Mo Jinnian felt that his body had no discomfort at all, so he could not let his ninth younger sister-in-law, a woman from a fallen family, continue driving the carriage.
"Ninth younger brother, ninth younger sister-in-law, my body is fine now, so let me drive the carriage!"
"Well, since sixth older brother's body has recovered, let He Zhiran rest in the carriage."
Mo Jiuye had almost worried himself to death these past few days. If it wasn't to safely leave Southern Xinjiang, he would never have let his pregnant wife work so hard under any circumstances.
Now that they were safe, the carriage driving should naturally be handed over to his sixth older brother.
He Zhiran would not be stubborn at this time. Although she did not have much reaction in her early pregnancy, after driving all night until now, she could feel her body was somewhat overwhelmed.
"Then I'll have to trouble sixth older brother."
After He Zhiran finished speaking, she drilled into the carriage. What she needed now was to rest well.
Lan Er and Yu Er were also very perceptive. Seeing her come in, they hurriedly made room for her to sit in a spacious spot.
"Ninth young madam, you look a little unwell. You must be too exhausted from driving all night. Please rest here and tell us if you need anything."
As Lan Er spoke, she had already covered He Zhiran with a thick blanket.
Rice Ball cleverly snuggled up at the top of its owner's head, incessantly acting cute.
He Zhiran reached out and patted its furry little head, "Rice Ball, be good and let me rest for a while."
Rice Ball seemed to see its owner's fatigue. It murmured an agreement and obediently lay there to sleep.
The carriage continued on its way. Passing through towns, they no longer needed to hide. At night everyone entered an inn to rest, and traveled during the daytime.
Ten days later, the group finally arrived safely in Yunchéng.
The carriage slowly drove towards Xilin village. As soon as they entered the village, they heard a commotion.
"Official, what I said is all true. If you don't believe me, go take a look at the Mo family home."
"Humph! Daring to offend the Mo family, it seems your Cui family really doesn't want to survive in Yunchéng anymore."
"Official, that ninth young master Mo and his wife haven't shown their faces for over half a month. If they didn't leave the city, why wouldn't they have appeared by now?"
Hearing someone mention the Mo family, Mo Jiuye instinctively sped up the carriage.
Walking closer, he saw two Cui family members leading several yamen runners heading into the village.
From the earlier conversation, it was not difficult to hear that the Cui family resented them. Discovering that he and He Zhiran had not appeared for half a month, they had secretly observed and then reported it to the authorities.
The reason was simple. Exiled criminals could never leave this place without the emperor's special pardon.
The Cui family had wanted to take this opportunity to get revenge for their whole clan...
Hearing the sound of hoofbeats behind them, the yamen runners turned around.
At a glance, Mo Jiuye recognized Ma Junshan.
"Magistrate Ma, what brings you to Xilin village today?"
Seeing Mo Jiuye, Ma Junshan's face immediately showed joy.
"So it turns out to be Ninth Young Master. Where have you been?"
As he spoke, Ma Junshan glared fiercely at the two Cui family members.
The Cui family members' hearts tightened when they saw Mo Jiuye.
They had observed around the Mo residence for several days and hadn’t seen Mo Jiuye or his wife at all. Only then did they dare to report it to the authorities in order to get revenge for the Cui clan.
Who would have thought that after all their coaxing to get the yamen runners to come, the person in question would show up instead! Wasn't this shooting themselves in the foot?
In fact, the Cui family had really overestimated their abilities. They didn't even think about the relationship between the Mo family and the county magistrate. Besides, the Mo family had Mo Chuhan working as a subprefect at the county yamen. What were the chances that going to report it would accomplish anything for them?
If it wasn't for the Cui deliberately making a loud fuss outside the yamen gates, Meng Huaining wouldn’t even have sent people over.
He had been visiting the Mo residence very frequently recently, so he naturally knew about Mo Jiuye and his wife's absence.
It was something that even the county magistrate didn't want to get involved in, yet the Cui family insisted on making it a big issue.
The Cui family righteously told the yamen that the Mo family were exiled criminals. Now they actually dared to privately leave Yunchéng, which could easily cause trouble for other places.
The common people were soft-hearted. Hearing the Cui family's reasonable-sounding words, they echoed along in agreement.
Meng Huaining had no choice but to first send Mo Chuhan back to Xilin village and pretend that Mo Jiuye was sick in bed. That way, when he sent over some yamen runners, they could just say whatever they wanted after taking a look.
In any case, the Cui family couldn't enter others' private chambers to check. The yamen runners could just say whatever they wanted after taking a look.
He didn't expect that Mo Jiuye would return at this time, so they didn't need to keep up the act.
Mo Jiuye disdainfully glanced at the two Cui family members, then said to Ma Junshan: "I asked someone to buy two carriages. I just went into the city to retrieve them."
Ma Junshan had originally planned to give Mo Jiuye a hint in front of the Cui family, but unexpectedly, Mo Jiuye smoothed it over himself.
"No wonder. I heard the magistrate mention a few days ago that the Mo family wanted to buy horses. I didn't expect them to buy them back so soon."
Seeing Mo Jiuye chatting happily with the yamen runners, the two Cui family members wanted to slip away.
But before they could, they were stopped by the runners who had been standing in place.
"You two, you think you can run away after falsely accusing someone?"
"Official, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..." The Cui family immediately pleaded for mercy.
Although they still firmly believed that Mo Jiuye and his wife had not been in Xilin recently, the current situation was already very clear.
These yamen runners were obviously biased towards the Mo family to begin with. Now that Mo Jiuye had appeared, they had no argument left.
The yamen runners came forward and mercilessly whipped the two men several times. "You say it's just a misunderstanding so casually. Come back to the yamen with me and report to the county magistrate for punishment."
Hearing they still had to go to the yamen, the two Cui family members were so scared their legs went soft and they knelt down.
"Official, spare our lives! We know we were wrong and won't dare do it again."
The yamen runners completely ignored them and tied up both men without another word.
Seeing this, Ma Junshan cupped his fists towards Mo Jiuye, "Ninth Young Master, we will take these two back to the yamen for handling."
Mo Jiuye returned the gesture. "Very well, thank you all for your hard work. When you have time, please come to my humble home for a drink."
Speaking of drinking, the yamen runners couldn't help swallowing.
They had tasted the Mo family's cooking once before. Even the best restaurant food in town couldn't compare.
"Alright, when we brothers have time, we will certainly come to bother you."
Whether they would truly be able to come still depended on if their boss allowed it.
Now that they all worked under Eighth Young Master, it was not common for just anyone to have the qualification to come eat at their superior's home.
Mo Jiuye saw the group off before driving the carriage on towards home.
On the road, Mo Jinnian asked, "Ninth younger brother, what exactly happened back there?"
The brothers had hurried on their trip, only resting at night at inns, with hardly any conversation. It was not surprising that Mo Jinnian was unclear about the situation in Xilin Village.
Mo Jiuye briefly recounted what had happened when they first arrived at Xilin Village.
Mo Jinnian angrily banged the carriage panel, "Truly horrible people! Just wait until I take care of them!"
