As night fell, Xiao Huan and Xiao Yuan went to the kitchen to cook, while Zhu Changge and Zhu Qingruo watched their young master and several fellow disciples collect the wooden planks in the courtyard.

The village is full of carpenters, so making a few planks is quite easy. When Zhang Xiantao first returned to the village, out of anger, she even wanted to dismantle the village chief's door to use.

The village chief and his family pleaded with her until she gave up the idea of ​​dismantling the door. Afterward, the village chief quickly called several villagers to work on making wooden planks.

By the end of the 5-7 PM, all the planks needed were ready. The village chief had thirty planks made. After deducting the ones Zhu Lin and his group needed, there were a dozen or so left over. The village chief wanted to keep them for himself, but since he didn't have an antidote to control the miasma, he didn't dare go in even with the planks.

"You're making so many planks and you still want to lead the villagers into the swamp? Aren't you afraid the miasma will poison you? I can tell you have ulterior motives, you wicked old man." Zhang Xiantao got angry when she saw so many extra planks, and she knew exactly what the village chief was up to.

Chief Kimura denied his intentions, explaining, "It's not that I wanted to use them. These planks were all prepared for you. I figured you'd be going in and out of the swamp more than once or twice, so if anything gets damaged along the way, we can replace them immediately when we come back."

"Hmph, it doesn't matter if you don't admit it. I doubt you'd dare to secretly follow us into the swamp. If I find out you went, even if you don't die from the poisonous miasma, I'll kick you into the swamp so you can't get out." Zhang Xiantao raised her chin, looking like a bully.

"I won't go, I really won't go," the village chief repeatedly assured him.

Xingxing watched the play from the sidelines, then smacked her lips with relish. This Zhang Xiantao was truly a wonderful person; wherever she was, there was joy, adding a bit of fun to her otherwise dull life.

"Hmm, Xingxing, let's go. Let's forget about him. Let's go back inside and chat for a while, then take a nap and we can set off." Zhang Xiantao naturally took Xingxing's hand.

Xingxing looked at her and said with a smile, "I remember you didn't really want to chat with me before. I asked you to come to the palace to play with me, but you kept making excuses. Why are you always clinging to me when we're outside?"

"Uh, actually, it wasn't that I didn't like playing with you before, it's just that there are too many rules in the palace. I'm used to being carefree and couldn't stand the constraints in the palace. So you understand now, it's not that I didn't want to play with you, it's that I was scared off by the rules in the palace," Zhang Xiantao retorted without batting an eye.

Xingxing nodded thoughtfully. "What you said makes sense, but I can't play with you when we go back to the room. I want to play with my two senior sisters."

After saying that, Xingxing let go of her hand and skipped back to the house. Zhang Xiantao stomped her feet angrily, holding Erkang's hand. The princess was so inconsiderate. She couldn't find any other playmates while she was away from home. Xiao Huan and Xiao Yuan would only urge her to return to the capital with bitter faces. She was so bored.

A little while later, Zhang Xiantao saw Xingxing come out of the house again. Just as she was feeling happy, she heard the little princess say in an innocent tone, "You may not be able to go into the swamp tomorrow because you don't have the antidote. If you go in rashly, you will be poisoned by the miasma."

Zhang Xiantao: "..."

"Princess, Xingxing, could you please ask your fourth senior brother for an antidote for me? Huh?" Before she could finish speaking, Xingxing ran off, leaving Miss Zhang scratching her head in frustration.

"Miss, don't be angry. If you don't want to go, then don't go. What's there to see in such a dangerous place? I wouldn't want to go even if you asked me to," Xiao Huan earnestly advised.

"Shut up, you spineless little brat! What do you know? I just want to go into the swamp and take a look. My ambitions are beyond your comprehension." Zhang Xiantao stormed into her room, huffing and puffing.

Xiao Huan and Xiao Yuan looked at each other, and finally could only shrug helplessly. But why did Miss lock the door and not let them in? Where would they sleep tonight?

"Miss, please open the door. Xiaoyuan and I haven't gone in yet," Xiaohuan said as she knocked on the door.

"Don't come in, you can go sleep in the kitchen, I don't want to see you right now." Zhang Xiantao started yelling incoherently again.

The village chief's family was disturbed by the noise, but they only dared to mutter under their breath and did not dare to come over to stop it. Finally, Zhu Yueran got annoyed and came over to warn, "Miss Zhang had better shut up. If you continue to shout without regard for others' feelings, you will bear the consequences."

The shouting inside the room stopped abruptly, then the person pouted, buried their head in the blankets, and complained in a soft voice, "You're just bullying me because I'm young and can't beat you. There are so many of you, I don't dare to challenge you, so you just keep bullying me, waaaaah."

"You're still too loud. Are you disrespecting me?" Zhu Yueran questioned him sternly.

Zhang Xiantao: "?" This stubborn old man who doesn't know how to cherish women, she's already so upset and he still won't let her go, does he want to make her mute?

"If Miss Zhang wants to become mute, I can grant your wish. My fourth senior brother happens to have a medicine that can make someone immediately unable to speak. Would you like to try it?"

"..." She died.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; finally, it quieted down. This Miss Zhang had so much energy; she had been making a ruckus all day without getting tired, and she could still howl for half the night. We were truly impressed.

The next day, after having breakfast, Zhu Qiuyu, Zhu Chumo, and Zhu Xichen carried the planks and prepared to enter the swamp. Zhu Lin, his two senior sisters, and Zhu Yueran did not go in but waited for them to come out from outside.

“The preparations this time are quite thorough. I reckon we won’t be out too soon. You don’t need to wait here today. If we come out early, we’ll go back on our own. You don’t need to keep worrying about us.” Zhu Qiuyu said this to Zhu Lin.

"Okay, I understand. Senior brothers, please be careful. If you encounter danger, retreat immediately. If you are unable to escape and your life is in danger, remember to send out a signal flare for help." The boy's handsome face was extremely solemn at this moment.

"Okay, we've got it." Zhu Qiuyu and the other two nodded in agreement.

Watching the three of them paddle away on the plank and disappear into the depths of the swamp, Zhang Xiantao sighed heavily, looking dejected. She said, puzzled, "Why don't you want to go in at all? Don't you want to see what the depths of the swamp are like, and how that long-haired monster lives in there?"

"People who are too curious usually die young. We value our lives, so we naturally know that," Zhu Qingruo said with a forced smile.

Ugh, how boring.

Zhang Xiantao turned her head away from Zhu Qingruo. She felt that she no longer had anything in common with the other person. She was being implied that she was too curious. Didn't she have any shame?

"It's starting to rain again. Let's go back first, don't get soaked here." Zhu Changge looked up at the sky. A light drizzle was falling. Fortunately, the rain wasn't heavy, otherwise the path through the swamp would have been even more difficult for his senior brother and two junior brothers, and they might have been forced to turn back.

Starry Sky gazed into the depths of the swamp, images flashing through her mind. She leaned close to the boy's ear and whispered, "It's not raining over there in the swamp. Senior Brother and the others are doing alright."

"That's good. Let's go back now and come back tomorrow." The boy took Xingxing's hand and led her back to the village.

Zhu Changge and Zhu Qingruo also left, leaving only Zhang Xiantao and her three servants. She looked unwillingly at the swamp, then at the sky, and finally resigned herself to returning to the village to wait.