Chapter 50: Lure the Snake Out of Its Hole
Wang saw it all, and her maid also saw through Ruan Jiao's thoughts.
"Madam, without Concubine Chen, Concubine Ruan is busy trying to please the old lady. Should we..."
"Don't worry about her. She's just a lowly concubine. She can't cause any trouble. As long as she doesn't set her sights on Feng Ge'er, let her do whatever she wants. Someone will take care of her."
This old lady Li has a distant relative in Wu Heng, who was also exiled there two years ago. Many people in the mansion know about it.
So they had to please the old lady along the way, so that when they arrived in Wuheng, there would be someone to take care of them.
After dawn, heavy snow began to fall again.
Tired and hungry, they had to stop. Everyone went to collect firewood, but Ruan Mian directly lit a charcoal fire, took out a few meat buns and put them on the stove to steam them.
Then he went into the woods, found some lacquer trees, and used a sharp dagger to take some sap from their branches.
Seeing this, Cuizhu was very curious: "Miss, what do you want to do with these?"
She glanced at the Xie Mansion from a distance and said, "Lure the snake out of its hole."
"Snake? Where did the snake come from in the middle of winter?!" According to Qi Nanfeng's temper, he should have been unable to contain himself as early as in Huicheng.
But he had endured it all the way until he met the deserter, then he showed some abnormality.
Ruan Mian was sure that the signal arrow was most likely fired by him, and Li Ming's death was most likely related to him.
In that case, she might as well take the initiative and see what he is up to.
Thinking of this, she carried the collected juice to their cart.
There were some thick blankets and cloaks that she had searched the tents for. She found one and smeared the juice inside it.
After they were dry, he brought the cloaks and blankets to the officer, said a few words, and then returned to the charcoal fire.
The officer distributed a few cloaks to others. Cheng was afraid that they didn't have any, so she was the first to run to the officer and started trembling.
"Sir, we're freezing to death! Please give us some solid supplies!"
The officer threw the top blanket to her without hesitation, and Cheng took it without saying a word and covered herself and her son with it.
Ruan Mian ate the buns while glancing over there, then touched Rui Ge'er's chubby face with a smile.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Ruan Jiao came to the mother and son with two bowls of hot soup.
"Madam, sir, this is the wild vegetable soup I just dug. The old lady asked me to bring you some. It's still hot."
Cheng obviously didn't expect that Old Madam Li would actually care about them.
Very surprised, but not polite: "Oh, then thank the old lady for me."
As he said this, he drank it impatiently and almost scalded himself to death.
However, Ruan Jiao did not leave in a hurry. Instead, she took out a medicine bottle from her lapel and handed it to Qi Nanfeng carefully.
"Sir, I see you don't look well. Are you injured? This medicine is mine. It can treat external injuries."
Cheng took one look and continued without hesitation, saying meaningfully, "Miss, you're still thinking of us at this time. Thank you so much."
"Actually, Miss Ruan San, you don't know this. When we were discussing marriage with your family, we originally wanted my son Nanfeng to marry you, but...it's all because of that virtuous concubine. She insisted that we marry the legitimate daughter. Now, we've married such a jinx."
"Compared to you, your sister is like heaven and earth! If only you had married Nanfeng, wouldn't it have been better? Nanfeng, don't you think? The third young lady is gentle and charming, I like her just by looking at her."
Ruan Jiao blushed slightly and smiled awkwardly: "Madam, this..."
"Mom, don't embarrass the Third Miss. Don't take what my mother says to heart."
Qi Nanfeng interrupted Cheng and looked at Ruan Jiao attentively.
Ruan Jiao stood up and gave them some instructions in a soft voice before leaving.
As soon as she left, Cheng lowered her voice and said to Qi Nanfeng, "Is this Miss Ruan San interested in you?"
"From what I see, she is from the Ruan Mansion after all. Master Ruan secretly gave her a lot of things behind the scenes. If you can have some relationship with her, maybe you can get some supplies."
"Besides, she's from the Bo's Mansion. If we win her over, we can get some things from the Bo's Mansion. Also, if Ruan Mian knew that you liked her sister, she would definitely be furious..."
"Mom, no matter what, they won't be able to get out of the Zhangzhou mountain pass alive."
"What do you mean?"
Qi Nanfeng was too lazy to talk to her.
However, the scene just now was seen by Cuizhu and Ruan Mian.
Cuizhu clenched her fists in anger and whispered, "Miss! When did the third lady hook up with the ex-brother-in-law? They put you in..."
Before she could finish, Ruan Mian smiled and said, "That's better."
"What?" Cuizhu didn't understand what she meant. Ruan Mian patted her head and whispered to her, "They're setting up a stage. I'll put on a good show for you then."
The most urgent task is to find out Qi Nanfeng's purpose first.
…
When they set out again, there was movement from the Qi Mansion.
Cheng and Qi Nanfeng, mother and son, had red rashes all over their faces, and even their hands were covered with densely packed small bumps, which looked very creepy.
They sought help from the police, but they were evasive! "Get away, get away!"
"What is this?!!"
There was no doctor in the team, so the chief officer whipped them and drove them to the back of the team.
"You two stay away from everyone! Don't get one step closer without my permission! Otherwise, I'll give you a few beatings!"
Cheng was terrified and pleaded with a sorrowful face, "Sir, we don't know what this is. A rash suddenly appeared. We, we need to see a doctor."
"See a doctor?" The chief constable laughed in anger. "I wish I hadn't left you two to fend for yourselves in this desolate wilderness. You still want to see a doctor? Don't come over! This is unlucky!"
He wanted to find someone to watch them specifically, but the other officials were unwilling to do so, fearing that this thing was some kind of epidemic and could be transmitted to them.
Just when the officer wanted to point to someone at random, Ruan Qingsong volunteered.
"Sir, why don't I take care of it for you?"
The officer saw that he had arrived at the right time and readily asked Ruan Qingsong to come over.
In this way, the mother and son were under Ruan Qingsong's surveillance throughout the whole process, and Ruan Mian would be the first to know if they had any movement.
She knew that it would not be easy to find out his purpose, and when they arrived in Luzhou to rest, he might not be able to hold back.
The sap of the lacquer tree is slightly toxic and can cause allergic reactions on the skin if exposed for too long. This place is not far from Luzhou, and if they keep wearing that blanket, the reaction will only get worse.
By then, he might not be able to bear it and would have to ask others for help.
However, the changes in the Qi Mansion at this time did not affect their progress. They pushed the two of them to the back and continued walking for a long time.
We returned to the official road before dark.
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