Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

Liu Rusi woke up while being shaken. In front of her was little Qin Hao and a little maid. They were still on the hillside, and they were trying to help her onto the back of a cow.

"Where are you going?" Liu Rusi found her voice was hoarse just after she said that, but she turned her head first. Normally, it would not be the little maid and Qin Hao who came to help her. She saw Caiyun curled up on the ground beside her, looking very uneasy and sweaty on her face.

"My foster father asked us to follow a group of people to a nearby farm. Sister Caiyun seems to be sick. Will you feel uncomfortable, mother?" Little Qin Hao looked at Liu Rusi worriedly.

Liu Rusi touched her forehead first. Fortunately, although her throat was hoarse, she didn't have a fever. Then she touched Caiyun's forehead again. She frowned immediately. This was a high fever.

"Mom is fine, Sister Caiyun needs to reduce her fever immediately." Liu Rusi staggered to stand up. She was not uncomfortable, just a little weak...

At this time, a skinny hand handed over a skewer of grilled fish. The old Taoist priest still smiled and said, "Take it first. Eat it on the way. You haven't eaten for a day."

Liu Rusi did not take the grilled fish first, but signaled the maid to come over and help her put Caiyun on the cow's back. Qingyang understood what the woman meant and lay on the ground waiting for the person to get on before he stood up steadily.

After settling Caiyun down, Liu Rusi walked towards the horse led by the guards and tried to mount it, but she couldn't get on the horse after several attempts at the stirrups... She had already mastered the technique of mounting a horse, but now she simply didn't have the strength...

Subconsciously, she turned her head and looked behind her. The little maid and little Qin Hao looked like they wanted to help but didn't know how.

"The young man from the Chu family has taken the organized people to the granary. They are not on the same road as the villa. They will have a meal there, and when it gets light they will go to block the dam." The old Taoist explained to Liu Rusi with a smile.

Liu Rusi was speechless for a moment with a complicated expression. Although she wanted to know where Chu Shiyu had gone, this old Taoist answered without asking, which seemed...

The guards at the side were all staring at the old Taoist priest. Was this old man taking advantage of his seniority to actually call the prince "the boy from the Chu family"?

One of the guards stepped forward and said respectfully to Liu Rusi, "Please help Madam Liu get on the horse."

Liu Rusi nodded, and then saw the guard kneeling beside the horse, supporting himself with his hands on the ground and lowering his head, motioning for her to step on his back.

She couldn't help but be stunned. Daxia had strict etiquette and strict separation between men and women, but it shouldn't be like this...

"It's not easy for me to exert too much strength this way... I'll step on the stirrup with one foot first, and you hold up my other foot to help me get up." Liu Rusi suggested. Stepping on someone to get up like this was an insult to their dignity, and she really couldn't do it.

The guard paused, as if thinking about something, and then he probably felt that holding up the sole of his shoe was not offensive, so he changed to a squatting position and prepared.

Liu Rusi sighed inwardly, stepped on the stirrup again, and tried to raise her other foot. At this time, strong hands supported the soles of her feet and lifted them up. Liu Rusi finally got on the horse smoothly with the force, but she fell directly on the horse's back, panting.

The old Taoist priest handed over the grilled fish again, and Liu Rusi took it. She was too weak, but Caiyun might not have time to wait for her to finish eating before leaving. If they set off earlier, they could reach the villa earlier, and then they would have the conditions to cool Caiyun down...

While eating in small bites, she watched the other guards carry little Qin Hao onto the horse. The old Taoist also sat on the horse's back. Judging from his movements, it seemed that he could ride a horse as well.

The team that went to the villa all had mounts. The clerk sat behind a guard and led the way. The group held torches in the night. Thirty horses and a cow walked into the mountains and soon found the proper mountain road.

Although Caiyun was not tied to Qingyang's back, the ox's back was wide and she was still safe when lying on it without anyone to support her. Liu Rusi gradually put her mind at ease, and she forced herself to finish eating the fish, then lay on the horse's back and fell asleep again.

When she woke up again, she was awakened by the sound of quarreling. When she sat up, she saw high walls and solemn gates. She must have arrived at the villa.

However, at this moment, a row of people dressed as servants blocked the door, and several guards were arguing with a man dressed as a steward in front, and it seemed that a fight would break out if they were not careful.

"But have we arrived at Lord Zhang's villa?" Liu Rusi asked, her voice still a little hoarse, but much better than before.

The guard who was holding her horse replied: "Yes, but the housekeeper here said that they don't receive outsiders..."

Liu Rusi nodded, thought for a moment, then carefully got off the horse, walked towards the steward, and said with a smile on her face: "May I ask this gentleman's name?"

"My lord, I cannot afford it. Please don't mention your surname, Zhang." The housekeeper said modestly, but his expression was proud. Servants who had the same surname as the master of the house were usually given the surname, which proved that they were servants who were valued.

"Given your age, are you the brother of Lord Zhang Shiliang?" Liu Rusi asked sincerely, as if she could not tell that the man in front of her was dressed as a steward.

"What nonsense are you talking about! I am the chief steward of Master Zhang's mansion! I have been serving the master since I was a child!" The steward frowned and glared.

Liu Rusi suddenly realized something and said, "So that's how it is. If that's the case, then you should obey Master Zhang's orders, right?"

"Of course!" The butler asked with an expression as if he knew the answer but still wanted to know the answer.

"That's good. Not long ago, His Royal Highness Prince Duan discussed matters with Lord Zhang. Lord Zhang was worried that Xingzhou City was not safe, so he suggested that everyone move to this villa. But before we set off, the river burst its banks again, and Lord Zhang disappeared in the water..." Liu Rusi frowned with a sad look on her face.

The housekeeper obviously hadn't received the news yet, and immediately widened his eyes and asked anxiously: "What's going on? The master is missing?!"

Liu Rusi nodded sadly and said, "At this moment, His Royal Highness Prince Duan and his men are still waiting... We are with Prince Duan. Since the old, young and weak women are in the way in the disaster area, they sent us to the manor that Lord Zhang had agreed to earlier to wait for news. If Lord Zhang is found, we will be sent here."

"I have to go in and report to the old lady first!" The housekeeper's face was full of worry. It didn't matter whether these people came in or not. What mattered was what happened to the master.

Liu Rusi quickly grabbed the steward and said, "Can you let me and a few other women and children go in first? Give them some clean clothes and water. My sister has a fever and I'm afraid she won't be able to hold on any longer."

The steward took a quick look and saw that there was a child and three girls, one of whom was unconscious, so it would not cause any serious problems if they were put in. He waved his hand casually and said, "Then you go in, and the others wait outside."

Liu Rusi quickly asked the maid to help her support Caiyun. Some guards were worried and wanted to follow, but were stopped by her eyes. A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. It would be difficult for more than thirty guards to force their way in, and there was no need to do so.

As soon as Butler Zhang entered the manor, he hurried to report. However, the head butler naturally had other minor stewards under him. He led Liu Rusi and others into a guest house.

Caiyun was helped into the inner room of the guest room and laid down. The maidservant beside Liu Rusi was originally from Lord Zhang's family. She talked to the steward and asked for some clean clothes, hot water, and food and drinks.

Let Xiao Qinhao stay in the outer room and tell him to take a shower, change clothes and take care of himself.

Liu Rusi asked the maid to help take off Caiyun's wet and dirty clothes. Caiyun was still running a high fever and needed to be cooled down urgently.

In the absence of medicine, Liu Rusi could only choose the most feasible method at the moment. She twisted out the hot water and began to wash Caiyun's body. After washing her whole body clean, she focused on wiping the armpits, groin and other areas where sweat glands are more developed.

Under the current conditions, this is a relatively effective cooling measure... After wiping until the water temperature was slightly cooler, Liu Rusi reached out and touched Caiyun's forehead. Although it was still hot, it was lower than before and was considered a low-grade fever...

After changing Caiyun into clean clothes, Liu Rusi asked the maid to find some salt. She dissolved the salt in clean water and asked the maid to help her make a cloth to apply a cold compress to Caiyun's forehead.

Liu Rusi helped Caiyun sit up and tried to wake her up. Caiyun was still in a daze and couldn't wake up, but she judged that she still had basic conditioned reflexes.

She brought the bowl to Caiyun's mouth and fed her some light salt water. Caiyun swallowed subconsciously. After she finished swallowing, Liu Rusi fed her some more...

This cycle was repeated for nearly a quarter of an hour before Caiyun was fed half a bowl of light salt water.

At this time, the maid changed Caiyun's cold compress cloth many times. Liu Rusi touched Caiyun's neck and found that the temperature seemed to be normal. She finally breathed a sigh of relief...

"Thank you." Liu Rusi smiled tiredly but sincerely at the maid.

The little maid was a little introverted. She just shook her head and didn't dare to look her in the eye.

Liu Rusi sighed a little. This was a little girl who looked younger than Caiyun. The other one who disappeared in the flood was also...

Although she was tired, Liu Rusi forced herself to be strong and persuaded the maid to wash with her in just a few words and change into clean clothes.

Feeling dry and comfortable, Liu Rusi felt as if all the bad luck had gone away.

Have you finished all the work that needs to be done?

Liu Rusi called out to little Qin Hao outside: "Haohao, you can come in now!"

Little Qin Hao came running in. He had dressed himself long ago, but the clothes he had found were obviously a bit big, with his trouser legs and sleeves hanging down.

He raised his hand, and when his sleeves fell down, he was seen holding a piece of cake in his little hand. He asked, "Mom, can I eat this?"

"Hungry?" Liu Rusi leaned over and sniffed, then shook her head and said, "No, it smells like peanuts... Is there anything else?"

Little Qinhao shook his head in disappointment and said, "No more..."

"Just bear with it for a moment, I'll go ask." Liu Rusi stood up from the bed again.

Seeing the haggard look on his mother's face, little Qin Hao hugged her and refused to let her go, and hurriedly advised: "Hao Hao is not hungry, mother eats the cakes and goes to sleep for a while."

After five days of exhausting journey on horseback, Liu Rusi encountered a flood just after arriving in Xingzhou. Since she had struggled out of the flood, she has only slept intermittently for more than an hour...

"It's okay, Mom will ask for some food for the temple master and the others."

She really wanted to lie down on the bed and be done with it, but now not only was Qin Hao hungry, she also remembered that there were dozens of people outside. Although the guards were strong, they were not made of iron. After being in the flood for so long and without food to replenish their strength, they could easily fall ill.

Because it was not just his own business, Xiao Qinhao didn't know how to persuade her anymore, so he pulled her hand and wanted to go together.

"You stay in the room and look after Sister Caiyun and this little sister. Mother will be back soon."

Liu Rusi pulled little Qin Hao to sit on the small couch in the room. Although her son was strong, he was only five years old after all. He had been very busy today and needed to rest early.

The little maid had already fallen asleep in the corner. Liu Rusi splashed cold water on her face, pulled herself together and walked out.

It was late at night, and two servants were left at the door of the guest house, apparently to prevent them from running around. After walking over, Liu Rusi called softly, "Two warriors, thank you for your hard work on the night watch."

Liu Rusi took out two silver coins worth one tael that she had prepared in advance and stuffed one into each of the servants' pockets. The servants' originally unfriendly look then became gentle.

Then she said, "We didn't bring any food here. Can you two find the steward and ask if he can prepare some food for the thirty or so people at the door? If we can feed them..."

Liu Rusi shook a whole ingot of ten taels of silver in her hand, and the two servants' eyes lit up immediately. As servants, their monthly salary was only two cents! Anyway, it was just some food, not a big deal!

"Okay, I'll go ask right away!" One of the servants nodded repeatedly and was about to leave!

"Remember to prepare food for the four of us!" Liu Rusi reminded hurriedly, suppressing the pain in her heart. She was also born in an ordinary peasant family, and twelve taels of silver was her worth at the time...

However, the efficiency of spending money was very high. After a little more than a minute, four bowls of hot noodles with eggs were brought back.

The servant put the tray in the courtyard and said eagerly, "The brothers outside the door also sent noodles, the same as yours!"

The servant didn't even go to find the steward. Instead, he negotiated directly with someone familiar with the kitchen, gave the kitchen staff a little benefit, bought noodles and eggs from the kitchen at the purchase price and made noodles, and gave the doorman some benefits as well, and arranged for the noodles to be delivered. The total cost was less than one or two taels... If he had found the steward, he wouldn't know how the ten taels would be divided.

Seeing that he didn't look like he was lying, Liu Rusi pretended to be generous and handed him the ten taels of silver ingot and said, "Thank you very much. If I have any other trivial matters in the future, I hope I can still ask for your help."

"You're welcome! Just come and look for it!" The servant took the silver ingot and couldn't help but put it in his mouth and took a bite. The texture of the teeth marks made him even more excited, but when he met the eyes of another servant at the door, he felt unhappy again...

But the servant's psychological activities were no longer Liu Rusi's business. She brought the noodles into the room and saw that Xiao Qinhao had also fallen asleep. However, it was better to eat the noodles while they were hot, so she woke up Xiao Qinhao and the maid to eat.

After hesitating for a moment, Liu Rusi went to call Caiyun again. The human body's own immunity is the greatest force to fight disease, and the body needs sufficient food to provide energy.

Caiyun's fever had completely subsided. She struggled and finally woke up, but she was too weak to speak. Liu Rusi brought the noodles to her and fed her one spoonful at a time.

The little maid quickly finished her bowl of noodles and stepped forward timidly and said, "Madam, go and eat... I will feed the young lady."

Liu Rusi did not refuse, she handed the bowl to the maid and went to the table to enjoy the still hot noodles. She was not the kind of person who liked to take on the burden, but some responsibilities had already fallen on her, and she would feel uneasy if she did not take them up.

Caiyun ate half a bowl of noodles, and Liu Rusi and Xiao Qinhao were also full.

With basic food and clothing solved, Liu Rusi had no energy to think about anything else. She hugged her son and lay down on the small couch, ready to have a good sleep.

However, just as she closed her eyes, she heard a voice calling from the door: "Madam inside, the old lady has something to ask in detail, please come with me quickly!"