Chapter 15

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Chapter 15: His right hand lifted the hem of the prison uniform and began rummaging around…

She had been lying there perfectly fine moments ago. Yet the instant Jiang Wu propped Du Yinsui up, before she\’d even sipped water, she burned with fever?

Jiang Wu pressed the back of his hand to Du Yinsui\’s forehead. Seeing her flushed face, he fell silent.

Not only was Jiang Wu taken aback, even Du Yinsui herself found it… abruptly strange.

Last night’s pain had lessened compared to that night at Sanqiao Post Station. So why did forcing out those two words this morning make her whole body blaze…

Chu Xiulan questioned Jiang Wu further, speculating the night breeze might have chilled her. But after Jiang Wu carefully unwrapped the cloth bandages on Du Yinsui\’s legs and hands, he suspected infected wounds were the true culprit.

Swallowing his pride, Jiang Wu approached Tan Wang for medicine, only to return empty-handed as expected.

This delay allowed the convoy to nearly finish assembling. Even if Jiang Wu steeled himself to seek the Wei family girl’s help, the moment had passed.

Thus, the \"soundtrack\" to Du Yinsui’s exile journey shifted from purslane, nutmeg, creeper grass, and schisandra… to artemisia annua, bupleurum, bamboo leaves, dandelion, honeysuckle, and gardenia…

Her theoretical knowledge was decent, but practical skills remained woefully inadequate.

Farewell, hillside dandelion paradise.

Goodbye, bupleurum fifty meters away.

All morning they passed potential remedies, gathering nothing.

Lying in the cart, Du Yinsui listened to this litany of missed herbs. She felt stuffed into some hybrid of an air fryer and microwave—roasted by the sun outside, simmered by boiling blood within. Soon, she mused, the scent of roasting meat might waft…

Lovely weather today.

Skip the artemisia and bupleurum. Just bring cumin.

Du Yinsui couldn’t fathom it. Her constitution had resisted Jin Kingdom’s deadliest poisons—how could a mere fever fell her?

Surely… surely not because she’d strained too intensely last night just to utter two extra words?

Impossible!

Her heightened sense of smell remained erratic, surging and vanishing without warning—much like the receding dandelion hill and the unseen bupleurum. Honestly, she could catalog every mutated plant and creature scent from the apocalypse. But ordinary flora scents, lost to post-apocalyptic scarcity? Beyond daily essentials, she remembered little. Who’d have predicted surviving seven apocalyptic years only to transmigrate? Had she known, she’d have memorized herbal scents and enrolled in traditional medicine classes.

Too late for regrets. Even on mountain trails, what luck would place a recognizable herb nearby precisely when she could speak its name?

Huh?

Wait…

What was that ahead!

Her smell sharpened abruptly again, catching honeysuckle fragrance twenty meters ahead. Though past full bloom, the sprawling field still emitted heavy perfume.

So close! So abundant! Surely her friend—who’d recited \"Its petals long and tendrils drooping, gold and white interwoven, vines twining leftward, hence named gold-silver…\"—would spot it?

Noon approached; her fever intensified. Du Yinsui dared not hope much from this theory-over-practice companion.

Then… only one option…

Bent double, Jiang Wu strained uphill, dragging the cart to rejoin the convoy. He heaved with all his might when something tugged his left sleeve.

A chill shot through Jiang Wu. He froze.

The slope was brutal. Since starting the ascent, he’d lagged from the rear until nearly separated from the group. Only one guard remained, two paces ahead on his right. Who could be pulling from behind…

Oh.

Jiang Wu slowly turned his head and lowered his gaze.

\"Honeysuckle, we passed it!\"

On the cart, the flushed-faced girl released his sleeve, angrily pointing back. But before she could feel the joy of waking up, her head tilted, her hand dropped, and she fainted again.

Jiang Wu: \"…\"

Every time this happened, the feeling stopped suddenly…

And, did she roll her eyes at me just now? That last look before fainting… it couldn\’t have been an eye roll, could it?

Jiang Wu turned to see where Du Yinsui pointed, noticing a small patch of yellow flowers higher up the slope.

\"Its flowers have long petals and drooping stamens, with mixed yellow and white colors, and vines that twist…\" Jiang Wu murmured as he stared.

\"Why aren\’t you moving?\"

A deep male voice came from behind Jiang Wu.

Jiang Wu calmed himself, turned back respectfully, and said, \"Sir, I… need to relieve myself.\"

\"What?\" Ma Datou was puzzled. \"You want to wash your hands?\"

\"I…\" Jiang Wu paused, lowered his gaze, and said instead, \"I need to answer nature\’s call.\"

Ma Datou was speechless. \"What\’s wrong with you? Yesterday Zhao Qi was here, and you all had to go. Today I\’m here, and it\’s the same. No wonder Zhao Qi didn\’t want to watch you. Just say you need to go, no fancy talk.\"

Jiang Wu didn\’t dare say more, just hoped for a little kindness to let him take a look at those yellow flowers.

Even though the guard spoke crudely, he still nodded yes.

\"What about this cart?\" Ma Datou didn\’t want to see anyone have an accident. With half the day\’s journey left, he wouldn\’t bother his nose, so he pointed at the cart. \"Taking it with you?\"

The yellow flowers were uphill; taking the cart didn\’t make sense, but leaving it there was risky too…

As Jiang Wu hesitated, the Qin family, who had walked ahead, came back.

\"I also need to… I also need to go…\" Chu Xiulan, hearing the noise ahead, worried about Jiang Wu going alone with the guard. But she struggled with the guard\’s words, her speech sounding awkward. Though this guard wasn\’t square-faced like the Wei family girl described, and had no big mole at the temple, meaning he probably wasn\’t like Cui Wu of Zhao Qi\’s group, caution never hurt.

Ma Datou chuckled, looking at Qin Chongli who had followed. \"Coming too, old man? If your family needs to go, go together.\"

After taking the pills from the Wei family yesterday, Qin Chongli felt a bit better but was still weak. Pale-faced, he shook his head and stepped forward to take the cart handle from Jiang Wu. \"I\’ll push it.\"

Jiang Wu let go slowly, not daring to look at Qin Chongli. Since the trouble, the teacher had barely spoken to him, only for important things without any warmth. Jiang Wu knew it was his fault and it weighed heavily on him. But now wasn\’t the time for that.

Ma Datou had already found a good spot among thick tall grass and pointed them there.

But as they walked away, something interesting happened.

Tired from walking all morning, Ma Datou sat on the ground to wait, idly picking and rubbing small yellow flowers in his hands.

The sunny slope was good for honeysuckle.

At first, he wondered why the Deposed Crown Prince chose to go up instead of using his spot. Not seeing the yellow flowers at the top, he thought it might be madness or a trap—he even thought of ambushes…

But after squinting and spotting the yellow on the slope, Ma Datou, with his farmer\’s sense, guessed why the Deposed Crown Prince was going up.

Interesting, she actually knew these wildflowers she\’d been talking about in a scholarly way along the trip.

Thinking of the girl on the cart with a face red as if slapped, Ma Datou sighed. Might as well do one last good deed. Getting old makes you soft-hearted; he only hoped this last kindness would end well.

Idly rubbing the yellow flowers in his palm, Ma Datou called out, \"Count louder!\"

From the group\’s position, the hilltop showed only a smear of yellow. But upon reaching it, Jiang Wu discovered the opposite slope covered in endless little yellow flowers, strikingly similar to what he had memorized.

Had Du girl been awake long?

Surely she hadn\’t woken just to see honeysuckle…

Never mind, now wasn\’t the time for such thoughts.

Not far behind Ma Datou, Jiang Wu shouted \"One!\" while frantically picking flowers. Beside him, Chu Xiulan flushed as she plucked blossoms, yelling \"Two!\"

Not every guard was as lenient as Ma Datou. Had Zhao Qi been tailing the group today, things wouldn\’t have gone so smoothly.

Neither dared delay, fearing the guards ahead might notice and stir trouble.

As the honeysuckle fragrance strengthened, even without heightened senses, its rich scent became unmistakable. The feverish Du Yinsui finally grasped a sliver of hope.

The unexpected Bodhisattva among them proved invaluable. During the brief noon rest, Chu Xiulan stealthily obtained a bamboo tube of water from the Wei family\’s benefactor. Du Yinsui needn\’t wait until night for her honeysuckle drink.

Their inexperience showed—knowing only that the cart-bound woman burned with fever, they crammed as many yellow blossoms as possible into the tube. What they poured down her throat resembled paste more than infused water.

Truthfully, had Du Yinsui been conscious, she\’d have insisted they use stems and leaves too—why waste edible greens?

But the unconscious hold no opinions.

Whether from honeysuckle\’s potency or sheer volume consumed—thick enough to count as extra rations—Du Yinsui improved markedly by afternoon. She’d regressed from well-done meat to stubbornly half-cooked.

To others, however, she remained visibly fevered and ill.

Which raised the question: what should the sick eat?

That day, the exiled group followed the riverbank, camping again by the forested shore at dusk.

Unlike before, Jiang Wu now rested closer to the Qin family\’s tree.

Thus, the little one\’s secret finally came to light.

Jiang Wu woke to muffled sobs. Opening his eyes, he saw two small feet kicking wildly above his head—a near-death fright.

Clutching his chest as he sat up, he found Du Yinsui\’s formerly solitary cart now cramped and crowded.

\"Waaah! Mean brother! You ate it! Yao Yao wants cake too! Just a tiny piece!\"

\"Didn\’t steal… Afraid you\’d get sick…\"

\"Brother lies! Fakes sick but eats cake! Real sick sister eats! Waaah… Yao Yao eats! Not brother!\"

\"Not faking! Real tummy ache! Grandpa too! We squatted together!\"

\"Yao Yao\’s cake! Please! Last piece! Gone! Brother ate it all!\"

\"Mine tasted sour last time. Your mung bean cake\’s always sour…\"

…

Moonlight revealed two small figures tussling over a bowl. Jiang Wu\’s sleep-fogged mind buzzed, struggling to comprehend.

But where Jiang Wu faltered, another reacted swiftly.

\"I\’ll eat it. Stop fighting.\"

Something large shifted on the cart, accompanied by a parched, rasping voice.

Jiang Wu: \"…\"

Du Yinsui shot the dumbstruck man a glance. Her functional right hand darted between the squabbling children, seizing the bowl containing the last crumbly traces of moldy mung bean cake. She scraped it clean with rapid licks.

\"You… you…\" Shock piled upon shock, stifling Jiang Wu\’s words.

Du Yinsui ignored him—this precious moment of bodily control couldn\’t be wasted!

Setting down the spotless bowl, she hitched her prisoner\’s tunic with her right hand and started digging around beneath it…