Song Yaoyao asked:
"Other than the six of you, are you certain everyone else has already...?"
Ji Bai nodded. "Certain."
"How are your injuries?"
"We've mostly recovered.
"Right after it happened, portraits of us were plastered all over the streets and alleys of Suyu City.
"To hide our tracks, we smeared our faces with dirt and stayed among the beggars, going out to beg during the day.
"That was how we escaped one search after another by the government troops.
"After several months without finding any trace of us, they probably assumed we were no longer alive. After all, we'd been badly wounded at the time.
"Gradually, the Forbidden Army eased up on the search.
"Another month passed like that. Only when we felt it was safe did we leave the beggars' den and move here.
"Later, I went back to the restaurant.
"I thought that since we'd been out of contact for so long, His Majesty must have guessed something had happened to us.
"He would surely send someone eventually, so I left the coded signal we use to contact the imperial family.
"And sure enough, you came."
Song Yaoyao nodded.
"We did find our way here through the signal you left.
"Thank you for all your efforts."
Everything had happened so suddenly that they probably hadn't brought any silver with them.
The silver they had earned before had all been kept at the restaurant, and it had probably been confiscated as well.
After a moment's thought, Song Yaoyao took fifty thousand taels in banknotes from inside her robe and handed them over.
"Take this money for now. With money on hand, it'll be easier to get things done when you go out!"
Ji Bai accepted without refusing.
These banknotes were just a small portion of what she had