The cruel little princess

The brother and sister reunited, filled with emotion. Over there, upon hearing that his son had woken up, Shen Duanfang sent someone over to say, "Since he's alive, he should take good care of himself!" These simple words expressed an old father's deep concern for his son. Upon hearing from someone that his precious daughter was also here to visit her brother, he sent another messenger to say, "If there's nothing else, let your sister go back and rest. Don't tire yourself out."

After hearing the message, Shen Zijin said: ...It turns out I am not worthy...

Shen Youyou didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but seeing Shen Zijin trying so hard to stay awake and chat with her, she didn't know what to say. She just told Shen Zijin to have a good rest and then left as her father ordered.

Shen Youyou walked back to the tent, lost in memories. She recalled the time when the original owner played with her brother as a child, and those beautiful memories flooded her mind. Now that her brother was injured, she felt extremely distressed. At the same time, she realized that she knew too little about her father and brother. Perhaps, she should pay more attention to her father and brother.

When His Royal Highness Prince Jin saw Shen Youyou leave, he didn't want to keep her any longer, so he told Doctor Xu to pay close attention to Shen Zijin's injuries and then left with the secret guards.

Shen Zijin finally had some free time to chat with the guards in his tent before bringing up Erni's family in Willow Village. "Go get my father's one hundred taels of silver for my military pay. If it's not enough, have him add it and send it to Erni's family in Willow Village. Say it's a token of gratitude. They took care of me when I was in the mountains, and they were able to find me this time thanks to their tip-off!"

Guard: ...Major General, do you want to hear what you're saying? ... "Major General, you came back this time because the young lady brought people to find you, not because that Erni's father came to report the news! It was the young lady who found you!" His admiration for Shen Youyou was beyond words.

"Isn't it Erni's father who came to pass on the message for me?" Shen Zijin asked.

"The day after the young lady brought you back, two men from Willow Village, a father and a daughter, did come and tell me they had news of you," the guard replied. "But because you had already returned to the barracks, the general gave them ten taels of silver and let them go."

Shen Zijin understood that Erni and her father should have followed his instructions and come to report the news the next day, but he was found by his sister on the same day. Or is it because brothers and sisters are connected by heart? He thought happily, why can't others find him, but his sister can find him when she comes? ! Or it means that his sister is his lucky star! And the two of them are connected by heart! His sister is amazing! "But I promised Erni's father at that time that if he helps me to report the news, I will repay him with a hundred taels of silver after I am rescued! You'd better go and tell my father, besides, the food I eat in the cave is all arranged by him and his daughter."

"As you command!" The guard took the order and left.

Shen Zijin understood what was weighing on his mind, and feeling that he had repaid the favor, he relaxed and gradually fell into a deep sleep.

Here, Shen Youyou also returned to her tent to continue with the work at hand. But before that, she decided to do the eighth item in her plan - willow charcoal brush. It is really too inconvenient to write with a brush now. It writes slowly, and you have to grind the ink from time to time, which is too troublesome. She thought about it and did it. She walked outside the tent and called An Er, telling her not to waste such a convenient labor force. "Brother An Er..." Shen Youyou just opened her mouth to call for help. After all, asking for help requires a begging attitude.

"Plop!" An Er knelt down before she could say anything else. "Miss Shen, just call me An Er, just like the prince! I can't bear to be called Big Brother!" An Er thought to himself, you are the future princess chosen by our prince, and you call me Big Brother, are you trying to prevent me from seeing the sun tomorrow?

Shen Youyou was startled and quickly said, "An Er, hurry up and get up. I just think it's more intimate to call you that. If you don't like it, then I won't call you that anymore."

An Er stood up, feeling relieved, but still said respectfully, "Thank you for your understanding, Miss. What do you want from me?"

"I want some dried willow branches." She stretched out her hand and gestured, "Just fold them into willow branches of this size." Shen Youyou thought about it, wondering if she could do it successfully in one go, "How about you see if you can fold more?" She was a little unsure.

An Er nodded after hearing this, but he didn't know what this willow branch could be used for. He couldn't help but ask in confusion: "I wonder what Miss Shen wants this willow branch for?" He really couldn't think of what medicine this willow branch could be used for.

Shen Youyou's eyes raced, and she quickly came up with an excuse. She feigned composure and said, "It's nothing serious. I just didn't use a brush to write when I was in the countryside, so I wasn't used to it. I used to use fire sticks to write and draw on the ground, so I wanted to use some willow twigs to make some charcoal. I'm used to using fire sticks, but I don't need to make fire every day here, so I don't have any." After she finished speaking, she also revealed a look of grievance.

An Er felt a pang of sadness after hearing this. He hadn't imagined Shen Youyou's childhood had been so difficult, she couldn't even use a brush, having to use a firewood stick instead. He couldn't help but sigh, "So that's how it is... Miss Shen has suffered so much." He secretly resolved to tell the prince about this, asking him to take good care of Shen Youyou and win her heart as soon as possible.

"Ms. Shen, how do you want to bake this willow branch? Please tell me once and I'll make it and send it to you directly! This will save you the trouble of doing it yourself."

It's said that An Er is a good candidate for being a super secretary. You've just started, but he already knows what to do next. Shen Youyou thought about it and said, "Wait a moment, I'll draw a blueprint for you." She entered the tent, picked up a brush, drew a round tube, and then drew some small circles on it as holes. Done! She handed the paper to An Er and gestured for him to look at it. "This is something similar to an iron bucket. As long as it can withstand high temperatures and burn in the fire, there will be many small holes on it. Peel off the skin of the willow branches and insert them into these small holes. Then put this in the fire and burn it. I'm not sure how long it will take, but try not to burn it for too long, otherwise the willow branches will be burned."

An Er looked at the thing drawn on the paper. It was in the shape of a small iron bucket, but much smaller than a real iron bucket, and there were many small holes on it. He really didn't know how Miss Shen came up with this idea.

"Then use something to take out this iron bucket, and use water to put out the fire. The willow branches inside should become willow charcoal strips for use! If it doesn't work, try a few more times!" Shen Youyou had never actually done it before, so she could only give a rough idea and let An Er experiment a few more times. Hopefully, it would work!

"Don't worry, miss. I will get it done as soon as possible." After saying that, An Er turned and left.

Shen Youyou watched An Er's departing figure, feeling somewhat uneasy. After all, this was her first attempt at making willow charcoal strips, and it would be a shame if she failed. However, she believed that An Er would not let her down, as he seemed like a very reliable person.

Shen Youyou returned to the tent and found her schedule. She looked at the two thin sheets of paper, thinking they were too easy to lose. After a moment's thought, she cut the remaining large sheets of rice paper into sheets similar in size to modern A4 paper and asked Chuntao to borrow her needle and thread.

"Miss, what are you doing with needle and thread? I'm not saying anything, but you're not good at needlework. What if you get your hand pricked?" Chun Tao asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Shen Youyou took out the stack of paper she had cut. "I want to sew these together and staple them together like a book." She pointed at the top of the paper. She was still used to flipping pages up and down like a modern notebook, and didn't like flipping pages left and right. "Staple from the top!"

"That's easy, Miss, just tell me to do it!" Chun Tao took the needle and thread and smiled as she took the stack of paper from her mistress's hand. Her small hands moved nimbly up and down. When the needle couldn't penetrate, she had to use a slightly thicker awl to pierce through the hole first and then pass the needle through the pierced hole. In a short while, she had finished according to the mistress's request, expertly tying knots and cutting the thread ends. "Miss, take a look, is this it?" Chun Tao handed it to her mistress and looked at Shen Youyou with anticipation.

"My dear Chuntao! You're so clever!" Shen Youyou took it and took a look. It was so tightly stitched, she praised Chuntao generously. Then she thought, if she were to teach, wouldn't everyone in the class have to take notes? They couldn't just listen, could they? So, what if they each had a notebook like this? That would make it easier for them to use. Acting on her thought, Shen Youyou left the tent to find Liu Bin and get more paper.

"Chun Tao, I'll cut the paper into this size later, and then you sew it the same way, but this time it won't be sewn at the top, but on the left like a book. We'll make more this time for later use."

"This is easy, Miss, you can make as many as you want! Chuntao will just follow your instructions!" Chuntao patted her chest and assured her mistress.