What a cheating husband

The Jingzhou fraud case was solved, and Chen Ping was put on a wooden yoke and forced to the saltworks that month.

Because of the Jingzhou magistrate's memorial, he begged the court to read his crimes and meritorious deeds, hoping to reduce his sentence.The imperial court granted permission, and the original ten-year hard labor sentence was changed to three years, and he was immediately sent to Liangzhou to serve.

The salt field is located in the northwest region of Daxia, tens of thousands of miles away from Beijing. After walking for more than a month, I didn't reach the boundary until the soles of my shoes were worn out and bleeding blisters came out.

Right now it's the scorching heat, and the hot weather is so hot that the clothes are rotten with sweat and there is nowhere to wash them, and he will suffer from physical pain at every turn. It is too late for Chen Ping to regret it, but when he thinks about his daughter-in-law who is alive and dead and his son who is arrested, he feels that doing so worth it.

Halfway through the journey, no matter how firm the belief is, it will inevitably be wiped out by reality, leaving only regret.

In the end, Chen Ping still couldn't bear hardships, and he could bear the hunger every day, but he was dragged by shackles when he saw the officials riding on the tall horses. Feeling resentful.

To treat the prisoners, they have plenty of means to treat them honestly. Chen Ping escaped twice and was caught back and beaten severely. After escaping, he could only wait bitterly to arrive at the saltworks as soon as possible.

When he set foot on the boundary of Liangzhou with his bare feet, he saw desolate hills in his eyes. Chen Ping licked the corners of his chapped lips, and lamented sadly, "Three years? Am I destined to survive three years?"

"Hmph~ You'll be miserable if you drive away, and you won't be able to appreciate the Shura Hell until you enter the salt field." The poor man in official uniform sneered, and slapped Chen Ping's tattered trousers with a whip, "Let's go!"

With pain in his ankles, Chen Ping moved his feet with difficulty while carrying the wooden yoke. He could no longer feel the fatigue and pain. In his heart, nothing but hopelessness was the infinite fear of serving.

Entering Liangzhou City, the officials settled the horses and gave them a good meal, while Chen Ping was handcuffed to a wooden stake and ate rotten leaves all over his face.

Unbearably hungry and thirsty, Chen Ping picked up the rotten leaves on the ground and stuffed them into his mouth, ignoring the floating objects inside, even ignoring the scum poured on him...

"The prisoner, the prisoner..." Chen Ping squirmed and slowly slumped on the ground, turning his frayed wrist and laughing.

"Smile! You can still laugh when you are dying. Do you think you can survive in the saltworks? Don't dream..." The man didn't even bother to serve him a meal after inquiring about the number of years of service, so he poured him a bowl of swill Feed.

In that land boundary, not to mention three years, a strong man might not be able to survive two years. Basically, more than two years would go in vertically and come out horizontally.So right now when he looks at Chen Ping, it's like looking at a dead body.

"I beg my buddy to bring me another bowl of swill..." Chen Ping turned to the buddy dumbly, there was no begging in his dead eyes, and he didn't seem to accept his fate. ...If you have money, you may not be able to survive for two more years. If you want to die now, I think you should kill yourself, and you will not suffer for a year in vain."

"Thank you buddy for reminding me..." Chen Ping thanked in a hoarse voice.Thinking to himself that Chen Ping has been ridiculed a lot, but it is rare that he is pitied like this... No!It happened before, but at that time he was arrogant and didn't pay attention to people's kindness at all, and felt humiliated, and never thanked him.

Thanks to him so much, the man turned around and went to the kitchen to bring out the food that was supposed to be for him, and put another bucket of clean water in front of him and said, "I can only help you so much, don't tell people that I gave it to you." of……"

"Thank you." Chen Ping grinned, disregarding the shackles of the wooden shackle, and scooped water on the barrel to drink.

The man looked down on him, and saw no one around, so he took a water ladle and fed him, "I heard people say, don't stand out when you enter the salt field, do whatever you are asked to do, and don't resist when you are beaten, let alone do anything righteous." Otherwise, I will assign you the hardest and most tiring work, and you will not be given food..."

The man babbled about the well-known secret, seeing Chen Ping thank you again and again as if he was being taught, he touched his head and smiled and said, "It's nothing, I still think that the people who came to the saltworks were all heinous gangsters, seeing you like this doesn't seem like a crime." Such a serious crime, why was he sent to the saltworks for hard labor?"

Chen Ping shook his head with a wry smile, "The past is unbearable. If I can survive, I will definitely repay the fellow for his kindness."

The guy hurriedly shook his hand, don't mention whether to repay or not, just don't tell people that he delivered the meal in private.

After thinking for a while, he whispered, "Our land boundary, called a state, is only as big as a county. If you go further north, you will be in the land of the barbarians. If you can escape, run north. If you cross the river, you will enter the barbarian land." Territory boundary, even if the officials want to catch you, they won’t be able to catch you.”

"Isn't the land of Great Xia to the north?" Chen Ping was surprised.

"It used to be, but in recent years, the imperial court has withdrawn its defenses, coupled with the shortage of manpower, from time to time there are horse bandits crossing the border to make trouble, and the higher authorities seem to be colluding with the horse bandits. As long as they cross the river, they basically don't care about life or death." The man whispered Tell him what you hear.

Chen Ping bowed to thank him, thinking in his heart so what if he escaped?His wife and children are all in Daxia, even if he escapes, he will be rootless duckweed, and he will not live long.

At noon on the second day, officials forced Chen Ping to parade through the streets routinely. Liangzhou was short of supplies, and few people wasted food to beat up prisoners. Apart from the saliva all over their faces, they did not suffer any major crimes.

From the scorching summer to the early autumn, he encountered all kinds of scorn and ridicule along the way, and now Chen Ping could no longer be angered by some encounters. The moment he stepped out of Liangzhou City with heavy shackles, all he had was fear of the future and survival instinct.

On the way, Chen Ping escaped once more, but after being caught and beaten beyond recognition, he was powerless to escape again.The yamen servant cut off his water again. It is good to be able to go on the road when you are hungry, how can you have the strength to run again?

Entering the small town at the foot of Liangshan, the messenger dragged Chen Ping through the streets on horseback, and all he could see were the indifferent and indifferent common people, who were completely different from the singing and dancing in Liangzhou City.

People watched the ragged prisoner pass by indifferently, except to sigh and pity his situation.

Once in Liangzhou, life and death are life and death, and after seeing too many corpses being transported from the salt field, the people here have long since stopped being shameless towards the prisoners.

This small town is the only village where people live around the saltworks. There are many families of prisoners mixed in, and the whole family moved here to wait for their relatives to come out of the saltworks.

It is possible that there are only a few people who waited until the family reunion, most of them died of exhaustion in the saltworks, and only one body could be recovered.

Looking forward to the bad news, some women returned to their hometowns to remarry, some remained widows in the place where their dead husbands died, and there were also old and weak women and children who jumped on the yamen servants insanely and begged to bring some food to their families...

Chen Ping realized that if he entered the salt field, he would really have no way out...

The messenger pushed away the food that was raised in front of him, and dragged Chen Ping forward after a few curses. During this time, a village woman knelt in the road and held up the money she earned from her work, begging to meet her husband.

The officer picked up the copper coin with a sneer, and glanced at the village woman disdainfully, "How can such a small amount be enough to bribe the guard? Well, it's not easy for you as a woman, so let's bring him some food for you."

The woman was extremely disappointed at first, and then handed the food basket to the officer full of gratitude. She smacked her head three times before thanking him in a trembling voice, "Thank you, sir, please tell me when you see my husband...I'll wait for him to come back"

The official asked the man's name casually, and then walked straight forward.Before leaving the town, a group of officers and soldiers who transported the corpses drove a carriage into the town, "Does Jia Wu and Zheng He have any relatives here? If not, they just throw the corpses in the mass grave..."

The officers and soldiers yelled as usual, and before the weeping family members rushed to them, they laughed and chatted with the officials who escorted Chen Ping.

"Not many people died today, only two corpses..."

"Haha...there will be more when winter comes..."

Hearing such creepy chatter, Chen Ping was as cold as if he had fallen into a cold pool. Human life was as insignificant here. Even two dead people could chat happily and compare it to conversation material. This man-eating world How can we survive?

Chen Ping broke free from the rope like crazy, and was subdued by a team of officers and soldiers before running a few meters. The leader sneered, "Has this dog lost his mind yet?"

The official said in a displeased cold voice, "It seems that the lesson given is too light. I see that he is a scholar, so I want to be lenient. I never wanted to cause you trouble."

"It's easy to say, I'll be honest if I throw it in the salt field for two meals." The leader waved his hand, and two people picked up the unconscious Chen Ping and threw him into the carriage, while the corpse was casually thrown aside for someone to collect.

"Since the person has been delivered, please let me know, and our brother will be back soon." The official sent for two months, and he didn't bother to run a few miles to meet the errand.

"Come on, you've worked hard all the way, so you can settle down when you return home earlier. We'll take care of these small things for you. It won't last a year. It doesn't matter if you remember it or not," the leader Wujing replied.

"Don't tell me, this is also our job, so as to avoid punishment from above, it's better to register it in the register." The officer said with a smile, and handed over the village woman's filial change to the officers and soldiers.

"Success, for the sake of the drink money, I'll run the errands for you." A little disgusted, he picked up his purse, and the leader waved his hand to greet the return journey.

Before that woman saw that the official had collected the money but did not do anything, so she jumped up and begged, "The official, the official... you have accepted the woman's order..."

"Get out~ If you don't get out, be careful to beat you!" After the officer finished speaking viciously, he really took off the whip around his waist, and slapped the woman several times, until the woman couldn't bear to let go, and then kicked and cursed. Get on the horse and hurry.

Three months later, Chen Ping went down to work in the well with only his unlined clothes. He still dared not slacken his joint pain from the icy brine. He hung the wooden barrel on the iron hook, and then shook the rope to wait for the next water lift.

Well mine salt is generally water-soluble when digging a well, and the brine is extracted and fried in the sun, and only then can edible well salt be obtained. Occasionally, solid rock salt can be mined directly for consumption.

Chen Ping offended the officers and soldiers when he first arrived, and was assigned to dig wells as soon as he arrived at the saltworks.He was not given food after heavy physical labor, and fainted from hunger within a few days.

Seeing that he has been more docile these past few days, the higher-ups didn't want the newly arrived laborer to die here, and the mine was in short supply of manpower, so they threw a few dry corn buns and sent him to work in the mine instead.

Chen Ping also brought a few winter clothes with him before he set off, but they were confiscated as pawns by several jailers before he was escorted. If he didn't have money to honor the officials, he wouldn't have been treated harshly along the way.

It was early winter at this time, and the weather suddenly turned cold. Although the snow had not fallen, it was time to put on jackets. In addition, the temperature difference between morning and evening was relatively large, and the climate was worse than that in the south. There was no jacket to keep warm and soaked in cold water. Then suffer from rheumatic bone pain.

Few prisoners in the mine were fully clothed, let alone wearing winter clothes to keep out the cold. Occasionally, a few people received care from above, but they barely had food and clothing.

After all, those who have been escorted so far are ordinary people with no power and power, and those who have money to dredge, have long been assigned to work in the place where the stew is fried and dried, so they will not do heavy physical work like them.

The night dew descended, and Chen Ping was not allowed to climb up to the ground until he couldn't see his fingers.Wring out the brine from the trouser legs, stand in a row with other prisoners, and go back to sleep in the straw shed under the beatings and scolding of the officers and soldiers.

Tossing and turning due to joint pain at night, I had to rub my palms to warm myself and cover myself with only a straw mat covering my body. If it got colder, I would probably freeze to death even if I couldn't die of hunger.

There were originally 35 prisoners who worked with Chen Ping, plus 6 newcomers, more than a dozen died in three months or so, leaving less than 30 prisoners.Those who can survive until now are mostly young and strong, and most of the old and weak will die if they can't survive three months.

Chen Ping kept in mind his buddy's advice, and he did things in silence. When he was beaten, he honestly begged for mercy. Seeing that he was obedient, the officers and soldiers stopped staring at him and beat him. Paused.

The man who died ten days ago was a reckless man. He was beaten and maimed in a short time by relying on a few punches and kicks. He died after starving for three days.

The man he rescued was not only not grateful, but also punched him because of fasting for three days. If it weren't for this, such a strong man would not have died in three days, and he might have been pissed off.

They all live in the same shed, Chen Ping tightly hugs a few grasshoppers, he is flattered and rarely bullied, of course he pays filial piety to them first when it comes to eating, but he is hungry and skinny, and has long since taken off his clothes. Mutually.

Fortunately, Chen Qingyin gave it in time, and before Chen Ping died of starvation, he finally waited for a letter from home.

Chen Ping cried while holding the crumpled letter, he knew that Chen Qing would not ignore him, Dai Di's life was saved...

The jailer was used to this, so he threw two cornbreads to him and told him, "The family sent money, so we naturally have to take care of one or two, but this person has too many eyes, so it's not good to take care of you too much. Be more eyes, don't offend people who shouldn't." Offend the person, otherwise I will not be able to protect you!"

Chen Ping expressed his thanks in a mournful voice, swallowed the two corn buns whole, then shrank the letter paper aside for a closer look.

With the help of silver, he will naturally not be beaten at every turn, and he will be excluded from heavy work and replaced by lighter side work.

Because the Liang family had no power and power, they only bribed a little money, so Chen Ping was not transferred to the drying yard, but was still working in the mine.

Chen Ping is used to playing tricks, even though he is taken care of by others, he doesn't dare to steal and play tricks in his work.

Don't say you are hardworking and willing to work, even if you just look at you, you can get a good meal.If you want to survive, apart from judging the situation, you must have money to be filial, and at the worst, you must be able to get food from outside, otherwise let alone live until you are released from prison, you will not even be able to grab shit.

On the day of Chuxue, after eating three steamed corn buns, the boss greeted him to start work.Different from the past, all the jailors who were slack in the past, now all came out to give lectures in neat clothes and full of energy.

The soft whips that had been inseparable before were also replaced by sabers. The cell boss yelled and redistributed the work.In addition, it is repeatedly emphasized that talking is not allowed while working, and they are not allowed to answer anything when asked.

These rules have been kept in mind since the beginning, and the superiors occasionally come down to make inspections. If anyone can't control their mouths, it really won't do him any good except death.

Chen Ping was transferred to the bittern transport team by an au pair, and he struggled to pull up the cart, bowing his head like a scalper.

Seeing that he was struggling to walk, the jailer only gave him two kicks in a rare good-tempered manner. Chen Ping gritted his teeth and pulled the car to the frying field, unloaded the barrels and returned empty.

Sun Hu ran into Chen Ping on his way back, saw that there were no jailers nearby, and asked in a low voice, "Did you hide a cornbread in your arms?"

Chen Ping paused, damn it!It's rare that I distributed three corn buns today. I wanted to save them for dinner, but I didn't want to be seen by him, so I had to explain sincerely, "No, breakfast is eaten in front of the prison boss. Who dares to hide it?"

"Hmph~ Don't think I dare not do anything to you, Xiao Jiuhou, really pretend that I didn't see it?" Sun Hu bared his teeth and showed a malicious smile, which made Chen Ping shrink back immediately.

Just as he was about to hand over the cornbread in his arms, the jailer happened to be seen by the jailer who came back from the water, "What are you doing! Don't want to live? Why don't you hurry up and work!"

The jailer was about to draw out his whip to teach these two bastards a good lesson, so he stretched out his hand and missed it, so he hurried a few steps and kicked each of them twice, cursing, "If you dare to hide, I will kill you! I will give you peace of mind today. If you cause trouble, no one will be able to please you!"

Chen Ping obediently finished his kicks before he dared to pull the cart away.Seeing the nervous look of the official, one can guess that it must be a great person from above.

Before Sun Hu left, he gave Chen Ping a hard look, and Chen Ping was disturbed by his self-evident look.If I knew it earlier, I should have eaten the cornbread. Why do I have to keep it until night?It's cheap for nothing.

At noon, when it was supposed to be dinner time, not many people went on strike.

Tired all morning, already exhausted under the hunger and cold.Because there were guards, Chen Ping didn't have time to eat steamed buns, so he could only continue to work under Sun Hu's cannibalistic gaze.

Fortunately, half an hour later, the cook called for dinner, and everyone finally took the opportunity to rest for half an hour.

After the meal time, the jailer was already hungry, leaving the two of them to take turns to go to the dining hall to eat.

One person had three cornbreads, but everyone was pleasantly surprised. They devoured the food voraciously, and licked the residue on their hands dissatisfied, completely ignoring how dirty the muddy black palms were.

Under Sun Hu's stare, Chen Ping didn't dare to take out the cornbread that he had hidden privately. As soon as the jailer left, Sun Hu immediately picked up Chen Ping and searched for food at the place where the prisoner was carried.

During the rest time, the half-fed prisoners spread out on the ground to rest, even if they had strength, they would not mind Chen Ping's business.

Not to mention that the Wotou was snatched by Sun Hu, and he was beaten up, Chen Ping even cried and promised that Sun Hu would let him go.As they were walking back, a group of jail guards happened to return, and seeing Chen Ping's bruised face, his heart ached.

It's so hard to make trouble at this juncture, isn't it courting death? "What did you two do?"

Seeing that something was wrong, Sun Hu immediately revealed the fact that Chen Ping had secretly hidden the cornbread. Chen Ping did not dare to disobey Sun Hu, let alone talk back to the jailer, and fell to his knees in fright.

Relying on someone to back him up, Sun Hu backed away with a snort, only to see the leading jailer pinching Chen Ping's neck and lifting him up, saying, "It seems that you are too full?"

"Don't dare... I beg the adults to let the little one go..." Chen Ping glanced at Xiao Jiu, and when he saw someone staring at him fiercely, he knew that this matter could not be done well.

Hiding food privately was not a big deal at all, but now when people came to patrol, Chen Ping was beaten with a bruised nose and a swollen face. If someone saw him accidentally, if he didn't know it, he would think they were the ones who beat him.

"Clock it up first and then talk." The jailer gave the troublemaker Sun Hu a sharp look, and waved his hands to order Chen Ping to be hidden first, so as not to be discovered by the people above.

When Chen Ping heard this, he was so frightened that he almost lost control, but all the prisoners who were locked up were starved to death.Immediately weeping and howling to promise not to do it again, he knelt and crawled over, begging Xiao Jiu to intercede.

Xiao Jiu kicked him angrily, blaming him for being ignorant, "I will release you when the person leaves, and you will be locked up for a few days. You won't starve to death!"

Chen Ping got the guarantee, and secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he didn't want to put him to death...

Before Chen Ping was dragged away, a group of people happened to come in from outside. The leader was Zhao Mucheng, the censor who supervised this trip, and accompanied by Zheng Yu, the prefect of Liangzhou, Ma Changsheng, the magistrate of Liangzhou, Song Keqing, the servant of the Ministry of War, and Liangzhou Cao Fang, the envoy of salt and iron, and Li Yingqiu, the capital officer of the Ministry of Punishment...

Just the subordinate officials and their entourage came in with dozens of people, not counting the officers, soldiers and jailers who opened the way ahead...

Chen Ping stared dumbfounded at No. [-], opened his mouth wide and whispered, "It's over..."