Yu Er was the first to knock on the door, "Old Lady Mo, Older Brother Tao and the others have arrived."
Her meaning was obvious, she was asking if Old Lady Mo would let them in.
Hearing that Tao Ran and the others had come, they were all Mo Qing's former subordinates, so there was no reason to shut them out.
Old Lady Mo got up and said to the doorway, "Let them in quickly."
She believed that when her husband saw these people here, he would definitely be very happy.
No sooner had she finished speaking than the door was pushed open from the outside.
Yes, pushed open.
Tao Ran had just been about to go into town to buy some things when he had just left home and heard the villagers discussing that Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan brothers had come back driving two carriages, and there were several people riding tall horses with them.
Mo Jiuye had gone to the capital to find his enemy, Tao Ran and the others knew a little about it.
Hearing that he had returned, none of them had thought that Old Duke could be rescued with the two young masters, they just wanted to come over and see how things were.
Tao Ran didn't go into town either, he called over a group of brothers and ran to the Mo family.
When they arrived at the gate, they happened to see Yan Er and Yu Er guarding there.
Usually, the Mo family didn't have gatekeepers, Tao Ran and the others were very clear about this.
Seeing the two maids guarding the gate strictly, Tao Ran instinctively felt that something big must have happened in the Mo family.
The first thing they thought of was that the Mo family might have encountered something they couldn't solve, or that there was some danger.
Therefore, without waiting for Yan Er to let them in, hearing Old Lady Mo speaking inside, the group of men swarmed in like bees.
Upon entering the room, the group was dumbfounded at once.
Because Mo Junrui and Mo Jiacheng were just turning to look towards the doorway, their eyes met directly.
Tao Ran and the others stood with their mouths agape, and it took them a long time to react.
"Mas...Master, Second Master?"
Speaking of the Mo family men, apart from Mo Qing, the two brothers were the ones who had been with these old subordinates the longest.
Mo Junrui strode up to Tao Ran and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hahaha, it's me, you look much thinner."
Mo Jiacheng followed Mo Junrui and walked up to Tao Ran and the others, looking at his brothers for a long time before laughing heartily,
"Hahaha... I didn't expect that we brothers would have a day to reunite here."
Tao Ran said excitedly, "It really is thanks to Ninth Master, otherwise we brothers would not know how we would be mistreated by that old fox Yuan Meng!"
Mo Qing was lying on the innermost bed in the room. Hearing the voices of his old subordinates, he was filled with emotion.
He didn't expect that not only had his family suffered such treatment, but so many good brothers who had lived and died with him were also implicated.
At this moment, he was excited to get up and meet these old subordinates, but as soon as he exerted himself, the weakness in his legs spread throughout his body.
Only then did Mo Qing realize that he was now paralyzed in bed.
He sighed helplessly and said loudly, "Tao Ran, come over and let me take a look at you."
Hearing Mo Qing's voice, Tao Ran and the others were stunned again.
Although this voice didn't have the awe-inspiring aura they remembered, it was not unfamiliar to them at all.
"It's the Old Duke." Someone couldn't help but say out loud.
At the same time, the group had already strode towards Mo Qing.
Seeing this, the Mo brothers and female family members automatically gave way.
At the sight of Mo Qing, Tao Ran and the others were stunned for a moment.
If the man in front of them hadn't been sitting on Old Lady Mo's couch, they might have doubted who he really was.
Where was the majestic look of the Old Duke? In Tao Ran's eyes now, he was just an old man in his twilight years.
Not only that, he looked very weak, with white hair, skinny as firewood...
In short, seeing the Old Duke like this made their hearts ache.
Seeing their dumbfounded looks, Mo Qing tried his best to squeeze out a smile and said, "What's the matter? Just because we haven't seen each other for eight years, you don't recognize me?"
Likewise, seeing these former subordinates made him feel very bad.
Back then, these people had lived and died with him on the battlefield. He was afraid they would not have enough to eat, so whenever he had some money, he would try to supply them.
Therefore, Tao Ran and the others looked not only strong and healthy, but chubby.
Now looking at them again, they were not only older, but also somewhat thin.
In fact, there was nothing strange about this. When they were rescued, they didn't know how long they had gone without eating. Although they didn't look particularly thin on the outside, it was the toxins in their bodies that were supporting them.
After the poison was cured, their bodies shriveled up in the blink of an eye. In the cave, the several Mo brothers took turns helping them recuperate. Even so, it was impossible to recover all at once.
It had been several months now since they were cured of the poison, and Tao Ran and the others were obviously much better than when they had just been cured.
But the severe malnutrition could not be replenished at once, so their current appearance looked very different in Mo Qing's eyes.
"Alas... it's been hard on all of you following me."
Mo Qing didn't want to say any more. Tao Ran and the others had become his subordinates and suffered this fate. But now he himself was a useless man, he had no standing to offer any compensation.
Thinking of this, his gaze fell again on his curled legs.
Not to mention whether these legs could be cured, for Mo Qing it was the greatest humiliation in his life.
The state of his legs was actually caused by kneeling at Yuan Meng's grave.
If he were still like he was back then, he would surely lead his iron cavalry to raze the south to the ground, to avenge himself and his Mo men who lived and died with him.
But he had to accept reality. Now he was no longer a duke, nor the supreme commander of the three armies, just an ordinary commoner.
Being an ordinary commoner would be good too, he would probably still have to guard against Emperor Shunwu.
The fact that such a big family of Mos had gathered together would sooner or later be known to Emperor Shunwu.
No one among those present understood Emperor Shunwu's temperament better than Mo Qing.
Emperor Shunwu was weak-willed and accustomed to listening to slanderers. Mo Qing guessed that his family's arrest and exile must also have been due to someone speaking ill of them behind the scenes.
Initially, Emperor Shunwu might still have considered how the Mo sons guarded his country, but after listening to such words for too long, Emperor Shunwu would become completely irrational.
If Emperor Shunwu heard that the Mo men were all alive, he would inevitably have some inappropriate ideas again.
Thinking of this, Mo Qing felt it necessary to discuss this matter with everyone, otherwise once Emperor Shunwu really used some sinister means against the Mo family, they would be caught off guard.
Now Mo Qing knew that his ninth son and daughter-in-law were the most capable in the family, so he looked directly at Mo Jiuye.
