After finishing dinner, Jiang Wanyue wanted to check on Xiao Hengchuan again.
When she headed over, she also brought along the earthenware pot that Shen Wanjin had brought them.
Since they had already eaten their fill, she had cleaned and gutted the leftover fish from lunch and hung it on the donkey cart to keep. Now, she took one of the fish with her.
Seeing Jiang Wanyue arrive, Old Madam Xiao quickly stood up.
“Child, you’re here.”
“Old Madam Xiao, this is the earthenware pot my grandfather brought us. We don’t need it right now, so you can use it to cook porridge. And here’s a fish—we can’t finish them all. You can make some fish porridge.”
“How could I accept that?”
“Please take it. If the fish isn’t eaten soon, it’ll spoil.”
“You really do know how to persuade people.”
Old Madam Xiao knew Jiang Wanyue was simply being considerate, and she felt even more grateful toward her.
“Whoever marries a girl like you must have accumulated blessings over several lifetimes.”
After thanking Jiang Wanyue profusely, Old Madam Xiao leaned in and whispered happily,
“My grandson has woken up.”
“He’s awake?”
Yet Xiao Hengchuan still had his eyes closed, looking no different from before.
Noticing Jiang Wanyue’s confusion, Old Madam Xiao explained,
“My grandson said he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s awake for now.”
Jiang Wanyue nodded.
“I understand.”
After all, he had been falsely accused of treason. As a great general capable of holding off ten thousand enemies alone, Xiao Hengchuan was no ordinary man.
A capable general could command hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
As long as someone like him remained alive, those who had framed him would never sleep peacefully.
“I’ll go change his medicine.”
“I’m troubling you too much, child.”
“It’s no trouble.”
This time, they found a secluded spot.
Seeing that Xiao Hengchuan still had his eyes closed, Jiang Wanyue didn’t bother making small talk.
She placed a hand on his forehead.
His temperature had returned to normal.
The fever had broken.
There was no longer any need to apply medicine to his forehead.
The most important area was his lower back.
She lifted his robe and gently felt along his spine with her fingertips.
The man beneath her suddenly sucked in a sharp breath.
A strong hand shot out and grasped Jiang Wanyue’s slender wrist.
“Hm?”
Caught off guard, she looked up and met Xiao Hengchuan’s sharp, hawk-like eyes.
“Miss… it is improper for men and women to touch one another.”
As a physician, Jiang Wanyue chuckled.
“Oh? Improper? I’ve already seen every inch of your body. Are you planning to repay me by marrying me?”
“You…”
How could a woman speak so boldly…
“If you don’t let go, how am I supposed to apply the medicine?”
He slowly released her wrist, gritting his teeth.
This woman was unbelievably daring!
What should have been an ordinary exchange somehow made his face flush red.
Unlike at noon, when he had been conscious but unable to wake, his mind was now completely clear.
As someone who had practiced martial arts for years, he was acutely aware of the soft touch of her fingertips against his skin.
Her fingers were so delicate and gentle, completely unlike his own hard, battle-scarred body.
It was the first time a woman had ever been this close to him.
A strange, unfamiliar feeling quietly spread through his heart.
Surprisingly…
He didn’t dislike it.
As the cool medicine touched his lower body, Xiao Hengchuan instinctively tensed his legs.
He shifted awkwardly.
“I… I’ll do it myself.”
“Don’t worry. To a doctor, there’s no distinction between men and women. I’m not embarrassed. Why are you?”
Now that he knew Jiang Wanyue was the true daughter of the Marquis’ household—only found and brought back on the very day of their exile—he realized she was nothing like the sheltered young ladies of noble families.
Still…
He simply couldn’t bear having someone look at his backside.
Especially when that someone was a woman.
“I’d better do it myself…”
Jiang Wanyue blinked.
“All right.”
Truthfully, when he had been unconscious, she could treat him like a block of wood. He couldn’t move or feel anything anyway.
Now that he was awake, it was a different matter.
In any case, she had already examined his injuries.
The effects of her spiritual spring water were astonishing. His broken spine had already reconnected by noon, and the wounds had healed by more than half after being treated with the spring water.
At the very least, he wasn’t going to die.
She handed Xiao Hengchuan the small bowl containing the crushed medicinal herbs.
“Fine. Apply it yourself. If you can’t reach somewhere, call me. I’ll be waiting nearby.”
“All right.”
Since she didn’t need to help with the medicine anymore, Jiang Wanyue’s thoughts immediately drifted back to her golden hoe.
She couldn’t wait to see what it would dig up this time.
Walking about five meters away, she crouched down and began digging.
Swinging the small golden hoe once again, she unearthed… another plot of spiritual farmland.
Spiritual farmland?
The more of it she had, the better.
This time, she carefully read the description:
Spiritual Farmland: Compatible with any seed and any crop. Plantable year-round regardless of season.
Crops matured in half the normal time, and when combined with spiritual spring water, the effects were doubled.
Now she had farmland—but no seeds.
It looked like once they reached the next town, she’d have to find some seeds to plant.
That way, she’d always have food to eat.
Xiao Jin was so startled by the changes inside the space that it squealed excitedly.
“Oh my! Is this another plot of spiritual farmland you just dug up?”
“That’s right.”
“I think it’s much bigger than the previous one.”
“Really?”
“You’ll know once you go inside and take a look later.”
“Mm.”
After finishing its bowl of rabbit porridge, Xiao Jin still looked unsatisfied.
“Tonight’s rabbit porridge was so delicious. Can this spiritual farmland grow meat?”
Jiang Wanyue wanted nothing more than to flick Xiao Jin on the forehead.
“Are you stupid?”
Just then, Xiao Hengchuan called out softly,
“I’m done.”
“Oh, coming!”
Curled around Jiang Wanyue’s wrist, Xiao Jin remained perfectly still, looking no different from an ordinary gold bracelet.
As Jiang Wanyue walked toward Xiao Hengchuan, Xiao Jin kept complaining in her mind.
“Woman, I don’t like this man.”
“His killing intent is way too strong!”
“Ahhh! He’s not going to kill me, is he?”
“He won’t. If you’re scared, just go back into the space.”
“Fine. Let me out again after we’ve gotten past him.”
“Deal.”
Jiang Wanyue found it rather strange.
Xiao Jin had always seemed fearless, yet now it had actually met someone it was afraid of.
Xiao Hengchuan had already changed his own medicine, so there wasn’t much left for Jiang Wanyue to do.
“Since you’ve taken care of the medicine yourself, I’ll be leaving.”
“Thank you, Miss, for saving my life.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Jiang Wanyue turned and left.
Xiao Hengchuan stared at her retreating figure for a long time.
Just who was this woman?
She had actually managed to heal his shattered spine in such a short amount of time.
Not only his spine—even the wounds from the beating, which had been torn open, bleeding, and on the verge of festering, had already formed scabs.
Who exactly was this woman?
How could there be someone with such extraordinary medical skills in the Great Yuan Kingdom, yet he had never heard of her?
After taking care of everything for the Xiao family, Jiang Wanyue returned to where the Lin family’s first branch was resting.
She immediately noticed Shen Qingru limping badly, every step looking as though she were walking on knife blades.
She hurried over.
“Mother, what’s wrong?”
“Hiss…”
Shen Qingru sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
“Wanyue, I’m fine.”
“How can you be fine? I can see you can barely walk.”
Thinking about how Shen Qingru had always lived as a sheltered noblewoman who rarely left the house, Jiang Wanyue instantly understood.
“Mother, are your feet hurting?”
Shen Qingru’s face was pale.
“I’m all right. I probably just haven’t walked this much before. My feet aren’t used to it yet, so it hurts. Once I’ve walked for a few more days, I’ll get used to it.”
It wasn’t just Shen Qingru.
Jiang Wanyue noticed that the other men of the Lin family’s first branch were all massaging their legs as well.
Of course.
For people who had never traveled long distances before, this grueling march was torture in itself.