Chapter 27

Although He Zhiran guessed that The Eighth Old Zhou had deliberately let Second Sister-in-Law off easily, she didn't dare to openly give food to Mo Jiuye.

After all, Mo Jiuye pretending to be unconscious was something that had to be kept secret from all outsiders.

However, Mo Jiuye had not eaten anything for a whole day, let alone go to the toilet. If this continued, even someone made of iron would not be able to stand it.

Also, his wounds needed to be checked and dressed.

After thinking it over, He Zhiran could not come up with a good solution.

As a last resort, she decided to sacrifice herself a little.

She took out an olive green blanket from her space, using the package as cover.

Pretending to not be able to stand the dampness on the ground, she climbed onto the wooden cart.

To let The Eighth Old Zhou know that the movement here was caused by her, she deliberately muttered softly, "The ground is really too cold, it's more comfortable on the cart."

As she spoke, she lay down next to Mo Jiuye and then covered both of them with the blanket.

Feeling the warmth beside him, Mo Jiuye's body gave a jerk.

If there was a mirror, he could see how red his face was right now.

He did not know what He Zhiran intended to do, so he could only close his eyes and try his best to calm his mind.

The movement He Zhiran made was not only noticed by The Eighth Old Zhou, but also by Old Lady Mo who had not fallen into deep sleep yet.

She took a look at the wooden cart, at the two people tightly wrapped under the blanket.

Old Lady Mo should not have had any other ideas at this time, but seeing the intimate appearance of the two, she could not help but think more of it.

Her ninth daughter-in-law really liked her son, accompanying her husband to sleep even at a time like this.

This was good too. If they could safely reach the northwest, have them consummate the marriage earlier and give birth to many grandchildren to continue the Mo family line.

The Eighth Old Zhou thought differently.

Moreover, he also negated some of the good impression he had of He Zhiran.

Other than knowing some medical skills, this woman was no different from other women in wealthy households competing for favor.

Her husband was unconscious, yet she was still thinking of getting in bed...

Even so, he did not have the habit of watching a married couple sleep together. He just glanced over to make sure they would not do anything improper, before looking away. After observing the situation around her again, seeing that no one was watching them, He Zhiran carefully took out two white steamed buns and a large handful of braised beef and stuffed them into Mo Jiuye's hands.

In addition, she also gave him several alcohol swabs and a small bottle of Yunnan Baiyao.

She whispered into Mo Jiuye's ear in a volume that only the two of them could hear.

"Hurry up, find a place where no one can see you, eat some food, then treat your wounds. I'll find something else to put in your original position so that the officials won't notice."

Only then did Mo Jiuye understand that this woman intended to use a strategy of disguising to deceive people.

She really went through a lot of trouble for him.

Without any doubt, knowing that this was a rare opportunity, Mo Jiuye rolled under the cart with a flip of his body, landing without a sound.

His lightness skill was clearly superb. At the first moment Mo Jiuye left the wooden cart, He Zhiran had already taken out a cotton quilt and placed it in his original position.

Indeed, in the dark of night and with the quilt as cover, no one would possibly see that it was not Mo Jiuye lying there.

She also took the chance while Mo Jiuye was away to check the purse He Yuanming had given her.

Inside was a stack of silver notes, which she confirmed to be three thousand taels after counting. Aside from that, there were also some scattered silver ingots, around twenty taels by estimation.

In this era, so much silver placed in an ordinary family's home could provide for generations without worry.

It showed how dearly the two old Hes loved their daughter.

Mo Jiuye moved very quickly. With a flash of his lightness skill he soon disappeared from He Zhiran's sight.

After about two quarters of an hour, Mo Jiuye returned.

Hearing the sound, He Zhiran immediately put away the cotton quilt. Only after Mo Jiuye lay in his original spot did she heave a deep sigh.

"How are your wounds?" He Zhiran asked softly.

"They've stopped bleeding," Mo Jiuye replied just as softly.

He thought for a moment, then added, "Thank you for everything you've done for me and the Mo family."

In He Zhiran's heart, this was not the time for pleasantries. Hearing Mo Jiuye's thanks, she did not respond.

Just as she was considering whether to continue lying here, Second Sister-in-Law came back.

Thinking everyone was asleep, Second Sister-in-Law tip-toed to the wooden cart.

But she did not see He Zhiran.

Just as she was about to look around, He Zhiran sat up from the wooden cart.

"Second Sister-in-Law, I'm here."

Following the voice, Second Sister-in-Law saw that her ninth younger sister-in-law and ninth younger brother were sleeping in the same quilt.

She wished she could slap herself.

The newlywed couple was having an intimate moment, yet she had come to disturb them untimely.

"Ninth younger sister-in-law, you continue resting. We can talk tomorrow." Seeing Second Sister-in-Law's reaction, He Zhiran knew she had misunderstood.

Moreover, she urgently wanted to know the reason why those families were targeting the Mo family. Where would she have the patience to wait until tomorrow?

"Second Sister-in-Law, I was just giving my husband some food earlier."

Since everyone in the Mo family knew Mo Jiuye was pretending to be unconscious, He Zhiran directly told the truth.

Hearing He Zhiran's explanation, Second Sister-in-Law felt somewhat embarrassed.

So she had thought wrongly.

"Ninth younger sister-in-law, I just asked and found out the reason."

Second Sister-in-Law felt it was more suitable to tell He Zhiran now. On the surface, she was informing He Zhiran, but it could also let Mo Jiuye understand the situation.

Sure enough, Mo Jiuye had already pricked up his ears, intending to listen carefully.

He Zhiran urged, "Second Sister-in-Law, tell me quickly."

Second Sister-in-Law sighed.

"I guess someone must have deliberately caused this."

He Zhiran became even more interested.

"What exactly happened?"

"My eldest brother said that before the Xie family was exiled, there was not the slightest sign.

Today the officials came with an imperial edict, saying that Guardian of the Nation Mo Jiuye had already confessed to colluding with the enemy and betraying the country.

It also said that Jiuye had voluntarily exposed that the Xie family was also involved. Aside from that, he had also presented evidence that my father had accepted bribes several years ago.

My maternal family all feel that the amount my father accepted as bribes was not large, and it only happened twice. It was not enough to confiscate the family property and exile them. The main reason was because Jiuye exposed that the Xie family had colluded with him to betray the country."

He Zhiran fell into contemplation.

It was impossible for Mo Jiuye to do such a thing.

Moreover, if she had not told him herself, he would not even have known that the Mo manor would be raided and exiled. Let alone make any confessions.

If what Second Sister-in-Law said was true, there was only one possibility.

And that was the Xie family had offended Emperor Shunwu. Emperor Shunwu took the chance to get rid of the Xie family, while creating more trouble for Mo Jiuye on the road to exile.

Other than this, she could not think of any other reasons.

As for the other three families, although she had not personally heard them state their reasons for insulting the Mo family, this was also a possibility that could not be ruled out.

Mo Jiuye was similarly pondering over the ins and outs of this matter.

His thoughts were almost the same as He Zhiran's. Moreover, he was more familiar with the officials from those families in court, and knew a little about their shady dealings.

Especially Fang Chuanzhou, with whom he had no grudges at all.

According to Mo Jiuye's understanding, this person had indeed offended Emperor Shunwu before.