The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1166 - 1145: Preferential Treatment

Chapter 1166: Chapter 1145: Preferential Treatment

Manbao stuffed a bowl of medicine into his hand, then went to wash the medicine pot and started to prepare Xiang Ming’s medicine.

She felt Xiang Ming’s pulse and, seeing there was no sign of him waking up, took out her needle pack and immersed her consciousness in the system to look at the new acupuncture techniques Teacher Mo provided last night.

After studying it, she found it still not reliable enough, so she exited and proceeded to use the old method to treat Xiang Ming.

Before she finished acupuncture, Bai Shan woke up groggily. He sat on the kang bed and seemed to need a moment to realize he was in the dungeon. He turned to glance at Manbao, didn’t disturb her, and disdainfully left the warm bed.

First, he added some firewood to the nearly extinguished stove, then carefully fetched water in a clean wooden basin to wash his face and rinse his mouth...

Then he poured the leftover porridge into another jar and started to cook it.

Xiang Chao sighed in relief, seeing Manbao completely absorbed and seemingly unaware of them, then whispered to Bai Shan, "Young Master Bai, is Doctor Zhou Junior going to stay with us in the same cell the whole time?"

While rummaging through his basket, Bai Shan replied, "Otherwise, who would heal you guys if she left?"

That’s true.

Swallowing his saliva out of curiosity, Xiang Chao lowered his voice and asked, "But what is your relationship with Doctor Zhou Junior?"

Bai Shan’s face turned slightly red, "We both come from the same master."

Xiang Chao said blankly, "Isn’t that inappropriate? How about I and Second Young Master don’t use quilts anymore and use straw instead?"

After finishing the acupuncture, Manbao asked casually, "Why would that be inappropriate?"

Xiang Chao did not expect her to be paying attention and was somewhat embarrassed. Seeing her curious gaze on him, he coughed lightly and said, "Oh, it’s nothing, just... it’s hard on Doctor Zhou Junior to suffer with us, especially since you’re at the age of blooming youth. I, I just fear if the news from this cell gets out, it wouldn’t be good for your marriage prospects."

Bai Shan frowned, "She sleeps next to me, not close to you guys. Why would it affect speaking of marriage?"

Manbao naturally agreed, "Exactly."

Xiang Chao: "... But you two aren’t actual siblings, and aren’t you both old enough?"

Manbao turned to look at Bai Shan, and they silently exchanged glances before both turned away with red-tipped ears.

Manbao said, "It’s not even certain if we can get out alive, you think too much."

"Our Second Young Master said if we don’t worry about the future, we will have troubles soon. How can we wait until something happens before considering it?"

Bai Shan frowned at Xiang Chao, somewhat guarded, "Why are you so concerned? Whether we speak of marriage or not is our family’s affair."

Xiang Chao: "Your family?"

Bai Shan nodded affirmatively, "Yes, that’s right."

Manbao coughed lightly and waved her hand, "It’s okay, if I can’t get married, then I won’t."

Bai Shan turned to her, "Who said you can’t get married?"

Manbao thought for a moment and said, "That’s true, I still have you."

Bai Shan then nodded decisively, "Indeed, if not me, then no one else."

Xiang Chao: ...

He flopped down on the quilt with a slap and stopped talking. Why did he have to ask all these unnecessary questions?

Seeing Bai Shan cook porridge again, Manbao expressed her disdain, "I don’t want to eat anymore, let’s wait for Grandma Liu to send us some food."

Bai Shan stirred the boiling porridge and said, "Let’s just make do for now. They might not be able to come in today."

Xiang Chao lifted his head and nodded repeatedly, chiming in, "Yes, yes, Doctor Zhou Junior, you don’t know what kind of food they feed prisoners here, it’s all sour porridge, even worse than what we cook ourselves."

The three sighed and ate another meal of porridge together before they started sitting to one side, staring blankly at Xiang Ming studying.

Bai Shan asked, "When will he wake up? He needs to eat, doesn’t he?"

Manbao estimated, "I think he should wake up by tonight."

Only then did Xiang Chao and Bai Shan breathe a sigh of relief.

Checking the time in the system, Manbao pulled out the needle and properly covered him with the quilt. Turning around, she handed the mostly-prepared medicine to Bai Shan, "Once is happenstance, twice is routine. I’ll leave the medicine feeding to you."

Bai Shan silently took it.

Neither Bai Shan nor Manbao could sleep, and needless to say, neither could Xiang Chao. So the two started roaming around the cell, mainly to tidy up the place and section off a few areas.

After organizing what belongings they had, they gently cleaned the cell and then heard the jingling sound of someone walking in from outside.

The two standing and the one lying down all looked up to see the familiar Ministry of Justice official from yesterday leading in three people.

Zhou Lijun, who was walking in the middle, rushed to the cell door and looked at Manbao through the bars, about to burst into tears, "Cousin—"

The Ministry of Justice official, who hated crying, immediately knocked on the door and ordered, "Behave yourself. If you make a ruckus, you’ll be thrown out immediately."

Zhou Lijun immediately covered her mouth and dared not cry.

The Ministry of Justice official handed the keys to a jailer to open the cell door. As usual, items brought in had to be checked. Sharp metal objects or similar items were strictly forbidden.

This time, the three visitors brought quite a few items, causing the Ministry of Justice official to frown with a headache, "Even though the Book of Documents allows for special treatment, that doesn’t mean you can treat the cell like your own home. If you keep bringing things in, there’ll be no space left."

Zhou Lijun quickly appeased with a smile, "Rest assured, sir. We will take some of the items we brought yesterday back with us. Our family also felt that we brought too much and it was impractical yesterday. That’s why we came today to exchange them. From tomorrow on, we will only bring food, and we guarantee not to overdo it, just once a day. Please be accommodating, sir."

Teacher Mo and Old Madam Liu had cautioned beforehand, the one in charge of the cell was the official from the Ministry of Justice, who couldn’t be swayed by money, so they must not offer money.

At this moment, they had nothing to offer in return, so they only lowered their stance and planned to reciprocate later.

The Ministry of Justice official, from his position above, glanced at her and, thinking of the expression of his superior after the court assembly today and recalling the still-detained Prince of Yizhou and his sons in the palace, he waved his hand to let them bring in the checked items.

He frowned and said, "You have fifteen minutes to sort things out. Don’t leave too much stuff in this cell."

Zhou Lijun hurriedly responded.

As soon as the visitors left, Xiang Chang immediately ran to the brothers on the kang, while Daji went to report to Bai Shan the information received by the family today.

Zhou Lijun pulled Manbao aside, crying, but she dared not cry loudly, "Cousin, your face is bleeding, and you’ve been detained in this terrible prison. If grandfather and grandmother knew, they would be worried sick."

Manbao waved her hand and said, "Don’t worry. You mustn’t inform the family. I’ll be out in a few days. If you send a letter home, I’ll have to pay for someone to make a trip again once I’m out. It’s just a waste of money. The family will worry for nothing if they find out."