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

Zhou Cai glanced at the expressionless Cang Ling, then looked at Xia He with difficulty and advised, "Miss Xia He, we don't know what the situation is in this forest. Just wait here. We will definitely find Madam and ensure her safety."

"Maybe the lady will come back from the other direction soon after we go in, so you should just wait here."

"But..." Xia He was still worried and wanted to go find the young lady herself.

Seeing this, Butler Li stepped forward to stop Xia He, saying, "Miss Xia He, don't worry, just wait here. Both of them are skilled enough to ensure your safety once they enter the woods. If you go with them, Madam will surely worry about you again when she returns."

Xia He knew her own limitations; if she really encountered any trouble, she would only cause trouble for others. After some hesitation, she had no choice but to agree to stay and wait.

Cang Ling and Zhou Cai continued walking in the direction Gu Nanzhi had left, but they had only taken a few steps when they were blocked by a guard's knife. "What are you doing? Trying to escape? Go back and stay put!"

"My lord, you misunderstand. We didn't run away. We wanted to go into the woods to look for my wife. There was a noise in the woods just now, and we were afraid she might be in danger, so we wanted to go and look for her."

"That won't do either. You can't leave the group without permission. Who knows if this is just an excuse for you to try and escape?"

The exiled people were divided into four families, and there were twelve escorts responsible for their transport. Originally, three escorts were assigned to each family, but because the Yan King's family had fewer members, the number of escorts assigned to that family was reduced to two.

One of them was Qian Laosi from earlier, and the other was Chen Gang, who stopped Cang Ling and Zhou Cai at this moment.

Chen Gang is Chen Qiang's brother, and is still a bit young. He was given this job by Chen Qiang's guidance, and this is Chen Gang's first escort mission.

Chen Qiang told him that he had to be tough on these exiles and not be nice to them, otherwise he wouldn't be able to intimidate them.

Seeing this, Qian Laosi stopped pretending and, suppressing his fear, took a few steps to the group to inquire about the situation.

"Gangzi, what happened?"

"They want to break away from the group and go into the mountains," Chen Gang said, still holding his knife in front of them defensively.

When Zhou saw another escort approaching, he quickly and politely explained their intentions.

"My lord, we only wish to enter the woods to search for my wife. She is a woman, and we are afraid she may be in danger since she has not returned for so long. We hope you can grant us this favor."

Upon hearing this, Qian Laosi's lips twitched. That woman, wielding that terrifying hidden weapon, what danger could she possibly pose? If there's danger, then anyone who encounters her is in danger.

Unfortunately, he didn't dare say those words.

However, these people were, after all, that woman's family, and they didn't dare go too far, otherwise they were afraid that the woman would cause trouble for them when she returned. After thinking it over, they had no choice but to agree.

"You have half an hour. Don't even think about escaping. If an exiled prisoner escapes midway, he will not be sentenced to death, and his family members will be punished as well. You should understand this."

He agreed, but Qian Laosi still gave a warning in an unfriendly tone, and gave Jun Yanchen a fierce look, the meaning of which was very clear.

He was afraid of the hidden weapons in the woman's hand, but the woman was not here at the moment. As a guard, how could he just bow his head like that?

Chen Gang was surprised that Qian Laosi agreed so readily. What if these people escaped into the mountains? As far as he knew, these two were just subordinates, not relatives of the King of Yan. What if they didn't care about the King of Yan's life or death?

"Brother Qian?"

"Gangzi, it's alright. They're in shackles, and besides, with the three of them, including the King of Yan, they wouldn't dare to run away. If they wanted to escape now, they wouldn't have been exiled with us back then, even if they were just servants."

Qian Laosi did have some faith in the loyalty of these two men. After all, if they weren't loyal, why would they have followed him into exile instead of being sold to another family and being able to stay in the capital?

After listening, Chen Gang could only agree to Qian Laosi's decision and put away the knife he had been holding in front of him.

"Don't even think about running away, or my knife won't have eyes!"

Zhou Cai forced a smile and thanked him, "Thank you, sir, thank you so much. We will definitely return as soon as possible."

Cang Ling remained indifferent, unmoved, and started walking into the forest. If it weren't for...

He didn't even consider those two petty people a threat; he could take care of them with a wave of his hand.

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 had another success in the forest. After half an hour, she caught a pheasant and a rabbit. Dinner was sorted for tonight: roast chicken and roast rabbit, how delicious!

She also found some spices in the forest, picked them, and took them back to roast the chicken.

Having grown up in the mountains since childhood, these things were no challenge for her at all;

It was almost time, so she went back into the space, poured herself a bowl of the brewed medicine, and drank it. The moment the medicine entered her mouth, her face contorted in disgust. It tasted awful! Absolutely awful!

After finishing her drink, she quickly grabbed a piece of chocolate to cleanse her palate. Then she remembered the sweet potatoes and potatoes she'd bought earlier that she hadn't eaten.

Couldn't we use these to grow some? I wonder if these things even exist in this world.

"Xiaobai, come on, take these sweet potatoes and potatoes and plant some too."

The tireless little robot, Xiaobai, had another task: "Yes, Master."

"Little White is awesome!"

Gu Nanzhi didn't forget to praise Xiaobai, and then found a small bamboo basket she had collected while collecting things from several places. She picked some cherries and strawberries, intending to take them out to share with Xia He later.

As for this little basket, don't ask, she just picked it up. She has to take these things out and use them eventually, otherwise it would be a waste to just leave them in her space.

"Alright, Xiaobai, I should go back now."

Gu Nanzhi reappeared in the mountains, but she didn't take out those things yet. She would take them out when she got them. It would be too tiring to carry them now. She had just taken the antidote and should have been resting.

She started walking back the way she came, but when she was about halfway there, she vaguely heard someone coming in her direction.

She quickly slipped behind a clump of grass, trying to figure out who the newcomer was.

Could it be that disgusting man, unafraid of death, is plotting something sinister?

"lady"

"lady"

However, the next second, the call from the newcomer reached Gu Nanzhi's ears: "Madam? Is someone looking for someone?"

Whose wife is she? She's come all the way to the mountains!

She didn't think of herself at all when she was addressed as "Madam," which means she was completely unaware of the change in her nominal status.

It wasn't until the two men had walked a little further ahead that Gu Nanzhi, peeking out from behind the bushes, recognized them and suddenly realized that the repeated calls of "Madam" she had heard were actually directed at her.

Well... I can't blame her. She didn't admit that she had her eye on that man, so naturally she wouldn't change her status to that of a married woman.

Seeing that the two had come to find her, Gu Nanzhi saw no point in hiding anymore. She first took out the two pheasants and the rabbit from her spatial storage, along with the small basket containing cherries, strawberries, and spices, before emerging from behind the bushes.