Fe Mama was naturally willing to be escorted since someone offered. She had been on the run escaping pursuers ever since she fled from the Imperial Palace. If it hadn't been for her good fortune, her old bones would have long been done for.
"Then I'll have to thank Sir Duke," said Fe Mama.
Mo Jiuye didn't have the mind to correct how Fe Mama addressed him. After all, they wouldn't have another chance to meet again in the future.
He made a gesture with his eyes towards Liang Hao and the others in the distance.
Liang Hao understood and quickly led his men over towards Mo Jiuye’s direction.
Mo Jiuye also deliberately slowed his pace to leave some distance between them and the exile convoy.
He Zhiran kept a close eye on the He family's movements all along.
Among the entire exile convoy right now, only the He family didn't get along well with the Mo family. Even though their conversation with Fe Mama was already far away from the convoy, they still had to be wary.
Just in case He Zhiyuan happened to overhear something and leaked word out about what would happen later, that would invite unnecessary trouble.
Sure enough, that evildoer He Zhiyuan kept sneaking glances back in their direction every so often.
Even knowing he wouldn't be able to obtain any news, it was still annoying.
It seemed that He Zhiyuan was not someone who could be left alive, or they had to find some other method to make him unable to speak nonsense to outsiders.
Just as He Zhiran was thinking about how to get He Zhiyuan to shut his mouth, Liang Hao and the others had already approached them.
The men bowed with clasped hands to Mo Jiuye, calling out “Ninth Master”, then stood there in an orderly manner awaiting orders.
Mo Jiuye pointed at Fe Mama and said, “This is Empress Yuan's personal maid. Some matters led her to be pursued for assassination by Nan Qi. I want to send two of your men to escort her back to the capital.”
“No problem. I’m willing to go,” Song Chao and Wang Dali said at once.
After all, there were many eyes here. Mo Jiuye also didn’t want Fe Mama to linger too long.
This was his first time asking He Zhiran for silver.
“I want them to carry some silver for traveling expenses along the road.”
He Zhiran didn't have a stingy personality to begin with. Moreover, half of the silver from the royal treasury was due to Mo Jiuye's contributions. Naturally he had the authority to allocate it.
Without a second word, He Zhiran fished out 200 silver bills from his interspatial ring through his sleeve to hand over to Song Chao.
“Use this on your journey. Also, buy a pack animal cart to make traveling more convenient.”
Song Chao returned the silver bills back.
“Master Ninth, we already carried silver when we left the border.”
Fe Mama also looked towards Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.
“There are some valuables in this old servant's bundle that are enough for travel expenses to the capital. It’s reassuring for you to have some silver in this special situation.”
Seeing that they had rejected his offered silver, Mo Jiuye simply had He Zhiran put it away since they were currently exiled and stripped of their estates by His Majesty. Too high of a profile would easily attract others' speculation.
“Since this is the case, be careful on your journey.”
Glancing at Fe Mama’s head full of conspicuous white hair, it was far too eye-catching.
The assassins sent by Nan Qi to kill would definitely use her standout white hair as the first sign to identify their target.
For safety reasons, He Zhiran didn't have Fe Mama leave immediately.
Instead, she bought a hair dye product called “Wash Black” at Taobao Mall. This stuff could instantly turn hair black by simply washing it.
She took the “Wash Black” from her interspatial ring and exchanged it for a small porcelain bottle to give Fe Mama.
“Mama can use this to wash her hair. It will quickly become black. At that time, change your outfit again. It will definitely be much safer.”
Fe Mama accepted the little porcelain bottle gratefully and gave sincere thanks.
“Thank you, Madam. This old servant was worried this entire way about my conspicuous white hair. With this, I’m much safer now.”
After finishing the arrangements, Mo Jiuye glanced at the skies.
“It's getting late now. You should set off early.”
Song Chao and Wang Dali received their orders and escorted Fe Mama away.
Liang Hao led the other two men to continue keeping their distance from the convoy.
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran quickened their pace, intending to catch up with the exile convoy faster.
On the way, He Zhiran said softly, “I just discovered He Zhiyuan staring in this direction.”
Mo Jiuye’s gaze darkened. “I was thinking that since he told me about Nan Rui’s matters, I would spare his life. Looks like this man really can’t remain alive.”
Seeing that he was thinking the same as her, He Zhiran asked, “How do you plan to do it?”
Mo Jiuye made a throat slitting gesture. “I’ll take his life tonight.”
Hearing Mo Jiuye speak this way, He Zhiran instinctively glanced towards Peng Wang’s direction.
“Doing this, wouldn’t it cause trouble for Big Brother Peng?”
This entire journey, Peng Wang had treated them fairly well. If they brought trouble to someone for their own selfish desires, it would be somewhat unjustifiable.
Mo Jiuye raised his brows. “Do you have a better way?”
He Zhiran nodded. “Remember that silver hoop snake that bit Big Brother Peng when we first left the capital?”
“I remember.” Mo Jiuye replied.
He Zhiran continued, “Not long ago when I was free, I extracted the silver hoop snake venom and created two poisons. One is called ‘Dazed’, this drug can temporarily numb one’s senses. With just adding a few other things inside, after ingesting it one would become a fool for the rest of their life like the Sun boy.”
Mo Jiuye’s eyes lit up. “Since that’s the case, I’ll make my move tonight.”
As they spoke, they had already caught up with the exile convoy. Both tacitly stopped mentioning the matter further.
That night’s resting spot was at the foot of a mountain. As always, after finishing dinner everyone squeezed into their tents early to rest.
He Zhiran thought of Liang Hao and the others. Although they still had some distance from the convoy, they also had to camp outside similarly.
She said to Mo Jiuye, “Why don’t I help them buy a tent in my interspatial space, using the excuse it was purchased from Foreigners as well?”
Mo Jiuye hadn’t ignored the issue of Liang Hao and the others resting outdoors either.
He just didn't have any good solutions in mind regarding it so far.
“That’s a good idea. Leave the tent’s origins to me to handle.”
Obtaining Mo Jiuye’s approval, He Zhiran quickly picked out a tent with an exterior resembling those used anciently for marching battles inside Taobao Mall.
Other than a smaller capacity compared to ancient military campaign tents, the biggest characteristic was its simple operation.
Mo Jiuye gave the tent a look then took advantage of the nighttime when others couldn't see to deliver it to Liang Hao’s group.
When he returned, he deliberately observed where the He family members were resting.
Most had already fallen asleep. Only He Zhiyuan sat under a tree, head lowered doing something.
Mo Jiuye stealthily leapt onto the big tree and looked down by the moonlight. He saw He Zhiyuan tearing off a corner of his own lapel. Then he bit open his finger and wrote something on it.
Mo Jiuye’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. He stared hard trying to see He Zhiyuan’s actions clearer by the moonlight.
But the dim lighting and distance made him completely unable to discern what was written.
Even so, Mo Jiuye didn’t immediately go stop him. He wanted to see if the finished content He Zhiyuan wrote out was truly related to the incident of running into Fe Mama today.
