Traveling through time and space to become a lady of a noble family, but she only wants to escape

Chapter 225 Leak

There are four bowls of different shapes on the table, each containing the same water with leaves soaking in it, except that one bowl has more than the others.

The old man was somewhat embarrassed and explained haltingly, "After the war, we had to pay more taxes, life was hard, food was hard to find, and we could only eat tree leaves."

Bai Zhi was quite surprised. She never expected that, even though they were both at war and only a hundred miles apart, Wu County could still eat meat a few times, while the barbarians could only pick tree leaves.

Has this barbaric land become so wasteful of resources and manpower?

Nau's younger brother secretly stuck out a finger and touched the rim of the bowl with more leaves, but Nau slapped it away: "This is for the envoy! The envoy can only help us farm if he is full."

The old man was so angry that he puffed out his beard: "Nao! How can you let the envoy farm!"

"It's alright, old man," Bai Zhi reassured him. "I promised to help Na Wu with the farming."

"Since the envoy has said so, then thank you very much... Envoy, please have some."

Bai Zhi didn't stand on ceremony and took the bowl with the most leaves directly to her. Food was so scarce here, and she, who had to do physical labor, couldn't possibly eat less than the elderly and children.

Although there was hardly a difference of more than a few pieces.

This leaf soup looks terrible at first glance, and it really is terrible. It's just plain water boiled with tree leaves, with absolutely no saltiness. The leaves taste bitter when chewed, and the water is astringent. Bai Zhi's face wrinkled from drinking it, and she could only gulp it down.

The younger brother looked at the pitiful three or five leaves in his bowl and tugged at Nawu's sleeve: "When is Daddy coming back? Daddy said he'll bring back lots of chickens to raise, and we'll have lots of eggs and chicken to eat."

Nawu's little face immediately fell. She thought for a moment, then grabbed her brother's hands and held the bowl, trying to coax him, "You think this is chicken soup."

"This is not inspirational quote."

"If you think about chicken soup and then drink it, it will feel like you're actually drinking chicken soup."

The two little ones started chattering away about how to drink the leaf soup like chicken soup, which made Bai Zhi's stomach rumble.

The old man glanced at Bai Zhi a few times, his wrinkled face scrunching together, looking troubled. After thinking for a while, he finally asked, "Envoy, my son has been with Madam Ge for two years. He used to write letters, but later he stopped writing altogether, and he never came back. You have lost your memory, but do you remember my son? His name is Chawa Tso."

Logically, Bai Zhi should not know anything about Ge Zhen's subordinates, but the name Chawa Cuo sounded familiar, so she thought about it carefully for a while.

When the old man saw Bai Zhi's expression, a glimmer of hope suddenly ignited in his heart. He carefully added information, trying to evoke more of Bai Zhi's memories: "My son's first letter said that Madam Ge had entrusted him with an important matter, but he felt that he should not do it and did not want to listen to Madam Ge. The second letter said that he saw someone raising chickens in the city of Dayan and wanted to bring a lot of chickens back to eat."

"Hmm..." Bai Zhi finally shook her head. "I don't remember."

Nau's expectant gaze dimmed, and the old man sighed wearily, "It's alright if you don't remember... Envoy, please continue eating."

Bai Zhi didn't say anything more. She picked up the bowl, tilted her head back, and drank the leaf soup all at once.

Salamu settlement.

A dilapidated carriage drove into the camp, and after an incense stick had burned, martial law was imposed on everyone.

The bearded, burly man and the big-eyed, burly man carried the package all the way into the dungeon, and then, in front of Wusameng and Gezhen, they untied the ropes to reveal the scholarly-looking face inside.

Ge Zhen squatted down, reached out and pinched it, and asked suspiciously, "Is this really Gu Yan?"

The young barbarian took out a letter and handed it to Ge Zhen: "Madam Ge, this is a letter from Lord Yang."

Ge Zhen took the letter, read it quickly, and then chuckled, "Good! Yang Jinlang does have some ability." As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand and slapped Gu Yan across the face.

The sound was so crisp and piercing that Gu Yan was awakened almost instantly. Wu Shameng drew his dagger and held it to Gu Yan's neck, saying in a rough voice, "Just answer whatever she asks. Don't lie, or I'll kill you."

"Why bother with all that trouble? Didn't Kesuya just make the Truth Potion?" Ge Zhen rolled his eyes at Wusha Meng and ordered a servant to fetch it immediately. Wusha Meng sheathed his dagger and nodded in agreement: "You're so thoughtful."

The burly man with the thick beard hadn't left yet; he stood there with a tense expression. Wushamon asked him, "Where is Aleum? Haven't you seen her?"

"..." The burly man with the thick beard suddenly went all out and knelt down in a deep salute to Wushameng, "Chief! We can't fight anymore!"

Ge Zhen shouted sternly, "Nonsense!"

“Madam Ge, it’s not nonsense. Alyumo was terrified by the war. We rescued her, but she left halfway.”

Wu Shameng comforted Ge Zhen and asked, "What happened?"

The burly man with the thick beard recounted the atrocities committed by Prince Jing in Wuxian County, embellishing the story somewhat. Wusha Meng's brow furrowed, his breathing became heavy, and then, his muscles bulged with rage, he roared, "Tyrant! How dare you treat my precious people like this!"

Ge Zhen, however, was indifferent to the lives of her people. Without a second thought, she rejected the idea: "We cannot stop the war. We are already at a disadvantage; if we stop now, how can we possibly win!"

Usamon: "But knowing that our compatriots have died so tragically will dampen the morale of our soldiers."

Gu Yan, still bound on the ground, suddenly chuckled. He had been silent since waking up, his eyes unfocused, seemingly lost in thought. Now, he seemed to have regained some of his senses, turning to look at Ge Zhen with a self-deprecating, mocking smile: "Ask away, I'll tell you everything I know."

Ge Zhen frowned. Wu Shameng said, "If you're lying, we won't know."

“I don’t lie,” Gu Yan said slowly. “I’m nothing more than a discarded pawn now.”

"Stop talking nonsense." Ge Zhen interrupted him without further ado, "Who exactly is this fake Gu Yan?"

Gu Yan said, enunciating each word clearly: "Prince Jing, Chu Yunchuan."

Nawu's land isn't good for growing much food—that was Baizhi's conclusion after three days of farming.

She had planned to leave after helping out, find a place to have a good meal, and then figure out how to return to the Thirteen Provinces. But Nau confidently said that the seeds she had would bear fruit in three days, so Bai Zhi stayed and worked in the fields for three days, still only having tree leaf soup to fill her stomach each day.

But on the third day, the seeds showed no change whatsoever; they didn't even sprout.

Bai Zhi asked Na Wu again, and Na Wu's eyes widened in disbelief, saying it was impossible.

What seemed impossible has now happened.

Without food or water, Bai Zhi was inevitably a bit irritable. She threw down her hoe and started thinking of other ways to get things done.

No matter where you are, you have to pay for food. The valuable hairpin that Chu Yunchuan wore every day was gone. She had nothing on her except her name seal and the wooden box with twin flowers. Her name seal had her real name on it, which she couldn't reveal, and she couldn't bear to part with it. The wooden box with twin flowers didn't have her name on it, but she didn't want to exchange it for money until the very last moment because it was something Chu Yunchuan had made by hand.

After much thought, I realized I had no choice but to resort to manual labor.