In truth, the moment the aroma of the meat began to spread, Fan Wei had wanted to come over. He had simply been too embarrassed. However, when Jun Wan actually sent someone to bring them some of the food, he was genuinely surprised.
After smelling the delicious fragrance, he knew Jun Wan’s cooking had to be excellent. He figured he might as well make himself familiar with her—if they managed to hunt more game in the future, perhaps he could ask her group to cook it.
He was about to flatter her but suddenly realized he did not know how to address her. Remembering that she was the Princess of the Silver Wolf Kingdom, he simply said,
“Lady Jun, your cooking skills are incredible. Things that were about to be thrown away have become delicacies in your hands.”
Jun Wan knew he was buttering her up and probably had his own motives, but she was still happy to receive the compliment. Besides, Zheng An had sent them several steamed buns, so she felt awkward letting Fan Wei return empty-handed.
She filled a bowl for each of them with meat, bones, and broth, then had Fan Wei take the rest of the soup away—pot and all.
After all, the ingredients had originally belonged to the constables anyway, and by returning them cooked, she was earning a favor.
Fan Wei chuckled.
“Thank you.”
Without standing on ceremony, he took the pot and left.
Originally, Noble Consort Yi had wanted to send some food to her father.
But then she remembered that while everyone in the Lü family had been eating white-flour buns, her own daughter had been forced to eat coarse-grain buns.
The thought extinguished any desire she had to share with them.
Jun Wan climbed back into the carriage while Noble Consort Yi and the others sat on the ground and began eating.
Mo Lian looked at the white steamed bun, the meat, and the bowl of soup in front of her. Her heart was filled with regret.
She must have lost her mind to refuse to come with her mother. Because of that stubbornness, she had suffered so much.
Seeing the remorse on Mo Lian’s face, Noble Consort Yi quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Her greatest fear had been that Mo Lian would remain obstinate and continue opposing Jun Wan.
The Lü family had assumed that since Jun Wan’s group had cooked so much food, some of it would naturally be shared with them.
But after the meal was ready, aside from the portion sent to the constables, the women simply sat down and started eating, showing absolutely no intention of inviting them.
Lü An’s expression darkened immediately.
Madam Kong, meanwhile, muttered bitterly from the side,
“Master even blamed me for not giving Lian’er a bun. You said you felt sorry for that mother and daughter, but do they feel sorry for you? They’re eating meat without even thinking about you, their own father and grandfather.”
The rest of the Lü family lowered their heads, not daring to speak.
Lü An turned toward Madam Kong and shouted,
“Enough! If it weren’t for your narrow-mindedness, things would never have turned out like this.
“From now on, all matters concerning food purchases will be handled by Madam Dong. You don’t need to interfere anymore.”
Madam Kong was deeply upset after being scolded.
Lü Hanyuan glanced at his daughter, Lü Chunxuan.
Understanding her father’s meaning, Lü Chunxuan quickly stood up and walked over to comfort her grandmother.
“Grandmother, don’t be angry. They may be eating better than us now, but they’re all women. One day Aunt will realize that without Grandfather’s support, it’ll be very difficult for them to survive.”
Although she appeared to be speaking to Madam Kong, her words were actually meant for Lü An as well.
She wanted her grandfather to believe that if, in the future, her father and the others chose not to protect Jun Wan’s group, it would be entirely their own fault.
Lü An merely let out a cold snort and closed his eyes.
Out of sight, out of mind.
A mocking smile appeared on Madam Kong’s face.
Just wait, she thought. One day you’ll come begging us for help.
Watching Jun Wan and the others enjoying such a wonderful meal, Madam Ding suddenly found that the white-flour buns in her own hands no longer seemed appetizing.
Yes, she had used the ten taels Jun Wan had given her to buy two white-flour buns.
After dinner, the remaining buns and meat were put away by Nanny Lin at Jun Wan’s instruction, to be eaten the next day.
When it was time to rest, Noble Consort Yi stayed outside so that Jun Wan could sleep comfortably inside the carriage with little Jingchen.
Worried that the baby might keep Jun Wan awake, Nanny Lin climbed into the carriage as well to help care for him.
Jun Wan also took out an extra quilt and gave it to Noble Consort Yi.
After everyone had fallen asleep, Jun Wan brought Nanny Lin into her room inside the spatial dimension.
She asked Nanny Lin to rest with little Jingchen while she herself began preparing medicine.
She intended to rescue Steward Zhang and the others.
To move so many people at once, she would have to use her space, so she needed to make a strong sleeping powder.
At the same time, she also prepared an antidote.
Steward Zhang had only been captured because he had tried to save little Jingchen.
Otherwise, judging by their ability to sneak a woman and a baby into the Prince’s Manor without alerting the guards outside, they would certainly have escaped successfully.
Now they were very likely to be executed by Mo Cheng.
Jun Wan could not allow her son to grow up carrying the burden of innocent lives lost because of him.
In less than fifteen minutes, she finished preparing the sleeping powder.
Without disturbing Nanny Lin and the baby, she quietly left the space.
Just as she was preparing to depart, she heard movement outside.
Lifting one corner of the carriage curtain, she saw Madam Ding getting up and quietly walking toward the area where the constables were sleeping.
At this late hour, with everyone else asleep except for the guards on watch, there was no need to guess what that woman was planning.
Jun Wan suddenly felt a little sympathy for Mo Yan.
His woman was putting a green hat on him.
She wondered whether he would be so furious that he would leap right out of his grave if he found out.
What she failed to remember was that she herself was Mo Yan’s true wife.
Madam Ding had merely been one of his concubines before, and after Noble Consort Yi had given her ten taels of silver to sever the relationship, she was not even that anymore.
Originally, Jun Wan had wanted to stay and watch the drama unfold to see who Madam Ding’s target was.
But she had something far more important to do tonight.
Thinking that she would surely find out the answer sooner or later, she gave up on the gossip and left.
Using several consecutive teleports, Jun Wan returned to the capital.
Then she teleported again, arriving outside the capital prison to observe the situation.
She saw several jailers drinking wine nearby.
Without hesitation, she instantly teleported inside.
She had no idea which cell Steward Zhang and the others were being held in, so she carefully softened her footsteps and searched one cell after another.
A few prisoners woke up during her search.
But every time one opened his eyes, Jun Wan would suddenly appear before him with a teleport and silently stare at him.
The terrified prisoners all thought they had seen a ghost.
They immediately squeezed their eyes shut and pretended they had seen nothing.
At last, in the final cell, she found Steward Zhang and the others.
Their bodies were covered in blood.
It was obvious they had already been tortured.
“Your Highness?”
Du Bin was the first to spot her and cried out.
“Shhh…”
Jun Wan quickly signaled for him to be quiet.
Concealing her actions with her sleeve, she took out the sleeping powder she had prepared from her space, held her breath, and scattered it toward the prisoners.
Du Bin had no time to react before he collapsed unconscious.
The others never even woke up properly before falling into a deep sleep.
Jun Wan teleported into the cell, moved everyone into her space, then instantly teleported out of the capital and onto a secluded mountain.
Finding a hidden cave, she released them all.
She then bought five bottles of Yunnan Baiyao from the pharmacy in her space, carefully removing the boxes and labels just as she had before.
Next, she fed each of them the antidote, one by one.
After placing the medicine into their mouths, she patted each person’s back, helping the pills slide directly down into their stomachs.
Finally, she sat down nearby and quietly waited for them to wake up.
About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, Du Bin and the others gradually regained consciousness.
Looking around, they realized that the prison walls had vanished.
Instead, they seemed to be inside a mountain cave.
Then they noticed Jun Wan sitting quietly to one side.
“Your Highness?”
Steward Zhang asked in confusion.
“How… how are you here?”