The past had already become a fading dream—there was no going back.
Aman desperately wanted him to live. Then let him live.
She would be scared living alone in desolate Ningzhou—but actually, Aman wasn’t afraid of being alone. She was afraid of being trapped forever in this feudal dynasty.
She wanted to go back, to the life she had in the modern world—family, friends…
She didn’t even know how she had ended up here. Was this some kind of cross-time human trafficking?
“Yes, yes, yes. Whatever you say is right. Since everything is gone, let’s start over. You obey and take the medicine properly.”
“I’ll take good care of you until you recover.”
“Aman,” Zhao Ye called, and she responded.
“Hm?”
“Do you… have any wishes?”
Aman thought carefully, then honestly replied, “The older women said that by twenty-five, the prince’s mansion would give us a sum of money for leaving service. I just wanted a quiet place to grow old.”
“Or maybe find a good man to marry, and that’s life.”
She spoke truthfully; before, she didn’t know about the system or the chance to return to her world.
After asking, Zhao Ye fell silent again.
“Now, try moving your fingers. Or lift your hands, see if you can.”
Aman didn’t care about anything else—she just wanted to get Zhao Ye back on his feet so she could return to the modern world.
Zhao Ye lowered his head, looking at his hands hanging at his sides. Aman had cleaned him thoroughly; his bronze-toned skin was slowly revealing itself.
The medicated bath made him hot all over, from the inside out.
Aman finished cleaning his upper body and began on his lower half. Zhao Ye’s body remained stiff.
“Don’t be nervous. Relax. I’m not going to do anything to you.”
Aman felt around in the dark water and touched something… sensitive.
She didn’t know exactly what it was but took a cloth and began to wipe.
“Aman…” Zhao Ye’s breathing quickened. “You’re… you’re cleaning the wrong place.”
“Ah?”
Realizing, Aman loosened her grip, her face burning. “S-sorry, I can’t see.”
The bathwater helped her learn—she lifted one leg to clean, avoiding mistakes.
But wait… did Zhao Ye just feel that?
If he did, maybe his lower body wasn’t completely paralyzed—he still had sensation.
“Zhao Ye, did you just feel that?” Aman asked.
Zhao Ye’s face flushed. A girl asking such a thing…
“If you did, we can soak more. That old doctor taught me a technique. I’ll massage you later—it might help unblock the meridians in your lower body.”
Dead-horse therapy—try everything. Nothing lost, maybe something gained.
Aman finally finished scrubbing him clean; hair and beard washed.
“Tomorrow I’ll ask around for a razor so I can shave your beard. You look too messy like this.”
Messy? Aman’s boldness was growing—before, she would never dare say such a thing. In the palace, even a yawning maid could be dragged out and beaten.
Apparently, Aman didn’t like long beards on men.
She washed Zhao Ye inside and out, and cleaned the clothes she had recently changed. The strong sun dried the clothes in a few hours, leaving only the scent of sunlight—no unpleasant odors.
She lifted him out of the water again, dried him, and efficiently dressed him.
Zhao Ye closed his eyes, resigned.
Even if he didn’t accept it, he had no choice. If he tried to end his life, Aman might follow.
So he would live, enduring this humiliation, being cared for and cleaned from head to toe.
But thinking further, Aman didn’t seem to mind. What was he so embarrassed about?
Was he still the noble, pampered prince he once was? Zhao Ye tried to convince himself otherwise.
Dressed in clean clothes, his sores tended to, Zhao Ye felt comfortable for the first time in months. Even the pain and itch of his sores had lessened.
Night fell. Aman mashed the wild vegetables she had gathered yesterday, mixed them with flour, added a bit of oil, and cooked them into a hot vegetable porridge.
“Today we eat wild vegetable porridge!”
Aman had cleaned herself, too. Her face was now presentable. Sun-tanned, yes, but delicate and lively—clearly not an ordinary girl.
“Is there oil?” she asked, feeding Zhao Ye while putting some into her own mouth.
“Just a little. I borrowed it from someone, promising to work for them later,” she said smoothly, without a hint of hesitation.
Zhao Ye’s heart tightened. To ensure he had some fat in his meal, Aman even had to work for others—and still had to climb the mountains to collect wild vegetables and herbs.
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
Aman was confident in her cooking. Hot porridge didn’t require much skill, but at least it was a warm meal.
“Too bad there’s no shepherd’s purse this season, or we could’ve made stuffed buns.”
“And if we had some minced meat, it would be even better.”
Aman craved meat.
She thought of a local slaughterhouse—maybe she’d check tomorrow.
“Shepherd’s purse?” Zhao Ye hadn’t heard of it.
“Yes, another wild vegetable. You rich folks probably never saw it.”
“In hard times, commoners survive by foraging in the mountains.”
“I see…”
He had never experienced the hardships of ordinary people.
Raised in the prince’s mansion to study and become a wise ruler, he had never realized the reality of his subjects.
In contrast, the nobility in the capital lived in unimaginable luxury. A single ordinary meal for them could feed a poor family for a year.
Zhao Ye closed his eyes, sighing. Trapped in this predicament, betrayed and ruined, the crown prince’s seat would soon slip from his hands, and how could the people live peacefully?
But for now… even he was like a clay idol crossing the river, unable to protect himself.