In any case, there was no difference if one more person required medicinal herbs. They would let her have a taste of suffering first.

Their master had said it was okay to contract the epidemic disease a few times.

…

A day later, Xue Ling successfully contracted the disease. She let out a miserable scream in the infected area.

Meanwhile, An Jiuyue and Deputy General Sun returned.

They should have returned earlier, but they were delayed because they picked a lot of medicinal herbs on their journey back.

“We’re back, General.”

Deputy General Sun came to Qian Jiyun’s tent alone to report their return.

“We gathered—”

“Where’s Jiuyue?”

Qian Jiyun did not want to hear how many herbs they had picked. He only wanted to hear of An Jiuyue’s return.

“Uh…” Deputy General Sun was rendered speechless for a moment.

“Well, General, I wanted to persuade Miss Jiuyue to come back with me, but she said that she had something to do, so she didn’t come back with me.”

He did not understand either. What else would Princess Consort An have to do? She turned and left after giving him the herbs.

They were near the military camp. Even if there was something important, they could return and inform the General that they were safe first, right?

“General, this is the letter that Miss Jiuyue instructed me to deliver to you.”

Qian Jiyun immediately took the letter and opened it. He understood it after a glance.

He waved at Deputy General Sun. “You can leave first.”

“Yes, I’ll take my leave,” Deputy General Sun replied and turned around to leave.

However, he remembered that he had encountered people from the 18 Stockaded Villages on the mountain and decided to report it to the General.

“General, when I was picking herbs with Miss Jiuyue, we encountered people from the 18 Stockaded Villages. Their people seem to have contracted the disease. We were gathering medicinal herbs together, but we arrived ahead of them.

“Later, they asked us for help. Miss Jiuyue took the initiative and distributed some herbs to them.”

He still did not understand. The 18 Stockaded Villages were so far away from the epidemic outbreak. How did they contract the disease? He had been pondering it on the journey back.

“Got it.”

Qian Jiyun was not too surprised. Shen Yan had already come begging—nothing else would surprise him more.

However, he did not expect Shen Yan’s people to pick the medicinal herbs with An Jiuyue. He was relieved they were not completely clueless about treating the disease.

“I’ll take my leave.”

Upon hearing that, Deputy General Sun left.

After Deputy General Sun left, Yan Feng walked in and looked at his master hesitantly.

“Master, the Mistress…”

“There’s no need for you here. Go protect Jiuyue.”

Qian Jiyun informed Yan Feng of the address An Jiuyue had written to him in the letter and asked him to protect Jiuyue.

Since she said she had more important things to do, it must be true. He would support her, but he did not want her to tire herself out doing it.

If there were tasks that someone else could do, let them do them instead.

“Well…” Yan Feng was speechless.

He admitted he was skilled at martial arts, and his skills might be comparable to Qian Jiyun. However, he was a man. It was a little inappropriate to accompany An Jiuyue alone.

It was not that he had anything against women, but he was afraid it would damage her reputation.

“Master, the Shadow Guards have always trained female shadow guards. Why don’t I select some powerful ones and send them to the Mistress?” he suggested.