Chapter 109 Drinking Porridge

There is no poison or intrigue outside the palace, but there are bandits, wild beasts and mountains that are impossible to escape.

During the first half of the journey, Murong Di was thinking about how to create an accident to escape the surveillance of the spies around him.

But after He Yanqing's unexpected appearance, the situation suddenly changed.

Murong Di didn't know whether He Yanqing had really seen through his disguise, so he didn't act rashly and had He Yanqing taken back to the capital.

He Yanqing also offered to help him get rid of the eyeliner.

Murong Di thought that He Yanqing had some carefully planned scheme, but he didn't expect that he was just trying to escape.

The imperial court did not attach much importance to this trip to Lingnan, and Murong Di did not have his own personal soldiers. The imperial court only sent dozens of imperial guards to accompany him.

When they were almost reaching Lingnan, they passed by a valley and saw two gangs fighting.

I don’t know if they were a gang or two groups of bandits, but they were fighting to the death, and it was extremely brutal.

When they saw Murong Di and his group, they thought they were reinforcements sent by the other side, so they fought them together.

He Yanqing took the opportunity to cut the reins of the carriage and ran away with Murong Di in the chaos.

In order to avoid being tracked by the people behind them, the two men desperately walked towards the small path in the forest.

Murong Di said: "This is not appropriate. It would be even more dangerous if we get lost."

He Yanqing, who had never left the hospital alone, patted the map in his arms and said:

"If I continue to walk with those people, my every move will be under their eyes, which is too passive.

Your Majesty, rest assured, I know the direction and, with the map in hand, I will definitely be able to reach Lingnan."

Seeing that He Yanqing was so confident and that things had come to this point, Murong Di agreed to go south together.

However, three days later, both of them regretted it.

In such a deep and vast mountain forest, with shade from the trees and surrounded by grass and trees, a map of Lingnan terrain in hand is of no use at all!

He Yanqing was chewing the tender leaves while wondering:

"That's not right... The book clearly says this direction is south... We can get out by just following the stream..."

Murong Di looked at the mushrooms under the tree and swallowed his saliva:

"He Sanlang, have you ever heard the saying 'Knowledge gained from books is shallow; true understanding requires personal experience'?"

He Yanqing chewed the tender leaves again and again: "I have heard of it, and I am practicing it now."

Murong Di was so hungry that he didn't even bother to play dumb:

"I've read that wild mushrooms are delicious, but if eaten by mistake, they can be life-threatening."

He Yanqing also saw the wild mushrooms, and his eyes gleamed with hunger: "The book says that it's okay to eat the uglier ones."

The two of them gritted their teeth and walked forward for a while. They were so hungry that they could not resist the temptation and picked a few unremarkable mushrooms from the moist soil under the tree to eat.

While Murong Di was chewing mushrooms, he suddenly thought of the chaos in Qianzhong last year.

He heard that the people in Qianzhong had no land to farm and no food to eat, so he rebelled at the risk of his life.

At this moment, he understood the motives of the people in Qianzhong very well. When there is nothing to eat, people lose their rationality.

The two of them ate the mushrooms one bite at a time.

Coincidentally, these mushrooms are not highly poisonous.

Unfortunately, the mushrooms they ate were hallucinogenic.

Murong Di and He Yanqing walked in a daze, feeling as if their bodies were floating in the clouds.

Before I knew it, I walked to the edge of the waterfall and saw a group of monkeys picking fruits from somewhere and offering them to the Monkey King on the rock.

Murong Di and He Yanqing saw the shiny fruits and how could they resist? They ran over to grab the fruits and stuffed them into their mouths.

Even the monkeys in Lingnan are very powerful.

When it saw people coming to snatch food, it screamed a few times and swung its claws down to tear the clothes and even the skin on the person's back.

Murong Di and He Yanqing were sobered up a bit by the pain.

Then he was chased by a group of monkeys.

Murong Di ate hallucinogenic mushrooms and began to hear auditory hallucinations.

He actually understood what the monkey king's chirping voice meant:

"...I am the king of this mountain, and the Monkey King is my great-grandfather. Who the hell do you think you are to dare to steal my fruit..."

Murong Di and He Yanqing ran as fast as they could, but their stomachs were empty and they felt dizzy while running.

Murong Di could feel the monkey behind him leaping into the air, its sharp, thin claws about to pierce his scalp...

"ah--"

Murong Di felt a slight tingling in his scalp, followed by a tingling sensation.

He cried out in his throat and suddenly opened his eyes.

A little girl's voice sounded beside me:

"Doctor Yu, your acupuncture is amazing! He woke up after just one injection."

Murong Di's eyes moved slowly, and he looked at the scene in front of him in a daze.

No monkeys. No forests.

A simple but clean hut, with a bunch of dried chilies hanging from the beam.

It's already dark outside the window.

The night was as cool as water, and the dim candlelight gave the room a layer of warmth.

A man in his twenties in white stood by the bed, holding a silver needle:

"He probably didn't take many phantom mushrooms, so one injection will be enough to wake him up."

Murong Di vaguely remembered that he fainted while escaping, and now he must have been rescued by a farmer.

"Where am I?" Murong Di sat up from the bed, his voice a little hoarse.

"You fainted at the foot of the mountain and were rescued by our village."

Murong Di looked in the direction of the child's voice and saw a little girl of seven or eight years old standing by the bed looking at him.

The little girl's eyes were black and bright, filled with candlelight:

"You're at my house now."

"Thank you for saving me." Murong Di saw that he was changed into clean clothes. The clothes were a little old but very soft and comfortable.

And the ivory ring on his hand is still there.

The villagers changed his clothes but left his belongings alone.

"You're welcome. I knocked you out when I was shooting the monkeys with my slingshot, so of course I had to rescue you."

Su Zhizhi was glad that the young boy in front of her looked normal, at least his brain was not stupid.

Murong Di touched his head and found a swollen spot with a layer of white ointment on it.

But these minor injuries and pains are commonplace for him.

"Nothing, did you see the person who was with me at that time?"

Su Zhizhi: "Are you looking for your brother? He's sleeping in another room. Do you want to eat?"

Murong Di didn't feel anything at first, but as soon as he heard the word "eat", his stomach started to growl.

Murong Di turned his face away, a little embarrassed. "I wonder if this place is close to Baiyun County? I need to see Song Ping, the county magistrate of Baiyun County."

Doctor Yu scooped out a bowl of warm porridge from the small pot on the stove and said: "Eat first, then think about finding someone."

"Zhizhi, he's fine right now. I'll go back first. If there's anything else later, let Abao come and report it."

Doctor Yu handed the porridge to Murong Di, said a few words to Su Zhizhi, and then left.

By the bed, Murong Di held the bowl and felt the heat of the food with his hands.

It is white porridge, cooked very softly, and the rice soup is thick and white.

The aroma of rice penetrated my nostrils, and at that moment all the gluttons in my stomach woke up clamoring.

Murong Di swallowed his saliva.

He has no resistance to food fresh out of the pot.

Because when I was in Myeonghye Palace with my mother, although there was meat and fish in every meal according to the prescribed rules, it was often cold when it was served.

In winter, it has to be heated on a charcoal brazier before eating.

Myeonghye Palace did not have its own small kitchen, so it was not easy to eat hot food fresh out of the pot.

But Murong Di didn't eat it immediately.

Some things become habits if you are on guard against them for a long time.

He dared to eat the fruits he picked up in the mountains, but he subconsciously could not put the food given to him by others directly into his mouth.

"Do you want a spoon?" Su Zhizhi went to the cupboard and took out a wooden spoon as if she knew the place well.

Su Zhizhi is in good health, has a good appetite, and rarely gets sick.

But she remembered very clearly how her parents took care of her when she was sick. They would bring porridge to her bedside and feed her mouthful by mouthful with a spoon.

Seeing that Murong Di still didn't eat, Su Zhizhi asked, "Do you want me to feed you?"

Murong Di pursed his lips, looking at the food with a look of suppressed desire:

"no…"

Su Zhizhi looked at Murong Di's expression and suddenly thought of something:

"Are you afraid it might be poisonous? My parents also told me not to eat anything given by outsiders."

"Here, just take a bite."

She took another spoon, scooped a spoonful of porridge from Murong Di's bowl, brought it to her mouth, blew on it, and then swallowed it in one gulp.

Su Zhizhi swallowed the porridge and said seriously: "I tried it, it's not poisonous at all."

"My father said that our village is a good village and everyone is a good citizen. We won't poison the food."

Murong Di lowered his head, despising himself at this moment.

How could one doubt such a simple village and such an innocent girl?

He was quite moved and scooped a spoonful into his mouth, then heard Su Zhizhi mutter:

"Putting poison in food is such a waste of food."

"Making poison is also very labor-intensive."

"It would be better to chop it off with a knife, or tie it up and plow it into the fields to feed the tigers..."

Murong Di: (′ω`)