Although Li Xinyue guessed that The Eighth Old Zhou had deliberately let Second Sister-in-Law off quickly, she didn't dare to openly give food to Qin Yichen.
After all, Qin Yichen's pretending to be unconscious had to be kept secret from all outsiders.
However, Qin Yichen had not eaten anything for a whole day, let alone go to the toilet. If this continued, even someone made of iron could not stand it.
Also, his wounds needed to be checked and dressed.
After thinking it over, Li Xinyue could not develop a good solution.
As a last resort, she decided to sacrifice herself a little.
She removed an olive green blanket from her space, using the package as a cover.
Pretending to be unable to stand the dampness on the ground, she climbed onto the wooden cart.
To let The Eighth Old Zhou know she had caused the movement here, she deliberately muttered softly, "The ground is too cold; it's more comfortable on the cart."
She lay down next to Qin Yichen as she spoke and covered them with the blanket.
Feeling the warmth beside him, Qin Yichen's body gave a jerk.
If there was a mirror, he could see how red his face was.
He did not know what Li Xinyue intended to do, so he could only close his eyes and try to calm his mind.
Li Xinyue's movement was noticed not only by The Eighth Old Zhou but also by Old Lady Qin, who had not fallen into deep sleep yet.
She looked at the wooden cart, at the two people tightly wrapped under the blanket.
Old Lady Qin should not have had any other ideas at this time, but seeing the two's intimate appearance, she could not help but think more about it.
Her ninth daughter-in-law liked her son, and she now accompanies her husband to sleep.
This was good, too. If they could safely reach the northwest, have them consummate the marriage earlier and give birth to many grandchildren to continue the Qin family line.
The Eighth Old Zhou thought differently.
Moreover, he also negated some of his good impressions of Li Xinyue.
Besides knowing medical skills, this woman was like other women in wealthy households competing for favour.
Her husband was unconscious, yet she was still thinking of getting in bed...
Even so, he did not have the habit of watching a married couple sleep together. He glanced over to ensure they would do everything correctly before looking away.
After observing the situation around her again and seeing that no one was watching them, Li Xinyue carefully removed two white steamed buns and a large handful of braised beef and stuffed them into Qin Yichen's hands.
In addition, she also gave him several alcohol swabs and a small bottle of Yunnan Baiyao.
She whispered into Qin Yichen's ear in a volume only the two could hear.
"Hurry up, find a place where no one can see you, eat some food, then treat your wounds. I'll find something else to put in your original position so the officials won't notice."
Only then did Qin Yichen understand that this woman intended to use a strategy of disguising to deceive people.
She went through a lot of trouble for him.
Without any doubt, knowing that this was a rare opportunity, Qin Yichen rolled under the cart with a flip of his body, landing without a sound.
His lightness skill was superb.
At the first moment, Qin Yichen left the wooden cart, Li Xinyue had already taken out a cotton quilt and placed it in his original position.
Indeed, in the dark of night and with the quilt as cover, no one would possibly see that it was not Qin Yichen lying there.
She also took the chance while Qin Yichen was away to check the purse Li Yuanming had given her.
Inside was a stack of silver notes, which she confirmed to be three thousand taels after counting. Aside from that, there were also some scattered silver ingots, around twenty taels by estimation.
In this era, so much silver placed in an ordinary family's home could provide for generations without worry.
It showed how dearly the two old Hes loved their daughter.
Qin Yichen moved very quickly. With a flash of his lightness skill, he soon disappeared from Li Xinyue's sight.
After about two-quarters of an hour, Qin Yichen returned.
Hearing the sound, Li Xinyue immediately put away the cotton quilt. Only after Qin Yichen lay in his original spot did she sigh deeply.
"How are your wounds?" Li Xinyue asked softly.
"They've stopped bleeding," Qin Yichen replied just as softly.
He thought momentarily, then added, "Thank you for everything you've done for me and the Qin family."
In Li Xinyue's heart, this was not the time for pleasantries. Hearing Qin Yichen's thanks, she did not respond.
Just as she considered whether to continue lying here, Second Sister-in-Law returned.
Thinking everyone was asleep, the Second Sister-in-Law tip-toed to the wooden cart.
But she did not see Li Xinyue.
Just as she was about to look around, Li Xinyue sat up from the wooden cart.
"Second Sister-in-Law, I'm here."
Following the voice, Second Sister-in-Law saw her ninth younger sister-in-law and ninth younger brother sleeping in the same quilt.
She wished she could slap herself.
The newlywed couple was having an intimate moment, yet she had come to disturb them untimely.
"Ninth younger sister-in-law, you continue resting. We can talk tomorrow."
Seeing Second Sister-in-Law's reaction, Li Xinyue knew she had misunderstood.
Moreover, she urgently wanted to know why those families targeted the Qin family. Where would she have the patience to wait until tomorrow?
"Second Sister-in-Law, I just gave my husband some food earlier."
Since everyone in the Qin family knew Qin Yichen was pretending to be unconscious, Li Xinyue directly told the truth.
Hearing Li Xinyue's explanation, the Second Sister-in-Law felt somewhat embarrassed.
So she had thought wrongly.
"Ninth younger sister-in-law, I just asked and found out why."
The Second Sister-in-Law felt it was more suitable to tell Li Xinyue now. On the surface, she was informing Li Xinyue, but this could also help Qin Yichen understand the situation.
Sure enough, Qin Yichen had already pricked up his ears, intending to listen carefully.
Li Xinyue urged, "Second Sister-in-Law, tell me quickly."
Second Sister-in-Law sighed.
Someone must have deliberately caused this.
Li Xinyue became even more interested.
"What exactly happened?"
"My eldest brother said there was little sign before the Xie family was exiled.
Today, the officials issued an imperial edict, saying that Guardian of the Nation Qin Yichen had already confessed to colluding with the enemy and betraying the country.
It also said that Jiuye had voluntarily exposed that the Xie family was also involved. He also presented evidence that my father had accepted bribes several years ago.
My maternal family all feel that the amount my father accepted as bribes was insignificant and only happened twice. It was not enough to confiscate the family's property and exile them. The main reason was that Jiuye exposed that the Xie family had conspired with him to betray the country.
Li Xinyue fell into contemplation.
Qin Yichen couldn't do such a thing.
Moreover, if she had not told him herself, he would not even have known that the Qin manor would be raided and exiled. Let alone make any confessions.
If what the Second Sister-in-Law said was true, there was only one possibility.
The Xie family had offended Emperor Shunwu. Emperor Shunwu took the opportunity to eliminate the Xie family while creating more trouble for Qin Yichen on the road to exile.
Other than this, she could not think of any other reasons.
Although she had not personally heard the other three families state their reasons for insulting the Qin family, this possibility could not be ruled out.
Qin Yichen was similarly pondering over the ins and outs of this matter.
His thoughts were almost the same as Li Xinyue's. Moreover, he was more familiar with the officials from those families in court and knew a little about their shady dealings.
Especially Fang Chuanzhou, with whom he had no grudges at all.
According to Qin Yichen's understanding, this person had indeed offended Emperor Shunwu before.