Chapter 24: I Won’t

Xu Xiang turned her head to look at Xiao Han, and saw that he was licking and smacking his lips. Even Xiao Jing, who was always gentle and graceful, secretly licked the corners of her lips as a trace of regret flashed in her eyes. Only their parents, who were wiping their mouths elegantly, remained calm.

Seeing them like this, she couldn't help thinking: 'Looks like they really like the assorted cereals with milk.'

Putting down the half eaten breakfast, she stood up. "I still have some. Please wait for a while."

She took the empty water bag and walked to her mule cart. She climbed into the cart, filled the water bag with another carton of warm milk, repacked the assorted cereal and brought it back to the Xiao family.

This time, Xu Xiang handed the cereal and milk directly to Xiao Jing, and said, "Please help yourself."

Xiao Jing took a pack of assorted cereal and a water bag with a blushing face and said, "Thank you."

She opens the assorted cereal, pours it into her bowl, and mixes it with milk. While she was still pouring milk, Xiao Jing felt intense gazes coming from both sides. She raised her eyes, and saw Xiao Shao and Xiao Han looking at her eagerly. The corners of her lips twitched as she saw they stared at the cereal and milk in her hands like hungry wolves.

Seeing that she had already refilled her bowl, Xiao Shao handed his own bowl to his younger sister. The meaning is very clear. Seeing that his elder brother handed his bowl to his elder sister, Xiao Han stretched out his hand to Xiao Jing while holding the bowl.

Xiao Jing looked at the two of them and calmly said, "Do it yourself."

After finishing speaking, she put down the water bag, handed over the pack of cereal to Xiao Shao, and continued to eat. Xu Xiang sat there, watching their interaction, and felt a little envious.

Although she also has cousins, they get close to her just to use her. They even killed her when they thought she was blocking their way. It took her two lifetimes to finally accept the fact that her family regarded her as a tool that could be discarded at any time after she was no longer useful.

After breakfast, they were soon ready to continue their journey. Xu Xiang sat in the mule cart and waited for a long time, but she didn't see the officers coming to urge them to leave. After waiting for more than ten minutes, she saw the middle-aged officer walking towards the Xiao family.

Although they were not far away, she couldn't hear what they were saying because the middle-aged officer lowered his voice on purpose. She watched them for a few minutes before the middle-aged officer left the Xiao family and walked to her. Seeing him coming, she jumped down from the driver's seat.

"Good morning, Sir." She greeted him with a polite smile on her face.

"Good morning."

Looking at his hesitant face, she waited for him to speak calmly. Seeing her calm face, the middle-aged officer hesitated for a moment before saying, "Is there any place you want to go?"

Hearing his words, Xu Xiang raised her eyebrows.

"For the time being, I decided to follow the Xiao family." She answered him after a moment of silence.

She waited for him to speak, but he just frowned and said nothing. Xu Xiang was a little curious and asked, "Is there anything you want to tell me, Sir?"

Hearing her question, he finally said, "It's like this. We just got the news about the war on the northern border. The general in charge lost three cities yesterday and died in battle. Therefore, we need to change our destination, except for the Xiao family."

She narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"

He looked at her and said helplessly: "From now on, they will be escorted only until the northern border. After they leave the northern border, they are no longer citizens of the Shang Empire."

She rubbed her chin, thought for a while and said, "Your Emperor is really cruel. He exiled the Xiao family to the north and exiled them out of the empire, while the barbarians were already waiting there. It seems that he is going to kill the Xiao family using other people's hands, while protecting his own reputation. Your Emperor is really despicable."

When the middle-aged officer heard her words, he hurriedly looked around while saying, "Hush! Do you want to die?!"

She rolled her eyes and calmly said, "I am not a citizen of this empire. Why should I be afraid of your Emperor? What's more, he is still an incompetent and cruel Emperor."

The middle-aged officer watched her talking about the Emperor with a disdainful expression, and was immediately speechless with her courage.

Not wanting to be implicated by her words, he hurriedly said, "There is already a soldier waiting for the Xiao family. He will escort them to the northern border and make sure they leave the empire. I just want to ask you, do you still want to go with them? If not–"

Before he could finish speaking, she said, "I will go with them."

Seeing her calm expression, he sighed. "All right. Then I wish you good luck. We will part ways here."

Knowing that this might be the last time they met, she took out two silver ingots from her space using her sleeve as cover. Putting the silver ingot into his hand, she said, "This is to repay your help."

The middle-aged officer looked at the two silver ingots of one hundred tael in his hand, and smiled at her. Keeping the silver ingot, he said, "I hope you won't regret today's decision."

"I won't." As she spoke, the corners of her lips rose slightly,

Shaking his head, he turned and left. When the officers had left with the prisoners, the soldier who was about to escort the Xiao family to the northern border approached them. The soldier jumped off his war horse and clasped his fists at Xiao Shao.

Bowing at Xiao Shao, he said, "I have met the Supreme General. This one will escort your family to the northern border."

Looking at him, Xiao Shao nodded. "Alright."