CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 50: LURING THE SNAKE OUT OF ITS HOLE

Mrs. Wang saw it in her eyes, and her maid also saw through Ruan Jiao’s intentions.

"Madame, now that Aunt Chen is gone, Aunt Ruan is busy currying favor with the old madam. Should we..."

"Don’t mind her, just a concubine, she can’t cause much trouble. As long as she doesn’t target Feng, let her be. Someone will deal with her."

The old Madam Li has distant relatives in Wuheng, also exiled there two years ago, and many in the mansion are aware of this.

So on the journey, everyone is eager to please the old madam so that when they arrive in Wuheng, someone will look after them.

When daylight came, it started to snow heavily again.

Exhausted and hungry, they had to stop. Everyone went to gather firewood, while Ruan Mian directly lit a charcoal fire and took out a few meat buns to steam on the stove.

Then she walked into the woods and found a few lacquer trees, extracting some sap with a sharp dagger from the branches.

Cui Zhu, curious, asked, "Miss, what are you collecting this for?"

She glanced far over at the direction of Xie Mansion and said, "Luring the snake out of its hole."

"Snake? Where would a snake come from in this winter!?" According to Qi Nanfeng’s nature, he would have lost patience back in Hui City.

But he suppressed himself all the way until encountering the deserters, and only then did he show an anomaly.

Ruan Mian was certain that the signal arrow was most likely sent by him, and Li Ming’s death was probably also related to him.

If so, she might as well take the initiative to see what he’s up to.

Thinking of this, she carried the collected sap to their cart.

There were some thick blankets and cloaks scavenged from the camp. She found one and applied the sap to it.

After it dried, she brought these cloaks and blankets to the government officer, said a few words, and then returned to the charcoal fire.

Seeing the officer distributing a few of the cloaks to others, Mrs. Cheng, afraid they might not get any, was the first to shiver in front of the officer.

"Lord, we’ll freeze to death!! Please give us some thick supplies."

The officer unhesitatingly threw the top blanket to her, and Mrs. Cheng took it without a word, covering herself and her son together.

Ruan Mian watched while eating her bun, smiled, and patted Rui’s chubby cheek.

Unexpectedly, she saw Ruan Jiao at this moment, carrying two bowls of hot soup, walking towards the mother and son.

"Madame, young master, this is wild vegetable soup I just dug up. The old madam said to bring some to you, it’s still warm."

Mrs. Cheng obviously didn’t expect the old madam to be concerned about them.

Very surprised, but not polite: "Ah, then thank the old madam for me."

With that, she hurriedly drank the soup, nearly scalding herself.

However, Ruan Jiao didn’t rush to leave. Instead, she took out a medicine bottle from her collar and carefully handed it to Qi Nanfeng.

"Young master, you don’t look well, are you injured? This is my own medicine, it can treat external injuries."

Mrs. Cheng saw this and, without hesitation, accepted it, saying with meaning, "You, girl, still thinking of us at this moment, thank you."

"Actually, Third Miss Ruan, you may not know. In the past, when we discussed marriage with your family, it was originally intended for Nanfeng to marry you. But... but it was all because of Lady Xianfei insisting we marry the legitimate daughter. Now look at this, we ended up marrying such a jinx."

"Compared to you, your sister is worlds apart! It would have been better if you married Nanfeng back then. Nanfeng, don’t you agree? Third Miss is gentle and charming. I like her."

Ruan Jiao blushed a little and awkwardly smiled, "Madame, this..."

"Mother, don’t trouble Third Miss. Please, don’t take my mother’s words to heart."

Qi Nanfeng interrupted Mrs. Cheng, looking considerately at Ruan Jiao.

Ruan Jiao stood up, softly reminded them once more before leaving.

As soon as she left, Mrs. Cheng lowered her voice to Qi Nanfeng, "Isn’t Third Miss Ruan interested in you?"

"From what I see, she is still part of the Ruan Mansion. Mr. Ruan has given her many things secretly. If you can get close to her, maybe we can get some supplies."

"Moreover, she’s from Uncle’s Mansion. If we pull her in, we might get some things from that side as well. Also, if Ruan Mian finds out you have feelings for her sister, she’ll surely be furious..."

"Mother, no matter what, none of them will leave Zhuangzhou Mountain Pass alive."

"What do you mean??"

Qi Nanfeng couldn’t be bothered to explain to her.

However, the entire scene was witnessed by Cui Zhu and Ruan Mian.

Cui Zhu clenched her fists in anger, whispering, "Miss! Since when did Third Miss get involved with the ex-young master? Where do they put you..."

Before she finished, Ruan Mian smiled and said, "That’s better."

"What?" Cui Zhu didn’t understand her meaning, but Ruan Mian patted her head and whispered, "They’re putting on a show, and I’ll put on a good play for you to watch, okay?"

What’s urgent now is to figure out Qi Nanfeng’s purpose first.

...

When they set off again, there was a commotion from the Qi Mansion side.

Mrs. Cheng and Qi Nanfeng, mother and son, were covered in rashes, even their hands had thick clusters of small bumps, making them look horrifying.

They sought the government’s help, but the officers avoided them like the plague!

"Get away, get away!!"

"What is this?!!"

There was no doctor in the group, and the officer in charge quickly used a whip to drive them to the back of the line.

"Keep away from everyone! Without my permission, don’t get one step closer! Otherwise, I’ll whip you both!"

Mrs. Cheng was scared to death, pleading desperately with a face full of misery, "Lord, we don’t know what this is, we suddenly got rashes. We need to see a doctor."

"See a doctor?" The officer in charge laughed mockingly, "In this godforsaken place, you’re lucky I haven’t left you two to fend for yourselves, and you want to see a doctor? Get away! So unlucky!"

He wanted someone to keep an eye on them specifically, but the other officers weren’t willing, fearing this was a contagious disease.

Just as the officer was about to point to someone randomly, Ruan Qingsong volunteered.

"Lord, why don’t I watch over them for you?"

The officer was pleased to see him come forward and readily let Ruan Qingsong do so.

As a result, the mother and son were constantly under Ruan Qingsong’s watch, and any movement from them would be immediately known to Ruan Mian.

She knew it wouldn’t be easy to uncover his purpose, but when they reached Luzhou to rest, he might not be able to restrain himself.

The lacquer tree sap is mildly toxic, and prolonged contact causes skin allergies. They were not far from Luzhou, and as long as they continued wearing that blanket, the reaction would only intensify.

By then, he might have no choice but to seek aid.

However, the changes at the Qi Mansion didn’t affect their journey. After pushing them to the back of the line, they continued for a while longer.

They returned to the official road before dark.