Except for Du Bin, everyone else was confused—weren’t they supposed to be in prison? How did they fall asleep and end up inside a cave?
Du Bin, on the other hand, was shocked, wondering how their princess managed to enter the prison and rescue them all at once.
Jun Wan glanced indifferently at the crowd. She did not bother to explain, nor did she think it was necessary.
“These are medicine for treating wounds. Apply them yourselves.” She pointed at the medicine bottles on the ground, then, using her sleeve as cover, took out 200 taels of silver notes from her spatial storage and placed them down. “Take this money for your travel expenses. You can go wherever you want.”
After speaking, she ignored them and walked straight out of the cave, instantly teleporting back to a forest not far from the exiled convoy.
Du Bin and the others stared at her departing figure in confusion.
Their princess had actually returned after traveling dozens of miles just to save them—and even managed to avoid the guards escorting them?
Although they knew she could not have done it alone, they were still shocked by Jun Wan’s abilities and deeply grateful for her rescue. Otherwise, they would have been executed.
…
Jun Wan had been a soldier in her previous life, with strong reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance skills. After a quick scan of the forest, she located Night Shadow and the others hiding and teleported directly to them.
Night Shadow had been hiding well in a tree when, suddenly, a person appeared beside him. Instinctively, he was about to draw his sword when a voice sounded in his ear.
“It’s me.”
Recognizing his master’s voice, Night Shadow looked over—and when he confirmed it was truly Jun Wan, he was shocked.
“M-Master?”
He had been closely monitoring the exiled convoy. When had his master left the carriage? How did he not notice?
Jun Wan nodded. Looking at the cold-faced man before her, she said quietly, “Call the others over.”
After speaking, she jumped down from the tree and moved a distance away.
Night Shadow quickly gathered the others, who then followed Jun Wan.
When she stopped, they all knelt down.
“Greetings, Master.”
Jun Wan looked at the twelve people before her and felt a faint sense of relief. At least the original owner’s mother, though she had sent her to a political marriage, had still provided her with sufficient protection.
She silently looked at the kneeling crowd for nearly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before finally speaking calmly.
“Rise.”
“Thank you, Master.”
After they stood, Jun Wan said, “You are all imperial shadow guards sent by my father to protect me. What happened before is in the past. From this moment on, I have only one requirement for you—loyalty.
If you cannot give me absolute loyalty, you may leave now.
But if you choose to stay and betray me later, I do not mind letting you experience what it means to suffer worse than death.”
Her voice was icy and ruthless, carrying overwhelming pressure that made everyone feel a chill in their hearts.
They had never seen their master with such a presence before.
“We are willing to swear lifelong loyalty to the Master!”
“Good.” Jun Wan nodded in satisfaction. She looked at a round-faced man beside her. “I don’t need so many people here. Xue Ren, take some of them and go ahead to Diancheng to scout the situation.”
Then she took out 10,000 taels of silver notes from her spatial storage and handed them to him.
“This is for your expenses.”
Before they could even react, they saw her casually take out a cloth and then produce many pastries and food, placing them on it.
“These are for you. Xue Ren, once you’re done eating, you may set out.”
“….”
Everyone froze completely.
How was their master taking things out of thin air?
Before they could recover from their shock, Jun Wan had already vanished and returned to the carriage.
“….”
“Brother Ying, am I dreaming?” Xue Ren asked.
Night Shadow snapped back to reality and pinched his arm.
“Ow!” Xue Ren cried out. “I’m not dreaming!”
“Then how did the Master suddenly take out things and disappear?” he asked.
The others also looked toward Night Shadow.
“Why ask so much?” Night Shadow said calmly. “Just remember she is our master.”
“That’s true.” Xue Ren nodded. “Everyone eat quickly. We’ll set off after that.”
Night Shadow picked up a piece of pastry and fell into thought.
Meanwhile, Jun Wan had already entered her spatial realm.
The reason she had revealed her abilities in front of Night Shadow and the others was partly to intimidate them, and partly for convenience.
Since they would be following her from now on, she couldn’t always sneak away every time she needed to use her space.
Seeing Nanny Lin and little Jingchen sleeping soundly, she did not disturb them. She left the space and lay down in the carriage to rest.
Although the whole process had taken less than two hours, it had consumed a great deal of her mental energy, so she needed sleep to recover.
Just as she had lain down for less than fifteen minutes, a sudden woman’s scream rang out.
Everyone was awakened.
Jun Wan frowned and lifted the carriage curtain to look toward the direction of the scream.
It came from a forest, and several officers had already rushed over.
As she was about to lower the curtain again, one of the officers shouted to Zheng An, “Boss, Fan Wei is in trouble!”
Zheng An immediately ran toward the woods.
Jun Wan, hearing that it involved Zheng An’s brother-in-law, became alert. This was a perfect opportunity to earn a favor.
She got off the carriage and said to Linglan, “Watch the carriage.” Then she headed toward the scene.
“Wan’er, where are you going?” the Imperial Noble Consort asked hurriedly.
“I’m just going to take a look. Rest, don’t worry.”
At that moment, a guard shouted, “What are you doing there?”
Then he ordered the prisoners, “It’s none of your business. Go to sleep!”
The prisoners quickly lowered their heads.
Jun Wan replied calmly, “I heard something happened there. I want to see if I can help—I know some medicine.”
After thinking for a moment, the guard allowed her to pass, believing a woman could not cause trouble.
“She thinks she’s someone important?” Lu Chunxuan sneered. “Just because she can cook doesn’t mean she knows everything.”
“Maybe she learned medicine in her dreams,” the daughter of Shi Wenqing, Shi Huamiao, mocked.
The Shi family also watched with amusement.
Lu An also thought she was being reckless—he had never heard she knew medicine before.
Among the onlookers, only He Hong said worriedly, “Princess, you should not go.”
Jun Wan replied politely, “It’s fine. I’m just taking a look. I won’t force myself if I can’t help.”
As she neared the site of the incident, Zheng An’s cold voice came from the bushes:
“Send someone to find a doctor nearby. Quickly.”