"Your Highness must be casting the hexagrams every day to divine my fate, right?"
The servant smiled and said, "What are you saying, young lady?"
Song He'er didn't say anything, but bent down and stepped onto the boat deck.
The thumping footsteps startled Jiang Huaifu, who was taking a nap on the boat. With a sigh, he opened his narrow eyes and his gaze lingered on the petite figure.
"I've never seen you so anxious before. Has something happened?"
"I'm going to Nanzhao."
Jiang Huaifu was slightly taken aback. "What are you going to Nanzhao for? Given your current status, you can't go anywhere for your safety."
"Zhao Changming is dead today. He and my father were involved in the same kind of shady dealings. He even threatened that as soon as he died, someone would go to the capital to report my father, and then we would both die without a burial place..."
"So you want to escape to Nanzhao?"
Song He'er knew that it was impossible to secretly go to other countries, because even if they did, they would not be able to settle down there. Without household registration or official records, they would be refugees.
To put it bluntly, they are traitors.
"Escape isn't an option right now. I need to earn money, lots and lots of money. Please buy me a way to survive. I want to take my mother and my family away from this place of suffering..."
Jiang Huaifu found it more and more interesting as he listened. He leaned against the side of the boat, staring at Song He'er with a smile in his eyes.
What makes you think I would help you?
Song He'er raised her head and replied confidently, "I won't let you help me for nothing. I will give you money. Your foundation in Nanzhao is not yet stable, and you also need money to protect yourself. Otherwise, you wouldn't be dealing with these merchants."
Although Jiang Huaifu was a man of great cunning, he never pretended in front of Song He'er, so she could see through him easily.
"The reason I don't go back to Xizhou is that I want to sever ties with it. So I'm no longer a prince. You're right, I do want to earn money through my own abilities. So now, we're in the same boat."
When Song He'er heard him say that, she began to feel a little moved.
"You mean you've agreed?"
"I can agree to that, but I have one more question to ask."
"What?"
"What makes you think that with your abilities, you'll definitely make money in Nanzhao?"
Song He'er almost revealed the secret of her maternal grandparents' family. Although Jiang Huaifu had helped her many times, there was no need for her to reveal her bottom line in detail.
“I experienced family tragedy when I was thirteen. While other children were still learning manners and knowledge at home, I had to overcome many obstacles and escape danger several times. Even if I didn’t have the ability, I was forced to by natural disasters, so why not give it a try?”
Ultimately, Jiang Huaifu's repeated choices to help Song He'er were mostly due to his attraction to her indomitable spirit.
Who wouldn't be attracted to a smart, tactful, decisive, and strategic woman?
Although Song He'er was not yet of marriageable age, at this age, some pleasures between men and women were not surprising...
"Alright, tomorrow, once you find an excuse to come out, I will take you to Nanzhao."
Hearing Jiang Huaifu say this, Song He'er finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Could you get us some clay for plastering the walls? How much will it cost? I'll pay you back in the same time."
Do you have any money left?
Hearing his question made Song He'er feel a little embarrassed.
The next moment, she took out a pearl-encrusted hairpin from her bosom. This was a top-quality item from the General's Mansion, which she had taken along with the treasury during the search.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Huaifu's expression froze instantly, and he stared at Song He'er from head to toe with an incredulous look.
"This...this is a treasure, a top-grade one. Where did you get it? Even I don't have many. I got one last year from my grandmother."
Song He'er chuckled to herself. Her General's Mansion was a well-known name in the Central Plains. What was a hairpin? Even delicacies and rare stones were never lacking in her family!
Fortunately, these things hadn't been looted by the court officials before the confiscation of her property; they were all now in her possession, making it easier for her to get things done in this remote region.
"I had some... I took it out before the raid... What? You don't believe me? You suspect I picked up someone else's belongings?"
"No, that's not it. It's just that since you have such valuable things to carry, you could sell them on the road and get some money, and you'd live quite comfortably!"
Song He'er glanced at him. "I always thought you were smart, but why are you so slow now? We're not visiting relatives or doing business; we're exiled prisoners sent by the imperial court! If others could see that we're not only not suffering, but living quite comfortably, would we even be alive? Even if the court doesn't know, if those bandits knew we had treasure on us, we'd probably be dead a hundred times over..."
Jiang Huaifu felt that what she said made some sense, so he stopped questioning her and instead followed the clues to continue asking questions.
"So you're clever; to avoid the limelight and suffer less, you used a trick to drive away all the soldiers escorting you?"
Seeing that she had been seen through, Song He'er stopped hiding it. "Yes, I was the one who arranged for them to leave, but if they hadn't been so afraid of death and so greedy for money, they wouldn't have ended up like that. So it's their own fault, and they can't blame me."
Jiang Huaifu smiled, turned his head away, picked up the scissors, and cut off a section of the swaying lamp wick.
"You are truly capable of successfully reaching Xinzhou and getting through the checkpoints without any trouble. I really admire you."
Flattery? She couldn't stand it...
Seeing that she had been out for quite some time, Song He'er realized she needed to hurry back, so she quickly stuffed the hairpin into Jiang Huaifu's hand and turned to disembark.
"Wait a moment!"
"What are you doing?"
“This hairpin is a treasure of your general’s mansion. I can’t accept it. You can take it.”
Song He'er returned the items again, saying, "Once I give something away, there's no reason to take it back. Besides, when you ask for help, you always get a reward."
Jiang Huaifu was clearly displeased upon hearing this, as if he felt that Song He'er had defined their relationship as that of an 'employer' and a 'laborer'.
"I'm still reluctant to use that thermos you gave me last time. It's quite a rare treasure, so let's skip this one and take it back."
"You haven't told anyone about the things I gave you, have you? I have these things, even my mother didn't know! You mustn't mention them to anyone!"
Jiang Huaifu was somewhat taken aback by the interrogation. "I haven't told anyone, why are you being so fierce?"
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