The jade pendant connects the past and present; the exiled crown prince's wife takes her entire

After all that trouble, I only have four yuan left.

She thought about it and decided not to buy any more food. It wasn't that she didn't want to improve her family's diet, but rather that too much food was too strong to hide and would easily attract the attention of the guards on the road to exile. If the secret were exposed, she would never be able to come to the fairyland again.

Jiang Jinning silently made sure to maintain a good relationship with the escorts, as it would make things much easier in the future.

She couldn't buy food, but perhaps she could buy some salt and hide it away. She had heard people say that not eating salt could easily make one sick, and the young general was already seriously injured; she couldn't let him get sick again just because he wasn't eating salt.

She asked around for directions on where to buy salt and soon arrived at a small shop that specialized in selling seasonings.

Upon entering, Jiang Jinning was dazzled by all the bottles and jars.

She never knew there were so many kinds of seasonings. Soy sauce comes in different varieties, like dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. There's also a thicker, slightly fishy-smelling sauce called oyster sauce. Even cooking oil comes in many varieties. There's sesame oil, which is specially used for mixing with vegetables and rice and is said to enhance the aroma. And then there's sesame oil, which can numb your mouth when you eat it.

With so many varieties, Jiang Jinning was overwhelmed.

There were even condiments called ketchup and salad dressing to smear on fried chicken, red and white. Looking at these, she thought of the fried chicken from earlier and couldn't help but drool.

But then she looked at the price—more than ten yuan a bottle—and Jiang Jinning decisively looked away, turning instead to the salt on the bottom shelf.

The salt here is much finer than that of Dali. Even the salt used by the Madam and Jiang Baoyu in the old mansion was not as fine, and it is also much cheaper, only one yuan and fifty cents for a small bag!

It's important to understand that even though the current situation isn't considered a famine, salt is still quite expensive.

With 2.5 yuan left, Jiang Jinning spotted a small bag of seasoning powder on the shelf next door. The shopkeeper said it was some kind of Korean BBQ seasoning powder, 6.8 yuan for 100 grams, and there was also a 50-gram bag for about 3 yuan.

Jiang Jinning wasn't very good at calculating the weight of this package, but after giving it a slight shake, she had a good idea of ​​what it was made of. She didn't know what the barbecue seasoning was made of, but in Dali, the seasonings were quite expensive and had to be bought at pharmacies. If it were ground into powder like this, there would be a lot of processing fees, and it wouldn't be ground to this fineness.

This place is so cheap!

If we bought a small packet, toasted the steamed buns over a fire, and sprinkled some of this barbecue seasoning on them, wouldn't it be incredibly delicious? The young general's wound is in so much pain that he can't eat a single steamed bun unless he's extremely hungry. If only we had this...

But she's still short five cents...

"Hey boss, could you sell it to me for 50 cents less...?"

Jiang Jinning recalled how others haggled, and she imitated them, straightening her back and speaking loudly to make herself seem less guilty.

The shopkeeper was initially a little reluctant. It was surprising that someone would haggle over something that only cost a few dollars these days. It was clear that Jiang Jinning was just a child. He waved his hand and said forget it.

"Take these four pieces. It's dangerous for a little kid like you to be out at night. Next time, have an adult come out to buy them."

Jiang Jinning couldn't understand why everyone here called her a child, but that didn't matter. She was overjoyed to have bought the seasonings and bowed repeatedly in gratitude.

Even after spending all her money, Jiang Jinning was still very happy with the limited supplies she had.

She went to that alley again, unpacked all the items that couldn't be taken back, then packed them into a large parcel. She silently recited a prayer, and with a flash of white light, she returned to Da Li.

Unlike the usual feeling of leaning against a cold tree, this time it felt warm.

She looked up in a daze, only to be met with the young general's resolute and handsome face magnified in the distance.

The young general had strong and resolute facial features. Although he looked tired, he was still so handsome that she couldn't open her eyes. She leaned against the young general's chest, feeling warm and at ease.

Jiang Jinning's eyes were bright as she tightly hugged the things she had brought back, gazing intently at Song Qingyan with eyes full of dazzling starlight.

At first, Song Qingyan didn't think anything of it, but as she stared at him intently, his heart began to race and his hand on the girl's shoulder became hot.

His earlobes suddenly turned red, and he awkwardly withdrew his hand and stepped back.

If the girl showed even the slightest hint of shyness, he could remain calm and composed. But she was extremely naive and knew nothing, making him seem like a wolf in sheep's clothing trying to take advantage of the situation.

Song Qingyan coughed a few times, feeling embarrassed.

Jiang Jinning, however, thought that she hadn't taken good care of her body when she went to the fairyland, and that she had crushed the young general.

Her brows furrowed with anxiety as she asked, "Has the wound on your back reopened? It's all my fault!"

The innocent young girl felt no shame whatsoever, only the shame of having hurt the young general.

"Young general, next time I do this, just push me away, and please don't hurt yourself."

Seeing that she was subconsciously blaming herself again, Song Qingyan felt somewhat helpless.

"I'm fine, I just choked on the wind."

He shook his head to indicate that nothing was wrong, and then asked about his experience.

Jiang Jinning checked Song Qingyan carefully again and, seeing that he was really alright, breathed a sigh of relief and excitedly showed him all the things she had bought.

"Young general, do you know how cheap the salt is there? This much is only one dollar and fifty cents! That's about the price of three steamed buns!"

Even the composed Song Qingyan was astonished upon hearing this.

"If the Dali era had such cheap refined salt, the people could afford it, and no one would fall ill due to salt shortages. I wonder how the people there make salt; if we could learn that, it would be of great benefit to Dali!"

Song Qingyan then thought of his own situation and shook his head with a self-deprecating smile.

Does someone of his status have the right to think about matters concerning people's livelihood?

Jiang Jinning couldn't bear to see the young general looking even slightly dejected, so she changed the subject and started telling him about her experience buying glass beads. Song Qingyan knew she was trying to cheer him up, so he suppressed his unpleasant thoughts and listened attentively.

"I almost forgot to apply the medicine to the young general."

Jiang Jinning slapped her forehead and hurriedly applied the medicine to him.

Before being exiled, Song Qingyan was beaten thirty times. Due to the Empress's sudden suicide, he was eventually beaten twenty times. This was not serious for him, but he lacked medical care and medicine along the way, and the imperial envoys beat him from the ground, so his injuries could not heal. If it weren't for the medicine from the fairyland, he would not have survived sooner or later.

Song Qingyan felt grateful, but also distressed that the young girl had spent most of her wages on medicine and hadn't been able to buy anything for herself.

While applying the medicine, Jiang Jinning's eyes were fixed on the barbecue seasoning, but her thoughts drifted far away.

The next two days were spent distributing steamed buns to the imperial examiners; if he were to use this as an excuse to cause trouble again…

It seems she needs to take action and win over someone who can speak on their behalf, someone whose position is comparable to that of the Yuan Jiecha.

Jiang Jinning thought of Chen Jiechai.

After applying the medicine to Song Qingyan and then to herself, the young girl didn't rest. She secretly went to Song Wanzhen's side, hiding her figure, and fiddling with something. Song Qingyan vaguely knew that she had bought the ointment specifically for Wanzhen, and he was extremely touched.

She was always like that; no matter how badly others treated her, she always treated them with kindness.