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Chapter 79
At this moment, Mo Jiuye also had a bellyful of words that he wanted to say to He Zhiran. Seeing Peng Wang lingering here and showing no signs of leaving, he deliberately pretended to look uncomfortable.
"My wife, my chest feels a little uncomfortable. Can you support me for a bit?"
With one glance, He Zhiran could tell that Mo Jiuye was pretending to be sick. She very cooperatively supported one of his arms.
"My husband, your wounds definitely haven't healed completely yet. Today's journey must have tired you out. Let me support you slowly as we walk. When we get to the inn, I'll take another good look at your injuries."
Mo Jiuye's body leaned against He Zhiran's, looking extremely weak in the eyes of outsiders.
Peng Wang thought Mo Jiuye was really uncomfortable. He hurriedly ordered the team to walk slower, and he personally ran to the front to press down the pace.
Seeing Peng Wang walking away, Mo Jiuye looked around again. Only his own people were looking at him with concern.
He blinked at Old Lady Mo and the others, signaling that he was fine. Only then did he whisper to He Zhiran:
"Your appearance has only changed the time they met."
What Mo Jiuye meant was that the two still had an intersection.
He Zhiran was not particularly surprised by this. Besides, she was also happy for Nan Qi and Fei Nanyu to get to know each other. As long as Fei Nanyu became Nan Qi's staff officer, she could infer some things based on the records in the history books and know both herself and her enemy.
"This is not necessarily a bad thing."
"Why?" Mo Jiuye did not understand.
He Zhiran did not know how to explain this to Mo Jiuye.
"I can't explain too much. I can only say it's my intuition."
When she said this, Mo Jiuye became even more confused.
But he knew very well that he could not get any more useful information from He Zhiran. So he could only silently speculate in his heart.
The husband and wife leaned against each other, each lost in their own thoughts as they arrived at the westernmost edge of Pingyuan County.
There was still a familiar inn there that Peng Wang was acquainted with. He directly led everyone inside.
The Eighth Old Zhou went in and said something to the boss. Soon an attendant came out with him to show everyone the guest rooms on the first floor.
The guest rooms were still divided into rooms for ten people and rooms for couples.
This time, the officials did not intend to claw back the money for the rooms. Instead, the attendant from the inn directly reported the prices.
The prices were the same for both the ten person rooms and the couple rooms, 100 wen each.
Now that He Zhiran was the head of the Mo family, the Fourth Sister-in-Law was holding the silver and came to pay her.
"Sister-in-Law, the Fourth Sister-in-Law will pay for the rooms today. What kind of rooms do you think would be suitable for us?"
Although He Zhiran was currently the head of the household, there were some things she still wanted to consult everyone's opinion on more. She brought the Fourth Sister-in-Law to Old Lady Mo and the other women.
"Mother, how should we allocate the rooms today?"
Old Lady Mo looked around and said, "I think it's still the same as last time. You and Jiuye can take a room for two, and the rest will stay with me in a ten person room."
He Zhiran got Old Lady Mo's opinion and turned to the Fourth Sister-in-Law, "Sister-in-Law, let's do as Mother said!"
"Okay," the Fourth Sister-in-Law replied and went to pay the attendant.
The Xie family and Fang family did not have much silver on them, so they tacitly chose the ten person rooms even though they each had over ten people and were reluctant to open another room.
Only the He family looked bitterly at Peng Wang, hoping he would take pity on them and not make them sleep outside again.
Having been an escort officer for many years, Peng Wang was not the kind of person who would go soft when he saw others' misery.
"What are you looking at? If you don't have silver, then sleep in the woodshed in the backyard."
The He family looked at each other helplessly before finally resigning themselves to their fate.
The woodshed still had "room" in its name. It was at least better than sleeping in a dirty and smelly grass shed.
After everyone was settled with their lodging arrangements, each family began looking for an open space to start their stoves and cook dinner.
After traveling all day, everyone was tired. Although the sky was not yet dark, they returned to their rooms early to rest.
He Zhiran was afraid Mo Jiuye would continue to ask about Fei Nanyu, so despite not being sleepy at all, she still faced the wall pretending to be asleep.
Mo Jiuye was also tactful and did not say anything more even though he noticed she was not actually sleeping.
They thought the night would pass peacefully. But in the late hours of the night, someone actually knocked on their door.
Mo Jiuye sat up cautiously and asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?"
"Jiuye, it's this prince."
He Zhiran also sat up and exchanged glances with Mo Jiuye.
Neither of them had expected that Nan Qi would take the initiative to show himself.
After hesitating for a moment, Mo Jiuye slowly opened the door.
By this time, He Zhiran had also tidied up her clothes and lit the oil lamp on the table.
The moment the door opened, not only Nan Qi but also Fei Nanyu appeared before them.
In the dim light of the oil lamp, He Zhiran clearly captured the slightly complicated look in Fei Nanyu's eyes when he first saw Mo Jiuye.
But he soon concealed his abnormality and stood properly by Nan Qi's side.
"Jiuye, won't you invite me in to sit for a bit?"
Mo Jiuye's expression was calm, as if he did not know about Nan Qi's recent actions against him. He shifted slightly to the side to clear the doorway.
Nan Qi strode in and headed straight to sit at the round table. He then gestured for Mo Jiuye to do the same.
Unhurriedly, Mo Jiuye sat down and did not forget to pull He Zhiran along to sit by his side.
Only then did Nan Qi notice He Zhiran's presence.
His eyes suddenly lit up. At the same time, he suddenly remembered the scene of Fei Nanyu being bullied by several students in the street.
Despite recognizing He Zhiran, Nan Qi was too proud to expose it on the spot. Instead, he looked at Mo Jiuye and said, "Jiuye, won't you introduce me to your wife?"
Although they used to interact in this way before, when Nan Qi spoke like this now, Mo Jiuye felt a mocking sense to his words that he did not perceive previously.
Especially Nan Qi's eyes when he looked at He Zhiran just now made him inexplicably uncomfortable.
"The only woman who could be sharing a room with me this late is my wife. Who else could it be?"
Nan Qi did not change his attitude because of Mo Jiuye. He continued unhurriedly, "Sister-in-Law is truly a worthy wife of the Mo family. When Nanyu encountered difficulties, she did not fear the mob but rushed to help him draw her sword."
Since Nan Qi had made it clear, He Zhiran felt that she no longer needed to keep a low profile.
"Although this common woman does not have much ability, I cannot stand those who bully others by taking advantage of their power. Please forgive me for the trouble, Your Highness."
At this point, Fei Nanyu also courteously cupped his fist towards He Zhiran. "Thank you, Lady Mo, for your righteous help."
He Zhiran looked closely at Fei Nanyu's expression. Seeing that he remained as calm and undisturbed as before, she lightly replied, "Sir, there is no need to stand on ceremony. I believe if it were anyone else, they would not turn a blind eye in such a situation either."
As she spoke, He Zhiran looked meaningfully at Nan Qi again and said, "Isn't that right, Prince Nan?"