How could the princess consort reject him like that?

“Yes?” An Jiuyue glanced at Deputy General Sun.

Deputy General Sun immediately felt immense intimidation and shut his mouth.

He secretly marveled at her imposing aura. It was not inferior to their general at all. Even he was shocked.

An Jiuyue had cultivated this ferocious aura in her previous life. She could barely control it here.

It was not that she did not want to talk to Deputy General Sun properly, but she knew very well that whoever owed someone a favor would have to pay it back.

The 18 Stockaded Villages owed her the favor. Why did they have to pay it back to Qian Jiyun instead?

She did not want that, even if her relationship with Qian Jiyun was different now.

The 18 Stockaded Villages must not have any direct transactional relationship with the country or the royal family!

“Um… Miss Jiuyue, I saw some medicinal herbs over there. I’ll go dig them up. I’ll be quick.” With that, he carried the other bamboo baskets and left.

An Jiuyue looked at Deputy General Sun’s back and sighed. After a while, she turned back to look at Shen Zhuxin and the others.

“Which one of you is surnamed Shen?” she asked.

“Uh…” They were rendered speechless by her question.

Surnamed Shen? She must be referring to Shen Zhuxin.

They glanced at Shen Zhuxin in unison before looking at An Jiuyue, confused as to why she asked.

Shen Zhuxin stood up and said to An Jiuyue, “My name is Shen Zhuxin. I’m a pharmacist from the first village and the chief’s daughter.”

“Tell Shen Yan my surname is An.”

An Jiuyue turned around and walked towards where Deputy General Sun had left. However, she stopped and glanced back at Qi Ye.

“Remember—not everyone can afford to have the 18 Stockaded Villages indebted to them!”

With that, she left.

“What does she mean by that?” Qi Ye asked in a daze as he watched An Jiuyue disappear.

“I don’t know.” Shen Zhuxin shook her head, and so did the others.

He could only go back and ask the elders about this. Perhaps they would know.

“Let’s go back first. Our brothers in the village can’t wait any longer. We’ll send more people out to look for herbs later.”

…

In the military camp, Shen Yan cut to the chase and stated his intentions.

To Qian Jiyun, giving the prescription was a small matter. However, he had his reservations. He was unsure if he should use An Jiuyue’s original prescription or the revised one.

While he was hesitating, they heard a voice outside the tent.

“Prince Zhan Yun, you cannot give them this prescription.”

Shen Yan and Qi Gu stood up in unison when they heard the familiar voice.

“Prince Lei Ting!”

The anger in their hearts was about to erupt. Prince Lei Ting had been trying to recruit them. He had schemed against them several times, but they had resisted him.

They were certain the epidemic outbreak had something to do with him.

An elder in a golden robe walked in. He sneered at Shen Yan and Qi Gu.

“How dare you come here, Prince Lei Ting!”

Qi Gu was about to charge forward to fight him. Fortunately, Shen Yan held him down in time to prevent him from worsening things.

Qi Gu became even angrier after Shen Yan stopped him. He turned to Shen Yan and yelled angrily, “Big Brother!”