"Those what?"

“Those women have been occupying the woods for years. They calmed down after your disturbance a few days ago, but not long after, they sent people to guard it again. I'm just a weak woman, with no man to stand up for me, so I just let them bully me…”

Zhang Xiue clenched her fists, her eyes blazing with fury, wishing she could drag that arrogant woman out right now and give her a good beating.

"These cowardly bullies! I think they've fallen back into their old ways!"

Song He'er stepped forward and advised, "Forget it, let them take it if they want. Gold won't grow on that land anyway. We can just plant some ourselves. Then we can have Uncle build a fence to enclose that land and see who dares to take it."

Hearing Song He'er's reminder, Zhang Xiu'e suddenly remembered that she had exchanged some seeds with the soldiers before, but recent events had been too complicated, and she had completely forgotten about it...

“I have seeds, but I don’t know what they are or what’s suitable for growth in this season. Why don’t we wait for a good day, turn over the soil, and plant some to try?”

Li Qiang's wife nodded, "I can do all kinds of rough work. Not to mention farming, I can also carry manure and apply fertilizer."

Seeing that it wasn't right for the woman to stand there in the cold wind, Song He'er told her to go back first and come back to work tomorrow when there were more oil-paper umbrellas.

"You can bring your child tomorrow. When we do crafts for people, the worst thing is not being able to finish, so we have to spend the whole day on it and can't leave halfway through."

Zhang Xiue emphasized from the side.

Just as Ruizhen was about to leave, she heard Zhang Xiue say this and turned back to nod.

"I see."

As Song He'er watched her figure gradually disappear into the distance, a feeling she couldn't quite describe welled up inside her...

"He'er! Your mother's awake!" Chun Di rushed out from inside the tent...

Upon hearing this, Song He'er quickly stood up and walked inside.

After waking up, Qin Xiaoniang's complexion was much better than last night. However, she hadn't taken the tonic soup yet, so she still looked listless and had no energy at all.

"Mother, how are you?"

Qin Xiaoniang forced a smile and replied, word by word, "What could possibly be wrong with me? Don't worry unnecessarily. Also, don't waste money getting medicine for me. I'll be fine after a few days of rest..."

"Don't think about anything else, I'll go get you some food!"

With that, Song He'er stepped out of the tent...

The fish soup was still warm in the pot. After the group shared the chicken legs, they left the whole pot of soup for Qin Xiaoniang.

Zhang Xiu'e carefully ladled out the soup and brought it into the tent, feeding it to Qin Xiaoniang.

"Madam Zhang, how many oiled paper umbrellas do we need to make for the merchants of Nanzhao?"

Zhang Xiue blew on the thick sauce in the spoon and said, "Sixty!"

Qin Xiaoniang nearly choked to death on the soup and coughed violently.

"Cough cough cough..."

"What are you doing? Don't worry about such a small thing. Nian'er's father has been busy outside since early this morning. He has already finished more than half of it. Tian Niangzi and I will help him in a while, and it will be finished by tonight. You can rest assured and lie down. Taking care of yourself is the most important thing. Huan Ge'er is still young, and he can't be without his mother here."

As she spoke, Qin Xiaoniang's eyes welled up with tears; she knew all of this.

Unfortunately, whenever she saw Song Xiaoqi's disgusting and selfish face, she couldn't help but get angry!

If this man had even a shred of conscience, Qin Xiaoniang wouldn't hate him to this extent.

It's all because she was born into a wealthy merchant family. When her family fell on hard times, she was taken as a concubine in the general's mansion, which ruined her life!

If given a second chance, who wouldn't want to be a respectable first wife?

"Madam Zhang, that heartless bastard hasn't come back, has he?"

Zhang Xiu'e shook her head. "He hasn't come again! Don't worry! If he dares to bring up Huan Ge'er again, I'll throw him out with a rake!"

Qin Xiaoniang breathed a sigh of relief, two lines of clear tears rolling down her cheeks...

“I am not like you. I was born a concubine, and my children were forced to bear the name of illegitimate children. So I hate myself for not being able to protect them with all my might sometimes. But I swear by the prayers of my parents that even if I exhaust my life force and die, I will protect He’er and Huan’er for the rest of their lives!”

Zhang Xiu'e's eyes also reddened as she listened, feeling deeply sorry for Qin Xiaoniang's experiences and the bad luck she had encountered in the first half of her life.

"Drink the soup and rest well. There are two men to do the work outside! Just eat as much as you can and get better! We'll have plenty of time to deal with Song Xiaoqi!"

Qin Xiaoniang nodded, obediently drank the fish soup, and then said nothing more.

……..

Within the territory of Nanzhao.

Taking advantage of the darkness of night and the scarcity of pedestrians on the streets, the soldiers once again sneaked into Jiang Huaifu's room.

"Your Highness, someone is here."

Jiang Huaifu, engrossed in his painting, didn't even lift his eyelids, simply asking, "Who?"

"Princess Shen Jiadai".

Suddenly, Jiang Huaifu stopped writing.

He raised his head and stared coldly at the people below the table.

"What is she doing here? Didn't I say that my whereabouts must never be revealed? How did that person in the palace find out?"

“Your Highness, the Queen seems unaware of the situation. It was the little princess who came on her own. She repeatedly assured me of this.”

Jiang Huaifu's mood plummeted, and his enthusiasm for copying the calligraphy vanished.

He covered the painting with a book and then waved to the soldiers.

"Let her in..."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The man in black received the order and hurriedly left the room.

After a while, a scholar dressed in a white satin robe slowly walked into the room.

She raised her head, her snow-white skin glowing softly in the candlelight, her thick eyebrows and large eyes particularly beautiful.

"cousin……."

"How much did your aunt give you to make you keep a close eye on me?"

Shen Jiadai shook her head repeatedly, "No! My aunt didn't know I was coming out this time. Cousin, I came here specifically to find you. I was just worried about you. You're all alone out there; what if you're short of food and clothing..."

“You’re a girl, you shouldn’t worry about such things. Go back quickly. Running around all the time is bad for your reputation.” Jiang Huaifu’s tone was very cold.

But Shen Jiadai seemed to have made up her mind not to return, and no matter what Jiang Huaifu said, she did not waver for a moment.

"I have some big news to tell my cousin this time."

……..

My darlings, I took the kids out for a doctor's appointment. This second update was written hastily in the hotel. Hope you guys will give me lots of good reviews! I don't want anything mediocre—I want great reviews!

Love you all, considering how hard I've worked!