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

Zhou Yanran knew very well that she was now a criminal. If she didn't curry favor with these officials, find some shortcuts, and sacrifice herself, how could she survive?

Since everyone else is bound to reach this point sooner or later anyway, she might as well act quickly and enjoy it sooner.

Ji Yunshu was sitting and drinking soup when she caught a glimpse of someone walking over from a distance. She initially thought it was Ling Yun and was wondering whether she should share some chicken with him. But upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't Ling Yun at all.

She raised an eyebrow and subtly withdrew her gaze.

"Your Highness, my name is Ah Cai. I saw that Your Highness has found so much chicken, and that your cooking skills are so good and the food smells so delicious, so I would like to ask Your Highness for some. Please do me this favor."

The tone was fairly polite.

Ji Yunshu smiled faintly. If it were Ling Yun who came, she might consider giving them some. Since it was someone else, it would be easier.

"Sure, you just want chicken, right? We've cooked too much and can't finish it all, so it's no problem to share some with you."

She paused, and Ah Cai's face lit up with joy. He was about to step forward and take the pot away when Ji Yunshu continued.

"But there are so many people in your area, and we don't have enough chicken. It doesn't seem fair to just share some with you. People will resent me. Why don't you use your money to buy it?"

"For Lingyun's sake, I'll give you two taels of silver per serving. Don't think it's expensive; it's especially rare to have chicken in this desolate wilderness, particularly spicy chicken, which is my unique recipe. If nothing unexpected happens, it'll be the only one of its kind in the entire eastern neighboring country. Thinking about it that way, isn't your silver well spent?"

Ah Cai's hand, which was reaching for the chicken, froze in mid-air, and his lips twitched slightly.

What?!

Two taels of silver per serving?

This is practically robbery!

His monthly salary was only two taels of silver!

Ji Yunshu actually asked him for a month's salary after just one bowl of chicken!

This is nothing short of robbery.

"Miss Ji, I am an official. You will need my escort to reach your destination. I asked you for some chicken, and you're asking me for money instead? Are you sure?!"

This princess is really bold. She's just a criminal now. He's only polite to her because she brings him food.

Does she really think she's still the same noble Princess Zhenbei she used to be?

He's just a prisoner.

Ji Yunshu raised an eyebrow, her expression turning colder as she looked at A Cai. This A Cai really didn't know what was going on; couldn't he see that she was getting impatient?

She didn't even call her "Princess" anymore, Miss Ji.

Although she had previously told Ling Yun and the others not to call her Princess anymore, they still did not change their way of addressing her.

But now, hearing this man named Ah Cai call her Miss Ji, even though she knew that it was the right thing for him to do, she felt inexplicably annoyed for some reason.

It wasn't because this person didn't call her Princess, but entirely because of Ah Cai's attitude. She clearly felt that Ah Cai was provoking her.

Ji Yunshu put the bowl she was holding aside without even raising her head, her tone completely flat.

"I caught this chicken myself. I can do with it however I want, eat it however I want, give it to whomever I want, or not give it to whomever I don't want. It's all up to me. You're a grown man, and instead of doing it yourself, you come to me, a woman, to ask for it. Don't you have any shame? It's embarrassing to even talk about it."

"Even though we've been exiled, it's not up to a lowly official like you to speak to me like that. If you know what's good for you, put down the silver, take the chicken, and leave. If you don't, and keep arguing with me here, guess what I'll do?"

Her tone was gentle, like a spring breeze, but the coldness in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Ling Yun had been keeping an eye on things, and seeing that A Cai and Ji Yunshu were at an impasse, he quickly came over to smooth things over.

"Your Highness, what's going on? Don't be angry, my men don't know the rules."

He turned to look at Ah Cai, his tone flat, "From what you just said, you want to buy chicken. Are you going to buy it or not? If not, go back."

He wasn't worried about Ji Yunshu getting into trouble, but because he was in charge of the exile team this time, and Ji Yunshu and her group weren't nobodys. If it got out that his officers were robbing people's food, he would be in deep trouble.

They made quite a commotion, and everyone's attention was on them.

Ah Cai gritted his teeth. If he didn't buy it now, wouldn't that be blatantly telling everyone that he couldn't afford it?

He gritted his teeth and took out two taels of silver from his pocket.

"Here, this is two taels of silver for a serving of chicken!" He would get this silver back sooner or later!

With Ling Yun's intervention, the atmosphere was no longer as tense as before. Ji Yunshu took the two taels of silver and tossed it to Xie Lin, who was gnawing on a bone nearby.

"Here's some silver; keep it on you for pocket money."

Xie Lin caught the silver coins Ji Yunshu tossed to him with precision, put them in his pocket with a smile, excitedly got up, took an empty bowl from the side, filled it with some chicken, and said as he did so.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Actually, the purse the princess gave him last time contained several dozen taels of silver, which he had kept safely on his person.

But now the princess is throwing money at him again, so he should keep it. The princess is clearly trying to anger that guy named Ah Cai.

He served a few pieces of spicy chicken and ladled out some chicken soup. The spicy chicken and chicken soup mixed together didn't taste very good.

Without blinking, Xie Lin handed the bowl in his hand to A Cai.

"Here, take it, you can take it and go."

Ah Cai was so angry he almost ground his teeth to powder. That was two taels of silver! Ji Yunshu had just casually tossed it to a servant right in front of him!

He took a deep breath, trying to control the expression on his face, and without even glancing at the chicken in the bowl, he picked it up and turned to leave.

He remembered this grudge, and one day he would make Ji Yunshu kneel and beg for mercy.

Ling Yun frowned, glanced at A Cai's retreating figure, and a hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes.

Ah Cai doesn't listen to him, and he can't control him. He's been worried that Ah Cai will clash with Ji Yunshu and her group. He thought that after so long, things would be peaceful, but unexpectedly, they've fallen out over just a chicken.

Let's hope nothing else goes wrong.

He just wanted to do his job well and return to the capital to report back; his wife and children were waiting for him at home.

"Everyone, you've all rested enough. Let's pack up and get going. If we stay any longer, we won't make it to the next village."

He turned around and went back to his resting place, telling his men to pack up and prepare to set off.