Murong Rong ultimately left in anger, though inwardly she still believed Mu Wanting was merely pretending to be calm.
Mu Wanting had loved Shen Xinglan so deeply that even a single sentence from him once made her happy enough to spend money distributing porridge to the poor.
How could she possibly not be devastated after learning he already loved someone else?
The road to exile was already harsh enough. Once Mu Wanting carried such heartbreak in her heart and spent her days drowning in sorrow, how could she possibly survive all the way to the place of exile?
Even if she stubbornly clung to life—
Once Shen Xinglan died, wouldn’t Mu Wanting die of grief as well?
As for herself, she would soon become the wife of the top scholar, and later the wife of the Grand Chancellor.
The more she thought about it, the brighter her future seemed.
When the time came, she would send Mu Wanting a letter every single day, making her regret everything until her intestines turned green.
Not only was Mu Wanting not heartbroken, but after walking so much during exile, she secretly ate three buns from her storage space.
At dinnertime, the escort officers distributed vegetable dumplings and coarse black-flour flatbread.
In the past, even their dogs would not have eaten such food.
Of course, the officers also sold white-flour buns and meat soup—but each bun cost five taels of silver, while a bowl of meat soup cost twenty taels.
Some people unable to endure the rough bread bought the white buns and soup, but they were few.
The road of exile was long, and any money they still possessed had to be carefully conserved.
The people of the eldest and second branches silently ate the white buns they had purchased themselves. They even shared some with Old Madam Shen, but not a single bite went to the third branch.
Madam Shen saw everything but said nothing, simply having the third branch eat the vegetable dumplings and black bread issued by the officers.
But Shen Xinglan’s injuries were too severe. He needed proper nourishment, or his body would never endure.
Mu Wanting walked over with a waterskin, secretly adding some glucose and antibiotics into it.
Then, using a special technique, she gripped Shen Xinglan’s jaw and poured the liquid into his mouth.
Her movements were so fast that Shen Xingchi and Shen Yujiao failed to stop her in time.
Shen Xingchi immediately struck toward her with a palm attack.
“You vicious woman! What are you trying to do now?”
Fortunately, Mu Wanting dodged swiftly.
Then she calmly took a sip from the same waterskin herself before sneering at Shen Xingchi.
“Is it poisoned? Did I die?”
“This is the last time. If there’s a next time, I won’t bother treating your brother anymore.”
Madam Shen quickly grabbed Shen Xingchi.
“There’s no need for your sister-in-law to go through all this trouble if she meant harm. Xingchi, stop causing unnecessary problems.”
Shen Xingchi protested emotionally:
“She’s not my sister-in-law! She’s a fake! Our real sister-in-law is Murong Rong—she even came to bring us supplies today!”
Shen Yujiao glanced at Mu Wanting, wanting to say something but holding herself back so hard her face turned red.
Mu Wanting sneered and turned away.
“But your real sister-in-law abandoned you and chose Zhao Zhiyuan instead.”
That night, while sleeping, Mu Wanting was gently shaken awake.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Madam Shen’s weary yet still dignified face.
“Wanting, Xinglan has a fever.”
When Mu Wanting reached Shen Xinglan, she found his face flushed red and his body burning hot.
The moment she pulled open his robes, Shen Xingchi frowned.
“Men and women should keep proper boundaries. Mu Wanting, do you have no sense of modesty at all?”
Seeing Mu Wanting stand up as if she intended to stop treatment entirely, Madam Shen panicked and slapped Shen Xingchi across the face.
“Shen Xingchi! She is your sister-in-law! Right now, she’s the only one who can save your brother!”
It was as though Shen Xingchi had suddenly awakened.
Though he still harbored prejudice against Mu Wanting, her medical skill was undeniable, and he no longer objected.
Only then did Mu Wanting return to continue treating the wounds.
Shen Xingchi held up a torch with a dark expression, while Shen Yujiao frowned as she assisted Mu Wanting.
Shen Xinglan’s injuries were simply too severe.
His clothes had already fused together with flesh and blood. If left untreated, the condition would only worsen.
As for his broken spine and bones, those would have to wait for the right opportunity to perform surgery.
Mu Wanting first fed him a fever-reducing pill before beginning treatment.
The wounds she had previously stitched had split open again, the flesh rotting even worse than before.
Bloodied flesh and torn cloth were tightly stuck together.
Mu Wanting carefully removed the rotten flesh, revealing horrifyingly bloody wounds underneath.
The areas that could be stitched were stitched again.
The places too damaged to sew could only be treated with medicine to encourage healing.
Then she examined the wound on his chest.
Fortunately, because she had used a special stitching technique earlier, no second stitching was necessary. She simply applied medicine.
At this point, the members of the third branch looked at Mu Wanting with a trace of admiration they could no longer conceal.
Her medical skills were truly astonishing.
Shen Xinghe asked:
“What’s my second brother’s condition?”
Mu Wanting replied:
“You carried him the entire way earlier. You should already know.”
Shen Xinghe’s expression changed drastically.
“My brother… will he never stand again?”
Mu Wanting answered honestly.
“His legs are completely ruined. If things aren’t handled properly along this journey, amputation may be the only way to keep him alive.”
Hearing this from both Mu Wanting and Shen Xinghe, the atmosphere in the third branch became unbearably heavy.
Madam Shen struggled to hold back tears, while Shen Yujiao burst into sobs.
“My second brother was such an amazing and proud person. If he learns this, he’ll probably want to die.”
Among the illegitimate sons and daughters, Shen Xingyi—who had been raised under Madam Shen’s care and was closest to Shen Xinglan—also had reddened eyes.
“Can Second Brother still be saved?”
Mu Wanting shook her head.
“At present, I haven’t thought of a solution yet.”
If she immediately claimed she could cure him, they would never fully understand how severe the injuries were or how difficult the treatment would be.
And then they would never feel true gratitude.
She intended to win them over—not curry favor with them.
Mu Wanting said calmly:
“You can’t keep carrying him on someone’s back anymore.”
Shen Xingchi frowned.
“If we can’t carry him, then what do we do?”
“Make a small handcart,” Mu Wanting replied. “It’ll be more comfortable for him, and easier for everyone else too.”
The moment she said this, the faces of the third branch filled with misery.
All the servants had already been sold off again. None of them knew how to make such a thing.
Mu Wanting had not expected them to know anyway.
Picking up a branch, she began sketching a diagram on the ground.
She had learned it from videos on the computer inside her mother’s storage space, and she had personally built one before as well.
The principle was simple, and construction was not difficult.
After finishing the sketch and explaining several important points, she sent the third branch to work on it.
During the process, the noise became so loud that the second branch started cursing them.
“We already walked all day and we’re exhausted! And now you’re making all this racket at night? Shen Xinglan is injured that badly—what’s the point of doing all this anyway?”
Shen Xingchi blushed awkwardly, unable to argue back.
Mu Wanting nodded thoughtfully.
“Xingchi, stop building it. Second Aunt is right. Making a handcart is too exhausting.”
“Since none of the households have formally separated anyway, and everyone here once benefited from Xinglan’s protection, why not have every male member of the Shen family take turns carrying him starting tomorrow?”
The moment those words fell, the noisy second branch instantly went silent.
But Mu Wanting still wasn’t finished.
She turned toward the silent Old Madam Shen.
“Grandmother, don’t you agree? Since we’re family, we should share both fortune and hardship together.”
Old Madam Shen remained silent.
Mu Wanting delivered the final blow.
“After all, Xinglan is someone we absolutely cannot abandon. The entire family’s hope of one day returning to the capital rests solely on him.”
Old Madam Shen’s eyes lit up instantly.
Only then did she make the final decision.
“Starting tomorrow, everyone will take turns carrying Xinglan. The children of the third branch carried him today, so tomorrow it will be Old Second, Lijun’s turn.”
Second Madam Shen immediately widened her eyes.
“He belongs to the third branch! Why should my husband carry him?!”