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

Outside, everyone was huddled together for warmth, heads tucked in, completely unaware of Chen Shi emerging from her tent. However, Xie Moyao, inside another tent, caught a glimpse of Chen Shi through a crack.

Holding the tarpaulin, Chen carefully approached Xiao Er Gou and Zhang Lizheng. Worried about waking the others, she deliberately squatted down and gently nudged Xiao Er Gou.

"Little Er Gou, Little Er Gou, wake up."

Xiao Ergou was young and didn't sleep soundly. Feeling someone nudging him, he groggily opened his eyes and saw it was Chen Shi.

He quickly rubbed his eyes and straightened up.

"Second Madam, what brings you here?"

As he spoke, he shivered. He hadn't felt anything while he was asleep, but when he suddenly woke up, he felt a chill running through his body, and it was as if he wasn't wearing any clothes.

Zhang Lizheng was leaning against him. When Xiao Ergou stirred, he woke up too.

It was cold, and he couldn't sleep. When he looked up, he saw Chen squatting in front of him, and Zhang, the village head, also became more alert.

"Yes, Second Madam, why are you out here? It's very cold outside, you should quickly go back inside the tent. Cough cough cough..."

As he spoke, he coughed several more times, his aged back hunched over, his whole body trembling.

Seeing this, Chen quickly reached out to pat him on the back, gently patting it a few times. The touch was icy cold.

She secretly cursed the Second Prince and the others again. If Ji Yunshu hadn't discovered it early tonight, the villagers might have been frozen to death.

She quickly handed the tarpaulin to Xiao Ergou and Zhang Lizheng, and whispered:

"This was bought by Yunshu when she was in Yuncheng, to use for setting up a tent. Later she bought our kind of simple tent, so this kind of tarpaulin was no longer needed and has been kept in her bag ever since."

She told me before she left that if you needed it, I should give it to you. I didn't know that the Second Prince and his men were so ruthless as to steal your tents. Remembering this unused tarpaulin, I took the time to bring it to you.

This tarpaulin is quite large. You can put it down from above, support it with a few wooden sticks around the edges, and then tighten the bottom edge. This way, the wind won't be able to get in, and you'll be warmer.

"Oh, right, Yunshu specifically instructed that once this tarpaulin is set up, you can start a fire inside. With this tarpaulin, you can start a small fire and it should be warmer."

Xiao Ergou scratched his head: "You mean the princess specifically told you to help us before she left?" His voice was a little choked up.

Zhang Lizheng was also so moved that tears streamed down his face. He rolled up his sleeve and wiped the tears from his face.

"The Princess is such a kind person, such a kind person! She went off alone to do something dangerous, and we still don't know where she is, whether she's safe, or if she's found Miss Xiaolan and Xie Lin. Even as she left, she was thinking of us. We have no way to repay her kindness!"

Chen thought to herself:

Where is Ji Yunshu?

Ji Yunshu is in their tent right now!

But she didn't dare show it on her face, because in other people's eyes, Ji Yunshu really shouldn't be in the camp.

Since she was extremely careful and did not reveal her whereabouts, I certainly cannot tell her.

Thinking of this, Chen forced a smile, a hint of worry on her face:

"Oh, it's alright. Zhang Lizheng, Xiao Ergou, and Third Sister-in-law are all smart and have some skills. Since she's planning to go find Xie Lin and Xiao Lan, she must have made thorough preparations. So we don't need to worry about her."

"Here's a tarpaulin. Go and get some sticks to prop it up around the edges, just like I told you, and set it up. It's raining and snowing right now; if we delay any longer, everyone will freeze."

Xiao Ergou and Zhang Lizheng nodded repeatedly. The most important thing now was to set up the tarpaulin; they were so cold that their minds were foggy.

Zhang Lizheng quickly took the tarpaulin from Chen Shi and said to Xiao Ergou, "Quickly, take a few people and pick up some large tree branches from around here to set up this tarpaulin."

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and added two more sentences:

"By the way, keep your voice down, keep your voice down! This tarpaulin is our lifeline. If someone else takes it away, we'll have nothing left."

Xiao Ergou nodded, quietly led a few strong young men to get up, picked up some large tree branches nearby, and stuck them around their group. Finally, they draped the tarpaulin over the tree branches around them.

The tarpaulin was placed over the head, and then the sides were sealed off, including the several stoves that were lit.

In an instant, the howling wind was shut out by the tarpaulin.

The tarpaulin was rainproof, waterproof, and windproof. Although it wasn't very thick, they added a fire inside and sat together. Before long, the temperature inside the tarpaulin rose, and everyone stopped shivering from the cold.

To keep warm, Xiao Ergou and his brothers surrounded the area tightly. The tarpaulin against the ground was also weighed down from the outside with stones so that the wind couldn't blow it away and the insulation would be even stronger. There were only a few small areas around the area that could be ventilated.

After checking them over and confirming that the tarpaulin had been set up and that everyone's spirits had improved, Ms. Chen returned to her own tent.

Xiao Ergou and his men moved very quietly, so the Second Prince and his entourage, who were sleeping in the tent, did not notice. However, the officials who were huddled together with the villagers for warmth outside, as well as the First Prince's men, did know.

Although it's unknown where Chen got this tarpaulin, it's a chance to save their lives right now; after freezing all night, they'd almost freeze to death.

Ling Yun took the lead, walked outside the tarpaulin, slowly opened a hole, poked his head out, and smiled at Xiao Er Gou and the others inside:

"Hey, Uncle Zhang, this place is quite spacious inside. Could you let the brothers come in and warm up too?"

When it comes to being thick-skinned, Ling Yun is getting better and better at it. He feels that since meeting Ji Yunshu, his skin as the head constable has become increasingly thick.

Xiao Ergou opened his mouth, somewhat reluctantly, and turned to look at Zhang Lizheng:

"Zhang Lizheng, what do you say? Are you going to let them in? I don't really want them to come in. They didn't even offer to help when they saw us setting up the tarpaulin. Now that they see we've got it up, they're trying to take advantage of us. They're really shameless."

Little Dog muttered softly.

Zhang Lizheng took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and then waved his hand:

"Alright, alright, let them in. It's so cold, they'll freeze to death. Besides, they don't have any deep-seated hatred for us. The princess probably doesn't want to see us freeze to death, and she probably doesn't want to see innocent people die in vain either."