Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

However, Xie Moyao couldn't understand why Chu Jingrui was still putting on an act when he was already in this predicament and had no value to him anymore.

"Very well, since the Second Prince is so kind, then I thank you in advance. However, since this matter was ordered by His Majesty, it will probably not be so easy to overturn the verdict. If the Second Prince is truly determined, it may take some effort. I will await good news in the Northwest."

Since Chu Jingrui hasn't broken ties with him, he'd like to see what Chu Jingrui is really up to.

Thinking of how Chu Jingrui and the Emperor were playing good cop and bad cop in front of him, Xie Moyao didn't even bother to look at him anymore, and turned to look at Chen Shi beside him:

"Second Sister-in-law, the team will probably rest here tonight. Why don't you bring out our tents? It's windy up here, and the tents will at least provide some shelter from the wind."

I remember Yun Shu saying before she left that she had bought a lot of tents. We should keep two for ourselves and distribute the rest to the villagers so that the elderly, women, and children can all go inside and shelter from the wind. It's too windy here, and without any shelter, they can easily catch a cold.

Chen nodded, took out the two tents they needed from her bundle and put them aside. She gave the remaining tents to Zhang Lizheng, Xiao Ergou, and Uncle Zhao, asking them to distribute them to the villagers.

Although there weren't many tents left, they were enough for the elderly, women, and children in the group. The other young and strong men stayed outside the tents to warm themselves by the fire, and they could manage to get through the night.

Seeing that Xie Moyao was arranging things in an orderly manner and had no intention of paying attention to him anymore, Chu Jingrui was not annoyed.

Just as she was about to say something more, she saw Li hand the baby in her arms to the old princess, and then she got up and opened something that Chen had placed aside earlier.

This thing is quite ingenious. It looks only as thick as an arm and not very long, but I don't know what I pressed, but the thing in my hand fell apart and eventually formed a small house-like thing.

Chu Jingrui's eyes lit up. This thing...

Suddenly, he thought of Xie Mohuan, whom he had seen in the woods before.

Xie Mohuan and the man's bundles also contained some strange things that he had never seen before, which were quite unusual.

He had planned to find a place to rest and then study how to use those things, but unexpectedly, before he could find a place to rest, all of those things disappeared.

They have completely disappeared.

Right under his nose.

Not only were those things gone, but all his own supplies were also gone. He spent a lot of time searching, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find a trace of them.

He even suspected that one of his own men had hidden the items, but after checking, the number of his men was correct, and none of them had left the group. He remained troubled by this matter.

Thinking of the things that had disappeared, and Xie Mohuan and the man who had vanished at the same time, Chu Jingrui's gaze subtly fell on Xie Moyao:

"Thank you, Your Highness. Is your younger sister in the ranks?"

His eyes were fixed on Xie Moyao, trying to glean some clue from Xie Moyao's face. Xie Moyao's hands were hidden under his wide sleeves. When Chu Jingrui asked about Xie Mohuan, his hands clenched almost imperceptibly, but fortunately, Chu Jingrui didn't notice because of the sleeves.

He turned his head and looked at Chu Jingrui with a faint smile: "What do you mean by that, Second Prince? To be honest, when we were in the village before, there was a landslide and a flood. My sister got separated from us at that time, and I haven't heard from her for a long time."

The second prince suddenly asked about her; had he heard news of her?

Xie Moyao felt a little flustered. What did Chu Jingrui mean by this?

Why did they suddenly ask about Xie Mohuan? Did they run into Xie Mohuan and Xie Mu?

Are they both alright?

It should be fine. His wife left so many things for Xie Mohuan and Xie Mu to protect themselves. Even if they can't beat Chu Jingrui's many people, escaping shouldn't be a problem.

Xie Moyao didn't know what Chu Jingrui meant, nor how much Chu Jingrui knew about Xie Mohuan and Xie Mu. He was nervous inside, but kept a straight face, worried that Chu Jingrui would notice something was wrong.

"Hehe, to be honest, I did run into your sister on my way here. I even kindly wanted to bring her along to find you, but your sister seems to be very wary and refuses to listen to me."

Moreover, there was a man beside her, and the two seemed to be quite intimate. A woman and a man alone in the forest, it wouldn't sound good if word got out.

Although the people of the Prince's mansion have been exiled, they should still retain some dignity, shouldn't they? "Your Highness, once your younger sister returns, you'll have to discipline her properly."

As he spoke, he subtly observed Xie Moyao's expression. Recalling his previous encounter with Xie Mohuan and the strange things he had obtained from her, Chu Jingrui suspected that Xie Moyao was definitely involved in this matter as well.

Otherwise, how could Xie Mohuan, a woman who spends most of her time in the capital, possess such strange and unusual things?

Xie Moyao was already mentally prepared. When it heard Chu Jingrui say that it had bumped into Xie Mohuan and Xie Mu, it didn't seem very surprised on the surface, but it was slightly startled in its heart.

Little Sister and Xie Mu, those two idiots.

Ji Yunshu left them so many things for self-defense, how come they still ran into Chu Jingrui's men?

Moreover, judging from Chu Jingrui's words, it seems that he has met his younger sister and the others more than once, and may have already seen those strange things. He is here to test his words.

As for why Xie Mohuan wasn't with Chu Jingrui and the others at this moment, Xie Moyao was still unaware.

To avoid saying anything wrong and revealing more, Xie Moyao curled the corners of his lips and spoke in a calm tone:

"These matters need not be of concern to the Second Prince. My younger sister has unfortunately become separated from all of us in this forest. We only pray that she is safe. As for the people around her, they may have helped her through a difficult time. We are too grateful to them to care about anything else."

Besides, I am no longer a prince in the capital, and my sister is no longer the eldest daughter of the royal family. I only pray that she is safe and sound. As for anything else, it is not very important.

If the Second Prince has nothing better to do, he should help others. Look at this group of refugees; they are all villagers from nearby villages whose villages were flooded by mudslides, and they are now relocating their families.

If the Second Prince has nothing better to do, he should spend some time helping them find a place to stay; that would be better than meddling in their affairs here.

Chu Jingrui's face turned ugly for a moment. He didn't expect that Xie Moyao would deflect his words so easily.

To everyone's surprise, Xie Moyao frankly said that they were no longer members of the Prince's Mansion.

Although that was indeed the case, in his memory, Xie Moyao had always been proud. When he heard the news of the Prince's Mansion being exiled at the border, he thought that someone as proud as Xie Moyao would die of depression on the way to exile.

Unexpectedly, he had endured for so long and was still in such good spirits. Now he was facing everything calmly, which made him suspect that there might be something fishy going on.

The more Xie Moyao acted as if he didn't care, the more suspicious he became.