'It's not even certain they'll get to see anyone, and even if I tried, Fourth Granny would never agree to leave. My body is too small right now, my pocket dimension hasn't been developed, and I haven't fully recovered my strength.'
'I could handle a low-level assassin, no problem. Even against a high-level one, I could protect myself. But if I had to get someone else out... in my current state, I couldn't guarantee their safety.'
"Make way, make way…"
A sudden commotion erupted from the crowd as Government Officials began pushing back the onlookers.
Fourth Granny and Ye Qianning were pushed to the very front by the surging crowd. She was so small that her entire view was a forest of squeezing legs, making Ye Qianning want to stab them all with a poison needle.
"Hey, stop pushing!"
Fourth Granny steadied herself, then bent down and lifted Ye Qianning into her arms with some effort.
Only then could Ye Qianning see what was happening. A line of Government Officials stood guard while a man at the front posted a notice on a wooden board. The script was traditional and hastily scrawled; she could barely recognize a few of the characters.
After staring at it for a while, she managed to guess the gist of it. It seemed to be a request for a doctor…
"This illness of Princess Changyang's is so strange."
"I know, right? I heard even the Imperial Physicians are helpless."
"The doctor from Chongde Pharmacy went to see her the day before yesterday. Not only did he fail to cure her, but he got a harsh beating for his trouble and nearly lost his life."
"Is that so? Who would dare to accept the notice now…?"
The crowd buzzed with discussion.
The mention of medicine immediately piqued Ye Qianning's interest. 'For people with special abilities like us, the very first subject in our special training—designed to enhance our bodies and extend our lives—was medicine.'
"Excuse me, Mister, what does the notice say?" Ye Qianning asked, patting the shoulder of the young man next to her with her small hand.
The young man turned to see an adorable child, and his heart softened. He replied in a gentle voice, "The Commandery Princess of the Changyang Prince Mansion has fallen ill with a strange disease. They're offering a huge reward for a doctor."
"What kind of strange disease is it?" Ye Qianning asked, tilting her head.
"We don't know exactly what makes it so strange, only that she's supposedly covered in rashes," the young man said.
'Rashes?'
Ye Qianning considered this. 'If I cure the Commandery Princess, I should be able to secure the protection of the Prince Mansion for a while. Even if that deadbeat dad of mine wants to kill us to silence us, he wouldn't dare make a move inside the Prince Mansion.'
'I just need to buy enough time for my body to fully recover. Besides…curing an illness is a good thing, right? It would count as a good deed, I suppose…'
"There are so many people."
Fourth Granny looked back. They were stuck right at the front, and she worried they'd have to wait for the crowd to thin out before they could leave.
"Fourth Granny, I know how to cure the Commandery Princess's illness," Ye Qianning whispered, leaning close to her ear.
"Don't be silly. Didn't you hear? Even the Imperial Physicians are helpless." Fourth Granny simply dismissed it as childish nonsense.
"It's true! It's just a rash. Back in Nanyuan, all the children used to get rashes."
"The children back home are hardy. How can you compare them to a Commandery Princess?"
"We're all human, aren't we? What's the difference? I remember when Er Bao got a rash, I was the one who dug up herbs for him," Ye Qianning said, trying to convince Fourth Granny to accept the notice.
"Don't think for a second I don't know what happened. Er Bao was covered in rashes because you dared him to go look for wild boars on the mountain! He ended up getting chased all over the place and came back with an allergic reaction after running through a patch of nettles." Fourth Granny couldn't help but smile at the memory.
'Is that so?'
Ye Qianning had conveniently forgotten that part of the story. "Well, Er Bao got better in the end, didn't he?" she grumbled. "Just trust me, Fourth Granny. There's a hundred taels of Gold for curing the Commandery Princess!"
Fourth Granny laughed. "And a beating if you can't. Now stop making a fuss."
"So what if we get a beating? If I cure her, we get a hundred taels of Gold!" Ye Qianning insisted, struggling to be put down.
Fourth Granny was already having trouble holding her. When the girl's chubby body twisted, she hugged her even tighter.