Transmigrated into the Scum Female Consort - Chapter 35

Ye Xuejin smiled: “This Princess will also forever trust and rely on you. Hurry and take the next one.”

While speaking, the second box of self-heating rice arrived in her hand.

Yun Chi smiled without a word and continued to pass the items. She had also succeeded.

When she handed the first box of self-heating rice to Ye Xuejin, her ‘golden finger’ (a term for a special power/cheat) gave her a huge surprise, immediately rewarding her with a full case of six boxes of self-heating rice.

Of course, due to the repeated giving of the self-heating rice, the reward was decreasing.

By the time Yun Chi gave Ye Xuejin the twentieth box of self-heating rice, the reward had changed to one bottle of mineral water.

Fortunately, the self-heating rice rewarded earlier was already sufficient.

After taking out thirty-one boxes of rice, ten boxes remained in the storage space, and she had also accumulated seventeen bottles of mineral water.

Yun Chi did not stop. Following the same pattern, she took out the mineral water.

Because this had been repeated too many times, the mineral water was, without exception, a simple one-for-one exchange.

After taking out thirty-one bottles according to the number of people, seventeen bottles still remained in the storage space, meaning there was no depletion.

At this point, the task of their supplies team was considered complete.

Shi Song and Zhou Qiyue were already too stunned to speak, their minds filled with one thought: They would forever be loyal to Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess!

Only then did Yun Chi clasp Ye Xuejin’s hand, and Ye Xuejin understood.

“This Princess and the Princess Consort will stay here. The two of you go and call Official Yu and Shi Niang to bring people to fetch the supplies.”

“Yes.”

After watching Shi Song and Zhou Qiyue walk a certain distance, Yun Chi finally asked, “Will we have to go through all this trouble every time from now on?”

Ye Xuejin gently asked her, “Does the Princess Consort find it troublesome?”

Yun Chi shook her head: “It’s no trouble at all, and it’s quite good.”

Making a slight detour and creating a sense of ritual, making the supplies seem not so easily obtained, was indeed more effective at winning people’s hearts than a straightforward transaction.

“How is it good?” Ye Xuejin’s tone was light, her eyes were filled with laughter, and her entire demeanor looked much softer, unlike her usual detached and cold self.

Yun Chi also smiled: “Isn’t the effect obvious?”

Under Ye Xuejin’s intentional or unintentional verbal hints, it was likely that Shi Song and Zhou Qiyue would now worship and faithfully trust Ye Xuejin to the point of prostration.

Ye Xuejin’s gaze flickered, and she said nothing more.

Since she had decided to take that step, she needed people who were absolutely loyal to her.

Shi Song and Zhou Qiyue were just the beginning. What she wanted was to possess absolute authority over this entire convoy before they reached the Southern Border.

If she couldn’t even achieve this small goal, there was no point in moving forward.

Seeing her deep in thought, Yun Chi did not interrupt her and waited patiently.

It was only when Ye Xuejin looked at the self-heating rice on the ground that Yun Chi pulled Ye Xuejin’s hand, bent down, and said, “Before they arrive, let me teach you how to heat it up.”

“Alright,” Ye Xuejin softly agreed, watching Yun Chi’s actions attentively.

Meanwhile, when Shi Song and Zhou Qiyue returned, Official Yu Lu and Shi Niang hurried to meet them before they even arrived.

The rest of the people followed closely behind. Whether they would have food, whether they could survive, depended on this outcome.

“How was it?”

“Did you succeed?”

“Did the Immortal bestow food?”

“Where is Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess? Where is the Princess Consort?”

The crowd surrounded them, barraging them with questions.

“Silence! Be quiet, all of you,” Yu Lu shouted, then looked at Shi Song and Zhou Qiyue. “What is the result?”

Shi Song and Zhou Qiyue involuntarily looked at each other, their eyes shining incredibly brightly.

Zhou Qiyue excitedly grasped Shi Song’s hand, her lips trembling uncontrollably, unable to speak a word.

Shi Song’s small face was taut, and she tightly pursed her lips, also too excited for words.

The crowd stared nervously at them, faintly guessing the result from their expressions, yet daring not to speak, afraid of being wrong and feeling empty joy again.

“Shi Song, you speak,” Shi Niang nominated Shi Song, seeing that she seemed slightly better composed.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Shi Song finally opened her mouth, then took a deep breath.

The crowd also held their breath, feeling as if their hearts were about to leap out.

“We succeeded! We succeeded! There is a lot of food, and water, a lot of water. Her Highness told us to call Official Yu and Shi Niang to come and get it,” Shi Song finished in one breath. This time, instead of pursing her lips tightly, she broke into a wide smile.

“That’s right, that’s right! We are all absolutely loyal to Her Highness, and we all succeeded,” Zhou Qiyue finally calmed down a little and added excitedly.

“It really succeeded!”

“That’s great, we have food!”

“Wonderful! Thank you, Immortal!”

“Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess’s merit is immeasurable!” Amidst a burst of cheers, Old Imperial Censor Zhou yelled out.

Yu Lu was overjoyed. He quickly took his official guards and headed over. After a few steps, he suddenly remembered something, turned back, and instructed the people following behind him: “Shi Niang, bring your people and follow this Official to get the food. The rest of you, stand by where you are.”

The rest of the people reluctantly stopped in their tracks. They wanted to go too…

Zhou Qiyue excitedly started to run, but Old Imperial Censor Zhou grabbed her arm.

“Father, why are you pulling me?” She still needed to help carry the food.

Old Imperial Censor Zhou glared at her: “Be more steady. Tell us what happened. Did you see the Immortal?”

Knowing his daughter’s flighty nature, he simply followed his mind and asked.

Little did he know that Zhou Qiyue’s mind was currently full of being loyal to the Eldest Princess. Upon hearing this, she immediately pulled her arm away and said while running: “I swore an oath to the Immortal that I would be forever loyal to Her Highness. You can ask someone else!”

Watching his daughter run off, Old Imperial Censor Zhou’s heart sank, and he clutched his beard, staring blankly.

He was just asking! How was he preventing the child from being loyal?

Besides, whom was he supposed to ask now…

“Master, did the young lady see the Immortal?” the old butler couldn’t help but ask. She swore an oath to the Immortal, so she must have seen one, right? What great fortune for the young lady, what great fortune for the Zhou family!

Old Imperial Censor Zhou vigorously tugged at his beard, uncertainly saying, “Perhaps.”

On the other side, Yu Lu and Shi Niang led their people toward Ye Xuejin and Yun Chi. As they approached, they saw Ye Xuejin squatting on the ground with a row of square boxes laid out in front of her. Steam was rising from the boxes, and next to them was a large wooden bucket.

“Your Highness! This subordinate is late,” Yu Lu said, handing the torch to Shi Niang and bowing his hands.

Ye Xuejin stood up: “Wait a moment.”

Just now, she saw that heating the rice required half a bottle of water, and she heard Yun Chi say to collect the bottom heating layers to prevent scalding anyone. She decided to heat all the rice and then take it over to distribute.

Otherwise, she was afraid people wouldn’t bear to use the water and some mistake might occur.

Yun Chi agreed with her opinion, so she took out the large wooden bucket that previously held hot water.

The two quickly set up the operation, just waiting for the time to pass.

In the torchlight, Yu Lu and the others couldn’t clearly see what was inside the boxes, nor did they dare to ask, but their noses could smell it.

It smelled like meat, a few kinds of vegetables, and the fragrance of rice!

Aroma! It was too aromatic!

They were already extremely hungry, and smelling such an inviting scent made them even hungrier.

Yu Lu couldn’t help but wipe the corner of his mouth. He looked at the others feeling a bit awkward, only to see everyone else wiping their mouths too. Xiao Gao was even smacking his lips.

The corners of his mouth twitched, and he retrieved his gaze with relief.

It seemed everyone was tempted by the food; he wasn’t the only one drooling.

Just as they were staring at the rows of square boxes, Yun Chi squeezed Ye Xuejin’s hand. The time was up.

Ye Xuejin understood and calmly instructed: “Princess Consort, you show them what to do next.”

“Alright,” Yun Chi naturally replied. She led Yu Lu and the others to remove the heating layers of the self-heating rice, stacking them for later recycling. The heated rice was then all placed into the wooden bucket.

After touching them themselves, Yu Lu and the others wiped the corners of their mouths even more frequently.

They had managed to see, using the torchlight, that the lids of those boxes had vent holes, and inside there really seemed to be rice and meat, and vegetables.

And they were slightly hot—hot rice and meat dishes!

Truly worthy of an Immortal’s handiwork.

“Let’s go back. One box of rice per person, and the mineral water will still be one bottle for every two people,” Ye Xuejin calmly instructed.

“Let’s go,” Yu Lu declared with a sweep of his hand, taking the lead to lift the wooden bucket. They all consciously walked behind Ye Xuejin and Yun Chi.

Zhou Qiyue watched Ye Xuejin with a burning gaze. She carefully quickened her steps and walked beside her.

Seeing that Ye Xuejin did not reprimand her, she immediately stood tall, her steps turning into a stately stride, like a triumphant general.

Shi Song saw this and quickly walked to Yun Chi’s side, also raising her head and putting her arms up, vigilantly surveying the surroundings, like a guardian deity.

Seeing the situation, Yun Chi, as if possessed, held Ye Xuejin’s hand, slightly raised her chin, and wore a look of self-satisfaction.

Ye Xuejin silently curved her lips and said with a smile: “If there are matters like today in the future, this Princess will rely on the three of you.”

“We vow to serve Your Highness faithfully until death!” Zhou Qiyue shouted loudly, making a deliberate gesture of raising and waving her hand.

Shi Song followed suit, using all her strength and raising her voice to shout: “We vow to serve Your Highness faithfully until death!”

Instantly, by the distant bonfire, everyone heard these two shouts and looked toward them.

“They’re back! They’re back!”

“Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess is back!”

The crowd cheered. When each of them received their rice and water, they could barely believe their eyes.

“Oh, my ancestors! Hot white rice!”

“Braised pork! Mine is braised pork, and radishes!”

“My dish is chicken stewed with mushrooms!”

“Mine is…”

Exclamations rang out one after another. Many people couldn’t help but shed tears as they ate; they wouldn’t starve to death.

Seeing the crowd cry tears of joy, Ye Xuejin was deeply moved.

She pursed her lips, picked the chicken drumstick from her rice and placed it in Yun Chi’s box. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what words to use to express her feelings at that moment.

Yun Chi blinked and returned two pieces of spareribs.

“Princess Consort.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. This Princess thanks you on their behalf.”