Under the shocked and bewildered gazes of the entire Jiang family, Jiang Qingshu fabricated a story about how she had regained her sanity.
She explained that half a year ago, while she and Lin Bao were still hiding in Ning’an County, they had encountered a mysterious wandering master.
This person was a legendary heroine who traveled the world, skilled in strange arts and mystical techniques, with extraordinary attainments in martial arts, medicine, and even metaphysics.
The heroine had immediately seen that Jiang Qingshu’s seven souls were incomplete, yet she was also someone destined for great fortune and status.
Claiming that fate had brought them together, the heroine accepted her as a disciple and gave her a talisman wrapped in red string, instructing her to always keep it on her person.
When the proper time came, her missing soul fragments would naturally return.
The master had also warned her that once she regained her mind, she must immediately open the talisman, burn the paper after reading it, and use the red string as a hair ribbon.
Then, two days earlier, while she and Lin Bao were being arrested, she had accidentally struck her head against a pillar and lost consciousness.
When she awoke, her sanity had returned.
Remembering her master’s instructions, she immediately opened the talisman.
Inside, it warned that the General’s Manor would be confiscated and the family exiled. It instructed her to lead the family northward, where people would secretly help and provide for them along the way.
After hearing Jiang Qingshu’s explanation, the Jiang family remained deeply shocked and struggled to believe it.
Just as Sun Yuluo was about to voice her doubts, Jiang Fengyu suddenly spoke up.
“When we gathered firewood earlier, we found some neatly prepared bundles by the roadside. Could those also have been arranged by the expert sister mentioned?”
“No wonder,” Second Brother Jiang Yifeng muttered in relief. “I was wondering who would chop and stack firewood in the middle of a wilderness like this. I almost thought we’d run into mountain spirits.”
Jiang Qingshu merely smiled without speaking.
In reality, she had secretly placed those bundles of firewood there herself earlier.
“A mysterious expert? What kind of person would help us so selflessly?” Sun Yuluo asked uneasily.
Jiang Kun had never imagined that the daughter who had been foolish for twenty years would suddenly recover overnight.
His emotions were indescribably complicated.
As though unable to believe it was real, he stared at Jiang Qingshu repeatedly, examining her over and over again.
Compared to Jiang Kun’s disbelief, the innocent Jiang Luoyou was overjoyed.
“Elder Sister, it’s wonderful that your illness is cured! Did you drug the food those guards ate earlier?”
“Yes,” Jiang Qingshu replied with a smile.
The brothers and sisters-in-law immediately panicked.
“But then why were Mier and Lin Bao completely fine?”
“Exactly,” Jiang Yifeng added seriously. “How did you know which foods the guards would eat so you could poison them so precisely?”
“Well, actually, all the food had medicine in it…”
“I get it!” Third Brother Jiang Chengyu suddenly interrupted her. “It was the water pouch we drank from earlier. You must have put the antidote in the water beforehand, right?”
Jiang Qingshu smiled silently in agreement.
That was exactly why she had rushed to grab the water pouch earlier.
She had known those guards were naturally suspicious and would never dare eat food she offered directly. But they also wouldn’t want to waste it, so they would definitely make the Jiang family test it first.
So she had simply used their suspicions against them.
As they talked, the campfire was finally lit.
The children huddled together beneath the thick blankets and quickly drifted into deep sleep.
After examining the medicinal powder Jiang Qingshu had provided and confirming it was indeed wound medicine, Sun Yuluo finally allowed Jiang Kun to remove his clothes so she could treat his injuries.
“Ow! You vicious woman, be gentler!” Jiang Kun yelped in pain.
Sun Yuluo had never been a delicate or gentle woman. She had always been fiery and domineering.
She immediately snapped back,
“Hmph! Your precious Xue’er and Mei’er were gentle too. Right now they’re probably warming someone else’s bed. Why don’t you ask them to take care of you instead?”
“You woman! My physical wounds aren’t even healed yet, and now you’re reopening the wounds in my heart!”
“You brought it on yourself. If you keep acting ungrateful, this old lady might just run off too!”
“You—!”
Jiang Kun instantly lost the courage to continue arguing.
His wife might be fierce, but she shared his heart completely. That much he understood clearly.
Which was why, no matter how fierce Sun Yuluo normally was, he genuinely respected her from the bottom of his heart.
“Who exactly is this mysterious expert? And can we really trust their instructions to head north?” Sun Yuluo suddenly asked.
Jiang Kun pondered for a moment.
“Heading north may actually be our best option.”
“And why is that?” she pressed.
“There are two reasons,” Jiang Kun explained gravely. “First, it will help us avoid pursuit. Emperor Yan spared our family only to preserve his reputation as a benevolent ruler. He merely pretended to show mercy. In reality, he will definitely send assassins to eliminate us in secret.”
Jiang Fengyu clenched his fists angrily.
“No wonder only our family was assigned such a small escort force this time. The goal was to make it easier to ambush and kill us.”
Third Brother Jiang Chengyu immediately understood.
“So by continuing north, we’ll catch them off guard. The pursuers would never expect us to keep heading deeper northward.”
Jiang Kun nodded.
“Exactly. And there’s another, even more important reason.”
He paused.
“I want to take all of you to live in Tianwen City.”
“Tianwen City?!”
Jiang Fengyu’s eyes widened in shock.
“You mean that independent royal city within the Tianqi Empire—the only city completely free from imperial control?”
“That’s right,” Jiang Kun replied. “Tianwen City is the most unique existence among the three great empires and seven kingdoms. It’s practically an independent nation. It never participates in any country’s wars, yet no empire or kingdom dares attempt to annex it.”
“Why?” Jiang Qingshu asked. “Is the terrain impossible to conquer?”
The only explanation she could imagine was a fortress built atop cliffs or sheer mountains.
Jiang Kun shook his head.
“No. Tianwen City stands openly on the banks of the Yase River across the northern border of Yan Kingdom. The city is extremely prosperous.”
“The reason no one dares target it is because every successive lord of Tianwen City has been a War God.”
As Jiang Kun spoke those words, a complicated light flickered in his eyes.
A so-called War God was an undefeated commander who dominated every battlefield.
“That’s right,” Jiang Fengyu added. “I’ve heard the current city lord is named Yi Xiuchen. He’s around Second Brother’s age, yet he’s already considered an invincible War God.”
“He sounds amazing!” Jiang Luoyou exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
Jiang Fengyu continued,
“But although Tianwen City is safe, it never accepts useless people. Outsiders can’t enter so easily.”
“Do any of you think you’re useless?” Jiang Kun asked sharply.
“But Father,” Jiang Fengyu hesitated, “it may not be hard for us to pass the city’s entrance examinations… but your condition now…”
His voice trailed off.
Jiang Kun’s body was no longer what it once had been.
Jiang Kun sighed helplessly.
“Even though I’m now nothing more than a crippled shell, unable to fight or return to the battlefield, for the sake of all of you siblings, I must get you into Tianwen City.”
“Without a powerful force backing us, how could Emperor Yan possibly let us go?”
Jiang Qingshu fell into thought.
Perhaps Jiang Kun wasn’t wrong.
Her brothers were all born generals.
If Emperor Yan couldn’t use them for himself, he would certainly want them eliminated.
But was Tianwen City truly that ideal?
Even if they were appreciated there, wouldn’t they still be living under someone else’s authority?
Wouldn’t relying on another power simply mean surviving by reading others’ moods and obeying their rules?
In her opinion, relying on others would never compare to relying on oneself.
Her father was a master strategist.
Her brothers were exceptional military talents.
And she herself possessed inexhaustible supplies.
So why shouldn’t they build their own power instead?
Holding onto this bold idea, Jiang Qingshu pressed her cheek against Lin Bao’s warm, rosy face and gradually drifted into sleep.
Fortunately, with the thick cotton quilts keeping them warm, the family slept soundly through the night.
Only one question lingered in everyone’s minds:
Just who exactly was the mysterious “master” Jiang Qingshu spoke of?
Amid those doubts, they eventually fell asleep, and soon dawn arrived.
The sky remained dark, but the cold had grown even harsher.
Standing watch, Jiang Chengyu woke the family.
The children were all remarkably obedient. None cried or fussed from exhaustion, and they quietly helped the adults pack up.
But Jiang Kun’s condition looked terrible.
After resting, even standing up was difficult for him, let alone continuing the journey.
And what were they supposed to do with these thick blankets?
Carrying them everywhere was cumbersome, but abandoning them meant freezing during the next night outdoors.
“If only we had a carriage,” Eldest Sister-in-law sighed while looking at their belongings, unwilling to throw anything away.
“Maybe we actually do. Wait here—I’ll look around nearby.”
The moment Jiang Qingshu finished speaking, she hurried toward the forest.
“Shu’er, don’t be ridiculous! How could there possibly be a carriage out here?” Sun Yuluo called after her.
Jiang Kun couldn’t help sighing.
He had just started believing his daughter was truly cured.
Yet after one night’s sleep, it seemed she had become foolish again.
“Little Sister, come back!” Jiang Fengyu shouted as he grabbed a burning branch and hurried after her.
Jiang Qingshu ran quickly.
Before her eldest brother could catch up, she had already taken a carriage out from her space and placed it inside the forest.
When Jiang Fengyu finally found her and saw the carriage behind her, he was so shocked he literally rolled down the slope.
“I told you,” Jiang Qingshu said calmly.
“My master would make arrangements.”