Chapter 63 – Song Jiuli’s Sudden Personality Shift

When this was mentioned, everyone’s eyes darkened slightly. Song Jiuyuan coldly instructed:

“From now on, we must be more cautious.”

Since their first attempt failed, those people would surely look for another opportunity to strike.

“Mm, thankfully we’re dining separately now. At least we can ensure that what we eat is clean.”

Madam Song’s brows and eyes were tinged with a faint sorrow. The group fell silent. At that moment, Ren Bang, who had been walking ahead, slowed down and came to Jiang Wan’s side.

“Madam Song, are you two alright?”

His tone carried a hint of probing, as if trying to find out what happened the night she and Song Jiuyuan had gone missing.

Jiang Wan deliberately pulled her lips into a bitter smile. “Those people pursued my husband and me relentlessly.

Fortunately, we were lucky. When we fell off the cliff, there was a pond below, so we didn’t get injured.”

“Do you know who the black-clad pursuers were?”

Ren Bang furrowed his brows, a bad feeling rising in his heart. He had a sense that this journey would not be peaceful.

“No idea.”

Jiang Wan shook her head calmly and without a hint of guilt. “After we fell, I never saw them again.”

“Alright then, just take care of yourself.”

Ren Bang sighed and didn’t say anything more. After all, he was just a minor officer—there wasn’t much he could do.

Once he walked away, Song Jiuli pursed her lips. “Is he afraid we’ll drag him down?”

“Maybe.”

Madam Song tightened her grip on the bundle in her hands and said softly, “People are afraid of death. Even if that’s really the case, it’s understandable.”

“No matter what he thinks, as long as he offers us some help, it’s enough.”

That was exactly what Jiang Wan thought. She didn’t really care what kind of person Ren Bang was—as long as she could achieve her own goals, that was enough.

Actually, Ren Bang wasn’t bad. He likely knew those black-clad men were targeting Song Jiuyuan. On top of that, people from the old Song family were fanning the flames, spreading rumors in others’ ears.

Now, except for the Chen family, everyone else kept their distance from them, afraid of getting implicated.

Even from a distance, Jiang Wan could hear Second Madam Song spitting nonsense with exaggerated expressions.

“Didn’t you see? That day they charged straight at Song Jiuyuan. I was so scared my legs turned to jelly!”

“Exactly! Thank goodness I was far away. Swords and knives don’t have eyes!”

“…”

Song Jiuyuan’s face darkened, and a cold glint flashed in his deep black eyes. Jiang Wan quietly comforted him.

“Let’s just walk our own path and ignore the judgment of others.”

Perhaps even Second Madam Song didn’t realize it herself—she had gradually become the kind of gossipy rural woman she used to despise.

“Mm.”

Song Jiuyuan turned his face away, choosing to ignore it entirely. The atmosphere was a bit heavy, and no one spoke.

Throughout the journey, Jiang Wan kept busy fiddling with herbs that others didn’t recognize. Everyone tacitly refrained from disturbing her.

Since she had gathered so many herbs, she certainly wouldn’t waste them. She carried a basket she had bartered for at the inn, filled with medicinal plants.

The road ahead wouldn’t be peaceful. Besides self-defense items, she also needed to prepare life-saving tools.

“Big Sis-in-law, do you need my help?”

With no task assigned by Jiang Wan, Song Jiuli found herself idle and eagerly waited for Jiang Wan to hand out duties.

“You won’t handle these well. I’ll do them myself. But later, remember to cook lunch.”

Jiang Wan didn’t want to be poisoned by Song Jiuli. She only had a simple tool, something she’d picked up back in the village.

It was hard for others to imagine how she could create anything effective with such rudimentary tools.

Luckily, Song Jiuli had been trained well by Jiang Wan. By noon, the meal she made with Big Madam Song turned out quite decent.

Song Jiuchi had also gone off to gather a good amount of firewood. By the time the meal was ready, Jiang Wan had just finished preparing her medicinal pills.

“Big Sis-in-law, hurry and eat.”

Song Jiuli first served her a bowl of wild vegetable porridge. The girl’s cooking skills had clearly improved—she could make even simple food look and taste good.

“Not bad.”

Jiang Wan quickly finished her food and returned to working with her herbs. Song Jiuyuan’s gaze lingered curiously on her pale fingertips.

After silently finishing his meal, he also drank the water she had prepared—it was sweet and comforting.

Song Jiuyuan couldn’t help but think—with her here, maybe this exile wasn’t so hard after all.

“Some people are just a jinx wherever they go.”

Second Madam Song muttered under her breath, her gaze frequently landing on Jiang Wan and Song Jiuyuan.

Shen Qian’s departure didn’t mean much to their family—Song Chen probably had already forgotten about his wife and concubine. As for the rest, they didn’t feel the slightest grief.

“She’s so foul-mouthed!”

Song Jiuli curled her lip and looked at Jiang Wan. “Big Sis-in-law, can I shut her up?”

“Go ahead. I’ve got your back.”

Jiang Wan didn’t even look up, continuing her work. With her approval, Song Jiuli stood up confidently.

“Song Lao’er, can’t you control your wife? She’s spewing crap nonstop—it’s giving me a headache!”

Jiang Wan: !!!

She looked up in shock, completely unprepared for Song Jiuli’s sudden personality shift.

The once delicate and gentle noble lady had suddenly become fierce, domineering, and loud.

Even Song Lao’er didn’t expect Song Jiuli to curse like that. He shot Second Madam Song a furious glare.

“We’re barely holding on ourselves. Why do you have to stir up more trouble with that mouth of yours?”

“Trouble? I just can’t stand seeing your old flame live peacefully!”

Second Madam Song gave Big Madam Song a glance full of implication.

Big Madam Song was shaking with rage. “What do you mean by that? Say it clearly!”

She shot to her feet, looking like she was ready to pounce on Second Madam Song at any moment.

Ren Bang gave the nearby chaos a flat glance but didn’t intervene. He had other complicated matters on his mind and no time to deal with these petty squabbles.

Second Madam Song glanced sideways at Big Madam Song. “What, did I say something wrong? Before marrying the eldest brother, didn’t you and my man have something going on?”

“Absolutely nothing!”

Big Madam Song was so furious that her vision went black. This damned woman clearly wanted to ruin her reputation!

Jiang Wan quickly put down her herbs and rushed over to support her, while Song Jiuli defended her mother like a little lion cub, shouting at Second Madam Song:

“Don’t slander my mother! My parents are truly in love—she has never wronged my father!”

“You dare say one more word?”

Song Jiuchi clutched a large rock, his eyes bloodshot. Beside him, Song Jiuyuan also stared at her coldly.

Second Madam Song trembled in fear. She was just being petty—once the pain faded, she forgot her lesson. Even though she knew she couldn’t win against them, she still wanted to make Big Madam Song suffer.

But when it came down to an actual fight, she chickened out.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! Give me back my San’er!”

Suddenly, the old madam, who had been sitting there in a daze, went berserk and charged at Jiang Wan and Big Madam Song.

Her eyes were vacant, mumbling incoherently, and her hair was a mess—she looked completely mad.

Ever since she lost her mind, her two daughters-in-law didn’t have Big Madam Song’s patience and hadn’t taken care of her properly.

She staggered forward, running toward Jiang Wan and Big Madam Song. Her sharp fingernails clawed viciously at Jiang Wan’s face.

Clearly, she intended to disfigure her.

Jiang Wan’s gaze turned cold. She didn’t care whether the attacker was elderly or not—she directly kicked her away.