He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye had completely come to understand.
"Alright, let's work together and not let those people harm our families one bit."
Inside the room, the husband and wife were united in their interests and determined like gold being cut. Outside, the officials had already called for people to get ready to set off.
The sisters-in-law had long since packed everything neatly, some carrying tents on their backs, while others carried new quilts bought just yesterday.
Food, vegetables, large iron pots and other items had already been distributed by He Zhiran yesterday, giving the Fang and Xie families a share each, with each family responsible for carrying their own belongings.
Peng Wang had already said after getting up early that his health was fine, so he would not squeeze onto the wooden cart with Mo Jiuye again.
Therefore, the Mo family placed all of the food and kitchen utensils to one side of the wooden cart, leaving the space for Mo Jiuye.
Thinking of He Ming's tragic death, Mo Jiuye, for safety reasons, did not plan to continue riding in the wooden cart.
He had He Zhiran help him as he walked out of the room.
The Mo women all knew that Mo Jiuye's serious injury was fake, but even so, when they saw Mo Jiuye walk out of the room they were still dumbstruck.
Out of deference to the presence of outsiders, everyone tacitly did not ask questions.
On the contrary, it was Peng Wang who walked over in surprise.
"Mo Jiuye, don't overexert yourself, I didn't see you yesterday for a day, and now you can walk?"
Mo Jiuye tried his best to make his expression a little gentler.
"I'm physically tough, and my wife took good care of me, so I should be fine walking."
As he spoke, he looked sympathetically in the direction of He Ming's family.
"I heard He Ming's injuries are more serious. In order not to delay the progress of the journey, my wife and I discussed lending them the cart for a few days."
Upon hearing this, He Zhiran gave a bellyful of complaints to Mo Jiuye in her heart.
This man was sinister enough, not only using others as scapegoats to attract the target, but also saving the Mo family's manpower needed to push the cart.
His move really killed two birds with one stone.
Thinking of what He Ming's family did, He Zhiran did not feel sorry for them at all, and even felt a sense of satisfaction.
The feud between the He family and Mo Jiuye ran too deep for them to let go of the past just because Mo Jiuye lent the wooden cart to He Ming.
However, looking at the current situation of the He family, they did indeed need this wooden cart.
Seeing that Peng Wang did not object, He Zhiyuan did not even give his thanks before pushing the wooden cart away.
Mo Hanyue was confused and did not understand, and was a little anxious seeing there were still so many of their family's belongings on the cart.
"Ninth brother, there are still our things on the cart. What if someone steals them?"
Mo Jiuye calmly replied, "It doesn't matter, with so many officials here, who would dare steal someone else's belongings?"
He wouldn't have said this, but it nearly made He Zhiyuan throw those things off the cart in anger.
However, he still tried his best to restrain the rage in his heart.
If he did that, it would relieve his anger for the moment, but what about He Ming?
Apart from the women in the family and the children, there was only him, a man who could not carry or lift things, how could he carry the sturdy He Ming on his back?
No one paid attention to He Zhiyuan's face as black as the bottom of a pot. Just at Peng Wang's order, the exiled convoy set off again.
Ever since leaving Yunlai County and walking on the official road, Zhou Laoba had been in low spirits, and would glance at He Zhiran from time to time.
He walked at the back of the convoy with Peng Wang, so He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye did not notice anything abnormal about him.
However, Zhou Laoba's actions did not escape Peng Wang's eyes.
Peng Wang strongly disapproved of this, but it was not easy for him to say it outright, he could only try to subtly hint for Zhou Laoba to know the difficulty and give up.
"Mo Jiuye was once so prestigious, I still remember when he returned triumphantly, His Majesty personally led civil and military officials out of the city to welcome him.
The scene I witnessed with my own eyes at that time was sensational throughout the city.
Even though today he is exiled, that glory at the time cannot be erased."
Hearing Peng Wang suddenly mention Mo Jiuye, Zhou Laoba was very sensitive.
"Boss, why are you talking about these things out of the blue?"
Peng Wang seriously suspected that Zhou Laoba was deliberately avoiding the issue.
Since it was already brought up, he did not plan to let the other person continue to equivocate.
"What I want to say is that Mo Jiuye is a dragon and phoenix among men, and his wife is no ordinary woman either. I see they are a well-matched couple in looks and talent."
"Boss, no matter how glorious Mo Jiuye was, that's in the past. Today he is exiled, even if he can survive the journey to the northwest, he can only be an ordinary commoner in the future.
Spending his whole life as a farmer facing the soil with his back to the sky, how can he give He Zhiran happiness?"
Zhou Laoba pinned down the implied meaning in Peng Wang's words, as if rebutting them from his heart.
"Moreover, Lady He has already been intimate with me, how could Mo Jiuye not despise her?
Rather than letting her savior be despised by her husband for life, it'd be better if she came with me, at least I can treat her well."
Hearing Zhou Laoba's stubborn words, Peng Wang wished he could give him a few slaps to wake him up.
"Old Zhou, I see you as a brother, that's why I'm telling you this."
He paused, then pointed at He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye supporting each other as they walked.
"Can you stop deceiving yourself?
Look at Mo Jiuye, does he look like he despises Lady He?
The husband and wife clearly have a good relationship, I advise you to rein in those inappropriate thoughts as soon as possible."
In fact, the words Zhou Laoba said also came from the heart.
He was a man who valued emotions and integrity, especially after finding out He Zhiran had awakened him, he always wanted to take responsibility.
This was the minimum decency for a man.
However, looking carefully in the direction Peng Wang pointed, he happened to see Mo Jiuye wiping sweat for He Zhiran.
He had to admit that, as the boss said, Mo Jiuye did not despise He Zhiran because of it, on the contrary he took even better care of her, this was indisputable.
Since this was the case, he would just silently protect her on the journey.
"Boss, as long as Mo Jiuye can always treat Lady He this way, I won't do anything."
Seeing Zhou Laoba could say such things, Peng Wang felt somewhat more at ease.
This brother placed too much importance on emotions and integrity, Peng Wang feared he would become mired in it and unable to extricate himself.
However, this kind of reminder was just touching on it, saying too much could make people weary, so Peng Wang simply changed the topic to chat with Zhou Laoba, in order to distract his attention and prevent him from always staring at Lady He.
In case the Mo family noticed, it would put He Zhiran in an awkward situation...
The convoy marched for a day, still the same as before, stopping by a small river at dusk for the group to rest, as ordered by Peng Wang.
The officials went to the riverside first to fill their water bags, then leaned against big trees to rest.
The prisoners also did the same, those with water bags all ran to the riverside to refill them.
Seeing the Mo women were also about to do the same with their water bags, He Zhiran quickly stopped them.
"Sisters, there are many people by the river, we can go a bit later."
The Mo family now followed He Zhiran's words almost without question, obediently sitting in place to continue resting.
Mo Jiuye, learning from He Zhiran's actions last time, found a thicker tree branch and used an official's knife to whittle it into a point, preparing to try catching some fish in the river to enrich everyone's dinner.
