The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat

Chapter 392: Chapter 394: Found Something to Eat

After distributing the steamed buns, the eunuch shouldered his basket and left.

He went to report back to Xianfei.

After hearing his account, Xianfei let out a soft laugh.

"You did well. We must keep Princess Consort Zhao hungry."

Only by keeping her constantly hungry will she learn to be obedient.

...

Hua Manman hurried back to find Hua Qingqing and tell her to go get a steamed bun.

Xianfei had only forbidden her from eating, not Hua Qingqing.

Once Hua Qingqing got a bun, she could share it with her. That way, she’d still get to eat!

Hua Manman mentally high-fived herself for her cleverness.

Hua Qingqing went to the main hall as she was told, while Hua Manman stayed in the room to care for the Seventh Prince.

As Hua Manman waited with eager anticipation, Hua Qingqing finally returned.

However, her hands were empty; she hadn’t gotten anything.

Hua Manman shot to her feet. "You didn’t get a steamed bun?"

Hua Qingqing replied, "I got one, but the eunuch wouldn’t let me take it with me. He forced me to eat it on the spot. If I didn’t, he was going to take it back."

Hua Manman was furious.

’Damn it! What a low blow!’

Hua Manman pressed, "Did you eat the steamed bun?"

Hua Qingqing shook her head. "I didn’t. The eunuch took it away."

Hua Manman couldn’t understand. "Are you stupid? Why wouldn’t you eat when you had the chance?"

Hua Qingqing replied, "You’re still starving. How could I possibly eat?"

Hua Manman was speechless.

’Damn it! I’m actually touched.’

’But just a little bit!’

’Really, just a tiny bit!’

Hua Manman said awkwardly, "Don’t think I’ll be grateful just because you did that. I just think you’re an idiot. Turning down food when you have it. You might as well starve to death."

Hua Qingqing smiled and said optimistically,

"I just saw a lot of weeds growing in the courtyard. I’ll go take a look. Maybe I can find some edible wild vegetables among them."

Hua Manman asked the million-dollar question.

"Do you even know what wild vegetables look like?"

Hua Qingqing was speechless.

She really didn’t know what wild vegetables looked like.

As the eldest daughter of the Zhong’an Bo Mansion, even though she had lost her mother at a young age, she was protected by her grandmother, and her stepmother had never mistreated her in terms of daily life.

She had always been dressed in silks and fed with delicacies. Forget eating wild vegetables—she had never even seen what they looked like.

Hua Manman stood up and grumbled,

"I knew you were unreliable. You stay here. I’ll go look for wild vegetables."

Hua Qingqing was surprised. "You know what wild vegetables look like?"

The original owner of this body naturally wouldn’t know, but Hua Manman, who came from modern society, certainly did!

She used to live in the countryside with her maternal grandparents, and her grandfather would often take her up the mountains to play. Whether it was picking mushrooms, digging for bamboo shoots, or gathering wild vegetables and fruits, she had done it all with him.

Hua Manman pretended not to hear Hua Qingqing’s question and darted out the door to find food.

It was summer, and the weeds in the courtyard were growing especially lush. Nourished by yesterday’s heavy rain, they were nearly as tall as a person.

Hua Manman pushed aside the weeds and began to search carefully for anything edible.

Perhaps even the heavens didn’t want the female lead, Hua Qingqing, to starve to death, because Hua Manman smoothly found a large, green patch of shepherd’s purse.

She rolled up her sleeves and quickly began to pick the shepherd’s purse.

After working for a while, Hua Manman headed back, holding a large bundle of shepherd’s purse.

On her way, she ran into the Lady and the Sixth Prince, Li Yi.

Seeing that Hua Manman was apparently so hungry she had resorted to chewing on weeds, Li Yi couldn’t bear it and gave her one of his steamed buns.

"Here, eat this. Don’t eat the weeds."

The moment Hua Manman saw the steamed bun, her eyes lit up.

She asked in pleasant surprise, "Are you sure this is for me?"

Li Yi felt a little embarrassed under the gaze of her sparkling eyes.

He looked away uncomfortably and said in a low voice,

"You cooked glutinous rice balls for me before. Even though they weren’t as good as the ones my mother makes, I was still grateful. This steamed bun is my way of repaying you."

For the sake of the steamed bun, Hua Manman decided to overlook the slight disdain in his words.

She took the steamed bun, but instead of eating it right away, she tucked it into her robes.

"Thank you."

The Lady watched this unfold but did not intervene.

She knew that Princess Consort Zhao and Prince Zhao had a good relationship. Showing kindness to the Princess Consort was tantamount to currying favor with the Prince.

Hua Manman took the shepherd’s purse to the small kitchen.

Chaoyang Palace came with its own small kitchen, but since it hadn’t been used in a long time, the stove was covered in a thick layer of dust, and the pots had rusted.

Hua Manman found bowls, chopsticks, a copper pot, and an earthenware jar in the cupboard.

She washed everything, including the shepherd’s purse, with well water. Then she filled the earthenware jar with water and put it on the stove to boil.

Hua Manman poured the boiled water into the copper pots, filling two of them to the brim.

She delivered one pot of hot water to the Lady and carried the other, along with the shepherd’s purse, back to her room.

Hua Qingqing was pleasantly surprised to see her return laden with goods.

"You really found food."

Hua Manman placed the copper pot on the table and grinned smugly.

"It was nothing for me."

The two of them ate the shepherd’s purse with the steamed bun.

They split the single bun in half, one for each of them.

With no proper pot or seasonings, they had to eat the shepherd’s purse raw.

Fortunately, the shepherd’s purse was fresh and tender enough that it wasn’t bad even without seasoning.

After finishing the bun and the shepherd’s purse and drinking a bowl of hot water, Hua Manman was finally no longer hungry.

Hua Qingqing held the Seventh Prince with one arm while carefully helping him drink some water.

Perhaps because he hadn’t had any water for a long time, the Seventh Prince was very thirsty. He didn’t need any coaxing and immediately opened his mouth, gulping down the water. He was even more obedient than usual.

After giving him water, Hua Qingqing still had to nurse him.

Hua Manman cleared the empty bowls from the table, planning to go outside again to see if she could find any other edible food. At the same time, she wanted to survey the surroundings and look for a chance to escape.

She first wandered around the front courtyard, then went to the back.

There was a well in the backyard.

This well had left a deep impression on Hua Manman.

She had been thrown into this very well by Yin Meiren and had nearly drowned. Fortunately, a kind young palace maid had saved her.

Next to it was a flower house.

But due to years of neglect, the flower house had mostly collapsed, and the flowers and plants inside were all overgrown with weeds.

Walking further on, she could see two apricot trees, their branches heavy with clusters of ripe apricots.

The moment Hua Manman saw the bright yellow apricots, her eyes lit up.

’Found more food!’

She glanced left and right, and after confirming no one was around, she used her Qinggong. With a single leap, she flew as nimbly as a swallow into the apricot tree.

She casually plucked an apricot, peeled off the skin, and revealed the orange-yellow flesh inside.

She took a bite. It was soft and incredibly sweet!

Hua Manman couldn’t resist picking a few more, eating while she surveyed her surroundings.

The apricot tree she was in was very tall. Taking advantage of the height, she could see the situation outside Chaoyang Palace.