By the time the ox cart reached the city gate, the yamen runners were all busy packing up the things used for distributing porridge along the roadside. There were piles of pots, bowls, ladles, and basins, as well as firewood, bricks, and coarse cloth. Quite a few of these things had been brought from the yamen runners’ own homes to make up the numbers, and everything had to be cleaned up thoroughly.
There were also quite a few county residents who had come over of their own accord to help with the cleanup.
The refugees who had been gathered at the city gate all this time had finally left. The county residents no longer had to endure the constant noise and commotion day after day, nor did they have to live in fear that the refugees might come in and rob them.
The refugees had even left behind something that people would covet: a row of large manure pits made of crude wooden planks that Magistrate Meng had ordered to be built not far from the city gate.
The waste produced by nearly a thousand people over more than a month was certainly foul-smelling, but to farming households, it was excellent agricultural fertilizer.
Constable Shi had even arranged for yamen runners to guard the area. This fertilizer had been produced by people who had eaten the porridge provided by their county, so it also counted as property of the county yamen. All they had to do was wait for the wealthy landowners in the city to come and collect it.
This fertilizer was worth quite a bit of money~
Constable Shi had been calling out orders all day, leaving his voice hoarse. When he looked up, he saw the ox cart carrying Li Xiaoxiao slowly coming in. He hurried over and said, “Little Sister, you’re back from taking the ox out? Did you see the refugees leaving? They’ve all followed the village heads back to the countryside to settle down.”
“I saw them. Constable Shi, you did a great job!” Li Xiaoxiao gave him a thumbs-up.
Constable Shi smiled so broadly that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes crinkled up.
“Your idea really was a good one. I didn’t expect Magistrate Meng to agree so quickly either.” His smile quickly faded, and a trace of worry flashed in his eyes. “Magistrate Meng had just finished telling me about this in the morning when he fell ill. I don’t know how he’s doing now.”
Li Xiaoxiao frowned. “Magistrate Meng fell ill again?”
Constable Shi sighed. “Magistrate Meng fell ill halfway here when he came to take office six months ago. Before he had even had time to properly adjust, this refugee situation happened. He’s been running around everywhere, so I suppose his old illness never really recovered, and he’s developed something new on top of it.”
“I see. Then I’d better hurry back,” Li Xiaoxiao said.
Constable Shi immediately let her go. “Go on. If you need fodder, I’ll tell Old Tian, who delivers the firewood, and have him bring you enough fodder for a few days. You won’t have to pay.”
Li Xiaoxiao waved at him. “Then thank you. I’ll head back first.”
When she returned to the rear courtyard of the county yamen, the physician had already come and gone. Mama Mao was boiling medicine and spotted her at once. “The Master is ill. This is the medicine Doctor Xie prescribed. Come over and watch the fire for me. I still have to prepare a few light, nourishing dishes to send to the Master.”
Li Xiaoxiao said, “Oh,” then took a small stool and sat in front of the medicine pot to watch the fire.
While she watched the fire and boiled the medicine, Mama Mao brought out all her skills and made a soup of sour bamboo shoots and old duck, a steamed fish, a small dish of blanched green vegetables, and another plate of pastries arranged in an elaborate, flower-like display.
The other dishes were nothing much, but that plate of pastries completely stunned Li Xiaoxiao.
She watched as Mama Mao took several intricately shaped molds out of the cabinet, pressed the kneaded dough into them, then carefully knocked the dough out. It turned out to be a peony flower!
Mama Mao then used carrot puree, pumpkin puree, and date paste to make different colors, creating bright red little persimmons, tender pink little peaches, and round little pumpkins. With a peony flower placed in the middle, the whole thing looked exquisitely delicate.
Two dishes, one soup, and one plate of pastries were carefully placed on a tray. Mama Mao called out to her, “Take it to the Master’s room.”
Li Xiaoxiao watched Mama Mao perform what seemed like magic, producing such an exquisite plate of food, and was filled with admiration. She said earnestly to Mama Mao, “I think the Master will definitely get better after eating this.”
Mama Mao knew that Li Xiaoxiao was inexperienced with the world. Whenever she made something the girl had never seen before, Li Xiaoxiao could praise it for ages, but having her skills acknowledged still made Mama Mao proud and happy. “Be careful. Don’t spill anything.”
Thinking about how Magistrate Meng’s illness had lingered without improving, she became worried again. “I hope the Master has a better appetite and can eat something. Don’t let him be like when he first arrived.”
Magistrate Meng had also fallen ill when he first arrived in Miyang County. At that time, there had been plenty of people in the household, so she could make even more elaborate delicacies, but more often than not, whatever she sent over came back exactly as it had been sent.
Li Xiaoxiao thought that if Magistrate Meng still had no appetite after seeing this plate of food and pastries, then just how serious must his illness be?
She comforted Mama Mao. “It’s fine. Some people can be very sick and still eat a lot, like me.”
Mama Mao gave her a strange look. “Who could be like you? If the Master had half your appetite, what would I have to worry about?” It might really be true that some people were born with both lowly lives and lowly destinies. If Doctor Xie had not insisted that Li Xiaoxiao’s injuries were severe, Mama Mao would have thought he was joking.
Who could be injured that badly and still eat three large bowls at every meal?
But perhaps it was precisely because she could eat and sleep that she had recovered from such severe injuries in less than ten days.
If Magistrate Meng had even half her appetite, his illness would not be a problem.
Sure enough, Li Xiaoxiao delivered the food to the main room, and in less than the time it took to burn an incense stick, Yingchun returned it almost completely untouched, her face full of worry.
When Mama Mao looked at it, only a small portion of the sour bamboo shoot and old duck soup was missing. Perhaps he had eaten two pieces of the green vegetables, while the fish and pastries had not been touched at all.
Not to mention the bowl of white rice that was only half-filled. Not a single grain had been eaten.
Mama Mao’s face filled with worry. “The Master couldn’t eat even a single bite?”
Yingchun replied, “Only a small bite of vegetables and less than half a bowl of soup. Madam had to persuade him for a long time before he reluctantly ate them.”
Mama Mao glanced at the medicine that had already finished boiling. “If he doesn’t eat anything first, taking this medicine will hurt his body too.”
Yingchun set down the food. “The Master said to bring the medicine over. Mama Mao, you can have the remaining dishes as a reward.”
But for several days in a row, Magistrate Meng’s meals looked almost exactly the same when they came back as when they had been taken over. Meanwhile, Doctor Xie came more and more frequently, and the medicine he prescribed smelled increasingly bitter.
The entire household was shrouded in gloom. Meng Guanqi and Meng Liniang spent their days guarding the main room and attending to the sick, not daring to leave for even a moment.
The smell of medicine lingered in the kitchen all day long, while Magistrate Meng’s meals gradually changed from ordinary dishes to expensive nourishing foods such as bird’s nest porridge and ginseng soup.
Li Xiaoxiao was not from this world. Accustomed to living on her own and thinking only about herself, it was only after Magistrate Meng had been seriously ill for two days that she belatedly realized his illness seemed to be extremely serious.
First of all, the more than twenty people in the front and rear courtyards of the Meng household all depended on Magistrate Meng for their livelihood. The women of the household had low status and could not appear in public. If Magistrate Meng died of his illness, the entire Meng household would fall apart like a tree collapsing and the monkeys scattering, like a great building brought crashing down.
The eldest young master, Meng Guanqi, was only fourteen. If Magistrate Meng died, he would immediately have to shoulder the burden of the household and become its next head. But he had only obtained the status of a xiucai, and a xiucai could not become an official. Once Magistrate Meng was gone, the rear courtyard of the county yamen would immediately be reclaimed and left for the next magistrate to live in. In other words, they would immediately become homeless.
With Magistrate Meng gone, Meng Guanqi, who had neither an official position nor a salary, certainly could not afford to support so many servants. Having only recently been purchased and signed to a deed of sale, she would definitely be the first person abandoned.
She had neither Mama Mao’s excellent culinary skills nor the status of a personal maid to Madam or one of the concubines. She also had no relationship with the young master or young miss, and she was not even a hereditary household servant. So she was inferior even to Liu Zhi, the ten-year-old girl beside Granny Qi. If they had to sell off the servants, she would definitely be the first to go.
Li Xiaoxiao felt that she had finally found a comfortable place where she could eat her fill and wait for death in peace, yet it had not even been two months, and she was already going to have to find another place to settle down? Moreover, she had no idea what kind of person the next buyer would be. What if they treated her like livestock and worked her to the bone?
After all, her current circumstances were quite comfortable. Magistrate Meng’s rear household was simple, without so many schemes and intrigues. As long as she finished her daily work, she could basically slack off for the rest of her time. She had no worries about food or drink and no safety hazards. How could she just watch Magistrate Meng die of illness like this?
So when Magistrate Meng continued failing to recover, even she began to grow anxious.
She had been in this world for nearly two months and had already learned that without an identity or household registration, she was not even considered a “person.” She was merely “goods” that could be traded at will, let alone having any “rights.” After suffering severe injuries, her supernatural ability had disappeared. Although she appeared strong because of her physical strength, she actually had little ability to protect herself.
For the time being, she did not want to leave this fairly decent employer’s household.
She lay on her bed, clutching the necklace around her neck, and experienced insomnia for the first time.
The necklace contained everything she owned from the apocalypse. Naturally, it included life-saving medicine, but she could not take it out.
Her supernatural ability had been completely depleted while healing her injuries. Her dantian had long since been completely empty. Without her supernatural ability, she had no way to retrieve anything from the necklace.
Even though Magistrate Meng was not from the same world as her, she knew how rare it was to find an upright and kindhearted magistrate. She did not want his death to disrupt the life she was currently quite satisfied with.
She had to find a way to save his life.
An accident during her escape had taught her that her supernatural ability could be restored through a certain method. It was just that the method was somewhat difficult for her to accept in her current state.
But for the sake of having a secure place to settle down in the long run, she had to do it.
Early the next morning, just after she had filled the water vat, A Sheng arrived.
Mama Mao glanced at the water clock. It was not even the Mao hour yet, so she asked in surprise, “A Sheng, why are you here so early?”
A Sheng said, “Mama Mao, the young master asked you to prepare twenty steamed buns. We’re going to the prefectural city to find an even more capable physician to treat the Master.”
Mama Mao’s spirits lifted. That was right. The best physician in Miyang County had already been invited, but he still could not cure the Master’s illness, and it was only getting worse. If the young master could go to the prefectural city and invite an even more capable physician to treat the Master, surely the Master would get better!
She immediately began kneading dough. “Give me half an hour. The steamed buns will be ready right away.”
“We’ll set out as soon as it’s light. Hopefully, we can make it back the day after tomorrow.”
Miyang County was poor and remote, three hundred li from the prefectural city of Lin’an. It took almost a full day to travel there by carriage and another day to return, so the best possible outcome was to find a physician the next day and bring him back with them. Magistrate Meng’s illness could not be delayed any longer.
After explaining everything to Mama Mao, A Sheng immediately ran to the front courtyard to ask Steward Zhao to arrange the carriage.
Mama Mao kneaded the dough and shaped the steamed buns. As soon as she finished shaping one steamerful, she immediately called Li Xiaoxiao over to start the fire and steam them. Her hands never stopped as she sighed, “I hope the young master can bring back a capable physician this time and have the Master’s illness cured. Our entire household depends on the Master.”
Li Xiaoxiao had just been about to add another piece of firewood to the stove, but came up empty-handed. She went to the woodshed behind the kitchen to get more firewood, only to discover that there was very little left.
She returned to the kitchen. “Mama Mao, Old Tian hasn’t delivered any firewood for three or four days already. There isn’t enough firewood left in the woodshed.”
…
You can grab the full book now on my Ko-fi page, available in both PDF and EPUB formats! 🖤
📎 Here’s the link to the full novel