Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 153 - 152: You Really Are a Good Guy

Chapter 153: Chapter 152: You Really Are a Good Guy
By the time dawn came the next day, everyone had rested and set off again, while the other grain transport teams just arrived at the post station, looking battered and exhausted.
As they passed each other, Liu Ji couldn’t help but ask a civilian laborer from the trailing team why they were in such a sorry state.
The laborer said that their commanding officer was kind-hearted. When the rain started, he stopped by the roadside to take shelter, thinking the rain would last no more than half an hour.
Unexpectedly, half an hour passed, and the rain not only continued but became heavier.
As the oilcloth flapped noisily against the grain carts in the strong wind, their leader realized the situation was wrong and ordered them to move forward in the rain.
But the road had already been churned up into a muddy mess by Liu Ji’s team, and the grain transport team following them suffered greatly.
With one slip, people and horses overturned.
Seeing how difficult it was for the team to move forward, their leader ordered a halt again to prevent the army’s grain from getting wet. Raincoats, straw rain capes, and even people were all used to cover the grain bags.
So, everyone was soaked in the rain all night long.
The rain had already drenched their clothes, and without shelter, they couldn’t start a fire for warmth, forcing them to endure a cold night.
This morning, when the rain stopped, the firewood was too wet to ignite, and with their bellies rumbling with hunger, they struggled to reach the post station.
Listening to the man’s lament, Liu Ji empathized deeply and took a sharp intake of cold air.
Looking toward the commanding officer riding a black horse in front of him, he suddenly felt that the figure appeared even more imposing.
Everyone knows they would choose short-term suffering over constant torment.
A clever leader, no matter how harsh, is better than following a fool.
Before leaving, Liu Ji sympathetically glanced at the laborer, handing him half of the pancake they had made that morning, still warm to the touch, to comfort him.
The laborer was deeply moved, "Brother, you’re surprisingly kind."
Liu Ji patted his shoulder, turned around, and caught up with his main team, continuing toward their destination.
The heavy rain left severe aftereffects, with slippery roads hindering progress, and newly cleared mud from the ruts quickly coated over again.
The commanding officer, Lord Shangguan, grew increasingly irritable. Even though Liu Ji was cautious, he still got whipped on the backside, the pain almost making him see stars.
Strangely, when the team stopped to rest at night, he asked a companion to check if his burning backside was bleeding, and to his surprise, his companion said it just had a bruise.
"How is that possible?" He felt like his skin had split!
The companion nodded, "Really, the skin is intact."
After saying that, he impatiently pulled up Liu Ji’s pants, thinking who would want to look at a man’s buttocks for nothing.
Covering his backside, Liu Ji hesitated to rub it, internally remarking that no soldier seemed normal, and the one who hit him was apparently experienced.
Just as he was about to sit and steal a moment’s rest, the messenger soldier arrived again.
Scared, Liu Ji quickly stood straight, resembling the posture Qin Yao occasionally trained Da Lang and Second Lang to stand in, notably upright amidst a group of swaying companions.
The messenger soldier loudly reminded: "After tonight, we will exit Xuanyue Pass. Once out, we will be in Sheng Country’s battlefield against the enemy. The enemy could appear at any time to raid our grain supplies, so do not become complacent!"
"Now, polish your weapons. If we encounter the enemy after exiting Xuanyue Pass tomorrow, kill on sight!"
"Anyone daring to flee out of fear will be punished along with the entire group by military order, affecting three generations!"
After conveying Lord Shangguan’s words, ten soldiers took out the roster to conduct the final roll call before entering the pass, also serving as a deterrent.
With the roster in hand, every detail of one’s birthplace, household members, and family units are meticulously recorded. No one should harbor any illusions.
One cart holds six people, so twenty carts have one hundred and twenty civilian laborers.
Liu Ji recalled the main forward team they passed on the way, where many workers collapsed, never to get up again. Some couldn’t bear the hardship, attempted to escape but were caught and executed on the spot, sending a chill down his spine.
But compared to them, his ill-tempered wife at home was still scarier.
After the roll call, all one hundred and twenty people were present.
Liu Ji exchanged looks with his teammates; after hearing such lamentations from the trailing teams in the previous days, it was surprising that nobody had died.
That night, Liu Ji slept clutching his self-made broadsword.
In his dream, their grain transport team was ambushed by the enemy. As a savage with a blood-stained broadsword approached to strike him down, he jolted awake in fright.
It was just a dream, with Da Lang, Second Lang, Sanlang, and Si Niang standing worriedly at his bedside.
Behind his brothers and sisters, Qin Yao crossed her arms, coldly jeering, "Another nightmare?"
Liu Ji hurriedly nodded, looking at the warm glow within the room. Despite knowing the grain transport mission had ended, he was still filled with lingering fear and hastily said:
"My dear wife, I was wrong. I truly realize my mistake. In the future, I’ll dedicate myself to studying hard. Please don’t be angry anymore..."
"Liu Ji!" Suddenly a shout rang out.
The warm home and his family before him instantly dissipated into smoke and vanished.
Startled, Liu Ji shouted, "Dear wife, I really know I’m wrong!" as he awoke, confronting a dark face.
It turned out to be a dream within a dream.
"Get up quickly, we’re leaving Xuanyue Pass soon," a companion reminded him.
After speaking, the companion glanced him up and down, "Dreamt about your wife?"
Liu Ji wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, murmured in agreement, and looked up again to see the fortress of Xuanyue Pass not far away.
He truly didn’t want to wake up. In the dream, everything was already over, but who would have thought it was just beginning in reality.
Liu Ji felt dispirited, unwilling to speak, and only did what he had to, consuming his dry rations as the grain transport team set off again.
This time, Lord Shangguan unexpectedly instructed them to slow down, no longer urging them on relentlessly.
As soon as the group passed through Xuanyue Pass, things took a turn for the worse.
After barely half an hour, the leader ordered everyone to stop and sent two soldiers to scout ahead.
An hour later, the soldiers returned to whisper something in the leader’s ear. From a distance, nobody could hear clearly; they only saw the leader’s face looking troubled.
Afterward, they were told to rest for another hour before the troop set off again.
A series of strange actions left Liu Ji and the other laborers feeling bewildered.
Two hours later, they encountered a grain transport team that had exited the pass earlier.
The carts were still there, along with the supplies, but more than half the people were dead, and a dozen or so horses had fallen.
The ground was a mess, indicating signs of a fierce battle.
Only then did Liu Ji and the others realize belatedly that they had avoided an enemy ambush.
The leader of the opposing team rushed over as soon as he saw Lord Shangguan.
His arm was pierced by an arrow, which had been roughly broken off. He couldn’t care for himself, and upon meeting Shangguan Lie, he begged for manpower to complete the grain transport task.
No one knew what deal they struck in private, but Shangguan Lie agreed to help.
However, he only allowed the team to follow behind. As for people and horses, they had to sort out how to transport the grain carts themselves.