CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 78: THIS... REALLY ISN’T MUCH DIFFERENT FROM EXILE

Perhaps because he was once favored by the Emperor, the demotion is already considering the past bond between ruler and minister.

Otherwise, the consequence would be the same as their Ruan Family.

Unfortunately, at this moment, Ruan Mian could not foresee Mr. Xie’s future situation.

The plot took a different direction from the original book.

She patted Yun Xiu’s shoulder, "Since the official is a good one, even if temporarily demoted, it may not be a bad thing."

As someone who fought against so many antagonists in the original book, Xie Huai’an must be extraordinary.

"Yes, I believe that even if he’s just demoted to a post station master, he can certainly make a comeback!"

"What? He’s... going to be a post station master?"

This... really isn’t much different from being exiled.

Wuheng is already the most border region, naturally at a disadvantage with scarce population, cold and biting.

The neighboring countries don’t even deign to contest for that place, you can imagine its nature.

Naturally, the Longchang Post Station, belonging to Wuheng, can be said to be the poorest and lowest-ranked post station nationwide.

Being demoted there as a station master is almost like being a convict.

Ruan Mian sighed deeply.

···

During the first two days out of Ru Ning, Ruan Mian was very vigilant, afraid of any unforeseen events.

But fortunately, except for occasional disturbances within the team, there was no unusual behavior. With her horses and donkeys, everyone’s pace increased considerably.

Plus, the flat road enabled them to travel more than a hundred kilometers a day.

Within seven days, they already traversed that barren land, luckily without encountering a snowstorm.

After another seven days, they would see the only hill within Wuheng — Longchang Mountain.

And at the foot of the mountain lies the Longchang Post Station, their final stop.

However, reality was somewhat different from Ruan Mian’s expectations.

She thought it would be warmer this time as Wuheng entered spring, but the reality wasn’t as warm, the winds were much stronger compared to the Capital City.

Leaving each person bundled in thick blankets and animal skins under their robes.

The Ruan Family, however, had duck down vests, which were specially made by Ruan Mian together with Cui Zhu and others along the journey, and even sewn animal fur into their shoes.

As the wind grew harsher, Ruan Mian advised everyone to put on their cold-proof masks and distributed the newly made animal fur hats to the family.

At the foot of Longchang Mountain, everything was covered in snow, miles of ice sealing the world in cold.

Beautiful and magnificent, but also lurking with danger.

The government officers urged them to speed up, as this area lacked shelter. Delayed until night, many might freeze to death without reaching the mountain foot.

Even though everyone was exhausted, no one dared to waste a moment.

On the carriage, Yun Xiu patiently taught Rui how to play with daggers. Though Rui was young, he had quite the talent in this area.

It started when he saw Yun Xiu practicing sword skills some time ago and became interested, pestering Yun Xiu brother to teach him.

Ruan Mian had long thought that upon reaching Wuheng, it’d be good to have Guard Liu teach the family some simple self-defense skills, after all, it’s better to have some self-protection in Wuheng.

Now seeing Rui take the initiative to learn the art, it was just perfect.

Ruan Mian took the chance during a rest stop to pick out a few exquisite daggers from the armory space, sharp blades, and very small and suitable as personal weapons.

Even her brother Ruan Qingsong unprecedentedly wanted to learn martial arts.

He looked at this large family, overwhelmed with guilt.

"Mianmian, it’s because of me that you are all involved. As a dignified man, I should become the pillar of the family when we reach Wuheng, how can I let you, as the younger sister, risk danger for me? You’ve already taken care of us so much along the way."

Ruan Mian knew he meant well, comforting him.

"We are all family, no sense in speaking of two families. Helping each other is what we should do, but if you can learn some martial arts for self-defense, that would be even better."

Just as her words fell, a cheer suddenly came from outside the carriage.

It turned out they had already seen the gate of Longchang Post Station, but there was still a challenge ahead of them, as a frozen river appeared in front.

Though it was frozen, some places were melting, and the surface of the rushing waters was dotted with ice shards.

No one knew how deep the water beneath the ice was, so no one dared to wade through recklessly.

While thinking, the government officers dispersed to find a place to cross the river, while Ruan Mian and the others got off the carriage to greatly reduce its weight.

She carefully examined those ice blocks, seeing they had a certain thickness that should hold up, as long as they walked cautiously.

Furthermore, the temperature was very low, so the ice river wouldn’t melt too quickly.

Soon, the government officers found a suitable path, with the ice blocks in the middle layer having enough thickness except for some melted near the shore.

So they called the crowd to cautiously walk on the ice blocks.

Ruan Mian walked alongside her parents, trying her best to look after her family.

Unknown to her, Uncle’s Mansion’s Second Uncle, quickly walked to Mrs. Yao’s side after catching up with the Ruan Family team.

He unhesitatingly seized Mrs. Yao’s hat and mask, wearing them himself.

Out of instinct, Mrs. Yao resisted, only to find Li Mao even snatching her robe!

As the cold wind blew, the icy chilling pervaded her body.

"Li Mao! This is my stuff! Give it back!"

Mrs. Yao stepped forward, and Li Mao actually grabbed her coat to the melting ice at the riverbank, raising a foot, trying to kick her into the ice river.

Yet before he could kick, Ruan Mian got ahead, kicking him into the melted ice from behind.

A loud sound was heard!

Li Mao slipped, both feet submerged in the icy water, gasping from the chill, frozen to yelping.

The people ahead glanced at him but dared not linger on the ice, leaving him unattended.

Li Mao struggled to get out, but Yun Xiu coldly added fuel to Ruan Mian’s foot technique.

Each time Li Mao climbed onto the ice, Yun Xiu kicked him back again.

Li Mao’s eyelashes began to frosted with icy shards as he shivered and cursed angrily, "You brat! Do you really want to kill me?! The Lord is right here, I don’t believe you dare..."

Before he finished speaking, Yun Xiu kicked him again, making him fall flat on his backside.

The thick robe saturated with icy water was heavy and piercingly painful, especially the feet soaked in ice water, soon frozen into ice pillars, gradually losing sensation.

Ruan Mian stood aside, watching him coldly. To his loud scolding and threats, she only responded lightly.

"The Lord is here, killing you brings no benefit, but I have plenty of ways to torment you."

Li Mao gritted his teeth, holding a breath of grievance, "You... you protect Mrs. Yao against me? Ruan Mian, you’ll regret this! Once we reach Longchang Post Station, you’ll regret it instantly!"