After being shouted at by Lü An, Kong Shi finally stopped causing trouble.
Just then, Zheng An ordered everyone to halt and rest.
“We’ll make camp here for the night.”
Everyone let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted.
Mo Lian’s feet were covered in blisters, and her entire body felt as though it were falling apart from the pain.
She turned her head and looked toward the carriage where her mother and Jun Wan were resting.
At first, she had stubbornly refused to go over and had even criticized her mother. But now, she was too embarrassed to approach them.
Still… she was so tired.
Silently, Mo Lian wiped away her tears.
The members of the Lü family were all exhausted and starving themselves, so no one had the time or energy to comfort her.
Meanwhile, Jun Wan’s carriage remained intact because she had no intention of getting out, so the horses were not unhitched.
Looking at the shackles still locked around Noble Consort Yi’s ankles, Jun Wan thought for a moment before deciding to speak with Zheng An and see if she could have them removed.
When she voiced her plan, Noble Consort Yi felt deeply touched.
“Forget it. Wearing them doesn’t really affect me. I don’t even have to walk, and asking the guards would only cost more silver.
“We’re no longer who we once were. We should save money whenever we can.”
Jun Wan shook her head.
“How is that a waste? Even if you don’t have to walk, wearing those shackles is still terribly inconvenient.”
Noble Consort Yi hesitated.
Their funds were limited, and there would be many places where they would need to spend money. She didn’t want to waste it on something she considered so minor.
Seeing her reluctance, Jun Wan knew she was simply worried about the expense.
Money was the one thing Jun Wan lacked least.
So she changed her approach.
“If you keep wearing those shackles, they’ll rattle every time the carriage moves and wake Jingchen.”
The moment she heard that it might disturb the baby, Noble Consort Yi immediately stopped hesitating.
“You’re still in confinement after childbirth. You should avoid going out whenever possible. Let Linglan handle it.”
In truth, she knew Jun Wan was only using little Jingchen as an excuse.
But whenever it involved her grandson, she never dared to be careless.
Jun Wan did not insist.
Calling toward the outside, she said,
“Linglan, go ask Captain Zheng whether the shackles can be removed. If they can, ask him how much silver it will cost.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
After Linglan left, Noble Consort Yi hesitated for a long moment before speaking awkwardly.
“Wan’er… I’d like to discuss something with you.”
“Of course.”
Jun Wan smiled gently.
Noble Consort Yi looked embarrassed.
Only moments ago, she had been talking about saving money, yet now she wanted to ask that Mo Lian’s shackles be removed as well.
But she couldn’t help it.
Her Lian’er had been raised in luxury since childhood. How could she possibly endure such suffering? At this very moment, she was probably crying somewhere by herself.
No matter what, she was still her daughter.
How could a mother bear to watch her child suffer?
“Wan’er… perhaps… perhaps we could remove Lian’er’s shackles as well?”
She deliberately avoided meeting Jun Wan’s eyes, afraid that she would refuse.
After all, Mo Lian had never treated Jun Wan kindly.
Jun Wan sighed inwardly.
The moment Noble Consort Yi began speaking, she had already guessed what she was about to ask.
Thinking that parents everywhere shared the same loving heart, she didn’t object.
In fact, she thought that if they were going to remove Mo Lian’s shackles, they might as well remove the shackles from all three women who had come from the War Prince’s Manor.
Before long, Linglan returned from Zheng An.
Standing outside the carriage, she reported,
“Mistress, Captain Zheng didn’t say anything himself, but one of the guards beside him said that it’ll cost fifty taels of silver per person to remove the shackles.”
The moment Noble Consort Yi heard that, her heart wavered again.
They only had one thousand taels altogether.
If removing two pairs of shackles cost one hundred taels, their money would disappear very quickly.
“Maybe… maybe we shouldn’t remove them after all,” she murmured softly.
But as soon as she finished speaking, Jun Wan replied,
“It’s fine. I’ll go myself and talk to them. While I’m there, I’ll also see what food they have.”
She was nursing little Jingchen now.
If she didn’t eat well, her milk supply would dry up.
“You’re still recovering after childbirth. I’d better go instead.”
Noble Consort Yi prepared to climb down.
“No need. It’s not too cold right now. I’ll be back soon.”
With that, Jun Wan got out of the carriage and walked toward Zheng An.
The real reason she refused to let Noble Consort Yi go was because she wanted to see whether she could persuade them to remove the shackles from the other three women as well.
It wasn’t because she was some saint.
Those women had all come from the War Prince’s Manor, and she didn’t want Noble Consort Yi to be criticized for favoring only her own daughter.
Jun Wan had always lived by one principle:
Treat me with respect, and I’ll repay you tenfold. But if you treat me cruelly, don’t blame me for returning the favor.
As Jun Wan walked toward Zheng An, several guards began handing out coarse millet-flour buns to the prisoners.
One bun per person.
No extras.
Jun Wan frowned.
If she had to live on this kind of food while breastfeeding, she would lose her milk supply within a couple of days.
Just as she was thinking this, loud complaints erupted among the prisoners.
“What is this? Is this animal feed?”
“How are we supposed to eat this?”
“Waaah… I can’t even swallow it!”
…
“Can’t swallow it?”
One of the guards laughed.
“Then buy steamed buns instead. One tael of silver for two buns. As long as you’ve got money, you can eat as many as you like.”
The prisoners looked at one another.
After an entire day of walking, they were starving.
But those coarse buns were nearly impossible to choke down.
Finally, someone shouted,
“I’ll buy some!”
“We’ll buy them too!”
Jun Wan glanced over.
The ones speaking were actually members of the Lü family and the Shi family.
Meanwhile, the He family was quietly chewing on their coarse buns.
Although they clearly found them hard to swallow as well, not a single one of them complained.
When Jun Wan reached the area where Zheng An and the guards were gathered, they were busy preparing dinner.
Unlike the prisoners’ rations, their meal was quite lavish, with both vegetables and meat.
Earlier, a wild boar had accidentally wandered into their campsite and had been killed by the guards working together.
“Captain Zheng, may I have a word with you?”
Zheng An looked at Jun Wan before replying,
“Go ahead.”
Since he had accepted money from the servant who had come earlier and had agreed to take better care of them, his attitude toward Jun Wan was fairly polite.
Jun Wan glanced at the guards standing beside him.
“Could we negotiate the price a little? What if I pay thirty taels per person and remove the shackles from five people instead?”
Before Zheng An could answer, one of the guards beside him objected.
“How can that work? That’s cutting the price by far too much. If we remove your shackles, our brothers will have to take on extra responsibility.”
Jun Wan smiled faintly.
“Brother Officer, that’s not quite the right way to look at it.
“If you charge fifty taels each, I can only afford to free two people.
“But if you charge thirty taels each, I can free five people.
“At first, you’d earn one hundred taels.
“Now, you’d earn one hundred and fifty taels.
“Even though the amount per person is lower, the total amount you receive is actually greater.
“And besides, we’re all women. We won’t cause you any trouble.”
“…”
The guard fell silent.
For some reason, he felt that something about her logic was off… yet he couldn’t quite figure out what.
Zheng An ignored him and looked at the other guards.
“What do the rest of you think?”
Before anyone could answer, Jun Wan added with another smile,
“Besides, once others see that I’ve paid to have the shackles removed, they might want to unlock theirs too.
“And unlike us, they’ll be wearing both neck cangues and ankle shackles…”