Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

Ji Yunshu was somewhat flattered; she hadn't expected these villagers to kneel down before her.

She quickly asked Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu to wake the person up.

She didn't care whether the other exiled prisoners were grateful to her or not. Today, she only wanted to save these villagers. Saving the others was just a side benefit to prevent them from causing trouble.

Chu Jinsheng was furious. He was the one who led the troops in today and saved these villagers!

Why are these villagers only thanking Ji Yunshu?!

If anyone should be thanked, it should be him!

This is truly bizarre.

Ji Yunshu calculated the time. Li Shi and the little one in the space would be waking up soon, so she didn't say anything more and urged everyone to go home.

They were unable to continue their journey tonight and could only go to the village and stay at the villagers' homes for another night.

The villagers also got up and led the people from the Prince's Mansion toward the village.

The villagers from other villages had no intention of returning to their own villages; they all wanted to go to their villages with Uncle Wu and the others and live there from then on.

Their own village has been utterly ruined.

Everything was in a mess, and even the houses were burned down by those bandits. Even if they went back to their own village, there would be nowhere to stay. It would be better to go to Uncle Wu's village and live happily ever after together.

As Ji Yunshu walked, she listened to the villagers' plans and readily agreed.

The villagers here are so close, you could say they've been through thick and thin together. Living together in the future will surely bring them a lot of joy.

There weren't many people to begin with, and if we spread out, there would be even fewer. It's better to just stay together and enjoy ourselves.

The group traveled by torchlight and soon returned to the village.

The village was still exactly as it had been when they were captured by bandits. Seeing the long-lost village, many villagers cried uncontrollably. They never expected that they would return alive. It was truly a blessing from heaven that they had met the princess.

It was almost dawn. After a day and a night of turmoil, everyone was exhausted. But all the belongings in their homes had been looted by the bandits, leaving nothing behind.

They were starving, their faces full of worry as they looked at the empty room.

Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu looked somewhat embarrassed. The princess had gone to great lengths to rescue them, yet they couldn't even offer them a meal.

Noticing the embarrassment on their faces, Ji Yunshu's eyes darted around.

When she came into the house just now, she clearly saw several carriages outside.

Those carriages looked nicely decorated; they must have belonged to the First Prince. Since the First Prince came from the capital, he must have some food on him and in the carriages.

She turned around and glanced at Chu Jinsheng, who was still cuddling with Ji Yunyao.

"Well, Your Highness, you just came from the capital, you must have brought a lot of food. Look, everyone here barely escaped from the bandits' den, they have nothing on them. Why don't you take out your rations and share some with everyone?"

The eldest prince was busy comforting Ji Yunyao in his arms and didn't really hear what Ji Yunshu said. He shook his hand away.

"Take as much as you want to eat."

He has plenty of food and money; he can always buy more in the next town.

Ji Yunshu was overjoyed and quickly gestured to Xie Lin to put Xie Moyao aside. She then led Xie Mohuan, Xiao Lan, and several other villagers, and eagerly walked towards the First Prince's carriage.

Everyone was quite enthusiastic when they heard it was for food.

They all moved toward the Crown Prince's carriage.

Xiao Wu stood to the side, and for some reason, he had a bad feeling. He wanted his eldest prince to go over and watch the princess take the things.

But Chu Jinsheng had no mind to pay attention to him at the moment. He was only concerned about Ji Yunyao in his arms. In addition, he had been angered by Ji Yunshu earlier, so Chu Jinsheng felt annoyed whenever he saw Ji Yunshu.

It's just some food. With so many people watching, he can't be too stingy. If they want to eat, let them take it.

Xiao Wu watched helplessly as more and more people gathered around his carriage.

Ji Yunshu led a few people up to the carriage, carrying things out and handing them to the villagers. The villagers were overjoyed and thanked the Crown Prince from afar.

They couldn't wait to grab the things and rush home. Xiao Wu felt his eyelids twitching. That carriage contained all the food they had for the whole journey!

Your Highness, please don't be too harsh!

He paced anxiously back and forth, but the eldest prince was completely focused on Ji Yunyao and didn't care about anything else. Even the guards were getting impatient.

They knew what was on the carriage; they were usually in charge of the food, and they knew exactly how much grain was left.

"Hey, Your Highness, that's rice we brought from the capital. We can't give it to them."

"Oh, Your Highness, that's the Crown Prince's favorite snack. There's not much left. Please leave some for him."

"Wait, wait, Your Highness, this is our dry rations. If you give it to them, we'll have nothing to eat! No, Your Highness, please don't..."

No matter what the guards said, Ji Yunshu and the others turned a deaf ear and just kept moving the things from the carriage to the villagers.

Before long, all the supplies in the carriage were gone.

Xiao Wu and his guards looked up at the sky in silence.

It's over.

The princess was too ruthless; she gave all their grain to the villagers. What will they eat in the future?

There's nowhere to buy anything around here, not even in the middle of the village or shops!

Unfortunately, their eldest prince is still trying to coax Ji Yunyao right now. Beauty really does lead to trouble!

"Your Highness, thank you so much! We've never received anything so good before—snacks and rice!"

"Yes, thank you so much, Your Highness. We are so fortunate to have met such a kind person like you. You not only saved us, but also gave us some food. Thank goodness, thank goodness!"

Ji Yunshu smiled.

Remembering that these supplies ultimately belonged to the Crown Prince, Ji Yunshu said,

"Well, I was just doing it on the side, helping you distribute the supplies. You should thank the Crown Prince. If he hadn't agreed, I wouldn't have dared to touch these supplies."

Upon hearing this, the villagers all nodded and walked towards the eldest prince.

"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

The eldest prince seemed pleased with the villagers' words of gratitude, but he barely glanced at them, simply waving his hand.

"It's alright, it's alright. As long as this food is useful to you, that's all that matters."

He doesn't even care about this little bit.

Since he has already saved the person, he should naturally see it through to the end and help them to the very end.

In this way, his reputation will only get better and better, and when the news of this reaches the capital, his father will surely praise him.

If he were to ascend the throne in the future, this reputation would be a great asset to him. He would have to do many good deeds along the way.