Those days when I exiled the paralyzed, deposed crown prince to farm

"Isn't having big feet a good thing?" Ah Man said. "Your big feet are stronger than those of men."

"As long as you have the strength, beat them until they dare not speak."

"Hitting...hitting a man?" Lotus was stunned.

She quickly waved her hand and said, "No, no, Mother said that men are the sky and women are the earth, so you can't hit the sky."

Aman: "..."

She forgot that she and Lotus were from different worlds, so telling her these things was quite shocking.

So Ah Man smiled, picked up the two wooden buckets, and prepared to leave.

"You little brat, how dare you steal our water!"

"No, I didn't steal it!"

"I fetched all this water myself, I didn't steal it!"

"Still denying it? This earthenware pot is clearly mine, you son of a bitch! I'll beat you to death today!"

The water ladle was originally meant to hit the child, but somehow it broke and hit Aman on the forehead with a thud.

A sharp pain shot through her, and she reached up to touch it.

It caused bleeding.

Ah Man is really unlucky.

She tried to sneak some water while people were arguing, but she ended up getting accidentally hurt.

"Oh dear, are you alright?"

Lotus asked anxiously, then, seeing blood on her face, glared at the group and shouted, "You've injured someone!"

"So what if I injured you? It's not like I killed you. Big Foot, has your dad not spanked you for a couple of days? Getting itchy?"

When someone threatened Lotus with Lotus's father, Lotus became frightened.

She was genuinely afraid of her father; his beatings were incredibly painful.

They whipped her with thin vines from the mountain, and sometimes they poked her with fire pokers, so there was hardly a good patch of skin on Lotus's body.

"I'm fine."

Ah Man didn't want to cause trouble. The villagers of Waguan Village were all very arrogant, so Ah Man thought it would be better to go home as soon as possible.

"Bigfoot, you sent this brat to steal our water, didn't you? And this girl, isn't she your accomplice too?"

They picked up a child, brought him to the lotus flowers, and threw him on the ground. The child rolled around on the ground before finally reaching the lotus flowers.

Ah Man looked closely and realized that it was the child who had suddenly run into the courtyard to bring her food that day.

"Yagyu!"

Lotus quickly helped the child up.

The child's eyes were brimming with tears.

"Sister, I didn't steal water! I didn't steal water! I fetched all that water myself!"

"Why are you hitting Yagyu?!"

Lotus was angry, but that was all she was angry about.

Having been oppressed for years, she had long lost her backbone, and now Ah Man couldn't leave even if she wanted to.

"She stole water!"

"Big Feet Girl's sister is a thief, and she'll be a robber someday!"

It turns out she was a girl.

Judging from her clothes and appearance, Ah Man couldn't tell at all that she was a girl.

"No, I'm not!"

"Bring out all the water! You've stolen so much water from us behind our backs!" The villagers looked at Lotus and Ah Man's buckets, which were full of water, their eyes filled with greed.

It's not raining in Ningzhou right now, so every household is trying to collect as much water as possible, because it could be a lifesaver in a critical moment.

"This wasn't stolen!"

"You still say you didn't steal it? If you don't hand over the water, we'll go get the village chief!"

The lotus flower was afraid.

Asking the village chief would definitely alarm her father, who hates her the most and would surely beat her to death.

The villagers immediately grabbed Ah Man and He Hua's buckets.

Ah Man picked up a stone from the ground and held it in her hand: "Let's see who dares to take it!"

She seemed to have the air of someone who would fight to the death if anyone dared to take her water.

"Hey, you little brat, you think you can hit someone?"

"If they stole our water, they have to give it back!"

Some stubborn people tried to snatch Ah Man's water bucket, but Ah Man wasn't easily intimidated. She had seen all sorts of big scenes back in the capital, so why would she be afraid of these unruly people from poor, remote areas?

"ah--"

"You brat, you dare hit me!"

As if it had eyes, the stone in Aman's hand hurled itself at the hands of those trying to grab water.

Aman's accurate stone-throwing was thanks to Zhao Ye.

Previously, when he was in the Crown Prince's residence, the maids would occasionally peek at him practicing martial arts. Sometimes he practiced swordsmanship, sometimes spearmanship, and sometimes bows and arrows and darts.

In the eyes of the maids, His Highness the Crown Prince was skilled in both literature and martial arts, and possessed both virtue and talent; he was destined to become a rare and virtuous ruler.

Who would have thought things would turn out this way?

"That's exactly what I'm going to do!"

Ah Man protected the water bucket behind her, knowing that in a famine, even a single sip of water could cause countless people to fight tooth and nail.

If it were someone else, Ah Man probably wouldn't have bothered with such a thing.

But the child brought her food a few days ago, and Aman thought it was probably Lotus who sent it.

Lotus is a very kind girl.

These days, there aren't many people willing to share their food with others.

Lotus was stunned. She just started hitting him like that? This girl from out of town is really fierce.

"A fight has broken out over by the stream!"

Everyone in Waguan Village is talking about it.

Aman locked the courtyard gate when she went out to prevent anyone from going in, but Zhao Ye was a restless person.

He pushed his wheelchair into the yard and continued weaving various things. He was clever, and Ah Man could learn it in no time.

"Could it be that they got into a fight with the people from Shimizu Village?"

"No, no, it's Old Xu's lotus flower. She and a girl from out of town stole our water and they were caught."

"That girl from out of town is really fierce! We people from Waguan Village can't let a woman from out of town bully us. Let's go help her!"

Zhao Ye stopped what he was doing and looked towards the door; the sound was coming from outside.

"Aman..."

A girl from out of town.

The first person he thought of was Aman.

Ah Man went out to fetch water, and should have been back long ago, but now every household has its lights on, yet Ah Man has not returned.

Zhao Ye began to get anxious.

He had never felt so anxious before.

He pushed his wheelchair to the door, probably wanting to go out, but although he could move his hands, his strength was far less than before. He pushed for a long time, sweating profusely, but could only move it a little bit.

Zhao Ye slammed his fist against his leg, hating his own helplessness at that moment.

Why...

Why did he become a useless person? Why did he become like this? Why can't he do anything?

Why...

But there aren't that many "whys" in this world, so no matter how anxious he is, it's no use.

"Zhao Ye!"

Suddenly, Ah Man's clear voice came from outside the door, accompanied by her hurried footsteps.

Zhao Ye suddenly looked up towards the doorway, his dark, deep eyes revealing a hint of surprise.

"Zhao Ye?!"

What happened? Is he asleep?

"I……"

Zhao Ye emphasized firmly, "I'm here."