Rocked in a carriage, they made their way along the winding mountain path.
The scene outside reflected the height of autumn, a stark contrast to the lower-altitude capital nestled in its basin. The leaves no longer held the verdant green of summer. The wind that swept through was chilly, and from time to time, the mountain pass was shrouded in mist.
“Ugh… sniff… why am I even here?”
It had been about two days since Fei-ling and Lan-xin had left the harem. During this time, Lan-xin had cried incessantly, lamenting her desire to return to the palace.
“Because there’s a plague! They say every official who caught it in Wangqi Village has died! I don’t want to die yet!”
“Don’t worry. I will prepare the medicine properly.”
“How can you ask me to feel safe when catching it is almost a given at this point!”
Lan-xin wrapped herself in her shawl like a cocoon, resembling a silkworm. Fei-ling let out a heavy sigh.
“Helping others often comes with risks.”
As they exited the mountain pass, the driver informed them, “We’ll soon arrive at Wangqi Village.”
The carriage slowed as they approached the village, revealing scattered houses in the distance. Villagers crowded around the carriage, staring at them with curious eyes.
The people looked uniformly emaciated. Though Fei-ling had heard rumors of poor harvests, the emperor had not mentioned any famine severe enough to cause such visible hardship. Yet, judging by the villagers’ appearance, the situation seemed more dire than expected.
Fei-ling alighted first. Chanting “Helping others, helping others” as if to steel her resolve, Lan-xin hesitantly followed.
“You’re dressed oddly… Are you travelers?”
An elderly man, likely a farmer, called out to them.
“Listen, I’m warning you. You’d best camp outside the village. There’s a strange plague here in Wangqi. And with the famine, we’ve no food to spare for outsiders.”
“Thank you for your concern, but we’ll be fine.”
Fei-ling smiled gently at the kind farmer before offering a formal bow.
“I am a court physician. I’ve come from the capital to investigate the illness spreading in Wangqi Village and to prepare medicine for the afflicted.”
At this, the villagers fell silent for a moment.
“…What did you say?”
The elderly farmer’s face froze in astonishment, then twisted in anger.
“A doctor? Don’t mock us!”
His demeanor shifted violently as he raised his voice. Other villagers joined in, shouting furiously. Some even picked up stones and threw them at the carriage.
“What’s the use of a doctor now?!”
“They send a young girl like you?! The government clearly doesn’t care about us!”
The ferocity of their outrage left Fei-ling momentarily stunned.
What in the world was going on?
“This isn’t right! We’re here to help! We should be welcomed with gratitude, not have stones thrown at us!”
Amid the chaos, the driver hastily whipped the horses, urging the carriage to move. Lan-xin clung to it in a panic.
“Wait! You’re not leaving us here, are you?!”
“I’ll return in ten days, as agreed. That is, if neither of you has been infected by then,” the driver said coldly, disappearing into the distance.
Left behind, Lan-xin looked as though she might faint, while Fei-ling remained composed.
“Calm down. First, let’s understand what’s happening here. Why are you all so angry?”
There was no way to act without understanding the situation.
“Don’t play dumb with us!”
The elderly farmer spat on the ground.
“Even if you’re a doctor, there’s nothing you can do. This is… a curse.”
“A curse?”
Fei-ling chuckled softly, her expression incredulous.
“There’s no such thing as curses. Only poison. And if it’s poison, I can cure it.”
Be it malice or deathly impurities, such things were merely toxins—and toxins could be neutralized. Fei-ling was certain of this and resolved to prove it.
Her unwavering green eyes silenced the villagers momentarily.
“…Even with medicine, we’ll starve come winter. Maybe those bedridden with the plague are the lucky ones—they can at least die in their sleep.”
But their despair was deeply rooted. Their sunken eyes and gaunt cheeks betrayed a chronic lack of sustenance.
“Let me see the patients,” Fei-ling requested.
“Go play doctor somewhere else, little girl,” the farmer scoffed, dismissing her.
Clearly, she was being underestimated. But after years of scorn in the palace, Fei-ling was not one to be deterred by mere contempt.
“Then at least let me inspect the fields,” she insisted.
“The fields?”
If the plague stemmed from environmental toxins, it would likely be linked to the adverse weather that had caused the famine.
“You must be some noble, huh? Your clothes give you away. People like you could never understand the lives we live. Looking at our fields won’t change a thing.”
Without a word, Fei-ling shrugged off her outer cloak and began untying her sash. Her layered robe slipped open, exposing her bare skin.
“Wha—?! What are you doing?!”
“Lend me clothes made of hemp,” she demanded.
“Huh?”
“If my attire offends you so much that you won’t even speak to me, I’ll change into clothing like yours.”
The women around her turned pale. They understood the gravity of a noblewoman undressing in such a place. Indeed, Fei-ling trembled slightly—not from the cold, but from the sheer resolve it took.
“Stubborn girl, aren’t you? Fine, follow me. Not that looking at the fields will do you any good,” the farmer relented.
“Thank you.”
After retying her sash and throwing her cloak back on, Fei-ling followed the farmer along a forested path.
The autumn foliage suggested a year of relatively stable weather—neither excessive drought nor unrelenting rain. Crops and leaves were nourished by the same soil and climate, so the harvest shouldn’t have been as catastrophic as it seemed.
(And yet, they’re certain they’ll starve this winter. Why?)
Emerging from the forest, they were greeted by a stunning landscape of terraced fields bathed in the glow of the setting sun. The intricate patterns of the terraces evoked a sense of agricultural artistry.
Yet the fields lay barren. Instead of golden rice ready for harvest, or even the stubble of post-harvest stalks, the terraces were covered in white.
“Is that… snow?” Lan-xin tilted her head in confusion.
The fields shimmered like they were frozen by unseasonal frost. But Fei-ling instinctively knew it wasn’t snow.
At that moment, a flock of birds rose from the white-covered fields. Their fiery red plumage and iron-like beaks marked them as a species rarely seen in the capital—sparrows that nested near quartz mines.
(If fire sparrows are gathering here, then…)
“This is quartz sand… But why?”
Though tales spoke of white quartz deserts in distant lands, this was a mountain foothill where fertile soil should have thrived.
“Around summer, there was an earthquake,” the farmer explained. “After that, everything turned to this. The rice all withered, roots and all.”
The earthquake had destroyed their crops, leaving them with no harvest this autumn. Worse yet, taxes had increased. When they petitioned for relief, they were ordered to provide yams instead of grains. Surrendering the few yams they had left them with no reserves to survive the winter.
“The emperor and his court eat every day like kings, but we’re the ones who grow the food. They don’t understand a thing about what we go through,” the farmer lamented, his bearded face twisting with bitterness.
Fei-ling’s thoughts darkened.
Though the court claimed to face financial hardship, the palace continued to expand its harem and host lavish seasonal banquets. The source of this wealth had been a mystery—until now.
(They’re funding it by squeezing the people dry.)
She bit her lip.
(But I cannot change the way the empire is governed. All I can do is fulfill my duty here.)
Looking at the starving villagers, Fei-ling felt a spark of doubt.
“…That’s strange. There’s plenty of food here.”
“What did you say?”
The farmer’s brows shot up in anger.
“Where do you see food, huh? You’ve been talking like you know everything, but you’re just a little girl!”
As he pointed to the sand-smothered fields in frustration, Fei-ling gestured toward the forest with a defiant smile.
“I may be just a girl, but I am a food physician. Let me prepare a meal—just one—for you to see.”
