The princess only wants to survive, and the cold-faced king of hell begs for mercy

Although there was still a hint of weakness in his voice, the strength in his hands was not weak at all.

Zhao Qiyan held the axe with his uninjured left hand, aimed it at the firewood, and chopped it down suddenly. The firewood broke into two pieces.

Yun Shang hurriedly picked up the firewood on the ground and stood it up, gesturing with her hands, "Try it again horizontally like this, so that it can be chopped into smaller pieces so that it is easier to burn."

Zhao Qiyan raised his axe and chopped the firewood that Yun Shang needed in just a few strokes.

Yun Shang put the firewood into the stove and hurriedly brought over the small stool in the yard. "Your Highness, please stop standing. You just woke up after sleeping for so long. You'll feel dizzy if you stand for too long. If you don't want to lie down, sit for a while."

Zhao Qiyan did not refuse. He was indeed a little dizzy, so he sat down obediently.

With his height and long legs, he felt very uncomfortable sitting on the small bench. Yun Shang looked at him, such a big man huddled on a small bench, and thought he was so cute that she couldn't help but smile.

Zhao Qiyan stretched out his legs helplessly and put them under the stairs, only then did he feel a little more comfortable.

"Since you are hiding your identity and recuperating here, you can continue to call me husband. You don't need to call me prince in private."

Yun Shang nodded, then went to the rice jar to get a bowl of rice and poured it into the pot.

There were a few clusters of green vegetables in the yard. Yunchang picked a few, washed them skillfully, picked them, then chopped them into small leaves and put them into the pot, adding a little salt to the pot.

The salt was light yellow coarse salt with large grains. Yun Shang put a little in the pot, then dipped a little on her hand and licked it with the tip of her tongue.

The salt tasted a bit bitter and had a fishy smell, and Yun Shang's whole face wrinkled.

Zhao Qiyan looked at her with understanding. "The palace has refined snowflake salt, made by a time traveler. The production is very small and only supplied to the rich and powerful. Ordinary people still mainly use coarse salt."

Now that Yun Shang knew her true identity, she dared to ask, "Then why not promote this new salt-making method? That way everyone can eat refined salt. Isn't that a good thing?"

"The salt and iron business is the lifeblood of the imperial court and the main source of revenue for the treasury. To promote the method of producing refined salt, the imperial court's support is indispensable. However, the imperial court does not have the money to manufacture new equipment, so we must first supply it on a small scale and make some money before promoting it."

"Furthermore, the time traveler who can make salt is now under the command of King Cheng. Now, three-tenths of the silver earned from Snowflake Salt goes into the national treasury, and three-tenths goes into King Cheng's palace."

"Since it's related to King Cheng's interests, how could he possibly do a losing business by promoting the method of making snowflake salt and selling it to ordinary people at a low price?"

Yun Shang also understood that this livelihood project naturally did not make money.

"Oh, I see."

"Now that King Cheng not only controls the snowflake salt on the market, but has also taken over the Tongshan Iron Mine, I suspect they might be planning to make steel. Doesn't that mean we have no chance of winning?"

After hearing what Zhao Qiyan said, Yun Shang suddenly felt that King Qi was weak and it might be difficult for him to seize the throne.

Seeing her frown and worried expression, Zhao Qiyan smiled and said, "In the court, there are no permanent winners, and naturally there are no permanent losers either."

"King Cheng seems to be in great glory right now, and he seems to be sure of victory. However, once a person becomes too proud, he will reveal his flaws. He is not someone who can keep his composure. We will just have to wait and see."

Yun Shang nodded, and seeing that he had an idea, she stopped asking questions, turned around to look at the fire, and stirred the pot with a big spoon.

Zhao Qiyan looked at the gradually rising sun and said softly, "Yun Shang, actually, winning or losing is only a matter between King Cheng and me. It has nothing to do with you or anyone else. Even if I lose, you will be fine."

Yun Shang looked at the dancing flames in the stove, her expression stunned. "It seems that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to me who becomes the emperor."

"But I promised that we would be of one mind as husband and wife."

"I can't do anything, but I really want to do something for you."

Zhao Qiyan lowered his eyes and smiled. "That little girl who was scared like a little white rabbit when she saw me at the family reunion banquet, was that you?"

Thinking of the thrilling events of that day, Yun Shang still felt resentful. She pouted and admitted, "Yes, it was me."

"After Lin Zhiwei hanged himself, I was the one who woke up."

Zhao Qiyan stood up with the help of the wall, walked over slowly, and held Yun Shang in his arms. His voice was soft but firm above Yun Shang's head, "Well, I'm glad it's you."

The aroma of rice porridge gradually wafted out, and Zhuzi came with his eyes closed as he smelled it, "Mom, it smells so good, I'm so hungry, I want to eat rice porridge too."

After he finished speaking, he opened his eyes and saw Yun Shang hugging a man. He blinked, covered his eyes and turned around, "Oh, Sister Yun is going to be pregnant with a little brother."

Yun Shang blushed and pushed Zhao Qiyan away. "Zhu Zi, what are you talking about? This big brother was injured and couldn't stand steadily. I just helped him up."

Zhuzi turned around unconvinced and said, "I'm not talking nonsense. I saw my parents hugging each other at night. They said they would give me another brother."

Zhao Qiyan was pushed against the wall. He chuckled and turned to look at the little boy. "Some things are better left unsaid. Do you understand? If you tell them, you won't have a brother anymore."

Zhuzi nodded, "Oh, I remember, big brother."

Zhao Qiyan was dissatisfied, "You call her Sister Yun and me Big Brother?"

"Yeah, what should I call you then?"

"I am your sister Yun's husband. You should call me brother-in-law."

Zhuzi readily agreed, "Okay, Brother-in-law Yun."

"Have you finished your unspeakable task? Can I eat now?"

Yun Shang glared at Zhao Qiyan and said, "Look at you, you're corrupting the little kid."

Zhao Qiyan stuffed the coarse porcelain bowl of porridge into Zhuzi's hand and said, "This is for you. Eat it and don't talk nonsense. Otherwise, you won't get any of the delicious food your sister Yun makes in the future."

Zhuzi ran away holding the bowl, and Yunshang then served Zhao Qiyan's portion to him. "Come on, I'll help you sit down in the house and eat. Eating something will give you the strength to recover."

"The doctor will come again in the afternoon to check on you and change your medicine. You should get better soon."

Zhao Qiyan was very polite when eating. Even when it was a bowl of vegetable porridge, he looked as elegant and noble as if he was eating bird's nest and abalone.

After he finished eating, Yun Shang spoke of her worries, "I don't know what happened to Qing Huan. The guards are all staying at the inn. They should be able to protect my Qing Huan, right?"

"Have the guards learned of our distress? When will they find us?"

Zhao Qiyan put down the bowl, wiped his mouth, and then said calmly, "Don't worry, I'll go out and see when I'm better."