Of Soil And Sovereign

The next morning, Mei and Mingde left after the usual breakfast, and they also cooked lunch to take with them, since they will not be having time to cook lunch today as she needed to finish the remaining millet and start harvesting the soy beans.

Mei wore her farming clothes, and today she wore a little scarf like cloth on her head to prevent plants from getting on. They picked up their tools and basket and left, they will harvest the remaining millet and then proceed with the legumes and call it a day. With plan set they started on the millet.

It was midday when they started on harvesting soybeans and they were very healthy and she couldn't wait to make tofu and soy milk she asked around and it seemed like tofu was not a thing here and was happy to be the first to introduce the recipe and decide what to do it later.

During lunch time, they sat under the tree to eat. Despite her desire to rest, She had a lot of harvest and half of the field still remaining. Mei was impressed and envious, as she observed her brother's impressive strength and stamina.

Now she regretted why she did not accept the steward's offer when he asked her to take some servants she refused because she did not have any place for them to sleep and she just wanted to be in their bubble for a while since she would move to the capital soon and will have lesser time to experience this.

But she forgot she was just a girl and even though she had the knowledge of plants and framing, she was not a farmer her strength was not that much and her hands were now red, They also moved in between the house and the farm taking the grain to the silo which made her more exhausted as the sun was too hot.

Luckily they had some weaved hut which helped them but she was very thirsty and moments like this made her wish she had a fridge as she desperately wished for a glass of cold water. Her brother noticing her situation, asked her to rest and suggested tomorrow they would hire some people to help with the harvest, as they still had the tubers to harvest as well.

Mei agreed on the second part to get someone to help, but for now, they needed to continue as it was almost the end of the day they continued till almost sunset, and with a heavy basket on her back and her shoes on her hands, they walked home.

Her legs had blisters from walking back and forth and the shoes were very uncomfortable to walk on and she drew some design and have it made her missed her slipper and plush teddy shoes she used to wear around her house once she settles she had a list of things to do and comfortable footwear was one of it.

In the palace, Xuan was reading the latest report on Mei. He knew it was hard for both of them to harvest everything on such a big farm. Mei was thin and her brother was young. Xuan wondered why she didn't accept help from the servants he offered. He respected her independence and admired her for doing things on her own. However, he wished she would accept help when offered.

Thinking about it, he blamed himself. Perhaps her forced independence made her prefer working alone; therefore, despite her and her brother's hardships these past two years, she never sought her grandfather's help.

She survived all those two years, and now that she was doing well, he will make sure she lacks nothing in this life. He will make sure she gets everything she desires for now, though he knew she did not probably want to. He would send her help. When he sent his guard to her residence to inquire from the steward why she did not take servants with her, he learnt she refused when the steward instructed her to take some servants with her.

He took a paper and wrote a letter to the steward, a letter to dispatch some men workers first thing the next day and ask his guard to deliver the letter.

Meanwhile, back in Li's household, Mei was exhausted and showering; she sat on the mat under the tree, leaning on a tree trunk; she wanted to cook but couldn't move a finger as tonight as she was exhausted. Mingde prepared porridge, and they enjoyed it along with the leftovers from today. He found his sister asleep on the tree trunk and feared she might catch a cold. He woke her up and asked her to go to bed. After she got into bed, he helped her cover up and then went to sleep himself, feeling exhausted. He promised to find some workers to assist them the next day and let her rest, as she seemed unwell.

A sense of déjà vu and severe stomach pain woke Mei. She woke up and head to the small latrine and luckily she found out that it was her periods this time. Now her moods and exhaustion earlier that day made complete sense.

Menstrual pain and problems was a common thing for women of all era whether past or present but at least in the modern era women had access to all type of painkiller and hygiene kit but it wasn't the same here and she felt bad for the woman of this era.

Her pain was terrible, so she went to the kitchen to heat some water and once she was done, she put it in some container and holding it on her against her abdomen and that made her better. She remember that in her three months here this was the first time she got her periods it and realized it was irregular.

Her brother hearing the noise woke up and found her on her bed in a bit of pain so he went to the kitchen and boiled her some warm water adding a bit sugar and brought it for her to drink, he took it to her and with thanks she took it drank the warm sugar water which made her feel warm and a bit better.