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Fang Yuan was in a great mood because he had found a powerful patron.

Only when he got to the fire did he realize that the medicine in the earthenware jar hadn't been distributed yet.

"Third cousin, have you taken your medicine?" Fang Yuan asked after filling a bowl for his father.

She brews this medicine for them; all the injured people can drink it.

Hearing Fang Yuan's call, Li Chengzhe turned his head in confusion:

"Isn't this medicine for my uncle and his family?"

He hadn't taken her going up the mountain to collect herbs seriously before, assuming they were for those two to brew.

Didn't expect they'd get a share too?

"This is a medicine to promote tissue regeneration and stop bleeding. It's brewed for injured people, and you can all drink it."

As Fang Yuan spoke, he poured out two more bowls of medicine from the earthenware jar.

She added blood-replenishing medicine to it, which is beneficial to the injuries of all of them.

"Oh, I see. Thank you, cousin."

Li Chengzhe walked over, took the bowl of medicine from Fang Yuan's hand, and drank it.

Cheng Hezhou, who had been cleaning the goods with two other guards, also came over upon seeing this:

"Then I thank you, Miss."

This young lady is full of surprises; she can draw a bow and shoot enemies, and she also knows how to treat injuries and brew medicine.

"By the way, the young master inside has woken up. He says he's the fourth son of the King of Qin. Cousin, would you like to go in and take a look?"

Fang Yuan asked Li Chengzhe in a low voice.

She didn't know if the Marquis's Mansion and the Prince of Qin's Mansion had any connection. After all, the old emperor was still alive, and in her memory, the Marquis's Mansion seemed to have always been a royalist.

"The fourth son of the King of Qin? The King of Qin has a good reputation. I have never met this fourth son. I did not expect that someone would have ambushed him?" Li Chengzhe said slowly.

He spent most of his time at the border, and he only knew about the sons of the princes through official gazettes and his father; he had never actually met them.

"As far as I know, this fourth young master is the second son of the princess, seventeen years old, and has not yet been granted a title. He is probably here to choose a birthday gift for His Majesty's sixtieth birthday," Cheng Hezhou replied in a low voice.

In the current royal family, apart from the heir apparent who is betrothed after the age of ten, the other sons are generally not granted titles before marriage.

Although he was the eldest son of the King of Qin, the King of Qin was not prominent and was not favored.

This special trip to find a birthday gift was probably to show filial piety and ensure a smooth future conferment of a title, but unexpectedly, he was ambushed and plotted against.

"Do you need someone to take care of him?" Fang Yuan nodded and asked.

The first thing this fourth young master said when he woke up was "Someone come here." He must be not used to not being served.

But there are only a few of them now, so we can't just let her guard the place, can we?

"I never expected it to be the fourth son of the King of Qin, Chief Steward Cheng. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you this time."

After pondering for a moment, Lee Seung-cheol gave the instructions.

Neither I nor my cousin's family are suitable to go there.

We can only send Steward Cheng over to take care of things.

"That would be too much trouble. I would be more than happy to serve such an important person!"

Cheng Hezhou happily accepted the task.

There's no other reason than that serving someone important might lead to a future relationship!

"Alright, come with me to see him."

Lee Seung-cheol put down the medicine bowl as he spoke.

Now that the person has been rescued, his return can no longer be kept secret.

He might as well go up and identify himself. After all, he had saved his life; he couldn't possibly repay kindness with enmity, could he?

After the two left, Fang Yuan poured out the dregs from the earthenware jar, washed it clean, and prepared to cook porridge.

She went back to the donkey cart and got a small bag of millet, then cooked most of a pot of millet porridge.

I also added some salt and dried meat to it.

Everyone brought their own dry rations, and this porridge was mainly for the fourth young master and his own father.

It should be about right for everyone else to each drink one bowl.

There was nothing she could do; being in this desolate wilderness, she couldn't easily produce anything else.

After Li Chengzhe returned, Fang Yuan looked at the porridge in the earthenware pot and imagined the wonderful days to come.

"Cousin, we might have to take the back road instead."

Lee Seung-cheol's words interrupted Fang Yuan's daydreams.

"Take the back path? Why? Won't taking the back path take more time?" Fang Yuan asked, puzzled.

They walked for about ten days before they had covered half the distance.

The hooligans fleeing famine from the neighboring county have probably already reached their county seat.

If we take the back roads and waste time, we might end up running into refugees.

There are only a few of them now. If the refugees start looting, how will she be able to take care of them?

"The Fourth Young Master said that he has already encountered three groups of people who wanted to ambush him on his way back to the capital, and it is not safe to take the official road."

Li Chengzhe didn't know why the Fourth Prince was so sure that there were still people guarding the road ahead.

But now that he's with his aunt's family, he has to be prepared for anything.

"With so much stuff, can a horse-drawn carriage really get through on the back roads?"

As Fang Yuan spoke, he glanced at the things that Steward Cheng had finally managed to retrieve.

Now only six horses are still alive. The original ten or so cartloads of goods have been reduced to a minimum, but there are still four large cartloads left.

Have they all been lost?

Oh right, maybe she should go back and collect the other goods, but thinking of the dead bodies scattered all over the place, she had no choice but to give up.

However, if she were to throw away all of these things she pulled out, she would definitely try to pack them up and take them with her before she left.

"Most of them will have to be abandoned, and the carriage will also have to be replaced. We might only be able to take your donkey cart with us," Li Chengzhe said helplessly.

Their horse-drawn carriages were wider than Fang Yuan's donkey-drawn carriages, so if they took the back roads, they could only take Fang Yuan's carriage with them at most.

Even this might not be a good way out, but with a future prince present, he had no choice but to make this arrangement.

"They're not leaving now, are they?" Fang Yuan asked, unwilling to give up.

Her father hasn't woken up yet, and she's not made of iron; she can't leave now.

Unfortunately, she's not in charge of the team right now, which is making her a little upset.

"Of course they need to rest for two days. The Fourth Young Master and Uncle are both so badly injured, they should at least be allowed to recover."

Also... I'll need to trouble my cousin to continue changing the fourth young master's dressings.

At this point, Lee Seung-cheol's expression turned cold.

He didn't want his cousin to change the dressings for other men at all, but the other man's injuries were too severe, and he didn't dare to act recklessly.

"I understand. The porridge is ready. You can take it to the Fourth Young Master."

Because that guy delayed and changed his plans, Fang Yuan wasn't in the mood to serve him.

She poured herself two large bowls of porridge and went straight to Fang Congshan's tent.

"Second sister, quickly open the curtains, I've brought the food over. Has Father woken up?" Fang Yuan called out to the inside.

"Big sister, you're here! Father hasn't woken up yet!" Fang Cheng obediently opened the door curtain.

She helped her older sister look after their parents, but she ate plenty of snacks and now seems to have lost her appetite.

"Take the porridge quickly, I'll go get you some dried meat."

Fang Yuan handed her the porridge, then turned back to the donkey cart to get some dried meat.

Looking at the cramped carriage, she never imagined that she would be able to use this donkey cart for so long.

Thinking that this car would most likely be given to that fourth young master, Fang Yuan decided to take some time tomorrow to modify it.

It's her car after all, so she has to get her parents in too.

Lee Seung-cheol chuckled as he looked at the remaining half-pot of porridge, his mood inexplicably improving.