The doctor was none other than Doctor Feng, who had treated Yu Zizhen in the palace before. From Yu Zizhen's pulse and symptoms, he concluded that Yu Zizhen was too frightened and his old illness had relapsed.
As for the "nonsense" that Yu Zizhen said, Doctor Feng also relayed it to Mr. Jiang verbatim.
Mr. Jiang secretly felt lucky that he had made a prompt decision to send Nanny Hong away. Judging from Yu Zizhen's attitude, Nanny Hong had really caused her a serious psychological trauma.
He glanced at the small figure lying beside Yu Zizhen's bed, guarding her motionlessly, and then said to Doctor Feng with a headache: "You prescribe medicine for the prince first, I will find someone who can serve her."
No matter how much Yu Zizhen is treated as a boy, she is still a girl and needs someone to serve her closely. Mr. Jiang can only go and buy a maid for her.
Fortunately, they are staying at an inn in the northern border tonight. In the northern border, the four words "Zhenbei Palace" are still very useful.
Mr. Jiang found the postmaster and gave him some instructions.
The postmaster took the order and left. Within a quarter of an hour, he brought back a mother and daughter who were skinny and had clothes covered in patches, but they kept themselves very clean.
"Sir, this is Madam Zhang, and this is her daughter Liu Ping'an. Liu Ping'an's father was a fallen soldier of our Zhenbei Army and passed away five years ago. They are not well-received by both the Liu and Zhang families, and they are not eligible for any pension. I feel really sorry for them, so I have been making them do rough work in the kitchen of the post station."
Seeing Mr. Jiang frown slightly, the Postmaster quickly added, "But don't worry, I'm not recommending them just because I feel sorry for them. They're quick and nimble, meticulous, and well-behaved. They'll definitely be able to serve the prince well."
Mr. Jiang took a look at the mother and daughter. Although they were reserved and timid, their eyes were very clear. Besides, it was late at night, and he had no place to slowly select the better ones for Yu Zizhen. So he nodded slightly and said to the postmaster, "Have you told them about signing the death contract?"
The postmaster nodded vigorously, "I said it, I said it."
Mr. Jiang then asked someone to bring the indenture he had written and asked the mother and daughter to sign it.
When he had told the postmaster about this matter before, the reason he used was that the servant had rough hands and feet and could not serve well, so he wanted to buy two more maids to serve the prince.
The postmaster did not suspect anything and immediately went to find someone for Mr. Jiang after receiving the order.
It just so happened that Madam Zhang and Liu Ping'an, who were under the protection of the couple, were in a difficult situation at the moment, and the postmaster was also thinking of finding another place for them to go.
Compared with other places, the Zhenbei Palace is obviously the best place that the postmaster can find for the mother and daughter.
Although Mr. Jiang said he wanted to sign a death contract, the postmaster believed that compared to being forced to death by her husband's family or her own family, Madam Zhang would definitely prefer to take refuge in the Zhenbei Palace with her daughter.
Madam Zhang's choice was just as the postmaster had expected. Without any hesitation, she agreed to sell herself and her daughter to the Prince of Zhenbei's Palace.
The mother and daughter signed the indentures promptly and received the thirty-six taels of silver given by Mr. Jiang on behalf of Yu Zizhen. Then they were taken to be cleaned from head to toe, changed clothes, and taught some simple etiquette.
After working like this for almost an hour, the two were finally taken to Yu Zizhen by Mr. Jiang.
The "weak" Yu Zizhen had "regained consciousness" at this time. She was leaning weakly, staring at Xinghua without blinking, watching her holding the empty bowl and carefully moving to the ground.
Except for Xinghua, whom she asked to keep the secret, no one knew that Yu Zizhen did not actually drink the bowl of bitter medicine soup prepared by Doctor Feng for her.
She was not sick. She pretended to be sick in order to prove that Madam Hong had frightened her, and also to buy Madam Zhang and Liu Ping'an, mother and daughter, in a natural way.
Liu Ping'an is a cannon fodder character with three stars of importance. The mission points that can be obtained by taking her away are only slightly less than taking Xinghua away.
"It's Mr. Jiang." Yu Zizhen glanced weakly at Mr. Jiang and Mrs. Zhang. "Is my trip going to be delayed again now that I'm sick?"
Mr. Jiang waved his hand and said, "It's alright, Prince, just rest assured and recuperate."
After saying that, he turned his gaze towards the little girl with apricot blossoms, who seemed to be supposed to be there. "This is..."
"Xinghua, I want to take her to the capital with me and keep her by my side to serve me."
Mr. Jiang: ???
Mr. Jiang:!!!
Yu Zizhen didn't wait for him to speak before continuing, "In the past, I had no say in any of my affairs, no matter how big or small. If not, I wouldn't have been tormented by one serious illness after another. But from today on, I won't be so foolish anymore. At least I have to make sure that the people around me have good intentions towards me."
She stared at Mr. Jiang without shying away. "What about long-term servants? What about my parents who command me? They are just excuses used by the cunning servant to bully the young master. From now on, I will never be fooled again!"
Mr. Jiang lowered his head feeling a little guilty.
Although he had not done anything excessive to Yu Zizhen, he had witnessed with his own eyes the slave bullying his master that Yu Zizhen had encountered.
At first, he and Yu Zizhen were both very concerned about Princess Zhenbei's reputation and feelings. Therefore, he did not act too forcefully against Madam Hong when she showed signs of bullying her master. As a result, Yu Zizhen's old illness relapsed and he almost lost his life.
He felt guilty towards Yu Zizhen because of this incident, but at the same time he could fully understand Yu Zizhen's uncharacteristically tough attitude.
After all, if it were him, he would also learn his lesson and make changes after almost losing his life.
But there is a problem here, that is, Xinghua was obviously not summoned from the Zhenbei Palace by Yu Zizhen using some strange magical power. She could only have been smuggled onto the carriage when Yu Zizhen just set out.
Mr. Jiang weighed the pros and cons for a moment and decided not to argue with Yu Zizhen about the timing for Xinghua to get on the car when she was feeling unwell, emotionally agitated, and particularly insecure.
He only brought up Xinghua's age as an excuse, "But this child is too young. Most importantly, her mind is different from that of ordinary people. For safety's sake, it would be better for the prince not to keep her around."
Yu Zizhen had been kept in the palace by Princess Zhenbei. The only time she stepped out of the palace was last year when she saved Xinghua by chance.
Xinghua did not sign a contract but lived in the palace. In addition, she was still called a "fool" in the eyes of others, so almost everyone in the palace knew about her.
Mr. Jiang wanted to use Xinghua's extraordinary personality to dissuade Yu Zizhen from keeping her by his side, but Yu Zizhen was determined to keep Xinghua by his side to serve him.
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