Chapter 19: Searching for Food in the Mountains 

Seeing that she couldn’t gain any advantage here, Madam Zhang turned her attention to Madam Qin. 

Madam Qin was gentle and easy to manipulate—otherwise, Zhao Yiniang wouldn’t have been able to bully her for so many years. 

If not for the Old Princess’s intervention, the authority to manage the Royal Mansion might have fallen into Zhao Yiniang’s hands. 

Madam Zhang approached Madam Qin, tears welling in her eyes, and said softly, “Sister-in-law, I don’t know how I’ve offended Ruoyi, but she clearly dislikes me. It’s bad enough that she won’t share food, but now, walking on this mountain path—what will we do without shoe pads?” 

Madam Qin looked hesitantly at Shang Ruoyi, but seeing that she had no intention of intervening, she withdrew her gaze and turned to Madam Zhang, who was still tearfully complaining. Just as she was about to take out the extra shoe pads Shang Ruoyi had given her, a delicate hand reached over and stopped her. 

“Mother,” He Yunyi whispered into Madam Qin’s ear, “Second Aunt just said the mountain path is rough, and we don’t even know how much farther we have to walk. We barely have enough shoe pads for ourselves!” 

She added, “Have you forgotten how Second Aunt used to bully you? She was always coming to our Royal Mansion to freeload, even eyeing your dowry. It’s not worth offending Sister-in-law over someone like her.” 

Madam Qin looked at her daughter in surprise. When had she started speaking so much? And with such clarity—she saw things more clearly than her own mother did. 

Madam Zhang didn’t hear what He Yunyi had said, but she was sure it wasn’t anything good. 

Madam Qin glanced at her and said firmly, “Yunyi is right. We don’t know how long we’ll be walking, so I really can’t spare these shoe pads. Why don’t you ask Third Sister-in-law instead?” 

Madam Zhang’s temper flared instantly. She pointed at Madam Qin and raised her voice, “How dare you, Madam Qin! I called you ‘sister-in-law’ out of respect, but now that your husband is about to be executed and your son is crippled, you still have the nerve to act high and mighty with me? Mark my words—if you ever come begging to our family in the future, don’t expect any help from us!” 

No sooner had she finished speaking than Madam Zhang let out a sharp cry. 

A small stone had struck the back of her outstretched hand, leaving an immediate bruise. 

“Who? Who hit me?” Madam Zhang clutched her injured hand, wailing in pain. 

He Jingheng raised an eyebrow slightly, glancing at Shang Ruoyi, who looked completely uninvolved. The corner of his lips curled faintly. 

He set down the dry branch in his hand and closed his eyes again to rest. 

Not only had Madam Zhang failed to get the shoe pads, but she had also injured her hand. When she returned to her spot, she glared at her daughter-in-law, Qiao Yanxin, who was silently nibbling on a flatbread beside her. 

“Yanxin,” Madam Zhang snapped, “don’t you know how to cook?” 

Qiao Yanxin shook her head. “No.” 

“Hmph! Look at you—you’re not some noble lady from a prestigious family, just a nobody from a lowly household. How can you not even know how to cook?” Madam Zhang scoffed. “If you could cook, that little wretch Shang Ruoyi wouldn’t have stolen all the credit for helping the officers prepare meals and reaped all the benefits.” 

Qiao Yanxin kept her head down and said nothing. Ever since her marriage, Madam Zhang had constantly belittled her for her background. 

If not for that accidental entanglement with He Jinghe’s belt—which made people think she was secretly meeting him—she would have rather remained unmarried for life than marry that good-for-nothing who spent all his time in brothels.

“Enough, stop talking. Aren’t you ashamed?” He Ning’an said sternly. “If you have any hidden silver, go buy a few pairs of shoes.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Zhang quickly stepped aside and loudly said, “How would I have any silver? The confiscation was so sudden—it’s not like I could have foreseen it!”

He Jinghe looked at Qiao Yanxin: “Do you have any silver?”

Qiao Yanxin shook her head: “No.”

Madam Zhang secretly touched her undergarments—the emergency silver she had hidden was still there, and she felt reassured.

The confiscation had been abrupt, and she had only managed to hide some easily concealable jewelry in her undergarments as survival money.

It was only the second day. If she took it out now, what would be left by the time they reached the exile destination?

Shang Ruoyi observed her actions closely. It seemed her second uncle’s wife wasn’t of one mind with him either.

The break ended, and the journey resumed.

Those who had changed into new insoles found the walk much easier than in the morning—at least their feet no longer hurt.

But Madam Zhang and her group had it worse. After walking just a short distance, their feet began to ache unbearably.

Gradually falling behind, the guards saw how slow they were and immediately raised their whips, lashing them.

“Move faster! If you don’t, I’ll whip you to death!”

At this moment, Madam Zhang deeply regretted her earlier frugality.

The pain in her feet, combined with the lashings, nearly made her faint.

“Boss, it’s already dark, and the mountain path is treacherous. Let’s settle here for the night,” one of the guards suggested.

The leader nodded. “We have no choice.”

“But our supplies are gone,” a younger guard said, holding up a box. “The flatbreads and steamed buns inside are all gone. They were only enough to last until we descended the mountain. Now that we’ve taken a detour, we don’t have enough.”

“At least another day’s journey remains before we can descend. We’ll have to see if there’s any food to forage in these mountains.”

“But the mountain paths are dangerous, and we still have to guard the prisoners. Who will go look for food?”

The leader glanced at the people from the Dingguo Prince Residence and stepped forward. “You there, do you know how to identify edible plants?”

Shang Ruoyi nodded. “I do.”

“Good. Go forage for food in these mountains,” the leader said coldly. “Don’t even think about trying anything. If you dare run, I’ll slaughter every last one of the He family.” He pointed at Shang Ruoyi, He Jinghe, and He Jingxi. “Find something quickly and return. If you’re late, you’ll regret it.”

He Jingxi and He Jinghe had no idea what edible plants even looked like in their natural state.

Exchanging a glance, they both turned their eyes to Shang Ruoyi.

Shang Ruoyi nodded. “Fine.”

She surveyed the terrain and headed toward the denser part of the forest.

The He brothers had no choice but to follow.

He Jinghe was already scheming—if they could find more food, the guards might be in a better mood and perhaps share some with the second branch of the family. Maybe they could even hunt a pheasant or something, so they could have some meat and broth.

He Jingxi, meanwhile, stared blankly at the various plants in the forest.

Which were edible, and which were just weeds? He had no clue.

Shang Ruoyi walked ahead, picking numerous mushrooms from the ground.

She was lucky—these wild mushrooms were all non-toxic and plentiful. She gathered them all, tossing most into her Space to dry later for soups or stir-fries.

The remaining mushrooms went into the basket they had borrowed from the guards.

At this moment, He Jinghe stepped forward and saw her picking mushrooms. Suddenly, he remembered that he had also spotted some earlier and hurried back to pick them. 

Returning to the area where the mushrooms grew, he was just about to place the brightly colored ones into his basket when a thought struck him—these mushrooms looked far more vibrant than the ones Shang Ruoyi had picked. They must taste much better than hers.