweetly, and replied word by word: "He Zhan."

The soldier's expression suddenly became respectful. He put away his spear and smiled in a simple and honest manner: "Excuse me, it turns out to be my sister-in-law. The boss is not at the west gate at the moment. I asked a brother to pass the message."

Song Huiling was a little surprised. It was a coincidence that they met a soldier under He Zhan. No wonder he hadn't returned home for half a month. It turned out that he was on duty in the city.

"Don't bother, I'll just go into the city and wait for him." After taking off his headscarf, Song Huiling couldn't help but take a breath of cold air and started coughing, covering his lips lightly.

Seeing her frail body, the soldiers did not suspect anything. Everyone knew that He Zongqi's new wife was a sickly woman, so they let her into the city and reminded her, "The boss should be back soon. Sister-in-law, just walk around the west gate and don't go too far."

Song Huiling nodded and agreed readily, but he disappeared as soon as he entered the city gate.

However, in the blink of an eye, the soldier turned around and could not see anyone. He was worried, so he asked someone to quickly inform He Zhan.