The courtyard was in shambles—many doors and windows had collapsed. Aman made do with what she could find, using the decayed wood to start a fire. There was no proper place to cook, so she stacked stones to build a simple makeshift stove in the yard.
She set the iron pot on it and began to cook.
Right now, both she and Zhao Ye had nothing. Just a little rice—one pot of porridge—was their only hope of survival.
Outside, the fire flickered. The iron pot gurgled and bubbled, soon boiling over. Aman washed and scrubbed a bowl that already had cracks, again and again, until it was clean enough.
“Your Highness…” Aman carried the now-warm porridge over. “Have some porridge; it will make you feel better.”
There was no other food. Even plain porridge was a luxury.
“Your Highness,” she called again, but the person on the bed still didn’t move.
“Your Highness!”
Panic rose in her chest. She put down the bowl and rushed to check on Zhao Ye. His chest still rose and fell faintly. She was terrified he might have died.
If Zhao Ye died, she would be stuck in this place for the rest of her life.
Thinking of her miserable, beast-of-burden existence, a sour pang hit her heart, and tears fell uncontrollably. “Your Highness, don’t die!”
“They don’t want you, but I do. If you die, I can’t survive either.”
Her sobs were genuine, heartfelt. Everything she said was true.
Her life depended entirely on Zhao Ye.
On the ground, Zhao Ye’s eyelashes twitched. He finally slowly opened his eyes, looking at the little maid in front of him, crying with snot and tears streaming down her face.
Everyone wanted him dead—why did she so desperately want him to live?
He was already a cripple. Even if he lived, it would only be like this.
Yet someone actually hoped he would live. Zhao Ye’s heart grew complicated. Could it be that this little maid… cared for him?
Still, there was no life in his eyes. But this time, he did not refuse the porridge Aman offered.
Aman saw his lips move slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He had swallowed.
She wiped her tears and smiled.
Great! As long as he could eat, he could live.
Zhao Ye drank one bowl of porridge, and Aman drank the remainder.
Truthfully, porridge did little to stave off hunger. By the middle of the night, Aman was starving and tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
At daybreak, she got up to busy herself. Yesterday she had only cleared weeds from the courtyard; the rest of the place still needed work.
While tidying the backyard, Aman found a small patch of land. If properly prepared, she could plant some crops there.
[Ding—]
A light sound popped in her mind, and the system page appeared.
“Seeds?”
Aman’s eyes widened. There were vegetable seeds and wheat seeds—but in limited quantity. To get more, she would have to work harder. She immediately clicked to claim them.
Seeds, water, and land!
Finally, the damned system did something useful.
The morning sunlight broke into the dilapidated room. Aman carried water inside and first wiped Zhao Ye’s body to keep it dry.
“Your Highness, I just found a small plot in the backyard where we could grow vegetables and fruits. I’ll go to town later to see if any seeds are for sale.”
“Then we’ll be able to eat fresh vegetables from now on.”
Aman’s voice was bright and lively, chirping like a lark, full of energy.
Zhao Ye kept his eyes closed and said nothing.
Aman didn’t expect him to reply and continued talking to herself. “I’ll be back soon—won’t be long. I left some water nearby…”
Then she realized—Zhao Ye was completely paralyzed. He couldn’t feed himself, drink, or use the restroom.
The atmosphere grew heavy.
Aman left only this: “I’ll be back as soon as possible!”
She then left, making sure to lock the main gate to prevent intruders.
This was the disorderly Ningzhou Yong’an, full of all sorts of people. Aman wasn’t afraid—she was strong enough that ordinary folks couldn’t touch her.
Though Yong’an County was poor, it was vast, which is why the ancestors had chosen it as a place of exile.
On the road, vendors hawked their goods, porters carried loads, middlemen passed back and forth, and camel caravans jingled in the distance.
“Shopkeeper, do you have medicine for sores?” Aman entered a pharmacy and roughly described Zhao Ye’s condition: one sore after another, oozing yellow pus, some even with scabs that could be peeled off.
Occasionally, chunks of skin and flesh came off—horrifying to look at.
“Yes,” said the shopkeeper. Seeing a tall, thin, unfamiliar girl, his eyes gleamed at the chance to make a sale. “Here, these are specifically for sores.”
“Just boil them in water to wash. That’ll be ten taels of silver.”
Ten taels?!
Aman felt her stomach twist. She checked her few copper coins. The shopkeeper was trying to cheat her.
The herbs were only things like Coptis, Phellodendron, dandelion, and honeysuckle—hardly worth ten taels.
Seeing she was new and from out of town, the shopkeeper tried to gouge her. Aman wasn’t naive either.
“I… I don’t have that much silver. Can you make it less?”
She said, “I only have ten copper coins on me.”
In truth, she had twenty, plus some small silver pieces. But when the Crown Prince’s residence was ransacked, all valuables were taken.
They had dug through the courtyard inside and out. Nothing was left behind. Even the silver Aman had hidden in the garden mud was found.
They even emptied the latrine three times. So where did her coins come from?
From the shoe insoles she usually hid them in. Today she happened to be wearing them. They were uncomfortable, but at least she had a little money for emergencies.
“Ten copper coins?” The shopkeeper widened his eyes and shooed her out like chasing a fly. “Ten copper coins and you dare buy medicine in my shop? You’re crazy poor! Get out!”
Aman’s heart burned with resentment. You’re the crazy poor one!
These herbs weren’t valuable at all, and yet he was asking ten taels. Why not just steal them?
Being chased from the pharmacy, Aman turned and headed into the mountains.
She couldn’t buy medicine, and she didn’t know how to make it for Zhao Ye—but she recognized the herbs. She memorized the ones in the shop.
Maybe she could find some in the mountains. Honeysuckle wasn’t too hard to find, though at this season most had already withered.
Dandelions were available, though old. She dug up the stems and roots, using even the old leaves. Once dried, they could still be brewed into tea.
The young leaves could be used for cooking.
As for safflower, Aman had no way to find it. If she could find a Phellodendron tree in the mountains and strip its bark, that would serve as the Phellodendron herb.