Shen Wan slept soundly through the night.
In her dreams, she returned to the smoke-filled battlefield.
Just as she was about to tend to the wounded, enemy soldiers suddenly appeared…
"Wake up, it's time to go."
Suddenly, a cool voice sounded by her ear.
Shen Wan's eyes snapped open, and she instinctively raised her fist, ready to deliver a fatal blow.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Seeing her reaction, Xie Mubai's pupils slightly contracted as he asked calmly.
Only after recognizing his voice did Shen Wan fully awaken.
So it was just a dream!
She uttered an "oh" before silently withdrawing her fist, a flicker of disappointment passing through her eyes.
Perhaps she could never return, never fight alongside her comrades again.
Xie Mubai keenly noticed the disappointment in her eyes and couldn't help feeling puzzled.
Previously, this ugly woman would look at him as if she couldn't wait to throw herself at him, but now she actually seemed disappointed to see him!
Was she really Shen Wan?
She seemed to be, yet not quite.
Whether she was or not, even if she were a demon, Xie Mubai had no intention of investigating.
Because he was certain this woman genuinely cared for him.
However, her movements when she swung her fist just now were clean and precise, more skilled than ordinary soldiers. It seemed Xiangyang Hou really knew how to train troops.
"Get up quickly." Xie Mubai set aside his thoughts and said indifferently, "The Yamen runners are already urging us."
Hearing this, Shen Wan scrambled up and went to wash her face in the ditch outside.
Just as she was about to stand up, she saw Wang Qi squatting by the ditch too.
"What a coincidence!" Shen Wan quickly greeted him with a smile.
Wang Qi gave her a cold glance, didn't even wash his face, and turned to leave, leaving only a faint scent of grass lingering in the stifling air.
"What a strange person!" Shen Wan thought to herself.
The villain was right – she shouldn't get too close to this man.
After taking a few steps, she saw Li Shi limping toward her.
Shen Wan was truly surprised.
Strange, why was the injury getting worse instead of better after applying the medicine? It shouldn't be like this – her medicine was very effective.
Not to mention mere blood blisters, even Xie Mubai's mangled legs had shown significant improvement after applying it.
Seeing Shen Wan, a flash of panic crossed Li Shi's eyes.
Noticing that everyone was crowded around the Yamen runners getting food, Shen Wan lowered her voice and asked, "What exactly happened?"
Upon hearing this, Li Shi's tears fell like broken pearls.
She hung her head and sobbed, "Zhou Yiniang guessed the medicine came from you. So last night, several of them covered my mouth, scraped all the medicine powder from my feet with bamboo strips, and threatened me not to associate with you anymore!"
Hearing this, crimson blood vessels spread rapidly through Shen Wan's eyes like leaf veins on withered branches, and the toxins in her body made her restless blood instantly boil.
"I'll settle accounts with them!"
She gritted her teeth, her clenched iron fists beginning to twitch.
She wanted to hit someone, desperately wanted to!
She wanted to feel flesh beneath her fists, see blood with every strike!
Seeing her ferocious expression, Li Shi's face turned pale with fear.
"Don't… please don't go…" She mustered her courage and quickly stepped forward to stop Shen Wan. "The more you do this, the more they'll abuse me."
Shen Wan narrowed her eyes, a chillingly sinister smile curling at the corners of her lips. "What are you so afraid of a mere concubine for?"
This had long struck her as odd.
While it wasn't unusual for others to treat Zhou Yiniang well, even someone as opportunistic as Sun Shi worshipped her like an ancestor—this was indeed abnormal.
Li Shi glanced around nervously. Seeing that Zhou Yiniang and the others hadn't noticed her, she sobbed, "In the past, Zhou Yiniang managed the household affairs and was the birth mother of our husbands, so no one dared disrespect her."
"Moreover, she secretly transferred assets out before. Now that we're exiled, she'll surely go claim them."
"Sister-in-law, I know I'm useless. To survive, I have no choice but to depend on her. I don't want to die!"
Whether it was her imagination or not, as Li Shi spoke, Shen Wan felt two icy gazes piercing through the crowd, directly landing on them. It jolted her awake instantly.
She looked up and saw Xie Mufbai with his eyes closed.
It seemed it had been her imagination after all.
Though she didn't know if the main antagonist was aware of this, one thing was certain: Sun Shi definitely knew.
Otherwise, with her snobbish nature, why would she humble herself and trail after a mere concubine the entire journey?
"Does Guo Gong Ye know about this?" Shen Wan discreetly slipped a pill into her mouth before asking coldly.
Li Shi shook her head.
"Then why didn't you tell him?" Seeing her timid demeanor, Shen Wan couldn't help feeling frustrated by her weakness.
Li Shi smiled bitterly, helpless. "How could I?"
"If this gets out, Guo Gong Ye will surely drive Zhou Yiniang out of the household."
"But after all, she is my husband's birth mother. Before he passed, he was most worried about her."
Whether it was the effect of the medicine or pity for Li Shi's plight, Shen Wan's anger subsided considerably, and the ferocity in her eyes gradually faded.
"Where is that property?" she asked coldly.
Li Shi shook her head. "I truly don't know."
"Sister-in-law, I appreciate your kindness, but I really can't associate with you anymore."
From the day she entered Guo Gong Fu, Zhou Yiniang had disliked her. Moreover, this matter was handled so discreetly that very few knew about it.
"Don't worry, I'll keep my distance from you from now on," Shen Wan said dismissively before turning to leave.
As she passed by Hu Dahai, she greeted him.
Noticing he still seemed troubled by his illness, Shen Wan handed him a pre-written prescription.
After finally calming Hu Dahai down, Shen Wan returned to the temple.
As soon as she entered, Xie Mufbai handed her a plain baked pancake, looking at her with a faintly amused expression. "Tried to help out of kindness but ended up causing trouble for the other person?"
"How did you know?" Shen Wan asked, astonished.
If she weren't certain of the main antagonist's limited mobility, she would have suspected he'd been eavesdropping nearby.
Xie Mufbai smiled lightly, his voice cool and detached. "What's so strange about that?"
"You're Hu Dahai's great benefactor now. Zhou Yiniang wouldn't dare cause trouble for you at such a critical moment, so she'll redirect her anger onto Li Shi instead."
Chewing on the pancake, Shen Wan said discontentedly, "It seems one shouldn't try to be a good person after all."
"By the way, I heard from Li Shi that Zhou Yiniang stole assets from the household and secretly transferred them out."
Xie Mufbai gave an indifferent "Hmm" but said nothing more.
"You knew all along?" Shen Wan was somewhat surprised by his reaction.
Xie Mubai hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly. "My father knows about this too."
Zhou Yiniang was Zhen Guo Gong's cousin. After the Zhou family met with misfortune, she had been living at Guo Gong Fu.
They had grown up together since childhood and shared a deep bond.
So even when she committed acts like stealing property, Zhen Guo Gong didn't take it to heart.
Moreover, they had already had four sons together, so it wasn't likely she would run off with the money. Thus, he turned a blind eye and let her be.
Upon hearing this, Shen Wan's eyes lit up instantly: "So can you get that money back now?"
The main antagonist was the legitimate son of Guo Gong Fu, so he naturally had the authority to recover property stolen by a concubine.
If they could recover that money, she wouldn't have to sneak around just to eat a piece of cake in the future.
Xie Mubai shook his head.
Since his own father didn't care, he couldn't very well say anything either.
Just as Shen Wan was about to speak again, Hu Dahai's voice came from outside.
"We'll reach the town soon. If you need anything, bring your money to me and I'll buy it for you."
Aside from a few people like Sun Shi, none of the prisoners had any money. Even if they desperately needed something, there was nothing they could do.
"Officer, could you take me along?" Sun Shi swayed her plump waist as she stepped forward, simpering with a coy smile. "I want to buy some clothes. I'm afraid what you pick might not fit properly."
"I want to go too!" Da Bao immediately raised his small hand in agreement upon hearing this. "I want Chestnut Flour Cake, Roast Goose, and Sour Plum Juice!"
Sun Shi became angry and shouted directly: "Do you think we're still back at the mansion? Why would you ask for Sour Plum Juice!"
"Besides, this money is mine."
"You eat and drink my provisions all day, and you still have the nerve to ask for things!"
Scolded, Da Bao buried himself in Zhao Shi's embrace and started crying.
Although Zhao Shi was full of resentment, she didn't dare to show it.
Erbao was quite well-behaved, just sitting quietly beside Qian Shi without making a sound.
Hu Dahai wasn't known for his good temper to begin with, and now with all their noise, he grew even more irritable.
"Shut up, all of you!" he snapped with a dark expression, impatient. "No one is going!"
But before his words had fully faded, he turned to Shen Wan with an ingratiating smile: "Little sister, do you have time? Could I trouble you to come along?"