"Old Hu, are you sure your medicine can make her forget those things?"
"Master, you have to trust me, Old Hu. It's just a bit of Forget-Worry Powder, there's no way I'll mess this up."
The two finished talking and went back, only to see the three children leaning against Qi Nian, sleeping soundly and sweetly.
Yao Chengyi wanted to haul his son away, but he was afraid of waking the child. Old Hu muttered that it was rare for the children to have little friends, which finally put an end to his idea.
Qi Nian knew the two were back, but she was too tired to bother opening her eyes.
Teaming up was really a good idea—Qi Nian finally didn't have to worry about being schemed against by the other refugees. She slept very well and felt completely revived.
Just as dawn broke, the large group of refugees began to move. Those with water were cooking porridge, those without were gnawing on dry rations, and those with nothing to eat or drink could only drag their weak legs and start the journey.
Qi Nian woke the three children, took out the gourd of water from her bundle to give them a drink, and then handed each of them an apple.
Qi Nian knew she had no grain. Before falling asleep last night, she had used her consciousness to enter the Secret Realm, filled the gourd with water, and stuffed the bundle full of various fruits—that was the food for her and her two children.
As for how Yao Chengyi and the others might speculate about where her things came from, she didn't need to explain to them. They were just traveling together to escape the disaster; sooner or later they would go their separate ways, and no one would know anyone anymore.
"Mother, I want to eat that." Xiao Xi, while eating her apple, was also very interested in the porridge that Old Hu was stirring with salt added.
"I'll take you to eat it." Xiao Rui pulled Xiao Xi over.
Qi Nian didn't stop them. Xiao Rui ate her fruits and drank her water, so her own children eating a bowl of their porridge wasn't too much to ask.
Old Hu gave Xiao Rui and Xiao Xi each half a bowl of porridge, then filled another bowl and brought it to Qi Nian. "We're running low on bowls, Young Mistress Qi, you'll have to share one with Xiao Chen."
"Thank you." Qi Nian took it and fed Xiao Chen the porridge.
Since they were willing to share porridge with her and the two children, as a return of favor, Qi Nian took out three more apples from her bundle and gave them to Old Hu.
Old Hu didn't stand on ceremony. He gave one each to Yao Chengyi and Shen Lu, then seemed to remember something and slapped his forehead. "Young Mistress Qi, about last night when you said you'd give two pears for helping you fight off those people—does that offer still stand?"
So he'd been thinking about it all night? Qi Nian understood—Old Hu was just a foodie. She took out two more pears and handed them to him.
Fruits of this quality weren't even sold in Suicheng, let alone there—even the private estates of the nobles in the capital couldn't grow fruit of this appearance. Where could a village woman have gotten them? Yao Chengyi's feelings toward Qi Nian had gone from disgust to suspicion as well.
Qi Nian also noticed that in just one night, Yao Chengyi's attitude toward her had made a qualitative leap, going straight from polite distance to wariness and disgust.
Didn't her saving his son's life earn her the right to travel together?
However, Qi Nian never wasted effort on things she couldn't figure out. For the safety of Xiao Chen and Xiao Xi, she would just shamelessly pretend she didn't understand anything and hitch a ride.
Old Hu and Shen Lu drove the cart, while Yao Chengyi and Xiao Rui sat in the carriage. After Qi Nian put Xiao Chen and Xiao Xi inside, squeezing in, there was still a spot for her if everyone moved over a bit.
"Hey, pull your legs in and make some room for me, thanks."
Yao Chengyi didn't even lift his eyelids, his whole face written with the word "no."
"Mother, sit here." Xiao Chen scooted his little bottom over, but the space wasn't even as wide as a palm.
"You two sit still and behave. Mother can walk, it's fine. Call me if you need anything."
The two children obediently nodded.
Fine, if he wouldn't let her sit, she wouldn't sit. Qi Nian quickened her pace and went up to chat with Old Hu, who was driving, to gather information.
"Old Hu, is this the right way? How long until we reach the next city?"
"After leaving Suicheng, the next one is Yunhai City. I reckon it'll take another month or more before we can get there. The situation doesn't look good—I don't know if we can hold out until we make it."
"Is Yunhai City safe? If Yunhai City falls into chaos, which city can still take in refugees?"
"Hard to say. Right now the princes are fighting over territory, anywhere could descend into chaos. The only place that's temporarily safe is Shangjing City. As long as the old emperor in Shangjing hasn't died, no matter how much his sons fight, they wouldn't dare bring the battle to their father's doorstep."
"Is the old emperor just going to watch his sons throw the world into chaos and do nothing about it?"
"If he could do something, it wouldn't be chaos. The old emperor has the will but not the strength, which is why his sons are fighting over territory and power."
"Didn't the old emperor appoint a crown prince? Are his sons fighting over territory to have enough leverage to ascend the throne when the old emperor finally passes?"
"The old emperor would like to appoint one, but he can't." Old Hu finished speaking and then realized, "Hey, you're pretty sharp."
Hmph, underestimating this immortal.
It seemed this Dalim Huangchao was indeed a complete mess.
Qi Nian roughly understood now—the old emperor couldn't control his sons. If he appointed a crown prince now, no one would accept it, and even if he left an edict with his last breath, no one would accept that either. So why bother appointing one? Let them fight it out.
Qi Nian calculated in her mind—she'd have to wait until they reached the nearest city, Yunhai City, to stock up on daily necessities. It would be best to buy a horse-drawn carriage and then head straight for Shangjing City, since at least it was temporarily safe there.
"Old Hu, where are you all planning to go?"
"We…"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Someone knocked heavily on the carriage. Old Hu gave Qi Nian an awkward smile and shut his mouth—his master didn't allow him to say more.
Old Hu and Shen Lu were both decent people, so why was their master such a freak? Qi Nian had already gathered enough information, so she stopped asking.
She had a gut feeling that Yao Chengyi was deliberately targeting her, but no matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn't figure out what grudge or grievance this stemmed from.
"Ah!"
Before Qi Nian could figure out the grudge, she nearly slammed into the ox cart.
Then came a series of crackling sounds from inside the carriage.
The ox cart had actually tipped over.
Worried about the two children, Qi Nian lifted the curtain and saw that all the clay jars of water inside the carriage had shattered, spilling water across half the compartment.
Yao Chengyi was shielding his son with both arms.
Xiao Chen and Xiao Xi were huddled together. The two kids had been fine at first, but the moment they saw their mother, they burst into tears.
Qi Nian could only carry the two children out of the carriage to comfort them.
"What happened?" Yao Chengyi also got out, holding Xiao Rui.
"Someone set a trap in the middle of the road. The left wheel fell into it."
Old Hu and Shen Lu lifted the carriage and cleared out the broken clay shards. Several jars of life-saving water—gone just like that. Anyone would feel a pang in their chest.
"Mommy, I'm scared." Xiao Xi was frightened.
Xiao Chen said nothing, just clung tightly to Qi Nian's leg.
Qi Nian shook the damp clothes off the two children and only then noticed that Xiao Chen's calf was cut by a shard and still bleeding.
Her heart ached for the children. Qi Nian shot a fierce glare at Yao Chengyi, who only cared about his own son. She refused to believe that a grown man couldn't protect three kids. This man was simply selfish and narrow-minded!
Qi Nian found a clean strip of cloth and wrapped Xiao Chen's injured foot. "My Xiao Chen is a little man. A wound like this is nothing to fear."
"Yeah! I'm a little man." Xiao Chen pouted and snorted at Yao Chengyi and his son.
After bandaging the child's wound, Qi Nian carried the two kids back onto the carriage and quickly climbed in herself. Her feet had long since blistered and bled. With a few water jars gone, there was finally room—if she could hitch a ride, she would. What was face worth anyway?