Shi Huamiao said jealously, “Hmph, that little seductress has no shame.”
The people of the Lu family also looked greedily at Jun Wan’s group, clearly hoping she would share some of the food with them.
Jun Wan’s expression darkened as she said to Linglan outside the carriage, “Linglan, slap her.”
If she hadn’t been in the carriage, she would have done it herself. People with foul mouths were not worth tolerating.
Before anyone even understood who she meant to punish, Linglan was already in front of Shi Huamiao. “Slap! Slap!” Two crisp blows landed on Shi Huamiao’s face.
Everyone was stunned. They hadn’t expected Jun Wan to actually dare to order violence. After all, they were exiled prisoners—officials were not supposed to allow internecine fighting among them.
“You—!” Shi Huamiao’s eyes burned with rage. “How dare you have someone hit me?!”
The Shi family snapped back to their senses, all of them glaring viciously at Jun Wan, as if they wanted to tear her apart.
“You can try insulting this palace again and see whether I dare have her continue hitting you,” Jun Wan said coldly, looking directly at Shi Huamiao.
The officers, who were eating nearby, saw what was happening and shouted from a distance, “If you’re not going to sit properly and eat, do you want to taste the whip?”
The Shi family immediately quieted down. Though unwilling, they could only glare at Jun Wan before grudgingly backing off.
Jun Wan let out a cold laugh and ignored them, continuing to divide up the roasted chicken.
Madam Yi, holding little Jingchen, also looked cold. Now even random nobodies dared to bully them. Once she found her son Yan’er, she would have him properly deal with the Shi family. They clearly weren’t scolding out of righteousness—they were just jealous that Jun Wan had chicken to eat.
After dinner, as usual, Jun Wan rested in the carriage with Nanny Lin, while Madam Yi and the others stayed outside.
Afraid that someone might approach the carriage and discover its secrets, Jun Wan sent Nanny Lin and Jingchen into the space first, while she lay inside the carriage alone, keeping the connection with the space open so Nanny Lin could call her when the baby woke.
When everyone had fallen asleep, a shadowy figure crouched and moved toward Jun Wan’s carriage.
Just as Night Shadow was about to intervene, Jun Wan also sensed the movement. She instantly teleported out of the carriage to him and signaled him not to make a sound—she wanted to see what the person was doing.
Under the moonlight, they saw the figure clearly: it was Madam Ding. She poured something from a basket through the carriage window, then quickly slipped away.
Jun Wan narrowed her eyes and sent Night Shadow to check what was inside the carriage, while she followed Madam Ding herself.
Her intuition told her it was definitely nothing good, and it was safer for Night Shadow to inspect it.
She trailed Madam Ding from a distance.
Madam Ding soon arrived at a dense forest. After waiting a moment, a man in officer’s uniform approached.
When he got close, Jun Wan recognized him—he was Li Wu.
“You’re courting death!” Li Wu grabbed Madam Ding by the throat, his voice cold and vicious. “Didn’t I tell you to use the snake against Fan Wei? Why did you put it in Jun Wan’s carriage instead? I already said not to touch Jun Wan and her group yet—we need them to lure out Mo Yan before we can wipe them all out at once!”
“You… let… go…” Madam Ding struggled, prying at his hand as her face turned red and her lips purple.
Whether Li Wu released her or simply didn’t intend to kill her yet, he finally let go. Madam Ding coughed violently.
“Cough… cough…”
When she finally caught her breath, she said darkly, “Even if Jun Wan dies, there’s still Madam Yi. Prime Minister Zhou is just being overly cautious. I don’t believe Mo Yan would abandon his own mother.”
In her heart, she hated deeply. Zhou Sen had originally sent her to Mo Yan as a concubine, but after Mo Yan imprisoned him in the rear courtyard, she barely ever saw him again. After the prince’s residence was condemned, she was expelled entirely.
Now she had no status and had been cast aside. If she hadn’t clung to Li Wu, she would have starved on this exile route.
Li Wu looked at her coldly. “Just remember—this is not the time to act against the Jun family. Do nothing else. If you disobey again, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”
With that, he turned and left.
Madam Ding touched her neck, fear flashing through her eyes—but even more, hatred.
Jun Wan, watching from the shadows, finally understood: Madam Ding had been sent by Zhou Sen to Mo Yan, likely as a spy. She then wondered—if Madam Ding was one, were the other two concubines also spies? She curled her lip and quietly left.
When she found Night Shadow and the others again, she saw that Night Shadow and Night Sha were each holding a venomous snake by the neck.
A cold glint appeared in Jun Wan’s eyes.
“What comes around goes around. Send them back to her.”
With that, she teleported back into the carriage. Night Shadow and Night Sha flew off in the direction she had indicated.
The next morning, when the officers called for departure, they realized someone was missing.
“Damn it, did that woman run off?” one of them cursed.
Zheng An sent people to search. Eventually, a soldier found Madam Ding’s body in the forest more than a hundred meters from camp. She was already stiff—clearly dead for quite some time.
Nearby, they also found two dead venomous snakes. They concluded she had tried to escape and was bitten to death by snakes.
Only Li Wu, upon seeing the snake corpses, cast a complicated look toward Jun Wan’s carriage.
Zheng An had the body briefly dealt with before the group continued on. By midday, they finally reached Ji City, the nearest town to the capital.
The officers decided to resupply there and directly escorted the prisoners into an inn.
The inn wasn’t large, but the waiter immediately greeted Zheng An warmly. “Officer Zheng, long time no see!”
“We haven’t had many prisoners recently, so we haven’t taken many jobs. This time we’ll just rest briefly, eat, and leave after buying supplies,” Zheng An replied with a smile.
“Alright! I’ll arrange it right away,” the waiter said.