Traveling through troubled times: Princess disguises herself as a man and becomes a soldier to earn

Xiao Mu's eyes dimmed and he sniffed: "Since then, I have hated people who smile gently. They are too cruel. It's different in the general's mansion."

"They may look cold, but they are all real. Look at the steamed buns you ate before, and then look at the steamed buns in the Prime Minister's Mansion. They are obviously different. Anyway, I want to be a soldier in the future. When I have made military achievements, I will kill that treacherous minister."

"Only that tyrant emperor would like that kind of treacherous minister. He must be blind."

Emperor Ming hung his head, his worldview was shocked, and he did not refute anything. There was only one question in his mind: Why? Why is it like this?

Xiao Mu handed the bowl over: "Here, let me give you some. Even though there isn't much rice in this, it's made from broken rice. You can still drink some rice soup, which is better than drinking water."

"You're hungry, drink something. It may help. Who caused the wound on your face?"

"…They are just an adulterous couple."

Emperor Ming took it, took a sip, and spat it out with a "wow!" sound: "Pooh, pooh, what a strange taste, why does it stink so bad."

"Ugh~~"

Waves of nausea came over me and I couldn't help but dry heave.

Seeing this, Xiao Mu took a sip himself and said calmly, "No problem, this is the taste. The ones in the Prime Minister's Mansion have always been like this. They are different from those in the General's Mansion."

"It will pass if you just bear with it, why are you so squeamish?"

Emperor Ming covered his mouth with his hands, looking grim. When he returned, he would chop off the heads of all those who were in cahoots with the Prime Minister, and even the person who cooked the porridge would be killed.

"Forget it. If you don't want to drink, I will. Try this black bun. There are a lot of water and rocks inside. You can pick them out and eat them."

He stuffed one into his pocket and drank the rice soup himself. He put the bowl aside, broke the black bun open, and carefully picked out the gravel inside, cleaning it out bit by bit before eating.

Emperor Ming took a bite and his teeth hit the gravel. He felt a sour and numb pain and couldn't help but cover his mouth. It took him a while to react and he spat out a mouthful of blood foam.

Seeing this, Xiao Mu looked at him with sympathy. He deeply understood this kind of pain. Why didn't he listen? See, he has suffered and now he knows the pain.

He is even more stubborn than his grandfather. I’m afraid he has never suffered any hardship before.

"Grandpa, I told you to pick out the gravel before eating, why didn't you listen? You'll break your teeth, and you won't be able to eat. You'll starve to death."

"...!!"

Emperor Ming lowered his head, feeling that he was nothing but a waste. The powerlessness of being unable to do anything made him extremely frustrated. It turned out that what Li'er said was right.

He was just lucky because his brothers killed each other in the fight for the throne, which allowed him to become the emperor. If he had not been lucky and was born among the common people, he would probably not have survived.

"Little Wood, do you think I'm useless?"

Little Wood moved his hands and shook his head when he heard it: "No, you look like you had a good family background and you have never been hungry, so you can't accept it. After a while, you will only have one idea in your mind."

"What idea?"

"Being well-fed is happiness, you will know it later."

Emperor Ming was silent. He didn't want to know this. He couldn't live like this. If he wasn't worried about the affairs of the palace, he might as well die to avoid this torture.

The two returned to the dilapidated temple and found a clean corner.

Little Wood brought some hay and spread it on the ground in the corner, whispering, "We need to find more hay before dark. We can't sleep directly on the ground at night. It will be too cold and we will get sick."

"For people like us who are worthless, if we get sick, we have only one option, which is to endure it. If we can't endure it, we will die. It's just like my grandfather, who died because he got sick and had no money to treat it."

Emperor Ming looked at his small figure, whose movements were more agile than those of an adult. He felt extremely ashamed. What had he been doing all these years? Why didn't he go down to the countryside to see how the common people were living?

It turns out that not everyone can have enough to eat. What is he doing? Oh, making pills, those useless pills.

He sighed deeply, got up, and slowly walked outside. He didn't know how long he would have to stay here, so it was always good to make more preparations. He would go find the people from the General's Mansion tomorrow and return to the palace as soon as possible.

An old man and a child spread a thick layer of hay on the ground, looked at each other and laughed: "Grandpa, we can sleep a little warmer at night, I'm so happy."

"…It's just a small thing, and you're happy."

Little Wood sat on the hay with a happy face: "Of course, I have food to eat and comfortable hay to sleep on. I am lucky to be alive. Why not live happily? Isn't this what life is like?"

"When my grandfather was alive, he often said, 'A day is happy or unhappy. Life is hard enough, so why not make yourself happier and make life easier to endure.'"

Emperor Ming was sitting on the hay with his back against a pillar. He felt depressed and uncomfortable when he heard these words, and his eyes were sore.

The night gradually darkened and the dilapidated temple became colder and colder.

Little Mu unconsciously leaned towards the person next to him, curled up in his arms and hugged him tightly. Emperor Ming looked down at him with a complicated look, as none of his princes had received such treatment.

This little guy is really brave. Well, never mind. Today, it is thanks to him that I got the steamed buns. Otherwise, it would be very hard to endure going hungry.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep before I knew it.

The next day at dawn

Little Wood got up, shook the arm of the person next to him, and shouted: "Grandpa, please get up quickly, we have to go beg for food, otherwise we will be hungry today."

Emperor Ming was a little impatient in his sleep: "How dare you! Get out of the way and stop shouting..."

Seeing other people getting up and preparing to leave, Xiao Mu became extremely anxious. If he was the only one left, each person would only be given a bowl of porridge and two steamed buns, which was not enough for two people.

That's calculated per person. Is the old man confused because of his sleep?

Little Mu didn't care about anything else. He reached out his hand and poked the wound on his face. He then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him turn over and stand up howling.

"Grandpa, you're awake. Let's go quickly. If we go too late, we won't be able to get it. Do you want to go hungry today?"

Emperor Ming sat up, glanced at his memory as it came back, nodded numbly, propped himself up, and the two of them walked towards the place where the porridge was distributed, with Xiao Mu giving instructions along the way.

"Grandpa, don't provoke the other people in the ruined temple or you'll get beaten. After receiving the porridge, eat the steamed buns quickly or hide them in your clothes so that no one can find them."

"otherwise……"

Emperor Ming was puzzled: "What would happen otherwise?"

He is now very clear that if he wants to live a better life, he must listen to this little kid, at least before he returns to the palace, he must listen to him more.