After a flurry of chaos.
“Your Highness, the medicine is ready.” Bi Shu personally supervised the brewing and brought it over herself, steadily carrying it into the carriage.
Song Gu turned his head and saw a crowd of people packed tightly inside and outside. No matter how spacious it was, this was still just a carriage—even the horses’ steps had noticeably slowed under the strain.
“Everyone disperse, let His Highness get some fresh air.” Song Gu shooed everyone away, only allowing Bi Shu who was holding the medicine to remain in the carriage, while he himself bowed and retreated first.
After dusk fell, the convoy’s progress slowed increasingly. They would likely make camp and prepare dinner before long. The four corners of Qi Chengming’s carriage were hung with bronze lanterns, illuminating the interior brightly. For instance, he could now clearly see the fatigue on Bi Shu’s face.
“It’s too hot, I’ll drink it after it cools a bit.” Qi Chengming took the steaming bowl but didn’t drink the medicine immediately. Instead, he prepared to chat with Bi Shu about ordinary matters. He asked with concern, “After traveling all day, has anyone in the following party fallen behind? Are any severely exhausted?”
“Your Highness arranged many donkey and mule carts at the rear. Those who can’t endure take turns resting. Most people are just unaccustomed to the journey, but it’s not serious.” Bi Shu answered earnestly, neither concealing nor softening her words. “However, starting tomorrow… more people will become unable to endure as we go further.”
She had a straightforward nature—whatever Qi Chengming asked, she would answer directly—yet she wasn’t foolish, maintaining proper judgment in her heart.
“You’re in charge of logistics. Keep a close watch on everyone these days. For minor ailments, bring out the prepared medicine packets and brew them for treatment.” Qi Chengming added an extra instruction for Bi Shu. “If anyone suffers sudden illness or conditions the medicine packets can’t resolve, report it directly without hesitation. The imperial physician and a doctor arranged by my maternal grandfather’s family are both available. Don’t worry about spending silver for treatments.”
The young imperial physician, aware of being marginalized, now had no choice but to align with Qi Chengming.
During the months of long travel ahead, Qi Chengming couldn’t bear watching people fall ill or groups become sick while physicians were overwhelmed, while his own imperial physician remained idle. Modern values might not withstand this era, but Qi Chengming at least wanted to gradually influence his followers:
He refused to let several deaths occur during the long journey, even if such things were commonplace.
Therefore, treat them!
“Yes.”Bi Shu directly bowed her head in acknowledgment, neither questioning why the imperial physician was being utilized nor anxiously offering advice against it.”
Satisfied, Qi Chengming lifted the bowl and drank the medicine in one go.
If one were to speak of the benefits of establishing a fiefdom, he was already beginning to taste the sweetness—
Throughout the day, he could perceive the subtle shift in the atmosphere. In everyone’s eyes, he was the supreme authority; his words were law to these people. No one would look down on him overtly or covertly as they did in the palace. Even his own allies, who normally kept their heads down and acted with cautious humility in the palace, now seemed to have relaxed their tensions.
Such luxury as freedom… from now on he would be flipping the script to become the boss.
“Your Highness, quickly counteract the bitterness.” Bi Shu picked up the package of sweet chrysanthemum cakes from the small side table, intending to serve one to His Highness right after he finished the medicine, especially since preserved fruits weren’t available under current conditions.
“No need.” Qi Chengming waved his hand, showing no intention to explain.
An indescribable blend of sour, sweet, bitter, and pungent herbal flavors surged down his throat. He didn’t find it unpleasant; instead, he half-closed his eyes with a hint of delight. His sense of taste was perfectly fine, but he had always loved the light bitterness of medicinal herbs—drinking the concoction brought only momentary discomfort, while the lingering herbal scent allowed him to savor it for a long time.
This peculiar preference sounded too strange, so Qi Chengming had never mentioned it to anyone.
“Your Highness—” Bi Shu looked at a loss, her hand frozen mid-air.
Before her, the pale-faced young man drank the bitter medicine without flinching, showing no trace of discomfort or reluctance. A faint smile graced his lips, almost as if he were reminiscing.
Reminiscing about what?
Bi Shu hadn’t served the Second Prince since childhood; she had been transferred to the Second Prince’s Residence to tend the gardens after facing ostracization elsewhere. Witnessing this scene, she couldn’t help but form a vague suspicion:
The Second Prince’s physique seemed far too frail. Could it be that he had grown accustomed to bitter medicine since early childhood, and so…
As she pondered, the carriage gradually came to a halt.
A head suddenly poked through the curtain, and Xiao Dezi reported, “It’s too dark outside. The commander says we won’t reach Yichuan until tomorrow morning and suggests setting up camp by the roadside tonight. He’s here to seek Your Highness’s opinion.”
“Also, Fang Gugu from the kitchen wishes to know what you’d like for dinner,” Xiao Dezi added with concern. “The imperial physician advised keeping it light.”
“Set up camp. No need to come in—I’ll step out to speak with him.” Qi Chengming pushed himself up and exited the carriage. After sitting all day, his bones felt nearly dislocated. “Given the rough conditions, tell the kitchen to prepare plain congee with simple side dishes, but make sure the portions are ample.”
He had heard that the palace adhered to the belief that the ill should eat less. There was some logic to it—for conditions like stomach or kidney ailments, for instance. But that didn’t mean every illness called for starvation, nor that hunger magically boosted immunity… Qi Chengming knew only that one needed adequate nourishment to recover strength. Imperial physicians, in their zeal to safeguard the nobles’ health, often exaggerated minor issues.
Now that he was in charge, he refused to go hungry—especially since he felt no feverish discomfort whatsoever. In fact, he felt robust enough to devour eight large mantou!
Qi Chengming stood on the carriage step, surveying the surroundings.
The sky was ink-black, untouched by light pollution in this era. Stars glittered brilliantly, serene and beautiful.
All around stretched desolate wilderness, with no villages in sight. The darkness was profound, broken only by the lanterns of their convoy, winding like a shimmering river of fire so long its ends were nearly invisible.
Out of the gloom, Mao Dalingtong, clad in cloth armor, stood by the carriage and bowed. “Your Highness, I’ve followed your orders and posted sentries at multiple points ahead and behind. The Imperial Guards will camp tonight encircling the women, children, and palace staff on the outer perimeter. Youzi has taken a group hunting to supplement our rations.”
Mao Dalingtong was a burly man whose arms seemed thick enough to race horses and whose waist was at least twice the girth of Qi Chengming’s. At a glance, his intimidating presence rivaled that of a bear—a moving fortress that inspired profound reassurance.
Among the hundred Imperial Guards assigned to Qi Chengming this time, several were originally small leaders in charge of ten-man squads. After two rounds of competition and mutual selection, they unanimously elected this individual to lead them without any dispute.
Beneath Mao Dalingtong’s bushy beard, his expression showed great respect for the young boy before him.
This wasn’t solely out of recognition for his future master, but mainly because… of those words the Second Prince had entrusted him with before departure.
This Second Prince, who maintained a low profile in the palace, had actually studied military texts extensively. He possessed unique insights into marching formations, sentry placement, camp establishment, and defense—all slightly different from the conventional military systems yet clearly derived from them, as if giving birth to new methods from the old.
The more Mao Dalingtong listened, the more impressed he became, and he was thoroughly convinced on the spot.
…Truly worthy of being Weiyong Count’s grandson!
“Alright, immediately arrange personnel to select a location and dig latrine pits—this is also very important,” Qi Chengming added without changing his expression, showing no arrogance.
He had studied the reward books from the system intensively for half a month—they weren’t just for display.
These were essences derived from modern people absorbing ancestral wisdom, so effortlessly winning over the Imperial Guard commander was expected.
Another hour passed.
Faintly visible in the distance, the carriages and people from behind gradually caught up. The convoy closed ranks, centering around the elderly, weak, women, and children as they began setting up simple marching tents on the wilderness—these were hastily made under Qi Chengming’s instructions by Xiao Song Zongguan. Outside the tents were the carriages and horses, and beyond them were the rotating Imperial Guard sentries and the dozen or so kitchen staff busy tending cooking fires.
The resting people either lay down or sat, catching their breath. The first group of notable figures, carrying food containers or bowls, formed a line under the Imperial Guards’ organization—such as Xiao Dezi, Steward Song, Grandmaster Huang, and others. Conditions were too harsh; except for Qi Chengming’s meal being specially prepared and delivered, everyone else lost their privileged treatment and had to honestly fetch their own food.
The aroma of rice porridge mixed with cooking smoke drifted over the convoy, along with the sizzling scent of meat on roasting racks. Fang Gugu from the kitchen led everyone in quickly cooking rice, preparing several large pots of thin porridge. Zhang Taijian tirelessly fried vegetable pancakes without pause, supplemented by venison roasted from the Imperial Guards’ hunt—this constituted today’s evening meal.
Though the taste couldn’t be guaranteed, the quantity was certainly sufficient to fill everyone.
“…Delicious!” Qi Chengming was truly hungry. His evening meal today was specially prepared millet rice, shredded meat and mushroom porridge, stir-fried leafy vegetables, and a bowl of steamed egg custard.
Although it tasted excellent and Qi Chengming devoured it rapidly, he looked up at the distant crowd sitting on the ground eating and felt somewhat envious. He couldn’t help saying, “Tomorrow, there’s no need to specially prepare these for me… I’ll eat the thin porridge and pancakes with everyone.”
No matter how simple these palace meals might be, they were still meticulously prepared—when the kitchen staff dared not be careless. For the first half-month, Qi Chengming had eaten with novelty, sampling various dishes to his satisfaction, but afterward, he began finding them increasingly bland.
His tastes from his previous life were set—if he went without them for a period, he’d start missing ordinary congee and mantou. Don’t forget, Wang Shuo had brought him seven or eight jars of pickles and preserved vegetables—how could that be considered shabby?
He would eat it later with plain congee and fragrantly pan-fried wild vegetable pancakes—how delightful it was!
“Your Highness, that’s too…!” Xiao Dezi was somewhat shocked, but when he saw the Second Prince’s gaze fixed on the distant Imperial Guards and palace attendants, he suddenly understood. He automatically responded, “…Alright.”
What did the neighborhood operas say? “Honor the wise and respect the scholars.”
Whether His Highness wanted to further win over these subordinates or simply preferred light meals due to his discomfort, Xiao Dezi just needed to agree!
Thus, the first night passed.
Qi Chengming didn’t need to sleep in a tent; he slept in a carriage layered with soft bedding, which was even more comfortable than a bed. He dismissed Xiao Dezi and Xiao Chengzi, who insisted on staying overnight to keep watch: “The Imperial Guards are posted every few steps, guarding both openly and covertly. I don’t need you to stay with me at night.”
“Your Highness, please let me stay. You’re still unwell,” Xiao Dezi pleaded, his face full of worry.
They all believed that His Highness had been suppressed and worn down for too long, and this sudden trip had finally allowed him to relax, causing him to collapse with a fever. Fortunately, the imperial physician said it wasn’t serious—in fact, His Highness’s condition had improved after the episode, and his fever had subsided after taking medicine.
Xiao Dezi was afraid that His Highness might develop a fever again in the latter half of the night and wouldn’t feel at ease unless he kept watch.
“Then bring the cloth curtain over,” Qi Chengming suggested. There was plenty of coarse cloth used for setting up tents, so he directed Xiao Dezi to drape the cloth over the carriage roof, with the other end tied diagonally to the empty carriage shaft, creating a simple triangular tent outside the carriage frame.
Xiao Dezi only needed to bring his bedding over to sleep horizontally on the carriage frame. Aside from being careful not to roll off while turning in his sleep, there were no other issues.
Once Xiao Dezi lay down, silence finally returned.
Qi Chengming gazed at the dark carriage ceiling and let out a soft sigh: “…”
He still found it somewhat unreal that they had actually set out. On the first day of the journey, all sorts of minor frictions and issues within the convoy had surfaced, but none were serious. According to Mao Dalingtong, they would only reach Yichuan tomorrow morning…
Qi Chengming silently calculated the distance from Jingcheng to Yichuan.
That meant they had traveled less than forty li on the first day—a pace that wasn’t slow for a convoy. Qi Chengming was somewhat astonished.
They would have to take the water route from then on.
Traveling dozens of li every day—even the healthiest person would be exhausted after several months.
‘Sleep,’ Qi Chengming closed his eyes and silently told himself.
Tomorrow, he still needed to estimate the route and continue thinking about how to earn money.
…Was there anything they could do along the way?
Author’s note:
Later, during mealtimes at the campsite—
Imperial Guards (stealing glances): Is that the Second Prince? Eating the same communal meals as us?
Subordinates (whispering among themselves): A prince this approachable—is it for real?
—Whatever food was served, he genuinely ate it with them!
Qi Chengming (contentedly, without ambition): Burp, homemade meals are still the best.
Besides, didn’t I have an extra dish? I had a side serving! Can’t you see it?
Xiao Dezi (in despair): Stir-frying a plate of leafy greens and a few eggs counts as a side serving?? My Prince, ahhh!