She picked up the young prime minister while fleeing famine

"I'm planning to fry some meat patties to change things up," Lian Chengmo said.

"Okay, then you fry the meat patties, and I'll make you a stewed tilapia soup to nourish you." Banxia took a big gulp of water and replied.

She didn't forget to give the little stick-up a good boost, as he must have been very tired from traveling around these past few days.

After lunch, Lian Chengmo went to discuss with Yao Lizheng when to travel. During the few days he was away, the cart was almost finished and would be ready by tomorrow at the latest.

Banxia also checked on the wounded soldiers; they were no longer hindered from moving. They could be pushed or carried around when the time came. They couldn't stay in this place for too long.

Lian Chengmo hadn't forgotten that this was the border between Vietnam Prefecture and Ha Dong Prefecture. The two sides seemed to be at peace now, but spies were constantly traveling back and forth, and they might start fighting one day.

It's better to leave sooner rather than later.

After some discussion, both sides agreed to depart in two days.

Thus, Lian Chengmo taught the children to read and write while drawing maps on paper based on his memories from his previous life.

He wanted to find a road that would minimize encounters with disaster victims and the army, and ideally, one that would also be passable by oxcarts.

When the topic of oxcarts came up, Banxia became quite interested, especially since she was about to set off. She felt that she had to learn how to drive an oxcart.

Since there was so much food stored up, Banxia simply gave up digging for wild vegetables and hunting, and went directly to Yao Dahe to learn from his experience.

“You’re too young. If you can’t control the oxcart, something bad will happen.” Yao Dahe frowned and refused.

Then Banxia performed a miracle for him.

"..." Yao Daniu had forgotten that this little girl was very strong.

In short, Banxia successfully learned to drive an oxcart from Yao Dahe. The skill wasn't difficult; all you had to do was for the oxen to obediently follow your directions.

Banxia learned how to drive an oxcart in just half a day, and so she drove the oxcart with Doctor Li along the river to a more distant place.

In just one day, we dug up quite a lot of ginger!

However, although ginger is a good thing, Doctor Li could not keep only this one kind of medicinal material. On the last day, he politely declined Banxia and took his son to the mountain to collect other medicinal materials.

For a while, Banxia was idle and didn't know what to do. When she saw Xiao Guban whittling bamboo arrows again, she realized that he had made another hidden arrow in the past two days.

Banxia immediately realized that she had returned the previous one to him, so was he afraid of any accidents and wanted to make sure that both of them had one?

"Lian Chengmo, let me help you whittle bamboo arrows. Make another one when you have time. Ayu and Changshan really want one too," Banxia said, running over and squatting down with bright eyes.

The hidden blade is too delicate; the mortise and tenon joints are so intricate that they can't be connected even with slight imperfections. This kind of work isn't suitable for her.

But bamboo arrows are easy to sharpen, and Banxia felt she could handle the job.

“Then you can carve it according to this mold, and I’ll make a few more crossbows.” Lian Chengmo smiled slightly and handed the bamboo strips he had carved into the shape of bamboo arrows to Banxia.

With only one day left, he wasn't sure if he could make two, since those things were time-consuming.

"Okay, I'll definitely make lots of bamboo arrows." Banxia happily took the tools and started working.

Then Lian Chengmo watched as the little girl shaved bamboo strips as easily as shaving tofu. In no time, a bamboo arrow was shaped, and she even had the energy to carefully polish it to make it the best it could be.

"..." Lian Chengmo glanced at the bamboo arrow he had spent a quarter of an hour carving until it was barely passable, and fell silent.

Lian Chengmo then prepared many bamboo strips with pre-carved shapes for the little girl before picking up other tools to make another crossbow.

Sure enough, a day later, Lian Chengmo only managed to make one crossbow, and the three boys all looked at it longingly, wanting it all.

Banxia originally thought that since this thing was made by Liancheng Mo, it should naturally be given to Liancheng Yu. However, Liancheng Mo made the decision directly: each person should wear it for one day, and they were only given three bamboo arrows and were not allowed to use it at will.

What can such a small child hit? It's just a target set up for them to practice on during breaks.

This was simple. Banxia simply wove a straw target out of dry grass and put it on the freshly made oxcart the next morning before setting off.

Originally, the people of Yao Li Village walked, but now there is an extra cow in the village. Although it was rented by the young master, Lian Chengmo had promised long ago that the wounded could also ride on it.

As a result, Li Dalang and the other two men with the most severe leg injuries got on the oxcart and sat down. To reduce the impact of the bumpy ride on their wounds, thick blankets were placed under them.

Of course, the thick layer was for the people of Yao Li Village. Ban Xia felt that the thin layer was not enough to support them, so she simply laid down the sack of coarse grains and let them sit against it.

They also put a layer of dry grass under the bedding to reduce the bumps.

Other injured children, who were being pushed on carts by their families, followed suit, which indeed reduced the bumps considerably, and they all praised Banxia for her cleverness.

Hearing the praise, Banxia scratched her head, a little embarrassed, while Lian Chengmo smiled and thought, "This little girl is really kind."

When the little ones heard their older sister being praised, they raised their chins high, as if they themselves had been praised.

Similar to the previous formation, although they were riding in an oxcart, Lian Chengmo and Banxia were still walking in the middle of the group.

To avoid being bumped by cows or oxcarts, everyone kept a certain distance, creating a vacuum zone.

The luggage alone took up almost half the space of the oxcart, and with six children and three adults, the weight was not light.

Banxia held the ox's rope in one hand and a whip in the other, but didn't hit the ox's rump. She let the big yellow ox walk slowly, making sure it didn't overtake the main group.

As before, apart from a 15-minute break at noon, the whole day was spent on the road. During this time, Banxia let the other children who couldn't walk ride in the car for a while.

Lian Chengmo saw it but didn't say anything, he just kept looking at the blueprints in his hand.

Fortunately, the people of Yaoli Village are very sensible. At most, three children under the age of eight will come up on the oxcart each time, and they will rest for a maximum of fifteen minutes before getting off the oxcart to let others rest.

None of the adults asked for help; some even held their own children and refused to trouble the young master unless they were absolutely unable to cope.

It was already quite an achievement for them to help take care of the wounded in the village.

It was also Yao Lizheng who made public what Lian Chengmo had done for Yao Li Village, repeatedly emphasizing that without the young master's planning, Yao Li Village would not have been able to get even a cow, let alone the grain from the bandit stronghold.

Not to mention that Banxia taught them how to weave fishing nets to catch fish, which everyone saw and didn't need to be mentioned.

Nowadays, the villagers of Yaoli Village are very grateful to Banxia and Lianchengmo, and no one is envious that they have an oxcart to ride in.

Moreover, they paid the village head a sum of money—fifty taels of silver notes. Once the money was exchanged for cash in the village, each household would receive one tael of silver.