Those who had thrown their coarse - grain cakes on the ground because the He family father and son had claimed that Zhang was poisoned glared angrily at them and then silently picked up the cakes, carefully blowing off the dirt. At the moment, these cakes were precious.

Zhang's rescue, which should have been a good thing, instead made Qiao Yanxin hate Shang Ruoyi.

She had been eagerly hoping day and night for her mother - in - law to die.

She had thought that the mushrooms would take Zhang's life, but she had only been ill for a few days.

This time, with such a good opportunity, when Zhang was on the verge of suffocating to death, Shang Ruoyi had saved her again.

She looked at Shang Ruoyi with hatred. Meddling busybody!

Shang Ruoyi, who was warming herself by the fire, felt a gaze filled with hatred. By the time she looked over, the gaze had disappeared.

She couldn't help but furrow her brows.

In both her past and present lives, she was extremely sensitive to any gaze directed at her. Along this journey, aside from the second - branch of the He family, she hadn't provoked anyone else. So, who else could want her life?

The torrential rain had been pouring for a whole day and night and still showed no sign of stopping.

However, all their provisions had been consumed.

"Chief, what should we do? There's not a single bite of dry food left," said one of the guards. They weren't afraid of going hungry themselves, but they were worried that the prisoners might rebel.

After all, if they were trapped on the mountain, the outcome would be starvation. But if they rebelled, there might be a glimmer of hope.

"This rain shows no sign of stopping. Someone has to go find food," Zhang Hu looked at Shang Ruoyi. She was the quickest at finding food among them. Under normal circumstances, it might be fine, but in such a violent storm, sending her out to look for food while the rest of them, a group of grown men, waited in the Taoist temple, seemed rather heartless. Moreover, although the Dingguo Prince's Mansion had been investigated and punished, the Prime Minister's Mansion was still as prosperous as ever.

After thinking for a while, he said in a low voice, "Give me the raincoat."

After He Jinghe was poisoned, Zhang Hu had stopped asking him to search for food. After all, he couldn't even tell the difference between poisonous and non - poisonous items, and no one dared to eat the food he found.

He called He Jingxi, who stood up with a bitter expression. He didn't know anything about edible plants. Every time, Shang Ruoyi had shared with him what she found so that he wouldn't be scolded by the guards. In fact, he couldn't even tell the difference between wild vegetables and common grass.

Shang Ruoyi looked at He Jingxi's expression as if he were going to his doom and suddenly began to worry about whether the food they found in the evening would be poisonous.

Sure enough, an hour later, Zhang Hu and He Jingxi returned with a pile of things. It was all either weeds or poisonous plants, with nothing edible.

When Shang Ruoyi informed them of the result, the expressions on their faces were quite something.

There was no doubt that they were going to go hungry that night.

Some prisoners took out the leftover coarse - grain cakes from the previous day. Due to the humid weather, the cakes had already started to rot. They carefully picked off the mold spots and took small bites.

Qiao and the others also took out the coarse - grain cakes wrapped in handkerchiefs. Seeing that there were so many mold spots, they were impossible to swallow.

And the guards didn't even have a single bite of coarse - grain cake.

Seeing this, Shang Ruoyi had to pretend that she needed to use the toilet.

She braved the rain and ran to the foot of the mountain not far away, picking the ripe corn from the space.

As she picked, she said, "I wonder if not letting others go hungry can increase my merit."

When everyone saw her return to the temple, holding a pile of corn, they were almost stunned.

"Where did you find this corn?" Zhang Hu stepped forward, saying in disbelief. "I didn't see any corn on the way."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Shang Ruoyi said indifferently, "I saw it on the way back, in that forest." She casually pointed to the dense forest outside the Taoist temple. Zhang Hu nodded in understanding. So that was it. Only that forest was the place he and He Jingxi hadn't been to. He never expected there to be corn inside.

He Jingheng furrowed his brows at this. When they first came to take shelter from the rain, he had already surveyed the terrain outside. There was no corn at all. It seemed she had quite a few secrets.

After Shang Ruoyi roasted the corn, she gave some to the guards. The remaining amount was just enough for everyone to have one, including Aunt Li and Fuzi.

The aroma of roasted corn wafted into everyone's nostrils. They looked at the golden - yellow corn, swallowing their saliva continuously.

Fragrant! It was so fragrant!

As soon as the corn entered their mouths, a sweet taste filled their mouths. "Ruoyi, this corn is so delicious! Can you find that place again? We can pick some more next time," Lin said in surprise. "It's really better than any corn I've ever eaten."

Before Lin joined the He family, her father had brought back corn from the military camp a few times, so she had eaten it. In the Tian Shun Dynasty, this kind of coarse grain was only eaten by ordinary people.

"There's no more corn in the place I picked. I've already picked all of it," Shang Ruoyi shook her head. "As for the difference in taste you mentioned, Aunt, it's probably because it grew in the mountains. Maybe it absorbed some of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so it tastes more delicious."

As for the rest of the He family, except for He Jingheng, they didn't even know what corn looked like. When Shang Ruoyi handed them the corn, they didn't know where to start eating it at first, let alone compare the taste.

Only by watching Lin eat did they realize that this kind of food could be eaten by simply biting into it.

They had originally thought it was just a temporary way to fill their stomachs and that Lin's words were an exaggeration. But when they took the first bite, they suddenly discovered that this food called corn was incredibly delicious.

One by one, they threw aside their dignified appearances and gobbled it up.

The guards were also extremely surprised. They never expected that this corn would be so different from what they usually ate.

Zhang Hu smiled and said, "Come to think of it, you're really lucky. You can always find food every time."

Shang Ruoyi smiled in response and said nothing.

Zhang watched them eating so happily and was filled with jealousy.

She looked at Qiao Yanxin next to her and tapped her forehead in frustration. "Useless thing. Not only do you have a poor family background, but you can't even cook or recognize food. Jinghe would have been better off marrying a peasant girl. You're such a waste."

Qiao Yanxin lowered her head, looking at Shang Ruoyi with intense hatred in her eyes.

Why, why did you marry He Jingheng?

If it weren't for you, Zhang wouldn't have treated me so poorly.

Feeling that venomous gaze again, Shang Ruoyi furrowed her brows once more.

Who on earth was it?

The next day, the long - awaited sun finally appeared. The guards quickly urged the prisoners to continue on their journey.

After two consecutive days of rain, the mountain road was extremely muddy. It usually took only an hour to reach the post station, but they had walked all morning and still hadn't arrived.

"Chief, what should we do? We've already been delayed for two days. If this continues, we'll definitely be scolded when we reach the post station," said one of the guards.

"Don't say that the prisoners, who have been starving, can't walk fast. Even we can't move quickly. The mountain road is difficult. Can we fly there?" Zhang Hu said coldly. "If they don't believe it, let them come and walk this way themselves."

After walking for another half - day, they finally managed to reach the post station.

Just as Shang Ruoyi and the others entered the post station, a familiar voice rang out. "This Young Master has been waiting here for a long time."