“Dad, look over there.” Liu Qingyu nudged Liu Hongyi with her arm and pointed into the distance.
Liu Hongyi had just taken a sip of water and hadn’t even swallowed it yet when she bumped him—nearly making him choke.
Cough, cough. “Girl, are you trying to murder your own father? Let me see what it is…”
As he spoke, he raised his head to look—and immediately fell silent.
Not far away grew patches of honeysuckle, along with many blooming chrysanthemums.
His eyes flickered, and he quickly understood what his daughter meant.
“Girl, are you thinking of using these to get your shackles removed?”
“Exactly, Dad. Go talk to Lord Lu about it. I think it should work,” Liu Qingyu said with a smile.
Liu Hongyi nodded and went to see Lu Youguang with his shackled hands.
“Lord Lu, I have something I’d like to discuss with you,” Liu Hongyi said.
Lu Youguang was currently suffering from the heat and unable to continue traveling. Seeing Liu Hongyi, he asked in surprise, “What is it? Don’t tell me your daughter has also fainted from heatstroke?”
“No, no, she’s perfectly energetic. It’s just… what I want to discuss is somewhat related,” Liu Hongyi explained with a smile.
Lu Youguang became interested. “Related to heatstroke? Do you have a solution? Go on.”
“I’ve loved reading since childhood, so I did read some medical texts in my early years. I recall that many medicinal herbs, if simply processed, can be brewed into drinks to prevent heatstroke.”
Seeing Lu Youguang interested, Liu Hongyi continued at length.
But as he went on, Lu Youguang started to feel a headache coming on—these civil officials really do talk too much. He quickly got to the point.
“Can those herbs be found here?”
If they could be found here, that would be useful. If they had to be bought from a pharmacy, it would be impossible—he couldn’t afford medicinal supplies for over a hundred people.
“They’re here, and easy to gather,” Liu Hongyi replied.
Lu Youguang burst into laughter. “Really? Brother Liu, you’ve done me a huge favor! If you ever need anything in the future, just come to me.”
“Sir, I actually have a small request right now,” Liu Hongyi quickly said, taking advantage of his good mood.
Lu Youguang hadn’t expected the request to come so soon, but still asked kindly, “Oh? What is it?”
“Sir, look at the shackles on my neck. They make it very inconvenient for gathering herbs. Could you have them removed?” Liu Hongyi pointed to the wooden collar.
Seeing his hands and neck restrained, Lu Youguang agreed it was indeed inconvenient. With a wave of his hand, he ordered, “Xiao Liu, remove his shackles.”
“Sir, he’s a criminal being exiled. If we remove them like this, what if he escapes?” Xiao Liu hesitated instead of obeying, clearly worried.
Lu Youguang glanced at him. “With so many of us watching, where could he possibly run? Xiao Liu, what’s gotten into you? Ever since the exile began, you’ve been opposing me. Have I been too lenient with you, making you forget who’s in charge of this mission?”
“It’s you, sir. I was just overthinking. I’ll remove them right away,” Xiao Liu said with a flattering smile.
Soon, everyone in the exile group saw Liu Hongyi return looking refreshed and relaxed, the heavy wooden collar gone, followed by a guard.
“Liu Hongyi, where’s your shackles?” someone asked curiously.
Liu Hongyi smiled and explained, “After Lord Lu learned I understand some medicine, he assigned me the task of gathering herbs. The shackles were inconvenient, so he had them removed.”
Everyone looked at him enviously. None of them knew medicine, and they silently regretted not studying medical texts more in the past.
Seeing her father freed, Liu Qingyu knew the plan had worked.
“Sir told the three of you to gather herbs quickly so we can drink heat-relief medicine tomorrow. I’ll be watching you for now,” the guard said.
Liu Hongyi nodded. “We’ll start right away. Sir, this shady spot is nice—you can rest here while we work nearby.”
The guard, pleased by his cooperation, relaxed and sat under the shade.
“Dad, why did you drag me and Mom into gathering herbs too?” Liu Qingyu asked quietly while stepping on a honeysuckle flower.
“It’s better if our whole family does it,” Liu Hongyi explained in a low voice. “That way they won’t send someone else to watch us. And if we find wild vegetables, we can pick them too. If we find water, your mother and I can cover for you while you stockpile it.”
“As expected, the older ginger is spicier,” Liu Qingyu praised.
Liu Hongyi straightened his chest proudly. “Of course. You’re still too inexperienced—learn from your father.”
“Alright, you two stop chatting and get to work,” Madam Tian Chunzhu interrupted. “Finish this patch first and send it back so Lord Lu can have people boil the herbs.”
With the highest authority in the family speaking, father and daughter stopped joking and got to work seriously.
Because the honeysuckle here grew abundantly, their cloth bags quickly filled up, while many flowers still remained in the field.
“Your father should take this bag back and explain the next steps to Lord Lu,” Tian Chunzhu said.
Liu Hongyi nodded happily and carried the full bag toward the resting guards.
Meanwhile, Liu Qingyu continued picking honeysuckle—but carefully selected the best ones while secretly storing some into her space whenever she could hide it with her body.
She couldn’t help it; she had a hoarding habit. Whenever she saw useful things, she wanted to stockpile them just in case.
Back when she played farming simulation games, her storage warehouse always filled up first, and she constantly had to expand it.
But now she had a spatial storage with a spiritual spring—of course she would happily hoard everything!
“Huh, this is…”
She paused while carefully selecting flowers.
She examined a plant about 40–50 cm tall, picked a lance-shaped leaf, smelled it, and even carefully tasted a bit.
Her eyes lit up.
It was mint!
With mint, heat relief would be much easier.
Mint was highly adaptable; as long as temperature and sunlight were suitable, it grew easily.
She looked around and indeed found many thriving mint plants growing nearby.
“Girl, what are you squatting there for?”