Xiang Ying asked Tao Xue to call over Yu Pin and the others, so they could all share the pheasant together.
She found an excuse to go to the nearby forest, turned her back to everyone, and took out a small knife from space.
She plucked and cleaned the insides of the pheasant, then went to gather firewood from the forest.
Unexpectedly, upon Xiang Ying's return, their game had already been confiscated.
Xiang Yuanshuo reached out to stop them: "Give it back to me, we caught that!"
Scar face pushed him aside with his large palm: "According to military rules, anything suspicious can be confiscated by us."
A cold voice from Xiang Ying followed: "So a pheasant is suspicious now? Is it going to come back to life and fly us away or what?"
Scar Face looked at her dark Phoenix Eyes and scoffed: "You don't need to argue with me, my word is final!"
"I don't care how noble you were before; now that you are a prisoner, you must obey my orders!"
With that, he waved his hand, and the soldiers took the pheasant and left with him.
Xiang Ying immediately wanted to go and argue with him but was stopped by the Seventh Princess.
"Forget it, elder princess, this Scar Face is known to be the most unrelenting and heartless person in the entire Exile Team; let's not stoop to his level."
But Xiang Ying was never one to suffer in silence.
Eat the pheasant she caught, right? Let them eat! Eat and not die from it!
Scar Face, not being greedy himself, let the soldiers divide the pheasant Xiang Ying had caught.
Taking advantage of their departure to gather firewood, Xiang Ying sprinkled some medicinal powder on the pheasant meat.
Afterward, she walked away carefreely, hands behind her back.
When these soldiers returned and saw nothing amiss, they set up racks and started roasting the meat.
The tantalizing aroma of roasted chicken soon wafted over, making all the soldiers drool and devour the meat with delight.
Later in the middle of the night.
"Ah, my stomach hurts so bad!"
"Me too, oh no, I can't hold it in."
With a fart sound like thunder, the silence of the night was broken.
An irritated voice from Scar Face bellowed: "If you need to relieve yourself, go quickly! A bunch of useless eaters!"
Xiang Ying squinted her eyes, watching soldier after soldier run to the nearby forest to relieve their stomachs.
She hugged Xiang Xiuxiu in her arms, feeling completely satisfied.
Chicken meat laced with croton powder; the more they eat, the more thrilling it gets.
They won't die from it!
The next morning at dawn.
The prisoners were energetic, but the soldiers guarding them looked pale, their cheeks hollow and weak.
Everyone who ate the pheasant last night had diarrhea six or seven times.
Luckily, the accompanying Military Doctor had medicine; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to set off today.
The Military Supervisor's food supply was also nearly exhausted, but fortunately, they were soon to arrive at the nearest Yu City. The Military Supervisor ordered, and the entire Exile Team proceeded towards Yu City.
By evening, they stopped for a rest outside Xiaji County, still a hundred miles from Yu City.
As usual, Xiang Ying took Xiang Yuanlang to the woods to practice Beast Taming.
This time they finally caught two wild rabbits.
Xiang Ying carried the wild rabbits back, and this time she didn't leave but sat down to skin them, wanting to see if Scar Face would dare to come and snatch them again.
If he really dared, she wouldn't be polite.
However, Scar Face didn't come himself but sent Xiang Qianqian and Consort Yang instead to directly demand them from Xiang Ying.
"Big sister, the team leader is discussing affairs with the Military Supervisor, and specifically arranged for me to tell you, these wild rabbits need to be handed over to us; you can't keep them yourself."
Consort Yang chimed in to help: "Yes, elder princess, please hand them over. If everyone goes into the forest to find their own food, how can we maintain discipline?"
Xiang Ying lifted her dark Phoenix Eyes, her piercing presence causing Consort Yang to step back.
"Those rabbits are caught by me. It's your choice to be his lackey, but keep out of my business."
Xiang Qianqian frowned, knowing this wouldn't be easy.
Emboldened by her current role in cooking for the Scar Face's group, Consort Yang found some courage.
"How can you speak like that, elder princess? Aren't we all slaves now? Slaves of a fallen nation! I advise you not to act like this, it's for your own good. Would you rather be whipped?"
"He dares, just tell Scar Face, if he wants the rabbits, come get them himself with his abilities, not by sending some lackeys, thinking I will compromise."
Xiang Ying made her stance clear, and Xiang Qianqian knew she couldn't complete this task.
But it was rare for the team leader to entrust her with such tasks; if she didn't perform well, how could she establish her irreplaceable value?
Meanwhile,
In the resting room of the Military Supervisors, several team leaders were being reprimanded with their heads bowed.
Three Military Supervisors, led by Jie Chen.
When it came to the issue regarding Xiang Ying, Jie Chen said coldly, "As the elder princess of Xizhou, she should be captured alive and sent back to Nanyue for the Emperor's disposal. Therefore, it is not permitted for her to die on the way."
Scar face abruptly raised his head: "Military Supervisor! All our prisoners are royal nobles, is she so special? If she commits a mistake, should we just ignore it? What if she escapes with the prisoners?"
"She won't, just keep an eye on those three children and Xiang Li," Jie Chen stated with certainty.
After observing for these past few days, he had figured out Xiang Ying's intentions.
She was willing to go to Nanyue, mostly because she couldn't leave the three children and her brother Xiang Li behind.
Scar face, however, felt that Jie Chen was being biased and, with reluctance, saluted, "Sir, I understand. As long as she doesn't go too far, if I can't provoke her, I can at least avoid her!"
Jie Chen waved his hand: "Dismissed."
Meanwhile, Consort Yang was already arguing with Xiang Ying across the fire.
Suddenly, Xiang Qianqian pushed her violently into the firepit.
Xiang Ying immediately retreated while protecting the children.
"Ah—! It burns! Help!" Consort Yang screamed in agony as she rolled back and forth on the ground, her body on fire.
"What's happening!" Scar face just happened to return with his team.
Xiang Qianqian, frightened and pale, stepped back several paces, her tone panic-stricken, "Team leader, Consort Yang couldn't reason with my elder sister and fell into the fire..."
Scar face immediately instructed the soldiers to kick Consort Yang to extinguish the flames on her body.
The other prisoners, upon hearing Consort Yang's screams, turned their heads away, unable to bear looking.
Xiang Ying, protecting the three little ones with her chilling Phoenix Eyes, remained silent without intervening.
Once the fire was out, Consort Yang was barely alive, her body scorched with hardly any intact skin.
Consort Yang pointed at Xiang Qianqian, "You, you..."
She was too in pain to speak.
Xiang Qianqian hid behind Scar face, recounting the incident.
Her voice innocent, "Elder sister refused to hand over the wild rabbit, Consort Yang was impatient and argued a bit, who would have thought she'd fall into the fire?"
Tao Xue couldn't help but intervene, "But I clearly saw you push her!"
Xiang Qianqian denied, "Why would I do such a thing? How could harming Consort Yang benefit me?"
Xiang Ying scoffed coldly. Seeing the fear in Qianqian's eyes, she averted her gaze.
Scar face stepped forward, angrily confronting Xiang Ying, "Is my word only wind in your ears? Yesterday catching wild chickens, today catching rabbits, and here you are making fire and cooking, do you think this is a vacation!?"
"Now that you've killed someone, you won't escape punishment!" Regardless of what Jie Jianjun said, he was determined to teach this woman a lesson today!
He grasped a baton for punishing prisoners and swung it down at Xiang Ying.
Xiang Ying swiftly caught it, surprising Scar face with her audacity.
Xiang Ying grabbed the baton, and with a knee lift—
Snap! The stick broke.
She tossed it aside as if it were trash.
Scar face's eyes widened, "How dare you resist!?"
He retrieved the whip from his waist and lashed it towards Xiang Ying's head.
Xiang Ying caught the whip, twisted her wrist, and wound it around her hand.
With a fierce tug, she pulled the towering figure of Scar face off balance.
As he bent over, Xiang Ying struck a punch to his throat.
Instantly, Scar face's body went limp, uncontrollably falling backward.
"Team leader!" The soldiers hurried over to support Scar face.
Night breezes blew, Xiang Ying's prisoner clothes flapped slightly, her loose black hair fell on her shoulders, but the look in her Phoenix Eyes was as sharp as a blade.
"Fight, you can't beat me, argue, you have no grounds, such disgrace for a grown man!" Her red lips sneered, distinctly disdainful.
Xiang Ying flung the whip she had just snatched fiercely into the mud beside Scar face.
With a crack, a deep dent formed in the muddy ground.
Qianqian was shocked, cautiously stepping back, fearing Xiang Ying might lash out at her.
Scar face, grinding his teeth with veins throbbing on his forehead, his face flushed.
He violently pushed the soldiers aside and stood up.
"Xiang Ying, the Military Supervisor spared your life, it's your lucky day! But today, you're so arrogant, don't blame me..."
Before Scar face could finish his sentence, the soldiers beside him suddenly drew their swords, aiming at Xiang Ying.