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

The group was somewhat surprised that Gu Nanzhi could speak to Jun Yanchen like that, even addressing the Prince of Yan by his given name.

The legendary King Yan was rumored to be indifferent to women, ruthless, bloodthirsty, and violent...and so on, inspiring fear and dread in all sorts of people.

Even though the King of Yan is now crippled in both legs and has been demoted to a commoner, his imposing aura remains undiminished, especially his eyes, which make people hesitant to meet his gaze.

There are probably very few people in the entire capital who could act so relaxed in front of him. Gu Nanzhi is indeed not an ordinary woman.

Fortunately, the two of them behaved themselves very well throughout the journey, and hopefully they will continue to do so in the future.

"Your Highness, we are only following orders. We hope you will not make things difficult for us."

Chen Qiang spoke to Jun Yanchen with a hint of respect, and then instructed his men to remove the shackles from him.

"Go and remove their shackles."

Chen Qiang was a veteran who had served on the battlefield before returning to this job. Putting everything else aside, he deeply admired Jun Yanchen's status as the God of War of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Otherwise, why would they have so easily agreed to Gu Nanzhi's previous acts of accommodating her, simply because she knew the rules, without interfering too much?

A large part of the reason was their deep-seated admiration for Jun Yanchen. However, since he had fallen into such a predicament, they were merely completing their tasks, so sometimes they would naturally turn a blind eye.

This can be considered a small token of respect for the person I already admired;

Of course, he was ultimately just a lowly escort, so he wouldn't make these things too obvious. Fortunately, Princess Gu Nanzhi took the initiative to act according to the rules.

They were giving money and dividing up meat.

As long as they do not attempt to escape and successfully reach Junlan, or if they encounter any other unexpected incidents, it will not be their responsibility.

Those who had been staring wide-eyed, waiting for a spectacle, were instead met with disbelief as the guards removed the shackles from the members of the Prince Yan's household.

What does this mean? We are all exiled, so why should those few people be freed from their shackles?

What are these escorts trying to do? Are they trying to curry favor with that useless, disliked king?

They just took off their shackles like that, aren't they afraid the guys will escape?

Immediately afterwards, some people stood up and started making a fuss.

"Why were they unshackled? We demand our shackles be removed too! Quickly, remove ours as well!"

"Why are they able to have their shackles removed? We are all exiles, so they should all be freed as well."

"Yes, we also demand to have our shackles removed."

"Quickly remove these shackles from me too!"

"Hurry up and untie them all too."

"..."

This time, the commotion caused a stir among the other three families. Someone from each family stood up, indignant and resuming their arrogant stance, wanting to order the guards to remove their shackles.

Wearing shackles during exile is the rule. Since the escort removed them for those people from the Prince Yan's mansion, and they dared to break the rules on their own, then they should all be removed to show fairness.

They were all shouting recklessly, especially the Zhao family members, who were the most arrogant, followed by the Xiao family. The Qi family was in a similar situation, but the most impatient among them were the members of the third branch of the family.

Of course, while the others weren't quite as enthusiastic as the third wife, their eyes still held anticipation and excitement.

After all, these shackles were not light. Traveling every day was already arduous enough, and having to add this weight on their bodies made everyone hope to lighten their burden.

However, before going to Gu Nanzhi and the others to fulfill their demands, Chen Qiang had already anticipated that if he agreed to this condition, the other exiled prisoners would inevitably react in the same way.

Therefore, in order to suppress the exiled prisoners, he had already instructed the guards, each responsible for a few households, to approach the camps of the other three households and, if such a situation arose, to immediately and forcefully suppress it.

So no matter how loudly these people shouted, they were not greeted with kind words, nor were they offered their shackles.

Instead, it came from the fierce whips of the escorts.

"Swish"

"You all better stay put! Are you trying to rebel? Or have you forgotten your place? I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget!"

"You want your shackles removed? Should I just release you all now? You're asking for death! Watch me whip you to death!"

"Say it again, do you dare ask why? Now that you've been exiled, you're under my jurisdiction all the way. You'd better behave yourselves, or my whip won't be so merciful!"

"You want to break free of your shackles? You're dreaming!"

"clap clap"

Basically, the five or six guards watching over the three households swung their whips simultaneously, and the sound of their whips echoed throughout the entire camp.

Meanwhile, the guards continued to hurl insults, and the sound of whips lashing against people echoed through the air. With each strike of the whip, the screams of pain from the exiles resounded.

"Ah...why? Stop! Don't hit me!"

"don't want..."

"Why should they be able to remove their shackles? This is unfair. We are all exiles, yet you are showing bias."

"It's the rule that exiled people wear shackles, sir. How can you break the rules so easily? But is there collusion with the people of the Prince Yan's mansion, attempting to help them escape?"

"What benefits did those people give you that not only did they remove his shackles but they also protect him so fiercely? We are not satisfied!"

"..."

The whip had already been lashed out at the crowd, yet some people, unafraid of death, continued shouting, trying to talk about rules and fairness.

These words, instead of deterring the guards, only fueled their determination to crack the whips, which they lashed out with even greater force.

"Why should I? Because he has medical skills and the ability to fight for this opportunity. He's just an exiled convict, yet he dares to talk to me about fairness."

"Don't talk to me about rules. In this escort team, I'm the rule."

"You think you can get away with that? I'll show you!"

"You think you're so great? I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget."

"I'll teach you exiles who still can't see the truth a lesson!"

"I'm so sick I could die!"

This was yet another severe beating. At times like this, the only thing that mattered was the use of force to deter people. If they didn't behave, they weren't afraid of whipping one or two to death. Anyway, the journey was long, and they could still manage to cover up their mission if a few people were missing on the way.

Butler Li, Zhou Cai, and Xia He watched as the guards removed all the shackles from Gu Nanzhi's body, and their hearts were filled with even more admiration for her.

Unexpectedly, with the lady's intervention, the escorts were able to remove their shackles so easily. The lady is indeed extraordinary.

Xia He, standing behind her young mistress, was filled with admiration. Her mistress had become incredibly capable; she had even managed to persuade the guards to remove their shackles. However, as she looked at the people being mercilessly whipped by the guards not far away, a hint of fear flickered in her eyes.

These guards are too troublesome. Although they have agreed to have their shackles removed now, they should still be more cautious when dealing with them in the future.