Exile at the start? The princess is no ordinary woman.

Butler Li poured each of them a glass of water. After taking a sip, they noticed something was wrong with the water.

"Huaiqing, Steward Li, this water..."

"Nan Nan added something to the water to relieve fatigue," Jun Yanchen explained again.

Qi Su and Zhou Shi understood immediately. It seemed that Gu Nanzhi had used her knowledge of pharmacology to add something to the water to achieve this effect. No wonder the water had such a refreshing feeling after swallowing.

That girl really keeps surprising people;

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Gu Nanzhi brought Cang Ling to the Zhao family. Facing the large number of Zhao family members, she showed no fear, but the Zhao family members became wary upon seeing the two of them.

But even when faced with this woman they both feared and hated, they still managed to maintain their composure.

"Gu Nanzhi, what are you doing here?"

"Gu Nanzhi, you are not welcome in my Zhao family."

Having been forced to experience being mute several times, even though everyone's hatred for Gu Nanzhi remained undiminished, they obviously dared not call her those unpleasant names anymore.

Gu Nanzhi smiled, a smile that didn't reach her eyes, as she faced the Zhao family.

"I heard you just delivered some firewood; we've come to thank you for your kindness."

As she spoke, Gu Nanzhi raised her hand and threw the handful of what looked like weeds directly into the Zhao family's fire. Instantly, the fire crackled and hissed.

As soon as the weeds were added to the fire, the Zhao family remembered that Gu Nanzhi was knowledgeable in pharmacology and skilled in using various medicinal herbs, so they immediately covered their mouths and noses with their hands in alarm.

"What...what are you doing? What is that thing?"

"Gu Nanzhi, what are you trying to do? Don't be so arrogant."

Faced with the Zhao family's anger, Gu Nanzhi remained unmoved, speaking calmly and slowly, "You should know what this is. After all, this is to thank you for the firewood. Be careful in the future, I'm a vengeful person, don't give me any leverage over you."

Upon hearing Gu Nanzhi's words, the Zhao family members, who knew the reason behind it, flinched, their eyes darting away in apprehension, only concealed by the already darkening sky.

If the dry wild grass hadn't already caught fire after being thrown into the flames, some of them probably wouldn't have been able to resist going forward to pull the thing out of the fire.

However, this impulse was forcibly suppressed because the wild grass was about to burn out, and because of the fear of revealing what they had done.

However, Zhao Pengyu, who was prone to anger, couldn't hold back. He was provoked by Gu Nanzhi's arrogance and charged at her with his fist raised.

Cang Ling, who was protecting Gu Nanzhi from behind, moved swiftly, appearing in front of her and kicking Zhao Pengfei who was rushing towards her.

"Well"

Zhao Pengfei's slightly obese body flew two meters and landed on the ground. Wang and the others, disregarding everything else, immediately rushed forward to help him up.

"son"

"Husband"

"Gu Nanzhi, you...you're going too far!"

"Gu Nanzhi, what right do you have to hit me?"

"Cang Ling, well done!"

Gu Nanzhi completely ignored the Zhao family's shouts, gave Cang Ling a thumbs up, and then turned to the Zhao family.

"I came to thank you out of kindness, and you're not even grateful. Not only are you ungrateful, but you also want to hit me. Should I ask the guards to come and judge this?"

"Guards! Guards!" The Zhao family members' faces darkened. They already knew that the guards were definitely biased towards Gu Nanzhi.

"you..."

"Gu Nanzhi..."

If looks could kill, Gu Nanzhi would probably have no idea how many times the Bei Zhao family members had killed her with their eyes by now.

However, in Gu Nanzhi's eyes, the Zhao family's actions were nothing more than impotent rage.

"Cang Ling, let's go. If they don't appreciate it, then so be it."

"Yes"

Cang Ling left with Gu Nanzhi again, leaving the Zhao family alone with their anger but nowhere to vent it. Zhao Zhiyuan immediately ordered people to put out the fire and gather firewood to start a new fire.

Upon returning, Gu Nanzhi glanced at Qi Su and Zhou Shi present, then calmly threw some more things into her fire.

Then he added a warning, "Be careful tonight; someone might be using the Zhao family and the wolves in the mountains to cause trouble."

"Grandfather, Grandmother, please remind everyone in the family to be careful," Jun Yanchen said, without doubting Gu Nanzhi's words, and instead reminded Qi Su and Zhou Shi as she had suggested.

Gu Nanzhi was satisfied with his performance, as he was a man who didn't waste words.

Although Gu Nanzhi didn't give a specific explanation, Qi Su and Zhou Shi chose to follow her advice. After what had just happened, they didn't believe Gu Nanzhi would say those words without reason.

Being in this remote mountain area, it's always good to be careful;

"Yes, Huaiqing, girl, you two be careful too."

Gu Nanzhi glanced at the two elders, then at Jun Yanchen, whose face was masked, revealing only his lips and jawline. Her eyes darted around, and finally she took out a pill, about the size of a thumb, from her sleeve and placed it in front of Qi Su and the other man.

"Take this and throw it into the fire."

This thing was something she made in her past life; when burned in the wild, its smell can repel wild animals.

The two hesitated for a moment as they looked at the black pill. They glanced at Jun Yanchen, then at Gu Nanzhi, before putting the black pill away.

"Gu girl, thank you so much, you've gone to so much trouble."

They're all smart people; with a little thought, they could all guess the effect of that pill.

"No need, he already paid."

Zhou looked at Gu Nanzhi with loving eyes. She was really troubled by the matter of the two of them getting divorced. They got along very well and were such a good match. How could they get divorced?

However, he was stunned by Gu Nanzhi's words the next moment: "You paid?"

Does this mean that her behavior throughout the journey was due to the money Huaiqing gave her?

Qi Su and Zhou Shi are now somewhat confused about the relationship between Jun Yanchen and Gu Nanzhi, but they are also glad that they haven't inquired about their divorce.

It seems this matter needs to be handled slowly, with more observation and discussion later. In any case, it won't reach Junlan anytime soon.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Qi Su and Zhou returned to their family and told their family about the news they had received from Jun Yanchen and Gu Nanzhi. They also threw the pill into the fire.

Thanks to the two pheasants Cang Ling and his group brought back, Gu Nanzhi and her companions had a fairly hearty dinner. After dinner, night had already fallen, and the camp fell into a deep sleep.

Only the rustling of leaves in the breeze and the crackling of the fire, along with the chirping of insects and birds in the distance, formed the perfect lullaby.

Under the gentle, natural lullaby, after an unknown amount of time, the entire camp was shattered by a terrified scream.

"what"

"Wolves, there are wolves!"

The sound was so loud that it startled the sleeping people awake. They had to open their bleary eyes and turn their heads to see people rushing out of the forest. In the blink of an eye, countless pairs of green eyes appeared in the woods.

"Wolf! Wolf is coming!"

Those who ran out shouted as they ran, startling even those who were still groggy and unable to open their eyes, awakening them with a start from the sudden turn of events.