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

The next morning, everyone got up early and lined up to receive water and cornbread, which was their food ration for the day. After eating it, they would travel all day, and then they could receive more supplies in the evening.

Song Wanzhen stood up briskly, tidied herself up a bit, and was surprised to find that her blistered feet no longer hurt.

She felt a cool sensation on her feet, indicating that someone had applied medicine to her feet.

She saw Zhao bending down carefully picking up some usable herbs. Her mother had read many medical books before and could identify some herbs, so she thought it was Zhao who made them and happily hugged Zhao.

"Thank you, Mother, for applying the medicine for me."

"It wasn't me."

Zhao quickly understood what her youngest daughter was referring to. She shook her head and looked at Jiang Jinning, who was carefully taking care of Song Qingyan not far away.

"Your sister-in-law felt sorry for you and secretly applied the medicine to you at night."

It was Qingyan who told her about this; otherwise, Zhao Shi wouldn't have known that this little girl had done so many things in private.

However, she was somewhat suspicious of the source of the herbs. There were no herbs within a few miles that could relieve symptoms overnight, otherwise the guards would not have turned a blind eye to it. But she did not ask any further questions and simply turned to persuade her daughter.

"Your sister-in-law is really good to you, so don't always target her."

Looking at Jiang Jinning, who had been patiently taking care of her older brother, Song Wanzhen pouted and stuck out her neck: "I didn't ask her to apply the medicine to my feet. It's none of her business whether my feet hurt or not. I'm even afraid she might try to poison me! What is that jinx capable of?"

Zhao stopped what she was doing, her expression suddenly becoming stern.

"Jin Ning is simple-minded. You can't take advantage of her just because she's tolerant of you. Yesterday, she even got half a cornbread. What, you've already forgotten you ate a full meal as soon as you put down your bowl!"

Song Wanzhen knew she had said the wrong thing and felt a little guilty, but she was still annoyed that her own mother had defended Jiang Jinning time and time again.

"Okay, okay, it's all my fault. You can adopt her as your daughter!"

She turned and left angrily, picking up her water bag to queue up for steamed buns.

On the way, she ran into Song Yanxi. Song Wanzhen snorted coldly and didn't intend to pay any attention to her.

Song Yanxi insisted on talking to her, as she had lost some weight these past two days because Liao had withheld her steamed buns from her because of the previous incident.

"I really feel sorry for my second sister. Look at her, in just a few days, my aunt has already lost all affection for her."

Unlike the previous days, this time Song Wanzhen did not retort, but simply held the water pouch without saying a word.

Song Yanxi glanced at the messenger distributing cornbread not far away and said with a smile, "If I were the second sister, I would let someone else go and get the cornbread and water."

Song Yanxi stopped there and didn't say anything more.

Upon hearing this, Song Wanzhen paused, her gaze falling on the menacing-looking Yuan Jiecha not far away. She snorted coldly and turned back.

Song Yanxi curled her lips into a smile, thinking to herself, "Stupid."

Jiang Jinning glanced at Yuan Jiechai in the distance, then looked at Chen Jiechai and the others who were roasting cornbread around a smoldering fire not far away, and squeezed the meat seasoning in her hand.

She greeted Song Qingyan and walked toward Chen Jiechai, but bumped into Song Wanzhen, who was venting her anger by clutching a water pouch.

"Hey, go get some water and steamed buns!"

Jiang Jinning stared blankly at the water pouch that had been tossed into her arms.

"Didn't Mother say you went to pick it up...?"

"That's my mother! What right do you have to call her 'Mother'? You're not allowed to!" Song Wanzhen snapped. "Just go when I tell you to! Stop talking nonsense!"

Jiang Jinning thought about how they were always being punished by the Yuanjie clerks, and felt that it was too dangerous for Song Wanzhen to go.

She's a pampered young lady from a duke's mansion, delicate and precious. If she were to be whipped... it would be better for her to go; she's thick-skinned and not afraid of being whipped.

"I'm warning you, if you dare cause trouble and implicate my older brother and mother, I'll never speak to you again!"

Jiang Jinning nodded, took the water bag, and went to the Yuan Jiechai.

Jiang Jinning obediently waited at the end of the line to receive the steamed buns and clean water, but as soon as she arrived, the people nearby kept their distance from her, as if she were a plague.

She recalled being disliked in the mansion and lowered her head sadly.

"It's you again, you traitor! How dare you come here to ask for bread and water?"

Jiang Jinning was very unhappy that people always talked about traitors. In her heart, the young general and his father were the best people.

But she remembered the young general's words: she should not be reckless, she should protect herself and not let herself get hurt, so she did not retort.

So what if he gets scolded a few times? It's not like he said it, or the general wouldn't be a great hero. Let him scold us.

Seeing that she was not as angry as usual, the officer sneered and left the cornbread on the ground.

"Hey, your cornbread, kneel down and pick it up!"

Jiang Jinning gripped the water pouch tightly with one hand, her small face flushed with anger.

She knew perfectly well that the officer Yuan was trying to humiliate her, but when she remembered Song Wanzhen's words and how her previous two pointless acts of standing up for her had resulted in either the young general being beaten or the steamed buns being taken away, she lost her temper and dared not argue back.

Seeing that she complied, instead of being as assertive as she had been a few days ago, Yuan Jiecha scoffed and leaned against the tree with his arms crossed.

"I thought he was tough, but he's nothing special."

Yuan Jiecha placed his hand on the whip at his waist, his smile growing even more smug. Suddenly, he pulled out the whip and lashed the cornbread apart.

The cornbread was split in two, and usually one half rolled a short distance away, while the other half fell into a filthy, obviously foul-smelling place.

"I'm being merciful today and will give you an extra half a cornbread," Yuan Jiechai said, pointing to the filth not far away. "It's that half. Pick it up, and I'll watch you eat it. Then I'll give you your share of cornbread and water properly, how about that?"

Jiang Jinning looked up at him in disbelief at the pool of filth that was clearly excrement.

"What, you don't want to eat? If you don't want to eat, then don't eat anymore, and they won't have anything to eat either!"

Yuan Jiecha pointed at the Song family members and smiled maliciously.

There were only two steamed buns available that day. If they ran out, wouldn't they starve to death?

The clansmen who had been watching the spectacle were now glaring fiercely at Jiang Jinning, as if she were the culprit.

"Just eat what I tell you to eat, why are you talking nonsense?"

"That's right, that's right, don't drag us down with you, we're already in a terrible situation."

There were sounds of cursing and crying all around, but Yuan Jiechai, who usually didn't allow anyone to make noise, was unusually magnanimous this time, just watching with a mocking look in his eyes.

"So, have you made up your mind?"

"I……"

Jiang Jinning didn't want to implicate others, so she lowered her head and took a step forward before someone pulled her back.

She turned her head in bewilderment and found that Zhao Shi, supporting Song Qingyan, had come to her side at some point.

"Young General..."

Jiang Jinning suddenly felt very wronged and guilty, and hung her head helplessly, like a child who had done something wrong.

"It's all my fault... I caused it again..."

"It's none of your business. I'm telling you to think things through, not to swallow your anger. If you don't want to eat this cornbread, then don't eat it."

They still had grain stored up, so coming to collect cornbread was just a smokescreen.

"Whether others eat it or not is none of our business."

Song Qingyan spoke breathlessly, his tone tinged with reluctance.

The Song family members were furious, chattering and complaining, mostly about how they had been implicated.

"No, that's not how it is..." Jiang Jinning, her eyes red, stood in front of Song Qingyan, blocking the malicious insults from her clansmen. "The Song family still has clansmen in the prefecture, so they didn't punish us."

Song Qingyan and Zhao Shi suddenly understood, and most of their guilt disappeared. Their gazes towards them turned colder.

Jin Ning is right!

In the end, it only affects those who leech off the Duke's mansion in Luoyang. They used to act arrogantly and domineeringly in the name of the Duke's mansion, but now they complain about being implicated. What, did they not think about the future when they were enjoying their good fortune?

"let's go."

"Did I tell you to leave?!"

When Yuan Jiecha saw that the situation was not as he had expected, he was so angry that he lashed out at Song Qingyan with his whip.

Jiang Jinning and Zhao instinctively stood behind Song Qingyan, trying to shield him from the whip.