CHAPTER 243: CHAPTER 243: DREAM

After Sun Daji finished his porridge, he wanted to continue rambling, but Sun Manbo stood up from the ground and said loudly, "Grandpa, you’re just making this up, right? If the son didn’t support them, wouldn’t they go to the Government to report it?

You’re really something, making up nonsense just to make me think daughters are good.

Stop talking about it, no matter how good daughters are, they’ll belong to someone else’s family in the future. I want a son, sons are my roots, I can’t let the line end."

"You brat!" Sun Daji’s beard twitched in anger, "I’m so old, why would I lie to you? Do you think I’m telling you stories? This happened for real, if you don’t believe me, ask your Uncle Five, isn’t that what happened?"

Uncle Five handed his empty porridge bowl to his eldest son, then tugged at his clothes and said, "It’s a true story, Old Li’s three sons were unfilial, but Old Li couldn’t bear to report them. They built a straw house at the foot of the mountain, and the old couple relied on a few daughters to share food with them each month.

This was something from a few years ago, now that old couple must have passed away, right?"

Sun Daji nodded, "Yes, they’re dead. They’ve been dead for several years now, and their bones must have decomposed by now."

Sun Manbo murmured, "What about daughters supporting them? They still needed a son to break the pots when they died!"

"Son, son, anyone would think you have a throne to inherit!" Yu Xiaolian sarcastically mocked Sun Manbo.

Sun Daji’s wife exclaimed, "Oh my, don’t dare talk nonsense. How dare you say such rebellious words? Don’t say it again next time, we’ll pretend we didn’t hear it this time. If outsiders hear it, it could mean a capital crime of rebellion."

She was just using it as an example, who wants to rebel?

Really, can’t communicate with them.

Su Jingchen called, "Pack up, we’re leaving."

Yu Xiaolian looked at Sun Manbo, "You can’t ride the cart, carry your own luggage, don’t put it on the cart."

Sun Manbo shouted, "I won’t ride then."

After all, he had always walked when there was no cart. Walking, could it really kill you?

Even if it exhausted him, sons were still preferable, he just wanted sons.

Yu Xiaolian got on the carriage and found Sun Dongxue’s face was even more swollen.

How much force must have been used to hit and make the face like this?

Sun Dongxue’s face was swollen on one side and low on the other, making her mouth look crooked.

"Can’t you close your mouth?"

Sun Dongxue nodded, feeling one side of her face numb and without sensation.

Yu Xiaolian was both heartbroken and angry, "Your father hit you too hard, did he hit you with this much force before?"

Sun Dongxue, enduring the pain, murmured indistinctly, "At home before... he used willow branches... hit on the body."

"Does it hurt to talk? Then don’t speak."

Yu Xiaolian pulled over Sun Dongxue’s bundle, placing it on the back of the cart, "How about you lie down for a bit?"

Sun Dongxue shook her head, "Aunt Yu should lie down."

There was no way Yu Xiaolian could lie down. She was too upset, so she helped Sun Dongxue lie down, then reached into her bundle for cover, taking out some anti-inflammatory ointment.

"Don’t move, I’ll apply medicine for you!"

Sun Dongxue’s face, initially burning with pain, felt cool and less painful after applying the ointment.

This anti-inflammatory ointment was prescribed by a doctor for Yu Xiaolian’s rash before, and it worked well, having some pain-relieving and anti-swelling effects.

Yu Xiaolian let Sun Dongxue and Sun Qiuxue lie side by side to sleep, and as the carriage rocked, the two little ones soon fell asleep.

As it grew darker, just when Yu Xiaolian thought they might camp outside, Su Jingchen said, "By the end of the Xu period, we should reach the next town."

"Once it gets dark, I can’t find my way," Yu Xiaolian confessed honestly.

She usually used the sun to discern direction, but once it set, she couldn’t tell east from west.

Su Jingchen replied calmly, "I looked at the map in your bundle while we were eating, I know the way."

"Are you sure? If we take a wrong turn, we won’t know where we’ll end up."

Su Jingchen confidently said, "Trust me!"

"Alright, honestly, I don’t want to sleep outside either."

The end of the Xu period, around nine at night, means that even if they reach the next town, most inns would likely be closed.

People in ancient times slept early, they mostly worked at sunrise and rested at sunset.

Upon finally reaching the town, though they were all tired, people and horses alike, they still had to knock on the inn doors one by one.

Luckily, they received a response after knocking, and soon a small light appeared inside.