“…”
As Nanny Lin changed little Jingchen’s diaper and Linglan drove the carriage outside, both women secretly complained to themselves.
Princess/Mistress, do you really have a master? Why have we never heard of one?
Noble Consort Yi finally came back to her senses. She did not question where Jun Wan had gotten those strange items. As long as they were good for her grandson, it did not matter where they came from.
After Nanny Lin finished changing the diaper, Jun Wan began nursing little Jingchen, and everyone fell silent.
Meanwhile, in a remote little inn on the outskirts of Jia City, Mo Yan lay weakly on a bed. Ming Tian had just finished applying medicine to his wounds. Looking at his pale master, he said anxiously,
“My Lord, I’ll go fetch a physician right away.”
“Stop.”
Mo Yan called out, and Ming Tian immediately turned around.
“There’s no need. That stab wound won’t kill me. Some medicine is enough,” Mo Yan said calmly.
At present, soldiers from all over Longyuan Kingdom were searching for him. It was better not to attract unnecessary attention.
“But, My Lord…”
Ming Tian was still worried. He could not understand how Yun Tian could have betrayed their master. They had all grown up together, serving Mo Yan since childhood.
“How are my mother and the others?” Mo Yan interrupted, unwilling to discuss his injury any further.
The people he worried about most were his mother and his son.
When the late emperor had summoned him back to the capital with an imperial decree, he had also informed him that the woman had given birth to a son.
Although he had never liked that woman, the child was still his flesh and blood. He could not allow either of them to come to harm.
“Our men have sent word that the Princess Consort and the others have been sentenced to exile in Dian City. In a few days, they should be passing through this area.”
Mo Yan thought for a moment before saying,
“Find out who the chief officer escorting them is, and then…”
He lowered his voice and whispered a few instructions to Ming Tian.
“Understood, My Lord. I’ll have it arranged immediately.”
After Ming Tian left, Mo Yan closed his eyes and quietly contemplated the events to come.
At that very moment, the exile convoy was moving slowly down the road when the sound of galloping hooves came from behind.
Everyone turned to look and saw a rider dressed like a household servant approaching. He stopped directly in front of the convoy.
The servant dismounted and walked straight over to Zheng An. The two exchanged a few quiet words before the man pulled something from his robes and handed it over.
Zheng An glanced toward Jun Wan’s carriage, then nodded and accepted the item.
The servant then headed toward the carriage.
Everyone’s eyes followed him, especially the Lü family, whose faces immediately darkened with resentment.
They had originally thought that no one would come to send Jun Wan and the others money. They had been looking forward to seeing the women suffer and beg for help.
Yet unexpectedly, someone had actually come to visit them.
Stopping before the carriage, the servant respectfully said to Linglan,
“My master has something to deliver to Noble Consort Yi.”
Before Linglan could answer, Noble Consort Yi and Jun Wan exchanged a glance inside the carriage.
“I’ll go.”
Dragging her heavy shackles behind her, Noble Consort Yi climbed down.
Seeing the beautiful lady before him, the servant guessed that she must be Noble Consort Yi.
He quickly took a bundle of banknotes from his robes and respectfully offered them to her.
“My old madam asked me to deliver these silver notes. She also asked me to tell you that Her Highness cannot leave the palace, so she hopes you won’t blame her. The guards along the way have already been taken care of, so they shouldn’t make things too difficult for you.”
The moment Noble Consort Yi heard this, she immediately knew who this “old madam” was.
Since the day of her exile, she had endured everything without shedding a single tear.
But now, her eyes reddened.
Accepting the banknotes, she said softly,
“Please thank your old madam for me. Tell her that I will never forget the kindness she and Sister Lian have shown me. Please also thank Sister Lian on my behalf.”
“I will pass along your message.”
The servant bowed and departed.
After he left, Noble Consort Yi climbed back into the carriage and handed the banknotes to Jun Wan.
“Consort Lian sent these. You should keep them.”
She had noticed that Jun Wan was no longer the same after giving birth. She had become much calmer and more confident.
Besides, everything they did now revolved around her eldest grandson. It made no difference who held the money.
Jun Wan blinked in surprise.
She had not expected Noble Consort Yi to entrust the banknotes to her.
“These were sent for you. You should decide how to use them.”
She did not reach out to take them.
But Noble Consort Yi grabbed her hand and firmly pressed the notes into her palm.
“Although we’ve been exiled, both of us know the truth. The Emperor died suddenly, and Mo Cheng ascended the throne without proper legitimacy. He’s afraid my son will return and fight for power, so he’s using us as bait…”
She lowered her voice as she spoke.
Knowing that Jun Wan was no longer the foolish woman she had once been, Noble Consort Yi openly analyzed the current situation with her.
“Our circumstances are far from good. You and I are the two people closest to Jingchen and Yan’er now. There must be no distrust between us.
“It doesn’t matter who keeps the money, but it’s more appropriate for you to hold it. You are Jingchen’s mother and the mistress of the War Prince’s Manor.”
Jun Wan felt a touch of warmth in her heart.
At the very least, Noble Consort Yi was thinking of little Jingchen’s future.
She stopped refusing.
“Very well. I’ll keep the money and use it as our travel funds.”
She quickly counted the notes.
There were ten of them, each worth one hundred taels of silver.
Consort Lian truly put her heart into this, Jun Wan thought.
Using the cover of her sleeve, she quietly stored the banknotes inside her spatial storage.
“Is the Seventh Prince not in the palace?” she asked.
When she had secretly entered the palace to gather information, she had not seen him keeping vigil for the late emperor.
Noble Consort Yi nodded.
“Fortunately, he wasn’t in the capital. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have escaped this disaster.”
The two women chatted quietly inside the carriage.
Outside, however, the others were suffering terribly.
Most of them had once been noble ladies or aristocratic wives who had never endured such hardship. Even many of the men usually traveled by carriage and rarely walked long distances.
Now, after covering nearly forty li, blisters had formed on almost everyone’s feet.
If not for their fear of the guards’ whips, they would have collapsed on the spot.
Kong Shi was being supported almost entirely by Mo Lian. She was utterly exhausted, practically hanging all her weight on the young woman.
Mo Lian herself had grown up as a princess. She had never suffered this kind of humiliation before.
Yet now she dared not complain and could only grit her teeth and endure it.
Even so, Kong Shi continued cursing all the way.
“Does she still think she’s the noble consort she used to be?
“You widows and orphans will eventually have to depend on your uncles for help, yet you heartlessly drove your grandfather and me out of the carriage!
“Wasn’t our family dragged into exile because of you in the first place? You people have no conscience at all!
“Just wait and see. Your brother is probably already dead out there somewhere. Serves you right for ending up with no one to rely on!”
Already exhausted from supporting her, Mo Lian’s face turned deathly pale.
She had never imagined that the grandmother who had always doted on her could be so vicious.
She was actually wishing for her own brother’s death.
“Shut up!”
Lü An could not bear listening any longer and roared at his wife.
If this ignorant woman had not ruined their relationship with his daughter, he would never have had to get out of the carriage and walk with them the whole way.
And how could she say that Mo Yan was dead?
He was still counting on Mo Yan surviving and coming back to rescue them all.