Jun Wan did not finish her sentence, but anyone with a quick mind understood what she meant.
“Open it. They’re just a few women. There are so many of us grown men—are we really afraid of a handful of women?” one of the constables said.
Seeing that the matter had been settled, Jun Wan was delighted. She turned to Zheng An and asked, “Are you selling any grain? I just gave birth and can’t eat anything too dry. I’d like to buy some rice and rent a pot to cook some porridge.”
The food stored in her space could not yet be taken out openly, so for now she could only buy provisions from the guards.
Zheng An sent one of his men to take Jun Wan to the person in charge of the camp kitchen to collect the grain. At the same time, he instructed him to unlock the shackles of those women.
Before leaving, Jun Wan discreetly took out a two-hundred-tael banknote from her space, hiding it with her sleeve, and handed it to Zheng An.
“This is all I have. I don’t have any loose silver.”
Zheng An knew the banknote had been delivered by that servant earlier. He reached into his robe and handed forty taels back to her.
“I’ll charge you ten taels for the grain.”
Then he looked at the constable he had assigned to accompany her.
“Tell the kitchen supervisor to give her some rice and a bit of meat. Tell him it’s on my orders.”
When Jun Wan heard that he was charging her ten taels, she thought it was rather expensive. But the moment she heard there would be meat as well, she immediately felt that compared to paying one tael for just two steamed buns, this was a bargain.
The constable in charge of the kitchen gave her some rice and cut off a small piece of pork for her.
Jun Wan noticed a pile of discarded pig bones and pig intestines nearby.
“Are you still using those?”
They had planned to throw them away anyway. The kitchen constable glanced at them and said, “If you want them, take them.”
Overjoyed, Jun Wan quickly thanked him. Concealing her actions with her sleeve once more, she took out a silver ingot from her space and handed it over.
“I’d also like to buy three bowls of noodles, some seasonings, and two water pouches.”
The amount of silver she gave was quite generous. Pleased, the kitchen constable threw in the pig’s head and pig’s trotters as a bonus.
The head and trotters were covered in coarse bristles, and they couldn’t be bothered to clean them. In their opinion, it was easier to hunt another wild boar than waste time preparing those parts.
Jun Wan could not carry everything at once, so she said, “I’ll have someone come later to collect the rest.”
The constable waved his hand indifferently.
“Fine. Just send them over later.”
Holding the rice and meat in one hand and carrying the pot and seasonings in the other, Jun Wan returned to the carriage with the constable Zheng An had sent to remove the shackles.
As soon as Linglan saw her, she hurried forward to take the things from her hands.
Hearing that Jun Wan had returned, Noble Consort Yi stepped down from the carriage, while Nanny Lin remained inside, cradling little Jingchen and not daring to come out.
Among the three women, aside from Madam Ding, the other two quickly put down their coarse-flour buns and shuffled over in their shackles to help.
After the constable removed Noble Consort Yi’s shackles, Jun Wan turned to the two women and said,
“You should have the officer unlock yours first.”
The moment they heard their shackles would be removed, they were so happy that they repeatedly thanked both the constable and Jun Wan.
After dragging those iron restraints for the entire journey, their ankles had long since been rubbed raw. Every step sent a piercing pain through them. Having the shackles removed would make things much easier.
When Madam Ding saw Jun Wan returning with a cooking pot, she assumed Jun Wan would never share any food with them, so she had stayed where she was instead of helping. She had never imagined that Jun Wan would actually ask the constables to unlock their shackles.
“Officer, please… please help me remove mine too!”
Madam Ding hurriedly stood up, threw away the coarse-flour bun in her hand, and rushed toward the constable.
The constable ignored her and looked at Jun Wan instead.
He had only been told to unlock five people, but no one had specified exactly which five. Three had already been freed, so naturally he wanted Jun Wan’s approval. Otherwise, if he unlocked the wrong person, who would compensate him?
“Please unlock hers as well.”
Jun Wan smiled faintly at the constable before turning to Madam Ding with a cold expression.
“This is the first time I’m helping you, and it will also be the last. From now on, you’ll have to rely on yourself. Whatever happens to you has nothing to do with me.”
Madam Ding secretly hated Jun Wan, but she dared not show it.
Once her shackles were removed, she immediately knelt before Noble Consort Yi.
“Madam, please don’t send me away. I promise I’ll behave from now on.”
Noble Consort Yi frowned.
She knew this woman had been given to her son by Mo Cheng. This was the perfect opportunity to get rid of her.
“Wan’er, give her ten taels of silver. From this day forward, she and Yan’er will have nothing more to do with each other.”
After saying that, she turned to the nearby constable.
“Sir, could I trouble you to come with me and remove my daughter’s shackles as well?”
The constable had no interest in involving himself in family disputes. He simply followed Noble Consort Yi toward where the Lü family was resting.
Jun Wan quietly took ten taels of silver from her space, concealed by her sleeve, and tossed it to Madam Ding. She ignored her after that, instructing Linglan to take the other two concubines to collect the pig’s head and other items, while she herself climbed back into the carriage.
Realizing there was nothing more she could do, Madam Ding angrily picked up the silver, shot the carriage a venomous glare, and walked away toward the constables.
Inside the carriage, Nanny Lin looked at Jun Wan with concern.
“You and little Jingchen stay here. This old servant will go prepare the food.”
Jun Wan did not refuse. She wiped her hands with a wet tissue, took out a plate of pastries from her space, and set it inside the carriage.
“Have something to fill your stomach before you go.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Noble Consort Yi’s angry voice rang out from outside.
“Are you still not coming with me? If you refuse now, I will never look after you again!”
Mo Lian simply cried without answering.
She wanted to go, but she did not want to lower her pride so easily.
Noble Consort Yi was furious, yet she could not bear to see Mo Lian suffer. She snatched the coarse-flour bun from Mo Lian’s hand, threw it onto the ground, and dragged her away.
“Ahhh!”
Mo Lian cried out in pain.
Earlier, when the constables had been removing shackles, Mo Lian had deliberately hidden from Noble Consort Yi so that her mother would not notice. Hearing her daughter’s cry now, Noble Consort Yi ignored Mo Lian’s attempts to stop her. She crouched down and pulled up the hem of her trousers.
Both of Mo Lian’s ankles had been rubbed raw by the iron shackles.
Tears immediately welled up in Noble Consort Yi’s eyes.
Madam Ding and the others had also worn shackles during the journey. Noble Consort Yi had been there when theirs were removed, yet their injuries had not been nearly this severe.
Why, then, were her own daughter’s feet in such terrible condition?
What she did not know was that after Jun Wan had driven Madam Kong off the carriage, Madam Kong had been angry that Noble Consort Yi had not stood up for her. Unable to vent her anger elsewhere, she had taken it out on Mo Lian instead.
Mo Lian herself had been sulking over Noble Consort Yi and Jun Wan. When her mother had called her over, she had stubbornly refused. Even though she knew Madam Kong was deliberately making things difficult for her, she had endured it.
She had never suffered hardship before. On top of that, Madam Kong had intentionally leaned her full weight against her while they walked.
That was why Mo Lian’s injuries were much worse than everyone else’s.
Noble Consort Yi said nothing.
She simply stood up, gently supported Mo Lian, and slowly helped her toward the carriage.
Watching the backs of Noble Consort Yi and Mo Lian, Lü An frowned and shot Madam Kong a harsh glare.
Although Noble Consort Yi had not scolded Jun Wan, causing them all to walk such a long distance, withholding even a single steamed bun was simply too petty.
After all, Mo Lian was still Madam Kong’s own granddaughter.
Knowing that Lü An was angry, Madam Kong spoke with a wronged expression.
“It’s not that I refused to give her a bun. One bun doesn’t matter. But what about afterward? We don’t have much money ourselves. Besides, wouldn’t it be better if Lian’er simply went back with her mother?”
“You…”
Lü An was so angry that he could not even finish his sentence.
What infuriated him most was Madam Kong’s shortsightedness.
By acting this way, she had completely pushed his eldest daughter and granddaughter away from the family.