The moment Second Madam Shen said that, Shen Lijun shot her a glare.
Remembering that their only hope of returning to the capital truly rested on Shen Xinglan, she immediately fell silent.
Seeing the blisters covering the feet of Shen Xinglan’s younger brothers, Shen Lijun awkwardly coughed.
“This handcart… should still be made. Xinglan will be more comfortable lying on it.”
Mu Wanting sighed.
“But we’re already exhausted. To avoid disturbing everyone else’s rest, we should just sleep first.”
Shen Lijun immediately turned toward the rest of the Shen family.
“It’s fine. We’ll do the work. Xingchi can just supervise from the side.”
Mu Wanting looked toward Shen Xingchi and Shen Xingyi.
“Do you still have the energy to supervise?”
“Yes.”
A glimmer flashed through Shen Xingchi’s eyes.
This sister-in-law of his was far more capable than he had imagined.
And from everything so far, she genuinely seemed to stand on the side of the third branch.
As long as she remained on the third branch’s side, he would not touch her.
But if…
Then he wouldn’t blame himself for what came next.
After all the commotion, Mu Wanting was thoroughly exhausted and returned to the tree to sleep.
Then she heard weak infant crying nearby.
Turning her head, she saw Shen Mingjiao with tears streaming down her face.
How could a pampered young lady like her possibly know how to care for a baby?
The child’s face had already turned bluish-purple from crying, but Shen Mingjiao could only helplessly rock the baby.
Shen Yujiao was also panicking, wanting to hold the child yet terrified she might accidentally crush the frail little thing.
Madam Shen softly asked,
“Is Qin’er hungry?”
Shen Mingjiao hurriedly tried to nurse the baby.
But after starving all day herself, she barely had any milk left.
The child suckled for a long time yet got almost nothing, and soon began crying again.
When Mu Wanting saw Shen Mingjiao preparing to bite open her own finger to feed the baby blood, she speechlessly took the child away.
“Enough. I’ll handle it. Go to sleep.”
Secretly, she took out powdered milk and a baby bottle from her storage space.
She prepared the milk and fed the child.
Once the baby was full, the crying stopped, and before long the child peacefully fell asleep.
Mu Wanting handed the child back to Shen Mingjiao, yawned, and promptly fell into a deep sleep herself.
Looking at Qin’er smacking her lips contentedly in sleep, Shen Mingjiao felt overwhelming gratitude toward Mu Wanting.
Over the next few days, more criminals were added to their exile convoy.
Mu Wanting even spotted several familiar faces among them.
After several days of exile, everyone looked weak and sickly.
Meanwhile, Mu Wanting ate well, slept well, exercised regularly, and appeared practically radiant.
She secretly ate another steaming bun along with soy milk, instantly lifting her mood.
A guard cracked his whip while shouting:
“Move! No stopping for anyone!”
Most people managed somehow.
But Shen Lijun truly could not endure anymore.
The handcart had not been finished yesterday. Without tools, they had only stones to slowly grind and shape the materials.
Today he alone had to carry Shen Xinglan.
After merely two hours, every blister on his feet had burst open, and new ones formed immediately after.
Every step felt like walking on knives.
Worse still, Shen Xinglan could not even be carried normally because his worst injuries were on his chest.
Fortunately, whenever Shen Lijun could no longer endure, the other male members of the second branch took turns carrying him.
That was the only reason they barely made it to the noon break.
The first and second branches ate white buns and dried meat, then used the activity area allowed by the guards to search for suitable branches to finish the handcart.
The third branch could only swallow hard.
The black bread scraped their throats painfully. They had to crane their necks and gulp repeatedly just to force it down, only to feel nauseated afterward.
Mu Wanting had no desire to suffer alongside them.
Seeing fish in the river, she suddenly craved fresh food.
So she immediately went down into the river to catch fish.
Second Madam Shen sneered.
“A woman exposing her bare feet—how shameless.”
First Madam Shen also scoffed.
“As if someone like her could catch anything.”
The moment she finished speaking, Mu Wanting lifted an enormous fish weighing nearly ten kilograms out of the river.
The two sisters-in-law were stunned speechless.
How could such a tiny river even contain fish that large?
Then Mu Wanting stood up from the river.
Only then did they realize she was still wearing shoes.
Mu Wanting coldly laughed.
“If the two of you aren’t blind, you should both have seen it clearly.”
“Not only am I wearing shoes, but this fish is also huge.”
“Sigh… such a large fish. How ever will I finish eating it all?”
After all, she had plenty of shoes in her space. If one pair got wet, she could simply change into another later.
The moment she came ashore, members of the first and second branches rushed into the river trying to catch fish themselves.
But they could only find tiny fish.
How could they possibly find one this large?
After all, Mu Wanting had taken the fish out from her storage space in the first place—simply to provide a believable explanation.
Mu Wanting then spent thirty taels of silver buying a large iron pot from the guards.
She built a simple stove herself and began cooking fish soup.
Some seasonings came from her storage space, while others she found growing along the riverside.
After eating black bread for so long, everyone’s endurance had reached its limit.
All eyes glowed green as they stared at the iron pot.
Even the guards kept glancing over repeatedly.
Once the soup was done, Mu Wanting filled a bowl for Shen Xinglan, secretly adding medicine into it before using her special method to pour it down his throat.
Shen Xingchi and Shen Yujiao cautiously scooped themselves a little fish.
Seeing that Mu Wanting did not object, their opinion of her improved somewhat.
No matter what she had done before, they were now grasshoppers tied to the same rope.
The other illegitimate sons and daughters also gathered around after Madam Shen nodded permission, serving portions for themselves and their mothers.
Shen Mingjiao only came over because Mu Wanting specifically called for her.
Ever since her marriage and divorce, it was as though all the spirit had been worn out of this once-proud young lady.
“Drink more soup and eat more fish,” Mu Wanting said. “That way your child will have milk to drink.”
Shen Mingjiao’s eyes reddened.
Back then, she too had been a spoiled young miss who disliked Mu Wanting and strongly opposed her marrying into the family.
Yet she had never expected Mu Wanting to help her without holding grudges.
After drinking a bowl of hot fish soup, Shen Mingjiao soon felt her milk returning.
Overjoyed, she hurried off to nurse the baby.
The first and second branches also came over, reaching into the pot for fish without even greeting anyone.
Mu Wanting pressed her chopsticks firmly against the wooden ladle and looked at them coldly.
“This fish is only enough for our third branch. There’s no share for you.”
The first branch frowned.
“Aren’t we still one family? You won’t even share food? What an ungrateful junior you are.”
Second Madam Shen added:
“Exactly. Mu Wanting, you have no respect for your elders. We at least shared food with Old Madam Shen.”
Mu Wanting replied:
“A few days ago, your white buns weren’t shared with us either. Why should the fish I caught be shared with you?”
Seeing how firm Mu Wanting’s attitude was, the two sisters-in-law realized they would gain nothing from her.
So they turned toward the usually soft-hearted Madam Shen.
“Third Sister-in-law, look at how disrespectful your daughter-in-law is.”
Madam Shen sighed.
“At the end of the day, Wanting caught the fish herself. When she went into the river, both of you mocked her plenty.”
“The fish belongs to her. If she doesn’t wish to share, no one can blame her.”
Mu Wanting felt immensely satisfied.
Her mother-in-law was truly a reasonable person.
To avoid criticism, however, she still had Shen Xingyi bring a bowl to Old Madam Shen.
The third branch had long been starving.
And this fish tasted fresher and more delicious than anything they had ever eaten before.
By the end, not even a drop of soup remained.