The Princess of the Substitute Bride Strikes Back

"vomit--"

"Boss, come here quickly! Ugh—"

The third brother covered his mouth and nose, rushed out of the kitchen, and vomited in the yard.

After Zheng Chengyuan brought people in, he wanted to explain, but he still felt his stomach churning, so he could only point to the kitchen.

"vomit--"

Zheng Chengyuan and the officer standing by looked helpless. They covered their mouths and noses and walked into the kitchen. They saw the floor was in a mess and there were bloodstains on the walls and stove.

It turned out that this was a black village that specialized in intercepting people fleeing famine. Women would lure people into their homes, and then the strong men inside would kill them. It was extremely cruel...

"vomit--"

Zheng Chengyuan led the officers and soldiers out of the courtyard, wanting only to escape from this horrible place as quickly as possible. The more they smelled the rich aroma of meat, the more uncomfortable their stomachs felt.

"Hurry up! Hurry up! Don't worry about these villagers!" Zheng Chengyuan gave the order, but no one listened to him.

Cai even sat on the ground and acted like a rogue: "Officer, we have injured people, what are you afraid of? They wanted to knock us out first, we are in the right, what's wrong with eating a few pieces of meat? We are all too tired to walk, we need to drink water and eat meat to replenish our energy."

"You wish! That's human flesh!" The third brother was very disgusted with Cai's spiteful behavior.

Everyone was shocked. These black-hearted villagers actually cooked human flesh? Has the world gone haywire? There is no moral bottom line anymore.

"Alas! God is not giving us a way to survive!"

"How can we live like this?"

Zheng Chengyuan looked at everyone crying and smelled that disgusting smell. His head ached and he had no choice but to turn to Mu Yibai for help: "Master Mu, I didn't expect you to be so capable even though you are down and out. What do you think we should do now?"

"I don't deserve the title of the crown prince. I just want the team to reach the northern frontier smoothly and protect my family from harm."

Mu Yibai did not say everything. He believed that after this battle, Zheng Chengyuan had realized that soldiers alone could not guarantee the safety of the team. They could not stop the large number of refugees, nor could they deal with the black-hearted villagers. If the famine continued, he would not be able to ensure his safety in the future.

"Master Mu is too modest. There are not many people who can tell at a glance that there is something wrong with the water and who can make plans while sitting in a wheelchair. Our team is one. Only if we unite together can we reach Saibei safely. By then, your family will naturally be safe as well."

"I just happened to have an idea, I wonder if you are interested in listening?"

"Come and listen."

"If our team of one or two hundred people unites, it will be difficult to defeat them. It is better to let everyone unite and improve their combat effectiveness. Now we are far away from the capital, the world is in chaos, and refugees are everywhere. The officials' dozens of horses are also quite difficult to raise. It is better to distribute the horses to each family. In this way, we can speed up the team's progress and reduce the pressure on the officials."

"Besides, this village generously gave us four buckets of water, so the well dug in the back mountain might be true. We can find a place to camp later and send some people to look for water sources to solve our urgent needs."

Zheng Chengyuan thought, this is easier said than done. Distributing horses to each household and letting people ride on carts can indeed save a lot of time. But even the officials can't afford to keep these horses, so how can those once pampered young ladies and gentlemen from noble families afford to keep them? These horses can eat and drink more than humans, but they are already very thin. If they continue like this, they will definitely not last for a few days.

"We can consider dividing the horses. Let's set off now, first find a place to camp, and then look for water." Zheng Chengyuan said.

"Okay, then sir, tell everyone to get up and set off."

Mu Yibai responded that he knew what Zheng Chengyuan was thinking and stopped trying to persuade him.

Zheng Chengyuan looked at the exiled prisoners behind him. Some were sitting on the ground, some were lying on the ground. Only the people from the Wang family, Chen family and the main branch of the Zhu family at the back of the team were still standing. There was blood on the ground. Some of them were injured and might not be able to travel quickly.

Zheng Chengyuan had no choice but to give an order: "Third brother, you take people to distribute the horses. Each family of five people can get a horse. After that, the horse belongs to them! You can use the horse to carry things or to pull carts, but you must be responsible for feeding the horses."

"Boss, this..." The officers under him were very puzzled by Zheng Chengyuan's decision.

"Go ahead, don't say any more. Look around this village to see if there's a carriage or cart. Hitch our horses to it and we'll take the rest of the way."

Zheng Chengyuan ignored them, and the officers had no choice but to obey his orders and distribute the horses.

"Your Excellency is very courageous. I believe this will help our team reach the border more smoothly." Mu Yibai said.

Zheng Chengyuan had nothing to say. Although he was reluctant to share the horses, he also understood that Mu Yibai's strategy was the most reasonable one at the moment, and they really could not afford the food and fodder for the horses.

In the end, the first branch of the Mu family got two horses, the second branch got three horses, the Zhu family and the Chen family each got six horses, the Wang family and the Chen family each got five horses, and the officials had twelve horses left, out of the thirty-seven officials.

Cai never dreamed that the officials would give up their horses to everyone for free. This was simply a godsend. She got up immediately and ran to the horse despite her injuries. Even though the horse avoided her, she was very happy and kept touching the horse's belly and laughing happily.

"Master, that's great! We finally don't have to walk anymore. We have horses to ride. Come here quickly, Zhang'er, come to grandma. Grandma will hold you and ride the horse."

"Great, grandma, hold me. I want to ride a horse. Riding a horse!"

Mu Yuanzhang ran towards Cai excitedly with his arms open.

Mu Yiguo also walked towards the horse, and a look of joy finally appeared on his face, which had been exhausted for several days. The exile life during this period seemed to have made him twenty years older in an instant. His mental state was not as good as before, and his body became more and more empty.

Just now when the villagers attacked them with knives, his head hit a stone on the roadside, and it took him a long time to recover. Now that he had a horse, he relaxed and walked towards the horse. However, the scene in front of his eyes became more and more blurred, and even Mu Yuanzhang's figure seemed to be double.

"master--"

Mu Yiguo took only two steps when he staggered, his vision went dark, and he fainted on the ground. The concubines beside him all screamed in shock.

Cai was originally discussing with Mu Yuanzhang how to mount the horse. When she heard the sound, she looked and saw Mu Yiguo fainted. She also felt dizzy and hurried to his side.

"Master, Master, what's wrong with you? Don't scare us. Don't die! What will we do if you die?"