He Zhiran pretended to go help Fei Nanyu up, and asked, "Are you going to come with us to the county government office on our cart?"
Fei Nanyu glared at the students, then nodded, "Fine, I'll trouble the young lady."
Seeing they were serious, one of the students quickly softened.
"It's just twenty taels of silver per person. We agree to pay. It's a small matter, no need to disturb His Honor the county magistrate."
Seeing this, He Zhiran held out her hand to them.
"Since you don't want to go to the yamen, hand over the silver!"
The students looked at each other, then turned their backs to pool their money.
Soon, one hundred taels of silver was in front of He Zhiran and the others.
Peng Wang waved his hand dismissively at them.
The five students hurriedly scrambled away.
He Zhiran gave Fei Nanyu the hundred taels of silver.
"Take this!"
Although injured, the unruly pride in Fei Nanyu's eyes still could not be blocked.
"Why did you help me? Aren't you afraid of offending them?"
He Zhiran shrugged, seeming casual as she answered, "I can't ignore injustice."
So Fei Nanyu wouldn't be suspicious, she looked away instead of meeting his eyes.
"Can you walk?"
"I can."
Saying so, Fei Nanyu painfully got to his feet and bowed deeply to them.
"Many thanks for assisting me. If we meet again in the future, I will certainly repay you all fully."
Having said this, he turned and limped away.
Only after Fei Nanyu's figure disappeared did He Zhiran gather Peng Wang and the attendant to go find food.
He Zhiran couldn't determine if her actions today saving Fei Nanyu would bring reward in the future.
But she believed that even if they didn't become friends later, having today's events as a foundation, they at least wouldn't become enemies.
While He Zhiran thought this over, Peng Wang couldn't help but asking,
"Sister, from my understanding of you, you aren't the sort to meddle. Why save him?"
Since she had her own selfish reasons, He Zhiran naturally wouldn't tell the truth.
"I really hate unfair odds. I couldn't help getting involved."
Of course Peng Wang didn't believe her, but since she didn't want to say, he couldn't keep questioning either.
After walking about ten minutes, Peng Wang pointed to an inconspicuous stand and said,
"Their wontons here are delicious, and their signature braised meat too. Want to try them?"
He Zhiran was starving now. As long as it could fill her stomach, she wasn't picky about what to eat.
And from Peng Wang's tone, places he had eaten at before and still wanted to eat again probably wouldn't be bad.
"I have no objections. Big brother Peng's arrangements stand."
The attendant echoed, "Wherever boss wants to eat, we'll eat there."
Seeing they both didn't object, Peng Wang headed toward the wonton stand first.
They ordered three bowls of wontons and a large plate of braised meat.
After a taste, He Zhiran found the wontons and braised meat flavor actually pretty good.
Compared to the delicacies she'd eaten in her previous life though, there was still something missing.
But for the ancient era with scarce resources, making food taste this good was already quite good.
The weather itself was hot. After a steaming bowl of wontons, all three had beads of sweat on their foreheads.
Seeing the blazing sun outside, the attendant was reluctant.
"Boss, the sun is too harsh. Should we find a place to rest first before going on?"
Peng Wang agreed. Usually when escorting prisoners and rushing on the road, if they met the high noon sun, they would choose somewhere shaded to take a break and continue traveling in the afternoon.
"There's a teahouse over there. We can go drink some chilled tea and rest our feet."
He Zhiran also wanted to drink iced tea, but she knew clearly this was the only chance she had to act alone, and couldn't miss it.
"Big brother Peng, I'm not afraid of heat. I still want to buy some things, so why don't you two go rest while I shop, and find you at the teahouse after I'm done?"
From the recent happenings, Peng Wang no longer saw He Zhiran as an exiled prisoner, and believed she was moral.
For such a small request, Peng Wang naturally wouldn't object, moreover since he didn't want to accompany He Zhiran shopping in the sweltering heat.
"That works too. We'll go rest our feet while little sister goes shopping."
And so He Zhiran split off from the other two. She searched out another fabric shop.
Considering her family had no spare clothes to change into, smelling in this heat, when possible this issue had to be resolved.
So before going out she had planned to buy some cloth for sister-in-laws to make a few outfits over these days with no traveling.
Not far away, she saw another fabric shop.
He Zhiran didn't forget her current identity, unwilling to be too ostentatious.
She chose some thinner, more refined hemp cloth and bought a good amount.
Seeing her buy so much fabric, the owner attentively threw in some scraps.
He Zhiran wasn't skilled with feminine handicrafts and didn't know what use the scraps were, but seeing the shopkeeper present them like a treasure, they were sure to come in handy under skilled hands.
After thanking the shopkeeper, He Zhiran kept pushing the cart forward.
She planned to find a deserted place to take out some of the remaining flour and rice from her space, and check if there was any suitable food in Taobao Treasure to take back too.
Turning a corner, He Zhiran wheeled the cart into a quiet alley. After checking no one was around, her consciousness entered her space. She took out two bags each of rice and flour.
She also purchased twenty roast chicken and twenty roast duck from Taobao Treasure, changing all packaging to oil paper neatly rewrapped and loaded on the cart.
Besides these, she wanted to buy some pork and vegetables too.
Considering the sweltering weather today, He Zhiran was too lazy to keep wandering the market. She simply handled everything in Taobao Treasure instead.
Looking at the heaping cart, she felt no pressure at all in her heart.
After all, it was Emperor Shunwu footing the bill...
And that was indeed so. The four million plus that He Zhiran earned was all exchanged using Emperor Shunwu's imperial treasury, so it was him paying alright!
Seeing it had only been half an hour since parting with Peng Wang, if she went to find them at the teahouse now after buying so much stuff so quickly, it was uncertain whether they would be suspicious.
So He Zhiran was in no rush to leave either. She pushed the cart to a shaded area and sat atop an empty space.
Incidentally she bought herself an iced drink in Taobao Treasure to quench her thirst too.
Ever since crossing over, He Zhiran hadn't felt so content.
She sat atop the wooden cart, leisurely sipping icy cold drink, rocking her legs to and fro...
Just as she was a bit too complacent, she suddenly sensed footsteps coming from the alley entrance direction.
He Zhiran quickly put the remaining half glass of iced drink into her space, and looked towards the sound.
