The Princess of the Substitute Bride Strikes Back

It must be said that what Yunhuo said was true. Now the gates of the capital city were closed, with no communication between the inside and the outside. The emperor was incompetent and indulged in wine and sex all day long. He also spent a huge amount of money to refine the elixir of immortality, and the ministers' advice was futile.

Many loyal ministers and elders approached the Fourth Prince, hoping that he could come up with a solution. After all, the Great Zhao Kingdom had always been people-oriented since its founding. If they sat back and watched the people in distress, the country would cease to exist!

In the original book, it was indeed the Fourth Prince and his koi wife who came up with a plan to have the wealthy businessmen in the capital take the lead in donating money and grain and opening the city to provide relief, which temporarily appeased the refugees. But that’s a story for later!

……

"Why are you stopping us? We were just delayed on the way. It's not too late to come now!"

Cai's voice came from the back of the team, she was very unhappy to be stopped by the soldiers. Is it wrong for them to return to the team on their own initiative? When they didn't come back before, the soldiers didn't come to catch them.

"You can only be isolated here and are not allowed to go forward. Also, speak softly and don't spit." The soldier covered his mask tightly with one hand and held a sword with the other to keep Cai away from the team.

"Why do you treat us like this? What did we do wrong?" Liu also took Mu Yuanzhang down from the cart and asked puzzledly.

"Don't you know what you are doing? How dare you eat something that has been bitten by rats? Aren't you afraid of contracting the disease?" The officer motioned for them to look at the things on the cart.

"What did you mean by things bitten by rats? We didn't take them. Who saw us taking them?" Cai was obviously a little flustered. She couldn't believe that they would be discovered in such an emergency.

"Mom, things that have been bitten by rats are indeed not clean." When Liu heard the word "epidemic", she was so scared that she dared not move.

In that era, plague was considered a terminal illness and once infected, death was certain.

"Shut up! We didn't eat anything that had been bitten by rats. Why don't you let us return to the team?" Cai refused to admit it.

"I don't care about you. If you want to get through, just pass under my sword. Cook everything before eating and boil water before drinking. I'll give you some of this white-headed lily. Boil it in water and drink it. It can prevent diseases. The most important thing is to make a mask like us, covering your mouth and nose, and don't expose it."

The officers and soldiers were unwilling to argue with her, and would not allow the three of them to return to the team regardless of whether she admitted it or not.

It’s bad enough that I was sent to guard them. I can’t let them harm the entire team!

"Are you trying to stop us on purpose? We are in this remote place, where can we find anything to sew this? I want to go find my family."

Cai had been playing tricks and refusing to cooperate. In fact, when the officers and soldiers said that these foods would cause an epidemic, she was briefly worried, but then she changed her mind and thought that she would be fine after taking the medicine, so she no longer had any concerns.

"Everyone is ready. If it doesn't work, just tear off the corner of your clothes to cover your mouth and nose. This is a must."

After the two guarding officers finished speaking, they ignored Cai and sat on the ground to rest!

After the concubines of the second house had finished sewing masks for all the officers and soldiers, the officers and soldiers gave them dry food and asked them to eat it under their noses before going back, which they did.

The Fourth Aunt knew that the official was only helping them this time, and she didn't want them to take the food back to give to Cai. However, they were worrying too much. They had already seen through Cai's true face, so how could they hand over the food that could save their lives?

After they finished their dry food, they returned to the second room, and each of them drank a bowl of medicine.

"I think I saw Madam? Look, isn't that Madam and the others? Why don't you come over?"

Everyone was sitting on the ground to rest at the moment. Sixth Aunt saw three figures at the end of the team from afar. They looked like Cai, Liu and Mu Yuanzhang, but because they were too far away, she was not sure.

"It looks a bit like that to me. What are they doing there? Could it be that they found some food and don't want to give it to us?"

"I didn't see them just now. Everyone was running for their lives. Who could care about so many things?"

"They still have a cart, why don't we go find them!"

Several concubines started talking at once, only the Fourth and Fifth Aunts sat aside and didn't say anything.

Regardless of whether Cai found food or not, she would not share it with them, so there was no point in getting excited.

"Come on, let's go take a look!"

In the end, it was the Seventh Aunt who made the final decision and they went together to find the Cai family to see if they had any food.

"Fourth Aunt, why don't you go?"

"We are so exhausted from the journey. We want to take a rest, so we won't go with you."

The fourth concubine replied expressionlessly.

"I don't know whether they are really stupid or just pretending to be stupid! If Cai really has food, will she share it with them? Mu Yiguo is gone, and I think Cai is hoping that we concubines will starve to death." The Fifth Aunt said disdainfully.

The fourth aunt didn't want to bother with them. "Don't worry about it. We still have to find food tomorrow, otherwise we will starve again."

They are all irrelevant people, so Fourth Aunt doesn't want to waste her time on them.

"What do you think? Can we go find the eldest wife? They are living well and distributing medicinal herbs to everyone, which shows that they are kind-hearted. It would be great if they could take us in!"

Fifth Aunt suddenly had this thought and asked naively.

"You are still thinking about the eldest wife? If I can exchange my labor for food, maybe it will work. If I just ask for shelter, will you be willing?"

The Fourth Aunt revealed the Fifth Aunt's fantasy in one sentence, and they had to find another way to deal with the food issue.

That's right, who wants to have two more mouths to feed in this world? The fourth and fifth concubines were worried about food, but Cai was very happy!

"Madam, why did you come back just now? Did you find anything to eat on the way?" Seventh Aunt went straight to the point.

They all saw that there were quite a few packages and water bags on the cart, which were not so many before.

"Are you trying to kill yourself by standing here and talking like that? Don't go any further!" Just as the Seventh Aunt was about to step forward, she was stopped by the officer's sword.

"Why don't you let us go forward?" Seventh Aunt and the others finally realized that it was not that Cai and the others didn't want to find them, but that the officers and soldiers wouldn't let them.

"What do you think? Why didn't you wear masks when I asked you to? The food they ate was gnawed by rats. There is a risk of infection. They must be isolated here."

"What? Gnawed by rats?" Several people were startled and stepped back.

"Ma'am, what's going on? How come it was gnawed by rats?"

"No, I'm fine. We were just escaping with the team and saw a few packages under a tree. We didn't know if they were discarded or what, but we couldn't let them go to waste, so we took them back. There were also herbs, so how could they spread the disease?"

Cai lied with her eyes open. Compared with the epidemic, she believed more in filling her stomach.

"I see. Then why don't you just explain it clearly, ma'am? Why are you still staying here?"

In fact, they could tell that Cai was lying. At this time, food was more important than life. Who would throw it on the roadside? But they were really hungry!