Tasangnan stared at her, holding the money pouch and the medicine bottle, his expression heavy: “You stayed awake all night just for Adong’s medicine?”

They were nothing more than chance acquaintances—why was she being so good to the two of them?

“This medicine is extremely important for Adong. Although it only treats the symptoms and not the root cause, when his illness flares up, he needs something to ease the symptoms.”

This illness was different from other illnesses—easing the symptoms was the most crucial thing. As for curing it at the root, even in the twenty-first century that couldn’t be done, let alone in this backward era.

Feng Jiu’er looked at Tasangdong, not knowing whether he could even take in what she was saying right now.

Thinking it over, she still needed to explain things more thoroughly to Tasangnan—after all, Tasangnan was a few years older than Tasangdong, and could at least stay calmer.

“From now on, Adong must exercise his body more. Of course, nothing too intense—martial arts practice is out, but practicing an internal cultivation technique would still be fine.”

“From now on, he must build up his physical strength. This is the most effective weapon against his condition—only with a strong body can he recover better when an attack occurs.”

“Is this illness really impossible to cure completely?” Tasangnan’s expression was heavy.

In truth, doctors before had also said this illness couldn’t be cured. It was just that yesterday, seeing the way Feng Jiu’er had treated Adong, her technique had seemed quite unusual.

So at the time he had held out hope that Feng Jiu’er might be able to cure Adong, but he hadn’t realized just how severe Adong’s illness was.

Seeing Feng Jiu’er say nothing, Tasangnan lowered his head and said softly, “I’m sorry, I just… just…”

“I understand.” Jiu’er glanced up at the sky, then said, “This illness truly can’t be eradicated, but it can be eased, it can be prevented. If…”

She paused for a moment, then continued, “If in the future there’s a chance for Ruohe and Bei Mu to coexist peacefully, perhaps you could bring Adong to Bei Mu to find me, and maybe I could try giving him long-term acupuncture treatment, to see if the results might be better.”

“You… ” Tasangnan was stunned, “are you from Bei Mu?”

Jiu’er said nothing further. They had been saying all along that they were from Nan Mu.

Right now Bei Mu and Ruohe were in fierce conflict, and although the fighting had temporarily stopped, it could break out again at any moment.

If anyone found out they were from Bei Mu, Feng Jiu’er and the others would certainly not be safe here.

For them to take such a risk to come to Ruohe at a time like this, there must be something important related to the war.

Qiaomu approached with a cold expression and said in a low voice, “Young Master, it’s time to set off.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Tasangnan, but she didn’t want to take any risks.

Jiu’er nodded. Xuegu and Xiao Yingtao picked up the luggage, and the four of them, after bidding farewell to the Tasangnan brothers, turned and left.

They quickly walked out to the edge of the village, and Qiaomu still had some worry in her voice: “Jiu’er, what you did just now really wasn’t… you shouldn’t have revealed your identity to Tasangnan.”

Although she hadn’t clearly stated who she was or what she had come here to do, that one sentence about being from Bei Mu alone could very likely bring great trouble.

Jiu’er nodded, seeming to have listened, but Qiaomu felt helpless—how could this one possibly listen to her so easily?

“Young Master, what should we do now?” Worried that her own form of address might slip and accidentally reveal their secret, Xiao Yingtao made a point of consciously calling Jiu’er “Young Master” whenever they were out in public, to avoid suddenly switching over at the wrong moment.

Feng Jiu’er looked at what lay ahead, then looked at Qiaomu again.

Qiaomu said, “Last night we already made contact with Xing Zizhou’s people. Xing Zizhou is currently staying near the Second Prince’s residence, but the Second Prince has been placed under house arrest, and he currently has no way to see him. For now, he hasn’t found a way to make contact with the Second Prince.”

Jiu’er fell into deep thought. This matter absolutely required first making contact with the Second Prince, to understand what exactly had happened at the time—otherwise, how could they possibly clear the Second Prince’s name?

But now that the Second Prince was under house arrest, and the prince’s residence certainly wasn’t occupied only by the Second Prince’s own people.

To prevent the Second Prince from rising again, the First Prince had likely secretly sent his own people to watch over the residence. At a time like this, trying to get in and make contact with the Second Prince would be difficult.

“First meet up with Xing Zizhou, then figure out a way to contact the Second Prince.” Although this so-called “figuring out a way” was a great challenge ahead, no matter how difficult, it had to be done.

Ruohe wasn’t actually that large in size, though its population was considerable. However, since most of its army was currently at the border city, the capital here was, by comparison, rather desolate.

Everywhere on the streets one could see the elderly, women, and children—able-bodied laborers from ordinary households had all been conscripted into the army.

Poverty was Ruohe’s defining trait. No wonder the First Prince and the King of Ruohe were both so fond of waging war—it was precisely because they were so poor.

Poor, unable to eat their fill or stay warm—if they didn’t go to war and plunder, how else were they supposed to live?

But why didn’t they think the other way around—what exactly was the cause of this poverty in the first place?

A great victory could certainly bring back plenty of resources, even fertile land, but was there any army that could brazenly claim it had never tasted defeat?

The reason the people of Ruohe had supported the First Prince so much these past few years was entirely because he had won several glorious battles. But in truth, according to news brought by Xing Zizhou, even with victories won, the lives of Ruohe’s common people hadn’t actually improved much.

Years of constant warfare meant the laborers of every household had been sent off to be soldiers, and many had died on the battlefield, leaving only the elderly, women, and children at home.

This being the case, even if much fertile farmland was won back through conquest, with no one to cultivate it, the good land would soon turn to waste.

In truth, there had been many countries and peoples throughout history who had built good lives through conquest, but as things stood for Ruohe now, the pace of its warfare had simply moved too fast.

Looking again at the people on the streets, hardly any face bore a genuine smile—each person looked discouraged and dejected, with many constantly glancing toward the direction of the border city, their eyes filled with sorrow and anxiety.

With family at the border, lives hanging uncertain, how could anyone at home live a good life?

Even with thousands of acres of land, no one had the heart left to farm it.

What people want most in life is nothing more than a family living together in harmony, healthy and whole. If they cannot be reunited, what motivation is there to live?

The King of Ruohe really ought to come out and see what kind of life his people were living, rather than hiding away in his own castle, waiting day after day for news of how many treasures and how much land his eldest son had won through conquest abroad.

Seeing the people living in such bitter hardship, even though Jiu’er wasn’t from Ruohe, she still felt a pang of sorrow.

However vast the world may be, it is all one family—everyone is human, so why must people slaughter each other?

Even in the twenty-first century, the whole world still wasn’t truly at peace.

The greed and selfish desires of those in power were doomed to make the common people suffer endlessly.

When would such bitter days ever come to an end?