Su Ying blanked for a second. She looked at the little one's pitiful face. Ling didn't look happy at all, even after eating meat.
"I'm not injured. The blood on my face is the tiger's." Su Ying wiped her face and realized that it was sticky. She couldn't stand it, either.
Xiao Jin frowned slightly. "Stay away from the children." His slightly cold tone showed obvious displeasure.
For the sake of the children, Su Ying didn't argue with him. She stuffed the meat into Jiang Yang's hands and turned around to look for water to wash her face.
There was a stream not far from the flat slope where they rested. Su Ying squatted on the bank and washed her face. When she felt her sticky hair and smelled the stench of sweat on her body, she couldn't help but jump into the stream for a bath and wash her clothes.
After she got out of the water, she went back into the interspace and dried herself with the dryer before returning to the flat slope.
It was already dawn. All prisoners were given a piece of meat and ate it with dry food rations.
Ever since they were exiled, they never tasted meat. The tiger meat was simply roasted, but to these men, it was the most delicious food in the world.
"What are you doing? Don't take my meat! That meat is mine! Ah!"
A petite and unkempt woman in tattered clothes fell at Su Ying's feet.
"You, you can't snatch my meat..." Even though she had fallen, the woman staggered up and tried to snatch the meat back. But the other person had long run away.
Su Ying had never been a busybody, but the person on the ground looked familiar.
She thought for a moment, then reached out and pulled her up from the ground.
"Ah, don't touch me!" The woman had a big reaction. She almost jumped up from the ground and pushed Su Ying away.
"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."
Hearing Su Ying's voice, the woman was stunned for a moment. She turned around and looked straight at Su Ying, "Prin… Princess…"
Su Ying stared at her face. It was too dirty, and she only recognized the woman after a long while - her maid, Bai Shuang.
"Bai Shuang?"
Seeing that Su Ying had recognized her, Bai Shuang smiled. "It's me. It's me."
In Su Ying's memories, Bai Shuang had served her since she was young and was genuinely loyal to her. After she married Xiao Jin, Bai Shuang followed her to Prince Qi's residence and privately advised her to try and live a happy life with Xiao Jin.
However, her brain wasn't working well then, so she didn't listen to anything other people said and focused only on Xiao Jue.
"Are you alone? Where's Mama Zhao?" Mama Zhao was her nanny, and she had also followed her to Prince Qi's residence.
Hearing this, Bai Shuang's eyes reddened, and she choked: "Mama Zhao, she... She's dying..."
Bai Shuang and Mama Zhao were the only people in the Prime Minister's residence who were faithful to her. Hearing Bai Shuang's words, Su Ying felt a little suffocated. Perhaps this was the only emotion left in the body's original owner's conscience.
"Where is she? Take me to her."
Bai Shuang nodded. Mama Zhao doted on the Princess, so she could rest without regret if she could see the Princess one last time before she passed away.
Su Ying found out from Bai Shuang that she had been searching for Su Ying's whereabouts with Mama Zhao on the way. However, Mama Zhao fell sick not long after setting off and was dying by now.
Mama Zhao was placed under a big tree by Bai Shuang. If one did not look closely, one could hardly see the rise and fall of her chest. She looked like she was dead.
Mama Zhao was always a kind old lady in Su Ying's memories. Her smile was very similar to her mother's. But now, she was so thin that she was only skin and bones.
"Mama Zhao, wake up. I've found the Princess. The Princess is here to see you. Quickly wake up and have a look."
Mama Zhao seemed to have heard Bai Shuang's words. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at Su Ying.
"P-Princess ..."
Su Ying looked at the barely breathing Mama Zhao and suddenly thought of her own mother, who had fallen in her arms.
She subconsciously held onto Mama Zhao's hand. "Nan, don't be afraid. I will get you well again."
Mama Zhao looked at Su Ying and smiled in relief. But her eyelids gradually closed.
Su Ying's heart trembled. She had already seen her mother leave her. She couldn't let the same thing happen again!
Su Ying started to examine Mama Zhao. After the apocalypse, the practice of medicine was pushed to an extreme. Even Traditional Chinese Medicine had a huge breakthrough. She had been learning both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Modern Medicine since she was young and had equal proficiency in both.
She took Mama Zhao's pulse and quickly found the issue based on the pulse condition.
"It's pneumonia." It was dire. Fortunately, Mama Zhao's heart was still beating. She was only in shock temporarily.
After Su Ying was sure of her condition, she stood up and entered her interspace. She was holding a syringe and some medicine when she came out again.
"Bai Shuang, go get some water."
Bai Shuang got up and left without any hesitation.
Su Ying took the opportunity to inject the medicine into Mama Zhao. Then, she fed her some other drugs and nutrient fluid.
In this group of exiles that could consume people, the old, the weak, the women, and the children were the first to fall. It was a very tough achievement that Mama Zhao and Bai Shuang survived until now.
When Bai Shuang brought the water back, Su Ying had already finished everything.
She took a sip, then got up and asked Bai Shuang to help Mama Zhao up so she could carry her on her back.
"Princess, let, let this servant do it. Your body is precious ..."
Su Ying immediately carried Mama Zhao on her back. "You don't look much heavier than Mama Zhao. How can you carry her? Let me, and come."
Bai Shuang looked at Su Ying's light steps and was astonished.
She had been too nervous and didn't notice the change in Su Ying. Now that she looked at the Princess again, she still looked the same as before, but her words and actions were like a completely different person. In the past, the Princess was too weak to carry things on her shoulders or hands, let alone carry a person on her back effortlessly.
As expected, hardships made people grow. Bai Shuang attributed Su Ying's change to the difficulties she had faced during her exile, which gave Su Ying an excellent reason to explain her differences.
When Xiao Jin saw Su Ying return with Bai Shuang and Mama Zhao on her back, his brows furrowed slightly.
He knew the two. They had always been loyal to Su Ying.
Su Ying placed Mama Zhao on the ground and gave Bai Shuang a piece of tiger meat. "Eat. You'll only have the energy to travel if you eat."
Bai Shuang looked at the meat and did not take it. "I'm not hungry. Please keep it for yourself, Princess."
Su Ying pointed at the tiger's skeleton. "Did you see that big tiger last night? I killed it. That bag there is filled with its meat, enough for me to eat."
Bai Shuang was stunned again. She knew that a white tiger ran out last night, but because they were far away, she did not know who killed it, except a demon out of hell."
She had never thought that the demon would be Su Ying.