The next few days passed peacefully enough.
The Marquis's Residence seemed to have excellent discipline. Along the way, aside from the Heir threatening Chen Shiyi a few times and Miss Wen voicing her suspicions a few times, no one discussed her any further.
Perhaps they were tired. Perhaps they felt that, having fallen into such a state, there was no point in saying more.
She was sitting beside the fire, just about to doze off, when the corner of her eye caught sight of an escort officer.
He was speaking quietly with another officer, his gaze repeatedly sweeping toward the people from the Wen family.
His eyes were filled with greed and scheming.
Chen Shiyi felt somewhat uneasy.
Should she warn the Heir? After all, if something happened to them, she would be implicated as well.
The spring rain had continued to fall in a fine drizzle, showing no sign of stopping.
On the road to exile, everyone had caught a cold to some degree.
A cold depended on the person. Take her, for example: she had never spent a single copper coin on medicine. She would simply bounce around for a while, work up a sweat, and recover.
But the members of the Marquis's Residence, who had been accustomed to fine clothes and rich food, had one after another fallen ill.
This was not a good sign.
She had heard the Wen family's Second Young Master say that they were now more than four hundred li from the capital, meaning they had covered roughly half the journey.
Their next resting place was Panshui Station.
This was the first post station they had encountered on the road to exile.
Its blue bricks and gray tiles looked bleak and desolate. Only a few officers remained to guard the station. When they saw the newcomers, they stayed lazily where they were, without even bothering to move.
The officers escorting the prisoners seemed accustomed to this. They merely assigned everyone a place to rest, left two men behind to keep watch, and went off to rest themselves.
Chen Shiyi followed the people from the Marquis's Residence into a low, old building. Inside was a row of connected wooden sleeping platforms large enough for many people.
At last, they had a place with a roof over their heads.
She went to take some hot water from the pot over the fire. As she was walking back, she reached a corner of the wall and found an escort officer blocking her path.
“You. Come here.”
Chen Shiyi did not understand.
When she drew closer, the officer gave an insidious smile and leaned in to whisper.
“Unlock your chains and listen to me. Go and secretly call out the young lady you’ve been following. Don’t alert anyone. If you complete the task, I’ll give you ten copper coins.”
Chen Shiyi’s mind went blank for a moment. Then she deliberately raised her voice.
“What do you want with Miss Wen?”
The officer’s face darkened.
This woman was an absolute fool. With her shouting so loudly, how could he possibly make a move?
The prisoners’ room was right beside them. There was a good chance everyone inside had heard.
Although they were already outside the capital’s jurisdiction and sleeping with a female prisoner would not be considered a serious matter, his superior had already ordered them not to touch her.
It was just that Miss Wen was exceptionally beautiful, with a graceful figure and a slender waist as delicate as a willow in the wind. He had been coveting her for a long time.
He was furious. He pointed viciously at Chen Shiyi, then hurriedly retreated to the side.
Chen Shiyi let out a sigh of relief. Her legs felt weak, and she quickly returned to the room.
As soon as she entered, everyone from the Wen family looked up at her. Their expressions held confusion, suspicion, resentment, calmness, and more.
Chen Shiyi did not sleep on the shared platform. She lowered her head and shrank into a corner, not daring to say a word.
She had only just closed her eyes and pretended to sleep when she heard footsteps stop in front of her.
She opened her eyes and saw the Heir sitting beside her. With the shackles on his body, he leaned against the wall. His ink-black hair drooped over his neck and shoulders. His features were weary, but his gaze remained keen.
“You’re very clever.”
Chen Shiyi wondered how she ought to respond. She could say something modest, such as that she was not so clever. Or she could say there was no need to thank her. Alternatively, she could say that she had now chosen to stand with him and that he would have to protect her from then on.
Yet somehow, the words that came out of her mouth were completely wrong.
“You’re wearing shackles and can’t undo them. What do you do when you need to relieve yourself?”
The moment she said it, Chen Shiyi felt as though some mischievous spirit had possessed her. She was spouting nothing but nonsense.
Wen Zhiheng froze when he heard her. A trace of awkwardness appeared on his face, but vanished in an instant.
Above her, his warm, husky voice sounded.
“What? You want to see?”
Chen Shiyi buried her face in her arms and did not dare say anything.
Before long, the faint sound of chains dragging arose beside her and moved toward the door.
Wen Zhiheng walked into the courtyard. The fine rain was still falling outside, dampening his shoulders once more.
At last, the officer in charge arrived.
The officer’s expression was calm, and there was a faint, mocking smile at the corner of his mouth that he did not dare reveal too openly. His appearance was rather bizarre.
“What business does the Heir have with Lord Hu?”
Wen Zhiheng’s manner was neither servile nor overbearing, and his eyes were indifferent.
“I’m truly sorry to disturb Lord Hu so late at night. However, I hope Lord Hu will keep his subordinates under control. If anything happens to my family, Lord Hu will suffer the consequences as well, and that would be unfortunate.”
Hearing Wen Zhiheng’s threat, Lord Hu laughed disdainfully.
“Watch your tone, Heir. You are now a prisoner exiled by His Majesty’s personal decree. You are no longer the lofty Heir of the Marquis's Residence. The fact that I still address you as ‘Heir’ is already showing you more than enough respect.”
Wen Zhiheng was not angered. He continued in the same unhurried tone.
“Other prisoners being escorted are chained several people to a single chain, whereas we are allowed to move about separately as we please. My maidservant merely did one insignificant thing, yet she was able to have both her hand and foot shackles removed. I imagine no other prisoner has ever received such treatment, have they?”
Officer Hu folded his arms tightly, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
“I’m glad you understand.”
“So the man who just made those outrageous remarks must die.”
Officer Hu’s expression immediately turned grave.
“You don’t get to interfere in matters here. I’ve already taken a risk by granting your entire family special treatment. If I were to act against an escort officer, how would I explain myself when I returned to report?”
Wen Zhiheng’s eyes grew unfathomably deep. He gave Officer Hu a cool glance.
“You have already put on a show for appearances, and I, Wen Zhiheng, will remember this favor. What happens in the future is impossible to say. Perhaps, thanks only to Lord Hu’s kindness this time, you may yet have a brilliant future ahead of you.”
“You’re an exiled prisoner, and you’re actually drawing me a picture of some nonexistent reward?”
“Then that depends on whether Lord Hu is willing to take a gamble.”
After Wen Zhiheng finished speaking, he slipped back into the room.
Outside, the shifting light of the campfire made Officer Hu’s expression seem alternately bright and dark, his mood impossible to read.
Chen Shiyi was awakened by a burst of exclamations.
On the shared wooden bed, the Second Young Madam was holding Ruier in her arms. The corners of her eyes were red, and her face was pressed tightly against Ruier’s forehead as she wept silently.
Everyone from the Wen family had risen by then. They were all terribly worried as they looked at Ruier.
Chen Shiyi took one look and saw that Ruier’s cheeks were flushed, while his lips had turned a purplish red and were cracked in several places. He had a high fever.
The sky was not yet fully light, and everything outside was a deep gray.
She rekindled the fire, which had already gone out, heated the water in the iron pot, then used a broken bowl to carry the hot water over.
“Give him some water.”
The Second Young Madam accepted it. After blowing on the water to cool it, she fed it to Ruier.
Chen Shiyi tore away half a sleeve from her arm, went outside, soaked it in cold water, and rinsed it clean before returning to the room.
“Place it on his forehead. It will make him much more comfortable.”
Wen Zhiheng looked up at her. His gaze passed over the half-empty sleeve, and his dark eyes grew profound.
Madam Wen’s face was streaked with tears, and she looked at Chen Shiyi gratefully.
“Miss, thank you.”
Chen Shiyi lowered her head and spoke softly.
“We have to bring down his fever in time. There’s no shelter from the wind and rain on the road, so I’m afraid it will be very difficult for him.”
Wen Zhiyuan was so anxious that he paced in circles.
“We can prick him to reduce the fever, but we don’t even have a needle.”
Upon hearing this, Wen Zhiheng hurried outside.
Before long, he returned with an embroidery needle in his hand.
“Will this do?”
Wen Zhiyuan nodded and hurriedly pricked Ruier several times.
A few drops of bright red blood welled up from the puncture sites. Chen Shiyi changed the water soaking the sleeve several times, and only then did Ruier’s fever gradually subside.
At last, the weight in everyone’s hearts was lifted.