Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

They would occasionally eat this kind of grilled fish when they were on missions outside. It was bland, tasteless, and had a strong fishy smell. Sometimes it was grilled half-cooked, so when you bit into it, it was half-cooked. But they had to eat it to fill their stomachs.

Without comparison, there is no harm. If everyone were eating grilled fish, they might feel a little better. But right now, they are eating half-cooked grilled fish, while the people in the Prince's Mansion are eating steaming hot pot of fish. Sigh, this is really unbearable.

The aroma of the fish hotpot kept wafting into everyone's noses. The eldest prince, gnawing on the blackened fish in his hand, grew increasingly annoyed.

He also wanted to eat fish hot pot, and he also wanted to drink a bowl of warm fish soup!

But when he thought of how Ji Yunshu had asked him for money before, he felt a surge of anger. He still didn't know what Ji Yunshu really thought of him.

Is this a case of playing hard to get?

Giving away hundreds of taels of money at a time is always a bit painful.

He held the fish in his hand, but his thoughts seemed to have wandered off somewhere. Ji Yunyao, sitting beside him, noticed his thoughts, took a bite of the dry, burnt fish in her hand, and said cautiously,

"Brother Jinsheng, why don't you bear with it? I just heard those officials say that we should be able to reach Yuncheng tomorrow. Yuncheng is lively and has all kinds of food. Once we get to Yuncheng, the First Prince can eat whatever he wants."

The eldest prince snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at her subtly. "Yes, I heard it from Xiao Wu too. By the way, how did the doctor treat your hand injury?"

He lifted Ji Yunyao's hand and carefully blew on her wound, seemingly heartbroken, but his eyes remained unchanged.

Ji Yunyao smiled shyly. It seemed that the eldest prince still cared about her.

"Don't worry, Brother Jinsheng. The doctor has already examined me and said there's nothing seriously wrong. It's just that my wound has been left untreated for a long time, and the infection is quite severe. It won't heal for a while. When I go to Yuncheng next time, he will prescribe some new medicine for me. He also told me to rest for a while so that I can recover better."

"Well, it's good that there's nothing seriously wrong. Since the doctor said so, we'll rest for a while longer once we get to Yuncheng. Anyway, I'll take care of you along the way. Just focus on getting better, especially your right hand."

He was waiting for Ji Yunyao to draw what that thing looked like for him, but unfortunately, the woman's hand was injured, and this delay meant it would be delayed indefinitely.

Fortunately, the thing he needed to do was also on this road, so he figured it was just a convenient route.

"Don't worry, Brother Jinsheng, I will definitely take good care of my injuries and try my best to help you realize your wish as soon as possible. However, I am currently an exiled person. If I rest in Yuncheng for a longer period of time, I'm afraid Lingyun will not agree."

"Hmph, what is Ling Yun? In this team, I am the most powerful. What I say goes. You don't need to care about those things."

Ji Yunyao blushed and said nothing more, slowly moving closer to the First Prince's embrace.

The eldest prince put his arm around her shoulder and gently patted her, as if to comfort her.

The smile on his face didn't reach his eyes.

He felt that Ji Yunyao was dragging him along, but he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

Ling Yun and the others were eating grilled fish together when they received an order from the Crown Prince to rest in Yuncheng for a few more days.

Ling Yun didn't say anything. In their group, the eldest prince was now the most powerful, and whatever the eldest prince said went.

Although he was in charge of the exiled troops, now that the First Prince has spoken, he will naturally take responsibility for whatever happens.

Since the eldest prince said he wanted to rest for a longer time, it would naturally take longer. They didn't have enough money to begin with, so could they take this opportunity to ask the eldest prince for some money?

Great.

With this, the funding problem can finally be solved. Otherwise, with so many people in the exile team, and the imperial court having allocated funds for him, it would be unreasonable for him to let them starve to death halfway through the journey.

If the eldest prince weren't in the group, it would be fine, but now that he is, and I've let someone starve to death, what if he punishes me?

Ling Yun took a big bite of the fish in his hand, picked up the fishing net beside him, and went to return it to Ji Yunshu.

Ji Yunshu and her group were eating and chatting when Ling Yun came over. Looking at the milky white fish soup in their pot, her mouth watered.

Realizing he couldn't get too close to Ji Yunshu and the others, he could only sigh and put the fishing net aside.

"Your Highness, this is the fishing net I borrowed from you. Thank you. By the way, the First Prince just sent someone to say that after we arrive in Yuncheng tomorrow, we will rest there for a while. There's no need to rush. If you have anything to attend to, you can arrange the time accordingly."

After saying that, he turned around and went back. Ji Yunshu knew that Ling Yun was deliberately keeping his distance from them, so she didn't ask him to stay for hot pot.

After finishing their meal, the group cleaned up all the pots, pans, and dishes, washed them, and put them back before returning to their respective carriages to rest.

The weather wasn't hot, so they didn't need to turn on the air conditioning. They were resting by the river, and a breeze made it incredibly cool. They rested in the carriage without any extra bedding.

Ji Yunshu carried the last bowl of soup back to the carriage.

She specially ladled out this bowl of fish soup for Xie Moyao to cool down before he drank it, right after the hot pot was cooked.

Xie Moyao carried the fish soup onto the carriage, where he was half-reclining.

His back injury has almost completely healed, and he can sit up without much effort, but he still can't move his legs.

He handed the fish soup to Xie Moyao, gesturing for him to drink it.

Xie Moyao had just eaten a lot of vegetables and fish, and his stomach was already a little full, but when Ji Yunshu handed him the fish soup, he didn't say anything and obediently took the fish soup and drank it down in a few gulps.

"Lingyun just told me that when we arrive in Yuncheng, the Crown Prince wants everyone to rest there for a while. I'd like to take advantage of our time in Yuncheng to get your foot injury treated."

Xie Moyao paused, looking at Ji Yunshu with disbelief. "This... so fast? Is it done already?"

Although he knew that Ji Yunshu had told him that his foot injury could be treated, he thought it would take a long time. He didn't expect her to say that it could start so soon.

This made him feel somewhat unreal.

Ji Yunshu nodded. "Yes, I originally wanted you to have more time to recover, but going to Yuncheng was just an opportunity. After I performed surgery on your foot, you definitely need time to recover. If you keep traveling, you won't be able to rest well at all. If you're not careful and don't recover well, then the surgery will have been for nothing."

"It just so happens that the Crown Prince wants to rest in Yuncheng for a while longer, so let's take this opportunity to have the surgery done. This way, you can get better rest and recover more quickly."

Most importantly, she had a feeling that the Crown Prince had come prepared to catch up with the exiled group this time, but she didn't know the specific reason.

But one thing is for sure: the eldest prince is definitely not hiding anything good.