Chapter 29: The little raccoon slave wouldn't do bad things!

Du Shanü had a dream.

In the dream, there was only emptiness.

Only a disheveled, weak raccoon sat on the ground, its dirty little head tilted as it looked at her.

This raccoon had clearly been abandoned.

Its once sleek, oily fur had become tangled and rough, and its eyes, which had been as bright as agate, were now much duller.

But it...

seemed still to believe in people, still wanted to believe in people.

When their eyes met, Du Shanü merely reached out and made a kissing sound; the raccoon sprang into action, nimbly taking a few steps to stand before her, circling her feet and chattering:

"Human! Hello, human!"

"Do you want to play with me? Let's play together! (*′▽｀)ノノ"

"Let me tell you a secret, Little Love's belly feels great to rub! ヽ(=^? w? ^=)丿 When a human and Little Love lock eyes, they definitely want to rub its belly, right?"

"Little Love can let you rub it, but you have to take it home and feed it fish guts every day... Well, if your home is poor, you can feed it anything, as long as it doesn't go hungry..."

Du Shanü hadn't yet processed how the raccoon could talk when she saw the excited little shadow beside her foot gradually stop moving.

Perhaps because she wasn't speaking, perhaps because she sensed her hesitation.

The little raccoon lowered its head, sat up properly, and used its tail to hide its somewhat awkward little paws:

"Human, why aren't you speaking......?"

"Not having food is fine; to survive you need to eat your fill, but for Little Love, when an important person is about to starve, Little Love can make do with just half a meal......"

In that instant, Du Shanü felt a vague awareness, gazing into the depths of the raccoon's eyes, trying to understand what it meant to say——

That raccoon was clearly saying……

Little Love can split its life and give half away!

So, could you, please take it with you?

Take it with you.

Take it with you.

Take...... him with you.

In its previous life, it was adopted by its foster mother; after death it chose to be reborn in her womb to enjoy another human life, but the foster mother never told it...

It turned out being human is this hard.

The foster father died, and the foster mother and father disappeared.

The northern realm's oil burns endlessly, while the southern realm's people discard him like worn-out sandals.

All of this is his fault.

Yes, it's all his fault.

He failed to preserve the splendid lands left by his elders, failed to fulfill their expectations...

It is a useless raccoon.

He is a useless emperor...

Yu Hen drifted in the dream, occasionally recalling fragments of his past life, occasionally thinking of his parents' warm embrace.

Occasionally, it was the days in the palace when Chinu pressed him to study martial arts, playing and joking.

Occasionally, he would recall the day he was assassinated, falling into the icy Huai River, feeling that bone-chilling cold.

Occasionally, he would think of the young woman who had taken him in...

The young woman's voice always carried a smile, her instructions always concise.

A bit, a bit like his foster mother.

Indeed, although the young woman is younger than him, she possesses an inexplicable sense of reassurance that makes him want to snuggle in her arms and obediently call her "Mistress Elder Sister."

Mistress Elder Sister smells fragrant, her embrace smells fragrant, even her lowered hand smells fragrant...

Even her face...

Hmm?

Hmm?

Yu Hen woke up in a daze, his eyes not yet fully open, still covered by a blindfold, so naturally all he saw was darkness.

But he could feel that before waking he had apparently been licking something, saliva spreading all over the small area...

Du Shanü had already awakened from that bizarre, intertwining dream; she had been licked on the face for a while, and seeing Yu Baobao finally wake up, she let out a relieved sigh and chuckled softly:

"Yu Baobao, why aren't you licking anymore?"

Finally realizing what bad thing he had done, Yu Hen felt guilty, hastily and clumsily pulling the blanket over his chest with both hands, trying to pretend to sleep with a gurgling sound.

Ouyang Yan, who slept head-to-head with Du Shanü, let out a muffled chuckle and whispered softly:

"Your Majesty, pretending to sleep won't help; there's a wicked woman about, and if you just pretend to sleep, you'll eventually be devoured completely......"

How is it Ouyang Yan again, that big green tea!

Du Shanü hardened.

Her fists hardened.

She turned over, lifted her head, glanced around the somewhat dim room, then muttered softly:

"Why is everyone all neat and tidy today, none of them going to work?"

As soon as she said that, Du Shanü realized something was off.

On the thatched roof, the sound of rain pattered.

At first sparse, then dense, the grass soaked up water and some spots began to leak.

One drop fell to the ground, then another; the mud in the corner formed shallow pits, and the water seeped through the edges of the holes, dripping down.

The rain fell everywhere, and its sound echoed everywhere.

The small thatched hut shook in the wind and rain, about to collapse; evidently, not long after, their ground bedding would be flooded.

Du Shanü remained silent, realizing a major matter——

It's raining.

For ordinary households, a rainy day means a rare rest.

But for them, it means the situation will worsen further.

With each autumn rain comes a chill; the cooling ointment will likely not sell as well as it did the past few days, so the money they earn will decrease.

Earlier, when A Chou was drawing the map, Du Shanü had already noticed that this world's maps were somewhat odd; logically, the southwest of the Nine Provinces should be more fertile and hot land.

However, in the map A Chou gave her, the An Nan King's city and the neighboring Zhancheng were nothing but a stretch of yellow sand.

The land where Du Shanü's original body grew up was not as hot as the region she remembered from her previous life; instead, there was a definite winter and cold present.

Although rare, but every few years, one can indeed see snow.

In this dynasty, temperatures are changeable.

And they, as a group, are still at the beginning stage; even the leaky thatched hut is only one.

Should we repair it?

Or... should we, in one go, just replace it?

Ouyang Yan's murmured complaints still rang in her ears, but Du Shanü didn't hear a word.

She recalled the imposing county office in the county town; the spark that had already sprouted in her heart twitched, and she could no longer calm it.

Since she couldn't sleep anyway, Du Shanü sat up, intending to look for Chinu on the bamboo bed.

But in the next instant, she discovered something even more terrifying——

Chinu lay curled on the bed, face flushed, brows tightly knit, a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead, as if enduring great pain.

Du Shanü reached out, felt the other's forehead temperature, and finally accepted a fact she most did not want to accept......

Chinu had a fever.

Last night, only he did not sleep on the ground; one person, one bed, one set of blankets, so the chance of catching a chill was extremely low.

Probably, it was due to infection of his wounds causing a high fever.

Du Shanü clicked her tongue, made a swift decision, and kicked awake those under the bed:

"Wake up, wake up......"

"Go fix the water wheel, then continue grinding as much of the already-debittered acorns at home into flour as possible; I'll take Chinu to town."

Ouyang Yan had been talking for a while, but no one paid him any heed, and unaware that Chinu was ill, he naturally felt some discontent:

"It's raining like this; today probably no one will come to buy the cooling ointment......"

"Miss, you've truly been worn out these past few days; let us rest for a day."

Du Shanü remained silent, lowered her head slightly, and looked at Ouyang Yan.

She said nothing; her gaze swept over, not sharp, merely cool, like a pool of clear water in an ancient well—no ripples, yet it carried a bone‑chilling chill.

Ouyang Yan's tear‑brimming expression froze on his face; Du Shanü reached out and patted his cheek.

Her hand was somewhat cold; the beauty's face skin trembled slightly under the pat.

Neither light nor heavy, yet enough to strike.

In that instant, Ouyang Yan clearly felt a pressure more overbearing than a torrential rain.

Somewhat, somewhat similar to the aura Chinu had when she slapped him last night.

But Chinu's pressure carried detectable anger, resentment, and a hint of evil qi.

While the pressure of the person before her was only nonchalant, and......

a hint of a smile that is hard to read.

Du Shanü stared at him and lightly laughed:

"Ouyang Yan, right?"

"You still don't know my temper? No problem, I'll tell you——

"Don't veto my decision; this is the last value you have as a useless person."

?? Everyone says loving me is fake? As soon as there's a fee, almost no one is left o(╥﹏╥)o