Chapter 44

Peng Wang said, pointing to the crowd and asking, "Who among you believes this? Who believes these two were injured by the He family?"

At this moment, the families staying at the inn also came over upon hearing the commotion.

When the crowd heard Peng Wang's question, they shook their heads to indicate disbelief.

Not to mention that they didn't believe it, even He Zhiyuan himself didn't believe it.

On one hand, he couldn't find the real culprit, on the other hand, he also wanted to take this opportunity to make things difficult for the Mo Family.

Little did he expect, Peng Wang didn't buy into his tricks at all.

An arrow released cannot be brought back. He Zhiyuan had already said those words, so he had to stick to it till the end.

"My lord, you said she couldn't do it, but look at so many people here, only the Mo Family hates us the most, who else could it be if not them?"

"Shut up!" Peng Wang's patience was completely exhausted by him, shouting loudly, and He Zhiyuan instantly fell silent.

The Eighth Old Zhou stepped forward.

"Boss, let me go take a look first to see if they still have a breath in them."

"Mm." Peng Wang was thinking the same thing. They still had to figure out whether these two were dead or alive.

The Eighth Old Zhou checked the breaths of the two men, and turned his head.

"Boss, they're not dead."

Indeed they were not dead. Mo Jiuye felt that letting them die so easily would be too cheap. When making his move, he was extremely careful about proportions.

Last night, he had quietly come out and went directly to the hut. After finding the He brothers, he pressed their acupoints, then brought them to the corner and severed the sinews in their hands and feet.

As for the blood on their faces, it was also deliberately done by Mo Jiuye, taking blood from their wrists and smearing it on.

The purpose was to make them look more terrifying and frighten the Li and He families.

Since the people were not dead, Peng Wang still had to make a show of saving them out of his sense of duty.

The first person he thought of was He Zhiran.

"Ms. He, you're the only one here who understands medicine, so why don't you go take a look?"

Through the interactions over the past two days, Peng Wang knew that He Zhiran was smart and didn't have much confidence in ordering her to do things.

Nevertheless, he still had to get He Zhiran to treat them.

The He family simply didn't have the silver to hire an imperial physician. He didn't want to pay out of his own pocket either.

Even if He Zhiran ended up healing them to death, it didn't matter.

He Zhiran had already carefully observed their wounds. She had to say, Mo Jiuye's technique of severing the sinews in people's hands and feet was quite skillful.

The size of the wounds was like that of minimally invasive surgical incisions in her past life. They didn't even need suturing.

Also, the fact that the two were still alive now meant that Mo Jiuye had avoided their arteries.

Treating these two wasn't difficult. All that was needed was to stop the bleeding from the wounds, then slowly nourish them. She could even reconnect their severed sinews.

But she felt that she had no obligation to treat her enemies.

"Prefect Peng, I'm not skilled at treating external injuries. You should think of another way!"

In any case, these two wouldn't die. Their hands and feet were just disabled. Even if they lived, they would be cripples for the rest of their lives.

Seeing that Peng Wang was on the verge of losing his temper, He Zhiran quickly added.

"Prefect Peng, surely you wouldn't force someone to do the impossible?"

Peng Wang...

Now that she had put it this way, if he continued to insist, it really would be forcing her.

Left with no choice, Peng Wang could only wave his hand to let He Zhiran leave.

Having seen enough of the commotion, He Zhiran took this opportunity to return to the front yard of the inn.

The two sisters-in-law had prepared breakfast, a big iron pot full of white porridge, with a side dish.

He Zhiran took the initiative to call the Fang and Xie families to eat together, once again receiving their gratitude.

She didn't know how Prefect Peng had dealt with the matter of the He brothers being injured. In any case, after the yamen runners came back, the people at the hut had quieted down.

When the yamen runners came back and saw Mo Family eating white rice porridge with the Fang and Xie families, they suddenly felt their steamed buns were no longer fragrant.

However, seeing that the porridge in the big iron pot was almost gone, the yamen runners could only reluctantly keep their distance.

After breakfast, the Eighth Old Zhou came to call He Zhiran to go to the marketplace together.

He Zhiran planned to purchase a lot of supplies, so she pushed along the wooden cart.

Arriving at the entrance of the inn, she saw Li Hu waiting there, and Li Hu's gaze at her carried a sinister feeling.

He Zhiran pretended not to see it.

"Prefect Zhou, let's go!"

The Eighth Old Zhou didn't say anything more either, walking side by side with Li Hu in front.

After turning a corner, there were more and more people. He Zhiran knew the marketplace was close.

The Eighth Old Zhou halted his footsteps, pointing ahead, "This is the marketplace. We need to buy some rations. You follow behind and buy what you need at the same time."

He Zhiran certainly didn't want to go shopping together with the two yamen runners.

She still had quite a lot of grain in her space that was moved from the Mo Residence before the confiscation. If she followed them, she wouldn't have a chance to take it out.

So, He Zhiran's eyes spun in thought.

"Prefect Zhou, I have a lot of things to buy. Following you would likely delay a lot of time. Why don't I go buy them myself, and let's agree on a time and location to meet up later?"

The Eighth Old Zhou hesitated.

He Zhiran was an exiled convict. Once she left his sight, there was a possibility she would run away.

A convict escaping was no small matter for a yamen runner. They would be punished upon returning to the capital.

Seeing the Eighth Old Zhou's hesitation, He Zhiran decided to meticulously explain her reasoning.

"Prefect Zhou, if I didn't want to be exiled together with my husband, with my father's capabilities, he would definitely have tried to find a way to keep me in the capital. I wouldn't be so silly as to secretly run away during exile.

Moreover, the Mo Family people are still at the inn. I wouldn't leave them behind and escape alone."

The Eighth Old Zhou also felt He Zhiran's words made a lot of sense, but he was timid and still somewhat worried.

Just then, Li Hu spoke up.

"Brother Ba, I think Ms. He's words make sense. If she dares to run away, when we return I'll break Mo Jiuye's legs."

On the surface, Li Hu was speaking for He Zhiran, but He Zhiran discerned other intentions in it.

Li Hu was probably hoping that she would deliberately not come back, helping Li Rou'er eliminate an eyesore, while also taking the chance to torture Mo Jiuye.

This made He Zhiran begin to doubt Li Hu's true identity.

He was highly likely someone planted here to monitor Mo Jiuye, only pretending to work as a yamen runner on the surface.

If that was really the case, Li Hu had to be gotten rid of.

Although she was thinking this in her heart, He Zhiran didn't show any of it on her face.

"Prefect Zhou, I really won't run away."

"Brother Ba, don't hesitate anymore. Doing our job is most important." Li Hu urged again.

The Eighth Old Zhou nodded with difficulty.

"Alright, I'll trust you this once. Let's regroup here before noon."

He Zhiran's goal was achieved, and she let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry, I guarantee I won't be late."

Parting ways with the two yamen runners, He Zhiran headed straight to the marketplace pushing the wooden cart.

The marketplace was bustling with people coming and going, and vendors' shouts rang out continuously.

He Zhiran's time was limited, so she only casually looked around at the lively atmosphere.

The shops lining the streets had their doors open for business.