Ji Qingqing stood trembling at the very back of the crowd of servants.
Currently, the entire Eastern Palace was completely surrounded. Up front, the Crown Prince had been tossed carelessly onto the ground. Thrown beside him was his bodyguard, Gu Feng, who had been beaten into a total bloody mess.
A Chief Eunuch wearing a blue flying-fish robe was squawking in a duck-like voice. Pinching his thumb and index finger together in a delicate hand sign, he held his head high and squawked out with a condescending tone, looking out from the corners of his eyes: “His Highness the Crown Prince committed treason! Out of regard for blood being thicker than water, His Majesty has demoted him to Prince Fei and granted him Lingnan as his fief. We hope Prince Fei will know his place from now on. You shall set off with the exiles at noon tomorrow.”
“Anyone willing to accompany Prince Fei, step forward now!”
Before his voice even died away, Eunuch Liu, who was already in his early forties, immediately ran out. Wiping his tears, he fell to his knees in front of Prince Fei, heart aching as he wiped away the un-dried blood from the prince’s face.
Everyone else was watching cautiously without moving an inch. Seeing this, the Chief Eunuch narrowed his small eyes and said ominously, “Since you are unwilling, there is no need for you to stick around.”
In the blink of an eye, dozens of sword-wielding guards drew their blades and began hacking. Over three hundred servants in the Eastern Palace lost their heads before they even had time to weep.
It was just about to reach Ji Qingqing.
“I’ll go!”
Ji Qingqing hollered at the top of her lungs. Giving her wobbly legs a hard pinch, she scrambled forward on hands and knees, collapsing to her knees with a loud thud.
Shaking, she cried out, “This… this servant girl is willing to serve His Highness through thick and thin! I beg Eunuch to grant permission!”
The Chief Eunuch did not buy it. Instead, he let out a cold smirk and squeaked sharply, “Weren’t you unwilling just a moment ago? What, changed your mind now?”
Ji Qingqing swallowed hard and continued in a trembling voice, “Just… just now… this… this servant girl was stunned by Chief Eunuch’s overwhelming aura and couldn’t react in time. Though this servant is foolish, I will serve His Highness with undivided loyalty. Please rest assured, Chief Eunuch, and rest assured, Your Majesty.”
Not knowing which phrase hit the right note, the Chief Eunuch gave Ji Qingqing a meaningful look and said indifferently, “His Majesty mentioned that Prince Fei is feeling unwell, so he has specially granted a carriage. Take good care of him on the way; don’t let his body suffer.”
Seeing the Chief Eunuch’s expression soften, Ji Qingqing plucked up her courage to speak: “May this servant girl prepare some food to bring along for the road?”
A hint of complexity flashed across the Chief Eunuch’s face. He looked at the timid Ji Qingqing and let out a cold snort, “Don’t go overboard.”
With that, he promptly led the guards out of the Eastern Palace.
Ji Qingqing immediately beamed a huge smile and chirped brightly, “Thank you, Chief Eunuch! This servant will pray daily for your long life and good health!”
The Chief Eunuch paused for a moment, thinking to himself: ‘Quite a quick-witted girl.’
Once everyone had withdrawn, Ji Qingqing slumped onto the ground. Wiping a forehead full of sweat, she looked at the surrounding headless corpses dying with their eyes wide open and sighed inwardly, ‘Oh my god! That was horrifying!’
Thinking back to her proficient, spineless kowtowing just now, she silently complained to herself, [Slavishness doesn’t need practice at all; it’s practically built-in! What “death before dishonor”? When a blade is at your throat, kneeling is fine as long as you survive. Staying alive is the absolute truth.]
After catching her breath for a few moments, Ji Qingqing forced her wobbly legs to stand up slowly. Leisurely dodging the corpses scattered all over the floor, she shuffled over and said weakly, “Eunuch, don’t rush to cry just yet. Let’s hurry up and tend to His Highness’s wounds. If we wait any longer, we’ll literally be burying him.”
Eunuch Liu’s crying stopped abruptly. His face turned livid as he pointed a delicate finger at Ji Qingqing, “You… you…” But thinking of their current predicament, he grunted fiercely, “Girl, what are you standing there for? Get over here and help!”
Ji Qingqing frowned as she looked at the severely injured Prince Fei, not daring to move him recklessly. After a moment’s thought, she turned around and unhinged a door panel. Feeling the feather-light weight in her hands, she was very satisfied—it seemed her brute strength was still intact!
In her past life, coming from a rural background, she wasn’t good at studying and only had immense physical strength to offer. On top of that, there were five siblings in her family, so she dropped out of school right after high school to work.
During that time, she changed many jobs: waitress, kitchen assistant, security guard, and finally a loading worker.
Because she was strong and worked fast, and loading was paid by piecework—plus her boisterous personality meant she never squabbled over trifles—many bosses loved hiring her. She could make nearly 1,000 yuan working just three or four hours a day, and sometimes up to 2,000 yuan when there was a lot of cargo. Although it wasn’t as respectable as white-collar work, she earned far more than her peers.
Later, she dated a handsome boy-toy boyfriend. After dating for over half a year, that man did nothing all day except spend her money. The most intimate thing they ever did was hold hands, and even then, he looked down on her for being unrefined. In the end, he cheated on her directly. Thinking about how her money had flowed away like water during that time, she felt immense regret—why on earth did she get drunk back then? Wouldn’t it have been better to just kick that bastard right out the door?
Looking at the head-aching situation right in front of her, Ji Qingqing violently shook the mess of thoughts out of her head.
She then worked together with Eunuch Liu to carefully carry the noble former Crown Prince inside.
Afterward, they carried Gu Feng in as well. Looking at the two men lying side by side, Ji Qingqing felt a tightness in her chest and a shortness of breath. After briefly examining their injuries, she couldn’t tell about internal trauma, but external injuries were everywhere—there was hardly a single patch of unblemished skin left. As for breathing? Well, they were still gasping for air for the time being.
In a situation like this, finding a doctor was out of the question. Unfortunately, she was neither a physician nor did she possess the original host’s memories; she was completely in the dark about everything.
Hesitating for a moment, she asked anyway: “Does Eunuch know where there is wound medicine?”
Eunuch Liu wiped his tears and hastily replied that he did, saying he would go search right away. With that, he turned around, went to the side hall, brought back a small wooden box, and skillfully opened the medicine kit to pick out several bottles of medicine.
Ji Qingqing also fetched a basin of water and stripped both men down to just a pair of short trunks, teaming up with Eunuch Liu to clean the blood and grime off the two injured men.
Looking at the mangled, raw flesh, Ji Qingqing’s hands trembled. Fighting back her shivers, she gently wiped them down. Meanwhile, Prince Fei showed no signs of waking up, only occasionally knitting his brows. They went through more than a dozen basins of water before getting them fully cleaned up, and then joined forces to apply medicine and wrap bandages for the pair. By the time they finished, the moon was already hanging high above the willow treetops.
Ji Qingqing did not dare to rest for a second. She asked Eunuch Liu to keep watch, inquired about the direction of the kitchen, and rushed out right away. Squinting her eyes, she carefully navigated around the chopped-up corpses scattered all over the ground. Ji Qingqing pressed her palms together in prayer, chanting silently in her heart: [Excuse me, passing through! Don’t come looking for me if nothing’s wrong, and definitely don’t come if something is!] Terrified, she sprinted right past.
Barreling into the kitchen, Ji Qingqing immediately began rummaging through the cabinets and drawers for ingredients.
She needed to make some dry rations to eat on the road. Their current situation was clearly an exile, and based on the exiled prisoners she had seen on TV in her past life, they were treated worse than livestock.
She lit all the stoves in the kitchen and pulled out flour, eggs, oil, rice, and salt.
First, she poured out a large basin of flour, cracked several dozen eggs into it, and grabbed a big handful of salt. Frowning at the stark white flour, Ji Qingqing had a sudden idea.
She poured in some sauce and quickly kneaded it into a pitch-black dough. Ji Qingqing was very satisfied with this color. She then kneaded five more large basins of dough in the exact same manner.
While waiting for the dough to rest, Ji Qingqing suddenly realized that tonight would likely not be very peaceful. She quickly ran back to the main bedchamber, arriving just in time to spot three figures dressed in black sneaking into the hall.
Ji Qingqing narrowed her eyes, picked up a stone slab on her way, and trod lightly toward the three intruders.
Eunuch Liu turned his head and gasped in horror. The three assassins froze for a beat and were just about to raise their blades to hack, but Ji Qingqing seized the opportunity and knocked all three flat with a single smash of the stone slab.
Looking at the three who seemed to have already kicked the bucket, Ji Qingqing realized she might have used a bit too much strength. Feeling guilty, she tossed the stone slab aside. Suppressing her inner fear, she hid her hands behind her back and rubbed them hard. Looking at the pale-faced Eunuch Liu, she forced a tight smile onto her face, “Um, let’s stay together tonight! It’s pretty dangerous around here, huh?”
Eunuch Liu patted his chest, relieved: “Thank goodness you were attentive, girl, otherwise we’d be in real trouble.”
He hurriedly helped Ji Qingqing carry the two injured men over to the kitchen. Fortunately, the kitchen was quite spacious, with more than enough room to accommodate two patients.
After settling the two men down, Eunuch Liu sneakily glanced left and right, then pulled out nine ginseng roots of various sizes from his bosom. With a subtle hint of pride, he said, “This is this servant’s own stash, and now it comes in handy.”
Ji Qingqing was a bit surprised! This little old man was actually quite generous!
According to her past-life experience watching TV, weren’t eunuchs usually miserly misers?
Unexpectedly, Eunuch Liu’s sharp eyes caught Ji Qingqing’s expression.
Having spent a lifetime reading people’s expressions, Eunuch Liu instantly knew what she was thinking. He rolled his eyes directly and snorted coldly: “His Highness is this servant’s very life! As long as His Highness is healthy and sound, forget about these few items—this servant would willingly offer up his own flesh for him to eat.”
Being seen through, Ji Qingqing looked around awkwardly to hide her embarrassment.
Eunuch Liu didn’t dwell on Ji Qingqing’s petty thoughts and instead told her to briskly get the ginseng slices boiling.
Seeing that the dough had rested enough, she nimbly set to work baking flatbreads.
Meanwhile, Eunuch Liu went off to the stable to hitch up the carriage…