"I’m here for the first time too,"
Yun Jinnian softly spoke out.
If it weren’t for the wrong timing, she really wanted to get off the carriage to see how the common people in the Outer City lived.
"Please, save my mother, I beg of you!"
A hoarse female voice came through.
Yun Jinnian lifted the carriage curtain and a gust of cold wind made her shiver.
At the entrance to a pharmacy, a girl in tattered clothes was kneeling and kowtowing continuously into the doorway, desperately crying for help.
Yun Jinnian said to Hemei, "You go down and find out what’s going on, and help her out by the way!"
Hemei responded, got off the carriage, and hopped down.
Heading towards the pharmacy.
The girl kept kowtowing, her forehead broken and bleeding. Although there were many spectators, most just watched and pointed, with no one willing to lend a hand.
Hemei stood by and listened for a while and then understood the girl’s plight: her father had passed away early, her mother had fallen ill, their family was extremely poor with no money for medical treatment, and now her mother’s condition had worsened—she was truly at her wit’s end.
It had brought her to this desperate act.
Dressed brightly and looking charming, Hemei had a demeanor rarely seen in the Outer City. She inquired casually and many were willing to provide information. She quickly grasped the situation and walked up to the girl, taking out a small purse from her bosom and handing it to her, "Here, this is from my young mistress. Quickly take this silver and get a doctor to prescribe medicine!"
The girl was named Xiaocao.
Her parents believed a humble name would make it easier for her to survive.
In utter despair, she saw a delicate pale hand reaching out to her, holding a finely embroidered purse.
She was so focused on crying that she didn’t hear clearly.
"This is from my young mistress; hurry and take it to get a doctor to go home and treat your mother!" said Hemei, grabbing Xiaocao’s hand and placing the purse into her palm.
Then turned around and ran back to the carriage.
Xiaocao stood there, dumbfounded, as she watched Hemei catch up with a moving carriage. The carriage didn’t stop, and Hemei swiftly leaped onto it.
She was astonished beyond belief.
If even a maid exhibited such grace and was dressed so finely, what then would her mentioned mistress be like?
"Ah, that girl is lucky indeed!"
"Isn’t that so? Did you see the emblem on the carriage? It looks like it belongs to the Han Family!"
"The Han Family? Which one?"
"Aren’t you daft, in the Capital City, how many Miss Han, with the heart of a Bodhisattva, are there?"
"Could it be the Han Divine Doctor’s granddaughter? The fourth Miss Yun of the Yun Family, the one bestowed the title of Princess Yijia by the Emperor?"
"You do have some insight!"
The voices faded away into the distance.
Xiaocao stood there, murmuring under her breath, "Princess, Princess..."
Xiaocao gripped the purse tightly in her hand.
She was determined to go to the Princess and serve her, no matter what!
She quickly entered the pharmacy to have a doctor come back to treat her mother.
Hemei gave fifty taels of silver, which in the Capital City, might only buy a few pastries, but in the Outer City, could do a lot more!
Aboard the carriage, Ruan Wanrong looked at Yun Jinnian, "With your soft heart, I truly worry for you."
"Why do you say that, Ruan sister?"
"Sooner or later, you’re going to return to the Yun Family, and you will have to marry. Let’s not even talk about your future husband’s family, but the Yun Family is a den of wolves. With your tender heart, won’t you be worn down to your death!"
Yun Jinnian smiled faintly, "Ruan sister, that girl earlier posed no conflict of interest to me, nor did we have any deep hatred. Giving her a few dozen taels of silver helped save her mother’s life. It counts as a good deed and was a simple gesture on my part. I did not help her because I am soft-hearted or excessively kind. If today someone from the Yun Family were kneeling at the door of the pharmacy, I wouldn’t give a single coin!"