The farmers’ market had been calm for nearly an hour when a squad of knights wearing the Phoenix Emblem entered in formation.
The vendors, usually brimming with enthusiasm for customers, were all intimidated by the knights’ imposing presence and didn’t dare breathe too loudly.
They’d heard that a new lord had arrived recently, and from now on, their taxes would go directly to this person. But the new lord had yet to show their face, so many people doubted the truth of the rumors.
Now, seeing the dazzling Phoenix Emblem shining so brightly, everyone finally felt a tangible sense that the new lord had truly arrived.
What kind of person was this new lord? According to sailors, when the lord of neighboring Hongye Province took office, taxes were immediately raised by thirty percent. Many people begged the sailors to help smuggle them out to other places.
Of course, if they were going to be smuggled, they wouldn’t come here.
What would they even come here for? For the endless hills of Guazui Gu, perhaps?
Sigh, if their new lord also wanted to raise taxes, they’d probably have to ask their sailor friends to smuggle them out too. But everywhere was the same—where could they even go?
Living was truly hard!
While everyone silently lamented in their hearts, the leading knight dismounted, took off his helmet, and scanned the crowd, searching for their target.
The vegetable stalls in the farmers’ market were in disarray, so even though the leading knight had sharp eyes, it was hard to spot the person they were looking for.
As he led his men deeper into the market, the market manager hurried over.
The manager bobbed his head and asked anxiously, “What can I do for you, sirs? I’ll have someone bring it right away!”
The leading knight said, “We’re looking for a vendor selling Guazui Gu.”
The vendors nearby, who had been eavesdropping, erupted in whispered discussion—
“I told you, that stuff should never be sold!”
“He tricked that noble lady, and now they’ve sent people to arrest him and throw him in jail!”
“Poor kid, I bet he’s in for it!”
The market manager’s head buzzed as he shouted, “Who’s the scoundrel selling Guazui Gu?!”
Everyone rushed to distance themselves: “Not us!” “It’s nothing to do with us!” “We’d never do something so heartless!”
One vendor, jealous that the boy had gotten a Silver Coin, immediately pointed him out with glee: “Over here, over here, he’s the one who tricked the noble lady!”
Thanks to the other vendors retreating in unison like a receding tide, the leading knight easily spotted the boy.
The boy was extremely nervous, sweat pouring down his forehead in fat drops. He was terrified that the Silver Coin in his pocket would get him into big trouble. On the verge of tears, he stammered, “I-I didn’t cheat anyone. I said you didn’t need to pay that much. Really, I wasn’t lying.”
Gold Coins and Silver Coins were only used by nobles; for ordinary folks, Copper Coins were enough—after all, it took a thousand Copper Coins to exchange for a single Silver Coin!
Seeing that the boy was only twelve or thirteen, the leading knight’s stern face softened considerably. He walked up to the boy, gave him a knight’s salute, and said, “You don’t need to be afraid. I’m under orders from the lord to go home with you and collect the Guazui Gu that the lord pre-ordered.”
After Lord’s Deputy Mei Yin understood the situation, she realized the boy hadn’t intentionally tricked their Highness into buying inferior grain at a high price. So, following the Highness’s instructions, she sent them to fulfill the transaction.
The boy was stunned.
The other vendors were stunned as well.
What? That girl who looked only a bit over ten was their new lord?
The vendors who had tried to trick Jiang Zhuozhuo into buying low-quality vegetables at a high price sucked in a sharp breath and quietly hid at the back of the crowd, doing their best to be invisible.
Fortunately, the knights weren’t interested in them. They led the boy out of the farmers’ market, letting him walk in front to guide the way.
The boy glanced enviously at the winged horses they rode, but quickly looked away, not daring to stare.
Only high-ranking knights were qualified to ride these horses. Not only could they easily carry a thousand pounds and gallop across land, but when needed, they could also sprout wings and fly.
They couldn’t maintain flight for long, but it was enough for emergencies.
How he wished he could take the Knight Academy entrance exam.
Thinking of his sick mother, the light that had just brightened in the boy’s eyes dimmed again. He was the man of the house—he had to take care of his mother and wait with her for his father to return.
Hugging the bag of Guazui Gu he’d brought to sell, the boy straightened his small back and led the knights on their way.
Meanwhile, Jiang Zhuozhuo was grilling fish with Mei Yin.
She had already found substitutes for grilling spices and lemon, and was ready to give Mei Yin a little culinary surprise.
The fish had been cleaned by the kitchen staff, and Jiang Zhuozhuo watched them gut the fish, commenting to Mei Yin, “Their teeth are huge! Looks like they could bite right through a person’s palm!”
Mei Yin replied, “That’s why most people don’t eat them. Not only are they fierce, but they also have a nasty fishy smell.”
Jiang Zhuozhuo said confidently, “No problem, these little issues can be solved. The fish I grill won’t have any fishy taste!”
Mei Yin always encouraged whatever Jiang Zhuozhuo wanted to do, smiling as she said, “Then I’ll have to learn from Your Highness.”
Jiang Zhuozhuo wasn’t very fond of moving around, but her hands-on skills were decent. After getting the fish from the kitchen, she went to the garden to start her grilling project.
The fish wasn’t too old; the flesh looked quite tender.
Jiang Zhuozhuo enthusiastically massaged the fish with her homemade sauce, then skillfully flipped them over the fire, basting them with seasoning as she turned them.
Mei Yin wasn’t idle either, helping Jiang Zhuozhuo with the preparations.
Before long, the aroma of grilled fish wafted through the garden.
Mei Yin considered herself someone who could withstand temptation, but the overwhelming fragrance that drifted to her nose had her stomach rumbling. It smelled so good!
By the time the fish was ready to eat, the sun was setting behind the castle, and the evening light shone on the two golden grilled fish, as if coating them with a tempting layer of gold.
They looked even more delicious.
Jiang Zhuozhuo had been busy adapting to her new body these past few days and hadn’t complained about the bland food.
Now, after working hard and finally smelling real food, she was nearly moved to tears.
People really do need to eat well to live up to this life.
No matter how bad things were in the past, whenever there was a holiday, Grandma would always make her a few special seasonal dishes. Unfortunately, before she could get into college, Grandma had already passed away.
Before she died, Grandma’s biggest worry was Jiang Zhuozhuo. She held her hand all night, whispering over and over for her to take care of herself.
Sadly, Jiang Zhuozhuo hadn’t lived up to Grandma’s expectations. Whenever she felt unhappy, she’d just stay up all night playing games—sigh!
Jiang Zhuozhuo took a bite of her own grilled fish. As the hot, fragrant meat entered her mouth, all her worries melted away. She ate several bites before eagerly asking Mei Yin, “Mei Yin, do you think it tastes good?”
She’d eaten a few meals here and couldn’t help but wonder if people here had different taste buds from her own.
After all, they could switch between human and bird forms—wouldn’t it be strange if their sense of taste wasn’t different from Earth’s?
Mei Yin’s table manners were always refined. From childhood, she’d been trained to finish even the worst food with grace.
Likewise, even if she encountered something truly delicious, Mei Yin would only take a few extra bites without anyone noticing—she’d never gobble it down like a starving ghost.
When Jiang Zhuozhuo asked, Mei Yin swallowed her bite of fish and sincerely praised, “It’s delicious. Even in the Royal Capital, you wouldn’t find grilled fish this good.”
She wasn’t just saying that. The Royal Capital Maid Academy was a top-tier school, and as an honor student, Mei Yin had attended many events and tasted most of the Royal Capital’s famous dishes.
It was precisely because she’d seen the scheming beneath the glamorous surface that she chose to follow Jiang Zhuozhuo to this remote province as a lord’s deputy.
A senior who’d graduated from their academy had once told her: If you want to stay here, be ready to sell your soul.
Mei Yin thought that was right.
With Mei Yin’s approval, Jiang Zhuozhuo happily finished the whole fish, then—poof—transformed into a little round bird, rolling into a fluffy ball and tumbling across the lawn.
Mei Yin couldn’t help but ask, “Your Highness, what are you doing?”
Jiang Zhuozhuo replied, “Chirp chirp chirp chirp (exercising)!”
“Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp (life is about movement)!”
Mei Yin: .
Mei Yin gazed at the evening glow and felt she’d spent a luxurious day—she hadn’t done any office work for most of it.
She was about to suggest ending the grilling session when she saw Jiang Zhuozhuo lying motionless in the sunset, only her bird belly rising and falling with her breath.
Looking at that, Mei Yin couldn’t help but have a rather irreverent thought: she wanted to poke it.
Mei Yin squatted beside Jiang Zhuozhuo and asked, “Your Highness, are you tired?”
Jiang Zhuozhuo said, “Sunbathing!” She turned her shiny black eyes to Mei Yin. “Want to join me? I haven’t seen your original form yet!”
Mei Yin was very conscious of her image and rarely transformed into her bird form in front of others.
As for lying on the grass in the sun like Jiang Zhuozhuo—she’d never done that. If her old classmates knew, they’d laugh at her for sure.
But under Jiang Zhuozhuo’s sparkling gaze, Mei Yin couldn’t help herself and transformed into a snowy white owl.
Her feathers were flawless, like snow on a mountain reflecting the morning sun.
Jiang Zhuozhuo bounced up, circling Mei Yin again and again, showering her with compliments.
In the end, the big and small birds lay side by side on the winter-yellow grass, basking in the brief sunset and chirping to each other now and then.
That night, Jiang Zhuozhuo slept soundly.
She slept until she woke up naturally.
Before she could sigh about how nice it was to be a well-fed, lazy fish, Mei Yin came looking for her.
And brought her a class schedule.
A class schedule?!
Jiang Zhuozhuo couldn’t believe it.
She’d crossed into another world—why did she still have to go to class!
Mei Yin spoke gently to reassure her, “It’s just some Continent General Knowledge classes. They’re very simple. I’m sure Your Highness will pick them up in no time.”
Given that Jiang Zhuozhuo had bought a bunch of barely edible Guazui Gu yesterday, Mei Yin thought it was necessary to arrange a general knowledge class for her.
The Phoenix Tribe had a unique trait: they spent a very long time in the egg, during which all sorts of knowledge would be infused into them.
By the time a young phoenix hatched, they’d already inherited their Ancestors’ knowledge. In theory, they could manage the entire empire right away.
But there were always exceptions, and Jiang Zhuozhuo was that exception.
As mentioned before, she was a silly bird.
So far, Jiang Zhuozhuo had only received language knowledge—she could read, listen, speak, and write, but nothing more.
She had to learn!
Once Jiang Zhuozhuo understood what she’d be studying, she didn’t object to Mei Yin’s curriculum.
Now, there was only one problem left…
“Learning Continent General Knowledge is fine, but why do classes start at eight in the morning?”
Early morning classes—not even a dog would choose them!
The little round bird was furious.