《The Little Darling Wife Who is a Divine Doctor Saved the Entire Family of the Duke's Mansion》


 Chapter 1: Worship with Heroes and Idols

    <h4>Chapter 1</h4>


    "Everyone, please look. This is the famous Mausoleum of Mo Jiuye, the renowned general in history," the tour guide said, waving a small g and leading the tourists towards the entrance of the underground pce.


    For some reason, He Zhiran felt a sense of solemnity when she arrived here.


    As a special forces medic, she didn''t worship celebrities, only heroes.


    The owner of this mausoleum, Mo Jiuye, was one of the heroes she admired.


    Mo Jiuye was the top general of the Da Shun Dynasty. He led the army to defeat foreign enemies thoroughly.


    However, even a hero like him was suspected and dismissed from his official position by the emperor at that time, just because of his great reputation and power.


    Listening to the guide''s verbose introduction, He Zhiran sighed constantly in her heart.


    It could only be said that this hero was born at the wrong time. If Mo Jiuye could have lived a few more years until the new emperor took the throne, he would have been redressed. Unfortunately, fate yed a trick on him and he died on the way to exile...


    Just as He Zhiran was immersed in her own thoughts, she suddenly felt a violent shaking under her feet.


    Someone shouted, "Run quickly, it''s an earthquake!"


    With He Zhiran''s skills, she could have sessfully escaped from this natural disaster. However, in order to save people, she stayed here forever.


    Before she lost consciousness, He Zhiran''s lips curled up slightly, "It''s also good to be buried here with the hero."


    ...


    Da Shun Dynasty.


    The Duke of Protector''s residence was decorated with colored lights and resounded with drums and music.


    "First bow to heaven and earth!"


    Following the loud and long yell, He Zhiran felt like a puppet being helped to bow.


    "Second bow to the high hall!"


    "Bride and groom, bow to each other!"


    "Enter the bridal chamber..."


    He Zhiran still felt a little dizzy, but it did not stop her from receiving the memory of this body.


    Ignoring the noisy congrattions and the endless auspicious words of the matchmaker, He Zhiran''s mind waspletely immersed in her own thoughts.


    After sorting out these memories, she had to ept the fact that she had crossed over.


    What''s more, she crossed over and became the new bride of the famous hero Mo Jiuye she admired...


    The original owner had the same name as her, He Zhiran. She was the eldest daughter of He Yuanming, the current Minister of Revenue. She was betrothed to Mo Jiuye since she was a child.


    The Mo family had been loyal for generations. All the men sacrificed themselves for the country, and now only Mo Jiuye was left.


    Five years ago, after Mo Jiuye''s eldest brother died on the battlefield, the 16-year-old Mo Jiuye took charge of the troops. At the same time, he alone supported the Duke of Protector''s residence full of widows.


    Now Mo Jiuye had returned triumphantly. Following the arrangements of the old Madam Mo, the wedding took ce on an auspicious day.


    However, the original owner wanted to cancel the marriage. She didn''t want to be a widow like those women in the Duke of Protector''s residence for the rest of her life.


    After all, the Mo men, without exception, died on the battlefield at a young age.


    The original owner tried every means to cancel the marriage. But her righteous and honest father, He Yuanming, did not agree to cancel the marriage under any circumstances.


    In order to let the original owner marry into the Duke of Protector''s residence smoothly, He Yuanming and his wife Ling Xueyan had no choice but to give the original owner some drugs, thinking that after the rice was cooked into cooked rice, their daughter would have to resign herself to fate.


    It was unknown whether they misjudged the dosage, which led to the original owner''s death in the bridal sedan. This allowed the arrival of He Zhiran.


    However, what confused He Zhiran was that in the history she knew, there was no mention of Mo Jiuye having a wife until he was exiled.


    Could it be that the original owner really died in the bridal sedan and failed to worship the ancestors with Mo Jiuye, so it was not recorded?


    Just as she was lost in thought, the noise outside the bridal chamber grew louder.


    Her maid of honor Qiao Yu lightly touched her arm, "Miss, the young master is here."


    He Zhiran responded softly, "Okay."


    A group of people escorted Mo Jiuye in red wedding clothes into the bridal chamber.


    "Young Master, lift the veil now! Don''t miss the auspicious time." The matchmaker happily handed Mo Jiuye a bnce rod tied with red ribbons.


    "Ninth brother, hurry up. We are all waiting to see the ninth brother''s wife!"


    "That''s right, ninth brother. Don''t be shy..."


    Holding the bncing rod, Mo Jiuye was escorted by several sisters-inw to He Zhiran.


    He stopped and lightly lifted the red veil covering He Zhiran''s sight under everyone''s gaze.


    He Zhiran instinctively looked at the person in front of her.


    She guessed he was about 185cm tall, with a straight posture and strong limbs.


    His distinct features were as exquisite as sculpture. His extraordinarily handsome face was somewhat simr to the portrait in the mausoleum.


    His expressionless face and sharp, deep eyes unconsciously gave people a sense of oppression!


    In He Zhiran''s heart, her great hero should look like this.


    Just as she was a little distracted, Mo Jiuye said coldly.


    "Have you looked enough?"


    Only then did He Zhiran realize that she had been absent-minded just now.


    Looking into those deep eyes, He Zhiran blurted out, "Yeah, looked enough. Just so-so."


    It wasn''t that she didn''t respect the great hero, but with so many people around, this man didn''t give her any face at all, so she didn''t have to deliberately tter him.


    Seeing the two were off to a bad start just after getting married, Sister-inw Deng Xue quickly smoothed things over.


    "Ninth brother, ninth sister-inw, don''t spoil the auspicious time. Drink the wedding toast and rest early."


    Sister-inw Feng Cuilian also came up and said, "Yes, you have to work hard and give birth to many children for the Mo family."


    Listening to these sisters-inw, even He Zhiran with a modern soul couldn''t help blushing a little.


    In her previous life as a 24-year-old only child, she only wanted to serve the country and never thought about encountering such an embarrassing situation one day.


    In order not to show her embarrassment, she lowered her head quickly.


    This action was misunderstood by others again.


    Sister-inw Xiao Qinger held He Zhiran''s hand, "Ninth sister-inw, don''t be shy. You''ll get used to these sisters-inw after a while. They just like joking."


    He Zhiran tried to exin, "I''m not shy."


    Just as a few other sisters-inw were about to say something, a voice came from outside the door.


    "Young Master, His Majesty has sent an oral message and ordered you to go to the pce immediately."


    Upon hearing this, He Zhiran''s heart thumped.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye had already turned to leave, she grabbed the maid beside her and asked, "Qiao Yu, what year and month is it now?"


    Qiao Yu was stunned for a moment. With a puzzled look on her face, she answered, "Miss, have you forgotten your own wedding day? Today is the eighth day of the seventh month in the 19th year of the Shun Yuan era!"


    "Oh no!"


    Watching Mo Jiuye''s departing figure, He Zhiran''s first reaction was that since she hade, she had to do her best to let her idol hero live.


    He Zhiran suddenly stood up, regardless of her still weak body and the puzzled eyes of the sisters-inw. She lifted her skirt and rushed out.


    If she remembered correctly, on this day Mo Jiuye was summoned to the pcete at night by the emperor, and was falsely charged with trespassing the imperial harem. He was given one hundred heavy strokes.


    The next day, Mo Jiuye was charged with the crime of betraying the country to the enemy. The Duke of Protector''s residence was confiscated and Mo Jiuye was exiled.

 Chapter 2: Reminder

    <h4>Chapter 2</h4>


    He Zhiran ran while shouting, afraid that she couldn''t keep up with Mo Jiuye''s pace.


    "Mo Jiuye, wait for me..."


    She chased him for a long time before finally seeing Mo Jiuye''s red figure ahead.


    Mo Jiuye turned around, still looking at her with no expression: "What''s the matter?"


    He Zhiran ran over to Mo Jiuye, out of breath, and pulled his arm to walk back.


    "What are you doing?" Mo Jiuye frowned and asked.


    He Zhiran didn''t know how to exin her purpose, she could only vaguely say, "I have a hunch that you''re afraid of being plotted against when you enter the pce this time."


    When she said this, He Zhiran was already prepared to be questioned by Mo Jiuye.


    However, Mo Jiuye did not do so, but asked in return, "What have you heard?"


    In fact, since Mo Jiuye returned to the capital from the border, he had a vague feeling of being targeted, especially by the Emperor, who always gave him a hypocritical feeling when talking to him.


    He Zhiran certainly couldn''t say that she knew this history, so when asked again, she could only bite the bullet and answer.


    "I told you, I just have a bad hunch."


    In Mo Jiuye''s eyes, her exnation was too far-fetched, but at this moment he was in a hurry to enter the pce, and had no intention of asking further.


    He allowed He Zhiran to lead him and gave her the initiative.


    He Zhiran lingered around the yard of the Bridal Chamber for a while, and finally settled her eyes on the carriage she was riding in.


    She let go of Mo Jiuye''s arm, ran into the carriage, and took out a thick cushion.


    This was something the original owner often brought with her when going out from her parents'' home. Whether it was a carriage or carriage, she hated the bumps, so the meticulous Madam He ordered the servants to make her a cushion.


    He Zhiran squeezed the thickness of the cushion, it was still eptable, turned around and handed it to Mo Jiuye.


    "If you believe me, put this pad behind you, it may help you."


    After a pause, she added, "Also, if someone ims the Emperor has summoned you to the harem, you must not go."


    This was all she could do for now. Whether Mo Jiuye could escape physical suffering depended on his own fortune.


    Mo Jiuye hesitated for a moment, but still took the cushion.


    As he turned to leave, he said, "It''ste, don''t wait for me, go to rest early!"


    Watching Mo Jiuye''s retreating figure, He Zhiran still couldn''t help reminding him, "Don''t forget to put the pad behind you."


    Getting no more response from Mo Jiuye, He Zhiran could only go back the same way.


    Back in the yard, she saw eight sister-inws and one little aunt waiting there.


    The eight sister-inws were all experienced people. Seeing He Zhirane back, they couldn''t help bute up andfort her.


    "Sister-inw, don''t worry. The Emperor summoned brother-inw sote, he must have some urgent matter. I''m sure it won''t take too long."


    "That''s right, brother-inw will definitelye back in time to consummate your marriage."


    "..."


    The sister-inws were too enthusiastic. He Zhiran also knew they were all showing her goodwill, but she couldn''t take in what they were saying at the moment.


    Looking at the eight very young sister-inws, He Zhiran felt a moment of heartache.


    The poor women were doomed to be young widows.


    In the end, they would fall to exile.


    Thinking it over, He Zhiran still decided to warn them.


    "Sister-inws, I''ve been having a strange dream these days, saying that the Duke of Protector''s mansion will be searched and exiled."


    The usually calm eldest sister-inw Cui Biting came over and grabbed her arm, speaking gently, "Sister-inw, you can''t say such things randomly. Our Duke of Protector''s family has been loyal for generations, how could we possibly be searched and exiled?"


    "Nonsense... We can''t say such unlucky things. Sister-inw, let''s pretend we didn''t hear that today." The second sister-inw Xie Fang immediately spat on the ground twice.


    He Zhiran knew this would be the effect after her warning, but she didn''t intend to give up just like that.


    "Sisters-inw, I also hope this is not true, but this dream is so real, and it''s the same scene every day, so I feel we might as well believe it and make some preparations ahead of time, it won''t hurt."


    Everyone looked at He Zhiran talking usibly there, and they were instantly conflicted.


    The little aunt Mo Hanyue, who had been raised by so many elders all her life, was the most timid. Hearing He Zhiran''s words, she was already scared to tears.


    The little girl said tearfully, "Sister-inw, I''m scared. This can''t be true."


    Seeing this, the eldest sister-inw hugged her and gentlyforted her, "Don''t be afraid, Hanyue, they say dreams are reversed."


    Mo Hanyue wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and snuggled into the eldest sister-inw''s arms.


    The eldest sister-inw looked around at everyone and said, "It''ste, sister-inw has had a tiring day, let her rest early!"


    He Zhiran didn''t know if anyone believed her words, but she had done what she should, and could only take it one step at a time from now on.


    Back in the room, after several maids had finished helping her wash up, He Zhiran sent them all away.


    What she needed now was quiet. Only by calming down could she think carefully about the next step.


    In the light of the red candles, she could see the dazzling array of the entire bridal chamber. It was a pity that she didn''t have the ability to take these things away.


    Since this was the case, she could only focus on the most portable silver tickets.


    She didn''t know how many silver tickets were in the Duke of Protector''s mansion right now. Her dowry from her parents contained exactly two thousand taels of silver tickets.


    With the silver tickets in hand, He Zhiran''s first thought was that when the house was searched, someone would definitely search her. Where could she hide these tickets without being found?


    If she also had a space like those transmigrated female leads in novels, that would be great. She could put the tickets in the space and it would be perfectly safe. But unfortunately...


    Just as sheined that transmigration gods were unfair, she suddenly felt the scene in front of her change.


    The scene in front of her was so familiar, this was her medical office.


    Could it be that she didn''t die?


    Soon, He Zhiran was ruthlessly defeated by the facts.


    She tried to push open the door of the medical office, but the door was like a prop,pletely unresponsive, not even a gap could be seen.


    The windows were the same, as if welded shut...

 Chapter 3: Space Emerges

    <h4>Chapter 3</h4>


    He Zhiran quickly sorted out her thoughts. She had indeed transmigrated, and this medical office was the so-called transmigration golden finger.


    In order to quickly grasp the operation of this space, He Zhiran softly said, "Go out."


    Sure enough, her body reappeared in the dowry storage room.


    She first grabbed a box, moved it with her thoughts, and her whole person and the box reappeared in the space, which showed that this space allowed external objects to enter.


    After putting down the box, He Zhiran did not stay in the dowry room any longer, but went back to the bridal chamber.


    Although she had the space, she had to formte a reasonable n before the imperial edict of exile was issued, in order to carry more supplies.


    He Zhiran sat on the bridal bed and pondered.


    If the historical records were correct, Mo Jiuye was called to the imperial pce in the early morning and was carried back unconscious, with only one breath left.


    It was said that less than an hour after Mo Jiuye returned to the mansion, the emperor sent troops to surround the Duke of Protector''s mansion, and at the same time issued an imperial edict to confiscate the family property and exile them.


    He Zhiran looked at the clock in the space, which already showed 10 pm.


    That is to say, there are at most 10 hours left before the imperial edict is issued.


    He Zhiran ns to make full use of the remaining time.


    With the idea in mind, she shed into the space, rummaged around, and found a camouge suit that she often wore when going on missions in her previous life.


    He Zhiran changed into camouge, neatly coiled her hair into a simple bun, put on climbing ws and wire, and slipped out of the yard evading the maidservants'' sight.


    In order to observe the terrain of the Duke of Protector''s mansion, He Zhiran nimbly climbed a thick big tree.


    Standing on the big tree and looking around, He Zhiran could initially determine that the courtyard she was in was slightly west, and she needed to go east to get to the area with denser courtyards.


    However, she did not do so.


    From the environment, He Zhiran analyzed that the courtyards in the east should be the residences of the sisters-inw and mothers-inw. Even if there were some valuables there, they were the private possessions of individuals.


    However, given the current urgent situation, it would be easier to find the warehouse than to ransack the courtyards one by one like a thief.


    Determined, He Zhiran groped her way west.


    As expected of the Duke of Protector''s mansion, the guards were extremely strict.


    All the way, He Zhiran encountered several guards patrolling with weapons from time to time.


    And she found that the more west she went, the more guards there were.


    Using her skills from her previous life, she came to a courtyard using anti-reconnaissance techniques.


    It couldn''t be called a courtyard, but rather a rtivelyrge house.


    Observing from a distance, He Zhiran found that there were actually two guards guarding it.


    Without a doubt, He Zhiran guessed that there must be something important here, most likely the warehouse of the Duke of Protector''s mansion.


    In order to divert the guards, she picked up a small pebble from the ground and threw it towards the nearby pond.


    The pebble fell into the pond with a "plop" sound, which was particrly abrupt in this quiet night.


    "Who''s there?"


    The guard quickly noticed something wrong and ran towards the pond with his weapon.


    He Zhiran dared not dy, and immediately came to the front of the house.


    Naturally, there would be an iron lock where there were guards.


    Without thinking twice, He Zhiran''s consciousness quickly entered the space, took out the finest pointed tweezers, turned the tweezers in the keyhole a few times, and the lock opened.


    Taking advantage of the guards not having returned yet, He Zhiran opened the door and entered at the fastest speed.


    It was pitch ck inside, and in the dim moonlight she could see that the surroundings were all shelves.


    He Zhiran had no time to check carefully, she just reached out and touched the items on the nearest shelf. It felt slippery, like some kind of fabric.


    There was no doubt that this was the warehouse of the Duke of Protector''s mansion.


    In order to save time, He Zhiran directly used her mind to put all the items in the warehouse into the space, leaving only the shelves that held the items.


    Just as she had finished collecting the items here, the guards who had gone to check the situation came back.


    "I think you''re just too nervous. There''s no one there, making us rush over for nothing."


    "I definitely heard movement by the pond."


    "There are plenty of frogs this season. Jumping into the pond could make that sound."


    "Alright alright, I was overthinking it, let''s not argue, let''s stand guard properly."


    The two guards had returned, and now He Zhiran needed to consider how to leave unnoticed.


    After thinking for a moment, she suddenly remembered that there was still a new mini drone in the space.


    With a strategy in mind, He Zhiran nimbly leapt onto the roof beam, gently pried open a tile, then took out the drone.


    Skillfully manipting the drone, she flew it to a ce further away. When she felt the distance was about right, she used the remote control again to turn on the drone''sser light and sound wave.


    The guard, who had just found a position to stand, was instantly attracted by the sound, and then saw a beam of white light shooting at a certain courtyard.


    "What''s that?"


    "There''s an assassin."


    "Let''s go check it out quickly."


    Listening to the guard''s footsteps getting farther and farther away, He Zhiran quickly got out of the warehouse, not forgetting to re-lock the lock.


    Running to a safe distance, she leapt onto a big tree, used the remote control to turn off the drone''sser light and sound wave, believing that those people would naturallye back after failing to find the target.


    Sure enough, after circling around and finding nothing until the light disappeared, the guards reluctantly returned to the front of the warehouse door.


    "It really feels strange tonight, nothing will happen right?"


    "I feel very weird too, should we report to the Duke?"


    "How dare you have the gall to disturb the Duke on his wedding night in the bridal chamber?"


    "You''re right, let''s talk about it tomorrow morning, as long as the warehouse is safe."


    Seeing that the two guards hadpletely lowered their vignce, He Zhiran nimbly jumped down from the tree, maneuvered the drone back into her hands, then put it away in the space.

 Chapter 4: Mo Jiuye was carried back.

    <h4>Chapter 4</h4>


    He Zhiran continued to dodge the guards'' sight to find the harvest target, while her consciousness also entered the space to check.


    She thought that the Duke of Protector''s mansion was profound, and would have some savings.


    Who knew that except for some fabrics that looked a little gorgeous, there were some food, coarse and fine grain, and half a box of silver ingots.


    As for antiques, calligraphy and painting, gold, silver and jewellery, there was little.


    The prestigious Duke of Protector''s mansion turned out to be so poor, which shows the integrity of the Mo Family.


    However, it was such a loyal family for generations that was feared by the monarch, which was simply unreasonable.


    That half box of silver, estimated to be only 10,000 taels, although less than imagined, He Zhiran firmly believed that it would be better than nothing on the exile journey.


    He Zhiran thought about it while acting. Wherever she could easily enter, she collected all the items into the space until the space was full that she reluctantly returned to her own yard.


    At this time, more than an hour had passed since she went out.


    Qiao Yu was still conscientiously guarding outside the door. He Zhiran jumped directly into the bedroom through the window.


    She had just changed out of her camouge clothes when she heard hurried footsteps outside.


    "What''s wrong with the Duke?"


    He Zhiran heard Qiao Yu''s anxious questioning and hurried out.


    I saw Mo Jiuye being carried in by two guards on a door te, walking towards the house.


    "Madam, the Duke is injured. Subordinates will send him back first and immediately invite the imperial physician."


    After speaking, the two guards had moved Mo Jiuye from the door te to the bed.


    The two guards left, Qiao Yu walked to He Zhiran''s side with red eyes.


    "Young Miss, the Duke was fine when he went out just now. How could he be unconscious so soon?"


    He Zhiran was also observing Mo Jiuye''s situation. She saw him with his eyes closed, seeming to be in aa.


    "You go to the door first to wait. Bring the imperial physician in as soon as he arrives."


    Her first priority was to distract Qiao Yu, and then help Mo Jiuye check his injuries.


    "Yes!" Qiao Yu responded and turned to leave.


    He Zhiran adjusted the tworge red candles to the brightest state and ced them on the bedside, ready to check Mo Jiuye''s condition.


    Unexpectedly, as soon as her hand reached out, Mo Jiuye opened his eyes.


    "I''m fine."


    Hearing his voice, he was energetic and seemed to be unharmed indeed.


    "What exactly happened?" He Zhiran asked.


    Mo Jiuye hesitated for a moment and shifted his body slightly.


    His icy eyes stared tightly at He Zhiran.


    "How did you know that I would be in trouble when I entered the pce today?"


    On the way back from the pce, Mo Jiuyey on the door te, guessing in his heart how He Zhiran knew this.


    The biggest possibility was that his father-inw He Yuanming knew about this in advance. Otherwise, he could not exin all this at all.


    If this was the case, He Yuanming was undoubtedly a person on the emperor''s side, and He Zhiran did not rule out the possibility that she was his spy.


    With this thought, Mo Jiuye''s eyes on He Zhiran were a few minutes deeper.


    If it was the youngdy of this era, she would probably be scared to cry.


    He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye suspected her, but she was not nervous at all.


    "I''ve been having the same dream for several days in a row, dreaming that you would have this disaster. Whether you believe it or not, this is my exnation."


    Looking at her clear and bright eyes, Mo Jiuye clearly did not believe her words, but surprisingly did not continue to interrogate.


    He Zhiran didn''t know what he was thinking. She spoke again, "Are you injured? I know some medical skills and can help you take a look."


    As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Mo Jiuye take out the pad she had given him from behind in front of her.


    The pad was damaged in many ces, and blood stains could be vaguely seen on it.


    "Did you really enter the harem? And got a hundred strokes?"


    This was how it was recorded in history. Now Mo Jiuye was carried back, and there was blood on the pad, indicating that this had alle true.


    Mo Jiuye shook his head lightly, "I didn''t enter the harem. The emperor charged me with the crime of disobeying orders. He gave me fifty strokes."


    After speaking, he looked at the blood-stained pad again, and sincerely said, "Thank you for the reminder and pad, which allowed me to escape this catastrophe."


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye was still terrified.


    He was led into the pce, and as He Zhiran reminded him, the emperor called him to meet in the harem.


    Recalling He Zhiran''s repeated exhortations before leaving, Mo Jiuye refused to enter on the grounds that men were not allowed in the harem.


    Seeing that things did not develop ording to his n, the emperor was furious and charged Mo Jiuye with the crime of disobeying orders.


    Although disobeying orders was a capital crime, the emperor also knew that punishing Mo Jiuye like this was unreasonable. Once the truth was revealed, he would lose face as the monarch of the country.


    However, he didn''t want to let Mo Jiuye go just like that. After weighing, he had him beaten 50 strokes.


    Not only did Mo Jiuye get 50 less strokes, but He Zhiran''s pad also protected him, leaving him with only minor external injuries.


    However, to cover up, Mo Jiuye deliberately pretended to be unconscious and was carried back to the Duke of Protector''s mansion.


    In Mo Jiuye''s mind, he felt that He Zhiran might know some other things.


    "Is there anything else happening in your dream?"


    He Zhiran was just waiting for Mo Jiuye to take the initiative to ask. She solemnly said, "I also dreamed that the Duke of Protector''s mansion was searched and exiled."


    "Searched and exiled?" Mo Jiuye widened his eyes, obviously a little shocked.


    He Zhiran nodded seriously, "If the time is not wrong, it will be tomorrow morning."


    "Tomorrow morning?"


    "Yes, tomorrow morning. After the morning court starts, there will be ministers impeaching, and the evidence of your colluding with the enemy and treason that they prepared in advance."


    For some reason, Mo Jiuye did not doubt He Zhiran''s words too much.


    After all, there were often some signs before things happened.


    Just like being inexplicably summoned to the pce tonight, and then getting 50 strokes.


    And there were other things that Mo Jiuye was notpletely unaware of.


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye had fallen into deep thought.


    Whether or not what He Zhiran said woulde true, he felt it necessary to make some preparations in advance.


    With this thought, Mo Jiuye looked at He Zhiran.


    "Send someone to inform my mother and sisters-inw now. Just say that I was seriously injured and unconscious when I returned from the imperial pce. They will definitelye back here to see me. I will mention this to them at that time."


    For some reason, Mo Jiuye strangely believed in this woman he was not very familiar with at this time.


    At the same time, he maintained the same attitude towards He Zhiran, preferring to believe it than not, even if it was a waste of effort, it would be better than being caught off guard when things happened.

 Chapter 5: Born a Mohist, die a Mohist ghost.

    <h4>Chapter 5</h4>


    This matter He Zhiran also felt it was necessary to inform them in advance, moreover, Mo Jiuye reminded in person, it would be more convincing than her, a neer, speaking.


    "Alright, I''ll send someone to invite them over immediately."


    He Zhiran gave instructions to several servants outside the door to go to the different courtyards to invite people. Then, she returned to the room again.


    She asked Mo Jiuye, "Do you have any good arrangements in mind?"


    "You and the Sisters-inw can take the divorce letters and leave." At this moment, the only thing Mo Jiuye could think of was that the fewer people involved, the better.


    To this, He Zhiran did not refute.


    Although she did not have much contact with the eight Sisters-inw, she could see that they were all kind-hearted people.


    It was pitiful enough for them to be widowed at such a young age. Following along to be exiled and suffer, it was indeed unbearable.


    As for herself, she did not think too much about it.


    She sympathized with the Mo family''s fate, and hoped to change Mo Jiuye''s fate of early death with her own ability.


    Not long after, Old Lady Mo and the Sisters-inw sessively arrived in a hurry.


    He Zhiran could see that the concern on everyone''s faces for Mo Jiuye did not seem fake.


    Old Lady Mo was the first toe to her son''s bedside. Although there were tears in her eyes, she still looked tough to others.


    "Jiuye, how are your injuries?"


    "Mother, your son is fine. They are just some flesh wounds."


    "Ninth brother, how did you get injured?" asked the fourth Sister-inw in concern.


    Mo Jiuye looked around.


    "When all the Sisters-inw are here, I will tell everyone together."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye say this, no one asked any more questions. Instead, they sincerely cared about his injuries.


    After a while, the few Sisters-inw who were farther away also arrived.


    He Zhiran vigntly went out and instructed the servants to guard the door well and not allow anyone in.


    Mo Jiuye felt very warm at He Zhiran''s thoughtfulness. At the same time, he also had a big change in his previous understanding of He Zhiran.


    If not for this encounter, perhaps he would have tried to get along well with the other party and spent his whole life with her.


    Unfortunately, fate makes fun of people, and the heavens did not give him such a chance.


    Mo Jiuye collected his stray thoughts and said in a deep voice, "Mother, Sisters-inw, today I was bullied by the Emperor in the pce and was severely beaten 50 times."


    Hearing this, the Sisters-inw werepletely uneasy.


    "Ninth brother, what exactly did you do wrong that the Emperor would beat you like this?"


    "That''s right, Ninth brother. 50 heavy beatings is no joke. Are your injuries serious?"


    "Ninth brother..."


    Hearing the string of concerns, even a tough guy like Mo Jiuye felt a warmth in his heart.


    Such a harmonious family would probably cease to exist after today.


    Although reluctant, he still had to do what he should do.


    "Mother, Sisters-inw, from today''s events, it can be seen that the Emperor can no longer tolerate the existence of my House of Mo. I''m afraid he will soon issue an decree to punish us, either lightly by exile or heavily by beheading."


    Mo Jiuye deliberately made the matter sound more serious, hoping that those Sisters-inw would know when to retreat.


    Hearing this, the eyes of the eight Sisters-inw unanimously looked towards He Zhiran.


    When they left the bridal chamber earlier, the Ninth brother and sister had reminded them simrly.


    At that time, they did not take it seriously, thinking the Ninth siblings were babbling gloom and doom.


    However, after hearing such words from Mo Jiuye again, they had to take it seriously.


    He Zhiran met those inquisitive eyes and just solemnly nodded slightly to confirm that she was not talking nonsense earlier.


    "Jiuye, are your words true?" Even the usually calm Old Lady Mo was a little uneasy now.


    "Mother, the chances are eight or nine out of ten." Mo Jiuye did not make his words definite, after all, he had only heard it from He Zhiran andbined some of his own analysis.


    Hearing this, Old Lady Mo''s body shuddered.


    "To think that my Mo family has been loyal and upright for generations, yet in the end the men in the family died for the country, only to get such an oue?"


    As she spoke, Old Lady Mo even let out a coldugh.


    "Back then, I advised your father to return to civilian life. What good are fame, fortune and official positionspared to a family living in peace and contentment? But he just refused to listen.


    He said the mission of the Mo family is to protect the Great Shun Dynasty. This one sentence of his cost me my husband and eight sons.


    So what if we used our lives to guard the Great Shun''snds?


    Hah... What a joke..."


    The eight Sisters-inw were also filled with righteous indignation.


    "This is too much. What wrong did our Mo family do to deserve this?"


    "I do not ept this. I will go back to my maiden home now and ask my father to help say some good words."


    "I will also find my elder brother to see if he can help."


    Mo Jiuye shook his head.


    "Sisters-inw, just give up! The Emperor is determined to eradicate the Mo family. How could he possibly listen to advice?"


    "Then what should we do? Are we just going to wait for someone to arbitrarily pin a crime on us?" Seventh Sister-inw Yang Man asked indignantly.


    Mo Jiuye did not answer, but looked towards Old Lady Mo instead.


    "Mother, your son thinks it''d be better to take this opportunity to give the Sisters-inw divorce letters, rather than letting them be implicated along with our Mo family."


    Old Lady Mo pondered for a moment, then said solemnly, "Hmm, what Jiuye said makes sense. You Sisters-inw are already pitiful enough. Our Mo family should not continue to implicate you all. And the same for the Hes. Having just married in, it would be unjust for her to be implicated along with the Mo family."


    "Mother, Ninth brother, I do not want a divorce letter. I, Cui Biteng, was born as a Mo, and I will die as the Mo''s ghost."


    "Me too. Even if the entire Mo family is executed, I, Xie Fang, will keep the Mopany till the end."


    "I also do not want a divorce letter. I will stay and live and die with the Mo family."


    "I promised myte husband that no matter what, I will be filial to his mother on his behalf."


    "I''m not leaving either."


    "..."


    The eight Mo widows were filled with righteous indignation, and none were willing to leave with a divorce letter.


    Even if it was the only way out, they did not want it. They were determined to live and die with the Mo family.


    Seeing that the eight daughters-inw could be like this, Old Lady Mo was moved. At the same time, her gaze turned to He Zhiran.


    "Young Lady He, what about you?"


    "I want to stay too." He Zhiran answered loudly without even thinking.


    Old Lady Mo looked at Mo Jiuye again, "Jiuye, you see, the women of our family are all strong-willed. Mother also wants to gratify them."


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye solemnly looked at everyone. There was a sense of admiration in his eyes.


    "Sisters-inw, we only have one life. If one can live, who would choose to die? I hope you all do not let your sense of righteousness get the better of you in this matter."


    "Ninth brother, my mind is set. Please do not say any more."


    Led by the Eldest Sister-inw, the other Sisters-inw made the same choice again.


    Old Lady Mo knew the temperaments of these daughters-inw very well. Although there might be some minor friction when everyone was together on normal days, none would be deserters at the critical moment.


    This was how the Mo women should be.

 Chapter 6: Is All this about you

    <h4>Chapter 6</h4>


    ¡°Given this, Jiuye and I will not talk about this matter anymore. The most important thing now is that we have to make preparations in advance.¡±


    ¡°Mother, if it really is a massacre of the entire household, we can only ept our fate. If it is exile, we must have money on hand if we don''t want to starve to death on the road.¡±


    ¡°Mother, I have three hundred taels in my private funds. As long as we are frugal on the road, it should be enough.¡± Sixth Sister-inw said first.


    When it came to private funds, Eighth Sister-inw was somewhatcking in confidence.


    ¡°Mother, you also know that I am the kind of person who likes to eat well, so I used all the monthly silver to buy snacks. However, I still have some decent jewelry that should be able to be exchanged for some silver.¡±


    ¡°I also have some valuable items that I will convert entirely into banknotes to take with me.¡±


    Listening to the sisters-inw saying something in turn, actively reporting their own property.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran couldn''t help but nce at each other.


    Both of them knew very well that although the sisters-inw had some private funds, these things were different from banknotes. How could the emperor possibly let them take them away openly?


    If so, wouldn''t the family be ransacked in vain when they were confiscated?


    "Dear sisters-inw, I know you are all well-intentioned. It''s already reached this point, and there¡¯s no time left to exchange those things for banknotes."


    Mo Jiuye''s words were like a basin of cold water poured over the eight sisters-inw.


    The women were at a loss all of a sudden.


    "Ninth younger brother, then what should we do? The things in our hands may not be worth much money, but we certainly don''t want to give them away cheaply to those bastards." In her anxiety, Sixth Sister-inw actually swore.


    Regarding this point, Mo Jiuye had also considered it, but he had not been able toe up with a good solution either.


    Just when everyone didn''t know what to do, He Zhiran spoke up.


    "Mother, dear sisters-inw, I suggest that everyone sew a pocket close to the body and pad some cotton to wrap up the banknotes and put them in it.


    Cotton is rtively soft. Even if someone searches you, they may not be able to feel it. As for other items, everyone can slowly think of ways during the remaining time."


    Old Lady Mo agreed: "Well, He¡¯s suggestion makes sense. Let''s do as she said. Everyone should go back and prepare now."


    In principle, after the mother-inw had spoken, they should immediately go back and do things. However, the imperial physician had not yete to see Mo Jiuye''s injuries, and they were still worried about Mo Jiuye''s condition and didn''t want to go back.


    In normal times, Old Lady Mo felt pity for these daughters-inw who had no husbands, and would not easily put on the posture of a mother-inw to them.


    Now that the situation was urgent, it was not the time to indulge them.


    So Old Lady Mo said coldly, "Don''t just stand there stunned, hurry back and get ready."


    Seeing this, the eight sisters-inw could only leave one after another.


    After seeing these people leave, Old Lady Mo''s gaze fell back to Mo Jiuye again.


    "How long has it been since someone went out to invite the imperial physician? My daughters-inw and I have been here for almost an hour, yet the imperial physician still hasn''t arrived."


    As soon as she finished speaking, the little servants who had gone out to invite the imperial physician came back one after another to report.


    The news they brought back was the excuses those imperial physicians gave for not being able toe and treat Mo Jiuye''s injuries.


    Counting on her fingers, He Zhiran could figure out the intricacies. It was nothing more than the emperor deliberately instructing the imperial physicians to do so, not wanting Mo Jiuye to recover, or even to let him leave the capital alive.


    Facing such things, Mo Jiuye seemed to have predicted it already. He did not show any abnormality.


    However, in order to reassure his mother, he still said, "Mother, my injury is not serious. You don''t need to worry."


    Old Lady Mo was not a person without foresight either. Things had reached this point, even if she was worried about her son''s injury, there was nothing she could do.


    Moreover, looking at Mo Jiuye''s current state, there should be no major issues.


    "Since this is the case, I will go back and prepare as well."


    In any case, Mo Jiuye had after all suffered fifty heavy blows. It was still somewhat difficult for him to walk on the ground.


    He Zhiran took the initiative to send Old Lady Mo out of the courtyard.


    After returning to the room, taking advantage of her sleeve to cover her actions, she took out two ve contracts from her space.


    One was Qiao Yu''s, and the other was another apanying maid''s.


    "The emperor ordered the Marquis¡¯s mansion to be exiled. They certainly won''t be allowed to bring their servants with them on the road. I n to return the ve contracts and set them free."


    Mo Jiuye did not object to this, because he had thought of doing the same.


    "Well, it''s fine if you think it''s appropriate."


    Just as Mo Jiuye wanted to say something more, a guard ran in to report in a fluster.


    "Reporting to Marquis, the mansion''s warehouse has been robbed, and it waspletely cleaned out, leaving only empty shelves."


    As soon as the guard finished speaking, Eldest Sister-inw and Second Sister-inw also rushed over in a panic.


    "Ninth younger brother, eldest sister-inw and I went to the kitchen to prepare some dry rations, but unexpectedly, everything in the kitchen was gone."


    "Ninth younger brother, our mansion must have been burrized."


    Hearing Eldest Sister-inw say that thieves had broken into the mansion, He Zhiran felt a little guilty. After all, she was the "thief" they were talking about.


    However, she soon let it go. She didn''t really want to steal anything. She did this entirely for everyone''s benefit.


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye was also confused.


    Although the Marquis¡¯s mansion was about to fall into the plight of being ransacked and exiled, it hadn''t happened yet.


    The guards were patrolling normally. Not to mention stealing the warehouse clean, even if they casually stole some small items, there would not have been no movement at all.


    His intuition told him that this matter must be rted to He Zhiran.


    After all, this woman''s actions were too puzzling.


    He waved his hand at the guard: "You can go down first. I will personally investigate this matter."


    "Ninth younger brother, what about the theft in the kitchen?" Eldest Sister-inw asked again.


    Mo Jiuye helplessly answered, "Eldest sister-inw, it''s fine whether the things are lost or not. We can''t take them anyway, it''s better to give them to the little thief than to fill the coffers of our enemy."


    Eldest Sister-inw seemed to agree very much with Mo Jiuye''s words. She solemnly nodded, "What ninth younger brother said also makes sense. Since this is the case, second sister-inw and I will get busy."


    After seeing the two sisters-inw off, only Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran remained in the room.


    Mo Jiuye''s deep gaze remained fixed on He Zhiran.


    Facing his sharp eyes, He Zhiran did not show a trace of timidity.


    After a long time, Mo Jiuye asked in a deep voice, "Are you rted to all these things?"


    On the surface, this was a question, but it contained an affirmative meaning.


    Even with her experience cultivating an unmoved attitude toward favor and disgrace in her previous life, He Zhiran still felt somewhat at a loss being asked this way.


    Not for anything else, from Mo Jiuye''s tone, she couldpletely determine that the other party had already concluded it was her doing.


    When encountering this kind of thing, how should she break it?


    He Zhiran really didn''t know how to exin for a moment.


    Although historical records described Mo Jiuye as upright, after all, they were not even familiar with each other. How could she tell the other person that she had a space!

 Chapter 7: Taking You to a Richer Place

    <h4>Chapter 7</h4>


    Just as He Zhiran was hesitating about how to gloss over this matter, Mo Jiuye spoke again.


    "Everyone has secrets, if you don''t want to say, I won''t force you. The situation of my Mo Family is bad enough already, my mother and sisters-inw are all pitiful people, I only hope that you don''t have any crooked ideas."


    When faced with such an inscrutable person, Mo Jiuye didn''t dare gamble, nor did he want to gamble. He alone was easy to handle, but he couldn''t use the lives of his whole family as gambling chips.


    He only hoped that his heartfelt words could move He Zhiran. If she really harbored malicious intentions, Mo Jiuye hoped that for the sake of his pitiful sisters-inw, she would let them off.


    Regarding Mo Jiuye''s suspicions, He Zhiran couldpletely understand. After all, her own behavior was too astonishing, if Mo Jiuye didn''t doubt her, it would make one even more uneasy.


    "I don''t harbor malice towards the Mo Family, please rest assured on this point."


    After looking at Mo Jiuye, she had already opened up to him after all, so He Zhiran felt that she could also tentatively reveal some of her background.


    The exile journey would be long, and there would definitelye a day when she would need to take out the supplies she had stored in her space. She couldn''t keep racking her brains for excuses every time.


    She wanted to help Mo Jiuye escape this disaster, but didn''t want to spend all her energy on figuring out excuses.


    Moreover, with Mo Jiuye''s astuteness, trying to deceive him would not be an easy task.


    After pondering for a while, He Zhiran tentatively said:


    "Everyone has secrets, I have them, and I believe you do too. I just said that I don''t harbor malice towards the Mo Family, so I hope you can respect me and not pry into my secrets.


    I can also honestly tell you that the theft at the Duke''s Mansion is indeed rted to me. On one hand, I didn''t want those things to fall into the hands of enemies, on the other hand, having some supplies on hand will make the exile journey easier."


    He Zhiran stopped speaking there, she had already said enough.


    If Mo Jiuye still stubbornly kept asking, she could only choose to leave this ce.


    He Zhiran believed that with her own capabilities, no matter where she went, she could live a carefree life. There was no need to stay here offering goodwill, only to be doubted.


    As for the lives of the entire Mo Family, she would be powerless to help anyway...


    After a long time, Mo Jiuye finally spoke heavily: "I promise you I won''t pry into your secrets anymore."


    His intuition told him that this woman wasn''t lying.


    Moreover, the things she did were all to help the Duke''s Mansion, and didn''t have any intention of kicking a man when he is down.


    As for how she carried away so many supplies, even if Mo Jiuye was very curious, he endured and didn''t ask again.


    The two temporarily reached a consensus, and the wedding chamber fell into silence for a time.


    After a long while, Mo Jiuye tentatively asked: "Since you have the ability to silently clear out the storeroom, if I take you to an even richer ce, can you empty it out?"


    He Zhiran''s eyes lit up when she heard an even richer ce.


    Although her space was already filled with all kinds of items, many were useless umted things.


    After exile, who knew what kind of emergencies they would encounter, having more silver and money in hand was the most important.


    She also believed in Mo Jiuye''s integrity. Since he had promised not to pry into her secrets anymore, then he definitely wouldn''t ask again.


    As long as he didn''t ask, even if she used her space in a turn-a-blind-eye manner it would be fine.


    At least she wouldn''t have to be overly cautious about it.


    "Where do you want to take me?"


    Hearing her tone, Mo Jiuye knew that this woman had agreed.


    "I n to rob the National Treasury. As long as you can take the things away, I''ll handle the entry."


    "National Treasury?"


    He Zhiran was somewhat shocked. She never imagined that Mo Jiuye''s appetite was even bigger than hers, and had actually set his sights on emptying out the National Treasury.


    It was just that her space was too small, it definitely couldn''t hold that much wealth.


    Seeing He Zhiran''s hesitation, Mo Jiuye asked: "What''s wrong? You don''t dare?"


    "What''s there for me not to dare? I was just thinking, with so many things in the National Treasury, how to store them."


    "Store them?" Mo Jiuye couldn''t help but ask.


    He Zhiran quickly reacted: "You said you wouldn''t ask."


    "Sorry, I overstepped." Mo Jiuye was frank, and immediately apologized to He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran''s consciousness entered her space, and nced at the time, it was already two in the morning.


    The time of the decree to ransack their home and exile was drawing nearer and nearer.


    "Wait a moment."


    After speaking, she turned and left the room, heading straight for the ear chamber.


    Her consciousness entered her space, and He Zhiran reluctantly took out all the unimportant items, piling them all over the floor of the ear chamber.


    Although reluctant, thinking about exchanging these things for the treasures in the National Treasury, she became reconciled.


    Returning to the wedding chamber, she looked at Mo Jiuye still sitting on the wedding bed: "Can you still walk?"


    Mo Jiuye nimbly got up and put on his shoes. His inadvertent frown had already given away his pain at the moment.


    He Zhiran said with concern: "I know some medical skills, why don''t I take a look at you first?"


    Mo Jiuye declined: "It''s nothing, we have to hurry."


    After speaking, he nimbly opened the wardrobe and took out two night raid outfits.


    He threw one set to He Zhiran for her to change into, and put on the other set himself.


    These clothes belonged to Mo Jiuye. Although a bit big on He Zhiran, they didn''t affect her movement.


    Mo Jiuye casually grabbed the soft sword hanging on the wall, and pulled He Zhiran to jump out the window together.


    He Zhiran''s feet had just touched the ground when she felt her body be airborne again.


    The great hero praised byter generations was indeed well-deserved, his lightness skill was so incredible.


    She saw him leap a few times, and they had already jumped out of the Duke''s Mansion''s perimeter.


    He Zhiran considered her own skills in her previous life to be not bad, but she had only learned some closebat techniques. Compared to the real martial arts before her eyes, she was probablycking more than just a little.


    While He Zhiran was admiring Mo Jiuye''s martial arts on her own, Mo Jiuye had already brought her tond in a somewhat dpidated courtyard.


    He Zhiran was full of disbelief, and softly asked: "You''re saying the National Treasury is here?"


    Mo Jiuye didn''t answer, but led her into a room in the corner instead.


    He adeptly walked to a fire kang that looked like it would copse at any moment, and moved aside some bricks. A bottomless ck hole appeared before the two.


    Mo Jiuye softly exined: "This is the secret passage to the National Treasury."


    He Zhiran really wanted to ask how he knew about this ce, but remembering that she had just asked the other party not to pry into her secrets, she should also be able to do the same.


    Therefore, the question that was about to slip out was swallowed back in an instant.


    Following closely behind Mo Jiuye''s footsteps, they entered the cave entrance.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t seem unfamiliar with this ce at all. Although it was pitch ck and nothing could be seen, he could walk without needing to feel his way at all.

 Chapter 8: Burning the Treasury

    <h4>Chapter 8</h4>


    After walking for about ten minutes, Mo Jiuye raised his hand and opened a trapdoor above his head. Suddenly everything became bright and the two of them appeared inside the National Treasury.


    The National Treasury was just that, not onlyrge in area but also filled with a dazzling array of objects that all appeared to be of considerable value.


    Especially the two Night Pearls that lit up the entire storeroom as bright as daylight, they could nearly blind someone.


    "Time is limited, move faster." Seeing He Zhiran''s eyes wandering everywhere, Mo Jiuye had to remind her.


    He Zhiran now felt like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, everything here seemed so nice to her.


    She also understood clearly that now was not the time for her to be sightseeing.


    "I want you to look away for a bit."


    Of course Mo Jiuye understood her meaning, she just didn''t want him to see her methods.


    "Alright." Without any hesitation, Mo Jiuye opened a trapdoor in the floor and went down inside.


    Only after seeing the trapdoor close uppletely without even a crack did He Zhiran start looking around for good stuff.


    After all, the amount of space that could hold objects was limited. With so many things in the National Treasury, it was impossible for her to take everything.


    After quickly surveying the area, He Zhiran used her mind to gather all the silver notes, silver ingots, gold and silver jewelry etc. into her space.


    Then she used her mind again to check inside the space, and as expected, just these things had nearly filled up all the space.


    However, she was not satisfied.


    Thus He Zhiran used her mind to arrange the objects morepactly, piling all the smaller items in the kitchen and bathroom, freeing up some more space.


    Calcting the area, she took some more paintings and calligraphy that didn''t take up much space, as well as severalrge boxes of copper coins, all into the space.


    Checking the space again, He Zhiran was also intoxicated.


    Right now the space was packed full, with just enough room for her to enter left.


    Even though she was unwilling, He Zhiran knew she could take no more.


    However, she absolutely could not let those two bright Night Pearls go.


    After taking the Night Pearls into her space, the National Treasury immediately darkened.


    He Zhiran knocked on the trapdoor, "I''m done, we can go now."


    As soon as she finished speaking, the trapdoor opened from inside.


    He Zhiran supported Mo Jiuye''s shoulder as they went back down into the secret chamber.


    She turned and looked at the somewhat disordered National Treasury that she had left behind, then immediately had a thought.


    "Too many things, I can''t take it all. Many silks and satins still remain."


    "You mean?" Mo Jiuye seemed to guess her intentions.


    Taking advantage of the night, He Zhiran used her mind to take out a bottle of alcohol from her space and sprinkled it around inside the National Treasury.


    Mo Jiuye was also very cooperative. After the alcohol was sprinkled, he immediately took out a match from his clothes and lit it, tossing it inside.


    The alcohol met the fire and the National Treasury instantly became a fiery inferno.


    Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran away quickly, fleeing the scene...


    Although neither of them said anything, they both felt extremely gratified at setting the National Treasury on fire.


    Especially Mo Jiuye, he now felt as if he had gotten revenge for some huge grievance.


    He even wanted to personally see the Emperor''s furious reaction when he found out the National Treasury was burned.


    After sesfully returning to the Duke of Protector''s Estate, the two of them changed out of their night clothes, and Mo Jiuye went back to bed.


    The observant He Zhiran immediately noticed the bloodstains on the floor.


    "You''re bleeding, I have to help treat your wounds."


    Never underestimate surface wounds. In her previous life, how many people died from infections because their wounds weren''t properly treated?


    She had already done her utmost to save the lives of everyone in the Duke of Protector''s Estate, how could she let Mo Jiuye be in danger from such a minor injury?


    "No, my wounds are nothing serious."


    In fact, Mo Jiuye was very clear himself about the severity of his injuries. Although he had some padding as protection, after all he had been given fifty heavy strikes, the wounds couldn''t be too light no matter what.


    It was just that when he thought about where he was injured, on his buttocks, he felt awkward about letting He Zhiran look.


    In He Zhiran''s mindset, patients were genderless.


    Therefore, she had no hesitation at all about reaching out to lift Mo Jiuye''s clothes.


    Mo Jiuye instinctively shied away.


    "No, it''s not appropriate for a woman to look at where I''m injured."


    Only then did He Zhiran react that in ancient times, saying this to someone with deep-rooted feudal ideas was like pouring oil on a fire.


    Mo Jiuye stared at her speechlessly, temporarily at a loss for words.


    After all, what she said made sense, they were already husband and wife.


    But could a woman say something like this so casually?


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye became even more curious about He Zhiran.


    What kind of mentality allowed her to say these things so calmly?


    While Mo Jiuye was lost in thought, He Zhiran had already efficiently lifted his outer robe.


    The two had just married yesterday, so Mo Jiuye was dressed inside and out in bright red.


    Even so, after lifting his robe, the sight that met her eyes still shocked He Zhiran.


    She could see that Mo Jiuye''s bright red underpants were already soaked with blood, the red fabric dyed a dark crimson.


    Thinking of how just earlier Mo Jiuye had still carried her to sneak into the National Treasury, just how strong was this man''s willpower to persevere for so long?


    Considering this, He Zhiran''s respect for Mo Jiuye grew even more.


    Seeing that he couldn''t prevail over He Zhiran, Mo Jiuye could only awkwardly turn his head away to face the wall with eyes closed, taking on a resigned posture.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye''s gaze couldn''t see her, He Zhiran calmly took out a bottle of alcohol from her space.


    But then, she made a startling discovery.


    If she remembered correctly, there were originally three bottles of alcohol in her space. She had used one bottle to burn the treasury, so there should have been two bottles left.


    However, she had just discovered that the amount of alcohol didn''t seem to have decreased at all, there were still three bottles.


    She didn''t dare to confirm for sure right now if her space had a regenerative function.


    However, she carefully checked the alcohol in her space and confirmed there were two bottles. She would check again after helping treat Mo Jiuye''s wounds. If it changed to three bottles, it meant she had discovered a new function of her space.


    Coming back to herself, He Zhiran also took out forceps, cotton pads and other items from her space. She gently removed Mo Jiuye''s pants.


    The wounds were shocking to look at, even He Zhiran, who was used to seeing all kinds of injuries, was no exception.

 Chapter 9: If I were alive, I would be responsible for you.

    <h4>Chapter 9</h4>


    It can be imagined how strong-willed this man was. With such injuries, if it were anyone else, not to mention taking her to empty the national treasury, they probably wouldn¡¯t even dare to move an inch.


    Mo Jiuye''s skin had turned purplish-blue, with several open wounds still oozing bright red blood.


    Moreover, the injured area was extremelyrge, with almost no good spots left on his buttocks and thighs.


    It was evident how merciless the person who administered the punishment was.


    Mo Jiuye suddenly felt a chill as he instinctively reached down to pull up his pants.


    Due to her profession, He Zhiran instantly transformed into a professional doctor with a strong sense of upational ethics.


    Her voice was stern yet upromising.


    "Don''t move."


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye''s hand that had just grabbed his waistband instantly froze in ce.


    He Zhiran peeled his hand away without hesitation.


    "Although you didn''t injure any bones, these injuries are still not minor. Don''t underestimate external injuries, or they can also be fatal if not treated promptly."


    Listening to her nagging on like an olddy, Mo Jiuye finally resigned himself and retracted his hand.


    He closed his eyes and allowed He Zhiran to treat his wounds.


    He Zhiran worked skillfully. First, she poured some alcohol on a cotton ball, then used forceps to hold the cotton ball and gently dab Mo Jiuye''s wounds.


    "It will hurt a little, bear with it."


    "Mm." It did hurt somewhat, but to Mo Jiuye, this was nothing.


    After disinfecting the wounds, He Zhiran took out a package of Yunnan Baiyao powder from her spatial ring. This medicine worked best for Mo Jiuye¡¯s injuries.


    She gently and evenly sprinkled the medicinal powder on Mo Jiuye''s wounds. Her fingers inadvertently brushed against his skin.


    This sensation made Mo Jiuye''s body involuntarily shudder. At the same time, he was acutely aware that his face felt like it was on fire.


    He Zhiran was fully focused on treating Mo Jiuye''s wounds and didn''t notice his reaction. By now, she had finished bandaging the wounds.


    She nimbly gave him a tetanus shot as well.


    Mo Jiuye suddenly felt a stinging pain in his arm, like a needle prick, and his body instinctively tried to avoid it.


    "Don''t move," He Zhiran reminded him.


    Mo Jiuye''s body instantly froze until the needle prick sensation disappeared, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.


    After taking care of these things, He Zhiran looked towards Mo Jiuye''s bloodstained underwear.


    "Where are your clothes? I''ll go get you a clean pair of pants."


    Mo Jiuye knew his face was flushed, and didn''t dare turn his head when asked.


    "My clothes are in the cab on the left."


    He Zhiran randomly grabbed a pair of white underwear from the cab and ced them on the bed. She then went to take off the pants she had already pulled down to Mo Jiuye''s knee hollows.


    Mo Jiuye quickly stopped her, "I''ll do it myself."


    He was embarrassed enough already. If he let this woman help change his pants, wouldn''t he have to find a crack in the ground and burrow into it?


    He Zhiran didn''t think much about matters like these. After all, she had undressed countless patients in her previous life.


    "Your wounds have just been treated, you shouldn''t move around. What if they start bleeding again? My efforts would go to waste."


    Mo Jiuye still insisted, "Men and women should not have physical contact. How could I let you help me change pants?"


    Hearing this, He Zhiran couldn''t helpughing out loud. She no longer held back when she spoke, disregarding Mo Jiuye''s feelings.


    "I''ve already seen every inch of your butt, so what''s the difference in just changing your pants?"


    Mo Jiuye...


    He now felt as if there was a huge boulder blocking his chest, nearly suffocating him.


    This woman really had no filter, dredging up past events however she pleased.


    But thinking about it, she was not wrong either. His butt had been exposed here for half a day already. If he kept refusing in this situation, it would seem somewhat pretentious.


    "Cough cough... If I live through this, I will definitely take responsibility for you."


    In Mo Jiuye''s mind, this was equivalent to him having physical intimacy with He Zhiran. As an upright man, he absolutely could not let the woman suffer any loss because of him.


    Hearing his words, He Zhiran couldn''t helpughing again.


    However, she tried to restrain herughter to prevent the servants outside from hearing.


    "Hahaha... Don''t take it so seriously, okay? I''m treating your injuries purely out of a doctor''s basic ethics. Don''t think about responsibility or anything like that."


    To be honest, He Zhiran had never considered her future with Mo Jiuye.


    Although she admired this hero, the two had only just met. There was no feeling between them whatsoever.


    To He Zhiran, a soul from the modern world, she only wanted Mo Jiuye to survive the exile journey.


    As for anything else, she would let nature take its course.


    It could be said that He Zhiran was quite rational in her attitude towards her rtionship with Mo Jiuye. She would not blindly ept this marriage that did not originally belong to her just because the other party was her idol and hero.


    Of course, if the two developed feelings for each other through their interactions, she would also try dating Mo Jiuye until both felt that the other was their destined partner. Only then would being together seem natural.


    But now was not the time to consider such things. The long exile road stilly ahead, and she needed to think about how to cope.


    After restraining herughter, He Zhiran carefully helped Mo Jiuye into his pants.


    Once the pant legs were pulled up, Mo Jiuye refused any more help from He Zhiran.


    "I can do the rest myself."


    He Zhiran did not insist. He could even walk on roofs and walls, carefully pulling up his pants should be no problem.


    Before Mo Jiuye turned over, she quickly stored the medical supplies in her space ring.


    She also took stock of the alcohol quantity. This made He Zhiran instantly delighted to find there were three bottles left.


    Even the Yunnan Baiyao powder, gauze, tetanus medication, disposable syringes and forceps she had just used were all restored to their original amounts.


    What was even more exciting was that the number of forceps had increased by one.


    What did this mean?


    It meant that the original items in her space ring did have a replenishing function.


    Of course, those things she had tossed in during ancient times did not replenish, since the items she left in her ear space were gone.


    Even so, He Zhiran was very satisfied.


    With this feature, she felt her backbone straighten quite a bit.


    Because her space ring contained much more than just these simple medical supplies.


    She knew now was not the time for joy. Time was tight and she still had many things to handle.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran took out the two indenture contracts and walked out again.


    Qiao Yu had been waiting at the door. Seeing her emerge, she hurriedly asked respectfully, "Miss, is there anything your servant can do for you?"


    "Qiao Yu, go to your room. I have something to discuss with you and Qiao Xin."


    After speaking, He Zhiran immediately headed towards the maids'' room.


    Qiao Yu had served the young miss for many years but had never seen her be so formal. She quickly fell in step behind her.


    At the same time, her heart thumped anxiously.


    Judging by the young miss''s demeanor, there must be some important matter at hand.

 Chapter 10: Someone Poisoned

    <h4>Chapter 10</h4>


    He Zhiran''s two maidservants who were marrying into the family lived in one room. Today it was Qiao Yu''s turn on duty, and Qiao Xin had already gone to sleep early.


    The sound of the door opening woke up Qiao Xin. She thought it was Qiao Yu who hade back, and blurrily asked, "Qiao Yu, why are you back so early?"


    "It''s me," He Zhiran spoke to clear up her confusion.


    Qiao Xin immediately sat up in surprise and hurriedly put on her shoes and got out of bed. "Miss, do you have any orders?"


    "He Zhiran did not want to waste time and directly ced two ve contracts on the table.


    "Take these ve contracts and leave the Duke''s Mansion tonight. From today on, you are free. "


    The two of them did not understand why the young miss was staging this y.


    "Miss, where did Qiao Xin do wrong? You can beat or scold me as you wish."


    "Yes Miss, Qiao Yu also wants to serve you for a lifetime."


    He Zhiran knew these two maids were extremely loyal to her.


    She said helplessly, "The Duke has just returned and said he has incurred the wrath of The Emperor. If nothing unexpected happens, The Emperor will punish the Duke''s Mansion.


    By then, we will all be in danger, how can we still care about whether you live or die?


    It would be better for me to free you now than for you to be resold by the officials."


    As she spoke, He Zhiran used her sleeve to cover up and took out forty taels of silver, giving each of them twenty taels.


    The two little maids did not expect that the reason the Miss was letting them go was this. They could not ept this fact for a while.


    After all, the thought of serving by the Miss''s side for a lifetime had already taken deep root.


    "Miss, Qiao Xin is not leaving."


    "Qiao Yu is not leaving either."


    In the past, He Zhiran would have slowly exined to them bit by bit, but at this moment, she did not have so much energy and time to do so.


    "This matter does not allow for your opposition. Pack up now and I will send someone to take you out of the mansion after a quarter of an hour."


    "Miss..."


    Seeing that Qiao Yu still wanted to say something, He Zhiran raised her hand to stop her, "That''s enough, no need to say more."


    After letting the two maids go, Mo Jiuye was also not idle on his side.


    After He Zhiran left, he called over several capable young servants who often served around him and freed them in the same way.


    As for the rest of the servants in the Duke''s Mansion, it would depend on his mother and sisters-inw''s own decisions.


    After sending away all these servants whose ve contracts were returned, the sky was already bright.


    He Zhiran nced at the clock in the room, it was already past five in the morning.


    He Zhiran had emptied the kitchen of the Duke''s Mansion, andter wanted to move the goods from the treasury, so she piled all the space-upying kitchen utensils in the ear room.


    Fortunately, Old Lady Mo''s courtyard had a small kitchen.


    Even if they really had to be exiled, they had to be full before leaving. So Old Lady Mo directly ordered people to cook porridge in her own small kitchen.


    The porridge was already cooked at this time, and an elderly maid came to the bridal chamber to invite them toe eat breakfast.


    As for He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye greeting the mother-inw on the first day of their wedding, it waspletely ignored.


    He Zhiran looked at Mo Jiuye who was still lying on the bed, "Are you going to your mother''s to have breakfast?"


    Mo Jiuye shook his head, "I won''t go. I''ll keep pretending to be in aa."


    He Zhiran knew Mo Jiuye''s actions were right.


    Since The Emperor had chosen to summon him to the pce for harassmentst night, wasn''t it to make him suffer severe injuries and die on the way to exile?


    If he went out hale and hearty, when The Emperor found out, he mighte up with other ways to deal with the Mo family.


    It was better to pretend to be in aa to avoid potential harm.


    "I''ll go over first to take a look and bring some food back for you."


    After speaking, He Zhiran followed the old maid to Old Lady Mo''s courtyard.


    The Mo family were all very proper people. The sisters-inw and young aunts had already gone to the old madam''s courtyard first.


    All the women were neatly seated at the dining table in the living room, and no one would pick up their chopsticks until Old Lady Mo spoke.


    Old Lady Mo was thinking that they would start eating after Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran came, so that everyone could eat together.


    After all, it was also the first day of her son''s wedding, so it had to be somewhat formal.


    Seeing that only He Zhiran came over, and not knowing the impending disaster facing the Mo family, Mo Hanyue warmly came out to greet her.


    She smiled brightly and linked arms with He Zhiran, "Sister-inw, why didn''t my ninth brothere with you?"


    Seeing Mo Hanyue''s state, she clearly did not know what was going on in the family.


    He Zhiran simply continued to conceal it, "Your ninth brother returnedte from the pcest night and has just fallen asleep."


    This exnation did not make Mo Hanyue suspicious at all.


    "Ninth brother worked hard, let him sleep a little longer. Sister-inw,e quickly, let''s eat breakfast."


    Old Lady Mo and the other sisters-inw knew what was going on and did not ask like Mo Hanyue.


    However, everyone''s faces did not look very good.


    When Old Lady Mo saw He Zhirane to the table, she personally weed her to sit down.


    "Young Lady He, you also know the situation in the family. It''s the first day of your wedding, and there''s not much preparation. Let''s make do with in rice porridge first."


    "Mother, this is already very good."


    As she spoke, He Zhiran sat down next to Mo Hanyue.


    Looking at the bowl of rice porridge in front of her, she immediately frowned.


    "Mother, sisters-inw, who prepared this porridge?"


    Old Lady Mo picked up the bowl, and was about to take a sip of the rice porridge when she heard He Zhiran ask, so she put it down again.


    "It was prepared by the maid in my courtyard. What''s wrong?"


    "Mother, sisters-inw, there is poison in this porridge."


    Hearing this, the sisters-inw and Mo Hanyue also hurriedly put down their porridge bowls, and their gazes fell on He Zhiran together.


    "Young Lady He, you said there is poison in the porridge?" Old Lady Mo looked incredulous.


    He Zhiran affirmed, "Mother, if I''m not mistaken, this is a lethal poison called Ascend to Heaven. Anyone who takes it will have no chance of survival."


    As soon as she finished speaking, a maid ran in panic, "Old Madam, something bad has happened. Chen Granny and Cui Maid suddenly copsed on the ground foaming at the mouth after drinking a sip of water..."


    "What did you say?" Old Lady Mo hurriedly got up and walked out with small steps.


    "Where are they?"


    "Replying to Old Madam, they are both in the ear room!"


    The sisters-inw and He Zhiran followed Old Lady Mo to the ear room.


    Sure enough, the two people Chen Granny mentioned were lying on the ground with foaming mouths, convulsing all over, with eyeballs rolling back, looking like they were about to die.


    Old Lady Mo checked and turned to look at He Zhiran.


    "Indeed someone has poisoned them."

 Chapter 11: Thanks to the nine brothers and sisters, we were able to avoid this.

    <h4>Chapter 11</h4>


    He Zhiran had already analyzed the situation when he heard the report from Granny Chen.


    The two maidservants were poisoned by drinking water, and there was a high possibility that the porridge on their table was also poisoned. It was very likely that someone had poisoned the well.


    "Mother, where does the water in the small kitchene from?"


    "Ites from the well behind our courtyard."


    Without much thought, He Zhiran quickly walked towards the location of the well.


    As soon as she brought up a bucket of water, she lightly touched it with her fingers, then rubbed her fingertips and carefully sniffed the odor.


    Everyone watched He Zhiran''s almost seamless actions, holding their breaths.


    It wasn''t until she ced the wooden bucket aside that Old Lady Mo asked, "Is the water poisoned?"


    He Zhiran looked extremely serious and said, "The poisones from this well."


    Upon hearing this, Old Lady Mo immediately frowned.


    Although the Marquis''s Mansion was about to face an unjust disaster, she, as the mistress of the household, still maintained her authority.


    "Someone, go investigate immediately. I want to know who is behind this poisoning."


    The maidservants in the courtyard immediately took action, and not long after, someone came to report.


    "Old Lady, Granny Liu hanged herself in her room."


    Old Lady Mo, followed by the masters of the household, walked towards the servants'' quarters.


    They saw Granny Liu''s lifeless body hanging from the beam, already dead.


    Old Lady Mo ordered them to take down Granny Liu''s body.


    Upon seeing everything in front of her, He Zhiran''s first reaction was that Granny Liu was most likely driven to suicide out of fear.


    If that were the case, the person behind it must be an enemy of the Marquis''s Mansion.


    In the historical records, besides the Emperor''s fear of the Mo family, there was no mention of anyone else holding a grudge against them.


    However, since the Emperor had already nned to exile the Mo family, there was no need for someone toe and poison them.


    So, who could be the person behind this?


    Just as she was wondering, Old Lady Mo had already disyed her authority as the mistress of the household and ordered someone to search Granny Liu''s body and her residence.


    There was nothing on Granny Liu''s body except a few copper coins.


    However, a small paper packet was found in a corner of her bedding.


    The servants brought the small paper packet to Old Lady Mo.


    Old Lady Mo took the small paper packet and carefully opened it in front of everyone.


    The packet was empty, but the residue of a white powder on the paper indicated that it once contained some kind of medicine.


    If it were in the past, Old Lady Mo would definitely have called for a doctor to examine it.


    However, tonight was different. Mo Jiuye was beaten so badlyst night that they couldn''t even bring a doctor. It would be futile to call for one now.


    Just as she was contemting how to handle the situation, He Zhiran stepped forward.


    "Mother, I have learned some medical skills. Why don''t you let me take a look?"


    Old Lady Mo looked at He Zhiran, hesitated for a moment, and then handed the small paper packet to her.


    "This is likely poison. Be careful."


    He Zhiran took the small paper packet, first sniffed it under her nose, then rubbed a bit on her fingertips.


    Then, she looked up at Old Lady Mo and said, "Mother, this is the poison that was thrown into the well."


    Old Lady Mo clenched her fists upon hearing the words. "Liu, who served by my side when she was young, I always thought I treated her well. Why would she do such a thing?"


    "Mother, there must be someone behind Liu, manipting her," He Zhiran interjected, reminding her.


    "Who could hate the Mo family so much as to orchestrate this?" Old Lady Mo couldn''t figure out who was behind it all.


    However, she was well aware that the Duke''s Manor was currently overwhelmed with its own troubles and had no energy to investigate such matters.


    Old Lady Mo sighed. "Let''s put this matter aside for now and discuss it with Jiuyeter."


    Meanwhile, everyone cast grateful nces towards He Zhiran.


    "Younger Sister Jiuye, thanks to you discovering the poison in the porridge in time, we, the entire family, have been saved," the eldest sister-inw expressed her gratitude first.


    "Yes, thanks to Younger Sister Jiuye, we managed to escape this disaster."


    "Younger Sister Jiuye, thank you from the bottom of my heart."


    "Younger Sister Jiuye, you''re truly amazing."


    "..."


    He Zhiran did what she did out of sincerity and had no intention of seeking gratitude. Seeing her sisters-inw genuinely thanking her, she smiled and said, "We are all family, sisters-inw. No need to be so polite."


    Old Lady Mo looked at her daughters-inw, who were still unaware of the taste of worry, and said sternly, "Younger Sister Jiuye is right. We are all family. If you feel grateful, show it through your actions in the future."


    Seeing her mother-inw speak with seriousness, the sisters-inw quickly fell silent.


    Old Lady Mo surveyed the room. "First, dispose of Liu''s body, then fetch water from the wells in the other courtyards and prepare breakfast again."


    Her intention was that if they were to be exiled today, it would be difficult to have a good meal in the future, so they must eat well this time.


    The servants promptly carried out her orders.


    Old Lady Mo led the women back to the reception hall.


    "How did your preparations go fromst night?" Old Lady Mo inquired while the servants were preparing breakfast again.


    "Mother, as Younger Sister Jiuye instructed, I sewed a pocket in my undergarment and wrapped silver bills in cotton before putting them inside," one of the sisters-inw replied.


    "Mother, I have prepared mine as well."


    "Mine is ready too."


    The eight sisters-inw expressed that they had all made the necessary preparations.


    Old Lady Mo nodded. "That''s good. In case anything happens, all of you must be clever."


    Mo Hanyue, who was inherently naive, couldn''t understand what her mother and sisters-inw were talking about.


    "Mother, sisters-inw, what are you preparing?" Mo Hanyue asked.


    Old Lady Mo nced at her innocent daughter but couldn''t bring herself to reveal the truth.


    "Hanyue, as a young girl, you don''t need to worry about everything," she said.


    Mo Hanyue felt a bit aggrieved, but she could also tell that her mother wasn''t in a good mood today. In order to avoid angering her, she could only remain silent.


    Soon, the servants brought the freshly prepared breakfast.


    After He Zhiran inspected it and confirmed it was safe, everyone began to eat.


    However, there was a peculiar atmosphere during this meal.


    Everyone seemed gloomy, as if they were having theirst meal in life.


    He Zhiran didn''t say much either, quickly finished a bowl of porridge, and then got up.


    "Mother, I will bring some food back to my husband."


    She was a bit anxious to see Mo Jiuye now, after all, she still didn''t know who was behind the scenes instructing Liu Pozhi to poison.


    Perhaps she could find the answer from Mo Jiuye.


    Back in the bridal chamber, Mo Jiuye was still lying there in the same position.


    When he saw He Zhiran return, he asked, "Anything happening outside?"


    He Zhiran ced the food on the table not far from the bed.


    "There isn''t much happening outside, but someone poisoned the well in my mother''s courtyard. Fortunately, I discovered it in time. Otherwise, everyone''s lives in the mansion would have been at stake."

 Chapter 12: It will happen sooner or later.

    <h4>Chapter 12</h4>


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye ignored his injuries and immediately sat up in bed. ¡°What on earth happened?¡±


    He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye was anxious, so she recounted everything that had happened and her guesses word for word.


    ¡°Can you think of who might have ordered Old Mrs. Liu to poison me?¡±


    Mo Jiuye frowned, and a fierce look shed through his eyes from time to time.


    Although he didn''t say a word, He Zhiran could tell from his expression that Mo Jiuye definitely had a suspect in mind.


    He Zhiran had never been a nosy person, and she also considered that Mo Jiuye didn''tpletely trust her at this time.


    Since this was the case, she didn''t intend to ask for trouble unnecessarily.


    As long as he had a grasp on the situation, he would certainly take precautions in advance.


    The room was silent for a long time before He Zhiran pointed to the breakfast on the table and reminded, "The food is cold now. Take advantage of the fact that the emperor''s men haven''t arrived yet and hurry to eat something."


    When the emperor''s men were mentioned, Mo Jiuye looked outside.


    "It''s almost noon now."


    He Zhiran also found it very strange. If history was not mistaken, the emperor would send people to raid the Duke of Protection''s mansion early in the morning.


    "Could it be dyed because of the theft from the imperial treasury?" She directly voiced her guess.


    Mo Jiuye did not deny it.


    "With the imperial treasury being robbed and set on fire, this is no trivial matter. His Majesty must be at his wits'' end now and has no time to bother with me."


    His voice had just fallen when a servant came to report that someone was requesting an audience with the duke''s wife.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye looked at each other, both wondering who woulde to see her on the second day after their wedding.


    Moreover, the original owner rarely interacted with outsiders, so He Zhiran really couldn''t think of who the visitor might be for a moment.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t help her decide whether to meet the guest or not. Instead, he lowered his head and continued eating.


    Obviously, he had left the decision to He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran stood up, "I''ll go out and take a look."


    The visitor did not go to the main entrance of the duke''s mansion, but to the small back door where the servants came and went.


    He Zhiran was led to the backyard by someone. The visitor was dressed like a household attendant and looked very familiar, but she couldn''t remember who he was for the moment.


    When the attendant saw He Zhiran, he quickly bowed respectfully, "Young Lady, the Old Master sent me to find you."


    Looking at the man''s appearance, He Zhiran searched her memory carefully and confirmed that this person was a follower of her cheap father.


    "Why did youe?"


    "Young Lady, I have an important matter to report." As he spoke, he nced at the person who had led He Zhiran over.


    He Zhiran immediately dismissed that person.


    "What is it?" She had already roughly guessed, but still wanted to hear him confirm it personally.


    The attendant whispered, "Young Lady, the Old Master asked me to inform you that His Majesty will soon send people to raid the Duke''s mansion. Please get ready in advance."


    Sure enough!


    "Did my father say when the emperor''s men would arrive?"


    "I don''t know about that. The Old Master also asked me to tell the Young Lady that as a daughter of the He family, you must not betray your faith. No matter what happens to the Duke of Protection''s mansion, you cannot leave."


    He Zhiran didn''t take such an exhortation to heart at all. She had never intended to leave the Mo family anyway.


    Since she couldn''t get any more useful information from him, He Zhiran waved her hand to dismiss him.


    Hearing this news directly was much more real than reading about it in history books.


    He Zhiran didn''t dare dy for a moment and hurried back to the bridal chamber.


    Without waiting for Mo Jiuye to ask, she recounted the servant''s message verbatim.


    There was no visible anger or joy on Mo Jiuye''s face. After a long silence, he coldly said, "What''s bound toe wille sooner orter."


    Although Mo Jiuye didn''t show any emotion, He Zhiran could still hear the despair in his tone.


    "Look on the bright side. As long as we work hard to survive, I believe the day we make it big wille eventually."


    "Humph... As a grown man, I have to make my family of women suffer with me. What day of making it big can I expect?" Mo Jiuye said sarcastically.


    He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye was in low spirits at the moment, and no matter how much reason she gave, it would be of no use. She could only slowly counsel him in the future.


    Just then, Eighth Sister-inw''s scream came from outside, "Ah... Why are the water tank and big wok from the kitchen, as well as the things from the storeroom, all in Ninth Brother''s ear room?"


    He Zhiran was caught off guard. Due to her carelessness, someone had discovered the abnormalities in the ear room.


    She knew best just how bad the situation was in there.


    Basically all of therge items she had stored in her space were now in the ear room.


    There were even some vases and ornaments from the storeroom...


    Now she was afraid she wouldn''t be able to clear her name even if she jumped into the Yellow River.


    Mo Jiuye only slightly raised his eyes, and saw He Zhiran''s panicked expression sh by in an instant.


    "If they ask about it, just push everything onto me."


    He Zhiran also only lost herposure for a moment before quickly calming down again.


    Especially with Mo Jiuye taking the fall for her, she was even more emboldened.


    When she arrived at the door of the ear room, she saw all the sisters-inw and Old Lady Mo standing there.


    Their expressions were almost identical, with their mouths wide open and eyes full of shock.


    Seeing He Zhirane over, Third Sister-inw immediately grabbed her arm.


    "Ninth Sister, how did the things missing from our storeroom and kitchen end up here?"


    He Zhiran put on a shocked expression like them, widening her eyes and shaking her head vigorously.


    "They weren''t like this when I came to tidy up my dowryst night. Why did these things appear here?"


    "This thief is too shameless! Stealing from the storeroom is one thing, but even taking such a big iron pot..." Sixth Sister-inw said indignantly.


    "That''s right. They probably took everything they could grab, then felt it wasn''t valuable enough and secretly dumped it all here."


    "I just want to know, is this thief immortal? How could he move so many things here without making a sound?"


    Listening to the sisters-inw cursing the little thief, He Zhiran didn''t know whether tough or cry.


    But at a time like this, she didn''t dare show her real emotions.


    Just as she was about to say something more, Mo Jiuye walked over slowly and with difficulty.


    "Don''t guess anymore. It was me who did this. I didn''t want to let these things fall into strangers'' hands, but then I thought we couldn''t take so much with us anyway, so I just piled everything in the ear room."


    Although his exnation was a bit far-fetched, no one wanted to scrutinize it.


    After all, with Ninth Brother''s abilities, doing these things would not be difficult for him.


    Just as the eight sisters-inw were about to praise Mo Jiuye for being capable, Old Lady Mo spoke up.


    "That''s enough. Since you and Ninth Sister did not forget to tidy up her dowry, don''t bother with these unimportant things."


    The sisters-inw always listened most to the olddy''s words. Seeing that she had spoken, they immediately shut their mouths.


    Mo Jiuye invited everyone into the room and informed them of the news brought by the He house servant.


    The smiles on the sisters-inws'' faces instantly vanished and became serious.

 Chapter 51: The Tent

    <h4>Chapter 51</h4>


    "Yes, if you analyze it from the eunuch''s perspective, it is really not easy to find the real mastermind behind the scenes," He Zhiran agreed with Mo Jiuye that it was not easy to find the real mastermind behind it all.


    Both of them were very clear that just this little clue from Li Hu was not enough to find his real backer.


    However, it was hard to say whether it was good or bad that they had found spies around them so soon after leaving the capital.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye both fell into contemtion.


    After a long time, He Zhiran finally spoke her analysis.


    "In the matter of Li Hu causing the Eighth Old Zhou to fall into the water, there were several aplices who helped him.


    And when the officials rushed to fish the Eighth Old Zhou out of the river, no one was carrying anyone on their back, and many people were watching.


    I believe Li Hu''s aplices must have been able to see this.


    And I publicly saved the Eighth Old Zhou, so Li Hu''s failure waspletely exposed.


    There must be someone among them who will report this matter to their superiors and seek ways to deal with the aftermath.


    I suspect that as soon as Li Hu''s superiors know that something has happened to him, they are very likely to send someone to silence him."


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye took a deep breath.


    "Do you mean we should follow this lead on Li Hu to find out who is behind him?"


    He Zhiran nodded, "That is what I mean, but with our current status, it may not be very convenient to take action."


    "Action is not a big problem, I have my own ways, but I have already offended them. Even if we find the person who really wants to harm the Mo family, what can we do?"


    He Zhiran could hear that there was some self-abandonment in Mo Jiuye''s words.


    "With your skills, it shouldn''t be difficult to take revenge, right?


    Besides, I suspect that Li Hu''s backer is very likely to be the same person who sent someone to poison the Mo family."


    Reminded this way, Mo Jiuye''s mind suddenly became clear, and at the same time, endless hatred and injustice surged in his heart.


    "You''re right. I''ll find a way to follow Li Hu tonight."


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye had figured it out, He Zhiran went out to continue making tents with the women.


    As soon as she came out of the room, she saw several officials dragging Li Hu, all tied up, and shoving him outside the inn.


    Li Hu''s mouth was blocked by a piece of cloth so he couldn''t shout, he could only look at the officials with pleading eyes.


    The officials'' feelings for the Eighth Old Zhou were in no wayparable to Li Hu''s, who had only been here for half a year.


    After seeing the Eighth Old Zhou almost killed by him, they hated Li Hu to the extreme. How could they be merciful to him?


    Zhang Qing saw Li Hu struggling and kicked him in the butt.


    "Behave yourself. When you see the county magistrate, beg for mercy however you want."


    As soon as he finished speaking, he looked up and saw He Zhiran.


    Unlike before, Zhang Qing did not swagger arrogantly at He Zhiran, but nodded gratefully to her.


    He Zhiran also nodded in return.


    From her understanding of ancient conditions, she knew that the county magistrate usually heard cases in the morning, and it was already near dusk now.


    She guessed that when Li Hu was taken to the county office, he would only be temporarily detained in the prison, and would not be interrogated until tomorrow morning at the earliest.


    Therefore, He Zhiran guessed that tonight would be the best time to silence Li Hu.


    Thinking of this, she hurried back to the room and told Mo Jiuye again that Li Hu had been taken to the county office by officials, as well as her analysis.


    Mo Jiuye said he would grasp the timing.


    Although he had never done anything like assassinating and silencing people, after so many years in officialdom, he had heard about some of these nasty things.


    Most people who went to prison cells to silence people generally chose between 1-3 AM, because that time was when people were most prone to doze off and the guards would be rtivelyx.


    But to be on the safe side, Mo Jiuye nned to go before 1 AM.


    Now that everything was arranged clearly, He Zhiran was much more at ease while working.


    The women were making handicrafts much faster than she had imagined, especially tents which did not require very tight stitches.


    When He Zhiran came to the production site, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the women had already made several finished products.


    However, they still didn''t understand how to use the tents, so they were all neatly ced together.


    Seeing He Zhirane over, Mo Hanyue excitedly said, "Sister-inw, look, my tent is almost finished!"


    As she spoke, Mo Hanyue tied a knot in the thread that had just been pulled through the corner of the oilcloth, then cut it, got up and handed the tent she had made to He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran happened to want to see if the tent she had designed herself was sessful.


    In front of everyone, she unfolded the tent.


    The tent was a simple pyramid shape, with bamboo poles as the frame.


    A few hemp ropes hung down from the top of the tent, and the other ends of the ropes were tied to thicker bamboo segments, which could be buried in the ground to secure the tent.


    Although the tent looked a little crude, it was practical.


    Seeing He Zhiran put up the tent, the women were shocked and couldn''t believe their eyes.


    "Sister-inw, I was just wondering what this tent you mentioned was for, now I see, isn''t this just a little house?"


    Mo Hanyue was so excited that she was silly smiling. She had made such a good "house" with her own hands.


    Seeing Mo Hanyue smiling foolishly, He Zhiran felt a strong sense of aplishment bubbling up inside her.


    "It''s a bit of an exaggeration to call it a house, but it''s pretty good for blocking wind and rain."


    The women of the Xie and Fang families looked enviously at the Mo family women.


    In the future, when sleeping outdoors at night, they would no longer have to lie facing the sky.


    Although Miss He behaved indecently, her mind was indeed first-ss smart, to evene up with ideas like this.


    Zhao held her sister-inw''s hand.


    "Aunt Cui, having such a daughter-inw is really a blessing that your Mo family has cultivated over three lifetimes."


    "That''s right, our Ninth younger sister is good at a lot of things, not just something as simple as making tents," the second sister-inw was happy to hear her younger sister being praised.


    Faced with praise, He Zhiran humbly said a few words, and at the same time, she also saw the longing for tents in the eyes of the Xie and Fang family women.


    "Aunt Fang, Aunt Xie, our three families made this tent together, two people to one tent, there is absolutely no problem."


    The Xie and Fang family women were so delighted to hear that their own families also had a share that they did not know how to express themselves.


    They thanked He Zhiran profusely.


    Zhao looked at He Zhiran gratefully and sincerely said, "When our family was ransacked, we didn''t bring anything out. Fortunately, you and the Mo family helped us.


    Now I understand too. Since we can no longer live the kind of carefree life we had before, I might as well ept reality.


    From now on, my Fang family will look up to the Mo family. I''m saying this today, and anyone who dares to go against it will face familyw."


    As soon as she finished speaking, the other Fang women also expressed their willingness to do the same.

 Chapter 71: Emperor Shunwu Paid the Bill

    <h4>Chapter 71</h4>


    He Zhiran pretended to go help Fei Nanyu up, and asked, "Are you going toe with us to the county government office on our cart?"


    Fei Nanyu red at the students, then nodded, "Fine, I''ll trouble the youngdy."


    Seeing they were serious, one of the students quickly softened.


    "It''s just twenty taels of silver per person. We agree to pay. It''s a small matter, no need to disturb His Honor the county magistrate."


    Seeing this, He Zhiran held out her hand to them.


    "Since you don''t want to go to the yamen, hand over the silver!"


    The students looked at each other, then turned their backs to pool their money.


    Soon, one hundred taels of silver was in front of He Zhiran and the others.


    Peng Wang waved his hand dismissively at them.


    The five students hurriedly scrambled away.


    He Zhiran gave Fei Nanyu the hundred taels of silver.


    "Take this!"


    Although injured, the unruly pride in Fei Nanyu''s eyes still could not be blocked.


    "Why did you help me? Aren''t you afraid of offending them?"


    He Zhiran shrugged, seeming casual as she answered, "I can''t ignore injustice."


    So Fei Nanyu wouldn''t be suspicious, she looked away instead of meeting his eyes.


    "Can you walk?"


    "I can."


    Saying so, Fei Nanyu painfully got to his feet and bowed deeply to them.


    "Many thanks for assisting me. If we meet again in the future, I will certainly repay you all fully."


    Having said this, he turned and limped away.


    Only after Fei Nanyu''s figure disappeared did He Zhiran gather Peng Wang and the attendant to go find food.


    He Zhiran couldn''t determine if her actions today saving Fei Nanyu would bring reward in the future.


    But she believed that even if they didn''t be friendster, having today''s events as a foundation, they at least wouldn''t be enemies.


    While He Zhiran thought this over, Peng Wang couldn''t help but asking,


    "Sister, from my understanding of you, you aren''t the sort to meddle. Why save him?"


    Since she had her own selfish reasons, He Zhiran naturally wouldn''t tell the truth.


    "I really hate unfair odds. I couldn''t help getting involved."


    Of course Peng Wang didn''t believe her, but since she didn''t want to say, he couldn''t keep questioning either.


    After walking about ten minutes, Peng Wang pointed to an inconspicuous stand and said,


    "Their wontons here are delicious, and their signature braised meat too. Want to try them?"


    He Zhiran was starving now. As long as it could fill her stomach, she wasn''t picky about what to eat.


    And from Peng Wang''s tone, ces he had eaten at before and still wanted to eat again probably wouldn''t be bad.


    "I have no objections. Big brother Peng''s arrangements stand."


    The attendant echoed, "Wherever boss wants to eat, we''ll eat there."


    Seeing they both didn''t object, Peng Wang headed toward the wonton stand first.


    They ordered three bowls of wontons and arge te of braised meat.


    After a taste, He Zhiran found the wontons and braised meat vor actually pretty good.


    Compared to the delicacies she''d eaten in her previous life though, there was still something missing.


    But for the ancient era with scarce resources, making food taste this good was already quite good.


    The weather itself was hot. After a steaming bowl of wontons, all three had beads of sweat on their foreheads.


    Seeing the zing sun outside, the attendant was reluctant.


    "Boss, the sun is too harsh. Should we find a ce to rest first before going on?"


    Peng Wang agreed. Usually when escorting prisoners and rushing on the road, if they met the high noon sun, they would choose somewhere shaded to take a break and continue traveling in the afternoon.


    "There''s a teahouse over there. We can go drink some chilled tea and rest our feet."


    He Zhiran also wanted to drink iced tea, but she knew clearly this was the only chance she had to act alone, and couldn''t miss it.


    "Big brother Peng, I''m not afraid of heat. I still want to buy some things, so why don''t you two go rest while I shop, and find you at the teahouse after I''m done?"


    From the recent happenings, Peng Wang no longer saw He Zhiran as an exiled prisoner, and believed she was moral.


    For such a small request, Peng Wang naturally wouldn''t object, moreover since he didn''t want to apany He Zhiran shopping in the sweltering heat.


    "That works too. We''ll go rest our feet while little sister goes shopping."


    And so He Zhiran split off from the other two. She searched out another fabric shop.


    Considering her family had no spare clothes to change into, smelling in this heat, when possible this issue had to be resolved.


    So before going out she had nned to buy some cloth for sister-inws to make a few outfits over these days with no traveling.


    Not far away, she saw another fabric shop.


    He Zhiran didn''t forget her current identity, unwilling to be too ostentatious.


    She chose some thinner, more refined hemp cloth and bought a good amount.


    Seeing her buy so much fabric, the owner attentively threw in some scraps.


    He Zhiran wasn''t skilled with feminine handicrafts and didn''t know what use the scraps were, but seeing the shopkeeper present them like a treasure, they were sure toe in handy under skilled hands.


    After thanking the shopkeeper, He Zhiran kept pushing the cart forward.


    She nned to find a deserted ce to take out some of the remaining flour and rice from her space, and check if there was any suitable food in Taobao Treasure to take back too.


    Turning a corner, He Zhiran wheeled the cart into a quiet alley. After checking no one was around, her consciousness entered her space. She took out two bags each of rice and flour.


    She also purchased twenty roast chicken and twenty roast duck from Taobao Treasure, changing all packaging to oil paper neatly rewrapped and loaded on the cart.


    Besides these, she wanted to buy some pork and vegetables too.


    Considering the sweltering weather today, He Zhiran was toozy to keep wandering the market. She simply handled everything in Taobao Treasure instead.


    Looking at the heaping cart, she felt no pressure at all in her heart.


    After all, it was Emperor Shunwu footing the bill...


    And that was indeed so. The four million plus that He Zhiran earned was all exchanged using Emperor Shunwu''s imperial treasury, so it was him paying alright!


    Seeing it had only been half an hour since parting with Peng Wang, if she went to find them at the teahouse now after buying so much stuff so quickly, it was uncertain whether they would be suspicious.


    So He Zhiran was in no rush to leave either. She pushed the cart to a shaded area and sat atop an empty space.


    Incidentally she bought herself an iced drink in Taobao Treasure to quench her thirst too.


    Ever since crossing over, He Zhiran hadn''t felt so content.


    She sat atop the wooden cart, leisurely sipping icy cold drink, rocking her legs to and fro...


    Just as she was a bit toocent, she suddenly sensed footstepsing from the alley entrance direction.


    He Zhiran quickly put the remaining half ss of iced drink into her space, and looked towards the sound.

 Chapter 74: Younger Brothers and Sisters are Sensible

    <h4>Chapter 74</h4>


    He Zhiran quickly returned the courtesy.


    "Uncle Xie, don''t be so polite. We will be living together for a long time toe and should help each other out."


    After speaking, He Zhiran turned to look at the Fang family members who had envious looks on their faces. She also took out twenty taels of silver and handed it to Fang Chuanzhou.


    "Uncle Fang, this is for you. Take it."


    Fang Chuanzhou already understood the general situation and did not say too much like Xie Tianhai. After giving his thanks, the Fang family members all had satisfied smiles on their faces.


    There were 75 taels left. He Zhiran was notcking silver in the first ce. She only symbolically kept 25 taels and gave the remaining fifty taels all to Peng Wang.


    Peng Wang had originally thought that getting thirty or forty taels would be good enough. He absolutely did not expect that He Zhiran would be so generous as to give him fifty taels.


    This was equivalent to all the money that could be earned by selling those wolves to the fur shops by himself and the other officers.


    "Sister, isn''t this a bit too much?" Peng Wang did not even know when he had started to view money as dirt, to the point that he felt there was too much silver that hade to his hands.


    He Zhiranughed and said, "Brother Peng is a good person who does not see us as criminals. We are all clear in our hearts that without your agreement, we would not have gotten a penny from those wolves. It is precisely because I know you are a good person that I tried to figure out a way to maximize the profits made from those fifty wolves. This way, it not only does not hinder your ability to earn extra ie, but we prisoners also get a share. It''s a win-win."


    There was no denying that He Zhiran''s wordspletely delighted Peng Wang.


    Peng Wangughed while holding the silver: "Hahaha... Little sister is so sensible. Rest assured that as long as I am around, I guarantee that you all will not suffer hardships on the road to exile."


    With Peng Wang''s public promise, He Zhiran''s efforts were not in vain. What could be more important than travelingfortably on the road to exile?


    Just as old Lady Mo felt gratified to have such a sensible daughter-inw, He Zhiran had alreadye before her.


    "Mother, this is the first sum of money our Mo family has earned. Please keep it safe."


    Seeing the silver that He Zhiran handed over, old Lady Mo felt warmth in her heart, but still refused it,


    "You should keep the silver. Today mother will act as the head of the household and from now on, the Mo family will be headed by the Hes."


    Old Lady Mo was worried the other daughters-inw would be unhappy, so she looked them over as she spoke.


    The sisters-inw were already convinced by He Zhiran''s wisdom and integrity, so how could they be unhappy?


    The Eldest Sister-inw quickly represented the other sisters-inw,


    "Mother is right. Little Sister-inw is capable and wise. Although our Mo family has fallen, we still need someone sensible to be the head of household."


    Then she looked at He Zhiran and sincerely said, "Eldest Sister-inw will listen to all your arrangements from now on, Little Sister-inw."


    "I also agree for Little Sister-inw to be the head of household."


    "Little Sister-inw, Third Sister-inw also agrees."


    "Little Sister-inw, from now on Fifth Sister-inw will listen to everything you say."


    The Mo women, who had not held out much hope for the future earlier, were now reignited with fighting spirit and expressed their attitudes one after another.


    Even the tough guy Mo Jiuye was moved by He Zhiran''s wisdom and integrity at this moment. He was even feeling grateful that he did not know what virtues and abilities he possessed that allowed him to marry such a virtuous wife.


    Seeing that everyone unanimously agreed with mother-inw''s words, He Zhiran did not pretend to decline and slipped that twenty-five taels of silver into her space.


    "Alright, since everyone trusts me, I''ll temporarily be the head of this household."


    Peng Wang''s fifty taels of silver could not be enjoyed by him alone. He still had to distribute some to his subordinates so they could also live it up.


    Peng Wang first called away the officers.


    With the officers leaving, the space they previously upied could directly see in the direction of the He family.


    The He family members were furious as they red at He Zhiran.


    They had also heard parts of the earlier conversation about dividing up the silver, but there was no share for the He family. If they did not fear those officers, they would have gone over long ago to reason things out with He Zhiran.


    How could the Fang and Xie families get to divide up silver while he had also used rocks to defend against the wolf pack. It was just that he had been at the very back and did not dare charge to the front...


    He Zhiran nced at the He family members. She had long been immune to their unkind looks.


    She beckoned her mother-inw, sisters-inw, aunt, as well as the women from the Xie and Fang families toe over to the cart.


    When He Zhiran had returned, the women had seen the coarse cloth on the cart and had looked upon them enviously.


    Although these fabrics were inferior to what even the servants of their former households had worn, they were still better than nothing in such special times.


    Moreover, although the coarse cloth did not look good, making them into clothes would still be much better than their current patched outfits.


    When Mo Hanyue saw that Ninth Sister-inw had brought back so many things from her trip into the city, she immediately smiled happily.


    "Ninth Sister-inw, you''re so nice to have purchased so many good things back."


    He Zhiran lovingly stroked Mo Hanyue''s head.


    "The weather is hot. We haven''t had a change of clothes since leaving the Capital city. I just randomly bought some cloth to make a new set of clothing for each of us over the next few days while we don''t need to travel."


    Hearing they could make new clothes, which woman would not be delighted?


    Moreover, their current outfits with patches were already extremely dirty. With the hot weather, the smell of sweat mixed with mud was revolting even to themselves.


    Although the Fang and Xie families knew He Zhiran was kind, they did not think her purchase of cloth would include portions for them.


    Zhao Shi thought for a bit before stepping forward to say, "Sister He, Auntie sees you''ve bought quite a lot of cloth. Could you sell some to our Fang family? Don''t worry, Auntie has silver now. We will buy them from you. We can even help make clothes for your family members."


    Seeing Mrs. Zhao bring it up, the Xie family members also nodded in agreement.


    He Zhiran could see that the two families had misunderstood her intentions.


    The reason she had bought so much cloth was precisely so that everyone could have a share.


    It was just that she did not take the initiative to give some to the Fangs and Xies because she could not endlessly provide for them unconditionally.


    She wanted the two families to clearly recognize that there were no such things as unlimited free lunches in this world, much less the Mo family being able to support them for their entire lives.


    She did intend to ask them for help making the clothes and nned to use the cloth as payment for theirbor. This would be a mutually beneficial transaction.


    "Auntie, I did buy back a lot of cloth. You can help make the clothes. I won''t pay you anything else and the cloth will serve to offset the costs. How about that?"


    Zhao Shi knew that although He Zhiran had phrased it this way, she was still helping them in a roundabout fashion.


    The Fang family epted this sentiment.


    "Alright, mine and my daughters-inw''s sewing skills are decent enough. We''ll take on this job."


    The Xie family members also expressed that they could help. And they sincerely thanked He Zhiran.


    Seeing that Ninth Sister-inw had already assigned out the clothing making tasks, the sisters-inw became somewhat anxious.


    The impatient Second Sister-inw was just about to say that they could also make clothes when she was stopped by old Lady Mo, who had been observing things.


    Old Lady Mo had long seen He Zhiran''s intentions and fully approved of her approach. Naturally, she could not let her own family members mess things up.


    Although confused after being stopped by mother-inw, Second Sister-inw still obediently shut her mouth.


    He Zhiran publicly handed out all of the cloth. Zhao Shi patted her chest and guaranteed that they would start helping measure and tailor clothing for everyone after dinner. They would even work through the night these few days when they did not need to travel to quickly make all the clothes.


    After all of the cloth for clothes had been allocated, He Zhiran left the twelve straw hats for her own family''s use and gave the rest to the Fang and Xie family members. There was a limited quantity so they could only take turns using them.


    The Fang and Xie families happily took their things and left. He Zhiran then took out the bag of fabric scraps the cloth shop owner had gifted her.


    Seeing those fabric scraps, the sisters-inw subconsciously looked at their own embroidered shoes, which already revealed their toes.


    Not only were the toes revealed, but the soles would probably be worn through after another two days of traveling.


    Ninth Sister-inw really was thoughtful to have bought so many fabric scraps back for them to make shoes.

 Chapter 104: Don’t Want to Die, Can’t Die

    <h4>Chapter 104</h4>


    He Zhiran stopped her actions and looked towards Mo Jiuye.


    After all, the original owner was not clear about the deceits in the royal court. They still had to let Mo Jiuye determine the authenticity of this matter.


    Mo Jiuye took a step forward, "You said that Prince Heng sent you to assassinate me. Do you have any evidence?"


    The man in ck was seeking death at this moment so he naturally did not conceal anything.


    "The person who died in front of me just now was the team leader. He had Prince Heng''s token."


    Upon hearing this, He Zhiran shed out of the space and searched the few ck clothed men that she had just killed.


    Sure enough, she found a silver token on one person with the character "Heng" clearly engraved on it.


    She took the token back to the space and handed it to Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye took the token and examined it before nodding towards He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran immediately understood and pulled the man in ck out of the space again.


    Despite facing an enemy, He Zhiran was true to her word and directly ended the man''s life with one strike.


    Returning to the space again, she asked Mo Jiuye, "Do you also have a grudge with Prince Heng?"


    Mo Jiuye smiled self-deprecatingly.


    "Everyone in the royal court knows that I have had a deep friendship with Nan Qi since we were young. Naturally, the other princes see me as a thorn in their side.


    Prince Heng doesn''t know that a rift has grown between Nan Qi and I. It''s understandable that he worries I''ll return to court one day and wants to get rid of me while I''m weak."


    After this exnation, He Zhiran understood.


    The Mo Family''s property confiscation and exile probably didn''t happen without this Prince Heng''s push.


    "If that''s the case, since Prince Heng''s first assassination attempt failed, he will surely continue sending assassins. It looks like we really can''t let our guard down in the future."


    This was also Mo Jiuye''s worry.


    He alone was easy to deal with. At worst, he could perish together with those people.


    But with the Mo Family''s women and children, and now a woman he wanted to protect for life, Mo Jiuye didn''t want to die and couldn''t die.


    "Right now, the best way to stop Prince Heng from taking action against me again is to spread word that Nan Qi and I have fallen out."


    He Zhiran nodded.


    "That is indeed a good method. Prince Heng is only concerned because of your rtionship with Nan Qi. If he believes you''ve broken ties with Nan Qi, he''ll surely lower his guard against you.


    Moreover, he lost so many assassins this time. He''ll surely weigh things carefully before sending people out again."


    The logic was sound. But both felt some difficulty. How could they make Prince Heng believe that he had truly split from Nan Qi?


    After thinking it over, neither coulde up with a reasonable method.


    Considering that their family still didn''t know to worry for them, they decided leaving here first was more urgent.


    Given Mo Jiuye''s injuries preventing him from moving, He Zhiran decided to let him stay in the space temporarily while she went out alone to find a way out.


    At first, Mo Jiuye didn''t agree. He worried He Zhiran would encounter danger without help in the wilderness.


    He Zhiran assured him that she would immediately retreat into the space if danger arose.


    Reassured by the space''s magic, Mo Jiuye felt somewhat more at ease.


    After exhorting her to be cautious, he finally let her leave.


    He Zhiran exited the space and searched the few ck clothed men''s bodies again, taking all of their sparse belongings before heading in the direction they hade from.


    She believed there must be a way out to the outside world here, otherwise how did these ck clothed men get here?


    He Zhiran took out a Swiss army knife from the space to clear a path. She defended against scratches from the thorns while watching for snakes and bugs underfoot...


    The time returned to dawn.


    The Mo Family had almost not slept the entire night.


    When Peng Wang beckoned for most of the group to continue on, Old Lady Mo was the first not to leave.


    "Officer Peng, my son and daughter-inw are still of unknown life or death. I cannot leave."


    The sisters-inw and Mo Hengyao saw this and also expressed their determination to stay and wait for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran to return, even if it meant being whipped to death here.


    Considering Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, Officer Peng''s attitude towards the Mo Family was still decent.


    "I''ve already told the Eighth Old Zhou to go search for them and meet up with us after three days. In three days, whether they''re alive or dead will surely be determined. You waiting here is of no use. It''d be better to hurry on the road."


    But his words had no deterrent effect on the Mo Family''s women.


    Led by Old Lady Mo, the women insisted on not leaving.


    Even as the guards'' whips were raised to fall on them, it did not make them retreat.


    Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai looked at each other before walking over to the Mo Family.


    The two first respectfully saluted Officer Peng.


    Fang Chuanzhou then righteously said, "Officer, the Mo Family has shown our Fang Family much benevolence on this journey. I once said I would look up to them for life. Now that this couple''s life or death is unknown, we will apany the Mo Family to wait together."


    Xie Tianhai also stepped forward to dere, "Officer, our Xie Family will also share the Mo Family''s fortunes."


    Peng Wang had been an escort officer for many years but this was still his first time encountering something like this.


    His anger was immediately provoked. He snatched the whip from Zhang Qing''s hand and fiercelyshed Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai.


    Seeing them punished for her family''s matter, Old Lady Mo immediately ran over to stand in front of them.


    The Mo Family''s other women closely followed Old Lady Mo''s footsteps, uniformly shielding Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai behind them.


    At the same time, the Fang and Xie family members also ran over, prepared to jointly confront the officers together.


    The He Family watched this scene from afar with aloof disinterest.


    Peng Wang knew these prisoners were serious. Even if he ordered all the officers attack together, it likely wouldn''t shake their determination to stay and wait.


    Although he knew they couldn''t continue on, he couldn''t lose face as an officer either.


    He raised his whip and fiercelyshed the Third Sister-in-Law, who was closest to him.


    The Third Sister-in-Law didn''t even shout in pain or have any intention of dodging. Her gaze was firm with resignation to her fate.


    Seeing this, the other women rushed up to protect the Third Sister-in-Law.


    Even with his anger, Peng Wang was still shocked by the Mo Family women''s resignation to their deaths.


    He had to admit that whether it was the Mo Family''s battle-scarred men or these powerless women, they were admirable enough.


    With a sigh, Peng Wang threw away the whip in his hand.


    "Wait then! Three days. If they still haven''t returned, even if I have to drag you, I''ll have people drag you away."


    "Thank you Officer Peng for your consideration. Three days is enough," Old Lady Mo solemnly saluted Peng Wang.


    She was clearer than anyone that if her son and daughter-inw were still alive, they would surely be able to catch up and meet them within three days.


    If not, they were likely doomed.


    For now, Old Lady Mo could only pray to heaven that they were still alive.

 Chapter 106: Let’s split up when we leave the Valley.

    <h4>Chapter 106</h4>


    He Zhiran''s steps were extremely fast. After making sure that the Eighth Old Zhou had not caught up, she dove into a nearby cave and shed into the space.


    Mo Jiuye saw her covered in blood and was so nervous that his heart almost jumped out.


    "Are you hurt? Let me see."


    At the moment, he couldn''t care less about embarrassment. He pulled He Zhiran towards the operating room, preparing to take off her clothes for an examination.


    He Zhiran forcibly grabbed him.


    "I''m fine. This isn''t my blood."


    Before she could exin clearly, Mo Jiuye asked again: "Did you encounter assassins again?" It was evident how nervous he was about He Zhiran.


    In order not to make Mo Jiuye worry, He Zhiran spoke extremely fast: "No men in ck. It was just a ck bear.


    Also, the Eighth Old Zhou came alone and found me. He was just injured by the ck bear. I told him to wait not far away."


    At first, when Mo Jiuye heard that He Zhiran had encountered a ck bear, although he still had lingering fears, he knew He Zhiran''s skills and was not too scared afterwards.


    However, when he heard the name the Eighth Old Zhou, his heart involuntarily soured.


    But Mo Jiuye knew clearly that this was not the time for him to feel sour.


    "Let''s go out now to avoid arousing the Eighth Old Zhou''s suspicions."


    "Your clothes are all torn. I¡¯ll help you buy a simr set and we¡¯ll go out after you¡¯ve changed."


    After speaking, He Zhiran opened Taobao on her phone and helped Mo Jiuye buy a short-sleeved ck outfit.


    The clothes were too new. To avoid the Eighth Old Zhou''s suspicions, He Zhiran deliberately took out some dust from the space and wiped it on the clothes.


    That way, no matter who it was, they wouldn''t notice anything wrong.


    Time was urgent. The two of them couldn¡¯t bother with much. He Zhiran helped him change his clothes with her own hands before leaving the space together.


    He Zhiran knew best about Mo Jiuye¡¯s injuries. She knew he couldn¡¯t walk too far at the moment. His speed was limited to inching along. Once there was arge movement, the wound would definitely split open.


    Therefore, she had already made up her mind to take Mo Jiuye out for the sole purpose of letting the Eighth Old Zhou see him.


    He Zhiran supported Mo Jiuye and walked step by step to the Eighth Old Zhou''s position.


    At this time, the Eighth Old Zhou had already stood up. Looking at the dead ck bear, he was furious inside.


    If it hadn''t been for this damned thing showing up, he wouldn''t have gotten hurt. And in the end it was the He n who saved his life...


    While he was lost in thought, He Zhiran had already supported Mo Jiuye toe close to him.


    "Master Zhou, my husband is seriously injured and cannot walk too far."


    Only then did the Eighth Old Zhou look at Mo Jiuye. Although he looked quite spirited, his somewhat paleplexion had already exined everything.


    Also, looking at Mo Jiuye, he seemed unable to stand upright. His injuries must be serious.


    "s! It''s all because I was careless and got hit by the ck bear. Otherwise I could have carried him to keep up the pace."


    Facing this situation, the Eighth Old Zhou felt very helpless too.


    How could the petite He Zhiran carry someone as tall and big as Mo Jiuye?


    Moreover, Mo Jiuye had an abdominal injury. Even if someone could carry him away, they would still have to worry about touching the wound.


    For a moment, the Eighth Old Zhou was at a loss.


    Seeing this, He Zhiran brought up the n she had thought of long ago.


    "Master Zhou, looking at my husband¡¯s current condition, even if we walk out of this valley I¡¯m afraid he still won¡¯t be able to keep up with the troops. "


    The Eighth Old Zhou did not deny this: "That''s true. Our itinerary has been dyed for many days. I suppose we¡¯ll have to speed up for the rest of the trip."


    He Zhiran deliberately put on a look of deep thought.


    After a long time, she said, "Master Zhou, I thought of a way. See if it works?"


    The Eighth Old Zhou raised his eyebrows: "What good idea do you have? Just say it."


    "My husband obviously cannot walk in the mountains. If you and Brother Peng can trust us, I n to take my husband around the mountain."


    The Eighth Old Zhou frowned when he heard this.


    In principle, apart from doing this there was no other way. But he didn''t think this method was feasible.


    "Do you know? Going around the mountain will dy seven or eight days. Moreover, the main force will not be able to stop and wait. How will you catch up with everyone''s itinerary like this?"


    This seemed almost impossible to the Eighth Old Zhou, yet he couldn¡¯t think of a better way.


    He Zhiran smiled and said, "Rest assured Master Zhou. After leaving the valley, I n to rent a car in the city. That way, not only can my husband continue to recuperate, but we can also speed up a lot."


    When the Eighth Old Zhou heard this, he fell into thought.


    In all his years working as an escort officer, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.


    In the past, not to mention letting prisoners travel alone, even if they were seriously injured, there would be no special treatment. Injured people would have to keep up at whatever pace the rest took.


    Unless they didn¡¯t want to live anymore, no one would dare ask for such a request.


    But the person making this request now was not someone else, but the woman who made his heart race whenever he saw her.


    At this moment, the Eighth Old Zhou was extremely envious of Mo Jiuye for getting so much care and concern from He Zhiran.


    Although he knew clearly that Brother Peng was quite nice to He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye, letting them travel separately was such a big deal that he didn¡¯t know how to respond at the moment.


    If anything went wrong, not only would the Eighth Old Zhou get in trouble, but everyone in their whole escort team would face severe punishment, even losing their jobs.


    If he didn¡¯t consider the others, the Eighth Old Zhou would have agreed without hesitation.


    Not for anything else. He just didn¡¯t want to see He Zhiran in a difficult position.


    He Zhiran saw that the Eighth Old Zhou was struggling over this. After reassuring him, her eyes fell on the ck bear.


    The entire ck bear was a treasure trove. Its bones, meat, paws, fat, blood and brain marrow could all be used in medicine.


    In her previous life, hunting wildlife had already been strictly prohibited. These were all precious things that humans did not even dare wish for.


    Now this treasure was right in front of her eyes. He Zhiran did not want to miss out.


    Although she couldn¡¯t take away the entire bear under the Eighth Old Zhou¡¯s watch, she could at least keep some valuable parts.


    So she borrowed the Eighth Old Zhou¡¯s big knife and took the bear¡¯s paws and galldder.


    He Zhiran found some vines to tie these things up with.


    "Master Zhou, the rest is basically meat. Take what you can manage."


    The Eighth Old Zhou did not stand on ceremony either. Although he had never eaten bear meat before, he had heard that it tasted quite good.

 Chapter 107: Enter Pingyang County

    <h4>Chapter 107</h4>


    So, the Eighth Old Zhou took back the big knife from He Zhiran and cut several pieces of fresh bear meat, then learned from her and tied them up with vine sticks, preparing to take them up the mountain together.


    Seeing that there was still so much meat left, the Eighth Old Zhou was really reluctant. He made a slightly embarrassed suggestion:


    "I went down the mountain before dawn to look for you all, and I haven''t eaten anything until now. Why don''t we roast some of the bear meat here and eat our fill before leaving the valley?"


    His words were not at all false. After reaching an agreement with Peng Wang in the middle of the night to look for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, the Eighth Old Zhou did not wait a moment. Holding a torch, he went alone, first following the direction they had disappeared in to look for them.


    Soon afterwards, he discovered countless corpses of people dressed in ck. By the time he searched to the cliff, he carefully noticed that there were many footprints of people who had walked there.


    The cliff was almost the end of this mountain. He guessed that it was possible the two had fallen down from here.


    Therefore, he had rushed down the mountain overnight and entered this valley.


    Without the Eighth Old Zhou having to say much, He Zhiran also knew that being able to find this valley must have taken quite some time. Having walked for so long, it would be strange if he wasn''t hungry.


    "Okay, let''s roast the bear meat here and eat our fill before heading out together."


    In order to take care of the two injured grown men, He Zhiran took the initiative to set up a rack.


    As always, she skewered the bear meat on branches and grilled it over the fire.


    Mo Jiuye now fully understood He Zhiran''s space. He knew that when she was roasting meat, she might take out some seasonings from her space.


    In order not to let the Eighth Old Zhou notice anything amiss, he deliberately pulled him aside to ask about his family''s situation.


    He Zhiran seized this opportunity to take out a few seasonings that weren''t too strong in vor from her space and sprinkle them on the bear meat.


    Soon, the grilled bear meat was ready. The three of them sat around the campfire and ate their fill before setting off together.


    The Eighth Old Zhou led the way in front, while He Zhiran supported Mo Jiuye behind.


    Due to their slow pace of walking, it took until the afternoon for the three to make it out of the valley.


    The scene before them was not unfamiliar at all - it was precisely where they had climbed Mount Oxtail.


    The Eighth Old Zhou looked at the skies and pointed in one direction, saying: "If you keep going this way, you should reach Pingyang County after about two hours."


    He Zhiran knew that this was where they would part ways. In order to put the Eighth Old Zhou''s mind at ease, she promised again:


    "Old Zhou, rest assured. I guarantee we won''t fall too far behind. I''ll have to trouble you to help exin things to Elder Brother Peng, as well as our families - please let them know that my husband and I are perfectly safe and will see them in a few days."


    The Eighth Old Zhou nodded. "Don''t worry, I will definitely pass on your message. Take care on the road."


    And so the three parted ways. They walked until the Eighth Old Zhou''s figure disappeared from sight before He Zhiran brought Mo Jiuye to a secluded ce to sh into her space.


    If the Eighth Old Zhou had not been present just now, there was no way He Zhiran would have allowed Mo Jiuye to walk such a long distance.


    She estimated that by now, it was likely his wounds had reopened.


    The first thing she had to do was help Mo Jiuye examine his injuries again.


    He Zhiran ced the fewrge bear paws and single bear galldder she was carrying somewhere random - anyway, there was preservation functionality within the space, so she wasn''t worried the bear meat would go bad.


    By now, Mo Jiuye could indeed feel some difort from his wounds, and obediently allowed He Zhiran to examine him.


    After the examination, He Zhiran heaved a deep sigh.


    Mo Jiuye''s condition was better than she had imagined. Other than the most serious wound on his lower abdomen, there were basically no issues with the stab wounds on the rest of his body.


    Fortunately, the stitches had no signs of tearing open. It was likely due to him moving around too much, which caused friction on the wound.


    He Zhiran helped Mo Jiuye redress and bandage the wound properly, and earnestly said:


    "You stay in the space for now. I can travel faster by myself, so I''ll do my best to enter Pingyang County before night falls."


    Mo Jiuye understood clearly that in his current state, wanting to apany her would only slow her down, so he did not refuse.


    "Alright, take care on the road."


    "Mm." He Zhiran acknowledged before shing out of the space.


    The journey went smoothly. She managed to reach Pingyang County before sunset.


    Unlike entering those other county towns previously, there was a fee just to enter the city here...


    By the city gates stood a small square table, on top of which sat a very conspicuous wooden chest.


    All themoners entering the city would throw some copper coins into that chest.


    In He Zhiran''s understanding, such urrences were mostly due to greedy officials finding baseless excuses to exploit themon people.


    In order to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble, He Zhiran also learned from thosemoners by throwing five copper coins into the chest.


    She then observed that themoners who had paid to enter the city all wore expressions as though they had grievances to air but could not speak of them.


    Evidently, they were dissatisfied at having to pay just to enter the city.


    Just as she was thinking of finding someone to inquire in detail about what was happening, suddenly a loudmotion rang out.


    "Make way, make way! My horse got spooked. Anyone who doesn''t want to die, get out of the way!"


    He Zhiran moved to stand by the roadside. Squinting towards the source of the voice, she saw a foppishly-dressed young master recklessly charging down the streets on a tall horse.


    After crashing into several roadside stalls and finally calming down, the horse came to a stop right next to He Zhiran.


    The young master dismounted with a stream of curses,nding right beside He Zhiran.


    "Scram! Do you want to die, daring to block this young master''s path?"


    As he spoke, the young master lifted his leg, preparing to kick He Zhiran away.


    But the moment he raised his leg, his eyesnded on He Zhiran''s appearance.


    Even concealed under the tattered coarse linen clothes, her beauty still could not be obscured.


    The young master was instantly stunned. His raised leg lowered back down unknowingly.


    "Which family''s young miss are you? Why note with this young master to have some fun?"


    Seeing this kind of person made He Zhiran feel a wave of disgust.


    "Get lost. Take a good look at your owncking virtues."


    Having said thus, He Zhiran turned to leave.


    If it wasn''t to avoid trouble, when facing such a person, she would surely have beaten him up.


    That foppish young master was a rogue through-and-through. How could he allow her to just leave like this?


    He Zhiran had just taken a step away when the young master blocked her path.


    "Oh? This young miss has quite the fiery temper; I like it!"


    As he spoke, the young master reached out to put his arm around her shoulder.


    He Zhiran was incensed by this shameless person. She grabbed his arm in a sh and executed a perfect over-the-shoulder throw.


    "Ahhhhh!"


    Apanied by the young master''s miserable shriek, his entire body mmed heavily onto the hard ground. The pain caused his face to contort extremely.


    Gritting his teeth to endure the pain, he pointed at He Zhiran and cursed loudly, "You cheap whore! Do you know who this young master is? If I say the word, I can make you disappear from this world! And your whole family too - not a single one will remain!"

 Chapter 108: If You like it, I’ll do it.

    <h4>Chapter 108</h4>


    He Zhiran''s anger also rose, simply going all out.


    She went forward and grabbed Young Master''s cor, constantly pping him.


    "This is the consequence of a loose tongue. Remember this from now on. When you see Madam, walk around, otherwise I will beat you every time I see you."


    At this time, many onlookers had already gathered around.


    They felt relieved at the same time and worried for this reckless woman.


    It was known that this young master usually acted arrogantly in Pingyang County and bullied men and women everywhere without saying that he also had a county mayor father to cover for him. Wherever themon people met him, they were extremely miserable.


    Today, seeing him being humiliated, how could themoners not be happy in their hearts?


    Seeing that He Zhiran showed no sign of stopping beating, a kind aunt came forward to dissuade her.


    "Girl, vent your anger then run away quickly. When his peoplee, I''m afraid you won''t be able to escape even if you want to."


    He Zhiran was also tired from beating, so she naturally stood up.


    "Auntie, what is this person''s identity that he is so rampant in broad daylight?"


    The aunt looked around cautiously before whispering:


    "Girl must be from out of town? This is the only son of our Pingyang County''s county mayor, named Sun Jiabao. Offending him is the same as offending the county mayor. Listen to my advice and leave quickly while the yamen people have not yete!"


    He Zhiran nodded: "Thank you auntie for the reminder."


    Although causing trouble after entering the city was not her original intention, things had already happened. She still had things to do that were not yet done, so how could she just leave like this?


    After she finished speaking, He Zhiran squeezed out of the crowd and continued walking towards the city.


    In less than a hundred meters away, she saw a team of catchers with big knives rushing towards Sun Jiabao''s direction.


    He Zhiran was really lucky that she walked fast. If she was blocked by these catchers, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble.


    Although she was not worried about being arrested, she disliked trouble.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran walked a few more steps quickly, turned into an alley, and then shed into the space.


    After dealing with Sun Jiabao just now, although it was a one-sided crush, He Zhiran¡¯s hair and clothes were a bit messy.


    Seeing her appearance, Mo Jiuye suddenly became nervous.


    "What happened?"


    He Zhiran shrugged indifferently: "I met a rogue and taught him a lesson, that¡¯s all."


    She said it lightly, but Mo Jiuye was not at ease and continued to ask for details.


    He Zhiran had no choice but to tell Mo Jiuye about beating up Sun Jiabao.


    Mo Jiuye was so angry that his face was livid. He wished he could go out now and smash Sun Jiabao into ten thousand pieces.


    He actually dared to molest his woman. He really did not want to live anymore!


    However, he also knew his current situation clearly, and could only try his best to suppress his anger.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye angry, He Zhiranforted him: "Don''t be angry. After all, I didn''t suffer any loss."


    Mo Jiuye no longer made a sound. After all, he could do nothing now, and it was useless to say more.


    One of He Zhiran¡¯s purposes for entering the space was to avoid those catchers, and the other was to give Mo Jiuye an update and change her outfit at the same time.


    In front of Mo Jiuye, He Zhiran bought a set of men¡¯s clothing on Taobao Treasures.


    After simply washing up in the bathroom and putting on the men¡¯s clothing, in order to make herself look more like a man, she also simply applied some make up.


    She thickened her eyebrows, erged her mouth, made her face darker, and stuck on a small mustache.


    After getting dressed up, He Zhiran walked out of the room.


    Mo Jiuye was also taken aback when he saw her appearance.


    He was still worried before that even if He Zhiran wore men''s clothing, she would not look like a man given her appearance. Unexpectedly, when she came out this time, he did not even recognize her!


    If he did not know there were only the two of them in the space, Mo Jiuye would definitely ask.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye''s expression, He Zhiran knew her outfit was very sessful.


    She turned around proudly in front of Mo Jiuye, then sat in a chair and crossed her legs arrogantly, suddenly bing yful.


    "Master is tired. Massage me."


    Seeing her ridiculous appearance, Mo Jiuye almostughed out loud.


    Still, he very cooperatively came to stand behind her.


    "Yes Sir, I¡¯ll massage you right away."


    It was the first time He Zhiran had seen Mo Jiuye so rxed. She couldn¡¯t helpughing loudly.


    "Hahaha... Mo Jiuye, who asked you to cooperate with me so much? Are you looking tough yourself to death?"


    Mo Jiuye couldn''t help smiling at the corners of his lips. What he said made He Zhiran very happy.


    "As long as you like it, I will oblige."


    Neither of them knew this was the first time they had been sofortable with each other since they got married.


    Afterughing for a while, He Zhiran felt it was about time and left the space again.


    Coming out of the alley, she heard people talking on the street.


    "I heard that the county mayor sent all the catchers to search around the city to catch the woman who beat young master Bao."


    "That woman is quite powerful. The catchers have been searching for so long and still haven''t found anyone."


    "Maybe she already left the city. How can they find her by searching in the city?"


    "Ah... I hope that woman has already left the city. If she really falls into the hands of the county mayor, she will undoubtedly die."


    "..."


    He Zhiran walked along the road. All she heard along the way was about her beating Sun Jiabao.


    Not only that, those catchers with knives could be seen everywhere.


    He Zhiran was confident that no one would recognize her, so she walked calmly on the street.


    It was already dark now. Hiring a carriage would have to wait until tomorrow morning.


    What she needed to do now was to find out about the county mayor.


    In ancient times, the best ces to gather information were tea houses or restaurants.


    So He Zhiran found a tea house with many customers, chose a window seat, asked the waiter for a pot of tea, and sat there slowly drinking it.


    The topic in the teahouse today was no different from outside, almost all about Sun Jiabao being beaten.


    Judging from the tone of those people, there was a hint of relief in it.


    Perhaps because they were in awe of the county mayor¡¯s authority, they did not dare express it directly.


    This information did not satisfy He Zhiran¡¯s needs. She mainly wanted to understand the situation of this county mayor.


    Just as she was about to get up and leave to listen elsewhere, an old man and a child walked in at the door.


    The old man scanned the room and saw that all the seats were taken. He came to He Zhiran and said, "Young brother, may we share a table?¡±


    Seeing this, He Zhiran sat back down and gestured for them to sit.


    "Please have a seat, elders."


    The old man saw that she was polite. After thanking her, he pulled the child to sit across from her.


    He called the waiter and ordered a pot of tea.


    Just as He Zhiran was thinking about how to draw some words from the old man, he actually took the initiative to speak first.


    "Judging from young brother''s ent, you are not from our Pingyang County, right?"

 Chapter 109: Night Watch the County Magistrate

    <h4>Chapter 109</h4>


    He Zhiran smiled and said, "To be honest, I''m just passing through this ce to visit rtives, and I''ll be leaving tomorrow."


    With a mysterious look, she nced around and whispered, "Old man, I''ve been hearing everyone talk about the son of the county magistrate being beaten. Is it true?"


    The old man was cautious. After hearing He Zhiran''s words, he looked around and leaned closer, saying mysteriously, "Since young sir is from out of town, this old man might as well tell you about the situation in Pingyang County."


    He Zhiran pretended to be very interested and listened attentively.


    The old man whispered, "Sun Jiabao is the only son of the county magistrate''s family. He has been spoiled since childhood and relies on his father''s position to bully and oppress the people in Pingyang County. Themon folks dare not speak up in anger..."


    "If I may say so, I truly admire the young woman who stood up for justice and fought him today. She spoke up for the people of Pingyang."


    Seeing that He Zhiran was interested, the old man paused and continued speaking.


    "You must have noticed when you entered the county that there is a fee of 5 wen per person. It may not be much for the wealthy, but for ordinary people, it''s difficult to afford even a single entry or exit. They work for a day and can only earn up to 15 wen, which is barely enough to support their families. Taking out another 5 wen as an entry fee is like taking their lives away."


    "Especially for those from the surrounding rural areas whoe to the city for work, they can''t afford to go back home at night just to save the 5 wen fee. Instead, they find a corner to spend the night."


    The old man shook his head helplessly and said, "This world truly doesn''t allow themon people to live well..."


    After the old man took a few sips of tea, He Zhiran asked the most crucial question.


    "Old man, is it the county magistrate''s decision to charge 5 wen per person to enter the city?"


    The old man sighed helplessly, looked around again, and whispered, "Who else would dare to make such a decision besides the county magistrate?"


    "And where does the money collected go?" He Zhiran continued asking.


    The old man smiled bitterly, "Where do you think? It all goes into their private coffers."


    Although He Zhiran had already guessed this oue, hearing it firsthand made her even more infuriated.


    She clenched her fist under the table, hating the various injustices of this era even more.


    Having learned everything she wanted to know, He Zhiran had no intention of staying any longer. She bid farewell to the old man, stood up, and left the teahouse at a leisurely pace.


    With her spatial ability, she didn''t need to worry about finding an inn. At the moment, what He Zhiran wanted to do most was to punish the corrupt county magistrate and his son, who were full of wickedness.


    After all, the night was long, and she had nothing better to do.


    He Zhiran strolled around for a while and found the residence of the county magistrate.


    Seeing that it was still early, she entered her space.


    Finally seeing He Zhiran return, Mo Jiuye breathed a sigh of relief.


    Although he had witnessed He Zhiran''s abilities, he still worried that she might encounter danger on her own outside.


    "What did you find out?" Mo Jiuye asked with concern.


    He Zhiran told Mo Jiuye everything the old man had said, along with her own ns.


    "After midnight, I n to visit the county magistrate''s residence."


    Mo Jiuye could anticipate what He Zhiran was up to even if he were to count his toes.


    He deliberately straightened his body, showing that he was in a state of no hindrance.


    "I''ll apany you," he said.


    "No, you have injuries on your body. I can handle it alone," He Zhiran refused decisively, leaving no room for Mo Jiuye to argue.


    If she couldn''t handle the residence of a mere county magistrate, she wouldn''t need to mix in the future.


    Taking advantage of this free time, He Zhiran personally went to the kitchen and prepared a delicious meal for the two of them.


    Among them was a dish she had been longing for, Braised Bear''s Paw.


    The pressure cooker softened and seasoned the bear''s paw until it was tender and vorful. As soon as it came out of the pot, the fragrance filled the air.


    In addition, she cooked a few other side dishes.


    Mo Jiuye couldn''t stop praising He Zhiran''s cooking skills. Unlike before, he no longer expressed his enjoyment of the food.


    "If you open a restaurant with your culinary skills, it will definitely be a hit."


    He Zhiran wasn''t very confident in her cooking skills, but she had full confidence in the spices in the space.


    Even if she was a novice in cooking, with so many spices, she could still make delicious dishes.


    Especially in this ancient era of scarce resources, the food people usually ate was very in. As long as the dishes had some new variations and improved vors, they would naturally be exquisite delicacies.


    However, with He Zhiran''s temperament, she had no interest in opening a restaurant. Even if she did, she only wanted to be a silent backer.


    After eating and drinking their fill, the couple chatted for a while. He Zhiran used Mo Jiuye''s need to recuperate as an excuse to ask him to rest in the bedroom first.


    She quickly changed into a set of night clothes and swiftly left the space.


    The ce she appeared happened to be the side gate of the county magistrate''s residence. He Zhiran had already observed it in advance and found that there were not many people moving around there, making it rtively safe to enter and exit.


    After careful observation and seeing no danger around, He Zhiran took out a miniature drone from the space, and at the same time, she held a small monitor in her hand.


    She pressed the switch on the remote control, and the drone slowly ascended into the air.


    He Zhiran used the remote control to manipte the drone while observing theyout inside the county magistrate''s residence with the small monitor.


    After getting a general idea, she took a quick run-up and flipped over the courtyard wall.


    It seemed that all the personnel had been dispatched to search for the person who harmed Sun Jiabao. There were only two guards in the county magistrate''s residence today.


    Those two guards didn''t seem to be industrious people either. At the moment, they were hiding in a corner, dozing off.


    ording to the information observed by the drone, He Zhiran first arrived at arger courtyard.


    Even though it waste at night, the ce was still brightly lit.


    He Zhiran agilely climbed over the wall and then jumped onto the roof of the main house. She gently lifted a roof tile and looked inside the house.


    Only an old man in his fifties, with a fat head and big ears, was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back.


    Inside the room, a chubby woman of the same age as her was standing by the bed, wiping away tears.


    The person lying on the bed was undoubtedly Sun Jiabao.


    Sun Jiabao''s face was wrapped up like a dumpling, and he was rolling back and forth on the bed.


    "Dad, I don''t care. You must capture that woman for me. I want to make her suffer."


    The woman patted Sun Jiabao''s body and said with pity, "My son, rest assured, your dad has already sent all the officials to search and will not let the person who harmed you escape."


    Sun Lin also stopped in his tracks and said ominously, "Anyone who dares to harm my son in Pingyang County will suffer a fate worse than death."


    As soon as he finished speaking, two women dressed as old maids entered, each holding a soup bowl.


    The woman personally took the soup bowl and coaxed Sun Jiabao to take the medicine.


    He Zhiran, feeling bored at this point, took out a homemade incense from his space, lit it, and stuffed it into the gap in the roof.


    Before long, everyone in the room, including the two old maids, fell into a deep sleep.

 Chapter 110: Never thought I’d see you here again.

    <h4>Chapter 110</h4>


    He Zhiran nimbly leapt down from the roof and directly entered the room.


    As the magistrate of the county, Sun Lin exploited themon people and allowed his son to wreak havoc in the countryside. Such a despicable person was unfit to be an official.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran took out a dagger from her interspatial ring and directly cut off Sun Lin''s tongue and hands.


    She wanted to see how a disabled and mute person could still be an official.


    As for Sun Jiabao, who bullied men and overpowered women, and did all kinds of evil, she would make him an idiot for the rest of his life.


    He Zhiran took out her self-made poison "Loss of Spirit" from her interspatial ring again.


    By adding one more ingredient to Loss of Spirit, Sun Jiabao would be an idiot for the rest of his life.


    Sun Jiabao was currently unconscious. He Zhiran directly injected the temporarily prepared medicine into his body using a syringe.


    After settling everything, He Zhiran unknowingly left this ce and went to the location she had observed that was likely the storehouse.


    She was lucky. The observed location turned out to be the storehouse of the county magistrate''s residence.


    There were two guards in front of the storehouse door. He Zhiran carefully circled behind them and nimbly hit the back of their necks.


    Seeing that the two guards had fainted dead away, He Zhiran quickly entered the storehouse.


    It had to be said, the family fortune of a corrupt official was abundant.


    The not veryrge storehouse was filled with gold, silver, pearls and jewels, silks and satins, calligraphy and paintings, and some jade articles.


    Manyrge items she had taken from the national treasury were already hanging in her online store. This freed up a lot of space in her interspatial ring.


    He Zhiran eyed everything. With a wave of her hand, she took away all the items that couldpletely fit in her interspatial ring.


    Mo Jiuye couldn¡¯t sleep at all in the interspatial ring. After He Zhiran left, he came out of the bedroom.


    Just as he was somewhat worried about He Zhiran, a pile of things suddenly appeared in front of him, almost hitting him...


    Without thinking, seeing so many valuables, Mo Jiuye knew clearly that He Zhiran had seeded. He only hoped that she would not be too greedy and would pay more attention to her own safety ande back sooner.


    After finishing what needed to be done, He Zhiran did not n to stay any longer.


    She left the county magistrate''s residence, ran to a secluded ce, and shed into the interspatial ring.


    Seeing her return safe and sound, Mo Jiuye finally felt relieved.


    Having just punished the corrupt magistrate and his son, He Zhiran felt a little excited at the moment.


    "That dog of a magistrate was quite rich. With just a small effort from me, I got such gains."


    When those valuables were moved into the interspatial ring, Mo Jiuye had already checked them.


    There were at least 150,000 taels of silver bills and silver alone.


    What''s more, there were also severalrge boxes of copper coins. Needless to say, these copper coins were all the entrance fees collected from themoners at the city gate.


    For a small county magistrate to have such wealth, it was imaginable how much hard-earned money he had exploited from themon people...


    Mo Jiuye stared at the valuables in front of him: "What do you n to do with these?"


    He Zhiran nced around. The space she had finally cleared out was filled up again, and even more so.


    "I n to sell all these bulky items in the trading system, and as for the silver, I hope I can find a way to return it to themoners of Pingyang County."


    Mo Jiuye also agreed with this.


    He pondered for a moment and said,


    "It''s a good idea to want to return the silver to themoners, but our time simply does not allow us to do these things."


    He Zhiran was also at a loss. She certainly could not deliver the silver to every household. Not to mention the risk of being easily discovered, it was indeed impossible to aplish within the time constraints, just as Mo Jiuye had said.


    "Let''s put this n on hold for now. When I go out to hire a carriage tomorrow, I¡¯ll ask around again to see if there is a good way to do it."


    He Zhiran had travelled all day and dealt with the dog magistrate at night. At this moment, she was indeed a little tired.


    After chatting with Mo Jiuye for a few sentences, the two went back to the bedroom to rest.


    Early next morning, He Zhiran went out again in men¡¯s clothing.


    The ce she appeared was only one street away from the county magistrate''s residence.


    He Zhiran walked slowly towards the main street. Her foremost goal was to hire a carriage.


    The street was especially bustling today. Themoners had already learned about what happened to the county magistrate''s family. Knowing that a disabled mute would no longer be able to be an official in the future, they dared to speak more openly.


    Most of their discussion topics were about the county magistrate¡¯s storehouse being emptied and the county magistrate changed into a mute unable to speak and his son who bullied men and overpowered women bing an idiot.


    This matter was extremely gratifying for themoners.


    There were even some daring people who nned to go to the county magistrate''s residence in groups to watch the fun.


    Thosemoners who had been oppressed by the county magistrate and his son, cried and cursed the wrongdoings they had suffered through tears and mucus.


    He Zhiran only casually observed these scenes as she passed by.


    After finding out the location of the carriage shop, she quickened her pace.


    Unexpectedly, as soon as she turned into another street, He Zhiran spotted a familiar person with her discerning eyes.


    This familiar person was Fei Nanyu.


    Fei Nanyu was walking hurriedly with another person who looked like his attendant. They seemed to have some urgent matters to deal with.


    Seeing Fei Nanyu, He Zhiran immediately thought of something.


    She waved at Fei Nanyu.


    Fei Nanyu only nced casually at her before turning his head to continue on his way.


    Seeing that she was ignored, He Zhiran subconsciously lowered her head to nce at the men''s clothing she was wearing, before suddenly realizing why.


    Not to mention Fei Nanyu, whom she had only met twice, even Mo Jiuye, whom she was with all day, had almost failed to recognize her.


    He Zhiran walked briskly for a few steps towards Fei Nanyu.


    "Master Fei."


    Fei Nanyu stopped in his tracks and looked at the speaker, somewhat uncertain.


    "Are you calling me?"


    If she was not worried that her appearance would be recognized by the government officials on this public street, He Zhiran would have definitely torn off her fake beard and wiped her face clean to reveal her true face. But this was not an option here.


    Therefore, He Zhiran could only reveal her identity verbally, "Master Fei, I am He Zhiran, Mo Jiuye¡¯s wife."


    Fei Nanyu was taken aback for a moment before carefully examining her facial features.


    Looking closely, she did resemble Mo Jiuye¡¯s wife, and her voice could not be faked.


    After gazing at her for a moment and confirming that the person in front of him was indeed He Zhiran, Fei Nanyu''s expression instantly became more rxed.


    His attitude was still very modest. "Madam Mo, I didn''t expect us to meet again here.¡±


    He Zhiran looked around and pointed to her outfit, ¡°Master Fei, I¡¯m currently dressed as a man.¡±


    Fei Nanyu suddenly understood and said with a smile, "Master He."


    He Zhiran nodded to indicate that she epted this form of address. She then asked,


    "What brings Master Fei to Pingyang County?"


    Fei Nanyu felt that there was no need to conceal the purpose of this trip, so he spoke directly, "I won¡¯t hide it from Master He. I arrived in the capital city following Prince Qi, but Prince Qi received an imperial decree to go to Dongfeng County for disaster relief as soon as he arrived. We set off for Dongfeng County overnight and only found out when we arrived that in addition to the flooding, there was also a gue outbreak.


    The magistrate of Dongfeng County obtained a questionable cure that was said to be able to treat and control the gue. However, there was ack of one medicinal ingredient. Prince Qi then tasked me to travel along the road west towards the surrounding county cities, to see if I could buy that medicinal ingredient.¡±

 Chapter 111: Do you have a purpose in doing this

    <h4>Chapter 111</h4>


    The prescription to treat the gue was provided by He Zhiran, and no one was clearer about the types of medicinal materials than her.


    "I wonder what kind of medicinal materials Mr. Fei is looking for?"


    "Now I''m onlycking the medicinal material called huanglian, I''ve been to two county towns but haven''t found any."


    Originally I was going to use Prince Qi''s waist card to ask the magistrate here for help, but I just heard that the magistrate''s home was robbed by thievesst night, so I''m thinking of going to the next county town to take a look."


    In He Zhiran''s perception, huanglian was not a rare medicinal material at all.


    She just didn''t know why it couldn''t be bought around here.


    She rolled her eyes and came up with an idea.


    He Zhiran wasn''t sure if the attendant by Fei Nanyu''s side could be trusted, so she made a gesture at him: "Mr. Fei, may I have a word?"


    Fei Nanyu naturally knew her intention.


    "No problem, he can be trusted."


    Since Fei Nanyu had said so, He Zhiran no longer needed to be evasive.


    "Mr. Fei, I know why there is a shortage of huanglian around here."


    Fei Nanyu raised his brows: "Why?"


    He Zhiran had a mysterious look.


    "I won''t hide it from Mr. Fei. Themon folk on the streets say that I was the one who severely injured the magistrate''s son. I wanted to give them a lesson."


    "Who would have thought, when I was eavesdropping on their conversation on the roof, I identally got a piece of information."


    Fei Nanyu asked impatiently: "What information?"


    He Zhiran then switched to fabrication mode.


    "The magistrate said that the small warehouse in the eastern suburb had already been filled with piles of huanglian. In the past few days, the silver and money collected at the city gate could not even be stored."


    "In order to verify the authenticity, I went to the ce the magistrate mentioned that night. There really was a small warehouse there. After checking it, there was not only arge amount of huanglian inside, but also several boxes of silver and copper coins."


    When Fei Nanyu heard that there was so much huanglian, his eyes lit up instantly.


    He didn''t have time to think about why the magistrate would hoard so much huanglian. He urged: "Please lead the way, Madam Mo. If those huanglians can be brought to Dongfeng County, the people of Dongfeng County will be saved."


    All of this was fabricated by He Zhiran, so how could she possibly take Fei Nanyu to some magistrate''s warehouse right away?


    "Mr. Fei, my husband is seriously injured and waiting for me to buy medicine to take back. What do you think, shall we set a time and I''ll take you thereter?"


    Hearing that Mo Jiuye was seriously injured, Fei Nanyu suddenly remembered why they were in Pingyang County.


    Moreover, he was a tactful person who knew it was improper to ask outright, so he cupped his fist towards He Zhiran.


    "Master Mo''s injury is more urgent. See you tonight at the east gate."


    "Alright, I''ll be there on time." After He Zhiran finished speaking, she turned around and left.


    To save some time, she went to the carriage shop first.


    She had thought it would be simple to hire a carriage, but she found that not only were there carts for rent at the carriage shop, but also draft animals for sale to pull the carts.


    The Da Shun Dynasty had strict control over horses. Apart from some specially licensed official families, if other people wanted to own a carriage, they had to go to the government to apply for a permit first.


    Not only that, the prices of horses were also very expensive. The horses in the carriage shop couldn''t even sell one per month. Over time, the boss was no longer willing to run the horse business, so they only sold oxen, donkeys and mules.


    He Zhiran pondered for a while. Hiring a carriage was not as convenient for her and Mo Jiuye to travel alone as walking.


    After all, she had secrets, and their identities were also special.


    With this in mind, He Zhiran decided to buy a mule, and then asked the boss to help harness it to a cart. This way, she could drive the mule cart herself to catch up with the main unit.


    If Peng Wang allowed it, they could also have a means of transportation on the road ahead.


    On the contrary, after catching up with the main force, she could sell the mule cart.


    He Zhiran was always decisive in doing things. Once she had an idea, she would take action immediately.


    She selected a mule that looked quite strong, and also bought a canopy cart.


    Altogether it cost ten taels of silver.


    The boss helped harness the cart, and He Zhiran drove the mule cart east.


    Fortunately, in her previous life, she had followed the army to the countryside to help farm work, and had learned driving skills from the vigers.


    Although her mule cart driving skills were a little rusty at first, after a brief period of fumbling, He Zhiran gradually became skilled at it.


    Because of what happened to the magistrate, the checks on themoners entering and leaving the city gate today were extremely strict.


    He Zhiran''s makeup helped her pass, although she had to wait in line for a while, she still left the city smoothly.


    She drove straight to the eastern suburbs. If she remembered correctly, she saw an abandoned yard there when she passed by. He Zhiran decided to go there and take a look.


    Soon, relying on her memory, she drove the mule cart to the yard.


    The yard was not big, and the houses looked quite tidy. Perhaps because no one had lived there for a long time, the yard was already overgrown with weeds.


    He Zhiran parked the mule cart and walked straight in.


    After opening the door of the front house and taking a look around, He Zhiran couldn''t help but marvel at her good fortune.


    The room inside was empty, perfect for the warehouse she had spoken of.


    She nced at the space''s big clock, there was still some time before the appointment with Fei Nanyu. He Zhiran instantly shed into the space.


    Mo Jiuye was trying to prepare lunch in the kitchen. Seeing He Zhiran return, he put down the spat in his hand and walked over.


    "What''s the situation outside?"


    He Zhiran briefly recounted what themon folk were talking about in Pingyang County, and told him that she had met Fei Nanyu and why Fei Nanyu had appeared in Pingyang County.


    "I found an abandoned yard in the eastern suburb. I''m thinking of buying some huanglian and putting it in there, and handing over the silver and copper coins from the magistrate''s house to him as well."


    Mo Jiuye didn''t understand why He Zhiran wanted to do this.


    "Do you have any purpose for doing this?"


    He Zhiran slowly exined her thoughts to him.


    "I told Fei Nanyu that these huanglians were privately hoarded by the dog magistrate. Think about it, with Fei Nanyu''s astuteness, he will definitely ponder the purpose of hoarding so much huanglian.


    Right now, Nan Qi has been sent by the Emperor to provide disaster relief in Dongfeng County. Once he makes achievements there, he will definitely gain the Emperor''s favor.


    Judging from the current situation at court, Nan Heng must be the one who least wants Nan Qi''s disaster relief to seed. He will definitely secretly create obstacles to hinder Nan Qi''s actions.


    If Fei Nanyu goes back and tells Nan Qi about the magistrate hoardingrge amounts of huanglian, the first thing Nan Qi will think is that the magistrate was working for Nan Heng, with the purpose of preventing his disaster relief efforts.


    Furthermore, Nan Qi might even suspect that the gue in Dongfeng County was man-made, and Nan Heng would undoubtedly be the prime suspect."

 Chapter 112: I thank you for those people in Dongfeng County.

    <h4>Chapter 112</h4>


    He Zhiran''s eyes grew brighter and brighter as she listened. She had already guessed Mo Jiuye''s purpose in her heart.


    Therefore, she took over the conversation and continued:


    "This way, Nan Qi will harbor more hatred towards Nan Heng. With Nan Qi''s intolerable temperament, when he returns to the capital, he will definitely think of ways to make trouble for Nan Heng.


    Nan Heng will be too busy defending himself to temporarily ignore the assassination against me for the time being."


    He Zhiran nodded with a smile.


    "That''s only part of the reason."


    Mo Jiuye raised an eyebrow: "Could it be that you have other purposes?"


    He Zhiran was full of confidence.


    "I also want to take this opportunity to help Fei Nanyu and ask him to spread the word about your break up with Nan Qi after he returns to the capital. This way, Nan Heng willpletely abandon the assassination against you.


    Also, didn''t we n to distribute the silver coins from the dog magistrate among themon peoplest night? I n to ask Fei Nanyu for help with this as well. With his capabilities, he will surely be able to aplish it."


    After hearing her words, Mo Jiuye admired this woman''s wisdom even more.


    There was an involuntary tone of indulgence in his words. "You really are exceptional to have thought of so many things with that little head of yours."


    ttered by the praise, He Zhiran nearly jumped for joy.


    "It''s called killing two birds with one stone. Not only did I find a reliable person to return the dog magistrate''s money to themoners, but I''ve also relieved Nan Heng''s wariness against you."


    Seeing her grinning, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help reaching out to pat her head.


    "Alright, you''ve been out for so long and must be tired too. Rest for a while and we''ll have lunch."


    He Zhiran felt very pampered by Mo Jiuye''s doting care.


    She obediently went to wash her hands in the bathroom, then sat obediently at the dining table waiting for the meal.


    Mo Jiuye busily made two dishes with the ingredients he found in the fridge, one being cucumber fried pork, the other stir-fried eggs with cabbage...


    When the dishes were brought to the table, He Zhiran''s eyes instantly widened.


    She could still ept the cucumber fried pork, as many people in her previous life ate thisbination.


    But what on earth was that stir-fried eggs with cabbage?


    Forget about wondering what these two ingredients would taste like together, it seemed Mo Jiuye didn''t even get the process right.


    The egg pieces were about the size of fingernails, with some still wrapped in cabbage leaves.


    Also, not knowing how much soy sauce he had added, the whole dish looked ck.


    The cucumber fried pork didn''t look much better either. Not only was there no soy sauce, but the ingredients were also covered in wok char...


    Looking at his creations, Mo Jiuye was clearly somewhat embarrassed.


    He rubbed his head awkwardly, "Uh...I failed a bit with the dishes, but I tasted them earlier and they are edible."


    He Zhiran was not the fussy type. In her previous life when she was young, her parents neglected her and she couldn''t even eat food like this back then.


    Moreover, Mo Jiuye had personally cooked for her, so she could not disregard his good intentions.


    "It''s alright, you''ll get the hang of cooking with more practice," she encouraged.


    After speaking, she picked up her chopsticks and put a mouthful of food in her mouth. The taste was not yet unptable, so He Zhiran simply ate a few more bites.


    Seeing that she did not show displeasure, Mo Jiuye immediately smiled again.


    "Eat slowly, I''ll help serve the rice."


    When Mo Jiuye came back with two bowls of rice, the smile on his face turned into an embarrassed look again.


    He ced a bowl of rice in front of He Zhiran, "I didn''t grasp the water ratio for the rice well, it looks a bit like congee..."


    He Zhiran took a look, and indeed that was the case.


    The rice Mo Jiuye made was a little too watery to be considered rice, yet a little too dry to be congee...


    Still, she encouraged again, "It''s alright as long as it''s cooked and I can eat it."


    Mo Jiuye knew clearly in his heart that she wasforting him, and he immediately felt a warmth there, with an even stronger desire to cook for her for the rest of their lives.


    After the meal, He Zhiran made preparations to leave the space, bringing Mo Jiuye along this time.


    After all, they were going to meet Fei Nanyuter, so Mo Jiuye hiding would inevitably arouse the other party''s suspicions.


    The two appeared together in the abandoned room.


    He Zhiran had boughtrge quantities of honeysuckle from Taobao Treasury, piling up half a room''s worth.


    She then ced the silver and copper coins taken from the magistrate''s residence on the other side of the room.


    As for those silver notes, He Zhiran chose to keep them.


    The reason she kept them was that the silver notes were easy to store, so there was no need for the dog magistrate to also store them here. If they were seen by Fei Nanyu, it would be equivalent to telling him there were not 300 taels of silver here.


    He Zhiran did this to avoid possible troubles.


    With all the items in the room arranged, the two pushed the door and went out together.


    The weeds in the yard had grown back, clearly showing signs that no one had been here for a long time.


    He Zhiran circled the yard several dozen times with the mule cart to create traces of frequent recent activity.


    Once everything was ready, she bought an antique-style lock from Taobao Treasury and locked the front door.


    Then she damaged one of the windows with a tool.


    ncing at the clock in the space, it was almost time she had arranged to meet Fei Nanyu.


    He Zhiran purchased a few more antique-style quilts from Taobao Treasury and spread them in the cartpartment so that Mo Jiuye wouldn''t feel too bumpy sitting inside.


    Driving the mule cart and paying a fee of ten coins, the two returned to Pingyang County once again.


    To make it look like she hade from the city, He Zhiran deliberately took a roundabout route before arriving at the designated meeting ce.


    Fei Nanyu was already waiting there and hurried up to them when he saw He Zhiran driving over with a mule cart from afar.


    Mo Jiuye flipped open the carriage curtain to exchange greetings, then Fei Nanyu suggested He Zhiran sit inside while he and his attendant rode outside to drive the cart.


    On the way, Fei Nanyu asked with concern how Mo Jiuye got injured.


    The two had already anticipated Fei Nanyu would ask this, so they decided to tell the truth.


    After listening, Fei Nanyu did not say anything, only sighing before changing the topic.


    The few chatted casually along the way and soon arrived at the abandoned residence.


    Mo Jiuye''s injuries were still quite severe, so he was forcibly kept in the cart by He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran led the other two into the yard.


    Seeing the footprints in the yard, Fei Nanyu did not actually doubt anything and followed He Zhiran to the front door of the main building.


    He Zhiran pointed to a window next to them and said, "The door is locked, so I got in through there."


    Without any suspicion, Fei Nanyu strode to the window.


    He Zhiran shook it forcefully a few times and the window opened.


    Fei Nanyu jumped through the window. Seeing so much honeysuckle, his usual calmposurepletely disappeared.


    "Lady Mo, you have truly performed an enormous service this time. I thank you on behalf of themoners of Dongfeng County."


    "Mr. Fei is too polite. I still have a favor to ask of you." He Zhiran said.


    "Lady Mo, please tell me whatever you need. As long as Nanyu can aplish it, I will surely spare no effort."


    He Zhiran pointed at the silver coins on the ground, "Mr. Fei must also have heard that Pingyang County''s magistrate is a dog official. In the few years since he took office, he has exploited themon people without end. This silver must have been seized from thosemoners.


    Since we''ve found this money, I think it should be returned to its rightful owners."

 Chapter 113: The son is unfilial, let the mother worry

    <h4>Chapter 113</h4>


    Fei Nanyu was very clever.


    "Mrs. Mo means to ask me to help return this silver to its rightful owner."


    He Zhiran just liked dealing with smart people.


    "Mr. Fei also knows that my husband and I are in a hurry to be on our way and simply don''t have the time for this, not to mention our status makes it inappropriate..."


    Fei Nanyu already agreed with her idea and nodded, "If Mrs. Mo trusts me, I will definitely take care of this properly."


    After a pause, he went on, "The county magistrate Sun hoarded so much wolfsbane, he must have gotten someone''s order to do so. Judging from the current situation in Dongfeng County, the gue is likely man-made, either to make Prince Qi''s disaster relief effort fruitless, or even cost Prince Qi his life due to the gue.


    It''s obvious to us all who stands to benefit most from such an oue. I''m thinking once Prince Qi learns of this matter, he will certainly retaliate.


    Presumably by then, Prince Heng will be too busy dealing with it to continue going after Young Master Mo.


    Also, after I return to the capital, I will think of an appropriate reason to spread word that Young Master Mo and Prince Qi had a falling out.


    Once Prince Heng believes that, he will alsopletely abandon the idea of assassinating Young Master Mo. Then your future days will be peaceful."


    He Zhiran had not expected Fei Nanyu to consider all this so quickly, and his guesses at things that might happen aligned perfectly with her own spections.


    Whatforted her even more was that Fei Nanyu took the initiative to suggest spreading word of the rift between Mo Jiuye and Prince Qi of the South after returning to the capital.


    This saved her and Mo Jiuye the embarrassment of having to ask him for this favor.


    He Zhiran sincerely bowed to Fei Nanyu, "Thank you Mr. Fei for considering my Mo family. I thank you on behalf of all in the Mo family for your kindness."


    Fei Nanyu quickly helped steady her, "Mrs. Mo is too polite. If we speak of kindness it was you who saved me first and helped me so greatly today, I should be the one expressing gratitude."


    The two exchanged pleasantries for a while. Seeing it was gettingte, He Zhiran took her leave. Handling the wolfsbane and silver money was now Fei Nanyu''s business.


    Back in the mule cart, she briefly told Mo Jiuye what had transpired before setting off driving the mule cart.


    To amodate Mo Jiuye''s health, she did not dare drive too quickly.


    Not until they had traveled over ten li did He Zhiran feel it was safe and send Mo Jiuye into her space to recuperate.


    It wasn''t until the sun had set that He Zhiran stopped to rest.


    She parked the mule cart in a safe spot, then bought some feed for the mule before slipping into her space.


    And so, He Zhiran would drive the mule cart by day and rest in her space at night.


    On the sixth straight day of travel, Mo Jiuye guessed they were probably not far from the exiled convoy.


    At this point He Zhiran had changed back into her original clothing.


    The stitches had been removed from Mo Jiuye''s wounds and he could move unencumbered again. He insisted on recing He Zhiran in driving the mule cart.


    He Zhiran simply sat beside him, appreciating the different ancient scenery.


    Before nightfall they finally caught sight of the exiled convoy up ahead.


    He Zhiran considered that her space could provide fruits her family members could not enjoy here. She wanted to take this chance to buy some rtively ordinary fruit varieties by the standards of this time period and bring them back as gifts of thanks for the officers who had let her and Mo Jiuye slip away from the convoy for so long without reporting it.


    After all, if the officers had not tacitly allowed this, they would have likely reported such an irregrity to the court long ago.


    Seeing He Zhiran was ready, Mo Jiuye sped up the mule cart. In the blink of an eye they had caught up to the convoy.


    The officer walking at the rear of the convoy saw who was in the cart and gaped in shock.


    Without further thought he raced to the front of the convoy shouting loudly, "Chief, Mo Jiuye is back!"


    Mo Jiuye slowed the mule cart until it gradually reached the Mo family members'' position.


    At the same time, Peng Wang at the front also heard the shout and walked over, coincidentally meeting them by the Mo family convoy.


    Mo Jiuye first nodded politely at Peng Wang, then went before Old Lady Mo and fell to his knees with a thud,


    "Your son has been unfilial and caused you worry."


    As he spoke he solemnly kowtowed to Old Lady Mo.


    Old Lady Mo''s eyes were already brimming with tears. She tottered over to Mo Jiuye and helped him stand, choking back sobs,


    "As long as you''re back, as long as you''re back..."


    Seeing this, the sisters-inw also kept wiping their eyes.


    Mo Hanyue was even more dramatic, throwing herself into He Zhiran''s arms weeping loudly.


    "Sister-inw Nine, you''ve finally returned! Hanyue hasn''t been able to sleep at night from worrying about you...waah...Sister-inw Nine, Hanyue missed you and Brother Nine so much!"


    He Zhiran held Mo Hanyue, gentlyforting her, "Don''t cry now Hanyue. See, we''re back safe and sound."


    Mo Hanyue''s were tears of joy. Of course she wouldn''t cry for long. She nestled in He Zhiran''s embrace acting spoiled for a bit before returning to Old Lady Mo''s side.


    At this time Mo Jiuye had gone before Peng Wang. After being away for so long he had to provide an exnation.


    "Big Brother Peng, this matter came up suddenly. My wife and I identally fell off a cliff. Thankfully Lord Zhou was timely in his rescue, bringing us out of the valley..."


    Peng Wang looked Mo Jiuye over carefully and patted his shoulder.


    "Old Eight already told me about this when he returned. Don''t me yourself for it, as long as you rejoined us.


    Having just gotten back, spend timeforting your family. They were worried sick for you two this time."


    Mo Jiuye gratefully saluted Peng Wang with folded hands, "Many thanks for Big Brother Peng''s understanding."


    Peng Wang looked at the skies. He ordered traveling another half hour before stopping to rest.


    He Zhiran considered that Old Lady Mo and the sisters would have much to discuss with Mo Jiuye after his dramatic return. She tactfully led the mule cart along behind.


    The Eighth Old Zhou was in the middle of the convoy. Seeing He Zhiran alone he couldn''t help hurrying over.


    "Lady He, were you and Mo Jiuye safe on the road?"


    He Zhiran gave him a proper smile, "Many thanks for your concern Lord Zhou. Our journey went smoothly. To rejoin you sooner we bought a mule cart in Pingyang County which made traveling much easier."


    Peng Wang was not far away. He Zhiran saying this also indirectly exined the mule cart''s origins.


    The Eighth Old Zhou had not thought that deeply about it. He nced at the mule cart and said softly,


    "The rules say exiled convoys cannot have livestock transports. But don''t worry, I''ll tell the chief about this. Considering the special circumstances, not to mention you spent money buying the cart, it wouldn''t do to just abandon it."


    Peng Wang rolled his eyes at the Eighth Old Zhou. If it wasn''t for He Zhiran''s presence he would have dragged him off already to privately chew him out.


    This Eighth Old Zhou truly never learned. He clearly knew nothing could happen with Lady He yet always tried to cozy up to her.

 Chapter 114: I don’t do things that people criticize.

    <h4>Chapter 114</h4>


    When The Eighth Old Zhou had arranged to look for people back then, that was still understandable since it involved the big picture.


    But now that the young couple had narrowly escaped death and returned safe and sound, this tactless guy was still lingering around in front of them...


    While Mo Jiuye was talking to his family, he also saw The Eighth Old Zhou''s actions.


    He somehow just felt annoyed in his heart.


    He reassured his family for a few sentences and walked towards He Zhiran''s direction.


    As if to dere his sovereignty, he took over the donkey cart reins in He Zhiran''s hands, and at the same time pulled her to his other side, drawing a clear line with The Eighth Old Zhou.


    The Eighth Old Zhou was not a tactless person either.


    He simply couldn''t control himself just now, which led him to talk to He Zhiran.


    Mo Jiuye''s current actions couldn''t be more obvious, clearly hinting for him to keep his distance from He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran was his lifesaver, he would never take the initiative to undermine their marital rtionship.


    So The Eighth Old Zhou deliberately coughed twice, "I still have things to do over there, let''s talk another day."


    Mo Jiuye indifferently replied: "Master Zhou, please go ahead with your business."


    Peng Wang saw The Eighth Old Zhou walk away and chased after him, pounding him in the chest with his fist.


    "Old Eight, I don''t want to say any more words. Watch yourself."


    The Eighth Old Zhou also knew that his approaching of He Zhiran just now was indeed somewhat inappropriate.


    "Boss, don''t worry! You know me, The Eighth Old Zhou, the best. I would never do anything that would cause criticism."


    "Humph! In short, I have said my piece, whatever happens from now on is up to you!" After saying that, Peng Wang was toozy to continue thering and left with his hands behind his back.


    Peng Wang had already tacitly acknowledged the existence of the donkey cart and did not ask about it further.


    Half an hourter, the troop stopped by a not very bigke.


    There was a water source here, convenient for everyone to make dinner.


    The sisters-inw were happy to see the Ninth Younger Brother and Ninth Younger Sister-in-Lawe back, and they started cooking more enthusiastically.


    Mother Mo always held onto her son, ceaselessly fussing over him.


    The Fang and Xie families also came over now and told He Zhiran about what had happened after they went missing.


    At the same time, they also told her a big news.


    That was that when the He family was carrying He Ming down the mountain, they slipped and identally dropped the person.


    He Ming rolled down the slope and by the time the He family members caught up, he had already stopped breathing.


    The He family was heartbroken over this for several days.


    Regarding He Ming''s death, He Zhiran only listened casually without making any judgement.


    ...


    After the family ate a reunion dinner in the wild, He Zhiran took the sisters-inw to the donkey cart to move fruit.


    She had prepared rtively few types of fruit, only apples and peachesmonly seen in this era.


    But they were plentiful in quantity and could definitely allow everyone to have their fill.


    Eldest Sister-in-Law carried down a basket of apples first and when she opened the grass mat on top, everyone was instantly stunned by what was inside.


    Second Sister-in-Law excitedly eximed, "Oh my gosh! This is the first time I''ve seen such huge apples from young to now."


    Fourth Sister-in-Law chimed in, "That''s right, not only are these apples huge, the color is much redder than any we''ve eaten before."


    The gluttonous Eighth Sister-in-Law had already impatiently taken out two apples from the basket.


    "Such nice apples, Mother and Hanying must like eating them. I''ll go bring some to them now."


    When buying fruit for her family members, He Zhiran did not skimp at all.


    She had specifically chosen the best quality Red Delicious apples on Taobao, guaranteed sweetness and thirst-quenching with every bite.


    Seeing Eighth Sister-in-Law''s greedy look, He Zhiranughed, "Sisters, there are plenty of apples, everyone feel free to eat."


    The sisters-inw stared at the big apples without moving.


    They really couldn''t bear to eat such good-looking apples.


    Seeing the sisters-inw not making a move, He Zhiran simply stopped urging them and urged them to keep moving the fruit instead.


    She had prepared two big baskets of Fuji apples in total. Counting the government clerks and the other two families, everyone could at least get two each.


    The peaches she loaded in the cart were also carefully chosen by He Zhiran, simrlyrge in size and beautiful in color.


    When the sisters-inw saw the honey peaches bigger than their fists, drool nearly flowed out.


    The peaches they had eaten before were not only tiny in size, but the flesh was also extremely firm, crunchy with every bite, with nothing attractive about them other than being a little sweet.


    However, the peaches Ninth Younger Brother and Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law brought back today werepletely different.


    Without even taking a bite, just feeling them in their hands, they could see the peaches were big, thick-fleshed, and juicy.


    The sisters-inw simply loved the fruit He Zhiran brought back and couldn''t keep their hands off them.


    Fourth Sister-in-Law unconsciously touched the purse given by her natal family members when they left.


    She hadn''t spent her silver at all and everyone had been using Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law''s money so far.


    If possible, she also wanted to buy some tasty treats for her family like Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law.


    "Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, where did you and Ninth Younger Brother buy such nice fruit?"


    The other sisters-inw were also very curious about this and looked toward He Zhiran when Fourth Sister-in-Law asked.


    He Zhiran had already thought up an excuse for the fruit''s appearance long ago.


    "Sisters-in-Law, my husband and I happened to see the fruit while traveling, the seller was pushing a wooden cart through streets and alleys. I also don''t know where such fruit will be sold down the line."


    With this, she directly dashed Fourth Sister-in-Law''s thoughts of continuing to buy fruit.


    Fourth Sister-in-Law was clearly very regretful.


    "What a pity, who knows when we''ll encounter such nice fruit again."


    Seeing this, Third Sister-in-Law chimed in, "If wee across fruit like this again, it''ll be my treat for everyone."


    Seeing the two of them talking to each other, the other sisters-inw were envious inside at their having silver.


    Eldest Sister-in-Law sighed, "Once we settle down in the Northwest, I''ll go out to find a job to do, then I can also help the family somewhat."


    Second Sister-in-Law echoed, "Eldest Sister-in-Law, I''ll go with you when the timees."


    Seeing the sisters-inws'' thoughts going astray, He Zhiran hastily reminded, "Sisters, let''s first carry the fruit over and distribute it to everyone."


    The sisters-inws'' attention immediately fell back onto the two types of fruit, with some even unconsciously swallowing their saliva.


    Four baskets of fruit. Two people carried one basket, and returned to where the families had concentrated to set up tents.


    Seeing the Mo family women carrying severalrge baskets, the government clerks spontaneously crowded around without needing to be called.


    Now the entire Mo family''s women listened to He Zhiran''s arrangements.


    Eldest Sister-in-Law asked, "Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, how should the fruit be distributed?"


    "Two of each fruit per person first, then we''ll see about the rest," He Zhiran said. She had already taken the lead to grab two peaches and two apples to deliver to Mother Mo.


    Seeing this, Mo Hanying also came over to help distribute the fruit.


    Everyone became all smiles when they saw the Mo family''s women take out such nice fruit from the baskets. Even those government clerks no longer put on any airs and lined up orderly to receive theirs.


    After Zhang Qing got the apples, he couldn''t wait to take a big bite in front of the crowd, instantly giving He Zhiran a big thumbs up.


    "Lady He, you''ve really got it, to actually manage buying such delicious fruit!"

 Chapter 115: Don’t Talk to me in Circles.

    <h4>Chapter 115</h4>


    As the Fang Family and Xie Family were enjoying the delicious fruits, they did not forget toe and express their gratitude.


    Especially little Xie Lin, the sweet-talking child smiled at He Zhiran and said, ¡°Thank you, auntie. When auntie has a little brother in her family, Lin''er will definitely y with him.¡±


    Hearing Xie Lin¡¯s words, everyone around burst into loudughter.


    Some even started jokingly asking He Zhiran if there were any movements in her belly.


    He Zhiran did not think much about Xie Lin¡¯s childish words at first. However, when the adults started teasing her, she immediately blushed in embarrassment.


    Standing not far away, Mo Jiuye watched all this and fell into deep thoughts.


    He thought that the child he and He Zhiran would have must be very good-looking. At that time, the whole family would gather around the little one and y together happily. Just thinking about that scene made him delighted already.


    As Mo Jiuye''s thoughts drifted further away, countless images of him and He Zhiran with children and grandchildren around their knees appeared in his mind unknowingly...


    He Zhiran''s blushing onlysted for a moment. In order to cover up her embarrassment, she casually sat with everyone, chatting andughing.


    Watching them get along so well from afar, He Zhiyuan felt that his intestines turned green with regret.


    He should have learned from the Xie Family and the Fang Family to curry favor with Mo Jiuye earlier.


    That way, wouldn¡¯t his He Family also be able to enjoy such delicious fruits?


    Thinking of this, He Zhiyuan unexpectedly went to Mo Jiuye ording to his own intention.


    Mo Jiuye nced at him but had no intention of talking to him.


    He Zhiyuan thought that since he took the initiative toe over, even if Mo Jiuye was unwilling, he would at least ask, ¡°What are you here for?¡±


    But Mo Jiuye did not.


    He Zhiyuan acted on impulse when he came this time. Now faced with this situation, he was caught in a dilemma.


    Since he already came, he could not leave without saying anything.


    After thinking for a moment, He Zhiyuan gritted his teeth and spoke up, ¡°Mo... Master Mo.¡± It suddenly urred to him that addressing in this way would be more appropriate.


    Mo Jiuye raised his eyebrows but still did not speak. He just signaled him to continue.


    He Zhiyuan looked mysterious. After taking a furtive look around, he whispered, ¡°In fact, someone instigated me when I withheld the grains and fodder from the border pass back then.¡±


    Even without He Zhiyuan saying it, Mo Jiuye was clear in his heart.


    However, deliberately pretending to be unaware in front of He Zhiyuan, he wanted to see what tricks He Zhiyuan was ying.


    "It looks like Master He is ready to sell out his boss?" Mo Jiuye spoke with an icy tone that contained extremely obvious mockery.


    Although the tone made He Zhiyuan a little embarrassed, the arrow had left the bowstring. Since he already started talking, he did not think of continuing to conceal anything.


    Whether he could make up with Mo Jiuye depended on this move.


    Hence, He Zhiyuan also became serious.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Master Mo can¡¯t imagine that the one who instructed me to withhold grains and fodder back then was Second Prince Prince Rui.¡±


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye¡¯s eyes suddenly became profound.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying it was Prince Rui?¡±


    He Zhiyuan nodded, ¡°It was indeed Prince Rui.¡±


    This waspletely different from what Mo Jiuye had guessed before.


    Back then, it was clear to him that someone must have instigated He Zhiyuan¡¯s withholding grains and fodder to the border pass. However, they spected the person was Nan Heng.


    By then, the situation in court was pretty clear. Nan Heng was born to the principal wife of Emperor Shunwu, the legitimate crown prince. His ability was slightlycking, but his position was auspicious. Those who supported making him the crown prince took up half the court halls.


    Nan Qi was born to Concubine Yuan, with a status second only to that of Nan Heng.


    However, Nan Qi¡¯s superb conduct won the support of many ministers, half of whom became his faction.


    As for Nan Rui, whom He Zhiyuan had just mentioned, his mother was not favored, nor did Emperor Shunwu like this son. He seldom had any presence in front of others since young.


    His usual performance was showing no interest in politics and being engrossed in poetry and painting with schrs all day.


    If what He Zhiyuan said was true, Mo Jiuye could not understand for the moment what Prince Rui¡¯s intention for doing so was.


    To confirm whether He Zhiyuan''s words were true or false, he asked, ¡°Why would he do so when we have no enmity at all?¡±


    It was as if he had hit Mo Jiuye¡¯s trigger, and He Zhiyuan¡¯s expression immediately changed upon hearing this.


    He gave a sinisterugh. As he started to exin, his words also carried more confidence than before.


    ¡°Master Mo is a smart man, you must know the purpose of my telling you these.¡±


    Watching He Zhiyuan with his petty face, Mo Jiuye just wanted to p him.


    Nevertheless, to extract some useful information from him, Mo Jiuye clenched and rxed his fist and held back his anger.


    ¡°I¡¯m merely a simple warrior who does not understand those winding tricks. So Master He should speak inly with me.¡±


    He had thought that upon saying this, Mo Jiuye would immediately change his attitude and try to please him.


    However, the result waspletely opposite from what he imagined. Not only did Mo Jiuye not show any intention to fawn on him, he even intimidated him with that icy cold gaze.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye''s cold eyes, He Zhiyuan could not help shuddering.


    He even associated it with Mo Jiuye possibly taking some drastic measures to force him to yield if he did not disclose everything he knew today.


    As for what measures, He Zhiyuan dared not imagine. With Mo Jiuye¡¯s decisive and ruthless means on the battlefield, he would definitely suffer.


    After so much trouble, he still had to confess in the end...


    Having figured things out, He Zhiyuan decided not to worry about gains and losses any longer. He did not believe that after revealing such a huge secret, Mo Jiuye would remain indifferent.


    ¡°The poetry and painting Prince Rui engages in every day is just a front. His intention is to make Prince Heng and Prince Qi lower their guard and think he would not be a stumbling block on their path to being the crown prince.


    How would they expect that Prince Rui has secretly rallied many ministers in private? On the surface, those ministers still belong to either Prince Heng or Prince Qi¡¯s faction, but they are actually working for Prince Rui.


    Back then, his intention of asking me to withhold grains and fodder on the way to the borders was to make Prince Qi suspicious of Prince Heng. This was meant to intensify conflicts between them to the point of drawing swords against each other.


    And indeed, things went just as Prince Rui predicted. Prince Qi¡¯s subordinates submitted many impeachments against Prince Heng repeatedly. As a result, the two became like fire and water and even started oppressing each other secretly.¡±


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye still could not distinguish the authenticity of He Zhiyuan¡¯s words.


    However, what he said was reasoned and usible; it was not impossible.


    ¡°What benefits did Prince Rui promise you that made you so willing to be used by him?¡±


    This question was key. If He Zhiyuan¡¯s answer was reasonable, Mo Jiuye would overturn all his prior cognition.


    ¡°I won¡¯t hide this from Master Mo, but I have an illegitimate daughter named He Meiyu who has been raised outside ever since she was young. Meiyu is talented and aplished. She got to know Prince Rui by chance at a poetry party once, and they developed feelings for each other. After Prince Rui learned of her status, he personally proposed to me.


    He promised that Meiyu¡¯s position would be the principal wife, so I considered that no matter whether Prince Rui had ulterior motives or not, he was a prince after all. For my little illegitimate daughter to be a principal wife would be a blessing that I would never achieve even after three lifetimes of cultivation.


    After I agreed, Prince Rui put forward another condition that after entering his residence, Meiyu must take on a new identity so that outsiders would not think there was any connection between us.


    His intention was that he did not want others to use him of forming factions and private interests.


    Two monthster, Prince Rui brought Meiyu home as promised. Meiyu''s identity was merely the daughter of a wealthy merchant.¡±

 Chapter 116: What did He promise You

    <h4>Chapter 116</h4>


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye understood a lot more.


    To put it simply, the reason why He Zhiyuan could get involved with Prince Rui was because the intermediary was He Meiyu.


    He had also heard that the family background of Prince Rui''s consort was nothing special. She was just from an ordinary merchant family in the Capital city.


    And not long ago, there was news spreading around the Capital city that Prince Rui''s consort had fallen ill and died.


    Judging by He Zhiyuan''s expression now, he did not seem to be lying.


    Mo Jiuye continued asking, "What happened after that?"


    "Afterwards, Prince Rui took Meiyu along with him to secretly meet me, using the excuse that she missed her family.


    As we continued to meet, Prince Rui and I gradually became more familiar with each other, and he took the opportunity to tell me about recruiting me."


    Mo Jiuye asked insistently, "What benefits did he promise you?"


    He Zhiyuan smiled self-deprecatingly, "Naturally, it was the position of empress for Meiyu. Prince Rui said that as long as he could smoothly take that position, Meiyu would definitely be the future empress.


    By then, he would announce Meiyu''s true identity in front of all the civil and military officials of the court, making me the father-inw who stood above tens of thousands of people, second only to the emperor."


    Mo Jiuye sneered coldly, "Too bad your daughter had a short life."


    He Zhiyuan sighed.


    "It was all because I was not a good judge of character. I thought Prince Rui would keep his promise to me. But after I was demoted by the emperor, his attitude towards me changed dramatically.


    It was not until the news of Meiyu''s death came out that Ipletely gave up the dream of bing the emperor''s father-inw.


    Prince Rui was also not worried that I would reveal his matters, because by doing so, it would be equivalent to me directly admitting that I had detained the border troops'' rations."


    Having said that, He Zhiyuan bowed deeply to Mo Jiuye.


    "Young Master Mo, now that we have both fallen to being exiled, I''m telling you all this in the hope that you can let go of past grudges and take care of my family a little.


    I was able to get to where I am today with Prince Rui''s maneuvers behind the scenes. After experiencing exile for this period of time, I have seen through many things and will no longer have any improper thoughts."


    Mo Jiuye put his hands behind his back, his gaze still cold.


    "You and I were never on the same side to begin with. Moreover, your actions back then almost cost the lives of so many troops at the border. No matter what, I will never forgive you for that.


    Considering that you told me all these today, as long as you follow the rules and don''t provoke me in the future, I guarantee I won''t take action against you on my own initiative."


    Mo Jiuye had thought that after arriving in the northwest, he would find an opportunity to take He Zhiyuan''s life and avenge the border troops whose rations were withheld by him that year.


    If it were not for the border troops not losing their lives due to his withholding of rations, Mo Jiuye would have taken his life long ago.


    For him to be able to make such a guarantee to He Zhiyuan today was already the greatest concession.


    Upon hearing this, He Zhiyuan suddenly straightened up. He stared at Mo Jiuye in disbelief.


    He had never imagined that Mo Jiuye had intended to kill him.


    He probably only held back because there were still those officials present.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiyuan suddenly felt a chill down his spine, and cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his forehead.


    His intention in voluntarily telling Mo Jiuye these things was not to earn the other party''s forgiveness, but to make his whole family live a little better.


    Even if it was just one or two of those fruits to satisfy their cravings, it would still be good.


    Unexpectedly, things did not go ording to n at all, putting him in a dilemma.


    After thinking for a while, He Zhiyuan gritted his teeth and said, "Young Master Mo, I told you all these in good faith. You can''t go back on your word!"


    Mo Jiuye sneered coldly.


    "You took the initiative to tell me. I didn''t ask."


    This almost angered He Zhiyuan to the point of fainting. He was not entirely without a temper either.


    "People in court all say you are a gentleman, but I see you have the face of a petty man."


    Instead of getting angry, Mo Jiuye smiled.


    "Whether one is a gentleman or has the face of a petty man depends on who one is facing. What reason do I have to be a gentleman when dealing with a thoroughly petty man?"


    These words left He Zhiyuan speechless. He also realized that Mo Jiuye had a personality that could not be persuaded no matter what. In the end, it was pointless for him to say any more.


    Finally, He Zhiyuan flung his sleeve and walked away angrily.


    At the same time, Mo Jiuye also fell into contemtion, thinking about how to deal with it in the future if what He Zhiyuan said was true.


    He had just figured out a solution for Nan Heng''s matters when another hidden figure like Nan Rui popped up.


    Zhi Ran was eating fruit with the women and did not think too much when he saw He Zhiyuane over. He assumed it was just a behavior to curry favor with Mo Jiuye.


    Seeing that the women were almost done eating, Zhi Ran urged everyone to go rest.


    There were not too many fruits left, enough to give each of the Mo family two.


    So Zhi Ran took the initiative to have everyone take two and leave, keeping them to eat on the road tomorrow.


    Everyone left happily with two fruits each, returning to their own tents to rest.


    Zhi Ran let Old Lady Mo sleep in the carriage with Mo Hanyue.


    The inside of the carriage was soft and cushy, certainly morefortable than the tents.


    Considering her son''s injury, Old Lady Mo insisted on sleeping in the tent.


    Now that Mo Jiuye knew the secret of the space, Zhi Ran was even less demanding about the lodging arrangements. No matter where they slept, they would ultimately enter the space anyway.


    Mo Jiuye also understood this principle. He helped Zhi Ran persuade Old Lady Mo.


    In the end, Old Lady Mo could not refuse the two of them and obediently took Mo Hanyue with her into the carriage.


    Now that Mo Jiuye knew about the existence of the space, Zhi Ran no longer intended to wash up outside. They could take care of it once back in the space.


    When she returned to the tent, she saw Mo Jiuye had a pensive look.


    Zhi Ran subconsciously thought it must have something to do with He Zhiyuan.


    Afraid that the walls had ears, to be safe, Zhi Ran directly pulled Mo Jiuye into the space with her.


    The two sat down at the dining table tacitly.


    Zhi Ran asked, "What happened?"


    Mo Jiuye did not hide anything at all and told Zhi Ran what He Zhiyuan had just said.


    "I can''t confirm whether what He Zhiyuan said is true or false, but I still have to be vignt."


    Upon hearing this, Zhi Ran''s mind started searching for the records about Prince Rui in the history books.


    However, in her knowledge, Prince Rui''s presence was very insignificant. If not for Mo Jiuye''s mention today, she might havepletely ignored this person altogether.


    To verify the authenticity of the matter, Zhi Ran brought over several history books in front of Mo Jiuye.


    Seeing a pile of books on the table, Mo Jiuye asked, "What are these?"


    Zhi Ran specifically handed over a traditional Chinese edition of a history book to Mo Jiuye.


    "This records some things about the Da Shun Dynasty. It might help us."


    Without hesitation, Mo Jiuye immediately started flipping through it.


    Zhi Ran was not idle either. Since her transmigration here, she had read through the history books multiple times. Most of the contents were superficial descriptions. If one really wanted to discover some unknown matters, one still had to dig deeper into unofficial historical records.

 Chapter 117: I should be dead by Now.

    <h4>Chapter 117</h4>


    Therefore, He Zhiran directly chose to read "Wild History".


    At this moment, the two of them had already entered a state of immersed reading, earnestly flipping through the books in their hands.


    When Mo Jiuye saw the ce where he died after being exiled, he took a sharp breath and looked deeply at He Zhiran.


    "Is it because of these books that you can foresee some things in advance?"


    Now, apart from her identity as a time traveler, Mo Jiuye had almost learned all of her secrets.


    Therefore, He Zhiran had no intention of hiding anything.


    "Yes, it''s true. I can foresee some things because of these books.


    You saw the items I purchased on my phone, and those peculiar things should alle from the future."


    "The future?" Mo Jiuye was not unfamiliar with this term, but he felt that everything was beyond his realm of understanding.


    He Zhiran shrugged and continued, "When I first obtained this space, I was also curious about why there were such peculiar things here.


    After a long period of research and analysis, I determined that this space is indeed a creation of the future."


    As she said that, she took the book from Mo Jiuye''s hand and pointed to a corner of the cover.


    "Look here, the publication date of this book is 2020, and we are currently in the year 303, with more than a thousand years in between."


    Mo Jiuye pondered for a moment.


    "Are you saying that this book was written by people from the future?"


    "Not entirely. I guess that people from the futurepiled these records together," exined He Zhiran.


    With that, Mo Jiuyepletely understood.


    He pointed to the section in the book where he died in exile and asked the question in his heart.


    "ording to the book, I should be a dead person right now, but I am still alive in this world. This must be rted to you, right?"


    He Zhiran did not deny this.


    "The book indeed records that after your exile, you died shortly after leaving the capital. However, the cause of death remains a mystery.


    I specte that you were summoned to the pce by the emperorte at night and severely injured after receiving a hundred beatings. This could be one possible cause of death, and the other is that those who wanted to take your life sent someone to assassinate you."


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "Indeed, with your warning and the cushion you gave me for protection, I couldn''t bear fifty beatings, let alone a hundred, especially without any preparation.


    In that situation, anyone who wanted to take my life would have found it as easy as turning their hand."


    Mo Jiuye was not afraid of death; he had long been prepared to sacrifice himself for his country.


    However, he didn''t want to die in such an obscure manner.


    Now that he could live well, it was all thanks to He Zhiran.


    Gratitude unspoken, Mo Jiuye deeply engraved all of this in his heart. In the future, he would strive to make her the happiest woman in the world and wholeheartedly protect her.


    The two of them continued to bury themselves in their books. Mo Jiuye quickly skimmed through the content of his posthumous life, paying special attention to the situations of important figures.


    Only then did Mo Jiuye realize why He Zhiran didn''t ept the silver ticket given by Fei Nanyu.


    Originally, Fei Nanyu turned out to be the future emperor, and he achieved remarkable political aplishments, earning him the title of an emperor for all ages.


    This was something that Mo Jiuye could never have imagined.


    Including Nan Qi, who became the next emperor of the Da Shun Dynasty, he met an early demise due to his lust for women.


    And Nan Rui, he was only briefly mentioned in the historical records.


    The previous content was fine, almost identical to Nan Rui''s current situation, without mentioning any ambitions he had.


    Moreover, Nan Rui''s death urred shortly after Nan Qi ascended the throne.


    At this moment, he was incredibly shocked, even sharing the same thoughts as He Zhiran.


    That is, if he didn''t die, it meant that this history had changed, but he didn''t know how it would develop in the future.


    If he got involved, would he be able to stir up this situation?


    These were just thoughts in Mo Jiuye''s mind, after all, with his current identity, he couldn''t do anything.


    He Zhiran finally found a record about Nan Rui in the "Wild History."


    She quickly called Mo Jiuye over and they watched it together.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t recognize simplified characters, so He Zhiran read it to him.


    "The book says that Nan Rui hid his talents for several years and secretly built his own power. However, because he didn''t dare to be too bold, his influence was not very extensive.


    Later, when Nan Qi and Nan Hengpeted with each other, he finally revealed his true colors.


    The only time Nan Qi and Nan Heng joined forces was to eliminate Nan Rui."


    Mo Jiuye took a deep breath. Based on the records in this book,bined with what He Zhiyuan said, he could already conclude that Nan Rui was not as simple as he appeared.


    And when he was able to instruct He Zhiyuan to seize grain and supplies, it was partly to deepen the conflict between Nan Qi and Nan Heng, and also with the intention of getting rid of Nan Rui.


    After all, everyone knew about his close rtionship with Nan Qi.


    Nan Heng was most wary of Nan Qi because he had Mo Jiuye, an invincible ally.


    "In that case, we have to watch out for Nan Rui too."


    He Zhiran shrugged, it seemed like solving Nan Heng''s matter had just led to the need to be on guard against Nan Rui.


    Luckily, Emperor Shunwu only had these three sons. If there were more, they would really have a hard time dealing with them.


    "Do you have any good strategies now?"


    Mo Jiuye sneered, "Nan Rui is wary of me for the same reason as Nan Heng. They are both worried that I will have a chance for aeback and continue to assist Nan Qi.


    Now, it depends on when he decides to take action against me. If he can wait until Fei Nanyu spreads the news of the rupture between me and Nan Qi, then he probably would stop trying to assassinate me to avoid trouble.


    Otherwise, if he has already sent someone, we need to be prepared in the next few days."


    He Zhiran agreed wholeheartedly with Mo Jiuye''s words.


    "For the next period of time, we should be more vignt."


    Saying that, He Zhiran took out her phone using telekinesis.


    She directly opened the Taobao app and nned to select some self-defense tools for the women in their family.


    The first thing that appears on Taobao is an information box, disying the sales situation and ie of the store.


    He Zhiran nced at it casually and saw that her ie had increased by 700,000. With a clear understanding, she closed the information box.


    Inside Taobao, she searched for women''s self-defense items, and the mostmon ones were mini stun guns and anti-wolf sprays.


    The mini stun gun lookedpact and practical, so she decisively purchased one.


    In front of Mo Jiuye, she opened the packaging and aimed the top of the mini stun gun at the table, pressing the switch.


    A buzzing sound was heard.


    Mo Jiuye asked, "What is this?"

 Chapter 118: Self-defence Weapon

    <h4>Chapter 118</h4>


    He Zhiran patiently exined the function of the mini stun gun to him.


    "Do you think it''s appropriate to give something like this to Mother, Sisters-inw and Auntie for self-defense?"


    Mo Jiuye took over the stun gun and fiddled with it for a while, also imitating He Zhiran''s actions to operate it.


    "This thing is very convenient to use and small and easy to hide, but I feel it''s not suitable for them to use."


    He Zhiran raised her eyebrows: "Why?"


    "You saw the assassinsst time too. They would initially use bows and arrows for long-range assassination. If the assassination failed, they would then choose closebat.


    The women in our family don''t know any martial arts. Even if the assassins got close, I''m afraid they wouldn''t be able to use the stun guns in time and would be killed in one move."


    After listening to Mo Jiuye''s exnation, He Zhiran also realized this point.


    Thinking again of the pepper spray that was less lethal than the stun gun, she felt it was even more unnecessary to take it out to show Mo Jiuye.


    Judging from the current situation, the self-defense tool the sisters-inw need should have a certain range attack capability, the more powerful the better.


    In this regard, only guns are most suitable.


    It''s just that if guns are brought in front of the sisters-inw, there must be a proper excuse.


    After thinking for a moment, suddenly she had a sh of inspiration.


    He Zhiran used her mind to take out a mini pistol smaller than her palm.


    Mo Jiuye raised his eyebrows: "Are you going to give them this?"


    He Zhiran nodded: "From the current situation, this is the most suitable for them. Not only does it have great lethality, but it can also attack from a distance.


    I also thought of a good excuse, just say that we bought it from a foreigner on our way to chase the exiled team."


    Mo Jiuye was no stranger to foreigners, who were nothing more than some blond and blue-eyed big guys.


    He had seen such people with his own eyes when he passed by a seaside pier once out of curiosity and took a close look.


    Although he couldn''t understand what those foreigners were saying, the things they took out of their pockets were all things he hadn''t seen before.


    He Zhiran thought it was not a bad idea to reveal the mini pistol under such an excuse.


    Moreover, he also felt that the mini pistol was the most suitable for his family women to defend themselves.


    Even if he was unfortunately killed by those assassins, his family would at least have a means to save their lives and still have great hope of survival.


    Mo Jiuye said gratefully with appreciative eyes,


    "That''s very good, just as you said."


    There were only two mini pistols at the moment. If He Zhiran wanted more, she would have to take them out of the space repeatedly.


    After getting Mo Jiuye¡¯s consent, she immediately shed out of the space.


    Sitting in the tent, He Zhiran kept taking out mini pistols with her mind.


    It was not until ten identical mini pistols appeared in front of her that she retracted back into the space.


    After arranging the life-saving gadgets for the women at home, He Zhiran continued to exin some content in Historical Records to Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye had already figured out that the reason Nan Qi resented him was because he had been switched at birth.


    It''s just that he had the mark unique to Mo men on him.


    If there was such a mark on Nan Qi¡¯s body too, he might have suspected that the mark on him was forgedter.


    However, he clearly knew that there was no Mo family mark on Nan Qi''s body.


    From this point of view, Mo Jiuye was very confident about his identity.


    He was a genuine member of the Mo Family, not to mention that he looked almost seventy to eighty percent like his Fourth Brother, so there was no possibility that he had been switched.


    There were more and more doubts about this matter, and they racked their brains but couldn''t figure out the reason.


    After all, there are no winds that do not rise waves. Nan Qi would not groundlessly suspect that he was not of royal blood for no reason.


    It is not ruled out that Nan Qi''s political opponents deliberately provoked him in order to achieve the goal of making Nan Qi want to kill Mo Jiuye with his own hands.


    However, from Mo Jiuye¡¯s understanding of Nan Qi, he was not the kind of person without a brain at all.


    There must be some convincing reasons for this.


    Or maybe Nan Qi was indeed not of royal blood, and he learned about this from Concubine Yuan.


    If Concubine Yuan really did such a thing, she would definitely rot it in her belly for life without saying it out.


    Then it could only mean that Nan Qi had overheard something.


    The more they analyzed, the more confused they became. They simply stopped thinking about it.


    After all, it had been determined that Mo Jiuye was a genuine member of the Mo Family. As for what Nan Qi''s identity was, it was already irrelevant to them.


    That night was destined to be sleepless. When the two got up from the dining table, the hour hand of the big clock on the wall had already pointed to the three o''clock direction.


    There were only two hours left before the usual wake-up time.


    Mo Jiuye reminded: "We still have to travelter, so we should rest a little."


    When searching for Nan Rui''s historical records just now, she didn¡¯t feel anything. Now that she rxed, He Zhiran felt a little sleepy too. After simply washing up in the bathroom, shey back in bed to rest.


    Neither of them dared to sleep too deeply for fear of people finding out that they were not in the tent when they got upte.


    In a daze, He Zhiran felt the person next to her move, and she immediately opened her eyes too.


    The two got out of bed tacitly, tidied up, and then left the space.


    After breakfast, while the officials were over there tidying up the tents, He Zhiran gathered all the women in the family together.


    She pretended to pile goods into the mule cart, but she was actually going to put those mini pistols into the prepared wooden box and hand them over to her family as soon as possible.


    Mo Jiuye felt that since they had guessed that Nan Rui might take action against him, they should arrange the gadgets that could save the lives of their family members early.


    Mo Jiuye pretended to tidy up items in the carriage and casually took out the wooden box containing ten mini pistols.


    In order to prevent others from seeing, he only opened the box a crack, allowing his family to see what was inside.


    The women gathered outside the carriage, peeking into the box.


    Seeing her daughter-inw about to ask loudly, Old Lady Mo scolded with a cold face:


    "Xie, are you afraid other people don''t know what we''re doing?"


    Second Sister-inw looked at her stern-faced mother-inw and stuck out her tongue.


    "I know I was wrong, Mother."


    Seeing this, although others were still very curious about the things in the box, they did not ask aloud.


    Mo Jiuye scanned around and saw that others were busy tidying up. He said to the women in a low voice:


    "The things in the box are hidden weapons that we bought from foreigners on the way.


    Such hidden weapons have great lethality and are easy to operate.


    Considering that there may still be dangers on the road ahead, in order for everyone to have a means of self-defense, He Zhiran and I decided to give everyone a weapon for self-defense."


    Second Sister-inw had always been careless. She was not interested in any hidden weapons, only attracted by the two words "He Zhiran" mentioned by Mo Jiuye.


    It seemed that her Ninth Younger Brother''s cold temperament had warmed up with Ninth Sister quite quickly judging by such an intimate form of address.


    It probably wouldn''t take long before there would be an addition to the Mo family.

 Chapter 119: Used to be My Subordinate

    <h4>Chapter 119</h4>


    Second sister-inw''s deviation of thoughts does not represent the thoughts of others.


    First, there is the always calm andposed Lady Mo, who has spent half her life as a military officer''s wife and has some understanding of the power of hidden weapons.


    Looking at the solemn expression on her son''s face while speaking, she knew that this hidden weapon was definitely extraordinary.


    "Jiuye, rest assured, I will keep a close eye on your sisters-inw and Hanyue, and prevent them from easily exposing this hidden weapon to others."


    The eldest sister-inw spoke first, "We will all follow Mother''s and Ninth Brother''s arrangements."


    The other sisters-inw also expressed their agreement in low voices, promising to keep this hidden weapon well-hidden and away from prying eyes.


    Time was running out, so Mo Jiuye exined the usage and precautions of the mini pistol to his family.


    If anyone didn''t understand, they would privately ask those who had already learned.


    After distributing one mini pistol to each person, Peng Wang''s side also began preparing for the journey.


    On this day, everything was calm and uneventful.


    Even so, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye did not let their guard down.


    They had even decided not to rest in the space in the evenings for the next few days, in case an assassin appeared and they couldn''t detect it in the space.


    The team continued to march calmly for three days and finally arrived at a county town where they could replenish their supplies and stayed at an inn.


    To their surprise, besides their group, the inn was almost empty, to the point where one could describe it as deserted.


    The innkeeper satzily at the entrance.


    Peng Wang took the initiative to greet the innkeeper.


    "Innkeeper Liu, how have you been?"


    The weariness in Innkeeper Liu''s tone couldn''t be concealed.


    "Lord Peng, if you hade two dayster, I''m afraid you wouldn''t be able to stay at my inn."


    Peng Wang noticed theck of business in the inn and asked, "Innkeeper Liu, what happened exactly?"


    "Ah... it''s better not to mention it. Not long ago, a group of notorious bandits appeared in our Xiangyang County. These people, they never steal from ordinary folks'' homes, but specifically target wealthy families, and secretly help those poor families."


    Peng Wang didn''t understand, "Isn''t that a good thing? What does it have to do with your inn?"


    Innkeeper Liu smiled bitterly.


    "That''s true. It doesn''t have anything to do with my inn. But those bandits'' actions scared away many out-of-town merchants who are afraid to do business in our Xiangyang County. As a result, the inns in our county have almost no business."


    Peng Wang heard about these bandits who robbed the rich to help the poor for the first time and decided to ask more details.


    "As Innkeeper Liu said, those bandits rob the rich to help the poor. They can''t possibly steal from every household, right?"


    "You''re right. Even if it''s a wealthy family, they only target those who are unscrupulous in their wealth," replied Innkeeper Liu.


    Peng Wang furrowed his brows, "If that''s the case, why are those merchants so worried?"


    Innkeeper Liu sighed once again.


    "The thing is, those bandits have been glorified by themon people. Everyone who has some money wants to stay away from them. As a result, the number of out-of-town peopleing to Xiangyang County keeps decreasing."


    In this regard, Peng Wang could only listen to the gossip. After all, these government officials were very poor, and the prisoners didn''t have much money, so there was no worry about theft.


    Moreover, people said that those notorious thieves were engaged in robbing the rich to help the poor, which had nothing to do with them.


    Without delving further, Peng Wang asked the shopkeeper Liu to help arrange the guest rooms and let everyone rest.


    As usual, those who couldn''t afford the room fee went to the backyard shed...


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye still chose to share a room. During the night''s rest, Mo Jiuye suddenly felt something strange.


    He quickly rushed out of the room and leaped onto the roof.


    He Zhiran followed, but unfortunately, Mo Jiuye was too fast. When she went out, she couldn''t see Mo Jiuye''s figure at all, so she had to return to the room and wait.


    Mo Jiuye chased after several dark figures on the roof and ran far away until they were far from the residence. Only then did the cloaked individuals stop.


    "Who are you?" Mo Jiuye asked in a deep voice.


    The cloaked individuals, noticing someone chasing after them, originally intended to lead the person to a more secluded ce before taking action.


    When they heard this familiar voice, they instantly removed the masks covering their faces and knelt down before Mo Jiuye.


    "Subordinate Liang Hao pays respects to Duke Gong."


    "Liang Hao, what are you doing here?" Mo Jiuye was obviously surprised.


    As he spoke, he quickly stepped forward and helped the kneeling individuals up.


    Liang Hao pointed to the several people behind him and said, "Duke Gong, we heard that your mansion was ransacked and your family was exiled. We resigned from our official positions and waited here to meet with you."


    Mo Jiuye looked at the people behind Liang Hao.


    Song Chao, Wang Dali, Xu Qingfeng, Li Mingrui.


    These people were all talents nurtured by his father and brothers. After he returned to the capital, these people continued to stay at the border to guard it.


    Unexpectedly, these people were so loyal to the Mo family that they chose to resign and follow him here in such circumstances.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t entirely agree with their actions.


    "You have worked hard to achieve your current positions. Why go through such hardships again?


    Moreover, with the entire Mo family expelled, there is no future for following me."


    Liang Hao and the others knelt down again and said, "We have apanied Duke Gong through life and death for many years. We are well aware of whether you have colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country. These baseless rumors are absurd.


    The court has treated a meritorious person like you unfairly, and we will not sacrifice our lives for such an ipetent ruler."


    Their words were resolute and powerful, disying Liang Hao and the others'' dissatisfaction with the court.


    Mo Jiuye knew well that these people had already resigned from their official positions, and no matter how much he said, it would be in vain.


    "In that case, what are your ns for the future?"


    The five individuals answered in unison, "Wherever Duke Gong is, we will be there."


    Mo Jiuye had no objections to this. These few were unwanted orphans since childhood. They were brought to the military camp by his father and brothers for training, and even now, they were still alone without any attachments wherever they went.


    "For now, I am a banished criminal of the court. I can only regain my freedom after reaching the northwest. It''s inconvenient for you to travel with the banished group. Let''s meet in the northwest."


    "No, we will apany Duke Guo all the way to ensure your safety and that of your family," Liang Hao retorted.


    Mentioning the safety of his family made Mo Jiuye hesitate.


    Having Liang Hao and the others with him would indeed be of great help in times of danger.


    "Since that''s the case, you can follow the team from a distance without arousing suspicion," he paused and added, "Also, I am no longer Duke Guo, so you should use a different title for me in the future."


    Liang Hao pondered for a moment. "How about we continue to address you as Ninth Master, just like before?"


    ording to Mo Jiuye''s understanding, they were allmoners without any official positions now, and these people were older than him. It wouldn''t be inappropriate for them to call him by his name.


    However, considering Liang Hao and the others'' respectful attitude towards the Mo family, he doubted they would agree to address him by his name. So Mo Jiuye went along with their suggestion.


    "Alright, let''s go with that!"

 Chapter 120: This is about Eight.

    <h4>Chapter 120</h4>


    Seeing the dressing of several people, Mo Jiuye suddenly remembered what Liu boss said about the great robber Jiang Yang in the inn today.


    "Are you guys the great robber Jiang Yang who recently appeared in Xiangyang County?"


    Speaking of this, several people were somewhat ashamed to scratch their heads.


    "Don''t hide it from Master Jiu, we did some robbing the rich and helping the poor in Xiangyang County."


    Mo Jiuye raised his eyebrows, motioning them to continue.


    "When we first came here, we were going to wait for Master on the official road during the day and find an inn in Xiangyang County at night.


    Who knew, after being here for a few days, we heard that there were several wealthy families in Xiangyang City who, relying on the money in their hands, did some unkind things.


    We have nothing to do here all day, so we wanted to do something for themon people. That''s how things spread outside happened."


    Mo Jiuye couldn¡¯t help butugh: "You guys are really something. I heard that you scared away so many foreign merchants that they didn''t even dare toe to Xiangyang City to do business, so the inn I stayed in today can¡¯t even stay open."


    Hearing this, Liang Hao and others felt a little unbelievable.


    "No way? We only robbed a few times, and we haven''t done anything for a good few days now. If Song Chao hadn''t said he couldn''t sleep today, we wouldn''t have gone out either. I didn''t expect to meet Master so coincidentally tonight."


    Mo Jiuye looked at the sky. He had been out chasing for nearly half an hour. He knew He Zhiran must be worried about him, so he didn¡¯t intend to stay here any longer.


    "I''m staying at the inn you just passed. The officials will go out tomorrow morning to purchase some supplies and then continue on their way."


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye was about to leave, Li Mingrui hurriedly reminded Liang Hao: "We still have very important things to tell Master."


    Mo Jiuye asked, "What is it in the end?"


    "Master, this matter is rted to Eighth Master."


    Mo Jiuye frowned. "You mean my eighth brother?"


    Liang Hao nodded: "Yes. When we first heard about the Mo family incident, we thought of the tombs of the old Prime Minister and the eight masters there, afraid that the court would send someone to destroy them, so we decided to go and take a look first.


    When we got there, we found that Eighth Master¡¯s tomb had been dug open, the coffin lid was open, and there was nothing inside.


    We patrolled there ten days ago and everything was fine then. So I can determine that Eighth Master¡¯s tomb was dug open no more than ten days ago."


    This news was shocking to Mo Jiuye.


    It was already difficult to ept that his father and brothers died in service of the country. And now his eighth brother''s tomb was dug up again. He couldn¡¯t figure out why the grave robbers did this.


    "Did you guys continue investigating this matterter?"


    Liang Hao nodded: "Since discovering that Eighth Master¡¯s tomb had been dug up, we came back almost every day to check it out but found no clues. Until we left there, the tombs of the old Prime Minister and the other seven masters were still intact. "


    Mo Jiuye gasped. Some memories of his eighth brother appeared in his mind.


    His eighth brother Mo Chuhan was with his sixth and seventh brothers when the incident happened. At that time, he was leading his troops to guard another city gate.


    When the corpses of the three elder brothers were carried back, they were already mutted beyond recognition. They could only be identified by their clothing.


    Mo Jiuye was heartbroken at the time. But there were still new battles to face. After arranging the funeral, he buried his elder brothers.


    If he remembered correctly, when Eighth Brother was encoffined, there was still blood flowing from his leg, which made Mo Jiuye suspect for a moment that Eighth Brother had not died.


    However, after being diagnosed by many army doctors, it was determined that Eighth Brother was already dead, so Mo Jiuye dismissed his doubts.


    Thinking of this, he asked Liang Hao: "Did you see any bloodstains in Eighth Master''s coffin?"


    Liang Hao shook his head: "No, Eighth Master¡¯s coffin was very clean. At that time I wondered why there was not even a rotten piece of clothing left in the coffin when Eighth Master had been buried for many years?"


    Mo Jiuye felt countless doubts arose in his mind.


    ording to Liang Hao''s statement, that coffin should not be the one used to encoffin Eighth Brother back then.


    Also, why did the tomb robbers only dig up Eighth Brother¡¯s tomb?


    What was the purpose of the tomb robbers taking away Eighth Brother and his original coffin?


    One question after another appeared in Mo Jiuye''s mind, making him feel breathless.


    Mo Jiuye had made up his mind that after settling his family in the northwest, he would personally investigate this matter.


    He looked up at the people: "It''s gettingte, go back and rest early. Just follow along if needed tomorrow."


    Liang Hao and the others didn¡¯t know why Master was in such a hurry to urge them to leave, but they didn¡¯t ask much.


    "Okay, we¡¯ll wait for Master outside the city gate tomorrow."


    Mo Jiuye nodded with a "hmm", and with lightness skill he jumped up and disappeared from their sight quickly.


    In the inn.


    He Zhiran thought that it was Nan Rui''s men who had appeared, so Mo Jiuye chased them.


    Seeing that he had been gone for so long without returning, He Zhiran was worried that he might be in danger, so she decided to go out and look for him.


    Just as she pushed open the door, she bumped into Mo Jiuye who was rushing back.


    Mo Jiuye instinctively put his arms around the person and said gently, "Be careful."


    He Zhiran dragged him into the room.


    "Where have you been? Was it Nan Rui who sent someone?"


    Mo Jiuye pressed He Zhiran onto a chair and stroked her head casually.


    "No, it was our own people ..."


    Next, Mo Jiuye told He Zhiran all the details about Liang Hao and the others appearing in Xiangyang County.


    After listening, He Zhiran had the same questions in her mind as Mo Jiuye.


    Unfortunately, when she had read history books before, she did not find more records about other people in the Mo family.


    Especially after Mo Jiuye died on the way to exile, the history books did not mention anything rted to the Mo family.


    Therefore, she could not determine the real reason why Mo Chuhan''s tomb was dug up.


    Although this matter was puzzling, they both knew that there was nothing they could do about it at the moment.


    As Mo Jiuye had thought, after arriving in the northwest, they could make a trip to the frontier after settling their family.


    After talking for a while, the two went back to bed.


    Early the next morning, He Zhiran went out with the officials to purchase supplies.


    To guard against Nan Rui sending assassins, Mo Jiuye took the initiative to stay behind this time to protect the safety of the family, with only He Zhiran going out alone.


    When they arrived at the market, the officials took the initiative to separate from He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran felt it was still more cost-effective to buy supplies on Taobao, and she only went out with the officials this time to cover people¡¯s eyes and ears.


    Therefore, she led the mule cart directly to a deserted ce and bought the corresponding supplies on Taobao.


    Feeling it was about time, she led the mule cart to meet up with the officials.

 Chapter 121: Meet Sister Phil

    <h4>Chapter 121</h4>


    Mo Jiuye was in a hurry on the road. Seeing theme back, he prepared to set off again.


    After leaving the city gate, He Zhiran saw the five tall figures standing by the roadside from afar.


    Liang Hao and the others had already changed into ordinary people''s outfits. Seeing Mo Jiuye, they nodded to him.


    Then they pretended to be passersby and followed the exile team from afar.


    The team kept walking along the official road. When they passed a vige, suddenly a person rushed out from the roadside, stumbling towards the team.


    The person was an old woman, holding a package in her arms. Seeing peopleing, she shouted loudly: "Help...robbery!"


    Peng Wang saw this and waved to signal the team to stop, then looked towards the old woman.


    The old woman had white hair. Her silk clothes could no longer be seen the original color, and her eyes were full of panic.


    At the same time, several burly men chased her from behind.


    Seeing the people chasing her getting closer and closer, Fe Mama was so scared that she hurried to hide behind Peng Wang.


    "I can give you silver, please save me."


    Peng Wang didn''t intend to meddle at first. Hearing that he could get silver by saving people, he was moved.


    So, when those burly men were about to get close to the old woman, he stopped them with his men.


    "Broad daylight, are you tired of living? How dare youmit robbery!"


    Those burly men looked sly. It was obvious they were not good people.


    If they met ordinary passersby, they could easily scare people off and no one would dare to meddle.


    But the people in front of them were different. They were all dressed as officers, which made the burly men instinctively deterred.


    However, thinking of the package held by the old woman, they were still reluctant to leave just like that.


    The leader of the burly men grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.


    "My Lord, this old woman is a servant of my family who took away the family property and wanted to escape. We are here to retrieve what belongs to our family."


    Before his voice fell, the old woman retorted: "My Lord, don''t listen to his nonsense. I don''t know him at all. How could I have taken away their family property?


    Besides, look at his outfit. Does he look like someone from a rich family? His family couldn''t even afford servants."


    While the old woman was talking, the gossipy He Zhiran also pulled Mo Jiuye over to watch the excitement.


    Unexpectedly, Mo Jiuye recognized the old woman at first nce.


    Considering there were many onlookers here, he did not call out her name.


    Having met an acquaintance, he would certainly not stand idly by, especially since this person had a special identity.


    Therefore, before Peng Wang could speak, Mo Jiuye went to the burly men and said, "I advise you to give up your wicked ideas. Go back where you came from, lest you suffer."


    Hearing the familiar voice, Fe Mama grabbed the package tighter, intending to slip away.


    He Zhiran also noticed Mo Jiuye''s abnormal behavior. He was not the kind of person who liked to meddle. There must be hidden reasons why he stood up for the old woman.


    Therefore, after Mo Jiuye left, she kept an eye on the old woman.


    Seeing her attempt to sneak away, He Zhiran stepped forward to stop her and whispered:


    "You can''t leave yet."


    Through the previous voice, Fe Mama confirmed that the one who helped her was Mo Jiuye. She suddenly felt guilty and wanted to take the chance to escape from here.


    Unexpectedly, she was stopped by a beautiful woman she didn''t know.


    In this situation, she couldn¡¯t get away anyway.


    Fe Mama had to stand in her original position.


    He Zhiran''s eyes were still staring at her to prevent her from escaping.


    On Mo Jiuye''s side, as soon as his words fell, Peng Wang and several officers cooperated to reveal their whips.


    Seeing this, the burly men turned around and fled.


    Mo Jiuye saw the men run away. He turned around and said to Peng Wang: "Brother Peng, this olddy is an acquaintance of mine. I want to have a private chat with her."


    Peng Wang did not doubt him. Judging by Mo Jiuye''s meddling attitude just now, he guessed what''s going on.


    "Okay, chat while walking."


    Mo Jiuye thanked Peng Wang and took Fe Mama with He Zhiran to one side of the team.


    Fe Mama had evasive eyes and dared not look Mo Jiuye straight in the eye.


    Not until they were some distance away from the exile team did Mo Jiuye ask, "Why did Fe Mama appear here?"


    Fe Mama tried her best to control her emotions and lowered her head: "The gentleman must have recognized the wrong person. I am not Fe Mama."


    How could Mo Jiuye possibly mistaken her? He often saw this Fe Mama when he was a child.


    "Does Fe Mama have any difficulties to tell?"


    Fe Mama was still pretending: "The old woman thanks the gentleman for saving her life. You really have recognized the wrong person."


    As she spoke, she opened the package in her arms and took out some women''s jewelry to offer up.


    "The old woman appreciates the gentleman''s lifesaving grace. Take these as thanks. I still have urgent matters and will not disturb you."


    After speaking, Fe Mama turned to leave.


    Still, it was He Zhiran who blocked her way first.


    Fe Mama knew clearly that she probably couldn''t gloss over it today. She had to turn around and face Mo Jiuye, no longer disguising herself.


    "My Lord, this old ve escaped from the pce. It¡¯s shameful for you to see me like this."


    Mo Jiuye had always had a good impression on Concubine Yuan''s pce servants, especially Concubine Yuan''s two personal maidservants, who treated him no differently than Nan Qi.


    What he thought now was that since Fe Mama said she escaped from the pce, it meant something must have happened to Concubine Yuan.


    And this matter must be rted to Nan Qi.


    Therefore, no matter what today, he had to get to the bottom of it.


    In order not to stray too far from the main group, Mo Jiuye took Fe Mama to walk while asking questions.


    "Fe Mama, did the Concubine run into difficulties?"


    On her way out of the pce, Fe Mama encountered countless difficulties and dangers, almost losing her life.


    She even thought several times that the secrets she knew might be buried with her in the soil after her death.


    Meeting Mo Jiuye now, Fe Mama seemed to see a glimmer of hope to survive. She gritted her teeth and decided to tell Mo Jiuye what she knew.


    That way, even if she entered the ground, she would have no regrets.


    Before revealing the secret in her heart, Fe Mama nced at He Zhiran unconsciously.


    Mo Jiuye exined: "Don''t worry Fe Mama, my wife is one of us."


    Fe Mama looked He Zhiran up and down and then said,


    "The old ve did something wrong back then, and now I''m suffering the consequences."


    Hearing this, the first thing Mo Jiuye thought of was Nan Qi being switched at childbirth.


    "Does what Fe Mama said have to do with Prince Qi?"


    Fe Mama was shocked.


    "Does My Lord know about this?"


    Mo Jiuye didn''t intend to hide it either.


    "Nan Qi once sent someone to assassinate me. Later, when I was in Pingyuan County, he took the initiative to ask me to meet at a restaurant and poisoned the wine..."

 Chapter 122: Concubine Yuan’s Own Son

    <h4>Chapter 122</h4>


    Upon hearing this, Fe Mama felt increasingly ashamed.


    "This is all my fault, this old servant''s mistake."


    After a pause, Fe Mama continued: "In fact, Prince Qi is not Concubine Yuan''s biological son, but my useless nephew."


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s eyes widened at the same time.


    This news was too shocking for them, and for a time they still had some trouble digesting it.


    However, soon, the two''s minds became clear, and the first thing they thought of was that the real Third Prince was likely Fei Nanyu.


    Of course, this was just their guess, and they still had to listen to Fe Mama¡¯s exnation for the specifics.


    Fe Mama sighed, and continued: "Twenty-one years ago, a master told Concubine Yuan that the child in her belly was a girl.


    In order to consolidate her position, Concubine Yuan came up with the idea of ??switching the baby. At that time, she ordered people to secretly find many pregnant women whose expected delivery times were close to hers.


    She was thinking that when her little princess was born in her belly, she would find a family who had given birth to a boy and switch their babies.


    Who knew that Concubine Yuan ended up having a premature birth due to some unexpected idents, and those pregnant women who had been prepared in advance did note in handy.


    Coincidentally, on that day I received news that the Old Duke¡¯s wife had given birth to a baby boy early in the morning, who is now you, Duke.


    In a hurry, Concubine Yuan turned her attention to the Mo Family.


    At that time, along with Xu Lady, I bribed the midwife who was helping Concubine Yuan give birth, and told her not to announce the good news after the Empress gave birth, but to hand the child directly to us.


    Then I took the newborn young master and sneaked out of the pce with others, intending to go to the Mo Residence to switch the babies."


    Speaking up to now, Fe Mama looked increasingly uneasy.


    "It was all because of my selfishness that I had crooked thoughts. I thought that my sister-inw had just given birth to a boy the day before, so I could let my nephew be a prince and enjoy wealth and prosperity. I could also live up to the expectations of my Fe ancestors.


    So after leaving the imperial pce, I sent those guards away and told them that I had my own way to get a baby from the Mo¡¯s.


    Perhaps those guards thought that with the tight security at the Mo Residence, it would be difficult to seed, so when they heard me say that, they were relieved instead.


    After the guards left, I took the young master back home. After exining the situation to my brother and sister-inw, I left the young master there and took away my nephew, who is now Prince Qi.


    When I returned to Concubine Yuan''s pce, I did not tell her the truth. She only thought that I had brought back a baby from the Mo¡¯s.


    After everything was properly arranged, I sent someone to inform His Majesty the Emperor that Concubine Yuan had given birth to a little prince.


    Upon receiving the news, the Emperor came over immediately with the Empress and Grand Empress to see the little prince.


    Concubine Yuan ordered me and Xu Lady to silence the midwife. Just as we covered her head with white silk, sheughed loudly and told us that what Concubine Yuan had given birth to was originally a little prince, and we were foolish to take such risks.


    I thought the midwife was just saying that to taunt us, but to verify the truth of her words, I found an excuse to go back home the next day.


    When I saw the baby in my sister-inw''s arms, I couldpletely confirm that what the midwife said was true - Concubine Yuan did indeed give birth to a little prince.


    In order to make up for my guilt, I suggested that my brother give the Third Prince a name with the character ¡°Nan¡±. My brother considered that the surname ¡°Nan¡± was too rming to others, so he reced ¡°Nan¡± with the homophone ¡°Nanyu¡±, finally naming him ¡°Fei Nanyu¡±.


    Only me and my brother and sister-inw know about this. We also discussed that we would not mention it to anyone in the future.


    After finding out the truth, in order not to bring disaster upon myself, I hurriedly asked my brother and sister-inw to take away the real Third Prince overnight. There has been no news until now.


    Concubine Yuanter learned that the Ninth Young Master of the Mo Family was still a boy, so she knew that she had been deceived by that master.


    However, the Emperor and others had already seen the Third Prince¡¯s appearance with their own eyes, so at that point, it was impossible to switch him back.


    Concubine Yuan has always believed that you are her biological son. The Duke must also be clear that Concubine Yuan''s attitude towards you is particrly different."


    What Fe Mama recounted was something that He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had never imagined before.


    Now, in the light of the truth, Fei Nanyu was the real Third Prince, Concubine Yuan''s biological son.


    So a new question came again.


    "How did Nan Qi get to know about this?" Mo Jiuye asked.


    Since Fe Mama had revealed such a big secret, she had no intention of concealing anything else.


    "Earlier this year, when Concubine Yuan heard that the Duke had returned triumphantly, she called me and Xu Lady to discuss what excuses could be used to summon you into the pce to meet. It was then that our conversation was overheard by Prince Qi, who hade to pay his respects.


    He threatened Concubine Yuan not to reveal a single word of this matter, otherwise even if he died, he would pull down Concubine Yuan''s maternal n with him as a cushion underneath.


    What''s worse is that Prince Qi took Xu Lady away for severe interrogation a few dayster. Fortunately I came backte from going out of the pce to run errands that day, otherwise when I heard Xu Lady had been taken away by Prince Qi''s people, I would have had a bad premonition right away.


    So I packed some valuables and fled the imperial pce overnight.


    For more than half a year after that, I was always on the run, evading pursuit by Prince Qi''s men. It took a great effort for me to escape here, but I met those local ruffians who wanted to rob my belongings. "


    Speaking to here, Fe Mama was still a little scared in retrospect.


    "If the Duke hadn''t saved me today, I''m afraid I would have lost my life to those people."


    Regarding Fe Mama''s deception and concealment, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran felt no sympathy for her at all.


    However, they knew Fe Mama must stay alive.


    Only with her alive would there be a day when Prince Qi¡¯s identity could be exposed.


    Now they were on the way to exile and could not take Fe Mama with them. Once discovered by Prince Qi''s people, it would be a disaster.


    They were not afraid of Nan Qi, but who wouldn¡¯t want peaceful days?


    Especially now that the Mo Family had nothing to do with the mountains and rivers of Da Shun, Mo Jiuye did not want to wade into these muddy waters.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye felt that the person who most wanted Fe Mama to survive was Fei Nanyu.


    In that case, why not do him a favor?


    Fe Mama would surely survive once she was in Fei Nanyu¡¯s hands.


    "Fe Mama, do you want to see Fei Nanyu?"


    Fe Mama''s eyes widened, and she asked uncertainly, "Does the Duke know Nanyu?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded. If I''m not mistaken, he should be in the Capital city now.


    Then he saw Fe Mama solemnly kneel down before Mo Jiuye.


    "This old servant has told the Duke everything she knows. I trust the Duke''s character not to spread this matter out, and since you know the whereabouts of the real Third Prince, this old servant intends to find him and make things clear."


    After speaking, Fe Mama got up and was about to leave.


    Mo Jiuye stopped her and said, "Wait, it''s not safe for you to go back to the capital alone. I can send people to escort you."

 Chapter 123: I’ll try to kill him Tonight.

    <h4>Chapter 123</h4>


    Fe Mama was naturally willing to be escorted since someone offered. She had been on the run escaping pursuers ever since she fled from the Imperial Pce. If it hadn''t been for her good fortune, her old bones would have long been done for.


    "Then I''ll have to thank Sir Duke," said Fe Mama.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t have the mind to correct how Fe Mama addressed him. After all, they wouldn''t have another chance to meet again in the future.


    He made a gesture with his eyes towards Liang Hao and the others in the distance.


    Liang Hao understood and quickly led his men over towards Mo Jiuye¡¯s direction.


    Mo Jiuye also deliberately slowed his pace to leave some distance between them and the exile convoy.


    He Zhiran kept a close eye on the He family''s movements all along.


    Among the entire exile convoy right now, only the He family didn''t get along well with the Mo family. Even though their conversation with Fe Mama was already far away from the convoy, they still had to be wary.


    Just in case He Zhiyuan happened to overhear something and leaked word out about what would happenter, that would invite unnecessary trouble.


    Sure enough, that evildoer He Zhiyuan kept sneaking nces back in their direction every so often.


    Even knowing he wouldn''t be able to obtain any news, it was still annoying.


    It seemed that He Zhiyuan was not someone who could be left alive, or they had to find some other method to make him unable to speak nonsense to outsiders.


    Just as He Zhiran was thinking about how to get He Zhiyuan to shut his mouth, Liang Hao and the others had already approached them.


    The men bowed with sped hands to Mo Jiuye, calling out ¡°Ninth Master¡±, then stood there in an orderly manner awaiting orders.


    Mo Jiuye pointed at Fe Mama and said, ¡°This is Empress Yuan''s personal maid. Some matters led her to be pursued for assassination by Nan Qi. I want to send two of your men to escort her back to the capital.¡±


    ¡°No problem. I¡¯m willing to go,¡± Song Chao and Wang Dali said at once.


    After all, there were many eyes here. Mo Jiuye also didn¡¯t want Fe Mama to linger too long.


    This was his first time asking He Zhiran for silver.


    ¡°I want them to carry some silver for traveling expenses along the road.¡±


    He Zhiran didn''t have a stingy personality to begin with. Moreover, half of the silver from the royal treasury was due to Mo Jiuye''s contributions. Naturally he had the authority to allocate it.


    Without a second word, He Zhiran fished out 200 silver bills from his interspatial ring through his sleeve to hand over to Song Chao.


    ¡°Use this on your journey. Also, buy a pack animal cart to make traveling more convenient.¡±


    Song Chao returned the silver bills back.


    ¡°Master Ninth, we already carried silver when we left the border.¡±


    Fe Mama also looked towards Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    ¡°There are some valuables in this old servant''s bundle that are enough for travel expenses to the capital. It¡¯s reassuring for you to have some silver in this special situation.¡±


    Seeing that they had rejected his offered silver, Mo Jiuye simply had He Zhiran put it away since they were currently exiled and stripped of their estates by His Majesty. Too high of a profile would easily attract others'' spection.


    ¡°Since this is the case, be careful on your journey.¡±


    ncing at Fe Mama¡¯s head full of conspicuous white hair, it was far too eye-catching.


    The assassins sent by Nan Qi to kill would definitely use her standout white hair as the first sign to identify their target.


    For safety reasons, He Zhiran didn''t have Fe Mama leave immediately.


    Instead, she bought a hair dye product called ¡°Wash ck¡± at Taobao Mall. This stuff could instantly turn hair ck by simply washing it.


    She took the ¡°Wash ck¡± from her interspatial ring and exchanged it for a small porcin bottle to give Fe Mama.


    ¡°Mama can use this to wash her hair. It will quickly be ck. At that time, change your outfit again. It will definitely be much safer.¡±


    Fe Mama epted the little porcin bottle gratefully and gave sincere thanks.


    ¡°Thank you, Madam. This old servant was worried this entire way about my conspicuous white hair. With this, I¡¯m much safer now.¡±


    After finishing the arrangements, Mo Jiuye nced at the skies.


    ¡°It''s gettingte now. You should set off early.¡±


    Song Chao and Wang Dali received their orders and escorted Fe Mama away.


    Liang Hao led the other two men to continue keeping their distance from the convoy.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran quickened their pace, intending to catch up with the exile convoy faster.


    On the way, He Zhiran said softly, ¡°I just discovered He Zhiyuan staring in this direction.¡±


    Mo Jiuye¡¯s gaze darkened. ¡°I was thinking that since he told me about Nan Rui¡¯s matters, I would spare his life. Looks like this man really can¡¯t remain alive.¡±


    Seeing that he was thinking the same as her, He Zhiran asked, ¡°How do you n to do it?¡±


    Mo Jiuye made a throat slitting gesture. ¡°I¡¯ll take his life tonight.¡±


    Hearing Mo Jiuye speak this way, He Zhiran instinctively nced towards Peng Wang¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Doing this, wouldn¡¯t it cause trouble for Big Brother Peng?¡±


    This entire journey, Peng Wang had treated them fairly well. If they brought trouble to someone for their own selfish desires, it would be somewhat unjustifiable.


    Mo Jiuye raised his brows. ¡°Do you have a better way?¡±


    He Zhiran nodded. ¡°Remember that silver hoop snake that bit Big Brother Peng when we first left the capital?¡±


    ¡°I remember.¡± Mo Jiuye replied.


    He Zhiran continued, ¡°Not long ago when I was free, I extracted the silver hoop snake venom and created two poisons. One is called ¡®Dazed¡¯, this drug can temporarily numb one¡¯s senses. With just adding a few other things inside, after ingesting it one would be a fool for the rest of their life like the Sun boy.¡±


    Mo Jiuye¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll make my move tonight.¡±


    As they spoke, they had already caught up with the exile convoy. Both tacitly stopped mentioning the matter further.


    That night¡¯s resting spot was at the foot of a mountain. As always, after finishing dinner everyone squeezed into their tents early to rest.


    He Zhiran thought of Liang Hao and the others. Although they still had some distance from the convoy, they also had to camp outside simrly.


    She said to Mo Jiuye, ¡°Why don¡¯t I help them buy a tent in my interspatial space, using the excuse it was purchased from Foreigners as well?¡±


    Mo Jiuye hadn¡¯t ignored the issue of Liang Hao and the others resting outdoors either.


    He just didn''t have any good solutions in mind regarding it so far.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Leave the tent¡¯s origins to me to handle.¡±


    Obtaining Mo Jiuye¡¯s approval, He Zhiran quickly picked out a tent with an exterior resembling those used anciently for marching battles inside Taobao Mall.


    Other than a smaller capacitypared to ancient military campaign tents, the biggest characteristic was its simple operation.


    Mo Jiuye gave the tent a look then took advantage of the nighttime when others couldn''t see to deliver it to Liang Hao¡¯s group.


    When he returned, he deliberately observed where the He family members were resting.


    Most had already fallen asleep. Only He Zhiyuan sat under a tree, head lowered doing something.


    Mo Jiuye stealthily leapt onto the big tree and looked down by the moonlight. He saw He Zhiyuan tearing off a corner of his ownpel. Then he bit open his finger and wrote something on it.


    Mo Jiuye¡¯s dark eyes narrowed slightly. He stared hard trying to see He Zhiyuan¡¯s actions clearer by the moonlight.


    But the dim lighting and distance made himpletely unable to discern what was written.


    Even so, Mo Jiuye didn¡¯t immediately go stop him. He wanted to see if the finished content He Zhiyuan wrote out was truly rted to the incident of running into Fe Mama today.

 Chapter 124: He Zhiyuan is Dead

    <h4>Chapter 124</h4>


    After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, He Zhiyuan finally stopped moving.


    He licked the blood on his fingers, then carefully folded the piece of clothes and tucked it into his bosom.


    Mo Jiuye looked around and saw that everyone else was resting. The two officers in charge of keeping watch were dozing off.


    He quickly leapt down from the tree, chopped He Zhiyuan unconscious with a knifehand strike, grabbed him by the cor and swiftly disappeared from the spot.


    After running for some distance, Mo Jiuye tossed He Zhiyuan onto the ground and took the piece of clothing from his embrace at the same time.


    He lit a pile of hay with a firesteel and by the firelight, the words written in blood on the clothes were clearly visible.


    The content was indeed as he and He Zhiran had expected.


    It was nothing more than saying that he had discovered Mo Jiuye''s abnormal behavior today, and had rescued an old woman who seemed familiar. The old woman did not look like an ordinary person.


    If Prince Rui wanted to know more, he should rescue him from water and fire as soon as possible...


    After reading the blood letter, Mo Jiuye decisively threw it into the fire to burn it up.


    He had originally wanted to spare He Zhiyuan''s life, but he was so ungrateful instead.


    For his own selfish desires, he even wanted to sell him out.


    Fortunately, he and He Zhiran were vignt and had noticed something amiss early on, otherwise if this blood letter had reached Nan Rui¡¯s hands, it would have been big trouble again.


    Thinking of this, he might as well not use the poison He Zhiran gave him. Mo Jiuye directly drew his de and took He Zhiyuan''s life.


    After doing all this, Mo Jiuye stealthily returned He Zhiyuan¡¯s corpse to its original ce.


    In order not to arouse suspicion, he carefully went back and cleaned up the blood stains on the ground before returning to the tent.


    The next morning at daybreak, a woman¡¯s tragic wails rang out from the camp.


    "Officer, my master is dead..."


    The officer came over to take a look very impatiently and found that He Zhiyuan was indeed dead. He hurriedly ran to report to Peng Wang.


    After looking at He Zhiyuan¡¯s corpse, Peng Wang turned his head and nced in the direction of Mo¡¯s family.


    He waved his hand at several officers: "The man is dead, bury him!"


    He¡¯s family disagreed and gathered around Peng Wang.


    "Officer, my master was obviously stabbed to death. He can''t just be buried without knowing why!"


    Peng Wang looked coldly at He¡¯s several women: "ording to what you mean, you expect me, an escort officer for exiles, to find out the murderer?"


    Speaking of the murderer, the first person Peng Wang thought of was Mo Jiuye.


    Apart from Mo Jiuye, he couldn''t think of anyone else who would make a move against He Zhiyuan.


    However, this was just his guess and he could notpletely determine that it was Mo Jiuye who did it.


    Moreover, even if Mo Jiuye did it, he would not say it out...


    Peng Wang just cursed inwardly: This guy, only knows how to stir up trouble for himself!


    Seeing that Peng Wang was glowering, He¡¯s family did not dare say anything more about justice for He Zhiyuan. They could only watch as the officers carried away his corpse.


    With He Zhiyuan dead, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were no longer worried about the incident with Fe Mama being exposed.


    Right now, the only thing they needed to guard against was Nan Rui¡¯s assassination attempts.


    However, the convoy had traveled smoothly for ten days and Nan Rui still did not show any movement.


    Even so, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not dare to be careless in the slightest.


    It was already September, and the temperature difference between day and night was gradually increasing.


    Especially at midnight, even under cotton quilts in the tent, one did not feel very warm.


    In the morning when He Zhiran was folding quilts in the tent, she suddenly sensed Mo Jiuye¡¯s figure sh by the tent entrance as he quickly disappeared on the spot.


    He Zhiran stopped minding her business at hand and rushed out swiftly.


    She saw that Mo Jiuye had casually grabbed adle to block a few feathered arrows that were shot towards them.


    Without hesitation, He Zhiran immediately took out a Swiss army knife from her space and threw it towards Mo Jiuye.


    "Catch it."


    Mo Jiuye steadily caught the army knife and continued to block the arrows.


    He Zhiran quickly hid behind a big tree and looked in the direction where the arrows wereing from.


    She saw that in a slightly concealed ce ahead, a few men in ck were shooting arrows at Mo Jiuye.


    Seeing that those people kept aiming at Mo Jiuye alone, He Zhiran quickly climbed up the tree, took out her sleeve arrows, and shot them at those men.


    At the same time, the officers and other prisoners also noticed something wrong here.


    The sisters-inw had already warily grasped their mini pistols. If not for Jiu Ge and Jiu Mei telling them not to let these things see the light unless absolutely necessary, they would have already fired projectiles in the direction where the arrows came from...


    Peng Wang¡¯s side also shouted loudly that there were assassins and everyone should be careful.


    Encountering such a situation, the first thing Peng Wang thought of was the two brothers who had died recently at Niujiao Mountain.


    They couldn¡¯t afford to have another ident happen after two officers had died.


    The Fang¡¯s and Xie¡¯s men also found some things that could be used as weapons, intending toe over to help.


    But the attackers only targeted Mo Jiuye alone, and they were also keeping their distance. The ¡®weapons¡¯ likedles and bricks in these people¡¯s hands were simply useless.


    Liang Hao on his side also noticed something wrong. He came over with Xu Qingfeng and Li Mingrui to protect Mo Jiuye.


    On the tree, He Zhiran had already shot three men in ck dead with her sleeve arrows.


    However, the number of men in ck was replenished instantly.


    This tactic waspletely different from the people Nan Heng had previously sent. They did not even show their faces at all, always hiding from afar to shoot sneak arrows.


    Not until Liang Hao and the other two joined in and continuously shot down many men in ck with the bows on their backs did they change their tactics.


    Seeing too many losses on their side, the men in ck no longer shot arrows. Wielding sabers, they charged straight at Mo Jiuye to attack.


    Seeing therge number of men in ck, Mo Jiuye was worried that it would implicate his family, so he utilized lightness skill to run towards the distance.


    The men in ck chased relentlessly.


    He Zhiran still followed behind, shooting arrows at the men in ck.


    Those men in ck ignored the people behind them. They even automatically ignored He Zhiran¡¯s attacks, only intent on taking Mo Jiuye¡¯s life.


    After running out several hundred meters in one breath, Mo Jiuye stopped. He raised his army knife to fight with the men in ck.


    Liang Hao and the others arrived right after Mo Jiuye. They quickly joined the melee.


    When He Zhiran caught up, those men in ck had been killed off a number already by them. At present, she estimated there were still twenty to thirty people left.


    She saw that Mo Jiuye and the others were not struggling too much against them. He Zhiran then continued shooting arrows at the men in ck from behind.


    The remaining dozen men in ck saw that things were not going well. They feigned a few moves and then fled towards one direction.


    Liang Hao brought Xu Qingfeng and Li Mingrui to quickly chase.


    Only one person still relentlessly unleashed moves at Mo Jiuye. From the looks of their fight, Mo Jiuye was already at a slight disadvantage.


    He Zhiran hurriedly aimed her crossbow arrow at the back of that man in ck¡¯s head, preparing for a fatal blow.


    Seeing her posture, Mo Jiuye shouted loudly: "Don¡¯t hurt him!"

 Chapter 125: Puppets

    <h4>Chapter 125</h4>


    He Zhiran did not know the reason why Mo Jiuye stopped her from taking action, but she obediently did not move.


    Mo Jiuye naturally wanted to keep that man in ck alive.


    She could also see that Mo Jiuye had been evading all along. Even though the other side''s moves were lethal, he had no intention of fighting back.


    In order not to put Mo Jiuye in danger, she decisively switched her crossbow arrow to a tranquilizer gun.


    She aimed at the left shoulder of the man in ck and fired with a "bang". The man in ck swayed and fell backward.


    Mo Jiuye dashed forward in a sh, grabbed the arms of the man in ck, gently put him on the ground, and at the same time, reached out to uncover his mask.


    Seeing this familiar face, the eyes of this strapping man began to well up.


    "Eighth Brother, it really is you, you are still alive..."


    Upon hearing this, He Zhiran hurriedly walked over, her eyes full of incredulity.


    "This person is your eighth brother?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded with difficulty: "When I fought with him just now, I realized that his moves seemed familiar. So while fighting, I tried to probe, and I canpletely confirm that the martial arts he used came from the Mo Family.


    I don''t know why, when I asked who he was, it was as if he didn''t hear me at all. He kept attacking me like a puppet without any reaction."


    Hearing this, He Zhiran reached out and took Mo Chuhan''s pulse. Her frown grew tighter and tighter.


    Mo Jiuye stared closely at He Zhiran''s expression.


    "What exactly happened to Eighth Brother?"


    He Zhiran slowly stood up: "His pulse is very strange. I can''t determine the specifics now. I need to take him into the space and use those medical devices to check before I know more."


    Mo Jiuye looked deeply into He Zhiran''s eyes, his tone pleading,


    "I beg you, you must save Eighth Brother. Eighth Brother is upright and will not reveal the secrets of your space."


    He Zhiran was not worried that the space would be exposed at all.


    When she diagnosed Mo Chuhan''s pulse just now, she could roughly determine one thing - this person should have lost his self-awareness.


    Besides, she couldpletely use some drugs to control Mo Chuhan and prevent him from regaining consciousness before leaving the space.


    "That''s no problem. As long as you want, I can take him into the space to check at any time." As she spoke, with a wave of He Zhiran''s hand, Mo Chuhan instantly disappeared on the spot.


    At this time, Liang Hao and the others had also returned. Seeing the corpses of the men in ck on the ground, they knew Mo Jiuye was no longer in danger here.


    "Ninth Master, none of those men were kept alive."


    "Um, thanks for your hard work." Mo Jiyue just absentmindedly responded. Then he pulled He Zhiran toward the team.


    Liang Hao and the others tactfully returned to their original positions.


    The Mo Family women were worried about He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye''s safety, and they still remained in position gripping their guns. They came over to greet them.


    Seeing both of them return safely, they let out of sigh of relief.


    The second sister-inw angrily scolded: "I really don''t know what these people want to do. Our Mo Family has already declined to the point of exile, yet they still want to kill us."


    This time, the other sister-inws didn''t remain silent as usual. Following the second sister-inw''s words, they continued to curse those who wanted to harm Mo Jiuye.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye knew the sister-inws were upset in their hearts and did not stop their behavior.


    On their way back, they had already discussed that He Zhiran would pretend to sprain her ankle, then use it as an excuse to ride in the mule cart, so she would have a chance to enter the space and help treat Mo Chuhan.


    So after walking out several meters away, He Zhiran deliberately stepped on a rock.


    "Ow..."


    Mo Jiuye rushed forward to support her. "What''s wrong?"


    "I sprained my ankle a little."


    Just as the sister-inws were about toe over to show concern, Mo Jiuye suddenly picked He Zhiran up in his arms.


    "Go back and tell Peng Wang that you will ride in the mule cart to travel today."


    Mo Jiuye strode away quickly, soon leaving the sister-inws behind.


    Back at the camp, after Mo Jiuye exined the situation to Peng Wang, he carried He Zhiran onto the mule cart.


    Peng Wang came over again to inquire about the situation. Knowing the matter was resolved, he began to arrange the journey to continue.


    After He Zhiran entered thepartment, she immediately shed into the space.


    Even though Mo Jiuye was anxious about Eighth Brother''s condition, he couldn''t follow He Zhiran into the space. His current task was to drive the mule cart.


    Upon entering the space, He Zhiran gave Mo Chuhan a full examination.


    The result shocked her tremendously.


    Mo Chuhan''s condition was actually caused by Gu poison!


    This was no trivial matter. She immediately came out of the space and told Mo Jiuye about the diagnosis results of Mo Chuhan.


    Mo Jiuye was equally surprised. He had also heard about Gu poison, but it was rarely seen in the Da Shun Dynasty, so he had only heard about it and never seen it with his own eyes.


    He couldn''t figure out why Eighth Brother was poisoned by Gu.


    "Can you determine what kind of Gu poison is in his body?"


    In her previous life, He Zhiran had read some books about Gu poison in the Miao areas. Based on the scan just now, she could roughly make out the shape of the Gu worm.


    "ording to Eighth Brother''s symptoms and the shape of the Gu worm, I can preliminarily determine that he is infected with Puppet Gu."


    "Puppet Gu?"


    He Zhiran nodded, "Yes, this is my initial judgment. To truly confirm it, I want to buy a rted book for reference."


    After speaking, she used her mind to purchase a book called The Compendium of Gu Poison.


    The mule cart that Mo Jiuye was driving moved at the same speed as the rest of the team on foot. He Zhiran simply sat on the edge of the cartpartment, holding the book for Mo Jiuye to look over together.


    Considering that Mo Jiuye couldn''t recognize simplified Chinese characters, after flipping to the page describing Puppet Gu, He Zhiran read it out softly for him to listen, while taking out the images from the space scan of Mo Chuhan earlier forparison.


    Sure enough, the Gu worm in the imagespletely matched the picture in the book.


    The book also introduced that Puppet Gu survives in the host''s body at the axiry artery of the arm, relying on the host''s blood to sustain its life.


    There is one mother Gu worm and multiple child Gu worms.


    There is only one mother Gu worm, held in the hands of the controller. The number of child Gu worms is unlimited. The one who carries the child Gu in the body loses autonomous consciousness, with all behaviors determined by the mother Gu controller.


    Moreover, the controller obtains the survival status of the child Gu carrier based on the condition of the mother Gu in hand.


    That is to say, once the child Gu carrier dies, the mother Gu will instinctively summon the child Gu back.


    Mo Jiuye frowned.


    "As far as I know, Gu breeders are all in the southern border areas. To remove Eighth Brother''s Gu worm, we still have to find a way when we go there."


    He had already decided that as long as He Zhiran could preserve Eighth Brother''s life for now, after arriving in the northwest as free people, he would immediately set off for the southern border with Eighth Brother to remove his Gu poison.


    He Zhiran smiled faintly, "Why haven''t you asked if I can remove the Gu poison?"


    He was very clear about He Zhiran''s superb medical skills. But after all, what was in Eighth Brother was a Gu worm, and there was no one in the entire Da Shun Dynasty who knew Gu techniques. Mo Jiuye hadn''t thought of her at all.


    Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows, somewhat uncertain as he asked, "You can remove Gu poison?"


    He Zhiran nodded, "I should be able to, but I need your cooperation."


    "That''s no problem. If Eighth Brother has no major issues with his body, let''s go into your space together tonight to operate."

 Chapter 126: Solution to Poison

    <h4>Chapter 126</h4>


    When He Zhiran heard that she could remove the gu worms from Mo Chuhan''s body, Mo Jiuye was overjoyed, eagerly wishing it could be nightfall soon so he could treat Eighth Brother sooner.


    To be safe, He Zhiran returned to her space and injected Mo Chuhan with a tranquilizer to keep him asleep for now.


    Finally, after everyone else had returned to their tents to rest for the night, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye impatiently entered her space.


    Mo Chuhan was still fast asleep.


    Using her mind, He Zhiran sent him to the operating room.


    When Mo Jiuye heard she was going to perform surgery to remove the gu worms from Eighth Brother, the first thing that came to mind was that Eighth Brother might also be stripped naked like he had been.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye hurriedly pushed He Zhiran towards the exit of the operating room.


    "I''ll take off Eighth Brother''s clothes. Call me when you''re ready."


    He Zhiran frowned.


    "The gu worm is in his arm. He doesn''t need to be fully undressed."


    Mo Jiuye suddenly realized his mistake and didn''t continue pushing her out.


    However, he still took the initiative to remove Mo Chuhan''s shirt himself.


    Seeing how emaciated Eighth Brother had be, nothing but skin and bones, Mo Jiuye felt a stabbing pain in his heart.


    Eighth Brother was the strongest martial artist in the family and had also been the burliest. Who knows what he had experienced over these years to be so wasted away.


    There was no time to think more about it. Removing the gu worm was most urgent.


    After taking off Mo Chuhan''s shirt, Mo Jiuye voluntarily stood in a corner out of the way.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye dumbly standing in the corner, He Zhiran called him over to put on sterile surgical gowns together. She then handed him a sealed ss bottle.


    "Hold this tightly. As soon as the gu worm pokes its head out, quickly capture it in here. Don''t let it get away."


    Mo Jiuye took the ss bottle solemnly and nodded.


    To prevent Mo Chuhan from waking due to pain, He Zhiran first administered some local anesthetic.


    She then prepared a tray of surgical instruments at her side and began operating in earnest.


    Mo Jiuye watched as a silver scalpel sliced open Eighth Brother''s arm, blood flowing from the incision.


    He Zhiran seemed oblivious to the blood, cautiously cutting deeper to prevent killing the gu worm outright.


    About five minutester, He Zhiran spoke solemnly.


    "Get ready to catch the gu worm."


    Mo Jiuye''s senses heightened, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the incision site.


    Using forceps in one hand and hemostatic forceps in the other, He Zhiran gently peeled back Mo Chuhan''s skin and flesh a little.


    An eight to nine millimeter long ck worm then entered their line of sight.


    As if sensing the surrounding danger, the puppet gu spread its wings, preparing to escape its host''s body.


    With quick reflexes, Mo Jiuye positioned the bottle opening in the gu worm''s path, guiding it directly inside. He then sealed the cap tightly.


    Their great task aplished, He Zhiran immediately stitched up Mo Chuhan''s wound.


    Only then did Mo Jiuye realize this was how He Zhiran had treated his wounds previously.


    While the treatment method was unfamiliar to him, he knew such treated wounds would heal several times faster than conventional methods.


    After treating Mo Chuhan¡¯s wound, He Zhiran hooked him up to an IV drip with anti-inmmatory medication.


    She wiped the sweat from her brow and took off the surgical gown, then opened the TaoBaoBao shopping app intending to buy some blood sma.


    Upon opening the TaoBaoBao app on her phone, the notice she saw gave her a huge, pleasant surprise.


    Sales of goods from her store today were extremely impressive, earning 10.9 million yuan.


    Checking further, the big buyer was none other than the small collector who hadn¡¯t appeared for a long time.


    The small collector had also left her a message, but He Zhiran was currently busy buying blood sma and dealing with Mo Chuhan. She decided to reply when time allowedter.


    Once separated from its host, the gurva could survive at most ten days.


    In other words, if therva could not sessfully return to the mother gu within those ten days, it would certainly perish.


    Her reasoning behind going through such effort to keep therva alive was the hope that, given the opportunity, she could use this clue to find the one who had used gu worms on Mo Chuhan.


    The Gu Worm Compendium stated that to enable gurvae expelled from a human body to live for an extended period, they needed nourishment from fresh human blood.


    Therefore, He Zhiran intended to feed therva blood as soon as it left the host, to avoid any idents.


    However, Mo Jiuye didn¡¯t understand any of this. He had assumed they would remove and burn therva outright.


    Who would have thought He Zhiran would add so much blood to the bottle?


    "What is your intention in doing so?"


    He Zhiran exined her rationale.


    Hearing her exnation, Mo Jiuye sincerely gave her a big thumbs up.


    "Fortunately your thinking is meticulous. Otherwise, even if Eighth Brother knew who used the gu on him, we still might not be able to find them."


    Mo Jiuye had heard some legends about gu raisers in southern Xinjiang.


    Elusive when seen by others, they appeared as ordinary people. But reveal their true nature, they were terrifying gu raisers who struck fear by reputation alone.


    After filling half the sma bottle, He Zhiran carefully stored away the bottle containing therva.


    Pointing at the still unconscious Mo Chuhan, Mo Jiuye asked,


    "Now that the gu worm has been removed, I wonder when Eighth Brother will awaken?"


    He Zhiran nced at therge clock on the wall then said,


    "His vitals have all stabilized. He should regain consciousness within the hour. When that IV bag finishes, we need to take him out quickly."


    Mo Jiuye¡¯s mood was still somewhat low, but it didn¡¯t affect his thinking.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye remained silent for some time, He Zhiran asked,


    ¡°Are you thinking about the one behind the scenes manipting Eighth Brother?¡±


    Mo Jiuye nodded.


    ¡°Eighth Brother being afflicted with gu worms can¡¯t be unrted to the southern Xinjiang people.


    While it''s understandable for the southern Xinjiang people to bitterly detest the Mo Family, over the years the Mo Family¡¯s existence has thwarted their invasion attempts on Da Shun time and time again, forcing them to retreat defeated and suffer devastating losses each time.


    However, those ck clothed men¡¯s martial arts were entirely from the Central ins, bearing no traces of the southern Xinjiang people.¡±


    Based on this point alone, Mo Jiuye could eliminate the possibility that those people had been sent by the southern Xinjiang side.


    Both of them sank into contemtive silence at the same time.


    Originally, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had believed the mastermind behind the assassination attempt was Nan Rui.


    But judging from Mo Chuhan¡¯s situation, that mastermind had clearly colluded with the southern Xinjiang people.


    In that case, they could no longer pinpoint Nan Rui alone as the mastermind behind the scenes.


    Especially He Zhiran, with her deeper historical knowledge, many ambitious people would choose to collude with foreign enemies to expand their own power.


    In short, at present the two of them could not conclusively determine the true mastermind¡¯s identity. They could only wait for Mo Chuhan to regain consciousness and inquire further, hoping to obtain useful information from him.


    Unable to find the real answer for now, they both tacitly avoided continuing the topic.

 Chapter 127: He’s been apart from his family for three years.

    <h4>Chapter 127</h4>


    He Zhiran looked at Mo Chuhan who was still in aa.


    "Have you thought about how to bring Eighth Brother to meet Mother and Sisters-inw?"


    Mo Jiuye pondered for a moment. They had brought Mo Chuhan into the space early in the morning, and now it was alreadyte into the night.


    If he told the truth that Eighth Brother was one of the ck-clothed assassins who had tried to kill him, it would be hard to exin everything that had happened today.


    After thinking for a bit, he said: "Let''s go farther away and say that I heard some noises in the mountains and went to check it out, and that''s when I ran into Eighth Brother."


    He Zhiran nodded: "Okay, that works too."


    In the time they were talking, half an hour had already passed.


    Mo Chuhan''s IV had also finished dripping. He Zhiran brought Mo Jiuye and vanished from the space without a sound.


    The two of them noiselessly left the campsite and headed towards the distance.


    When they felt they were somewhat far away from the camp, Mo Jiuye stopped in his tracks.


    "Let''s do it here!"


    "Alright." As He Zhiran''s voice fell, Mo Chuhan had already appeared on the open ground in front of the two.


    Seeing that Eighth Brother still hadn''t woken up, Mo Jiuye went and gathered some firewood to make a bonfire.


    About twenty minutester, Mo Chuhan''s fingers twitched, then he slowly opened his eyes.


    Mo Chuhan stared at Mo Jiuye in disbelief for a long time, seeming unable to believe it.


    His voice was somewhat hoarse and powerless. "Ninth younger brother?"


    Tears once again welled up in Mo Jiuye''s eyes. He grabbed Mo Chuhan''s hand excitedly and said emotionally, "Eighth Brother, it''s me, it''s Jiuye!"


    Mo Chuhan reached out a trembling hand, trying to touch Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye moved his body closer to help prop Mo Chuhan up into a sitting position.


    "Eighth Brother, we all thought you had died. What on earth happened?"


    Mo Chuhan''s lips moved, but he seemed very weak.


    "I was with Sixth and Seventh Brother resisting the invasion from the Southern Bordends when we were lured by the enemy to a mountain valley.


    Just as I was battling the enemies, there suddenly appeared a pungent smell that I identally inhaled through my nose and mouth.


    The next time I awoke, I was chained with iron shackles to a pir in a dark, gloomy cave.


    Not long after, an old man dressed like someone from the Southern Bordends came before me. All I saw was him scattering some powder at me. Right after that, I didn''t know anything anymore."


    When Mo Chuhan finished speaking, he tightly grasped Mo Jiuye''s arm.


    "Ninth younger brother, are Sixth and Seventh Brother okay? And where are we now?"


    Mo Jiuye wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes, then said:


    "Eighth Brother, the incident you spoke of happened three years ago. Back then, I received the news that you, Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother had all died at the hands of the Southern Bordends troops. I didn''t expect that you were actually still alive, Eighth Brother!


    The Mo family manor has now been ransacked and exiled by an imperial decree using us of treason and colluding with the enemy. Right now we''re on the road during this exile.


    This morning a group of ck-clothed assassins tried to kill me, and you, Eighth Brother, were one of those ck-clothed men.


    Although you had your face covered, I immediately recognized your martial arts techniques, so I knocked you out and hid you away."


    As Mo Jiuye spoke, he had already pulled He Zhiran over to stand in front of Mo Chuhan.


    "Eighth Brother, this is my wife, He Zhiran, the legitimate daughter of the He Chancellor''s household. Thankfully she knows medicine and helped remove your puppet worm."


    In just those few short sentences from Mo Jiuye, Mo Chuhan received a huge amount of shocking information.


    He stared fixedly at the two people dressed in coarse hemp clothing standing before him, but was unable to respond for quite some time.


    After a long pause, Mo Chuhan tentatively asked:


    "Ninth younger brother, did you say it''s already been three years since that battle at the Southern Bordends?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "That''s right Eighth Brother, it''s exactly three years now."


    Mo Chuhan continued asking: "Then what about Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother?" He was hoping that if he could miraculously survive, then surely Sixth and Seventh Brother could also appear alive by some miracle.


    Mo Jiuye tilted his head slightly to one side, forcefully blinking his eyes several times to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out.


    "Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother both lost their lives in that battle."


    Upon hearing this, Mo Chuhan gripped Mo Jiuye''s arms tightly as tears began streaming down his face.


    "Could it be that the only Mo men remaining now are just us two brothers?"


    Mo Jiuye answered with great difficulty, "Yes."


    When Mo Chuhan heard the affirmative answer, his eyes seemed to be those of a trapped beast stained with blood.


    He struggled to sit up straight, gripping his hair tightly with both hands and yelling out in near despair.


    "No...I can''t believe all this is real!"


    Seeing his state, Mo Jiuye suppressed the heart-wrenching pain he felt to go up andfort him.


    "Eighth Brother, it''s already been so long since it happened. Now that you''re still alive, it''s the heavens showing great benevolence to our Mo family."


    Witnessing this scene also brought tears flowing freely down He Zhiran''s face, but her reason was still sound.


    She went up to the two brothers and gently reminded:


    "Eighth Brother, Mother and Eighth Sister-in-Law are at the campsite not far away."


    Sure enough, upon hearing He Zhiran''s words, Mo Chuhan''s emotions calmed down quite a bit.


    He looked at Mo Jiuye with bloodshot eyes.


    "Ninth younger brother, how are Mother and your Eighth sister-inw? Are they well?"


    Mo Jiuye carefully helped prop Mo Chuhan up to his feet.


    "They''re both doing fine. And from what I can see, Eighth Sister-in-Law seems to miss you a lot."


    A mental image of his mother''s loving countenance and his wife''s charming figure instantly appeared in Mo Chuhan''s mind.


    He had married his wife Zhao Xiann less than a month ago when they were still passionately in love. But then he immediately received the urgent news from the border pass and set off with Mo Jiuye through the night to rush there under imperial orders.


    He remembered that thest time he left home, his mother had brought all the women of the household to see them off at the front gates.


    By then his mother had already lost her husband and five sons.


    Even so, she still admonished him and Ninth Younger Brother: the Mo Family''s men cannot be cowards!


    His wife Zhao Xiann had held onto him reluctantly, her eyes full of heartache...


    Who knew that this farewell wouldst three whole years.


    And he had actually spent those three years unconscious and muddled.


    Mo Chuhan gripped Mo Jiuye''s hand tightly. "Ninth younger brother, take me to see them."


    Seeing Mo Chuhan stumbling with each step, Mo Jiuye felt anxious.


    He was thinking that Eighth Brother had only gotten his arm cut open, there''s no way he could be this feeble.


    So he asked He Zhiran,


    "Ranran, what exactly is going on with Eighth Brother''s body?"


    "It''s normal for Eighth Brother to be weak right now after the Puppet Worm had sucked out so much of his essence and blood over the past three years. And judging by his current state, it should also be because he hasn''t eaten anything for a long time.


    Coincidentally, I still happen to have some food in my package, so let''s first get some food into Eighth Brother''s stomach."


    He Zhiran didn''t actually have any package on her. She realized that Mo Chuhan hadn''t been paying much attention to her this whole time, so taking out a random package from her space wouldn''t be discovered.


    As she finished speaking, her consciousness entered her space. She bought arge white steamed bun from Taobao, and took out some braised beef from her fridge.


    Mo Chuhan really was starving. He gave a word of thanks before epting the food from He Zhiran''s hands and started wolfing it all down.


    He Zhiran also took out a water dder.


    "Eighth Brother, since it''s likely been a very long time since you''vest eaten, don''t eat too quickly or you''ll hurt your stomach and spleen."


    Hearing this, Mo Chuhan''s face flushed red.


    He had actually forgotten his younger siblings were still here.


    Mo Chuhan felt a little embarrassed as he epted the water dder. "Thank you for the reminder, younger sister."

 Chapter 128: Mo Chu Han, You Bastard

    <h4>Chapter 128</h4>


    Mo Chuhan finally felt a bit of strength after devouring arge steamed bun and a packet of sauced beef.


    He quickened his pace, hoping to reunite with his family as soon as possible.


    When they reached the vicinity of the camp, Mo Jiuye deliberately didn''t hide from the night watchmen.


    In the future, Eighth Brother would be traveling with them to the northwest, so there was no need for concealment.


    As for those who wanted them dead behind their backs, they would still make their move even if Eighth Brother wasn''t present.


    The sound of the three people walking was not quiet. Even though the night watchmen were a bit drowsy, they could still hear the noise.


    The sky was too dark, and the watchmen couldn''t see the faces of the approaching individuals, only three silhouettes.


    "Who''s there?" one of the watchmen asked loudly.


    "It''s us, sir," He Zhiran replied.


    He Zhiran''s position was somewhat close to where Mo''s family''s tent was located.


    When the Mo family women heard her voice, they thought something had happened and came out of the tent one by one to check.


    "He Zhiran, what happened?" Old Lady Mo asked anxiously.


    At this moment, the watchmen also came over to investigate, asking, "He Zhiran, why are you all not resting in the middle of the night? What are you doing out here?"


    He Zhiran didn''t immediately answer the watchmen because she saw Old Lady Mo stumbling towards Mo Chuhan''s direction.


    Old Lady Mo rubbed her eyes vigorously and carefully examined Mo Chuhan.


    "Chuhan?"


    Mo Chuhan knelt down in front of Old Lady Mo and said, "Mother, it''s your unfilial son, Chuhan."


    At that moment, Eighth Sister-inw also recognized Mo Chuhan''s voice and came to him, bypassing several other sisters-inw.


    "Husband, is it really you? You''re really not dead?"


    Mo Chuhan, seeing his once plump wife who had now be thin, nodded with difficulty, "Xiann, it''s me, I''m not dead."


    Eighth Sister-inw burst into tears and threw herself into Mo Chuhan''s arms, ignoring the gazes around them.


    At the same time, her little fists continued to pound on his chest.


    "Mo Chuhan, you jerk... Why didn''t youe home if you weren''t dead... Sob, sob, sob...


    You know what? I was mocked by my two sisters-inw from my natal family for three whole years. They said I brought bad luck to my husband as soon as we got married...


    It''s all your fault... Sob, sob, sob..."


    Seeing this scene, the other sisters-inw also shed tears, but they had the discernment not to approach.


    Mo Hanyue also came to Old Lady Mo''s side and looked at the person in front of her who had be unrecognizably thin.


    "Mother, is this really Eighth Brother? How did he be like this?"


    At the moment when Mo Chuhan knelt down, Old Lady Mo intended to step forward and help him up to inquire further.


    However, before she could make a move, Eighth Sister-inw threw herself at him.


    As someone who had gone through the pain of separation from her spouse, she naturally understood and restrained herself from approaching.


    Upon hearing her sister-inw''s words, Eighth Sister-inw realized that she had been a bit too impulsive just now.


    She quickly got up from Mo Chuhan''s embrace and turned to look at Old Lady Mo.


    "Mother, I''m sorry, it was an abrupt action on my part."


    Old Lady Mo patted her shoulder and said, "It''s alright. Nowadays, we are no longer a wealthy family where rules need to be followed at every turn. We can let go of those formalities."


    As they spoke, Old Lady Mo had already approached Mo Chuhan and reached out to help him up.


    As Old Lady Mo''s hand touched Mo Chuhan''s arm, the tears she had just suppressed once again flowed uncontrobly.


    "Chuhan, what have you experienced in these three years? Why have you be so thin?"


    Mo Chuhan followed his mother''s guidance and stood up.


    "Mother, I..."


    Just as Mo Chuhan was about to exin something, Mo Jiuye stepped forward.


    "Mother, Eighth Brother is injured and still very weak. It would be better to ask these questionster, slowly."


    Old Lady Mo understood Mo Jiuye''s meaning. It was simply that it was not appropriate to discuss these matters with so many people around.


    She had been too concerned about Mo Chuhan earlier, which made her overlook this point.


    At this moment, Peng Wang also arrived with a group of officials to assess the situation, and members of the Fang and Xie families were also nearby, watching.


    From their earlier conversation, they had already learned about Mo Chuhan''s identity.


    Although they were puzzled by Mo Chuhan''s resurrection, they genuinely felt happy for the Mo family.


    Peng Wang was the most tactful and waved his hand towards the onlookers.


    "The Mo family is catching up on old times. It''s none of your business. Everyone, disperse!"


    The crowd obediently dispersed.


    Mo Jiuye nced at the sky and realized it would still be some time before dawn.


    "Eighth Brother, you should rest in my tent for now. We can talkter."


    At that, Fifth Sister-in-Law walked over.


    "Ninth Brother, Eighth Sister and I share a tent. I''ll take my things and squeeze in with Mother and Hanyue. Let Eighth Brother go to Eighth Sister''s tent."


    Before Mo Jiuye could respond, Old Lady Mo agreed first, "Yes, that''s appropriate. Considering Chuhan''s weak state, it''s convenient for Zhao Shi to take care of him."


    As they spoke, Fifth Sister-in-Law had already brought out her luggage from the tent, making space for Eighth Brother and Eighth Sister.


    Eighth Sister-in-Law reached out and supported Mo Chuhan''s arm.


    "Husband, I''ll support you."


    Mo Chuhan gently patted the hand wrapped around his arm.


    "Alright."


    Eighth Sister-in-Law carefully supported Mo Chuhan as they entered the tent, but the curtain was not drawn.


    She knew that Mother must have a lot to say to her husband.


    Sure enough, Old Lady Mo followed them inside.


    Mo Jiuye was worried that Eighth Brother might mistakenly reveal the exnations they had prepared, so he quickly stepped forward and held onto Old Lady Mo.


    "Mother, Eighth Brother is very weak. Let him rest for now. If you want to know something, let your son tell you tomorrow."


    Old Lady Mo looked at Mo Chuhan, who was sitting inside the tent with a slightly tilted body, and said to Eighth Sister-in-Law, "Zhao Shi, you should rest early. We can talk about it tomorrow."


    After speaking, she left with Mo Jiuye.


    Undoubtedly, she would carefully inquire about Mo Chuhan''s situation.


    The other sisters-inw tacitly led Mo Hanyue back to their respective tents. They all understood that if there was something about Mo Chuhan they needed to know, Mother would inform them tomorrow. There was no urgency at this moment.


    Mo Jiuye proceeded to recount Mo Chuhan''s ordeal to his mother, as he had discussed with He Zhiran in advance.


    "Mother, Eighth Brother is one of those ck-d individuals who rise early. When I fought against him, I sensed something was amiss. So, I knocked him unconscious and secretly hid him in a nearby cave, leaving Liang Hao and the others to keep watch there.


    After nightfall, I utilized my lightness skills to return to that cave with Ranran to treat Eighth Brother..."


    Old Lady Mo had already heard about Liang Hao and the others seeking refuge, and she didn''t harbor any doubts about it.


    Mo Jiuye used the excuse of saving Mo Chuhan to deflect attention from the matter, but he didn''t conceal anything else.


    Upon hearing this, Old Lady Mo once again burst into tears.


    "Who on earth is behind such persecution against our Mo family''s children?"


    Seeing Old Lady Mo in distress, He Zhiran stepped forward to console her.


    "Mother, the situation has already passed. It''s fortunate that Eighth Brother is able toe back alive.


    You don''t need to worry about his health; with me here, I guarantee hisplete recovery."


    Old Lady Mo nodded and then patted He Zhiran''s hand.


    "He Shi, ever since you married into the Mo family, I''ve observed everything you''ve done. If it weren''t for you, our entire family would have perished long ago.


    And now, you have also lifted the puppetry curse from Eighth Brother. This act of kindness will remain in my heart."

 Chapter 129: Are you gonna Show me your Hand for Dinner

    <h4>Chapter 129</h4>


    "Mother, we are all one family, saying these things makes you feel unwee." He Zhiran held Old Lady Mo''s hand tofort her.


    Mo Jiuye chose to tell Old Lady Mo about the incident because he knew his mother''s temperament well.


    Old Lady Mo had seen all kinds of storms and her disposition was not as simple as ordinary women''s.


    If he had been vague about Mo Chuhan''s experience, she probably could not have handled it at all.


    Therefore, Mo Jiuye chose toy all his cards on the table.


    This way, although his mother would feel sad, it was still better than letting her worry all day.


    In addition, Mo Jiuye repeated the excuses that he and He Zhiran hade up with, indicating that his mother should say the same thing to others.


    Naturally, Old Lady Mo understood his intentions without needing further exnation.


    While Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran wereforting Old Lady Mo, Eighth Sister-inw had helped Mo Chuhan lie back down in her original spot in the tent.


    She still had tears running down her face.


    "Husband, do you know that when I first heard the news of your death, if not for thinking that I still had to serve your mother on your behalf, I really could not have gone on living..."


    As she spoke, Eighth Sister-inw threw herself into Mo Chuhan''s arms again, bawling.


    "Husband, do you know how much I missed you... woo woo woo..."


    Mo Chuhan raised his hand to hug his delicate wife tightly, gently stroking her somewhat withered hair, and said, "It was I who wronged you. As long as I can still live, I will definitely make it up to you in the future..."


    Eighth Sister-inw vigorously nuzzled her face against his chest.


    "You must live well. If anyone is to die, I will die first. I can''t bear the pain of losing you again."


    "Alright, I promise you that I will live well."


    ...


    For all the Mo family members, this was destined to be a sleepless night.


    When everyone got up early in the morning, they almost all had huge dark circles under their eyes.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye came out from the tent and went to find Peng Wang first thing.


    They felt that it was necessary to officially notify Peng Wang about Mo Chuhan''s matter.


    Peng Wang had anticipated that they woulde to find him, so after getting up he did not hurry to urge the team to move on, but waited in ce instead.


    Mo Jiuye brought He Zhiran to sit next to him.


    "Big Brother Peng, as you sawst night, my eighth brother is not dead."


    "This is absolutely great news for your Mo family, worth celebrating." As Peng Wang spoke, he looked towards He Zhiran.


    "Little sister, I haven''t tasted your cooking skills in a long time. You''ll show off some skills for dinner tonight, right?"


    "No problem, I guarantee Big Brother Peng and the other officials will be satisfied."


    Clearly, Peng Wang was a smart man. He did not want to delve into the details of how Mo Chuhan was able toe back alive.


    He always kept in mind one principle - the more you know, the faster you die!


    With one look Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran realized Peng Wang''s intention. Originally they had only wanted to inform Peng Wang that there was one more person in the team.


    Now that was settled, they did not need to waste their breath finding all kinds of excuses to conceal things.


    The exile team had a rule that unless under special circumstances, criminals were not allowed to ride in any vehicles.


    Considering Mo Chuhan¡¯s current state, he was too weak to keep up with the main group on the road.


    Peng Wang would do people a favor - he understood that Mo Jiuye would bring this matter up, so he took the initiative to offer to let Mo Chuhan ride in a mule cart.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran naturally expressed their gratitude profusely.


    The sisters-inw had cooked soft rice porridge early in the morning, plus one white flour steamed bun and one tea egg for each person.


    Everyone had just finished breakfast when Peng Wang''s side started getting ready to move on.


    Considering Mo Chuhan¡¯s physical condition and severe malnutrition, He Zhiran had endless ways to replenish him.


    At the moment, with so many people around, it was best to use some ginseng and lingzhi and other medicinal ingredients that people of this era would recognize to nourish Mo Chuhan¡¯s body.


    She just needed to find an opportunity to reveal these medicinal ingredients.


    Fortunately, the troops passed through another city that day.


    Originally they did not need to enter the city, but Peng Wang had a craving and said early in the morning that he wanted to eat the dishes cooked by He Zhiran, thinking about the taste all day.


    Therefore, when they passed by, he ordered the main troops to wait in ce. He brought He Zhiran and an official into the city to purchase supplies.


    Knowing that the things He Zhiran would "purchase" on one trip into the city would definitely not be few, Mo Jiuye helped Mo Chuhan down and let her lead the mule cart.


    Peng Wang no longer regarded the Mo family as criminals now and naturally would not extort He Zhiran.


    "Little sister, here are five taels of silver. I''ll leave tonight¡¯s dinner for my brothers in your hands." As he spoke, he was about to put the silver into He Zhiran''s hands.


    Considering Peng Wang¡¯s care for her family over this period, He Zhiran did not take his silver.


    "Big Brother Peng, we agreed that this would be our treat, how can we let you take out silver?"


    He Zhiran directly pushed the silver back.


    Seeing this, Peng Wang did not argue with her either.


    "Since this is the case, big brother will not stand on ceremony with you."


    He knew that He Zhiran liked to shop alone. Peng Wang took the official to a roadside tea stall, where they drank tea while waiting.


    He Zhiran''s main goal in entering the city this time was to buy some nourishing products for Mo Chuhan.


    After splitting up from Peng Wang, she led the mule cart into a deserted alley.


    She went straight into the mule cart and bought two whole old mountain ginsengs and two lingzhi mushrooms in Taobao Treasure Mall.


    There is a saying that medicinal supplements are not as good as food supplements. However, Mo Chuhan¡¯s body was too weak.


    He Zhiran decided to use both medicinal and food supplements at the same time.


    So she also bought two meat pigeons and one ck chicken in the space, and used these plus the lingzhi and ginseng to cook soup for Mo Chuhan.


    In addition, she poured several types of medicinal potions extracted from the space pharmacy that promote human immune function into a small porcin bottle for Mo Chuhan to take on time every day.


    Having a rare purchasing opportunity, He Zhiran naturally would not let it pass.


    She bought several kinds of seasonal fruits, vegetables, various meats and some smoked sauce foods.


    When treating others to a meal, she had to go all out.


    He Zhiran bought a case of Wuliangye liquor in Taobao Treasure Mall and poured it into a wine jar.


    When the supplies were prepared and half the carriage was already filled, He Zhiran finally led the satisfied mule cart to the tea stall to reunite with Peng Wang.


    Regarding He Zhiran¡¯s efficiency in purchasing, Peng Wang had long been ustomed to it.


    Considering returning earlier to have more time to prepare dinner, He Zhiran let Peng Wang and the official ride in the carriage while she drove the mule cart all the way back, as this would allow them to move faster.


    The moment Peng Wang entered the carriage, he waspletely dumbfounded.


    The Hes were indeed wealthy and powerful, actually buying so much stuff.


    Then he thought again of the five taels of silver he had taken out earlier - afraid that would not even buy half...


    He Zhiran was unaware of Peng Wang''s thoughts. She drove the mule cart quickly out of the city.


    Seeing the sky, Peng Wang ordered them to hurry on for another hour before resting in ce.


    With a goal, the main group picked up the pace even more vigorously down the road.


    An hourter, Peng Wang chose to spend the night by a river.


    Knowing that they had to treat the officials to dinner tonight, the sisters-inw came over to help process the ingredients after the team stopped.

 Chapter 130: As Much As You Want

    <h4>Chapter 130</h4>


    The women of the Fang and Xie families heard that He Zhiran was treating the officials to dinner tonight and rushed over to help.


    He Zhiran was in no hurry to start cooking. Instead, she first taught Eighth Sister-inw how to cook medicinal soup to nourish Mo Chuhan''s health.


    When Eighth Sister-inw saw how many valuable ingredients He Zhiran had bought for Mo Chuhan''s health, she was so moved that her eyes reddened.


    "Sister-inw, you must have spent a lot of silver on this?"


    He Zhiran casually smiled, "It wasn''t much, don''t worry about it."


    Indeed she hadn''t spent much from Taobao. Though you could buy anything there, items like thousand-year ginseng and lingzhi described in novels didn''t actually exist.


    It was all cultivated by advanced methods.


    And it wasn''t expensive either.


    Two ginsengs cost 1,500 yuan. She chose the best looking lingzhi, spending 1,400 yuan.


    Add in the silkie chicken and meat pigeon, still less than half the money from selling one silver hairpin.


    To He Zhiran now, this was pocket change.


    Moreover, Emperor Shunwu was footing the bill so she felt no pressure.


    Seeing the fine supplements her sister-inw bought for her husband, Eighth Sister-inw studied the soup carefully, afraid of ruining the precious ingredients.


    After making sure Eighth Sister-inw could handle it independently, He Zhiran went to prepare dinner.


    The feast tonight was to satisfy Official Peng and the others while celebrating Mo Chuhan''s homing.


    With everyone''s help, He Zhiran only needed to cook.


    As before, Mo Jiuye squatted nearby, helping tend the fire.


    He now had another use too.


    That was to help He Zhiran sneak ingredients from her space.


    Whenever she wanted to secretly take out seasonings, Mo Jiuye would look around before blocking people''s line of sight.


    The couple worked seamlessly together. By nightfall, eight dishes and one soup were finished.


    Red braised pork ribs, He Zhiran¡¯s favorite, were essential.


    There was also ready-made crystal elbow pork she¡¯d bought straight from Taobao, making everyone drool.


    The perfectly roasted duck, Dongpo pork, radish stuffed meatballs soup and other colorfully prepared dishes had generous portions, even the Fang and Xie families got a share.


    Only the woeful He family, who now cowered without He Zhizhuan, could merely watch from afar.


    Outside, tworge oilcloths were spread on the ground for the officials.


    This was the first family reunion dinner since Mo Chuhan returned.


    At Lady Mo¡¯s invitation, everyone crowded around together, livelier this way.


    Having just downed a huge bowl of medicinal chicken soup from his wife, Mo Chuhan wasn¡¯t hungry now.


    But thinking this celebrated his homing, he tried to eat more.


    Afraid her husband might not get his fill, Eighth Sister-inw continuously heaped food on his bowl.


    After the meal Mo Chuhan had to walk around to help digestion...


    He Zhiran gave Eighth Sister-inw medicine to boost immunity, telling her to administer it to Mo Chuhan twice a day.


    Exhausted from the busy day andck of sleepst night over Mo Chuhan¡¯s matter, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye returned to their tent early to rest up for traveling tomorrow.


    Perhaps from drinking wine, Mo Jiuye¡¯s hot body kept lightly touching hers tonight.


    Feeling the heat emanating from him, her body reflexively tensed.


    Strangely, she didn¡¯t dislike the sensation at all, even feeling a trace of pleasure and excitement.


    Her encroaching drowsiness was abruptly dispelled by these peculiar feelings.


    ncing over, Mo Jiuye had his eyes shut, breathing evenly, clearly already asleep.


    To keep her mind from wandering, He Zhiran entered her space, wanting to check Taobao and reply to Little Collector.


    This gave He Zhiran a huge surprise.


    When she went to town for supplies earlier, there was no record of transactions in the shop.


    But now the message box showed an ie of 13 million!


    In all the time her antique shop was open, today¡¯s profits exceeded the total previously.


    If not for worrying about waking Mo Jiuye, she could have jumped and shouted to express her tion.


    Looking over the purchase record, it was all ¡®Little Collector¡¯ as expected.


    She wondered what Little Collector did for a living to splurge like this.


    Curious, she opened the chat with him.


    Little Collector: Boss, I urgently need a batch of paintings and vases recently. Please list them as soon as possible if you have stock. Price is no object.


    He sent the message at 3:05 pm, over five hours ago now.


    Unsure if he was still online, she tentatively responded:


    ¡°I have countless paintings and vases for you. What price range do you want?¡±


    Assuming no reply from Little Collector, she was about to browse other things when his avatar shed - he astonishingly messaged back!


    He Zhiran hurriedly opened the chat.


    Little Collector: I have no requirements as long as they¡¯re quality pieces from your shop.


    He Zhiran: No problem, I''ll provide as many as you need.


    Little Collector: (¨t(*¡ã¨Œ¡ã*)¨s) Really? Wonderful, please list them quickly boss, I can hardly wait.


    To expedite listing, she shed straight into her space.


    Now that Mo Jiuye knew about it, she had nothing to worry about either.


    Using her consciousness, she summoned a huge quantity of paintings and vases.


    Snapping photos, pricing, uploading, all done swiftly.


    These were so bulky that selling them online significantly freed up room.


    This time, determined to go all out, she listed nearly a thousand pieces!


    Opening Little Collector¡¯s chat box, she messaged: Listingplete, please browse and purchase whatever you like!


    Seeing the shop suddenly expanded with so many new listings, Little Collector couldn¡¯t peel his eyes away, let alone respond right now!


    Assuming he¡¯d gone to rest already since it was sote, feeling tired herself, she decided to leave the space and visit the god of dreams too.


    Anyway these were items Little Collector specially asked for and she¡¯d uploaded tons, first thing after waking up tomorrow would be to check sales!

 Chapter 131: Unexpected Surprise

    <h4>Chapter 131</h4>


    Individual, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, million, ten million, one hundred million, billion!


    Damn, incredible!


    The number that appeared on the info box was actually nine digits.


    He Zhiran felt her legs go soft.


    She actually had the day to be a billionaire...


    A moment after the excitement, He Zhiran wanted to close the info box and check the specific sales situation of the store.


    Who knew, she had just closed the info box, and another one popped up immediately.


    [Congrattions, you have sessfully joined the ranks of billionaires. Taobao rewards you with a chance to participate in a lottery.]


    Lottery?


    This Taobao is too good at ying!


    Just as He Zhiran was stunned, the dialog box disappeared automatically.


    Arge rotating lottery wheel appeared on the screen.


    He Zhiran didn''t take this lottery to heart at all.


    The little trick officially made just to promote consumption, nothing more than some promotional coupons.


    She casually clicked the "Draw" button in the middle of the screen.


    The turntable started spinning rapidly.


    A few secondster, the pointer was fixed on the mystery surprise prize.


    Subsequently, another dialog box appeared on the screen.


    [The mystery surprise is divided into special, advanced and normal levels. Now is the time to test your luck.]


    The dialog box disappeared automatically, and three cards appeared on the screen.


    This was not unfamiliar to He Zhiran''s previous life experience on various tforms.


    She casually clicked on one of the middle cards.


    The screen was suddenly filled with golden light.


    [Congrattions, you have drawn a special surprise and are rewarded with a Transmigrator Farm Space.]


    He Zhiran???


    nting space???


    Isn''t it what she thought it was?


    Just as He Zhiran''s mind was racing with various possibilities, a 3D image appeared on the screen.


    In the picture, you could see fields full of crops, clear ponds, vast pastures, processing nts and huge warehouses, as well as fruit trees on the distant hillsides that were already full of fruits.


    Thinking that she could have such a nting space, He Zhiran couldn''t help swallowing.


    Not to mention that such a space could create a lot of wealth for her, just using it to appreciate would make people feel refreshed.


    Not only that, the farm was also set up very thoughtfully.


    An omnipotent control panel was set up here for the owner of the farm space.


    The control panel can choose to water all crops with one click, or choose regional irrigation, automatic feeding, automatic harvesting and other functions.


    That is to say, the owner of the space canplete everything they want to do on the control panel without using any manpower.


    He Zhiran thought that she could get such a space, and silently thanked the kindness of the transmigration father to her in her heart.


    Just as He Zhiran was eagerly looking for the entrance to the farm space, the tightly closed door of the medical room suddenly opened, instantly leaving her with the urge to swear.


    The small parking lot outside the medical room had disappeared, and what caught her eye was a piece of barrennd and the bare hill in the distance.


    He Zhiran suddenly felt cheated.


    Ranch, fish pond, warehouse, fertile fields, orchards, none of these things existed at all. The only thing that made her feel a little real was that when she turned left out the door, there was an operating table identical to the one in the picture.


    50 million had already been spent, even if she was cheated, He Zhiran had to figure it out.


    So she quickly came to the operating table with her consciousness.


    Based on experience, she decisively pressed a button simr to a switch.


    Ten secondster, the screen of the operating table lit up.


    [Wee master to the farm space, I, Steward 008, will serve you sincerely in the future.]


    He Zhiran manipted the screen with her consciousness and flipped down.


    [The space is currently in its initial state and needs to be handled ording to the master''s preferences.]


    [Question, do you want to nt thend?]


    He Zhiran chose yes.


    Another dialog box popped up on the screen.


    [Thend is currently in its original state. To turn it into fertile fields, 100 yuan per acre is required for development. Does the master want to reim fertile fields?]


    Money again?


    He Zhiran was really drunk.


    She always felt cheated, suspecting that future investment in the farm space would probably increase.


    Just as she hesitated, the operating system popped up another dialog box.


    [Master, the space does require some capital investment in its original state. Once the scale is formed, you will get higher returns for it. Do you choose to reim fertile fields now?]


    Although He Zhiran was a little angry, she still wanted to try.


    She chose yes, and then paid only for the remation of one acre of fertile fields, intending to observe first whether she would continue to be cheated.


    The fee was deducted directly from her Alipay ount, and the operating table started working immediately.


    On thend about fifty meters away from the operating table, it was as if countless pangolins were shuttling back and forth inside. In the blink of an eye, a square acre ofnd was turned over neatly.


    Seeing the remation process with her own eyes, He Zhiran could confirm that she had not been cheated.


    Even in the afterlife, hiring manpower to reim an acre ofnd would probably cost more than this price.


    So He Zhiran decisively reimed the remaining 49 acres ofnd.


    Due to the simultaneous work, it took almost the same time to reim the 49 acres ofnd as it did to reim the first acre.


    Not only that, each acre ofnd was separated by a not too deep trench, which looked very tidy when viewed.


    With all thend in the space reimed, countless types of crops appeared on theputer screen of the operating table for her to choose from.


    Considering the future diet of the family, He Zhiran chose to nt half of thend withmon crops such as rice, wheat and corn.


    The other half of thend was used to nt all kinds of vegetables.


    However, the seeds here also cost money to purchase, although the prices were higher than those in the Taobao store, they were within the eptable range for He Zhiran.


    The operating table had functions like one-click nting and watering. After He Zhiran set everything up, she went to check out the others.


    The fish ponds, pastures, warehouses, orchards, etc. had the same operating methods.


    That is to say, as long as there is money here, nothing is a problem.

 Chapter 132: The Reason why Mohism is poor is Here.

    <h4>Chapter 132</h4>


    He Zhiran had been busy at the control panel for over an hour, finallypleting the construction of this farm space.


    All the necessary facilities such as fish ponds and warehouses were fully equipped.


    Moreover, she made an exciting discovery.


    The seeds she had just nted in the soil had sprouted small green shoots.


    At that moment, another dialog box appeared on the screen of the control panel.


    The dialog box contained a lot of information, mainly introducing the features of the space.


    [In the farm space, crops and vegetables mature in three days, fruit trees reach adulthood in ten days, and mature fruit trees yield a batch of fruit every ten days.


    Various aquatic species in the fish pond take ten days to breed, poultry takes ten days to grow, and livestock takes half a month to mature.


    The seeds produced in the space undergo gic improvement and can be nted outside without being picky about the soil and climate.]


    Seeing all this, He Zhiran was overjoyed. Not to mention the harvest time of living things, just the maturity time of crops alone was incredibly satisfying.


    Furthermore, the seeds produced here were so amazing that she couldpletely disregard the climate and freely cultivate them when she arrived in the northwest.


    He Zhiran began to yearn for a warm and prosperous life with her family in the northwest, living together as husband and wife, with the man tilling thend and the woman weaving.


    Although it cost her hundreds of thousands to create this primitive space, seeing such a user-friendly environment, she felt it was all worth it.


    He Zhiran hadn''t felt so rxed and content in a long time. She decided to wander around the newly arranged space.


    She first went to the clear fish pond.


    The newly purchased fish fry and small shrimps were swimming around, especially the plump-headed fish. She remembered that when she bought the fish fry, they were only the size of a little finger, but now they seemed to have grown a bit.


    After inspecting the fish pond, she went to check the pasture and breeding area.


    There were cows and sheep everywhere, and the breeding areas for various poultry and livestock in the breeding field were clearly marked.


    The warehouse also appeared to be quiterge. Just thinking about when Mo Jiuye took her to move the national treasury, having a warehouse like this would have been incredibly convenient.


    With this in mind, He Zhiran used her mind to transfer all the medical supplies from the infirmary to the warehouse.


    After casually touring around, considering that she had been lingering in the space for quite a while, she reluctantly left.


    Seeing that she finally reacted, Mo Jiuye asked eagerly, "Why did you look at the space for so long?"


    Mo Jiuye had just woken up and found her sitting there in a daze.


    From this, it could be inferred that her consciousness must have entered the space to check on things, but today she had been in there for quite a long time, which made Mo Jiuye feel somewhat uneasy.


    He Zhiran was still in the midst of her excitement. Not knowing how to exin, she said, "Come, let me show you a surprise."


    Before her words could fall, their figures appeared in the space.


    They were still standing in the infirmary.


    The first thing Mo Jiuye noticed was that all the wealth they had brought from the national treasury was gone.


    Seeing his astonishment, He Zhiran didn''t exin immediately but mysteriously pulled him along and pushed open the door of the infirmary.


    Mo Jiuye was once again astonished. "Can this door open?"


    Just as he was wondering, he waspletely stunned by the scene before him.


    He Zhiran, who had lived two lives, finally found a sense of satisfaction in sharing it with someone.


    She pointed to the orderly farnd in front of her and said, "This is the precious space I just acquired."


    Then, she carefully exined the benefits and characteristics of this space to Mo Jiuye.


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye was indeed shocked at first, but when he turned his head and saw the familiar medical room, he quickly put his mind at ease.


    If He Zhiran could possess such a magical medical room, having one more farm like this was not a big deal.


    He Zhiran was extremely excited at the moment. She even took the initiative to hold Mo Jiuye''s hand and took him to visit the farm space.


    Just like her, Mo Jiuye also had a feeling of not wanting to leave when he arrived here.


    There were no dangers like outside, no deceitful schemes, no right or wrong, only the girl he had already fallen in love with from the bottom of his heart...


    Seeing Mo Jiuye sitting by the fish pond in a daze, He Zhiran nudged him.


    "How do you feel about this farm space?"


    Mo Jiuye wasn''t very good at expressing himself.


    "It''s naturally good."


    Seeing his calm appearance, He Zhiran couldn''t help but pout.


    "Don''t think this space came for free."


    Mo Jiuye asked in return, "Then how did you get it?"


    He Zhiran held out her palm. "Fifty million, I bought this space with fifty million."


    Mo Jiuye frowned. "Where did you get so much money?" He clearly remembered that the wealth he obtained from the treasury, when converted to silver, would amount to at most eighteen million.


    Seeing his expression, it seemed like he had forgotten about her earning money in the online marketce.


    "It''s not silver, it''s money earned from the online marketce."


    Although Mo Jiuye was not unfamiliar with her opening a shop in the online marketce, he didn''t have a deep understanding of the concept of money.


    "Fifty million? How many valuable items did you have to sell?"


    He Zhiran calcted.


    "A few dozen calligraphy and paintings, as well as dozens of vases and ornaments, that''s all."


    Mo Jiuye simply couldn''t believe his ears.


    Although those calligraphy and paintings, as well as vases and ornaments, were all from the treasury, they were not the most valuable things.


    With that in mind, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help but sigh, "It''s too cheap."


    "You think fifty million is cheap?"


    For He Zhiran, who had relied on allowances to get by in her previous life, fifty million was definitely a huge sum of money.


    Mo Jiuye answered seriously.


    "When I led the army to invade the enemy''s pce, the emperor liked to collect those things, but I didn''t really care about them at that time."


    Listening to Mo Jiuye mention the treasures of the enemy country, He Zhiran instantly remembered the time they moved the treasury together.


    She could still vividly feel that satisfying feeling at this moment.


    She couldn''t understand why Mo Jiuye didn''t appreciate those things.


    "Why don''t you appreciate them?"


    "During years of war, the people of both countries were starving to death. Those things couldn''t be eaten as food. In my opinion, they were just a pile of showy and useless junk."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye say this, He Zhiran couldn''t help but sigh.


    Thinking about the possible whereabouts of so many treasures, she asked, "Don''t tell me all the treasures in the enemy''s pce have been surrendered to the court."


    Mo Jiuye shook his head, "Those treasures have been exchanged for silver. Part of it was distributed as rewards to the soldiers who fought alongside me, risking their lives. Another portion was given to the disced people who lost their homes due to the turmoil of war."


    Upon hearing this, He Zhiran couldn''t help but admire Mo Jiuye''s disregard for wealth.


    Originally, she had thought that as a martial family that had been engaged in battles for years, their storerooms would be filled with endless riches.


    After all, they had plenty of opportunities to acquire spoils of war.


    However, the storerooms of the Mo family were not just poor, they couldn''t even be considered wealthy.


    It turned out that the reason for the poverty of the Mo familyy here.


    But when she thought about it, He Zhiran could understand Mo Jiuye''s actions.


    As a patriotic general, he risked his life and donned armor with the purpose of protecting the safety of the people.


    If Mo Jiuye turned a blind eye to the plight of the people who had be homeless due to the war and imed all those possessions for himself, it would contradict his original intention of fighting.


    With these thoughts in mind, He Zhiran''s admiration for Mo Jiuye''s noble principles grew even stronger.


    If all future officials could consider the well-being of the people like Mo Jiuye, surely the lives of themon folk would be more prosperous...

 Chapter 133: In my eyes, you are the most different one.

    <h4>Chapter 133</h4>


    He Zhiran realized that her thoughts had unknowingly drifted from the joy of sharing space to contemtion of theplexities of the world.


    She brought her wandering thoughts back to the agricultural space.


    "When we reach the northwest, shall we build a home like this? What do you think?" she asked.


    As she spoke, He Zhiran already envisioned the image of Mo Jiuye tilling the soil with a hoe.


    Perhaps, this was the life she truly wanted.


    Mo Jiuye replied without hesitation, "Sure, I''ll contribute my efforts. You just need to take care of our children at home."


    Upon hearing the words "our children," He Zhiran blushed.


    "Who said I want to have children with you?"


    Mo Jiuye, caught up in his good mood, couldn''t control his words and blurted out his true feelings.


    Initially, he didn''t feel anything was amiss, but when He Zhiran asked that question, he too blushed and stumbled over his words.


    "You... you''re mywfully wedded wife... Who else would I have children with if not you?"


    After spending so much time with Mo Jiuye, this was the first time she saw a different side of him.


    In the past, Mo Jiuye was always reserved and taciturn in front of others. Why did he seem like a changed person today?


    Now, He Zhiran was truly speechless.


    Her identity was undoubtedly that of Mo Jiuye''swfully wedded wife.


    Although she had already epted Mo Jiuye in her heart, as a modern soul, even if she hadn''t experienced love before, she didn''t want to live her life in a haphazard manner without expressing her feelings.


    Thinking about Mo Jiuye''s character, he was indeed a closed-off person, an old-fashioned relic with deeply entrenched feudal ideas.


    She didn''t think it was likely that he would take the initiative to confess his feelings to her.


    Since that was the case, she might as well ask him herself.


    Once she knew the answer, she could determine her future direction.


    "Um... Do you like me?" she asked.


    "I do," Mo Jiuye answered without hesitation.


    She thought he would continue and say something else, but to her surprise, after answering with those two words, he fell silent and just gazed at her affectionately.


    He Zhiran felt helpless and continued to guide him.


    "Then, tell me, what do you like about me?"


    Mo Jiuye pondered for a moment and replied earnestly.


    "You are different from all the other women I''ve known. Beautiful, level-headed, wise, decisive...


    In short, in my eyes, you are the most unique one.


    No matter what you''re doing, seeing you makes me extremely happy.


    If you''re not in my line of sight, I even feel a bit anxious.


    When you fell off the cliffst time, the first thing I thought was that if you died, I would rather be dead."


    This was the first time He Zhiran had heard Mo Jiuye say so much at once.


    She knew in her heart that Mo Jiuye wasn''t good at expressing himself.


    And with his character, he wouldn''t say insincere words just to please a woman.


    It had to be said that He Zhiran was a little touched at this moment.


    She had initially thought thating from an ancient man, it was already good enough for him to say so much. But unexpectedly, he paused and continued:


    "Although I have now fallen into exile as a prisoner of the court, unable to give you the privileged status that all those women desire, I can assure you that I will only treat you well in this lifetime and never let you suffer any grievances."


    Mo Jiuye had been struggling in his heart recently.


    He had considered that he might not be able to provide He Zhiran with a life of luxury, and he even entertained thoughts of setting He Zhiran free.


    But whenever he thought about her leaving him, a heart-wrenching pain would constantly remind him that he had deeply fallen for this woman.


    Without her, he would not be happy.


    Therefore, today Mo Jiuye took the opportunity to express his true feelings.


    He hoped that He Zhiran had also developed feelings for him and willingly chose to be with him.


    At this moment, He Zhiran was already certain of Mo Jiuye''s intentions.


    After questioning herself, she confirmed that she also liked Mo Jiuye.


    Since they both had affection for each other, it was not in her nature to continue to be reserved.


    "A promise once spoken is difficult to retract, so you must keep your word."


    Even if Mo Jiuye was usually slow to catch on, he understood He Zhiran''s meaning at this moment.


    Excitedly, he grabbed her hand and asked, "Ranran, you ept me, right?"


    He Zhiran nodded, saying, "Um, I''ll have to see how you perform in the future."


    Mo Jiuye, happy like a child, picked up He Zhiran and spun around in ce.


    "Ranran, rest assured, I, Mo Jiuye, will keep my word. I will love only you in this lifetime."


    Suddenly being lifted and spun around, He Zhiran felt a bit dizzy.


    However, she didn''t want to spoil Mo Jiuye''s good mood.


    Since they were leaving the capital city and he was rarely this happy, He Zhiran couldn''t bring herself to stop him.


    Fortunately, after a few spins, Mo Jiuye stopped, but he didn''t let go of the hand that embraced her.


    The two stood in ce, leaning against each other, feeling each other''s heartbeats...


    Although He Zhiran possessed a modern soul, having lived two lives, this was her first time experiencing love. She still felt a bit hesitant.


    After holding each other for a while, she felt a little embarrassed and pushed him away, casually making up an excuse, "I''ll go check my phone."


    Watching his beloved woman quickly run off, Mo Jiuye helplessly shook his head and continued to sit in ce, enjoying the scenery of the surroundings.


    He Zhiran rushed into the medical room and took out her phone, casually browsing on Taobao Mall.


    It was then that she noticed a shing icon at the bottom of the screen.


    It was from Little Collector.


    "Boss, you''re really amazing. I love all the items in your shop. If it weren''t for some financial difficulties I''m currently facing, I would definitely buy everything in your store."


    He Zhiran: "I have a wide variety of antiques here, and you''re my first customer, also a big customer. Just let me know if you need anything in the future."


    Her thought was that even if she didn''t have what Little Collector wanted, she could go out and find it.


    After all, she was in ancient times, so would it be difficult to obtain whatever she wanted?


    Perhaps it was because it waste, but Little Collector didn''t reply. He Zhiran nced at the remaining hundreds of items in the store and decided that there was no need to restock. She closed her phone and left with Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye''s heart was still fluttering from the sudden "passive" confession that had just taken ce, leaving him feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next.


    He Zhiran, too, was still caught up in the excitement of receiving the farm space and Mo Jiuye''s confession.


    However, at this moment, she was ovee with shyness and dared not make any movements, keeping her back turned to Mo Jiuye.


    Taking note of the early hour, Mo Jiuye decided to remain lying in the tent, propping his head up with one hand as he gazed at her.


    Then, tentatively, he reached out his arm towards her.


    He Zhiran felt his touch and her body tensed up. Immediately, a tingling sensation spread throughout her entire body, like an electric shock.


    However, she didn''t dodge away.


    Seeing her response, Mo Jiuye cautiously exerted more strength and pulled her into his embrace...

 Chapter 134: Tang Mingrui

    <h4>Chapter 134</h4>


    He Zhiran still did not dodge.


    Anyway, she had already worshipped Mo Jiuye here, and they were legitimate husband and wife.


    Besides, they had just expressed their feelings to each other. If something happened at this time, it would be reasonable.


    She drilled into Mo Jiuye''s arms smoothly. Mo Jiuye was overjoyed, and his arms holding her tightened again.


    He patted her back lightly.


    "It''s still early, let''s rest for a while longer. I have to make up a perfect bridal chamber candle night for you, so I will definitely wait until then."


    He Zhiran was relieved at this point.


    Because of the surprise of the space, He Zhiran had hardly slept all night, and she was really a little sleepy now.


    She closed her eyes and felt the embrace that made her feel extremely at ease, and soon fell asleep.


    Although she had only slept for half an hour, the way she woke up this time was also different from before. She was still lying in Mo Jiuye¡¯s arms.


    Mo Jiuye''s voice sounded a little hoarse, "Awake?"


    "Well." He Zhiran responded, and was about to get up.


    Unexpectedly, Mo Jiuye suddenly hugged her tightly and gently kissed her forehead.


    He Zhiran was a little embarrassed and pushed him lightly, and was about to say something when she heard the voice of the eighth sister-inw outside.


    "Ninth Sister-inw, your medicine is really effective. My eighth brother felt much more flexible when he got up this morning."


    Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, He Zhiran seemed to have done something wrong, and quickly got out of Mo Jiuye''s arms.


    She casually tidied up a bit, lifted the tent curtain.


    In fact, it was just that she had the feeling that she had done something shameful and was afraid of being seen.


    The eighth sister-inw was very aware of the rules and stood about five meters away from the tent.


    Seeing He Zhirane out, the eighth sister-inw still stood in ce.


    "Ninth Sister-inw, the eighth sister-inw doesn''t know how to thank you enough."


    He Zhiran smiled, "Eighth Sister-inw, we are all family, so there is no need to thank each other."


    Seeing He Zhiran walking towards her, the eighth sister-inw took a few steps forward and took her by the arm.


    "Since Ninth Sister-inw said so, Eighth Sister-inw won''t be polite to you."


    As they spoke, the other sisters-inw had also prepared breakfast and came to call for the meal.


    Mo Jiuye took the initiative to tidy up the tent and other items and went to eat breakfast with them.


    Just after putting down his chopsticks, Peng Wang came over.


    He first asked about Mo Chuhan''s physical condition, then looked at their mule cart somewhat awkwardly.


    "Brother Mo, sister-inw, in another two days, we will have to go through the saltke section.


    There is no bridge over the saltke. To cross the river, you can only take a boat. I''m afraid your mule cart can''t be kept.


    After all, it was bought with money. It would be a pity to throw it away. When you pass through the town today, go to the livestock department to dispose of it yourself!"


    If it were beforest night, He Zhiran would definitely dispose of the mule cart ording to Peng Wang''s proposal.


    However, she now has such arge farm space that she can store the mule cart directly.


    After all, this secret is only known to her and Mo Jiuye, so she readily agreed with Peng Wang''s words.


    "Big Brother Peng, don''t worry, we will dispose of the mule cart today."


    Peng Wang came over just to remind them of this. After achieving his goal, he began to arrange to continue on their way.


    In order to give them a chance to deal with the mule cart, the main force drove half a time longer today and rested directly in the town.


    Early the next morning, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye took the mule cart out.


    On the surface, it was to dispose of the mule cart, but in fact it was to put it into the space.


    He Zhiran also took the opportunity to buy some replenishment products for Mo Chuhan in Taobao Treasure Mall, as well as some seasonal fruits for her family to eat.


    When the two returned to the inn, Peng Wang and the others were ready to set off for Salt Lake.


    ording to Peng Wang''s n, the main force could arrive at the town near Salt Lake by nightfall.


    This ce is quite different from other ces.


    The water area of ??Salt Lake is extremelyrge, covering three provinces, and it is also the most prosperous water transportation artery in Da Shun Dynasty.


    As the name implies, Salt Lake is also a major producer of edible salt in the Da Shun Dynasty.


    Therefore, the number of merchants and merchantsing and going here is quite considerable.


    It is so prosperous here that I thought Peng Wang would take them to stay at an inn.


    Unexpectedly, Peng Wang actually took them to a small grove.


    The officials were obviously used to it and greeted everyone to find a ce to rest.


    He Zhiran was very puzzled by this, so she asked the official who was closest to her.


    "Sir, I just saw a lot of inns on the way, so why stay here?"


    The officer sighed.


    "You don''t know because it''s your first time here. Salt Lake is prosperous. Inns here are full every day, so prices are very high. A room that costs 100 wen to stay overnight in other ces costs at least two taels of silver here."


    To this, He Zhiran didn¡¯t feel anything. It was just like the difference between big cities and small cities in her previous life. The prices were also different.


    Although there was plenty of silver in her space, there was no need to show off here.


    Therefore, she readily epted Peng Wang''s arrangement.


    I thought the officer would be busy exining it, but unexpectedly, he started talking about other things.


    "Thest time we came, we heard people say that most of the inns and restaurants here were in the hands of a merchant named Tang.


    Later, I don''t know which character the Tang family offended that they shouldn''t have offended. Overnight, their inns and restaurants changed hands, and the head of the Tang family also fell ill because of this and died after a few days.


    After the new owner took over Tang''s business, he gradually monopolized all the restaurants and inns here, and prices have been rising, resulting in the current situation where ordinary people can''t afford to stay in an inn."


    Regarding the officer''s ount, He Zhiran just listened to it as a story. After all, these were other people''s affairs.


    Just as everyone was having dinner and preparing to rest, there was a faint cry for help in the woods.


    Mo Jiuye was the first to be vignt.


    Although Mo Chuhan''s body was still a little weak, he did not ck off at all.


    The two brothers faced the direction where the sound came from and had already taken a defensive posture.


    Liang Hao and the others also hid in the dark, ready to take action with just one order from the two masters.


    He Zhiran also walked quickly to the two¡¯s side and listened carefully to the movement in the distance.


    Soon, the cry for help grew closer and closer, apanied by a messy sound of footsteps.


    In the moonlight, you could see a few shadows shing ahead.


    The person running at the front was obviouslycking in strength, staggering.


    The people behind him held a big knife in their hands and shouted loudly, "Tang Mingrui, if you want to live, hand over the Tang family''s business secrets obediently, otherwise, a year from today will be your memorial day."


    "Salt Gang robbers, even if I die, I won''t hand over the secrets to you."


    When they heard the name Tang Mingrui, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye looked at each other tacitly.


    This name was not unfamiliar to them.


    In order to find out the real reason why Nan Qi assassinated Mo Jiuye some time ago, they had carefully read the history of this period.


    They had a deep memory of some famous people in history.


    The historical records show that after Fei Nan established the Da Xing Dynasty, the merchant named Tang Mingrui gave him the greatest financial support in building the country.

 Chapter 137: Who Are They

    <h4>Chapter 137</h4>


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye changed into their night clothes separately, and left the tent.


    Without any clear target, Mo Jiuye hugged He Zhiran by the waist using Qinggong to shuttle around randomly.


    After a long time, their eyes were focused on a brightly lit painted boat on theke surface.


    From afar, the sound of singing and dancing on the painted boat could still be heard.


    The painted boat slowly traveled on theke, estimated to be at least a thousand meters away from the shore.


    In order to determine if the adults they were curious about were on the ship, He Zhiran decisively bought a night vision telescope.


    It had to be said that technological products like night vision telescopes were really overbearing.


    He Zhiran just randomly looked around for a while, and her gaze stayed on the central location on the second floor of the painted boat, where two men were sitting.


    One of them looked to be in his early thirties, with fair skin, upturned eyebrows, and gave off the first impression of being a little mean.


    Judging from his luxurious clothing, this person was most likely the "important person" the dock foreman had mentioned.


    This person was holding a scantily d woman in his arms, holding a wine ss, and his eyes were still lecherously staring at those dancing maids.


    While the man sitting on the other side had a full beard, a thin figure, and his hair seemed to be deliberately draped over both sides to cover half of his face.


    Under the telescope, He Zhiran basically couldn''t see the appearance of this person at all.


    These two were very unfamiliar to He Zhiran.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the thing in her hand and asked, "What is this?"


    He Zhiran directly handed the telescope over to him.


    "Aim it at here, try it yourself."


    She felt that actual practice was more convenient than her exining, and it would also let Mo Jiuye see if he was familiar with those two people.


    He Zhiran stared at Mo Jiuye closely, and saw his originally rxed eyebrows instantly turn into a crease.


    From Mo Jiuye''s expression, it wasn''t difficult to see that he must recognize those two men, or at least recognize one of them.


    She eagerly asked,


    "Who are they?"


    Mo Jiuye didn''t answer immediately, but continued to watch for a while before retrieving the telescope.


    "It''s Nan Heng."


    "Nan Heng?"


    He Zhiran continued to ask, "Do you recognize the other one?"


    Mo Jiuye frowned, "Seeing the figure, it looks familiar, but I don''t dare to confirm it now."


    He Zhiran surveyed around, and said softly, "Why don''t we go check on the painted boat."


    Even if she didn''t say it, Mo Jiuye also had this intention.


    Not to mention whether Nan Heng was rted to the Salt Gang, just based on the point that he had sent so many assassins to assassinate himself, Mo Jiuye didn¡¯t n on easily letting him off.


    And the bearded man, although he hadn''t seen his appearance clearly, he felt a sense of familiarity in his heart for some unknown reason.


    No matter what, he would have to take the risk and find out what''s going on on that painted boat today.


    "There are Nan Heng¡¯s guards all around the painted boat, I¡¯ll swim over alone to check things out, you can just wait here for me."


    He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye was worried about her safety, however, waiting safely here was not her style at all.


    "You take me along, we¡¯ll buy a rubber dinghy on Taobao and row over there, then we can take action as the opportunity arises. And in case those people find us, with me there, I can still bring you into space to hide temporarily. Besides, as you know clearly, I can take out some good stuff here anytime to deal with emergencies."


    Through understanding over this period of time, Mo Jiuye also knew her temperament. Whatever she wanted to do, he simply couldn¡¯t stop it.


    "You must follow me closely and cannot leave my side.¡±


    "Don¡¯t worry!¡±


    As the two spoke, they had already reached thekeside.


    He Zhiran carefully checked the surrounding movement again, and feeling that there was no abnormality, her consciousness swiftly entered the space and bought an intable rubber dinghy.


    In order for the dinghy to not be noticed by people in the saltke, she specifically selected a dark night ck color.


    He Zhiran quickly inted the dinghy with an air pump, and then ced it into theke.


    Mo Jiuye held her hand and boarded it together.


    In order not to startle the snake in the grass, the two didn¡¯t dare to row too hard, for fear of raising sshes that would expose them.


    When the distance to the painted boat was about a hundred meters, Mo Jiuye picked up the telescope again to check.


    Then he handed the telescope to He Zhiran.


    After He Zhiran took a look, she whispered, "Are you going to shoot and kill the nearest few guards and board this ship from here?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded, "On the stern where we can see, there are a total of six people guarding, rtively sparsepared to other positions.¡±


    "Okay, I''ll take the three on the left."


    As He Zhiran spoke, she raised her arm at the same time as Mo Jiuye in tacit understanding, as the dinghy gradually approached the painted boat. The mini crossbow arrows had already aimed at the center of two guards'' eyebrows.


    It had to be said, the cooperation between the two was extremely tacit, with every arrow hitting its target.


    In just an instant, after a few arrows were shot out, the six guards that could clearly be seen with the naked eye fell to the ground.


    Without a doubt, Mo Jiuye hugged He Zhiran by the waist and directly leapt onto the deck using Qinggong, while at the same time, He Zhiran also put away the dinghy into the space.


    On the deck, the six guards hadpletely lost their voice.


    Looking ahead, there were also guards on patrol duty, and not only that, a group of on-duty guards had just passed by here.


    He Zhiran whispered a suggestion, "For convenience, let''s change into the guards'' clothes."


    Mo Jiuye nodded, first stripped off the clothes of a slightly smaller guard and threw them to He Zhiran, then found a guard uniform simr to his own stature and put them on.


    Just as the two tidied up, a team of patrolling guards came straight towards their faces.


    The guards saw that there were only two people here and asked, "Where are your other men?"


    Mo Jiuye calmly replied, "They ate something bad and all have upset stomachs, so they went to the toilet."


    The guards did not doubt much further and routinely passed them to continue patrolling.


    Seeing those guards walk away, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran went one after the other up the stairs leading to the second floor of the painted boat.


    Inparison, the second floor was much livelier, with not only guards on duty, but also many people dressed in ordinary civilian clothes sitting at small tables drinking and ying dice.


    Mo Jiuye judged that these people dressed in ordinary civilian clothes should all be members of the Salt Gang.


    So obviously, even if Nan Heng was not the real person behind the Salt Gang, he was also inextricably linked with them.


    Moreover, judging from the behaviour of those Salt Gang members, Nan Heng was very familiar with them.


    Mo Jiuye observed for a while, then directly took He Zhiran and leapt onto the top of the painted boat.


    He found a position close to Nan Heng and poked a small hole in the ceiling to look down.


    Just then, they saw a small boat drifting over not far from the painted boat.


    In the moonlight they could see someone standing with hands behind their back at the bow, judging by the figure, it seemed to be a woman.


    Soon guards came to report,


    "Reporting to Prince Heng, the Imperial Tutor has arrived."


    Nan Heng pushed away the woman in his arms to the side, got up to tidy his clothes of creases.


    "Take this prince to personally wee her."

 Chapter 145: I Know Why Mohism has no Descendants.

    <h4>Chapter 145</h4>


    Mo Jiuye saw that what he had said did not anger He Zhiran again. After thinking for a while, he spoke of another matter.


    "I also sent people to ambush at Niujiaoshan, intending to take Mo Jiuye''s life."


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had already learned about this from the man in ck earlier, so hearing Nan Heng admit it now was merely confirmation.


    "I have only done this much against the Mo family, nothing else."


    With his hands and feet tied up by ropes, Nan Heng would have definitely raised his hand to swear an oath to make the people in front of him believe his words.


    Mo Jiuye walked step by step to stand in front of him and said heavily, "Think carefully. Have you done anything else?"


    Nan Heng shook his head vigorously: "Really nothing else. I have only done these things.


    Not only that, after I heard the news that you and Nan Qi had a falling out, I have already called back the second batch of assassins that I was going to send out."


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye looked at each other. By instinct, they felt that Nan Heng was not lying.


    Since this was the case, he no longer had any need to live.


    He Zhiran picked up the knife and aimed it at Nan Heng''s throat, intending to give him a quick death.


    Nan Heng thought this woman did not believe his words and was going to interrogate him further.


    Trembling, he shouted loudly: "I have already told you everything I have done. You can''t go back on your word..."


    Facing such a coward, He Zhiran sneered inwardly while stopping her movement.


    She was somewhat curious what else Nan Heng would do to beg for his life.


    Nan Heng had already been scared out of his wits.


    In order to live, he spoke to He Zhiran about conditions again.


    "I also know a big secret of the Mo family. If you agree to let me leave alive, I will tell you."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not know what the "big matter" of the Mo family Nan Heng was talking about.


    They were indeed very interested.


    He Zhiran put away her knife and revealed a harmless smile.


    "Since this is the case, go ahead and speak. Let''s see if the importance of this matter is enough to spare your life."


    Seeing her put down the knife, Nan Heng heaved a sigh of relief. At the same time, he spoke very quickly:


    "I know the reason why the Mo family has no descendants."


    When it came to the Mo family''s descendants, He Zhiran was very curious indeed.


    It was understandable that Mo Jiuye''s brothers were few. Added up there were only nine of them, and they were all married.


    The sisters-inw also looked quite healthy. Why hadn''t any of them given birth for the Mo family?


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran asked eagerly: "What is the reason?"


    Seeing her interest, Nan Heng hurried to state his condition again.


    "If you want to know the real reason for this, you must send me to my people. As long as I''m safe, I will definitely tell you."


    He Zhiran would have to be a fool to believe his nonsense.


    "Since you don''t want to say, don''t me me for being ruthless."


    As she spoke, she deliberately nced at Yun Li''s corpse, the implication obvious.


    Thinking of Yun Li''s painful appearance, Nan Heng shuddered instantly.


    "No, although I have done the Mo family wrong, I have never personally taken the life of any Mo family member. You cannot treat me like this."


    At this time, Mo Jiuye sneered coldly.


    "You''re good at exonerating yourself. Although the fourth brother did not die by your hand, the fact that he died because of you is indisputable. As for the third brother, he was alive as the Prince of Dashun, but seeing his subject suffer harm, he not only remained indifferent, but even took advantage of it.


    Also, you instructed people to poison the well. If it weren''t for the Mo family''s tenacity, even banishment would have been avoided."


    As for his own encounter with the ck-clothed assassins lying in ambush at Niujiaoshan and falling off the cliff with He Zhiran, Mo Jiuye did not mention it.


    Just those few things earlier would have been enough for Nan Heng to die several times over.


    At this point, He Zhiran had already used her mind to take out a vial of liquid in front of Nan Heng and swayed it before him a few times.


    "It was from pouring this thing on Yun Li''s face that made her be like that. Do you want to try it too?"


    "No... you can''t..." Nan Heng shook his head desperately.


    He Zhiran sneered coldly. "Since you don''t want to try it, I suppose you should know what to do."


    Nan Heng nodded forcefully again. "I know... I know... I''ll say it."


    After a pause, Nan Heng gritted his teeth and finally revealed the reason why the Mo family had no offspring.


    "It was my mother, my mother said that sooner orter the Mo family would be Nan Qi''s faction. In order not to let the Mo family grow stronger, their lineage had to be severed."


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye could no longer control his emotions. He strode past He Zhiran and came up to Nan Heng, grasping his neck fiercely with his big hand.


    "What exactly did she do to the Mo family?"


    Afraid that Mo Jiuye would take his life on the spot, Nan Heng hurriedly exined, "My mother... she bribed Granny Liu from Old Lady Mo''s manor. Whenever there was a new bride, she would slip something into their tea on the first opportunity, causing the Mo daughters-inw to be barren for life..."


    As Nan Heng''s voice fell, a crisp cracking sound was heard in the silent space.


    Mo Jiuye used some force and directly snapped Nan Heng''s neck.


    Nan Heng''s eyes bulged wide open and he lost his breath instantly...


    He Zhiran looked at the clock in the infirmary again. It was already past three in the morning.


    Time did not allow them to discuss the matter of the Mo family women being secretly fed contraceptives any further. The most important thing now was to dispose of the two corpses before dawn.


    Also, Mo Yunfeng was probably about to wake up soon. They had to send him out of space in time.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye still standing in ce, somewhat angry, He Zhiran reminded him: "It''ste, let''s go out first."


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "Alright."


    The two briefly tidied themselves up and left the space together.


    First, Mo Jiuye observed the surroundings outside the tent for a while before sweeping He Zhiran into his arms and disappearing instantly.


    The two sped into the depths of the jungle and stopped in front of a deep pool.


    He Zhiran nced at the dark and bottomless pool.


    Without further thought, she directly used her mind to take out the two corpses from space and threw them into the deep pool.


    Such a ce, such a deep pool, was indeed the right ce to dispose of corpses.


    The two corpses would probably never be found...


    Having dealt with these matters, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran checked each other''s attire to make sure there were no omissions or traces before leaving together.


    Once again, Mo Jiuye carried He Zhiran as he exhibited his lightness skill, stopping a few miles away from the camp in the jungle.


    With a movement of her mind, He Zhiran made Mo Yunfeng appear in the clearing in front of them.


    Mo Jiuye stepped forward and gently patted Mo Yunfeng''s cheeks.


    "Third brother, wake up, it''s Jiuye. Can you hear me speak?"


    After Mo Jiuye called out for a few minutes, Mo Yunfeng finally stirred awake slowly.


    Mo Yunfeng recognized the person in front of him with one nce.


    "Ninth younger brother?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded vigorously. "Third brother, it''s me!"

 Chapter 152: If only their husband were alive.

    <h4>Chapter 152</h4>


    As He Zhiran''s words fell, the scene boiled again.


    Making a doll can earn five hundred wen for wages, and both the Xie family and Fang family feel a little unbelievable.


    Even Old Lady Mo behind the crowd was moved.


    Making two dolls a day can earn one or two silver coins. This money is really easy to earn.


    She also wanted to participate and earn more silver to make up for family expenses.


    Mrs. Zhao came forward again and said sincerely, "Niece, this material looks expensive at first nce. Don''t lose money for yourself to help us."


    He Zhiran knew it would be like this.


    She originally intended to make a rabbit doll for eight hundred wen wages. Fortunately, she said five hundred wen, otherwise it would definitely arouse suspicion.


    "Auntie doesn''t have to worry. The foreigner saw that I bought a lot of fabrics and didn''t give me a high price."


    "But you''ve done so much for everyone, you have to make some money!"


    Seeing what Mrs. Zhao said, Xie¡¯s Mother also came forward to help out.


    "That''s right, niece, don''t lose money for everyone."


    He Zhiran knew that these two people were sincerely considering herself.


    She smiled and exined to them, "Two aunties don''t have to worry, I won''t lose money."


    In order not to entangle this issue again, He Zhiran hurriedly took out the fabrics for distribution.


    Whoever wanted to participate in making dolls, each person was temporarily issued a portion of the material first to see how their skills were.


    At this moment, Eldest Sister-inw walked over holding the long-eared rabbit that she had been fiddling with in her hand for a long time.


    "Younger sister, Eldest Sister-inw feels that this thing is not difficult to make. As long as it is tailored well, it can be sewn by hand.


    Eldest Sister-inw wants to ask you, can the doll be dismantled and tailored ording to this size?"


    "Of course, Eldest Sister-inw will dismantle this doll." She had this n in mind anyway, and it was just right that her eldest sister-inw thought of this point too, which saved He Zhiran some trouble.


    With He Zhiran¡¯s words, Eldest Sister-inw happily hugged the long-eared rabbit and materials to prepare.


    Seeing this, others also followed one after another. He Zhiran was temporarily quiet here.


    Mo Jiuye saw the women leave and came over to help He Zhiran tidy up the space food together.


    The men from several families and the yamen runners also came over to help when they were free.


    When they saw the food in the bag that they had never seen before, they asked curiously.


    "Brother Mo, are all these vegetables?" Peng Wang picked up an unfamiliar green vegetable and flipped it back and forth in his hand.


    He thought to himself that he had also gone out for a walk. Howe he didn''t see anyone selling these things?


    Could it also have been bought from the foreigners?


    Also, it''s already October, although it''s not particrly cold here yet, can such fresh vegetables still be grown in the fields?


    Mo Jiuye has now also learned He Zhiran''s tricks.


    "Brother Peng, many of these things were sold by a farmer carrying a shoulder pole. We didn''t care if they were fresh vegetables or not when we saw them, so we took them all."


    Peng Wang didn¡¯t doubt it. No matter how peculiar these things were, he believed that the two had bought them back when they went out.


    It''s just that he was a little jealous of Mo Jiuye''s luck.


    Why didn''t he run into farmers carrying shoulder poles selling these things when he went out?


    Mo Jiuye felt that his previous exnation was very adequate. In order to prevent Peng Wang from continuing to ask questions, he hurriedly stuffed a tomato into Peng Wang¡¯s hand.


    "Brother Peng, I just tasted this one, it''s sour and sweet, more delicious than fruit."


    Without any doubt, Peng Wang took the tomato and took a big bite.


    "Well, it''s really delicious, more delicious than fruit," said Peng Wang, taking another bite.


    His actions made the people around him salivate.


    Mo Jiuye would not favor one over the other. When you see it, you get a share. He gave everyone a tomato.


    After eating, everyone unanimously agreed that it was delicious, and from their appearance, they seemed to still crave more.


    Even so, no one had the cheek to ask Mo Jiuye for more.


    Mo Jiuye took the initiative to give some vegetables to the Fang family and Xie family. As for the yamen runners, he knew Peng Wang''s temper too well.


    When there was something delicious, they would alwayse to their home to mooch food, and would never make it themselves. So Mo Jiuye gave up the idea of giving them some food.


    He Zhiran was ignorant of women''s hobbies and had no interest in them. After arranging these foods properly, she went back to the tent to rest.


    It was still quiet outside when it was almost time to make dinner.


    When she walked out of the tent to check, she realized that she had inadvertently made trouble for herself.


    All the women in the family, including Old Lady Mo, were gathered together, concentrating on making dolls there.


    It seemed that she would have to make dinner with her own hands today.


    It was also good. Anyway, with so many fresh foods, the sisters-inw might not be able to cook them.


    Seeing He Zhiran cooking, Mo Jiuye took the initiative to help set the fire.


    He loved the taste of his wife''s cooking the most. Usually he was reluctant to let her work too hard and had never mentioned it before.


    Today, with so many good ingredients, and being able to eat the homemade delicacies made by his wife, just thinking about it made him feelfortable.


    Besides, he really enjoyed this in and peaceful little life now.


    Although Mo Chuhan''s body had notpletely recovered, after He Zhiran''s careful conditioning, he was no longer restricted in his actions now.


    Seeing that his ninth younger brother was distressed about his wife and went to help set fire, Mo Chuhan also thought of his own silly wife who would be happy just seeing delicious food.


    With this thought, Mo Chuhan also intended to go see if his wife needed any help.


    After more than two hours of research, the women finally figured out how to make the long-eared rabbit.


    At present, they had already made a semi-finished product in their hands.


    Although it was called a semi-finished product, the only difference was that the body of the long-eared rabbit was not yetpleted, but the contours on its head were clearly visible.


    When Mo Chuhan walked over, he saw his wife sewing the rabbit''s tail there.


    Seeing her serious appearance made people feel tender-hearted when they looked at her.


    So he sat down quietly beside his wife without making a sound.


    Eighth Sister-inw was concentrating so hard that she did not notice the arrival of her husband.


    Seeing that he waspletely ignored, Mo Chuhan deliberately coughed.


    Eighth Sister-inw heard the sound, turned her head to look at him, and smiled: "Why did youe over?"


    Mo Chuhan took the semi-finished doll from his wife''s hand and took a look, praised: ¡°It looks really good.¡±


    Seeing that herbor achievements were affirmed, Eighth Sister-inw immediately smiled with joy.


    "I think it looks very good too."


    The interaction between the two attracted the eyes of the other women.


    Everyone was envious of the Eighth Brother and Sister-inw that the dead husband coulde back alive. If their husbands were still alive, that would be great.


    In the future, even if they could only live a humble life, it would be good to have someone to share the joys with.


    Just like the Eighth Brother and Sister-inw...


    Because of Mo Chuhan''s arrival, the attention of the women making dolls was divided, and they noticed that the Ninth Sister-inw had already started preparing dinner in the distance.


    Eldest Sister-inw stood up first and called everyone over to help.


    With the help of the sisters-inw, He Zhiran was able to cook dinner much faster.

 Chapter 182: Your husband, I am in good health.

    <h4>Chapter 182</h4>


    It just so happened that at this time, all the government officials had gone to the government office to wee the new magistrate, so there probably wouldn''t be too many people left in the Cui Residence.


    As long as they acted carefully, they would definitely seed without any problems.


    Having made up their minds, the two brought the donkey cart to a remote corner. He Zhiran waved her little hand and brought Mo Jiuye and the donkey cart into her space.


    They had no other purpose for entering the space in broad daylight than to disguise themselves before going to do bad things.


    He Zhiran took out some makeup tools and disguised Mo Jiuye as an ugly man with upturned eyes, a t nose, and everted lips.


    That wasn''t all. She even put on a goat beard for Mo Jiuye.


    Then she bought a set of gray casual clothes on Taobao and changed out of his ck clothes.


    When she looked at Mo Jiuye again, none of his original appearance remained.


    He Zhiran couldn''t help butugh out loud, "Mo Jiuye, do you know? There are two types of people in the world who attract the most attention."


    Not realizing she was making fun of him, Mo Jiuye asked earnestly, "What two types?"


    "Hahaha, one is the especially good-looking kind, the other is your current look."


    As He Zhiran spoke, she had already pushed him in front of the bathroom mirror.


    When Mo Jiuye caught the first glimpse of himself in the mirror, he instinctively took a step back.


    Pointing at his own nose, he asked in some disbelief, "This ugly monster is me?"


    He Zhiranughed heartily, "That''s right, this is you. What do you think, aren''t my makeup skills amazing? Looking like this now, I bet even your mother wouldn''t recognize you."


    Indeed, not to mention his mother failing to recognize him, even he himself didn''t know who he was...


    In any case, it was worth looking ugly to make his beloved wifeugh merrily.


    After He Zhiran had her fill ofughter, she also disguised herself.


    Her costume was much simpler. She just put on the men''s clothing she wore in Pingyang County and casually smeared some stuff on her face to finish up.


    After getting into costume, the two immediately left the space.


    When they arrived outside the Cui Residence, after observing for a bit, Mo Jiuye directly swept up He Zhiran in his arms and used his lightness skill to leap over the wall.


    What met their eyes were seven or eight women dressed in silk, being driven towards the main gate by some steward-looking men.


    The women were crying loudly, and some even tried to run back but were crudely grabbed by the hair and pulled back by the stewards.


    Among these women, He Zhiran immediately spotted the pair of twin sisters from the He family.


    The two of them did not cry out or make a fuss. They just kept pleading with the stewards.


    "Dear Sir, please have mercy on us sisters and don''t sell us into ces like that."


    Seeing that these sisters didn''t cry and shout like the others, the steward''s heart softened a little out of pity.


    "This is ordered by Master Deputy Magistrate Cui. Pleading with us is useless. You''d best obedientlye with us. That way you can avoid some physical suffering."


    The He sisters continued pleading, "Dear Sir, could you please take us to see Master Deputy Magistrate Cui so that we may plead our case with him directly?"


    "You''d best abandon that idea. If Master Deputy Magistrate Cui had any sympathy for you, he wouldn''t sell you off to the brothel."


    "Dear Sir, please..."


    Their pleas grew fainter and soon disappeared at the entrance to the Cui Residence.


    He Zhiran scoffed, "This Deputy Magistrate Cui is quite realistic. Knowing that he can no longer perform, he decides to exchange these women for silver."


    He Zhiran had merely meant to vent some frustration with those words, but they took on a different meaning in Mo Jiuye''s ears.


    Out of habit, he stroked her hair and said, "Don''t worry, your husband''s body is perfectly healthy and I will also protect myself well."


    He Zhiran...


    Your train of thought has gone way too off track here.


    Without lingering on those thoughts, this was the perfect time to infiltrate the back residence where there were currently few people.


    Mo Jiuye took her by the hand and jogged towards the front court.


    He had specifically asked Liang Haost night and knew the storehouse was right next to the main courtyard.


    Therefore, with little effort, the two were able to locate the position of the storehouse.


    The storehouse was only separated from the courtyard where Deputy Magistrate Cui lived by a single wall. They could see several medicine chest-carrying physicians standing there.


    Those physicians'' expressions were as ugly as if they had just lost their fathers.


    No wonder, as the steward kept pressuring them.


    "You are all famous physicians in Yun City, yet you cannot cure the magistrate''s injuries?


    The magistrate has ordered that if his injuries show no sign of improvement for a day, you will not be allowed to leave for a day."


    The physicians looked at each other, and a white-bearded elderly man stepped forward with a bitter expression.


    "Steward, Deputy Magistrate Cui is asking too much of us here. Those eunuchs in the pce try every possible way to regain their manhood after gaining status and wealth, yet no one from ancient times till now has seeded.


    How could we small-town physicians possibly have such great abilities?"


    The other physicians echoed his words.


    "That''s right, we are truly powerless against Deputy Magistrate Cui''s illness."


    "Steward, please help plead our case before the magistrate and let us go."


    "I still have a family relying on my medical practice to make ends meet. Please help us say some good words!"


    "..."


    Faced with the physicians'' desperate pleas, the steward ignored them and yelled towards the outside of the yard, "Come over here, keep an eye on these physicians. If anyone runs away, you will pay."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran watched from the shadows as three of the stewards guarding the storehouse immediately left, leaving only one.


    With only one guard left, it was much more convenient for them to act.


    Mo Jiuye swiftly shed behind that steward and chopped him unconscious before dragging him to a corner.


    He Zhiran seized the chance to rush over, and the two nimbly climbed in through the window.


    The storeroom had clearly been tidied up with no signs of theft.


    Indeed, as Liang Hao and the others had said, all that remained were some bulky items that were difficult to transport.


    After scanning the surroundings, He Zhiran also broadened her horizons.


    In addition to theck of silver and banknotes, the storeroom contained gold, silver, pearls and jewels, jade articles, antique calligraphy and paintings, silks and satins filling the shelves around.


    He Zhiran waved her little hand and all the items in the storeroom vanished without a trace.


    The space had expanded and she no longer needed to consider storage issues. She took everything including the shelves into it.


    After carefully checking that no items were left behind, the two exited.


    But as soon as they had just jumped out of the window, they ran into an elegantly dressed woman in her thirties, apanied by two maids.


    Seeing the two strange men, the maids immediately screamed, "Madam, thieves!"


    Madam Cui also saw them and shouted loudly for someone to catch the thieves.


    Seeing this, He Zhiran quickly took out a bottle of anesthetics from her space and sprinkled it towards them.


    Madam Cui and her maids soon copsed.


    Hearing approaching hurried footsteps, Mo Jiuye swept up He Zhiran and leaped onto the roof.


    Without waiting for the stewards to get close, the two had already leapt out of the residence.

 Chapter 203: The man is quick on his feet.

    <h4>Chapter 203</h4>


    Just now, Ninth Sister-in-Law said that much of the food they brought back today was bought from the foreigners, and they were all things the sisters-inw had never seen before.


    Seeing so many delicious ingredients, the gluttonous Eighth Sister-in-Law was the most enthusiastic.


    "Ninth Sister-in-Law, tell us what we should make for dinner tonight. Let''s get started right away."


    Old Lady Mo also agreed with Eighth Sister-in-Law''s words: "Yes, let [He Zhiran] and Ninth Sister-in-Law decide the menu. You all can help them prepare."


    She had already seen that this ninth daughter-inw was skilled at whatever she did.


    If the task was left to the other sisters-inw, such good ingredients would likely end up wasted.


    ording to [He Zhiran]''s understanding, hot pot had not yet be popr during this period. Of course she would not leave the preparation of this novel dish that no one had tried before to anyone else.


    [He Zhiran] first went into the storage room, and picked out some suitable beef, mutton, pork, chicken and some offal.


    The offal had already been cleaned in her personal space. Currently they only needed to cut the ingredients into pieces.


    [He Zhiran] did not need to do this herself. She could leave this task to her sisters-inw.


    Although there were many ingredients to prepare, there were also many sisters-inw. With everyone pitching in, it did not take long to get the ingredients ready.


    The only green vegetable suitable for hot pot right now was cabbage, which happened to be [He Zhiran]''s favorite.


    Especially when the cooked cabbage had absorbed the red oil - dipping it into the tasty sauces was simply a delightful experience.


    The potatoes and sweet potatoes they brought back today could also be used as ingredients. This would let the family try these two kinds of produce.


    After handing over the tasks to her sisters-inw, [He Zhiran] took out the seafood she had bought from the fishermen''s vige earlier.


    Lobsters were not suitable for hot pot, but shrimp were perfectly fine and tasted great too.


    Therefore, [He Zhiran] divided the shrimp into two portions. One was for the hot pot, the other for cooking Sichuan style saut¨¦ed shrimp.


    As for the lobsters, she kept a few for tonight¡¯s meal, and put the rest into her personal space to preserve freshness.


    As a side dish to go with the hot pot, [He Zhiran] felt there was no need to make things tooplicated. Hence, she decided to steam garlic lobster.


    After getting all the ingredients ready, she deliberately walked into the carriagepartment in full view of everyone.


    Pretending to rummage through the storage cab inside, her consciousness had already entered her personal space.


    She opened Taobao Treasure Trove and purchased arge jar of sesame paste, scallion flower sauce and fermented tofu.


    Then she quickly changed the packaging of these seasonings to match this ancient time period.


    In truth, there were many options for hot pot dipping sauces, like the seafood sauce, fragrant oil and oyster sauce she often had in her past life.


    The reason why [He Zhiran] chose sesame dipping sauce was mainly because she considered that these could all be produced locally.


    For instance, as long as there were sesame seeds and a small grinding stone, sesame paste would be easy for her to make.


    Scallion flower sauce was also easy to exin. Scallions were already avable in this period, and farming families were familiar with scallion flowers too.


    The only reason they didn¡¯t make scallion flower sauce was likely because salt was too expensive then to waste in this manner.


    As for fermented tofu, it would be more troublesome, but once they could make tofu, fermented tofu would not be far off.


    Additionally, [He Zhiran] had another motive.


    She wanted to test the ptability of these seasonings to the people of this time.


    If they were well-received, it could be a money-making business for the family in the future.


    Of course, that was something for the days toe. She was just making some preparations in advance.


    [Mo Jiuye] was carrying firewood from the backyard with Eighth Brother when he saw [He Zhiran] emerge from the carriage holding several bottles and jars of differing sizes.


    [Mo Jiuye] quickly put down the firewood and strode over.


    He knew these were just his wife''s tricks to hide her abilities.


    In front of Eighth Brother, he deliberately eximed, "Oh how forgetful I am, I actually forgot there were still things inside the storage cab."


    As he spoke, he had already taken the items from [He Zhiran]''s arms.


    [He Zhiran] secretlyughed to herself: This man''s reactions are really quick.


    She yed along and said, "I didn''t see these things in the storage room just now, so I guessed you must have forgotten them in the carriage."


    They had to admit, this brief exchange between husband and wifepletely eliminated [Mo Chuhan]''s suspicions.


    When he first saw Ninth Sister-in-Law emerge from the carriage holding those items, [Mo Chuhan] had wondered how there could still be things inside when the carriage had already been emptied.


    So those were the things kept in the storage cab.


    They were probably more strange goods bought from the foreigners.


    The other sisters-inw witnessed their conversation as well, and had the same thoughts as [Mo Chuhan]. Everyone still believed these were odd items Ninth Brother and Sister-in-Law had purchased from the foreigners.


    [Mo Jiuye] directly brought those seasonings to the kitchen, while [He Zhiran] found a container to mix the sesame dipping sauce.


    The ingredients prepared by the sisters-inw were also ready. Eldest Sister-in-Law came to ask what the next step was.


    Naturally, the next step was toy the food on the table and start cooking in the hot pot.


    But this question left [He Zhiran] momentarily stunned.


    She had only considered what to eat, and did not think about the current situation of the household.


    They had only just moved into this rented courtyardst night. Other than some cookware purchased en route and their luggage, they did not even have chairs for people to sit on, let alone dining tables.


    Thinking of all this, [He Zhiran] was instantly furious with herself.


    The ingredients were prepared but they had neither dining tables nor charcoal stove.


    [He Zhiran]''s troubled expression did not escape [Mo Jiuye]''s notice.


    In his perspective, Ranran was a clever girl who never seemed troubled over anything before.


    Something major must have happened.


    [Mo Jiuye] walked over anxiously with a tense look on his face, grasped [He Zhiran]''s hand and pulled her out of the kitchen.


    Only when they reached a corner did he ask, "Ranran, what''s the matter?"


    [He Zhiran] was led away by [Mo Jiuye] with an urgent demeanor, and thought something had gone awry.


    She assumed he would say something after bringing her to this corner.


    But instead, he was the one asking what had happened to her...


    What could possibly have happened? It was just a slip-up on her part!


    But on second thoughts, this was no small matter either.


    Everyone had been busy for so long preparing the ingredients, but now she had to inform them about a change in tonight''s dinner ns.


    [He Zhiran] felt she truly could not bring herself to say those words.


    Seeing that she still gave no reply, the anxiety and tension [Mo Jiuye] felt grew stronger.


    "Ranran, tell me quickly, what exactly is the matter?"


    Faced with that impatient expression, [He Zhiran] shrugged and said,


    "It''s about tonight''s dinner."


    [Mo Jiuye] looked puzzled. "Dinner? Wasn''t preparation going smoothly?"


    "Oh dear, you don''t know - hot pot requires at least a charcoal stove, plus tables and chairs. And we have none of those."


    She really had been negligent in forgetting to purchase some furniture when they went out this morning.


    Although [Mo Jiuye] did not quite understand why the meal Ranran spoke of absolutely needed tables, chairs and a stove, these were not difficult issues for him to resolve.

 Chapter 207: Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

    <h4>Chapter 207</h4>


    Especially Zhou n Chief, after seeing those hunted preys, he had already roughly calcted their prices.


    Speaking of that wild mountain goat alone, if sold to restaurants in the city, it would fetch at least a few taels of silver.


    With such an abundant harvest in one day, it was enough for these people to eat their fill, and there would even be some left.


    Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou were also listening enviously.


    By now, they had thoroughly epted the fact of bing an ordinarymoner. The Mo Family''s manpower grew increasingly numerous, and each was highly skilled.


    Relying on hunting to support a family in the future would be no problem at all.


    Thinking further of their own circumstances then, they were formerly schr-officials. Even if there were quite some manpower, none was able to go up the mountain for hunting.


    It seemed that after they returned, their whole families had to gather together to carefully discuss the problem of their future livelihood.


    He Zhiran was listening to the men''s discussion without rebutting. She would simply do whatever she ought to do in the future.


    Seeing that everyone had just about eaten their fill of meat, she put the sliced potatoes and sweet potatoes into the pot.


    These two items were the first time the people present had seen them.


    They had wanted to ask what these were when they first saw them, but faced with so many delicacies, they were reluctant to stop their mouths from eating to speak.


    Now seeing He Zhiran putting these two foods into the copper pot, they raised their curiosity once more.


    For asking this kind of question, the Eighth Sister-inw as a foodie was most adept.


    "Ninth younger sister-inw, we cut for half a day in the kitchen just now, and still didn''t know what these are."


    He Zhiran smiled as she exined, "These were all bought from the Westerners by me. One is called potato, and one called sweet potato.


    I also heard that these things not only taste good, but have very high yields too. I kept some seeds, and we can try nting some next year."


    Upon hearing He Zhiran say that these two foods had high yields, the two n chiefs were the first unable to keep still.


    They had been tilling the soil their whole lives, and there was no news more exciting than the topic of high yields.


    Zhou n ChiefЦ×Å asked, "Ninth young household, you said these things have high yields, so just how high could they yield?"


    He Zhiran thought about the sweet potatoes and potatoes nted in her space. She didn''t know if it was an issue of cheating, but the yield per mu could reach two thousand jin for potatoes, and even more for sweet potatoes, close to five thousand jin.


    To y it safe, she did not report such high numbers.


    "Zhou n Chief, ording to what that Westerner said, potatoes can yield up to a thousand jin per mu, and sweet potatoes will be more, with at least two thousand jin per mu."


    As soon as she finished speaking, the two n chiefs were no longer able to keep their cool and stood up.


    "Ninth young household, is what you said true?"


    Zhao n Chief turned red in agitation. They must know that nting crops their whole lives, they had never heard of any crop with such high yields. Could the Ninth young household have been tricked by those Westerners?


    He Zhiran also could not boast too much regarding such matters.


    "Hehe... Zhao n Chief, whether it can really yield as high as that, we''ll have to see after nting them."


    Zhao n Chief nodded and sat back down.


    Seeing the Ninth young household''s nonchnt manner, she clearly didn''t care whether she was being tricked. What was he getting all worked up for?


    At the same time, the two n chiefs also extinguished their original intention to ask for some seeds.


    These unknown things, they didn''t dare try indeed in case the yields weren''t so high after all, that would be an entire year''s time wasted in vain.


    Their attitude did not impact He Zhiran at all.


    Seeing that the potatoes and sweet potatoes in the copper pot had softened from cooking, she urged everyone to have a taste.


    This time, her action elicited another round of exmations.


    "Ninth younger sister-inw, this sweet potato is sweet and delicious!" Eighth Sister-inw ate while smiling and praising.


    Even the usuallyposed Sixth Sister-inw couldn''t help but appraise, "That''s true, these two new snacks do seem rather filling too."


    The table with the men was simr, as they all vied to praise the potatoes and sweet potatoes for their unique vor.


    Everyone present feasted merrily on the delicacies. They felt that they had never eaten such delicious food in their lives.


    When Mo Jiuye saw that everyone had just about eaten their fill, he then asked Zhao and Zhou, the two n chiefs.


    "Two n chiefs, may I know if you have any sparend for sale?"


    Zhou n Chief raised his brow, "Ninthd, you n to buynd?"


    Zhao n Chief echoed, "True enough, for country folks, tillingnd is fundamental."


    Mo Jiuye nodded, "We will be living in the vige in future, so nting crops is a must."


    Zhou n Chief contemted briefly.


    "In our Xi Ling Vige, if we talk of goodnd, most are in Cui Manor people''s hands. Luckily after being tended these few years, though notparable to Cui Manor''s fertile soil, our family''snd had also improved vastly."


    Mo Jiuye knew his wife''s space-produced seeds weren''t particr about soil conditions at all. Thus he didn''t care if thend was fertile.


    "Land conditions matter not. Goodnd is nurtured. We can take it slow."


    At the same time, Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou also stared at the two n chiefs.


    They shared Mo Jiuye''s thoughts. To live in the countryside, they would have to do what country folks ought to.


    After exchanging nces, Zhao n Chief said,


    "There isn''t much farnd in both our families. Only those near the foot of the mountain have been left fallow for years. Suchnd would take at least three to five years'' time before it can be nurtured fertile."


    The indigenous vigers of Xi Ling Vige naturally understood this kind ofnd. Even if seeded, the harvests wouldn''t be great. It was likely they would toil in vain.


    Zhao n Chief suddenly recalled Cui Manor.


    "Ninthd, Cui Manor has the mostnd, far more than their tribesmen can farm.


    In the past, relying on Cui Wen''s power, they forced our two families to send people over as unpaidbor.


    Now that the new fair County prefect is in power, Cui Manor had been punished. I supposed we no longer have to work unpaid at their ce. Much of theirnd would surely be left barren.


    When that timees, Cui Manor people will surely want to sell off their farms. You can then buy fertilend from Cui Manor."


    That was indeed a good n. But Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran hoped to own morend, no matter the condition, preferably adjoining parcels.


    Whether fertilend or those left barren for years, they wanted them all.


    "The two n chiefs, no matter thend quality, we hope to buy them."


    In suggesting that Mo Jiuye buy farnd from Cui Manor, the two n chiefs actually had no ulterior motives. They were thinking about harmony since they were going to live together in the same vige. They didn''t want to do anything that would invite criticisms.


    What they didn''t expect was that even after they had said so much, the other party remained just as determined.


    Since that''s the case, they shouldn''t be med for not warning them. When it came to money spent, no one had the right to make demands how it should be used.


    Zhou n Chief said, "There are about twenty mu of fallownd at the foot of the mountain in our Zhou family. That area was opened up throughnd remation by our nsmen, and we have the title deed registered officially.


    The deeds are still in our hands presently. If you want to buy them, based on the wastnd price back then, it''d be one tael of silver per mu."

 Chapter 208: A Lot of Money for a Fool

    <h4>Chapter 208</h4>


    Anyways, thosends have been lying idle, so it''s better to sell them at a low price.


    When the Zhao n Chief saw this, he said, "The Zhao family also has twenty-six mu of barrennd over there. Like the Zhou Family, we''ll sell it for one or two taels of silver per mu."


    Mo Jiuye first looked at Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou.


    After all, they had alle to Xi Ling Vige for their own families, so naturally they couldn''t fall behind others when there wasnd being sold.


    When Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou heard that it wasnd that had been barren for many years with low yields, neither of them were very interested.


    They weren''t very knowledgeable about farming to begin with. If they went to cultivatend like that, it might end up a fruitless endeavor.


    Therefore, the two of them shook their heads at Mo Jiuye at the same time, indicating that they did not want to buy suchnd.


    If possible, they wanted to buy some of the Cui Family''s good farnd.


    It was just what Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran wanted to hear that the two men did not want to buy thend that had been barren for many years.


    They had nned that if possible, they would buy all of thend at the foot of the mountain and build their future house there too.


    That way, their family property could be managed together.


    Mo Jiuye immediately decided, "n chiefs, I''ve decided to buy all of thatnd from you."


    As soon as his words fell, He Zhiran brought over arge silver ingot, worth a full ten taels.


    "n chiefs, this is the down payment for thend. After our family settles down in the next few days, let''s go to the yamen to process thend transfer formalities."


    Such arge ingot of silver yuanbao ced on the table suddenly gave a sense of great wealth.


    When the Zhou n Chief saw this, he smiled and said, "Young Lady Mo is really too kind. Just give a little symbolic down payment to show your intentions. After all, we¡¯ll be fellow vigers in the future. How could I not trust you?"


    By now, the two n chiefs had determined that the Mo family were foolishly wealthy.


    Not only did they want all of thatnd, but they were also so refreshingly willing to take out silver...


    He Zhiran would not try to guess their thoughts at this time. She smiled and replied, "The silver will be given sooner orter. This deposit also shows our sincerity in buying thend."


    "Very good, very good. Since this is the case, we will dly ept it."


    The Zhou n Chief was quite modest and pushed the silver to the Zhao n Chief. "Zhao n Chief, you can hold onto the silver first. We¡¯ll divide it after we finish the formalities at the county yamen."


    The Zhao n Chief smiled and responded, "Okay, I''ll arrange it as Elder Zhou says."


    It could be seen from this that the characters of both n chiefs were quite good - they were modest and not greedy for money.


    Having settled the matter of purchasing thend in their hands, Mo Jiuye then asked, "Also, I heard that many of the houses we were assigned here originally belonged to your n members?"


    The Zhao n Chief exined about the ownership of those houses.


    Mo Jiuye asked again, "I wonder if thosepounds are for sale?"


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s intention that he seemed to want to buy those dpidatedpounds, the two n chiefs werepletely stunned.


    "Young Mo, you want to buy thosepounds too?" n Chief Zhou said somewhat incredulously.


    You have to know that thosepounds were very much an eyesore where they sat. Not to mention they couldn''t afford to repair them, the government kept using them to provide rent-free housing for those exiled people.


    Although no one could live there long-term, having that kind of thing still felt a little irritating.


    Mo Jiuyeughed and said, "My family likes quiet. I feel it¡¯s more suitable to build houses there.


    Also, it''s close to thend we bought which makes it convenient to take care."


    The two n chiefs both felt that his words made sense.


    "Mm, that idea is not bad. It''s just that with so manypounds at the foot of the mountain, have you decided which ones you want to buy?"


    "If possible, I n to buy all of them." Mo Jiuye''s words werepletely unambiguous.


    "Buy all of them?"


    The two n chiefs were shocked by his words again.


    If it was one or twopounds, it would have been fine for him to buy them. After all, the Mo family didn''t seem tock people either.


    But to buy all of them, what on earth did they need so much space for?


    "Y-Young Mo... You have to know, although thosepounds are a little shabby, they¡¯re still much more expensive than buyingnd. Are you sure you want to buy them all?


    Also, the reason we moved away is because it¡¯s hard to avoid harassment by the barbarians there.


    Take a look at the houses in our vige. No matter how dpidated, the courtyard walls are all built over ten feet high.


    Being far away from the foot of the mountain, there¡¯s a chance to detect barbariansing and make preparations.


    If you build houses at the foot of the mountain, even if the courtyard walls are repaired to be high again, once the barbarianse, you won¡¯t even have time to make defensive preparations."


    Although the Zhou n Chief was extremely eager to turn his family''s dpidated houses into silver, he still felt it necessary to remind them.


    Making money was secondary. If the Mo family lived there unsafely, they would feel uneasy even if they took the money.


    Mo Jiuye knew that both n chiefs were kind-hearted people and was very grateful that they could sincerely remind him.


    However, he didn¡¯t care about harassment by a few barbarians at all.


    As long as there was one man at home, the barbarians would retreat fruitlessly.


    He smiled and said, "I have my own ns for this. If possible, I would like to buy all of thepounds at the foot of the mountain."


    Not only were the two n chiefs stunned now, even Mo Chuhan was a little anxious.


    Before going up the mountain today, he had specially checked the foot of the mountain.


    The dpidatedpounds of various sizes added up to at least twenty.


    Had Ninth Brother gone crazy? Was he nning to let each family member live in a separatepound?


    "Ninth Brother?"


    Mo Jiuye knew that Eighth Brother had doubts, but with so many outsiders around at the moment, it wasn¡¯t good to exin too much.


    "Eighth Brother, I''ll tell you about itter."


    Even if Mo Chuhan still had endless doubts, since Ninth Brother had spoken like this, he could only repress them for now.


    When Madam Mo saw that her eighth son had objections, she quickly helped Mo Jiuye speak.


    "Chuhan, listen to your Ninth Brother. Our Mo family is currently headed by the He family."


    Mo Chuhan knew that his Ninth Brother''s wife was the head of house.


    Ninth Brother was also acting on his sister-inw''s intentions in doing this.


    But he just couldn''t figure out that with less than twenty people in the whole family, including Liang Hao and the others, what exactly did they want to do with buying so manypounds?


    Since the old mother had spoken up for Ninth Brother, it meant that she also supported Ninth Brother and his wife.


    Therefore, Mo Chuhan decided to keep silent and watch.


    Knowing that he had lost his memory, Fifth Brother decided not to participate in major family decisions until he remembered.


    The two n chiefs had thoroughly discovered that the decision makers in the Mo Family, apart from Young Master Mo Jiuye and his wife, were also that olddy.


    Since the heads of the household had this intention, it would seem pretentious if they tried to advise otherwise.


    "Young Mo, the Zhao family has sevenpounds at the foot of the mountain, big and small. Let¡¯s look them over first and discuss the price afterward, alright?"


    The Zhou n Chief also said, "Our Zhou family has ninepounds. We¡¯ll do the same and talk again after checking them out.


    As for the remaining five, they belong to the Cui family. If you want to buy them, you¡¯ll have to talk it over with the Cui family."

 Chapter 209: A Meal for the guests and Hosts

    <h4>Chapter 209</h4>


    Mo Jiuye nodded: "Okay, there''s no rush with the matter of the courtyard, we''ll discuss the specifics again after the Cui Family''s case is settled."


    Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou saw that the Mo Family had bought so much farnd and courtyards in the time it took to have a meal, and they immediately became anxious.


    However, when they thought about those tattered courtyards at the foot of the mountain, they really didn''t dare to buy them recklessly like the Mo Family to rebuild.


    After all, the silver they had was limited. If they bought those dpidated courtyards at the foot of the mountain to rebuild, it would be like spending twice the amount.


    It would be better to ask if the courtyard they were currently living in was for sale, at least they could save some silver to buy farnd.


    Since Mo Jiuye had brought up buying houses, they simply asked about it too.


    "Chief Zhao, I wonder if the courtyard we are currently renting is for sale?"


    Chief Zhao replied: "The courtyard that the Xie family is renting belongs to our family, so I can make the decision. If the price is reasonable, of course it can be sold. As for the courtyard where the Fang family lives, it belongs to our nsmen, so I can''t make decisions for others. You''ll have to ask them before I can give you an answer."


    When Xie Tianhai heard that the courtyard they were living in could be sold, he let out a sigh of relief in his heart. At the same time, he asked, "How much silver do you want for the courtyard we live in?"


    Chief Zhao calcted in his heart and said, "My courtyard upies more than one mu ofnd. I spent a total of twelve taels of silver to buy thend and build the houses back then.


    The courtyard is also old now, so I''ll sell it to you for twelve taels."


    Xie Tianhai thought about it. Chief Zhao''s courtyard wasrge enough for his family to live infortably. Although twelve taels was not a small amount for their family, it would still be cheaper than rebuilding.


    Not only that, they could also avoid the hard work of building the houses.


    "In that case, my Xie family will buy the courtyard."


    As he finished speaking, Xie Tianhai also took out two broken silver coins from his arms and handed them to Chief Zhao.


    "This is the deposit, keep it safe."


    Although Second Sister-in-Law didn''t know Mo Jiuye''s specific purpose for buying so many dpidated courtyards at the foot of the mountain, she was very clear that every decision made by Mo Jiuye and Lady He was absolutely right.


    She sincerely hoped that her father''s family would follow Mo''s lead and buy houses at the foot of the mountain.


    But seeing that her father was already impatient to pay the deposit, even though Second Sister-in-Law was anxious, she didn''t think it was appropriate to remind him in front of so many people.


    She could only wink desperately at her father, but Xie Tianhai didn''t even nce at the women''s table.


    After winking fruitlessly for half a day, Second Sister-in-Law could only give up...


    Mo Jiuye and Lady He were happy to see the Fang and Xie families nning to buy the courtyards they were currently renting.


    It wasn''t that they were selfish, but that they had already made preliminary ns for the utilization of thend and houses at the foot of the mountain.


    If the Xie and Fang families followed their lead and boughtnd and houses at the foot of the mountain, they would have to adjust their ns again.


    It was great that both families were buying houses in the vige. Not only would it save them money, it would also make their ns easier.


    The sumptuous dinner not only resolved the matter of purchasingnd and houses, Mo Family''s generous hospitality today also made Chiefs Zhao and Zhou realize Mo Family''s capabilities.


    In the past, those who were exiled to Xi Ling Vige usually didn''t have money to bribe Cui Wen, so Cui Wen would deliberately arrange for them toe here to be bullied by his nsmen.


    But the Mo Family was different. It wasn''t that they didn''t have money to bribe Cui Wen, they just disdained to do so.


    The same went for the Xie and Fang families. On the surface, they didn''t seem to have Mo Family''s deep foundation, but families who were able to buy houses and were nning to purchase good farnd surely wouldn''tck the bit of silver required to bribe Cui Wen?


    Also, today the Mo Family bought over forty mu ofnd in one go. And from the looks of it, they seemed to have ns to continue buying good farnd.


    It was very obvious that they were nning to be the local tyrants of Xi Ling Vige!


    In the past, the Cui Family in Xi Ling Vige was like local tyrants. Not only did they own so muchnd that they couldn''t even finish nting, they would also ask people from their two ns to provide freebor.


    If it had been other reasonable tyrants, they would at least pay ten coins per day for the vigers'' help.


    Hopefully the Mo Family could be reasonable tyrants. Their nsmen helping out more in the future could also earn some money for household expenses.


    Thinking of this, the two chiefs felt that it would be very important to maintain good rtions with the Mo Family in the future.


    Today''s dinner was a very good start.


    With this in mind, the two chiefs stood up in tacit understanding, and spoke more politely than before.


    "Young Master Mo, thank you for your hospitality today. If you need help with anything in the future, just say the word. As long as we can do it, we will definitely go all out to help."


    "It''s gettingte, and you''ve been busy all day, so rest early." After he finished speaking, Chief Zhao bid farewell.


    Seeing this, Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai also stood up to express their gratitude to the Mo Family for their hospitality before following the two chiefs to leave.


    After sending off the guests, the sisters-inw worked together to clean up the bowls and chopsticks.


    Carrying two empty tes to the kitchen, Gluttonous Eighth Sister-in-Law kept praising today''s dinner.


    "Sister-in-Law Mo, I really don''t know what''s in your brain that allowed you toe up with such a way of eating, bringing raw food directly to the table and cooking it on the spot.


    Themb and beef were tender and delicious. At first, I didn''t know how to swallow those smelly organs, but after taking a bite, I couldn''t stop eating them.


    The sweet potatoes and potatoes were also delicious. I especially liked that texture.


    Also, Sister-in-Law Mo, how could you make those hard-shelled things so delicious? When you have time, you must teach me so that I can show off my skills to my Eighth Husband..."


    Eighth Sister-in-Law talked endlessly, saying almost everything in the sisters-inw''s hearts.


    Although the other sisters-inw didn''t express it as straightforwardly as Eighth Sister-in-Law, they were thinking the same.


    While washing dishes in the kitchen, the sisters-inw didn''t forget to pick up some sweet potatoes and potatoes to observe them, as if they had obtained some incredible treasure.


    Seeing the sisters-inw''s interest, Lady He jokingly asked, "Sisters, is there still room in your stomachs for more food?"


    "Are you going to feed us something delicious again, Sister-in-Law Mo?" Second Sister-in-Law patted her round protruding belly and said with a smile, "Second Sister-in-Law still has room here, but only for delicacies."


    Second Sister-in-Law''s words made everyoneugh.


    Everyone said that if there were delicacies, they could still eat a little more.


    Seeing this, Lady He directly threw a few sweet potatoes and potatoes into the still burning stove fire.


    This kind of stove fire was the most suitable for roasting sweet potatoes and potatoes. The mes were not strong and it would not go out for a while.


    Seeing Lady He''s actions, the sisters-inw were immediately shocked.


    "Sister-in-Law Mo, throwing such good food into the stove fire would be a waste!" Eldest Sister-in-Law held an iron hook in her hand, distressed that those sweet potatoes and potatoes were in the fire. She was about to hook them out of the stove.


    Lady He quickly stopped her: "Eldest Sister-in-Law, I''m also making a delicacy here, I won''t waste the food."

 Chapter 210: Please don’t Sell them.

    <h4>Chapter 210</h4>


    The eldest sister-inw was still rather puzzled. In her understanding, anything thrown into the stove would eventually be burnt to ashes. How could the ninth younger sister im to be making delicacies...


    The sixth sister-inw, who was usually the most taciturn, came forward and pulled the utterly confused eldest sister-inw to the side.


    "Eldest sister-inw, you have to trust the ninth younger sister. When has she ever done anything she wasn''t confident about?"


    "That''s true. The ninth younger sister has always been steady in her actions. I''m overthinking things." Somewhat embarrassed, the eldest sister-inw tossed the iron hook aside and went back to washing dishes.


    Mo Jiuye was also kept busy, along with Liang Hao and the others, carrying over borrowed tables and chairs to return to the vige.


    Mo Chuhan, on the other hand, went to the backyard to prepare the game they had hunted.


    He had figured out that while the ninth younger sister at home was no doubt the one in charge, the silver spent was also from her.


    Since he had not yet taken up his post at the government office, he nned to go hunting more during this farming off season and exchange the game for silver, which he would then hand over to the ninth younger sister to manage.


    As the eldest brother, spending his younger sister''s money made him feel awful no matter what. He was unwilling to idle around if he could help out in any way.


    Seeing Mo Chuhan walking purposefully toward the empty room after having finished preparing the wild goat and pheasants in the backyard, Mo Hanyue panicked.


    "Eighth brother, the little bunnies are so cute. Please don''t sell them," she pleaded.


    Mo Chuhan did intend to tie up the wild rabbits with rope and deliver them into town tomorrow morning along with the rest of the game to exchange for silver.


    In the past, with only one younger sister in the family, he and his brothers would have simply doted on her.


    But things had changed. They were no longer some aristocrat living in the capital city, and their sister was no youngdy from a prominent household.


    They would all have to work hard together to maintain their future livelihood.


    "Hanyue, you''re a youngdy now. Don''t make trouble."


    Mo Hanyue pouted and stood blocking the door, refusing to let Mo Chuhan enter to get to the rabbits.


    "Eighth brother, even if I have to beg you this one time, please don''t sell these rabbits, okay?"


    Seeing his sister rpse into her willful ways, Mo Chuhan could only patiently reason with her.


    "Hanyue, be good. We can''t possibly keep these wild rabbits."


    Mo Hanyue did not understand. "But they''re lively and jumping around. Why can''t we keep them?"


    "Rabbits have formidable teeth. Even caged, they would gnaw through and escape. We might as well sell them for some money, which would be more practical."


    Mo Chuhan was not just repeating hearsay. When stationed at the border pass, he had hunted some wild rabbits himself, nning to keep them for a while and add something extra to the soldiers'' meals when they triumphantly returned.


    But in less than two days, the rabbits had all escaped, leaving bite marks all over the ce.


    Though Mo Hanyue wanted to retort, she knew deep down that her eighth brother must be speaking the truth.


    At a loss for words for the moment, she instead began to sob in agitation.


    Hearing Mo Hanyue''s cries, Old Lady Mo rushed over with the sisters-inw who had been busy in the kitchen.


    They arrived to see Mo Chuhan flusteredly trying tofort a bawling Mo Hanyue.


    Needless to say, everyone present assumed that Mo Chuhan had made Mo Hanyue cry.


    "Husband, don''t bully Hanyue," the eighth sister-inw said as she strode over to stand between the two.


    Hands on her hips, she looked about ready to fight Mo Chuhan for justice on Mo Hanyue''s behalf.


    With someone backing her up, Mo Hanyue promptly ceased her crying. She had only been putting on a show anyway, so she stopped as quickly as she had started.


    "Eighth sister-inw, just look at what eighth brother is doing. He''s so cruel to want to sell those cute little bunnies for money."


    Now everyone understood what the dispute between the siblings was about.


    Old Lady Mo and the sisters-inw were formerly nobledies who had never so much as lifted a finger, let alone knew anything about keeping wild rabbits.


    So they unanimously decided Mo Chuhan was in the wrong.


    The third sister-inw even dramatically fished out five taels of silver from her sleeve and stuffed them straight into Mo Chuhan''s hands.


    "Eighth brother, I''m buying all these wild rabbits. Take the silver."


    How dare he bully their sweetest little sister? Absolutely uneptable.


    While the other sisters-inw were not as drastic as the third, they too demonstrated their defense of Mo Hanyue.


    The only exception was He Zhiran, who did not react like the others.


    She already had ns for those wild rabbits upon seeing Mo Hanyue hugging one.


    To that end, after seeing Mo Hanyue holding a wild rabbit, she had purchased a hundred baby rabbits in her space and started raising them.


    It was the first step in her money-making endeavor without needing to be out and about. She could do it at home.


    She knew a little about the nature of rabbits. Truly wild rabbits were indeed difficult to tame, and preventing their escape attempts was virtually impossible.


    But the rabbits from her space were different, having been caged since young and already ustomed to such a life that escape was likely the furthest thing from their minds.


    What''s more, the space-grown rabbits were less prone to illness and easy to keep alive.


    She just needed to nt some cabbage and carrots asionally, then add cornmeal after the autumn harvest. During summer, it was even more convenient with the mountain at their doorstep - she could simply uproot some grass to feed the rabbits.


    Additionally, rabbits reached maturity in six months and reproduced swiftly.


    Right now was the agricultural off season, so running a small-scale rabbit farm at home was a good idea.


    Most importantly, in her hands, rabbits were of immense value beyond imagination.


    Their fur could be used to make plush toys - something He Zhiran had nned even while on the road.


    In Tang Mingrui''s hands, the toy business had thrived phenomenally. If not for the supply shortage on her end, their partnership would have been making money hand over fist.


    Moreover, she already had proof from her previous life that rabbit fur plush toys not only sold for higher prices than synthetic fiber plushes, but also looked more appealing.


    She was certain that plush toys made from rabbit fur were guaranteed profit with no risk, without having to worry about wear over time either.


    As for rabbit meat, the simplest way was to produce chilled rabbit meat for sale, easily doubling or tripling profits.


    Even just directly selling the meat by weight was a steady long-term source of ie.


    Therefore, He Zhiran''s ns were sure to generate considerable profits for the family.


    Just as Mo Chuhan was at a loss over how to counter the sisters-inw''s endless stream of words, He Zhiran finally spoke.


    "Sisters, Hanyue, I also feel there is no need to keep these wild rabbits."


    All eyes instantly turned to her as her words fell.


    "Ninth sister-inw, you agree with eighth brother selling those cute little bunnies too?" Mo Hanyue asked in a choked voice.


    He Zhiran stepped forward to gently pat Mo Hanyue''s shoulder and softly said, "Hanyue, the ninth sister-inw once read in books that wild rabbits are difficult for us to raise. It would be better to exchange them for money."

 Chapter 211: Can be responsible for raising Rabbits

    <h4>Chapter 211</h4>


    The women had always believed He Zhiran''s words without doubt.


    Seeing that the ninth younger sister had said so, everyone closed their mouths that were criticizing Mo Hanyue.


    He Zhiran continued tofort Mo Hanyue: "When I came back today I haven''t had the chance to tell everyone yet. Not only did I buy some novel items from the foreigners, I also bought a lot of live rabbits.


    These rabbits are different from wild rabbits. They have been kept in captivity since they were young, so they won''t escape."


    Speaking, she held Mo Hanyue''s hand: "Tomorrow, Hanyue will have a lot, a lot of rabbits, and those rabbits are snow white, much better looking than wild rabbits."


    Mo Hanyue was still a child at heart. Hearing what the ninth sister said, she immediately became all smiles.


    "Ninth sister, you didn''t lie to Hanyue, did you?"


    "When has the ninth sister ever lied to you?" He Zhiran said, pretending to be unhappy.


    Now, Mo Hanyue waspletely no longer thinking about those wild rabbits.


    "The ninth sister really hasn''t lied to me before. I can be responsible for raising rabbits at home from now on."


    Raising rabbits at home can also be sold for money in the future, and they even have to kill them themselves.


    When that timees, He Zhiran doesn''t want Mo Hanyue toe out and stop it like today.


    Therefore, she ns to buy some special rabbits for her to raise alone in the warehouse.


    For example, the Angora giant rabbit and Mini Lop rabbit.


    She really liked these two breeds of rabbits in her past life, the kind of like where you can''t take your eyes off them when you see them.


    Buying these two rabbits is partly because Mo Hanyue likes them. Of course, if these rabbits can also sessfully breed, they can bepletely sold as pets to rich people, which would be killing two birds with one stone.


    With the whole n in ce, He Zhiran saw that Mo Hanyue had already obediently given way at the door.


    Considering Rice Ball was still in the room, He Zhiran decided to push the door open herself.


    The moment the door was pushed open, everyone was shocked.


    They saw seven wild rabbits lined up neatly against the wall, shivering.


    Rice Ball was sitting in front of them somewhat proudly, like a drill instructor, even fiercely patting the ground a few times with his front paws.


    Even when someone came in, those wild rabbits didn''t dare move a bit.


    This scene really shocked everyone.


    Mo Hanyueughed behind her hand.


    "Ninth sister, Rice Ball isn''t setting rules for these wild rabbits, is he?"


    "Uh... it seems that he really is."


    In He Zhiran''s cognition, silly animals like pandas didn''t have it in them to do this.


    However, the scene in front of her made her have no choice but to believe this was true.


    "Rice Ball, did you line them up?"


    "Mm hm!" Rice Ball let out a heavy quadruple sound, answering very crisply.


    This action once again drew a sigh from everyone.


    Rice Ball looked at those people impatiently for a moment, then turned around and pped the ground with his fleshy paws at those wild rabbits before hugging his mistress'' leg with his round butt.


    At the same time, he let out a "whine whine whine" cry. Anyone with eyes could see he was acting coquettish.


    The women all looked at He Zhiran, hoping Rice Ball would alsoe act coquettish with them.


    Unfortunately, Rice Ball had always ignored their enthusiasm, only getting along well with the ninth youngdy.


    Mo Chuhan took the opportunity to enter the room and called those sisters-inw toe help bring those wild rabbits to the backyard.


    After the sisters-inw came back from the backyard, He Zhiran felt it was about time and the roasted sweet potatoes and potatoes in the stove should be cooked. She beckoned the women toe taste them together.


    Old Lady Mo ate very full tonight, but somehow, seeing the lively scene of her daughters-inw, she also wanted to go join in the fun.


    She thought this in her heart, so she did it.


    He Zhiran peeled the roasted sweet potato she had hooked out with an iron hook and handed it to Old Lady Mo: "Mother, try this roasted sweet potato, it''s very delicious."


    Old Lady Mo also didn''t stand on ceremony. She took the sweet potato, blew on it, then took a bite.


    "Hmm, sweet and sticky, even better than hot pot."


    Seeing the usually most dignified mother-inw praise it like this, the others believed this stuff must taste very good. Although their stomachs weren''t hungry at all, they still couldn''t help swallowing their saliva.


    He Zhiran knew they still didn''t understand how to eat these roasted sweet potatoes and potatoes, so she demonstrated peeling off the charred skin in front of them one by one.


    She handed the peeled sweet potato to Old Lady Mo: "Mother, try this roasted sweet potato, it''s very tasty."


    Old Lady also didn''t stand on ceremony. She took the sweet potato, blew on it, then took a bite.


    "Hmm, sweet and chewy, even more delicious than when boiled."


    Seeing even the usually most dignified mother-inw praise it like this, the others were convinced this stuff must be very tasty. Although not hungry at all, they still couldn''t help swallowing saliva.


    Following He Zhiran¡¯s example, they each went forward to taste it.


    For a while, words of praise did not stop ringing in the kitchen.


    The baked potatoes were also unique in vor.


    They said it was just a taste, but no one ate less. Now the women werepletely stuffed...


    Old Lady Mo saw their pathetic state and gently med: ¡°Look at yourselves, all born to big families, yet see your bearings. It¡¯ste, go embarrass yourselves in your own rooms.¡±


    The sisters-inw and Mo Hanyueughed and responded, then each ran back to their rooms.


    He Zhiran was thest toe out of the kitchen. She had just stepped out the threshold with one foot when Mo Jiuye came back with Liang Hao and the others.


    Seeing everything at home had already been dealt with, they each returned to their rooms.


    Rice Ball naturally had to stick to its owner. Wherever she was, it definitely had to be there too.


    He Zhiran indulged the little guy, bringing it with Mo Jiuye into the space.


    Since she had already talked about raising rabbits, she had to prepare for it before going to the warehouse tomorrow.


    The baby rabbits raised in the space had obviously grown a lot bigger. Estimated by tomorrow morning, they could grow even more.


    Even so, if these rabbits were taken out of the space, they probably wouldn¡¯t be fully grown for a few months.


    In order for the family to see the ie earlier, He Zhiran simply bought another hundred adult rabbits from the built-in mall in the control panel.


    Although the price was a bit higher than buying from the Taobao mall, the rabbits here had special physiques, superior in ease of raising and less prone to illness.


    Such rabbits could breed quickly in a short period of time. By then, the sisters-inw and Hanyue wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being bored.


    In addition, she also purchased two pairs of adult Angora giant rabbits and two pairs of adult Mini Lop rabbits as nned.


    It had to be said, pet rabbits really had an attractive appearance that made people want to hug them as soon as they saw them.


    Especially the Angora giant rabbits, which looked at least 20 catties.


    With the necessary rabbits purchased, what was left were the cages.


    It was unrealistic for so many rabbits running around loose in the warehouse. The foreigners who brought them wouldn''t do that either.


    Therefore, rabbit cages had to be arranged.


    This could also solve the problem of having to find a way to build cages after transporting the rabbits back. Might as well get it done all at once.


    He Zhiran selected professional breeding cages sufficient for raising 1000 rabbits in the Taobao mall.


    Rabbits breed rapidly, preparations must be made in advance.


    Anyway these rabbit cages can be folded up and are very convenient to store.

 Chapter 212: You can leave this to your mother.

    <h4>Chapter 212</h4>


    While the appearance of the rabbit hutch was quite in and looked like something from this era, there was also that foreigner Backpot Hero there, so they weren''t worried at all about drawing criticism.


    With the cage bought, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran busied themselves with the instation.


    First they installed five small cages, able to hold twenty young rabbits.


    In addition there were ten cages for the adult rabbits, with ten rabbits in each cage.


    There were plenty of cages, so for now they would let the adult rabbits squeeze together temporarily to make it easier to transport tomorrow.


    Once they were settled in, they could redistribute them then.


    As for those pet rabbits, they were a gift He Zhiran intended to give to Mo Hanyue, so of course their cage couldn''t be makeshift.


    Each pair would have their own cage.


    Having witnessed Rice Ball''s "management capabilities" today, He Zhiran wanted to test it further to see if the little guy really had such skills.


    At the moment, Rice Ball was sitting in front of the warehouse door, gnawing on a carrot.


    Hearing its owner call, it reluctantly threw aside the carrot and trotted over in front of her.


    First it acted cute for a bit, and once it saw its owner smile, the round little fellow then sat up straight, waiting for orders.


    "Rice Ball, can you herd these rabbits into the cages?"


    "Mm-hmm." After four sounds of affirmation, the little guy sprang into action.


    One could see it waving its furry little arms, calling out a few times at the rabbits frolicking in the grass.


    An astonishing scene urred.


    All the rabbits stopped moving. First they looked warily in the direction of the sound, then they all scrambled like bees into the cages.


    While they all went into cages, they werepletely disorganized and ignored He Zhiran''s ns.


    The rabbits paid no attention to age or size - as soon as they saw an open cage, they darted inside,pletely mixed up.


    Even those few purebred rabbits acted the same way - the huge Angora and a group of bunnies less than a month old were packed in together, not even daring to move a muscle.


    This scene thoroughly amused both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    Although Rice Ball hadn''t done a great job with this task, at the very least it proved that the little guy did have some skills.


    By this time, Rice Ball had already proudly made its way back to He Zhiran, burying its head in her embrace while whimpering a few small bleats, as if requesting a reward.


    Such an adorable little creature certainly deserved a reward.


    He Zhiran looked at the bamboo grove she had nted - although it hadn''t grown very tall yet, it didn''t affect the size of the bamboo shoots.


    She willed a great many fresh, juicy bamboo shoots to appear - so many they nearly buried Rice Ball''s round body.


    As one would expect, bamboo shoots were what this kind of animal loved best.


    When Rice Ball saw so many fresh, delicious bamboo shootsid out before it, it instantly forgot about its owner.


    The little guy swiftly grabbed a shoot and began happily feasting away.


    He Zhiran took the opportunity to use her mind topletely reorganize the rabbits'' quarters.


    With that taskplete, she and Mo Jiuye finally went to wash up and rest in their long-absent big bed.


    After being busy the entire day, the young couple truly was exhausted. Not long after lying down in each other''s embrace, they fell fast asleep.


    The next day, He Zhiran intentionally rose early.


    She nned to use the spiny lobsters stored in her spatial dimension to make lobster porridge for her family.


    Due to time constraints she didn''t n anything too borate - in her former world, just being able to eat a nice big bowl of porridge packed with lobster meat early in the morning would have been sheer luxury.


    And the Mo family had by now grown ustomed to frugality. Making some lobster porridge, frying up a few scallion pancakes, adding a refreshing side dish, such a breakfast was both economical and satisfying.


    The sisters-inw had grown used to getting up early to prepare breakfast for the family, so they were quite surprised to find the little ninth sister beating them to it today.


    The whole family gradually drifted into the kitchen to lend a hand, and before long they had this special breakfast ready.


    Naturally it earned unanimous praise from the family.


    After breakfast, Mo Chuhan made to apany them to the warehouse to transport back the goods they had bought from the foreigners.


    In principle, with such arge quantity of goods in the warehouse, having more people along would be a good thing.


    But Mo Jiuye didn''t n on bringing his eighth brother. He Zhiran had prepared so many live rabbits yesterday - they couldn''t very well keep them outdoors with no real shelter.


    Without proper hutches at the ready, they would need to hastily construct a makeshift grass canopy to at least block the wind and rain.


    "Eighth Brother, I''ll go into town with Liang Hao and the others. I''ll have to trouble you today to hire some men from the vige toe build a canopy in the backyard."


    Mo Chuhan didn''t quite follow. "Ninth Brother, why build a canopy?"


    "Has Eighth Brother forgotten? We bought so many rabbits from the foreigners yesterday. Naturally we''ll need a canopy built."


    He was somewhat disappointed at not being able to apany his ninth brother and sister-inw to haul the goods back, getting a look at the local conditions in town.


    Ever since he had relocated to register as a resident of Xiling Vige, he still hadn''t gone into town to observe the customs and practices.


    Especially since he would be working as a county sheriff in a little while, not even being familiar with basic local circumstances here.


    But the task his ninth brother spoke of was also important. At present not only had his fifth brother lost his memory, his health hadn''t fully recovered either.


    In this family currently only he and Ninth Brother were men capable of handling things, so it was reasonable enough for him to take care of these matters.


    Just as Mo Chuhan was about to verbally agree, Old Lady Mo walked over.


    "Jiuye, why not bring your eighth brother into town with you. It''s just building a canopy, I can handle arranging that."


    No one in the Mo family would deny the olddy''s capabilities.


    Hadn''t she single-handedly supported that entire Prince''s manor in the past? Arranging a simple canopy should be no trouble for her.


    But she was getting on in years, and had endured such a long exile - Mo Chuhan couldn''t bear to let his old mother continueboring.


    "Mother, let your son apany you to speak with the n elders first. Once they''ve made arrangements on their end, you''ll just need to oversee things a bit with the daughters-inw."


    Old Lady Mo knew her caring son didn''t wish to tax her unduly.


    "Your mother is still quite hale and hearty, making arrangements is no strain."


    With the olddy speaking thusly, Mo Chuhan and Mo Jiuye dly epted.


    Mo Jiuye led Old Lady Mo to the backyard, choosing an appropriate location and detailing the desired size of the canopy.


    He Zhiran took the chance to release Rice Ball from her spatial dimension.


    She had discovered that the little fellow didn''t like solitude - leaving it alone in that space put it in low spirits.


    She and Mo Jiuye were going out and couldn''t bring it along, so for now they could only leave it temporarily in Mo Hanyue''s care.


    With household matters seen to, the couple headed out with Mo Chuhan towards the mule cart bound for Yuncheng.


    Liang Hao and the rest stealthily followed close on their heels by means of qinggong.


    Once the mule cart entered Yuncheng, Mo Chuhan immediately went about arranging to first sell off their hunting spoils.


    This perfectly aligned with Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s intentions.


    They could take this chance to first go to the warehouse and release the rabbits they had prepared in advance inside.

 Chapter 213: Madame Mo also thought of a good way to do both.

    <h4>Chapter 213</h4>


    Liang Hao and others were sent by Mo Jiuye to the city to hire ox carts, the more the better.


    The mule carts were left to Mo Chuhan, while the husband and wife went on foot towards the direction of the warehouse.


    The two tacitly looked at the location of the pier. Henry''s big cargo ship had already sailed away, presumably it had already set off yesterday.


    Henry''s departure was also a huge convenience for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    The items He Zhiran purchased in Taobao Mall hadpletely no evidence.


    Mo Jiuye went forward to open the door of the warehouse, while He Zhiran put the rabbits and prepared cages in the empty space at the fastest speed.


    They had just finished tidying up here when Mo Chuhan drove the mule carts over.


    The moment he entered the warehouse, Mo Chuhan waspletely stunned.


    Not to mention how many goods were stacked in the warehouse, how much silver did the ninth brother and sister have in their hands!


    They actually bought a warehouse full of stuff.


    I''m afraid the goods of that cargo ship were all bought by the two of them...


    The two had already anticipated what the eighth brother''s reaction would be like when he saw these things.


    Mo Jiuye lightly coughed with his fist against his lips.


    "Eighth brother, Zhiran and I felt that these things could be put to good use at home, so we bought them all."


    Just then, the ox carts hired by Liang Hao and the others had not yet arrived, so Mo Jiuye introduced these items to Mo Chuhan.


    "Eighth brother, this is called ss, which serves the same purpose as our local window paper here, but it is transparent and does not block light like window paper.


    There is also this, called stic cloth, simr to the oilclothmonly seen in our Da Shun Dynasty, the difference is also in transparency.


    These are tiles used to pave room floors and look very beautiful.


    These are all kinds of fruit made into dried fruit. Although they have lost moisture, they are easy to preserve and taste especially good."


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye had already handed a piece of pineapple to Mo Chuhan.


    "Eighth brother, try it, it¡¯s sweet and sour and very appetizing."


    Mo Chuhan was still immersed in astonishment at these things. He took the pineapple somewhat stiffly and bit off a piece.


    Then unintentionally, he ate a whole slice of pineapple.


    "I have to say, the dried fruit made by the foreigners is really delicious, I just don''t know what kind of fruit this is made of."


    "I heard that this thing is called pineapple. Zhiran thinks it tastes pretty good. She bought some seeds from the foreigners and ns to try nting some."


    Mo Chuhan kept nodding as he listened: "Well, not bad, not bad. If we can also grow such fruit, it will not only be a treat for the family, but should also sell for a good price."


    By now, Mo Chuhan hadpletely recognized the reality that in the future he would have to work hard to make a living like an ordinarymoner. No matter how hard it was, as long as his family lived in prosperity, it would be fine.


    Mo Jiuye took out several more dried fruits for his eighth brother, and the two walked while eating.


    Finally, the brothers came to the rabbits.


    "Eighth brother, look. The foreigners said that these rabbits do not dig holes and are not prone to disease, making them very suitable for captive breeding."


    Not to mention the Giant Angora and Mini Lop rabbits. Apart from their appearance, they also look very good.


    Mo Chuhanughed and said, "Such rabbits given to Han Yue, she will definitely like them."


    Not just Han Yue, even he as a grown man wanted to hug them when he saw them, they were so cute...


    As for those rabbits prepared for profitability, they were not exactly the same as the wild rabbits hunted in the mountains. Wild rabbits have longer ears and don''t have therger size of these adult rabbits.


    What¡¯s more, these rabbits were as white as snow, encountering a white wild rabbit was very rare.


    After taking a look around, Mo Chuhan asked, "Ninth younger brother, there are at least two hundred rabbitsrge and small, right?"


    "That''s right, exactly two hundred." Mo Jiuye replied.


    Mo Chuhan was at a loss.


    "Ninth younger brother, with so many rabbits, what will we use to feed them in the future?"


    In his perception, wild rabbits mostly lived on wild grass and wild fruits in the mountains.


    While it would be fine in other seasons when they could go up the mountain to cut grass to feed them, what about in such cold weather?


    "Eighth brother, the foreigners said that in addition to grass, rabbits can also eat radishes and vegetables, and at worst feed them some coarse grains."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s exnation, Mo Chuhan felt relieved.


    "It turns out I really didn''t know that rabbits can eat these things."


    But seeing how fat the foreigners raised rabbits, there should be no mistake.


    Just after the two brothers had checked the goods in the warehouse, they heard He Zhiran speaking at the door.


    "Husband, eighth brother, the ox carts hired by Liang Hao have arrived, let''s move the goods."


    The two brothers responded and walked towards the door together.


    Liang Hao and the others had hired more than a dozen ox carts, orderly waiting outside the warehouse.


    Mo Jiuye directed his family members, together with the carters, to sessively load the goods onto the ox carts.


    It had to be said that the things He Zhiran had prepared this time were still quite a lot. It was only when more than ten ox carts were fully loaded that a quarter of the goods in the warehouse were moved.


    From this it could be seen that in order to move all these thingspletely, at least four trips would be needed, and it was estimated that the sky would be dark by then.


    Both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were concerned about the matter of building a hay shed at home. So they handed over the freight work to their eighth brother and followed the freight ox carts back to Xi Ling Vige.


    As soon as the ox carts entered the vige, they aroused the onlookers of the Zhao and Zhou families.


    Having lived in Xi Ling Vige for so long, this was still the first time they had seen someone buy so many things at once.


    Even the once richest Cui Family had never been so extravagant.


    For this reason, the nsmen of the two families unanimously believed that the Mo family would surely be Xi Ling Vige¡¯s richest family in the future...


    Luckily there were still two vacant rooms at home. Storing the fluffy fabrics there for the time being was just right.


    As for the stic cloth, if left outside for too long it would be prone to weathering, so it might as well be stored in the vacant room along with the fluffy fabrics.


    As for the ss and tiles, they were temporarily stacked on the empty ground in the yard.


    After sending off the ox carts to continue transporting goods from the warehouse, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran went to the backyard.


    Mrs. Mo was truly a capable household manager. After her son and daughter-inw went out, she went to find the Zhou n chief, hoping to hire some nsmen to help build hay sheds at home.


    Not only that, Mrs. Mo had alsoe up with a win-win idea.


    Just like the modern package deal, she was responsible for the money and n, while the other party was responsible for the materials and manpower.


    What Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran saw when they arrived at the backyard was just such a scene.


    Mrs. Mo and several daughters-inw stood not far away watching, while the vigers kept bringing dried hay and coarse wooden poles from outside the courtyard wall, throwing them in. People on this side of the yard were responsible for building the woodshed.


    From this it could be seen that not only was Mrs. Mo decisive, those vigers also had a very good skills at working.


    The hay shed was built against the courtyard wall with the basic outline already in ce. At this rate, it would surely bepleted before nightfall.


    At that time, they could move her little rabbits back and orderly put the cages in the hay shed. Then use a grass curtain to block the entrance and it would be all set.

 Chapter 214: Great Joy

    <h4>Chapter 214</h4>


    Just as He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were about to go over and greet Old Lady Cui, Mo Jiuye, who had extremely good hearing, suddenly heard chaotic noisesing from afar.


    These noises did not seem to foretell any danger. Rather, they sounded like the Cui Family members crying and wailing...


    At the same time, there were also sounds of people from the Zhou Family running outside the courtyard walls.


    "I heard a group of government officials went to the Cui residence. Let''s go take a look quickly!"


    "Hurry up, or we won''t get good spots!"


    "With so much crying, the Cui Family is probably doomed..."


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye exchanged nces and headed out of the yard together.


    It wasn''t that they were gossipy or liked to watch other families'' misfortunes. They mainly wanted to learn more about the Cui Family''s situation as soon as possible, so they could buy the yard andnd at the foot of the mountain earlier.


    By the time the two of them arrived near the Cui residence, the area was already crowded with vigers who came to watch themotion.


    The crying and pleas for mercy from the Cui Family members were bing more and more intense.


    "Your Honor, it was all Cui Wen who did it. I had nothing to do with it at all. You can''t treat me like this!"


    "Your Excellency, please just let me go this once. I still have an 80-year-old mother at home that I need to take care of."


    "Your Honor, I beg you, spare me this time..."


    The government officials were very impatient, constantly whipping the Cui Family members with rods in their hands.


    "All of you shut up! Now you know to plead for mercy, but at the time youmitted those bad deeds, you didn''t think about today!"


    The whips fell on the bodies of over a dozen Cui Family members, causing their screams to rise another notch.


    For the Zhao and Zhou Family members, such a scene was extremely gratifying.


    The viinous Cui Family was finally getting their retribution.


    They thought only a few Cui Family members would be arrested, but unexpectedly, the officials went to find the Zhao and Zhou n leaders afterwards.


    The two n leaders had no idea why they were being implicated in the Cui Family''s offenses. In front of the officials, they looked very apprehensive.


    "Your Honor, we do not know why you have summoned us."


    The official loudly proimed: "The County prefect has ordered that any woman who was forced to marry into the Cui Family against her will can now get an annulment from her husband or a divorce if she is unwilling to continue the marriage."


    Soon after the official finished speaking, three women came running from the direction of the Cui Family members.


    The three women knelt down in front of the officials together: "Your Honors, we ask to be granted divorces."


    After speaking, they did not forget to re fiercely back at the Cui Family members.


    He Zhiran looked over these three women. Just by their patched-up clothes, it was obvious they did not match the status of the Cui Family.


    It was clear how difficult their lives must have been after marrying into the Cui Family.


    While He Zhiran was lost in thought, several people also came running from the direction of the Zhao and Zhou crowd.


    They found their daughters and held them while crying bitterly.


    "Er Ni, it''s all because your parents were ipetent that you suffered over two years of mistreatment in the Cui Family. But now, the County prefect has allowed you to get a divorce. Let''s finalize it today!"


    "Qiao Xing, those beasts in the Cui Family treated you like a servant. Today, we will help you divorce him!"


    "Wonderful! My daughter finally doesn''t have to suffer in the Cui Family anymore. Don''t worry, once you''re home, your parents and brothers will provide for you."


    As they held their daughters and wept, amidst the women''s shrieking cries from the Zhao and Zhou crowd, several sturdy men dragged a few unsightly women to the officials.


    The men casually flung those women onto the ground.


    "Your Honor, we request annulments. Even if we can never remarry, we don''t want Cui Family women for the rest of our lives!"


    "That''s right, we would rather die than take Cui Family women!"


    Seeing the men''s determined attitude, the Cui Family women also stopped crying.


    One woman who looked plump and young tried to grab one of the Zhao men''s arms.


    "Zhao Yushan, marrying me was your blessing. Don''t disgrace yourself like this!"


    Zhao Yushan abruptly jerked his body back. He no longer endured like before.


    "I, Zhao Yushan, do not need such blessings. You should go back to your Cui Family!"


    The Cui woman refused to ept this and moved to tear at Zhao Yushan again.


    "Don''t you forget, I gave birth to two sons for you!"


    Zhao Yushan sneered coldly: "So what if it''s two sons? They still took your surname!"


    The other Cui Family women who had been dragged out also attempted to cling to their husbands. From their behavior, it was obvious this wasn''t the first time they had thrown such tantrums.


    Seeing the chaos, the official loudly admonished everyone before things finally quieted down slightly.


    Afraid that something might change, the Zhao and Zhou n leaders hurriedly ordered people to fetch paper and writing brushes on site. They publicly wrote annulment notes for the Cui women and hastily removed the women''s names from their family trees.


    Getting divorces for the women who married into the Cui Family was slightly more troublesome. Not only did the n leaders have to help write the divorce papers, they needed to go to the county yamen to stamp the official seal for them to take effect.


    For this reason, the families of the women decided on the spot to follow the officials to the county yamen, and finalize the divorces from the Cui men today no matter what.


    The officials were also unambiguous. Regardless of whatever uwful acts they once helped Cui Wen with, now that there was a new County prefect, they had to curry favor at all costs. This was the only way for them to redeem themselves.


    Therefore, the officials worked very efficiently. After tying up those implicated Cui Family members, they hurried back to the county yamen.


    Watching over a dozen nsmen taken away and so many abandoned wives and divorced husbands, the Cui Familypletely deted.


    Some were still prone to habitually scolding the Zhao and Zhou families. But facing their vastly different demeanor now, they no longer dared.


    For over ten years, the Zhao and Zhou families finally attained a sense of pride in Xi Ling Vige.


    They no longer needed to fear oppression and bullying from the Cui Family anymore. Life would certainly be better and better from now on.


    Seeing that the officials had left with the prisoners, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye returned home before the crowds dispersed to continue working on household matters, just as they had anticipated.


    Sure enough, when it was nearing dusk, the horse carts continuously went back and forth, transporting all the goods from the warehouses.


    Getting so many items in one day greatly astonished the Zhao and Zhou nsmen. They knew the Cui Family lived prosperous lives but had never imagined the Mo Family newly settling in to purchase this much.


    Moreover, most of the items being unloaded seemed unfamiliar to them.


    It was understandable. For someone who was once a high-ranking official in the capital city, even if he was exiled, he still had a substantial foundation.


    Both families were d that the Mo Family did not yield to Cui Wen. Otherwise, they would not have been assigned to Xi Ling Vige. Their country bumpkin selves would not have the chance to broaden their horizons at home...

 Chapter 215: Onigiri doesn’t have any special abilities, does it

    <h4>Chapter 215</h4>


    <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> did not know what those vigers were thinking. After thest batch of goods was transported back, he paid the carters their silver.


    At the dock warehouse, <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball> also returned it to thendlord as instructed by <Mo Jiuye>Mo Jiuye</Mo Jiuye>.


    After purchasing so many goods, every single item made the family members unable to take their eyes off them.


    Especially those few Angn giant rabbits and mini lop-eared rabbits. The women simply couldn''t put them down. Even the rice balls they had been eyeing hungrily for days seemed less enticing next to these rabbits.


    The rice balls were oblivious to having lost some poprity.


    It went to the thatched shed on its own initiative, wanting to set some rules for those two hundred rabbits.


    When everyone was about to go check on the rabbits, as soon as they walked into the thatched shed, they were dumbfounded by the scene before their eyes.


    The <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball> was still sitting on the ground emitting sounds people simply couldn''t understand, and its short, fat, little hands would knock on the ground from time to time.


    Those rabbits seemed to have received some kind of order. Whether adult or young, they were all leaning against the cage walls with their legs on the ground and both front paws ced against their chests, their eyes fixed intently on the <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball>...


    After a brief stunned moment, a wave of uproariousughter rang out.


    <Second Sister-inw>Second Sister-inw</Second Sister-inw> pulled <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> along, jokingly saying:


    ¡°Youngest sister-inw, could <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball> have some kind of special ability? It actually managed to set rules for so many rabbits.¡±


    <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> couldn¡¯t help but break into a cold sweat for <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball>.


    It just had to cause such a big ruckus with this bit of ability...


    Last night in the empty room, those wild rabbits had obediently lined up against the wall. And it could also manipte the rabbits in the room to enter the cages.


    Today¡¯s performance was even more so. Those rabbits¡¯ postures were all identical.


    However, given <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball>¡¯s capabilities, it could probably only make those animals weaker than itself listen to it.


    Regarding <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball>¡¯s special ability, <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> really didn¡¯t dare to underestimate it. Although <Second Sister-inw>Second Sister-inw</Second Sister-inw> was just joking around, this was enough to show that <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball>¡¯s extraordinariness could easily be seen through by others.


    It was good that the little guy had supernatural powers, but this kind of thing was not suitable to publicize too ostentatiously.


    After all, human hearts were unpredictable. No one knew what would happen in the future or what kind of people they would encounter. <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball>¡¯s abilities absolutely could not be known by more people, otherwise it would definitely bring unnecessary trouble to the family.


    ¡°Second sister-inw, I think it should be that these rabbits got scared after seeing an animal more powerful than themselves. It¡¯s just their instinctive reaction.¡±


    After entering the thatched shed, <Mo Jiuye>Mo Jiuye</Mo Jiuye> quickly noticed <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball>¡¯s extraordinariness.


    He and his wife held the same view¡ªno matter whether <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball> really had some kind of supernatural power, it was not suitable to be wantonly publicized.


    Therefore, after <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> spoke, he also exined: ¡°<Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball> is silly all day long, doing nothing but eating and sleeping all day. How could it possibly have any special abilities?¡±


    <Second Sister-inw>Second Sister-inw</Second Sister-inw> had just casually said so for fun when she saw the hrious scene before her. Seeing that both the ninth younger brother and the ninth younger sister-inw were rebutting her words, she said with a smile: ¡°I¡¯m just saying, how could a silly bumpkin have that kind of ability?¡±


    Seeing that <Second Sister-inw>Second Sister-inw</Second Sister-inw> had already brushed the matter aside, <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> didn¡¯t want <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball> to keep putting on a performance here either. She walked over and hugged the round furball in her arms.


    Feeling the familiar embrace, <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball> immediately turned into a soft and adorable little cutie, fawning over its owner.


    Those rabbits also reacted very cooperatively. No longer holding their stances, they resumed whatever postures felt mostfortable.


    <Fifth Sister-In-Law>Fifth Sister-In-Law</Fifth Sister-In-Law> and <Fifth Elder Brother>Fifth Elder Brother</Fifth Elder Brother> walked up to <Mo Jiuye>Mo Jiuye</Mo Jiuye> and <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran>.


    ¡°Ninth younger brother, ninth younger sister-inw, your fifth elder brother said that he often goes hunting in the mountains. Sometimes when there is too much game, he would also raise them for a few days. So he should be no stranger to raising rabbits. Why don¡¯t you leave these rabbits for us fifth elder brother and sister-inw to take care of from now on?¡±


    <Fifth Sister-In-Law>Fifth Sister-In-Law</Fifth Sister-In-Law> truly hoped that she could contribute more effort to the family. After wandering in exile for a few months, she didn¡¯t have a penny on her. Not only did she have to spend <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran>¡¯s money, but <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> also had to worry about everything. She truly felt bad about it.


    Now that there was finally something she could share the burden of, <Fifth Sister-In-Law>Fifth Sister-In-Law</Fifth Sister-In-Law> would absolutely take it on dutifully.


    <Fifth Elder Brother>Fifth Elder Brother</Fifth Elder Brother> also said in a low voice, ¡°I can take good care of them.¡±


    <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> looked at <Fifth Sister-In-Law>Fifth Sister-In-Law</Fifth Sister-In-Law> and <Fifth Elder Brother>Fifth Elder Brother</Fifth Elder Brother>, then looked towards <Mo Jiuye>Mo Jiuye</Mo Jiuye>, intending to ask for his opinion.


    Raising these rabbits was no easy task.


    There were two hundred rabbits now. Rabbits bred quickly so their numbers would grow faster and faster.


    Just those droppings alone needed someone to carefully handle them. Also, when she ced these rabbits into cages in her spacest night, she did not separate the males and females, only allocating them based on quantity.


    The young rabbits were fine, but those adult rabbits were bought specifically for breeding purposes after all. The males and females had to be evenly distributed.


    As for the excess male rabbits, there was no more value in continuing to raise them, so they had to be ughtered in a timely manner to exchange for profit.


    These things definitely required a meticulous person to busy themselves with.


    <Fifth Sister-In-Law>Fifth Sister-In-Law</Fifth Sister-In-Law> was a meticulous person. <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> believed that she would definitely be able to manage the rabbits well. In the future when the mother rabbits gave birth to young rabbits, she would also surely be able to take good care of them.


    As a strong man, it was a suitable job for <Fifth Elder Brother>Fifth Elder Brother</Fifth Elder Brother> to do things that required effort like cleaning the rabbit shed and moving their food.


    <Mo Jiuye>Mo Jiuye</Mo Jiuye> lightly nodded towards <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran>.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll leave them for fifth elder brother and fifth sister-inw to manage for now. In the future when there are more rabbits, we can discuss it again.¡±


    Seeing that her request was approved, <Fifth Sister-In-Law>Fifth Sister-In-Law</Fifth Sister-In-Law> happily asked: ¡°Ninth younger brother, ninth younger sister-inw, what do you think your fifth sister-inw should do now?¡±


    <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> looked at the color of the sky outside. These rabbits had been ced in the storeroom since early morning and had gone the entire day without food. They must have been starving already.


    ¡°Fifth sister-inw, it¡¯s toote in the day now. Just feed these little guys their fill first. Then separate the adult rabbits by gender tomorrow. Other than cleaning the rabbit shed, your job from now on, along with fifth elder brother, is to observe whether these mother rabbits are pregnant or not.


    Rabbits have a rtively short gestation period of just one month. For rabbits about to give birth, put them alone in a cage.


    As this was her first time dealing with small animals, <Fifth Sister-In-Law>Fifth Sister-In-Law</Fifth Sister-In-Law> listened very attentively.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry ninth younger sister-inw, your fifth sister-inw will definitely take good care of these little guys. If there¡¯s anything I don¡¯t understand, I¡¯ll ask you again.¡±


    Seeing that <Fifth Sister-In-Law>Fifth Sister-In-Law</Fifth Sister-In-Law> had found something to do, the other sisters-inw grew increasingly anxious in their hearts.


    ¡°Ninth younger sister-inw, what can we do that would be suitable?¡± the <Eldest Sister-inw>Eldest Sister-inw</Eldest Sister-inw> asked.


    <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> knew that the sisters-inw all wanted to contribute to the family. She smiled and responded:


    ¡°Sisters-inw, don¡¯t be impatient. This time, I purchased a lot of plush fabrics from the foreigners. Making plush toys happens to be your forte!¡±


    ¡°Ninth younger sister-inw, I felt those bags in the empty room. They were soft and fluffy. Could they be plush fabrics?¡± <Third Sister-inw>Third Sister-inw</Third Sister-inw> asked in sudden realization.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, those bags all contain plush fabrics, and I bought quite a lot of different colors this time too.¡±


    Before <He Zhiran>He Zhiran</He Zhiran> could even finish speaking, her whole person was surrounded by the sisters-inw, scaring <Rice Ball>Rice Ball</Rice Ball> in her arms into rapidly shrinking its neck.


    ¡°Ninth younger sister-inw, quickly give us those fabrics! We can start making plush toys tonight.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, ninth younger sister-inw. Even if we''re idle, it¡¯s better we earn some money for the family if we can.¡±

 Chapter 216: The First Wife

    <h4>Chapter 216</h4>


    He Zhiran did not hurry to make dolls this time.


    Over the past few days, she took a look around Yuncheng and found that although there were some wealthy people here, there were not as many as in other cities.


    Although the cost of making dolls was not high, Tang Mingrui had previously sold them for the sky-high price of ten taels each.


    Moreover, she did not know when she would have the chance to replenish these fabrics again after they were used up.


    Additionally, there had been no news of Tang Mingrui at all since he entered Yuncheng with them.


    She nned to contact Tang Mingrui first before making any ns.


    Therefore, there was no rush at all to make the dolls, but that did not mean she could not do it at all.


    Over the past few days, her sisters-inw had worked very hard for family affairs, so there was no need to exhaust themselves staying upte for business that was not urgent.


    "Sisters-inw, there is no rush to make the dolls. Since there are many colors of fabric this time, I want to research some more styles first."


    When the sisters-inw heard that the ninth younger sister wanted to research some more doll styles, they knew there was no need to hurry this matter. Thus, they gave up the idea of immediately making them.


    Old Lady Mo stood behind the crowd. Seeing that everyone had almost finished speaking, she urged:


    "It''s gettingte. Everyone should go back and rest after eating. There will still be things to be busy with tomorrow."


    The sisters-inw had always listened to their mother-inw''s words and left the thatched shed one after another to prepare dinner.


    There were still many fresh ingredients at home that had not been tasted by everyone. He Zhiran had worked hard today, so she gave up that idea.


    After she and Mo Jiuye had dinner, they entered the space together with the rice balls.


    Mo Jiuye knew his wife had worked hard today. After washing up, he took the initiative to massage her.


    It had been quite a long time since He Zhiran had enjoyed such treatment.


    When Mo Jiuye''s big hands pressed on her slightly sore shoulders, He Zhiran let out a few muffled moans offort.


    "Hmm... right there..."


    That voice...


    That soft touch...


    To Mo Jiuye, it was simply heavenly torture.


    His body had already unconsciously be restless.


    However, the little woman enjoying her husband''s super service still did not know that she was ying with fire!


    Mo Jiuye felt unbearably hot and restless. The strength of his hands also gradually became imbnced.


    He Zhiran noticed something wrong with the strength and turned to ask:


    "Do you have something on your mind? Why are you so distracted?"


    Before her voice fell, her body was pulled into his embrace with force.


    What followed was a domineering yet slightly clumsy kiss.


    He Zhiran had just been immersed in thefort brought by the massage when Mo Jiuye suddenly attacked her. Her instinct was to push him away.


    After all, it was the first time in her two lifetimes that she had been so intimate with a man, and it made He Zhiran feel a little overwhelmed at first.


    But she was no match for Mo Jiuye''s strength. She tried pushing him several times to no avail as he remained steady as Mt. Tai. That domineering kiss only deepened.


    As the kiss intensified, He Zhiran also gradually lost herself.


    She wrapped her arms around Mo Jiuye''s neck as her true feelings took over, responding passionately to him.


    The two had nowpletely forgotten themselves. Mo Jiuye''s hands grew bolder, continuously roaming her back, feeling that unique softness.


    After an unknown amount of kissing, Mo Jiuye already felt his body nearing the brink of explosion. Just as he was about to pick He Zhiran up and carry her to the bed, Rice Ball trotted back on his little short legs after digging bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest.


    Seeing that his owner seemed to be bullied, the little guy rushed to Mo Jiuye''s side, hugging his leg tightly while taking a fierce bite.


    Damn you, Silver, daring to bully my owner. I''m going to bite you to death...


    Feeling the pain in his calf, Mo Jiuye instinctively loosened his arms around He Zhiran.


    At the same time, most of his senses also returned.


    He Zhiran also felt the strength holding her ease up a bit. She looked down panting at the position by her feet.


    Rice Ball was firmly hugging Mo Jiuye¡¯s leg, barking while still trying to continue biting.


    Not bothering about the kiss that had made her entire body go limp and weak just now, He Zhiran gently scolded: "Rice Ball, don''t bite people."


    Rice Ball did not understand why his owner would treat him this way when he was clearly helping her.


    The heartbroken little guy reluctantly let go of Mo Jiuye''s calf and looked at He Zhiran pitifully.


    He Zhiran took the opportunity to pick Rice Ball up and retreated several steps back to mask her embarrassment.


    Her first kiss in two lifetimes hade so suddenly without any mental preparation on her part.


    It seemed to also be triggered by the massage...


    Mo Jiuye''s face was flushed with embarrassment, and he did not quite dare to look straight at He Zhiran.


    He had heard from the veterans in the barracks that they were all quite clumsy the first time they were intimate with their wives, and they could identally bite their wife''s lips until they bled, especially when kissing.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye felt a little guilty, wondering if his clumsy kiss just now had hurt his wife.


    Also, that Rice Ball was definitely his number one nemesis.


    ording to what the veterans said, after the wife goes limp, she would let him have his way. He was already at that point, but that damned Rice Ball just had to ruin it.


    Oh well, at least this put an end to things before they went too far. After all, he had promised Rangrang to give her a perfect wedding night with candles and flowers. If they had hastily done the deed today, it would really not have lived up to his promise to her.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye awkwardly said, "I just lost control for a moment."


    In fact, He Zhiran had already epted Mo Jiuye wholeheartedly in her heart and was mentally prepared to be his true wife.


    As for the so-called perfect wedding night with candles and flowers, whether or not it had that setting did not matter as long as she was with the man she loved.


    If she had not been willing today, there would have been no way she could have cooperated in that manner.


    She had thought it would happen naturally when Rice Ball interrupted them.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran found it somewhat amusing.


    When she looked up again at Mo Jiuye''s handsome yet unsatisfied face, she walked up to him and took the initiative to wrap her arms around his waist, pressing her head tightly against his chest.


    "I''m your wife. It doesn''t matter if you lose control."


    The intimate contact between their bodies rekindled the mes of desire in Mo Jiuye that had just died down a bit.


    At this moment, he could no longer control his body and mind. If he endured any longer, he felt he would go crazy.


    He wanted to possess her immediately and unite her body with his own...


    Mo Jiuye no longer cared about any perfect wedding night. He leaned down to kiss her again.


    To prevent Rice Ball from interfering, this kiss was even more aggressive than the previous one. Feeling his beloved wife go limp in his arms, he swiftly carried her to the bedroom, shutting that troublemaker outside the door.


    As it was He Zhiran''s first time bing a wife, there would inevitably be physical difort, so Mo Jiuye tried his best to restrain himself lest she could not handle it.


    However, a man in his prime with vigorous energy, no matter how much he tries to control himself, still made He Zhiran feel her body could not withstand it.

 Chapter 217: Nine brothers and sisters, you don’t pretend

    <h4>Chapter 217</h4>


    That night, Mo Jiuye took He Zhiran in and out of the bathroom no less than seven times.


    Lying back in bed, He Zhiran used herst bit of strength to bite his shoulder.


    "Mo Jiuye, you''re just a lustful bastard."


    Bitten, Mo Jiuye was not bothered at all.


    He gently took her into his arms.


    "I''m sorry Zhiran, it was all my fault, I''ll be more careful from now on."


    After speaking, Mo Jiuye gently kissed her forehead: "Sleep, don''t get up so early tomorrow, I''ll take care of things outside."


    Drowsiness washed over He Zhiran, she just lightly hmm-ed, and after that she didn''t know anything.


    Mo Jiuye had the most urate biological clock, he would wake up before daylight.


    He had also learned to look at the big clock on the wall, it was five in the morning.


    Mo Jiuye got up quietly and got dressed neatly, if he didn''t have to leave the space, he simply couldn''t bear to wake up his sleeping little wife.


    "Zhiran, send me out first, you can sleep a little longer."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s voice, He Zhiran squinted to see the time on the clock.


    The willpower forged in the army in her previous life was really of no use to her this time.


    But in order not to arouse other people''s suspicion, He Zhiran still tried her best to invigorate herself for a few seconds, moved her thoughts, and appeared in the room in Xiling Vige along with her clothes, Mo Jiuye and the rice balls.


    He Zhirany back down on the kang to rest, and Mo Jiuye quietly left the room.


    Rice ball was worried about its owner all nightst night. Now that the bad guy who bullied its owner had finally left, the little guy struggled up onto the kang, sticking close to her side, trying to continue protecting its owner.


    It wasn''t until the sun was high in the sky that He Zhiran slowly got up.


    She got dressed neatly and opened the door to walk out.


    Just then, Eighth Sister-in-Law had just returned from the backyard and caught sight of her at first nce.


    "Sister-inw, I heard Ninth Brother say you were not feeling wellst night, are you better now?"


    "Much better already, thanks for your concern, Eighth Sister-in-Law."


    He Zhiran said and then scolded Mo Jiuye in her heart.


    It was all this guy''s fault. She now felt like her whole body had fallen apart and she had no strength at all.


    Not only that, she didn''t even dare to take big steps when walking...


    "That''s good as long as you''re fine now. I''ll go heat up the breakfast I saved for you earlier." With that, Eighth Sister-in-Law had already walked into the kitchen.


    He Zhiran had already gotten upte to begin with, how could she let Eighth Sister-in-Law go through the trouble of heating up food for her.


    She hurried to catch up.


    "Eighth Sister-in-Law, please let me do it myself!"


    That''s what she said, but her body was not cooperating, unable to take big steps, only clipping her legs forward, which made He Zhiran feel very annoyed.


    Just as bad luck would have it, she had just taken a few steps out when she bumped into Eldest Sister-in-Law and Second Sister-in-Law.


    Eldest Sister-in-Law was more attentive and noticed at a nce that He Zhiran was walking funny.


    She revealed an ambiguous smile and came over to take He Zhiran''s arm, and said gently: "Sister-inw, Ninth Brother said you were ufortable, I thought what had happened..."


    Although Second Sister-in-Law was usually rough, as someone who had gone through this before, after what Eldest Sister-in-Law had just said, she would have to be an idiot not to get it.


    "Ninth Brother is really... Sister-inw is so delicate, how could he not know to cherish jade."


    After a few words from the two sisters-inw, He Zhiran''s face instantly turned red.


    The ancients were too amazing!


    They could even tell from this?


    If she was not thick-skinned enough, she would have to find a crack in the ground and drill into it...


    "Cough cough... Eldest Sister-in-Law, Second Sister-in-Law, what are you talking about? It''s not what you think, I really am a little ufortable..."


    "Tsk tsk... We''re all women of experience, what can Second Sister-in-Law not see... Sister-inw, stop pretending."


    Eldest Sister-in-Law was even more excessive.


    "Sister-inw, I wonder if we''ll have another big fat boy in our family next year?"


    He Zhiran...


    It seemed that her previous exnation had only made things worse?


    The two sister-inws were getting more and more excited.


    Just as He Zhiran was about to try to exin something, Old Lady Mo heard the movement in the yard and came out too.


    Second Sister-in-Law was afraid that there would be any secrets in the family that she didn''t know about, so she hurried over and said, "Mother, Ninth Brother is really capable, just wait to hold your big fat grandson next year!"


    Hearing this, Old Lady Mo looked at He Zhiran with a smile.


    And from time to time she would nce at her t belly.


    As if she really had a bun in the oven...


    This was a situation He Zhiran had never imagined.


    She kept psyching herself up in her heart:


    He Zhiran, you are a modern soul, you just did a few nucleic acid tests with your husband, so what?


    What''s there to be shy about?


    Every woman here has done this with her man.


    After pumping herself up, He Zhiran finally bravely raised her head.


    "Mother, daughter-inw got a little ufortablest night and woke upte." She wanted to divert the topic first, as long as everyone stopped thinking about it, she wouldn''t feel embarrassed.


    At the same time, she scolded that culprit Mo Jiuye again in her heart:


    Damn Mo Jiuye, he did bad things and disappeared without a trace, leaving her alone to face all this.


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye was driving a mule cart towards the yamen.


    After breakfast, he went to find the two n chiefs, Zhao and Zhou. The purchase ofnd and courtyard had been settled. It would be reassuring to have the ownership transferred to him early.


    Unexpectedly, while he was chatting idly with the two chiefs, he suddenly sneezed twice...


    He Zhiran silently scolded Mo Jiuye, and finally felt a little more bnced. She continued taking small steps towards the kitchen.


    After eating breakfast simply, she was going to go see how the rabbits in the backyard were doing.


    She had just walked to the door when she bumped right into Fifth Sister-In-Law.


    "Sister-inw, I was just about to look for you. These rabbits have such a big appetite. I''m afraid the cabbage and carrots we have stored at home can onlyst two more days. What should we do when it runs out?"


    For Fifth Sister-In-Law, who had always lived a life of having clothes put onto her and food served to her, even on the road to exile, Sister-in-Law had arranged everything, she only needed to help out with some effort.


    Now that she had taken the initiative to feed the rabbits, she was already stumped on the first day.


    She had just finished speaking when Fifth Elder Brother also walked over from the backyard.


    And from the steady pace of Fifth Elder Brother''s walking, it could be seen that his body had recovered a lot.


    "Wife, don''t worry about the rabbit food, I''ll go to the vige in a bit and ask around, buy some extra vegetables from whoever has them."


    He Zhiran chimed in, "What Fifth Elder Brother said makes sense. Most peasant families will store some cabbage and carrots. Let''s go to the vige and ask aroundter."


    What He Zhiran wanted to do now was to go and take the opportunity while purchasing vegetables from the peasants to pad the numbers with some vegetables from her space.


    Unexpectedly, as soon as she turned around, the pain in her body reminded her that she should not go out today...


    Fifth Sister-in-Law reacted quickly as well. As soon as she heard what the two of them said, she immediately grabbed Fifth Elder Brother''s arm.


    "Dear, let''s go to the vige right now and ask around."

 Chapter 218: Your husband was always a gentleman.

    <h4>Chapter 218</h4>


    When He Zhiran and Fifth Brother and Sister-inw were about to leave, He Zhiran quickly stopped them, "Fifth Brother, Sister-inw, there is no rush for this matter. Wait for my husband to return and have him take care of it."


    She could only cheat easily when she was with Mo Jiuye.


    Fifth Brother and Sister-inw thought that the vegetables and radishes at home were enough tost them for a while, so they readily epted her proposal.


    ...


    Shortly after noon, Mo Jiuye returned.


    He threw the donkey cart aside and strode back to his own room.


    He Zhiran was feeling ufortable and walked strangely, so she simply stayed in her room to avoid going out and being teased by her sisters-inw.


    Seeing his wife still lying on the kang, Mo Jiuye thought he had really hurt her.


    "Ranran, are you ufortable anywhere?"


    Seeing the disgraceful culprit, He Zhiran red fiercely at him, then turned over with her head facing inward, not looking at him.


    Mo Jiuye took the opportunity to take off his shoes and climbed onto the kang, taking his delicate little wife into his arms.


    The foodie seemed to be used to the way the masters interacted and very tactfully climbed down to the floor to admire itself in the corner.


    "Ranran..." Mo Jiuye gently called her name in a warm tone.


    Feeling the familiar embrace, He Zhiran angrily flipped over and fiercely punched his chest with her little fists.


    "It''s all your fault, making me get teased by my sisters-inw early in the morning."


    Mo Jiuye didn''t dodge her punches but frowned deeply and asked earnestly.


    "Why did the sisters-inw tease you?"


    Seeing that this obtuse man didn''t understand her words at all, He Zhiran felt even more stifled.


    How could she exin this kind of thing?


    Forget it, it was impossible tomunicate with such a slow-witted man.


    She was not the kind of person who would nitpick over something anyway.


    He Zhiran pushed him away and sat up straight.


    "Where did you go today?"


    Seeing that she was not really angry, Mo Jiuye breathed a sigh of relief and also sat up straight.


    He took out a stack ofnd deeds from his arms and ced them in front of He Zhiran.


    "I went to the yamen and transferred the ownership of thend and houses."


    When He Zhiran heard that he had gone to the yamen to transfer ownership, the first thing she thought of was having to pay silver to those vigers.


    "Where did you get the silver?"


    Mo Jiuye smiled awkwardly. "I took some from the space this morning."


    He Zhiran...


    This guy was quite forward-thinking, knowing to take silver himself when he needed it. He had made progress and was much better than that penniless person he used to be.


    Mo Jiuye had handled the matter very clearly. The amount ofnd and houses matched exactly with what they had agreed with the two n chiefs the other day.


    She stuffed thend deeds back into Mo Jiuye''s hands.


    "Mother is the head of the household. Send these to the olddy first. If she doesn''t intend to manage them, then take them back."


    In fact, the couple knew very well that since being exiled, Grandma Mo had basically stopped managing anything. She had handed over all the big and small household affairs to He Zhiran to manage. It could be said that she hadpletely let go.


    By doing this, He Zhiran was also showing respect to her elder.


    Mo Jiuye smiled as he put away thend deeds, and was about to take He Zhiran to see his mother together.


    But He Zhiran declined. The way she walked would still get her teased by her sisters-inw if she went out. Even if they didn''t tease her, their eyes alone were something she couldn''t quite handle.


    Mo Jiuye also guessed that her difort was probably due to him being too wildst night, injuring his wife''s body, so he did not force her.


    As He Zhiran had expected, Mo Jiuye soon returned with thend deeds intact.


    It was just as well, keeping them in the space was safer than anything.


    He Zhiran hadpletely given up for that day. Not only did she not leave the room, shey on the kang thinking of nothing to do.


    Finally, she endured until the evening. Mo Jiuye was eager to urge her into the space together.


    Seeing his wolf-like eyes, He Zhiran''s body shook involuntarily.


    This man was too vigorous. Her petite body really could not withstand him.


    "Um... can we...?"


    Ceasefire tonight...


    He Zhiran found thetter words somewhat hard to say.


    Mo Jiuye naturally understood what she meant, and his face flushed red.


    "Ranran, I was wrongst night. I hurt you. Don''t worry today. I guarantee..."


    "Even going lightly is no good. I''m still sore!" He Zhiran interrupted him.


    Mo Jiuye quickly exined, "What I mean is, I guarantee I''ll sleep honestly tonight."


    He Zhiran...


    So what he was saying was "I guarantee I''ll sleep honestly tonight." She had just imagined too much extra.


    Thinking of this, her old face turned a bit red.


    "A gentleman stands by his word. You have to keep your promise."


    Looking at his awkward little wife, Mo Jiuye walked over and gently kissed her forehead.


    "Your husband has always been a gentleman."


    A gentleman?


    If she hadn''t witnessed his ferocityst night, He Zhiran would have always thought so too.


    Now... she really couldn''t say.


    At this time, the foodie seemed to be hungry too, whining incessantly at its owners.


    He Zhiran felt bad that the little guy hadn''t been able to roll around in the bamboo forest all day. So she took the big gray wolf and shed into the space together.


    It was indeed difficult for an aroused man to restrain his desires.


    But Mo Jiuye was true to his word. Faced with his delicate wife, he would rather take a cold shower when consumed by fiery lust, fulfilling his gentleman''s promise...


    After a night of recuperation, He Zhiran was much better the next day. As usual, she took Mo Jiuye and the foodie out of the space early.


    Thend deeds were at hand. The whole family had not gone to check it out yet. It was a good time today with nothing special to do, so they could go take a look.


    After breakfast, the family set off towards the foot of the mountain.


    The two n chiefs personally led the way, telling them about the location of those farnds and houses.


    It could be said purchasing thend and houses was rather rash of He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye. They only knew the approximate locations and had not even looked at the specifics before daring to buy.


    In fact, this had a lot to do with He Zhiran''s extravagance.


    Besides, the seeds produced in her space were not picky about soil and climate anyway, so there was no need to care about those things. What they valued more was the location of thend.


    The main thing was that it not be fragmented.


    Those forty-six mu ofnd could only be said to barely gather together.


    The reason for saying barely was that there was still somend belonging to the Cui family interspersed.


    As such, they would have to buy those Cui familynds too.


    Fortunately, thosends were simrly barren. The Cui family would surely be willing to sell too.


    Of course, given the Cuis'' character, even if they were willing to sell, the process would surely not go smoothly.


    In any case, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were determined to obtain this piece ofnd.


    After walking around all thend, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye discovered that there was also a vast expanse of barrennd to the north of thesends, the edges of which could not be seen with the naked eye.


    The area of these barrennds was no less than, and even exceeded, that of these previously reimednds.


    Mo Jiuye asked n Chief Zhou, "Elder, is that stretch all barrennd?"

 Chapter 219: Are you sure that Foreigner isn’t lying to You

    <h4>Chapter 219</h4>


    Chief Zhou was familiar with everything here.


    "These are indeed uncultivatednds. Our n members only cultivated up to this point," he exined.


    Mo Jiuye asked further, "To purchase these uncultivatednds, do we simply go to the government office toplete the procedures?"


    "Yes, over the years, the government has been selling uncultivatednds for one or two silver coins per mu. Once you choose the desired location, you can apply at the government office. They will send an official to survey thend, and after paying the fee, they will issue and deed," Chief Zhou replied.


    Having understood the market situation for thesends, they nned to visit the town and apply at the government office on another day.


    With Meng Huaining present, they believed everything would go smoothly.


    After examining thend, the group arrived at the abandoned houses.


    These houses were once owned by three different families and were not concentratedly purchased by the Zhao and Zhou families, just like thends.


    The houses were in a state of disrepair, necessitating demolition and reconstruction. Therefore, they only needed to assess the size of the area and make a n.


    They were not in a hurry to n the area as the Cui family''s courtyard had not been acquired yet.


    Having spent several days in Xi Ling Vige, He Zhiran took a careful walk for the first time.


    While inspecting the houses, she noticed that there was at least a hundred meters of distance between the back of the houses and the foot of the mountain.


    Thend in this distance was not as t as the uncultivatednds to the north; it had a slight slope.


    Moreover, judging from the soil, it seemed to be darker than the soil in those uncultivatednds.


    If her guess was correct, this area should have a simr soil quality to the mountain.


    Behind these uncultivatednds was the West Mountain.


    It was already deep winter, and the tall trees on the higher ground stood tall and bare.


    In contrast, the lower ground was different. Perhaps due to the vigers cutting trees for firewood, there were hardly any robust trees left.


    And even if there were, their numbers were scarce.


    He Zhiran couldn''t help but ask, "Chiefs, were all the trees in the lower part of the West Mountain cut down for firewood?"


    Chief Zhao replied, "Indeed, that''s the case. Xi Ling Vige is cold in winter, and we need a lot of firewood for heating. Most of the nearby trees have been cut down."


    As expected.


    At this moment, He Zhiran thought that this mountainous area, devoid of trees, would be convenient for her to nt some fruit trees.


    Not only could it prevent sandstorms, but it could also bring in some profits.


    "Chief Zhao, is it possible to buy this mountain?" she inquired.


    Upon hearing about buying the mountain, Chief Zhao frowned.


    "Oh, young miss, if you buy this mountain, it would cut off the livelihood of everyone in the vige."


    He Zhiran was puzzled, "Why would Chief Zhao say that?"


    Chief Zhao exined, "The vigers of Xi Ling Vige rely on the West Mountain for their firewood. During the spring, summer, and autumn seasons, people also go up the mountain to hunt or gather wild vegetables to sustain themselves. If you buy this mountain, it would mean that we, the vigers, would have no means of survival."


    He Zhiran hadn''t expected Chief Zhao to mention all these points.


    Even if she had thought about it, she had a better solution to resolve the issue.


    However, in order to acquire this mountain, she would have to be more selfless.


    "Chief Zhao, what if I only buy a part of the mountain and leave a portion for you all?"


    Furthermore, I acquired a special crop from a foreigner. This crop not only has a high yield, but after harvesting, the remaining parts can all be used as firewood."


    She remembered in her past life when she followed the troops to the countryside to experience life there. The vigers would burn corn cobs and stalks during the winter.


    The farmers there said that as long as they had enough corn nted, they wouldn''t have to worry about firewood throughout the winter.


    In other words, if these vigers could trust her, she could sell them the high-yielding corn seeds produced in her space and have everyone in the vige nt this crop.


    She believed that once they nted it, they would experience the benefits of this crop.


    In He Zhiran''s mind, although cornmeal wasn''t as tasty as white flour, it had the advantage of high yield and was much better than the rough flour that scratched one''s throat in this era.


    On this journey, she also realized that there was a significant wealth disparity in the Da Shun Dynasty.


    A small minority of people could be described as dripping with wealth, while the majority of themon people struggled to fill their stomachs.


    Take the people of Xi Ling Vige, for example. Before the Cui family arrived, they could be said to have trampled over the other two families in terms of clothing and food.


    And when you looked at the Zhao and Zhou families, most of them wore patched-up clothes and, in terms of physique andplexion, were not as well-off as the Cui family.


    It''s easy to imagine how tight the lives of the Zhao and Zhou families were.


    When the two n chiefs listened to He Zhiran''s words, they exchanged nces. Both of them knew that the Mo family had a deep heritage, but they had never heard of high-yielding crops despite a lifetime of farming.


    Chief Zhao asked skeptically, "Are you sure that foreigner didn''t deceive you, Jiu Jia?" It wasn''t surprising for someone who had been farming their whole life to have such doubts.


    At present, she was not yet twenty years old and had never been involved in agriculture. No matter how she exined it, she wouldn''t be convincing.


    Therefore, this matter needed to be substantiated with facts.


    "Both n chiefs, next spring I will cultivate this high-yielding crop here. After the harvest, you can see if you''re satisfied before making a decision."


    The two n chiefs didn''t really take He Zhiran''s so-called high-yielding crop seriously.


    "Alright, we''ll wait and see the results of your cultivation next year."


    Clearly, Chief Zhao''s tone carried a sense of perfunctoriness.


    As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. He Zhiran didn''t owe anyone anything, and if it weren''t for her desire to buy this mountain, she wouldn''t have voluntarily shared such excellent seeds with others.


    In any case, she had made up her mind to buy this mountain. Even if it was only for the sake of those vigers, she would buy a part of it.


    ncing at the sky, it was already close to noon.


    They had finished inspecting the purchased property, so everyone started heading back.


    Just as they entered the vige, they heardmotioning from the Cui family''s side.


    Because of this, instead of going their separate ways, they followed the source of the noise.


    To their surprise, Meng Huaining hade in person today.


    He immediately spotted Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran walking over from the vige and took the initiative to greet them.


    "Brother Jiuye, Sister-inw Nine."


    Mo Jiuye took a step forward. "Brother Meng, why did you personallye here today? Is it because of the Cui Family''s matter?"


    Meng Huaining nodded. "These past few days, we have been working tirelessly to investigate the Cui Family''s case, and now everything has been revealed.


    Since there are many matters regardingpensation involved, the officials in the yamen are merely eating free meals and can''t be of any help. So, I had to personally make a trip."


    As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Huaining turned around and instructed the government officials to gather all the members of the Cui Family together.


    The efficiency of the government officials these days was remarkable. In less than five minutes, all the members of the Cui Family had been summoned before Meng Huaining.

 Chapter 220: I should have known better Now.

    <h4>Chapter 220</h4>


    Meng Huaining looked over and then ordered: ¡°Meng An, the Cui family members have all arrived, read it out!¡±


    Meng An took out a thick stack of papers from his bosom, and stood in front of the Cui family to read aloud.


    "Cui Fugui, head of the Cui n, holds an official position in Xiling vige. He abused his power and used his nephew Cui Wen''s connections to extort twenty-five acres of goodnd from the Zhao and Zhou ns. He exploited the Zhao and Zhou ns as forcedbor, and allowed his nsmen to bully and plunder.


    Now there is irond evidence. Considering his old age, the county magistrate has exempted him from fifty heavy beatings and sentenced him to ten years in jail starting today..."


    As soon as Meng An finished speaking, the Cui n members began wailing.


    "Your Honor, we are wronged!"


    "All of you shut up!" Along with the crisp sounds of whips striking human bodies, the cries of the Cui n were immediately silenced.


    Seeing the surroundings had quieted down, Meng An continued reading:


    "Starting today, the Cui n mustpensate the Zhao and Zhou ns 280 taels of silver within three days."


    There were alsopensations for others which he didn''t need to read out. In other words, the Cui n had topensate more people than just what they heard.


    At this, the Cui n waspletely shocked again.


    280 taels? Where could they get so much silver?


    "Your Honor, please show mercy. Our old man is now in jail, and my sons have not returned. There are only us old people, women and children left in the family. We cannote up with so much silver..."


    Meng An sneered at the old woman who had shouted. Judging by her tone, she was probably Cui Fugui''s mother-inw.


    "Don''t worry, there are also fines for your sons. I will tell you the full amount after I have finished reading everything."


    Upon hearing this, the old woman was so shocked she fainted on the spot.


    Several daughters-inw quickly helped her up and knelt before Meng Huaining, tearfully begging for mercy.


    But the Cui n''s crimes were too grave, and no matter how piteously they wept, they would not be forgiven.


    Without needing Meng Huaining''s orders, the yamen runners stepped forward to maintain order. When the women no longer dared to wail loudly, Meng An continued to announce the Cui n''s punishments.


    Cui Fugui''s sons had alsomitted many misdeeds. In addition to jail time, they also had topensate the Zhao and Zhou ns 100 taels.


    Not a single Cui nsman who had done wrong was spared. Those who deserved jail time were jailed, and those who owedpensation paid it.


    This news was extremely gratifying for the Zhao and Zhou n members.


    Finally, they would no longer be oppressed by the Cui n, and could even obtain duepensation.


    The crowd knelt before Meng Huaining in unison, ceaselessly shouting, "Blue Sky Magistrate!"


    Judging by their reaction, if shouting "Long Live" wasn''t taboo, they would have shouted it several times.


    Meng Huaining gestured for themoners to stand.


    "I''m just doing my official duty, no need for such courtesy."


    Then he turned towards the Cui n and said loudly, "If you cannot hand over the fines within three days, your houses andnd will be confiscated as payment."


    The Cui n had thought that since they couldn''t take out the silver, the county magistrate could do nothing to them.


    They didn''t expect the county magistrate to be so decisive as to confiscate their houses andnd aspensation.


    Now the Cui n was truly dumbfounded. The silver they had extorted had been slowly frittered away. Where could they find so much silver forpensation now?


    If they didn''t paypensation, their houses andnd would be sold off. How would they survive after that?


    Thinking of this, the Cui n members knelt before Meng Huaining.


    "County Magistrate, have mercy on us. Please spare us..."


    Meng Huaining looked coldly at them.


    "You should have thought of today before doing those misdeeds. Wrongdoings must be punished ordingly."


    After speaking, he flicked his robe sleeves and turned to find Mo Jiuye.


    "Brother Jiu, Sister-inw, it''s still early today. I hope I''m not intruding by visiting your home?"


    How could Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran possibly refuse such a thing?


    "You are most wee."


    Meng Huaining ordered the yamen runners to carry out their duties, while he went with Meng An to the Mo house.


    After the county magistrate and yamen runners left, the Cui n members returned home, faces full of grief, to think of ways to raise the silver fines. Seeing there was no more spectacle, the Zhao and Zhou n members also returned home.


    When Meng Huaining came visiting, the Mo family naturally had to treat him well.


    Fortunately He Zhiran had recently gotten many new and exotic foods from the foreigners. Whipping up a table of proper dishes was no trouble at all.


    He Zhiran went with the women to prepare food, while Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan apanied Meng Huaining in the room to chat.


    Meng Huaining looked around the Mo family''s current lodgings. Though the house was a little shabby, at least it could keep out wind and rain.


    "Elder Brothers, is your familyfortably settled here?"


    "It''s great here. Other than the Cui n, the other two ns are very amiable. Compared to the gossip and drama of the capital, this ce is much more peaceful." Mo Jiuye said.


    "Elder Brother speaks true. I also aspire to such a life."


    Meng Huaining was speaking his true thoughts. If not for his whole family''s hopes resting on him, he would be toozy to work for such an ipetent emperor.


    He turned to Mo Chuhan and asked, "When will Eldest Brother finish handling affairs back home? My yamen is short on manpower since I just arrived in Yuncheng."


    Mo Chuhan had originally thought to stay home longer to help his younger brother and sister-inw.


    But he could see that his younger brother and sister-inw were extremely capable in handling matters, and didn''t really need his help at all.


    Since that was the case, it would be better to report for duty at the yamen earlier. No matter how little, he could still earn some ie for the family. Also, the position of Chief Constable was a supervisor role in the yamen and came with some status. Having such an identity would help the family in many ways.


    "If Brother Meng needs me, I can report for duty anytime."


    Meng Huaining was overjoyed to hear this. "In that case, Eldest Brother,e to the yamen tomorrow to report in. I''ll have Meng An make all the arrangements."


    "Alright, I''ll be there on time tomorrow morning."


    After settling Mo Chuhan''s employment, Mo Jiuye brought up the mountain and the wastnds up north.


    "Brother Meng, I have one more matter to trouble you with."


    Meng Huaining politely replied, "No trouble at all. Brother Jiu, just tell me anything I can help with. As long as it''s within my ability, I will certainly assist you."


    "Let me be frank, my wife and I have our eyes on the mountain behind the vige, as well as some of the wastnds. We wish to purchase them."


    Meng Huaining knew the Mo family had already bought quite a bit ofnd from the vigers, as he had personally helped process the paperwork.


    At the time, he wondered why the Mo family, with just over a dozen people, mostly women, were buying so much farnd. How could they work it all?


    Not only that, the Mo family had also purchased many dpidatedpounds.


    In Meng Huaining''s opinion, even if they had money to spare, such spending was frivolous.


    Later, he conjectured for himself that the Mo family was buying so muchnd in order to hireborers to farm it, just like those wealthy households with their manors and estates. All were worked by hired hands rather than the owners themselves.


    Therefore, the Mo family must have simr ideas for buying up so muchnd.

 Chapter 221: Nothing short of bottomless indulgence.

    <h4>Chapter 221</h4>


    Furthermore, regarding those abandoned courtyards, it''s possible that they considered the fact that there are nine family members living in the house. Regardless of the size of the poption, if the family decides to separate in the future, having more houses would be beneficial.


    However, just when he finally understood the reason why Mo Jiuye bought so muchnd and courtyards, Mo Jiuge dropped another bombshell.


    "Jiuge, what''s the use of buying that barren mountain? It can''t be used for growing crops."


    Mo Jiuye knew that as soon as he mentioned buying a mountain, the other party would have such thoughts.


    Anyway, the things they would do in the future would have toe to light, and there was no need to keep it a secret.


    "My wife made an agreement with that foreigner. The next time hees, he will bring some specialty fruit trees from their hometown. It is said that many of those fruit trees grow on the mountainside, so I n to buy a piece of mountain to try cultivation."


    As he exined, not only did Meng Huaining fail to understand, but even Mo Chuhan also disagreed.


    "Jiudi, I know that Jiumei''s maternal family gave her a considerable amount of money before she was exiled. With that money, you should save some for future needs. Besides, even if those foreigner''s fruit tree saplings doe, it''s uncertain whether they can be sessfully nted in the northwest''s climate."


    Mo Jiuye couldn''t exin too much about this matter. Only he knew that the fruit tree seeds in his wife''s space didn''t care about climate or soil quality.


    "Baoge, if Ranan likes them, then let her have her way this time."


    Speaking like this, his younger brother pampering his wife, what could he, as the older brother, say?


    Mo Chuhan wisely kept his mouth shut.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye had already said so much, Meng Huaining, as an outsider, didn''t feel the need to advise him any further.


    "The government has always had regtions that set the selling price of mountains the same as wastnd, which is one or two silver coins per mu. But Jiuge, you can rest assured, when my peoplee to survey, we''ll add some water."


    In any case, this was all he could do. Hopefully, your fruit can be sessfully cultivated."


    "And also, when Meng Brothers send people to survey the barrennd in the north, they can measure it as well," Mo Jiuye continued.


    "That''s not a problem. I''ll send people to survey it tomorrow."


    After a pause, Meng Huaining couldn''t help but ask.


    "Jiuge, with you buying so much barrennd, it won''t be productive for several years. Why not wait until the Cui family sells their fertilend before making a move?"


    Mo Jiuye understood that Meng Huaining''s words were all for his own good.


    If it were someone else buying so much unproductive barrennd, he would also have such doubts.


    Since today''s conversation had reached this point, Mo Jiuye didn''t intend to conceal anything.


    "My wife bought some high-yielding crop seeds from that foreigner. It is said that these seeds don''t care about soil quality, so she wants to give them a try, and naturally, I support her."


    It''s Jiudi again...


    Meng Huaining had already noticed it when they first met. Mo Jiuye dotes on his wife, but now it seems that it''s not just doting anymore.


    It''s simply unbounded indulgence!


    Looking at Mo Jiuye''s resolute attitude, Meng Huaining instantly swallowed the words he wanted to advise.


    "Since Jiuge thinks it''s suitable, then go ahead and nt them..."


    Mo Jiuye knew deep down that even though Meng Huaining said this, he still didn''t agree with it.


    No matter what others think, Ran Ran has always let the facts speak for themselves.


    As for the dpidated houses of the Cui family at the foot of the mountain, it won''t be long before their rtivese knocking on their door, begging them to buy them.


    After all, it''s no secret that they purchased the houses of the Zhao and Zhou families.


    It''s believed that only he would spend money to buy such rundown houses.


    The few of them chatted in the room for a while, and then the elder sister-inw and the second sister-inw came in with freshly brewed tea made by Ran Ran.


    It was the first time they had brewed tea at home. The tea leaves came from Ran Ran''s space, where she grew Biluochun tea on the mountains of her farm and processed it using the operation tform. The taste was iparable to ordinary Biluochun tea.


    Especially in this era, tea processing techniques were outdated, and there was no such tea as Biluochun.


    When her Biluochun tea was brought out, it was definitely the finest of the finest.


    They hadn''t had the chance to buy furniture yet, so they all sat on the kang (a heated brick bed).


    The elder sister-inw and the second sister-inw ced the tea by the edge of the kang.


    The tea set looked quite new; it was a set of rtively inexpensive antique-style tea utensils that Ran Ran purchased on Taobao.


    Mo Jiuye took the teapot and poured the tea. As soon as the tea started to flow, the room was filled with the fragrance.


    Mo Chuhan and Meng Huaining both came from noble families, so they were no strangers to judging the quality of tea.


    "Great tea..." Meng Huaining, whose lifelong hobby was tea tasting, couldn''t help but praise when he smelled the tea''s fragrance.


    "Ninth Brother, did you buy this tea from foreigners?" He said this because during the Great Shun Dynasty, they hadn''te across such good tea.


    The tea leaves in the water were tender green, obviously the most delicate part carefully selected.


    One could imagine the preciousness of this tea.


    Mo Chuhan was more direct; he naturally had to taste the finest tea first.


    It was the first time Mo Jiuye had tasted tea produced from his wife''s space. Seeing the impatience in both of them, he lifted the tea cup and made a gesture of invitation.


    "Eighth Brother and Brother Meng, why don''t you give this tea a try?"


    As soon as he finished speaking, both of them took a sip.


    "It has a fragrant and elegant taste, smooth and refreshing, with a rich and mellow vor that lingers and a sweet and aromatic aftertaste." Meng Huaining gave a series of evaluations.


    Mo Chuhan nodded repeatedly. "Indeed, it''s excellent tea, refreshing and with an aftertaste."


    The elder sister-inw and the second sister-inw had also tasted some when Ran Ran brewed the tea. They both felt that it was the best tea they had ever tasted in their lives.


    Therefore, they didn''t rush to leave after bringing the tea; they wanted to see the men''s reactions.


    Sure enough, their expectations were met. How could anyone not like such tea?


    The second sister-inw smiled and said, "Ninth Sister-inw is generous. If it were someone else, they wouldn''t want to share such good tea."


    The elder sister-inw chimed in, "Yes, ording to Ninth Sister-inw, she only has two packets of this tea, and once they''re finished, there won''t be any left."


    Meng Huaining had originally nned to ask Ran Ran for some of this good tea before leaving, but when he heard what the two sisters-inw said, he immediately felt discouraged.


    Others only had two packets, and he really couldn''t bring himself to ask for any.


    Da Sao and Er Sao had no idea what Meng Huaining was thinking. Their intention in speaking like that was simply to ask for a favor for their ninth sister-inw.


    Now that their purpose had been achieved, the two of them had no intention of staying any longer. After exchanging greetings, they left.


    The three of them had finished drinking an entire pot of tea but still felt unsatisfied.


    Fortunately, at this moment, preparations for the meal were already underway.


    As before, He Zhiran took charge of cooking, with the sisters-inw assisting him. With the addition of so many special ingredients, it was impossible for the dishes not to be delicious.


    Wu Ge, along with Liang Hao and others, went to borrow some tables and chairs from the vigers once again. Eight dishes and one soup were ced on the table, allowing everyone to once again be amazed.

 Chapter 225: It’s not easy that I’m still alive.

    <h4>Chapter 225</h4>


    Before leaving, Nan Rui warned in a deep voice, "Prefect Feng, this prince''s trip is only for leisure. Please forget about seeing me today."


    Prefect Feng nodded repeatedly, "Your Highness, please rest assured."


    Nan Rui nced at Prefect Feng again, giving him a warning look, before departing with his entourage.


    When he arrived at Yun City, the city gate had already been ordered to be opened by Meng Huaining, which puzzled Nan Rui.


    Upon entering the city, Nan Rui went straight to the county office.


    With such a significant incident happening in Yun City, even though it was just a misunderstanding, as the prince of Da Shun, he needed to carefully understand the situation.


    "Come with me to the county office first," Nan Rui instructed his subordinates.


    "Yes," the subordinates responded and dispersed around Nan Rui, providing protection.


    Nan Rui walked along the streets and arrived at the county office.


    At this moment, Mo Chuhan had just returned with a group of officials and was preparing to go out and inform the people that there was no smallpox. Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the entrance, he encountered Nan Rui.


    Mo Chuhan immediately became vignt. Ninth Brother had spected that he was once among the assassins sent by Nan Rui to kill Ninth Brother.


    In other words, even if Nan Rui wasn''t the one who gave him the puppetry gu, he was still involved.


    Therefore, when Mo Chuhan saw Nan Rui, not only did his vignce rise, but his anger surged.


    Nan Rui recognized Mo Chuhan at a nce. He didn''t expect to encounter him here by chance. However, he was unaware of Mo Chuhan''s current situation, so he didn''t act recklessly.


    After a moment of hesitation, Mo Chuhan still saluted Nan Rui.


    After all, before tearing each other''s faces apart, when meeting the current prince, it was necessary to maintain a superficial courtesy.


    "Why has Prince Ruie here?" Mo Chuhan asked.


    Nan Rui furrowed his brow slightly. If the mother gu he held in his hand encountered the child gu, there would definitely be a reaction. However, being in such close contact with Mo Chuhan, there was no reaction at all.


    While feeling puzzled, Nan Rui raised his hand towards Mo Chuhan and said, "Mo... no need for formalities."


    Nan Rui initially wanted to say "General Mo, no need for formalities," but when he thought about the misfortune that had befallen the Mo family, he didn''t know how to address Mo Chuhan.


    Mo Chuhan quickly straightened up without saying anything, intending to let Nan Rui take the initiative in the conversation.


    At the same time, the group of officials behind him were dumbfounded.


    The fact that the Chief Constable Mo had just called the person in front of them Prince Rui left them unsure how to act. They even forgot the basic courtesy of kneeling and bowing.


    Nan Rui once again observed Mo Chuhan and saw him dressed in the official uniform of the Chief Constable. Out of curiosity, Nan Rui asked, "Are you working in the yamen now?"


    Mo Chuhan didn''t dare to tell the truth for fear of implicating Meng Huaining.


    "The county magistrate doesn''t know my identity. I just wanted to find a job to support my family," Mo Chuhan replied.


    Regardless of whether Nan Rui believed him or not, he didn''t pursue the matter further.


    At present, what concerned him the most was why he couldn''t control Mo Chuhan with his mother gu.


    When he was talking to Mo Chuhan just now, Nan Rui attempted to manipte the gu, but to his surprise, Mo Chuhan showed no reaction at all.


    He couldn''t figure out what went wrong. If it weren''t for his intervention, Mo Chuhan''s puppetry gu would be impossible to remove.


    "Your body?" Nan Rui intended to ask Mo Chuhan something.


    At this moment, Mo Chuhan was certain that there was a direct connection between the puppet gu curse he was afflicted with and Nan Rui.


    With this in mind, Mo Chuhan no longer wanted to continue beating around the bush with Nan Rui. He thought that even if it meant going all out and risking everything, he didn''t regard the dozen or so guards apanying Nan Rui as a threat.


    Considering this, Mo Chuhan sneered, "Thanks to His Royal Highness Ruiwang''s gift, it''s truly not easy for me to stay alive."


    Nan Rui''s expression immediately changed upon hearing his words.


    "What do you know?"


    Mo Chuhan first nced at the several government officials behind him. He surmised that Nan Rui''s purpose ining here was because of him.


    Even though his Mo family had already been exiled, it wasn''t appropriate to bring up such matters openly. However, Nan Rui had brazenly asked about it.


    If he were also so careless and blurted it out in front of those government officials, their little conspiracy would be exposed in an instant.


    "Does Wangye really intend to discuss it here?"


    Reminded in this way, Nan Rui realized that there weren''t just the guards he brought along, but also those government officials present. He had indeed been careless.


    Nan Rui immediately turned around. "Come with me."


    Mo Chuhan dismissed the scared government officials and followed closely behind Nan Rui as they left.


    The two of them went straight to a nearby restaurant and requested a private room.


    Facing Nan Rui, Mo Chuhan showed no courtesy and seated himself directly.


    Nan Rui wasn''t offended either and sat across from him, lost in thought for a moment before speaking up.


    "I came to the northwest this time to find you."


    Mo Chuhan wasn''t surprised when he heard him say that.


    "I wonder what business Ruiwang has with me?"


    Nan Rui didn''t intend to beat around the bush either and ced a small porcin bottle he held in his hand on the table.


    "This bottle contains the mother gu of a puppet gu."


    Mo Chuhan raised an eyebrow, knowingly asking, "What does that have to do with me?"


    Nan Rui shook his head helplessly, wearing a bitter smile.


    "In fact, you know everything, so why does Wangye have to spell it out so clearly?"


    Mo Chuhan sneered and didn''t n to y dumb any longer.


    "As a man of the Mo family, I shed blood on the battlefield to protect the Da Shun territory. Now, we''ve been reduced to being exiled. Can we still pose a threat to anyone?"


    Nan Rui hurriedly exined upon hearing this, "You''ve misunderstood. I didn''te here with any ill intentions toward the Mo family."


    "In that case, I''ll take my leave now." Mo Chuhan stood up, intending to leave.


    Since it wasn''t harmful to the Mo family, regardless of Ruiwang''s intentions, he didn''t want to entertain him.


    As for the matter of being cured by his ninth younger sister, he had no intention of exining it to Nan Rui.


    Nan Rui saw that Mo Chuhan really intended to leave and quickly stood up to stop him.


    "I''m also being coerced. Please sit down and let me finish speaking."


    Mo Chuhan nced at Nan Rui askew and sat back down reluctantly.


    Nan Rui organized his thoughts and began, "Although the mother gu is currently in my hands, the puppet gu on your body was not ced by me."


    You should know that my mother, the consort, was not favored, so I have always felt insignificant in the pce since I was young. I am well aware that Ick the talent to be an emperor, so I have deliberately avoided getting involved in court disputes.


    Despite that, someone has targeted me."


    As he spoke, Nan Rui raised the porcin bottle in his hand to show Mo Chuhan.


    "This is the former owner of this Gu poison. He used my mother as leverage to force me to do his bidding. Anything you have seen or heard rted to me is not of my own volition."


    Just as Nan Rui finished speaking, there was a knock on the door, and a guard entered to report, "Prince, Lord Mo Jiuye and his wife have arrived."


    Nan Rui didn''t expect Mo Jiuye toe at this moment.

 Chapter 238: The One who really has something good is Shunwu Emperor

    <h4>Chapter 238</h4>


    Mo Chongyuan finished telling about his experiences, feeling much more rxed in body and mind, and the pained expression had left his face.


    Old Lady Mo wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes and said, "As the saying goes, what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger. Chongyuan has already suffered through this life''s tribtions, and things will only get better for him from now on.


    Your mother is getting old now, I only hope that our whole family can live in peace and safety from now on."


    "Mother, we will, I and younger brother number eight and nine will take good care of you from now on," said Mo Chongyuan.


    As he spoke, Mo Chongyuan had already risen from the kang and solemnly knelt in front of his aged mother.


    "I was unfilial before and made you worry," he said.


    Seeing her son like this brought fresh tears to Old Lady Mo''s eyes, and soon the other daughters-inw were also dabbing at their eyes.


    He Zhiran was also a woman, and although she was a bit tougher mentally than her sisters-inw and Mo Hanyue, she had to admit she was made of water.


    She couldn''t stand scenes like this, and seeing everyone crying loudly, she figured it wouldn''t end anytime soon and might bring up more painful memories.


    So she dabbed at her somewhat reddened eyes and said, "Mother, sisters, it''s good that fifth brother has regained his memories. Wasn''t mother wanting fifth brother to paint the kitchen god? It''s almost noon already, what are we waiting for?"


    Old Lady Mo also knew her daughter-inw''s intention, and led the way in wiping her tears and urged Mo Chongyuan to go paint the image of the kitchen god.


    Sure enough, Mo Chongyuan had incredible literary talent, and the image of the kitchen god he painted was absolutely magnificent.


    He Zhiran even thought of having him paint some other things to put in her online shop to try selling.


    Speaking of her online shop, she hadn''t managed it for a long time, just casually checking if revenue had increased.


    Also, Little Collector hadn''t been around to buy things recently, seemingly having disappeared.


    He Zhiran didn''t know much about the customs around the New Year, and she and Mo Jiuye had already taken care of getting all the necessary food when they went out the day before.


    Now all of their meat came from her personal dimension, and they had also bought a lot of seafood from the fishing vige, along with preparing several kinds of vegetables that made sense.


    Now all of the food at home was prepared, her sisters-inw didn''t need He Zhiran to manage things, she just needed to cook any special dishes.


    Just happening to have some free time, He Zhiran returned to her room and shed into her dimension.


    There were still a lot of items taken from Deputy Magistrate Cui in the storage room that, although not as valuable as the things in the imperial treasury, were still antiques worth hanging in her shop.


    To keep these things from taking up space in the storage room, He Zhiran took photos of everything and uploaded it all to her shop to sell.


    Just as she finished organizing these things, the personal icon below her phone screen shook.


    This personal icon was not unfamiliar to He Zhiran, it was none other than Little Collector, who had been missing for a long time.


    Little Collector: [Boss, you''re really amazing, new inventory in your shop again.]


    He Zhiran: [They''re just some worthless stuff.]


    Little Collector: [Boss is too modest, anything that''s an antique can''t be called worthless stuff.]


    He Zhiran: [It''s all rtive.]


    This was no lie, when she uploaded the photos just now, like those few jade ornaments for example, they were priced at less than half of what was in the imperial treasury.


    This showed that Deputy Magistrate Cui was just a country squire, the one with truly good stuff was still Emperor Shunwu.


    Little Collector: [Boss, the antiques sold in your shop are real and good value. If I could get my funds to turn around now, I would definitely buy up everything in your shop.]


    He Zhiran: [Did something happen?]


    She was just casually caring about a regr customer. She didn''t expect Little Collector to answer very sincerely:


    [My family has always dealt in the antique business and never had money issues before. It was just that I partnered with a friend sometime ago to buy a 10 centimeter wide South Sea pearl that was stolen when I was arranging for it to be exhibited.


    That pearl was very valuable, taking up over half of my worth. Since the pearl was lost under my watch, I have to pay my friend for their portion of course.]


    South Sea pearls were not unfamiliar to He Zhiran, and their value also varied greatly.


    She was very curious now what kind of quality was the pearl that Little Collector had lost:


    [What was that South Sea pearl you mentioned like?]


    Little Collector: [That South Sea pearl was very special, 10 centimeters in diameter, jet ck throughout without a single w. Many experts appraised it and determined it was produced during the Da Shun Dynasty, an extremely rare antique grade piece.]


    He Zhiran had seen South Sea pearls before, but had never seen a ck 10 centimeter wide one.


    The m that produced that kind of pearl must have be a spirit...


    Because Little Collector mentioned the South Sea pearl originating from the Da Shun Dynasty, it greatly piqued He Zhiran''s interest:


    [You said this South Sea pearl came from the Da Shun Dynasty?]


    Little Collector: [That''s right, experts determined this pearl originated from the Da Shun Dynasty. It''s said there''s also some backstory to this pearl.]


    He Zhiran became even more interested: [What backstory?]


    Little Collector: [It''s said this pearl came from the Southern Frontier, and the emperor there lost a battle at the time. Emperor Shunwu proposed he use that pearl as part of his war indemnity, but the Southern Frontier Emperor stubbornly refused.


    That''s because the pearl was Empress of Southern Frontier Yun Li''s favorite possession, and the Southern Frontier Emperor doted on his wife, so he''d rather cede a city than hand over that pearl.]


    Regarding this bit of history, He Zhiran actually didn''t know much about it at all.


    After all,ter generations learned central ins culture, with only some history experts deeply researching those ancient small periphery states.


    So there was no record of this in the history books she bought either.


    Speaking of Yun Li, this bit of history must have been changed by her too.


    If she didn''t traverse here, Mo Jiuye''s chances of surviving likely weren''t high, let alone capturing Yun Li and Nan Heng at the saltke and killing them.


    But thinking about the South Sea pearl that Little Collector mentioned, now there was a high possibility that it was still being kept in the Southern Frontier''s treasury or imperial pce.


    What He Zhiran was thinking now was, if she went to the Southern Frontier and helped Little Collector look for that ck South Sea pearl from this era while she was there, then sold it to him in her shop, wouldn''t that be a mutually beneficial action for both parties?


    Thinking this, she tentatively asked: [If I can find that pearl, would you want it?]


    After waiting about a minute and not seeing Little Collector reply, He Zhiran figured he had gone offline or wasn''t looking at his phone right then.


    Since it was just an passing idea anyhow, she was about to put her phone aside to go take care of something else.


    But before her fingers even touched the screen, Little Collector replied.


    [That precious of a pearl, I used all my power and even got the police involved but still couldn''t find it. Could the theft of the pearl have something to do with you?]


    He asked very directly, because aside from those involved in the theft, it was impossible for anyone else to know the pearl''s whereabouts.

 Chapter 240: Offering Sacrifices to the God of the Kitchen Stove

    <h4>Chapter 240</h4>


    Old Lady Mo and her husband went to the main hall. As expected, Old Lady Mo had already set up the offering table for the Kitchen God, and the portrait of the Kitchen God painted by Fifth Elder was also hung on the wall.


    At this time, the sisters-inw also came to call He Zhiran. They had already prepared the ingredients and were just waiting for her to start cooking.


    Although they had always lived together as a big family, for the Mo Family, celebrating a festival so formally was still He Zhiran¡¯s first time since crossing over.


    She was not very familiar with some of the customs here, but she also had an attitude of following local customs and tried her best to integrate into the family.


    Today''s ingredients were still purchased by He Zhiran, not only that, but also the game caught by Liang Hao and the others from the mountains.


    There were too many dishes that needed to be cooked. Even though the sisters-inw had prepared all the ingredients in advance, He Zhiran was still busy for about an hour.


    When all the food was cooked, the sisters-inw very tacitly took some of it and went to offer it to the portrait of the Kitchen God.


    At the same time, Mo Jiuye also took the repackaged Maotai liquor poured by his wife and ced a cup in front of the portrait of Kitchen God.


    Everything was ready. Led by Old Lady Mo, the family members began to sincerely burn incense, hoping that the Kitchen God would bless the Mo Family to be safe and sound in the future.


    Just as the Kitchen God worship had just ended, it was already evening.


    Everyone thought that after Mo Chuhan, who worked in the yamen, came back, they would start dinner.


    Soon, Mo Chuhan returned, but unexpectedly, Meng Huaining was with him.


    Meng Huaining did note alone, he also brought a lot of yamen runners.


    After many days of sorting out, the Cui Wen case had been settled.


    Cui Wen was extremely evil and was directly sentenced to immediate decapitation. His family members and nsmen involved in the case also received due punishment.


    The reason why the case took so long to process was mainly because Cui Wen and his nsmenmitted too many crimes. Just sorting out the dossier took almost ten days.


    Meng Huaining¡¯s main purpose ining to Xi Ling Vige today was to join the Mo Family for the festivities and celebrate the New Year''s Eve with them. In addition, it was to distribute the fines confiscated from the Cui Family to the victims of the Zhao and Zhou families in proportion.


    Not only that, thend that the Cui Family had fraudulently obtained from the Zhao and Zhou families over the years had to be returned in full.


    This move once again caused the Cui Family to wail.


    They had sold farnd and barely paid the fines. Now they had topensate arge amount of farnd to the Zhao and Zhou families.


    This would instantly turn them into penniless people, and they would even have no livelihood for the future.


    However, thew would not sympathize with those who had done evil before. If you did something wrong, you had to pay the proper price.


    The Zhao and Zhou families did not expect that they could still getpensation.


    They thought that with the backing of the powerful Cui Family gone, it would be good enough if they no longer had to suffer oppression from the Cui Family. Unexpectedly, the honorable county magistrate was so wise and brave that he even imedpensation for them.


    After receiving thepensation, the members of the Zhao and Zhou families kept kowtowing to Meng Huaining outside the Mo Family''s yard.


    Meng Huaining immediately ordered Meng An to appease these people. He had already smelled the aroma of the food and did not want to deal with themoners at this time.


    Meng Huaining was invited into the main hall by the three Mo brothers. After taking his seat, the women brought out the dishes one after another.


    Undoubtedly, with such good ingredients and He Zhiran''s cooking skills, this meal made everyone extremely satisfied.


    The mellow Maotai liquor was even more delicious to Meng Huaining. If he could eat such food and drink every day, even an immortal would not change ces with him.


    The Mo Family women did not know that Meng Huaining woulde today. It would be fine if he came alone, but he also brought so many yamen runners.


    The food and wine prepared at home was simply not enough for so many people. Fortunately, the sisters-inw had prepared dumplings in advance to entertain those yamen runners.


    No matter what happened before, they were all Mo Chuhan¡¯s subordinates now, not to mention that today was New Year''s Eve. It would be inappropriate to let them leave with empty stomachs after arriving at the Mo Family home.


    Now Mo Chuhan was the head of these yamen runners. With the county magistrate present at the Mo Family today, even if the Mo Family did not entertain them, they would not dare to say anything.


    Unexpectedly, they could even enjoy a delicious dumpling meal here.


    Moreover, the taste of the Mo Family dumplings was simply better than even the famous restaurants in the city.


    The yamen runners ate their fill and were also filled withplex emotions, especially those who had previously tried to y tricks on the Mo Family to help Cui Wen. They felt particrly apologetic.


    No matter what, things had happened, and now regret was useless. They could only make up for their past mistakes by being loyal to Chief Constable Mo in the future.


    It was not until the hour of the dog watch that the New Year''s Eve banquet began to clear the table. It was sote that Meng Huaining was expected to bid farewell.


    Unexpectedly, he was attracted by a sentence from Mo Hanyue.


    The surprise in Mo Hanyue''s voice could not be concealed at all.


    "Ninth Sister-in-Law,e and see quickly, my long-eared rabbit has given birth..."


    He Zhiran was cleaning up bowls and chopsticks with the sisters-inw in the kitchen. Hearing the voice of the young aunt, she immediately ran out.


    "Hanyue, I''ming."


    Hearing that the long-eared rabbit had given birth, the other sisters-inw also threw down what they were doing and ran after He Zhiran to see.


    The long-eared rabbit was muchrger than an ordinary rabbit, and its appearance was very lovely. If Mo Hanyue was not reluctant to part with it, they would have wanted to ask her for one to raise long ago.


    Now that the long-eared rabbit had finally given birth, it meant that they could also have their own little pets.


    Meng Huaining was not the kind of person who liked to join in the fun, but today he was a little abnormal.


    He had been inexplicably attracted by Mo Hanyue at first sight. This young girl looked bright and lively, and her temperament was not pretentious like the youngdies of wealthy families.


    The elders at home had asked him before about what kind of wife he wanted in the future.


    At that time, he had answered very simply that he wanted to find one that he felt was suitable and did not put on the airs of a youngdy.


    Although his requirements were not high, it was not easy to find someone who could meet both conditions.


    Although the Meng Family had declined a lot since the death of their grandfather, they were still a prestigious schrly family. There were still some thresholds when it came to choosing a wife.


    Even if Meng Huaining was willing, girls frommoner families might not be able to pass the elders at home.


    Mo Hanyue was different. Although the Mo Family was exiled by the court, Mo Hanyue grew up in a prominent family since childhood and received an education that was iparable to that ofmoners.


    Especially the olddy of the Mo Family. She herself came from a prestigious family, and the daughters she personally taught could not fail to be outstanding.


    Moreover, these Mo Family women all seemed knowledgeable and reasonable. Even when faced with the tragic circumstances of their husband''s death in battle and the family''s exile, they still maintained an optimistic and positive attitude.


    How could girls who grew up in this environment not be optimistic and positive?

 Chapter 241: Am I not back

    <h4>Chapter 241</h4>


    Most importantly, when Meng Huaining first saw Mo Hanyue, he felt his heart race.


    He was not the kind of absent-minded bookworm who had never experienced love between men and women, but he knew clearly that this was the feeling you get when you fall for someone.


    Therefore, when he heard Mo Hanyue''s voice, no matter what had happened there, he hoped he would have a chance to participate.


    With this thought, Meng Huaining stood up and said to Mo Jiuye, "Brother Jiu, I have never seen a rabbit give birth before. May Ie along to broaden my horizon?"


    Mo Jiuye did not think too much of it and assumed Meng Huaining was just curiously.


    "Sure, I''ll take you to see now."


    At this moment, the pregnant lop-eared rabbit had already been carried by Mo Hanyue to an empty room.


    To make the room warmer, Mo Hanyue lit the kang stove herself.


    The lop-eared rabbit inbor was alone in a cage.


    When Meng Huaining and Mo Jiuye arrived, the lop-eared rabbit had already given birth to six baby bunnies.


    "Sisters-inw, I hope she can give birth to nine babies at once. Then I will give each of you one." Mo Hanyue said excitedly.


    "Hanyue, you are finally willing to give me a lop-eared rabbit. That''s not easy." the Second Sister-inw joked.


    "Sister-inw, are you saying I''m stingy?" Mo Hanyueined.


    The Second Sister-inw continued joking, "You still say you are not stingy. For the rabbits given to you by Sister-inw Jiu, if we want to hug them a little, you can''t bear to let us."


    Mo Hanyue really couldn''t bear to part with them. She hoped that through her own efforts, these rabbits could give birth to more babies and earn some money for the family.


    Back in the capital city, she was a youngdy from a prominent family and knew what those girls liked.


    Mo Hanyue was certain that these cute and beautiful lop-eared rabbits would be loved by those youngdies.


    Therefore, she took very good care of every rabbit, especially after discovering pregnant does. She took extra care of them for fear that something unexpected might happen to the rabbits under her care.


    When these rabbits gave birth, she believed they would fetch a good price.


    As they talked, the sisters-inw noticed Mo Jiuye and Meng Huaining walking in.


    As a guest, Meng Huaining must havee because of the rabbits. Thus, the sisters-inw tacitly gave him a good spot to observe.


    On the surface, Meng Huaining was watching the little bunnies, but he would sneak nces at Mo Hanyue when others were not paying attention.


    Mo Hanyue was carefully observing the doe rabbit when she inexplicably sensed a gaze fixed on her.


    She instinctively looked in the direction of the gaze and met Meng Huaining''s deep eyes.


    Meng Huaining was engrossed in staring at her and did not expect her to look back at him.


    In panic, he averted his eyes, his heartbeat racing to the extreme unknowingly.


    Mo Hanyue felt the same. Although she did not have any improper thoughts about Meng Huaining, as an innocent girl, she could hardly resist such a fiery gaze.


    Moreover, it seemed that she did not dislike Meng Huaining''s gaze...


    Everyone''s attention was on the rabbit inbor and no one noticed the expressions of the two.


    After about half a quarter of an hour, the lop-eared rabbit had given birth to 12 kits. Feeling that she was not moving anymore, Mo Hanyue carefully moved the cage aside.


    At this point, Meng Huaining could not find a suitable reason to stay longer. He secretly nced at Mo Hanyue again before bidding farewell to the Mo family.


    The Mo family was also busy for a day. After tidying up, they each went back to rest.


    The next day, there was good news in the family again. The rabbits raised by the Fifth Brother and Sister-inw had reproduced several litters.


    By evening, the number of offspring reached more than 200, and the new baby bunnies made the whole family joyful.


    Time flew by, and New Year¡¯s Eve arrived in the blink of an eye.


    It should have been a happy day, but the Mo family was worried because Third Brother Mo Yunfeng had not returned as scheduled.


    Old Madam Mo knew her sons best. He had been taught by her since childhood to be true to his word.


    If Mo Yunfeng had not run into some thorny issues, he would not still be away as the New Year approached.


    Ever since early morning, the anxious Third Sister-inw had been restless. The whole family was busy preparing ingredients for the New Year''s Eve dinner while she kept making mistakes when doing chores.


    For example, when beating eggs, she put the eggs into the trash can and left the shells on the te.


    Fortunately, most of the women in the family did not know that Mo Yunfeng was still alive. Otherwise, the whole family would have be gloomy.


    The Third Sister-inw knew that her mind was not there, afraid of ruining more things in the house. So she went back to her room on the excuse of feeling unwell.


    Because of this, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran lost their enthusiasm for setting off firecrackers they bought from town.


    Until night fell, Old Madam Mo thought that the New Year should not be ruined just because someone was missing. So she urged everyone to sit down for dinner.


    Including Liang Hao and others, they sat at two tables.


    Just as everyone had just sat down, several masters with martial arts skills suddenly stood up.


    Mo Chuhan said, "There are footsteps outside. I''ll go take a look."


    With that said, he strode out, and Mo Jiuye and Mo Chongyuan looked at each other before following him out.


    The Third Sister-inw had been desperately waiting for her husband''s return. Hearing that there were footsteps, she subconsciously went outside with everyone.


    Soon, Mo Chuhan''s slightly excited voice came, "Third Brother, you finally came back. If you didn''te back, Jiuye and I were going to go looking for you tomorrow morning."


    Mo Yunfeng was apparently somewhat tired but still looked spirited as ever.


    "I ran into some things on the way that dyed me, otherwise I could have been back earlier."


    The women left in the room were confused, except for Old Madam Mo and He Zhiran.


    Who did Mo Chuhan just call?


    Third brother?


    To verify that their ears were not mistaken, the sisters-inw, including Mo Hanyue, all came out.


    He Zhiran also helped the trembling olddy who was excited. They walked at the end.


    The moment everyone saw Mo Yunfeng, their expressions varied.


    Except for those few who knew, disbelief filled the eyes of the women.


    The reaction of the Second Sister-inw was even more dramatic. She fiercely pinched the Fourth Sister-inw next to her.


    "Did it hurt, Sister-inw Si?"


    The dumbfounded Fourth Sister-inw nodded, "Yeah, it hurt a lot."


    "Then it means I''m not seeing things..." the Second Sister-inw murmured.


    At this time, the Third Sister-inw had already recklessly thrown herself into Mo Yunfeng''s arms.


    "Husband, you finally came back. I thought I was going to lose you again...wuwuwu..."


    Mo Yunfeng raised his arm around his wife and gently soothed, "Don''t cry, didn''t Ie back?"


    The Third Sister-inw still wept bitterly. The other women surrounded Old Madam Mo and asked when the resurrected Third Brother hade back to life.


    Old Madam Mo was also a little overwhelmed being surrounded by so many daughters-inw.


    "Alright, it''s cold outside. Let''s go back in and talk inside."

 Chapter 245: Big G

    <h4>Chapter 245</h4>


    He Zhiran did not disturb it and stood there quietly watching.


    I saw that after hearing Rice Ball''s order, the first row of sheep started running to the left, while the row behind went in the opposite direction.


    Soon, the flock of sheep had surrounded themselves into arge circle.


    Looking again, Rice Ball''s round little body was already standing upright, waving its little paws again, while still making a sound simr to a sheep''s crying from its mouth.


    After hearing Rice Ball''s cry, the flock of sheep gradually gathered inward, then gathered densely together.


    Only then did Rice Ball stop its actions, stepping with its little short legs to run to its owner as if to show off its achievement, while also making a chirping sound of excitement.


    When the little guy ran over, He Zhiran grabbed it and hugged it, helping it tidy up the grass des and dirt on its body.


    "Rice Ball, I didn''t expect you to be more capable than the sheepdog, training those sheep to be obedient."


    "Hmm -"


    Rice Ball seemed to be able to fully understand its owner''s words. After calling out, it strenuously drilled its furry little head into her arms.


    Seeing such an adorable little dumpling, He Zhiran''s heart was melting.


    She quickly made a bowl of milk with her thoughts to reward Rice Ball.


    At the same time, she was also thinking about Rice Ball''s cement issues after she went to the South.


    This guy usually likes to stick to her the most, and also really likes life in the space.


    Especially its various foods, which are currently all produced in the space. If the little guy is left at home, in addition to not being used to it, its diet would also be difficult to resolve.


    After thinking it over, He Zhiran decided to take Rice Ball with her to the South.


    Anyway, this guy has been lying in her space recently. When others asked about it, she always said that Rice Ball went into the mountains.


    One thing led to another, as long as others didn''t see Rice Ball, they would think it went into the mountains. After all, it was a wild little animal, so there was nothing strange about it going into the mountains.


    She could just conceal it with this excuse at that time...


    His wife finally reunited with her husband who had returned home, and her whole person looked much more spirited than before.


    She had tidied up the room over and over again. Her husband was a clean freak. In the past, it was the servants in the house who handled these things. Now she took the initiative to do it herself, afraid that her husband would find it unsatisfactory after seeing her work. After cleaning up, she carefully checked it again.


    Seeing that there were no hygiene blind spots left, she folded back to the main room.


    When she got there, the family was still discussing going to the South. She couldn''t get a word in edgewise and could only sit there silently watching.


    Finally, after midnight, the family ate dumplings and Mother Mo arranged for everyone to go back and rest.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran entered the space together. Neither of them were sleepy at the moment, so they nned things for their trip to the South.


    Since it was just the two of them going this time, He Zhiran was going to make use of modern means of transportation.


    To get from here to the South, it would take ten days at full gallop.


    She didn''t want to waste time on the road. It would be great if she could use those modern means of transportation. As long as they traveled at night when everyone was resting, and then rested during the day, they would probably save a lot of time with this method.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran sent a message to Little Collector.


    [Hello, is your shop open now?]


    Little Collector responded very quickly.


    [The shop is already open, the fuel has all arrived, just waiting for whenever you need it. I also have off-road vehicles that can be provided. Or a helicopter if ites down to it.]


    It was evident that Little Collector really was apetent person. He Zhiran hurriedly responded gratefully.


    [You don''t need to provide the vehicles, as long as there is fuel.]


    In her previous life, many private cars had a phrase painted on them - Never lend your wife or your car.


    And that was indeed the rationale. A car was like the existence of a wife. Those who were car enthusiasts didn''t like lending their cars out. Although she didn''t know if Little Collector had this sort of thinking, in any case, she herself didn''t want to break this unwritten rule.


    Besides, she had earned so much money selling antiques, and had been worrying about not having anywhere to spend it all along. Now there was finally an opportunity to put it to good use. She must buy a car she liked.


    Even if she couldn''t use it often in ancient times, it didn''t matter. She could keep it in her space just to feast her eyes on.


    Earlier, He Zhiran had been checking out cars for sale on Taobao. After all, it was online shopping, so the selection wasn''t veryprehensive. After browsing for a while, she decided to buy the most expensive G-Wagen on the Taobao Mall.


    The performance of this car was pretty good. Most importantly, it had very powerful horsepower, so bumpy ancient roads wouldn''t be a problem. Thus, the G-Wagen became her first choice.


    Little Collector: [Let me know what kind of fuel you need, I can list it for sale at any time.]


    He Zhiran: [95 octane gasoline would be good.]


    Soon, a new message popped up in the chat box.


    [Little Collector''s shop has new listings, wee customers to browse!]


    He Zhiran followed the link and entered. She knew this was the gasoline specially prepared for her by Little Collector.


    ncing at the price, it was actually only listed for 1 yuan, in order to prevent others from taking advantage of a good deal. He Zhiran immediately ced an order.


    After this wave of operations, ten huge iron buckets suddenly appeared on the empty ground in front of her.


    And the model and weight of the gasoline were marked on each iron bucket.


    Counting them up, there was a total of 2,000 liters of gasoline,pletely enough for a round trip to the South for her, and there would definitely still be some left over.


    [I''m so grateful to you. I will definitely try my best to help you get your thing done. Even if I can''t, I will think of a way to find other precious items topensate you.]


    He Zhiran didn''t dare make any promises, because she didn''t even know where that ck nanzhu was, let alone finding it. If she really couldn''t locate it, she would also have to find a treasure of equivalent value for Little Collector.


    [It''s just a little gasoline, thanks for your trouble.]


    After closing the chat box with Little Collector, He Zhiran searched for the link to the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.


    Mo Jiuye was astonished when he saw so many big iron buckets appear in front of him. And just as he was in disbelief, another iron box with four wheels appeared before his eyes.


    This time, he waspletely dumbfounded.


    "Ranran, what is this?"


    He Zhiran really felt bad about this matter. She had this idea but forgot to tell Mo Jiuye about it all along, resulting in Mo Jiuye not recognizing a car at all.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye''s stunned look, He Zhiran hurriedly pulled his arm to exin: "This is called a car. I also saw it while browsing Taobao."


    "Car?" Mo Jiuye could tell this big guy was some kind of vehicle, but the term "car" was too unfamiliar to him.


    He Zhiran could only patiently exin: "I read the description that said this car can be operated by a person to run very fast without needing animals to pull it. And sitting inside is also veryfortable."


    She couldn''t say too much more. There were too many things she wouldn''t be able to exin if she did.


    For example, the secret that she was a transmigrator...

 Chapter 246: What man doesn’t like Cars

    <h4>Chapter 246</h4>


    Whenparing the identity and space of a time traveler, it is too inconceivable.


    To put it bluntly, she is just a wisp of soul from another world, and He Zhiran is not sure if she can be epted by the people of this era.


    Therefore, she intends to keep this secret buried in her heart forever.


    Mo Jiuye was shocked for a moment, but soon adjusted his mood. His wife''s space is so against the sky, especially that Taobao treasure that can buy things. Although he has not checked it carefully, which of the things bought from there does not overturn his cognition?


    Thinking of these, he soon epted the big iron box in front of him.


    With such a weird thing in front of him, how could Mo Jiuye not take a look?


    He came to the big G, first touched the window lightly with his hand, and then asked, "Ranran, is this ss?"


    He Zhiran nodded: "Yes, it''s ss."


    Mo Jiuye has seen the ss purchased from Henry, so she doesn''t need to exin too much.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye fumbling around there, she walked up and carefully exined the operation here.


    Mo Jiuye was a little suspicious in his heart. Although his wife has such a magical space, he has never seen her study cars. How does she know so much about cars?


    Although he was suspicious, he was used to not asking questions. After all, there were big secrets on his wife''s body!


    At the moment, he couldn''t wait to get on the car and drive it.


    He Zhiran could see Mo Jiuye''s eager appearance. Which man would not like cars in the previous life?


    In order not to make herself appear too familiar with cars, He Zhiran deliberately tried every move.


    Mo Jiuye sat in the passenger seat and watched carefully, and remembered every step firmly in his heart.


    After deliberately dragging on for a while, He Zhiran finally started the car.


    She drove the car around the open space of the space and ran twops before being reced by the eager Mo Jiuye in the passenger seat.


    It has to be said that Mo Jiuye really has a talent for driving. After only onep, he can already operate skillfully and very steadily.


    Such skills are definitely not suitable for modern roads full of traffic, but this is ancient times.


    The roads they will take in the future are also some roads outside the city. At night, you can basically see no pedestrians.


    Although the roads are bumpy, she bought a Great Wall SUV. Forget about bumpy roads, even if you take a rugged mountain road, there is no problem.


    Mo Jiuye haspletely fallen in love with the feeling of driving. This is much more rxing andfortable than driving a mule cart.


    Moreover, the seat under him is soft andfortable, and he doesn''t feel tired at all.


    At the moment, the gloom that was still in Mo Jiuye''s heart just now has beenpletely reced by the excitement at the moment.


    He kept driving the car until the self-contained gasoline waspletely exhausted before reluctantly stopping.


    If he didn''t know how hard it was to get that gasoline, Mo Jiuye would definitely drive a few moreps.


    The transportation to the South Xinjiang has been in ce, and He Zhiran also prepared some realgar.


    She had seen in the "Gu Book" that most Gu worms were afraid of realgar and raging mes.


    Compared with using a methrower, He Zhiran felt that realgar was more convenient. When they arrived in southern Xinjiang, they could sprinkle realgar on their clothes so that they didn''t have to worry about those Gu worms getting close.


    If necessary, the methrower can also be used to kill thempletely.


    As for the road trip supplies and dry food, He Zhiran only prepared some to cover up. After all, she has everything she wants in her space, and she is not worried at all about eating poorly on the road.


    Everything is ready, just wait to discuss the departure time with the family.


    For He Zhiran, going to southern Xinjiang was not urgent.


    In her cognition, although southern Xinjiang belonged to the Fanbang small country, it was the same as Dashun. Every household celebrated the lunar new year.


    With the speed of their Great Wall SUV, even if the road was bad, she believed it would take three to five days to arrive.


    Going to southern Xinjiang at this time, themon people were all nestled at home celebrating the New Year, and there were few people on the road to inquire useful information.


    After breakfast on New Year''s Day, the family got together and discussed the result that everyone hoped they would go after the Lantern Festival.


    He Zhiran was very satisfied with this time. It just so happened that the young rabbits she bought earlier had grown up, and the female rabbits had be pregnant one after another. Those male rabbits could be ughtered to make cold rabbit meat and pendants.


    Before the New Year, Tang Mingrui often came to ask when there would be new stock. It was a good time to take this opportunity during the New Year to make another batch to earn money.


    After Mo Yunfeng came back, he had already exined all the information he had explored about going to southern Xinjiang. The family no longer asked him questions, and everyone was busy with their own affairs.


    Now He Zhiran was supervising the ughter of male rabbits, and all the men in the family were put to use.


    There were 100 male rabbits this time. It took the men a whole morning just to carefully skin the rabbits.


    Not until noon did the first guest of the new year arrive at the house.


    Meng Huaining came alone, holding several oil paper bags in his hand, his face full of joy.


    The reason was simple. After he realized that he had fallen in love with the girl from the Mo family, he immediately wrote a letter home to inform them.


    He wanted to get his family¡¯s consent before finding an opportunity toe to the Mo¡¯s family to propose.


    Just two days ago, he received a letter from home.


    When the family members heard that he had fallen in love with the girl from the former Duke Mo''s family, they all expressed their support.


    Although the Mo family declined now, they all knew what was going on. They also expressed deep sympathy for the Mo family''s experience.


    The Mo family were all upright people, and they believed the daughter they raised must be good too.


    If it wasn''t for the consideration that it was New Year''s Eve yesterday, he would have wanted toe earlier.


    However, Meng Huaining did not intend to propose immediately. After all, he did not know Mo Hengyue''s thoughts, let alone the Mo family''s intentions. He was afraid that rashly mentioning this matter would have the opposite effect.


    Therefore, Meng Huaining decided toe to the Mo''s house more often, and take the opportunity to get in touch with Mo Hengyue.


    When Meng Huaining came, the Mo brothers temporarily handed over the rabbit skinning work to Liang Hao and others, and the brothers all came to the main house to entertain him.


    Meng Huaining was very surprised. He didn''t expect that not only the fifth and eighth brothers of the Mo family were alive, but today he also saw a living third brother.


    This made him have to think twice.


    What was going on with the Mo family? The dead men came back to life one after another, which was too inconceivable.


    It even made Meng Huaining have the idea that the Mo brothers might all be alive.


    As for how the Mo brothers died and came back to life, this question was sensitive, and Meng Huaining was still very sensible not to ask.


    But he was really happy for the Mo family from the bottom of his heart.


    After chatting for a while, Meng Huaining took out the gifts he brought.

 Chapter 247: What a mistake this gift is.

    <h4>Chapter 247</h4>


    It had to be said, Meng Huaining really did everything meticulously.


    What he gave to the only elder of the Mo Family, Old Lady Mo, was a stalk of aged wild ginseng to nourish her body.


    What he prepared for his sisters-inw were osmanthus cakes from the famous dessert shop in Yuncheng, and for the Mo brothers it was the tea leaves sent by his family before the new year.


    Finally, Meng Huaining took out an exquisite little cloth bag, inside was actually a long-eared rabbit pendant...


    In order to pick out a meaningful gift for Mo Hanyue, Meng Huaining went through a lot of trouble.


    He specifically sent Meng An out to gather information on what items youngdies liked these days.


    What Meng An found out was that recently, whether in Yuncheng or the surrounding counties, youngdies from wealthy families all took pride in being able to buy one of these pendants.


    However, Tang Mingrui currently did not have any in stock. Meng Huaining managed to barely obtain this one by leveraging his position as the county magistrate.


    Not only that, he even spent a premium price for it. People were buying them at 12 taels each, but he ended up paying 24 taels to get his hands on one.


    Upon seeing this long-eared rabbit pendant, the Mo Family people had varied reactions.


    The Mo brothers all looked at each other, wanting tough but not daring to.


    The sisters-inw were the same, and when they heard Meng Huaining spent 24 taels to buy this pendant, they all covered their mouths trying not tough.


    Meng Huaining observed their reactions and realized something was off. Somewhat at a loss, he asked:


    "Brothers and sisters, where did I do wrong?"


    Seeing that Meng Huaining spent money wrongly buying this pendant for her, Mo Hanyue''s face turned red as she exined embarrassingly.


    "Master Meng, this long-eared rabbit pendant was made by me and my sisters-inw."


    Hearing this, disbelief was written all over Meng Huaining''s face. But looking into Mo Hanyue''s pure, innocent eyes, he tried his best to gently ask:


    "Miss Mo means these pendants were made by you?"


    Mo Hanyue nodded vigorously: "Yes, our family raises rabbits. This was made using the tanned rabbit hides."


    Meng Huaining knew the Mo Family raised rabbits, he just thought it was to earn money selling rabbit meat.


    He didn''t expect they would utilize the fur so aptly.


    As the youngest daughter of the family, Mo Hanyue was doted on by everyone. Seeing the pendants they made delighted the little miss, each sister-inw had kept one of every color for her.


    Mo Hanyue went back to her room for a bit, and soon brought back seven long-eared rabbit pendants in various colors.


    She disyed them in front of Meng Huaining.


    "Please see, Master Meng, I have seven pendants in different colors."


    Meng Huaining was stunned...


    He had painstakingly picked out a special gift for Mo Hanyue, but in the end what he chose turned out to be something made by the Mo Family themselves.


    On top of that, he had paid more than double the price to purchase it.


    Thinking of this, a faint embarrassed blush crept up Meng Huaining''s originally fair face.


    This gift had really backfired. He med Meng An for not inquiring clearly when buying it, causing him to end up in such an awkward situation.


    Seeing Meng Huaining''s difort, Mo Jiuye realized his sister had poured oil on the fire by bringing out the seven colored pendants.


    Even if he wanted to ease the atmosphere, he didn''t know what to do.


    Ultimately it was Old Lady Mo who spoke first, breaking the brief silence.


    "Although these long-eared rabbit pendants originated from our Mo Family, the quantity has always been limited. Many who failed to buy one offered high prices for them. For Master Meng to choose such a gift for Hanyue, he really gave it much thought."


    The eldest sister-inw also yed along, "That''s right, you can tell Master Meng put great care into selecting this gift. This item is especially popr among the youngdies in the city right now."


    The corner of Meng Huaining''s mouth twitched as he followed the lead they gave him and said,


    "When this official was selecting a gift, I did think so at the time. Since this pendant came from the Mo Family, it doesn''t count as a gift. This official will look for an even better item to give Miss Mo aspensation."


    Mo Hanyue quickly waved her hands, somewhat embarrassedly saying, "Master Meng needn''t go through the trouble. I really like this gift."


    As she spoke, she ced the pendant Meng Huaining brought together with her original seven.


    "This way it''s even better, I have an additional lovely pendant."


    As the little girl was speaking, she bashfully lowered her head.


    In Northwest China, in the capital city, rich families followed strict customs. Youngdies would not appear before male guests from outside the home.


    Meng Huaining was also the first outsider Mo Hanyue had interacted with at such a close distance since she was little.


    Especially since Meng Huaining had extraordinary bearing himself, causing Mo Hanyue''s heart to race at the sight of him.


    Sitting at the head, it seemed Old Lady Mo also noticed something.


    She got up and called to Mo Hanyue, "Hanyue, apany Mother to the rear courtyard."


    Mo Hanyue obediently followed her mother outside.


    Once outside, Old Lady Mo''s expression immediately became stern.


    She looked at Mo Hanyue. This girl had reached marriageable age. If it wasn''t for the Mo Family''s fall from grace, she would have already nned to find a suitable match from a good family for her in the capital city.


    Now in Northwest China, the Mo Family''s once prestigious status was gone. They were now justmoners.


    Mo Hanyue''s marriage had truly be a difficult matter weighing on Old Lady Mo''s mind.


    Although she didn''t ce as much importance on social status, especially since the Mo Family had already declined, as a mother she still sincerely didn''t want her daughter to marry a peasant.


    After all, Mo Hanyue had been well-educated since she was little, even proficient in musical instruments, chess, calligraphy and painting.


    Forget about status for now. Two children raised inpletely different environments living together would surely have many issues epting each other, and in that kind of life, Hanyue likely wouldn''t find happiness.


    Just now, Old Lady Mo had inadvertently captured Meng Huaining''s barely hidden gentle glow when looking at Mo Hanyue.


    With her experience, she judged that Meng Huaining had feelings for her daughter.


    It seemed her daughter did not dislike Meng Huaining either.


    Although the Mo Family had fallen on hard times now, the Meng Family situation wasn''t much better. Meng Huaining was only a magistrate of the seventh rank. His family had also declined.


    Therefore, Old Lady Mo didn''t feel that Mo Hanyue marrying Meng Huaining would be reaching too high above her station. On the contrary, it was a good match.


    Thinking this, she was willing to fulfill the wish of these two young people.


    However in these kinds of matters, the man''s side should make the overtures first. Even if she intended to matchmake her daughter with Meng Huaining, she could not indicate so in front of others.


    But before that, Old Lady Mo still wanted to understand her daughter''s thoughts.


    Mo Hanyue''s heart and mind were simple. She didn''t think about why her mother would bring her out.


    Mother and daughter returned to the room. Mo Hanyue carefully ced those pendants back in their original spots, then prepared to go help out at the rear courtyard.


    Seeing her about to leave, Old Lady Mo quickly stopped her.


    "Hanyue, talk to Mother."

 Chapter 249: She Must hold Her hands up.

    <h4>Chapter 249</h4>


    Tang Mingrui had originally nned to stay at the Mo Family for one day. At this time, people were at home celebrating the New Year. He didn''t have much business to attend to, so it was a rare leisure time most suitable for visiting friends and rtives.


    However, after taking stock of those cold rabbit dishes, he couldn''t sit still. He wanted to transport those cold rabbit dishes into the city before noon to sell more silver during the New Year.


    He called Tang Mingxin to leave together. Unexpectedly, when Tang Mingxin came out from Mo Hanyue, she was actually hugging a furry thing that looked bigger than a puppy.


    The fur on the furry thing was long. Its ears were also drooping on both sides of its head because they were too long. If the rabbit had not moved, Tang Mingrui would have thought it was a new kind of doll made by the Mo Family again.


    Tang Mingxin hugged the Angora lop rabbit with a smile that made her eyes curve.


    "Big brother, look, Sister Hanyue gave me a big treasure."


    Tang Mingrui had long been attracted by the fluffy furry thing in his sister''s arms. He went over to take a look and asked, "Is this a rabbit?"


    Tang Mingxin nodded vigorously, "Yes, it''s Sister Hanyue''s darling. She generously gave me one."


    Tang Mingrui knew that the Mo Family raised rabbits. He had also followed to the backyard rabbit shed to take a look before, but those were just more good-looking thanmon wild rabbits, and had noparability with this one at all.


    If it was said that this rabbit was also used to eat meat, Tang Mingrui would definitely not believe it.


    He knew that the rabbits raised by the Mo Family were all taken care of by Auntie Jiu, so he asked He Zhiran:


    "Auntie Jiu, did you raise this rabbit too?"


    He Zhiran had originally nned to talk about the Angora lop rabbit business after the New Year. After all, those newborn baby rabbits were still very small, and they would have to be weaned for at least some time.


    What she didn''t expect was that the Angora lop rabbit that Mo Hanyue had always treasured, she would so generously give someone one today.


    Since Tang Mingrui had already seen it, she simply exined,


    "This is called an Angora lop rabbit. The prototype of the ornaments we make is this breed of rabbit. This kind of rabbit has a cute appearance and is very friendly. It is more suitable as a pet."


    After listening to He Zhiran''s exnation, Tang Mingrui carefully took the Angora lop bunny from his sister''s hands and examined it carefully.


    Not to mention the peculiar figure of the Angora lop rabbit. Just based on this silly cute appearance, even he, a grown man, liked it very much.


    If such rabbits were sold on the market, the proceeds would surely be considerable.


    Of course, such business would still have to find wealthy buyers.


    "Sister-inw Mo, do you sell such rabbits?"


    "Sell, of course they will be sold." He Zhiran answered very directly.


    Hearing such an answer, it seemed that Tang Mingrui could already see countless banknotes flying towards him.


    He remembered that when he was young and went to Jiangnan for business with his father, a wealthy family had raised one or two white long-haired cats with different colored eyes. It was said that because the cat had a special appearance and was extremely rare, the wealthy man had spent thousands of gold to buy it.


    Although this was just a rabbit, its appearance was absolutelyparable to that cat.


    If he could meet a buyer who really valued it, he didn''t dare to guarantee that he could sell it at the sky-high price of thousands of gold, but thousands of silver should not be a problem.


    Of course, such business would still have to find wealthy buyers.


    "Auntie Jiu, can you give me one or two of these rabbits to bring with me? After the fifth day of the new year, I n to go to the prefecture to find wealthy buyers."


    Hearing Tang Mingrui mention wealthy buyers, He Zhiran had already guessed that he intended to sell the rabbit at an astronomical price.


    In this regard, she had to support it wholeheartedly.


    However, He Zhiran agreed with the idea in her heart that Angora lop rabbits were going to be sold as pets.


    Keeping pets is different from buying other goods. Many people like to raise them from a young age so that the feelings between humans and pets can be increasingly profound.


    Not to mention that Mo Hanyue had always raised these Angora lop rabbits as treasures, so she must have deep feelings for them. If those adult rabbits raised for a few months were taken out to exchange for money, the little girl would surely feel bad.


    With this thought in mind, He Zhiran exined, "There are not many such rabbits in our family at the moment, and many have already given birth. It is estimated that in another twenty days, those baby rabbits can survive independently. Brother Tang, why don''t you consider selling the baby rabbits directly at that time? I feel that would be more eptable to people."


    When she mentioned the baby rabbits, Tang Mingxin suddenly became all smiles. She had just witnessed how cute they were at Sister Hanyue¡¯s ce earlier.


    Then she gave her elder brother a vivid description of how cute those baby rabbits were.


    "Brother, you didn''t see that those baby rabbits were all white, each one like a little meatball. If Sister Hanyue wasn''t worried that those rabbits were too small and I wouldn''t be able to raise them, she would have definitely given me a baby rabbit."


    After listening to his sister''s description, Tang Mingrui was even more tempted.


    "Auntie Jiu, can I see those little rabbits?"


    No matter what, he had to see what these little rabbits looked like clearly. Even if he couldn''t do the business immediately, at least when he met rich people in the future, he could describe it.


    It seemed that Mo Hanyue must have heard the movement outside. As soon as Tang Mingrui finished speaking, she walked out holding a baby rabbit.


    "Brother Tang, please take a look. This is an Angora lop baby rabbit."


    Such a ball of white cuteness made Tang Mingrui¡¯s heart melt.


    "This little guy is really cute."


    When it came to her rabbits being cute, Mo Hanyue¡¯s pretty tail was about to curl up to the sky.


    "Of course, I take good care of them."


    Seeing the girl''s naughty appearance, Tang Mingrui suddenly felt that she was cuter than the little rabbit.


    Unconsciously, he was somewhat stunned.


    He Zhiran noticed Tang Mingrui''s abnormality at a nce. She coughed lightly to remind, "Brother Tang, these rabbits can be sold in twenty days after giving birth."


    Tang Mingrui also regained his inappropriate thoughts and said solemnly, "Okay, twenty dayster, I¡¯lle to pick up the Angora lop rabbits."


    The miniature lop rabbits bred a batch as well, just that the time period was shorter, and the little rabbits still couldn''t handle the wind, so she let Mo Hanyue hold an adult one for Tang Mingrui to see.


    The lovely appearance of these two kinds of rabbitspletely subverted Tang Mingrui''s cognition.


    The big ones looked like puppies, and the small ones were only a little bigger than a palm. This was simply too cute.


    "Auntie Jiu, I will definitely sell these rabbits at a price that satisfies you."


    Even without Tang Mingrui saying this, He Zhiran was very clear in her heart. After all, it was not the first time the two had worked together on business.


    Especially for He Zhiran, who didn''t understand business operations, she thought very highly of Tang Mingrui''s business talent.


    "Alright, just sell them ording to your n when the timees. I''m responsible for providing the rabbits."


    Of course, the male Angora lop rabbits and male miniature lop rabbits she decided to sell could only be sold. The females could not be sold, and care had to be taken to prevent them from leaking out.


    This was the only way to avoid others taking them to breed andpete with her business.

 Chapter 252: Of Course You Can’t Go Wrong

    <h4>Chapter 252</h4>


    Mo Jiuye fixed his eyes and took a look. He recognized several people.


    They were all his former subordinates.


    As they walked, they said, "We haven''te to pay respects to the Mo Family''s generals for a long time."


    "s... we can''t me ourselves. They keep such a close eye on us that if they find out we''vee to pay respects to the Mo Family''s generals, they will definitely use it against us."


    "If I didn''t have a shred of passion left for defending my country, I really wouldn''t want to stay here any longer."


    As they spoke, all of them were stunned into silence.


    After a long while, one soldier forcibly swallowed a mouthful of saliva before pointing to the grave in front of him and saying, "What...what exactly is going on here?"


    "That''s right. The Mo Family has been loyal and righteous for generations. Why desecrate their graves even after their deaths?"


    "I heard Old Duke Mo''s family was exiled to the northwest. I''m thinking of finding an opportunity to go over and join them."


    "We don''t know the situation with the ninth master''s family right now. If we go, won''t we cause them trouble?"


    "What trouble could we cause them? If we go, we can find work and help the ninth master out a bit. He has to provide for such a huge family on his own. I doubt he can manage it alone."


    "......"


    The unconceble grief and indignation on the soldiers'' faces was evident as they slowly stepped forward and filled in the soil of the graves with their bare hands.


    Seeing these people, Mo Jiuye felt an urge to reveal himself to them.


    But he couldn''t show himself for the time being. After all, he was secretly traveling, and the fewer people who knew about it the better.


    If those former subordinates really went to the northwest to find him as they intended, that would be perfect.


    Right now, the entire national treasury''s silver was with him and He Zhiran. Supporting a few brothers who had lived and died alongside him should be no problem.


    Besides, with his current status, he felt that he couldn''t be of any help to these soldiers, so revealing himself would be meaningless.


    After watching for a while and seeing that the soldiers kept filling in the soil, He Zhiran nced at him as if asking for his opinion. The two then slipped into the space.


    The first thing He Zhiran wanted to do was run a DNA test.


    The conclusion shocked both of them to some extent.


    The DNAparisons showed that none of the three sets were biologically rted to Mo Jiuye.


    What did this mean?


    It meant that it was very likely his three brothers were also still alive...


    Mo Jiuye was instantly petrified. He couldn''t understand why his brothers had disappeared one after another. What kind of conspiracy was behind all this?


    If that mysterious man was really the one Mother had spoken of who had liked Yuan Meng, then his treatment of the Mo Family made sense. He was getting revenge for Yuan Meng in apletely twisted way. It showed how dark that man''s heart was.


    In any case, it was good news that his brothers hadn''t died on the battlefield. It meant there was a high chance they were still alive.


    Mo Jiuye now deeply felt that he had an arduous task ahead of him. Not only did he have to find his eldest and second brothers, he also had to make every effort to track down clues about his other brothers.


    Ultimately, the only shortcut was to find that mysterious man.


    However, He Zhiran had no intention of stopping there.


    "Since we''re here already, why not check your father''s remains as well?"


    Mo Jiuye had thought of this too. Now that it was proven these graves didn''t contain the Mo Family members, even if he was condemned for filial impiety, he still wanted to examine them.


    "Alright, let''s see if those people have left first."


    They had entered the space from the tree, and Mo Jiuye was worried He Zhiran would exit in the wrong spot. He immediately put his arm around her waist, the same way as when they had entered the space.


    The two reappeared in the tree, just in time to see the soldiers'' retreating backs.


    After the people had walked far away, the couple came to Old Duke Mo''s grave.


    Mo Jiuye knelt down and kowtowed again.


    "Father, your unfilial son mustmit this offense to verify whether you are still alive. Please forgive me."


    After speaking, Mo Jiuye stood up. Through his earlier observations, he had already learned to operate the miniature excavator. So without He Zhiran lifting a finger, he took the initiative and started digging.


    An hourter in the space¡ª


    "Zhiran, you didn''t get the test wrong, did you? This isn''t father''s corpse?"


    He Zhiran''s tone was indisputable. "Of course not. I can definitively tell you the corpse in the grave is not biologically rted to you at all."


    Mo Jiuye was instantly petrified again. Though his brothers'' bizarre disappearances could still be reasoned out somehow, his father had already passed away for so long. Where could he be?


    He Zhiran now felt that what had happened to the Mo Family was just too convoluted. Although they still hadn''t been able to find out everything, based on what they knew about those few brothers, it seemed they were all still alive.


    Even someone as steady and calm as Mo Jiuye normally would have a nk mind when encountering something like this.


    He Zhiran could understand his feelings. It was good news that his family was alive, but they currently had no idea of their whereabouts or even a lead to start searching.


    She went up and took Mo Jiuye''s arm, and gently said, "Since we''re already in the South Bordends, let''s start looking for clues here first."


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "Alright, this is all we can do for now."


    In fact, He Zhiran didn''t know that at this moment, his heart was bleeding. He couldn''t imagine what kind of circumstances his father and brothers were in right now. The wretched state of his third, fifth and eighth brothers was still vivid in his mind.


    His fists were clenched tight now. No matter what, he had to find his missing father and brothers.


    He Zhiran looked at therge wall clock. It was already 4 p.m.


    They would definitely need to take some action after nightfall when entering the South Bordends. She went to the kitchen to simply stir-fry two small dishes, and the couple had a simple meal.


    Before leaving the space, the two changed disguises again. Mo Jiuye once again became that ugly man with sideburns.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye like this now, He Zhiran couldn''tugh at all even though she was usually in a heavier mood.


    She quickly changed into men''s clothing and left the space hand-in-hand with Mo Jiuye.


    To cover their tracks, Mo Jiuye first filled in the opened grave. Only then did the couple walk down the mountain hand in hand.


    Night had just fallen when the husband and wife arrived at the entrance to the South Bordends.


    Perhaps because of the frequent battles recently, security was extremely tight at the entrance to the South Bordends, and there were hardly any travelersing and going.


    Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran up onto a thick tree and softly exined,


    "The South Bordend people are very cautious. During times of war, to prevent spies from sneaking in, they station heavy troops to guard the entrance."


    He Zhiran took a telescope out of the space and peered towards the entrance to the South Bordends.


    Sure enough, just as Mo Jiuye had said, they could clearly see with the naked eye several patrols grasping weapons while patrolling back and forth outside the entrance.


    And this was just what was visible to the naked eye. Looking further away, there were nearly a thousand soldiers. Not only that, there was also a group of about fifty people, each leading a dog.


    The dogs'' build looked somewhat like greyhounds from the previous world, not seeming very big yet extremely fierce.


    With such strict security, passing smoothly into the South Bordends would really take some effort.


    No wonder Mo Jiuye had suggested sneaking in under the cover of night early on.

 Chapter 254: Something’s Weird in Here.

    <h4>Chapter 254</h4>


    He Zhiran was dressed more simply, with her long hair braided into countless little braids and wearing a special floral hat.


    After thinking for a moment, He Zhiran purchased two sets of clothing based on the characteristics of South Xinjiang attire from the Taobao Mall.


    She and Mo Jiuye each put on the newly purchased outfits. This time He Zhiran did not continue to dress as a man, but made herself up as a South Xinjiang woman instead.


    After Mo Jiuye had finished dressing up, he also did not look like his original self, and was a typical South Xinjiang man from head to toe.


    The two checked each other and made sure there were no ws before leaving the space.


    Now they did not have to evade anyone, but could swagger down the street.


    Indeed, as He Zhiran had expected, there were South Xinjiang soldiers everywhere on the street.


    The military dogs that had beenmanded around by the steamed bun were also gradually being called back.


    The soldiers were in squads of ten or so, each walking a military dog, searching everywhere on the big streets.


    In order not to attract the attention of the soldiers, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran deliberately kept their heads low and walked as if very afraid.


    Even so, the soldiers did not let them off. A soldier leading a military dog blocked their way.


    "Have you seen two Da Shun people?"


    Mo Jiuye held He Zhiran¡¯s hand tightly, answering nervously, "No...didn¡¯t see them.¡±


    He often dealt with South Xinjiang people and could respondpletely in their dialect.


    The dissatisfied soldier red at them angrily before letting them leave.


    Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran straight towards the next city in South Xinjiang.


    On the way, they passed the ce where their barracks were located, which was already on high alert.


    They were not worried about this. Now that they were dressed as South Xinjiang people, they would be questioned at most, just like earlier.


    As expected, when they reached the checkpoint, someone intercepted them.


    "What do you do?"


    Mo Jiuye quickly stepped forward and exined, "We came to see an old friend on the border, and now we n to return to Lian City."


    Lian City was the city closest to the South Xinjiang border. As long as they passed through here, it was a two hour walk.


    In addition, Mo Jiuye knew that South Xinjiang''s management was not as meticulous as Da Shun''s, and the city gates would not be closed at night except during wartime.


    Therefore, saying they were going to Lian City now would not seem too abrupt.


    The soldiers checked them and let them leave.


    From time to time Mo Jiuye used some qinggong with He Zhiran to hurry on their way. In less than an hour they entered Lian City.


    Lian City was not their final destination. Brother San had heard that the Si Meng Mountain Vi was in the suburbs of the South Xinjiang capital, which was still more than 200 li from Lian City.


    In order to arrive at their destination sooner, the couple took out the G-Wagen outside Lian City''s official road.


    There were not many people here, and it was dark and windy, perfect for driving down the road.


    Mo Jiuye had been very silent all the way because he had discovered that his elders were still alive.


    He Zhiran did not bother him either, sitting in the passenger seat and thinking about the next step of the n.


    After thinking for a long time, she spoke up.


    "Where do you n to go first?"


    Although Mo Jiuye had not spoken, he had been weighing this problem in his heart all along. Seeing his wife ask, he told her his thoughts.


    "I n to go to Si Meng Mountain Vi first."


    This proposal was consistent with He Zhiran''s ideas.


    At the beginning, although neither of them said the order in which to go, they had both tacitly agreed to go to the pce first.


    Not only was there dendrobium that could help the sisters-inw detoxify, but also the ck South Pearl that she had promised little Xiaoxiao she would collect.


    However, after digging up those tombs, their ideas had changed.


    At this moment, nothing was more important to Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran than the news of the elders. Moreover, if they were really still alive, they didn¡¯t know what kind of torment they were suffering now. Naturally, the sooner they were rescued, the better.


    Therefore, Si Meng Mountain Vi was where the most important clue was at the moment.


    He Zhiran said solemnly, "Well, we should go there first. In case we make too much noise at the pce first and attract the attention of people with ulterior motives, that would not be good."


    Mr. Si Meng''s whereabouts were so bizarre that he was obviously a very meticulous person. Once there was any wind or grass that aroused his rm, it was very likely that the only clue to Si Meng Mountain Vi would be cut off.


    The couple agreed, and Mo Jiuye arrived in the suburbs of the capital before dawn driving the G-Wagen.


    The two were dressed as vigers from the nearby area, each with a basket on their back. Following the route described by Brother San, they walked up the mountain trail.


    Brother San said that there was an inconspicuous cave in the valley. As long as they entered from that cave entrance and walked to the end, they could see a valley where Si Meng Mountain Vi was located.


    The couple went through a lot of trouble before finally finding the so-called inconspicuous cave.


    It was truly fitting to call it inconspicuous. The cave entrance was very small to begin with, only allowing one person to stoop and walk in. Not only that, the weeds in front of the cave grew very tall. If it hadn¡¯t been for Brother San¡¯s description of the general appearance here, it would not have been easy for them to find it.


    The two entered the cave one after the other, with Mo Jiuye in front, one hand holding a shlight to illuminate the way and the other hand pulling He Zhiran.


    After walking about a few hundred meters, light finally appeared ahead, and at the same time, Mo Jiuye turned off his shlight and slowed down his pace.


    He Zhiran suddenly felt cold all around her. She whispered to Mo Jiuye, "It''s a bit strange here."


    "Do you feel a little cold?" Mo Jiuye had the same feeling.


    As they spoke, the two walked out another ten steps or so. This feeling of cold grew stronger and stronger.


    He Zhiran held Mo Jiuye''s hand tightly. If there was danger ahead, she would take Mo Jiuye into the space as soon as possible.


    The two tiptoed forward hand in hand cautiously when Mo Jiuye suddenly stopped walking. He pricked up his ears to listen carefully to the sounds ahead.


    He Zhiran also tried her best to capture the source of the sound.


    She only felt a rustling sound ahead.


    The two looked at each other and moved forward even more carefully.


    After walking another ten meters or so, Mo Jiuye stopped again.


    The sound became clearer and clearer, and He Zhiran felt a slight hissing sound like groups of snakes tangled together.


    Mo Jiuye whispered, "There are probably snakes ahead, and a lot of them."


    It was indisputable that there were many snakes, insects, rats and ants in South Xinjiang. However, the sound they heard was by no means that simple.


    Except for someone deliberately breeding them, it was impossible for such arge group of snakes to appear at once.


    "Let''s go into the space to think of a way, and rest for a while at the same time."


    After traveling overnight and climbing the mountain for so long after dawn, He Zhiran¡¯s body was somewhat taxed.


    With that said, the two immediately appeared inside the space.


    What He Zhiran said about entering the space to think of a way was undoubtedly about using realgar.


    ording to her understanding, as long as realgar was sprinkled on the body, snakes would avoid it as soon as they smelled it.

 Chapter 255: Into the Jungle

    <h4>Chapter 255</h4>


    In addition, there was her darling Rice Ball. The little guy could control the rabbits and sheep in her space, and evenmand those military dogs. She wondered whether it could also make these venomous snakes bow their heads in submission.


    At this moment, Rice Ball also discovered its owner. It came running over on its little short legs, swaying from side to side.


    Without a doubt, the first thing Rice Ball wanted when it saw its owner was a hug.


    He Zhiran also had the innate desire to kiss, hug and toss in the air such an adorable little guy.


    That was exactly what she did, indulging in sweet affection with the cute little fellow before preparing a bowl of milk for it.


    Once Rice Ball was full, He Zhiran said to it, ¡°Rice Ball has eaten its fill. Can it do me a favor now?¡±


    ¡°Mm...¡±


    ¡°There are many snakes outside. Can you make them listen to you?¡±


    ¡°Mm...¡±


    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll rest for a while before taking you out.¡±


    ¡°Mm...¡±


    Rice Ball kept emitting little ¡°mm¡± sounds, amusing He Zhiran into softlyughing, while hugging and rubbing it in her arms again.


    After awhile, she let Rice Ball go off on its own to y in the bamboo grove, and had a simple meal with Mo Jiuye, intending to take a nap before going outside again.


    Although she said it was just a nap, by the time she woke up it was already afternoon.


    The couple tidied themselves up, then held Rice Ball and emerged together within the mountain cave.


    The sounds of the snakes were still audible. He Zhiran softly said to Rice Ball, ¡°Sweetheart, do you hear the snakes?¡±


    ¡°Mm...¡±


    Apparently Rice Ball¡¯s call disturbed the snakes. The two humans stood still as they felt the sounds approaching them little by little.


    He Zhiran intended for Rice Ball to control these snakes, so before leaving her space she had not dusted herself and Mo Jiuye with realgar powder.


    She remained vignt at all times. If Rice Ball was unable to sessfully control the snakes, she could only return to her space again.


    Just as the snake group was getting closer and closer, Rice Ball let out another burst of howls. The snakes immediately halted their advance.


    At the same time, the two also saw the number of snakes. There were visibly over a thousand, densely packed together. Fortunately He Zhiran¡¯s psychological resilience was strong, otherwise she would surely have been disgusted by the sight of the endless sea of snakes before her.


    The scene was simply indescribable in words, but could be summed up in two words: ¡°Disgusting¡±.


    With so many snakes gathered together, there was no need to think about it. They must have increased the vignce of the people at the Simeng Mountain Vi due to Third Master''s previous intrusion.


    In order to prevent anyone else from sneaking in, they had deliberately released so many snakes here.


    While He Zhiran was lost in thought, Rice Ball let out another roar towards the snake group. The snakes then began to move in an orderly fashion, raising their heads and constantly flicking out their tongues...


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye looked at each other. They both knew that Rice Ball had seeded in controlling the snakes.


    ¡°Good boy, Rice Ball,¡± He Zhiran praised, unable to resist nting a loud kiss on its forehead.


    Delighted, Rice Ball frolicked and hugged its owner¡¯s neck affectionately.


    He Zhiran had suddenly kissed Rice Ball on impulse. Right now she still had something for the little guy to do, and could not keep showering it with affection.


    ¡°Be good, sweetie. Get them to follow us and disperse once we¡¯re safely out of the cave.¡±


    ¡°Mm...¡±


    Rice Ball proceeded to bare its teeth and pull funny faces at the snake group, letting out a few different calls. The snakes then moved to stand in orderly rows along both sides, clearing a path.


    Mo Jiuye cradled the proud Rice Ball in one arm and held He Zhiran¡¯s hand with the other as they walked out along the channel created by the snakes.


    Outside the cave was a primeval forest, tall trees and humid air. On the surface it looked like an uninhabited area, yet neither of them dared let down their guard.


    Encountering the snake group could be considered a wake-up call. Since someone had already interfered and entered Simeng Mountain Vi, the road ahead would surely be fraught with danger.


    As He Zhiran pondered this, she had already ced Rice Ball back into her space and taken out the prepared realgar powder to dust on herself and Mo Jiuye.


    ording to Third Master, after exiting the cave they would have to pass through the lush forest ahead to reach Simeng Mountain Vi.


    Now that even the snakes had emerged, there was no telling what else might be lurking in the woods.


    Speaking of which, in such a ce there would be nothing more than other poisonous bugs and creatures. The realgar powder wouldn¡¯tpletely neutralize their venom, but could at least buy them a bit of time to react.


    Once preparations wereplete, the husband and wife set off together into the depths of the forest.


    It was fine at the beginning. The path was covered in slippery green moss but didn''t seem dangerous.


    When they went deeper into the woods, they came to a sea of flowers that was a feast for the eyes.


    Girls were born to love all things beautiful, and He Zhiran was no exception.


    Yet right now she had no mood to appreciate the scenic view, because hovering above the flowers was a dense swarm of wasps.


    The birds in the forest must have spotted the wasps and gradually flew in their direction to prey on them.


    He Zhiran had originally considered purchasing some insecticide from Taobao Treasure to deal with the wasps.


    But upon seeing the birds hunting them, she changed her mind.


    The soundly sleeping Rice Ball was once again taken out of space by its owner. Woken up suddenly and finding itself in a different environment, the little fellow immediately started to fuss.


    He Zhiran gently patted its back, coaxing softly, ¡°Be good, Rice Ball. I need your help.¡±


    On hearing that it was needed, the little guy immediately became serious. It seemed to know that by helping its owner it would get more bowls of milk.


    ¡°Mm mm mm...¡± Rice Ball seemed to be saying, Master, hurry and give me a task!


    He Zhiran pointed towards the sea of flowers and said, ¡°There¡¯s a swarm of wasps over there. Can you call all the birds here to prey on them?¡±


    She said this just to try it out. After all, controlling the entire forest¡¯s poption of birds was no small feat. She had no idea if the little guy could aplish it.


    But this was the most convenient method so she had to give it a shot.


    Rice Ball blinked its pitch ck eyes a few times then lifted its virtually invisible little neck and howled towards the sky.


    In the blink of an eye flocks of birds came flying in from all directions.


    Rice Ball demonstrated its prowess once more, calling out to the birds several times. All the birds that had flown over then headed straight for the sea of flowers, instantly covering up the wasps.


    About five minutester, the air above the flowers finally calmed down. Not only had the dense swarm of wasps disappeared without a trace, even the birds had flown away on their own.

 Chapter 256: Through the gift of the Great God.

    <h4>Chapter 256</h4>


    Rice Ball hugged its owner''s neck, expecting a reward.


    As expected, He Zhiran didn''t disappoint the little guy. After giving it a kiss on its little head, he sent it back to the space.


    At the same time, all the necessary food, like milk, tender bamboo shoots, small apples, and carrots, were not missing.


    Watching Rice Ball excitedly running towards the food, He Zhiran regained his consciousness.


    What followed was Mo Jiuye''s sigh.


    "I didn''t expect Rice Ball to have such great abilities."


    "Yeah, this little guy is clever." He Zhiran felt that Rice Ball''s abilities were like a gift from a divine being who had sent her across time and space. Otherwise, how could one exin Rice Ball''s extraordinary talents?


    The two of them smoothly passed through the floral sea, thinking that there might be some difficult obstacles ahead. But to their surprise, they encountered no trouble until they saw the shadow of a house.


    Si Meng Mountain Vi was right in front of them, and Mo Jiuye''s heart became heavy.


    If Mr. Si Meng was truly responsible for the demise of his Mo family, then his missing parents and siblings might have been here at some point.


    It was still early in the day, and they couldn''t determine the specific situation inside the vi. To avoid alerting anyone, they decided to sneak in after nightfall.


    Even after nightfall, they remained cautious.


    He Zhiran took out a drone and controlled it to hover around the vi to get a sense of the terrain.


    As the drone observed, it was just as Third Brother had described. The ce seemed like an abandoned manor on the surface, with nothing particrly noteworthy and no signs of human presence.


    In other words, their first task was to investigate the specific situation inside the dry well based on the information obtained from Third Brother''s interrogation.


    He Zhiran stored the drone in the space.


    Although the drone was advanced, it couldn''t detect someone intentionally hiding. Therefore, they didn''t take entering the vi lightly.


    Mo Jiuye had formidable martial arts skills, and his senses of sight and hearing were beyond ordinary. He remained vignt, carefully observing any movement around them.


    And so, the two of them arrived at the edge of the dry well.


    He Zhiran took out a shlight from the space, intending to observe the bottom of the well. But Mo Jiuye immediately hugged her and swiftly rotated.


    "Be careful."


    As he spoke, several arrows shot out from the well, but thanks to their quick reflexes, the arrows missed.


    "I didn''t expect there to be traps in this dry well." He Zhiran''s voice still trembled slightly. Thankfully, Mo Jiuye was quick-witted; otherwise, it wouldn''t have been easy for her to evade those arrows with their speed.


    Mo Jiuye''s expression turned serious. "Where did you touch just now?"


    ording to the information obtained from Third Brother''s interrogation, this was the entrance to the hidden chamber. It wouldn''t be easy to enter the chamber without knowing how to avoid these traps.


    He Zhiran tried hard to recall where she might have touched just now.


    "I didn''t touch the well''s opening. If there''s a trap, it must be under our feet."


    When she mentioned that the trap might be under their feet, Mo Jiuye quickly pulled her behind him and cautiously approached to examine.


    Mo Jiuye crouched not far from where He Zhiran had just stood, cautiously probing the ground with his fingers, gradually increasing the pressure.


    After a while, his movements suddenly stopped.


    He Zhiran asked, "Have you found something?"


    Mo Jiuye whispered, "I feel like something''s not right here."


    He Zhiran carefully crouched down beside Mo Jiuye and reached out to gently touch the spot he mentioned.


    Sure enough, the soil there was slightly softer than elsewhere.


    Mo Jiuye gently scraped away the dirt and revealed an iron mechanism underneath.


    He Zhiran didn''t understand ancient mechanisms very well.


    "What do you think? Can you disable it?"


    If this mechanism only controlled the arrows, then they would be fine as long as they didn''t step on it. He Zhiran was worried that the mechanism might have other purposes, so she thought it would be best to disable it before figuring out a way to enter the bottom of the well.


    Mo Jiuye frowned and pondered for a moment before continuing to dig, trying to expose the entire control mechanism.


    He was extremely cautious, every move made with great care.


    After about ten minutes or so, Mo Jiuye finally managed topletely uncover the mechanism.


    "This is indeed a control device. When I led my troops into the Southern Frontier Pce, their treasury was equipped with a simr mechanism."


    "Is there a way to dismantle it?" He Zhiran was clearly anxious, not knowing if her touching the mechanism earlier would alert the people below the well.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t answer but asked her to use a shlight to illuminate the area.


    He opened the cover of the controller and examined it for a long time.


    "Ranran, I need a pair of sharper scissors."


    He Zhiran saw it too. Inside the controller, there were many copper wires extending in various directions, and in addition, there were several spring-like objects.


    It was estimated that the principle of this mechanism was that the copper wires pulled a certain switch, while the springs were used to trigger contact reactions.


    Although this mechanism was somewhat rudimentary in design, the wisdom of the ancients was truly admirable.


    Without much thought, He Zhiran''s consciousness entered the space and quickly purchased a pair of specialized iron-cutting scissors from Taobao, handing them to Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye took the scissors and cut all the copper wires inside.


    As a result, a sound of metal collision came from the bottom of the well, and under the light of the shlight, several unidentified insects could be seen flying out from the well.


    Mo Jiuye swiftly held He Zhiran and quickly retreated, reminding her, "Be careful."


    He Zhiran also reacted quickly, suspecting that these flying insects might be poisonous, so she immediately took out a bottle of insecticide from the space and held it in her hand.


    Once Mo Jiuye''s body steadied, she also raised the insecticide and sprayed it towards the insects.


    The insects struggled for a moment in front of the two before falling to the ground.


    After observing for a while and seeing no more insects flying out of the well, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran returned to their original position.


    Now that the mechanism was disabled, the two could finally examine the bottom of the well openly and boldly.


    He Zhiran held a shlight and shone it into the bottom of the well. Judging by sight, the well was at least five meters deep, with several protruding stones embedded on the walls on both sides.


    At the bottom of the well, there were dozens of arrows and several sharp daggers.


    These should be all the hidden weapons controlled by the mechanism.


    In addition to that, there were a few disgusting-looking toads.


    He Zhiran could only judge them as toads based on their appearance because these creatures wererger than the bullfrogs she had seen in her previous life, and their bodies were adorned with patterns of various colors.


    "Do you recognize this thing?"


    Mo Jiuye furrowed his brows tightly and said in a deep voice, "This should be the Seven-Colored Toad. It is said to be highly poisonous, and many poisons used by people in the Southern Regione from the blood of the Seven-Colored Toad."

 Chapter 257: Colorful Frog

    <h4>Chapter 257</h4>


    Upon hearing the name of the rainbow frog, He Zhiran suddenly felt it was not so unfamiliar.


    She discovered that after her sisters-inw were poisoned, in the book on ancient and modern poisons that she had casually browsed through when purchasing it, it was recorded that mixing the blood of the rainbow frog with other medicinal ingredients could make sleeping potions, as well as high quality love potions.


    The rainbow frog liked damp, gloomy environments, and its food had to be poisonous animals, such as poisonous snakes and scorpions.


    One could imagine that the aggressiveness of the rainbow frog was also very strong, since it could eat poisonous snakes and scorpions.


    It seemed that these rainbow frogs really were treasures.


    He Zhiran suddenly had the urge to take possession of these rainbow frogs. She didn''t care if she could raise them, as long as they were in her hands, she could take the time to extract their blood - it mighte in useful one day.


    With this thought in mind, her consciousness entered her storage space, where she bought an iron cage, intending to take all of the rainbow frogs away.


    Her current position was at the well opening, still quite a distance from the rainbow frogs, so using her thoughts to get them into the cage was impossible.


    Considering these creatures were full of poison everywhere, she didn''t dare rashly go down into the well either.


    It seemed that in order to get all of the rainbow frogs here into the cage, she would need the help of her precious little steamed bun.


    Sure enough, as soon as her little darling came out, it immediately took care of the rainbow frogs.


    She saw it roar at the rainbow frogs a few times, and the rainbow frogs quickly climbed up the walls of the well, before obediently jumping out of the well mouth and into the cage.


    The little steamed bun was about to struggle free from its mistress'' embrace to go take a look at its spoils of war, but He Zhiran heartlessly sent it into her storage space. These rainbow frogs were different from the others, being full of deadly poison. If her little steamed bun identally touched one, it would be a huge loss.


    To be safe, He Zhiran also bought a box in her storage space that could contain the iron cage, and after cing the cage inside, locked it up before finally feeling reassured enough to send her little steamed bun into storage space.


    He Zhiran knew that the little steamed bun would be unhappy at being forcefully put into storage space, and was just getting ready to enter her space consciousness tofort it a bit, when at this moment, there was movement from the well below.


    "Senior brother, our rainbow frogs have all disappeared, and the mechanisms have been destroyed by someone too."


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye could only hear someone speaking from below the well, but did not know the other side''s martial arts skills. To be safe, the two of them hurriedly retreated to a nearby big tree.


    "It was probably the little steamed bun''s cries that brought people out." He Zhiran guessed.


    "Mm, this is not bad too, at least it lets us know there are definitely people down in that well."


    As they talked, Mo Jiuye could already sense someoneing up from the well.


    He quietly reminded her, "Someone''sing up."


    He Zhiran did not reply, only fixed her eyes tightly on the direction of the well opening.


    Soon afterwards, two middle aged men, one tall and one short, climbed up from the well opening.


    The two first checked the mechanism control device that Mo Jiuye had just destroyed.


    The tall one said, "Not good, my rainbow frogs have all disappeared."


    Although the short one did not speak, his eyes began to look all around, while one hand reached into his clothes and took out several small porcin bottles.


    He removed the stopper from one of the bottles and let out the poisonous gu insect inside.


    "Darling, go and find the scent of the living."


    Just after his words fell, the gu insect, about the size of a honeybee, flew towards the direction of Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    Realgar could restrain gu insects, as He Zhiran had read in books.


    She had never personally experienced whether it really worked, so she did not dare take it lightly.


    To err on the safe side, she took out a methrower from her storage space and ced it in Mo Jiuye''s hands - if necessary, they would rather expose themselves than let the gu burn to death.


    They saw the gu flying straight towards them, just about to get close to the big tree concealing them, when it suddenly stopped.


    Then it started flying about chaotically like a headless fly.


    Seeing the gu insect''s reaction, He Zhiran could confirm the realgar was effective, and finally let out a breath.


    Although she and Mo Jiuye were unafraid of those two people, it was still best not to expose themselves before finding out anything.


    Watching as the gu insect flew away, the short man was dumbfounded.


    "Senior brother, why is my gu so abnormal today?"


    The tall one was also somewhat at a loss. In all their years raising gus, they had never encountered such a situation before.


    "It was in front of that big tree that your gu started acting strange - there must be something fishy there."


    As they spoke, both of their gazes fell upon the direction of the big tree.


    "Senior brother, let''s go over and take a look."


    "Alright."


    The two walked over, checking carefully the whole time, and were very cautious.


    Mo Jiuye was also prepared to take action.


    He Zhiran took out a sleeping potion made from green bamboo snakes from her storage space - as soon as these two people approached, she would first make them fall unconscious.


    The two were careful, one hand grasping a weapon, the other holding a gu-breeding porcin bottle, maintaining their readiness to take action at all times.


    Just as Mo Jiuye was about to make his move, He Zhiran pulled him back with a grab.


    She shook her head at Mo Jiuye, then quickly circled around him and scattered a handful of sleeping powder at the two men.


    In merely an instant, the two had no chance to react before copsing.


    He Zhiran waved her little hand, instantly storing the two men away in her space.


    Now that they had people to question for information, she and Mo Jiuye were in no rush to go down the well and investigate. The two entered the space together.


    Mo Jiuye first searched the two men, and astonishingly found 5 small porcin bottles for keeping gus on their bodies.


    It seemed these two were no ordinary gu raisers - for the average gu keeper, they were outstanding if they could breed two gus in a lifetime, yet these two had a total of six gus, including the one they had just released outside.


    That meant each of them had raised three gus.


    Mo Jiuye most hated these gu insects. Of the three brothers he had found at home, two had been poisoned by gu, so he knew their harmfulness was not shallow.


    Without He Zhiran needing to speak, he directly took out the methrower andpletely destroyed the five gu insects.


    But he was careless, and had not expected that out of the five gus, one was the tall man''s cherished gu. With the death of the gu insect, the unconscious tall man vomited blood and went to meet the King of Hell...


    Mo Jiuye...


    He had only hated these gu insects, and hadn''t thought that this man had actually bred a cherished gu.


    The person who should have been questioned had died before they even had a chance to ask.


    He Zhiran was also somewhat speechless for a time. She had long seen Mo Jiuye''s actions and did not stop him.


    Because she also hadn''t expected that the tall man would be so impressive as to breed a cherished gu.


    Now there was only one person left alive, they absolutely could not have any more idents.


    To be safe, Mo Jiuye tightly bound the short man up before letting He Zhiran wake him.


    The short man opened his eyes, and was shocked stiff by the verdant scenery in front of him. His first instinct was to stand up, before he discovered his body had been tied up like a rice dumpling.


    Turning his head, he saw the smiling yet not smiling faces of two people, and then lowering his head was his senior brother''s corpse...

 Chapter 258: What the hell are You Going to Do

    <h4>Chapter 258</h4>


    ¡°Who exactly are you?¡±


    The short man was quite bold. Having fallen into someone else''s hands, he waspletely unafraid.


    If one did not know better, it would seem he still held some trump card that could save his life.


    Mo Jiuye let out a cold snort before viciously kicking the short man, intent on reminding him of his current predicament.


    The kick was unrelenting in its force. The short man wailed in pain while a nameless fear rose in his heart simultaneously.


    He was about to ask his captors again why they had taken him when he suddenly felt something heavy collide violently with his body.


    Both He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye could see clearly that it was the rice ball creature.


    Seeing its master angry enough to kick that man, it also wanted to help.


    What was originally a very serious scene was nearly ruined by the little creature''s interference, almost making He Zhiran break outughing.


    Now was not the time for the rice ball to make mischief. He Zhiran held back herughter and sent it off to the bamboo grove to y by itself.


    The short man had also regained his senses. To think that he, a famous sorcerer from the Southern Bordends, had been mocked by a ck and white ball.


    An urge to curse welled up in him, but when he saw the icy, piercing look in Mo Jiuye''s eyes, he instantly lost his nerve.


    "Y-You... Just who are you? I''ve neither hatred nor grievance with you, why must you treat me thus?"


    "Who I am is none of your concern. Answer what I want to know and I''ll let you die quickly."


    To show he was not joking, as soon as he finished speaking Mo Jiuye ced the dagger over another one of the man''s fingers.


    That posture clearly told the short man that if he dared refuse, this finger would be forfeit as well.


    On her end, He Zhiran had also prepared a hypnotic pocket watch. If Mo Jiuye could not interrogate anything useful from the man, she would try using hypnosis.


    Moreover, she could tell that the short man actually feared Mo Jiuye''s threats but stubbornly refused to talk.


    In situations like these, it was often because they had some handle being used to control them that prevented them from speaking out.


    And indeed, even after Mo Jiuye cut off three more of his fingers, the result remained the same.


    He Zhiran went over and tugged at Mo Jiuye''s sleeve.


    "Let me try."


    Then, she squatted in front of the short man.


    "Since you''re unwilling to speak, we won''t force you. But I wonder if you recognize this item I have here."


    As she spoke, He Zhiran was already waving the pocket watch in front of the short man.


    At first, he still tried hard to discern the osciting object. Yet for some reason, after staring at it briefly, he felt an urge to doze off.


    Soon, his eyes grew dull and listless.


    To test whether the hypnosis had seeded, He Zhiran first asked some simple questions.


    "What''s your name?"


    Short Man: "I''m called Huang Xu."


    He Zhiran: "Where are you from?"


    Huang Xu: "I''m from the imperial capital in the Southern Bordends."


    He Zhiran: "Where do you live?"


    Huang Xu: "I live at Si Meng Mountain Vi."


    After asking these few questions while taking note of Huang Xu''s dazed expression, He Zhiran couldpletely determine that he had entered a hypnotized state.


    She nced at Mo Jiuye to signal him toe over and ask questions.


    Mo Jiuye squatted beside his wife and asked in a deep voice, "Who is Mr. Si Meng?"


    Huang Xu struggled briefly before answering, "Mr. Si Meng is my master."


    Mo Jiuye: "Where is he now?"


    Huang Xu: "I don''t know. I haven''t seen my master for three years already."


    Hearing that he didn''t know, Mo Jiuye instantly frowned.


    He Zhiran waved the pocket watch and continued asking, "How can we find your master?"


    Huang Xu: "My masteres and goes like a spirit. If he has business with me, he will naturally appear."


    He Zhiran: "What if there''s an urgent matter you need to report to your master?"


    Huang Xu: "Even for urgent matters I can only send a message to the Western Territory of Dashun before July each year. My master will go there once every July."


    He Zhiran: "Where in the Western Territory can your group find your master every July?"


    Huang Xu: "I don''t know. I''ve never gone to the Western Territory to look for my master."


    He Zhiran kept asking, "Has no one else from your group gone to the Western Territory to find your master?"


    Huang Xu: "No one has looked for him before."


    He Zhiran knew that it was impossible for Huang Xu to lie while hypnotized. This could only mean he truly had no idea where Mr. Si Meng was.


    Since he didn''t know, there was no need to keep interrogating fruitlessly.


    "What''s your master''s full name?"


    Huang Xu: "My master has never revealed his name. I only heard from my senior apprentice brother that his surname is Shao."


    Indeed it was Shao, the same as the young lord surnamed Shao who was infatuated with Yuan Meng ording to Lady Mo''s ount of the past. And this Mr. Si Meng also had the same surname, undoubtedly the same person.


    He Zhiran continued asking, "What does your master look like?"


    Huang Xu: "My master has a full head of white hair. Whenever hees to see us, he changes his appearance each time, so I don''t know what he really looks like."


    Mentioning a head of white hair, the first thought that came to He Zhiran''s mind was Yun Li''s description of ever-youthful white hair.


    She pressed on, "Does your master appear with ever-youthful white hair?"


    Huang Xu: "He has only shown up once with ever-youthful white hair. The other two times he took on the form of a woman and an elderly person respectively."


    He Zhiran: "You don''t even know his real looks. How do you confirm his identity then?"


    Huang Xu: "My master has a token. We recognize him by the token."


    After asking so much, it seemed there were hardly any useful clues, only confirmation that Mr. Si Meng was the person Lady Mo spoke about.


    He Zhiran observed Huang Xu''s hypnotized state, which currently showed no signs of fading. Since this was the case, she simply asked some other questions as well.


    "The snake pits blocking the path to the mountain vi, did your group put them there?"


    "It was us who ced them there." Huang Xu answered very readily.


    "Why?" He Zhiran asked.


    Huang Xu: "Before the new year, one of my junior apprentice brothers went out to buy supplies but never returned. Worried about the safety of the mountain vi, we put the snake pits there."


    He Zhiran: "Who was controlling the snakes?"


    Huang Xu: "It was my eldest senior apprentice brother."


    He Zhiran: "Who is your eldest senior apprentice brother?"


    Huang Xu: "It''s the person who was with me."


    He Zhiran: "What about the colorful frogs at the bottom of the well then?"


    Huang Xu: "Those were all my eldest senior apprentice brother''s precious pets."


    He Zhiran: "So the well opening leads to your secret chamber?"


    Huang Xu: "Yes."


    He Zhiran: "How many other people are still inside the secret chamber now?"


    Huang Xu: "Aside from one person being held captive, there are three more of my junior apprentice brothers there."

 Chapter 259: Down Well

    <h4>Chapter 259</h4>


    Seeing that Huang Xu''s tone of voice was somewhat dull, He Zhiran knew that her hypnosis was about to wear off.


    Mo Jiuye also noticed something was wrong, and anxiously came forward to ask, "Who are you guys guarding?"


    Huang Xu: "I... I don''t know. It''s someone Master brought here for us to guard."


    As his voice fell, he sobered uppletely.


    He Zhiran put away her pocket watch and stood up, looking towards Mo Jiuye, "Do you have anything else you want to ask?"


    Mo Jiuye shook his head, "No more."


    After he finished speaking, he ended Huang Xu with a sh of his de.


    As for the two corpses, there was no need to hide them at all. Since they had alreadye to Si Meng Mountain Vi, they would definitely investigate this ce clearly. Even without these two corpses, it would still attract the attention of interested people.


    With a thought, He Zhiran made herself, Mo Jiuye and the two corpses appear outside.


    The two corpses were thrown there directly, and the two returned to the edge of the dried-up well.


    Now knowing there was no danger inside the dried-up well, Mo Jiuye swept He Zhiran by the waist and jumped down.


    Standing firmly at the bottom of the well, there was indeed an iron door recessing inward, as Mo Jiuye had expected. He reached out and pushed the door open.


    What came into view was a narrow passageway that could only amodate one person walking at a time. The passage was lined with a few dim oilmps on both sides.


    Mo Jiuye walked in front, with He Zhiran following closely behind. After walking out for about fifty meters, the light ahead became brighter and brighter.


    At the same time, they could vaguely hear people talking.


    "Eldest Senior Brother has been out checking for so long and still hasn''te back. Could something have happened?"


    "It shouldn''t be. Eldest Senior Brother has cultivated his life-protecting Gu, he can protect himself if necessary."


    "But they''ve been out for so long..."


    Before the voice could fall, the speakers heard the sound of the door.


    "Why were you guys out for so long, Eldest Senior Brother?"


    "Your Eldest Senior Brother has gone to see the King of Hell." Mo Jiuye answered jokingly.


    The voice was unfamiliar to those inside the secret room. Several people looked towards the entrance at the same time.


    They saw a man and a woman standing there with their arms crossed, staring at them.


    The few simultaneously reached into their clothes and took out their own Gu worms, assuming a vignt posture.


    At the same time, one who looked older spoke up and asked, "Just who exactly are you?"


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran walked unhurriedly towards the man without answering.


    Seeing this, the man quickly opened a porcin bottle in his hand and released a Gu worm.


    Before the Gu worm could get close to the two, it began to scurry around in panic.


    Seeing this, the others immediately became vignt and released their own Gu worms as well.


    Mo Jiuye raised his methrower gun, aimed at the Gu worms and sprayed fire, burning the three Gu worms into ashes in the blink of an eye.


    Seeing this, the three were shocked and turned pale. This was the first time they had encountered such a situation while using Gu worms.


    Especially since they had raised these Gu worms for a long time, the Gu worms had reached a state of spiritualmunication with their masters. As long as the masters conscientiously manipted them, they would never easily die.


    But what had they just witnessed?


    Their Gu worms had actually been burned to death by that kind of fierce fire they had never seen before...


    The few exchanged nces with each other, then prepared to release the rest of the Gu worms. They were even ready to take action personally.


    He Zhiran would not give them a chance to release the Gu worms. She raised her hand and threw out a packet of sedative powder, rendering them all unconscious.


    As their masters lost consciousness, the little porcin bottles in their hands also fell to the ground, making a series of clinking sounds.


    Mo Jiuye quickly came forward to collect those little porcin bottles and used his methrower gun to kill all the Gu worms.


    Then he searched the bodies of the few as well, but did not find any other Gu worms except for some silver tickets.


    The men had been drugged by a sedative personally concocted by He Zhiran. Without external interference, they would be asleep for at least two hours. She and Mo Jiuye tacitly did not hurry to interrogate them, but began searching the secret room instead.


    The secret room was quite spacious, visibly consisting of more than ten rooms.


    Not only were there studies, cultivation rooms, even kitchens and toilets.


    In addition, there should be the bedrooms where Mr. Simeng''s disciples lived.


    First, the two searched those bedrooms. Other than some men¡¯s clothing, the amount of silver money was also considerable.


    It goes without saying that these people must be engaged in some shady businesses, using Gu worms to do things for employers. It can be imagined that their ie must be substantial.


    He Zhiran wasn¡¯t interested in those men¡¯s clothes. She directly collected the silver tickets into her space.


    After searching all the bedrooms, the two went to the cultivation room.


    The cultivation room was also nothing special, just some meditation cushions and some small porcin bottles for keeping Gu worms.


    Lastly, they arrived at the study.


    The secret room¡¯s study was almost no different from an ordinary family¡¯s study. Bookshelves lined against the three walls, containing books rted to Gu techniques, as well as some about poison-making.


    He Zhiran didn¡¯t know if she would need these books in the future. Anyway, it¡¯s best that such harmful things don¡¯t circte too widely, lest they bring harm to more people.


    Therefore, she waved her little hand, collecting the books along with the bookshelves into her space all at once.


    She had expected that as usual, the objects in front of her would vanish without a trace.


    But that didn¡¯t happen...


    The books on the top shelf directly facing the door all disappeared, but the bookshelf didn¡¯t budge one bit.


    Mo Jiuye instantly noticed something was wrong. Based on his wife¡¯s consistent style, it was impossible for her to deliberately leave only this one bookshelf behind.


    There must be some special reason why she couldn¡¯t put it into her space.


    "There''s something wrong with this bookshelf. My spiritual sense doesn''t work on it," He Zhiran said.


    By now, Mo Jiuye had alreadye forward to touch the bookshelf tentatively.


    On the surface, there didn''t seem anything special about this bookshelf. It was just that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t make it budge one bit.


    "There is indeed something strange about this bookshelf," Mo Jiuye frowned and said, "If I''m not mistaken, this should be some kind of entrance to a secret passage."


    He Zhiran had the same guess.


    "Huang Xu said there was still someone Mr. Simeng brought for them to guard. They must be inside the secret room."


    The two gave up trying to move the bookshelf and started searching inside the study instead.


    Other than the books and the other two bookshelves which He Zhiran had taken into her space, the rest of the items remained untouched in their original ces.


    After sweeping his gaze around, Mo Jiuye eventually arrived in front of the room¡¯s only desk.


    He first tapped around on the desktop and, finding nothing unusual, tentatively reached under the desk to feel around.


    Seeing his body suddenly freeze, He Zhiran asked, "What is it? Did you discover something?"


    Mo Jiuye solemnly said, "The switch should be here."


    However, when he tried pushing it a few times, there wasn¡¯t the slightest sound.


    He Zhiran took a shlight from her space. The two of them squeezed under the desk to observe carefully.


    The switch Mo Jiuye referred to looked like an extremely ordinary piece of scrap iron on the outside. If they hadn¡¯t guessed that bookshelf might be the entrance to some kind of secret passage, it would have been difficult for them to think this piece of scrap iron was actually a switch.

 Chapter 260: Mo Xiuyan

    <h4>Chapter 260</h4>


    Mo Jiuye got up and tapped the spot on the tabletop that corresponded to the position of the iron lump below.


    He Zhiran could see clearly from under the table that after just a few taps, faint cracks began to appear where the iron lump met the tabletop.


    "Tap it a few more times," she said.


    Mo Jiuye responded and struck the tabletop again.


    "How about now?"


    "It hasn''t moved yet. Try tapping different spots," He Zhiran reminded him.


    Mo Jiuye continued tapping the tabletop, not too quickly, asking after every three taps.


    He Zhiran kept her eyes glued on the iron lump.


    "Don''t move, it should be right here. Keep tapping this spot," she said.


    She saw with her own eyes that the gap between the iron lump and the table grew a little wider.


    Mo Jiuye tapped that spot again, three times, then three times more...


    The iron lump slowly detached from the tabletop, extending into an iron rod as thick as a wrist.


    There was a button on the rod. He Zhiran tentatively pressed it.


    A muffled sound rang out in the silent room, and the motionless bookshelf slowly slid open on both sides.


    As the bookshelf moved, a pungent, foul odor instantly filled the air...


    Mo Jiuye took the shlight from He Zhiran and walked into the opening first.


    It was a very small room with little furnishing. In the corner was a bed.


    Lying t on the bed was a person who could easily be mistaken for dead if not for the visible rise and fall of his chest.


    Mo Jiuye asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"


    Mo Xiuyan thought it was those peopleing again to humiliate him. Hearing the sounds, he closed his eyes.


    He was now a crippled man, with even begging for death a luxury.


    In this lightless room, he had already lost track of how long he had been locked up. Whenever those people came in, other than shoving him some food and water, all they did was insult him.


    Mo Xiuyan was used to this by now. He only hoped that when those people tormented him, they would be a bit heavier handed so he could be freed from this misery sooner.


    Hearing this voice, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.


    But he could never have imagined it would be his ninth younger brother. He thought it must be that he missed his family so much that he was hallucinating.


    His rationality quickly defeated the longing in his heart. This must be someone new, only finding the voice unfamiliar on first hearing.


    Therefore, Mo Xiuyan did not respond. He continued lying there with closed eyes, waiting for the next round of possible torture.


    However, the expected did note even after waiting for a long time.


    Mo Jiuye had already walked over to his bedside, pulling He Zhiran along.


    The bright shlight beam forced Mo Xiuyan to open his eyes.


    Having not seen light for years, Mo Xiuyan could only squint under the ring shlight.


    The years of torment had stripped Mo Xiuyan of his former appearance. In Mo Jiuye''s eyes, the man before him had disheveled hair covered in unknown grime.


    His eye sockets were sunken, cheekbones protruding. If not for the breath still in him, he was the spitting image of a desated corpse.


    Despite this, Mo Jiuye still made out the general features of his face.


    He tentatively asked, "Fourth brother, is that you?"


    As he spoke, he realized fourth brother could not open his eyes fully due to the bright light and redirected the shlight beam elsewhere.


    If Mo Xiuyan had thought the voice was a hallucination earlier, now that Mo Jiuye had called out "fourth brother", there was no way he could still think it unreal.


    "Ninth younger brother, is it really you?"


    Mo Jiuye had called out like that to test as well, since Mo Xiuyan looked so different from his impression.


    He was clearly only around thirty, yet looked as old as a dying elder.


    He Zhiran could feel Mo Jiuye''s body trembling.


    She saw him squat by the bed, hands shaking as he reached out to touch Mo Xiuyan.


    Mo Xiuyan instinctively wanted to shy away butcked the strength.


    "Don''t...don''t touch me, I''m filthy," he said.


    Indeed, Mo Xiuyan''s clothes were tattered beyond recognition, glowing with umted grime and stains from unknown filth.


    Mo Jiuye would not be deterred at all. He continued what he was doing.


    The moment he made contact with Mo Xiuyan''s body, it was like his heart was bleeding.


    "Fourth brother, how did you be so emaciated?"


    Just the sight of Mo Xiuyan''s skeletal form was hard to ept. The real feeling of touching him was simply too much for Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Xiuyan squeezed out a pained smile. "That I still draw breath today is already heaven''s mercy."


    Now was not the time to ask Mo Xiuyan for details of his ordeal. He Zhiran reminded, "Husband, let me examine fourth brother''s condition first."


    Hearing that "husband", Mo Xiuyan knew without thinking that the woman speaking was his sister-inw.


    In his current filthy state, how could he possibly let his ninth brother''s wife help examine him?


    Mo Xiuyan quickly said, "Sister-inw, let me tell you..."


    He paused, then continued weakly, "My legs are broken, my arm tendons severed, but otherwise I''m fine."


    Fine?


    How could such an emaciated body be described as "fine"?


    Having been here for over six months, He Zhiran fully understood the thinking of ancient people.


    Especially between elder brother and sister-inw, an almost evasive rtionship existed.


    Mo Xiuyan''s current condition was clearly not as simple as he imed. To help examine him further required the advanced medical equipment from the System.


    Therefore, He Zhiran did not insist on examining Mo Xiuyan right away.


    She nned to let the two brothers chat for a bit first, then inject Mo Xiuyan with a tranquilizer to knock him unconscious before bringing him into the System.


    Whether it was examining his condition or getting him out of here, Mo Xiuyan needed to enter the System.


    Seeing his sister-inw make no further moves, Mo Xiuyan finally rxed his taut nerves a little.


    He gave a self-deprecatingugh, then said, "As a crippled man now, being able to see family again while still alive brings me muchfort.


    As for my body, even the great healer Bian Que alive today could surely not cure it."


    In the shlight beam, He Zhiran could see the deep disappointment in Mo Xiuyan''s eyes.


    Anyone would feel heartache over his situation, locked away in this lightless room, probably thinking of nothing besides waiting for death each day.


    "Fourth brother, trust me. I will find a way to cure you," Mo Jiuye said resolutely.


    Hearing his wife say this, he couldn''t help asking, "Ranran, can you really heal fourth brother''s condition?"


    He knew his wife''s medical skills were superb, but fourth brother''s situation was no ordinary illness.


    While broken legs did have a chance of being reattached, this was still only a probability.


    Fourth brother had been missing for years, so his leg injury was surely quite old. Putting aside how serious it was, he had never heard of anyone in this day and age able to cure it.


    As for fourth brother''s severed arm tendons, this was also incurable by Mo Jiuye''s knowledge.

 Chapter 261: I’ll find a way to cure Brother Four.

    <h4>Chapter 261</h4>


    He didn''t distrust his wife''s medical skills, but Fourth Brother''s condition was very special. Now that he was still alive after being found, it was already a blessing.


    Mo Jiuye had even thought ahead that as long as he could bring Fourth Brother back home, he would be willing to support him for life as long as he was alive.


    It was no surprise that He Zhiran was questioned. If she didn''t master advanced medical technology from the future, and have those advanced medical equipment in her space, she would never dare to say such things.


    "Trust me, I will find a way to cure Fourth Brother."


    The conversation between the two was heard clearly by Mo Xiuyan. In order not to make the young couple feel bad, he did not refute.


    After all, they were in someone else''s territory. To be safe, Mo Jiuye did not dare to stay here any longer.


    He Zhiran had the same idea, so she took out silver needles from her space.


    "Fourth Brother, let me first apply acupuncture to make you feel morefortable."


    As soon as she finished speaking, without waiting for Mo Xiuyan to respond, He Zhiran had already quickly inserted silver needles at several acupoints on his head.


    Soon, Mo Xiuyan lost consciousness.


    He Zhiran also injected him with a small amount of tranquilizers before settling the man on the operating table bed in the space.


    After examining the room once more and making sure nothing was amiss, the two returned to the entrance of the secret chamber.


    Coming to Simeng Mountain Vi and finding Mo Xiuyan was already the biggest gain for them.


    Moreover, from the interrogation of Huang Xu''s situation, these people may not necessarily know more than him.


    In order to leave here sooner to treat Mo Xiuyan, Mo Jiuye directly beheaded those three men and leapt out of the well with He Zhiran.


    It was already midnight now. With poor visibility going down the mountain, He Zhiran decided to enter the space on the spot to first check on Mo Xiuyan''s condition.


    Back in the space, they saw Dough trying hard to climb onto the operating table.


    It was understandable that the little guy was curious about the strangers.


    Seeing this, He Zhiran hurriedly took the little guy to the side and coaxed him with a small apple to go y by himself.


    Mo Xiuyan was still in a deep sleep.


    Mo Jiuye first fetched a basin of clear water and simply cleaned Fourth Brother''s body, then changed him into clothes that He Zhiran had temporarily purchased for him in Taobao Mall.


    With everything settled, He Zhiran came to the operating room.


    She first touched Mo Xiuyan''s legs, and instantly frowned.


    Seeing her expression, Mo Jiuye nervously asked, "Ranran, how are Fourth Brother''s legs?"


    "The condition of Fourth Brother''s legs is not very optimistic. This is not just a simple bone fracture."


    He Zhiran thought for a while and told her initial judgment.


    "All the bones in Fourth Brother''s lower legs are shattered. Compared to that, helping Fourth Brother reconnect the crushed bones is a small problem. The most important thing is that the muscles in his legs have all died, and those dead muscles must be removed and regenerated. Only then will Fourth Brother have a chance to stand up again in the future."


    This was only He Zhiran''s initial judgment. As for the condition of other parts of Fourth Brother''s body, further examination was still needed to make a diagnosis.


    After simply exining to Mo Jiuye, He Zhiran then used her consciousness to control various examinations of Fourth Brother.


    The results of the examination were not very optimistic.


    Seeing his wife''s solemn expression, Mo Jiuye felt uneasy in his heart again.


    "Ranran, how is Fourth Brother''s body?"


    "Fourth Brother has a serious deficiency of qi and blood."


    In other words, he was malnourished. In order for Mo Jiuye to understand, she chose to express it in thenguage of traditional Chinese medicine.


    "And many of Fourth Brother''s internal organs are damaged, especially the test indicators of his heart, which currently do not meet the conditions for surgery." He Zhiran tried to exin to Mo Jiuye in words he could understand.


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye became even more anxious.


    Now that they had finally found Fourth Brother, he could not have anything happen to him.


    "Ranran, is there any good way for Fourth Brother''s condition?"


    He Zhiran also felt that Fourth Brother''s condition was tricky.


    In her previous life, even if her patients had very poor physical condition, none of them had as many problems as Fourth Brother.


    "The injuries to Fourth Brother''s legs and hands can be treated a littleter. The most important thing now is to adjust his body to a state that can undergo surgery."


    Mo Jiuye didn''t understand medicine, but he believed his wife could surely cure Fourth Brother.


    "Alright, I''ll leave it to you, Ranran."


    There was no time to lose. Currently Fourth Brother''s condition was very poor. If it weren''t for him and He Zhiran rescuing him today, I''m afraid if they found him a few dayster, it would be Fourth Brother''s corpse.


    This kind of treatment would take at least half a month to show results. Fourth Brother was only in a temporarya and could not stay in the space for a long time.


    But for now, He Zhiran was still confident. The amount of drugs Fourth Brother used would make him sleep soundly until noon tomorrow.


    So He Zhiran hung sma bags on both of Fourth Brother''s hands, one was a bag of dark red sma, and the other was a nutritional solution to help him quickly regain his strength.


    After getting busy with these, the two did not rest at all and immediately left the space.


    By now, it was almost dawn outside. Mo Jiuye hugged He Zhiran using qinggong (lightness skill) to swiftly rush down the mountain.


    Inside the city, they found a local dental clinic and rented a yard to temporarily house Fourth Brother for recuperation. After all, they still didn¡¯t know how long they would stay in the South. Living in a private house was much more convenient than an inn.


    In addition to renting the yard, the two also bought a sixteen or seventeen year old boy from the dental clinic. ording to the tooth dealer, his name was Shun Zi and he was born deaf and mute. Such a person would be most suitable to take care of Fourth Brother. This way, they would not have to worry about Fourth Brother having no one to look after him when they went out to do things.


    First Mo Jiuye sent Shun Zi out to buy some household items. He and He Zhiran rushed to the rented yard first.


    It was almost noon. After Mo Jiuye simply tidied up the bedding in the room, He Zhiran moved Fourth Brother onto the bed with a thought.


    Fourth Brother was still not awake, but after some treatment, hisplexion looked a little better thanst night.


    He Zhiran entered the space again and prepared some warming food for Fourth Brother. She had just finished when Fourth Brother woke up.


    Seeing Fourth Brother awake, Mo Jiuye was in no hurry to ask about his ordeal. Instead, he brought over sea cucumber rice porridge and some small dishes that He Zhiran had prepared.


    "Fourth Brother, you''re awake. Eat something first to fill your stomach."


    With Fourth Brother unable to move his limbs, Mo Jiuye had to personally feed him, while also clearly seeing the appearances of the two people before him.


    Originally in the dark secret chamber, he couldn''t see very clearly and could only determine by voice that this person was Ninth Junior Brother.


    Now in a room with decent light, he got a thorough look at both people. The voice was clearly Ninth Junior Brother''s, but why did his appearance be like this?


    Mo Xiuyan asked in puzzlement, "Ninth Junior Brother, how did you be like this?"


    Only then did Mo Jiuye realize that he was still in disguise.


    He tore off the fake beard and hat covering his whole forehead with his hand, "Fourth Brother, in order to move around easily in the South, I simply disguised myself."


    Now Mo Xiuyan finally found a trace of familiarity. No matter the makeup, Ninth Junior Brother''s brows and eyes still had their original shadow.

 Chapter 262: The Past Events of Mo Xiuyan

    <h4>Chapter 262</h4>


    Mo Xiuyan only took a sip of the sweet rice porridge Mo Jiuye fed him. The warm rice porridge entered his belly, and the usually strong man actually shed tears.


    This was the first time Mo Jiuye saw his eldest brother shed tears. His heart seemed to bleed along with it.


    "Fourth brother, everything will get better. If Mother and Fourth Sister-inw know you are still alive, they will definitely be very happy."


    Mo Xiuyan showed a bitter smile: "Now I''m a cripple. Going back will only be a burden on my family. It''s better if I die early."


    "Fourth brother, don''t think like that. Believe in He Zhiran, she will definitely cure you." Mo Jiuye would not allow his fourth brother to have such self-abandoning thoughts.


    Knowing that the ninth brother was distressed seeing him like this, Mo Xiuyan tried his best to squeeze out a smile: "Okay, I''ll listen to ninth brother."


    No matter what, even if it was just to see his family again before he died, it would be good.


    Unfortunately, he would be unable to serve his mother on her deathbed in this lifetime, and could no longer apany his young wife.


    These were just Mo Xiuye''s inner thoughts. He could not let his dispirited thoughts affect his ninth brother''s mood.


    Mo Jiuye forcibly held back his tears and fed Mo Xiuye bowl by bowl of rice porridge.


    At this time, Shun Zi who had gone to buy supplies also returned.


    This guy was quite sensible. In addition to arge iron pot, he also bought some grain and vegetables.


    Anyway, he was just looking for an excuse to send Shun Zi away, so it didn''t matter what he brought back.


    Shun Zi put everything in ce, then came to Mo Xiuye''s room, gesturing to indicate that he would take care of him.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t n on leaving yet as he hadn''t asked his fourth brother about his experiences, so he sent Shun Zi away.


    Shun Zi obediently left, and Mo Jiuye sat down on the edge of Mo Xiuye''s bed.


    "Fourth brother, what have you experienced all these years?"


    Recalling the experiences of recent years, Mo Xiuye''s eyes were filled with sorrow.


    At this time, he still didn''t know that the Mo Family had already been ordered by Emperor Shunwu to have their property confiscated and exiled. He thought Mo Jiuye was here on some border mission and coincidentally discovered him.


    "With such a prince, the kingdom is in danger..."


    Seeing his fourth brother like this but still concerned about the kingdom, Mo Jiuye had mixed feelings.


    "Fourth brother, I''ll tell you about it slowlyter. Our family is now living very well in the northwest, and Mother is very healthy."


    "I want to know now what you''ve experienced all these years?"


    Mo Xiuye tried his best to digest the recent situation at home before slowly speaking.


    "Back then, Nan Heng followed me to guard the southern border. After a great victory in one battle, he insisted on chasing the southern border soldiers against advice. I saw he wouldn''t listen to dissuasion and was worried he''d be in danger, so I led a team to support him.


    By then, Nan Heng had already entered the trap set by the southerners. My soldiers and I fought desperately to save him and escape. Later as I desperately fled the scene, already heavily injured, I identally ran to the edge of a cliff.


    With so many enemies, and me already crippled, I had no chance against them. To avoid bing a prisoner, I chose to jump off the cliff.


    I broke both legs from the fall and couldn''t leave there. I could only hope Nan Heng would quickly send people to find me. But before Da Shun''s search party arrived, I was found by the southern soldiers who captured me back.


    At that time, I knew I couldn''t escape death.


    Unexpectedly, I had just been carried up from the ravine before being drugged unconscious again. When I woke up, I found myself lying in a cave."


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help but ask: "Were they going to curse you?"


    Mo Xiuye nodded: "I did identally overhear their conversation.


    They said my legs were now crippled beyond healing, so cursing me would be of no use. They might as well send me to be held in the manor, where I maye in handy if needed.


    Not long after, they severed my arm tendons, covered my head in ck cloth, and brought me to where you found me.


    That ce never saw daylight, I don''t know how long Iy there."


    After listening to his fourth brother''s ount, Mo Jiuye fiercely smashed the room''s only wooden table with his fist.


    The wooden table disintegrated on impact, fragments shooting in all directions.


    This showed how furious he was to use such force.


    "Fourth brother, I, Mo Jiuye, swear I will find the people who persecuted our Mo men, and tear them into eight pieces, quarter them..."


    He Zhiran went up and stroked his chest: "Finding Fourth Brother is a good thing, don''t ruin your health being angry over those viins."


    Mo Jiuye''s body still trembled slightly. He grasped He Zhiran''s small hand and solemnly said, "I know."


    Having said so much, Mo Xiuye felt somewhat exhausted and had already fallen deeply asleep.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the sky, there was still some time before dark. He called Shun Zi to take care of Fourth Brother, while he and He Zhiran rested in the space for a while.


    Counting it, they had barely closed their eyes for two days. He was strong and could take it, but was worried it would be too taxing on his wife''s body.


    He Zhiran was indeed a little tired. If it wasn''t for everything going on keeping her conscious alert, she would have been visiting Mr. Sandman long ago.


    Finally able to rx for a bit, she had to replenish her energy to avoid dozing off during their night action.


    Ever since finding Mo Xiuye, Mo Jiuye had been in a tense state. Rxing now, he still had no sleepiness at all.


    But he knew there was no telling what would happen tonight, so he had to force himself to conserve his energy.


    He held He Zhiran as theyy on thefortable big bed, resting with eyes closed.


    Until the sky outside had darkened, Mo Jiuye had no choice but to wake his sleeping beauty.


    He Zhiran groggily yawned and murmured, "What time is it?"


    Mo Jiuye gently replied, "It''s almost the hour of Xu."


    "Ah? It''s thiste already. Why didn''t you wake me sooner? Fourth brother still needs to take medicine, and can''t eat just anything."


    Speaking, He Zhiran had already nimbly jumped off the bed. She first cooked some porridge in the kitchen. After a simple meal with Mo Jiuye, they left the space together.


    Mo Xiuye was awake now. Knowing these past few days must have been tiring for his ninth brother and sister-inw, he didn''t have Shun Zi disturb them.

 Chapter 263: Enter the Prince’s Palace

    <h4>Chapter 263</h4>


    Shun Zi had also prepared food for him, but Shun Zi''s cooking skills were not very good, and the food he made could only barely fill one''s stomach.


    Mo Xiuyan''s body was weak and he didn''t have much appetite to begin with, so he only ate a few bites before stopping.


    Just then, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran came, bringing sea cucumber rice porridge and side dishes.


    Mo Jiuye fed his fourth brother a little more, and only after did He Zhiran hand over several medicines suitable for Mo Xiuyan to take to Shun Zi, telling Shun Zi to give them to him on time.


    After taking the medicine, Mo Xiuyan saw that the two were still in disguise and asked, "Ninth younger brother, are you still nning to go out?"


    Today, Mo Xiuyan was extremely weak. Mo Jiuye had only told him about the exile at home. He didn''t know the details. He also didn''t know Mo Jiuye''s true purpose foring to the Southern Bordends.


    If the fourth brother was healthy, Mo Jiuye would choose to tell him these things, but given his current condition, he probably couldn''t take any more blows. Therefore, Mo Jiuye nned to hide these things for the time being.


    Of course, as a Mo family man, he had the right to know these things. Mo Jiuye would choose to tell him after the fourth brother''s health improved a little.


    "Fourth brother, I and Ranran came here to find something. When we find it, we''ll go back to the Northwest together."


    Mo Xiuyan didn''t know what Mo Jiuye was looking for that made him travel thousands of miles to the Southern Bordends. He didn''t ask any further questions, only nodded lightly, "You two must be extra careful when going out."


    "Don''t worry, fourth brother!" Mo Jiuye said and then instructed Shun Zi to take good care of Mo Xiuyan before leaving with He Zhiran.


    The two''s target today was the residence of the Crown Prince of the Southern Bordends, toplete the second goal of their trip to the Southern Bordends.


    Because the fourth princess of Da Shun came here to marry the Crown Prince of the Southern Bordends, the greatest possibility of finding dan pi was in the Crown Prince''s residence.


    Mo Jiuye had led troops to attack the Southern Bordends capital city before, so he was no stranger to the terrain here.


    The two galloped all the way and soon arrived outside the gate of the Crown Prince¡¯s residence.


    It had to be said that the defenses of the Crown Prince¡¯s residence were extremely tight. Just by the naked eye, there were two teams of soldiers patrolling back and forth in front of the gate, not to mention how many were hidden.


    Even if they wanted to sneak in by climbing over the wall, they had to beware of the hidden eyes, which showed how extremely difficult it was.


    Even so, it did not diminish Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s determination to enter the Crown Prince¡¯s residence to investigate.


    The two circled the wall of the Crown Prince¡¯s residence and walked to the back garden, pretending to pass by.


    The defenses there were slightly more rxed than the front courtyard, but there were still several guards patrolling back and forth.


    Mo Jiuye seized the opportunity, hugged He Zhiran and leaped over the wall.


    At this moment, a team of guards happened to patrol by. He quickly pulled He Zhiran to hide in the corner until those guards were far away before carefully walking out.


    In order to be able to move freely in the Crown Prince''s residence with such tight security, Mo Jiuye came up with a n.


    Soon, two night watchmen walked by not far away. He and He Zhiran looked at each other, then they went behind the night watchmen at the same time, and each knocked out one with a swift hand de. They then quickly changed into their clothes and casually picked up the tools they used to beat the night watch.


    To prevent the fainted night watchmen from waking up, He Zhiran gave each a shot to ensure nothing went wrong.


    It wasn¡¯t because they were soft-hearted, especially He Zhiran. In her previous life, she was a military doctor and would never y with human lives, of course, except for those extremely evil people.


    These two night watchmen were obviously servants and ves bought by the Crown Prince¡¯s residence. They only exchanged theirbor for food. There was no need to kill them all.


    After dealing with everything here, He Zhiran picked up antern and Mo Jiuye picked up the bamboo stick used to beat the night watch. The two wandered around the Crown Prince¡¯s residence.


    Mo Jiuye was familiar with the terrain of the Southern Bordends capital city but wasn¡¯t very clear about the structure inside the Crown Prince¡¯s residence.


    They could only rely on experience to search, figuring that as the Crown Da Shun princess married the Crown Prince as the official wife, her courtyard should be slightly bigger. Therefore, the two specifically looked for bigger courtyards.


    Unconsciously, the two arrived outside a huge courtyard.


    This courtyard was very different from the others. From the outside, lights shone and melodious music could be hearding from inside.


    In addition, Mo Jiuye, who had extremely good hearing, could hear bursts of women''sughter.


    Just as he was about to observe further, two ck-clothed guards suddenly appeared in front of them.


    The dark guards growled for them to leave, "You two leave quickly. Is the Crown Prince''s ce somewhere you can peek at?"


    Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran and nodded at the two dark guards, "Yes, yes, we''re leaving now."


    Although they were driven away for peeping by the dark guards, it wasn¡¯t without some gains. At least they now knew the Crown Prince of the Southern Bordends was inside.


    It seemed that this Crown Prince liked enjoyment. This was good too, it didn¡¯t hinder them from finding the whereabouts of the fourth princess.


    Not long after leaving the Crown Prince¡¯s location, they saw a woman dressed as a maid rushing anxiously toward the direction of the Crown Prince¡¯s bedroom.


    Perhaps the maid was too anxious. When she ran to a ce not far from them, she didn¡¯t know what she had stepped on and took a tumble.


    He Zhiran took the opportunity to help prop the woman up, deliberately lowering her voice, "Sister, be careful."


    The maid grabbed He Zhiran''s arm tightly and struggled to stand up. As a result, her ankle seemed to be sprained. She almost fell again when taking the first step.


    Now the maid was even more anxious.


    "Brother, please go to the Crown Prince and help report that the Crown Princess has fainted. Please ask him to invite a witch doctor toe and take a look."


    He Zhiran knew that the Southern Bordend people sought witch doctors. She just didn¡¯t understand why the Crown Princess of a country needed to go through the Crown Prince to invite a witch doctor.


    Also, she could hear the maid spoke in the Da Shun ent. She should be an apanying pce maid of the fourth princess.


    Mo Jiuye saw this too. To prevent the maid from noticing He Zhiran''s ent was wrong, he quickly stepped forward and said, "That''s not a ce people like us can enter at all."


    "Then what should we do? The Crown Princess is so seriously ill. If we don''t ask a witch doctor toe and see, I''m afraid she may die." The maid was almost crying, which showed how helpless she felt.


    Seeing this, He Zhiran hurriedly signaled Mo Jiuye with her eyes.


    Mo Jiuye understood instantly and said, "This little brother''s ancestors were witch doctors. He also knows some medical skills. Why don''t you let him go and take a look at the Crown Princess first while you go find someone to ask the Crown Prince?¡±


    The maid knew that given her current situation, going to ask the Crown Prince again would likely dy a lot of time. Here was close to the Crown Princess''s bedroom. She decided to take them back first while letting others go find the Crown Prince.

 Chapter 264: In the Face of the Daesun Dynasty

    <h4>Chapter 264</h4>


    The maid was determined and said, "Since this is the case, there is no other choice."


    Seeing the maid agree, He Zhiran took the initiative to support her, and walked to the Crown Princess Consort''s pce step by step.


    Contrary to their imagination, the Crown Princess Consort''s pce was not thergest in the inner pce, but it looked shabby and remote instead of thergest.


    Based on He Zhiran''s experience of watching TV shows in his previous life, the fact that the Crown Princess Consort lived in such a ce showed that she was not favored by the Crown Prince.


    Not to mention the Prince''s Mansion, even ordinary families would not let the official wife live in such a ce.


    With a belly full of doubts, the two followed the maid into the pce.


    In fact, they didn''t know that this was not a bedroom at all, but a cold pce in the Prince''s Mansion.


    The maid thought they were all people from the Prince''s Mansion and knew all these things, so she didn''t exin anything.


    The outside looked like a small bedroom, but after walking in, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were shocked.


    The two also realized that this was most likely the cold pce.


    He Zhiran inevitablyined in his heart: Emperor Shunwu was really conservative. Back then, the Mo Family men guarded the borders and made the southern border fall like flowers and water.


    For such a small defeated country, why did he need to send his own daughter here for a political marriage to suffer?


    The Southern Border was obviously not taking the Da Shun Dynasty seriously, otherwise how dare they treat the princess who came to be married so rudely?


    This was clearly pping the Da Shun Dynasty in the face...


    Of course, their purpose this time was to see the Fourth Princess. They wouldn¡¯t care about things that Emperor Shunwu should worry about.


    The Southern Border was not as regr as Da Shun, and the folk customs were more open than Da Shun¡¯s, and there was no rule that men from outside could not enter the harem.


    Therefore, no one questioned them all the way to the cold pce with the maid.


    The maid limped and took the two directly to the Fourth Princess''s room, and asked another maid to ask the Crown Prince to invite the witch doctor.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran took a simple look. In the room, only a dim oilmp was burning, and with no furnishings in the room, it looked bleak.


    Lying on a broken wooden bed opposite the door was a disheveled woman.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye walked over quickly.


    Mo Jiuye had often entered the pce since he was a child. He was also escorting the Fourth Princess¡¯ marriage, so he was no stranger to the appearance of the woman before him.


    After confirming the identity of the Fourth Princess, Mo Jiuye nodded slightly to He Zhiran.


    Only then did He Zhiran reach out and touch the Fourth Princess''s wrist pulse.


    After about two minutes, He Zhiran raised her hand.


    The anxious maid asked, "How is the Crown Princess Consort?"


    He Zhiran shook her head: "She has reached the point of exhaustion. Now she only has one breath left. You might as well get ready!"


    What she didn''t say was that when she took her pulse, she felt that her pulse was somewhat simr to that of the few Mo Family brothers who were poisoned, but not exactly the same.


    He Zhiran guessed that it was very likely that the Fourth Princess was poisoned, but it was different from the puppet Gu that the Mo Family brothers had.


    Withoutpletely confirming it, He Zhiran did not say it.


    "No... Don''t talk nonsense. The Crown Princess Consort is a precious daughter of a thousand gold. It¡¯s impossible for her to just die like this. You simply don''t understand medical skills, so you say that."


    In fact, the maid knew very well that the Crown Princess Consort was indeed dying, but she just didn''t want to believe this fact.


    She had entered the pce to serve the Fourth Princess since she was a child. The Fourth Princess treated her extremely well, and often helped her family.


    She had long determined that she would be the Fourth Princess''s person for the rest of her life. Even after following her to the Southern Border for marriage and the princess became the unloved Crown Princess Consort, she never thought of leaving, and even thought that even if the Fourth Princess really died, she would definitely follow her so that the princess would not be lonely.


    He Zhiran was also very helpless about this. She was a doctor, not a god.


    At this time, the Fourth Princess''s condition was much more serious than that of Mo Xiuyan when they had saved him, and it was beyond medicine and treatment.


    And she could see from the Fourth Princess''s pulse that the number of the Fourth Princess¡¯ miscarriages was no less than three times, which hadpletely injured her vitality. Coupled with her grieving heart, I''m afraid she wouldn''t make it through the night.


    She looked at the grief-stricken maid and shook her hands helplessly: "The Crown Princess Consort¡¯s condition is before you. If you don''t believe my words, there is nothing I can do."


    Although she said that, He Zhiran had no intention of leaving.


    Because she guessed that since the Crown Prince could bring the Fourth Princess to such a ce, he would most likely abandon the marriage with the Da Shun Dynasty and would not care about her life or death.


    The maid who had just gone out to find the Crown Prince was probably going toe back with no result. At that time, they would still have to ce theirst hope on her.


    Sure enough, after about half an hour, the maid who had gone to find the Crown Prince came back.


    "Sister Lan, the Crown Prince¡¯s people simply wouldn¡¯t let me in, and said that if I disturbed the Crown Prince¡¯s elegance, they would punish me."


    At this point, Lan Er waspletely petrified.


    After a long time, she trembled and said, "Could it be that the princess is going to die in the Southern Border like this?"


    As her voice fell, the two maids cried at the same time, and even tried to shake the Fourth Princess awake at the bedside.


    Seeing this, He Zhiran hurriedly stopped the behavior of the two.


    "She was barely holding on just now. Do you want her to die faster by doing this?"


    At this moment, Lan Er could no longer attend to the disrespect in He Zhiran''s tone. She knelt in front of her crying and said,


    "Please save our princess. As long as you can save the princess alive, I am willing to be an ox or a horse to repay you."


    Although He Zhiran didn''t have a good impression of the Fourth Princess, these two maids were absolutely loyal.


    Facing such people, she couldn¡¯t bear to be cruel at all.


    It was a pity that she was also powerless in the face of the Fourth Princess¡¯s current situation.


    She gently helped Lan Er up and sighed, "I have a way to make your princess regain consciousness. At this time she can convey some things to you, but I don''t have the ability to let her live on."


    Seeing her tone was firm and she was not lying, and looking at the Fourth Princess on the bed with her eyes closed without the slightest vitality, Lan Er had already prepared herself for the burial.


    However, before that, she still wanted to serve the Fourth Princess again.


    Lan Er wiped her tears and said, "Please wake up the princess."


    He Zhiran did not hesitate either, took out the needle pack from the space, and also brought a cardiotonic.


    The two measuresbined would definitely wake up the Fourth Princess.


    She first pricked several acupoints on the Fourth Princess with silver needles, then took the opportunity when the two maids were not paying attention to inject a shot of cardiotonic into the Fourth Princess.


    After about five minutes, the Fourth Princess woke up leisurely.


    Seeing the moment she opened her eyes, Lan Er and the other maid rushed to the bedside.


    "Princess, you finally woke up."


    The Fourth Princess looked at the two maids who had grown up with her with little energy, then shifted her gaze to Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    "Who...who are they?"


    At this point, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran felt that there was no need to conceal their identities.


    Especially He Zhiran, who was clearest in her heart that the way she had awakened the Fourth Princess now could not prolong her time, but would elerate her death rate instead.

 Chapter 265: I am the true Mo Jiuye

    <h4>Chapter 265</h4>


    "He... who are they?"


    By this time, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran felt there was no need to conceal their identities anymore.


    Especially He Zhiran. She knew very clearly that by using this method to wake up the Fourth Princess, not only could she not extend the Fourth Princess''s time, but it would elerate her death instead.


    As for the two maidservants, they were loyal to the Fourth Princess. And judging by the Fourth Princess¡¯s current condition, she and the Prince of Southern Border were not of one mind. Even if the Fourth Princess died, presumably those two maidservants would not turn to the Prince of Southern Border.


    They could not go back to Great Shun either, so there was no need to worry that today¡¯s events would be divulged.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye stepped forward and said, "Princess, I am Mo Jiuye."


    Hearing this voice, the Fourth Princess struggled to open her eyes wide to look at him, trying to find a trace of familiarity in his face.


    Mo Jiuye had altered his appearance by now and looked nothing like his original self. He knew it was normal that the Fourth Princess could not recognize him.


    To prove his identity, Mo Jiuye spoke again, "Princess, do you still remember? When I escorted you to the border between Great Shun and Southern Border, you asked me to secretly take you to worship myte father and brothers. You even said that if you were not allowed to burn incense at the Mo family men¡¯s graves, you would die in front of me and absolutely refuse to go to Southern Border for the marriage alliance."


    "Cough cough...Are you really Mo Jiuye?" Only Mo Jiuye alone knew about this matter at the time. And it was Mo Jiuye who apanied her up the mountain to worship. There could be no mistake. And this voice was indeed the same as Mo Jiuye''s.


    "I only changed my appearance to make things easier when acting in Southern Border. I am the genuine Mo Jiuye."


    Now the Fourth Princess could confirm Mo Jiuye¡¯s identity.


    She exerted her arms, attempting to prop herself up to sit.


    He Zhiran came over and said, "It''s better if you lie down to conserve your strength."


    Judging by the Fourth Princess¡¯s current condition, exerting even a little effort would drain thest of her life.


    The Fourth Princess should also be clear about her own condition. Although she still did not know He Zhiran¡¯s identity, since she was with Mo Jiuye, she must be his person. Thus, she was very obedient and did not move again.


    He Zhiran asked, "Princess, were you cursed by someone?"


    "You...How do you know?" The Fourth Princess was clearly somewhat surprised.


    The curse in her body was wilfully cast by someone. Even the witch doctor did not detect it.


    It seemed this frail-looking man should not be underestimated.


    He Zhiran crossed her arms over her chest, "Don''t ask how I figured it out. Just tell me if it''s true or false."


    The Fourth Princess¡¯s eyes dodged around, clearly unwilling to answer.


    "You don¡¯t need to know about this."


    Although the Fourth Princess spoke thus, He Zhiran had already confirmed her own judgment.


    It was just, why would the Fourth Princess be cursed?


    Did the Gu worms in her body have anything to do with Teacher Si Meng whom they were looking for?


    This thought made He Zhiran feel an urge to inquire further.


    She first looked at Lan Er and the other maidservant. Both maidservants kept their heads lowered, not daring to meet her gaze directly. This showed that these two maidservants also knew the inside story.


    If she really could not get anything out from the Fourth Princess, she would target these two maidservants to find the answer.


    Just as He Zhiran was pondering this, Lan Er suddenly knelt in front of the Fourth Princess''s bed.


    "Princess, now that it hase to this, what more is there left to conceal? Moreover, the Mo family people are right in front of you. You''ve done so much for the Mo family. How could you still not speak at this time?"


    "Cough cough cough... Cough cough..."


    Seeing her maidservant kneel down and say these things, the Fourth Princess instinctively wanted to stop her. But as soon as she opened her mouth, it triggered a violent coughing fit, rendering her unable to speak.


    Mo Jiuye did not understand why Lan Er would say that.


    "What does she mean when she says you''ve done a lot for my Mo family?"


    He Zhiran also stared closely at the mistress and servant, wanting to know the answer.


    Like Mo Jiuye, she could not think of any reason why the princess who was born to the Empress would do anything good for the Mo family, let alone do a lot.


    The Fourth Princess was still coughing heavily. Although so, her eyes were fixed on Lan Er, carrying an obvious warning.


    Lan Er no longer cared about much at this moment. As she helped her mistress breathe, she still said, "Princess, it hase to this point. If even your life is going to be lost, what more can''t be said?"


    Although the Fourth Princess knew her remaining time was numbered, she did not realize it was so dire.


    She stared at He Zhiran and asked, "How much longer can I live?"


    Telling the grim truth would be very cruel to the Fourth Princess, but He Zhiran still chose to be blunt.


    "If nothing unexpected happens, only about another hour."


    "What? Only an hour left?" Lan Er widened her eyes in disbelief. In her impression, the princess had never been so spirited before. How could there only be an hour left?


    Apparently the Fourth Princess was also very surprised. But after thinking about her ruined body, and realizing that if not for a persisting willpower supporting her, she would have long passed away, she epted the oue quite quickly.


    "Since I havee to my dying moments, I will not continue concealing things." She looked at Mo Jiuye and went on, "But you must promise me that even after knowing this news, do not try to save him."


    Mo Jiuye was left mystified by her words. He did not know who she meant by "him".


    "What is the Princess trying to say?"


    The Fourth Princess looked very solemn. "Promise me first."


    Mo Jiuye was also stubborn by nature. Without knowing what matter it concerned, even when facing a dying person, he would notpromise.


    Especially after Lan Er mentioned that the Fourth Princess had done a lot for the Mo family.


    Just who was this "him" she spoke of?


    "My Mo family people have always prioritized the greater cause. If it benefits the Mo family, I will naturally listen to the Princess''s words. As for other matters, I''m afraid I cannot promise."


    Seeing Mo Jiuye''s firm stance, the Fourth Princess hesitated for a moment.


    Unable to bear it, Lan Er urged, "Princess, it hase to this point. Even your life is going to be lost. What else is there left to consider?"


    The other maidservant also knelt on the ground, sobbing, "Yes Princess, you should just say it!"


    As He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye grew more confused, they even had a faint guess¡ªcould this "him" the Fourth Princess mentioned be the missing Mo family son?

 Chapter 266: Where is my seventh Brother

    <h4>Chapter 266</h4>


    Just as Mo Jiuye was anxious to urge the Fourth Princess to speak up, a trace of reluctance and conflict appeared in her eyes, and she took the initiative to speak.


    "I want to talk about the whereabouts of Mo Yuance, the seventh young master of the Mo family."


    Upon hearing this, both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran expressed astonishment.


    They had considered that it might be rted to the male members of the Mo family, specting it could be the eldest or second brother, but they never expected it to be the seventh brother.


    Regardless, the whereabouts of any brother was equally important to Mo Jiuye.


    "Fourth Princess, where is my seventh brother?"


    At the thought of Mo Yuance, the Fourth Princess''s heart bled.


    When she was fourteen years old, Mo Yuance served as themander of the imperial guards in the pce. She happened to see him once and was attracted by his resolute and handsome appearance.


    The Fourth Princess knew that she would have to embark on the path of a political marriage in the future, so she never dared to have any extravagant hopes for Mo Yuance.


    Unexpectedly, she encountered Mo Yuance again by chance.


    The reason was that her pet parrot, which she had raised for many years, suddenly got frightened and flew away. She chased after it with the pce servants, but the parrot flew too high, and they could only see its silhouette without being able to catch it.


    At that moment, a robust figure leaped high like lightning and effortlessly caught the flying parrot.


    Mo Yuance calmly returned the parrot to her and then left with a bow.


    The Fourth Princess already had an extremely favorable impression of Mo Yuance, and after the incident with the parrot, she couldn''t forget about him.


    She secretly mentioned this matter to her mother, but her mother dismissed it because of Mo Jiuye acting as a tutor for Nanqi, thinking that the Mo family was aligned with the third prince, and she directly crushed her hopes.


    Moreover, as the legitimate princess of Da Shun, she was destined to enter into a political marriage. Even if her mother agreed, her father would not allow it.


    Since then, she could only keep Mo Yuance silently in her heart and not dare to have any improper thoughts.


    Later, when Mo Yuance got married, she cried for several days and lost a significant amount of weight.


    And then, she heard the news of Mo Yuance''s death in battle, and her heart was buried in the yellow earth along with Mo Yuance.


    Thinking of the pitiful state in which she saw Mo Yuance, she felt indescribable pain.


    She had always kept her feelings for Mo Yuance in her heart, not even her two most trusted maids knew about them.


    Now she wanted to honestly tell Mo Jiuye about Mo Yuance''s whereabouts, but she didn''t intend to reveal these feelings.


    "I arrived in Nanchuan not long ago, and a Gu Master came to the Crown Prince''s Residence. One person with him looks remarkably simr to Mo Yuance.


    At the time, the Crown Prince treated me fairly well, so I asked him to help inquire about the person''s identity. The Gu Master, knowing that the Crown Prince and the Mo family were at odds, did not conceal Mo Yuance''s identity. He removed half of his mask, and I waspletely convinced that this person is indeed Mo Yuance."


    Upon hearing that the Fourth Princess had encountered her seventh brother, Mo Jiuye''s nerves tensed instantly, and he anxiously asked, "Princess, do you know the whereabouts of my seventh brother?"


    The Fourth Princess had just spoken so much, clearly out of breath.


    Lan Er knew that there was still a lot more the princess wanted to say, and she was worried about the princess''s physical condition. She spoke up, "Princess, let me exin instead!"


    Understanding her own situation, the Fourth Princess knew there were indeed many things she needed to exin. Worried about her stamina, she nodded slightly at Lan Er, determined to gather thest of her strength to address some crucial matters.


    With the princess''s permission, Lan Er turned to Mo Jiuye and said, "The princess secretly approached Seventh Master Mo to talk, but he showed no reaction. It waster revealed that he had been afflicted by a puppetry gu, which robbed him of his own will. He becamepletely controlled by the person who cast the gu, just like a puppet."


    The princess didn''t want to see brave men loyal to Da Shun being controlled by the people of Southern Frontier. So, she pleaded with the Crown Prince and the gu master to keep Seventh Master Mo in the Crown Prince''s residence. This way, she could take care of him privately."


    Pausing for a moment, Lan Er further exined, "The princess was desperate to save Seventh Master Mo but forgot the extent of Southern Frontier''s hatred towards the Mo family. When the Crown Prince saw the princess''s plea, he immediately pped her and ordered her to be confined to her chambers."


    It was onlyter when the princess discovered she was pregnant that she was granted freedom after informing the Crown Prince. Even so, she didn''t give up on the idea of saving Seventh Master Mo, but this time she didn''t dare to use the real reason to convince the Crown Prince.


    The princess imed that the Mo family supported Prince Qi of Da Shun, who was opposed to her own brother, Prince Heng. She hoped to have leverage over a member of the Mo family to threaten them into siding with Prince Heng in the future.


    Seeing the princess present a logical and well-founded argument, the Crown Prince dispelled his previous doubts.


    A few dayster, the gu master visited again and brought up a condition.


    The gu master was cautious and couldn''t fully trust a Fourth Princess of Da Shun. If he were to hand over Seventh Master Mo to the princess, she had to agree to one condition."


    "What condition?" Mo Jiuye asked eagerly.


    The gu master said that the princess must willingly ept his gu. If she were to do anything that went against his wishes, the gu inside her would torment her.


    In order to keep Seventh Master Mo close to her and take care of him, the princess readily agreed to the gu master''s condition.


    Later on, as promised, the gu master delivered Seventh Master Mo to the princess''s side, bing her personal guard.


    Unexpectedly, this incident aroused suspicions from the Crown Prince. He couldn''t believe that the princess, who harbored such hatred towards the Mo family, would willingly ept someone cing a gu on her.


    Not only that, the princess lost the child in her womb because of the gu, and when these two incidents werebined, the Crown Prince believed that Seventh Master Mo held a higher position in the princess''s heart than himself. As a result, he constantly sought to torment the princess, leading to her current fate of being exiled to the Pce of Exile."


    Listening to Lan Er''s exnation, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran roughly understood the situation of Seventh Brother. At this moment, they couldn''t spare the time to carefully consider the princess''s true motives but were eager to know the whereabouts of Mo Yuance.


    ording to Lan Er''s words, Seventh Master Mo has be the personal guard of Fourth Princess. He must be nearby.


    However, when they just arrived here, apart from two maids, there was no sign of any guards at all.


    "Where is Seventh Master Mo now?"


    Lan Er truly didn''t know about the whereabouts of Mo Jiuye. All she knew was that ever since the princess was brought here, Seventh Master Mo was taken away by the Crown Prince''s men.


    Lan Er couldn''t answer this question, so she could only look at Fourth Princess lying on the bed.


    Since they hade this far discussing the matter, Fourth Princess had nothing to hide.


    "He is in the dungeon of the Residence of the Crown Prince."


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye intended to go to the dungeon to find Seventh Master Mo. He had just pulled He Zhiran to turn around when he was stopped by Fourth Princess.


    "Wait, you can''t go and save him."


    Mo Jiuye didn''t understand. "Why?"

 Chapter 267: I Want the Santa Hide from the Princess’s dowry.

    <h4>Chapter 267</h4>


    The Fourth Princess tried her best to raise her voice.


    "He was stung by the puppet gu, and the mother gu is with the Crown Prince. Once the Crown Prince finds out that he has been rescued, the Crown Prince will urge the mother gu to kill the child gu in his body. Once the child gu dies, Mo Yuance will not be able to survive either."


    There was no need for the Fourth Princess to say this. Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were already well aware that if the rescue of Seventh Master Mo was discovered and the Crown Prince crushed the mother gu, then Seventh Master Mo''s life would be lost.


    What they needed to do first was to get the mother gu from the Crown Prince''s hands. Only by doing so could they ensure absolute safety in rescuing Seventh Master Mo and removing the gu from him.


    Mo Jiuye did not want to exin too much to the Fourth Princess about his wife''s ability to remove gu.


    "Princess, don''t worry. Since I''m going to rescue my seventh brother, I will certainly consider all angles."


    The Fourth Princess would never doubt Mo Jiuye''s abilities. It was possible for him to sessfully rescue Mo Yuance, but he would not be able to remove the gu from Mo Yuance.


    "You can''t rashly go to the dungeons. The Crown Prince''s men are guarding there. Once they discover that Mo Yuance has been rescued, the Crown Prince will crush the mother gu and his life will be lost."


    After the Fourth Princess said so much in one breath, she suddenly became breathless.


    Lan Er was so frightened that she quickly pulled He Zhiran, "Master, please take another look at our princess. Lan Er begs you to save our princess. She is a good person."


    What Lan Er wanted to say was that the princess had never done anything to wrong the Mo family. If it hadn''t been for the princess'' efforts to keep Seventh Master Mo there, Seventh Master Mo would have been sent out as a suicide soldier long ago. No one even knew now whether he was still alive.


    Although unspoken, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye could understand the implication behind her words. There is always someone to me. It was the Empress who had poisoned the Mo family''s women, and it was Nan Heng who had plotted against the Mo family. The Fourth Princess was unrted.


    However, even with He Zhiran''s excellent medical skills, there was no way to reverse the Fourth Princess'' current condition.


    When she first took the Fourth Princess'' pulse, she wondered how such a young woman in her early twenties could have such a deteriorating body.


    Now she knew. The Crown Prince''s abuse was a possibility, but the gu worms in her body also yed a major role.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran suddenly realized a problem.


    Their main purpose in looking for the Fourth Princess was to get the centa skin. Mo Jiuye had lost some sanity when he learned about his seventh brother''s situation. She must not follow him in confusion.


    So she nudged Mo Jiuye with her elbow and softly reminded: "centa skin."


    With her reminder, Mo Jiuye remembered the real purpose for them to find the Fourth Princess.


    "Princess, I came to the Crown Prince''s mansion this time specifically to ask you for something."


    The Fourth Princess slightly raised her increasingly heavy eyelids, "What else can you ask from me in this state of mine?"


    Mo Jiuye hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I want the centa skin from the princess'' dowry."


    "What do you want that useless thing for?"


    Hearing the Fourth Princess ask this, Mo Jiuye could confirm that she did not know about the Empress poisoning the Mo family''s women.


    "Someone needs the centa skin for medical treatment. I know that the princess has it in her dowry, so I came here to ask for the medicine."


    Upon hearing this, the Fourth Princess did not think much more. centa skin was an extremely rare item to begin with. Moreover, Mo Jiuye had escorted her to Nanjiang for her marriage back then, so it was not strange at all that he knew she had this item.


    It was just that at the moment, she had no way of helping Mo Jiuye at all.


    "The centa skin is indeed still around, but unfortunately my dowry is no longer in my hands now."


    Mo Jiuye frowned. Even in an ordinary family, they seldom touch a woman''s dowry, let alone the Crown Prince''s mansion of grand Nanjiang. How was it possible that they needed to supplement the Crown Prince''s treasury with the Crown Prince Consort''s dowry?


    Seeing her mistress gasping for breath again, Lan Er exined, "Ninth Master doesn''t know that my princess'' dowry is now in Concubine Xiao''s hands."


    Mo Jiuye frowned and asked, "Where is Concubine Xiao?"


    When it came to Concubine Xiao, it was obvious that Lan Er deeply loathed her.


    "Concubine Xiao is greatly favored, so of course she lives closest to His Highness the Crown Prince."


    They had judged the location of the Crown Prince''s courtyard based on the singing and dancing sounds. Naturally, they had also carefully observed the surrounding environment.


    Not far behind the Crown Prince''s courtyard was an extremely luxurious ce. That must be Concubine Xiao''s residence.


    Through this brief exchange, Mo Jiuye''s earlier impulse was gone.


    He asked solemnly, "Please, Princess, what does the gu raiser who brought my seventh brother here look like?"


    The Fourth Princess recalled and said, "He was wearing a hood so I didn''t see his appearance. I only know he is a man with a somewhat thin figure."


    Mo Jiuye knew that the Fourth Princess did not intend to conceal anything. Since she said she did not see his face, then she definitely did not.


    He Zhiran looked at the pitiful woman on the bed. If she had a way, she would also try to save her. After all, she was just over twenty years old and had not done anything detrimental against the Mo family.


    Unfortunately, she was already at herst gasp. He Zhiran hoped she could be reborn into a good family in her next life and be an ordinary yet happy woman.


    At that moment, the Fourth Princess suddenly felt choked. She could neither swallow nor cough it out, yet He Zhiran could see that she still had something to say.


    So she hurriedly needled a few of her acupoints with silver needles.


    "Princess, you have at most another fifteen minutes. Quickly say what you need to say."


    The needles did have a significant effect. The Fourth Princess'' breathing stabilized noticeably.


    Lan Er and the other maid immediately knelt by the bedside, crying as they held her hands, "Princess, rest assured and move on. Yu Er and I will apany you so you won''t be lonely on the way."


    The Fourth Princess forcefully held both maids'' hands in return.


    "No, I won''t allow you to do that."


    With effort, she looked towards Mo Jiuye, "Mo Jiuye, may This Pce ask you to help with something?"


    With one nce, He Zhiran could see the Fourth Princess'' intention. If not for the solemn asion, she would definitely have said, the Ninth Master is attracting peach blossoms...


    Mo Jiuye still did not understand the Fourth Princess'' true intention. At this time, he really thought the Fourth Princess would entrust him with some important matter.


    Such as letting the Emperor Shunwu know about her real cause of death.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye did not refute her words, the Fourth Princess slowly spoke, "My two maids, one named Yu Er and one named Lan Er, have served me since they were young. Although we are mistress and servant, we are as close as sisters. I don''t want them to die meaninglessly in this foreignnd like me."


    "No... Princess, we want to follow you wherever you go."


    The two maids were already prepared to die.


    Mo Jiuye still could not see through the Fourth Princess'' true intention.


    "If it is within my ability, I can bring these twodies back to Da Shun."


    Of course he could bring them back to Da Shun, but he could not bring them to the capital city, otherwise his recent activities might be exposed.

 Chapter 268: I, Mo Jiuye, love her only in this life.

    <h4>Chapter 268</h4>


    The Fourth Princess shook her head.


    "No, even if they return to Great Shun, they will have no home to go back to. I want them to follow you."


    At this point, even the dull-witted Mo Jiuye understood.


    "There is an ancestral precept in my Mo family that men do not take concubines. What''s more, I only love my wife in this lifetime. The Princess''s request is too difficult, I''m afraid I cannot agree."


    Not only did Mo Jiuye not agree to this condition, but the two maidservants were also strongly against it in their hearts.


    "Princess, you absolutely can''t do this. No matter life or death, we will stay by your side."


    He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye was not the kind of man to go back on his word, but when it came to things like this, she couldn''t help feeling sour in her heart.


    She looked coldly at the few people there, unable to conceal the displeasure in her eyes at all.


    Mo Jiuye''s palms were already sweating. He was angry that the princess was randomly giving him her women, and even more worried that his wife would vent her anger on him because of this.


    In order to get the Fourth Princess to give up this idea, he deliberately pulled He Zhiran in front of the bed.


    "This is my wife, the daughter of the prestigious He Family, the current Minister of Works. I, Mo Jiuye, only love her in this lifetime."


    At this moment, the Fourth Princess'' spirit had begun to waver indistinctly, but her brain was still working.


    She also knew that the Mo family men did not take concubines. If she wasn''t at death''s door, she wouldn''t have thought of such a way to settle her two loyal maidservants.


    The Fourth Princess struggled to keep herself conscious, then looked towards He Zhiran.


    "I beg you......take them with you and help them find a good family in the future. Then I......I can......rest in peace......"


    As her voice fell, she slowly closed her eyes.


    Lan Er and Yu Er broke down in loud crying.


    "Princess......Princess, wait for me. I wille to apany you......"


    As Lan Er''s voice faded, she charged towards a pir in the room.


    Seeing this, Yu Er did the same, following Lan Er''s footsteps running towards the pir.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye acted swiftly,ing up behind each of them and hitting them unconscious with a hand chop to stop them.


    Then He Zhiran took out silver needles and inserted them into the fainting points on both of them before throwing them into her space.


    She didn''t want to y saint, but just letting her watch two living people die like this was something she, a modern soul, couldn''t remain indifferent to.


    Of course, if they were extremely evil people, even if they didn''tmit suicide, she would still personally send them off.


    Having obtained so much information from the Fourth Princess, the two dared not linger here any longer. There were still many things waiting for them to do.


    Compared to the Seventh Elder Brother, everything else was less important. After the two came out of the Inner Pce, they saw guards patrolling and He Zhiran pulled Mo Jiuye to a stop first.


    She then shouted at those guards, "The Imperial Concubine has passed away...the Imperial Concubine has passed away..."


    While the guards were looking around trying to locate the source of the sound, He Zhiran pulled Mo Jiuye with her to sh into her space.


    She intended to wait until these guards left beforeing out again so as not to expose themselves before everything was done.


    The two maidservantsy in the grasnd of the farm in the space. Rice Ball was circling around them, looking them up and down from time to time and even reaching out to touch them with his chubby hands.


    He Zhiran walked over first and picked up the little one to kiss him.


    Previously, whenever his wife entered the space, she would also go to hug Rice Ball first. However, today Mo Jiuye felt like something was not quite right.


    But he couldn''t say exactly what was not right.


    He Zhiran just didn''t want to pay attention to him because of what had happened earlier. She still had a little bit of jealousy.


    But she also knew clearly that this was not the time to be petty with her husband. She just didn''t want to talk to him.


    Feeling that enough time had probably passed, the news of the Imperial Concubine''s death should have reached the Crown Prince by now.


    If the Crown Prince was still out seeking pleasure at this time, it would really be inexcusable.


    Even if just for appearance''s sake, he should personally arrange the Imperial Concubine''s funeral.


    And the Crown Prince''s residence would be more chaotic at this time. They could take the opportunity to do what they needed to do.


    He Zhiran was worried that the two maidservants might wake up prematurely, so after injecting each of them with a tranquilizer, she took Mo Jiuye, who had a bewildered look on his face, out of the space.


    Sure enough, things happened as expected. The guards had already left their original positions. Mo Jiuye put his arm around He Zhiran''s waist and leapt onto the high wall.


    After quickly surveying the surroundings and getting their bearings, Mo Jiuye brought her running swiftly to the outside of the Crown Prince''s residence, hiding in the shadows to observe.


    The drumming and music sounds were gone. They only saw a youth dressed in gorgeous brocade robes being led out in a huff by a group of servants and guards clustered around him.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were too far away to hear what they were saying. It was nothing more than the Crown Prince''s mood being spoiled by the Fourth Princess''s death and him being a little unhappy.


    The group followed the Crown Prince, heading in the direction of the Fourth Princess''s residence as expected.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mo Jiuye brought He Zhiran to sneak into the Crown Prince''s residence.


    This ce could be perfectly described as magnificent and opulent. In Mo Jiuye''s opinion, its level of luxury wasparable to the Great Shun imperial pce, showing that this Crown Prince knew how to enjoy himself.


    The two avoided the sight of some of the servants, searching around. Of course He Zhiran would not miss the chance to fill her own little treasury, not letting a single thing slip by that she could take away.


    After searching for a while, they did not find the bottle containing Gu worms here. The mother Gu worm was probably being carried on the Crown Prince''s person.


    After some discussion, they guessed that the Crown Prince would not return too quickly to deal with the Imperial Concubine''s matters. As long as they could smoothly find the Seventh Elder Brother and remove therval Gu worms from his body, the Seventh Elder Brother would not be in danger.


    In order to urately locate the dungeons, Mo Jiuye grabbed a servant and asked him before knocking him out and swiftly bringing He Zhiran in that direction.


    The dungeons were located in the northwest corner of the Crown Prince''s residence. The entrance was guarded by four guards.


    The two of them were still wearing servant uniforms, so they could just stroll casually over.


    The guards thought they wereing over to say something. Caught off guard, they were all stupefied by the anesthetic medicine scattered by He Zhiran.


    Mo Jiuye swiftly dragged them to one side before they carefully walked into the dungeons.


    The dungeons were dim, damp, and apanied by a pungent musty smell.


    Mo Jiuye gripped He Zhiran''s hand tightly as the two had just walked to a brighter area when they heard the sounds of gambling by throwing dice and drinkinging from inside.


    Judging from the sounds, there were four people inside.


    He Zhiran took out another pack of anesthetic powder, holding it in her hand. When they walked closer, she swiftly scattered it at the few people.


    The four guards who were grinning widely immediately lost consciousness.


    Mo Jiuye swiftly searched them and finally found a set of keys. Only after confirming there were no other guards in the dungeons did he pull He Zhiran along to walk around the gambling table and continue deeper inside.


    These dungeons were not big, only containing six rooms for imprisoning people, but they were all empty.


    Only the innermost one, facing the entrance, had a disheveled person chained by iron chains to a rack.


    After Mo Jiuye confirmed there was no danger, he pulled He Zhiran to quickly stride towards that person.

 Chapter 269: You Are Really Here

    <h4>Chapter 269</h4>


    That person lowered his head, as they walked closer, still no reaction, like a dead person. Mo Jiuye''s heart suddenly raced faster, he went ahead and gently raised that person''s head.


    "Seventh brother, you''re really here."


    Mo Yuance''s eyes were tightly shut, already in an unconscious state, visible blood stains could be seen from the corners of his mouth, nose and eyes.


    He Zhiran reached out to check his breath.


    "He''s still alive."


    Seeing Mo Yuance''s miserable state, Mo Jiuye''s eyes turned red again, at this moment he wished he could immediately kill those who persecuted the Mo family men.


    He Zhiran knew he felt upset, went ahead and patted his shoulder to remind: "Don''t feel sad, first take Seventh Brother away from here."


    Mo Jiuye struggled to calm his thoughts: "Okay."


    After he finished speaking, he took out the key and opened the lock chaining Mo Yuance, He Zhiran waved her hand, and sent the person into the space, also lying in the operating room.


    The two swiftly left the dungeon, found a hidden ce to enter the space.


    Without caring about Mo Yuance''s other injuries first, the first thing He Zhiran had to do was to help him remove Gu.


    Mo Jiuye was now very familiar with the Gu removal process, without He Zhiran''s instructions, he did the assistant''s job.


    He Zhiran skillfully helped Mo Yuance remove the Gu worms and collected them in a container.


    After the Gu worm was sessfully removed, He Zhiran started checking his body.


    After some examination, his condition was somewhat better than Fourth Brother, at least he didn''t reach the point of having his hands and feet cut off, but his body was as weak as Fourth Brother¡¯s.


    Also that whole body of skin injuries, using the words skin and flesh torn was an understatement, and new wounds covered old wounds, it was visible how much inhuman torture he suffered here.


    Although Fourth Princess was kind-hearted, wanting to keep Mo Yuance here to avoid him bing a dead warrior endangering his life.


    With her status in the Residence of the Crown Prince, she was simply unable to keep Seventh Brother safe, but ended up making things worse instead.


    Mo Jiuye assisted He Zhiran, together they treated Seventh Brother''s wounds, He Zhiran also gave him some IV fluids.


    After all they were still inside the Residence of the Crown Prince, they couldn''t stay in the space for too long. After He Zhiran injected Mo Yuance with another tranquilizer, the two left the space.


    By now, the Residence of the Crown Prince was already in chaos.


    The Crown Prince who originally went to deal with matters regarding the Crown Princess Consort, after hearing that his own bedroom treasures were lost, without discovering any traces of the thieves, was furious.


    Not only did he mobilize all the guards in the residence, he also ordered people to mobilize the Imperial Guards from the pce to jointly search.


    At present, not only was the Residence of the Crown Prince under high alert, even the entire capital had Imperial Guards everywhere.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s outfits walking in the Residence of the Crown Prince didn¡¯t raise others¡¯ suspicion, the two still held their night watch tools roaming everywhere, no one came to make trouble for them.


    What they were more anxious about now was to find Concubine Xiao as soon as possible and leave this ce early.


    The two soon found Xiao Concubine''s residence. With such a big incident happening in the Residence of the Crown Prince, Concubine Xiao naturally hadn''t gone to bed yet.


    At this moment, she was sitting in the main hall with several maids waiting for news from outside.


    In the flicker of time, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye knocked out all the people including Concubine Xiao, then quickly started searching.


    This Concubine Xiao was indeed favored, her bedroom was furnished with all kinds of precious antiques, paintings and jewelry. There was also a medium-sized treasury in her yard.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran broke into the door, scanned for a moment, then Mo Jiuye said, "Most of these are Fourth Princess¡¯s dowries."


    He had seen the list of Fourth Princess¡¯s dowries that year, so he was not unfamiliar with the items before him.


    With the current chaos in the Residence of the Crown Prince, they still didn¡¯t know the situation outside, and didn¡¯t dare to dy here for too long.


    Especially for Dan Pi, ording to Mo Jiuye, it was originally kept in a small wooden box at that time. Wanting to ascertain whether that small wooden box was among these many items, they didn¡¯t have enough time.


    They could only wait until it was safe to check it again in the space. Anyway, as Fourth Princess said, Dan Pi was with Concubine Xiao, as long as they took everything from her, it surely wouldn¡¯t disappoint them.


    After ransacking everything in Concubine Xiao¡¯s yard, taking advantage of the chaos, they found the treasury of the Residence of the Crown Prince again and collected all the items inside the space.


    Anyway Seventh Brother''s Gu was removed. Even if the Crown Prince held the mother Gu worm in his hands, it would no longer endanger Seventh Brother¡¯s life. They would find another chance to settle ounts with himter.


    At present, they had to hurry back to the yard they rented, as there were many officials who came into the city to search ces under the orders of the furious Crown Prince. Once Fourth Brother encountered danger, it would not be worth it.


    The two jumped over the wall to leave the Residence of the Crown Prince. As expected, the streets were full of armed officers everywhere.


    To avoid trouble, Mo Jiuye led He Zhiran over the roofs and walls all the way back to the yard they rented, avoiding those officers¡¯ sight.


    Although Mo Xiuyan didn¡¯t have much strength and spirit yet, after Ninth Brother and Sister-in-Law had been out for so long, especially in Nanjiang territory, it would be false to say there was no risk.


    He tried his best to pull himself together and waited for them toe back, half-leaning in bed.


    Mo Jiuye brought He Zhiran back without entering through the front door, but jumping over the wall, because there were already many officers outside, going from door to door searching houses.


    After entering Fourth Brother¡¯s room, Mo Jiuye sent Shun Zi away before speaking, ¡°Fourth Brother, there are many officers outside searching.¡±


    At this moment, Mo Xiuyan also heard some movement.


    "Ninth Brother, take Sister-in-Law to hide away, don''t bother about me." He had already be disabled, he didn¡¯t want to drag down Ninth Brother and his wife.


    It was impossible to abandon Fourth Brother alone here. He Zhiran hurriedly took out her acupuncture kit, quickly pricked his fainting point when Fourth Brother was not paying attention, and casually sent him into the space.


    As for Shun Zi outside, they weren¡¯t worried that he would be in danger. Shun Zi could read lips andmunicate with gestures. If the searching people came in and obtained clues from him, that would be troublesome.


    With this thought, Mo Jiuye went out with a hand chop and knocked out Shun Zi, bringing him into the space together with Fourth Brother to hide temporarily.


    After entering the space, He Zhiran took advantage of Fourth Brother¡¯s unconsciousness and transfused another bag of sma into him.


    Not long after they entered the space, the searching officers outside broke in, of course the result of the search was nothing.


    The two were in no hurry to go out either, after simply eating something to fill their stomachs in the space, He Zhiran went to the farm to check on the status of the two maidservants.


    The two maids were still unconscious at the moment, but He Zhiran knew clearly that including Fourth Brother, they would wake up after about another hour.


    As for Seventh Brother, he remained unconscious, and He Zhiran couldn¡¯t determine when he would wake up.


    In order not to expose her space to more people, He Zhiran shed out alone to check things out.


    It was obvious that the door of their yard had been forcibly broken open, the house door was wide open too, and the bedding on the bed was also messed up, clearly this ce had already been searched by those officers.


    Since it was searched, it meant it would be safe for the time being.


    So she turned back to space again and brought everyone out.

 Chapter 270: Don’t you want to avenge her

    <h4>Chapter 270</h4>


    Shun Zi was the first to awake. He was suddenly knocked out and found that there were several more people in the room now. He was a little confused.


    But seeing his master was also there, he felt at ease.


    Shun Zi got up, massaged his sore neck, gestured that he would go outside to take a look, then left.


    Mo Xiuyan and Mo Yuance needed to recuperate. The yard they rented now only had two rooms. Fortunately the beds were big enough that two people lying on them did not feel crowded.


    As for Lan Er and Yu Er, after they woke up, Madam Ninth would ask them some questions. If they really had nowhere to go, she would bring them together to the northwest.


    The family had already found so many sons alive. This news could not be kept secret even if they wanted to. Besides that, there was nothing else to worry about being leaked out, so there was no need to be concerned that these two would divulge secrets.


    Lan Er and Yu Er were both healthy. They woke up faster than the Mo brothers.


    Seeing the two gradually wake up, He Zhiran took the initiative to walk up to them.


    Lan Er reacted the fastest. Realizing the environment was not right, she immediately stood up,pletely ignoring He Zhiran. She started scanning the entire room.


    "The princess, where is the princess?"


    Yu Er also got up and asked suspiciously, "Where is this ce?"


    He Zhiran knew they were not feeling well at the moment, so she softened her tone a lot when speaking.


    "You''ve left the residence of the Crown Prince."


    Upon hearing this, Lan Er turned around and ran outside.


    "I''m going back. The princess is still lying there alone."


    He Zhiran blocked the door: "The Fourth Princess is gone. Do you think the Crown Prince will spare you if you go back?"


    Lan Er stubbornly said, "We don''t need anyone to spare us. We just want to be with the princess."


    At this point, He Zhiran could no longer describe whether these two were loyal or ignorant.


    She helplessly advised, "It''s obvious that the Fourth Princess was killed by the Prince of Southern Bordends. Don''t you want to avenge her?"


    "Take revenge?" Lan Er let out a self-deprecatingugh. "How can we two weak women avenge the princess?"


    "You can send a message to Emperor Shunwu that his daughter has died. Would he really remain indifferent?" He Zhiran was trying her best to dissuade them from thoughts of suicide.


    Even if she couldn''t make them change their minds, she wouldn''t force it. After all, she had done what she could.


    Unexpectedly, her words not only failed to make Lan Er change her mind, but also made the disappointed expression on her face grow heavier.


    "After the princess was taken to that ce by the Prince of Southern Bordends, we tried many times to send letters to the imperial capital, but it was like throwing a rock into the sea."


    He Zhiran raised her eyebrows in surprise: "Could it be that your letters did not make it out?"


    Lan Er shook her head: "More than a dozen letters. I don''t believe not a single one made it to His Majesty."


    He Zhiran was even more puzzled: "Could it be that Emperor Shunwu does not care about his own daughter''s life and death?"


    By now, Lan Er no longer had any need to conceal things.


    "We grew up with the princess in the pce since childhood, and have long seen through the cold-bloodedness and ruthlessness of the imperial family.


    A daughter married off to consolidate the country, who would care about her life and death?"


    "What about the Empress then?" He Zhiran was increasingly confused.


    Lan Er sneered coldly: "The Empress''s mind is all on Prince Heng. And we heard recently that Prince Heng has gone missing. Where would she have any thought to care about the princess''s suffering?"


    He Zhiran...


    Alright!


    It was because she had lived in the harmonious Mo family circle for too long that she had forgotten theck of kinship in the imperial family.


    "Even if Emperor Shunwu is unwilling to seek justice for the Fourth Princess, would the next emperor also turn a blind eye?"


    The next emperor?


    Lan Er had not thought that far.


    Now that He Zhiran had brought it up, she had to think deeply about it.


    The only two princes with the most hope of inheriting the throne in Da Shun were Prince Heng and Prince Qi.


    Now Prince Heng''s whereabouts were unknown. The only one left was Prince Qi.


    Since childhood, Prince Heng had been instilled by the Empress that there was only the throne in his eyes. He had no kinship with his sister born of the same mother. In fact, he had always resented the Fourth Princess for being a girl and unable to help himpete for the throne.


    Prince Qi was different. He was gentle and courteous since childhood and extremely respectful to his sister the Fourth Princess.


    He would even help the Fourth Princess when she suffered grievances.


    If Prince Qi ascended the throne, would he help the princess seek justice?


    Thinking of this, Lan Er seemed to see a glimmer of hope.


    "But I don''t know when Prince Qi will seed to the throne."


    Hearing her say this, He Zhiran knew her persuasion was working.


    "There is a saying, it''s never toote to take revenge even after ten years. Moreover, Da Shun and the Southern Bordends are often at war. Who knows, maybe someday, the Southern Bordends will bepletely conquered by Da Shun. By then, when you make offerings to the princess, you can tell her this news, won''t thatfort her spirit in heaven?"


    The more Lan Er listened, the more reasonable she felt it was. If she died, the princess''s suffering in the residence of the Prince of Southern Bordends would never see the light of day. She had to live well and look for opportunities to burn incense and tell the princess that her great vengeance had been reported.


    "Madam Ninth, thank you for reminding me. Lan Er is willing to serve by your side. I only want to wait for the day the Prince of Southern Bordends falls, and then tell the princess this news. Then Lan Er will have no regrets in this life."


    As Lan Er spoke, she had already knelt down before He Zhiran.


    Yu Er was obviously someone without much independent thought. She basically felt whatever Lan Er said made sense.


    Therefore, after Lan Er knelt down, she also knelt down together.


    He Zhiran did not hurry to help them up. She had to make clear the ugly truth before bringing them to the northwest.


    "You must have heard about the Mo Family being raided and exiled. At that time, only one Mo son was left alive, my husband Mo Jiuye."


    As she spoke, she nced at the two still unconscious on the bed.


    "Today we sneaked into the residence of the Crown Prince and sessfully rescued Seventh Brother. This matter probably can''t be kept secret for long. But I hope this news does note from your mouths."


    Lan Er immediately promised: "Madam Ninth, rest assured, Lan Er swears she will never speak of this."


    To protect this person, even the princess had lost her life. Even for the sake of the princess, she had to help conceal this matter for the Mo Family.


    Seeing her sincere attitude, He Zhiran went on: "We now live in the countryside of the northwest. If you can''t get used to such hard days, I won''t force you to go there.


    Moreover, we don''t keep idlers in our family. Not to mention you, even my mother-inw and sisters-inw work every day."


    He Zhiran was worried that no matter how the Fourth Princess was not favored, she was still a princess of the country. The pce maids who could apany her to the Southern Bordends must be the highest ss of pce maids.


    In her mind, first-ss pce maids in the pce basically did not need to work, only needed to help their masters with some trivial daily matters.


    She kindly wanted to bring them along, but what if she brought back two people who could not lift a shoulder or lift a hand? Wouldn''t that be a burden?

 Chapter 271: How can a body like this get revenge

    <h4>Chapter 271</h4>


    Lan Er had already changed her mind aboutmitting suicide, especially since she would be staying with the Mo Family in the future and naturally had to behave herself well.


    "No, no, no, the two of us can do all kinds of rough work. When we go to the Mo Family, the Ninth Lady can order us around like lowly maids if she wants."


    Lan Er didn''t have any great skills. No matter who she followed, she could be loyal. "Please don''t look down on me, Ninth Lady."


    Yu Er also promised: "Ninth Lady, I can also work. I guarantee I won''t make things difficult for you."


    After finishing reprimanding them, He Zhiran spoke again: "As long as you don''t have ulterior motives, I won''t mistreat you either."


    With the two maids'' matters temporarily settled, He Zhiran went to the bedside to check on the Fourth and Seventh Brothers.


    Mo Jiuye guessed his wife might use some special methods to wake the two brothers, so he waved his hands at Lan Er and Yu Er to let them leave first.


    Since the Seventh Brother had been unconscious when he was rescued, He Zhiran carefully inserted silver needles at several acupoints on his body.


    After about five minutes, the Seventh Brother first showed signs of reaction, with his eyelids twitching slightly, followed by a slight pained expression on his face.


    Mo Jiuye anxiously went forward and shouted: "Seventh brother, Seventh brother, wake up!"


    Mo Yuance felt dizzy. He thought he was dead, yet strangely heard the Ninth Brother''s voice.


    He didn''t open his eyes voluntarily, but mumbled: "Ninth brother? Ninth brother, tell Mother that her unfilial son couldn''t fulfill his filial duty by her side as she sends off her ck-haired son.


    "Seventh brother, it''s me Jiuye. Mother is very well. If she knew you were still alive, she would definitely be very happy," Mo Jiuye said.


    "You said I''m still alive?" Mo Yuance clearly didn''t believe it was true.


    "Seventh brother, you really are still alive," Mo Jiuye affirmed.


    Hearing this definite statement, Mo Yuance struggled to open his eyes.


    He didn''t recognize the person in front of him at all. He subconsciously thought this must be the Southern Bordends people ying tricks, wanting to get something out of him by finding someone with the same voice as his Ninth Brother to trick him.


    "Heh... You Southern Bordends people really stoop to any means," Mo Yuance sneered.


    Only then did Mo Jiuye realize his face was disguised by his wife''s makeup and he was wearing Southern Bordends clothing, no wonder the Seventh Brother didn''t recognize him.


    He hurriedly tore off his fake beard. He Zhiran also timely handed over a wet wipe. Mo Jiuye swiftly wiped off the makeup on his face, then moved closer to Mo Yuance.


    "Seventh brother, look closely at me. I''m Jiuye."


    To let the Seventh Brother see clearly, He Zhiran even held up the room''s only oilmp next to Mo Jiuye''s face, trying to make it clearer for him to see.


    Now Mo Yuance could thoroughly see Mo Jiuye''s appearance.


    "Ninth brother, it really is you?"


    Seeing his brother recognize him, Mo Jiuye''s eyes instantly moistened.


    He pulled He Zhiran to his side and introduced: "Seventh brother, this is my wife, the daughter of Chancellor He''s family, He Zhiran."


    Hearing this, Mo Yuance felt confused.


    On the eve of the war against the Southern Bordends, he and Sixth Brother had also advised Mo Jiuye. They told him he was quite old already, and his marriage had been set for many years. When the war ended and they returned to the capital, he should hurry up and get married to bring some joy to the family.


    This had clearly just happened recently. How did the Ninth Brother get married so quickly?


    Could it be that the Ninth Sister chased him to the border to marry the Ninth Brother?


    The more Mo Yuance thought about it, the more muddled he felt. He simply asked outright: "Ninth brother, how did you get married so fast?"


    Hearing his question, Mo Jiuye naturally understood the Seventh Brother must have lost his own consciousness due to the Gu worms¡¯ control and didn¡¯t remember what had happened recently.


    "Seventh brother, it¡¯s already been over three years since your ident on the battlefield."


    "Over three years?" Mo Yuance didn''t believe it at all.


    Mo Jiuye roughly told him about what had happened these past few years, and informed him that his missing memories were caused by the puppet Gu worm.


    In order to get the Seventh Brother to ept this fact, Mo Jiuye also specially let him take a look at the Fourth Brother lying next to him.


    "Seventh brother, if you don''t believe me, take a look. Fourth brother was rescued a day before you."


    In Mo Yuance¡¯s knowledge, the Fourth Brother had already died on the battlefield before he himself was captured. Now seeing the person lying beside him, those eyebrows, if not Fourth Brother, then who?


    Now Mo Yuance thoroughly believed Mo Jiuye¡¯s words.


    "I didn''t expect I was actually muddled for over three years." Mo Yuanceughed at himself.


    In these three years, he also failed his duty to serve his aged mother. Abandoning his young wife to live as a widow, and now requiring his Ninth Brother and Sister-in-Law to risk danger toe rescue him in the Southern Bordends.


    He felt he was a burden dragging down his family.


    Especially just now when he wanted to sit up but couldn''t move at all.


    For a time, Mo Yuance fell into bewilderment.


    At the same time, he also wondered aloud:


    "I remember I inhaled poison powder with Sixth Brother thrown by the enemy, then was taken to a dark ce. Why has my body be so weak?"


    It seemed the Seventh Brother didn''t remember what had happened at all.


    Mo Jiuye could only tell him what he knew.


    "Seventh brother, you were caught and imnted with a puppet Gu worm. At first we all thought you were dead. We found you in the Southern Bordends Prince''s manor. At that time you were locked in the dungeon..."


    Mo Jiuye recounted it very clearly, even telling about the Fourth Princess.


    Mo Yuance didn''t expect that his current utterly feeble state was caused by the Southern Bordends Prince''s jealousy.


    He tried his utmost to clench his fist and say: "I, Mo Yuance, will take revenge on this grudge in my lifetime."


    Thinking about his own condition, Mo Yuance gritted his teeth in hatred.


    Mo Jiuye also hated the Southern Bordends Prince, it¡¯s just that when they were at the Prince''s manor earlier, they were anxious to save the Seventh Brother, plus the chaotic situation on site, thus letting that Prince slip away temporarily.


    But he didn¡¯t dare show too extreme an attitude in front of the Seventh Brother.


    The Seventh Brother was fairly hot-tempered. Mo Jiuye worried he would damage his already tattered body from anger, so he urgently persuaded: "Seventh brother, we will take revenge sooner orter, but you need to recover first."


    Hearing his Ninth Brother''s words, Mo Yuance only just realized that currently he couldn''t even get up, so what ability did he have to seek revenge?


    He strived to calm himself down and be more sensible.


    This sensibility, instead, roused in Mo Yuance a feeling of utter hopeless despair.


    He first lifted his bony, scarred hands as thin as firewood to look, then said sarcastically: "I was really overestimating myself. With this kind of body, what revenge is there to speak of?"


    Seeing the Seventh Brother''s despondent mood, Mo Jiuye hurriedlyforted: "Seventh brother, Rangrang is very skilled in medicine. She will surely cure you."


    To make Mo Yuance believe his words, Mo Jiuye briefly described the situation the Eighth Brother was in back then, and how Rangrang had cured him and others.

 Chapter 272: Men and Women

    <h4>Chapter 272</h4>


    Mo Yuance had just been in his own decadent thoughts, and only then did he have time to look at He Zhiran.


    No matter how low his mood was at the moment, the etiquette ingrained in him since childhood did not neglect, and he struggled to nod at He Zhiran.


    "Sister Nine, you''ve had a hard time."


    He Zhiran returned a blessing.


    "Brother Seven, don''t worry, I can heal both you and Brother Four."


    Mo Yuance didn''t know what supernatural powers Sister Nine had, but Brother Nine had just said that she had removed the puppet Gu parasites from him and several other brothers, so her skills were clearly extraordinary.


    There was hope. Who would want to live in disappointment?


    "Then I''ll have to trouble Sister Nine in the future." Mo Yuance was still so polite.


    He Zhiran also hurriedly replied, "Brother Seven is too polite. We are all family. What''s the trouble?"


    As they spoke, Mo Xiuyan, who was lying in bed, also slowly woke up.


    His first feeling was that there was one more person beside him.


    Turning his head to look, it turned out to be a person as injured as himself.


    Because they were both lying down, Mo Xiuyan''s line of sight to Mo Yuance was not very good, so he did not recognize his own brother at first sight.


    Seeing that the fourth brother had woken up, Mo Jiuye quickly said, "Fourth Brother, we just went out and rescued Seventh Brother."


    Hearing this, Mo Xiuyan struggled to prop himself up with his elbows to check the person next to him.


    Mo Yuance excitedly shouted, "Fourth brother, it''s me!"


    The difficult brothers gazed at each other for a long time, unable to hold back their red-rimmed eyes.


    Especially Mo Yuance. In his impression, the fourth brother had died in battle half a year earlier than himself, so to see him still alive now was simply a blessing from heaven.


    If Mo Jiuye knew his thoughts, he would definitely say, how was it a blessing from heaven? All this was Sister He Zhiran''s contribution. Without her, I''m afraid I would have turned into a handful of yellow earth by now, let alone have a chance to find the lost brother and save them from the Gu parasites and treat them.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help but talk about his precious wife''s contribution.


    "Fourth Brother and Seventh Brother, we brothers can still be alive and together, it''s all thanks to Sister He Zhiran. Without her, I would have been severely punished by Emperor Shunwu with one hundred strokes, and even if there were no assassins chasing me, I''m afraid I wouldn''t have been able to arrive alive in the northwest."


    There was also a possibility that he would have been caught by that Mr. Si Meng to nt Gu parasites.


    This point, both Mo Xiuyan and Mo Yuance had heard Mo Jiuye mention it before, just not in such detail.


    They knew Ninth Brother''s character and that he would never tell lies. Since he said it was Sister Ninth Sister-In-Law''s contribution, then that must be the case.


    If their bodies were movable, even if they had to kneel in front of Sister Ninth Sister-In-Law to thank her would not be too much.


    Since they could not get up, it was still very necessary to solemnly say a word of thanks.


    "Sister Ninth, on behalf of the Mo family, Fourth Brother thanks you for your great kindness."


    "Sister Ninth, from now on in the Mo family, apart from our mother, you are the greatest. Seventh Brother will listen to whatever you say."


    Being thanked so deeply by two heroic elder brothers, He Zhiran was clearly somewhat embarrassed.


    She hurriedly changed the subject.


    "Fourth Brother and Seventh Brother, I am the daughter-inw of the Mo family. These are things I should do. You can chat with your husband first. I''ll go out and prepare some food for you."


    Having said that, she hurried out.


    Lan Er and Yu Er were very sensible. Seeing that the few people in the room had things to talk about, they stood far away in the yard.


    At that distance, plus the volume of speech in the room was notrge, even Mo Jiuye, who knew martial arts, probably couldn''t hear it.


    For this reason, He Zhiran''s impression of the two was even better.


    After all, it was the middle of the night, and the two had just lost the master they had served for many years. He Zhiran could understand their mood at the moment, so she didn''t intend to arrange for them to do anything right away, just letting them go to rest in her and Mo Jiuye''s room for the time being.


    Anyway, they were going to go into the space at night, so leaving the room empty didn''t matter.


    Shun Zi also came out from the kitchen at this time. Seeing He Zhiran, he gestured with his hands,


    meaning to tell her that the fire had already been lit in the kitchen and that he could help prepare some food for everyone.


    He Zhiran nodded, "Okay, I''ll cook."


    If it was the usual meals, she wouldn''t mind Shun Zi''sck of cooking skills either. But that wouldn''t work this time, given the physical condition of the two elder brothers. They had to eat some nutritious food, but also not too much supplementation.


    Therefore, He Zhiran decided to personally cook some food to nourish the bodies of the two elder brothers.


    In addition, considering that they were both currentlycking in blood, she also fried a te of braised liver tips with carrots, which could also replenish some vitamins.


    The staple food was sea cucumber porridge with some vegetables added. During their imprisonment, the two elder brothers not only suffered torture but also injured their stomachs. In this case, eating gruel would be easier to digest.


    An hourter, when the chicken soup was cooked, He Zhiran personally brought it to their room.


    Mo Jiuye patiently fed the two elder brothers spoonful by spoonful.


    The fourth brother was fine for now. Since being rescued, this was not the first time he had eaten such good food.


    The seventh brother, on the other hand, felt a little ufortable. On the one hand, his feeling of hunger was very strong, on the other hand, he felt as if he had never eaten such delicious food before, and the sister-inw ninth was still standing there watching him, so if he ate too fast, it would obviously be inappropriate.


    But he was really hungry. Especially since the food prepared by Sister Ninth was so delicious, he wanted to control the speed but found it difficult. In the end, Mo Yuance ate the meal with a red face.


    He Zhiran took the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen. She had just walked out the door when Shun Zi took them from her.


    He gestured that he would clean up himself.


    Although Lan Er and Yu Er had entered the room, they didn''t dare fall asleep at this time. Hearing the movement outside, they both walked out.


    Seeing there was dishwashing to do, they hurried to the kitchen.


    This time He Zhiran did not stop them, on the contrary, she hoped that the two would integrate into their lives sooner.


    Returning to the room of the two elder brothers, He Zhiran took their pulses again to check on them.


    "The fourth brother''s condition has improved a bit. He should be able to have surgery in half a month."


    This was simply the best news ever.


    Mo Jiuye believed that after the operation, the fourth brother would slowly get back on his feet.


    He Zhiran also gave the seventh brother a tranquilizer pill, "The seventh brother is just too weak physically, he can slowly recover."


    Even if others didn''t believe this, the fourth brother definitely did.


    Being conditioned by Sister He Zhiran these past two days, he clearly felt much better mentally, and he could still sit up supporting himself.

 Chapter 273: Mother and two sister-in-law are waiting for you to come back.

    <h4>Chapter 273</h4>


    "Seventh Brother, believe Ninth Sister-in-Law, her medical skills are really good."


    In order to prove what he said was not empty talk, Fourth Elder Brother deliberately leaned on his elbow and sat up.


    "Look at me, when Ninth Brother and the others first saved me, my body was like a pile of mud, but now I can sit up."


    Seventh Elder Brother looked at Fourth Elder Brother leaning against the head of the bed: "Well, I should get better soon too."


    Seeing the two elder brothers rekindle their confidence, Mo Jiuye encouraged: "You will definitely get better, when Mother and two elder sister-inws see youe back alive, they will definitely be very happy."


    Fourth Elder Brother and Seventh Elder Brother were originally weak, and had been injected with sedatives by He Zhiran, so they felt groggy after waking up.


    If it wasn''t for the reunion with their brothers, they probably wouldn''t have been able to hold on.


    At this moment, after the brothers talked for so long, both of their eyes were gradually unable to stay open.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye stood up: "Fourth Brother, Seventh Brother, you two rest for a while, I¡¯ll let Shunzie in and watch over you.¡±


    The two elder brothers were also worried about Ninth Brother and his wife¡¯s hard work, so they responded and let them go back to rest as well.


    Their room was now upied by Lan Er and Yu Er. The two went directly to a secluded ce in the back yard, then shed into the space.


    Although Mo Jiuye was worried about the two elder brothers just now, he didn''t forget that his wife was unhappy.


    As soon as he entered the space, he pulled her into his arms.


    "Ranran, are you angry?"


    He Zhiran didn¡¯t have the temperament of a youngdy. At this moment, if Mo Jiuye hadn''t asked, she would have forgotten the little incident at the Prince''s Mansion.


    Moreover, she believed in Mo Jiuye''s feelings for her. He would never have any inappropriate thoughts about other women.


    Even if he did, He Zhiran was not afraid. There were so many couples who divorced because of disharmony or the other party''s infidelity. When it came to her, she would neverpromise.


    Of course, this was just her bottom line for marriage. Now that she and Mo Jiuye were in harmony, she didn¡¯t need to think too much at all.


    However, since he took the initiative to mention it, He Zhiran still couldn''t help but poke at him a little.


    "There is no room for sand in my eyes. If one day you no longer have me in your heart, you can say it directly. "


    I can leave very calmly...


    Seeing her say this, Mo Jiuye became even more nervous.


    "Ranran, I, Mo Jiuye, swear that I will only love you in this life. If I ever change my heart, may the heavens strike me with lightning..."


    "Alright, I know, don''t say anymore." He Zhiran reached out to cover his mouth, not letting him finish.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye hugged her even tighter.


    "My good Ranran, you are so understanding."


    He Zhiran rolled her eyes. She didn''t know when this man had be so sweet-talking.


    Just as the two were hugging each other and about to be intimate, Rice Ball inappropriately ran over.


    The little guy barked towards the direction of the ranch several times, signaling them to look over there.


    These past few days, the two didn''t have the mood to be intimate because of the elder brothers¡¯ matter. If it wasn''t a passionate moment just now, they wouldn''t have chosen to do anything at this time either.


    Now, Rice Ball''s arrival was like pouring a basin of cold water over their heads.


    He Zhiran first pushed Mo Jiuye away before he reluctantly let her go.


    The two walked together towards the direction of the ranch. Upon getting closer, they saw that the cows had given birth to calves.


    These dairy cows were raised by He Zhiran before she came to the Northwest. She had been so busy with everything recently that she hadn''t had a chance to check on them.


    The cows giving birth meant they would have milk from the space to drink.


    In this ancient era, for the two elder brothers whose bodies were severely deficient, milk was definitely a good tonic.


    He Zhiran went to the control panel to operate it, squeezing out arge bucket of milk.


    Before leaving the space early in the morning, she boiled the milk and brought it out to appear in the backyard.


    Lan Er and Yu Er had also gotten up and were cleaning the yard.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran return from the backyard, carrying a steaming wooden bucket, the two thought they had gone to stay at a nearby innst night, climbed back over the wall early in the morning, and brought back breakfast.


    Lan Er put down her broom and guiltily said, "It''s all our fault that Ninth Master and Ninth Madam had to go stay at an inn. "


    He Zhiran waved her hand: "It doesn''t matter, it''s the same wherever we stay." Immediately after, she asked again: "It was peacefulst night, right?"


    Lan Er nodded: "Everything was fine."


    After she spoke, Lan Er hurriedly called Yu Er toe up and take the wooden bucket Mo Jiuye was holding.


    The two had just taken the bucket when they smelled a milky fragrance.


    Although cow''s milk was a precious thing in this era, the pce maids who grew up in the pce would not find it unfamiliar.


    "Ninth Master, Ninth Madam, did you go out to buy cow''s milk?"


    He Zhiran vaguely replied, "We happened to run into someone selling it on the road, so we bought some."


    In order not to let them continue to be puzzled by this, He Zhiran urged: "Take it to the kitchen first. Give Fourth Brother and Seventh Brother a bowl each, and you should each drink a bowl too, as much as you can drink."


    The two maidservants didn''t expect the Ninth Madam to be so generous that she would even share such precious milk with them.


    The two suddenly felt warm in their hearts. No wonder the Princess entrusted them to Ninth Master and Ninth Madam before she passed away.


    The Princess was an excellent judge of character. The Ninth Madam was definitely not the kind of sour and mean mistress.


    Thinking of this, Lan Er and Yu Er were also less resistant to their future life.


    He Zhiran didn''t know their thoughts. After drinking a bowl of milk, she personally prepared breakfast for the two elder brothers.


    It was still a nutritionally bnced meal. Their bodies were too weak. She estimated it wouldn¡¯t take long before they would hurry back to the Northwest.


    With so many new members added, they couldn''t use the big G anymore. When the time came to travel by carriage and endure the bumps on the road, if their health wasn''t improved a bit, He Zhiran worried they wouldn''t be able to withstand the jolting.


    After preparing breakfast, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye stayed in the room to chat with the two elder brothers. The topic was mainly about Mo Family finding several brothers and their life in the Northwest.


    At the same time,


    In the imperial pce of the Southern Frontier.


    The Crown Prince stood in the center of the main hall, his face full of helplessness and anger.


    "Father Emperor, I don''t know who has such great ability that they actuallypletely stole the Crown Prince''s mansion clean."


    The Crown Prince had already reported this matter to the Emperor of the Southern Frontier when he sent people to the pce to ask for helpst night. However, the ministers present didn''t know about it.


    Hearing the Crown Prince say this, everyone felt incredulous.


    Especially this seemingly useless Crown Prince, who had done a lot of inappropriate things. Few people were willing to believe what he said.


    However, seeing the worried look on the Emperor''s face, it didn''t seem to be false.


    Just as the civil and military officials of the whole court were puzzled, someone came to report that a message had arrived from the border.

 Chapter 274: Mr. Simeng

    <h4>Chapter 274</h4>


    If Mo Jiuye were to know, he would say this news came a bitte.


    The reason was none other than that the frontier guardmander was worried about being med by the Emperor for people sneaking in, so he thought to send someone to find them and wrap up the matter.


    He didn''t expect that he had dispatched arge number of men, yet was unable to find any traces.


    Themander guessed that the intruders had likely already blended into the city. If this matter was hidden any longer and something big happened, he wouldn''t be able to get away with it. Thus, he was forced to send someone to the capital to deliver a letter.


    When the Crown Prince heard there were intruders at the frontier, he immediately associated it with the strange urrences at his manor.


    "Father, there must be traitors from Da Shun who have snuck in, that''s why someone was able to steal from my manor," said the Crown Prince.


    The Emperor of Southern Frontier furrowed his brows.


    "The messenger who just came from the frontier said they only saw two infiltrators. What ability would two people have to empty out the entire treasury of the Crown Prince''s manor?"


    Hearing the Emperor say this, it wasn''t long before the ministers echoed in agreement.


    "That''s right, unless those viins were immortals, with the Crown Prince Manor''s tight defenses, how could anyone make an entire treasury disappear?"


    This angered the Crown Prince.


    "Are you saying I''m making things up?"


    "This humble official wouldn''t dare."


    "Humph! I see you''re quite bold."


    The Emperor of Southern Frontier was already in a terrible mood. Seeing the two argue openly in the hall, he angrily banged on the table.


    "Quiet, all of you!"


    The Crown Prince and minister exchanged nces then immediately shut their mouths.


    At this moment, the Emperor of Southern Frontier also didn''t know how to deal with this matter. All he could openly do was dispatch more people to continue the investigation.


    After making these arrangements, the Emperor of Southern Frontier impatiently ordered the ministers to disperse. Then he hastily departed.


    The Crown Prince hadined bitterly in the hall for so long without any results.


    Although his father said he would send more men to continue investigating, it was of no help regarding the many items stolen from his manor.


    Because his treasury was robbed, the Crown Prince had overlooked the final affairs of the Fourth Princess.


    When he returned to the Crown Prince Manor, the servants came to inquire about the next steps regarding the Crown Prince''s Consort''s funeral.


    Only then did the Crown Prince remember that the final affairs for his Consort had not yet been handled.


    Although he did not care for the Fourth Princess of Da Shun, she had, after all,e for a marriage alliance.


    Her funeral affairs couldn''t be handled too simply. After all, there were many eyes watching from outside. Even if just for appearance''s sake, it had to be done properly.


    So he impatiently arranged for the servants to handle the subsequent tasks.


    At the same time, he suddenly recalled that he hadn''t seen the two handmaidens who had apanied the Fourth Princess for the marriage alliance. Could it be...they were the ones who stole the items from the treasury and absconded?


    The Crown Prince suddenly felt he had gained insight into the truth. He ordered further searches for Lan Er and Yu Er''s whereabouts...


    At this time, within the imperial pce of Southern Frontier.


    The Emperor of Southern Frontier returned to his study. After dismissing his entourage, he went behind arge screen.


    He pressed a switch to open the door to the secret chamber and entered.


    The interior of the secret chamber could be described as luxurious and majestic, with furnishings that did not fall short of his imperial study in the slightest.


    Moreover, it had all the necessary living facilities, even the chamber pot was gold-rimmed.


    As soon as the Emperor of Southern Frontier entered, he eagerly said:


    "Sir, no matter what, you must lend a hand this time."


    From his tone, it wasn''t difficult to hear how respectful and cautious he was, even carrying a trace of fear.


    At this time, a person waszily reclining on the couch. The Emperor of Southern Frontier''s arrival did notpel him to stand.


    This person wore an ink-colored hat on his head and women''s clothing on his body, but his voice when he spoke was that of a man.


    Moreover, his tone made people unconsciously feel impatient.


    "What has happened to distress the emperor of a nation to such an extent?"


    The Emperor of Southern Frontier still stood respectfully before that person and said, "I just heard the report from the frontier. They said two viins from Da Shun snuck in and still haven''t been found.


    "Not only that, more strange things happened at the Crown Prince''s manorst night. I suspect it has to do with those two viins..."


    Hearing the Emperor of Southern Frontier''s words roused some interest in the person on the couch. He slowly sat up straight and asked, "Do you mean those two viins have abilities that transcend the Heavens, that they were actually able to empty out the entire treasury of the Crown Prince''s manor all at once?"


    If this had happened in the past, perhaps he wouldn''t have believed such nonsense.


    Going back further, the national treasury of Da Shun had beenpletely stolen clean in one night, and the thief even set it on fire afterwards.


    Also, the home of a certain county magistrate of Da Shun had been burgled with the same modus operandi.


    Most importantly, justst night he had personally witnessed his own Si Meng Mountain Vi''s study emptied out. The few disciples he had left behind were all dead, and Mo Xiuyan had been taken away by someone.


    Regrettably, by the time he discovered it, it was already toote and the thief had disappeared without a trace.


    If he had not gone to Si Meng Mountain Vist night and had instead stayed in the capital city, given how big of amotion urred at the Crown Prince''s manor, he would have been able to rush over promptly to investigate, instead of losing the best window of time to search for clues like now.


    He was already furious because of this matter. And now the Emperor of Southern Frontier hade to ask for his help.


    Mr. Si Meng did not immediately respond to the Emperor of Southern Frontier. Instead, he carefully analyzed the simrities between these few incidents.


    First, the theft of the Da Shun national treasury. That was on the night before the Mo family''s banishment.


    ording to his subordinates'' reports, Mo Jiuye was summoned by Emperor Shunwu into the pce on the day of Mo Jiuye''s wedding. Afterwards, Mo Jiuye was carried back home after receiving 50 heavy blows with the quer.


    As someone who practices martial arts, he clearly understood what receiving 50 heavy blows entailed.


    If it had been him instead, after taking those 50 blows, he would have likely been bedridden for at least a month.


    Even if Mo Jiuye''s martial arts were superior to his own, without lying in bed for at least half a month, it would have been impossible for him to move freely, let alone steal from the highly-guarded national treasury. No matter how he looked at it, it didn''t seem like something Mo Jiuye did.


    But one also could notpletely preclude Mo Jiuye''s involvement either.


    Next was the matter of that county magistrate''s family. Some were injured, others were frightened silly, and a treasury full of items had disappeared overnight.


    After an investigation by his subordinates, at that time the Mo family''s exiled convoy was right nearby.


    It was just that their exact location was not found.


    Through these two incidents, even if he didn''t find evidence pointing to Mo Jiuye, his intuition told him this was certainly rted to Mo Jiuye.


    Finally, there was his Si Meng Mountain Vi. One must know, there were quite a lot of items in the underground study. Even if one knew Qinggong lightness skill, one would still need to make several round trips to move everything upstairs.


    He had carefully examined the location. At most, there were only two sets of outsiders'' footprints.


    Moreover, judging by the sizes of the footprints, the two people should have been one man and one woman.


    He could conjecture the man to be Mo Jiuye. Mo Xiuyan was in such a sorry state, covered in filth. If Mo Jiuye was not his own brother, upon seeing him perhaps he wouldn''t even have wanted to save him.


    He just couldn''t figure out who the woman could be.


    In order to break into his Si Meng Mountain Vi, without formidable abilities one wouldn''t even have been able to get inside.


    But from his understanding, among the Mo family women there was no one who knew martial arts.


    The more Mr. Si Meng thought about it, the more he felt he couldn''t grasp the crux of the matter.

 Chapter 275: Nine brothers and sisters, you must go

    <h4>Chapter 275</h4>


    Now the Emperor of Southern Frontier said that there was also a theft at the Residence of the Crown Prince, which was simrly emptied out. This made Mr. Si Meng puzzled for a moment.


    Since he came here to recuperate, he has received a lot of bad news in session.


    First his disciple Yun Li went missing. And now Mo Yunfeng, which was under Yun Li''s control, has also disappeared without a trace.


    If Yun Li was dead, he wouldn''t worry too much. After all, the mother Gu was in Yun Li¡¯s hands, so Mo Yunfeng wouldn''t have any hope of surviving either.


    Being dead wouldn''t be too bad. It would just be a little earlier than the other people of the Mo Family. He could go apologize to Little Meng down there.


    What really gave him a headache were the Fifth Son of the Mo Family and Mo Jiuye.


    If the person who caused all this trouble in Southern Frontier this time was really Mo Jiuye, he would definitely seize this opportunity and make sure he never returns.


    Upon thinking of this, Mr. Si Meng spoke up.


    "Leave this matter to me."


    Seeing Mr. Si Meng agree, the Emperor of Southern Frontier hurriedly said, "I''ll have to trouble you then."


    Mr. Si Meng waved his hand to let him leave first. It looked like he really had to use his trump card this time.


    After the Emperor of Southern Frontier left, he got up from the soft couch and went straight out through another passage...


    In the rented yard in the capital city.


    He Zhiran used silver needles to prick the sleeping acupoints of her two elder brothers, then helped them transfuse blood sma again and injected them with protein drugs.


    An hourter, all the blood sma was transfused, and the two elder brothers also gradually woke up.


    They felt much more spirited now. They both thought it was because their ninth younger sister had prepared nourishing meals for them and they had a good rest.


    He Zhiran didn¡¯t exin much about it.


    She believed that the Southern Frontier capital must be in chaos today due to what happened in the Residence of the Crown Princest night. She was going to go out with Mo Jiuye to take a look.


    Since the Crown Prince hadn''t found the person who had emptied the treasury of the Residence of the Crown Prince and rescued their seventh elder brother, he definitely wouldn''t let it go easily.


    Moreover, at this point, he must have already attended the early court session. Bringing up this matter at the court, the number of people involved in the investigation would surely increase.


    Even though they had narrowly escaped the searchst night, they still couldn¡¯t let their guard down now.


    If those soldiers who were searching came around again, it would be dangerous for these people at home if they were not around.


    Finally, after discussing it, the two decided that only Mo Jiuye would go out while He Zhiran stayed at home. In case of an emergency, she could make everyone unconscious and hide in her space.


    Fortunately, they made that decision. Not long after Mo Jiuye left, there was a mor of noises outside the yard.


    Sure enough, those soldiers started going from door to door to search again.


    This time, they were better prepared thanst night. With the princess dead and her two maids also missing at the same time, it was inevitable to suspect Lan Er and Yu Er even though they were powerless weak women. Having disappeared for so long just like evaporating into thin air, it was impossible not to arouse some suspicion.


    They didn''t know what the thief who stole from the Residence of the Crown Prince looked like, but they did know what the two maids beside the Fourth Princess looked like. Therefore, the Crown Prince of Southern Frontier ordered them to use the two maids as clues to carry out the investigation first.


    At this moment, those people were asking around with the portraits of Lan Er and Yu Er while also searching every household.


    In the words of the Crown Prince, they must be thorough and not let even a mouse hole slip by.


    When Lan Er and Yu Er heard the movement, they both ran to He Zhiran.


    "Ninth Lady, we heard those officials asking if anyone had seen the two women in the portrait. I guessed they must be asking about us. Let''s go out now. We must not implicate Ninth Lady and two Masters."


    After saying that, Lan Er and Yu Er pulled each other¡¯s hands and were about to walk out towards the main entrance.


    "Stop!" He Zhiran shouted to stop them.


    Just as Lan Er and Yu Er turned to look at her, they saw the air in front of them filled with white powder. At the same time, they both lost consciousness.


    He Zhiran quickly sent them into her space.


    As for Shun Zi, He Zhiran was not so gentle with him.


    After all, there was little left of the anesthetic powder she had prepared. She had to conserve whenever possible.


    Therefore, He Zhiran knocked Shun Zi unconscious with a knifehand strike and sent him into the space together with the girls.


    As for her two elder brothers in the room, they were martial artists. Even though their bodies were weak, they could still hear the movement outside vaguely.


    Neither wanted to implicate their ninth younger sister.


    The two brothers discussed and decided to persuade their ninth younger sister to leave by herself no matter what and not care about them.


    At this moment, He Zhiran walked in.


    "Ninth younger sister, you hide first and don''t mind us."


    "Listen to us. Ninth younger sister, leave quickly."


    Mo Xiuyan and Mo Yuance hated themselves for the first time, for their bodies being so useless that they might even drag down their own younger sister.


    When He Zhiran came in, she could already hear the footsteps getting closer and closer to the door. At this moment, she didn¡¯t have time to exin too much either. It was toote to prick the sleep acupoints of the two with silver needles. She simply threw out a bag of anesthetic powder and then quickly brought them into her space.


    He Zhiran had just appeared in her space when she was caught by Rice Ball.


    Looking at the soft and cute little fellow, He Zhiran''s mood instantly rxed a lot.


    She prepared some tasty food for Rice Ball before sending it away to y by itself.


    Taking this opportunity while her two elder brothers were unconscious, she helped check their bodies again.


    The results of the examination were not bad. Everything was developing as He Zhiran had expected.


    Especially for her fourth elder brother, the recovery speed of his heart index was decent. There would be absolutely no problem with surgery in half a month.


    Although her seventh elder brother''s body was still slightly weaker, there was also great improvement. It shouldn''t take too long before he could slowly start walking around.


    Looking at the time, the few of them would probably have to sleep for a while more. He Zhiran then used her mind to check the spoils of war from the Residence of the Crown Prince.


    Her main goal was to find some lotus centa.


    Luckily, after searching for a while, she finally found the small box.


    The lotus centa was small to begin with. And there was only this one piece of such precious medicinal material. If not for the box looking a bit exquisite, it could even be described as very inconspicuous.


    It had been more than an hour since entering the space. The soldiers searching outside must have left already. Only then did He Zhiran bring everyone out together.


    Just as they appeared in the room, Mo Jiuye returned.


    "What was the situation outside?"


    Mo Jiuye''s expression was somewhat solemn.


    "The streets were full of soldiers. The theft at the Residence of the Crown Prince had red up. They were still carrying the portraits of Lan Er and Yu Er. I heard that the Emperor of Southern Frontier is continuing to send more men to search."


    He Zhiran felt it was somewhat funny. If she didn''t have her space, she really wouldn''t dare to boast. With this space, even if the Southern Frontier people turned the capital upside down, they still wouldn''t find them. However, she wouldn''t let her guard down because of that either.


    "With such chaos outside, it will probably be difficult for us to act tonight."


    He Zhiran was also aware of this point. If she hadn''t promised the little collector to help him find the ck South Pearl, she would have even considered finding a way to leave this ce immediately.


    However, she was always true to her words no matter if she could find that ck South Pearl or not. She must go to the Southern Frontier Imperial Pce at least once to be at ease.


    The weather in Southern Frontier today was not very good. It was windy during the day. As soon as night fell, there was heavy rain.

 Chapter 276: I’m not sure Until I Check.

    <h4>Chapter 276</h4>


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye did not want to stay here any longer, so they ran towards the Imperial Pce of Southern Frontier in the rain.


    If everything went smoothly, they would be able to leave this ghost ce tomorrow.


    This heavy rain was more or less a boost for both of them.


    Although there were still soldiers everywhere on the streets, they were also dressed like the People of Southern Frontier. Besides, the People of Southern Frontier had no habit of using rain gear. Wherever there were passersby, they would walk ahead in the rain.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye also learned from the Southern Frontier people by covering their foreheads with their hands and ran in the rainy night, trying their best not to blur their vision.


    The searching soldiers saw only the Southern Frontier people running past. Besides, they were notfortable being drenched in the rain either. Naturally, they would not search very carefully.


    When He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye ran past those officials, it was like an uninhabited ce.


    Mo Jiuye was not unfamiliar with the capital city of Southern Frontier. He had specifically checked the route during the day.


    Therefore, they arrived near the pce very smoothly.


    Mo Jiuye pointed to the west side of the pce wall and said, "I''ve checked it out. The guards there are a little weaker. Let''s go in from there."


    He Zhiran nodded. The two held hands again and ran towards the west side of the pce.


    Just after they turned a corner, they saw a group of people running towards them.


    It was said to be a group of people, only the one leading them was riding a horse, while the rest were running behind the horse.


    Mo Jiuye hurriedly hugged He Zhiran and leapt up a big tree. The two held their breath and looked down.


    This group had about thirty people. Whether it was the general on horseback or the soldiers running, they all wore a crescent-shaped half mask.


    What was most unexpected was that these people looked just like modern well-trained soldiers marching in formation.


    This was not unfamiliar at all to He Zhiran, who was a soldier in his previous life.


    Although such a formation was not unfamiliar to He Zhiran, its appearance in this alley at night was quite puzzling. What was their purpose?


    This made He Zhiran think deeply.


    Looking closely at their postures, each of them was holding a shining big knife, raised uniformly to their chests, with the de pointing forward.


    No matter how they ran, that action would not change. The attentive Mo Jiuye even noticed that their hands did not even tremble.


    Likewise, the general on horseback was holding a pair of copper hammers in one hand and the rein in the other, looking straight ahead.


    It was already dark night and the heavy rain severely affected their vision. They could not see the appearance and expressions of those who showed half of their faces at all.


    But seeing that pair of copper hammers, Mo Jiuye felt a strange sense of familiarity.


    Among the nine brothers of the Mo Family, only the sixth brother liked to use hammers. He had also used a pair of copper hammers before, simply because the sixth brother was very strong, and his martial arts skills were not as good as his other brothers.


    When he went to the battlefield to kill enemies, he mostly took advantage of his great strength.


    Although the person in front was also holding a pair of copper hammers, they looked a size bigger than the ones the sixth brother had used.


    Mo Jiuye still remembered that thest time he was with the sixth brother, the sixth brother said that his strength seemed to have increased again. After the war was over, he would go back and forge a heavier pair of copper hammers.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye had stared for so long without any reaction, He Zhiran reminded him, "They are gone. Should we go into the pce, or do you think there is something wrong with these people and want to follow them to see?"


    The reason she said this was that she realized these people were different.


    First of all, she could not think of their motive for behaving like this in the alley at night.


    Secondly, they walked in exactly the same posture. She did not believe that Southern Frontier could train people like this. Think about the soldiers participating in the parade in modern times, they could not do the same either.


    Finally, although she could not see the expressions and faces of these people, she noticed one detail that their chests did not have the kind of rhythmic breathing...


    That is to say, He Zhiran suspected that these people might not be alive, or they might be people who lost consciousness controlled by some Gu worm.


    The Master Si Meng they were looking for must be a master of Gu techniques. Gu masters usually raised many kinds of Gu worms. Therefore, she was somewhat suspicious that these people might be rted to Master Si Meng.


    That was why she asked Mo Jiuye.


    She knew Mo Jiuye was worried about the safety of his fourth and seventh brothers and did not want to stay outside for too long. Whether to follow them or not depended on his decision.


    Although Mo Jiuye did not think as much as He Zhiran did, after seeing the copper hammers of the man on horseback, he inexplicably wanted to take a closer look. To him, this sense of familiarity grew stronger and stronger.


    "Well, let''s go take a look."


    With that said, she hugged Mo Jiuye''s waist. Using Qinggong, they secretly followed those people, keeping a distance.


    Those people headed straight for the city gate, which was the road they must take when they came to the capital.


    Supposedly, when they reached the city gate where there were guards, they would stop to show some kind of token. After all, the capital was under high alert now. It was impossible for people toe and go freely.


    However, they did not do that, but continued to move forward in their original posture, without any intention of stopping at all.


    At first, some guards at the gate tried to go up and inspect them. Who knew, as soon as they got close, they were hammered to death by the man on horseback.


    The guards at the gate were so frightened that they fled everywhere. When faced with such a tough situation, keeping themselves alive was the most important thing.


    The group thus left the city unhindered. Taking advantage of the chaos, Mo Jiuye carried He Zhiran and leapt out of the city wall using Qinggong.


    When those people were on the official road and there were no soldiers ormoners around, Mo Jiuye gradually caught up with the team.


    Logically, when such a rampaging team heard footsteps behind, they should look back. However, they did not, but kept walking forward.


    The scene was extremely weird.


    Mo Jiuye whispered to He Zhiran, "Ranran, do you think they are also controlled by puppet Gu?"


    He Zhiran gently shook her head, "I can''t be sure without checking."


    What she thought was that people controlled by puppet Gu would be manipted by the caster. There were thirty-one people in this group, including the one riding the horse.


    ording to the book, puppet Gu was very difficult to raise. Even for masters, at most one mother Gu could only control five people.


    And each Gu master could only raise three to four mother Gu at most.


    Based on these numbers, a Gu master could control up to twenty people at most.


    However, the actions and behavior of these people were exactly the same. Apart from being controlled by one person, it was impossible to be so synchronized.


    Therefore, He Zhiran had basically ruled out the possibility that they were under the influence of puppet Gu in her mind.


    Just as she was thinking, the man on horseback finally changed his move.

 Chapter 277: I want to see who the leader is.

    <h4>Chapter 277</h4>


    His actions were very stiff, he just raised his hand high, and then increased the speed of the horse.


    The leader sped up, and the speed of those behind him rose at the same time. Without using any lightness skills, their speed could be described as sprinting.


    Even when sprinting, their actions didn''t change at all, without even the slightest wavering.


    As those people elerated, Mo Jiuye''s speed naturally had to increase as well. He embraced He Zhiran and used lightness skills to quickly chase after them.


    He Zhiran frowned, she seemed to have noticed something wrong.


    "The one controlling those thirty people should be the person on horseback."


    As she spoke, she had already taken out a sniper rifle from her space ring, loaded it, and aimed at the man on horseback.


    Mo Jiuye guessed her intention and stopped her, "Ranran, use a tranquilizer gun. I want to see the identity of the leader."


    He Zhiran thought Mo Jiuye wanted to get some useful clues from these people, so she quickly put away the sniper rifle and took out a tranquilizer gun to grasp in her hand.


    Mo Jiuye knew his wife was going to aim, so he deliberately sped up. Then, when they were less than fifty meters away from the man on horseback, he stopped.


    He Zhiran''s body steadied, she immediately fired a shot, precisely hitting the leader''s shoulder.


    The man struggled for a few moments, then fell off the horse''s back.


    To be cautious of any changes from the people behind, Mo Jiuye once again embraced He Zhiran and leapt onto the treetops.


    The danger he imagined didn''te. After the man on horseback fell to the ground, those people simply stood in ce, each like terracotta warriors, without any reaction at all.


    He Zhiran breathed a sigh of relief, pointing at the man lying on the ground saying, "They should be controlled by this person."


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye also realized this point. Seeing that those soldiers didn''t have any actions, he pulled He Zhiran and cautiously approached the leader.


    To verify whether those thirty people really had no consciousness, or weren''t alive, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye deliberately probed them as they passed by.


    This probe made Mo Jiuye gasp.


    What he probed was their breath, but there was none at all...


    He Zhiran was different. After all, she was a doctor. When checking if someone still had life, she wouldn''t rely solely on their breath, but would check the carotid artery in their neck.


    If she hadn''t probed like this, she might have also thought they were all dead.


    No breath, but a faint pulse in the carotid artery, He Zhiran had never encountered such a situation before.


    Before she could tell Mo Jiuye about her discovery, he had already walked up to the leader.


    Seeing this, He Zhiran immediately took out a shlight from her space ring and shone it on the man''s face.


    Mo Jiuye lifted the man''s mask, instantly shocked still as he sat on the muddy ground,pletely disregarding the filth on his hands.


    "Sixth elder brother, it''s sixth elder brother..."


    He Zhiran was equally shocked. She had guessed earlier that these people were very likely rted to Mr. Si Meng, but hadn''t considered the side of the Mo family men.


    After all, the Mo brothers they had recently rescued looked miserable.


    Especially the fourth and seventh elder brothers, it was simply a miracle they were still alive.


    But the sixth elder brother before them waspletely different. Not only was he not emaciated, but hisplexion didn''t look unhealthy either.


    No matter what, since he was a Mo family elder brother, He Zhiran didn''t have any reason to let him continue getting rained on here.


    With a wave of her hand, she brought the sixth elder brother and Mo Jiuye into her space ring together.


    The two paid no mind to their own rain-soaked clothes, and hurried into the operating room to examine the sixth elder brother.


    After examination, it was confirmed that the sixth elder brother had indeed been infected with puppet bugs.


    To prevent any changes, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye removed the bugs from him in the fastest speed possible.


    At the same time, Mr. Si Meng, who was sitting cross-legged in the secret room of the Si Meng Vi, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. At the same time, the bottle containing the puppet master bug in his arms also shook incessantly.


    He paid no mind to wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth, and hurriedly took out the porcin bottle to inspect it.


    He first ced the master bug in his palm. The master bug fluttered its wings, wanting to fly out of his palm.


    Mr. Si Mengpletely disregarded his own physical condition, and quickly followed it.


    He was a genius at raising bugs, and the best bug raiser in southern bordends. The bugs he raised, especially this puppet bug, had been by his side for many years and developed some intelligence. Whenever an abnormal situation urred with the host of a child bug, his master bug would react in time.


    He just didn''t know which child bug''s host had run into trouble.


    If it was on the western border, it would be troublesome. Even if he grew wings and could fly, he was afraid he still wouldn''t make it in time.


    The only thing reassuring him was that in the whole world, no one could remove the bugs he had nted in someone.


    At most, the infected person would die, and he would lose a Mo family man. As for those medicine men he had carefully nurtured over the years, before he could even utilize them, losing them like this was quite a pity.


    Although it was a pity, since he could no longer control the person, dying was the best oue for them.


    Of course, if something happened to Mo Liu, Mo Jinyean, who had just left the capital, he still had a chance to go save him.


    Therefore, Mr. Si Meng hurriedly utilized his lightness skill to chase after him, hoping he could still catch up to Mo Jinyean''s footsteps.


    When he chased to the city gate, he specially asked the soldiers guarding the gate, confirming that Mo Jinyean had already left the city with people, so he directly chased out after them.


    At this time, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had already removed the child bug from Mo Jinyean''s body.


    This child bug was a bit different from the ones they had seen before when saving his elder brothers.


    The bugs taken out from the bodies of the elder brothers they had saved earlier were all transparent blue, but the bug in the sixth elder brother was somewhat purple-blue.


    It was a bit like the unhealthy color a person''s skin takes on when poisoned.


    Mo Jiuye also noticed the difference with this child bug. He carefully observed the bug still struggling inside the ss bottle in his hand.


    "Ranran, look, it''s still using its head to hit the bottle stopper."


    He Zhiran''s attention was not actually on this.


    "Its color looks very strange, like it was steeped in poison."


    Only then did Mo Jiuye notice the color of the bug.


    "Indeed, just what is going on here?"


    If it was a human, He Zhiran could take some blood samples to test, but for a bug, she really couldn''t.


    And there were still so many unknown people outside.


    Thinking of the people outside, He Zhiran suddenly realized something.


    "Husband, I suspect those people outside are the legendary medicine men."


    "Medicine men?" Mo Jiuye had also heard of this term, it''s just that he had only heard of it.


    Moreover, ording to his knowledge, the secret technique for creating medicine men had been lost for hundreds of years already, so why would medicine men appear again?


    In order to verify all this, and also because He Zhiran didn''t want to leave any traces, she instantly left the space ring and brought all those people inside.


    Anyway, they had no consciousness, so there was no need to worry about the space being exposed at all.

 Chapter 278: They’re just like the Moos.

    <h4>Chapter 278</h4>


    At this moment, Sixth Brother was still in aa. The two of them might as well go check on the situation of these poisoned people.


    The light inside the space waspletely different from the outside. Although there was no sunlight shining down, it still gave people a feeling of sunshine and warmth.


    As a result, when Mo Jiuye removed the mask of one of them, he was stunned in ce...


    He Zhiran saw his expression was off, and hurriedly asked: "What''s wrong?"


    Mo Jiuye pointed at the person in front of him and said: "This is my father''s deputy general, Tao Ran."


    After he finished speaking, Mo Jiuye impatiently went to check the identities of the others.


    Upon looking, more than half of them were people whose names he could call out, and they were all good brothers who had followed his father through life and death for many years.


    As for those whose names he couldn''t call out, Mo Jiuye could still vaguely recognize their faces. He could basically confirm that these were all soldiers from the army.


    Seeing so many brave men who defended their homes and country here, and all of them had be like living dead, Mo Jiuye was filled withplex emotions for a moment.


    He Zhiran didn''t need to ask. She could tell from Mo Jiuye''s expression that these people were all Da Shun''s soldiers and generals.


    They shed blood for Da Shun on the battlefield, but ended up in such an oue in the end.


    They were also someone else''s sons, husbands or fathers. When their families received news of their deaths, how heartbroken must they have felt?


    Mo Jiuye slowly stood up, grief and indignation on his face, and said: "Here, many people died in battle when I was the one who sent people to inform their families. I didn''t expect that they, like the Mo family men, are still alive after all..."


    He Zhiran could understand Mo Jiuye¡¯s feelings.


    In her previous life, she had also gone on missions with herrades. When they left, herrades were still healthy and lively, but in the end they never came back.


    As a result, He Zhiran spent a long period of time in remembrance and longing for thoserades.


    Mo Jiuye was the same. He watched hisrades leave one by one before his eyes, so only he himself knew the sourness in his heart best.


    "Don''t be sad. Let me check their condition first."


    She first did a full body check on Tao Ran.


    The results were not optimistic. It was obvious that he was poisoned, and not by just one type of poison.


    Among the poisons she could name, there were only a few that she was familiar with. These poisons would not kill a person, but would gradually paralyze one''s nerves and make them lose self-awareness, turning into something like a living dead. This was where the problemy with these "poisoned people".


    These were indeed the legendary poisoned people.


    The characteristic of "poisoned people" was that they had no autonomous consciousness, could not perceive bodily pain, and as long as they still had a breath left, they would act like machines, ceaselessly carrying out themands issued by their controller.


    Speaking of controllers, the first person He Zhiran thought of was Sixth Brother.


    The Gu worms taken out of Sixth Brother''s body were of an abnormal color, she didn''t know if it had anything to do with the special offspring Gu inside his body.


    In order to verify all this, He Zhiran took out the bottle containing the offspring Gu from Mo Xiuyan''s body. She shook it a few times, and the Gu worm inside immediately became restless.


    The Gu worm first charged around violently, then flew to the bottom of the bottle. If one looked closely, one could see that it had even raised its front two feet.


    Next, a bizarre scene urred.


    All the people lying on the grass stood up at once and quickly lined up neatly.


    Both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were shocked for a moment.


    He Zhiran experimentally moved the Gu worm further away, and looked at those people again. Their bodies gradually went limp.


    At the same time, Mr. Si Meng, who had chased out of the city, once again felt an anomaly from the mother Gu.


    He quickly took out the mother Gu to check, and saw that the mother Gu had inexplicably be restless for some reason.


    For a Gu raiser, such a situation was all too familiar.


    It was nothing more than the offspring Gu having encountered some kind of shock or idental situation, which led to this kind of reaction.


    In most cases, it was when the host of the offspring Gu died and the offspring Gu itself escaped and encountered some danger on the way back to the mother Gu.


    Thinking of such possibilities, sweat appeared on Mr. Si Meng''s forehead.


    He didn''t know which host had died. The mother Gu he owned had given birth to offspring Gu that controlled a total of three Mo family men. No matter which one, their current positions were all very important.


    Especially Big Brother Mo and Second Brother Mo. If something happened to them, everything he had nned over so many years mighte to naught.


    Sixth Brother Mo was also the same. He had just been sent out by himself, with the purpose of intercepting the road from the south to Da Shun, while also helping the southern border soldiers attack Da Shun.


    The offspring Gu inside his body was the only one that could control those poisoned people through the mother Gu to pass on information.


    If Mo Sixth Brother died, not only would his poisoned people face the danger of seeing sunlight, it would also be aplete waste of his many years of hard work.


    One must know, it took great effort to produce these poisoned people.


    Thebat power of these poisoned people could match a hundred men. At present, they were his biggest trump card.


    If he hadn''t guessed that the people who broke into the Southern Border Prince''s Mansion to steal things and went to kill his disciple at Si Meng Mountain Vi were likely to be Mo family members who also rescued Mo Xiuyan, he would never have revealed his trump card so early.


    The more Mr. Si Meng thought about it, the more anxious he became in his heart. He only hoped that the offspring Gu could return to the mother Gu''s embrace sooner, so that he could determine exactly who had died.


    Although the offspring Gu would bring him definite news, Mr. Si Meng still rushed in the direction of the border between the two countries.


    If the dead host really was Sixth Brother Mo, by hurrying over earlier, he might still be able to keep those poisoned people. As ast resort he could always find another powerful host at that time...


    Inside the space.


    Mo Jiuye stared at those poisoned people, heartbroken, because his wife had not yet found a way to detoxify them for the time being.


    Indeed, He Zhiran had not found a way to detoxify them. Not to mention there were several poisons she hadn''t even seen before, even for those poisons which she knew the names of, with several poisonsbined together, it wouldn''t be so easy to detoxify them.


    Whether it was poison or antidote, there existed mutual promotion and restraint. Helping those people detoxify, if she used the wrong medicinal material even once, it could lead to death.


    Therefore, He Zhiran did not dare to rashly help detoxify those people.


    Fortunately, both she and Mo Jiuye knew clearly that the poisoned people did not need to eat, and would not suddenly wake up either, so keeping them inside the space for a while longer was nothing to worry about.


    Under normal circumstances, He Zhiran could buy some books rted to poisoned people and study them carefully before formting a detoxification solution.


    But now they were in the Southern Border, they didn''t dare be the slightest bit careless or rxed.


    Especially since Fourth Brother and Seventh Brother were still healing from injuries in the capital city, they even more so did not dare remain outside for too long.


    In case those soldiers searched the ce once more with extra scrutiny while they were not by their side, it would be dangerous for the two elder brothers.


    Mo Jiuye was also worried about the external situation. Seeing that his wife had not expressed any opinion for a while, he reminded: "Ranran, or should we return to the capital first?"


    He Zhiran was of the same opinion.


    "Mm, Sixth Brother probably won''t wake in the next few hours. Let''s go back now."

 Chapter 280: One Step Too Slow

    <h4>Chapter 280</h4>


    He Zhiran swept around and waved to collect all the items into his space. Then the two returned the same way and ran to the private treasury behind the imperial treasury.


    That was where He Zhiran had to go because the ck Southern Pearl might be there.


    Using the same method, they entered the private treasury without hesitation and moved everything out empty.


    Next, their goal was to continue releasing the gu worm from the space to find the gu master''s whereabouts.


    All the way hiding sneakily, the two followed the gu worm to the study room.


    The gu worm kept hovering around the study, obviously trying to get in.


    At this time, the Emperor of Southern Frontier had already returned to the bedroom to rest. There were only two guards at the door of the study room, and they looked half asleep.


    Using the same method again, the two guards were dealt with. Mo Jiuye went up to open therge door of the study room.


    As soon as a gap appeared in therge door, the gu worm drilled in.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran also quickly entered and casually closed the door.


    I saw the gu worm bypass the screen and fly towards a bookshelf, wandering around again.


    Mo Jiuye guessed that this should also be some kind of secret entrance.


    While staring at the gu worm, he worked with He Zhiran to start looking for the switch to enter the secret room in the room.


    In the secret room, Mr. Si Meng thought more and more something was wrong.


    He had just discovered that it might be the traces of those drug dealers and Mo Family Six Lang, and more than one hour had passed.


    If Mo Family Six Lang had died there, the gu worm looking for the mother gu should havee back long ago with the speed of finding the mother gu.


    He had been waiting outside the study for a long time just now, but did not see the gu worme back.


    This made him feel more and more uneasy in his heart.


    In this case, unless the gu worm died, it would not take so long to fly back here.


    If this was the case, the other party must also be a master of raising gu worms, and could even relieve the puppet gu worm.


    In his understanding, there was no such master in the gu breeding world. Was it because he was poorly informed?


    If there really was such a person who could catch his son gu worm, it would be easy as pie to find his location with the mother gu.


    His body had not recovered yet. When he encountered danger and escaped just now, he used his inner power, and his body, which had recovered seven or eight parts, returned to its original state. If he met a master of gu breeding, he might not be able to deal with it.


    Just as he was thinking about countermeasures, he suddenly heard movement at the door of the secret room.


    Mo Jiuye had sessfully found the switch to the secret room. The bookshelf against the wall was slowly moving away.


    Mr. Si Meng felt bad. This secret room was only known to the Emperor of Southern Frontier and Yun Li. Now Yun Li had been missing for a long time. The only person who knew about this ce was the Emperor of Southern Frontier.


    He could determine that the person who came to find him at this time would never be the Emperor of Southern Frontier.


    Because when he came back, he had already exined that he would practice qigong again in the next few days to heal his injuries. Even if the sky copsed, he should not be disturbed.


    He believed that the Emperor of Southern Frontier did not have the courage toe here rashly.


    What¡¯s more, there was an agreement between him and the Emperor of Southern Frontier that whenever the Emperor of Southern Frontier came, he would knock on the door panel three times the moment he opened the secret room door.


    However, at this moment, the door of the secret room had obviously been opened, but he did not hear the sound of knocking on the door panel.


    When he thought of this, Mr. Si Meng hurriedly stood up, carrying a package and ran towards the other direction of the secret room.


    There was a passage there that could lead to the outside of the pce. It was just farther away from his hiding ce. Most of the time, he would enter from the study room. If it wasn''t an emergency, he wouldn''t choose to leave from this passage.


    The door of the secret room opened. Seeing the gap, the gu worm immediately flew in.


    The two also strode to follow, but unfortunately, they were one step toote.


    Seeing that there were still lights on in the gorgeous secret room, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran both intended to observe it for a while.


    In order not to let the gu worm fly away, Mo Jiuye put it back in the bottle again.


    He Zhiran touched the bed, which was still a little warm.


    "It feels still a little warm here. The person should have just left not long ago."


    Mo Jiuye pointed in the direction the gu worm was about to fly to just now.


    "There should be another exit over there."


    He Zhiran waved to collect all the items in the secret room into the space.


    Mo Jiuye released the gu worm again and chased it out.


    Mr. Si Meng came out from the secret passage and faced the forest not far from the pce.


    He had always been vignt and worried that he might not be able to deal with it when he encountered danger due to his current physical condition.


    He also thought that the only way for the gu breeding master to find him was through that gu worm.


    After thinking twice, his own safety was the most important. Even though he escaped from the pce, he could not guarantee that he would always be safe in the future.


    Finally, he made up his mind and released the mother gu from the porcin bottle, and then chanted a few spells to make the gu worm that had entered Mo Jinye''s body choose tomit suicide.


    It had to be said that Mr. Si Meng''s brain reacted very quickly. In order to ensure his own safety, he was willing to give up such a precious gu worm.


    It should be known that the gu worm was raised by him in a special way since childhood, feeding it all kinds of poisons to eat, so as to use the person who was parasitized by the gu worm to control those drug dealers.


    After a set of operations, Mr. Si Meng''s painful expression was quite obvious.


    There was no way. In thest year and a half, he felt nothing had gone well. The people who were sent to search for Mo Family Five Lang had note back yet.


    Simrly, there was no news from the people who went to investigate Mo Jiuye in the northwest.


    Next July would be the deadline he swore to avenge Menger. Now there were still so many Mo family men wandering outside. Today he had lost a Mo Jinye again.


    For a while, Mr. Si Meng''s emotions were extremely low. At the same time, he secretly swore that he would send more people so as to achieve his goal.


    He could no longer stay in Southern Frontier. Only Da Shun could allow him to be temporarily safe.


    After collecting the mother gu into the porcin bottle with a painful expression, Mr. Si Meng hurried towards Da Shun.


    It had to be said that Mr. Si Meng¡¯s decisiveness and ruthlessness temporarily preserved his life...


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye chased the gu worm to the woods.


    The gu worm, which was flying fast chasing the mother gu, suddenly stopped, then flew towards a big tree and crashed into it.


    "That¡¯s bad. The gu worm is going tomit suicide." Mo Jiuye saw the anomaly and eximed, then rushed over immediately.


    Unfortunately, his actions were still a step slower. The slender body of the gu worm had mmed heavily into the big tree and slowly slipped to the ground.


    Such a situation was not unfamiliar to both of them.


    They had not read the books about gu breeding in vain.


    The two could determine that the man in white they met on the official road just now was the gu breeding master.


    He was worried that the gu worm would find his whereabouts, so he chose to let the mother gu manipte the gu worm tomit suicide. This way, it would be difficult to find him again.


    Mo Jiuye gritted his teeth angrily, "He''s really cunning."


    He Zhiran also felt very regretful. They finally got a little new clue with great difficulty, and now it was cut off. From now on, finding the person holding the mother gu would be like looking for a needle in the sea.


    Since it had already happened, she and Mo Jiuye did not consider it carefully enough, which led to this.


    "Since this clue is broken, I believe he can be in the secret room of the study room of the Emperor of Southern Frontier. He must know his identity. Let''s go back through the secret passage before dawn and interrogate the Emperor of Southern Frontier. At least it counts as some gain."


    Mo Jiuye nodded, "That''s all we can do now."


    Although the gu worm hadmitted suicide by hitting the tree, He Zhiran did not intend to let go of its corpse either.


    It mighte in handyter when making antidotes for those drug dealers in the space.


    So she took the bottle from Mo Jiuye''s hand and put the gu worm back in.


    The two returned to the Southern Frontier Imperial Pce by the original road.


    Mo Jiuye took her straight to the bedroom of the Emperor of Southern Frontier.

 Chapter 282: Gu can seal you as the King of Southern Xinjiang

    <h4>Chapter 282</h4>


    Mr. Si Meng, whom they had been desperately looking for, was actually there.


    But they were one step toote, and someone had already helped him escape.


    This feeling was not good.


    Although they did not directly interact with Mr. Si Meng, all the signs he disyed showed that this person was extremely cunning.


    Mo Jiuye was extremely annoyed that Mr. Si Meng had escaped just like that.


    At the same time, he also suspected that the person who had thrown the poisonous powder at them on the official road was Mr. Si Meng.


    Whether that person was Mr. Si Meng or not, Mo Jiuye was very clear in his heart that this was not the time for him to be annoyed about these things now.


    He needed to further confirm whether the man in white they met on the official road was Mr. Si Meng.


    "Was he wearing white clothes and a hat yesterday?"


    Emperor of Southern Frontier: "Yes."


    Now, it could bepletely confirmed that the man was Mr. Si Meng.


    It was just a pity that this person was too cunning and had escaped twice when they had the chance.


    Since he was hiding on purpose, it would be even more difficult to find him in the future.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye was hesitating and did not continue to ask the next question, He Zhiran wanted to cherish the time under hypnosis.


    Just now when she had hypnotized the Emperor of Southern Frontier, she discovered that she didn''t know if it was because she hadn''t rested well these days, but she felt a little dizzy during the hypnosis, and she was worried that this hypnosis would notst very long.


    Therefore, it was best to hurry up and inquire about the things that needed to be asked.


    "Do you know the whereabouts of the Mo family''s father and son?"


    Emperor of Southern Frontier: ¡°Didn¡¯t Mo Qing die long ago? His head was still hung at the head of the city by the assassin to show the public.


    I only know that the Sixth Son of Mo Family has been with Mr. Si Meng all day long, and the Seventh Son is detained in the Prince¡¯s mansion, and the rest have died from his poison.¡±


    Hearing this, He Zhiran looked at Mo Jiuye and said softly, "A hypnotized person cannot lie. He really doesn''t know."


    Mo Jiuye also understood this principle. He did not get any useful information from the Emperor of Southern Frontier, and was clearly very disappointed.


    However, he still nned to hurry up and ask more useful things while he had the chance.


    ¡°Why was Mr. Si Meng hiding in the secret room of your study?¡±


    Emperor of Southern Frontier: "He is my Empress''s master. My Empress said that after he had recovered from his injuries, he could serve my Southern Frontier, and might even give me a big surprise. I know his abilities and thought that he might be helpful to me in the future, so I kept him there."


    From this, there was no doubt that the master whom Yun Li absolutely refused to reveal during the interrogation was Mr. Si Meng.


    While Mo Jiuye was quickly organizing this information in his mind, he continued to ask:


    ¡°Did the raid on the Mo family happen under your orders?¡±


    Emperor of Southern Frontier: ¡°My empress has some rtionship with Prince Heng of Dashun. It was she who gave some forged letters to Prince Heng at first, to serve as evidence that the Mo family was colluding with the enemy and betraying the country.¡±


    At the time when they hypnotized Yun Li, they did not think in this direction, so they did not ask about it.


    Now it seemed that the Mo family being raided and exiled really did have something to do with Yun Li and Prince Heng of Southern Frontier. Thinking of the persecution suffered by the Mo family, it really was too cheap to just let them die like that at the beginning.


    Although the Emperor of Southern Frontier did not directly participate in this matter, the plight of the Mo family was also inextricably linked to him.


    If he was not still trying to continue asking some questions, Mo Jiuye would have wanted to skin and torture him now.


    He Zhiran knew he was feeling upset, and gently held his hand.


    "Don''t get angry. The person is in our hands. After you¡¯re done asking questions, you can vent your anger however you want."


    Mo Jiuye solemnly responded with an "hmm". He continued to ask:


    "Where is that ck Southern Pearl?"


    Although he was angry, he had not forgotten about his wife¡¯s affairs. After all, the original purpose of them sneaking into the Southern Frontier Imperial Pce was for this reason. As a result, they had unintentionally rescued the Sixth Son.


    Emperor of Southern Frontier: ¡°It¡¯s in my private treasury.¡± He still didn¡¯t know that his private treasury had already been emptied out.


    He Zhiran was shaking the pocket watch in her hand when she suddenly felt dizzy in the head, and could no longer concentrate to continue the hypnosis.


    The frequency of the swinging pocket watch became more and more irregr, to the point that she as the operator herself felt a little drowsy.


    Mo Jiuye noticed her abnormality as soon as it happened. Thinking it was fatigue caused by the hypnosis, he quickly snatched the pocket watch from her hand.


    "Ranran, are you feeling ufortable somewhere?"


    "I probably haven''t rested well these past few days and am just a little dizzy. It''s nothing!"


    As the two spoke, the Emperor of Southern Frontier had gradually woken up.


    The originally expressionless face immediately revealed a look of horror.


    He did not know what had happened just now. He only remembered a strange thing appearing in front of him, and then he started to feel drowsy.


    "Mo... Mo Jiuye, as long as you spare me, I can make you a Prince Consort of Southern Frontier from a different surname, and it will be passed down hereditarily and irreceably for generations, allowing the Mo family to enjoy endless glory and wealth."


    As he spoke, the Emperor of Southern Frontier stared closely at Mo Jiuye''s expression. Seeing that the other party did not react at all to his huge temptation, he immediately became anxious.


    ¡°Also, I can marry my most beloved daughter to you, so you don''t have to worry about me going back on my word either."


    He thought that by saying this, it would be a great temptation to Mo Jiuye. Unexpectedly, he was greeted with a violent beating...


    This move caught the Emperor of Southern Frontier somewhat off guard. He instinctively used his elbows to protect his wrinkled face.


    "Mo Jiuye... you can make any request, as long as I can do it, I will agree."


    Mo Jiuye simply ignored him and continued to vent his anger.


    Of course, the best way to vent was to beat the man in front of him until even his own mother could not recognize him.


    Although the Emperor of Southern Frontier had practiced martial arts before, after bing emperor, he had been thinking about how to conquer Da Shun all day long, so his martial arts skills had basically fallen into neglect. Now he could only be beaten.


    The more Mo Jiuye beat him, the more vigorous he became. The Emperor of Southern Frontier could not protect his head. Several of his teeth were knocked out.


    With a mouthful of blood, he spit out several teeth.


    Seeing this, He Zhiran suddenly felt her stomach churning.


    She didn¡¯t care to continue watching her husband deal with the viin. She hurriedly turned around and ran to the bathroom in the medical office.


    Although Mo Jiuye was beating someone, he kept a constant eye on his wife''s actions.


    Seeing his wife covering her nose and running towards the medical office, he didn''t know what had happened to her.


    He cleanly chopped the back of the Emperor of Southern Frontier''s neck to knock him unconscious, and then chased after her.


    "Ranran, what''s wrong with you?"


    He Zhiran couldn¡¯t answer him at all. She quickly ran into the bathroom and squatted in front of the toilet to throw up.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye was shocked.


    In his impression, although his wife looked rather frail, her health had always been very good. For her to be like this today, it must be because she hadn''t rested well these past few days.


    Thinking that his wife had worked hard to help him, Mo Jiuye suddenly felt a trace of guilt in his heart.

 Chapter 284: There Are Men on the Wall

    <h4>Chapter 284</h4>


    Shun Zi could read lips, but Mo Jiuye did not intend tomunicate with him.


    Because he already understood why Shun Zi was doing this.


    Under the portraits of Lan Er and Yu Er, big words were written clearly, offering a reward of one hundred taels of silver for those who provided clues.


    Presumably Shun Zi was doing this for the one hundred taels of reward.


    Originally they had nned to return his contract of servitude when they left Southern Xinjiang, but unexpectedly, he did such a ttering trick.


    It seemed that Shun Zi could not be kept either.


    Mo Jiuye took Shun Zi''s life with one palm strike, then carried his corpse together with several officials'' corpses into the yard.


    As long as no one discovered anything before they left, it would be fine.


    After taking care of everything, the two brought the still unconscious Mo Jinnian into the house.


    The appearance of Mo Jinnian shocked both the Fourth Elder Brother and the Seventh Elder Brother.


    Especially the Seventh Elder Brother, who had been in the ident with the Sixth Elder Brother back then. Now that the brothers were reunited again, it was such a scene.


    "Ninth younger brother, where did you find the Sixth Elder Brother?"


    Mo Jiuye briefly recounted how he found the Sixth Elder Brother and how he killed the Emperor of Southern Xinjiang. He then said, "Fourth Elder Brother, Seventh Elder Brother, now that the Emperor of Southern Xinjiang is dead, Southern Xinjiang will definitely be in chaos. We must take advantage of the chaos to leave here."


    Both the Fourth Elder Brother and the Seventh Elder Brother agreed with his idea. It''s just that when they thought of their current situation, they immediately lost confidence.


    The Seventh Elder Brother sighed and said, "Ninth younger brother, although Southern Xinjiang will be in chaos, you and Ninth Sister-inw can leave, but if you bring Fourth Brother and me, I''m afraid it won''t be so easy, let alone that it will drag Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister-inw down."


    In fact, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had already figured out a way to leave, mainly relying on her space. But this method could not be exined to the two elder brothers.


    Mo Jiuye did not give too much exnation.


    "Don''t worry, Ran Ran and I have figured out a way to take you away."


    Since he said it like this, the Fourth Elder Brother and the Seventh Elder Brother did not object anymore.


    There was no time to dy. They had better leave before the chaos in Southern Xinjiang.


    Now the Fourth Elder Brother and the Seventh Elder Brother were sober. When He Zhiran took out the silver needles, she said, "Fourth Elder Brother, Seventh Elder Brother, let me treat you first."


    Before the two elder brothers could respond, He Zhiran''s needles had already pricked their acupoints.


    Soon, the two fell into a deep sleep. He Zhiran pricked the Sixth Elder Brother''s acupoints as well and sent them all into the space together.


    She then called Lan Er and Yu Er over, and did the same thing by pricking them unconscious and sending them into the space.


    She and Mo Jiuye also re-dressed in the space before simply eating some food and preparing to leave the city.


    At this moment, it was the early morning court in Southern Xinjiang.


    All the civil and military officials of Southern Xinjiang were facing each other in the main hall.


    They could not figure out why the Emperor did note to the early morning court today.


    At the same time, the harem of Southern Xinjiang was already in chaos.


    The Emperor''s personal guards and eunuchs gradually woke up, only to find that their master had disappeared.


    The Empress was missing, and now the Emperor was missing too. Everyone did not know who to report the news to.


    Helplessly, the head eunuch could only grit his teeth and go to the morning court.


    It was a major issue, and the eunuch did not dare to widely publicize it. He could only tell the Crown Prince about it.


    When the Crown Prince heard that His Majesty had disappeared, he was overjoyed in his heart, but he did not show it.


    He only hoped that His Majesty would stay disappeared forever, so that he could inherit the country in name and substance.


    Just as the Crown Prince was calcting his future in his heart, people had alreadye to inquire impatiently.


    "Your Highness the Crown Prince, how about His Majesty?"


    The Crown Prince didn''t even think about it before announcing to everyone that His Majesty had disappeared.


    Only in this way could he be the real person in charge.


    Sure enough, after he announced this, everyone demanded that His Highness the Crown Prince take control of the situation.


    Although the Crown Prince did not want His Majesty toe back, he still had to keep up appearances.


    He immediately ordered all the soldiers in the city and the Imperial Guards to seal off the capital, absolutely not allowing the viin to escape.


    ...


    Fortunately, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran acted quickly. As the two reached the city gate, arge number of soldiers rushed over.


    Seeing this, the guard soldiers at the gate knew that something big might have happened. They hurriedly sealed off the city gate.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran looked at each other, knowing clearly that it was no longer possible to leave the city openly.


    But they had to get out while arge number of soldiers were guarding the city gate, only then would they be safe and sound.


    "Ran Ran, I''ll hold you carefully and we''ll jump over the city wall."


    He Zhiran subconsciously nced at her t belly and nodded, "Okay."


    Now she also had someone to protect, she had to be extra careful in everything she did.


    After all, it was broad daylight. Even with Mo Jiuye''s excellent qinggong, such a big movement would attract the soldiers'' attention.


    He had just hugged He Zhiran and jumped onto the city wall when someone shouted, "Quick, shoot arrows, someone is on the city wall!"


    Hearing the shouting, Mo Jiuye''s first reaction was to protect He Zhiran, while speeding up at the same time.


    Seeing the situation going badly, He Zhiran moved her thoughts and brought Mo Jiuye into the space.


    With such means, she didn''t want to take any risky actions.


    The Xinjiang soldiers watched with their own eyes as the two people on the city wall disappeared in the blink of an eye. They all thought they were having hallucinations, and kept rubbing their eyes.


    Two living people just disappeared like that in broad daylight. At this moment, if it wasn''t daylight, they would have thought they saw ghosts.


    Having been pulled into the space, Mo Jiuye was also very surprised, but at the moment he was most concerned about his wife''s well-being.


    "Ran Ran, are you ufortable anywhere?"


    "I''m fine, don''t worry." He Zhiran said gently.


    This was the critical point for them to leave. They absolutely could not have any idents.


    When they were on the city wall just now, they had already been seen by many officers and soldiers. So He Zhiran changed their outfits again.


    Mo Jiuye''s original gray coat was changed to green, and He Zhiran also changed into a brightly colored dress.


    The two stayed in the space for about ten minutes before leaving again.


    Their previous actions had already alerted more soldiers to chase outside the city.


    When they appeared on the city wall again, there were not so many guards left. The two swiftly jumped off the city wall and walked naturally among the crowds.


    Changing outfits was indeed a good way to hide their identities.


    When the soldiers saw them on the city wall, they only saw the colors of their clothes. Now when searching outside the city, they could only use this clue.


    There were somemoners on the official road outside the city. But because arge number of soldiers appeared, themoners hid one after another.


    They didn''t know what had happened, and were afraid of getting involved. Without any important business, they didn''t dare to stay any longer.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran kept their heads low, imitating the panicked fleeing appearance of themoners as they moved forward.


    On the way, they encountered soldiers interrogating them several times, but passed safely each time.


    The two rushed for more than an hour before finally arriving at the entrance to the next city.

 Chapter 286: Mo Jinnian Wakes Up

    <h4>Chapter 286</h4>


    Yu Er naturally did not need to say much, she did not have that many thoughts, and had always listened to Lan Er. When the Fourth Princess chose to bring her along for the marriage alliance, it was because she was obedient.


    He Zhiran did not know what Lan Er was thinking, he exined things clearly, then continued on the road.


    On Mo Jiuye''s side, the first to wake up was Seventh Elder Brother. His surroundings were simrly pitch ck, but for someone with martial arts skills, this kind of darkness was nothing at all.


    Realizing the environment had changed, he did not ask questions right away, but looked around.


    The slightly bumpy feeling and the sound of horse hooves told him he was in a carriage.


    Fourth elder brother and Sixth elder brother were by his side.


    He first pushed Fourth elder brother.


    "Fourth elder brother, wake up."


    Fourth elder brother was already showing signs of waking up, and was fully awake after Mo Yuance pushed him like this.


    Mo Jiuye also heard the movement in the carriage, and quickly exined: "Fourth elder brother, Seventh elder brother, don''t worry, you are very safe now."


    Hearing their ninth younger brother''s voice, the two brothers werepletely at ease.


    Although they did not know the specific situation, and did not know why they would wake up in a carriage, in any case, with their ninth younger brother present, they must be safe.


    By now it was almost noon, and the carriage had entered the next city.


    ording to his understanding, this was thergest city in the Southern Bordends, and it would probably take them until nightfall to get through it.


    Even if they were in a hurry, they had to take care of his wife''s health.


    He discussed with He Zhiran for a while, and decided to rest in the city for a while first, and eat something before continuing on their way.


    It would be best to leave the city after dark. Even resting in the carriage would be safer than in the city.


    After all, there was no knowing when the news of the Southern Bordends Emperor''s disappearance would reach this ce. It would be troublesome for them to want to leave againter.


    ording to n, the two drove the carriage to a more remote ce. Mo Jiuye pretended to go out to buy food, when in fact He Zhiran was buying some instant food in her space.


    The husband and wife opened the carriagepartments separately, first took care of personal matters, then ate ravenously.


    Fromst night until now, this was the first meal they were eating, and they were hungry even without much exertion.


    Seeing its master, Bao Dan immediately climbed into her arms to act coquettish.


    The soft bleating melted He Zhiran''s heart, and she quickly hid to the side to prepare its favorite food.


    After eating her fill, just as He Zhiran was getting ready to urge them to continue on their way, there was movement from Mo Jiuye''s side.


    "Ninth younger brother, ninth younger sister-inw,e quickly, Sixth elder brother is awake." Mo Yuance was clearly somewhat excited.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran hurried over.


    Sixth elder brother''s condition was much better than Fourth elder brother and Seventh elder brother''s. At this time he was already sitting up, it was just that his eyes still seemed a little dazed.


    "Sixth elder brother."


    "Sixth elder brother."


    "Old Six."


    The three brothers called out to Mo Jinnian at the same time.


    Mo Jinnian met his brothers'' eyes, and was still a little confused, especially when looking at Mo Yuance.


    "Seventh younger brother, have we been saved?" He remembered that he and Seventh younger brother had been poisoned together on the battlefield, and after waking up, they had been locked in a pitch-ck underground prison cell where he couldn''t see his fingers.


    The guards woulde daily and beat him routinely, grasping the force precisely so that he was badly mangled but couldn''t die.


    This kind of torture continued for about a month, until finally one day, a mysterious person came and cast a gu worm on him while he was only hazily conscious.


    But now he was with his brothers, could everything in his memories have been a dream?


    Since he couldn''t figure it out himself, he could only ask Seventh younger brother, who had the same experience as him that year.


    Seeing his brothers awake in this state, Mo Xiuyan felt his heart ache.


    "Sixth younger brother, we brothers all went through the same ordeal, falling into the hands of a man called Mr. Si Meng from the Southern Bordends. You and Seventh younger brother were both controlled by his puppet worm gu. It''s normal that you don''t remember what happened during that time.


    Fortunately Ninth younger brother and Ninth younger sister-inw noticed something amiss, and came to rescue us brothers, so we have lived to see this day."


    After listening to Fourth elder brother say so much, Mo Jinnian noticed the speaker.


    The voice was clearly Ninth younger brother''s, but the person wasn''t...


    "Who are you?"


    At this time Mo Jiuye could not reveal his identity, he could only exin: "Sixth elder brother, we are currently in the Southern Bordends'' territory. I disguised myself like this to facilitate traveling."


    Seeing the situation, Fourth elder brother also helped exin: "Sixth younger brother, this really is Ninth younger brother, there''s no mistake."


    Mo Jiuye was in a hurry to get going, and could not exin much to Sixth elder brother.


    "Sixth elder brother, let Fourth elder brother and Seventh brother tell you what happened. We''ll continue on our way. Call me immediately if you feel any difort."


    If it were normal times, seeing Sixth elder brother awake, Mo Jiuye would definitely have talked with him at length. But the current situation did not allow him to do so. He had to get out of the city before nightfall.


    The carriage slowly started up, and he could hear the conversation inside the carriagepartment.


    Fourth elder brother and Seventh brother told Mo Jinnian everything they had learned from Ninth younger brother.


    After listening, Mo Jinnian''s temples bulged with rage, and he fiercely punched the carriagepartment.


    Mo Jiuye only felt the carriage behind him make a creaking sound, and looking back, thepartment had cracked open a little...


    Fortunately his wife had chosen good quality wood to make thepartment, otherwise with that punch from Sixth elder brother, thepartment would probably have been smashed to smithereens.


    Mo Jiuye slowed down the carriage and spoke towards the inside of the carriage: "Sixth elder brother, everything is already in the past. No matter what, now that us brothers can meet again, we should think about how to live well in the future."


    Mo Yuance also persuaded: "That''s right Sixth elder brother, we are all men, we need to learn to ept reality."


    It wasn''t that Mo Jinnian couldn''t ept reality, it was that the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.


    He, an eight foot tall man, had actually been controlled by a bug, and that wasn''t enough, he had even foolishly sold his life for others.


    As a Mo family man, he felt it was all too humiliating.


    However, just now Fourth elder brother and Seventh younger brother had told him that he could reunite with his brothers mostly thanks to Ninth younger brother and Ninth younger sister-inw''s efforts.


    Ninth younger brother and Ninth younger sister-inw had risked their livesing to the Southern Bordends to rescue them, no matter what he would treasure this second life he had been given.

 Chapter 288: I’ll be right here waiting for you.

    <h4>Chapter 288</h4>


    Suddenly, she thought of the bulletproof vest from her previous life. Bullets that were so powerful could be blocked, let alone the cold weapons of this era.


    "Wait a minute," He Zhiran softly called out to stop him.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t know what his wife was going to do, but he obediently listened and didn''t move.


    He Zhiran purchased a top-of-the-line bulletproof vest on Taobao Online Mall.


    "Wear this," she said.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the strange garment in front of him and asked, "Why?" Although he asked, he still obediently put on the bulletproof vest.


    "This is called a bulletproof vest. You can say it''s knife and gun proof," He Zhiran exined quickly.


    Mo Jiuye had never heard of such a wonderful thing before.


    However, now was not the time for him to be too curious. After putting on the bulletproof vest, He Zhiran also hung a bag full of grenades on him.


    Naturally, there was no need to exin in detail how to use the grenades. When Mo Jiuye had nothing to do in his personal space, he would often study them. Although he had never actually used them before, he knew how to use them by heart.


    Feeling the heavy sensation on his body, Mo Jiuye felt a warmth in his heart. He instructed He Zhiran again before taking the Southern Frontier Emperor''s corpse and leaving.


    He Zhiran watched his figure run away quickly, and said softly:


    "Be sure to stay safe. I''ll be waiting right here for you toe back."


    Mo Jiuye carried the Southern Frontier Emperor''s corpse, used his lightness skill to leap over the heads of those Southern Frontier soldiers, andnded on the highest point at the pass.


    He quickly hung the head there, and randomly threw the body below.


    Mo Jiuye''s series of actions would inevitably attract the attention of the Southern Frontier soldiers.


    He had just thrown the corpse on the ground when someone pointed to the top and shouted, "There''s a spy up there!"


    The soldiers swarmed up, arrows aimed at Mo Jiuye.


    Outnumbered, Mo Jiuye had no intention of lingering in battle. He threw a grenade towards the area with the most people.


    With a loud boom, the Southern Frontier soldiers were blown high into the air.


    At the same time, a deeprge pit was sted into the ground.


    The soldiers who continued to chase Mo Jiuye didn''t react in time, and many of them fell into the deep pit.


    Mo Jiuye took advantage of the chaos to use his lightness skill and ran towards He Zhiran.


    The Southern Frontier had arge number of soldiers. After some of them reacted, they chased after him again.


    Mo Jiuye threw out two more grenades, blowing those soldiers away.


    With just three grenades, the Southern Frontier had already suffered heavy losses. The surviving soldiers were frightened and didn''t dare to recklessly give chase. They could only keep shooting arrows in his direction.


    Arrows rained down towards Mo Jiuye. Even with his agile figure, he couldn''tpletely avoid so many arrows.


    He was careless for a moment, and two arrows fell on his shoulder and back.


    Mo Jiuye knew that this injury was inevitable, but the location was still good, and it wasn''t fatal.


    However, the expected pain did note. Mo Jiuye nced back at his shoulder, where his outer garment was already damaged, but there was no arrow piercing it like before.


    He moved his arm, and it was still flexible without any sign of injury.


    He curiously touched his back again. Simrly, he could feel his clothes were ripped but there was no arrow stuck in it, nor was there any pain.


    Mo Jiuye suddenly realized that this must be due to the effect of the garment his wife gave him.


    No wonder she told him to wear that piece of clothing before leaving. It really could save lives.


    Apanied by cries of grief, Mo Jiuye easily escaped from the pass.


    Seeing the mes and smoke rising into the sky in the direction of the pass, He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye had sessfully hung up the Southern Frontier Emperor''s head.


    Now that she didn''t see himing back, her heart was in her throat.


    He Zhiran could confirm that in her two lifetimes, this was the first time she felt such nervous emotions.


    She subconsciously looked at her still t belly and murmured softly, "Baby, pray with Mommy for your Daddy toe home safely."


    Fortunately, as soon as she finished speaking, a tall figure appeared before her.


    "Ranran, were you very anxious waiting for me?"


    Seeing hime back, He Zhiran took the initiative to throw herself into his arms for the first time.


    "Not anxious. As long as you''re safe, that''s good enough."


    Now she had one more feeling - how anxiously the sisters-inw waited at home when the Mo Family Men went to battle in the past.


    Mo Jiuye could feel her tension. He held her in his arms andforted, "Don''t worry, I''ll be fine."


    He Zhiran felt the familiar warmth and her reason did not disappear.


    "We can''t stay here long. Let''s leave quickly."


    "Okay," Mo Jiuye agreed and carried He Zhiran towards Da Shun.


    Entering Da Shun''s territory, this ce was more familiar to Mo Jiuye than anywhere else.


    When he led troops to garrison here for many years, he had memorized the terrain extremely clearly. Therefore, he didn''t need to exert any effort to smoothly leave the border.


    At this time, the eastern sky was already brightening. He Zhiran felt it was about time and quickly took out the carriage from her personal space.


    Mo''s brothers woke up to find it was already bright outside, and they could also feel the swaying of the carriage as it moved.


    The slit in the broken carriage let in a ray of light.


    When Mo Jinnian woke up from this nap, he felt his dizzy problem was instantly cured.


    He knocked on the carriage door, "Ninth brother, where are we? Have we encountered any danger?"


    "Sixth brother, we''ve already entered Da Shun''s territory. Everything is going very smoothly," Mo Jiuye''s reply could be described as understated.


    "You said we''ve already entered Da Shun?" The sixth brother was clearly very surprised.


    With the current tense situation in the Southern Frontier, how did the ninth brother and his wife manage to get out smoothly?


    The more Mo Jinnian thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.


    "Ninth brother, how did you manage to return to Da Shun without making any noise at all?"


    The fourth and seventh brothers were also curious and wanted to hear the ninth brother''s exnation.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye had already stopped the carriage at the roadside and opened the carriage door.


    His exnation was a bit far-fetched. After all, it was impossible to make this kind of thing sound reasonable.


    "Last night the Southern Frontier Emperor was killed. His head was hung at the highest point at the pass. The Southern Frontier army camp was thrown into chaos, so I took the opportunity to escape."


    As the carriage door opened, the sixth brother jumped out.


    He didn''t expect such a big thing to happen in the Southern Frontier.


    If Mo Jinnian didn''t know that the ninth brother had been on his way to Da Shun, he would have suspected that he did it.


    "I don''t know which righteous hero did this, but it''s extremely gratifying."


    The reason why the Mo Family Men kept rushing onto the battlefield was all thanks to this Southern Frontier Emperor.


    If it wasn''t for him repeatedlyunching wars, they could have spent more time together in the capital.


    Moreover, because of one battle after another, they faced the pain of losing loved ones andrades countless times. Although the ninth brother had found so many brothers back, Mo Jinnian still hated the Southern Frontier Emperor.


    Although the Southern Frontier Emperor¡¯s death was gratifying, Mo Jinnian still couldn''t believe the reason given by the ninth brother.


    "Ninth brother, I''m a light sleeper. Even if the Southern Frontier army camp was thrown into chaos, it¡¯s impossible there wouldn¡¯t be any noise at all."


    Just as Mo Jiuye was thinking about how to exin, He Zhiran also released the other two from the carriage. She hurried over to exin.


    "Sixth brother doesn''t know that the needles I gave you have a sleeping aid effect. It''s not surprising you didn''t hear any sounds at all."


    "So that''s how it is. Ninth brother''s wife''s medical skills are truly amazing. I woke up today feeling my body was very rxed and my dizzy problem was cured."


    Now, Mo Jinnian believed it.


    Recalling when the ninth brother''s wife gave him acupuncture, he did feel sleepy.


    No wonder he didn''t hear the bigmotion outside.

 Chapter 289: Shoot Yourself in the Foot

    <h4>Chapter 289</h4>


    Mo Jinnian felt that his body had no difort at all, so he could not let his ninth younger sister-inw, a woman from a fallen family, continue driving the carriage.


    "Ninth younger brother, ninth younger sister-inw, my body is fine now, so let me drive the carriage!"


    "Well, since sixth older brother''s body has recovered, let He Zhiran rest in the carriage."


    Mo Jiuye had almost worried himself to death these past few days. If it wasn''t to safely leave Southern Xinjiang, he would never have let his pregnant wife work so hard under any circumstances.


    Now that they were safe, the carriage driving should naturally be handed over to his sixth older brother.


    He Zhiran would not be stubborn at this time. Although she did not have much reaction in her early pregnancy, after driving all night until now, she could feel her body was somewhat overwhelmed.


    "Then I''ll have to trouble sixth older brother."


    After He Zhiran finished speaking, she drilled into the carriage. What she needed now was to rest well.


    Lan Er and Yu Er were also very perceptive. Seeing here in, they hurriedly made room for her to sit in a spacious spot.


    "Ninth young madam, you look a little unwell. You must be too exhausted from driving all night. Please rest here and tell us if you need anything."


    As Lan Er spoke, she had already covered He Zhiran with a thick nket.


    Rice Ball cleverly snuggled up at the top of its owner''s head, incessantly acting cute.


    He Zhiran reached out and patted its furry little head, "Rice Ball, be good and let me rest for a while."


    Rice Ball seemed to see its owner''s fatigue. It murmured an agreement and obedientlyy there to sleep.


    The carriage continued on its way. Passing through towns, they no longer needed to hide. At night everyone entered an inn to rest, and traveled during the daytime.


    Ten dayster, the group finally arrived safely in Yunch¨¦ng.


    The carriage slowly drove towards Xilin vige. As soon as they entered the vige, they heard amotion.


    "Official, what I said is all true. If you don''t believe me, go take a look at the Mo family home."


    "Humph! Daring to offend the Mo family, it seems your Cui family really doesn''t want to survive in Yunch¨¦ng anymore."


    "Official, that ninth young master Mo and his wife haven''t shown their faces for over half a month. If they didn''t leave the city, why wouldn''t they have appeared by now?"


    Hearing someone mention the Mo family, Mo Jiuye instinctively sped up the carriage.


    Walking closer, he saw two Cui family members leading several yamen runners heading into the vige.


    From the earlier conversation, it was not difficult to hear that the Cui family resented them. Discovering that he and He Zhiran had not appeared for half a month, they had secretly observed and then reported it to the authorities.


    The reason was simple. Exiled criminals could never leave this ce without the emperor''s special pardon.


    The Cui family had wanted to take this opportunity to get revenge for their whole n...


    Hearing the sound of hoofbeats behind them, the yamen runners turned around.


    At a nce, Mo Jiuye recognized Ma Junshan.


    "Magistrate Ma, what brings you to Xilin vige today?"


    Seeing Mo Jiuye, Ma Junshan''s face immediately showed joy.


    "So it turns out to be Ninth Young Master. Where have you been?"


    As he spoke, Ma Junshan red fiercely at the two Cui family members.


    The Cui family members'' hearts tightened when they saw Mo Jiuye.


    They had observed around the Mo residence for several days and hadn¡¯t seen Mo Jiuye or his wife at all. Only then did they dare to report it to the authorities in order to get revenge for the Cui n.


    Who would have thought that after all their coaxing to get the yamen runners toe, the person in question would show up instead! Wasn''t this shooting themselves in the foot?


    In fact, the Cui family had really overestimated their abilities. They didn''t even think about the rtionship between the Mo family and the county magistrate. Besides, the Mo family had Mo Chuhan working as a subprefect at the county yamen. What were the chances that going to report it would aplish anything for them?


    If it wasn''t for the Cui deliberately making a loud fuss outside the yamen gates, Meng Huaining wouldn¡¯t even have sent people over.


    He had been visiting the Mo residence very frequently recently, so he naturally knew about Mo Jiuye and his wife''s absence.


    It was something that even the county magistrate didn''t want to get involved in, yet the Cui family insisted on making it a big issue.


    The Cui family righteously told the yamen that the Mo family were exiled criminals. Now they actually dared to privately leave Yunch¨¦ng, which could easily cause trouble for other ces.


    Themon people were soft-hearted. Hearing the Cui family''s reasonable-sounding words, they echoed along in agreement.


    Meng Huaining had no choice but to first send Mo Chuhan back to Xilin vige and pretend that Mo Jiuye was sick in bed. That way, when he sent over some yamen runners, they could just say whatever they wanted after taking a look.


    In any case, the Cui family couldn''t enter others'' private chambers to check. The yamen runners could just say whatever they wanted after taking a look.


    He didn''t expect that Mo Jiuye would return at this time, so they didn''t need to keep up the act.


    Mo Jiuye disdainfully nced at the two Cui family members, then said to Ma Junshan: "I asked someone to buy two carriages. I just went into the city to retrieve them."


    Ma Junshan had originally nned to give Mo Jiuye a hint in front of the Cui family, but unexpectedly, Mo Jiuye smoothed it over himself.


    "No wonder. I heard the magistrate mention a few days ago that the Mo family wanted to buy horses. I didn''t expect them to buy them back so soon."


    Seeing Mo Jiuye chatting happily with the yamen runners, the two Cui family members wanted to slip away.


    But before they could, they were stopped by the runners who had been standing in ce.


    "You two, you think you can run away after falsely using someone?"


    "Official, it''s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..." The Cui family immediately pleaded for mercy.


    Although they still firmly believed that Mo Jiuye and his wife had not been in Xilin recently, the current situation was already very clear.


    These yamen runners were obviously biased towards the Mo family to begin with. Now that Mo Jiuye had appeared, they had no argument left.


    The yamen runners came forward and mercilessly whipped the two men several times. "You say it''s just a misunderstanding so casually. Come back to the yamen with me and report to the county magistrate for punishment."


    Hearing they still had to go to the yamen, the two Cui family members were so scared their legs went soft and they knelt down.


    "Official, spare our lives! We know we were wrong and won''t dare do it again."


    The yamen runnerspletely ignored them and tied up both men without another word.


    Seeing this, Ma Junshan cupped his fists towards Mo Jiuye, "Ninth Young Master, we will take these two back to the yamen for handling."


    Mo Jiuye returned the gesture. "Very well, thank you all for your hard work. When you have time, pleasee to my humble home for a drink."


    Speaking of drinking, the yamen runners couldn''t help swallowing.


    They had tasted the Mo family''s cooking once before. Even the best restaurant food in town couldn''tpare.


    "Alright, when we brothers have time, we will certainlye to bother you."


    Whether they would truly be able toe still depended on if their boss allowed it.


    Now that they all worked under Eighth Young Master, it was notmon for just anyone to have the qualification toe eat at their superior''s home.


    Mo Jiuye saw the group off before driving the carriage on towards home.


    On the road, Mo Jinnian asked, "Ninth younger brother, what exactly happened back there?"


    The brothers had hurried on their trip, only resting at night at inns, with hardly any conversation. It was not surprising that Mo Jinnian was unclear about the situation in Xilin Vige.


    Mo Jiuye briefly recounted what had happened when they first arrived at Xilin Vige.


    Mo Jinnian angrily banged the carriage panel, "Truly horrible people! Just wait until I take care of them!"

 Chapter 290: It’s Good to have You All Alive.

    <h4>Chapter 290</h4>


    Mo Jiuye knew that Sixth Elder Brother had a fiery temper, and advised: "These ordinarymoners are not worth getting angry over, Sixth Elder Brother, don''t get angry."


    "Humph! This is truly a case of when the tiger falls in Pingyang it is bullied by dogs." Sixth Elder Brother felt more and more ufortable the more he thought about it, remembering what an impressive presence the Mo family used to have in the capital.


    That dog emperor had no eye for talent, My Mo family''s men shed blood on the battlefields to protect the greatnds of Dashun, yet he was still unable to tolerate us.


    Mo Jiuye could understand Sixth Elder Brother''s feelings. He too had felt simrly indignant when they were first sentenced to exile.


    There was no use in talking too much about these things, you could only slowly be epting on your own.


    "Sixth Elder Brother, we''re almost home, don''t let Mother see you in low spirits."


    Sixth Elder Brother nodded: "I know."


    Soon, the two carriages arrived at the front gate of their home.


    The first to run out at the sound of hooves and take a look was Second Sister-in-Law.


    With one nce she spotted Mo Jiuye sitting in the carriage at the front.


    Second Sister-in-Law excitedly shouted loudly: "Ninth younger brother is back...Ninth younger brother is back..."


    Her voice was louder than the other sisters-inw to begin with. This loud shout made the whole family hear it clearly.


    In an instant, some people ran over from the back yard, others came out from the kitchen. Mo Chuhan no longer needed to pretend to be Mo Jiuye inside the house. He rushed out in one leap.


    Mo Jiuye had already gotten off his carriage and entered the yard first, everyone''s gaze was focused on him, and they neglected Mo Jinnian behind him.


    While Mo Jiuye was surrounded by family members, Mo Jinnian jumped off his carriage and squeezed into the crowd. The instant he saw Old Lady Mo he knelt on the ground, knocking his head: "Mother, your son is unfilial and made you worry."


    The family''s attention had originally all been on Mo Jiuye. With Mo Jinnian''s kneeling, they were suddenly at a bit of a loss.


    It was still Sixth Sister-in-Law who reacted the fastest. With one look she recognized her husband.


    "Husband, is it really you?"


    As Sixth Sister-in-Law spoke, she had already thrown herself into Mo Jinnian''s arms, clinging tightly to his arm as tears streamed down her face.


    The instant Mo Jinnian saw his wife, his heart was filled withplex emotions.


    The two people he wronged the most over these years were his mother and his wife.


    Seeing his wife now, she had gotten darker and thinner. She was dressed in ordinarymoner''s clothes with no makeup on her face at all. Her whole being looked several years older.


    No wonder, which young woman who loses her husband early can live well?


    "Xue''er, it''s been hard on you these years."


    As Mo Jinnian spoke, he had already pulled his wife into his embrace. Husband and wife held each other tightly as they wept.


    When Old Lady Mo saw her son, her body shook from the excitement.


    "Jinnian, is it really you?"


    Mo Jinnian held his wife as he crawled forward a few steps closer to Old Lady Mo and heavily knocked his head to the ground.


    "Mother, it''s your son, your unfilial son."


    Old Lady Mo could no longer hold back the surging tide of tears. She went forward and pulled Mo Jinnian up.


    "As long as you''re alive, it''s so good that Mother can see you again in this lifetime."


    Inside the carriage, Fourth Elder Brother and Seventh Elder Brother heard the voices outside. Their hearts were anxious but their mobility was restricted so they couldn''t immediatelye out and reunite with the family.


    Mo Xiuyan could only summon his full strength to shout loudly from inside the carriage: "Mother, Seventh younger brother and I are here too."


    Fourth Sister-in-Law, who had been standing to the side watching Sixth Elder Brother and Sixth Sister-in-Law''s reunion, was secretly extremely envious. She even thought for a moment that she was having auditory hallucinations when she suddenly heard this extremely familiar voice.


    "Third Sister-in-Law, did you hear that voice too? It sounds a lot like my husband." Fourth Sister-in-Law asked Third Sister-in-Law as she pulled on her arm.


    Of course Third Sister-in-Law heard this voice. She also felt it was a bit unreal, but she was much more rational than Fourth Sister-in-Law.


    "Fourth younger Sister-in-Law, that voice does sound a bit like Fourth Elder Brother."


    Mo Chuhan reacted the fastest. Hearing the voice his first reaction was to rush to the carriage and fling the door open. What he saw inside were two emaciated figures.


    He was stunned in ce.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye also walked over.


    "Eighth elder brother, my trip to the Southern Border this time yielded quite a bountiful harvest. I found three elder brothers, but Fourth and Seventh elder brother''s physical condition isn''t great."


    Without Mo Jiuye needing to say, just looking at how skinny they were, barely making it home and unable to get out of the carriage, of course they weren''t well.


    "Fourth elder brother, Seventh elder brother, how did your bodies be so pitiful?"


    When he himself had been saved by Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, although he had be a bit thin and weak, that was because Nanrui had deliberately starved him. Other than that there was nothing seriously wrong with his body.


    The current state of these two elder brothers could simply be described as miserable.


    Fourth Elder Brother was even worse off than Seventh Elder Brother. Seventh Elder Brother could at least prop himself up with some effort when he saw Mo Chuhane over. But Fourth Elder Brother showed no intention of moving at all.


    "Fourth elder brother, Seventh elder brother, it''s so good that you''re alive." When Mo Chuhan spoke, his eyes glowed red as he struggled to keep the tears from falling.


    At this time Old Lady Mo was also being supported by Mo Jinnian as they came to the front of the carriage. The others followed closely behind.


    When Fourth Sister-in-Law and Seventh Sister-in-Law heard from Mo Jinnian that their husbands were still alive, the two were so agitated they could barely stand. Their sisters-inw supported them as they came to the carriage.


    Old Lady Mo walked at the front. She was the first to see her two sons who were skin and bones.


    "Xiuyan, Yuanze, how did you be like this? How exactly did they torture you..."


    As Old Lady Mo spoke, she simply couldn''t go on. Both sons were born from ten months in her womb. To see them be like this now, how could she, as their mother, bear it?


    Old Lady Mo wept bitterly. The women also cried. Especially Fourth Sister-in-Law and Seventh Sister-in-Law, upon seeing their husbands'' miserable states their hearts were bleeding.


    Since the Old Lady was in front, constrained by proper etiquette, the two did not step forward and could only stand on tiptoes to check on their husbands.


    "Husband, is it really you?" Fourth Sister-in-Law barely managed to get out aplete sentence.


    Hearing her voice, Old Lady Mo quickly made way for her daughters-inw.


    Fourth Sister-in-Law and Seventh Sister-in-Law hurriedly ran up.


    Seeing their husbands up close made them choke up even more.


    "Hus...husband...as long as you''re alive that''s good enough. I''m willing to serve you for a lifetime." What Seventh Sister-in-Law said was sincere. As long as someone was around, even if he couldn''t move as freely as before, she was willing.


    Moreover, now they were earning plenty of silver from making dolls with Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law. She had no issue providing for her husband.


    The silver Fourth Sister-in-Law''s maternal family gave her when she left the capital was still with her. She rarely was willing to part with a penny. But having taken one look at her husband, she immediately went to find He Zhiran.


    When she got to He Zhiran, Fourth Sister-in-Law moved to kneel. He Zhiran reacted extremely quickly to stop her.


    "Fourth Sister-in-Law, speak slowly if you have something to say. We sisters-inw don''t need to stand on ceremony."


    Fourth Sister-in-Law choked up for a long time before taking out a money pouch from her bosom and handing it to her.


    "Ninth Younger Sister, Fourth Sister-in-Law knows your medical skills are extraordinary. Use all of this silver to buy medicine, do everything you can to heal Fourth Elder Brother."


    He Zhiran knew that aside from taking the initiative to cover some expenses while traveling, ever since leaving the capital Fourth Sister-in-Law had not been willing to part with the silver her maternal family gifted her for anything else.

 Chapter 291: I’ll do what I can to help.

    <h4>Chapter 291</h4>


    Later, she followed her ninth sister-inw in making dolls and saved some money. Perhaps she felt that since she had no husband and no descendants, she would keep this silver for her old age.


    In a frugal manner, Fourth Sister-inw handed over all the silver to her, to be used for her husband''s treatment, showing how deep her affection was for Fourth Brother.


    As he watched his wife''s actions in the carriage, Fourth Brother, this tough man, couldn''t help but feel tears welling up in his eyes.


    At this moment, he deeply regretted himself, realizing that he had be a burden to his wife upon returning home.


    However, he waspletely unable to move his body, unable to evenfort his wife.


    He Zhiran quickly supported Fourth Sister-inw, while returning the purse to her hand.


    "Fourth Sister-inw, rest assured, we are all family. I will do my best to treat Fourth Brother''s injuries."


    Mo Xiuyan''s injuries were too severe, and He Zhiran didn''t dare to make any absolute promises in front of so many people. In case they encountered any difficulties that couldn''t be solved, it would only give everyone false hope.


    Fourth Sister-inw felt somewhat reassured by what Ninth Sister-inw said. She firmly believed that with Ninth Sister-inw''s medical skills, she would definitely be able to cure her husband''s illness.


    On the side of the carriage, the five sons of the Mo family, Mo Xiuyan and Mo Yuance, were carried into the house.


    Fourth Sister-inw and Seventh Sister-inw immediately followed. Since their own husbands had suffered such serious injuries, they wanted to ensure they had afortable resting ce.


    They took out all the quilts and made a thick bedding, then went out to heat up the kang stove, making the room even warmer.


    Old Lady Mo had just shed tears of joy. Now that she saw her two injured sons settled down, she took Mo Jiuye and Mo Jinnian with her and went to the main hall.


    "Jiuye, was your trip to the Southern Frontier dangerous? I''m sure it must have been," she asked.


    Indeed, it was somewhat dangerous, but Mo Jiuye didn''t n to exin it too clearly and worry the elderly.


    "It was fine. We first went to Si Meng Mountain Vi and found Fourth Brother in a secret room there."


    Upon hearing that Mo Xiuyan was found in Si Meng Mountain Vi, Mo Yunfeng immediately stood up.


    "Jiuye, did you say Fourth Brother was found in Si Meng Mountain Vi?"


    Thinking of this, Mo Yunfeng clearly felt regret. He was the first one to find Si Meng Mountain Vi. But he didn''t discover any secret rooms, which resulted in his Fourth Brother suffering for even more days.


    If he had been more careful, if he had found where Fourth Brother was earlier, perhaps Fourth Brother''s condition would have been better.


    Mo Jiuye understood Mo Yunfeng''s thoughts. He and Ruan Ruan personally went down that dry well. If it weren''t for Ruan Ruan''s help, he probably wouldn''t have been able to enter smoothly.


    In that ce filled with poisonous substances and gu insects, even if Mo Yunfeng went, not only would he not have been able to rescue Fourth Brother sessfully, he might have ended up trapping himself.


    "Yunfeng, don''t me yourself. Fourth Brother was locked in a secret room underground. If I hadn''t identally triggered a mechanism, I wouldn''t have discovered it either."


    Seeing that Mo Yunfeng still wanted to say something, Old Lady Mo raised her hand to stop him.


    "Yunfeng, sit down first and listen to Jiuye talk about what happened during their trip to the Southern Frontier."


    Since the matriarch had spoken, even if Mo Yunfeng had a lot to say, he could only obediently keep quiet.


    Mo Jiuye continued his narration, "Fourth Brother fell off a cliff while being chased by soldiers from Southern Xinjiang, resulting in both his legs being broken. Even if he was cursed, the other party couldn''t control him to do anything, which is why he was imprisoned there."


    Upon hearing that her son fell off a cliff and broke both his legs, Old Lady Mo couldn''t contain her grief.


    "Jiuye, are you saying that your Fourth Brother will be paralyzed from now on?"


    Her son... Why did fate take such a turn? After finally reuniting with his family, his body became like this.


    Seeing her mother-inw heartbroken, Mo Jiuye quicklyforted her, "Mother, Ranran said she will find a way to cure Fourth Brother."


    Old Lady Mo nodded repeatedly, "Ranran''s medical skills are excellent. I believe she will be able to heal your Fourth Brother."


    She had witnessed Mo Xiuyan''s condition herself, especially upon hearing about his broken legs. As a military family member, she knew very well about this type of injury. Most soldiers who had broken bones on the battlefield couldn''t bepletely cured, and even if they were, they would be left disabled.


    Moreover, Mo Xiuyan had been injured for so many years. Even if Jiuer''s daughter-inw had exceptional medical skills, it was probably impossible to fully heal him.


    She couldn''t express her true feelings in front of everyone. As an elder, if even she lost faith, wouldn''t the children feel even more hopeless?


    Mo Jiuye continued his narrative, briefly recounting the process of finding Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother while skirting the main issue.


    Finally, when he mentioned killing the Emperor of Southern Xinjiang and hanging his head at the highest pass, envy shimmered in the eyes of all the men of the Mo family present.


    The Mo family had fought for the prosperity of Da Shun and suffered many hidden losses at the hands of the people from Southern Xinjiang.


    Especially their father, thete Duke Mo Qing, who died on the battlefield. The Southern Xinjiang Emperor ordered his head to be hung high on the city walls as a disy.


    Now, they finally had a day of revenge. May the spirit of their father find sce.


    No one in the Mo family expected that theirte father was still alive in this world. What Mo Jiuye said next shocked the entire family.


    "Mother, during my journey to Southern Xinjiang, I discovered a massive secret."


    "What secret? Ninth Brother, please tell us, don''t keep us in suspense." Mo Chuhan, being impatient by nature, hurriedly urged him when he mentioned a secret.


    "I found out that Father and our older brothers are most likely not buried in the tombs of the Mo family." Mo Jiuye said slowly.


    Now, not only his older brothers but even Old Lady Mo couldn''t remain calm.


    "Jiuye, are you serious about this?" As for how Mo Jiuye discovered that the people buried in the tombs were not members of the Mo family, Old Lady Mo no longer had the heart to ask. At this moment, she was most concerned about the oue.


    "If Father and our older brothers are alive, where are they?" This question was one that Mo Jiuye couldn''t answer definitively at the moment.


    Both he and He Zhiran felt that they couldn''t speak too firmly until they found the people they were looking for.


    "Based on the clues, Father and our older brothers are most likely in the western region. Unfortunately, we missed the opportunity twice when encountering Mr. Simeng." Mo Jiuye''s words made Mo Yunfeng m the table in excitement.


    Based on the ount of Mother about the past events,bined with the investigation of Ninth Brother, Mr. Simeng is undoubtedly the person who persecuted the men of the Mo family.


    Mo Chuhan also stood up and said, "I will request leave from the yamen tomorrow and go to the western region to find out their whereabouts."


    Fifth Brother, who had been silent all this time, stood up and patted Mo Chuhan''s shoulder.


    "Little Eighth Brother, we need to discuss this matter carefully. Besides, with so many brothers in the family, you don''t need to take leave."


    Mo Chuhan knew that Fifth Brother was more thoughtful than him. He nced at Mother, who had been silent all along, and sat back in his seat, feeling disgruntled.


    Everyone else also looked at Old Lady Mo and Mo Jiuye. Old Lady Mo was the elder of the family, so her words naturally carried weight. Moreover, Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister now supported the entire Mo family. Furthermore, the credit for finding the lost men belonged to Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister, so they naturally had to listen to their opinions.

 Chapter 292: My husband took good care of me on the road.

    <h4>Chapter 292</h4>


    Old Lady Mo sorted out her thoughts for a moment, and looked at Mo Jiuye: "Jiuye, what do you think about this matter?"


    She had long seen that on the surface, it was the Ninth Son and his wife who found the other sons, but the one who really had the ability was the Ninth Son''s wife. By asking Mo Jiuye, it was equivalent to indirectly asking He Zhiran.


    Even though there were only mother and son in the room at the moment, Mo Jiuye''s words couldpletely represent He Zhiran.


    Mo Jiuye was a little embarrassed at the moment. He knew that in the face of Mr. Si Meng, He Zhiran would have to be present in order to be of help. Finding his father and brothers could help undo the Gu poison as soon as possible. However, He Zhiran was currently pregnant, and he absolutely could not let her take such risks.


    "Mother, He Zhiran is currently pregnant, so I n to go to the Western Regions alone."


    "Is this true?" When Old Lady Mo heard the news that the Ninth Daughter-in-Law was pregnant, she couldn''t even express the excitement in her heart.


    The so-called "ice and fire dual heavens" feeling was probably like this. She had just heard that the old Duke and two sons were still alive, and she was happy in her heart. However, soon it was reced by a surge of inexplicable anxiety.


    Now hearing again that the daughter-inw was pregnant, she was so happy that tears streamed down her face.


    Mo Jiuye knew that his mother would be happy to hear this news. He had been back for so long, and finally he could make the olddy happy.


    "Mother, it''s true. He Zhiran is already two months pregnant."


    After confirming the news, Old Lady Mo could no longer sit still.


    "The bumps along the way must have been hard on her. Let mother go take a look."


    As Old Lady Mo spoke, she had already stood up, leaving her several sons who also had happy expressions on their faces behind.


    He Zhiran had indeed suffered a lot along the way, especially since she had recently developed morning sickness. She had no appetite when looking at anything, making her look somewhat weak all over.


    Lan Er and Yu Er already knew she was pregnant. The two had taken care of the pregnant Fourth Princess before, so they were not unfamiliar with this.


    They knew He Zhiran had a bumpy ride all the way, and must have been ufortable all over, so they stayed by her side to take care of her.


    At the moment, the two had alreadyid out the bedding to let He Zhiran lie down and rest first.


    Lan Er even took the initiative to go to the kitchen to boil hot water to help wipe her face.


    He Zhiran felt that Lan Er and Yu Er were very thoughtful. Her face felt much more rxed after being wiped with the hot towel. Just as she was feeling a little drowsy, there was a knock at the door.


    Yu Er opened the door and saw that it was Old Lady Moing over. She hurriedly bowed politely.


    Mo Jiuye had just briefly exined about meeting the Fourth Princess, so she had some understanding of the two unfamiliar faces, knowing they were both people around the Fourth Princess. She nodded slightly, then walked straight to He Zhiran.


    Seeing her mother-inwing, He Zhiran wanted to get up, but was pressed down by Old Lady Mo with one hand.


    "Lie down, pregnancy is tiring in itself, plus you rushed such a long way by boat and carriage."


    "Mother, you already know?"


    Old Lady Mo smiled and sat down next to her, "I just heard Jiuye say it. This boy really should have mentioned such a big thing earlier."


    This was the first time He Zhiran had seen her mother-inw smile so happily. It was evident how eagerly she had been waiting for a grandson.


    "Mother, I''m fine. My husband took good care of me on the road."


    At this time, Mo Jiuye also followed along. This was also the first time he had seen his old mother act so anxiously.


    "Mother, I will take good care of He Zhiran from now on. Just wait to hold your big fat grandson!"


    Seeing her son''s silly appearance, Old Lady Mo couldn''t helpughing. "Alright, Mother will wait to help you take care of the baby."


    When Mo''s sons heard that the Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law was pregnant, they were equally delighted.


    However, it was not appropriate for those elder brothers toe over and visit. Each went back to call their own wives over.


    The sisters-inw came over one after another when they heard the news. In addition to joy on their faces, there was also envy, without the slightest hint of jealousy. This showed how pure their dispositions were.


    Especially those sisters-inw who had found their husbands again, they all subconsciously lowered their heads to look at their own t bellies.


    This was because He Zhiran had not explicitly mentioned the fact that they were infertile due to being poisoned.


    The sisters-inw were still very puzzled. In the past when their husbands were away campaigning in the capital for years, that was one thing. But in recent months, being with their husbands day and night, why was there no sign of pregnancy?


    Now that the antidote Pei Pi had been found to help the sisters-inw detoxify, He Zhiran no longer intended to continue concealing it. After discussing it with Old Lady Mo, she told them the truth.


    The sisters-inw were somewhat unable to ept the fact that after being married for many years without children, it turned out to be the fault of Empress Dashun when they heard they had been poisoned.


    The Second Sister-in-Law had lived with her husband the longest after marrying into the Mo family. She had seen countless doctors and drank stomachs full of bitter medicine for this reason, yet still failed to conceive sessfully. It turned out it was all because of the poisoning by the Empress.


    "It''s really too much, what offense did our Mo familymit against her that she would treat us this way, depriving us of the right to be mothers."


    Although the other sisters-inw did not speak out in righteous indignation like the Second Sister-in-Law, they also clenched their fists tightly, showing the anger in their hearts.


    The reason why He Zhiran did not tell the truth after discovering they were poisoned was that she did not want to add unnecessary troubles to the sisters-inw.


    Now it was different. She had found the Pei Pi that could help make the antidote for the sisters-inw. After detoxification, she would slowly help them recuperate. And the elder brothers had also been found one after another, so children woulde sooner orter.


    Moreover, although the present days were somewhat arduous, there was none of the deceit and scheming of the capital. The sisters-inw liked it too. In the future, with children around, they would have no regrets in this life.


    "Sisters-inw, don''t worry. My husband and I went to the Southern Border this time and found the medicinal materials to help detoxify you. In the next few days I will make the antidote for you to take. You must make every effort afterwards to give birth to more nephews and nieces for me."


    If it were in the past, the sisters-inw would definitely have been shy hearing He Zhiran tell them to make more effort.


    At the moment, they couldn''t care less about embarrassment, focusing all their attention on the antidote.


    The Eighth Sister-in-Law was one of the earliest to reunite with her husband. She excitedly went up and grabbed He Zhiran''s hand.


    "Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, can our poison really be cured?"


    He Zhiran smiled and patted the Eighth Sister-in-Law''s hand. "Eighth Sister-in-Law, don''t worry, this poison can definitely be cured."


    "That''s wonderful, Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law. You don''t know how much I want to have my own child." The Eighth Sister-in-Law was already crying with joy.


    The other sisters-inw had the same feelings.


    Back then, when they heard that their husbands had died in battle, they hadpletely lost hope for the future.


    Without their husbands, and no children around, they were destined to grow old alone.


    Some sisters-inw even felt despair, and had once thought of ending their lives when hearing that their husbands had died in battle.


    Now it waspletely different. Their dead husbands hade back to life, and they might have their own children in the future. The sisters-inw suddenly had great hopes for the future.


    Moreover, although the present days were somewhat arduous, there was none of the deceit and scheming of the capital that they liked. In the future, with children around, they would have no regrets in this life.

 Chapter 293: Both men and women add blood to the Mohist School

    <h4>Chapter 293</h4>


    Although He Zhiran had not yet beenpletely assimted by the thinking of ancients, she could understand a woman''s thirst to be a mother.


    To reassure her sisters-inw, she promised, "Sisters-inw, rest assured, I will strive to produce the antidote in these next few days and administer it to everyone."


    Eighth Sister-in-Law excitedly grabbed her again.


    "Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, once our poison is cured, can we have our own children?"


    He Zhiran took the opportunity to check Eighth Sister-in-Law''s pulse. Her pulse was no different from Sixth Sister-in-Law''s, and everything else seemed normal. This meant that Eighth Sister-in-Law herself had no issues. If she had not been poisoned, she would have had children long ago.


    Therefore, she replied with great certainty:


    "Eighth Sister-in-Law, once the poison is cured and you recuperate for a period of time, you will be able to have your own children."


    Upon hearing He Zhiran¡¯s words, Eighth Sister-in-Law wept tears of joy, ¡°Wonderful, as long as we can give birth, whether boy or girl, it will be adding bloodlines to the Mo family.¡±


    Seeing this, the other sisters-inw who had found their husbands also came up one after another to ask He Zhiran to check their pulses.


    After checking each of them, He Zhiran informed them that there were no issues with any of their healths, and they would have children sooner orter.


    Eldest Sister-in-Law and Second Sister-in-Law looked upon this scene with envy, truly hoping their own husbands coulde back alive, even if they were paralyzed in bed like Fourth and Seventh Younger Brothers for the rest of their lives. They would be willing to take care of them.


    As for children, Eldest Sister-in-Law and Second Sister-in-Law did not dare to hope for too much. After all, among the sisters-inw, they were the oldest and had been poisoned the longest.


    Their only wish now was for their husbands to return safely.


    Seeing the sisters-inw rushing up to He Zhiran to get their pulses checked regardless, Old Lady Mo quickly scolded, afraid that He Zhiran would get tired and affect the fetus in her belly,


    ¡°You few stop crowding around to watch the fun. Ninth Younger Sister has said she can cure it, so she definitely can. Right now she needs more rest. Everyone should disperse if you have nothing to do, just go about your business.¡±


    Reminded by their mother-inw, the sisters-inw realized they had indeed been somewhat rude.


    Ninth Younger Sister had just gotten pregnant and endured a long journey by boat and carriage. They had originallye over intending to show care, but instead ended up asking Ninth Younger Sister to check their pulses.


    The sisters-inw were clearly somewhat embarrassed. They quickly came up to say some reassuring words before dispersing one by one.


    After all the daughters-inw left, Old Lady Mo gave some more instructions to He Zhiran before leaving as well.


    With everyone gone, only Lan Er and Yu Er remained in the room. The two of them seemed to have already acknowledged He Zhiran as their future mistress, not leaving her side for a moment after arriving at the Mo family home.


    He Zhiran knew these two maids were loyal. Having them by her side to serve her was indeedforting. However, it would be inconvenient when she needed to enter her personal space.


    Moreover, as a modern military officer, she was simply not used to being waited on constantly like this.


    "Lan Er, Yu Er, the Mo family nowadays is just an ordinary farming household. We no longer have those rules of wealthy households. You two can rx a bit more around here. There''s no need to keep following me all day."


    Hearing her say this, Lan Er became a little uncertain in her heart.


    "Ninth Lady, it was you and Ninth Master who saved us initially. We are your people now. Especially since you are pregnant now, you naturally need people around to care for you. If there is anything wrong with how we behave, you can point it out. Yu Er and I will surely amend ording to your wishes."


    She assumed Ninth Lady found them not thoughtful enough in their service, hence was disgruntled with them.


    If this was truly so, they would not know how to live in the Mo family in the future.


    He Zhiran knew Lan Er had misunderstood her meaning. Regardless, she did not n to beat around the bush to exin. She directly voiced out her thoughts,


    "Don''t misunderstand. If I was unhappy with you two, I would not have brought you back with me. From when we were exiled until now, I''ve been used to relying on myself to get by. This goes the same for the rest of the Mo family. We have always depended on our ownbor for self-sufficiency. In the future, you don''t have to keep following at my side all the time.


    The womenfolk in the family all have things in their hands to do. You can go find Eldest Sister-in-Law and ask her arrange tasks for you. Of course, if I have need for anything here, I will still call for you two."


    Having grown up navigating danger with Fourth Princess since a young age, Lan Er thought differently than normal people.


    She could understand Ninth Lady''s meaning. Ultimately, it was that Ninth Lady did not wish for her and Yu Er to remain by her side attending to her.


    It was understandable. Before herst breath, Fourth Princess had wanted to entrust them to Ninth Master. Although they harbored no such intentions, as Ninth Master''s wife, it was inevitable she would overthink when seeing them all the time.


    Lan Er walked forward a few steps and knelt to solemnly vow,


    "Ninth Lady, I, Lan Er, hereby swear I harbor absolutely no improper thoughts toward Ninth Master. If I go back on my word, may heaven strike me down with five thunders."


    Seeing Lan Er act this way, Yu Er also knelt down to swear an oath and make a wish.


    He Zhiran looked at the two''s actions and rubbed her temples helplessly.


    Forget whether Lan Er and Yu Er harbored such thoughts, Mo Jiuye would never have ideas like that himself. Even if these two frolicked before him all day, he would not be swayed.


    For some reason, He Zhiran simply had such faith in Mo Jiuye, believing he would never do anything to betray her.


    Even if she was wrong about the man and Mo Jiuye did end up fickle, so what?


    She, He Zhiran had her own abilities and money. The national treasuries of Great Shun and Southern Frontier were in her hands. She had her own flesh and blood. And she had the gold fingers given by the transmigration god.


    With so much at her disposal, no matter where she was, she could make a thriving life for herself and had utterly no need to worry about such matters.


    Although she held no concerns, things still had to be rified since Lan Er and Yu Er would be staying here for some time.


    "You''ve misunderstood my meaning. I already said it very clearly back when I brought you two out. In the Mo family, we do not support freeloaders. If you want a good life, you have to work for it yourself.


    As for you two, you¡¯re already of age to be married. If there are suitable matches, I will certainly help arrange."


    He Zhiran was one to worry over others. When Liang Hao and the others came over earlier, she had considered that they were following the Mo family, so they could not possibly remain single all their lives.


    If suitable girls came up, she intended to help keep an eye out.


    She had such ns since bringing Lan Er and Yu Er back, but interactions with them so far had been limited. She still needed to understand their personalities better before making any decisions.


    Hence He Zhiran did not hurry to bring up the matter of marriage, as she was still observing their conduct.


    Even if Lan Er''s thoughts diverged greatly from He Zhiran''s, her words were stated inly. If Lan Er still could not understand, she would have to be an idiot.


    Lan Er shuffled forward on her knees a few steps and sincerely spoke, "Ninth Lady, Yu Er''s and my lives were saved by you and Ninth Master. By rights, we should obey all your arrangements. It is just, we only wish that when the dayes Fourth Princess'' great revenge is aplished, during offerings of incense we can notify her. Once this matter ends, we will have no more regrets for our whole lives. As for things like marrying off, we harbor no such thoughts."

 Chapter 295: Eight Pills

    <h4>Chapter 295</h4>


    Little Collector did not have enough money on hand for that ck nanzhu, but since He Zhiran had said so, he did not insist on showing off.


    "Alright, I''ll listen to you. Let me know if you need anything."


    After discussing the main points, He Zhiran listed the ck nanzhu for sale.


    Taobao only appraised the ck nanzhu at 20 million yuan, probably because the nanzhu was an antique of Da Shun, so Little Collector had a higher price over there.


    The 20 million yuan was the reserve price given by Taobao. He Zhiran did not intend to increase the price at all, and directly listed it in the store at the price of 20 million yuan.


    She was not worried that someone would snap up the nanzhu after it was listed. After all, something so expensive, anyone who wanted to buy it would have to weigh it carefully.


    After the product was listed, He Zhiran immediately notified Little Collector.


    Little Collector had already started preparing the money when he heard from He Zhiran that she had gotten the ck nanzhu.


    The funds he could mobilize at the moment only amounted to 50 million yuan. If it was not enough, he might have to embarrass himself and discuss installment payments with the other party.


    As a result, when he saw the listing price, his first feeling was that his eyes were blurred. The other party only sold him the nanzhu for 20 million.


    To prevent being snatched by others, Little Collector didn''t think too much about it. He paid immediately to buy it.


    After receiving the item, he sent He Zhiran a message.


    "Did you deliberately sell this item to me at a low price?"


    Seeing this message, He Zhiran felt somewhat amused.


    Because she was not greedy, all the items she listed for sale were based on the lowest price estimated by Taobao. Even though she knew the value of this nanzhu in modern times, she did not want to raise the price when sitting on the ground.


    She did not have much business sense. In her previous life, she only thought about protecting her family and country and saving the dying. Now that she had crossed over to ancient times, her concept of money had not be much thicker either. It was fine as long as it was enough to spend.


    "My prices here are all normal."


    Little Collector was deeply moved. The moral character of this crosser was too good. She had helped him so much without asking anything in return from him.


    No wonder she could be chosen by the crossing god. With such moral character and values, she would be fine wherever she went.


    Little Collector did not want to say too much. He remembered this favor.


    "In the future, you can let me take a look at the items before you list them. I will give you tips if there are any issues."


    With a modern antique dealer to help, He Zhiran was more than willing.


    "Okay, nice to cooperate with you in the future."


    Little Collector had received the ck nanzhu by now, and was absolutely overjoyed. He was going to immediately look for clues about the theft and bid He Zhiran goodbye before hastily going offline.


    After He Zhiran sorted out the new items in her space again, the antidote had been sessfully produced.


    Not more or less, there were exactly eight pills, one for each of the eight sisters-inw.


    After they took the antidote, then carefully conditioned themselves for about a year, there would be no problems at all.


    After getting the pills, He Zhiran did not go to give them to her sisters-inw immediately. After all, these antidotes were not openly produced. Bringing them out now would surely lead to questions about this and that.


    She just waited for Mo Jiuye to go into the city at some point, using the excuse of purchasing some medicinal materials to bring back, and then she could justify producing the antidote.


    The most difficult matter at the moment was that there were still dozens of Mo Family''s former subordinates in the space.


    He Zhiran had drawn some of their blood for testing and obtained the same results.


    They carried at least dozens of poisons in their bodies, and these poisons were basically in a mutually antagonistic state. However, dozens of mutually inhibiting poisons aggregated together naturally numbed their consciousness and even changed many of their own functions.


    The most obvious was that they would not die even if they did not eat for a lifetime.


    This baffled He Zhiran. Even in the medical age of theter generations with highly developed medicine, a clear exnation could not be made for such a situation.


    Not only that, after they turned into human medicine ves, they would obey the driving force of the person with the special worm in them.


    Judging from this, the only way to find a way to deal with the poisons in their bodies was to start from the dead worm.


    That worm was obviously raised with medicine, and the efficacy in the worm''s body had a restraining effect on these human medicine ves.


    He Zhiran looked at the clock on the wall. There was still some time before dinner. She simply took out the worm for research.


    The best way to study was to use medical equipment to extract everything, medicines and poisons, from the worm.


    After an hour of testing, He Zhiran found that there was only one poison in the worm''s body.


    She was also seeing this poison for the first time. To confirm, she flipped through some books about poisons.


    The final result was that the poison in the worm''s body, in simple terms, was a kind of material that could absorb physique and absorb hundreds of poisons.


    At the same time, this absorbent material medicine could also be a panacea for solving hundreds of poisons.


    It seemed that this could exin what was going on.


    The absorbent physique of the worm could attract those human medicine ves.


    As long as the operator of the parent worm kept manipting Mo Jinnian all the time, those human medicine ves would naturally obey hismands.


    There were too many kinds of poisons in those human medicine ves. Rash detoxification might trigger other poisons to spread in their bodies, which would be like casting off new troubles after getting rid of the old ones. Not only would it be impossible to save them, but it would also elerate their death.


    The only way was to use the dead worm and extract all the efficacy from the worm''s body, and thenbine it with other medicines to detoxify.


    This was a veryplicated matter.


    It was already extremely difficult just to extract the medicines from such a tiny worm, and the resulting extracts would be pitifully little. They would also need to bebined with hundreds of other medicines for processing.


    From the current look, those human medicine ves only had this one chance for detoxification. He Zhiran did not dare to be careless at all.


    Although she had already figured out the approach to deal with the poisons in those ves'' bodies in general, she did not dare to take action rashly.


    This matter had to be done at the safest time, otherwise even a little deviation would ruin the previous efforts, not to mention taking the lives of so many people.


    Although she could not immediately detoxify those people for the moment, He Zhiran felt that her harvest this time was not small.


    At least she had figured out the direction for detoxification. Over the next few days, as long as she studied it carefully, she should be able to save those people.


    Seeing that it was about time, she recalled her consciousness from the space.


    Mo Jiuye thought she was asleep and had been sitting by her side to keep watch. Seeing her wake up, he stepped up to support her up to sit.


    "Ranran, did you rest well?"


    How could He Zhiran have rested?


    "I did not rest. Just now my consciousness was in the space. I gave the nanzhu to Little Collector and also checked their bodies for those subordinates.

 Chapter 296: I can’t believe I got a nice wife like you.

    <h4>Chapter 296</h4>


    He Zhiran saw that Mo Jiuye was tired after working hard for so many days without properly resting after returning home, and felt distressed as he helped massage her shoulders.


    "Now that you''re pregnant, you shouldn''t overexert yourself. If there''s anything that needs doing in the future, let me handle it."


    What he meant was that even if he didn''t understand medicine, he could still follow instructions. This way, his wife would feel a bit more rxed.


    While enjoying her husband''s thoughtfulness, He Zhiran said, "I''ve basically figured out the situations of those poisoned guards. I''m just waiting for a good chance to detoxify them."


    Mo Jiuye was anxious to detoxify his subordinates, but was even more concerned about his wife.


    "There''s no rush with this matter. Wait until you''ve rested well and feel better before doing anything."


    He Zhiran knew he had been quite worried about her throughout the journey, and had felt very guilty the whole time.


    "I''m feeling alright now, much more rxed than when we were traveling. After a good night''s sleep tonight, I''ll be fine tomorrow.


    Also, I''ve finished making the antidotes for my sisters-inw too. I''ll find an opportunity to deliver them."


    The more Mo Jiuye listened, the more distressed he felt. He had thought his wife was sleeping in the room and didn''t even dare disturb her. But who knew that in just an afternoon, she had done so many things, and every task was for the Mo Family''s benefit.


    He gently pulled her into his embrace and gently patted her back.


    "Ranran, I, Mo Jiuye, do not know what virtues or abilities I possess that allowed me to marry such a good wife as you."


    "We''re all one family. And now that I''m carrying your child, isn''t it a bit distant of you to stand on ceremony with me?" Seeing Mo Jiuye get emotional, He Zhiran didn''t know how to respond.


    Mo Jiuye hugged her and nodded. "Mm, I won''t stand on ceremony with you."


    ...You''ve given me the most precious thing a woman has, and are even willing bear children for me. I will spend my whole life pampering you to make up for it.


    These were Mo Jiuye''s inner thoughts, but he didn''t say them aloud to avoid his wife using him of being distant again.


    The two of them just held each other, neither willing to be the first to let go.


    At this moment, the door was rapped on inopportunely.


    "Ninth brother, ninth sister-inw, have you rested well? It''s time for dinner."


    Hearing eighth sister-inw''s voice, Mo Jiuye reluctantly released his wife...


    After dinner, He Zhiran went to check on Mo Xiuyan and Mo Yuanze''s conditions before going back to rest.


    That night, she could finallyfortably rest inside her space.


    After being away in Nanjiang for so long, this was He Zhiran''s first time sleeping so soundly. She woke up early the next morning.


    She and Mo Jiuye were in no hurry to leave the space. Instead, they studied again the antidote for detoxifying those poisoned guards.


    In addition to the medicinal essence extracted from the gu worm, He Zhiran still needed to purchase other medicinal materials from Taobao Treasure.


    What surprised her was that one verymon medicinal material was not being sold in Taobao Treasure.


    Moreover, this medicinal herb had been passed down from the West inter generations, so it would definitely not be found in the Da Shun Dynasty.


    This gave He Zhiran a headache.


    As she sat holding her phone pondering, the avatar of Little Collector shook a few times.


    He Zhiran decisively tapped open the chat box to check.


    [I''m truly very grateful to you this time. Not only did you resolve my urgent problem, you also sessfully caught the thief.]


    He Zhiran was currently worried about the issue of medicinal materials. She only briefly registered the good news brought by Little Collector.


    [I''m d it''s resolved.]


    Seeing her response less enthusiastic than usual, Little Collector asked, [Did somethinge up over there?]


    It''s said that pregnant women lose their edge for three years. And He Zhiran had only just gotten pregnant, so her mind wasn''t as sharp.


    Seeing Little Collector''s inquiry, she suddenly pped her forehead.


    There was a modern person right here. How could she have not thought of asking him for help?


    [I urgently need a medicinal material called crane bamboo. Back when I was in the modern times it was verymonly seen. I just searched all over Taobao Treasure but couldn''t find any. It would be best if you could help me get some. Of course, I would provide adequatepensation.]


    Judging by Little Collector''s upation, he wasn''tcking in money. But she had plenty of nice things that could certainly satisfy him.


    Little Collector: [You might not know, but over ten days ago crane bamboo was explicitly banned from sale. They said the mercury content in crane bamboo is too high and extremely harmful to the human body.]


    [I see, no wonder I can''t buy any on Taobao Treasure. Do you have a way to get your hands on it?] He Zhiran already knew earlier that crane bamboo contained some badponents. But its efficacy was something no other medicinal herb couldpare to.


    For instance, mercury can reduce lead. Those poisoned guards had very high lead levels in their bodies after testing. Therefore, crane bamboo was essential to counteract it.


    Little Collector: [No problem. I have a friend in the medicinal materials business. After the crane bamboo ban, he secretly kept some stock. I can help you get it from him!]


    [Wonderful, please help me acquire the crane bamboo as soon as possible. I''ll give you a nice surprise too.] He Zhiran happily replied.


    As long as she could get the crane bamboo, she could start configuring the antidote.


    Closing her phone, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye washed up and left the space together with their buns.


    She had gotten used to getting up early to help her family prepare breakfast with her sisters-inw. Today was no exception as she headed straight for the kitchen.


    But she had just entered when eldest sister-inw chased her back out.


    "Ninth sister-inw, just focus on nurturing the fetus from now on. Leave the cooking to us."


    Second sister-inw also chimed in, "That''s right. From now on, you''re not allowed in here anymore. Giving birth to a big fat son for the Mo family is most important."


    The sisters-inw were even more adamant than each other, leaving He Zhiran no choice but to return to her room.


    Just like that, days passed where food and clothing came without her lifting a finger. After three days, Mo Jiuye finally finished arranging the household affairs and used the excuse of taking her along into the city.


    The purpose of their trip to Yun City was nothing more than to pave the way for the antidotes for her sisters-inw. There was no real business to handle.


    The previous mule cart had been switched out for a stately horse carriage. The carriage slowly made its way through Yun City''s streets.


    They had just entered a prosperousmercial area when the carriage was forced to stop.


    He Zhiran opened the carriage door and looked outside while asking, "What happened?"


    Mo Jiuye pointed at the crowd ahead.


    "It looks like there''s a fight happening over there."


    A fight?


    Meng Huaining had already brought such good order to Yun City. And with eighth brother''s iron fist, who still dared make trouble openly fighting?


    Out of curiosity, He Zhiran wanted to go take a look at the front.


    Knowing his obstruction would be futile, Mo Jiuye hurriedly tethered the carriage at the roadside and came over protectively.


    There were no small number of onlookers. The circle they formed was quiterge. From the gaps, one could see the situation inside.


    A ragged man was being dragged out of the circle by his hair in the grip of two thuggish figures, who kept cursing and swearing.


    "You worthless self-selling ve, you actually dared try to run away. I''ll make you regret even being alive!"


    As he spoke, the thug''s leather whipshed fiercely across that person.

 Chapter 297: Mind your own Business.

    <h4>Chapter 297</h4>


    That person struggled desperately, mumbling some unclear words to argue.


    "You''re talking nonsense. You took advantage of my drunkenness to force me to press my handprint on the contract to sell myself. I''m going to report this to the magistrate to arbitrate fairly for me."


    If that person didn''t have disheveled hair, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye wouldn''t have recognized him. But when he started talking, his voice was quite familiar.


    The two looked at each other.


    "Is it Hu Cong?" He Zhiran wanted to confirm his guess.


    Mo Jiuye nodded, "It''s him."


    ording to reason, Mo Jiuye was not the kind of person who liked to meddle in other people''s business. But he quite approved of Hu Cong''s character, especially since he and the Mo Family were fellow sufferers.


    Meeting this kind of thing on the street, he would intervene no matter what.


    Mo Jiuye sent his wife to a ce a little further away from the crowd, then stepped in front of the two thugs.


    "Stop it."


    At his shout, the two thugs who were still swaggering there were stunned on the spot.


    However, they quickly reacted. After carefully looking over the person blocking their way, he was just a handsome farmer. The two didn''t take him seriously at all.


    The thug with slightly darker skin impatiently whipped at Mo Jiuye.


    "Get lost. Don''t meddle in other people''s business here."


    He thought a whip would be enough to frighten away the blocker. But when he swung his whip, it was grabbed by the opponent.


    What''s more, Mo Jiuye used a little force and sent the thug flying to the side of the road along with the whip.


    This action caused the onlookers to exim involuntarily.


    Ordinary people had seen people being beaten at most like what those two thugs did to Hu Cong. Where had they seen someone able to swing another person away just by grabbing his whip?


    Stunned for a moment, the crowd waspletely agitated.


    Some even cheered in a low voice, "Well yed!" It showed how unpopr those thugs were.


    Mo Jiuye paid no attention to the spectators'' discussion and strode towards Hu Cong.


    The remaining thug still held Hu Cong by the hair. Seeing Mo Jiuyeing over, he was so scared that he didn''t even think to let go and run away. He was lifted aside by Mo Jiuye like a little chicken.


    As Hu Cong''s body rxed, he slumped to the ground instantly. But he didn''t forget to look at his lifesaver''s appearance.


    "Master Mo the Ninth?"


    "It''s me. Elder Hu, why were you bullied by these people?" Mo Jiuye asked.


    When asked, Hu Cong was obviously a little angry. He pointed at those two thugs, "They are from the pier shipping firm. A few days ago, I went there to help people repair ships. They said I snatched their business and had to hand over the silver I earned.


    I didn''t agree, so they sent people to burn down my house, then forced me to sign a contract to sell myself so that I could only repair ships for their shipping firm in the future.


    I took the opportunity to escape when they were not paying attention and was going to report this to the authorities. But I was caught by them on the way..."


    The thug who was thrown away by Mo Jiuye just now walked back with his whole body in pain. Although he was a little afraid of Mo Jiuye, he was still aggressive towards Hu Cong.


    "Hu Cong, don''t forget your status. Your contract is now in our hands. If you don''t know the right thing to do, beware of suffering."


    After speaking, he looked at Mo Jiuye again. His attitude waspletely different from how he treated Hu Cong.


    "And... and you, I advise you not to meddle too much. Be careful or Master Liu will make sure you can''t stay in Yuncheng."


    Facing such a bluffer, Mo Jiuye didn''t even bother to give him a nce.


    "Big talker." Mo Jiuye said as he had already helped Hu Cong up.


    Although he didn''t take those two thugs seriously, it was still best to let the government resolve this kind of thing.


    "Elder Hu, let''s go to the government now."


    Relying on Mo Jiuye''s support, Hu Cong got up with difficulty and followed him, preparing to leave.


    Seeing this, the two thugs nervously stood in front of Mo Jiuye.


    "We have his contract in our hands. If you forcibly take him away, we can also report this to the authorities."


    Mo Jiuye nced obliquely at them, restraining his urge to hit them, "Then you report to your official and I report to mine."


    The two thugs had already experienced Mo Jiuye''s prowess. Seeing that he was taking the man away just like that, they didn''t dare to stop him. After exchanging nces, they fled towards the pier quickly.


    Mo Jiuye supported Hu Cong to He Zhiran. He let He Zhiran sit in the carriage while he supported Hu Cong and sat outside with him. The carriage slowly drove towards the county government.


    Recently, Meng Huaining hadn''t been to the Mo Family. He was just troubled by the matter of Yuncheng Shipping Firm.


    He had been secretly sending people to investigate evidence of the shipping firm''s illegal activities. Today, he finally got some clues. He was about to take action to arrest the bosses of the shipping firm in one fell swoop.


    At this moment, an officer came to report that someone was staging a protest at the entrance by beating drums and shouting grievances.


    Meng Huaining was a diligent and caring official. Even if he was busy with things at hand, he would not dy justice for themon people.


    Thanks to his integrity and diligence, the lives of Yunchengmoners were getting better day by day. Obviously, those kinds of bullying men and women had almost disappeared.


    His yamen had also be peaceful for a period of time.


    Earlier, during the New Year, he had received a letter from his family strongly approving his intention to marry the youngdy from the Mo Family. If it wasn''t for the tricky matter of the shipping firm, he would have wanted to hang out at the Mo Family long ago to be familiar with Mo Hanying.


    Meng Huaining brought several officers to the lobby. Unexpectedly, the one staging the protest turned out to be the Mo Jiuye couple. As for the one apanying them, he didn''t know him.


    Seeing his future brother-inw, Meng Huaining couldn''t stay still.


    He didn''t care too much about the rules, and hurried out from behind his desk.


    "Brother Mo the Ninth, Sister-in-Law, what happened?"


    Looking at this scene, Hu Cong kept cursing inwardly.


    In his many years as an official in the imperial capital, he had watched and participated in hearings in court halls. This was the first time he saw an official take the initiative toe out and ask questions. Even if they were acquaintances, it shouldn''t be so exciting...


    The Mo Jiuye couple were familiar with Meng Huaining so they didn''t think too much about it.


    Mo Jiuye pointed to Hu Cong beside him, "This is Hu Cong, the former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Public Works who, like the Mo Family, was exiled here. He has a grievance toin."


    Only then did Meng Huaining carefully look over Hu Cong.


    Hu Cong''s wretched state at the moment couldn''t be described in words. It would be fair to say that he looked like a beggar standing here.


    Meng Huaining was not the kind of person who only looked at the surface. Although he hadn''t seen Hu Cong before, he had heard his elders mention that this person was ingenious and skilled with his hands.


    As for why Hu Cong was exiled to the northwest, he didn''t probe too much into it. After all, it was indisputable that Emperor Shunwu was muddle-headed, and losing talents like Hu Cong was a loss for the court.


    "Elder Hu, please tell this official what happened."


    Although Hu Cong looked disheveled, he still retained the grace of a schr.


    He respectfully saluted Meng Huaining neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Thismoner has already been dismissed and exiled. County magistrate, it would be better to address me by my name."

 Chapter 298: Thank you for standing up for the people.

    <h4>Chapter 298</h4>


    Shortly after, Hu Cong recounted in detail to Meng Huaining what had happened to him.


    After listening, Meng Huaining mmed the rm bell violently.


    "In the eyes of those boat gang people, there really isn''t a shred of royalw."


    Regarding Hu Cong''s matter, Meng Huaining did not intend to inquire too much, because in the evidence he had in hand, there was a lot that was simr, and the evidence was conclusive.


    Hu Cong''s matter could be handled together with the evidence he had collected.


    Meng Huaining called the attendant to bring Mo Chuhan over. It was said that the head of the boat gang was a master of martial arts. Sending those attendants who only knew some boxing skills would be at a disadvantage.


    Not long after, Mo Chuhan, who was patrolling outside, was brought back.


    In front of Mo Jiuye and his wife, Meng Huaining directly ordered Mo Chuhan to lead twenty attendants to rush to the boat gang and be sure to arrest the head of the boat gang.


    Mo Chuhan left with the people. What Meng Huaining had to do now was to wait.


    He greeted Mo Jiuye and his wife as well as Hu Cong to chat in the back hall, sent someone to fetch hot water for Hu Cong to wash away the filth on his body, and found a set of clean clothes for him to change into.


    When Hu Cong came back after changing his clothes, he was like a different person.


    The kind of schrly temperament he inherently had was undeniable.


    Meng Huaining asked casually, "Master Hu, don''t be impatient. After the people from the boat gang are arrested and brought to justice, this official will definitely destroy your deed of sale, and give you correspondingpensation from their confiscated property."


    Hu Cong stood up gratefully and bowed: "Thank you, sir, for standing up for me."


    Meng Huaining waved his hand to indicate that he should not stand on ceremony.


    Mo Jiuye was also very concerned about Hu Cong''s situation: "Older brother Hu, now that your house has been burnt down, do you have a suitable ce to live?"


    Hu Cong shook his head helplessly: "I don''t want to go back to the fishing vige anymore, and I don''t want to fish anymore. I might as well find another vige to be an authentic farmer."


    When she heard that Hu Cong wanted to be a farmer, He Zhiran suddenly had some thoughts.


    She had heard from Mo Jiuye that Hu Cong was the number one craftsman in Datong. It was just that he had always been low-key, and after arriving in the northwest, he had never publicized his talents.


    Such a talented person, not to mention in ancient times, even in modern times, would be like a top-level engineer.


    She and Mo Jiuye had bought so many abandoned houses andnd in Xiling Vige, not only to build houses for their family to live in, but also to build some small workshops.


    The workshops would inevitably need some advanced tools. Although she could buy such tools on Taobao, they would definitely not see the light of day.


    It would be different with Hu Cong there. She could provide some blueprints and then ask Hu Cong to help make them so that they could be used openly andpletely solve her troubles.


    In addition, she personally felt that Hu Cong was a man of great talent, and it would be a pity if he continued to be buried.


    "Since Older Brother Hu doesn''t n to go back to the fishing vige, would you consider going to Xiling Vige to be Mo family''s neighbor? After all, we are all from the capital city. Living closer would allow us to take care of each other."


    Mo Jiuye immediately saw what was on his wife''s mind and helped persuade: "The vigers of Xiling Vige are very simple, and there is a lot of farnd there. It happens that we are about to build houses right away. If Older Brother Hu doesn''t mind, you can join us."


    After being taken away by the boat gang, Hu Cong had already had the idea of feeling hopeless about life. He thought his life was over like this.


    He didn''t expect that after escaping from the boat gang, he would be rescued by Mo Jiuye. He had just mentioned his ns for the future on a whim without any detailed ns.


    What''s more, he didn''t have a penny in his pocket at the moment, not even a ce to stay.


    If what the county magistrate said was true, he would be able to get somepensation from the boat gang. At that time, he could indeed consider going to Xiling Vige to be Mo family¡¯s neighbor.


    "I have no objection to this, it''s just that..."


    When he spoke, Hu Cong''s eyes couldn''t help ncing at Meng Huaining, hoping to get confirmation from him that he would be able to getpensation from the boat gang.


    Unexpectedly, Meng Huaining did not look at him, but stared nkly at the tea in his hand.


    Even if Hu Cong didn''t say so, Mo Jiuye could clearly understand his current predicament.


    "Older Brother Hu doesn''t have to worry too much. I can lend you some silver first to settle down in Xiling Vige."


    Hu Cong didn¡¯t have a penny in his pocket. Now was not the time to pretend to decline courteously.


    "Since that¡¯s the case, Hu will not stand on ceremony with Master Mo. If I¡¯m fortunate enough to getpensation from the boat gang, I will return it immediately. If not, I also have skills. As long as you give me some time, I will definitely be able to pay back the silver."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had the resources of two national treasuries in their hands. How could they care about a little money?


    The reason they were willing to help Hu Cong was purely because they valued his skills and character.


    It could be said that both were indispensable.


    "Older Brother Hu doesn''t have to consider too much. Just settle down in Xiling Vige."


    Hu Cong''s matter was temporarily arranged. After some casual chat, He Zhiran felt somewhat restless after about half an hour.


    Suddenly, an attendant ran in in a panic, even forgetting to knock on the door in his hurry.


    "Sir, bad news! The head of the boat gang knows poison. Just now when Mo Chuhan took us there to arrest them, we couldn''t even get into the yard. The few people in front were poisoned and fainted."


    Upon hearing this, Meng Huaining jumped up.


    "What? You said the head of that boat gang used poison, what about our people?" What he cared most about now was the lives of his subordinates.


    The attendant wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued to report: "The few brothers walking in front have lost consciousness, and Mo Chuhan is also a little dizzy."


    Now it was Mo Jiuye''s turn to panic.


    Eighth Brother had narrowly escaped death. He couldn¡¯t let the viin injure him again.


    Moreover, he and He Zhiran had the same thought that for Wucheng, the boat gang could only be regarded as local tyrants. Most of them were just some gangsters.


    However, someone who knew how to use poison and dared to use poison against the attendants must be extraordinary among those gangsters.


    Through brief analysis, they both determined that the leader of this boat gang was not ordinary.


    The situation was urgent. Mo Jiuye got up and said to Meng Huaining, "Brother Meng, I''m going over there to take a look now."


    He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye was worried about Eighth Brother''s safety. He didn''t know anything about poisons either. It would be very easy for him to suffer a loss if he rushed over recklessly like this.


    She also stood up, "Husband, take me with you."


    When He Zhiran spoke, her eyes were extremely determined.


    This time, Mo Jiuye didn''t even consider rejecting her.


    "No, you''re pregnant now. I can''t let you take risks."


    He Zhiran subconsciously nced at her belly. Indeed, she couldn''t be too brave at this time.


    After thinking twice, she followed Mo Jiuye out of the county government office gate.


    At the street corner where no one was around, she handed Mo Jiuye an invisible anti-poison mask.


    This thing was a disposable item and extremely thin. It was a military item in her infirmary that she had used during missions to prevent toxic gases from entering the body.

 Chapter 299: Somebody in this boat knows how to use drugs.

    <h4>Chapter 299</h4>


    He Zhiran knew that although this thing could not prevent others from being poisoned, she could not care about so much at this moment. When Mo Chuhan was in trouble, it was impossible not to let Mo Jiuye go to save him. She could only protect him from being poisoned first, and then take those people to a safe ce before treating them in time.


    ording to the official report just now, Brother Eight had only felt a little dizzy aftering into contact with the toxin. This was enough to show that the poison used by the ship owner was not highly toxic, and there was still time to save him.


    Seeing that his wife listened obediently this time, Mo Jiuye felt much more at ease.


    He took the anti-poison mask and quickly followed the reporting officer to fly towards the direction of the ship owner, using his lightness skill.


    Fortunately, the anti-poison mask was only a simple version, with only a thinyer. It would not be too abrupt for He Zhiran to suddenly take out something like this from her arms.


    Mo Jiuye was used to using foreigners as an excuse for these things. If no one asked, then forget it. If someone inquired, he would push it to the foreigners.


    Although He Zhiran was unable to follow Mo Jiuye to the scene, she did not dare to stay too far away, after all, the poisoned people needed treatment, and she had to try to reduce the time on the road.


    She was settled by Mo Jiuye in a nearby teahouse, and gradually watched him disappear from her sight.


    Mo Jiuye was worried about the situation on Brother Eight''s side. After settling He Zhiran, he grabbed the official''s cor and used his lightness skill to rush towards the direction of the ship owner.


    When he arrived at the ship owner''s ce, the scene was even more serious than when the officer had reported.


    Four officials were lying on the ground, their bodies had begun to show slight convulsions. Mo Chuhan was also supported by two people to barely stand still.


    Mo Jiuye did not care about the others. He ran to Mo Chuhan first.


    "Brother Eight, how do you feel? Ruan''er is in a nearby teahouse. Let someone take you there first for her to treat you."


    Mo Chuhan''s state was extremely weak. If it wasn''t for his firm willpower to support him, I''m afraid he would have copsed too.


    "I''m fine. Little Nine, there is someone using poison in the ship owner''s ce. Don''t get too close."


    With one nce, Mo Jiuye could see that Brother Eight was just pretending to be strong. He said to the officials supporting him, "Take my brother and those officials to the teahouse. Leave this ce to me."


    Seeing that the chief and so many colleagues had been poisoned, the officials no longer had the courage at this moment. Now finally someone was taking charge, so they carried the people away without saying anything more.


    He Zhiran was anxiously looking out the window. Not long after, she saw a group of officials carrying unconscious people running towards the direction of the teahouse.


    She put down her teacup and walked out.


    "Put them down first and let me take a look."


    The officials obediently put the people down. Before they could say anything, He Zhiran had already walked up to Brother Eight.


    At this moment, Brother Eight had fallen into unconsciousness, and hisplexion looked a little pale.


    He Zhiran first took his pulse and quickly determined his condition.


    This was simply an anesthetic. The efficacy was extremely simr to the anesthetic she had made with the Silver Ring Snake.


    It was just that using the Silver Ring Snake''s venom to extract anesthetics was a very advanced method. If it wasn''t for He Zhiran relying on the advanced medical equipment in her space, I''m afraid she would not be able toplete it either.


    Therefore, she could be sure that the anesthetic Brother Eight had ingested was definitely not an extract of the Silver Ring Snake, and the biggest possibility was the Seven Color Frog.


    What was worrying was that the toxins of the Seven Color Frog were several times more potent than those of the Silver Ring Snake. Although it was an anesthetic, if the antidote was not administered in time, the toxins would spread to the five viscera as time passed.


    To put it bluntly, if this kind of anesthetic stayed in the human body for too long, it would also be a lethal poison. It would just not kill the poisoned person so quickly.


    At this time, the officials had already talked to the boss inside the teahouse and asked him to vacate two private rooms for those unconscious colleagues to rest temporarily.


    Facing the officials'' request, even if the boss was unwilling, he could not refuse.


    Mo Chuhan was the head of these officials. Without He Zhiran saying anything, he was directly sent to a separate private room.


    Taking advantage of the officials taking care of the other colleagues, He Zhiran quickly extracted some of Mo Chuhan''s blood for testing.


    Sure enough, the anesthetic Brother Eight had ingested was extracted from the Seven Color Frog.


    Since it was the Seven Color Frog, it would be easy to handle.


    She and Mo Jiuye had caught so many Seven Color Frogs at the Simeng Mountain Vi, and they were still kept in her space now.


    Although the Seven Color Frog was highly toxic, it would also produce a kind of antibody against its own toxins. Therefore, to obtain the antidote, it had to be extracted from the Seven Color Frog itself.


    He Zhiran pretended to go to a nearby pharmacy to buy some medicinal materials. Then she borrowed the back kitchen of the pharmacy to brew the antidote, and added the extract from the Seven Color Frog when others were not paying attention.


    After the antidote was brewed, she let the officials administer it to everyone. If nothing unexpected happened, people would gradually wake up after about an hour.


    ...


    After seeing Brother Eight being carried away, Mo Jiuye walked straight to the main entrance of the ship owner''s ce.


    The officials who had not been anesthetized hurriedly came up to stop him.


    "Young Master Nine, you can''t get close to that door. There will be people throwing poison powder out from inside."


    Mo Jiuye waved his hand. "You guys stay farther away. I''ll go in alone."


    As he spoke, he had already put on the anti-poison mask his wife had given him and strode towards the door.


    Sure enough, as the official had said, a puff of white powder came rushing at him as soon as he approached the door.


    Mo Jiuye ignored it and kicked the closed door open.


    A man dressed like someone from the Southern Bordends inside was staring proudly at the direction of the door.


    The door was suddenly kicked open and he was instantly at a loss.


    This medicinal powder was carefully prepared by him. No matter who came into contact with it, they would be anesthetized.


    Just as the man was puzzled, he looked up to see someone wearing a strange thing standing in front of him.


    "Who...who are you?"


    Seeing this person''s outfit, Mo Jiuye first thought to find out about his identity.


    "And who are you?"


    The Southern Bordends man put one hand into his clothes, seeming to take something out, while also trying to frighten the iing person with momentum.


    "Humph! I am a poison master from the Southern Bordends. Get lost if you don''t want to die, otherwise I''ll make sure you nevere back."


    Mo Jiuye ignored his ugly face and quickly walked up to mp the arm he had put into his clothes. With some effort, he broke it.


    The man from the Southern Bordends cried out in pain.


    "Ah... you dare to hurt me?"


    As he spoke, his other hand was about to reach into his clothes.


    Mo Jiuye knew he was going to use poison against himself. Although his wife had given him this anti-poison mask, he did not want to be careless.


    With the same method, he broke his arm.


    Seeing things going badly, the man from the Southern Bordends wanted to escape.


    Mo Jiuye took a quick step forward and kicked him to the ground, then shouted outside towards the officials:


    "Tie him up and watch him closely."


    Although the officials did not follow Mo Jiuye into the ship owner''s ce, they had seen his actions just now very clearly.


    Seeing that this poison user had been injured by Mo Jiuye and would no longer pose any threat to them, they swarmed in like bees and tied the man up tightly.


    Themotion just now was quite loud. Reasonably, it should have alerted other people inside the ship owner''s ce, but no one came.

 Chapter 300: Yes Man

    <h4>Chapter 300</h4>


    This phenomenon was obviously somewhat strange. He stared at the People of Southern Frontier and asked, "Where are the people on the boat?"


    At this moment, the People of Southern Frontier was still a little distracted. His poison powder had not been sprinkled out before he was injured by someone, and he was also tied up so quickly in five flowers.


    Suddenly being asked, he did not react for a while.


    Just then, several unaware thugs ran back. As soon as they entered the yard, they were stopped by the officers.


    Mo Jiuye''s eyes also immediately turned to those thugs.


    Among the thugs were the ones who had beaten Hu Cong in the street. Seeing Mo Jiuye, they instinctively wanted to run away, but they had already been controlled by the officers and could only stand still in ce, staring at Mo Jiuye in horror.


    Mo Jiuye turned his head and asked the thugs, "Where is your leader?"


    The thugs had already experienced his power before, and now they were still being controlled by the officers. They clearly knew that they were finished.


    At this point, behaving better might result in a different ending.


    "He is our leader."


    When the thug spoke, his eyes had already looked at the People of Southern Frontier.


    Hearing this, the officer walked up and kicked the thug heavily.


    "Be honest. How could I not recognize the leader of your boat gang? You still dare to talk nonsense when facing death."


    The thug felt very wronged by the kick.


    "Official, the little one did not lie. This man came a month ago to our boat gang. The original leader voluntarily gave up his position to him."


    "What exactly is going on?" Mo Jiuye asked.


    He was curious why the People of Southern Frontier woulde to Yun City''s boat gang to be the leader, and this poisonous man made him suspect that his purpose might be rted to his own family.


    He knew that asking these thugs would not get any results, so his eyes turned to the People of Southern Frontier who was tied up in five flowers.


    The eyes of the People of Southern Frontier were obviously a little evasive, but his answer was still righteous.


    "It was because the leader of their boat gang owed me money and mortgaged the boat gang to me."


    Not to mention Mo Jiuye, even those thugs did not believe it.


    The boat gang had been operating in Yun City for more than ten years, and had always done uninsured business. How could it possibly owe others money?


    Mo Jiuye sneered, considering that this was not the ce to inquire about these things. He ordered the officers to go forward and ask where the original head of the boat gang was.


    Although he was not an official, he had just heard Meng Huaining mention it a few times.


    Recently, Meng Huaining had been busy collecting evidence of crimes by the head of the boat gang, which were things that happened over the past decade. Even if this People of Southern Frontier had done something illegal, it had only been more than a month after all.


    Mo Jiuye guessed that the original head of the boat gang was most likely controlled by this person, and Meng Huaining must interrogate the People of Southern Frontier.


    He went forward to grab the People of Southern Frontier and walked out in big steps, while saying to several officers, "I''ll take him to the yamen first."


    Meng Huaining could interrogate this person, but before that, he wanted to find out what he wanted to know.


    Besides, he left his wife alone in the teahouse, and he was not at ease either. He would feel more secure after seeing the person sooner.


    In Mo Jiuye''s hands, the injured People of Southern Frontier was like a dead dog, with no resistance at all, and was carried all the way to the teahouse by him.


    He Zhiran was currently observing the situation of several poisoned people when she heard the officere to inform that Mo Jiuye had brought back someone.


    She hurried out of the teahouse to check. At this time, Mo Jiuye had already thrown the People of Southern Frontier into the corner, intending to ask some questions.


    He Zhiran first looked at Mo Jiuye and saw that he had returned unharmed. She was much more at ease immediately, and then looked at the person he had thrown on the ground.


    "Is he the People of Southern Frontier?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded, "Mm, the poison that hit Eighth Brother was released by him. He also took over and became the leader of the boat gang..." He told her everything he knew.


    What He Zhiran thought of first was the same as Mo Jiuye, which was the origin of this People of Southern Frontier.


    "Who sent you here?"


    Seeing that a woman was asking him questions, the pupils of the People of Southern Frontier shrank instantly, revealing his sinister appearance undoubtedly.


    "As long as you let me go, I will tell everything I know."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran sneered at the same time. Even ghosts would not believe such words, yet he still dared to say them.


    Mo Jiuye walked up and kicked him right on his broken arm.


    The People of Southern Frontier screamed in pain again and again, attracting the passing pedestrians to stop and watch.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye picked up the person again and walked away with He Zhiran.


    "Ranran, let''s find a quieter ce."


    The two turned into a small alley. Mo Jiuye threw the man on the ground again.


    This time, the People of Southern Frontier was really scared. Just now he thought that there were so many pedestrians passing by on the street, this person would not dare to do anything to him.


    But it was different now. The location here was remote. Even if someone killed him, no one would know.


    "Good...good sir, spare my life."


    Mo Jiuye walked up with an expressionless face and said coldly, "If you want to live, tell me your origin honestly."


    Now that his wife was pregnant, he didn''t want her to use hypnosis anymore. It was not worth it if she hurt her body for this.


    Moreover, the People of Southern Frontier in front of him was obviously a coward. He estimated that he would not need much coercion to make him tell the truth.


    As expected, the People of Southern Frontier was a greedy and fearful person. In order to survive, he confessed everything.


    "I am the People of Southern Frontier."


    "I know that, say the key points." Mo Jiuye was obviously a little impatient.


    Seeing his eyes as sharp as des, the People of Southern Frontier was so frightened that his whole body was wet with sweat. Sweat beads kept flowing down his forehead involuntarily.


    But his hands and feet were tied so tightly that he couldn''t wipe it off at all.


    "It was my master who sent me here to investigate the situation of Duke Mo''s Family in Da Shun."


    As expected...


    Mo Jiuye continued to ask, "Is your master Mr. Si Meng?"


    "How...how do you know?" The People of Southern Frontier seemed to understand something. He stammered and asked, "Could it be that you are Mo Jiuye?"


    Although he had never seen Mo Jiuye with his own eyes, he had heard people say that the men of the Mo family were handsome, and they also had superb martial arts.


    He himself was also a martial artist. He was beaten just now without fighting back at all. A person with such skills in Yun City could only be Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye did not hide it either, "It''s me."


    Seeing him admit it, the People of Southern Frontier shrank back instinctively in fear.


    "Master...Master Mo, it was an act of helplessness that made mee here. Please spare me this time!"


    Mo Jiuye did not answer his words, but urged, "If you don''t want me to send you on your way personally, then tell me everything I want to know."


    Fearing that he would be killed if he spoke too slowly, the People of Southern Frontier hurriedly said after Mo Jiuye had finished speaking:


    "My master asked me toe here to find out news about the Mo family and report it to him truthfully."


    Mo Jiuye had already heard this answer earlier. Seeing that the People of Southern Frontier was beating around the bush for a long time, he simply asked.

 Chapter 301: It’s up to you from now on.

    <h4>Chapter 301</h4>


    "Have you collected any news about the Mo Family?"


    The man from the southern border shook his head desperately: "No."


    Mo Jiuye did not believe him at all.


    "The thug from the shipping business said you''ve been in Yun City for over a month. Don''t tell me you''ve done nothing during this past month?"


    The man from the southern border nodded his head vigorously again.


    "I indeed have done nothing."


    This man was timid and afraid to die. Mo Jiuye felt that he did not seem to be lying.


    "Why?"


    "When I set off for Yun City, Master gave me a very special homing pigeon. That pigeon was extremely spiritual and could find my master no matter where he was.


    Because I was greedy for thepany of beautiful women, I went to the brothel in the prefecture and got drunk. I identally let the pigeon get stolen.


    My master has a fierce temper. If he finds out I lost the pigeon, he will definitely take my life. That''s why I didn''t dare go back to the southern border and decided to hide in Da Shun for the time being."


    Mo Jiuye sneered: "So then you took over as the head of the shipping business?"


    The man from the southern border nodded: "I wandered around the prefecture for about a month and found no decent way to make good money there. So I simply came to Yun City.


    I heard themoners on the streets say running a shipping business was a lucrative endeavor without much capital. So I set my mind on getting into that business."


    Now Mo Jiuye understood everything. This man from the southern border did not intend to continue following Mr. Si Meng. He wanted to stay in Yun City and be a local tycoon.


    He did not expect the original head of the shipping business to get exposed. And he got burned because of his association.


    Mo Jiuye had onest and most critical question for him.


    Of course, Mo Jiuye did not have high hopes of getting any useful information out of him.


    "Do you know where Mr. Si Meng is?"


    "I don''t know. My masteres and goes without a trace. I''ve only seen him once and didn''t even see his real face."


    "Then how did he give you instructions?" Mo Jiuye did not give up questioning.


    "He always passed messages to me through my teacher. As for how my teacher contacted him, I have no idea."


    After a pause, the man from the southern border added: "My teacher is my master''s top disciple."


    So far, Mo Jiuye was quite satisfied with his performance. At least it was apparent that if he asked who his teacher was, the man would readily answer.


    As for Mr. Si Meng''s top disciple, he had already died by Mo Jiuye''s hands some time ago. Mo Jiuye had asked him everything he could. As for the man in front of him, Mo Jiuye knew he couldn''t get any more useful information out of him.


    Mo Jiuye first nced at He Zhiran: "Zhiran, go wait for me at the teahouse. I''ll take this man to the county government."


    "Alright, be safe."


    He Zhiran felt nauseous for some reason smelling the faint scent of blood on the southern border man.


    It was good timing to go back to the teahouse for some water and settle her stomach.


    Mo Jiuye did not know his wife was ufortable. He directly took the southern border man to the government office.


    The officers from the shipping business had also found the original head and captured some of his important subordinates back to the county government office.


    The case had nothing to do with Mo Jiuye. Meng Huaining was the person in charge of handling these people. Mo Jiuye bid them farewell and went back to the teahouse with Hu Cong to get He Zhiran.


    By this time, Mo Chuhan had also sobered up and was about to get up to go to the county government office to meet with the poisoner.


    He Zhiran was persuading him that he would feel dizzy after just having recovered from the poison and should stay to rest for now.


    Just then, Mo Jiuye came back. Seeing his eighth brother not listening, he went up and pressed him back down in his seat.


    "Eighth brother, I''ve already sent the poisoner to the government office. The men from the shipping business were also taken back by the officers. Meng Daren is there handling things, so don''t worry. Just focus on recovering."


    Hearing that things were basically settled at the government office, Mo Chuhan finally felt relieved and asked Mo Jiuye for details about the captured men.


    Mo Jiuye told him everything he had gotten out of the southern border man.


    Mo Chuhan said indignantly: "Ninth brother, if we don''t get rid of Mr. Si Meng, not only can we not find our missing elders, I''m afraid we won''t get to live in peace at home either."


    This was an indisputable fact. Whether using poison or sorcery, Mr. Si Meng was a top master. Mo Jiuye did not dare let his brothers recklessly go searching.


    Although he was also eager to rescue his elders and wanted to live in peace, everything had to be carefully nned before taking action.


    "Eighth brother, let''s discuss this thoroughly when we get home before making a decision."


    Although Mo Chuhan was a bit hotheaded, he was notpletely brainless. He naturally understood what his ninth brother was thinking.


    He was just feeling unfair for the moment.


    "I know. I''ll listen to your arrangements from now on."


    The two brothers did not intend to keep their conversation from Hu Cong. Hu Cong would be living in Xi Ling Vige in the future, so he would inevitably find out about the Mo family''s circumstances.


    Moreover, they had found so many elders in the family. Hu Cong would see them sooner orter.


    Mo Jiuye did not n on keeping the matter a secret. The Mo men could not live in hiding for a lifetime. Everything would eventuallye to light anyway, so they might as well live openly.


    Hu Cong knew a little about the Mo family''s situation. When he saw Mo Chuhan at the county government office earlier, he was indeed shocked, unable toprehend how someone already dead could appear again.


    After hearing their conversation, Hu Cong had a general guess in his mind.


    Having been in court service for many years, he understood very well the virtue of not being too curiously inclined.


    Therefore, Hu Cong maintained a calm attitude throughout.


    After getting Eighth Brother settled down, the time Mo Jiuye spent out with He Zhiran was about up too.


    Since there were no other important matters in Yun City, they went back to Xi Ling Vige together.


    The Mo family womenfolk were not familiar with Hu Cong. When Mo Jiuye and his wife came back with a stranger, everyone''s attention turned to Hu Cong.


    Mo Jiuye introduced Hu Cong and his identity to the family. Only then did the wives know that the man was someone who shared the same misery as them.


    Hu Cong was even more pitiful than the Mo''s. At least the Mo''s could take care of each other, while when Hu Cong was exiled, there were only him and his wife with no one to rely on. And now his situation was even more disastrous with him left all alone.


    The Mo family greatly sympathized with Hu Cong and were very warm towards him.


    However, Hu Cong was still an outsider after all, and there were many women in the family, so it was inconvenient for him to spend the night there. Mo Jiuye took Hu Cong to the head of the Jiang n and helped rent him a small courtyard to stay at temporarily.


    Of course, the money and some daily supplies were provided by the Mo family.


    Hu Cong expressed deep gratitude and said he would repay the silver as soon as possible.


    On her trip out He Zhiran finally obtained a legitimate reason for the antidote she helped her sister-inw''s prepare. Early next morning, she gave one pill to each sister-inw.


    In addition, she specifically arranged some medicinal tonics, hoping her sister-inw''s could fulfill their wish to have children sooner.


    Soon there was more good news.


    The little collectibles dealer worked efficiently. He Zhiran had just entered the space when she saw his message.


    [I have obtained the crane bamboo you wanted. It can go on the shelf anytime.]

 Chapter 302: Just being alive is a Miracle.

    <h4>Chapter 302</h4>


    He Zhiran was waiting for his message. As soon as she got the crane bamboo, she could make antidotes for those pharmacists.


    [That''s great. Please put it up for sale now if it''s convenient!]


    Little Collector happened to be online at that time. Without saying anything else, he immediately put the crane bamboo up for sale.


    This kind of medicine material was prohibited from sale. He changed the name and only hung a price of one yuan. It was equivalent to giving it to He Zhiran for free.


    He Zhiran was not an ungrateful person. Although she and Little Collector were in a mutually beneficial rtionship, the other party had helped her a lot.


    So she took a picture of the dark red bead and sent it to him.


    [Take a look at this.]


    When Little Collector opened the picture, his eyes lit up instantly.


    This was a dark red bead, rarer than the ck ones by countless times.


    [This is definitely a priceless treasure.]


    Facing He Zhiran, Little Collector''s words were very real. This dark red bead would definitely be a unique existence if taken to the modern times.


    He Zhiran didn''t understand the true value of the bead. She had just appraised the price on Taobao, and the minimum price turned out to be 60 million.


    This was the highest priced treasure since she started selling antiques.


    She would not becent because of Little Collector''s words of pricelessness. She still adhered to her original principle.


    That was to sell all goods at the minimum appraised value, especially since this was something she intended to use to repay Little Collector, there was no possibility of raising the price while sitting down.


    [60 million, do you want it?]


    [I do, I do! Put it up for sale now!] Little Collector still had the rest of the money left over from preparing to buy the ck beadst time. He wanted to get his hands on this priceless treasure at the first opportunity.


    Of course, he was also clearly aware that the selling price given by the other party was very low.


    [Feel free to ask if there is anything I can help with in the future.]


    [Okay, let''s help each other out.]


    Aftermunicating with each other, they each went to deal with the items they had bought.


    He Zhiran was going to prepare the antidote to treat those pharmacists, of course.


    After three days of experimentation, the antidote was finally sessfully prepared.


    The antidote was divided into two types: one was an oral pill with extracts from the gu worm added, and the other was a medicinal bath topletely eliminate the various toxins in their bodies.


    Of course, this absolutely could not be done in the space.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the dozens of people lying on the ground.


    "Ranran, I found a cave on the mountain that isrge enough to amodate these people. It''s a bitte today, tomorrow morning, I''ll take you up the mountain and send all those people into the cave. I''ll leave the rest to me."


    He Zhiran thought the same way.


    "Okay, that''s settled then."


    The next morning, the two went to the mountain as agreed. In order to take care of He Zhiran''s health, Mo Jiuye''s pace could be described as extremely slow. Even if there were more small pebbles on the road, he would have to go forward and kick them away before letting his wife pass.


    Since buying this mountain, this was He Zhiran''s first timeing up here.


    It was better than she had imagined here. Although many trees had been cut down by the vigers of Xi Ling Vige, most of the original ecological things were still there.


    That was enough. She would turn this ce into a paradise orchard in the future.


    After walking for about half an hour, the couple came to the cave Mo Jiuye had mentioned.


    Although the entrance of the cave was not very big, there was a world inside.


    This should be a ce where the vigers who went up the mountain to rest often rested. Inside, several small stools were ced, and there were also severalrge stone beds.


    Now that they had bought this mountain, the vigers were very conscious and no longer set foot here. It was very safe to help the pharmacists detoxify here.


    He Zhiran first purchased severalrge wooden barrels in Taobao, poured the medicinal bath water made in the space into them, and finally put all those dozens of people into the cave. The rest was Mo Jiuye''s business.


    After all, with those big men taking medicinal baths, it would be inappropriate for her to be present.


    Mo Jiuye was in no hurry to help these people detoxify, but first sent He Zhiran back home, while bringing several younger brothers from home and Liang Hao up the mountain.


    As for finding an excuse to find these pharmacists, it was not something He Zhiran should worry about. She simply went home to y with Rice Ball.


    Mo Jiuye went home and found Third Older Brother and Fifth Elder Brother.


    Seeing his solemn appearance, Fifth Elder Brother asked, "Ninth Younger Brother, what''s the matter?"


    "Third Older Brother, Fifth Elder Brother, not only did I find Sixth Elder Brother and Seventh Elder Brother on this trip to the South, I also found brothers who used to live and die together with us Mo men."


    Fifth Elder Brother was shocked: "What are you talking about, Ninth Younger Brother?"


    "Do you still remember when I told you that I found Sixth Elder Brother? At that time, Sixth Elder Brother was infected by a corpse gu, and was being manipted by Mr. Simeng. The gu worm he was infected with was very special. It was raised with medicine for the purpose of manipting pharmacists. Those pharmacists were good brothers who fought alongside our Mo Family on the battlefield." Mo Jiuye hoped they could understand what he was saying this way.


    The two elder brothers did understand what he was saying, and they were very angry.


    "What exactly does the South want to do? Treating the Da Shun soldiers like this is an insult!" Third Older Brother said indignantly.


    Originally, hearing that those brothers were still alive was a good thing, but being so insulted by the Southern people was simply heartbreaking.


    Especially the pharmacists, although Third Older Brother and Fifth Elder Brother had not seen them with their own eyes, they had heard about them before. They were simply killing puppets.


    Third Older Brother mmed his fist hard on the door frame.


    "These people are really sinister."


    Although he was angry, there were still questions he had to ask.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, where are those brothers? Did you rescue them?"


    "I asked them to temporarily settle in a mountain cave. Ranran has already prepared the antidote. I came to find you guys to go help detoxify them," Mo Jiuye said calmly.


    At this time, he would definitely have to tell the two elder brothers some false reasons, and naturally have to appear calmer.


    Sure enough, the expected questions still came.


    "How did you and sister-inw save them back?" Third Older Brother asked.


    "Third Older Brother, I used some special methods that I can''t tell you about. Anyway, let''s call Liang Hao and the others to go up the mountain now to help those people detox," he said, knowing his elder brothers didn''t like meddling. Otherwise, just saying a few casual sentences like this would definitely not fool them.


    Sure enough, Third Older Brother and Fifth Elder Brother showed no intention of pursuing the issue further. They had long noticed that their ninth younger brother and his wife had a lot of secrets now.


    Since they knew those brothers were in the mountain cave, Third Older Brother and Fifth Elder Brother did not intend to dy any longer either. The two divided their work to find Liang Hao and the others to go up the mountain together.


    He Zhiran had not prepared too many wooden barrels. After taking the antidote, the pharmacists would take turns soaking in the medicinal bath, so the speed of their detoxification would not be very fast.


    She waited untilte at night before hearing movement outside.


    Mo Jiuye knew she would be worried. The first thing he did when he got home was to exin the process of helping the pharmacists detoxify that day.


    "Ranran, the detoxification was very sessful. They have all sobered up now, but they are still very weak at the moment. I cooked them some porridge to eat ording to what you said. Liang Hao bought some beddings and let them stay in the cave to recuperate for now. Don''t worry, Liang Hao and the others will be there to keep an eye on them. If there is any problem, they will notify me immediately."

 Chapter 303: The Fourth Brother can be Treated Today

    <h4>Chapter 303</h4>


    Upon hearing that the antidote was sessful, He Zhiran finally felt relieved.


    After all, the antidote she had formted had not gone through any clinical trials and waspletely based on her own experience and prescribed form.


    "It''s inevitable that they are physically weak now after being poisoned for so long without food. It''s already a miracle that they are still alive," she said.


    As for how Mo Jiuye would settle them, He Zhiran did not intend to worry about it.


    In her opinion, the only thing those soldiers wanted most now was to reunite with their loved ones.


    "I''ve already told them about what happened, and they feel guilty towards their families. They n to recuperate and then go back to take a look after their health improves," Mo Jiuye said.


    "Go back and take a look?" He Zhiran was a little puzzled.


    "Yes, just go back and take a look. They said they n to live with the Mo Family in the northwest from now on. Emperor Shunwu is so muddled, they don''t want to sacrifice their lives for such a monarch anymore," Mo Jiuye exined.


    He Zhiran had no objection to these people wanting toe to the northwest to live together with them.


    Not to mention that they used to be the Mo Family''s subordinates, even if they weren''t, more manpower would be needed for future development in the northwest.


    This was perfect. Currently, neither Mo Jiuye nor her had any grand ambitions, they just wanted to find all their missing family members in the future and live a life of abundance without deceit.


    These people were like the Mo Family''s men. Although the Mo brothers looked fine on the surface, after being controlled by others for so many years, they must have suffered irreparable trauma to their spirits and lost confidence in the court.


    Moreover, these people had military backgrounds. Without working for the court anymore, it would definitely be difficult for their future livelihoods. It would be better for them to follow the family and live happy days together.


    He Zhiran had a heartfelt respect for these military men who had shed blood for the country, whether in modern or ancient times. She could not sit idly by and ignore these fine men who protected their homes and defended the nation.


    Of course, she also hoped that those people would be willing to follow the Mo Family on their own initiative, and would not force them.


    The Mo brothers had already discussed not telling the women in the family about this for the time being, lest they feel ufortable. They would wait until those people had recovered and appeared healthy, so that it would be less distressing to see.


    For three consecutive days, the Mo brothers spent their days taking care of their old subordinates on the mountain during the daytime, while He Zhiran focused her efforts on researching treatment for the Fourth Brother.


    The Fourth Brother was recovering quite well now, especially with the Fourth Sister-in-Law''s attentive care every day. His whole person looked fatter.


    With Mo Jiuye not at home, He Zhiran could only simply check his pulse and examine his general condition.


    After taking his pulse, she could make a preliminary judgment that the Fourth Brother''s body had reached the standard for surgery.


    Since this was the case, this matter should also be put on the agenda as soon as possible. He Zhiran considered that her belly would grow bigger and bigger in the future, not only would it be inconvenient to move around, she might not be able to endure the long periods of concentration required for surgery on patients.


    The Fourth Brother''s condition was special. Not only were his bones shattered, but his skin and flesh were also necrotic in many ces. Performing surgery on him was an extremely challenging task that tested the endurance of medical practitioners.


    She nned not to let Mo Jiuye go up the mountain tomorrow. Instead, she would first bring the Fourth Brother into her space to do a thorough examination and proceed with surgery immediately if all indicators were qualified.


    The next day at dawn, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran once again came to the Fourth Brother''s room.


    "Fourth Brother, Zhiran said your condition is good now and ns to give you another injection," Mo Jiuye said.


    "Alright, I''ll have to trouble my Ninth Brother''s wife again," the Fourth Brother said, feeling somewhat guilty. He had been paralyzed in bed after being saved by his Ninth Younger Brother and sister-inw for so long, and had already be a burden to the family.


    And now his pregnant sister-inw still had to help treat him. If it wasn''t so he could recover sooner, Mo Xiuyan really wouldn''t have felt good about troubling his Ninth Brother''s wife.


    He Zhiran looked at the Fourth Sister-in-Law who was still standing there.


    "Sister-inw, please go and boil some hot water forter use. We may need your help to wipe the Fourth Brother''s body."


    This was He Zhiran''s excuse to get the Fourth Sister-in-Law away.


    After all, she was going to bring the Fourth Brother into her space to use those advanced medical devices for examination. It would be impossible to operate with an outsider present.


    Seeing that the sister-inw had gone out, Mo Jiuye immediately locked the room door.


    "Zhiran, you take the Fourth Brother into your space and I''ll stand guard here."


    He Zhiran responded and brought the Fourth Brother into her space together with her.


    Using her mind, she quickly operated the devices to examine the Fourth Brother''s body all over.


    In order not to make Mo Jiuye, who was guarding the door, worry, she brought the Fourth Brother and the examination results she had just generated out together.


    Mo Jiuye had just sent away the sister-inw who was knocking on the door and was anxiously pacing around in the room. Seeing He Zhirane out, he went up and asked, "Zhiran, how is the Fourth Brother''s condition?"


    He Zhiran carefully looked through the various examination report forms in her hand.


    "The indicators are all qualified. We can operate on the Fourth Brother today," she said.


    While feeling happy, Mo Jiuye was still worried about his wife''s health.


    "Zhiran, when you help the Fourth Brother with treatmentter, try to get me to do the actual work."


    Do the actual work?


    Even with her many years of medical experience, she didn''t dare to guarantee that such surgery would definitely seed, let alone letting someone without medical knowledge do the work. That would be no different from giving the Fourth Brother euthanasia directly.


    However, she didn''t verbally attack Mo Jiuye''s confidence either. In order not to make him worry about her body, He Zhiran obediently agreed, "Alright, I''ll let you do wherever possible."


    Since the Fourth Brother was still unconscious, surgery would have to be performed in her space.


    Both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran felt it would be safer to conduct it in their own room.


    After all, if the husband and wife locked themselves in their own room, outsiders would not be in a position to say anything.


    Just as they had made up their minds, there was another knock on the door.


    "Ninth Brother, Sister-inw, when can Ie in?" the Fourth Sister-in-Law asked impatiently. She knew it was the Ninth Brother and Sister-inw treating her husband, but she just wanted to stay by his side and watch with her own eyes as they treated her husband.


    He Zhiran understood how the Fourth Sister-in-Law felt. If it were Mo Jiuye getting treated, she would also want to stay.


    It was just that her treatment methods could not be exposed, so she could only let the Fourth Sister-in-Law feel impatient for a while.


    Not only the Fourth Sister-in-Law, upon hearing that she was going to treat the Fourth Brother, all the women in the house had also rushed over.


    Old Lady Mo, as the mother, was no less worried than the daughter-inw.


    She held He Zhiran''s hand tightly, trembling a little.


    "My child, I know you''re unwell with a pregnant body, yet you''re still willing to treat your Fourth Brother at this time. I''ll remember this in my heart!" the olddy said, her eyes already welling up with tears.


    Seeing the olddy on the verge of crying, He Zhiran hurriedly held her hand in return.


    "Mother, don''t worry. If I get tired, I''ll rest. I''ll definitely try my best to treat the Fourth Brother''s injuries," she assured.


    Old Lady Mo was tactful and would never prattle on endlessly like those talkative women.


    She just gently squeezed He Zhiran''s hand and ushered all the women away, telling them not to add to the chaos by staying here.


    Old Lady Mo''s actions actually helped Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran avoid the trouble of having to actively drive people away.

 Chapter 304: Healing

    <h4>Chapter 304</h4>


    Only Fourth Sister-in-Law still stood in ce, unwilling to leave.


    Mo Jiuye knew that Fourth Sister-in-Law was worried about Fourth elder brother, but it was not good to directly tell her to leave. He simply carried Fourth elder brother on his back towards his own room.


    "Fourth Sister-in-Law, I''m here to help treat Fourth elder brother, so Rangrang can concentrate fully. I won''t open the door until the treatment is done, no one is allowed to disturb."


    Seeing her brother-inw carry away her husband, Fourth Sister-in-Law woodenly nodded: "Okay."


    ...


    Back in the room, Mo Jiuye locked the door and instantly brought the two people into the space with him.


    Rice Ball, who was eating bamboo shoots in the space, saw its owner and immediately threw away the bamboo shoot to run over for a hug.


    He Zhiran''s mind waspletely focused on treating Fourth elder brother at the moment. She had no time to interact with the little guy even though she didn''t bear to disappoint it. In the end, she gave it a quick hug and took out a bunch of tasty snacks to keep the silly and cute creature busy ying by itself.


    By this time, Mo Jiuye had already efficiently changed into surgical assistant attire and thoroughly disinfected the operating room.


    He Zhiran did the same sterile procedures before entering the operating room.


    Fourth elder brother''s condition was very special. In principle, it would be best to do the fractured leg and dead muscle tissue in two separate surgeries.


    But current circumstances didn''t allow He Zhiran to do that. She could only do her best toplete everything in one surgery.


    It took five hours just to set the bones in Fourth elder brother''sminuted fractures in both legs.


    Seeing her working so hard, Mo Jiuye''s heart ached badly, but there was nothing he could do to help with this kind of thing.


    Finally, after setting the bones, next was dealing with the necrotic muscle tissue.


    Mo Jiuye watched closely at his wife''s actions. Feeling she was almost done, he promptly took over her work.


    Although removing necrotic muscle tissue was not highly difficult, there were still many details that needed attention.


    By this point she was quite tired. For the sake of the child in her belly, she didn''t dare overexert herself either.


    Even letting Mo Jiuye take over, He Zhiran still didn''t dare rx her vignce. She sat by the whole time, watching closely and giving verbal reminders whenever necessary.


    The married couple worked busily for the entire day. Fourth elder brother''sminuted fractures in both legs, necrotic tissues, and broken tendons were all finallypleted.


    Fourth elder brother''s condition was very stable after the surgery, but He Zhiran still didn''t dare let down her guard. She nned to stay in the space to keep observing before she couldpletely feel assured.


    Moreover, Fourth elder brother needed intravenous supplements after surgery, which would also take some time.


    In order not to make the family waiting outside worry, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye exited the space together.


    The moment they opened the door to the room, the family members were indeed anxiously waiting out there, as expected.


    Seeing the couplee out, Fourth Sister-in-Law rushed up first to grab He Zhiran''s arm and asked: "Sister-in-Law, how is my husband?"


    He Zhiran gently patted Fourth Sister-in-Law''s hand: "Fourth Sister-in-Law, don''t worry. Fourth elder brother''s treatment was very sessful. I just want to observe him a little longer before giving him back to you."


    He Zhiran couldn''t exin much more, she could only use an excuse like this to gloss over.


    Old Lady Mo highly trusted her ninth daughter-inw''s medical skills. Although she also felt bewildered that He Zhiran wouldn''t let them see Mo Xiuyang, she still chose to stand on He Zhiran''s side.


    "Those from Fourth''s family, listen to your sister-inw, she must have a good reason." Saying so, she then looked at the others: "Go back and rest all of you, stop crowding around here."


    When the head of household had spoken, everyone must obey. The few sisters-inw handed the specially prepared dinner to Mo Jiuye before turning to leave.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye closed the door again and went back into the space. After exhausting herself for a whole day, her body really couldn''t take it anymore at the moment.


    Mo Jiuye heated up the food and then went to the kitchen himself to cook some small side dishes that she liked to eat. His cooking skills were very average, but he put a lot of effort into the thoughtful intention, so it still tasted rather good to eat.


    Lying in bed to rest, He Zhiran let Mo Jiuye keep watch on Fourth elder brother''s condition at all times.


    Until almost dawn, feeling that Fourth elder brother would soon wake up and his condition was very stable, only then did she bring him along to exit the space together.


    From now on, Fourth elder brother could no longer be brought into the space for treatment. Unable to use syringes for treatment, He Zhiran had to settle for orderingrge quantities of the highest grade medicines from Taobao Treasure to consolidate his recovery.


    Although these medications didn''t help him to recover as fast as post-op iv drips could, they were still much better than ordinary medicine.


    Not long after leaving the space, Fourth elder brother slowly regained consciousness.


    The surroundings were unfamiliar to him. Ever since returning to Xilin vige, because of his physical condition he had been lying in the room he shared with his wife this whole time.


    Looking around at the unfamiliar environment, Fourth elder brother''s gaze finally fell upon Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    "Fourth elder brother, your treatment was very sessful. Rangrang said you''ll be able to try walking half a year from now."


    Mo Jiuye promptly gave him the good news when he saw Fourth elder brother awake.


    Even though the environment was unfamiliar, Ninth Younger Brother was here so Fourth elder brother felt it was safe.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, where is this ce?"


    "This is my room. Yesterday, to make treating you more convenient, I brought you here." Mo Jiuye exined.


    Fourth elder brother was somewhat shocked: "You mean I was unconscious for a whole day?"


    "Yes, Rangrang was worried the treatment might be painful for you, so she gave you anesthetic powder. That''s why you slept for so long."


    Hearing this, Fourth elder brother experimentally moved his body a little. Other than the sensation of pain, it seemed like something was tightly wrapped around him. The hard and stiff feeling was very ufortable.


    Mo Jiuye promptly went up to him: "Fourth elder brother, don''t move. Rangrang went through a lot of effort to set your legs properly."


    He couldn''t ruin his wife''s painstaking results with one misstep.


    "Okay, I won''t move." Fourth elder brother was very obedient. As long as he could stand up again someday, anything was eptable to him.


    Moreover, he had endured such great torment in the basement, so the current pain was nothing inparison.


    He Zhiran looked outside at the lightening sky. She knew Fourth Sister-in-Law must have worried herself sleepless all night.


    "I''ll go call Fourth Sister-in-Law over." He Zhiran felt it would put Fourth Sister-in-Law''s mind at ease if she saw Fourth elder brother earlier.


    Indeed, things were just as she guessed. Fourth Sister-in-Law was restlessly pacing circles in the room, her bloodshot eyes clearly showing she hadn''t slept all night.


    Seeing He Zhiran, Fourth Sister-in-Law became extremely emotional.


    "Sister-in-Law, can I see my husband now?"


    He Zhiran took her hand and walked outside together: "Fourth elder brother is already awake. We''ll have people carry him back in a bit."

 Chapter 305: If you want to go, let’s go together.

    <h4>Chapter 305</h4>


    Fourth Sister-in-Law excitedly held He Zhiran''s hand in return: ¡°That''s great, Ninth Younger Sister. It really took a lot of effort from you and Ninth Younger Brother.¡±


    As she spoke, Fourth Sister-in-Law''s eyes also involuntarily shed tears.


    Seeing her husband''s family, the first thing Fourth Sister-in-Law naturally did was to care about them.


    Then, He Zhiran handed over several Western medicines that had been ground into powder to Fourth Sister-in-Law, and carefully repeated the method of taking them.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye also called several brothers from the family. Everyone carefully carried Mo Xiuyan back to his room.


    The treatment for Fourth Brother was temporarily over for the time being. His injury would also take some time to recover. As long as he cooperated well with recuperation in the future, standing up again would definitely not be a problem.


    Compared with Fourth Brother, Seventh Brother¡¯s situation was slightly better. His body had multiple superficial injuries, and after a period of conditioning, he had basically recovered.


    The current Seventh Brother could already walk a certain distance with someone''s support.


    It was just a pity that after being locked up in the dungeon of the Prince¡¯s Residence in Southern Xinjiang for many years, his body was not only ravaged, but also suffered from severe malnutrition due to insufficient food supply.


    This also needed to be conditioned slowly to recover. At least it was not as difficult to treat as Fourth Brother.


    Now that several big events had beenpleted, Fourth Brother was recovering smoothly, Seventh Brother continued to regte his body, and those who were poisoned had also removed the poison and would gradually recover after a period of conditioning.


    Now, the things that could be done at home were almost all done. It was just that they didn¡¯t know when Nan Rui would bring the Imperial Concubine toe and remove the gu poison.


    If they were not worried that there might be fraud on Nan Rui¡¯s side, Mo Jiuye would have arranged to go to the Western Region to investigate a long time ago.


    What he thought in his heart was also what everyone in the Mo family thought.


    After dinner, Mo Yunfeng called the brothers to Fourth Brother''s room together.


    "Now that Father and Eldest and Second Brothers are not at home, I am the oldest son in the family. Today I have gathered everyone together because I want to discuss going to the Western Region to investigate." Third Older Brother said righteously.


    When he heard that he was going to the Western Region, Mo Chuhan stood up first.


    "Third Brother, I can ask for leave from the government to go to the Western Region."


    Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth elder brother also responded quickly: ¡°If we are going, then we brothers should go together.¡±


    Mo Jiuye also wanted to go to the Western Region, but he was not as eager as several elder brothers.


    "We can¡¯t leave all the brothers from the family."


    "What Ninth Younger Brother said is reasonable. We can¡¯t all leave when there are only women left in the family." Third Older Brother agreed.


    "Then I''ll go alone." Sixth elder brother gritted his teeth and said. He hated the people who harmed the Mo family men to death.


    "No, I''ll go alone if someone has to go." Eighth Brother was not to be outdone. Among the Mo brothers, he had the highest martial arts skills. At the time to exert strength, he could not shrink back.


    "Old Eight is impulsive. Going to the Western Region is not about fighting. You should obediently stay in Yun City as your county sheriff." Fifth Elder Brother reminded.


    "Fifth Brother, how do you know you don''t need to fight when going to the Western Region?" Eighth Brother was dissatisfied.


    When Third Older Brother saw that everyone was arguing endlessly, he stopped them and said, "That''s enough, stop arguing. I will go this time. If you don''t feel relieved, I can take Liang Hao and the others with me, so there is someone to rely on."


    Mo Jiuye also wanted to go, but considering his wife¡¯s condition and Nan Rui¡¯s affairs, he couldn¡¯t get away for the time being.


    Therefore, when several elder brotherspeted to go to the Western Region, he could only be a quail without the right to speak.


    Fourth Brother and Seventh Brother also wanted to go, but their bodies absolutely did not allow it. They could only watch enviously.


    Finally, after discussing among the brothers, they unanimously decided to let Third Older Brother take Liang Hao and the others to the Western Region and set off early tomorrow morning.


    As for those subordinates who were still recuperating in the cave, they would be temporarily handed over to Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth elder brother to take care of them. When their bodies recovered a little, Mo Jiuye would give them some travel money to allow them to go back and visit their rtives.


    After leaving Fourth Brother¡¯s room, Mo Jiuye earnestly advised Third Older Brother: ¡°Third Brother, you must remember that going to the Western Region is only to investigate news about Father and Eldest and Second Brothers. As soon as you find a clue,e back immediately to discuss countermeasures.


    Mr. Si Meng is a master of raising gu worms, and is also good at using poison. Even if Father and Eldest and Second Brothers really fall into his hands, I''m afraid the situation will not be optimistic. We absolutely cannot rashly try to rescue them."


    Third Older Brother nodded: ¡°Ninth Younger Brother, don¡¯t worry, I know the pros and cons involved. I won¡¯t act rashly.¡±


    Mo Jiuye was still worried. Although he didn¡¯t catch Mr. Si Meng, he had dealt with him before.


    If it wasn¡¯t for his wife¡¯s help, I¡¯m afraid he wouldn¡¯t even be able to escape Mr. Si Meng¡¯s tricks.


    Therefore, all he could do now was pray that Third Older Brother would be able to sessfully find out the whereabouts of his father and elder brothers when he went to the Western Region, and would not confront Mr. Si Meng face to face.


    He Zhiran knew that Mo Jiuye was called by Third Older Brother to discuss going to the Western Region.


    If she hadn¡¯t gotten pregnant, she would definitely have undertaken this matter together with Mo Jiuye.


    In case Father and Eldest and Second Brothers were in the state of being poisoned by gu, or poisoned, with her presence she could remove it as soon as possible.


    She hoped that the Mo family could reunite, but she couldn¡¯t ignore her own flesh and blood either.


    Moreover, even if she proposed to go to Southern Xinjiang, Mo Jiuye would not agree.


    Therefore, He Zhiran could only stay at home and wait for news at the moment.


    When Mo Jiuye returned to the room, he told He Zhiran about the decision just made.


    Third Older Brother was a very cautious person, so letting him go was also a good choice.


    Even so, He Zhiran was still worried.


    She kept thinking about it, and finally helped Third Older Brother, Liang Hao and others prepare a lot of things in case of unexpected events.


    Bulletproof vests were a must. They didn¡¯t know what kind of dangers they would encounter when they went to the Western Region. With stab-proof bulletproof vests, it was at least a very big guarantee.


    There was also realgar powder, the best weapon to restrain gu worms.


    Although Third Older Brother, Liang Hao and others had high martial arts skills, when faced with such unpredictable things, they might not be able to retreat safely. Having realgar powder with them was another greatest guarantee.


    He Zhiran also took out a few mini tranquilizer guns and decided to give each person one. If necessary, it could save lives.


    Of course, she would also let Mo Jiuye tell them not to take them out unless forced to.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye did not need to consider the excuse for tranquilizer guns too much. They had already given one to each of the women during the exile, so Third Older Brother must be familiar with them.


    Finally, she prepared a mini wrist crossbow for each person. This thing could be tied to the arm at any time for contingency needs.


    As for anything else, He Zhiran couldn''t think of anything more for the time being, so she could only give these things to Third Older Brother and the others for now.


    Seeing the items his wife had prepared for Third Older Brother and the others, Mo Jiuye was moved. But since his wife didn¡¯t like him being polite with her, he didn¡¯t say much.


    He handed all these things over to Third Older Brother, Liang Hao and others, and exined the usage methods clearly.


    As for the source, they tacitly did not ask. Apart from the bulletproof vests, tranquilizer guns and mini repeating crossbows, they had already seen everything else.


    Seeing that Third Older Brother had taken these things, Mo Jiuye felt a little more at ease.


    As for gu worms, Mo Jiuye didn¡¯t dare to easily hand them over to Third Older Brother. After all, they didn¡¯t know anything about gu, if something went wrong because of it, it would not be worth the loss.

 Chapter 306: My mother is in critical condition.

    <h4>Chapter 306</h4>


    The next day, as soon as Three Lord left with his men, Nan Rui himself drove an unassuming carriage over, without even a guard by his side.


    The only conspicuous thing was that a cage with a snow-white homing pigeon was hanging outside the carriagepartment.


    Arriving at the Mo family''s door, he happened to run into Mo Jiuye who was about to head out. Both got out of their rides to greet each other.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye, Nan Rui hurried over and pulled him along anxiously, "Can you find that master exorcist now?"


    Mo Jiuye could clearly see how urgent Nan Rui was. "What''s going on?" he asked.


    A lot had happened, but Nan Rui didn''t have time to exin. He pleaded for Mo Jiuye to help find that gu poison exorcist master for him.


    "Mo Jiuye, my Imperial Consort is in critical condition. If the gu poison isn''t lifted soon, I''m afraid she won''t make it."


    "Pardon my rudeness." Hearing this, Mo Jiuye strode over to the carriage and flipped the curtain open.


    Inside was an emaciated old woman with eyes closed, unconscious.


    Mo Jiuye asked doubtfully, "Is this Imperial Consort De?"


    When he had tutored Nan Qi in the pce, he had seen Imperial Consort De a few times. While she didn''t have the beauty of other consorts, she was better looking than average women.


    Plus, Imperial Consort De wasn''t that much older than his own mother. Yet now, she looked like a seventy or eighty year old crone.


    Nan Rui nodded with difficulty. "This is indeed my mother. There''s a long story, but her condition is very dangerous. Please contact that master now. If the gu isn''t removed soon, I''m afraid my mother won''t live."


    Although Mo Jiuye had a lot of questions, he could also see Imperial Consort De''s precarious state. Now wasn''t the time to overthink Nan Rui''s words.


    After making sure there were no suspicious presences nearby, he moved aside to let Nan Rui drive the carriage into the yard.


    The family rabbits had been giving birth these past days. After breakfast, everyone had gone to help out back, leaving the front yard empty.


    Mo Jiuye had Nan Rui carry Imperial Consort De into a wing room.


    "My shabby home is no match for the splendor you¡¯re used to. Please pardon its simplicity, Your Highness."


    To the Mozi sect members, who had let go of materialism, these environs mattered not. But to the prestigious Prince Rui and Imperial Consort De, it was indeed too shabby. Mo Jiuye felt the need to give them fair warning.


    "No matter. Material trappings have ceased to matter to this prince."


    Seeing Nan Rui''s worried look, Mo Jiuye decided not to delve deeper for now.


    "Rest here for now, Your Highness. I¡¯ll have my familye attend to Consort De shortly. I''m heading out now to look for the master exorcist."


    Mo Jiuye went to Old Lady Mo''s room and gave her a simple rundown of Nan Rui and Consort De''s arrival and purpose, asking her to host them for the time being.


    He then quickly returned to his room to brief He Zhi Ran on the matter.


    He Zhi Ran had been resting well these days. Her difort had passed and her only grievance was everyone fretting over her too much, confining her to bedrest.


    Hearing the clopping outside earlier, she had peeked out the window and already seen Nan Rui arrive.


    To easily assume the gu poison master''s identityter, she chose to stay out of sight for now, using her pregnancy as an excuse.


    It was reasonable for an expectant mother to refrain from seeing guests.


    "I took a look through the window. Consort De doesn''t seem well at all." She said.


    "That''s right. She looks like she''s in her twilight years even though she''s only in her fifties. And she''s unconscious." Mo Jiuye answered.


    Without an examination, He Zhi Ran couldn''t determine the cause either.


    "It appears the mysterious master exorcist will have to make an early entrance." She mused.


    He Zhi Ran was thinking that regardless of Nan Rui''s motives, since Consort De was already here, she ought to ensure her survival.


    With Consort De present, she could keep Nan Rui in check.


    "I''ll head out now and wait for you at the foot of the mountain." She continued, referring to her storage space.


    Mo Jiuye knew she was going to get changed in there.


    "Alright, go carefully. I''ll smooth things over with Nan Rui before heading out."


    After tidying up, He Zhi Ran took the chance while the yard was empty to walk towards the mountainside. Mo Jiuye pretended he was going out and went to the wing room to update Nan Rui.


    At this time, Old Lady Mo was already inside conversing with the prince. Their conversation topic was something Mo Jiuye wanted to know more about, so he didn''t hurry to leave.


    He Zhi Ran could take her time resting in the space anyway. No need to rush to her.


    "You mean Imperial Consort De faked her death to leave the pce?" Old Lady Mo sounded rather shocked.


    She had heard of such death-faking drugs before, but never saw anyone use them. The ingredients were precious indeed.


    Mentioning making his mother fake her death distressed Nan Rui somewhat.


    "My mother was tired of pce life. She''d wanted to leave that viper''s nest for some time.


    When this chance came up to bring Mother out to dispel her gu, I thought I''d make her vanish for good - erase Imperial Consort De from Da Shun Pce, so she can live the rest of her life in peace."


    Old Lady Mo saw the sorrow on Nan Rui''s face and prodded further. "So you chose to have Consort De fake her death and leave the pce?"


    Nan Rui nodded. "That''s right. I wanted my mother to achieve her wish in this lifetime.


    The northwest may not be affluent, but I am still a prince. I naturally have assets on hand. As long as there is money, I believe Mother''s life will be the same anywhere.


    Moreover, I have no intention of setting foot in that quagmire of deceit and betrayal again. With mypany, Mother will live out her remaining years contentedly."


    "However, I didn''t expect the person cursing my mother with gu to not have activated it for so long. I assumed nothing would go amiss while traveling northwest for a month after her ¡®death¡¯.


    Yet oddly, around ten days into the journey, Mother suddenly felt pain throughout her body and lost consciousness several times.


    My conjecture is that her gu warlock discovered my mother had left the capital with me, forcing me to turn back by agitating the gu worms.


    I wavered seeing my mother in such torment, but she insisted even death was preferable to returning there.


    Left without recourse, I hurried day and night to Xi Ling Vige. Now my mother''s already been unconscious for over two days."


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye grasped the general picture. He had no intention of prying into the exact details of Consort De''s staged death.


    "Your Highness had a rough journey. Please let Imperial Consort De rest here, while I head out now to find that gu master."

 Chapter 307: Of course I did it, your husband.

    <h4>Chapter 307</h4>


    When it came to experts in undoing gu spells, no one knew their identity better than Old Lady Mo in her heart. It was none other than her ninth daughter-inw, He Zhiran. After all, she had personally helped undo the gu spells afflicting several of her sons. She just didn¡¯t know what identity He Zhiran would appear before Nan Rui with. Of course, she also knew this wasn¡¯t the time to ask questions.


    What worried Old Lady Mo the most was He Zhiran¡¯s condition. After many years of marriage among the nine Mo sons, they finally had a daughter-inw who was pregnant. She was afraid He Zhiran doing these things would cause some ident to happen to her body.


    She signaled to Mo Jiuye with her eyes, reminding him to take good care of his wife.


    Mo Jiuye understood his mother¡¯s meaning. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother.¡±


    Nan Rui didn¡¯t know the hidden meaning behind the interaction between the Mo mother and son. He thought Mo Jiuye might encounter danger while looking for the expert, so he gratefully cupped his fist towards Mo Jiuye.


    ¡°As long as the gu in my Imperial Mother can be removed, even if I must trade my life for it, I would not hesitate.¡±


    Mo Jiuye returned the courtesy. ¡°I can only say I will do my best to find someone, but I dare not guarantee I can fulfill your wish.¡±


    At this time, he could not make absolute promises, otherwise it would easily arouse Nan Rui''s suspicion.


    Mo Jiuye went straight out the door towards the foot of the mountain.


    He Zhiran saw he still hadn¡¯te after a long time, so she entered the space and ate some fruit. By the time she came out, she saw Mo Jiuye striding quickly towards her.


    The two returned to the space again, and Mo Jiuye recounted the situation with the Imperial Concubine that he had just learned.


    He Zhiran more or less already knew.


    ¡°Based on the current condition of the Imperial Concubine, she has been eroded by the gu worms.¡±


    What was called erosion by gu worms was when the spell caster activated the mother gu to torment the person carrying the child gu. If it persisted for too long, the host of the child gu would not be able to withstand the resistance and the gu worms inside the body would spread towards the heart.


    This process was very fast, generally not more than five days before the host of the child gu would die.


    ording to what Nan Rui said, the Imperial Concubine had already been in aa for two days. That meant the gu worms must be removed from her body within three days, otherwise her life would be in danger.


    Three days was ample time for He Zhiran.


    Even preparing for major surgery wouldn¡¯t take this long, so Mo Jiuye was in no hurry to bring back news of finding the gu-dispelling expert either.


    They could stay outside for one more day, then bring the news back. This way it wouldn¡¯t arouse Nan Rui¡¯s suspicions.


    The husband and wife happened to have rare free time, especially outside, without having to worry about their family finding it odd when they couldn¡¯t find them after entering the space.


    He Zhiran hadn¡¯t enjoyed the carefree life inside the space for a long time. She first yed with her darling Rice Ball for a while before going to the warehouse with Mo Jiuye.


    By now, the most abundant things in the warehouse were all kinds of crop seeds and the fruit tree saplings she had stored.


    These were all going to be nted in Xi Ling Vige after the spring.


    Aside from these seeds, He Zhiran had also left a lot of food behind, with even more varietypared to the produce markets in her past life.


    There were also the fish in the ponds that she hadn¡¯t taken out to feed her family for a long time. She decisively chose to catch all those fish, then after cleaning them, delivered them into the warehouse for storage.


    Anyway, the space came with a preservation function itself, so they would be fresh no matter when they were eaten.


    There were also those cows and sheep that He Zhiran had ughtered batches of using the control panel, before buying more calves andmbs to raise.


    She would also need to prepare some to raise outsideter. It would be pretty good if there were more adults too.


    Mo Jiuye felt distressed for his hardworking wife, who had been enduring bitterness with him all this time without even being able to nurture the pregnancy well like other women.


    They finally had some alone time, so he was determined to show off his skills.


    He Zhiran didn¡¯t know that Mo Jiuye had secretly used her phone to buy a modern cookbook from the Taobao Mall recently. He would diligently study it whenever he had free time.


    After learning for so long, today was finally a chance to show off what he had learned.


    He pulled He Zhiran back to rest in the bedroom while he busied himself in the kitchen.


    Anyway, the warehouse had all kinds of ingredients, so all he needed to do was disy his skills.


    He Zhiran woke up from her nap to Mo Jiuye pulling her to the dining table. The scene before her made her stunned speechless.


    ¡°Where did all these dishese from?¡±


    Mo Jiuye grinned as he supported her into her seat. ¡°Of course your husband made them.¡±


    ¡°You made them?¡± She would never believe that even if she was beaten to death.


    There was no way the guy who was burning dishes beyond recognition not long ago could make so many beautifully ted dishes, right?


    Mo Jiuye knew she wouldn''t believe him, which made it even better as he''d be giving his wife a little surprise.


    "Of course I made them."


    To prove himself, he put the cookbook he used in front of He Zhiran for her to see.


    "I followed the methods in here to learn."


    He Zhiran truly didn''t know when her sneaky husband had secretly learned cooking. Still, she felt rather touched.


    "Dear husband, thank you for everything you''ve done for me."


    Mo Jiuye lovingly stroked her head. "Silly girl,pared to everything you''ve done for me, how can this measure up?"


    As he spoke, he picked up a piece of braised pork ribs, her favorite, into her bowl.


    "Try the taste first."


    Unlike other pregnant women, He Zhiran didn''t suffer from severe pregnancy reactions, and her symptoms had onlysted a few days before going away.


    Now, her appetite had greatly increased, especially for meat.


    Mo Jiuye indulged her preferences, making several meat-focused dishes, which made He Zhiran suddenly feel like her index finger was twitching to dig in.


    After eating a piece of the ribs, He Zhiran kept nodding. "It''s really delicious."


    Hearing his beloved praise his cooking made the corners of Mo Jiuye''s lips quirk up instantly.


    "If you like it, I''ll make it for you to eat every day from now on."


    He Zhiran didn''t doubt this at all. With how good Mo Jiuye treated her, he waspletely capable of doing this.


    It was just that this was ancient times after all, and the propriety of men staying out of the kitchen was still valued by people. If Mo Jiuye was cooking meals for her at home, their family would probably feel ufortable about it.


    Although she possessed a modern soul, she had never forgotten the principle of conforming to local customs when abroad.


    Mo Jiuye liked doting on her, so it was enough when it was just the two of them in the space.


    Moreover, the meals at home were all handled by her sisters-inw and Lan Er. They didn''t need this big man to get involved at all.


    After happily enjoying the delicious meal brought to her by her husband, He Zhiran felt somewhat full.


    Thus, she and Mo Jiuye casually strolled around in the space together.


    She was rtively casual in the space, wearing an outfit made of pure cotton fabricmonly worn at home.


    This was the type of clothes she often wore inside the space, but today they felt a bit tight, especially around her lower abdomen.


    ncing down, her stomach was clearly bigger than a normal three-month pregnant woman''s, either because she just ate too much or her little one inside was growing too fast.


    Seeing her slightly protruding belly, He Zhiran finally realized that after such a long time, she still hadn¡¯t properly examined herself.

 Chapter 308: I can’t let anything happen to You.

    <h4>Chapter 308</h4>


    At this time, she happened to have nothing to do, so she went back to the infirmary and examined it carefully.


    He Zhiran was shocked to find that she was actually pregnant with twins.


    Seeing her stunned look, Mo Jiuye thought there was something wrong with the child, and asked anxiously,


    "Ranran, is our child okay?"


    "The child is very healthy, it''s just..."


    "Just what?" Mo Jiuye couldn''t wait to know the result.


    "I''m pregnant with two this time." He Zhiran said the result she had just checked. No wonder she always felt something special about her pulse when she diagnosed her pulse.


    At this point, Mo Jiuye was petrified.


    "What did you say, Ranran?"


    He Zhiran held up the report form and told him very positively.


    "I''m pregnant with two children."


    When Mo Jiuye heard her words, there was not a hint of joy on his face, but a frown.


    He Zhiran knew he was worried that giving birth to twins would be dangerous.


    It was indeed the case that in this medically underdeveloped ancient times, childbirth for women was like going through the ghost gate once, and she was pregnant with two again this time, which made people afraid and worried, right?


    But who is she?


    She was a military doctor from the 21st century. The space was equipped with all kinds of modern medical facilities. At worst, she could teach Mo Jiuye the cesarean section surgery in advance, or he could help.


    "Don''t worry, it''s just twins, there must be no problem."


    He Zhiran said very firmly, as if she could predict the future.


    Mo Jiuye still didn''t feel as rxed as she thought.


    "Ranran, twins are not a joke. I would rather not have any offspring than want you to be in danger."


    He Zhiran could probably guess what Mo Jiuye was going to do.


    "What do you want to do?"


    Mo Jiuye looked very painful, but he still had to say what he should say.


    "Ranran, why don''t we not want this child anymore, I can''t let you get hurt in any way."


    Losing his own child was also very painful for him, but thinking of the danger his wife would face in the future, he could only bite the bullet and make a choice.


    "It''s not as serious as you think, trust me, our children will be born safely." He Zhiran said firmly.


    As a doctor, if she couldn''t even keep her own children safe, what else could she talk about curing diseases and saving people?


    "But..."


    Mo Jiuye was about to say something more when He Zhiran interrupted him.


    "It doesn''t matter if it''s twins, you can have a cesarean section."


    In order to reassure Mo Jiuye, she took him to the infirmary with her and handed him a book on cesarean section.


    "This is the method of cesarean section. You can learn it when you have time. It¡¯s best to have a natural delivery. In case of emergency, use this method."


    Mo Jiuye''s hands holding the book were shaking. He had helped Fourth Brother in the operating room with He Zhiran to treat his leg injury and remove Gu with her many times.


    But at the thought of Ranran''s body being cut open, his heart ached so much that he couldn''t breathe.


    Seeing that he was still struggling, He Zhiran shook his arm a few times and said gently, "Okay, don''t be so nervous, believe me, it will definitely be fine."


    For Mo Jiuye, killing his own flesh and blood was also very cruel. Since his wife said so, he could only choose topromise for the time being.


    "Okay, then you must take good care of yourself from now on, and never make any mistakes."


    "Don''t worry!" He Zhiran assured.


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye no longer had the heart to spend the two-person world in the space. Holding the book He Zhiran gave him, he sat on the chair and read it carefully. Whenever he had a question he didn''t understand, he would ask from time to time, and He Zhiran would answer them all carefully.


    In this way, the two of them spent a whole day in the space before leaving the next morning.


    At this time, He Zhiran had already made up her appearance, changing from the original beauty to a white-haired old woman with wrinkles all over her face.


    She discussed with Mo Jiuye that she would help Consort De remove Gu at the ghost house at the foot of the mountain where Fifth Brother used to live.


    There were usually not many people close to that ce, and the old woman He Zhiran pretended to be did not need to be seen by more people either.


    He Zhiran didn''t have to wait long in the haunted house before Mo Jiuye brought Nan Rui and Consort De over. It could be seen how impatient Nan Rui was to save his mother''s life.


    Seeing the old woman with wrinkles all over her face standing in the room, Nan Rui knew that this was the highly skilled Gu master Mo Jiuye had found.


    In the face of the person who could save his mother''s life, he was very respectful, even making He Zhiran feel a little surprised.


    I saw Nan Rui take a step forward and kneel directly in front of He Zhiran.


    "Master, as long as you can save my mother''s life, let me do anything."


    He Zhiran didn''t expect Nan Rui to kneel down to her.


    She didn''t dodge it. She could fully ept the courtesy of saving a life. Moreover, no matter what the reason, Nan Rui had done things that were detrimental to the Mo family, so this would be his apology to the Mo family.


    "The Mo family has shown me kindness. I want you to swear that after I remove the Gu from your mother, you will never do anything wrong to the Mo family again in your life." He Zhiran deliberately lowered her voice.


    She believed in the loyalty of the ancients to their oaths. As long as Nan Rui did not do anything detrimental to the Mo family, there would currently be no one targeting them in the court. In the future, it would be fine to live in peace in the northwest.


    Of course, she and Mo Jiuye could also take the opportunity to kill Nan Rui, but neither of them wanted to do that.


    If Nan Rui died, Dashun would only have the fake prince Nanqi left. Although they no longer had anything to do with the court, no one wanted to see the situation of one family domination.


    With Nan Rui there, it was also a very good restraint for Nanqi to keep him on high alert at all times.


    Without even thinking, Nan Rui raised his right hand: "I swear that I will never do anything detrimental to the Mo family in my life."


    Moreover, he had already figured it out that after his mother was cured, his wish would be fulfilled. He would take his mother to live incognito for the rest of their lives and never participate in those sinister plots again.


    In addition to swearing, Nan Rui also took out arge bundle of silver bills and gave them to He Zhiran.


    "Master, this is the reward for curing my mother. If it''s not enough, I can add more."


    He Zhiran didn''t stand on courtesy and nced sideways at the silver bills in his hand.


    The denominations were all one thousand taels each, and she could feel from the texture that there were about one hundred thousand taels.


    He Zhiran had no intention of being polite about this. Given Consort De''s condition, I''m afraid no one other than her could cure her in this era.


    Even if the poisonous insects in her body were removed, her severely damaged body was afraid it wouldn¡¯tst a few more days.


    "Okay, I''ll take the silver. I don''t want anyone else present when I remove the Gu. Mo Jiuye can stay and help."


    Nan Rui wanted to stay by his mother''s side, but he didn''t dare to challenge the authority of the master. In case he displeased her somehow and she didn''t help his mother remove the poisonous insects, it wouldn''t be worth it.


    He looked worriedly at the unconscious Consort De on the bed, saluted He Zhiran again, before leaving the room.

 Chapter 309: Does He really Have No Ambition

    <h4>Chapter 309</h4>


    Mo Jiuye saw him leave and instructed, "When I don''t call you, you must note in and disturb me no matter what."


    "Okay," Nan Rui replied, and had already closed the door outside.


    He Zhiran was not at ease, so she went forward and bolted the door from inside.


    The two looked at each other, then brought Consort De with them and shed into the space.


    Consort De''s condition was slightly better than what He Zhiran had imagined. After all, she was an imperial consort in the pce, so even if Emperor Shunwu did not favor her, at least she was not mistreated in terms of food and drink.


    It was just that the gu worms had erupted on the way here these past few days and she had not eaten much, causing her body to be weaker than an average person¡¯s.


    The only tricky thing was that the gu worms in Consort De''s body had already eroded into her internal organs and were extremely close to her heart.


    Just as He Zhiran had initially judged, if the gu worms were not removed within three days, Consort De''s life would be over.


    The top priority now was to first remove the gu worms from Consort De''s body. As for her aged appearance, it was also caused by the gu worms in her body.


    As long as the gu worms were removed, she would surely regain her youthful looks after slowly recuperating.


    Mo Jiuye was no stranger to surgery. He knew the gu worms in Consort De¡¯s body were less than a centimeter away from her heart. Removing them would definitely be much moreplicated than when his brothers had their gu worms removed.


    Therefore, while He Zhiran was carefully examining Consort De, he had already prepared the surgical facilities so thatter his wife would only need to do some key procedures. Whatever he could help with, he would definitely not let He Zhiran get too tired.


    At this moment, He Zhiran had also changed into surgical scrubs. After urately locating the gu worms with the equipment, she started wielding the scalpel.


    As always, Mo Jiuye was holding a ss container, ready to catch the gu worm as soon as it poked its head out.


    The gu worm¡¯s position was quite special, less than a centimeter away from the heart. If this was an ordinary tumor removal surgery, this area could be treated with minimally invasive techniques.


    However, Consort De¡¯s situation could not be handled that way. Gu worms were not dead matter like tumors. Once a hole was made in the body, they would still remain in their original position.


    If the gu worms sensed any danger, they would immediately destroy other tissues in the body to save themselves.


    Therefore, removing Consort De¡¯s gu worm could only be done through conventional surgery.


    He Zhiran skillfully used the scalpel to cut open a 10 cm incision below Consort De¡¯s heart. She kept deepening the incision based on the equipment prompts.


    Only when she saw the gu worm did she alert Mo Jiuye.


    ¡°Get ready to catch the gu worm.¡±


    In fact, Mo Jiuye was already prepared. As He Zhiran peeled back Consort De¡¯s flesh with tools and the gu worm poked its head out a little, Mo Jiuye urately mped it with forceps and quickly sent it into the ss bottle.


    This was an ordinary gu worm. Unlike puppet gu, once a offspring gu left its host, it was like a child without its mother, thrashing around in the ss bottle.


    In order for the gu worm to continue living, He Zhiran decisively took some of Consort De¡¯s blood and poured it into the bottle.


    As long as the offspring gu was alive, they still had hope of finding the mother gu.


    This was another reason why He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were willing to save Consort De. As long as the offspring gu was alive, they could use its reactions to search for the location of the mother gu.


    This would definitely be easier than her brothers searching the Western Sea.


    Mo Jiuye carefully stored away the offspring gu. On He Zhiran¡¯s side, she quickly sutured Consort De¡¯s wound closed before dressing it.


    When all the procedures wereplete, Consort De was still unconscious.


    Taking this chance, He Zhiran administered medical treatments from two fronts, hanging both sma and intravenous nutrition fluid to speed up Consort De¡¯s recovery.


    Worried about He Zhiran¡¯s health, Mo Jiuye helped her change back into the old woman¡¯s outfit as soon as she was done and prepared a sumptuous meal for her.


    While Consort De was on the IV drip, He Zhiran took another short nap.


    It was not until ten hourster that the two brought Consort De, who was showing signs of awakening, out of the space with them.


    When Mo Jiuye opened the door, the sky outside was already dark.


    This day had been extremely agonizing for Nan Rui. After waiting five hours, worried about his Imperial Consort Mother¡¯s condition yet not daring to step forward and ask, he was on pins and needles.


    Finally, when the door opened, he quickly went up to Mo Jiuye and asked anxiously, ¡°Ninth Young Master, how is my Imperial Mother?¡±


    Mo Jiuye understood his feelings. Back then, when Fourth Brother was having surgery, just watching from the sidelines made him feel tortured. How much more so for Nan Rui who couldn¡¯t even see the person?


    ¡°The gu worm in Imperial Consort De''s body has been sessfully removed, and the master has also treated her body. She will definitely wake up before long.¡±


    Hearing this, Nan Rui trembled as he grabbed Mo Jiuye¡¯s hand in excitement.


    ¡°Can I...can I go see Imperial Mother now?¡±


    Mo Jiuye stepped aside to make way for the door. ¡°You can.¡±


    Nan Rui rushed into the room without even remembering to thank He Zhiran.


    He knelt by the bed on one knee and carefully examined his mother in the dim oilmp light.


    It could be seen that Consort De¡¯splexion had a touch of rosy glow to it, and her breathing was extremely steady.


    Tears instantly rolled down Nan Rui''s cheeks.


    ¡°Mother, your gu worm has finally been removed. From now on, your son will take you away to live an ordinary life under assumed names.¡±


    These were Nan Rui¡¯s words to Consort De, but to Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, they were quite unexpected.


    No matter what, Nan Rui was still a prince of the Da Shun Dynasty. To give up the glory and wealth he was born with for his mother was astonishing.


    Could it be that he truly had no ambition at all?


    This was something Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did notpletely believe.


    No matter what he did in the future, as long as he did not secretly harm the Mo family, it was none of their business.


    The most important goal of obtaining the offspring gu in Consort De had already been achieved. As for what Nan Rui would do next, they had no intention of getting too involved.


    But Consort De¡¯s current condition truly could not be casually moved. It seemed they would have to stay here for some time.


    The gu master persona created by He Zhiran could not linger here indefinitely. She nned to take this chance to leave this ce.


    ¡°The gu worm in Imperial Consort Mother has been removed. This old one should take her leave.¡±


    Hearing her voice, Nan Rui suddenly remembered he had been rude.


    He quickly stood up and solemnly bowed to He Zhiran.


    ¡°Many thanks to the master for removing the gu worm from my Imperial Mother. I n to stay in the northwest from now on. If you ever need me for anything, please let me know.¡±


    It could be said that Nan Rui¡¯s tone was very sincere. He Zhiran did not sense even a hint of perfunctoriness from him.


    ¡°This old one has remembered Prince Rui¡¯s words. I definitely won¡¯t stand on ceremony with you if I have any needs.¡±


    As He Zhiran spoke, she was also sneering inwardly.


    Nan Rui wanting to stay in the northwest was unexpected for both her and Mo Jiuye. Could it be that he really nned to live an obscure life from now on?

 Chapter 310: I promise to have two babies.

    <h4>Chapter 310</h4>


    Everyone says it''s easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but hard to go from extravagant to frugal.


    Nan Rui was once a prominent prince in the Great Shun Dynasty. If he hid his identity and stayed in the northwest, he would be just an ordinary person.


    Even if he had plenty of money, could he really get used to living a simple life like themon people?


    Could it be that he didn''t enjoy the scheming and plotting in the royal court?


    No matter what, it was Nan Rui''s own business and had nothing to do with them.


    "Alright, if anythinges up I''ll ask Master Mo Jiuye to help you."


    As he finished speaking, He Zhiran immediately turned and walked towards the door.


    Mo Jiuye quickly followed.


    "I''ll walk the master out."


    Nan Rui also wanted to go, but looked back at the still unconscious Imperial Concubine on the bed before following them.


    How could He Zhiran let Nan Ruie along?


    "Prince Rui, please stay behind. This old man has some matters to discuss with Master Jiu."


    Since he put it that way, it would be improper for Nan Rui to insist on following.


    "If that''s the case, I won''t see you off. Have a safe journey."


    His polite attitude made He Zhiran momentarily feel that this was no prince at all, but a gentle and refined schr.


    But then again, Nan Rui''s image at court had always been that of a literary man absorbed in poetry and prose.


    Seeing Nan Rui turn back to the Imperial Concubine''s bedside, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye left one after the other.


    Once they reached the foot of the mountain where no one was around, they slipped into the space.


    He Zhiran changed back into his original attire before returning home with Mo Jiuye.


    The two of them had been out for a whole day and night, worrying old Mrs. Mo sick.


    She even cursed her foolish ninth son several times. His wife was pregnant, a delicate condition, yet he still went out to undo a curse, and was gone for so long!


    Even if it was just for show to find someone for Nan Rui, he shouldn''t have stayed out overnight as a healthy young man. How could a pregnant woman endure it?


    Just as old Mrs. Mo was getting more and more upset, the two people she had justined about came back hand in hand.


    The moment old Mrs. Mo saw He Zhiran, half her anger dissipated.


    She hurried forward, first shooting Mo Jiuye a fierce re.


    Mo Jiuye was of course very familiar with his old mother''s looks - she was warning him that she would deal with himter...


    But very soon, old Mrs. Mo''s expression became extremely gentle.


    She looked He Zhiran up and down and, seeing nothing wrong with her, finally rxed.


    "Jiuye, hurry and take your wife back to rest."


    He Zhiran knew her mother-inw was worried about her, so she exined on Mo Jiuye''s behalf, "Mother, my husband took good care of me. Nothing happened, please don''t worry about me."


    Old Mrs. Mo''s tone was much gentler with her daughter-inw.


    "That''s good as long as you''re alright. Ever since you married into the Mo family you haven''t had an easy time - either traveling around destitute or helping search for your elders.


    Now that things are finally settled, and you''re expecting the Mo family''s only grandchild, yet this boy still doesn''t know to cherish his wife and took you out overnight."


    In old Mrs. Mo''s mind, her son had to be a pir when outside, and a loving husband and father at home. And now his wife had just gotten pregnant, helping the Imperial Concubine detox was unavoidable, but this wretched son didn''t know to take care of his wife at all!


    He Zhiran knew her mother-inw was eager for a grandson, but she and Mo Jiuye had rested in the space - the most suitable ce for nurturing a child and extremelyfortable.


    She continued to make excuses for Mo Jiuye with a smile, "Mother, my husband took great care of me. Also, I have good news to tell you - I''m expecting twins this time! When they''re born, whether they''re boys or girls, you can hold two grandchildren at once."


    She spoke lightly, but it made old Mrs. Mo and Mo Jiuye equally nervous. Twins could easily threaten the mother''s life...


    "You said you''re having twins?"


    At this moment old Mrs. Mo could only hope she had misheard.


    But Mo Jiuye shattered her fantasy.


    "Mother, it really is twins. We''ve had it confirmed by a doctor."


    Old Mrs. Mo was dumbstruck, staring at He Zhiran''s belly for a long time unable to utter a word.


    She thought that she''d rather the Mo family have no heir than let such a good daughter-inw be in danger.


    "This child..." can''t be kept.


    Old Mrs. Mo didn''t finish her sentence before He Zhiran interrupted her.


    "Mother, I''m a doctor myself. I guarantee I can safely deliver both children."


    He Zhiran knew that her mother-inw, like Mo Jiuye at first, was worried about any danger to her.


    Mo Jiuye knew his mother was also concerned for He Zhiran''s safety. Since he had already promised his wife to keep the children, he had to stand united with her.


    "Mother, He Zhiran says she has a way to safely give birth. We have to believe her."


    Seeing her foolish son still thinking so naively, old Mrs. Mo almost wanted to punch him.


    Just as the mother-inw was about to lose her temper at her son-inw, He Zhiran quickly stepped forward.


    Old Mrs. Mo''s outstretched hand froze in midair before falling back to her side.


    "Listen to me this time. You can always have more childrenter, but I can''t let such a good daughter-inw be in danger."


    Seeing this, He Zhiran could only patiently exin,


    "Mother, trust me. I know a medical technique. Even if delivery is difficult, don''t worry. I guarantee the safety of both mother and children."


    Old Mrs. Mo was stunned for a moment, then asked, "You''re sure you won''t be in danger?"


    Although she didn''t know what medical technique her daughter-inw was referring to, she was clearly aware He Zhiran was capable.


    After thinking it over, she finally decided to trust her capable daughter-inw regarding the children.


    "Alright then. Mother won''t worry any more. You must protect yourself well."


    "I understand, Mother. Not only will I protect myself, I will protect your grandchildren as well," He Zhiran said with a yful smile.


    Seeing this, old Mrs. Mo''s taut expression also gradually rxed.


    She urged Mo Jiuye, "Quickly take your wife back to rest. You''re a grown man yet don''t even know how to take care of your wife."


    Mo Jiuye now felt as if he had received an imperial pardon. He nodded vigorously, "Mother, I''ll take He Zhiran back to rest right away."


    With that said, he pulled He Zhiran towards their room without looking back - afraid that if he walked too slowly his mother''s piercing gaze would stab him...


    Old Mrs. Mo took a deep breath and returned to her own room.


    At dinner that night, He Zhiran realized the news that she was expecting twins had spread to the whole family. Her sisters-inw were as concerned as her mother-inw, treating her like an animal needing special protection. They directly handed her her bowl and chopsticks, as if afraid any big movements would harm the children.


    This enthusiasm made He Zhiran a little overwhelmed, and she kept thanking her sisters-inw.


    Seeing this, old Mrs. Mo also knew she felt ufortable with all the attention, and saw her daughters-inw were still piling food onto He Zhiran''s te. She quickly spoke up, "You girls are too enthusiastic."

 Chapter 311: Carrier Pigeon

    <h4>Chapter 311</h4>


    The sisters-inw''s hands stopped scooping up dishes, and they looked at each other in dismay before looking towards He Zhiran''s bowl, which was already piled high with various dishes, threatening to spill over the sides.


    Only then did theyugh and return to their seats.


    Second sister-inw said loudly, "Hahaha, look at us sisters-inw, afraid our two nephews won''t eat enough, constantly putting dishes in Ninth Sister-in-Law''s bowl."


    Her timely words defused the embarrassment of the other sisters-inw.


    He Zhiran was now eating everything given to her. Not only did she finish all the dishes, she also ate tworge bowls of rice.


    After eating so much, she had visibly gained some weight, taking on a different kind of beauty.


    Poor Mo Jiuye, in the prime of his youth, could only watch this feast longingly with a nosebleed...


    That night after returning to the space, He Zhiran washed up and immediately fell asleep.


    Mo Jiuye looked at her longingly, wanting to touch her but afraid of disturbing his wife''s rest. Left with no choice, he could only go to the bathroom to forcibly cool down.


    The next morning, Mo Jiuye pretended to take He Zhiran out for a walk. The two went directly to the haunted house at the foot of the mountain.


    Nan Rui''s carriage contained quite a bit of rations and ingredients. The haunted house also had simple stoves left by Fifth Brother, so mother and son would not go hungry.


    The Consort De had regained consciousness but her body was still very weak. She couldn''t eat the hard biscuits Nan Rui took out.


    Nan Rui was waiting for Mo Jiuye toe and ask him to help buy some ingredients.


    "Ninth Young Master, you''re finally here."


    Hearing him say this, Mo Jiuye thought something had happened to the Consort De.


    "Is there something wrong with the Consort De?"


    Seeing Mo Jiuye''s tone had misunderstood, Nan Rui quickly exined, "No, my mother has woken up, it''s just that I don''t have any suitable food for her here. I wanted to trouble you to help me buy some nourishing ingredients.


    Also, if it''s convenient, could you help bring over my mother''s personal servant from thergest inn in Yun City?"


    In order not to make Mo Jiuye wary, he had ordered his personal attendants and mother''s servants to all remain in Yun City.


    He hade to Xi Ling Vige alone, disguised as an ordinary merchant. Now he didn''t even have someone to help him.


    Although he had already prepared himself for the possibility of having to do everything himself in the future, after all he had just started and was not yet used to it.


    Especially now, he really felt a bit flustered.


    Not to mention taking care of his mother''s daily needs, he simply could not serve her well enough.


    These were all issues that needed to be resolved immediately.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye did not respond immediately, Nan Rui thought he was still resentful about what had happened before.


    So he hurried to the carriage, took out the white dove from inside.


    Mo Jiuye had wanted to ask Nan Rui why he had brought a white dove to the northwest, but at that time the Consort De''s life was in danger and Nan Rui was extremely anxious, so he had endured and not asked.


    Now, without waiting for Mo Jiuye to inquire, Nan Rui was already holding the cage anding over to exin:


    "This dove is also considered a gift to thank you for helping me find an expert to treat my mother."


    Then, Nan Rui took out two more silver notes and gave them to Mo Jiuye, afraid he would think the previous five hundred taels were too little.


    "And take this too."


    The reason he gave Mo Jiuye more silver notes again was because he thought of the unpleasant things Emperor Father had arranged when the Mo family was exiled, as well as the schemes his elder brother had done behind the scenes, resulting in the Mo family leaving for exile empty-handed.


    Now they had just settled in the northwest, they must be in need of money.


    Knowing Mo Jiuye''s pride, if he directly said he wanted to help them, they probably wouldn''t ept it. It was just right to take this opportunity of asking him to buy things to help the Mo family a bit.


    Actually Nan Rui didn''t know that Mo Jiuye had changed.


    He was no longer as rigid as before, having already learned to be flexible and know when to advance and when to retreat from He Zhiran.


    What''s more, his wife had saved the Consort De''s life. Apart from these silver notes, even ten or a hundred times more would not be excessive.


    He took the silver notes with no intention of returning them, focusing all his attention on the white dove.


    "Is there anything special about this white dove?"


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye did not decline the silver notes he had given, Nan Rui happily bent down to open the cage and took out the white dove.


    "Don''t look down on this thing. It''s that mysterious man''s treasure. He used this white dove to send me a letter before."


    Speaking of delivering letters, Mo Jiuye remembered what had happened a few days ago. The Southerner who had seized the shippingpany said that Si Meng''s carrier pigeon was lost, which was why he didn''t dare to go back and became the boss there instead.


    Could it be that the white dove in Nan Rui''s hand was the one the Southerner had lost?


    "May I ask, Prince Rui, why are you so certain that this is the dove that sent you letters, and how did you obtain this white dove?"


    Nan Rui spread the wings of the white dove while still holding it.


    "Look here, there is a golden feather in this white dove''s wing.


    After I left here before the new year, on the way I saw a Southerner holding a cage with a white dove.


    Coincidentally, the dove stretched its wings at that moment, and I recognized it at a nce as the one the mysterious man used to send me letters."


    Hearing Nan Rui say this, Mo Jiuye could confirm that this was indeed the dove the Southerner had lost.


    Before he could speak, Nan Rui continued:


    "At that time I thought this white dove might be useful to you, so I had my attendant rob it from the Southerner.


    Unfortunately, that Southerner knew how to use poison. My attendant was unable to catch him.


    Luckily, I obtained this white dove."


    As he spoke, Nan Rui had already put the white dove back in the cage, then pushed the cage towards Mo Jiuye, signaling him to take it.


    This white dove could be a clue for Mo Jiuye to find Si Meng. He solemnly thanked Nan Rui, then picked up the cage.


    Thinking they were about to leave, Nan Rui anxiously said, "My mother''s appetite is poor now. I hope you can help me buy some nourishing ingredients, and also, if it''s convenient, help bring over my mother''s personal servant."


    Mo Jiuye had no intention of leaving immediately. He and his wife hade mainly to check on the Consort De.


    "My wife and I came to visit the Consort De."


    Hearing this, Nan Rui hurriedly moved to the side.


    "Great. My mother is awake inside."

 Chapter 312: Unknown Creature

    <h4>Chapter 312</h4>


    Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran with him into the room.


    Consort De had indeed woken up, but she didn''t look to have much energy.


    When Mo Jiuye was young, he would often go into the pce and had met Consort De a few times, so the two weren''tplete strangers.


    Consort De narrowed her eyes slightly to size up the neers, and said with difficulty: "You are Young Master Mo Jiuye, right?"


    Mo Jiuye didn''t have any bad impressions towards Consort De, so he sped his hands in salute towards her: "Greetings to Consort Mother."


    Consort De slowly raised her hand: "There is no Consort anymore, from now on I''m just an ordinary woman. If Young Master Mo doesn''t look down on me, just call me Aunt Mei!"


    Mei was Consort De''s maiden name. She and her son would be living ordinary lives under assumed names from then on, so she didn''t want to reveal her surname and had Mo Jiuye address her as Aunt Mei instead.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t refuse, and spoke again calling her: "Aunt Mei."


    Consort De blinked showing that she was very happy, then looked towards He Zhiran.


    "This is the young master''s wife?"


    Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran to his side: "That''s right, my wife."


    He Zhiran also properly performed a blessing gesture towards Consort De, while carefully observing her condition.


    Consort De''splexion was a little more rosypared to when they had first met, and the corners of her lips still showed some signs of dryness.


    "Aunt Mei, I learned some medical skills since I was young. Why don''t I take your pulse and have a look?"


    Consort De sized up He Zhiran for a while, then softly said: "Alright, I''ll have to trouble the young mistress then."


    Hearing someone so much older address herself as young mistress, He Zhiran felt a little embarrassed.


    "Aunt Mei, just call me by my given name." Given Consort De''s current condition, she estimated that she and Nan Rui would be staying here for a while. An elderly shouldn''t have to keep addressing her as young mistress.


    Mo Jiuye added: "Aunt Mei, I usually call my wife Rangrang, you can call her that too."


    Consort De lightly nodded: "Alright, Rangrang it is then."


    The original owner had attended banquets at the pce with her family before getting married. She was known as one of the top great beauties in the capital.


    If Consort De hadn''t heard that she was engaged to Mo Jiuye since young, she even thought of asking for an imperial decree to make her the Consort to Prince Rui.


    Although Nan Rui was quite a bit older, he didn''t have an official consort yet at that time and only had two concubines living in his residence.


    It was a pity that his son didn''t have such good fortune.


    He Zhiran didn''t know what Consort De was thinking. She picked up Consort De''s wrist to take her pulse.


    The results were better than she had imagined. Although Consort De had been eroded by gu worms for many years, possibly due to recuperating treatments at the pce, her health was recovering quite well.


    Based on the current situation, eating some supplemental medicinal dishes on a regr basis would be good.


    Her agedplexion would also gradually recover somewhat as her health improved.


    Seeing her get up, Nan Rui asked: "Young Mistress Jiu, how is my Imperial Mother''s health?"


    He Zhiran smiled and said: "Aunt Mei''s condition is not bad. As long as she recuperates slowly, her health will definitely recover."


    Nan Rui didn''t know how skilled He Zhiran''s medical techniques were. In any case, since someone said the Imperial Mother was in good health, he felt much more relieved.


    The room was quite small to begin with. Nan Rui asked about his mother''s condition, so Consort De could naturally hear it too.


    No matter ancient or modern times, elderly people feared death. Consort De was no exception.


    After waking up and finding out the gu worms in her body were gone, she had thought her health would immediately recover. But other than not feeling that bone-gnawing pain, things were still the same.


    She started worrying that her end was near, feeling heartache that her son would have no kin by his side in the future.


    Just now when she heard He Zhiran say there was nothing major wrong with her health, she suddenly felt relieved all over.


    With this sense of relief, when He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were about to leave, Consort De actually sat up wanting to go out to see them off.


    He Zhiran knew that part of it was Consort De''s mentality. It was probably because she had just said her health was fine which uplifted Consort De''s spirits, giving her the energy to sit up.


    Even so, she couldn''t let Consort De get out of bed to send them off.


    "Aunt Mei, your health is still a little weak. You should be resting in bed."


    Seeing his mother get up, Nan Rui felt happy but was also worried for her.


    "Mother is right, you just rest here. I''ll go send Young Master Jiu off."


    Ever since leaving the pce, Nan Rui had switched to calling her Mother instead of Imperial Mother! From then on, there would no longer be any Consort in this world!


    After getting Consort De to settle back in, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran took their leave.


    It was very easy for them to buy supplies for Nan Rui. He Zhiran''s online shopping tools and personal space could get it done, providing anything they needed.


    On the way back to the vige, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye entered her space. She first wrote out a few medicinal diet recipes to help Consort De recuperate. Ingredients that were already in her space warehouse were directly taken out, those that weren''t purchased online.


    Aside from these, there was also grain and some food for Nan Rui to eat.


    After preparing all of this, the two then headed back home.


    While no one else was around, He Zhiran put all of the ingredients into the carriage. Mo Jiuye just had to go to Yucheng to bring Consort De''s personal pce maid over.


    With Mo Jiuye gone, she was bored by herself and went into her space to study that homing pigeon. Just now when she and Mo Jiuye were together, Rice Ball had behaved very obediently.


    Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered her space, she discovered the little guy closely inspecting the cage with the homing pigeon.


    That homing pigeon really seemed to have some spiritual nature, constantly pping its wings to protest at Rice Ball.


    He Zhiran was afraid Rice Ball might identally y this homing pigeon to death. She hurriedly used her mind to take out some fresh bamboo shoots to exchange for the cage.


    But Rice Ball was being stubborn today. Usually when seeing the tender and delicious bamboo shoots, it would be shaking its butt eagerly to find its owner begging for a treat.


    Yet now it was different. Rice Ball didn''t have any interest stirred up by the bamboo shoots at all. It kept staring fixedly at the homing pigeon, and even more peculiarly, it didn''t make any sounds towards the animal like it normally would with other creatures.


    He Zhiran quickly picked up on Rice Ball''s abnormal behavior, and hastily snatched the cage back from its embrace.


    "Rice Ball, don''t be naughty."


    Unhappy at having its toy taken away, Rice Ball turned its butt towards its owner, persisting in trying to hug that cage back.


    Rice Ball would always put its owner as the first priority, yet today it was only interested in this homing pigeon.


    Since the little guy was acting abnormally, He Zhiran didn''t dare be too harsh and stood by to observe Rice Ball''s condition.


    She then saw that after Rice Ball got the cage as it wished, it continued staring fixedly at the ''unidentified creature'' puffing itself up inside.


    The homing pigeon also refused to back down with both eyes tightly fixed on the ck and white furball in front of it.


    As she was observing, she noticed the homing pigeon''s beak suddenly transform.


    Its originally pointed beak gradually changed shape into a curved de, and its originally ck eyes also turned crimson.


    How was this still some homing pigeon!


    It was clearly a miniature snow sculpture!


    Except He Zhiran had never heard of snow sculptures existing in such a tiny size before.


    Just then, Rice Ball finally reacted. It let out a few wolf howls towards the ''unidentified creature'' in the cage.


    "Awoo..."


    She then saw the previously ruffled up unidentified creature immediately fold its wings close. Its eyes and beak also reverted back to their original appearances.

 Chapter 313: Eagle with Golden Wings

    <h4>Chapter 313</h4>


    He Zhiran could see that the rice ball hadpletely conquered whatever was inside the cage, be it a pigeon or something else.


    Not only that, the mysterious white creature kept nodding at the rice ball.


    The rice ball was no longer so stiff now. It trotted over to its owner like it was showing off.


    After He Zhiran calmed down the rice ball, she looked at the mysterious creature.


    It looked no different than when she first saw it - still a well-behaved little white pigeon.


    If not for the rice ball bringing out its other side, He Zhiran might not have noticed anything unusual about it at all.


    Now that the rice ball had revealed its true nature, He Zhiran was naturally more wary.


    She made sure to keep some distance from the cage as she observed it.


    But to her surprise, the little thing in the cage started acting cute towards her.


    Its little head bobbed up and down nonstop, and its wings pped open and closed - clearly trying to curry favor.


    He Zhiran was a little stunned.


    She brought the rice ball over and asked it, "Baby, did you tame it?"


    The rice ball nodded its round head vigorously and made murmuring sounds.


    Now He Zhiran could confirm that this mysterious creature had epted her or the rice ball as its master.


    And from her observations, it seemed more likely that it had chosen her as the master.


    Because even though the rice ball had been by her side for so long, the little thing hadn''t so much as nced at it.


    Sure enough, as He Zhiran continued observing, the little thing started fluttering its wings at her again.


    Compared to how it acted with the rice ball, it was who knows how many times more gentle.


    He Zhiran tentatively reached her hand towards the cage. The little thing became even more obedient.


    Its snowy white body rubbed against the edge of the cage, as if inviting He Zhiran to pet it.


    He Zhiran opened the cage ording to the little thing''s wishes.


    The little thing immediately fluttered out and circled He Zhiran, chirping happily.


    He Zhiran could now fully confirm it meant no harm to her, so she reached out her palm tentatively to pet it.


    Seeing this, the little thing even leaned in towards her voluntarily.


    He Zhiran stroked its head first, then slowly stroked its body.


    The little thing seemed to love the feeling. It leaned towards her even more.


    Taking the chance, He Zhiran slowly spread its wings open, wanting to take a look at the golden feathers inside.


    The little thing cooperated fully, spreading its wings open for He Zhiran to see the single golden feather clearly.


    In her past life, she had identally read a book mentioning a very rare snow sculpture. Its whole body was snowy white, but under its wings on both sides was one golden feather each.


    People called this kind of snow sculpture the Golden Winged Roc.


    But the Golden Winged Roc was massive in size. Even in its youth it couldn''t be as small as the creature before her eyes.


    To identify what the little thing was, He Zhiran decided to ask the little collector for help. She hoped he could search online in the modern world for her.


    So she took out her phone and took photos of the little thing from every angle using Taobao''s photo uploading function.


    The photo function came with a valuation - and the valuation for the little thing shocked He Zhiran.


    Taobao valued the little thing at over seven figures, which showed how precious it was.


    He Zhiran didn''t dwell too much on the creature''s mary value. What shecked least right now was money. She would never sell the little thing for profit.


    She opened up the chat with the little collector and sent the photos she just took.


    [Hello, could you please help me identify what species this little thing is?]


    Perhaps the little collector was busy. He Zhiran had to wait around ten minutes before she saw his avatar blink.


    [I asked animal experts just now to help appraise the photos. This is a very rare type of eagle called the Golden-winged Sculpture.


    These eagles look no different from pigeons normally. When faced with danger, they transform into giant rocs, with a golden feather under each wing.


    The most unique part is their beak, which has twoyers. The outeryer extends into an eagle''s beak shape when carrying things or encountering danger.


    ording to experts, Golden-winged Sculptures are basically extinct in modern times. They only know about them from documents.]


    Right after, the little collector said: [Don''t tell me this Golden-winged Sculpture is in your hands?]


    He Zhiran: [Yes, I do have one.]


    Little collector: [I can buy it from you at a high price.]


    He Zhiran: [I''m sorry, this Golden-winged Sculpture is very important to me, I can''t sell it to you.]


    Little collector: [Since that''s the case, I won''t insist.]


    What He Zhiran cared about more right now were the Golden-winged Sculpture''s special traits.


    [Did you find out anything special about these Golden-winged Sculptures?]


    Little collector: [The experts said Golden-winged Sculptures recognize masters. Don''t let their small size fool you, theirbat power is extremely strong. But without their master''s orders, they won''t act on their own.]


    After the little collector''s introduction, He Zhiran couldn''t wait to test the Golden-winged Sculpture''s ability to recognize masters.


    As thanks, she listed arge diamond she bought from a foreigner.


    The little collector''s previously somewhat dejected mood was instantly reced with joy at obtaining thisrge diamond.


    Seeing that he was satisfied, He Zhiran closed the chat.


    She turned around, held out her palm towards the Golden-winged Sculpture and beckoned.


    Seeing her hand, the Golden-winged Sculpture fluttered its wings and jumped right on, chirping happily twice.


    He Zhiran continued testing.


    She pointed at the dried chili peppers hanging outside the warehouse and said, "Little one, help me bring that over."


    The Golden-winged Sculpture let out another cry, then quickly flew to the designated spot, picked up a dried chili pepper in its beak, and flew back.


    As He Zhiran took the chili pepper, she also noticed the Golden-winged Sculpture''s beak had turned into an eagle''s.


    But very quickly, the Golden-winged Sculpture''s eagle beak retracted back.


    He Zhiran could now confirm this little thing had epted her as its master.


    Although this little thing used to belong to Mr. Si Meng, now that it was hers, He Zhiran wouldn''t fuss too much about a spiritual creature changing owners.


    What worried her most now was whether the Golden-winged Sculpture, after being tamed by the rice ball as her pet, could still find its original master - that was uncertain.


    To verify this, she triedmunicating with the Golden-winged Sculpture.


    "Little one, can you still find your previous master?"


    The Golden-winged Sculpture just stood there nkly staring at her, clearly having no idea what she was expressing.


    Now He Zhiran waspletely stumped. She had hoped the little thing could lead her to find Mr. Si Meng, but now it seemed that if she let it out, it would only fly back to its new master, which was her.

 Chapter 314: Are you sure you can keep up with a very fast bird

    <h4>Chapter 314</h4>


    He Zhiran helplessly looked at the rice ball sitting to the side leisurely eating bamboo shoots.


    "Stinky rice ball, you have really made a terrible mistake."


    When the rice ball saw that his master wasining about him, his movements of eating bamboo shoots suddenly froze. He then looked at her nkly, appearing extremely aggrieved.


    He Zhiran''s heart instantly softened and the tone of her voice became much gentler.


    "Baby, this golden-winged sculpture is very important to me. I want to find its original owner through it. Now that you have tamed it, what should I do?"


    The rice ball''s dark eyes rolled around. He got up and walked towards the golden-winged sculpture.


    It was seen that the little guy gesticted towards the golden-winged sculpture. The golden-winged sculpture once again became the same ruffled appearance as before.


    Facing He Zhiran again, it no longer had the earlier fawning manner and had an appearance of avoiding strangers.


    Soon, after the little thing took a few steps back, it pped its wings and flew very high, wanting to get as far away as possible from the person and bear.


    In the space, He Zhiran was not worried at all about losing the golden-winged sculpture. When needed, she only needed a thought to recall it.


    Anyway, there was a lot of food in the space and there was no need to worry about the golden-winged sculpture starving to death.


    As for using it to find clues about Mr. Si Meng, it would have to wait until Mo Jiuye came back to discuss and make a decision together.


    ...


    He Zhiran looked at the time disyed on the clock in the infirmary. She had already been inside for several hours. She estimated that Mo Jiuye would be back soon too.


    Therefore, after hugging the rice ball, she shed out of the space.


    Mo Jiuye returned earlier than she had expected. He had even sent those items and the pce maids serving Consort De to the haunted house.


    Seeing He Zhirane out from the space, he knew that she had gone in to check on the white dove.


    Before he could ask, He Zhiran said first, "Have you heard of the golden-winged sculpture?"


    Mo Jiuye didn''t even need to think before answering, "No."


    He Zhiran exined the characteristics of the golden-winged sculpture in detail and told Mo Jiuye that it was not at all some white dove, but a very rare golden-winged sculpture.


    No matter where his wife had learned this information from, Mo Jiuye''s main goal was to find Mr. Si Meng through the golden-winged sculpture.


    "Ranran, let the golden-winged sculpture out. Will it go to find its original owner?"


    He Zhiran nodded, "I think it should be like this. The loyalty of the golden-winged sculpture to its owner is extremely strong."


    Since Mr. Si Meng''s whereabouts were uncertain, only this golden-winged sculpture would likely be able to find him.


    Mo Jiuye pondered deeply before saying, "Ranran, I n to prepare tomorrow and follow the golden-winged sculpture out to look for clues."


    In fact, He Zhiran hadn''t thought of a better way either.


    Hoping that the golden-winged sculpture would find Mr. Si Meng was probably the only way out, as Mo Jiuye said.


    It''s just that she had just seen it in the space earlier that the flight speed of the golden-winged sculpture was especially fast. Even with Mo Jiuye''s superb qinggong, his stamina probably could notpare with such a naturally flying animal.


    "Are you sure you can keep up with the speed of a bird that flies extremely fast?"


    Mo Jiuye also did not dare to fully guarantee this. His qinggong was not weak and was even considered one of the best in the Da Shun Dynasty.


    It was just that people do get tired at times. If the golden-winged sculpture kept flying without stopping, he really might not be able to keep up.


    If there were high mountains, big rivers and such, he might directly lose track of it.


    After thinking it over, neither of them coulde up with a good n.


    To put it bluntly, the most reliable approach would be to bring the golden-winged sculpture with them in July when they headed to the western border.


    Because at that time, Mr. Si Meng would very likely appear there. Releasing the golden-winged sculpture within a fixed range, Mo Jiuye would definitely be able to keep up with its speed.


    To y it safe, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye immediately decided that they could not recklessly let the golden-winged sculpture out. Once it got lost, this clue would bepletely broken.


    It seemed that even with this golden-winged sculpture in hand, they could not do anything in advance.


    Third Brother had already taken people rushing to the western border. It was believed that it would not take long for them to bring back some news.


    They could make a decision when that time came, so it would not be toote.


    ...


    Time flew, and March arrived in the blink of an eye.


    The weather in the northwest was much warmer than that of the north. The little ice and snow that was originally there had long since melted away.


    Fourth Brother''s surgery was very sessful. Although he still could not walk with his legs, his hands that had their tendons reconnected could slowly move after the surgery.


    This gave Fourth Brother hope. He looked forward every day to recovering sooner, as he could not be a cripple of the Mo family.


    After recuperation, Seventh Brother''s health had also basically recovered. Apart from still looking somewhat thin and frail, he had no obstacles at all to moving around.


    Consort De''s health had also recovered very well. Nan Rui indeed had no intention of returning to the capital.


    He felt that though the Xi Ling Vige ce was a bit remote, it was a suitable ce to recuperate.


    Without having to face those deceitful things every day, as long as taking good care of Mother was alright, he had no rush to leave either and temporarily settled down in that haunted house for now.


    When he had nothing to do, Nan Rui would also bring Consort De to walk around the Mo family.


    Facing the Mo family brothers, he did not put on any airs at all. Seeing the Mo brothers busying about, he would also actively go over to help.


    As for Consort De, she would go chat with Old Madam Mo.


    The two were of simr ages and were once prominent family daughters, so they talked very happily.


    There was another person who had been running over to the Mo family most diligently recently, and that was Meng Huaining.


    He was slowly revealing his intentions in front of Old Madam Mo bit by bit.


    Old Madam Mo had also vaguely revealed her own feelings. In short, this pair also had great progress.


    He Zhiran was now over four months pregnant with twins. Because of this, her small belly was already bulging high and her figure had also be increasingly plump.


    Fortunately, the two little ones took very good care of her and never made trouble. This made her pregnancy a lot more rxed.


    Seeing that there were still more than twenty days before it was time to start nting crops again when the farmers were free, they had to hurry and start working on the house at the foot of the mountain.


    He Zhiran spent two days'' time drawing house structure diagrams in the space.


    If nothing unexpected happened, this ce would be where they permanently lived in the future, so it definitely had to be built to befortable and practical.


    Although there were many people in the family, they had always gotten along harmoniously without any intrigue happening between the women.


    Even so, He Zhiran was a modern person after all and did not want to live the life of a big family.


    This was also why she and Mo Jiuye had bought such arge piece ofnd in the first ce.


    Now they could basically confirm that Old Master Mo and the brothers in the family were all alive. It would be appropriate for the yard to have an area for each small family.


    Calcting it this way, with two elders and nine brothers, they needed courtyards for at least ten units.


    He Zhiran nned to build these ten courtyards all ording to the pattern of traditional Chinese quadrangle courtyards from her previous life. After all, this was the countryside, so there was no need to differentiate between interior and exterior courtyards. As long as it wasfortable to live in, that was good.


    Of course, the most important thing was the facilities andyout inside the rooms.


    It was without doubt that ss would be used for all the windows. She had previously purchased arge amount of ss with Henry in the space, enough to use when building the new house.


    There were also heating facilities inside the rooms.


    Aftering to the northwest, He Zhiran had chatted with surrounding vigers when free and asked around about their heating facilities for passing the winter. Most of them mainly used kang stove-beds, and those better-off families would also light up one or two braziers for heating.

 Chapter 315: We’re going to build a yard like this at the foot of the mountain.

    <h4>Chapter 315</h4>


    Thinking of the radiators and geothermal energy in her previous life, He Zhiran felt they were more suitable for the winter here.


    Not only beautiful, but also safe and clean.


    It''s just that the kind of person who could install floor heating was difficult for her to find.


    She could only talk about some general principles. To really implement it, she still needed a knowledgeable person to do it.


    There was also the indoor toilet and plumbing she designed, she could only talk about some of it. To really make it, she also needed a professional.


    Just as He Zhiran was troubled by these difficulties, Mo Jiuye rmended someone to her.


    This person was Hu Cong.


    Hu Cong had lived in Xi Ling Vige for some time, and felt more ustomed to the environment and local conditions here than the fishing vige.


    Not long ago, Meng Huaining had finished reviewing all the cases of the shippingpany, and confiscated all the assets of the shippingpany. As a result, Hu Cong also received a sum ofpensation.


    He bought a small courtyard in Xi Ling Vige, and bought some acres ofnd. He had already nned to live here for the long term.


    Mo Jiuye went to Hu Cong''s house with He Zhiran. At this moment, Hu Cong was making something out of wood boards in the yard.


    That thing was not yet fully formed, at first nce it looked a bit like arge syringe.


    Seeing theming, Hu Cong hurriedly got up to greet them.


    "Young Master Mo, what brings you here today."


    Mo Jiuye had originally nned to get right to the point, but unexpectedly, He Zhiran bypassed him and picked up the wooden object Hu Cong was making to examine it.


    At first nce, she had roughly guessed what it was for.


    So she tentatively asked, "Brother Hu, is this a seeding tool you''re making?"


    Hu Cong didn''t expect that the thing he had racked his brains over for several days, and hadn''t even fully taken shape yet, He Zhiran was able to see its purpose at a nce.


    He replied enthusiastically, "It''s indeed for sowing seeds. The seeds are ced inside, push the switch at the back, and a small amount of seeds inside will flow out. This will save a lot of manpower when sowing seeds."


    In her previous life, although He Zhiran had seen farmers sowing seeds, it was already a very technologically advanced era at that time. The farming tools people used were basically fully automated.


    Although such manual farm tools were rare, some older generations still used them.


    Therefore, simr objects were something He Zhiran had seen before. They were more delicate and convenient than the ones Hu Cong designed.


    So she pointed to the seeder Hu Cong had just made and said, "Brother Hu, look here, if the holes were a little smaller, even fewer seeds would be lost, saving a lot more.


    Also here, you can install something to help provide power, which will save even more effort.


    And..."


    He Zhiran made several suggestions for improvement in a row, and Hu Cong''s eyes got brighter and brighter as he listened.


    "Young Lady, I didn''t think of what you said. I''ll modify it ording to your methodter. I believe the improved seeder will definitely be more useful."


    If Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran weren''t there, Hu Cong would have wanted to get started immediately.


    He Zhiran only understood some principles. The improvement methods she gave Hu Cong still required him to figure out how to implement them.


    She could also see that Hu Cong was eager to improve the seeder, so as not to waste his time, she signaled Mo Jiuye to take out the drawings she had made for him to see.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye take out some sheets of paper from his arms, Hu Cong asked in surprise, "Young Master, what is this?"


    Mo Jiuye spread out ayout drawing of a courtyard for Hu Cong to see.


    "Brother Hu, take a look. This is ayout my wife drew of the courtyard. We n to build such a courtyard at the foot of the mountain."


    Hu Cong was no stranger to building courtyards. When he was in the capital, many prominent families needed to build some special structures, and they would ask him for advice.


    Hearing that it was ayout of the courtyard, Hu Cong took it over.


    The drawing appeared before his eyes, giving Hu Cong another big surprise.


    He had no other hobbies in his life, only liking to study some things he had never seen before, such as some tools, or housing construction, and so on...


    The courtyard He Zhiran drew first attracted Hu Cong''s attention in terms of structure.


    Not to mention the details, just looking at the structure of the house, it not only savednd, but was also very practical. Such a courtyard, in Hu Cong''s eyes, was very suitable for a family to live in.


    "Young Master, may I ask which expert designed such a courtyard?"


    Even the drawing skills amazed Hu Cong.


    In fact, He Zhiran''s drawing skills weren''t that great either. She wasn''t used to using the ancient brush, so when drawing the drawings, she bought pencils on Taobao.


    This would not arouse anyone''s suspicion either. She could simply say that she sharpened charcoal to draw with.


    As for some drafting tools, they also came from Taobao. With so many handy tools, the effect was naturally better than the ancient people using soft brushes.


    Seeing that his wife''s drawings were approved by Hu Cong, Mo Jiuye inexplicably felt a sense of pride rise up.


    First he looked at his wife, then said, "It was conceived by my wife."


    Hu Cong had just looked up to He Zhiran for pointing out improvements to his seeder making.


    Now Mo Jiuye said the drawings were also from this youngdy''s hand.


    Hu Cong instantly developed a heart of admiration.


    It seems the saying that there are people beyond people and heavens beyond heavens is not false at all. If Lady Mo wasn''t a daughter, just her talents, how many good men would she surpass?


    After admiring for a while, Hu Cong continued to look at the details on the drawings.


    He Zhiran had indeed added details of the rooms when making the drawings.


    Such as the cesspool in the backyard, the plumbing in the rooms, as well as the floor heating, etc.


    No matter how smart Hu Cong was, he wouldn''t recognize these things that he hadn''t even thought of.


    After looking for a while, he still didn''t understand what these were.


    "May I ask Lady Mo, this looks like a deep pit, what is it for?"


    He Zhiran looked at where he was pointing, it was the cesspool she had designed in the backyard, farthest from the house.


    Speaking of cesspools, it started with the indoor plumbing and flushing toilets.


    He Zhiran pointed to the locations of the bathrooms and kitchens in the rooms, and carefully exined the principles she knew to Hu Cong.


    At first, Hu Cong didn''t quite understand having a toilet inside the house. Later, after listening to He Zhiran''s detailed exnation, he felt this in-house toilet design was simply perfect.


    He Zhiran had only talked about the structure connecting the toilet to the cesspool, and hadn''t gone into the details yet.


    Even so, it had already piqued Hu Cong''s great interest.


    He slowly digested the principles exined by He Zhiran, and continued to ask about other things.


    He Zhiran also exined the principles of floor heating, plumbing and other pipelines. Hu Cong listened like an attentive student, with a level of concentration that couldn''t be described in words.


    Not only that, he also had the potential to ask when he didn''t understand. Any parts he didn''t get, he would ask over and over again.

 Chapter 316: You Can Take your Time.

    <h4>Chapter 316</h4>


    Just ayout diagram of a siheyuan piqued Hu Cong''s interest entirely.


    He stared at the blueprint in his hand, increasinglymenting his own inferiority.


    He really didn''t know how this woman came up with such ideas. If he hadn''t had the good fortune to see this blueprint, he might not have known in his whole life that houses could be built like this, with such convenient and practical facilities inside.


    After pondering for a long time, Hu Cong awkwardly opened his mouth to ask Mo Jiuye, "Young Master Mo, do you know if you have found a good craftsman to build this courtyard?"


    This was something Mo Jiuye should have taken the initiative to mention, but Hu Cong beat him to it.


    However, knowing Hu Cong as he did, it was not at all strange for him to do something like this.


    "I came to find Brother Hu because I want you to be the general contractor for the construction of this courtyard. What does Brother Hu think?"


    When Hu Cong heard this, he couldn''t hide the delight on his face at all.


    He didn''t even hesitate for a moment, just kept nodding his head.


    "Good, good, good! As long as Young Master Mo trusts me, I am willing to be the general contractor for the construction of this building."


    The general contractor was the master craftsman of this era, responsible for the overall structure and supervision of the construction.


    In Da Shun, there weren''t many people with such abilities.


    Hu Cong was one of them. When he was in the capital city, those officials and nobles felt honored to be able to hire him as the general contractor for their family constructions.


    It was just a pity that Hu Cong was stubborn and inflexible. For any house he built for others, it had to be a structure that he was satisfied with himself, otherwise he would not agree to it.


    As a result, he had offended many people of power in the capital city.


    Now it was very obvious that even if Mo Jiuye didn''t say it outright, he would take the initiative to participate in the Mo family''s housing construction.


    It could be said that this was the first time in Hu Cong''s life that he had taken such initiative.


    Seeing that Hu Cong agreed, Mo Jiuye was also very happy. After all, he understood Hu Cong''s reputation in the construction industry of the capital city.


    He quickly handed over all the design drawings to Hu Cong.


    "Brother Hu, take a look at these details drawn by my wife."


    Hu Cong nodded and took over the drawings. The first one was a detailed drawing of a flush toilet.


    When He Zhiran was exining it to him earlier, he had already started thinking in his mind what a flush toilet should look like.


    Now, seeing such a vivid design drawing, Hu Cong suddenly felt enlightened.


    How could he not have thought of that? A flush toilet could be built like this - it was simply perfect.


    The materials used for the floor heating were all made of iron pipes, and the connections between the iron pipes, as well as the thing called a faucet, were ingeniously designed.


    In short, these design drawings could be said to open a new door again for Hu Cong''s attainments in the construction industry.


    The more he looked at these drawings, the more enthusiastic he became, to the point where he had ignored the two people next to himpletely.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuyeughed and said, "Brother Hu, just keep the drawings here and you can study them slowly."


    Hearing his voice, Hu Cong realized that he had been rude.


    "I''m sorry, Young Master Mo. When I see something fresh, I can''t take my eyes off of it. I hope you and Young Mistress Mo won''t take offense."


    "No problem at all. Brother Hu, since you''ve agreed to be the general contractor for our Mo family''s building, there are still many details that we need to make clear in advance."


    He Zhiran was not at all worried that such architectural methods would leak out at all.


    In her heart, these were all things created by the wisdom of future people for the purpose of making people''s lives better.


    Although she had brought such good things to Da Shun ahead of time, she never selfishly thought that they were her things.


    Her purpose was simple - as long as her family livedfortably.


    As for when these architectural structures would leak out, she wouldn''t care at all. Whoever had the ability to build them out could go build them.


    What she wanted to discuss with Hu Cong was the remuneration for hiring him as general contractor.


    "Brother Hu, as long as you build ten courtyards with the same design as the drawings for me, it would be even better if you can contact the porcin kilns and cksmiths to produce ceramic toilets and iron pipes. Of course, I won''t let Brother Hu work hard for nothing, I will definitely pay you more."


    Money and the like was nevercking for He Zhiran. As long as Hu Cong did a good job, giving him ten thousand taels would not be a problem at all.


    Hu Cong''s willingness to undertake the Mo family''s housing construction had nothing to do with remuneration.


    He simply wanted to take on the challenge of building such an odd courtyard design for the first time.


    "The remuneration doesn¡¯t matter at all. I¡¯m quite familiar with the cksmiths in the city, and can help contact them to produce those iron pipes and hardware. As for ceramics, I¡¯ve heard there¡¯s a porcin kiln on the east side of Yun City, so I can also go over there to inquire."


    "The only requirement I have is that all theborers for the construction must listen to my arrangements alone. Of course, if the young master and mistress Mo are dissatisfied with anything, feel free to let me know.¡±


    Mo Jiuye already had some understanding of Hu Cong¡¯s requirements when building houses for others, even if Hu Cong didn¡¯t mention it outright.


    Back when Hu Cong was in the capital city, he had a construction team under him. Whenever he went to build houses for officials and nobles, he would bring those people along.


    It was said that those people only listened to Hu Cong''s arrangements.


    If He Zhiran had to summarize his way of working, she could describe it using the modern term "contractor".


    The employer would contract the project to him at a fixed price, and after Hu Cong finished building the house, the employer only needed toe inspect it.


    This was very beneficial for both parties. For example, the employer didn''t have to watch over things all day, only needing toe take asional looks. This saved a lot of time.


    As for Hu Cong, there was no need to borate - not only could he earn more profits, the most important thing was that the workers all listened to his arrangements. Those who did well could stay, those who didn¡¯t could be dismissed with one sentence from him.


    With this level of control, those workers would also be more diligent, saving him a lot of trouble as well.


    This was simply a win-win situation.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had no objections to this whatsoever.


    Many construction materials had already been stockpiled at home during the winter. What remained for Hu Cong to worry about were those novel gadgets in He Zhiran¡¯s drawings.


    At present, the two parties only needed to negotiate the price.


    "Brother Hu, it''s not the same as the capital city here in the northwest. The people you once trained can''te here to work, so we can only ask the nearby vigers to help with the construction."


    Hu Cong nodded. "That''s true."


    His requirements weren¡¯t high. He only hoped that these people would fully listen to hismands.


    Mo Jiuye went on, "When the timees, I will exin things clearly to the hiredborers beforehand and have them all listen to your directions. As for the issue of wages, Brother Hu can first take a look at the drawings for the things needed and theplexity of the project, then let me know after considering it carefully."


    With this said, what else did Hu Cong not understand?


    Mo Jiuye understood his usual way of building houses for others back in the capital city, and likewise chose to hire him in the same fashion here in the northwest.


    The two parties only needed to negotiate the price now.

 Chapter 317: Your Satisfaction is guaranteed.

    <h4>Chapter 317</h4>


    Hu Cong felt veryforted in his heart.


    He actually understood the truth that times change.


    Now in the northwest, no one would appreciate his skills like they used to in the past. Perhaps only the Mo family would.


    Especially He Zhiran''s design drawings, he was very interested. If he didn''t take the lead and participate in the construction, he would probably regret it for the rest of his life.


    Therefore, even if Mo Jiuye did not agree to give all the projects to him, he would still choose to participate.


    It''s just that he might feel a little ufortable in his heart.


    After settling the matter, the two talked with Hu Cong about some details.


    He Zhiran was also very wealthy. She directly gave Hu Cong 10,000 taels of silver bills. For ordinarymoners, this was definitely an unimaginable number.


    For the current Hu Cong, it could also be described as an astronomical figure.


    After all, he had been exiled to the northwest, and usually he could only rely on his skills to earn some money to make ends meet.


    Although this money was notpletely for him, for the current Hu Cong, it was still a huge sum.


    When Hu Cong received so much silver, he was indeed a little stunned.


    "Ninth Lady, what is this for?"


    He Zhiran exined with a smile, "Since I have entrusted the whole matter of building the house to Elder Brother Hu, I won''t interfere in anything anymore. In the future, some of the materials needed will also have to be taken care of by Elder Brother Hu personally, so the silver also includes some purchases of materials andbor."


    Of course, beforeing to find Hu Cong, He Zhiran had initially calcted the cost.


    The cost ofbor was very cheap in this era. Forbor-intensive work like building a house, it only cost fifteen to twenty wen a day.


    Their family was building ten yards, which was not a small project, and certainly required a lot of manpower.


    If they could recruit a hundred people to work every day, with the highest price of twenty wen per day, thebor cost would only be two taels of silver per day.


    The bricks, tiles and wood they needed had already been prepared before the New Year, and the number of porcin toilets needed was not veryrge either. One hundred taels of silver would be enough.


    The only thing that might be more expensive was the iron pipes used for floor heating. Ancient materials were scarce, and not much iron ore was mined and often controlled by the court. Therefore, the price of iron was rtively high.


    Even so, it was estimated that a few thousand taels would be enough.


    The remaining misceneous items would not cost much silver at all.


    If Hu Cong could n these expenses well and help the Mo family build the house, he could earn at least four thousand taels.


    Since He Zhiran was able to calcte it clearly, Hu Cong, as a professional, could naturally calcte it even more clearly.


    "Since that''s the case, I won''t stand on ceremony. I will definitely do my best toplete the Mo family''s house and ensure your satisfaction."


    "Good. Elder Brother Hu can start preparing in the next few days. As for thebor, you can discuss it with the vige heads of the surrounding viges."


    With thebor of Xiling Vige alone, it would definitely not be enough, not to mention that many young and strongborers could note out to work when it was time for the spring plowing.


    Contacting people from several viges would definitely find some families with more adult men who would be willing toe out and work for money.


    "Okay, leave these things to me."


    Hu Cong thought the same way. As long as there was silver, there would be no worry about not being able to hire people.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye knew that Hu Cong was eager to study her design drawings, so after finishing the discussion, they bid farewell and left.


    Now, the matter of building the house in the family was handed over to Hu Cong to handle, which also relieved them a lot. They could focus on preparing for the spring plowing.


    Hu Cong acted quickly. He locked himself in the room for two days and thoroughly studied He Zhiran''s drawings.


    He first contacted the porcin kiln to produce the toilet bowls, and then contacted several iron shops in Yuncheng to produce the iron pipes for floor heating.


    After all these things were arranged, he went to find the vige heads of the surrounding viges to hire people to help build the houses.


    Although it was about to be the spring plowing season, as He Zhiran had expected, families with more manpower were indeed willing to spare one or two toe out and work.


    After all, few people were willing to give up this kind of work to earn money on the spot.


    On He Zhiran''s side, she was equally busy.


    In the past few days, she and Mo Jiuye rented arge yard not far from the pier in Yuncheng.


    She stored all the fruit trees cultivated in advance in the space there.


    The nts or seeds produced in the space were not particr about soil and climate. Therefore, the varieties of fruit trees she had prepared were veryplete.


    There were apples, tangerines, oranges, honey peaches, cherries, and even tropical mangoes and durians.


    In short, everything she could think of was prepared.


    With so many varieties and quantities of fruit trees, a lot of manpower would be needed as well.


    The manpower of Xiling Vige and surrounding viges was helping their own family build houses, which did not stump Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran at all.


    The two asked Meng Huaining for help to find somebor in the city.


    Themon people living in Yuncheng had no farnd, so there was no busy farming season.


    Moreover, the wages He Zhiran paid were also very high, thirty wen per person per day. Even for doing work in the city, it was not so much.


    Meng Huaining sent people to spread the news, and many people scrambled to sign up.


    Even if it was just a little thing for the Mo family, Meng Huaining did not dare to be sloppy at all.


    He specifically sent all his subordinates to find out about the temperament of those who signed up. Those who were slippery were ruled out without exception.


    After careful selection, he finally helped the Mo family hire one hundred people.


    Thatrge tract of mountain, He Zhiran nned to nt all kinds of fruit trees, so the project was naturally not small.


    The hired people first transported the fruit trees from that yard in Yuncheng to Xiling Vige, and then carried out the nting.


    So, after busy working for ten days, these fruit trees werepletely nted.


    Now on the hillside, it no longer looked as messy as before, but neat rows of various fruit trees.


    The pear blossoms and peach blossoms had bloomed one after another, bringing a different beauty to the mountain.


    Of course, after the Mo family nted so many fruits trees that vigers had never seen before on the mountain, it naturally aroused a lot of discussion among the vigers.


    Even the Mo family themselves were a little puzzled at first.


    When He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were doing this, they had already figured out an excuse.


    The reason why they rented a yard close to the pier was to continue using the foreigners as scapegoats.


    Although this excuse was a bit shabby, it was still better than being asked questions they couldn''t answer properly.

 Chapter 318: Everyday (Part 1)

    <h4>Chapter 318</h4>


    The vigers of Xi Ling Vige would often go down to the foot of the mountain to watch from time to time.


    They were veryw-abiding, knowing that piece of mountain had already been bought by the Mo Family, and would not rashly go up.


    They just wanted to see what flowers could bloom in this season.


    At the same time, they would also gather in groups of three or two, saying that the Mo Family was not in vain as nobles from the Capital city, spending so much silver to buy a piece of mountain, and it turned out to be for nting trees.


    After all, they did not recognize these fruit trees, thinking they were just some special trees that could bloom...


    He Zhiran did not care about the thoughts of those vigers. She and Mo Jiuye had already started preparing for the spring plowing.


    Of course, she could only make suggestions and move her mouth now.


    Mo Jiuye was always around her, not allowing her to have too much movement.


    The neglectednd had been cleared once before the frozen soil, and now it only needed to be plowed to nt.


    The rabbits raised at home were increasing day by day. In addition to being busy making cold rabbit dishes every day to supply Tang Mingrui, the sisters-inw were making doll pendants.


    Lan Er and Yu Er also quickly integrated into the Mo Family''s life.


    Theypeted with each other to do housework every day, and in their spare time they would go to help Mo Hanyue take care of those pet rabbits.


    There was a lot of work, and the Mo Family women couldn''t keep up. They would give some of it to the women of the Xie Family and Fang Family to do together, still paying them wages ording to their work, just like when making dolls.


    Therefore, they really couldn''t help with the farm work.


    Eighth Brother had to go to the yamen every day, and Third Older Brother took Liang Hao and the others to the western border and had not returned yet.


    Although Seventh Elder Brother''s health had improved a lot, his strength was still not as good as that of his other brothers.


    ording to He Zhiran''s intention, he had to recuperate for at least a few more months.


    Sixth elder brother''s body was basically free of impediments, and he followed Mo Jiuye and Fifth Elder Brother every day, busy with odd jobs,pletely living the life of a farmer.


    Such a life was not unfamiliar to the Mo family at all.


    Doing things with their own hands and having adequate food and clothing every day, although it was more tiring, being together as a family made them feel more fulfilled.


    Theborers Meng Huaining helped find in Yun City came in handy after finishing nting the fruit trees.


    Although they were not as familiar with farming as those countrymen, who would begrudge the daily wage of thirty wen, in order not to displease their employer, they worked very hard.


    He Zhiran, with her big belly, was not allowed by Mo Jiuye to work hard, so she could only tell him some methods and let him direct those people to do it.


    The spring ploughing on the Mo Family''s side went on vigorously.


    When those indigenous vigers of Xi Ling Vige saw them nting some crops they had never seen before, some kind people came to advise Mo Jiuye.


    For example, the new Vige Chief Zhao.


    He pulled Mo Jiuye and earnestly said, "Ninth Brother, at worst I have been farming for half my life. Ournd in the northwest is barren, and the climate is bad too. Not everything nted will be productive.


    I can see that the Mo Family is notcking in silver, but with so muchnd under cultivation, there should at least be some harvest in the autumn."


    Mo Jiuye knew that Vige Chief Zhao meant well for his own family.


    "Vige Chief Zhao, don''t worry. My wife and I have asked carefully about these seeds, there is no problem nting them here at all.


    Moreover, these seeds are high-yielding seeds, and the yield will definitely be considerable in the autumn harvest."


    When they first came to Xi Ling Vige, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran felt that the Zhou family and Zhao family were pretty good. Since they lived in the same vige, they naturally wouldn''t hide any good seeds they had.


    But if people didn''t recognize stuff, they didn''t have to be eager to rmend it.


    Whether it was good or bad had to be proven by the facts and yield.


    Seeing that his words werepletely unheeded, Vige Chief Zhao could only sigh and say, "If that''s the case, just try it!"


    What else could he say? It was others''nd, they could nt whatever they wanted, he was just giving a kind reminder, and there was nothing he could do if they didn''t listen.


    After Vige Chief Zhao left, Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou came together by appointment.


    In order to make a living, the two found a private school in Yun City to work as teachers, so they rarely appeared in the vige on weekdays.


    If it wasn''t the spring ploughing season when the private school gave them a few days off, they wouldn''t havee to find Mo Jiuye at this time either.


    From their understanding of Mo Jiuye, they were very clear in their hearts that the Mo Family would never do anything without certainty.


    Just like the problem Vige Chief Zhao was worried about just now.


    In Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai''s view, no matter how rare the things nted by the Mo Family were, there would be no problems.


    Just as they said themselves, they were all high-yielding crops, and the yield would be very high.


    Therefore, the reason Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou came to find Mo Jiuye today was that they wanted to ask for some seeds.


    Xie Tianhai was a rtive of the Mo Family, so it was easier for him to speak up.


    "Ninth Brother, we were thinking of buying some of these high-yielding seeds from you, what do you think?"


    Xie Tianhai had also followed the local customs, calling Mo Jiuye "Ninth Brother" like the vigers.


    He didn''t hold back with the vigers, let alone the Xie Family and Fang Family.


    "No problem, my wife said that currently the high-yielding seeds avable are corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes. Which do you n to nt?"


    Anyway, his wife''s space-produced seeds were not picky about seasons, and could be nted together without any problem.


    Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou had tasted all three items at the Mo Family.


    In their hearts, these were all good things, especially potatoes, the stir-fried dishes tasted extremely good.


    "If possible, I''d like to buy some seeds of all three from you."


    As for the price, Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou didn''t think too much about it.


    Now both their families had ie, and it was no longer the time when theycked silver. They had heard that the Mo Family''s seeds were all obtained from foreigners, so the price would naturally not be too low.


    It didn''t matter if the seed prices were a little higher. If the yield went up, what was there to worry about losing money?


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran thought the same way, they could help people who had good rtions with their family, but they couldn''t help without a bottom line.


    For example, these seeds basically cost them nothing, but they couldn''t give them away for free.


    The price was also discussed in advance between him and his wife.


    "Uncles, we still have surplus seeds at home. The price of corn seeds is 50 wen per jin.


    Sweet potatoes and potatoes are 25 wen per jin."


    Hearing the prices Mo Jiuye quoted, Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou both felt a little embarrassed.


    Even if they didn''t understand business, they knew that things bought from foreigners would not be cheap.


    The prices the other party quoted now were probably at the expense of their own profits to take care of them.


    "Ninth Brother, you selling us seeds is good enough already, don''t lose money to amodate us!"


    The seed prices Mo Jiuye reported were indeed not high, but they were still much higher than the cost price. He smiled and exined, "I bought a lot at the time, so the price is cheaper without losing money. Uncles can go home and get whatever you need."

 Chapter 319: Everyday (Part 2)

    <h4>Chapter 319</h4>


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran saw that they were not just bragging. Only then did the two feel relieved.


    Even so, they were sincerely grateful.


    Seeds so precious and unavable in Dashun were given to them without profit. This was an enormous favor.


    "Alright, alright. I''ll take my family to get the seeds in a bit. We''ll remember this favor, uncle."


    Fang Chuanzhou also said, "Yes, I also represent the Fang family to thank you."


    Mo Jiuye did not care whether they expressed gratitude or not. Good seeds from his wife''s space could bring themoners a life of food and clothing. It was also umting blessings for their unborn children.


    Moreover, he and He Zhiran were notcking in money. Even if they did nothing in the northwest, they had enough money tost several lifetimes.


    After some polite conversation, Mo Jiuye sent the two men away and went with the hiredborers to demarcate the nting areas.


    Although their farnd was substantial, they grew many types of crops.


    Xi Ling Vige had no paddy fields. Other than rice, any economically valuable, delicious grain or vegetable was nted.


    Especially chili peppers - unavable in this period. Chili peppers could be used to cook many delicacies, so they had to nt a lot.


    Thus, the Mo family nted 20 mu of just chili peppers this year.


    For other crops, the focus was still grain. Of course, they grew aplete variety.


    At this time, Mo Hanyue was not idle either. During breaks from raising pet rabbits, she read the pharmaceutical books He Zhiran gave her many times.


    Recently, He Zhiran helped exchange one-year medicinal nt seeds for her on the interface.


    The little girl got up before dawn every day. She asked for 3 mu of familynd to reim her own medicine field.


    She did not need family help. She would cultivate this medicine fieldpletely by herself.


    Because sister-inw said that to grow medicinal materials well required getting one¡¯s hands dirty. Only this way could she quickly understand the growth habits of these herbs.


    In fact, these medicinal seeds all came from the space. They did not need much care at all. He Zhiran deliberately made Mo Hanyue work hard to temper her endurance but did not say so outright.


    The young miss was good in every way, just a little pampered.


    He Zhiran hoped Mo Hanyue would be tougher through the hard work of cultivating the medicine field.


    Her good intentions did not escape old Lady Mo. In Beijing, the family had only one daughter who had been spoiled beyond recognition.


    But now things were different. The entire family had been exiled and gone through so many hardships and dangers on the way that survival was a blessing in itself, let alone living the pampered life of a young miss!


    Thus, old Lady Mo highly approved of He Zhiran¡¯s approach. Even though she felt bad that her daughter worked hard every day, she showed no intention of helping.


    Initially, Mo Hanyue cried from exhaustion, but she persisted.


    By the time the family farnd was finished nting, her medicine field was also fully cultivated.


    Through this effort, she also tasted the sweetness of sess.


    The Mo family''snd was vast and they hired manyborers, so their nting progress was even faster than other families in the vige.


    After the busy spring nting, there were only crops to maintain, which was not urgent. They could ask fellow vigers for helpter and just pay them some fees. The family themselves only needed to provide little support.


    In the mountain cave, the former subordinates were still cared for every day by Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth elder brother. After a period of recuperation, although their health had not recovered to initial levels, they could move freely again.


    They wanted to stay here and live with the Mo family, but also missed families back home.


    Today, they asked to return home for a visit. If possible, they would bring their families here to live together.


    Of course, like the Mo family''s other sons, they did not want the court to know they were alive.


    With such an ipetent emperor, they never wanted to protect him again in this life.


    If not for Mo Jiuye rescuing them from southern bordends, they would have lived like walking corpses for the rest of their lives, or even perished under enemy abuse until their bodies were mangled mess.


    They hated Mr. Si Meng for turning them into medicine men, and hated Emperor Shunwu more.


    Because Mo Jiuye told them that after news of their deaths in battle reached Beijing, Emperor Shunwu not only failed to provide for their families, but even used the ipetent in court.


    If Duke Mo''s Family had not secretly sent money to support them, they dared not imagine how difficult life would have been.


    Thinking of this, the men would be filled with righteous indignation and miss families more strongly.


    Mo Chongyuan could understand the feelings of these officers and men. At first, when he recovered his memories and connected these events, he also felt equally outraged and aggrieved.


    With so many people returning home, road expenses would inevitably be high. Moreover, they had been away from home for years and were returning from the dead. They couldn¡¯t just show up empty-handed.


    His younger brother gave family money every month.


    Although he and his wife had saved up some private money, funding these people''s travel expenses was a drop in the bucket.


    Helpless, Mo Chongyuan could only discuss with Mo Jiuye. He had no choice since he, the elder brother, was useless and could not earn enough money.


    When he found Mo Jiuye, he was arranging to build arge rabbit shed with people.


    Additionally, He Zhiran had bredrge quantities of poultry and livestock in her space. They required housing too.


    The family had plenty of wastnd, not all of which was reimed yet. He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had discussed reserving thesends for building rabbit sheds and other uses.


    Of course, rabbit raising was presently the most mature family business, so building rabbit sheds was given top priority.


    The location chosen for the rabbit shed was at the mountain base. That area ofnd was used to build farms.


    This was a properly designed rabbit shed by He Zhiran.


    The brick and tile rabbit shed was divided intorgepartments. The cages were neatly arranged around four sides.


    Future rabbits in the shed would be ssified by size, variety, etc.


    The rabbit shed upied arge area. It looked like no small project. The advantagey in ease of construction. Anyone basically familiar with housing procedures couldplete it.


    When the Mo family got busy, it was a month, and nowte April. The weather was getting warmer.


    Fruit trees on the mountain hadpletely taken root. Because they were space products, they thrived regardless of soil or climate. All fruit trees disyed vigorous vitality.


    Their growth was as good as mature fruit trees in the space. Come autumn, there would be a steady crop of various fruits.


    Field crops were simr. After the busy spring nting, Xi Ling vigers no longer as busy as before and looked to work for the Mo family to earn some money.

 Chapter 320: This time I will make your Mohism never turn over.

    <h4>Chapter 320</h4>


    The Mo Family was building houses where Hu Cong was in charge. Now that the foundations of the houses had taken shape, the busiest time had passed.


    Although Hu Cong wanted to take care of these vigers as well, there was no shortage of manpower. If he used people from Xi Ling Vige, others would lose the chance to work.


    Therefore, Hu Cong was in a very difficult position.


    How could Mo Jiuye let him be in such a difficult position?


    The Mo Family''s farms happened to need more workers too.


    After discussing with the patriarchs of both families, 20 people from each family came to help with the work. The wages remained 30 wen per day.


    With such high wagespared to building houses, the Zhao and Zhou families knew the Mo Family was taking care of them. Therefore, they would definitely work hard for the Mo Family.


    As for the Cui Family, without Cui Wen''s support, many people had entered the academy. Those remaining in the family were basically useless.


    When they heard that the Zhao and Zhou families were helping the Mo Family farm, not only did they not have to leave the vige, but could also earn high wages, they became very jealous.


    Apart from the 30 wen they could earn per day, if not for the Mo Family, their backer, the Cui Family, would not have fallen either.


    Anyone could see that the new County prefect had a good rtionship with the Mo Family. If not for the Mo Family, he would not have driven the Cui Family to desperation.


    Now, their backbone was gone, most of their good farnd had been sold, and all they had left was a small piece ofnd and a worthless courtyard.


    This year had just begun, yet some of them were already going hungry.


    The more the Cui Family people thought about it, the more upset they became. So they gathered to discuss how to make trouble for the Mo Family.


    They were not stupid. They knew it was useless to ask the Mo Family for work. So they gave up on that idea.


    But they could not swallow this anger.


    After discussing back and forth, they finally decided on the best approach - they would stop at nothing to cause trouble for the Mo Family!


    Humph! So what if the Mo Family was close with the County prefect?


    So what if they had a catcher at home?


    I will make sure the Mo Family can never recover this time...


    The next day at noon, a Cui Family man who looked extremely honest mixed among the workers building houses for the Mo Family.


    The Zhao and Zhou family members were helping the Mo Family farm. They did not recognize this person, so they would definitely think he was a neer.


    Helping the Mo Family had another benefit - free lunch.


    The Cui Family man sneaked to the temporarily erected stove and added a package of white powder into the pot when no one was paying attention.


    He thought he was wless, but was caught red-handed by Mo Jiuye who had note to check the progress of the house construction for a long time.


    Mo Jiuye had juste over when he saw someone sneaking behind those workers.


    He originally came because he heard the flush toilet was installed and wanted to take a look. But he discovered something wrong instead.


    Unfortunately, he was some distance away. Not wanting to reveal his lightness skill before thesemoners, he could only quicken his steps like an ordinary person. So he was a stepte in stopping it.


    Even so, there was no way for the Cui Family poisoner to escape.


    Seeing that man try to leave after doing the dirty deed, Mo Jiuye dashed forward and grabbed his cor.


    "Who are you?"


    The Cui Family man was afraid of getting caught. Being grabbed, his whole body shivered in fear.


    He turned his head and saw Mo Jiuye''s eyes as cold as frost, staring at him closely.


    "Mo... Mo Jiu, what do you want to do?"


    Mo Jiuye smiled instead of getting angry, "I want to ask what you wanted to do."


    The Cui Family man would not admit that he came to poison them.


    He struggled hard to break free, but how could his strength match Mo Jiuye''s?


    The more he struggled, the greater the strength on his cor. Eventually, he gave up.


    "Don''t get me wrong. We are from the same vige. I just wanted to help since your family is building houses and pays such high wages. Who wouldn''t be envious?"


    Of course Mo Jiuye did not believe thisme excuse.


    He probably did not even believe it himself.


    Mo Jiuye was toozy to quibble with this kind of person. Still holding onto his cor, he brought the Cui Family man to where there were more people.


    Hu Cong had just finished arranging the tasks at hand when he saw Mo Jiuye bringing over an extremely unfamiliar man.


    He went up and asked, "Young Master Mo Jiu, who is this?"


    Mo Jiuye snorted coldly and threw the Cui Family man on the ground. "This man added something to the hot soup. I caught him red-handed."


    Hu Cong was shocked to hear this. In Beijing, it was nothing unusual for powerful households to resort to poisoning.


    But in such an infertile ce like the Northwest, and looking at this man dressed like an ordinary farmer, how could he have such nasty thoughts?


    There were over a hundred workers building houses here. If that was some potent poison, it would be over a hundred lives!


    The more Hu Cong thought about it, even the usually gentle man could not help but kick the Cui Family man a few times.


    "Speak! Who exactly are you? Why did you try to poison us??"


    Seeing no way to escape, the Cui Family man could only try to defend himself.


    "I did not poison anyone. I really just wanted to help. With the high wages your Mo Family pays, who wouldn''t be envious?"


    He had to admit, his words sounded quite reasonable. If Mo Jiuye did not catch him red-handed, some might actually believe him.


    Mo Jiuye had no time to quibble with such a person. He called over some workers to bring the poisoned soup over, then told Hu Cong, "Big brother Hu, please arrange for the lunch to be remade. I''ll bring this man to the yamen now."


    For someone raised in an official''s household since childhood, the first thought when encountering issues was to find the authorities to resolve it.


    Especially since they wanted to live safely in the Northwest, they had to do things properly in front of outsiders.


    Hu Cong acted decisively. Since such a big incident happened under his watch, he had to pay attention to it.


    Soon, Mo Jiuye brought over the family carriage, together with Fifth Elder Brother.


    Fifth Elder Brother used a small porcin bottle to hold some of the poisoned soup, while Mo Jiuye tied up the Cui Family man and threw him onto the carriage.


    He Zhi Ran also found out about the incident at home. Knowing Mo Jiuye could handle things properly at the yamen, she gave up on following along.


    And even if she wanted to watch the excitement, her clingy husband who stared at her all day not to wander around would definitely not agree.


    Many Cui Family members were poking their heads out at their doorways, looking towards the foot of the hill, wondering why the person they sent to poison had been gone for so long without returning - could something have happened unexpectedly?


    Just as the Cui Family people were distracted, they saw the Mo Family carriage racing towards the vige entrance.

 Chapter 321: Trial of Poisoning Cases

    <h4>Chapter 321</h4>


    The Cui family people looked at each other, and a bad premonition arose in their hearts.


    The n elder looked around at everyone behind him and called over a teenager, telling him to go down the hill on the pretext of chopping firewood and take a look.


    Of course, the news they would get would surely make the Cui family people even more worried.


    ...


    Mo Jiuye and Fifth Elder Brother drove the carriage and soon arrived at the county government.


    They happened to run into Mo Chuhan who had just finished lunch and was taking people out on business.


    Seeing his brotherse at this time, Mo Chuhan instinctively felt something was up.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, Ninth Younger Brother, why are you here at this time?"


    Mo Jiuye was the first to jump off the carriage. Without saying a word, he dragged the Cui family member who had poisoned the soup out of the carriage and threw him heavily on the ground.


    "Eighth Elder Brother, this is a Cui family member. He actually dared to put poison in the workers'' soup!"


    When Mo Chuhan heard this, he was also furious. He walked over and kicked Cui Xing viciously.


    "You really are shamelessly audacious. Do you know what crime poisoning is? Severely, it''s punishable by death."


    This kicknded right on Cui Xing''s waist. It was no light kick. Cui Xing yelped in pain.


    The clerks who were following Mo Chuhan also heard the brothers'' conversation. Very cleverly, they came over, picked Cui Xing up, and walked towards the yamen.


    Someone shouted, "Go invite the magistrate to hold court and try this poisoning case!"


    Seeing someone had gone to fetch Magistrate Meng, Mo Jiuye said to Eighth Elder Brother, "Eighth Elder Brother, go to the medicine hall and ask a doctor toe."


    Mo Chuhan had been a catcher in Yun City for several months. He was extremely familiar with everything here. Without Mo Jiuye telling him, he already knew which doctors were better.


    "Alright, I''ll go now."


    With Little Sister Nine''s amazing medical skills at home, they never needed to ask for an outside doctor when the family got sick.


    Mo Chuhan thought the poisoned workers at home were already showing symptoms. Little Sister Nine alone couldn''t handle it, so Ninth Younger Brother was anxious for him to fetch a doctor.


    Poisoning is no trivial matter. If not handled properly, it can cost lives...


    Indeed, Mo Chuhan did not listen carefully to his younger brother¡¯s words. When Mo Jiuye asked him to invite one doctor over, the location he meant was the county yamen, and the number was one. But Mo Chuhan didn¡¯t catch that at all.


    He went into town and brought over all the famous doctors from several medicine halls to Xi Ling Vige.


    But that¡¯s forter.


    Fifth Elder Brother tied the carriage in the horse yard outside the yamen entrance, and followed Mo Jiuye inside.


    Upon hearing it was the Mo family members, Meng Huaining ran to the court hall faster than a rabbit.


    When Mo Jiuye and Fifth Elder Brother saw him, he was still straightening his magistrate hat that had tilted.


    Seeing them, Meng Huaining enthusiastically walked out from behind the desk and stood in the middle of the hall to talk with them.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, Ninth Elder Brother, what exactly happened?"


    If outsiders heard this form of address, they would have thought these few were blood brothers meeting.


    Mo Jiuye and Fifth Elder Brother were still quite furious at the moment, so they didn''t engage in small talk with Meng Huaining.


    "Magistrate Meng, I saw this man put poison into those workers'' food with my own eyes."


    Inside the yamen, Mo Jiuye felt it would be better not to address Meng as Brother Meng.


    Meng Huaining also understood this was not the time to bond with his future uncle.


    He turned around, walked behind the desk, and his expression immediately became grave.


    With a resounding crack of the startling block, Meng Huaining said, "Bring him in to stand trial!"


    Immediately, rows of clerks wielding fierce-looking staffs marched into orderly positions on both sides.


    Seeing this battle array, Cui Xing was already scared stiff, even having trouble kneeling steadily.


    Meng Huaining asked sternly, "Who is the man kneeling in the court?"


    Apanying Meng Huaining, the clerks'' staffs rhythmically struck the ground.


    Never having seen such a scene before, Cui Xing curled up trembling on the ground, repeatedly knocking his head on the floor towards the magistrate.


    "This... this lowly one is Cui Xing from Xi Ling Vige."


    Meng Huaining struck the startling block again. "Cui Xing, speak. Why did you poison the Mo family workers?"


    If this was in Xi Ling Vige, Cui Xing would still have a ray of hope.


    Even if Mo Jiuye actually didn¡¯t see anything and was just bluffing, as long as he adamantly denied it, the other side would have nothing on him.


    But it was different in the court. Themon folk of Yun City all said this man was Honorable Magistrate from High Heaven, and no case stumped him.


    Cui Xing had seen with his own eyes Mo Fifth Elder fill a porcin bottle with the poisoned soup.


    With just a doctor''s examination, the poison added would surely be discovered.


    Cui Xing knew there was no escaping this. Rather than suffer torture before confessing, he might as well speak out early and suffer less himself.


    "Your Honor, this lowly one is guilty. But it wasn''t my idea alone..."


    Meng Huaining shouted sternly again, "Speak!"


    "It was my n elder and some nsmen. They were jealous the Mo family nowadays is living so well, so they wanted to add difficulties for them.


    Later, we all gathered to discuss, thinking to put poison in the Mo family workers'' meals. That way, thepensation money would make the Mo family go bankrupt."


    Hearing this, wasn''t it perfectly clear to everyone present the motive behind the Cui family''s poisoning?


    Nothing more than jealousy that the Mo family in Xi Ling Vige was better off day after day, while decline crept up on the Cui family.


    The usuallyposed Fifth Elder Brother became angrier the more he thought about it.


    The Mo family people only wanted to live peacefully in Xi Ling Vige. Who would have thought in an inconspicuous rural vige, there would be so much deceit?


    In fury, Fifth Elder Brother strode forward to grab Cui Xing by the cor and growled, "What poison did you put in the soup?"


    Seeing someone violentlyy hands on him again, Cui Xing panicked and quickly said,


    "I don''t know what poison it was. My nsmen obtained it. Anyway, it was potent enough that the Mo family wouldn''t get far after eating it."


    Fifth Elder Brother knew Cui Xing wouldn''t dare conceal anything now. Since he said he didn''t know, he likely truly didn''t know.


    He flung the man back to his former spot and turned to look towards the entrance.


    "I remember there is a medicine hall nearby. Why hasn''t Eighth Younger Brother returned with a doctor yet after going to fetch one?"


    At this time, Mo Chuhan was already leading over a dozen doctors rushing swiftly towards Xi Ling Vige...


    Hearing Mo Chuhan had gone to find doctors, Meng Huaining was in no hurry to send more people.


    Since the Cui family members all took part in the poisoning, naturally they wouldn''t be let off easily.


    He sent Prefect Shi to interrogate Cui Xing on how many nsmen took part, who the ringleader was, what all they did, and so on.


    At the same time, he dispatched clerks to swiftly travel to Xi Ling Vige and surround the Cui residence. Regardless if they were involved or not, until there was a definite conclusion, not a single person could be let escape.


    While Prefect Shi took Cui Xing aside for questioning, Meng Huaining also had tea brought for the Mo brothers in the back hall.


    After waiting for about an hour, Prefect Shi had finished transcribing all the records, but there was still no sign of Mo Chuhan returning...


    Mo Jiuye and Fifth Elder Brother really could no longer sit. Both were worried Mo Chuhan might have run into some difficulty.


    The two stood up at the same time and told Meng Huaining they were going to look for Mo Chuhan.


    Feeling something was off by now, Meng Huaining sent a few clerks along with the brothers in their search.

 Chapter 322: Do bad things and run Away

    <h4>Chapter 322</h4>


    Neither Mo Jiuye nor Fifth Elder Brother expected that Mo Chuhan would bring a group of doctors back to Xi Ling Vige. At present, their search range was still limited to within Yun City.


    It could be said that Mo Chuhan bringing a group of doctors back to Xi Ling Vige happened by coincidence.


    He had just entered the vige when he saw over a dozen members of the Cui Family rushing over in a panic.


    Seeing the bundles they were holding in their hands, it was obvious they wanted to flee aftermitting a crime.


    Without saying a word, Mo Chuhan stepped forward to block the path of the dozen or so people.


    After living in Xi Ling Vige for a long time, it was inevitable that there would be asions to run into members of the Cui Family. The dozen or so people in front of Mo Chuhan were not strangers to him.


    "You want to run after doing bad things?" He said sarcastically.


    After exchanging nces with each other, the members of the Cui Family were somewhat at a loss.


    Back when the Mo Family had just arrived at Xi Ling Vige, it was this Mo Chuhan who first jumped into the Li Family¡¯s yard. His agile skill was something a few people had witnessed with their own eyes.


    In the face of Mo Chuhan, no one wanted to stand out. If they said the wrong thing, they would definitely suffer a beating.


    The most important thing now was that there were many of them and only one of him. Even if Mo Chuhan wanted to catch them, it was impossible for him to grab everyone.


    As for the doctors Mo Chuhan had brought back, they had failed to keep up with his pace and were still behind, not yet arriving at Xi Ling Vige.


    With this in mind, the members of the Cui Family wanted to escape by their own means.


    When Mo Chuhan was not looking at him, one person tookrge steps and ran towards the vige entrance.


    Mo Chuhan did not give chase at all. He quickly bent down to pick up a small stone from the ground and threw it at the escaping person.


    It was seen that the person stumbled over something in front of him as if he had tripped over something. With a cry, he fell forward t on his face.


    Seeing this, the other members of the Cui Family thought it was their chance. They scattered and ran towards the vige entrance.


    Mo Chuhan picked up a few more pebbles and threw them out urately, hitting each person''s ankle.


    None of the Cui Family members were spared, and they all fell to the ground.


    The most miserable was the Cui Family''s only elder. He was older in age and did not have the quick feet like those younger ones. Mo Chuhan was closer to him and threw the stone with greater force.


    Therefore, he fell with even greater force. His remaining few teeth were all knocked out.


    Mo Chuhan ignored the cries of the Cui Family and efficiently took off their belts to tie them up one by one.


    Themotion at the vige entrance was not small. The remaining members of the Cui Family who had not escaped had a guilty conscience and did not dare toe out and see what was going on.


    The Zhou and Zhao Families were different. Since the Cui Family had been taught a lesson to behave themselves, there had not been any major disturbances in the vige for a long time. Now there was some excitement to watch, so idle people ran out to watch.


    Coincidentally, the patriarchs of both the Zhou and Zhao Families were present.


    Mo Chuhan said to both of them, "Please help watch these people for a while. I will go to the foot of the mountain to take a look and will be back soon."


    Now that Mo Chuhan was a government officer, the Zhou and Zhao Family members would naturally not be ambiguous about watching the people he had caught.


    Moreover, they were reluctant to let slip the opportunity to show off their power in front of the Cui Family.


    "Alright. Constable Mo, go ahead with your work. We will keep an eye on them.¡±


    After Mo Chuhan gave his thanks, he rushed towards the foot of the mountain.


    He wanted to see what the poisoning situation of those workers was.


    As a result, when he arrived at his family''s home site, what he saw waspletely different from what he had imagined.


    The workers were orderly doing their own work, showing no signs of poisoning at all.


    That¡¯s not right. Didn¡¯t younger brother say that the Cui Family members had poisoned their soup?


    Howe these people were fine?


    Just as Mo Chuhan was puzzled, Hu Cong, who was directing from up high, discovered his arrival.


    Hu Cong immediately walked over, "Eighth Young Master, didn''t you go to your post today?"


    Mo Chuhan waspletely baffled.


    "Elder Brother Hu, my younger brother said that the Cui Family came here to poison people. Is that true?"


    Hu Cong didn¡¯t know what Mo Chuhan had misunderstood. He nodded slightly and said indifferently, "That is indeed the case. The poisoner has already been sent to the yamen by the young masters."


    Mo Chuhan was still confused.


    "But these people are clearly fine without any signs of poisoning!"


    Only then did Hu Cong realize that Mo Chuhan had misunderstood something.


    "Fortunately, Ninth Young Master came just in time to catch the poisoner on the scene, otherwise a great disaster would have urred."


    Shouldn¡¯t it be a disaster? Just now, He Zhiran couldn''t helping over to take a look.


    She determined on the spot that there was arsenic in the soup.


    Who doesn¡¯t know what arsenic is? That¡¯s an extremely toxic poison.


    Hu Cong knew Mo Chuhan had an irritable personality. He was afraid that he would act impulsively and hurt someone, causing unnecessary trouble. Therefore, he did not say it clearly.


    Anyway, Mo Jiuye had already taken some of the poisoned soup to the yamen. Although the sale of such a toxic poison like arsenic was restricted in Da Shun, ordinary doctors would be able to identify it.


    When the timees, the yamen will ask the doctors to identify it, and the Cui Family members can be convicted ordingly.


    After listening to Hu Cong¡¯s words, Mo Chuhan came to his senses as if awakening from a dream.


    Just now when younger brother told him to invite a doctor toe over, it was to go to the yamen instead of here.


    Fortunately, he had misunderstood, otherwise he would have given those sinister Cui Family members a chance to escape.


    Knowing that he had made a false rm, Mo Chuhan was about to rush back to the county government immediately.


    He had just walked to the vige entrance when the doctors he had found and the officers sent by Meng Huaining arrived as well.


    The dozen or so Cui Family members who had just been caught showed signs of trying to escape again. It was obvious that they were involved in the poisoning incident. Now there was no need for Meng Huaining to issue another order. Mo Chuhan directly instructed that two officers stay to guard the Cui Family while the rest escorted those few escaping Cui Family members back to the yamen.


    After leaving the county yamen, Mo Jiuye and Fifth Elder Brother went separate ways to look for Mo Chuhan.


    He asked around a medical hall in the city and was told that Constable Mo had indeed been there to invite doctors, saying he was going to Xi Ling Vige to save people.


    Mo Jiuye understood in his heart that it must be his rash eighth brother who had misunderstood something and brought those doctors back to the vige.


    So he quickened his pace towards Xi Ling Vige, hoping to catch up with him on the way back.


    Halfway there, he happened to meet Mo Chuhan and the others who were escorting those Cui Family members back to the county yamen.


    The two brothers escorted those Cui Family members back together.


    By now, it was nearing dusk. The yamen would normally not handle official business during this time.


    But since it was the Mo Family¡¯s business, let alone dusk, even if it was the middle of the night, Meng Huaining would still go all out.


    There were no doubts about the case itself. After getting doctors to identify it, it was confirmed that the poison in the soup was arsenic.


    As for the source of the arsenic, Meng Huaining soon inquired it out.


    This stuff had been given to them by Deputy Magistrate Cui, to get the Cui Family members to help out with some shady business whenever needed.


    After Deputy Magistrate Cui¡¯s downfall, there was no use for this stuff, so it was left with the Cui Family in Xi Ling Vige.


    Today, they actually wanted to use such a deadly poison to kill those workers. It can be seen how malicious their intentions were.


    Fortunately, the incident was discovered in time by Mo Jiuye, otherwise a great disaster would have urred.


    Even so, Meng Huaining would not let the Cui Family members off easily.


    The Yun City he governed would never allow the existence of such malicious people.

 Chapter 323: The Most thoughtful Gift to Mo Hanyu

    <h4>Chapter 323</h4>


    After an overnight interrogation, the Cui family confessed that except for some women and children who were not involved, most of the rest of the n were more or less involved to some degree.


    Meng Huaining felt that not only was the former Cui County Magistrate extremely evil, but the Cui n itself was rotten to the core.


    Therefore, he severely sentenced the Cui n.


    Three dayster, the entire Cui n, all were exiled to the Western Regions to mine, and were forbidden from leaving for the rest of their lives.


    The yamen runners received the order and immediately went to Xiling Vige, capturing all the Cui family members, only waiting for Meng Huaining to finalize the documents in three days before sending them away.


    All the Cui n''snd and houses were confiscated, once again giving the Mo Family an opportunity to expand their assets.


    This time, Mo Jiuye was not considering his own family.


    The manor sites and wastnd at the foot of the mountain were already enough for his own family to use. He intended to help his subordinates who had returned home to visit rtives acquire somend and property, which was also apensation from the Mo Family to these brothers who had followed him through life and death for many years.


    Living in the countryside, one must follow local customs. Spending every day doing some farming and weaving, plus the cleverness of his sisters-inw, would also lead them to earn money together.


    In short, it would not be a bad thing for everyone to live together in a vige like this.


    Upon hearing that Mo Jiuye wanted to buy up the Cui n¡¯s assets, Meng Huaining agreed without hesitation.


    Moreover, he offered the lowest price possible.


    Unexpectedly, the Cui n¡¯s single evil act ended up benefiting the Mo Family.


    Now in Xiling Vige, apart from the original Zhao and Zhou native families, there were the Mo, Fang and Xie families.


    Surely there would be no more troublemakers like the Cui ning to make trouble while living in Xiling Vige in the future.


    The storm caused by the Cui n passed very quickly, and the Mo Family¡¯s various construction projects were still progressing vigorously.


    After more than ten days of hard work, the rabbit sheds were finallypleted.


    Everyone worked together to move all the original rabbits from the family into the new rabbit sheds.


    The new rabbit sheds were dozens of timesrger than the original ones. Even though the original female rabbits were already frantically breeding, they still only took up one fifth of the rabbit sheds.


    He Zhiran had originally nned to use the foreigners as an excuse a few more times to purchase some rabbits from the shop to breed.


    Later, she discovered that those female rabbits had big bellies again, and the number of adult female rabbits in the family was increasing. She believed that the ideal breeding quantity would be reached before long.


    Of course, with the expansion of the rabbit sheds¡¯ scale, He Zhiran had new ns.


    The sisters-inw had said before that rabbit fur dyed in colors would definitely look very beautiful if made into cloaks or clothes.


    He Zhiran had never forgotten this point.


    Those beautiful angora knitwear in modern times were not only good-looking but also kept warm well. If they could be produced sessfully, it would be a huge source of ie.


    He Zhiran was already raising arge group of angora rabbits in the shop space, which happened to have just reached adulthood today, and some were even pregnant with bunnies.


    It was time to bring them into the open.


    Coincidentally, Mo Jiuye was free today, so the two of them drove the carriage into the city, took out all the rabbits together with their cages from the shop space, and put them in the rented yard.


    As usual, Mo Jiuye brought his brothers from the family to hire ox carts to transport them home.


    Although this was more troublesome, this method was still quite useful. The family members were also used to the couple buying things from foreigners...


    The return of the angora rabbits once again delighted the women of the family.


    Especially after the sisters-inw heard that angora fur could be made into beautiful clothes, they liked it even more.


    Now the number of rabbits raised in the family was increasing. Just ughtering the male rabbits every day to make chilled rabbit meat was an extremely tiring job, relying solely on the fifth elder brother and his wife.


    The fifth elder brother and his wife had already learned a lot of rabbit raising skills after this period of time, and now they were even more knowledgeable than He Zhiran who led the way.


    In the future, the fifth elder brother couple would continue to be in charge of the rabbit sheds, but they would have to hire more people to help.


    This way, the fifth elder brother and his wife would not have to be too busy and could have some time of their own to do other things.


    Whether to continue expanding the scale in the future would depend on Tang Mingrui¡¯s business situation.


    Speaking of Tang Mingrui, he was indeed worthy of bing a big merchant in the future.


    In just a few months, through cooperation with the Mo Family and his own business sources found outside, he now had umted arge amount of capital.


    When he heard that the Mo Family was expanding the scale of rabbit breeding, he was even more excited than the Mo Family people.


    It should be known that the chilled rabbit meat produced by the Mo Family was no longer just being sold to the restaurants in the prefectural city.


    As the quantity of chilled rabbit meat gradually increased, he had also contacted several restaurants in other cities and signed long-term sales contracts with them.


    The expansion of the Mo Family''s rabbit breeding scale gave him countless times more profit.


    Recently, he had been running to the Mo Family very diligently. The chilled rabbit meat could only ensure freshness if it was freshly made every day.


    It should be said that Tang Mingrui now had silver in his hands. This kind of going to collect goods personally could bepletely handled by hiring people, but he still insisted on doing it himself.


    Over a period of time, the threshold of the Mo Family''s door was almost worn out by him.


    Not only that, Tang Mingrui often did note empty-handed, bringing more or less some small gifts he had collected when he went out.


    Although everyone had gifts, after several times, He Zhiran noticed something wrong.


    On the surface Tang Mingrui had prepared gifts for all the Mo Family members, but upon closer inspection, the gifts he prepared for Mo Hanyue were given the most thought.


    For example, the first time Tang Mingrui brought gifts to the Mo family, it was just after the new year.


    He went to other cities to do business, and the local specialty there was osmanthus cake.


    Although the name of the cake was osmanthus cake, there were also several vors.


    The osmanthus cakes Tang Mingrui bought for the other Mo family members were all the basic white sugar vor, while the one box for Mo Hanyue contained three vors.


    Not only that, the osmanthus cakes in that box were also divided into different shapes, which made one reluctant to eat them.


    And a few days ago, Tang Mingrui gave everyone in the Mo Family a bolt of cloth.


    Although the cloth seemed to be of considerable value, the one given to Mo Hanyue was particrly special.


    When the Mo Family was in the capital city, they were also a prestigious household. Naturally they recognized fine goods.


    Everyone recognized at a nce that the cloth Tang Mingrui gave to Mo Hanyue turned out to be Shu brocade.


    This was an extremely rare fine fabric. Even the Imperial Consorts in the pce had to curry tremendous favor from the Emperor. Only when the Emperor was happy would he bestow enough fabric for them to make a set of clothing.

 Chapter 324: We’ll never talk about it again.

    <h4>Chapter 324</h4>


    Tang Mingrui generously gave Mo Hanyue a piece of Shu brocade directly.


    Old Lady Mo was a very perceptive person. Through these two gifts, she and He Zhiran both caught some clues.


    Tang Mingrui was interested in Mo Hanyue!


    Of course, with such a precious thing, the Mo family would never ept it.


    Although Tang Mingrui''s Shu brocade was not given, his actions could be seen clearly by the observant.


    Not only Old Lady Mo saw it, He Zhiran and several sisters-inw also saw it clearly.


    Tang Mingrui purely wanted to give Mo Hanyue a gift, so he used this method.


    Second sister-inw had a hard time keeping things to herself. After dinner, she took the women of the family together and started gossiping in front of her mother-inw.


    "Mother, have you noticed that Young Master Tang is very nice to Hanyue?"


    Although Old Lady Mo had been exiled to the northwest, that kind of deep-rooted ideology could not bepletely transformed all at once.


    In her opinion, no matter how excellent Tang Mingrui was, he was still a businessman, while Meng Huaining was different. Even if he did not be an official, he still came from a schrly family.


    Comparing the two, she still valued the literati more.


    Old Lady Mo did not look down on Tang Mingrui, she just preferred her daughter to marry a literatus if she had a choice.


    Of course, she didn''t want to be the kind of mother who made all the decisions for her children. If Mo Hanyue didn''t like Meng Huaining and liked Tang Mingrui instead, she would also choose to approve their rtionship.


    Old Lady Mo had originally wanted to discuss it with He Zhiran, but she didn''t expect her second daughter-inw to speak up first.


    She first nced at Mo Hanyue, whose face was flushed red, and gently said, "Hanyue, didn''t you say your rabbit might give birth to babies tonight?"


    After going through some things, Mo Hanyue was no longer as childish as before.


    She knew that as a youngdy, it was inappropriate for her to join in the discussion of such matters.


    However, she also didn''t want to marry someone she didn''t like.


    Before leaving, she whispered in Old Lady Mo''s ear, "Mother, your daughter has no romantic feelings for Young Master Tang."


    Since she took the initiative to say it, it saved Old Lady Mo the trouble of asking.


    Old Lady Mo now thoroughly understood her daughter''s mindset.


    After Mo Hanyue left, Old Lady Mo solemnly said to her daughters-inw, "I know Hanyue''s situation well. From now on, be polite to Young Master Tang when hees, and don''t have any other ideas."


    This could also be considered giving everyone an exnation. Whether it was Mo Hanyue''s refusal or her own unwillingness as a mother, she had made her attitude clear.


    There were many women in the family, and they were all Mo Hanyue''s sisters-inw. It was inevitable that they would worry about the only young miss in the family.


    Letting them know her attitude early on would prevent the daughters-inw from being overzealous and causing any misunderstandings.


    He Zhiran was the most perceptive. After hearing her mother-inw''s words, she immediately understood her meaning.


    "Mother, don''t worry. From now on, we will keep our mouths shut about this."


    The other sisters-inw also nodded in agreement after seeing the ninth sister-inw say this, indicating that they would do the same.


    Only the silly second sister-inw still felt that after Mo Hanyue rejected Tang Mingrui, she might not be able to find someone from such a good family in the future.


    After all, the Mo family''s circumstances were not what they used to be. Although their lives were still quite affluent, how many people would not mind that they were exiled criminals of the court?


    "Mother, I think Young Master Tang is a good man, why don''t you consider it?"


    Old Lady Mo usually treated the nine daughters-inw equally.


    The only exception was this stubborn second daughter-inw who didn''t understand what everyone else could see clearly.


    Thinking that she spoke without thinking, the olddy was somewhat angry.


    She frowned and scolded, "If you don''t understand, go back and ask the other daughters-inwter."


    The eldest sister-inw quickly pulled the second sister-inw''s sleeve and said, "Second sister-inw, eldest sister will exin it to youter."


    The second sister-inw nodded nkly, "Okay."


    Now, the women of the family all understood the mother-inw''s attitude, and tacitly stopped mentioning Tang Mingrui.


    The next morning, as usual, Tang Mingrui came with a carriage to pick up goods.


    Coincidentally, Meng Huaining also came on the pretext of catching up with Mo Jiuye, and the two arrived at the Mo family one after the other.


    Tang Mingrui was a businessman, so naturally he would pay his respects when seeing an official.


    Meng Huaining did not know Tang Mingrui''s feelings. He knew that this person had business dealings with the Mo family and was on good terms with them.


    Therefore, he did not put on any official airs in front of Tang Mingrui, and treated him as casually as he did the Mo family.


    He and Tang Mingrui were led into the yard by Mo Jiuye. By chance, Mo Hanyue was wearing a face veil and holding a hoe. She came out from inside with Yu Er and Lan Er, nning to go take care of her medicinal fields.


    After all, Tang Mingrui was a businessman, so he acted much more generously than Meng Huaining.


    He took the initiative to greet her, "Miss Mo, are you going to work in the fields?"


    When Mo Hanyue saw the righteous Meng Huaining, she was thrilled in her heart.


    She was just about to greet him when she saw Tang Mingrui had already strode towards her.


    Having heard her second sister-inw''s words yesterday, she more or less knew Tang Mingrui''s feelings.


    Although she didn''t dislike Tang Mingrui, she didn''t have any romantic feelings for him either.


    Especially in front of the man she liked, Mo Hanyue was somewhat at a loss for a moment.


    After all, she was a youngdy from a prominent family, and etiquette was not taught to her in vain.


    She quickly sorted out her thoughts and bowed slightly to the two men standing side by side.


    "Good morning, Master Meng, Young Master Tang."


    When Meng Huaining saw the girl he had been thinking about, he was overjoyed.


    He was just about to return the greeting when he saw Tang Mingrui had already taken out an exquisite little purse from his arms.


    Tang Mingrui stepped forward again and presented the little purse to Mo Hanyue.


    "Miss Mo, these are ginseng seeds I happened toe across while doing business. I know you like growing medicinal herbs, so I brought them for you to nt and see."


    In fact, He Zhiran could provide as many ginseng seeds as needed, and they were high-quality varieties produced in her space.


    The main reason she didn''t give them to Mo Hanyue for nting was that ginseng had a long growth cycle, and there would be little to see in the short term.


    Tang Mingrui didn''t know about this. He only knew that Mo Hanyue liked to grow medicinal herbs, so he wanted to give her the best.


    Seeing Tang Mingrui give Mo Hanyue a gift as soon as he arrived, Meng Huaining suddenly felt a little unhappy.


    Just as he was thinking about how to step forward and strike up a conversation, Mo Hanyue spoke.


    "Thank you, Young Master Tang. Ginseng seeds are too precious, Hanyue cannot ept them."


    Cannot ept!


    Yes, she could not ept his things.


    Seeing Mo Hanyue reject the gift, Meng Huaining instantly felt relieved.


    Tang Mingrui was not discouraged and continued to hold out the purse.


    "This is not worth much money. I just happened toe across it and bought it. Miss Mo, please ept it!"


    Mo Hanyue took a step back.


    "Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Tang, but I''ve just started learning to grow medicinal herbs. I shouldn''t ruin something so good."

 Chapter 325: Isn’t He Dead

    <h4>Chapter 325</h4>


    Tang Mingrui had asked Mo Hanyue to marry him several times, but even someone as experienced with all kinds of people as Tang Mingrui felt somewhat embarrassed as Mo Hanyue rejected him repeatedly. His hand holding the money pouch didn''t know whether to move forward or to pull back.


    Just then, Old Lady Mo came out from the room. She had heard themotion in the yard and after watching for a while, she decided toe out to help her daughter defuse the situation. However, before she could say anything, Meng Huaining, who had remained silent all this time, came up to her.


    Meng Huaining was very respectful. He bowed deeply to Old Lady Mo and said, "Good day, Old Lady Mo."


    Old Lady Mo nodded benevolently, "What brings Mister Meng to our humble abode today?"


    Meng Huaining clenched and unclenched his fists hidden in his sleeves. After a long while, he finally steeled his resolve and said, "This junior wishes to ask for Mo Hanyue''s hand in marriage. I pledge to make her my only wife in this lifetime and never take a concubine, even if I remain childless."


    God knows how much courage Meng Huaining had mustered to say those words in front of so many people.


    He had originally nned to get more familiar with Mo Hanyue first, to make the youngdy like him more before sending a formal letter to his family asking his sister-inw toe and help propose the marriage. That would also show how much he valued Mo Hanyue.


    But after seeing how obvious Tang Mingrui''s intentions were today, if he continued that tactic of slowly boiling the frog, he was afraid the bride would be snatched away by someone else.


    From Old Lady Mo''s understanding of Meng Huaining''s character, he was not the rash type.


    Moreover, she could also see that the young man was about to send someone to their home with a formal proposal.


    Meng Huaining''s words really caught Old Lady Mo off guard. However, since she had approved of her daughter marrying Meng Huaining in the first ce, she naturally could not reject him now.


    "Since Mister Meng is interested, we can sit down to discuss this."


    Old Lady Mo''s words were like giving Meng Huaining a huge reassurance.


    Meng Huaining quickly cupped his fists, "Old Lady, please give me three days. I will prepare the betrothal gifts and send the best matchmaker in the city to your home with the official proposal."


    Time was tight, so asking his sister-inw toe help was probably not feasible. Hiring the best matchmaker in the city would surely not shortchange Mo Hanyue.


    Moreover, Old Lady Mo did not reject him outright, which meant she did not oppose the marriage.


    Therefore, he must not give the Mo family any chance to reconsider.


    When Meng Huaining was speaking just now, he had sneakily nced at Mo Hanyue.


    The youngdy was now hiding bashfully behind her sisters-inw, knowing it was improper for her to be present during such discussions but unable to tear herself away as she wanted to listen in on what would happen next.


    Meanwhile, Tang Mingrui was dumbfounded.


    What was going on here? The girl he liked was getting proposed to by someone else?


    Moreover, from Old Lady Mo''s smiling expression, she seemed to highly approve of it.


    Did this mean... he had no chance at all now?


    Even so, Tang Mingrui was unwilling to admit defeat without even putting up a fight. That was not his style.


    After organizing his thoughts, Tang Mingrui stepped up beside Meng Huaining.


    But just as he was about to say something, from the corner of his eye he caught Mo Hanyue looking at Meng Huaining bashfully yet eagerly.


    Even if Tang Mingrui wanted to fight for her, upon seeing Mo Hanyue''s gaze, he could only retreat.


    That was clearly a look of admiration, unfortunately not directed at him.


    In this situation, if he insisted on barging forward, he would only embarrass himself.


    Therefore, he changed what he had originally wanted to say.


    "Congrattions, Mister Meng and Miss Mo."


    Meng Huaining smiled mildly, "Thank you for your well wishes, Master Tang."


    Seeing the matter was settled, Mo Hanyue quietly slipped away from the crowd.


    Tang Mingrui also tactfully took his leave. Seeing that Mo Hanyue had gone, he discreetly tucked the pouch containing the ginseng seeds into his clothes, pretending nothing had happened today.


    His main purpose ining today was to collect the goods. Not only had the Mo family produced arge quantity of Cold Rabbit Snacks today, they also had over a hundred rabbit pendents.


    Plus the two dozen or so pet rabbits from Mo Hanyue, he was taking them all away.


    Tang Mingrui knew when to advance and when to retreat. Since he and Mo Hanyue no longer had a chance, he saw no need to linger.


    The sooner he took away the goods to earn more money and bring his business to greater heights, that would be his sole goal going forward.


    To spend more time at the Mo residence, Meng Huaining had already arranged all the matters at the yamen yesterday.


    But with how things had developed, since he had already proposed to Mo Hanyue, he had to rush back immediately to prepare betrothal gifts and other matters.


    Thus, not long after Tang Mingrui''s departure, Meng Huaining also hastily took his leave.


    After Meng Huaining left, Old Lady Mo called all the family members into her room.


    In the Mo family''s minds, Mo Hanyue''s marriage was the biggest event in the household. Everyone held their breaths waiting for Old Lady Mo to speak.


    "Hanyue is grown up now, at the age to be married off. She and Mister Meng are fond of each other, so as her mother I must do right by her. Do any of you have any objections?"


    He Zhiran secretlyughed to herself.


    She thought: You''ve already agreed to it, what objections could we possibly have?


    Besides, it''s a case of a willing couple, who would object?


    While Old Lady Mo''s actions today felt unfamiliar to He Zhiran, the other sisters-inw thought it was perfectly normal.


    Back in the capital, the Mo family had also been a prestigious and powerful household. As thedy of the house, Old Lady Mo naturally had her dignity and authority.


    After many years of running the household, ever since they were exiled, she had put away her stern side.


    Yet today, the aura she used to have as thedy of the house in the capital emerged once again, showing how much Old Lady Mo valued her daughter''s marriage.


    The Eldest Sister-inw slowly stood up and said, "There are feelings between Hanyue and Mister Meng. This is a rare good match. Mother''s judgement has always been spot on. I believe their future will definitely be a happy one."


    The Seventh Sister-In-Law also stood up and echoed, "That''s right, Mother. Hanyue clearly has great fortune. It looks like us sisters-inw need to start preparing her bridal outfits."


    Seeing that both daughters-inw spoke in agreement, Old Lady Mo instantly beamed happily.


    "Wonderful, wonderful. It''s time our Mo family had a joyous asion to liven things up."


    Then she added, "The reason I called you here today is to discuss Hanyue''s wedding date."


    Everyone, including the Mo brothers, was puzzled by this statement.


    The Fifth Elder Brother stood up and asked, "Mother, isn''t the wedding date always decided by the groom''s side? Besides, our Hanyue isn''t some old spinster who can''t find a match. Why are we in such a rush?"


    After the Fifth Elder Brother voiced the question, everyone looked to Old Lady Mo, equally confused.


    In the Great Shun Dynasty, after a marriage was agreed upon, the groom''s side would take both parties'' birth dates to a fortune teller to select auspicious wedding dates based on their eight characters.


    These matters were all handled by the groom''s family, while the bride''s side simply had to wait for them to finalize the wedding day and inform them.


    So why was Mother bringing up the wedding date with them?


    "Mother, are you worried that since our family is down and out now, Mister Meng might go back on his word, and Hanyue won''t be able to find such a good match again in the future?"


    Other than that, Mo Jinnian could not think of any other reason for his mother''s actions.

 Chapter 326: What good intentions do you have

    <h4>Chapter 326</h4>


    Old Lady Mo was well aware of these traditional rules. She had her own considerations for acting this way.


    "It''s already April," Old Lady Mo said, her gaze gradually drifting away, tinged with a hint of sadness.


    She continued, "Yun Feng took people to the western border to gather information and hasn''t returned yet. Your fathers and brothers are currently missing, their fate unknown.


    ording to the information we''ve received, Mr. Si Meng is expected to appear in the western border in July. I am worried that by that time, if we still can''t sessfully rescue your fathers and brothers, their chances of survival will be slim."


    Old Lady Mo had kept these words hidden in her heart, never speaking them in front of the children, fearing it would shatter their confidence.


    But today, while discussing her daughter''s marriage date, she had no choice but to bring it up for exnation.


    He Zhiran, being perceptive, instantly guessed her thoughts upon hearing a few words from her. However, it was not something she could speak of openly.


    However, just because she didn''t mention it didn''t mean others wouldn''t.


    Even Second Sister-inw, who was usually outspoken, had her mind working today. The first thing that came to her mind was her missing husband. In front of everyone, tears uncontrobly streamed down her face.


    She stood up, choked with emotion, and pleaded, "Mother, my husband and father will surelye back safely. Please don''t entertain such thoughts."


    Even Big Sister-inw shed tears, but unlike Second Younger Siblings, she didn''t say anything out loud. She silently prayed in her heart that her husband, father-inw, and Second Younger Siblings would return safely like the other missing brothers.


    Old Lady Mo also had the same thoughts, but she had experienced more in life, making it easier for her daughter-inw to ept reality.


    She gently wiped the corner of her eye and said, "I''m just worried. The situation hasn''t reached its final stage yet, and no one knows what the oue will be."


    Old Lady Mo asked Second Sister-inw to sit back down and spoke again, "If by July, we receive any unfortunate news, Hanyue''s marriage will be dyed because of it.


    We can''t let Hanyue''s lifelong happiness be dyed because of those unwritten rules."


    As a wise old woman, she didn''t believe that once news of the deaths of the Mo father and son arrived, after Hanyue finished mourning for three years, Meng Huaining would still be waiting for her in the same ce.


    Therefore, today she wanted to make a change in her daughter''s marriage.


    Mo Jiuye never liked those worldly rules, and besides, he was confident that he could safely rescue his father and brothers.


    Of course, regardless of his mother''s thoughts, he chose to support her.


    "Since that''s the case, Mother, do you have any ns?" Mo Jiuye sighed and asked.


    "Meng Huaining has already said that he wille to propose in three days. He doesn''t have any elders in Yuncheng, so I can make the decision on the wedding date," Old Lady Mo said.


    "Since you have a n, we''ll follow what you said," Mo Jiuye agreed.


    It was rare for his mother to want to take charge, and as a son, he naturally wanted to fulfill her wishes.


    Moreover, after getting to know Meng Huaining during their time together, he understood that he was a dependable person. As long as Hanyue could marry such a person, he, as her older brother, would be at ease.


    He Zhiran had no objections, and she started to contemte what kind of dowry would be appropriate for her younger sister-inw.


    Although Old Lady Mo still held some authority in the family, she had relinquished the stewardship to He Zhiran since they began their exile journey.


    During this period, no matter what decisions He Zhiran made, her mother-inw never raised any objections, showing her trust in He Zhiran.


    Moreover, the family''s financial resources were under He Zhiran''s control. Although she would allocate some to her brothers and sisters-inw on regr asions, it was only a small portion.


    Furthermore, the Mo family had not split, and they all lived together as one big family. Naturally, it was He Zhiran''s responsibility as the head of the household to handle the dowry for her younger sister-inw''s marriage.


    He Zhiran''s spatial storage was filled with abundant resources, and she would not be stingy when it came to Mo Hanyue''s dowry.


    However, the dowry had to be carefully considered.


    First, they had to take into ount the betrothal gifts from the groom''s side and provide a corresponding dowry based on their value.


    They could also consider the financial strength of the bride''s family. If the bride''s family was wealthy, they would naturally not mistreat their married daughter.


    However, even though they were considered free now, they hade into exile with no money. It was well-known that they had left the capital penniless. After arriving in the northwest, they engaged in some small businesses, but their visible ie was limited.


    If the dowry He Zhiran provided exceeded the apparent range, it would inevitably raise suspicions among others.


    Especially those precious treasures that had been taken from the national treasury, they couldn''t be shown off casually.


    Therefore, He Zhiran had her own n.


    The dowry for a daughter''s marriage usually consisted of gold, silver, and other valuable items.


    Recently, she had seen two vige weddings in Xiling Vige, and she noticed that the bride''s family also sent furniture and other objects as part of the dowry. Presumably, only well-off families could afford to do so.


    After careful consideration, He Zhiran had a rough idea in mind and was waiting to see what kind of betrothal gifts Meng Huaining would bring before making a final decision.


    The matter of Mo Hanyue had been discussed and the whole family had reached a consensus.


    Life in the Mo family resumed its previous tranquility, and everyone busied themselves with their own affairs.


    After a few days of renovation, the rabbit shed was back on track. Hired help took care of it every day, so Wu Ge and Wu Sao had a lot of free time.


    However, they still couldn''t rest assured and took turns guarding the rabbit shed. Wu Ge even checked on it at night because they were worried about wild animalsing down from the mountain and mixing in with the rabbits. Additionally, they had to guard against thieves.


    Although the Cui family no longer existed, the fact that the Mo family built the rabbit shed was not a secret. People from other viges also came to help build the house. Who could guarantee that these people had no ill intentions or would reveal this information to someone with ulterior motives?


    Therefore, Mo Chongyuan patrolled the rabbit shed at night to prevent anyone from coveting their rabbits.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye also had this in mind.


    They both felt that Wu Ge''s nightly inspections were not a long-term solution, and it would be best toe up with a permanent solution.


    He Zhiran, who had lived two lives, naturally had a more insightful mind than Mo Jiuye.


    She looked at the spoiled rice ball in front of her and suddenly had an idea in her mind.


    In the open space, a hundred or so shiny ck German Shepherd puppies suddenly appeared.


    When Fentuan saw the sudden arrival of many new animals not far away, he immediately abandoned trying to please his owner and ran over with his short little legs.


    He Zhiran realized that this little guy enjoyed making those small animals submit to him.


    The cows and sheep in the space had already bored him; he considered giving them some respite and no longer enforcing rules every day.


    The appearance of so many new and exciting animals once again piqued Fentuan''s interest.


    He Zhiran knew that it would have this kind of effect, so she stood quietly there, watching Fentuan''s performance.


    Of course, this was also something she was happy to seee to fruition.

 Chapter 327: Tuanzi Is Awesome Today

    <h4>Chapter 327</h4>


    In order to allow these German Shepherd puppies to grow up quickly, He Zhiran spent a high price to buy them in the operating table.


    In just five days, those German Shepherd puppies would grow to adult size. By then, they could be released to guard the yard.


    A single rabbit hutch alone could not use so many German Shepherds to supervise. He Zhiran was also prepared in advance.


    There would be more and more industries in her home in the future, such as the cattle and sheep she wanted to raise, as well as some poultry.


    Some crops nted in the fields also needed protection when they matured. For example, melon fields, which also saved the trouble of building melon sheds and hiring manpower to supervise them.


    Seeing so many new animals, Rice Ball jumped for joy.


    It waved its furry paws tomand those German Shepherd puppies to form formations, while selling cute to its owner to show off its achievements.


    He Zhiran was already unable to withstand Rice Ball''s cute offensive in the first ce. Now seeing itmanding the puppies there with a straight face, the feeling of satisfaction brought by happiness instantly overflowed.


    However, what she wanted this time was not for these German Shepherds to be so well-behaved. She wanted them to learn how to guard the property at home.


    "Rice Ball, you have to teach them to guard the house. Only then can they be considered qualified."


    Rice Ball saw its owner issuing orders to it. It tilted its little head to look at her, then immediately made a few whimpering sounds, and turned to look at those German Shepherd puppies.


    I saw its furry little paws waving a few times, and I saw those little puppies who were still standing there neatly just now rushing towards the direction of the sheep herd instantly, while uttering a series of milky calls.


    The sheep that were leisurely eating grass originally saw a group of ck puppies rushing over and immediately started to flee in all directions.


    However, after Rice Ball issued the next order, the puppies quickly surrounded the escaping sheep, and the circle became smaller and smaller.


    One hundred German Shepherd puppies surrounded the sheep tightly. As soon as a sheep wanted to escape, a dog would immediately stop it.


    He Zhiran knew that this was the first step Rice Ball trained these dogs. She continued to watch the changes.


    Sure enough, after Rice Ball made another strange cry, the puppies changed again, barking and rushing towards the sheep herd to attack.


    Just as He Zhiran was a little worried about the safety of the sheep herd, Rice Ball issued another order again, and those dogs obediently returned to their original ces.


    The sheep were unharmed.


    This is how Rice Ball trained those dogs countless times back and forth before finally stopping.


    It trotted over to its owner with its short legs as if showing off, constantly making hmm hmm sounds.


    He Zhiran knew that the little guy had sessfullypleted his task.


    Her belly was already very noticeable now. She slightly leaned to the side and sat on the grass, gently stroking Rice Ball''s fluffy head.


    "Rice Ball is so good today, I will reward you with delicious food."


    As she spoke, He Zhiran''s thoughts had already moved, and she prepared Rice Ball''s favorite milk bowl for it, as well as many tender bamboo shoots, small apples and more.


    With delicious food in front, the little guy suddenly felt that the owner was no longer fragrant, and joyfully pounced over to enjoy it.


    Of course, those new little puppies are also a great help for her in the future, and they must not be neglected.


    He Zhiran took out some ingredients from the warehouse and processed them into nutritious and delicious dog food on the operation table.


    Not only that, she considered that the puppies were growing up and also purchased arge number of pet vitamins and other nutritional products in Taobao Treasure.


    Seeing the food, the puppies ran over with joy. Their ravenous appearance was something Rice Ball simply couldn¡¯tpete with.


    Now that the problem of guarding the house has been solved, just wait for these puppies to grow to adulthood in five days, and find a chance to take them out.


    He Zhiran looked at the time. She had been in the space for some time. She simply tidied up a bit and appeared in her room.


    Her figure had just appeared when Mo Jiuye came back.


    Nan Rui was with him.


    Ever since Nan Rui came to Xiling Vige, he had been living in the haunted house at the foot of the mountain. He basically would not appear in front of people unless he wanted to ask her to help Consort De check her body.


    It was rather rare today that he actually came with Mo Jiuye.


    The guestes, and He Zhiran naturally would not forget the proper etiquette.


    "Greetings to King Rui."


    Nan Rui quickly waved his hand: "The Ninth Lady is too polite. I am no longer a prince, and there is no such person as Nan Rui in the world. Just call me Uncle Rui when you see me in the future."


    He Zhiran was not a sentimental person to begin with, let alone like too many rules. Since Nan Rui said so, she simply said, "Okay, I won''t call you King Rui from now on."


    The reason Nan Rui came this time was that he had something very important to say.


    He originally nned to talk to Mo Jiuye alone, but Consort De could see clearly that the real decision maker in the Mo family was Mo Jiuye¡¯s wife. Therefore, he first found Mo Jiuye and said he had something to discuss with them.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t think too much. Things that can be discussed with his wife are basically rted to medical treatment.


    During this period, He Zhiran went to help Consort De check her body every few days. As they contacted more, they found that Nan Rui and his mother really had no intention of harming the Mo family, and their grievances against them gradually eased.


    "Does Uncle Rui want my wife to help see a doctor?"


    Mo Jiuye didn''t want Nan Rui''s arrival to dy his wife from nourishing the fetus, so he asked straightforwardly.


    Nan Rui was still thinking about how to bring it up when he took the opportunity to say, "My mother and I have been living here for almost a month. We both like the environment here very much and n to settle down here."


    "Settle down here?" This was unexpected for Mo Jiuye.


    In Dashun, the northwest was barrennd, and the climate was not as good as that in the capital. Especially Xiling Vige, it was not a particrly good ce in the local area. He didn''t know why Nan Rui would choose to settle down here.


    Especially since he didn''t believe that a prince who had enjoyed glory and wealth could get used to the life of ordinary people.


    Seeing his doubt, Nan Rui was not surprised at all.


    "My mother and I didn''t expect where we would settle down in the future. After living here recently, I feel that the people here are very simple. My mother also gets along well with Old Lady Mo. She won''t feel lonely on weekdays, so I intend to live here for a long time."


    Hearing Nan Rui say this, doubts arose in Mo Jiuye¡¯s heart again.


    Xiling Vige did not belong to the Mo family. If Nan Rui wanted to live here for a long time with Consort De, he could directly choose a site to build a house, or buy a suitable yard from the vigers. There was no need toe and discuss it with him.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye still did not respond, Nan Rui continued: "I see that your Mo family''s yard is well built, and I also know that Hu Cong is helping to manage it. I came to find you two today to ask if you can ask Hu Cong to help build me such a yard.


    Of course, I can buy the site from the government myself."

 Chapter 328: Where I live now is fine.

    <h4>Chapter 328</h4>


    This was the crux of why Nan Rui hade to find the Mo Jiuye couple.


    In the past few days, the shape of the courtyard Mo Jiuye''s family was building could be vaguely made out. The site of the courtyard was chosen to be next to a mountain and water, and its design was the most sensible yet warm one he had seen. If in the future he could live in such a ce with his mother, spending his days writing poetry and painting, it would be afortable life.


    He Zhiran immediately understood Nan Rui''s intention upon hearing his words. She first thought that he must have already spoken to Hu Cong.


    "Has Brother Nan Rui already asked Brother Hu Cong?"


    Hearing this, Nan Rui appeared somewhat embarrassed as he pursed his lips.


    "Yes, I did mention this matter to Hu Cong, but he said the building method was researched by Consort De, he only helped with the construction. Whether I could also build such a courtyard would have to be asked after Consort De''s opinion."


    So that was how it was.


    It was never going to be a secret that the quadrangle courtyard was designed by He Zhiran, the structure was very simple, and anyone knowledgeable could understand it at a nce.


    Only the water supply, drainage and heating was known to Hu Cong alone, outsiders would not be able to learn even if they saw it.


    Hu Cong was a down-to-earth person. He believed these were He Zhiran''s property, and if the owner wanted to profit from them, it would be theft for the secret to leak through him.


    Therefore, when Nan Rui approached him, he directly referred the matter to the Mo Jiuye couple.


    He could help with the construction, but must have the homeowners'' consent.


    This was why Nan Rui hade to consult with the Mo Jiuye couple.


    Xiling Vige did not belong to the Mo family, so Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran naturally had no objections to Nan Rui building a house here.


    "Have you picked a location to build the house?"


    Asked this, Nan Rui smiled awkwardly.


    "The ce I''m staying now is quite nice, at the foot of the mountain with a clear environment. I heard you bought thatnd, may I ask if you could transfer it to me?"


    He Zhiran rejected this without a second thought.


    "I''m afraid not, Nan Rui. I already have ns for that ce, selling it to you would foil them."


    That was the site He Zhiran had chosen for cattle and sheep pastures, with the haunted house''s location being the cattle shed. If not for Consort De recovering her health there, Mo Jiuye would have demolished the building long ago.


    They thought there was no hurry to demolish it with many matters at hand, they could bring it up with Nan Rui when the time really came.


    They did not expect he had taken a liking to that ce and wanted to purchase it.


    He Zhiran would notpromise her ns for the sake of propriety.


    Nan Rui was not annoyed at the rejection. He felt awkward making the request in the first ce, seeing the Mo family''s ns.


    It would feel odd for an outsider to live amidst therge tract ofnd they bought.


    While he truly liked the ce, especially the lush unknown fruit trees on the hill that flowered and bore fruit, giving a sense of carefree joy just from looking at them.


    Nan Rui also thought being close to the Mo family would make moving around more convenient in the future.


    He never harbored high hopes of seeding in buying the haunted house, just felt somewhat reluctant to give up without trying.


    Since they disagreed, he would naturally not insist.


    "In that case, I will go look around the vige, to see if there is a suitable ce to build a house."


    In any case, he was determined to live here from now on.


    "Very well, just look for a suitable location in the vige. I will let Hu Cong know, if he is willing to help build your house, we have no objections."


    He Zhiran did not oppose it herself, but could not make decisions for Hu Cong either.


    Hearing He Zhiran say this, Nan Rui also felt somewhat relieved.


    Seeing her reject his purchase of the house so decisively, he thought they would not be as amodating as imagined.


    He did not expect they would readily agree to help with the construction.


    "Since it is so, I will not disturb you further, and go look around the vige right away to see if there is a suitable ce."


    As for Hu Cong''s side, he was confident he could persuade him.


    After leaving the Mo family, Nan Rui went straight to the Zhao Family Vige Chief''s home.


    Although he had never lived among themon people, through recent observations, he also understood many matters.


    To buy property in the vige, asking the Vige Chief for help was most appropriate.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not fret over Nan Rui purchasing a house site, what concerned them most now was their daughter Mo Hanyue''s marriage.


    It had to be said, Meng Huaining was truly impatient to bring a wife home.


    They agreed on three days, yet he came asking for her hand in marriage after only two.


    Meng Huaining was not low-key at all this time. Not only did he bring the matchmaker from Yuncheng, he also hired a band with drums and gongs. The thundering sound could be heard clearly from the vige entrance.


    Vigers came out one after another to watch the spectacle, but did not dare approach too closely, only craning their necks to see.


    The County Prefect''s face was gleaming with joy, behind him were people carrying chests draped in bright red silk banners, clearly indicating he hade to propose to some youngdy.


    The vigers went through all the unmarried girls in Xiling Vige, but could not think who the County Prefect wanted to marry.


    As the matchmaking procession had not gone far, they did not dare discuss loudly, only whispering to those next to them.


    "Look, the County Prefect is headed towards the vige, in the direction of the Zhou family. Could it be he wants to propose to a Zhou girl?"


    "That''s impossible. The Zhou family doesn''t have any outstanding girls. Look how refined the County Prefect is, which ordinary family could catch his eye?"


    "How can you say that? The Zhou family has no special girls, but the Zhao family does?"


    Just as the two were on the verge of arguing, someone shouted, "Look quickly, the matchmaking procession is going towards the Zhou family!"


    The Zhou family members rushed towards their home upon seeing this.


    Their nsman was so tight-lipped, marrying the County Prefect without a word, leaving them anxiously guessing.


    The crowd followed Meng Huaining''s procession from a distance, eyes fixed on his movements.


    Seeing he was close to the n Elder''s home, someone could no longer restrain their tion.


    "Look, the County Prefect is going to the n Elder''s home. Their granddaughter is sixteen this year."


    The Zhao family looked on enviously, thinking the Zhou family''s ancestors must be blessed for one of their girls to be chosen by the County Prefect.


    But before they could rejoice too long, they saw the procession pass by the n Elder''s home and stop at the Mo family''s door.


    Everyone looked at each other in dismay.


    "The County Prefect has gone to the Mo family."


    "It really is the Mo family."


    "Does the Mo family have a daughter of marriageable age?"


    "Don''t know..."

 Chapter 329: Upper Beam

    <h4>Chapter 329</h4>


    It was also no wonder that those people did not know. When Mo Hanyue first came to Xi Ling Vige, she had always followed the sisters-inw around, wearing ordinary coarse cloth clothes that did not stand out at all in the crowds.


    After settling down here, she basically never went out the front or back door, and when she recently went out to take care of the medicinal fields, she was also afraid of tanning her skin and had wrapped herself up tightly.


    The Mo Family people also did not deliberately mention to outsiders that there was an unmarried daughter in the family, so the vigers were unaware that the Mo Family also had a marriageable daughter.


    Seeing that the county magistrate had gone to the Mo Family in such a high-profile manner, even if they were still unclear about the Mo Family¡¯s situation, they could not help but believe the facts.


    Meng Huaining did not know that his high-profile proposal had aroused countless guesses among the vigers. At this moment, he was so nervous that his forehead was sweating.


    When he arrived at the Mo Family¡¯s door, Meng Huaining waved his hand to signal the drums and music to stop. He then walked into the Mo Family¡¯s yard, followed closely by the smiling matchmaker he had invited.


    The betrothal gift boxes were also carried into the yard in an orderly manner by the yamen runners.


    It just so happened that today was the day that the roof ridge was going to be installed at the Mo Family''s new house. All of the Mo Family members had gone there to watch it, even 8th elder brother who had an official position at the yamen had taken leave to be at home today.


    Other than 4th elder brother who had limited mobility, there was no one else at home.


    Having already heard themotion outside, Mo Xiuyan unfortunately still could not get out of bed and walk around. He could only call out loudly from his room, "Who is it?"


    Meng Huaining knew that the roof ridge of the Mo Family''s new house was being installed today. He had deliberatelye a day earlier to propose specifically in order to join in the lively event.


    He often visited the Mo family and was not unfamiliar with where the Mo family members lived.


    Based on where the voice came from, he could judge that it was Fourth Elder Brother speaking. Since he had limited mobility, it was normal for him to call out.


    So Meng Huaining immediately knocked on Fourth Elder Brother''s door, and said, "Fourth Elder Brother, it''s me, Meng Huaining. I came today specifically to propose marriage to Young Lady Mo."


    Although Fourth Elder Brother had not participated in the discussions about Mo Hanyue¡¯s marriage matter, his wife had told him everything she heard. Thus, Fourth Elder Brother also knew about this matter.


    Although he did not have much interaction with Meng Huaining, if mother looked favorably upon this person, his character must be good.


    "Elder Brother Meng, pleasee in," he called.


    Meng Huaining did not stand on courtesy and pushed the door to enter.


    He first cupped his fists towards Fourth Elder Brother: "Am I disturbing Fourth Elder Brother''s rest?"


    Fourth Elder Brother waved his hands: "No, no, Elder Brother Meng please sit."


    Meng Huaining hade to propose, and had no intention to stay long since he was here merely out of courtesy to meet Fourth Elder Brother.


    "Fourth Elder Brother, where have all the family members gone?" he asked.


    Fourth Elder Brother had gone through this process himself when marrying his wife in the past. He personally went to deliver the proposal gifts and felt somewhat nervous and impatient at that time too.


    Therefore, he could empathize with Meng Huaining¡¯s current mood.


    "They have all gone to the new house over there, today is the roof ridge instation ceremony."


    Meng Huaining cupped his fists again: "Many thanks to Fourth Elder Brother for informing me, I will go over now to find everyone."


    At this moment, he wished that he could immediately finish the proposal so that his heart would feel at ease.


    After speaking, Meng Huaining directly led a few men to follow him to the Mo Family''s new house.


    The new house was quite some distance from the rented yard in the vige, and the scene there was exceptionally lively. Even with Mo Jiuye''s good hearing, he did not hear the drums and music of the proposal party.


    Fifth Elder Brother had already hung the firecrackers. Sixth Elder Brother stood below with a lit match, just waiting for the auspicious timing to light the firecrackers.


    The female family members were all crowded around Old Lady Mo at the front, waiting to watch the roof ridge instation ceremony.


    Mo Jiuye stood at the back of the women, holding He Zhiran''s hand with one hand and supporting her by the waist with the other, for fear that something might happen to his wife amidst the dense crowd.


    Eighth Elder Brother stood at the back of the group responsible for maintaining order. When he turned around, he saw Meng Huaininging over with some yamen runners.


    He knew Meng Huaining had been busy over thest few days preparing to propose to his little sister. He had not even appeared much at the yamen, so Eighth Elder Brother was unclear why he had rushed over today.


    Eighth Elder Brother walked over: "Elder Brother Meng, why did youe today?"


    He remembered not inviting him to the family¡¯s roof ridge ceremony!


    Although Meng Huaining often visited the Mo family, he had never been to the Mo family''s new house here. As soon as he walked in, he was attracted by the unusual shapes of so many different buildings. If he wasn¡¯t still thinking about finalizing the big matter in his heart, he would definitely have walked around to take a careful look at these exotic houses.


    Seeing his future older brother-inw personallying up to wee him, Meng Huaining strode forward a few steps. "Eighth Elder Brother, I''vee today to propose marriage."


    While the two were talking, Sixth Elder Brother had already lit the firecrackers hanging from the roof ridge over on his side. The deafening loud bangs drowned out the sound of everyone talking, so Meng Huaining and Eighth Elder Brother stopped chatting and both looked towards the roof ridge.


    The roof ridge ceremony was notplicated. After setting off the firecrackers, Hu Cong said a few auspicious words to the Mo family. Then he instructed the workers to symbolically tap the roof ridge a few times with hammers, and the ceremony was consideredpleted.


    In ancient times, the roof ridge ceremony required entertaining rtives and friends. The Mo family was no exception.


    Although they had not been here long, they got along well with vigers from both the Zhou and Zhao families. They naturally also invited over the Fang and Xie families to liven things up.


    As for Tang Mingrui, Old Lady Mo had seen that he had feelings for Mo Hanyue, and did not intend to get too close with him. Thus she did not notify him.


    Simrly, she knew from Mo Chuhan that Meng Huaining had been extremely busy over the past two days preparing for the proposal. So she did not extend an invitation either.


    What they didn''t expect was that Meng Huaining had gotten ready much quicker than anticipated and rushed over to propose formally today.


    With the ceremony over, a banquet was prepared for noon. The Mo family women were about to head to the kitchen to help out.


    As soon everyone turned around, they saw Meng Huaining standing behind the crowd.


    Not waiting for the Mo family to speak, Meng Huaining took the initiative to walk up and offer sincere congrattions.


    ¡°Congrattions, congrattions!¡±


    After some polite remarks, Meng Huaining eagerly got to the point of his visit.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already brought the proposal gifts today and invited a matchmaker. Old Lady Mo, when would it be convenient for you to propose marriage to Young Lady Mo?¡±


    Meng Huaining was just asking a question he already knew the answer to. He knew the procedure for roof ridge ceremonies generally arranged the banquet at noon. The Mo family people should not be too busy at this time.


    Eager to finalize her daughter''s marriage matter as soon as possible, Old Lady Mo made a gesture of invitation and said, "Official Meng, let''s go speak of this in our home."


    This was her daughter¡¯s lifetime event, all of the elder brothers generously made way to participate.


    Seeing that mother had agreed with Meng Huaining to go back home and discuss the proposal, several people followed along.


    Mo Jiuye assisted He Zhiran and walked behind the group.


    Back at the Mo family home, they directly went to Old Lady Mo¡¯s main hall. Only then did Meng Huaining formally instruct those yamen runners to carry the betrothal gift boxes inside. He stood up respectfully and handed over a stack of papers to Old Lady Mo.


    "Esteemed Elder, please look over this list of proposal gifts I''ve prepared for Young Lady Mo."


    Old Lady Mo casually flipped through them. They were all fine items. To call them fine items was to say they were good by Yun City standards. In the eyes of honored officials in the capital, they would not count for much.

 Chapter 330: Proposing marriage

    <h4>Chapter 330</h4>


    Old Lady Mo was very clear in her heart that Meng Huaining was clean as an official, and his family was also being suppressed by Emperor Shunwu. It was already not easy for him to prepare such a generous betrothal gift.


    There must have been help from his n, otherwise with Meng Huaining''s sry, it would have been impossible to prepare a betrothal gift of this standard.


    She was marrying off her daughter, not selling her daughter. No matter the amount, the betrothal gift represented the groom''s sincerity. When the time came, she would carry the gift back along with her daughter''s dowry.


    As long as her daughter was well taken care of, nothing else mattered.


    Moreover, Old Lady Mo had long seen through worldly possessions. The amount was just a token of his feelings.


    If she really wanted her daughter to live in splendor and wealth, she could have married her to Tang Mingrui. Tang Mingrui''s business was currently thriving, much more well-off than Meng Huaining.


    Old Lady Mo had a kindly look on her face as she gently ced the list of betrothal gifts on the table next to her.


    "Meng is very thoughtful."


    Meng Huaining saluted with sped hands again, "I hope the gift does not displease you, Old Lady."


    He knew clearly in his heart that since Old Lady Mo did not raise any objections, it meant his prepared betrothal passed muster.


    The matchmaker also understood the circumstances. It was time for her to make her entrance.


    With a big smile, she came forward and introduced herself first.


    "Old Lady Mo, gentlemen, I am the official matchmaker of Yuncheng. Everyone calls me Matchmaker Liu. Today I have the fortune to be here on County Prefect Meng''s invitation to propose to Miss Mo on his behalf."


    Old Lady Mo smiled back, "We are very grateful, please have a seat."


    Matchmaker Liu did not stand on ceremony and sat down in a nearby chair. She then sang praises of Meng Huaining, as was customary.


    Old Lady Mo had seen simr scenes many times, so she let the matchmaker talk.


    After a long while, Matchmaker Liu finally got to the main point, "Since Old Lady Mo does not have any objections, how about letting me take Miss Mo''s birth date and time so I can select an auspicious date for the happy couple?"


    Speaking of wedding dates, Old Lady Mo had no intention of fully listening to the matchmaker because she was anxious.


    "Can we set the date ourselves?"


    Her words sounded like she was asking, but she was actually informing the matchmaker that she would set the wedding date herself.


    The matchmaker was clearly surprised. She had been in this business for so many years, yet this was the first time she encountered something like this.


    However, she was perceptive. She could see that Old Lady Mo had a domineering character and an imposing manner that she did not dare provoke.


    Moreover, Prefect Meng had already said as long as the marriage could happen, everything else was fine. She need not insist on following every custom at the expense of someone''s happiness.


    "Ohoho...that''s not bad either. Does Old Lady have some good dates in mind?"


    These past few days whenever Old Lady Mo had free time, she would consult the lunar calendar. She had already picked out several good dates.


    Most importantly, all these dates were before July.


    "If this marriage takes ce, I n to have Meng take Han Yue as his wife before July."


    Old Lady Mo said this to Meng Huaining. For matters like this, only Meng Huaining''s agreement carried any weight.


    Meng Huaining did not know that Old Lady Mo would disregard custom and take the initiative to suggest potential wedding dates. Although he did not know her reasons, he believed that given Old Lady Mo''s experience and wisdom, she would not make such a request without good cause.


    Of course, he also was not in the habit of prying into other''s private affairs. Besides, the issue of wedding dates was not a problem for him. In fact, the earlier he could take his beloved as his wife, the better.


    Meng Huaining stood up solemnly, "Since you are the elder, Old Lady, whatever you decide shall be."


    Seeing that the concerned party had spoken, the matchmaker also stood up.


    "The olddy does have good foresight. I was about to say the same thing. This year is a leap year, so only the first half has auspicious days. The second half is not suitable for weddings."


    Her words were pleasing to hear and set the Mo family members and Meng Huaining at ease.


    Old Lady Mo nodded satisfactorily and asked, "Since Matchmaker Liu puts it like that, are there any good dates before July this year?"


    As someone in this line of work, Matchmaker Liu had memorized the auspicious Yellow Calendar dates like the back of her hand.


    "Right now it''s April. April 26 is on the Yellow Calendar. There''s also May 8, June 12..."


    Old Lady Moughed to herself when she heard the dates the matchmaker listed. They were the same ones she had found in the Yellow Calendar.


    Since the matchmaker''s opinion aligned with hers, there was nothing more she needed to question.


    The only thing left was to use the bride and groom''s birth charts to determine if they were ipatible. As long as the result was not terribly ominous, they could choose a good date to make up for it.


    This was Matchmaker Liu''s first time seeing a family so anxious to marry off their daughter. She could also see that the County Prefect was very happy to do so.


    Thus, she no longer offered her own opinion and quietly sat to the side, using the birth years and times on the bride and groom''s charts to calcte theirpatibility.


    The Mo family and Meng Huaining also did not say anything more, silently waiting for the matchmaker''s conclusion.


    After scribbling away for a long time, Matchmaker Liu''s expression grew happier and happier.


    She put the charts down and excitedly stood up.


    "Congrattions to you, Prefect Meng, and to you, Old Lady. The charts of the bride and groom are naturally matching. It''s simply a marriage made in heaven."


    She paused, then continued animatedly, "In all my years as a matchmaker, this is the first time I''ve seen suchpatible charts. This union will go smoothly at every turn. Even if no special date is chosen, there will be no issues."


    At this, everyone revealed looks of joy. Meng Huaining was especially thrilled and eximed "Wonderful!" three times.


    Of course, the matchmaker''s words ddened all those present. But Old Lady Mo still wanted Meng Huaining to have the final say on the decision.


    At least this would not vite too many customs, since the wedding date was ultimately the groom''s choice.


    "Prefect Meng, when do you think would be good to take Han Yue as your wife?"


    Meng Huaining wanted to make Mo Hanyue his wife as soon as possible. The date he favored most was April 26.


    However, it was already mid April. There were only ten days until that date, which would be too rushed to adequately prepare for the wedding and slight Miss Mo.


    Moreover, his wedding required his elders toe preside over the ceremonies, which was impossible to arrange within such a short timeframe.


    After thinking it over, he tentatively asked, "What does Old Lady think about June 12?"


    He had many considerations. First, he needed to purchase a residence in Yuncheng. A married man could not keep living with his wife in the government offices.


    After securing a residence, it would need redecorating to make itfortable for his beloved.


    With this timeframe, he would also have enough time to notify his elders toe preside over his wedding ceremonies without too much rush.


    Overall, this was the most suitable timeframe.


    Old Lady Mo would have no objections as long as it was before July.


    "Good. We''ll go with what Prefect Meng suggests¨Con June 12,e and take Han Yue as your wife."

 Chapter 331: Dowry

    <h4>Chapter 331</h4>


    <Old Lady Mo>''s words had just fallen when <Mo Hanyue> walked in, her face flushed red.


    "Lord <Meng>, may <Mo Hanyue> make a request?"


    At this remark, everyone present except for <He Zhiran> was somewhat shocked.


    What family''s daughter would personally step forward to make requests about her own wedding?


    <Mo Hanyue> really had no other option, so after thinking it over, she decided it would be best to speak out before the wedding.


    Very quickly, <Old Lady Mo>''s face darkened as she said in a displeased tone: "Hanyue, your wedding matters will be handled by your mother and eldest brother. What reason does a youngdy like you have to step forward yourself?"


    Heaven knows it took <Mo Hanyue> an enormous amount of courage toe here. Now that she had already spoken, she had no reason to back down.


    She stubbornly lifted her chin and said, "Mother, <Mo Hanyue> has been learning medicine and herbology from <Ninth Sister-inw> for over half a year now. I''ve just started trying to nt medicinal fields, and I hope that after we marry, Lord <Meng> can agree toe back here every day to help me tend to my medicine fields."


    <Ninth Sister-inw> said that no matter what you do, you have to see it through to the end and not give up halfway.


    She truly enjoyed medicine and herbology, especially watching the medicinal nts she sowed with her own hands grow a little more day after day. That gave her a sense of satisfaction she had never felt since she was little.


    Although she was also fond of <Meng Huaining> and willing to marry him, if that meant she could no longer continue doing what she loved, she would rather not marry for her whole life.


    <Mo Hanyue> had just recently thought this through clearly.


    Because <Meng Huaining> had brought up their wedding, she started thinking about the future.


    Among the nine sister-inws in her family, apart from <Ninth Sister-inw> who had her own will, the other eight sister-inws spent their days following routine in that kind of hopeless way.


    That wasn''t the life she wanted. She wanted to be like <Ninth Sister-inw>, to have her own skills and through her own hard work, create more value.


    At first, <Meng Huaining> thought that <Mo Hanyue>ing here meant she was unwilling to marry him!


    He was so frightened his back was already drenched in cold sweat.


    He didn''t expect that the young girl''s request would be this small.


    He instantly felt relieved. Seeing that the future mother-inw was about to scold her, he quickly stepped forward.


    "That''s no problem. I was nning to get a residence anyway. If Miss Mo feels that West Ridge Vige is suitable, I don''t mind building a courtyard here just like the new Mo manor."


    This was also one of <Meng Huaining>''s small intentions.


    Today when he went to the foot of the mountain, he saw the new Mo manor. Its structure was very different from the norm, and it made people feel veryfortable after seeing it.


    Moreover, he had no family or friends in Yuncheng, so he might as well satisfy his delicate wife.


    If he happened to be very busy with work, <Mo Hanyue> would have her family to look after her, so he wouldn''t need to worry either.


    In fact, <Meng Huaining> hadn''t seen thepleted new Mo manor.


    If he had, he certainly wouldn''t have tried to find so many reasons to build a house here. Just the word fortable" alone would have made him choose to do so without hesitation.


    Speaking of building the same courtyard, everyone in the Mo family knew that the beautifully unique new manor was all <He Zhiran>''s contribution.


    Therefore, everyone''s gazesnded on <He Zhiran> at the same time.


    <Nan Rui> wanted to build the same kind of house and <He Zhiran> didn''t object, so she was even less likely to have any objections to this future inw wanting to build one.


    "Since Brother Meng has this intention, why don''t we Mo family build it? We''ll consider it one of Hanyue''s dowries."


    Over the past few days she had been thinking about what would be an appropriate dowry for <Mo Hanyue>.


    She had just seen the betrothal gifts <Meng Huaining> sent, which were definitely sky-high in Yuncheng. This showed how much he valued <Mo Hanyue>.


    Since this was the case, the Mo family couldn''t lose etiquette either.


    She had also asked the vigers about it. When the big families in Yuncheng married off their daughters, they would often send gifts like shops, houses, or manors as part of the dowry.


    Since <Meng Huaining> liked living here, they might as well send him a courtyard just like the Mo family''s.


    Thenter, preparing some jewelry and other items wouldplete <Mo Hanyue>''s dowry.


    Although she had plenty of these kinds of things in her space, after all they were still ''dirty items''. If they identally caused unnecessary trouble it wouldn''t be worth it, so <He Zhiran> nned to buy some different styles on Taobao Treasures.


    Anyway, there was still around two months until their wedding date, plenty of time for her to prepare.


    From <Old Lady Mo>''s understanding of her daughter-inw, the Ninth Daughter-in-Law was generous and reasonable. Now that she was running the household, she naturally wouldn''t shortchange <Mo Hanyue>''s dowry. The olddy never imagined that her daughter-inw would offer to build an identical house with one remark.


    One had to know, although the house didn''t look like much from the outside, the construction costs were extremely high. Especially the ss used for the windows, which was purchased from foreigners. How could the prices be low?


    Moreover, there was only so much of the stuff. Once it was used up, getting more wouldn''t be easy.


    The family had nine daughters-inw. Even if the Ninth Daughter-in-Law was generous, it was hard to guarantee the other daughters-inw wouldn''t feel unhappy about something like this.


    She couldn''t disregard the other daughters-inws'' feelings just for the sake of her own daughter''s dignity.


    "This..." Wasn''t it a bit too extravagant?


    <He Zhiran> knew what the mother-inw was thinking. She was worried that <Mo Hanyue>''s dowry being too abundant might upset the other daughters-inw.


    <He Zhiran> had considered this before she spoke.


    She thought that there was only this one young sister in the family. The amount of silver she had could be described as enough to rival a nation. She wouldn''t care at all about the dowry she was giving <Mo Hanyue>.


    Moreover, she didn''t n to withdraw this money from the public ounts.


    "Mother, my husband and I have already discussed it. Hanyue''s dowry will be paid from our private funds, and won''t touch the Mo family''s public ounts."


    Ever since settling down in West Ridge Vige and starting to raise rabbits, <He Zhiran> had recorded the family''s ie and expenditures in a small notebook.


    On thest day of every month, she would gather the family and make the ount book public, and distribute wages to everyone. Of course, the wages were allocated based on work, so no one would have any objections.


    <Old Lady Mo> knew the couple had a lot of money, but that was their personal assets. How could she tear down the east wall to mend the west, using her son''s money to help her daughter?


    But she wasn''t an ignorant country woman who had never seen the world either. Now that the daughter-inw had already spoken in front of the future son-inw, there was no way she could kick the ball back.


    "Since that''s the case, Mother has also saved up some private funds. I''ll take it out to build Hanyue a house too!"


    The filial children in the family would all give her some of their wages every month, and she earned some herself from making dolls with the daughters-inw. <Old Lady Mo> did have some savings.


    But to build a courtyard like that, she was still worried it might not be enough. Thus, <Old Lady Mo> didn''t speak with much confidence.

 Chapter 332: A Banquet

    <h4>Chapter 332</h4>


    He Zhiran knew that the olddy Mo was impartial in handling matters, so she hurriedly said, "Mother, no matter who provided this silver, in short, one siheyuan courtyard is considered as part of Hanyue''s dowry."


    When Mo Jiuye saw this, he also echoed, "That''s right, Mother. This is nothing difficult. As long as Hanyue lives well in the future, we can really feel at ease."


    His words were already very obvious, with the intention of threatening Meng Huaining.


    As the elder brother, if his only younger sister was not treated well by her husband¡¯s family in the future, he would absolutely not stand idly by.


    Meng Huaining could naturally hear Mo Jiuye''s implication.


    He was marrying the girl he liked, so he would definitely treat her well for a lifetime, there was no doubt about this. He didn''t need to guarantee anything either. He would prove it with actions in the future.


    The most important thing now was the issue of their future home.


    "Old Madam, Ninth Brother, Ninth Sister-inw, I can handle the matter of the house myself. I know you treat Lady Mo well, but such a heavy dowry is too much," said Meng Huaining.


    He had never thought about what kind of dowry his future wife would have, after all, he was not clear about the Mo family''s current situation.


    On the surface, it seemed that the Mo family was notcking money at the moment, but it was all earned by raising rabbits after going to Northwest.


    Building such a nice house did not cost a small amount of money. He was marrying the girl he loved. The good days in the future were what he would strive for. He had never thought about the dowry.


    This was also Meng Huaining''s heartfelt words.


    Mo Jiuye knew best that his wife had racked her brains these days to prepare a dowry for Hanyue. How could he possibly let Meng Huaining snatch it away now that his wife had finally decided on the dowry to give to the young aunt?


    "The dowry is decided by the bride''s family. Hanyue''s dowry has been set. Brother Meng does not need to feel pressured," said Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye gave others the impression that he was the type who had the final say. Therefore, Meng Huaining felt that it would be futile no matter how much he argued.


    "Since this is the case, I will not stand on ceremony with Ninth Brother."


    At worst, he could set up a few more shops in the city for Mo Hanyue to offset the dowry.


    Mo Hanyue did not know Meng Huaining''s thoughts. Seeing that her goal had been achieved, she shyly lowered her head and said nothing more.


    When Old Lady Mo saw the embarrassing atmosphere, she quickly said, "Alright, today Mister Meng and Hanyue¡¯s engagement has been settled. It is a joyous event. Coincidentally, the topping-out ceremony for our family¡¯s new house is today. Everyone whoes to the Mo family today shall stay for the meal."


    With this, she clearly told everyone present that the matter was settled and no one needed to say any more.


    The Mo brothers were very perceptive. Hearing their mother''s words, they quickly got up and invited everyone to take a walk around the new house while waiting for the banquet to begin.


    Since her wish was fulfilled, Mo Hanyue did not want to appear too much in front of Meng Huaining either. She took the opportunity to go help her sisters-inw.


    What the Mo family did not expect was that the vigers had sessively brought gifts before the topping-out banquet even began.


    Their gifts were some homemade chickens, ducks and other items. The richer families gave fabrics, while the poorer ones also gave baskets of eggs.


    For the vigers of Xi Ling Vige, these were considered grand gifts. The Mo family would definitely remember each of these favors.


    The vigers'' arrival was unexpected. Fortunately, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had prepared more ingredients. They hurriedly notified the kitchen to increase the quantity.


    When it struck noon, tables and chairs brought by the vigers were ced all around the new house. After Old Lady Mo said a few words of thanks, everyone sat down around the tables.


    At this time, Nan Rui also came with Consort De.


    He had already given his gift early in the morning. He came now only wanting to show his support.


    Moreover, he had also decided to live in Xi Ling Vige in the future. He could not always stay indoors. It was necessary to get acquainted with these vigers. Today was a good opportunity.


    Meng Huaining had not seen Nan Rui before, but with his perception he could determine that these two people had extraordinary bearings and were definitely not ordinary merchants ormoners.


    Also, seeing the old woman being very familiar with Old Lady Mo, he could ascertain that the two families were deeply connected.


    Whether the visitors were of high status, since the Mo family did not take the initiative to introduce them, he would not probe.


    The Mo family had many secrets. Just the fact that so many deceased brothers had sessivelye back to life was something difficult to ept.


    Especially at the beginning, when he came here at Fei Nanyu''s request to tell him the news that the eighth young master of the Mo family was alive, Fei Nanyu had thought he was lying.


    On the contrary,ter when he found that he had fallen in love with the Mo family''s girl, he knew that it would be best if those nobles in the capital were unaware of these secrets of the Mo family. So he deliberately concealed it.


    Now when he sent messages to Fei Nanyu, he only said that the Mo family had settled in Xi Ling Vige and were participating in farm work, and had epted such a life. There was nothing else.


    Meng Huaining did not recognize Nan Rui, but Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou also recognized him.


    Having been officials at court for many years, they frequently saw Nan Rui face to face.


    When the two of them turned around today, they saw that familiar face.


    The two were instantly scared into a cold sweat, and even hoped they had made a mistake in recognizing the person.


    However, they did not recognize the wrong person.


    Nan Rui had brought Consort De to the banquet scene. He first scanned the surroundings. Although he had been living in Xi Ling Vige for a long time, he had never met Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou face to face before. He had also instructed the Mo family not to reveal that he was here.


    Today he chose to appearpletely because he had made up his mind to live an ordinary life like the Mo family in the future. Therefore, he was no longer hiding his presence.


    Just as Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou were about to kowtow to Nan Rui, Mo Jiuye reached out quickly to stop them.


    Mo Jiuye whispered, "Uncles, pretend you don''t know that person. I will slowly exin it to youter."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye say this, they immediately understood, although they were still a little apprehensive.


    However, they were also scheming people. They would not show it too obviously.


    The two quickly adjusted themselves, no longer looking in Nan Rui''s direction, but sitting down with the vigers instead.


    Seeing this, Nan Rui nodded gratefully to Mo Jiuye, then was called over by Old Lady Mo to dine at her table.


    With the guests seated, Mo Chongyuan thanked everyone on behalf of the Mo family again before the banquet officially began.


    Because Meng Huaining was present, the vigers were somewhat restrained. Facing such good food, they did not dare to praise loudly, and could only silently lower their heads to eat.


    Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou were not afraid of Meng Huaining, but they saw that Prince Rui was somewhat reserved. So after hurriedly eating some food, the two left in a hurry.


    As for why the Prince was here, it was not their position to inquire. Thus, the two took their curiosity away with them.

 Chapter 333: Furniture

    <h4>Chapter 333</h4>


    The banquet at the Liang''s residence continued until the early hours of the morning, and the guests gradually took their leave.


    He Zhiran had aplished all that he had set out to do on this trip, and since the Mo family was busy dealing with the aftermath, he no longer had any reason to stay. He bid his subordinates and the matchmaker farewell and departed.


    The Mo family was kept busy until nightfall, utterly exhausted by the time they finally went back to rest.


    The next morning, Hu Cong asked Mo Jiuye to go with him to survey thend at the foot of the mountain.


    Now that they needed to build another courtyard residence of the same style to give to He Zhiran''s younger sister, the original ns would require some modifications.


    Fortunately, the vacantnd west of the courtyardplex was space that Hu Cong had intended to reserve for future workshops. Since there was ample room, losing the area for one courtyard residence was not an issue.


    Once they determined the location, the couple went that very day to inform Hu Cong and exin their desire to build another identical courtyard residence there, hoping that the speed of construction could be faster, ideallypleted at the same time as the Mo family''s courtyards.


    Having already mastered the techniques for building courtyard residences, and with excess materials still avable, Hu Cong saw no issue with an expedited timeline.


    Thus, he readily agreed.


    Thanks to the plentifulbor and prepared materials, there was no reason for dys to the construction timeline of the courtyard residences. Hu Cong estimated everything could bepletely finished within another month.


    Without modern harmful substances like formaldehyde, newly built houses in ancient times could be moved into as soon as some furniture was made after construction wasplete.


    Speaking of furniture, He Zhiran felt they could begin preparations on that front as well.


    Most modern furniture was custom-made, which meant tailoring pieces to fit the size andyout of the intended space.


    The style could be uniform, but the dimensions had to be appropriate - that was the crux of bespoke furniture.


    Moreover, He Zhiran found the ancient furniture impractical and not very aesthetically pleasing.


    Thus, she also nned to personally design the furniture.


    Though calling it design was rather shameless given herck of talent in that area.


    Either way, originating distinct items in this era that also came from her hands meant she could brazenly im to have designed them.


    After settling on the arrangements, He Zhiran returned to her workshop and sketched out on paper all the furniture designs she could think of that seemed reasonable.


    Nan Rui still had not moved out of the haunted house, and construction on the cattle shed Mo Jiuye nned to build could not yet begin, so there were rtively fewer matters to handle over thest couple days. This left him free to apany his wife.


    Oblivious to Mo Jiuye''s desires, He Zhiran sat engrossed at the desk in her workshop, wholly focused on sketching furniture blueprints, while Mo Jiuye surrounded her, preparing various freshly cut fruits piece by piece and feeding them to her.


    Gazing at his wife''s cherry-like red lips parting open and closed, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help swallowing.


    By his tally, it had already been over two months since his wife discovered her pregnancy, which meant two months of abstinent celibacy for him.


    He even felt an urge to hold his wife in intimacy again as they once had. But seeing her protruding belly, he endured...


    Unaware of Mo Jiuye''s lust, He Zhiran had unknowingly designed many modern-style pieces of furniture.


    She had considered some ancient conventions as well, aiming for a perfect blend.


    For instance, the exterior and color of the wardrobes could not be as novel as modern ones, made of natural wood, but the structure leaned more modern.


    The sliding doors were designed nearly flush with the ceiling''s height, with small built-in drawers inside for knickknacks.


    And there was the bed in the bedroom. He Zhiran disliked ancient step-up beds where entering and exiting would be inconvenient for the upant at night.


    Thus, she designed a modern wood-frame tform bed, with storage space underneath and ornately carved headboard in an antique style.


    There were also desks and chairs, simrly of a minimalist modern style, giving an overall refined and elegant appearance.


    Of course, there were also a fewzyboy recliners, non-existent in this era, which would require a skilled artisan to figure out.


    After a cold shower, Mo Jiuye returned to see his wife carefully reviewing the fruits of herbor blueprint by blueprint.


    The furniture styles were nothing novel to Mo Jiuye. Between his wife''s online store and the odd furnishings of the clinic, he had long be inured to entric designs.


    He had worried initially that basing the furniture on those styles would be too unconventional, and nearly advised against it for fear of dampening her enthusiasm.


    But now things were well, the furniture perfectly suited his aesthetic - the more he looked, the more pleasing it was to the eye.


    "Wife, this bed is great, very simr to the one in your workshop, yet the antique style of the headboard doesn''t seem out of ce."


    Having earned such an evaluation, He Zhiran felt her efforts had not been in vain.


    "Since you find it suitable, there''s no issue."


    In short, this would be the furniture used for their new home.


    As for whether others would like this style, that depended on their own taste.


    If they found it unsuitable, they could opt for furniture in the style of this era.


    After reviewing the blueprints again and mutually agreeing there were no problems, the couple left the workshop.


    The first person they thought of for producing novel furniture was still Hu Cong.


    This was because He Zhiran had seen with her own eyes the wooden seeders he invented. She had examined the craftsmanship closely at the time and noted the intricate workmanship.


    Although Hu Cong was currently busy helping the Mo family build houses and had taken on Nan Rui''s business, he had always been receptive to fresh ideas.


    Just like with the furniture drawings He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye showed him today - once again expanding his horizons.


    Moreover, he fully appreciated the aesthetic appeal and practicality of these designs.


    By now, Hu Cong had quietly made a decision that after finishing the Mo family affairs, he would buy a plot ofnd in the vige like Nan Rui and build a simr courtyard residence for himself. And if He Zhiran permitted it, he also nned to use her furniture designs to furnish it.


    Taking advantage of the family gathered for dinner, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye showed the new furniture sketches and asked if any of them needed such novel furnishings.


    The sisters-inw had always been supportive of everything He Zhiran created. Even without seeing the drawings, they would have no objections. Moreover, they truly found the little sister-inw''s designs ingeniously unique. ced in a room, the pieces not only looked beautiful but seemed highly practical.


    Though the women had made up their minds, they would not voice opinions before the old matriarch spoke first.


    Thus, all eyes uniformly fell on Old Lady Mo.


    Having lived most of her life, Old Lady Mo was long ustomed to those rules and proprieties. Even during her banishment to the northwest frontier, she still clung to those ingrained old customs, especially regarding furnishings, which were considerably strict in prestigious households.


    Wardrobes inside the rooms had to be opened from the top and carved with lotus patterns, said to attract wealth.


    And she had slept most of her life on a step-up bed, an essential barrier of modesty between man and wife.

 Chapter 334: They asked for the whereabouts of Xiling Village.

    <h4>Chapter 334</h4>


    Just like most aristocratic families in the capital city, when the master and his wife show courtesy to each other like Zhou Gong, the maids and servants would be waiting outside the door. After the master finishes, he would call them in to serve them. Under such circumstances, the master inside the bed could lower the curtain. If anything was needed, the servants just needed to pass it in through the curtain.


    Although now that the Mo family hase to Xi Ling Vige to live, they are not bound by so many rules and etiquette, those rules are still unshakable in the mind of the conservative olddy. Of course, she would not interfere with things that her children couldn''t ept just because she herself couldn''t ept them.


    She saw that her daughters-inw were all waiting for her toment. She said indifferently, "I''m old now and cling to the past. I still prefer the original style of furniture. If you like them, feel free to use them."


    With the mother-inw''s word, the sisters-inw could no longer hold back.


    The second sister-inw hurriedly grabbed He Zhiran¡¯s arm, "Sister-inw, I like these new styles of furniture. Let''s use this kind of furniture for the new house."


    The third sister-inw said excitedly: ¡°Sister-inw, I really like the furniture you designed. They will look very good when ced in the room in the future.¡±


    The eighth sister-inw pushed Mo Chuhan next to her and said, "Dear, we also want this kind of furniture."


    Mo Chuhan nodded, "Well, whatever you say."


    In fact, even if his wife hadn¡¯t said so, Mo Chuhan would have chosen this new style of furniture anyway.


    If he were say who in the family he most admired now, it would be his ninth sister-inw. Everything she came up with was surprisingly good, beyond everyone''s imagination.


    Seeing this, the fifth, sixth, and seventh sister-inws also asked their husbands for opinions. Everyone agreed that they would choose the new style furniture for their future new houses.


    Only the fourth sister-inw, her husband was still recuperating in the room. She couldn¡¯t wait to borrow the drawings and went back to ask her husband Mo Xiuyan¡¯s opinion.


    Needless to say, Mo Xiuyan also liked the new style furniture.


    As for Mo Hanyan, the little girl was still a little shy, and only said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to ninth brother and sister-inw to decide.¡±


    The meaning was obvious. She also wanted the new style furniture.


    So in the Mo family, only old Lady Mo¡¯s new house didn¡¯t need the new style furniture. He Zhiran was clear on this.


    There was plenty of timber in her space. She could go in at night to chop and then process it into finished wood using the console. Then she would find a chance to deliver it to the yard they rented in the city.


    This would not only save costs, but more importantly, also save Mo Jiuye the trouble of purchasing.


    The couple were go-getters. That night, they chopped arge amount of pear wood in the space. The next day, they got up early and said they were going into the city to buy wood before heading to Yun City.


    The carriage arrived smoothly at the yard they rented in the city.


    With a thought, He Zhiran arranged all the finished wood processed in the space and ced it in the yard.


    It was impossible to buy wood in such a short amount of time. In order not to arouse suspicion from the family, the couple nned to walk around the streets.


    There were many pedestrians on the street. Mo Jiuye parked the carriage properly and led He Zhiran around, strolling leisurely.


    Although destepared to other ces, Xi Bei was still rtively prosperous in Yun City.


    As they walked hand in hand along the busiest street, shop assistants were soliciting business in front of the shops on both sides. Somemoners were also selling goods produced by their families on the roadside.


    There was an endless stream of pedestriansing and going. Only two men caught Mo Jiuye¡¯s attention.


    When those two walked, they looked around, asionally inquiring the stall owners by the roadside.


    It wasmon for there to be outsidersing and going anywhere, but the meticulous Mo Jiuye noticed a big problem.


    Although the two men wore Da Shun people''s clothes with their hair coiled up in a bun like the Da Shun people, and wore kerchiefs like themoners, the shoes under their cheongsam gave away their identity.


    Mo Jiuye was very familiar with the South Border. He knew that the South Border people believed in witch gods, and witch gods were born on the first night when the moon was in a crescent shape.


    Therefore, South Border people used the crescent moon as a symbol for the witch god. They would embroider crescents on clothes, hats or even shoes and socks.


    It was precisely because Mo Jiuye discovered this that he realized those two men had unnoticeable crescent moons embroidered on their shoes.


    Seeing her husband staring at those two nondescript men, He Zhiran asked, "Dear, is there something wrong with those two?"


    Mo Jiuye replied in a low voice, "They are from the South Border."


    "South Border?" He Zhiran was obviously very shocked.


    It should be known that the South Border was far away from Xi Bei, and Xi Bei was where the most barren areas of Da Shun were located. For them toe to Da Shun, they must have had some purpose other than just visiting such a ce.


    The two walked over to the stall owner the South Border people had just asked about earlier, acting as if nothing had happened.


    He Zhiran took some coins out of her space and asked the man softly, "Brother, what did those two ask you just now?"


    The stall owner happily took the coins and whispered: "They asked about the whereabouts of Xi Ling Vige."


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran immediately became vignt.


    For South Border people to ask about Xi Ling Vige, they could think of no other reason than to find the Mo family.


    Looking at those two men, they were already walking in the direction of Xi Ling Vige.


    He Zhiran knew that with her bulky body now, Mo Jiuye would be neglecting her safety if he kept worrying about her. Following those two men carefully would be difficult.


    "Dear, follow them first. I''ll go to the government office to find eighth brother and ask him to hurry over with the carriage to take me back."


    If she hadn¡¯t mentioned the eighth brother, Mo Jiuye would never feel assured letting her go back alone. Moreover, the government office was near, which made him feel more at ease.


    "Alright, there are many people on the street. Don''t wander around yourself. Go to the government office to find eighth brother. I may also need help."


    There was no time to dy. Mo Jiuye exhorted her for a bit before tightly following those two South Border men.


    He Zhiran did not wander off but went straight to the government office.


    She happened to arrive just as Mo Chuhan was returning from patrolling with a group of people.


    "Sister-inw, weren''t you with ninth brother buying wood? Why did youe here alone?¡±


    He Zhiran felt it was inappropriate to talk about this in front of so many officers.


    "Eighth brother, let¡¯s talk over there.¡±


    Mo Chuhan knew something was wrong. Otherwise, the meticulous ninth brother wouldn¡¯t have left the ninth sister-inw alone. He dismissed the officers and walked with He Zhiran to the side of the government office.


    "Sister-inw, what on earth happened?¡±


    "Eighth brother, just now in the market, we discovered two sneaky South Border men. They were asking about the location of Xi Ling Vige. My husband was worried there would be trouble at home, so he secretly followed them.¡±


    When he heard the words South Border men, Mo Chuhan instinctively clenched his fists.


    The person he hated most now were the South Border people because the perpetrator who had persecuted countless Mo men was Mr. Si Meng from the South Border.


    Moreover, not long after the ninth brother and sister-inw had just rescued three elder brothers from the South Border, South Border men suddenly appeared in Yun City asking about the whereabouts of Xi Ling Vige. This couldn¡¯t help but make him extremely vignt.

 Chapter 335: Two People from Southern Xinjiang

    <h4>Chapter 335</h4>


    <Mo Chuhan> although was angry, he had notpletely lost his senses and could not leave his pregnant younger sister alone here.


    Besides, he also believed in his ninth younger brother''s skills to easily handle two


    .


    <He Zhiran> knew things were not as simple as <Mo Chuhan> thought.


    If those two


    were really sent by Mr. <Si Meng>, even if their martial arts skills were not great, they would at least be people who knew how to use poison.


    Otherwise, with Mr. <Si Meng>''s vignt personality, he would not have sent people this far to the northwest without some special skills.


    Therefore, she hoped Eldest Brother would hurry and catch up to <Mo Jiuye> and <He Zhiran>''s footsteps. If those two


    tried any tricks, it would be safer with her there too.


    The two fetched a carriage and rushed in the direction of <Xi Ling Vige>.


    Seeing his sister-inw''s belly was so big, Eldest Brother did not dare drive the carriage too fast, he could only keep the pace smooth and steady.


    Fortunately, those two


    were walking to <Xi Ling Vige> on foot without using any lightness kungfu, so their speed was ordinary.


    The carriage quickly caught up to them.


    At this time, they were on the road to <Xi Ling Vige>, with farnd from nearby viges on both sides. The vigers were all busy at this time, so the road was deserted.


    Hearing the sound of horse hooves, <Mo Jiuye> looked back and saw it was Eldest Brother driving the carriage to catch up.


    He lightly leapt up and sat next to Eldest Brother.


    <Mo Chuhan> pointed to the two people not far ahead and asked, "Is it them?"


    <Mo Jiuye> nodded lightly, "Mm, it''s them."


    Hearing this, <Mo Chuhan> handed the reins to <Mo Jiuye>.


    "I''ll go catch them."


    Even if Eldest Brother had not caught up now, <Mo Jiuye> was already nning to take action.


    This was the most sparsely popted area on the road to <Xi Ling Vige>.


    Therefore, <Mo Jiuye> did not stop Eldest Brother''s actions, but still gave a reminder, "Be careful of their tricks."


    Although Eldest Brother was the most rough and impulsive among the brothers, he had also suffered losses from


    before, so he would naturally be more vignt.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll be careful!"


    It had to be said, Eldest Brother''s martial arts skills were indeed the best among the brothers. <He Zhiran> lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, and in the blink of an eye, he was behind the two


    .


    The


    seemed to also sense something wrong and were about to turn around to respond, but Eldest Brother reacted even faster. He kicked and sent one man flying, then swiftly grabbed the other man who was just about to reach into his clothes to take something out.


    <Mo Jiuye> also noticed the Southern Frontier man''s gesture to take something out and worried Eldest Brother would be in danger, so he immediately stopped the carriage at the roadside and flew over.


    The two brothers moved as swift as lightning, not giving the


    any chance to react.


    Almost at the same time, each brother controlled one man.


    It was somewhat unbelievable that the


    were captured so easily.


    Especially when facing <Mo Jiuye>''s handsome face that seemed to be frosted over, they froze in ce.


    The older


    quickly eased his nervousness.


    "Who...who are you? Committing violence in broad daylight, I will report this to the officials!"


    When it came to reporting to officials, Eldest Brother almostughed out loud.


    He was in a hurry to catch up with Ninth Younger Brother and had not changed out of his <Da Shun> government officer uniform.


    "I am the official. If you have any grievances, just say it." As he spoke, he deliberately straightened his chest to make the ''official'' character on his chest clearer.


    The


    had only seen a portrait of <Mo Jiuye> and were not familiar with <Mo Chuhan>.


    After recognizing <Mo Jiuye> earlier, tension appeared in their hearts for a moment, making them overlook <Mo Chuhan> who had made the first move against them.


    With this reminder, the two finally noticed that this person was wearing the uniform of a <Da Shun> government officer!


    "So what if you''re an official? We didn''t break anyws."


    Seeing the man was still stubborn, <Mo Chuhan> found it even more amusing.


    However, like <Mo Jiuye>, he also had no intention of wasting words with them.


    The two brothers tacitly knocked out one man each without giving the


    a chance to react.


    Seeing this, <He Zhiran> also got out of the carriage and had the brothers carry the


    onto the carriage.


    She knew clearly that although this ce was rarely visited by people, they could not guarantee no passersby would show up in broad daylight.


    Besides, the things they wanted to inquire were quite sensitive matters, so they had to be more prudent.


    <Xi Ling Vige> was not far away now. <Mo Jiuye> supported <He Zhiran> to sit outside the carriagepartment while <Mo Chuhan> followed alongside the carriage using lightness martial arts.


    Entering <Xi Ling Vige>, the carriage slowly drove into the courtyard they were renting.


    It happened that Fifth and Sixth Eldest Brothers were chopping firewood in the front yard. Seeing Ninth Younger Brother had returned, and Eighth Eldest Brother who should have been at his government job hade along too, they immediately sensed something was amiss.


    Fifth Eldest Brother put down his ax and came over to ask, "Eighth Brother, howe you came back too? No errands at the yamen?"


    <He Zhiran> knew <Mo Jiuye> did not n to interrogate the two men at home, and it was not possible to bring her along, so she directly returned to her own room.


    <Mo Jiuye> lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to show Fifth and Sixth Eldest Brothers.


    "Fifth Eldest Brother, Sixth Eldest Brother, we discovered two


    inquiring about <Xi Ling Vige>''s whereabouts, so we captured them and brought them back."


    When it came to


    , the Mo brothers could be said to harbor the same enmity.


    Heaven knows how much they detested


    , moreover,


    ing to <Yun City> to inquire about <Xi Ling Vige> was undoubtedly targeting their Mo family.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, how do you n to deal with these two?" Fifth Eldest Brother asked.


    "These two were knocked unconscious by Eighth Brother and me. They will wake up soon. I n to take them to the mountain cave to interrogate them."


    Sixth Eldest Brother agreed, "Good, no time to dy. Let''s go over now."


    After the brothers discussed, they silently brought the two men to the mountain cave that was previously used by those medicine men to recuperate injuries.


    <Mo Jiuye> was already prepared against the tricks of


    . As soon as the brothers threw the two men on the ground, he went over to search them.


    These two were quite rich, he actually found a thousand taels worth of silver notes on them.


    Apart from that were a few thumb-sized porcin bottles. There was definitely something like poison powders stored inside.


    <Mo Jiuye> took away those items without worry that his brothers would be in danger. He walked forward and fiercely kicked the two men a few times. The two


    gradually woke up.


    When they saw the four formidable men before them, their bodies instinctively tried to shrink back.


    Sixth Eldest Brother and Eldest Brother simply did not give them a chance to react. In one swift movement, they pressed the two men down firmly.


    "Don''t struggle if you don''t want to suffer torment."


    The two


    were indeed obedient. Hearing Eldest Brother''s shout, they did not dare to move at all, continuing to pretend to be ostriches.


    In fact, they had already quickly thought up ways to escape in their minds.


    The older


    saw that the people in front of him did not continue to act. His eyes darted around before reaching into his clothes.


    As a result, when he touched around, there was nothing there. The self-defense drugs they brought had been taken away...

 Chapter 336: What did he send you here for

    <h4>Chapter 336</h4>


    Mo Jiuye smiled ambiguously as he walked up with the porcin bottle he had taken from them in his hand.


    "Were you looking for this?"


    "Uh..."


    "This is..."


    Seeing the thing that was protecting their lives in someone else''s hand, the two felt extremely troubled.


    Mo Jiuye sneered and put away the porcin bottle in his arms. Then he went straight to the point and asked, "Who sent you to Yuncheng?"


    As he was asking, Mo Chuhan had already drawn out his waist saber and held it against the neck of the older Nanzheng man.


    The Nanzheng man was so frightened that cold sweat streamed down. Although they had some martial arts skills, they had just felt that the skills of the people in front of them were far above theirs, especially Mo Jiuye, who was once the war god of Da Shun. They simply had no chance to make a move.


    If they did not admit their Nanzheng identity, there might still be a ray of hope for survival.


    "Good sir, spare me... We aremoners of Da Shun, not Nanzheng people!"


    It had to be said that when this older Nanzheng man spoke, there was really no ent that could be heard at all. He soundedpletely like a person of Da Shun.


    Even so, no one would believe his words.


    Mo Chuhan moved the saber against his neck again. The Nanzheng man could already feel a hint of chill. If the saber moved a bit more, it would probably draw blood.


    "Good sir, spare me... I really am not a Nanzheng person."


    Mo Chuhan snorted coldly, "Humph! Still being stubborn when facing death. I will let you experience a fate worse than death."


    As he spoke, he had already shifted the position of the big saber in his hand. It went straight to cut off one ear of the older Nanzheng man.


    "Ahhhh!" The Nanzheng man yelled out in pain. He reached up to cover where his ear used to be, looking at Mo Chuhan in horror.


    At this time, Mo Chuhan had already raised his saber again, aiming at his other ear.


    Seeing this, the Nanzheng man pleaded incessantly, "Good sir, spare me... I will tell you everything I know."


    Hearing him say this, Mo Chuhan did indeed stop his movement.


    Unexpectedly, taking advantage of the few seconds when he paused, the Nanzheng man actually rushed straight towards his big saber.


    It was toote for Mo Chuhan to dodge. The big saber stabbed right into the Nanzheng man''s chest without deviation.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye was afraid that the other Nanzheng man would alsomit suicide. He dashed over like lightning and controlled the man.


    Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother also followed Ninth Brother''s footsteps and surrounded the surviving Nanzheng man.


    Now the surviving Nanzheng man could notmit suicide even if he wanted to. He was increasingly terrified. At one point, he even wanted to cover his ears, but his hands and feet were all under control so he could not move at all.


    "What exactly do you want to do?"


    Mo Jiuye sneered, "As long as you are willing to answer my questions, I promise you will die without pain."


    "Can I not die?" The horrible death of hispanion was still fresh in his mind. As a survivor, who would be willing to die if they could live properly?


    "No." Mo Jiuye''s reply was very decisive.


    Hearing this, the survivor''s body shuddered. At the same time, he felt a stream of warmth between his legs...


    Mo Chuhan turned his head in disgust, "How foul."


    Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother had also never seen such a scene before. They did not expect that someone could actually lose control of their dder because of fear.


    Fifth Brother said impatiently, "Ninth Brother, hurry up with the interrogation."


    Before his voice fell, Mo Chuhan had already raised his saber again, the de tip pointing at the Nanzheng man''s face.


    The Nanzheng man was so frightened that his face lost all color. "Don''t kill me, I''ll talk, I''ll tell everything."


    After saying this, he looked at them again, thinking that they did not refute him, which meant they agreed not to kill him.


    Mo Jiuye did not care about this person''s thoughts at all. He asked in a deep voice, "Speak, who sent you here?"


    "It... it was Mr. Si Meng."


    "I knew it was him!" Mo Jiuye gnashed his teeth and said. Then he exchanged nces with his brothers.


    The brothers all hated Si Meng. Hearing his name, they clenched their fists.


    Mo Jiuye took a deep breath and continued to ask, "What did he send you here to do?"


    "His treasured pet went missing. He sent us to look for it."


    Speaking of Si Meng''s treasured pet, the first thing that came to Mo Jiuye''s mind was the golden eagle in his wife''s space.


    His wife had told him that the little thing usually looked like an ordinary white dove. But when it needed to carry out tasks or encountered danger, it would reveal an eagle-like mouth.


    It seemed that Si Meng cared a lot about the little thing.


    But now was not the time for him to think about those things. He needed to ask for some useful information.


    "Where is Si Meng now?"


    This was the key point that the Mo brothers desperately wanted to know.


    "I don''t know..."


    "Dare to say you don''t know, I''ll take your life right now!"


    Before the Nanzheng man could finish speaking, Mo Chuhan''s big saber was already pointing at the top of his head. If he continued to say he didn''t know, he would surely be split in half.


    The Nanzheng man was so frightened that tears came out. He pleaded over and over, "Good sir, spare me... I really don''t know about Si Meng''s whereabouts."


    From his reaction, it was not difficult to see that he was not lying.


    Mo Jiuye still had other questions to ask. He was afraid Eighth Brother would kill the man on impulse, so he could only remind him.


    "Eighth Brother."


    Hearing Ninth Brother''s reminder, although Mo Chuhan did not move the saber away, he also had no intention of striking down. It still remained above the Nanzheng man''s head.


    Taking this chance, Mo Jiuye came forward to ask, "If you don''t even know about Si Meng''s whereabouts, how do you take orders from him? "


    In order to survive, the Nanzheng man had racked his brains to think.


    He hoped that he could analyze and find out about Si Meng''s whereabouts to give them an exnation.


    After thinking it over, he decided toy bare everything he knew.


    "I was arranged by my master to gather intelligence within Da Shun''s territory. My master once said that if Si Meng asked us to do something, we must obey."


    Hearing this, Mo Chuhan couldn''t wait to ask, "Who is your master?"


    "My master is Nanzheng''s Empress Yun Li." The Nanzheng man answered very readily, apparently not intending to lie.


    Speaking of Yun Li, she was the one killed by Mo Jiuye. He actually had a lot of questions to ask.


    The Nanzheng man in front of him could not leave this ce alive anyway, so he had no misgivings.


    "Isn''t Yun Li already dead?"


    The Nanzheng man was obviously very surprised to hear this. "You said my master is dead?"


    Mo Jiuye sneered, "She died by my hand long ago."


    The Nanzheng man was shocked. No wonder his master had not given him any tasks for so long.


    But at the moment, he felt that the most important thing was still his own life. Therefore, he did not dare to actively inquire about the details.


    Seeing that he said nothing, Mo Jiuye continued asking, "Since your master is dead, how did Si Meng order you to act?


    Also, how many eyes like you did Yun Li arrange within Da Shun''s territory?"

 Chapter 337: My own wife, I love dearly by myself.

    <h4>Chapter 337</h4>


    The man from Southern Xinjiang answered very honestly: "As far as I know, there were only the two of us. We had been in the capital all along. Whenever there was new information, we would send a homing pigeon to deliver a letter back to Southern Xinjiang."


    Hearing this, the several Mo brothers also came to understand one thing.


    In the past whenever the Mo Family troops went on campaigns, by the time they reached the borders, the other side would already know very clearly which Mo Family general was leading the troops and the size of the forces.


    Without a doubt, there were Southern Xinjiang spies in the capital.


    The brothers had submitted petitions to Emperor Shunwu on multiple asions, urging him to pay attention to this matter and send more people to uncover the Southern Xinjiang spies.


    At that time, in order to get the Mo Family to protect his regime, Emperor Shunwu still took their words seriously to some extent.


    But despite sending many people to investigate, nothing was ever found.


    They didn''t expect that these two spies from Southern Xinjiang would be caught by chance in the northwest.


    Thinking of this, the Mo brothers hated the men before them even more.


    However, the brothers all knew that before taking revenge, they still had to get to the bottom of what they wanted to know.


    Mo Jiuye continued asking: "Yun Li has been dead for so long. Didn''t you notice anything amiss with the homing pigeons?"


    What he meant was, with Yun Li having died such a long time ago, it was impossible they hadn''t sent any messages back and forth.


    And from the looks of this man from Southern Xinjiang, he didn''t seem to have noticed anything wrong with that.


    "Our mistress often leaves the pce. She has trusted pce maids in the pce. We mostly send letters through them. If the mistress isn''t there, the maids will bring the messages directly to the Emperor."


    Now the issue made sense. Besides, for the Mo brothers, who was responsible for receiving messages on the Southern Xinjiang side was of no importance anyway.


    Mo Jiuye kept pressing: "How does Mr. Si Meng give you orders to do things? Where do you hide out in the capital?"


    "We live in Yong''an Alley in the capital. There''s a big tree in front of our residence. We put a bird''s nest in the tree where Master or Mr. Si Meng would leave us notes whenever they had tasks for us.


    As long as we''re in the capital, we check it every day to see if there are new assignments."


    As native residents of the capital, the Mo brothers were extremely familiar with Yong''an Alley.


    It was called Yong''an or "Perpetual Peace" Alley because it was built by Yong''an, the only non-royal Prince in Da Shun¡¯s founding.


    Prince Yong''an had no descendants. Before his death, he took all his wealth and transformed the area into countless housing units for homelessmoners to live in.


    After hundreds of years of wind and frost, it had be the most chaotic part of the capital.


    These two really knew how to hide. With the messiness of Yong''an Alley, no wonder Emperor Shunwu had sent so many people who failed to find them.


    Of course, this also had to do with their disguises and intentional concealment.


    Mo Jiuye felt he had seen enough to know that given Mr. Si Meng''s prudence, even his disciple didn''t know his whereabouts, let alone these two men who were temporarily utilized.


    But he still had to ask everything clearly.


    "Did Mr. Si Meng ever say how you should deliver the pet to him after finding it?"


    The man from Southern Xinjiang shook his head. "He didn''t say how to deliver it to him. If we find that pet, we must bring it back to the capital to raise temporarily while awaiting his next order."


    "He ordered you to do things for him. It''s impossible he didn''t give you any benefits in return, right?" Mo Jiuye kept pressing.


    Hearing his words, the Southern Xinjiang man''s gaze inadvertently fell on the slightly bulging spot on Mo Jiuye''s chest.


    "It''s the purse you took. Inside was the method he gave us for quickly raising Gu worms."


    When Mo Jiuye had searched the two men earlier, there was indeed an inconspicuous little purse that he had casually squeezed, thinking it contained cash, so he didn''t examine it closely.


    Now that the man from Southern Xinjiang mentioned that purse, he took it back out from his bosom.


    Indeed inside the purse was not money but a piece of paper covered in writing.


    Seeing that it did record things rted to Gu worms, it meant this man from Southern Xinjiang wasn''t lying.


    Mo Jiuye pondered briefly, feeling he couldn''t think of any other questions.


    So he nodded at the elder brothers who were raring for revenge.


    The elder brothers immediately understood his meaning.


    Although this man from Southern Xinjiang didn''t personally persecute the Mo Family men, he did y an instigating role. Therefore, some torture was necessary.


    At this point Mo Jiuye had already formed an idea in his mind and had no interest in following the elder brothers to torture this man from Southern Xinjiang.


    After signaling to them, he walked out of the cave amidst the screams of the Southern Xinjiang man.


    He guessed that it was very likely Mr. Si Meng was hiding in the Da Shun capital, otherwise he wouldn''t have thought to send two spies stationed in the capital to the northwest to look for the Golden-winged Sculpture.


    If these spies did manage to find the Golden-winged Sculpture, they would certainly bring it back to the capital. Wouldn''t it be very convenient then for Mr. Si Meng to retrieve his beloved pet?


    The more he pondered, the more usible it seemed. At the same time, the notion to hurry to the capital and investigate also arose in him.


    But this was no trivial matter that required careful nning.


    As the screams grew fainter, Mo Jiuye was lost in thought, pondering his n. Unknowingly, he had arrived at the foot of the mountain.


    He Zhiran was worried the two men from Southern Xinjiang were stubborn and the Mo brothers wouldn¡¯t be able to get any useful information out of them. So she had slipped away without notice when her family wasn''t paying attention ande here alone.


    As a result, she happened to run into Mo Jiuye walking down the mountain, lost in thought.


    "Ranran, what are you doing here?"


    Seeing his wife, Mo Jiuye rushed over to her at first notice and carefully held onto her.


    Seeing his nervous manner, He Zhiran felt a warmth in her heart.


    Even in modern times, she really hadn¡¯t seen any husband treat his pregnant wife so carefully and tenderly.


    "I''m fine. Don''t worry. Besides, you''ve seen those pregnant vige women still working hard with the men!"


    "I don''t care what others do. When ites to my wife, I worry for her myself."


    Having been doted on like this from the time she became pregnant until now, He Zhiran was already used to it. Her previous words were pointless.


    "Did you manage to ask anything useful?" She changed the topic.


    Mo Jiuye supported her as they walked, recounting what they had asked.


    He Zhiran¡¯s first reaction was the same as Mo Jiuye¡¯s - they both felt Mr. Si Meng was likely in the capital.


    At the same time, He Zhiran also guessed Mo Jiuye¡¯s thoughts.


    "Are you thinking of going to the capital?"


    Mo Jiuye heavily nodded. "I do have this n."


    He Zhiran knew her husband was not the rash type. Since he had made this decision, he must have considered it thoroughly.


    Besides, Mr. Si Meng was currently the Mo Family¡¯s biggest enemy. If they could find him earlier, Grandpa and Eldest and Second Brother could also reunite with their families sooner.

 Chapter 338: Let’s talk about this.

    <h4>Chapter 338</h4>


    Only is, Si Meng Sir not only poison technique fierce, in hand also domesticates these many gu insects, Mo Jiuye if meets him, can do the safe and sound?


    This is she most cares about the issue!


    Now she is pregnant, even if on own initiative propose to follow the husband together, he is also impossible to agree.


    Does not have herself at side, He Zhiran total feels Mo Jiuye meets Si Meng Sir''s odds of sess are not big.


    But she also knew, this matter even if involves dangerously, Mo Jiuye also will decide goes.


    Looks like, she also needs to prepare well that is, most basic, gives the husband to use to protect life the thing to needplete.


    "This matter do not worry first, that two southwestern person appearances just arrived Northwest, even if Si Meng Sir in capital city wait for their news, knows is impossible too quickly, we also some time, lets me think how can help you."


    Mo Jiuye knew, daughter-inw than him clever, situation also has many can dissolve the Si Meng Sir method, therefore has not rejected.


    "Good, this matter we discussed slowly."


    Now he had the delicate wife, soon can also be two child''s fathers, he does not think has any sh.


    Returns to the family, two people then entered the space.


    He Zhiran first has thought of that only golden eagle, that small thing already by Rice Ball docile returned to primitive consciousness, thinks certainly in heart recognizes the master still to be Si Meng Sir.


    Does not know Rice Ball whether has the skill to let it recognize Mo Jiuye is the master.


    Thus, Mo Jiuye leads it together goes to the capital city to look for Si Meng Sir, will be easier.


    Thinks to want immediately to carry out, this is the He Zhiran disposition.


    She called in the bamboo forest sleepy Rice Ball, first was the ttery gave it some delicacies, said: "Rice Ball, can you let that only golden eagle recognize him is the master?"


    Rice Ball ck slick eyes looked at Mo Jiuye, immediately revealed an arrogant appearance.


    However quickly, it also hugged He Zhiran''s small leg.


    He Zhiran knew, the little fellow this appearance is asking for a reward to oneself.


    She has extended the hand to touch the head of Rice Ball, the gentle voice said: "Treasure is clever, finished the matter to certainly have the reward."


    The Rice Ball round brains in master leg rub gently, then strides the small short leg to run toward that golden eagle.


    Does not know is the space regarding biology nourishing function or how, that only golden eagle looks likepared with just arrived the He Zhiran hand is more plump.


    The small thing sees Rice Ball to run over, suddenly makes one vignt the condition.


    Obviously Rice Ball often bullied it frequently.


    Rice Ball seems the interest rises suddenly, intentionally made one to bare fangs and show ws the appearance to the golden eagle, has gotten angry the golden eagle suddenly to explode the feather, the curved mouth de has extended suddenly, the wing the following golden feather also asionally revealed.


    Very obviously, the small thing vitality heavy by Rice Ball, if not in the cage, feared that already started to attack.


    Rice Ball sees the small thing to explode the feather, also happily toward it shakes the buttocks.


    That appearance, making He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye who stood watches unable to smile.


    They contacted were long with Rice Ball, all knew its disposition, made it do any matter, looked like the child, oneself yed enough only then can carry on.


    Really, when Rice Ball golden eagle startling begins to send out the anger roar the noise, it only then became serious.


    Only sees Rice Ball to wield two fluffy small ws, to the golden eagle symbolic, the mouth likely the human talked fluently issues one string " correct correct correct " calling out sound.


    The golden eagle initial also in resisting, gradually was actually defeated, quickly has then put away the eagle general sharp mouth, crawls in situ, the vision when Mo Jiuye looks. The god likely tters!


    Mo Jiuye by this startled dull.


    He asked He Zhiran: "Ranran, Rice Ball this seeded?"


    He Zhiran has not replied him immediately, but opened the cage to put out the golden eagle.


    The golden eagle came out from the cage, fluttered the wing to fly toward Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye very coordinated has raised an arm, the golden eagle steadily fell above.


    Mo Jiuye heart inexplicable rising sense of achievement, he happily said: "Ranran, you quickly have a look, this small thing should recognize me is the master."


    His words fell, the golden eagle called one likely the coordination very much, making Mo Jiuye more happy.


    Rice Ball sees itself toplete the task sessfully, not only has not obtained the master''s praise for a long time, the attention falls above that small thing unexpectedly, suddenly feels wronged to hug He Zhiran''s thigh, that appearance must many wronged have many wronged.


    How He Zhiran is possibly makes own heart treasure wronged, hurriedly sat in thewn to appease.


    "Rice Ball clever, you are most."


    The words arrived, she had already taken away a small jar honey as the reward to give it.


    Sees the honey, the Rice Ball mood finally has cheered up, released the master thigh, hugged the small jar to roll the crawling to run.


    Mo Jiuye at this moment is trying tomunicate with the golden eagle.


    He casually pulled off a leaf, integrates an aura to throw toward the distant ce.


    "Little White, takes back the leaf."


    The golden eagle does not know itself also has a name called ''Little White'', but it can distinguish, is the master issues the instruction to oneself.


    The Mo Jiuye sound falls, the golden eagle then opens the wing to fly fast toward that leaf, subsequently in the space port whirlpool falls back to the Mo Jiuye arm again, while is biting that leaf the eye wink does not wink looked at Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye has extended the hand before it, the small thing then spits the leaf in his palm.


    "Ranran, Little White really has the spirituality."


    He Zhiran smiles: "You decided to call it Little White?"


    "If not reveal that golden feather, it is only the snow white entirely pigeon, called Little White to be very good."


    Mo Jiuye very optional, he thought calling Little White to speak smoothly, simply has called.


    He exined a sentence, then could not wait to excavate the Little White other attainments.


    Finally two people discovered, Little White can only listen to Mo Jiuye a person''s speech, so long as is not the instruction beyond the scope, it can achieve.


    Mo Jiuye has touched the Little White smooth small brains: "Little White, can find Si Meng Sir depends entirely on you."


    Through a moment ago test, Mo Jiuye understood Little White''s skill.


    It can seek the person through the smell.


    It happens to, just obtained the card case that Si Meng Sir has given from that two southwestern person searches, had this, he can let Little White seek the Si Meng Sir whereabouts in capital city.


    At the same time he also guessed, Little White after all was Si Meng Sir raised for many years the pet, it also possibly also remembered the past master.


    Depends entirely on these two points, he thinks the hope is very big to seek Si Meng Sir.


    The Little White matter does, He Zhiran looked at the time, already approached nightfall, to prevent the family member to knock on a door the nobody to respond, two people can only leave the space temporarily.


    Five elder brothers they just came back from the mountain at this time, happen to meet the Mo Jiuye couple.


    He Zhiran already saw that two southwestern person, therefore the brothers several speech time has not hidden the truth from her.

 Chapter 339: Never a Safe Day

    <h4>Chapter 339</h4>


    Mo Jiuye asked: "Have all the bodies been taken care of?"


    Eighth Brother answered, seemingly a little disappointed: "This guy, I just chopped off one of his arms and he got scared to death. There wasn''t even enough time to dispose of the bodies before taking revenge..."


    Mo Jiuye couldn''t help but chuckle: "That kind of person is clearly afraid to die. If he''s dead, then he''s dead."


    Fifth Elder Brother knew what Mo Jiuye wanted to ask: "We threw those two bodies in the back mountain."


    Speaking of the back mountain, Mo Jiuye had never been there before.


    From what those vigers said, it was the ce the Barbarians came from when theycked food and clothing, going over the front mountain and entering Xi Ling Vige.


    Since his elder brothers had already been there, Mo Jiuye felt it necessary to inquire about it.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, when you went to the back mountain, did you discover any suspicious traces or special markings?"


    Based on many years ofbat experience, when Mo Jiuye had led troops and wanted to sneak into the enemy''s interior first, he would send scouts ahead to scout the route and leave markings.


    ording to the vigers of Xi Ling Vige, the Barbarians woulde to harass them once every year or two. It would be impossible without leaving markings in those deep mountains.


    The elder brothers had all heard about the Barbarian harassment.


    Therefore, when the meticulous Fifth Elder Brother went to the back mountain, he made a point to observe carefully.


    This was also something he was eager to tell Ninth Younger Brother about.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, I discovered traces of burning wood there, and in addition, animal furs and bones. I guess someone must have recently been there, hunting game to survive. As for other markings and such, I really didn''t find any. Besides, we were afraid of worrying our family bying homete, so we didn''t linger there for long."


    Sixth Elder Brother also stepped forward and said: "We guessed that it was quite likely Barbarians wanting toe raid Da Shun, but they discovered plenty of game there and gave up on the idea."


    Mo Jiuye nodded: "That''s not an impossibility. After all, those whoe to raid are Barbarianmoners, what they want is just something to eat. If they can find something to fill their stomachs, they probably wouldn''t want to take the risk ande here."


    He paused, then continued: "In any case, we must be vignt. This year there is little rain, and there may be a drought. If it weren''t for the river in our vige, and everyone working hard to carry water to irrigate the fields, I''m afraid even the crops would be doomed."


    "Here we are only separated from the Barbarians by one mountain. If they have nothing to eat, it''s very likely they wille in groups to harass us."


    Now the new house had just begun to take shape, and various industries were also being prepared.


    Especially since he had nted so many crops, and there were over a thousand rabbits.


    Before long, poultry and livestock like chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep would also begin to take shape on arge scale for raising. It would be a pity if they couldn''t take care of them and they were stolen.


    "Don''t worry Ninth Younger Brother, starting tomorrow, we brothers will take turns going over there to keep watch. If anything happens, we''ll be able to discover it in time."


    If it was up to letting the elder brothers take turns keeping watch, Mo Jiuye didn''t have that intention at all.


    In his view, why use an ox knife to kill a chicken?


    The dogs trained in his wife''s space werepletely capable of doing it.


    Of course, in the next few days Fan Tong would first need to issue orders for them to get used to it, then they would naturally take the initiative to patrol on their own.


    He Zhiran''s thoughts were the same as Mo Jiuye''s. Amidst the brother''s discussion, her consciousness had already entered the space.


    Just now when they had Fan Tong tame Xiao Bai, she hadn''t paid attention. Not a single one of those dogs had appeared, they must have been manipted by the little guy to go establish rules somewhere.


    Her consciousness searched around in the space, and sure enough, all those dogs were sitting neatly in a row at the foot of the mountain, not daring to move an inch.


    If it weren''t for several elder brothers present, He Zhiran would haveughed out loud.


    Fan Tong was really not bored in the space.


    As for those dogs, they had grown a lot bigger. She estimated after another two or three days, they would be able to officially start work after leaving the space.


    ...


    The original n was for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran to use the morning to buy lumber as a cover, prepare it, then arrange for transport back home.


    Unexpectedly, they had run into two Southerners in Yun City, and as a result, dyed their ns.


    It was Old Lady Mo who first remembered this at dinnertime.


    "Jiuye, how did things go with buying lumber in the city?"


    The olddy had long since refused to worry about matters in the household. Now she only wanted to contribute some effort like her daughters-inw.


    It was just that she felt something was off with the sullenness today. Mo Chuhan, who usually loved to tell everyone about handling cases at the yamen when he got home, was unusually quiet today.


    Old Lady Mo guessed that something must have happened today, which was why she brought up the matter of buying lumber.


    The elder brothers hadn''t intended to tell their family about capturing the two Southerners. After all, it wasn''t a pleasant matter.


    But they understood their mother''s disposition very well. If she hadn''t noticed anything amiss, she wouldn''t have asked questions at the dinner table.


    Mo Jiuye had originally nned to prepare everything and tell them when setting off for the capital.


    Since his mother had asked, he simply told her some of it.


    "Mother, the lumber has been prepared. I was nning to arrange for transport back home this afternoon, but unexpectedly, we ran into two Southerners in Yun City asking about the whereabouts of Xi Ling Vige..."


    Mo Jiuye informed his mother about today''s events. This way, he wouldn''t need to exin his trip to the capital again.


    Of course, he didn''t give details on how those two men died, only saying that the elder brothers had already taken care of it cleanly.


    After hearing his story, not only his sisters-inw, but even the usuallyposed Old Lady Mo was no longer calm.


    "That Si Meng is truly relentless. As long as he''s around, my Mo family will never have a peaceful day."


    Seeing his mother''s state, Mo Jiuye knew that she was also thinking of a way to go to the capital and look for this person.


    He took the opportunity to say: "Mother, I''m nning to go to the capital in a few days. I don''t want to give up even the slightest clue."


    When Ninth Younger Brother said he was going to the capital to find Si Meng, the elder brothers stood up, ready to fight.


    "If we''re going, we brothers are going together," said Eighth Brother.


    Even Seventh Elder Brother, whose health hadn''t fully recovered, was anxious.


    "That''s right, going to the capital is no trivial matter. Ninth Younger Brother can''t go alone. If we''re going, we brothers should go together."


    "No, with our sensitive identities, it would draw too much attention with more people. I n to go investigate alone first." Mo Jiuye strongly disagreed.


    Old Lady Mo did not approve of this. Before the other sons could object, the olddy spoke up.


    "Jiuye, that Si Meng is extremely skilled at covering his tracks, clearly a sly man. Not only that, he also wields many crooked skills. Without someone watching your back, I''m afraid it won''t do."


    Fifth Elder Brother also agreed: "Mother is right. The others can stay home, Fifth Elder Brother will apany you there."

 Chapter 340: It’s absolutely fine to take care of a home.

    <h4>Chapter 340</h4>


    The other few brothers were anxious when they saw Fifth Elder Brother take care of everything for him and Ninth Younger Brother.


    "That won''t do. We brothers should go together," Eighth Brother said urgently.


    "In case there is news about father and two elder brothers, there are many of us brothers who could leave at any time," Sixth elder brother said.


    Just when Seventh Elder Brother wanted to say something, Old Lady Mo spoke again.


    "Alright, stop arguing. I''ll decide this matter. It will be Jiuye, Chongyuan and Jingnian, three people going. Chu Han stays at home working, and Yuan Ce, your health hasn''t fully recovered yet, so stay and take care of the family."


    Old Lady Mo had the final say, and Mo Jiuye could not refute.


    The Seventh and Eighth brothers at home felt very frustrated, but they knew clearly in their hearts that mother had always been upromising. Things she decided would not be changed.


    But it also made sense to think about it. There were so many women in the family. If all the men left, it would be a great loss if danger was encountered.


    He Zhiran had not expressed her opinion all along, because she felt that her mother-inw''s arrangement was very reasonable and spoke to her heart.


    The other sisters-inw and Mo Hanyue were extremely nervous, but they knew clearly that they had no say in this kind of thing. They could only pray in their hearts that the brothers going to the capital would return safely.


    The trip to the capital city was already on the agenda. He Zhiran had to speed up preparing supplies.


    After dinner, she entered the space and did not rest for a moment, preparing arge number of self-defense items for the brothers.


    Bulletproof vests were essential. There was not only the unpredictable Mr. Si Meng in the capital city, but also Emperor Shunwu.


    In case they encountered a battle, this thing could save lives.


    There were also some special weapons, such as mini pistols, tranquilizer guns, stainless steel daggers, mini crossbows, grenades.


    When in danger, these weapons could not only save lives, but also do great things if necessary, such as grenades that could tten a ce...


    In addition to these, the most important thing was realgar to prevent gu worms and some antidotes.


    Speaking of antidotes, there was a little bit of extract left from the dead gu wormst time. He Zhiran added some precious medicinal materials and made it into a universal antidote pill ording to the book.


    With antidote there had to be poison. Although it was not a good thing, it coulde in handy at critical moments.


    In addition, there were sufficient banknotes. She had already raised several thousand-mile horses in her space that could serve as their means of transportation.


    As for how to exin the source to the two elder brothers, it was not something He Zhiran should consider. Mo Jiuye would naturally have a way to exin clearly.


    Although the items were prepared, Mo Jiuye did not intend to leave immediately.


    ording to the time calction, those two Southerners should have just arrived in the northwest. Whether they could sessfully find the golden eagle would take some time.


    The cunning Mr. Si Meng would also n the time for them to return to the capital to check the results.


    Therefore, he nned to set off a few dayster.


    He might as well take advantage of these few days to transport the timber back from the city.


    This kept him busy for three days. All the little puppies in He Zhiran¡¯s space had grown to adult size, and they were trained by Rice Ball to be more obedient than military dogs. Once they were released, they could directly guard the house.


    Of course, there had to be a proper reason for the appearance of so many dogs.


    Now He Zhiran didn¡¯t need to worry about things like this. Mo Jiuye had already figured out the excuse.


    That was, they were bought from herders in other cities through some channels.


    In fact, he and He Zhiran were just being paranoid. They didn''t know that the family had long been used to such strange phenomena.


    Especially those simple-minded sisters-inw in the family, they not only did not feel strange, but also secretly admired the ability of the ninth younger brother and his wife in their hearts.


    After the dogs were brought home, Mo Jiuye arranged for some of them to patrol the mountain.


    Preventing the Barbarians from invading was one aspect, and the main reason was that many of the fruit trees nted on the mountain had bloomed and fruited, and it was hard to prevent some people with impure thoughts from coveting them.


    With the dogs guarding, even though they couldn''t drive bad guys away, at least they could send a signal to the family.


    Also, rabbits sheds and farnd were assigned a certain number of dogs to guard and patrol.


    The Mo brothers were all military men. Although their army did not raise military dogs at the time, the Southern Borders had an extremely powerful military dog team.


    In their understanding, those military dogs were even more fierce than wolves, and many Da Shun officials had suffered losses from those military dogs.


    And so, the Mo brothers were very interested in these seemingly well-trained dogs.


    Seventh Elder Brother was the one staying at home to guard, so he took the initiative to take over the management of these dogs.


    It only took a day before Seventh Elder Brother went happily to find Mo Jiuye.


    ¡°Ninth Younger Brother, have these dogs received any training before?"


    When Mo Jiuye heard Seventh Elder Brother ask this, he couldn¡¯t helpughing to himself.


    Weren¡¯t they trained?


    They were trained by a chubby rice ball.


    Although he was sarcastic in his heart, he couldn¡¯t say that when answering Seventh Elder Brother.


    ¡°Seventh Elder Brother, these dogs have indeed been trained by someone. Guarding the house is definitely no problem.¡±


    "Not only can they guard properly, I see they are more capable than the military dogs raised by Southerners," Seventh Elder Brother praised again.


    Mo Jiuye was interested and raised his eyebrows. "Oh? How capable?"


    He had seen Rice Ball establish rules for those dogs in his wife''s space, but he hadn''t seen the abilities of these dogs himself. Hearing what the Seventh Elder Brother said, he also wanted to understand in detail.


    When Seventh Elder Brother thought of the scene he saw today, he felt amused.


    "Today I saw at the foot of the mountain that those dogs seem to have a leader. As long as the leader barks, they will line up in neat rows and then go up the mountain orderly.


    Also, those dogs watching the crops maintain the same distance between each other. As soon as strangers approach, they will surround them collectively.


    The ones guarding the rabbits shed are even more amazing. They can even help catch escaped little rabbits."


    Mo Jiuye was also shocked to hear this. He didn''t expect dogs could be trained like this.


    "Hehe... Maybe the dog trainer has some special means. This is great. We will feel more at ease in the future."


    Seventh Elder Brother nodded. "Yes, it really is. Now that you and Fifth Elder Brother are going to the capital, I alone can keep the family safe more easily."

 Chapter 341: Find a pet, send it to the Nine Kingdoms

    <h4>Chapter 341</h4>


    Three days'' time, Mo Jiuye tried to arrange the things that needed to be done by himself at home.


    The next day, the three brothers got up before dawn, fully armed and ready to go.


    The three rode on the thousand-mile fine steeds raised by He Zhiran''s space, whipped up their horse whips and galloped away.


    After Mo Jiuye left this time, He Zhiran couldn''t do many things without getting his hands dirty.


    For example,municating some details about the house and furniture with Hu Cong, and she also had to keep an eye on the growth of the crops at all times.


    He Zhiran''s move really worried the olddy Mother He.


    She specifically called Lan Er to apany her all day.


    He Zhiran knew that if she didn''t let Lan Er apany her, the olddy would probably not feel at ease, so she had to reluctantly ept it.


    Although she felt that there was nothing wrong with her body, who knows if there will be any idents?


    Lan Er is attentive and observant, and it''s good to have her by my side.


    Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, Mo Jiuye and his brothers had been away from Yuncheng for more than half a month.


    The brothers whipped their horses and, if nothing unexpected happened, they should have arrived in the capital by this time. I wonder if everything went smoothly for them?


    Although He Zhiran spent every day busy, she was inevitably worried about him when she was alone at night.


    She stroked Rice Ball''s furry head with one hand in the space, and put the other hand on her bulging belly and whispered softly.


    "Kids, do you think they''ve already arrived safely in the capital?"


    At this time, the only one who could answer her was Rice Ball.


    "Hmm hmm hmm..."


    "I hope theye back safe and sound."


    "Hmm hmm hmm..."


    ...


    The capital.


    Yong''an Alley.


    At night!


    Mo Jiuye and his three brothers were standing under a tall and sturdy tree.


    "Ninth Brother, this should be the big tree the Southerners talked about."


    "In that case, the yard where they are hiding is right in front of us."


    Hearing the two elder brothers analyzing there, Mo Jiuye did not respond.


    Because he could feel that Little White, who was carrying the cage, was a little uneasy and kept walking around.


    He took off the ck cloth covering the cage and asked softly, "Little White, did you find anything?"


    Little White fluttered its wings lightly twice, then let out a not very loud chirp.


    Through contact with Little White, Mo Jiuye knew that it was confirming what he said.


    Before entering the capital, Mo Jiuye had let Little White smell the purse obtained from the Southerners, and told it to remind him as soon as it detected the smell.


    Little White''s recent behavior was obviously to alert him that there might be a simr smell nearby.


    Mo Jiuye looked around and eventually his eyes fell on an inconspicuous ce in the treetops.


    In the moonlight, you can see a bird''s nest there.


    If it was an attentive person, he would definitely find something wrong with the bird''s nest.


    Normal bird nests are usually built on sturdy tree trunks, while that bird''s nest is at the top of the tree.


    Mo Jiuye handed the cage to Fifth Elder Brother, then used qinggong to lightly leap up andnded on the tree trunk closest to the bird''s nest.


    He did not rashly remove the bird''s nest, because he was not sure if Mr. Si Meng woulde, and once he moved things here, it would inevitably arouse the other''s suspicion.


    He just probed towards the bird''s nest, trying to make himself see more clearly.


    After all, it was night time, and the inside of the bird''s nest was pitch ck. No matter how good Mo Jiuye''s eyesight was, he couldn''t see the situation clearly.


    So he took out the mini shlight that his wife had prepared for him from his arms.


    The shlight was not the kind of strong light. When the switch was turned on, a soft yellow light would appear.


    The reason why He Zhiran prepared such a shlight for Mo Jiuye was because the light from this shlight was not very conspicuous. Seen from a distance, it would only be regarded as a small night pearl or something.


    Although it was such illumination, it was enough for Mo Jiuye.


    Using the shlight, he observed the inside of the bird''s nest.


    The inside was clean and tidy, even the grass used to make the nest was neat and tidy, without any sloppy traces. It was obvious that this bird''s nest was man-made rather than natural.


    This was already within Mo Jiuye''s expectations, and he didn''t find it strange at all.


    However, in his opinion, this thing could not be wless. Although it was man-made, it was not guaranteed that a bird would take advantage of it and stay there for a while.


    So Mo Jiuye probed closer to the bird''s nest again, reaching out into it.


    This time, there really were new discoveries.


    There was a thin partition at the top of the bird''s nest. If he hadn''t put his hand in, it would have been invisible to the naked eye.


    Mo Jiuye carefully put his hand in and touched something like paper.


    He took out the paper and looked at it under the light of the shlight.


    There was only one line of small words on it¡ª


    Take any pet found to the Ninth Prince''s Mansion.


    Mo Jiuye narrowed his ink-colored eyes, then put the note back in its original ce and jumped off the tree.


    "Ninth Brother, what''s going on?" Seventh Elder Brother asked.


    "There was a note in the bird''s nest that read: Take any pet found to the Ninth Prince''s Mansion."


    "What?"


    "The Ninth Prince''s Mansion??"


    Fifth Elder Brother and Seventh Elder Brother were equally incredulous.


    Speaking of the Ninth Prince, the Mo brothers were no strangers.


    The Ninth Prince was the only prince in Da Shun who was of the same generation as Emperor Shunwu. He was also Emperor Shunwu''s foster brother.


    He was simr to the current Prince Rui at that time. He never participated in the struggles in the court. Therefore, he dispelled many suspicions of Emperor Shunwu. Since they were brothers, Emperor Shunwu did not kill him but conferred him the title of the Ninth Prince and let him stay in the capital.


    The Ninth Prince usually lived a low-key life. Even when there was turmoil in the court, he was nowhere to be seen.


    Emperor Shunwu also had some fraternal feelings towards him. Usually the stipend he gave was enough for the Ninth Prince to live a life of luxury and leisure.


    The note just now could basically be determined to have been written by Mr. Si Meng. What the brothers did not expect was that the Ninth Prince, who usually kept a low profile, was actually colluding with Mr. Si Meng.


    It seemed that Da Shun would soon face a bloody storm.


    For the Mo brothers, this was too unexpected. Of course, they knew clearly in their hearts that this had nothing to do with them.


    "Ninth Brother, should we n to go to the Ninth Prince''s Mansion to look for someone?" Fifth Elder Brother asked.


    Although the Ninth Prince looked aloof from the world on the surface, after all he was still a prince. The guards in his mansion must be strict. If they wanted to go there to look for someone, they had to be fully prepared.


    "We must go to the Ninth Prince''s Mansion, but we have to do so only when we are sure we can seed. If we rashly go there and startle the snake, allowing him to escape, it would be a great loss." Mo Jiuye analyzed.


    Sixth Elder Brother also echoed, "That''s right. It was hard to get a clue. We must find the person."


    Mo Jiuye did not respond immediately. He looked at the cage in Fifth Elder Brother''s hand.


    He took the cage and lifted the ck cloth cover.

 Chapter 342: Why didn’t you go to the Nine Kings House earlier

    <h4>Chapter 342</h4>


    "Xiaobai, the sess depends on you," said the master.


    Xiaobai seemed to understand the master''s words and responded with a soft call.


    Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother didn''t understand Ninth Younger Brother''s actions. They didn''t believe that Xiaobai''s response was merely a single call.


    They were even more skeptical that Xiaobai, who was originally Mr. Si Meng''s beloved pet, could be Ninth Younger Brother''spanion just by being tamed by Fan Tuan.


    After all, Xiaobai had spent more time with Mr. Si Meng, and if they were to meet the original owner, there was a possibility that Xiaobai would recognize him as the master again.


    Mo Jiuye was unaware of the concerns in the minds of his two older brothers. At this moment, he was calcting the time.


    They had rushed from the northwest to the capital city, using fast horses and pushing themselves for half a month.


    If those two men from the southern border sessfully arrived in the northwest and found Xiaobai, they would undoubtedly make their way back to the capital city at the fastest speed.


    Of course, Mo Jiuye was calcting for the shortest possible time.


    Even if those two men from the southern border reached the northwest, it was unlikely that they would immediately find Xiaobai. Therefore, he nned to dy the time a little further so as not to arouse suspicion.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, Sixth Elder Brother, let''s temporarily suspend our actions these few days. We''ll find a ce to settle down and observe the situation at the Ninth Prince''s residence."


    Sixth Elder Brother obviously didn''t consider as much as Mo Jiuye did.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, since we''ve already found a clue, why don''t we go to the Ninth Prince''s residence to search for the person?"


    Mo Jiuye exined his calctions to his two older brothers, and Fifth Elder Brother agreed, "Ninth Younger Brother makes sense. We finally have a lead, so we mustn''t act rashly."


    In the end, the three brothers decided to hide temporarily in the courtyard of those two men from the southern border.


    After all, they were already dead and would never be able to return. It was much safer than exposing themselves by going to inns or renting houses.


    Of course, they also had to be cautious of Mr. Si Meng''s spies discovering their location, so they would minimize going out or engaging in other activities.


    Mo Jiuye and his brothers had handsome features and were tall and robust, making them very conspicuous in a crowd.


    Moreover, many people in the capital city recognized them, so it was necessary for them to keep a low profile.


    Of course, they could send someone out to buy some food ingredients.


    When Mo Jiuye left home, He Zhiran had prepared some makeup tools for him. Although his skills were not proficient enough topletely change a person''s appearance, he could still manage a simple disguise.


    The three brothers didn''t use the main entrance but instead used light footwork to leap over the walls into the courtyard.


    Under the moonlight, they could see that the courtyard was notrge but very tidy. In the center, there was a water well, and in front of the main entrance, there were two main rooms.


    There were smaller rooms on the east and west sides, one empty and the other a kitchen.


    Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother simultaneously pushed open the doors of the two main rooms. Theyout of the rooms was basically the same, with a bed facing the door, a round table in the center, and wardrobes on either side.


    Because they were afraid of being discovered, the three brothers didn''t n to light the oilmps. Instead, they relied on the moonlight to feel their way in.


    After making sure there was no danger, Fifth Elder Brother spoke, "Ninth Younger Brother, you can have one room to yourself, and Sixth Brother and I will stay here."


    "Okay."


    After days of traveling, Mo Jiuye was indeed tired. He responded and each of the brothers went to rest.


    Mo Jiuyey in bed, unable to fall asleep immediately. He was carefully considering the matter of investigating the Ninth Prince''s mansion.


    ording to the confessions of the people from South Jiang, they had not encountered Mr. Si Meng, which means they were not familiar with his appearance.


    However, since Mr. Si Meng arranged for two people to do things in secret, it was inevitable that he would observe them closely. Therefore, there was a high possibility that Mr. Si Meng knew what these two individuals looked like.


    If that was the case, even if they sent Little White to the Ninth Prince''s mansion, their identities would likely be exposed.


    Even if he tried to disguise himself, the physique of him and his brothers waspletely different from those two people from South Jiang.


    Since that was the situation, there was no need for them to conceal their identities.


    If someone from the Ninth Prince''s mansion came to take Little White, they could seize the opportunity to sneak into the mansion. If it happened to be Mr. Si Meng himself who came to retrieve Little White, they would do whatever it takes to capture him on the spot.


    Of course, they also needed to be cautious of the power of the Ninth Prince''s mansion. If the Ninth Prince could collude with Mr. Si Meng, it must not be as simple as it seemed on the surface.


    However, there was also the possibility that the Ninth Prince, like Nan Rui, had some leverage that Mr. Si Meng held, which made him willingly cooperate.


    Regardless, these were all matters concerning the court of the Dashun Dynasty, and as long as it didn''t harm the interests of the people and the Mo family, Mo Jiuye wouldn''t care about the struggles between those in power.


    Perhaps it was due to not having a good rest for a long time, Mo Jiuye''s mind became more and more chaotic as he thought, and he gradually fell asleep without realizing it.


    Mo Jiuye was always a light sleeper, so when a faint light seeped in through the window paper, he sensed the slight sound of footsteps.


    He sat up abruptly and asked in a deep voice, "Who''s there?"


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye quickly pushed open the door.


    "Ninth Brother, it''s me."


    "Fifth Elder Brother, why are you up so early?"


    Fifth Elder Brother raised the bucket in his hand.


    "I couldn''t sleep, so I got up to fetch water and cook. I saw that there''s still some food in the kitchen, so let''s have a simple meal."


    Mo Jiuye had originally wanted to sleep a little longer, but seeing that Fifth Elder Brother had already woken up, he dismissed that thought and helped prepare breakfast together.


    In the Mo family, Mo Jiuye was the youngest son, and his older brothers always took great care of him, never letting him do any work.


    Fifth Elder Brother was still ustomed to this.


    "Ninth Brother, you don''t need to bother. I can handle it alone."


    It wasn''t that he looked down on Mo Jiuye, but now that Mo Jiuye was married, it was fine for him to take care of some external matters. As for these household chores, he was afraid that Mo Jiuye would only be busier the more he helped.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t know Fifth Elder Brother''s thoughts. Instead of obediently going back to rest, he entered the kitchen to prepare breakfast.


    There was quite a bit of food stored in the kitchen, but the fewrge cabbages piled up in the corner hadpletely rotted. Apart from that, there were no other vegetables.


    Fortunately, there were several pieces of dried salted meat and a string of dried radishes hanging from the ceiling beams.


    Mo Jiuye had be very cautious now. Before cooking, he took out the miniature toxin detector his wife gave him and checked all the ingredients to make sure there were no problems before starting to cook.


    Fifth Elder Brother thought that Ninth Brother was just being polite by entering the kitchen and wouldn''t do much.


    As he entered carrying the firewood, he found that Mo Jiuye had already washed the rice and put it in the pot, while the dried radish and salted meat were soaking in water.


    Without waiting for him to say anything, Mo Jiuye took the firewood he had chopped and quickly ced it inside the stove, igniting it.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, I''ll prepare breakfast," he said.


    Fifth Elder Brother was somewhat astonished at his skilled movements.


    However, in order to not discourage Ninth Younger Brother''s enthusiasm, he had already prepared himself to consume a meal of dark cuisine.


    Regardless of whether the dish Ninth Younger Brother made was edible or not, he was determined to finish it...

 Chapter 343: Fei Fu

    <h4>Chapter 343</h4>


    Mo Jiuye did not know that his cooking skills were criticized by his elder brother. He was still carefully preparing breakfast there.


    Half an hourter, Sixth Elder Brother, who was sleeping soundly, woke up too. As soon as he came out of the room, he smelled a scent of delicious food.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, I haven''t eaten the meals you cooked for a long time. Your cooking skills seem to have improved."


    Fifth Elder Brother stood in the yard with an embarrassed look on his face.


    "It''s not me who cooked this meal, it''s Ninth Younger Brother."


    When he lost his memory, he lived alone for so long, especially in the haunted house under the West Ridge Vige, he had always been self-reliant. He thought he was the best cook among the brothers.


    He didn''t know when Ninth Younger Brother had attained such skills, which immediately surpassed him.


    When Sixth Elder Brother heard that the fragrance came from Ninth Younger Brother''s hands, he also felt incredible.


    In fact, Mo Jiuye was able to make such a tasty breakfast all thanks to the seasonings his wife had brought him.


    He Zhiran thought that with the brothers rushing to the capital city, they would inevitably eat in the open air and spend nights in the wild, passing through jungles or high mountains. So she put some seasonings in small bottles for Mo Jiuye to bring.


    As a result, the brothers were in a hurry on the road and didn''t have the heart to go hunting. These seasonings were not used up, and now they have be the capital for Mo Jiuye''s excellent cooking skills.


    The door of the kitchen opened.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, Sixth Elder Brother, breakfast is ready."


    Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother looked at each other and rushed into the kitchen like a gust of smoke.


    In fact, with such ingredients, Mo Jiuye couldn''t prepare any big meals either, just white rice porridge and a dish of radish pickles with some salted meat added.


    Since He Zhiran joined the Mo family, they had delicious food every day. Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother were used to that taste.


    After travelling on the road for so long, they had always eaten casually. Missing the taste of home cooking was one reason. More importantly, today''s delicious breakfast was made by Ninth Younger Brother.


    If Fifth Elder Brother hadn''t seen Mo Jiuye make breakfast with his own eyes, he would never have believed that Ninth Younger Brother had such cooking skills.


    How could Mo Jiuye not understand what was on his brothers'' minds?


    He said smugly, "Fifth Elder Brother, Sixth Elder Brother, what are you still dazing around for? Eat quickly!"


    Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother nodded dully and picked up their bowls and chopsticks.


    After eating a few bites, Sixth Elder Brother couldn''t help asking, "Ninth Younger Brother, when did you acquire such cooking skills?"


    Mo Jiuye smiled awkwardly, "It was taught by Ranga. I made it ording to her method."


    It was not surprising then. Everyone in the family witnessed Ninth younger sister-inw¡¯s capabilities. It was no wonder that Ninth Younger Brother had received her true teachings.


    Seeing his cooking skills appreciated, Mo Jiuye was thinking that he would disguise himself and go to the market to buy more ingredients today, so that he could show off his skills in the future and thoroughly impress his two elder brothers.


    After breakfast, the sky was already bright. Mo Jiuye went back to the room to dress up a bit.


    He put on the fake beard given by his wife, and thickened his eyebrows...


    Although not as good at makeup as his wife, he looked even uglier, but his two elder brothers wouldn''t recognize him if they didn''t look closely.


    With the approval of his two elder brothers on his outfit, Mo Jiuye then left the yard.


    In the capital city, there were basically no ces he was not familiar with, so Mo Jiuye wandered the streets with ease.


    Since he went out, it would not be as simple as just shopping for groceries.


    He intended to take a look around the Ninth Prince''s Mansion, hoping to find something.


    On the way from Yong''an Alley to the Ninth Prince''s Mansion, he had to pass the original Duke of Protector¡¯s mansion.


    Mo Jiuye''s heart was inevitably sad when he arrived there.


    It was still bustling with traffic outside the door, but the original Duke of Protector¡¯s mansion was gone.


    Mo Jiuye thought Emperor Shunwu would at least seal the mansion temporarily. Unexpectedly, the gate had been changed here.


    On the towering redcquered gate, a brand new que was hanging with the tworge characters ¡°Fei Residence¡±.


    The first person Mo Jiuye thought of was Fei Nanyu. He heard from Meng Huaining that Fei Nanyu was highly valued by Nan Qi and was treated as his right-hand man.


    Of Emperor Shunwu''s three sons, Nan Heng died upstream of the Salt Lake, Nan Rui was now living incognito in West Ridge Vige, and currently only one prince Nan Qi was left in the capital.


    Besides, Nan Qi had also umted many cronies over the years, and he should be extremelyfortable now.


    With Nan Qi''s current status, giving his confidant a good mansion would be easy.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t want to reminisce here. He paused briefly and was about to leave.


    Unexpectedly, he had just turned around when the door opened.


    Fei Nanyu looked solemn, exuding an aura of superiority, followed by servants and several guards.


    Mo Jiuye pretended to pass by here on his way to the Ninth Prince¡¯s Mansion, but his speed was extremely slow.


    He heard someone talking to Fei Nanyu behind him.


    "Sir, Prince Qi is going too far. He asked you to personally prepare the birthday gift for the Ninth Prince. Isn''t this a waste of your talent?"


    Fei Nanyu raised his hand to stop the servant''s words.


    "Don''t talk nonsense. The fact that His Highness does this can fully demonstrate his trust in me."


    Theining servant was silenced and immediately shut his mouth.


    Mo Jiuye walked not far from Fei Nanyu, and did not hear them speak again.


    In fact, he didn''t know that Fei Nanyu''s dialogue with the servant just now was deliberately staged.


    Recently, Emperor Shunwu had already revealed his intention to establish Nan Qi as the Crown Prince in the court. Those who used to fawn on Nan Heng were much more low-key now.


    Especially the matter of Nan Qi being established as the Crown Prince, even if they wanted to object, they couldn''t find a suitable reason.


    After all, Prince Heng had been missing for more than half a year, and Prince Rui was even more useless. It was said that he had disappeared as well after Imperial Consort De passed away.


    The emperor did not seem anxious at all about losing this son. The current situation in the court was that Prince Qi¡¯s family dominated, and it had be an indisputable fact that he would be the next emperor of Great Shun.


    Therefore, most of those ministers who used to fawn on Prince Heng had now defected to Prince Qi¡¯s camp.


    Prince Qi was now more arrogant. In He Zhiran''s words, he became conceited...


    Fei Nanyu, who had been most trusted before, had be less trusted under the provocation of some people with intentions.


    However, Prince Qi knew clearly that Fei Nanyu was very talented and he was reluctant to abandon such a person.


    The reason why he took the former Duke of Protector¡¯s mansion for Fei Nanyu was to constantly remind Fei Nanyu of what happened to the Mo family on the surface.


    Fei Nanyu was so smart that he could naturally see through Prince Qi''s purpose.


    He pretended to be ignorant and thanked Prince Qi profusely for giving him such a good mansion.


    As the only heir of Great Shun, how could Prince Qi possibly not have anything good in his mansion?


    Besides, what Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had taken away was the national treasury, and they didn''t touch his private treasury as the Prince.


    It was obvious that Prince Qi was creating difficulties for Fei Nanyu.


    Not long ago, Fei Nanyu found that the guards beside him were secretly reporting his whereabouts to Prince Qi. When he went out just now, he found that the guard was also following him. So he deliberately had that conversation with the servant.

 Chapter 344: Marriage by Decree

    <h4>Chapter 344</h4>


    Mo Jiuye continued to walk ahead of Fe Nanyu and his group, neither too close nor too far. He pondered over their recent conversation.


    Normally, the task of preparing gifts could be entrusted to the steward of the mansion.


    To Mo Jiuye''s surprise, Nan Qi had asked Fe Nanyu to personally handle the preparations. If one applied a little bit of thinking, this matter would appear suspicious.


    Mo Jiuye knew Nan Qi quite well. He wasn''t an upright gentleman. When Mo Jiuye served as his tutor, Nan Qi didn''t even bother to study properly unless he could outperform Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye had always yed his part as a courtier, deliberately underperforming in his exams to allow Nan Qi to feel superior.


    Now, with the presence of the outstanding Fe Nanyu by his side, it would be difficult for Nan Qi not to feel threatened if Fe Nanyu didn''t restrain his brilliance.


    It seemed that Fe Nanyu was walking on thin ice these days.


    However, Mo Jiuye couldn''t understand Fe Nanyu''s intentions. Since Fe Mama was already a witness, why didn''t they reveal the truth and restore Fe Nanyu''s true identity as a prince?


    Of course, these were just Mo Jiuye''s thoughts. He couldn''t involve himself in these power struggles.


    Furthermore, Fe Nanyu seemed to be doing well at the moment, but who knew what he would be if he were to ascend to that position?


    Although Mo Jiuye didn''t want to interact too much with Fe Nanyu, he heard that the Ninth Prince would be celebrating his birthday soon, probably in the near future.


    If Mo Jiuye could infiltrate the Ninth Prince''s mansion through Fe Nanyu, wouldn''t it be safer than his brothers risking their lives to deliver a message to Xiao Bai?


    After careful consideration, Mo Jiuye decided to pay a visit to the Fe mansion in the evening and meet Fe Nanyu.


    Setting aside the uncertainties of Fe Nanyu''s future, finding Mr. Si Meng was the most important thing for now.


    With his mind made up, Mo Jiuye no longer hesitated. He quickened his pace and headed straight towards the Ninth Prince''s mansion.


    Even though the Ninth Prince was no longer favored by Emperor Shunwu, he still held the title of a prince. Therefore, his mansion was quite luxurious and not far from the pce.


    When Mo Jiuye used to attend court, he would pass by there.


    He initially intended to go directly to the Ninth Prince''s mansion, but unexpectedly, another incident urred on the way.


    A group of people on horseback approached from the direction of the pce, led by a eunuch who held a yellow imperial edict high in his hand. They wereing at full speed.


    Judging by the smirk on the eunuch''s lips, it was clear that something good was about to happen to someone.


    Behind the group of people on horseback, there were numerousmoners following on foot.


    Although the eunuch rode on horseback while themoners walked, it didn''t take long for them to fall far behind.


    Despite this, the onlookers among themoners remained undeterred and continued to move in the direction of the eunuch, whispering among themselves.


    "I heard that the Emperor has arranged a marriage between Princess Yu and the eldest son of Minister Hao''s family. Those people must be going to deliver the imperial edict to Minister Hao''s residence."


    Upon hearing Minister Hao''s name, Mo Jiuye immediately halted his steps.


    Minister Hao was his father-inw.


    The eldest son of Minister Hao''s family was his own dear elder brother-inw.


    Although his wife rarely mentioned her family, the fact that his father-inw and mother-inw risked pursuit and gave chase to the exiled convoy to provide Ran Ran with money clearly showed that they cared deeply for Ran Ran.


    Since it concerned his father-inw''s family, it was necessary for him to take a look.


    Speaking of Princess Yu, Mo Jiuye was not unfamiliar with her.


    She was the youngest daughter of the Ninth Prince''s family and had been showered with endless love and favors since childhood.


    The only headache was that Princess Yu was arrogant and haughty. Everyone in the capital knew that she was insolent and didn''t care about anyone except the Emperor''s children.


    Although the Ninth Prince usually kept a low profile, he made an exception for his daughter. Not only did he not stop Princess Yu from causing trouble, but he also always stepped in to help her out whenever she got into trouble.


    It could be said that the Ninth Prince appeared in public the most when he was dealing with his daughter''s affairs.


    A woman as domineering and arrogant as her marrying his eldest nephew, Minister Hao''s family would probably have no peaceful days in the future...


    Mo Jiuye didn''t know why Emperor Shunwu would arrange a marriage between these two individuals with such disparate backgrounds.


    To figure out the situation, he mingled in the crowd that went to watch themotion and approached someone to inquire.


    "Excuse me, sir. Do you happen to know how the marriage between Princess Yu and Eldest Young Master He came about?"


    Surprisingly, Mo Jiuye asked the right person.


    The man had a natural inclination for gossip and happened to have some knowledge about the matter. When he saw someone asking, he immediately felt a sense of superiority and exined quietly as they walked:


    "Eldest Young Master He of Minister Hao''s family just passed the imperial examination and was parading through the streets when Princess Yu saw him.


    Everyone in the capital knows that Princess Yu likes handsome and refined men, and Eldest Young Master He resembled Pan An, catching Princess Yu''s eye at first nce.


    The Ninth Prince''s love for Princess Yu is well-known throughout the capital. If she wants the stars, the Ninth Prince would never deny her the moon.


    Since Princess Yu took a liking to Eldest Young Master He, the Ninth Prince will find a way to make it happen."


    As he spoke, the man shook his head and sighed:


    "It''s a pity, Eldest Young Master He is so outstanding. Thetter half of his life might be difficult..."


    Mo Jiuye understood the reason and couldn''t help but worry for his eldest nephew.


    Marrying Princess Yu was like marrying an ancestor. Minister Hao''s family would probably have a tough time ahead.


    At the same time, he thought of He Zhiran.


    If she were in the capital and encountered such a situation at home, what would she do?


    Based on his understanding of his wife, He Zhiran would definitely find a way to stop this marriage. Even if it was an imperial decree, it wouldn''t be eptable.


    Since he stumbled upon this matter, he couldn''t just stand by and do nothing.


    Of course, he was also aware that he currently couldn''t prevent the imperial decree from being issued.


    After all, it was only a marriage decree, and Princess Yu wouldn''t immediately be part of the family. He still had time to resolve this matter.


    Lost in thought, Mo Jiuye arrived at Minister Hao''s residence before themoners did.


    At this moment, the gates of the residence were wide open, with horses parked to the side.


    Two young servants knelt in front of the gate, facing the courtyard.


    Mo Jiuye knew that at this point, the imperial messenger had already begun reading the imperial decree.


    He had arrived rtively quickly, and there weren''t many onlookers in front of Minister Hao''s residence. He easily found a good spot to stand where he had a clear view.


    There was a stone wall blocking the view outside the gate, but it didn''t hinder Mo Jiuye''s hearing.


    He could hear the eunuch inside saying, "Congrattions, Young Master He, receive the imperial decree!"


    ording to reason, receiving a marriage decree is a joyous asion for high-ranking officials, but Mo Jiuye couldn''t detect any hint of joy in his eldest uncle''s tone.


    "I humbly thank the Emperor for his grace."


    The tone was so ufortable and repressed, as if his father-inw''s family was deeply disappointed with this marriage arrangement.


    The official delivering the decree knew full well that this was not a favorable match, but as a servant of the Emperor, he had to stand in the Emperor''s position. Even though he sympathized with Minister Hao''s family in his heart, he couldn''t show it.

 Chapter 345: How can This be good

    <h4>Chapter 345</h4>


    The imperial envoy, who was astute, neither expressed sympathy for the He family nor intended to witness their embarrassment any longer. After exchanging a few auspicious words, he beckoned for his men to leave.


    As soon as these people departed, the two kneeling servants at the door immediately stood up and entered the courtyard, closing the main gate behind them.


    Shortly after, Mo Jiuye heard a faint sobbing sounding from within the courtyard.


    "Madam, what are we going to do?"


    Madam He''s voice was very soft, and if it weren''t for Mo Jiuye''s exceptional martial arts and keen hearing, he wouldn''t have heard it at all.


    He was indeed curious about the reactions of his inws to this matter. Therefore, he quietly left the crowd, circumvented the side of Minister Hao''s residence, and leaped up a tall tree to get a glimpse inside.


    Minister Hao and his wife and son all hung their heads, sighing deeply.


    "The imperial decree has ordered the marriage. What else can I do?"


    He Yuanming spoke and turned to his despondent son.


    "So many excellent youngdies were introduced to you by your mother, but you refused them all. Now, you''ve caught the attention of Princess Yu, and the whole family is implicated."


    Madam He, displeased with her son being med, said somewhat unhappily:


    "It''s all because of you. You insisted on sending Ziming to participate in the imperial examination. If not for that, how would he have ended up parading in the streets and caught the attention of Princess Yu?"


    "You... I sent Ziming to participate in the imperial examination because I didn''t want his talent to go to waste. How can you me me for this?"


    He Ziming, seeing his parents about to argue, quickly stepped between them.


    "Father, Mother, please stop arguing. The imperial order is hard to defy. Since I must marry Princess Yu, I can simply live separately, sparing you both from suffering."


    Upon hearing their son''s words, Madam He burst into tears.


    "How can that be? No matter how arrogant Princess Yu is, she is still a junior in front of your father and me. She will have some considerations. If you live separately, I''m afraid you won''t have a single good day."


    Madam He thought that as a mother-inw, she could at least have some deterrent effect.


    Listening to the conversation between his inws and his wife, Mo Jiuye made a silent resolution to help them.


    He quietly left Minister Hao''s residence and headed once again towards the direction of the Ninth Prince''s Mansion.


    Perhaps due to the imperial decree for Princess Yu''s marriage, the usually low-key Ninth Prince''s Mansion was surprisingly bustling today.


    Although the main gate was not fully open, people were constantlying and going through the side entrance, and servants were busy back and forth.


    If Mo Jiuye didn''t know about the connection between Mr. Si Meng and the Ninth Prince''s Mansion, he might have mistaken it for the Ninth Prince deliberately keeping a low profile.


    Now, however, he didn''t think so. The Ninth Prince''s Mansion''s actions were clearly intentional.


    Whether intentional or unintentional, in any case, Mo Jiuye would not dare to underestimate the Ninth Prince.


    After observing at the front gate for a while to avoid raising suspicion, he nned to walk around the walls of the Ninth Prince''s Mansion.


    Arriving at the backyard of the Ninth Prince''s Mansion, Mo Jiuye could faintly hear the sound of a qin.


    This ce was much quieterpared to the front courtyard, and although the sound of the qin was not loud, it was clear to Mo Jiuye, who possessed martial arts skills.


    He had never dabbled in music theory, and in the past, he would asionally listen to his mother and sisters-inw ying the qin at home.


    Even so, he could sense a hint of resentment intertwined within the melody, and the tune was different from what he usually heard.


    As Mo Jiuye pondered, a sudden discordant sound rang out, indicating that a string on the qin had snapped.


    And just like that, the qin music ceased.


    Mo Jiuye was curious. Based on his understanding, ces like the Ninth Prince''s Mansion were usually inhabited by servants or guards.


    Yet here, he heard the sound of the qin being yed, and the skill of the musician seemed impressive.


    Unusual circumstances often imply something sinister, so Mo Jiuye decided to investigate further.


    After surveying the surroundings and confirming that no one was watching, he leaped onto the wall of the courtyard.


    There was a tree''s shade that conveniently concealed his body, so he didn''t have to worry about being discovered.


    Mo Jiuye focused his gaze on the courtyard and took a closer look.


    It was different from what he had imagined. The ground was covered in weeds, and amidst the thickest patch of weeds was a small courtyard.


    Inside the courtyard, a tall figure dressed in white robes, with white hair and a bamboo hat, sat in a daze in front of an ancient qin.


    Although Mo Jiuye hadn''t personally seen Mr. Si Meng''s appearance, he had questioned people who described him as having white hair.


    Therefore, he could conclude that the person before him was undoubtedly Mr. Si Meng.


    Fortunately, he still had his wits about him and refrained from rashly taking action upon encountering his enemy.


    Because he noticed numerous ck-d guards lurking in the shadows around the courtyard.


    It was evident that these people were here to protect Mr. Si Meng.


    If he acted recklessly, he might be caught, and if he startled the snake in the grass, he likely wouldn''t get a second chance.


    Mo Jiuye suppressed his impulses and leaped down from the wall.


    He was certain that Mr. Si Meng wouldn''t leave the Ninth Prince''s Mansion unless he obtained the Golden Winged Eagle.


    As long as the man was present, Mo Jiuye needed to devise a foolproof n to capture him as quickly as possible.


    Lost in thought, Mo Jiuye arrived once again at the entrance to the Fei Mansion.


    Suddenly, an idea sprang to his mind.


    ...


    Under the cover of night, dressed in ck night attire, Mo Jiuye left Yong''an Lane.


    He returned to the most familiar ce and observed his surroundings before leaping over the east courtyard wall.


    The courtyard was pitch ck, unlike the scenes he remembered when the Mo family lived there.


    Mo Jiuye was familiar with everything here. He surmised that Fei Nanyu likely resided in the main courtyard, so he quickly made his way toward his target.


    To his surprise, the main courtyard was equally dark, but a faint light emanated from the study just beyond the courtyard wall.


    Mo Jiuye cautiously moved toward the study because he could sense many unfamiliar auras around it, indicating the presence of guards.


    He held his breath and circled around to the back of the study, gently poking a hole in the paper covering the window to peer inside.


    Fei Nanyu remained oblivious, reclining on a soft couch with slightly narrowed eyes. He wasn''t in a deep sleep but seemed lost in thought.


    In the quiet of the night, Mo Jiuye''s ck attire didn''t attract attention, especially since he had intentionally suppressed his presence to avoid detection by the surrounding guards.


    Fei Nanyu was a person who knew nothing about martial arts. If he didn''t cause somemotion, it was highly likely that Fei Nanyu would never notice his presence.


    Today, in front of the Fei residence, Mo Jiuye had already suspected that there were spies nted by Nan Qian around Fei Nanyu. Therefore, he didn''t want to be discovered when he arrived tonight. No matter what, he couldn''t trouble Fei Nanyu.


    Hence, with a swift movement, he arrived at a hidden spot and observed that there was possibly only one guard behind the study window.


    Mo Jiuye leaped into the air and swiftly knocked out the guard with a hand chop before cing him in a safe position. Only then did he break into the study through the window.

 Chapter 346: How did you come to the capital

    <h4>Chapter 346</h4>


    "Who?"


    Fei Nanyu jerked up into a sitting position. Although he didn''t have any martial arts skills, having the window suddenly opened was still enough to startle him.


    Mo Jiuye was afraid he would call out to the attendants outside, so he quickly removed the veil from his face.


    "Mr. Fei, it''s me."


    Hearing the familiar voice, Fei Nanyu was still somewhat incredulous.


    But in themplight he could clearly confirm that the person before him was indeed Mo Jiuye.


    "Master Mo, how did youe to the capital?"


    For Fei Nanyu, Mo Jiuye showing up in the capital city was an extremely improbable thing.


    What''s more, he had left Yuncheng without Meng Huaining sending him any messages.


    Even so, he was still very curious what Mo Jiuye''s purpose was ining to the capital this time.


    Mo Jiuye did not intend to beat around the bush.


    "Mr. Fei, I came to the capital because of some family matters. Coming to find you this time, I was also hoping to ask your help with something."


    Fei Nanyu had always had a good impression of Mo Jiuye. Seeing that he seemed somewhat anxious, he quickly agreed:


    "If there''s anything I can help you with, just go ahead and tell me."


    "I heard that it''s the Ninth Prince''s birthday in a few days?" Mo Jiuye asked.


    "That''s right, in three more days." After a pause, Fei Nanyu asked somewhat uncertainly: "Does your trip to the capital have something to do with the Ninth Prince?"


    Recently Fei Nanyu had also noticed some unusual signs.


    The usually low-key Ninth Prince wanted to hold some kind of birthday celebration. This could be said to bepletely different from his past style.


    He had already warned Nan Qi to send people to pay more attention to the Ninth Prince Estate''s activities, but he still hadn''t received any feedback from Nan Qi''s side.


    And now Mo Jiuye had suddenlye to the capital, also targeting the Ninth Prince Estate. This made Fei Nanyu have to think more deeply about it.


    Especially today, the Emperor had also issued an edict marrying off the Ninth Prince Estate''s Jade Princess to Master He, the eldest son of the prominent He family.


    Although Minister He was known for being honest in his official duties, he was also an official who held real power.


    Given the Ninth Prince''s reclusive personality, even if he doted on his daughter, he wouldn''t stoop to asking the Emperor to help marry the Jade Princess off to such an influential aristocratic family.


    This easily made people suspect he was courting the important ministers at court.


    He had already reminded Nan Qi to send more people to pay attention to the Ninth Prince Estate''s activities. But he still hadn''t received any feedback from Nan Qi''s side.


    Now that Mo Jiuye had suddenlye to the capital with the Ninth Prince Estate as his target as well, Fei Nanyu had to think more deeply about this.


    "Master Mo, would it be possible for you to tell me why you''re inquiring about the Ninth Prince''s matters?"


    Mo Jiuye had already anticipated that with Fei Nanyu''s meticulous personality, he would definitely ask about the reason.


    He was very clear about Fei Nanyu''s identity. There was no conflict of interest between them, at most just some sentiment of gratitude.


    What''s more, Mo Jiuye felt that telling him his purpose would not negatively impact Fei Nanyu in the slightest in the future, and might even serve to give him an early warning.


    Therefore, Mo Jiuye did not intend to conceal anything.


    "I won''t hide it from Mr. Fei. My Mo family was plotted against by a man named Simeng from Southern Bordends, leading to our decline to our current state.


    Not long ago in Yuncheng I discovered two suspicious people. After capturing them and interrogating them, they said this Mr. Simeng was in the capital city. Therefore, I secretly came to the capital wanting to find out the whereabouts of this enemy.


    Based on some clues, I can confirm that this Mr. Simeng is currently within the Ninth Prince Estate."


    The name Simeng was very unfamiliar to Fei Nanyu.


    But he had never had a good impression towards people from the Southern Bordends to begin with. Hearing that Mr. Simeng was from the Southern Bordends, and was even the main culprit behind harming the Mo family, he quickly determined that this Simeng must not be simple.


    Although his true identity had not yet been revealed, in Fei Nanyu''s heart, this Great Shun''s rivers and mountains would sooner orter be his. He could not allow such a dangerous figure to remain in the capital city.


    What''s more, this person was able to hide in the Ninth Prince Estate. This showed that the Ninth Prince was also not as simple as he seemed on the surface.


    If the Ninth Prince really harbored ulterior motives, he could make good use of Nan Qi''s hand to eliminate him.


    "Master Mo''s meaning is that you hope I can find a way to sneak you into the prince''s estate on his birthday celebration day?"


    Dealing with smart people was less trouble. Mo Jiuye nodded. "That is my intention."


    Fei Nanyu did not ask about Mo Jiuye''s specific n, because he believed that with Mo Jiuye''s capabilities, hiding within the Ninth Prince Estate to search for someone would be extremely easy.


    When the time came, he could also secretly do something.


    "In three days, Prince Qi will bring me to attend the birthday banquet. You can pretend to be my attendant and follow me in. Whether or not you can find that Simeng you mentioned will depend on your own abilities."


    As for how Mo Jiuye would take action, Fei Nanyu did not ask further.


    Mo Jiuye cupped his fist: "Then, I will have to thank Mr. Fei. I wille find you on the night before the banquet."


    Fei Nanyu nodded. "Alright." As he spoke, he looked at Mo Jiuye. It had already been several months since theyst met. He heard the northwest was bitterly cold, but he couldn''t see any signs of hardship on him.


    "Were you doing well in the northwest?"


    "Thank you for your concern. Everything was fine for us in the northwest."


    Speaking of the northwest, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help but once again feel grateful to Fei Nanyu.


    "Thank you, Mr. Fei, for thinking of my Mo family and sending Master Meng there to take care of us."


    Although Fei Nanyu''s purpose in sending Meng Huaining to the northwest was not as simple as it seemed on the surface, Mo Jiuye sincerely thanked him from the bottom of his heart.


    He understood clearly that for a person to rise to power, it would be impossible without some shrewdness.


    If Meng Huaining had not gone to Yuncheng as county magistrate, his family would not have been able to live such a smooth life. Not only that, his family had also gained such an outstanding brother-inw.


    In fact, Fei Nanyu knew clearly in his heart that with Mo Jiuye and his wife''s intelligence, it was impossible for them to not guess one of his purposes in sending Meng Huaining to Yuncheng.


    Yet the other party had sincerely thanked him. He instantly felt somewhat ashamed.


    "It was a coincidence. Master Mo need not take this matter to heart. As a pir of Great Shun, yet meeting such injustice and decline, this is the most Fei can do."


    Looking into Mo Jiuye''s sincere eyes, Fei Nanyu instantly changed his original intentions.


    Even beforeing to the capital, he would often hear themon folk discussing things like the Mo family men had established new merits for Great Shun again.


    Thus, ever since he was little he had a very good impression towards the Mo family. Especially after arriving at the capital, he discovered that the Mo family had truly suffered unjust treatment from his so-called father whom he had not acknowledged yet.


    Because of this, he had felt many times that the Mo family men''s contributions were not valued enough.


    Even Nan Qi, whom he assisted every day, was the same. He would often reminisce to Fei Nanyu about the heroic deeds of the Mo family men.


    After hearing these kinds of words so many times, with Fei Nanyu''s meticulous personality, he naturally investigated further. The results proved everything was true, and thus his respect for the Mo family grew even deeper.


    Now, his good impression of the Mo family had already taken firm root.


    Especially in recent days, despite Meng Huaining not sending him any news about the Mo family, he did not have the slightest suspicion.

 Chapter 347: Is Sister Fei Still a Fei

    <h4>Chapter 347</h4>


    That is to say, in Fei Nanyu''s heart, if even people like the Mo family could not be trusted, then there would be no trustworthy people under this sky.


    Mo Jiuye did not know that Fei Nanyu had already regarded his Mo family as his own people. The first thing he would do when he took power one day would be to help the Mo family clear their name and allow them to return to the imperial court.


    With such loyal people to assist him, the dynasty would be even more stable.


    Mo Jiuye never imagined that the future emperor had already noticed the Mo family. He thought that since the matter was already settled, he should leave early.


    However, before he could speak, Fei Nanyu took the initiative to speak first.


    "Mama Fei is still surnamed Fei in the end."


    Mo Jiuye raised his eyebrows. He did not know what Fei Nanyu wanted to say to him, and he did not want to discuss more about his origins.


    After all, the Mo family hadpletely lost hope in the imperial court, and did not want any more involvement. Knowing too much would not be good.


    Fei Nanyu could naturally see Mo Jiuye¡¯s thoughts. The other party simply did not want to know these things.


    But since he had chosen to say it out, his purpose was to get Mo Jiuye to see him in a different light, while at the same time showing the difference between himself and those royals.


    Whether Mo Jiuye wanted to know or not, he said to himself:


    "Mama Fei was soft-hearted in the end. Nan Qi is her nephew by blood after all.


    After settling down in the capital, I asked her if she was willing to testify for my identity. She hesitated at the time and asked if I would kill Nan Qi.


    I said it was not up to me whether I would kill Nan Qi or not, that would depend on His Majesty¡¯s verdict.


    Perhaps Mama Fei felt safe and thus hadpassion for Nan Qi. Now I have hidden her away and she is very safe, she just can''t help for the time being.


    With her attitude like this, I dare not rashly bring her out to testify, in case she bites back, it would not be worth it."


    In fact, Fei Nanyu had another reason for telling Mo Jiuye these things.


    There were not many people he could trust around him, and he felt an urge to confide his troubles to someone he trusted after keeping it bottled up for so long.


    At this moment, he told the whole story in one breath, feeling much more rxed in his heart. At the same time, he also hoped to get a little response from Mo Jiuye.


    Now that Fei Nanyu had said so much, if Mo Jiuye did not respond at all, it would seem too impersonal.


    "Since Mama Fei is unwilling toe forward, have you ever thought of finding Concubine Yuan?"


    Concubine Yuan was Fei Nanyu¡¯s birth mother. She must want her son back by her side more than anyone else now.


    Speaking of Concubine Yuan, a look of loss appeared on Fei Nanyu''s face.


    He gave a coldugh, "Heh... it was she who ordered someone to switch me with Nan Qi. Now I don''t even know how to face this mother I''ve never met."


    Mo Jiuye could understand this to some extent.


    From what he knew, it was Concubine Yuan¡¯s carelessness back then. She did not even look at her child after giving birth and ordered someone to switch the babies. Now Fei Nanyu had finally survived to this day and found out about his origins, yet he still had to work under that impostor.


    No matter who it was, they probably could not forgive this.


    He did not know how tofort Fei Nanyu, so he just walked over and patted him on the shoulder.


    "Things wille to light one day."


    From the Mo family¡¯s standpoint, he hoped Fei Nanyu could recognize his ancestry while Emperor Shun Wu was still alive, so as to avoid any harm Nan Qi might inflict on the Mo family.


    Fei Nanyu smiled bitterly. "I hope so!"


    Mo Jiuye did not actually want to get too involved in this matter. Seeing that it was gettingte, he said,


    "It''s gettingte, I should leave now."


    Fei Nanyu was also very cautious. Seeing that he was about to leave, he pointed to the window Mo Jiuye hade in through earlier and said,


    "You should leave through here again. There are people sent by Nan Qi to monitor me among the guards outside. Don''t let them discover you."


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "Alright, I¡¯lle here to find you again the night after tomorrow."


    With that said, he leapt lightly out of the window and left the Fei residence without a trace.


    Back at the courtyard where the Southerners lived, Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother were anxiously waiting.


    Hearing the sound, they asked in unison, "Is that Ninth Brother?"


    Mo Jiuye knew that his two elder brothers were worried about him, while also caring about the oue of the matter.


    "It''s me, Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, let''s go inside to talk."


    Upon entering the room, Mo Jiuye did not even have time to change out of his night clothes before telling his two elder brothers about what was decided tonight.


    Hearing that they could sneak into the Ninth Prince''s Mansion with Fei Nanyu on the asion of the Ninth Prince''s birthday celebration, Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother both scrambled to be the one to take on the adventure.


    "Ninth Brother, let Fifth Brother go."


    "Ninth Brother, let Sixth Brother go."


    Mo Jiuye shook his head. "No, I must be the one to go this time."


    In order to convince his two elder brothers, Mo Jiuye continued to exin, "It has been confirmed that Master Si Meng is in the Ninth Prince''s Mansion. The key to capturing him alive is the Golden-winged Sculpture.


    The Golden-winged Sculpture has epted me as its master. I can fullymand it to lead me to find Master Si Meng.


    Besides, I suspect the Ninth Prince may have some handle over Si Meng. Just like Nan Rui, those of royal blood are immune to exotic poisons, but it¡¯s hard to guarantee Si Meng won''t target those close to them.


    I¡¯ve been learning some techniques to dispel curses from Ran Ran, and she also prepared some antidote pills for me. If necessary, I can still help."


    "But... Si Meng is too dangerous. We don''t want you to take risks alone," said Fifth Brother somewhat reluctantly.


    Mo Jiuye knew that the purpose of bringing his two elder brothers with him to the capital was so that they could support each other.


    He was not someone who liked to show off. Whenever his brothers could work together, he would never stand on ceremony.


    "Tomorrow, let¡¯s go out together, brothers, and take another look at the terrain around the Ninth Prince¡¯s Mansion. When the timees, I¡¯ll go in with Fei Nanyu while you two wait outside ready to meet us. Once we seed, we¡¯ll bring Si Meng out together.¡±


    Seeing that Ninth Brother had said so much, Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother naturally could not object anymore. After all, Ninth Brother had abilities that they did not.


    "Alright, let''s make a good n tomorrow then."


    The next day, Mo Jiuye disguised all three brothers before leaving the courtyard. After making sure their original looks could not be seen, they headed out.


    The three brothers lingered around the Ninth Prince''s Mansion for a long time before finally deciding that Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother would split up and stand in two different locations.


    Although in two locations, they could still see each other. If anything unexpected happened, the two could quickly regroup.


    Mo Jiuye''s position upon leaving the prince¡¯s mansion was also visible to both elder brothers.


    The three brothers all took this matter very seriously. Even after returning to the courtyard, they were still discussing it, doing their best to leave nothing to chance.


    ...


    Finally, it was the time Mo Jiuye had agreed upon with Fei Nanyu. He changed into his night clothes again and appeared in the study room.


    At the same time, the snow-white Golden-winged Sculpture stood on the roof of the study, ready to obey its master¡¯s orders at any time.

 Chapter 348: No Doubt on My Head

    <h4>Chapter 348</h4>


    Fei Nanyu had been waiting for some time and hurried over when he heard the window open.


    "Young Master Mo, you''re here?"


    Mo Jiuye jumped into the study room.


    "Mr. Fei, how are the preparationsing along?"


    Fei Nanyu closed the window behind him and invited Mo Jiuye to sit at the desk.


    "Everything has been arranged. Tomorrow I will apany Nan Qi to the birthday banquet and you can disguise yourself as a guard to enter the Ninth Prince''s mansion with me."


    Mo Jiuye had intended to do just that. He gratefully thanked Fei Nanyu for helping.


    "Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Fei."


    "Young Master Mo is too kind. I will call for a guardter whom you can knock unconscious."


    Mo Jiuye naturally understood Fei Nanyu''s implication.


    "All right."


    Fei Nanyu looked outside at the darkening sky then opened the door and called out, "Shadow,e here!"


    At the same time, Mo Jiuye swiftly hid behind the door and held his breath.


    In a sh, a man dressed in ck appeared inside the study.


    Before the man could react, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck and copsed to the ground.


    Fei Nanyu quickly closed the door.


    He stared contemptuously at the figure sprawled on the floor.


    He made no attempt to hide this from Mo Jiuye either.


    "Two of my guards were sent by Nan Qi to spy on me. This was one of them."


    Having spent a long time around Nan Qi, Mo Jiuye knew his palm strike would keep Shadow unconscious for at least two hours.


    Therefore, he conversed openly with Fei Nanyu.


    "Nan Qi is indeed deeply suspicious. No matter how much he trusts someone, doubts will emerge after enough time. However, he has one good trait - his suspicions do notst too long."


    ncing at Shadow''s lifeless form, he continued,


    "For example, after cing someone under surveince for a period without discovering anything amiss, he wille to trust them even more. When that happens, Mr. Fei, you''ll have more freedom to maneuver."


    Although intelligent, Fei Nanyu had not kept Nan Qi''spany as long as Mo Jiuye. His words offered a glimmer of hope.


    Fei Nanyu was not serving Nan Qi with pure intentions. If he were under constant surveince, acting cautiously all the time, how could he ever achieve his goals?


    It seemed he would have to disy even more loyalty before Nan Qi''s spies in the future to quickly win their trust.


    "Thank you for the reminder, Young Master Mo. I will be careful."


    Seeing Fei Nanyu''sposure, Mo Jiuye inevitably worried for him.


    "But with us having knocked him out, how will you exin this to Nan Qi?"


    Fei Nanyu sighed helplessly.


    "I''m apanying Nan Qi to the Ninth Prince''s birthday banquet tomorrow. He specifically instructed Shadow to pose as my attendant given my status as his advisor. Without that, I likely wouldn''t even get through the front gate let alone bring more than onepanion.


    So I could only target Shadow. Tomorrow, whether Nan Qi interacts with you or not, you two would have at least seen each other. I''ll be by his side the entire time without arousing suspicion. After leaving the prince''s mansion, Shadow''s sudden disappearance will make Nan Qi doubt his loyalty instead of suspecting me."


    Hearing Fei Nanyu''s exnation, Mo Jiuye felt somewhat reassured.


    It wasn''t that he was overly sentimental. Fei Nanyu was already helping him tremendously - he couldn''t allow the other to end up in an even more difficult position because of him.


    "In that case, I''ll do my best to leave seamlessly so Nan Qi won''t doubt you."


    While speaking, Mo Jiuye carefully examined Shadow''s appearance - his darkplexion, bushy brows, and scruff on his cheeks and chin.


    These would be easy enough for him to emte. Just as he was about to disguise himself, Fei Nanyu had already opened a cab in the study.


    He took out several bottles and jars along with something furry resembling the fake beard and moustache his wife had given him.


    "Young Master Mo, allow me to assist you."


    Mo Jiuye was surprised that Fei Nanyu possessed such skills.


    Since the other had taken the initiative, he decided to continue ying the fool.


    Although Fei Nanyu''s tools were not as good as his wife''s, Mo Jiuye was indistinguishable from Shadow after the makeover, at least without close scrutiny.


    Now dressed identically in dark clothing, obscuring his forehead would make the resemnce even more uncanny.


    Satisfied with his handiwork, Fei Nanyu carefully inspected Mo Jiuye. Confirming his likeness to the figure on the floor, he tossed all the cosmetic items into a copper basin and set them alight.


    As he did so, he exined,


    "I don''t like leaving behind anything that can be used against me."


    Seeing his actions, Mo Jiuye sincerely admired him.


    A man of such meticulous cunning surely deserved to be an enlightened ruler one day.


    Of course, that had little to do with himself - he was merely impressed.


    Having disposed of the tools, Fei Nanyu gazed down at Shadow.


    "He cannot be allowed to live."


    Mo Jiuye understood that Fei Nanyucked the opportunity to deal with the body himself and would require his assistance.


    "What do you intend to do?"


    Fei Nanyu shook his head helplessly.


    "He hasn''t made things easy for me working in the shadows. I''ll send him on his way today."


    With that, he pulled a gleaming dagger from the drawer and plunged it into Shadow''s chest.


    Already unconscious, Shadow did not even grunt before his breath escaped him.


    Fei Nanyu nced at Mo Jiuye.


    "I must trouble Young Master Mo to dispose of the corpse."


    He pushed open the window at the rear of the study.


    "The guards here have been dismissed for today. It''s safe."


    Naturally, Mo Jiuye would not refuse such a request - both out of gratitude for Fei Nanyu killing Shadow on his behalf and simply to repay the favor.


    He nodded almost imperceptibly, picked up Shadow''s body and leapt out through the open window.


    Here, disposing of a corpse would be trivial for Mo Jiuye. His main concern was not creating future difficulties for Fei Nanyu.

 Chapter 349: Enter the Nine Kingdoms

    <h4>Chapter 349</h4>


    There was still a long time before dawn, so he simply took Shadow''s corpse out of the Fei Residence with him.


    In order not to cause trouble in the future, Mo Jiuye directly used his lightness martial arts skill to take Shadow''s corpse to the nearest mountain from the Fei Residence at the fastest speed, and then dug a pit and buried it.


    Returning to Fei Nanyu again, it was almost dawn.


    Fei Nanyu must have been sleepless all night, still sitting at the desk.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye had been out for so long, he knew that Mo Jiuye must have taken the corpse far away in consideration of not giving Nan Qi a handle before disposing of it.


    At the same time, his reliance on Mo Jiuye became even stronger.


    His cheap father emperor really had old and blurry eyes, pushing such a capable minister and fierce general thousands of miles away, and even using such indecent means to persecute him.


    If it were up to him, someone like this would not be held in high enough esteem.


    Mo Jiuye did not know what Fei Nanyu was thinking.


    "Fortunately I have not failed you. Master Fei does not need to worry about future troubles."


    Fei Nanyu nodded gratefully, then handed Mo Jiuye a package.


    "These are the clothes my entourage usually wears, I''ll have to trouble Ninth Gentleman."


    Mo Jiuye took the clothes and quickly changed into them.


    It dawned soon.


    Fei Nanyu exhorted: "Shadow has always kept his head low in front of Nan Qi. Just do as I said, if Nan Qi asks about me, just shake your head to indicate that I haven''t done anything these days."


    "Okay, I took note of it." Mo Jiuye replied.


    Nan Qi and Fei Nanyu had agreed to go to the Ninth Prince''s Mansion after the morning court, that is, before the Chen time.


    Fei Nanyu ordered the outside that he was hungry and asked the kitchen to prepare more breakfast and send it in, but no one doubted it.


    It was only after eating breakfast that the two left the study.


    As soon as they walked out the study door, Mo Jiuye signaled Little White with a wave of his hand when Fei Nanyu was not paying attention, indicating it to stick close to him.


    Little White was very obedient. Seeing its owner gesture to it, it immediately spread its wings and flew up, hovering not far from him.


    After all, Fei Nanyu was still Nan Qi¡¯s subordinate. It would be better for it to arrive a little earlier when following him on errands too.


    Therefore, after eating breakfast with Mo Jiuye and seeing that it was almost time, Fei Nanyu set off from the Fei Residence.


    Fei Nanyu only brought Mo Jiuye with him this time, and all the other guards stayed at the residence, so Mo Jiuye did not have to worry that his actions would give him away on the way.


    When they arrived at the Ninth Prince¡¯s Mansion, there were already guests entering the mansion one after another, and the steward at the door was enthusiastically weing them.


    In order to wait for Nan Qi, Fei Nanyu did not enter immediately, but stood with Mo Jiuye not far from the main entrance of the Ninth Prince¡¯s Mansion.


    After waiting for about half a hour, Nan Qi finally arrived.


    Seeing him from a distance, Mo Jiuye almost didn¡¯t recognize him.


    Nan Qi was obviously much fatter, and the number of followers and guards around him had also increased significantly, indicating that he was really thriving now.


    Seeing him arrive, Fei Nanyu hurriedly came forward to salute with sped fists.


    "Prince Nan."


    With his hands behind his back, Nan Qi looked high and mighty.


    "Well, exempt courtesy!"


    With this attitude, he must bepletely different from the person Mo Jiuye had known before.


    It was understandable too. Once a person felt that he had reached the pinnacle of life, it was inevitable that he would be arrogant.


    Presumably Nan Qi was no exception. Now he was ttered by the civil and military officials of the whole court and hadpletely lost himself.


    Simrly, Mo Jiuye also saluted Nan Qi with Fei Nanyu.


    As expected, Nan Qi still did not trust Fei Nanyu. As they straightened up, his gaze involuntarily fell on Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye kept his head low all the time, but he could still see Nan Qi¡¯s actions out of the corner of his eye.


    So he shook his head slightly as Fei Nanyu had prompted him to.


    Sure enough, after Nan Qi saw his hint, he shifted his gaze.


    "Master Fei must have waited for a long time. Come with Zhen to enter the mansion now."


    Fei Nanyu respectfully nodded and led Mo Jiuye to follow behind Nan Qi.


    Nan Qi was after all a prince of Da Shun, and was universally recognized as the future emperor. It was not unreasonable for him to bring more people with him when paying a birthday visit to the Ninth Prince¡¯s Mansion.


    Therefore, he took a group of people into the Ninth Prince¡¯s Mansion, and no one really dared to stop him.


    However, ording to the rules over the centuries, the master could enter the main hall of the main courtyard, while the entourage brought along had to be arranged in separate ces prepared.


    Once the master needed something, there would be someone to inform them specially.


    Although Nan Qi was arrogant now, he would not break the rules that had been passed down for hundreds of years.


    He only took Fei Nanyu with him into the main hall of the main courtyard.


    Mo Jiuye was led with those people brought by Nan Qi to a small courtyard on the west side.


    This ce was rtively close to the back courtyard. Mo Jiuye was afraid that Little White would appear rashly and startle them, so before he left with the prince¡¯s men, he signaled Little White to fly a little higher and just keep an eye on his location.


    When he arrived at the small courtyard, many followers of nobles had already gathered there, and those who were acquainted had started chatting together.


    Mo Jiuye found a corner and sat on a rockery.


    He looked around habitually and found that there were more than a dozen hidden guards lurking in the tall trees.


    In principle, even if guests had brought hidden guards with them, the guards would also hide around their masters to protect them instead of being arranged here to watch these attendants.


    From this it could be inferred that these people were not brought by the guests, but arranged by the Ninth Prince¡¯s Mansion.


    Mo Jiuye found this very suspicious.


    Even if the Ninth Prince held a birthday banquet and arranged hidden guards in the mansion for protection, he would not arrange them here.


    That is to say, it was very likely that these people were secretly protecting Si Meng.


    The more Mo Jiuye thought about it, the more he felt he had grasped the truth. He carefully observed where those hidden guards were hiding, nning how to take them down all at once, so that he could also take the opportunity to go out and search around.


    The anesthetic gun that his wife gave him worked best, it¡¯s just that the thing made a lot of noise when used, and would startle them as soon as it was used, so it was not the best choice.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the mini sleeve arrows tied under his sleeves. These sleeve arrows could continuously shoot ten arrows.


    Even if his shooting was urate, he could only take out ten hidden guards at most.


    There were still two people left. If they could not be solved at the same time, they would definitely be startled. Not only would his n fail, more importantly, with Si Meng¡¯s vignce, he was afraid that Si Meng would flee before he could find him.


    Since this was the case, he had no choice but to use the anesthetic his wife gave him.


    Mo Jiuye observed that the distance between six hidden guards was rtively close, and it was also the ce closest to this small courtyard.


    He decided to start with those six people first.


    Having made up his mind, under the excuse of going to the toilet, Mo Jiuye went out through the back door of the small courtyard.


    Fortunately, there were many people here, and those hidden guards would not pay attention to just him alone, not to mention that he deliberately avoided their sight too.


    After leaving the small courtyard, Mo Jiuye quickly hid behind a big tree, and aimed the semi-automatic crossbow in his sleeve at the six hidden guards he nned to take out first.

 Chapter 350: This great river will basically be yours.

    <h4>Chapter 350</h4>


    It must be said that the power and speed of this crossbow really made things easy for him. In the blink of an eye, the six hidden guards who were targeted had an arrow in their forehead and died.


    As their bodies swayed unsteadily and fell from the trees, Mo Jiuye had already quickly aimed the crossbow at the other four hidden guards.


    With the same result, those four hidden guards still did not know what had happened before they were dead.


    Although Mo Jiuye was fast, killing ten hidden guards in a row would definitely alert the remaining two if they were still worthy of being guards.


    The two remaining hidden guards sensed something wrong and immediately jumped down from the trees.


    Before they could react, Mo Jiuye''s figure shed swiftly in front of them while scattering a bag of powder.


    Likewise, the two copsed without any perception.


    Mo Jiuye did not show any mercy, taking out a dagger to finish them off.


    The hiding spot of these guards was remote, and although Mo Jiuye''s series of actions did not alert anyone, with so many corpses inside the heavily guarded Ninth Prince''s Mansion, any mishandling would inevitably reveal clues.


    Just nearby there was an abandoned artificialke, and no one seemed to walk around it. Mo Jiuye unceremoniously threw all the corpses into the river.


    As long as he could sessfully catch Mr. Si Meng and leave the Ninth Prince''s Mansion, even if the corpses floated to the surface and were discovered, they would have nothing to do with him.


    After dealing with this, Mo Jiuye carefully observed again before heading towards the ce where he had heard the sound of the zither that day.


    Although Mo Jiuye had been in the capital for many years, this was his first time at the Ninth Prince''s Mansion.


    He did not expect that there would be such a deste ce in the Ninth Prince''s Mansion.


    Because in front of him there was already a patch of weeds, many of which grew taller than a person, showing that no one took care of this ce.


    If it wasn''t for his strong sense of direction, he would even suspect that he had walked to the wrong ce.


    Fortunately, through the weeds Mo Jiuye could see a courtyard not far away, which looked very dpidated from a distance.


    He guessed that it should be where Mr. Si Meng was, very hidden. If it wasn''t for discovering something wrong that day, it would be hard to imagine someone hiding here.


    Mo Jiuye did not dare to be careless at all, in order to avoid making noise by walking through the weeds, he walked along the edge instead.


    After walking out of the weeds, it felt suddenly spacious.


    Although the courtyard looked a little shabby, it was swept clean.


    And through observation, there were no hidden guards around.


    Mo Jiuye guessed that the dozen or so guards he had just dealt with should be responsible for protecting Mr. Si Meng. Perhaps for some reason, they could not get too close here, so they stayed on the necessary path to defend.


    Mo Jiuye analyzed in his mind while carefully approaching the courtyard.


    Suddenly, the door in front of him was pushed open, and two people walked out from inside.


    One of them was the Ninth Prince of the Da Shun Dynasty, and the other,pared to the glimpse he caughtst time, there was not much difference.


    Wearing a white robe, a thin figure, with white hair trailing behind his head, and wearing a hat simr to one ady would wear when going out.


    "Don''t worry, Sir, this king will make sure all these venomous bugs have their use today."


    The Ninth Prince''s tone was filled with excitement, while he tucked several small porcin bottles into his bosom.


    Mr. Si Meng wore a hat, so Mo Jiuye could not see his expression clearly, but his tone was filled with indifference and aloofness.


    "Hmm, after this is done, the Da Shun dynasty will basically be yours."


    "Thank you for your help, Sir. When this king ascends to that position, you will be the most honorable Imperial Tutor of Da Shun." The Ninth Prince continued to tter.


    "Alright, I''ll be waiting for the day the Ninth Prince seeds," Mr. Si Meng still spoke coldly, without a trace of warmth.


    However, Mo Jiuye could feel the perfunctory meaning in his words.


    The Ninth Prince respectfully saluted Mr. Si Meng with sped fists.


    "Don''t worry, Sir. This king has been umting strength for this day for many years and absolutely cannot make any mistakes."


    Mr. Si Meng nodded, did not respond, but stood in ce watching the Ninth Prince''s back as he gradually walked away, lost in thought.


    Even when the Ninth Prince''s figure disappeared from sight, Mr. Si Meng still stood in ce.


    In order to confirm that he had not found the wrong person, Mo Jiuyemanded Little White in the sky to attack.


    Little White immediately flew over from afar with Mr. Si Meng as the target.


    Just as Mr. Si Meng was about to turn back into the room, he suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky.


    "Darling, you''re back."


    At this moment,pared with the coldness he had shown to the Ninth Prince earlier, his tone could be described as doting.


    Next, Mo Jiuye saw him stretch out an arm, beckoning Little White tond on it.


    Having received Mo Jiuye''s cue, Little White naturally cooperated fully.


    Apanied by a not too loud cry cutting through the air, a snow-white figure steadilynded on that outstretched arm.


    Mr. Si Meng lovingly reached out to pet its snow-white feathers, but Little White fluffed up its feathers at this moment.


    To Little White now, Mr. Si Meng was a frightening stranger.


    Mr. Si Meng thought Little White had been startled by something during their time apart and did not suspect it had a new owner.


    He stretched out a hand, very patiently helping smooth its feathers.


    Just then, a crackling sound of firecrackers came from the front yard.


    Mo Jiuye suddenly had a sh of inspiration, he knew this was his chance.


    In dealing with such an insidious person, he couldn¡¯t make the same mistake asst time and give him a chance to escape when caught off guard.


    Mo Jiuye took out a tranquilizer gun from his bosom, aiming at Mr. Si Meng.


    Against the noisy backdrop of the firecrackers, Mo Jiuye pulled the trigger.


    The tranquilizer dart urately hit Mr. Si Meng''s left shoulder. At this moment Little White also spread its wings to fly back to its owner.


    It had to be said, this Mr. Si Meng really was extraordinary.


    Others would immediately copse after being hit by a tranquilizer dart, but he still had the energy to nce in Mo Jiuye''s direction before falling down.


    Mo Jiuye did not doubt the power of the tranquilizer gun at all. After seeing his task aplished, hemanded Little White to fly a safe distance away while he rushed up to Mr. Si Meng at top speed.


    He was in no hurry to take the person away, but first entered his room to take a look.


    The room was very tidy. Apart from some daily furnishings, there was nothing else,


    Not even the sort of poisonous bugs and potions that those who use them to protect their lives would have on hand.


    The more it was like this, the more Mo Jiuye felt something was off. How could someone who uses these things to protect themselves not have them around?


    He did not want to give up just like this. Relying on experience, he knocked on the surrounding walls and cabs, but still gained nothing.

 Chapter 351: Escape Route

    <h4>Chapter 351</h4>


    Mo Jiuye was also not worried that Mr. Si Meng would wake up immediately. He knew the power of this anesthetic gun that his wife used better than anyone else. It could make people fall into a deepa for at least a few hours.


    Since he did not find anything unusual about the surrounding furniture and walls, the only thing left was the wooden bed in the room.


    He lifted all the bedding on the bed, and as expected, something was revealed.


    He stepped to the head of the bed. The wood nks there showed obvious signs of being loose.


    Mo Jiuye lifted the nks, revealing a ck hole that could allow a person toe in and out.


    Based on past experience, such ces were likely to be passages connecting to the outside world.


    The passage was next to the other bedside nk, with a small dark box. At this moment, the light was just right, and Mo Jiuye saw at a nce that there were several small porcin bottles ced in the dark box.


    Without thinking, these small porcin bottles must contain various poisons. As for Gu worms, they would definitely not be ced here.


    Because Gu raisers regarded Gu worms as treasures, no matter how many they raised, they would carry them with them.


    There were more than a dozenrge and small porcin bottles. Mo Jiuye casually tore off a sheet and wrapped these small porcin bottles in it.


    After tidying these up, Mo Jiuye did not rashly enter to investigate. Although Mr. Si Meng was in aa, he was still lying outside clearly. If someone found him, Mo Jiuye''s previous efforts would be in vain.


    Therefore, he had to take Mr. Si Meng with him when entering the secret passage. No matter where the exit of the secret passage was, he could not give the other party any chance to escape.


    There were many uncertain factors when entering the secret passage, and Mo Jiuye did not dare to take it lightly.


    Most importantly, Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother were still waiting for him outside the Ninth Prince''s Mansion. If he did not meet with his two elder brothers in time, they would definitely think something had happened to him, so doing something impulsive would be a great loss.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye took out paper and pen from the table and started writing:


    [Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother, everything is going well. I discovered a secret passage and will enter to investigate first. Later I will let Little White send you thetest location.]


    After finishing the note, he rolled it into a small paper roll and went out to call Little White.


    He tied the note to Little White''s leg and gently stroked its snow-white feathers.


    "Little White, take this note to Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother, thene find me, okay?"


    It was the first time Mo Jiuye had let Little White deliver a letter. To be honest, with just these simple words, he was not sure if Little White could understand.


    However, he did not need to worry about Little White''s whereabouts. His wife had said that once it recognized its master, no matter where its master was, it could find him, unless it was trapped by some ident and unable to escape.


    Watching Little White fly farther and farther away, Mo Jiuye then went to Mr. Si Meng.


    He tore off the hat on his head, and what appeared in front of him was a face simr in age to himself.


    Although this face could not be called very handsome, it was still quite eye-catching among the crowd.


    With that head of white hair, itpletely matched Nan Qi''s description of his master having a crane''s youthful looks.


    Facing the perpetrator who had persecuted his father and brothers, Mo Jiuye wished he could hack him into thousands of pieces. However, reason told him that now was not the time.


    He forcibly suppressed the surging anger in his heart, and first searched Mr. Si Meng''s body.


    Sure enough, his precious Gu worms were tucked into his arms, a total of six.


    Mo Jiuye did not dare to be careless at all towards these creatures. In case the mother Gu that controlled his father, eldest brother and second brother was among them, any problem would have unimaginable consequences.


    So he also learned from those Gu raisers, tore off another sheet and carefully wrapped the porcin bottles before tucking them into his arms.


    Returning to Mr. Si Meng, Mo Jiuye roughly picked him up and threw him towards the hole.


    The hole led straight down for about two meters.


    With a muffled thud, Mr. Si Meng was violently thrown to the ground, and Mo Jiuye immediately jumped down after him.


    It was rtively dark inside the secret passage. He held Mr. Si Meng in one hand and used a shlight to illuminate with the other.


    After walking like this for about half an hour, light faintly appeared ahead.


    Mo Jiuye knew the end of the secret passage was not far away.


    He continued forward, and soon a wooden door appeared before his eyes.


    It could not really be called a wooden door, as there was no handle on it at all. Mo Jiuye guessed that this should be something like a closet that needed to be pulled back and forth to open.


    Sure enough, as he had expected, after he pulled left and right twice, the wooden door showed signs of loosening.


    He exerted a little force to the left, and the door opened.


    Dazzling light instantly shone in, causing Mo Jiuye to be momentarily blinded.


    But soon, he adjusted his vision.


    What appeared before him was a spacious and bright room. Apart from the closet that served as the secret passage entrance, there was no other furniture in the room.


    Mo Jiuye did not care too much. He threw Mr. Si Meng on the ground, while he carefully walked towards the door.


    Gently pushing open the door, a courtyard appeared before his eyes.


    In contrast to the cleanliness of the room, weeds could be seen everywhere in the yard. It was obvious that this ce had been abandoned.


    However, the indistinct traces extending from the front gate towards the houses caught Mo Jiuye''s attention.


    This was not really abandoned, but someone would asionally walk around.


    Because he could clearly see that some weeds had been broken off.


    Obviously, these were traces left by someone stepping on them.


    But it made sense to think about it. Since Mr. Si Meng could live in a courtyard with an underground passage, it was understandable that he could leave from here when necessary.


    Mo Jiuye first sensed the surrounding movement. After making sure there was no danger, he walked out of the yard.


    After all, it was an unfamiliar ce. Even with Mo Jiuye''s strong sense of direction, he could not urately determine his location.


    In any case, he had to take Mr. Si Meng with him to leave. He had to figure out the route clearly so as not to make any mistakes.


    Mo Jiuye was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he used his lightness skill to leap up high and look around.


    The scene that met his eyes was one he was most familiar with. When he was little, he and Nan Qi often secretly came here to y.


    As it turned out, this was the Qing River less than one mile from the capital.


    Apart from the conversation he just overheard between the Ninth Prince and Mr. Si Meng, just based on the exit of this secret passage, he could determine the Ninth Prince''s intentions.


    It was obvious that this was an escape route arranged by the Ninth Prince for himself after hiding his abilities for many years.


    This showed how deep his thoughts were.


    While he was lost in thought, Little White flew back andnded steadily on his shoulder.


    Mo Jiuye subconsciously nced at Little White''s leg, and the note was gone.


    He knew that Little White had sessfullypleted its first task. He was about to praise it when two figures approached swiftly from afar.


    The arrivals were none other than Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother.


    After catching his breath for a moment, Sixth Elder Brother said, "I have to say, Fifth Elder Brother was right that following this little guy would lead us to Ninth Younger Brother. He really got it right.


    "Only, this fellow flies so fast that we two elder brothers almost got thrown off by it."

 Chapter 352: This is Mr. Simeng

    <h4>Chapter 352</h4>


    For Little White''s flying speed, its master Mo Jiuye still had some understanding.


    If it were not for the fact that all the Mo''s men were masters of qinggong, they might really not be able to keep up.


    He stroked Little White''s feathers indulgently.


    "Little White, you know they are following you, why don''t you slow down a little?"


    Little White looked up to the sky and cried out.


    It seemed to beining that Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother were too slow.


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye didn''t have more energy to appease Little White, but said to the two elder brothers: "Fifth Elder Brother, Sixth Elder Brother, the man has been sessfully captured, in that room over there."


    He pointed to the room behind him and took the first step forward.


    Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother were very curious about how their Ninth Younger Brother had captured Mr. Si Meng and arrived here so quickly.


    The two followed closely behind Mo Jiuye, eager to see the arch-criminal who had brought the Mo family to this point.


    The three brothers entered the room, Mo Jiuye pointed to Mr. Si Meng, who was like a dead dog, and said:


    "This is Mr. Si Meng."


    Sixth Elder Brother angrily walked up and kicked Mr. Si Meng.


    "Humph! If you weren''t still of some use, I would have skinned you alive."


    Mo Jiuye didn''t stop Sixth Elder Brother''s actions, because he was filled with the same feeling at the moment.


    Fifth Elder Brother was much calmer. Although he was angry in his heart, he didn''t forget to ask first.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, how did you capture him?"


    "I went looking for the man based on the location I observed that day..." With enough time, Mo Jiuye told them everything that happened after entering the residence of the Ninth Prince.


    Like Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother, they didn''t care about the actions of the Ninth Prince, what they cared most about now was finding out the whereabouts of their father and elder brothers from Mr. Si Meng.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the sky. It had been an hour since Mr. Si Meng was shot with the tranquilizer gun.


    This tranquilizer was different from some drugs that could be awakened prematurely by special means. If they wanted to interrogate him, they could only wait for him to wake up naturally.


    Just now when he was at the residence of the Ninth Prince, he saw that his father-inw had also gone to congratte.


    Mr. Si Meng had given the Ninth Prince so many Gu worms, and his father-inw was also an important minister. It was inevitable that he would be poisoned.


    Therefore, he decided to double back to the residence of the Ninth Prince to save his father-inw, and also to see if there was a good way to break off the engagement between Princess Yu and his uncle.


    Also, Fei Nanyu had done him a big favor today, discovering the secret of the Ninth Prince. Mo Jiuye felt it necessary to give him a reminder, which was also repaying Fei Nanyu.


    As for what Fei Nanyu would do, it was not his concern.


    With this in mind, Mo Jiuye said, "Fifth Elder Brother, Sixth Elder Brother, I still have some things to do at the residence of the Ninth Prince."


    What Mo Jiuye could think of, Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother could naturally think of too. Even if Mo Jiuye didn''t take the initiative to suggest going back to the residence of the Ninth Prince, one of the two brothers would do so.


    "Well, Ninth Younger Brother, don''t worry, we will definitely keep an eye on the man. You have to pay attention to your own safety. If you encounter any danger, saving your life is the most important thing." Fifth Elder Brother thoughtfully reminded him.


    Mo Jiuye had just stood high to survey the surroundings. The location here was rtively remote. There were many guests at the residence of the Ninth Prince. He believed the Ninth Prince would not go to the neglected backyard to look for Mr. Si Meng.


    Therefore, it was rtively safe herepared to other ces.


    "Okay, Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother, just wait for me here until I get back."


    After bidding farewell to the two elder brothers, Mo Jiuye returned to the capital again, directly scaled the wall and entered the residence of the Ninth Prince.


    This time, he didn''t go to the small courtyard where the attendants rested, but found the guards he had just killed, changed into their clothes, and then quietly walked towards where the Ninth Prince was holding the banquet.


    It had to be said that the Ninth Prince had really gone all out for today''s event, even hiring a troupe to perform. A stage was set up in thergest open space in the back garden.


    At this moment, the opera had already begun, and the guests who came to congratte were all sitting under the stage watching the performance. There were still asional bursts of cheers from the audience.


    The Ninth Prince, as the host of the birthday banquet, sat at the main table, right in front of the stage.


    Beside him were Concubine of the Ninth Prince and Princess Yu.


    Princess Yu''s attention, however, was not on the stage, but she kept ncing at Nan Qi''s table.


    Mo Jiuye observed carefully and could confirm that Princess Yu was looking at Fei Nanyu.


    It was understandable. Fei Nanyu had the royal bloodline and had an extraordinary temperament and good looks.


    Princess Yu, who had always liked handsome men, would naturally not miss this opportunity to ogle.


    But this kind of behavior made people feel disgusted.


    Fei Nanyu also seemed to sense that someone was staring at him. He nodded slightly and had already figured out the source of the gaze.


    He was very annoyed by this. He said something to Nan Qi, then walked towards the crowd.


    Seeing Fei Nanyu get up, Princess Yu hurriedly followed. But there were many people here, and she didn''t immediately get close to him.


    Fei Nanyu had left to avoid that disgusting gaze, and had no particr destination in mind. So he just strolled around the garden.


    Unexpectedly, just after he turned a corner, he heard someone calling him from behind.


    "Young master, please wait."


    This voice was artificially tender, and Fei Nanyu really hoped that the "young master" was not calling him. Unfortunately, it was quiet here, and there was no one else around.


    Now his identity was only an aide to Prince Qi. Anyone could call him "Sir" to his face.


    Princess Yu was no exception. He had no choice but to reluctantly turn around.


    "Are you calling me, Princess?"


    Seeing Fei Nanyu''s appearance up close, Princess Yu''s eyes widened.


    She pretended to be shy as she took out a handkerchief to cover the lower half of her face, then slowly took a few steps forward.


    "May I ask which family''s young master you are? I¡¯ve never seen you before."


    Fei Nanyu was disgusted by her words.


    He was adept at dealing with schemes, power struggles and the like. But when it came to women deliberately trying to curry favor with him, he was at a loss.


    Especially since he knew clearly that this woman was his cousin.


    Just as Fei Nanyu was trying to figure out how to slip away, Princess Yu''s body stiffened and she suddenly fell back.


    Then a tall figure appeared before his eyes.


    When Fei Nanyu looked closely, it turned out to be Mo Jiuye, whom he had dressed up with his own hands.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye was still at the residence of the Ninth Prince, he subconsciously thought that the thing he was trying to do had not yet seeded.


    So Fei Nanyu asked, "Ninth Young Master, do you need my help?"


    Mo Jiuye was cautious. Before speaking, he scanned the surroundings again. Seeing that there was no suspicious person, he pulled Fei Nanyu to a more secluded corner.


    "I have finished my business. I doubled back to tell Mr. Fei a message."


    Fei Nanyu''s expression was very solemn: "What message?"


    "The Ninth Prince has a lot of Gu worms in his hands. He ns to give them to the important ministers who attend his birthday banquet today. Once these people are poisoned by the Gu worms, they will be his puppets."

 Chapter 353: I’ll see you soon.

    <h4>Chapter 353</h4>


    Mo Jiuye spoke to Fei Nanyu in simple and clear terms. He felt there was no need to go into too many details, just let Fei Nanyu know about this matter so he could respond in a timely manner.


    He knew that by doing this, he was indirectly helping Nan Qi. If they let the Ninth Prince, who was colluding with the people of Nanjiang and using despicable means to seize power, be the Emperor, themon people of Da Shun would surely suffer.


    This was definitely a big deal for Fei Nanyu.


    Now he was using Nan Qi to pave the way for his own future. If the throne was seized by the Ninth Prince, it would be much more difficult for him to aplish anything.


    Moreover, he thought the same as Mo Jiuye - no matter whether he could sit in that position in the future, if Da Shun fell into the hands of someone who relied on such despicable means to gain power, themon people would never have a day of peace.


    "Thank you, Ninth Young Master, for letting me know. I will go and think of a way to deal with this," Fei Nanyu said.


    Mo Jiuye knew Fei Nanyu was anxious to resolve this matter, and he did not intend to stay here long either. The message had been delivered and his mission was sessfullypleted.


    "Master Fei, go ahead and get busy. I''m nning to return to the northwest today. We''ll meet again in the future."


    "Is Ninth Young Master leaving the capital city?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded, "If not for some important business, I probably wouldn''t have set foot in the capital city in my whole life. Now that it''s done, I naturally have to leave."


    Fei Nanyu took a deep look at him, feelingplicated inside.


    What he admired most was the loyalty and bravery of the Mo Family men. Someone as capable as him would undoubtedly be heavily relied on once he took over that position.


    "Since that''s the case, we''ll meet again in the future. If Ninth Young Master needs my help with anything, please ask Lord Meng to send me a message. As long as it''s within my power, I will definitely do my best."


    Fei Nanyu was sincerely trying to get on Mo Jiuye''s good side, hoping that one day, he would see his sincerity and make use of him.


    "Alright, I''ll remember Master Fei''s words," Mo Jiuye politely responded, then decided not to dy Fei Nanyu''s time to strategize.


    He did not immediately leave the Ninth Prince''s mansion, but walked towards the Jade Princess instead.


    Having just seen this woman trying to seduce Fei Nanyu, it was clear she was a flirtatious person.


    Yet his uncle He Ziming was an outstanding young talent. How could he let such a woman taint him after marriage?


    Although he had just informed Fei Nanyu about the Ninth Prince''s misconduct, once Fei Nanyu seeded, the Ninth Prince and his whole family would be implicated.


    However, it was still hard to guarantee nothing would go wrong. If the Ninth Prince escaped punishment, the Jade Princess would still have to marry He Ziming.


    In order not to make his father-inw''s family suffer in the future, Mo Jiuye decided to root out the problem once and for all.


    How to solve it? Although it was an imperial decree of marriage, they surely wouldn''t make a dead person marry over, right?


    Mo Jiuye raised his de and took the Jade Princess''s life directly.


    This was the most straightforward way to help his inws. From now on, they would never have to worry about not having peaceful days after she became their daughter-inw.


    He dragged the Jade Princess''s corpse behind an artificial hill and did not hurry to leave.


    Because Mo Jiuye was still worried. If Fei Nanyu informed Empress Qi but failed to resolve the crisis, his father-inw would be in danger.


    His father-inw had shown great righteousness in going through with the marriage and marrying his good daughter to him despite the Mo family''s widowed doors. Just the day after their wedding, the entire Mo family was exiled, separating him from his daughter for nearly a year.


    Since he hade to the capital city and discovered that his father-inw was in danger, he could not just stand by and watch.


    So, Mo Jiuye walked around the cloister in the garden.


    At this moment, a servant boy happened to pass by.


    Mo Jiuye went up and knocked out the servant boy, quickly changed into his clothes, then picked up the tray on the ground and walked towards the crowd.


    Right now, neither Empress Qi nor Fei Nanyu who were sitting in the front row were present, presumably having left to strategize.


    The other officials and their families were all smiling as they watched the performance on stage,pletely unaware of the impending danger.


    Because of his higher official position, although He Yuanming could not sit in the front row with those nobles, his seat was still very noticeable right in front.


    Mo Jiuye spotted his distinct father-inw among the others enjoying the show at a nce.


    He Yuanming had a grave expression, clearly unable to conceal the distress on his face. It was evident how much turmoil Emperor Shunwu''s decree of marriage had brought him.


    Mo Jiuye pretended to carry the tray to serve tea to the guests and approached He Yuanming. He deliberately spilled water all over him.


    "I''m so sorry, please forgive me, Sir He."


    Although He Yuanming was quite displeased at being drenched, he did not have the habit of bullying servants either.


    He took a look at the apologetic person in front of him and waved his hand. "It''s fine, just be more careful next time."


    Unexpectedly, instead of leaving immediately, this servant took out a handkerchief and came over to help wipe him.


    Taking the opportunity while wiping his father-inw''s wet clothes, Mo Jiuye whispered, "Father-inw, pleasee with me. I''m Mo Jiuye."


    Hearing these words, He Yuanming''s body instinctively stiffened as he scrutinized the person in front of him.


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye still had the appearance changed by Fei Nanyu, so He Yuanming did not see a trace of his son-inw''s features on his face at all.


    Not knowing the other''s intentions, He Yuanming did not make a scene since he mentioned his son-inw. He replied in a low voice, "Nonsense. Do you think I''m so blind that I can''t even recognize my own son-inw''s appearance? Who exactly are you? This is the Ninth Prince''s mansion. I just need to yell and you won''t even be able to escape."


    Mo Jiuye knew his appearance had made his father-inw misunderstand.


    "Father-inw, I really am Mo Jiuye. I came to the capital this time to take care of some personal matters and changed my appearance to facilitate my actions. Pleasee aside to talk, everything will be clear."


    To make his father-inw believe him, Mo Jiuye added, "Ran Ran has a plum blossom-shaped birthmark the size of a fingernail on her left shoulder."


    At this point, He Yuanming was somewhat convinced.


    He looked Mo Jiuye up and down again. Although this appearance bore no resemnce to his son-inw, the build was quite simr.


    "Are you really Mo Jiuye, my son-inw?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded slightly. "Father-inw, pleasee aside. I have very important information to tell you."


    He had been wiping his father-inw''s wet clothes for too long. If this continued, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.


    "Sir, your clothes are wet. Let this subordinate take you to change into a new set," Mo Jiuye said.


    He Yuanming took the chance to stand up. "Then what are you waiting for, hurry up!"


    "Yes yes, please follow me, Sir." Mo Jiuye made a humble gesture and led the way.


    There should be guest rooms inside the prince''s mansion for guests to rest temporarily, but Mo Jiuye did not know their exact location.


    However, based on experience, such rooms were usually not far from the banquet venue.


    Therefore, he walked towards the row of buildings closest to the garden.

 Chapter 354: Met the Father-in-law

    <h4>Chapter 354</h4>


    Someone saw theming and recognized at a nce that it was Lord He Yuanming.


    He hurried up and said, "My lord, are you here to change clothes?"


    He Yuanming said unpleasantly, "Humph, the servants in your household are too undisciplined, getting my clothes wet."


    The man seemed to be the steward of the household. He hurriedly fawned up and pointed to a room in front saying,


    "I''m really sorry, my lord. Please go there and wait for a moment, I will fetch clothes for you right away."


    After speaking, he red fiercely at Mo Jiuye, as if to remind him that there would be consequences for this after the guest left.


    Mo Jiuye pretended to shrink back in fear, quickly lowering his head.


    This action not only did not attract the steward''s attention, but made him seem very frightened by the matter.


    He Yuanming and Mo Jiuye went one after the other to the room the steward had pointed out.


    Mo Jiuye quickly closed the door, then solemnly knelt in front of He Yuanming and knocked his head three times on the ground.


    "Greetings, father-inw."


    He Yuanming quickly helped him up.


    But facing this somewhat unfamiliar face, he was still doubtful.


    Before he could ask, Mo Jiuye took out the handkerchief that He Yuanming had used to wipe his clothes. He quickly wiped his face a few times, basically restoring his original appearance.


    His son-inw had been away on campaigns for years, but He Yuanming had still seen him a few times.


    Now, the brows and eyes of the man before him, who could it be if not his son-inw?


    "Son-inw, it really is you. Is Ran Ran alright?"


    Speaking of his daughter, He Yuanming couldn''t help but let his tears flow.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t know why, but seeing his father-inw care so much about his wife made his affection for him grow once more.


    He supported He Yuanming to sit in a chair.


    "Father-inw, Ran Ran suffered a lot following me, but now that we''ve settled in the northwest, life has been better every day. Now she is already pregnant and will give birth in a few months."


    As for He Zhiran being pregnant with twins, Mo Jiuye nned to conceal it for now.


    After all, everyone thought twins were more likely to be difficult births, and he didn''t want the inws to worry unnecessarily.


    Hearing that his daughter was pregnant, He Yuanming''s tears flowed uncontrolled again.


    "Ran Ran was spoiled by me and her mother since she was little. It doesn''t matter if she suffers, as long as she''s alright."


    Mo Jiuye''s main purpose in meeting with his father-inw was to remind him to pay attention to the actions of the Ninth Prince. He knew the steward would bring the clothes soon, so he couldn''t afford any dy.


    "Father-inw, I just discovered that the Ninth Prince is colluding with a sorcerer from the Southern Bordends who gave him many poisonous bugs.


    Today the Ninth Prince will take advantage of the birthday banquet to put the bugs on important ministers at court in order to control the situation."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s words, He Yuanming instantly put away his tears. He asked back in disbelief,


    "What? You said the Ninth Prince is colluding with a sorcerer from the Southern Bordends?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded solemnly.


    "Yes, I saw it with my own eyes, it''s absolutely true.


    I took the risk toe tell father-inw, don''t fall for the Ninth Prince''s tricks.


    Also, for big brother''s wedding, please keep an open mind, father-inw. That Jade Princess is already dead, so she can''t marry into the He family anyway, even if the Ninth Prince''s household doesn''t get exposed today for this matter."


    Hearing so much news, it was impossible for He Yuanming not to be shocked.


    He didn''t expect that his son-inw''s trip to the capital would help resolve two crises for him.


    But he still had doubts to ask.


    "Son-inw, the Ninth Prince has treasonous intentions. That Southern Bordends sorcerer would be the best witness to present in court. May I ask where this person is now?


    Also, is the Jade Princess''s death rted to you?"


    Thinking that the Ninth Prince''s beloved daughter had died, if it was discovered it would surely cause huge waves. If this matter was really done by his son-inw, he must find a way to help him escape.


    "Father-inw, I did indeed kill the Jade Princess. A fickle woman like that ispletely unworthy of big brother.


    Also, my purposeing to the capital this time was to capture that Southern Bordends sorcerer. Now I''ve seeded, and my brothers have already escorted him out of the capital."


    Mo Jiuye still had a certain understanding of He Yuanming''s character, otherwise he wouldn''t have agreed to marry He Zhiran.


    For his Mo family sons taking wives, the requirements for status weren''t high. They mainly valued the wife''s parents'' character.


    He Yuanming had been an official at court for many years. Like his Mo family, he always maintained neutrality, not joining anyone''s faction. And father-inw was known for being an upright official, making no small contribution to Great Shun.


    The fact that he hadn''t been implicated by his Mo family despite everything showed this.


    Moreover, he also believed father-inw truly cared for Ran Ran. Even for Ran Ran''s sake, he wouldn''t speak of things that shouldn''t be told.


    Sure enough, when He Yuanming heard Mo Jiuye mention brothers, he seemed even more shocked.


    "Son-inw, you just said your brothers?" Could it be the Mo family sons are not dead?


    Mo Jiuye was brief.


    "On the way heading northwest, I fortunately discovered eldest brother was still alive. With Ran Ran''s help, I''ve now found six elder brothers, and learned of the whereabouts of other elders and uncles.


    This Southern Bordends man who gave the Ninth Prince poisonous bugs is the chief culprit in persecuting my Mo family sons. So I cannot leave him to father-inw as evidence against the Ninth Prince. "


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s words, He Yuanming carefully absorbed it all. He sincerely felt happy for the Mo family.


    As for his son-inw mentioning Ran Ran helping, he only thought his son-inw was being polite, and didn''t think much of it.


    As her father, he was clearer than anyone on his daughter''s abilities.


    Unlike other youngdies, He Zhiran never spent her days doing feminine hobbies like embroidery. She only liked reading those medical books.


    Were medical books so simple to learn from just reading some books without a teacher?


    There was no helping it. He and his wife doted on their daughter, so whether she could understand or not, they indulged her.


    If it wasn''t for his daughter making a fuss when marrying Mo Jiuye, leaving that box of medical books at home, the books would have been part of her dowry.


    Thinking of this, He Yuanming felt more longing for his daughter.


    But he was clear that now was not the time for him to be sentimental.


    "Since that''s the case, I will find other ways to uncover evidence of the Ninth Prince''s treason. We cannot allow such a viin to cause chaos."


    Mo Jiuye knew with father-inw''s personality, he would strongly oppose the Ninth Prince.


    To give him a full picture, he softly added:


    "There is one more thing I hope father-inw knows, so you are prepared."


    "What is it?" He Yuanming''s heart was filled withplicated emotions. His son-inw''s appearance had brought him so much shocking news.


    How could he know the matter Mo Jiuye was about to tell him would be even more shocking than everything before.


    After all, they had been in the room for some time already, so Mo Jiuye did not dare to directly speak out.


    He first went to the door to look out and make sure there were no suspicious people around before returning.

 Chapter 355: I’ll be leaving now.

    <h4>Chapter 355</h4>


    "Father-inw, what I''m about to say may seem rather far-fetched, so please prepare yourself mentally," said Mo Jiuye solemnly.


    Seeing his son-inw''s grave demeanor, He Yuanming also became serious. "What is this about?"


    "Nan Qi is not the biological child of the Emperor and Concubine Yuan. The true prince is someone else..."


    Mo Jiuye quickly exined to his father-inw how Nan Qi and Fei Nanyu had been switched at birth, hoping he could figure out how to respond to this in the future.


    As expected, this was earth-shattering news for He Yuanming.


    "It seems the future of Da Shun is beset with twists and turns, when even any tomcat or stray dog can be a prince."


    Knowing his father-inw was loyal to Da Shun, Mo Jiuye simply told him everything he knew.


    "There''s more. Nan Heng has colluded with the Queen of the Southern Tribes. He is already dead. Prince Rui has fled the capital with Consort De, and they are living in hiding under assumed names elsewhere. So father-inw, please be mentally prepared for who will eventually gain control of Da Shun."


    For He Yuanming, each revtion from his son-inw was more shocking than thest.


    Seeing his dazed expression, Mo Jiuye could not afford to exin in detail, because right then, someone knocked on the door.


    "Master He, I''ve prepared the clothes."


    He Yuanming quicklyposed himself to look as if nothing had happened, and opened the door with his own hand.


    Just as he was about to take the clothes from the steward, he saw the previously hale and hearty steward copse on the ground, still sping the porcin bottle he had failed to conceal.


    At the same time, Mo Jiuye yanked his father-inw forcefully backwards.


    "Be careful," Mo Jiuye said softly.


    Before He Yuanming even realized what was happening, Mo Jiuye had already caught a bug with his bare hands.


    Because this was so sudden, Mo Jiuye did not have a small bottle on him. The gu worm struggled violently in his grip.


    If he had not wanted to leave some evidence for his father-inw to implicate the Ninth Prince, he might have crushed the gu worm dead already.


    Although He Yuanming had never seen a gu worm with his own eyes, seeing his son-inw''s rm, he guessed that the steward who had just arrived must have been sent by the Ninth Prince to infect him with gu.


    Seeing his son-inw still holding the disgusting worm, He Yuanming quickly fetched a teacup from the table and gave it to Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye epted the teacup and put the worm inside, promptly covering it with the lid.


    "I didn''t expect the Ninth Prince to act so quickly."


    Mo Jiuye suspected that he had only just informed Fei Nanyu, and even if he and Nan Qi worked together to resist this, they would still need some time.


    It was possible some ministers had already fallen into the trap.


    Fortunately, he had brought his father-inw here, and the man had not left yet. Otherwise, with He Yuanming''spleteck of martial prowess, there would have been no chance of escaping this unscathed.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye felt extremely anxious in retrospect. If his father-inw had been infected with gu while he was aware of the plot, he wouldn''t know how to exin to his wife when he returned to the Northwest.


    "Keep this gu worm safe, father-inw, it maye in useful one day," said Mo Jiuye.


    He Yuanming knew gu worms were extremely dangerous things. Worried that a mere teacup could not contain it, he took out his handkerchief and wrapped the teacup tightly.


    "It''s fortunate you were here. Otherwise I could not have escaped this catastrophe unharmed."


    Right now, Mo Jiuye had no time for further discussion. He dragged the steward into the room.


    "Father-inw, the Ninth Prince''s estate will soon be in great turmoil. It would be best if you leave this nest of right and wrong as soon as possible." Mo Jiuye sincerely advised.


    He Yuanming nodded. "I''ll go to the pce now and report this matter to His Majesty."


    Mo Jiuye knew his father-inw was a man of good judgement. When he went to the pce, he would only mention the happenings at the Ninth Prince''s estate, without bringing up Fei Nanyu and Nan Qi''s identities.


    As for what he would choose to do afterwards, Mo Jiuye was certain his father-inw would find a better opportunity based on his experience.


    With his father-inw''s crisis resolved, Mo Jiuye saw no need to linger.


    "I cannot stay here long, father-inw. I must take my leave now."


    Seeing his son-inw about to depart, He Yuanming was still reluctant. "Son-inw, it was not easy for you toe to the capital. Why don''t you visit the Minister''s residence and let your mother-inw see you too?"


    Mo Jiuye declined. "I still have important matters to attend to. In the future, when there is a chance, I will definitely bring Ran Ran and our child to visit you and mother-inw."


    "Since that''s the case, I won''t keep you. But you must be very careful in your dealings. Ran Ran is still waiting for your return in the Northwest," said He Yuanming.


    In fact, He Yuanming''s main purpose in inviting Mo Jiuye to his home was because he wanted to give his son-inw some silver for the return trip. Their sudden departure from the capital meant he had only prepared money for his daughter on short notice, which was far from enough.


    Now that his son-inw hade to the capital, he intended to give him more silver. Unfortunately, He Yuanming had a habit of rarely carrying cash and promissory notes when going out.


    As a result of today''s events, He Yuanming found himself in an awkward spot, as he did not have any valuables on his person that he could give to his son-inw.


    Still, He Yuanming did not give up.


    "May I have your address in the Northwest, son-inw?"


    Mo Jiuye did not think much of this request. It was only natural for the man to be concerned about his daughter''s whereabouts. Initially, he had suggested He Ranran write home to reassure her family, but He Ranran was worried her current identity would negatively impact her family, so she had endured the separation without sending any letters.


    Now that he had met with his father-inw, there was no harm in telling him their address verbally. No one could use that against them.


    "We currently reside in Xiling Vige, just west of Yuncheng in the Northwest," Mo Jiuye replied.


    He Yuanming repeated the address several times in his mind to memorize it, before parting ways with Mo Jiuye.


    As a guest, He Yuanming could leave the Prince''s estate openly. But Mo Jiuye had to use his lightness skill to leap over the wall and slip away unseen.


    Having resumed his original appearance, he went straight to the nearest market to buy a straw hat to hide his face, in case he was recognized by any acquaintances.


    Departing the city went smoothly without incident. The city gate guards would not casually interrogate travelers.


    Mo Jiuye reunited with his two brothers at top speed.


    At this time, Si Meng still showed no signs of regaining consciousness, so traveling with him would be inconvenient. With Mo Jiuye present, Fifth Brother could rx and head out to buy ingredients for their evening meal.


    But contrary to expectations, either due to Si Meng''s unusual weight or some other reason, he actually woke up over an hour early.


    Mo Jiuye was currently worried for his father-inw, uncertain if Emperor Shunwu would believe him after he brought in the gu worm.


    Just then, Sixth Brother''s voice sounded in his mind.


    "Ninth brother,e quickly!"


    Hearing Sixth Brother''s call, Mo Jiuye immediately pulled back his thoughts and hurried back to Si Meng''s room.


    Si Meng stared wide-eyed at Sixth Brother.


    "You''re...Mo Jinnian?"


    Sixth Brother gave a cold humph. "Humph! Bet you didn''t expect we''d meet like this."

 Chapter 356: Where did you hide my father and brother

    <h4>Chapter 356</h4>


    During the time when [Sixth elder brother] was under the influence of the puppet worm, although he didn''t know what had happened over the past few years. Without even needing to think, he knew that the puppet worm in his body must have been nted by the person in front of him, indicating that there must have been multiple contacts between them.


    At this moment, [Mr. Si Meng] had already realized that the environment he was in was extremely unfavorable, especially after seeing [Mo Jiuye]e close to him, he waspletely clear that he had fallen into the hands of the Mo brothers.


    Thinking of these things, he couldn''t help but resent them, ming himself for being careless back then and giving [Mo Jinnian] a chance to be rescued. At the same time, he could also determine that the person who rescued [Mo Jinnian] from the south was [Mo Jiuye].


    Although [Mr. Si Meng] had guessed most of what had happened, he still couldn''t figure out no matter what, who was the expert who had relieved the puppet worm he had nted in the person.


    With his status in the world of worm breeding, he dared to say that no second person woulde out iming to be number one. It was impossible for anyone to solve the gu worms he had nted in others.


    Could it be that without him noticing, an even more powerful gu worm breeding expert had appeared?


    Just as [Mr. Si Meng] was still lost in his own thoughts, [Mo Jiuye] had already angrily walked up to him and kicked him hard.


    At the same time, the little white who had just flown back with its owner also flew into the room. Seeing its owner make a move, it excitedly circled around his head, even making a cry of joy.


    [Mo Jiuye] didn''t show any mercy with this kick, it was a real solid kick to [Mr. Si Meng]''s body. Even with his martial arts, [Mr. Si Meng] still couldn''t bear it.


    But his hands and feet were tied up with ropes and he couldn''t move at all. Just when he was about to lose his temper at [Mo Jiuye], he saw his beloved pet.


    "Baby, go bite him."


    He was very clear about the power of the pet he had carefully raised for over ten years. Once the little guy bared his ws, the aggressiveness would still be quite strong.


    Today, having fallen into the hands of the Mo brothers, he probably had no hope of survival.


    Since this was the case, he might as well go down with his beloved pet, at least he wouldn''t feel lonely on the way.


    To his surprise, the little white didn''t listen to hismand at all, but kept catering to [Mo Jiuye].


    [Mr. Si Meng] still didn''t give up, no matter what, he couldn''t believe that his baby wouldn''t listen to him. It was possible that the little guy was just too excited after not seeing him for so long.


    After thinking it over in his heart, he tried to call Little White to harm the Mo brothers again.


    Unexpectedly, this time Little White actually manifested an eagle''s beak on its own and pecked at his eyes.


    Seeing this, [Mr. Si Meng] was stunned for a moment, otherwise, with his martial arts skills, even with his hands and feet tied, he wouldn''t bepletely without the ability to dodge.


    Although Little White didn''t urately peck his eyes, it viciously pecked off a piece of flesh under his eye.


    The blood flowed down [Mr. Si Meng]''s cheek, coupled with his painful and shocked look, made him look extremely hideous.


    [Mo Jiuye] stretched out an arm, and Little Whitended steadily on it, right in front of [Mr. Si Meng].


    He deliberately praised Little White in front of [Mr. Si Meng].


    "Little White, well done."


    "That''s not possible. This is the pet I have carefully raised for over ten years. It can''t be wrong." At this moment, [Mr. Si Meng] only thought that he had mistaken the pet. It was impossible for his precious pet to recognize someone else as its master.


    [Mo Jiuye] didn''t care about his thoughts. With the arch enemy of the Mo family right in front of him now, he was in no mood to circle around too much with him.


    [Sixth elder brother] went straight to the point as well.


    "Speak, where are my father and brother hidden?"


    Hearing [Sixth elder brother] ask like this, [Mr. Si Meng]''s eyes shrank for a moment, and at the same time he also realized that many things were worse than he imagined.


    To the Mo brothers, [Mr. Si Meng] was the biggest enemy.


    Simrly, in [Mr. Si Meng]''s mind, the Mo family should be tortured and then go down to apany his sweetheart after the appointed time.


    Unexpectedly, the matter would bepleted so soon, in less than a year, things kept happening.


    At this moment, he could only stabilize the person in front of him, and then think of a way to escape.


    With this thought, [Mr. Si Meng] immediately calmed down.


    "I don''t know what you guys are talking about. We are strangers to each other. Why would you catch me?"


    [Mo Jiuye] sneered coldly, "Hehe... old fox, just now you could still call out my [Sixth elder brother]''s name. What''s wrong? Have we be strangers so quickly?"


    [Mr. Si Meng] continued to pretend to be confused.


    "It''s not strange at all that I can recognize the famous Mighty God General of the Mo family. People used to have his portraits worshipped in their homes. Some people recognize him a little, it''s not strange, is it?"


    Indeed this was the case.


    [Sixth elder brother] Mo was born with divine strength. Commoners even circted that a hammer in his hand weighed at least 100 catties.


    Back then, when [Mo Jinnian] led the army on the border, he defeated the armies of the southern border so badly that they couldn''t reorganize themselves. At that time, this matter was almost universally known.


    It would just be a ghost if the Mo brothers believed his words.


    The two brothers didn''t want to waste too much words with this kind of person. But they both understood clearly in their hearts that this person couldn''t die before finding their father and elder brother.


    Therefore, there were great restrictions on interrogating him.


    They didn''t dare go too aggressively, in case the old guy tried something desperate, getting their father and elder brother killed too.


    "We brothers just want to know our father and elder brother''s whereabouts. If you tell the truth, I can consider letting you get away."


    This is how [Mo Jiuye] said to barely restrain his anger, a strategy of postponing aggression. He was afraid [Mr. Si Meng] would think of doing something extreme.


    "Didn''t your father and elder brother die on the battlefield long ago? How could I possibly know their whereabouts?"


    The old fox [Mr. Si Meng] was also formidable. Since you want to y tricks on me, I can pretend to be confused as well.


    [Mo Jiuye] didn''t have much patience to begin with. Seeing him like this made him even less able to control the anger in his heart.


    He also saw that it would be useless to keep beating around the bush with the old guy here, and probably wouldn''t get anything out of him.


    So he took out a small porcin bottle from his arms.


    It contained a bottle of itching powder that his wife had specially prepared for him.


    This was something [He Zhiran] had thought of in advance. Sessfully capturing [Mr. Si Meng] in the capital, it wouldn''t be easy to get him to speak out without killing him.


    So she specifically looked up recipes and made the itching powder.


    [Mo Jiuye] just opened the bottle cap, then sprinkled the powder towards [Mr. Si Meng].


    Seeing [Mo Jiuye]''s actions, [Mr. Si Meng] reflexively held his breath.


    In his understanding, this was poisoning him.


    He just didn''t know what kind of poison it was. As long as it wasn''t inhaled through his nose and mouth, he would still have a chance to escape.


    But his knowledge was still too shallow. How could poisoning only be through nose and mouth inhtion?


    [Mr. Si Meng]''s breath holding skill was indeed formidable. In his self perception, he didn''t inhale any of the poison powder.


    Just when he was feeling smug, he suddenly felt an unbearably itchy sensation all over his body.


    He kept twisting his body, trying to dispel this awful feeling.


    But the more he struggled and moved, the stronger the feeling became.


    At the same time, he also realized that the poison [Mo Jiuye] had used on him wasn''t the nose and mouth inhtion kind at all, but a poison to make his whole body feel terribly itchy.

 Chapter 357: Kill Me

    <h4>Chapter 357</h4>


    Mr. Si Meng had never seen such a poison before.


    He had no choice but to believe that the Mo Family had high-level help behind them.


    To be able to take out a poison that even he had never seen before and to remove the puppet poison from Mo Jinnian''s body, there was no way they didn''t have expert help, even if they beat him to death he wouldn''t believe otherwise.


    As the itchy feeling on his body became stronger and stronger, Mr. Si Meng could no longer bother to think carefully.


    His body was like a worm, constantly twisting, and he even had an urge to just die.


    "Kill me... kill me... ahhhh... so itchy..."


    Mo Jiuye and Mo Jinnian, the two brothers, stood with their arms crossed, coldly watching Mr. Si Meng painfully rolling on the ground. They didn''t have any sympathy at all. Compared to what he had done to the Mo Family, this torture was far from enough.


    Seeing sweat appearing on Mr. Si Meng''s forehead, and his painful moans gradually bing weaker.


    Mo Jiuye knew that at this moment, his consciousness was much weaker than before. So he took the opportunity to ask:


    "Speak, where are my uncles and brothers now?"


    At this moment, Mr. Si Meng also realized that his situation was much more difficult than he had imagined.


    Especially the unbearable itchiness he felt in his body made him increasingly realize a fact.


    That was, he only had two options today.


    First, he could say the whereabouts of the Mo Family sons, and the other side might give him a quick death.


    Second, he would die together with Mo Jiuye, Mo Jinnian and Mo Qing.


    No matter what he did, it was impossible to sessfullyplete his revenge n for his lover.


    But it was impossible for him to frankly say the whereabouts of the Mo Family father and son. He would rather choose to die together with the Mo Family brothers, so that when he meets his lover underground, he can give an exnation.


    Moreover, he still couldn''t bepletely sure exactly how many of the controlled Mo Family men had been rescued.


    Although he couldn''t take the Mo Family men to his lover''s grave to worship, taking Mo Qing and his two sons should still count as half a sess.


    Although Mr. Si Meng had made up his mind, who doesn''t want to live longer?


    He decided to fight for himself onest time, and if that didn''t work, he would die together with Mo Qing.


    In order to avenge his lover, Mr. Si Meng was able to n for many years. His temperament and wisdom were by no meansparable to ordinary people.


    Although his hands and feet were tied up, he clearly knew that the treasures hidden in his clothes had long been searched away by the two brothers.


    That is to say, not only were there no poisons on him at this moment, there were no Gu worms either.


    Fortunately, he had refined his life Gu worm, and this Gu worm was inside his body.


    No matter how wise the Mo Jiuye brothers were, they probably couldn''t have thought of this point.


    So he endured the terrible itchiness on his body and concentrated his mental power to summon his life Gu worm.


    "Mo Jinnian, Mo Jiuye, I''ll ask you onest time, will you let me go, or let me take you and your father down with me?"


    Although Mo Jiuye had been watching Mr. Si Meng''s miserable state coldly all along, he had never rxed his vignce for a moment.


    When Mr. Si Meng concentrated his mind to summon his life Gu worm, he noticed something wrong immediately.


    Although this was the first time he had seen such a situation, he didn''t feel unfamiliar with it at all.


    When he read that book "Encyclopedia of Gu Techniques" with his wife, he knew that Mr. Si Meng''s current reaction was very likely that he was summoning his life Gu worm.


    He just didn''t know that Mr. Si Meng had left himself such a backup n that after the death of the life Gu worm, it could still cause his body to explode and release the poison in his heart''s blood.


    What he was worried about was exactly Mr. Si Meng''s next move.


    If he really activated the life Gu worm, then the ones who would die with him were very likely to be his uncles.


    No, not likely, definitely...


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye could only use expedient means to stabilize the other party first.


    "I can let you go, but you have to exchange information about my uncles for it. This condition is not too much, right?"


    Mr. Si Meng didn''t want to die either. Just now, if he hadn''t wanted to fight for himself once, he wouldn''t have acted so extremely either.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye''s attitude ease up, he felt even more that he really had a chance to escape. He simply started negotiating conditions.


    "I can tell you what you want to know, but first you need to detoxify me."


    On this point, Mo Jiuye was really powerless. His wife had only given him itching powder, and no antidote.


    He spread his hands helplessly at Mr. Si Meng, making a helpless expression.


    "There is no antidote."


    When Mr. Si Meng heard there was no antidote, big drops of sweat kept rolling down his forehead.


    If it wasn''t for him not wanting to appear too powerless in front of the Mo brothers, he wouldn''t have endured so hard and gritted his teeth.


    He didn''t expect that after he had threatened them, they didn''t even have an antidote...


    Now he also understood that the Mo brothers probably wouldn''t let him off easily. This time it was medicine that made his body terribly itchy, who knows what methods they would use to torture a confession out of him next time.


    Rather than wasting time with them like this and suffer, he might as well just directly take his second option. That way, at least he could leave with some dignity.


    Seeing Mr. Si Meng showing signs of activating his life Gu worm again, Mo Jiuye hurriedly took out a tranquilizer gun.


    With a crisp "bang", before Mr. Si Meng could react, he passed out.


    Mo Jinnian had also noticed something wrong just now. He knew that what his little brother did was a forced move.


    "Little brother, this old guy is very cunning. I''m afraid it will be very difficult to get useful information from him."


    On this point, Mo Jiuye could not deny it either.


    "It looks like now we can only keep him alive first while slowly trying to find a way to interrogate him."


    "But the longer we go without news, the more our father, eldest brother and second brother will suffer." Mo Jinnian was obviously a little anxious. Still, at this moment the two brothers were at a loss.


    Mo Jiuye sighed.


    "This person has a life Gu worm in his body. Just now, if I hadn''t knocked him unconscious in time, he would have activated the life Gu worm. At that time, it wouldn''t have been just him dying. The people controlled by his life Gu worm would also have died with him."


    Mo Jinnian didn''t understand Gu techniques. Hearing Mo Jiuye exin these details scared him out in a cold sweat.


    "But... but we rushed here to the capital from thousands of miles away and captured Mr. Si Meng alive. Could it be that we would still be helpless?"


    Mo Jiuye pondered for a moment and said, "For now, we can only bring this person with us quickly to meet up with third brother and the others in the Western Region to see if they have found any useful information."

 Chapter 358: If you want to kill, if you want to cut.

    <h4>Chapter 358</h4>


    As long as we can find the father and elders first and remove the Gu worms from them, we can mince this man into thousands of pieces to avenge our Mo family brothers. " Sixth Elder Brother nodded, "It seems this is the only way."


    The two brothers had just discussed their strategy when they heard the sound of hoofbeats.


    Sixth Elder Brother quickly walked to the door, "Let me see."


    He had just pushed open the door to see Fifth Elder Brother driving a carriage, also leading two horses back.


    Without waiting for Mo Jinye to ask, Fifth Elder Brother took the initiative to say, "Sixth younger brother, I went into the city to buy supplies, and brought our horses back at the same time, and also hitched a carriage."


    Hearing Fifth Elder Brother''s words, Mo Jiuye had to admire his thoughtfulness.


    He and Sixth Elder Brother had just decided to take Mr. Si Meng with them first to the northwest to see what progress Third Elder Brother and the others had made there before studying countermeasures together.


    The brothers needed horses to travel on the road, and Fifth Elder Brother had solved everything in one trip out.


    Mo Jiuye''s original n was to rest here for the night, and also interrogate Mr. Si Meng in the meantime. It would be best if he could find out some key things tonight, but even if he couldn''t, he could also understand the other''s strengths and weaknesses.


    Unexpectedly, Mr. Si Meng acted so radically for the sake of his father and elders that Mo Jiuye was at a loss for a while, unable to let him die immediately.


    Just as Fifth Elder Brother brought back the carriage, he had also experienced Mr. Si Meng''s strengths and weaknesses, and had no intention of staying here for long. They could slowlye up with countermeasures on the road.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, let''s set out now and whip the horses to gallop to the western border to see what progress Third Elder Brother and the others have made over there before studying countermeasures together."


    Seeing Mo Jiuye''s expression, Fifth Elder Brother knew it was urgent.


    "Okay, let''s set out now. I just bought some dry rations. We canst for several days on the road."


    The three brothers threw Mr. Si Meng into the carriage. Even in his unconscious state, none of them dared to take him lightly.


    For such an old fox, they absolutely could not give him the slightest chance to escape.


    So Sixth Elder Brother was responsible for driving the carriage, Fifth Elder Brother rode one horse and led another, and Mo Jiuye was responsible for guarding Mr. Si Meng in the carriage. Once he woke up, he would continue to parley with him.


    Perhaps Mr. Si Meng''s subconscious did not want to wake up and suffer from that terrible itch. It was not until the carriage had traveled a hundred miles and it was deep night that he showed signs of waking up.


    All the way, Mo Jiuye had remained awake to clearly see Mr. Si Meng''s movements. The oilmp had also been kept on.


    Therefore, when Mr. Si Meng showed a little reaction, Mo Jiuye noticed it.


    After all, Mr. Si Meng had been shot twice with anesthetic darts in one day. At the moment his head was still a little dizzy.


    His first feeling was that his whole body was tense and unable to move freely.


    But soon, he realized the danger of his situation.


    In the light of the oilmp, he also saw the face of the person in front of him clearly.


    "Mo Jiuye, what do you want to do?"


    Although Mo Jiuye had no n for him at the moment, he could not lose momentum.


    "Naturally, I want to learn from you what I want to know."


    The voices of the two men''s conversation were not small, and they did not intend to hide anything from anyone.


    Sixth Elder Brother driving the carriage outside could also hear them clearly.


    At the moment they were shuttling through the wilds, so there was no scruples about talking.


    "Old fox, if you don''t know what''s good for you, do you believe I will smash your head with a hammer?"


    Sixth Elder Brother had the same idea as Mo Jiuye, mainly wanting to frighten Mr. Si Meng. As long as Mr. Si Meng had the slightest desire to live, he did not believe he could not get something useful out of him.


    Unfortunately, his and Mo Jiuye''s methods were of no use to Mr. Si Meng at all.


    The two brothers did not know that the effects of the itchy powder on Mr. Si Meng had passed and he no longer felt so ufortable. On the contrary, it ignited a glimmer of hope for life in him.


    However, he did not want to show it in front of the Mo brothers.


    "Humph! A real man should kill or chop as you please. There is no need to frighten people here."


    Mo Jiuye saw that this old fox really would not shed tears until he saw the coffin, and quickly raised his hand to hit his head.


    This was already a deep blood feud for the Mo family, and Mo Jiuye could no longer endure it at this moment.


    Although Mr. Si Meng had martial arts skills,pared to the Mo brothers, it was not enough. Plus his hands and feet were tied up tightly, and the carriage space was small, he had nowhere to dodge. He could only take Mo Jiuye''s vicious beating head-on.


    This time Mo Jiuye was really angry, and more importantly, it also contained arge part of venting.


    After several hits, Mr. Si Meng''s face was severely deformed and he could not see his original appearance at all.


    "Mo Jiuye, do you want your father to perish together with me?"


    Mr. Si Meng realized something was wrong as soon as he said this sentence.


    The Mo brothers also reacted very quickly, hearing the key point from his words.


    Sixth Elder Brother had already stopped the carriage and opened the carriage door to re at Mr. Si Meng.


    "Speak quickly, what have you done to my father?"


    Fifth Elder Brother also rushed up quickly. The two tall brothers blocked the carriage door together, their eyes fixed closely on Mr. Si Meng.


    Mo Jiuye also stopped the fist that was raised high above his head and did not let it fall immediately. He just wanted to wait for his answer.


    Seeing the nervousness of the brothers, Mr. Si Meng regretted saying the wrong thing, but also breathed a sigh of relief.


    Since he had already said it, he knew that no matter how cunningly he denied it, it would be useless. Perhaps he could also negotiate terms with Mo Qing and the Mo brothers.


    "That''s right, Mo Qing has indeed been poisoned by my Gu worm, but so what? If I don''t say where he is, no matter how you search you won''t be able to find him.


    Hahahahahaha..."


    Mr. Si Meng decided to gloat inexplicably and burst into a string of triumphantughter.


    Looking at the Mo brothers, it was incredibly annoying. It was nothing more than taking advantage of the fact that they did not dare kill him for their father''s life.


    In addition, the threatening meaning goes without saying. In short, Mr. Si Meng''s actions greatly displeased the Mo brothers.


    The only consequence of displeasure was, on the premise of preserving his life, to beat him violently.


    Mo Jiuye had hit him earlier, and this time it was Sixth Elder Brother''s turn.


    He saw Sixth Elder Brother leap onto the carriage board, then picked up Mr. Si Meng''s whole person and threw him to the ground.


    Seeing this, Fifth Elder Brother could no longer restrain himself and kicked Mr. Si Meng hard in the body.


    The Mo brothers were all veterans. They knew best where it would hurt the most but not be fatal when beating someone.


    "Ah... Ah... Ahhhhhh.... You will pay the price for what you are doing now..."


    Seeing the two elder brothers beating Mr. Si Meng violently, Mo Jiuye made no attempt to stop it.

 Chapter 359: Get to the West as Early as You Can

    <h4>Chapter 359</h4>


    He was well aware that his two elder brothers knew their limits, which was one thing. More importantly, he knew that Mr. Si Meng wanted to activate the destined witch insect and needed to calm his mind to do so.


    At the moment, he was being violently beaten and simply could not calm his mind, making it impossible to activate the destined witch insect.


    The Fifth and Sixth Elders did in fact know their limits, only stopping when they felt the moment was right.


    By this point, Mr. Si Meng''s body had gone limp on the ground like a pile of mud.


    Not only was he tied up and unable to move, even if he had been able to act freely, trying to get up after being beaten like this would have been difficult.


    Mo Jiuye was also not letting up, constantly observing his every move while keeping the tranquilizer gun ready in his hand. If Mr. Si Meng showed any abnormal reactions, he would immediately open fire.


    Mr. Si Mengy limply on the ground, breathing heavily.


    But the perpetually proud man was not about to bow his head so easily.


    "You will all regret everything you have done to me today."


    As he finished speaking, he tried his best to steady his emotions and focus all his willpower, preparing to activate the mother destined witch insect.


    Mo Jiuye immediately recognized his intention and was about to fire when he suddenly felt a slight vibration against his chest.


    He knew that summoning the destined witch insect for suicide required at least half an incense stick''s worth of time. So rather than immediately pulling the trigger, he reached into his robe and pulled out a small cloth bag.


    The bag contained the witch insects they had seized from Mr. Si Meng.


    In the moonlight, he could see that one of therger porcin bottles was shaking nonstop in his palm.


    In other words, the vibration he had just felt originated from this bottle.


    At the same time, Mr. Si Meng also saw what Mo Jiuye was holding in his hand.


    If the light had been better, the brothers would surely have seen the bloodthirsty glint in his eyes.


    Though they couldn''t make out the color of Mr. Si Meng''s eyes, the brothers knew the old fox was staring at the bottles in Mo Jiuye''s hand.


    Facing his enemy, Mo Jiuye had no intention of passing up a chance to drive him mad.


    He waved the porcin bottles in front of Mr. Si Meng.


    "What''s wrong? Anxious to see your treasures? Too bad they''re all in my hands now,pletely out of your reach."


    He taunted Mr. Si Meng like this not simply to mock him.


    Mo Jiuye was indirectly buying time, because he could feel the shaking of therger bottle growing more intense.


    Without understanding the situation, he didn''t want to take any risks.


    To be safe, Mo Jiuye finally pulled the tranquilizer gun''s trigger, and Mr. Si Meng once again lost consciousness after a crisp bang.


    The Fifth and Sixth Elders were not at all surprised by Mo Jiuye''s actions, because they too were holding such weapons.


    They had just been a little unclear about the situation and hadn''t thought to resolve it this way.


    At the moment, the two brothers had no time to envy their Ninth Younger Brother''s use of advanced weaponry. Their eyes fixed on Mr. Si Meng as they asked:


    "Ninth Brother, what should we do next? Continue on our way?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "Continue on our way, and try to reach the western border as soon as possible."


    He was now worried that Mr. Si Meng had already shown suicidal intentions twice. Any more dys, and Mo Jiuye feared he would die on the road.


    Even with the brothers watching him closely, if Mr. Si Meng stubbornly refused to eat, he could still starve himself to death along the way.


    Mo Jiuye found this quite vexing.


    The brothers had travelled thousands of miles to the capital and captured their target, but the crafty Mr. Si Meng had yet to reveal any useful information.


    Not only had they learned nothing useful, just now the sly old fox had let slip that their father was being controlled by his destined witch insect.


    At the same time, they now knew for certain that their father was still alive, but the most crucial detail - his exact location - remained a mystery to them.


    The carriage rumbled into motion again amidst Mo Jiuye''s swirling thoughts.


    Knowing Mr. Si Meng would not wake for a while, Mo Jiuye leaned back in the carriage to ponder.


    He recalled the passage on destined witch insects from the Compendium of Witch Insect Techniques.


    As he turned it over in his mind, Mo Jiuye suddenly had an inspiration.


    The passage mentioned that most witch insect masters kept their destined witch insect inside their bodies, with only extremely rare exceptions.


    These exceptional few were those who cultivated both witch insects and poisons. To refine ever more potent toxins, they often tested the effects themselves.


    To avoid self-poisoning, they used a special technique to force all toxins in their bodies into the heart corner, using the heart''s blood to encircle the toxins and prevent them from spreading through the rest of the body, thus protecting themselves.


    Just now, Mr. Si Meng had clearly been trying to activate his destined witch insect tomit suicide, yet the porcin bottle in his hand had shaken nonstop. This indicated a strong possibility that Mr. Si Meng was one of those rare exceptions mentioned in the book.


    The book also stated that for witch insect masters who kept their destined witch insect separate from their body, their heart blood was highly toxic. Once they activated the destined witch insect for suicide, their own bodies would also explode.


    Their greatest weapon would be their toxic heart blood. Even the slightest ssh on the skin would leave no hope of survival.


    Mo Jiuye suddenly felt greatly enlightened.


    So Mr. Si Meng''s destined witch insect was literally in his own hands.


    And he had intended to use the mother''s suicide to detonate his body, not only killing the father under the control of his destined witch insect, but taking the three brothers with him.


    Looking at Mr. Si Meng''s battered face, Mo Jiuye was filled with the urge to end his loathsome life on the spot.


    But he could not do that yet.


    Because he had thought of a way to prevent Mr. Si Meng from activating the destined witch insect for suicide.


    That was, to take Mr. Si Meng''s heart blood to nourish his destined witch insect. The destined witch insect would not reject the toxins in its master''s heart blood; on the contrary, it would be even livelier.


    No matter how the master tried to control it, it would not choose suicide.


    Still, Mo Jiuye did not dare be careless about obtaining Mr. Si Meng''s heart blood.


    Just now, amidst his desperate ramblings, Mr. Si Meng had only revealed that the destined witch insect controlled their father. The situations of their Eldest and Second Brothers remained unclear, and most importantly, he still hoped to ask about his elders'' whereabouts.


    If it were anyone else, Mo Jiuye could simply plunge a de in and take the heart blood without such borate nning.


    Fortunately, he knew the precise location of the heart blood. Before leaving, his wife had equipped him with many surgical tools to help free his family from the witch insects'' control.


    As for sterile conditions, as long as Mr. Si Meng didn''t die, someone as reprehensibly evil as him did not deserve them anyway.


    Mo Jiuye carefully nned it over and over in his mind until he was certain nothing could go wrong. Only then did he open the carriage door.


    "Sixth Brother, find a quiet ce for us to stop."


    Sixth Elder reflexively nced back at Mr. Si Meng, thinking something might be wrong with him.

 Chapter 360: Blood in My Heart

    <h4>Chapter 360</h4>


    As a result, what Sixth Elder Brother saw was that Mr. Si Meng was still in a state of unconsciousness.


    He asked in puzzlement: "Ninth Younger Brother, what happened to the old fox?"


    Although he had restrained his strength when dealing with Fifth Elder Brother just now, he was still a little worried that he had hit the old ghost too hard and sent him to the Western Paradise.


    "Sixth Brother, don''t worry. I thought of a way to deal with this old fox." Mo Jiuye exined.


    Hearing this, the depression in Sixth Elder Brother''s heart seemed to dissipate in an instant.


    Although he and Ninth Younger Brother had not seen each other for many years, through the contact during this period of time, he discovered that Ninth Younger Brother was no longer the youngster he used to be.


    Perhaps it was because of the changes in the family over the years, Ninth Younger Brother had not only be steadier, even his wisdom was notparable to that of his other brothers.


    Therefore, as long as it was something Ninth Younger Brother said, he would believe it unconditionally.


    "Okay, I''ll find a quiet ce now."


    The conversation between the two brothers did not escape Fifth Elder Brother''s ears.


    Although he did not interject, he had the same feeling in his heart as Sixth Brother, which was that if Ninth Younger Brother said he had thought of a way, it must be foolproof.


    The three brothers drove the carriage to a secluded and t grove, and Sixth Brother pulled on the reins.


    "Ninth Brother, I think here is good."


    In fact, Mo Jiuye was not too worried. He just considered that the identities of the three brothers were rather special, and they were also with Mr. Si Meng, so he wanted to avoid any possible trouble as much as possible.


    He opened the carriage door to take a look.


    "Sixth Brother, this location is not bad, let''s do it here."


    There was no time to dy. He nned to take out Mr. Si Meng''s heart blood before he woke up.


    "Sixth Brother, stand guard outside and respond immediately if there is any danger. Fifth Brother,e help me in the carriage."


    Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother nodded solemnly, each attending to their own duties.


    Fifth Brother entered the carriage and eagerly asked, "Ninth Brother, what can Fifth Brother do to help?"


    Mo Jiuye did not exin immediately, but took out two surgical knives given to him by his wife.


    "Fifth Brother, take this old man''s shirt off."


    Fifth Brother did not know what Ninth Younger Brother was going to do, but after just a moment of stunned hesitation, he started to act.


    Although sterilization steps were omitted, the lighting requirements for surgery were still extremely high, after all Mr. Si Meng''s life could not be harmed yet.


    Mo Jiuye thought for a moment, helplessly took out a small but powerful shlight and a small white porcin bottle from his package.


    Additionally, considering that Mr. Si Meng''s heartblood was highly toxic, he could not risk his and his brothers'' lives with it.


    Mo Jiuye also gave himself and Fifth Brother each a pair of medical rubber gloves.


    Seeing him take out so many strange things, Fifth Brother''s eyes were not enough.


    "Ninth Brother, what are these?"


    Mo Jiuye had already anticipated that taking these things out in front of his two elder brothers would surely lead to questioning.


    He calmly said, "These were all given to me by the foreigners. I originally thought these things were useless, but your sister-inw was thoughtful and worried that we might need them on the road, so she insisted on stuffing them into my package."


    Speaking of foreigners, Fifth Brother was truly convinced.


    Not to mention anything else, just the ss used to build the house, he had heard from Eighth Brother that it was purchased by Ninth Brother and his wife from the foreigners.


    So if the foreigners could take out such special ss, not to mention these little things!


    Mo Jiuye did not know what Fifth Brother was thinking. He also knew that his exnation was too vague. Anyway, having an excuse was better than not having one.


    At this moment, he had already entered a state of full concentration.


    His cutting skills were not as professional as He Zhiran''s, especially since he could not harm Mr. Si Meng''s life. So at this moment, his mood was extremely nervous.


    He tried hard to recall what his wife looked like when she helped others with surgery, quickly locating the right position. The sharp surgical knife soon cut through Mr. Si Meng''s skin and flesh.


    Seeing Ninth Brother''s actions, Fifth Brother was also sweating for him.


    Although Mo Jiuye understood some principles, after all, it was his first time doing it, so his movements were naturally a little clumsy.


    Fortunately, everything was going ording to his n, with no deviations.


    Fifth Brother, who was staring closely at Mo Jiuye''s actions, suddenly heard him say urgently, "Fifth Brother, get ready to collect the blood."


    Mo Jiuye had quickly identified the aorta at the center of Mr. Si Meng''s heart, which was where the heartblood was located.


    Fifth Brother hurriedly brought the porcin bottle to the right position and removed the stopper.


    In order to prevent the toxic heartblood from sshing, Mo Jiuye''s actions suddenly became extremely gentle.


    He gently fixed the blood vessel with forceps, then pulled up a section and aligned it with the bottle opening.


    With another raise of his hand holding the knife, Mr. Si Meng''s heartblood smoothly flowed into the porcin bottle.


    Mo Jiuye operated skillfully, and the toxic blood did not ssh at all, which relieved him.


    The heartblood that slowly flowed out was pitch ck in color. Fifth Brother collected about half a bottle before the color gradually became normal.


    Mo Jiuye was not too shocked by this situation as he understood it from reading books.


    However, it was different for Fifth Brother. This half bottle of pitch-ck heartbloodpletely exceeded his knowledge.


    "Ninth Brother, what is this?"


    Sixth Brother, who was standing guard outside the carriage, was also very curious about what was happening inside when he heard the conversation between the two brothers. If he didn''t have to keep a lookout at his post, he would have gone in to ask about it long ago.


    Since taking Mr. Si Meng''s heartblood was to resolve the current crisis, Mo Jiuye certainly had to exin it clearly to his two elder brothers.


    So while he was stitching up Mr. Si Meng''s wound, he told them what he knew.


    After listening to Ninth Brother''s ount, the two brothers let out a sigh of relief, but also felt somewhat terrified in retrospect.


    If it wasn''t for Ninth Brother''s quick reaction just now, Mr. Si Meng really would have activated his life-worm tomit suicide, then detonated the toxic blood in his heart, and at that time not only would they be unable to save their father and elder brothers, even the three of them could have possibly died along with him.


    They didn''t expect Ninth Brother to be so knowledgeable and understand these things.


    Especially Fifth Brother, who witnessed Ninth Brother sessfully extract Mr. Si Meng''s heartblood with his own eyes. His admiration for Ninth Brother was now indescribable in words.


    While Mo Jiuye exined things clearly, he had also finished treating Mr. Si Meng''s wound.


    Fifth Brother carefully covered the porcin bottle and put it away safely before helping to dress Mr. Si Meng again.


    Only then did Mo Jiuye take the porcin bottle containing the toxic heartblood and carefully pour some into the bottle containing Mr. Si Meng''s life-worm.


    In themplight they could see that the life-worm in the bottle became especially excited when it encountered its master''s toxic heartblood, and showed no intention of escaping from the bottle at all.


    This indicated that Mo Jiuye''s approach was correct. As long as this life-worm could continuallye into contact with its master''s heartblood, it would stay alive. Even if its master tried to control it tomit suicide, it would not obey.

 Chapter 361: The Invasion

    <h4>Chapter 361</h4>


    After getting all this done, the sky outside had already started to brighten.


    The Mo Jiuye brothers had travelled overnight, and after getting Mr. Si Meng''s essence and blood, they were quite tired at the moment.


    The three decided to take turns resting for a while, and after it got brighter they would check on the situation with the old fox waking up before continuing on their journey.


    The Mo Jiuye brothers had just gotten through a difficult spot, and Xi Ling Vige was also facing a test at this moment.


    The houses the Mo Family had recently built were basicallypleted, and Hu Cong had also invited many carpenters toe and build furniture together.


    There were also chicken and livestock pens and grounds that hadn''t beenpleted when Mo Jiuye was home, and Nan Rui had also noticed something amiss that around where he was living, the Mo Family had not started any construction.


    He btedly realized that it was because he and his mother were here that the construction schedule had been dyed.


    Since he had already bought a house site in the vige anyway, and would move away sooner orter, he rented a small courtyard to live in temporarily from the vigers.


    People arranged by Hu Cong were already building his new courtyard.


    As soon as Nan Rui moved out, He Zhiran started organizing people to help build chicken and livestock farms.


    Thanks to the special properties of the seeds, the crops in the fields were still thriving even with little rain.


    If they hadn''t all been worried about the brothers'' safety, the atmosphere in the Mo Family recently would have been one of celebration and peace.


    Even so, no one was neglecting the tasks at hand, and everyone was working hard at their own jobs.


    He Zhiran would go rest inside her dimensional space at night, and leave before dawn.


    She had just left her space when she heard the dogs barking chaotically outside.


    At the same time, hurried footsteps could be hearding to the door.


    There was a knock.


    "Sister-inw, Mother told me to take you away from the vige to hide first."


    It was eighth sister-inw''s voice.


    He Zhiran hurriedly opened the door.


    "Sister-inw, what happened?"


    Eighth sister-inw said urgently: "There are Barbariansing down from the mountain to raid us. Seventh brother and eighth brother have already taken weapons and gone over. Mother is worried about your pregnancy and told me to take you away from the vige first."


    He Zhiran was not scared by the Barbarians'' raid.


    The first thing she needed to do was to clearly understand the specifics of the situation.


    "Sister-inw, don''t panic first. Tell me the details of what happened."


    In fact, eighth sister-inw did not know the specifics either.


    "I was still asleep when I heard the dogs barking louder and louder outside.


    Then eighth brother hurried out to check what was going on, and ran back to inform everyone that it was Barbarians invading."


    When she got to this point, eighth sister-inw also thought it was what the vigers often talked about, with Barbariansing over the mountain from time to time to raid here.


    However, what Mo Chuhan said was Barbarians invading, which had apletely different implication from raiding.


    The observant He Zhiran heard something amiss from eighth sister-inw''s words.


    "Sister-inw, eighth brother told you it was Barbarians invading instead of raiding, right?"


    Eighth sister-inw froze for a moment, seemingly trying to remember, then nodded forcefully, "Yes, yes, yes, he said it was invading."


    When He Zhiran heard eighth sister-inw''s confirmation, she felt that things were not simple.


    Just as she was pondering, Old Lady Mo also came over with the women.


    He Zhiran took the initiative to greet them: "Mother, this is not simple. Please take the sisters-inw and Hanyue to safety."


    The reason Old Lady Mo brought the women over was because she didn''t see He Zhirane out when she was waiting at the door, so she came to urge them.


    Unexpectedly, the ninth daughter-inw actually told her to take the women away.


    Eighth sister-inw did not discern the severity of the matter, but she would not make the same mistake.


    "No, the number of Barbarians is toorge, just relying on your two brothers is simply not enough to hold them back."


    As she spoke, Old Lady Mo took out the tranquilizer guns that He Zhiran had given them during their exile.


    "As women of the Mo Family, even without men, we still have to defend our home."


    She looked at He Zhiran''s already very swollen belly.


    "You''re carrying the Mo Family''s only grandchild now. You must not take any risks. Listen to Mother and go into the city with your sister-inw to notify Lord Meng to think of a way. We can still hold out here for a while."


    From Old Lady Mo''s ount and her anxious expression, He Zhiran clearly realized the severity of the situation.


    In such a critical moment, how could she as a former soldier abandon her family and leave alone?


    Moreover, with her dimensional space she had even more advanced weapons that could suppress the enemies. If they encountered a crisis that they couldn''t defuse, she''d rather reveal some secrets than sacrifice her family''s lives.


    She was not worried about her own safety either, with her space it would be easy peasy to preserve her own life.


    "Mother, I can''t leave. You know a little about my skills. My pregnancy makes my body unwieldy, so I might as well stay home and take care of fourth brother."


    Her thought was that even if she couldn''t openly fight alongside the Mo Family''s women, staying in Xi Ling Vige would enable her to more easily step in to help if any emergency urred.


    It seemed Old Lady Mo saw through her thoughts. She answered without even thinking:


    "Your fourth brother is a Mo Family man. How could he have the cowardly notion of fearing death over valuing life?


    I''ve already left my weapon with him over there. If any Barbarianse to kill him, even if he dies, he''ll drag a few under him as padding."


    He Zhiran understood clearly that Mo Family men indeed had no possibility of ying deserter. Even fourth brother who was still recovering from injury was no exception.


    He would rather die a heroic death than cower behind his family members as a shrinking turtle.


    Since this method wouldn''t work either, He Zhiran could only give up resisting and think of another way.


    "If that''s the case, then I''ll listen to Mother and go with sister-inw into the city to notify Lord Meng."


    "Good. There''s no time to lose, you two sisters-inw go quickly."


    After speaking, Old Lady Mo beckoned for the women to make way at the door and let He Zhiran and eighth sister-inw leave swiftly.


    After seeing them off some ways, Old Lady Mo solemnly said to the women who stayed behind, "Although we''re just powerless women, we still can''t let outsiders bully us.


    The home we finally built up is now suffering a Barbarian attack. We absolutely cannot let them seed."


    Hearing the indignant words from mother-inw, second sister-inw first took out a tranquilizer gun.


    "Mother is right. As Mo Family people we definitely can''t let others bully us."


    Seeing her actions, the other sisters-inw also echoed in session.

 Chapter 362: I will Take Care of Myself

    <h4>Chapter 362</h4>


    A group of women, all nervously holding anesthetic guns, getting ready to join the battle to protect their homnd.


    He Zhiran was helplessly led out of the front door by Eighth Sister-inw.


    What first met their eyes were all the vigers running towards the foot of the mountain with hoes and other tools in their hands.


    From this it could be deduced that the two elder brothers and the dogs were standing guard there, and those invading Barbarians had not yet been able to break into the vige.


    At the same time, she could also feel that the dogs'' barking was decreasing more and more, but the war cries were endless.


    Seeing He Zhiran stop in her tracks, Eighth Sister-inw urged, "Ninth younger sister, let''s go quickly. I''ll safely send you to the city, then I''ll alsoe back to fight alongside everyone."


    "Eighth Sister-inw, have you ever thought that if we just hide in the city like this, by the time we rush back, we might not be able to participate in the battle?"


    He Zhiran knew that Eighth Sister-inw didn''t usually have so many intricate thoughts, so she nned to patiently persuade her.


    Sure enough, after hearing her words for a bit, Eighth Sister-inw became even more unwilling to leave.


    But she had to listen to her mother-inw''s words.


    "I''ll safely send you to the city, then I can run back."


    "I''m heavy and walk slowly. We don''t even know how to drive a carriage. Eighth Sister-inw, with youring and going, I''m afraid a whole day would pass."


    He Zhiran knew how to drive a carriage. She guessed Eighth Sister-inw probably didn''t know, and wanted to use this to put her in a difficult position.


    "What should we do then?" Eighth Sister-inw was indeed somewhat troubled. She absolutely could not let this pregnant Ninth Younger Sister leave alone.


    Seeing that Eighth Sister-inw had already taken the bait, He Zhiran spoke solemnly, "I know Eighth Sister-inw is also worried about Eighth elder brother. You see my belly is quite big, but I can move very nimbly. Going to the city alone is no problem."


    Eighth Sister-inw hesitated.


    She really wanted to stay and resist the Barbarians together with her husband, regardless of life or death. In this life, she never wanted to be separated from her husband again. Even if they died, at least the couple could keep each otherpany on the road.


    Eighth Sister-inw unconsciously touched the anesthetic gun in her arms which had already gained some warmth. Although she didn''t say anything, her thoughts had all been seen through by He Zhiran''s eyes.


    "Eighth Sister-inw, listen to me. The situation is so urgent now. One more person means one more bit of strength. Not to mention you have such a powerful weapon in your hands. It would be a pity if it couldn''t be put to use."


    Eighth Sister-inw was thoroughly shaken, but she hadn''tpletely lost her reason.


    She took out the anesthetic gun from her arms and handed it to He Zhiran.


    "Ninth younger sister, take this. It can be used for self-defense on the road. I and those vigers can also make do with hoes."


    Eighth Sister-inw didn''t know if He Zhiran had this kind of weapon on hand. When she had called her out earlier, Ninth younger sister had just woken up. She believed Ninth younger sister didn''t even have time to take out her weapon.


    Letting her go to the city alone already went against Old Lady Mo''s orders. If she let a pregnant woman leave alone without even a life-saving object in her hands, her conscience would feel even more uneasy.


    How many anesthetic guns were there in He Zhiran''s space?


    Her original intention was to politely refuse, but she worried that if she refused, Eighth Sister-inw would change her mind again, which would be too regrettable.


    So she reached out and took the anesthetic gun.


    "Eighth Sister-inw, don''t worry. I will definitely take good care of myself."


    Seeing that she had epted the weapon, Eighth Sister-inw also felt relieved.


    "Ninth younger sister, I can hear the shouting getting closer and closer. There''s no time to dy. Leave quickly and go find Master Meng."


    "Alright. Eighth Sister-inw, be careful."


    He Zhiran turned around, pretending to continue towards the city.


    Looking back again, she saw Eighth Sister-inw had already run off without a trace. Those vigers who were going to battle had also run over to the foot of the mountain.


    He Zhiran decisively turned back.


    However, she hid as she moved, in case she was discovered by her family and caused more trouble.


    Although He Zhiran was pregnant, relying on her ownck of delicacy, when Mo Jiuye couldn''t see her, she often exercised. As a result, even with such a huge belly now, her movements were not clumsy at all.


    She deliberately avoided taking the main vige road, but moved along the fields where there were very few people.


    The shouts and screams grew closer and closer, as well as the sound of metal weapons shing.


    He Zhiran knew the battle scene was not far now.


    She didn''t rashly approach, but carefully listened to the sounds to judge the battle situation.


    Mo Jiuye had said the Barbarians spoke simrly to the dialects of the people in the northwest, but there was an obvious difference.


    That was the Barbarians would say "I" as "we".


    Therefore, He Zhiran could determine which side was speaking by listening for this word.


    She continued probing and hiding as she moved forward. The sounds entering her ears grew closer and closer.


    "Get them for us. Kill all these moths to the me. Then everything in this vige will be ours."


    "You wish." This was Eighth Brother''s voice.


    He Zhiran could hear that when Eighth Brother spoke, his voice was somewhat hoarse. It seemed he was not as calm as he appeared.


    Also from the shouting, He Zhiran could determine there were at least over five hundred people.


    The able-bodied men of Xi Ling Vige together also exceeded one hundred people. It seemed the Barbarians were really serious this time.


    But right now she still couldn''t see what the Barbarians looked like, and didn''t know if they were ordinarymoners gathered together or a formal army.


    Immediately after, she also heard Second Sister-inw''s voice.


    "Mother, our weapons are so powerful. Why don''t we just take them out and use them?"


    Second Sister-inw''s voice was loud. He Zhiran could hear her clearly. Old Lady Mo always spoke calmly and steadily. He Zhiran couldn''t hear how she responded.


    But since the anesthetic guns had yet to make a sound, she could infer that the olddy had stopped Second Sister-inw''s behavior.


    From this it could be seen that the battle situation was not as severe as imagined. Otherwise the olddy wouldn''t have stopped everyone from using the anesthetic guns.


    The olddy''s considerations were also thoughtful. After all, weapons like the anesthetic guns were too against heaven. If they didn''t face mortal danger, she didn''t want to bring trouble to the family.


    Since the battle was not as tense as imagined, He Zhiran simply moved even closer. She nned to secretly observe. As long as she wasn''t discovered by her family, everything would be fine.


    She moved forward again a stretch and hid behind arge tree.


    The view here was extremely good, and she could clearly see the battle ahead.


    Eighth Brother was the most valiant, wielding therge knife used for hunting. It could be said to fell one with each stroke.


    Seventh elder brother was also unambiguous. He had already seen his womenfolk run over. In order to prevent them from being tainted by this bloodiness, he desperately resisted, his stance not one bit inferior to Mo Jiuye''s.


    Although the Mo family''s women had not rushed forward to grapple with the enemy like the two men, each one was already standing guard in formation under Old Lady Mo''s leadership, with anesthetic guns concealed in their sleeves, ready to attack at any time.


    Before seeing the battle scene, He Zhiran had already estimated the Barbarians'' numbers.


    In her opinion, a force of this size could not be ordinarymoners.


    However, what she saw with her own eyes was another scene.


    These Barbarians had no unified clothing. They looked no different from ordinarymoners.

 Chapter 363: Capture the First to Capture the King

    <h4>Chapter 363</h4>


    Only, she felt that these people''s offensive postures were not as simple as ordinarymon people, but looked very organized.


    In addition, her one hundred German Shepherd dogs had alle to assist. Without the summons of the two elder brothers, they would take the initiative to attack the invaders.


    Although those barbarians did not take much advantage under the brave attack of the dogs, what they held in their hands must have been shiny machetes.


    The dogs desperately protected their homes. It was inevitable that when they failed to dodge in time, their bodies would be cut by the other party.


    Even so, they still tried their best to bite the enemy''s body firmly and refused to let them leave.


    The vigers who had rushed over were probably encountering such a battle formation of barbarians for the first time. If Zhao Li had not been a little sensible, shouting for everyone to go up together, I''m afraid they would all be scared silly.


    However, when they thought that their homes might be ravaged by these barbarians, their morale was refreshed at once, and they rushed forward holding hoes and other items.


    The shouts of killing became louder and louder, and the Mo brothers and dogs were unstoppable.


    However, the vigers were much weaker. They were injured one after another.


    Second Sister-inw saw her own father and brothers among the vigers.


    They were powerless schrs who had picked up hoes to join the battle today to protect their own homes.


    When she saw vigers fall down, she would worry that the next one to fall would be her own father and brother.


    "Mother, why don''t we go up too?" As she spoke, she had already revealed the anesthetic gun in her hand and aimed at the enemy ording to the method she had learned at the time.


    It was just that Second Sister-inw used the anesthetic gun for the first time. Although she knew the principle clearly, shecked practice.


    She held up the gun and gestured for a long time, but did not hear Mother-in-Law speak, so she did not pull the trigger after all.


    At the same time, He Zhiran observed and found out the clues after a while.


    The reason why these people were so calm was entirely because someone wasmanding behind them.


    Her position was not very high, but she could see behind the barbarians. A g kept shaking from time to time.


    These barbarians would change their formations or attack targets ording to the shaking frequency of the chess piece.


    That is to say, the person holding the chess piece was the overallmander of these people.


    It was very simple to solve this kind of situation. That was to capture the king first.


    In the past, He Zhiran might have chosen to use mini sleeve arrows to solve this.


    She had just estimated the distance to that g, and it seemed to exceed the range of the mini sleeve arrow.


    In this case, she had to switch to a longer range weapon.


    With this thought, He Zhiran''s consciousness quickly entered the space and bought a heavier crossbow with longer range from Taobao.


    This kind of crossbow was not as convenient to carry as the mini sleeve arrow, but it had longer range and stronger gravity.


    He Zhiran could be sure that as long as she could urately find the position of themanding person, she would kill him with one blow.


    She looked around and found a big rock not far away.


    He Zhiran climbed up carefully and stood on it. This position was just right. She could fully see the top of the head of the leading person.


    For her, this was enough.


    He Zhiran raised the heavy crossbow and aimed at the middle of the man''s eyebrows.


    With a "swish" sound, the arrow flew like a meteor, disappearing into the middle of the man''s eyebrows in the blink of an eye.


    The small g that was constantly shaking just now disappeared from her sight instantly.


    Sure enough, after the small g disappeared, these barbarians quickly fell into disarray.


    Even so, they did not show any intention of retreating, and still attacked Mo brothers and others.


    The Mo brothers also noticed something different about the barbarians. Their frequency of attack became very chaotic.


    They didn¡¯t have time to think much about it. They just hoped that with their two people''s power, they couldpletely eliminate these barbarians.


    After all, the enemy was strong and we were weak. Even if the Mo brothers were brave, it would take a long time to kill them one by one.


    Moreover, they could not take care of others.


    Although the vigers'' attack was also effective, their injuries became more and more serious.


    He Zhiran had thought that after losing theirmander, the barbarians would flee automatically.


    Unexpectedly, they did not show any intention of leaving at all.


    Moreover, when she stood on the rock just now to observe those barbarians, she found that they were all skin and bones, and must have been very hungry.


    He Zhiran used this to guess their mentality.


    They must have thought that they would starve to death when they went back anyway, so they might as well fight for it here.


    That is to say, the reason why they came over the mountains in such arge scale was nothing more than to get something to eat.


    It''s a pity they used the wrong method.


    There are countless poor people in the world. Using such a violent way to make a living is not worth any sympathy at all.


    He Zhiran was not some selfless saint either. At the moment, she only hoped that her family would not be harmed.


    Especially the ce where the fight was taking ce was Mo Family¡¯s territory now. She would never allow outsiders to trample on it.


    It seemed that she had no choice but to show up.


    Just when she was idle recently, she used the toxins in the seven-colored frogs to make a lot of anesthetic powder.


    Compared with the anesthetic powder made from the silver ring snake, the efficacy of this anesthetic powder was lighter, but it was enough to deal with these people.


    At this time, she could no longer hide.


    He Zhiran came down from the big rock and walked quickly to the fighting scene.


    Seventh Elder Brother was fighting the barbarians rtively closer, so He Zhiran shouted while walking.


    "Seventh Elder Brother... Seventh Elder Brother..."


    Hearing Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law''s voice, Seventh Elder Brother gestured a few tricks and then withdrew.


    At the same time, the Mo Family¡¯s women also noticed her arrival.


    "Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, don''te over, it''s dangerous here." Third Sister-in-Law shouted. She didn''t know what was going on. The one who should have entered the city appeared here.


    However, the first thing Third Sister-in-Law thought of was that Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law must not be in any danger.


    Old Lady Mo also saw her disobedient ninth daughter-inw.


    She knew better than anyone in her heart that Ninth Daughter-in-Law had her own ideas. Since she could appear here now, she was afraid no one''s words would get through.


    So she held back the scolding words again.


    He Zhiran didn''t have time to exin too much to the women. When she got close to Seventh Elder Brother, she quickly stuffed several packets of anesthetic powder into his hands.


    "Seventh Elder Brother, listen to mymand."


    Seventh Elder Brother squeezed the stuff in his hand and instantly knew what it was.


    When Fifth Elder Brother, Sixth Elder Brother and Ninth Younger Brother went to the capital, Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law had prepared these small paper packets for them. It was said that they contained a kind of anesthetic powder for emergency use.


    Seventh Elder Brother nodded solemnly at He Zhiran, and deliberately released several big moves to drive back the barbarians attracted by himself in order not to hurt her.


    He Zhiran turned back to the big rock again and took Rice Ball, who was sleeping in the space, out.


    "Baby, it''s time for you to work hard." The situation was urgent. She didn''t have as much patience as before and went straight to the point.

 Chapter 364: Stop now If You don’t want to Die.

    <h4>Chapter 364</h4>


    Rice Ball seemed to sense the seriousness of the situation and didn''t immediately act cute or yful when it saw its owner. Instead, it carefully surveyed the surroundings.


    At the same time, the little one responded with an "mm-hmm."


    He Zhiran pointed ahead and said, "Darling, call those dogs back."


    She did this because she didn''t want the drugs to harm them. The little ones had already suffered enough injuries in order to protect their home, and she couldn''t bear to see them being drugged and losing consciousness.


    Rice Ball was obedient and made a strange sound towards the dogs. Soon, the dogs rushed towards her like they were fleeing from a flood or a ferocious beast.


    Meanwhile, Seventh Elder Brother, also known as Qi Ge, shouted, "Qi Ge, it''s enough."


    As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Ge covered his mouth and nose and released a white powder towards the barbarians in front of him.


    In the blink of an eye, all the barbarians who were approaching him fell to the ground.


    Fortunately, Eighth Brother, also known as Ba Ge, was far enough away and wasn''t affected.


    Qi Ge had suffered from drugged attacks on the battlefield and became a puppet of Mr. Si Meng. Now, when he saw this simr white powder, he reflexively wanted to avoid it. Even though he pinched his nose, he could still faintly smell the scent of drugs, and he felt a little dizzy.


    It was evident that the drugs given by Ninth Sister were even stronger than those from Mr. Si Meng.


    Without thinking too much, Mo Chuhan was still entangled with the barbarians.


    Qi Ge tightly held the drugs and ran towards him.


    Mo Chuhan noticed Qi Ge''s actions out of the corner of his eye while fighting the barbarians.


    He didn''t know what method Qi Ge used to make those barbarians fall, but since Qi Ge hade to help him, he instantly felt a surge of morale.


    Qi Ge arrived by his side and whispered, "Little Eighth, cover your mouth and nose."


    Although Mo Chuhan was usually absent-minded, he had quick reactions.


    Upon hearing Qi Ge''s reminder, he immediately made a few fake moves and jumped out of the circle, covering his mouth and nose.


    Qi Ge used the same method to release the drugs, and the barbarians who had just nned to pursue Mo Chuhan instantly fell to the ground.


    With these two batches of poison powder, most of the barbarians were now lying down. Together with the ones they had just defeated, there were only a few dozen people left standing.


    These few dozen people, seeing arge number of their ownrades falling, instantly lost theirbat power. Some of them even started to retreat.


    The vigers had already prepared themselves to fight to the death, but they never expected that these seemingly invincible barbarians would fall so quickly.


    While the vigers were still in shock, the Mo brothers had already approached with their weapons.


    Eighth Brother, Ba Ge, even shouted angrily, "Bastards, did you think this ce was somewhere you coulde and go as you please?"


    Seventh Elder Brother, Qi Ge, also had no intention of letting these barbarians go easily.


    "If you don''t want to die, stop right there."


    As the voice fell, the slower barbarians were already taken down by the brothers.


    The person at the front of the group saw this scene and his legs went weak with fear.


    Even without the Mo Family brothers taking action, those with weaker courage would have copsed on their own.


    A few barbarians exchanged quick nces and then someone shouted to the brothers, "Merciful heroes, we had no choice but to do this..."


    Seeing their teammate begging for mercy, the barbarians lost all other thoughts and immediately turned to kneel before the Mo Family brothers.


    Seventh Elder Brother and Eighth Brother stopped simultaneously, looking down at these people.


    The inherent heroic aura of the Mo Family men made the barbarians shiver uncontrobly.


    Seventh Elder Brother saw that these people had been intimidated by them and asked, "Tell me, who exactly are you?"


    In response to his question, one of the barbarians trembled in fear and answered, "We... we are justmon folk of the barbarian tribes. From the start of spring until now, we haven''t had a drop of rain where wee from. The grass and tree bark on the mountains have been eaten clean. Helpless, we had no choice but toe to Da Shun to find a way to survive."


    Others followed suit, echoing, "Yes, we truly have no way to survive. That''s why we offended you."


    Seventh Elder Brother didn''tpletely believe their words.


    During the fight just now, he could sense that these people had no martial arts skills to speak of and were merely relying on brute force to engage inbat.


    Furthermore, the weapons they used were only held by a few individuals and were clearly rusty from disuse.


    Based on these observations, it was highly unlikely that they belonged to a regr army.


    The rest were even more exaggerated, wielding the same hoes as the vigers of Xi Ling Vige, and some even had whips.


    This was enough to prove that these barbarians were not part of a formal army but rather most likely ordinary civilians.


    However, he clearly saw that someone in the rear was holding up a g andmanding them, which was why the barbarians hadn''t scattered in confusion.


    He just didn''t know why that person holding the g suddenly fell down.


    He asked again, "I want to know who organized you toe to Da Shun andmit robbery."


    Faced with the question, dozens of barbarians looked at each other, seemingly unsure how to answer.


    Mo Chuhan, upon seeing their hesitance, narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Since you don''t know, there''s no point in keeping you alive."


    With that, he looked at Seventh Elder Brother by his side.


    "Seventh Elder Brother, shall we take action?"


    Seventh Elder Brother nodded indifferently and said, "Yes, let''s."


    The barbarians saw the brothers raising their weapons once again and pointed towards the direction behind them, shouting, "It''s the person holding the g. He said that as long as we follow hismands, we''ll be able to take food from the people of Da Shun."


    In fact, Seventh Elder Brother''s earlier question was meant to find out the identity of the person holding the g.


    "Who is that person?"


    The barbarians vigorously shook their heads.


    "We don''t know who he is. All we know is that he''s very capable. He spent ten days teaching us to follow hismands, iming that this would ensure we could return from Da Shun with food."


    Upon hearing their words, both Mo Family brothers fell into contemtion.


    The barbarians noticed their silence and one of them stepped forward to say:


    "That day, I overheard themander talking to someone."


    "What did they talk about?" Seventh Elder Brother asked eagerly.


    "Commander told that person that he should take advantage of the opportunity when we, themon people, are brought to Da Shun for plundering, to investigate the truth about the Mo Family."


    "What happened afterwards?" Mo Chuhan asked again.


    The barbarian continued to answer, "Their words were not very clear. Later on, they seemed to have mentioned that the ce where the Mo Family resides is too close to the western border. As long as they don''t get involved, there is still a chance of winning."


    He nced at the two brothers of the Mo Family, his expression still unpleasant, and quickly added, "I only know these things, and I have told you all."


    Though the ount given by the barbarian was not veryplete, the Mo Family brothers, being militarymanders, were still able to analyze it to some extent.


    The barbarians often harass the western border of Da Shun, and the western border is not very far from Yun City.

 Chapter 365: Poor Dog

    <h4>Chapter 365</h4>


    In the past, the thing Barbarians feared most was the Mo Family men. Even if they wanted to invade Da Shun, they would choose to attack when the Mo Family was guarding the southern border.


    It would take at least half a month for the Mo Family to rush from the southern border to the western border across the entire Da Shun territory. The Barbarian invaders would take advantage of this half-month window to catch Da Shun off guard.


    The two brothers guessed that the Barbarians must have heard that the Mo Family was exiled to the northwest.


    Putting aside whether their other brothers survived, just Ninth Brother alone was enough to deter the entire forces of Barbarians.


    The Barbarians were worried that the patriotic men of the Mo Family, even though exiled here, would not want to see Barbarians invade the Da Shun territory.


    That was why they took the opportunity of inciting the Barbarians to raid Xi Ling Vige, to probe the situation of the Mo Family.


    Other than that, they could not think of any other reasons.


    The current Mo Family hadpletely lost hope in the Da Shun court. Just barely staying alive was difficult for them, how could they possibly handle other matters?


    However, only the Mo Family knew this clearly. In the eyes of outsiders, these men of the Mo Family were loyal patriots who would surely not sit idle when the nation was in peril.


    It was not surprising that the Barbarians would have such worries.


    This showed that the goal of the Barbarians in raiding this time was merely to plunder themon folk, while the masterminds behind it wanted to take the chance to scout for information on the Mo Family.


    After the two brothers figured this out, they did not n to exin it to anyone. With so many Barbarians left unchecked, whether they lived or died had to be settled first.


    First, Seventh Elder Brother looked over the vigers of Xi Ling Vige. The injured were being carried into the vige under Zhao Li Zheng¡¯smand.


    There were still many severely injured, after all most shes involved iron weapons. Although the Mo brothers shielded them at the forefront, those vigers could not emergepletely unscathed.


    ...


    He Zhiran was also not idle on her side. The dogs called back by Rice Ball were variously injured, with a few unable to make it back.


    These dogs were personally bought by her from the space. She had witnessed their growth and saw their loyal guardianship of their home everyday. When free, they would even wag their tails ingratiatingly at her.


    Thinking of this, He Zhiran¡¯s eyes reddened slightly, but now was not the time for her to be overly sentimental.


    The priority was treating the injuries of these dogs that still survived.


    Moreover, she saw that many vigers were also injured.


    She sent Rice Ball into the space, while her consciousness swiftly gathered arge amount of medicine for external injuries, bandages and other items, packing them into arge package to take out from the space.


    Fortunately she was well prepared, having swapped the medicines into porcin bottles and the bandages into white linen of this era, sterilized at high temperatures, making them usable like modern gauze bandages.


    Whether people or dogs, the number needing treatment was not small. With just herself alone, the treatment would likely be dyed.


    Seeing that Seventh Elder Brother and Eighth Brother had dealt with those Barbarians, He Zhiran shouted loudly at the Mo Family women: ¡°Mother, sisters-inw,e quickly to help!¡±


    The women were currently still in shock. They had just seen Ninth Sister-in-Lawe over to say a few words to Mo Yuance, after which those Barbarians immediately copsed in swathes...


    After all, they had never experienced such scenes before, and were unclear on things like white powder either, only assuming that it was dust stirred in the fight.


    All of this was too inconceivable, which they still could not digest quickly.


    Hearing He Zhiran¡¯s shout, other than Old Lady Mo, the rest felt like suddenly awakening from a dream.


    Old Lady Mo knew that her ninth daughter-inw would not call them groundlessly. She reminded:


    ¡°Go quickly, see what matter your Ninth Sister-in-Law has.¡±


    Hearing their mother-inw¡¯s prompt, the women sessively collected their thoughts and hurried withrge strides towards He Zhiran.


    On seeing her familye over, He Zhiran immediately ced therge package before everyone.


    ¡°Mother, sisters-inw, our dogs are injured. I cannot handle it alone and need your help.¡±


    The Mo women now saw the bloodied dogs before them, feeling equally awful, with the more tender-hearted already tearing up.


    Second Sister-in-Law said sorrowfully: ¡°Poor dogs, to have sustained such tragic injuries guarding us.¡±


    Old Lady Mo had the calmest disposition. Seeing her daughters-inw stillmenting over there, she hurried urged:


    ¡°If you feel sorry for these dogs, then follow your Ninth Sister-in-Law¡¯s arrangements to immediately help treat the wounds.¡±


    In her youth she had followed the old Lord to border passes before, and saw such battle scenes a few times.


    Only difference was, what she saw injured then were people, while what she saw now were injured dogs.


    The feeling was the same: it made one¡¯s heart ache to watch.


    Even without the mother-inw speaking, the sisters-inw would have gone all out to help save them. Just that they did not know medicine, and could only look to He Zhiran for instructions.


    He Zhiran opened the package.


    ¡°See here everyone, first wipe the wounds with this: it prevents rotting, and this stops bleeding: apply it then tie a firm bandage...¡±


    Inside were not just medicines, but He Zhiran had also prepared a few razors.


    These were not unfamiliar to them as ancient women: they used it to groom their husband¡¯s beards.


    ¡°And these, to shave away the hair around the dogs¡¯ wound area for ease of treatment.¡±


    As time did not wait for man, while handing out the razors to them He Zhiran went on: ¡°Also, bring severely injured dogs to me. Just treat surface wounds on your side.¡±


    Including Old Lady Mo and Mo Hanyue, the women earnestly nodded, immediately checking the dogs¡¯ injuries.


    Truthfully, they feared dealing with such bloody wounds in their hearts.


    But thinking that it would be useless culpability if they dyed rescue over fear, they steeled themselves to ovee the fear, boldly trying to treat the dogs¡¯ injuries.


    He Zhiran observed that Mo Hanyue performed the best, her techniques also seemingly more skilled than the rest.


    In fact, He Zhiran did not know that thess often had to bandage her own injured rabbits from their fights. Treating these bigger dogs was no different for Mo Hanyue from treating her rabbits.


    Seeing her motions, He Zhiran was very pleased. She instructed the women to direct any doubts to Mo Hanyue.


    Mo Hanyue could handle the dogs, freeing up her hands to check on the vigers.


    Xi Ling Vige had no doctors. Getting one had to be from the city, which would dy rescue by much.


    If there were severely injured, lives could be easily lost from it.

 Chapter 366: Whatever you need to do, just ask.

    <h4>Chapter 366</h4>


    At this time, the women in the vige heard that the fighting here had stopped and came over one after another. Seeing their own people injured, their crying became louder and louder.


    When He Zhiran arrived, this was the scene.


    She pushed through the crowd in front.


    "Everyone make way, let me see their injuries."


    The vigers were not unfamiliar with He Zhiran, and some people also knew that she understood medicine.


    "Hurry, hurry, the ninth house is here, please ask her to help."


    Soon, the crowd automatically gave way to a path, and even some women thoughtfully helped her up seeing that she was heavy with child.


    He Zhiran stood in the center of the crowd, with a clear view of all the participating soldiers.


    Nan Rui, covered in blood, stood not far away, holding a shiny sword in his hand, looking worriedly at the injured vigers.


    He Zhiran had heard from Mo Jiuye that Nan Rui did not know any martial arts and now lived in Xiling Vige after having dismissed his guards.


    It was not easy for an incapable young master from a prestigious family to stand with themon people to resist foreign enemies at a critical moment. For this, He Zhiran rather admired him a lot.


    Fortunately, although Nan Rui looked miserable, he was not injured.


    At the moment she could not bother to greet Nan Rui. She quickly checked the number of injured vigers, about two dozen or so.


    Fortunately, they had only superficial wounds, but the wounds were very deep, and some could even see the bones, oozing blood continuously.


    Such injuries were not difficult for He Zhiran to deal with, the only headache was that there were too many injured people.


    If Mo Jiuye were here in this situation, it would be great. His treatment of external injuries had reached perfection, and even suturing was skillfully done.


    Thinking of Mo Jiuye, he had been away from home for more than half a month, and she wondered if things were going well for him in the capital.


    For the first time, He Zhiran felt the feeling of missing someone immensely.


    Although she missed him in her heart, she did not forget that there were still more important things to do at the moment.


    At this moment, Zhao Li came up to her with a worried look on his face, "Auntie Nine, can their injuries be cured?"


    "Uncle Zhao, I can cure their injuries, it''s just that there are too many people and I''m afraid I can''t handle it alone."


    As she spoke, she looked at the uninjured vigers.


    "Is anyone willing to help?"


    Under the current circumstances, He Zhiran could only seek help from these vigers. No technique was required, just be more careful.


    Zhao Zechuan was the first to stand up. Although he was not injured, the azure long gown he wore was already stained with some blood and looked somewhat disheveled.


    "Sister-inw Nine, I can help. Just tell me what to do."


    Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai also came forward with their families.


    "Auntie Nine, we can help too."


    Nan Rui also came over, "I can help too."


    And of course Hu Cong would not refuse.


    He Zhiran first looked at everyone. Although they should have suffered some superficial wounds, they did not seem to be a big problem.


    "Well, thank you all for your hard work."


    "It''s no hardship at all, this is what we should do."


    When everyone answered, they all felt a little ashamed. A pregnant woman could volunteer without hesitation to do these things, how could they be afraid of hardships?


    Saving people was like putting out a fire. He Zhiran had no time to exin more and immediately instructed, "Wash your hands thoroughly first, thene over here to get medicine from me."


    Upon hearing this, people rushed to the nearby stream to wash their hands and then rushed back to He Zhiran.


    At this moment, He Zhiran had already started to treat the wounds of the most seriously injured.


    She skillfully treated the man''s wounds while pointing to the medicines she had brought to teach them how to treat wounds.


    Soon everyone tried to follow He Zhiran''s method.


    By this time, it was broad daylight, and the outsiders who hade to help build the Mo family house had arrived one after another.


    They were first stunned by the scene in front of them.


    At the foot of the mountain was the location of the new Mo house. All those barbarians who had been drugged unconscious by Qi Gey scattered around, and with the blood stains around, it suddenly gave a feeling of dead bodies covering the fields.


    The bolder ones saw that the two Mo brothers were tying up those people over there and carefully approached.


    "Master Seven, Master Eight, what is this?"


    Qi Ge turned his head. Although he could not call out the man''s name, he knew he was the worker they had hired.


    "Hurry up and call everyone toe and help tie these people up." Qi Ge said, pointing to the barbarians lying on the ground.


    The worker was startled by his words.


    "Se...Seven Master, do we need to tie up the dead as well?"


    Seeing the man''s expression, Qi Ge also realized the misunderstanding.


    "They''re not dead, just unconscious."


    "Re...really not dead?" The worker still could not quite believe it.


    "Most of them are alive. Just tie up the living ones." Qi Ge was obviously a little anxious. With so many barbarians, without anyone to help, how long would it take for him and his younger brother to finish tying them up?


    Seeing this, the dull worker nodded slowly and then went back to call people toe and help.


    With more people participating, soon all the invading barbarians were tied up with their own waist belts.


    Subsequently, without the Mo brothers instructing, the workers simply cleaned up the battle scene.


    When Qi Ge and Ba Ge started fighting the enemies, they did not intend to let these people off easily. As a result, at least a hundred barbarians died before falling unconscious from the drugs.


    Those who were alive were more or less slightly injured.


    In this situation, even without treatment, no one would die.


    Now the Mo family was just an ordinarymoner, or even less than an ordinarymoner, after all they were people whose homes were confiscated by the imperial edict and exiled.


    Mo Chuhan wiped the sweat from his forehead.


    "Brother Seven, such a big incident has urred, I think it is necessary to go to the yamen to notify Master Meng, and also to listen to his opinion on how to deal with these people."


    "Well, I''ll trouble my younger brother to rush to the county yamen." Qi Ge also agreed with this very much.


    "Alright, I''ll go now. Brother Seven will be in charge here."


    After speaking, Mo Chuhan turned and left.


    Under Mo Hanyue''s guidance, the women were bing more and more adept at treating the injured dogs, without wasting half a minute.


    They truly felt distressed for these dogs, thinking that if they acted faster, the dogs would suffer less.


    It was the same here with He Zhiran. She was responsible for treating the seriously injured vigers while the others were handed over to Fang Chuanzhou and the others.


    With everyone''s concerted efforts, finally after an hour, the injuries of all the vigers and dogs were treated.


    The vigers were carried home by their families, while the workers carefully carried the dogs back to their resting shed to recuperate. Mo Hanyue volunteered to go and take care of them.


    With such a big incident happening today, the Mo family house construction could only be suspended for a day.

 Chapter 367: What impression Do you have

    <h4>Chapter 367</h4>


    Although this was the case, the workers did not leave. Under the leadership of Seventh Elder Brother, together with the vigers, they piled all the corpses of the dead barbarians to one side.


    For the one shot dead by He Zhiran''s crossbow arrow, Mo Chuhan was very concerned. After all, his identity was suspicious. It would be great if they could find some clues from him.


    Seventh Elder Brother was no stranger to searching matters. In the past when fighting wars, after capturing the enemy general, there would also be such an operation. First he searched the body of the barbarianmander.


    Apart from a token that looked rather special, there was also a small porcin bottle that seemed to contain gu worms.


    Seventh Elder Brother did not dare mess with the small porcin bottle. He was afraid that something bad would happen if he was not careful, so he would wait for Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law toe and decide.


    He kept the small porcin bottle and then took the token to observe it carefully.


    He always felt that he had seen this token somewhere before, but could not remember where for the moment.


    Just when he was annoyed, two people suddenly appeared before him out of thin air.


    The arrivals were precisely Mo Chuhan and Meng Huaining.


    Mo Chuhan knew the urgency of the matter. He did not ride a horse into the city at all, but raised his qinggong skill to the fastest speed.


    On his return as well, Meng Huaining also understood martial arts. They were both clear that their qinggong was much faster than riding a horse, so they both disyed qinggong to rush back.


    As for those yamen runners, they had already been left far behind by them.


    When Seventh Elder Brother saw the two of them, he hurriedly disyed the token that had troubled him for so long.


    "It''s good that you''re here. Take a quick look at this token and see if you have any impression of it?"


    When Mo Chuhan saw the token, he also frowned slightly.


    "Seventh Elder Brother, what is this?"


    Seventh Elder Brother pointed his lips at the corpse of themander on the ground: "It was searched from him."


    Mo Chuhan took the token and flipped it around before returning it to Seventh Elder Brother.


    "I''ve never seen this thing before."


    Meng Huaining also took a peek and did not recognize it either.


    Although they did not recognize it, he was more observant than the Mo brothers.


    "Seventh Elder Brother, Eighth Elder Brother, look, the veins on this token look a bit strange, it looks a bit like a mand leaf."


    After Meng Huaining''s reminder, the two brothers also discovered it.


    "It''s true, these veins do look simr to the leaves of a mand," Seventh Elder Brother said.


    Then the three of them looked at each other, as if they had all guessed something.


    "Mand is the national flower of Nanjiang. Could this incident be rted to Nanjiang?" Seventh Elder Brother couldn''t help asking.


    This was also Meng Huaining and Eighth Brother''s guess in their hearts.


    "It''s highly likely that someone from Nanjiang is making trouble," Mo Chuhan said in a somewhat displeased tone.


    Meng Huaining was not so arbitrary. He looked at those barbarians who were not confused and walked over.


    "Sir, I ask you, did thatmander speak in the local ent of you barbarians?"


    Meng Huaining was wearing an official uniform when he rushed over. Since ancient times,moners have been afraid of officials, and these barbarians were no exception. Especially since they hadmitted the misdeed of robbing Da Shunmoners, they were even more terrified.


    Therefore, when Meng Huaining asked, they were scrambling to answer, hoping to have a chance to redeem their crimes and establish merit.


    "Sir, I know."


    "Sir, that man spoke differently from us, he was definitely not a barbarian."


    "Sir, he spoke a little like the southern ent. I went south a few years ago and would definitely not mistake it."


    "Sir..."


    Now, what more was there for the Mo brothers and Meng Huaining to not understand? From what these barbarians said and that token, it could be analyzed that themander was sent from Nanjiang.


    "Could it be that Nanjiang colluded with the barbarians and nned to jointly attack Da Shun?" Mo Chuhan spoke out his guess in his heart.


    Seventh Elder Brother stroked his chin and frowned, "It''s not impossible."


    Although the Mo family was exiled and hated Emperor Shunwu and the court, their deep-rooted patriotism could not just disappear. When they heard that there were foreign enemies attacking Da Shun, they instinctively felt like resisting.


    However, they soon realized their current status.


    Seventh Elder Brother sighed and lightly patted Meng Huaining on the shoulder: "How this matter will eventually turn out can only be worried by Brother Meng. My Mo family now only wants to live in peace."


    Meng Huaining couldpletely understand the feelings of the Mo brothers. After all, his own family had also been suppressed by Emperor Shunwu before.


    It was just that the Meng family was slightly better off than the Mo family, and had not reached the point of exile. His family members had ced all their hopes of turning over a new leaf on him.


    Therefore, even though Meng Huaining was indifferent to the court, he could not just sit idly by in the face of such a big matter.


    "Well, I will sort it outter and write a memorial to report to the capital."


    What he meant by writing a memorial was that he would write a letter to Fei Nanyu.


    Although he did not have much contact with Fei Nanyu, he could feel that they belonged in the same circle.


    Especially since Fei Nanyu had helped him a lot with the gue incident. He was able toe to Yucheng to take office instead of being stripped of his official position. These were all Fei Nanyu''s contributions.


    No matter from which point of consideration, he would choose to notify Fei Nanyu of the news.


    Of course, the Mo brothers would not care who Meng Huaining would report this matter to. What they needed to resolve now was the issue of what to do with these barbarians, as well as to put the defense of their Xiling Vige homes on the agenda.


    Whether it was the barbarians or Nanjiang people, what they feared was his Mo family.


    Even though they did not intend to work for the court anymore, those outsiders were not clear about their thoughts.


    Therefore, it was very necessary for the Mo family to be more vignt from now on. The top priority was to protect themselves.


    Seventh Elder Brother looked at those barbarians with pitiful looks on their faces and asked Meng Huaining.


    "Brother Meng, how do you n to deal with these people?"


    On the way here, Mo Chuhan had already told Meng Huaining about the general situation of what had happened here.


    He knew clearly that the barbarians captured by the Mo brothers were allmoners.


    At the same time, he also knew that the barbarians did have hard lives. It could be determined from their emaciated appearances that they must have been starving badly.


    The pitiful had something to be hated for. Meng Huaining did not sympathize with them, but felt that if things continued like this, it would be difficult to guarantee the safety of Yucheng''smoners.


    Just as he was thinking about how to handle it, the treatment of the wounded on He Zhiran''s side was nearingpletion. She was being supported by a somewhat uneasy Eighth Sister-inw as she walked over here.


    "Brother Meng, Seventh Elder Brother, Eighth Elder Brother, how has the situation been handled?" He Zhiran asked.


    A style had been formed in the Mo family now, which was to look upon Mo Jiuye and his wife as leaders.


    When Mo Jiuye was at home, whether for big or small matters, they would go to discuss it with them.


    Therefore, when they saw He Zhiran ask, they recounted what they had learned about the situation in every detail.


    When He Zhiran heard that she had killed the most critical figure, she felt somewhat regretful in her heart.


    In her anxiousness just now, there was nothing she could do.


    Seeing that she did not respond for a long time, Seventh Elder Brother hurriedly took out the small porcin bottle.


    "Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, take a look. This is what was found on that man. I suspect there are gu worms inside. I didn''t dare open it rashly."

 Chapter 368: You’re just in time to be back.

    <h4>Chapter 368</h4>


    Seventh Elder Brother knew that Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law could resolve Gu poison and should have more understanding of Gu worms. Handling this kind of thing to her was the most reassuring approach.


    He Zhiran took over the porcin bottle and gently shook it next to her ear a few times.


    If there really were Gu worms inside, and they were raised by thatmander, apart from puppet Gu, it would be impossible for the Gu worms to continue living once their master died.


    She did this to further confirm whether the Gu worms were dead. If the Gu worms were dead, she could hear slight collisions inside the bottle by shaking it. On the other hand, if the Gu worms were still alive, they would avoid the collisions themselves.


    The result of the experiment proved that what she heard was the sound of Gu worms colliding with the bottle walls, so she could determine that the Gu worms were already dead.


    He Zhiran gently opened the bottle stopper and poured the Gu worms from inside into her palm.


    The Gu worms were yellowish brown in color. Based on their appearance, it could be determined that these were Gu worms that had not been fully domesticated yet, because immature Gu worms meant that He Zhiran could not determine what kind they were for the time being.


    Since the Gu worms were not adult, they could not breed offspring to harm people yet. That is to say, thatmander was a novice at raising Gu.


    However, this further confirmed his identity as a Southerner.


    "Seventh Elder Brother, Eighth Elder Brother, we really have to be more vignt from now on to prevent more ill-intentioned people from infiltrating Xi Ling Vige."


    Her thinking was almost identical to that of her two elder brothers. Whether they were Southerners or Barbarians, what they feared were the Mo Family.


    Moreover, the fact that the Mo Family had been exiled here was no longer a secret. If someone wanted to find out about them, they would naturally think of ways to mix in here.


    But why would the Southerners go through so much trouble?


    If they wanted to inquire about the Mo Family, they could simply send people disguised as Da Shun people toe over.


    This point inevitably caused He Zhiran to think deeply.


    Seeing that her two elder brothers did not refute her opinion, she continued:


    "I suspect that the Southerners wanted to inquire about the Mo Family on one hand, but more importantly, they wanted to eradicate the Mo Family with the Barbarians'' power."


    Seventh Elder Brother listened and kept nodding.


    "Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law''s analysis is right. It seems we really have to make preparations as soon as possible."


    Just as He Zhiran was about to say something more, they suddenly heard hurried footstepsing from the direction of the vige.


    Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.


    They saw Tao Ran leading a group of men, women, young and old running towards them.


    Tao Ran was an old subordinate of the Mo Family. He was made into a medicine ve by Master Simeng''s means to work for him. Fortunately, He Zhiran helped him detoxify.


    After recovering for a period of time, he left.


    This time, the old subordinates of the Mo Family who were also made into medicine ves by Master Simeng returned to Xi Ling Vige with him.


    From the whole group, it was clear that they had brought their families to take refuge this time.


    Seeing them, Seventh Elder Brother and Eighth Elder Brother were obviously very happy. The two weed them one after the other.


    "Tao Ran, it''s good that all of you are back." Eighth Elder Brother was straightforward. He was just thinking that it would be great if Tao Ran and the others hade back earlier. With them here, there would be an extra line of defense against external enemies.


    It had to be known that these people were truly battle-hardened warriors. It would not be an exaggeration to say that one of them could match a hundred enemies.


    As a result, he really got what he wished for. As he was thinking about Tao Ran and the others in his mind, they came.


    Tao Ran discovered something was wrong as soon as he entered the vige. He brought people all the way here.


    "Seventh Master, Eighth Master, what on earth happened?"


    The scene before Tao Ran and the others was too familiar. Wasn''t this exactly what a battlefield looked like after fierce fighting?


    While speaking, Tao Ran did not forget to carefully examine Mo Yuance and Mo Chuhan to see that they were unharmed before he felt much more relieved.


    Encountering something like this, Mo Chuhan could not ask Tao Ran too many questions either. He told everyone what happened this morning and their analysis.


    After listening, Tao Ran was filled with righteous indignation. "These people are really... Eighth Master, please rest assured. We have brought our families to settle here long-term this time. Our skills are nothing special, but we are still capable of killing external enemies."


    Seeing this, the other old subordinates also came forward one by one to express their willingness to guard this ce.


    Their second lives were given by the Mo Family. Before leaving here, they had already decided to devote their lives to the Mo Family.


    Mo Chuhan patted several people''s shoulders excitedly.


    "Good. With you all here, I believe our home will definitely be very safe."


    Since dealing with those Barbarians was handed over to Meng Huaining, the Mo brothers stopped bothering about it and urged Tao Ran and the others to go back and rest.


    Fortunately, He Zhiran had moved quickly to buy the Cui family''s manor and farnd.


    Under the Mo brothers'' arrangement, Tao Ran''s group were all allocated courtyards to settle their families.


    Although He Zhiran was not unfamiliar with arrangements for battles, she was clearer that her two elder brothers were veterans. They were undoubtedly proficient in guarding and making arrangements, possibly even more brilliant than her.


    Therefore, regarding the arrangements for Tao Ran and the others, she did not n to participate too much, leaving everything to her two elder brothers.


    After busy for so long, it was really too tiring for her as a pregnant woman.


    Seeing that she had done what she should, she dragged her weary body to go back and rest.


    Seeing her slightly stumbling steps, Old Lady Mo took the initiative to support her.


    The olddy knew that her ninth daughter-inw had worked hard with great achievements today. If she had really gone to the city as she arranged, her two sons would have had a hard time dealing with so many Barbarians.


    "Mother thanks you on behalf of everyone."


    Old Lady Mo sincerely thanked her daughter-inw. At the same time, she felt great distress for He Zhiran. With such a big belly and pregnant with twins, she did not care for herself at all for everyone''s sake.


    He Zhiran smiled lightly and patted the olddy''s hand.


    "Mother, I know my limits. Don''t worry."


    Seeing this, Old Lady Mo reproached, "You''re still saying you know your limits. You''re even stumbling when walking."


    "Hehe... Mother, I''m just a little tired. I''ll be fine after resting for a while." He Zhiran pretended to say lightly.


    Being supported by her mother-inw personally back home, He Zhiran immediately went into the space.


    At this moment, she was already starving and just wanted to replenish her strength as soon as possible.


    The space had everything she could possibly want. At worst, she could still buy things from Taobao Treasures.


    Not only that, after Little Collector heard she was pregnant, he specially helped her buy takeaway packages from modern high-end restaurants at low prices several times for her to enjoy the long-awaited delicious food.


    She leisurely enjoyed the delicious food in the space while Meng Huaining had a headache outside.


    Facing so many Barbarianmoners, it was easy to deal with the dead ones. Who told them toe and plunder Da Shun?


    That was the price to pay for doing bad things. Dying was also reasonable.


    However, the remaining living ones were problematic no matter if they were beaten or punished.


    If they were beaten and injured, they would not be able to leave this ce. If they were punished, these people were also penniless.


    But letting them leave just like this was also not appropriate.


    Just when he was in dire straits, Hu Cong came before him.

 Chapter 369: Medicine for Health Preservation

    <h4>Chapter 369</h4>


    "Is Meng Huaining troubled because of how to deal with these people?"


    Meng Huaining gave a wryugh and nodded, "They are, after all,moners, and can''t negotiate with the Barbarian Emperor for exchanging money for people like soldiers could. Given the current situation of the Barbarians, the Barbarian Emperor would be happy to see moremoners die, so that he could save some food."


    This point was undeniable to Hu Cong as well.


    He came here wanting to think of a way to help Meng Huaining share the burden.


    "I do have a rough idea. May I ask Meng Huaining for his decision after Iy it out?"


    Meng Huaining was racking his brains over this matter. Seeing Hu Cong had a solution, he hurriedly asked, "What good solution does Brother Hu have?"


    Hu Cong said somewhat embarrassedly, "Meng Huaining must have heard that when I was in the capital, I had my own engineering team."


    Hearing this, Meng Huaining seemed to have thought of something.


    "Does Brother Hu mean to recruit these people as workers for your engineering team?"


    Hu Cong nodded, "I do have this idea. I see these people are skin and bones, their days under the Barbarians must have been hard.


    In another month, the construction here will be basicallypleted. I n to make a living from construction in the future, so having a team is very necessary."


    Meng Huaining knew Hu Cong''s background well and was clear about many of his situations.


    He just couldn''t figure out why Hu Cong would choose those Barbarians of unknown origin and background instead of the manymoners of Da Shun when recruiting.


    "Brother Hu, isn''t it better to recruit themoners of our Da Shun for your engineering team?"


    Hu Cong smiled and continued exining, "I will also recruit Da Shunmoners. Among those who are currently helping the Mo Family build houses, some have already caught my eye.


    I am quite harsh, those who can''t meet my standards definitely won''t make it onto my engineering team.


    Also, the design of these houses I''m building now is from Madam He Zhiran of the Mo Family. That she is willing to trust me with such a good design, I must also ensure it doesn''t spread from my hands.


    Recruiting these Barbarians does carry the risk of leakage, but Meng Huaining might not know, I have already discussed with Madam He earlier to help me formte a kind of medicated pellet."


    This pellet is not very toxic, but the antidote must be taken on time, so that I can control these people to be loyal to me."


    As for the details of the medicated pellets, Hu Cong did not mention them to Meng Huaining.


    He did go to He Zhiran earlier, hoping to cooperate with her to earn money through the construction of the courtyard houses.


    After several discussions, the two had reached an agreement to split the profits fifty-fifty.


    With money to earn, He Zhiran would not object. Besides, she never intended to hide the construction of the courtyard houses.


    Since Hu Cong was willing, she was happy to help while earning profits herself.


    Of course, she and Hu Cong also discussed the issue of the engineering team.


    In the end, it was He Zhiran who came up with this slippery idea.


    She could indeed formte the kind of poison Hu Cong mentioned that requires taking antidotes periodically.


    However, as a modern soul, she did not want to control ordinary people in this way.


    Therefore, she developed a long-actingxative.


    This medicine is harmless to the human body. As the name suggests, the duration of "long-acting" is one hundred days.


    Once someone takes this pellet, if they don''t take a second pellet after one hundred days, they will feel slight abdominal difort in the first two days, and diarrhea symptoms will appear on the third day.


    After a few bouts of diarrhea, all toxins in the body will bepletely expelled.


    Not only that, He Zhiran also added some detox ingredients in the pellets. It not only doesn''t affect the taker¡¯s body, but can even expel toxins umted in their body.


    It can be said that this is not a poison at all, but a rare health elixir.


    However, the taker would not be able to discover the properties of this medicine and would definitely think the poison broke out because they didn''t get to take the next pellet.


    With these pellets, Hu Cong was fully confident that he could make these workers absolutely loyal.


    Meng Huaining was already having headaches over the issue of these Barbarians. Although Hu Cong¡¯s solution was not perfect, it was still better than no solution.


    "Brother Hu, whether they are Da Shun¡¯s or the Barbarians¡¯moners, it is good for them to stay and work for you, but I do hope you don''t harm their health."


    As a local parent official, he valued the lives ofmoners more.


    He could not assist a tyrant for his own benefit.


    Hu Cong knew Meng Huaining cared about themoners and quickly exined, "Meng Huaining can rest assured. Madam He is still quite confident in making medicine."


    Meng Huaining believed He Zhiran wholeheartedly. Hearing Hu Cong mention again that the medicine came from her hands, he strangely felt much more assured.


    "Since this is the case, Brother Hu can arrange it after these people wake up!"


    Seeing Meng Huaining had no objection, Hu Cong lightly coughed with a fist against his lips.


    "Cough cough... Meng Huaining, I need fifty people at most."


    Meng Huaining was dumbfounded. There were at least three to four hundred living Barbarians in front of him. Hu Cong could only keep fifty people. How was that any different from noting up with a solution?


    Seeing Meng Huaining''s expression, Hu Cong roughly guessed what he was thinking.


    "Meng Huaining can rest assured that even if I can''t amodate more people here, I have a way to resolve it."


    Meng Huaining raised his brows, "What good solution does Brother Hu have?"


    "I understand Meng Huaining¡¯s intention. You feel somewhat unresigned to let these people easily go back, yet they aremoners that can¡¯t simply be killed."


    Meng Huaining nodded repeatedly, "That''s indeed the case."


    Hu Cong went on to share his idea, "I see these Barbarians are not allwless viins either. If they have food to eat their fill, who would be willing toe out and rob?


    Later when they wake up, if Meng Huaining trusts me, please leave it to me."


    Meng Huaining didn''t know what good solution Hu Cong had.


    As long as these people could be sent away smoothly and would no longer offend again in the future, he would be at ease.


    "Alright, I¡¯ll leave it to Brother Hu to handle."


    Meng Huaining didn¡¯t doubt Hu Cong¡¯s capability at all. After all, someone who has been an official in court for many years must have the ability to handle affairs.


    The effects of He Zhiran¡¯s anesthetics didn¡¯tst very long. The unconscious Barbarians began to wake up one after another after about an hour.


    The Barbarians who just woke up were allpletely nk-faced,pletely unaware of what had happened, and were all tied up by their own waist belts.


    Here, Meng Huaining had handed full authority to Hu Cong to handle things, so he did not react at all.


    Those officials who had just rushed over also stood by Meng Huaining¡¯s side at all times. They would not make any moves if their superior did not speak.


    Hu Cong understood Meng Huaining¡¯s intention and strode to the front of those people.


    He pointed at those who were not knocked unconscious and said, "You exin to them what exactly happened."


    It would be clearer if their own people did the exining.

 Chapter 370: How to Guarantee

    <h4>Chapter 370</h4>


    Those barbarians who were not stunned at this moment only wanted to live. Naturally, they would spare no effort to exin the reason to theirpanions.


    After everyone understood the situation, they kept begging for mercy like thosepanions who were not stunned.


    Such a scene did not move Hu Cong at all.


    He and Meng Huaining felt the same, not much sympathy for these people.


    "Don''t make any noise. Those who want to live, listen to me."


    As Hu Cong''s voice fell, the barbarians instantly calmed down and looked at him timidly.


    Hu Cong saw him beckoning not far away, and a worker brought over arge basin of steaming hot steamed buns.


    Hu Cong took the basin in person and moved closer to those barbarians.


    This was what he had specially ordered after seeking Meng Huaining''s consent.


    The steamed buns had just been taken out of the steamer, emitting a sweet scent that made people drool.


    These barbarians probably hadn''t had a full meal for several months, let alone these hot, steaming white flour buns.


    As Hu Cong expected, when these barbarians saw the steamed buns, they couldn''t help but swallow, and the desire in their eyes was unstoppable.


    What''s more, Hu Cong deliberately brought the buns closer to them.


    If these barbarians'' hands and feet were not tied up, they would probably have jumped up to grab them.


    Seeing that he had achieved the effect he wanted, Hu Cong took a few steps back.


    "Do you want to eat?"


    The barbarians swallowed again, stared at the buns, nodded woodenly.


    Although Hu Cong asked this, he did not immediately give them the buns to eat.


    "If you want to eat your fill and dress warmly, you have to work for it. Trying to get these things through looting will never work. It may even cost you your life."


    He nodded at the barbarian corpses, "See that? These people are the best examples."


    There were not a few rtives or friends of the dead barbarians among the survivors. Hu Cong carefully observed their expressions.


    Anyone who was sad or crying, even if they had the ability, he would not consider keeping them.


    There were about thirty or so such people. Hu Cong directly asked the officers to take them aside.


    Then, Hu Cong continued, "I can now give you a chance to eat your fill. Who''s willing?"


    As expected, upon hearing that they could eat their fill, the remaining barbarians expressed their willingness.


    Although they didn''t know what they would do after being selected, or whether they could survive.


    But looking at therge basin of steamed buns, these barbarians felt that they had rushed here to rob in order to eat their fill, right?


    Now there was a chance to eat their fill. Even if it meant death, they wanted to die with a full stomach.


    So after his words fell, someone answered quickly.


    "I can herd sheep. I have herded sheep for the rich since I was young."


    "I''m strong. I can do anything."


    "I can build houses."


    "I can do carpentry."


    "I don''t have any special skills, but I can work hard."


    "..."


    Hu Cong just stood there listening quietly as these people volunteered their strengths.


    After a while, when the voices died down a bit, he waved at the crowd.


    "Alright, don''t make any noise. Those who can build and do carpentry, stand up."


    These barbarians were tied up and leaning halfway. Although they couldn''t walk, standing up was no problem.


    Soon, more than sixty people stood up.


    This number was a little beyond Hu Cong''s expectations.


    In his impression, the barbariannds were barren, people were underfed and poorly clothed, and wealthy people were few, let alone people who built houses and made furniture.


    He had nned to select fifty people from these, and thought that even if they didn''t have these skills but were willing to work hard, he could teach them slowly.


    Now, more than sixty people had volunteered.


    It seemed there was still room for selection.


    Just as Hu Cong was thinking about how to test these people, some of the sixty-odd barbarians who stood up couldn''t help but gingerly ask.


    "May I ask, do you want us to stay and work? I can forego wages, I just hope to bring some food back for my family. I''m willing to stay here and be your ox and horse for life."


    After he finished speaking, many others echoed that they were willing to do the same as theirpanion.


    This was also Hu Cong''s n for the next step. Since someone had said it for him, it saved him some trouble.


    "If you work for me, I guarantee you''ll eat your fill, but how can you guarantee your loyalty to me?"


    When it came to loyalty, the barbarians looked at each other, then someone shouted, "I guarantee loyalty and good work."


    Hu Cong smiled, "Your casual words, how can they guarantee anything?"


    "This..." The barbarians were rendered speechless.


    "I don''t need you to be oxen and horses either, just work hard and I guarantee you''ll eat your fill."


    Hu Cong paused, then continued, "But the premise is that you must demonstrate loyalty to me.


    However, this loyalty is not so simple as just saying it, I have a poison here. After taking it, it will take effect after 100 days, and at that time I will give you the next pill to ensure your life is free of worries, and it won''t affect your lifespan.


    That is to say, as long as you are loyal to me, I will provide the antidote on time."


    Hearing that the other party wanted to use poison to win their loyalty, arge number of people were intimidated.


    But among these people, there were also some bold ones.


    These people didn''t even hesitate and said, "I can take the poison and guarantee my loyalty to you."


    "I''m also willing. As long as I can eat my fill, let me do anything."


    Seeing someone take the lead, some hesitant people also spoke up sessively.


    The remaining few timid ones were still hesitating.


    Seeing that the number had reached his expectation, Hu Cong said in a loud voice, "Alright, those of youe with me."


    The barbarians who were kept behind were overjoyed.


    But there were still concerns in their hearts.


    "Can we send back some of the food we earn to our families?"


    This was also the voice of many people. They had no other concerns now, they just hoped that while they could eat their fill, their families would not starve.

 Chapter 371: It will Cost you your life.

    <h4>Chapter 371</h4>


    Hu Cong discovered that these barbarians were bing more and more capable, and everything was proceeding ording to his train of thought.


    "I can advance you all one month''s wages ahead of time to purchase food for your families."


    Hu Cong did not consider himself to be a phnthropist. It was impossible for him to give food to those people''s families for free. However, after they had taken the medicine pellets, he could advance them one month''s wages ahead of time.


    That way, these people would be able to go and buy the things they needed.


    The barbarians who had voluntarily stayed behind had originally only hoped they wouldn''t go hungry. Normally they would save up as much food as they could and find ways to send it back home.


    They hadn''t expected that not only would they have wages, but they could even get one month¡¯s wages in advance. For them this was like a godsend.


    Being able to bring some food back for their families, let alone being asked to take some kind of poison, even if they had to die on the spot, it would have been worth it.


    "We are willing to take the poison and be loyal to you forever."


    "Yes, we are willing..."


    Seeing that these people were being treated so well, those who had hesitated earlier regretted it.


    "I also want to stay."


    "Me too."


    It must be said, Hu Cong was quite selective in choosing people!


    These people had hesitated for a moment instead of immediately stepping forward, so Hu Cong had already eliminated them.


    Hearing that there were good conditions now, they stepped forward again. Hu Cong did not want people of such moral character.


    Hepletely ignored those people and carefully counted the number of people staying behind - forty-five in total.


    Although it was five fewer people than he had expected, it didn''t matter.


    The people he needed had to be of guaranteed character.


    Hu Cong called the forty-five people who were staying behind to one side, then went to He Zhiran to get the medicine pellets.


    When He Zhiran heard that Hu Cong was using this method to keep a group of barbarians behind, he approved of his approach.


    No matter which country, there were good and bad people. As long as Hu Cong could discern clearly, it was fine.


    Hu Cong took the medicine pellets and hurried back to the foot of the mountain.


    There, the officials were keeping a close eye on the barbarians carefully cleaning up the battlefield.


    This was thend belonging to the Mohists, Meng Huaining¡¯s future inws. He wanted to demonstrate his capabilities while his two elder brothers-inw were away and restore this ce to its original state.


    The barbarians hadpletely lost their fighting spirit. All of them were listening to directions from the officials on what to do.


    The ones selected by Hu Cong were still standing in their original ces. Hu Cong distributed the medicine pellets and made sure they swallowed them before giving each person fifty coins in wages.


    What made these people even more delighted was that therge basin of white steamed buns had also be their breakfast.


    Hu Cong didn¡¯t actually know the real medicinal effects of the medicine pellets made by He Zhiran. He thought they really were the kind of poison that needed to be taken regrly. Therefore, he was very at ease about these people.


    Letting the barbarians stay here and eat white steamed buns made the ones cleaning up the battlefield extremely envious. It was a pity they didn¡¯t know that if they stayed they could also eat such delicious white steamed buns.


    Hu Cong didn¡¯t care about what those barbarians were thinking. Seeing that his own people were full, he gave them another great benefit.


    ¡°You can now take the wages and go into the city to buy supplies.¡±


    He pointed at the barbarians cleaning up the battlefield and said, ¡°If there are any trustworthy people among them, they can be entrusted to bring food to your families.¡±


    Upon hearing this, everyone¡¯s eyes lit up. They thought it was worth it to eat this ¡°poison¡±. They knelt down to Hu Cong to express their gratitude before going into the city together to buy supplies.


    By noon, the barbarians had cleaned the desecrated areas of the Mohist residences until they looked new again. Under Meng Huaining¡¯s arrangement they carried the corpses back to the barbarians¡¯nds along with the food they were instructed to deliver to their family members who had stayed behind.


    Meng Huaining did not leave immediately. Currently there were no troops garrisoned at all in Yuncheng. Normally the only people maintainingw and order in the city were the officers under him.


    Including the subprefect Mo Chuhan there were only thirty officers in total.


    It was because the Mohist brothers had blocked the barbarians today at Xiling Vige that they had not been able to take advantage of the opportunity to barge in.


    If the Mohists brothers had not been there, the consequences were unimaginable.


    Now by letting these barbarians go back, it was equivalent to releasing tigers back into the mountains.


    But what could be done without letting them go?


    He could not possibly detain all of these barbarians, right?


    Even with Meng Huaining¡¯s wisdom, when encountering something like this he still felt utterly bewildered.


    At this time, Mo Chuhan had already settled those veterans who hade to join them together with his seventh elder brother. For now they were living in the house that had previously belonged to the Cui family.


    The Cui family had been richer than the other two families. Basically all of their houses were brick houses. Although they were still a far cry from the


    new courtyards the Mohists had built, at least they could block the wind and rain.


    In the future, after the brothers had earned some money, they would consider rebuilding proper houses for their subordinates.


    The two Mohist brothers knew Meng Huaining was still at the foot of the mountain dealing with the barbarians. After they finished settling the veterans, they came over here to find him.


    Seeing the worried look on Meng Huaining¡¯s face, Mo Chuhan went up and asked,


    ¡°Brother Meng, have you encountered some difficult problem?¡±


    Meng Huaining gave a bitterugh and talked about his concerns and how he had dealt with the barbarians.


    Such a situation - Meng Huaining had thought of it, and so had the Mohist brothers.


    It wasn¡¯t that they were being overly worried. Originally, from what the vigers had told them, the barbariansing to raid numbered at most a couple dozen people at a time.


    If they discovered it in time, the barbarians wouldn¡¯t even be able to steal anything. Instead, they would be given a beating.


    If that really was the case, the Mohists would of course not be worried.


    But idents could always happen in any event, just like today when several hundred barbarians came, and one of them was even such a frighteningmander.


    If a simr situation happened again, it would still be something very troubling.


    It would give anyone a headache to have their homes encroached on like this.


    Moreover, Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister had even more ns. The number of domestic poultry and livestock raised at home would grow more and more. If these were not well protected and destroyed by the barbarians, it would be an irreceable loss.


    Although Mo Chuhan and Mo Yuance had some countermeasures in mind, at most they could only do so to protect their own family, and perhaps they could protect Xiling Vige.


    As for all of Yuncheng, they were afraid they did not have that kind of capability, and did not want that kind of capability either.

 Chapter 372: Asking to Die is a Luxury.

    <h4>Chapter 372</h4>


    After all, the Mohists had a special identity and hadpletely lost confidence in the court.


    To put it bluntly, the fact that they hadn''t rebelled already showed their loyalty.


    As the chief catcher, Mo Chuhan knew Yun City''s situation very well.


    "Brother Meng, after such a big incident happened, I suggest you still seek help from the prefecture as soon as possible."


    Meng Huaining nodded: "For now, this is the only way. Yun City does not have any troops to defend it. Once the barbarians attack again, it would harm those innocentmoners."


    Although he said that, he was very clear in his heart that the barren northwest was not valued by the court at all. Even if he made a request to the prefecture, the troops would not beparable to other ces.


    Even if he brought up this matter with the prefect, he was afraid there would be no troops sent to provide support.


    In any case, it was necessary for him to report to his superiors after such a major incident happened. As for whether the military force issue could be resolved, Meng Huaining did not have any hope at all. He was afraid that in the end, he would have to find a way by himself.


    In fact, the two Mo brothers were more optimistic than Meng Huaining in facing the threat of the barbarians.


    "If nothing unexpected happens, after failing to raid and suffering so many casualties this time, the barbarians should not take action again in a short period of time.


    Commoners are timid. If they weren''t really out of food, they would not want to take risks toe and venture."


    "The only thing I worry about is that the barbarians have set their minds on attacking Da Shun. If the army invades, it would definitely not enter from Xi Ling Vige here.


    After all, it is difficult here with high mountains and rugged roads. It would be very inconvenient for them to transport grain and fodder."


    "The court should be worried. The most dangerous ce now looks to be the western border."


    Meng Huaining had been a county magistrate since he started his official career. After all, he was a civil official without a high position. He had also focused on governing the locality in recent times, so his insight into military affairs was far from that of the Mo brothers.


    Hearing Seventh Elder Brother Mo''s words, Meng Huaining felt like he was enlightened.


    "Although Yun City is at some distance from the western border, once a war starts, themoners there will surely flee in this direction. It looks like I have to make some preparations early too."


    As the parent official of Yun City, he could not overreach. But he had to ensure the safety of themoners under his rule.


    Thinking of this, Meng Huaining felt it necessary to n properly.


    He cupped his fist towards the two Mo brothers: "Thank you two elder brothers for the reminder. I will go back now to make arrangements."


    After such a big incident happened, the Mo brothers knew Meng Huaining still had a lot of things to deal with, so they did not keep him back and sent him all the way to the vige entrance before heading back.


    The time went back to the early morning.


    On the official road three hundred li from the capital.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, the old guy is awake." Fifth Elder Brother Mo''s voice was a little hoarse. Ever since they had taken out the toxic blood from Mr. Si Meng''s heart, he had been keeping watch, afraid of any sudden circumstances happening.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye was driving the carriage while Sixth Elder Brother Mo was riding on horseback.


    Hearing Fifth Elder Brother''s shout, Mo Jiuye hurriedly drove the carriage into the woods by the roadside to stop it, then immediately entered the carriage.


    Sixth Elder Brother Mo also wanted to go into the carriage to take a look, but for everyone''s safety, he could only stand outside the carriage to keep watch.


    It was because Fifth Elder Brother had been keeping an eye on Mr. Si Meng that he would notice the slightest abnormality.


    Therefore, when he informed Mo Jiuye, Mr. Si Meng had just moved his eyelids a little.


    However, Mr. Si Meng was indeed regaining consciousness.


    Probably because of the pain from the wounds, or numbness in his hands and feet from being tied up, his eyes were not fully open yet. First, he let out a painful moan.


    "Since you''re awake, don''t pretend to be dead anymore." Mo Jiuye did not have any patience for his big enemy at all. If not for still having questions to ask, he would have gotten rid of him already.


    Hearing this voice, Mr. Si Meng''s previously still groggy mind instantly became clear.


    He forced his somewhat heavy eyelids open, and what entered his eyes were the angry looks from the two Mo brothers ring at him.


    He did not know that he had lost the toxic blood in his heart. He thought the pain in his body was from being beaten by the Mo brothers.


    "I''ll say it again. Don''t treat me like this. Surely you''re not stupid enough to want to keep mepany in death!"


    After speaking, Mr. Si Meng let out a series of coldughs to demonstrate his advantage.


    He had thought that continuing to threaten them this way would have the same effect. He did not expect that the looks in the Mo brothers'' eyes would be more and more mocking, and there was even a feeling that they were taking him for a fool.


    Mr. Si Meng subconsciously sensed that something was wrong, especially the position of his chest, which felt particrly painful. That kind of pain was somewhat different from that after being beaten.


    He suddenly changed his expression, and his eyes also showed some unease.


    "What have you done to me?"


    Mr. Si Meng simply could not believe this was true. While speaking, he had tried tomunicate with his life-bound Gu worm but got no response at all.


    And seeing that Mo Jinian was alive and well in front of him, he could ascertain that the Mos must have found some expert to control his life-bound Gu worm. Otherwise, he would not be unable tomunicate with his life-bound Gu worm now.


    At the same time, he also felt a piercing paining from the position of his heart where he had hidden the toxic blood.


    Could it be that his toxic blood heart Gu had also disappeared?


    It had to be said that Mr. Si Meng was quite smart.


    Although he did not know how the other party did it, he had realized the severity of the problem.


    Seeing the smug look in the Mo brothers'' eyes, he felt even more certain of the truth.


    "You''re so sinister!"


    "Sinister? You''re the sinister one!" Fifth Elder Brother gritted his teeth in anger.


    Mo Jiuye was much calmer today. He did not get angry and retort Mr. Si Meng due to fury.


    He only had one goal, which was to ask about the whereabouts of his father and brothers.


    "The you now, seeking death would even be a luxury."


    This was his final reminder, hoping that Mr. Si Meng would know the time and situation better and not make them brothers interrogate too hard.


    Mr. Si Meng had always thought highly of himself. After being caught by the Mo brothers, he had originally thought that even if he were to die, he would die proudly and drag the brothers down with him, and it would still be worthwhile. He did not expect that his toxic blood heart Gu would inexplicably disappear and he could no longer control the life-bound Gu worm. This made him feel somewhat unprepared while also realizing that his own situation was very dangerous after hearing Mo Jiuye''s verbal threat.


    However, he no longer had any capital to threaten the other party.


    Moreover, judging by the Mo brothers'' hatred of him, as Mo Jiuye said, even seeking death would be a luxury for him now.


    Realizing this point, Mr. Si Meng was already starting to panic.


    What he feared now was not death itself, but being unable to avenge his beloved woman, as well as possibly facing a fate worse than death through torture.


    Seeing that Mr. Si Meng was still silent, Mo Jiuye knew that he had recognized his predicament.


    "If you don''t want to suffer torture, just honestly tell me about my father and brothers'' whereabouts. I''ll consider giving you a quick death."


    Mr. Si Meng still did not respond to Mo Jiuye. At this moment, his thoughts had drifted far away, back to thirty years ago...

 Chapter 373: Do what you want.

    <h4>Chapter 373</h4>


    At that time, he could be said to be the most outstanding figure among the nobility of Southern Bordends. Not only was he talented in both civil and military arts, but he also had a prominent family background. Many noble youngdies were infatuated with him.


    People at the time spontaneously called him Shao Xin the Jade Faced Gentleman.


    However, he only had eyes for one person - Yuan Meng, the princess of Southern Bordends at that time.


    Yuan Meng was not only beautiful, but also smart and good at military affairs.


    Shao Xin felt that in the entire Southern Bordends, only the princess could match him.


    Yuan Meng also thought highly of herself. In her eyes, in the whole of Southern Bordends, only Shao Xin was quite outstanding.


    Shao Xin was over the moon to gain the princess'' favor. It could be said that he got what he wished for, and devoted all his heart to Yuan Meng.


    Until one day, Mo Qing''s appearance broke their beautiful dreams.


    From then on, Yuan Meng no longer treated him well. She even asked him to help her win Mo Qing''s heart.


    Facing such a request from the woman he loved, Shao Xin was helpless.


    However, in order to fulfill the wish of the woman he loved, he could only go against his conscience to do things, hoping that Yuan Meng would eventually see his blind infatuation and turn back.


    Who knew that after several setbacks, Yuan Meng was still obsessed with Mo Qing. She even became an aplice to his evil deeds.


    No matter who was at fault, the woman he loved eventually still died at Mo Qing''s hands.


    Yuan Meng might not love him, but as long as she was alive, he could see her at any time. But Mo Qing took away his hopes and dreams with one mistake.


    Since this was the case, all those surnamed Mo had to apany his beloved to her grave.


    After Yuan Meng''s death, Shao Xin was devastated overnight and his hair turned white.


    In order to avenge his beloved woman, he reluctantly sold off all his family possessions to find a master to teach him Gu sorcery.


    When his family found out that he had secretly sold all their assets, they angrily disowned him.


    Not only that, he also paid a heavy price to be a first-rate Gu master.


    For example, he was no longer a fully intact man...


    Back then, he found the number one Gu master in Southern Bordends to teach him Gu techniques. He gave all the silver earned from selling his possessions to his master.


    As a result, his master told him that his Yang energy was too strong, and it was unlikely that he could be a top Gu master.


    In order to avenge Yuan Meng, he self-castrated to make the Yang energy in his body weaker.


    It could be said that in order to avenge his beloved woman, he had been plotting for many years and paid a great price.


    He once swore that on the anniversary of Yuan Meng''s death, he would take all the Mo men to her grave to worship andfort her spirit in heaven.


    Over the years, he had schemed step by step to today. He did not expect that at the most critical moment, he would stumble.


    He had thought that after capturing Mo Jiuye and finding the missing Mo Chongyuan, all the Mo men would be gathered.


    Unexpectedly, at the most critical moment, everything no longer went ording to his n. Not only did he fail to catch Mo Jiuye, even the Mo men he had in his grasp disappeared one after another.


    In the past few days, not counting Mo Jiuye, two more had appeared before his eyes.


    From this, it seemed that the other missing Mo men had also been rescued. It was just that they did not show up in front of him this time.


    Thinking of this, feelings of despair had already filled his heart.


    At this moment, he just wanted to die and let the Mo family never find Mo Qing and his son.


    It was just that looking at the current situation, he knew it was impossible for him to die.


    Si Meng tried to calm his mind and asked, "What exactly do you want?"


    Mo Jiuye sneered, "Do I need to spell out what I want so clearly?"


    Si Meng let out a series of coldughs, "Hehe... Anyway I can''t live anymore, so go ahead and make your move!"


    He was convinced that he could withstand their torture as long as he stubbornly refused to reveal the whereabouts of Mo Qing and Mo Family Eldest Son. Then he could drag them down to hell together.


    Mo Jiuye had already anticipated that Si Meng would not confess so easily. Rather than wasting time here talking nonsense with him, it would be better to be more straightforward.


    Thinking of this, he reached into his robe and took out a bag of itching powder. He did not even make a pretense of threatening, and directly sprinkled it on Si Meng''s body.


    Si Meng was a master of poisons after all. He had already remembered the smell of this itching powder. When Mo Jiuye opened the medicine packet, he wanted to say something. However, Mo Jiuye did not give him the slightest chance to speak.


    The unbearable itch instantly spread all over Si Meng''s body, causing him to let out augh even more unpleasant than crying. His head jerked up violently, as if wanting to hit the carriage roof.


    Mo Jiuye and Mo Chongyuan were watching him closely. How could they possibly give him such a chance?


    Mo Chongyuan didn''t hesitate and immediately went up to cover Si Meng''s mouth, not even giving him a chance to vent with his voice.


    Si Meng''s eyes were full of pain, and he even shed tears.


    Both Mo Jiuye and Mo Chongyuan could feel that Si Meng was definitely suffering horribly right now.


    However,pared to what he had done to the Mo men and his subordinates, this little bit of suffering was like a drizzle.


    Mo Jiuye''s eyes turned blood red. He took out another small porcin bottle.


    This was also given to him by He Zhiran. It was medicine that could make wounds fester.


    However, He Zhiran had modified it slightly. When poured on the body, the medicine could only elerate the festering of wounds, even exposing the bones, but would not spread.


    Such medicine would not endanger Si Meng''s life. It could still make him suffer horribly.


    Especially the appearance after the wounds festered was simply too horrifying to look at directly.


    Mo Jiuye forcibly grabbed Si Meng''s white hair and made him sit up straight.


    Then he poured the medicine on the wound on his leg. From this angle, Si Meng could see it very clearly.


    His purpose was to make the old fox personally watch as his own flesh festered bit by bit until the bones were exposed.


    Si Meng''s expression became increasingly frightened. However, he had absolutely no ability to resist. He could only endure the terrible itch and be at their mercy.


    Mo Chongyuan also saw Mo Jiuye''s intentions. He went forward and tore open Si Meng''s pants, exposing the scars they had beaten onto his legs.


    Mo Jiuye shook the medicine bottle in front of Si Meng''s eyes and said in a low voice, "Do you know what this is?"


    Although Si Meng did not know exactly what it was, he could be certain it was something to torture him.


    Thinking of everything he had suffered these past two days, Si Meng was truly afraid.


    He wanted to beg for mercy, to make up some excuses to fool them about Mo Qing and Mo Family Eldest Son''s whereabouts. But his mouth was blocked and he simply could not express himself. He could only stare at Mo Jiuye in terror and let out a series of whimpers.


    Mo Jiuye could see that the old fox was begging for mercy with these actions. But he had no intention of letting his enemy off.

 Chapter 374: I’ll tell you the whereabouts of Ink Qing

    <h4>Chapter 374</h4>


    <Mo Jiuye> quickly opened the bottle cap and slowly poured the liquid medicine onto <Mr. Si Meng>''s leg wound.


    In just a few seconds, <Mr. Si Meng>''s wound began to rot before his own eyes.


    Gradually, pus began to ooze from the wound that was still attached to the flesh, frightening <Mr. Si Meng> so much that his entire body was drenched in cold sweat. Combined with the strange itchiness all over his body, he now only wanted to bash his head to death.


    <Mo Jiuye> let out another coldugh, holding up the porcin bottle in his hand, pretending to pour it onto <Mr. Si Meng>''s other wounds.


    <Mr. Si Meng> shook his head vigorously at <Mo Jiuye> and made a series of iprehensible sounds.


    <Mo Jiuye> knew that the old fox couldn''t handle it anymore.


    His purpose in doing this was to get useful information out of <Mr. Si Meng>''s mouth. Since the other party showed signs of wanting topromise, he would give him a chance to speak.


    After all, <Mr. Si Meng> was nowpletely under his control. There was no rush to torture him to avenge his father and brothers.


    So <Mo Jiuye> put away the small bottle and tore off the cloth blocking <Mr. Si Meng>''s mouth.


    "Think carefully before you speak, otherwise you will face more severe torture."


    <Mr. Si Meng> gasped for air. He was calcting how to muddle through for now.


    He did not expect that the other party would give him a direct reminder that if he did not show some sincerity this time, the next storm would be even more violent.


    "Ask what you want!"


    <Mo Jiuye> did not waste any words: "Where are my father and two brothers now?"


    Although <Mr. Si Meng> was tortured physically, his mind was not lost because of it.


    At the same time, he also realized that now that he had fallen into the hands of the Mo brothers, he would not be able to live.


    But he was unwilling. He felt ashamed to die and go underground without having seeded in avenging his beloved.


    But if he didn''t say anything, he thought death would still be a very extravagant thing for him.


    <Mo Jiuye> saw that he hesitated for a long time before speaking, and knew that the old guy was calcting another countermeasure in his heart.


    Facing such a person, he couldn''t give him a moment''s breathing room.


    So while <Mr. Si Meng> was still thinking, he opened the stopper again and poured the medicine onto another one of his wounds.


    The pain made <Mr. Si Meng>''s consciousness return instantly.


    "Don''t... don''t torture me anymore, I''ll tell you <Mo Qing>''s whereabouts."


    "Speak."


    He''s in the Western Territories."


    "Where in the Western Territories?"


    While answering <Mo Jiuye>''s questions, <Mr. Si Meng> kept watching his expression.


    He could confirm that <Mo Jiuye> was very eager to rescue <Mo Qing> and his two brothers.


    "Only I know <Mo Qing>''s whereabouts in this world. I can fulfill your family reunion, but I have one condition."


    For those who had persecuted his whole family, <Mo Jiuye> had no intention of indulging him.


    He got up slightly and kicked the blood hole in <Mr. Si Meng>''s leg.


    "Even on the verge of death, you still want to negotiate terms with me. You really know how to dream."


    <Mo Jiuye> didn¡¯t kick lightly. <Mr. Si Meng> yelled out in pain.


    "Don''t... don''t hit me anymore..."


    Naturally, <Mo Jiuye> needed to grasp the degree. This old fox had been tortured by them so much. Coupled with the bloodletting operation he had just performed, his body was severely injured. If he was too aggressive, it would be easy for <Mr. Si Meng> to lose his life, which would be totally not worth it.


    <Mo Jiuye> stopped and red at him angrily.


    "Tell me, where exactly are my father and two brothers?"


    <Mr. Si Meng> pleaded for mercy verbally, but still wanted to get revenge.


    "As long as you promise me a quick death, I''ll tell you."


    <Mo Jiuye> was toozy to even pretend to the biggest enemy of his family.


    He opened the bottle again and poured the liquid onto another one of <Mr. Si Meng>''s wounds.


    "No need to talk terms with me, you don''t have that privilege."


    <Mr. Si Meng> saw his actions and it was toote to try to stop him verbally.


    "Don''t... don''t use it again, I''ll tell you."


    <Mo Jiuye> showed no mercy at all and poured the medicine onto <Mr. Si Meng>''s wound again.


    The pain and itchiness drove <Mr. Si Meng> to be covered in cold sweat. In addition to the strange itchiness throughout his body, it felt as if he was about to pass out.


    Deep down, however, he knew it was impossible for him to lose consciousness. He could only stay lucid and bear it.


    "I won''t talk about conditions, I won''t!"


    The <Mo Jiuye> and <Mo Chongyuan> brothers stared at him silently.


    "Speak!"


    "<Mo Qing> is in the hill of the Western Territories."


    When ites to Little Hill, the brothers were no strangers.


    When they were stationed in the Western Territories, they had both been to Little Hill.


    Little Hill was named so because it was near the border andposed of countless small hills.


    The small hills wereyered and undting, connected together to form what looked like a towering mountain peak.


    There were many wild beasts there, and almost no one dared to go deep inside.


    Neither <Mo Jiuye> nor <Mo Chongyuan> stayed there for long, only walking around the outskirts without ever really going inside.


    However, the two brothers knew clearly that the area of Little Hill was veryrge. With <Mr. Si Meng> simply naming a mountain, it would not be easy to find their father and elder brother.


    <Mo Jiuye> grabbed his cor and asked coldly, "Where exactly in Little Hill?"


    <Mr. Si Meng> knew that he simply couldn¡¯t trick them. He looked around and randomly named a location.


    "Go up the mountain from the vicinity of the Western Territories border. It''s in a cave halfway up the mountain."


    Upon hearing <Mr. Si Meng>¡¯s words, the brothers let out a coldugh simultaneously.


    No matter what mountain it was, there were countless caves on the mountains. What he said was clearly perfunctory.


    Obviously, the old fox did not want to tell them the true location of their father and elder brother.


    This time, <Mo Chongyuan> came forward, grabbed <Mr. Si Meng>¡¯s messy white hair with one hand, and with some strength, lifted him up.


    "Old fox, do you think you can fool us brothers by randomly naming a ce?"


    In <Mr. Si Meng>¡¯s impression, the Mo men were all military officers with only a warrior¡¯s courage. He might still be slightly superior to them in a battle of wits.


    He did not expect that after making up such a detailed location, he would still be seen through.


    But if he changed his story now, even if what he said was real, it was unlikely they would believe him.


    Rather than doing so, he might as well stick to what he just said.


    "I didn''t lie to you, <Mo Qing> is indeed in the ce I said."


    Seeing that he still spoke like this, the fifth brother loosened his grip and threw the man inside the carriage.


    "You old thing, are you still trying to deceive us brothers?"


    As he spoke, the fifth brother had already taken out a gleaming dagger and ced it against <Mr. Si Meng>¡¯s throat.


    Seeing this, <Mo Jiuye> hurriedly went forward to stop him.


    He was not worried that the fifth brother would identally kill the old fox, but it was obvious that at the moment, <Mr. Si Meng> was actively seeking death. If he suddenly exerted himself and rushed towards the dagger, it would be easy for him to take his own life. Then how could he find out about his father and brothers¡¯ whereabouts?


    "Fifth brother, let me handle this."

 Chapter 375: Where the hell are my father and Brothers

    <h4>Chapter 375</h4>


    Mo Jiuye said, then opened the food that Fifth Elder Brother had bought in the city the day before yesterday. Among them there was cooking salt that they would need on the road.


    He grasped the salt in his palm, then clenched hard. The salt, which was originally like grains of sand, instantly turned into powder.


    Mo Jiuye sprinkled the crushed salt on the few blood holes on Mr. Si Meng''s body.


    In just an instant, a scream came from the carriage: "Ahhhhhhhh..."


    Fortunately, the location they chose was remote without any people. Otherwise, this scream would surely rm passersby.


    Even so, Little White, who was standing on top of the carriage, was still startled, pping his wings high up.


    Mo Jiuye and Mo Chongyuan looked coldly at Mr. Si Meng''s miserable state.


    After a long while, when he stopped screaming, Mo Jiuye asked, "Have you thought about what to say now?"


    "I''ve...I''ve thought about it..."


    Mr. Si Meng sounded weak.


    "Speak. Where exactly are my father and brothers?"


    "They...they really are at Xiaoqiu Mountain. After the Princess died, her corpse was sent back to the Southern Bordends. For my heart''s desires, I personally built her a mausoleum with shroud and crown at Xiaoqiu Mountain. Your father is there keeping vigil over her."


    This time, the two brothers believed his words a little more.


    At the very least, keeping vigil over Yuan Meng was indeed one of Mr. Si Meng''s motives.


    "Where is the mausoleum with shroud and crown?" Mo Jiuye continued asking.


    "On the sixth hillock."


    This sixth hillock was not unfamiliar to the brothers, because Xiaoqiu Mountain was made up of countless hillocks, and the localmoners would also use names like "the sixth hillock" to refer to them.


    Although they still could notpletely confirm whether or not Mr. Si Meng was telling the truth, this answer was still more reliable than the previous one.


    In order to further confirm, Mo Jiuye grabbed another handful of salt in his palm.


    "From what I know, the sixth hillock is all thorn bushes. How could a mausoleum with shroud and crown be built there?"


    In fact, he had no idea what the situation on the sixth hillock was. He was purely bluffing.


    Mr. Si Meng shook his head forcefully: "That''s impossible. Aside from more fierce beasts, the sixth hillock has absolutely no thorns. I chose that ce to build the mausoleum with shroud and crown precisely because there are wild beasts there, so no one will go disturb it."


    Moreover, he had also set up many traps with poisons around it. Other than him, no one who approached would make it out alive.


    This was something he would not tell the Mo brothers.


    Although he could not aplish his own goals while still alive, as long as the Mo brothers dared to go save people there, he would definitely let them go and never return. The end result would still be to apany his beloved in death.


    As for Mo Qing, he was being controlled by Si Meng''s life-bound Gu worm. Normally he would manipte the mother Gu worm to control Mo Qing once every ten days or so, to make Mo Qing obediently keep vigil over Yuan Meng there.


    Now calcting the time, it had already been four days since thest time he had manipted the mother Gu to control Mo Qing.


    That meant there were six more days until Mo Qing, without his maniption, would lose all ability to act, and even lose the instinct to eat.


    He believed that aside from him, no one would be able to enter the location of the mausoleum with shroud and crown alive. Even if the Mo brothers found it, they would not be able to rescue Mo Qing and his sons.


    Especially since it took more than ten days to reach the Western Bordends from here, even rushing day and night on fast horses. By then, Mo Qing would have long starved to death.


    There were also Mo Family Eldest Son and Second Son. They were there as well, just doing things different from Mo Qing.


    The two brothers were controlled by other mother Gu worms, with control times slightly longer than Mo Qing, around twenty days.


    They were mainly responsible for hunting the wild beasts that approached the mausoleum with shroud and crown there, and at the same time taking care of the food and drink for the three of them.


    In summary, Mr. Si Meng''s final bargaining chip was that the Mo brothers would simply be unable to smoothly enter the location of the mausoleum with shroud and crown, and it was far more likely they would die in the poison mist traps he had set up.


    That meant Mo Qing and his several sons would all die on the sixth hillock.


    Thinking of all this, Mr. Si Meng felt that he really had nothing left to worry about.


    "I don''t know who told you the sixth hillock was all thorn bushes. There really aren''t any thorns there, just more fierce beasts and taller trees. With your father''s skills, dealing with some fierce beasts is no trouble at all."


    He did not take the initiative to mention that Mo Family Eldest Son and Second Son were also there. His goal was to avoid making the other party feel he was being too proactive, which would seem suspicious.


    Mo Jiuye had been bluffing him, so hearing him say this, he more or less understood something. He continued asking, "Where are my eldest and second brothers?"


    "They''re with Mo Qing."


    After answering this sentence, Mr. Si Meng closed his eyes, putting on the appearance of waiting for death.


    How could Mo Jiuye let him die before finding his father and brothers?


    Considering it would take some time to take him away from the capital, if the old fart didn''t eat, sooner orter he would starve to death.


    To keep him alive, Mo Jiuye called towards outside the carriage, "Sixth Elder Brother, bring some water and food here."


    Sixth Elder Brother had been listening to the movements outside, and had long wanted to see what was going on inside the carriage. Hearing Ninth Younger Brother calling him, he hurriedly jumped onto the carriage with a waterskin and food.


    Mo Jiuye opened the lid of the waterskin and poured water into Mr. Si Meng''s mouth.


    Mr. Si Meng was caught off guard and choked by the water, coughing loudly.


    The Mo brothers wouldn''t consider his circumstances. Seeing that he had opened his mouth, Mo Jiuye also stuffed arge piece of hardtack in.


    Mr. Si Meng was forced to eat something. Powerless, he closed his eyes.


    In fact, the several Mo brothers had not rested well while taking Mr. Si Meng with them on the road, and had not even had time to eat.


    At this time, whether it was true or false, they had finally gotten some information out, making the several of them feel somewhat relieved.


    Although they were in a hurry on the road, after all, they were not made of iron. The horses were the same. If they hadn''t been He Zhiran''s dimensional horses that could travel thousands of miles, they probably would have already copsed from exhaustion travelling such a long distance continuously.


    The environment here was not bad, and there were no people to disturb them, so the brothers decided to rest here for a while.


    The three of them took turns watching Mr. Si Meng, finally getting a bit of rest.


    Now that they knew of their father and brothers'' whereabouts, none of them wanted to dy any more time. Their only goal now was to rescue them as soon as possible.


    Resting until the afternoon, Mo Jiuye looked at the sky and suggested, "Fifth and Sixth Brothers, let''s continue on the road and reach the Western Bordends sooner."

 Chapter 376: Arriving in the West

    <h4>Chapter 376</h4>


    "Alright, let''s set off now," Fifth Elder Brother said while pulling up the reins.


    Sixth Elder Brother also got on his horse, while Mo Jiuye was responsible for guarding Mr. Si Meng in the carriage, preventing any idents from happening.


    The carriage had just started when Little White stood on top of it and let out a gurgling cry.


    This was when Mo Jiuye remembered that he was so focused on interrogating Mr. Si Meng that he forgot about Little White.


    He opened the carriage window to let Little White fly in.


    Little White obediently stood on his shoulder and kept showing off arrogantly to Mr. Si Meng, who was like a dead dog.


    As Mo Jiuye smiled, he also fed some food to it. Then, while Mr. Si Meng was unconscious, he wrote a letter saying everything was going smoothly, they had sessfully captured Mr. Si Meng, and were rushing with him to the western border.


    He tied the letter to Little White''s leg. The letter was to He Zhiran.


    After Little White was full, it flew to Xilin Vige with Mo Jiuye¡¯s letter.


    The three brothers journeyed very smoothly. In order to reach the western border as soon as possible, they persisted in traveling whenever they had a bit of energy left.


    At this pace, they finally arrived at the western border after eleven days.


    Since it was a border city, the city gate guards would be stricter and inspect all passersby.


    By now, Mr. Si Meng was so weak he was unrecognizable. If they didn¡¯t need him alive, the brothers wouldn¡¯t even want to feed him a bite.


    But with such a battered man in the carriage, they definitely wouldn¡¯t pass the inspection at the city gate. It might even cause them a lot of trouble.


    Sixth Elder Brother worriedly asked, ¡°Ninth younger brother, what should we do?¡±


    Mo Jiuye looked at themoners lining up to enter the city ahead of them.


    "Let''s get in line first. I''ll go up front and pave the way."


    Everyone knew money could push a ghost to grind. So Mo Jiuye didn¡¯t believe those guards wouldn¡¯t like silver.


    While the carriage was queueing, Mo Jiuye quickly went to the guards and looked extremely anxious.


    Seeing a man running towards them, the guards thought he wanted to force his way into the city. They immediately blocked him with their weapons.


    "What are you doing? If you want to enter the city, go line up."


    Mo Jiuye didn¡¯t care about money. As long as they could enter the city smoothly, it was fine.


    So as the guards questioned him, he took out a silver ingot and stuffed it into their hand.


    Then he pointed to the carriage at the back of the queue and said, "My family member is critically ill. I¡¯m rushing into the city for medical treatment. Can you make an exception?"


    The moment the guard got the silver, his heart bloomed with joy.


    Judging from the size of the ingot, there was at least five taels¡ªhis five months¡¯ sry.


    The guard immediately changed his attitude. It could be said he did a 180 degree turn.


    "Seeking medical treatment is important. Don''t dy it."


    After saying that, he quickly drove away all themoners blocking the passage, making way for the carriage.


    The carriage smoothly entered the city and headed straight for the small mound Mr. Si Meng mentioned.


    Although it was rarely visited by people, there was a Da Shun army camp nearby.


    Surely someone in the army would recognize them. They had to be careful not to expose their identities.


    Therefore, the brothers decided to find a ce farther away from the military camp to climb the mountain.


    Of course, someone still needed to stay behind to guard Mr. Si Meng. In case he was wrong about the location, the brothers could continue interrogating him.


    Although Mo Jiuye knew some basics about Gu techniques, he didn¡¯t understand the details very clearly. Especially puppet Gu, he had no idea how to manipte it.


    That old fox Mr. Si Meng would never tell the truth.


    Logically, when Mo Jiuye and the others entered the western border, they should look for Third Older Brother and the others first to see if they had found any clues.


    But considering the maniption time of the puppet Gu queen, Mo Jiuye didn¡¯t dare to take it lightly.


    It had been half a month since they captured Mr. Si Meng and took away all his Gu worms, including extracting his life Gu.


    That meant Mr. Si Meng had at least half a month withoutmanding the puppet Gurva in their father and brothers. Mo Jiuye worried that without mobility for too long, they might starve to death.


    So he decided not to look for Third Older Brother first. Instead, he would go to the location Mr. Si Meng mentioned to look for his father, Eldest Brother and Second Brother.


    As long as they sessfully found them, he could remove the puppet Gu in them using his wife''s method first to save their lives. That was the most important thing.


    Finally, after discussing, the brothers decided Fifth Elder Brother, who was more attentive, would stay at the foot of the mountain to guard Mr. Si Meng, while Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother would climb the sixth mound of Xiaoqiu Mountain together.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the sky. It was already the afternoon hour of Shen.


    Although Xiaoqiu Mountain was made up of many small mounds, to reach the sixth mound, they had to climb over the previous five.


    Looking from afar, the mounds didn¡¯t seem big. But walking on them, there was quite a distance.


    Fortunately, Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother had supreme martial arts. The two brothers leapt using Qinggong and crossed the five mounds in about an hour.


    As the sixth mound entered their eyes, it did feel different from the others.


    There was some space between the trees on the other mounds. Looking from a distance, it didn¡¯t block the view too much.


    However, the sixth mound was very different. At first nce, the entire hilltop was covered in lush greenery. Not only were there no visible roads, even the nearby ground was covered in a thickyer of moss.


    Even the birds passing by would choose to detour around it. It showed how dangerous this mound was.


    Based on experience, this was the ce with the most snakes, insects, rats and ants. Once people walked in, there was no telling what danger they would encounter.


    Sixth Elder Brother took out a dagger and held it in his palm.


    "Ninth younger brother, I''ll take the lead to clear the way." He nned to hack his way through the thorns to open up a path.


    Mo Jiuye knew that this was the only way in this situation.


    So he also took out a dagger and held it in his palm. However, he didn¡¯t take action immediately. Instead, he took out a package of realgar powder from his clothes and sprinkled it on himself and Sixth Elder Brother.


    Only by doing this could they effectively avoid the invasion of snakes, insects and other toxins after entering the woods.


    Saving their father and brothers was important, but if they couldn¡¯t even ensure their own safety, how could they save others?


    After the two brothers looked at each other firmly, they strode into the woods step by step.


    The two cooperated seamlessly. One left, one right, cutting away the thorns blocking their path, while also staying vignt at all times, noticing any snakes or insects that might appear under their feet.


    Fortunately, Mo Jiuye had sprinkled realgar powder on them. Along the way, the poisonous snakes they encountered smelled it and automatically avoided them.


    Because of this, the two brothers¡¯ entry into the sixth mound went quite smoothly at first.


    Even for the few poisonous snakes that weren¡¯t afraid of the realgar smell, the two brothers killed them swiftly.

 Chapter 377: This Is Not Right

    <h4>Chapter 377</h4>


    The deeper they went, the more ominous the atmosphere around them became.


    "Ninth younger brother, should we stop and observe the situation?" Sixth elder brother inexplicably felt a moment of panic. Even breathing the air around them gave him a suffocating feeling.


    Mo Jiuye had the same feeling. Supposedly the air in this primal forest should be the freshest, but instead, he seemed to smell a stench of decay.


    The two brothers exchanged a nce and then adeptly leapt upwards,nding atop the tallest and most robust nearby tree.


    Looking down from this vantage point, there was still only lush, verdant forest as far as the eye could see, with even the forest floor obscured from view.


    Fortunately, the tree they were standing on was quite tall. Climbing up a bit higher would allow them to see much farther.


    Now, both brothers felt their vision open up.


    About two li away, the dense undergrowth gave way to a stretch of t grasnd. In the middle of the grasnd was a smallke, and the two brothers, with their sharp eyesight, could vaguely make out several people lying next to theke shore.


    Yes, there were definitely several human figures.


    "Ninth younger brother, there seem to be people over there," Sixth elder brother said.


    Because of the great distance, they couldn¡¯t clearly make out what those people looked like. The two men could only discern the outlines of human shapes.


    A sense of foreboding instantly rose within Mo Jiuye.


    "Sixth elder brother, let''s go over and take a look," he said.


    Although anxious, Mo Jiuye had not lost his reason. As they continued forward, he kept the antidote pills his wife had made sped tightly in his fist. He also gave one to Sixth elder brother.


    "Sixth elder brother, these are antidote pills that can save your life if necessary," he said gravely.


    Sixth elder brother solemnly nodded, gripping the pill in his hand.


    The two brothers were unclear whether there were any poisons or toxins nearby, but if this truly was Mr. Si Meng''s territory, their presence was a certainty.


    Of course, they also knew one fact clearly - Mr. Si Meng had already shown good faith by revealing the location of the sixth hill. Asking him for more details risked himying some sort of trap for the two brothers.


    Rather than being tricked by him, it was safer for the brothers to search on their own.


    As the two brothers cleared away obstacles in their path, Mo Jiuye carefully observed their surroundings. Based on his past experiences at Si Meng Mountain Vi, wherever Mr. Si Meng''s domains extended, poisons and toxins were indispensable elements.


    Just after Mo Jiuye finished chopping away an obstruction ahead, he felt the ground under his feet be uneven.


    He threw out an arm to stop Sixth elder brother from continuing forward.


    "Sixth elder brother, be careful!"


    Sensing something amiss, the two men leapt backward several meters in the span of their words.


    Taking a closer look ahead, sure enough, concealed amongst the undergrowth they had just cleared away was a deep trench spanning the width of their path.


    The trench was shaped like an irrigation canal, situated just wide enough to block passage forward. Finding such an oddly configured trench naturally urring in the mountains was quite rare - most were manmade.


    "Ninth younger brother, there''s something strange about this trench," Sixth elder brother warned.


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "I suspect there may be toxins inside."


    When it came to poisons, Sixth elder brother had no specialized knowledge. But he had not forgotten about the antidote pill Mo Jiuye had given him earlier.


    "Ninth younger brother, should we take the antidote pills first?"


    "Hold on. Let me go take a look first, then we''ll decide," Mo Jiuye replied.


    After speaking, he cautiously crept forward again.


    "Be careful," Sixth elder brother reminded, maintaining a battle-ready posture. If his younger brother encountered any danger, he would immediately rush forwards to help.


    Mo Jiuye slowly parted the still quite dense undergrowth in front of him and gingerly stepped towards the trench.


    When he finally peered over the edge, even the widely experienced Mo Jiuye was shocked speechless by the sight.


    The trench was filled with countless scorpions, their venomous tails raised menacingly high, sending chills down his spine at the very sight.


    Moreover, the scorpions seemed to have already sensed an unfamiliar presence approaching, and were continuously scuttling towards the top of the trench walls.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye standing stock still, Sixth elder brother anxiously called out, "Ninth younger brother, what''s going on?"


    Mo Jiuye raised a hand, signaling his brother not to speak. Then he quickly took out another packet of realgar powder and sprinkled it towards the mass of scorpions.


    Unexpectedly, while realgar powder was quite effective against venomous snakes, it barely made these venomous scorpions flinch.


    They only dodged briefly before resuming their climb upwards as if nothing had happened.


    Mo Jiuye gasped. This was his first encounter with such venomous scorpions, and realgar powder had actually failed!


    With no time to waste, he hurriedly grabbed a small bottle from his side and sprinkled its liquid contents towards the scorpions.


    "Sixth elder brother, light it on fire!"


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s order, Sixth elder brother rapidly lit a match and flung it into the trench.


    Mo Jiuye pivoted and pulled his brother far away with him.


    After several muffled booms from within the trench, mes instantly soared more than ten feet high.


    Soon after came the sounds and smell of scorpions crackling and charring en masse.


    Sixth elder brother watched the scene before him incredulously.


    "Ninth younger brother, is this enough?"


    Mo Jiuye also wasn''t certain that all the scorpions had been burned to death. But he believed his wife would never have given him anti-venom supplies that didn''t work.


    The mes soon subsided, and the air filled with the smell of something burnt.


    This time, Sixth elder brother stepped forward of his own initiative. "Let me take a look."


    Although Sixth elder brother was checking, Mo Jiuye still didn''t dare let his guard down. After all, all the life-saving items were currently in his own hands.


    He closely followed his elder brother¡¯s footsteps to assess the aftermath. The trench, just now teeming with scorpions, had been reduced to piles of ash.


    Even so, Mo Jiuye¡¯s wariness did not abate. The trench spanned quite a distance - if any areas hadn''t been touched by the mes and still harbored surviving scorpions, they could still be lethal.


    For now, at least he and Sixth elder brother were safe.


    Time was of the essence. "Sixth elder brother, let''s head over now," Mo Jiuye urged.


    Sixth elder brother nodded, then leapt across the trench alongside Mo Jiuye.


    Ahead, more obstructing brambles awaited, but having found their bearings, the two men no longer worried about wandering aimlessly.


    After continuing some ways, Mo Jiuye, still walking in front, suddenly felt something soft depress under his foot. ncing down, he saw that he had trodden directly onto the back of a rainbow frog!


    At the same time, countless simr rainbow frogs began hopping towards the two men from all directions.


    Even the normally unppable Mo Jiuye broke out into a cold sweat at this sight. During their ordeal at the bottom of Si Meng Mountain Vi¡¯s well, he and his wife had already encountered these rainbow frogs before. Their skin oozed toxins from every pore.


    In other words, even though he had only stepped on one rainbow frog, the possibility that its toxins had already entered his system could not be discounted.


    He immediately popped an antidote pill into his mouth, reminding Sixth elder brother to also ready one and take it at once if he made any skin contact with the rainbow frogs.


    Concurrently, he scattered realgar powder around them.


    Last time at Si Meng Mountain Vi, it had been Rice Ball who tamed these rainbow frogs, so Mo Jiuye was uncertain if the realgar powder would still be effective now.

 Chapter 378: They’re Big Brother and Big Brother.

    <h4>Chapter 378</h4>


    The realgar powder was not as effective against the rainbow frogs as it was against the snakes. The rainbow frogs only moved slowly for a moment before returning to their original state. Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother were unable to dodge in time and had already been touched by several rainbow frogs.


    Fortunately, they had taken the antidote pills which allowed them to resist the toxicity of the rainbow frogs.


    In Mo Jiuye''s mind, such harmful creatures should not exist in this world, so he simply lit another fire to burn all of the rainbow frogs to death.


    He and Sixth Elder Brother were in a hurry to check the identity of the person lying by theke, and had no time to watch the burning scene. The two continued to hack their way through the undergrowth ahead.


    They had assumed there would be more poisonous things ahead, but that was not the case.


    Ahead was a white fog thatpletely blocked the two brothers'' sight.


    "Ninth younger brother, this smell seems familiar." Sixth Elder Brother''s mind was racing as he tried to remember where he had smelled this before.


    Indeed it did seem familiar. This was the anesthetic that Minister Si Meng had used to confuse the Mo brothers when they were in the South.


    Fortunately, the two had taken the antidote pills, otherwise they would have been knocked out by the poison.


    Mo Jiuye also found the smell familiar. The first time he had fought with Minister Si Meng in the South, thetter had scattered such an anesthetic before escaping in a panic.


    Although his wife''s pills could solve hundreds of poisons, one could never be too careful in such matters and he absolutely could not gamble here.


    "Sixth Elder Brother, cover your nose and mouth, let''s get through this quickly."


    "Alright."


    The two brothers held their breath and covered their noses and mouths, rushing through the poisonous fog.


    The scene that appeared before their eyes could be described as suddenly clear.


    However, they currently had no time to look around and quickly raced towards the few people by theke.


    "Ninth younger brother, it''s Third Elder Brother and Liang Hao!" Seeing his own brothers lying there, Sixth Elder Brother sounded rather anxious.


    Mo Jiuye did not respond. He raced towards them.


    Before the two brothers could get close, two figures suddenly leapt out from the bushes. Without a word, they raised their weapons and attacked their faces.


    As Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother quickly dodged backwards, they also observed the appearance of the attackers.


    The attackers werepletely disheveled, and their bangspletely covered their facial features.


    The two were very tall, and looked much thinner than normal people.


    But from the details of their movements, Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother discovered something wrong.


    "Sixth Elder Brother, it''s Eldest Brother and Second Elder Brother."


    Before Sixth Elder Brother could respond to Mo Jiuye''s words, Eldest Brother and Second Elder Brother waved their weapons again to attack them.


    It was a good thing to be able to find the brothers they had been searching for here, but clearly, Eldest Brother and Second Elder Brother had no self-awareness.


    This state was entirely because they were being controlled by the Marite Witch Insect.


    Facing their own brothers, no matter what, Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother could not use ruthless moves like against an enemy. But without ruthless moves, there was no way to stop their offense.


    Mo Jiuye suddenly had a clever idea. He took out a package of anesthetic from his arms and sprinkled it towards the two elder brothers.


    Soon, the two who were still attacking them staggered for a few moments before showing signs of copsing.


    Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother quickly went forward, one after the other, to support them before gently cing them on the ground.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye was not blinded by the excitement of seeing Eldest Brother and Second Brother. Because Third Elder Brother and Liang Hao were still lying by theke between life and death.


    Considering the poisons they had encountered along the way, it was unlikely Third Elder Brother and the others had good fortune to make it this far.


    He could only hope he had note toote.


    Mo Jiuye did not think much more. He raced swiftly towards Third Elder Brother and the others.


    First he checked Third Elder Brother''s breath, it was very weak, but he had not yet stopped breathing.


    From his darkened skin, it could be determined that Third Elder Brother had been poisoned.


    In fact, Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother did not know that the poison barrier Minister Si Meng had set up there was not just a simple anesthetic.


    Third Elder Brother was clutching a handkerchief. If the guess was correct, he should have also discovered that poison fog and used this to cover his nose and mouth.


    Although Third Elder Brother''s method of resisting the poison barrier was not perfect, at least he had taken precautions. Otherwise, what Mo Jiuye would have seen when he arrived here was Third Elder Brother''s corpse.


    Looking at the condition of Liang Hao and the others, it was about the same as Third Elder Brother¡¯s, all on the verge of death.


    In this situation, Mo Jiuye was also at a bit of a loss.


    The only thing he could do now was to first give them the antidote pills and hope it was not toote.


    Mo Jiuye took out the antidote pills from his arms and handed some to Sixth Elder Brother. The two brought the pills to Third Elder Brother and the other¡¯s mouths.


    But unfortunately, they hadpletely lost consciousness and simply could not swallow them.


    This greatly worried Sixth Elder Brother.


    "Ninth younger brother, what should we do? They simply cannot swallow the pills."


    At this point, Sixth Elder Brother was sweating profusely from anxiety.


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye was calmer. He took out another pill again and crushed it in his palm.


    "Sixth Elder Brother, quickly take out the water bag."


    Sixth Elder Brother swiftly took the water bag from his waist. When Mo Jiuye had poured all the medicine powder into Third Elder Brother¡¯s mouth, he reached out and pinched his throat, pouring water down.


    This method of Mo Jiuye¡¯s proved very effective. Third Elder Brother had sessfully taken the antidote.


    Using the same method, the two brothers also fed the antidote to Liang Hao and the others.


    After going through this process, the only thing the two brothers could do was wait.


    At the same time, they prayed that the antidote would save Third Elder Brother and the others.


    Their goal was to save their elder brothers and father. They did not want any other brothers to have any more mishaps.


    The antidote worked very well. In less than an incense stick worth of time, most of the ck on Third Elder Brother and Liang Hao¡¯s faces had faded away, and their breathing was much more even than before. It was just that there was still no sign of them waking up.


    Despite this, Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother were much more at ease.


    They could confirm that Third Elder Brother and the others were no longer in mortal danger and waking up was just a matter of time.


    No longer worried about Third Elder Brother and the others¡¯ safety, Mo Jiuye finally shifted his attention to Eldest Brother and Second Brother.


    His wife had given him two types of anesthetics at that time. The difference between the two anesthetics was in the duration of efficacy.


    On the way here, in order to prevent Minister Si Meng from making trouble, Mo Jiuye had mainly used the long-acting anesthetic on him.


    Right now, Mo Jiuye only had the short-acting anesthetic left on hand. That meant the anesthetic he had just given Eldest Brother and Second Brother could only knock them out for about an hour before they would wake up.


    From the previous situation of the two elder brothers, it was clear they had no self-awareness at all and everything was under the control of the Marite Witch Insect.


    In this situation, if they did not promptly remove the insects after the two woke up, the consequence would be as soon as they regained consciousness, their first reaction would be to attack Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother.


    Therefore, Mo Jiuye decided to remove the Marite Witch Insects from their bodies before Eldest Brother and Second Brother woke up.


    Although this was Mo Jiuye¡¯s first time personally removing the insects, he had witnessed his wife do it many times.


    The surgery to remove the Marite Witch Insect was very simple, and the location was not in a vital area of the human body. In addition, Mo Jiuye had the experience of taking out Minister Si Meng''s Heart Blood, so this operation was a piece of cake for him.

 Chapter 379: What have you got to Say

    <h4>Chapter 379</h4>


    After all, this was an open ce, and wild beasts could show up at any time.


    Mo Jiuye scanned around and saw a small cave entrance.


    "Sixth elder brother, let''s carry them in."


    Not only Big Brother and Second Brother, but also the unconscious Third Older Brother and Liang Hao''s group needed to be carried in.


    Only by ensuring their safety could Mo Jiuye feel at ease to remove the Gu worms from his two elder brothers.


    In front of the cave, there was no moss or weeds on the ground, which clearly showed that people came in and out frequently.


    Inside the cave, two bluestone bs the size of single beds had been polished so smooth without any edges or corners.


    Moreover, Big Brother and Second Brother had just rushed towards them from this direction. It could be inferred that this was where the two elder brothers had lived for many years.


    Needless to say, the simplicity was evident. The bare stone bs had no beddings. There were no spare clothes inside the cave either.


    This could be determined from the tattered clothes on Big Brother and Second Brother.


    There were white beast bones scattered all over the ground in the cave, ced very messy, obviously no one had cleaned them up.


    From these details, one could see what kind of inhuman life Big Brother and Second Brother had led for so many years.


    There was no time to think too much. Mo Jiuye asked Sixth Elder Brother to carry Big Brother and Second Brother onto the two stone bs separately.


    He was in no hurry to remove the Gu worms for his two elder brothers. After all, his wife would use those advanced instruments in her space to test and determine the position before performing surgery to remove the Gu worms.


    The biggest advantage of doing this was that it could urately locate the Gu worms and prevent any deviations during surgery.


    But now there were no such conditions.


    Although Mo Jiuye could roughly determine the location of the Gu worms, he did not dare to act rashly.


    Once the offspring Gu worm encountered danger in the host body, it would escape to other parts of the body. If such a situation urred, it would be difficult to remove the Gu.


    In order to more urately determine the location of the offspring Gu worms, Mo Jiuye took out the small porcin bottle containing the mother Gu worm found in Mr. Simeng''s ce.


    He could not determine which Gu worm was the mother Gu controlling the offspring Gu in his elder brothers'' bodies, so he could only try shaking them gently one by one.


    As long as the mother Gu worm moved slightly in the porcin bottle, the offspring Gu it controlled would also wiggle in the host body.


    Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother cooperated, with each person staring at one elder brother¡¯s arm.


    He tentatively shook a porcin bottle.


    Soon, there was a noticeable bulge on Second Brother''s arm.


    A bean-sized lump could be seen with the naked eye under his skin.


    Mo Jiuye determined the location of the offspring Gu worm and immediately handed a porcin bottle to Sixth Elder Brother.


    "Sixth elder brother, see the Gu worm at the first moment and put it into the porcin bottle."


    After Sixth Elder Brother nodded solemnly, he held the porcin bottle with his eyes fixed on Ninth Younger Brother¡¯s action.


    Mo Jiuye moved the knife and made a not very deep cut on Second Brother''s arm.


    A ck Gu worm appeared before the two brothers.


    Without any hesitation, Sixth Elder Brother nimbly put the offspring Gu worm that had just revealed its head into the bottle.


    Mo Jiuye skillfully helped Second Brother disinfect the wound and sutured it. Although his suturing technique was not great, the effect was satisfactory.


    Using the same method, Mo Jiuye found the mother Gu controlling Big Brother by shaking, urately located the offspring Gu worm in his body and performed the surgery.


    When everything was finished, Mo Jiuye''s forehead was sweating.


    He did not forget to reassure Sixth Elder Brother.


    "The Gu worms in Big Brother and Second Brother have been removed. As long as the effects of the anesthetics wear off, they will wake up."


    Estimating the time, it had been more than half an hour since he had given the two elder brothers the anesthetics. If nothing unexpected happened, they would wake up soon.


    Judging from the physical condition of Big Brother and Second Brother, their whole bodies were thinner than just skin and bones, and their faces looked much olderpared to his impression.


    Especially Big Brother, there was a long scar above his forehead.


    However,pared with Fourth Elder Brother and Seventh Elder Brother, the situation was much more optimistic. At least their limbs were not seriously injured.


    Just as Mo Jiuye was carefully observing the conditions of Big Brother and Second Brother, he suddenly felt a slight movement behind him.


    He and Sixth Elder Brother turned around at the same time and saw that Third Older Brother had opened his eyes slightly.


    Not knowing whether it was because the toxins in his body had notpletely subsided, his eyes looked a little swollen.


    "Third Older Brother, you are awake?" As Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother were already squatting in front of him.


    Seeing the two brothers, Third Older Brother still couldn''t believe this was real.


    He rubbed his somewhat ufortable eyes vigorously and looked at the two again.


    "Sixth Younger Brother, Ninth Younger Brother, where is this ce?"


    "Third Older Brother, we are now in the foothills of the Western Realm."


    Hearing that it was the foothills, Third Older Brother''s confused consciousness finally began to return slowly.


    Seeing him trying hard to sit up, Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother supported him from left to right.


    "Third Older Brother, don''t worry, take your time."


    Third Older Brother first looked left and right and saw Liang Hao and the others lying not far away, still in aa.


    There were also two people on the stone bs who looked like beggars and he could not see their appearance clearly.


    "Sixth Younger Brother, Ninth Younger Brother, how are Liang Hao and the others?"


    He did not recognize his two elder brothers. At this moment, his first concern was naturally the good brothers who had risked danger with him.


    "Third Older Brother, don''t worry. Liang Hao and the others have taken the antidote. I believe they will wake up after a while."


    Hearing Ninth Younger Brother say this, Third Older Brother finally felt relieved.


    He then asked, "Why did you two appear here? Were you injured by the poisons on the Sixth Mound?"


    Recalling the poisons they had encountered after entering the Sixth Mound, Third Older Brother was still terrified.


    If it hadn''t been for their martial arts prowess to dodge onto the trees in time, they would have long be a delicious meal for those scorpions and toads.


    Mo Jiuye knew that Third Older Brother and Liang Hao¡¯s group had encountered the same as him and Sixth Elder Brother when they went up the Sixth Mound.


    It was just that he and Sixth Elder Brother had the life-saving items prepared by his wife, so they were not injured.


    Third Older Brother and the others did not have such adequate preparation. It was extremely fortunate that they still had a breath left when he came to their rescue.


    In order not to make Third Older Brother worry, Mo Jiuye briefly recounted how several brothers went to the capital to capture Mr. Simeng, and then came here to look for their father and elder brothers.


    After listening, Third Older Brother''s gaze fell directly on Big Brother and Second Brother who were still unconscious lying on the stone bs.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, are they Big Brother and Second Brother?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded solemnly: "Fortunately our brothers are unharmed. We had just arrived here when Big Brother and Second Brother appeared. However, they were also under the control of Mr. Simeng''s puppet Gu worms and had no consciousness at all. I could only temporarily make them pass out and then remove the Gu worms.


    Now the Gu worms have been sessfully removed from Big Brother and Second Brother. They will wake up after a while."


    Third Older Brother excitedly grabbed Mo Jiuye''s arm while using his support to try to stand up.

 Chapter 380: Do You Still Know Me

    <h4>Chapter 380</h4>


    However, the poison in his body had been eliminated, but there were still residual aftereffects.


    The brothers didn''t know that the poison barrier contained not just simple anesthetics or lethal poisons.


    Mr. Simeng was cunning and deceitful. In order to prevent the Mo brothers from finding this ce and rescuing people, he deliberately added cartge ingredients to it.


    Now the third brother''s legs were so soft that he couldn''t stand up at all.


    "Ninth brother, what''s wrong with me? I feel weak all over and my hands and feet don''t seem to obey orders?"


    Mo Jiuye knew how to lift curses and treat some external injuries. He had only learned the basics while helping his wife.


    At this moment, he really couldn''t say clearly what was going on with the third brother.


    However, as long as the third brother was alive, it was good. After finding their father and taking everyone back to Xi Ling Vige together, Ranran would surely have a way.


    "Third brother, don''t worry. Your poison has just been lifted, and there may be some aftereffects. Let''s wait and see," Mo Jiuyeforted.


    At the same time, Liang Hao and others also gradually woke up. They had the same condition as the third brother, feeling weak all over and unable to stand up with soft hands and feet.


    Now that the Mo brothers had all been found, their top priority was to find out what had happened to their father.


    However, the eldest and second brothers were not fully awake at this time, and the third brother and Liang Hao were having trouble moving.


    Mo Jiuye had to stay and wait for the eldest and second brothers to wake up, check the situation, and then go look for their father.


    The sixth brother was fine, but he didn''t have as many life-saving methods as Mo Jiuye. If he went out and encountered danger, not only would he not be able to sessfully find his father, but he would also be a burden to the brothers.


    Therefore, no matter how anxious he was in his heart, he did not ask to go out and look for people immediately.


    Since nothing could be done now anyway, Mo Jiuye simply asked about the experiences of the third brother and the others after arriving in the Western Territory.


    "Third brother, how did you find this ce?"


    "It was purely by ident that we found this ce," the third brother replied somewhat helplessly.


    After a pause, he continued: "After arriving in the Western Territory, we looked for clues everywhere.


    After nearly three months here, we had turned the entire Western Territory upside down, but found no suspicious traces.


    Finally, only the hills were left unchecked, so I pinned myst hopes on it. I thought that if we still couldn''t find any clues in the hills, we would hurry back to Yun City immediately and think of other ways as brothers.


    When we got to the sixth hill, I felt something was wrong.


    Especially the trees and thorns that were different from the other hills, I was determined to take a closer look.


    Who knew, shortly after we entered the sixth hill, countless scorpions appeared. Fortunately, Liang Hao, who was walking in front, was alert and reminded everyone to use their lightness skill to climb the trees, so we escaped disaster.


    Later, we encountered frogs of various colors. Luckily, I had the realgar powder that you and Ninth Sister had given me. When they were moving slowly, we narrowly avoided danger.


    I observed the living environment of those poisons and it was obvious that they were artificially raised. So I became more certain that this ce was very likely to be where our father and brothers were imprisoned.


    I thought that as long as we found the water source ahead before falling unconscious, we might be able to alleviate the symptoms of poisoning.


    We could already see the water source ahead after getting through the poison barrier, but the toxins spread too fast and we passed out before we could get close to the water source."


    The third brother still didn''t know that if the sixth and ninth brothers hadn''t arrived in time, they might have already died at the hands of the eldest and second brothers.


    Mo Jiuye also felt chills down his spine when he thought of this, but since the danger had been defused, it wasn''t the time to go into details about the process, so he didn''t mention it immediately.


    Just then, the sixth brother, who was closest to the eldest and second brothers, cried out in surprise.


    "Second brother, you''re awake?"


    Although the third brother and Liang Hao were having trouble moving right now, their eyes all shifted to the second brother. Mo Jiuye walked over quickly, staring closely at the second brother.


    "Second brother, do you still recognize me?"


    Mo Jiacheng hadn''t fully opened his eyes yet. He just moved his fingers slightly, but the sixth brother thought he was awake.


    He did regain consciousness. He felt dizzy and disoriented, as if he had just suffered a heavy blow.


    Hearing the familiar voice calling beside his ear, he forced his eyes open a tiny slit.


    Mo Jiacheng murmured softly, "Sixth brother?"


    Seeing that the second brother recognized him, Mo Jinnian nodded vigorously in excitement: "Second brother, it''s me, Jinnian. You''ve suffered."


    Mo Jiuye also leaned in: "Second brother, look at me, who am I?"


    The second brother''s eyes moved and fell on Mo Jiuye.


    "Are you the ninth brother?"


    When he got into trouble, Mo Jiuye was still a teenager in his teens, but now he had grown into a tall, handsome man. It was understandable that the second brother would doubt when he saw him.


    "Second brother, it''s me, Jiuye."


    The second brother''s mind felt a little slow at the moment.


    The man in front of him did look exactly like the ninth brother, but he seemed to have much more vicissitudes than the ninth brother in his impression.


    "Are you really the ninth brother?"


    Mo Jiuye was not surprised at all by the skepticism. More than five years had passed since thest time he saw the second brother.


    "Second brother, I''m Jiuye. I''m twenty-two now."


    "What did you say?" The second brother was even more confused.


    Just as Mo Jiuye was about to exin briefly, there was also movement on the eldest brother''s side.


    "Second brother, let me exin to youter."


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye and the sixth brother had alreadye to the stone bed of the eldest brother.


    The sixth brother grabbed the eldest brother''s hand and called out softly, "Eldest brother... Eldest brother... It''s me, Jinnian."


    Mo Jiuye did the same, standing in front of the eldest brother calling out.


    Mo Junrui seemed to be in better condition than the second brother. As he was called, he had already sat up with the help of the sixth brother''s arm.


    "Sixth brother, ninth brother, what happened to me?"


    He also had a moment of disbelief when he saw Mo Jiuye, but when he was groggy just now, he seemed to hear the ninth brother say that he was twenty-two years old.


    And from the eyebrows of the man in front of him, he could confirm that this was the ninth brother without a doubt.


    As for the sixth brother, nothing had changed, he had just matured a little.

 Chapter 381: Let’s Split up and Search.

    <h4>Chapter 381</h4>


    Having seen this younger brother''s identity was not questioned by the eldest brother, Mo Jiuye went ahead and exined.


    "Eldest Brother, Second Brother, years ago you were tricked by the southern border people on the battlefield..."


    Mo Jiuye gave a brief ount of what happened.


    Upon hearing that the Mohist men had suffered so much misfortune for no reason, and the Mohist family was ordered by Emperor Shunwu to have their family assets seized and be exiled, Second Brother was immediately furious, the veins on his forehead bulging.


    He clenched his fist and smashed it heavily onto the stone bed.


    A muffled boom rang out inside the cave, and the stone bed instantly cracked and shattered.


    Second Brother nimbly leapt up from the broken bed andnded steadily on the ground. Angrily he said,


    "These scoundrels! My Mohist men were utterly loyal to Great Shun, but in the end we were reduced to this!"


    As he spoke, he nced down at himself again - calling his appearance half-naked would be too generous.


    If not for his face being kept filthy from years of captivity here, the blush spreading across it now would surely be visible, red as a baboon''s bottom.


    Mo Jiuye had witnessed Second Brother''s temper re like this many times already.


    Byparison, Eldest Brother was much calmer.


    "Sixth Younger Brother, Ninth Younger Brother, you just said our father suffered the same fate as us brothers, and you still haven''t found his whereabouts?"


    "Mm. We''ll go out and search for him right away. If all goes well, Father should be nearby."


    As Mo Jiuye spoke, he was already striding towards the cave exit.


    He had observed that despite being under the puppet worm''s control, Eldest and Second Brother were luckily kept fed by Mr. Si Meng, so their bodies seemed fairly healthy.


    Especially Second Brother - his inner power was as strong as ever, able to smash through such a thick stone b in one blow.


    Just then, Second Brother also regained his senses. He had indeed lost control of his emotions for a moment there. After venting them out, his rationality instantly returned.


    "Let''s search separately," he said.


    Hearing Ninth Younger Brother''s words, he realized that he and Eldest Brother must have been living here for quite some time. Yet he waspletely unfamiliar with the surroundings here, having no memories at all.


    Of course, that was to be expected - under the puppet worm''s control they had no consciousness of their own, so how could they be familiar with the environment?


    As they passed by Third Older Brother and the others, Eldest and Second Brother simply nodded in greeting. After all, the most urgent task now was to find their father''s whereabouts.


    Seeing his brothers all heading out to search, Third Older Brother felt increasingly anxious.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, is there really no way for me to stand up?"


    He had just tried focusing his energy, and his legs didn''t feel as limp anymore. But getting to his feet was still difficult.


    Mo Jiuye knew Third Older Brother was anxious. He reassured, "Third Older Brother, you all just rest here. Once we find Father we''lle back here right away."


    Third Older Brother knew that no matter how impatient he felt, it would be futile. He could only reluctantly nod, "Alright, we''ll wait here."


    No one knew what they might encounter on this search.


    And whether their father really was at the Sixth Mountain Ridge was still uncertain.


    Where Third Older Brother and the others had copsed unconscious by theke, their scattered packages remained. Mo Jiuye knew those likely contained food and other items, so before leaving he gathered all the packages and brought them back for Third Older Brother, and also filled up a waterskin.


    Luckily Third Older Brother and the others'' packages contained spare clothes, so now Eldest and Second Brother didn''t have to awkwardly expose themselves.


    The two quickly changed into fresh outfits and followed Mo Jiuye and Mo Jinnian out of the cave to search for their father.


    The Sixth Mountain Ridge was veryrge in area, and the open space in front of theke was also sizable.


    The clearing was surrounded by mountains and forest, with lush, densely foliated vegetation that obscured the view beyond if one did not push aside obstructing branches and thorns.


    With the experience of entering this area before, Mo Jiuye dared not let the elder brothers wander too far apart from himself.


    How could this ce of Mr. Si Meng''s possiblyck toxins?


    He worried if the brothers separated and happened to encounter something poisonous, he wouldn''t make it in time to rescue them.


    That would be a most unworthy trade - saving one only to lose another.


    Thus, when the elder brothers proposed splitting up to cover more ground, he firmly refused, clearly exining his reason was to prevent everyone from getting poisoned.


    Just as Mo Jiuye expected, in another direction they discovered the same type of poison barrier they had passed through to enter the Sixth Mountain Ridge''s center.


    Passing through the barrier, they were met with the same rainbow frogs, followed by scorpions.


    This confirmed that the path ahead likely led to the Seventh Mountain Ridge.


    Mr. Si Meng had set these obstacles to prevent intrudersing from the direction of the Seventh Mountain Ridge.


    Mo Jiuye decisively gave up on that path.


    "Elder brothers, let''s head back and search the other directions."


    While Mo Jiuye''s judgment made sense to him, it wasn''t so clear to the others.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, this area lookspletely different. Why should we search the other directions?"


    Mo Jiuye pointed back the way they hade. "The obstacles here are the same as when we first entered the Sixth Mountain Ridge center. In all likelihood, just past here is the Seventh Mountain Ridge, not far away. That old fox is a top-ss poison master, he must have full confidence in his toxins. In his mind, no one could possibly intrude upon the Sixth Mountain Ridge clearing and leave alive. So he had no need to create two sets of barriers. The ones we just passed must be to prevent entry from this direction."


    Sixth Elder Brother had the most interaction with Mo Jiuye, so he knew Ninth Younger Brother was far smarter than himself. Hearing Mo Jiuye''s exnation, he was the most convinced.


    "What Ninth Younger Brother says makes sense. Eldest Brother, Second Brother, let''s listen to Ninth Younger and head back."


    Eldest and Second Brother''s impressions of Mo Jiuye still lingered from when he was 16 or 17. Facing such a clever and wise younger brother now felt somewhat unfamiliar.


    However, Ninth Younger Brother''s words did seem reasonable.


    "Alright, we''ll listen to Ninth Younger and go back for now."


    Returning to the open space, the sky had gradually darkened.


    But the brothers showed no intention of giving up the search.


    Eldest and Second Brother found some thick wooden staffs, while Sixth Elder Brother used flint to light them as makeshift torches so they could continue searching the surroundings.


    Just as the moon began to rise, a sudden roar of a tiger came from behind the brothers.


    They halted in their tracks, with Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother already grasping their daggers.


    In the blink of an eye, a vividly striped fierce tiger bounded towards them.


    ustomed to protecting their younger siblings since their youth, Eldest and Second Brother''s instinct was to ce themselves between the tiger and Mo Jiuye and Mo Jinnian.

 Chapter 382: Don’t you Think it’s Weird

    <h4>Chapter 382</h4>


    The two of them had no weapons in hand. When the tiger came in front of them, they could only use their fists to hit it.


    Although this could prevent the tiger from hurting people, it was unable to kill it with one blow.


    The tiger''s body was hit hard several times. Feeling the pain, it dodged back.


    The brothers could see the direction the tiger escaped was somewhat strange.


    Before the sky hadpletely darkened, they went to check that direction.


    There was a marsh not very big over there. Those without lightness kungfu would not be able to pass through it at all.


    With the sensitivity of a beast, even when escaping, it would not go to such a ce.


    There were two possibilities. First, the Eldest Brother and Second Brother had beaten the tiger silly and it lost its judgment.


    Second, the marsh was not as simple as it looked.


    Mo Jiuye chased out first, while reminding the elder brothers.


    "Let''s follow and take a look."


    The brothers followed closely behind the tiger.


    Mo Jiuye was the fastest. When he had just chased to the front of the marsh, he saw the huge figure of the tiger disappear swiftly.


    Moreover, the way it disappeared was very bizarre. It sank into the marsh in a blink of an eye.


    This waspletely different from what the brothers knew.


    Normally, no matter if it was human or animal, they would sink slowly into the marsh. But that tiger disappeared instantly.


    The brothers looked at each other.


    The Eldest Brother walked forward a few steps and said, "This marsh is not simple. Let me step on it and try."


    Seeing that the Eldest Brother had already taken a step forward, Mo Jiuye quickly stopped him, "Don''t."


    The Eldest Brother was stopped by Mo Jiuye and felt somewhat puzzled, "Ninth Younger Brother, aren''t you feeling strange that the tiger just disappeared like this?"


    Strange?


    Of course it was strange.


    But Mo Jiuye did not want his brothers to take risks.


    Sixth elder brother had gotten used to listening to Ninth Younger Brother''s arrangements recently. Seeing that Eldest Brother was a bit disobedient, he quickly came over to help stop him together with Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye did not exin too much. While Sixth elder brother was helping to stop Eldest Brother, he picked up a stone on the ground that was a little bigger than a fist.


    He threw the stone into the marsh. Through the light of the torch, they could see the stone disappear quickly without making any sound.


    The brothers were shocked again.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, this should not be a marsh." Sixth elder brother said.


    This was the same judgment of the brothers. Compared to the tiger, the stone was much lighter.


    If it could be exined that the heavy tiger sank quickly, how could a stone also disappear so fast?


    Mo Jiuye frowned and thought for a long time before speaking, "I suspect this is just a marsh-shaped barrier. The inside is empty."


    As soon as he finished speaking, the brothers heard the tiger''s roaring out again.


    And they could clearly distinguish that the sound came from under this marsh.


    With this, Mo Jiuye became even more certain of his guess.


    The tiger had fallen into this marsh and it had been almost half a stick of incense. It should have suffocated and died already.


    But listening to its voice, there was no feeling of suffocation or weakness at all.


    Mo Jiuye handed the torch to Sixth elder brother, "I''ll go down first to take a look. Don''t take any rash actions before you hear from me."


    He knew that if he did not act unexpectedly, he would definitely be stopped by the elder brothers. Therefore, as soon as he finished speaking, Mo Jiuye had already jumped into the marsh.


    At the same time, several anxious voices came from behind his head.


    "Don''t."


    "Let Eldest Brother go, Ninth Younger Brother."


    "Don''t be reckless, Ninth Younger Brother."


    "Ninth Younger Brother..."


    Speaking was not as fast as taking action. While Mo Jiuye was listening to these calls, his body had already sunk into the marsh and he stood firmly on the hard ground.


    The ce that should have been pitch ck had dim lights.


    Mo Jiuye could determine that the lights were from oilmps, which meant there should be people here.


    Without thinking too much, because the startled tiger he saw in front of him was ring ferociously at him, already posing to attack.


    Mo Jiuye knew clearly that in order to find out the situation here, he had to deal with this tiger first.


    So he raised his dagger, aimed at the tiger''s throat and stabbed down.


    If it was an ordinary person, the small dagger would not pose much threat to the tiger even if it stabbed down.


    But what kind of person was Mo Jiuye? He was the War God praised by the people of Great Shun. If he made a move, how could the tiger possibly have any hope of surviving?


    The dagger stabbed right at the tiger''s throat urately. The tiger only struggled for a bit before dying.


    Mo Jiuye pulled out the dagger and wiped the blood clean on the tiger''s fur before observing the surroundings.


    When he had just jumped into the marsh earlier, he had felt his body descend at least three zhang.


    From this it could be determined that his current location was like an underground cer.


    Although there were lights here, it was very dim. Mo Jiuye simply took out his shlight.


    He first shone it upwards.


    The top was very different. Through the light of the shlight, he could clearly see it swaying slightly, and it looked no different from the marsh seen from outside.


    He could not discern what this thing was exactly, but he could confirm that it had prability. This was how he had entered, and it did not seem to be damaged.


    Just now when the tiger entered the cer and made sounds, it could be transmitted outside. This showed that there was no sound instion here.


    In order not to worry the elder brothers outside, Mo Jiuye shouted loudly, "Elder brothers, I have entered safely. It is very safe now."


    He had thought it was just to report his safety, but soon after his words fell, the figures of the elder brothers appeared around him one after another.


    Eldest Brother was the first to jump down. Hearing Ninth Younger Brother''s voice, he determined that he could enter just by jumping into the marsh.


    Right after was Sixth elder brother and Second Brother, appearing almost at the same time in front of him.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, did you find anything?" Eldest Brother asked first.


    Mo Jiuye had just killed the tiger and observed the top of the cer, then reported his safety to the elder brothers. He had not had the chance to check out more.


    "I haven''t had the chance to check yet."


    Hearing the Ninth Younger Brother say this, the elder brothers very cooperatively separated into the four directions and started examining around respectively.


    Mo Jiuye did not stay idle either. With the elder brothers around, he could only put away the shlight temporarily and check the surroundings relying on the light of the oilmps.


    He estimated that the four sides of the cer were ordinary stone walls, but none of them would believe there were no other passages here.


    The builder would not boredly create such a mysterious square pit.


    Although the brothers had not discovered anything yet, they were not discouraged.


    They continued groping the walls to check them thoroughly.

 Chapter 383: The Father

    <h4>Chapter 383</h4>


    Just as a few people didn''t find anything and were somewhat disappointed, Mo Jiuye suddenly stopped his movements.


    "Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Sixth elder brother, if I''m not wrong, there should be an entrance here."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s voice, everyone gathered around.


    Mo Jiuye pointed to the ce his hand had touched and said, "It''s not as smooth here, and it''s a bit more concavepared to the other walls."


    The elder brothers reached out and touched that spot, and indeed felt the same as Mo Jiuye.


    "Ninth younger brother, let''s try pushing it," Sixth elder brother suggested.


    Mo Jiuye nodded lightly, and his palms began to gently push the different spot.


    They had thought it would take some effort, but unexpectedly, with Mo Jiuye''s light push, the stone b moved.


    In the silent basement, a sudden loud rumbling sound rang out.


    The stone b in front of the brothers quickly disappeared, revealing a dimly lit passageway.


    Mo Jiuye went in first, while also remaining vignt at all times, wary of things like hidden arrows.


    The passageway was very spacious, wide enough for two people to walk side by side.


    Sixth elder brother very naturally walked to Mo Jiuye''s side, also adopting a defensive stance.


    The passageway was about a hundred meters long andpletely t the whole way.


    Unexpectedly, as the brothers walked all the way to the end, they did not discover any hidden arrows.


    The only difference was that the temperature here became lower and lower.


    If the initial temperature felt like spring or autumn, upon arriving here, it felt like the onset of winter.


    Although it hadn''t reached the point of biting cold winds, one couldn''t help but want to rub their hands together to stay warm.


    However, the brothers all had some martial arts skills, so with a little internal energy, they could easily dispel this feeling of cold.


    Stepping out of the passageway, the view opened up before them.


    They hadn''t gone above ground, but rather the path ahead waspletely illuminated.


    The light here didn''te from oilmps, but from seven luminous night pearls hanging overhead.


    These seven night pearls were a bit smaller than the ones Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had taken from the Dashun Country Treasury, but the light they emitted wasparable to the daylight of incandescentmps.


    Thanks to the good lighting, the scene before them was in full view of the brothers.


    A huge paintedcquer coffin sat squarely in the middle of the open space.


    Hanging from the four corners of the coffin were two silver bells, but with no wind here, the bells just hung quietly.


    Most distinct was the carving of lifelike flying phoenixes and monkeys on the coffin lid.


    Although such an extravagant coffin here would easily draw the brothers'' attention, at this moment, they couldn''t focus on it at all.


    Because kneeling in front of the coffin was an emaciated person.


    His clothes were about the same as when the brothers first saw Eldest Brother and Second Brother, and could only be described as tattered.


    His head of silver hair was matted into clumps on top of his head.


    Moreover, at first nce this person looked like a desated corpse, giving off no signs of life.


    In his hands he still grasped a stack of paper money, while in front of him was a bronze basin, with ashes from burnt paper money inside.


    It was very obvious that this person was kneeling here burning paper for the person in the coffin.


    The brothers simultaneously felt a strange suffocating sensation, and quickly crowded around.


    Mo Jiuye gently brushed aside the silver hair covering the man''s cheeks. Upon seeing his true appearance, the brothers'' eyes reddened around the rims.


    "Father."


    "It really is father."


    Eldest Brother made a motion as if he was about to reach out and touch Mo Qing, but was stopped by Mo Jiuye.


    Being stopped didn''t upset Eldest Brother, as he also realized that the ninth younger brother was very wise now, and must have had a reason for stopping him.


    After blocking Eldest Brother, Mo Jiuye carefully extended a hand and ced it under Mo Qing''s nose to check his breathing.


    From his terribleplexion, they could judge that father''s condition was not very good.


    Second Brother anxiously asked, "Ninth younger brother, how is father?"


    Mo Jiuye didn''t answer immediately. Instead, like He Zhiran had done before, he ced his hand on father''s carotid artery.


    Then he exhaled heavily.


    "It''s alright, he still has breath."


    Hearing that father still had breath, Sixth elder brother hurriedly moved closer.


    "Let''s take father away now."


    As he spoke, he was about to pick up the unconscious Mo Qing on his back.


    Mo Jiuye shook his head. "Don''t move him for now. Father''s condition is very worrying, and moving him might endanger his life."


    Hearing the ninth younger say this, Sixth elder brother''s outstretched hand immediately froze in midair.


    "Then what should we do? We don''t know medicine, so how do we treat father?" Sixth elder brother asked anxiously.


    This was also the biggest worry for Eldest Brother and Second Brother.


    Mo Jiuye was also nervous now, but after following his wife for so long, he had picked up some medical knowledge.


    He knew that without figuring out the situation first, moving was unwise, as it could elerate death.


    He was also very clear about another thing - the control interval for the Puppet Worm.


    From interrogating Mr. Si Meng, he knew that the Puppet Worm afflicting father was that man''s lifework.


    They as brothers had already captured Mr. Si Meng for over half a month now, and the control periods for the Puppet Worm were irregr, at minimum 10 days or half a month for maniption to enable the host worm to move the host like a puppet, which was to maintain basic survival.


    This was also why the brothers had rushed day and night to get here.


    From father''s current state, Mo Jiuye analyzed that he should have lost the mother worm''s control, and lost many survival behaviors, leading to his current condition.


    In short, the biggest reasons were likely the long period without food, along with the cold indoor temperature, resulting in father''s current dire state.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye hurriedly took out his water skin.


    He poured water into the lid of the waterskin, then gently pried open Mo Qing''s mouth, slowly pouring water in bit by bit.


    After doing this several times and seeing that Mo Qing didn''t reject it, he handed the lid and waterskin to Sixth elder brother for him to continue feeding Mo Qing water.


    As for himself, he took out the cardiac stimnt his wife had given him.


    With father''s situation so critical now, he didn''t care if this item was suitable to take out.


    At this moment, nothing was more important than father''s life.


    Of course, if his elder brothers askedter, he would take full responsibility for the item''s origins - there was no way he would expose his wife''s secrets.


    Mo Jiuye quickly injected the cardiac stimnt into Mo Qing''s muscle, then continued watching Sixth elder brother feed him water.


    After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, checking Mo Qing''s breathing and pulse again showed improvement.


    Although he was still very weak, it was much better than when the brothers first saw him.


    Having done what they could for now, the only thing left for the brothers to do was wait for father to regain consciousness.


    In his current condition, it wasn''t suitable to immediately remove the worm - he was too frail.

 Chapter 384: That was too much.

    <h4>Chapter 384</h4>


    Anyway, Mo Jiuye already had control of the father''s gu worms in his hands. As long as the mother gu remained alive, the subsidiary gu inside the father''s body would not endanger his life.


    Once the father regained some strength, the gu extraction surgery could be performed on him.


    However, Mo Jiuye still had a concern.


    That is, as long as the puppet gu inside the father''s body is not removed, he will not have independent consciousness.


    It is estimated that when he wakes up, he will continue to do what he did when he was under control.


    Mo Jiuye''s thoughts were not understood by the other brothers. Seeing their father''s condition improve, they all stood up and went to check the situation inside the entire tomb.


    Apart from the coffin and Mo Qing, there were remnants of animals scattered on the ground.


    From this, it can be determined that their father has been surviving by eating these things.


    And judging by his appearance, he should have been controlled by Mr. Si Meng to keep vigil here.


    Therefore, the brothers concluded that these animal remains were their father''s food, but none of them were brought back by him from hunting.


    So, the purpose of Mo Jiuye and Mo Qing being here is self-evident.


    Mr. Si Meng is really good at assigning tasks. He made Mo Qing keep vigil here, while Mo Jiuye and Mo Qing''s eldest and second brothers were responsible for hunting and providing him with wild animals to eat, ensuring the survival of their father and the three of them until now.


    As for the central coffin, there is no doubt that it belongs to Princess Yuan Meng of the Southern Frontier.


    Upon closer observation, there are ten memorial tablets around the coffin, each engraved with the names of all the male members of the Mo family.


    Not only that, but the tablets also record a specific date, which is the date of their deaths.


    However, this date is somewhat special¡ªit is the beginning of July this year.


    It is still the end of May now, which means there is still more than a month until the beginning of July.


    While they are still alive, their memorial tablets have already been made, and the date of their deaths has been written.


    This is enough to prove that Mr. Si Meng''s conspiracy is to capture all the male members of the Mo family and n to kill them on the day of July 7th this year, in order to avenge Yuan Meng.


    The brothers angrily threw all the memorial tablets into the copper basin, and Mo Liu set them on fire with a torch, saying in anger, "Si Meng, you old devil, you''ve really gone too far."


    Although the others didn''t say anything, the anger in their hearts was no less than that of Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the burning memorial tablets in the copper basin, stood up angrily, pried open a corner of the coffin lid with a dagger, and then exerted force to open the coffin.


    Inside, there was no Yuan Meng''s corpse, only a set of very exquisite pce attire.


    On one side of the coffin, there was arge memorial tablet with clear engravings¡ªSpirit Tablet of Beloved Wife Yuan Meng!


    Mo Jiuye casually picked up the spirit tablet and crushed it with force, then took out the pce attire from inside and threw it into the copper basin.


    The fire in the copper basin had notpletely extinguished yet, and when it encountered the mmable pce attire, it burst into mes again.


    At this moment, Mo Qing should have been affected by the cardiac stimnt needle in his body, and he was showing slight movements, but it seemed a bit sluggish.


    Mo Jiuye saw Mo Qing''s hand reaching towards the side, skillfully picking up a stack of paper money, and preparing to throw it into the bronze basin.


    Mo Jiuye''s eldest brother, with bloodshot eyes, hugged him tightly.


    "Father, this is the archenemy who has caused great harm to our Mo Family. We cannot treat her like this."


    However, Mo Qing showed no response at all and continued to maintain the motion of burning the paper money.


    Mo Jiuye knew clearly that his father was under the influence of a puppetry gu, which caused him tock autonomous consciousness.


    While his brothers were still trying to persuade, Mo Jiuye had already stepped forward and hugged his father from behind.


    Mo Qing, who already had weak physical strength, lost his ability to move after being held by Mo Jiuye.


    His eyes became vacant, and he stopped his actions, allowing Mo Jiuye to hold him.


    Seeing that he had sessfully restrained his father, Mo Jiuye nned to carry him away from that spot.


    However, to everyone''s surprise, while Mo Jiuye had lifted him up, his father remained in a kneeling position, with his legs curled up and unable to stretch out.


    It looked as if Mo Jiuye was carrying a corpse.


    At this point, the brothers became anxious.


    "Father, what''s happening to your legs?" Six Brother''s voice choked up.


    Unfortunately, no matter how urgent the brothers appeared, Mo Qing showed no response, still staring ahead with vacant eyes, and if not for Mo Jiuye restraining his hands, he would still be attempting to burn the paper money.


    "Jiuye, what''s wrong with father''s legs?" Second Brother had already guessed a possible reason, but deep down, he was unwilling to believe it and asked anyway.


    Mo Jiuye had arrived at the same conclusion, that his father''s legs were unable to stretch out due to the long-term kneeling posture.


    In this situation, he had no way to help and dared not risk trying to stretch them out. He could only bring his father back to Xi Ling Vige and let his wife figure out a solution.


    "Let''s take father away from here first and thene up with a n." Although Mo Jiuye''s tone sounded calm, his mind was in chaos.


    Although his father had regained consciousness, when he held him, Mo Jiuye could feel how weak his life force was.


    He couldn''t guarantee that his father would survive after leaving this ce.


    He dared not voice such thoughts and didn''t want to face such a reality.


    Given the current situation, the best choice was to take his father away from this cursed ce.


    Six Brother approached Mo Jiuye.


    "Jiuye, don''t worry, I''ll try using lightness skills to see if there are any obstacles up there."


    Mo Jiuye didn''t refute this. They had already thoroughly searched the tomb, and apart from the top of the swamp, there was simply no other entrance or exit.


    Therefore, if they wanted to leave, they could only go back the way they came.


    "Alright, be careful, Six Brother."


    As Mo Jiuye''s words fell, Six Brother had already leaped up using his lightness skills.


    Because the space here was rtivelyrge and empty, Six Brother could only use the surrounding walls as support.


    It could be said that for someone who didn''t possess martial skills, entering this ce and trying to leave would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.


    Fortunately, all the Mo Family members were martial arts experts, so leaving this ce was not only not difficult but as easy as turning over their hands.


    Sixth Brother''s head broke through the softness of the swamp, and he reappeared in the same spot he had just entered.


    After looking around, he didn''t see anything unusual, so he jumped down again.


    This whole process could be described as taking no more than a blink of an eye.


    Mojyuye saw him reappear and asked, "Sixth Brother, how''s the situation?"


    "No problem at all. As long as we use light skills to go up, we''ll be back in the same ce we were before we came in."


    Now, the brothers had a clear idea and nned to leave this ce immediately with their father.


    At the same time, Sixth Brother approached Mo Jiuye.


    "Ninth Brother, give our father to me. I just went up once and gained some experience, so it will be easier for me."

 Chapter 385: Shall I cure my father first

    <h4>Chapter 385</h4>


    Mo Jiuye did not refuse. Sixth elder brother''s lightness skill was no worse than his own, not to mention that he had other things he wanted to deal with.


    Seeing that the three elder brothers had used their lightness skills to take father away, Mo Jiuye tore off the hem of his clothes and flew up to collect all the Night Pearl hanging in the tomb.


    He had learned this good habit from his wife. When he encountered treasures, especially those of his enemies, he must not leave them behind.


    Although Mo Jiuye did not have a space as powerful as his wife''s, taking away these few Night Pearls was no problem.


    The Night Pearls were wrapped up but still could notpletely block their glow.


    Although the tomb was much darker, Mo Jiuye''s vision was not affected at all.


    He scanned the ce again, scattering therge amount of paper money stored here around the tomb, and threw down a match as he leapt up with his lightness skill.


    The paper money caught fire as soon as it met the match, burning up instantly. Mo Jiuye quickly left this ce.


    There was no need to ask, this was the ce Si Meng old fox cared about the most. He must destroy it to torment Si Meng even after death.


    When Mo Jiuye reappeared on the ground, the elder brothers had already settled father down nearby.


    Through the glow of the seven wrapped Night Pearls, he could see that father was still kneeling with his right hand continuously taking and burning paper money.


    The only way to change this situation was to remove the gu from father.


    Given father''s current weak state, Mo Jiuye was not fully confident he could sessfully remove the gu worm from him.


    However, letting father continue like this was not a long-term solution.


    Sixth elder brother had witnessed Mo Jiuye removing gu worms from Big Brother and Second Brother before, and believed that Ninth Younger Brother could sessfully remove the gu worm from father as well.


    "Ninth younger brother, shall we try removing the gu from father first?"


    Mo Jiuye was hesitating the whole time. After all, he was not fully confident. But he also did not want to see father tormenting himself like this.


    Instead of answering Sixth elder brother directly, he said, "Let''s take father back to the cave first, and check on Third elder brother and the others as well. There are many wild beasts here, especially at night. Wolf packs maye out hunting anytime."


    Third elder brother and the others have limited mobility now. It would be too unfortunate if any danger befalls them."


    The brothers tacitly nodded and carried father towards the cave swiftly.


    When they were about two li away from the cave, the brothers heard wolf howls.


    "Not good, Third elder brother and the others are in danger!"


    As Sixth elder brother spoke, he circted his qi again, disyed his lightness skill to the maximum, and rushed towards the cave.


    The other brothers also realized something was wrong and followed closely behind Mo Jinnian.


    What entered their eyes when they arrived at the open ground in front of the cave were more than a dozen hungry wolves howling at the cave entrance.


    In the dim night, green lights flickered like fireflies - those were the feral glint in the wolves'' eyes.


    Mo Jiuye and Sixth elder brother raised their arms at the same time, shooting arrows from their mini crossbows straight at the starving wolves.


    In a blink of an eye, some of the wolves in front copsed. Hearing the lead wolf''s cries, the remaining few fled down the valley.


    With the danger resolved, the brothers hurried into the cave with Mo Qing.


    They saw Third elder brother, Liang Hao and the rest, each holding a torch that was nearly burnt out, waving it around with effort.


    From their condition it was apparent that the effects of the softened cartge had notpletely worn off, otherwise they would not have looked so miserable facing these wolves.


    Seeing his brothers return, Third elder brother heaved a sigh of relief even as he felt the torch in his hand weigh like a thousand pounds.


    If not for fear that losing his grip would drop the torch and cause a fire, he would have let go of it already.


    Mo Jiuye noticed their hands had barely any strength left to hold the torches. He quickly went up to take over the one closest to him in Third elder brother Song Chao''s hand.


    Mo Jinnian simrly took over the torches that Liang Hao and the others were holding.


    Mo Jiuye asked with concern, "Third elder brother, are you alright?"


    Third elder brother smiled wryly and shook his head, "We''re fine, fortunately you all came back in time."


    As he spoke, he looked towards the cave entrance where Second Brother was hugging someone.


    Third elder brother''s eyes widened, "Who''s this?"


    "Third elder brother, this is Father. We finally found him."


    On hearing that it was Father, Third elder brother instinctively tried to get up to take a look.


    However, despite feeling much better than when he first awoke, his legs stillcked the strength to support his whole body.


    He failed to stand up and stumbled in front of Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye quickly supported him.


    "Third elder brother, don''t panic. Father has not had his gu removed and stillcks self-awareness."


    By this point, Second Brother had already carried Father in and gentlyid him down beside Mo Yunfeng''s side.


    "Yunfeng, Father''s condition is not very good." There was undisguised grief in Second Brother''s tone.


    Mo Yunfeng was scrutinizing Father closely, finding it hard to believe that this emaciated, aging man would be his father.


    In his impression, Father had been tall and valiant, while the old man before him now bore not a trace of Father in his prime.


    He reached out a trembling hand, trying to touch Father. But he was startled by Mo Qing''s sudden movement.


    Mo Qing was still repeating his previous actions of taking paper money by his side and burning it. This time, he happened to grab Mo Yunfeng''s arm.


    Mo Yunfeng had little strength to begin with. Getting his arm pulled by Mo Qing to make the gesture of offering the paper money into the bronze basin, Second Brother had no choice but to step forward and pry Mo Qing''s hand off Mo Yunfeng''s arm.


    Mo Yunfeng was utterly baffled.


    "Second Brother, what is Father doing?"


    Not just Second Brother, even the other brothers who knew did not wish to answer.


    It could be said to be the greatest humiliation in Father''s life.


    At the same time, Sixth elder brother looked at Mo Jiuye, eyes crimson red.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, shall we try removing Father''s gu now?"


    He had participated in the entire process when Mo Jiuye helped Eldest Brother and Second Brother remove their gu previously. He believed that with Ninth Younger Brother''s abilities, he would surely seed in dispelling the gu worm in Father as well.


    That way, Father no longer had to continue suffering such humiliation.


    Mo Jiuye pondered for a moment before making up his mind.


    "Alright, let me take a look first."


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye took out all seven Night Pearls that were bundled in his hem.


    The cave was instantly awash in light as bright as day.


    Using the same method, in order to ascertain the gu worm''s location in Father''s body, Mo Jiuye took out Master Si Meng''s life gu.


    Sixth elder brother stepped forward tacitly to strip off the measly strips of cloth covering Father''s upper body, revealing his torso that was as withered as dead wood.


    Mo Jiuye gently shook the porcin bottle while observing Father''s arms.


    The result puzzled him greatly.

 Chapter 386: See you at my brother’s House.

    <h4>Chapter 386</h4>


    ording to reason, the puppet gu worms live in the brachial artery of a person''s arm.


    However, after shaking Father''s arms several times, Mo Jiuye didn''t find any trace of the child gu worms.


    This made Mo Jiuye doubt for a while whether it was because the mother gu worm had died.


    But on second thought, that was impossible. If the mother gu worm had died, Father certainly wouldn''t have survived either.


    Looking at it this way, the child gu worms in Father''s body must not be in the arms, otherwise, with his emaciated body, the child gu worms would have been discovered with the slightest movement.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye had no reaction, the brothers held their breath and stared at him.


    Under the gaze of his elder brothers, Mo Jiuye continued to shake the mother gu worm in his hand, but his eyes had shifted from Father''s arms to other parts of his body.


    As he shook the mother gu worm, he observed carefully until finally he noticed something wrong around Father''s heart.


    To Mo Jiuye, there was nothing unfamiliar about this anomaly.


    Because there he saw the traces of the child gu worm''s movements.


    This location made Mo Jiuye gasp.


    Seeing the ninth brother''s reaction, the brothers could determine that Father''s situation was not optimistic, they just didn''t know exactly why.


    The second brother couldn''t help but ask, "Ninth Brother, how is Father''s condition exactly?"


    Mo Jiuye put away the porcin bottle containing the mother gu worm and slowly stood up.


    "The location of the child gu worm in Father''s body is in the heart."


    "What did you say?" The sixth brother was very shocked by this: "The child gu worms of Eldest Brother and Second Brother were clearly in their arms, so why is Father''s gu worm in his heart?"


    Mo Jiuye was also very puzzled by this.


    When he read the book Gu Insects Compendium, there was no such introduction at all.


    Uniformly, for any puppet gu, the location of the child gu worm was in the arms. But for Father, why did it change?


    Could it be that what was in Father wasn''t a puppet gu?


    For the time being, Mo Jiuye couldn''t think through the reason.


    But he could confirm one thing, which was that the location of the child gu worm in Father''s body was the same as the location of the poisonous blood in Si Meng''s heart.


    He couldn''t help but associate this location of the gu worm with the innate gu.


    Although he had sessfully located the gu worm, he didn''t dare to rashly operate to remove the gu worm for Father.


    When he performed surgery to remove the poisonous blood from Si Meng''s heart at the time, he discovered that it was in a location tightly attached to the heart. The slightest deviation during the surgery would cost a life.


    Fortunately, he didn''t know about this situation at that time, so when removing the poisonous blood from Si Meng''s body, he was not nervous and did not make any mistakes.


    Now putting it on his own father, Mo Jiuye really couldn''t make this cut.


    It wasn''t that he was timid, but that the location of the gu worm was too close to the heart. He wasn''t a professional doctor like his wife, and any mistakes would immediately cost his father''s life.


    He really didn''t dare to gamble with his father''s life.


    Mo Jiuye first looked at Father, who was still repeating the same action, then looked at the anxious elder brothers.


    "For now, there are only two ways to sessfully help Father remove the gu worm."


    The eldest brother anxiously asked, "What methods?"


    "The first method is to find the old fox Si Meng and have him personally manipte the innate gu to remove the gu worm for Father.


    The other method is for us to return to Xi Ling Vige at the fastest speed and find a way with Ran Ran."


    After a pause, Mo Jiuye continued:


    "The old fox Si Meng would be happy to see the Mo Family People apany him in death. Moreover, with the innate gu in his hands, there''s no guarantee that he won''t do something unexpected."


    Mo Jiuye was very clear about the power of the innate gu in its master''s hands.


    Even separated from its master''s body, its power was still formidable and could cause unimaginable consequences.


    For example, if Si Meng verbally agreed to remove the gu for Father, but once he obtained the innate gu, he could activate it to directly kill the child gu worm in Father''s body. That would be a pyrrhic victory.


    Therefore, Mo Jiuye didn''t dare ce his hopes on Si Meng.


    "Ninth younger brother, do you mean that the best way to remove the gu worm for Father is to return to Xi Ling Vige and find Ninth Sister?" the sixth brother asked to rify his understanding.


    Mo Jiuye nodded solemnly: "Yes, this is the only way. Riding fast horses from here, it will take three days to reach Xi Ling Vige. We can only pray that Father''s health holds out until then."


    "What do you mean ''holds out until then''?" Eldest Brother asked, puzzled.


    Mo Jiuye sighed helplessly.


    "Based on my judgment, Father''s current condition is very worrisome. What''s really threatening his life is not the gu worm in his body, but his already dpidated health."


    When they left, although his wife had prepared many emergency items for him, and fortunately there were also heart strengthening pills, otherwise Father probably wouldn''t have survived until now.


    Although he could discern Father''s condition, he didn''t know how to treat it. Before seeing He Zhiran, there was no guarantee for Father''s life.


    This was also the most vexing issue in Mo Jiuye''s mind.


    The family had finally reunited, yet Father''s health was so worrisome.


    After hearing Mo Jiuye''s words, Second Brother moved to pick Father up, saying, "What are we waiting for then, let''s hurry and take Father down the mountain."


    Even though it was the dead of night, and the way down the dangerous, treacherous mountain was difficult, he didn''t want to dy even a moment that could save Father''s life.


    Mo Jiuye also had this n in mind.


    "Yes, let''s take Father down the mountain tonight."


    After speaking, he looked towards Third Brother and Liang Hao sitting on the ground.


    "Third Brother''s condition has improved a lotpared to when he was first rescued. I believe he''ll be able to move freely by tomorrow morning."


    Sixth Brother knew that Ninth Younger Brother was worried that on the way down there were poison barriers and toxins that Third Brother and the others would not be able to deal with.


    He walked over and patted Mo Jiuye on the shoulder.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, you, Eldest Brother and Second Brother first take Father down the mountain. I''ll stay here to look after Third Brother and the others. As soon as they can move, I''ll take them and leave together."


    Mo Jiuye nodded, "Yes, this is the only thing we can do now."


    As he spoke, he took out several medicine pills from his clothes and gave them to Sixth Brother, "These are antidote pills, they''lle in handy when you go down the mountain."


    Sixth Brother epted the pills and carefully put them away, "After you''ve gone down the mountain and met up with Fifth Brother, hurry back to Xi Ling Vige with the fastest speed. We''ll see each other back home, brothers."


    "Alright." Mo Jiuye responded and gave Sixth Brother some other reminders before leaving the mountain with Eldest Brother, Second Brother and Father.


    Fortunately he had taken all of the night pearls from the tomb, and left some behind for Third Brother and the others to light up the cave. They also became the most important lighting tools for their descent down the mountain.


    With the experience from their climb up, the brothers didn''t have much difficulty taking Father down the mountain.


    Even so, by the time they met up with Fifth Brother, the sky was already brightening.

 Chapter 387: Are You a Man or a Ghost

    <h4>Chapter 387</h4>


    Wu Ge, responsible for guarding Mr. Si Meng at the foot of the mountain, had no major incidents. After all, the old man was already on the verge of death and couldn''t struggle anymore.


    The only thing that made people anxious was that Mo Jin Nian and Mo Jiuye had been in the mountains for a whole day without any newsing back, which made Wu Ge uneasy.


    At this time, it should be the time when people slept the most soundly, but Wu Ge didn''t feel sleepy at all.


    He worried that old fox Si Meng would y tricks, but more importantly, he was concerned about the safety of his two brothers.


    When he heard faint footstepsing closer from the mountain and could determine that it was not the two of them, Mo Chongyuan first nced at Mr. Si Meng, who looked like a dead dog, and then jumped off the carriage.


    As the sound got closer and closer, he asked in a deep voice, "Who goes there?"


    Upon hearing Wu Ge''s voice, Mo Jiuye quickly responded, "Wu Ge, it''s me."


    "Jiuye, you''re back? Is everything going well?"


    Mo Jiuye was eager to save his father, so he didn''t have time to exin too much.


    "Wu Ge, I''ve rescued Father and our two elder brothers. Father is not in a good condition. Let''s hurry back to Xiling Vige."


    Upon hearing Mo Jiuye''s words, Wu Ge shifted his gaze to the two figures behind him.


    By now, the sky was slightly brightening, and the night pearl was of no use. The eldest brother and the second brother had been tormented for many years, and their appearances had changed significantly. For a moment, Wu Ge couldn''t recognize them at all.


    However, judging from Jiuye''s words, Wu Ge guessed that the people behind him were probably their father and brothers.


    At this moment, the second brother had already brought their father to Mo Chongyuan''s side.


    "Wu Ge, take us to the carriage quickly."


    Although the second brother''s figure had changed, his voice hadn''t changed much.


    Upon hearing this long-lost voice, tears welled up in Mo Chongyuan''s eyes.


    "Is it the second brother?"


    "It''s me."


    The eldest brother also walked over at this time. He bypassed Mo Jiuye and came to Mo Chongyuan''s side, gently patting his shoulder. "Wu Ge, I''m the eldest brother."


    "Eldest brother." Although Mo Chongyuan didn''t know the condition of his father, he could tell from Jiuye''s tone that the situation was urgent. Therefore, he couldn''t care too much about his two elder brothers. He just greeted them and led the way towards the carriage.


    When they reached the front of the carriage, Wu Ge asked first, "Jiuye, is that despicable old thing taken care of?"


    Seeing that disgusting old man, Wu Ge felt extremely ufortable.


    Now that Jiuye had sessfully rescued their father and two elder brothers, he no longer had to look at Mr. Si Meng''s annoying face all day long.


    "Wu Ge, wait a moment. I''m not sure if he can still be of use."


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye didn''t hold any illusions. He was too worried about his father''s condition.


    Instead of rushing back to Xiling Vige, he wanted to try if Mr. Si Meng could remove the curse on his father.


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye took big strides forward, opened the carriage door, and pulled out Mr. Si Meng, who was like a dead dog.


    Then he turned to the second brother and said, "Second brother, you apany Father onto the carriage first."


    Second Brother knew that at this moment, Father needed a morefortable environment. Compared to being carried outside by himself, Father would be more at ease inside the carriage.


    So he nodded and carried Father into the carriage.


    Fifth Brother followed suit and jumped in as well.


    Although Mr. Si Meng was in the carriage every day, considering the extent to which the Mo brothers hated him, how could he possibly allow him to rest toofortably?


    Therefore, the interior of the carriage was bare and stiff. After Fifth Brother got on, he first tidied it up,id the quilt that was ced aside, and then gently ced Father on top.


    At the same time, he thoughtfully brought some water and tried to feed Father with it.


    Outside the carriage, Mo Jiuye sprayed a mouthful of water all over Mr. Si Meng''s face.


    The old fox, who had felt drowsy, instantly felt much more awake.


    Just as he opened his eyes, he saw Mo Jiuye''s tall figure standing in front of him, which obviously surprised him.


    "You... are you a human or a ghost?"


    Mr. Si Meng thought that Mo Jiuye would undoubtedly die when he entered the Sixth Hill of Traps. Now that he saw him, the first thing he thought was that he might have also died. To confirm this idea, he asked this question.


    Mo Jiuye snorted coldly, "Based on the things you have done to my Mo family, do you think I would let you die so easily?"


    In fact, Mr. Si Meng asked that question just now because his mind had been drowsy for too long, causing him to be somewhat confused.


    After listening to Mo Jiuye''s words, he quickly reacted because the pain and weakness in his body were too real.


    If he really died, he shouldn''t have such feelings.


    "Mo... Mo Jiuye, just kill me!"


    No matter what, Mr. Si Meng couldn''t figure it out. How could Mo Jiuye, who entered the Sixth Hill of Traps full of poison,e back alive?


    Even if he was curious in his heart, he didn''t dare to ask, because in doing so, he would admit that he deliberately sent the Mo brothers to the Sixth Hill of Traps with the intention of taking their lives.


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye was concerned about Father''s condition and had no interest in ying dumb riddles with the old fox.


    "I''m asking you, is it possible to remove the gu worms in my father''s body?"


    After hearing Mo Jiuye''s question, Mr. Si Meng''s mind froze.


    In his opinion, even if the Mo brothers managed to evade the poison traps he set and enter the interior, they wouldn''t be able toe out alive, let alone find Mo Qing.


    If they were lucky, they might be able to see Mo Family Eldest Son and Second Son, but even then, they would die at the hands of their own blood brothers.


    But what did Mo Jiuye ask him?


    Mo Jiuye asked him if he could cure Mo Qing of the gu worms?


    In that case, did they sessfully rescue Mo Qing?


    A series of question marks appeared in Mr. Si Meng''s mind.


    In order to seek answers, he didn''t immediately cut off the conversation.


    "The gu worms in your father''s body were ced by my own hands, and I control him with my lifebound gu worm. I can naturally remove the worms in his body."


    Regardless, he nned to stabilize Mo Jiuye first. If he could escape as a result, it would be even better. Even if he couldn''t, he could still learn some information.


    If Mr. Si Meng had responded with hesitation or shown reluctance to help his father break the curse, Mo Jiuye might have continued to negotiate with him.


    However, since this cunning old fox agreed so readily, Mo Jiuye could fully understand his intentions.


    The old fox was simply stalling for time or figuring out a way to retrieve his life-saving curse from him and then make a swift escape.


    Given the circumstances, Mo Jiuye had no choice but to give up on this almost impossible opportunity to help his father break the curse.


    "If you think you can get your life-saving curse back through this, you can forget about it!"


    At this point, in Mo Jiuye''s mind, there was no longer any need to keep Mr. Si Meng around.


    Seeing that his intentions were exposed, Mr. Si Meng forced himself tough heartily despite his frail body.


    "Hahaha... Mo Jiuye, is it possible that Mo Qing is already at his limits?"

 Chapter 388: He’s so Cheap.

    <h4>Chapter 388</h4>


    Mr. Si Meng paused, noticing that Mo Jiuye was taking a long time to respond, which made him even more satisfied.


    It was evident that he had hit the mark; Mo Qing must be on the verge of copse.


    "Let me tell you, apart from me, no one in this world can remove the Gu worms in his body. Although I couldn''t bring you Mo brothers to hell with me, it''s worth it to die knowing Mo Qing will apany me..."


    As he finished speaking, Mr. Si Meng closed his eyes andy there motionless, preparing for his impending death.


    Even with Mo Jiuye''s normally steady temperament, it was hard for him to stay calm in this situation.


    A prisoner who had persecuted their entire family was now disying such an attitude at this moment.


    "Do you want to die?" His voice was so cold that it sent shivers down one''s spine.


    Mr. Si Meng was no exception. He had been held captive by the Mo brothers for so long, and this was the first time he had heard Mo Jiuye''s tone so icy.


    He knew in his heart that his time was up.


    Well, it was better than enduring the torment while alive. Although he hadn''t achieved his wish, the thought of being able to reunite with his beloved soon made it eptable.


    Mo Jiuye did indeed harbor a murderous intent, but he couldn''t let the old fox die too easily.


    Suddenly, a gleaming dagger appeared in his hand, and then it went straight towards one of Mr. Si Meng''s eyes.


    With a swift motion, the dagger took out one of Mr. Si Meng''s eyeballs.


    "Since you don''t want to open your eyes, there''s no use keeping this eye."


    When the eyeball was forcefully removed, even though Mr. Si Meng had mentally prepared himself, he couldn''t bear this sudden intense pain.


    Where did he find the strength? The sound of his howling echoed through the air, causing birds perched on the trees to scatter.


    Second Brother and Fifth Elder Brother, who had just fed their father some water, heard something amiss outside and came out of the carriage.


    "Ninth Brother, what''s happening..."


    Before Fifth Elder Brother could finish his sentence, he saw the dagger in Ninth Brother''s hand still dripping with blood, with what appeared to be an eyeball hanging from it.


    Second Brother and Fifth Elder Brother immediately understood. Ninth Brother was nning to torture the old fox to death.


    When it came to tormenting the biggest enemy of the family, Second Brother and Fifth Elder Brother were more than willing. Why should Ninth Brother be the only one to do such a thing?


    Fifth Elder Brother also took out a gleaming dagger, and he approached Mr. Si Meng before Second Brother.


    With the same swift motion as Mo Jiuye, he plucked out the other eye of the old fox.


    Mr. Si Meng had momentarily shown signs of fainting, but when Mo Zhongyuan''s de descended, he regained consciousness once again.


    Although his howls continued, they were far less intense than before.


    Seeing this, Second Brother stepped forward and took the dagger from Mo Jiuye''s hand. He casually scraped it against Mr. Si Meng''s body, causing the eyeball hanging from the dagger to roll to the ground.


    Then, he swiftly used the dagger to sever all ten of Mr. Si Meng''s fingers.


    "This is what you owe our Mo family. Just a few fingers can never make up for it."


    As he spoke, he began to cut the flesh and skin from Mr. Si Meng''s body, one cut at a time.


    This could be described as the cruelest punishment of the Great Shun Dynasty, a thousand cuts and ten thousand shes!


    Fifth Elder Brother, seeing the situation, didn''t stay idle either. He watched as Mr. Si Meng couldn''t bear the pain and even fell into a state of unconsciousness.


    How does one suffer when being executed without any perception?


    He firmly refused to allow such a situation to ur.


    Therefore, Fifth Elder Brother fetched a jug of cold water. Once Mr. Si Meng was about to faint, he would promptly wake him up by sshing water on him.


    Second Brother was also very skillful with the knife. He knew where it would cause bleeding, which would lead to a quicker death. Thus, he specifically aimed for ces with thick flesh and less bleeding when making incisions.


    In order not to dy their journey to Xiling Vige, Second Brother deliberately increased his speed.


    Although doing so would elerate the death of Mr. Si Meng, an old cunning fox, there was no other way. After all, their father''s life was more important.


    Mo Jiuye saw the seamless cooperation between Second Brother and Fifth Elder Brother and realized that he couldn''t intervene, so he simply stood aside and watched.


    At the same time, he gritted his teeth and said, "You assist the tyrant and persecute my entire Mo family. It''s just desserts that you should die. Do you want to die?


    But I won''t let you die so easily. I want to make you suffer."


    Speaking of suffering, Mo Jiuye suddenly remembered that his wife had brought him a packet of itch powder that he hadn''t used yet.


    He could let the old man experience the painful and itchy sensation once again.


    So, he took out the remaining packet of itch powder and mercilessly sprinkled it all over Mr. Si Meng''s body.


    Mr. Si Meng instantly became both crying andughing, a sight that brought a sense of relief.


    To prevent the old fox from dying too easily, Second Brother and Fifth Elder Brother tormented him for a while before stopping.


    They didn''t know whether they should bring Mr. Si Meng along on their journey.


    "Ninth Brother, should we take him with us?" Fifth Elder Brother asked.


    Mo Jiuye shook his head. "It''s inconvenient to bring him on the road."


    Fifth Elder Brother immediately understood Mo Jiuye''s meaning and, after exchanging a nce with Second Brother, continued to torture Mr. Si Meng.


    Perhaps due to Mr. Si Meng''s weak physical condition, he was soon tortured to the point of breathing in more air than he could exhale.


    Mo Jiuye knew that the old fox was about to breathe hisst breath and quickly reminded them, "Second Brother, Fifth Elder Brother, cut off his hands, feet, and head. Such a wicked person mustn''t be left with aplete corpse."


    Second Brother wiped the blood off his face and unwillingly said, "Hmph! Letting him die so quickly is too kind to him."


    After speaking, the two brothers continued their actions, dismembering the old fox''s body and tossing the pieces into the bushes at the side of the road.


    Eldest Brother had been staying inside the carriage, taking care of their father. However, he could still hear themotion outside.


    He knew that at this moment, the archenemy who had secretly persecuted the Mo family for years had finally died!


    He gently held down his father''s arm, which remained in the same position, and whispered, "Father, can you hear it? The mastermind who persecuted our Mo family is now dead. You must hold on. Mother is still waiting for your return to reunite with her."


    The brothers outside the carriage quickly tidied up and hurriedly left with the carriage.


    This time, Fifth Elder Brother took the reins, while Mo Jiuye and Second Brother rode horses together. Eldest Brother stayed in the carriage to take care of their father.


    When they arrived at the gate of Xijing City, the timing was just right.


    Mo Jiuye watched as the city gates were opened by two soldiers, and the bustling crowd of people began to enter and exit.


    Although there was still a checkpoint at the city gate, Mo Jiuye handed some silver to the gatekeeper soldiers again for convenience, and the carriage passed smoothly.


    The weather today wasn''t very good, rather gloomy.


    Perhaps because themon people were worried about getting caught in the rain while traveling, there weren''t many pedestrians on the official road.


    The galloping horses covered a distance of about ten miles when a very familiar-looking carriage approached from the opposite direction.


    Mo Jiuye took a closer look and found that the carriage and the interior crafted by his wife were almost identical.


    Due to the distance, even with Mo Jiuye''s sharp eyes, he couldn''t clearly see the appearance of the driver, especially since the person was wearing arge straw hat that covered the entire face.

 Chapter 389: A Slow Poison

    <h4>Chapter 389</h4>


    To prove his guess in his heart, Mo Jiuye flew up and quickly came to the front of the carriage with his light work.


    Seeing the personing, Mo Chuhan hurriedly pulled the reins.


    He was about to scold the person blocking the way, but he saw a familiar face.


    "Ninth younger brother."


    "Eighth older brother, why are you here?"


    Before Mo Jiuye could finish speaking, the carriage door was pushed open from the inside, revealing the face he had been missing day and night for a long time.


    "Husband, I received Xiao Bai''s letter and was worried, so I asked eighth older brother to take me to the western border."


    As she spoke, He Zhiran, with her huge belly, pretended to get out of the carriage.


    Mo Jiuye quickly went up to support her.


    "Ranran, your body is weak. How can you travel long distances to get here?"


    Mo Jiuye''s words sounded like he was ming He Zhiran for not knowing how to take care of herself, but he was actually more distressed and ashamed in his heart.


    He knew his wife best. She must have heard that they had captured Mr. Si Meng and was going to the western border to rescue her father and brother. She was worried about their physical condition, so she rushed over.


    As for why it was the eighth older brother who apanied her, Mo Jiuye didn''t need to ask to know.


    Among the nine Mo brothers, the eighth older brother had the most straightforward and gullible personality.


    His wife must have taken advantage of the eighth brother''s weakness and used some method to trick him into taking her to the western border.


    No matter what, his wife seemed to be fine now, which made Mo Jiuye feel a little relieved.


    However, his face still looked very ugly.


    He Zhiran knew that her actions had worried Mo Jiuye.


    "Husband, after I received the news sent by Xiao Bai, I was worried there might be some things you couldn''t resolve, so I fooled the eighth brother into taking me here."


    She spoke gently, which sounded like a little wife who had done something wrong in Mo Jiuye''s ears.


    Mo Jiuye had been missing his wife. Seeing her like this now, even if he was angry, it would disappear.


    He put his arm around He Zhiran''s shoulder and looked down at her bulging belly.


    "Have the children been bothering youtely? Have you been resting well?"


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye was no longer angry, He Zhiran nodded vigorously.


    "They are very obedient. Don''t worry!"


    As the couple spoke, the fifth older brother''s carriage and the second older brother had arrived near them.


    He Zhiran didn''t recognize the second older brother, but she could tell from his eyebrows that he must be one of the Mo brothers.


    It was obvious that this trip to the western border had yielded great results for Mo Jiuye and his brothers.


    Her father was in very poor condition right now. Since his wife hade, even if Mo Jiuye still felt distressed for her, he could not give up his father''s life.


    He took He Zhiran''s hand and briefly introduced her and the second older brother before telling her about his father''s condition.


    Upon hearing this, He Zhiran immediately went to the carriage where Mo Qing was riding.


    "Let me take a look at father first."


    With that, she prepared to get on the carriage.


    The oldest brother who was taking care of the father inside the carriage also heard the sound outside and opened the carriage door at this time.


    Without asking, the woman with the big belly in front of him must be the ninth younger brother''s wife.


    "The ninth younger brother said that the ninth younger sister-inw''s medical skills are brilliant. Please take a look at my father."


    Mo Jiuye had just told her that the one taking care of their father in the carriage was the oldest brother.


    "Big brother, I''ll go check on father now."


    Seeing this, the big brother very tactfully jumped out of the carriage to make room inside.


    Mo Jiuye carefully helped He Zhiran onto the carriage.


    The first thing that caught her eye was an old man with white hair and skin and bones.


    He Zhiran went up and gently pressed Mo Qing''s arm that was still shaking back and forth.


    Then she put her fingers on his pulse.


    Seeing her frowning tighter and tighter, Mo Jiuye asked anxiously, "Ranran, can father still be saved?"


    He Zhiran retracted her hand with a grave expression.


    "Removing the Gu from father is not a big problem, but you may not know yet that father has been poisoned with a chronic poison.


    This kind of poison damages the body very slowly and is not easily noticeable. "


    Mo Jiuye gasped upon hearing this.


    "Ranran, are you saying father is poisoned?"


    He Zhiran knew Mo Jiuye was ufortable hearing this news, but she still had to exin it clearly.


    "Although father is poisoned with chronic poison, the toxins have now spread to the area around the heart. You just said the Gu worms in father''s body are also near the heart. If my guess is correct, once the toxinse into contact with the Gu worms, father will die immediately.


    His current frail state has a lot to do with the poisoning."


    "Ranran, is there any good way?" Mo Jiuye''s eyes turned bloodshot as he tightly grasped He Zhiran''s arm.


    At this question, He Zhiran couldn''t answer yet. Father''s condition was not very optimistic. Although she still couldn''t determine how close the Gu worms and toxins were to each other, judging by father''s current condition, he was not suitable for immediate surgery to remove the Gu.


    But if the Gu worms were not removed, she worried that they would fuse with the toxins, which would be the same as taking his life directly.


    "Husband, I need to bring father into the space to examine him carefully before I can give you urate results."


    Mo Jiuye subconsciously looked outside the carriage.


    "I''ll arrange it right away."


    His wife''s space was a huge secret. Entering it on this official road must be done without any ws.


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye had already jumped off the carriage. He Zhiran didn''t hear clearly what he said to several older brothers, and then the carriage slowly started moving.


    The carriage swayed for about half an hour before finally stopping.


    Mo Jiuye opened the carriage door and came up again.


    Through the gap, He Zhiran could see that they had left the official road. Based on the surrounding environment, they should be in the woods near the official road.


    "Ranran, it''s safe here. I''ve also informed my older brothers. They won''t disturb you."


    Mo Jiuye had arranged everything. There was no time to dy. He pulled Mo Qing and He Zhiran into the space together.


    She gave Mo Qing a full physical examination.


    The results were slightly better than she had imagined.


    Through modern medical observation, the chronic poison Mo Qing had was in a state of sticking to the arterial wall.


    The toxins did not move randomly with the blood cirction, but progressed in a very regr direction.


    This direction was the heart. In other words, her initial judgment waspletely correct.


    Once the toxins came into contact with the Gu worms near the heart, Mo Qing woulde to the end of his life.


    He Zhiran had heard of this kind of chronic poison in her previous life. People had tried to use this toxin to treat cerebral hemorrhage patients, but multiple clinical trials failed and it was abandoned.


    Since medical professionals in the previous life chose to use this toxin to treat patients, there must be a way to detoxify it.


    If she remembered correctly, there was a special serum that could specifically restrain this toxin.

 Chapter 390: The Nine brothers and Sisters

    <h4>Chapter 390</h4>


    Moreover, fortunately, through the recent examination, the toxins and the gu worms in Mo Qing''s body were still about 1 cm apart.


    ording to the spread rate of the toxins, the gu worms and toxins would not converge together for at least a month.


    One month would be enough time for He Zhiran to help Mo Qing detoxify, then nourish his body before removing the gu.


    Mo Jiuye looked at He Zhiran lost in thought there and asked, ¡°Ranran, how is it?¡±


    He Zhiran gently patted his arm, ¡°The situation is slightly better than expected. I¡¯m going to find medicine to help Father detoxify now.¡±


    The biggest feature of this poison is that the poisoned person cannot have violent exercise, otherwise it would stimte the spread rate of the toxins.


    He Zhiran had just seen Mo Qing¡¯s movements and his curled legs. She could confirm that Mo Qing had been repeating the same actions every day in that tomb, so there shouldn¡¯t have been any violent movements, otherwise his legs would not have be like that.


    At present, He Zhiran''s n was that Grandpa Mo was weak and could be nourished slowly, and the gu worms could be surgically removed at any time. The urgent task was to help him detoxify.


    Mo Jiuye heard that his wife could detoxify his father and asked happily, ¡°Then what about the gu worms?¡±


    He Zhiran pointed to the location of the gu worms in Mo Qing''s body.


    "It''s close to the heart, and ording to the examination, it can be determined that the hiding ce of the gu worms is very deep. There will inevitably be heavy bleeding during the surgery to remove the gu.


    With Father''s current physical condition, massive bleeding would definitely endanger his life."


    Mo Jiuye was dumbfounded when he heard He Zhiran say this.


    "Can Father''s gu worms not be removed?"


    "It''s not that they can''t be removed. First, Father¡¯s body needs to be nourished to a state that can withstand surgery so that it can be done without any risks."


    Hearing He Zhiran''s exnation, Mo Jiuye finally felt a glimmer of hope.


    "Alright, I¡¯ll leave it to Ranran then."


    At this moment, anything else he said would seem pretentious, even though his heart ached for his pregnant wife¡¯s hardship, it couldn''t be helped.


    There was no antidote stored in He Zhiran¡¯s medical room space that could detoxify the poison in Mo Qing¡¯s body, so she had to purchase it from Taobao Mall.


    She didn¡¯t know if modern times had cancelled the use of this toxin to treat diseases or something else, but there was no such antiserum for sale in Taobao Mall.


    He Zhiran thought about it and opened Little Collector¡¯s chat window.


    [Hello, I need your help. Please reply as soon as you see this.]


    Since asking Little Collector for help several times, the two had often exchanged messages.


    Little Collector had also specially set He Zhiran¡¯s messages to give special reminders.


    Therefore, as soon as He Zhiran sent the message, she received a reply from the other party.


    [I''m here, what do you need help with?]


    He Zhiran: [I need an antiserum that is only avable at the H City Biological Products Sales.]


    Little Collector: [I happen to be on a business trip in H City. Send me the address and I''ll go buy it for you now.]


    He Zhiran quickly sent Little Collector the detailed address and full name of the antiserum.


    [Please, I¡¯m urgently waiting to save someone here.]


    Little Collector: [Okay, I''ll go buy it for you right away.]


    He Zhiran didn¡¯t know how long it would take Little Collector to go out and help buy the antiserum, her phone couldn''t receive any messages when she left the space, so she had to wait here.


    After all, they had entered the space from inside the carriage. If the brothers became anxious after waiting for a long time and opened the carriage to find no one inside, it would be impossible to exin clearly no matter what.


    Therefore, He Zhiran decided to leave the space with Mo Jiuye and his father for the time being and wait in the carriage.


    During this time, she would asionally use her consciousness to enter the space to check if there were any iing messages from Little Collector.


    Not long after they left the space, someone knocked on the carriage door from outside.


    "Ninth Brother, Ninth Sister-in-Law, how is Father''s condition?" It was Eldest Brother''s voice.


    Although Mo Jiuye had exined very clearly not to let his brothers disturb Ninth Brother and Sister-in-Law while helping Father get treated, such torment was really unbearable.


    Especially since they had been inside the carriage for so long without any sounding out at all, the brothers were even more anxious like ants on a hot pan.


    Mo Jiuye reluctantly opened the carriage door slightly to see his brothers all craning their necks towards the carriage.


    "Eldest Brother, Ranran has just finished examining Father and discovered he has been poisoned by a chronic toxin. The situation is not very good.


    Ranran is now trying to formte the antidote. Don''t worry for now."


    Hearing that Father had been poisoned by a chronic toxin was undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Mo brothers.


    Father''s condition was already worrying enough, and now he was poisoned...


    "Sister-in-Law, can Father''s poison be cured?"


    At this moment, Second Brother couldn''t care less about Ninth Brother''s urging that Ninth Sister-in-Law was formting the antidote. He just wanted to know if Father could still survive.


    He Zhiran could understand the feelings of the elder brothers. No one could remain calm if their loved one was in mortal danger, otherwise they might as well be an unfeeling machine.


    "I''m trying to formte the antidote now. If it''s sessfully formted, I should be able to cure Father''s body."


    He Zhiran didn''t dare make her words too definite. After all, there was no such antiserum for sale in Taobao Mall. If Little Collector couldn''t buy it either, wouldn''t she have falsely raised everyone''s hopes?


    Although the brothers didn''t understand medicine, they could still see from Father''s feeble state that his condition was indeed not optimistic.


    Although Sister-in-Law didn''t say for certain that she could cure Father, they all understood clearly that she was also doing her best to find a way.


    Eldest Brother took the lead and bowed deeply to He Zhiran.


    "Then we''ll have to trouble Sister-in-Law."


    Seeing this, the other brothers followed Eldest Brother''s example and sincerely bowed to He Zhiran.


    "Thanks to Sister-in-Law..."


    At the same time, the Mo brothers all had the same guilt as Mo Jiuye.


    Their Sister-in-Law was heavily pregnant, and she was carrying the hope of the Mo Family. Not only that, she looked like she would give birth soon.


    Yet she had travelled so far to help even in such an awkward state. Ninth Brother was truly blessed to have married such a righteous wife. It was simply a blessing to the entire Mo Family.


    Being thanked by so many heroic elder brothers, He Zhiran was also somewhat embarrassed.


    She gestured with her hand.


    "We are all one family. Saving Father''s life is what I should do. Elders need not be so polite."


    "Also, if I get disturbed while formting the antidote, all my previous efforts would be wasted. So I''ll have to trouble the elders to guard this ce well."


    He Zhiran might need to enter the space again soon, so she had to rify the stakes in advance. Otherwise, if the anxious elder brothers came knocking again, things would get problematic.


    Although she didn''t say it outright, saying not to let anyone disturb her was something anyone could understand.


    "Sister-in-Law can rest assured. With us brothers here, not to mention people disturbing you, we guarantee that not even a fly will get through." Eighth Brother thumped his chest and promised.


    At this moment, Eighth Brother still felt somewhat guilty. When he saw Ninth Brother earlier, he realized that he had been fooled by his Sister-in-Law toe to the Western Regions.

 Chapter 391: Slow Hand

    <h4>Chapter 391</h4>


    Fortunately, Ninth Younger Brother''s constitution was sturdy, and he was not bothered by fetal qi despite the hardships of travel by boat and carriage, otherwise he would have be the Mo Family''s greatest sinner.


    Now that Ninth Younger Sister had spoken, forbidding anyone from approaching the carriage, Mo Chuhan would stand guard here diligently for three days and three nights without sleep.


    Looking at the silly Eighth Elder Brother, He Zhiran tried hard to restrain her smile.


    "Alright, with elder brothers guarding me, I will definitely be able to calm my heart and research the antidote."


    Mo Jiuye shut the carriage door again.


    At the same time, He Zhiran''s consciousness also entered the space to check things out.


    It had been two hours now since she spoke with the Little Collector. He nned to look at his phone to see if there was any good news.


    As soon as she opened her phone, she saw a message from the Little Collector.


    [Fortunately I have not disappointed you. What you wanted has been obtained and can be put up for sale at any time.]


    He Zhiran quickly replied: [I see it. Please hurry and put the serum up for sale.]


    She received no more messages from the Little Collector, but there was a prompt of a new item in his shop.


    He Zhiran quickly went to take a look, and sure enough, it was the serum she needed.


    As usual, the asking price was one yuan.


    He Zhiran knew that because this serum was so rare, the asking price had always been high.


    If she remembered correctly, in her previous life she had gone to H City to help her teacher purchase a vial once, and the asking price at that time was 36,000 yuan for one vial.


    36,000 yuan was no small sum even in modern times, and He Zhiran discovered that what the Little Collector was selling her for one yuan was not a single vial, but a whole box of ten vials.


    That made the price 360,000 yuan.


    In fact, He Zhiran did not know that this serum had already been discontinued in modern times, and the remaining stock had all increased wildly in price.


    The ten vials of serum the Little Collector had purchased had cost a full 1 million yuan.


    However, when it came to He Zhiran, he would never be stingy.


    Although the two of them had a business rtionship, they had also helped each other a great deal.


    Therefore, he did not feel any heartache at all over the 1 million spent.


    He Zhiran did not like taking advantage of others to begin with, and the Little Collector had helped her tremendously as well.


    She suddenly remembered the few Night Illuminating Pearls that Mo Jiuye had left in the carriage.


    Mo Jiuye had already exined their origins - they had all been secretly taken from Yuan Meng''s Tomb.


    Although these Night Illuminating Pearls were not as big as the ones they had taken from the Dashun Country Treasury, they were still considered the finest of the finest.


    Thus, her consciousness quickly left the space, and she selected thergest one from her bundle to take into the space.


    [Thank you for helping me so tremendously. Here is a surprise gift for you.]


    After saying this, she smoothly photographed the Night Illuminating Pearl and listed it for sale in the shop.


    Taobao appraised the Night Illuminating Pearl to be worth 10 million yuan, but He Zhiran only listed it for 5 million.


    Then, she reminded the Little Collector: [This is a one of a kind good item, firste first served.]


    After running her shop for a while, and given that all the antiques she sold were genuine, He Zhiran had earned herself a few loyal regr customers.


    To prevent the Night Illuminating Pearl from being snapped up by others, she had to give a reminder.


    Naturally, when the Little Collector heard there was a good item, he would not hesitate. Knowing He Zhiran was likely very busy on her end, he did not reply but directly purchased it.


    Indeed, He Zhiran was very busy. After giving the reminder, she turned off her phone and entered the operating room with the serum the Little Collector had helped purchase.


    At the moment, Mo Qing was lying on the operating table. Mo Jiuye had already cleaned his body once over.


    However, the position Mo Qing was lying in made one''s heart ache upon looking.


    He was facing up with his back against the operating table, unable to straighten his legs which remained curled backwards.


    He Zhiran had already exined earlier that Mo Qing''s bent legs were caused by his bones and muscles deforming and atrophying after maintaining one position for too long.


    This condition could slowly recover in the future through physical therapy.


    It was only because his wife had a way to treat without endangering his father''s life that Mo Jiuye readily epted the situation.


    Mo Qing''s arms were still swaying back and forth. Mo Jiuye would periodically help hold them still.


    Using this serum would be very painful if the person was conscious during the detoxification process.


    Although Mo Qing had sealed away his past memories, he was notpletely unconscious.


    To spare him from suffering, He Zhiran chose to inject him with some anesthetics.


    The anesthetics quickly took effect after entering Mo Qing''s body, and he fell into deep sleep.


    Next, He Zhiran mixed the serum with a certain amount of saline solution and administered it to Mo Qing intravenously.


    After half an hour, all of the serum had been injected, and Mo Qing showed obvious reactions.


    One of the arteries at his heart bulged slightly, only noticeable if examining carefully.


    He Zhiran was staring at that spot in particr because she knew that symptoms would show during the detoxification process.


    She watched as the slight bulge grew bigger, changing from barely noticeable at first to the size of a yellow bean-sized ck bump.


    As time passed, the little ck bump also slowly erged, until it finally pierced the skin and became fingernail-sized, with ck blood flowing out from the hole.


    "Husband, prepare cotton balls and iodine."


    Having been He Zhiran''s assistant many times now, Mo Jiuye was very adept. At her reminder, it only took a few seconds for him to get the items ready.


    With her pregnant belly sorge, it was very inconvenient for He Zhiran to bend down. She could only continue instructing Mo Jiuye.


    "Husband, after the ck blood has finished flowing out, use the cotton balls and iodine to clean the surface until no more ck blood can be seen."


    The space taken up by this chronic poison in the body was small to begin with, and it was all concentrated in one area.


    Therefore, the amount of ck blood that flowed out of Mo Qing was not very much either.


    This was also the only reason He Zhiran dared to attempt detoxification when he was so weak.


    Otherwise, with Mo Qing''s current physical condition, if he bled as much as Fifth Elder Brother had during his detox, it would certainly im his life.


    Before even considering whether the detox would seed, just the excessive blood loss alone could kill him.


    Mo Jiuye''s technique was very proficient. He carefully helped his father clean away the blood stains from the wound.


    Seeing him just about finished, He Zhiran had been thinking to apply some wound-healing medicine to speed up recovery before bandaging it up.


    Suddenly, she heard Mo Jiuye cry out in surprise.


    "Ranran, Father, he..."


    From her understanding of Mo Jiuye''s disposition, he was extremely steady. For him to make such a sound, something bad must have happened.


    Unfortunately, from where she was standing, she could not see Mo Qing''s wound clearly. Before Mo Jiuye could even finish speaking, she had swiftly changed positions.


    She saw that at the small hole in Mo Qing''s body opened up by the toxic blood, there was a fingernail-sized Gu worm going in and out.


    That''s right, in and out.


    Not only was Mo Jiuye shocked by this scene, even He Zhiran was somewhat at a loss.

 Chapter 392: Father is Awake

    <h4>Chapter 392</h4>


    ording to reason, once the offspring witch insect sensed danger, it would choose to continue hiding deeper into the human body. However, this offspring witch insect was different. It was like a startled little mouse, poking its head out tentatively, seemingly having lost its sense of direction. Although this phenomenon was unexinable, on the surface it did not seem to be a bad thing.


    "Husband, prepare a bottle and a pair of forceps."


    Mo Jiuye instantly understood her meaning. He put aside the cotton ball and iodine tincture in his hand and swiftly fetched the items.


    He Zhiran''s expression was somewhat solemn. With her hand speed, the chances of sessfully clipping the offspring witch insect out from the blood cavity were small. She could only ce her hopes on Mo Jiuye. After all, he was a martial artist, so his actions must be faster than hers.


    "Husband, you must be quick with this. Otherwise, I dare not guarantee where the offspring witch insect might burrow to."


    The location was so close to the heart that if the offspring witch insect escaped towards that direction, the consequences would be unthinkable.


    Even with such worries in mind, He Zhiran did not dare to speak it out. At such a critical juncture, she did not want to impose any psychological pressure on Mo Jiuye. If Mo Jiuye became too nervous and slipped up, it would not be worth it.


    Mo Jiuye''s thin lips were pursed tightly. He stared at the offspring witch insect that was still poking its head out tentatively for a few seconds before taking a deep breath, as if making up his mind about something important.


    It was seen that he steadily grasped the forceps. Before He Zhiran could even clearly see his maneuver, the offspring witch insect had already been clipped by the forceps and swiftly ced into the bottle.


    The offspring witch insect struggled desperately towards one direction inside the ss bottle.


    The attentive He Zhiran noticed that no matter how Mo Jiuye rotated the ss bottle, the offspring witch insect always struggled towards Mo Jiuye''s direction.


    Seeing the state of the offspring witch insect, He Zhiran had a sudden realization.


    "Husband, isn''t the mother witch insect controlling this offspring witch insect on your body?"


    Speaking of the mother witch insect, the witch insects collected from Si Meng were still being carried by Mo Jiuye.


    Because the witch insect in his father''s body had not been removed yet, Mo Jiuye was worried that if the witch insect controlling the offspring witch insect was not his father''s life witch insect, then killing the wrong mother witch insect would be equivalent to indirectly killing his own father.


    To be prudent, those mother witch insects had always been carefully kept by Mo Jiuye, not even daring to let them have any mishaps.


    Now, seeing his father''s situation, being cautious was the right approach.


    This offspring witch insect yearned for its mother witch insect so eagerly. If anything unexpected happened to the mother witch insect, this offspring witch insect would likelymit suicide inside his father''s body.


    At the same time, Mo Jiuye also had another doubt in mind.


    That was, he had taken six bottles containing mother witch insects from Si Meng, and he could confirm that those bottles all contained a living mother witch insect.


    Now, the witch insects in his father and eldest and second brothers had all been removed. He could also confirm which three mother witch insects were controlling them.


    Normally speaking, the offspring witch insects born by the marite witch insect mother witch insects would live together with the mother witch insects before finding a host.


    That meant one porcin bottle could contain one mother witch insect and one offspring witch insect.


    As for the remaining three mother witch insects, Mo Jiuye could confirm that each bottle only contained one mother witch insect.


    Where Si Meng had imnted the offspring witch insects was unknown.


    Otherwise, after sessfully removing the witch insects from his father and brothers, Mo Jiuye could have burned these vile insects to death in one go.


    Now, thinking that those three mother witch insects might still be controlling someone else, he temporarily abandoned that idea for now.


    However, the three mother witch insects controlling his father and eldest and second brothers could not be kept.


    While Mo Jiuye was thinking about these matters, he had already helped his father clean the wound again.


    Although the wound was deep, it was not very big and did not require suturing at all. Simply applying medicine and bandaging it would suffice.


    After taking care of these, Mo Jiuye directly went outside the medical room without He Zhiran saying anything, and burned those useless witch insects to death.


    It would be best for such harmful creatures to bepletely erased from this world.


    He Zhiran''s original n was to first help Mo Qing detoxify, then remove the witch insect after his body recovered a bit.


    She did not expect this offspring witch insect to be so impatient to be reborn that it actually emerged by itself.


    After simply examining Mo Qing, He Zhiran discovered that this was a good thing.


    Although Mo Qing''s body did not show any signs of improvement, it also did not worsen.


    It could be said that the offspring witch insect had helped tremendously by sparing Mo Qing the pain of undergoing a second surgery to remove the witch insect.


    Now, Mo Qing''s vital signs were still normal. He was only severely depleted physically, but his head was not affected much.


    Estimated that the anesthetic would wear off in another two hours, He Zhiran took this time to transfuse him with some sma and nutritional fluids.


    Soon, it was around the estimated time for Mo Qing to wake up. He Zhiran brought them to leave the space together.


    Not long after Mo Qing was settled in the carriage, he awoke.


    First of all, the biggest change with Mo Qing now was that his arms no longer swung back and forth mimicking offering paper money.


    Mo Jiuye hurriedly moved closer.


    "Father."


    Mo Qing''s eyelids were a little heavy. He only opened a slit.


    The lighting in the carriage was not very good. Also, he had not seen Mo Jiuye for many years.


    His impression of Mo Jiuye still remained at his youth. Therefore, seeing this magnified, handsome face before him, Mo Qing was stunned for a moment.


    Mo Jiuye could tell his father''s state at a nce and knew he might not recognize him.


    "Father, I''m Jiuye. Look closely at me."


    "You say you are Jiuye?" Mo Qing''s voice was very soft and somewhat hoarse.


    However, both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran heard his words clearly.


    Tears were already welling up in Mo Jiuye''s eyes. He nodded with difficulty.


    "Father, I am Jiuye. We haven''t seen each other for eight years already."


    Thinking back eight years ago, Mo Jiuye was still a thirteen-year-old little boy. It was understandable that Mo Qing did not recognize him.


    The brothers outside the carriage, in order to let the ninth brother and sister concoct the antidote in peace, stayed close by the carriage without disturbing them.


    Therefore, they couldpletely hear the conversation between Mo Jiuye and his father.


    Eldest brother could not wait to open the carriage door.


    "Ninth brother, has Father woken up?"


    Seeing his father''s still somewhat unbelieving expression, Mo Jiuye saw his eldest brother as if seeing a savior.


    "Eldest brother, Father is awake. He doesn''t recognize me. Pleasee exin to him that I''m Jiuye."


    At this moment, eldest brother no longer had the mind to listen to the rest of Mo Jiuye''s words. The only words in his mind were "Father is awake". Everything else had been automatically ignored by him.


    "Father, you''re awake?"


    As for Mo Junrui, Mo Qing could still recognize him. Even though they had not seen each other for many years as father and son, Mo Junrui had already reached adulthood back then. So even if there were any changes to his appearance, it could not be as obvious as Mo Jiuye''s change from a youth to an adult.


    "Jun...Junrui..."


    Speaking was still difficult for Mo Qing. The person before his eyes looked identical to his eldest son, but was much more haggardpared to his impressions.

 Chapter 393: The Daughter-in-law Has Seen her Father

    <h4>Chapter 393</h4>


    Mo Qing was somewhat confused about the situation at hand.


    Just as he was puzzled, the other brothers outside the carriage also crowded in.


    To say they crowded in was an understatement; the already small carriage had be packed to the point where no wind could pass through.


    Mo Jiuye could understand his elder brothers'' concern for their father, not wanting to drive anyone away.


    But he worried that his wife would be squeezed, so he could only helplessly speak up.


    "Elder brothers, you keep Fatherpany. I''ll take Ranran out for some fresh air."


    After speaking, he also gave a signal to his eldest brother, indicating that he should make it clear to Father that he was Mo Jiuye.


    At this moment, how could the eldest brother spare any thought for the youngest brother''s hint? He quickly shifted his gaze to Father, carefully observing his condition.


    Mo Jiuye took Ranran and got off the carriage, leaving arge empty space inside.


    The brothers had already surrounded Mo Qing, moring for Father.


    Mo Qing was still bewildered. How could that young man im to be Jiuye? His youngest son was only 13 years old, how could he look like that?


    And his eldest son, why did he appear much older and haggard?


    Just as he was puzzled, Mo Jiacheng also called out to Father.


    Mo Qing narrowed his eyes and looked at him. The feeling he got from his second son was the same as his eldest son, old and haggard.


    Not only that, they were all wearing coarse linen clothes,pletely different from the brocade and jade he imagined.


    Looking at Mo Chongyuan and Mo Chuhan who hade closer, they were also wearing coarse linen clothes.


    Mo Chongyuan was slightly better off. Thest time he saw Father, he was already twenty years old, so he didn''t have much change in appearance, except for looking more mature.


    But Mo Chuhan was different. He was only two years older than Mo Jiuye and was only fifteen when hest saw Father.


    In Mo Qing''s eyes, it was still unbelievable.


    The brothers kept calling out to Father. Although Mo Qing still had doubts in his heart, seeing tears swirling in their eyes, he could only put his thoughts aside.


    He pointed at Mo Chuhan and asked Mo Junrui, "Junrui, he says he is Chuhan. What''s going on?


    And just now, there was a young man who imed to be your ninth brother. He does bear some resemnce to you, but who is he?"


    Upon hearing Father''s question, Mo Junrui finally remembered what the ninth brother had said.


    "Father, that really was Jiuye just now. You''ve been away from home for eight years, and at that time, the ninth brother was still young. It''s understandable that you couldn''t recognize him."


    Mo Chuhan, seeing that his eldest brother was only exining for the ninth brother, quickly stepped forward.


    "Eldest brother, please tell Father that I really am Chuhan."


    The eldest brother exined as told, "Father, eight years ago, you were ambushed on the battlefield by a person from the Southern Frontier named Mr. Si Meng. You were drugged and captured by the people from the Southern Frontier.


    They even made it seem like you had died in battle and hung your head high on the city wall.


    As a result, we all thought you were gone. Later on, one by one, we brothers took over yourmand.


    Except for the ninth brother, all of us fell victim to Mr. Si Meng''s schemes and were under his control for many years.


    Fortunately, our younger brother Mo Jiuye and his sister Mo Jiumei were wise and persevered through countless hardships to rescue us.


    In other words, it has been eight years since ourst meeting. Back then, Chuhan and Jiuye were still young, but now they are both married and adults."


    Mo Junrui gave a simple exnation to his father, without going into too much detail.


    His main purpose was to make his father realize a fact: that they, father and son, haven''t seen each other for a full eight years.


    Although Mo Qing was physically weak, his mind was unaffected.


    Although what Mo Junrui said was somewhat bewildering, he was trying hard to ept this reality.


    However, there were still many things he couldn''tprehend.


    "Who is this Mr. Si Meng you mentioned? Why does he want to persecute our Mo family? And why do you brothers dress like this now?"


    Mo Qing asked a series of questions in a clear and organized manner.


    Answering these questions would take a long time.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran outside the carriage were getting anxious.


    After all, Mo Qing had just regained consciousness, and He Zhiran hadn''t had a chance to examine him yet.


    If they were to talk about all these things, it would probably take until nightfall.


    In that case, aside from whether they could help their father with a timely examination, his body would probably not be able to handle it either.


    Taking these factors into consideration, Mo Jiuye said to the people inside the carriage:


    "Brothers, Father has just woken up. Let Ruirui help him with an examination first."


    Hearing that they needed to examine their father''s body, which was more important than anything else, the brothers reluctantly left, even though they had a thousand words they wanted to say to their father.


    Seeing each of his brothers reluctantly jumping off the carriage, Mo Jiuye carefully helped He Zhiran up.


    The shocking things they had just heard forced Mo Qing''s mind to work hard, and as a result, he looked a little more spirited than when he first woke up.


    But his legs remained curled up, which made people feel sorry for him.


    Mo Jiuye called out "Father" again and pushed He Zhiran in front of him.


    "Father, this is He Zhiran, the daughter of the He family. I have already married her, do you remember? Our marriage was personally arranged by you."


    Even though He Zhiran was heavy with child, she didn''t forget the proper etiquette when meeting an elder for the first time.


    The carriage roof was not high to begin with, and she had been sitting on a nearby seat with bent knees. At this moment, she was already kneeling in front of Mo Qing.


    "Father-inw, I greet you."


    While Mo Jiuye was introducing He Zhiran, Mo Qing had been staring at the two of them.


    She also noticed that He Zhiran was now pregnant and made an effort to raise her hand.


    "Please rise, Daughter-inw. I heard what your eldest brother said just now. You have done a lot for the Mo family, and I represent the whole family in expressing our gratitude."


    Upon hearing his father say "please rise," Mo Jiuye quickly assisted He Zhiran back to her original position.


    He Zhiran humbly replied, "Father-inw, there''s no need to be polite. It is my duty to do all this."


    She and Mo Jiuye had kicked off their older brothers from the carriage to help Mo Qing with his physical examination, so He Zhiran had no intention of engaging in too much conversation with Mo Qing for the time being.


    "Father, I have some medical skills. Since you just woke up, let me examine your condition first."


    As she spoke, she already ced her hand on Mo Qing''s pulse.


    This pulse examination didn''t take much time because He Zhiran just wanted to understand the situation after their adoptive father woke up.


    She knew that Mo Jiuye and the older brothers outside the carriage were anxious to know the diagnosis results, so she intentionally raised her voice and said:


    "Father''s body is currently a bit weak, but there is no life-threatening danger. As long as he takes good care of himself in the future, he will definitely recoverpletely."


    He Zhiran wasn''t exaggerating. Perhaps it was because Mo Qing had been practicing martial arts for many years, his physical constitution was already much better than an ordinary person''s.

 Chapter 394: Thank you for saving my father’s life.

    <h4>Chapter 394</h4>


    Although he had suffered inhuman treatment for so many years, it was impossible that his organs had not been damaged, but there was no fatal problem.


    At first she was worried that [Mo Qing]''s illness could not be cured because the Gu worm was in a special position. He was worried that [Mo Qing] was too weak to wait until the day the Gu worm was removed.


    Just now after giving him sma and nutrition fluid in the space, it seemed to be absorbed very well, much better than when he first entered the space for examination.


    Only [He Zhiran] would dare to make such a diagnosis. If [Mo Qing]''s condition was handed over to the doctors of this era, I''m afraid it would bepletely hopeless.


    Luckily, the little collector helped to get the antidote to [Mo Qing]''s chronic poison in time.


    As for [Mo Qing]''s curled legs, [He Zhiran] did not mention it in front of him.


    Unlike his body, as long as he took medicine and adjusted his diet, it would not be difficult to recover.


    It would take a lot more time for his legs to truly recover to their original mobility.


    She was worried that telling him would affect her father''s mood, which would be detrimental to his recovery.


    When they returned home, she could help her father recover through acupuncture and physiotherapy. In short, [He Zhiran] was absolutely confident.


    After hearing that their father was out of mortal danger, the several elder brothers gathered around again.


    Only this time they knew their limits and realized their younger sister was in the carriage, so they just crowded around the carriage door and peered inside.


    "Younger sister, thank you for saving our father''s life."


    As the eldest son of the family, [Mo Junrui] felt it necessary to make clear where the brothers stood, especially since their pregnant younger sister had traveled long distances to help.


    If he didn''t say thank you, he would feel sorry for all the hardships his younger sister had endured on the boat and carriage.


    In the Mo family, the eldest brother had always been the leader of the brothers since childhood. Seeing what the eldest brother did, the other brothers also felt [He Zhiran]''s difficulties and thanked her along with the eldest brother.


    [He Zhiran] said this to let everyone understand [Mo Qing]''s physical condition, not to show off.


    "Brothers, you are too polite. Father is rtively stable now. As long as you take good care of him in the future, there will be no problem," she said.


    If she had to say again that the family did not need to be polite, it would seem pretentious.


    She knew the elder brothers were eager to see their father, so she beckoned [Mo Jiuye] to help her down from the carriage and left the space for the father and sons.


    And [He Zhiran] also knew clearly that [Mo Jiuye] wanted to stay by his father''s side at the moment. After she got off the carriage safely, she sent [Mo Jiuye] back to the carriage.


    [Mo Qing] had received too much information in his mind just now, and now he had countless questions to ask.


    "Tell me what happened in thest eight years."


    When it came to what had happened in thest eight years, among the brothers, [Mo Jiuye] was the clearest, after all, the other brothers had lost consciousness for a period of time during this period.


    What they knew was also from listening to [Mo Jiuye].


    Therefore, when his father asked, everyone''s eyes fell on [Mo Jiuye], waiting for him to tell the story.


    [Mo Jiuye] had always thought [Mo Qing] was very powerful, so when he talked about what the Mo family had experienced over the years, he didn''t have too many worries.


    "Ever since father was captured by the southerners and your head was hung on the city tower, the elder brothers have gradually taken over your duties...


    Finallyst year, Emperor Shunwu could no longer restrain himself and took action against our Mo family, first tricking me into the imperial pce and giving me 50 heavy strokes, and the next day issuing an edict to raid and exile my whole Mo family..."


    Anyway it was safe now. The brothers were in no hurry to travel, so [Mo Jiuye] told his father in detail what the Mo family had experienced over the years.


    After listening to [Mo Jiuye]''s ount, [Mo Qing] was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged.


    At the same time, in his eyes one could also see a trace of disappointment.


    After a long silence, he finally said, "Such an ignorant emperor does not deserve to upy the throne! But over the years, it has been hard on you brothers, and your mother must have shed no small amount of tears."


    As the head of a family, no matter how angry [Mo Qing] was inwardly, he could not lose his temper like a junior.


    So it took him a long time to speak.


    Especially when he thought of his old wife at home, who had not had a peaceful day since marrying him, worrying about him when she was young, and suffering the loss of her husband and sons when she was old.


    When he thought of all this, [Mo Qing] felt extremely guilty.


    Now he was fortunate to be rescued by his ninth son and daughter-inw, and the Mo family had now bemoners.


    He was lucky to be alive to return, and in the future he would not have to consider national affairs, he just wanted to apany his old wife and live out their remaining years in peace.


    After his daughter-inw gave birth, he would properly enjoy doting on his grandchild.


    Inside the carriage, the father and sons talked about what the Mo family had experienced over the years. [He Zhiran] was also not idle outside the carriage.


    Considering [Mo Qing]''s physical condition, she lit a fire outside.


    Fortunately, when she went out, she had the foresight to put some pots and food in the carriage.


    However, this food would not help [Mo Qing]''s recovery. She could only secretly take things from her space.


    She was also not worried about the food being exposed to sunlight. Anyway, [Mo Chuhan] was insensitive. At first when she put food in the carriage, [Mo Chuhan] knew about it.


    So [Mo Chuhan] was the best witness.


    She had heard from [Mo Jiuye] that [Mo Qing] had lived off the prey on the small hill for so many years.


    The main role of the eldest and second elder brothers there was to provide for the three of them.


    Of course, in such deep mountains, it could only be hunting.


    That meant [Mo Qing] had mainly eaten meat, raw or cooked, for so many years.


    His weak physique was rted to the chronic poison in his body, andter [Si Meng] was unable to control the Gu worm to restrict [Mo Qing], resulting in him not eating for a long period of time.


    Based on this understanding, [He Zhiran] felt that [Mo Qing]''s body was not so deficient that it could not be nourished.


    Especially since he had lived on meat for many years, suddenly switching to vegetarianism would probably be too much for his digestive system to take.


    Considering all this, [He Zhiran] decided to make a meat-based nourishing soup for him to drink.


    After searching in her space for a while, she finally decided to buy a pigeon to make soup, plus some nourishing and vourful herbs.


    The pigeon had been processed and could be cut up immediately to cook.


    [He Zhiran] knew that the Mo brothers all wanted to stay by their father''s side, so she pretended to call out to [Mo Jiuye].


    "Husband, a pigeon just happened to fall here. It can be used to nourish father."


    There was already a tacit understanding between her and [Mo Jiuye]. Hearing her say this, he knew what was going on.


    "Brothers, you keep fatherpany first. I''ll go out and take a look."


    Sure enough, as [He Zhiran] had anticipated, with the ninth brother leaving, not one of the elder brothers came to help.


    Only this way could the pigeon soup appear openly.

 Chapter 395: Look who’s behind you.

    <h4>Chapter 395</h4>


    He Zhiran got off the carriage and saw that He Zhiran was holding a pigeon that had already been processed.


    He smiled as he made some audible motions.


    "Okay, caught it, Zhiran you wait, I''ll go process it now."


    With this shout, no one in the carriage doubted.


    He Zhiran took the initiative to prepare nutritious pigeon soup for her father, while Mo Jiuye was responsible for everyone else''s meals.


    After all, they were in the wild, it was good to eat enough, and there was no need to spend much effort on it.


    When the husband and wife prepared the meals, it was dusk.


    After eating, the sky was almost dark, and their identities were also rtively sensitive, so it was not suitable to stay in the city, so they decided to rest here for one night and set off early the next morning.


    Considering that they had left the Western Territory and stayed here to help Mo Qing treat for almost a day,


    it was estimated that the cartgeponents in the third brother and the others had been eliminated by now, and they should have left Xiaoyueshan and hit the road.


    In order to prevent them from missing each other on the road, the fifth brother volunteered to stand on the official road. Once the third brother and the others arrived, everyone would get together and set off immediately.


    It was also fortunate for those who rested in the woods. He Zhiran brought some tents they used during their exile when she went out. In this way, everyone did not have to sleep outdoors.


    The eldest brother was responsible for taking care of his father, and slept in the carriage with him.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye slept in the carriage she took from Xiling Vige.


    The second and eighth brothers rested in the tent, and would take turns keeping watch at night to prevent danger.


    It was a peaceful night, and as expected, as soon as the cartge symptoms of the third brother and others improved slightly, they began to go down the mountain, whipping their horses all the way here.


    When everyone got together, they simply ate some breakfast and then continued on their way to Xiling Vige.


    Considering He Zhiran and Mo Qing''s health, the carriage traveled very smoothly all the way, so the speed was much slower.


    It took a full five days for the party to finally arrive at Xiling Vige.


    Now the new house of the Mo family has beenpletelypleted, and the furniture has been in ce.


    Just waiting for Mo Jiuye and his brothers toe back and choose an auspicious day to move in.


    Therefore, the Mo family still lived in the rented yard at the moment.


    The two carriages slowly drove into Xiling Vige. The vigers saw that the Mo family members were driving the carriages. They were used to it.


    In their hearts, the Mo family was wealthy, even if they were exiled, they were the existence of rich people.


    No one was curious to inquire. All the vigers they met along the way greeted them enthusiastically.


    This allowed the eldest brother and second brother who came to Xiling Vige for the first time to feel a different feeling.


    When they were in the capital before, the Guogong Mansion could be said to be unattainable.


    Whoever met them would tter them for a while. Although it was also a greeting,pared with the simplicity of these vigers, it waspletely different.


    Unconsciously, the eldest brother and the second brother seemed to have liked it here.


    Mo Chuhan drove the carriage at the front and returned to the yard his family rented.


    As soon as the carriage arrived at the gate, the seventh brother heard the sound and ran out.


    At that time, in the family letter sent by Mo Jiuye, everyone knew the contents clearly, knowing that they had captured Mr. Simeng alive in the capital, and were rushing to the Western Territory.


    Although the family members were worried about their trip to the Western Territory, except for the seventh and eighth brothers, no one else came to help. After all, they didn''t have much ability. Going there would only add chaos. They could only pray for them to go smoothly.


    However, the idea of the seventh and eighth brothers wanting to go to the Western Territories to help was quickly severely stopped by Old Lady Mo.


    The two brothers listened to their mother''s words. Although they were unwilling, no one dared to act without authorization.


    He Zhiran did not dare to reveal the slightest idea of wanting to go to the Western Territory to help. If so, Old Lady Mo would send someone to watch her all day long.


    In desperation, He Zhiran could only operate in private, dragging the most simple-minded eighth brother down, and the two made ns to sneak out of the house at night.


    The Mo family discovered that He Zhiran and Mo Chuhan were missing when they got up early the next day.


    It was He Zhiran who left a note at Old Lady Mo''s door.


    The content of the note was that she was worried that her father-inw and two elder brothers were in danger of life in the Western Territory. She understood medicine. Once Mo Jiuye sessfully rescued them, she could also help treat them.


    As for Mo Chuhan, even though He Zhiran did not write it clearly in the note, Old Lady Mo knew what was going on with her understanding of her son.


    It was nothing more than that the silly boy wanted to go to the Western Territories to help eagerly, and was finally persuaded by his sister-inw''s reason, and the two left quietly.


    Old Lady Mo was very angry about this. Not for anything else, her daughter-inw was six months pregnant, and the due date was getting closer and closer. If something went wrong in the Western Territory, as a mother-inw, she might feel guilty for a lifetime.


    However, she also knew her daughter-inw''s temper. No one could stop what she wanted to do.


    Therefore, after she and Mo Chuhan left, Old Lady Mo did not send anyone to chase them back. She could only pray for their safety.


    Since He Zhiran and Mo Chuhan left home, the whole family was on tenterhooks, afraid that something might happen to He Zhiran.


    Seeing Mo Chuhan, the seventh brother came up and punched him hard.


    "Old Eight, you really are getting bolder. Where''s the ninth younger sister?"


    Mo Chuhan was beaten, but he didn''t dare to get angry. After all, it was too reckless for him to take the ninth younger sister away from home. Fortunately, the ninth younger sister was safe and sound all the way, otherwise he would be a sinner of the Mo family.


    He covered his slightly painful abdomen.


    "Seventh brother, I know I''m wrong, but now is not the time to talk about my mistakes. Look who''s behind."


    Hearing him say that, the seventh brother then shifted his attention to the back of the carriage.


    At this moment, the eldest brother and the second brother who were riding on horses hade to the front. The two almost dismounted at the same time.


    "Seventh younger brother, don''t me the eighth brother. This time, fortunately, he took the ninth younger sister to the Western Territory, otherwise father would be in danger." Seeing that the eighth brother was beaten, the eldest brother helped exin for him reluctantly.


    This voice was so familiar to Mo Yuance, and it also had an unreal feeling.


    However, he reacted soon, because he heard the familiar voice, and the appearance of the speaker was also extremely familiar.


    "Eldest brother, is it really you?"


    Before the eldest brother could answer, the second brother had already walked up.


    He made a casual gesture of smashing his shoulder with his fist.


    "You kid, how can you only see your eldest brother and not see your second brother?"


    "Second brother." Mo Yuance saw his brothers and was so excited that his tone was trembling.


    At this time, the third brother also walked over.


    "Okay, our Mo family is finally reunited. Don''t block the door anymore. Let''s settle father first."


    When he heard the word father, Mo Yuance was even more excited.


    "Third brother, do you mean father came back with you too?"

 Chapter 396: As long as you’re both Alive.

    <h4>Chapter 396</h4>


    Third Older Brother said somewhat amusedly, ¡°What are you thinking about? Isn¡¯t the reason we brothers went out to search for Father and Eldest and Second Brothers?¡± Father will naturallye back with us.¡±


    Seeing Mo Yuance still dazed where he stood, Third Older Brother continued, ¡°What are you still dazed for? Go call the family out!¡±


    Reminded by Third Older Brother, Mo Yuance reacted. He didn¡¯t care to ask about his father¡¯s circumstances but turned and ran towards Old Lady Mo¡¯s room, yelling, ¡°Mother, Father and Eldest and Second Brother are back!¡±


    With that yell, not only Old Lady Mo in the room heard clearly, even the few sisters-inw tending the vegetable garden in the backyard heard it loud and clear.


    In the blink of an eye, the door to Old Lady Mo''s room was pushed open from inside.


    This was also the first time they had seen the old woman move as quick as flying.


    "Yuance, what did you say? Your father and eldest and second brothers are back?"


    Mo Yuance quickly went forward to support her, pointing in the direction of the carriage parked in the yard, "Mother, look, they are over there!"


    Old Lady Mo''s eyes were already wet at this moment, and her vision had be blurred.


    However, she could still make out that there were many tall figures standing around the carriage.


    She staggered over to the carriage, and two people immediately knelt down before her.


    "Mother, your son has been unfilial and made you worry," Eldest and Second Brother said in unison, kowtowing heavily three times to Old Lady Mo.


    These were thest two sons the Mo family had found. Old Lady Mo had thought for a time that they would never appear alive again. Now, seeing them alive and well before her, the old woman eventually couldn''t hold back her tears.


    At the same time, the few sisters-inw who were working in the backyard also rushed back.


    Among them were Eldest Sister-inw and Second Sister-inw.


    Usually talkative Second Sister-inw was stunned speechless for the moment, somewhat unbelieving that the man before her was the husband she hadn''t seen for many years.


    Eldest Sister-inw just stood in ce, covering her face as she wept bitterly.


    The other few sisters-inw were better, although their husbands were all away from home. They were all clear that they were not widows.


    Now that Eldest and Second Brother had just returned home, everyone¡¯s attention naturally fell on the two brothers.


    At this time, Old Lady Mo had already been supported forward by her seventh son, one hand holding Mo Junrui and the other Mo Jiacheng.


    She choked out with difficulty, "As long as you cane back, as long as you cane back.¡±


    Mo Junrui and Mo Jiacheng took the chance to stand up and direct their gazes at the wives they hadn''t seen for years.


    When Second Sister-inw¡¯s gaze met her husband¡¯s, she immediately burst into loud sobs.


    At the same time, she staggered over.


    "Husband... sob sob sob... You''re finally back alive. Do you know how envious I was of my younger sisters-inw when I saw they were no longer widows...sob sob sob..."


    Mo Junrui was her son, and also Second Sister-inw¡¯s husband.


    Of course the husband and wife would have a lot to say upon reuniting.


    Taking the chance, Old Lady Mo gently patted her two sons¡¯ arms, hinting for them to first go see their wives they hadn¡¯t seen in years.


    Mo Jiacheng felt guilty towards his mother for making her endure years of grief over his supposed death. He felt even more guilty towards his wife for making her a widow at a young age.


    Considering Father was still in the carriage, Mo Jiacheng decided to first go see his wife while Mother could take the chance to visit Father.


    Having received Mother¡¯s hint, Mo Jiacheng strode towards his wife.


    Second Sister-inw threw herself into his arms, crying even louder.


    Eldest Sister-inw was much moreposed than Second Sister-inw. She would always remind herself to set a good example for the family¡¯s daughters-inw. Therefore, her actions were not as exaggerated as Second Sister-inw¡¯s. She just strongly suppressed the urge to throw herself into her husband¡¯s arms and slowly walked up to Mo Junrui.


    "Husband..."


    After calling him, Eldest Sister-inw was already too choked up to speak.


    On the contrary, seeing his wife, who was much more haggard than before, Mo Junrui couldn''t hold back and stepped forward, sweeping her into his arms.


    "Biting, I''m sorry. I''ve made you heartbroken all these years."


    Hearing her husband call her by her maiden name, Eldest Sister-inw was startled for a moment.


    She hadn''t heard this term of endearment since news came of her husband''s death.


    Eldest Sister-inwpletely lost control of her emotions. She copsed in her husband''s arms, wailing loudly, and her fists continuously pounded his chest. It was as if she wanted to vent all the resentment pent up in her heart over the years.


    As Eldest and Second Brother tearfully embraced their wives, the other women quietly wept. Mo Hanyue kept by Old Lady Mo''s side, wiping away tears while caring for Mother.


    Seeing this, the other elder brothers also went to their wives tofort them.


    Mo Jiuye supported He Zhiran as they walked over to Old Lady Mo.


    Seeing He Zhiran''s huge belly, Old Lady Mo was about to scold them.


    But before she could speak, Mo Jiuye quickly said, "Mother, Father is weak and still in the carriage."


    Old Lady Mo instantly swallowed back what she was going to say.


    "Hanyue, quickly support your mother to see your father."


    Mo Jiuye went ahead to the carriage.


    "Mother, I''ll carry Father into the room first. You can slowly talk."


    Old Lady Mo didn''t respond to her son''s words. Instead, she directly opened the carriage door.


    After a few days of recuperation, Mo Qing could now sit for a while.


    At this time, he was leaning against the carriage, listening to the sounds of family reunion outside, and his old wife''s voice that had be much older than before. For a moment, he didn''t know how to face them.


    It was all because of his ipetence that such a good family had declined to this state.


    The carriage door suddenly opened, sunlight bursting in. Mo Qing squinted slightly.


    However, Old Lady Mo and Mo Jiuye could see at a nce that Mo Qing''s face was already streaked with tears.


    Seeing the emaciated old man in the carriage, Old Lady Mo was startled for a moment.


    But she soon recognized him from his brow and eyes.


    "Old Master, is it you?"


    Still, Old Lady Mo couldn''t quite believe it. She felt it was real only if the other party acknowledged it.


    "Mistress, I''ve made you suffer all these years. I''m sorry," Mo Qing said with difficulty.


    Hearing the familiar yet somewhat aged voice, Old Lady Mo finally believed this was all real.


    Now not only were her nine sons alive and well, even her husband, who had been proimed dead for so many years, was alive and standing before her.


    Old Lady Mo suddenly felt she possessed everything all at once, as if she had returned to the time when the children were young and the family was whole.


    "I''m not suffering... not suffering... As long as you''re all alive, that''s good..."


    As she spoke, Old Lady Mo could no longer continue. All that could be heard was her sobbing.

 Chapter 397: Not a few

    <h4>Chapter 397</h4>


    Eight years ago, when Mo Hanyue was only eight years old, her only impression of her father was that he was tall and dignified.


    Seeing her father again now, she didn''t recognize him at all.


    However, the kinship from blood made her feel a strange sense of intimacy when she saw the old man in front of her.


    The little girl was shy, and seeing Old Lady Mo crying uncontrobly, she held Old Lady Mo''s hand as she stood there weeping.


    Standing beside them, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help shedding tears as he watched the scene.


    In order to alleviate the atmosphere, he didn''t hurry to carry his father to the room. Instead, he pushed Mo Hanyue forward a little.


    He remembered that when Father was at home, what he liked best was Mo Hanyue, his only daughter. One could say he doted on her and pampered her.


    Under the present circumstances, letting his sister recognize their father should be the best way to alleviate their grief.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye pulled Mo Hanyue over to stand in front of Mo Qing.


    "Dad, look, Hanyue is a youngdy now."


    Sure enough, upon hearing Mo Jiuye''s words, Mo Qing''s attention quickly fell on Mo Hanyue.


    The little girl in front of him had grown into a delicate beauty, with a pair of bright eyes exactly the same as when she was a child.


    "Is this Hanyue? You''ve already be a youngdy. Dad can''t hold you anymore."


    As he spoke, Mo Qing unconsciously nced at his own legs which were still curled up.


    Seeing her father''s somewhat awkward manner, Mo Hanyue plucked up her courage and called out, "Daddy."


    Hearing his precious daughter call him Daddy, Mo Qing''s tears flowed uncontrolled once more.


    Seeing her father in tears, Mo Hanyue also lost control. She took a few steps forward, maintaining the closest distance to Mo Qing, and tentatively reached out to touch him.


    "Father... woo... Hanyue missed you so much... woo..."


    Mo Qing braced himself and reached out to grasp his daughter''s little hand.


    "Don''t cry, Hanyue. From now on, Dad will be with you."


    When Mo Qing said this, Mo Hanyue cried even harder. Ever since she was little, she didn''t have a father. Although her brothers loved and protected her, when she saw her little sisters mention how their father did this and that, she still felt a little sad sometimes.


    Moreover, she had never forgotten how her father had doted on her. Seeing her father''s decrepit state now, Mo Hanyue felt as if her heart was bleeding.


    In her impression, her father had been tall and dignified. Meeting him again now, he had be someone she didn''t dare to imagine.


    What''s more, seeing her father like this made her even more heartbroken.


    Mo Hanyue moved forward again and hugged her father''s outstretched arm tightly, crying grievously.


    Mo Qing felt extremely distressed, and gently stroked her smooth hair with his other hand.


    "Hanyue, be good. From now on, Dad will stay at home and be with our Hanyue."


    At this moment, Mo Qing still didn''t realize that his daughter had already grown up. Moreover, her wedding day was not far off.


    In his heart, his Hanyue was still a soft, tender little girl who needed to be doted on.


    On the way here, Mo Jiuye and the others had been asking about Father''s physical condition. Even though they talked about things at home, they forgot to mention that Mo Hanyue was already betrothed.


    Seeing the father and daughter crying so sorrowfully, Old Lady Mo was even more unable to hold back her tears, which fell like rain.


    No matter what, their Mo family was finally reunited.


    At this moment, Old Lady Mo was not sad but wept for joy. She had not lost herposure.


    Seeing her husband and daughter crying so sadly, Old Lady Mo quickly called Mo Jiuye over.


    "Jiuye, quickly carry your father back to the room and let him rest well. I will personally arrange for our Mo family to have a grand reunion banquet today to celebrate properly."


    Mo Jiuye responded and carried his father into the main room.


    As soon as he settled his father down, the whole family crowded in.


    The scene before him moved Old Lady Mo, Mo Jiuye and the women of the family the most.


    It had been eight years since Mo Qing was reported dead in battle, and the Mo sons had sessively died in battle after that.


    Until today, no one had imagined that their Mo family could have such a grand reunion.


    Seeing this scene, some of the women still couldn''t help shedding tears. Their husbands stood beside them to providefort.


    Old Lady Mo wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said to Mo Qing,


    "Dear husband, after eight long years, our Mo family is finally all here without a single one missing. Don''t you have anything to say?"


    After all, Old Lady Mo came from a prominent family, so she still couldn''tpletely disregard propriety at a time like this.


    Mo Qing had been absent from the family for eight years and hadn''t participated in so many things that happened during that time.


    Now his old wife was asking him to speak, but he really didn''t know where to start.


    Thinking that it was all thanks to his ninth son and daughter-inw that the family could reunite, his gaze fell on the young couple.


    "I failed in my duty as the head of this family, and made you grieve for me.


    This time, our Mo family is able to be together again, it''s all thanks to Jiuye and his wife.


    Don''t let their young age deceive you. From my observations over the past few days, their bearing and wisdom are far above you elder brothers and sisters-inw.


    Now that I''m old and useless, I only want to keep Old Lady Mopany for the rest of my life, and have the fortune to spend my days doting on grandchildren if you give more to the Mo family.


    From now on, this family will be led by Jiuye and his wife. Anyone who dares object will be punished ording to familyw."


    As soon as Mo Qing finished speaking, Old Lady Mo couldn''t helpughing.


    "Dear husband, where did I say wrong?"


    At this moment, Mo Qing felt a little uneasy. He had announced session to the public before discussing it with his old wife.


    "Dear husband said nothing wrong. I handed over the leadership of our Mo family to daughter-inw long ago. Our Mo family is able to be like this today, it''s all thanks to their support.


    Of course, everyone has made contributions to the family, but our daughter-inw is clever and capable, she is most suitable to manage the entire Mo family."


    So that was how it was.


    Mo Qing felt rather embarrassed.


    He knew his ninth son and daughter-inw had made outstanding contributions to the Mo family, and wanted to encourage them with this opportunity.


    He didn''t expect his old wife to have done it before him.


    "In that case, including me, everyone in our Mo family will listen to Jiuye and his wife from now on."


    No one had any objections to this, especially the elder brothers and sisters-inw who were originally at home.


    They had long witnessed the capabilities of the ninth brother and sister-inw. Whoever dared disagree, they would be the first to beat him up.


    "Father, Mother, don''t worry. From now on, we''ll all listen to ninth brother and ninth sister-inw." Everyone responded in chorus.


    Just as Old Lady Mo wanted to say something more to this harmonious big family, a series of footsteps were hearding from outside the door.


    Yu Er and Lan Er knew the Mo family was having a reunion today, and the family must have a lot to talk about.


    In order to prevent any outsiders from disturbing them, the young sisters had been standing guard at the front gate.

 Chapter 398: You guys come over here and show me.

    <h4>Chapter 398</h4>


    Yu Er was the first to knock on the door, "Old Lady Mo, Older Brother Tao and the others have arrived."


    Her meaning was obvious, she was asking if Old Lady Mo would let them in.


    Hearing that Tao Ran and the others hade, they were all Mo Qing''s former subordinates, so there was no reason to shut them out.


    Old Lady Mo got up and said to the doorway, "Let them in quickly."


    She believed that when her husband saw these people here, he would definitely be very happy.


    No sooner had she finished speaking than the door was pushed open from the outside.


    Yes, pushed open.


    Tao Ran had just been about to go into town to buy some things when he had just left home and heard the vigers discussing that Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan brothers hade back driving two carriages, and there were several people riding tall horses with them.


    Mo Jiuye had gone to the capital to find his enemy, Tao Ran and the others knew a little about it.


    Hearing that he had returned, none of them had thought that Old Duke could be rescued with the two young masters, they just wanted toe over and see how things were.


    Tao Ran didn''t go into town either, he called over a group of brothers and ran to the Mo family.


    When they arrived at the gate, they happened to see Yan Er and Yu Er guarding there.


    Usually, the Mo family didn''t have gatekeepers, Tao Ran and the others were very clear about this.


    Seeing the two maids guarding the gate strictly, Tao Ran instinctively felt that something big must have happened in the Mo family.


    The first thing they thought of was that the Mo family might have encountered something they couldn''t solve, or that there was some danger.


    Therefore, without waiting for Yan Er to let them in, hearing Old Lady Mo speaking inside, the group of men swarmed in like bees.


    Upon entering the room, the group was dumbfounded at once.


    Because Mo Junrui and Mo Jiacheng were just turning to look towards the doorway, their eyes met directly.


    Tao Ran and the others stood with their mouths agape, and it took them a long time to react.


    "Mas...Master, Second Master?"


    Speaking of the Mo family men, apart from Mo Qing, the two brothers were the ones who had been with these old subordinates the longest.


    Mo Junrui strode up to Tao Ran and patted him on the shoulder.


    "Hahaha, it''s me, you look much thinner."


    Mo Jiacheng followed Mo Junrui and walked up to Tao Ran and the others, looking at his brothers for a long time beforeughing heartily,


    "Hahaha... I didn''t expect that we brothers would have a day to reunite here."


    Tao Ran said excitedly, "It really is thanks to Ninth Master, otherwise we brothers would not know how we would be mistreated by that old fox Yuan Meng!"


    Mo Qing was lying on the innermost bed in the room. Hearing the voices of his old subordinates, he was filled with emotion.


    He didn''t expect that not only had his family suffered such treatment, but so many good brothers who had lived and died with him were also implicated.


    At this moment, he was excited to get up and meet these old subordinates, but as soon as he exerted himself, the weakness in his legs spread throughout his body.


    Only then did Mo Qing realize that he was now paralyzed in bed.


    He sighed helplessly and said loudly, "Tao Ran,e over and let me take a look at you."


    Hearing Mo Qing''s voice, Tao Ran and the others were stunned again.


    Although this voice didn''t have the awe-inspiring aura they remembered, it was not unfamiliar to them at all.


    "It''s the Old Duke." Someone couldn''t help but say out loud.


    At the same time, the group had already strode towards Mo Qing.


    Seeing this, the Mo brothers and female family members automatically gave way.


    At the sight of Mo Qing, Tao Ran and the others were stunned for a moment.


    If the man in front of them hadn''t been sitting on Old Lady Mo''s couch, they might have doubted who he really was.


    Where was the majestic look of the Old Duke? In Tao Ran''s eyes now, he was just an old man in his twilight years.


    Not only that, he looked very weak, with white hair, skinny as firewood...


    In short, seeing the Old Duke like this made their hearts ache.


    Seeing their dumbfounded looks, Mo Qing tried his best to squeeze out a smile and said, "What''s the matter? Just because we haven''t seen each other for eight years, you don''t recognize me?"


    Likewise, seeing these former subordinates made him feel very bad.


    Back then, these people had lived and died with him on the battlefield. He was afraid they would not have enough to eat, so whenever he had some money, he would try to supply them.


    Therefore, Tao Ran and the others looked not only strong and healthy, but chubby.


    Now looking at them again, they were not only older, but also somewhat thin.


    In fact, there was nothing strange about this. When they were rescued, they didn''t know how long they had gone without eating. Although they didn''t look particrly thin on the outside, it was the toxins in their bodies that were supporting them.


    After the poison was cured, their bodies shriveled up in the blink of an eye. In the cave, the several Mo brothers took turns helping them recuperate. Even so, it was impossible to recover all at once.


    It had been several months now since they were cured of the poison, and Tao Ran and the others were obviously much better than when they had just been cured.


    But the severe malnutrition could not be replenished at once, so their current appearance looked very different in Mo Qing''s eyes.


    "s... it''s been hard on all of you following me."


    Mo Qing didn''t want to say any more. Tao Ran and the others had be his subordinates and suffered this fate. But now he himself was a useless man, he had no standing to offer anypensation.


    Thinking of this, his gaze fell again on his curled legs.


    Not to mention whether these legs could be cured, for Mo Qing it was the greatest humiliation in his life.


    The state of his legs was actually caused by kneeling at Yuan Meng''s grave.


    If he were still like he was back then, he would surely lead his iron cavalry to raze the south to the ground, to avenge himself and his Mo men who lived and died with him.


    But he had to ept reality. Now he was no longer a duke, nor the suprememander of the three armies, just an ordinarymoner.


    Being an ordinarymoner would be good too, he would probably still have to guard against Emperor Shunwu.


    The fact that such a big family of Mos had gathered together would sooner orter be known to Emperor Shunwu.


    No one among those present understood Emperor Shunwu''s temperament better than Mo Qing.


    Emperor Shunwu was weak-willed and ustomed to listening to nderers. Mo Qing guessed that his family''s arrest and exile must also have been due to someone speaking ill of them behind the scenes.


    Initially, Emperor Shunwu might still have considered how the Mo sons guarded his country, but after listening to such words for too long, Emperor Shunwu would bepletely irrational.


    If Emperor Shunwu heard that the Mo men were all alive, he would inevitably have some inappropriate ideas again.


    Thinking of this, Mo Qing felt it necessary to discuss this matter with everyone, otherwise once Emperor Shunwu really used some sinister means against the Mo family, they would be caught off guard.


    Now Mo Qing knew that his ninth son and daughter-inw were the most capable in the family, so he looked directly at Mo Jiuye.

 Chapter 399: I Can Work this Out

    <h4>Chapter 399</h4>


    "Mo Jiuye, have you ever thought about what would happen if Emperor Shunwu discovered that all the men of our family are alive?"


    Mo Jiuye had indeed considered this point.


    However, he had been busy with the family matters and searching for the whereabouts of his father and brothers during this time. Moreover, he hadn''te up with a good strategy yet, which caused the dy.


    Besides, he was always vignt, watching out for spies sent by Emperor Shunwu or the Southern Border.


    He had nned to deal with these issues after rescuing his father and brothers and settling the family down.


    Now that his father asked him, Mo Jiuye helplessly shook his head, "Son hasn''te up with a good solution yet."


    Mo Qing sighed helplessly upon hearing Mo Jiuye''s reply.


    Even though he had some ns in mind, it was impossible to carry out such actions without sufficient funds.


    He knew that He Zhiran, who had been quiet all along, already had some ideas, and she also guessed some of Mo Qing''s thoughts.


    "Father, there''s no need to worry about the silver coins. I can find a way to solve that problem."


    Stealthily raising an army?


    What''s difficult about that?


    Not to mention that she had an endless supply of silver coins in her space, she also possessed powerful weapons.


    Raising an army didn''t require thousands of soldiers, just about a thousand or eight hundred elite troops would be enough.


    Moreover, since thest invasion by the barbarians, she had a thought in mind.


    She wanted to wait for Mo Jiuye to return so they could discuss the development of gunpowder.


    Once gunpowder was sessfully developed, they could create powerful weapons. Although these weapons couldn''tpare to the ones in her space, they would be invincible in this era of cold weapons.


    Furthermore, there were many men in the Mo family, and they were all righteous individuals. When it came to developing gunpowder, they could assign their own people to do it.


    Considering today''s presence of Tao Ran and the others, He Zhiran did not mention this idea.


    Even so, she made it clear that there was absolutely no problem with the Mo family secretly raising an army.


    Moreover, they had purchased arge piece ofnd and built a camp in a concealed area in the mountains, which allowed them to raise an army without anyone noticing.


    In fact, Mo Qing was not the only one who realized this. The Mo brothers were also concerned about raising an army.


    Now that their father was the first to bring it up, it meant that this matter needed to be officially put on the agenda.


    However, they were well aware of the expenses involved in raising an army, and it was not something that could be achieved with just a small amount of money.


    Even if they tried their best to earn money, it was probably impossible for them to raise an army.


    Surprisingly, their younger sister Jiu Ye casually said it without any confidence.


    Not only that, Jiu Ye also said that there was no need to worry about the silver coins, as she could find a way to solve that problem.


    Jiu Ye was indeed good at making money, but they also saw that although the family had daily ie, that profit could be considered abundant for ordinary people. If they used that ie to raise an army, it would be like a drop in the bucket.


    It seemed that Jiu Ye hadn''t realized how expensive it was to raise an army, which was why she said such things.


    Butpared to the ninth brother and sister, they seemed tock confidence. Currently, they could only live an ordinary life likemoners and probably didn''t have the ability to earn even a small amount of money.


    However, this matter was crucial and had to be considered.


    Lacking the means and solutions, the Mo brothers could only wear a troubled expression and remain silent.


    They wanted to see how their usually decisive father nned to arrange things.


    The sisters-inw were perceptive and worried that someone might eavesdrop on such an important family discussion. They pulled Mo Hanyue out of the room and dispersed to stand guard outside.


    Only He Zhiran, they all knew that the intelligence and talent of the ninth brother and sister far surpassed those of the Mo brothers. She had to stay and discuss it together.


    Inside the hall at this moment, everyone was serious.


    Mo Qing scanned the room and finally rested his gaze on Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    The one who spoke confidently earlier was the ninth daughter-inw. However, if he were to ask again at this moment, as the father of the family, he still couldn''t bring himself to speak. Therefore, he could only ask Mo Jiuye.


    After all, he and He Zhiran were husband and wife, and theymunicated the most. It was impossible for a daughter-inw not to share her thoughts with her husband.


    "Jiuye, what do you think about this matter?"


    Mo Jiuye hadn''t been informed about He Zhiran''s n to develop gunpowder, so he hadn''te up with a foolproof solution either.


    However, he knew better than anyone about the unlimited money in his wife''s possession. In this regard, Mo Jiuye still had confidence.


    In addition, he had his own ns to some extent.


    "Father, when Zhiran and I passed through the border on our way to the Southern Frontier, we heard the soldiers who used to follow us talking about their intention to join the Mo family.


    Therefore, the issue of personnel can be easily solved.


    As for the funds for maintaining the troops, I cane up with a solution."


    As for the rest, Mo Jiuye hadn''t nned it in detail yet.


    With He Zhiran''s intelligence, she naturally understood that her father-inw''s questions to Mo Jiuye were indirectly asking her.


    After Mo Jiuye finished speaking, she added, "Also, I suggest that we don''t have too many troops, preferably not exceeding a thousand."


    He Zhiran had learned from Mo Jiuye that there were fewer than a thousand soldiers who still followed the Mo family in the South. In her opinion, having a force of less than a thousand was sufficient.


    From the perspective of expenses, there was a tenfold difference between maintaining a force of a thousand and ten thousand.


    In addition, she considered that if more people were needed, they would have to recruit externally. New recruits wouldn''t have a thorough understanding of their background, and if someone with impure intentions managed to infiltrate, it would be a loss.


    Upon hearing He Zhiran''s words, everyone''s gaze focused on her, including Mo Jiuye, and they all felt that her suggestion was somewhat unrealistic.


    Mo Qing couldn''t hold back and asked, "Ninth sister, have you forgotten? Some time ago, it was just a group of barbarian people who came to rob us, and their numbers were over five hundred.


    Once the barbarian army wants to use this ce as a breakthrough to attack, I''m afraid it won''t be as simple as five hundred people. Saying they number in the thousands is an understatement."


    In case we encounter such a situation, we are far from being a thousand people strong. How should we deal with the enemy?"


    The concerns of Mo Chuhan were not unreasonable in the minds of the members of the Mo family.


    After all, they all had a military background, and during battles, the number of troops was always a disadvantage.


    Back then, Seventh Brother had also participated in that fight at home and understood the severity of the situation.


    Being someone who rarely spoke, he couldn''t help but raise a question.


    "Ninth Sister, what Eighth Brother said makes sense. Building an army is not child''s y."


    He Zhiran knew that once she uttered such words, she would undoubtedly face the scrutiny of everyone.


    With confidence, she exined, "If I can create a weapon that can single-handedly take on a hundred or even a thousand enemies, would you still consider a thousand people to be few?"


    Upon hearing He Zhiran''s words, Mo Jiuye immediately thought of the hand grenades in her space.


    He had personally witnessed the power of those things. When he left Southern Border with the Emperor''s corpse, he threw a few of them, and he saw countless Southern Border soldiers instantly killed or injured.


    That was only because he was trying to escape and hadn''t intended to massacre anyone.


    If she were to throw a few more, it was feared that the Southern Border camp would no longer exist.


    Was Zhiran nning to create such weapons?

 Chapter 400: It’s Me this time

    <h4>Chapter 400</h4>


    Mo Jiuye was very enthusiastic about hand grenades.


    After truly experiencing their power, he had also tried to research them.


    Butter, as things got busier, it was temporarily ignored by him.


    Now that there were only trusted people in the room, Mo Jiuye also had no scruples about asking.


    "Ran Ran, what kind of weapon are you talking about?"


    He did not say the name of the weapon, but made a gesture of throwing a hand grenade.


    Because he was clear in his heart that hand grenades were a product unique to his wife''s space. In case what the other person was talking about was not this, wouldn''t he expose himself by saying it out.


    Now, manufacturing gunpowder was only He Zhiran''s preliminary n. Before it seeded, she did not want to speak it out too early.


    Therefore, she answered more conservatively.


    "I just had an idea, whether it can seed or not, I have to try it before I know."


    But she had already made up her mind in her heart. Making gunpowder stuff was not difficult to get, as long as the dosage was grasped.


    Although it sounded easy, it was estimated that it would take a lot of twists and turns to produce it. After all, this gunpowder stuff was not to be yed with. With a slight carelessness, the people involved in the production could be blown away.


    She would have to study it carefullyter and strive to do it without any problems.


    Mo Qing was confused for a while about what medicine his sister-inw was selling in her gourd, but he believed her without reservations.


    Mo Qing saw that his sister-inw was talking mysteriously. Even though he was eager to know the details in his heart, he did not dare to inquire in front of so many people.


    "Lady He, the power of the weapon you mentioned is still unknown, and time waits for no one. The reason why I want an army of my own is because I don''t know when Emperor Shunwu will take action against us."


    He knew Emperor Shunwu best. He was already wary of the Mo family to the point of exiling them. Once he learned that the Mo men were still alive, he would probably not sleep well without getting rid of them.


    He Zhiran thought for a while and replied, "I agree with my husband''s opinion on training troops. Go to the south and bring back the soldiers who were born and died with the Mo family. That way, there is no need to worry about loyalty.


    It can also solve their plight of being ostracized there.


    I calcted that rushing on fast horses, this round trip would take at least a month.


    In more than a month, I think there will be enough time to research the weapon I mentioned.


    If nothing unexpected happens, these soldiers can be equipped with such weapons by the time they arrive in the northwest."


    He Zhiran had ns that since she suggested having an army of no more than a thousand people, even if she failed to sessfully develop gunpowder, she would distribute the hand grenades from her space to everyone.


    Giving everyone one first was enough to protect their homes.


    That way, she still had enough time to continue researching gunpowder, and sooner orter she would seed in researching it.


    There was no need to worry about the generals either. The medicine men who had returned home had arrived one after another. There were more than 20 people in this room now.


    With such an army and her advanced weapons, they would definitely be able to do it without any problems.


    Of course, she didn''t have any ambitions to fight for power either. The goal was only one - as long as the whole family was safe and sound.


    That is to say, she would not choose to provoke others, but if someone bullied them, she would definitely not be soft-handed.


    Seeing his ninth sister-inw''s well-reasoned words, the Mo men simply believed in her implicitly.


    The third elder brother immediately stood up, "Since this is the case, I am willing to go to the south to bring those soldiers back."


    "Third elder brother, since you came back, you have been collecting information outside all the time. I will go this time." The fifth elder brother refused to give in.


    The other brothers were equally unwilling to fall behind, and they all rushed to go to the south.


    At this time, Mo Qing also saw it.


    When he said just now that he wanted his ninth son and daughter-inw to be in charge of the house, it was nonsense.


    Even if he didn''t say it, this family would do that.


    Wasn''t this the case? As soon as his sister-inw said something, everyone obeyed without asking why.


    It seemed that he had very good eyesight. At first nce, he realized that this ninth sister-inw was extraordinary. Even his arrogant sons obeyed withoutint.


    After understanding these things, Mo Qing decided to shut up.


    Anyway, he had stated his opinion. He was now a disabled person, so he would not add to the chaos.


    The trip to the south was inevitable, and it could not be dyed either. After discussing among the brothers, it was finally decided that the seventh elder brother would go on this trip.


    As for making gunpowder, of course, it had to be done by their own people too.


    The best person for this in He Zhiran''s eyes was the fifth elder brother.


    The fifth elder brother was daring and meticulous, and no one could be more suitable.


    Of course, the other brothers could also participate, depending on their own wishes.


    With things settled, the seventh elder brother would set off for the south tomorrow, but that did not affect the Mo family reunion dinner tonight.


    With He Zhiran here, the family would neverck all kinds of good ingredients.


    The eighth elder brother had specially gone to the fishing vige to buy a lot of seafood that the locals here disliked but the Mo family could make delicious dishes with.


    The culinary skills of the sisters-inw had now been practiced to perfection, but now apart from He Zhiran, the best cook in the Mo family was Yu Er.


    This girl usually had no intrigues in her heart and just worked wholeheartedly. She knew that her ninthdy had superb culinary skills. In order to make herself have a skill she could be proud of, whenever He Zhiran cooked, she would follow along to help and learn at the same time.


    For the Mo family reunion banquet tonight, Yu Er took over the role of head chef without objection. The sisters-inw then helped out as sous chefs.


    The women worked hard for an afternoon and finally prepared a sumptuous dinner before nightfall.


    Simrly, the banquet was set in the main hall where the elderly couple stayed.


    Mo Qing returned home in high spirits. Coupled with He Zhiran''s conditioning over the past few days, he looked more energetic than ever.


    He was carried to the main seat by his sons to sit, with his old wife sitting beside him.


    The younger generations then found their own ces to sit.


    On a nice day like this, with so much delicious food, they naturally asked Fang Chuanzhou, Xie Tianhai and Hu Cong toe over and join them.


    As well as Liang Hao, Tao Ran and their group of men.


    With them, the hall could not amodate everyone, so several tables were specially set up in the yard.


    Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou were old acquaintances of Mo Qing. They had pretty good rtionships when they were in the capital.


    Hu Cong was younger than Mo Qing by some years. Although they did not have much interaction, they both had good impressions of each other.


    Mo Qing had also heard of some of their experiences during their exile and felt even closer to Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai than before.


    As for Hu Cong, he suffered the same plight as the Mo family, so Mo Qing sympathized with him even more.


    He invited the two old friends and Hu Cong to dine together. Just as everyone was about to start, footsteps came from outside the door.


    Nan Rui''s voice was very loud.


    "What happy event is it today that it¡¯s so lively?"


    Everyone''s gaze turned to the sound source, and they saw Nan Rui supporting Imperial Consort De, smiling and walking into the hall.

 Chapter 401: The Family Reunion Dinner

    <h4>Chapter 401</h4>


    Mo Qing saw a moment of stunnedness sh across the face of the person in front of him.


    Old Lady Mo quickly introduced, "Master, this is A''Rui and Madam Mei."


    She did not directly state Nan Rui and Consort De''s true identities, as Nan Rui had previously instructed that from now on, they would no longer be Prince Rui and Imperial Consort De.


    Mo Qing probably recognized the two, so Old Lady Mo figured a simple introduction would be enough for him to identify them.


    The titles were somewhat unfamiliar to Mo Qing, but he knew his old wife well and understood that she would only introduce people he knew to him.


    So Mo Qing took a good look at Nan Rui and his mother. After a long while, he finally had a sense of sudden realization, and also felt incredible disbelief.


    If it had been just one familiar face, he could have brushed it off, but with both Nan Rui and his mother - two very familiar people - standing together, Mo Qing had to believe that the people before him were none other than the current Prince Rui and Imperial Consort De.


    He just did not understand why the mother and son would appear in such a barren ce as the northwest.


    No wonder Mo Qing was puzzled. On his way back from the west, he had been drifting in and out of consciousness in the carriage, and his sons did not tell him too much so he could rest properly.


    After returning to Xiling Vige, the family immediately discussed military affairs, then prepared for the family reunion banquet. So Mo Qing knew nothing about what Nan Rui and the Consort were doing in the northwest.


    Seeing his family and two old friends treat Nan Rui and his mother''s presence as normal, it was clear that there was nothing odd about them being in Xiling Vige.


    Even with countless questions in mind, Mo Qing still tried his best to remain calm on the surface.


    When introducing them, his wife had addressed them as A''Rui and Madam Mei - there must be some hidden reasons behind this, and he should not pry.


    "Hahaha...wee, wee. Today we happen to have a family reunion banquet, please take a seat."


    He could not stand up, so he simply gestured to invite them to sit.


    He did not intend to give up the host''s seat to anyone.


    The current Mo Qing did not have a very good impression of the Nans. His hospitality was just to avoid spoiling the atmosphere, not true friendliness.


    As for how to deal with Nan Rui and his mother in the future, he would have to find out more before deciding.


    Nan Rui had always been gentle and refined. Even as a prince, he interacted with others in a down-to-earth way.


    Seeing Mo Qing''s invitation, he politely took a seat below Mo Qing and Old Lady Mo together with Consort De, showing no difort at all with sitting in that position.


    At this moment, not only was Mo Qing puzzled by Nan Rui and his mother''s situation, Mo Junrui and Mo Jiacheng were also very curious.


    But like their father, they tried their best to restrain their curiosity with so many people around, nning to ask the guests after they left.


    Unexpectedly, during the meal, Nan Rui took the initiative to tell them about his circumstances.


    For a while, Mo Qing could not determine whether Nan Rui was truly tired of power, or had other motives. In any case, he could notpletely trust him.


    Since the family''s situation had been clearly exposed to others, it seemed they would have to speed up the n of secretly building an army.


    In this world, human hearts were unpredictable - who couldpletely understand another''s thoughts?


    Of course, in front of Nan Rui and his mother, Mo Qing did not show any abnormality and continued to warmly entertain the guests.


    This was the first time Mo Qing, Mo Junrui and Mo Jiacheng tasted such delicious food.


    Back in the capital, the Mos had also been a prestigious family with specialized chefs, but the dishes they made could notpare at all to today¡¯s food.


    Many ingredients were also things they had never seen before.


    And that was not all - after the meal there were many delicious fruits, also novel tastes they had never sampled.


    Having just returned home yesterday, they were already experiencing so many fresh foods.


    If they had not been stationed in the Western Regions before, they would have certainly thought all these were specialties of the west.


    It was Old Lady Mo who noticed the puzzlement of the father and sons and exined where everything came from.


    For instance, the delicious watermelon - He Zhiran had intentionally nurtured some seedlings early on in her space ring, hoping to let the family try some fresh ones first. Now, some had ripened.


    But the number of ripe watermelons was still small at the moment, not enough to sell externally yet.


    After eight years, the Mo family was finally reunited. The atmosphere could not be affected by Nan Rui¡¯s appearance.


    Everyone ate, drank and chatted untilte into the night before retiring individually.


    Due to Nan Rui''s presence, Mo Qing inevitably felt some mental pressure.


    Seventh Brother had intended to set off south the next day, but was stopped by He Zhiran.


    It wasn''t that she wasn''t anxious to build the army, but she considered that the newpound had been fully constructed with all furniture in ce.


    If the Mo men had not rushed out to search for their father earlier, they would have moved in already.


    For ancient people, moving into a new residence was a big deal - no one hoped for absent family members.


    Therefore, He Zhiran decided to dy Seventh Brother''s trip for a day - they would move first.


    Otherwise, with Seventh Brother only returning in over a month, it would be inconvenient to live in this small courtyard so close to He Zhiran¡¯s due date, especially with the growing household. That was why He Zhiran had specially built those courtyard houses.


    Thinking of therge family, and her modern soul also not ustomed to that kind ofmunal living, she had deliberately constructed ten courtyards, with an eleventh on the far west endter gifted to Mo Hanyue. Each was a siheyuan.


    Viewed from afar, the eleven siheyuans stood neatly in an east-west row, with the front and back evenly aligned, looking very orderly.


    In front, He Zhiran had specially nted many peach trees in the open spaces surrounding the houses.


    Come spring next year, the area would take on a different beauty.


    There were not many items in the rented courtyard for the Mo family to move as new furniture had been prepared in thepound, so not much needed to be transported.


    The family only had to carry some personal belongings over.


    With many helpers from Hu Cong and Tao Ran, moving only took about an hour in the morning.


    The sisters-inw returned to clean up the rented ce, checking for any forgotten useful items and giving the rest to vigers. They also thoroughly cleaned the ce to return to thendlord.


    By afternoon, all was done.


    Yu Er prepared another rich feast for the housewarming banquet, after which everyone returned to their own courtyards for the night.


    He Zhiran had built so many siheyuans considering therge household, and as someone from the modern age, she was also not ustomed to living in a big traditional family setting. Separate living quarters gave each family privacy while they still worked together in the day.

 Chapter 402: Better than all the fruits in the palace.

    <h4>Chapter 402</h4>


    If it was time to eat, she would have no objection if the two elders did not want to ask to eat alone.


    When it was time to eat, just go to the old people''s yard together directly.


    Living separately like this, not only He Zhiran liked it, but Mo Jiuye also liked it equally.


    Ask which man doesn''t want to have a ce to spend time with his wife alone?


    Especially He Zhiran, who had to go in and out of the space every day. Now that she had her own yard, it would be more convenient.


    The elder brothers and sisters-inw felt the same way, they all felt that their own little home was now warm andfortable.


    This night was the mostfortable night since the Mo family came to Xiling Vige.


    Living in a specialrge yard, sleeping on arge bed, and most importantly, the whole family was together without losing anyone.


    The next morning, the whole family got up early and gathered in the old couple''s yard.


    On the one hand, the old people did not say they wanted to split up the family and eat alone, on the other hand, it was also to see off the Seventh Elder Brother who was going to the southern border.


    Although on the surface Seventh Elder Brother''s trip to the southern border did not seem to have any danger, He Zhiran was still careful to prepare a lot of self-defense items for him.


    For example, drugs that can quickly take care of enemies when faced with arge number of enemies.


    In addition, the antidote pills from when she went to the capital with Mo Jiuye were also essential.


    In addition, He Zhiran also prepared some jerky for him, which was easy to eat on the road.


    Seventh Elder Brother took the items she had prepared, bid farewell to his family, and rode away without daring to look at his wife''s reluctant eyes.


    While Seventh Elder Brother went to the south to find his former subordinates, He Zhiran was also not idle on her side.


    Since she had already said that she would train a thousand troops, she had to produce gunpowder as soon as possible, otherwise, a thousand soldiers would really be unable to resist the enemy country''s army or the people sent by Emperor Shunwu, just as her adoptive father worried.


    Seeing her send off Seventh Elder Brother and then return to her own yard, Mo Jiuye hurried to catch up.


    "Ranran, are you going to research grenades?"


    The young couple chatted for a while in the spacest night, and He Zhiran told Mo Jiuye about her ns.


    No one was more aware of the power of this weapon than Mo Jiuye.


    Even though his wife said that the weapon she nned to make was not as powerful as a grenade, and could be called a bomb, it would still be an invincible existence in this era.


    Mo Jiuye looked forward to this more than anyone else.


    When the two returned to their own yard, they shed into the space.


    Although He Zhiran knew the raw materials needed to make gunpowder, in order to increase the sess rate, she still nned to ask the little collector for help in finding the exact form on , so that she could avoid some detours here.


    Nowadays, the little collector catered to He Zhiran''s every need, after all, she was his big client.


    Soon, he sent the exact form in the chat box.


    He Zhiran got the form and asked Mo Jiuye to copy it on Xuan paper with a writing brush and give it to Fifth Elder Brother.


    Among the several elder brothers at home, Fifth Elder Brother was the most meticulous one, and He Zhiran was most at ease with leaving the production of gunpowder to him.


    Of course, Fifth Elder Brother could not do it alone. He called on Eldest Brother, Second Brother and Third Elder Brother to join him.


    Fourth Elder Brother also wanted to participate in this matter.


    He always felt that he had be a useless person after Ninth Younger Brother saved him.


    Although he could walk a few steps when supported now, his legs still felt weak and he had no strength at all.


    Fortunately, his hands had recovered seventy to eighty percent, and there was no problem as long as he didn''t use too much force.


    Thinking that Fifth Brother was going to make weapons, even if he couldn''t stand for a long time, he could at least do some work with his hands.


    However, the location for making gunpowder was chosen on the mountain to avoid harming the innocent. In addition, He Zhiran also considered the high probability of explosions urring during the production of gunpowder. If it was too close to the residential area, it would easily damage the buildings.


    Because it was on the mountain, Fourth Elder Brother''s original n to participate was no longer feasible either. With his legs, he certainly couldn''t let his brothers carry him up and down the mountain!


    Helplessly, Fourth Elder Brother had to give up the idea.


    On the first day the brothers went up the mountain to research gunpowder, they did not make adequate preparations and came back before dark.


    The next day, they gained experience and brought a lot of food to stay on the mountain to continue their research.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye knew that it was best not to disturb them while making gunpowder, so Mo Jiuye did not go up the mountain to take a look either.


    He had been out for more than a month this time after going out anding back.


    It was now early June, and the vegetables and fruits in the fields were beginning to ripen one after another.


    For example, melons. Sixth Elder Brother went to check early in the morning and came back saying that the sweet aroma spread everywhere. He saw one split open and picked it to taste it, and it was as sweet as honey.


    Since returning from the Western Regions, He Zhiran had not been to check on the melon field.


    After hearing Sixth Elder Brother''s description and calcting the nting time, the melons should be ripe now.


    Mo Jiuye was currently busy dealing with matters regarding the site for raising poultry and livestock, so He Zhiran called Lan Er to go with her to check on the melon field.


    Nowadays, the cultivatednd of the Mo family was taken care of by hired help, only those special melon fields were guarded by the dogs, and checking was also done by their own people.


    It wasn''t that He Zhiran didn''t trust those hired people, after all, melons and watermelons were rare treasures in this era, and she nned to sell them for a good price.


    Although these vigers were all honest, no one could refrain from touching such edible things ced before their eyes.


    Especially the melons, they were not very big. Stealthily tucking two under the arms and taking them away would not be noticed by anyone.


    Therefore, the melon fields were managed by their own people.


    Supported by Lan Er, He Zhiran was still some distance away from the melon field when a sweet scent rushed up to meet her.


    "Ninth Madam, there was no such fragrancest time I apanied you here!" Lan Er was obviously somewhat excited.


    She had apanied the Ninth Madam to check on this melon field countless times, so she had watched these melons grow up.


    And she would often go down to the field to do weeding and other chores, so she was naturally happy that the melon field she had carefully tended was now bearing fruit.


    When the two came close to the melon field, the sweet scent became even stronger.


    Seeing the master, the dogs guarding the field wagged their tails and gathered around.


    He Zhiran patted their heads, then took Lan Er into the melon field.


    Judging from the appearance of these melons, half of them were already ripe.


    He Zhiran picked a nearby one and shared it with Lan Er.


    After taking a bite, Lan Er enjoyed it with her eyes closed.


    "Ninth Madam, the melon is really sweet, much more delicious than the fruits in the pce."


    The Fourth Princess treated her and Yu''er like sisters, and would share any delicacies with them, so Lan Er had tasted the top fruits of this era.

 Chapter 403: In Search of the Whereabouts of Mohism

    <h4>Chapter 403</h4>


    The fruits that Lan Er had eaten before were simply worlds apartpared to this fragrant melon.


    He Zhiran knew that Lan Er was a knowledgeable maid.


    "Compared to the fruits you''ve eaten before, how is this?"


    "My Lady, the melon is absolutely the king of fruits."


    As Lan Er spoke, she had already raised her thumb up high.


    He Zhiran understood in her heart and had Lan Er pick some more melons to bring back for her family to taste.


    At the same time, she sent Liang Hao to the city to look for Tang Mingrui toe to Xiling Vige in person to discuss cooperation matters regarding the melons.


    He Zhiran only wanted to be a supplier. She currently only trusted Tang Mingrui with the sales issue.


    Tang Mingrui''s business was now vastly different from before. Relying on the Cold Rabbit Meat from the Mo family shop, he had opened restaurants in several nearby towns that specialized in this Cold Rabbit Meat dish.


    Because he opened the restaurants himself, the Cold Rabbit Meat was no longer sold to other restaurants. Moreover, the cooking method for Cold Rabbit Meat was a secret Mo family recipe, and the exclusive sales rights were fully handed over to him.


    Even so, the Cold Rabbit Meat was still not enough to meet demands in his several restaurants. At the same time, it also brought his restaurant business to a peak.


    Other restaurants were envious of his booming business and tried to get their chefs to make Cold Rabbit Meat as well.


    But the taste they made was barely ptable, without even a hint of the original vor.


    Firstly, the most important seasoning for Cold Rabbit Meat, chili peppers, they did not have. So how could they produce a simr taste?


    In the end, those who tried to imitate the Cold Rabbit Meat ended in failure.


    Yet they did not give up and wanted to obtain the Cold Rabbit Meat through other means.


    It was unknown which restaurant owner got wind of the news and found out that the Cold Rabbit Meat at Tang''s Restaurant came from the Mo family in Xiling Vige. He then secretly sent someone to Xiling Vige.


    Just as she had sent Liang Hao to look for Tang Mingrui, He Zhiran took Lan Er to her inws'' courtyard.


    Nowadays, Mo Qing was in poor health and always needed someone by his side. Old Lady Mo stayed in her own courtyard every day to take care of him.


    As someone who valued filial piety greatly, He Zhiran naturally brought the melons to the elders first for them to taste.


    It was scorching hot currently. Mo Qing was moved to rest under the grape trellis in the yard to enjoy the breeze.


    Just as a few people were enjoying the delicious melons, they suddenly heard a chorus of barking and hurried footsteps.


    These footsteps did not sound very familiar to He Zhiran.


    Because they sounded very heavy when running,pletely different from the light steps of the Mo men.


    Yu Er cleverly walked towards the entrance.


    Upon opening the door, she saw a man from the Zhao family standing there panting heavily, together with several dogs.


    Before the Zhao man could speak, the dogs barked again the moment they saw He Zhiran and kept looking back towards the vige.


    He Zhiran knew that something had happened in the vige and these dogs came to report it.


    But the dogs'' ability tomunicate was necessarily limited. She first asked the Zhao man.


    "Brother, did something happen?"


    "Old Nine''s family, where are your men? Go check out the vige quickly. Some people came looking for the Mo family''s whereabouts.


    Seeing their malicious intentions, I rushed here to warn you so you can prepare."


    Seeing the Zhao man''s flustered appearance, He Zhiran instantly felt the gravity of the situation.


    Coincidentally, Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother also heard the dogs barking and rushed back.


    Tao Ran and others came back together with them.


    Judging by their speed, He Zhiran concluded that they must have used Qinggong (lightness skill), otherwise with the distance from the animal farm to their residence, it would not be possible to return this quickly without using Qinggong.


    Having just heard the Zhao man''s words, Mo Jiuye and the others also understood.


    At this time, Mo Qing under the grape trellis also spoke.


    "Jinyean, Jiuye, take some people to the vige to see what exactly is going on."


    It was not that Mo Qing was being paranoid. Since returning to Xiling Vige, he had been worried that Emperor Shunwu would make a move.


    Now, he did not dare let his guard down whenever anything was amiss.


    Mo Jiuye left two people to guard the elders and headed to the vige with Sixth Elder Brother and the others.


    Just as the group reached the vige outskirts, they heard cursing.


    "Get the hell away from me, I''m here for the Mo family. If you continue being obstructionist dogs, don''t me my stick for being merciless."


    Although afraid, Vige Chief Zhao saw the aggressiveness of these people and worried that something might happen to the Mo family. He wanted to buy them as much time as possible to get prepared.


    "Sir, the Mo family are all women... It''s not appropriate for you to lead so many people there..."


    Zhao hoped that by emphasizing that the Mo family were originally mostly women when they first arrived, he could dissuade those people with this plea.


    But his idea, albeit beautiful, was futile because those looking to make trouble for the Mo family did not care at all whether they were men or women.


    Seeing that man bing impatient and about to push Vige Chief Zhao aside, Mo Jiuye dashed forward and fiercely grabbed his wrist.


    "Who are you? What business do you have with the Mo family?"


    Feeling the pain in his wrist, the man turned to look at Mo Jiuye.


    "You darey hands on me. Looks like you''re tired of living."


    Mo Jiuye stared at him coldly with no intention of letting go.


    This man was dressed in silk but made into casual shorts, which gave off an inconsistent vibe.


    Moreover, he had vicious features. Especially with his arm hurting from Mo Jiuye''s grip, his distorted expression appeared even more hideous and terrifying to ordinary folks.


    Following him were over twenty men, each holding a wooden staff.


    Their clothes were made of regr cotton and it was apparent that this man Mo Jiuye grabbed was their ringleader.


    Judging by their looks, they resembled local ruffians.


    Seeing their boss at a disadvantage, someone immediately pointed his wooden staff at Mo Jiuye.


    "You''ve got guts grabbing Second Master''s arm. Looks like you''re tired of living."


    As he spoke, someone had already swung the staff down towards Mo Jiuye''s head.


    Seeing this, the vigers who ran over had already closed their eyes in fear.


    If that strike reallynded on his head, would this man still live?


    But what the vigers feared did not happen at all. Mo Jiuye did not show any intention of dodging either.


    Only to see Sixth Elder Brother stride forward aggressively. It was unclear how he exactly moved but he sent those ruffians who wanted to harm his younger brother flying several meters away with a kick before anyone even realized it.


    The ruffians fell on the ground yelling nonstop. They were used to being arrogant and had never suffered such humiliation before.


    Even having witnessed the other party''s might, they remained defiant.

 Chapter 404: Let’s Talk.

    <h4>Chapter 404</h4>


    "<Mo Jinnian> did not care who they were. Even if the King of Heaven came, he would not let anyone bully his <Mo Family>."


    "I don''t care who you are. I advise you today to leave quickly if you don''t want to suffer, otherwise..."


    "Otherwise what? If you make our <Second Master> unhappy, don''t expect to live a peaceful life here in the future." Before <Mo Jiuye> could finish speaking, the thugs interrupted with threats in their tone.


    <Mo Jiuye> snorted coldly and increased the force of his grip.


    "I don''t care who you are. If you dare to cause trouble for my <Mo Family>, don''t expect to leave here unscathed."


    The <Second Master> could clearly hear the sound of his own bones breaking, and he screamed in pain, "Stop...stop quickly..."


    <Mo Jiuye> was not deterred at all by his squeals like a pig being ughtered. He still firmly gripped the arm that he had crushed.


    "Who exactly are you? Why are you causing trouble for the <Mo Family>?"


    The pain brought tears to the <Second Master''s> eyes. He also realized that the person in front of him had a backbone and was not afraid of him at all.


    In order not to suffer any more, he softened his tone, but still with a hint of threat.


    "I''m from the provincial government. Go ask anyone there, all the underworld and upper ss give <Second Master> me some face."


    The provincial government?


    Clearly, these were just small-time street thugs. <Mo Jiuye> recalled that he had never even left Yuncheng, let alone offend anyone from the provincial government.


    "I''m asking you why you are causing trouble for the <Mo Family>?"


    To make this person more honest, <Mo Jiuye> increased the force again.


    The pain brought the <Second Master> to shriek.


    "Ow...ow..."


    Ultimately, he could not withstand the pain and softened.


    "Good sir, spare me. There is room for discussion between us, we can even be friends."


    <Mo Jiuye> was toozy to deal more with this kind of person. Impatiently he said, "Less nonsense, answer my question."


    The <Second Master> looked at <Mo Jiuye''s> cold eyes and broke out in a cold sweat.


    He had no trouble believing that if he did not be more honest, he was likely to lose his life.


    "It was Boss <Jin>... it was Boss <Jin> who asked me toe to the <Mo Family> for the recipe for the Cold Rabbit Meat."


    Although <Mo Jiuye> did not know who Boss <Jin> was, hearing that it was rted to the Cold Rabbit Meat, he understood in his heart.


    It was nothing more than <Tang Mingrui> using the Cold Rabbit Meat to expand his restaurant business, affecting other restaurants'' business.


    Even so, he would not sympathize at all with this Boss <Jin>.


    Everyone relies on their own ability in business. To use such dirty tactics after losing is not something a good person would do.


    <Mo Jiuye> had already figured out the general situation. He ordered <Mo Family''s> old unit to tie up all these petty gangsters and threw them at the foot of the mountain for the time being.


    <He Zhiran> had originally wanted to follow <Mo Jiuye> and the others to see what was going on. However, Lady <Mo> refused to let her go out no matter what, so she could only anxiously wait for news in Elder <Mo¡¯s> courtyard.


    Considering that his parents and <He Zhiran> would worry about the situation here, after resolving those thugs, <Mo Jiuye> went back to exin what happened.


    Hearing that these people hade for the Cold Rabbit Meat, <He Zhiran> realized that her family might face simr situations in the future.


    The Cold Rabbit Meat business had just started. <Mo Family> would develop other industries in the future. Although they were not afraid of anyone, being eyed like this all the time was quite annoying.


    <He Zhiran> felt that it was necessary tomunicate this matter with <Tang Mingrui> so that the sources obtained by the <Mo Family> would be kept confidential in the future.


    Just as she was thinking about this, <Liang Hao> came with <Tang Mingrui>.


    Coincidentally, he had just arrived at the <Tang¡¯s> when he happened to meet <Tang Mingrui> about to go out. After exining the situation, the two quickly returned to <Xi Ling Vige>.


    Just walking to the foot of the mountain, they realized something was wrong, especially that <Second Master>. <Tang Mingrui> also recognized him.


    Seeing <Tang Mingrui>, the <Second Master> looked as if he saw a lifesaver. While still far away he shouted loudly, "Boss <Tang>, Boss <Tang>e save me..."


    <Tang Mingrui> was somewhat puzzled by this.


    He and this <Second Master> only knew each other, there was no special rtionship between them.


    There is a saying, don¡¯t challenge the local despot. In order for his business to operate smoothly, <Tang Mingrui> had sent people to contact this person before. But it was limited to his men going to meet the <Second Master>.


    "Why is the <Second Master> here?¡±


    Seeing <Tang Mingrui> respond, the <Second Master> hurriedly said, "I came here to do business and was caught by them as a bad guy. As long as Boss <Tang> is willing to save me, from now on in the provincial government, you will be my boss."


    Hearing him say this, the old <Mo Family> unit in charge of guarding these people rushed forward and kicked him violently.


    "Still daring to talk nonsense in front of us, I see you really will not shed tears until you see the coffin."


    Seeing the old <Mo Family> unit kicking the <Second Master>, <Liang Hao> knew that these people must havee to cause trouble for the <Mo Family>. Otherwise, with the <Mo Family¡¯s> low-key behavior, they would not randomly tie them up and throw them here without reason.


    In order not to let <Tang Mingrui> help the wrong side, <Liang Hao> quickly introduced: "Young Master <Tang>, like me, they are all good brothers who follow the <Mo Family>."


    Hearing <Liang Hao¡¯s> exnation, even if <Tang Mingrui> did not know exactly what happened, he could confirm one thing, that the <Second Master> had offended the <Mo Family>. Since he was of one heart with the <Mo Family>, how could he possibly help the <Second Master> after understanding the situation?


    Therefore, without even ncing at the <Second Master>, he followed <Liang Hao> to Elder <Mo¡¯s> courtyard.


    <He Zhiran> did not expect <Tang Mingrui> toe so quickly.


    Because she had just heard the purpose of those peopleing to the <Mo Family>, she still felt a little unhappy seeing <Tang Mingrui> whose attitude was not very good either.


    "Young Master <Tang>, those people at the foot of the mountain all came to cause trouble for the <Mo Family> because of your business. How do you think this matter should be handled?"


    The <Mo Family> were now just ordinarymoners. Even if the <Second Master> and the others came with unkind intentions, they could not privately dispose of them either.


    It would be best if <Tang Mingrui> could resolve this. If that was not possible, they would be sent to the government office.


    <Tang Mingrui> had already known that the <Second Master> brought people to cause trouble for the <Mo Family>. He just did not understand how this matter could also be rted to himself.


    "What does Ninth Sister-in-Law mean?"


    "Those people just now were sent by Boss <Jin> from the provincial government toe to my <Mo Family> for the recipe for the Cold Rabbit Meat."


    "What did you say?" Hearing <He Zhiran> say this, <Tang Mingrui> gasped.


    It seemed that this matter did arise because of him after all.


    And he also knew that Boss <Jin> was the owner of the biggest restaurant in the provincial city. Before he opened the restaurant himself, the Cold Rabbit Meat business had always maintained cooperation with them.


    He never expected that they woulde to the <Mo Family> for the sake of the Cold Rabbit Meat business, and use such methods too.

 Chapter 405: This Stuff Is So Good.

    <h4>Chapter 405</h4>


    ¡°Ninth Sister-inw, don''t worry. I''ll take care of that group of people and guarantee that nothing like this will happen again in the future.¡±


    This was all He Zhiran wanted to hear from him, anything more was unnecessary.


    ¡°I asked Brother Tang toe over today because I have something good to show you.¡± She quickly changed the subject.


    Tang Mingrui was just thinking about how to deal with Second Young Master''s little gang and how to handle Boss Jin. When he heard He Zhiran say she had something good, his eyes immediately lit up.


    ¡°What good stuff does Ninth Sister-inw have? Quickly show Brother me.¡± In his mind, anything He Zhiran said was good must be top notch.


    He Zhiran asked Lan Er to bring over a te of washed cantaloupe.


    ¡°Brother Tang, try it first.¡±


    Just the smell when the cantaloupe was brought over was irresistible, let alone tasting it.


    But he also knew propriety. He first nced at the two Mo elders.


    Although he didn''t know who the old man was, he could see that he was sitting with Old Lady Mo. And he also noticed that the Mo men had beening back one after another, so he guessed that this person was probably the Old Duke.


    If Ninth Sister-inw hadn''t mentioned Second Young Master''s matter just now, he would have definitely gone to pay his respects to the two elders first.


    At this moment, Tang Mingrui was already aware that he had been impolite. Even though he was eager to taste that sweet and fragrant thing, he could not disregard etiquette.


    He slowly walked over to the two elders and bowed deeply.


    ¡°Greetings, Old Lady Mo.¡± Tang Mingrui paused for a moment and looked at Mo Qing.


    Although he had guessed his identity, they hadn''t been formally introduced, so if he got it wrong, it would be embarrassing.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye quickly introduced, ¡°This is my father.¡±


    Tang Mingrui confirmed his guess and showed even more respect.


    Old Duke Mo ah, he was the God of War praised by Great Shun for decades.


    ¡°Junior pays respects to the Old Duke.¡±


    In recent days, Old Lady Mo had already told Mo Qing about the Mo family''s situation in detail, even introducing who they knew and didn''t leave anyone out.


    So Mo Qing was not unfamiliar with the name Tang Mingrui.


    ¡°No need for such courtesy. Now my Mo family are justmoners, there is no Old Duke. Young Master Tang can just call me Uncle from now on.¡±


    Tang Mingrui was straightforward. He thought his form of address was indeed inappropriate. If someone with ill intentions heard it, it would only bring disaster to the Mo family.


    ¡°Uncle.¡±


    Mo Qing liked dealing with frank people. Hearing Tang Mingrui call him Uncle, he immediately burst outughing.


    ¡°Hahaha... You young people have things to attend to, don''t mind me, just go about your business.¡±


    Mo Qing had also heard from his wife about Mo Hanyue''s intentions towards He Zhiran.


    To be honest, he quite liked the character of this young man before him. However, he had heard that Meng Huaining was even more outstanding, so he would have to find time to meet him.


    With his daughter''s wedding only half a month away, as the father-inw he didn''t even know if the son-inw was round or square.


    This wasn''t Meng Huaining''s fault either. He had been busy with court affairs recently and overseeing the wedding preparations, so he hadn''te to the Mo family.


    When Mo Chuhan took office, he also didn''t mention his family members, so Meng Huaining still didn''t know that his future father-inw had returned to Xiling Vige.


    Tang Mingrui bowed again, then moved closer to He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye.


    Lan Er brought the te of cantaloupe before him again.


    This time, Tang Mingrui did not stand on ceremony at all. He took a piece and popped it into his mouth under everyone''s gaze.


    In the blink of an eye, the piece of cantaloupe entered Tang Mingrui''s stomach.


    He was expected to make somement, but instead, Tang Mingrui took another piece and started eating again.


    Soon, the te of cantaloupe Lan Er had brought was cleaned out.


    Tang Mingrui looked somewhat embarrassedly at Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    ¡°Ninth Brother, Ninth Sister-inw, please forgive Brother''s rudeness. This stuff is too delicious, I couldn''t help myself for a moment...¡±


    Seeing him like this, He Zhiran couldn''t help butugh.


    ¡°Brother Tang, since you like it, eat more. It''s our own produce, so eat as much as you want.¡±


    It wasn''t that she was being wastefully generous, not only was the yield of their homegrown cantaloupe high, she also had a lot stocked in her space, waiting for the right time when the cantaloupe outside ripened so she had an excuse to take it out and mix it to sell together.


    No matter how much Tang Mingrui liked to eat, how much could he eat by himself?


    ¡°Ninth Sister-inw, you say this is produce from your own home?¡± Tang Mingrui thought such delicious fruit must have been something the Mo family had procured from somewhere, he didn''t expect it was actually homegrown.


    It seemed that the good stuff Ninth Sister-inw mentioned was this.


    ¡°Ninth Sister-inw, is this a fruit? It looks a bit like a melon?¡±


    He Zhiran exined, ¡°This is called cantaloupe, I got the seeds from foreigners and nted them on ournd in early spring.¡±


    ¡°Cantaloupe, good name, it really is a fragrant and sweet melon.¡± Tang Mingruiplimented and quickly got to the point, ¡°Ninth Sister-inw, does Brother get to cooperate with you on this cantaloupe?¡±


    He Zhiran had a lot of contact with Tang Mingrui and already understood his character. She also didn''t intend to make unrealistic demands.


    ¡°I asked Brother Tang toe today to discuss cooperation on this cantaloupe.¡±


    What Tang Mingrui was most enthusiastic about was doing business, and he wasn''t picky about industry. As long as there was money to be made, he could put his hands in.


    ¡°Ninth Sister-inw, as long as you let me have the exclusive right to sell cantaloupe, you can set any terms.¡±


    Tang Mingrui had always maintained a grateful heart towards the Mo family people. Even if there was no profit for him, as long as they asked for help, he was willing.


    Moreover, he was very clear about the character of Mo Jiuye and his wife. They would not do that.


    He Zhiran also didn''t n to make unreasonable demands. But she could be certain that with cantaloupe in Tang Mingrui''s hands, it would definitely sell for a higher price than she could imagine.


    ¡°Brother Tang, this is not our first cooperation, let''s stick to the old rules, 50-50 split, what do you think?¡±


    He Zhiran did not have much interest in doing business, moreover, that was not her aspiration.


    If it wasn''t for wanting the Mo family to live well and for money toe through proper channels, she really couldn''t be bothered with such things.


    Tang Mingrui was also happy with this. Their previous cooperation had been like this as well.


    If he wanted the Mo family to earn more profits, he could work hard to sell the cantaloupe at a high price.


    ¡°Good, we''ll follow Ninth Sister-inw''s suggestion of a 50-50 split. But the final price the cantaloupe can sell for, I''ll only know after trying it out.¡±


    ¡°No problem. The cantaloupes have ripened a lot now. Brother Tang can send people over to transport them tomorrow morning.


    Also, the cantaloupes are best picked and transported freshly, so when youe to collect the goods tomorrow, try toe early.¡±


    Next, He Zhiran carefully exined the preservation method and approximate storage time of the cantaloupes to give Tang Mingrui a good idea.


    Tang Mingrui made note of everything, not wanting to stay a moment longer. He was prepared to go back and arrange for people toe to Xiling Vige to transport cantaloupe.


    He also had to deal with Second Young Master''s men.

 Chapter 410: The Big Lady’s home is too grand.

    <h4>Chapter 410</h4>


    The windows of that small hut were made of ss.


    It was said that the ss was brought from the West by foreigners to be presented as a tribute to Emperor Shunwu, and there were only those two small pieces.


    In order to show his filial piety, Emperor Shunwu used those two pieces of ss to build a special small hut for the Empress Dowager.


    At that time, many people privately discussed the value of those two pieces of ss. Finally, an old eunuch quietly told everyone that those two pieces of ss were worth 10,000 taels of silver.


    Now looking at Madam He''s house, every window is made of ss, and the windows are several timesrger than those in the Empress Dowager''s house.


    How...how much silver would that cost?!


    As Madam He was still in shock, she had already been invited into the main hall by Old Lady Mo.


    At this point, her eyes were even more overwhelmed. Apanying her, her old maid Aunt Li could not help but say, "Oh my goodness, Madam, isn''t the youngdy''s family residence too luxurious?!"


    Indeed, Mo Jiuye had made the main room into a living room. Although the furnishings were from the hands of ancients, they tended towards some modern styles.


    Especially conspicuous was the full-length mirror on the left side of the room.


    There were also porcin tiles with light and elegant patterns on the floor that went perfectly with the furnishings, fully deserving of the word ¡°luxurious¡±.


    Although Old Lady Mo had chosen antique-style furniture for her new residence, she was not unfamiliar with the furnishings in her son''s home.


    She quickly walked over to point to the sofa in the center of the living room and said,


    "The mother-inw has traveled a long way by boat and carriage. Please sit down and rest first. You mother and daughter have not seen each other for a long time and can slowly chat."


    After speaking, she turned her head to Mo Hanyue and said, "Hanyue, go notify your brother and sister-inw that we have an esteemed guest. Ask anyone who''s free toe greet them, and also have Yu''er prepare dinner."


    "Yes, Mother. I''ll go now."


    As Mo Hanyue left, Old Lady Mo had already pulled Madam He to sit on the sofa.


    Mo Jiuye supported He Zhiran to sit beside Madam He.


    Madam He had now recovered from her shock.


    She looked at her daughter and asked,


    "Ranran, are the windows in this house made of ss?


    Is that a mirror?


    The furnishings in this room?


    ...


    This is simply more luxurious than the imperial pce. In any case, Madam He did not believe that the Mo family would have such financial resources.


    Moreover, when they were exiled, the emperor ordered the confiscation of all assets from the Mo family and did not allow them to bring any valuables.


    She and He Yuanming had gone to see them off at the outskirts of the capital. She saw with her own eyes that the most valuable thing was the wooden cart that Mo Jiuye was lying on.


    This made Madam He very puzzled about where the Mo family''s money wasing from.


    Her daughter knew that her mother would have countless questions after seeing all this.


    "Mother, what''s used for the windows is not ss, but ss brought by foreigners.


    As you know, Yancheng is close to the sea. Foreign ships asionally dock at the pier there. This ss was purchased from the foreigners," He Zhiran exined.


    "And these mirrors and tiles are also from the foreigners.¡±


    The excuse of foreigners had been utilized to the fullest extent by Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran. Even they themselves hade to believe it somewhat.


    However, Madam He was not clear about the current foundation of the Mo family. No matter how appropriate He Zhiran''s exnation was, what she still wondered about in her mind was where the Mo family''s money came from.


    But she knew better than anyone that even for her own daughter¡¯s inws, it would be inappropriate for her to directly inquire about their money.


    If she really wanted to understand, she could not ask her daughter about it in front of her mother-inw.


    On the contrary, Old Lady Mo did not feel there was anything about the Mo family''s current situation that could not stand the light of day.


    She could see Madam He''s curiosity underneath.


    "If I have to thank the mother-inw for the good life the Mo family enjoys today, I really should. If it weren''t for you marrying such a good daughter to Jiuye, forget about the Mo family today, I''m afraid we would have died on the road to exile."


    Old Lady Mo''s words made Madam He even more confused.


    No one knew her daughter''s abilities better than her as the mother.


    Even if the mother-inw wanted to praise her daughter in front of her, there was no need to exaggerate to this extent, right?


    At this moment, He Zhiran was indeed a little nervous.


    From the memories of the original owner she had received, other than a habitual interest in medical books, there were no other special skills.


    But things had already been talked up to this point by the mother-inw, and she was not lying either.


    If it were not for her, not to mention the Mo family living safely in the northwest and reunited, they probably would have died on the road to exile.


    As she was thinking about how to smooth things over, Mo Jiuye spoke up.


    "Mother-inw, Ranan is very clever. She told me that since she was young, she liked to read medical books at home, but never had a chance to demonstrate her skills in the capital. On the road to exile, in order to take care of everyone, she finally revealed her true talents.


    My mother said that the Mo family today owes much to Ranan. This is not false at all. Not only is her medical skill superb, she also came up with many money-making ideas.


    When we were on the road, she utilized furry fabrics bought from foreigners to make stuffed animals very popr with girls, earning silver that not only covered our travel expenses but also left over to invest in industries here."


    Mo Jiuye was the only one who knew about He Zhiran''s space. He knew that her skills all came from there.


    In order not to expose his wife''s space, he tried his best to exin.


    The original owner was not good at women''s needlework. He Zhiran was worried that her mother might be suspicious, so she continued to exin,


    "Mother, don''t listen to mother-inw and my husband exaggerating. It was indeed my idea at the time to make money by producing stuffed toys, but as you know, I am not skilled at needlework. It was done by mother-inw and my sisters-inw.¡±


    Madam He had been a little doubtful after hearing Mo Jiuye''s words. She knew better than anyone that her daughter was not good at women¡¯s needlework.


    Now after hearing He Zhiran say this, she understood.


    Just as Madam He was about to say something more, the maid Aunt Li standing behind her spoke up.


    "Youngdy, were the stuffed toys you made brightly colored and fluffy?"


    He Zhiran did not dare guarantee that the fluffiness came from the hands of the Mo family. But when it came to bright colors, she certainly did not shy away.


    After all, the dyes for the stuffed toys produced by the Mo family came from Taobao Mall, something impossible for the people of this era to imitate even if they wanted to.


    He Zhiran nodded, "What Aunt Li said is correct. The colorful stuffed toys on the market are indeed produced by our family.¡±


    Seeing He Zhiran acknowledge it, Aunt Li smiled, her wrinkles able to trap a mosquito.


    "That¡¯s right.¡±


    Seeing that Madam He was still confused, Aunt Li exined,


    ¡°Madam, you don''t know that on our way to the northwest, I saw many shops selling colorful fluffy stuffed toys and ornaments that many youngdies were eagerly buying up. What¡¯s more important is that the asking price for the stuffed toys was actually twenty taels of silver each!"

 Chapter 418: Caught the Attention of Millions

    <h4>Chapter 418</h4>


    The sister-inws were busy taking care of everything, having experienced the loss of a husband once before, none of them wanted to go through it again. They only hoped to wholeheartedly serve their own husbands and help them recover as soon as possible.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye didn''t go far. She asked about what had happened on the mountain.


    Mo Jiuye recounted in detail what he had witnessed.


    While He Zhiran was relieved, she also felt somewhat guilty.


    After all, it was her suggestion to develop gunpowder, and she knew better than anyone the risks involved in its production.


    Although she had repeatedly reminded Fifth Elder Brother and the others to be careful, such idents could not bepletely avoided.


    Fortunately, her brothers only suffered minor injuries, and based on Mo Jiuye''s description, she confirmed that the gunpowder''s ratio had been sessfullypleted. From now on, they just needed to follow this ratio for production.


    The most important thing now was to take care of her brothers'' health.


    The men of the Mo family were all strong and healthy, so these injuries shouldn''t pose a major problem for them.


    After rifying the situation and realizing that enough time had passed, He Zhiran took out some medicine from her spatial storage and the two of them returned to Fifth Elder Brother''s courtyard.


    She didn''t need to personally apply the medicine, as she entrusted everything to Mo Jiuye.


    By the time they finished, it was already evening. Except for the sister-inws who stayed behind to take care of their injured husbands, everyone else had prepared dinner.


    The dinner was set up in Old Lady Mo''s courtyard, mainly to wee Madam He''s arrival.


    Mo Junrui and his brothers had already improved significantly after using the medicine given by He Zhiran, but they were still unable to join everyone for the meal.


    Madam He hade today, thinking that she would see all the men of the Mo family during dinner. However, she only saw Mo Chongyuan, Mo Yuance, Mo Chuhan, and Mo Xiuyan, who was still sitting in a wheelchair.


    Mo Qing was carried to the dining table.


    Seeing Madam He, Mo Qing felt somewhat embarrassed, not because of their inw rtionship, but because of his current miserable state.


    Back then, hemanded thousands of troops with an imposing manner, and anyone in the capital would respectfully address him as Duke Mo.


    But now, he had be a useless person who was taken care of all day long.


    The feeling of meeting an old acquaintance was not pleasant, but when Mo Qing thought about Madam He traveling all the way from afar to visit her daughter, he tried to appear more natural.


    Madam He, on the other hand, didn''t think too much about it. Seeing the long-deceased Duke Mo still alive, she genuinely felt happy for the Mo family.


    During the meal, Old Lady Mo asionally made some remarks to lighten the atmosphere, so it didn''t feel too awkward.


    What surprised Madam He the most was that the dishes from the Mo family were even more delicious than those in the famous restaurants in the capital.


    Madam He encountered many ingredients she had never seen before. At first, she tried to maintain herposure and dignity. However, as she observed the Mo family members being less reserved, she decided to follow suit and adapt to the local customs.


    He Zhiran noticed that his mother had a good appetite today. He continuously served her dishes and quietly introduced their names.


    During this meal, Madam He ate heartily. Since He Zhiran and the Mo family were exiled to the northwest, she had lost her appetite and had be noticeably thinner.


    Today, seeing her daughter happy was one aspect, but the delicious food from the Mo family was also a reason why Madam He shamelessly overate.


    Not only that, when she followed her daughter back to their courtyard, she ate a lot of cherries. Finally, Li Auntie apanied her for half an hour of walking in the courtyard to aid digestion before she could finally fall asleep peacefully.


    Several elder brothers were injured while researching gunpowder and couldn''t go up the mountain temporarily. However, Fifth Elder Brother didn''t want to pause.


    He had just found inspiration for making it and didn''t want to stop there.


    Therefore, early the next day, Fifth Elder Brother nned to continue researching on the mountain.


    Seeing this, Sixth Elder Brother took the initiative to apany him. It was such a dangerous matter, and being alone there without any support would be risky.


    Fifth Elder Brother didn''t object to this either. The current scene of making gunpowder was a mess, and it would be quiteborious for him to clean it up alone.


    The two brothers went up the mountain, but Mo Jiuye didn''t go with them.


    The main reason was that he considered He Zhiran''s condition. She was getting closer to her due date, and it wouldn''t be good if something happened and he wasn''t by her side.


    Also, during his time in the capital, the area for raising poultry and livestock had already been prepared. He was just waiting for an opportunity to bring the poultry and livestock from the space he had prepared for his wife.


    With Mo Jiuye''s mindset, he didn''t want his wife to go out, fearing that something might happen to her.


    But with so many poultry and livestock in her space, it was useless for him to go to the city alone.


    If they waited for the children to be born, He Zhiran wouldn''t be able to leave for a month. Considering this, the constructed area for raising animals would be idle for over two months.


    He Zhiran was already a bit anxious about this matter. If Mo Jiuye hadn''t gone to the capital to search for his father and brothers, she would have started raising them when the area was ready.


    Today happened to be a day when there wasn''t much going on at home, so He Zhiran didn''t inform her mother before leaving.


    Because she knew that no matter what excuse she gave to go to the city, her mother would apany her.


    What she had to do couldn''t be seen in the light, so she had to quietly leave without Madam He''s knowledge.


    The two of them hurriedly took a carriage to therge rented courtyard in Yuncheng. They released all the cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese from the space.


    In order to quickly expand the scale of animal husbandry at home, these poultry and livestock were all in the adult state and could reproduce at any time.


    Only in this way could the scale of the livestock farm at home grow rapidly.


    After releasing them, Mo Jiuye quietly sent He Zhiran back home. He then called Liang Hao and others to follow him into the city.


    Transporting adult cattle, sheep, and pigs using a cart would be toobor-intensive since their size was toorge. A single cart couldn''t carry many of them. The best solution was to have people drive them back.


    He Zhiran had already trained these guys in advance, and they were all very obedient, so there was no need to worry about them running away on the way.


    Although the chickens, ducks, and geese couldn''t be driven back like the cows and sheep, they weren''t kept in cages either. They had also been trained by He Zhiran and were very well-behaved.


    As long as some ox carts were hired, they wouldn''t make any mischief on the carts.


    As expected, when Mo Jiuye and his men brought these poultry and livestock back home, it caused quite a stir.


    First, the vigers from Xiling Vige, who were driving groups of cows, sheep, and pigs, attracted the attention of countless people.


    For the rural people who were born and raised here, these animals were like fixed assets in their homes.

 Chapter 419: It’s Only Part of It

    <h4>Chapter 419</h4>


    In ordinary people''s families, those who could have an ox for plowing, or raise one or two fat pigs, would definitely be considered a wealthy family.


    When the Cui family in Xilin Vige was so wealthy, there were only oxen raised in Ligui''s family for plowing.


    It was used to plow the fields during the busy farming seasons, and earned quite some silver pulling the cart during other times.


    But what did they see now?


    The Mo family actually drove hundreds of cattle into the vige, with only a dozen or so of the yellow cattle that they were familiar with, the rest were ck and white mottled,pletely different from what plow oxen should look like in their mind, plus hundreds of sheep, and hundreds of fat pigs...


    In fact, the vigers didn''t know that the ck and white mottled ones were dairy cows.


    This was because the Da Shun Dynasty had very strict control over cattle. For any peasant family that had plow oxen, they must be registered with the government, in other words, plow oxen had household registration in Da Shun, ughtering them randomly was like murdering people.


    He Zhiran didn''t want to challenge national policies for money, it wasn''t that she was timid, but she felt it wasn''t worth viting thew for that bit of not so much money.


    Therefore, the cows raised on the Mo family farm were mainly dairy cows.


    The dairy cows produced in her space had much higher milk yields than normal dairy cows, and milk was also very valuable at this time. Plus it could also be further processed into other delicious foods.


    Calcted this way, the profits from raising dairy cows would be no less than beef cattle.


    The herds of cattle, sheep and pigs had just been driven towards the foot of the mountain, followed by dozens of ox carts, loaded with chickens, ducks and geese.


    The vigers had never seen such a spectacr scene before, and they all gathered around Mo Jiuye.


    Zhao Ligui walked at the forefront of the crowd.


    "Old Nine, you got rich? Bought so many livestock."


    The vige was on Mo Jiuye¡¯s way home, he had anticipated that passing by would surely cause a sensation with the vigers.


    After all, they didn''t intend to hide these poultry and livestock, let alone the necessity.


    The farm was built at the foot of the mountain, adjacent to their home fields.


    The fields were all being taken care of by hired hands, and everyone knew that the Mo family farm was next door.


    "Uncle Zhao, these are just a fraction, we country folks, don''t we rely onnd and these to make a living?"


    Mo Jiuye said so, also to let Zhao Ligui and the vigers recognize the Mo family''s identity as soon as possible.


    Now they, the Mo family, were no longer some nobles, but farmers who made a living by working like them.


    At the same time, he also hoped that the next time he transported these poultry and livestock back, it would not cause such a sensation.


    At the same time, he also considered that he might further expand the scale of farming in the future, and transport more poultry and livestock into the vige, hoping that the vigers could stay calm about it.


    Unfortunately, Mo Jiuye still overestimated the vigers'' receptivity.


    They didn''t consider the issue of the Mo family''s current status at all. To them, the Mo family was just a big rich family, an out and out big rich family.


    There is a saying, a skinny dead camel is bigger than a horse, and the Mo family interpreted this very perfectly.


    Although they had been exiled here, they still lived a rich life as before.


    Just think about it, how much were so many poultry and livestock worth?


    Not to mention so many, even giving them an ox or a sheep would make them considered the most affluent family in the vige.


    "What? You said this...this is just a fraction?"


    When Zhao Ligui spoke, his expression was particrly exaggerated, his mouth kept open for a long time, unable to close for a long time.


    The other vigers were the same, their focus was on Mo Jiuye''s sentence "This is just a fraction." After Zhao Ligui asked, they all stared at Mo Jiuye, waiting for his reply.


    Facing these simple vigers, Mo Jiuye was also very helpless. It wasn''t that he wanted to be high-profile, but that he couldn''t avoid the vigers'' sight when transporting poultry and livestock back again, thinking that saying it out beforehand could give them some mental preparation, but it seemed to be counterproductive.


    However, he still nodded, "Yes, this is just a small fraction, there may be arge number of poultry and livestock transported back in the future."


    The farm was veryrge, and these current poultry and livestock were far from enough.


    Moreover, not only did the Mo family now have many family members who needed support, but people like Tao Ran and their families were now also settling down in Xilin Vige. Although they also got some of the Cui family''s farnd, it could only feed them, and it was basically impossible to improve their living standards.


    What¡¯s more, people like Tao Ran all had backbone, and were unwilling to ept the Mo family''s relief in vain.


    Now in Xilin Vige they were not as simple as ordinary vigers. The incident of the invasion by the barbarians that happened before reminded the Mo family not to let their guard down, and to always be prepared.


    People like Tao Ran now assumed this responsibility. In addition to helping their own families with some work every day, they had already taken on the task of patrolling and guarding.


    For this reason, Mo Jiuye intended to give them monthly allowances as before when they were at the frontier, but Tao Ran and the others refused to ept it anyway.


    In Tao Ran''s words, their lives were given by Young Master Nine, and they would not have anyints even if they worked like oxen and horses for the Mo family in this life, how could they possibly let Young Master Nine pay them allowances from his own pocket?


    No matter how Mo Jiuye tried to reason with them, saying that their families also needed a good life, they refused to ept it.


    With Tao Ran at the lead, those old subordinates said that the Mo family had provided them with ces to live, and gave them farnd, which was already a lot.


    Especially now the situation of the Mo family was not very good, they had been ordered by Emperor Shunwu to be exiled, how much better could their life be than them?


    They were willing to follow the Mo family because of theradeship back then between life and death, and did not want to do things that would drag down the Mo family.


    But this matter had a different meaning to Mo Jiuye.


    Tao Ran and the others were loyal to him and his elders, especially after the experience of escaping death as human medicine, Mo Jiuye cherished the friendship between them even more.


    Forget about giving them houses and farnd, even if he had to support their younger generation for life, he would be more than willing.


    Mo Jiuye''s behavior was not showing off, the treasuries of the Da Shun Dynasty and the Southern Frontier were all in his wife''s space, let alone supporting them for life, even supporting the people of a city would be nothing.


    It¡¯s just that he couldn¡¯t say this kind of thing clearly, and could only find other ways to aid them.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran agreed that raising these poultry and livestock was the best way to help them.


    Tao Ran and the others all had martial arts skills and would surely join the secret army in the future, but they had many family members.


    Raising livestock was not difficult, half-grown children could herd cattle and sheep, women could also raise chickens, ducks and geese, and older people with good health were no exception.


    Therefore, regarding the farm, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran discussed and decided to have it handled by the families of those old subordinates like Tao Ran.

 Chapter 420: Breeding

    <h4>Chapter 420</h4>


    Thus, they would have no excuse for not paying wages anymore.


    No matter ancient or modern times,bor deserves reward. This is an unchanging principle everywhere.


    By then, they can pay more wages to the families, which also helps resolve the family environment issue.


    Vige Chief Zhao did not know about Mo Jiuye''s arrangement. After calming down, the first thing that came to his mind was that the Mo family raised so many poultry and livestock, they must hire people to take care of them like farming.


    "Old Nine, there are quite some vigers here. Don''t you think it''s better to hire those familiar faces rather than some strangers?"


    The words were blunt, without any euphemism.


    Since arrangements had been made for the poultry and livestock, Mo Jiuye could not agree to Vige Chief Zhao''s request.


    "Chief Zhao, proper candidates have been selected for the breeding."


    After a pause, Mo Jiuye looked to the vigers and said loudly, "But don''t worry, my wife and I have discussed that the poultry and livestock will give birth to offspring soon. You can purchase them from my family at low prices then.


    Moreover, we can provide the know-how of raising dairy cattle."


    The vigers were a little disappointed by Mo Jiuye''s rejection at first. But soon they got attracted by what he said next.


    Especially when Mo Jiuye mentioned dairy cows, it was a very novel concept to them.


    Vige Chief Zhao asked on behalf of everyone.


    "Old Nine, are you referring to this one?" He pointed at the ck and white patched cow and asked.


    Mo Jiuye asked Liang Hao and others to take the poultry and livestock away first. He stayed to patiently exin to everyone.


    "The cow Chief Zhao referred to is a dairy cow..."


    He told them what he knew about dairy cows.


    Although the vigers had never heard of dairy cows, they were not unfamiliar with milk.


    Back then, the Cui Family raised a cow. When it gave birth, the surplus milk would be sold at high prices in the city to rich families for money.


    However, the milk yield of the cow raised by Cui Family was not high. Even if there was surplus milk, there would be very little, precious amount.


    But Mo Jiuye just said dairy cows could produce tens of catties of milk every day if raised properly. The number was mind-blowing.


    If it was true that so much milk could be produced, even if dairy cows were more expensive, it would be worth pooling money to buy one.


    Vige Chief Zhao had this idea, and so did other vigers.


    Everyone gathered around Mo Jiuye.


    "Old Nine, is what you said true?"


    "Old Nine, how much does a dairy calf cost? I''ll sell my harvest this autumn and buy one from you."


    "Old Nine, you didn''t lie to us, right?"


    Mo Jiuye knew they were eager to earn more money.


    "Don''t worry, I keep my word. The price of calves will absolutely be fair. Also, when the pigs and sheep reproduce, you can purchase from my ce if you want to raise them too."


    That was all he would say. He had decided to let the families of Liang Hao and others be in charge of the breeding. There would be no change.


    As for the vigers, they could start small-scale breeding to make money. As long as they took good care of the animals and didn''t let them die, they would definitely earn money.


    The vigers were all honest and simple people. Seeing Mo Jiuye say so, no one insisted anymore.


    Moreover, it would probably be more profitable to learn breeding themselves rather than working for others.


    It was just that they needed to find ways to pool money together, because livestock was expensive. Otherwise they would have started raising them already.


    "Since Old Nine has made it clear, let''s think of ways to save up money these days. Then we can also raise a dairy cow like the Mo family." Vige Chief Zhao said one sentence to silence those who still wanted to say something. Then he waved his hand to disperse the crowd.


    It took some exnation for Mo Jiuye to bring back so much poultry and livestock. But he was used to doing this kind of thing without any pressure.


    The cattle and sheep were directly sent to the pasture where fences had been set up around the grasnd in advance.


    The sheepdogs that had been prepared early on were already guarding there. Now with the cattle and sheep inside, not a single one tried to escape.


    The families hired by Tao Ran only needed to feed and clean up manure.


    The pigpen was also built by He Zhiran in the modern breeding style with venttion and drainage facilities.


    The chicken farm spread from the hillside.


    It was also He Zhiran''s reference to the past world''s free-range farming style. Free-range chickens were very popr.


    In free-range farming, chickens can roam freely within a confined area to forage by themselves.


    When selecting the location, He Zhiran found there were many earthworms, which reproduced quickly enough to feed the chickens.


    It was said that chickens often eating worms would have tighter meat texture. The eggs theyy would also have darker egg yolks and more fragrant taste than ordinary eggs.


    Ducks and geese liked ces with water sources. So their farms were built near a streamlet discovered when they bought the wastnd.


    The streamlet was originally going to be excluded from thend area by the officials. But it was acquired together with the wastnd by He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye for the purpose of raising ducks and geese in the future.


    The breeding farms built by Mo Family wererge in scale. With so much poultry and livestock brought back today, they still looked empty.


    Mo Jiuye intended to quickly settle these matters before his wife gave birth, so that he could wholeheartedly apany her during her confinement.


    Therefore, he went to the city for three consecutive days, transporting poultry and livestock back home the same way every day.


    After a few busy days, the number of poultry and livestock in the breeding farms finally took shape and temporarily reached their ideal quantity.


    Meanwhile, Mo Jiuye also hired the families of Tao Ran and others to work here as originally nned.


    Hearing that it was a job in exchange for due remuneration, Tao Ran and others no longer declined.


    In five days, Mo Jiuye finally arranged the breeding farms properly.


    In the same five days, the fifth and sixth uncles also aplished a major task up in the mountains.


    Gunpowder was finally sessfully invented. Moreover, following He Zhiran''s method, the fifth uncle packed the gunpowder into a bamboo tube, lit it and threw it into the distance to explode as envisioned.


    It was another afternoon again when He Zhiran and Madam He were resting under the grape trellis in the yard and heard several bangs. But this time, the explosions were very different fromst time¡¯s.

 Chapter 421: It Made It

    <h4>Chapter 421</h4>


    The previous sound had no discernible pattern; it was continuous.


    But this time, it appeared at intervals.


    He Zhiran could roughly determine from the interval between the sounds that Fifth Elder Brother had likely sessfully made gunpowder and ignited it inside a bamboo tube.


    In other words, the bomb was most likely sessfully developed.


    Madam He had no idea what the sound she heard a few days ago was, and when she heard it again today, she simply thought someone was setting off firecrackers.


    However, this time the firecrackers didn''tst as long as the previous time.


    "Ranran, is there any local custom here to set off firecrackers for no apparent reason? It''s not a festival or holiday, after all," Madam He couldn''t help but ask curiously.


    He Zhiran couldn''t exin this question clearly and said vaguely, "There''s no special custom. Maybe it''s just some child from a family ying around."


    Madam He didn''t really care about this matter in the first ce. It was just a casual question, and after He Zhiran exined, she didn''t dwell on it any further.


    At this moment, He Zhiran couldn''t sit still anymore and slowly stood up.


    "Mother, I''m going to see what my husband is busy with."


    When Madam He heard that her daughter was going to find her son-inw, she understood and didn''t follow along. It wouldn''t be appropriate for her, as the mother-inw, to intrude on the private time of the young couple.


    "Alright, let Lan Er apany you, and be careful on the way."


    Mo Jiuye had been taking time to visit the breeding farm recently, so he was probably there now.


    The small path up the mountain was just behind He Zhiran''s courtyard. She didn''t walk towards the direction of the breeding farm but headed straight to the backyard.


    The loud noise just now had stirred things up, and Mo Jiuye nned to go up the mountain to investigate. As soon as he reached the foot of the mountain, he bumped into He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran asked Lan Er to step aside and walked towards Mo Jiuye.


    "Husband, I heard the sound just now, and it seems that the bomb has been sessfully made."


    Mo Jiuye also had the same feeling, but he didn''t know as much about bombs as He Zhiran did. Now, hearing her say this, his excitement was written all over his face.


    "If you say it''s sessful, then it must be. I''ll go up the mountain to take a look."


    In fact, He Zhiran came out to find Mo Jiuye for this purpose. After all, she also relied on her experience to judge whether it was really sessful. Only seeing it with her own eyes would count.


    After He Zhiran had exined the matter about the bomb just now, she had already sent Lan Er away. Even though Mo Jiuye was anxious, he still had to make sure He Zhiran returned home safely before leaving.


    He Zhiran returned home and waited while Mo Jiuye quickly went up the mountain.


    This time, the scene that greeted him waspletely different from the previous one.


    Fifth Elder Brother and Sixth Elder Brother were standing a few hundred meters away from the cave, examining several deep pits.


    When they heard footsteps approaching, they turned their heads and saw Ninth Younger Brother. Both of them smiled brightly.


    "You came just at the right time, Ninth Younger Brother. These are the results of our experiment today. The craters from the explosion are much deeper than thest time." Fifth Elder Brother couldn''t hide his excitement in his words.


    Sixth Elder Brother added, "Andpared to the craters from thest explosion, these have also expanded a lot, which means the power has increased."


    Mo Jiuye listened to the words of his two elder brothers and strode over to the deep pit to inspect it.


    As they had described, the pit that had been sted today was indeed deep and wide. Although its power was not as strong as the grenades he used when attacking the people of Southern Xinjiang, the destructive force was not to be underestimated.


    Moreover, his wife had made it clear that the bombs made from the gunpowder he developed would not have the same power as grenades. If they could achieve thirty percent of the lethality of a grenade, it would be considered a sess.


    Mo Jiuye silentlypared the power of the two weapons in his mind and was certain that the bombs made by his fifth brother and sixth brother could achieve more than forty percent of the power of a grenade.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, Sixth Elder Brother, we have seeded."


    As soon as he finished speaking, a faint rustling sound came from the distance.


    Being martial artists, the brothers had exceptional hearing. Without even looking, they could tell that the sound was not made by humans.


    Especially Fifth Elder Brother, who had many years of hunting experience.


    "It''s wild boars."


    It was not surprising to find wild boars in the deep mountains.


    In the past, if they encountered wild boars, the brothers would undoubtedly hunt them down and bring them home for everyone to taste.


    However, in Mo Jiuye''s eyes, the wild boars today had a greater purpose.


    "Fifth Elder Brother, Seventh Elder Brother, do you still have the bombs you made?"


    Seeing his ninth brother asking this, the two elder brothers realized his intention.


    Fifth Elder Brother quickly took out a small bamboo tube from his waist and held it in his hand.


    "I have one left. I nned to bring it back to show you the power, and now ites in handy."


    Using a bomb to blow up a wild boar would yield much better results than throwing it into an open area.


    After reaching a unanimous decision, the brothers silently retreated dozens of meters.


    As soon as they settled into position, two enormous wild boars emerged from the jungle.


    Without hesitation, Fifth Elder Brother lit the fuse of the bamboo tube with a match and threw it in the direction of the two wild boars.


    In an instant, a deafening explosion erupted.


    In the brothers'' line of sight, the wild boar closest to the bomb was sted high into the air, its body torn apart. Flesh and blood mingled with dust as they all fell into the deep pit.


    The other wild boar, which was farther away from the bomb, was also reduced to a bloody mess in the pit, devoid of any signs of life.


    It should be noted that the skin of a wild boar is quite tough. If it can be blown up like this by a bomb, one can imagine how devastating it would be if it were to hit a person.


    The brothers looked at the scene before them, unable to hide their joy.


    Especially Fifth Elder Brother, no one knew better than him how much effort he had put into developing this weapon.


    The three brothers embraced each other in excitement.


    "Sixth Brother, Ninth Brother, did you see that? We did it, the weapon research was sessful."


    Sixth Elder Brother was also thrilled. "Yes, with such a weapon, we no longer have to worry about anyone threatening our Mo family."


    At the same time, he had already confirmed one fact: why Ninth Sister was so confident in saying that only a thousand soldiers were needed to raise an army.


    With such weapons, let alone a thousand soldiers, even if it was just the nine brothers of the Mo family, they would be able to repel any attacker.


    The brothers quickly cleaned up the traces left by the experimental bomb and descended the mountain together.


    With such a significant event, it was only natural to inform their father and older brothers as soon as possible.


    This time, the fourth elder brother also took part.


    Ever since the fifth elder brother and the others started researching weapons on the mountain, he had been anxious at home, always wishing to be of some help.


    Although he hadn''t contributed anything so far, he still cared deeply about it. Therefore, when he heard that all the male members of the family were going to their father to discuss matters, the fourth elder brother insisted on being supported by his wife toe along.

 Chapter 423: The Blacksmith

    <h4>Chapter 423</h4>


    Mo Jiuye''s mind was opened up to a whole new perspective by Fourth Brother''s suggestion. However, currently, the work of making bombs was not entrusted to others; it was all done by their own brothers, with their own hands.


    Their brothers were skilled in handling knives and guns, and Fifth Brother was intelligent and meticulous enough to handle the formtion and production of gunpowder. Learning together to make bamboo tube bombs was not a difficult task. But the problemy in the cksmithing aspect, which truly puzzled Mo Jiuye.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye''s dyed response, Mo Qing asked, "Jiuye, don''t you think Fourth Brother makes a valid point?"


    "Not at all, Father. Fourth Brother''s proposal is excellent. It''s just that adding an iron casing to the bomb requires the assistance of a cksmith. The fewer people who know about bomb-making, the better."


    For Mo Jiuye, the matter of making bombs was of utmost importance. The Mo Family was already on thin ice, and if this matter were leaked, it would undoubtedly invite significant trouble. He would rather have shorter-range and less powerful bombs, with no risks involved.


    In this regard, Mo Qing was thinking further ahead than he had expected.


    "While it''s true that currently only you brothers are involved in making bombs, these bombs will eventually be distributed to the soldiers. Do you think the bombs will remain a secret for long?"


    Mo Jiuye was indeed not worried about this. The Mo Family''s soldiers were loyal, and he would only feel at ease if the finished bombs were entrusted to them. His caution stemmed from not wanting the bomb-making methods to be revealed.


    Thus, even if there were traitors among their privately trained soldiers in the future, they would only be able to take away a few finished bombs. This would lessen the threat to the Mo Familypared to the leakage of the formtion.


    However, the thought of being able to make bombs with a longer throwing distance, and his father''s clear intention to find a reliable person who could forge an iron casing for the bamboo tubes, crossed his mind.


    "Father, this matter involves the bomb-making methods. If anyone among Tao Ran and the others is capable, then there is no problem at all. After all, their loyalty to the Mo Family is beyond doubt. But if ites to outsiders, I would rather have our bombs with a shorter throwing distance."


    In Mo Jiuye''s heart, even Hu Cong wouldn''t bepletely trusted.


    Since returning to the Mo Family, Mo Qing had realized that this ninth son of his was extraordinary. Not only was he highly skilled in martial arts, but he also had a keen mind.


    "Your concerns are not without reason. That group of people, including Tao Ran, were trained by me personally. I know them well. Now that the Mo Family has been exiled here, their unwavering loyalty is beyond question."


    "Father, are you suggesting that among them, there is someone who can forge iron?"


    Mo Jiuye immediately understood his father''s meaning.


    "If my memory serves me right, Lin Hong is the person I saved in a small town not far from the western border."


    He was working as an apprentice in a cksmith shop at that time. Because he stole a steamed bun from the boss''s house, he was beaten half to death on the street. When I saw how pitiful he was, I stepped in and saved him. So, I thought it would be fine to call him over and ask him. Mo Qing didn''t understand cksmithing, but he knew a little bit about it. Working with iron sheets wasn''t a highly skilled job, and he believed Lin Hong could do it. Tao Ran, the group of oldrades, was someone Mo Jiuye still trusted.


    "Dad, I''ll go find Lin Hong and bring him here right away."


    Mo Jiuye didn''t take long to go out and came back with Lin Hong.


    On the way, he had already inquired and found out that Lin Hong had been an apprentice for a long time and had learned a lot because he had been sent to the cksmith shop from a young age. However, his master was harsh and bullied him because of his young age, always treating him as an apprentice, even though he was doing the work that only skilled masters could do.


    With that said, there was no problem with him working with iron sheets.


    But during this era, iron was strictly controlled by the government. Those who wanted to open a cksmith shop in the city had to apply to the authorities and get approval before they could open their shops. Not only that, the amount of iron materials used by the cksmith shops was fixed every month, and once it was used up, there was none left.


    If the business at the shop was good, they would basically rest for half a month.


    Therefore, the source of iron materials was a crucial issue for the Mo Family at present.


    But this didn''t pose a problem for Mo Jiuye. The Taobao online store in his wife''s space had iron materials for sale. He just needed to find an excuse to take them out.


    Since he had already decided to use iron sheets to wrap the bamboo tubes, Mo Jiuye nned to put small iron beads inside as well.


    He didn''t know if this would work, but he was unwilling to give up without trying.


    Once it seeded, the power of the bomb would increase significantly.


    With everything settled, Mo Jiuye spent three consecutive days preparing the iron materials, tools, and the location for cksmithing.


    On the other hand, Madam He didn''t n to idle either. It was already early June, and the day Mo Hanyue and Meng Huaining would get married, June 12th, was approaching.


    Madam He, being an experienced person, understood well that carrying twins made early delivery more likely.


    She didn''t know if it would be sessful to invite the renowned gynecologist from the capital, Zhang San, toe here. Even if it was sessful, considering the distance from the capital to the northwest, it probably wouldn''t arrive too early.


    Although her son-inw repeatedly assured her that He Zhiran and the unborn child would be safe, she, as a mother, still worried.


    It would be different if the renowned gynecologist was here. He and her son-inw would each disy their expertise, which would provide an additional safeguard for the safety of He Zhiran and the child in her belly.


    Therefore, Madam He did nothing all day but stay by He Zhiran''s side when Mo Jiuye was not around, fearing that she might make a careless move and harm her health.


    With Madam He watching over her all the time, it was a bit inconvenient for He Zhiran to prepare something for Mo Hanyue.


    There was no other way; a mother is a mother, and everything she did was for her own good. He Zhiran couldn''t just push her away with a gloomy face.


    She had already discussed with Mo Jiuye and prepared dowries for Mo Hanyue.


    The courtyard that was built can be considered part of the dowry. Originally, He Zhiran intended to pay for it himself, butter his mother-inw and sisters-inw felt it was inappropriate.


    After calcting the cost of the courtyard, it was divided into ten shares. The nine brothers of the Mo Family each contributed a share of money, and Old Lady Mo also contributed one share.


    In other words, this courtyard was the dowry prepared for Mo Hanyue by the whole family.


    He Zhiran had already stated in front of his family that it was up to him to arrange Mo Hanyue''s dowry.


    She had many valuable items in her space, but these possessions were all from the pces of Da Shun and Nanjiang. She could sell them as antiques on Taobao, but if she took them out as Mo Hanyue''s dowry, there was a risk of someone with ill intentions noticing something amiss, and the cost would outweigh the benefits.


    Therefore, He Zhiran had nned from the beginning to purchase Mo Hanyue''s dowry from the Taobao Mall.

 Chapter 424: I Can’t Stay if I want to.

    <h4>Chapter 424</h4>


    Recently when He Zhiran was free, she has already prepared a good dowry for Mo Hanyue in the shopping mall.


    The maternal family gave a siheyuan house, although it was in the countryside, this kind of house was not something anyone could live in, especially those imitating modern facilities.


    For example, flush toilets, underfloor heating, ss windows, beautiful and practical furniture, etc.


    In addition, the few acres of medicinal fields that Mo Hanyue nted herself were also given to her as part of the dowry.


    He Zhiran was also very thoughtful. The beddings in the siheyuan given to Mo Hanyue were allplete.


    Moreover, the fabrics all came from Taobao Mall.


    Ancient silks were extremely rare and expensive.


    It was different in Taobao Mall. There were all kinds of imitation ancient silks. She picked some that matched the style of this era and bought them. The cotton for making quilts was also indispensable.


    Not long ago, He Zhiran had sent these well prepared things to her sister-inw and asked her to help make new quilts for the wedding with several sisters-inw.


    Of course, with such beautiful fabrics, they were naturally praised by the sisters-inw, but no one felt too surprised.


    When they were in the capital, such high-end goods would asionally go on sale in the fabric shops, but the prices were extremely expensive, and ordinary families simply could not afford them.


    The sisters-inw were already used to Mo Jiuye''s generosity and unexpected actions. Seeing her take out so much fabric for Mo Hanyue''s new house to make quilts, they were only envious for a moment.


    As the only daughter of the Mo family going to get married, quilts alone were not enough. Recently, the little girl has been hiding in her room embroidering her wedding dress, which saved He Zhiran from having to prepare it.


    But jewelry was also indispensable.


    This was no problem at all. In ancient times, the jewelry worn by wealthydies was mainly made of gold and silver. For better workmanship, some gems would be added as embellishments.


    There were plenty of such jewelry in Taobao Mall, and the styles and craftsmanship were much better than those of this era.


    If it was up to He Zhiran''s aesthetic taste, she did not like this kind.


    However, she would follow the local customs here and could not make the dowry for Mo Hanyue too unconventional.


    He Zhiran had already prepared these long ago, just waiting for Mo Jiuye to find time to pretend to go to the city or prefecture to get them. She would give the jewelry to Mo Jiuye, as if he had bought them back from his trip.


    After waiting for two days, Mo Jiuye finally became free while bringing back good news.


    The good news was that the tinte and tin beads had been sessfully produced. Fourth brother and father had tightly wrapped the tinte around the bamboo tubes with their own hands.


    Fifth brother and the others used the bamboo tubes wrapped in tinte to make several experimental bombs. The effect was even better than imagined.


    The experiment was on the mountain. Some passing birds just happened to be there when the bomb exploded. The birds did not even escape.


    With such power, how could the enemy possibly get any benefits from them?


    Seeing the power of the bombs, the brothers were very motivated. They produced dozens of bombs using the same method that day.


    Their speed was fast. Mo Qing and Mo Xiuyan did not dare to dy one bit. They started making bamboo tubes early every morning.


    Unknowingly, the two felt that their bodies had recovered a lot of strength.


    Especially Mo Xiuyan, after his hand tendons were reconnected by He Zhiran, he hadn''t dared to overexert himself.


    Now he didn''t even feel it took much effort to wrap the tinte around the bamboo tubes.


    Especially when thinking that they could contribute to the family, father and son worked tirelessly when busy.


    Seeing that the production of bombs was gradually on track, Mo Jiuye chose a day to get up early, and took the jewelry and other items prepared by He Zhiran for Mo Hanyue''s dowry to go to town by carriage.


    His ostensible purpose for going to town was to buy dowry for his sister, but he actually had another important thing to do.


    That was he nned to go see Meng Huaining.


    Recently Meng Huaining had been too busy preparing for his wedding, so he hadn''te to visit for a long time.


    The silly boy didn''t even know that his future father-inw had returned, otherwise how could he have lost his manners?


    That was his future father-inw, yet he hadpletely missed the best opportunity to show his face.


    It was also because Mo Qing was stubborn. After learning that his precious daughter would marry soon, he felt very ufortable.


    The girl he had doted on and raised with his own hands had reached the age of marriage. To be honest, Mo Qing felt very guilty that Mo Hanyue had lost so many years of fatherly love.


    Especially since Mo Qing had lost all his memories of the past eight years. In his impression, his precious daughter was still an obedient and lovely little girl. How could he have returned home to her getting married?


    This was something Mo Qing was unwilling to ept from the bottom of his heart, yet he had no choice but to ept it. After all, it was the eternal truth that men should marry and women should be married off when they came of age.


    When a girl reached marriageable age, he could not make her stay even if he wanted to.


    Although Mo Qing understood these principles, he still felt ufortable about meeting the man who would take his precious daughter away.


    Therefore, he specifically told Mo Chuhan not to reveal the news of his return to Meng Huaining when going to take office.


    He wanted to wait for the family snatcher toe to the door himself and give him a surprise.


    The main reason Mo Jiuye went to find Meng Huaining was that he was worried about the situation in the capital. Naturally he had to follow his father''s will and not reveal the news of his return.


    Xiaobai had left for the capital with the letter more than ten days ago. Reasonably, it should have already delivered the letter.


    If Emperor Shunwu had sessfully found the gu raiser master, Fei Nanyu would have let Xiaobaie back with a message as soon as he received the news.


    But Xiaobai still hadn''t returned. Mo Jiuye was worried that the old general Jin''s health couldn''t hold on.


    He knew Meng Huaining was in touch with Fei Nanyu, so he thought he could get some news from the capital through him.


    It happened that when Mo Jiuye arrived, Meng Huaining had just finished hearing a case in the court hall and was stepping out.


    "Ninth brother, when did youe over?" Seeing Mo Jiuye, Meng Huaining''s face changed from his usual sternness to a smile as he walked up to greet him.


    Mo Jiuye threw the reins of the horse on the wooden post in front of the yamen gate. Facing his future brother-inw, he did not intend to beat around the bush.


    "I came to ask Brother Meng about some things."


    Meng Huaining knew that Mo Jiuye was always busy at home. He would note to find him for no reason. He quickly gestured for Mo Jiuye toe to the study used as his office.


    After not seeing him for a while, Mo Jiuye noticed that Meng Huaining looked much thinner.


    "Brother Meng, you seem to have lost weight?"


    He was not a gossip, only asking out of concern because Meng Huaining had clearly lost a noticeable amount of weight.


    Being cared for by his future uncle, Meng Huaining''s face turned red.


    He smiled awkwardly, "Just been busy recently."


    When he said he was busy, Mo Jiuye did not doubt it. As a parent official, especially one as clean as Meng Huaining, there must be endless trivial matters to deal with every day.


    Plus his wedding with Mo Jiuye''s sister was approaching, being busy was understandable.

 Chapter 425: How did Brother Nine Know about It

    <h4>Chapter 425</h4>


    Seeing that nothing had happened, Mo Jiuye was relieved.


    He stated the purpose of his visit this time.


    "Brother Meng, I''vee this time because I wanted to inquire about some things."


    "Brother Jiu, please feel free to ask me anything." Meng Huaining had long regarded Mo Jiuye as one of his own family.


    Especially after he was engaged to Mo Hanyue, he felt even closer to her few elder brothers.


    "I heard that the Ninth Prince in the capital city colluded with the Gu Masters from the Southern Border to frame several important court ministers."


    Meng Huaining was quite surprised that Mo Jiuye knew about this matter.


    Based on his understanding of the Mo family, they had already lost confidence in the imperial court, and didn''t even want to care about it at all.


    "How did Brother Jiue to know about this?" Meng Huaining was not trying to pry anything from Mo Jiuye, he was just simply asking.


    Since his mother-inw hade to apany Lady Ran in the northwest for the impending childbirth, it was impossible for this to be a secret from Meng Huaining who was about to marry Mo Hanyue, so Mo Jiuye did not intend to conceal it either.


    "It was because my mother-inw came from the capital city and mentioned this matter a few days ago."


    "I see." Meng Huaining nced outside the door and saw no one approaching before saying in a low voice, "I also only received the news a few days ago. Indeed it is as Brother Jiu said, several important ministers have been poisoned by Gu."


    "I heard that Emperor Shunwu has already sent people to look for Gu masters to undo the poison, may I ask if there has been any progress on this matter?" This was what Mo Jiuye cared about the most.


    Since his mother-inw came from the capital city, what she knew was the situation from at least twenty days ago. No one could say clearly what was happening now.


    He knew that there were carrier pigeons transmitting letters between Meng Huaining and Fei Nanyu. Although pigeon speed was not as fast as his little white bird, they still had a travel time of three to four days.


    That meant the news Meng Huaining received was from thest five or six days, which showed that Emperor Shunwu still had not found the Gu masters to undo the poison yet.


    Mo Jiuye had told his family that he went out this time to purchase dowries for Mo Hanyue, so it was still a bit early to return now.


    He simply took a stroll around the city before rushing back in the carriage in the afternoon.


    After dinner, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran together handed over the dowry gifts packed neatly in a small wooden box to Mo Hanyue.


    "Hanyue, this is the dowry the family has prepared for you. Take a look and see if you like it," He Zhiran pushed the small wooden box in front of Mo Hanyue.


    When Mo Hanyue saw the courtyard andnd her family had given her, she felt somewhat guilty.


    The present Mo family was no longer like when they were in the capital city. Participating in farm work every day made her truly understand that it was not easy for the family to earn money.


    For her wedding, all family members had donated money to build her a courtyard residence as dowry. Even the furnishings and beddings inside were the best quality.


    The specifications were no less than those of distinguished noble families in the capital city, but rather were of an even higher ss.


    "Sister-inw, this really won''t do. You all have given me more than enough. I cannot ept these anymore," Mo Hanyue sincerely spoke from her heart. She did not want her family to spend more money for her sake.


    As she spoke, she pushed the small wooden box back in front of He Zhiran.


    "Sister-inw, I really can''t ept these. Keep them for when my little nephews get married in the future."


    This made He Zhiranugh, "How do you know they will be nephews and not nieces?"


    "That''s fine too. Keep them for their dowries when they get married in the future." In Mo Hanyue''s mind, no matter whether Sister-inw gives birth to boys or girls, she would love them all the same.


    At this time, Old Lady Mo also spoke up.


    "Hanyue already has such arge residence for her dowry, which is presentable enough. It''s better not to give her these jewelries."


    Speaking of which, Old Lady Mo also felt somewhat guilty.


    Back when she married Mo Qing, she also brought a good dowry with her.


    It was a pity that the Mo men were always away on military campaigns. All the wealth they obtained were used to provide relief for the dead and injured soldiers as well as their families, leaving nothing in the family home, let alone giving an outward appearance of deep financial resources.


    Later, as news came of the sessive deaths in battle of the Mo men, Old Lady Mo didn''t wish for her widowed daughters-inw to live in hardship, so she gradually drew from her own dowry to supplement the family funds.


    The sisters-inw were sensible. Seeing that mother-inw took out her own dowry for the sake of their livelihood, they were unwilling to fall behind and also contributed their own dowries to the family.


    At that time, Mo Jiuye was constantly away at war and did not know the situation at home. He allocated all war spoils obtained to the soldiers who fought alongside him through life and death.


    This resulted in He Zhiran not salvaging many valuable items when ransacking the Mo residence before they were exiled.


    These were also the reasons behind Old Lady Mo''s guilt.


    As a mother, it was incumbent on her to prepare the dowry for her daughter''s wedding.


    Yet now, not to mention dowry, if not for the hard work of her daughter-inw all this while, it was likely the whole family could not even afford meals.


    And now her daughter-inw had prepared a box of jewelry for her daughter. How could she as the mother feel at ease epting this?


    "These were originally things that I as her mother should have prepared. Nowcking the means to do so myself, yet needing you as sister-inw to make these preparations, this pains my heart."


    Seeing this, the sisters-inw also gathered around to show their support, concurring with mother-inw''s words only halfway.


    Before He Zhiran married into the family, the sisters-inw always deferred to Eldest Sister-inw''s words. So this time, Eldest Sister-inw took the lead to speak up first.


    "Hanyue is the only daughter in our Mo family. Not only must her wedding be celebrated in splendor, but her dowry must not wrong her either.


    Since little sister is willing to arrange the jewelry for Hanyue, why don''t we sisters contribute the silver for it together?


    This way, we married-in sisters can also feel more at ease."


    Second Sister-in-Law also stepped forward to show her support, "Little sister, just listen to Eldest Sister''s suggestion. I am also willing to contribute a share of silver for the jewelry."


    "I am also willing..."


    "And I am willing too..."


    Without exception, all eight sisters-inw voiced their willingness to share the costs. Moreover, they spoke with utmost sincerity, showing not the slightest reluctance.


    Although not wealthy, the solidarity of the nine sisters-inw was what He Zhiran loved most about the Mo family. Regardless of their great number, the sisters always cooperated seamlessly together, never dissenting over trivial matters.


    She understood that her sisters-inw were speaking genuinely, yet she did not wish for them to share the burden.


    The jewelry was all purchased on Taobao Mall. For the wealthy He Zhiran, it was a drop in the ocean.


    If converted to silver liang of this era, the value of the jewelry would easily amount to several thousand liang.


    While it was true she distributed the due wages to her sisters-inw on time every month, and the sums were not inconsiderable, those ies were still outstandingpared to the earnings ofmon folk in the northwest. Even if the sisters exhausted all their family savings, it was doubtful they could contribute an equal share of silver for the jewelry.


    Of course, only He Zhiran knew the true value of the jewelry. She would not allow her sisters-inw to share costs for it.


    "Sisters, I understand your kind intentions, but do not forget - presently the Mo family affairs are all managed by me. Other than the monthly wages I distribute to you, all remaining ie is under my administration."

 Chapter 427: How Can I Part

    <h4>Chapter 427</h4>


    He Zhiran had been thinking about what kind of business she could do recently that would allow her family to openly see that the money to raise troops was earned.


    She immediately decided that she would go into the jewelry business.


    She did not need to worry about materials, as there was endless gold and silver from the treasuries of Da Shun and the Southern Frontier Country that she had secretly obtained from her storage space. She just needed to use tools to melt them into gold and silver materials.


    This would also save her from having those gold and silver sit uselessly in her storage space. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.


    Of course, she would also have Mo Jiuye pretend to go out and purchase some materials on the surface to avoid arousing suspicion.


    He Zhiran sank into thought. Seeing that she had not spoken for some time, her sister-inw gently patted her arm.


    "Sister-inw, what are you thinking so intensely about? Could it be that you still can''t bear to give these to Hanyue?"


    He Zhiran knew that her sister-inw was teasing her.


    "Sister-inw, what are you talking about? These were originally meant to be Hanyue''s dowry. How could I be reluctant to part with them?"


    Seeing that her daughters-inw had taken over the floor with their chattering, Old Lady Mo knew that any further refusal on her part would seem powerless.


    "Hanyue, since all nine of your sisters-inw have said this, just ept them. You must remember everyone''s generosity today and find an opportunity to repay them in the future."


    Since leaving the Capital City, Mo Hanyue had grown more sensible by the day.


    She was initially unwilling to ept such a valuable dowry, as she truly did not want her family to spend so much on her marriage.


    But now that her mother had spoken, and she did actually like the jewelry, her face flushed red as she said:


    "Hanyue thanks her sisters-inw for their kindness. Rest assured, sisters-inw, Hanyue will not forget what you have done for me today."


    Though addressing everyone as "sisters-inw", Mo Hanyue''s gaze remained fixed on He Zhiran.


    She knew clearly in her heart that all of this was arranged by Ninth Sister-in-Law, and without Ninth Sister-in-Law there would be no today''s Mo Hanyue.


    He Zhiran felt very gratified that in just one short year, Mo Hanyue had transformed from a pampered child into a sensible and hardworking young woman.


    "Just look at our Hanyue, growing more sensible by the day. Sisters-inw will remember what you said. In the future if Lord Meng gets promoted and bes wealthy, don''t forget your maternal family!"


    Although her sister-inw''s words were sometimes blunt, they often hit home for the women.


    This time was no exception. They all felt that the Mo Family''s currentmoner status was lowly enough, and if their exiled status was revealed, they would be even lower thanmoners.


    With a rtive who was an official to rely on, many things could go more smoothly.


    He Zhiran didn''t care how others thought. She felt at ease after the jewelry was given away.


    With matters upying her mind, she was someone who immediately wanted to take action. After some small talk with everyone, she pleaded tiredness and asked Mo Jiuye to apany her back.


    Madam He had now grown ustomed to life here.


    What she hadn''t expected was that her daughter''s life was not as awful as she had imagined. In fact, it was even morefortable than life in the Capital City.


    This put her much more at ease. Her only worry now was He Zhiran''s health, so she would stay at her daughter''s side whenever possible.


    If her son-inw was there, Madam He would tactfully take her leave to give the young couple private time together.


    Now that Mo Jiuye was apanying He Zhiran, Madam He naturally did not intrude. Behind closed doors, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye could freely enter the storage space without reservation.


    Seeing his wife in such a hurry to bring him into the storage space, Mo Jiuye knew she must have something she wanted to do.


    "Ranran, what are you going to do?"


    "Husband, when Father first proposed raising troops, I already said that I could bear the costs of maintaining the soldiers."


    At that time when He Zhiran had proposed paying the costs, Mo Jiuye did not think too much of it. After all, no one knew better than him just how much wealth was inside the storage space.


    "With so many treasures in the storage space, let alone feeding an army of a thousand troops, we could even support ten thousand!" The more Mo Jiuye thought about it, the more confused he became. Could it be his wife was having second thoughts and didn''t want to use the space''s money to raise soldiers?


    He Zhiran knew Mo Jiuye was oversimplifying things.


    "Have you ever thought that supporting a thousand cavalry is no meager expense? Although our family currently has some small money-making industries publicly, the amounts earned are still paltry.


    If this goes on for some time, Mother''s shrewdness is sure to grow suspicious at some point."


    Hearing He Zhiran exin this, Mo Jiuye instantly understood.


    "Ranran, you''ve thought of some livelihood to earn money?"


    "Don''t you think that we''re perfectly suited for the jewelry business?"


    When the jewelry was given out in the elders'' room to Mo Hanyue, Mo Jiuye had been watching nearby at the time too. If he hadn''t worried about revealing anything abnormal that might attract suspicion, this grown man would have loved to step forward and take a closer look too.


    Originally he thought jewelry was something only women would be interested in. When his wife bought items on Taobao Mall, he had no interest or intention of helping select anything either, so he didn''t get to see the true appearances of these jewelry pieces until they were opened from their boxes.


    Mo Jiuye''s impression at that moment was summed up in two words: "Beautiful!" Three words: "Truly beautiful!"...


    So when his female rtions were arranging the jewelry, his own mind was busy imagining that his wife would look even lovelier than the girls when dressed up in these pieces. That night when returning, he ordered He Zhiran to buy some for himself too.


    Now hearing his wife propose starting a jewelry business, his eyes unconsciously drifted towards the gold and silver they had secretly taken from state treasuries. His thinking mirrored He Zhiran''s - they had the raw materials for making gold and silver jewelry, the only thing they were worried about was skill.


    "Ranran, as far as I know, there are no craftsmen in Da Shun who can make such beautiful jewelry." Mo Jiuye frowned.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye furrow his brow, He Zhiran simplyughed even more gleefully.


    "If someone in Da Shun could make jewelry like this, how would we make big money?"


    Mo Jiuye was increasingly perplexed.


    "Ranran, stop keeping me in suspense. Tell me, how should we do this?"


    Instead of answering Mo Jiuye''s question immediately, He Zhiran randomly purchased a mold temte for a pendant ne in the shape of a prancing foo lion on Taobao Mall.


    The style was quite novel for Da Shun''s tastes. However, before seeing the final producte out, all Mo Jiuye could see was a white object with no discernible shape.


    He Zhiran paid no mind to Mo Jiuye''s curious gaze and continued buying some tools to process gold and silver jewelry from Taobao.


    Next, she used her mental powers to call over a gold ingot.


    Seeing his wife grab the blowtorch and ready herself to do something, Mo Jiuye hastily took it from her.


    "Ranran, your pregnancy makes this unsuited work for you. Just instruct me on what to do."


    He Zhiran was not being coy either; she directed Mo Jiuye on first using the blowtorch to melt the gold ingot.


    The blowtorch gave off strong heat. Before long, the fist-sized gold ingot had liquefied into molten form.


    Next, He Zhiran instructed Mo Jiuye to carefully pour the melted liquid into the mold and let it cool before removing it.


    In Mo Jiuye''s hand was a shiny golden prancing foo lion pendant. His eyes shone with pleasant surprise.

 Chapter 428: Is This a Viable Business

    <h4>Chapter 428</h4>


    Ran Ran had never seen anything like this before. It looked a bit like a toad, but it was much more beautiful and exotic than a toad.


    "Ran Ran, I didn''t expect that making such a beautiful piece of jewelry could be so simple," Mo Jiuye said.


    As He Zhiran told Mo Jiuye the auspicious legend about the pi xiu, exining its meaning of good fortune, she took out the tools for grinding and polishing and started working on the pi xiu pendant she had made in the mold.


    Of course she wasn''t a professional jewelry maker, and she was relyingpletely on the faint memories from her previous life.


    Even so, once it was finished, the pi xiu pendant looked just as good as the jewelry bought online, with no difference in luster or delicacy of detail.


    After hearing about the auspicious meaning of the pi xiu and seeing the finished pendant his wife had made, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help praising her.


    "Ran Ran, I didn''t expect this strange little creature to have such a good meaning. Businesspeople will surely like it.


    And the jewelry you''ve made here can definitely be considered top-tier in our ce."


    He Zhiran smiled even more proudly. "What do you think, will this business work?"


    "It''ll work, it''ll work. Ran Ran, you''re so clever, I really don''t know what other things I don''t know about are still in your little head."


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye affectionately stroked her smooth hair, his face showing an expression of pride in his wife.


    Right after, He Zhiran bought several more kinds of jewelry molds and had Mo Jiuye make them.


    Before long, Mo Jiuye had produced several beautiful gold rings, bracelets, and other pieces.


    He Zhiran inspected the workmanship, then gathered them into a pile.


    "Husband, when you have time, take these to show Tang Mingrui and ask if he''s willing to partner with us in the jewelry business."


    Pausing a moment, He Zhiran added, "You can tell him that besides these, we can also make iid gemstone and jade jewelry."


    He Zhiran hadn''t actually seen the process of iying gems and jade in her previous life.


    But when buying the molds, she had noticed there were types for iying, so she figured with a little research she could figure it out.


    There was no rush for all that. First they had to see if Tang Mingrui was willing to partner. If he wasn''t, He Zhiran would have to find someone else.


    After all, the situation of the Mo Family was special now, and it wouldn''t draw much attention for them to run some farming and animal husbandry businesses on the surface in Xi Ling Vige. But if they started this kind of jewelry business, it would likely attract more notice.


    Besides, she firmly believed that once this kind of jewelry made using molds came out, it would definitely set off a buying frenzy, and the boss wouldn''t be able to keep a low profile even if he wanted to.


    Of course, the capital needed for this gold and silver business was different from their other home industries. No matter what kind of profit split Tang Mingrui proposed, they would need to have fixed costs.


    This was real gold and silver, with high inherent value. Added to that her special production technique and novel styles, they probably couldn''t continue the 50-50 split with Tang Mingrui.


    Of course, these were just He Zhiran''s initial ns. They''d have to see if Tang Mingrui was willing to partner first before researching the specifics.


    Mo Jiuye also thought his wife''s idea for making money was good.


    "Alright, tomorrow I''ll go find Brother Tang and ask if he''s interested in partnering."


    With the matter settled, after breakfast the next day Mo Jiuye was about to head into town with Ba Ge when he suddenly heard a familiar cheerful chirp overhead.


    Little White was back.


    Mo Jiuye knew he probably wouldn''t make it into town today. He gestured for Ba Ge to go first as he held out his arm.


    Before long, Little Whitended steadily on it.


    Mo Jiuye stroked its head. "Little White, thanks for your hard work. You must have good news for me?"


    As he spoke, he nced at its legs.


    Little White hadnded with its legs tucked in so Mo Jiuye couldn''t see. It seemed to sense its master''s eagerness and fluttered its wings, standing up and sticking out its right leg.


    Sure enough, there was a little paper scroll tied to it.


    Mo Jiuye untied the scroll, then took Little White to He Zhiran and let it rx in the space. Right in front of He Zhiran he unrolled the note.


    There weren''t many words on the little piece of paper, and the tiny writing was packed densely together.


    General Jin still has his life for now, but the situation isn''t good. A master who can dispel Gu poison has been found, but without the mother Gu worm, he can''t dispel it.


    Hearing that General Jin was still alive and Emperor Shunwu had found someone who could dispel Gu poison meant there was still hope.


    "Husband, let Little White rest in the space for a day. Tomorrow it can set off for the capital with the Gu worms," He Zhiran suggested.


    "Mm, that''s what I was thinking too. But with Little White''s size, carrying three porcin bottles with mother Gu worms will be hard for it to fly." This was Mo Jiuye''s biggest headache.


    After all, neither he nor He Zhiran could tell which bottle had the Gu worm controlling the child worms inside General Jin''s body.


    He Zhiran really couldn''t distinguish them either. The bottles weren''t light, and Little White truly wouldn''t be able to carry them with its strength.


    After thinking it over, He Zhiran could only reveal some modern items.


    She took out her phone and bought several thin, lightweight stic containers on Taobao.


    Calling them containers was a stretch. They were really just the smallest size of transparent little boxes that takeout ces often used for sauces, with almost no weight when held.


    Not only that, the little boxes had sealed lids, so putting the mother Gu worms inside also prevented any chance of them escaping.


    Mo Jiuye knew his wife was going all out to save General Jin''s life, getting out these odd little boxes.


    But he already had an excuse for them prepared. The Gu worms hade from Mr. Si Meng anyway, so no one would think that the two of them had repackaged the worms.


    Even if someone was suspicious, they could only suspect Mr. Si Meng had gotten the strange boxes from somewhere.


    He Zhiran hadn''t considered any of this. She was used to her husband finding ways to gloss over the strange things she brought out, so this time would be no different.


    The couple carefully put the three Gu worms into the new stic boxes, then Mo Jiuye tied them to Little White''s legs.


    On the surface they looked a little clumsy, but to Little White they had almost no weight and wouldn''t impede its flight, as long as it flew high enough.


    In addition, Mo Jiuye wrote a note to Fei Nanyu, saying these were the Gu worms controlling the important ministers at court.


    As for how to handle them, Emperor Shunwu''s summoned Gu dispelling master would know better than anyone.

 Chapter 429: Something’s Happened to the Tang Brothers

    <h4>Chapter 429</h4>


    Little White''s business was arranged, and the couple nned to let Little White rest in the space for a day before leaving.


    Moreover, they also discovered that although Little White and Rice Ball were two species, the two little ones had unknowingly established a deep friendship in the space.


    When they were together, although they often seemed to fight with each other and neither yielded to the other, after a long time if they didn''t see each other they would miss each other.


    Just like now, Mo Jiuye had just taken off the box tied to Little White''s leg, and the little guy fluttered his wings and ran to y with Rice Ball.


    Little Whitended on top of Rice Ball''s head, and would even peck at its furry cat head from time to time.


    Rice Ball would let out a few meows, and then reach out to pat it.


    Little White flew away to escape, and Rice Ball strode with its little short legs to chase it. The scene of the two little ones chasing each other, looked extremely harmonious in the eyes of the couple.


    It was still early now, and Mo Jiuye nned to continue going to the city to look for Tang Mingrui.


    He was in a hurry to find Tang Mingrui, not entirely because of the jewelry business, but because the watermelons at home had gradually ripened, and it was time for harvesting.


    In the past few days, Tang Mingrui''s muskmelon business had done very well, earning tens of thousands of taels of silver for both himself and the Mo Family.


    He should know that these days were the season when the Mo Family¡¯s watermelons were ripe. With Tang Mingrui¡¯s temperament, he would have brought people to transport the goods early.


    Mo Jiuye waited for two days without seeing any movement from Tang Mingrui at all.


    If it were in the past, with this kind of money-making business, even if Tang Mingrui himself was too busy to get away, he would still send someone to transport the goods.


    As a result, this time was unusually abnormal. Not only did he note in person, but his men did note either.


    Out of concern for his friend, Mo Jiuye also felt it necessary to go there and take a look.


    He had just entered Yun City when he saw Eighth Brother leading a group of people, including officials, and a middle-aged man tied up. The group walked quickly towards an alley.


    Eighth Brother was the catcher of the yamen. It was normal for him to handle cases with people. It was just that the middle-aged man being escorted by the officials looked a little familiar to Mo Jiuye.


    He thought about it carefully and instantly remembered who this person was - one of the subordinates of that Second Young Master hired by Boss Jinst time.


    It was normal for a group of small gangsters tomit crimes, but Mo Jiuye had just seen that Eighth Brother''s expression was not as indifferent as usual. He instinctively felt that this matter was more or less rted to his Mo Family, or involved someone rted to the Mo Family.


    Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye strode to catch up.


    At this time, an official was forcibly smashing the door of amoner''s house.


    "Official handling a case, open the door quickly..."


    Mo Jiuye walked over, "Eighth Brother, what happened?"


    Mo Chuhan frowned and whispered, "Brother Tang is in trouble."


    Hearing Eighth Brother say this, Mo Jiuye suddenly had a bad premonition.


    "Did someone die?"


    Eighth Brother nodded, "Yeah, Boss Jin was killed this morning."


    Although Eighth Brother didn''t exin much, Mo Jiuye could grasp the general idea from it.


    Boss Jin was dead, Brother Tang was in trouble, and the officials took the gangster to catch someone - it was nothing more than Tang Mingrui having a grudge against Boss Jin for coveting his muskmelon business, so he hired someone to kill him.


    It had to be said that Mo Jiuye hadpletely analyzed the superficial meaning.


    However, no matter what, he absolutely did not believe that Tang Mingrui would do such a thing.


    With that guy''s shrewdness, it was impossible for him to do something so easily caught. There must be someone framing him.


    Seeing that Eighth Brother was handling the case here, it was not good for him to inquire in detail.


    At this moment, with a bang, the courtyard door was forcibly pushed open by several officials, who immediately rushed in with sabers in their hands.


    Mo Chuhan handed the gangster to a subordinate to watch, and greeted Mo Jiuye.


    "Ninth brother,e with me."


    The two brothers had martial arts skills and quickly walked to the front of the yard.


    Almost at the same time, the two leapt up onto the west wall.


    Immediately after, a scream was heard: "Ouch!"


    A burly sturdy man fell heavily from the top of the wall to the ground.


    Mo Chuhan shouted at the officials: "Come on, tie him up for me."


    Soon, several officials came over with ropes and tied the man up neatly.


    With the wanted man captured, Mo Chuhan would certainly take him back to the yamen.


    On the way, Mo Jiuye took the opportunity to ask, "Eighth Brother, what exactly happened to Brother Tang?"


    Although he had already guessed seven or eight points in his heart, he still had to get confirmation from Eighth Brother.


    "When I first arrived at the yamen this morning, Magistrate Meng gave me an official document sent from the prefect. It ordered us to immediately arrest Tang Mingrui of Yun City.


    When I heard it was Brother Tang, I specifically took a close look at the official document. It stated thatst night before the hour of zi, Boss Jin was murdered in the street.


    The perpetrator was a subordinate of the provincial hoodlum Second Young Master.


    That guy was unlucky. Aftermitting the murder, he was caught on the spot by patrolling officials passing by. After overnight interrogation, he confessed that he was hired by Tang Mingrui to kill Boss Jin."


    Mo Chuhan pointed to the middle-aged gangster escorted by the officials and said, "This is the guy. The prefect sent him to our Yun City together, meaning that since Brother Tang is from Yun City, Magistrate Meng should handle this case.


    The prefect pushing the case outward this time is also good for Brother Tang. Lord Meng is upright and honest. He will surely find the real murderer and give him justice."


    "Eighth Brother means that Brother Tang is now in the county yamen?"


    "Yes, when Magistrate Meng received the official document, he sent someone to invite Brother Tang to the yamen."


    Mo Jiuye knew that even though Eighth Brother said Meng Huaining sent someone to invite Tang Mingrui to the yamen, he probably would not let him leave before the case was closed.


    Seeing Eighth Brother''s appearance, he did not seem to have figured out the specific situation either, so Mo Jiuye could not ask anything useful out of him.


    He followed Eighth Brother to the county yamen. Meng Huaining was in the study, but Tang Mingrui was nowhere to be seen.


    Mo Jiuye entered the study and asked, "Brother Meng, what exactly is going on with Brother Tang?"


    Meng Huaining did not treat Mo Jiuye as an outsider. He casually picked up an official document from the desk and handed it to him.


    "Someone used Tang Mingrui of hiring a killer. Look at the specifics yourself."


    Mo Jiuye took the official document and read it.


    The beginning was consistent with what Eighth Brother said, that Boss Jin was killed on the streetst night, and the murderer was caught red-handed by patrolling officials passing by.


    At the same time, the murderer also insisted that it was Tang Mingrui who paid him to do it, because Boss Jin had coveted his muskmelon business, so Tang Mingrui held a grudge and hired someone to kill him.


    Mo Jiuye skimmed through it quickly, then put the official document back on the table.


    "Brother Tang would never do such a thing."


    His tone was very certain.

 Chapter 430: Bring People Up

    <h4>Chapter 430</h4>


    Although Meng Huaining did not understand Tang Mingrui''s character as well as Mo Jiuye did, he also felt that Tang Mingrui would not take such a big risk to hire someone tomit murder over such a trivial matter.


    Meng Huaining knew that Elder Brother Ba had just caught the man, so he might as well interrogate him first while they had the chance.


    "Ninth Brother, if you''re free, you cane listen to the trial."


    Mo Jiuye hade to the city to look for Tang Mingrui. Thinking that he was in some kind of trouble, Mo Jiuye would definitely want to find out more about it.


    "If it''s convenient, I do want to listen in on it."


    With that said, the two men arrived at the courtroom.


    For a case that had not yet been investigated clearly, the initial interrogation of the suspect would not be conducted publicly.


    Therefore, the doors of the courtroom remained tightly shut.


    Meng Huaining sat upright and dignified in the chief magistrate''s seat.


    "Bring the prisoner in."


    At hismand, the officers soon brought in the burly man.


    As soon as he entered the courtroom, the burly man knelt in the center.


    "Your Honor, I''ve confessed everything I should, it''s true that Master Tang gave us the silver to kill Boss Jin."


    Meng Huaining mmed the gavel furiously: "I did not ask you any questions, who allowed you to speak?"


    By doing so, he did seem to be protecting Tang Mingrui.


    Because he knew that Tang Mingrui was a business partner of the Mo Family. Although this guy had once liked his young fianc¨¦e as well, Meng Huaining had won her over in the end.


    For the sake of the Yue Family''s business in the future, he had to do his best to find out the truth and help absolve Tang Mingrui.


    As he spoke, Meng Huaining''s gaze had already fallen upon Chen Wu, who had just been caught and brought back by Mo Chuhany and the others.


    "Are you Chen Wu?"


    Chen Wu knew everything was over since he had failed to escape.


    He was also a man who could grasp the situation. When questioned by Meng Huaining, he kowtowed respectfully.


    "This peasant is indeed Chen Wu."


    Meng Huaining banged the gavel again.


    "Wang Lin confessed that Master Tang hired you to kill Boss Jin and handed you the silver personally, is this true?"


    When asked about this, Chen Wu''s eyes became somewhat evasive.


    Meng Huaining noticed that he inadvertently nced at Wang Lin next to him before replying vaguely:


    "This peasant does not know what Your Honor is talking about."


    Meng Huaining had been a county magistrate for a long time and had seen many stubborn criminals. He did not need to waste words with Chen Wu.


    "Men, Chen Wu is not being honest. Give this official twenty heavy strokes of the rod."


    The officers who had been with Meng Huaining for a long time also understood his temper. They did not wait for Chen Wu to beg for mercy and immediately blocked his mouth and dragged him out of the courtroom.


    The twenty heavy strokes were administered quickly, and Chen Wu was dragged back in.


    Meng Huaining did not interrogate him immediately, but instead ordered the officers to fetch a basin of salt water and ce it next to Chen Wu.


    "Chen Wu, salt water on open wounds hurts dozens of times more than twenty strokes of the rod. I hope you think carefully before answering the questions I ask you next."


    Chen Wu took a hard look at the salt water beside him, then gasped heavily a few times.


    "Your Honor, it''s true someone gave this peasant silver, but they did not say to kill Boss Jin, only to teach him a lesson."


    "Who gave you the silver?" Meng Huaining pressed.


    "It was Master Tang who gave it to me."


    "Well then, tell us, where and when exactly did Master Tang give you the silver?"


    "It was three days ago. Master Tang came to this peasant''s home in Yun City alone and personally gave me five hundred taels of silver, telling me to teach Boss Jin a lesson."


    Just then, Tang Mingrui''s voice rang out from behind the courtroom.


    "Nonsense. I was still at the provincial capital three days ago. I only returned to Yun City yesterday, how could I have given you silver?"


    Tang Mingrui had been arranged by Meng Huaining to listen to the trial from the back of the courtroom. In principle, he should not have spoken, but Chen Wu''s lies provoked him to blurt out a retort.


    He was fully aware that it was disrespectful to the county magistrate to suddenly speak up from the back. He had just been unable to restrain himself for a moment.


    Therefore, although Tang Mingrui had retorted indignantly, he did not show his face.


    Meng Huaining did not me Tang Mingrui for the sudden interruption. After all, he was trying to establish Tang Mingrui''s innocence.


    He banged the gavel again.


    "Chen Wu, it seems you really won''t shed tears until you see the coffin. Since you refuse to tell the truth..."


    As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the basin of salt water.


    Before Meng Huaining could give the order, Chen Wu was already begging for mercy loudly.


    "Your Honor, I did not lie! It really was Master Tang who personally brought this peasant five hundred taels of silver three days ago and told me to do this. If you don''t believe me, please summon Master Tang toe confront me face to face."


    Meng Huaining frowned. "Who was the person speaking from the back just now? Do you recognize that voice?"


    Chen Wu shook his head vigorously. "He was supposed to be speaking in Master Tang''s voice to me, but I''m not familiar with that voice."


    Hearing this, Meng Huaining looked to Wang Lin, who was scared stiff beside them.


    "Tell me, who ordered you to kill Boss Jin?"


    "Your Honor, it was Chen Wu who told me to kill Boss Jin."


    "Nonsense, I only told you to teach Boss Jin a lesson. When did I ever tell you to kill him?" Chen Wu was anxious. A matter as grave as taking a life, he could not afford to be wrongly used.


    Wang Lin refused to back down either: "It was you who told me to kill Boss Jin. You also said you''d give me two hundred taels to escape after the deed was done. I didn''t expect you''d keep the entire three hundred taels for yourself."


    Wang Lin felt more aggrieved the more he spoke. He kowtowed to Meng Huaining several times.


    "Your Honor is wise. This peasant had no enmity with Boss Jin. If Chen Wu had not said he would give me two hundred taels after the deed was done, I would never have dared to do something so wicked."


    The more aggrieved Wang Lin felt, the more he cried in front of all those people.


    In contrast, Chen Wu was extremely indignant.


    "Wang Lin, don''t spit blood from your mouth. I promised to give you two hundred taels afterward, but I never said to kill Boss Jin."


    "It was you who said to kill Boss Jin..."


    For a time, the only sounds in the silent courtroom were the two men''s arguments.


    Meng Huaining did not stop them, but observed their expressions as they spoke.


    From his observations, he noticed Wang Lin''s eyes asionally dodging, but only when they met Chen Wu''s gaze.


    With this, Meng Huaining already had a rough guess in mind.


    "Silence. Do you want me to charge you with contempt of court?"


    At his words, the courtroom instantly quieted down.


    "Summon Master Tang."


    At Meng Huaining''s order, Tang Mingrui in the back swiftly came to the front of the courtroom.


    Before he could bow, Meng Huaining asked Chen Wu, "Do you recognize this man before you?"


    Chen Wu looked Tang Mingrui up and down, then shook his head.


    "Replying to Your Honor, this peasant does not recognize him."


    "p!"


    Meng Huaining mmed the gavel heavily.


    "You don''t recognize him, yet you dare to say it was Master Tang who personally gave you five hundred taels?"


    Tang Mingrui was also furious. He walked up to Chen Wu and demanded, "Take a good look, I am Tang Mingrui. When did I ever give you five hundred taels?"

 Chapter 431: I Believe in Lord Meng

    <h4>Chapter 431</h4>


    Chen Wu had already been dumbfounded. He really did not recognize the person in front of him.


    However, just because he did not recognize this person did not mean that the county magistrate also did not. It was apparent that this was the real Boss Tang.


    Who exactly was the person who had given him the silver notes three days ago?


    Seeing that Chen Wu had not spoken for a long time, Meng Huaining pressed further: ¡°Chen Wu, speak, who exactly gave you the silver?¡±


    Sweat had already begun beading on Chen Wu''s forehead.


    ¡°Your honor, this peasant really has not lied. Three days ago a rich young master came to my door and personally handed me five hundred silver notes, telling me to go and teach Boss Jin a lesson.


    I had seen Boss Jin a few times before with the Second Young Master. Afraid of being recognized if I took action personally, I found Wang Lin and had him handle this matter.¡±


    As he spoke, Chen Wu desperately kowtowed several times towards Meng Huaining.


    ¡°Your honor, this peasant has already endured twenty heavy beatings. I dare not speak another lie, please discern the truth, your honor.¡±


    Not only Meng Huaining, even the observing Mo Jiuye could tell what was going on.


    In order to uncover the truth behind this incident, they would have to start with Wang Lin.


    Meng Huaining did indeed notice something. He ordered Chen Wu to first be imprisoned, then looked towards Wang Lin.


    ¡°Wang Lin, if you do not wish to suffer physical torment, then confess the full truth.¡±


    ¡°Your honor, what this peasant has said is true. I did kill Boss Jin, and it was under Chen Wu''s orders. Otherwise, Boss Jin and I had no grievances, how could I have possibly killed him?¡±


    Meng Huaining did not want to say much more to someone so stubborn. He directly ordered that Wang Lin be taken away and given twenty heavy beatings.


    After the beating, when asked again, Wang Lin stuck to the same story, though his darting eyes revealed his increased unease.


    In any case, based on Chen Wu¡¯s testimony, the idea that Tang Mingrui had hired someone tomit murder could not stand. However, until the true mastermind was found, he could notpletely detach himself from this case.


    ¡°Boss Tang can return for now. Without this official''s order during this period, you cannot leave Yun City and must make yourself avable when summoned.¡±


    Having gotten caught up in this matter, Tang Mingrui was also quite helpless. Fortunately, the county magistrate was not muddleheaded, otherwise he would not have been able to leave the government office so quickly.


    What was bothering him was that business at the provincial office had been very busy recently. Without him there to oversee things, he worried his subordinates would struggle after some time had passed.


    In any case, just being able to temporarily return home was the biggest courtesy Meng Huaining could show him at present, and he would have to ept that favor.


    Tang Mingrui respectfully saluted Meng Huaining: ¡°Many thanks for your excellency¡¯s consideration. Tang guarantees he will not leave Yun City before this case is closed.¡±


    Meng Huaining waved his hand to indicate he could leave.


    What remained was carefully interrogating Wang Lin himself. Relying on his many years of experience handling cases, to find a breakthrough in this case they would have to start with Wang Lin.


    It was just that Wang Lin was extremely stubborn, and it would require more effort to get him to speak out.


    Mo Jiuye hade to find Tang Mingrui, so he naturally followed along to ask about the situation. If suitable, he would then consider discussing business matters with the other party.


    The two walked shoulder to shoulder out of the government office. Tang Mingrui revealed a bitter smile.


    ¡°Ninth brother, I really must have let you see a joke. I just wanted to run my business fairly, yet this kind of thing still happened to me.¡±


    Mo Jiuye knew he felt ufortable and lightly patted Tang Mingrui on the shoulder.


    ¡°Believe in Magistrate Meng. He will certainly give you justice.¡±


    Tang Mingrui nodded. ¡°Yes, I believe in Magistrate Meng.¡±


    After a short pause, he asked in return, ¡°How did Ninth Brother have free time toe to the city today?¡±


    ¡°I came specifically looking for you. I hadn¡¯t expected to hear as soon as I entered the city that you were caught up in something.¡±


    ¡°Does Ninth Brother have some lucrative business for finding me?¡± In Tang Mingrui¡¯s eyes, if Mo Jiuye was finding him, it must be because there was some new business to coborate on.


    He had originally nned to go to Xi Ling Vige today to strike it rich with the Mo family¡¯s watermelon business. It was now the right time for the Mo family¡¯s watermelons to ripen.


    If he went and confirmed the watermelons were ripe, he would immediately arrange transportation into the city.


    It was known that the Tang family had always believed watermelons were more delicious than cantaloupes. Especially in this hot summer weather, taking a bite of a nice cold watermelon was simply too refreshing.


    Mo Jiuye found it somewhat amusing that the Tang brothers really could only think about business. Even caught up in a government case, the first thought in their minds was still profit.


    Since the other party did not mind, he had no reservations about proposing his ideas at this time either.


    ¡°Indeed, I have a business deal I wanted to partner with Brother Tang on.¡±


    Speaking, Mo Jiuye took out the several gold and silver essories made with molds from his bosomst night with his wife.


    Tang Mingrui was someone who had seen fine goods before. With just a nce, he could see the intricate quality of the workmanship of the essories.


    Especially that pendant whose form he could not discern. The patterns were so finely carved it seemed lifelike.


    And that small ring that should have been quite nondescript. Its shine was dazzling, quite different from the kind sold in the city¡¯s jewelry shops.


    He could hardly tear his gaze from the exquisite patterns.


    ¡°Ninth Brother, where did you buy these gold and silver essories from? Da Shun¡¯s jewelry stores definitely don¡¯t have such finely-crafted goods.¡±


    In his impatience to know what kind of new business Mo Jiuye wanted to partner on, Tang Mingrui had not even thought more deeply about these intricate essories at all.


    ¡°Ninth Sister is truly fortunate to have met such a considerate husband as Ninth Brother. Ninth Brother must have gone through great effort to obtain these essories, right?¡±


    In Tang Mingrui¡¯s mind, Ninth Brother doted on his wife.


    From the profits of their recent joint ventures that had been split fifty-fifty, he knew very clearly just how much the other party had earned.


    It must be that Ninth Brother had excess silver and bought some essories for his wife.


    Mo Jiuye already knew Tang Mingrui¡¯s reaction to seeing these essories would be like this.


    He was in no rush to put the essories away.


    ¡°I wonder if Brother Tang might be interested in the jewelry essory business?¡±


    Upon hearing this statement, Tang Mingrui froze for a brief moment before revealing an expression of pleasant surprise.


    ¡°Does Ninth Brother mean you can provide essories of this quality to me?¡± Tang Mingrui pointed at the essories, eyes shining, having already forgotten the gloom from earlier.


    It was known that Da Shun¡¯s most lucrative businesses were the jewelry stores and money houses. If he hadn¡¯t been unable to find a suitable supplier, he would have opened a proper jewelry store long ago.


    Looking at the essories with special intricacy before him, he already envisioned endless silver pouring towards him.


    Tang Mingrui grabbed Mo Jiuye¡¯s arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Ninth Brother, find a tea house and discuss properly!¡±


    Mo Jiuye had note over this time intending to discuss cooperation details with Tang Mingrui. His main purpose was to understand if Tang Mingrui had any intention of partnering up.


    As for details of cooperation, that would still have to be left for his wife at home to discuss. After all, his wife was more knowledgeable in such matters than him.


    Moreover, they had only made samples of several essories currently. They were still quite far off from being able to open a store.

 Chapter 432: Jing Xian Lou

    <h4>Chapter 432</h4>


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s original n was that he woulde to the city to inquire about Tang Mingrui''s intentions. If the other party was willing to cooperate, Mo Jiuye would go to the dental clinic in the city to buy several suitable people.


    He Zhiran''s soul came from the modern times and did not support such human trafficking in ancient times.


    But after all, she hade and could no longer go back. Following local customs was inevitable.


    Using molds to make jewelry was a secret and it was impossible to casually find a few craftsmen to do it.


    In order to prevent such secrets from being spread, the best way was to buy people.


    In Da Shun, selling personal bonds was equivalent to the lives of those people. Their lives were in the hands of the master. Unless something unexpected happened, they would not betray the family.


    Mo Jiuye was not in a hurry, but Tang Mingrui did not want to wait long.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye still did not respond, he said anxiously:


    "Brother Jiu, I know the price of such jewelry must be higher. You are not doing business with me for the first time. Please trust me that I can definitely create the highest profit from this kind of jewelry."


    Mo Jiuye knew Tang Mingrui was enthusiastic about doing business, but he had never seen him so anxious before, which made him couldn¡¯t helpughing.


    "There are only so many pieces of jewelry I have shown you for now. I came here this time to ask about your willingness to cooperate. Also, the watermelons at my home have partially ripened and can be harvested now."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s words, Tang Mingrui was somewhat disappointed at first, and then became excited again.


    As he had expected, the watermelons were ripe. He and his family could not only eat the delicious and refreshing watermelons, but also make a lot of money.


    "That''s great, Brother Jiu. I will arrange for someone to transport the watermelons immediately."


    As for his inability to leave Yuncheng, it had been thrown to the back of his mind for now.


    Mo Jiuye also believed in Tang Mingrui''s ability. Even if he did not leave Yuncheng, he had a way to sell the watermelons.


    He had achieved his goal of finding Tang Mingrui. Before they parted, he had to ask:


    "Brother Tang, have you encountered anything strange recently while doing business, or has anyone suspicious appeared?"


    Mo Jiuye asked this for a reason.


    He had just listened to the entire trial process in the court.


    He guessed that someone must have instigated Wang Lin, but that person was definitely not Chen Wu.


    Also, he observed Wang Lin had been avoiding eye contact all the time, especially after Tang Mingrui appeared, it became more serious.


    All these little actions of his could exin that there was something big going on in this matter.


    And Chen Wu was just a pawn being used. He only knew less than Wang Lin.


    In addition, there was another possibility that Wang Lin had some handle that had fallen into someone else''s hands, so he had no choice but to do this.


    Besides, people don''t kill like this in the street and get caught by passing government officials!


    This was clearly a trap set for Tang Mingrui.


    If it wasn''t for Meng Huaining''s wisdom, Wang Lin and Chen Wu''s confessions would have been enough to convict him of hiring someone tomit murder.


    When asked, Tang Mingrui''s previous excitement disappeared in a sh. He immediately fell into deep thought, recalling what had happened recently.


    After pondering for a long time, Tang Mingrui spoke up:


    "After taking away those little gangsters from Xiling Vigest time, in order to teach them a lesson, I directly sent them to the state government yamen and gave some benefits to Prefect.


    The prefect had each of those little gangsters severely beaten twenty times, and then fined them some silver before letting them leave.


    Since then, I have rarely seen those people wandering on the streets, and it has been much quieter.


    Until five days ago, two restaurants named Jingxian Building opened on the two main streets of the state government. That gang leader who had not shown his face for a long time appeared with several of his men."


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye interjected, "Did you say the restaurant was called Jingxian Building?"


    "That''s right, Jingxian Building. As far as I know, Jingxian Building has many branches in Da Shun dynasty and belongs to a high-end consumer restaurant. Ordinarymon people simply cannot afford to eat there.


    Moreover, Jingxian Building''s branches are all located in prosperous cities. Even as a state capital, I''m afraid this ce does not meet its criteria for opening a branch." Tang Mingrui continued to exin.


    Although Tang Mingrui knew about Jingxian Building, he had never thought that such a big restaurant would open in the northwest, let alone know who the real boss behind it was.


    However, judging from his experience in business, the person who could open such a luxurious restaurant and had businesses all over the ce must have a background. He just didn¡¯t know what kind of background the boss had and what status he was.


    Tang Mingrui didn''t know, but Mo Jiuye did.


    "The boss behind Jingxian Building is a coteral branch of the maternal family of the current queen. The father of the queen is Left Prime Minister Xue Qing of the current dynasty. In addition, she also has several brothers serving as officials in the imperial court.


    It can be said that the queen''s maternal family is a huge family in Da Shun.


    Such a family not only needs people in power, but also huge financial resources behind it.


    The source of the Xue family''s finances is supported by the Jingxian boss, Xue Jinchuan."


    This was not a secret among the aristocratic circles in the imperial capital, especially when Nan Qi fought fiercely with Nan Heng in the past. They would investigate their opponent''s background and resources clearly.


    Back then, he was as close as brothers with Nan Qi, so Nan Qi would definitely mention it to him after finding out about something like this.


    The reason why the Xue family only had a catering business to support their finances was because Jingxian Building had four specialties.


    The first specialty - Lion''s Head.


    The second specialty - Roast Duck.


    The third specialty - Red Braised Pork.


    The fourth specialty - Steamed Pomfret.


    Anyone who had tasted these four dishes would praise them endlessly. The roast duck was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and oozed rich oil with every bite.


    Although some people could imitate the Lion¡¯s Head and Red Braised Pork, they couldn¡¯t produce the ptable taste of Jingxian¡¯s.


    The Steamed Pomfret was even more highly acimed.


    It should be known that with theck of seasonings in ancient times, it was not easy to handle the fishy smell well.


    But this steamed pomfret was cooked just right, with no fishy smell at all, and tasted particrly delicious when eating.


    Therefore, no matter where Jingxian Building opened, it would be sought after by the nobles.


    Speaking of these four dishes, Mo Jiuye had tasted them when he was in the imperial capital.


    If he hadn''t eaten the delicious dishes made by his wife, he might have thought it was sublime cuisine.


    But Mo Jiuye, who had tasted many different delicacies, no longer valued Jingxian''s four specialties.


    Let alone Renren, even with his current cooking skills and his wife''s unique seasonings from her space, the dishes produced would definitely overwhelm Jingxian''s.


    Moreover, Jingxian''s dishes were expensive, only making money from the rich. Because the price of each dish there was beyond what ordinarymoners could afford.


    That is to say, Jingxian only did business with the rich. It was not that there were no rich people in the northwest, butpared with other regions, there were far fewer.

 Chapter 433: Do you Have a Family

    <h4>Chapter 433</h4>


    Xue Jinchuan opened two restaurants in this ce, which obviously could not earn much money in the eyes of observant people. Therefore, this could only mean that the Xue family had some purpose.


    Logically speaking, the death or disappearance of Nan Heng in Dashun was no longer a secret, and if it were not for the Empress and Prime Minister Xue Qing that the Xue family still had, they would probably not be far from decline.


    Especially the Empress, with Nan Heng dead, she no longer had the bargaining chip to seize power, and at this time the Xue family still arranged Xue Jinchuan toe to the northwest to open restaurants. Mo Jiuye had to think about his own family.


    Not only did Mo Jiuye realize this, but after listening to his words, Tang Mingrui also had to consider things from this perspective.


    After all, he had been in contact with the Mo family for a long time and understood some things.


    "Ninth Brother, could it be that the people from Jingxian Building are making trouble?


    They must havee to the northwest to prepare in advance when they opened restaurants here, and they would have inquired about each other among their peers.


    I''m also in the restaurant business, Boss Jin could investigate my cooperation with the Mo family, so it''s not difficult for Jingxian Building to find out too.


    And the one who impersonated Boss Tang to hire a killer tomit murder is from Jingxian Building. The purpose is to block the Mo family''s ie."


    He knew the Mo family''s long-term ie came only from selling dolls and cold rabbit meat.


    Tang Mingrui''s words conveyed what Mo Jiuye was thinking.


    It''s just that he knew a little more than Tang Mingrui.


    The Empress was shrewd, and his father Xue Qing was able to take the position of Prime Minister. He had a lot of thoughts.


    The bizarre disappearance of Nan Heng upstream of the Salt Lake happened to coincide with their exile there.


    Although no one knew at that time that they were exiled there, after such a long investigation, Peng Wang had already returned to the capital with the escort officer for a long time.


    When there were many people talking, it was hard to guarantee that they would not ask some useful clues from them. It was just that there was no conclusive evidence.


    Jingxian Building opened in the northwest, presumably it was the Xue family looking for clues about Nan Heng, or they had already guessed something and wanted to avenge Nan Heng, which was also possible.


    Anyway, no matter what the reason was, the opening of Jingxian Building in the northwest was something that Mo Jiuye had to take seriously.


    Especially since the return of all the Mo men was no longer a secret in Xi Ling Vige, interested people only need to inquire a little to understand the general idea.


    ording to Tang Mingrui, Jingxian Building had opened in the prefecture for a few days. They must have started acting.


    On the one hand, they framed Tang Mingrui to cut off the Mo family''s source of ie. On the other hand, they sent people to Xi Ling Vige to investigate the Mo family¡¯s news.


    Regarding this, Mo Jiuye was not worried at all. After all, things like this woulde sooner orter.


    Even if it was not the maternal family of the Empress, there would be others.


    In short, if the Mo family wanted to live a peaceful life in the northwest in the future, it would probably not be too easy.


    Fortunately, several elder brothers had already made many bombs. They just waited for the Seventh Elder Brother to bring those subordinates from the south toe back and organize the Mo Family''s own army.


    By then, he didn''t mind a doomed struggle with those who didn''t want the Mo family to live a peaceful life.


    Of course, now that the Mo family had reunited, and he was about to be the father of two children, it was impossible for him to take risks with his life.


    This was just a bottom line for Mo Jiuye. As long as those short-sighted people did not provoke his Mo family, he would rather spend his whole life farming and living a regr life.


    To verify whether his analysis was correct, Mo Jiuye said a few words to Tang Mingrui and then went back to the yamen.


    Tang Mingrui was anxious about the watermelon business and did not return home immediately. Instead, he called several cars and went to Xi Ling Vige.


    Anyway, Meng Huaining only asked him not to leave Yun City, and Xi Ling Vige was also within the scope of Yun City, so it was not against the order for him to go there in person.


    He didn¡¯t need to worry about selling watermelons either. He had already paved the way when he first sold cantaloupes. As long as he set a price and let his men sell them, it would be fine.


    What Mo Jiuye was thinking about was that in order to find a breakthrough in this matter, first Wang Lin had to tell the truth, and second, he wanted to ask Chen Wu what the person who pretended to be Boss Tang looked like.


    The officers all knew that Mo Jiuye was the uncle of their county magistrate in the future, so his arrival was naturally not hindered.


    Mo Jiuye easily arrived at the public hall.


    At this time, Wang Lin was being tortured. His hands were mped by racks, and he screamed in pain.


    In Mo Jiuye¡¯s opinion, unless it was a person with special and tough temperament, it would be difficult to grit one¡¯s teeth so hard.


    But no matter how he looked at Wang Lin, he did not seem like a person with a particrly strong will.


    So there was only one possibility¡ªthis Wang Lin must have some handle that others grasped.


    To verify his idea, Mo Jiuye came to stand in front of him.


    "Wang Lin, do you have family?"


    Hearing the two words "family" instantly changed Wang Lin''s expression. The previous painful grimace also became tense and wooden.


    Seeing his expression, Mo Jiuye knew he had asked the right thing.


    "Your family is now in my hands. If you still want to conceal anything for that person, not only will you suffer, but your family will not end up well either.


    You endure torture yourself, but you still can''t die happily. Such pain from being tortured slowly is probably unbearable for ordinary people, right?"


    In the end, Mo Jiuye couldn''t help but threaten him.


    Meng Huaining and Mo Chuhan didn''t know what medicine Mo Jiuye was selling in his gourd, but they both clearly saw the change in Wang Lin''s expression and knew that what Mo Jiuye said had worked.


    Therefore, the two just maintained a stance of onlookers and let Mo Jiuye take the lead.


    Mo Jiuye just wanted to test to see if there was any handle being grasped by others.


    The mostmon one was that family members were being held hostage as a threat.


    He followed up aggressively: "If you really don''t care about whether they live or die, I can leave here now."


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye had already turned around and made a gesture as if he was going to leave.


    Seeing this, Wang Lin became anxious. He dragged his battered body and kowtowed desperately to Mo Jiuye.


    "Sir, please be kind and spare my old mother and daughter. They have never done anything to harm others or break thew. As long as you let them go, I will tell you everything I know."

 Chapter 434: I’ll spare your mother and daughter.

    <h4>Chapter 434</h4>


    Mo Jiuye stopped abruptly and turned to look at him.


    "As long as you tell the truth, I will spare your old mother and daughter."


    "Three days ago, Chen Wu found me and paid me two hundred taels of silver to teach Gold Boss a lesson. He said that I had been working under Second Master for a short time and Gold Boss did not recognize me, so I was the most suitable person for this task.


    Afterpleting the task, he would give me two hundred taels of silver to let my old mother and daughter escape far away.


    At that time, I thought that two hundred taels of silver was not a small sum. With this money, I could take them to other ces to buy property and live the life of a rich man.


    On the day I was about to take action, when I returned home, I found that my old mother and young daughter had disappeared. There was a note left on the table. I had attended a private school for two years when I was young, so I could recognize some words.


    The note said that if I wanted my old mother and daughter to live, I had to kill Gold Boss before the end of the day and frame Chen Wu.


    In addition, after killing, I had to draw the attention of the officials. If I did not follow the requirements on the note, they would be ready to collect the corpses of my old mother and daughter early tomorrow morning..."


    As he spoke, Wang Lin was already crying bitterly. He kowtowed to Mo Jiuye again.


    "Sir, I did this because I was forced to. Now I have told you everything. I just beg you to spare my old mother and young daughter."


    Wang Lin spoke in tears. Meng Huaining and Mo Jiuye observed his expression and actions carefully.


    They could determine that Wang Lin was probably not lying.


    If he was not lying and just went to do things after seeing the note, it would be impossible to find out the person behind the scenes from his mouth.


    Mo Jiuye did not pay attention to Wang Lin¡¯s plea. After all, his old mother and daughter were not in his own hands. He had just lied to him earlier.


    Therefore, he turned to look at Meng Huaining. Aside from his rtionship with Meng Huaining, his actions in the court earlier were indeed a bit presumptuous. Moreover, Meng Huaining was not a fool. Now that he had asked to this point, if Mo Jiuye still did not know what to do next, he might as well stop being the county magistrate.


    Meng Huaining nodded slightly to Mo Jiuye and ordered: "Come, bring Chen Wu here."


    Chen Wu was escorted back into the court again.


    "Chen Wu, this official asks you, what did the person who gave you five hundred taels of silver to pretend to be Boss Tang look like? Tell me in detail."


    Chen Wu was more honest than Wang Lin. Besides, he had always believed that he did not kill anyone himself, so the problem was not too serious. Seeing the county magistrate inquire, he recounted in detail what he saw.


    "The person who gave me five hundred taels of silver was about the same age as the real Boss Tang just now, both around twenty years old.


    Only he was a little fatter than Boss Tang, wearing a vermilion purple robe, slightly darker skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and his ent was a bit like people from Beijing.


    Oh yes, after he gave me the silver bill, he left. Judging from his back view when he walked away, he walked with a bit of a limp, but it was not easy to notice if you did not look carefully."


    After a pause, as if remembering something else, Chen Wu added: "When that fake Boss Tang gave me the silver bill, he specifically told me to find someone I don''t know to do this.


    Among Second Master¡¯s men, Wang Lin had arrived thetest, and he often used family affairs as an excuse not to report to Second Master. So I thought it would be most suitable to let him do this."


    So far, these were the only clues they could get from these two people.


    If this matter was really rted to the Xue family, they had gone around such a big circle to frame Tang Mingrui in order to indirectly cut off the Mo family''s ie. The purpose was nothing more than not wanting people to know that they were making trouble.


    This was Mo Jiuye¡¯s own analysis and spection. Even if it was really done by Xue Jinchuan, evidence had to be found.


    Although Mo Chuhan was a bit straightforward, he was notpletely ignorant.


    When he heard Mo Jiuye mention Jingxian Building, he guessed what was going on.


    "Ninth brother, have you discovered something?"


    "Well, I just heard Brother Tang say that the prefecture has opened two Jingxian Buildings."


    Mo Chuhan was a little surprised. "Jingxian Building? Isn''t that Xue''s property?"


    "Yes, I suspect that the Xue family did not have a simple purpose ining to the northwest to open Jingxian Buildings." Mo Jiuye felt it necessary to exin things clearly to his brother.


    Mo Chuhan had an impatient temper. He turned to Meng Huaining and said, "Sir, let me take some time off. I want to go to the prefecture."


    Meng Huaining also heard Mo Jiuye mention Jingxian Building earlier.


    Although he did not know what Jingxian Building was and what the Xue family Mo Jiuye mentioned was about, seeing the tight expressions on the Mo brothers, he knew that the matter might be rted to them.


    "Eighth Brother, go ahead with your business. You don''t need to worry about the yamen these days."


    With Meng Huaining¡¯s words, Mo Chuhan left with Mo Jiuye without hesitation.


    After leaving the court, Mo Chuhan did not forget to change out of his catcher uniform.


    Mo Jiuye did have the idea to go to Jingxian Building to investigate. The two brothers raced to the prefecture on fast horses.


    Unlike Mo Chuhan, Mo Jiuye was on the list of people exiled by Emperor Wu''s edict, so ording to thew he was not allowed to leave Yun City.


    Fortunately, Meng Huaining was his future brother-inw. Those officials also knew this fact. Even if he openly left Yun City, those people would only turn a blind eye.


    The two brothers rode fast horses and arrived at the prefecture right at noon.


    In principle, this was when the restaurants were the busiest. However, there were barely any customers in this Jingxian Building in front of them.


    The front door was open with two people standing at the entrance.


    On the surface, they were dressed as waiters, standing at the door to solicit customers.


    On closer inspection, both of these people were burly. One was even taller than the Mo brothers.


    The two stood ramrod straight at the door. Just then, two customers walked in.


    The waiters should have enthusiasticallye forward to greet them and take them to their seats.


    However, these two did not move at all and continued standing there. They looked more like guards than waiters.


    In addition, as the brothers observed the interior of Jingxian Building from outside, the furnishings were also very different from Jingxian Buildings in other cities.


    The Jingxian Buildings in other cities were decorated magnificently. Even the stone steps at the entrance were made of white marble.


    The Jingxian Building here not onlycked luxurious decorations, but even the tables and chairs looked old.


    Just as the brothers were pondering the reason, they suddenly heard an unhappy shout from a customer inside the hall.


    "Is this what you call Lion''s Head worth five taels of silver a te? There were so many bones in it and the taste was very ordinary too. This is a ck shop.


    Get your boss out here and refund my money, or else..."


    Before the customer could finish speaking, the brothers suddenly saw a man fall to the ground in front of them.


    It was the customer who had asked to see the boss for a refund just now.


    A burly waiter stood behind him with his hands behind his back, yelling at the customer.


    "I see you''re here just to cause trouble. Jingxian Building is known nationally as a big restaurant. You don''t have any taste yourself yet you dare say Jingxian Building¡¯s food is no good. Who gave you the nerve to cause trouble here?"

 Chapter 435: How is it private

    <h4>Chapter 435</h4>


    Originally, two burly men were standing at the entrance, and they leaned forward slightly, clearly poised to take action if that customer dared to say anything more.


    Seeing their stance, the customer did cower, realizing that the few people in front of him were not those he could afford to provoke. With effort, he got up, dusted himself off, and left dispiritedly.


    Then those helpers swiftly returned to their original positions.


    Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan exchanged a nce.


    "Eighth brother, let''s go check out another Jingxian Building."


    Mo Chuhan nodded, and the two leapt onto their horses and left.


    The other Jingxian Building was slightly better, but only in the attitude of the helpers. The decor was almost identical to the first one they saw.


    There were simrly few customers inside, and judging from their expressions as they ate, they did not seem very happy.


    Mo Jiuye beckoned Mo Chuhan, "Eighth brother, let''s go in and sit for a bit."


    The two brothers walked into the lobby, and it was a long while before a helper came to greet them.


    Mo Jiuye chose a seat by the window and casually ordered two dishes.


    As martial artists, their hearing was naturally sharp.


    While the brothers were waiting for their food, they heard over a dozen synchronized footstepsing from the direction of the back kitchen.


    Mo Jiuye could even judge that these footsteps belonged to martial artists.


    In order not to stir up trouble prematurely, the brothers showed no visible reaction and continued waiting for their dishes as if nothing had happened.


    Nheless, they kept listening intently to the soundsing from the back.


    When the helpers brought out their dishes, the footsteps had gradually faded away.


    Having lost their appetite, the brothers imitated the other customers by taking a couple bites and feigning dissatisfaction before asking for the bill and leaving.


    Once outside, they headed straight for the backyard of Jingxian Building, as that was where the kitchen was located and also the direction from where those earlier sounds came.


    This property was a stand-alone building that opened onto the main street, so its facade could be considered one of the courtyard walls.


    The other three sides were surrounded by 10-foot high enclosing walls, with a side door on the west side.


    As soon as the brothers circled around to the west side of the courtyard, a man dressed like those helpers came up to block their way.


    "This is private property. Loiterers please go around."


    Mo Jiuye deliberately yed dumb.


    "But this is clearly an alley. How has it be private property? We want to pass through here. So you''re telling us we have to take a detour?"


    Seeing his words had no effect, that man was visibly impatient.


    "I already told you this is Jingxian Building territory. Now scram!"


    The more he talked like that, the more determined the brothers were to get to the bottom of this.


    Mo Chuhan had already walked around to the front of Mo Jiuye and strode purposefully toward the inside of the alley.


    "I insist on passing through here. What can you do about it?"


    As they spoke, the brothers had already advanced a dozen or so steps, now barely an arm''s length away from that helper who was trying to drive them away.


    Seeing the two were impervious to persuasion, that helper instantly lost his temper.


    "I''m telling you to get the hell out of here! This isn''t a ce you should be. Take one more step forward and don''t me me for getting rough with you."


    Within two sentences, that helper had revealed his true nature.


    As he spoke, from out of nowhere he pulled out a short leather whip and pointed at the brothers, yelling


    "Leave this instant!"


    Mo Chuhan had always had a fiery temper. Especially when dealing with people possibly opposed to his family, how could he possiblypromise?


    Before he even had a chance to react, three or four men dressed like that helper suddenly burst out from behind the courtyard gate, surrounding the brothers.


    Without further ado, they were poised to attack.


    The brothers were even faster to react than them. As those men swung their fists at them, Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan almost simultaneously struck back.


    The brothers'' four hands securely caught the four fists swinging their way.


    Four cracking sounds ensued as the wrists of those four helpers were snapped.


    Perhaps those four had underestimated them, seeing what looked like ordinarymoners before them. They thought intimidation alone would be enough to scare them off. Little did they expect these two men to actually be martial artists, as evidenced by the mere move of breaking their wrists.


    If they had been regr people, having their wrists snapped would surely elicit blood-curdling shrieks.


    Yet those helpers made no sound. Exchanging nces with each other, they proceeded to use their uninjured hands to pull out daggers from their waists and hold them up against Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan.


    At the same time, themotion outside seemed to have also alerted those inside the courtyard. People started jumping out one after another to check things out.


    Unlike the helpers, those emerging from the courtyard were dressed uniformly in grey, looking more like guards of wealthy households.


    Gripping obvious broadswords, they raised their weapons towards Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan as soon as they grasped the situation.


    The brothers had witnessed such a spectacle countless times and were not the least bit intimidated.


    In a sh, those broadswords hacked at them in unison.


    Unhurried, Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan dodged backwards before leaping behind that group of people. Within the blink of an eye and a few somersaults, they had kicked the entire group to the ground.


    Seeing this, the helper who had ordered them to leave earlier yelled loudly towards the courtyard,


    "Come help! There''s troublemakers here!"


    Right after, over ten people jumped out from behind the courtyard wall charging at the brothers in attack.


    From their moves, Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan instantly recognized that these people''s martial arts were no trivial matter and absolutely iparable to those earlier men with des.


    Still, the Mo brothers defeated them swiftly all the same.


    Admittedly, facing such experts madebat not as effortless as imagined.


    From their lethal moves, it was evident those men were akin to the deathsworn nurtured by the wealthy and powerful families of the capital.


    Moreover, with Jingxian Buildings being a Xue Family property, their ulterior motives in the northwest were only to be expected, including the stationing of deathsworn.


    While the brothers were lost in thought, some of those deathsworn they had restrained had already broken the poison pills in their mouths, bleeding from all seven apertures as they died a swift death.


    "This is bad! Quick Eighth Brother, capture them alive!"


    Mo Chuhan also realized instantly. The two dashed forth, each grabbing hold of one deathsworn by the cheeks with the intention of preventing them from crushing the poison pellets.


    With perfect coordination, the brothers finally preserved the lives of two deathsworn.


    That helper who had been so arrogant with them earlier was now scared stiff, continuously shuffling backward.


    Those family guards were equally dazed, staring nkly at the brothers,pletely at a loss on what to do next.


    Mo Chuhan stepped forward nimbly, using their belts to tie up those guards along with the dead deathsworn bodies before chucking the lot out the side door into the courtyard.


    After all, this was an alley along the bustling main avenue. Any prolonged activity risked attracting public attention.


    While the situation in the backyard of Jingxian Building remained unclear, they certainly couldn''t interrogate them openly there and then.

 Chapter 436: I am the man from Jing Xian Lou

    <h4>Chapter 436</h4>


    The two brothers finally entered the backyard of the Jingxian Building and casually closed the yard door behind them.


    They were in no hurry to ask those people anything, but looked around instead.


    The backyard of a restaurant should basically be used as a warehouse and dormitory for the waiters.


    Mo Jiuye scanned around but did not see any warehouse at all.


    Without even preparing ingredients, how could this be a restaurant?


    Especially for such a famous high-end restaurant like the Jingxian Building, not only were there no prepared ingredients, even the food that was served was so perfunctory, which showed how impure their purpose was in opening this ce.


    Mo Jiuye only took a rough look around and did not check each room.


    Just as he turned around, about to interrogate those people, he suddenly heard a faint sobing from the woodshed.


    Mo Chuhan also heard it.


    "Younger brother, you stay here and watch them. I''ll go take a look," said Mo Chuhan.


    As he opened the door of the woodshed, a pungent stench instantly filled the air. Mo Chuhan instinctively covered his nose and mouth.


    The woodshed was very messy inside. What caught their eyes the most were two people, one elderly and one young, lying on the ground.


    The stench came from these two. It could be determined that they had been locked up here for some time.


    Mo Jiuye had witnessed Wang Lin deceiving the king with a scam, and Mo Chuhan was also present then. Seeing the elderly woman in her fifties and the young girl of seven or eight years old, they should be Wang Lin''s old mother and daughter.


    Wang Lin hadmitted murder, but his family were innocent. As a government official, Mo Chuhan had the duty to rescue them.


    Moreover, after seeing these two, he also believed that Wang Lin had killed Boss Jin out of desperation, otherwise who would deliberately let the officials discover the body aftermitting murder?


    The two were very weak right now, with dry, cracked lips, clearly due tock of food over the past days.


    Mo Chuhan went to the kitchen.


    The kitchen was some distance away from the alley where the fight had urred. The two chefs inside did not know what was happening outside. With little business in the restaurant, the two chefs were casually chatting.


    Seeing a stranger enter, they immediately asked, "Who are you? Don''t wander around in the kitchen."


    With one nce, Mo Chuhan could tell that they were in the same group as those two waiters.


    Therefore, without saying anything further, he went forward to knock them down and truss them up in the backyard. Then he took two bowls of water to Wang Lin''s family.


    The old woman seemed to have been in poor health already. Her eyes were closed now, not knowing if she had lost consciousness. The young girl''s condition was slightly better. The voice from earlier came from her.


    People of this era valued propriety between men and women. Although the one lying on the ground was an old woman, Mo Chuhan still did not feel proper to go up and help her. He could only let the young girl drink some water first before finding a way to feed the old woman.


    The old woman appeared unconscious but had notpletely lost awareness, as she could swallow when the girl fed her water.


    After a few sips of water, the old woman finally opened her eyes.


    She looked at Mo Chuhan, then tears flowed down as she said weakly, "Thank you, Young Master, for saving us."


    As she spoke, it was as if she suddenly recalled something. Her expression became terrified.


    "Young Master, everyone here is vicious. You should leave quickly!"


    She and her granddaughter had been locked up here for several days. Although no one came to torment them, no one gave them a bite of food or a sip of water either.


    Moreover, she could hear the sounds outside. These were clearly not proper business people, as she sometimes heard them talk about killing people.


    Thinking of this, the old woman was worried that her lifesaver would be endangered and thus reminded him.


    Instead of leaving as she said, Mo Chuhan asked, "What is Wang Lin''s rtionship to you?"


    Hearing the name, the old woman struggled to sit up.


    "Young Master, do you know my son? Where is he now? Is he still alive?"


    Wang Lin was imprisoned in the county prison for murder, and it was indeed as he said - because his old mother and young daughter were being held hostage, he was forced to kill.


    Seeing the feeble state of the old woman, Mo Chuhan worried that telling her the truth would be too much for her to handle. If he really needed to inform her, it would be better to wait until she recovered somewhat.


    Mo Chuhan''s eyes flickered uneasily for a moment as he stood up.


    "Wang Lin is still alive. You need not worry about him."


    To prevent further questioning from the old woman, Mo Chuhan chose to leave the woodshed.


    Even if not to evade the issue, he still had to go out - there were so many people outside that still needed interrogating.


    Although Mo Jiuye did not follow Mo Chuhan into the woodshed, he could hear the conversation inside clearly. Hence when Eighth Brother returned, there was not much he needed to ask.


    The two brothers exchanged a look and went up to the waiter who had obstructed them earlier.


    The waiter had been beaten up severely by the two brothers and was still wincing in pain.


    Mo Jiuye did not show mercy at all. He grabbed the waiter by the cor and lifted him up.


    "Speak, who are you people?"


    The waiter had already been deterred by the brothers'' prowess earlier. Knowing he had kicked an iron te, now being lifted up like a little chick, he was so frightened that he felt half of his soul had departed.


    "I... I''m just a waiter of the Jingxian Building..."


    With how these people acted, Mo Jiuye would have to be a fool to believe his nonsense.


    Before the waiter could react, Mo Jiuye had already broken his other wrist.


    The agony almost caused the waiter to faint, but Mo Jiuye would certainly not give him that chance.


    He released the waiter''s cor and grabbed his hair instead, forcing him awake.


    The waiter hadpletely lost his previous bluster in the alley. He tearfully pleaded for mercy.


    "Sir, please stop... I''m indeed from the Jingxian Building, but not an ordinary waiter... I''m a specially trained fighter..."


    It would not surprise the Mo brothers one bit that the Jingxian Building had specially trained fighters.


    After all, such a big restaurant would need some brawny men to maintain order and prevent troublemakers.


    But it was questionable for a fighter to be acting as a waiter.


    Furthermore, from this person''s words, Mo Jiuye could ascertain that the other waiter dressed identical to him and those attendants in guard uniforms were all the restaurant''s fighters.


    For the Jingxian Building to open two branches in such a deste location, and have no customers at all, was already suspicious enough. Add the fact that these fighters were acting as waiters - it showed how impure the purpose was for them to open a restaurant here.


    Mo Jiuye continued his interrogation: "Why did the Jingxian Building open two branches in such a poor ce like Northwest China? Why make you fighters act as waiters? Also, where is your manager?"


    With such an extensiveworkid out by the Xue family in Northwest China, it was impossible they only had a few fighters and desperados stationed here. Even if the head of the family Xue Jinchuan did note personally, he would have sent a capable subordinate to oversee things here.

 Chapter 437: I’ll only make you miserable.

    <h4>Chapter 437</h4>


    Mo Jiuye shook his head vigorously: "I''m just here to run this restaurant, I''ve never seen any steward."


    In order to prove that he was not lying, the buddy added: "Even the two cooks were brought in by our brothers, if you don''t believe me you can go ask them."


    Mo Jiuye did not go to ask those two cooks, but pointed in the direction of the woodshed and asked: "Were that old man and child caught by you?"


    The buddy shook his head again, then looked at the two dead men who had been removed from the poison sacs in their mouths by the Mo brothers.


    "It was them...they put those people there."


    "Initially there were only two of them who brought the people here and then left. It wasn''t until today that they reappeared with many more people."


    The other thugs, afraid that they would also suffer physically, hurried to help prove it.


    "Sir, what he said is true..."


    Mo Jiuye did not pay any attention to those people, but walked towards the two dead men.


    It had to be said that the dead men were trained rigorously and did not fear life and death.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye approaching, the two showed no sign of fear on their faces. Instead, they continued to maintain eye contact with Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye knew clearly that it would not be easy to get any useful information from these two men. He regretted not bringing some of the itching powder made by his wife when he went out.


    That stuff was most suitable for interrogation. Even the toughest mouths could be pried open with it.


    But now he didn¡¯t have any itching powder on hand. He could only try the usual methods first.


    Mo Chuhan saw that his ninth brother hade to the two dead men but had not moved. He took out a dagger from his waist and walked over. "Ninth brother, let me do it."


    As he spoke, Mo Chuhan¡¯s dagger had already cut off one of the dead man''s ears.


    The dead man didn''t even react before he felt a cool sensation where his ear used to be, followed quickly by a piercing pain.


    Looking at the ground in front of him, his ear was lying quietly there.


    "Just kill me, I won''t say anything."


    His words had just fallen when Mo Chuhan''s dagger moved again, cutting off his other ear, then cing the knife tip on his nose bridge.


    "I want to know what you haven''t said yet. I won''t let you die, I will only let you live painfully."


    Mo Chuhan also knew the minds of these dead men. Although they were fearless of life and death, they did not want to be tortured. Therefore, the dead men would carry poison sacs in their mouths. In order to protect their master¡¯s secrets and prevent themselves from being tortured, they would choose to break the poison sacs andmit suicide at the first opportunity.


    It was unlucky that today they met the Mo brothers. They did not even have a chance to break their poison sacs andmit suicide.


    Let''s not talk about the person involved. The other dead man also saw this scene and was terrified, afraid that he would be the next one to lose his ears.


    However, their ideology had always been loyal to their master. Even in the face of torture, it was impossible for them to confess any information.


    The dead man with the knife tip against his nose had already resigned himself to death. In order not to continue being tortured, he suddenly raised his head when Mo Chuhan was not paying attention and thrust his body forward with great force.


    His throat was aligned directly with the knife tip.


    Mo Chuhan realized it was toote to dodge. The dagger pierced the dead man¡¯s throat and he died instantly.


    There were only two people left alive that could provide some information, and one of them died so easily. As for the one left, neither brother dared to be careless, otherwise their lead could be cut off entirely.


    To be safe, Mo Jiuye did not dare to be negligent again.


    Especially when trying to get useful information out of this kind of fearless dead man, it was not a simple matter.


    "Eighth brother, I saw a dpidated civilian house nearby just now. Take him there and wait for me. I¡¯ll take care of things here and then meet up with you."


    Mo Chuhan had also seen the dpidated house. From the outside it looked pitch ck, probably because water damage made it temporarily uninhabitable.


    "Okay, I¡¯ll take him over now."


    He had just identally let a dead man die so easily. This time Mo Chuhan didn¡¯t dare to be careless at all.


    He also did not intend to interrogate anymore. As long as he could keep this man alive, there was still hope of getting some useful information out of him.


    "Ninth brother, don''t worry, I guarantee I won''t let him die again this time."


    It was really his fault that he had let a live source die just like that.


    After Mo Chuhan finished speaking, he picked up the dead man and leapt high into the air.


    After all, it was broad daylight. Carrying a live person around would definitely draw attention, so he had to take the high road to avoid people.


    Watching his older brother''s figure disappear, Mo Jiuye came to the group again.


    ording to reason, after finding Wang Lin''s family in the woodshed, there was no doubt that Boss Jin''s death was absolutely rted to this gang.


    If this matter did not involve the Mo Family, Mo Jiuye would have undoubtedly brought these people to the government for processing.


    But he considered that those who could deal with the Mo Family would not be ordinary people. The prefectural magistrate in Yun City was newly appointed after their arrival in Yun City, and Mo Jiuye was unfamiliar with his character and background.


    Therefore, Mo Jiuye felt that turning these people over to the magistrate''s office was not feasible. Besides, it was not until he and Eighth Brother arrived at the second Jingxian Building that they discovered so many hints. As for whether the situation was the same in the first Jingxian Building, that was still unknown.


    The best approach would be for Meng Huaining to take these people away and conduct the interrogation personally.


    Moreover, it was reasonable for Meng Huaining to handle this case. After all, he had already received the official document issued by the prefectural magistrate, instructing him to handle the matter. Even if the officials from Yun City came to the prefecture to arrest people, the prefect would not say anything once he knew.


    Unfortunately, both he and Eighth Brother had unavoidable reasons to be absent at the moment, which put Mo Jiuye in an awkward situation.


    They had finally discovered some clues and captured these people, so there was no reason to quit halfway.


    Thinking of these things, Mo Jiuye paced around the yard.


    On the surface he was wandering around the yard, but he was actually looking for a ce to temporarily hide these people.


    As long as he was given a few hours to investigate the inside story of the other Jingxian Building, then he would return to Yun City at the fastest speed to notify Meng Huaining to collect the people.


    The elderly grandmother and little granddaughter in the woodshed were feeling a little better after drinking the water Mo Chuhan had given them.


    The old woman struggled to stand up, supported by her little granddaughter as they left the woodshed.


    Mo Jiuye turned his head when he heard the sound. Seeing that although the old woman was weak, she was notpletely immobile. An idea suddenly came to his mind.


    "Auntie, you still remember how you were brought here right?"


    The Mo brothers had not intended to hide things from the old woman when interrogating those people just now. After all, she was also a victim and must harbor immense hatred towards them.

 Chapter 438: This is what nine brothers and sisters told me to give you.

    <h4>Chapter 438</h4>


    The facts were indeed as Mo Jiuye had thought.


    The old woman did not care about the identities of these people. She only hated them.


    It was those family servants who had grabbed her and her little granddaughter and brought them here, not giving them a sip of water or a bite of food for several days, trying to starve the two of them alive.


    "Of course I remember it was these people who grabbed me and my little granddaughter and brought us here. I''m going to report to the officials."


    Mo Jiuye had also intended to let the old woman report to the officials. As for the details of her and her little granddaughter being grabbed, he had no time to ask more at the moment.


    He took out a piece of broken silver from his arms and gave it to the old woman.


    "Auntie, take this silver. Go out and hire a carriage to rush to Yun City and report to the officials there, because Magistrate Mo has already handed over this case to the Yun City Chief for trial."


    Mo Jiuye did not exin much more, as long as the old woman could see Meng Huaining and make clear her identity and experience, with Meng Huaining''s wisdom, he would definitely send someone to the prefecture to catch people at the first moment.


    That way, he wouldn''t have to worry about these people escaping after he left.


    He wanted to find out more, and it was enough to have the dead warrior taken away by Eighth Brother.


    The old woman also had insight. She could feel that the other party did not intend to exin more. Moreover, she was scared to death when she saw those sinister thugs.


    After thanking Mo Jiuye profusely, the old woman cautiously led her little granddaughter away together.


    Mo Jiuye was in a hurry to meet up with Eighth Brother, and he also wanted to check out the interior of the first Jingxian Building. He couldn''t take his eyes off these people in front of him either.


    Just as he was at a loss for a good strategy, several people jumped over the wall into the yard.


    Mo Jiuye turned his head vigntly and saw the arrivals. His heart suddenly rxed.


    "Sixth elder brother, Liang Hao, you guys came just in time. Leave two people here to keep an eye on them, let''s go to Eighth Brother."


    Sixth elder brother, Liang Hao and the other five didn''t ask any questions. They voluntarily stayed behind two people and all the rest followed Mo Jiuye quickly to the first Jingxian Building.


    The reason he did not interrogate the dead warrior first was that he was worried that if the wind leaked here, it would startle the people behind the scenes. Therefore, he decided to take care of the other Jingxian Building first before anything else.


    On the way, Mo Jiuye asked,


    "Sixth elder brother, how did you guys get here?"


    "Brother Tang went to Xiling Vige and saw Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law. He exined the situation in Yun City. Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law guessed that you mighte to the prefecture to investigate Jingxian Building, so she asked us toe over and help.


    We went to see Brother Meng first. We were told that you and Eighth Younger Brother had already rushed to the prefecture. To save time, we used our lightness martial arts and chased you all the way here.


    When we arrived at the prefecture, we kept asking around about Jingxian Building until we found something wrong when we reached the front door. Then we searched towards the backyard and found you here."


    After listening to Sixth elder brother''s exnation, Mo Jiuye felt warmth in his heart.


    His wife was thoughtful and could think of things ahead of time.


    It was also fortunate that she sent Sixth elder brother and his men to help, otherwise it would be just him and Eighth Younger Brother here, and they really couldn''t handle it alone.


    Then, Sixth elder brother took out several small paper packs from his arms and handed them to Mo Jiuye.


    "Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law asked me to give these to you, saying you might need them."


    Seeing those small paper packs, Mo Jiuye suddenly had the confidence to interrogate the dead warrior.


    As they spoke, the group had arrived at the other Jingxian Building.


    He saw that the two thugs dressed as waiters were still standing at the door, so he knew that the incident at the other Jingxian Building had not reached here yet.


    With experience, Mo Jiuye did not enter through the front door this time either, but led everyone around to the backyard instead.


    Theyout of this Jingxian Building was somewhat different from the previous one. The backyard was also surrounded by walls, but the door was on the north side, a pure back door.


    Mo Jiuye leapt onto the top of the wall and observed the inside.


    The backyard here was more tidy, but there was no one moving around, so Mo Jiuye couldn''t determine the specific situation for the time being.


    Sixth elder brother and his men followed closely behind and jumped onto the courtyard wall, asking softly, "Ninth Younger Brother, should we go in and take a look?"


    Just as Mo Jiuye was about to respond, he saw the kitchen door open.


    A young master who looked to be in his early twenties walked out from inside.


    Mo Jiuye recalled what Chen Wu had said about the fake Boss Tang, who was fatter than Tang Mingrui, wearing a purple robe, slightly darker skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes...


    These matched perfectly. And upon closer look, this person did walk with a limp.


    Not only that, Mo Jiuye could also see that this person walked very lightly, clearly a martial artist.


    He didn''t dare to underestimate him at all, and appeared in front of the man in the fastest speed, immediately attacking to try to subdue him.


    As Mo Jiuye had guessed, the man was a martial artist with a very quick reaction.


    Seeing his opponent''s hand was about to grab his throat, the man dodged back a few meters quickly. If there hadn''t been an obstruction behind him, he would probably have dodged even farther.


    At the same time, Sixth elder brother and his men who were observing also rushed forward, surrounding the man in purple together.


    Unable to defeat the enemy in one move, Mo Jiuye was already prepared to fight him if he called for help.


    Unexpectedly, the man in purple had no intention of calling for reinforcements at all. Instead, he kept looking up and down at Mo Jiuye and the others.


    "Who exactly are you people? Why are you here to cause me trouble?"


    Including Mo Jiuye, none of them wanted to talk to him.


    Especially Mo Jiuye, who knew this man was the key to the case and an important lead to finding out why Jingxian Building opened shops in the northwest.


    Therefore, before the man in purple could make his next move, Mo Jiuye had already attacked again, intending to capture him.


    Seeing this, Sixth elder brother and the others also rushed to attack the man in purple.


    Although the man in purple was not weak in martial arts, he was still no match for Mo Jiuye, not to mention Mo Jiuye had a lot of help today. In the blink of an eye, Mo Jiuye kicked him to the ground.


    Liang Hao came over with some men to hold him down.


    To prevent idents, Mo Jiuye took out the anesthetic his wife had given him and sprinkled it on the man in purple.


    Sensing something wrong, the man in purple tried to dodge but it was toote. He immediately lost consciousness.


    Seeing that this person could no longer escape, Sixth elder brother searched the entire backyard with his men, but did not find anything unusual or dead warriors like in the other Jingxian Building.


    Then, Mo Jiuye asked Sixth elder brother to also take care of those fake waiters in the lobby.


    Jingxian Building didn''t have a good reputation in the northwest, and the food didn''t taste good either. At this moment, there wasn''t a single customer in the lobby, which made it convenient for the brothers to take action.


    After Sixth elder brother brought those thugs and cooks to the backyard and tied them up tightly, Mo Jiuye sprinkled anesthetics on them again, knocking them unconscious, before throwing them into a carriage in the backyard.

 Chapter 439: He is the eldest son of our Beijing Xianlou

    <h4>Chapter 439</h4>


    Liang Hao was responsible for taking all these people to another Jingxian Building to be detained together, while Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother took the unconscious man in purple clothes with them to meet Mo Chuhan at that abandoned courtyard.


    Mo Jiuye still couldn''t confirm whether there were still people from Jingxian Building in the government office. All he could find now was this many. He could only hope to get some useful information soon.


    He hoped their purpose here had nothing to do with the Mo Family. It would be best if he was just being paranoid. But if they really came for the Mo Family, he had to take precautions in advance.


    When he met up with Eighth Brother, the warrior''s eyes immediately fell upon Mo Jiuye and the others carrying the purple-clothed man like a chicken.


    Mo Jiuye clearly sensed a fleeting astonishment in the warrior''s eyes when he saw the purple-clothed man.


    "Is this your master?"


    In fact, Mo Jiuye didn''t know the identity of the purple-clothed man either. He only asked this question to test the waters.


    The warrior gritted his teeth, "I don''t know him."


    "You don''t know him?" As he spoke, he had already approached the warrior and sprinkled itch powder on him.


    The effects of the itch powder took hold quickly. Soon, the warrior began writhing all over.


    "You...what did you give me?"


    This feeling made the warrior very uneasy.


    Mo Jiuye stood with his arms crossed, watching him coldly.


    "Let me ask you again, is that man your master or not?"


    "Just kill me. I won''t say anything..." The warrior was now rolling on the ground, hoping to alleviate the difort through friction.


    But the more he struggled, the more intense the itchiness became.


    This was not Mo Jiuye''s first time using itch powder. Minister Si Meng had nned for so long and was much tougher than this warrior, yet even he couldn''t withstand the itch powder. This warrior before him was even less worth mentioning.


    Sure enough, after struggling for a while, the warrior began begging for mercy.


    "Please...just end it for me."


    At this point, Mo Jiuye felt the warrior had no reason to lie.


    "Tell me, who exactly is that man?"


    Mo Chuhan had disliked the look of the warrior from the start. Without waiting for Mo Jiuye to speak, he stepped forward and viciously kicked the warrior.


    "Speak. Who is that man? Give me a satisfactory answer and I''ll consider ending it quickly for you."


    No one else could understand the agony of being tormented by itch powder. The warrior now only wanted a quick death.


    "You mean it?"


    "Of course." Mo Chuhan said disdainfully.


    "He is the eldest young master of our Jingxian Building, Xue Fan."


    Mo Jiuye had assumed the man in purple was just a subordinate cultivated by the Xue family, albeit one of higher status than the thugs and warriors. He didn''t expect him to be the eldest young master of Jingxian Building.


    Mo Jiuye had heard of Xue Fan from Nan Qi before, but he didn''t investigate him extensively and wasn''t very familiar with the details. Judging by the sharpness this man had shown inbat earlier, he was likely a master as well.


    Unfortunately for Xue Fan, he had the misfortune of running into Mo Jiuye. If he had encountered someone less skilled, perhaps even they wouldn''t have been a match for him.


    This showed that the Xue family''s presence in the northwest under the guise of opening Jingxian Buildings, plus sending a martial arts expert to oversee things, clearly indicated ulterior motives.


    Mo Jiuye continued questioning the warrior, "What exactly is your purposeing to the northwest?"


    The warrior answered, "I don''t know. The family master only said that after we arrived in the northwest, we were to follow Young Master''s arrangements in everything."


    At this point, Mo Jiuye felt the warrior had no reason to lie.


    "How long have you been in the northwest?"


    "We came with Young Master, it''s been over ten days now."


    "What have you been doing these past ten-odd days?" This was what Mo Jiuye cared about most.


    "We''ve been following Young Master to set up the shops, then opened two Jingxian Buildings."


    Mo Jiuye asked, "Did Xue Fan give you any other tasks to do during this time?"


    The warrior replied, "Originally Young Master said there might be some action tonight, though he didn''t say what. We were just standing by."


    Mo Jiuye: "How many people did you bring to the northwest in total?"


    Warrior: "There were ten warriors like me. Then there were five thugs to help run the buildings. "


    After listening to him, Mo Jiuye calcted the number of people they had captured. It matched up, which reassured him quite a bit. At least there were no loose ends.


    He could also confirm that this was likely all the warrior knew. In his current state, desperately seeking death, he would have dly revealed more if he knew more, for a quicker end.


    Mo Jiuye nced at Eighth Brother, signaling that this man was of no more use.


    As the captain, Mo Chuhan''s first thoughts were of his family''s safety. He also hoped to have a witness who could speak at the trial.


    Therefore, he had no intention of immediately executing the warrior. He stepped forward, pulled out a dagger, and severed the tendons in the warrior''s hands and feet. This was to prevent him from escaping.


    Having his tendons severed caught the warrior off guard. He painfully suppressed the itchiness and angrily cried, "You despicable people! I''ve told you everything yet you still won''t end it quickly for me."


    At this point, the warrior only felt it would be better to die. The unbearable itchiness wracked his entire body, and his hands and feet were in unimaginable pain...


    Mo Chuhan paid him no mind and simply picked up the man and threw him to Liang Hao nearby.


    "Take this man to the other Jingxian Building and keep him there along with the others to be taken awayter by the authorities."


    "Understood, I''m on my way." Liang Hao acknowledged and left with the man.


    Although Mo Jiuye wanted to find out the real reason the Xue family hade to the northwest to open Jingxian Buildings, he couldn''t dy things at the government office either.


    Especially after interrogating the warrior just now, he understood clearly that Xue Fan was a key figure in this case.


    Otherwise, he could have brought Xue Fan back to Xi Ling Vige for a thorough interrogation at his leisure. Of course, he wouldn''t have let Xue Fan leave alive.


    Considering the government office''s efforts to clear Tang Mingrui''s name, they really couldn''t take Xue Fan back for slow interrogation.


    Mo Jiuye fetched a basin of cold water and poured it on Xue Fan''s face. Xue Fan soon regained consciousness, though his head was still groggy. This didn''t stop him from recognizing the danger he was in.


    "Who exactly are you people? Why are you making an enemy of my Jingxian Building?"


    Xue Fan wasn''t stupid. After exchanging moves with them earlier, even if it were just one person instead of a group, he probably wouldn''t stand a chance.


    All he could do was invoke the name Jingxian Building, hoping they would retreat upon hearing of Jingxian Building''s background, whether they were jianghu folk or influential officials.


    This Xue Fan really had been badly frightened, with his mind in disorder. They were right in the backyard of Jingxian Building. How could they not know of their ties to Jingxian Building?


    "And what can Jingxian Building do about it?" Mo Jiuye couldn''t help butugh.


    Xue Fan had only mentioned Jingxian Building in anxious desperation just now. Seeing they clearly didn''t care at all about Jingxian Building, he could only think of another way to escape.


    "I don''t know who you people are. I just arrived in the northwest and haven''t offended anyone. Isn''t treating me like this contrary to reason?"

 Chapter 440: Which one of you is Mo Jiuye

    <h4>Chapter 440</h4>


    After listening to the few sentences Xue Fan said, Mo Jiuye could determine that this person was definitely a crafty viin,pletely different from his somewhat proper appearance.


    Facing this kind of person, Mo Jiuye was toozy to beat around the bush with him.


    "Why did you pretend to be Boss Tang?"


    Upon hearing this question, Xue Fan was stunned for a moment, but he quickly concealed it.


    "What are you talking about? I don''t understand at all."


    Mo Jiuye stepped forward, stepping on the hand Xue Fan had ced near the ground, then ruthlessly ground it a few more times.


    "Don''t understand? Haha..." As he spoke, he ground down forcefully a few more times.


    Forget about whether this person hade to the northwest with aims rted to the Mo family, just based on his impersonating Tang Mingrui to hire killers and murder, he deserved death.


    Xue Fan had been drugged so his body still felt weak and powerless. Being stepped on and ground by Mo Jiuye, he alsocked the strength to struggle, but from his twisted expression one could see how much pain his hand was in.


    This guy had quite some endurance. Even though he was in pain, he showed no intention to beg for mercy.


    "You are abusing your power with uwful punishment, I will report this to officials."


    Mo Jiuye judged that this guy was definitely the stubborn type who wouldn''t cry until he saw the coffin.


    He didn''t have so much time to waste here. Raising a dagger he ruthlessly stabbed it into Xue Fan''s thigh repeatedly several times before stopping.


    Blood had already soaked through Xue Fan''s pants.


    Mo Jiuye showed not an ounce of softness, instead stepping forward to tear open one of his pant legs, revealing the still bleeding wound underneath.


    At this moment Xue Fan also saw clearly, the person in front of him was not only vicious and ruthless, but extremely cruel.


    Just as he was contemting how to deal with this, Mo Jiuye had already taken out a small paper package and poured out the white powder inside onto his wound.


    Before Xue Fan''s eyes his wound started decaying at a speed visible to the naked eye, soon exposing white bone underneath...


    Excruciating pain spread throughout Xue Fan''s whole body, but that wasn''t even the most important thing.


    The decay of his flesh hadpletely shattered Xue Fan''s mind, at this moment he had been scared witless, staring at Mo Jiuye in horror.


    "You...just what are you trying to do?"


    Mo Jiuye coldly snorted, his hand already grasping that small paper package containing the medicinal powder.


    "Naturally I want you to obediently answer my questions."


    Xue Fan stared at the pus-oozing bloody hole on his leg now thicker than a finger, already nearing his limit of copse.


    Even so, he still didn''t want to say anything out.


    He strenuously took a breath, making a show of trying to smash his head towards the nearest wall.


    Seeing this, the three Mo brothers almost simultaneously moved to control him.


    Mo Chuhangcked patience more, angered most by seeing such stubborn and tough people.


    After throwing the guy back to the ground he stepped forward and fiercely kicked him several times: "You do bad things then want to get off easy with death? That would be letting you off too lightly!"


    As he spoke his dagger was already out, neatly severing the tendons in his hands and feet.


    Just as Xue Fan was about to cry out loudly in pain, Sixth Brother reacted quickly to find something to plug up his mouth.


    Mo Jiuye stared at him.


    "If you don''t want to suffer torment, then obediently answer my questions and I will consider giving you a quick death."


    Xue Fan closed his eyes, still not indicating he would offer up anything.


    He was carefully contemting his current situation, considering if there was still any hope he could escape alive, as well as just who exactly these people in front of him were.


    As he thought this over, he seemed to realize something.


    To speak of in the northwest, he had not heard there were any masters at all.


    The several people who had fought with him just now all had higher martial arts than him.


    With such exceptional martial skill, not to mention just in the northwest, even considering the whole of Da Shun it would be a rarely seen existence.


    Suddenly, Xue Fan seemed to think of something.


    Mo Jiuye could tell there was intent for him to speak, so he stepped forward and ripped away the rag stuffing his mouth.


    "Which one of you is Mo Jiuye?" Xue Fan stared at the few people in front of him in horror.


    ording to reason, Mo Jiuye was the former Duke Who Protects The Country, an exceedingly prestigious figure of note in the capital city. As a son of the Xue household it was improbable he wouldn''t recognize him.


    But Xue Fan was rather special. Due to his exceptional martial arts and status as the Xue house''s chosen sessor, ever since he was very little he had been sent out wandering to train.


    All these years he had been away running taverns in outsidends, very rarely appearing in the capital city. And so he had merely heard of this youngest Duke Who Protects The Country Mo Jiuye, but had never seen the man himself before.


    Now having encountered people with martial skill far exceeding his own by countless bounds in the northwest, and the people before him were not bad looking, around the age he had heard of Mo Jiuye, he couldn''t help but suspect the man to be Mo Jiuye.


    The reason he didn''t have this suspicion from the start was because in his awareness, in the present Mo family there was only Mo Jiuye as a male descendant. The possibility many top masters could appear by his side was practically zero.


    But after thinking it over, he couldn''te up with any possibilities for high level masters to exist in the northwest other than Mo Jiuye. Therefore, his asking was also just probing.


    Right now Mo Jiuye didn''t want to conceal anything, because in his eyes this Xue Fan was already a dead man.


    "That''s right, I am Mo Jiuye."


    As Mo Jiuye spoke, his gaze closely watched Xue Fan''s change in expression.


    Sure enough, when Xue Fan heard he was Mo Jiuye his eyes narrowed ever so slightly for a moment, but his movement was very quick, basically undetectable if one didn''t pay close attention.


    It had to be said, Xue Fan''sposure was still quite good. He quickly collected himself again.


    "Since you are Mo Jiuye, you should even less make things difficult for me. Which of the nobles in the capital doesn''t know the powerful backer behind Jingxian Building is? Offending Jingxian Building is equal to offending the current Empress. My Xue family has always been without enmity or grudge against the Mo family. Why must you treat me like this? Aren''t you afraid this will bring disaster upon the Mo family?"


    Disaster? Haha...what disasters had the Mo family not endured enough of already?


    While mockinglyughing coldly to himself in his heart, Mo Jiuye once again poured medicinal powder onto another one of Xue Fan''s wounds.


    Seeing his actions, Xue Fan had no way to dodge, only able stare helplessly as his other wound also transformed into a pus-oozing bloody hole.


    He was frantic!


    "Mo Jiuye, why must you oppose against the Xue family?"


    "Stop beating around the bush with me. Just like Eighth Brother already said very clearly earlier, if you don''t want to suffer torment then obediently answer my questions. If you continue being dishonest, I have even more methods to torment you wishing you were dead."


    Mo Jiuye wasn''t exaggerating threats at all with these words. The medicinal powders his wife had brought him that tormented people were exceptionally cruel.


    Actually, Xue Fan was already terrified to an extreme degree in his heart. If it wasn''t for him still thinking of the Xue family and not wanting to drag them out, he wished he could just say everything he knew for a quick relief from this ordeal.


    "I''ve said it already. I truly don''t know anything about this Boss Tang you speak of. I''ve only been in the northwest a few days and haven''t contacted any outsiders."


    Mo Jiuye hadn''t expected this guy''s backbone to be so stubbornly tough.


    But he already knew Xue Fan was extremely fearful of the decaying wounds over his own body. His current stubborn denial was purely him barely managing to hold himself together.


    Thus, he once again poured medicinal powder onto another one of Xue Fan''s wounds.

 Chapter 441: Can’t I be honest

    <h4>Chapter 441</h4>


    Xue Fan was really scared. When Mo Jiuye sprinkled medicine powder on his wound, he had already copsed.


    "No... don''t torture me anymore. I know who Boss Tang is..."


    Mo Jiuye stopped what he was doing.


    "Why did you frame Boss Tang?"


    Xue Fan gasped for air a few times, trying his best to make his breathing calm.


    "I did pretend to be Boss Tang. That was because Boss Jin''s restaurant business was too good, the number onepetitor of my Jingxian Building, in order to make Jingxian Building earn more money in the northwest, I came up with this method to deal with him."


    No matter how perfunctory this story was, not to mention Mo Jiuye didn''t believe it, even the subordinates who were listening didn''t believe it.


    Mo Jiuye took out the small paper bag again, deliberately shook it in front of Xue Fan before sprinkling it on his wound.


    "I already told you, why are you still doing this?" Xue Fan was in a hurry.


    "This is the consequence of you not being honest." Mo Jiuye said, without stopping his actions, sprinkling the powder little by little on Xue Fan''s wound.


    "Your assassin subordinate has already said that you have been in the northwest for more than ten days, but you said it''s only been a few days.


    Also, as far as I know, the best business in the northwest region is currently Tang''s Restaurant. I''m afraid your intention is not on the wine, isn''t it?


    Since you are not frank, I can only use some means to make you frank."


    This time Xue Fan was really scared. That bloody hole was not just painful, it was simply devastating.


    It was indeed the case. When Xue Fan saw the new bloody hole on his leg again, he hadpletely copsed.


    "I beg you... don''t torture me anymore... isn''t being frank okay?"


    Mo Jiuye didn''t say anything because his patience was also almost worn out by this sly Xue Fan. He just stared coldly at the other party, waiting for him to speak up.


    Xue Fan also knew that he would not escape today, but he really could not bear such mentally devastating torture.


    He silently said in his heart: Father, Empress Aunt, I have let you down.


    Xue Fan made up his mind and finally spoke up.


    "After I arrived in the northwest, I had dealings with Boss Jin a few times. I heard from him that the cold rabbit of Tang''s Restaurant came from a Mo family.


    He also said that the Mo family was ransacked by the imperial edict and exiled here. So I can be sure that the Mo family Boss Jin was referring to was the former Duke Mansion Mo Family.


    In my understanding, before the Mo Family was exiled, their home was ransacked when they left Beijing and they didn''t have a penny left.


    So I can be sure that the cold rabbit is the capital for the Mo Family to make a living."


    Just as Xue Fan was about to say something more, Mo Chuhan angrily interrupted him.


    "Do you mean that your purpose in doing this is to cut off the source of livelihood for my Mo family?"


    Xue Fan nodded, "That''s right. When the Mo family was in the capital, they had no less enemies with Prince Heng. You also know that the Xue family is the one who protects Prince Heng. How can we not resent the Mo family?"


    Although Xue Fan was trapped, it did not affect his thinking.


    Just now, that person said cut off the source of livelihood of my Mo family.


    Those who can call themselves my Mo family must also be from the Mo family.


    In his cognition, there was only Mo Jiuye left of the Mo family men, no one else was possible.


    "Are you also from the Mo family?"


    Mo Chuhan didn''t pay attention to him at all, but looked at Mo Jiuye, wanting to see what his next move would be.


    If someone who didn''t know about this had heard Xue Fan''s words, they would all think it made sense.


    But the Mo brothers would not believe it at all.


    Mo Jiuye sneered coldly.


    "It''s fake that you came to the northwest to cut off the source of livelihood for my Mo family. The real purpose is to find out information about my Mo family, right? If possible, would you take action to dispose of me too?"


    Mo Jiuye''s mind was delicate. He could hear from Xue Fan''s words that after arriving in the northwest, Xue Fan had been busy with the Jingxian Building all the time and had no time to investigate the Mo family yet.


    "On the surface, you made a move against Boss Tang to cut off my Mo family''s source of ie, but the real purpose was to force me to show up, right?"


    Mo Jiuye pressed step by step, every sentence hit the sore spot in Xue Fan''s heart.


    Xue Fan instantly broke into a cold sweat, because everything Mo Jiuye said was right.


    Then he looked at Mo Chuhan again. This man was burly in stature, and his appearance was no less handsome than Mo Jiuye''s.


    ording to his knowledge, Mo family men were all handsome in appearance and extraordinary in temperament. No matter from any aspect, this person was no less outstanding than Mo Jiuye at all.


    Could it be that he is also a Mo family man?


    This is impossible. Except for Mo Jiuye, all Mo family men died on the battlefield, this is a fact known to the whole world.


    Just as Xue Fan was wondering, Mo Jiuye spoke again.


    "I don''t have much patience to linger here with you. If you think there should be a few more bloody holes on your body, I don''t mind dirtying my hands again."


    As Mo Jiuye spoke, the small paper bag in his hand was already opened, pretending to sprinkle it on Xue Fan''s wound.


    Because he deliberately slowed down this time, it gave Xue Fan a chance to react.


    "Don''t... don''t... I''ll tell."


    Mo Jiuye stopped his movements.


    "Then say something that can make me believe."


    "It was my Empress Aunt. She has always believed that the disappearance of Prince Heng is rted to you. So she discussed with the Prime Minister to send someone to the northwest to catch you alive and ask about the whereabouts of Prince Heng.


    On the one hand, she hopes I can find out the whereabouts of Prince Heng from you, and on the other hand, she is worried that Prince Qi will find a way to redress the Mo Family one day. Once that dayes, with your support, even if Prince Henges back, it would still be very difficult for him to stand firm.


    Therefore, my Empress Aunt also hopes that I can dispose of you unknowingly..."


    Speaking to this point, Xue Fan couldn''t help but nced at Mo Jiuye''s expression. Seeing that there was no anomaly, he continued:


    "The main purpose of me opening two Jingxian Buildings in the northwest is to cover people¡¯s eyes.


    Today I was just waiting for the news from the government side. Once Boss Tang gets convicted, I believe it won¡¯t take many days for your Mo family to think of other ways to sell the cold rabbit.


    By then, I can take the opportunity when the Mo family''s attention is all on their livelihood to send someone to catch you alive."


    Mo Jiuye asked with interest: "Oh? ording to what you said, after you arrived in the northwest, you still have not gone to investigate any news about my Mo family?"

 Chapter 442: This person can also be directly handed over to the Yamen

    <h4>Chapter 442</h4>


    Mo Jiuye appeared calm on the surface, but he was actually nervous.


    From Xue Fan''s ount, it was clear that his purpose ining to the northwest was indeed rted to the Mo Family, which was almost entirely different from what he had spected.


    What worried him now was that before the Mo Family had fully prepared to deal with external threats, Xue Fan had already gathered some information about the Mo Family.


    Once this information reached the capital and was known to Emperor Shunwu, there was no guarantee that he wouldn''t take any actions detrimental to the Mo Family.


    Xue Fan shook his head vigorously, "After I arrived in the northwest, I was busy with the opening of Jingxian Building. I just freed up some time to think about using Boss Tang''s hiring of a killer to force you to show up voluntarily. Before the matter had any results, you found out about it. I can only count myself unlucky."


    His words were not untrue at all.


    Xue Fan was ustomed to being self-righteous in his actions, and everyone in the capital knew that Mo Jiuye was the only male descendant of the Mo Family.


    He also understood Mo Jiuye''s martial arts skills well; if they were to truly face each other, he would definitely not be his opponent.


    Therefore, after arriving in the northwest, he did not immediately send someone to take action but instead opened Jingxian Building.


    In this way, having a ce for himself and his men was one aspect; the most important thing was for his true purpose ining to the northwest.


    At the same time, he hoped that Mo Jiuye wouldn''t overthink things and assume that he was simply doing business.


    After all, Jingxian Building had branches all over the north and south of the Great River, so it wasn''t unreasonable to open one in the northwest.


    Unexpectedly, he underestimated Mo Jiuye''s intelligence, thinking that as a mere martial artist, he wouldn''t have so many thoughts.


    Never in a million years did he expect that despite his best efforts, he would be discovered so quickly.


    Not only that, but he might even lose his life here.


    The more Xue Fan thought about it, the more he regretted it. He shouldn''t have tried to show off in front of the Empress just to get this job.


    If Mo Jiuye knew what he was thinking, he would probablyugh for a while.


    Was there no one left in the Xue Family? They actually sent someone so brainless and self-righteous to deal with the Mo Family.


    Indeed, they treated the Mo Family like fools...


    But this was also good; it was better than if the Xue Family had sent a cunning person here. If that were the case, the first thing they would do upon arrival would be to investigate the situation of the Mo Family.


    Xue Fan considered himself clever; he even set a trap using Chen Wu and Wang Lin.


    Little did he know, these petty tricks couldn''t withstand close scrutiny at all.


    Xue Fan was afraid that Mo Jiuye would sprinkle that dreadful powder on his wound again, so he hurriedly assured, "I didn''t gain anything here. There''s no way I would send any messages to the capital. You must believe me."


    As he spoke, he kept his eyes on Mo Jiuye''s hands, afraid that if something went wrong, he would open that small paper package...


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye deliberately waved the small paper package in front of him.


    "Besides sending you to the northwest, does the Xue Family have any other ns?"


    "No, there aren''t any. I came to the northwest only to find out about the whereabouts of Prince Heng from you, and nothing else," Xue Fan spoke rapidly, afraid that if he spoke slowly, Mo Jiuye would make another move.


    All the necessary inquiries had been made, and as for Xue Fan sending people to capture Wang Lin''s family as a threat, Meng Huaining, the official in charge, had taken care of it, and Mo Jiuye couldn''t be bothered to say more.


    Mo Jiuye looked at Mo Chuhan and said, "Elder Brother Mo, this man can be handed over directly to the yamen."


    Mo Chuhan nodded. "I understand."


    Though he didn''t have the scheming mind of his other brothers, he understood one thing very well: even if Xue Fan were handed over to the authorities, he wouldn''t be leaving alive. With the amount he knew, if it weren''t for Ninth Brother''s need for the case, Xue Fan would likely have met his end right here.


    Dealing with someone like Xue Fan wasn''t difficult for Mo Chuhan. Once Meng Huaining finalized the case, it would be Xue Fan''s death sentence.


    Wang Lin''s mother had gone to report to the authorities in Yun City, and it would take some time for the officials to arrive from the prefectural capital.


    Until the officials from the yamen arrived, the Mo brothers couldn''t leave. Mo Jiuye took advantage of this time to thoroughly search both branches of the Jingxian Building.


    And thus, he found a temporary peace of mind.


    While searching Xue Fan''s living quarters, he discovered several letters exchanged between him and contacts in the capital. All correspondence was with his father, Xue Jinchuan, and all rted to capturing Mo Jiuye.


    Xue Jinchuan''s intention was for Xue Fan to first investigate the specifics of the Mo family''s situation in the northwest before devising a n to capture Mo Jiuye.


    Furthermore, Xue Jinchuan urged Xue Fan to report back on what he learned in the northwest. The tone of Xue Jinchuan''s letters suggested he wasn''t very trusting of his son, reminding him constantly to listen to his orders and not act presumptuously.


    From this, it could be deduced that Xue Fan hadn''t followed Xue Jinchuan''s instructions, instead acting ording to his own ideas.


    Presumably, he was eager to make a name for himself, thinking he hade up with a brilliant n by using Tang Mingrui to disrupt the Mo family''s ie. Little did he know, this method seemed utterly ludicrous to Mo Jiuye.


    The Xue family truly was something, sending someone socking in intelligence to handle affairs. Not only did they fail, but their intentions were exposed so quickly...


    Whether it was because Wang Lin''s mother was slow to act or because Meng Huaining had other matters to attend to, when the officials from Yun City yamen arrived to apprehend Xue Fan, it was nearing dusk.


    Jingxian Building suddenly fell silent, bing the talk of the town for the afternoon.


    The townsfolk discussed how both branches of Jingxian Building had ceased business almost simultaneously, a coincidence that caught the attention of a passing yamen official.


    The official reported the matter to the magistrate.


    This magistrate had heard rumors that Jingxian Building had a powerful backer.


    With such a powerful backing, how could a business just shut down at will?


    Though Xue Fan''s opening of Jingxian Building in the northwest hadn''t involved the magistrate, he was concerned that something unfavorable might happen to Jingxian Building on his turf. Therefore, upon hearing of this, he personally brought along a few men to investigate.


    This investigation coincidentally brought him face to face with Meng Huaining, who was leading the officials to arrest someone.


    Meng Huaining''s immediate superior was the magistrate, so he naturally had to exin the purpose of this trip in detail. After all, he was responsible for handling this case under the magistrate''s orders. If he didn''t address it now, he would have to exin everything in detail when the case was concluded.


    The magistrate simply wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble, especially considering Tang Mingrui was from Yun City. That''s why he handed the case over to Meng Huaining for handling.


    Little did he know, this matter was also connected to the Jingxian Building.


    At this moment, the magistrate couldn''t help but feel relieved that he had delegated the case to Meng Huaining. If the evidence turned out to be solid, the people from the Jingxian Building would be prosecuted, indirectly offending the powerful figures behind them.

 Chapter 443: This is the Best Way

    <h4>Chapter 443</h4>


    In order to dissociate himself from this matter, the magistrate gave Meng Huaining a few instructions and quickly left with his men, afraid that people would find out he had been involved in this case.


    Meng Huaining did not know the specifics of the Jingxian Building. Even if he did, given his character, he would not be afraid of the power behind it.


    After inquiring about some of the circumstances from Mo Jiuye and others, he ordered his subordinates to tie up all the people from the Jingxian Building and bring them back to Yuncheng.


    Among those captured at the Jingxian Building, apart from that assassin and Xue Fan who knew martial arts, the rest were just relying on strong physique and some boxing skills to make a scene there.


    At the moment, the tendons in the assassin and Xue Fan''s hands and feet had been severed by the Mo brothers, so there was no need to worry that they would escape under Meng Huaining''s hands. The Mo brothers decided to leave first.


    After all, they had been out for quite some time, and their families would worry if they did not return for a long time.


    Considering that Meng Huaining would definitely interrogate the people overnight after taking them back, Mo Chuhua apanied him back to the yamen.


    Moreover, he still had an arduous task ahead, which was to get rid of Xue Fan after Meng Huaining had interrogated the case clearly.


    The other Mo brothers and Liang Hao hurried back to Xi Ling Vige.


    The distance between the prefectural government and Xi Ling Vige was not very close. Even though the brothers hurried, it was already night when they returned.


    Except for He Zhiran, the others did not know what had happened today. They only thought the brothers had gone into town to do business. At this time, they had already had dinner and rested in their own yards.


    After such an incident happened, Mo Jiuye was going to gather everyone together to talk about it, but considering thete hour, he did not disturb anyone and returned to his own small courtyard with He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran had already sent Madam He away to rest earlier, and waited alone in the room for Mo Jiuye toe back.


    Hearing the door sound, she immediately stood up.


    "Husband, how is the situation at the prefectural government?" she asked as she handed over a clean towel for Mo Jiuye to wipe the sweat from his forehead.


    Mo Jiuye took the towel and sat on the edge of the bed with He Zhiran.


    "Ranran, fortunately you were thoughtful today and asked sixth brother and the others to rush over to help, and also brought me those medicinal powders..."


    Mo Jiuye wiped his face while carefully telling He Zhiran what had happened at the prefectural government today.


    He Zhiran frowned while listening.


    "In other words, this time as soon as Xue Fan made a move aftering to the northwest, he was discovered without causing any threat to the Mo family yet. But this incident is enough to show that those people in the capital still have not let go of the Mo family."


    Mo Jiuye nodded deeply: "Yes, that''s right. Many people see the Mo family as a thorn in their side, an existence that poses a potential threat to their status. This time it is the Xue family. There is nothing to worry about. What I fear most is that Emperor Shunwu finds out about the Mo family''s situation. If he takes action, it won''t be as easy to deal with as today."


    This was also He Zhiran''s biggest concern. After all, Emperor Shunwu was the ruler of a country. If he wanted someone dead, it would only take an imperial decree.


    At present, the fifth brother had made a batch of bombs. They could only hope that the seventh brother would bring his former subordinates from the south sooner.


    Then, let the Mo brothers train a powerful army as soon as possible. That way, even if Emperor Shunwu sent troops, they would have the strength to resist.


    These words were just thoughts in He Zhiran''s mind. By now, the tacit understanding between her and Mo Jiuye had reached a point where they could understand each other without speaking.


    Even if they were anxious, all they could do was wait and hope that no other bad things would happen during this period.


    After talking about what happened today, Mo Jiuye asked again: "Did Brother Tange today?"


    "Yes. He is a man with business ideas in his mind. How could he note when he saw such a good deal?" He Zhiran couldn''t help butugh when it came to Tang Mingrui.


    He really was a business fanatic to still think of making money despite his legal troubles.


    He Zhiran continued after a pause: "Brother Tang wille with people early tomorrow morning to transport the watermelons. Husband needs to get up early tomorrow to arrange manpower."


    "After what happened today, I intend to suspend the jewelry business for a while."


    Mo Jiuye was a little puzzled by this. Although there were people eyeing the Mo family, it would not affect doing business and making money.


    "Why?"


    "If nothing unexpected happens, it will take less than a month for the seventh brother toe back from the south. Then there will be so many people who need housing.


    The vige is out of the question. Too many people are too conspicuous, not to mention inconvenient for training.


    We decided earlier to let them operate secretly in the mountains, so I was thinking of building some houses on the mountain so they would have a ce to stay aftering over."


    Speaking of this, He Zhiran was also quite embarrassed.


    After all, these were people who were not meant to see the light of day. It was impossible for them to live in the vige openly like Tao Ran and the others.


    Building housing for 1,800 people in the mountains was no small project. Just the materials alone would be substantial, not to mention the huge manpower required for construction.


    If it was normal circumstances, Hu Cong would be quite capable in this area, and would spare no effort to help if informed.


    But they did not want anyone other than Mo family members and their confidantes to know about this matter, so He Zhiran was at a bit of a loss.


    Although Mo Jiuye was not stupid, his mind was still not as meticulous as He Zhiran''s. He only knew that there were several caves in the mountains where the subordinates from the south could temporarily live when they arrived.


    But he did not consider that it was a number of 1,800 people. Even if the mountain caves could amodate so many people, living in such dark confinement for a long time would make anyone weary.


    Moreover, these were all stalwart men ready to protect their homnd. They should not live like that.


    With this reminder from He Zhiran, Mo Jiuye also realized the problem.


    At the same time, he was also thinking about how to make it morefortable for the brothers after they arrived.


    Suddenly he had a sh of inspiration, as if he had thought of something.


    "Ranran, when I was browsing Taobao Mall, I inadvertently saw something called... yes, called movable integrated housing."


    Reminded by Mo Jiuye, He Zhiran also remembered it.


    Many scenic spots in their previous lives would install such movable houses.


    The built-in structure of movable houses could be customized ording to the needs of guests, and instation was very simple.


    "Husband, do you mean to ce these movable houses on the mountain for the soldiers to live in?"


    "Currently, this seems to be the best solution." Mo Jiuye was very curious when he first saw such houses and had deliberately clicked into the link to take a closer look.


    In his opinion, there was currently nothing more suitable for housing those soldiers than these movable houses.


    "You don''t need to worry about the source of the houses. Leave it to me when the timees."

 Chapter 444: I’ll arrange it right away.

    <h4>Chapter 444</h4>


    Mo Jiuye also felt there was no need to dwell too much since He Zhiran had already said that.


    "Alright, tomorrow you take me up the mountain to buy movable housing," he said.


    Not only that, He Zhiran intended to take this opportunity to purchase all the daily necessities they might need all at once, such as quilts, pots and pans for cooking, etc.


    When it came to taking He Zhiran up the mountain, Mo Jiuye really felt bad.


    Especially when he saw her huge belly, the guilt in Mo Jiuye''s heart grew stronger and stronger.


    He had thought that after settling down in the northwest, his wife would be able to live a good life, but instead, she had to worry about the family with a big belly.


    Particrly since he had to take her up the mountain tomorrow. It should be known that the ce where those soldiers lived was not halfway up the mountain or anywhere close.


    Even without using his lightness skill, it would take him more than an hour to walk there.


    But he couldn''t go without his wife either.


    After all, he needed the space in her bracelet to shop on Taobao.


    Seeing his distress, He Zhiran stood up in front of him and walked around a few times.


    "Don''t worry, husband. Although my belly has grown a bit bigger, it won''t hinder my movement at all. As long as you take good care of me along the way, there will definitely be no problem," she said.


    He Zhiran really didn''t feel like being pregnant was a big problem. She had seen many women in her previous life who worked up until it was almost time to give birth.


    Why shouldn''t she be able to do what others could?


    Moreover, she was a doctor herself. No one understood her physical condition better than her.


    The two little ones in her belly had always been safe and sound, and her body was fine as well.


    It was just a mountain; as long as they were careful, nothing would happen.


    Mo Jiuye also figured there was no avoiding taking his wife up the mountain this time. As long as he was there, he would definitely not let any harme to her or the children.


    After chatting for a while as husband and wife, seeing that it was gettingte, they entered the space to rest.


    The next day, Mo Jiuye left before dawn, calling some men to go busy themselves in the melon fields.


    Only after Tang Mingrui was satisfied hauling away several cartloads ofrge watermelons did he return to the quadrangle courtyard.


    He had just walked to the second elder''s door when Sixth Bro called out to him.


    "Ninth Bro, Eighth Bro just got back and went to report what happened yesterday to Father and Mother. Everyone is waiting for you toe discuss countermeasures."


    Discuss countermeasures?


    What good countermeasures were there?


    There was only what he and his wife had talked aboutst night - hoping Eldest Bro could bring people back soon from the south, and once an army was built up, even if Emperor Shunwu sent thousands of horses and troops, there would be no need to worry.


    Mo Jiuye entered the second elder''s room to find all his brothers neatly seated on both sides except Eldest Bro who had gone south.


    They looked as serious as back in the border when themander-in-chief gathered everyone to discuss countermeasures against the enemy.


    When Mo Jiuye stated his opinion, not a single person, including Mo Qing, disagreed. After all, no one coulde up with a better countermeasure.


    Finally Mo Qing spoke up.


    "From today onwards, we Moes will patrol in shifts. If anything or anyone suspicious is discovered, it must be taken seriously," he said.


    Mo Yunfeng immediately stood up.


    "Father, leave this matter to me. I will arrange it right away."


    At present, the Moes were notcking in manpower either.


    With Liang Hao and the other four, plus the 30 plus medicine men saved by Tao Ran taking turns patrolling, there would be no issues.


    On Fifth Bro''s side, he continued leading people to manufacture explosives. By now they werepletely familiar with the process and the speed of production had also increased significantly.


    It was believed that by the time Mo Yuance returned from the south with people, they would at least be able to distribute two bombs per person.


    Of course, they would continue production until the amount waspletely sufficient before stopping.


    At the same time, Mo Chuhan also reported the news from the government office.


    Meng Huaining had conducted overnight interrogations and the truth had alreadye to light.


    It was just as Mo Jiuye had guessed - Xue Fan would not foolishly confess his true purpose foring to the northwest. The testimony he gave Meng Huaining was that he intended to sabotage the cold rabbit business of Tang Ji Restaurant.


    By doing so this way, he was not helping the Moes cover anything up, but hoping his crime would be lighter. As long as he was not executed on the spot after questioning, people from the capital woulde to his rescue as soon as they got the news.


    But his wishful thinking was wrong. After being thrown into jail at midnight, he was delivered to the King of Hell by Mo Chuhan without knowing what hit him.


    As for this, Meng Huaining also turned a blind eye, and only announced externally that Xue Fan had suddenly died in his cell.


    Fortunately, Mo Chuhan mastered his murder technique so none could find out Xue Fan had been killed.


    Mo Chuhan''s method of murder was very special. He inserted a silver needle into a certain death acupoint on the top of Xue Fan''s head. To not leave any traces behind, after Xue Fan had breathed hisst, Mo Chuhan took out the needle again.


    Not even the most skilled coroner would be able to detect anything with such a murder technique.


    It was the same for the dead assassin, but his life and death would not get anyone''s attention in the first ce, let alone any investigation.


    As for those arrogant bullies, they did not truly participate in this matter after all, so they were sentenced to three years imprisonment then released.


    Although Chen Wu had also been used, he was still an aplice, thus sentenced to one year imprisonment.


    As for Wang Lin, even though he only did it under coercion due to his impoverished situation, he had killed with his own hands in the end.


    Considering he was forced, Meng Huaining did not sentence him to death, but rather exile to do hardbour in the Western regions for life, unable to leave.


    After hearing these people''s sentences, Mo Jiuye did not actually object. But those thugs were still Xue''s men in the end.


    Once the Xues discovered something amiss, they would surely send people to investigate.


    Therefore, the safest method was still for them to shut up as well.


    The Mo brothers were not random killers; to y the Xue''s men and those assassins were reasonable.


    Although those thugs were not righteous people either, the Mo brothers would not simply take their lives.


    In the end, it was still Mo Jiuye who obtained the wits-robbing drug from He Zhiran and passed it to Eighth Bro.


    Eighth Bro was originally let off to rest by Meng Huaining since he had worked overnight at the government office.


    But considering the potential threat those people posed to the Moes, Eighth Bro did not intend to rest for even a moment. Clutching the medicine packet, he headed back to the government office.


    With the family matter discussed, only then did Mo Jiuye take He Zhiran along to go up the mountain. They only told Madam He they were going out for a walk.


    Madam He was happy her daughter and son-inw were affectionate and supported the couple going out together.


    All the way there, Mo Jiuye kept a tight hold on He Zhiran''s hand, and his walking pace amodated her as well.

 Chapter 445: Don’t Be So Nervous

    <h4>Chapter 445</h4>


    Not until the two walked to a ce where no one could see them did Mo Jiuye lightly pick He Zhiran up. He utilized his lightness skill to dash straight towards the ce prepared to settle those old subordinates.


    It was fine for him to work harder, as long as his wife was not suffering. Otherwise, he really did not know to what extent he would feel guilty.


    The journey went smoothly. Mo Jiuye was also very careful, afraid that his wife would feel ufortable.


    In fact, He Zhiran was not as delicate as he had imagined. When they arrived at the destination, she did not have any issues at all.


    She was not aware of the nervous mood in Mo Jiuye''s heart. She was just about to enter her space to take a look at the Taobao Mall when Mo Jiuye grabbed her hand.


    "Ranran, you should rest first. If you feel ufortable, tell me immediately."


    Hearing him say that, He Zhiran only then realized his nervousness.


    "I''m fine. Don''t be so nervous."


    After saying that, she pulled Mo Jiuye along to enter the space together.


    Last night, the two had already selected several types of movable integrated houses in the space. They were just waiting to check the slope of thend after going up the mountain before deciding which one to purchase.


    It had to be said that this location was really suitable for cing these movable houses.


    Because this was a mountain depression, the tnd area was veryrge. Not only that, not far away up the mountain was a waterfall that formed a stream passing through here.


    Although He Zhiran had only taken a nce before entering the space, she sincerely liked this ce from the bottom of her heart.


    Not only was this ce concealed well, the most important thing was that the surrounding environment gave people a feeling of refreshment.


    If there was no clutter on the outside, she really wanted to live in such a ce for a lifetime.


    Bringing her thoughts back, the couple finally decided to purchase a simple and stylish movable house.


    After all, the location of a mountain depression was limited. It was impossible for everyone to live in single rooms.


    The house they chose had four smallpartments. In their previous lives, such movable houses were basically purchased by factories to be used as employee dormitories.


    Although the rooms were not very big, they came with an iron frame bed and a wooden wardrobe inside.


    With such specifications, it was perfectly sufficient for two people to live in each room, and it was much morefortable than therge bunk beds they lived in at the border.


    On average, each movable house could house eight people. Preparing one hundred or slightly more would be enough.


    In addition to these, He Zhiran also selected a movable house that could be used as a kitchen.


    After selecting the styles, the couple left the space together.


    He Zhiran was like a fairy. Every few steps, a simple and stylish integrated movable house would magically appear.


    After about two hours of busy work and checking that there was nothing missing, the husband and wife sat down to rest on a rock nearby.


    He Zhiran simply looked around. Suddenly, her gaze was fixed on the hillside not far away.


    Mo Jiuye followed her line of sight. It was a patch of flowers that were not very white.


    "Ranran, do you like those flowers? I''ll go pick some for you."


    He Zhiran also got up. Her eyes kept staring at that small patch of flowers.


    "Husband, those flowers look a bit like tea flowers. Let''s go take a look."


    Hearing that she wanted to go see it together, Mo Jiuye specifically looked at the height of the hillside.


    From the foot of the mountain, it would probably take one incense stick worth of time. Also, the hillside did not look steep.


    At the same time, he also knew clearly that his wife was a strong-minded person. Even if he said he would pick some back for her to see, she would not agree.


    "Alright, I will hold your hand. Let''s walk slowly to take a look."


    Upon arriving at the destination, He Zhiran bent over to carefully examine the shape of the flowers.


    The flowers were white to pale orange in color, with elongated petals. The flower diameter was about 2-3 centimeters, looking exactly the same as the flowering Iron Goddess tea she had seen in her previous life.


    In her previous life, she had apanied her supervisor back to his hometown once. Her supervisor¡¯s family were tea farmers. It just so happened to be the season when the Iron Goddess tea flowers were in full bloom. Her supervisor¡¯s mother had picked some to bring home for viewing.


    Because the flowers were inserted in a vase, He Zhiran did not see what the leaves looked like.


    However, she still had a fresh memory of the scent of those flowers.


    In order to confirm whether these were really tea flowers, He Zhiran leaned forward and gently sniffed them.


    A faint fragrance was mixed with a subtle tea aroma.


    "This is it."


    Mo Jiuye had been standing by her side watching her actions.


    "Ranran, what is this?"


    He Zhiran plucked a few tea tree leaves and ced them in front of Mo Jiuye.


    "Do you still remember a kind of tea I once gave you to drink? That tea was a small round ball before being soaked in water."


    "Ranran, are you saying this is Iron Goddess Tea?" Speaking of Iron Goddess Tea, when Ranran let him taste it at that time, he had also praised the special stir-frying skills involved.


    In addition, the taste of Iron Goddess Tea was very pleasant, leaving Mo Jiuye with a deep impression of it.


    At this moment, He Zhiran''s eyes lit up, not because she had found Iron Goddess here, but because it made her think of a new way to make money.


    That was tea cultivation.


    In the future when those subordinates from the borders arrived, they might be living here every day in addition to military affairs.


    It was impossible for them to keep training all the time. How would they pass the time during their leisure?


    It would be different if a tea ntation was opened up here. During the times they were not training, they could grow tea nts. This way, they would have something to do and also be able to generate some profit.


    Of course, it was not that He Zhiran could not support them, but this would allow them to have more ie.


    After all, they were all young people. In the future when they married and had children, the extra ie would enable He Zhiran to believe that they would all be wealthy.


    "I do have this idea in mind. You also know that I can cultivate better quality tea saplings and seeds in my space."


    "Ranran, this idea of yours is not bad. Growing tea here would also resolve any issues with manpower." Although his wife had started paving the way, Mo Jiuye could still think of the follow up without her saying anything more.


    "Mm, tonight I will cultivate tea tree saplings in the space. It probably would not take many days for them to mature. By then, you can bring Tao Ran and them here to nt some first."


    Anyway, it would not take long before Tao Ran and them woulde here with him, so letting them know earlier would not hurt.

 Chapter 446: Taste it and you’ll know.

    <h4>Chapter 446</h4>


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye looked at the sky. There was still plenty of time before dark, so He Zhiran told Mo Jiuye to pick some tea leaves to take back.


    She could try researching tea frying to pass the time. He Zhiran took out a back basket from her space. Mo Jiuye filled the basket full of tea leaves before they went back down the mountain.


    Madam He originally thought her son-inw had taken her daughter out for a walk. She didn''t expect they hadn''t returned even by lunch time, and worried something might have happened to He Zhiran. She stood at the door, looking out for them.


    Seeing the couple''s figures in the distance, Madam He went up to meet them.


    "Zhiran, Jiuye, did you go into town? Why were you gone for so long?"


    As she spoke, Madam He carefully looked over He Zhiran to see if she was hurt, worried something might have happened to her.


    He Zhiran knew her mother truly cared for her. She had been gone for quite some time, so she quickly pulled her mother''s arm.


    "Mother, Jiuye and I just went for a walk. We got carried away ying around, which is why we took so long to get back."


    At this time, Madam He noticed the back basket behind Mo Jiuye''s back.


    "You went up the mountain?"


    After living in Xi Ling Vige for some days, Madam He understood that the vigers often carried simr back baskets when going up the mountains.


    Mo Jiuye put the basket on the ground.


    "Mother, Zhiran and I just wandered around. We identally discovered some tea leaves and picked some to bring back, which is why we took longer."


    As an aristocrat from the capital, Madam He naturally knew a lot about tea.


    In her opinion, the best tea in the capital came from the south. She had also only seen processed and roasted final tea products.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye carrying a basket of unknown leaves, she couldn''t help asking doubtfully: "Zhiran, Jiuye, don''t tell me those are tea leaves?"


    Madam He''s question didn''t surprise He Zhiran at all.


    Tea was already scarce in Da Shun. Coupled with its rarity, tea prices were very high.


    Not only that, tea farmers would roast the tea leaves before selling them elsewhere. The only form consumers saw was the dried, roasted tea.


    Moreover, ancient tea frying techniques were backward. No matter the tea variety, the roasted tea leaves looked ckish-brown. Even when brewed, one couldn''t discern the original shape of the leaves.


    Most importantly, when He Zhiran first let Mo Jiuye try Tieguanyin tea, she had specially asked if Da Shun had such tasting tea.


    Therefore, Madam He mistaking random nt leaves for tea was understandable.


    "Mother, don''t worry. This is absolutely tea leaves. I once read about this kind of tea in a book. It''s extremely rare and has exquisite vor. I''ll research tea frying tomorrow. You''ll know after tasting it."


    Seeing her daughter''s enthusiasm, Madam He didn''t want to dampen it. She could only nod perfunctorily.


    As long as her daughter was happy, it didn''t matter whether these were actually tea leaves.


    The next day, Mo Jiuye took Liang Hao, Tao Ran and others up the mountain to prepare. He Zhiran went to her own courtyard''s small kitchen.


    After picking those tea leaves, she had bought a book on tea frying techniques from Taobao. She now grasped the frying method and had nothing to do at the moment. It was just right to practice with those mountain tea leaves.


    Not only that, to prepare for yesterday''s n, He Zhiran ntedrge quantities of tea saplings in her space.


    The seeds came from her space. Like other crops, they weren''t picky about climate or soil. Let alone growing well on the Tieguanyin mountainside, they wouldn''t even be affected by saline-alkali soil.


    After a busy day, He Zhiran sessfully shocked Madam He speechless.


    "Zhiran, this is real tea?" Madam He held a small ball that looked slightly inferior to the Tieguanyin He Zhiran had bought online. Her eyes shone brightly.


    Although He Zhiran wasn''t very satisfied with the tea''s appearance, its taste proved her roasted tea had nearly seeded. As long as she practiced more, she firmly believed she could roast Tieguanyin like her previous life.


    She happily responded, "Mother, it should have seeded."


    She then instructed Yu Er, who was helping by the side, to brew several cups for everyone to taste.


    Lan Er and Yu Er were maidservants who had grown up beside the Fourth Princess. They were naturally quite familiar with Da Shun''s fine tea.


    As soon as Lan Er lifted the lid of her cup, she deeply inhaled the aroma.


    "Ninth Madam, in Lan Er¡¯s opinion, this tea can absolutely be called the finest of the finest. Even the pce tributes pale inparison."


    He Zhiran knew Lan Er was knowledgeable. Her high appraisal meant the future tea business would earn them barrels of money.


    Madam He nodded continuously as well. "I didn''t expect that such delicious tea could be produced in this barrennd of the northwest."


    She never imagined the tea had nothing to do with where it grew. Its deliciousnesspletely came from her daughter''s frying technique.


    Madam He''s assumption saved He Zhiran the trouble of exining.


    When Mo Jiuye returned from the mountain with the others at dusk, everything had been properly arranged there.


    He Zhiran didn''t bother asking what excuses he had used. In any case, Liang Hao and the others didn''t notice anything wrong aftering back.


    Not only that, Mo Jiuye had brought everyone to pick more tea leaves.


    Last night, he had watched his wife learn tea frying methods in her space.


    He originally thought it would take her many attempts to grasp such aplicated process. Hence, he decided to pick more tea leaves for her practice.


    Unexpectedly, his capable wife seeded after only a day. The taste was just as good as the Tieguanyin bought online.


    This made Mo Jiuye realize one thing ¡ª aside from jewelry making in the future, the tea business would also be a major source of ie for the Mo family.


    In fact, Mo Jiuye still underestimated his wife.


    Although He Zhiran wasn''t very interested in business andcked Tang Mingrui''s business savvy, she truly possessed insight from a millennium in the future. With that alone, even without business smarts, she could still earn barrels of money in ancient times.


    Dinner was still in Old Lady Mo''s courtyard, except for the Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran household.


    Considering that Madam He had travelled far to the northwest to apany her daughter''s childbirth, and the He family had so many sons, Old Lady Mo knew Madam He still wasn''tpletely ustomed to rural customs despite the Mo family shedding many aristocratic rules.


    She worried the mother-inw would feel ufortable dining like this. So she sent Yu Er to He Zhiran''s courtyard to handle her meals daily.


    By now, Madam He hadpletely fallen in love with the meals from her daughter''s home.

 Chapter 447: Fried Pork Belly with Chili

    <h4>Chapter 447</h4>


    Lan Er''s cooking skills were good in one aspect.


    More importantly, the chili peppers the Mo Family had nted in the fields had matured over the past few days.


    At present, the chili peppers were still green instead of having turned red, but using them to stir fry dishes did not affect the taste. On the contrary, there was a different texture.


    Over the past few days, dishes made with green chili peppers appeared on the Mo Family''s dining table almost every meal.


    Although the chili peppers were spicy, they went extremely well with rice. The family members sweated profusely from the spiciness every day, yet they could not resist the craving for this taste.


    The Mo Family had been running a cold rabbit meat business for over half a year. The sisters-inw all knew that one of the most important seasonings for cold rabbit meat was chili peppers.


    Seeing that the chili peppers had matured, everyone was curious why the ninth younger sister had not let them be harvested.


    After asking, they found out that the chili peppers would gradually turn red after growing for a period of time. By then, picking and sun drying them meant they could be stored until next year when the chili peppers matured again.


    Understanding the reason, the sisters-inw then gave up the idea of immediately going to pick chili peppers.


    Anyway, the vegetables grown on their ownnd could be eaten casually by the family, and there was such arge quantity that not only could they be used to feed the family, even selling some was fine. There was absolutely no need to worry that there would be no chili pepper seasoning to make cold rabbit meat next year.


    On this day, in Old Lord Mo''s courtyard, a stir fried dish of green chili peppers and pork belly had also been prepared. Everyone was about to start eating when Yu Er''s voice sounded from outside the door.


    "Old Madam, Master Meng is here."


    When she heard Meng Huaining hade, Mo Hanyue shyly lowered her head and sat behind her eldest sister-inw.


    There were seven days left before their big wedding day.


    Since settling the wedding date with her, Meng Huaining had note to visit. If he had not been caught up with all kinds of matters, he would havee to see his future little wife earlier.


    Following Lan Er''s words, Meng Huaining had already walked into the main hall.


    He was about to pay his respects to Old Lady Mo when he noticed an elderly man with innate dignity sitting beside her. Not only that, on either side of the elderly couple sat two middle-aged men with unfamiliar faces.


    Meng Huaining was stunned. His first reaction was to look towards Mo Chuhan.


    "This is our father," Mo Chuhan introduced.


    Father?


    Meng Huaining reacted quickly. Without overthinking, he hurriedly knelt before Mo Qing and Old Lady Mo.


    "Junior pays respect to Old Duke."


    Mo Qing liked the demeanour of this young man before him. But when he thought that his precious daughter would be this person''s wife in a few days, he felt somewhat unhappy.


    As for the matter of this fellow not havinge to see him after he returned to the Mo Family for so long, he could not me the other party for that.


    It was him who had insisted on not letting Mo Chuhan say anything.


    Although he felt unhappy inwardly, as an elder he could not make things too difficult for his future son-inw.


    "Mm, rise." His voice was cold, making even the Mo family members feel somewhat unustomed.


    Meng Huaining did not feel anything wrong with that.


    After all, his future father-inw was once the Commander-in-Chief who led thousands of troops and the first Duke of Da Shun.


    Meng Huaining respectfully stood up, keeping his head lowered to maintain a humble attitude.


    However, from the corner of his eye he did not give up observing everyone.


    Although his future father-inw''s body seemed somewhat emaciated, his hair white, appearing ten to twenty years olderpared to Old Lady Mo, his extraordinary bearing and prestige were still difficult to ignore.


    As for the two middle-aged men sitting beside the elderly couple, simrly, the innate dominance they exuded simply could not be concealed.


    At the same time, a shocking guess appeared in his mind.


    Could it be that these two were the Eldest and Second Eldest Brothers of the Mo Family?


    Meng Huaining did not dare to stare directly at the father and sons as he was their junior. Moreover, he would be the Mo Family''s son-inw in a few days. So Meng Huaining was extremely careful not to overstep any boundaries.


    Therefore, he maintained his slightly lowered head posture and waited for his elder to speak.


    This gave Meng Huaining the opportunity to observe everyone.


    He could see that the appearances of the two middle-aged men bore some simrities with the other Mo brothers.


    Now that Old Duke Mo hade back alive, it was no longer too shocking if the Eldest and Second Eldest Brothers of the Mo Family were also alive.


    The only thing Meng Huaining felt strange about was why the whole world knew that people who had died in battle were appearing alive one by one.


    Could there be some earth-shattering conspiracy behind this?


    Countless question marks had appeared in Meng Huaining''s mind at this moment. Just as he was pondering, Mo Qing finally spoke.


    "I heard your grandfather was the former Senior Minister?"


    Meng Huaining quickly pulled back his thoughts and respectfully answered: "This junior''s grandfather was indeed former Minister Meng."


    Mo Qing was not unfamiliar with former Minister Meng at all. After all, the two had been colleagues in court for many years.


    Although one had been a civil official and the other a militarymander, they were both loyal and righteous people and had good impressions of each other.


    As the grandson of Minister Meng, his character must also be quite good.


    Especially after he returned to the northwest, everyone in the family, including his wife, had praised what an outstanding young man Meng Huaining was.


    Now seeing the man standing before him, his etiquette done extremely properly, Mo Qing found it somewhat difficult to pick faults with him.


    Then looking at his own precious daughter hiding behind her eldest sister-inw while sneaking nces at Meng Huaining from time to time - if there were not so many people present, this girl would certainly find him to plead not to bully this young man.


    Before meeting Meng Huaining, Mo Qing had thought of countless ways to make things difficult for him.


    Now seeing his daughter''s pleading gaze, in the end, he softened.


    To put it bluntly, it was because he could not find faults with the other party, so he had no way to attack...


    Although he had given up the idea of trying to make things difficult for his future son-inw, Mo Qing still did not look very happy.


    He pointed at an empty seat at the table and said, "Since you''vee at the right time, have a meal with us!"


    Facing his future father-inw, Meng Huaining was still somewhat cautious. However, he deliberately concealed the nervousness he felt.


    After greeting the elderly couple again, he obediently sat down in the seat Mo Qing had designated.


    Old Lady Mo knew that her husband was being difficult with their son-inw, so she introduced Meng Huaining to the eldest son and second son in order to ease the atmosphere and deflect everyone''s attention.


    That stubborn old man had been told countless times that their future son-inw was an outstanding young man that the whole family looked favorably upon, yet he still would not approve of him.


    Well, if he was unwilling to be polite to the young man, Meng Huaining could simply ignore him...


    Seeing that his mother-inw was bailing him out, Meng Huaining gave her a grateful smile.


    At the same time, he also confirmed his previous guesses.


    The sons of the Mo Family who had died were now all alive.


    This was the first time meeting two uncles, so Meng Huaining naturally could not escape having to greet them properly.


    Unlike their father, the eldest and second eldest brothers smiled and nodded at him.


    Meng Hui Ning''s mind which had previously been full of thoughts was soon distracted by the enthusiastic offering of stir fried pork belly with green chili peppers from the Mo brothers.

 Chapter 448: Blessed are the people of Yuncheng.

    <h4>Chapter 448</h4>


    Meng Huaining was no stranger to spicy food.


    He had eaten Mo Family''s cold spicy rabbit many times before, and even at home, there would always be a hint of that irresistible spiciness in the meals.


    However, this green, spicy ingredient was something he had never seen before.


    Mo Chuhan, who usually interacted with him the most, naturally had to exin more.


    He took the initiative to rify for Meng Huaining.


    "This is the chili pepper we grow ourselves. Jiudimei said that chili peppers are green when they are just ripe, and in a few days, they will slowly turn red. When dried, they be the chili pepper seasoning in the cold spicy rabbit."


    In Meng Huaining''s understanding, the chili peppers used by the Mo Family were obtained from foreigners.


    He never expected that they would also grow such vegetables in the northwest.


    Thinking about the livelihood of the people in the northwest, Meng Huaining couldn''t help but speak up.


    "Since chili peppers can grow here, the people of Yun City are fortunate."


    As soon as he finished speaking, he heard He Zhiran''s voice at the door.


    "Brother Meng means to promote the cultivation of chili peppers?"


    He Zhiran was about to eat when Yuer said that Meng Huaining hade to the main house.


    She put down her chopsticks and followed Mo Jiuye to see what was happening.


    As soon as she reached the door, she heard someone coveting her chili peppers.


    Meng Huaining was a shrewd person, and it was not difficult to judge from He Zhiran''s tone that she was not willing to promote the cultivation of chili peppers.


    Moreover, he was well aware of the situation in the Mo Family, where Jiuge and Jiusao were always in charge.


    Even if he had this idea, he would need their consent. He had indeed spoken out of excitement.


    He quickly stood up.


    "If Jiusao is unwilling, brother, I will never force it."


    It''s not that He Zhiran was stingy, although she had wealth that she couldn''t spend, in order to use this money openly, she needed a few profitable deals in hand.


    Making food with chili peppers was one of them, so she naturally wouldn''t want to promote chili peppers too early.


    She also knew that Meng Huaining was a good official dedicated to the people, and she was also aware of the hardships of the people in the northwest.


    "While these chili peppers are delicious, they can be said to be optional, unlike some other high-yielding grains that can feed the people."


    Meng Huaining did want to make the people under his rule prosperous, at least enough to not go hungry.


    He also understood the value of these chili peppers. If such a vorful ingredient was used to make dishes like those of the Mo Family and sold in restaurants, it would definitely bring in a great profit.


    The reason he couldn''t control himself and spoke out was because he thought of the value of the chili peppers. If the people of Yun City could all grow chili peppers, sell them at a high price when ripe, they would undoubtedly earn a high ie.


    With money in the hands of the people, wouldn''t it be easier to eat a full meal?


    But now, the Mo Family relied on these means to make a living. If they spread the cultivation of chili peppers, wouldn''t they be cutting off their source of ie?


    The more Meng Huaining thought about his thoughtless words, the more guilty he felt.


    "Brother Nine and Sister-inw Nine, you don''t have to take my words to heart. I just couldn''t resist praising the deliciousness of these peppers for a moment." He Zhiran chuckled at his tone.


    She was seated at the table with the sisters-inw, supported by Mo Jiuye.


    "I know Brother Meng is a good official dedicated to serving the people. Don''t worry, it won''t be long before the sweet potatoes and potatoes in the fields ripen.


    I''ve said before, nting sweet potatoes and potatoes is simple, yields are high, and they provide a strong sense of satiety. If you want the people to have enough to eat and wear, nting these is much more cost-effective than peppers.


    Not only that, during the autumn harvest season, there''s also corn. Dried corn can be ground into corn flour and cornmeal, which is great for making porridge and cakes." He Zhiran wasn''t exaggerating at all.


    Compared to the rough cornbread and cakes eaten by the poor families of this era, food made from corn is much tastier.


    In fact, when the Mo family initially nted those peculiar crops, they were often talked about behind their backs by the vigers, and Meng Huaining had heard some of it.


    But knowing the Mo Jiuye couple well, they were not reckless people.


    Therefore, after He Zhiran carefully exined the benefits of these crops, Meng Huaining began to look forward to it.


    "If Brother Nine and Sister-inw Nine are really willing to promote such good grains, you will be the benefactors of the people."


    You see, the northwest region is barren, and it snows in winter. If the harvest is bad, many people starve to death every year.


    The reason why the Mo family has not heard of people starving to death in Yun City is also because of Meng Huaining''s arrival.


    Last winter, many families had run out of food, and the whole family went out begging.


    At that time, Meng Huaining made an important decision to use the limited food stored in the granary to help those who were on the brink of starvation.


    At the same time, he also went to the prefecture several times to ask the prefect for help. The prefect was worn down by him and had no choice but to allocate some food from the granary to him.


    But this food was far from enough. Meng Huaining also instructed people to work for those wealthy people, hoping they would lend a hand.


    After much effort, Yun City weed its first winter without anyone starving to death.


    But this was by no means a long-term solution. The winter in Yun City, where food and clothing are scarce, wille again. The grain in the granary was all used upst year, which was the most troublesome thing for Meng Huaining.


    He was aware that this was something he, as the county magistrate, should worry about, without disturbing the harmony of the Mo family.


    Anyway, when Sister-inw Nine mentioned providing high-yield grains, he finally saw hope.


    "Brother Nine, Sister-inw Nine, on behalf of the people of Yun City, I thank you for your benevolence. As long as we get through this harsh winter smoothly this year, with such crops next year, the people will no longer have to worry about going hungry."


    The matter of the Mo family''s crops was just a small episode of Meng Huaining''s arrival, and once it was settled, the topic shifted.


    Of course, this topic naturally shifted to the marriage between Meng Huaining and Mo Hanyue.


    Such matters naturally needed to be mentioned by the elders, and Meng Huaining went to discuss the details.


    Although the Mo Family provided Mo Hanyue with a courtyard as part of her dowry, Meng Huaining still purchased a residence in Yun City.


    The residence was not veryrge and was located not far from the county yamen.


    Meng Huaining had already arranged the bridal chamber there. On the day of the wedding, he woulde to Xi Ling Vige with a bridal sedan chair to pick up Mo Hanyue and take her to Yun City for the ceremony.


    The newlyweds would stay there for two days, and when Mo Hanyue returned home after three days, they would move to Xi Ling Vige.


    It must be said that Meng Huaining''s considerations were quite thoughtful.


    He did not want Mo Hanyue to suffer any grievances and did not want others to think that the person she married was unwilling to prepare even a new house, or that the house was given by her family.

 Chapter 449: Crying Makes your makeup look Bad.

    <h4>Chapter 449</h4>


    Going to the city to worship at the ancestral temple was very different, which was enough to show Meng Huaining''s respect for his wife. After the wedding, he apanied her back to live in Xiling Vige because of Mo Hanyue''s preference.


    In short, Meng Huaining''s treatment of Mo Hanyue wasprehensive in every way.


    Mo Qing listened to Meng Huaining''s arrangements and had to say that he liked his son-inw more and more as he looked at him.


    The bit of difort in his heart had gradually disappeared like smoke.


    ...


    In the blink of an eye, it was June 12th. The Mo Family was filled with joy and excitement, and it could be said that all courtyards were decorated withnterns.


    With the vigers watching like this, how could this be considered sending off a daughter to be married?


    It was almost more grandiose than when a wealthy family in the city took a daughter-inw.


    These were all arranged by Mo Jiuye. His wife had everything avable on Taobao emerce tform, and the prices were much cheaper than the goods sold in the stores of this era.


    Except for Mo Yuance, all the Mo brothers gathered together. Even Mo Qing sat in an electric wheelchair that He Zhiran had asked Hu Cong to make and was pushed forward by his son to appear in front of everyone.


    Nan Rui, Consort De, the Fang Chuanzhou family, the Xie Tianhai family, Hu Cong, the Mo Family''s old subordinates and their families had arrived at the foot of the mountain early.


    There was also Tang Mingrui. Because of the incidentst time where he was wrongly framed for hiring someone tomit murder, he had be increasingly familiar with Meng Huaining.


    Although both sides were people he considered to be good friends, he still nned to prioritize the Mo Family.


    Therefore, he also became a guest of the Mo Family to escort the bride today.


    The vigers also came with gifts. As the hostess of the Mo Family, Old Lady Mo was very capable in receiving all the different guests effortlessly.


    He Zhiran''s belly was too big. Madam He did not allow him toe forward. He stayed in a more distant ce from the crowd with Li Auntie to watch.


    Mo Hanyue wore beautiful red bridal clothes embroidered with exquisite peony flowers and sat in the bridal chamber.


    The sisters-inw were busy helping her tidy up her makeup.


    "Look at our Hanyue. Dressed up like this, she''s just like a fairy who walked out of a painting."


    Second Sister-inw couldn''t help but praise.


    The other sisters-inw also chimed in agreement.


    "Yes, Hanyue was born beautiful. These bridal clothes make her look even more beautiful."


    "It''s still Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister-inw who have great taste to buy such beautiful jewelry to make our sister look more beautiful."


    "..."


    Hearing thepliments from the sisters-inw, Mo Hanyue shyly lowered her head.


    At this moment, the makeup wasplete. Old Lady Mo brought in a white-haired old woman.


    "Hanyue, this is Granny Zhao from the vige. She is the oldest person in Xiling Vige and the one with the most blessings of having a house full of children and grandchildren. I specifically asked her toeb your hair."


    When it came tobing the bride''s hair, it was very particr in Dashun Kingdom.


    It was necessary to invite an older, blessed woman with a house full of children and grandchildren to do it. This was also a blessing for the bride, wishing that the bride would be as healthy and blessed with children and grandchildren as the blessed granny in the future.


    Despite Granny Zhao''s age, her hairbing skills were very skilled, showing that she had done this kind of thing countless times before.


    Soon, Mo Hanyue''s thick ck hair was perfectly coiled up. Although the style could notpare with the special female attendants who styled the mistresses¡¯ hair in the noble families of the capital, Mo Hanyue was born beautiful. Even with a simpler hairstyle, she still looked charming and gorgeous.


    Amidst waves ofpliments from the sisters-inw, Old Lady Mo reluctantly helped her daughter put on the red bridal veil.


    "Hanyue, from today onwards, you will be a married woman. In the future, you must restrain your little temper..."


    As she spoke, Old Lady Mo became choked up and couldn''t continue.


    Eldest Sister-inw quickly stepped forward tofort her, "Mother, Hanyue is not going far for her marriage. You can see her every day when she returns in three days, so don''t be upset."


    Old Lady Mo also knew this was reasonable. Compared to the nine daughters-inw in the family, except for Second Sister-inw whose parents lived in the same vige, the rest were all from the capital thousands of miles away. From the current situation of the Mo Family, unless their families were willing toe to the northwest to visit their daughters like Madam He, they would probably never see each other again in this lifetime.


    Thinking of this, Old Lady Mo felt much more relieved.


    She gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and continued to admonish Mo Hanyue about what she should and should not do after getting married.


    Seeing her mother in tears, Mo Hanyue couldn''t hold back her tears either.


    Fifth Sister-inw stepped forward with a handkerchief and dried her tears before they could stream out.


    "Hanyue don''t cry, if you cry and ruin your makeup you won''t look pretty."


    Mo Hanyue couldn''t hold back as soon as Fifth Sister-inw tried to persuade her.


    She threw herself into her mother''s arms, sobbing.


    "Mother, please rest assured. I will take good care of our family like you and my sisters-inw..."


    Seeing the mother and daughter like this, all the women in the room also had tears brimming their eyes.


    At this moment, Mo Chuhan''s voice came from outside.


    "Get ready fast, the new young master has arrived at the door."


    Of the women closest to the door, Eighth Sister-in-Law pushed the door open and vaguely heard the sound of drums and music resounding outside. From the volume of the sound, they judged that Meng Huaining''s weing team had just entered the vige.


    "Dear husband, the weing team is clearly still very far. Why are you in such a hurry?"


    Eighth Sister-in-Law couldn''t help but ask her husband. Hanyue¡¯s makeup had just been ruined from crying and had not been touched up yet. If the new young master arrived now, it would really make them flustered.


    Her husband had run with a flushed face and did not immediately answer his wife¡¯s words. He strode over the threshold and quickly closed the door.


    "I won''t let him take my sister so easily."


    As soon as this was said, the women who were wiping away tears just now couldn¡¯t help but burst intoughter.


    Seeing her son¡¯s earnestness to protect Mo Hanyue, Old Lady Mo reproached, ¡°How difficult could you make it given that your sister has to marry out sooner orter?¡±


    ¡°Mother... Hanyue is getting married but I can¡¯t let thed think he can so easily get a wife.¡±


    ¡°Husband, what are you going to do?"


    What was he going to do?


    Mo Chuhan had just hurriedly rushed back to block the door and hadn¡¯t thought about how exactly he was going to make things difficult for Meng Huaining.


    After a pause, he looked at the women in the house.


    ¡°Although Meng Huaining is talented and literary, he also knows some martial arts, but he is definitely not as skilled as us brothers. On such an auspicious day, we can¡¯t spar with him right?¡±


    ¡°Does Eighth Brother mean he wants topete in literary talent with him?¡± Second Sister-in-Law asked.


    ¡°Why not? Several sisters-inw alsoe from schrly families and are very literary. Why not have a literarypetition with him?¡±


    Ever since childhood Mo Chuhan liked fencing and martial arts. In terms of literary talent he was just like a nk sheet of paper. If it wasn¡¯t for Old Lady Mo forcing him to study for several years, he probably wouldn¡¯t even recognize many words.


    So he could only ce his hopes on the women.


    ¡°Eighth Brother, even though we have studied, how could wepare literary talent with the brother-inw? Wouldn¡¯t you just be making us embarrass ourselves?¡±


    ¡°Yes Eighth Brother, I just know some words.¡±


    Second Sister-in-Law shook her hands again and again. ¡°I¡¯m not much better than Eighth Brother, don¡¯t get me involved in this.¡±


    Amidst their refusals, the sound of drums and music outside was getting closer and closer.

 Chapter 450: You Guys are so Confused.

    <h4>Chapter 450</h4>


    "Tomorrow I will let my father and brothers know about this matter. No matter what, everyone needs to be mentally prepared," Mo Jiuye frowned as he spoke, clearly worried.


    He Zhiran came up and gentlyforted: "We will meet the enemy''s attack by every possible means, there are always more solutions than problems. Things have not be too serious yet. As long as we take precautions early, there will definitely be no issues."


    At present, she could not do anything and could onlyfort Mo Jiuye not to worry too much.


    The next day, Mo Jiuye went to the second elder''s yard. It just so happened that because of Mo Hanyue''s marriage, the brothers were all there. He told them about the matter in public.


    Mo Chuhan was impulsive and stood up first.


    "Our Mo family has been loyal to the court. If it weren''t for brother Jiu, we would all have be Yuan Meng''s sacrifices by now.


    Although we all disdain to rebel, we can¡¯t let people shit on our heads either."


    Although the words were a bit vulgar, they spoke to everyone present.


    The second elder also stood up indignantly.


    "Why don''t we brothers secretly sneak into the capital and get rid of that dog emperor, so that he stops thinking about how to deal with our Mo family every day."


    As soon as these words came out, people immediately echoed them, all thinking about assassinating Emperor Shunwu in the capital.


    Just as Mo Jiuye was trying to stop them, the silent Mo Qing spoke up.


    "You are really confused."


    The second elder was not convinced.


    "Dad, rather than waiting for people to bully us when theye, it''s better to get rid of him early to eliminate future troubles."


    "Reckless!" Mo Qing severely reprimanded his second son.


    "Dad, ording to what brother Jiu said, even if we don''t make a move, Emperor Shunwu will still frame us with the crime of deceiving the emperor, and in the end we still have to rebel." At this time, Mo Chuhan could best understand the mood of the second elder.


    Mo Qing was not unable to understand the feelings of his two sons, he just did not agree with their approach.


    "Jiuye just said that the empress adopted the Fourth Prince. The Xue n nurtured countless influences in the court to help Nan Heng ascend to the throne back then.


    After Emperor Shunwu¡¯s death, Nan Qi may not be the opponent of the Xue n. Once the Fourth Prince seeds to the throne, this world willpletely be the Xue family¡¯s world.


    At that time, our situation will be dozens of times more difficult than when Emperor Shunwu was in power."


    The reason why Mo Jiuye did not advocate assassinating Emperor Shunwu in the capital was for this reason.


    "Second elder, eighth elder, what I mean is, let''s first try to undermine the Xue family''s power, and then try to assassinate Emperor Shunwu, only then can we achievesting results.


    Of course, we can¡¯t rx our vignce in the northwest either. If anyone secretly makes trouble, we must not let them off easily.¡±


    Although the second elder and the eighth elder were a little impatient, they were notpletely brainless either.


    After being reminded by their father and Mo Jiuye, both of them lost their previous momentum.


    "Dad, brother Jiu, do we really have to just wait helplessly for death now?"


    "We are not waiting helplessly for death, but making full preparations."


    As Mo Jiuye spoke, he looked at the fifth elder.


    "Fifth elder, how many bombs have we made now?"


    "One thousand bombs have been made, all stored by me on the mountain." The fifth elder said.


    Mo Jiuye scanned everyone.


    "Seventh elder went south. It will take at least half a month for him toe back. Now our brothers plus Tao Ran, Liang Hao and the others add up to dozens of people.


    We¡¯ll gather everyone together in a moment and distribute the bombs to them while teaching them how to use them.


    In addition, Rang Rang and I also have some repeating crossbows that can fire continuously up to twenty times.


    We will equip everyone with weapons. Starting today, everyone will have to work a little harder to take turns guarding, to prevent intruders.


    While protecting our own family, we must also take care of the vigers of Xi Ling Vige and not let them get involved."


    The eldest brother stood up.


    "I¡¯ll go arrange this matter."


    While the eldest brother went to gather people, Mo Jiuye also asked He Zhiran to purchase arge number of repeating crossbows and enough arrows on Taobao and store them in an empty room.


    After preparations here, the eldest brother also gathered all the manpower at the foot of the mountain.


    Mo Jiuye called a few people to take enough repeating crossbows and went up the mountain with his brothers to train everyone.


    Considering the physical condition of the daughters-inw, he only used one day to teach everyone about the bombs and repeating crossbows before returning home.


    Next was the time for Mo Hanyue to return home. The newlywed little couple has since lived in the quadrangle courtyard in Xi Ling Vige.


    Meng Huaining was also happy about this.


    The facilities and furnishings of the quadrangle courtyard were the same as those of the Mo brothers. The furnishings in the room were also very popr with young people.


    Meng Huaining simply felt reluctant to leave this ce.


    In order to apany his young and delicate wife, he handed over the yamen affairs to his subordinates to handle before the wedding, preparing to rest for a few days.


    If Meng Huaining came to the Mo family asionally, they would not notice anything. But after staying here for a few days, he discovered that the Mo brothers ran up the mountain every day.


    At first, he thought that the Mo brothers went up the mountain to hunt. Later, he found that they did not have any game when they came back.


    If it was those ordinarymoners it would be fine, but the Mo brothers, as martial arts masters, could not havee back empty-handed after going up the mountain.


    He was sensible enough to know that the Mo family had secrets. Although he was now half a Mo family member, if the family did not want to tell him things they did not want him to know, it would be inappropriate for him to take the initiative to inquire.


    Mo Jiuye was more attentive and had long noticed his brother-inw''s curiosity.


    After discussing with He Zhiran, he decided to tell him some of the things.


    After all, Meng Huaining would be living with them in the future. If some clues were discovered after a long time, it would be better to tell him in advance.


    It was better than making him feel that the Mo family did not trust him enough, and then discovering some things slowly by himself.


    Of course, the bombs secretly produced by the Mo family and the seventh elder''s trip to the south to gather his former subordinates were automatically concealed by Mo Jiuye.


    In fact, when Meng Huaining presided over Tang Mingrui''s case of hiring a murderer to kill, he had already discovered something wrong with the Xue family.


    Especially during the interrogation process, Xue Fan directly admitted that he was of the same n as the empress. This made Meng Huaining feel that things were not simple.


    Later, Xue Fan and that assassin also mysteriously died in prison, and those thugs inexplicably became idiots. If someone told him this had nothing to do with the Mo family, even beating him to death could not make him believe it.


    At the same time, he also guessed that the Xue family choosing to open Jingxian Building in the northwest was most likely rted to the Mo family.


    Now after listening to Mo Jiuye''s ount, itpletely confirmed his previous spection.


    He thought of the favor he had received from Fei Nanyu when he came to the northwest to take office. The purpose was to observe the movements of the Mo family.


    Because of his rtionship with the Mo family, he eventually chose to lean towards their side.


    As a result, he never passed on any information rted to the Mo family to Fei Nanyu.

 Chapter 451: Little White Is Back

    <h4>Chapter 451</h4>


    Mo Hanyue''s makeup was redone by her sisters-inw, and her red bridal veil was put back on.


    At this moment, the little maid was nervous, listening to the increasingly loud drum music, as well as Eighth Young Master''s intention to make things difficult for Meng Huaining, which made her both afraid and anxious.


    In her perception, apart from Second Sister-in-Law, the literary skills of the other sisters-inw were quite good. What if Meng Huaining was humiliated?


    While she was worrying, Meng Huaining''s wedding procession had already arrived at the door.


    There were other elder brothers guarding the main entrance, and although they did make things a little difficult, they still let him into the courtyard.


    Meng Huaining was escorted to the door. He bowed very courteously, then stepped forward and knocked on the door.


    ording to Old Lady Mo''s intention, she did not want to make things difficult for Meng Huaining, but that willful Eighth Son insisted, so she was helpless.


    At the same time, the olddy also wanted to see what literary skills this son-inw from a schrly family had.


    The sisters-inw were still young after all, and loved liveliness. Seeing that mother-inw didn''t object, they rushed to the door one after another.


    Third Sister-in-Law''s specialty was couplets, while Fourth Sister-in-Law was more enthusiastic about writing poems. There was also Sixth Sister-in-Law, who also showed her skills.


    As a result, these questions that they considered quite advanced were simply unable to stump the eager-to-marry Meng Huaining.


    In the end, Mo Chuyi looked at the defeated sisters-inw resentfully, and unwillingly opened the door.


    Meng Huaining rushed in first and saw Old Lady Mo. He solemnly knelt down and knocked his head on the ground.


    "Son-inw pays respect to mother-inw." After speaking, he knocked his head heavily on the ground three times.


    What Old Lady Mo valued most was Meng Huaining¡¯s schrly family background. Thanks to Eighth Young Master today, she also got to see his literary talent.


    At this moment, the more Old Lady Mo looked at her son-inw, the more she liked him.


    The way she addressed him also changed from the original "Master Meng" to "Huaining".


    "Huaining, please get up quickly." As she spoke, she stuffed a red envelope into Meng Huaining''s hand, as money to mark the change in how she addressed him.


    When Mo Family¡¯s Eldest Brother saw that there was no moring from his sister''s room, he strode in.


    Under his mother''s direction, Eldest Brother gently carried Mo Hanyue on his back.


    "Hanyue, Eldest Brother will carry you onto the bridal sedan."


    Mo Hanyue nodded lightly andy on her eldest brother''s broad back.


    Everyone rushed out together, with Mo Qing being pushed in his wheelchair to send them off at the main entrance.


    After Mo Hanyue got into the bridal sedan, Meng Huaining knelt down in front of the elderly couple again.


    "Father-in-Law, Mother-in-Law, please rest assured that Huaining will definitely take good care of Hanyue for life."


    Seeing Mo Hanyue get into the bridal sedan, not only Old Lady Mo, but even Mo Qing in the wheelchair was somewhat tearful.


    Old Lady Mo didn¡¯t want their emotional loss of control to affect her daughter¡¯s auspicious wedding hour just because the elderly couple was there. She quickly went up to help Meng Huaining stand up.


    "Good child, get up quickly. Hanyue will rely on you from now on."


    Meng Huaining stood up with her help, bowed deeply to the elderly couple again, then turned around to urge the wedding procession to set off.


    The guests from Mo Family¡¯s side naturally had to be treated.


    The banquet was prepared at noon, and there was still some time before it started.


    The big watermelons from Mo Family''s fields became the best refreshment to entertain the guests. In addition, there were peanuts, melon seeds, and fruit candy that He Zhiran had purchased from , with the packaging removed and ced on tes.


    Apart from the peanuts and melon seeds, poorer people would not bear to eat them on ordinary days, but would not find them to be rare delicacies either.


    But those sweet and juicy big watermelons and fruit candies immediately drew praise from everyone.


    For many of Mo Family¡¯s guests, big watermelons were nothing special.


    Neither Mo Jiuye nor He Zhiran were petty. Selling the ripe watermelons to Tang Mingrui was one thing, they also gave some to acquaintances to let them taste.


    However, the number of watermelons given away was still limited after all, and they would run out quickly when divided among the whole family.


    Today at Mo Family, there were enough big watermelons for all the guests to have their fill.


    As for those crystalline, translucent candy pieces, they were many times sweeter than the maltose candy they usually ate, and there were many different vors. They simply made the guests sweet to their hearts.


    As for the banquet, there was no need to borate. Some of the vegetables grown on Mo Family¡¯snd had begun to mature, many of which were varieties that didn¡¯t exist in this era. Naturally, the dishes made from them were extremely delicious.


    It was not until the afternoon period of Shen that the banquet ended.


    The enthusiastic vigers took the initiative to stay and help Mo Family clean up properly before leaving satisfied.


    He Zhiran was kept under tight watch by Old Lady He. Afraid that something might happen to her as she was nearing childbirth, Old Lady He took her back home after the meal.


    She had indeed been a little ufortable recently, mainly because her belly was too big and she often felt tired.


    When she returned home, she was just about to take a nap when she heard Mo Jiuye''s voice at the door.


    "Xiao Bai, you''re back."


    Following the voice as it drew near, Mo Jiuye had already brought Xiao Bai into the room.


    He Zhiran also sat up.


    "Husband, did Xiao Bai bring any letters?"


    Mo Jiuye put Xiao Bai on the table.


    "Yes, I''ll take them off now."


    Although He Zhiran was eager to read the letter, she also knew of Xiao Bai¡¯s hardship.


    After Mo Jiuye removed the note from its leg, He Zhiran directly sent Xiao Bai into the space, and prepared its favorite food with her thoughts.


    When Xiao Bai entered the space, it naturally went to "catch up" with Rice Ball. He Zhiran didn''t bother with them, and read Fei Nanyu¡¯s note together with Mo Jiuye.


    It was less of a note and more like a letter. Because this time, Fei Nanyu wrote a lot of content and usedrger sheets of paper.


    The letter said¡ª


    Fortunately, Mo Jiuye had sent him the three Gu worms. Otherwise the Gu Master would not have seeded in detoxifying several important ministers.


    It was just that those people had been afflicted by Gu for quite some time, and their bodies were still very weak, but there was no longer any danger to their lives.


    In addition, Fei Nanyu also reminded Mo Jiuye to be careful, because he discovered that the Empress¡¯ n had not been behaving recently.


    He had already sent people to secretly keep watch on the Empress. If Xue Prime Minister had not been afflicted by Gu, he would have taken action long ago.


    As for what actions, he has not yet discovered any definite leads.


    At the same time, Fei Nanyu also urged Mo Jiuye to remember that it was the Empress¡¯ n who hated Mo Family the most back then. Because of Mo Jiuye¡¯s rtionship with Nan Qi, everyone would think that Mo Family belonged to the Prince of Qi¡¯s party.


    Although Mo Family had already been exiled to the northwest, as long as Mo Family still had its men, the Empress¡¯ side would not let down their guard.


    Just a few days ago, the Empress suddenly adopted a son.


    The child was only seven years old now. It was said that Emperor Shunwu had been promiscuous while drunk, and favored a pce maid.


    As a result, that pce maid became pregnant and gave birth to a boy.


    At that time, afraid that there would be another prince to threaten Nan Heng¡¯s status, the Empress nned to secretly execute the pce maid after discovering she was pregnant.


    Fortunately, Empress Dowager discovered it early and stopped her in time.


    Empress Dowager stated that if the Empress dared to plot to harm the imperial prince, she would no longer be fit to be Empress.

 Chapter 452: Make him completely disappear from this world.

    <h4>Chapter 452</h4>


    Due to the Empress Dowager''s prestige, the Empress could only spare the pce maid''s life, allowing her to give birth to the Fourth Prince safely.


    Although the Fourth Prince was born safely, the Empress did not want his identity to be made public, let alone allow him to appear in public.


    In front of Emperor Shunwu, she imed that if the Emperor acknowledged this Fourth Prince, it would mean he was unprincipled as a ruler, having secretly associated with a lowly pce maid.


    Not only that, the Empress also asked her own father, Xue Prime Minister, to secretly submit a memorial reminding Emperor Shunwu not to do anything that would damage his imperial image.


    To save face, Emperor Shunwu listened to the words of the Empress and her father, abandoning the Fourth Prince and his mother to fend for themselves.


    In the end, it was the benevolent Empress Dowager who could not bear to see the imperial offspring killed for no reason, and she kept reminding the Empress not to go too far.


    As for other matters, the Empress Dowager did not interfere too much.


    As a result, the days of the mother and son in the pce were like walking on thin ice. Eventually, under the direction of the Empress, the pce maid was tortured to death.


    Although the Fourth Prince was in the pce, the Empress sent him to work with the eunuchs.


    Now that Nan Heng was missing, in order to maintain her own position and that of the Xue family, the Empress had to find someone who could rival Nan Qi.


    Therefore, she set her sights on the Fourth Prince.


    The Empress went to Emperor Shunwu and said that ever since Nan Heng''s disappearance, she had felt empty, and now the Fourth Prince had no mother, so she was willing to adopt him under her name so that she could have someone to rely on in her old age.


    Emperor Shunwu also considered that his two sons were missing, and having only one prince would surely be criticized by his ministers. Moreover, the Fourth Prince was still young, and he never doubted that the Empress would have any ambitions. Thus, he readily agreed to the Empress''s request.


    Although Emperor Shunwu had never publicly recognized the Fourth Prince, paper could not contain fire. Nan Qi''s people had already investigated his existence a year ago.


    Back then, with Nan Heng and Nan Rui still around, he did not pay attention to an inconspicuous prince who was not recognized by the Emperor.


    But now, he did not expect that this inconspicuous Fourth Prince would be the Empress''s final chess piece.


    Of course, Fei Nanyu could not write so much content on a piece of paper. His ount was simpler, but Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could read between the lines.


    The main purpose of Fei Nanyu telling so much about the Fourth Prince was to remind Mo Jiuye to be more careful. The Empress did not know that the rtionship between Nan Qi and Mo Jiuye had soured. Once Nan Qi seeded, she would definitely try to pardon the Mo family''s crimes. At that time, with Mo Jiuye''s protection, it would be very easy for her Xue family to lose their foothold at court.


    Even without Fei Nanyu''s reminder, this was something Mo Jiuye would pay close attention to, especially since the Xue family had just opened the Jingxian Building in the northwest. This showed that the Empress''s side was already making moves, it was just that Fei Nanyu had not noticed it yet.


    Initially, they also knew that one of the three officials who were enchanted in the capital was the Empress¡¯s father, Xue Prime Minister, but they did not know which of the three mother centipedes controlled General Jin.


    Left with no other choice, the two of them could only choose to hand over all three mother centipedes to Fei Nanyu.


    If it weren''t for saving General Jin''s life, after Xue Prime Minister was stung, even with imperial physicians helping to prolong his life, it would only dy his death.


    Now, in order to save General Jin, it allowed that old fellow Xue Prime Minister to take advantage...


    There was no alternative, neither He Zhiran nor Mo Jiuye wanted to dwell too much on these matters.


    After putting down the letter, the couple''s expressions were very solemn.


    They believed it would not be long before news that the Mo men and Old Duke Mo were still alive would reach the capital.


    Emperor Shunwu had two ways to deal with the situation if he did not want the Mo family men alive.


    The first was to directly issue an edict, pping the Mo family with another charge of feigning death to evade serving the country.


    The other method was simpler: in order to eliminate a thorn in his side, he could send assassins here.


    No matter how Emperor Shunwu dealt with the Mo family, they would inevitably be charged with rebellion.


    "Ranran, once something irreversible happens, take the women and children of our family and hide."


    Mo Jiuye gently ced his hands on He Zhiran''s shoulders, his tone extremely solemn.


    He Zhiran also realized the gravity of the situation.


    She had thought that with Nan Heng dead, the Empress would have no more chips to vie for power.


    But she was still ambitious, adopting a Fourth Prince to contest the throne.


    Although on the surface the Jingxian Building in the northwest established by the Xue family had been razed to the ground, even so, the Mo family could only buy temporary peace.


    With no news from the people of the Jingxian Building in the northwest, the Xue family would surely be rmed, andter they would send someone more capable to investigate. The news that the Mo men were all alive would certainly not remain a secret.


    "Husband, although things are developing in an unfavorable direction, there are still ways out."


    "What do you mean?" Rebel?


    He Zhiran nodded, "What''s wrong with that? When an ipetent ruler is in power, right and wrong are confused. Is it worth keeping such a person on the throne?"


    Mo Jiuye clenched his fist and mmed it heavily on the table.


    After a long time he spoke, "If Seventh Brother''s trip to the south goes smoothly, he should be able to bring his men back in about half a month.


    By then we will have produced enough bombs, and we brothers will hurry to train the old troops up the mountain."


    "Training one''s own army is understandable, but have you ever thought that no matter whether the Mo family seeds or fails, once Emperor Shunwu wants to deal with the Mo family, we will be pped with the crime of rebellion.


    Rather than fretting over this, let''s not hesitate anymore. If he Emperor Shunwu does not make a move, fine. But once he does, we will be irreconcble enemies."


    She paused, then He Zhiran continued.


    "Of course, if no one harbors malicious intentions against the Mo family, I think the same as you, and am willing to live this simple andfortable pastoral life in the northwest for the rest of my life.


    But this needs to be built on the premise that no one provokes us. On the day we have to fight back, we must make them so afraid that they will not dare to have such thoughts again."


    It was obvious from He Zhiran''s words that she did not want to be a rebel either.


    Moreover, she still had some understanding of the history of this dynasty. Although many things had changed now because of her arrival, that did not alter the big picture.


    He Zhiran did not want to do things that would change history. Besides, ording to history, Emperor Shunwu would pass away in another two years, and the empire would fall into Nan Qi''s hands.


    After Nan Qi ascended the throne, he basically ignored state affairs, leaving everything in court to be handled by Fei Nanyu.


    Fei Nanyu was not the kind of unscrupulous person. At that time, the Mo family would surely obtain true peace.


    It''s just that ording to recorded history, there were still two years before Emperor Shunwu''s passing. For these two years, the best thing the Mo family could do was to keep their family safe without rebelling.


    Mo Jiuye sat in the chair at the table, tapping the tabletop lost in thought.


    How could he not be thinking the same as He Zhiran?


    "We still have to make adequate preparations for what needs to be done. I just hope Emperor Shunwu does not make too big of a move. As for others trying to secretly deal with the Mo family, I will take people into the capital and make thempletely disappear from this world."


    "Well, currently we can''t see what their next move is." He Zhiran said, looking down at her huge belly.


    "If I wasn''t pregnant in my sixth month, we could go to the capital now and secretly eliminate the Empress''s entire n. There''s no defense against a hidden arrow. We really can''t let our guard down."


    After the husband and wife talked so much, they still couldn''t take any action for the time being.

 Chapter 453: Step by Step

    <h4>Chapter 453</h4>


    The chapter was posted incorrectly. Chapter 452 - if you can''t find it, jump back two chapters to find it. The author was careless. Please understand, my friends.


    At that time, he still thought he would be med by Fei Nanyu, but he did not know that Fei Nanyu was not very interested in the Mo Family''s situation.


    He only appreciated Mo Jiuye''s abilities and hoped to make use of him one day. That''s why he wanted to keep up with the Mo Family''s developments from time to time.


    Therefore, even if Meng Huaining told Fei Nanyu about the Mo Family''s situation, Fei Nanyu would not make things difficult for the Mo Family. On the contrary, he might even lend a helping hand.


    For example, with the letter that Little White brought back, if Fei Nanyu did not value Mo Jiuye highly, he would not have passed on that message.


    Even for the sake of his beloved young wife, Meng Huaining decided to support the Mo Family.


    But he also knew clearly that supporting the Mo Family one day could mean rebelling, of course this was also Meng Huaining preparing for the worst.


    If the Mo Family coulde up with other ways to resolve these crises, everything would naturally be resolved.


    Meng Huaining looked very solemn: "Ninth brother, no matter what happens to the Mo Family, please believe me, I will definitely stand by your side.


    Also, when I get promoted in Yun City in the future, I will pay more attention. As soon as there is any sign of trouble, I will have eighth brother send the news back immediately."


    As for other things, since the Mo Family did not let him participate, there was not much else he could do at the moment.


    Mo Jiuye patted him on the shoulder, "The Mo Family does not intend to offend the Emperor. Even when our whole family was exiled to the northwest back then, we never had any other intentions.


    Our whole family went through great hardships to finally reunite. From now on, we just want to live a safe and peaceful life.


    But some people just don''t want the Mo Family to live well. For the sake of my family, some things may be unavoidable."


    "Ninth brother, I understand everything you said. Nothing stays the same forever. For now, we can take it one step at a time."


    "Mm, that''s what we think too. No matter how those in power struggle in the royal court, as long as the Mo Family is not implicated, I will choose to turn a blind eye."


    As the two were talking, Nan Rui hurried over from the direction of the vige.


    "Young Master Mo, I have been looking everywhere for you. Turns out you were here."


    Seeing that it was Nan Rui, Meng Huaining greeted him and then left to give them space.


    "What brings you looking for me, Rui?" Mo Jiuye''s eyebrows rxed naturally, and he had a carefree look about him, as if nothing had happened these past few days.


    Nan Rui walked up to him and took out a note from his robe to hand to him.


    "This is thetest news from the capital city sent by my people."


    Mo Jiuye unfolded the note. Although the contents were not as detailed as what Fei Nanyu had written, they were roughly the same - all talking about the Empress adopting the Fourth Prince.


    Mo Jiuye handed the note back to Nan Rui, deliberately pretending not to understand.


    "The Empress adopted the Fourth Prince. These are matters of your imperial family. Why tell me about this news?"


    He didn''t know if Nan Rui could see through his ruse, but Nan Rui said:


    "Even before Nan Heng went missing, I noticed the Empress''s n was always targeting the Mo Family. Later, when Nan Heng disappeared, the Empress no longer had capital topete and quieted down a lot.


    I thought she would withdraw from the fight, but I didn''t expect her to adopt a Fourth Prince now.


    This shows that she and her maternal n have not given up on that position. Everyone in court knows you have a good rtionship with Nan Qi. Now that it is Nan Qi''s time to appoint people, she will definitely spare no effort to eliminate anyone who can help Nan Qi."


    I''m telling you this news so that you can be prepared after understanding.


    No matter Nan Rui''s motives for informing him, Mo Jiuye was grateful.


    This was no trivial matter. If Fei Nanyu had not sent Little White with a letter, he might not have gotten the news from Nan Rui at all.


    "Thank you for letting me know, Rui. I will be more careful."


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye still seemed indifferent, Nan Rui thought he did not take the matter to heart.


    But he would still do what he should.


    "I came to notify you of this news, and also - I n to return to the capital city tomorrow."


    "Return to the capital city?" Mo Jiuye was somewhat surprised.


    Ever since Nan Rui brought the Consort De to the northwest, no matter how Mo Jiuye tried to probe, the other party never showed any intention of returning to the capital city. His behavior today was quite puzzling.


    Nan Rui revealed a sincere smile.


    "My mother also found out about things in the capital city.


    She said it was the Mo Family who saved her life. Now that the Mo Family is in crisis, she asked me to do my best to help resolve it."


    He paused, then continued:


    "As you know, there is no longer a Consort De in the pce now. I brought my mother away back then precisely because I did not intend to set foot in that pit of intrigue again.


    So this time when I return to the capital, I cannot bring my mother along. I can only trouble you and your family to take good care of her, so that I can handle things in the capital city without worries."


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye could fully ascertain that Nan Rui truly harbored no ill intentions toward the Mo Family.


    Not only that, he really wanted to help the Mo Family.


    One must understand - Aunt Mei was the most important person in Nan Rui''s life. If not so, he would not havemitted the crime of deceiving the Emperor by faking her death, and then abandoned glory and wealth to bring her to this barren ce to live incognito.


    On the surface, Nan Rui said he asked the Mo Family to help take care of things as a favor. But in reality, Nan Rui had entrusted his greatest weakness to the Mo Family.


    This was also Nan Rui''s way of indicating his stand - I''m going to the capital city to repay your life-saving grace to my mother. I will never do anything to wrong the Mo Family.


    Seeing Nan Rui like this, Mo Jiuye could not help but feel grateful.


    However, Nan Rui and his mother had finally attained the life they wanted after much difficulty. He could not selfishly ask Nan Rui to continue wading in the muddy waters of court politics.


    "I understand your kind intentions, Rui. Aunt Mei is advanced in years and in poor health. You two finally managed to leave that ce after great difficulty. You should not court danger for our sake again."


    But Nan Rui insisted.


    "My mother and I have always been at a loss as to how to repay your life-saving grace. Now there is finally a chance. I cannot just sit by idly."


    Seeing Nan Rui''s solemn expression, he had clearly made up his mind. Mo Jiuye did not try to dissuade him further.


    Moreover, having such a person to help in the capital city would be a huge boon for the Mo Family.


    "The political climate in the capital is about to change. If you get involved, it will only hasten the struggle between the Empress''s faction and Nan Qi.


    If something goes wrong, you may get embroiled as well. Have you considered how to handle it?"


    Mo Jiuye''s words were rather euphemistic, but Nan Rui understood.


    Everyone would think he had reappeared in the capital city for the sake of that position.

 Chapter 454: Vegetable Harvest

    <h4>Chapter 454</h4>


    "I have always said that I have no interest in that position.


    I just want to live a peaceful life with my mother forever.


    The main reason I went to the capital this time is to deal with the Queen''s faction because they pose the greatest threat to your Mo Family.


    As long as the Queen''s faction ispletely overthrown, I won''tpete with Nan Qi. Besides, Nan Qi has been friendly with you since childhood. If he sessfully ascends to that position, I believe your Mo Family will also have a chance to rise.


    By then, I will surely achieve my goals and retire."


    The reason Nan Rui said this is that he waspletely unaware that the rtionship between Mo Jiuye and Nan Qi had already soured.


    Nan Qi didn''t make a move against the Mo Family, probably still cherishing their past brotherly bond.


    Mo Jiuye never thought that Nan Qi, once he took that position, would pardon the Mo Family''s crimes.


    He just hoped that during his short time in power, he wouldn''t target the Mo Family like Emperor Shunwu did.


    However, the reason he fell out with Nan Qi concealed a huge secret. If it weren''t for Nan Rui''s earnestness in leaving Consort De in the northwest, Mo Jiuye wouldn''t have revealed it.


    Considering that Nan Rui took the risk of going to the capital for the sake of the Mo Family, Mo Jiuye had to give him a reminder.


    "When you arrive in the capital, you can secretly contact one of Nan Qi''s staff members named Fei Nanyu. Perhaps he can help you."


    As for Fei Nanyu''s identity, Mo Jiuye nned to keep it a secret.


    After Nan Rui left the northwest, he would have Little White deliver a message to Fei Nanyu, exining Nan Rui''s situation in going to the capital.


    As long as these two can stand on the same front, they will both have an additional card to y in their struggles.


    Whether Fei Nanyu chooses to reveal his true identity to Nan Rui is his personal issue.


    Since Nan Rui has no intention of seizing the throne, once they establish contact, they will undoubtedly be a great help to each other.


    Nan Rui nodded. "When I arrive in the capital, I will contact him when necessary," he said, looking up at the sky.


    "It''s gettingte. I''ll go back and get ready. We''ll leave early tomorrow."


    Mo Jiuye also returned to his parents'' courtyard and told them about Nan Rui''s journey to the capital.


    Mo Qing couldn''t help but sigh. "I never expected that Nan Rui would be the most trustworthy one."


    He wasn''t a fool. Nan Rui left Consort De in the northwest precisely because he was afraid that the Mo Family wouldn''t trust him.


    Now that he has done this, if they continue to doubt him, there will be no trustworthy person in the world.


    Although everyone understands why Nan Rui left Consort De, Old Lady Mo still ns to take care of her.


    Not to mention anything else, the two of them get along very well now, just like good sisters.


    "Starting tomorrow, I will visit Consort De every day. She must be the most worried one about Nan Rui going to the capital. No matter what happens, I will spend more time with her."


    "Yes, it''s up to you, Mother."


    ...


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, this couple, talk about everything, so naturally, he had to tell his wife about Nan Rui''s journey to the capital.


    He Zhiran''s view was the same as his. They both believed that Nan Rui was the person the Mo Family could trust nowadays.


    She even thought about letting Nan Rui take the throne so that the Mo Family wouldn''t have to worry about anyone coveting it anymore.


    However, such matters couldn''t be forced. Neither she nor Mo Jiuye had any intention of participating in the court''s power struggles, nor did they want to alter history because of them.


    In this regard, they could only go with the flow.


    As long as no one harbored any ulterior motives towards the Mo Family, they could remain indifferent to all the glory and wealth.


    When it was just getting dark, Mo Jiuye wrote a letter to Fei Nanyu and had Little White deliver it to the capital city.


    He Zhiran''s sleep had not been goodtely. The two little ones in her belly were bing more and more active, often waking her up just as she had fallen asleep.


    In addition, her belly had grown so big that lying t or on her side would make her feel tired, causing her to get up multiple times every night.


    Mo Jiuye had always been a light sleeper. Whenever she made even the slightest movement, he would wake up and inquire about her well-being.


    This kind of life continued for more than ten days, and the time entered early July.


    Many vegetables in the Mo Family''s fields had already ripened.


    Although He Zhiran didn''t find these vegetables particrly fresh, she had personally brought them here and witnessed the process of nting, watering, and fertilizing. For her, it was a different kind of experience.


    It could be said that she was looking forward to a bountiful harvest of vegetables and grains in the first year of cultivation in the northwest.


    And indeed, it was a bountiful harvest.


    Madam He apanied her daughter to the fields to see everyone picking vegetables, giving her a sense of wonder.


    Looking at the baskets filled with vegetables in the field, many of which she had never seen before.


    Madam He carefully approached the vegetables with He Zhiran and kept asking about their names.


    In order to satisfy her mother''s curiosity, He Zhiran patiently exined the names of the vegetables to her and even had Yu Er cook a table full of dishes using these greens.


    Many vigers from Xi Ling Vige were helping to pick the vegetables.


    Someone saw a bell pepper fall to the ground and rot halfway, feeling a bit regretful, so they picked it up and asked He Zhiran.


    "This is from the Ninth Young Master''s family. It''s rotten halfway. Can I taste it?"


    He Zhiran wasn''t the kind of stingy person.


    "Auntie, if you want to taste it, pick a fresh one. Just throw away the rotten one!"


    Auntie kept waving her hands.


    "No, no, such precious vegetables shouldn''t be wasted. I''m just curious about the taste. Just let me try this one."


    As she spoke, Auntie had already peeled off the half that had rotted and took a bite.


    The bell pepper was thick and didn''t have the spiciness of other peppers.


    Especially since these seeds came from He Zhiran''s space, the vegetables that grew from them were even more vorful.


    After taking a bite, Auntie couldn''t stop praising.


    "These vegetables are really delicious, and they have a sweet taste."


    Seeing that she liked it, He Zhiran took a few from the bamboo basket beside her and handed them to her.


    "Auntie, if you like them, take a few home. Bell peppers are delicious when stir-fried with meat or eggs."


    Auntie was indeed won over by the taste of the bell pepper but didn''t want to profit from someone else and take their things.


    He Zhiran received a few sweet peppers from Liang Hao and quickly turned to work in the field, saying, "Thank you for the vegetables from your family, Laojiu. You can sell them for money."


    Seeing Auntie walking away, He Zhiran helplessly put the sweet peppers back in the bamboo basket.


    At that moment, Liang Hao returned with Tang Mingrui.


    Tang Mingrui''s watermelon business made another big profit, and now he was waiting for the Mo Family to have other things to sell so that he could approach them!


    He had seen those strange vegetables nted by the Mo Family in the fields as he passed by.


    Today, he heard from Liang Hao that those vegetables had ripened a lot, so he left everything else to his subordinates and personally came to Xi Ling Vige.

 Chapter 455: Don’t be afraid when I’m here.

    <h4>Chapter 455</h4>


    Seeing so many bamboo baskets ced on the ground, Tang Mingrui was like a curious baby, pulling Liang Hao along the way and asking questions.


    Liang Hao had been involved in nting on thend, so he was more or less familiar. After exining all the way, Tang Mingrui''s cognition was alsopletely refreshed.


    Tang Mingrui was naturally well-informed, but more than half of these vegetables were still ones he had never seen before.


    For example, the red tomatoes, the bell peppers that looked likenterns...


    He was not unfamiliar with potatoes. When he came to the Mo family before, he had seen them on the dining table. In order to satisfy his curiosity, He Zhiran had also shown him what potatoes originally looked like.


    There were also some green leafy vegetables that he had never seen before.


    In short, he was convinced of one thing in his heart - the products of the Mo family must be the best quality.


    Even if his own restaurant could not use up all these vegetables, if they were taken to the market for sale, they could definitely sell for a sky-high price.


    After gaining a thorough understanding, Liang Hao took him to He Zhiran.


    With He Zhiran there, business talk did not need Mo Jiuye.


    She made an agreement with Tang Mingrui that no matter how many such vegetables were produced on the Mo family''snd, thetter would exclusively purchase them, with profits still divided 50/50.


    Considering that vegetables were not easy to store and it was the hot July weather, He Zhiran was liable to suffer losses. So she intended to give Tang Mingrui 10% more profit, but he refused.


    In Tang Mingrui¡¯s own words, ¡°Sister-inw, you underestimate my business abilities. Not to mention these vegetables, even if there were twice as many, I could still sell them all out at top speed.¡±


    In order to obtain profits earlier, Tang Mingrui went back to the city after seeing the vegetables to hire people to transport them.


    By dusk, all the vegetables harvested from the house that day had been taken away by him already.


    The ripening of the vegetables was staggered. As long as people came to pick every day, looking at the current quantity, material could be supplied to Tang Mingrui continuously for at least a month.


    He Zhiran directed the workers to stop for the day and continue tomorrow.


    In addition to having Lan''er distribute their wages, she also gave each person some fresh vegetables to take home, not only that, but He Zhiran also instructed Lan''er to teach everyone how to cook them.


    Everyone smiled from ear to ear as they took the generous wages and the vegetables given to them by He Zhiran.


    Especially since Tang Mingrui had been discussing vegetable prices with He Zhiran earlier, and many people had heard bits and pieces.


    They could confirm that these vegetables were priced higher than meat, yet others had generously given them these.


    They couldn¡¯t bear to eat such expensive vegetables...


    He Zhiran had already anticipated that the vigers mighte up with the idea of taking the vegetables into the city to sell them, which would definitely affect her cooperation with Tang Mingrui. Therefore, before everyone left, she made it very clear:


    These vegetables were for them to sample. If she ever discovered someone selling them in the city, they would no longer be allowed toe work at the Mo house.


    With He Zhiran''s reminder, the vigers did not dare sell the vegetables in the city, no matter how reluctant they were.


    Seeing the vigers had all left, Madam He urged He Zhiran, ¡°Ranran, you have been out here all day. Your health must be suffering. Go back and rest early.¡±


    Coming to the Northwest had truly broadened her horizons - not only could she eat countless delicacies, she could also see so many vegetables she had never seen before.


    If she hadn¡¯t been considering her daughter¡¯s health, Madam He would not have wanted to leave the fields.


    This kind of life was much better than Beijing, not boring at all.


    Madam He even had the thought that she did not want to leave this ce.


    He Zhiran was indeed more tired today than usual. Although she didn''t really do anything, Lan''er had brought over a small stool for her to sit on when she was tired, but somehow she still felt a dragging sensation in her stomach.


    In her previous life she was a doctor, but not an obstetrician. As an unmarried woman, she really did not have much understanding about omens before giving birth.


    ¡°Mother, my stomach feels heavy today.¡±


    Hearing this, Madam He immediately changed her expression.


    ¡°Ranran, you should be about to give birth!¡±


    She herself had given birth twice, and would indeed have this feeling of heaviness before birth.


    However, it was not always consistent - when she gave birth to her eldest, this bodily sensation urred two days prior, but when birthing He Zhiran, it appeared in the morning and she gave birth before nightfall.


    ¡°Ranran, this is your first child, it should note too fast. Don¡¯t panic for now. Mother will walk you back slowly while supporting you. If you feel ufortable anywhere, you must tell Mother.¡±


    As she spoke, Madam He ordered Lan''er to quickly find Mo Jiuye.


    Zhang San had not yet returned from Beijing with the esteemed gynecologist, and now that He Zhiran was showing signs ofbor, Madam He could only ce herst hopes on Mo Jiuye.


    It was just as the saying goes, speak of the devil - she had thought He Zhiran was quite stable thesest few days without signs of premature birth, but as things stood, her wishful thinking had been too optimistic.


    In fact, He Zhiran was not panicked at all. She was also aware that with a twin pregnancy, she was bound to give birth a bit early.


    She had calcted a mid-July due date herself, and it was only July 5th now, just 10 days sooner than expected.


    Supported by Madam He, He Zhiran could clearly feel that her palms were already soaked with sweat.


    ¡°Mother, don''t worry, I can safely give birth.¡±


    Although extremely anxious inside, Madam He did not want to reveal these negative emotions.


    ¡°Mother is not worried. Jiuye has been studying delivery methods for so long, you will definitely be alright. Mother is just overexcited at the thought of being able to meet my two little grandsons soon.¡±


    The mother and daughterforted each other as they walked back home. Mo Jiuye, still busy working in the fields, rushed over in an instant upon hearing from Lan''er that his wife was ufortable - it could be said that hepletely ignored everything else to fully utilize his qinggong. In the blink of an eye he appeared before He Zhiran.


    "Ranran, Lan''er said you weren''t feeling well. Where exactly are you ufortable?"


    Seeing how flustered he looked, it was fair to say he was even more distressed than Madam He.


    "Husband, don''t panic. Just now I only felt some heaviness in my stomach!"


    He Zhiran wanted Mo Jiuye to calm down - if this feeling really was a sign of impendingbor, it would be best for him to make preparations in advance.


    As soon as she finished speaking, Madam He could no longer remain unfazed.


    "Jiuye, Ranran must be going intobor. Childbirth for a woman is like walking through death''s door. You must not let your guard down!"


    Mo Jiuye had just steadied his emotions a little, but hearing his mother-inw''s words made them roil again.


    His hand holding He Zhiran''s kept shaking uncontrobly.


    "Ranran, don''t be afraid with me here. I won''t let you walk through any door of death."

 Chapter 456: You gotta see if she’s having a baby.

    <h4>Chapter 456</h4>


    Mo Jiuye was really more and more afraid the more he talked about himself, even though he hadn''t been this nervous even the first time on the battlefield.


    All along the way, he pulled He Zhiran with him, speaking incoherently.


    This was the first time He Zhiran had seen him like this, and didn''t know what to say to make his emotions more stable.


    Of the three people, it looked like only she, the one about to give birth, was the calmest.


    Returning to her family''s courtyard house, Madam He immediately ordered Li Auntie to go call Old Lady Mo over.


    Facing her own daughter giving birth, Madam He felt like an ant on a hot pan, without a clue what to do.


    Not muchter, Li Auntie called Old Lady Mo over, along with her sisters-inw.


    Old Lady Mo also clearly knew the danger of a woman giving birth to twins, but someone who had seen countless storms would still be much calmer than others.


    Because there was a woman about to give birth in the house, Old Lady Mo had already asked around clearly that there was a midwife in the vige who reportedly had over twenty years of birthing experience.


    In this era, women gave birth by asking a midwife, and rich families would also ask a doctor to stand by, so that if the birthing mother encountered any danger, the doctor could provide timely treatment.


    On the way over, she had already sent someone to the vige to ask the midwife toe over, and told Liang Hao to rush into the city to ask a doctor.


    At this time, He Zhiran was being supported sitting on the bed by Mo Jiuye.


    In fact, she didn''t feel any difort at this time. It was probably because she had been out all day that she just felt some fatigue.


    Old Lady Mo sat at the bedside, holding He Zhiran''s hand.


    "Ranran, don''t be afraid. Your mother and I will be here with you the whole time."


    He Zhiran could see that although her mother-inw looked calm on the surface, she was also extremely nervous inside.


    "Mother, I''m not afraid. It''s just giving birth. I can do it."


    Seeing her say this, the Third Sister-in-Law came over with red-rimmed eyes.


    "Little Sister-in-Law, we all know you are working hard. We will all be with you. After the baby is born, you won''t need to worry about anything.


    There are so many sisters-inw in the house. We''ll take turns looking after the baby, and make sure you can properly rest after birth without any hardship."


    "That''s right Little Sister-in-Law. We sisters-inw can help you take care of the babies. But with only two, that''s a bit few. We don''t know how long we''ll have to wait for our turn to look after them for a day." The Eldest Sister-in-Law spoke with a slightly joking tone in order to relieve everyone''s tension.


    This was indeed quite effective. The women all said they wanted to be first to help the Little Sister-in-Law look after the babies on the first day.


    Following that was the scene of sisters-inw scrambling to be the first to help the Little Sister-in-Law take care of the children, with no one wanting to fall behind.


    With this scene urring, it temporarily made everyone forget about He Zhiran''s danger.


    While everyone was discussing seven ways to eight who would take care of the babies first, the midwife Zhao had already been brought over.


    Seeing the person arrive, Old Lady Mo hurriedly got up to ask:


    "Midwife Zhao, please help check on my daughter-inw quickly. She was in the fields for a rather long time today, and aftering back discovered a feeling of heaviness in her stomach.


    There are still about ten days until her due date. Please take a look and see if she''s going to give birth now."


    In her lifetime, Zhao Midwife had helped with the births of countless babies. She had encountered a twin pregnancy once before as well.


    That time, with her own eyes she saw the birthing mother and three lives lost because of a difficultbor.


    Therefore, she was extremely reluctant at heart to help a pregnant woman with twins give birth.


    If it wasn''t for Old Lady Mo finding her many times and offering ample payment, she truly would not have wanted to make this trip.


    When Zhao Midwife now looked at He Zhiran, it was as if she was looking at someone on the brink of death, with eyes full of pity.


    However, as a midwife, it was not good for her to show too much in front of the pregnant woman. She could only nod heavily towards Old Lady Mo with a solemn expression.


    "Don''t hurry first. Let me examine her."


    In He Zhiran''s mind, she wanted to do a full examination after everyone left and she entered her medical space.


    But seeing everyone''s anxious and concerned manner, she didn''t have the heart to tell them to leave, and could only let Zhao Midwife examine her.


    Although called an examination, Zhao Midwife also just relied on her experience to feel He Zhiran''s stomach and ask about the circumstances.


    After examining, Zhao Midwife''s expression rxed somewhat.


    To tell the truth, Zhao Midwife was still very skilled at examining single births. As for twin births, she had only encountered that one time, and didn''t have much experience.


    The examination was also just feeling the babies'' heartbeats. She couldn''t give a full ount of the specific circumstances even if asked.


    She told everyone: "The feeling of heaviness in the stomach is indeed a sign that birth is approaching. She has only just started feeling difort. I don''t think there will be much movement today."


    "Let this old woman give you all some advice. Those with no business here should go back early to rest. With everyone crowded around watching her, the Ninth household will also feel nervous. This is extremely bad for her giving birth."


    This just happened to align with what He Zhiran was thinking.


    After all, she was a doctor who had seen life and death. Her views on women giving birth were still stuck in her own understanding.


    It was indeed very difficult and inevitably painful for women to give birth, even inpletely normal situations.


    If nothing else, she had already taught Mo Jiuye the c-section surgery, and also had that against-the-heavens medical space. No matter what, there was no possibility of her being in danger.


    But facing the uing birth, He Zhiran was still inevitably nervous.


    However, no matter how strong she was mentally, facing the anxious manner of her family members, she would naturally feel an increased mental burden.


    After giving birth ten times, Old Lady Mo saw that Zhao Midwife spoke this way, and her mood rxed somewhat. She pulled Zhao Midwife to ask:


    "What is the position of the babies in my daughter-inw''s womb?"


    When she was in the capital, she always asked a rather famous midwife from the capital city to help her give birth.


    At that time, the midwife would always first check her fetal position.


    Seeing Zhao Midwife examining He Zhiran''s stomach in the same way, she wanted to understand more so she would know what to expect.


    It was important to know that an abnormal fetal position was the main cause of difficultbor for women. Especially since He Zhiran was pregnant with twins, if it really was an abnormal fetal position, it would be fatal.


    Asked about the fetal position, Zhao Midwife was clearly somewhat embarrassed, but she still chose to tell the truth.


    "I''m sorry, Lady Mo. Your ninth daughter-inw is carrying twins. The two babies are squeezed tightly together. I have no way to judge this point."


    Although Madam He had not given birth as many times as her mother-inw, she was also very concerned about the question just now.


    Hearing the midwife''s answer, shepletely lost herposure.


    Madam He looked at Zhao Midwife tearfully.


    "Do you mean that currently there is no way to determine whether or not my daughter can give birth smoothly?"


    Old Lady Mo saw that her mother-inw was overthinking things out of concern. Fearing that Zhao Midwife would say something unfortunate here that would affect He Zhiran, she hurriedly pulled the person away.


    "Mother, my daughter-inw is carrying twins. Zhao Midwife can''t see the fetal position but that is definitely not what you''re thinking..."


    While speaking, Old Lady Mo was also blinking vigorously at Madam He behind her back, signaling her not to ask any more questions.

 Chapter 457: Husband, don’t be nervous

    <h4>Chapter 457</h4>


    Madam He had just asked those words and regretted them too.


    She was too nervous and actually forgot to think about He Zhiran.


    Now that Old Lady Mo reminded her, she hurriedly closed her mouth.


    "What Granny Zhao said makes sense. It''s normal that you can''t tell the position of twins."


    The sisters-inw also saw that something was wrong, and they crowded around the two old madams and Granny Zhao and left He Zhiran''s room.


    The Eldest Sister-inw took the lead.


    "Since even Granny Zhao said so, Ninth Younger Sister will not give birth today. Let''s go back early and let Ninth Younger Brother and Ninth Younger Sister rest early and build up their strength to safely deliver our little nephew or niece."


    "Yes, you should all go back and rest." Old Lady Mo echoed, and exhorted Lan Er.


    "You stay here. Come get me immediately if there is any movement."


    "Old Madam can rest assured that Lan Er will stay here the whole time."


    While giving her promise, Lan Er followed the crowd out of the room and thoughtfully closed the door.


    Seeing everyone had left, He Zhiran smiled helplessly at Mo Jiuye, who was still standing there in a daze.


    "Husband, don''t be nervous. I''ll go check inside the space now."


    Hearing her reminder, Mo Jiuye also came back to his senses.


    He knew Lan Er was still guarding outside the door. He was just about to go instruct her that they were going to rest and not to let anyonee disturb them unless it was very urgent.


    Before he could take any action, he heard the voices of Old Lady Mo and Madam He again.


    "The doctor is here. Let him take a look at Ranran first, so we can sleep peacefully tonight."


    He Zhiran smiled helplessly at Mo Jiuye again and jerked her chin towards the door.


    "Since the doctor is already here, it would be impolite not to let him examine me. Otherwise, I''m afraid the family won''t be able to sleep well tonight."


    "Mm," Mo Jiuye responded and opened the door from the inside.


    Old Lady Mo and Madam He were together, and behind them was a man who looked fifty-something years old with a beard.


    Mo Jiuye let the people into the room.


    "Doctor, please help examine my daughter-inw."


    Ever since she found out she was pregnant, He Zhiran had always gotten her checkups done inside the space. She had never consulted a doctor here before.


    She also wanted to see what this era''s doctors were capable of, and very cooperatively extended a wrist.


    The doctor put down his medicine box and sat in a chair to take He Zhiran''s pulse. Not muchter, his brows were tightly locked.


    "You''re pregnant with twins?"


    "My wife is indeed pregnant with twins. Doctor, do you have any good solutions?"


    Mo Jiuye anxiously asked.


    He had originally thought he had learned how to perform a C-section, but when he considered that the person he would have to operate on was his own wife, that he would have to personally take a knife and cut open his wife¡¯s stomach, whenever he imagined that scene, he would inexplicably feel suffocated.


    If the doctor coulde up with a way for his wife to give birth smoothly, it would avoid having to use the knife, which would not only spare him from enduring tremendous psychological pressure, but also prevent any scars from being left on his wife¡¯s perfect skin.


    The doctor got up with a helpless shake of his head.


    He was much more sensible than Granny Zhao and did not open his mouth in the room, but was the first to walk out the door.


    Everyone except He Zhiran followed him out.


    The doctor stood in the yard and, not bothering to look around the distinctive quadrangle courtyard, said in a deep voice:


    "From her pulse, the mother and children are very healthy and strong."


    "Doctor, do you mean to say that my wife will absolutely have no problem giving birth?"


    Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye was thrilled. As long as his wife and two children were healthy and strong, what did he have left to worry about?


    However, the doctor''s next words soon dragged his beautiful mood down into the abyss.


    "In my many years of medical practice, I have seen pregnant women with twins before. They and the fetuses were very healthy before birth, but those who could actually give birth to twins smoothly with the safety of mother and children were few and far between."


    Having said that, the doctor had already walked towards the outside of the yard, still saying:


    "Thisdy has no physical issues. Whether she can give birth smoothly depends on her fortune. Even if I stay here, I would be powerless to help. So I shall take my leave now."


    Seeing the doctor about to leave, Old Lady Mo hurried forward to stop him.


    "Doctor, please stay. In case my daughter-inw runs into any danger during childbirth, you can also treat her in time. Rest assured, for this consultation fee, we are willing to pay ten times the price, how about it?"


    She was also anxious. Asking the doctor toe over in the first ce was to give He Zhiran extra protection during childbirth.


    If the doctor left, and if something bad happened to her daughter-inw, wouldn''t they be left without even a thread of hope?


    At this point, even Madam He was in tears. She silently cursed Zhang San and her Old Master for being ipetent.


    It had already been over a month since Zhang San left this ce, yet there was no news from him at all.


    If he could bring the gynecology saint here at this time, her daughter and grandchildren could be saved.


    Just as Madam He was about to step forward to join her mother-inw in pleading with the doctor to stay, faint hoofbeats were heard from afar.


    The sky was already dark at this hour, and not only the Mo family, even vigers rarely went out and moved around.


    And in the whole vige, only the Mo family had a carriage. The carriage that Liang Hao took to fetch the doctor from the city was parked in front of the door where everyone could see.


    Old Lady Mo didn''t bother to continue blocking the doctor. Of course, after hearing about the ten times consultation fee, the doctor was already disinclined to leave anyway, and just stood there. As long as they said another word to retain him, he could reluctantly stay...


    At the same time, Mo Jiuye had already strode out. "I''ll go take a look."


    Not having walked far out, he saw a carriage speeding towards him.


    Before Mo Jiuye could walk up to check, Second Brother who lived in the east side had alreadye out of his house to stop the carriage.


    At the same time, a group of dogs also chased up and surrounded the carriage, barking nonstop.


    Second Brother first ordered the dogs to leave before walking up to the carriage.


    The carriage was forced to stop, and Zhang San said to the carriage interior, "Eldest Young Master, this is the Mo family''s territory."


    He Ziming opened the curtain and got out of the carriage, facing Mo family¡¯s Second Brother directly.


    Second Brother did not recognize the visitor, but he could hear the carriage driver spoke in a Beijing ent.


    "Who are you looking for?"


    He Ziming was also unfamiliar with Mo family¡¯s Second Brother. But anyone who could appear on Mo family territory must be someone from the Mo family.


    He cupped his fists towards Second Brother.


    "I am He Ziming, He Zhiran''s elder brother."


    "You are the He family''s Eldest Young Master?" Upon hearing He Ziming report his family status, Second Brother immediately dropped the stern look on his face, and his tone became much gentler.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye had also walked over. Naturally, the brief dialogue between the two did not escape his ears.


    Moreover, with the moonlight he could also see that the one driving the carriage was Zhang San who had sent his mother-inw to this cest time.


    He Ziming was not a stranger to Mo Jiuye either. Although they had only met on the day he married He Zhiran, Mo Jiuye had an extremely deep impression of the moist and beautiful appearance of his big brother-inw.

 Chapter 458: The Holy Hand of Women

    <h4>Chapter 458</h4>


    He Ziming warmly stepped forward and cupped his fists towards Mo Jiuye: "Brother has travelled a long way, pleasee back home with me first and we can talk slowly."


    He Ziming was not unfamiliar with Mo Jiuye either, who was a great general who had made outstanding contributions to Da Shun. Not only had he seen him a few times when Mo Jiuye returned triumphantly and paraded through the streets, but also on the day his younger sister got married.


    "Brother-inw, how is Ran Ran''s condition now?"


    What He Ziming cared most about at the moment was his younger sister''s physical condition. He was afraid that something might happen to his sister if he camete.


    Hearing his uncle ask about his wife''s condition, Mo Jiuye subconsciously looked towards the carriage.


    Although he had learned how to perform a Caesarean section, he still hoped to avoid operating on his wife if possible. He just hoped that the gynecological expert his uncle brought this time coulde to the Northwest smoothly. This way, his wife would have a chance to give birth without surgery, which would provide an extrayer of safety.


    However, he found that the carriage waspletely empty.


    In order not to shatter the glimmer of hope in his heart, Mo Jiuye looked behind the carriage again, hoping that he had missed it and there were two carriages, with the gynecological expert sitting in the one behind.


    But this only led to his disappointment.


    "Didn''t you bring the gynecological expert with you this time, brother?"


    Seeing him ask this, He Zimingughed lightly with his fist against his lips.


    "What if I say that I am the famous gynecological expert everyone talks about, would you believe it, brother-inw?"


    Mo Jiuye was stunned.


    When he was in the capital city, although he didn''t have much contact with this uncle-inw, he had heard that He Ziming had read widely since childhood and rarely socialized externally.


    Especially when he heard recently that He Ziming had passed the imperial examination with flying colors, it just verified that he was well read.


    If He Ziming imed his own learning, Mo Jiuye would have no doubts. But what did he just say?


    He said he was the famous gynecological expert in the capital city?


    How is this possible?


    Seeing Mo Jiuye froze there, Zhang San stepped forward to help exin:


    "I didn''t hide this from Sir, our young master is actually the famous gynecological expert.


    When I sent the letter back to my master, Madam told him to find this gynecological expert toe to the Northwest no matter what.


    Everyone in the capital city knows that the whereabouts of the gynecological expert are unpredictable. If you want to find him, you have to go to the locust tree outside the south gate of the capital city and leave a note on it.


    The gynecological expert will send someone to collect the notes every now and then, and then choose a few families with serious conditions to see.


    The most important thing is that the gynecological expertes and goes without a trace. Whenever he shows up, he is always dressed in white with a hood on, and no one knows his true identity.


    When my master heard that youngdy was pregnant with twins, he wanted to ask the gynecological expert for help. We could only try our luck by leaving a note on the locust tree.


    In order to make sure the gynecological expert noticed our request, my master and I went to hang lots of notes on the locust tree every day.


    My master was very worried that the gynecological expert might not see our request. He was also afraid that if the expert didn''t check the notes for some time, even if we found himter, it would be toote for my youngdy to give birth.


    When the young master saw my master and I running to the city gate every day, he asked about it and then realized that we were trying to find the gynecological expert to save my youngdy in the Northwest..."


    Minister He was shocked when he heard that his own son was the famous gynecological expert in the capital city. After all, he had taught this son himself since childhood. Other than reading, all this son did was read. When did he be a gynecological expert?


    Though others didn''t know, He Ziming actually started learning medical skills inspired by He Zhiran.


    When he was eight years old, he noticed that his mother would have abdominal pain about once a month.


    At that time, He Zhiran was five years old and spent all day sticking with her mother.


    When the little girl wanted her mother to hug her one day, her mother said she didn''t feel well today and would hug her tomorrow.


    The little girl didn''t get what she wanted and said distressedly, "Mother is sick, Ran Ran wants to learn medicine to treat mother."


    These words happened to be overheard by He Ziming, who had just finished school. He thought, how could a little girl practice medicine to treat her mother''s illness?


    As her brother, he naturally had to lead the way for his sister.


    However, his father was usually very strict with him, so it was impossible for him to let He Ziming learn any medical skills.


    Therefore, he could only secretly buy books to teach himself.


    After learning for a period of time, He Ziming was able to confirm that his mother had a gynecological disease that was very difficult to treat.


    Otherwise, why did the doctore almost every month but his mother''s condition never seemed to improve?


    He Ziming secretly made up his mind to specialize in gynecological medicine in the future and definitely improve his mother''s health.


    Withoutpromising his studies, he worked hard to secretly learn gynecological medicine.


    Once when he was out travelling on horseback, he was suddenly blocked by a crowd of people standing around up ahead.


    When he got off his horse to check, he learned that a pregnant woman had gone into prematurebor while traveling outside. She couldn''t continue traveling in the carriage and was sitting on the ground writhing in pain. Her maid kept pleading to passersby to be kind enough to please find a doctor nearby.


    Having studied gynecology for many years, He Ziming naturally knew that the pregnant woman should give birth immediately to avoid danger.


    But as a man, it was inappropriate for him to assist a woman in childbirth. He could only ask the maid to find something to cover her mistress with.


    The maid went to get a cloak from the carriage and covered her mistress with it.


    He Ziming checked the woman''s pulse through the cover and then pressed on her abdomen, before instructing the maid what to do next.


    Under He Ziming''s guidance, the woman sessfully gave birth to a child on the official road.


    This act of He Ziming was witnessed by an elderly man who also happened to pass by.


    Right after the woman had given birth smoothly and He Ziming was getting ready to leave on horseback, he was stopped by the old man.


    The elder only told He Ziming that he had the natural gift for practicing medicine, especially the way he had directed the maid to assist her mistress to give birth, which demonstrated his extraordinary understanding of gynecology.


    The elder took out an old yellow book from his bag and pressed it into He Ziming''s hands.


    He then told him that he didn''t have long to live, and that the book contained the lifelong medical learnings and essence of his practice. He hoped that He Ziming would carry on and promote what he had learned in his lifetime.


    After saying this, the elder left without waiting for He Ziming''s response.


    At first, He Ziming didn''t take the elder''s book seriously. However, when he opened it for casual reading in his leisure time one night, he was shocked.


    It turned out that the elder was the highly acimed Gynecology Divine Doctor that everyone in Da Shun talked about. It was said that no one had ever seen his true face.


    Also, this divine doctor had a strange temper. Whether someone was rich and powerful wouldn''t matter, he only helped those based on his own mood.


    The reason why He Ziming knew about this Gynecology Divine Doctor was because of his own mother''s illness.


    He had known since young that his mother had a gynecological condition that caused her excruciating abdominal pain every month when she had her period.


    His father had sent people out on numerous asions in a desperate attempt to locate this divine doctor to treat his mother, to no avail.

 Chapter 459: Do I have to get my mother stabbed before I come out

    <h4>Chapter 459</h4>


    Unexpectedly, he happened to meet this divine doctor by a fluke.


    Not only that, ording to the contents of the book, He Ziming could be sure that he had obtained the true teachings of this divine doctor.


    At that time, although he had been studying gynecology for several years, he still hadn''t found a way to cure his mother''s illness.


    It made He Ziming feel that his mother''s illness might be incurable.


    But after reading the book given by the divine doctor, he suddenly understood.


    It turned out that his mother''s illness was notpletely incurable...


    He Ziming read the divine doctor''s book obsessively for almost three days. Other than eating and sleeping, he spent all his time at the inn learning.


    Within five days, not only could he recite the contents of the book fluently, he had even thoroughlyprehended many of the methods.


    Therefore, in his heart, he already regarded the gynecology divine doctor as his own teacher.


    The teacher said that he didn''t have long to live. As his student, he had to do his best to carry forward and develop everything the teacher had learned in his life.


    Moreover, from his understanding of the gynecology divine doctor, the old man never revealed his true appearance when healing people. Everyone only knew that he always appeared in a gray robe and wore a hat.


    Perhaps because the divine doctor didn''t take action to save people that day, whenmunicating with He Ziming, he didn''t wear a hat. But the gray robe was real.


    When he heard the divine doctor say that he didn''t have long to live, he deliberately observed the doctor''splexion. Indeed, there were signs of serious illness.


    He estimated that if the doctor wasn''t really in dire straits, he wouldn''t have given thepiled medical book to a young man he barely knew so generously.


    Coincidentally, on the day He Ziming helped the premature delivery woman on the official road, he also wore a hat so no one saw his true appearance.


    In order to thoroughly inherit the divine doctor''s mantle, He Ziming simply learned his style and helped people without revealing his true identity, just like the teacher did.


    Additionally, he did this partly out of self-interest.


    His father at home was strict and didn''t know about his secret medical practice. So He Ziming did this to avoid exposing his identity and incurring his father''s wrath.


    He first appeared in this guise and cured his mother''s dysmenorrhea, then cured many women''s illnesses in the capital.


    Gradually, such a rumor spread among the people of the capital: Da Shun had produced another saintly hand of gynecology whose medical skills wereparable to those of the former divine doctor of gynecology...


    He Ziming was the saintly hand of gynecology. No matter how temperamental he was in his medical practice, since it was his sister who was in danger, he naturally wouldn''t stand idly by.


    Of course, Minister Heo was going to interrogate his son carefully, now that his son suddenly had the additional identity of the saintly hand of gynecology.


    In order to ensure his sister''s safety, He Ziming could only exin his identity clearly to his father.


    After listening, Minister Heo felt both angry and gratified at the same time.


    He was angry that his son had secretly studied such an incredible medical technique and hid it from him so tightly.


    He was gratified that the saintly hand of gynecology turned out to be his own son, which meant his daughter''s life could be saved.


    Without further ado, as soon as Minister Heo found out his son was the saintly hand of gynecology, he immediately asked Zhang San to take him to the northwest as quickly as possible.


    Thinking of his suffering daughter pregnant with twins in the northwest, not knowing if father and daughter would ever meet again in this life, Minister Heo wished he could disregard everything and rush to the northwest with his son.


    But his reason kept reminding him that once the Emperor found out he had left for the northwest, he would surely vent his rage on their whole n.


    So Minister Heo had to abandon the idea and stay firmly in the capital.


    While he couldn''t leave the capital, He Ziming had no such worries.


    Some time ago, the attempted rebellion of Ninth Prince had urred. The suspicious Emperor Shunwu had issued an edict requiring all those rted to Ninth Prince''s estate to be suspended from their posts pending investigation.


    Although He Ziming was forced to be engaged to Princess Yu, he was still on the list of people associated with Ninth Prince''s staff.


    Until all of Ninth Prince''s aplices had been captured, he had no qualification to resume his post.


    Fortunately, the investigators of Ninth Prince''s rebellion case knew clearly that he was forced into the engagement with Princess Yu. So although he was on the list, he had absolutely no connection with the case itself.


    Therefore, He Ziming was only nominally suspended and his movements were not restricted at all.


    With no official post, leaving the capital to travel could be easily exined as sightseeing. No one would have any reason to stop him...


    ...


    After listening to Zhang San''s exnation, Mo Jiuye was thoroughly convinced that his uncle-inw was indeed the saintly hand of gynecology.


    He felt oddly relieved. His wife was the saintly hand''s own younger sister. Judging by the He family''s attitude, they all cared deeply about He Zhiran.


    Especially the speed Big Uncle-inw had traveled to the northwest, which must have been much faster than he imagined. It showed Uncle-inw must have hardly rested on the road.


    Seeing He Ziming''s dust-covered appearance, Mo Jiuye quickly invited him back home.


    At that time, other Mo brothers also came out one after another to see the guest. After hearing he was the saintly hand of gynecology invited by Madam He''s people, they were all astonished for a moment.


    But the Mo family were not gossipy people. Moreover, they clearly understood that since the saintly hand of gynecology never showed his true appearance when treating patients, they even less wanted to spread the news.


    After everyone chatted briefly with He Ziming, they saw him off as he left for home with Mo Jiuye.


    Madam He was waiting at the gate, looking into the distance. Seeing a group of people walking over, she asked loudly:


    "Jiuye, are those guestsing?"


    "Mother, it''s me, Ziming." Before Mo Jiuye could respond, He Ziming had already answered his mother.


    No matter how unclear it was in the dark, a mother would never mistake her own son''s voice.


    Madam He was stunned for a moment and walked towards them, saying:


    "Ziming, why are you here? Has the saintly hand of gynecology arrived?"


    Although she also missed her son, seeing the saintly hand was still more important at the moment.


    "Mother, let me see my sister first. We can talk more afterward."


    On the way to the courtyard, Mo Jiuye had already given him a general overview of He Zhiran''s condition.


    He Ziming just wanted to examine his sister''s condition as soon as possible, so he could have a better grasp of it in his mind.


    Just as Mo Jiuye went out to see the guest, He Zhiran suddenly felt the dragging sensation in her belly getting worse.


    Luckily no one else was in the room then. She quickly entered her space dimension to check.


    The result made her scratch her head in puzzlement.


    Obviously when she hadst checked the fetal position ten days ago, everything was fine. Why did it look so different today?


    The two babies were still very healthy, but they had now shifted into a head-up position.


    With such a situation, a cesarean section was safer no matter if it was one or two babies.


    He Zhiran smiled helplessly, gently caressing her round belly, and said tenderly:


    "You two little rascals really know how to torture your mother. You have to make your mother go under the knife before consenting toe out, don''t you?"


    Just as her voice fell, Mo Jiuye had brought He Ziming into the yard.


    Anxious to check on his sister, He Ziming asked Mo Jiuye, "Which room is Rana in?"

 Chapter 460: Big Brother Check you First.

    <h4>Chapter 460</h4>


    Mo Jiuye walked in front, pointing to the brightest room and said: "She is inside."


    Following the direction of Mo Jiuye''s finger, He Ziming rushed past him, showing how anxious he was at the moment.


    Seeing the person at the door, He Zhiran was stunned for a moment.


    "Big brother, why are you here?"


    The siblings had a good rtionship since childhood. Seeing He Ziming, He Zhiran also inexplicably felt a sense of intimacy.


    In the original host''s memory, the first thing Big Brother would do when he saw her was to raise a gentle smile, then call out her nickname.


    Today''s He Ziming waspletely different from the one in her memory. He had a tense look on his face. As soon as he got to the bed, he grabbed her wrist.


    "Big brother will check you first."


    "Big brother..." He Zhiran wanted to say, big brother, what are you doing, but before she could finish speaking, she heard Mo Jiuye say:


    "Ranran, don''t worry first. Let your big brother finish checking you. Then I will slowly exin it to you."


    Although He Zhiran was still confused, seeing Big Brother checking her pulse so carefully, she obediently kept quiet.


    A whileter, He Ziming removed his fingers from He Zhiran''s wrist.


    "Ranran, lie down. Big brother will take a look at your baby''s position."


    He Zhiran was full of puzzlement, but still did as he was told.


    She saw He Ziming frowning more and more, to the point that he lost hisposure when using force.


    It wasn''t until He Zhiran let out a "hiss..." that he came back to his senses.


    "Big brother, is the baby not in the right position?"


    He Ziming had wanted to hide it from her, but was caught off guard by her question and did not react for a moment.


    "How did you know?"


    He Zhiran revealed a mischievous smile.


    "Did big brother forget? Since I was little, I read medical books. And the baby is in my belly. I caress them every day, so of course I would know."


    On this point, He Ziming had no argument, because he did not know to what extent his sister had learned medical skills by reading medical books.


    Just like himself, before meeting the sage doctor teacher, he had been able to assist women in prematurebor to give smooth birth through self-study.


    He also acknowledged his own talent for learning medicine. He had the talent to learn well, and others could have the same talent.


    His sister''s condition was the most urgent matter right now. He Ziming had no time to think about irrelevant things.


    After helping his sister finish the examination, in order not to put pressure on her before giving birth, he deliberately spoke very lightly.


    "It''s not as serious as you think. You don''t know yet that your big brother has an innate ability to make these little ones afraid and obediently change their position as soon as they sense my presence."


    As soon as he said this, he sessfully made He Zhiranugh.


    "Big brother, howe I never noticed before that you have the ability to joke around?"


    Madam He had been confused all along. Her son came here to help examine her daughter''s condition, and she just heard Ranran ask if the baby was not in the right position.


    This news was like a bolt from the blue for her.


    The doctor who examined her daughter just now said that she and the babies were very healthy. Madam He had still clung to a ray of hope then, thinking that as long as the mother and children were fine, her daughter would not be in danger during childbirth.


    But after hearing the conversation between her children just now, she felt more and more that something was wrong.


    After all, she was the one who had raised her children with her own hands, so no one knew better what kind of temperaments they had than her as their mother.


    Especially He Ziming, he had been brought up by his father since he was young and taught how to act and speak in front of others. He had never been so reckless before.


    The more Madam He thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. She slowly walked up to He Ziming.


    "Ziming, have you and your father still not found the sage doctor?"


    Seeing sweat on his mother-inw''s forehead, Mo Jiuye quickly stepped forward to exin:


    "Mother-inw, the sage gynecologist is Big Brother himself."


    It was as if Madam He did not hear Mo Jiuye''s words. She kept staring at He Ziming.


    After a long while, she turned her head to look at Mo Jiuye.


    "What did you say?


    You said he is the sage gynecologist?


    How is that possible? I raised this child myself. He has never studied any medical skills before, how could he possibly be the sage gynecologist?


    Don''t make up such excuses tofort me and Ranran. If we really can''t find anyone, we can still think of other ways now."


    The reason why Madam He did not respond to Mo Jiuye''s words just now was because she did not believe him at all.


    At the same time, she was also trying her best to remind herself to stay rational and keep her emotions under control. That was why she said so much.


    He Ziming knew that his mother simply did not believe that he was the sage gynecologist.


    "Mother, I really am the sage gynecologist that everyone talks about. If you don''t believe me, go ask Zhang San."


    At this moment, He Ziming''s attitude was sincere. He had be the rigid person that Madam He knew in her mind again.


    But no matter how she thought about it, she just could not understand how her son had be the sage gynecologist?


    Zhang San had been waiting outside the door all along and could hear the conversation inside the room.


    In order not to let the madam get so anxious that something bad happened, he said loudly: "Madam, the young master is indeed the sage gynecologist."


    Hearing Zhang San say this, Madam He stepped outside.


    "Zhang San, please exin clearly. What exactly is going on here?"


    When He Ziming admitted to his father that he was the sage gynecologist, he carefully exined the whole process of how he learned medicine and the chance encounter where he obtained the inheritance from the sage doctor.


    At that time, he was no longer intending to continue hiding his identity as the sage gynecologist from his family. Moreover, he also knew that since he was rushing to the northwest to help his sister give birth, Zhang San would definitely lead the way, so his identity could not be kept secret anyway.


    Therefore, when he was exining his identity to his father, he did not hide it from Zhang San either, so Zhang San was very clear about the whole matter.


    "Madam, the young master is indeed the sage gynecologist. When I returned to the capital and went out with the master to find someone..."


    Zhang San started exining on behalf of the young master. Knowing that the young miss must also be curious about this matter, he deliberately raised his voice a little.


    Like telling a story, Zhang San spent half a stick of incense thoroughly exining the young master''s situation from start to finish.


    After listening, although Madam He and He Zhiran both felt somewhat incredulous, neither mother nor daughter had any doubts.


    Madam He could no longer slowly digest this sudden information. She pulled He Ziming along to head outside.


    After mother and son left the courtyard, Madam He looked at where they were standing, which was already some distance away from He Zhiran''s room. Only then did she stop.


    "Ziming, how is your sister''s condition really?"


    He Ziming knew that his mother cared most about his sister. He could only try to make things sound less serious.


    "Mother, don''t worry. I''m here to guarantee that Ranran and your two little grandsons will be safe and sound."


    This was the sentence Madam He was waiting for.


    "Now that you said this, mother will stop worrying."


    At this moment, Madam He suddenly felt a sense of pride rise up in her heart. Her son turned out to be the famous sage gynecologist...

 Chapter 461: I will Hold on

    <h4>Chapter 461</h4>


    In short, the tense feeling that Madam He originally had in her heart had nowpletely disappeared without a trace.


    She was just blindly trusting in the gynecology saint. As long as the gynecology saint was there, Ran Ran would definitely be able to give birth smoothly.


    The mother and daughter returned to He Zhiran''s room. He Ziming spoke of her condition again.


    "After I just examined Ran Ran, if nothing unexpected happens, she should go intobor early tomorrow morning."


    Hearing that she was going to go intobor, He Zhiran felt somewhat nervous in her heart.


    Although her big brother looked calm and rxed on the surface, as a doctor herself, she naturally knew what great difficulties she would face in giving birth with a breech presentation.


    Could her big brother be a god?


    Could he even help her give birth smoothly to twins in breech presentation?


    Just as He Zhiran was puzzled, He Ziming spoke again.


    "ording to reason, Ran Ran still has at least three more days before she goes intobor, but her breech presentation needs to be corrected immediately.


    The process of correction will be somewhat painful, and it will also stimte her to go intobor prematurely."


    As for the deeper meaning, He Ziming did not intend to exin too much.


    Through the examination just now, he had already determined that the fetus in his sister''s belly was in an abnormal position. Fortunately, he was able to arrive in the northwest today.


    If it was a littleter, even if the Divine Medicine Teacher came, it would be toote.


    The reason why He Ziming was so confident was because of the very magical needling techniques left in the book given to him by the Divine Medicine Teacher.


    He could use needlingbined with maniptions to turn the position of the fetus in the abdomen.


    With the fetus in the proper position in the abdomen, basically there would be no possibility of dystocia for a pregnant woman without any physical problems.


    Even though He Zhiran was carrying twins, she could still give birth smoothly.


    Most importantly, he had also learned from the book a set of needling techniques to assist childbirth, which could shorten the painful time for the pregnant woman and allow the child to be born sooner.


    Although He Zhiran did not know the specific method her big brother used to turn the fetus, in her understanding, it was nothing more than a medical procedure.


    She had also heard of this method in her previous life. It involved turning the position of the child in the pregnant woman''s belly through her abdominal skin.


    This method was indeed very painful for the pregnant woman. Using the phrase excruciating pain to describe it was not an exaggeration.


    For these things, He Zhiran did not care.


    She was not the delicate young miss like the original owner. Facing the pain that mighte in a moment, she did not have any fear psychologically.


    When Uncle He said turning the breech would be somewhat painful for Ran Ran, Mo Jiuye became a little uneasy.


    "Big brother, isn''t there another way?"


    His Ran Ran had suffered so much following him. It was a pity that he could not take over this kind of thing, otherwise he would have agreed without hesitation to take it all on himself.


    He Ziming just shook his head heavily at him, then looked at He Zhiran.


    "Ran Ran, your big brother hopes that for the sake of the children in your belly and yourself, you must grit your teeth and persevere. As long as you can persevere, your big brother guarantees everything will be fine."


    He understood his own sister. She had been pampered by their parents since she was a child and had never suffered a bit.


    The kind of pain from turning a breech was unbearable for ordinary people.


    If it wasn''t for his sister and his two little nephews or nieces to survive safely, he as the big brother would not be able bear to do it.


    Faced with her big brother''s reminder, He Zhiran seemed very calm.


    "Big brother, don''t worry, I will definitely endure it."


    He Ziming did not believe this at all. But even if she could not endure it, she would still have to go through it. Compared to suffering, life was more important.


    "Alright, there''s no time to dy. Let''s start now."


    After finishing speaking, he looked around the room.


    "Brother-inw stay, everyone else go outside and wait."


    The news of He Ziming''s arrival had already been passed on to the two elders by the older brothers.


    Old Lady Mo greeted the eldest daughter-inw who lived closest to her to apany her over.


    When she arrived, she saw Mo Jiuye and He Ziming closing the door to the room on the left and right sides, and the worried expression in Madam He''s eyes.


    Her sons had only told her that the He family eldest young master had arrived just now. They did not say anything else, so Old Lady Mo still did not know that He Ziming was the gynecology saint.


    Seeing that everyone had abnormal expressions on their faces, she pulled Madam He and asked.


    "Mother-inw, is Ran Ran going to give birth?"


    But this did not seem to be the case either. With two grown men closing the door to the room and no midwife going in, it was impossible for He Zhiran to be giving birth. But apart from this, she could not think of what had happened for the time being.


    There was no movement from the room at this moment. When Mother-inw asked, Madam He told her about her son''s identity as the gynecology saint, as well as He Zhiran having a breech presentation and He Ziming getting ready to turn the fetus for her.


    Even a normallyposed person like Old Lady Mo was given quite a lot to thoroughly digest with so much news all at once.


    Especially when mother-inw said He Zhiran had a breech presentation, it made her heart jump to her throat.


    Not carefully inquiring about He Ziming''s identity, she trembled as she held Madam He''s hand.


    "Mother-inw, you said Ran Ran has a breech presentation, how could the midwife not find out?"


    It wasn''t that she did not believe He Ziming. A breech presentation was not something to joke about. Especially since He Zhiran was carrying twins, this could be a life-threatening situation at any time.


    She only hoped that He Ziming had diagnosed it incorrectly. Her daughter-inw did not actually have a breech presentation problem.


    But Madam He''s words were like pouring cold water over her head.


    "I''m sure mother-inw has heard of the title ''gynecology saint''. In the Capital city everyone knows him. As long as it is an illness for us women, or a difficult childbirth for a pregnant woman, as long as he takes action, there is nothing that cannot be cured."


    Speaking to here, Madam He took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears about to spill from the corners of her eyes, looking worriedly toward He Zhiran''s room.


    Old Lady Mo had only left the Capital city for a year, so she naturally knew of the existence of the gynecology saint.


    Just now she was also muddled by concern, and unwilling to believe that He Ziming really was the gynecology saint.


    But a naturally sensible person could not let concern cloud their mind for too long.


    "Mother-inw, since Eldest Young Master He is the gynecology saint, Ran Ran''s safety is assured."


    Madam He nodded: "Yes, Ziming rushed here at top speed in order to save his sister''s life."


    Her tears kept swirling around her eyes. It was mainly because her daughter was going to suffer that pained her as the mother, yet she had no way to take her ce and endure the suffering.


    The two old madams consoled each other in the yard, while in the room He Ziming had already taken out silver needles and pierced several acupoints around He Zhiran''s belly.


    Mo Jiuye stood at the bedside, holding He Zhiran''s hand tightly, with sweat beading his anxious forehead.


    After about the time it takes to burn one incense stick, He Ziming removed the silver needles and instructed Mo Jiuye.


    "Brother-inw, bring me a thinner bedsheet."


    Mo Jiuye did not know what he was going to do, but still swiftly did as told.

 Chapter 462: Shout If it Hurts.

    <h4>Chapter 462</h4>


    He Ziming saw him bring over the sheets and continued to instruct, "Cover Ran Ran''s lower abdomen with the sheets." Mo Jiuye still did it obediently even though he was confused.


    He didn''t understand the intention behind it, but He Zhiran did. It was nothing more than taking great precautions between men and women during this era. He Ziming had to use his hands to turn the fetus, so he must think of some effective measures to avoid physical contact, after all he was a master gynecologist and his patients were all women.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye cover his sister''s belly with the sheet ording to his words, He Ziming couldn''t help but warn again before taking action.


    "Ran Ran, if it hurts, just shout out."


    Right now he needed to save his own sister, and He Ziming had never felt such nervousness before.


    If it was someone else, he wouldn''t care so much at all, but if his sister suffered, he as her elder brother would surely feel heartache.


    However, if his sister didn''t suffer now, her life couldn''t be saved at all. He Ziming tried his best to calm the strange emotions in his heart and maintain a good mentality as much as possible.


    "Big brother is going to start."


    After he said that, He Ziming began operating.


    Mo Jiuye held He Zhiran''s hand tightly, constantlyforting her, "Ran Ran, don''t be afraid, big brother will definitely be gentle."


    Looking at He Ziming''s actions, Mo Jiuye didn''t even feel confident about his ownfort.


    As for He Zhiran, at first when He Ziming was turning the fetus, she could still grit her teeth and endure.


    But as time went on, she couldn''t stand it anymore. The piercing pain was indescribable.


    Finally, He Zhiran couldn''t help but break down.


    "Ah...It hurts so much..."


    Although her voice was not loud, it still made He Ziming''s hands pause.


    No one understood better than him as the gynecology genius doctor how much pain He Zhiran was in right now.


    At first, He Ziming was very curious. Could it be because he was exceptionally careful with his strength that his sister didn''t feel as much pain?


    But after seeing He Zhiran''s tightly pursed lips and flushed red face, he realized it wasn''t that his technique was gentler, but that his sister was too strong.


    "Ran Ran, if it hurts then shout it out, don''t hold it in and hurt yourself."


    While reminding her, He Ziming didn''t stop his actions.


    He Zhiran gripped Mo Jiuye''s big hand tightly, as if only this way could she be stronger.


    Mo Jiuye watched his delicate wife''s face be distorted from pain, and his heart ached so much that tears were about to fall.


    But his heartache was very powerless at this moment. All he could do was apany her.


    This was also He Ziming''s true intention for having him stay.


    Ran Ran was bearing great pain to pass on the Mo family line for him. This scene must be engraved in Mo Jiuye''s heart.


    If one day he had other ideas, thinking back to Ran Ran''s suffering today would also give him a reason for sudden awakening.


    He Zhiran had overestimated her own endurance. At this moment she hadpletely lost control and couldn''t help crying out in pain.


    Mo Jiuye hugged her distressedly, his tone choked with sobs.


    "Ran Ran, if you''re in pain then hit me. Let''s never have a child again in the future."


    How could He Zhiran even listen to Mo Jiuye''s words right now? She gripped his hand tightly, her nails digging into his flesh unconsciously.


    Seeing the wounds on his hand left by his wife, Mo Jiuye felt it was too light.


    Compared to his wife''s suffering, this was still far from enough. Thus, he also rolled up his sleeves to let He Zhiran scratch his arms.


    Old Lady He and Madam He were listening to the movement in the room, and the two olddies'' tears flowed like rain.


    Madam He didn''t know her daughter''s situation and could no longer stand waiting there. She quickly walked to He Zhiran''s door and tried hard to push it open to see what was going on inside.


    But the door was locked from inside by Mo Jiuye, so she couldn''t open it at all.


    Left with no other choice, Madam He could only scream with all her might,


    "Ziming, Jiuye, open the door and let Mothere in to see Ran Ran."


    Right now was the critical moment of turning He Zhiran''s fetus. He Ziming didn''t dare be distracted or negligent at all.


    He looked at the helpless Mo Jiuye.


    "Guard the door, don''t let anyone in."


    Mo Jiuye numbly nodded then reluctantly pulled his arm out of He Zhiran''s hand and went to the door.


    "Mother-inw, big brother said the treatment is very critical now, you can''te in yet."


    Hearing that she couldn''te in, Madam He became even more agitated.


    "Jiuye, open the door. Mother just wants to apany Ran Ran. I promise I won''t disturb Ziming treating her."


    Although He Zhiran was in unbearable pain, she hadn''t lost her mind. She knew her mother must have heard her cries of pain and be worried.


    She tried her best to endure the abdominal pain and said to the door, "Mother, I''ll be fine, don''t worry."


    When Mo Jiuye heard his mother-inw say that just now, he was already somewhat swayed and was hesitating whether to open the door for her.


    But after hearing his wife''s words, his determination waspletely strengthened.


    "Mother-inw, don''t worry, Ran Ran has me apanying her."


    Madam He was already sobbing at this time. She leaned against the door and her whole body seemed to copse as she slid down.


    "Mother''s Ran Ran, if something happens to you, Mother won''t be able to live either..."


    Old Lady Mo saw that her mother-inw''s emotions werepletely out of control. She called Eldest Daughter-inw and Lan Er toe over and forcibly helped her up.


    "Mother-inw, let''s take you back to your room to rest first. I''ll stay here and stand guard."


    How could Madam He let people take her away in her copsed mental state?


    Just as she was about to struggle forcibly, the door of He Zhiran''s room opened from the inside.


    The sweaty He Ziming walked out from inside.


    "Mother, Aunt Mo, don''t worry. Ran Ran''s fetus has been sessfully turned. The two babies will definitely be born smoothly."


    Facing the two olddies, He Ziming didn''t exin too much.


    He Zhiran was pregnant with twins. Even if the fetus position was normal, there could still be difficulties in childbirth.


    Before helping He Zhiran turn the fetus, he had considered this problem already. In his master''s book there was a record.


    It was a record of his master personally helping to treat a woman with malpositioned twins.


    Not only did he turn the fetus position correctly, he also used a special techniquebined with acupuncture to unblock the birth canal, allowing her to give birth smoothly without any obstruction.


    At the same time, the genius doctor master also detailedly recorded this treatment method in the book.


    Although the method was good, it had extremely high requirements for both the doctor and the pregnant woman.


    First, the doctor had to be proficient in acupuncture and techniques to ensure no mistakes during treatment.


    Secondly, the pregnant woman herself needed extremely strong endurance, otherwise she would faint from the pain before the treatment waspleted.


    This was the first time He Ziming had used this treatment method today. Although in the past he had also encountered pregnant women with the same condition as his sister,


    he didn''t use this method because that pregnant woman was too delicate. Just turning the fetus had already made her suffer terribly, so he omitted the next steps.

 Chapter 463: I’m a mother willing to take ten years off my life.

    <h4>Chapter 463</h4>


    This time when helping Zhiran turn the fetus, Ziming had nned in advance that if his sister couldn''t stand the pain, he could only seed in turning the fetus.


    What Ziming didn''t expect was that Zhiran turned out to be so strong that during the whole process of helping her turn the fetus, Zhiran didn''t even moan once.


    It was because of this that Ziming waspletely determined to help clear her birth canal.


    Zhiran cried out in pain, only after Ziming started to help clear her birth canal. That kind of pain was really not something ordinary people could withstand.


    Whatforted Ziming was that although his sister was suffering a bit more, sessfully clearing the birth canal meant not only that she wouldn''t face difficulties duringbor on one hand, but more importantly, the speed at which the child would be born would also be very fast.


    At this moment, although there were still big beads of sweat on Ziming''s forehead and his speech was slightly panting, none of this could stop the corners of his mouth that had begun curving up.


    When Madam He heard that her daughter was fine, she didn''t know where she got the strength. She went forward and pushed Ziming aside to barge in.


    Yes, she barged in. It looked to others as if she was afraid someone would continue to stop her.


    After the treatment, in order for Zhiran to rest well, Ziming used silver needles to pierce her sleep acupoints, so Zhiran was already asleep now.


    Jiuye didn''t leave. Instead, he used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and from time to time he would reach out to tidy her slightly messy hair.


    When Madam He came to the bed and saw her sleeping daughter, she finally couldn''t hold back her tears and cried out loud.


    "Ranran, you have suffered... woo woo... "


    As she spoke, she turned to the door, put her palms together and prayed,


    "Merciful Heaven, I beg you to open your eyes and stop tormenting my daughter. As long as she can give birth smoothly, I, her mother, am willing to give up ten years of my life..."


    Old Lady Mo also felt distressed for her daughter-inw. Although she didn''t see Zhiran''s screams at the scene just now.


    As someone who lived with her every day, she knew Zhiran very well. This girl had a tough temperament, not like other daughters-inw who would cry at everything.


    If it hadn''t been too painful just now, she would never have shouted like that.


    Thinking of this, Old Lady Mo''s eyes became wet. She quickly took out a handkerchief and casually dabbed them beforeing to the bed.


    "Jiuye, mother will stay with Zhiran. You take Ziming to rest."


    Ziming was Jiuye¡¯s uncle, and they were of the same generation, so it was most appropriate for him to host Ziming.


    Jiuye was reluctant to leave Zhiran, and was about to turn around.


    But Ziming didn''t mean to leave.


    He solemnly said to Jiuye, "Ranran is likely to go intobor in the morning, so we should get the midwife here as soon as possible."


    Although Ziming was a gynecological genius, there was no precedent for a man to deliver babies in this era.


    The best he could do was to stand outside the delivery room and direct things when there were special circumstances.


    Or if the parturient really couldn''t make it, her family would have to cover her properly first before Ziming went in to treat her.


    No one knew Zhiran''s condition better than him. She could give birth smoothly as long as the midwife was here waiting at all times.


    Especially after he had cleared Zhiran¡¯s birth canal for her, herbor would progress very quickly. It would be dangerous if there was no midwife around who knew how to deliver babies.


    As long as his sister-inw didn''t have to have a caesarean section, Jiuye could do whatever he wanted.


    When Jiuye heard Ziming say to get the midwife, he didn''t hesitate and ran towards the vige.


    Midwife Zhao was dragged all the way here by Jiuye. At this time, the olddy had already gone to bed. Jiuye didn''t care much. He jumped over the wall and broke in, the loud sound of him banging on the door woke Midwife Zhao from her sleep.


    Seeing Jiuye so anxious, Midwife Zhao thought Zhiran was giving birth. She hurriedly got dressed and went out.


    As soon as she got to the door, she was pulled outside by Jiuye.


    That¡¯s not all. Thinking she was too slow, Jiuye dragged the olddy back home.


    Midwife Zhao was already quite old. How could she withstand such dragging? By the time she reached the courtyard, she copsed limply to the ground, one hand still tapping her chest.


    "Why are you in such a hurry, young man? When I left your house just now, your wife hadn''t even gone intobor yet. Even if she gave birth, it wouldn''t be too fast. You dragged this olddy until she almost fell apart. How can I still deliver the baby?¡±


    Jiuye was just too anxious before, and always felt it would be safer if the midwife waited at home. He had forgotten to be gentle.


    At this point, he also realized his mistake and quickly apologized.


    "Auntie, I''m so sorry, it''s all my fault for being too impatient."


    Facing such a scene, Jiuye really didn¡¯t know what to do. It was all because he was too worried about his wife that he had forgotten he shouldn¡¯t treat an olddy like this.


    Seeing this, Old Lady Mo red fiercely at Jiuye before putting on a smiley face and walking over to carefully help Midwife Zhao up from the ground.


    "I¡¯m really sorry. Our family¡¯s brat is going to be a dad for the first time and was too nervous. Please don''t take it to heart with him.


    Let me know if you feel ufortable anywhere, I''ll have someone go into town to ask the doctor to check you out."


    Midwife Zhao was not an unreasonable olddy either. Although her body was a little ufortable, she knew clearly that she was not seriously injured. She would be fine after moving around a little.


    She sighed, "s... Olddy me has tough luck. I won''t die. Hurry up and take me to see the Ninth Missus, is she going to give birth?"


    As she spoke, Midwife Zhao staggered towards Zhiran¡¯s room.


    Old Lady Mo quickly exined, "My ninth daughter-inw is still sleeping. I asked you toe just in case. Let me take you to another room to rest first."


    Old Lady Mo supported Midwife Zhao and walked towards the side room, and said unhappily to Jiuye,


    "Stinky boy, you hurt Auntie Zhao. Go get some nice food to calm her down."


    On the surface, this was to instruct Jiuye in front of Midwife Zhao, but actually it was for Lan Er to go do it.


    Lan Er always understood subtle cues. After hearing Old Lady Mo''s words, she immediately went to prepare things.


    This girl had also seen what happened to Midwife Zhao earlier. Seeing her condition didn¡¯t seem pretended, and the olddy didn''t ask for anypensation afterwards. Lan Er felt that she didn¡¯t dislike her.


    Therefore, she prepared the food for Midwife Zhao with extra care.


    The food was all homemade. Watermelon was cut into uniform small pieces, there were also cakes Zhiran taught her to make, a cup of boiled milk, dried fruits and nuts tter...


    This was nothing new to the Mo family. Zhiran often had Lan Er and Yuer make them and distribute them to each room. Not only here, but the elders and sisters-inws also nevercked them.


    Midwife Zhao came this afternoon to check on Zhiran because she happened to be free, and didn''t take a close look at their house.


    Now that she was sitting here resting, she finally saw the furnishings in the room clearly.


    Her mood could be described by the phrase "huge waves crashing on the shore".


    How could a rural family have such a nice house...

 Chapter 464: It Just Hurt

    <h4>Chapter 464</h4>


    When Zhao Midwife was young, she had gone to wealthy families in the city to help deliver babies. At that time, she felt that their lives were simply heaven.


    Now when she saw the Mo Family''s situation, Zhao Midwife felt that those wealthy families in the city were nothingpared to them.


    Just as she was looking around everywhere, Lan Er had already walked in carrying a tray full of food.


    She neatly arranged the food on the table and patiently introduced each dish before leaving.


    Old Lady Mo had no ns to chat with the midwife here. She now only wanted to keep an eye on her daughter-inw, so there would be more people around in case anything happened.


    "Sister-inw Zhao, please rest here for now. I wille get you as soon as something happens with my daughter-inw."


    Zhao Midwife now understood clearly. The reason why Mo Jiuye had gone to such great lengths to bring her here was to have a midwife by his wife''s side when she went intobor.


    For her, this was not surprising at all. For women who lived far away and went intobor, their families would ask her to be there early.


    She had thought that since they all lived in the same vige and were so close, the Mo family could juste get her when the time came.


    Who knew they had dragged her over urgently even before anything had happened.


    Now that she was here, Zhao Midwife had no ns to leave either. She might as well stay and rest here.


    After being dragged all the way here by Mo Jiuye, even if she had felt tired earlier, that was all gone now. Zhao Midwife started eating the food on the table.


    As soon as she took a bite, she just couldn''t stop.


    No matter which dish it was, she had never eaten anything like it before. And in her opinion, this must be the most delicious food in the world.


    In that instant, all of Zhao Midwife''s slight annoyance at Mo Jiuye disappeared without a trace.


    The Mo family really had good intentions, treating her to such wonderful food.


    The shock she had received earlier was nowpletely made up for by this food...


    He Zhiran slept very soundly, and in her dreams, she saw her two children.


    They looked so cute and chubby, grinning at her.


    Just as she was about to hug the children, she suddenly felt the urge to pee.


    He Zhiran instantly woke up.


    As soon as she opened her eyes, Mo Jiuye''s handsome yet somewhat haggard face zoomed in.


    "Ranran, you''re awake. Do you feel ufortable anywhere?"


    He Zhiran reached out her hand to him, and Mo Jiuye cooperated by gently helping her sit up.


    "Husband, let''s go...go to the restroom."


    She wanted to say go to the space, but upon ncing around, she saw her mother, mother-inw, sister-inw and brother all in the room. So she changed her words at thest minute.


    At this moment, her sister-inw also came over.


    "Little sister-inw, I''ll go with you."


    With Mo Jiuye supporting her on one side and her sister-inw on the other, the two helped He Zhiran walk towards the independent restroom in the room.


    Due to being pierced by He Ziming''s silver needles at her acupoints to make her sleep earlier, He Zhiran still felt a little dizzy now. Fortunately there were people helping her, so she didn''t try to act tough. Relying on the two''s strength, she slowly walked forward.


    Aftering back from the restroom, He Zhiran still felt sleepy. It was just that the constant urge to go to the restroom prevented her from sleeping for an extended period of time.


    That entire night, she went to the restroom countless times.


    Mo Jiuye became somewhat impatient, thinking something was wrong with his wife''s body.


    Seeing his furrowed brows full of worry, Old Lady Mo exined, "Jiuye, don''t worry. This is normal for women before giving birth."


    "But if Ranran can''t rest properly like this, how will she have the energy to give birth tomorrow?" Mo Jiuye asked worriedly.


    Although this was the first time he saw a woman about to give birth, the books he read during his leisure time were not read in vain.


    The books said that in order to give birth more smoothly, pregnant women must conserve their strength and energy before delivery.


    Old Lady Mo felt helpless about this too. Such things could only be endured relying on one''s own perseverance, which she had personally experienced countless times.


    By daybreak, He Zhiran was still going to the restroom every short while. Her lower abdomen had also begun to feel slight pain.


    Seeing her abnormalplexion, He Ziming asked, "Ranran, does your stomach hurt?"


    With one hand supporting her huge belly, He Zhiran frowned, "It just hurt for a moment, it went away quickly."


    Just as her words fell, her frown grew even tighter as that pain hit her again.


    He Ziming rushed up to her in a few quick strides, reaching out to check her pulse at her wrist.


    "It''s started, please ask the midwife toe keep watch!"


    He Ziming looked very nervous. Because the woman inbor was his own younger sister, he couldn''t remain as calm as when facing other people.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye didn''t even want to leave He Zhiran''s side for one step. He shouted towards the door,


    "Lan Er, go ask Zhao Midwife toe over!"


    Zhao Midwife had eaten wellst night and slept soundly. Out of everyone there, she looked the most spirited.


    At this moment, she felt that if she didn''t try extra hard, she wouldn''t live up to all the delicious food she was treated tost night.


    "Don''t panic, it just started so she won''t give birth immediately. You all go wait outside, let me examine her first."


    The examination was different afterbor had started. Idle people couldn''t remain at the scene.


    He Zhiran naturally knew what kind of examination Zhao Midwife wanted to give her. It was nothing more than checking how dted she was.


    This examination was no big deal, yet it left Zhao Midwife dumbstruck.


    She stared at He Zhiran full of disbelief.


    "Youngdy from the Mo family, didn''t your stomach hurt at allst night?"


    He Zhiran shook her head. "It only started hurting just now."


    "How strange. It''s already dted eight centimeters, how could you have only started feeling pain now?" Zhao Midwife muttered to herself, eyes full of incredulity.


    He Zhiran didn''t really understand this either. To get herself examined, she could only enter her space and use those modern medical devices. But ever sincest night, someone had never left her side, so there was never a chance for that.


    Although this was her first delivery, she had never heard of a woman dting eight centimeters with just a few light stomach pains. That was a bit too outrageous.


    So either Zhao Midwife''s examination was inurate, or her physique was special...


    Just as she was filled with doubts, Zhao Midwife had already turned around and opened the room door.


    Seeing the room door open, the people waiting outside swarmed over.


    "Granny, how''s my wife''s condition?" Mo Jiuye asked.


    Zhao Midwife repeated the results of the examination she had just done on He Zhiran, then instructed, "The baby''sing fast. Hurry and boil some hot water. Also take advantage of the time before she gives birth to have her eat as much as possible."


    Hearing that water needed boiling, Madam He rushed to the kitchen without needing to be told.


    Both Old Lady Mo and Madam He looked at Zhao Midwife full of disbelief.


    The two of them had gone through childbirth before. How could He Zhiran have dted eight centimeters when her stomach had only just started hurting?


    What did dting eight centimeters represent?


    It represented she was about to give birth very soon.


    They should know that during their ownbors, even if it wasn''t their first child, they still had to endure pain for several hours before reaching eight centimeters dtion.


    At this moment, Old Lady Mo didn''t even care if questioning Zhao Midwife would displease her. She asked,


    "Are you sure my daughter-inw has already dted eight centimeters?"

 Chapter 465: Never Again

    <h4>Chapter 465</h4>


    If it were usual times, Zhao Midwife would definitely be unhappy if someone questioned her like this. But He Zhiran''s situation today was really too special that not to mention Old Lady Mo asking like this, even she had to check carefully before believing He Zhiran had really dted eight centimeters now.


    Just as Zhao Midwife was thinking about how to exin, He Ziming spoke up.


    "Auntie Mo, it is not strange that Ranan has dted eight centimeters now."


    Old Lady Mo was even more puzzled.


    "Not strange?"


    "When I was helping Ranan align the fetus, I deliberately used silver needles and techniques to help smooth her birth canal, with the goal of making it so Ranan suffers less pain when giving birth." He Ziming exined in a way that others could understand as much as possible.


    Other than Zhao Midwife, everyone present was clear about He Ziming''s identity. Although He Zhiran''s current situation was a bit inconceivable, it was not anything strange for someone called the saintly hand of gynecology to be able to do this.


    As experienced people, Madam He and Old Lady Mo showed looks of gratification on their faces when they heard this.


    He Zhiran''s safety during childbirth was the first thing they cared about, and second was hoping she could suffer less pain.


    It seemed now that both of these things had been resolved with He Ziming''s arrival.


    Old Lady Mo specifically ordered that today, the Mo family''s meals would be made by her daughters-inw, and she called Yu''er over to help prepare some appetizing food for He Zhiran.


    With He Ziming having smoothed He Zhiran''s birth canal, herbor pains came very suddenly.


    When Lan Er brought in a bowl of yangchun noodles that she usually liked to eat, her pain had already brought sweat to her forehead.


    Mo Jiuye had been by her side the entire time. Although his wife had not groaned once, he couldpletely see how painful she was right now.


    Mo Jiuye took the bowl of yangchun noodles from Lan Er''s hands and brought it in front of He Zhiran.


    "Ranan, I''ll feed you. Eat a bit more."


    Although He Zhiran was currently in severe pain, she knew that she would need strength to give birth soon. Even if just as medicine, she had to eat more.


    "Okay, I''ll eat."


    After eating half a bowl of noodles, He Zhiran was defeated by a sudden abdominal pain,pletely losing her appetite.


    This abdominal pain came intensely and fiercely. She rolled around on the bed.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye turned pale with fright and went forward to prop He Zhiran up.


    Just at this moment, Zhao Midwife walked over.


    "Old Nine, don''t move her. Let me take a look first. The child should be about to be born."


    Hearing Zhao Midwife''s words, Mo Jiuye''s outstretched hand paused in midair.


    "Auntie, I''ll leave it to you."


    Zhao Midwife came to the bedside and saw Mo Jiuye still standing frozen there without moving. She couldn''t help but remind, "Old Nine, this is the birthing room. You can go wait outside now."


    In all her years as a midwife, this was still the first time she had seen a grown man insist on staying in the birthing room the entire time.


    She knew everyone cared about their daughter-inw, but who didn''t know the birthing room was an unclean ce and men staying inside would bring bad luck.


    Hearing the midwife chase Mo Jiuye out, Old Lady Mo and Madam He at the door did not react at all.


    If not for He Zhiran, forget being reunited, it was likely those people would not even be alive now.


    He Zhiran had risked her life to give birth to children for the Mo family. It was only natural for Mo Jiuye as her husband to apany her. Superstitions of bad luck or not did not matter.


    The Mo family had already suffered enough misfortune, wrongly convicted and exiled to the northwest. They had endured such injustice, so what other misfortune could there be that the Mo family would care about - it would just be a drizzle to them.


    Madam He did not think too much about it. By convention, it was indeed inappropriate for Mo Jiuye to remain in the birthing room.


    Seeing her mother-inw take no action, she was about to go into the room to pull Mo Jiuye out.


    Old Lady Mo saw her intention and stopped her, "Mother-inw, don''t mind him. Ranan suffered so much and risked her life to give birth to children for him. It''s only right for him to apany her."


    "This..." Madam He hesitated.


    From her perspective as a mother, having the son-inw apany the daughter giving birth would also give the daughter some sense of security. This was absolutely not a bad thing.


    Since even the girl''s own mother did not care, she as the mother-inw would naturally not meddle too much.


    "Since that''s the case, I will go apany Ranan too."


    Seeing the mother-inw go in, Old Lady Mo also followed into the room.


    At this time, several sisters-inw who had just finished up their tasks also rushed over. Hearing the ninth younger sister was about to give birth, not only was ninth brother staying in the birthing room, but both old madams had gone in as well. The few women looked at each other, also intending to go apany He Zhiran.


    Seeing herself unable to dissuade Mo Jiuye, Zhao Midwife could only let him be.


    But when she turned around, she discovered this many people had appeared in the room.


    In all her years as a midwife, this was still her first time encountering such a spectacle.


    Forget the man refusing to leave, this...this...almost the whole family hade in to apany her!


    Zhao Midwife steadied her mind, "I know you all care about Ninth Young Master''s family, but leaving just one person to help will do."


    With so many people, she even felt suffocated, let alone the birthing woman.


    Old Lady Mo also understood this point. If not for the mother-inw going in earlier, she would not have followed.


    Looking at the group of daughters-inw behind her, she waved her hand, "Let''s all listen to the midwife and go wait outside."


    Madam He had wanted to stay, but seeing even Old Lady Mo leading the women out, if she insisted on staying and got chased out by the midwife, that would not look good.


    She looked at her daughter writhing in pain on the bed, reluctantly following the Mo women out.


    He Zhiran also agreed with Zhao Midwife''s actions. With so many people watching her, especially surrounding her tightly without any gaps, she would inexplicably feel suffocated.


    Her pain now waspletely unlike just at the start. The agony woulde in waves with brief respites in between.


    Ever since everyone left, her pains had not stopped once.


    To conserve her strength, even when the anguish made her want to vent, she still endured strongly.


    Having lived together for a long time, Mo Jiuye naturally understood her every move. He distressingly used a handkerchief to wipe away her sweat.


    "Ranan, if it hurts then yell, or you can hit me too." Mo Jiuye moved closer to make it convenient for He Zhiran to vent her pain.


    Although He Zhiran was in agonizing pain, she had not lost her reason.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye move nearer, she shifted back a bit.


    Seeing her act this way, Mo Jiuye''s mood could only be described as distraught.


    His eyes were red as he grasped He Zhiran''s hand.


    "Ranan, let''s just have this one child. We won''t have any more in the future. Seeing you suffer, I feel like death would be better than life."


    He truly felt distressed. His wife was a strong woman, yet even she couldn''t endure such torment. One could imagine without thinking how much pain it was.


    "I really won''t have any more in the future..." He Zhiran squeezed out these words almost through gritted teeth.


    She didn''t even know how to describe this kind of agony.

 Chapter 466: You are the Great Hero of my Mohist School

    <h4>Chapter 466</h4>


    Mo Jiuye gently patted her: "Okay, we won''t have any more children from now on."


    When Zhao the midwife heard the young couple''s conversation, she really shouldn''t have interfered, but she couldn''t help herself.


    "In our Da Shun Dynasty, we emphasize having many children. You two are still young and good-looking. Any babies born to you will surely be chubby and fair. How can you not have more?"


    "No more!"


    "We''ll never have another one even if you beat us to death!"


    The couple spoke almost in unison.


    He Zhiran had been tortured by this agony. As for Mo Jiuye, when he thought of letting his wife suffer so much again, his heart bled.


    Seeing the attitudes of the young couple, Zhao the midwife immediately closed her mouth.


    But in her heart, she was thinking to herself that she had seen many women who talked like this, yet in the end, they all gave birth again anyway.


    In her opinion, giving birth was like "once the scar heals, the pain is forgotten." How could they possibly not have more children?


    Although she was grumbling to herself, Zhao the midwife didn''t dare let down her guard. She kept a close eye on He Zhiran''s condition at all times.


    Just as He Zhiran was at a loss as to how to endure the excruciating pain, Zhao the midwife finally opened her mouth.


    "Hurry, get ready. It''sing out soon."


    Hearing the midwife''s words, Mo Jiuye hurriedly asked, "Madam, what should I do now?"


    Zhao the midwife nced at the hand He Zhiran was still clutching.


    "Go stand by her head so she can grab onto you easily to push. That will make it easier for her."


    The circumstances were special for this birth at the Mo house since the husband was apanying hisboring wife. Zhao the midwife had been spared the trouble of finding a ce for He Zhiran to brace herself.


    Mo Jiuye obediently took up his position.


    "Zhi Ran, grab onto me however you want, as long as it makes you feel a little better."


    He Zhiran cooperated fully, gripping Mo Jiuye''s arm for dear life, hoping with all her heart that the baby woulde out sooner so that she could suffer a little less.


    Zhao the midwife was extremely skilled at delivering babies. She quickly readied the tools she would need.


    She went over to examine He Zhiran and nodded with satisfaction. "Listen to my instructions. Push when I tell you to push."


    With great difficulty, He Zhiran managed a slight nod...


    Soon hearty cries of a newborn baby rang out in the room.


    Zhao the midwife deftly wrapped the baby in a prepared small nket and thrust it into Mo Jiuye''s arms.


    "Congrattions, it''s a boy!"


    Mo Jiuye was still somewhat in a daze with a little meatball suddenly stuffed into his arms out of nowhere.


    Seeing his reaction, Zhao the midwife couldn''t help joking, "You must be overjoyed that it''s a son. You look silly with happiness!"


    Before Mo Jiuye could react, the door was shoved open from outside.


    Madam He and Old Lady Mo burst into the room together.


    Although the baby''s cries weren''t very loud, they could be clearly heard from outside.


    How could these two grandmothers not be anxious?


    But instead of going to check on the baby first, they headed straight for He Zhiran.


    Tears rolled down Madam He''s face as she looked at He Zhiran''s haggard and disheveled appearance.


    She grabbed He Zhiran''s hand in distress.


    "Zhi Ran, you''ve had such a hard time. The midwife said you gave birth to a son. Hang in there a little longer until the next onees out and you won''t hurt anymore."


    Tears also involuntarily welled up in Old Lady Mo''s eyes.


    "Zhi Ran, you really suffered for us Mos. You''re the hero of our family!"


    She didn''t say this because she valued boys over girls or because He Zhiran had given birth to a son for the Mo family.


    These heartfelt words of Old Lady Mo''s contained no deliberate intent.


    The Mo family had nine sons. Each had taken a wife, and Old Lady Mo had been waiting for a grandchild for over ten years since Mo Junrui had married.


    Now that she finally had a cute little grandson, how could she not be emotional?


    Although the abdominal pain didn''t disappear after birthing one child, He Zhiran''s body felt much lighter, making her feel considerably morefortable.


    She didn''t want to talk at all at the moment. She had exerted tremendous energy giving birth to her first baby earlier and hoped to recover quickly through self-regtion.


    Seeing the two elderlydies chatting away with the new mother without anyone going to look at the chubby little grandson, Zhao the midwife couldn''t help reminding them, "The baby is so fair and plump. Aren''t any of you going to take a look?"


    It was really odd. For other families whose births she attended, everyone would scramble to see the fat little boy when told it was a big chubby son.


    But the Mos were different. So many of them were here, yet no one talked about seeing the baby.


    At this point, Mo Jiuye also reacted, still holding his son in his arms.


    It was just...his son was so tiny. His body remained rigid, not daring to move for fear that his strength would identally hurt the fragile baby.


    "Mother, Mother-inw, can one of you take the baby?"


    He wanted to look at his son but didn''t dare make the slightest movement.


    The scene reminded Old Lady Mo of when she had given birth to Mo Junrui years ago.


    Her husband, Mo Qing had reacted the same way back then. Because it was their first child, he had no experience holding a baby. When the midwife handed him the child, he had stood there woodenly like a statue, not daring to move an inch just like Mo Jiuye now.


    Beating Madam He to it, Old Lady Mo stepped forward to take the baby from Mo Jiuye''s arms.


    Madam He gently flipped open a corner of the nket.


    Soon involuntary smiles spread across both their faces.


    "Sister-inw, my little grandson is so fair!"


    Old Lady Mo happily chimed in. "Yes, other newborns are usually red all over, but this child is fair and delicate."


    "Look at his features. He resembles Jiu Ye at least eighty percent," remarked Madam He.


    "Sister-inw, you didn''t see Jiu Ye as a child. This father and son pair simply looks like the same person carved from the same mold," Old Lady Mo countered.


    Overhearing their conversation, He Zhiran momentarily ignored her physical pain.


    "Mother, bring the baby here and let me see him."


    She wanted to see her son she had carried with such difficulty for ten months and endured tremendous suffering to give birth to. She was curious what he looked like.


    At her request, Old Lady Mo carried the baby over to the bedside to show He Zhiran the little one''s face.


    "Zhi Ran, doesn''t he look exactly like Jiu Ye?"


    The tiny baby had only cried out a few times after being born. After Zhao the midwife neatly wrapped him in the nket, he soon fell into a deep sleep.


    His little face was rosy and full of baby fat. His tiny mouth pursed together as if blowing little bubbles.


    So adorable! To He Zhiran, this was the cutest baby she had ever seen.


    A surge of innate maternal love welled up in her heart. If not for her current condition, she really wanted to hold the treasure in her arms and smother him with kisses.


    While tenderly gazing at her son, she suddenly felt a sharp pang in her lower abdomen again, catching her off guard.


    He Zhiran involuntarily frowned for a second before letting out a soft moan.


    Mo Jiuye had also wanted to take a look at his son. But hearing He Zhiran''s voice, he immediately rushed over to grab her hand instead, not even ncing at the baby.


    "Zhi Ran, does it hurt again?"

 Chapter 467: Two Sons and Daughters

    <h4>Chapter 467</h4>


    Zhao Midwife from the other side also went to check quickly, and then anxiously said, "You two, first take the children out, the second baby ising soon."


    Madam He and Old Lady Mo looked at He Zhiran and gave her an encouraging look before taking the children out.


    The birth of the second baby was even smoother than the first one. He Zhiran had experience, and she was not as exhausted.


    As soon as Zhao Midwife said to push, she cooperated with all her might.


    This time, after pushing hard, the second baby fell to the ground crying.


    Zhao Midwife excitedly said, "Congrattions, congrattions! The second child is a girl. Congrattions to you young couple on having both a son and a daughter!"


    In the Great Shun Dynasty, the words dragon and phoenix were only allowed for the royal family. Ordinary people did not dare mention these two words, otherwise it would bring disaster.


    He Zhirany quietly there to rest and heard the midwife say she had given birth to another girl. She was happy in her heart.


    She had the mindset of modern people and did not have any special ideas about having a son or daughter.


    In her heart, as long as the children were healthy, it did not matter whether they were male or female.


    That was why when she had prenatal checkups at the clinic, she never intentionally looked at the gender of the child.


    Even so, hearing that she had given birth to a pair of dragon and phoenix twins, she still felt pleasantly surprised.


    Giving birth to two babies at once was already a blessing from heaven, and to have both a son and daughter was something that would make anyone happy.


    However, after giving birth to the second child, she had used up all her energy. At this moment, she did not even have the strength to open her eyes to look at her daughter.


    In her groggy state, she could feel Zhao Midwife helping her clean up, and Mo Jiuye was also at her side, using a handkerchief to wipe her face. She even seemed to feel a drop of warm tearsnding on her cheek.


    Mo Jiuye finally could not hold back his tears.


    He witnessed the whole birthing process of his wife and understood the hardship and pain better than anyone.


    He felt heartache for his wife having to endure so much pain alone to bear children for him.


    Mo Jiuye had silently made a vow that in order not to let his wife get pregnant again, he would rather be a monk for life...


    In fact, Mo Jiuye really was ignorant in this area.


    He had not considered that the sisters-inw at home were secretly given medicine by the Empress so they could not conceive, and the doctors at the clinic could also prescribe herbal soups for contraception. If they did not want to have children, it was not difficult.


    In short, as long as his wife did not suffer again, he did not care about anything else.


    Just now, Zhao Midwife also saw that Mo Jiuye, the father, did not know how to hold the baby at all. After wrapping up the second baby, she ced her beside He Zhiran.


    Because Zhao Midwife had deep-rooted ideas and was naturally biased against girls herself, when she saw that He Zhiran had given birth to a girl, she thought the Mo family would not care much either. So she was not as excited as when the first baby was born.


    In ancient times, this was indeed the case. When she helped other families deliver babies, thebor fees she received for delivering a boy and a girl were different.


    For families that had a boy, even if they were not wealthy, they would try their best to give more.


    Those who had a girl were different. Even if they had money, some were still unwilling to give more and wanted to give less instead.


    Who knew, when the people waiting outside heard that He Zhiran had given birth to a girl, they suddenly swarmed in together.


    Old Lady Mo was unusually unrestrainedpared to her usual dignified manner.


    "Where is my cute granddaughter? The cute granddaughter Rongrong gave me, where is she?" she cried.


    As she spoke, she no longer cared for the sleeping chubby grandson in her arms and directly handed him to Madam He.


    Although the other Mo women did not speak, their eager expressions showed how much they wanted to see their little niece.


    The actions of the Mo women stunned Zhao Midwife.


    What were they trying to do?


    It looked as if they were trying to snatch the baby!


    She instinctively nced at the sleeping baby beside He Zhiran. After a brief pause, she woodenly picked up the child.


    She brought the baby to Old Lady Mo and said, "Here is your granddaughter, fair and delicate, as beautiful as her mother. Congrattions on the addition of two grandchildren."


    Old Lady Mo took the child from Zhao Midwife''s arms and sat down at He Zhiran''s bedside. She said softly,


    "Rongrong is our Mo family''s lucky star. Not only has she brought our family good fortune, she has good fortune herself. After suffering once, she immediately had both a son and daughter. This is something others don''t even dare dream about."


    The second sister-inw also came up and chimed in, "Mother is right. I realized early on that Ninth Sister has extraordinary good fortune."


    As she spoke, she wanted to lean over to take a look at her little niece. But before she could get close, she was pulled back by the other sisters-inw behind her.


    "Second Sister-inw, the little niece belongs to all of us. We should look at her together. Don''t block Ninth Sister from our view. We want to see Ninth Sister too!"


    "That''s right, you''ve blocked our view of Ninth Sister!"


    "..."


    Although the women did not speak loudly, Old Lady Mo was still afraid they would disturb He Zhiran''s rest.


    She quickly picked up the second baby and stood up, "All of you, go outside. Don''t make noise here and disturb Ninth Sister''s rest. If you want to see the second baby, go outside."


    She realized that her daughters-inw, like her, also doted on girls. If she did not let them see the baby immediately, they would keep causing a fuss.


    Madam He held the older baby in her arms and watched as the group surrounded the second baby and left. Then she looked down at the older baby in her arms. How could he not be as precious anymore?


    No, the older baby was also precious. It was just that her mother-inw had given birth to so many sons and only one daughter, Mo Hanyue. Their family''s girls were certainly treasured.


    Thinking that the cute newborn grandson in her arms now faced possible neglect, Madam He inevitably felt worried for the child.


    She held the older baby tighter and whispered, "Our older baby is the best. Grandma loves you."


    The older baby still did not know that on the very first day after being born, his dear grandma had already imagined him as an neglected child...


    Mo Jiuye also felt happy about having both a son and daughter.


    However, seeing his wife''s haggard appearance now, he had no mind to look at the twin babies.


    He just silently apanied her, unable to share her pain but at least able to feel more at ease.


    After Zhao Midwife swiftly cleaned up He Zhiran, she left the room with a grin after giving Mo Jiuye some reminders.


    This was the first time in her life she had sessfully delivered twins and both were safe.


    Just this point alone was enough for her to boast about for miles, making those midwives whopeted with her jobs jealous to death.


    Although it was warm outside, they were after all newborns.


    Old Lady Mo had already taken the second baby into another room. The women were surrounding her to look at the baby.


    "Mother, my little niece is so beautiful. Her eyebrows and eyes look exactly the same as Ninth Sister."


    "My little niece will definitely grow up to be a beauty."


    "Mother, can I hold my little niece too?"


    "Mother, do you think my little niece isughing?"


    "..."

 Chapter 468: We Just wanted to See It

    <h4>Chapter 468</h4>


    Old Lady Mo looked at the cute little face of the baby girl sleeping in her arms, feeling like her heart was melting.


    After so many years, Mo Family finally had a new life born, and even weed two at once.


    She was afraid the daughters-inw would disturb the granddaughter''s rest by quarreling, so she scolded fiercely: "You nine sisters-inw and Older Baby also need to be taken care of, don''t all crowd around here..." andpete with me for the baby granddaughter.


    Furthermore, the Ninth Daughter-inw and Older Baby are just as important. She was doing this mainly to take the granddaughter back to show Mo Qing.


    When he sees that there is such a cute little granddaughter added to the family, he would evenugh himself awake from sleep.


    Thinking back to when Mo Hanyue was born, Mo Qing barely slept a wink for almost a whole day and night, always taking care of his precious daughter. If it wasn''t for affairs at court, I guess he could have apanied his daughter the whole time.


    The Eldest Sister-inw has always yed a leading role among the sisters-inw, so even if she wanted to hold her little niece again, she had to consider the big picture at this time.


    Especially since the Ninth Sister-in-Law had just given birth, preparations need to be made for some nourishing food to recover her health, and she had to personally lead people to prepare it.


    Reluctantly taking onest look at the sleeping baby, Eldest Sister-inw called the sisters-inw to leave.


    Seeing that no one waspeting with her for the granddaughter, Old Lady Mo also got up to take the child back to her own courtyard.


    Just as she came out of the room, she bumped into Zhao Midwife.


    As a midwife, auspicious words came easily in order to earn more money.


    Moreover, the twins born in Mo Family were really auspicious and joyful, she didn''t even need to embellish much.


    "Oh my... Congrattions to you! The daughter-inw gave birth at once to a grandson and a granddaughter. You are clearly a fortunate person. From now on your days will be surrounded by children and grandchildren, no one canpare to you..."


    If it were before, Old Lady Mo did not like to hear thesepliments. But today was different, the more she listened to Zhao Midwife''s words, the better she felt.


    At the same time, she also remembered that the midwife had been busy for so long and had not yet been paid.


    Old Lady Mo had prepared the money reward in advance and had been keeping it in her pocket. If she had not been so enthralled by the granddaughter just now, she would have already given it earlier.


    Now after hearing Zhao Midwife say so many auspicious words all at once, not only did she give the reward she had originally prepared, but also took out extra silver from her own pocket to give to her.


    "You''ve worked hard too, take this silver."


    When Zhao Midwife took the silver and looked at it, she was startled to see there were actually several taels all together.


    It was the first time she had received such arge reward. Although there were times when other families would give more rewards after giving birth to a big fat son,pared to what Mo Family gave, it was not even enough to look at.


    The wrinkles on Zhao Midwife''s face folded into smiles.


    "Thank you Lady Mo, thank you... hehe..." Originally she still called Old Lady Mo Big Sister, but now she directly changed to calling her Lady.


    With so much silver, it wouldst her a long time. She had originally thought that with the Ninth House pregnant with twins, there would be no chance of a smooth delivery. Frankly speaking, it would not be strange at all to lose one child to gain another three lives.


    She did not expect the family to not only deliver safely, but also give birth to such handsome little siblings, both safe and sound.


    When Zhao Midwife thought of these things, she felt a sense of glory. If this matter was brought up by outsiders, it would also be a great opportunity for her to spread her name.


    Seeing Zhao Midwife off, Old Lady Mo hugged her granddaughter and walked briskly towards her own courtyard.


    Just as she went out the door, she saw her sons rushing over.


    "Mother, we heard that Ninth Sister-in-Law has given us a nephew and a niece. Let us see them quickly!"


    Seeing her sons'' eagerness, Old Lady Mo hurriedly took a few steps back.


    "Lower your voices, don''t frighten your niece."


    Mo Jiacheng felt embarrassed and scratched his hand.


    "Mother, we just want to take a look and promise not to make any noise."


    As he spoke, the brothers slowed down their actions a lot, but still kept leaning forward.


    Seeing this, Old Lady Mo could only reluctantly lift the corner of the baby''s quilt and admonish, "Be gentle, if you ruin my precious granddaughter with your coarse hands, be careful I make you kneel to repent."


    Kneeling to repent was a punishment they often suffered when they were young. Whenever they did something wrong, their mother would order them to go to the ancestral hall to kneel and repent. And during the punishment period they were not allowed to eat either. Ever since they grew up, their mother never punished them like that again. After not having heard those words for many years, hearing them from their mother¡¯s mouth again showed how fearful she was that her little granddaughter would be frightened.


    Even with the threat of kneeling to repent, they still must see the baby.


    When Old Lady Mo lifted the corner of the quilt, Mo brothers instantly felt their hearts melting.


    The pink tender face, the little mouth still squirming from time to time, made them as uncles eager to immediately snatch her from their mother''s arms and fawn over her.


    "Mother, is this our niece or nephew?" Mo Chongyuan asked softly.


    Old Lady Mo was also looking at her granddaughter, the more she looked, the more she liked her, unable to take her eyes off at all.


    "So beautiful, of course she''s your niece."


    "No wonder she''s so beautiful, even cuter than Hanyue when she was little." As Mo Jiacheng spoke, he couldn''t help reaching out a finger, trying to touch his niece''s tender pink cheek, only to be pped away by Old Lady Mo.


    "Get away! Don''t ruin my granddaughter with your coarse hands!"


    Rebuked by his mother, Mo Jiacheng was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his hand.


    He was still reluctant. After being married for so many years, not having a single son or daughter of his own, he had been hoping that one of his brothers in the family could give birth to the next generation sooner, so that he could also bask in their glory and dote on them.


    The Ninth Brother and his wife were respectable, giving birth to two babies at once for Mo Family. But Mother still wouldn''t let him touch.


    Mother only said he couldn''t touch, she didn''t say he couldn''t hold.


    Taking advantage of when Mother was tidying the baby''s quilt, Mo Jiacheng suddenly grabbed the child from her arms.


    "Mother, you are too old and have no strength. It''s better if I hold her."


    The other brothers actually had the same idea, but were afraid it would upset Mother, so they endured without doing the same.


    Now that Niece was taken by Mo Jiacheng, the brothers instantly became excited.


    "Second brother, hold her for a while then give her back to me."


    "Yes, let''s take turns holding niece."


    "Me too..."


    Seeing her sons like this, Old Lady Mo didn''t know whether tough or cry.


    It was good that there were more people to dote on her granddaughter together, but she herself hadn''t had enough time to fawn over the baby yet!


    "Jiacheng, quickly give the baby back to me. You are so clumsy, what if you hurt her identally?"


    Before her words had even fallen, she had already pushed past the sons in front of her and grabbed the child back from Mo Jiacheng''s arms.


    Sessfully snatching her granddaughter back, Old Lady Mo did not dare to pause for a moment and hurried towards her own courtyard.

 Chapter 469: Three Joys at the Door

    <h4>Chapter 469</h4>


    The brothers saw Mother take away their little niece and hurriedly followed her. After all, as long as they stayed with Mother, they would still have a chance to see such a cute baby...


    At this time, Dabao was sleeping soundly in Grandma''s arms.


    He still didn''t know that as soon as he was born, his sister had taken away the affection from him.


    He Zhiran was always thinking about seeing her twins. She thought that as long as she closed her eyes to rest for a while, she would be able to soon.


    Because she was so exhausted, as soon as she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.


    He Ziming had been waiting outside the room. When Mother had carried Dabao out just now, he had already seen him.


    As an expert gynecologist, he had of course seen many newborn babies before, but He Ziming felt that even if he excluded his blood rtionship with the child, just looking at it from an outsider''s perspective, his little nephew was the best looking among the newborns, without a doubt.


    At the moment, he still wanted to go and see his eldest nephew, but Mother had been inside his younger sister''s delivery room all this time. He was an extremely proper man who even treated his own younger sister as an outsider to the family.


    Therefore, He Ziming could only gaze longingly in the direction of He Zhiran''s door, hoping that Mother would carry out little nephew soon.


    After waiting for a long time, the door finally opened.


    Madam He came out lovingly carrying Dabao.


    He Ziming quickly stepped forward.


    "Mother, let me hold the little one."


    Unlike Old Lady Mo, although reluctant, Madam He carefully handed Dabao into He Ziming''s arms, while not forgetting to remind him, "Be careful, you must be very careful."


    Without his mother''s reminder, He Ziming would still be careful. This was the treasure that his sister had suffered so much to give birth to, who would one day call him big uncle.


    Holding Dabao, He Ziming''s heart softened.


    This was his little nephew!


    The little nephew that warmed one''s heart at first sight!


    "Mother, in our excitement, we haven''t weighed little nephew yet."


    Madam He pped her forehead.


    "Look at me, I''m so muddled that I forgot something so important."


    The scale had been prepared in advance and was ced in the side room. Mother and son carefully ced the little bundle on it.


    Madam He was pleasantly surprised.


    "He actually weighs six pounds. No wonder he looks so chubby."


    Speaking of this, Madam He''s eyes reddened again.


    "Zhiran really suffered..."


    He Ziming held little nephew with one hand and patted Madam He on the shoulder with the other.


    "It''s all over now. I''ll help Zhiran recuperateter. She''ll recover quickly."


    Madam He wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and nodded, "Yes, fortunately you are here."


    Mo Jiuye had the same thought, fortunately He Ziming was here.


    When He Zhiran had first gone intobor, he had already panicked. In that situation, he really didn''t know if he could have sessfullypleted the C-section.


    Now he didn''t want to do anything, not even look at the children. He just held He Zhiran''s hand, looked at her tenderly, and hoped her body would recover quickly.


    Old Lady Mo was escorted back to her courtyard by a group of sons.


    Mo Qing had already heard the good news. Unfortunately, he was immobilized and couldn''t go outside Mo Jiuye''s courtyard to wait like his sons.


    But he was truly eager to see his little grandson and granddaughter.


    Therefore, after making up his mind, he tried using the crutches that his daughter-inw hadmissioned for the first time to walk.


    Perhaps it was because he had a yearning in his heart, he actually managed to stand up with the crutches.


    While overjoyed, he tried to take a step forward...


    Originally, Mo Qing had never had much hope for his legs. Just being able to straighten them was very satisfying.


    Although his legs had regained some sensation, they couldn''t exert any strength at all and were soft as noodles.


    He didn''t want to trouble his old wife again by practicing the impossible of walking, so the crutches had been left in the room for a month and he had never thought of trying them.


    But today, in order to see his precious grandchildren, Mo Qing really went all out.


    Although it took great effort, he still managed to get out of the room sessfully.


    As soon as he opened the door, he saw his old wife holding a bundle in her arms, surrounded by a group of sons walking towards him.


    Old Lady Mo and several sons were all dumbfounded at the sight.


    Mo Junrui and Mo Yunfeng ran over at almost the same time.


    The joy in their eyes was unmistakable.


    "Father, you can stand up and walk now?"


    As they spoke, the two brothers had alreadye to his sides to support him.


    At this moment, Mo Qing didn''t have the heart to respond to his sons. He didn''t pretend to be strong either, and let the two sons support him as his eyes remained fixed on the bundle in his old wife''s arms.


    "Is this my grandson?"


    Seeing that Mo Qing could stand up, Old Lady Mo was equally delighted.


    She didn''t immediately answer Mo Qing''s question, but asked back, "Lord, you can stand up now, how wonderful."


    "Father, Mother, our Mo family really has double joy. Ninth brother and sister have given birth to two babies for Mo family at one go, and Father can stand up again." Second brother said excitedly.


    "Second brother is wrong. Ninth brother and sister gave birth to two babies, which is already double joy. And Father being able to stand up should make it triple joy." Fifth brother smiled and corrected.


    "Elder Fifth is right, it should indeed be triple joy." Second brother quickly corrected his slip of the tongue after realizing his mistake.


    Seeing them bantering and ignoring him, Mo Qing was anxious.


    "Stop talking, show me my grandson first."


    Only then did Old Lady Mo realize that she had brought back the precious granddaughter to show Mo Qing.


    She instructed her sons,


    "Help your father back into the room first."


    Mo Qing also knew newborns were susceptible to chills. Even if he was eager to see them, he could only endure.


    Helped back into bed by his sons, Old Lady Mo also ced the second child beside him, then gently flipped up a corner of the small quilt.


    "This is our granddaughter, she''s the younger one of the two babies."


    Mo Qing craned his neck to look. The impatient expression eager to see his grandson just now instantly disappeared, reced by eyes full of tenderness.


    "What a beautiful child, even prettier than our HanYing."


    "Of course, with such good-looking parents, how could the child not be good-looking?"


    Mo Qing was annoyed at what his old wife said.


    "Are you saying I''m ugly?" When I was young, wasn''t I also very handsome and dashing?


    Old Lady Mo refused to back down.


    "You''re not ugly, but neither are you as good-looking as Jiuye, and I''m not as pretty as Zhiran. Isn''t that right?"


    Mo Qing...


    He couldn''t refute this because what his old wife said was the truth.


    He shut up and continued looking at his precious granddaughter.

 Chapter 470: Milk Name

    <h4>Chapter 470</h4>


    At this time, the several brothers could also see the appearance of Er Bao more clearly. Her chubby little face looked fleshy.


    "Mother, how much does our little niece weigh?" Being asked by her son, Old Lady Mo only just remembered that she was so preupied with holding her darling granddaughter that she actually forgot to weigh her.


    Seeing his mother''s appearance, Mo Jia Cheng knew that she must have forgotten to weigh their little niece.


    "Mother, there''s a scale in my yard. I''ll go get it now."


    After weighing, everyoneughed.


    "I knew it, my precious granddaughter gets heavier after holding her for a long time. It turns out she''s so chubby, actually five catties and nine taels. " Five catties and nine taels was considered skinny in modern times. But this was ancient times, with scarce resources.


    The rich families were still alright. Pregnant women would be given silver to nourish their bodies during pregnancy.


    In poor peasant families, there was no such treatment. Pregnant women could only eat what everyone else was eating, as long as their stomachs were not empty, it was already heaven''s grace.


    There was another reason - the low medical standards here. Toorge a fetus would make it difficult for the mother to give birth. Therefore, many people would appropriately control weight gain even during pregnancy, not daring to let the child grow wildly in the womb.


    As a result, few people here could give birth to children over five or six catties.


    Moreover, twins are much smaller than singletons to begin with, and even thebined weight of twins may only equal that of one singleton.


    And now their family''s twins turned out to be so heavy, which made Old Lady Mo happy while also feeling distressed over He Zhiran.


    One could only say that her ninth daughter-inw was lucky to have such chubby twins born safe and sound.


    Her two grandsons were already born with blessings - their disabled grandfather could now walk with a cane on this very day.


    The more Old Lady Mo looked at little granddaughter, the more she liked her.


    "Master, our Mo family has always had more males than females. This little granddaughter will be the pearl in the palm of our Mo family. We must give her a nice sounding name."


    In Dashun, it was the elder with the highest seniority in the family who would name a newborn child. By saying this, Old Lady Mo was also reminding Mo Qing that he should be thinking of names for the two babies.


    Mo Qing had nowpletely let go. The way he currently was, if not for his family taking care of him, even if he was saved, he would not have been able to survive.


    On the first day he returned to Xiling Vige, he had already made his stance clear that the Mo family affairs would now be handled by Mo Jiuye couple going forward.


    Moreover, after a period of observation, he found that his ninth daughter-inw was exceptionally wise. For something like naming his grandchildren, he did not want to assert his seniority.


    He believed that whatever names his ninth daughter-inw picked would definitely be better than his own choices.


    Although he thought this way, he still had to put on a show on the surface.


    "Let''s leave the children''s official names for their parents to decide. I''ll suggest some milk names that we can call them."


    Everyone agreed with this.


    "Ranran has made such great sacrifices to continue the Mo family line. Naming should be left to her as their mother."


    He paused, then Old Lady Mo asked: "What milk names does Master n to give the two grandchildren?"


    Looking at his sleeping granddaughter next to him, Mo Qing said gently, "I just said, she is the pearl in the palm of our Mo family. Her milk name will be Mingzhu (Bright Pearl)."


    "Mingzhu, what a nice name. Precious, tough, resilient - that''s how the Mo family''s daughters should be." Mo Chongyuan agreed.


    With everyone''s approval, Er Bao sessfully got the milk name Mingzhu.


    Although Mo Qing had not seen his precious grandson with his own eyes yet, his wife had just roughly described his looks to him.


    After thinking for a bit, he said, "Our grandson''s milk name will be Zhu (Pir)."


    "Zhu?" Old Lady Mo very much disapproved.


    She may not have carried the grandson back to her own yard, but that did not mean she only doted on the granddaughter. She liked the grandson just as much.


    Why did the granddaughter get such a nice-sounding milk name, while the grandson only deserved to be called a Zhu?


    Mo Qing knew his wife had misunderstood him and quickly exined,


    "I love my grandson just as much. He is the eldest grandson of our Mo family. I gave him this milk name because I hope he bes the pir of the next Mo generation."


    Pir was a good thing, but the name Zhu was just too casual, same as those West Ridge vige children.


    This was what everyone present thought - that even if it was just a milk name, it should still sound grander since he was the Mo family''s eldest grandson.


    Although Old Lady Mo also felt the milk name did not do her grandson justice, she did not want to contradict her husband''s intention either. After all, this was the first time she had seen him so happy since he returned, and she could also see that he had put careful thought into naming his grandson.


    "It''s just a family milk name that we find easy to call. Outsiders won''t refer to the children this way anyway, besides, Zhu will still get an official name. When he goes to school in the future, he would also have a courtesy name."


    Seeing that mother approved of father''s choice, the few Mo brothers had also firmly made up their minds about something.


    Just like them, ever since Huan Ying was born, their parents obviously favored their younger sister. It seemed that the two elders of the Mo family were really exceptionally fond of girls over boys...


    The two Mo elders were oblivious that their sons hadbeled them representatives of gender bias favoring females over males. Happily, they gazed at the cute little Mingzhu.


    The more the brothers thought about it, the more they felt a sense of kinship with their little nephew - a shared experience of being the victims of parental favoritism towards daughters. Exchanging looks, they decided to go take a look at the boy so that their nephew would not feel even the slightest bit neglected growing up feeling like the lesser preferred gender in the Mo family, with them as uncles failing in their duties.


    The few brothers noisily ran towards Mo Jiuye''s yard again. Unsure of which room the little nephew was in and also afraid to disturb the recently delivering younger sister, the brothers blinked at each other at a loss standing in the yard.


    Although Mo Jiuye had devoted all his attention to his wife, as a man ustomed to staying vignt, he could still hear the footsteps in his yard.


    He gently ced He Zhiran''s hand back down, covered her with the nket, before lightly treading out of the room.


    Hearing the door open, the brothers'' gazes unanimously shifted over.


    "Ninth brother, where''s our little nephew?" There was pity in the second brother''s eyes as he spoke.


    Having had a sleepless night facing his own brothers, Mo Jiuye did not bother noticing their odd behaviors.


    "Mother-inw just took him to the side room."


    "Let''s go see little nephew." Knowing his location, big brother took the lead, as long as it wasn''t their sister''s room, it was convenient for them to visit.


    Following closely behind big brother, the few brothers appeared together in the side room.


    At this time, He Ziming was hugging Dabao, eyes softened to mush. Seeing the big group of people suddenly swarm in, he was dumbfounded for a moment before hurriedly hugging Dabao tighter.

 Chapter 471: Our little Nephew looks Good.

    <h4>Chapter 471</h4>


    He knew very well that as soon as the Mo brothers came over, the little nephew would no longer be his alone. Although he was unwilling, he would still show the courtesy that should be given.


    "Greetings to several brothers."


    Since the Mo brothers were all older than him, he simply addressed them as brother like his sister and brother-inw.


    "We are all family, Eldest Young Master He does not need to stand on ceremony." The eldest brother said, and then rushed to the pir impatiently.


    Although Zhu Ziming was reluctant to let others hold his little nephew, he also understood clearly that the people who hade were all uncles of the little nephew, and it would be unreasonable not to let them hold the baby for a while.


    He reluctantly handed the little nephew over to Eldest Brother Mo.


    "Eldest Brother, be gentle." Zhu Ziming couldn''t help reminding them. The young men of the Mo family were all martial artists with great strength. If they identally hurt the little nephew, it would not be worth it.


    There was no need for Zhu Ziming to remind them.


    The eldest brother knew that his strength was too big and he was afraid of hurting his little nephew. When holding the child, he was even more careful than Zhu Ziming.


    Seeing that the eldest brother was holding the little nephew, the brothers gathered around.


    However, from their actions, it could be determined that they were all being gentle.


    "Eldest brother, our little nephew is so cute," Mo Chongyuan said softly, with obvious fondness in his tone.


    "Well, this child is indeed handsome, much better looking than Jiuye when he was born," the eldest brother said as he looked at the sleeping nephew in his arms. Then he said to Mo Jiuye, "Jiuye, father has already given the two children milk names."


    Mo Jiuye was not very surprised by this. It was an ancient custom for the elders in the family to give a child his formal name. Giving them a milk name was not strange.


    "Eldest brother, what milk names has father given them?"


    Second brother sighed.


    "Oh... I really don''t know what father was thinking. Our little niece''s milk name is Bright Pearl, which sounds very nice and has good meaning. She is the treasure in the palm of the Mo family." As he spoke, he looked at the little nephew in his big brother''s arms sympathetically and couldn''t help reaching out to touch his little hand that was exposed.


    "Such a good child, he had to be called Zhu. It''s a down-to-earth milk name, the same as those children in Xi Ling Vige."


    After all, they had grown up in the capital since childhood and had been in contact with children of wealthy families. They had never seen anyone from a prominent family give a child such a milk name.


    Afraid that Jiuye would be unhappy because of this, the eldest brother quickly exined, "Jiuye, father feels that your eldest son is the eldest grandson of our Mo family and will be the pir of the Mo family in the future, so he gave him this milk name. A milk name is just for family members to call him. When the timees, you and your wife can give your child a nice formal name."


    Mo Jiuye had never thought about what to call his children.


    In his heart, what they were called didn''t matter, as long as they grew up safe and sound.


    "If father thinks it''s fine, then it''s fine. A milk name just needs to roll off the tongue easily."


    Seeing Mo Jiuye say this, the brothers nced at each other.


    Jiuye really had no sense that father valued daughters over sons.


    Never mind, his nephews still had their uncles who would dote on him.


    Seeing that he had no more business here, Mo Jiuye went back to keep He Zhiranpany.


    He Zhiran had always been a light sleeper. If she hadn''t been so exhausted from giving birth earlier, she wouldn''t have been able to sleep so deeply.


    As soon as Mo Jiuye came to her bedside, she opened her eyes.


    "Ranran, you''re awake?" Mo Jiuye hurried over.


    He Zhiran pushed herself up into a sitting position with both hands. Mo Jiuye quickly went forward to support her.


    "Ranran, do you feel ufortable anywhere? Are you hungry? I''ll have Yu''er make you something to eat."


    He Zhiran shook her head and leaned against Mo Jiuye''s arms. Her eyes looked around the room.


    "Where are the children?"


    "Mingzhu was taken by mother to show father. Zhu is with mother-inw in the other room."


    Mo Jiuye smiled. "Mingzhu and Zhu are our children''s milk names."


    He Zhiran also smiled. She had only been asleep for a short while and the children already had milk names.


    "Did you pick them?"


    She knew the rules of Da Shun Dynasty very clearly. The given names of children had to be chosen by the elders in the family. These milk names must have been thought up by Mo Jiuye himself.


    However, they rolled off the tongue well enough. She didn''t see anything wrong with her son''s name Zhu either.


    A milk name just had to be easy to say.


    "Father named them. He said Zhu is our eldest grandson and will be the pir of the family in the future, so he gave him that milk name."


    Mo Jiuye was worried that his wife would be unhappy about their son''s milk name and quickly exined.


    He Zhiran didn''t think there was anything wrong with her son''s milk name. When she was little, she often heard the elders chatting that giving a child an unattractive name was good for raising them well.


    Besides, Zhu wasn''t a terribly unattractive name for her son either. It sounded nice enough.


    Therefore, she didn''t realize that Mo Jiuye was exining something to her.


    At the moment, all she wanted was to see her twins. Also, it had been several hours since she gave birth and the babies still hadn''t eaten.


    Speaking of the babies eating, He Zhiran felt her chest. It didn''t have that swollen feeling that wouldeter on.


    Fortunately, she had prepared newborn form in advance from shopping on Taobao.


    "Dear, the children must be hungry by now."


    Mo Jiuye looked outside. Indeed, it had been over two hours since the babies were born and they still hadn''t eaten.


    "Alright, I''ll go bring the children back now."


    Thinking that his son and daughter must still be hungry, he felt a little anxious as their father.


    But just as he had opened the door, he heard faint cries of a baby from the yard.


    It was Old Lady Mo carrying Bright Pearl back in a hurry.


    "Jiuye, is Ranran awake? Bright Pearl must be hungry and crying from it."


    At the same time, Madam He also came out from the other room carrying Zhu.


    "I think Zhu must be hungry too. He''s not crying but his little mouth keeps moving."


    Mo Jiuye had intended to carry one baby in each hand back to the room and then enter the space with his wife to feed them form.


    But as soon as he took Zhu from his mother-inw''s arms, he became a little nervous.


    The child was so small and soft. He was afraid he might identally hurt him if he wasn''t careful enough.


    If he tried to hold Bright Pearl too, he probably wouldn''t even be able to walk properly.


    Left with no other choice, Mo Jiuye could only let his mother keep carrying Bright Pearl as they went back to the room together.


    Just in time, Madam He also wanted to check on her daughter, so she followed behind them.


    By now, Bright Pearl was still crying relentlessly. As soon as Old Lady Mo saw He Zhiran sitting up, she immediately brought the child to her arms.


    "Ranran, Bright Pearl must be hungry. Quickly feed her."


    Actually, a month before He Zhiran''s due date, Old Lady Mo had suggested getting a wet nurse.


    But the offer was refused by He Zhiran.


    Her reason was simple. She hoped to be able to breastfeed the twins herself. If that didn''t work out, she could always buy form from Taobao Mall.

 Chapter 472: I don’t want them to Starve.

    <h4>Chapter 472</h4>


    He Zhiran did not reject the custom of hiring wet nurses in this era. After all, she was a soul from the modern era and felt that the parent-child bonding time should start from raising the babies themselves.


    Once a wet nurse was hired, the child would rely on her even more than their birth mother. Although this was a short-term phenomenon and the dependence would slowly recover after the child was weaned, He Zhiran still did not like it.


    Besides, as long as you bought the right brand of form, the nutritional content would be even higher than breast milk.


    He Zhiran unconsciously nced at her own chest and smiled bitterly.


    "Mother, I probably don''t have any breast milk."


    Now Old Lady Mo was at a loss in front of He Zhiran, circling around her.


    "I should have listened to you and hired a wet nurse toe back."


    When He Zhiran refused to hire a wet nurse, she did not insist.


    After all, her ninth daughter-inw had always been in good health, and she did not vomit severely or unable to eat like others during pregnancy.


    Therefore, she never thought that her ninth daughter-inw would have the problem of not having milk.


    As she spoke, Old Lady Mo had already turned and walked outside.


    "I''ll go to the vige to find out which family has a woman who has just given birth, toe and help."


    She couldn''t let her precious grandson and granddaughter go hungry.


    Watching Old Lady Mo''s back, He Zhiran quickly called her back.


    "Mother, don''t worry for now, my husband and I have prepared."


    Old Lady Mo stopped and turned her head.


    "You two have prepared?"


    Mo Jiuye exined, "Mother, have you forgotten that we have raised so many dairy cows on our ranch?"


    Old Lady Mo knew that the family had dairy cows, but she had never heard that those cows had started producing milk.


    In fact, the cows were not yet producing milk. But for He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye, producing actating dairy cow was not difficult at all with the aid of the space.


    "Mother, I found early this morning that a dairy cow was producing milk, and the milk quality was very good. Zhiran learned a method to make the cow''s milk softer, which is very suitable for newborn babies to drink," Mo Jiuye lied effortlessly without any sense of dissonance.


    He exined this way because his wife had told him about the benefits of form milk and the differences from fresh cow''s milk.


    He was just rying this to his mother.


    His main purpose was to get both mothers to leave so that he and his wife could take the babies into the space for their first meal in this world.


    Afraid that Mo Jiuye''s words were not convincing enough, He Zhiran chimed in, "Mother, please rest assured. I went through so much hardship to give birth to them, I certainly can''t bear to let them go hungry."


    "Since that''s the case, Mother will stay and help you feed the babies," Madam He did not want to leave.


    Her daughter had just given birth and her body was still so weak. Her son-inw looked somewhat clumsy. She would not feel assured without staying to help.


    At this moment, it seemed that Old Lady Mo realized something.


    She went forward and pulled Madam He along.


    "Sister-inw, they are the parents. Since they don''t want to hire a wet nurse and want to feed the babies with cow''s milk, let them handle this themselves."


    Without further ado, Old Lady Mo had already pulled Madam He to the door and closed it behind her.


    Madam He was puzzled, but the children¡¯s grandmother had already pulled her out, so it would be inappropriate for her to go back in.


    After the two elderly women left, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye did not immediately enter the space.


    After all, they could not be sure if the two woulde back again.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye was holding Zhu and He Zhiran was holding Mingzhu.


    Perhaps because they were beside their parents, the little brother and sister were not making any fuss at all.


    There were still traces of tears in the corners of Mingzhu''s eyes. She had fallen asleep in He Zhiran''s arms.


    Since the children were not crying, He Zhiran was in no hurry to enter the space.


    She and Mo Jiuye sat side by side, looking at their son and daughter together for the first time.


    The more they looked, the more they loved them. They loved both equally.


    Mo Jiuye sincerely said, "Zhiran, thank you."


    For this word of thanks, He Zhiran did not respond like she usually would by saying something like "We''re family, no need to be so polite".


    Because no one knew better than her what kind of torment she had suffered to sessfully give birth to the twins.


    Especially when her brother-inw helped turn the fetus, that feeling could be described as a fate worse than death.


    But looking at the silly and cute baby son and daughter sleeping soundly, she felt that it was all worthwhile.


    Mo Jiuye listened to the movement outside and knew that both mothers had walked away before the family of four shed into the space.


    It happened to be the hot summer season, and He Zhiran had just given birth and was confined to bed rest. The room door and windows were closed airtight without venttion, in sharp contrast to the suitable temperature in the space.


    Perhaps feeling the temperature difference, the two sleeping babies woke up one after another.


    Maybe they preferred the temperature in the space. The siblings did not cry or make a fuss.


    With a thought from He Zhiran, the baby cribs she had purchased for the babies from Taobao Treasure Mall appeared before her eyes.


    The two gently ced their treasures in the cribs while Mo Jiuye went to the medical room to prepare milk powder for his children.


    At this time, Rice Ball, who was ying in the bamboo forest, also heard the sounds from this side.


    Because she gave birth, this was the longest time He Zhiran had not essed the space.


    Perhaps because it had not seen its master for so long, Rice Ball ran towards her at a much faster speed than usual.


    Its four little short legs moved swiftly back and forth, and its round big head kept swaying.


    When it got close to its master, Rice Ball immediately sensed an unfamiliar aura.


    As a result, it did not rush into its master''s arms like it usually did. Instead, it mmed the brakes at a distance more than one meter away from He Zhiran.


    Then the little guy began looking around for the source of the unfamiliar aura, eventually fixing its eyes on the two baby milk dolls.


    He Zhiran was amused watching Rice Ball''s series of actions. She knew that it must have felt unfamiliar.


    She beckoned Rice Ball over, then pointed at her twins and patiently exined,


    "Rice Ball, they are all my children." As she spoke, He Zhiran picked up Zhu, who was closer to her, and carefully brought him in front of Rice Ball for it to see.


    "Look, isn''t he very cute."


    In order for Rice Ball to understand, she also pointed at her now ttened abdomen,


    "They were originally here and have now been born..."


    Rice Ball seemed to understand. It bleated a string of sheep calls.


    He Zhiran could now roughly discern the meaning conveyed in Rice Ball''s bleats. She knew that the sheep calls represented happiness, which meant that it had probably understood her words.


    However, she still had to give it a reminder.


    "Rice Ball, you have to be softer. They''re sleeping. If you wake them up, they''ll cry."


    Rice Ball was just about to let out another bleat to respond to its master to prove that it understood.

 Chapter 473: Mother found out my secret

    <h4>Chapter 473</h4>


    However, it soon seemed to realize something. Its two furry big ck hands covered its mouth, forcibly swallowing back the sound that was about toe out.


    He Zhiran was relieved to see Rice Ball being obedient, and reached out to touch its head.


    Receiving its owner''s leniency, Rice Ball regained its lively appearance. It scooted forward, wrapped its arms around He Zhiran''s calves, and stretched its head high to look at the little baby in her arms.


    As it watched, it lowered its little head over and stuck out its tongue at the same time.


    He Zhiran knew that Rice Ball''s actions showed that it liked Zhu. However, the way Rice Ball showed its fondness was not yet suitable for Zhu.


    "Rice Ball cannot do that. He is still too young."


    Rice Ball stopped its actions in frustration, clearly feeling its owner was very disappointed.


    But soon it changed its target, climbed onto the baby bed where Mingzhu was lying, and stuck out its round, plump head to watch from there.


    He Zhiran did not mind Rice Ball liking her pair of children, as long as it did not have any excessive actions, she would not stop it.


    From Rice Ball''s eyes one could ascertain that it really liked the two little ones.


    Mo Jiuye came back with milk powder. Although theposition was different from the Puppy Milk that it usually drank, the milky aroma was exactly the same.


    However, it could feel that these two bottles were for the little babies.


    If it were in the past, as soon as it smelled this scent, it would have rushed over to hug Mo Jiuye¡¯s legs.


    Today Rice Ball forcibly endured it, only looking at them yearningly with its little eyes, which still moved He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye stroked its head.


    "Rice Ball''s puppy milk has to wait a little bit."


    As the father of the two babies, he wanted to personally go feed them himself, not to mention his wife¡¯s body was still very weak now, unsuitable for doing these things.


    Rice Ball understood everything, uh-huh''ed twice, and then obediently sat to one side watching.


    He Zhiran was about to take a milk bottle from Mo Jiuye''s hand, but was refused by Mo Jiuye.


    He held a milk bottle in each hand, and separately brought the nipples to the two babies'' mouths.


    The two babies were indeed hungry, immediately sucking on the nipples to start eating.


    Seeing this, Rice Ball arduously climbed onto Zhu''s little bed, standing on the edge and reaching out to take the milk bottle in Mo Jiuye''s hand.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran looked at each other, both guessing Rice Ball¡¯s intention.


    He tentatively let go of his hand, giving the milk bottle to Rice Ball.


    Rice Ball¡¯s furry ws grabbed the milk bottle tightly without the position changing at all.


    This scene made He Zhiran and Mo Jiuyeugh.


    He Zhiran fondly rubbed Rice Ball''s head.


    "Rice Ball can''t speak, but understands everything."


    "Uh-huh..." Rice Ball responded very cooperatively, and continued to attentively feed Zhu milk wholeheartedly.


    Only after the two little ones were full did Mo Jiuye make more puppy milk for Rice Ball.


    Rice Ball rushed happily to one side to drink milk. Looking at the two sleeping children, He Zhiran said:


    "It''s not a long-term n for us to always run into the space to feed the children."


    Mo Jiuye also had this in mind.


    "Why don''t we change the packaging of the milk powder and take it outside the space."


    "Can you exin where the milk powderes from?" At the moment, He Zhiran really did not have the energy to consider these things, after just giving birth she was exhausted.


    Mo Jiuye was already used to being a scapegoat.


    "Didn''t you notice when we asked the two mothers to go out before feeding the children? Mother should have noticed something. Even when mother-inw was still hesitating, she took people out. You may not have seen that when Mother left, she also gave me a reassuring look."


    "Do you mean Mother found out my secret?" He Zhiran felt a little unbelievable.


    "Not necessarily. They must be aware that we often have some inexplicable behaviors, but Mother won''t say anything or ask anything." Mo Jiuye exined.


    "ording to what you said, as long as Mother can help exin it, the matter of us taking out milk powder can be considered passed?" He Zhiran asked.


    "Well, we don''t really need to exin much. I just thought, milk powder is made from cow''s milk after all. Our family raises so many dairy cows, and once they start producing milk, the quantity must be considerable.


    Moreover, from my understanding, it''s not easy to store cow''s milk, especially in this hot summer weather, it would probably go bad in a day.


    Although the Mo Family does business extensively, dairy products like milk are not easy to transport over long distances for sale either.


    I''ve looked at the space console before, it can process milk into milk powder. Why don''t we use the cow''s milk to start a milk powder business? Not only does milk powder taste good, it''s easy to preserve. I believe that working with the Mo Family, we will certainly earn a lot of ie."


    After listening to Mo Jiuye''s words, He Zhiran felt like her mind was enlightened. She had not expected that a military general who went to battle could now have business acumen.


    "Husband, your method is really good, how could I not have thought of it?" He Zhiran couldn''t hide the delight in her tone at all.


    She continued: "Using the console to produce milk powder is not a long-term solution. We can buy a book on milk powder production methods from Taobaoter and learn it. When the dairy cows start producing a lot of milk, we¡¯ll open a milk powder workshop."


    This was a business that could easily make big money with eyes closed.


    It must be known that in Da Shun, due to the scarcity of milk, the selling price had always been very high.


    Moreover, people could not drink milk whenever they wanted.


    The reason was simple: Da Shun did not yet have the dairy cow breed. Even if people asionally got to drink cow''s milk, it was the small amount of supply produced after those yellow cows gave birth to calves.


    As long as they sessfully produced milk powder, it would be difficult not to make money.


    "Well, I¡¯ll handle it when the timees. You just focus on recuperating."


    Considering there might be peopleing to see the babies outside, the couple dared not stay in the space for too long.


    After He Zhiran changed the packaging of the milk powder to bamboo tubes, she took some and left the space.


    The family of four had just appeared in the room when they heard someone knocking on the door.


    "Madam, the kitchen has just prepared millet porridge and eggs for you. Lan Er has brought them in."


    He Zhiran patted her chest and whispered to Mo Jiuye, "Fortunately we came out from the space."


    It seemed that with these two babies, it would be almost impossible for them to freely go in and out of the space in the future. Because there would always be someoneing to see the babies at any time. If someone found them not in the room, it would really be hard to exin.


    Along with Lan Er was Madam He.


    She first walked over to He Zhiran and asked caringly: "Ran Ran, are the children full?"


    He Zhiran raised the two unwashed ss milk bottles to her mother''s face.


    "Mother, look, they''ve finished all the milk that was prepared."


    The reason why He Zhiran dared to take out the milk bottles openly was because ss was no longer a scarce item in the Mo Family home.


    The windows of all their courtyards were made of ss, and there were also foreigners acting as scapegoats.

 Chapter 474: Six Brothers and Sisters, What’s wrong with you

    <h4>Chapter 474</h4>


    Sure enough, after a brief moment of bewilderment upon seeing the milk bottle, Lady He soon realized this.


    But she thought the milk bottle was made of translucent porcin, quite valuable.


    Although she thought this, she only felt the milk bottle was valuable. She didn''t have any other suspicions.


    In any case, the two little treasures had full stomachs, and as their grandmother she felt assured.


    That night, the Mo Family were in joy because of the birth of the twins.


    Not only that, but the news that He Zhiran had smoothly given birth to a pair of twin siblings also spread through the vige.


    Early the next morning, vigers came one after another to the Mo Family to offer eggs, local specialties, and the like as gifts of celebration.


    Fang Chuanzhou, Xie Tianhai, Hu Cong, and Consort De also came over.


    The gifts they brought were naturally much higher quality than those the vigers brought.


    The vigers didn''t know, but these people were clear.


    The Mo Family seemed to have been cursed - although their sons were all married, not one had been able to have children.


    Now that He Zhiran had sessfully given birth to twins, it could be said that this unspeakable anguish of the Mo Family was thoroughly broken.


    These several people were truly happy for the Mo Family.


    Old Lady Mo kept praising that her ninth daughter-inw was one with great fortune, giving birth all at once to two children who together formed the character for "good".


    With descendants, the Mo Family people had even more hope for their future life.


    They went about their daily work even more diligently than before, all hoping that through their own efforts, they could create an even better and morefortable living environment for the two little ones.


    On the day the two little ones had their head shaving ceremony, the Mo Family was exceptionally lively, with many guestsing without even needing to be invited.


    The guests were naturally still the people close with the Mo Family and the vigers.


    After the liveliness, the two little ones were held and brought back to He Zhiran''s side.


    The guests had just left when the seventh son, who had gone south to search for the old troops, returned.


    He came back alone. Seeing the guests who had just left the house one after another with happy expressions, he guessed something auspicious must have happened in the family.


    Therefore, Mo Yuance quickened his pace.


    The eldest and second brothers were seeing the guests off. With one nce, they saw the travel-stained Mo Yuance.


    "Big Brother, Second Brother." Mo Yuance came to stand in front of the two elder brothers and pulled them towards the courtyard. "Father and our brothers are home right?"


    "I''ll go call everyone right now." Knowing he had something to say, Second Brother immediately ran off to gather people.


    Soon, with the exception of Mo Chuhan who was away taking up office, the Mo men gathered together in the main house.


    Mo Yuance first paid his respects to his parents, then excitedly said, "Thanks to good fortune, my trip south went very smoothly. I''ve brought back nine hundred brothers."


    "I took into consideration that bringing such arge group of people into the city in broad daylight would be no good. So I had them disguise themselves as ordinarymoners and enter the city bit by bit, taking a roundabout way to enter the vige from the west side."


    Mo Qing nodded in satisfaction. "Mm, Yuance has gone to great effort."


    Then he turned his head to look at Mo Jiacheng. "Jiacheng, take a few people to the west side and when those subordinates arrive, arrange for people to escort them up the mountain."


    Mo Jiuye had already installed mobile housing up the mountain. Although Mo Qing hadn''t directly participated, he was aware of the matter.


    Now that these people had arrived, they could immediately settle up the mountain without needing many people to worry over and arrange things.


    Seeing his father mention this, Mo Jiacheng was reminded. "Father, don''t you n to meet them first?"


    How could Mo Qing possibly not want to first meet those good brothers who had followed the Mo sons through life and death?


    It was just that his legs and feet were really inconvenient right now.


    His inconvenient mobility was just an excuse in his heart. The true reason was that Mo Qing always felt he had already be a cripple, too ashamed to show his face before those people.


    "I won''t go today. Everyone has gone to great pains hurrying on the road. Send them to go rest first."


    His sons of course understood their father''s thoughts. They saw through it but didn''t speak of it.


    "Alright, I''ll go to the west side to receive them now." After speaking, the second son went out to gather people.


    After the second son left, Mo Yuance asked, "Father, Mother, I saw a lot of guests being seen off from the house earlier. Did something festive happen in the family?"


    His younger sister''s wedding had been on June 12th. He hadn''t made it back from the south for it. Could it be that his ninth younger brother''s wife had given birth?


    Speaking of the family''s festive event, Old Lady Mo''s expression lit up with a smile.


    "While you were gone, you really did miss two happy events in the family. You weren''t here for Han Yue marrying into the family. Then a few days ago, your ninth younger brother''s wife gave your father and me a grandson and a granddaughter."


    "Mother, did you say ninth younger brother''s wife gave birth to a pair of twins, a brother and a sister?"


    Old Lady Mo nodded with a smile. "Yes, precisely as you said. The pir is the elder brother, Mingzhu is the little sister."


    Mo Yuance already came to stand in front of Mo Jiuye, heavily thudding him on the shoulder.


    "Still, it''s impressive for you little rascal, continuing the incense for our Mo family."


    Although the punch looked a bit heavy, for Mo Jiuye it was nothing much.


    "Seventh brother, Zhiran gave the sisters-inw health preserving medicine. I trust it won''t be long before more and more children will be born in our family."


    Whether others believed it or not, he wouldn''t doubt his wife''s medical skills one bit.


    It was only a matter of time before his sisters-inw became pregnant and gave birth.


    Because Mo Yuance returned and was saying serious matters in the main house, the sisters-inw, even if curious, wouldn''te forward and intrude to listen together.


    Some of the rules they had in the capital still hadn''tpletely changed yet. That was, women wouldn''t crowd forward when men were discussing major affairs.


    Although they couldn''te forward and listen openly, that didn''t stop them from waiting outside the house.


    Mo Jiuye hadn''t lowered his voice too much just now when speaking, plus he didn''t intentionally try to avoid anyone hearing. Therefore, his words had been heard very clearly by the sisters-inw.


    Now, the second sister-inw waspletely unable to remain calm.


    She quickly strode to the door and loudly asked those inside the house, "Ninth younger brother, you weren''t just trying tofort your seventh elder brother earlier, were you?"


    Otherwise, why was there still no sign whatsoever from their group of sisters after having already taken the medicine for so long?


    "Impossible. Ruan Ruan''s medical skills are clear for all to see. Since she said the poison in the sisters-inws can be eliminated, then it definitely can be eliminated."


    Just as the second sister-inw was about to retort something, there was a sudden din from the crowd of women behind her.


    "Sixth younger sister-inw, what''s the matter, hurry and wake up."


    "Sixth sister-inw... sixth sister-inw..."


    Hearing this voice, everyone rushed to the courtyard. There they only saw the sixth sister-inw with a somewhat paleplexion, eyes tightly shut, half slumped and supported in the arms of the eldest sister-inw.


    When something happened with their daughters-inw, the sixth elder brother rushed to the very front.


    But he didn''t lose his head to anxiously. He stepped forward to wrap his arm around his wife''s waist and pick her up. Looking towards Mo Jiuye, he said, "Ninth younger brother, terribly sorry to trouble asking your wife to take a look at sixth sister-inw."


    Xi Ling Vige didn''t have any doctors. When vigers got sick, they either had to go to the neighboring vige to ask doctors to make a special trip over or go the Yun City medical center.


    Even so, the medical skills of those doctors still weren''t as superb as the ninth younger sister-inw.


    It was just that the ninth younger sister-inw was currently in her postpartum confinement period. If it wasn''t because the sixth elder brother was too worried about his wife''s condition, he also wouldn''t suggest going to disturb her.

 Chapter 475: It’s True

    <h4>Chapter 475</h4>


    Mo Jiuye did not have time to react before Sixth elder brother had already darted away with his wife in his arms using lightness kungfu.


    Seeing this, Mo Jiuye quickly followed, while the women anxiously ran after them.


    Sixth elder brother was worried about his wife''s health, so he was the first to arrive at the courtyard of Mo Jiuye''s home.


    However, he still had good judgement and told Lan Er to first go in and inform Ninth younger sister and brother.


    Soon, Lan Er came out, followed by He Zhiran.


    Although He Zhiran was still recovering from childbirth, her family had taken good care of her and she felt her body had almost fully recovered. If not for Madam He watching over her every day, she would have gone out to get some fresh air long ago.


    When she reached the door and saw Sixth elder brother holding his unconscious wife, she quickly moved aside.


    "Sixth elder brother, quickly take Sixth Sister-inw to the bed."


    Seeing that she was unconscious, Sixth elder brother did not care that this was his younger sister''s postpartum room, and quickly carried his wife to He Zhiran''s bed.


    At this time, the two little ones were sleeping soundly on the side of the bed, and were not woken by themotion.


    Everyone''s attention was on Sixth Sister-inw, so those who wanted to see the two babies could only restrain themselves for now.


    He Zhiran took Sixth Sister-inw''s pulse. Not long after, she smiled and stood up.


    "Sixth Sister-inw is fine."


    "Fine?"


    She''s unconscious, how could she be fine?


    Sixth elder brother waspletely bewildered.


    The others were also equally confused, staring at He Zhiran.


    He Zhiran sat calmly by the bedside.


    "Sixth Sister-inw is pregnant, around one month along. Her fainting is due to different reactions in early pregnancy for each woman, as well as Sixth Sister-inw''s somewhat weak constitution. It''s a manifestation of qi and blood deficiency."


    After hearing He Zhiran''s words, Sixth elder brother stood motionless for a long time before reacting.


    "Younger... younger sister, are you saying my wife is pregnant?"


    He Zhiran nodded. "Absolutely, Sixth Sister-inw will wake up after sleeping for a while. I''ll have Yu Er make some nourishing mealster to help regte her body over the next few days."


    No one in the Mo family would doubt her words.


    Especially not Second Sister-inw, who had urgently asked Mo Jiuye earlier because she was so eager to have a child of her own.


    Now seeing that Sixth younger sister had sessfully conceived, she believed that she too would have such a day sooner orter.


    At this moment, the sisters-inw could not help turning red-eyed in unison.


    In the decade plus they had married into the Mo family, especially the older sisters-inw, they had been longing for the day they could have a child of their own.


    Now, seeing the joyful news from Sixth younger sister, in addition to feeling hopeful, they also felt more urgency.


    Second Sister-inw had always been easygoing. Seeing that Ninth younger sister was still spirited, she stretched out her wrist in front of her.


    "Ninth younger sister, take a look at Second Sister-inw for me. Our sisters-inw took the antidote together, so the timing should be about the same."


    He Zhiran did not know how to respond to such unreliable words. She simply reached out silently to take Second Sister-inw''s pulse.


    Before long, He Zhiran retracted her hand.


    "Second Sister-inw, don''t be impatient. You will have a child sooner orter."


    Although a little disappointed, Second Sister-inw still smiled.


    "Ninth younger sister is right. With my healthy body, I''m sure to have my own child."


    She would definitely make her husband put in more effort tonight so they could have their own child sooner...


    Since she had taken Second Sister-inw''s pulse, He Zhiran could not show favoritism. With the sisters-inw present, she took each of their pulses in turn.


    Surprisingly, her actions brought another piece of good news to the Mo family.


    It turned out Third Sister-inw was also pregnant, about a month earlier than Sixth Sister-inw, meaning Third Sister-inw was already two months along.


    This news greatly shocked Third Sister-inw. Her monthly cycle had always been irregr, with dys of one or two months beingmon. Plus she could eat and sleep well every day without any difort, so she had not considered this possibility at all.


    Third Sister-inw excitedly grabbed He Zhiran''s hand.


    "Ninth younger sister, are you saying I''m really pregnant?"


    He Zhiran smiled and gently patted her hand. "Third Sister-inw, you''re going to be a mother."


    Pointing to He Ziming standing outside, she added, "If Third Sister-inw doesn''t believe me, the gynecological saint is right there. Why not let him take another look?"


    He Ziming had intended to do so as well. He could hear everything his younger sister diagnosed in the room loud and clear.


    Although he knew she had started reading medical books at a young age, he did not know the extent of her learning.


    Just now she had determined pregnancy and its duration simply from pulse reading. He could not help but feel surprised.


    Therefore, when He Zhiran said to let him take a look, he was already at the door.


    "Third Sister-inw, I can examine you again if you don''t mind."


    With Ninth younger sister''s renowned medical skills being undisputed in the Mo family, and the gynecological saint also living up to his reputation, Third Sister-inw naturally would not decline his initiative to help.


    Unsurprisingly, He Ziming''s diagnosis for Third Sister-inw was exactly the same as He Zhiran''s. She was two months pregnant.


    Having the pregnancy confirmed again, Third Sister-inw''s eyes welled up with tears that fell like pearls with severed strings, but the corners of her lips remained upturned.


    Heaven knows how bitterly she had longed for this day.


    After wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, under the envious gazes of her sisters-inw, Third Sister-inw walked out of the room.


    She knew her husband was in the courtyard. She wanted to immediately inform him of this joyful news.


    Little did she expect that the Mo brothers were all martial artists with keen hearing. They had heard He Zhiran''s diagnosis clearly.


    Before his wife had evene out, Third elder brother was already waiting at the door.


    "Husband, Ninth younger sister... Ninth younger sister said, she said... we''re going to have a child... wuwuwu..."


    Third Sister-inw broke down in sobs again.


    Third elder brother was also very emotional. If not for his brothers being present, he would have eagerly picked up his wife and spun her around.


    The others looked at the couple with envy.


    Since He Ziming had already lent a hand, he simply followed his younger sister''s example and took the pulses of all the Mo sisters-inw together. The conclusion was the same - they were all perfectly healthy, and having children was only a matter of time.


    On the bed, Sixth Sister-inw was also showing signs of waking up. Regarding women''s illnesses, He Zhiran admitted she was not as skilled as He Ziming.


    "Eldest brother, why don''t you take another look at Sixth Sister-inw and prescribe some regimens."


    Unlike the aloof image of the gynecological saint described by themon people, He Ziming did not hesitate at all in his treatment of the Mo family.


    "Alright. As long as I''m here, sisters-inw cane to me anytime with concerns."


    With He Ziming''s words, the sisters-inw were all thinking of asking him for health regimens during their free time, to conceive sooner.

 Chapter 476: Don’t You Remember

    <h4>Chapter 476</h4>


    The news made the Mo family women look forward to their future life even more, at the same time, the Fifth Elder Brother also ran to inform the Two Elders.


    Hearing that there were two more pregnant daughters-inw in the family, the Two Elders simply couldn''t help grinning from ear to ear.


    However, they were notcent because of joy. In order for the whole family to live afortable life, it was not yet time for them to rx.


    Meng Huaining married Mo Hanyue and had been living in Xi Ling Vige ever since the wedding three days ago. No matter how busy he was with official business, he would rush back every night.


    Today, maybe there were more things to deal with in the yamen, he and Mo Chuhan were on their way back, and they just happened to meet thest batch of Old Department of Southern Territorying into the vige from the west.


    Although there were not many people, it waste at night, and they looked sneaky, which would inevitably arouse suspicion.


    Seeing this, Meng Huaining immediately leapt up and rushed towards the group, Mo Chuhan was no slower than him, and the two almost blocked the old department¡¯s way at the same time.


    ¡°Who are you? Why did youe here sote at night?¡±


    At this moonless and windy night, the old department simply couldn¡¯t see the looks of theing people.


    However, they soon recognized Mo Chuhan''s voice.


    "Is it Eighth Master?"


    Mo Chuhan couldn''t match the voice to a name, but it did sound familiar.


    "Who exactly are you?"


    "Eighth Master, it''s me, Zhao Liu. Back at the days in Border Pass, I had always been your vanguard!"


    "Eighth Master, and I''m Li Liang. I was with Zhao Liu. Don''t you remember?"


    "Eighth Master..."


    These old subordinates were obviously very excited. Beforeing here, they had heard from Seventh Master that all the Mo family men, including the retired Duke, were alive. Now seeing Eighth Master alive with their own eyes, they didn¡¯t know how to vent the excitement in their hearts.


    Mo Chuhan didn''t expect that after years of separation, he could still stand with these good brothers who had gone through life and death together.


    "Are you few the only ones who came to the northwest this time?"


    Li Liang took a few steps forward. Instead of answering Mo Chuhan right away, he took a look at Meng Huaining beside him.


    Seventh Master had already told them to go to the northwest secretly, and they might not see the light for some time in the future.


    Just now when they greeted Eighth Master, the one beside did not speak.


    If it was another master of the Mo family who saw them, he would certainly be as enthusiastic as Eighth Master, after all, they often followed the Mo family men and understood their temper very well.


    Therefore, Li Liang did not dare to answer Mo Chuhan rashly, but wanted to see Eighth Master''s reaction first.


    Mo Chuhan saw Li Liang''s concerns. With his understanding of Meng Huaining, this guy was very shrewd. He could figure out the general idea from the few words just now. If he wanted to keep it from him now, that would be futile.


    "This is Han Yue¡¯s husband, Yun City Magistrate Meng."


    Mo Chuhan''s intention was very obvious, telling them that Meng Huaining was not an outsider.


    Although Meng Huaining was rarely involved in the affairs of the Mo family, through correspondence with Fei Nanyu, he more or less knew something about the situation of the Mo family.


    He even had the idea of reminding the Mo family to train private soldiers to protect themselves.


    Later, seeing Ninth Brother and the others go up the mountain frequently, and always acting mysteriously, he guessed that they might have realized this too, and had already started taking actions.


    Since it was so, it would be better for him to continue pretending to be muddled, to allow the Mo family to feel at ease doing what they wanted.


    After listening to the dialogues between them earlier, Meng Huaining probably couldn¡¯t pretend to be ignorant anymore.


    "Rest assured, I know what should and should not be said."


    This was addressed to the old subordinates, as for Eighth Brother here, the two had been together for a long time and already had a tacit understanding.


    What¡¯s more, if Eighth Brother wanted to hide it from him earlier, he wouldn¡¯t have talked to those people face to face either.


    Seeing that Eighth Master remained silent, which could be regarded as approving Meng Huaining¡¯s words, Li Liang finally said, "Eighth Master, we are thest batch. The others have already gone up the mountain."


    As he was talking, Second Brother, who had just sent people down the mountain, rushed over with Liang Hao and others.


    After greeting each other, Second Brother continued to escort people up the mountain, while Eighth Master and Meng Huaining went straight to the Two Elders'' yard.


    Mo Chuhan and Meng Huaining came sote, there must be some important things to say. Old Lady Mo immediately sent people to gather all her sons.


    Except for Second Brother who was arranging the old department on the mountain, the rest of the brothers all arrived in less than a quarter of an hour.


    Mo Chuhan saw his brothers looking at him and exined, "It wasn''t me. My brother-inw has something to say."


    Meng Huaining did not beat around the bush either. He took out a note from his arms, unfolded it and handed it to Mo Qing.


    "Father-inw, this is a homing pigeon message Father Fei gave me today, asking me to remind the family members to be extra vignt."


    Although Meng Huaining did not say the content of the note out loud, it was not difficult to see from his expression that there was no good news on it.


    Mo Qing took over the note with a solemn expression on his face. Old Lady Mo brought the oilmp next to her closer to provide better lighting.


    ncing over the contents on the note under the bright light, Mo Qing then heavily patted the table next to him.


    "Father, what exactly happened?" Big Brother asked in a deep voice.


    "Mr. Fei said that he had just investigated that the Xue family had sent people to the northwest not long ago. He suspected the Xue family came to the northwest with the purpose of dealing with the Mo family."


    "Humph! Unfortunately for him, the people he sent to the northwest have all been wiped out by us brothers. This matter should not cause further trouble." Mo Chuhan had been involved in the whole process of dealing with the group of people from Jingxian Building. In his opinion, the people the Xue family sent to the northwest had all been wiped out by them brothers, and no longer posed any threat.


    "No matter how many people the Xue family dared to send again, we¡¯ll kill every one thates. We¡¯ll never show mercy."


    Looking at Eighth Brother''s indignant appearance, Mo Jiuye was not as rxed as him.


    "While we have already dealt with Xue Fan and his aplices, no one can guarantee that no fish will slip through the and escape. We must not be negligent about this matter."


    Mo Qing nodded in approval at his ninth son¡¯s words and continued, "What Jiuye said is right. I haven''t finished what¡¯s written on the note yet."


    After a short pause, Mo Qing went on, "Mr. Fei also said that the Empress had not received any news from the northwest for a long time, so she was preparing to send out a second batch of men. ording to his investigation, this time the Empress would send highly trained assassins, not small in number."


    Hearing this, Mo Jiuye interrupted him, "Father, what date was marked at the end of the note?"


    "July ninth." Mo Qing replied.


    Mo Jiuye frowned. "Today is July sixteenth. That means Mr. Fei got the news at least seven days ago. If the Empress did send people, they must already be on the way. From the Capital City to the northwest, even hurrying day and night, it would take little more than ten days or so."


    Big brother clenched his fists tightly and said coldly, "In that case, we¡¯ll let none of those people the Empress sent return alive."

 Chapter 477: This is not what the Mohists wanted.

    <h4>Chapter 477</h4>


    The other Mo Family men also had simr thoughts. When they saw the eldest brother voice out what was on their minds, they came forward to echo his words.


    "Eldest brother is right. As long as we brothers work together, we will definitely make them unable toe and go freely."


    However, Mo Jiuye did not think it would be as easy as his elder brothers had assumed.


    "Since Mr. Fei could write to warn us about this matter, the actions taken by the Empress this time are clearly not small."


    "On the way to exile in the northwest, the exile convoy encountered ambushes a few times. The assassins sent by Nan Heng number at least over a hundred."


    "From what I know, the death warriors and assassins used by the Empress and Nan Heng were secretly trained by the Xue Family. This time, the assassins sent by the Empress also came from the Xue Family camp."


    "Judging from the previous incident, the number of death warriors trained by the Xue Family is clearly not small. Especially since they sincerely want to destroy my Mo Family, if they take action again, the numbers will definitely not be fewer."


    "Ninth brother, even if your analysis is right, aren''t we brothers all survivors who have escaped death on the battlefield? When have we ever feared anyone in our lives?" Mo Chuhan still felt somewhat unconvinced. He felt that his ninth brother had be timid.


    Mo Jiuye had indeed be more timid.


    "Eighth brother, do you know what it was like when news of each of your deaths were ryed back one by one?"


    "Mother and the sisters-inw were basically living deaths, faces washed with tears every day. Now that the Mo Family has finally reunited after oveing thousands of hardships, I don''t want the scenes from back then to happen again."


    "What''s more, I am already married with children now, and there are also the elders who need me to attend to them filially. This life of mine already does not belong solely to myself."


    "Before taking any risky actions, I have to prioritize safety first."


    "Jiuye is right. Our Mo Family has already suffered a major catastrophe once. Now that we have finally reunited with difficulty, we can no longer withstand any more blows. We must carefully n for the long term regarding this matter and not act rashly."


    As Mo Qing spoke, his gaze swept back and forth among his few sons.


    This kind of gaze was all too familiar to the Mo Family men. In the past on the battlefield, their father would also have such piercing eyes when gathering subordinates for discussion in the camp tent.


    In an instant, all the Mo men tightened up, instantly entering their roles, just like when they were on high alert on the battlefield in the past.


    At this moment, Mo Qing naturally slipped into his role as well.


    "Jiuye, what good countermeasures do you have now?"


    "Father, no matter how we respond, the premise is that we must ensure the safety of our own people."


    "Mm, tell me your specific methods."


    When everyone was arguing just now, Mo Jiuye had already swiftly devised countermeasures in his mind.


    "Mr. Fei obtained the news seven days ago. If the Empress''s people started taking action from that time, it would take them at least seven more days to reach the northwest.


    "There is not much difficulty for the veterans to use explosives. With just a little guidance they will know how.


    "I n to use these few days to drill them in using explosives.


    "Of course, explosives make too loud amotion when set off. It would be best not to use them if possible. It can also be said that explosives are the final trump card of my Mo Family.


    "I also still have twenty continuously-firing repeating crossbows remaining which I will distribute to everyone.


    "Counting from today, I will arrange for subordinates to conceal themselves with the repeating crossbows and explosives on the necessary roads to Yun City at thetest seven days from now. This will definitely make it so the assassins cane but cannot leave."


    "Mm. What Jiuye said makes sense. We must not give them any chance to enter Yun City," Mo Qing highly approved of Mo Jiuye''s suggestion.


    That was without even mentioning that the many women of the Mo Family and the two newly born grandchildren simply had no ability to evade danger. The vigers of Xi Ling Vige were the same as well.


    If those death warriors came here and the Mo Family resisted resulting in a big fight, innocent people would inevitably get hurt.


    This was not a result the Mo Family wanted to see.


    "It''s decided as such. You brothers go and handle the arrangements," Mo Qing finalized. In principle, he wanted Mo Jiuye to take fullmand of this matter. But considering that he still needed to care for He Zhiran and the two babies, he let the brothers handle it together instead.


    Of course, he believed his other sons could fully listen to Mo Jiuye''smand.


    Seeing the Mo Family was prepared, Meng Huaining felt slightly more relieved.


    He was just about to bid farewell and leave when he was called to stop by Mo Qing.


    Ever since marrying Mo Hanyue, this was the first time his father-inw took the initiative to call him.


    Mo Qing waved his hand to dismiss his sons first before letting Meng Huaining sit beside him.


    "The situation in the Mo Family now is also clear to you. Things are not as peaceful as they seem on the surface. Heaven is unfair, unwilling to even grant us a period of stability.


    "Since this is so, we of the Mo Family are not pushovers who can just be arbitrarily manipted. Judging from the current circumstances, at the minimum we have to fend off the people the Empress sends over in secret. In truth, danger lies all around."


    "Hanyue is my only daughter. I don''t want her to get embroiled in anything. She is now a daughter-inw of your Meng Family. I hope you can bring her away from the Mo Family."


    Mo Qing did not say the words that followed, but he knew Meng Huaining would understand the meaning behind them.


    Meng Huaining stood up solmenly and bowed to Mo Qing.


    "Father-inw, Huaining is not a coward who fears death. Living together now with the Mo Family, I already regard myself as one of you. When the Mo Family encounters adversity, how can I shrink back just to save my own skin?


    "If I did that, even if grandfather was alive he would not forgive me.


    "The sages'' books say a person may not have ability, but cannot be without affection and righteousness. Moreover, I also understand the Mo Family''s circumstances. When grandfather was still alive, wasn''t he suspected as well..."


    The two of them were clear who that suspector was - the muddle-headed Emperor Shunwu.


    "Father-inw, since we have talked to this point, I will speak frankly with you as well.


    "I originally did not intend to enter officialdom. It was because grandfather died wronged that I only wanted to rely on my own efforts to restore his innocence.


    "But after working in court these past few years, I have seen through everything clearly. With an emperor as muddled as the one on Great Shun''s throne, he is simply a nightmare for themon people.


    "What''s more, I have trained in martial arts since I was young. Although I am not as capable as eldest brother and the rest, protecting Hanyue is still not an issue.


    "So please believe me, father-inw. As long as there is still breath left in me, I will protect Hanyue well. I also want to share in the same fortunes and adversities as the Mo Family."


    Mo Qing did not expect Meng Huaining to take such an attitude. The Mo Family was currently like a pond of muddy water now. Whoever waded in would easily attract lethal disaster upon themselves.


    At the same time, he also greatly admired this son-inw''s integrity and courage.


    He was not the naggy sort to begin with. Furthermore, he was also able to discern Meng Huaining''s extremely resolute attitude. Since this was the case, further persuasion would be futile.


    "Although you are unwilling to take Hanyue away to protect only yourselves, I still hope you two will take care of your own safety."


    "Father-inw, please rest assured. Huaining understands," Meng Huaining spoke.


    Both had the same thoughts, so many words were unnecessary. An unspoken understanding had formed between them.


    Mo Qing shifted his body slightly and said, "It is already quitete. Go back to rest!"


    "Father-inw should also rest early. Huaining shall take his leave."


    Meng Huaining had just pushed the door open when barks sounded from outside.

 Chapter 478: Finally Made It Here Alive

    <h4>Chapter 478</h4>


    He stopped in his tracks and looked towards the source of the sound in the moonlight.


    A ck shadow was being chased by a group of dogs, stumbling towards the direction of the Mo Family. But in the blink of an eye, it copsed.


    The Mo brothers had not gone far and ran back together, walking towards the fallen ck shadow.


    The dogs were humane and would only bark to drive away strangers to the Mo Family if they did not attack. They would not bite.


    The eldest brother rushed forward first to lift up the fallen person.


    As a martial artist, he had good night vision. He examined the stranger in the moonlight but did not recognize him.


    At this time, Mo Jiuye also came over. After seeing clearly who it was, he was somewhat shocked.


    Seeing his expression, his brothers could ascertain that this person was an acquaintance of their ninth younger brother.


    "Ninth younger brother, who is he?" asked the eldest brother.


    "He is Zhou Laoba, the government official sent to escort us to the northwest. He''s quite decent. Let''s carry him back first to see what exactly is going on," said Mo Jiuye.


    As the closest ce was their second uncle''s yard, the brothers carried Zhou Laoba to the side room.


    In the bright oilmp light, they scrutinized Zhou Laoba carefully.


    He was much thinner than when they parted from the Mo Family. His originally ordinary face was covered in healed whip marks, his lips were chapped, and his whole body looked as if he was dead.


    Having followed He Zhiran to study some medical knowledge, Mo Jiuye first felt Zhou Laoba''s pulse. Although it was slightly weak, he could still feel it.


    As for why Zhou Laoba lost consciousness, he could not conclude.


    Logically, He Zhiran should be able to ascertain Zhou Laoba¡¯s condition clearly with one look. But He Zhiran was currently sitting the month after giving birth and was in no state to check Zhou Laoba¡¯s body.


    Mo Jiuye had a brain wave and thought of his uncle.


    Although He Ziming was hailed as a specialist in gynecology, he was still a doctor and could not have only specialized in women¡¯s illnesses.


    Mo Jiuye said in a low voice, "Who will go get my uncle?"


    "I''ll go," Meng Huaining voluntarily stepped forward.


    He had already stated his stance today in front of his father-inw, so he would naturally go all out for the Mo Family¡¯s affairs.


    Soon, Meng Huaining brought He Ziming over.


    After He Ziming took Zhou Laoba''s pulse, he said, "His body should have gone without food for days, and he also has internal injuries."


    When it came to internal injuries, no one understood better than the Mo brothers.


    They were all martial artists and were often internally injured on the battlefield.


    Mo Jiuye reached out and ripped Zhou Laoba¡¯s shirt open. Besides being emaciated, there was nothing wrong with the front of his body.


    He carefully turned the person over, and countless whip marks entered his eyes.


    The whip marks had scabbed over. But from the depth of the scabs, one could see that the person wielding the whip was exceptionally strong.


    This was the rhythm of whipping someone to death.


    Without a doubt, the internal injuries He Ziming mentioned came from these whip marks.


    Mo Jiuye looked at He Ziming, "Eldest brother, I''ll have to trouble you to treat him."


    "Let me apply acupuncture first to rouse him and get him to eat something. That should make him feel better. Internal injuries are no trivial matter and need to be nursed back to health slowly," said He Ziming.


    He Ziming worked quickly. As soon as he finished speaking, the silver needles in his hand urately pierced Zhou Laoba''s acupoints.


    After about the time it takes to burn one incense stick, Zhou Laoba finally woke up groggily.


    He scanned the room and eventually fixed his gaze on Mo Jiuye.


    "I...I''m not dreaming right? I finally got here alive."


    Mo Jiuye did not answer him immediately, but brought over a bowl of water to Zhou Laoba instead.


    "Drink some water first, then slowly tell me what happened."


    Zhou Laoba wanted to reach out to take the cup of water Mo Jiuye handed over. But he felt that he had no strength in his body at all.


    Mo Jiuye still had a decent impression of Zhou Laoba and Peng Wang, who were responsible for escorting them. Even though Zhou Laoba and his sister-inw had that misunderstanding back then, it was after all a misunderstanding, and he was not petty enough to hold a grudge over that little thing.


    He personally held the water up to Zhou Laoba.


    "I''ll support you. Drink some water first."


    After a few sips of water, Zhou Laoba finally felt his throat was not so dry.


    He spoke urgently,


    "Mo Jiuye, hurry and hide with your family!"


    Mo Jiuye frowned and asked, "What happened?"


    Zhou Laoba was still very weak at this time, but he felt the matter was urgent. If he did not say it out early, his suffering would have been for nothing.


    "Twenty days ago, the chief and our group of officials responsible for escorting all of you were sessively arrested and thrown into a dungeon.


    There, those people tortured us and interrogated the entire process of escorting your family¡¯s exile.


    We are just trying to fill our stomachs with jobs at the government office. Where would we have seen such ferocious people before? We told them everything about escorting all of you to the northwest when pieced together. "


    "Do you know who caught you?" Mo Jiuye did not ask about the contents of their confession. He could guess without thinking that in order to survive, those officials would say anything whether true or false.


    He was not worried about the rest. He was only concerned about the matter of them rescuing his eighth brother midway. Those officials were fully aware of that.


    "On the night we were caught, I vaguely heard the two guards mention Prime Minister Xue while chatting.


    Those two people talked without any intention of hiding things from others. The chief guessed that they might want to kill us to keep things quiet.


    Sure enough, what we feared came true. Soon after, arge group of people came and whipped us without exnation.


    At that time, I was the furthest inside. When someone blocked me, I could turn my back to face the whipsshing my back.


    I watched my brothers copse one by one, and I pretended to faint like them.


    Fortunately, I had that foresight. After whipping us for a while, someone said to check if we were still alive and continue beating us if we did not die.


    At that time, I could no longer hear the groans of my brothers. I could only pretend I was dead to grasp any chance of living.


    Fortunately, those people did not check very carefully and did not notice anything wrong with me when I held my breath. "


    At this point, Zhou Laoba started sobbing loudly.


    "When I climbed up from the mass grave after those people left, I found that my brothers had all passed away...sob...sob..."


    Hearing that Zhou Laoba''s brothers had all passed away, Mo Jiuye also felt extremely anguished.


    "What about Chief Peng? Did those people beat him to death too?"


    Zhou Laoba nodded as he wept, "The chief was beaten the most severely because he refused to talk about the Mo Family''s situation.


    Those people were determined to obtain more information from him since he was the head in charge of the escort.


    When those people came to silence us, the chief only had one breath left. After we were dumped at the mass grave, I went to check on the chief and found that his body had already stiffened...sob...sob..."


    At this point, Mo Jiuye fiercely hammered the table next to him and gnashed in anger, "These vicious, inhumane bastards!"

 Chapter 479: I must go to Beijing

    <h4>Chapter 479</h4>


    Mo Chuhan was also following the exile team for some time. At that time, he did not have much contact with those officials like Mo Jiuye because he was injured.


    Despite this, he also knew that those officials took good care of their family.


    It was also because of their care that their family did not suffer too much along the way.


    Now that he heard all those officials had died, he inevitably felt sad.


    "Ninth brother, I''ll take some capable men to the Capital City to get rid of those people who keep thinking of ways to deal with our Mo Family," said Mo Chuhan.


    Mo Jiuye had just had the same idea, so he did not refute his eighth brother''s words.


    It would be more practical to get rid of them once and for all than to counter their moves one by one.


    "Eighth brother, we still need to n this carefully, especially now when we can''t leave the northwest," Mo Jiuye said.


    Mo Chuhan asked impatiently, "Why?"


    "I just received news from the Capital City. Lord Zhou also came to report that the people sent by the Empress should be on their way.


    If I guess correctly, the assassins sent by the Empress will arrive in about seven days."


    The eldest brother also patted Mo Chuhan on the shoulder.


    "Eighth brother, ninth brother is right. We have to resolve the immediate crisis first.


    Also, the Empress and the Xue Family can train so many assassins because their security is very tight. Even if we go to the Capital City, we must have a detailed n to ensure sess."


    Mo Chuhan knew his eldest and ninth brother made sense, but he just couldn''t restrain the anger in his heart.


    "I just want to take their dog lives immediately."


    Although He Ziming was not from the Mo Family, this was his sister''s inws. He also understood the situation in the imperial court and sympathized with what had happened to the Mo Family.


    But it was still inappropriate to discuss such things in front of an outsider like him.


    He coughed lightly and said, "The brother from the Capital City is still very weak. I''ll go order some suitable food for him."


    Only then did Mo Chuhan realize he had lost hisposure in front of an outsider.


    He looked awkwardly at He Ziming''s leaving figure and sighed deeply.


    "Anyway, after resolving the immediate crisis, I will definitely go to the Capital City."


    Just as he finished speaking, Mo Jiuye strode out.


    Because he heard Xiao Bai''s cry.


    Xiao Bai had been away in the Capital City for quite a long time, over half a month.


    Just yesterday, he and He Zhiran were talking about how Xiao Bai had not returned with any news yet. And today the little guy came back.


    With so many things happening, Mo Jiuye did not tease Xiao Bai like usual before checking the note. He directly took the note off Xiao Bai''s leg.


    The note was still handwritten by Fei Nanyu.


    The content was like an extension of the news brought by Meng Huaining.


    Three days ago, he discovered the Xue Family had sent out hundreds of masters from the Capital City. He secretly sent people to follow them and found out they were heading northwest.


    After confirming the news was urate, he let Xiao Bai bring the message back to notify Mo Jiuye to make preparations in advance.


    At the same time, Fei Nanyu also analyzed when the assassins would arrive in the northwest.


    The three days ago he mentioned was before he wrote the letter. His people had followed them for three more days before doubling back. It would take Xiao Bai two days to fly back to the northwest.


    That meant the assassins would arrive at the border in about seven days.


    This was consistent with Mo Jiuye and his family''s calctions.


    Fei Nanyu also mentioned Nan Rui. It had to be said, he really knew how to handle big matters.


    In the letter, Mo Jiuye told Nan Rui he went to the Capital City to help resolve the Mo Family''s crisis. He also exined that Nan Rui had left his most important rtive, Consort De, here.


    This alone showed Nan Rui could be trusted.


    If it was an ordinary person, or an overly suspicious ruler like Emperor Shunwu, they would still find many reasons to doubt Nan Rui''s intentions even if they were pure.


    But Fei Nanyu did not, because he understood how important Consort De was to Nan Rui.


    To repay the Mo Family, and to avoid arousing their suspicion, he actually left his own mother in the northwest.


    From this it could be seen that Nan Rui had no ulterior motives.


    If such a person still could not be trusted, then who could he trust?


    Using people without doubt and doubting people without use, Fei Nanyu applied this very well.


    This was also why the historical records showed that many capable ministers were cultivated during Fei Nanyu''s reign, creating a rare prosperous empire in history.


    Of course, that was forter. In the letter, Fei Nanyu only said that Nan Rui had established covert contact with him.


    Although he did not exin in detail, Mo Jiuye could ascertain they had reached a consensus. As for the specifics, he did not intend to care too much. After all, it was the royal family''s business.


    At present, he only wanted his small family to safely get through the current crisis.


    After reading the letter, Mo Jiuye did not immediately discuss the contents with his brothers.


    He let Liang Hao stay here for now to take care of Lord Zhou, and called his brothers back to the main house.


    Although Fei Nanyu''s news was slightly more urate than what Meng Huaining brought, the original defense ns did not need much change.


    Mo Jiuye gathered everyone only because he wanted to announce the contents of the letter, to let them be more clear about the situation.


    It was not untilte at night that Mo Jiuye returned with Xiao Bai.


    When Mo Jiuye was away, Madam He was worried that taking care of two babies would be too tiring for her daughter. So she and Granny Li stayed in her room until her son-inw returned.


    He Zhiran rested in her room every day. Her sisters-inw took turnsing to help care for the two babies.


    With nothing to do during the day, she would take a nap.


    So at this time, she was not sleepy either.


    She knew Seventh Uncle had sessfully brought his former men back today. Mo Jiuye returningte must be because of this.


    But unexpectedly, Mo Jiuye brought news that shocked her.


    "Husband, you''re saying Brother Peng and the others were all harmed?"


    This waspletely unexpected for He Zhiran. Recalling the officials during the exile, although they were fierce in the beginning, they took very good care of the Mo Familyter on.


    Especially Peng Wang. Although they were a little discordant in the beginning, they got along very wellter.


    And after getting to know each other for a few months, they also knew Peng Wang was a decent person.


    Thinking of his death, He Zhiran felt sad.


    There were over a dozen officials escorting them to the northwest. For them to die in vain like this, the Empress''s people were truly ruthless in order to achieve their goals.


    Mo Jiuye''s mood was also very heavy. He understood his daughter-inw''s feelings.


    But it had already happened, so all they could do was find an opportunity to avenge them.

 Chapter 480: This weapon is called the Crossbow.

    <h4>Chapter 480</h4>


    That night, the husband and wife did not rest well, with Peng Wang and those officials constantly appearing in their minds. Mo Jiuye got up early the next morning to organize his brothers and subordinates to go up the mountain.


    He had originally intended to let those old subordinates who had returned from the South rest for a few days, but ns could not keep up with the changing circumstances. In the current situation, it seemed that rest was out of the question.


    Those old subordinates had arrived in the Northwest only one night ago, yet they already liked it here.


    The living environment the Mo Family had prepared for them was a hundred times better than what they had in the South.


    Among these people were chefs who had specifically cooked in the barracks. After arriving in the Northwest, they continued their original work.


    The ingredients had also been delivered by Mo Jiuye after Mo Yuance returned.


    The various fresh vegetables grown on the Mo Family''s farnd, as well as the meat and grain He Zhiran had secretly taken out of the space¡ªalthough it was the hot summer, the temperature on the mountain was naturally lower than at the foot of the mountain. The caves were even cooler, practically natural storage rooms.


    The ingredients left in the caves could easily be kept fresh for days.


    When Mo Jiuye arrived with his men, those old subordinates had just finished breakfast and were sitting together discussing how the Mo Family had not mistreated them, and had actually prepared so much delicious food for them.


    Seeing the Mo brothers arrive, the old subordinates crowded around.


    Although they had arrived in the Northwest yesterday and heard that the Mo brothers and the old Duke were still alive, they had only seen a few people.


    Meng Huaining knew the Mo Family had important things to deal with today, so he had given Mo Chuhan a long vacation.


    Therefore, the nine Mo brothers appeared before the old subordinates this morning.


    Seeing the nine Mo masters, the old subordinates'' eyes were brimming with tears, and some had already started sobbing loudly.


    Wang Kai clutched Mo Junrui''s hand tightly.


    "Master, if you hadn''t saved me back then and brought me to the barracks to train, I''m afraid I would have died on the road fleeing from the famine.


    The reason I stayed in the South was that I hoped to see the enemies who harmed you die one day, so I could go to your graves and tell you the news.


    When I heard that you were still alive, I didn''t even dare to rest, for fear that I would wake up and find it was all a dream."


    Although these people were all insignificant soldiers, the Mo brothers had never treated them as subordinates when leading troops, but as their own good brothers.


    Hearing Wang Kai''s words now, everyone present had reddened eyes, and several could not help crying loudly.


    Mo Junrui beckoned for several brothers toe forward andfort everyone. After the emotions had stabilized, Mo Jiuye solemnly said:


    "You must have heard from Seventh Brother on the way back to the Northwest that the Mo Family is currently beset by enemies on all sides.


    When I went to the South on business not long ago and passed through the South, I saw some brothers go to my father and brothers'' graves to pay respects.


    I knew then that you were not doing well in the barracks, so I thought that one day I would take you away from there.


    Who would have thought that at this time, my Mo Family would be in peril again. I had intended to let everyone rest for a few days, but the enemies won''t give us time to rest. Regrettably, I can only ask everyone to start training today."


    As he finished speaking, Mo Jiuye took a semi-automatic crossbow from Tao Ran and showed it to everyone.


    Before Mo Jiuye could exin the details of the semi-automatic crossbow, someone asked, "Master Nine, are these crossbow bolts?


    I''ve seen the Emperor''s imperial guards holding simr weapons.


    It''s said that the range of these crossbows is much longer than bows and arrows, and they''re also more urate."


    "This is indeed a crossbow, but it''s very different from the ones you''ve seen." Mo Jiuye said.


    "Master Nine, this crossbow does look much more intricate than the ones used by the imperial guards. What are the differences?" an old subordinate asked.


    Many of them had seen crossbows in public, and knew these were extremely rare, with reportedly only a hundred or so in the entire Da Shun Dynasty.


    Yet each person behind the Mo brothers was holding a dozen or so, far exceeding the number of crossbows owned by the Da Shun Dynasty.


    Mo Jiuye did not exin immediately. Instead, he raised the crossbow in his hand, aimed at a flying bird in the sky, and fired several bolts in the blink of an eye.


    At the same time, before anyone could react, three birds of varying sizes fell in front of them.


    The birds all had feathered bolts stuck in them.


    The old subordinates kept rubbing their eyes,pletely disbelief at what had just happened.


    After a long while, someone asked, "Master Nine, if I''m not mistaken, you just fired three bolts in session?"


    Mo Jiuye walked closer so they could examine the semi-automatic crossbow more clearly.


    Just then someone eximed, "Master Nine, there are still a dozen or so bolts in this crossbow?"


    "That''s right. This weapon is called a semi-automatic crossbow. It can continuously fire twenty crossbow bolts," Mo Jiuye said while removing the bolt clip so everyone could see more clearly.


    "Not only that, installing the bolts is extremely easy. Just gently push the clip in and it''s done. You''ll never have a situation of not having time to install bolts when facing the enemy."


    Mo Jiuye slowly pushed the clip containing the bolts back in, under everyone''s gaze.


    He inserted and removed the clip several times, then handed out the semi-automatic crossbows brought for everyone to practice first.


    After all, with nearly a thousand people on the mountain, they could not have brought enough for everyone. Later they would send some people down the mountain to retrieve more.


    His goal now was to let them get acquainted with the semi-automatic crossbow while quickly learning how to use it.


    The bolts inside could be reused. They could spend the next two days practicing their aim.


    What soldier isn''t interested in weapons?


    Even though several people had to share one crossbow, everyone was still extremely excited.


    The semi-automatic crossbow wasn''t difficult to operate. Especially the ones He Zhiran had bought from Taobao Treasure Mall, which came with a sight, so aim wasn''t too big of a concern either.


    As long as their arm strength was sufficient, and they didn''t shake when firing, there basically wouldn''t be any deviation.


    In less than an hour, the soldiers had grasped the use and techniques of the semi-automatic crossbow. All that remained was more practice.


    To get everyone proficient with the semi-automatic crossbow as soon as possible, Mo Jiuye brought more people down the mountain to retrieve enough crossbows and bolts.


    Two dayster when he came to inspect again, the soldiers could hit flying birds in the sky just like him.


    Mo Jiuye was very satisfied with everyone''s progress. Next was to teach them to use explosives.

 Chapter 481: Little White Hurt

    <h4>Chapter 481</h4>


    The bombs were originally stored up the mountain, so they were convenient to retrieve.


    Recently, the Mo Family brothers had been working hard, and even though they had produced thousands of bombs, these things were too precious in their eyes for the soldiers to use them as casually as they would use repeating crossbows when practicing.


    Nevertheless, Mo Jiuye decided to take out fifty bombs for everyone to learn with.


    Bombs were even simpler to use. One only needed to take aim at the target, then light the fuse and throw it.


    The soldiers could understand this with one look.


    Their time training up the mountain was brief, and six days shed by in the blink of an eye.


    Mo Jiuye also exined the specific circumstances clearly to the soldiers, needing them to lie in ambush at the locations outside Yun City he had chosen in advance.


    That night, Mo Jiuye made the arrangements himself, leaving one hundred soldiers led by Third Older Brother behind to conceal themselves all around the Mo Family residence in case of unexpected trouble.


    Mo Jiuye and his other brothers took everyone else and rushed to lie in ambush outside the suburbs of Yun City.


    The ambush locations were chosen together by the Mo Family brothers. This was the only passageway from the Capital City to Yun City.


    On both sides of the passage were continuous, undting mountains, extremely well-suited for concealing troops. Not only so, but the view overlooking the passage was also very good.


    The Mo Family brothers split up to several locations, leading troops to hide themselves in the dark ces, estimating that it would take at most three days before the Empress''s people arrived here.


    When Mo Jiuye came out, he deliberately brought a mini telescope from his wife''s space.


    Aside from that, he also brought Little White along by his side.


    He discovered that Little White really could understand his words. At this time, Little White would definitely be able to render outstanding service.


    After lying in ambush, Mo Jiuye called Little White over.


    "Little White, fly towards the Capital City, just wandering within a hundred li. If you run into any suspicious people, hurry back here fast to notify me."


    "Coo coo..." Little White pped its wings a few times to demonstrate it understood hismand, then it pped high up into the sky, flying towards the direction of the Capital City.


    Theyy in ambush for three days without discovering any suspicious people, nor did Little White bring back any news.


    Second Brother grew somewhat restless. He called his brothers over and spoke heavily, "Now the time based on our conjectures has already passed by a full day. Waiting like this will get us nowhere."


    "What do you think we should do?" Eldest Brother asked.


    "I''m nning to scout towards the Capital City a bit," Second Brother replied, looking towards Mo Jiuye as he spoke.


    "Ninth little brother, I don''t mean to call you out, but are you cing too much trust in a single bird? It might be spiritual, enough to deliver letters, but entrusting it with such a big task of scouting information, do you really feel at ease?


    What if Little White doesn''t understand all this and just flew out to y for a few days? With us lying in ambush here, unable to obtain advance notice of the enemy''s arrival, if those people suddenly pop up and catch us unprepared, wouldn''t that be a tremendous loss?"


    Although Second Brother was usually more hotheaded, at this moment all the brothers felt his words made sense.


    Entrusting the scouting of information to a single bird was not looking too reliable however one thought about it.


    At this moment, Mo Jiuye alsocked confidence in his heart. Little White was quite spirited in his understanding, but after it had left for three days without the slightest bit of news, could it have run into some danger along the way, to the point it was simply unable to send any messages back?


    He had never doubted Little White before, only worried that something might happen to it.


    "In that case, I''ll personally go scout it out."


    "You mustn''t. We still need Ninth Younger Brother here to oversee the bigger picture. Of us brothers, my qinggong is the best, so scouting information should be left to me," Mo Chuhan puffed out his chest and stood out.


    Mo Jiuye also didn''t have any intention to force him. Of the nine brothers, Eighth Brother indeed had the best qinggong, and was most suited for scouting information.


    "Since this is the case, let me trouble Eighth Brother to run a trip. Simrly, you only have to check out the circumstances within a hundred li to be sufficient. Whether or not you obtain any intelligence, you must rush back here by nightfall."


    "Alright, I''ll set off immediately."


    Mo Chuhan had just turned around when Mo Jiuye became aware of a familiar sound.


    Raising his head to look into the sky, it was precisely Little White.


    Only now, Little White''s flying speed was much slower than before, as if it had lost all strength.


    As Mo Jiuye was wondering with puzzlement, Little White lost its bnce in midair, and its tiny body began plummeting downwards from the sky.


    Mo Jiuye instantly circted his qi and leapt upwards, and right before Little White hit the ground, he steadily caught it.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, Little White is injured?" At this moment, Mo Chuhan didn''t leave either, as the brothers all crowded over to examine the situation.


    Mo Jiuye cupped Little White in both hands. He could feel wet stickiness against his palm.


    Right now, Little White appeared extremely feeble, but it still made the effort to let out weak chirps, vigorously facing towards the direction of the Capital City with its head.


    As Little White''s master, Mo Jiuye could of course understand what it was struggling to express.


    Little White was telling him it had already discovered something amiss over there.


    In other words, suspicious people had appeared.


    "Little White has already discovered our target. And it''s extremely obedient. I told it to search within a hundred li, so it certainly wouldn''t have flown beyond that range.


    Therefore I can confirm, those people must be within less than a hundred li from us."


    While exining to his brothers the intelligence Little White brought back, Mo Jiuye also flipped its body over to check its condition.


    Sure enough, Little White had a wound on its belly where it touched his palm. Fresh blood had already dyed its snowy white feathers red.


    To prevent any casualties, Ke Zhiran had prepared ample medicine for them.


    Mo Jiuye lightly squeezed Little White''s body. Little White didn''t demonstrate any reactions of pain.


    He could already confirm Little White only had that one injury on its abdomen.


    Moreover, judging from the look of the wound, it seemed to be a scratch. He deduced Little White must have swerved off course in panic to dodge danger, and its body slid against some hard object somewhere.


    Due to excessive blood loss from the injury, this led to its current feeble state.


    Although the bond between him and Little White was already profoundly deep, he stillcked the means tomunicate with Little White like one could with a human. He simply had no way to inquire about the exact details of how it sustained its injury.


    He took out a cotton ball soaked in iodine and disinfected Little White''s wound, then sprinkled on some anti-inmmatory powder before wrapping up the injury with bandages.


    Right now, Little White had not lost consciousness. Mo Jiuye also fed it some water and food before solemnly speaking to Mo Chuhan,


    "Eighth Brother, since Little White has already brought back urate news, we should also get a clearer grasp of the specific circumstances. So you still have to take a trip out."


    As he spoke, Mo Jiuye nced at the skies.


    "It''s nearly the end of the noon hour right now. If I''m guessing correctly, the road will have many travelers around this time, so a group as conspicuous as them would surely conceal themselves somewhere to wait until nightfall before taking action.


    So when you go scout this time, passing yourself off as an ordinary traveler would do. That way it''ll be less prone to rousing suspicion."


    Having said this much, Mo Jiuye turned around to rifle through the pack he took medicine for Little White from earlier, and took out a fake beard that he stuck on Mo Chuhan''s face.


    Then mimicking how Ke Zhiran disguised himst time, he thickened Eighth Brother''s eyebrows.


    Dressed up like this, even his own family might fail to recognize him without looking closely.

 Chapter 482: The Mohists are not to be messed with

    <h4>Chapter 482</h4>


    Mo Chuhan left, and Mo''s brothers also began to be on high alert here, waiting for him to bring back the news.


    In the anxious wait of everyone, Mo Chuhan finally rushed back when the sky had just darkened.


    Judging from his outfit, he still maintained his original appearance, so it was evident that he had not fought with anyone.


    Mo Chuhan quickly approached the brothers.


    "Those people are indeed not far from us, hiding only eighty li away from here. I waited until they moved before rushing back to deliver the letter.


    It is estimated that it won''t take more than two time periods before they get here.


    Also, their outfits are not the ck clothes and masks that we imagined, but are disguised as ordinarymoners, and they are hiding in multiple ces. If it weren''t for me seeing that their physiques were strong and mighty, and not as weak as ordinarymoners, I would really have been fooled by them.¡±


    Mo Jiuye turned his head towards his subordinates andmanded: "Everyone get into position and prepare to resist the enemy."


    As his words fell, Mo''s brothers took their respective teams of people to ambush ording to their previous ns.


    Mo Jiuye stood at the highest point, using night vision binocrs to check the situation in the distance.


    Two hourster, a group of people did indeed appear on the official road, with at least two hundred people estimated.


    The assassins sent by the Empress were all top masters, so their hearing was naturally not going to be bad.


    Mo''s brothers brought their soldiers to hide separately. Mo Jiuye could not shout loudly to remind them that someone wasing. He took out the signal res that had been prepared in advance, and when those people were about two li away from them, heunched it.


    After the signal re wasunched, its shape was very special. There was no sound at all, only a thin ray of light, just like a meteor streaking across the night sky.


    If you don''t know, you would indeed think it was a meteor.


    Although this was in ancient times, this was a verymon natural phenomenon and would not arouse any suspicion from those people.


    Sure enough, the leader of the assassins just nced at the quickly disappearing ray of light, and then gestured for the people to keep moving forward.


    "Everyone walk faster, we have to arrive at Xi Ling Vige before midnight."


    As the voice fell, he had already taken the lead in using qinggong, and the speed was raised to the extreme. The assassins closely followed him at this speed.


    Soon, the assassins came to the encirclement set up by Mo''s brothers.


    Mo''s brothers and their subordinates were all people who had rolled around on the battlefield, and they were very experienced in ambushing enemies.


    The only difference today was that the enemy all had internal energy martial arts, not like those soldiers on the battlefield who only knew some fist and foot skills and were easy to deal with.


    So what if they have internal martial arts?


    They would still be left with no way to return.


    Mo''s brothers eachmanded their squad of soldiers to take action.


    Countless arrows flew across the night sky and shot towards those assassins.


    The leader of the assassins reacted extremely quickly. Feeling that something was wrong, he shouted loudly to warn, "It''s an ambush, be careful!"


    However, his voice was simply not as fast as the continuous crossbows. As soon as his voice fell, he could hear the sound of people falling down one after another.


    It was toote to warn again, because the second batch of arrows had already shot towards various parts of his body.


    The assassins quickly drew out the soft swords hidden at their waists to resist the dense arrows.


    The leader of the assassins suddenly felt that things were not good, knowing that resisting like this was not a long-term n. Who knows when someone might get careless and get hit by an arrow.


    Like those subordinates behind him - at this time, many of them had already fallen.


    Under these circumstances, the best way was to find the hiding ce of the archers and counterattack.


    However, how could Mo''s brothers possibly give him such an opportunity?


    The arrows were like rain points, shooting at those assassins without stopping, showing no sign of stopping at all.


    The assassins could only desperately resist, and they had no chance to find the location of the hidden people.


    In the blink of an eye, half of the assassins had fallen, and screams were endless.


    Fortunately, this ce was remote with continuous mountain ranges around it and no viges or pedestrians.


    No matter how loudly they screamed, it would not attract anyone''s attention.


    Mo''s brothers hade prepared for the ambush, and they had also considered that the number of people from the capital would not be small. Before leaving, they had brought enough arrows.


    Those soldiers had not experienced the thrill of killing enemies for a long time either. Especially when they saw the increasing numbers of fallen assassins, they also became more and more brave in battle.


    ording to the pre-nned strategy to prevent assassins from quietly escaping, Mo Jiuye led a team of people to secretly nk the assassins from behind.


    Now the assassins could be said to be attacked from both front and back, and it was impossible for those timid ones who wanted to take the opportunity to escape.


    In ten minutes, all the assassins hadpletely fallen to the ground, even if some of them were still alive, they had also been shot full of holes by the crossbow arrows.


    Regarding the origins of these people, Mo¡¯s brothers already knew it well, so there was no need to ask for any confession.


    Mo Jiuye shouted loudly, "Stop!"


    With this order, the soldiers all stopped their actions, and orderly surrounded the assassins from all directions.


    At the same time, the eldest brother had ordered someone to light the torches.


    The torches were lit and the surroundings instantly brightened.


    Looking again at those fallen assassins, they were indeed dressed in ordinary people¡¯s clothes as Mo Chuhan had said, and they were all strong men.


    Without Mo¡¯s brothers ordering them, the soldiers took the initiative to go up and check if they still had any breath - any that were still alive, they would finish off with another knife, ensuring that none survived.


    In the past, after Mo¡¯s brothers and their men had dealt with these assassins, they would have secretly disposed of the corpses and cleaned up the battlefield, making it look like nothing had happened here.


    However, considering that the Empress had gone too far in deceiving people, Mo Jiuye was the first one who did not want to do so anymore.


    He deliberately left the corpses of these assassins here.


    The corpses could be left here, but Mo Jiuye was not careless enough to leave the crossbow arrows shot here as well.


    And most importantly, the money and tokens and other things on those assassins were all taken away.


    The soldiers also understood this reason. They did not need Mo¡¯s brothers to order them. After killing all those assassins, the arrows they shot out were collected without exception.


    Although this ce was not far from Yun City, it was under the jurisdiction of the local government.


    It was believed that the next morning, the Prefect would receive the news that there were more than two hundred corpses here.


    There was no live mouth among the assassins to investigate further even if he wanted to, he could only report the matter to the imperial court.


    By then, the people behind the scenes would surely know what was going on with these assassins.


    So many assassins were wiped out overnight without knowing it, if they wanted to make another move against the Mo family, they would have to carefully weigh their own capabilities.


    Of course, those behind the scenes could only specte that this was done by the Mo family, but they could not do anything openly without any evidence to prove that the Mo family had killed them.


    In short, Mo Jiuye did this to warn Empress and her party.

 Chapter 483: Surely it will be reported to the court.

    <h4>Chapter 483</h4>


    With the cunning and craftiness of the Empress''s father, the Prime Minister Xue, he would certainly realize the severity of the situation and clearly see that the Mo Family is not without the power to fight him now. Without assurance of victory, he would not dare to recklessly take action against the Mo Family again.


    After all, he had spent huge efforts cultivating those death warriors, so if they were all lost here, he would likely face a crisis of having no capable men in the future.


    As such, the Mo Family could enjoy a temporary respite for some time.


    It was not the Mo Family''s style to passively take hits. They would choose the right time to go to the capital and turn the tables!


    After confirming that none of the death warriors had survived, Mo Jiuye finally gave the order for the troops to gradually return to Xi Ling Vige.


    On the way back, the soldiers seemed exceptionally excited.


    This was their first time achieving such an easy victory, especially since their enemies were all martial arts masters, yet under their barrage of crossbow bolts, the enemies did not even have a chance to fight back.


    Regrettably, Ninth Master had instructed earlier for the soldiers not to use explosives unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, those death warriors would not even have leftplete corpses behind...


    Although Meng Huaining did not participate throughout the Mo Family''s ambush operation this time, the Mo brothers did not hide their ns from him when they were discussing tactics.


    As such, he was very clear about the details of the Mo Family''s ambush setup.


    Since he was a schr, he tended to overthink things more. Mo Jiuye and his men had been away for longer than expected. This not only caused worry among the Mo Family members staying behind in Xi Ling Vige, even he felt somewhat anxious.


    Although it waste into the night, Meng Huaining simply could not rest easy.


    After coaxing his delicate little wife to sleep, he tidied himself up and headed towards the entrance of the mountain foot.


    Meng Huaining would not rashly go over to check on the situation at Mo Jiuye and the others¡¯ ambush point. He only wanted to wait here to get the news of their return at the first instance.


    Standing under the moonlight and listening to the chorus of frogs in the surroundings, Meng Huaining silently stood there for more than two hours.


    Finally, just as he was preparing to head back, he heard faint footstepsing from the direction of the vige.


    Those soldiers would continue resting up in the mountains, so they still took the same path down that they first came by. The ones appearing before Meng Huaining¡¯s eyes now were only the Mo brothers and Liang Hao and the others.


    Not daring to inquire loudly, Meng Huaining walked over to meet Mo Jiuye¡¯s group instead.


    ¡°Ninth brother, did everything go smoothly?¡±


    Mo Jiuye nodded. ¡°Yes. Other than their arrival being slightlyter than expected, everything else went very smoothly.


    Also, I deliberately did not move those death warriors¡¯ corpses, leaving them for the prefectural authorities to handle first thing tomorrow morning.¡±


    Meng Huaining was clever. Naturally, he understood Mo Jiuye¡¯s intentions for leaving the death warriors¡¯ corpses behind.


    ¡°Tomorrow at first light when the Prefectural Magistrate discovers so many corpses in his jurisdiction, he will surely order the surrounding county magistrates toe help investigate. I¡¯ll head to the scene then too. I¡¯ll send any updates back at the first instant if there are any developments over there.¡±


    ¡°Mm. With a case of such magnitude urring, I believe that Prefect wouldn¡¯t dare conceal it and will surely report it to the imperial court.¡± Having said that, Mo Jiuye walked towards home.


    He was cradling Little White in his arms right now. Its body was burning hot, and was bing increasingly feeble.


    He feared Little White would suffer any mishaps and wanted to hurry back for his wife to treat it.


    Meng Huaining knew the elder Mo brothers must be exhausted after lying in ambush for several continuous days. He did not intend to disturb them much, satisfied just seeing them return safely.


    Although He Zhiran did not doubt the Mo brothers¡¯ ability to defeat enemies, Mo Jiuye had been gone for a good number of days this time. Even with her faith in him, it was inevitable that she would still be concerned.


    To prevent being unaware when Mo Jiuye returned, He Zhiran did not rest in the space with the kids these past couple of days. Also, she tended to be a light sleeper, able to hear even the slightest sound outside.


    Just after feeding the two little ones, she heard footsteps at the door. Very quickly, the room door was pushed open.


    Knowing his wife¡¯s habit of being a light sleeper, especially when he was not home, Mo Jiuye softly said the moment he pushed the door open, ¡°Ranran, I¡¯m back.¡±


    He Zhiran promptly sat up. ¡°Husband, how did things go?¡±


    Mo Jiuye strode over to her side.


    ¡°Ranran, things went very smoothly. I¡¯ll tell you the detailster. Take a look at Little White first, it¡¯s injured.¡±


    ¡°Little White is injured? Let me see quickly.¡±


    At the end of He Zhiran¡¯s words, their family of four along with Little White appeared in the space.


    The two little ones continued sleeping soundly in their cribs. Rice Ball liked them a lot and would take the initiative to watch over them without its masters needing to instruct it. This spared He Zhiran a lot of trouble.


    Whenever she walked too far away, even if the little ones woke up, Rice Ball would immediately run over to notify her.


    She brought Mo Jiuye and Little White to the medical room. After examination, He Zhiran felt somewhat more at ease.


    She first fed Little White some glucose for it to swiftly recover its strength.


    Then she redressed its wounds while exining to Mo Jiuye at the same time.


    ¡°Little White has an infected wound which led to its fever. Its current weakness is probably due to excessive blood loss from the wound. I¡¯ll apply medication on itter and nurse it for several days. It should be fine.¡±


    For the Mo Jiuye couple, Little White was a great contributor that had helped them tremendously recently.


    Moreover, they thought very highly of this little fellow¡¯s loyalty. Neither wanted any mishaps befalling it.


    Fortunately, after He Zhiran applied medication for Little White, its temperature soon recovered to normal. It was just somewhat feeble for the time being.


    Animals inherently possessed regenerative capabilities. It was believed that Little White would quickly recuperate.


    ...


    The Mo Family resolved this crisis inexplicably. The family enjoyed temporary peace.


    The Prefectural Magistrate, however, was scared witless.


    People of ancient times did not have much nightlife and generally cultivated the habit of sleeping early and waking early.


    Manymoners would get out of bed before daylight. Especially during this season, many vegetables grown in their family gardens were already ripe. To earn a bit of money, farmers would carry their vegetables early into the city to sell.


    The official road where the Mo Family massacred the Empress¡¯ death warriorsst night was also a necessary route for manymoners entering the city.


    And so, the Prefectural Magistrate was roused from his sleep before daybreak by people creating a din, with crowds ofmoners continuallying to report a case, saying that over a hundred corpses were discovered on the official road leading towards Yun City.


    The Prefectural Magistrate was still dazed with sleep then. He felt this was an enormously ridiculous joke.


    But with more and more peopleing to report the case, he could no longer disbelieve it even if he wanted to.


    The Prefectural Magistrate rushed to the scene with his men, paling with fright upon arrival.


    This was way more than just over a hundred dead. At least over two hundred...


    He was just a minor Prefectural Magistrate. How could he have seen such a major case before?


    The Prefectural Magistrate promptly sent men to notify the county magistrates of the surrounding counties toe assist in investigations.


    Having gotten early notice of the matter, Meng Huaining was well prepared.


    After splitting off from several uncles, he rushed to the Yamen to wait for the Prefectural Magistrate''s mening to notify him. As a result, he was the first county magistrate to arrive at the scene. His only purpose was to not miss any slightest details and updates.

 Chapter 484: Sweet Potato

    <h4>Chapter 484</h4>


    When Meng Huaining arrived at the scene of the crime, he could tell that the Prefectural Magistrate was in a state of panic.


    Upon seeing Meng Huaining, the Prefectural Magistrate forgot to maintain his dignity in front of his subordinates and with a tearful voice said,


    "Mister Meng, take a look, take a look. What are we going to do?"


    Meng Huaining also pretended to be startled.


    "Your Excellency, why have so many people been killed?"


    "I don''t know either. I was called here while I was still asleep..."


    At this moment, the Prefectural Magistrate felt overwhelmed. If someone could help him handle this matter, he would dly obey.


    Meng Huaining also understood his intention and reminded him after a while, "Your Excellency, considering the magnitude of this incident, should we report it to the court?"


    These words were like a sudden realization for the Prefectural Magistrate.


    "You''re right, we should report it to the court."


    The Prefectural Magistrate wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and continued, "But with so many people dead, even if we report it to the court, we need to have an exnation, don''t we?"


    "Does Your Excellency mean that we should investigate and find the culprit before reporting?" Meng Huaining spoke in a calm tone, but inside, he was mocking the Prefectural Magistrate''s ipetence.


    To hold the position of Prefectural Magistrate, one must have some level of intelligence. However, it wasn''t surprising that the Prefectural Magistrate would be at a loss when faced with such a major incident.


    After conversing with Meng Huaining for a while, the Prefectural Magistrate had calmed down somewhat.


    He instructed his subordinates, "Go and investigate the cause of death for these people."


    Seeing this, Meng Huaining couldn''t help but curl his lips.


    Was it necessary to investigate the cause of death for these people?


    They were covered in wounds, bloodstains everywhere. It was obvious that they had been beaten to death.


    In this situation, the investigation would only reveal the type of weapon used to kill them and whether there were any traces of the culprit nearby.


    Although he inwardly criticized, Meng Huaining didn''t show it. He wished for the Prefectural Magistrate to remain clueless!


    It would be best if nothing could be found, and when reporting to the court, he could only say that over two hundred people were killed on the official road.


    After all, the Mo Family''s purpose in not cleaning up the battlefield was to give a show of force to the Queen''s faction. As long as the effect could be achieved, the process was not important at all.


    After searching and investigating, the Prefectural Magistrate''s men could only determine that these people were killed by random arrows and some had knife wounds. As for any clues, it could be said that there were none.


    Although there were countless footprints on the ground, on the official road, there were already numerous passersby. These footprints couldn''t be considered as clues to finding the culprit.


    The Prefectural Magistrate had no idea about this matter to begin with. He could only reluctantly write a report to the court, stating that a major murder case had urred under his jurisdiction, with a death toll of over two hundred and a very cunning culprit who left no traces.


    He tentatively concluded that it might have been bandits from the surrounding area who attacked and injured the people.


    As for whether there were bandits in the vicinity, the Prefectural Magistrate had no knowledge. But when submitting the report to the capital, he couldn''t possibly say that these people died under mysterious circumstances without even suspecting anyone. The Emperor would surely consider him ipetent.


    Meng Huaining personally apanied the Prefectural Magistrate back to the yamen and helped him write the report. He watched as the messengers took the letter and left. It was no longer his concern as to how those bodies would be handled.


    As long as everything proceeded ording to the Mo Family''s n, it would be fine.


    Instead of going to the yamen, he went straight back to Xi Ling Vige and informed Mo Jiuye of the news.


    Mo Jiuye had the same idea. They were not yet prepared to go to the capital, and he nned to listen to the news from Nan Rui or Fei Nanyu in the capital before making any decisions.


    The events of today were unfolding as he had anticipated, so it was best to wait and see for now.


    After this incident, life for the Mo family returned to its usual calmness. However, the soldiers on the mountain continued their training without any ck. Besides Mo Jiuye, his older brothers also joined them on the mountain for training every day.


    Mo Jiuye himself was also busy. He had to take care of all the big and small matters at home while He Zhiran was in confinement.


    For example, the sweet potatoes they nted in the fields this year had ripened. With all the old members of the family training on the mountain, he had to go to the vige to hire people to help with the digging.


    Because the seeds were from a space, the crops were not affected by climate or soil conditions. The sweet potatoes they dug out were unusuallyrge. Mo Jiuye specifically checked the yield per mu and was astonished to find that it reached over 5,000 catties, almost the same as the yield in his wife''s space.


    To verify the quality, Mo Jiuye set up a bonfire in the field and roasted the sweet potatoes in front of everyone.


    The aroma of the ripe sweet potatoes attracted a crowd of onlookers.


    He intended to share these roasted sweet potatoes with everyone, so he didn''t hold back. Besides, they had nted thirty mu of sweet potatoes at home, yielding over one hundred thousand catties. There was more than enough for everyone to eat.


    Mo Jiuye distributed the roasted sweet potatoes to the vigers who had helped with the work.


    If it were spring, the vigers wouldn''t have understood the strange things the Mo family was nting and might have thought they were wasting arablend due to their wealth and whims.


    However, after the Mo family sessively harvested some vegetables and fruits, they no longer had such thoughts.


    The vigers had participated in many of the Mo family''s harvests and had tasted a bit of everything. Every kind of food was delicious, far beyond their imagination.


    Therefore, when Mo Jiuye shared the roasted sweet potatoes with them, apart from the enticing aroma, based on their experience with the previously matured foods from the Mo family, they knew that these sweet potatoes would be extraordinary.


    It was not an exaggeration to say that the sweet potatoes from the space were even sweeter than the candies of this era and had a strong satiating effect.


    Anyone who tasted the sweet potatoes would give a thumbs up in praise.


    "Jiuye, these sweet potatoes are so delicious. They must be worth a lot, right?" a member of the Zhao family asked.


    When the Mo family was nting in the spring, their n leader had kindly advised Mo Jiuye not to mess around and avoid wasting arablend.


    The northwest region''s barrenness was not just a casual remark. It was mainly because the soil quality of the region''s arablend was poor, and the grain yield was far lower than in other areas.


    However, today theypletely overturned this perception. It wasn''t that their arablend was bad; it was that they didn''t have such good seeds.


    Take the sweet potato, for example. Its yield reaches an astonishing five thousand kilograms per mu, surpassing the wheat and sorghum they cultivate by dozens of times.


    Moreover, the taste of sweet potatoes is indescribably delightful.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had already promised Meng Huaining that they were willing to sell corn and sweet potato seeds to the government forrge-scale cultivation by the people of Yun City in theing year.


    Therefore, there was no need for them to keep it a secret.


    "Sweet potatoes have a high yield, so naturally, the price will be very affordable.


    I have already promised Mr. Meng that we will keep some of these sweet potatoes for ourselves, and sell the rest to the government, hoping that next year, all the families in Yun City can nt them together."


    "Old Nine, are you telling the truth? Are you willing to share such good sweet potato seeds?"


    The vigers of Zhao Family were thrilled and almost rushed forward to hug him, but fortunately, Mo Jiuye dodged in time.

 Chapter 485: Living Up to God’s Gift.

    <h4>Chapter 485</h4>


    Mo Jiuye stepped back and smiled at the vigers, "Of course it''s true."


    Just as the vigers wanted to inquire further, Meng Huaining came over with several officials.


    He had known since he took office today that the Mo family was going to dig up sweet potatoes today.


    As Mo Jiuye''s son-inw, sweet potatoes were not unfamiliar to him, and He Zhiran had also said that sweet potatoes were not only delicious and filling, but also had extremely high yields.


    He had specially arranged the yamen''s affairs early today and brought people back to check.


    As soon as he reached the edge of the field, he smelled the familiar sweet and sweet smell.


    "Ninth brother, are you roasting sweet potatoes?"


    Mo Jiuye threw the roasted sweet potato he was holding to him.


    Meng Huaining deftly caught it. Although it was still a little hot, he couldn''t wait to take a bite.


    "Ninth Brother, roasted sweet potatoes are delicious, and I can never eat enough."


    Meng Huaining smiled and sat beside Mo Jiuye. This move made the officials who followed him somewhat dumbfounded.


    Their adults had always been very serious, so they had always thought that he simply couldn''t smile.


    What did they see now?


    Their master smiled so unrestrained, simply a far cry from his usual self.


    Meng Huaining didn''t care what his subordinates were thinking. Although he was eating happily, he didn''t forget the purpose of his hurry back.


    "Ninth Brother, how''s the yield of sweet potatoes?"


    When it came to the yield of sweet potatoes, a kind of proud expression automatically appeared on Mo Jiuye''s face.


    Pointing to the pile of sweet potatoes on the ground, he said, "Did you see that? These are all produced by one mu ofnd. We just carefully weighed them, and the yield per mu can reach five thousand catties."


    "Ninth brother, did you say that sweet potatoes can reach five thousand catties per mu?"


    Meng Huaining waspletely no longer calm at this point, and he stopped eating the sweet potato in his hand and stood up with a swoosh.


    "Ninth Brother, we have agreed that all these sweet potatoes will be provided to the government for seeds next year."


    He was afraid that Mo Jiuye would go back on his word, and his tone was extremely serious when he spoke.


    Of course, Mo Jiuye would never go back on a promise.


    Moreover, the couple also discovered a problem that grain crops produced by the space, such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and rice, etc., even if they were nted and harvested with seeds from the outside, they would not decrease production when rented next year.


    In contrast, those delicious fruits and some vegetables from the mountains were just the opposite. The seeds collected from cultivation outside would decrease production by a lot.


    Originally, they had thought that after the sweet potatoes were harvested, they would quietly exchange some of them with the inventory in the space.


    Now it seems that this humanized rule really helped the couple avoid a big trouble.


    Otherwise, they would have to find a way to get seeds out of the space every year. Now it''s good, the seeds of these high-yielding crops nted outside are fine.


    "Don''t worry, 100,000 catties of these sweet potatoes will be provided to the government. We will keep the rest to earn some profits, but on the condition that after the government has collected these sweet potatoes, they cannot be sold on the market before nting next year. "


    Meng Huaining did not know the background of Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran. He only thought that the Mo family''s source of ie was just these things on the surface.


    Especially since the Mo family now raises so many private troops, they must be very tight on money.


    If it weren''t for the livelihood of themon people, he certainly wouldn''t bring it up.


    He had originally thought that Ninth Brother would only give a small portion to the government as seeds for next year. He didn''t expect that Ninth Brother would support him so much and offer 100,000 catties of sweet potato seeds in one mouth. This was more than half of the Mo family¡¯s sweet potato production!


    Thinking of this, Meng Huaining solemnly saluted Mo Jiuye with his fists.


    "Ninth Brother, on behalf of the people of Yuncheng, I thank you and Ninth Sister for your great righteousness."


    At first, he still wanted to ask Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister for chili seeds to help the people of Yuncheng get high ie.


    Seeing the bumper harvest scene of sweet potatoes now,pared with chili, it was much more beneficial for the people¡¯s livelihood.


    Selling chili was silver, and if it couldn''t be sold in a few days, it would be a pile of mud.


    Sweet potatoes were not only delicious, but more importantly, they could fill the stomach. If themoners could store some sweet potatoes to get through the winter, they would at least not starve to death.


    Although Mo Jiuye was not an official in the court, he did not want to see themon people living in hunger and cold. He didn''t feel anything about this.


    Moreover, his wife also said that the space was a gift from heaven, and she also wanted to follow the will of heaven and try her best to help those in need, only in this way could she not fail the gift from heaven.


    "Alright, we are all family, and it is right for me to help you. Yuncheng has now greatly improved under your governance. In the future, themon people will be able to fill their stomachs, which is also what we are happy to see."


    Meng Huaining was in a hurry, and when he heard Mo Jiuye say that the sweet potatoes could be transported now, he was so excited that he even forgot to discuss the price. He turned around and ordered his men,


    "You guys hurry back to the yamen immediately, bring all the officials here, and every ox cart in the city without exception.¡±


    This was the first time Ma Junshan saw his master act so unorganized.


    He couldn''t help but remind, "Sir, weren''t you still pondering the price of sweet potatoes on the way here? Are you sure you want to ship them away now?"


    Reminded, Meng Huaining suddenly realized that he was indeed overly excited.


    Feeling a little embarrassed, he looked at Mo Jiuye with a red face, "Ninth Brother, I got too excited in my joy that I actually forgot to ask about the price."


    When Mo Jiuye promised to provide sweet potato seeds to the government at first, the reason why he did not mention the price was because he was still unsure about the yield of sweet potatoes.


    Before organizing people to dig up sweet potatoes, he and He Zhiran had already discussed that if the acreage yield of sweet potatoes exceeded 3,000 catties, they would sell it to the government at cost.


    Of course, as seeds, the price must be higher than that of ordinary grains.


    ording to the price of modern sweet potatoes, high-yielding ordinary sweet potatoes are priced at around 3 yuan per catty in the market, which is equivalent to the purchasing power of 3 copper coins in this era.


    That is to say, the price of sweet potatoes only needs to be 3 cents per catty.


    However, sweet potatoes were the first to appear in the Da Shun Dynasty and even the surrounding countries, so the price could not be as low as 3 cents per catty.


    Moreover, the price of seeds still had to be several times higher than that of grains themselves.

 Chapter 486: I will thank the nine brother and nine sister-in-law for the people of Yuncheng

    <h4>Chapter 486</h4>


    In addition, he also had to consider the sweet potato business that would be left behind. After weighing things from both sides, Mo Jiuye and his wife decided that as long as the yield reached 3,000 catties per mu, they would set the price at 20 wen per catty for the government.


    Don''t look down on the price of just 20 wen per catty. 100,000 catties of sweet potatoes was still a considerable ie in the eyes of the farmers.


    You have to know that the most expensive pork in this era only cost seventeen or eighteen wen per catty.


    This was also only when selling to the government. Ordinarymoners still could not afford it.


    "Brother-inw, my wife and I have already discussed the sweet potato seeds. Since this is the first year of production, we still need to take care of our family''s sweet potato business, so the price can''t be less than 20 wen per catty."


    100,000 catties of sweet potatoes was 2,000 taels of silver.


    This amount of silver was nothing to Mo Jiuye and his wife. They didn''t expect to make much money from farming in the first ce.


    But it looked very different in the eyes of others.


    Especially those vigers who had been toiling in the fields their whole lives. Although they were slow at calcting, after discussing together, they also understood the value of these sweet potatoes.


    Before Meng Huaining could react, those vigers were no longerposed.


    "If I didn''t miscalcte, the sweet potatoes collected by the government are worth 2,000 taels, right?"


    "My calctions are the same as yours, also 2,000 taels."


    "Oh my god, the Mo family is going to strike it rich!"


    "The crops from thirty mu ofnd can sell for so much silver. If this farnd was in our hands, forget about 2,000 taels, we''d have to thank the heavens if we had 20 taels of silver left!"


    "We were too timid back then. We were hesitant about everything. With Old Nine''s boldness, if we had asked to buy some seeds from him and nted even just three mu ofnd, wouldn''t we also have an ie of 200 taels?"


    For ordinarymoners, what did 200 taels represent?


    It was something they could not attain in their entire lifetime...


    Mo Jiuye did not pay any attention to the vigers'' discussions. After all, he and He Zhiran had already contributed the sweet potatoes.


    Whether they could nt them next spring was something the county magistrate Meng Huaining had to worry about.


    After Mo Jiuye announced the price of the sweet potatoes, Meng Huaining was silent for a long time without responding. Mo Jiuye thought he was having difficulties with the silver payment.


    "Brother-inw, does the yamen not have enough silver? Don''t worry if you don''t have enough for now. You can owe it to me first."


    Yunchang County yamen was indeed poor. Fortunately, Meng Huaining was not a corrupt official. He would never embezzle a cent of the tax silver.


    Because of this, Yunchang still had enough tax silver to buy these sweet potato seeds.


    After all, he was the Mo family''s son-inw. Although he stayed out of many matters, it did not mean he was unaware of things.


    For any crops produced on the Mo family''snd, which would not be sold at an exorbitant price when they reached Tang Mingrui''s hands?


    Meng Huaining felt that although the Mo family''s sweet potato yield was higher and they were selling to the government, the price would still be slightly cheaper. He had already prepared to be shameless. If the sweet potato price exceeded the amount of tax silver, he would thicken his skin to discuss with his ninth older brother, whether it was owing money or something else, in short he had to try his best to buy these sweet potato seeds.


    As a result, the price per catty set by Mo Jiuye turned out to be only 20 wen. This waspletely unexpected by Meng Huaining.


    Before Mo Jiuye announced the price, Meng Huaining had also guessed it in his mind.


    He felt the sweet potatoes would be priced at least 50 wen per catty by his ninth older brother.


    "Ninth older brother, is this price workable?"


    What he meant was, did Mo Jiuye purposely set the price so low in order to amodate him?


    Mo Jiuye knew what Meng Huaining was trying to express. Heughed and patted thetter on the shoulder.


    "Don''t worry, this price was set by your sister-inw."


    Meng Huaining was not the sentimental type either. He knew this was his ninth older brother and sister-inw''s way of supporting him.


    "If that''s the case, I will thank ninth older brother and sister-inw on behalf of Yunchang''smoners."


    Having said that, he turned around to face the yamen runners again.


    "Why are you still dawdling? Hurry back and prepare oxcarts!"


    Although the yamen runners did not know the exact value of the sweet potatoes, they could tell from their superior''s expression that the government had gotten a good deal this time.


    They looked longingly at the half-eaten baked sweet potatoes in people''s hands, reluctantly turning around to quickly leave and take care of things.


    Meng Huaining did not stay any longer either. With the sweet potatoes priced so low by his ninth older brother, he had to adhere to taking money in one hand and goods in the other. Only then could his heart be at ease.


    Following the footsteps of those yamen runners, Meng Huaining also headed back to Yunchang.


    The Mo family did not conceal from the vigers who had helped with thebor that they were selling sweet potatoes to the government. As a result, news that the Mo family had earned 2,000 taels from sweet potatoes quickly spread through the vige.


    Not only that, there were also exaggerated praises about the delicious taste of the sweet potatoes.


    At the same time, Mo Jiuye also sent someone to the city to bring Tang Mingrui over.


    He and He Zhiran still adhered to their previous profit-making principle, keeping a low profile and only acting as the suppliers in the background.


    Tang Mingrui had never resisted anything produced by the Mo family. Even though it was already dark when he received the message, he still rushed over urgently.


    Mo Jiuye understood Tang Mingrui the most. He was a business fanatic. As long as it was rted to business, he was more enthusiastic than anyone.


    Although it was a bitte when he sent someone to notify Tang Mingrui, he could be certain that thetter would stille to the Mo family no matter howte it was.


    Indeed, when the Mo family was just starting dinner, Tang Mingrui arrived.


    Because Mo Jiuye had anticipated Tang Mingrui''s arrival, he had specifically instructed Yu''er to cook several dishes using sweet potatoes as ingredients tonight.


    Tang Mingrui was familiar with the Mo family. He would certainly join in for dinner without any hesitation, moreover the Mo family''s meals were the most delicious he had eaten in his life. Even therge restaurant he owned could notpare.


    After greeting the Mo family elders and older brothers, Tang Mingrui sat next to Mo Jiuye.


    Although he had tasted sweet potatoes at the Mo family before, this was still his first time seeing so many foods made from sweet potatoes.


    The most eye-catching dish was shredded sweet potatoes.


    Mo Jiuye personally demonstrated for him.


    He was seen picking up a shred of shredded sweet potato, pulling out long fine strands, then dipping it in cold water before putting it in his mouth.


    This was Tang Mingrui''s first time seeing a dish that could be pulled into strands and had to be dipped in cold water before eating. He became even more curious about this dish.


    On his rushed way here, the person who had invited him had already said that the Mo family''s sweet potatoes were mature today and he was invited toe discuss sweet potato business. So he could ascertain that Mo Jiuye specially introduced this dish to emphasize it was made from sweet potatoes.


    In any case, try it first before saying anything else.


    Tang Mingrui imitated Mo Jiuye''s actions and ate a shred of shredded sweet potato.

 Chapter 487: I will not be polite to Brother Nine

    <h4>Chapter 487</h4>


    For Tang Mingrui, peeling and eating sweet potatoes was definitely a new experience.


    The cuisine of the Da Shun Dynasty was generally salty, so such a sweet and delicious dish was the first time he had tasted it.


    He ran a restaurant business and knew customers'' tastes best. Many women and children preferred sweetness.


    The chef of the restaurant had also specially researched two sweet dishes, although those two dishes were indeed very popr with women and children,pared with this sweet potato shreds, the taste and texture were not that different, it can be said that there is a world of difference.


    "Ninth brother, can you sell me the cooking method for this dish?"


    "The cooking method is given to you for free," Mo Jiuye answered without any hesitation.


    Because this was what his wife had instructedst night.


    In her previous life, He Zhiran had also read transmigration novels. Many female protagonists earned their first bucket of gold by selling recipes.


    Although the recipes sold could reach more than a thousand taels at most, she did not intend to do so, especially when the person who needed the recipe was Tang Mingrui.


    The two of them had always cooperated in doing business, and Tang Mingrui was very frank with the Mo family, and did not take small tricks in the profit sharing because the Mo family did not participate in the business.


    Such a cooperative partner, He Zhiran felt, was rare and precious. Besides, they didn¡¯t care about the tiny profit from selling recipes.


    In order to sell sweet potatoes at a higher price, good cooking methods must be used to match them.


    Having more contact with Mo Jiuye, Tang Mingrui also knew what kind of character he was. No matter how much he opposed, it would not have much effect on whatever the husband and wife said.


    "Since this is the case, I won''t be polite with Ninth Brother anymore. I will try my best to create higher profits with sweet potatoes in the future and give Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister a share of the profits."


    Mo Jiuye liked dealing with such refreshing people.


    "Well, the profits from sweet potatoes are for both our families, so Brother Tang doesn''t have to consider the issue of recipes."


    As the two men talked, Lan Er and Yu Er served another bowl of sweet potato porridge to each person.


    After Tang Mingrui tasted it, he kept praising it.


    Not only that, there were also sweet potato cakes and fried sweet potato dumplings on the table.


    No matter what it was, it was absolutely top notch delicacy for Tang Mingrui.


    After the meal, Mo Jiuye had a private conversation with Tang Mingrui in a room to discuss the sweet potato business in detail.


    Since the cooperation with Tang Mingrui was in the form of profit sharing, neither party had to care about the cost of sweet potatoes. Mo Jiuye also did not conceal the price at which he sold sweet potatoes to the government as seeds.


    Especially since here Tang Mingrui could only get a one-year exclusive deal for sweet potatoes.


    Because from next year, themon people of Yun City would grow sweet potatoes on arge scale. When the sweet potatoes matured, they would no longer be a rare food item in Yun City.


    By then, if Tang Mingrui still wanted to make big money by using sweet potatoes, there would almost be no such possibility.


    Tang Mingrui also understood this truth clearly. He was not greedy. After all, there were still many good things from the Mo family. Just these 50,000 catties of sweet potatoes, he couldpletely make a fortune.


    Moreover, Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister had mentioned that the fruit trees on Mo family¡¯s mountain would have arge yield next year.


    He had also tasted many kinds of Mo¡¯s fruits. No matter which one, it wasparable to the delicacies of the world.


    There was also the jewelry business that Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister had mentioned before. A product called milk powder could also be processed. It was said that the milk powder was very beneficial for preservation. Just add hot water to reconstitute it.


    In short, there were countless businesses he could cooperate with the Mo family, and he would not be discouraged because the crazy profit of sweet potatoes would onlyst for one year.


    Tang Mingrui was in a good mood. At the same time, he still maintained his usual business style without wasting a moment.


    The next day, he brought the chef of the restaurant to Xiling Vige, and was taught by Yu''er several cooking methods of sweet potato dishes.


    The cooking methods of sweet potato dishes were not very difficult. The main advantage was that the dishes were novel.


    While the chef was learning, Tang Mingrui also took people to carry away several carts of sweet potatoes.


    After being busy for four or five days, all the sweet potatoes in Mojia fields were taken away by Meng Huaining and Tang Mingruipletely.


    As for their own family''s consumption, they didn''t need to worry at all. He Zhiran¡¯s space had as many as needed.


    Time passed quickly. At the beginning of August, there was a lively scene in Mo family again.


    It was the one month celebration banquet for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran¡¯s twins.


    Considering what had happened recently, ording to Mo family¡¯s intention, they would simplify the one month celebration banquet for the two babies.


    Simplifying didn¡¯t mean not celebrating it, they just wanted to have fun with their own family members.


    But they couldn¡¯t decline the vigers'' enthusiasm. They had already sent gifts and congrattions early.


    Under such circumstances, it would be unreasonable not to hold a few tables to treat everyone.


    Therefore, on the day when the two babies turned one month old, Mo¡¯s family held a banquet again to entertain rtives and friends.


    This day was not only the one month celebration for the twins, but also the ripening time for Mo family¡¯s corn.


    Otherwise, Mo Jiuye would have organized manpower to harvest corn a day or two ago.


    However, Mojia¡¯s banquet today was very different from usual.


    The staple food was not the usual rice and steamed buns, but reced with corn cakes, corn porridge, and boiled corn.


    In addition to these staple foods, two dishes used corn as an ingredient.


    One dish was pine nut corn, which was a verymon modern dish.


    The other one had corn as one of the ingredients for the hot pot.


    The reason why Mo¡¯s family chose to make so many kinds of food with corn was for one purpose only, which was to let the people attending the banquet today understand this kind of high-yielding and delicious food well.


    Sure enough, the effect was amazing.


    The vigers of Xiling Vige regretted when they heard that this was something they had persuaded Mo family not to grow. One by one, they hated to p themselves.


    Especially when they heard from Mo Jiuye that the delicious corn could yield more than 1,000 catties per mu, they wished they could hit their mouths.


    Especially Zhao Lijing, he suddenly felt a sense of guilt.


    He was the one who objected most strongly when Mo family was going to grow these crops in early spring. So today he lost the most face.


    Let alone anything else, just the corn cakes alone tasted much better than the coarse flour cakes they usually ate.


    Boiled corn and corn porridge tasted more and more fragrant as you ate them. Such delicious food with such a high yield.


    If he could have believed Mo Jiuye earlier and encouraged vigers to grow some together, let alone how much these corn would worth in silver, at least there wouldn¡¯t be worry of starving in winter at home.


    The more Zhao Lijing thought about it, the more annoyed he was, to the point that from the beginning to the end of the banquet he didn''t say much.


    In contrast to him were Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai.


    Because they believed in Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, they followed suit without hesitation to grow corn and sweet potatoes when spring began.


    Needless to say about sweet potatoes. A few days ago when Mo family began organizing manpower to dig them up, their whole families also participated in harvesting.

 Chapter 488: Heaven’s Gift to Mohism

    <h4>Chapter 488</h4>


    They had less farnd and naturally could not nt as much as the Mo family.


    Moreover, their hearts were as clear as a bright mirror. They knew that the crops nted by the Mo family could be exchanged for arge amount of silver. Since the Mo family was kind enough to let them nt together, they certainly could not ruin the Mo family''s business.


    Therefore, without Mo Jiuye having to remind them, the Fang and Xie families automatically stored the harvested sweet potatoes in their own granaries for food during the winter.


    Even so, the two families were already very satisfied.


    They were not nobles now, just people exiled by the emperor. To be able to live such afortable life in the northwest was entirely thanks to the care of the Mo family.


    If they did not know better and took the favor given by the Mo family to seize the family''s business, wouldn''t that be repaying kindness with enmity?


    In short, Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai understood this matter very clearly, and would never do anything detrimental to the Mo family''s interests.


    Moreover, they were really satisfied now. The womenfolk at home made dolls with the Mo family. Not only was the ie high, but it was also stable, allowing the family to have steady ie.


    Except for working in the fields during the busy farming seasons, the men could go out to teach, so although the days were not as glorious as when they were in the capital, they werefortable.


    Hu Cong did not even need to be mentioned. He also nted sweet potatoes and corn with the Mo family. He had mastered the technique of building siheyuan courtyard houses, and his orders were already more than he could handle.


    Moreover, he had so many workers under him who needed a lot of food every day. The sweet potatoes and corn he nted were kept entirely to feed his workers, and he had no intention of selling them at all.


    In short, the corn that appeared at the Mo family banquet today moved everyone present.


    The vigers were even more regretful. The Mo family had not harvested much corn yet, so they did not know the yield.


    Just based on the delicious taste, it had already moved them.


    Although Meng Huaining was anxious to talk to Mo Jiuye about the government purchasing corn seeds, he was not an inappropriate person.


    After all, Jiu Ge and Jiu Mei had already promised him that the Mo family''s high-yielding grains could all be sold to the government as seeds for next year.


    Even if he was anxious, it wouldn''t make a difference in one day. The full month celebration for the nephew and niece was most important.


    Tang Mingrui and Meng Huaining had almost the same thoughts, but they endured without saying anything because of the asion.


    The two little treasures were fast asleep, with Grandma Mo and Madam He holding one each in their arms.


    The weather was neither cold nor hot this season, so there was no need to worry that the little ones would feel ufortable.


    Smoothly giving birth to twins was rare enough in the Great Shun, let alone a boy and a girl like the Mo family. In the eyes of themon people, this matched up to make a good word. The Mo family''s good fortune was limitless.


    They even believed Zhu and Mingzhu were born with good fortune as lucky babies.


    To get a little of the babies'' good luck, everyone wanted to squeeze closer to the two little ones.


    With so many people, there would inevitably be noise even with care.


    Zhu was sleeping soundly in his grandmother''s arms. Feeling something wrong, he frowned and opened his eyes.


    Seeing her cute frowning grandson, Madam Heughed immediately.


    She said to Grandma Mo next to her, "Mother-inw, look, my good grandson is awake, and even knows how to frown."


    Grandma Mo leaned over holding Mingzhu to look. Indeed, as Madam He said, Zhu was frowning at her. He looked clearly unhappy. If it were another child, after frowning they would surely wail loudly.


    However, Zhu did not. He was just unhappy, and would not cry easily like his sister.


    This expression melted the hearts of both elderly women.


    "My good grandson, if you''re unhappy, just cry it out. Don''t force yourself."


    Thinking of her nine sons, every one of them was strong like this since childhood. When they grew up and went to battlefields, no matter how heavily wounded, she had never seen them shed a tear.


    At the time, she as a mother even felt proud that her sons were all emotionally tough, seldom shedding tears.


    What did this toughness bring about?


    It brought about the imperial order exiling the entire Mo family, the new daughters-inw being secretly poisoned as soon as they married in, and the sons being secretly sabotaged one by one...


    The current Grandma Mo now understood. In the future, the Mo family would no longer raise their sons to be so tough, and should be like children in ordinary families, with their own joys, angers, sorrows and delights.


    But her precious grandson was naturally tough. Since his birth, the number of times he had cried could be counted on fingers.


    Even when hearing a baby''s cries, they were always from Mingzhu. Zhu was just unhappy, at most frowning like now.


    Madam He did not experience the piercing pain that Grandma Mo did, and did not think of thatyer.


    "Our Zhu is tough, like the Mo family men. He''s so little but won''t shed tears easily."


    As the two elderly women talked about Zhu here, seeing the guestse over, Madam He revealed Zhu''s little face for everyone to see.


    Upon seeing Zhu, vigers immediately praised:


    "My god... this is the first time I''ve seen such a fat and white baby!"


    "That''s right, just look at this baby''s brows and eyes, how could they not be extremely good-looking?"


    Their tone was somewhat exaggerated, but it was indeed so.


    Not to mention Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were both exceptional in looks, such premium gic inheritance was something others did not have.


    Just the food He Zhiran supplemented during pregnancy alone, things unavable in this era. The vigers lived bitter lives, often unable to eat their fill when pregnant, let alone any supplements.


    The vigers really were seeing such a good-looking baby for the first time, and all felt it was heaven''s favor to the Mo family.


    At this time, He Zhiran, who had just finished her confinement, came over surrounded by her sisters-inw.


    Not just the vigers thought this way, even the Mo family themselves did.


    Eldest Sister-in-Law looked at Madam He holding Zhu fondly, and gently said, "Our Zhu and Mingzhu are a month old already, and still don''t have proper names. These treasures are heaven''s blessings to my Mo family. Their names must not be too casual."


    "That''s right, our Zhu and Mingzhu must have meaningful names," Second Sister-in-Law chimed in.


    When it came to naming the babies, everyone looked towards He Zhiran as the mother.


    Grandma Mo said, "Ranran, when the children were born your father already said their names should be decided by you and Jiuye. I asked Jiuye the other day, and he said to listen to you. Why don''t you give names to my precious grandson and granddaughter now?"


    "That''s right Sister-in-Law, you''re the most knowledgeable among us sisters-inw. The names you pick will definitely be good sounding," Eighth Sister-in-Law said, nudging He Zhiran.


    Of course He Zhiran would not shirk naming her own children. She had thought of many names boringly while confined, but eventually denied them all herself.


    She admitted she was useless at naming.


    Now with so many people urging her, plus the babies were already one month old without proper names, which was rather unsightly.

 Chapter 489: A promise is a promise.

    <h4>Chapter 489</h4>


    He Zhiran suddenly thought of what her sister-inw had just said, that the two babies were heaven''s blessing to the Mo Family.


    Since this was the case, why not use the word "blessing" to name the children?


    After thinking for a moment, she spoke: "Since everyone feels that Zhu and Mingzhu are heaven''s blessings, why don''t we call Zhu Tianci!


    As for Mingzhu, let''s call her Jing''en."


    Tianci did not need much exnation, it was literal in meaning, he was the treasure that heaven had bestowed upon the Mo Family.


    The dispute over Jing''en was a little bigger.


    "Sister-inw, why is she called Jing''en?" the second sister-inw asked.


    "Jing refers to a woman''s slender figure, graceful demeanor, and also means talent and brilliance. I hope Mingzhu will grow up to be a beautiful, graceful and talented woman.


    The En characterbined with Zhu''s Ci character means that these two siblings fully embody the meaning of heaven''s blessings." He Zhiran exined the reason for the names.


    Hearing her exnation, everyone praised:


    "Ninth Sister-in-Law is really knowledgeable, the names she picked for the babies are meaningful and pleasant sounding."


    "That''s right, Tianci, heaven''s blessing, Jing''en, beautiful, graceful and brilliant."


    The sisters-inw kept praising the good names the two babies were given, and Old Lady Mo also highly approved.


    "Good names, Zhu will be called Tianci, and Mingzhu will be called Jing''en. Tomorrow when your eighth brother gets promoted, have him help register these little ones in the household register."


    Although He Zhiran hade up with the names for the twins on the spur of the moment, she was very satisfied with them herself. Her children didn''t need extravagant names, as long as the meaning was good and they were pleasing to say.


    After the one month celebration banquet, of course the guests and hosts had a delightful time. As people gradually left, it was finally Tang Mingrui''s time to lead.


    During the meal, others were praising how delicious the corn was, while he alone thought differently, pondering over matters of cooperating with the Mo Family corn business.


    Although Meng Huaining was not as exaggerated as Tang Mingrui, he too had been thinking about the corn for a long time.


    Now that the two babies were full, they would not look for their mother, and had long been held by their aunties to dote on.


    Mo Jiuyue and He Zhiran had long noticed that Meng Huaining and Tang Mingrui were absent-minded, so after sending off thest wave of guests, the couple summoned them to their own yard.


    At this time, it was the season of crisp autumn air, and the outside temperature was very pleasant. Several people sat under the grapevine arbor in the yard.


    The grapes had ripened, and He Zhiran had not gone out for a month, so she had not noticed.


    The yard was nted with ordinary wild grapes, but because they were produced in the space, the fruit was a little bigger than wild mountain grapes.


    Even so, they were still sour enough to pucker one''s mouth. If not for this, Mo Jiuyue would have called people toe pick them long ago.


    He personally felt that the grapes were too sour to eat, so rather than picking them and having them go to waste when no one ate them, it was better to leave them on the vines as ornamentation.


    But He Zhiran did not think this way. She felt that these wild grapes were best for making wine.


    In her previous life, she had only seen others use wild grapes to make wine, and had not tried it herself. So she did not nt many wild grape vines.


    Now that the grapes were ripe, He Zhiran''s mind became lively.


    She wanted to use the wild grapes in everyone''s yard to try making some wine. If it seeded, next spring she would ntrge amounts of wild grapes in the mountains.


    It seemed this matter had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible too.


    This kind of wild grape was not unfamiliar to Meng Huaining and Tang Mingrui. Generally, families with some means would nt some in their backyard, for the purpose of using them as shaded arbors in summer.


    The two were also aware that wild grapes were very sour, and assumed the Mo family had not picked them simply because they were not ptable, so they did not pay much attention.


    After sitting down, Meng Huaining and Tang Mingrui spoke at almost the same time.


    "Ninth brother, Ninth sister-inw, you won''t go back on your word about selling corn seeds to the government, right?"


    "Ninth brother, Ninth sister-inw, this corn can make big money, you won''t not do this business, right?"


    The two''s words made Mo Jiuyue and He Zhiranugh.


    Now that He Zhiran was out of postpartum confinement, business matters were naturally handled by her, since Mo Jiuyue did not have a wife''s skills and brains.


    Afterughing for a while, He Zhiran spoke: "Rest assured, we won''t go back on a promise."


    Seeing He Zhiran say this, the two almost simultaneously stood up and cupped their fists, "Then thank you Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister-inw."


    "We n to personally take people to harvest the corn tomorrow. The price will be determined after the yield per mu is finalized, don''t be impatient.


    Besides, whether corn is used for seeds or ground into cornmeal, it needs to be dried before it can be processed. Fresh corn can only make a limited variety of foods.


    For example, the puffed corn and one pot dish eaten today use fresh corn..."


    At this time, Meng Huaining and Tang Mingrui simply could not listen to He Zhiran''s exnation. All they wanted to know was when they could buy the corn produced by the Mo family.


    Especially Tang Mingrui, his eyes were full of the endless business opportunities corn would create. The sooner he got it, the sooner he could earn silver.


    "Ninth sister-inw, how long does it take to dry the corn?"


    For this yield per mu, it was normally calcted based on the weight of the dried, shelled corn.


    Especially since the Mo family corn had not been harvested yet, He Zhiran really could not estimate it.


    However, based on the harvests in the space, the yield per mu of dried corn could reach 1,800 catties.


    But that was after all the space, growing it outside, He Zhiran did not dare guarantee such a high yield.


    In order to give Meng Huaining some peace of mind, after thinking for a moment, He Zhiran said: "If I estimate correctly, the corn yield per mu should be between 1,300 and 1,500 catties."


    "What? Ninth sister-inw, you said the corn yield per mu can reach 1,300 to 1,500 catties?"


    Meng Huaining was no longer calm, he excitedly stood up, his words shaking.


    It must be known that the government''s purpose in buying corn seeds was for themon people to be able to grow high-yielding grain crops.


    Even if themon people nted a lot of corn, with their frugal nature, they would not casually use it to make things like puffed corn and one pot dish like the Mo family did. Most people would choose to grind it into cornmeal to serve as the staple for their family.

 Chapter 490: I Will Fund It

    <h4>Chapter 490</h4>


    Meng Huaining was so excited because he had heard an astronomical number for him.


    The per mu yield of corn after drying could actually reach more than a thousand catties. It should be known that the millet that themon people usually grow, even counting the coarse flour made from the bran, the yield per mu is barely three hundred catties, and that is said to be in a good year.


    Once the year turns out bad, reduced production is a small matter, and in severe cases it can be said that there is no harvest at all.


    With low crop yields, the taxes collected by the government are also very limited. Even when granaries are opened for disaster relief in times of famine, it cannot solve too many problems, resulting in countlessmoners starving to death.


    If crop yields are high, it would be different. When the government collects 30 percent of the crops as taxes, it would be equivalent to more than all of the original crop yield.


    If this is the case, there would no longer be worries about themoners'' livelihoods in times of natural disasters.


    At the moment, Sister Jiu is also unable to give the specific price of the corn seeds. Even if the price is beyond his budget, he still has to find a way to get all the seeds.


    "Sister Jiu, I will go back to the yamen now to raise money for purchasing the corn seeds."


    With that said, Meng Huaining was about to leave.


    He only had three days to raise the silver, and it was urgent.


    If Meng Huaining were to go somewhere to raise money, he could only reluctantly go to the prefect to try to figure something out.


    The prefect was newly arrived, and they did not have much contact. However, judging from the way the prefect handled the matter of the two hundred dead officersst time, it was clear that he was not a particrly capable person.


    Meng Huaining did not dare to have too high hopes for him, but without asking the prefect for help, he could not think of other ways for the time being, so he could only reluctantly give it a try.


    When He Zhiran went home earlier, she mentioned that the government''s tax revenue was almost used up. Meng Huaining was worried about raising money to purchase the corn seeds.


    Seeing that he was in such a hurry to leave, Mo Jiuye stopped him.


    "Is brother-inw worrying about money?"


    He had already discussed this matter with his wife. If the government could note up with so much silver to purchase the corn seeds, they could temporarily lend it to him for the time being. They could not let Meng Huaining be in trouble over such a small matter.


    As long as there was a good corn harvest next year, Meng Huaining would have no problem paying them back.


    Being asked like this, Meng Huaining was apparently somewhat embarrassed.


    "I won''t hide it from Brother Jiu, the government treasury is indeed not abundant, and I''m probably an official who governs thriftily for the people''s benefit. The treasury definitely does not have much left. After purchasing sweet potatoes for 2,000 taelsst time, I''m afraid the government coffer has been emptied."


    Although Mo Jiuye does not walk around the officialdom, he has also heard from Mo Chuhan about what kind of person the prefect is.


    There was a high probability that Meng Huaining would run into difficulties if he went to ask the prefect for ideas.


    In fact, Meng Huaining was not unaware that this was the case. By going to the prefect to try to figure something out, he was just doing it as a formality.


    Even if he could get a small amount of silver from the prefect, it would be of some help to him.


    On the contrary, if he did not get anything out of this trip, it would allow him to clearly see the true face of the prefect.


    Mo Jiuye went up to him and pulled him back to his original seat.


    "My wife and I know the government coffer is poor, and you are an official who governs with integrity and cares for themon people, so the treasury must indeed have little left. It spent 2,000 taelsst time to purchase sweet potatoes, which probably emptied the government reserves."


    As Meng Huaining listened to Brother Jiu''s words, his face turned slightly red.


    "It''s because I''m ipetent and unable to make Yun City prosperous."


    "Master Meng is not ipetent. What you have done is already good enough, this is evident to all themoners of Yun City." Although Tang Mingrui had once regarded Meng Huaining as his rival in love, he also clearly knew one fact: that the two of them were a loving couple, and it was not something he could interfere with just because he wanted to.


    Especially after the incident where he was falsely used of hiring someone tomit murder, Meng Huaining helped clear his name so quickly.


    To Tang Mingrui, he owed Meng Huaining a favor.


    "Tang is untalented, but ever sinceing to the northwest, thanks to Brother Jiu and Sister Jiu, I have made quite a fortune doing business. I am willing to fund the master''s purchase of corn seeds."


    In fact, Tang Mingrui did not know that this was also the second idea Meng Huaining had thought of.


    Although Yun City was not wealthy, it was notpletely without rich people either.


    If he went to the prefect and came back empty-handed, he would try to mobilize those wealthy people to lend a helping hand.


    Since Tang Mingrui took the initiative to speak, he naturally had no reason to refuse.


    "Purchasing grains should have been something the government should undertake in the first ce. It''s just that I took over an impoverished government coffer and indeed do not have that much silver.


    Since this is the case, I will thank Boss Tang on behalf of Yun Citymoners for his generous assistance."


    After he finished speaking, Meng Huaining bowed to Tang Mingrui without any hesitation.


    Although Tang Mingrui was doing well in business and making strides, he had not yet reached the point described in historical records where he could call the wind and summon rain as the supreme merchant of the Great Shun Dynasty.


    At present, apart from some money, he was just an ordinarymoner.


    How could he dare to ept such a grand bow from the county magistrate?


    Tang Mingrui quickly returned the bow.


    "Master Meng is too polite. Helping themoners is something Tang would naturally undertake without hesitation. I cannot ept such courtesy from you."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had originally nned to say they would lend the corn seeds to the government first. As a result, Tang Mingrui had cut in and taken the lead.


    Since this was the case, they no longer needed topete over the limelight. Perhaps this was Tang Mingrui''s first stepping stone on his way to bing the supreme merchant in the future.


    Tang Mingrui had originally thought Meng Huaining would politely decline at first before epting. He did not expect the other party to agree so readily.


    Anyway, these were not just perfunctory words he had said, so since the other party readily agreed, he would not stand on ceremony either.


    "Alright, Tang will send 10,000 taels of silver to the yamen tomorrow. If that''s not enough, please let me know, Master Meng."


    Although Meng Huaining still did not know exactly how much silver the corn seeds would require, 10,000 taels was not a small amount to him.


    Even if he called on all the merchants in Yun City to donate money, the sum would probably be less than this.


    The more he looked at Tang Mingrui, the more he liked his attitude.


    "I''ll remember Boss Tang''s generosity. If there''s anything I can help with that does not vite principles, I will certainly do my best."


    Although the silver for purchasing corn seeds was settled, Meng Huaining still nned to go to the prefecture to make a trip.


    He had been the county magistrate of Yun City for a year and had never troubled the prefect over anything.


    Since this matter concerned the livelihood ofmoners, he decided to make a trip over.


    Moreover, it was already afternoon now. By the time he arrived at the prefecture yamen, it might already be dark.


    This was even better, letting the prefect know that he hade seeking help sote must be regarding some urgent major event.


    "It''s gettingte, so I''ll go to the prefecture first. Brother Jiu, Sister Jiu, please chat with Boss Tang."


    After Meng Huaining left, the several people chatted about corn again.


    "Brother Jiu, Sister Jiu, as you know, I''m now running a restaurant business, and today''s dishes made with fresh corn were also very delicious. Can you also sell me some fresh corn?"


    "Of course we can sell fresh corn to Brother Tang, but fresh corn doesn''t keep for long, and the ripening period is very concentrated, so you would only be able to make dishes with fresh corn for a short period of time," He Zhiran exined.

 Chapter 491: Saltpeter to make Ice

    <h4>Chapter 491</h4>


    Tang Mingrui knew very well that the corn seeds from the Mo Family were meant to be sold to the government, and he only had one year to make high profits from it.


    Although corn cakes were delicious, it was obvious that dishes made from fresh corn would be much more profitable.


    He looked at He Zhiran: "Sister-inw, do you have any ideas on how to preserve the freshness of corn?"


    In Tang Mingrui''s impression, not only was his sister-inw very smart, she was also very knowledgeable, so perhaps she coulde up with a good way to preserve corn.


    When asked by Tang Mingrui, the first thing He Zhiran thought of was that fresh corn could be frozen for preservation.


    The only way to freeze food during this season was to make ice.


    It was no secret that people in the previous era used nitrates to make ice, something many children did in science experiments.


    "Fresh corn can be preserved by freezing," she said.


    Tang Mingrui...


    Sister-inw, what you said is the same as not saying anything.


    Even though the weather now is not as hot as summer, where can I get ice?


    "If I had known earlier, I would have gotten someone to store some ice cubesst winter. It''s probably toote now," Tang Mingrui said, clearly somewhat discouraged.


    In his knowledge, the ice cubes people used in summer were all preserved from winter.


    Many mountain caves had extremely low temperatures. The ice cubes people stored in winter were kept in this kind of cave.


    Not to mention these cold, gloomy caves were not easy to find, transporting the ice cubes was also a huge project, and many wealthy families hired arge number of workers to do it.


    Even so, although the caves were cold, they were still not as cold as the winter air temperature, so the ice cubes stored inside could only slow down the melting.


    By the time the ice cubes were used in summer, even the best ones would have lost half their volume to natural melting.


    As a result, ice cubes were extremely precious in Da Shun in summer, and very few could afford them.


    He Zhiran took in Tang Mingrui''s disappointed expression.


    Sheughed and said, "Brother Tang doesn''t need to worry about ice cubes. You just need to find a bigger ce, the bigger the room the better,rge enough to store the fresh corn you want to eat."


    Tang Mingrui was puzzled by her words, but found a bigger ce was no problem. The courtyard he had bought for his family was very spacious, with many extra rooms.


    He just could not understand what his sister-inw was going to do. If he took her words literally, it meant his sister-inw could get ice cubes.


    "Sister-inw, what do you mean?"


    "It''s just as you thought, I can get ice cubes." He Zhiran was not too serious, but her tone inexplicably gave people an indisputable feeling.


    Tang Mingrui was even more willing to believe her unconditionally. He stood up,


    "Okay, I''ll go back and arrange a bigger room now."


    He was about to leave when He Zhiran called him back.


    "Brother Tang, don''t rush. It will take three days for my ice cubes to be ready. For the empty room you prepare, seal all four sides with mud,pletely airtight except for the door. Only this way will the ice cubes not melt easily when stored inside."


    In ancient times, unlike modern cold storage doors that could be tightly sealed, He Zhiran was thinking that they should try to make the room as enclosed as possible. With the weather getting cooler going forward, making the ice cubes a bit thicker should be no problem. At most, she could provide more ice cubes for recement.


    It would hold out at most another three months until the temperature in the northwest became subzero. By then, even without ice, the fresh corn could still be stored.


    Tang Mingrui did not understand why He Zhiran asked him to seal the room with mud, but he believed her unconditionally.


    "Don''t worry, sister-inw, I''ll go arrange it immediately."


    After Tang Mingrui left, Mo Jiuye asked He Zhiran doubtfully,


    "Ranran, where are you getting the ice cubes?"


    He Zhiran did not answer right away, but pulled him back into the room and then shed into the space.


    Nitrates were readily avable online inrge quantities and at very cheap prices.


    Since this was her first time trying it out, she had only bought a small amount for experiments.


    After seeing He Zhiran produce ice with his own eyes, Mo Jiuye felt even more distressed for her. Even though she had recovered from childbirth, he still did not want her to exert herself one bit. He even brought warm foot bath water to He Zhiran on time every day.


    He Zhiran had also gotten used to her husband''s care. From childbirth until now, Mo Jiuye had pampered her into gaining a full circle.


    She had gotten a little fatter, but it did not diminish her beauty at all, instead giving her a different kind of charm.


    Making ice with nitrates could not bepleted in a short time. Worried someone woulde looking for them, the couple brought the nitrates and left the space together.


    In their own room, they found several wooden basins of different sizes. Mo Jiuye followed He Zhiran''s method to operate.


    In fact, making ice with nitrates was not difficult at all. After following He Zhiran''s instructions, Mo Jiuye excitedly discovered a thinyer of ice forming on the water in the small basin soon after.


    "Ranran,e and see, we did it!" he said excitedly.


    He Zhiran knew that sess was guaranteed as long as the method was right.


    But she was still very excited, because this was the first time in her two lifetimes that she had used this method to make ice.


    "My husband, by tonight, all the water in this basin will likely have frozen into ice cubes."


    "Ranran, you may not know, in this season, many people would be extremely envious of an ice cube this big."


    Having grown up in the pce as a studypanion to Prince Nanqi, he had witnessed with his own eyes the fight between two of Emperor Shunwu''s concubines over a not very big ice cube.


    Although there were special personnel in the pce responsible for storing ice cubes, it still took huge manpower and resources.


    The ice cubes that could be stored until summer without melting were extremely scarce, so even in the pce, ice cubes were very rare in summer.


    And they were only used by Emperor Shunwu, the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and several consorts of higher rank.


    Something so precious, yet his Ranran could produce it so easily with such a simple method, it really opened his eyes.


    Initially, he thought He Zhiran was just whimsically trying it out, and did not expect her to seed so easily.


    As I said before, He Zhiran did not have much talent for business. She could earn silver in ancient times entirely thanks to her modern knowledge.


    If she had not thought of making ice to store Tang Mingrui''s fresh corn today, she would not havee up with the nitrate ice-making method either.


    "It looks like the Mo Family has gained another source of ie."


    "If Ranran hade up with this ice-making method earlier, catching the summer season, she would have definitely earned a lot of silver."


    "But it''s not toote now either. As long as we keep our ice-making method secret, it will always be a source of ie."


    Now when it came to doing business and making money, Mo Jiuye could also talk eloquently about it.


    It could be said that the changes in their living environment had, without them realizing it, gradually nurtured their business acumen.


    Especially for He Zhiran, many ideas for making money with ice had already sprouted in her mind.

 Chapter 492: The Corn Harvest

    <h4>Chapter 492</h4>


    Mo Family was still not stable at the moment, and there would be many unpredictable crises to face in the future.


    There were still some business ns that had not started, and the weather was getting colder and colder. It would notst long to make money with ice at this time.


    Therefore, He Zhiran decided to use the ice made to help Tang Mingrui store fresh corn first, and talk about other thingster.


    "My husband, although the method of making ice is simple, after all, we only made a small amount. Brother Tang needs to make an ice storage room there, and the amount of ice needed will not be small."


    "I know this clearly. As long as there is enough saltpeter, leave the ice making to me." Now there were so many soldiers raised at home, and they were all trustworthy people.


    Mo Jiuye thought that when making ice inrge quantities, he would call some soldiers to help.


    Especially he had already figured out how to hide the key steps of making ice, and no one could possibly learn it to make ice.


    "Well, after arranging the corn harvest tomorrow, take people to Brother Tang''s ce.


    More ice is needed there. It¡¯s not very convenient to make it in Xi Ling Vige and then transport it." He Zhiran reminded.


    "Okay, leave this matter to me."


    As for the source of saltpeter, there was sale in city drugstores, although the price was expensive, it was not a rare thing.


    Therefore, He Zhiran¡¯s purchase of arge amount of it from the space would not arouse anyone''s suspicion.


    Moreover, Mo Jiuye wanted to hide the method of making ice. He also knew that Tang Mingrui was a sensible person who would not stare at other people''s secrets.


    In short, Mo Jiuye was asked to do this matter, and He Zhiran was at ease.


    ...


    In the future, He Zhiran did not need to worry too much. Mo Jiuye arranged for people to reserve two acres of corn for normal harvesting, which was used to calcte the yield per acre. The rest of the corn in the field was ssified.


    The younger ones were piled in one ce and used as fresh corn supply for Tang Mingrui. The older ones could be threshed after being dried in the wind and used as seeds provided to the government.


    He Zhiran also drew a picture of a simple hand-cranked threshing machine and asked Hu Cong to help make it as soon as possible.


    At Tang Mingrui''s ce, there were people arranged by Mo Jiuye to make ice cubes. It took two days toplete the frozen storage room. Although it looked simple on the outside, there was a cave paradise inside.


    People would hug themselves and run out after just a moment inside, so there was no need to use any thermometer to measure the temperature to know that the corn would soon freeze when put inside.


    Since the frozen storage room was built, Tang Mingrui was so excited that he almost shouted.


    He actually had his own storage ice room in this season.


    Of course, the raw materials and workers used to make ice cubes in the ice room were all provided by Mo Jiuye. Even if he didn''t say it, Tang Mingrui would not let him contribute for nothing.


    After negotiation between the two parties, they decided to split the ie from fresh corn by 60% for Mo Family and 40% for Tang Mingrui.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t have any opinion on this at all. Although ice was rare in this season, he and He Zhiran could have as much as they wanted without worrying about the high cost.


    He Zhiran only spent hundreds of yuan to buy saltpeter on Taobao, and an ice room was made. Even if more ice needed to be addedter, very little saltpeter would be used. It was not a cost at all.


    They gained an extra 10% profit from this, which was very suitable.


    Since it was a cooperative approach, the fresh corn delivered to Tang Mingrui did not require him to pay for the goods either, just waiting for him to generate profits and give Mo Family their share.


    Although there was no payment, Mo Jiuye was not unprincipled about this matter.


    He estimated the size of Tang Mingrui''s ice room, which could hold at least 50,000 catties of fresh corn.


    Tang Mingrui used two days to transport fresh corn from Mo Family, and as expected, a total of 50,000 catties were taken away.


    The remaining corn could be threshed after being dried.


    Just in time, Hu Cong also helped make two hand-cranked threshing machines over there.


    Mo Jiuye took people to thresh and weigh the corn that had been reserved to weigh, and once again the yield per acre stunned everyone present.


    After shelling, the yield per acre of corn reached 1,200 catties, which was about the same as He Zhiran''s estimate.


    Meng Huaining was also present. He pulled Mo Jiuye excitedly and was a little incoherent.


    "Ninth brother, the world... No... Yun City folks are lucky...lucky..."


    Mo Jiuye patted him on the shoulder.


    "Well, the people of Yun City won''t have to worry about starving next winter."


    There was a lot of arablend in the northwest, but due to the soil conditions, no matter what was nted, the yield could never go up.


    The corn from the space was different. It was not affected by the soil or climate. As long as it was not a year of flooding or drought, a bumper harvest was guaranteed.


    When Mo Family nted crops in early spring, corn was mainly nted.


    At first, they did not expect that the government would purchase corn for seeds to be used next year. He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye only thought that the corn yield was high and could be used as the raw material for staple food. Since they lived in the northwest, they couldn¡¯t watch the surrounding people starve after their own family lived a good life.


    So they chose to nt more corn to help those poor people.


    Now that Parent Official Meng Huaining was here to arrange this matter, it was more suitable than them taking the lead.


    A total of 60 acres of corn were nted. The fresh corn transported away by Tang Mingrui weighed several times more than those threshed corn kernels alone. Therefore, there was still a lot of corn left in Mo Family.


    In addition to leaving some corn for their own consumption, Mo Family sold all the rest to the government as seeds for next year.


    After weighing, Meng Huaining purchased a total of 50,000 catties of corn kernels from Mo Family, which was enough for the people of Yun City to nt next year.


    Since Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran nted corn to help the surrounding people in the first ce, they certainly would not charge Meng Huaining too much silver.


    As a result, Meng Huaining insisted on handing over all the banknotes sponsored by Tang Mingrui to Mo Jiuye.


    "Ninth brother, I know corn is valuable. This is all I have, still sponsored by Boss Tang. If it''s not enough, when the government has more tax revenue next year, I will pay you back slowly."


    Meng Huaining spoke urgently, as if afraid that the deal would slip away.


    Mo Jiuye didn¡¯t intend to take so much silver from him. Just as he was about to carefully calcte in front of Meng Huaining, Meng Huaining had already slipped away in a sh, urging his men to transport the corn seeds to the granary as quickly as possible.


    Seeing his eager look, it was as if he had taken a huge advantage that he was afraid the other party would ask for it back...

 Chapter 493: Dad, there’s gonna be a rush.

    <h4>Chapter 493</h4>


    Fang Chuanzhou, Xie Tianhai and Hu Cong although following the Mo Family only nted a small amount of corn, like sweet potatoes, they kept it for their own families to eat and would not take it out to affect the Mo Family''s business.


    The vigers envied the Mo Family, and med themselves for not having foresight initially, not believing the Mo Family could grow such good grains.


    They were all honest and kind people. At first, Mo Jiuye had also told them to try nting, it was just that no one dared try.


    Fortunately, the Mo Family people were generous, and the county magistrate was a good official who loved the people like his children, and bought the corn harvest for them to nt next year.


    Although it was a yearter, it was after all because they were timid and did not dare try new things that caused this, everyone could only feel vexed at their ownck of courage, and did not develop any jealousy towards the Mo Family.


    Mo Jiuye was busy dealing with his own family matters, not only was the corn in the fields mature, other crops were also maturing one after another.


    After being busy for half a month, the work in the fields was finally almost done, and he also started building greenhouses ording to the method He Zhiran mentioned.


    Actually building the greenhouses a bitter was also fine, it was just that He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had not received any news from the capital these past days, and were feeling a bit anxious.


    They nned to settle the household matters early, and head to the capital to take a look.


    Mo Jiuye was busy with the fields, while He Zhiran was at home taking care of the children.


    Speaking of taking care of the children, it was only at night that she as the birth mother could keep the two children peacefully by her side.


    During the day, Madam He and Old Lady Mo were number one, one grandmother and one mother-inw, wishing they could see the two little treasures every moment.


    Zhu and Mingzhu both drank form milk, and when feeding them neither He Zhiran needed to lift a finger, the two olddies handled everything.


    And there were the eight sister-inws and one little auntie, who tirelessly ran to He Zhiran¡¯s ce every day.


    It could be said, every action of the two little ones had the whole family''s hearts in their hands, and even more seriously, as long as Mingzhu''s little nose wrinkled, everyone became extremely nervous...


    Madam He and He Ziming discussed, the original n was that after the two little ones turned one month old, the mother and child would set off back to the capital.


    But they kept dying the time because they could not bear to leave.


    At this time, mother and son were sitting in the yard of He Zhiran¡¯s home discussing this matter.


    ¡°Mother, I estimate if we don¡¯t go back soon, father will definitely be anxious.¡± There was a testing tone in He Ziming¡¯s words, but Madam He did not notice.


    ¡°When Ruan Ruan gave birth safely, didn¡¯t you write a letter to him? What is there to be anxious about, also, being here we can not only see Ruan Ruan, but also have the little pair of cuties Zhu and Mingzhu. Going back to the capital we would not be able to see the mother and children three, I would certainly be heartsick over it.¡± Madam He''s face was full of worries.


    The things Madam He said, how could He Ziming not know?


    When his younger sister was unwilling to marry into the Mo Family, although he did not help his parents drug her, he also did not promptly stop it.


    Fortunately his younger sister¡¯s days were not bad now, and her inws were also sincere people, but after all his sister married far away, once he left with his mother, seeing each other again would not be so easy.


    Thinking of this, Madam He could not help but weep.


    ¡°Ziming, I know what you are saying, I have also thought it over, I do not n to return to the capital.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t n to return to the capital? What do you n to do?¡± Madam He was a little puzzled.


    Although her son secretly had the identity of a skilled gynecologist, on the surface he was after all an imperial official. For someone of his status to leave the capital for a period of time was already not easy, how did he get the idea of not wanting to return?


    ¡°Mother, only aftering to the northwest, upon seeing the elder brothers of the Mo Family live such simple yet fulfilling days, did I realize the intrigues and deceits of officialdom do not suit me.


    These days I have been pondering over a question, which is what do I want.


    Now I know, I can say with certainty, I like this kind of self-sufficient and unrestrained life.¡±


    As mother and son were speaking, Lan Er walked into the yard carrying a basket of grapes.


    He Ziming¡¯s face flushed for a moment when he saw Lan Er.


    Lan Er''s gaze towards He Ziming was also dodgy, it was just that the etiquette she learned in the pce since young made her used to maintaining grace.


    She nodded towards Madam He and He Ziming.


    ¡°Madam He, Eldest Young Master He, these are grapes grown by Ninth Young Master and Ninth Young Lady in the mountains. Although it was the first year nted, the yield is not high, but there is enough for the family to eat. Today when I saw the grapes were ripe, I called Yu Er to go up the mountain together to pick some for everyone to taste.¡±


    Although Madam He was not as perceptive as Old Lady Mo, she could still read people.


    Especially today, Lan Er was very obviously somewhat restrained when speaking.


    The Mo Family people had already found their ce in the northwest, and followed local customs treating themselves asmoners.


    Although Lan Er and Yu Er were attendants to the Fourth Princess, in the Mo Family''s eyes they never treated them as servants.


    Usually, Lan Er and Yu Er behaved gracefully and politely, but were never servile.


    Today however waspletely different, Lan Er was clearly very nervous when speaking, as if there was someone frightening in front of her.


    Madam He felt she was very kind to people, and had never said anything excessive to these two maidservants before, so Lan Er behaving this way today was definitely abnormal.


    Also, this maid kept lowering her head to look at her toes when speaking, looking closely, her face was also somewhat flushed.


    Then looking at her own son, just a moment ago still telling her what was on his mind, the moment Lan Er appeared, he immediately became uneasy.


    Madam He did not immediately respond to Lan Er''s words, her eyes shifting between He Ziming and Lan Er.


    As someone who had gone through this before, she seemed to understand something.


    However, she also knew, for something like this she could only ask her own son.


    ¡°Alright, Lan Er has worked hard, grapes this big,ter I will eat more.¡±


    Madam He''s expression changed swiftly, upon understanding she immediately reverted back to how she was originally, as if nothing had happened.


    Hearing Madam He''s response, the tension in Lan Er''s heart finally eased a little. She acknowledged and immediately ducked into the kitchen to wash the grapes.

 Chapter 494: My Marriage is in no Hurry.

    <h4>Chapter 494</h4>


    Madam He looked in the direction of the kitchen and made sure Lan Er could not overhear her conversation with He Ziming from that distance before slowly speaking:


    "Ziming, tell your mother the truth, is there something you and Lan Er are hiding from me?"


    He Ziming had thought Lan Er was gone and his mother would still discuss with him why he did not want to return to the capital. He did not expect her to ask him this instead.


    He instinctively nced toward the kitchen. For a moment he did not know how to respond.


    As the mother who raised her son, Madam He could naturally discern He Ziming''s thoughts.


    "You''re my son whom I raised with my own hands. How could I not see your intentions? If not for that incident with the Imperial Concubine, your father and I would have nned to find a suitable youngdy for you this year."


    "Mother..." He Ziming interrupted her words.


    "My marriage is not urgent. The incident implicated by the Prince''s estate has not been resolved yet. It is inappropriate to discuss such matters at this time."


    Lan Er had just been kept by Old Madam Mo after He Zhiran gave birth, tasked specifically with attending to He Zhiran''s daily life.


    Although there were many rooms in the courtyard residence, Lan Er went in and out every day, so she encountered He Ziming more frequently.


    At first there was nothing between them. He Ziming would often give her medicinal forms to make.


    Lan Er did not have Yu''er''s culinary talents. When she did not understand something, she would ask He Ziming.


    Through more and more contact, the two became closer.


    Gradually, He Ziming discovered that the innate gentility and grace Lan Er possessed was no less than those of the youngdies in the capital, and was even superior.


    She was gentle and graceful yet without the pretentiousness and arrogance of those noble daughters.


    This was the type of wife he had dreamed of having. Moreover, Lan Er was beautiful in appearance. No matter how he looked at it, she was the type of woman he wanted to marry.


    Over time, He Ziming realized he must have fallen for this youngdy.


    Lan Er also felt that not only was the Eldest Young Master of the He Family handsome and learned, he was also the gynecology saint revered by the people of the capital city.


    If she was not moved by such a talented and good-looking man, that would be a lie.


    But Lan Er clearly understood her own status. Moreover, she had silently sworn before the Fourth Princess that she would live only to see the day vengeance was enacted for her hatred. As for affairs between men and women, she felt she did not have the qualification for them.


    Although the two had feelings for each other, they were both well aware of the concept of appropriate social status. Neither had broached the subject.


    Until today, Lan Er knew the Eldest Young Master''s return to the capital was nearing. To prevent herself from falling deeper, she tried to avoid times they might encounter each other when going out.


    He Ziming did the same. He did not know if his family elders would ept him marrying a maid with an unknown background, so he did not dare make any promises to Lan Er either.


    These past few days, he had also lived in seclusion, reducing chances to meet her as much as possible.


    If he had note to ask his mother about returning today, he would not have been in the courtyard either.


    He had intended to probe his mother''s attitude originally. If she could understand his desire to resign his post and remain in the northwest, then he could move forward with his n step-by-step and slowlymunicate with his family.


    But coincidentally, his mother had noticed clues so early.


    As the mother who raised her son, Madam He could still discern whether he told the truth or not.


    "You are my son whom I raised with my own hands. How could I not see your intentions? From young, you were different from those sons of rich families. When they were indulging in fleeting romance, you did not even keep a single concubine in your residence. Mother knows you wanted to find a girl you like to spend your life with."


    Seeing his mother had said it outright, He Ziming knew he could not hide his affairs from her anymore.


    Since it was so, he might as welly out all his thoughts honestly.


    "Mother, I feel Lan Er is gentle and intelligent, modest and courteous without the pretentiousness and arrogance of those youngdies... "


    How could Madam He not see Lan Er''sposure and grace?


    It was just that, in her deep-rooted ideology, her future daughter-inw must be a girl matched to the He Family in status. She had never thought He Ziming would fall for a maid.


    Although He Ziming did not directly say he liked Lan Er, as someone experienced in these matters, what could Madam He still not understand?


    After spending some time in the northwest, she had adapted to the local customs here and even grown to like the equal interactions between people regardless of status.


    For a time, Madam He fell into turmoil.


    On one hand, she hoped her son could marry a youngdy matched in status. On the other hand, she also hoped her son could be with the girl he liked.


    He Ziming perceived his mother''s conflict.


    "Mother, think about the Eldest Young Master of the Wang Family. Because his family did not approve of the youngdy he loved from a humble background, he was forced to marry the daughter of the Minister of Personnel. In the end, what was the oue?


    Also, the Young Marquis of Jingyuan fell for a merchant''s daughter. To obstruct their affection, the Marchioness immediately arranged for him to marry the granddaughter of Prime Minister Xue. Their married life was turbulent, even bing theughingstock of the capital.


    There''s also..."


    "Alright, stop talking and let your mother think."


    Madam He was aware of all these examples He Ziming spoke of.


    The Eldest Young Master of the Wang Family drowned his sorrows in drink all day long while pining for his beloveddy, thus ruining his prospects and studies.


    The Young Marquis of Jingyuan lived in mncholy every day, unable to endure the discord with Prime Minister Xue''s granddaughter yet not daring to offend the Xue family''s power. In the end, he died from depression before reaching thirty.


    "Ziming, are you saying you can only be happy with Lan Er?"


    He Ziming nodded solemnly.


    "I did not have ady I fancied before, so I would naturally have no objections if you saw anyone suitable, Mother. But now there is someone in my heart already. If I were to marry another, I fear I would be unable to let go for the rest of my life."


    To raise Lan Er''s status, He Ziming went on, "Although Lan Er is a maid, those serving princesses in the pce also have rankings. Her speech and conduct are modest, her etiquette and propriety no less than those youngdies.


    Father taught me since I was young not to emte those arrogant young masters, but to maintain an ordinary heart in viewing people and matters. I have never felt she is beneath me in status."


    "Mother, I agree with Eldest Brother''s viewpoint." The conversation between mother and son was not overheard by Lan Er but had not escaped He Zhiran who had just emerged from the room.


    She had focused her energy on Zhu''er and Mingzhutely, and thus had not noticed anything unusual between He Ziming and Lan Er. Hearing their exchange now, He Zhiran realized something different was indeed going on between the two.


    For instance, at meals, Eldest Brother preferred iner tastes. Lan Er would always ce the nder dishes in front of him.


    Also, Eldest Brother was fastidious about cleanliness. When at home, maidservants specially helped him wash clothes and tidy his room every day.


    Here, it was Lan Er who cleaned his room when he was not around, even bringing out the clothes he had changed out of.

 Chapter 495: I’ve been working for this responsibility.

    <h4>Chapter 495</h4>


    Seeing this, He Zhiran did not think much of it, because Lan Er had always been diligent and perceptive, and it was not unreasonable for her to take good care of her elder brother.


    She did not notice the details.


    Now, after hearing the conversation between her mother and brother, He Zhiran suddenly had a feeling of sudden rity.


    At first, she did not like people waiting on her, so Lan Er and Yu Er had the sense not to go to her room without being told. Perhaps it was because he was worried that Mo Jiuye would change his heart, so the two of them walked around when they saw Mo Jiuye.


    First, not to mention how Lan Er was able to read between the lines, just her proper demeanor and knowledge was enough for her to have no problem being the mistress of the house in the eyes of He Zhiran, who believed in equality.


    A marriage of mutual affection indicated that the two hadpatible personalities, which was certainly better than an arranged marriage by the parents.


    Her elder brother had finally gotten rid of Princess Yujun with great difficulty, and she truly hoped that he could live a happy life.


    "Ranran, do you also feel that your elder brother and Lan Er are a good match?" Madam He was now wavering.


    "Mother, as long as elder brother likes her, I don''t see anything unsuitable.


    Lan Er is meticulous, and is more steady in her interactions than the youngdies in the capital. Don''t let the fact that she is just the maid of the Fourth Princess fool you. Her knowledge and insightful mind make her fully capable of being a good wife and mother."


    He Zhiran was not just saying this casually. Lan Er had been with the Mo Family for some time now, and no one knew her temperament better than He Zhiran.


    Seeing his sister speak for him gave He Ziming courage.


    He stood up and solemnly knelt before Madam He.


    "Mother, since childhood, father had brought me to his side and taught me to see through the deceit and hypocrisy of officialdom. I always thought that father hoped I would have academic achievements and obtain a position to bring honor to the He family.


    I had been working hard for this responsibility.


    But you and father did not know what kind of life I actually wanted.


    Ever sinceing to the Northwest, and seeing the Mo Family people living self-sufficient lives day after day, I really envied them.


    There is no intrigue here, no deceit, only the simplicity and diligence of the people.


    Mother, I ask for your consent to stay in the Northwest and open a medical clinic to treat illness and save lives, and live out my life in peace and simplicity."


    When he finished speaking, He Ziming heavily kowtowed three times to Madam He, and then looked up waiting for her reaction.


    He Ziming''s words did shock Madam He. She never knew he had such thoughts.


    If she had note to the Northwest herself, she would probably bepletely unable to understand He Ziming''s ideas. But ever sinceing here, even she did not bear to leave.


    Madam He did not immediately ask He Ziming to get up, but solemnly examined him.


    He Zhiran also did not expect her elder brother to have such thoughts. After all, the original owner only saw a hardworking and studious elder brother who was very obedient to his father.


    He Ziming was already past the rebellious age of youth, and was exceptionally steady and moderate. He Zhiran absolutely believed he was speaking the truth.


    Although she understood her elder brother''s thoughts, she did not speak up to help him at this moment.


    After all, Madam He came from a wealthy household, and many ideas were deeply ingrained in her mind.


    Wanting to immediately change her thinking was impossible. This matter could only allow her to think through some principles herself.


    As a daughter, she also did not want to push her mother too quickly, and wanted to give her some time to think.


    Madam He was thinking, but she had not reached the point of beingpletely unable to ept these ideas.


    She could not even figure out herself, if this was in the past, and He Ziming said such things, she would surely have thought hecked ambition.


    The current her did not seem to reject her son''s words, and even felt an urge to stay here with him.


    After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, He Ziming was still kneeling, Madam He stared at him deep in thought, and He Zhiran stood behind her.


    Lan Er finished washing the grapes in the kitchen and came out, immediately seeing this scene.


    He Zhiran knew Lan Er''s thoughts. She was utterly loyal to the Fourth Princess, and only hoped to see the day she would avenge her grudge. And this girl was stubborn, if she insisted on not being with elder brother, wouldn''t this situation with mother and elder brother be an embarrassing mistake?


    "Cough cough... Mother, elder brother is a grown man now, even if he makes mistakes you can''t make him kneel like when he was a child!"


    Madam He reacted quickly as well, deliberately keeping a stern face. "I''ll let you off this time, get up!"


    He Ziming stood up and dusted off his clothes, continuing to keep his head lowered.


    Lan Er did not know what had happened. She only thought that the He family''s eldest young master had displeased Madam He, and hurriedly brought over the washed grapes.


    "Madam He, Eldest Young Master, Ninth Young Lady, these are the grapes Yu''er and I picked from the mountain. Please have a taste."


    After speaking, she ced the tray on the stone table, and brought another tray of grapes to the main house for the women watching the babies.


    Seeing Lan Er leave, He Zhiran pulled He Ziming to sit on either side of Madam He.


    "Mother, our lives are only a few decades short. If possible, everyone would want to live ording to what they enjoy, not just elder brother, but me as well.


    In the past in the capital, I spent my days in the inner residence reading, never considering what kind of life I wanted for myself. I thought I would be like you, mother, spending my days at home teaching my children after getting married.


    Ever since following the Mo Family in exile, I''vee in contact with more people and events, and we live by the fruits of our ownbor every day. This kind of life is a bit more arduous, but it makes me feel more fulfilled.


    Especially aftering to the Northwest, through our own hard work we imednd, reimed barren mountains, and built homes...


    As a result I discovered that this is the life I enjoy,pared to the mundane rules of the capital, I prefer the fulfilling days now.


    "Mother has also been struggling recently, and does not wish to return to the capital.


    On one hand, I cannot bear to part with you, Zhu''er and Mingzhu. More importantly, mother enjoys life here."


    In the capital, Minister He would rise early every day for court. She also had to get up at that time, although her husband often told her to sleep a bit longer, she did not agree, because this was the custom since ancient times.


    If the wife was stillzing in bed when her husband got up, even if others did not gossip, the servants in the household would secretly ridicule her.


    And in some wealthy households withx discipline over the servants, these ugly matters would quickly spread in whispers.


    Fortunately, Minister He did not have elders, so she did not need to pay daily morning and evening greetings, and also had no concubines causing trouble for the main wife.


    Many distinguisheddies in the capital envied Madam He''s days.

 Chapter 496: The Official is better off not doing it.

    <h4>Chapter 496</h4>


    Madam He had been quite satisfied with her life before, but sinceing to the Northwest, she realized that she had just begun to experience what a happy life really was after living half her life.


    Perhaps this kind of life could only continue if they stayed in the Northwest.


    As her son, He Ziming could naturally see some of his mother''s thoughts.


    If his mother had disagreed with what he said today, she would have spoken up to refute it already. However, she did not immediately refute him today. Not only that, but she also seemed to have listened to what his sister said.


    There is a saying that one should strike while the iron is hot. He Ziming felt that the timing was about right, so he said, "Mother, what''s so bad about me staying in the Northwest as you said? We can also build a courtyard like Ran Ran''s family and raise some poultry and livestock. Not only that, but I would be close to Ran Ran, and we siblings can look out for each other."


    Madam He had to admit that her son''s words had struck right at her heart.


    "Actually, Mother also wants to stay in the Northwest, but your father..."


    She didn''t need to exin too clearly. The siblings understood what their mother meant.


    "Mother, Father once said that after my official career stabilizes and I can support the He family, he ns to retire and return to his hometown to live an ordinary life with you and enjoy hister years.


    The current political situation at court is unstable, and Father is a neutral party, so it is inevitable that he will offend some people in power. Rather than spending time dangerously in the capital, it would be better to persuade him to resign from his official post early.


    There is a saying that goes, ''Without an official post, one''s body is light.'' Our whole family can stay away from that ce full of nder and live a peaceful life instead.


    Moreover, your son has medical skills. Don''t just call me the ''gynecological saint hand'' because I mainly researched gynecological medicine. Although that is the case, I have also studied other medical skills. I dare not say I have mastered them, but I am still better than most doctors in general.


    In the future, I can guarantee that you two elders will have no worries about food and clothing."


    "Mother, I think elder brother is right. Emperor Shunwu is muddle-headed, and his sons are not very capable either. Plus Empress Dowager''s party is messing up court principles. With such an unstable situation, it is better if Father resigns from his official post!"


    In her eyes, no power, wealth or honour was as important as her family''s safety.


    Moreover, she understood her father''s temperament. He was too upright. If he saw something he disapproved of, it would be easy for him to offend others.


    Rather than struggling to survive in that murky court, it would be better to live a carefree life in the countryside.


    Even if elder brother could not guarantee their parents'' livelihood inter years, she could definitely make sure the two elders had no worries about food and clothing.


    She still had that magical space. She could buy some little trinkets to entertain themter and make sure they would not feel bored in their future life.


    "Ran Ran, you can''t just casually say things like that," Madam He said. After all, she was timid. Although she also agreed with what her daughter said, such rebellious words could easily bring disaster if spoken out loud.


    "Mother, there is no outsider here. I''m just telling you my true thoughts," He Zhiran said.


    "If you have no objections here, I n to tidy up the house in a few days before leaving for the capital with my husband. I will tell Father about this personally and let him decide for himself what to do.


    You and elder brother don''t need to rush back either. Wait until you hear back from Father before making any ns."


    Madam He''s mind turned very quickly. She had just been struggling with whether to persuade her husband to resign. But now her attention hadpletely shifted to He Zhiran''s n to go to the capital.


    "Ran Ran, you want to go to the capital?" This waspletely unexpected for her.


    Everyone knew how sensitive the Mohist identity was in the capital, not to mention that they were still in exile now and were not allowed to leave Yancheng.


    She knew that Mo Jiuye had gone to the capital recently, but that was because the county magistrate was his brother-inw.


    Now it was their couple''s turn to go to the capital. If someone with ulterior motives discovered this and reported it to the court, it would bring deadly disaster.


    He Zhiran had not originally nned to tell her mother about going to the capital. She had thought that since her mother had been away from the capital for so long, she would leave after her child turned one month old. Then she and Mo Jiuye could sneak off to the capital without anyone knowing.


    But who knew, not only did her mother and brother have no ns to leave, they even seemed to have the idea of settling down permanently in the Northwest judging by what they just said.


    She was truly willing from the bottom of her heart to have her maternal family live in the Northwest long term, especially since the political situation at court was unstable. She also did not want her father to get involved.


    But in that case, she and Mo Jiuye would have to exin themselves when leaving this ce to go to the capital.


    "Mother, I won''t hide it from you. The current situation for the Mohists is not as good as it looks on the surface. Elder brother understands this best. The Empress adopted the Fourth Prince. Although my Mohist family no longer participates in court affairs, the Empress has always been suspicious. She won''t let people who could obstruct the Fourth Prince''s path to the throne live.


    The reason my husband and I are going to the capital this time is to take preemptive action. There is a saying, ''Do not attack others if they do not attack you first.'' When ites to the Mohist family''s safety and interests, we can''t just sit here passively waiting to be attacked."


    Although Madam He did not have the same wisdom and courage as Grand Madam Mo, she was notpletely ignorant either.


    "Mother understands the rationale behind what you said, but I''m worried that it will be dangerous for you."


    "Mother, I think it is the right thing for Sister-inw Ran Ran and Brother-inw to go to the capital. The Mohists have always been loyal and righteous. If there are still people who don''t want their family to live in peace after the Emperor wrongfully used them and sent them to exile in the Northwest, then taking risks is very necessary.


    As the saying goes, ''Nip problems in the bud.'' Any potential dangers must be eliminated early on."


    He Ziming strongly agreed with their idea of going to the capital, but he did not agree to his powerless little sister tagging along.


    "Ran Ran, it is right for the Mohists to go to the capital, but I don''t agree with you going together with them." She had been physically weak since she was little. And now she wanted to pretend to be brave and follow them to the capital when she had two young children.


    At this point, Madam He also understood the necessity for the Mohists to go to the capital. If they wanted to live safely and steadily here, they had to resolve potential crises.


    "Ran Ran, your elder brother is right. As a woman, it''s not appropriate for you to get involved in such matters," she said.


    He Zhiran knew there would be opposition when she talked about going to the capital.


    For things like this, she had learned to be smart¡ªdon''t try to argue. She had already expressed what she wanted to say clearly. She would just secretly follow Mo Jiuye when the time came anyway.


    "Mother, let''s continue talking about whether Father should resign from his official post."


    Madam He thought her daughter had already listened to her and her son''s advice.


    "That''s good too. It will be better to clearly tell your father my and your elder brother''s thoughts face-to-face rather than writing letters that could be used against us."


    "Since that''s the case, Mother and elder brother should stay here at ease. I''ll talk to my husbandter and buynd nearby to build you two a courtyard simr to the Mohists''."


    Upon hearing they would build a courtyard simr to the Mohists, He Ziming immediately took out several silver notes from his sleeve and gave them to her.

 Chapter 497: Do you Know What You Mean

    <h4>Chapter 497</h4>


    "These silver notes are what elder brother has saved from his years of practicing medicine, the amount is not very much, only eight thousand taels. If building such an estate costs too much, many details can be reduced."


    He Ziming was notpletely ignorant. Not to mention building houses in such a barren ce as the northwest, even in the Capital city, eight thousand taels could buy a three-courtyard residence.


    It was just that he and Madam He both felt that stained ss windows were very valuable, so they thought the silver might not be enough.


    "Elder brother, building an estate like ours wouldn''t require so much silver," Lan Er pushed the silver notes back.


    "I''ll take care of the building, just consider it filial piety from your younger sister to father and mother." He Zhiran, as the eldest son, certainly could not let his younger sister pay for building a house for their parents.


    He offered the silver notes again. "Are you looking down on elder brother for not having the ability? Not even having the capacity to build a house for father and mother."


    "Elder brother, I didn''t mean that. You are father and mother''s child, and so am I. Whoever contributes the silver makes no difference. Besides, you''re nning to open a medical clinic here, and will need silver to operate it. I earned some silver in the northwest, so just grant me this once to fulfill my filial heart, alright?" Lan Er firmly refused to take He Ziming''s silver notes.


    Madam He saw the silver notes going back and forth between the siblings and felt veryforted.


    Brotherly love and sisterly deference were fully embodied in them.


    In the Capital city, many prominent families had siblings who fought and schemed against each other over more benefits.


    Yet her children were both considerate of each other, having such children was her greatest honor in life.


    "Alright, stop arguing, you two. Your father and I have also saved up some silver over the years. We''ll pay for the building ourselves.


    If you really want to be filial, just live your own lives well and cause your father and I less worry. That would be more practical than giving us a mountain of gold and silver."


    Madam He''s words were already very down-to-earth. What mother doesn''t hope for a smooth life for her children to live at ease?


    Lan Er was also not melodramatic. Anyway, building a house wouldn''t require that much silver, it didn''t matter who paid for it.


    "Then listen to mother. I''ll have father find Master Hu to help starting tomorrow."


    To get the house built before winter.


    Although they had digressed a bit, Lan Er had not forgotten about elder brother He Ziming''s intentions.


    "Elder brother, does Lan Er know your feelings?"


    "She doesn''t seem to know." He Ziming had never spoken with such little confidence before, clearly he had been thinking it was one-sided all along.


    He Zhiran knew Lan Er''s personality, and also knew her purpose foring to the northwest.


    If it hadn''t been for her and Mo Jiuye stopping her, Lan Er probably wouldn''t exist in this world anymore.


    After more contact over time, she knew Lan Er''s mindset was very firm. Even if Lan Er had feelings for elder brother He, she probably wouldn''t agree and would keep the promise she made initially.


    "Elder brother, don''t rush to confess for now. Let me try to probe Lan Er''s thoughts.


    A rtionship needs mutual affection. If Lan Er is unwilling, let''s not force it."


    She didn''t want He Ziming to have too much hope. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.


    "I understand. If Miss Lan Er is unwilling, I promise not to pester her." He Ziming quickly stated his stance.


    Madam He listened to her children''s conversation, at a loss for what to say.


    It turned out these siblings had directly ignored her, not caring whether she agreed to her son marrying Lan Er or not, they wouldn''t listen to her opinion anyway.


    Oh well, she didn''t have much opposition to her son''s feelings anyway, just let nature take its course.


    Seeing that mother had nothing to say, He Zhiran stood up.


    "I''ve been out for a while, going back to check on the children."


    "I''ll go with you." Madam He also stood up, wanting to see her two little grandchildren again after a while.


    If she went back to the Capital city and couldn''t see those two treasures, she probably wouldn''t enjoy her meals anymore.


    When He Zhiran and Madam He returned, Lan Er was still there. But the mother and daughter tacitly showed no abnormalities.


    Not until the sky darkened and everyone dispersed, did Lan Er bring a basin of clean water into He Zhiran''s room, and He Zhiran called for her to stay.


    "Lan Er, when I first brought you and Yu Er to the northwest, I never asked your ages."


    Lan Er was very perceptive, and the young madam would often chat with her, but never asked such questions.


    Still, she politely answered, "Young Madam, Lan Er and Yu Er are the same age, just turned eighteen this year."


    In the Da Shun Dynasty, girls generally started betrothal discussions at fifteen. As long as they had no physical defects, they would basically marry by sixteen.


    Lan Er and Yu Er were eighteen this year, quite old maids by now.


    "You and Yu Er are so fair, if not for saying so, I wouldn''t have known you were already eighteen." He Zhiran didn''t immediately get to the point, but saw Lan Er''s evasive eyes, seeming preupied.


    She wanted to keep the conversation light.


    "Look at me, not even eighteen yet and already mother to two babies."


    "That is the young madam''s fortune, to bear twins in one birth, and both sons too." Lan Er thought He Zhiran wasmenting something, and her nervousness dissipated.


    He Zhiran chatted casually with her for a bit longer before finally saying, "Have you and Yu Er thought about how to spend the rest of your days? You can''t do menial chores at the Mo house forever, right? Besides, you don''t have any indenture contracts and are free persons."


    Hearing this, Lan Er fell to her knees with a thud.


    "Young Madam, when Yu Er and I followed you back to the northwest, it was just hoping that on the day the princess'' revenge is aplished, we can go pay respects at her grave and tell her the news. I had no other thoughts originally. I was already indifferent to the world, but grateful for the Mo family''s kindness, I reignited my desire to live.


    Now, Lan Er is willing to stay at the Mo family forever, even as an ox or horse if need be."


    Lan Er was clever and immediately grasped He Zhiran''s implication.


    Moreover, when she encountered young master He earlier, Madam He was also there. Her blushing might have revealed something to Madam He. What if because of this, the young madam wanted to marry her off to that family?


    So she had to state her stance before the young madam brought it up.


    Since He Zhiran had started the topic, she had no intention of stopping halfway.

 Chapter 498: Marriage is the happiest when love exists.

    <h4>Chapter 498</h4>


    "A person can''t dedicate their whole life to a bit of longing in their heart. Even if you get married, you can still live in Xiling Vige and be able to walk around with Mo Family often, hearing about the news of Princess Si getting her revenge at the first moment," He Zhiran said.


    Lan Er was more and more puzzled.


    "Noble Consort, even if Lan Er lives in Xiling Vige, she won''t marry." She didn''t look down on the peasant men in Xiling Vige, she just simply didn''t want to marry, and the longing in her heart didn''t allow it either.


    He Zhiran was really surprised that she had never seen such a stubborn person before.


    "What''s wrong with getting married? Look at me, my husband dotes on me, my inws rely on me, and I can also have two lovely babies.


    You are an outstanding woman. I think outstanding women should have all this."


    "Noble Consort''s blessings are not something everyone can expect. Lan Er doesn''t dare to extravagantly hope for these."


    While He Zhiran was talking, she kept observing Lan Er''s changes in expression. She could see a momentary bright light in her eyes, which showed that deep down she yearned for this kind of life.


    "Although you used to have the status of a maid, I can see it very clearly that your temperament and etiquette are no worse than those prestigiousdies in the capital city. The vigers here in Xiling Vige definitely don''t match you."


    After thinking about it, He Zhiran felt that the previous preamble was adequate enough and there was no need to beat around the bush anymore.


    "My eldest brother He Ziming has been with my father to be personally taught by him since he was young. Not only are his literary talents outstanding, his appearance is also remarkable. Today when I talked with him, I knew that he doesn''t like the deceitful ways of the court."


    "Noble Consort, did you say Master He doesn''t want to go back to the capital city?" Lan Er widened her eyes and looked at He Zhiran, full of disbelief.


    Just now when she refused to get married, it was partly because of her previous promise, and also because of He Ziming.


    She had to admit that her whole heart and eyes were full of Master He now, it was just that she knew more clearly that her status simply didn''t match his.


    Especially since she still had the promise to Princess Si first, she just wanted to hide this feeling in her heart to let time slowly help her digest it.


    But now, why did Noble Consort mention Master He to her, could it be...?


    From Lan Er''s expression, He Zhiran could bepletely certain of her thoughts.


    "My eldest brother said that he likes the lifestyle in the northwest, and also that there is a girl here who he can''t stop thinking about."


    This was direct enough. If Lan Er still didn''t understand, then she could only pretend to be muddled.


    Lan Er''s face reddened all of a sudden.


    "Noble Consort, in this lifetime Lan Er will..." She didn''t get the chance to say the words not marry before He Zhiran interrupted her.


    "In this world, many things will change along with changes in the environment. I also understand your original intention. Whether you marry or not will not affect the oath you once made.


    Besides, you can also see that everyone in the Mo Family is self-reliant. Wepletely don''t need any kind of master-servant differences. You have been with the Mo Family for so long, has anyone here treated you as a servant?"


    This was indeed true, Lan Er had to admit this point.


    She and Yu Er nevercked food, clothing, or anything else. Not only were these the same as the Mo Family''s women, but the Mo Family''s women also didn''t do less work than them when working.


    "This is..." She hesitated indeed.


    Which woman doesn''t yearn for a love that belongs to herself?


    By now Noble Consort''s words were already very obvious. She also indicated that the He Family didn''t despise her status.


    "It''s just...just..." Lan Er hemmed and hawed for a long time but still couldn''t find any reason to refuse. Of course, she was also reluctant to refuse.


    "No more ''just'', I won''t rush you for an answer on this matter. Think carefully about it after you go back tonight when you inevitably lose sleep. You can tell me your decision tomorrow morning."


    When Lan Er came out with her head lowered, Mo Jiuye, who had been busy outside all day, came back. At first he was stunned when he saw Lan Er kneeling in front of He Zhiran.


    "Ranran, what on earth happened?"


    In his understanding, his wife had never liked other people kneeling to her. Could Lan Er havemitted some unforgivable mistake?


    Seeing Mo Jiuyee back, He Zhiran also didn''t talk about what happened just now since Lan Er was a youngdy who would be shy easily.


    "Lan Er you can get up. I won''t rush you for an answer on this matter either. Think about it carefully tonight when you inevitably lose sleep, then tell me your decision tomorrow morning."


    After Lan Er went out, Mo Jiuye closed the door. He Zhiran took the initiative to tell Mo Jiuye what happened earlier.


    Mo Jiuye was also an aristocrat in the capital city before, so he must have his own subjective opinion on this kind of marriage with unequal status. He Zhiran told him carefully because she wanted to hear his thoughts.


    "Husband, tell me the truth. If you fall in love with a girl whose status has a huge disparity from yours, what would you do?"


    Mo Jiuye had never thought about something like this before. When he was a teenager, his family had already engaged him to He Zhiran. Besides, after all these years away from home, he had never met a girl he admired either.


    However, since his wife asked, he still thought about it carefully before answering.


    "Before marrying you, I had never had feelings for any other girl. In my mindset, marriage waspletely up to my elders to decide. I also believed in my parents'' judgement, and the facts verified this point too. Marrying you is the biggest blessing in my life.


    Also, through interacting with you more and more, I like you even more now. I can even devote my life for your sake."


    Although the couple had always been affectionate with each other and He Zhiran also knew that she had a ce in Mo Jiuye''s heart, it was still the first time for him to say such things openly between them. Not only Mo Jiuye, even He Zhiran the listener couldn''t help blushing.


    "Husband, I''m asking your opinion on this matter, not asking you to talk about our feelings."


    Mo Jiuye went forward to embrace He Zhiran in his arms and lovingly nted a kiss on her forehead.


    "It''s because I don''t know what other people think. I only know that a marriage with love existing, regardless of rich or poor origins, or whether the families match, is the happiest kind."


    Although he didn''t answer the question directly, He Zhiran had already found the answer she wanted from it.


    But she still wanted to hear Mo Jiuye say it from his own mouth.


    "What if I wasn''t the daughter of the Minister of Revenue''s family and was just an ordinarymoner or even a maid, but happened to also fall in love with you, what would you do?"


    When it came to love, Mo Jiuye was absolutely single-minded. In the past when he didn''t understand the taste of love, perhaps this question would have been hard to answer, but it was different now. He now loved He Zhiran to the bone.


    "If it really was like this, I would tell my mother that I want to marry you. No matter what your status is, you are the person I, Mo Jiuye, want to spend my life with."


    "What if your mother didn''t agree then what?" He Zhiran became more and more interested in this topic and asked persistently.


    "You understand my mother''s character too. Although she was more stern when she was in the capital city, she is also very reasonable and understanding. For any girl Ie to like, as long as she has good moral character and disposition, my mother would not oppose."

 Chapter 499: Is Yamen Busy Today

    <h4>Chapter 499</h4>


    He Zhiran understood that her mother-inw was indeed reasonable and never looked down on others like the noble matriarchs in the Capital city.


    Thinking of her own mother, though a bit more homelypared to her mother-inw, she was also a kind and open-minded person.


    It seemed that as long as Lan Er agreed, she and her brother could exin the situation to their mother, and this marriage wouldn''t be as difficult as imagined.


    Of course, the head of the He Family in the Capital city might have a different opinion, but as long as her mother didn''t object, things would be easier.


    First, she needed to resolve the current predicament.


    While He Zhiran pondered over the situation between He Ziming and Lan Er, Mo Jiuye''s body had undergone a fundamental change.


    His normal body temperature gradually increased after intimately interacting with his wife, and the primal desire arising from his heart made him instinctively seek her cherry lips.


    This was the first time the couple had been so intimate since He Zhiran became pregnant.


    It wasn''t that He Zhiran was unwilling before; she had even taken the initiative to hint to Mo Jiuye that after three months of pregnancy, the situation would generally stabilize, and as long as they were careful, there wouldn''t be any problems.


    But Mo Jiuye was afraid of harming his wife and children, and no matter how difficult it was for him, he had always restrained himself.


    It wasn''t until several days after the twins'' full moon that Mo Jiuye''s urge reignited, reaching an uncontroble level.


    He was also worried that his wife might be pregnant again. The pain she had endured during childbirth was still vivid in his mind, and he had sworn never to let his wife go through that again.


    Therefore, since He Zhiran''s postpartum recovery period ended, he had been enduring with willpower.


    As the saying goes, "Forbearance has its limits," which described Mo Jiuye''s current psychological state.


    Hisrge hands roamed over He Zhiran''s back, and his fierce kisses never stopped...


    That night, Mo Jiuye could no longer control his primal physical desires. Nevertheless, he was still very gentle with He Zhiran''s body, and no matter how intense his desire burned, he would always ask about her feelings.


    Especially towards the end, he was afraid of releasing his seed inside his wife''s womb, so he summoned all his willpower to quickly withdraw.


    He then tightly embraced He Zhiran, savoring her every breath.


    Although He Zhiran had no experience in this area, as a soul from the modern world, she understood Mo Jiuye''s reasons for doing so.


    Moreover, she also enjoyed the intimacy with Mo Jiuye, and if this situation continued, it would undoubtedly affect their marital dynamics.


    With a thought, she entered her space and purchased a box of condoms from Taobao, shyly exining the usage to Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye had some understanding, as there were contraceptives in the medical academy, but he was worried that frequent use would harm his wife''s health, so he had never considered that idea.


    To his surprise, his wife''s Taobao space actually sold such a good product. Did this mean that from now on, he wouldn''t have to worry about anything and could be intimate whenever he wanted?


    Mo Jiuye opened a condom package, revealing a naughty smile.


    "Ran Ran, I want to try this thing now..."


    He Zhiran...


    She had just been exhausted from their previous activities and had informed Mo Jiuye about the existence of condoms for his sake.


    Who knew this hungry wolf would be so impatient...


    A night of passion, and the couple slept more soundly than usual.


    The two little ones were also very well-behaved, knowing that their father and mother hadn''t yed for a long time, and they didn''t cry all night, sleeping until daybreak.


    In the courtyard, Madam Mo and the other women of the Mo Family were waiting.


    Usually, at this time every day, they woulde to see the babies, and Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran would have already gotten up. But today was exceptionally unusual; not only were the two adults silent, but the two babies hadn''t cried either.


    Since the birth of the twins, these people had be ustomed to waking up early every day as their first task to visit the little siblings in Mo Jiuye''s courtyard.


    In fact, it seemed that only by doing this could they start their day full of energy.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had already woken up, but afterst night''s exertion, neither of them felt like moving, so they indulged themselves for once.


    It wasn''t until the sound of Mingzhu crying for food woke up that the couple reluctantly got up.


    Mo Jiuye was used to this pattern of family members waking up early to see the children, so he opened the door and walked out, leaving the room to the women.


    He Zhiran didn''t need to do anything; the women didn''t require her to feed the children herself. The two elderlydies and sisters-inw would fight over serving the two little ones, and some would even be unhappy if they couldn''t assist the babies...


    With the children in the care of the family''s women, He Zhiran became idle. She would check on the breeding farm, inspect the crops in the fields, and appropriately provide key input when Mo Jiuye was building greenhouses these days.


    It wasn''t until the afternoon that He Zhiran walked towards her own courtyard. As she approached the corner, she saw Meng Huaining riding back on a horse.


    Seeing He Zhiran, Meng Huaining dismounted.


    "Sister-inw, aren''t you busy at the Government Office today? Why are you back so early?"


    He Zhiran knew that Meng Huaining must have had something to do, returning at this hour, and she hadn''t seen her brother-inw today, even though they usually went together.


    Meng Huaining knew that Sister-inw He was the matriarch of the Mo Family and had the right to voice her opinion on matters discussed by the men.


    "Sister-inw, let''s go to Second Uncle first. A letter has arrived from the Capital city."


    The mention of a letter from the Capital city was a matter of great concern for He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye. After Xiaobai returned, he had been recovering from his injuries in the space, and although they were worried about the situation in the Capital city, they couldn''t ask the injured Xiaobai to deliver messages.


    Finally, a letter had arrived from the Capital city, but Meng Huaining''s expression suggested that the content was not very optimistic.


    "I''ll go call your Brother-inw first." At the moment, the other Mo brothers were mostly on the mountain, and it would take some time to call them back. He Zhiran was eager to learn the contents of the letter, so she decided to call Mo Jiuye to Second Uncle''s ce first.


    He Zhiran returned to the greenhouse area and took Mo Jiuye with her.


    There was no need to find Mo Qing and Fourth Brother, as the two immobile ones were left in the main courtyard making bamboo tubes for bombs.


    Currently, the room only had Mo Qing, Fourth Brother, Mo Jiuye, He Zhiran, and Meng Huaining.


    Meng Huaining cautiously looked towards the entrance before taking out the letter from the Capital city and handing it to Mo Qing.


    "Father-inw, this is the letter I just received from the Capital city. The situation is not very optimistic. Please review it first."

 Chapter 500: I’ll give them a bloody death.

    <h4>Chapter 500</h4>


    Mo Qing had also been keeping an eye on the news from the Capital city, and immediately opened the letter to read it.


    He saw that his gaze while reading the letter became increasingly profound.


    "Father, what on earth happened?" Seeing him put down the letter, Mo Jiuye hurriedly asked.


    "The letter said that Emperor Shunwu had not held morning court for ten days. The court is now divided into three factions, with half supporting Nan Heng, and the rest supporting Prince Rui and the Fourth Prince.


    There is also the matter of us killing those assassins sent by the Empress to kill the Empress that the magistrate reported to the court. At that time, Emperor Shunwu, not knowing who had instigated him, handed the matter to Xue Prime Minister to deal with.


    Xue Prime Minister didn''t even investigate, and after a few days he reported the matter to Emperor Shunwu, saying that the more than two hundred people who died in the northwest were all localmoners, because the Mo Family wanted to upy theirnd, Jiuye brutally killed them.


    As soon as this was reported to Emperor Shunwu, it aroused his thunderous anger. If it weren''t for Prince Rui and Mr. Fei persuading him that there might be hidden facts in it, Emperor Shunwu would have sent troops to the northwest to arrest Jiuye.


    For this reason, Prince Rui also had a very unpleasant quarrel with the Empress''s party. The current situation is also increasingly dangerous."


    Mo Jiuye clenched his fists: "What a good Empress, what a good Xue family, I will make sure they do not die well."


    He Zhiran was also very angry at this moment. If it were in the past, she would only listen to such things, and if Mo Qing did not ask her, she would not take the initiative to express her opinion. But today was different. The Xue family was simply too bullying.


    "Father, the greenhouse will be built in two days. I n to go to the Capital city with my husband. Since they won''t let the Mo Family have a good life, let''s take the initiative and get rid of all those who don''t mean well to the Mo Family."


    "We must go to the Capital city. The Mo Family men are not cowards. It is not your turn as a woman to stand up for this." Mo Qing was the first to object.


    In his opinion, although his ninth daughter-inw was a little smarter, it was impossible for him to let a powerless weak woman rush into battle.


    He Zhiran was also impatient at first, so she directly said what was on her mind.


    Since the words had already been said, there was absolutely no reason to take them back, not to mention that she and Mo Jiuye had nned this in advance.


    Mo Jiuye also disagreed with her going at first, partly because he was worried that she would be in danger, and partly because of their two newborn children.


    But no one understood He Zhiran''s temper better than him. She would not change her mind no matter how much persuasion was made to make her give up on something she wanted to do.


    Having no alternative, Mo Jiuye had topromise.


    However, he had already reached an agreement with He Zhiran that she could go to the Capital city with him, but once she was in danger, she should not care about anything else and escape into the space to save her life first. If He Zhiran did not agree, he would notpromise either.


    In order to be able to go to the Capital city, let alone such a simple condition, even if it was more harsh she would agree.


    Therefore, the husband and wife had nned it out long ago that after the greenhouse was built, they would set off for the Capital city, regardless of whether they could receive news from the Capital city or not.


    Since he had already agreed to take his wife with him, when Mo Jiuye faced opposition from his family, he naturally had to speak up to help.


    "Father, Zhiran wants to go to the Capital city with me, mainly because she wants to see her father-inw. After all, they haven''t seen each other for more than a year, and she must miss her father as a daughter. "


    Mo Jiuye knew his father and brothers'' temperament. As people who were born and raised on the battlefield, how could they possibly let a woman participate in these struggles?


    The best way was to use the excuse that his daughter-inw missed her father.


    He Zhiran also realized at this moment that she was too impatient just now and forgot about the bloody nature of the Mo men.


    "Father, I was just too impatient just now. I''m actually going to the Capital city mainly to see my father."


    After thinking about it, she continued.


    "My mother and eldest brother both fell in love with the northwest, and n to settle here for the long term. My trip to the Capital city this time is to try to persuade my father to resign from office and leave that vortex of struggle as soon as possible.


    My father dotes on me the most, I''m afraid only I can convince him to listen, so I decided to go to the Capital city with my husband. Then my husband will go about his business, while I stay at the military minister¡¯s residence to persuade my father."


    When Mo Qing heard He Zhiran say this, although he was still doubtful in his heart, he could not stop his daughter-inw from visiting her parents because of his own subjective ideas.


    He took a deep breath and said, "Since this is the case, you husband and wife should discuss this matter yourselves. However, sessfully resolving the crisis the Mo Family is facing in the Capital city this time is not an easy task. Let me discuss specific countermeasures with you brotherster. Our Mo Family is not without talent. It is impossible to let you shoulder the danger alone."


    In Mo Qing''s view, it would not be easy to resolve the crisis in the Capital city, although his ninth son was capable, such things could not be done alone by one person.


    Moreover, his Mo Family now had nine sons, all of whom could participate except for the fourth son whose actions were hindered.


    If that didn¡¯t work out, there were still good friends like Liang Hao and Tao Ran¡¯s group. Any one of them would be a great help to Mo Jiuye if they went along.


    If it were in the past, Mo Jiuye would have had simr ideas to take several capable elder brothers to go together.


    But this time was different. His wife was going with him. She had space. If necessary, she would take some special items from space to use.


    Although Mo Jiuye had been a scapegoat for more than a year, those things still had reasonable ways to see the light of day.


    It would be different when he went to the Capital city. If he wanted to get rid of those ill-intentioned people to the Mo Family in the simplest way, his wife would certainly take out many unexpected things. At that time, even if someone else saw it, he would really have no reason to exin.


    Moreover, his wife''s space was a huge secret that he would never allow one more person to know about.


    "Father, have you ever thought that in the Emperor''s eyes now, everyone in the Mo Family is a criminal. If our goal is too big when we go to the Capital city this time, it will be easy to expose our whereabouts. What''s more, we can''t guarantee that the northwest will definitely be safe.


    I''ll take Zhiran with me and send her to her father-inw first. I can go alone first to check out the general situation. After knowing ourselves and knowing our enemies, I can have Little White send a message back, and then have someonee over to help."


    Mo Qing agreed with Mo Jiuye''s words in his heart, but he was still a little worried, so he did not respond immediately.


    Instead, the fourth elder brother sitting aside spoke up.


    "Father, I agree with Ninth Brother''s idea. The situation in the Capital city now is also only what we understand from the letter. We can only analyze the general circumstances of how things actually are.


    Instead of going with so many people ostentatiously, we might as well just do as Ninth Brother said, let him scout out the situation first before making a decision.


    The little white raised by Ninth Brother is indeed extraordinary. It takes at most four days for a round trip between the Capital city and the northwest. As long as we follow Ninth Brother''s arrangements and take action after receiving his message, it won''t be toote."

 Chapter 501: What about that thing I asked you to think about yesterday

    <h4>Chapter 501</h4>


    To put it bluntly, although the Mo Family''s current actions are to defend their own home, in the eyes of outsiders, it is the heinous crime of rebelling against the emperor.


    The Mo Family men once all had the loyal heart to serve the country, although now they have fallen to the point of exile, if not forced to, who would want to be the rebel.


    Helplessly, forced by the situation, they can only do their best to protect their own safety.


    Mo Qing was still somewhat hesitant, but seeing his four sons speak like this, he simply made a decision immediately.


    "Okay, let''s do as Mo Jiuye suggested. You take Ms. He to the capital first, others wait for your message in the northwest."


    Mo Jiuye had thought it would take a lot of effort to persuade his family to take only He Zhiran to the capital, but he didn''t expect it to be so easy.


    Even so, he did not forget about He Zhiran''s affairs.


    "Dad, there is one more thing. My mother-inw still doesn''t know that Zhiran and I are going to the capital. I hope she won''t know about this before we leave."


    This was also He Zhiran''s intention. Last time she did not argue with Madam He, because she understood her temperament. If she knew there was danger, she would definitely not agree to let her go to the capital.


    Even if Mo Jiuye didn''t say it, she would have reminded them herself.


    As a parent, how could Mo Qing not understand Madam He''s feelings?


    He sighed helplessly.


    "Alright, let''s not make this matter public for now. We''ll think of a way tofort your mother-inw after you leave."


    With Mo Qing''s assurance, He Zhiran had nothing to worry about.


    "Then I''ll have to ask everyone to take good care of my mother and eldest brother when the timees."


    The couple''s trip to the capital was already on the agenda. Mo Jiuye was even more eager to get everything at home sorted out in advance.


    After leaving the elders'' yard, he went to Hu Cong.


    If it was usual, Hu Cong would not be at home at this time. Now his contracting business was booming. Not only did he earn a lot of money himself, but the bonus he gave to He Zhiran was also considerable.


    People saw that the houses he built were not only beautiful but also practical. Word spread and more and more people came looking for him, so that the projects in his hands were scheduled until winter.


    Yesterday, Hu Cong had just taken a big business - to build arge siheyuan for a wealthy family in Yuncheng. The structure of the siheyuan was almost the same as that of the Mo family, the only difference was that there were no ss windows.


    The siheyuan Hu Cong had built before were about the same size as the Mo''s, but this time the client wanted one twice as big. To be more urate with theyout, he stayed at home today to redraw the blueprints.


    Mo Jiuye exined to him about building another siheyuan.


    Of course Hu Cong agreed without hesitation for his great benefactor. The construction period would also be much earlier.


    Mo Jiuye had also chosen the location for the house, right next to the siheyuan where Mo Hanyue lived.


    The wastnd to the west had not been fully developed yet. He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye''s original intention was to build severalrge workshops there.


    For example, for future milk powder business and some other businesses that may involve processing, they could all be done there.


    Anyway, the reserved space wasrge enough. Even if a siheyuan was built for the He family, it would not affect the construction of workshops in the future.


    After making things clear with Hu Cong, Mo Jiuye paid the deposit. He would pay Hu Cong the bnce afterplete construction.


    The whole process was carried out in the way Hu Cong recently contracted projects.


    Because this time Hu Cong was contracted to build the house entirely, Mo Jiuye did not need to go out and purchase materials himself. He only needed to provide Hu Cong with ss.


    While Mo Jiuye was busy looking for Hu Cong to discuss the construction, He Zhiran was also not idle on her side, because she knew that she and Mo Jiuye would be leaving for the capital in a few days.


    After leaving the elders'' yard, she went straight back home.


    When Lan Er was free, she would go to her sister-inw''s ce to get some doll-making materials. At this moment she was sitting in the room making dolls.


    However, she kept making mistakes today. She had already dismantled it twice in just a short while.


    Lan Er was lowering her head struggling with the doll when she heard someone knock on the door.


    "Lan Er, are you there?"


    "Madam Jiu, I''m here." Lan Er got up in a panic to open the door.


    She had been thinking all night and barely slept, her eyes were a little bloodshot, and the dark circles under them were clearly visible.


    He Zhiran stood at the door, first looked around Lan Er, before walking in.


    Seeing Lan Er still standing there properly, He Zhiran pointed to the chair beside her and said, "Don''t keep standing, you know I don''t like these rules."


    Lan Er obediently sat down as instructed.


    He Zhiran didn''t want to beat around the bush and asked directly, "What do you think about what I asked you to consider yesterday?"


    "Madam Jiu, I..." Lan Er felt it was difficult to speak out.


    He Zhiran knew that giving her only one night to think about it was a bit short.


    However, she was about to go to the capital soon, and there was no more time to deal with this matter, so she wanted to resolve it as much as possible before leaving.


    "I know you''ve always reminded yourself to be aware of your status in front of me, but as you can see, I don''t care about these things. Besides, I''ve long regarded you as a friend, so feel free to speak your mind."


    Lan Er hesitated for a moment, then pursed her lips, as if making up her mind, and said,


    "Master He is from an eminent family, handsome and aplished. Such a fine gentleman is rare to find. Of course Lan Er would feel moved if she said she didn''t.


    However, Madam Jiu also knows Lan Er''s situation. If the Fourth Princess were still alive, Yu''er and I would have spent our whole lives serving by her side. So before this, Lan Er never thought about her own marriage.


    The Fourth Princess was tortured to death in the South. If it weren''t for Master Jiu and Madam Jiu, Lan Er would have been dead by now too.


    Lan Er is a woman too, and of course would fantasize about her future life like other girls do. But Lan Er is just a maid. Marrying Master He would probably taint his status."


    After listening, He Zhiran also understood what Lan Er was struggling with.


    In short, her eldest brother was a court official with boundless prospects, with a father who was also an imperial minister. For such a young master from a prominent official family to marry a maid, it was unheard of since ancient times.


    He Zhiran didn''t care about these things. For her future sister-inw, if she had to choose between character and background, she would definitely choose character.


    Marriage was a lifetime affair, not to mention the He family didn''t care too much about ancestry in the first ce. It just didn''t ur to anyone that He Ziming would fall for Lan Er.


    To He Zhiran, none of these were problems. First of all, whether her elder brother resigned his post or not, there was nothing wrong with marrying a girl he liked.

 Chapter 502: The Husband is a Safe man.

    <h4>Chapter 502</h4>


    What kind of status was unimportant, as it could not be eaten as a meal.


    "These are not the most important things. You only need to answer me whether you are willing or unwilling. I will handle all other matters."


    Lan Er had actually opened her mind, just as Madam Ninth had saidst night. Even if she got married, it would not dy her from going to offer incense and inform the news after learning that the Fourth Princess had reported her big enmity.


    However, she still had a wish, which was that she hoped she could continue to stay in Xiling Vige and continue working for the Mo Family.


    ¡°Madam Ninth, marrying Eldest Young Master He is the blessing that Lan Er has cultivated in her three lifetimes. As long as she does not leave Xiling Vige, Lan Er is willing to marry Eldest Young Master He."


    As soon as He Zhiran heard this, he immediately stood up, "Good, this sentence is enough."


    After speaking, she did not continue to bargain with Lan Er. Instead, she went out to find her mother and elder brother.


    Ever since he spoke his mind yesterday, He Ziming had been in a restless state, unable to sit still.


    Finally, he saw He Zhiraning. He couldn''t care less about the elegant image of a handsome gentleman he used to have. He rushed forward and grabbed He Zhiran''s arm.


    "Ran Ran, what''s the result?"


    This was the first time He Zhiran saw her eldest brother being so flustered. She couldn''t help teasing, "What result?"


    Her question made He Ziming''s face turn red in an instant.


    "Ran Ran, I saw you go into Lan Er''s room. Don''t make fun of me."


    He Zhiran had originally wanted to tease He Ziming by keeping him in suspense, but seeing how anxious he was, she decided not to.


    "There''s no problem with Lan Er. Now we just need Father and Mother''s approval."


    "Ran Ran, are you saying that Lan Er agreed? Is it true?" He Ziming was ecstatic. He gripped He Zhiran''s arm tightly, forgetting his strength.


    He Zhiran felt some pain and forcefully pulled her arm back.


    "Eldest brother, I''m your sister. You can''t pinch me like this even if you''re happy!"


    "I''m sorry, Ran Ran. I lost control." Having been reminded like this, He Ziming also realized that his behavior was a bit excessive.


    How could He Zhiran take offense with him?


    "I''ve done what I should do. The rest depends on you."


    He Ziming strode towards the door, "I''ll go find Mother now. As long as Mother agrees, Father will definitely have no problem."


    Watching her eldest brother who was so different from his usual calm self, He Zhiran shook her head with amusement.


    Just as she had just said, she had done what she could. Whether He Ziming could sessfully marry the girl he admired would depend on his own efforts afterwards.


    Perhaps Madam He had never been very against the marriage between He Ziming and Lan Er in the first ce. That very night, she handed Mo Jiuye a letter she wrote to Minister He.


    The content of the letter was undoubtedly about He Ziming¡¯s marriage. At the same time, she also wrote about her own wish as well as her son''s to settle in the northwest for the long term.


    As for the detailed reasons for staying in the northwest, she hoped that Mo Jiuye would personally inform Minister He.


    Madam He thought that after hearing her words, her daughter had given up the idea of going to the capital with Mo Jiuye.


    Therefore, when handing over the letter to him, she also made some other requests, hoping that he could convey these words to Minister He through word of mouth.


    Mo Jiuye would certainly keep his mother-inw''s instructions in mind.


    At the same time, he also truthfully told He Zhiran about her mother asking him to bring a letter to her father.


    He Zhiran strongly approved of her mother¡¯s approach. Especially regarding her eldest brother¡¯s marriage, it was most appropriate for her as the mother to state her stance first.


    Hu Cong was the most concerned about the Mo Family¡¯s affairs. Early the next morning, he took his men to select a location for the new house and conducted measurements.


    Therge greenhouse at home was alsopleted on the same day.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye did not know how long they would be away in the capital this time. To guard against contingencies, they left the seeds that needed to be nted in the greenhouse in advance.


    They also handed over all matters regarding the nting greenhouse to the meticulous Fifth Elder Brother.


    Fifth Elder Brother was clever and more meticulous than his other brothers. Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were at ease leaving things to him.


    After everything was arranged at home, three days had passed.


    Taking advantage of when the women were apanying the two babies, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye gathered the Mo brothers and went to Mo Qing¡¯s room.


    Although they had not officially notified the Mo brothers about their trip to the capital, some of them had heard about it from Fourth Elder Brother.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye and his wife gathering everyone so formally, they knew that Ninth Younger Brother must be going to talk about going to the capital.


    They had just had lunch at this time. If Mo Jiuye had not nned to set off today, he would not have called everyone together at this time.


    After a quick scan, except for Eighth Elder Brother who held office at the yamen, the rest of the Mo men were present. Mo Jiuye went straight to the point,


    ¡°Father, brothers, I n to go to the capital with Ran Ran today.¡±


    ¡°Ninth Younger Brother, Eldest Brother knows that you are worried about attracting other people''s attention if there are too many people. So he asked me to apany you alone. That way, if anything happens, there will be someone to help and we can send a message back home immediately.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Ninth Younger Brother. The rest of us will stay at home waiting for news. Just let Eldest Brother apany you husband and wife on the trip.¡± Third Elder Brother also persuaded.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had already discussed that they would leave Yuncheng at dawn, and take out the big G from the space to travel overnight after dark.


    Just like when they went to the south, they would drive at night and rest in the space during the day.


    In this way, a journey that would originally take more than half a month riding day and night could bepleted by them in three or four days.


    In their opinion, the situation in the capital was very unfavorable to the Mo family, so it would be best to arrive earlier to resolve it.


    ¡°Eldest Brother, I know you mean well, but after careful consideration, I have also discussed this with Father that I will go alone first. If I need your help, I will have Little White send a message back immediately.¡±


    Mo Jiuye had made up his mind and would not make any changes. Therefore, his words also contained an irresistible tone.


    Mo Qing stopped Mo Junrui when thetter still wanted to say something.


    "Junrui, let your Ninth Younger Brother make the arrangements regarding this matter."


    Since their father had spoken, Mo Junrui could only resign himself to it.


    "In that case, you must prioritize your own safety on this trip. Do not get anxious if you encounter any tricky situations. Have Little White send us a message and we¡¯ll think of something together."


    After Mo Junrui spoke, he looked at He Zhiran again, ¡°Ninth Sister-in-Law is as smart as us brothers. Ninth Younger Brother, you must remind her more when handling things.¡±


    "Don''t worry everyone. My husband handles things very steadily." The current Mo Jiuye was no longer the youngest rascal his elder brothers remembered. Having gone through so many things, he could now handle matters calmly and appropriately.


    He Zhiran did not mean to say that she would help Mo Jiuye. She only hoped that her family would trust him.


    Mo Jiuye looked at the sky.


    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. Ran Ran and I n to set off immediately to rest overnight in Zhou Mansion when we arrive, then set off from Zhou Mansion early tomorrow morning towards the capital riding day and night.¡±

 Chapter 503: Now He’s Homeless

    <h4>Chapter 503</h4>


    He Zhiran also said, "Father, brothers, I''m going to the capital with my husband. My mother has been opposing it, so I don''t n to bid her farewell this time.


    I''ll have to trouble you all to handle this matter for me. Also, please help take care of my two children for a while. Their baby form is well-stocked, so you don''t need to worry about them not having enough to eat."


    "You don''t need to worry about that. The two little ones are the treasures of our Mo family. We''ll definitely take good care of them. But as for your mother..." Mo Qing didn''t know how to put it.


    Having Mo Qing exin to his mother-inw that He Zhiran had secretly left with Mo Jiuye, and everyone knew about it - he really didn''t know how to broach the subject.


    Not just Mo Qing, but the Mo brothers also felt somewhat awkward about it.


    He Zhiran knew this matter was indeed difficult for everyone, but she had no other choice.


    With her mother-inw''s temperament, if she knew in advance that He Zhiran was going to the capital with Mo Jiuye, she wouldn''t eat, drink, or sleep and would guard her every day.


    "Father, brothers, I know this is difficult for you all. How about this - I''ll leave a note here. If my mother asks, just say you found out from the note that I went to the capital with my husband."


    This way, it would be less awkward for her father-inw and brothers-inw.


    Seeing that his sister-inw had written the note, the fifth brother asked, "What about The Eighth Old Zhou who came from the capital? His health has recovered quite well now. What are Brother Jiuye''s ns for him?"


    The Eighth Old Zhou was an honest man. He still remembered how He Zhiran had saved him before, and his adoring feelings had not disappeared.


    It was just that he clearly understood that He Zhiran was now a married woman. Moreover, on the way back to the capital from the northwest, Peng Wang had repeatedly reminded him that a toad lusting after a swan''s flesh was just a pipe dream.


    Even if He Zhiran wasn''t married, she was the daughter of a high-ranking minister''s family. The Eighth Old Zhou should look at himself and consider how much he was worth to even think about coveting a minister''s daughter.


    The Eighth Old Zhou wasn''t thick-skinned. He understood everything Peng Wang had said.


    It was just that this lingering affection in his heart was something he couldn''t control himself.


    However, he had never harbored any untoward thoughts. He just quietly kept He Zhiran in his heart.


    If it weren''t for this incident, he might never have had the chance to see He Zhiran again in this lifetime.


    Although he hadn''t seen He Zhiran this time he came to the northwest, just knowing that they were so close made his heart a little uncontroble.


    To avoid causing trouble for He Zhiran and to feel more at ease himself, even though his injuries had healed quite a bit, he kept a low profile and avoided any opportunity to run into He Zhiran as much as possible.


    For this reason, He Zhiran had never seen The Eighth Old Zhou, to the point that she had forgotten there was such a person in Xilingcun Vige.


    When asked about arrangements for The Eighth Old Zhou, Mo Jiuye thought for a moment and said:


    "He''s homeless now. Fifth Brother, ask himter if he''s willing to settle down in the northwest. If so, help him purchase a courtyard residence in Xilingcun Vige.


    As for his livelihood, The Eighth Old Zhou has a good character. If he still wants an official position, put in a word with my brother-inw to arrange for him to be a constable. If he''s unwilling, ask Old Brother Hu if he needs any help.


    Also, please tell him for me that I will definitely avenge Peng''s grievance against him. He can stay here without worry."


    "Good, I''ll make the arrangementster."


    Mo Jiuye checked the time again. "It''s not early anymore. Let''s head out now."


    The couple rode horses and departed.


    They went straight past the provincial capital and reached the official road leading to the capital. By then, night had fallen. After resting briefly in their space, they drove theirrge car directly to the capital.


    The couple traveled at night and rested in the space during the day. Finally, on the fourth night after setting out, they arrived outside the gates of the capital city.


    The city gates of the capital were closed at night, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving unless they had an official pass or a decree from the Emperor.


    The guards at the capital were not like those at other cities. Not only were there numerous guard soldiers, but some were also highly skilled martial artists from the imperial pce.


    For an ordinary city, Mo Jiuye would have taken He Zhiran and used their lightness skills to find a weakly guarded area to slip in.


    But here, he didn''t n to do that.


    Not to mention bringing He Zhiran along, even going alone, he couldn''t guarantee sess in sneaking through undetected.


    Therefore, Mo Jiuye nned to rest outside the city for one night. The next morning when the gates opened, he and He Zhiran would disguise themselves before entering the city.


    Having reached the vicinity of the capital, the couple''s mood was not very calm, as they didn''t know what challenges awaited them in the future.


    They spent a sleepless night. Before dawn, the couple sat in front of mirrors, applying makeup different from before. This time, Mo Jiuye disguised himself as a middle-aged merchant, while He Zhiran disguised herself as a middle-aged woman.


    Moreover, the clothes they wore were darker in color, making them look older.


    After making sure there were no issues with their appearances, He Zhiran pulled Mo Jiuye out of the space together.


    They were apanied by a modest horse carriage.


    He Zhiran sat in the carriage while Mo Jiuye drove it.


    Theoretically, it should have been time for the city gates to open, but therge doors remained tightly shut.


    People had already lined up in an orderly queue, waiting outside the gates.


    Although Mo Jiuye was puzzled as to why the gates openedter than usual, he remainedposed as he drove the carriage to the back of the line.


    In front of him was a young couple holding a baby that looked over a year old.


    The woman had tears in her eyes as she stared at the baby in her husband''s arms.


    "Husband, let''s try pleading with the gate officials! If we dy any longer, I''m afraid Hu Tou won''t make it."


    "It''s no use pleading. Didn''t you see someone who was in a hurry to enter the city went to ask the gate constable and got whipped instead?"


    "But Hu Tou''s illness can''t wait..."


    The woman''s voice broke as she spoke, and she began to sob.


    He Zhiran could clearly hear the couple''s conversation from inside the carriage. She lifted the curtain and stepped out, approaching the couple.


    "Madam, I know some medical skills. If you trust me, I can take a look at the child first."


    The middle-aged couple looked puzzled when they saw the well-dressed woman speaking to them.


    After all, in this era, doctors who treated illnesses were usually men, so their doubts were understandable.


    Despite their doubts, for the sake of their child''s life, the man gratefully said, "Then we''ll trouble you, madam."


    He Zhiran stepped forward, feeling the child''s forehead first, then taking his pulse.


    "The child is just suffering from amon bout of typhoid fever. Because it wasn''t treated in time, it has affected his lung function."

 Chapter 504: Looks like something really big is going on.

    <h4>Chapter 504</h4>


    Simply put, the child had pneumonia, but since the term ''pneumonia'' did not exist in the Da Shun Dynasty, He Zhiran could only exin it in a way they could understand.


    As soon as she finished speaking, the woman fell to her knees in front of her.


    "Madam, please save my son!"


    He Zhiran quickly helped her up.


    "Don''t worry, I happen to have the right medicine in my carriage. Let''s give it to the child first."


    He Zhiran went to her carriage and took out some fever-reducing medicine and granules for treating children''s pneumonia from her space.


    After changing all the packaging, she handed them to the woman and instructed her to give them to the child immediately.


    At the same time, He Zhiran did not forget to ask the couple why the city gates had not opened yet.


    "Do you know why the gates of the Capital city have not been opened at this hour?"


    The man exined, "You must be from out of town, so it''s understandable that you don''t know the situation in the Capital city."


    "Oh? What''s going on?"


    He Zhiran feigned curiosity in her inquiry.


    "It has been three days since the gates of the Capital city were opened. We are all residents of the viges around the Capital city. If it weren''t for our child''s illness, we wouldn''t have waited here hoping to get lucky.


    From the looks of it today, the city gates may not open as usual."


    After hearing the man''s exnation, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye exchanged a nce, both having a bad feeling about this.


    The gates of the Capital city not opening for three days could only mean one thing - a major problem had urred inside.


    Especially for He Zhiran, who knew a lot about ancient history.


    The most likely scenario was that someone was staging a coup.


    The two of them instinctively looked up at the city walls.


    Mo Jiuye said softly, "It seems that something major has happened, or else there wouldn''t be so many guards on the city walls."


    Although He Zhiran was not as familiar with the situation here as Mo Jiuye, she could also see signs from the state of the city wall guards.


    Those guards were all wearing armor, each holding arge spear, and their expressions were solemn.


    In her understanding, city gate guards were never this formidable - these were clearly Da Shun''s regr soldiers.


    Mo Jiuye''s gaze eventually fell on the person at the very center of the gatehouse.


    Even if he turned to ashes, Mo Jiuye would recognize him.


    It was none other than Xue Bo, the youngest son of Prime Minister Xue.


    Xue Bo was a few years older than Mo Jiuye and had always enjoyed ying with swords and spears since he was young, though he was not particrly skilled.


    Seeing that Xue Bocked the talent for academics, Prime Minister Xue had hired martial arts masters to tutor him, which suited Prime Minister Xue just fine since there were no martial generals in his family of civil officials tomand troops.


    Due to his status as the Prime Minister''s son, Xue Bo had always been arrogant and disrespectful.


    When the Mo Family was resisting the invasion from the Southern Territory, the shameless Prime Minister Xue rmended that Xue Bo apany the Mo Family troops to the Southern Territory for training.


    On the surface, it was to allow Xue Bo to gain experience, but he had secretly passed information about the Da Shun army''s movements to the Southern Territory forces.


    As a result, the Da Shun army''s provisions were nearly burned down by the Southern Territory.


    At that time, it was the Seventh Elder Brother of the Mo Family who was leading the troops in battle. When he discovered this, he immediately had Xue Bo captured and interrogated.


    However, Xue Bo sealed his lips quickly, and the Seventh Elder Brother could not find any solid evidence that it was Xue Bo who had leaked the information to the Southern Territory.


    Even so, in a fit of rage, the Seventh Elder Brother had Xue Bo severely beaten with fifty military sticks and then sent back to the Capital city for the Emperor to deal with.


    After Xue Bo was sent back to the Capital city, who knows what tricks Prime Minister Xue used, but he managed to secretly secure Xue Bo''s release.


    Since then, Xue Bo had kept a low profile in the Capital city and had not been seen again.


    Little did they expect that upon returning to the Capital city, they would encounter him here!


    If not for not wanting to alert him too early, Mo Jiuye would have taken his life right then and there.


    Seeing his troubled expression, He Zhiran tugged at his sleeve and asked softly, "Husband, what''s wrong?"


    Mo Jiuye shook his head. "Let''s leave this ce first. I''ll exinter."


    He Zhiran also knew this was not the ce to talk, so the two of them wordlessly led their carriage to a deserted area.


    Once they found a suitable spot and saw that there was no danger around, they shed into their space.


    The first thing Mo Jiuye did was to tell He Zhiran about Xue Bo''s history.


    "Husband, since Xue Bo is leading the guards, it means the Xue Family has likely taken control of the entire court."


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "Yes, that seems to be the case."


    "What should we do now?"


    In this kind of situation, He Zhiran was also at a loss.


    "It''s still early, but there will definitely be more people trying to enter the cityter. We can mingle with the crowd then and take action when an opportunity arises."


    As the two of them discussed their strategy in the space, the little white creature seemed to notice its masters'' worries and came fluttering over.


    Itnded on Mo Jiuye''s shoulder, making a series of coo-ing sounds, as if offering to help.


    At first, Mo Jiuye did not understand the little white creature''s intention and thought it was just being affectionate.


    However, He Zhiran sensed something.


    "Husband, is the little white creature saying it can help?"


    Upon his wife''s prompting, Mo Jiuye finally paid attention to the little white creature.


    He turned to look at it, still coo-ing on his shoulder.


    "Little White, are you saying you want to go to the Capital city to deliver a message?"


    The little white creature continued to coo and nod its head vigorously.


    Mo Jiuye instinctively looked at its wound, and the little white creature seemed to realize something and immediately took flight, as if telling Mo Jiuye that its injury was no longer an issue.


    In fact, having the little white creature deliver a message to Fei Nanyu tomunicate was a good idea, and since it was a short distance, it would not take much time.


    The only concern the two of them had was the little white creature''s injury.


    He Zhiran called the little white creature over and re-examined its wound.


    "Husband, the little white creature''s wound is not severe. As long as it doesn''t fly too far, it should be fine."


    "In that case, I''ll write a note to Master Fei and ask him about the situation in the Capital city. If possible, I''ll request his assistance for us to enter the city."


    After all, they had nned to meet with Fei Nanyu upon arriving in the Capital city if necessary, so it wouldn''t hurt to let him know a little earlier.


    The note''s content was simple, inquiring about what had happened in the Capital city and why the gates were closed, not allowing anyone in or out, and whether Fei Nanyu could help them enter the city.


    The little white creature left with the note, and Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran squeezed into the crowd of people trying to enter the city.


    As Mo Jiuye had expected, by this time, there were more and more people lining up at the city gates.


    Everyone was discussing the same topic - when would they be allowed to enter the city.


    Many were residents of the Capital city who had gone out on errands and could not return home, while others were carrying goods to sell in the city.


    Some were merchants from out of town, and they looked miserable as they gazed at their fully loaded carts and wagons.


    Unfortunately, no matter how much these people discussed, none of them knew why the gates of the Capital city were not allowing anyone in or out, or when they would be opened...

 Chapter 505: Token Proof

    <h4>Chapter 505</h4>


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran blended into the crowd, quietly observing the situation.


    Until almost noon, many people had lost hope of leaving, but arge portion still stubbornly waited there.


    Some even boldly ran to the city gates to demand an exnation from the guard soldiers.


    Initially, those soldiers merely blocked them with their weapons and did not take any extreme actions.


    After a while, it''s unclear whether someone gave them orders, but those soldiers started to manhandle the troublemaking civilians, and soon dispersed arge group of them.


    The number of people in front of the city gates dwindled, and after noon, there were only a few left.


    At this point, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran grew anxious. Little White had gone to the Capital city in the morning to deliver a message to Fei Nanyu but still hadn''t returned. They worried that something might have happened on Fei Nanyu''s side as well.


    Just as the two were about to discuss a n, Mo Jiuye spotted a small white dot flying towards them from the direction of the city gates.


    "Ran Ran, Little White is back."


    To avoid drawing attention, the two deliberately walked to a secluded spot.


    Little White flew towards Mo Jiuye at top speed and perched on his shoulder.


    To be cautious, He Zhiran scanned their surroundings, then pulled Mo Jiuye with her as they shed into their secret realm.


    This time, with the situation being urgent, Mo Jiuye didn''t immediately reward Little White but quickly retrieved the note tied to its leg.


    The note was written by Fei Nanyu. Unlike usual, it was brief and a bit messy, but they could still recognize Fei Nanyu''s handwriting.


    Fei Nanyu said that the Empress had forged an imperial edict, iming that Emperor Shunwu was unwell, and since there was no Crown Prince, she would temporarily manage state affairs.


    It seemed the Empress'' faction had made prior arrangements. Once the edict was issued, her people took control of the entire court.


    Fei Nanyu guessed that the Emperor had likely been harmed, and the city gates were sealed to prevent Prince Qi from returning with troops from outside.


    Lastly, he instructed Mo Jiuye to have Little White visit him againter. He and Nan Qi were trying to obtain pce entry tokens from the Xue Family. If sessful, he would have Little White deliver the tokens to them at night.


    The note didn''t contain much detail; Fei Nanyu only provided a general overview. Neither Mo Jiuye nor He Zhiran could analyze further.


    Moreover, their purpose for this trip was not to save the Da Shun dynasty but to eliminate those unfavorable to the Mo Family.


    In any case, their current goal was to sessfully enter the Capital city. Since Fei Nanyu had alreadye up with a solution, they could afford to wait a bit longer.


    He Zhiran checked Little White''s wounds and, seeing no issues, fed it before sending it back to Fei Nanyu.


    For now, it seemed all they could do was wait. Fortunately, there were still some civilians lingering outside the city gates, so their presence wouldn''t seem too conspicuous.


    A little earlier than expected, just as night fell, Little White returned.


    This time, it not only had a letter tied to its leg but also a small token.


    Mo Jiuye recognized the token - it was for use by pce staff. Back when he used to apany Nan Qi as a readingpanion, the mischievous Nan Qi would sneak out of the pce using this very token.


    Fei Nanyu sending them such a token likely meant the Empress had recently sent people out of the city, otherwise these tokens were typically only used for entering and exiting the pce.


    After pocketing the token, Mo Jiuye opened the letter.


    "Wee to the manor," it read in just six words. Fei Nanyu was asking them to visit him as soon as they entered the city.


    Even if he didn''t say so, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran would still go see him first, as they needed to learn about the situation within the Capital city from him.


    Considering the token Fei Nanyu gave them was meant for pce staff, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran disguised themselves again.


    This time, they dressed as pce attendants and applied makeup to alter their appearances.


    Once prepared, the two shed out of their secret realm.


    At this time, there wasn''t a single person at the Capital city gates. Those civilians who had been waiting to enter had already left.


    The towering city gates were tightly shut, with soldiers standing at attention on the watchtowers above, ready for battle.


    Seeing two figures approach the gates, the soldiers on the watchtowers shouted a warning.


    "The city is sealed, none may enter or exit. Leave immediately if you don''t want to die."


    Remembering that pce attendants spoke in a high-pitched tone, which wouldn''t suit Mo Jiuye, He Zhiran deliberately deepened her voice as she showed the token.


    "We were sent out on an errand by Her Majesty the Empress. This token is proof."


    Hearing they were sent by the Empress, the soldiers on the watchtower immediately came down.


    The city gates opened a small gap, and arge hand reached out.


    "Hand over the token for inspection."


    He Zhiran quickly passed the token over.


    Soon, the gates moved again, opening a gap wide enough for one person to pass through.


    "You two, hurry inside."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran entered one after the other.


    The soldiers seemed to have no doubts about them and simply returned the token.


    Mo Jiuye knew that the pce attendants were arrogant and wouldn''t bother with these soldiers, so he didn''t exchange any pleasantries and led He Zhiran towards the inner city.


    The Capital city was undoubtedly the ce Mo Jiuye was most familiar with, especially since Fei Nanyu''s current manor was the former Mo Family residence.


    Returning to his former home, no one knew the route better than Mo Jiuye himself.


    They asionally saw patrolling soldiers on the main streets.


    It was understandable for the capital, the ruler''s domain, to have strict security measures. However, in Mo Jiuye''s memory, he had never seen so many patrol soldiers in the Capital city at night before.


    Not only that, there were almost no pedestrians on the main streets. Even the few wine houses that still had their lights on seemed devoid of customers.


    The two were disguised as pce attendants, walking openly on the Capital city streets. At most, the soldiers would question them upon seeing their attire, but they didn''t cause any trouble.


    After roughly half an hour of walking and observing, the two finally reached the vicinity of Fei''s manor.


    Although Mo Jiuye didn''t yet know the specifics of the court situation, considering the Empress controlled the entire court and Fei Nanyu was Nan Qi''s man, he would undoubtedly be watched.


    Therefore, instead of going through the main entrance, Mo Jiuye led He Zhiran to a side alley, intending to enter through the rear garden.


    However, as they approached the side gate of Fei''s manor, the gate opened from the inside.


    The one who opened it was none other than Fei Nanyu''s trusted personal attendant, someone Mo Jiuye was familiar with.


    With Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s disguised appearances, the attendant didn''t recognize them.


    Fei Nanyu had instructed the attendant to wait at the side gate and let Mo Jiuye and his wife in through this entrance when they arrived.


    With the Capital city under high alerttely, there were basically no pedestrians at this hour, especially in such a secluded alley.


    Hearing footsteps, the attendant naturally assumed it was Mo Jiuye and his wife.


    However, the two people before him wereplete strangers, startling him into quickly shutting the side gate again.

 Chapter 506: How is Seo Wang’s Situation Today

    <h4>Chapter 506</h4>


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran exchanged a nce, both fully aware that their current disguises would render them unrecognizable to anyone.


    Just as Mo Jiuye was about to approach and knock on the door to exin, the side door opened again.


    This time, it was Fei Nanyu who opened the door.


    To prevent a repeat of the earlier incident, Mo Jiuye quickly spoke up, "Mr. Fei, it''s me."


    When Fei Nanyu saw the two of them, there was a brief moment of surprise, but he soon recognized Mo Jiuye''s voice.


    Recalling the tokens he had given them, it made sense for them to enter the city in such a disguise.


    However, he had no idea where they obtained these inner attendant outfits.


    Regardless, it was good that they were able to enter the city safely.


    Fei Nanyu stepped aside to allow them through the doorway, speaking in a low voice, "Pleasee in, you two."


    It was the same study room as their previous meeting, and the three of them entered one after the other.


    After taking their seats, Fei Nanyu asked, "Young Master Mo, why have youe to the capital at this time?"


    This had been a question that perplexed him. Logically speaking, with the capital in such a turbulent state, wouldn''t Mo Jiuye risk drawing unwanted attention if he were recognized?


    To this, Mo Jiuye saw no reason to conceal the truth. Even if he didn''t reveal to Fei Nanyu the potential events that might unfold in the capital, thetter would eventually figure out that he was behind them.


    "The entire Mo Family has been exiled to the northwest, and we now only wish to live in peace. However, certain individuals are determined not to let the Mo Family thrive. Rather than remaining in the northwest, constantly on guard, it''s better to strike first and eliminate those who harbor ill intentions towards the Mo Family."


    In truth, Fei Nanyu had considered the possibility of the Mo Family striking against the empress''s faction preemptively.


    However, the distance between the northwest and the capital was vast, not to mention the sensitive nature of the Mo Family''s identities.


    He had anticipated that Mo Jiuye might take action against the empress''s faction, but he never expected it to be at the present moment.


    After all, the current situation in the capital was a vortex, and many were trying to avoid getting caught up in it, let alone willingly wade into the turmoil.


    It could only be said that Mo Jiuye was extraordinarily skilled and audacious, and He Zhiran was equally a remarkable heroine among women.


    "Since you have bothe here, do you have any specific ns? If there is anything I can assist with, I will spare no effort."


    "Currently, I am not fully aware of the precise situation in the capital. The information you sent only provided a broad overview. I would like to first understand the circumstances before taking action," Mo Jiuye said solemnly.


    "As you saw today outside the city, the guards have been reced with the Xue Family''s loyalists. The capital appears peaceful on the surface, but it is alreadyrgely under the control of the empress''s faction. Prince Qi possesses only the courage of amoner andcks capable subordinates. For now, he can only watch and wait.


    "Most importantly, Emperor Shunwu has not held court for a long time, and no one knows his condition.


    "What''s even more infuriating is that the empress has resorted to fabricating imperial edicts, iming that the Emperor is gravely ill and needs to recuperate. With the position of crown prince currently vacant, she argues that it would be inappropriate for any prince to assume the throne temporarily. Therefore, she has taken control of the court in the interim.


    "She ims to be presiding over the court, but as a woman, how could she understand the ways of governance? In the end, it is the Xue Prime Minister, her father, who dictates everything.


    "Initially, there were those who spoke out in defiance, but the Xue Prime Minister made an example of a few by ordering their executions during court sessions. Now, those officials have been thoroughly intimidated and dare not speak out, seething in silence.


    "As for Prince Qi''s character, you are well aware that he typicallycks resolve and is timid when it matters most. Having been terrified by the empress''s faction''s ruthless tactics, he has be a mere turtle, hiding in his shell."


    Fei Nanyu''s lengthy exnation revealed the depth of his frustration through his tone. Although he harbored grand ambitions, without capable assistants, he was unable to make a significant impact.


    Mo Jiuye''s brow furrowed as he listened. The thought that the mighty Great Shun Nation could be controlled by a single family affiliated with the empress was truly a disgrace that would shock the world.


    However, Mo Jiuye never forgot the unjust suffering he had endured. He constantly reminded himself that the court''s situation was irrelevant to him. His sole purpose foring here was to eliminate anyone who harbored ill intentions towards the Mo Family, allowing them to live in peace.


    Nevertheless, he still needed to gather the necessary information, for only by understanding both himself and his enemy could he emerge victorious in every battle.


    Especially since he had brought He Zhiran to the capital, even if he didn''t consider his own safety, he couldn''t allow his wife to be implicated.


    Mo Jiuye organized his thoughts and continued his inquiries.


    "What about Prince Rui''s situation?"


    Mentioning Prince Rui, Fei Nanyu''s gaze softened considerably.


    "Prince Rui''s ability to escape the capital''s vortex with Consort De indicates that he has seen through everything.


    "Consort De is the only family he has left, and by entrusting her to the Mo Family''s care, it shows that his intention ining to the capital was solely to help the Mo Family resolve their crisis. I have no doubt about this.


    "Moreover, through our interactions, I havee to greatly respect his character. Not long ago, I revealed my true identity to him.


    "Instead of rejecting or doubting me, he offered to help me restore my status.


    "Now, we address each other as brothers in private, and I consider him my only family.


    "However, Prince Rui never had any ambition for the throne. Although he has been trying to build his strength since returning to the capital, his efforts have not been very effective.


    "He is more perceptive than Prince Qi and realizes that openly opposing the empress''s faction at this juncture would be futile. Thus, he has maintained a low profile, and we can onlymunicate secretly.


    "Our current stance is aligned: we are both trying to uncover the true reason behind Emperor Shunwu''s absence from court."


    Mo Jiuye raised an eyebrow. "But you still haven''t found a good way to uncover the truth?"


    Fei Nanyu smiled sheepishly. "Indeed, that''s the case. For the empress''s faction to have carried out such a bold move, they must have made thorough preparations in advance. The pce guards have all been reced with their men.


    "A few days ago, Prince Qi sent people into the pce to investigate, but there has been no word since."


    Initially, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had nned to swiftly eliminate the empress''s faction after arriving in the capital. If Xue Minister was willing to resign, they would take him back to the northwest with them.


    However, seeing Fei Nanyu''s troubled expression and Prince Rui''s sacrifices for the Mo Family, the couple felt they should do something to repay this friendship.


    Especially Prince Rui: he could have lived peacefully with Consort De, but instead became embroiled in this vortex once again because of the Mo Family.


    Regardless, they needed to ensure Prince Rui''s safe exit from this situation.


    The best way for Prince Rui to escape unscathed would be to alter the historical event where Prince Qi ascended the throne, and instead have Fei Nanyu take the throne directly.


    Of course, these were merely thoughts that had just urred to the couple, and they had no intention of voicing them yet.


    Unaware of their thoughts, Fei Nanyu''s gaze fell upon He Zhiran as he asked, "Has Lady Moe to the capital to visit Minister Xue?"

 Chapter 507: Is Father in the Study

    <h4>Chapter 507</h4>


    There was no doubt about this. After all, they were biological father and daughter, and it had been more than a year since theyst saw each other. It was only natural for He Zhiran to take this opportunity when Mo Jiuye was traveling to the capital on business toe along and visit her father.


    However, there were some things Fei Nanyu had to remind them about.


    "Minister Hao''s situation is not very good at the moment. The Empress Dowager''s faction is trying to win him over through soft and hard tactics. Minister Hao is an upright man and does not want to be embroiled with these people.


    Fortunately, he has not joined the Empress Dowager''s faction or sided with Prince Qi and Prince Rui''s camps. As a result, the Empress Dowager''s faction has not taken action against him yet.


    But this is only the current situation. Once the Empress Dowager''s faction gains the upper hand and firmly establishes themselves in court, a man of Minister Hao''s character will certainly not be useful to them.


    At that point, the Empress Dowager will undoubtedly eliminate her opponents to consolidate her power, and Minister Hao will be in danger."


    "That''s natural. My father-inw is my wife''s biological father. We will certainly not stand by and let him be harmed," Mo Jiuye said, afraid that He Zhiran would worry. Although he was speaking to Fei Nanyu, his gaze remained fixed on his wife.


    In fact, even if Fei Nanyu had not mentioned it, He Zhiran could have guessed the general situation.


    Especially since she knew her father''s upright character. If the day came when he could no longer avoid it, he would choose death overpromise, even if it meant his life.


    It was precisely because of this consideration that He Zhiran insisted oning to the capital with Mo Jiuye, against Madam He''s advice.


    There was already a certain understanding between her and Fei Nanyu. Even if many things were not said in detail, they would understand each other.


    With the situation already roughly clear, Mo Jiuye took He Zhiran''s hand and stood up.


    "It''s gettingte. My wife and I will not disturb you further. At most, I''lle to see you again in three days, Sir Fei."


    "Very well, I''ll await news from the ninth young master," Fei Nanyu said as he saw them out through the side gate they had entered, watching their backs disappear before turning back himself.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran left the Fei Residence, making their way around the patrolling soldiers and toward the back courtyard of Minister Hao''s residence.


    Mo Jiuye was familiar with the Fei Residence''syout, while He Zhiran was intimately acquainted with her family''s residence.


    They both made their way to the back courtyard, where He Zhiran pointed to a spot, and Mo Jiuye helped her over the wall.


    This was the back courtyard of Minister Hao''s residence. Since Minister Hao had no concubines, this used to be He Zhiran''s maiden quarters and the courtyard where he and histe wife resided.


    Perhaps due to the absence of both He Zhiran and Madam He, the back courtyard was pitch-ck, giving off a deste feeling.


    He Zhiran knew her father''s habits. Normally, even if he was still busy with official matters in his study, there would be servants keeping themps lit in his living quarters.


    However, as she and Mo Jiuye wandered around the courtyard, they did not see a single servant''s shadow, let alone anymps.


    After just a few steps, He Zhiran stepped on a small pebble.


    This was an unusual urrence in such a prominent household. Even if the servants did not thoroughly clean other areas, they would never neglect the area around the master''s courtyard.


    The fact that He Zhiran could step on a pebble here was undoubtedly because no one had swept the area.


    Not seeing her father in the courtyard where her parents lived made He Zhiran increasingly puzzled.


    Nevertheless, she did not linger but instead led Mo Jiuye toward her father''s study in the front courtyard.


    If her father was not in his own courtyard, he would likely be in the study.


    To her relief, as soon as they entered the front courtyard, she saw lighting from the study. Her pounding heart finally settled somewhat.


    However, she was still surprised. Although her father had always been incorruptible, their household had nevercked in provisions.


    Minister Hao''s residence did not have as many servants as other noble households, but there were usually a few around.


    Especially tonight, in the twenty minutes or so since she entered Minister Hao''s residence, she had not seen a single guard or night watchman, let alone any servants.


    What was going on?


    With doubts in her mind, the couple entered what seemed like a deserted area, encountering no obstacles or need to hide from anyone, and went straight to the entrance of the study.


    Seeing the person standing guard at the door, He Zhiran finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    It was her father''s attendant, whom she had called Uncle Feng since childhood.


    Uncle Feng was around the same age as Minister Hao and had been attending to him for years, one of the few people Minister Hao truly trusted.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye looked around before approaching the study door.


    Although Uncle Feng had no martial arts skills, he was a diligent man.


    Hearing the footsteps, he called out loudly, "Who''s there?"


    "It''s me, Uncle Feng," He Zhiran quickly replied.


    "Young Miss?" Uncle Feng''s voice was all too familiar - the Young Miss was someone he had watched grow up.


    "Uncle Feng, is my father in the study?"


    The conversation outside the study was loud enough for Minister Hao inside to hear. Not knowing if he was imagining things, he thought he heard his daughter''s voice.


    Before Uncle Feng could answer, Minister Hao had already pushed open the study door.


    When he saw the two figures by the moonlight, he froze.


    The voice was indeed his daughter Ran Ran''s, but the figures were clearly two men.


    "Who are you? Why are you impersonating my daughter?" he demanded.


    He Zhiran could tell that her father''s tone was not as calm as usual.


    "Father, it''s me, Ran Ran. My husband and I disguised ourselves to enter the city," she exined.


    As she spoke, He Zhiran took advantage of the dark night and pulled out a wet cloth from her spatial pouch, quickly wiping away her makeup and letting her hair down, fully revealing her true appearance.


    By this time, Uncle Feng had also brought antern over.


    In thentern''s light, Minister Hao finally recognized the person before him.


    His voice was choked with emotion, losing the authority He Zhiran remembered.


    "It really is Ran Ran. I thought I would never see you again in this life..."


    Seeing her father like this, tears welled up in He Zhiran''s eyes as well.


    She stepped forward and took her father''s arm. "Father, be careful of eavesdroppers. Let''s go inside and talk."


    Minister Hao had be so overwhelmed upon seeing his daughter that he had forgotten they were still outside.


    Following Minister Hao into the study, Uncle Feng dutifully stood guard outside.


    Everything here was familiar to He Zhiran, as she had inherited the original owner''s memories and feelings.


    The study looked just as she remembered, except that the desk, which would normally be piled high with official documents, was empty today.


    As she wondered about this, Mo Jiuye had already bowed to Minister Hao.


    "Greetings, Father-inw."


    Minister Hao realized that the person apanying his daughter must be his son-inw. Earlier, his attention had been solely focused on He Zhiran, so he had not paid close attention to Mo Jiuye.


    Now that Mo Jiuye had taken the initiative to greet him, he studied him carefully.


    Mo Jiuye had not removed his disguise, so He Zhiran quickly exined, "Father, my husband and I disguised ourselves like this to enter the city more easily."


    Even if she had not said anything, Minister Hao would have recognized Mo Jiuye''s voice.

 Chapter 508: The difference between life and death is a single thought.

    <h4>Chapter 508</h4>


    He did not immediately inquire about the purpose of the two''s visit to the capital city. Instead, he expressed concern, "You haven''t had dinner yet, have you? Let me ask Uncle Feng to make arrangements."


    Hearing Minister Hao''s words, He Zhiran felt warmth in her heart.


    Logically, they had rushed to the capital from the northwest, so they must have had some urgent matter. Her father should have asked about the reason first.


    However, he did not. Instead, he inquired if they had eaten dinner.


    This showed that in Minister Hao''s heart, his daughter''s well-being was more important than anything else.


    "Father, we''ve already eaten on the way. How has your health been recently?"


    Minister Hao let out a bitterugh. "This old bones of mine are doing alright, but the situation in the capital is dire. Why did you choose toe at such a time?"


    Especially with Mo Jiuye''s status as an exiled member of the Mo n, his reappearance here must mean he has an important task to undertake.


    At this point, Mo Jiuye felt there was no need to hide anything, especially since his wife nned to persuade her father-inw to resign from office. By revealing the Mo n''s plight, he could also let the old man see the empress'' true colors.


    Just as he was about to speak, they vaguely heard some movement outside.


    Uncle Feng''s footsteps were quick, so he should still be some distance from the study, but the sound had already carried over.


    "Sir, someone from the pce has arrived."


    Upon hearing that someone from the pce hade, Minister Hao''s expression darkened, and he began to look around.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran didn''t need to think to know that if the pce had sent someone, it must have been on the empress'' orders, undoubtedly intending to use some tricks at this moment to make Minister Hao join her faction.


    Without Minister Hao''s prompting, Mo Jiuye quickly pulled He Zhiran behind the screen.


    The study had no back door, and the only ce they could hide was behind this screen.


    At the same time, the two of them had the idea that if the visitor dared to do anything against Minister Hao, they would not let them seed, even at the risk of being exposed.


    They had just hidden when the study door was pushed open from outside.


    Uncle Feng tried to stop them, but one of the eunuchs pushed him aside, nearly causing him to fall.


    Even so, Uncle Feng still tried to prevent these people from barging into the study.


    "You have quite the audacity to barge into the minister''s study."


    Seeing Uncle Feng''s stubbornness, the eunuch prepared toy hands on him.


    Minister Hao shouted coldly, "Stop, who gave you the gall to be insolent in front of me?"


    The visitors were three eunuchs, and Minister Hao was not unfamiliar with them.


    "Eunuch Liu, what business brings you to my residence at thiste hour?"


    Seeing Minister Hao''s hostile tone, Eunuch Liu sneered, "Well... Minister Hao has grown quite forgetful, didn''t the empress remind you a few days ago that she would send someone to your residence to discuss matters with you?


    I, your humble servant, am here on the empress'' orders to have a chat with the esteemed Minister Hao."


    As he spoke, Eunuch Liu''s beady eyes scanned the study.


    After all, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were hiding behind the screen, so it was no lie that Minister Hao felt uneasy at this moment.


    Just as he was thinking of stopping Eunuch Liu from continuing to look around, Eunuch Liu spoke again.


    "Since I''vee all this way, surely Minister Hao won''t mind letting me sit for a while?"


    In fact, Minister Hao had already made up his mind to die if necessary. If not for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s presence, he would have been toozy to y word games with the likes of Eunuch Liu.


    Unfortunately, for the sake of his daughter and son-inw''s safety, he had to grit his teeth and negotiate with the other party.


    Not only that, but out of concern for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s safety, Minister Hao''s forehead was already beaded with sweat.


    This scene only made Eunuch Liu feel more smug when he saw it.


    He even cursed Minister Hao in his heart: No matter how tough you act normally, when the empress gets serious, you''re still just as afraid and sweating.


    With this thought, Eunuch Liu looked at Minister Hao with even more disdain.


    He swaggered into the study with the two eunuchs, sitting directly in the main seat at the desk, while the two eunuchs stood properly at his sides.


    In the past, a lowly eunuch would never have dared to put on such airs in front of Minister Hao, showing just how precarious Minister Hao''s current situation was.


    Minister Hao did his best to steady his thoughts and stood up straight.


    "Eunuch Liu, everyone in the court knows that I only listen to His Majesty''s words and have never involved myself in the disputes over the crown prince selection. If you''vee today to persuade me otherwise, you might as well save your breath!"


    He had already prepared for the worst. Even if forced to abandon his neutrality, he would never join the faction of that treacherous empress.


    That fourth prince was just a pawn used by the empress to seize power!


    Even if the fourth prince truly had the legitimate imperial bloodline, so what?


    How could an infant rule the country?


    In the end, power would still fall into the Xue family''s hands, no different from usurping the throne!


    He, He Yuanming, had led an upright life. Even in death, he would never stoop to colluding with such people.


    Eunuch Liu paid no heed to Minister Hao''s attitude, for no matter how he faced him, or even if the empress and Prime Minister Xue spoke to him directly, his attitude would be the same.


    As long as hepleted his task for the day, that was enough.


    Eunuch Liu took out a small porcin vial from his robe and ced it unhurriedly on the desk.


    "Minister Hao, the empress has given you two choices today. The first is that from now on, you only need to follow the orders of the empress and Prime Minister Xue. Your high rank and wealth will be preserved, and you will enjoy endless glory and riches in the future.


    Once the fourth prince secures his position, you will be a grand minister-level meritorious official.


    However, if you continue to stubbornly defy the empress..."


    He pointed to the small porcin vial on the desk.


    "This is also the empress'' love for you, giving you a final dignity."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, hidden behind the screen, could not see the vial on the desk, but from the sound of it hitting the table and Eunuch Liu''s words, they could tell that the empress had given Minister Hao an ultimatum.


    Today, unless he agreed to join the empress'' faction, he would have to consume the poison in the small vial.


    In short, whether he lived or died was up to Minister Hao''s whim.


    Perhaps Minister Hao had foreseen this day long ago, for he showed no fear when faced with the vial on the desk.


    "I''ve already said, those who walk different paths cannot scheme together. Moreover, whether this life of mine lives or dies is for His Majesty alone to decide. Since ancient times, the pcedies have been forbidden from meddling in politics. On whose orders is the empress acting to try to take my life?"


    Eunuch Liu sneered twice, mming his hand on the desk.


    "He Yuanming, don''t try to dodge the issue. Since you''re unwilling to join the empress'' faction, I advise you not to struggle in vain. Consume the poison on the desk so that at least your family and servants won''t be implicated."

 Chapter 509: I don’t need anyone on the Road.

    <h4>Chapter 509</h4>


    After hearing Eunuch Liu''s words, He Zhiran had already realized something.


    No wonder they hadn''t encountered a single servant when they first entered the mansion.


    Her father must have anticipated what the Empress Dowager would eventually do, so he had dismissed all the servants early to prevent them from getting implicated.


    Uncle Feng was an exception¡ªhe was utterly loyal to her father, and even if he knew he would die, he would never flee and eke out a miserable existence alone.


    Sure enough, Minister Hao broke into heartyughter.


    "Hahaha... I knew this day woulde, so I dismissed my family and servants long ago. Even if I die, I won''t need anyone to apany me down to the Yellow Springs."


    "You... you have a lot of nerve!" Eunuch Liu never expected Minister Hao to be so resolute. Before he left on this errand, the Empress Dowager had warned him that Minister Hao was stubborn, and if he wasn''t afraid to die, they could threaten him with his family members.


    Little did he know, Minister Hao had already made preparations.


    What leverage did Eunuch Liu have to threaten him now?


    After pondering for a moment, Eunuch Liu suddenly thought of something.


    "Don''t forget, your daughter is still in the northwest. With just one word from the Empress Dowager, she can dispatch a team. Do you think your daughter would have any chance of survival?"


    Upon hearing this, He Zhiran could no longer remain calm.


    She and Mo Jiuye simultaneously emerged from behind the folding screen.


    The two moved in perfect coordination. While Eunuch Liu was distracted, they knocked out the two attendants at his sides from the left and right.


    Then she sneered, "If you want to kill me, you don''t need to go to the northwest. I''m standing right in front of you¡ªlet''s see if you have what it takes."


    Mo Jiuye was a martial artist with exceptional awareness of danger in his surroundings.


    While hiding behind the folding screen, he had been carefully sensing the situation, confirming that only these three people hade to the mansion today.


    Therefore, when He Zhiran decided to reveal herself, he maintained a supportive stance.


    Eunuch Liu didn''t recognize the two people before him, but he wasn''t brainless.


    From He Zhiran''s words, he could deduce her identity. However, he found it hard to believe that the young Miss He, who had married into the Mo family and been exiled to the northwest the very next day, could appear in the capital.


    It had to be said that this Eunuch Liu wasn''tpletely senseless.


    Although he inwardly doubted the woman''s identity, he clearly saw the entire process of their actions just now.


    Their agility matched that of the Empress Dowager''s secret guards, undoubtedly marking them as martial arts experts.


    Eunuch Liu was sensible enough not to need He Zhiran or Mo Jiuye to warn him to keep quiet¡ªhe sealed his lips on his own ord.


    However, to verify the identities of the people before him, he still asked in a normal tone:


    "Who are you, exactly?"


    He Zhiran sneered coldly.


    "Heh... Weren''t you just threatening my father, telling the Empress Dowager to send people to the northwest to take my life?


    How about it?


    I''m standing right in front of you now, but you don''t recognize me?"


    At this point, Minister Hao was dumbfounded. He had also witnessed He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye''s actions just now.


    He had never known when his daughter had learned such martial arts skills.


    And seeing how close she was to Eunuch Liu, he feared that in a moment of desperation, the eunuch might take her hostage to threaten him.


    "Zhiran,e to your father. Don''t waste your breath on this kind of person."


    Minister Hao had long been prepared to die. If his daughter and son-inw hadn''te today, he might have taken the vial of poison on the table.


    However, with his loved ones present, he couldn''t do such a thing under any circumstances.


    It seemed he would have to fight to the bitter end with this Eunuch Liu.


    Speaking of fighting to the bitter end, he had forgotten about Mo Jiuye. With the former Battle God of Da Shun here, how could he and his daughter be in any danger?


    Mo Jiuye was also unwilling to let He Zhiran face any peril. He stood in front of the He family father and daughter, staring directly at Eunuch Liu.


    From his icy gaze, it was clear he viewed Eunuch Liu as a dead man.


    Outside the study, Uncle Feng heard themotion inside. He knew his young master''s capabilities well and was confident that with him there, the old master and young miss would be safe for now. Thus, he continued to diligently stand guard outside.


    Just now, when he heard the old master call the young miss to his side, even though he trusted Mo Jiuye''s abilities, he felt a twinge of worry.


    As Mo Jiuye seized Eunuch Liu''s throat, Uncle Feng barged in wielding a wooden rod as thick as an arm.


    Originally, he had intended to die alongside the old master. But now that the young miss and young master had returned, the old master surely wouldn''t choose that path.


    Since they were going to fight to the bitter end, he would contribute his share of effort.


    "You eunuch scum, how dare you bully the old master and young miss! I''ll beat you to death!"


    Seeing Uncle Feng charge in with fury, Mo Jiuye swiftly flung the eunuch he was about to strangle over to him.


    Eunuch Liu''s corpulent body flew through the air like a lump of meat,nding at Uncle Feng''s feet.


    Uncle Feng moved nimbly, bringing the wooden rod down hard on Eunuch Liu''s body with all his might.


    This strike was so powerful that Eunuch Liu didn''t even let out a groan before losing consciousness.


    Since He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had chosen to reveal themselves before these attendants, they had no intention of letting them live.


    Both were precise in their attacks, ensuring that the two attendants they had initially knocked out wouldn''t wake up for at least half an hour.


    As for Eunuch Liu, Uncle Feng''s blow had nearly taken his life.


    "Father, were these people sent by the Empress Dowager? Does she want your life?" He Zhiran asked.


    With the court in chaos, Minister Hao was unwilling to conspire with the Empress Dowager''s faction and had already prepared himself for death.


    But he didn''t want to tell his daughter about such matters.


    Since Minister Hao remained silent, Uncle Feng stepped forward and said, "Young Miss, please persuade the old master!


    Two days ago, he dismissed all the servants in the mansion and prepared himself for death.


    If I hadn''t insisted on staying, the old master would have driven me away too."


    "Enough, don''t tell Zhiran these things. She''s just a young woman, unsuitable for getting involved in such matters," Minister Hao sternly rebuked Uncle Feng, forbidding him from speaking further.


    However, Uncle Feng had finally found a lifeline to save his old master''s life¡ªhow could he stop now?


    "Master, even if you beat me to death today, I must tell the young miss," he continued, turning back to He Zhiran.


    "Young Miss, you must persuade the old master to leave this ce of strife, no matter what.


    The Empress Dowager''s faction can no longer tolerate him.


    The old master has served the court diligently for most of his life. He doesn''t deserve such an end.


    You saw it just now¡ªif you and the young master weren''t here, the old master might have lost his life..."


    Uncle Feng could no longer continue, his eyes reddening.

 Chapter 510: Life and Death are all in One thought.

    <h4>Chapter 510</h4>


    Minister Hao had no idea that his daughter had undergone such a significant transformation and was no longer afraid of matters of life and death.


    "Dad, the reason my husband and I came to the capital this time is to deal with the Queen''s faction.


    Also, Mom and my elder brother want you to return to the northwest with us, away from this ce of turmoil.


    Regardless, sacrificing oneself for such a court is simply not worth it," she said.


    Minister Hao never imagined that his daughter, who had only spent a year in the northwest, would change so much.


    Not only could she fight alongside her husband to incapacitate others, but she could also speak such profound truths, unlike the delicate daughter he once knew.


    At this moment, he was not concerned about his own safety but felt that He Zhiran''s transformation was a result of life in the northwest.


    Moreover, it was he and his wife who had sent their daughter to marry into the Mo Family.


    Thinking of his daughter''s transformation, Minister Hao felt a mix of emotions and didn''t know what to say.


    He Zhiran was unaware that her father felt guilty for noticing her change and remained silent, thinking he was contemting her words.


    Seeing his father hesitate to speak, she urged, "Dad, life and death are but a thought away; it depends on whether it''s worth it."


    Upon hearing her words, Minister Hao snapped back to reality.


    He took a deep breath.


    "Dad has served the court his whole life. At this point, it''s not so easy to retreat.


    Moreover, even if Dad could secretly leave the capital, do you think the Queen and the Xue Family would let Dad go?


    Anyway, your mother and your elder brother are in the northwest, which seems safe for now. Your arrival hasn''t been noticed by anyone else, so officially, there''s only me in the Minister''s residence. If they want to harm anyone, it''ll be aimed at me alone.


    Dad has lived to this age and has already enjoyed his share of blessings. Even if I die, I have no regrets.


    It''s more about you and your elder brother. As long as you both are safe and sound, Dad won''t have any worries."


    Minister Hao never considered that his daughter and son-inw could resolve this crisis. In his mind, as long as his family could survive, his own death wouldn''t matter.


    Mo Jiuye stepped forward.


    "Father-inw, the reason Ruiran and I came to the capital this time is to eradicate the Queen''s factionpletely. Trust me, Mo Jiuye, I will do what I say."


    To make Minister Hao believe in his words, Mo Jiuye continued, "You must be aware of this matter. Not long ago, the documents sent from the northwest reported that over two hundred people were killed."


    Upon hearing this, Minister Hao widened his eyes in shock. "Is this really rted to the Mo Family?"


    Thinking of those assassins, a cold glint appeared in Mo Jiuye''s eyes involuntarily.


    "Those people were indeed killed by the Mo Family, but they were notmoners; they were assassins sent by the Queen to exterminate the Mo Family.


    Father-inw, think about it. The Mo Family has already been ordered by Emperor Shunwu to be confiscated and exiled to the northwest, yet the Queen still refuses to let us go.


    Now, the people of the Mo Family have grown tired of it all and just want to live peacefully together as a family, but someone refuses to allow it.


    For the safety of my family, even if it means beingbeled as traitors, I am willing to do anything."


    ording to reason, such rebellious words are not suitable to be spoken in front of Minister Hao, a loyal minister. But times are different now, what can loyal ministers do?


    Won''t they still be targeted by those cunning people?


    Indeed, just as Mo Jiuye expected, Minister Hao did not rebuke him but instead fell into contemtion.


    After a while, he questioned Mo Jiuye, "Do you know how powerful the faction of the Empress is now? Let''s not talk about how most of the civil and military officials in the court have sided with her, even the Imperial Guards and city garrison troops have been reced by her people.


    If you want to live peacefully, unless the Empress and the Xue family arepletely eradicated, otherwise, with the vindictive nature of the Empress, how could she spare the Mo Family?"


    "That''s true, so my purpose ining to the capital this time is topletely eliminate the Empress and the Xue family." Mo Jiuye''s tone remained steady, as if this matter meant nothing to him.


    However, Minister Hao''s heart was in turmoil at this moment.


    The Empress and the Xue family must have prepared thoroughly to do such a thing.


    Not to mention whether there is danger in the court, at the very least, these major figures must have countless guards to protect them.


    Even if Mo Jiuye''s martial arts were strong, it would still be difficult to handle them alone.


    "Jiuye, your father-inw knows your abilities, but after all, you are alone. I still hope you will consider this matter carefully." With that, he looked at He Zhiran, bing increasingly unable to guess his daughter''s thoughts.


    When he married her to Mo Jiuye, she had been unwilling, simply because she didn''t want to end up like the widows in the Mo family.


    But Mo Jiuye''s current actions clearly showed that he didn''t care about his life at all, and there was a possibility that Zhiran might be a widow.


    Why did she, who was so averse to being a widow, not stop Mo Jiuye at this time?


    He Zhiran didn''t know what her father was thinking. She thought he was helping Mo Jiuye toe up with a strategy.


    "Dad, you don''t need to worry about anything. Just stay at home with peace of mind, don''t need to attend the morning court tomorrow. Trust me, even if the Empress finds out that her men have failed their mission, she won''te after you immediately."


    "Zhiran, what exactly are you nning to do?" If Mo Jiuye had said these words, Minister Hao might have thought he was bold due to his skill, but how could his daughter, a delicate youngdy, say such things?


    If there were any actionster, He Zhiran would definitely follow Mo Jiuye. Therefore, she felt it necessary to exin now.


    "Dad, since I followed the Mo family into exile, I''ve suffered a lot along the way.


    Not to mention those assassins sent by who knows who, even when camping outdoors, we were attacked by hungry wolves. In order to protect myself, my husband taught me some self-defense skills.


    Now your daughter is no longer the pampered youngdy she used to be, dealing with a few ruffians is nothing to her." With that, she pointed to the eunuch she had just knocked out.


    "Dad just saw it, your daughter''s skills are not bad now." Minister Hao had been curious about when his daughter had learned martial arts, and He Zhiran''s words cleared up his confusion.


    However, with a sudden realization, he understood something.


    "Zhiran, when you talk to Dad like this, are you nning to go cause trouble with those people alongside Jiuye?"


    Zhiran knew that she would have to convince her fatherter to let her leave with Mo Jiuye, and it would surely require some persuasion.


    It was unavoidable. Which parent would willingly stand by and watch their child take risks?


    But apanying Mo Jiuye was something Zhiran had to do, no matter what; she had to get her father''s approval.

 Chapter 511: I’ll leave Ran Ran to you.

    <h4>Chapter 511</h4>


    She took out a few small paper packets from her bosom and opened them, revealing their contents before Minister Hao.


    "Father, look at these - they are poisons I made myself. With these, I can ensure my safety if I encounter danger.


    Besides, even though my husband and I intend to deal with those people, we have no intention of acting rashly and will always prioritize our own safety."


    Mo Jiuye also understood He Zhiran''s intention in saying this and chimed in:


    "Father-inw, today presents a good opportunity."


    As he spoke, he bent down and began searching Liu Gonggong''s body.


    Soon, his hand emerged holding a token simr to the one they had used to enter the city earlier.


    "Father-inw, with this token, I can enter the pce without much effort."


    Minister Hao stared at Mo Jiuye, and the determined look in his eyes confirmed that his son-inw was not joking.


    Even if he wanted to stop them, he would likely be powerless to do so.


    Moreover, he was also aware that in order to eliminate the Empress''s faction, the first step would be to undermine their power.


    And the person who could undermine the Empress''s faction was the Shun Wu Emperor.


    Now that the Shun Wu Emperor''s fate was unclear, if Mo Jiuye could sessfully enter the pce and learn some useful information, it would be beneficial. At the very least, they could understand the situation within the enemy''s camp and devise countermeasures ordingly.


    After considering it from all angles, apart from his own daughter wanting to apany Mo Jiuye into the pce, Minister Hao could not find any reason to stop their actions.


    He Zhiran also understood the need to seize the opportune moment.


    "Father, I will disguise myself as an attendant and apany my husband. After all, we may need to investigate the rear pce, which would be inconvenient for my husband, a grown man, to enter alone. Don''t worry, I promise we will return safely."


    Minister Hao looked at He Zhiran helplessly but eventually acquiesced.


    He solemnly said to Mo Jiuye, "If that''s the case, I entrust Zhiran to you."


    "Rest assured, Father-inw, I will ensure Zhiran''s safe return without a single hair harmed."


    ncing at the sky, the hour was alreadyte.


    Minister Hao reminded them, "As far as I know, the pce guards change shifts at midnight. If you n to act, it would be best after midnight."


    Both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran understood the reason for this.


    After all, Liu Gonggong had just left the pce earlier that night with two attendants, and if they returned before the shift change, not only would the guards be different, but one would also be missing, which would undoubtedly arouse suspicion.


    However, after midnight, when the guards changed shifts, it would be different. No one would know who or how many people had left the pce during the previous shift.


    With limited time, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could not linger to converse further with Minister Hao. He called over Feng Shu and dragged the three attendants into the courtyard.


    Since Feng Shu had already said that Minister Hao had sent all the servants away, they did not need to worry about being seen.


    Mo Jiuye stripped the two attendants of their clothes, then swiftly took their lives with his knife.


    "Feng Shu, please dispose of these bodies properly."


    "Rest assured, Young Master, I will take care of it."


    In the dead of night, looking at the three corpses, Feng Shu was terrified.


    But considering that this could save his old master''s life, he no longer cared about anything else.


    There was no time to waste. Seeing that the hour had reached midnight, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran hid behind a folding screen and changed into the attendants'' clothes.


    Fortunately, one of the attendants was of a shorter stature, and his clothes, though slightly loose, fit He Zhiran reasonably well in terms of length.


    Mo Jiuye had a more robust build, so he wore Liu Gonggong''s clothes, which were also a bitrge but did not look too out of ce.


    He Zhiran quickly applied her makeup, and the two emerged from behind the screen.


    "Father, we will enter the pce now. This journey may take some time, so please do not worry. Trust in my husband''s abilities; we will return unharmed."


    He Zhiran could not guarantee that their mission would be sessful - not because of any danger, but rather the uncertainty of whether they would be able to meet the people they intended to see.


    If they encountered any obstacles, they might have to hide in the secret space for a while before finding another opportunity to act.


    Therefore, it was necessary for her to give this warning.


    If Minister Hao assumed they had not returned from the pce after a long time and gave up hope, all their efforts would be in vain.


    But that was not all she needed to convey.


    "Father, the Minister''s Residence is no longer safe. The Empress has developed the intention to kill you. She sent three attendants today, but they failed. There''s no guarantee she won''t try other methods to assassinate you.


    For your safety, once Feng Shu has disposed of the bodies, you should depart.


    When my husband and I return, we will meet you directly at the Fei Residence."


    ording to Minister Hao''s initial intentions, he did not wish to leave the Minister''s Residence. Moreover, before He Zhiran and the others arrived, he had resigned himself to death.


    But seeing his daughter''s pleading gaze, his heart softened.


    "Very well, I will listen to you and go to Fei Nanyu''s ce with Feng Shuter."


    Previously, Mo Jiuye had already revealed Fei Nanyu''s true identity to him. Although he had not interacted much with Fei Nanyu, he was not entirely unaware of his talents.


    Nan Qi was a foolish and arrogant man. Before the Empress''s faction took control of the court, Nan Qi had enjoyed immense power and prestige.


    Nan Qi''s sess could be attributed to the insightful suggestions he frequently proposed at court, which caught everyone''s attention.


    Whether others could see it or not, Minister Hao clearly understood the truth.


    During the morning court sessions, Nan Qi would always bring Fei Nanyu along, and on the way, Fei Nanyu would continuously advise Nan Qi on various matters.


    Therefore, Minister Hao could confirm that Nan Qi''s far-sighted proposals were due to Fei Nanyu''s guidance behind the scenes.


    Compared to the false prince Nan Qi, Minister Hao was more inclined to support Fei Nanyu''s im to the throne.


    Setting aside Fei Nanyu''s profound knowledge, in terms of royal lineage, he was the true heir to the imperial bloodline.


    Seeing his father''s agreement, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye finally set out under the moonlight.


    The patrolling guards on the streets remained vignt, maintaining a state of high alert.


    To minimize trouble, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran used their lightness skills, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and arrived directly at the pce gates.


    The guards at the gate were all highly alert, evidently well-trained professionals.


    The twoposed themselves, trying to appear as natural as possible.


    Mo Jiuye walked in front, while He Zhiran followed closely behind with her head lowered.


    After all, having frequently visited the pce from a young age, Mo Jiuye could still mimic certain movements and attitudes.


    Especially dressed in Liu Gonggong''s clothes, as Liu Gonggong was the Empress''s capable attendant and undoubtedly held a high rank.


    For people like him, whilecking in other skills, their forte was certainly to unt their connections and status.


    With these considerations in mind, as they approached the pce gates, Mo Jiuye sped his hands behind his back, slightly tilted his chin upwards at an appropriate angle, and strained his vocal cords to sound more nasal.


    "Open the gates! We are here on the Empress Mother''s orders to report an urgent matter."

 Chapter 512: Can’t Mammy recognize my voice

    <h4>Chapter 512</h4>


    As they were talking, Mo Jiuye took out Eunuch Liu''s token and showed it to the soldiers guarding the gate.


    The gate guard took the token, examined it, and then looked over Mo Jiuye''s clothes. He immediately put on a smiling face.


    "The eunuch can wait a moment, I''ll open the gate right away."


    The pce gates slowly opened, and Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran quickly went inside.


    Mo Jiuye could navigate theyout of the imperial pce blindfolded.


    There were many pce attendants inside, so it was not surprising that they did not recognize the two of them. Thus, they did not try to hide or avoid anyone, walking naturally along the bluestone paths.


    As they passed a patrol of guards, He Zhiran nced around before asking in a low voice:


    "Husband, where should we go first?"


    "I want to go to Concubine Yuan''s pce first," Mo Jiuye replied softly.


    He Zhiran had the same thought. If nothing unexpected happened, Concubine Yuan had always believed that Mo Jiuye was her own flesh and blood.


    Moreover, Mo Jiuye had frequently visited Concubine Yuan since he was young, so he was quite familiar with her.


    With the current situation inside the pce unclear and Emperor Shunwu''s life or death unknown, the best approach was to find an acquaintance to inquire about the details. That way, they could make informed decisions before taking further action.


    They encountered several patrol squads along the way, but none of them suspected the two. They arrived at Concubine Yuan''s quarters without incident.


    Concubine Yuan''s residence seemed much quieter than Mo Jiuye remembered, and there were also noticeably more patrols heading in that direction.


    There was no doubt that the Empress had taken control of Concubine Yuan''s quarters, which likely meant that Concubine Yuan had lost her freedom.


    Sure enough, as expected, the doors to the residence were tightly shut.


    This was not too unusual, as it was normal for a concubine''s residence to be closed at night.


    As a high-ranking concubine, Concubine Yuan had the privilege of having fournterns hung outside her residence, even at night.


    Indeed, fournterns were hanging above the main entrance to her residence. Strangely, however, none of thenterns were lit.


    There was only one possible exnation for this situation.


    The concubine had made a mistake and was being punished, with the Emperor choosing not to ''flip her tile'': a euphemism for favoring her.


    Given the current circumstances, it was not surprising that Concubine Yuan would receive such treatment.


    Everyone in the court, both civil and military officials, knew that the Empress''s greatest enemy was Concubine Yuan. After all, they had both borne sons for Emperor Shunwu, and both of their sons had been candidates for the crown prince at one point.


    Now that the Empress had gained power, with her vindictive nature, it would be stranger if she did not take action against Concubine Yuan.


    Mo Jiuye did not exin any of this to He Zhiran. Instead, he led her around to the east side of Concubine Yuan''s residence.


    That area was closer to Concubine Yuan''s chambers, and even if they were discovered, it would only be by Concubine Yuan''s trusted attendants, who would not divulge their arrival.


    To their surprise, the courtyard of the residence was eerily quiet, no different from when they had first entered the He family residence.


    It was unexpected that the courtyard of a concubine''s residence, a status second only to the Empress in the imperial harem, would bepletely deserted.


    If not for the faint candlelighting from the main chamber''s windows, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran would have thought the ce had been abandoned.


    As it was the living quarters of women, it was improper for Mo Jiuye, an outsider male, to enter casually. If he barged in recklessly, it could damage Concubine Yuan''s reputation.


    He Zhiran, being aware of these ancient customs, took the initiative and approached the chamber door.


    First, she took out a pouch of knockout powder from her pocket, holding it in her palm in case it was needed. Then, she pushed open the door.


    She did not knock because she was worried about making noise that could alert the patrolling guards. Additionally, they were not certain if the person inside was actually Concubine Yuan.


    The door was not locked from the inside, so He Zhiran only had to give it a gentle push to open it.


    The creaking sound of the opening door instantly shattered the nighttime stillness.


    An elderly female voice inquired, "Who''s there?"


    Unable to identify the speaker, He Zhiran did not reply. Instead, she stood at the doorway, using the faint light from inside to peer in.


    However, there was a folding screen painted with a beautiful woman right across from the entrance, obstructing her view.


    Nevertheless, she could still make out a wobbly silhouette moving towards the door through the screen.


    At the same time, the elderly voice spoke again, tinged with resignation and disdain.


    "You''ve already tormented the Concubine to the point where she can''t even get out of bed, and now you''reing here again? What more do you want?"


    Although Granny Wang''s voice was not very loud, Mo Jiuye, standing outside the door, heard it clearly.


    He strode across the threshold and stood beside He Zhiran, asking in a deep voice, "What did you say about the Concubine''s condition, Granny?"


    Mo Jiuye had always held a favorable impression of Concubine Yuan since childhood, even though her fondness for him was due to a misunderstanding about his identity. However, her affection had been genuine.


    Now, hearing Granny Wang say that Concubine Yuan could not even get out of bed, Mo Jiuye knew without a doubt that it was the Empress''s doing, which immediately ignited his anger.


    Granny Wang was not unfamiliar with Mo Jiuye''s voice.


    Like Concubine Yuan, she too believed that Mo Jiuye was the true third prince, so she naturally remembered everything about him.


    At this moment, Granny Wang had emerged from behind the folding screen and saw the two figures standing at the entrance. She froze in surprise.


    She had thought it was the ninth princeing to rescue his ''birth mother'', but instead, she had gotten her hopes up for nothing.


    The two people before her were clearly attendants from the Empress''s entourage.


    Fortunately, she had been cautious enough not to call out for the ninth prince before seeing who it was.


    Granny Wang''s expression changed as she straightened her back and red defiantly at the two before her.


    Although she feared them in her heart, she did not lose herposure.


    "Go back and tell your mistress that the Concubine will not die so easily. She''ll live to see the day when you pack of wolves and tigers meet your demise."


    Granny Wang thought the two attendants before her had been sent by the Empress to check if Concubine Yuan was still alive.


    Mo Jiuye realized that their disguises had caused Granny Wang''s misunderstanding, so he stepped forward to exin:


    "Granny, don''t you even recognize my voice?"


    That voice...


    It was clearly the ninth prince''s.


    But the person before her was just an attendant, how could it be the ninth prince?


    As Granny Wang was puzzling over this, Mo Jiuye spoke again.


    "Granny, it''s me, Mo Jiuye. I disguised myself to enter the pce undetected."


    He raised his left sleeve slightly, revealing a small scar on his wrist.


    "Granny, do you remember this scar?


    I got it when I was ying with Nan Qi in the Imperial Garden as a child and fell down. You were the one who bandaged it for me back then."

 Chapter 513: Please take a look at the lady.

    <h4>Chapter 513</h4>


    Granny Wang examined the scar, then looked towards Mo Jiuye''s face.


    Mo Jiuye continued, "Also, when I was young, I loved eating the osmanthus cakes made by Granny''s own hands. Whenever I returned home from the pce, Granny would bring me a few pieces.


    And there was that time Nan Qi and I misbehaved, peeing in the wooden basin that Granny used for washing vegetables..."


    To prove his identity, Mo Jiuye even went so far as to reveal such an embarrassing story.


    After this, how could Granny Wang still have any doubts?


    She took a few excited steps forward, approaching Mo Jiuye and trembling as she grasped his arm.


    "Are you really the Ninth Young Master?" Granny Wang''s face was already streaked with tears.


    Seeing Granny Wang, Mo Jiuye also felt an exceptionally close connection.


    When he noticed Granny Wang''s unsteady body, he quickly reached out to support her.


    But as he did so, Mo Jiuye realized that Granny Wang was emaciated, just skin and bones.


    "Why has Granny be so frail?"


    Granny Wang did not answer Mo Jiuye''s question. Instead, she ignored He Zhiran and pulled him towards the screen.


    "Ninth Young Master, quicklye with this old servant. If the Lady could see you, she would surely recover."


    Both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran understood that the reason Granny Wang said this was because she had determined that Mo Jiuye was indeed the biological son of Concubine Yuan.


    Now was not the time to exin everything. From what Granny Wang had just said, Concubine Yuan''s condition did not seem good.


    Their primary concern at the moment was Concubine Yuan''s health.


    Granny Wang pulled Mo Jiuye to Concubine Yuan''s bedside.


    Concubine Yuan was currently looking in their direction, simultaneously struggling to raise one arm towards Mo Jiuye.


    Perhaps due to her illness sapping her strength, her arm fell back down halfway.


    Granny Wang shook off Mo Jiuye''s supporting grasp and hurried a few unsteady steps to kneel by the bed.


    "My Lady, you''re awake. Look, the Ninth Young Master hase to see you."


    Concubine Yuan raised her hand again, straining to grab Granny Wang''s arm as she said with effort, "Help... help this Lady up."


    Before Granny Wang could move, Mo Jiuye stepped forward and stopped her.


    "Concubine Yuan should not exert herself in her unwell state."


    He then nced at He Zhiran by his side and exined, "My wife possesses some medical knowledge. Let her examine you first."


    Hearing Mo Jiuye''s introduction, Granny Wang finally turned her gaze to He Zhiran.


    However, she did not scrutinize her further.


    "Ninth Lady, please help the Lady. That vicious Empress has not only taken control of the Emperor and Empress Dowager, but also expelled all of the Lady''s servants from her pce and sealed it off, forbidding anyone from bringing food - she means to starve the Lady to death..."


    As she spoke, Granny Wang could not continue and began weeping in front of Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    Looking at the frail Concubine Yuan lying on the bed, devoid of her former graceful beauty, she appeared just like a shriveled old woman.


    Her feeble state was no better than the Fourth Princess when they had seen her in the Southern Territory years ago.


    He Zhiran stepped forward to take Concubine Yuan''s pulse as Granny Wang continued to sob, rting Concubine Yuan''s recent circumstances.


    "This old servant has watched over the Concubine Yuan since she was young, but she has never suffered such hardship.


    The Empress is truly heartless and deranged to attempt to starve her to death.


    For a full twenty days, the Lady and I have been confined here. Fortunately, a few loyal servants from the Lady''s pce would asionally toss in a steamed bun from outside. Otherwise, the Lady and I would have perished long ago.


    I had thought we would barely survive like this until the Empress''s n falls from power. But who knew that those few loyal servants were being watched, and someone informed the Empress that they had been secretly delivering steamed buns to the Lady. In the end, they met a brutal death, beaten to death with rods.


    And that''s not all - the Empress deliberately sent people to carry out an execution within the Lady''s bedchamber.


    The Lady had never witnessed such a scene and was so terrified, coupled with days of starvation, that she fell gravely ill.


    With the Lady bedridden, this old servant''s pleas fell on deaf ears! No matter how much I pleaded, those heartless guards would not summon a physician for the Lady."


    By the time Granny Wang finished speaking, He Zhiran hadpleted her examination of Concubine Yuan.


    Seeing her straighten up, Mo Jiuye inquired, "Zhiran, what is the Lady''s condition?"


    "Just as Granny described, she first suffered a mental breakdown from extreme shock, and then the prolonged starvation has led to severe dehydration."


    He Zhiran did not exin in too much detail, as the medical terminology from her modern knowledge would be iprehensible to people of this era.


    However, Mo Jiuye understood one point: if a person remains dehydrated for an extended period, their organs would gradually fail, eventually leading to death.


    Concubine Yuan''s current state validated this.


    "Zhiran, can she be saved?"


    He Zhiran gave him a meaningful look.


    Mo Jiuye immediately understood her implication.


    To save Concubine Yuan, they would need to utilize the medical resources of the space.


    The couplemunicated silently through their unspoken understanding, leaving Granny Wang utterly confused.


    "Ninth Young Master, Ninth Lady, what of the Lady''s condition?"


    "Rest assured, Granny. I will do my utmost to treat Concubine Yuan."


    With that, He Zhiran pretended to walk towards the screen.


    In Concubine Yuan''s current state, it was unlikely that she could immediately consume food. However, apart from being frail, Granny Wang did not appear to be in mortal danger.


    What she needed most urgently was replenishing her energy.


    He Zhiran circled behind the screen, entering the space through her consciousness. From the storage, she retrieved some flour and processed it into egg noodles at the workstation. She then ced the noodles into a cloth bundle she had prepared earlier and brought it out with her.


    Earlier, when she and Mo Jiuye had opened the door, Granny Wang had not paid any attention to whether He Zhiran was carrying a bundle.


    He Zhiran approached them while holding the bundle and took out the freshly made noodles in front of Granny Wang.


    "Granny, this is something my husband and I brought from home but did not finish on the journey. You can take it and boil it in hot water before eating."


    At this point, Granny Wang was famished and did not question what He Zhiran had given her.


    However, she understood that it was food.


    She realized that He Zhiran was providing her with nourishment because Concubine Yuan had starved, and consuming something would help her recover gradually.


    Moreover, looking at the small bundle of unknown substance, Granny Wang had already resolved that such precious food should be reserved for the Lady. She would be content with just drinking some broth.


    Mo Jiuye did not know Granny Wang''s thoughts. He understood that He Zhiran needed to take Concubine Yuan into the space for treatment, so his task now was to send Granny Wang away.


    "Granny, my wife will need to treat Concubine Yuan shortly. You should go and eat something, then rest. I will be here with my wife, so you need not worry.


    Also, my wife has a habit when treating patients - she dislikes having outsiders present. So unless I instruct you otherwise, you must not enter and disturb us."

 Chapter 514: No Life is in Danger

    <h4>Chapter 514</h4>


    Granny Wang finally reacted, looking at the unrecognizable food in her hand. "Isn''t this meant for the Concubine to eat?"


    He Zhiran saw her misunderstanding and exined, "The Concubine''s condition does not allow her to eat just yet. These noodles are for you, Granny."


    Upon hearing that the Concubine still couldn''t eat, Granny Wang became flustered.


    Mo Jiuye didn''t want Granny Wang to dy He Zhiran from treating Concubine Yuan, so he guided her towards the door. "My wife''s medical skills are excellent. Just follow her instructions, Granny. Eat well and rest a bit to regain your energy for taking care of the Concubine."


    Granny Wang had unconditional trust in Mo Jiuye, even more than she had in her former master Nan Qi. Although she had many questions, she swallowed them and obediently left.


    Mo Jiuye locked the door behind her. He Zhiran had already applied acupuncture to Concubine Yuan''s sleep point.


    "Husband, this ce is different, and unexpected situations could arise at any time."


    Mo Jiuye nodded. "I understand. You take the Concubine into your dimension for treatment while I stand guard outside."


    He Zhiran had already assessed Concubine Yuan''s condition - the earlier she received treatment, the better. After reaching this consensus with Mo Jiuye, she took Concubine Yuan into her dimension.


    Severe dehydration had caused Concubine Yuan''s loss of consciousness. What she needed most was glucose, nutrients, and sma.


    He Zhiran quickly determined Concubine Yuan''s blood type and preparedpatible sma. If others talked about a ''two-pronged approach,'' He Zhiran''s was more like a ''four-pronged approach.''


    Time was limited, so He Zhiran utilized all of Concubine Yuan''s limbs.


    One arm was attached to a device monitoring her heart, allowing constant observation of changes.


    Considering how prolonged dehydration could damage the heart, the other arm had an IV drip for treating her heart.


    One leg received nutrients, while the other received sma.


    Ideally, these medicines should have been administered separately, but given the precarious situation where danger could arise outside at any moment, He Zhiran couldn''t risk staying too long in her dimension with Concubine Yuan.


    Even so, she didn''t remain inside the entire time, asionally stepping out to check on the situation outside.


    Granny Wang was quite considerate. Although worried about the Concubine, she didn''t disturb them recklessly.


    She was indeed ravenously hungry and cooked the unidentifiable ingredients as He Zhiran had instructed.


    To her surprise, they turned out to be noodles! In her decades of living in the pce, she had seen all sorts of delicacies but never dried noodles before.


    Not only were they dried, but also so thin - it was apletely new experience.


    She couldn''t resist taking a bite and found them more delicious than any pce delicacy, perhaps because she was so famished.


    After a satisfying meal, one tends to get sleepy, and Granny Wang was no exception, especially since she had been tending to Concubine Yuan with little rest these past few days.


    With the Ninth Lord and his wife present, Granny Wang felt assured and retreated to her room for rest, as Mo Jiuye had suggested, to regain her energy for caring for the Concubine.


    Mo Jiuye kept vigil outside Concubine Yuan''s room until dawn was near.


    He and He Zhiran had originallye to gather information but ended up having to treat Concubine Yuan''s critical condition instead.


    Regardless of his impression of Concubine Yuan, considering her connection as Fei Nanyu''s birth mother, he couldn''t ignore her plight.


    It seemed they wouldn''t be able to leave the pce today as nned.


    Just then, He Zhiran emerged from her dimension with Concubine Yuan.


    "Zhiran, I wonder if Father has gone to see Mr. Fei as we suggested. Since we can''t return now, the old man must be worried. Why don''t we send Little White with a message to put his mind at ease and also learn about the situation outside the pce today?"


    He Zhiran agreed with his idea. With a thought, Little White appeared in the room.


    Mo Jiuye quickly wrote a note, tying it to Little White''s leg and smoothing its fur before letting it leave.


    Standing at the door, watching Little White soar higher and higher, Mo Jiuye finally returned to the room.


    "Zhiran, how is the Concubine''s condition now?"


    "She''s no longer in mortal danger. What''s left is for her to recuperate."


    As she spoke, He Zhiran''s awareness entered her dimension to check therge clock on the wall.


    Over three hours had passed since she started treating Concubine Yuan.


    If not for the Concubine''s frail condition, she should have woken up by now.


    He Zhiran felt Concubine Yuan''s pulse before continuing, "If there are noplications, the Concubine should wake up soon."


    At that moment, having eaten and rested, Granny Wang suddenly recalled that the Concubine was undergoing treatment.


    She felt remorseful for not being by her side, or even waiting outside.


    Granny Wang hurriedly rushed towards Concubine Yuan''s room.


    Since He Zhiran had finished the treatment and expected Granny Wang toe by, she didn''t re-lock the door.


    Though concerned about the Concubine''s condition, Granny Wang didn''t barge in, instead knocking gently.


    "Ninth Lord, Ninth Lady, how is the Concubine? May this old servante in?"


    Mo Jiuye opened the door.


    "Please enter, Granny. The Concubine''s condition is stable now. We''ll have her drink some warm water first to moisten her throat, then try a small amount of food gradually."


    This was what He Zhiran had just instructed, which Mo Jiuye ryed to Granny Wang.


    Hearing that her mistress was no longer in mortal danger, tears of relief welled up in Granny Wang''s eyes once more.


    Perhaps due to her recent meal, her steps were noticeably steadier.


    Granny Wang hurried to the bedside, carefully examining the Concubine before bursting into grateful tears again.


    "The Concubine''splexion has improved so much, no longer that deathly pale..."


    Then, she abruptly knelt before He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye, kowtowing three times without hesitation.


    "This old servant thanks the Ninth Lord and Lady for their immense kindness and grace."


    Although He Zhiran had been in this era for over a year, she still wasn''t used to the ancient custom of readily kowtowing.


    Just now, Granny Wang had been standing some distance away, so she hadn''t been able to prevent her from kneeling.


    Reacting promptly this time, He Zhiran quickly stepped forward and helped the old woman up.


    "There''s no need for such courtesy, Granny. This was merely a simple task for me."


    Granny Wang grasped He Zhiran''s hand, using it to steady herself as she stood up.


    However, she didn''t let go, closely examining He Zhiran.


    The longer she looked, the more favorably impressed she became.


    Afterposing herself, Granny Wang turned her gaze to Mo Jiuye. She wanted to rify his background before the Concubine awoke, so that when she did, she could immediately recognize her birth son.

 Chapter 515: The Mother’s own Son

    <h4>Chapter 515</h4>


    "Young Master Mo, this servant is about to tell you something that may sound unbelievable, but it is all true."


    Seeing Granny Wang speaking so solemnly, Mo Jiuye immediately guessed what she was about to say.


    "Concubine Yuan must have misunderstood, I am undoubtedly from the Mo family, and not her biological son."


    Upon hearing his words, Granny Wang froze on the spot.


    "What are you saying, Young Master? Could it be that you already knew about this?"


    Granny Wang let go of He Zhiran''s hand and walked towards Mo Jiuye, clearly not believing what he said and thinking that he was just unwilling to ept the truth.


    "Young Master, this servant knows you may have doubts about this matter, but you are indeed Concubine Yuan''s child..."


    "Granny, I have no doubts, because I know Concubine Yuan''s biological son is someone else."


    Granny Wang stared intently at Mo Jiuye''s expression, and seeing that he spoke without any emotion and looked extremely calm, she somewhat believed his words.


    "Young Master said Concubine Yuan''s biological son is someone else?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded: "And that person is in the capital."


    Just as Granny Wang was about to ask Mo Jiuye who this person was and where he was, Concubine Yuan on the bed showed signs of stirring.


    "You...what did you say?"


    Hearing this very weak voice, everyone''s gaze shifted to Concubine Yuan.


    Granny Wang was the first to approach the bed, her eyes already wet with tears.


    "My Lady, you''re awake. This servant will fetch you some warm water immediately."


    In Granny Wang''s heart, although she was eager to help her mistress recognize her son, her mistress''s health was more important.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not stop Granny Wang from leaving, as they felt it would be better to tell Concubine Yuan in person.


    He Zhiran knew about Concubine Yuan''s condition - her poor health was mainly due to excessive shock and malnutrition. Sitting up for a short while would not harm her body.


    "My Lady, let me help you sit up for a bit."


    Concubine Yuan did not object, as she also wanted to sit and talk to them.


    After being helped up to a sitting position against the headboard by He Zhiran, Concubine Yuan looked at Mo Jiuye.


    She still called Mo Jiuye by his name as she had before.


    "Jiuye, what did you mean by what you said earlier? Could it really be that you are not my son? And how did youe to know this?"


    Concubine Yuan''s tone was clearly urgent.


    "Concubine Yuan, I truly am not your son. Your son is currently in the capital, serving as an aide under Nan Qi.


    Furthermore, Fe Mama is also in his hands. The only reason Fe Mama is unwilling toe forward and testify is because she is rted to Nan Qi..."


    Seeing that Concubine Yuan''s spirits were not too bad at the moment and that she was not overly emotional, Mo Jiuye went ahead and told her everything he knew.


    Just as he finished speaking, Granny Wang walked in carrying a cup of warm water.


    In fact, while Mo Jiuye was speaking, she had been listening outside the door and did not interrupt.


    Mo Jiuye knew Granny Wang was listening and did not mind.


    At this moment, Granny Wang was somewhat flustered.


    She ced the cup on the table and said angrily, "Young Master, are you saying that back then, Fe Mama took it upon herself to take the young prince and switch him with her own nephew?"


    Mo Jiuye nodded: "Indeed, the current Nan Qi is Fe Mama''s own nephew."


    Granny Wang narrowed her eyes.


    "No wonder, whenever Concubine Yuan mentioned Young Master in front of us servants, Fe Mama''s gaze would always be evasive.


    So it turns out she hid so much just to make her nephew be the prince.


    Concubine Yuan never mistreated her, yet shemitted such a betrayal..."


    Granny Wang grew more and more incensed as she spoke, finally letting it all out.


    "Back when Prince Qi dragged Li Auntie out of Concubine Yuan''s pce and beat her to death, the excuse was that Li Auntie had done something wrong towards Concubine Yuan.


    On that same day, Fe Mama also disappeared without a trace, and we thought she had suffered the same fate as Li Auntie under Prince Qi''s hand.


    Little did we know that she had fled after discovering something was amiss."


    At the same time, Granny Wang patted her own chest.


    "Fortunately, when Concubine Yuan ordered the child to be switched those years ago, I had returned home to attend to my ailing mother and did not participate in the matter.


    Even if I had known, it was long after that Concubine Yuan told me about it.


    Prince Qi must have thought that back then, I was not involved and did not know, so he did not treat me like Li Auntie.


    Otherwise, I would have turned to dust long ago and been unable to continue serving Concubine Yuan."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were not particrly interested in what Granny Wang said.


    His main purpose in revealing this was, on one hand, that as Fei Nanyu''s biological mother, Concubine Yuan had a right to know who her son was.


    More importantly, he hoped that for the sake of her biological son, Concubine Yuan would be willing to restore Fei Nanyu''s identity, even at the risk ofmitting a crime of deceiving the emperor.


    Although Concubine Yuan had not spoken, her mind was constantly contemting.


    To have sat firmly in the position of a concubine for so many years, her intelligence must not becking.


    Although Mo Jiuye''s revtion shocked her, it did not reach the point of being uneptable.


    After Granny Wang fell silent for a while, Concubine Yuan finally spoke.


    "Thank you, Young Master, for telling me these things and for helping Nanyu.


    If I have a chance to see the Emperor, I will definitely tell him the truth from back then, and let Nanyu take back what originally belonged to him."


    Now that she was a mother herself, He Zhiran could understand that Concubine Yuan''s concern for Fei Nanyu was not superficial.


    The only thing she was unsatisfied with Concubine Yuan about was that as a mother, she had been willing to exchange her own flesh and blood for glory, wealth, and status.


    If she had known she gave birth to a daughter back then, would she still have done the same?


    He Zhiran only thought these things to herself; as for what Concubine Yuan would do, those were not matters she should concern herself with.


    Mo Jiuye also did not approve of Concubine Yuan''s actions, and his thoughts were simr to He Zhiran''s - these were other people''s family matters, and all they could do was reveal the truth.


    "Concubine Yuan, since your health seems to have recovered, my wife and I will not linger here any longer."


    After all, this was Concubine Yuan''s bedchamber, especially as she was still being watched by the Empress''s people. If someone came to check, it would not be very convenient for them to remain.


    Moreover, the couple had not slept all night, and it was not a good time to take action during the day. It would be better for them to rest properly in their space, and then continue their actions after nightfall.

 Chapter 516: I’ll find a way to arrange a meeting.

    <h4>Chapter 516</h4>


    After hearing the two of them, Granny Wang instinctively looked outside at the sky, which indeed had some light appearing.


    "Ninth Young Master, there have been many more guards in the pce recently. If the two of you suddenly leave like this, it could be very dangerous. Why don''t you rest in the Concubine''s Pce first, and then find a way to leave after it gets dark?"


    She knew that Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could not stay long in this unsafe ce and would definitely want to leave.


    "We''ve already figured out a ce to hide. If we stay here, it might implicate the Concubine, which wouldn''t be good," Mo Jiuye said, then pulled He Zhiran as if to leave.


    "You two...wait a minute," the Concubine had not spoken until now because she was thinking things over.


    But she had not ignored Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s presence. Seeing them about to leave, she hurriedly called out to them.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran turned around to face her.


    Concubine Yuan took a deep breath.


    "If there''s a chance, could you arrange for me to meet Nan Yu?"


    Heaven knows, from the moment she saw Fe Mama carry her child away, she had already started regretting it.


    It was only because of her desire for status and power that she lost herself for a time.


    For over twenty years, she had been living in self-me, not because she discovered that Fei Nanyu was a boy, but from her deep attachment to and guilt over her own flesh and blood.


    If she could turn back time, she would dly give up this damned Concubine position. Even if she had given birth to a daughter back then, she would have raised her without hesitation.


    Just now, hearing Mo Jiuye briefly mention some of Fei Nanyu''s experiences, her heart bled.


    If her own son could return to her side, she would willingly sacrifice everything for him...


    Of course, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not know what Concubine Yuan was thinking.


    They had only revealed Fei Nanyu''s true identity to help him.


    "Just take care of your health, Concubine. I may sneak into the pce tonight. If possible, I''ll try to arrange for you two to meet," Mo Jiuye said, then pulled He Zhiran to continue walking out, and this time neither Granny Wang nor the Concubine stopped them.


    Originally, Mo Jiuye had nned to take He Zhiran and leave the Concubine''s ce, lingering nearby for a while.


    If they entered the space to rest now, Little White would not be able to find them when it returned.


    Just as Mo Jiuye was looking for a spot out of Granny Wang''s sight, Little White''s figure appeared in the sky above.


    He pulled He Zhiran towards the backyard, and had just stopped when Little Whitended on his shoulder.


    Mo Jiuye did not immediately take the note from Little White''s leg, but continued pulling He Zhiran towards a more secluded area.


    He was very familiar with the environment of the Concubine''s pce and knew which ces were quieter.


    Although there were no other people in the entire pce besides the Concubine and Granny Wang, the couple did need to enter the space, so this location had to be safe.


    After circling to where the servants used to live, Mo Jiuye looked around and nodded at He Zhiran.


    The two of them and Little White together appeared in the space.


    Little Bun had grown ustomed to having Little White''spany and had been a bit sad when its master took Little White away earlier.


    Seeing its master and Little White appear together now, the little creature happily shook its head and flew over.


    Little White also treated Little Bun as a good friend. Although Little Bun often poked at its feathers, it still missed the little one when they were apart.


    Little White pped its wings at Mo Jiuye a few times, then lifted the leg with the note attached, signaling for its master to quickly take the note so it could go y with its little friend.


    Mo Jiuye smiled and took the note, and Little White and Little Bun darted off together, one in the air and one on the ground, towards the open area.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran returned to the medical room and opened the note to read it.


    Fei Nanyu knew they had snuck into the pce and was very concerned for their safety. The first part reiterated repeatedly that regardless of whether they could gather information or not, they must put their safety first.


    Later, he said that Minister Hao had gone to his ce with one attendant before dawn and was temporarily safe there.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran understood what this "temporary safety" meant, as no one knew when the Empress''s faction controlling the court would make their next move.


    This made the couple unconsciously want to hasten their task in the pce.


    Only then did Fei Nanyu mention the matter about Concubine Yuan. From his cold tone, they could tell he still harbored resentment towards her.


    This was understandable to them. After all, for a birth mother to exchange her newborn child so ruthlessly just to secure her own position, anyone would find that uneptable.


    Especially Fei Nanyu, who had suffered so much over the years outside and was still serving as an aide to Nan Qi, living at the mercy of others.


    Needless to say, that kind of pain would feel suffocating to Fei Nanyu, but even Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could sense it just imagining it.


    Although Fei Nanyu had much dissatisfaction towards his birth mother, he was still quite rational.


    He knew that to restore his true identity, Concubine Yuan''s support and help would be indispensable.


    Therefore, at the end of the note, he asked the couple to be sure to protect Concubine Yuan''s life.


    At the same time, Fei Nanyu also expressed that he did not reject the idea of reuniting with his birth mother.


    Whether Fei Nanyu wanted to protect Concubine Yuan''s life out of that slight longing for maternal love or for some other reason, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran would try their best to do so.


    After reading the note and knowing that Minister Hao was now safe, they could temporarily set aside their lingering worries.


    After all, they had been busy all night, and no one''s body was made of iron, so they needed to recuperate their energy to prepare for the new actions that evening.


    The two slept until they woke up naturally. Mo Jiuye personally cooked a few small dishes. After eating and drinking their fill, they looked at the clock on the wall¡ªit had just passed 8 o''clock.


    Although people in ancient times were used to going to bed early, this was the pce. Especially in such an uncertain situation, the Empress probably wouldn''t rest so early.


    And the patrolling guards outside must also be on high alert, not daring to let down their guard at all.


    He Zhiran felt it would be easy for them to be exposed if they left the space to gather information at this time.


    Therefore, they waited until the clock''s hands pointed to 10 o''clock before leaving the space.


    This time, they nned to go to the Emperor''s bedchambers to see what was going on with Emperor Yongwu.


    Before leaving, Mo Jiuye took He Zhiran to the back of the Concubine''s chambers first.


    The two stood below the window and listened for any sounds from inside.


    A faint candlelight could be seen from the room¡ªperhaps they hade at an opportune time, as the Concubine had just woken up and asked Granny Wang to pour her some water to drink.

 Chapter 517: This man may know about Emperor Shunwu.

    <h4>Chapter 517</h4>


    Immediately after, they heard the two people whispering there.


    "Granny Wang, I don''t know if Jiuye and his wife have sessfully left this ce."


    "Is Her Highness missing them and hoping they leave soon, find the Third Prince, and find a way to see you?"


    "The only mistake I made in this life was switching out my own flesh and blood back then. Now the Empress is deliberately torturing me and not giving us food to eat, just wanting to watch me die.


    Even if my illness is cured by Jiuye''s wife, I''m afraid this life will still not escape the Empress''s wicked ws.


    I only wish to see my own flesh and blood whom I have wronged for over twenty years before I die. In this life, I will have no other regrets."


    "Your Highness, please don''t think like that. What the Empress''s faction has done is an attempt to usurp the throne. We still don''t know His Majesty''s situation.


    If His Majesty has a chance to regain control of the court, we will be saved."


    "Heh heh... No one understands His Majesty''s character better than me. He is arrogant and reckless, without a clear head in times of trouble. How could we hope for such a person to turn the situation around?"


    After that, Concubine Yuan was giving Granny Wang some instructions, such as if she were to die, she must tell Fei Nanyu that his birth mother wronged him, and things like that.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had no interest in listening further. However, they could hear from Concubine Yuan''s voice that she was no longer as weak as the day before, and her body was gradually recovering.


    As long as Concubine Yuan''s health was unimpaired, they had aplished something significant for Fei Nanyu.


    As for how mother and son would get along in the future, that was no longer their concern.


    Mo Jiuye took He Zhiran and used their lightness skills to leap over the pce walls. Along the way, they avoided the patrolling guards and arrived outside the Emperor''s sleeping quarters.


    The Emperor''s sleeping quarters were naturally the most luxurious ce in the entire pce.


    In Mo Jiuye''s memory, even in the depths of night, that ce should have been brightly lit.


    However, today waspletely contrary to his impression. Not only was it not brightly lit, there were not even any guards stationed around the pce.


    From this, one could preliminarily determine that Emperor Shunwu was not there.


    Nevertheless, since they hade, they naturally had to investigate thoroughly and not miss any useful clues.


    Mo Jiuye carefully observed the surroundings. Apart from the asional patrol of guards passing by, there were indeed no fixed guards stationed here.


    So, after a patrol of guards had just passed, Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran close and the two lightly leapt over the courtyard wall.


    Inside the sleeping quarters, it was pitch ck. Fortunately, Mo Jiuye was familiar with the ce and could find his way by the moonlight.


    He took He Zhiran straight to Emperor Shunwu''s bedchamber.


    Emperor Shunwu''s bedchamber was simr to a modern suite, with an entrance leading to a temporary office hall, and separate rooms inside for sleeping.


    The door was not locked; Mo Jiuye only had to give it a light push to open it.


    They had already confirmed that the entire sleeping quarters were deserted, and Emperor Shunwu''s bedchamber was in the middle, surrounded by other rooms. The high walls made it impossible for anyone outside to see in unless they climbed to a high vantage point.


    After assessing the safety, He Zhiran took out a shlight from her spatial storage.


    The two used the shlight to look around.


    On the central soft bed, the pillows and such were somewhat disarrayed, and a thin nket had fallen to the floor.


    If analyzed like a crime scene, it was highly likely that Emperor Shunwu was resting here when he was taken away.


    Not far away, on the desk facing the bed, the imperial edicts were not neatly arranged as usual, but rather haphazardly stacked there, clearly having been disturbed.


    All of this evidence proved one thing: Emperor Shunwu had been forcibly taken away.


    As was her habit, before leaving, He Zhiran made a gesture with her small hand, and all the items in the room instantly vanished from sight into her storage space.


    The inner room where Emperor Shunwu had rested was also searched, and all items were collected into her storage.


    He Zhiran did not do this out of greed, but because Emperor Shunwu owed the Mo family and all the citizens of the world.


    After confirming there were no other suspicious signs, Mo Jiuye took He Zhiran and left Emperor Shunwu''s sleeping quarters, heading straight for the Empress''s residence.


    There was no doubt that Emperor Shunwu''s disappearance was the work of the Empress''s faction. To find out his whereabouts, they had to start with her.


    Concealing themselves along the way, the two soon arrived at the Fengxi Pce where the Empress resided.


    This ce stood in stark contrast to the destion of Emperor Shunwu''s sleeping quarters. Not only were the pce buildings brightly lit, but even the walls around thepound had people stationed withnterns.


    Moreover, about every five minutes, a patrol of guards would pass by here.


    Mo Jiuye calcted the gap in the patrol shifts and took He Zhiran around to the most lightly guarded area behind the Fengxi Pce before leaping inside.


    Although Mo Jiuye was familiar with theyout of the pce grounds, he had never been to the Empress''s Fengxi Pce and was not too clear about the interior structure.


    He had been prepared to hide as soon as they entered, but fortunately, theirnding spot was the rear courtyard of the Fengxi Pce, with no one around nearby.


    To obtain useful information, they had to head towards where there were people.


    Mo Jiuye took He Zhiran''s hand and, while observing their surroundings, walked towards the direction of the Empress''s bedchamber.


    This seemed to be the most secluded area of the Fengxi Pce, with only a few rooms for storing misceneous items and nothing else.


    They had not gone even ten paces when Mo Jiuye suddenly stopped.


    He Zhiran''s perception was not as keen as her husband''s, but she knew that Mo Jiuye must have noticed something to halt so abruptly.


    She asked softly, "Husband, what is it?"


    Mo Jiuye made a gesture for silence, then pulled He Zhiran close and leapt up into arge nearby tree with her.


    Soon, the sound of cursing voices could be clearly heard.


    "Hehehe... Never thought you old fox would end up in our hands too. The Empress is merciful and wants to give you a quick death, but we will defy her wish."


    "Xu Li, you are just a disgraceful upstart. If it weren''t for us taking pity on you back then and keeping you by our side to teach you, could you have achieved your status today?


    Yet you repay our kindness with treachery and treat us like this?"


    "Hmph! Back then you kept me by your side under the pretense of teaching me. But was that teaching?


    Every day I had to pour your bathwater for you. If you were unhappy, you would beat and scold me. I will make you pay for that for the rest of your life."


    The people in the conversation, one of the voices Mo Jiuye was very familiar with - it was Qi Changshun, the chief eunuch attending to Emperor Shunwu.


    He spoke in a voice only He Zhiran could hear, "Ran, you stay here and wait for me. This person may know Emperor Shunwu''s situation."


    With those words, he used his lightness skills and in the blink of an eye, arrived behind the neers from behind.

 Chapter 518: We’ll make sure you make it big someday.

    <h4>Chapter 518</h4>


    Mo Jiuye struck with his de, ying the two attendants of Qi Changshun before they could react, their lives ending in an instant.


    Qi Changshun was bound tightly, robbing him of any ability to resist as he copsed to the ground.


    As he was about to cry out in pain, Mo Jiuye''s de was already at his throat.


    "Don''t want to die? Then don''t make a sound."


    Qi Changshun had been by Emperor Shunwu''s side for a long time and possessed a keen sense for reading situations, especially when life and death hung in the bnce. He naturally did not dare defy.


    Seeing hispliance, Mo Jiuye sheathed his de.


    Qi Changshun kept his head lowered, not daring to meet the gaze of his assant, his eyes fixed on his own feet.


    However, by the moonlight, he could tell that this person was also dressed as an attendant, confirming they were from within the pce, though he did not know their specific post, and their voice was unfamiliar.


    "I do not know where you serve, but if you spare my life, I guarantee I will ensure your rise to greatness."


    Mo Jiuye scoffed disdainfully.


    "Steward Qi should worry about whether he can keep his own life first!"


    Qi Changshun trembled at those words, struggling to remain calm as he spoke:


    "Since you have killed the Empress''s men, it is clear you are not on their side. Therefore, I know you will not harm me."


    Mo Jiuye was well aware of this man''s devious nature, always ingratiating himself to those above while stepping on those below.


    However, Qi Changshun''s character was of no concern to him. If not for wanting to glean some information from him, she would not have bothered with this trivial matter.


    "I''ll ask you, where is the Emperor currently?"


    At the mention of the Emperor, Qi Changshun dropped his pretense.


    Whether for his own future prospects or true loyalty, he raised his head to meet Mo Jiuye''s gaze.


    He did not recognize this person, but anyone asking such a question could only be in the service of Prince Qi.


    After all, this incident posed the greatest threat to Prince Qi.


    "Go and inform Prince Qi that the Emperor''s situation is dire. He and the Empress Dowager are confined in the secret chamber of Fengxi Pce.


    The Empress Dowager, advanced in age, passed away three days ago, but the Empress ordered her body not to be removed, leaving her remains with the Emperor in the same room.


    It is fortunate that the Emperor still has use for the Empress, otherwise he would surely have met the same fate as the Empress Dowager, left to die a slow death..."


    Qi Changshun rambled on endlessly, but to Mo Jiuye, the only useful piece of information was that Emperor Shunwu was confined in the secret chamber of Fengxi Pce.


    "Do you know where this secret chamber is located?" As far as Mo Jiuye remembered, aside from the secret passage they had taken to raid the imperial treasury with He Zhiran, there were no secret chambers in the pce.


    And that passage only led to the treasury, likely sealed off after the theft was discovered on the Emperor''s orders.


    This was also the reason Mo Jiuye opted to scale the walls to enter.


    Especially in the rear pce where the consorts resided, the construction of any secret chambers was strictly forbidden.


    This was a precaution taken by past Emperors to prevent their consorts from engaging in illicit affairs, ensuring all their living quarters were in in sight.


    "When I was captured, my eyes were covered, but I could sense that the direction to the secret chamber was the same as towards the Empress''s quarters."


    Mo Jiuye knew that at this point, Qi Changshun would not lie about not knowing the exact location.


    Fortunately, he could provide the general direction of the secret chamber, which would aid in the search.


    Having obtained the information he sought, Mo Jiuye had no desire to linger with Qi Changshun.


    Although Qi Changshun''s character was questionable, he had never wronged Mo Jiuye, so there was no need to kill him.


    "I won''t take your life, but whether you live or die depends on your own skill."


    Hearing that his life would be spared, Qi Changshun breathed a sigh of relief, wisely refraining from inquiring about Mo Jiuye''s identity.


    "You go and inform Prince Qi toe rescue the Emperor. I''ll leave this matter here to you."


    Mo Jiuye trusted that Qi Changshun could handle the two corpses, as his survival depended on the Empress remaining unaware of his escape for as long as possible.


    Mo Jiuye circled behind Qi Changshun and leapt onto arge tree.


    The conversation between Mo Jiuye and Qi Changshun was too soft for He Zhiran to overhear.


    Without needing to ask, Mo Jiuye quietly ryed the information he had obtained.


    "Husband, since the exact location of the secret chamber is unknown, perhaps we should first investigate the Empress''s quarters for clues," He Zhiran suggested in a low voice.


    "Yes, we''ll go once Qi Changshun leaves."


    The two watched as Qi Changshun dragged the corpses away, then leapt down from the tree and continued towards the brightest area.


    As the Empress''s residence, Fengxi Pce was muchrger than Concubine Yuan''s quarters.


    Regardless of the size, the master would always upy the grandest central location, an invariable rule.


    Avoiding the guards'' line of sight, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran made their way to the Empress''s quarters.


    The ce was still brightly lit, with rows of maids and eunuchs standing attentively on either side of the entrance.


    As the Empress of the nation, it was not unusual for her tomand arge retinue of servants, but this many attendants standing guard sote at night was certainly abnormal.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran circled around to the back of the quarters. Ascertaining that it was safe, they leapt onto the roof.


    Finding the right spot, Mo Jiuye gently lifted a tile, the blinding light pouring through.


    They peered down into the room below.


    This was not the Empress''s living quarters, but rather the ce where she received petitions from the concubines - in other words, her office.


    The room was brightly lit, the Empress in casual dress seated in the central position, ring at a few people before her with an unpleasant expression.


    "You''re telling me that the men I sent to the Chancellor''s residence yesterday have not returned?"


    As soon as the words left her lips, a eunuch dressed as a steward knelt down.


    "This servant just had someone check with little Liu, but there was no one there."


    Enraged, the Empress stood and mmed her hand on a small table beside her.


    "Insolent Zhang Defu! For such a significant matter, you dared to conceal it from me if I had not brought it up?"


    Zhang Defu broke out in a cold sweat, frantically kowtowing to the Empress.


    "Please forgive this servant, Your Majesty. Since this morning, I have been leading men to search for the Imperial Seal, only just returning from the secret chamber."


    "And did you discover the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal?"


    At the mention of the Imperial Seal, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran felt a sense of realization.


    Emperor Shunwu was not a diligent ruler, and logically, aside from morning court, he would conduct affairs in the imperial study.


    However, due to hisziness, the imperial study in the pce was merely for show.


    At most, he might read memorials on a whim within his own quarters.

 Chapter 519: I’ll meet him in person Today.

    <h4>Chapter 519</h4>


    Therefore, many people knew that Emperor Shunwu''s Jade Seal was kept in his bedchamber.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had just finished inspecting Emperor Shunwu''s bedchamber, but didn''t find any trace of the Jade Seal, and thought it was in the Empress''s possession.


    Little did they expect that Emperor Shunwu had kept such a trump card. No wonder the Empress''s faction had taken control of most of the court, yet still hadn''t made their next move.


    Perhaps the Empress''s increasingly irritable temper was due to her inability to find the Jade Seal.


    He also knew that Zhang Defu was not to me for Liu''s disappearance.


    "Enough, get up! Tell this Empress if you''ve found out the whereabouts of the Jade Seal."


    Zhang Defu broke out in a sweat again, and said trembling: "In reply... to Your Majesty the Empress, this servant is ipetent.


    To put pressure on the Emperor, this servant ordered Qi Changshun to be taken away along with him, but even then, the Emperor remained tight-lipped..."


    The Empress''s veins bulged with rage as she clenched her fists tightly.


    "Hmph! Who would have thought he''d grow a spine at this hour, after a lifetime of cowardice and ipetence."


    With that, she strode towards the door.


    "This Empress will pay him a visit today, and see just when his bones became so hard."


    Seeing the Empress head for the door, Zhang Defu hastily summoned a few eunuchs to follow.


    Just as they reached the entrance, a ck-clothed imperial guard appeared before the Empress.


    The guard knelt on one knee and presented a note with both hands.


    "Your Majesty, this is from Prime Minister Xue, who instructed me to deliver it."


    Zhang Defu, ever observant, took the note and handed it to the Empress with a bow.


    The Empress unfolded the note and nced at it with an impatient expression.


    She told the guard, "Go back and tell my father that this Empress will question him tonight, and will find out the Jade Seal''s whereabouts by any means necessary."


    The guard left after paying his respects, and the Empress was escorted by her attendants towards a side room in the courtyard.


    Upon reaching the side room, several eunuchs and maids instinctively dispersed and took their positions on either side. Zhang Defu gestured for a few people to follow the Empress inside.


    As the Empress''s party entered the room, Mo Jiuye held He Zhiran close as they changed positions within a few leaps.


    Using the same method, Mo Jiuye gently moved a roof tile aside and peered into the room.


    Logically, this room should have been the quarters of the Empress''s trusted maids, but there were no beds. From the items stored inside, it looked more like a storage room.


    Unexpectedly, the Empress had made such arrangements right under their noses, setting up a secret chamber here.


    This saying was indeed apt: the most dangerous ce is the safest.


    Who would have thought that the supposed servants'' quarters would be the entrance to a secret room?


    The Empress gave Zhang Defu a meaningful look, and he quickly walked to the innermost part of the room.


    There was a rickety wooden shelf piled with many objects. Zhang Defu reached over the clutter and felt around inside, soon causing the shelf to move in one direction.


    With the shelf moved aside, an eunuch promptly went ahead with an oilmp in hand, followed closely by the Empress and Zhang Defu one after the other into the passage.


    It seemed Zhang Defu must have activated some switch inside the secret chamber, as the shelf automatically returned to its original position after they entered.


    From the angle they entered, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could tell the secret chamber was built underground, and even if they changed positions, they would be unable to observe the inside.


    Especially since they didn''t want to rouse suspicion before understanding the full situation, all they could do for now was wait for the Empress''s party to leave.


    Perhaps the Empress was unsessful in questioning the Emperor about the Jade Seal''s whereabouts in the secret chamber, for after just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the shelf opened again and the Empress stormed out with her attendants, seething with rage.


    Zhang Defu hunched over like a quail, head bowed, not daring to utter a word as he followed behind her.


    The servants said nothing, so naturally no one spoke to the Empress. Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran only saw the Empress return to her bedchamber in a foul temper without uttering a word.


    The two returned to observe from the roof of the Empress''s bedchamber.


    The Empress sat in her main seat for a long time without speaking, as if deep in thought.


    It was nearly an hour before Zhang Defu mustered the courage to remind her: "Your Majesty, it''s gettingte. Even if there''s an earth-shattering matter, you mustn''t neglect your rest. Your health is paramount."


    The Empress rubbed her brow without saying anything, then allowed Zhang Defu to assist her to rest.


    Once the Empress retired to rest, everyone in the bedchamber seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.


    With the Empress resting, there was nothing more to observe here, so the two stealthily moved to the room with the secret chamber entrance.


    Two eunuchs were still guarding the entrance, and from their earlier observations, there were rooms on both sides with no side windows, meaning the only way in was through the main door.


    Dealing with the two guarding eunuchs was easy, but there were others patrolling elsewhere, so simply subduing those two would not be enough.


    With a thought, He Zhiran retrieved a few packs of sedatives from her storage space and handed them to Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye took the sedatives and swiftly vanished from He Zhiran''s sight.


    Looking down, He Zhiran saw that Mo Jiuye had already sedated the servants at the Empress''s bedchamber entrance, then came to the secret chamber door and sedated the two eunuchs there as well.


    Sensing no other strange auras nearby, Mo Jiuye led He Zhiran into the room with the secret chamber entrance.


    Mo Jiuye clearly remembered Zhang Defu''s actions and quickly found the switch to open the secret chamber door, forcefully pressing it to reveal an underground passage shrouded in darkness.


    He Zhiran took out a shlight, illuminating the environment ahead.


    The passage was wider than expected, with stairs leading down.


    They felt their way forward for about ten meters.


    A putrid, nauseating stench suddenly wafted over.


    Then a hoarse, feeble male voice rang out.


    "What now? I''ve made it very clear, I would rather die than tell you where the Jade Seal is. Don''t bothering again."


    It was Emperor Shunwu''s voice, all too familiar to Mo Jiuye.


    A surge of hatred welled up in his heart unbidden.


    If not for thest shred of reason, Mo Jiuye would have hated to take the Emperor''s head right then.


    Though unfamiliar with Emperor Shunwu, He Zhiran felt a strange sense of anguish and hatred upon recalling the Mo family''s tragic fate.


    Yet her hatred paled inparison to Mo Jiuye''s.


    Sensing his body tense up, she quickly squeezed his hand to prevent any rash actions.


    Mo Jiuye gripped her hand in return and shook his head, indicating he was alright.

 Chapter 520: We are the ones who are here to save You

    <h4>Chapter 520</h4>


    Turning around a corner, there was a faint light ahead, and He Zhiran put the shlight back into her spatial storage.


    As the stench of rot grew stronger, the two of them appeared before Emperor Shunwu.


    In the dim light, it was visible that it was a square room.


    The room was filled with objects that He Zhiran could not name, but from their shapes, she could tell that they were ancient torture devices.


    These torture devices indicated that this was the ce where the Empress carried out her private punishments.


    Right in front of them, Emperor Shunwu was tied to a cross-shaped wooden rack, wearing only a thin robe, with his limbs firmly bound.


    In the corner next to him, there was a corpse¡ªundoubtedly the body of the Empress Dowager.


    Unexpectedly, the Empress was so cruel that she did not spare even an old woman. Not only did she not let her live, but she also treated her corpse with disrespect. One must know that this was the Empress Dowager of the Da Shun Dynasty...


    Emperor Shunwu raised his head with effort, trying not to let his disheveled hair obstruct his vision.


    Upon recognizing that the neers were strangers, he was momentarily stunned.


    Just as he was about to say something, He Zhiran had already taken out her silver needles from her spatial storage.


    She was well aware that Emperor Shunwu had an immunity to poisons, so using drugs would be ineffective. Before he could react, her silver needles had already struck his sleep acupoints.


    After ensuring that he was unconscious, Mo Jiuye quickly went forward and untied the ropes binding him.


    The couple worked in perfect coordination. As Emperor Shunwu''s body was about to copse to the ground, He Zhiran waved her hand, sending him into her spatial storage.


    Earlier, Mo Jiuye had only temporarily incapacitated a few pce guards in the Empress''s pce. During this turbulent period, she could not afford to be careless and leave only a few people on guard duty.


    If someone came out to change shifts or do other tasks and discovered that those guards had all been knocked out, it would be difficult for them to leave the ce unnoticed.


    Moreover, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s main purpose ining here tonight was to find Emperor Shunwu''s whereabouts. Now that they had found him, there was no need to linger any longer.


    Mo Jiuye scanned the secret chamber once more, and seeing no useful clues, he quickly led He Zhiran away.


    Fortunately, their speed was fast. Just as they left the Empress''s pce, they heard someone inside shouting for help. Undoubtedly, the incapacitated guards had been discovered.


    The pce would soon be in chaos, and they needed to find a rtively safe ce to hide.


    After considering their options, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran both decided to temporarily take refuge in the Pce of Exile.


    ording to Mo Jiuye''s understanding, due to the Empress''s powerful family background and her jealous nature, Emperor Shunwu did not have many concubines.


    Even the few consorts who made mistakes had already been executed by the Empress''s people, without even the opportunity to be sent to the Pce of Exile.


    One could say that during Emperor Shunwu''s reign, the Pce of Exile had been virtually abandoned, with no one ever entering it.


    Not only that, but the Pce of Exile was located in a very remote area. Even if the Empress''s people searched for them, they would be unlikely to find that ce in a short time, and might not even remember the existence of the Pce of Exile.


    With a n in mind, Mo Jiuye led He Zhiran, avoiding the patrol''s line of sight, and sessfully reached the Pce of Exile.


    Historically, the Pce of Exile was always in a dpidated state, and this one was no exception. Especially since it had not been maintained for decades, the weeds had grown as tall as a person, which made it easier for them to hide.


    The two entered a random building, and as soon as they opened the door, they felt countless cobwebs in front of them.


    Mo Jiuye plucked some wild grass and waved it around as he walked forward.


    Although this ce was rtively safe, they dared not carelessly create any light.


    The two groped their way to what seemed like a bed, and with a thought from He Zhiran, the still unconscious Emperor Shunwuy straight on it.


    He Zhiran took out her silver needles again, striking a few of his acupoints, and soon, Emperor Shunwu regained consciousness.


    Sensing the change in his environment, Emperor Shunwu sat up warily.


    Although the darkness made it difficult to see, he could still sense two ck figures standing there.


    "Who are you people?" he demanded.


    It must be said that as the emperor of a nation, although somewhat ipetent, he had not lost the proper imperial bearing.


    He Zhiran knew that if Mo Jiuye spoke, Emperor Shunwu would easily recognize his voice, so she spoke first:


    "We are people who havee to rescue you."


    He Zhiran did not have a good impression of Emperor Shunwu, so her tone was naturally not friendly.


    Although Emperor Shunwu disliked her tone, he was notpletely brainless and knew that this was not the time to put on airs.


    "Who sent you to rescue me?" he asked.


    "You don''t need to know who sent us. I only want to understand what happened in the pce. If you tell the truth, it will benefit you," He Zhiran said, still unapologetic. There was no need to be polite to such an ipetent emperor.


    Emperor Shunwu could not determine the identities of the two, but he also realized that this might be his only chance to turn the situation around.


    "It was my fault for falling into that wicked woman''s trap," he admitted.


    After a pause, Emperor Shunwu continued, "Not long after the Empress adopted the Fourth Prince, I noticed that the guards around me had been reced. Just as I was about to call someone to inquire about it, those guards captured me without exnation and imprisoned me in that dark, sunless ce."


    "You don''t know where you were imprisoned?" He Zhiran asked.


    "When I was first captured, I tried to call for help, but those people knocked me unconscious. The next time I woke up, it was the ce where you rescued me today," Emperor Shunwu exined.


    He Zhiran nodded, indicating for him to continue.


    "Later, I realized that the people who captured me were sent by the Empress.


    Before I was captured, I had a dream that my Jade Seal was lost, and I was worried that the dream woulde true, so I hid the Jade Seal.


    Fortunately, because of this dream, the Empress''s people could not find the Jade Seal, which allowed me to stay alive."


    "Rest assured, we have no interest in your Jade Seal. Currently, the court is almost entirely controlled by Xue Prime Minister. If you want to regain control of the Da Shun territory, you cannot afford to remain idle," He Zhiran warned.


    "I havee to thoroughly despise the Empress and her n. If I can restore imperial authority, I will certainly have them dismembered," Emperor Shunwu said viciously.


    "It is meaningless for you to say such harsh words to us. You need to take actual action," He Zhiran said disdainfully.


    Such things cannot be aplished by mere words, especially now that the entire court isrgely controlled by the Xue family. Regaining control would not be so easy.


    Emperor Shunwu clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth, "As long as they cannot obtain the Jade Seal, they will never be emperors in this lifetime.


    Even if the Empress has adopted the Fourth Prince, without my imperial decree sealed with the Jade Seal, it will be of no use."

 Chapter 521: I will not mistreat you

    <h4>Chapter 521</h4>


    At this moment, He Zhiran no longer knew what to say.


    A jade seal could only temporarily restrain the empress''s faction. Given enough time, they would eventually find a way to counter it.


    Such situations had urred in history before. Once power was firmly in hand, what did a jade seal amount to?


    "I advise you to consider more practical methods. With a skilled craftsman, a single jade seal could be replicated entirely."


    Upon hearing this, Emperor Shunwu was stunned, staring nkly at He Zhiran. "Then what do you suggest we do?"


    "What to do? Do you not admit your own ipetence?


    Under your rule, the people suffer in abject poverty, their lives a bitter struggle.


    As for the border conflicts, were it not for the Mo Family, the enemy would have invaded and consumed Da Shun long ago, annexing it into their realm."


    He Zhiran should not have said thatst part at this juncture, but she could not help voicing her grievance for the Mo Family.


    In the dark room, though Mo Jiuye''s night vision was excellent, he could not make out Emperor Shunwu''s expression.


    Yet both He Zhiran and he could sense the emperor''s body tremble slightly upon hearing those words.


    This indicated that regardless of whether the Mo Family''s exile was unjust, it had greatly impacted him.


    "The matter of the Mo Family is already settled in Our heart. It is not for you to lecture Us."


    It was clear Emperor Shunwu did not wish to discuss the Mo Family.


    He Zhiran also knew it was not an opportune time to bring up their wrongful treatment. Having vented her frustration, she felt much calmer.


    "I only ask if you have any good n to turn the situation around?


    If so, whom must you notify and what must be done? We can act as your messengers."


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye''s main purpose foring to the capital was to eliminate future threats against the Mo Family, to kill anyone who might endanger them. Their act of rescuing Emperor Shunwu today was purely for Nan Yu''s sake, or more broadly, for themon people.


    "None of Our sons are fit to take on the great responsibility. Otherwise, We would not have dyed naming an heir for so long.


    As We can now see, it proves Our judgment correct. Nan Heng''s disappearance aside, Nan Rui is meek and utterlycks the bearing of an emperor, while Nan Qi is arrogant andcks wisdom."


    Neither He Zhiran nor Mo Jiuye expected Emperor Shunwu to speak such words.


    Especially Mo Jiuye, who had always viewed Emperor Shunwu as ipetent and easily swayed by sycophants'' nder.


    He never imagined the emperor would utter such words today. Could being locked away by the empress have suddenly cleared his mind?


    But that was impossible. The matter of choosing an heir had long been discussed in court. If he truly deemed any son qualified, the position would not have remained vacant for so long.


    As Mo Jiuye wondered, He Zhiran shared his doubts.


    Just as they spected on the possibilities, Emperor Shunwu spoke again.


    "We had no hope for those three sons, which is why We allowed the empress to adopt the fourth prince, thinking she could guide him from a young age. Now it seems Our expectations were too naive.


    Between Nan Rui and Nan Qi, We can only pin Our hopes on Nan Qi, for at least he possesses more fortitude than Nan Rui.


    We hope you can find a way for Nan Qi to see Us, so We may give him something to help turn the tide."


    Though Emperor Shunwu did not specify what he wished to give Nan Qi in front of these two strangers, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye both understood it must be his final trump card.


    And judging from his words, they had overestimated Emperor Shunwu''s wisdom earlier.


    They thought he had seen through the true natures of his three sons and was not as ipetent as he seemed, but he had again ced his trust in the empress, allowing her to raise the fourth prince.


    Regardless of Emperor Shunwu''s true character, that was not He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye''s concern.


    After exchanging a nce, they knew how to respond.


    "In fact, you may not know this, but you have a very talented son. However, this person has been cast out among themoners since birth, enduring immense hardship..."


    For a moment, Emperor Shunwu was stunned, then red wide-eyed at the two before him.


    Though he could not make out their appearances, he felt a sense of unease.


    "Who are you? Are you sent by that vile Xue to lure the jade seal''s location from Our lips?"


    He Zhiran scoffed disdainfully.


    "Hmph! We have no interest in the whereabouts of your jade seal. What I said was true.


    If you do not believe me, you can inquire with Concubine Yuan yourself."


    "What does this have to do with Concubine Yuan?" Emperor Shunwu grew increasingly bewildered.


    "Because this son of yours was born to Concubine Yuan..." He Zhirancked the patience to recount the full tale and only briefly exined Nan Yu''s situation.


    For more details, she felt it best if Concubine Yuan exined in person.


    Upon hearing the gist, Emperor Shunwu flew into a rage.


    "Preposterous!" He wanted to sweep the objects off the table as he often did in fits of anger.


    Yet his actions met only air...


    Emperor Shunwu fumed, his chest heaving.


    He Zhiran could not help but remind him, "If you do not wish to draw the empress''s men here, feel free to vent loudly."


    Though Emperor Shunwu had reigned for decades, his long-ingrained habits of disregarding others remained unchanged despite his current plight.


    "How dare a lowly ve lecture Us!"


    He Zhiran folded her arms, scoffing coldly, "Do not forget, it is we who saved your life. Is this how the mighty Emperor of Da Shun treats his life-savers?"


    Even Emperor Shunwu possessed enough sense to realize his life was in their hands.


    Considering this, his attitude became much more restrained.


    "As long as you preserve Our life, We shall not fail to reward you upon returning to power."


    Reward us? Hmph! Not interested!


    He Zhiran had no desire to go in circles with him.


    "If you wish to uncover the truth, wait obediently here. I can find a way to bring Concubine Yuan to you. Once she arrives, you can judge for yourself whether my words are true or not."


    Emperor Shunwu raised his head again, disbelieving. "You can bring her here?"


    Though he had not witnessed the situation outside, he understood that after being rescued by these two, that vile Xue would undoubtedly send many to search for him.


    No doubt the pce was swarming with guards at this very moment, scouring every corner.

 Chapter 522: You Must Cooperate

    <h4>Chapter 522</h4>


    Facing Emperor Shunwu, He Zhiran had no patience to exin.


    "As long as you still want the Da Shun dynasty to continue under the name of Nan, you must listen to my arrangements now."


    "Very well, I will wait for you all here," Emperor Shunwu knew he had no other choice.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye did not intend to waste time. With Mo Jiuye''s capabilities and her spatial abilities, the two of them did not need to worry about how many people were searching outside. Moreover, they were both disguised as pce attendants, so it would not be a problem to blend in.


    After leaving the Pce of Exile, they did not discover any human presence outside, which showed that Mo Jiuye''s decision to bring Emperor Shunwu here was correct. At least for a short period of time, those people would not be able to find this ce.


    As long as they had an hour, it would be enough to bring Concubine Yuan here and have her verify Fei Nanyu''s identity.


    Although their disguises prevented them from arousing suspicion, the two still avoided the searching pce guards as much as possible.


    Mo Jiuye moved quickly, asionally using light martial arts techniques while leading He Zhiran. It did not take long for them to reach Concubine Yuan''s bedchamber.


    Everything there was as usual, but from the footprints in front of the door, it was evident that the pce guards had already searched here and left.


    They still entered by climbing over the wall. After exining the situation to Concubine Yuan, she readily agreed to see Emperor Shunwu and rify the child-swapping incident from years ago.


    However, they could not just leave with Concubine Yuan like that.


    "Your Ladyship, you know that the Empress''s people are everywhere outside. When we take you to see the Emperor, you must cooperate with us," He Zhiran reminded her.


    "Rest assured, this pcedy will follow your instructions," Concubine Yuan sincerely promised.


    "Also, my husband and I have sensitive identities. Please help us keep our secret, in consideration of our help to Master Fei."


    "You can rest assured about that. This pcedy will not say a word, even if the Emperor asks. I will only say that you are people sent by Nan Yu."


    With Concubine Yuan''s understanding, He Zhiran had no further reminders. She took out a silver needle from her spatial dimension and said, "Forgive me."


    Soon, Concubine Yuan fell into a deep sleep.


    Seeing this, Granny Wang appeared somewhat panicked and flustered.


    Mo Jiuye casually tossed out a pouch of sleeping powder, and before Granny Wang fell, he and He Zhiran carried her onto the bed together.


    The two returned to the Pce of Exile and brought Concubine Yuan out of the spatial dimension before entering the room where Emperor Shunwu was.


    After He Zhiran used the needle to wake Concubine Yuan from her slumber, she brought the bewildered Concubine Yuan into the room.


    Emperor Shunwu was highly vignt. As soon as he heard the slightest sound outside, he began looking for a ce to hide.


    While he was cautious, Concubine Yuan was extremely nervous. Although she had prepared herself to face the crime of deceiving the Emperor, she still could not remainpletely calm.


    "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, are you here?"


    Hearing Concubine Yuan''s voice, Emperor Shunwu let out a sigh of relief and said in a deep voice, "I am here."


    Although nervous, Concubine Yuan did not forget the proper etiquette.


    She knelt down facing the direction of Emperor Shunwu''s voice, "Your Majesty, this pcedy hasmitted a crime."


    Emperor Shunwu had just heard He Zhiran''s exnation, so he naturally harbored resentment toward Concubine Yuan.


    In the past, if Concubine Yuan hadmitted such an error, no matter how much he favored her, he would not have been able to avoid punishing her.


    However, this time was different. He clearly understood his current predicament. Not to mention punishing Concubine Yuan, he could not even guarantee his own safety now.


    "Get up first! Tell me what happened back then."


    Concubine Yuan wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and recounted in detail the mistake she had made years ago.


    Whenever necessary, He Zhiran would also provide additional exnations.


    Emperor Shunwu believed Concubine Yuan''s words.


    She was risking the crime of deceiving the Emperor and the possible loss of her head by revealing these things, all for the sake of her own biological son.


    "I heard them say earlier that Nan Yu''s talents and wisdom surpass those of Nan Rui and Nan Qi. If this is true, I am willing to pass the throne to him.


    However, before that, I must meet him in person to make the final decision."


    Emperor Shunwu''s decision was understandable to Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    It was already not easy for him to believe Concubine Yuan''s words so quickly. Moreover, he had also mentioned that he still had a final trump card to use.


    He wanted to meet Fei Nanyu before deciding on the next steps, which was a prudent action.


    He Zhiran entered her spatial dimension and nced at therge clock on the wall. It was already past three o''clock in the morning.


    If they sent Concubine Yuan back now, they could still leave the pce before dawn.


    "Tonight, I will find a way to bring Master Fei to meet you. As for your safety, we will be unable to assist after we leave."


    He Zhiran believed that within his own domain, it would not be difficult for Emperor Shunwu to find a hiding ce where the Empress''s people could not locate him.


    However, before Emperor Shunwu could say anything, Concubine Yuan spoke up.


    "Is there any way for the Emperor to go to my ce? My quarters have already been searched by the Empress''s people, and it seems safe for now."


    Concubine Yuan was intelligent. Although she did not know the method He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye used to bring her here to meet Emperor Shunwu, she realized that these two could also bring the Emperor to her quarters.


    Moreover, Concubine Yuan''s suggestion was indeed a good idea.


    Despite He Zhiran''s earlier statement for Emperor Shunwu to find his own hiding ce, she was still somewhat worried. After all, she and Mo Jiuye had already done so much, and it would not be the oue they desired if the key yer died in the middle.


    As Concubine Yuan said, her bedchamber had already been searched, and the Empress was currently preupied with the frantic search for Emperor Shunwu. Her quarters would be safe for a short period of time.


    To prevent any unexpected incidents, He Zhiran did not want to dy any further.


    She took out the silver needle again and located their acupuncture points, pricking them one by one...


    This time, when they left the Pce of Exile, there were noticeably more pce guards outside. Fortunately, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had disguised themselves, so they were able to pass through smoothly when questioned a few times along the way.


    Upon reaching Concubine Yuan''s bedchamber, He Zhiran released the two of them from her spatial dimension, along with Granny Wang. After waking them all up using the silver needle, she and Mo Jiuye left again.


    This time, they could not use the token to enter and exit the pce through the main gate as they did when they arrived, because they had already heard the pce guards say that the pce gates had beenpletely sealed, and no one would be allowed to enter or exit for the time being.


    With the heavy guard presence, climbing over the wall was also not the best option, as those serving as pce guards were not to be underestimated.


    Especially with his beloved wife apanying him, Mo Jiuye did not dare take such a risk.


    He Zhiran also realized the difficulty of the situation, but they had to leave here before dawn no matter what.


    After considering various options, Mo Jiuye ultimately had only one solution.

 Chapter 523: Give me the lock on the door.

    <h4>Chapter 523</h4>


    The two of them made their way to the vicinity of the National Treasury.


    Ever since they, as husband and wife, had plundered the Treasury clean a year ago, Emperor Shunwu, no matter how capable he was, would not have been able to collect as much wealth and store it inside in such a short time.


    One could say that the current National Treasury was merely a facade.


    Especially during this period when the Empress had seized power, she would undoubtedly have set her sights on the wealth inside the Treasury, and surely there would be nothing of much value left within.


    Perhaps it was for this reason that the guards around the National Treasury were much morexpared to before.


    When they had emptied the Treasury previously, they did not conceal the secret passage upon leaving.


    After Emperor Shunwu discovered that the Treasury had been robbed, and that the thieves had entered through the secret passage, he would have certainly sent men to seal it off.


    However, with the pce under such heavy guard currently, they could onlye here to try their luck and seek an opportunity.


    Guards patrolled the area surrounding the National Treasury, but it was in the form of two teams alternating their rounds.


    Mo Jiuye observed for a while and realized that there would be a brief moment when the entrance to the Treasury was out of the guards'' line of sight.


    However, this window of time was extremely short - ording to the clock hanging in his wife''s spatial abode, itsted only about a minute or so.


    In other words, if they wanted to enter the National Treasury undetected, they would have to pick the lock and get inside within that one minute.


    He Zhiran had also noticed this opportunity.


    "Husband, leave the lock on the door to me."


    She was not unfamiliar with lock-picking, having learned some basic skills from herrades in the army in her previous life.


    The locks from ancient times could notpare to modern, high-tech counterparts, and their mechanisms were quite simple. She was confident she could open it sessfully.


    Even if she failed, it would not matter: she and Mo Jiuye could simply retreat into her spatial abode when the guards appeared.


    In any case, as long as they ensured their safety, it did not matter if they needed to try a few more times.


    Mo Jiuye knew his wife was capable, so he nodded without any doubt.


    "Alright, let''s take advantage of this opening to try. If it doesn''t work, we''ll retreat into your space immediately."


    No sooner had he finished speaking, the timing coincided with the guards'' line of sight being obstructed from the entrance. Mo Jiuye swiftly approached the door with He Zhiran.


    She had already taken out a thin iron wire from her spatial abode.


    With a few casual flicks of the wire inside the keyhole, the lock was opened.


    The two of them dared not make a sound. Mo Jiuye opened therge doors of the National Treasury just wide enough for the two of them to slip through, then gently closed them after entering.


    It was still night, and the guards did not notice the missing lock head as long as the doors appeared closed. No issues arose.


    As expected, there were pitiful few items stored inside, and at first nce, nothing seemed particrly valuable.


    Even so, He Zhiran did not intend to leave anything behind.


    Although these belongings were considered property of the National Treasury, Emperor Shunwu had never used this wealth to benefit the people. She felt no guilt in piging everything.


    To clear out what little remained in the now mostly empty Treasury was a simple task for He Zhiran, just a matter of walking through and taking it all.


    Since they had taken so many night pearls thest time, only a few dim oilmps provided illumination inside the Treasury today. But this did not impair their vision at all.


    Mo Jiuye led He Zhiran back to the entrance of the secret passage they had used to infiltrate the Treasury previously, and as expected, it had been destroyed.


    He Zhiran surveyed the former entrance and asked, "Husband, since the secret passage is gone, what should we do?"


    Mo Jiuye did not be discouraged by the destroyed entrance.


    "Actually, that secret passage entrance was an escape route intentionally set up by the royal family."


    To He Zhiran, it was not surprising at all that the royal family would have an escape route prepared, as she knew from history that many emperors, fearing unexpected circumstances, would arrange for escape paths to be constructed for themselves.


    In other words, the route Mo Jiuye had used to bring her into the National Treasury was actually an escape tunnel excavated on the orders of a previous Da Shun Dynasty emperor.


    "If it was an escape tunnel, only the royal family should have known about it. How did you find it?"


    This was the question Mo Jiuye was about to exin.


    "When I was first sent to the pce as Nan Qi''s studypanion, since we were not familiar with each other at that time and he was arrogant, he bullied me after I arrived. I ran off alone and somehow ended up here by chance.


    It was then that I identally discovered the entrance to that secret chamber."


    So that was how Mo Jiuye had known about the secret passage. With his formerly loyal character, he naturally would not have revealed such a big secret.


    When he had brought He Zhiran to plunder the National Treasury, it must have been because he was enraged beyond his limit by Emperor Shunwu''s actions.


    As Mo Jiuye recounted this, he and He Zhiran did not idle.


    Neither of them believed that Emperor Shunwu would dare destroy the royal family''s escape tunnel.


    At most, he had likely just changed the entrance location.


    Mo Jiuye was very familiar with the structure of that secret passage, especially the location of the pce entrance, which could not stray far from the National Treasury area.


    The two slowly walked through the Treasury, carefully feeling for any abnormalities underfoot.


    After a while, He Zhiran stopped Mo Jiuye.


    "Husband, I sense the bricks under my feet seem a bit loose."


    Mo Jiuye crouched down to inspect it.


    The bricks surrounding where He Zhiran was standing had faint gaps visible.


    To confirm this suspicion, she intentionally pressed down with force.


    Sure enough, the bricks under her feet shook slightly.


    He Zhiran quickly stepped aside, and Mo Jiuye took out a sharp dagger, positioning the tip at one of the gaps and applying some force. The brick easily came loose, revealing a dark hole.


    Mo Jiuye inwardly sneered. Emperor Shunwu really thought he was so clever, assuming the secret passage would cease to exist just by changing the entrance?


    Of course, he would not let his guard down just because they had found the passage so quickly.


    After all, the National Treasury had already been plundered once. If no countermeasures had been implemented, this secret passage would truly hold no value.


    He Zhiran had the same thought, so although they had found the passage entrance, neither of them rashly went inside.


    With a thought, she retrieved a cotton nket from her spatial abode and tossed it down.


    As soon as the nket entered, they heard a continuous whirring sound from below, indicating that Emperor Shunwu had indeed deployed hidden crossbow traps here.


    After the sounds gradually ceased, He Zhiran still did not feel at ease and threw another nket in a different direction.


    Repeating this process four times with no further sounds of crossbows triggered, Mo Jiuye finally descended first.

 Chapter 524: The Jade Seal

    <h4>Chapter 524</h4>


    After ensuring there was no danger inside, Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran down with him.


    To prevent anyone from noticing any clues, after ensuring He Zhiran was safe, Mo Jiuye turned back again and carefully lifted and reced the gstone he had moved earlier, putting it back in its original position.


    Although this could notpletely restore it to its original state, at the very least it would not look too conspicuous.


    He Zhiran had already taken a shlight from her spatial space, and the two proceeded cautiously, observing their surroundings.


    Compared to thest time Mo Jiuye brought her here, this time seemed less tense, so she was able to observe more carefully.


    When Mo Jiuye was a child, he used to y around and pass through this secret passage many times.


    Therefore, he was very familiar with the environment of the secret passage.


    Today, entering again through a different entrance, after winding through it, he could confirm that apart from the entrance to the Imperial Pce which had changed, the rest of the secret passage remained the same as before.


    So although he was also observing, he did not scrutinize it as carefully as He Zhiran.


    After walking about a hundred meters, He Zhiran suddenly stopped.


    The shlight''s beam also shone on a particr spot on the wall.


    Mo Jiuye knew his wife must have discovered something unusual.


    He Zhiran pointed to where the shlight was shining and said, "Husband, look here."


    Mo Jiuye looked closely and saw a square imprint on the wall.


    Such an imprint appearing here was quite peculiar.


    Mo Jiuye pushed it gently with one hand, and to their surprise, with hardly any effort, the section of the wall with the square imprint slowly moved backward.


    Neither of them expected that there would be such a hidden space within this secret passage.


    He Zhiran shone the shlight into the hole that had appeared in the wall.


    What they saw left them both stunned.


    Inside was a square bundle wrapped in bright yellow silk.


    Even without Mo Jiuye saying anything, He Zhiran knew what it was.


    "Husband, I didn''t expect Emperor Shunwu to have hidden the Imperial Seal here."


    This was something Mo Jiuye had not anticipated either.


    "Since we''ve found it, we should take it with us."


    He Zhiran was thinking the same thing. Although they had no intention of usurping the throne, they could hand it over to Fei Nanyu directly, which would be a huge favor.


    Even if Fei Nanyu could not smoothly be the Crown Prince after meeting Emperor Shunwu, this could serve as leverage for him.


    With a thought, He Zhiran sent the Imperial Seal into her spatial space.


    Mo Jiuye carefully examined the hole, and after confirming there were no other items, restored the wall to its original state.


    The two continued along the secret passage and left just as the sky was brightening.


    The exit of the secret passage was no longer in the location Mo Jiuye remembered -- it was another residence, but not the same one as before.


    Mo Jiuye was familiar with the Capital city, and after observing the surroundings from outside the residence, he figured out the location.


    From this observation, he couldn''t help but inwardlyugh -- the entrance to the secret passage that Emperor Shunwu had changed was only separated from the original entrance by a courtyard, showing how perfunctory he had been in making the change.


    But it didn''t matter to Mo Jiuye how perfunctory Emperor Shunwu had been -- it wasn''t his concern.


    He needed to take He Zhiran to the Fei Residence before it became fully light outside.


    With Emperor Shunwu missing from the Empress''s chambers, the Imperial Pce was in chaos, and this had also affected the areas outside.


    After leaving the courtyard where the secret passage entrance was located, they saw that the number of patrol guards on the streets had increased greatly.


    The distance to the Fei Residence was quite far, so Mo Jiuye carried He Zhiran as they leapt over rooftops, directly jumping onto the walls of the Fei Residence.


    Fei Nanyu had already woken up by then, or perhaps he had not slept all night due to the matters weighing on his mind.


    In any case, he was currently pacing anxiously in the study.


    When Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran knocked and announced themselves, Fei Nanyu quickly invited them in.


    Although he was very concerned about their discoveries from entering the pce, he first told He Zhiran about Minister Hao''s situation.


    "Ninth Lady, please rest assured, I have arranged for Minister Hao to rest in the guest courtyard. I will take you both to see him a littleter."


    "Thank you, Sir Fei, for taking care of my father," He Zhiran expressed her gratitude. Without waiting for Fei Nanyu to ask, Mo Jiuye went straight to the main point.


    "We first encountered Concubine Yuan after entering the pce, and I''ve already exined your general situation to her. I could see that Concubine Yuan deeply regrets what happened back then, and she is now eagerly hoping to see you.


    "The Empress Dowager was killed by the Empress, and the Emperor has been hidden by the Empress in her own chambers..."


    Mo Jiuye recounted to Fei Nanyu all the events that had transpired after entering the pce, and also informed him that both the Emperor and Concubine Yuan wished to meet him.


    Fei Nanyu never expected that Mo Jiuye would have aplished so much on this trip into the pce. What surprised him even more was that despite all his nning, he had been unable to find a suitable way to restore his identity.


    Yet this matter had been inadvertently aplished by Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    He respectfully bowed to the two of them: "I am grateful to Ninth Master and Ninth Lady for enabling this today."


    Regardless of whether the situation would develop ording to his ns after meeting Emperor Shunwu and Concubine Yuan, he had to thank Mo Jiuye for creating this opportunity.


    After a moment''s hesitation, he asked Mo Jiuye, "With the Imperial Pce under such tight security now, does Ninth Master have a good way for me to enter?"


    To enter, there was only one way -- to render him unconscious and bring him into the pce through the spatial space.


    Considering Fei Nanyu''s intelligence, Mo Jiuye was a little hesitant.


    He Zhiran sensed his confliction and stepped forward, saying, "If Sir Fei trusts us, then don''t ask any questions. My husband and I guarantee we will safely deliver you before Emperor Shunwu and Concubine Yuan."


    Fei Nanyu was a shrewd man. Although he was curious about the method they mentioned, he restrained himself from asking further.


    After all, everyone has their own secrets. If he asked and they refused to reveal it, not only would they not tell him, but it would also affect the trust between them.


    "If I cannot even trust Ninth Master and Ninth Lady, then I fear there may not be anyone or anything in this world worthy of Fei''s trust.


    "Permit me to ask one more question -- if it''s convenient, can we bring another person into the pce in addition to me?"


    He Zhiran raised her eyebrows: "Does Sir Fei intend to bring Fe Mama along?"


    Fei Nanyu nodded: "The key person who can prove my identity is Fe Mama. I believe that if she can apany me, it would add more credibility when verifying my identity."


    This point was indeed valid. In ancient times, unlike modern medical advancements, to confirm a parent-child rtionship, a simple DNA test would suffice.


    Although they had already clearly exined Fei Nanyu''s identity, spoken wordsck solid evidence.


    In such a situation, having a witness present would be the most convincing.


    "That''s not a problem. We n to take Sir Fei into the pce tonight after dark. As long as Fe Mama cane here before nightfall, it will be fine."

 Chapter 525: The day is near when the Court will be stable.

    <h4>Chapter 525</h4>


    Fei Nanyu bowed again: "Nan Qi has never given up searching for Fe Mama. I thought the most dangerous ce would also be the safest ce, so not long ago, I had already brought Fe Mama to the Fei Residence.


    Later, I will go and see her, and inform her about the matter of entering the pce, so that she can mentally prepare herself."


    Fei Nanyu had once said that after Fe Mama followed him to the capital city, she started to change her mind. After all, Nan Qi was her own nephew. Back then, she risked betraying her master and exchanged her own nephew to be a prince, with the hope that her nephew would eventually soar and achieve great sess.


    If it weren''t for Nan Qi repeatedly sending people to pursue and kill them, Fe Mama might never have had the intention of revealing this secret to the public in her lifetime.


    Unfortunately, after returning to the capital city, she was safe, but at the same time, her determination to testify to Fei Nanyu''s identity gradually crumbled.


    Both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were very curious whether Fei Nanyu had already persuaded Fe Mama toe forward and testify.


    But they also chose not to inquire, since Fei Nanyu had voluntarily proposed to bring Fe Mama into the pce together, it meant he already had full confidence.


    "If that''s the case, Mr. Fei can make the arrangements. My wife and I will go and see her father-inw first. Tonight at the third watch, we will meet you here."


    Fei Nanyu looked at the sky outside.


    "It''s already daylight. I will personally send you two to Minister Hao''s ce."


    Fei Nanyu sent Mo Jiuye and his wife to the guest house where Minister Hao was resting, then left, instructing his subordinates to send over more food and ensure the honored guests were well-entertained.


    Minister Hao had also stayed awake all night. Although his son-inw had that "white dove" send a message back, reporting that they were safe, he couldn''t let his heart rest until he saw them return in person after being away for so long.


    Seeing Fei Nanyu leave, Minister Hao eagerly pulled the two of them to inquire about the situation.


    His primary concern was their safety, and only after that did he care about the situation in the pce.


    Mo Jiuye recounted the events that had urred after entering the pce.


    Although Minister Hao had already lost faith in the court, as a member of the royalist faction, he still appeared somewhat indignant.


    "The Empress and the Xue Family are really brazen, actually killing the Empress Dowager and privately imprisoning the Emperor..."


    Listening to Minister Hao vent for a while, He Zhiran advised him again.


    "Father, Emperor Shunwu is so ipetent. I think it''s better not to protect such an emperor!"


    Minister Hao sighed helplessly.


    "Father is indeed very disappointed in the court, but Father has also received a sry for decades. As the saying goes, ''when the nation faces peril, every man has a duty.'' Now that Da Shun is in crisis, if I just leave like this, wouldn''t I be used of deserting?"


    In fact, He Zhiran could understand her elderly father''s feelings. For someone who had spent his whole life thinking about how to serve the court, it would probably take some time for him toe to terms with suddenly abandoning it.


    "Father, think about how Mother and Elder Brother have already taken a liking to life in the Northwest. That shows how appealing the life there is. Moreover, you have already been busy serving the court for half your life, so you should take the time to properly enjoy life."


    He Zhiran decided to change tactics and continue attacking her father''sst line of defense.


    Minister Hao sighed: "s... even if I were to leave, Father would wait until the court situation stabilizes."


    "Father, rest assured, the day the court stabilizes is not far off."


    Now that the Jade Seal was in their possession, if things progressed smoothly, tonight Fei Nanyu would meet with Emperor Shunwu and Concubine Yuan, sessfully restoring his position as a prince. Emperor Shunwu would then voluntarily reveal his own trump card. She believed the day the court stabilized would arrive very soon.


    Moreover, after dealing with the affairs in the pce, they also nned to eliminate the members of the Xue Family.


    Once the Xue Family''s leading figures died, they would naturally be thrown into disarray.


    In any case, they already had ns in mind, but considering that if Minister Hao knew about these, he would surely worry for them, so the two of them tactfully refrained from mentioning it.


    Inside the Fei Residence, they didn''t know if there would be any unexpected incidents, so He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye chose not to rest in the inner space.


    The couple rested in the guest room for one day, and when the appointed time to meet Fei Nanyu arrived, they went to the study together.


    By this time, Fe Mama had already been brought over by Fei Nanyu''s people. From her constipated expression, it was clear that she was very conflicted at the moment.


    However, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran both believed in Fei Nanyu''s ability to handle matters. Since he chose to bring Fe Mama along to testify to his identity, it meant he was already fully prepared.


    Without further ado, He Zhiran took out the silver needle from the inner space and, in front of Fei Nanyu, pricked Fe Mama into unconsciousness.


    Seeing this, Fei Nanyu was momentarily taken aback, but soon realized that he would likely receive the same treatment next.


    To save Mo Jiuye and his wife the trouble of exining, he voluntarily approached them.


    He Zhiranmended his understanding in her heart and sent him into the inner space in an unconscious state.


    They still chose to enter through the secret passage.


    The National Treasury had beenpletely looted again. Such a major event could not possibly have gone unnoticed for so long.


    The most obvious sign was that all the guards outside had been withdrawn.


    This result was not unexpected. With the Emperor being rescued from the secret room, it was a huge matter for the Empress''s faction.


    Before they could find the person, the Empress''s side would be severelycking in manpower.


    Since the National Treasury was nowpletely empty, leaving people to guard it would be a waste of resources.


    Instead of having a group of people guarding an empty room, it was better to deploy them to more useful posts.


    Therefore, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran left the National Treasury without much effort.


    The two of them avoided the guards'' line of sight and once again arrived at Concubine Yuan''s bedchamber.


    After reaching the courtyard of the bedchamber, He Zhiran released the unconscious people from the inner space and lifted their unconscious state.


    For Fe Mama, this ce was more familiar than anywhere else.


    She had already forgotten to ask how she had ended up here, and instead stared in shock at everything before her.


    Fei Nanyu remained much calmer than Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had imagined.


    "Ninth Young Master, is this the bedchamber of Noble Consort Yuan?"


    Mo Jiuye pointed to the room with a faint light and said, "The Noble Consort is in there."


    As his words fell, Fe Mama immediately opened her mouth and started wailing.


    "The Noble Consort..."


    There would always be patrolling guards appearing outside the bedchamber. Fe Mama''s actions risked summoning them!


    In desperation, He Zhiran knocked her out with a chop of her hand.


    Mo Jiuye sensed the surrounding situation and, seeing no danger, dragged Fe Mama by her cor towards Concubine Yuan''s room.


    He Zhiran went forward and lightly knocked on the door.


    "Noble Consort."


    As her words fell, Granny Wang came running and opened the door.


    "Ninth... This noble sir, have you brought the person?"


    She almost slipped up but reacted in time, avoiding arousing the Emperor''s suspicion.

 Chapter 526: You do deserve to Die

    <h4>Chapter 526</h4>


    He Zhiran moved aside, and Fei Nanyu appeared before Granny Wang.


    Granny Wang stared at the person in front of her carefully.


    "So alike... they look so alike..." His features were practically carved from the same mold as the Noble Consort.


    Surprised, Granny Wang hurriedly stepped aside, allowing He Zhiran and Fei Nanyu to enter.


    As the two men walked in, they saw Mo Jiuye holding someone in his arms, startling Granny Wang.


    "This... this is?"


    Mo Jiuye strode into the room carrying the person, still displeased from Fe Mama''s earlier outburst that nearly caused trouble. Thus, upon entering the room, he threw the person to the ground carelessly, without regard for their safety.


    The Noble Consort Yuan had regained much of her health and could now walk.


    Upon hearing the conversation at the door, she came with Emperor Shunwu to investigate.


    When the two of them saw Fei Nanyu, they were stunned.


    Because Fei Nanyu''s appearance was truly simr to the Noble Consort Yuan.


    After hearing Mo Jiuye''s ount yesterday, and now seeing Fei Nanyu''s likeness in person, it was difficult not to believe they were blood-rted mother and son.


    Emperor Shunwu spoke first.


    "What is your name?"


    At this moment, Fei Nanyu''s heart was no longer as calm as he had imagined.


    After all, his birth parents stood before him. Although these two had wronged him over the years, the saying "blood is thicker than water" was not merely a clich¨¦.


    Fei Nanyu tried his best topose himself, but he could not face his birth parents with equanimity.


    Given Fei Nanyu''s usual courteous demeanor, he would have respectfully greeted the Emperor and Noble Consort. However, today he could not bring himself to do so.


    He stood upright, his tone devoid of any warmth.


    "My name is Fei Nanyu."


    Although Emperor Shunwu was somewhat ipetent, he was not entirely devoid of emotion.


    Of his several sons, aside from his dislike of Nan Rui and neglect of the Fourth Prince, he deeply loved Nan Heng and Nan Qi.


    Especially considering that if the person before him was truly his son, he had never enjoyed the privileges of a prince from birth and had suffered greatly in the outside world. Emperor Shunwu felt an inexplicable heartache.


    "Fei Nanyu, Fei is clear, but what about Nan? Is that from the surname?"


    Fei Nanyu had calmed down considerably by now. Upon Emperor Shunwu''s inquiry, he solemnly replied, "Because Nan is the imperial surname,moners cannot use it casually. Thus, when my father named me, he chose the character ''Nan'' from the word for wood."


    Emperor Shunwu could calmly ask these questions, but his consort, the Noble Consort Yuan, could not maintain herposure. She had rushed over and grasped Fei Nanyu''s arm tightly.


    As Fei Nanyu was tall, the Noble Consort Yuan could only look up at him.


    "You must be the Noble Consort''s own son, there is no mistake. It is the Noble Consort who has wronged you..."


    Saying this, the Noble Consort Yuan pulled Fei Nanyu''s arm, urging him to strike her.


    "Child, you have suffered. It was the Noble Consort''s fault back then. For my own selfish desires, the Noble Consort sent people to abandon you in themoner''s world to suffer. All of this was the Noble Consort''s fault. Hit the Noble Consort... Woo woo..."


    The Noble Consort Yuan had not finished speaking before she broke down in tears.


    Seeing this, Granny Wang was about to step forward tofort her, but to her surprise, Fei Nanyu forcefully withdrew the arm that the Noble Consort Yuan had grasped and retreated several steps, keeping a distance from her.


    Compared to Emperor Shunwu, Fei Nanyu harbored deeper resentment towards the Noble Consort Yuan, his birth mother.


    After all, it was she who had sent him away for her own status, while his birth father, Emperor Shunwu, was unaware.


    He steadied himself, and his gaze fell upon Emperor Shunwu once more.


    "If a blood test is required to prove kinship, I canply." He then pointed to the still unconscious Fe Mama on the ground.


    "As for a witness, this person served the Noble Consort back then and was responsible for swapping me with Nan Qi."


    As Fei Nanyu''s words fell, Emperor Shunwu, the Noble Consort Yuan, and Granny Wang all turned their attention to Fe Mama.


    Earlier, their focus had been solely on Fei Nanyu, otherwise the Noble Consort Yuan and Granny Wang would have recognized Fe Mama at first nce.


    Recalling Fe Mama''s actions in the past, and her recent theft of the Noble Consort''s jewelry before fleeing the pcest year, Granny Wang was fuming.


    She stepped forward and kicked Fe Mama viciously.


    "You treacherous, ungrateful wretch! Just wait until I beat you to death!"


    Seeing Granny Wang''s agitated state and her intent to continue the assault, He Zhiran stepped in to stop her.


    They had risked bringing Fei Nanyu and Fe Mama here, not to witness the Noble Consort''s faction purge. Moreover, the pce was rife with danger, and unforeseen circumstances could arise at any moment.


    "Granny, if you wish to deal with her, you will have plenty of time after we get to the bottom of this."


    Hearing this, Granny Wang realized she had acted rashly in her anger and quickly retreated a few steps.


    "Yes, yes... this servant has overstepped her bounds."


    Fe Mama had initially been knocked unconscious by He Zhiran''s hand strike, but her state of unconsciousness was not deep.


    The kick from Granny Wang had roused her, and she was beginning to regain consciousness.


    He Zhiran picked up a cup of water from the table and poured the remaining water onto Fe Mama''s face.


    This fully revived Fe Mama, and she slowly sat up.


    The surroundings were all too familiar to her - this was the Noble Consort Yuan''s bedchamber.


    She looked up and saw Emperor Shunwu and the Noble Consort Yuan.


    Fe Mama instinctively shrank back, but quickly regained herposure and knelt before them.


    "This servant is guilty, please spare my life, Your Majesty, Noble Consort."


    Spare her life?


    Emperor Shunwu now felt like killing her himself, but of course, he also harbored resentment towards the Noble Consort Yuan. However, given the tense situation, he had no time to deal with these matters.


    "You indeed deserve to die."


    Fei Nanyu had not brought Fe Mama here for her to be executed immediately.


    "Fe Mama, I made a promise to you, and today the Emperor and Noble Consort Yuan are before you. Shouldn''t you also fulfill our agreement?"


    The others did not know the deal between Fei Nanyu and Fe Mama, but Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could guess the general idea.


    Although Nan Qi had sent people to kill Fe Mama, she was still his biological aunt. After ensuring her safety, she gradually abandoned the idea of exposing Nan Qi''s true identity.


    The only way for Fei Nanyu to make Fe Mama willingly reveal the truth about the past to Emperor Shunwu and the Noble Consort Yuan was to use Nan Qi''s life as leverage.


    Once Fei Nanyu''s princely status was restored, Nan Qi''s life would surely be forfeit.


    Fei Nanyu hadpletely taken advantage of this point to strike a deal with Fe Mama.


    Fe Mama would reveal Fei Nanyu''s true identity before Emperor Shunwu and the Noble Consort Yuan, and in return, Fei Nanyu would find a way to spare Nan Qi''s life after regaining his status.


    This was indeed the deal Fei Nanyu had made with Fe Mama.

 Chapter 527: Drop Blood to recognize Relatives

    <h4>Chapter 527</h4>


    Even though Fe Mama and Fei Nanyu had agreed on the terms beforehand, Fe Mama still hesitated.


    Fei Nanyu sensed her hesitation and reminded her, "Actually, there''s no need for witnesses to acknowledge kinship. Since ancient times, there has been the tradition of verifying kinship by mingling blood."


    This was a reminder to Fe Mama that even if she didn''t speak up, he could still reim his identity as a prince that very day.


    Upon hearing his words, Fe Mama''s hesitation vanished instantly. As long as there was a glimmer of hope to save her own nephew''s life, she didn''t want to let it slip away.


    Fe Mama knelt before Emperor Shunwu and Concubine Yuan once more.


    "This old servant is guilty. Back then, I was possessed by evil spirits and deluded. I took the newborn prince back home and swapped him with my own newborn nephew.


    The current Prince Qi is actually my good-for-nothing nephew."


    As she spoke, she nced at Fei Nanyu with a hint of guilt.


    "The man before you, who has suffered greatly in the Fei Family for many years, is actually the flesh and blood of Your Majesty and Your Highness..."


    Fe Mama tearfully recounted the entire process of how she had swapped the two infants back then.


    During this, Emperor Shunwu intentionally raised a few more doubts, and Fe Mama answered them clearly without any concealment.


    Because she did not lie, there were no inconsistencies in her responses to Emperor Shunwu.


    At this point, Emperor Shunwu basically believed that Fei Nanyu was indeed the Third Prince.


    Especially Fei Nanyu''s striking resemnce to Concubine Yuan made it impossible to disbelieve.


    After all, with the imperial bloodline, even if Emperor Shunwu was ipetent, he had no reason to confuse the matter.


    "If that''s the case, let''s proceed with verifying our kinship by mingling blood."


    In He Zhiran''s understanding, verifying kinship by mingling blood had no scientific basis whatsoever.


    Not to mention Fei Nanyu and Emperor Shunwu being father and son, even if they weren''t rted, their blood still had over a 90% chance of blending together.


    Therefore, she wasn''t worried at all about any issues arising when Fei Nanyu and Emperor Shunwu mingled their blood to verify kinship.


    Fei Nanyu wasn''t worried about this either, since he was truly Emperor Shunwu''s biological son.


    The observant Granny Wang had already brought a bowl of clean water when Emperor Shunwu finished speaking, as it wouldn''t be appropriate for Mo Jiuye to take out a dagger or the like in front of the Emperor.


    Fei Nanyu did the same, biting his finger and letting a few drops of fresh blood fall into the bowl in front of Emperor Shunwu.


    Emperor Shunwu did the same.


    Under everyone''s watchful gaze, the two drops of fresh blood quickly blended together.


    At this moment, Emperor Shunwu was both excited and enraged.


    He was excited because his biological son had appeared when he was in dire straits, which could be Heaven''s opportunity for him to turn the tables.


    He was enraged because Concubine Yuan had actually gone behind his back and done such a thing back then, causing him, the ruler of a nation, to raise a servant''s child for over twenty years in vain...


    But he also realized that this was not the time to dwell on such matters.


    Emperor Shunwu''s gaze at Nan Yu became much more affectionate than before.


    "Child, you''ve suffered so much all these years. When I regain power, that will be the time for you to reim your identity as a prince."


    Fei Nanyu still showed no reaction. Although these were his biological parents, he still felt they were strangers.


    At the same time, he could tell that Emperor Shunwu did not reject his existence as a son.


    Logically speaking, Fei Nanyu should have knelt down and addressed them as "Father Emperor" and "Mother Consort" at this point. He understood this reasoning himself, but for some reason, he couldn''t bring himself to do it.


    Seeing Emperor Shunwu''s expectant gaze, Fei Nanyu only slightly bowed with his hands folded.


    At this time, Concubine Yuan was already crying uncontrobly.


    Granny Wang helped her approach Fei Nanyu, and she raised her hand slightly, wanting to caress his face.


    Fei Nanyu instinctively shrank back.


    Seeing that Fei Nanyu refused to acknowledge her, Concubine Yuan cried even more sorrowfully.


    Upon seeing this, Emperor Shunwu rebuked her, "If you hadn''tmitted such a mistake back then, our child wouldn''t be unwilling to recognize you now."


    Concubine Yuan, of course, understood this reasoning, and she had med herself for over twenty years.


    It''s just that for all those years, the object of her self-me had only been Mo Jiuye.


    Although Fei Nanyu resented Concubine Yuan in his heart, he did not wish for the current awkward situation.


    After all, this was not his purpose for entering the pce that day.


    After reprimanding Concubine Yuan, Emperor Shunwu said, "From this day onwards, you will no longer be surnamed Fei. The name Nan Yu isn''t bad either - you must be used to it by now. From now on, you shall be called Nan Yu.


    When I sessfully regain power, my first order of business will be to publicly announce your true identity."


    When He Zhiran had previously told him that there was another person who was the Third Prince, she had also mentioned Nan Yu''s talents.


    To verify this, Emperor Shunwu immediately asked Nan Yu some questions about the art of governing.


    Fei Nanyu''s talents were iparable, especially after spending time alongside Nan Qi, he had improved even further.


    To the questions posed by Emperor Shunwu, he not only answered smoothly, but could also extrapte and apply the concepts more broadly.


    Emperor Shunwu was very satisfied with his performance.


    "Our Ancestor left behind a token that can mobilize an elite force of twenty thousand men.


    This military force has never been mobilized since the founding of Da Shun... it was due to my ipetence..."


    Hearing Emperor Shunwu admit his own ipetence surprised both He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye.


    In their impression, Emperor Shunwu was the epitome of an ipetent ruler.


    Regardless of whether he had a great awakening or was simply lucid in this critical moment, the fact that he was able to reveal his final trump card showed that he had not bepletely ipetent.


    As Emperor Shunwu finished speaking, he removed the headdress from his head.


    In front of everyone, he took out a small but exquisite token from inside the headdress.


    He handed the token to Fei Nanyu.


    "This is the final lifeline left by our Ancestor for the descendants of the Nan Family. Take this token and go to the mountain valley seventy miles east of the capital to find this military force."


    As for how tomand them, Emperor Shunwu nned to give Nan Yu full authority.


    Through their brief conversation, Emperor Shunwu had already confirmed that Nan Yu''s talents were definitely a hundred times greater than those of the sons who grew up by his side.


    Nan Yu did not hesitate at all, for he had already harbored ambitions of seizing power.


    From now on, he would use this military force to turn the situation around.


    Emperor Shunwu continued, "I have long dyed naming the Crown Prince because I felt Nan Qicked the ability.


    Now that I know he is not of imperial blood, it seems my initial hesitation was correct.


    I have now handed you my only remaining trump card. I hope you can reverse the court situation as quickly as possible and rescue your mother and me from this peril."


    At this moment, Emperor Shunwu''s heart was as clear as a mirror. Although Nan Yu still resented Concubine Yuan''s actions back then, she was nevertheless his biological mother.

 Chapter 528: Wait for Me to Save You

    <h4>Chapter 528</h4>


    Therefore, when Emperor Shunwu spoke these words, it was an indirect way of indicating that on the day he regained power, he would not harm Concubine Yuan.


    This served as a reassurance for Nan Yu.


    Indeed, while Nan Yu resented the actions of Concubine Yuan in the past, he still longed for that mother-son bond.


    Perhaps in time, they could reconcile and reunite as mother and son.


    Nan Yu had previously held an unfavorable opinion of his biological father, Emperor Shunwu, due to thetter''s ipetent and misguided rule.


    However, he did not me him for the incident where he was switched at birth.


    After all, Emperor Shunwu was unaware of this.


    Today, after interacting closely with Emperor Shunwu for the first time, Nan Yu''s attitude towards him changed significantly.


    After a moment''s hesitation, Nan Yu solemnly bowed to Emperor Shunwu.


    "Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Your son will do everything in his power to turn the tide in the court and rescue you and... Noble Consort as soon as possible."


    At the moment, he could not bring himself to address Concubine Yuan as "mother."


    When Concubine Yuan saw that Nan Yu now addressed Emperor Shunwu as "father," but referred to her as "Noble Consort," her heart bled.


    "My child, your mother made mistakes in the past. For over twenty years, I have lived in remorse - this is Heaven''s punishment for me.


    From now on, your mother will cherish and love you dearly. Can you forgive me?"


    Seeing Concubine Yuan''s sorrowful expression, Fei Nanyu could not help but be moved.


    "I understand. Please give me some time." Let me slowly ept this.


    Granny Wang now understood the situation, and seeing Concubine Yuan''s heartbroken tears, she hurried to sit by her side and offerfort.


    Putting oneself in her shoes, if any of them had experienced such an ordeal, even with their own birth mother, it would be difficult to forgive immediately.


    Concubine Yuan understood this in her heart. She silently told herself that in the future, she would gradually make amends to Nan Yu, allowing her son to truly ept her...


    He Zhiran nced at therge clock in the space and reminded, "It''s gettingte. I n to leave the pce with The Third Prince before daybreak."


    Although Emperor Shunwu had acknowledged Nan Yu''s identity, he had not granted him a royal title like Nan Heng and the others. Therefore, He Zhiran simply addressed Nan Yu as The Third Prince.


    Nan Yu also knew that it was not easy for Mo Jiuye and Madam Ninth to sessfully escort him and Fe Mama into the pce. He could not linger there for long.


    "Your Majesty, in that case, I will leave with them first. Please take care of yourselves. Wait for me toe and rescue you."


    As for Fe Mama, Nan Yu had no favorable impression of her. Whether she lived or died was up to Concubine Yuan and the others to decide, but he promised to spare her life only because of her assistance to him recently.


    "Very well. Your father and mother will wait here for your good news."


    Emperor Shunwu had ced all his hopes on Nan Yu.


    The group left the pce and arrived at the Fei Residence before dawn.


    Although intelligent, Nan Yu was ultimately a powerless schr.


    Moreover, many people recognized him from his time spent with Nan Qi.


    Now, despite having Emperor Shunwu''s token, the biggest challenge was how to leave the city safely.


    Seeing his furrowed brow, Mo Jiuye guessed the cause of his worry.


    "Is The Third Prince troubled by leaving the city?"


    Nan Yu did not hide it. "Indeed, with His Majesty''s disappearance in the secret chamber, Prince Rui''s faction will undoubtedly tighten security. It was already difficult to enter or exit the city gates, and now it will likely be even harder."


    Mo Jiuye hesitated for a moment before speaking. "If The Third Prince wishes to leave the city, I can help you with that."


    After all, his wife had already knocked him unconscious and sent him into that space once. The suspicion was unavoidable, so he might as well go all the way.


    As the saying goes, "If you''re going to send a Buddha, send it all the way west."


    After pondering deeply at his desk for a while, Nan Yu stood up and took out the token Emperor Shunwu had given him, presenting it to Mo Jiuye.


    "I trust Ninth Young Master. Take this token and find the troops at the location specified by His Majesty.


    Later, I will visit Nan Qi and analyze the situation in the capital city for him. If we continue to sit idly, the Da Shun Dynasty will likely change hands.


    Prince Rui is already aware of my true identity, and he has expressed his unconditional support, no matter what I do.


    Although they do not hold much power, as princes, their public condemnation of Prince Rui''s faction would carry more weight than anyone else.


    I also n to use this opportunity to observe the intentions of the ministers in the court, so I can be well-informed."


    After speaking, Nan Yu went to the bookshelf and took out two signal res, handing them to Mo Jiuye.


    This type of signal re was not unfamiliar to Mo Jiuye, as it wasmonly used in border battles.


    However, the signal res used by Da Shun were inferior to the ones He Zhiran had.


    These res would not produce a bright light when fired, only a special sound.


    Nheless, as long as they could send a signal, that was sufficient.


    Nan Yu continued to exin his n.


    "After Ninth Young Master sessfully finds the troops, lead them to ambush on the outskirts of the capital. At the same time, fire a signal to me.


    I will use the forces under Nan Qi and Nan Rui to cause chaos in the capital. When the time is right, I will also fire a signal to alert you, and then you can lead the troops to attack the city."


    Mo Jiuye did not expect Nan Yu to ce such trust in him.


    This token was the Da Shun Dynasty''sst trump card.


    If they lost this trump card, no matter how clever and cunning Nan Yu was, he might not be able to turn the tide.


    Since Nan Yu trusted him, and he was willing to help, Mo Jiuye did not hesitate.


    "Since The Third Prince trusts me, I will help The Third Prince this time."


    Mo Jiuye''s words had a dual meaning.


    He was grateful for Nan Yu''s trust in him and was willing to help out of friendship.


    Secondly, he wanted to express that he hadpletely lost faith in the court. Even if the Da Shun Dynasty fell into Nan Yu''s hands, he would choose to return to the Northwest as an ordinary citizen and never set foot in the officialdom''s affairs again.


    He said he would help The Third Prince this time, and the intelligent Nan Yu would surely understand his meaning.


    Nan Yu indeed understood Mo Jiuye''s intentions, but he was not ready to give up.


    In his heart, the Mo family''s men could shoulder half of the Da Shun Dynasty.


    Without their protection, it would be too difficult for the country to remain stable.


    Nan Yu was also aware of Mo Jiuye''s pain and disappointment with the court. However, given the urgency of the situation, it was not the time for persuasion.


    Therefore, Nan Yu chose not to mention the matter of the Mo family returning to court at the moment.


    He respectfully bowed to Mo Jiuye.


    "In that case, Nan Yu thanks Ninth Young Master and Madam Ninth for your noble assistance."

 Chapter 529: The Queen has Orders

    <h4>Chapter 529</h4>


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could not leave the city at the moment. Even if they ventured outside, they would have to wait until nightfall.


    Although Nan Yu was intelligent, this was the first time he had to n such arge operation, so he needed someone to discuss with to ensure sess.


    In his view, the best person to consult was Minister Hao. Minister Hao was an upright man, solely devoted to serving the Emperor. Moreover, he already knew Nan Yu''s true identity.


    Regardless of who would eventually be the crown prince, everything they were doing now was to rescue Emperor Shunwu from peril.


    Therefore, Nan Yu''s uing ns would not contradict Minister Hao''s intentions in any way.


    After receiving the letters from his daughter and wife, Minister Hao, who had already lost faith in the court, was no longer opposed to retiring to his hometown.


    However, before resigning his official post and the court sry that came with it, he would still do his utmost to serve the Emperor, as he had sworn.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not want to get involved in this matter. Minister Hao and Nan Yu spent the entire morning in the study.


    It was not until noon that the study door opened. The two men must havee up with a reasonable n and were about to take separate actions to carry it out.


    At present, the entire Capital city was under the control of the Empress''s faction, and they were in opposition to her.


    However, this did not pose any difficulties for Nan Yu. If he could not even figure out a way to conceal his identity, how could he im to be a wise ruler?


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran still chose to rest during the day and act ording to the n at night.


    This time, the two changed into night attire, as it would be less noticeable to the city guards when leaving the city walls while wearing such clothing.


    They avoided all the patrolling guards'' lines of sight and reached a spot not far from the city gate.


    He Zhiran took a drone out from her spatial storage and used the recording system to record a message.


    "The Empress has ordered all soldiers to support the Imperial Pce."


    Although this ploy was rather childish and the soldiers might not believe it, He Zhiran''s main purpose in using the drone was to attract their attention.


    Mo Jiuye was highly skilled in lightness kung fu. As long as the soldiers'' attention was momentarily diverted to the drone, they would have a chance to safely leap over the city walls.


    Ready, He Zhiran controlled the drone to slowly ascend.


    Her drone was quite advanced and had undergone advanced noise cancetion processing.


    As long as He Zhiran controlled it properly, the drone would make almost no sound, and its lights could bepletely turned off.


    Furthermore, their position was some distance away from the city guards, so there was no need to worry about the guards discovering the drone''s initial location.


    The drone moved swiftly and in the blink of an eye, it reached the height of the city tower.


    Today, Xue Bo was still leading the guards here. When the drone reached about a hundred meters above his head, it began hovering in ce, while the message that He Zhiran had just recorded began ying in a loop.


    When He Zhiran recorded it, she had used voice-changing software to alter her voice, so the voice ying sounded like a rather deep male voice.


    As expected, everyone, including Xue Bo, looked towards the source of the voice.


    Soon, someone inquired of Xue Bo, "Commander, is the Empress in trouble and in need of our support?"


    Xue Bo was also quite puzzled. If the Empress needed his help, she could have sent someone familiar to notify them.


    What was this situation?


    Where was the person sent by the Empress?


    On such a dark and windy night, even with countless torches lit, they could not find the person calling out...


    One had to admit, He Zhiran''s little trick was really effective, drawing everyone''s attention to the drone.


    Mo Jiuye seized the opportunity, embraced He Zhiran''s waist, and leapt into the air, sessfully jumping over the city walls.


    Once in a safe location, He Zhiran no longer cared whether the city guards would go to support the Imperial Pce. She operated the remote control to bring the drone back to her and stored it in her spatial storage.


    The two ran swiftly and before dawn, they found the mountain hollow that Emperor Shunwu had mentioned.


    With the token in hand, the two boldly approached the camp.


    Seeing their figures, someone immediately raised their weapons and questioned them.


    Mo Jiuye simply raised the token high.


    "The token is here. All soldiers, follow orders."


    This army, which could be the royal family''sst trump card, was not as simple as one might imagine.


    After the soldiers saw the token, without Mo Jiuye''s instruction, the main force quickly assembled, presenting a ready-to-depart formation.


    Mo Jiuye raised the token high.


    "The main force will depart and await orders three miles from the Capital city."


    With a singlemand, the troops marched in an orderly fashion towards the designated location.


    Even Mo Jiuye, who hadmanded thousands of soldiers, found this formation impressive.


    He did not understand why the royal family had such an army, but he had no desire to investigate at the moment.


    With the troops in ambush, Mo Jiuye fired a signal re, informing Nan Yu that his mission wasplete.


    All that remained was to await Nan Yu''s message.


    After more than an hour of the main force lying in ambush, the long-awaited signal finally resonated in the sky.


    Mo Jiuye, a veteran of many battles, naturally felt a surge of excitement upon hearing this sound.


    He raised the token in his hand: "Brothers, attack the city."


    The soldiers swarmed forth in an orderly fashion towards the Capital city''s gate.


    At this point, it was inconvenient for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran to appear. Their task of assisting Nan Yu had been sessfullypleted.


    The couple hid in the shadows and observed the battle.


    One had to admit, Emperor Shunwu''s trump card was indeed no bluff. These troops were far more valiant than the city guards and could not bepared.


    In less than half an hour, the main force breached the gate and entered the city.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran also took advantage of the chaos to enter the city.


    They needed to find Nan Yu immediately and return the token to him.


    The next actions of these soldiers still required hismand.


    Mo Jiuye pondered. If his guess was correct, Nan Yu should be leading people near the Imperial Pce at this time, demanding an audience with the Emperor or demanding that the Empress reveal the true situation of the Emperor to everyone.


    Indeed, this was the case. At the main gate of the Imperial Pce, Nan Yu, Nan Rui, and Nan Qi stood side by side, confronting the door guards.


    Since the main force had entered the Capital city, they had charged straight towards the Imperial Pce.


    Although the main force advanced swiftly, they could not match Mo Jiuye''s lightness kung fu.


    The citizens of the Capital city had already taken refuge in their homes upon hearing the sounds of battle.


    The officials and soldiers originally patrolling the streets had all rushed to provide support after hearing the fighting.


    This was convenient for Mo Jiuye. He used his lightness kung fu to bring He Zhiran to the vicinity of the Imperial Pce at maximum speed.


    Upon arrival, he saw the main gate of the Imperial Pce open, and Xue Prime Minister leading a contingent out from within.

 Chapter 530: Make or Break It

    <h4>Chapter 530</h4>


    Mo Jiuye embraced He Zhiran and leapt onto a nearby secluded wall to observe.


    They saw the Xue Prime Minister disdainfully staring at Nan Yu, Nan Rui, and Nan Qi.


    "Are the two princes nning to defy the imperial edict?" He did not yet know Nan Yu''s true identity, so he referred only to Nan Rui and Nan Qi as the "two princes."


    Recent events had greatly diminished Nan Qi''s morale. If not for Nan Yu''s constant reminders, he would likely have lost not only his im to the throne but also his life.


    To preserve his own life, Nan Qi had no choice but to confront the Empress''s faction.


    If one could call it a confrontation¡ªthe scene was so unbearable that Nan Yu could hardly bear to watch.


    Every time he persuaded Nan Qi to take action, Nan Qi appeared bold and valiant. But upon facing the Empress and the Xue Family, he quickly lost his bravado.


    Today was no exception. Only after much persuasion from Nan Yu and Nan Rui did they seed in bringing Nan Qi out.


    If the Empress''s faction had not taken such extreme measures, Nan Yu would never have discovered Nan Qi''s timidity.


    Fortunately, after repeated urging from Nan Yu and Nan Rui, Nan Qi brought along a thousand private soldiers he had raised.


    In the Da Shun Dynasty, princes were permitted to maintain a certain number of private soldiers.


    For example, Nan Rui and Nan Qi, being imperial princes, enjoyed a higher allowance than other nobles and were permitted up to two thousand private soldiers each.


    Of course, the actual number depended on the prince''s financial means, as long as it did not exceed the limit.


    Nan Qi was poor at financial management and had little ie, so he only maintained one thousand private soldiers.


    At one point, due to financial constraints, he had considered dismissing some of them. But Nan Yu persuaded him that with no crown prince designated, anything could happen, so it was better to have more men at his disposal.


    It was fortunate that Nan Yu had advised him then; otherwise, he would not have had even these thousand soldiers today.


    Originally, Nan Rui had no interest in the throne. It was only after Mr. Si Meng used a mind-controlling parasite on Consort De that he reluctantly raised private soldiers.


    Moreover, the number of soldiers was the two thousand required by Si Meng.


    Later, when Nan Rui took the supposedly deceased Consort De to the northwest, he hastily disbanded these soldiers before leaving.


    This time, to repay the favor the Mo Family had done in saving his mother, Nan Rui returned to the capital and reconnected with his former loyal subordinates, assembling some of the disbanded soldiers.


    By today, Nan Rui had one thousand five hundred private soldiers under hismand, demonstrating his sincerity in helping the Mo Family.


    The two princes'' private forcesbined numbered two thousand five hundred men.


    In ordinary times, having such arge military force within the capital would be cause for great concern.


    The Xue Family had been scheming for years, originally intending to help Nan Heng ascend the throne. With Nan Heng gone, their ambitions grew even greater.


    On the surface, they appeared to be assisting the Empress in grooming the Fourth Prince as the crown prince. But clear-eyed observers knew the Fourth Prince was merely a pawn of the Xue Family.


    When the time came, the Xue Family would undoubtedly usurp the Da Shun Dynasty and change its name.


    The Xue Prime Minister had longid his ns. Although he could not openly maintain private soldiers like the two princes, he had been working behind the scenes.


    Some minor military leaders with troops under theirmand had also been enticed by the Xue Family to join their side.


    Presently, in addition to the private soldiers secretly trained by the Xue Family, the forces serving the Empress''s faction included those led by these turncoat military leaders, all hoping that once the Fourth Prince ascended the throne, they would be richly rewarded.


    Thus, the forces currently under themand of the Empress''s faction, including those controlling the imperial pce, numbered at least twenty thousand.


    The Xue Prime Minister had just emerged from the pce, followed by a contingent of at least three thousand men.


    This was the true reason for Nan Qi''s trembling legs.


    Nan Yu watched Nan Qi''s pitiful disy with increasing irritation. But for now, Nan Qi still had his uses, and since his true identity as an imperial prince had not been publicly revealed, Nan Yu could only continue to endure.


    "Our purpose ining here is not to engage inbat but to inquire about the Emperor''s condition from that old viin Xue."


    Reminded of their purpose, Nan Qi finally mustered his courage to speak.


    But before he could, Nan Rui had already calmly approached the Xue Prime Minister.


    "Prime Minister Xue, my brother and I have no ulterior motive today. The imperial edict stated that our father is ailing, and as his sons, we have the duty to visit his bedside and fulfill our filial obligations.


    Why do you obstruct us with so many men?


    Could it be that our father is not merely unwell, but has already fallen victim to your treachery?"


    Among those present were many civil and military officials, some maintaining neutrality like the Grand Historian He, some secretly supporting Nan Rui and Nan Qi, and the vast majority opportunists siding with the Xue Family.


    Regardless of their allegiances, they all harbored the same suspicion:


    That the Emperor Shun Wu was not simply unwell, but had been secretly poisoned to death by the Empress''s faction. The reason for withholding this information must be that the Empress''s group had not yet aplished some objective.


    Thus, when Nan Rui voiced this question publicly, all eyes turned to the Xue Prime Minister, eager to hear his response.


    The Xue Prime Minister was truly a cunning old fox, profoundly scheming and full of guile.


    After Nan Rui''s tant usation, the old man betrayed not the slightest hint of guilt. On the contrary, his reply soundedpletely justified.


    "Since Prince Rui has raised the question publicly today, this old minister will speak inly.


    It is true that the Emperor has not been seen for some time due to ill health. However, he personally told this old minister that he is extremely disappointed in the abilities of Princes Rui and Qi.


    He hopes that I will use my own capabilities to properly guide the Fourth Prince and cultivate him into a qualified crown prince.


    Because the Emperor is dissatisfied with both princes, he specifically instructed this old minister and the Empress Dowager that you need not attend to him during his illness. Instead, you should reflect deeply on your ineptitude over the past twenty years."


    If true, these words were a resounding p to the faces of Nan Rui and Nan Qi.


    Nan Rui had never desired the throne, but for Nan Qi, it was different. From a young age, his sole ambition had been to defeat Nan Heng and emerge victorious as the next emperor of the Da Shun Dynasty.


    Now the Xue Prime Minister had publicly denounced him as ipetent before so many people. Despite his inner fears, Nan Qi could no longer remain silent.

 Chapter 531: His life must be settled by me.

    <h4>Chapter 531</h4>


    "You of the Xue Family, don''t spout nonsense here. Not long ago, the Emperor said that he would appoint me as the Crown Prince after the Mid-Autumn Festival," said Nan Qi.


    As Nan Qi finished speaking, two ministers who supported him also spoke up.


    "The Emperor did indeed say those words. We were present at the time, so it''s certainly not fabricated."


    At the same time, Nan Rui had already instructed the private soldiers he brought with him to be prepared to take action at any moment.


    As for the Xue Prime Minister''s side, it was no exception. With the Emperor''s whereabouts unknown in the pce, it was impossible to extract the information about the Imperial Seal from him.


    Having been in control of the court for a long time, they feared any changes and the Xue Prime Minister could only go all out to seize power.


    Since he had made his choice, the two princes could not be spared.


    Almost simultaneously with Nan Rui, the Xue Prime Minister gestured to the troops behind him, signaling them to prepare for battle.


    Upon seeing the Xue Prime Minister, Mo Jiuye immediately recalled the vile deeds he hadmitted against the Mo Family, and his fury burned uncontrobly.


    He Zhiran felt the same way and gently pushed Mo Jiuye''s arm.


    "Husband, let''s deal with this man today."


    Their position was elevated, and the distance from the Xue Prime Minister was quite far, at least five hundred meters away.


    At such a distance, the best weapon to ensure a kill with one shot would be a sniper rifle.


    He Zhiran had just taken out a sniper rifle from her spatial dimension when Mo Jiuye took it from her.


    "Ruan Ruan, let me do it."


    He Zhiran could sense that Mo Jiuye''s tonecked any warmth at the moment, even giving off a chilling feeling, indicating his deep hatred for the Xue Prime Minister.


    Originally, He Zhiran didn''t intend to let Mo Jiuye take the shot since she was more skilled with sniper rifles.


    After all, such an assassination attempt would only have one opportunity, whether in modern or ancient times.


    Furthermore, the noise from a sniper rifle would be loud, and after firing, it would undoubtedly attract everyone''s attention toward their direction.


    Therefore, whether the assassination of the Xue Prime Minister seeded or not, He Zhiran nned to hide with Mo Jiuye in her spatial dimension after the attempt until it was safer toe out.


    "Husband, you..." She was about to question his capability, but Mo Jiuye gave her a resolute look before she could finish.


    "The treacherous Xue has an unforgivable feud with my Mo Family. I must be the one to take his life."


    Moreover, in Mo Jiuye''s heart, his wife was a delicate youngdy from a noble family, unsuitable for such violent tasks.


    Of course, the me for her previous experiencesy solely on his inability as a husband.


    Thinking about the Xue Family''s actions against the Mo Family, He Zhiran realized that Mo Jiuye would not be satisfied if he didn''t take the shot himself.


    "Alright, don''t be nervous. Use the scope to aim precisely before firing."


    However, He Zhiran had underestimated Mo Jiuye''s enthusiasm for these weapons.


    In the past, whenever he yed with the sniper rifle in the spatial dimension, he would often aim at something using the scope and pretend to pull the trigger.


    As her words fell, Mo Jiuye had already aimed the sniper rifle''s scope at the Xue Prime Minister''s forehead.


    A deafening gunshot rang out, unsurprisingly attracting everyone''s attention.


    Of course, that attention quickly shifted from the source of the sound to the Xue Prime Minister with a bloody hole in his forehead.


    Before anyone could discover them, He Zhiran pulled Mo Jiuye into the spatial dimension.


    The Xue Prime Minister''s sudden death caused chaos at the pce gates.


    Nan Yu immediately guessed that Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were responsible for this. Silently thanking them, he said to Nan Qi and Nan Rui, "With the Xue Prime Minister dead, it''s a perfect opportunity to attack the pce."


    There could not have been only the few thousand men the Xue Prime Minister brought out from the pce, as the Empress would also need many people to help her search for the Emperor''s whereabouts.


    Both Nan Qi and Nan Rui were aware of this.


    Considering the disadvantageous situation, Nan Qi knew Nan Yu''s words made sense, but he still didn''t dare to attack recklessly.


    Nan Rui, however, didn''t hesitate. Nan Yu had not concealed his identity from him and had also informed him about the order from Emperor Shunwu to mobilize troops into the city.


    Therefore, in Nan Rui''s mind, they had a strong advantage in this operation.


    Moreover, Mo Jiuye had already signaled Nan Yu, and the army of twenty thousand men would arrive soon.


    Without any hesitation, Nan Rui ordered his men to charge into the pce.


    After much hesitation, seeing the usually timid Nan Rui taking action, Nan Qi feared being mocked for inaction if he continued to observe. Thus, he reluctantly ordered his subordinates to join the battle.


    The Xue Prime Minister''s sudden death briefly threw his subordinates into panic.


    However, they were quickly brought back to their senses by the enemies'' battle cries.


    A few generals who had defected to the Xue Prime Minister''s side were rapidly weighing their options. Although the Xue Prime Minister was dead, the Empress and the Fourth Prince were still present.


    They had witnessed everything the Empress''s faction had done these past few days.


    Furthermore, there were still considerable forces inside the pce, and the mere two or three thousand men brought by the two princes were insignificant.


    After exchanging nces, these generals gestured to their subordinates to charge forward.


    "Kill them all, avenge the Prime Minister!"


    The news of the Xue Prime Minister''s death soon reached the Empress, but instead of concern, she disyed an ominous smile upon learning of her father''s demise.


    At that moment, a figure emerged from behind the screen.


    If Mo Jiuye saw this person, he would undoubtedly be greatly surprised.


    For this person was none other than the Xue Prime Minister himself.


    The one Mo Jiuye had shot in the forehead with his sniper rifle was merely a scapegoat brought by the Xue Prime Minister.


    It could only be said that the Xue Prime Minister was truly cunning and calcting.


    He anticipated that after controlling the Emperor, many would suspect his involvement, and if anyone investigated the Emperor''s whereabouts and traced it back to him, his life would be in danger.


    Therefore, the person who confronted Nan Yu and his brothers at the city gates today was his decoy.


    In this way, the old fox temporarily preserved his own life.


    Upon seeing the Xue Prime Minister emerge, the Empress asked, "Father, it seems they''ve truly developed murderous intentions towards you. What should our next step be?"


    "Since things have reached this point, we have no way back. As long as we take down Nan Qi and Nan Rui, we won''t have any restraints in our future actions," the Xue Prime Minister said with a grim expression, already treating Nan Qi and Nan Rui as dead men.


    The Empress didn''t consider Nan Qi and Nan Rui a threat, but she was never careless in her actions.


    With the Xue Prime Minister''s instructions, she immediately ordered all pce soldiers to temporarily halt their search for Emperor Shunwu''s whereabouts. Leaving behind a portion to ensure her and the Xue Prime Minister''s safety, she sent the rest to reinforce the pce gates.


    The Xue Prime Minister had brought more men to the pce gates than Nan Rui and Nan Qi. After some fighting, Nan Rui and Nan Qi''s side was clearly at a disadvantage.


    Then, the reinforcements sent by the Empress arrived, and the situation immediately turned against Nan Qi, prompting him to consider retreat.


    And he indeed did so.


    "My men, withdraw with me," Nan Qi ordered.


    At that moment, Nan Qi''s only thought was that the tide had turned, but if he still had men under hismand, he could at least protect his own life.


    As Nan Qi''s men prepared to retreat, Nan Yu became frantic.


    "Stand your ground! If you leave now, everything we''ve done today will be in vain."


    "Nan Yu, have you lost your mind? With such an obvious disadvantage, are you expecting us to stay and wait for death?" Nan Qi said to Nan Yu with an attitude he had never used before, despite generally respecting him.


    At this point, how could Nan Yu possibly let him take people and leave?


    Just as he was about to say something to persuade Nan Qi to stay with his people, the sound of hurried footsteps could already be heard in the distance.

 Chapter 532: Take Down the Demon Queen

    <h4>Chapter 532</h4>


    Following the sound, Nan Yu looked towards the direction of the pce gates, where countless soldiers in uniform attire were rushing.


    From their attire and approximate numbers, Nan Yu could already confirm that this was the military force summoned by that token.


    Now that the main force had arrived, Nan Qi''s meager thousand troops were no longer significant.


    "Since the Prince of Qi wishes to leave, I won''t stop you, but I''ll remind you that you will pay the price for your actions at this moment."


    When he initially sought out Madam Fei to testify, it was indeed as Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had spected - he had used Nan Qi''s life as a bargaining chip with Madam Fei.


    He had originally intended that once he regained his status, he would plead for Nan Qi''s life before Emperor Shunwu.


    Then he would give him some silver to live the rest of his life without worry.


    However, this Nan Qi truly was an ungrateful wretch, and Nan Yu felt that it would not be worth the effort to put any thought into such a person''s future.


    Since that was the case, whether Nan Qi lived or died would be up to his own fate.


    Hearing Nan Yu''s earlier words, Nan Qi had thought he approved of his departure, but after listening to what came after, he was utterly perplexed.


    "What do you mean by these words, sir? Do you wish to die here?"


    Nan Yu had already lost interest in beating around the bush with him, not even sparing him a nce.


    He quickly approached Nan Rui''s side and whispered, "Hold on for a while longer, brother."


    With that said, he ran towards the direction of the reinforcements.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran entered the space primarily to temporarily evade the attention that would be drawn by the gunshot sounds.


    After failing to find them, those people''s focus would quickly shift to the Prime Minister Xue.


    Therefore, the two did not stay inside the space for long before emerging.


    Their main purpose foring out was to give the token to Nan Yu.


    After all, this military force only recognized the token, not individuals, so for Nan Yu to control them, he had to possess the token.


    By chance, as the two had just exited the space, they saw Nan Yu running towards the direction of the main force.


    At this point, they did not need to worry about exposure, as the streets were already devoid of people.


    He Zhiran waited in the distance while Mo Jiuye swiftly approached Nan Yu, slipping the token into his hand as they passed each other.


    By the time Nan Yu realized what had happened, Mo Jiuye''s figure had already disappeared.


    Not long after Nan Yu received the token, the main force charged forward, and he raised the token tomand those soldiers to advance towards the pce.


    Meanwhile, Mo Jiuye took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the pce with He Zhiran, heading straight for the Empress'' Fengxi Pce.


    The Empress was one of the greatest enemies of the Mo family, but apart from her actions against the Mo family, her more severe crime was disrupting the imperial court, which required a strict investigation by the court.


    Thus, the two decided to let her live a few more days until the Empress'' crimes were fully determined before personally taking her life.


    The Empress had dispatched many people to the pce gates to assist, so the guards at the Fengxi Pce were rtively morexpared to a few days prior.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye leapt over the pce walls and hid in an unnoticed area, without alerting anyone.


    Their purpose foring this time was to observe what actions the Empress, in her final throes, would take upon learning of Prime Minister Xue''s death.


    It must be said, to be the Empress of a nation, herposure when faced with such events was unmatched by ordinary women.


    The Empress sat on a phoenix chair, her expression gloomy as her fingers tapped the tea table beside her in a pensive manner.


    Seated before her was the true Prime Minister Xue, appearing as self-assured as ever, as if everything was under his control.


    The pce maids stood obediently on both sides, heads bowed so low they could no longer lower them, not daring to breathe loudly.


    As the Empress remained deep in thought, someone rushed in frantically with a message.


    "Reporting to the Empress, we are unsure where they summoned such arge reinforcement, but they have already killed their way into the pce."


    The Empress rose to her feet abruptly. "What did you say? Tell your Empress again."


    Prime Minister Xue also wore an expression of disbelief as he stared at the messenger.


    The messenger dared not raise his head, merely ncing at the Empress'' fierce gaze, startled into a stumble. Nevertheless, he mustered the courage to repeat his previous words.


    As the messenger''s voice faded, the teacup the Empress had raised came crashing down onto his head.


    The messenger clutched his forehead, not daring to even breathe heavily.


    Next, the Empress shouted towards the door, "Everyone, follow your Empress, I must see what tricks those two useless Princes have up their sleeves to dare bring troops to ughter their way into the pce."


    Prime Minister Xue did not object, refusing to believe that the mere private soldiers those two Princes could muster would amount to anything significant.


    Soon, a force of at least two thousand gathered around the Fengxi Pce.


    Witnessing Prime Minister Xue calmly seated there, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were utterly astonished.


    Truly an old fox, he had even arranged for a decoy to take the brunt of the disaster on his behalf.


    But so what? In the end, he could not escape death.


    The two no longer wished to act immediately, for Mo Jiuye felt it was too merciful to simply blow the decoy''s head off with a single shot.


    Now, the better approach was for him to endure the court''s harsh interrogation and torture, while Mo Jiuye would also propose to Nan Yu that they personally interrogate the old fox ording to their own methods.


    By then, they would undoubtedly make him wish for death...


    As the Empress'' forces had just assembled, Nan Yu also led the main army to ughter their way over, their first target being the Empress'' Fengxi Pce.


    Upon seeing the leader, the Empress was momentarily taken aback, as Nan Yu''s appearance seemed vaguely familiar.


    "Just who are you?"


    Although Nan Yu''s identity had been acknowledged by Emperor Shunwu, it had yet to be made public, so he did not intend to reveal it for the time being.


    "My identity is unimportant. What matters is that you will soon be a prisoner."


    Having said that, he had no desire to waste further words with the Empress. Any remaining discussions could wait until she was thrown into the dungeon.


    Nan Yu raised the token once more. "Soldiers, heed mymand. Seize the treacherous Empress."


    The Empress refused to surrender meekly. "All of you, attack. Capture these rebels, and your Empress shall reward you."


    The sh between the two sides was imminent.


    Observing the Empress gathering her forces to engage, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran also assessed the number of people she could utilize.


    These troops were no match for Nan Yu''s main force, so the two chose not to spectate the battle, instead taking advantage of the chaos to inspect the Empress'' bedchamber.


    The Empress'' bedchamber was opulent, housing many valuable items.


    He Zhiran did not hesitate, storing every valuable item they came across into the space.


    The two eventually found themselves in the rear courtyard of the Fengxi Pce, some distance away from the battle, where even ordinary people would struggle to hear themotion.


    They noticed two pce maids cursing as they headed towards a room in the corner.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran exchanged a nce before following them.


    After the two maids entered the room, Mo Jiuye carefully made a small opening in the window paper to peer inside.


    Inside the room stood arge iron cage, within which sat a disheveled young boy.


    One of the maids took out a whip from her waist andshed it against the iron cage.


    "As long as you obediently follow the Empress'' orders, the throne of the Da Shun Empire will be yours. Otherwise..."


    The whip struck the cage once more, yet the child within showed no reaction.


    Seeing this scene, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran both thought of the same person, the fourth prince who was adopted by the empress.

 Chapter 533: Don’t expect me to take her as a mother.

    <h4>Chapter 533</h4>


    Although they could not yet fully confirm the identity of this child, for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, such a young child should not have to endure this.


    At this moment, all the people from Fengxi Pce had run to the pce gate, leaving only these two maids here. Without any hesitation, they broke down the door and entered.


    Mo Jiuye took a firm step forward, knocking out the two maids, then he and He Zhiran approached the iron cage.


    He Zhiran asked softly, "What is your name? Why are you locked up here?"


    The Fourth Prince looked disheveled, but his eyes shone with defiance.


    "That woman killed my mother, and there''s no way I''ll acknowledge her as my mother."


    Although he didn''t directly answer the question, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could already confirm his identity as the Fourth Prince.


    Both were surprised that such a young child would have such fortitude.


    Mo Jiuye searched the two maids and found the keys to open the iron cage, taking out the somewhat weak Fourth Prince.


    He Zhiran asked, "This child''s physical condition is not good, and he needs someone to take care of him. What do you n to do?"


    "Take him to Concubine Yuan."


    After all, this is Emperor Shunwu''s son, so taking care of him is his duty as the father.


    Having reached a consensus, He Zhiran used a silver needle to render the Fourth Prince unconscious and sent him into her space.


    The two concealed their tracks and went to Concubine Yuan''s pce, while on Nan Yu''s side, he swiftly captured the Empress and the real Xue Prime Minister.


    This was something Nan Yu had not expected - the old fox Xue Prime Minister had pulled a body double trick, leaving a scapegoat at the pce gate.


    But so what?


    He still couldn''t escape death.


    At the same time, Nan Yu ordered Nan Rui to lead a team to besiege the Xue Family, to ensure that no one from the family slipped through the.


    Nan Qi had tried to run, butter realized that the situation had turned beyond his expectations. Although he didn''t know Emperor Shunwu''s current situation, he wouldn''t miss the opportunity to show off in front of him.


    Therefore, when Nan Yu led the army to storm the pce, Nan Qi followed behind with his own one thousand private soldiers.


    He saw the Empress being captured, and Nan Yu sent Nan Rui to surround the remaining Xue Family members. Nan Qi became apletely different person from before.


    Just as Nan Yu was about to have the main force gather everyone from inside the pce, Nan Qi had already arrogantly walked over.


    "I told you, as long as I''m here, I can definitely regain control of the situation. Hahaha..."


    At this moment, Nan Yu was utterly disappointed in Nan Qi. Although he was just a pretender prince, he had still enjoyed years of royal treatment, yet he acted so shamelessly when it came to doing things.


    At this point, Nan Yu didn''t even want to look at him, and ordered, "Guards, seize Nan Qi."


    Nan Qi was currently in a state ofcent arrogance, and upon hearing Nan Yu''s order, his expression immediately changed.


    "Fei Nanyu, you dare to arrest me? Are you trying to rebel?"


    Facing Nan Qi, Nan Yu didn''t want to waste another word and simply ordered, "Seize him."


    The soldiers only followed orders, not individuals, so naturally they did as Nan Yumanded.


    Before Nan Qi''s men could resist, they had already bound Nan Qi and pushed him in front of Nan Yu.


    ...


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran took the Fourth Prince to Concubine Yuan''s pce.


    At this time, Emperor Shunwu was pacing anxiously back and forth in the room.


    The couple, dressed in ck robes with their faces covered, unceremoniously pushed open the door and brought the Fourth Prince before him.


    It was still He Zhiran who spoke.


    "This is your son. We just discovered that the Empress had ordered him to be abused, so we rescued him on the way.


    The child is physically weak now and needs someone to care for him."


    After saying this, the two left.


    If not for wanting to help Nan Yu, they would not have needed to get involved at all.


    Now that they had done what they should and shouldn''t have done, there was no need to continue participating.


    They believed that with Nan Yu''s capabilities and the forces he still had under hismand, the Empress''s faction would have no one slipping through the.


    Despite this, they had no immediate ns to leave the capital city.


    The downfall of the Empress''s faction was inevitable, but they had to personally avenge the Mo Family for the harm caused by her and her maternal n.


    They also nned to observe Minister Hao''s stance after Emperor Shunwu regained control of the court.


    If Nan Yu sessfully became the Crown Prince, Minister Hao''s decision to continue assisting them would be understandable, as he had already served the court for most of his life and might find it difficult to suddenly resign.


    Of course, the final decision would depend on Minister Hao himself.


    The two left the pce unnoticed.


    Logically speaking, even if the Empress''s faction had a few survivors slipping through the, they couldn''t cause much trouble. Minister Hao had already returned to the Minister''s Residence safely.


    That was He Zhiran''s maternal home, and the couple should have returned there.


    But considering that Nan Yu would definitely take action today, they wanted to hear the oue and also mention their demand to personally deal with the Xue Family.


    When the couple arrived at the Fei Residence, Minister Hao had already heard the news from outside and rushed to the pce.


    The two directly went to the guest residence arranged by Nan Yu for them to wait.


    Inside the pce¡ª


    Fei Nanyu ordered his subordinates to gather all the people inside the pce, including Concubine Yuan who was holding the Fourth Prince, and Emperor Shunwu.


    Not long after Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran delivered the Fourth Prince to Concubine Yuan''s pce, the child woke up.


    Upon seeing Emperor Shunwu, the first thing he said was, "Father Emperor, even if you kill me, I will never acknowledge that vicious woman as my mother."


    These words pierced Emperor Shunwu''s heart like a thorn.


    Recalling his past actions, he was no better than a child of just a few years old.


    All these years, the person by his side was actually such an ambitious wolf.


    After all, this was his own flesh and blood. Moreover, he had not been very impressed with Nan Qi and Nan Rui, which was why he had agreed to the Empress adopting the Fourth Prince.


    He had thought that if the Fourth Prince was personally taught by the Empress, and if his knowledge and strategies surpassed Nan Qi''s, wouldn''t that be a great blessing?


    Little did he know that the Empress adopted the Fourth Prince for the sake of the Xue Family, and for so many years he had ignored the child, resulting in this young child suffering abuse at the hands of that vicious woman.


    Thinking of this, Emperor Shunwu couldn''t help but feel pity for the Fourth Prince.


    When the main force gathered everyone here, there was no need for Granny Wang''s help, as Emperor Shunwu personally held the Fourth Prince as they left.


    After about an hour, the consorts and maids from the rear pce were all gathered at the gate of the Empress''s pce.


    Upon seeing Emperor Shunwu, everyone knelt and paid their respects.


    Nan Yu first approached Emperor Shunwu and respectfully presented the imperial token with both hands.


    "I have not failed yourmand, Your Majesty. I have captured the entire Empress''s faction."


    Emperor Shunwu handed the Fourth Prince to Granny Wang nearby, then looked at Fei Nanyu with satisfaction and epted the token.


    "Good, I have not waited in vain, and finally have a son who satisfies me."

 Chapter 534: Please Your Majesty Think Again

    <h4>Chapter 534</h4>


    Those words shook everyone present, except for Concubine Yuan and Granny Wang, who all stared wide-eyed at Emperor Shunwu.


    They even muttered to themselves: Has someone messed up the Emperor''s mind?


    To say such a thing as soon as he appears.


    Could he be referring to the unloved Fourth Prince in his arms?


    Nan Qi had the same guess, but he thought that Fei Nanyu was his aide, so the credit for resolving the pce crisis couldn''t possibly go to a child of only a few years old.


    With that thought, he suddenly felt emboldened.


    "Your Majesty, you have suffered, and your son has been trying to find news of you, enduring thousands of hardships until finally rescuing you today.


    I never expected to be bound by that traitor Fei Nanyu.


    Your Majesty, please save your son."


    Emperor Shunwu had already learned that Nan Qi was not his biological son, and he was even clearer that this crisis could only be resolved by the efforts of his biological son Nan Yu.


    Originally, he had nned to deal with the rebellion of the Empress''s party first before settling the matter with Nan Qi, but he never expected that Nan Qi would shamelesslye to im credit at this moment.


    "Guards, take Nan Qi to the dungeons and await his punishment."


    Upon hearing these words, everyone present was caught off guard.


    Emperor Shunwu saw that no one was moving after his order, so he angrily scolded them: "What? Have my words be useless to you?"


    As he spoke, he raised the imperial token in his hand.


    The troops that only obeyed the token would follow the orders of whoever held it.


    As Emperor Shunwu raised the token, they swiftly came forward to seize Nan Qi.


    Nan Qi was already bound tightly, and even standing was difficult for him. Being grabbed by several soldiers like this, he felt himself losing his bnce.


    At the same time, it seemed as though he had realized something, and his face was filled with unease and anxiety.


    "Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?


    Have I done wrong in rescuing you?"


    As he spoke, he also cast a pleading nce towards Concubine Yuan.


    Concubine Yuan met his gaze for a moment before immediately turning her face away.


    No matter how muddled Emperor Shunwu might be, he was still the ruler of a nation, and that aura of a sovereign was undoubtedly present.


    "Take him to the dungeons first and await his punishment."


    The officials who had originally sided with Prince Qi immediately knelt and pleaded.


    "Your Majesty, Prince Qi has merits in rescuing you. It is not appropriate to imprison him in the dungeons. Please reconsider..."


    "Please reconsider..."


    Emperor Shunwu was still not very clear on the details of how the pce crisis was resolved, but he ordered Nan Qi''s imprisonment because of the issue with his identity. No matter whose fault it was initially, Nan Qi had been an imposter prince for over twenty years.


    Especially after Mo Jiuye and the others left Fe Mama in Concubine Yuan''s quarters, Emperor Shunwu questioned her extensively.


    In front of the Emperor, Fe Mama dared not hide anything, and to try to spare Nan Qi''s life, she took as much me upon herself as possible.


    Even so, Emperor Shunwu still deeply resented Nan Qi.


    He had doted on Concubine Yuan, and his treatment of Nan Qi could be considered affection by association.


    Yet the son he had cherished for over twenty years turned out to be someone else''s child, which left Emperor Shunwu feeling like aplete fool who had been toyed with.


    Seeing these ignorant officials pleading for Nan Qi without knowing the reason, Emperor Shunwu''s face grew even darker.


    "Hmph! Since you all wish to plead for this sinner, then you can apany him to the dungeons as well."


    The pleading officials were instantly drenched in sweat from fright when they saw this, exchanging nces without daring to say another word.


    Minister Hao understood the situation, and he knew that the Emperor had not yet reached the step of purging the court. Imprisoning Nan Qi''s supporters now would bring no benefit to the court.


    Thus, he mustered his courage and spoke up.


    "Your Majesty, it was Fei Nanyu and Prince Rui who led their troops to rescue you from the crisis earlier. Now that most of the Xue family''s remnants have been captured, how do you wish to deal with this matter?"


    Although Emperor Shunwu had be somewhat muddled, he had still been the ruler for many years and understood the priorities of different matters in his heart. Moreover, the one speaking was Minister Hao.


    He still trusted Minister Hao, who had never chosen to side with any particr faction, always maintaining a heart that considered the interests of the court.


    Earlier, he had only spoken so harshly because he was angered by those officials pleading for Nan Qi.


    Now that Minister Hao had taken the lead, he followed that cue to back down.


    "Hmph, I will spare you for today, but if anyone dares to plead for Nan Qi again, watch your heads."


    The officials felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and although they still did not fully understand the situation, they dared not say another word, lowering their heads and standing aside like quails.


    Emperor Shunwu swept his gaze across the room, finally settling his eyes on the Empress and Xue Prime Minister.


    Xue Prime Minister had already realized that his fortunes had turned, and he had no grounds to dispute anything. Others might not know, but Emperor Shunwu was very clear that Xue had previously threatened him into handing over the imperial seal by holding the Empress Dowager''s life hostage in the secret chamber.


    Now that the situation had beenpletely reversed, anything more he said would only bring suffering upon himself.


    The Empress had never imagined that her and her mother''s n''s meticulous ns would fail like this.


    At this moment, she was still unable to ept reality, only fully realizing her predicament when Emperor Shunwu looked towards her.


    But she did not want to die, and she was even more unwilling to ept this oue.


    "Your Majesty, your concubine had no choice but to act this way, it was Xue Prime Minister who instigated me..."


    Seeing his own daughter trying to shift all the me onto him, Xue Prime Minister angrily retorted: "If it wasn''t for you to be the Empress Dowager, why would I have done such a thing?"


    ...


    Suddenly, a dramatic scene of backstabbing unfolded in front of the Phoenix Pce gates, with the two sides ming each other until Emperor Shunwu finally lost his patience and rebuked them, putting an end to their dispute.


    If there was anyone Emperor Shunwu resented the most at this moment, it was undoubtedly the Empress.


    If looks could kill, the Empress would have died several times over already.


    "Vile woman, you colluded with your mother''s n to imprison me, and even caused the death of my mother, the Empress Dowager. Yet you still dare to shamelessly make excuses for yourself?"


    Upon hearing that the Empress Dowager had been killed, the officials present looked around in disbelief, but could not find her among the crowd.


    "Vile woman, tell me, where is the secret chamber where you hid the Empress Dowager''s remains?"


    Emperor Shunwu had been knocked unconscious and taken to the secret chamber, and he had also been unconscious when leaving, so he was unaware of its location.


    For the two days since Mo Jiuye had led him away from the chamber, the thought of his mother''s death had been weighing on his mind.


    After all, she was his biological mother, and she had died because of him.


    Thinking of this, Emperor Shunwu''s heart bled, and he longed to torture the one responsible for the Empress Dowager''s death to a thousand cuts.


    The Empress was now terrified by Emperor Shunwu''s knife-like gaze, her fear stemming from her desire to live.


    Perhaps revealing the location of the secret chamber could be herst chance to bargain for her life.


    "Your Majesty, your concubine only became foolish and listened to Xue Prime Minister''s words,mitting these acts. I beg you to consider our many years as husband and wife, and as long as you are willing to spare my life, your concubine will reveal the location of the secret chamber."


    The Empress had truly been frightened into stupidity, not even considering that she was not the only one who knew about that secret chamber.

 Chapter 535: Please accept the worship of Nan Yu

    <h4>Chapter 535</h4>


    Everyone close to Fengxi Pce knew the location and entrance of the secret chamber, and Emperor Shunwu only needed to ask to find out.


    As expected, after Fengxi Pce''s consort told him this, Emperor Shunwu directly ordered that she be sent to the imperial prison.


    He then looked towards the pce maids of Fengxi Pce, who were already scared out of their wits.


    Although he did not know the location of the secret chamber, he still remembered which of these pce dogs had ever summoned him to the pce.


    At this juncture, those people could no longer care about anything else.


    When the consort was being taken away, several of them had already knelt down.


    Some were even afraid that if they spoke too slowly, the opportunity to redeem themselves would be taken by others, so they hurriedly revealed the location of the secret chamber and how to enter it.


    Without Emperor Shunwu having to order it, as soon as Nan Yu learned of the secret chamber''s location, he immediately summoned a few men to rush there.


    When the deceased empress dowager''s body was brought out, it had already decayed beyond recognition, an unbearable sight.


    Emperor Shunwu burst into tears, ordering that the funeral arrangements for the empress dowager be made properly.


    Everyone present was shaken upon seeing the dowager''s tragic state.


    Especially the ministers of the consort''s faction, each of them was extremely guilt-ridden.


    They dared not even imagine what punishments awaited them, and some had even entertained thoughts of fleeing.


    How could Nan Yu possibly give them a chance to escape?


    In front of Emperor Shunwu, he calmlymanded that the officials of the consort''s faction be arrested.


    He understood the principle of not punishing the many, but so many officials had more or lessmitted acts of rebellion by following the consort''s faction. However, immediately punishing them all would amount to a major reshuffle of the court.


    A major reshuffle was possible, but only if there were suitable recements ready to take over their positions.


    Emperor Shunwu had always been indifferent towards court affairs, so how could he have cultivated so many capable people to take over important roles?


    Therefore, although these officials had erred, they could not be immediately purged for the time being. Nan Yu needed time to train new personnel to take over.


    Emperor Shunwu was relieved to see Nan Yu handle these matters with ease.


    If only this child had acknowledged his ancestry sooner, perhaps the present situation could have been avoided.


    To these ministers, Nan Yu was not an unfamiliar figure.


    Many knew that he was an aide to Prince Nan Qi.


    What puzzled them was why Prince Nan Qi had been inexplicably thrown into prison, while his aide could act with such ease before the Emperor.


    Emperor Shunwu did not care what these ministers thought. After being controlled by the consort for so long, the realm that his ancestors had founded was nearly lost under his rule, which enraged him greatly.


    After going through so much, he was utterly exhausted and simply handed all remaining matters to Nan Yu to handle.


    Nan Yu obtained this authority in front of all the ministers, so even if anyone doubted him, they dared not say anything.


    It must be said that Nan Yu''s iron-fisted methods were impressive. From the time the consort''s faction was arrested untilte at night, he had personally interrogated most of them and had detailed records made, ready to be presented to Emperor Shunwu at the next morning''s court session.


    It was alreadyte at night when Nan Yu returned to the Fei manor, where Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had been waiting for him in the study room.


    He was naturally aware of the reason they were waiting for him.


    "The events today proceeded so smoothly, thanks to the efforts of Lord Mo and Lady He. Allow Nan Yu to express his gratitude with a bow."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran dly epted this bow, for without the couple''s full support, Nan Yu could never have turned the situation around.


    Moreover, the incident with the consort''s faction may very well change this period of history.


    ording to historical records, it was only after Nan Qi ascended the throne that Nan Yu sessfully usurped the throne, and the events leading up to that point did not involve the consort''s faction''s actions.


    Of course, if not for He Zhiran''s arrival, Nan Heng might not have died and would have ultimately lost to Nan Qi instead.


    At the same time, judging from the current situation, the timing of Nan Yu''s ascension to the throne has also fundamentally changed, or one could even say there is a high possibility that an entire dynasty may be averted.


    After all, historical records state that after Nan Yu took over the Da Shun Dynasty, he did not reveal his true identity and instead established a new dynasty.


    In any case, this change in history may not necessarily be a bad thing. During Nan Qi''s reign of a few years, he was even more ipetent and tyrannical than Emperor Shunwu, causing the people of Da Shun to live in poverty and despair.


    Nan Yu, on the other hand, was different from Nan Qi. He was an emperor with grand ambitions and a heart for the people.


    In other words, Nan Yu ascending the throne earlier would undoubtedly be a great blessing for themon people.


    Regardless of whether history was changed or not, as long as the people suffered less, it would count as a great achievement for them.


    They epted this bow wholeheartedly, but on the surface, some polite modesty was still required.


    "Prince Nan Yu need not be so courteous. As subjects of Da Shun, doing these things is only our duty."


    Nan Yu had originally intended to reciprocate the polite modesty before recounting the day''s events to them. However, upon hearing Mo Jiuye''s words "doing these things is only our duty," he immediately changed his n.


    "It seems Lord Mo has not forgotten themon people of Da Shun. Nan Yu hereby requests that you return to court and continue to serve the Da Shun Dynasty."


    Mo Jiuye did not expect that his polite remark would lead to Nan Yu''s misunderstanding.


    Without a moment''s hesitation, he refused: "After what my Mo family has been through, I have bepletely disillusioned with official positions and wealth. My family and I are living well in the northwest, and I have no desire to be involved with the court in any way."


    His tone of refusal was firm, leaving no room for Nan Yu to argue.


    Originally, Nan Yu still harbored a glimmer of hope that he could persuade Mo Jiuye to return to court, but now he could confirm that it would be very difficult.


    If that was the case, he would not rush it for the time being and instead use sincerity to win him over.


    Mo Jiuye was unaware of Nan Yu''s thoughts and did not care about the details of the day''s events. Without asking, he knew that since Nan Yu came back to pay such great respects to them, everything must have proceeded smoothly under his control.


    What he wanted to say now was about avenging the Mo family.


    Although Emperor Shunwu''s decree to confiscate the Mo family''s property and exile them was an infuriating act, out of consideration for Nan Rui and Nan Yu, he could no longer hold it against the Emperor.


    Looking at it positively, even if Emperor Shunwu had intended to deal with the Mo family, he ultimately did not act on it.


    This was the only reason Mo Jiuye could let Emperor Shunwu off the hook, for Nan Yu and Nan Rui''s sakes.


    As such, the Mo family''s true enemies in the court were now the consort and her n.


    "Prince Nan Yu, you are aware of our purpose foring to the Capital city. Our only wish now is to personally execute those who harbored ill intentions towards the Mo family."


    "That won''t be a problem. After I have finished reviewing the cases and reporting them to the Emperor, I will arrange for you to handle it."


    Nan Yu sincerely wanted to do something for Mo Jiuye. Without the couple''s help, he would have had a hard time turning the situation around in the consort''s faction incident.


    Moreover, his main goal was still to have Mo Jiuye return to the Capital city and continue serving the court.

 Chapter 536: I Feel Honored

    <h4>Chapter 536</h4>


    No matter what the purpose was, Nan Yu truly wanted to do something for Mo Jiuye.


    Although arranging for him to assassinate his enemy was a bit troublesome, he still had to follow through.


    "If that''s the case, then I thank the Third Prince."


    Mo Jiuye had once held a high position, so he clearly understood that the request he made was not an easy one, yet Nan Yu agreed without the slightest hesitation. He was sincerely grateful.


    Currently, Nan Yu had only one goal in mind, so he naturally did not need Mo Jiuye to be so courteous. Not only that, but he also promised:


    "Rest assured, Ninth Master. What I have promised, I will definitely do, and I will do it as quickly as possible, not dying your return to the northwest.


    Moreover, if I evere into power, the first thing I will do is to clear the name of your Mo family."


    Whether his family''s grievances would be redressed or not was no longer that important to Mo Jiuye. Now that his entire Mo family was reunited, if it weren''t for those viins coveting it, their life would be more tranquil than anyone else''s.


    However, he would not reject the other''s goodwill directly.


    "Then I will thank the Third Prince first."


    "With all that we have been through, I already consider you a good friend and confidant. It is my honor to be able to do something for you."


    After Nan Yu achieved his purpose, Mo Jiuye exchanged a few pleasantries with him before returning to the Minister''s residence with He Zhiran.


    At this time, Minister Hao had not rested either. In less than a month, he had experienced and seen so much.


    Upon returning to the residence, he sat alone in the study, deep in thought.


    He was sorting through the events that had urred during this period in his mind, while also asking himself whether he had grown weary of this kind of life.


    In the end, his inner voice told him that he was indeed a little tired.


    What should he do about being tired?


    He opened the letter that his old wife had asked their daughter to bring him and read it again. Inexplicably, he missed his family members at home more and more.


    He had never thought he would have the opportunity to see his daughter again after she had been exiled to the northwest with the Mo family.


    Not only that, but his son and old wife had alsoe to like it there after they went.


    His old wife had even said in the letter that regardless of whether he chose to go to the northwest to reunite with the three of them, she had no intention ofing back.


    After much thought, Minister Hao felt that family was still the most important thing.


    Especially since his old wife had mentioned in the letter that their daughter had given birth to a pair of adorable twin siblings.


    Thinking of those two grandchildren he had never met, he couldn''t wait to hold them in his arms and give them a kiss.


    Therefore, when Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran appeared before him, the first thing Minister Hao said was:


    "Zhiran, Jiuye, Dad has decided to agree to live in the northwest with you."


    Not waiting for He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye to speak, he continued: "However, it will have to wait until after I resign from my official position."


    At this moment, He Zhiran was already overjoyed. In her perception, her father''s loyalty to the country was beyond description.


    For him to make such a decision, it showed that he had made a great determination.


    "Dad, when we get to the northwest, I believe you won''t regret it."


    All He Zhiran could say now was this, as the leisurely life in the northwest could only be fully appreciated through personal experience.


    Minister Hao''s willingness to resign was not because of the leisurely life in the northwest, but rather so that he could live together with his entire family. Moreover, after this incident, he had bepletely weary of the intrigues and struggles in the imperial court.


    He also felt grateful in his heart. If Lord Liu had not brought people that day, and if his daughter and son-inw had not been there, he might have unhesitatingly drunk that poison and given up his life.


    "My mind is made up, and I won''t regret it."


    Although Minister Hao said this, he was still habitually passionate about imperial court affairs.


    Especially during these past few days, he had experienced so much. Thinking about these things, even in thete night, he had not felt the slightest bit of sleepiness. So he began to tell Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran about what he had witnessed today.


    This was also good, as Mo Jiuye and his wife had not inquired about Nan Yu and the others, but now they could understand everything thoroughly from Minister Hao.


    ...


    Emperor Shunwu was greatly shaken by this incident and fell ill upon returning to his pce, unable to get up.


    Reluctantly, he had to let Nan Yu temporarily take charge of state affairs.


    In order to help Nan Yu establish his authority, he ordered people to summon several important ministers in the imperial court and publicly announced Nan Yu''s identity as a prince.


    Only then did the ministers realize in astonishment why Prince Nan Qi had been imprisoned, and the person handling everything was indeed one of his subordinates.


    It turned out that Nan Yu was the true Third Prince.


    No wonder the Emperor was angry. If they encountered such a situation, not to mention imprisoning Nan Qi, they would not hesitate to execute him publicly.


    The first thing Nan Yu did after taking power was to hold a funeral for the Empress Dowager, and then use thunderous measures to individually conduct breakthrough interrogations of the Xue family members.


    After three days of continuous questioning, Nan Yu managed topile the crime records of the Empress''s faction overnight. The next morning, he presented them to Emperor Shunwu.


    After receiving treatment from the imperial physicians, Emperor Shunwu''s health had no major issues. Although he still could not attend the morning court sessions, he could read the records.


    In the past, he had trusted Prime Minister Xue very much and felt that thetter had made many contributions to the Da Shun Dynasty by offering strategies and suggestions. His biggest mistake was only conspiring with the Empress to usurp the throne.


    Little did he expect that the records Nan Yu had given him would reveal so much evidence of crimesmitted by the entire Xue n.


    Emperor Shunwu had few heirs, and it turned out that it was all due to the Empress''s machinations.


    Whenever a concubine in the rear pce became pregnant, she would find ways to cause a miscarriage.


    Prime Minister Xue and his nsmen had epted bribes, privately withheld border grain reserves, engaged in examination fraud, embezzled military funds...


    In short, the entire Xue n, including the Empress, could be said to havemitted every evil deed imaginable.


    Most importantly, this time Nan Yu had also uncovered the entire truth behind their framing of the Mo family.


    Under severe torture, Prime Minister Xue had confessed that the Mo family had notmitted any acts of treason or selling out the country. It was all part of a scheme by the Xue family to seize military power through framing them.


    The letters between Mo Jiuye and the Southern Frontier were also forgeries made by Nan Heng and the Empress of the Southern Frontier at the time.


    The ones who were truly in collusion with the Southern Frontier were the Xue family and Nan Heng.


    With this testimony, the Mo family couldpletely clear their name of grievances.


    After reading it, Emperor Shunwu angrily threw the records onto the table, his veins bulging.


    "Convey my edict. The entire Xue n is to be beheaded, to be carried out in three days, with their nine ns exterminated."


    At the same time, Emperor Shunwu also fell into deep self-me.


    No one knew better than this Emperor how the brave men of the Mo family had met their demise on the battlefield. Now that Prime Minister Xue had personally admitted to framing the Mo family back then, he felt truly remorseful.


    Since the Mo family was exiled to the northwest a year ago, the border wars had never ceased. He had faced situations where he had no one to use many times.


    He had also thought of the Mo family frequently back when they were around. Whether it was the Southern Frontier or the Barbarians, considering the bravery of the Mo men, even if they wanted to provoke trouble, they had to weigh the consequences.

 Chapter 537: Kill yourself if you can.

    <h4>Chapter 537</h4>


    It was all because he was ipetent and unjust, listening to the Viinous Xue''s nders, punishing the meritorious ministers who had rendered great service to the Da Shun Dynasty...


    "Yu''er, I was wrong to me the Mo Family."


    "Your Majesty was momentarily confused." In the face of Emperor Shunwu, what could Nan Yu say?


    If it weren''t for the fact that he had repeatedly expressed his intentions to Mo Jiuye, hoping he would return to court, only to be rejected each time.


    Even though Emperor Shunwu had realized that the Mo Family had been wronged, he could not make any suggestion about having Mo return.


    Because he could see that Mo Jiuye hadpletely lost faith in the court. If he did not truly consider him a friend, Mo could have directly assassinated his enemy after entering the capital city instead of helping him so much.


    Now, he could only sigh inwardly, feeling helpless at the Emperor''s bted realization.


    Nan Yu left with the imperial decree, ostensibly to arrange for the extermination of the entire Xue Family, but in fact, he was providing Mo Jiuye with an opportunity to personally settle the score with his enemy.


    Under his arrangement, Mo Jiuye entered the prison cells holding the Xue Family that night.


    Nan Yu had made preparations in advance, ordering that the key figures of the Xue Family and the Empress be sent together.


    When Mo Jiuye arrived, only the Xue Prime Minister, Xue Bo, and the Empress were present.


    These were the Mo Family''s greatest enemies, the names he had provided to Nan Yu.


    Mo Jiuye walked into the prison cell with heavy steps, knowing that Nan Yu had arranged everything properly. Apart from him and the few members of the Xue Family, there was no one else around.


    Therefore, he did not bother to conceal his identity any longer and directly removed the ck mask from his face.


    By the dim light in the prison cell, the Xue Prime Minister and the others could clearly see the visitor''s appearance.


    The Xue Prime Minister stared at Mo Jiuye in utter disbelief, as if he were experiencing a hallucination.


    "This... cannot be... it cannot be Mo Jiuye..."


    At this moment, Xue Bo was also not lightly startled. He clutched his father''s arm, "Father, Mo Jiuye was clearly exiled to the Northwest. As a convicted criminal, he is forbidden from leaving that deste ce for life.


    We must be hallucinating from the torment we''ve endured these past few days, which is why we think we''re seeing Mo Jiuye."


    Compared to the father and son, the Empress appeared much moreposed.


    "Mo Jiuye, why have you appeared here? If you leave now, I will act as if I never saw you. Otherwise, I will tell everyone that you havee to the capital city, adding to the crimes of the Mo Family."


    Mo Jiuye snorted coldly, "I''m afraid you won''t have the chance to tell anyone."


    After speaking, he took out a small ceramic vial from his pocket and poured the white powder inside onto the three of them.


    This white powder was the infamous itching powder developed by He Zhiran. The Xue Family hadmitted unpardonable crimes against the Mo Family, causing such great harm. Even if he took their lives today, Mo Jiuye did not intend to let them die too quickly.


    At this point, the Xue Prime Minister and Xue Bo were no longer under any illusion, able to confirm that the person before them was indeed Mo Jiuye.


    The Xue Prime Minister knew that he could not escape death today. He also understood that given Mo Jiuye''s deep hatred towards him, he would not be allowed to die quickly.


    Since there was no way to avoid his fate, he did not want to suffer humiliation in front of Mo Jiuye.


    These past few days, Nan Yu had subjected them to severe torture, leaving all of them with serious injuries and extremely weak bodies.


    To avoid further torment, the Xue Prime Minister clenched his teeth, struggling to suppress the pain in his body, intending to hurl himself against the nearest wall.


    However, before he could act, he felt an unbearable itchiness throughout his body, a kind of itch that prated his very bones.


    Due to this sudden difort, the little strength he had mustered vanished instantly, and his whole body went limp again.


    What followed was a sound even more unpleasant than crying echoing through the prison cell, apanied by the Empress''s shrill curses.


    "Mo Jiuye, what have you done to me?


    I am the mother of a nation, and for this, you deserve to die.


    Mo Jiuye... hahaha... I''m itching to death... Even as a ghost, I won''t let you off..."


    Mo Jiuye stood with his arms folded, coldly watching the three suffer torment.


    After about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the itching on their bodies finally began to subside.


    At the same time, the twistedughter that had drained their remaining energy also ceased.


    The threey on the ground, gasping for breath, each fixing Mo Jiuye with a different gaze.


    The Xue Prime Minister''s eyes seemed to hold knives.


    "Mo Jiuye, if you have the guts, just kill me."


    Xue Bo, on the other hand, looked at Mo Jiuye pleadingly.


    "Mo Jiuye, what happened back then was on my father''s orders, not my intention. The saying goes, ''The debt belongs to the debtor and the grievance to the offender.'' Even if you seek retribution, you won''t find the cause with me."


    Earlier, when Mo Jiuye had thrown the itching powder, the Empress had been closer to him, so the toxicity within her body was rtively heavier than that of the Xue Prime Minister and Xue Bo.


    Now, she was still struggling to suppress herughter, but she made an effort to endure it. The unbearable sensation hadpletely shattered her mental state.


    She could not utter a word like the Xue father and son, only staring at Mo Jiuye with unblinking eyes.


    Seeing the Empress''s malicious gaze, even as she faced death, Mo Jiuye was reminded of the sisters-inw in his own family.


    "Xue woman, you vile woman. How did my Mo Family wrong you, that you would send people to poison my poor sisters-inw?


    Not only that, after my Mo Family had already been wrongfully exiled, you viciously sent people to poison our breakfast?"


    Upon being confronted with these usations, the Empress could no longer control herughter.


    "Hahaha... Who told your Mo Family to ally with Nan Qi? Anyone who stands in Heng''er''s way, I will never let them off, even if it means leaving you without descendants..."


    Hearing the Empress''s own admission of the atrocitiesmitted against his Mo Family, even though Mo Jiuye had known about them, he could not remain indifferent.


    He stepped on the Empress''s hand and ground it down with force.


    "It seems that today, I truly cannot let you, this vile woman, off easily."


    The Empress cried out in pain from her hand.


    "Mo Jiuye... how dare youy your hands on me... Ah... you''re killing me..."


    The Empress''s shrieks were intended to alert the prison guards, but no matter how loudly she screamed, no guards came. Instead, she only managed to scare the rats in the prison cell, sending them scurrying in all directions.


    The Empress had little strength left. After a few cries, she was already drained, only able to re furiously at Mo Jiuye through panting breaths.


    Mo Jiuye paid her no further attention and instead approached Xue Bo.


    Xue Bo''s clothes were tattered and torn, his wounds of various sizes clearly visible.


    Mo Jiuye took out another small ceramic vial and poured its contents onto one of Xue Bo''s wounds. Then, he dragged Xue Bo in front of the Xue Prime Minister.


    It was said that the Xue Prime Minister doted most on his younger son Xue Bo. From a young age in the capital city, Xue Bo had been involved in all sorts of misdeeds, which this passionate father" had covered up with his iron fist.

 Chapter 538: Don’t give me that disgusting look.

    <h4>Chapter 538</h4>


    Today he was going to let Xue Prime Minister witness first-hand his most beloved son''s pitiful state right before his eyes.


    Xue Bo''s wounds began to fester at a visible rate, soon revealing a deep, bone-exposing bloody cavity.


    At the same time, Xue Bo let out agonizing screams.


    "Father... I''m in so much pain, please save me..."


    At this moment, Xue Bo was no longer the arrogant bully who once unted his family''s power in the capital.


    Xue Prime Minister watched with his own eyes as Mo Jiuye sprinkled powder on his precious son''s wound, and saw the horrific transformation of the wound, his eyes instantly reddening.


    "Mo Jiuye, what do you want?


    I admit I have done many things to wrong the Mo Family, but it was all my doing alone, and has nothing to do with Bo..."


    Mo Jiuye knew that making Xue Bo wish for death was the best way to punish the old bastard Xue Prime Minister.


    "Did you ever consider how many brave protectors of Da Shun lost their lives when Xue Bo betrayed intelligence to the southerners on the frontier?


    Did you ever imagine their horrible deaths on the battlefield?


    What Xue Bo is suffering now cannot make up even a fraction of what those soldiers endured."


    With that, Mo Jiuye once again sprinkled powder on several other wounds of Xue Bo in front of Xue Prime Minister.


    Xue Bo watched helplessly as his wounds festered one by one, and hepletely broke down.


    He writhed in agony before Xue Prime Minister, asionally letting out agonized groans.


    Xue Prime Minister felt his heart bleeding as he watched this scene.


    "Mo Jiuye, I know I wronged the Mo Family, I beg you, stop tormenting Bo."


    At the same time, the Empress struggled to crawl closer.


    "Father, Mo Jiuye will never spare us, don''t beg him anymore."


    It must be said that at this point, the Xue family father and son were not as perspicacious as a woman.


    They didn''t even consider what they had done to the Mo Family - how could Mo Jiuye possibly let them off?


    Mo Jiuye couldn''t be bothered with the Xue family''s pathetic performance. Just as Xue Bo was about to pass out from the pain, he poured saltwater onto his fresh wounds.


    The agonizing pain returned, preventing Xue Bo from passing out.


    He writhed and wailed before Xue Prime Minister, nearly causing the old man to faint.


    Mo Jiuye wanted Xue Prime Minister to experience this heart-wrenching pain of a loved one''s suffering deeply.


    After about half an hour, Xue Bo finally passed out from the torment.


    Mo Jiuye approached the wicked old man again - this man was utterly depraved, and Mo Jiuye could never let him off easily.


    He took out a sharp dagger and stabbed it viciously into the old man''s left eye.


    "This stab is to avenge those soldiers who lost their lives because of you."


    With that, he pulled out the dagger, tearing out the old man''s bloody eyeball.


    Xue Prime Minister screamed in agony, unable to even beg for mercy.


    Without hesitation, Mo Jiuye stabbed his other eye.


    "This stab is for the suffering my Mo Family endured from you."


    Pulling out the dagger, Mo Jiuye sliced off one of the old man''s ears.


    "This is for the innocents persecuted by your Xue family."


    Mo Jiuye continued tormenting the old man, making a statement with each strike.


    Even if every part of the old man''s body was cut off, it could not make up for all the evil he had done.


    Finally, Xue Prime Minister breathed hisst...


    Mo Jiuye did not expect the old bastard to be so frail, dying after such a short torment.


    Xue Bo had only briefly passed out - with so many wounds, the pain soon roused him again.


    To avoid further torture, he could only grit his teeth and remain silent, but he saw everything Mo Jiuye did to his father.


    With his father dead on one side, Xue Bo''s fear made it impossible for him to continue feigning unconsciousness.


    He stared at Mo Jiuye with terrified eyes, instinctively shrinking behind the Empress.


    Seeing Mo Jiuye approach step by step, he was so scared that he wet himself.


    The foul stench of urine soon filled the unventted cell, causing Mo Jiuye to cover his nose and mouth instinctively.


    He sneered coldly, "When you were bullying men and women in the capital with impunity, you didn''t seem this cowardly. Even under severe torture for betraying intelligence, you never lost your spine like this. Why are you so spineless today?"


    Xue Bo didn''t even register the insult - at this moment, he only wanted to live.


    "I have no spine, I don''t want to die, Mo Jiuye, as long as you spare me, I''ll do anythi..."


    "Xue Bo, shut your mouth before the Empress," the Empress cut him off.


    Their father had doted on this youngest son, and she in turn spoiled this brother more.


    Yet this pathetic brother was so shameless, knowing death was certain but still groveling for his life.


    Begging to live?


    After Mo Jiuye killed their father in such a cruel way, how could he possibly spare them?


    Rebuked, Xue Bo fell silent but continued staring at Mo Jiuye with pleading eyes.


    Not only did Mo Jiuye''s heart not soften, he found it disgusting.


    He drew his dagger and stabbed towards Xue Bo''s eyes.


    "Don''t look at me with those revolting eyes."


    With that strike, Xue Bo''s eyes were reduced to a bloody mess.


    Agonized screams echoed through the cell, shattering what little resolve the Empress had left to witness this.


    "Mo Jiuye, kill me!


    All the plots against the Mo Family were my doing, I''m the true culprit. Have the guts to kill me now."


    "Kill you? Sure, none of you three get to live today."


    Thinking of how his sisters-inw looked at him with guilt over failing to continue the family line when they heard of his brother''s death.


    And realizing this wretched woman before him caused it all, Mo Jiuye''s heart burned with hatred.


    The piercing screams of Xue Bo only fueled his rage. After sneering at the Empress, Mo Jiuye swiftly cut out Xue Bo''s tongue.


    Perhaps due to his youth and vigor, Xue Bo was more resilient than his father, not on the verge of passing out despite writhing in agony.


    Mo Jiuye poured medicinal powder onto his fresh wounds, making him suffer further.


    Under the Empress''s gaze, Xue Bo''s wounds festered to the point of being too grotesque to describe.


    In any case, Mo Jiuye''s actionspletely shattered the Empress''s remaining will.


    "Mo... Mo Jiuye... I know death is certain today, but as a former war hero of Da Shun, is there any need for such brutality against a woman?"


    This provocation tactic was useless against Mo Jiuye.


    "You''re utterly depraved, don''t even dream of a peaceful death."


    By now, Xue Bo''s screams had grown faint, the excruciating pain and terror sapping away what little willpower he had left...

 Chapter 539: I’ve always seen this coming

    <h4>Chapter 539</h4>


    Mo Jiuye did not look at Xue Bo again, but instead walked up to the Empress.


    Upon seeing this, the Empress instinctively wanted to retreat backward.


    Unfortunately, behind her was the corpse of the viinous Xue, leaving her with nowhere to move.


    "Mo Jiuye...if you''re a man, give this Empress a swift end..."


    A swift end?


    You don''t deserve it!


    In the blink of an eye, Mo Jiuye did not hesitate to sprinkle a powder on her wounds.


    "What are you doing?" The Empress was filled with terror the moment she saw him take out a small porcin bottle.


    "What am I doing? Of course, I''m going to let you taste the agony of wishing for death first."


    Towards such a vicious woman, Mo Jiuye had no intention of going easy.


    Compared to those who were killed by her and her daughter, this wasn''t even enough.


    Especially thinking about how Old Eight Zhou described the deaths of Peng Wang and his group of officers, Mo Jiuye once again approached Xue Bo.


    Nan Yu had shown him the case files, and he knew that it was Xue Bo who had led the execution of Peng Wang and the others.


    With the mastermind right before his eyes, even subjecting him to the most severe tortures would not be excessive.


    Mo Jiuye lifted Xue Bo up, putting him in a seated position.


    Due to the shock and pain from his wounds, Xue Bo showed signs of fainting again.


    Pulled up roughly by Mo Jiuye, Xue Bo instantly regained awareness, feeling excruciating pain all over his body.


    However, without his tongue, he could not utter a word, only letting out a series of increasingly agonized wails.


    This time, He Zhiran had prepared many tools for torturing people for Mo Jiuye''s use.


    Such as sulfuric acid.


    When human skines into contact with this substance, it feels as if being burned by fire.


    Mo Jiuye poured an entire small bottle of sulfuric acid onto Xue Bo''s face.


    Xue Bo''s face was already covered in various wounds, and upon contact with the sulfuric acid, the pain caused him to shriek in agony once more.


    The Empress, seeing her brother''s horrifically mangled face, was nearly scared to death.


    However, next, Mo Jiuye took out another bottle of sulfuric acid and poured it onto her face.


    Inside the prison cell, the siblings'' agonized screams grew louder and louder, yet even so, Mo Jiuye''s hatred towards them did not diminish in the slightest.


    In short, any method that could make them wish for death, Mo Jiuye made them endure.


    It was only a pity that the viinous Xue died too quickly, unable to experience these tortures.


    It was not until an entire hourter that the three people in the prison cell hadpletely lost their breath.


    Mo Jiuye cleaned the blood stains off himself, then strode out of the prison cell with a light step.


    Although Nan Yu had made prior arrangements for this matter, giving Mo Jiuye the opportunity to personally deal with these people, he had only recently taken power, and many might still harbor defiance.


    Therefore, for him to have done this much was already not easy.


    To prevent any incidents, during the time Mo Jiuye was in the prison cell, Nan Yu had people guarding outside.


    Nan Rui was also by Nan Yu''s side the entire time. Now, he and the Nan Yu brothers were closer than blood brothers, having endured hardships together.


    Most importantly, Nan Rui had no desire to contend for the throne, so there was no resentment in their interactions.


    Simrly, he had been silently supporting Nan Yu all along.


    The bond between the two brothers was cultivated bit by bit through these adversities.


    The two brothers went to wee Mo Jiuye when they saw him emerge.


    "Is everything taken care of?" Nan Yu asked softly.


    Mo Jiuye nodded solemnly, "Everything is taken care of, but the deaths of those few were quite horrific, so I''m afraid it will still cause trouble for the Third Prince."


    "No problem, I''ve already anticipated this. At that time, I will exin to the Emperor that, aware of their grave crimes, theymitted suicide in the prison cell.


    Regardless of whether they died sooner orter, they were destined to die, and no one will dwell on the manner of their deaths."


    On this point, Nan Yu was quite confident. In these past few days of taking over state affairs, he had discovered that the formerly neutral ministers, not to mention those who obeyed Emperor Shunwu''s decree to follow his orders, wouldply without hesitation.


    As for those who had previously sided with Nan Qi, they now knew his true identity and would not cause any trouble.


    Most of those from the Empress''s faction were opportunists who followed the wind, so they were not to be taken seriously.


    Most importantly, they were now concerned that their former master had fallen, wondering when the fire would spread to them.


    They could barely protect themselves, let alone dare to speak out; they would prefer to have no presence at all.


    In short, Nan Yu had nothing to worry about regarding this matter. As long as no one witnessed Mo Jiuye personally dealing with the Xue family members, all initiative would remain in his own hands.


    After sincerely expressing his gratitude, Mo Jiuye returned to the Minister''s residence.


    He and He Zhiran still had no ns to leave the Capital city for the time being.


    On one hand, they wanted to wait for Minister Hao to submit his resignation to the court, so they could return to the northwest together.


    Additionally, they still possessed the imperial seal, so in case Emperor Shunwu regained power and harbored suspicions towards Nan Yu, Mo Jiuye could offer him a favor to smooth things over.


    Of course, he also hoped that he was worrying unnecessarily, and that Nan Yu would sessfully inherit the throne, which was what he wished to see for the people of Da Shun to have better lives sooner.


    Since they had decided to temporarily stay in the Capital city to observe the situation, Mo Jiuye nned to send word of his safety to his family first.


    That night, Mo Jiuye wrote a letter and had Little White deliver it to the northwest, so his family would not worry about them.


    The two of them stayed for eight days.


    After all, the crimes of the Mo family had not yet been redressed, so to prevent news of their daughter and son-inw''s presence in the Capital city from leaking out, not a single servant dismissed from the Minister''s residence was called back.


    Except for breakfast, Minister Hao''s meals were all taken care of by his son-inw Mo Jiuye.


    Each day, Mo Jiuye would prepare a shopping list for Uncle Feng to go out and purchase the ingredients, then he would personally cook a few small dishes for the family to eat.


    Minister Hao never expected that his son-inw would possess such impressive culinary skills,pletely reshaping his perception.


    Setting aside Mo Jiuye''s former status, just the fact that a rough man who spent his days wielding swords and spears could cook was enough to make Minister Hao look at him in a new light.


    Moreover, in Minister Hao''s understanding, the principle of schrs staying out of the kitchen originated from the sages'' teachings, and cooking was meant to be done by women.


    Yet not only did his precious daughter not enter the kitchen, but her meals were personally prepared and served to her by her husband.


    It seemed that his insistence on upholding his promise and allowing his daughter to marry into the Mo family was absolutely correct.


    Although their life in the northwest might not be asfortable as in the Capital city, just the fact that his son-inw cherished her so much was already a greatfort to him as a father...

 Chapter 540: The news is as good as gold

    <h4>Chapter 540</h4>


    On this day, Mo Jiuye had just finished preparing dinner and was about to call someone over to eat when Little White returned with a handwritten letter from Mo Qing.


    After reading the letter, Mo Jiuye couldn''t be bothered to call anyone for dinner.


    He took He Zhiran and went to Minister Hao''s study.


    "Father-inw, ording to the letter from my father, the barbarians have gathered arge number of troops and are attacking the western border of our country."


    Minister Hao was currently examining the documents on the table, as they were entrusted to him by Emperor Shunwu.


    His resignation had been approved, but before leaving, he needed to handle some matters within the office.


    Upon hearing Mo Jiuye''s words, Minister Hao put down his brush and stood up abruptly.


    "What did you say? The barbarians are attacking our Great Da Shun? Why hasn''t the court received this news?"


    "Father-inw, a few days ago, I asked Little White to bring the letter home for safety. Little White just returned with this news. Perhaps the court hasn''t received it because the messenger from the western border isn''t as fast as Little White."


    "My father wrote the letter four days ago, and by then, the barbarians had alreadyunched a massive attack on the western border for two days."


    "So, the western border has been under attack by the barbarians for six days?" In Minister Hao''s eyes, this matter was extremely serious.


    Although Da Shun had also sent troops to guard the western border, they wouldn''t be able to withstand a full-scale attack by the barbarians.


    "Jiuye, what do you think we should do about this?"


    Mo Jiuye hade here just to inform his father-inw about this news, not intending to burden him. Even if his father-inw had no intention of resigning, as a mere civil official, how could he solve this matter?


    "Father-inw, I n to go to the Third Prince and inform him of this news."


    "Yes, yes, this matter should be discussed with the Third Prince. After all, the source of our information is quite special, and we can''t openly speak about it."


    He Zhiran stayed here to apany his father, while Mo Jiuye used his light skills to rush to Nan Yu''s residence.


    Currently, Nan Yu still resided in the Fei Residence. The Emperor hadpletely recovered and resumed attending court sessions. He officially announced Nan Yu''s identity in front of the entire court.


    At the same time, he granted Nan Yu the residence formerly upied by Prince Qi, but recently, there had been a lot of matters in the court, and Nan Yu hadn''t found the time to move.


    It was understandable for him to give the mansion to his own biological son, but what caught the attention of the courtiers was that the Emperor bestowed the residence upon the Third Prince without naming it.


    What did this imply?


    It indicated that there was a high possibility the mansion would be named the Crown Prince''s Residence in the future.


    Nan Yu was in his study, reviewing documents, when Mo Jiuye arrived. He didn''t say much and directly informed Nan Yu of the news he had received.


    "Jiuye, is the news urate?" Nan Yu didn''t ask how Mo Jiuye learned about the barbarians'' full-scale attack because he knew Mo Jiuye had a very intelligent carrier pigeon. He asked this question because he found the matter somewhat unbelievable.


    Based on Nan Yu''s knowledge, the barbarians usually attacked Da Shun during the winter.


    Winter was when theycked food, so if the attack seeded, they could obtain some provisions for the winter.


    It is indeed somewhat incredible to mobilize troops during this season.


    "The information is absolutely reliable. The messenger from the western border should arrive in about ten days."


    It usually takes about half a month for a fast horse to travel from the northwest to the capital city. However, Little White only took four days. Therefore, it will take at least ten to eight days for the messenger from the western border to arrive.


    Nan Yu stood up.


    "Thank you, Ninth Young Master, for informing me. I will immediately go to the pce to discuss countermeasures with my father, the emperor."


    The others were unaware, but Emperor Shunwu was very satisfied with Nan Yu''s abilities, especially whenpared to his three sons. He had taken notice of Nan Yu''s talents.


    Emperor Shunwu had privately expressed his intention to abdicate and enjoy his remaining years to Nan Yu. However, due to the situation with the Empress''s faction, the current political situation in the court was still unstable. It would be risky to abdicate to Nan Yu without proper consideration.


    Nan Yu was aware of this matter.


    With the barbarian invasion in the western border, it was equivalent to seizing his own kingdom for Nan Yu. How could he simply stand by and do nothing about it?


    He must take it seriously.


    When Nan Yu entered the pce, he did not know how to exin the source of this information. The next day at the morning court assembly, Emperor Shunwu mentioned this matter.


    In the past, Da Shun had facedrge-scale invasions from external enemies. At that time, with the presence of the Mo Family, Emperor Shunwu only needed to issue an imperial edict, and the Mo Family warriors would immediately set out with their troops.


    But now, in the vast court, he found himself without capable military leaders.


    General Jin, who was already advanced in age, especially after falling victim to the marite witch insect not long ago, was on the brink of losing his life.


    Currently, the old general was still recuperating at home, and even when the Empress''s faction caused a major incident, he did not intervene.


    Now, without the Mo Family and with General Jin not fully recovered, Emperor Shunwu suddenly felt overwhelmed.


    In the grand court of Da Shun, there was actually not a single capable military leader avable.


    At this moment, he first thought of the Mo Family and recalled some of the false usations against them made by the Xue Family.


    Indeed, he had wronged the Mo Family, all because he was overly suspicious, fearing that the Mo Family would be too powerful and do something foolish.


    If Mo Jiuye were still here, he wouldn''t have to face the embarrassing situation of having no one capable to rely on.


    It wouldn''t be entirely urate to say that there was no one avable. At least, there were rows of military generals in the court.


    However, Emperor Shunwu looked at one and then another, and he felt that they were simply not talented enough.


    "Yu''er, how do you think this matter should be arranged?"


    Nan Yu was also troubled. He had just taken charge of court affairs and was currently busy purging some malignant elements within the court, so he hadn''t focused his energy on the military leaders.


    However, when he served as a staff officer under Nan Qi, he had done a lot of research and was familiar with the situation of the civil and military officials in the court.


    At this moment, his thoughts were the same as Emperor Shunwu''s¡ªthey both believed that it had reached a point where there was no one capable left.


    Those military generals also knew their limitations. In the past, most of them had followed either the Mo Family or General Jin on expeditions. With amander in charge, they only needed to follow orders.


    Now, what the emperor and the Third Prince needed were talentedmanders.


    To be the grand marshalmanding the three armies, even if they had the intention, they would not dare to rashly take on the responsibility.


    A poorly executedmand is a matter of secondary importancepared to losing one''s life. After all, in the event of defeat, one must bear a certain responsibility.


    No one wants to take on such a thankless task.


    Seeing that Nan Yu remained silent, Emperor Shunwu looked displeased at the neatly arranged military officials in the court.


    "Is there anyone among you willing to lead troops and march to the western borders?"


    The Emperor had asked, and if they didn''t show some sincerity soon, it would mean they had been receiving their sries in vain all these years.


    A military official stepped forward, braving it with a stiff upper lip.


    "Your Majesty, I am willing to be the vanguard in the campaign against the barbarians and obey themands of the general."

 Chapter 541: No one will be able to use me when I rule.

    <h4>Chapter 541</h4>


    Emperor Shunwu was almost furious with such words.


    What he needed now was a general who couldmand the three armies, not some vanguard.


    "Does the mighty Da Shun Dynasty have no one worthy besides the Mo Family People and General Jin?"


    In fact, Emperor Shunwu was well aware of the situation, although he was somewhat ipetent and foolish, he knew the true colors of the people under him.


    When Emperor Shunwu said this, the entire court of civil and military officials fell silent.


    They initially thought that this time Emperor Shunwu would fly into a rage, but he did not.


    He looked towards Nan Yu, who was standing in the front, and asked in a lowered voice, "What do you think about pardoning the Mo Family and letting Mo Jiuye lead the troops in the northwest?"


    Nan Yu...


    He wanted that too!


    But no one understood Mo Jiuye''s thoughts better than him, he had tried to probe this matter several times, but Mo Jiuye hadpletely lost faith in the court.


    Now that there was no one else to use, they remembered him again.


    "Your Majesty, your son believes that Mo Jiuye will not agree."


    "Why not? As a subject of Da Shun, when Da Shun is in trouble, should he not devote himselfpletely to serving the country?


    Moreover, I can pardon the Mo Family''s crimes, isn''t that enough?"


    Emperor Shunwu did not know about the rtionship between Nan Yu and Mo Jiuye, he was only thinking from the perspective of an emperor.


    In his view, regardless of who it was, they were all subjects of Da Shun.


    Any subject of Da Shun who dared to disobey him was tantamount to rebellion.


    Nan Yu also hoped that the Mo Family People could lead troops to suppress the barbarians, but as Mo Jiuye''s close friend and even brother, he would never force this upon him.


    "Your Majesty, let me be frank, when the Mo Family was exiled to the northwest, your son encountered them by chance.


    At that time, your son saw with his own eyes that the women of the Mo Family were dressed in rags, like beggars, being escorted by officials.


    Along the way, they not only had to sleep rough, but also had to face assassins sent by the Empress and the Xue Family from time to time.


    No matter who it was, after experiencing such unjust treatment, they would likely be discouraged and lose heart.


    Moreover, as far as your son knows, the Mo Family has already started living a self-sufficient life like ordinary people in the northwest, indicating that they havepletely lost faith in the court."


    What Nan Yu said was not entirely true, when he first saw Mo Jiuye, he did not appear as impoverished and miserable as he described, but in front of Emperor Shunwu, he had to say it this way.


    The purpose of saying this was to make Emperor Shunwu deepen his understanding, lest he continue to punish the Mo Family in anger, which would be counterproductive.


    The entire Mo Family was wrongfully exiled and suffered so much, anyone would have lost the desire to serve the court.


    Although he said this to Emperor Shunwu, Nan Yu had not abandoned the idea of persuading Mo Jiuye to lead troops to suppress the barbarians.


    Thoughts were just thoughts, and he would also respect Mo Jiuye''s own decision.


    He only intended to have an open and frank discussion with Mo Jiuye after the morning court session.


    If Mo Jiuye agreed, it would be best, and if he did not, Nan Yu would abandon this ideapletely.


    After hearing Nan Yu''s words, Emperor Shunwu also recalled the matter.


    In the testimony and records of the Xue Family, he had also seen that the Empress and the Xue Family had sent people to assassinate Mo Jiuye more than once.


    He also understood Mo Jiuye''s temperament to some extent, after experiencing such a situation, even if it were someone else, they would likely be unwilling to serve the court again.


    Although Emperor Shunwu understood, he still did not intend to give up the idea of having the Mo Family lead troops.


    "Nan Yu, I will issue an imperial edict to pardon the Mo Family''s crimester, and you should send a capable person to deliver the edict to the northwest, along with some generous gifts as mypensation to the Mo Family.


    This time, I not only want to pardon the Mo Family''s crimes but also reinstate Mo Jiuye''s original position.


    No, merely reinstating his original position is not enough, I must also promote him to a higher rank.


    No... Mo Jiuye was once a Duke of the First Rank, promoting him further would make him a Prince..."


    After that, Emperor Shunwu kept mumbling to himself.


    Of course, this also revealed his true intentions.


    Nan Yu took the opportunity to interject, "Does Your Majesty mean that if Mo Jiuye is willing to lead troops to suppress the barbarians, you will not only reward him, but also grant him the title of a Prince of a different surname?"


    In the Da Shun Dynasty since its establishment, there has only been one Prince of a different surname.


    A Prince of a different surname can pass on the title hereditarily, Mo Jiuye already has a son, and even if he does not consider it for himself, he should think about his son''s future prospects.


    Now, not only can he be a Prince, but his son will also be a Prince in the future, surely this would pique Mo Jiuye''s interest.


    This was the only glimmer of hope that Nan Yu clung to, he hoped that Mo Jiuye would agree for the sake of his descendants'' future.


    In fact, Emperor Shunwu had only muttered that one sentence earlier, as a suspicious and distrustful emperor, how could he grant the hereditary title of a Prince of a different surname?


    However, given the current situation, if granting Mo Jiuye the title of a Prince of a different surname could make him change his mind and serve the court again, why not?


    "If he is willing to return to the court, I will grant him the title of a Prince of a different surname."


    With Emperor Shunwu''s words, Nan Yu immediately bowed.


    "In that case, your son will immediately arrange to contact Mo Jiuye."


    The war in the northwest had already begun, although they had not yet seeded in persuading Mo Jiuye to lead troops, the court still needed to provide support.


    Therefore, after making up his mind, Nan Yu named a few generals in front of Emperor Shunwu and the entire court of civil and military officials, instructing them to take some troops and go to provide reinforcements first.


    At the same time, he informed them that Mo Jiuye was currently in the northwest, and if he agreed to lead the troops, everyone would have to follow hismand.


    Of course, Nan Yu also knew that some of the male members of the Mo Family were still alive, but he did not intend to reveal this matter for the time being.


    In any case, whether it was the Mo Family or someone else who led the troops, it would be an invaluable talent.


    After the morning court session, Nan Rui knew that Nan Yu was going to persuade Mo Jiuye, so he voluntarily took on the task of arranging for the generals to set out.


    Nan Yu, along with Minister Hao, went directly to the Minister''s residence.


    On the way, Minister Hao kept sighing.


    Nan Yu naturally understood the reason for his sighs.


    "Does the Minister not want Jiuye to participate in court affairs again?"


    In front of Nan Yu, Minister Hao treated him as one of his own, so he spoke without any reservations.


    "Indeed, although I have not interacted much with Jiuye, I can see that he haspletely lost faith in the court. Not to mention granting him the title of a Prince of a different surname, to speak bluntly, even if you offered him the Dragon Throne, he would not want to sit on it."


    This was not an exaggeration, ever since He Zhiran first arrived and Mo Jiuye was inexplicably beaten with fifty wooden boards in the pce, and then narrowly escaped death during the exile, he hadpletely lost faith in the court, and did not even have the slightest lingering attachment.


    Nan Yu was well aware of this truth.


    The reason he dared to have the idea of trying was because he was gambling on whether Mo Jiuye would be willing to secure some benefits for his descendants.

 Chapter 542: I hope Mohism can return to the court to share My worries.

    <h4>Chapter 542</h4>


    "Nan Yu clearly understood Lord He''s words, but the imperial court is currently in need of capable individuals, so I just want to try my best one more time."


    After a moment of thought, he added: "I''m sure Lord He has also noticed that Father Emperor has yet to grant me a princedom title. He ns to establish me as the Crown Prince once the situation stabilizes."


    What he said was subtle - Emperor Shunwu had actually told him that once the situation stabilized, he would pass the throne to Nan Yu.


    The entire country of Da Shun would eventually belong to him. How could he possibly bear to lose talents like Mo Jiuye and the courageous yet loyal men of the Mo Family?


    Minister Hao knew there was no use in saying these things, as Nan Yu was bound to meet with Mo Jiuye regardless.


    As for how Mo Jiuye would respond, that was not something he could control.


    The two continued their conversation as they arrived at the residence of Minister Hao.


    Upon reaching the residence, Nan Yu eagerly pulled Mo Jiuye into Minister Hao''s study.


    Mo Jiuye knew that Nan Yu''s urgency in seeking him out must be rted to affairs of the imperial court.


    Regardless of the matter''s scale, he was ustomed to not keeping secrets from He Zhiran. Since she was present at the time, Mo Jiuye saw no need to consider Nan Yu''s wishes and brought his wife into the study with him.


    Nan Yu was well aware of the rtionship between Mo Jiuye and his wife, so he was not surprised by this.


    With He Zhiran present, it might even work in his favor. If Mo Jiuye was unwilling, perhaps his wife would agree, which could help sway Mo Jiuye''s decision.


    The matter was urgent, so this time Nan Yu did not beat around the bush with Mo Jiuye and his wife, cutting straight to the point.


    He first bowed respectfully to Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    "Ninth Young Master, Madam Ninth, Nan Yu hopes the Mo Family will return to the imperial court to share my burdens."


    He said "share my burdens", rather than the country''s or Emperor Shunwu''s, expressing his wish for Mo Jiuye to help him out of their friendship.


    Mo Jiuye had thought his stance was clear to Nan Yu, and that Nan Yu understood him.


    Now that he had made this request, Mo Jiuye''s first instinct was to refuse.


    Listening from the side, He Zhiran had a different idea in mind.


    Before Mo Jiuye could voice his refusal, He Zhiran tugged on his sleeve, signaling with her eyes for him to temporarily hold his tongue.


    Mo Jiuye swallowed the words he was about to say, looking at He Zhiran with some confusion.


    Although He Zhiran had her own thoughts, she did not intend to voice them without Mo Jiuye''s approval.


    "The Third Prince, you also know of the Mo Family''s suffering and the injustices we endured. Now that my Mo Family has finally settled down in the northwest, we''ve never thought of getting involved in the turbulent waters of the imperial court again."


    Logically, if He Zhiran wanted to refuse Nan Yu, she should have directly said they would no longer participate in court affairs.


    However, she changed "no longer participate" to "never thought of", implying that it was not entirely out of the question.


    If the listener was receptive, they would understand that there was still room for change regarding this matter.


    As intelligent as Nan Yu was, how could he fail to catch the implication in He Zhiran''s words?


    "If that''s the case, Ninth Young Master and Madam Ninth may want to reconsider this matter. I can promise you today that if the Mo Family is willing to return to the imperial court, I will rmend to the Father Emperor that you be granted a princedom. How about that?


    Of course, I also know that the Mo Family has lost interest in such things, but don''t you need to consider your descendants as well?"


    In fact, when He Zhiran spoke earlier, it was not because she craved titles or had considered the matter of descendants.


    The Mo Family''s current life in the northwest, thoughfortable, was still that ofmoners.


    After resolving the affairs in the capital, she nned to properly develop the family''s businesses upon returning to the northwest.


    Every business she ran could be considered unique in this era.


    Although all their businesses involved cooperating with Tang Mingrui, acting behind the scenes rather than as public merchants, there are no walls that can block the wind entirely.


    Once their operations caught the attention of interested parties, they would surely investigate the source of these goods. If they encountered unscrupulous merchants like Boss Jin who would stop at nothing for profit, it could bring trouble to the family once again.


    Boss Jin was not a major figure, so he could not truly harm the Mo Family.


    However, Tang Mingrui''s business would undoubtedly growrger, potentially spanning the entire Da Shun Dynasty and neighboring smaller countries.


    As it expanded, those eyeing the Mo Family''s production would no longer be small merchants like Boss Jin, but could be high-ranking officials or powerful forces.


    The Mo Family had trained many private soldiers, so they did not need to worry about others targeting them. But who would dislike living in peace andfort?


    In any case, to thoroughly eliminate such potential future troubles, the best solution was for the family to hold a certain degree of power.


    In in terms, others might covet them, but would not dare to act, forced to merely look on helplessly.


    This was the effect He Zhiran desired.


    Of course, she personally did not wish for the Mo Family to be entangled in court affairs again. Although the future Da Shun would belong to the diligent and benevolent Nan Yu, bringing benefits to themon people, there was no obvious appeal for the Mo Family in returning to the imperial court.


    What He Zhiran wanted was for the Mo Family to have their own territory - nominally under the rule of Da Shun, but truly their own dominion.


    She harbored no thoughts of rebellion or defiance, only wishing to create a prosperous and developed region through her own efforts.


    For example, like the modern Da Xie Country allowing certain regions to be wealthy first after its founding, she wished to build such an area here.


    Nan Yu had just voluntarily offered to grant the Mo Family a princedom. He Zhiran guessed that Nan Yu must have sounded out Emperor Shunwu''s opinion beforehand - otherwise, given his cautious nature, he would not have mentioned something so uncertain.


    Therefore, she could be certain that as long as the Mo Family agreed to return to the imperial court, obtaining this princedom was a sure thing.


    She also understood that in name only, many non-imperial princedoms throughout history held no real power.


    Simply put, it was a way for emperors to reward meritorious officials by granting them an estate in the capital to live out their days infort, with less authority than an average official.


    This was not the effect He Zhiran desired - she did not want the Mo Family to so easily return to the imperial court. In addition to the princedom title, there must be other concessions, which was her true intent in leaving Nan Yu a glimmer of hope.


    Nan Yu, eager for Mo Jiuye''s return to the imperial court, did not hurry to leave Minister Hao''s residence upon seeing this hope. Instead, he remained to discuss the situation at court with Minister Hao, hoping to receive a satisfactory answer from Mo Jiuye and his wife by the end of the day.

 Chapter 543: Let’s have an attitude of not demanding.

    <h4>Chapter 543</h4>


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had just returned to their residence when Mo Jiuye couldn''t help but ask, "Zhiran, why did you give Nan Yu hope earlier?"


    He Zhiran''s thought had only formed when Nan Yu spoke earlier, so it was no surprise that Mo Jiuye didn''t understand his wife''s intentions.


    "Husband, have you ever considered making the Northwest your own territory?"


    "You mean the Prince''s fiefdom?" Mo Jiuye felt that was somewhat unthinkable. Not to mention that he had never considered this before, even in the great Da Shun empire, no prince of a different surname, let alone a prince of the royal family, had ever been granted a fief.


    Though He Zhiran was not a native of this ce, she understood from the history she learned that since the founding of the Da Shun dynasty, no prince had ever been granted a fief.


    Even the once famous Prince Yong''an had never received such an honor.


    "Husband, think about it. Our Mo family now lives peacefully in the Northwest, with nock of silver or ways to earn it. But what is the one thing weck?"


    This was undeniable, and Mo Jiuye would not evade this answer.


    At the same time, he also thought of many issues, such as those He Zhiran had just considered.


    "Zhiran, do you mean that if my Mo family returns to the imperial court, the condition is to have our own fiefdom?"


    What He Zhiran found most gratifying about marrying Mo Jiuye was that he understood her, understood what she was thinking, and could see right through her.


    "This is what I was thinking..."


    He Zhiranid out her thoughts and then looked at Mo Jiuye.


    She was not demanding that Mo Jiuye follow her suggestion, but rather giving him the full decision-making power.


    If Mo Jiuye was still unwilling, she would not persuade him further.


    Mo Jiuye did not answer immediately, but fell into thought. After a long while, he finally spoke:


    "Zhiran, do you think Emperor Shunwu would agree to our request?"


    On this point, He Zhiran was quite confident. Moreover, if Emperor Shunwu did not agree, they could simply return to the Northwest and continue living as ordinary citizens.


    "You should understand court politics better than I do. Now it seems the Barbarians are invading, but think about the Southern Territory - they have always coveted thends of Da Shun. If they hear that the Barbarians are attacking Da Shun, how could they not seize this opportunity to attack Da Shun from both sides along with the Barbarians?


    Emperor Shunwu is deluded and may not think that far ahead, but Nan Yu is different. He has great foresight, so how could he not understand the stakes involved?


    Once the Barbarians and the Southern Territory attack Da Shun together, Da Shun will be caught between two enemies with no capable general to lead the three armies. The consequences for Da Shun then would be self-evident.


    If you agree to my suggestion, when we meet Nan Yuter, I will propose the condition for the Mo family''s return to the imperial court. If he disagrees, I will also exin the future risks and benefits.


    I simply do not believe that with Nan Yu''s shrewdness, he would fail to weigh the gains and losses in this.


    Moreover, carving out the western territory as our fief does not require Emperor Shunwu to cedend - on the surface, the Northwest would still be under Da Shun''s jurisdiction.


    The only difference is that there would be a new master to bring new life to that region.


    With our own fief, we could also legitimately raise troops, and no one could object.


    Besides, we have no intention of betraying Da Shun - we only want to provide more security for our own family''s livelihood.


    Of course, over time, this could also provoke some resentment from those in power.


    However, even if there is resentment, it is likely a matter for years toe.


    By then, our wings will have fully spread, and moreover, we possess bombs - weapons of extreme destructive power. No matter who it is, if they try to move against the Mo family, they will likely meet a disastrous end."


    He Zhiran''s meaning was clear - the Mo family only wants to live peacefully. As long as the rulers do not engage in any inhumane acts, the Mo family would not do anything to threaten Da Shun.


    But if the imperial court harbors any ill intentions, by then the Mo family''s wings will have fully spread. Even if they rebel against Da Shun, what does it matter?


    Of course, this was only a way out that He Zhiran had considered. In her and Mo Jiuye''s minds, they had never nned on rebelling.


    However, everyone has a bottom line, and theirs was that the imperial court must not have any ill intentions toward the Mo family.


    As long as no one crosses that line, they will choose to live peacefully in the Northwest, and could even serve as an important barrier against the invading Barbarians.


    Mo Jiuye felt more and more that He Zhiran made sense.


    "If so, let usy it out frankly with Nan Yu. In any case, we must take an attitude of not being overly demanding."


    Of course, He Zhiran had never intended to be overly demanding either.


    "Good, let''s go find him now."


    When Nan Yu saw the two return, he felt an overwhelming sense of excitement.


    "Lord Mo, Lady Mo, have you agreed?"


    "Third Prince, we can consider this matter, but on the condition that you agree to one thing."


    "Whatever the condition is, just say it. Don''t say one condition - even if it''s ten, I''ll agree as long as youe back."


    For the first time in front of them, Nan Yu was not calm and collected, showing just how eager he was to recruit talents.


    Mo Jiuye smiled faintly, "I won''t beat around the bush with the Third Prince, and there is only one condition.


    Earlier the Third Prince said that if my Mo family returns to the imperial court, you would grant me a princely title.


    I have no objection to that, but the premise is that I intend to have the Northwest region as my fief. As long as you meet this requirement, the father and sons of the Mo family will immediately take up arms."


    At this point, with Nan Yu poised to take power, Mo Jiuye decided not to conceal from him that all the Mo men were alive.


    Requesting the Northwest as a fief was something he was already quite confident Nan Yu would agree to, before even asking.


    Since that was the case, it was better to let Nan Yu know early that the Mo family''s father and sons were all alive, to show his sincerity.


    Hearing this, Nan Yu was indeed shaken.


    If it was just that a few of Mo Jiuye''s brothers had died and been revived, Nan Yu was somewhat aware of that. But what did Mo Jiuye just say?


    He said the father and sons of the Mo family would take up arms.


    What did that represent?


    It meant that even the old Lord Mo was still alive.


    This seemed almost unthinkable.


    After a moment of hesitation, Nan Yu could not help but ask:


    "Lord Mo, what did you mean when you said the father and sons of the Mo family would take up arms?"


    Since Mo Jiuye had chosen to reveal this, he had no intention of concealing it.


    He briefly recounted how all the Mo men were alive, and how they had found each other.


    After hearing this, Nan Yu truly felt sympathy for the Mo family''s ordeal.


    "I didn''t expect that the loyal and righteous Mo family would suffer so much."

 Chapter 544: Nan Yu’s Test

    <h4>Chapter 544</h4>


    If Nan Yu had uttered these words earlier, Mo Jiuye would have reacted with righteous indignation.


    But as time passed, he had grown indifferent to many things. Regardless, his Mo Family was all present and ounted for, together and whole. This was Heaven''s favor upon the Mo Family, and he was content that they were able to reunite as a family.


    After learning of the Mo Family''stest situation, Nan Yu did not dwell excessively on the matter. Regardless, in his view, Zhongliang should have a good ending.


    His thoughts turned back to the matter of the Mo Family returning to court.


    "Does the Ninth Young Master intend to remain in the Northwest?"


    "Why would it be undesirable for my Mo Family to stay in the Northwest? The Northwest is the key to Da Shun''s control over the Barbarians. With my Mo Family there, the imperial court will never have to worry about harassment from the Barbarians."


    Even without Mo Jiuye saying it, Nan Yu could understand this point.


    The turmoil in Da Shun mostly came from the Barbarians and the Southern Territories.


    Because Da Shun''s hatred for the Southern Territories was far deeper than that for the Barbarians, Nan Yu had the idea ofpletely eradicating the Southern Territories and the Barbarians after regaining his ancestry, as this was the only way to prevent future troubles.


    Da Shun appeared to be a prosperous and powerful nation on the surface, but after Nan Yu took control, he discovered that the country was merely an empty shell, especially with the national treasury having been looted clean by ''thieves''...


    To investigate the whereabouts of the treasury''s wealth, Nan Yu had not spared efforts on interrogating the Xue Family, but ultimately failed to uncover its location, leaving this matter unresolved.


    Based on these circumstances, if the Southern Territories took advantage of the Barbarians'' attack on Da Shun to make a move, Da Shun would likely be unable to maintain its current state.


    If Nan Yu followed Mo Jiuye''s suggestion and the Mo Family permanently guarded Da Shun''s western borders, they could not only defend the west, but also preemptively monitor any movements from the Southern Territories.


    Although Nan Yu had just taken over, he understood clearly that the external enemies had schemed for so many years without conquering a single city of Da Shun, entirely due to the Mo Family''s men steadfastly guarding the borders for years.


    No matter how dire the situation, Nan Yu firmly believed that as long as the Mo Family garrisoned the borders, the reign of Da Shun would remain peaceful.


    Moreover, Nan Yu unconditionally trusted the Mo Family and had never doubted their loyalty.


    Although Nan Yu did not reject the conditions proposed by Mo Jiuye, as a leader, he could not appear too easy in epting them.


    Furthermore, he also hoped the Mo Family could help deal with potential troubles from the Southern Territories.


    For Nan Yu, this was the opportune time to state his own conditions.


    "There is no issue with the conditions proposed by the Ninth Young Master and Lady He Zhiran. I will personally report the matter to the Emperorter, but..."


    He deliberately hesitated, making it seem as though he was facing difficulties.


    Mo Jiuye knew that the conditions he proposed might pose some challenges for Nan Yu. Although Nan Yu had taken control of most affairs in Da Shun, he had only recently returned to court. For such a significant matter, it was already generous of Nan Yu to agree so readily.


    If the other party had any difficulties, Mo Jiuye could make some concessions as a gesture of friendship.


    However, He Zhiran''s perception differed from Mo Jiuye''s. She immediately saw through Nan Yu''s little scheme.


    Before Mo Jiuye could speak, she interjected: "Is the Third Prince nning to have the Mo Family send someone to help defend the southern borders? This way, when you propose this matter to the Emperor, it will be more persuasive?"


    Having his intentions exposed, Nan Yu was understandably a little embarrassed. Since the matter had been brought to light by He Zhiran, he was not the type to beat around the bush.


    "Indeed, I had such thoughts. I believe the two of you are aware of the current situation in court. On the battlefield, there are no suitablemanders avable.


    Although there have been no reports of the Southern Territories taking military action yet, it is only a matter of time.


    In other words, Da Shun will eventually face enemies on both fronts, and to resolve this predicament, I can only ce my hopes on the Mo Family."


    He paused and exined:


    "I know this is asking too much. The fact that the Ninth Young Master has agreed to return to court is already a great honor for me. But you also understand my current situation. The Emperor still values me to some extent, having entrusted me with an important task upon regaining my ancestry. Under such circumstances, I must give my full efforts.


    In other words, whether I can preserve Da Shun''s territory this time is a test for me. If I fail, I may lose the chance to assume that position."


    Nan Yu''s words were candid and sincere, even openly expressing his desire for that position without the slightest concealment.


    Perhaps this was his genuine attitude towards those he recognized and acknowledged.


    What Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran appreciated most about Nan Yu was that he did not lose his true character due to his status, whether as an emperor or amoner.


    Even if Nan Yu did not mention it, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had already considered this matter.


    Since the Mo Family chose to return to court, they would certainly not remain detached from everything, especially since they also regarded Nan Yu as a close friend.


    Based on He Zhiran''s understanding of history, during Nan Yu''s reign, he not only governed the country into a powerful state but was also praised by all as a benevolent and righteous emperor.


    Even if Mo Jiuye did not consider anything else, he would lend a hand for the sake of his friendship with Nan Yu.


    Moreover, the Mo Family had already produced a considerable number of bombs. When defending the borders, as long as they had bombs, they would not have to worry too much about casualties.


    Not only that, but with the Mo Family bringing bombs to the battlefield, the war would undoubtedly be swiftly resolved with an unstoppable force, requiring little time.


    Furthermore, the Mo Family harbored deep hatred towards the Southern Territories. The suffering endured by the Mo Family men, whether directly or indirectly, was all rted to the Southern Territories.


    It could be said that the Southern Territories were the Mo Family''s greatest enemy.


    Even for the sake of avenging the suffering inflicted upon their fathers and brothers, the Mo Family would join the fight against the Southern Territories without hesitation, let alone now that they had a legitimate opportunity.


    There was also the matter of the bombs being revealed, which Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had discussed beforehand.


    Once the Mo Family gained the Northwest as their territory, over time, people with ill intentions might be resentful.


    However, if others knew that the Mo Family possessed a special and extremely powerful weapon, it would be different. Anyone harboring ill intentions towards the Mo Family would have to consider their own position, even Nan Yu himself!


    Seeing Nan Yu''s candor, Mo Jiuye decided not to beat around the bush either.


    "The Third Prince''s request is something my Mo Family can consider, but the prerequisite is to see the imperial court''s sincerity towards my Mo Family."


    The implication was clear - they demanded that the imperial court settle the matters of imperial titles and territories first. Once the Mo Family obtained these, they would immediately take action.

 Chapter 545: The Royal Family is in trouble.

    <h4>Chapter 545</h4>


    There was no need for Mo Jiuye to say anything - Nan Yu had already nned to do this.


    "Good, I will immediately enter the pce and make arrangements for this matter."


    He did not say that he would immediately enter the pce to report this to the Emperor Shunwu. Instead, he was making it clear to Mo Jiuye that this matter had already been settled on his end, and all they needed to do was wait patiently for the news.


    Nan Yu worked with great efficiency. The next day, right after the morning court session had ended, Minister Hao returned with new information.


    No one knew how Nan Yu had presented this matter to Emperor Shunwu, but today at the morning court session, the Emperor directly issued an edict topletely exonerate the Mo family of all injustice. In front of the assembled civil and military officials, he admitted that he had initially exiled the Mo family to the northwest at the instigation of nderous petty people, causing the entire Mo family to suffer grievances for a whole year.


    It was clear to anyone with eyes that Emperor Shunwu was expressing his apology to the Mo family in front of the civil and military officials.


    Not only that, but the Emperor also issued an edict conferring the title of King of Defending the West on Mo Jiuye, and granting the western territories as his fief.


    The title of King of Defending the West was hereditary, and Nan Yu had also mentioned that there were other living male descendants of the Mo family besides Mo Jiuye.


    This edict of investiture specifically stated that there was only one position of the King of Defending the West, and whichever male descendant of the Mo family wished to assume the position could request an imperial decree to change the title holder.


    At the same time, Emperor Shunwu issued an edict instructing Mo Jiuye to personally arrange for the male descendants of the Mo family to immediately take up arms and join the battle, without needing toe to the capital city to pay homage.


    When this edict was issued, the entire court of civil and military officials was shocked beyond belief.


    This was truly unprecedented since the founding of the Da Shun dynasty.


    During the founding of Da Shun, there had indeed been a king of a different surname, but that was because the individual had fought alongside the founding ancestor to establish the Da Shun realm.


    Even so, the Prince Yong''an had never been granted a fief.


    And now, regarding the Mo family, who had been exiled to the northwest justst year and whose members had gradually faded from the view of these officials, the unexpected had happened. Not only did the Emperor exonerate the Mo family of their crimes, but he even publicly stated that it was because he had listened to the nders of petty people that the Mo family was wrongfully exiled.


    This was truly the first time in the history of any dynasty that an Emperor had openly admitted such a thing.


    Even more astonishing was that Emperor Shunwu immediately conferred the title of King of Defending the West on Mo Jiuye.


    Although the Mo father and son had made contributions on the battlefield for Da Shun, there was no reason to grant them a royal title just like that.


    For a time, the entire hall was filled with heated discussions, and some even voiced objections.


    However, they were all angrily rebuked by Emperor Shunwu.


    The officials had never seen Emperor Shunwu so unyielding before, and they also realized one thing - the fact that Mo Jiuye had been granted the title of King of Defending the West could not be changed in the slightest.


    Before the Emperor ordered the edict to be read out, Nan Yu had anticipated that there might be people who would object, and had considered what his father would do if he backed down in such a situation.


    However, he had never expected that his usually soft-hearted father would be so resolute today.


    Regardless, things were developing ording to his expectations, which was a good thing for Nan Yu.


    Furthermore, Emperor Shunwu also revealed a major incident in front of the assembled civil and military officials today.


    The Jade Seal had been lost!


    He had personally hidden the Jade Seal in the secret passage leading from the National Treasury to the outside. That passage was a newly constructed entrance, and after its construction waspleted, he had ordered it to be sealed. In theory, no one should have been able to discover that ce.


    Yet somehow, someone had found it. Not only that, but the treasures in the National Treasury had once again gone missing, leaving Emperor Shunwu utterly perplexed.


    The reason he dared to publicly reveal the loss of the Jade Seal was also due to a suggestion from Nan Yu.


    After all, he had been an Emperor for several decades, and even without the Jade Seal, he would not face the same kind of questions about the legitimacy of his rule as the Empress''s party would.


    On the other hand, he also hoped that more people woulde forward to help search for the whereabouts of the Jade Seal.


    At that moment, someone came to report that a wandering Daoist priest was seeking an audience with the Emperor at the pce gates.


    It was well known that Emperor Shunwu believed in Daoism, and he naturally would not refuse an audience with a Daoist priest.


    In front of the assembled civil and military officials, the wandering Daoist priest named Yuan Qing was brought into the main hall.


    Yuan Qing wore a gray Daoist robe, with white eyebrows and a beard, exuding an aura of immortal wisdom. Upon seeing him, Emperor Shunwu naturally felt a sense of reverence.


    After inquiring, it was learned that Yuan Qing had been cultivating at Immortal Wind Mountain in Da Shun. Recently, while observing the celestial phenomena, he noticed that the Purple Apogee Star was flickering, from which he deduced that the imperial household might be facing trouble.


    Apart from trouble, the flickering of the Purple Apogee Star also signified the birth of a new Emperor.


    Before today, no one knew better than Emperor Shunwu that the imperial household was indeed facing trouble.


    The loss of the Jade Seal was no small matter - it was definitely a major problem for the imperial household.


    What others did not know was that Emperor Shunwu had already considered abdicating in favor of Nan Yu.


    When Yuan Qing said that the flickering of the Purple Apogee Star indicated the birth of a new Emperor, he was likely referring to this matter.


    Based on these two things, Emperor Shunwu waspletely convinced by Yuan Qing''s words.


    In front of the assembled civil and military officials, Emperor Shunwu asked Yuan Qing how to resolve the current troubles, but did not inquire about the matter of the new Emperor.


    After calcting with his fingers for a while, Yuan Qing advised Emperor Shunwu to set up a divine altar in the capital city before the midnight hour tonight.


    Since the Purple Apogee Star had emerged, Da Shun was about to have a new Emperor, who would be an enlightened ruler in history and bring Da Shun to unprecedented heights.


    Of course, the identity of this new Emperor would definitely be of the legitimate imperial bloodline.


    He suggested that Emperor Shunwu ce the names of all those eligible to seed the throne on the divine altar, and pray devoutly for the Daoist ancestor to show them the way.


    Following his instructions, as long as the Emperor was sincere, he guaranteed that by the next morning, the imperial household''s troubles would bepletely resolved, and the new Emperor would also naturally emerge in ordance with Heaven''s will.


    Emperor Shunwu waspletely convinced, and immediately ordered the court to be dismissed, inviting Yuan Qing to guide him in personally constructing the divine altar.


    Although Emperor Shunwu believed in such things, some of the court officials did not.


    However, all of them were well aware of Emperor Shunwu''s temperament, and even if they felt this was utterly absurd, no one dared to speak out against it!


    In fact, no one knew that this Daoist priest Yuan Qing had also been sent by Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran to meet Emperor Shunwu in the pce.


    A few days earlier, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, feeling bored at Minister Hao''s residence, had decided to disguise themselves and take a stroll outside the capital city.


    On that day, as they were leaving the city, they encountered the wandering Daoist priest Yuan Qing on the road.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were disguised as a merchant couple who had just arrived in the capital city that day. Not long after leaving the city, they met the parents of Goudan, whom He Zhiran had previously saved.


    Mother of Goudan immediately recognized He Zhiran as the one who had saved her son''s life, and sincerely expressed her gratitude.

 Chapter 546: Daishun’s Fate Will Change from now on.

    <h4>Chapter 546</h4>


    This action caught the attention of the Taoist priest Yuan Qing.


    Although He Zhiran had made some changes to her makeup, a cultivator like him only looked at one''s bone structure.


    After seeing He Zhiran''s facial bones, Yuan Qing was shocked for a long time.


    By the time he recovered, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had already walked far away.


    When Yuan Qing caught up with them, he observed He Zhiran''s facial features again, which naturally aroused Mo Jiuye''s dislike, and he warned Yuan Qing.


    In a hurry, Yuan Qing said, "No wonder... No wonder... The fate of Da Shun will change from now on!"


    This statement made Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran feel a bit bewildered.


    No one knew better than this couple that this period of history had indeed undergone many changes from what was recorded in the books.


    He Zhiran tentatively asked, "May I ask why the Taoist priest said so?"


    Yuan Qing stroked his gray beard andughed loudly, "This poor monk has only one hobby, which is observing the stars at night.


    Through observation, this poor monk found that the fate of Da Shun has changed, and it is changing in a good direction.


    And the one leading all this is a woman.


    Just now, this poor monk observed the benefactor''s facial features, and now I can confirm that the benefactor is the one changing everything."


    Being seen through, He Zhiran was nervous, but she couldn''t admit anything to a stranger.


    "The Taoist priest must have mistaken me for someone else. I am just an ordinary woman. How could I change any fate as you said?"


    Yuan Qing just smiled slightly and said to himself.


    "No matter what the benefactor thinks, this poor monk wants to thank you on behalf of themon people of Da Shun."


    Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran and turned to leave, "The Taoist priest must have mistaken us for someone else. We are just ordinary people, not the ones who change the fate of Da Shun as you said."


    Seeing them about to leave, Yuan Qing did not stop them butughed loudly and said a few words.


    "A thousand-year soul, a thousand-year treasure appearing in my Da Shun, is indeed a blessing for Da Shun and its people... Ah ha ha ha..."


    After these words, Yuan Qing left, but He Zhiran stopped in her tracks.


    Perhaps Mo Jiuye could not fully understand what Yuan Qing said, but He Zhiran could not fail to understand the meaning of his words.


    A thousand-year soul, wasn''t she a strand of soul from a thousand yearster?


    A thousand-year treasure, he must be referring to her extraordinary space.


    "Taoist priest, please stay."


    He Zhiran called out to Yuan Qing.


    Yuan Qing turned around with a smile.


    "Does the benefactor wish to have a chat with this old monk?"


    "There are indeed many things I would like to ask the Taoist priest." He Zhiran pointed to a pavilion nearby, intending to go there to resolve her doubts.


    It was as if Yuan Qing had expected He Zhiran to chat with him, as he did not wait for her to finish speaking before heading towards the pavilion with big strides.


    Aside from her identity as a time traveler, He Zhiran had not concealed anything from Mo Jiuye.


    She had considered revealing this to Mo Jiuye, but had never found a suitable opportunity.


    Now that she had been seen through by the Taoist priest, He Zhiran decided to let Mo Jiuye understand her better.


    The three of them arrived at the pavilion one after another. He Zhiran stared at Yuan Qing, waiting for him to speak first.


    Yuan Qing first nced at Mo Jiuye, clearly asking He Zhiran if it was appropriate to say such things in front of an outsider.


    "Taoist priest, please feel at ease. My husband is a trustworthy person," He Zhiran immediately exined.


    Yuan Qing then noticed Mo Jiuye and was equally stunned as when he saw He Zhiran.


    He then smiled, "No wonder... Marvelous... Marvelous..."


    Now it was Mo Jiuye''s turn to be confused.


    "What does the Taoist priest mean by this?"


    Yuan Qing had no intention of beating around the bush, "It is marvelous that a person who should have died is still alive."


    Now Mo Jiuye understood what was going on.


    On his wedding day, if his wife had not advised him, he might have lost half his life when he returned to the pce.


    If it weren''t for his wife, he might have died on the road to exile long ago.


    Yuan Qing continued, "Not only you, there are probably many others who should have died but are still alive. No wonder the celestial signs have changed, and the root cause lies here."


    "Does the great master mean to say that these people who should have died but are still alive have changed the situation in Da Shun?" He Zhiran inquired.


    "The fate of Da Shun hase to an end. Three yearster, a wise ruler will rise and change dynasties. But perhaps you are unaware that because of your presence, all of this has been changed.


    The wise ruler can ascend the throne earlier and continue the legacy of Da Shun, sparing the people from the suffering of war."


    After this, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had no more doubts.


    They both knew this period of history, and it had indeed undergone many changes due to He Zhiran''s arrival.


    It was clear that Yuan Qing indeed had true abilities.


    Before Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could react, Yuan Qing continued:


    "In fact, this poor monk is also very curious about what the world will be like a thousand years from now."


    He Zhiran had already nned to reveal her identity to Mo Jiuye, so she answered without any concealment:


    "A thousand years from now, men and women are equal, and there is no longer a concept of male superiority over females. Everyone relies on their own hands to support themselves.


    Farming is done by machines, not onlypletely freeing human hands but also being highly efficient.


    People there no longer go hungry orck clothing. When natural disasters ur, people voluntarily go to provide aid.


    Regardless of gender, everyone receives nine years ofpulsory education after the age of six, ensuring that everyone is literate.


    A thousand years from now, advanced medical care has greatly reduced the human mortality rate..."


    Describing her previous world, He Zhiran went on and on, expressing it in such a way that made one feel as if they were there.


    To Mo Jiuye, none of what He Zhiran said was unfamiliar, as he had carefully studied the strange objects in her space and the Taobao Mall, which He Zhiran had never concealed were products of a thousand years in the future.


    However, he didn''t expect that He Zhiran could talk about so many things that couldn''t be seen in her space. Where did she learn all this?


    Seeing his dazed expression, He Zhiran exined, "Just now, the Taoist priest mentioned a ''thousand-year soul.'' Do you know what he meant by that, husband?"


    Asked this question, Mo Jiuye seemed to have guessed something.


    But he still couldn''t help but want to confirm, "What does it mean?"


    "The original owner of this body has passed away, and I am a strand of soul from a thousand years in the future that has possessed this body..."


    He Zhiran revealed all the details of her soul transmigration without reservation in front of the two men.


    "Husband, now you should know why I know so many things that don''t exist here, and why my medical skills for healing and saving people were learned in the world a thousand years from now."

 Chapter 547: Ask the Emperor to obey the Will of Heaven.

    <h4>Chapter 547</h4>


    I thought that after saying all of this, Mo Jiuye would ponder for a while, after all, this matter was too incredible to be believed.


    However, Mo Jiuye did not. He tightly grasped He Zhiran''s hand.


    "Ran Ran, I understand now. You must be the celestial being arranged by the heavens toe here and save the Mo Family and me, right?"


    He Zhiran dared not ept the title of celestial being, but her arrival had indeed saved the entire Mo Family, which was undeniable.


    "My lord, don''t forget that I am also a member of the Mo Family. How could I stand idly by when my own family is in trouble? This has nothing to do with whether I''m a celestial being or not."


    He Zhiran had originally been worried that after telling the truth, Mo Jiuye would think she was a ghost. Instead, he had directly defined her as a celestial being.


    Regardless, He Zhiran had finally managed to bepletely honest with Mo Jiuye. When facing him now, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief.


    After chatting with Daoist Priest Yuan Qing for a while, they learned that he had specially rushed to the Capital city.


    His purpose ining to the Capital city was to guide Emperor Shunwu, hoping that Emperor Shunwu would follow the will of Heaven.


    Mo Jiuye was quite familiar with Emperor Shunwu. It was no secret that he believed in Daoism, so Daoist Priest Yuan Qing would certainly seed in meeting him.


    Moreover, after interacting with Daoist Priest Yuan Qing, Mo Jiuye clearly understood that the other was not some chatan Daoist who would deceive others, but a true master beyond the mortal world. The words he spoke were logical and well-grounded, and Emperor Shunwu would definitely listen to him.


    He nned to take this opportunity to help push things along, allowing Nan Yu to ascend to that position sooner.


    It had to be said that Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were truly kindred spirits, as they were both thinking of the same thing at that moment.


    "Master, since you have already predicted the emergence of the enlightened ruler, how about lending a hand to help push things along during this visit?" He Zhiran earnestly asked.


    "What does the patron wish for this poor Daoist to do?" Daoist Priest Yuan Qing asked with great interest.


    He Zhiran spoke her thoughts. She firmly believed that by doing so, the path for Nan Yu''s ascension would be smoother.


    She did this partly out of consideration for their friendship, but also for the sake of themon people. Only with Nan Yu truly bing the master of Da Shun could the people enjoy better days sooner.


    Moreover, it would not be long before the men of the Mo Family would once again take up arms. With Nan Yu''s direct support, it would be better than having to seek approval from Emperor Shunwu for everything.


    Daoist Priest Yuan Qing agreed to He Zhiran''s proposal without hesitation, as it was only a small effort for him as long as it did not go against the will of Heaven.


    ...


    After a long discussion with Daoist Priest Yuan Qing, Emperor Shunwu became even more convinced by his words. That very day, he personally led people to rush to the central part of the Capital city to construct an altar for sacrificial rites.


    The altar was no different from thosemonly seen, except that there were no offerings ced on it. Instead, scrolls with the names of the three princes were ced there.


    Three scrolls, each bearing the names of Nan Rui, Nan Yu, and the fourth prince, Nan Jin, were arranged on the altar by Daoist Priest Yuan Qing in order of their ages, from left to right.


    Apart from this, all the candles and other items needed for the sacrificial rites were also properly arranged, waiting for the hour of Zi to arrive so that he could perform the ritual prayer.


    Finally, the hour of Zi arrived, but the night sky was not cooperative. Not only were there no stars, even the moon was obscured by dark clouds.


    Countless pce maids heldnterns to provide light around Emperor Shunwu, but he was still some distance away from the altar, causing the area around the altar to remain pitch ck.


    A momentter, points of light appeared at the location of the altar, as Daoist Priest Yuan Qing had lit a talisman paper.


    The talisman paper, with its fiery light, began to trace a path in the night sky following Daoist Priest Yuan Qing''s incantations.


    Just as everyone held their breath, waiting for his next move, flickering lights appeared in the dark night sky.


    He Zhiran, from a distance, operated an unmanned aerial vehicle that slowly flew towards the altar. Soon, the lights arrived near the altar.


    Perhaps to avoid suspicion, Daoist Priest Yuan Qing also swiftly moved to stand beside Emperor Shunwu, observing the scene together with him.


    Everyone''s gaze was fixed on those lights, and although they could not see clearly, they all knew that it was the location of the altar.


    The small points of light hovered around the scrolls bearing the names of the princes for a few circles before slowly rising into the air, much to everyone''s astonishment.


    Before the lightspletely disappeared, they heard Daoist Priest Yuan Qing exim loudly, "This is truly the will of Heaven... The will of Heaven has truly descended..."


    Emperor Shunwu had a look of bewilderment.


    "Please exin what you mean, Daoist Priest. What is the meaning of those lights, and where did theye from?"


    The following lines were all taught by He Zhiran, and Daoist Priest Yuan Qing had recited them several times in order to perform this act well.


    "Your Majesty, today the sky is obscured by dark clouds, and we cannot see any stars or constetions. It must be the Purple Apogee Star itself descending to the mortal realm as an omen for the ascension of the enlightened ruler and the rise of Da Shun..."


    Emperor Shunwu was absolutely convinced by Daoist Priest Yuan Qing''s words.


    The Purple Apogee Star descending to the mortal realm was something he had witnessed with his own eyes. The flickering lights that had just descended from the heavens, if not stars, what else could they be?


    "Are you saying, Daoist Priest, that the enlightened ruler you spoke of has been revealed?"


    Daoist Priest Yuan Qing continued the act, his face showing delight as he stroked his beard and pointed towards the altar, saying, "If Your Majesty moves closer to take a look, you will know the result."


    Emperor Shunwu had been eager to go and see for himself, but without Daoist Priest Yuan Qing''s prompting, he did not dare act rashly, fearing offending the celestial beings.


    As soon as Daoist Priest Yuan Qing finished speaking, Emperor Shunwu summoned the princes and officials to head towards the altar for inspection.


    With the Emperor taking action, the servants holdingnterns naturally followed closely.


    By the time Emperor Shunwu reached the area near the altar, it was no longer pitch ck and impossible to see anything.


    Although the light could not be described as bright as day, it was still easy to see everything before them.


    Emperor Shunwu immediately noticed the object wrapped in a yellow silk cloth on the altar.


    This object was all too familiar to him.


    "This... this is the Jade Seal..."


    Not only was Emperor Shunwu shocked, but the officials apanying him were also stunned.


    The loss of the Jade Seal had already caused a stir throughout the Capital city, but they never expected the lost object to reappear so easily.


    And moreover, it was delivered by the Purple Apogee Star...


    This was simply too shocking.


    Soon, someone knelt down.


    "Your Majesty, the lost Jade Seal has been recovered, and it is ced on top of the scrolls bearing the names of the princes. This is the will of Heaven!"


    One by one, more people knelt down, simultaneously eximing, "Please follow the will of Heaven, Your Majesty..."


    "Please follow the will of Heaven!"


    Although they said "please follow the will of Heaven," which sounded polite, anyone could hear that these people were actually hoping Emperor Shunwu would voluntarily abdicate in favor of the enlightened ruler.


    One would have thought that Emperor Shunwu would be enraged by this, for their actions were tantamount to forcing him to abdicate. Today, they dared to act in this manner because they believed they would not be held ountable for acting as a group.

 Chapter 548: Congratulations to the Third Emperor

    <h4>Chapter 548</h4>


    Who would have thought that Emperor Shunwu would act in apletely different manner today.


    He did not ask those ministers to rise, nor did he disy the anticipated rage. Instead, he took thentern from the pce maid beside him and strode toward the altar.


    Nan Rui and Nan Yu followed suit, takingnterns from the pce maids as well.


    The three scrolls bearing the names of the princes had been ced on the altar by Emperor Shunwu himself. Unless someone had deliberately altered their positions, they would not be misced.


    The Jade Seal was ced at the center, right on top of the scroll bearing Nan Yu''s name.


    Emperor Shunwu eagerly picked up the Jade Seal, but instead of inspecting it immediately, he kept staring at the scroll beneath it.


    Everyone present could clearly see that the scroll bore Nan Yu''s name, written by Emperor Shunwu himself.


    Emperor Shunwu stared at Nan Yu for a long while.


    No matter how ipetent and tyrannical he might be, as the ruler of an era, his piercing gaze exerted an invisible pressure on Nan Yu.


    Just as Nan Yu was about to speak, Emperor Shunwu burst into a heartyugh.


    "Hahaha... Heaven has not forsaken me, allowing me to witness a wise ruler who can seed the throne in my lifetime."


    As he spoke, he pped Nan Yu''s shoulder heavily with hisrge hand.


    "Since this is the will of Heaven, how could one defy it?


    Today, I hereby proim the Third Prince Nan Yu as the Crown Prince. Three days from now, I shall officially abdicate in his favor and be a Retired Emperor, peacefully enjoying my remaining years without concerning myself with state affairs."


    These words stunned the entire court of civil and military officials.


    Throughout history, no emperor had ever willingly abdicated while still hale and hearty, especially Emperor Shunwu, who was notorious for his ipetence and disregard for the people''s welfare.


    Even if today''s events were the will of Heaven, his actions were beyond everyone''s expectations.


    Nan Yu was indeed interested in the throne, but he had not expected to inherit it so soon, as he had only recently acknowledged his heritage, and his father''s health had not yet deteriorated to the point of necessitating abdication.


    He had merely hoped to secure the position of Crown Prince and gain political power, knowing that the throne would eventually be his.


    Little did he expect his father to make such an unexpected move today.


    "Father Emperor, you are in good health, and there is no need to abdicate. Your son is still young and in need of learning the ways of governing from you."


    Emperor Shunwu waved his hand dismissively, his tone resolute: "I must follow the will of Heaven. This matter is not up for discussion."


    With a single sentence, Emperor Shunwu silenced the ministers who had been about to speak.


    Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Daoist Priest Yuan Qing bade farewell to Emperor Shunwu and prepared to leave. Before departing, he cast an appreciative nce at Nan Yu and bowed respectfully.


    "May blessings be bestowed upon themon people..."


    As his words trailed off, Yuan Qing waved his duster, and its long tassels swayed as he left.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, who had been hiding in the shadows, had achieved their desired oue. They also returned to the Minister''s Residence under the moonlight.


    This was the way He Zhiran had enlisted Yuan Qing''s assistance.


    Originally, Yuan Qing had only intended to advise Emperor Shunwu, with no ns to construct an altar or the like. However, upon learning that the Jade Seal was in He Zhiran''s possession, he saw it as the greatest aid to the will of Heaven, as he perceived it.


    Thus, he did not hesitate to agree to He Zhiran''s request, and their cooperation was seamless, allowing the Jade Seal to appear before everyone in the most advantageous manner.


    What Nan Yu had gained today was an unexpected stroke of luck for him.


    After seeing Emperor Shunwu back to the pce, Nan Rui congratted him wholeheartedly, and the brothers decided to share the good news with Mo Jiuye.


    He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye had just been about to enter their space to rest when they heard Minister Hao''s voice.


    Since they hade to the Capital city under concealed identities, Minister Hao had specifically instructed that no one was allowed near their residence. Even if the two princes were to visit, he would personally escort them inside.


    Minister Hao felt quite moved by the day''s events and had initially intended to discuss them with the others. However, considering that the young people might find an old man''s presence intrusive, he wisely took his leave.


    Nan Yu was particrly excited that day, as he had never dreamed that his greatest goal would be achieved so effortlessly.


    Upon seeing Mo Jiuye, Nan Yu made no attempt to hide his emotions and let out a heartyugh.


    "Hahaha... Ninth Duke, I never expected things to go even more smoothly than I had anticipated. You must have heard from Minister Hao: Heaven has truly favored me."


    Mo Jiuye sped his hands in a salute: "Congrattions, Your Highness the Crown Prince."


    Nan Rui smiled contentedly as he watched the scene unfold. Although his ability to assist the Mo family during this visit to the Capital city was limited, he had still managed to help them to some extent and had gained a close brotherly bond. For him, this journey had been quite fruitful.


    After some friendly banter, Mo Jiuye broached the main topic.


    "Now that matters in the Capital city have been resolved, my wife and I n to depart for the Northwest tomorrow."


    Undoubtedly, even if Mo Jiuye had not mentioned it, Nan Yu would have urged him to return as soon as possible, without wasting a single moment on the road.


    "This matter indeed needs to be addressed urgently. The envoy carrying the imperial decree will set out for the Northwest at first light tomorrow."


    His meaning was clear: the Mo family was currently unaware of the specific situation in the Capital city, including Mo Jiuye''s agreement to return to court. If the envoy arrived in the Northwest and Mo Jiuye was not present, the Mo family would be left bewildered.


    Nan Rui had also been away from the Northwest for a long time and missed Consort De dearly.


    "I n to leave after the Third Prince''s enthronement and the settling of all affairs. Mother has been alone in the Northwest and must miss me terribly. She is elderly now, and in her youth, she never enjoyed much happiness. We should not let her heart remain unsettled in her old age."


    If Nan Rui had not borated so much, Nan Yu would have certainly kept him in the Capital city to assist him.


    He cherished the brotherly bond between them.


    However, he did not wish to prevent his brother from fulfilling his filial duty because of him.


    "It seems the saying in the books is true: emperors of all dynasties ultimately be lonely figures without family."


    Seeing Nan Yu''s mncholic expression, Nan Rui patted his shoulder reassuringly.


    "Have no worries, Third Brother. The friendship between you, me, and Ninth Duke is not mere words: we have gone through hardships together.


    If you ever need us, we wille to your aid without hesitation."


    In fact, when Nan Rui said "we wille to your aid without hesitation," instead of using the singr "I," there was an ulterior motive.


    Apart from his mother, Consort De, Nan Rui had never experienced familial affection from others since childhood. He had a deep yearning for such bonds.


    Although he and Nan Yu were not born of the same mother, they shared a sense of instant kinship.


    Nan Rui''s words were an attempt to help his brother one more time before leaving the Capital city.

 Chapter 549: Surely will keep the Mo family carefree

    <h4>Chapter 549</h4>


    If Mo Jiuye didn''t refute him, it meant the other party had tacitly agreed, which also indirectly indicated Nan Yu''s stance.


    Mo Jiuye indeed didn''t argue back, but his thoughts were not as Nan Rui had imagined.


    The Mo Family had already suffered persecution from the court and couldn''t possibly do anything that might harm their own people for the sake of a little loyalty.


    The reason he didn''t take a stand was that he already had his own ns.


    If Nan Yu truly became the legendary emperor as recorded in history, he believed in his own abilities; even without the Mo Family''s assistance, he would secure that position.


    Moreover, since the Mo Family no longer existed in historical records, in his mind, after resolving the current crisis, the Mo Family was dispensable to Nan Yu.


    And he himself hadn''t forgotten his original intention; bing the Lord of the Western Town, he only hoped the Mo Family could have and of their own.


    Nan Yu also understood the implication in Nan Rui''s words; he also felt that Mo Jiuye''s silence was consent, so he immediately dered his position to show his sincerity.


    "Don''t worry, Lord Jiuye, I, Nan Yu, am as good as my word. As long as I''m here, the Mo Family will be safe and sound."


    Mo Jiuye simply took it as it was; besides ensuring his family''s well-being, he didn''t wish for more.


    Facing a topic he didn''t want to discuss, Mo Jiuye just glossed over it.


    ...


    If it weren''t for the sudden change in circumstances, Mo Jiuye would need to rush back to the northwest to receive orders; he and He Zhiran would have waited until Minister Hao sessfully resigned before returning together.


    But ns changed swiftly, and they had to return now.


    They had the advantage of the Grand G, which would save them a lot of time on the road, but others didn''t know that.


    No matter how one calcted, it would still take them nearly half a month to rush back to the northwest; even for the sake of deception, they had to set off at this time.


    Though it was for the sake of deception, the two still chose the Grand G as their means of transportation.


    On the way, they woulde out of hiding every three days to travel for a night. When they reached impoverished areas, they would provide relief using the funds they had obtained from the treasury.


    Despite deliberately dying their journey, the two arrived in the northwest on the twelfth day after leaving the capital.


    Upon entering the northwest, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran immediately sensed a tense atmosphere.


    The bustling streets were now deserted, with most shop doors locked; only a few remained open, but they were empty, with no business at all.


    The doors of themon folk''s houses were tightly shut as well, asionally one would crack open slightly for a peek outside, then quickly shut again...


    This atmosphere was not unfamiliar to Mo Jiuye; in the border regions where he used to station before his exile, when conflicts broke out, the surrounding popce would be in a simr state.


    At times even worse, where the people would choose to abandon their homes and flee with their loved ones.


    Therefore, judging from the state of the northwestern people, it can be preliminarily concluded that although the war has started here, it has not reached the point of a major enemy invasion, or rather, the barbarian army has not attacked yet.


    However, this situation is not optimistic. If it weren''t for the dire situation of the war, the people wouldn''t have shut themselves indoors like this.


    Anyway, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran returned to the northwest earlier than expected. Even if the envoy sent by Emperor Shunwu is fast, it is estimated that it will take another two days to arrive.


    After discussing with He Zhiran, Mo Jiuye decided to go to the western battlefield to investigate the situation.


    This way, when the imperial decree arrives, he will also have a clear understanding when he is ordered to the battlefield.


    The couple usually dressed as ordinary people, so this time they didn''t change their appearance.


    They headed straight for the northwest border and found that the closer they got to the target location, the fewer people there were.


    Suddenly, Mo Jiuye felt something was wrong and pulled He Zhiran to a stop.


    He Zhiran was also vignt. When Mo Jiuye suddenly stopped him, he must have noticed something.


    Just as she was about to ask, they heard a series of footstepsing from the bushes on the roadside.


    Mo Jiuye was already prepared to act, and he also reminded He Zhiran, "Ranran, hide immediately if there''s danger."


    Before Mo Jiuye could act, two figures quickly leaped out of the bushes.


    Before any confrontation, the neers immediately said, "Ninth Brother, Ninth Sister, why are you here?"


    "Second Brother, Third Brother, what are you doing here?" The couple asked together.


    Third Brother nced around and whispered, "Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister,e with me first. This is not the ce to talk."


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran tacitly remained silent and followed their two elder brothers into the bushes.


    After entering the bushes and walking about a hundred meters, the couple saw a group of about two hundred people in an open space ahead, all looking towards their direction and in a defensive formation.


    It was only then that Third Brother asked, "When did Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister return? Is everything resolved in the capital city?"


    From Mo Yunfeng''s perspective, he and Second Brother had been ambushing here with their men for seven or eight days. He spected that Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran should have already returned to Xi Ling Vige.


    Upon learning that they hade here specifically to check, after hearing about the dire situation in the northwest.


    "We just returned from the capital city. Seeing the situation in the northwest was not good, we nned to take a look before returning to Xi Ling Vige, but we didn''t expect to meet Second Brother and Third Brother here."


    After Mo Jiuye exined, he asked again, "Why did Second Brother and Third Brother bring people to ambush here?"


    "Now that the barbarians have invaded massively, if we don''t stay in the northwest, it''s fine, but here, we can''t just watch the people suffer because of the war.


    After discussing with father and brothers at home, and with everyone''s unanimous consent, we brought a team of people to ambush here.


    "In case the frontier cannot withstand the barbarian onught and they breach through, we can still intercept them here," San Ge said, gesturing towards the empty space where the old troops stood.


    "Father decides, let everyone carry five bombs each. The power of these bombs is undeniable. Despite the small number of arrivals, we can still obstruct the barbarians from entering the city," he continued.


    In truth, Mo Jiuye understood the reasoning without San Ge''s boration. Though disillusioned with the court, the resolve to safeguard peace in the region and ensure the people''s well-being remained unchanged among the men of the Mo Family.


    Each household ounted for one, as surely no one wished to see barbarians breach Da Shun''s borders and oppress the popce.


    Moreover, the Mo Family now resided in the northwest. While Yun Cheng was some distance away, once the barbarians breached through, it was only a matter of time before they reached there."

 Chapter 550: Can the Northwest Really Be a Fiefdom

    <h4>Chapter 550</h4>


    When the time came, the Mo Family would also suffer from the ravages of war.


    Instead of waiting to be ughtered when the Barbarians attacked Yun City, it would be better for them toe and prepare for the defense in advance.


    This way, not only would they guard their own homes, but the surrounding civilians would also be spared from the suffering of war.


    Of course, the Mo Family brothers wouldn''t lead their men to openly engage the Barbarians at the border, but mainly because their current status was quite special and they didn''t want to draw too much attention.


    When He Zhiran initially proposed that Mo Jiuye ept the request from the court to be the King of Defending the West and be granted a fief, he had asked Mo Jiuye if he needed to consult his family.


    Mo Jiuye directly told him there was no need for consultation, as he could make the decision himself.


    He Zhiran found it a bit strange, as Mo Jiuye wasn''t the kind of person to act arbitrarily. Although the Mo Family members supported him taking charge, for such a significant matter, he should at least show some respect to his father, even if he didn''t consult his elder brothers.


    Now she understood clearly that Mo Jiuye knew his family members'' temperaments too well.


    He had already guessed that there would be war in the northwest, and they wouldn''t stand idly by.


    Instead of letting the Mo Family contribute anonymously, it would be better to do it openly and properly.


    Especially since they had suggested to Nan Yu that the northwest should be their fief, which was undoubtedly a great temptation not only for He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye, but for the entire Mo Family as well.


    The Imperial edict would soon reach Xi Ling Vige, and although Mo Jiuye was certain his family would ept it, it was still necessary to give them advance notice.


    "Second Brother, Third Brother, when I arrived in the capital, Emperor Shunwu had already been controlled by the Empress''s faction..."


    Mo Jiuye knew the situation in the capital was also a matter of concern for his two elder brothers, so he recounted in detail the events that had urred there. Of course, he also mentioned that he had agreed to be the King of Defending the West for Nan Yu.


    Initially, when the Second and Third Brothers heard about the fate of the Xue Family, especially that Mo Jiuye had personally punished several of the main culprits, they were itching for revenge, regretting that they hadn''t been determined enough to apany him to the capital. That way, they would have had the opportunity to y their enemies with their own hands.


    Later, when Mo Jiuye mentioned that the Imperial edict granting him the title of King of Defending the West would soon arrive, the two brothers were somewhat surprised.


    Along with the surprise, there was an inexplicable excitement in their hearts.


    This news was indeed shocking for the two brothers. After a long pause, the Second Brother finally asked:


    "Ninth Brother, can the northwest really be granted as a fief?" He shared the same understanding as Mo Jiuye: in the Da Shun Dynasty, not only were there no precedents of enfeoffing those from other surnames, but even the princes with royal bloodlines had never received such treatment. It was no wonder he had such doubts.


    "I had alreadypletely lost faith in the court. If it weren''t for Nan Yu agreeing to grant me the northwest as a fief, I would not have epted his request.


    Now that the Barbarians are invading on arge scale, it is estimated that it won''t be long before the southern regions also send troops. At that time, the Da Shun Dynasty will be caught between two fronts, attacked from both sides.


    Since my ancestors, the Mo Family has taken on the responsibility of defending the nation''s territory. Although we have bepletely disillusioned with the court, when faced with such a situation, we still cannot remain indifferent.


    Instead of secretly ambushing and attacking the Barbarians like the Second and Third Brothers are doing, it''s better to do it openly and above board.


    Especially with the northwest as our fief: on the surface, it appears to be the most barren region of Da Shun, but as everyone saw during the autumn harvest this year, the crops we nted were highly productive. Not to mention, He Zhiran still has many money-making methods at her disposal.


    If it weren''t for the Empress''s faction keeping a close watch on the Mo Family, causing us to be unable to live in peace, we would probably have already established many profitable industries.


    The saying ''A tall tree catches much wind'' is well known to all. We may have the ability and intelligence, but the troubles caused by our business endeavors are not worth it. But with the title of King and a fief, it would be different.


    We can openly develop industries and openly raise troops.


    There would also be no need to hide the fact that my father and brothers have been resurrected."


    In short, Mo Jiuye''s reasoning was sound and logical, and bing the King of Defending the West with a fief had only advantages and no drawbacks.


    The Second and Third Brothers didn''t oppose Mo Jiuye''s decision in the first ce, and after hearing his exnation, they were even more approving.


    "Ninth Brother, you and your wife are indeed perceptive, able to analyze the pros and cons of this matter so thoroughly," the Third Brother said, making no effort to conceal his admiration for the couple.


    Having his family''s support for this decision was expected by Mo Jiuye. He had exined at length not because he had made the decision arbitrarily without consulting them, but to let them know.


    Having encountered his two elder brothers here, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran didn''t need to go further into the border region to investigate the situation regarding the war. The two brothers must have already conducted a thorough investigation.


    The Barbarians'' army of 100,000 had already been camped near the border for half a month, but for some unknown reason, they had yet tounch arge-scale attack.


    However, they weren''tpletely inactive, just engaging in small-scale harassment.


    Although it was only harassment, the sheer number of Barbarians overwhelmed the 20,000 Da Shun soldiers guarding the border, resulting in numerous casualties.


    It was for this reason that the two Mo Brothers had led their men to lie in ambush here, and the Second Brother had even secretly gathered intelligence from the Barbarian side.


    The reason the Barbarians hadn''tunched arge-scale attack was surprisingly due to ack of rations and fodder.


    But thinking about it, it wasn''t strange at all: thend in the northwest was barren, and the Barbarians'' situation was even worse, so naturally they wouldn''t have much in the way of food reserves. Otherwise, the Barbarian civilians wouldn''t have banded together toe and plunder in Da Shun.


    Fortunately, the heavens had been generous this year, and they had made it through with favorable winds and rains.


    Moreover, it was currently the harvest season, and undoubtedly, the Barbarians nned to wait until after the crops were harvested, gather the provisions, and send them to the border before attacking Da Shun''s soldiers once they were well-fed.


    It was for this reason that the Western Border leaders had time to request reinforcements from the court.


    However, the journey from the Western Border to the capital was long and arduous, and it was estimated that the messenger had only just arrived.


    Fortunately, Little White had delivered the message, otherwise even if Emperor Shunwu received the news in theing days, he would have been caught unprepared.


    After understanding the situation here, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had no intention of lingering.


    After all, their main purpose for rushing back this time was to receive the Imperial edict conferring the title of King.


    Given the current circumstances, although the Barbarians had no immediate ns for arge-scale invasion, such matters were unpredictable. What if their rations and fodder arrived today? Would they notunch an attack immediately?


    With the defensive forces of the Western Border, they would likely be unable to stop a massive Barbarian invasion. It was indeed necessary for the Second and Third Brothers to remain here with their men.

 Chapter 551: It’s hard to grow up.

    <h4>Chapter 551</h4>


    Mo Jiuye bid farewell to his two elder brothers and set off for Xi Ling Vige with He Zhiran.


    Upon returning home, he naturally had to exin the situation clearly to his family again.


    As Mo Jiuye had expected, none of his family members objected to his decision.


    Especially Mo Qing, who had served the imperial court for most of his life. Although he was disappointed by the injustice the Mo Family had suffered, his heart had never ceased longing to serve the imperial court.


    Originally, he thought it would be good if the family could remain together harmoniously, as titles and wealth were ultimately vain pursuits.


    But after the birth of Zhu, his heart began to waver.


    Being from an older generation, he felt that the descendants of the Mo Family, especially his eldest grandson, should not remain obscure.


    Now, with Mo Jiuye agreeing to be the King of Defending the West for Nan Yu, not only would the title be hereditary, but he would also receive a fief.


    For Mo Qing, this was the best of both worlds.


    Their family could continue living together harmoniously in the northwest, while Zhu''s future title was also secured.


    Simrly, although Madam He did not have as many thoughts as Mo Qing, she simply wished for her beloved grandson to follow in his father''s footsteps, which was also a considerable honor.


    The sisters-inw were even happier. On one hand, they were delighted that the Mo Family had been cleared of the charges, allowing them to visit their parents in the capital openly in the future. On the other hand, it was due to the small vanity women tend to have.


    If Mo Jiuye had not been granted a royal title, even though the Mo Family''s charges were cleared, they would have returned to their maiden homes asmoners.


    With so many nephews and nieces in their families, who had always been envious of them, theirmoner status would have been grounds for mockery.


    But now, all their worries were resolved.


    In short, He Zhiran''s reminder for Mo Jiuye to make this decision pleased everyone in the Mo Family.


    After a long conversation with his family, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran returned to their own courtyard.


    Madam He and He Ziming had already learned of their return.


    Madam He was both happy and angry - happy that her daughter and son-inw had returned safely, but angry at He Zhiran''s sudden departure.


    He Ziming was also eager to see them and learn about the situation in the capital, most importantly, his father''s decision.


    Madam He had already nned to scold He Zhiran upon her return.


    However, when Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran appeared before her, Madam He immediately lost herposure, her initial anger dissipatingpletely.


    She pulled He Zhiran and looked her over, tears flowing uncontrobly.


    "You child, you''ve really grown wings and be headstrong, not even listening to your mother. That dangerous capital, what could a woman like you do there..."


    After being away from the northwest for a month, hearing her mother nag at her suddenly filled He Zhiran with a sense of warmth.


    Although her mother nagged a bit, she truly loved her daughter.


    This maternal affection was something He Zhiran could only long for in her previous life but never attain.


    "Mother, look, I''ve returned safe and sound," He Zhiran said, spinning around to prove she was unharmed.


    Madam He could only helplessly ept it, for this was her precious daughter!


    "You ungrateful child, making your mother worry for so long."


    As she spoke, she pointed at the two little ones sleeping on the bed.


    "You even had the heart to leave these two little babies behind to run off. Didn''t you miss them?"


    How could she not miss them?


    He Zhiran didn''t know how many times she had reminisced about her two precious babies with Mo Jiuye.


    If not for Madam He holding her back earlier, she would have rushed over to embrace the two little ones she had longed for day and night.


    Now, taking advantage of Madam He''s words, He Zhiran quickly walked over to the bed.


    As people say, newborn babies grow quickly, changing appearance daily.


    This saying was not exaggerated.


    Zhu and Mingzhu''s little faces had be much rounder since she had left home, their skin a healthy, rosy hue.


    Ever since his birth, Zhu had always worn a serious expression, rarely smiling.


    Mingzhu, on the other hand, was the opposite of her brother, her every emotion written on her face.


    At this moment, Zhu seemed to be having some kind of dream, his little brows furrowed tightly, looking like a miniature adult, melting the hearts of his parents, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran...


    Not to be outdone, Mingzhu suddenly smiled when her parents'' gazes fell upon her face, revealing two shallow dimples on her chubby cheeks.


    This utterly charmed Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    Eagerly, Mo Jiuye wiped hisrge hand on his clothes before gently picking up Mingzhu.


    Naturally, He Zhiran would not show favoritism, and seeing her husband hold their daughter, she also picked up Zhu.


    Perhaps sensing the long-missed yet familiar embrace, the two little ones opened their eyes as soon as they were picked up.


    Both babies hadrge, ck grape-like eyes, currently gazing at the faces before them.


    Ordinarily, after waking up, the fussy Mingzhu would have cried a few times before settling. This time, however, she remained unusually quiet, staring at her father''s face for a moment before her little lips curved into a smile, even emitting a series of giggles that melted one''s heart.


    Zhu maintained his usual seriousness, but his clear, watery eyes revealed his fondness for his mother.


    Madam He was delighted to witness this scene.


    "Look at these two little rascals, not the slightest bit unfamiliar with their parents after a month apart. Blood ties truly surpass all..."


    As she spoke, she deliberately feigned displeasure.


    "Your paternal grandmother holds you every day, yet you''ve never been so affectionate with her."


    He Ziming chimed in, "Indeed, I y with Mingzhu every day, but she only rewards me with a smile when she''s particrly happy.


    I never expected the little one to smile so freely in her own father''s arms."


    Seeing He Ziming say this, Madam He immediately changed the subject.


    "You can''t be envious of such things. If you want a child to smile at you like that, go have one yourself."


    Upon hearing this, He Ziming immediately blushed deeply and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say.


    Based on He Zhiran''s understanding of her mother, for her to say such a thing, she must no longer oppose the rtionship between He Ziming and Lan Er.


    As the elder sister, she naturally had to inquire about her brother''s marriage matters.


    "How are things progressing between Elder Brother and Lan Er?"


    This was a question He Ziming felt too embarrassed to answer.


    He Zhiran also understood that although she appeared to be asking He Ziming, she was actually waiting for her mother to respond.

 Chapter 552: Your mother doesn’t just praise people.

    <h4>Chapter 552</h4>


    Madam He nced at He Ziming and said:


    "Your mother is not one to stubbornly cling to her views. From my recent observations, Lan Er is indeed an admirable girl.


    Just as you said, she is not only beautiful but also well-read and sensible.


    By any measure, her conduct and demeanor are no less impressive than those of the greatdies of the capital.


    Most importantly, this girl is also diligent and perceptive, handling everything with great capability.


    Since your elder brother has decided to resign from his post, I believe there is no need for us to have too many requirements regarding her family background when ites to his marriage.


    Your elder brother fancies her, and the girl is satisfactory in every aspect, so as her mother-inw, I have no reason to object."


    In fact, even before He Zhiran returned, Madam He had already told He Ziming that she had no objection to this marriage. As long as his father agreed, their wedding could be scheduled.


    After all, He Ziming was no longer a young man, and his peers already had several children.


    However, when she expressed her stance to He Ziming previously, she did not go into such detail or solely mention Lan Er''s strengths.


    He Ziming never expected his mother to have such a positive impression of Lan Er.


    "Mother, do you really think Lan Er is that good?"


    What Madam He had just said was her true thoughts.


    "Of course. Your mother does not casually praise just anyone."


    At this moment, He Ziming felt immensely fortunate. He had initially thought that even if his mother agreed to his rtionship with Lan Er, it would only be because she could not dissuade him.


    Now, he only wanted to share this good news with Lan Er and did not bother asking about the situation with his sister and brother-inw in the capital.


    Madam He was also considerate. After her daughter and son-inw had been away for so long, they could finally reunite with their two little ones. She left together with He Ziming.


    Although she was also concerned about the situation in the capital, there was no harm in asking about itter.


    On the third day after Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran returned home, the imperial edict arrived. Unsurprisingly, its contents were in ordance with Mo Jiuye''s requests.


    Although Mo Jiuye had agreed to Nan Yu''s suggestion that the Mo family return to court service, he hoped that the title of King of Defending the West would be given to his eldest brother, Mo Qing. If the old man was unwilling, there were still many other elder brothers in the family.


    However, when he and his brothers raised this matter, they were met with almost unanimous opposition.


    Mo Qing was the first to object to bing the King of Defending the West. Apart from his advanced age, his legs were not in the best condition. Although it did not affect walking, he could not fight in battles anymore.


    Moreover, the King of Defending the West would be responsible for managing all affairs within his fief. Apart from Mo Jiuye, he felt that none of his other sons, including himself, had the capability for such a role.


    His other elder brothers shared the same sentiment. They were all well aware that this title was obtained through Mo Jiuye''s efforts, and they had no ambitions for it. Furthermore, as their father had said, they indeedcked Mo Jiuye''s capabilities.


    Undoubtedly, the position of King of Defending the West belonged to Mo Jiuye alone.


    Mo Jiuye did not decline either, for in order to develop his fief, he would need his wife''s assistance, and taking this title would make it easier for him to protect the secret of her spatial abilities.


    The moment he received the imperial edict, Mo Jiuye became the second holder of a non-imperial surname to be granted a royal title in the history of the Da Shun Dynasty.


    Along with the edict came two military tallies.


    The men of the Mo family were not unfamiliar with these tallies, as they had used them before whenmanding the armies.


    They also understood that Emperor Shunwu had given them two tallies because, as stated in the edict, Mo Jiuye had been appointed as the King of Defending the West, responsible for guarding the western borders of Da Shun, while the Mo family would also dispatch someone to take charge of the southern borders.


    One tally was formanding the troops in the west, while the other was formanding the troops in the south.


    Of course, it was up to Mo Jiuye, as the King of Defending the West, to allocate these tallies.


    The imperial troops dispatched to support the western borders were already on their way. Since the messenger carrying the edict traveled by swift horse, he arrived much faster than the main army.


    Therefore, the Mo family needed to reach the western borders first and lead the soldiers stationed there to defend against the enemy before the main imperial army arrived in another two or three days.


    Additionally, a portion of the imperial army was heading to the southern borders to await themander dispatched by the Mo family.


    Furthermore, Emperor Shunwu symbolically awarded the Mo family some items aspensation.


    The gifts appeared rather meager, but Mo Jiuye did not pick on them. No one understood better than him that the imperial treasury had been emptied by his wife''s spatial abilities. It was already difficult for Emperor Shunwu to provide these gifts as rewards.


    These items were likely confiscated from the viinous Xue. If it were not for Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s earlier consideration to leave some wealth for Nan Yu, the Emperor might not have been able to offer even these gifts.


    Although the Mo family had been exiled to the northwest, they had experienced all manner of luxuries when they were in the capital.


    How could such insignificant items hold any value for them, especially since their living conditions in the northwest were no worse, and perhaps even better, than in the capital? Let alone these trifling items, even more precious rarities would not catch their eye.


    While they did not value these gifts, none of the Mo family members showed any disdain in front of the imperial messenger.


    Not only that, when receiving the edict, Mo Jiuye specifically instructed all the male members of the family present to make an appearance. This was to serve as the best evidence for Emperor Shunwu that the Mo men were all alive and well.


    Indeed, the imperial messenger was an elderly man from Emperor Shunwu''s inner circle, and he was familiar with the Mo family men.


    When he saw so many of them appear before him, he initially felt a sense of disbelief.


    To confirm that this was not an illusion, he even vigorously rubbed his eyes in front of the Mo family.


    Mo Jiuye saw no need to provide further exnations. His sole purpose was to ensure that the messenger reported what he had witnessed to Emperor Shunwu. Any additional details, he felt, would be unnecessary.


    The messenger was also a perceptive individual. Since the Mo family was unwilling to exin, he would simply report what he had seen.


    Considering the messenger''s long journey, Madam Mo instructed the household to prepare a sumptuous banquet to host him.


    As an imperial attendant and a confidant of Emperor Shunwu, what exquisite delicacies had he not tasted in the pce?


    Yet, he was won over by the Mo family''svish feast and voluntarily divulged Emperor Shunwu''s secret.


    Apparently, Emperor Shunwu was indeed in poor health. Over the past year or so, he had frequently experienced numbness in his limbs and uncontroble drooling.


    After examination, the imperial physicians diagnosed these as precursors to a stroke. Had it not been for medication and treatment, he might have already be partially paralyzed.


    Only a few people, including the messenger himself, knew about this.


    Emperor Shunwu had issued an edict, forbidding anyone from revealing even a hint of this, or they would be charged with the crime of deceiving the emperor.


    If not for this, he would not have attempted to groom the fourth prince, leading to the incident where the empress'' faction was used of treason.

 Chapter 553: The Bomb is Over

    <h4>Chapter 553</h4>


    The Mo Family members merely listened to such matters.


    There were signs that Emperor Shunwu had suffered a stroke, but it was unlikely that he wanted to try cultivating the Fourth Prince as his heir. This was simply uneptable.


    Who knew when he might actually have a stroke? Relying on a child of only a few years old to uphold the entire nation, wasn''t that a huge joke?


    The Mo Family members saw through it but did not expose it. However, they believed the imperial messenger would not lie about Emperor Shunwu''s illness.


    Just as the imperial messenger and his attendants had finished eating and drinking at the Mo Family residence and departed, Meng Huaining brought a message from Nan Yu via carrier pigeon.


    This letter was indeed written for Mo Jiuye.


    The main content was to inform Mo Jiuye of the situation in the capital.


    As Emperor Shunwu had promised, he abdicated in favor of Nan Yu three dayster.


    Nan Yu had now be the supreme ruler of the Da Shun Dynasty.


    The first thing he did after ascending the throne was to punish several officials associated with the Xue Family, serving as a warning to others.


    After all, there were a vast number of officials tied to the Xue Family, and he could notpletely eliminate them all. The court needed officials at this time, and he hoped those officials would be grateful for the new emperor''s mercy and serve the dynasty loyally.


    As for Minister Hao, Nan Yu had sincerely advised him to stay, but Minister Hao was determined to resign. Since that was the case, Nan Yu did not force him and approved his resignation.


    When writing the letter, Minister Hao had already disposed of his properties in the capital and would soon arrive in the northwest to reunite with them.


    Regarding the case of the Ninth Prince''s rebellion, Nan Yu knew He Ziming was implicated and no longer restricted his movements, agreeing to his resignation like Minister Hao''s.


    Nan Rui was granted the title of Prince Rui.


    Nan Rui did not refuse this princely title, but he immediately told Nan Yu that he disliked participating in court affairs and only wanted to live a free and unrestrained life.


    Now that Nan Yu had taken control of power, he had no reason to remain in the capital.


    However, he did not refuse the Prince Rui''s Mansion bestowed by Nan Yu, perhaps intending to stay there if he ever missed his brothers.


    On the day he was granted the princely title, Nan Rui bid farewell to Nan Yu, stating that he nned to travel.


    Mo Jiuye knew clearly that Nan Rui must have rushed back to the northwest.


    Emperor Shunwu kept his word about enjoying his retirement, never interfering with state affairs after abdicating to Nan Yu.


    Although Nan Yu harbored resentment towards Concubine Yuan, she was still his birth mother. The first thing he did after ascending the throne was to grant her the title of Empress Dowager.


    For some reason, Emperor Shunwu did not pursue charges against Concubine Yuan''s offense of deceiving the emperor. Since abdicating, he had been living with Concubine Yuan, and the two interacted like an ordinary married couple.


    As for Nan Qi, upon learning that Nan Yu was the one who had swapped ces with him, he becamepletely insane.


    To prevent any deception, Nan Yu sent multiple imperial physicians to examine him, eventually confirming that he had indeed lost his mind.


    After all, Nan Qi was a child raised by Concubine Yuan, and Nan Yu had also exchanged conditions with Fe Mama to spare his life.


    Nan Yu felt no pity for someone like Nan Qi.


    He directly ordered Nan Qi to be released from the dungeon and left to fend for himself.


    In summary, matters in the capital were gradually improving step by step.


    Even if Nan Yu did not write to inform them, with Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s understanding of history, they knew he would be an enlightened ruler.


    As an emperor, especially one who had just ascended the throne, Nan Yu had to deal with countless mattersrge and small every day. Yet he still took the time to write about his recent situation, showing how much he valued the Mo Family.


    After putting away the letter, Mo Jiuye began arranging for the defense.


    The Mo Family could now openly and legitimately carry out their guard duties without any ambiguity.


    The private soldiers they had trained in the mountains no longer had to remain hidden, especially since they possessed bombs and repeating crossbows. These men would be the main force in this battle.


    Including the troops led by his second and third brothers that were hidden in the western territory, Mo Jiuye divided the entire force into three parts.


    One part went with his eldest, fifth, and sixth brothers to rush to the southern territory.


    The fifth brother served as themander because Mo Jiuye felt most reassured with his courage and meticulousness in handling matters.


    The Mo Family deeply hated the people of the southern region, so Mo Jiuye instructed his fifth brother and other brothers to bring a vast quantity of bombs when they departed.


    Once the battle began, these men would not need to hold back and could simply blow everything up...


    This would also let the new rulers of the Da Shun Dynasty know that the Mo Family had the capability to resist any force, but the Mo Family was loyal and simply refused to do such things!


    In any case, the goal was to raze the southern region to the ground to avenge the previous humiliation suffered by the Mo Family men.


    The northwest had already be the Mo Family''s territory, requiring many matters to be reorganized.


    Mo Jiuye assigned this task to his fourth brother, who had recovered to a reasonable extent, although still somewhat weaker than his other brothers.


    Mo Jiuye nned to have him and Meng Huaining manage the administrative affairs in the northwest.


    These administrative matters included many aspects, such as maintainingw and order within the cities as well as livelihood issues.


    In fact, the fourth brother found these tasks rather challenging since he had trained in martial arts from a young age and had no experience in governance.


    By having the fourth brother jointly manage these matters with Meng Huaining, Mo Jiuye understood his brother''s nature - they would feel useless without tasks to upy them.


    The fourth brother was aware of his own situation and knew his ninth brother was amodating him. Even so, he felt somewhat uneasy that his brothers could go into battle while he was only responsible for logistics.


    Mo Jiuye noticed his thoughts and could understand his feelings.


    For amander ustomed to fighting on the battlefield, it was certainly unsatisfying to be stationed at the rear.


    "Fourth brother, don''t think the tasks you need to do are easy. Not only are you responsible for maintainingw and order within the cities, but more importantly, you must continue producing bombs to supply the battlefields.


    Only our brothers know the method of making bombs. Now that the war has begun, the demand for bombs will increase, so you may be the busiest brother in the future."


    Hearing from Mo Jiuye that he would be the busiest brother, the fourth brother no longer felt dissatisfied.


    "Don''t worry, ninth brother. Father and I have be quite skilled at making bombs and can guarantee an adequate supply."


    Seeing that the fourth brother was no longer gloomy, Mo Jiuye continued with the other arrangements.


    "Our second and third brothers have alreadyid an ambush in the western territory. Soon, I will lead our seventh and eighth brothers, along with Liang Hao and the others, to join them. I will be in charge of the battle in the western territory."


    Mo Jiuye chose to bring the seventh and eighth brothers because he knew they were the most impulsive, and only by keeping them under his watch could he ensure they followed orders.


    Mo Jiuye had just been granted the title of King of Defending the West, and throughout history, kings granted territories were not given residences by the court.


    The entire territory now belonged to you. Where and what kind of mansion you wanted to build depended solely on the ability of the territorial lord.

 Chapter 554: Pre-deployment Arrangement

    <h4>Chapter 554</h4>


    Mo Jiuye had no objection to this at all.


    He was already ustomed to living in the beautiful yet practical courtyard houses at home, so even if the imperial court bestowed him with a mansion, he would likely not take a liking to it.


    Therefore, it was quite necessary for him to build a manor in the northwest.


    After all, he would be responsible for managing all affairs in the northwest, and he would have many local officials and the like under hismand.


    Once the management of his fiefdom was on track, those officials would routinely report to him about matters within the territory. He certainly could not let them travel all the way to Xi Ling Vige constantly.


    Mo Jiuye admitted that his wife He Zhiran had more insightful opinions when it came to constructing the Manor of the King of Defending the West.


    Whether it was choosing the location or the architectural style, these were more her forte.


    In any case, the construction of the manor was not urgent. He could let his wife ponder it slowly, draw up the ns, and then have Hu Cong carry them out.


    Mo Qing saw that Mo Jiuye had arranged everything in an orderly manner, and each of his nine sons had their own tasks, except for himself, the old man, who seemed to be forgotten.


    "Jiuye, what do you think your father should do?"


    Mo Jiuye knew his father would ask this question.


    "Father, you and Fourth Brother will be responsible for producing bombs, and you must ensure the supply to the frontlines."


    Mo Jiuye knew his father''s temperament; if he did not make the task sound urgent, his father would think that he was not involving him enough.


    The Mo family never had any disputes over workload. Each and every one of them wished to do more.


    Sure enough, when Mo Qing heard that Mo Jiuye wanted him to produce bombs and ensure the frontline supply, he no longer felt neglected.


    "Good, leave this task to me. I will guarantee the supply."


    After Mo Jiuye had arranged everything and confirmed that nothing was overlooked, the Mo brothers set out that very day.


    He Zhiran had anticipated that as soon as the imperial decree arrived, the men of the Mo family would immediately lead the troops to the battlefield.


    In the past, when the Mo men went to war, she was not around, and their victory or survival depended solely on their own abilities. But now, things were different. She had arrived and would never allow the Mo family to be in danger.


    Therefore, on the second day after returning to the northwest, she had purchased arge quantity of bulletproof vests from the Taobao Mall.


    Bulletproof vests were the best life-saving tools. Each of the Mo brothers, old troops, and private soldiers would have one.


    He Zhiran also gave Fifth Brother a miniature telescope to observe enemy movements conveniently in the southern border area.


    Additionally, various poisons, antidotes, and lethal powders were indispensable, especially since the people of the southern region were skilled in using such toxins. Having these medicines on hand could ensure their safety.


    In short, He Zhiran prepared everything she could think of for her family members going into battle.


    Mo Jiuye would be responsible for exining the sources of these items.


    The Mo brothers were deeply moved. In the past, they had gone into battle without any such life-saving equipment. This showed how much Ninth Brother and his wife valued them.


    The brothers all knew that these items were extremely precious, and perhaps only Ninth Brother and his wife in the entire Da Shun Dynasty could obtain them.


    With so many life-saving items and a force equipped with the formidable weapon of bombs, it would be difficult for them not to achieve a great victory in this campaign.


    Of course, the Mo brothers have always maintained a good attitude and would not be careless just because they possessed advantages that others did not.


    With the personnel allocated, the Mo brothers set out that very day.


    Before they even left the vige, most officials within the northwest had arrived at Xi Ling Vige as if by prior arrangement, forming a long queue.


    It was a long queue, but the number of officials was limited. There were far more people carryingrge boxes than officials in the line.


    The vigers of Xi Ling Vige had truly broadened their horizons in recent days.


    First, a eunuch from the pce rode a tall, magnificent horse to the Mo residence, iming to deliver an imperial decree.


    Then, suddenly, countless soldiers appeared at the Mo family''s residence. These people did not enter through the vige entrance, as if they had descended from the sky.


    Before the vigers could recover from their astonishment, today arge number of officials came, all heading towards the foot of the mountain.


    Looking at therge boxes being carried, they were clearly filled with various gifts.


    Could it be that the Mo family had be prosperous?


    The officials were lining up to send them gifts...


    The vigers wanted to observe from a distance to see what was going on with the Mo family, but they dared not get too close to the officials. They could only wait for the group to move farther away before cautiously walking towards the foot of the mountain.


    Fortunately, the area where the Mo family lived was quite spacious, so the vigers could see clearly even from a distance.


    In the Da Shun Dynasty, the northwest was a sparsely popted region. Due to the small poption, only one provincial capital was established, with countless surrounding counties, of which Yun City was just one.


    The officials visiting the Mo family today were those governing areas near Yun City. For those farther away, it would likely take one or two days of travel to reach this ce.


    Mo Jiuye did not know that these officials received the news so quickly thanks to Nan Yu''s thoughtfulness.


    Nan Yu was meticulous and had arranged for more than a dozen people to ry the oral decree to various local governments in the northwest when the imperial messenger departed from the capital city.


    This way, the news of Mo Jiuye bing the King of Defending the West and the imperial court bestowing the northwest as his fiefdom could spread at the fastest speed.


    Meng Huaining, being the son-inw of the Mo family, naturally did not participate in this group of officials bearing gifts.


    The provincial governor had learned from somewhere that Meng Huaining was the Mo family''s son-inw.


    For this matter, he organized the surrounding county magistrates to bring gifts together, but he did not feelfortable summoning Meng Huaining. He recalled thest time Meng Huaining had sought his help in purchasing high-yield crop seeds, and he had refused, iming the provincial government had no silver reserves.


    Now, with Mo Jiuye bing the King of the West, Meng Huaining would certainly bring up this incident. If the King of Defending the West took offense, the governor would surely face consequences.


    Thinking of this, the governor broke into a cold sweat.


    Reluctantly, he could only call on the surrounding county magistrates to prepare ample gifts and visit Xi Ling Vige, allowing the King of Defending the West to have a good impression of him first. Then, when Meng Huaining reported his misdeeds, the King might be more lenient.


    Unfortunately, given Mo Jiuye''s character, the governor''s wishful thinking would ultimately be in vain.


    Mo Jiuye was not unfamiliar with this governor. When he had dealt with the Xue Family at the Jingxian Building in the provincial capital, he had seen the governor once.


    However, at that time, the governor carried an arrogant demeanor and had not given Mo Jiuye a single nce, leaving no impression of Mo Jiuye at all.


    Now, Mo Jiuye had donned the armor brought by the imperial messenger.


    In the Da Shun Dynasty, the armor of militarymanders was highly significant. The position of the chest mirror indicated themander''s rank.

 Chapter 555: You Are the Best

    <h4>Chapter 555</h4>


    Take, for instance, Mo Jiuye, whose breastte proudly bears a golden ''King'' emblem: the ultimate symbol of his current status as the King of Defending the West.


    His brothers from the Mo family sport simr breasttes adorned with golden ''General'' insignias, each denoting varying ranks, with the highest-ranking generals boasting gold fonts, typically indicating the title of Grand General.


    Upon sighting these armored figures, officials, county prefects, and government envoys hastily kneel and bow, their peripheral vision keenly observing the insignias adorning their armor.


    Once Mo Jiuye''s identity as the King of Defending the West is confirmed, the crowd, led by the prefectural magistrate, collectively proims, "Long live the King of Defending the West, a thousand years, a thousand times over."


    Mo Jiuye, usually indifferent to such formalities, harbors a dislike for this particr individual due to their chance encounter at the Jingxian Building and the recent incident involving the handling of corpses.


    Especially irksome was the inquiry made by this official to Meng Huaining about seeking financial assistance from the prefecture, which, ording to Meng Huaining, was met with outright refusal and disdain from the magistrate.


    Based on these events, Mo Jiuye concludes that this magistrate is not apetent official.


    With the northwest now under his jurisdiction and the authority to transfer officials within his domain, Mo Jiuye has no tolerance for ipetent magistrates.


    Initially, he had nned to reorganize his administration after the end of the war.


    However, to his surprise, this magistrate hase knocking on his door today.


    Given the circumstances, Mo Jiuye decides not to waste any time and swiftly makes arrangements.


    With his mind made up, Mo Jiuye casually instructs them to rise and proceeds to walk away in the direction behind him.


    Meanwhile, Meng Huaining, who is seeing off his rtives as they depart for battle, observes the magistrate''s entourage from a distance.


    Mo Jiuye approaches and pulls Meng Huaining aside to a less crowded area.


    "Huaining, I intend for you to take on the role of this magistrate. What do you think?"


    This proposition catches Meng Huaining off guard.


    "Brother Jiuye, why do you want to arrange this?"


    He knows the magistrate''s character well and anticipates that Brother Jiuye will eventually dismiss this person after receiving his fiefdom, but he didn''t expect it to happen so soon.


    Furthermore, he never thought about bing a magistrate himself. Mo Hanyue loves Xi Ling Vige, and as a county prefect in Yun City, he can stillmute on horseback every day. If he were stationed at the prefecture, it would be too far from Xi Ling Vige, and he wouldn''t be able to spend as much time with his beloved wife.


    Mo Jiuye is unaware of Meng Huaining''s concerns.


    "This magistrate needs someone capable to fill the role, and at present, you seem most suitable."


    Of course, he''s the perfect fit. ording to historical records in the space of his wife, Meng Huaining is the top-ranking official of Nan Yu, so bing a magistrate seems like a bit of a waste of talent.


    Mo Jiuye has no intention of obstructing Meng Huaining''s career advancement; he simply believes that at the moment, Nan Yu hasn''t shown any signs of promoting him to the capital, so it''s beneficial for him to assist in the northwest for a while.


    Before Meng Huaining can respond, the sound of urgent hoofbeats echoes from afar, apanied by a voice shouting, "Imperial edict arrives..."


    Everyone looked at each other when they heard that the imperial edict had arrived, unable toprehend why another one hade so quickly after thest.


    The messenger of this edict appeared to be dressed as a guard, judging by his robust physique, he was likely skilled in martial arts.


    Raising the imperial edict high while on horseback, the messenger proimed, "County Prefect Meng Huaining of Yun City, receive the edict."


    Once again, all eyes fell on Meng Huaining.


    Confused, Meng Huaining respectfully knelt before the messenger.


    Following suit, everyone else knelt as well.


    Meng Huaining proimed, "This humble servant, Meng Huaining, receives the edict."


    Without dy, the messenger unfolded the imperial edict and read aloud, "By the grace of heaven, the Emperor decrees that Meng Huaining, County Prefect of Yun City, is a man of both literary and martial talents..."


    In summary, Meng Huaining was praised in various ways before being tasked with rushing to the capital within a month to assist the Emperor, receiving the prestigious position of Prime Minister.


    Being appointed Prime Minister was no small matter; it wielded more power than even the Prime Minister, and only one of Meng Huaining''s ancestors had ever held such a position in the history of Da Shun.


    However, this was a departure from historical records. Historically, Meng Huaining had served alongside Nan Yu for many years, contributing significantly to the establishment of the empire before being appointed Prime Minister, which urred many yearster.


    Nevertheless, this change was for the better, as Meng Huaining would now wield power sooner, aiding in the faster development of Nan Yu''s reign.


    Meng Huaining, no longer needing to worry about returning to Xi Ling Vige after serving as a magistrate, was now headed directly to the capital.


    Meng Huaining epted the imperial edict in astonishment.


    The messenger offered no further words of courtesy, simply advising, "The Emperor is currently in need of capable individuals. His first decree upon ascending the throne was to summon the esteemed Prime Minister to the capital. The Emperor hopes that the Prime Minister will not disappoint his high expectations."


    Could Meng Huaining refuse to go?


    No, he couldn''t!


    To do so would be to defy the imperial decree, and besides, Nan Yu had indeed saved his life. Without Nan Yu''s help, Meng Huaining might have lost his life by now.


    "Very well, I will prepare and depart for the capital immediately."


    As soon as the messenger left, Meng Huaining was surrounded by the Mo brothers.


    The eldest brother patted his shoulder, "Brother-inw is a man of great talent. Remaining in the northwest would only bury your talents. Now that the Emperor has recognized you, it brings honor to both the Meng family and the Mo family."


    These words echoed the sentiments of all the Mo brothers. While they all wished for their sister and brother-inw to stay in the northwest with them, none of them wanted to hinder their prospects.


    A capable person should be in the right position.


    Mo Chuhan emerged from the crowd, having spent the most time with Meng Huaining and sharing the closest bond with him.


    He draped his arm over Meng Huaining''s shoulder, speaking with conviction:


    "Listen up, buddy. Remember this well. With the backing of us nine brothers, Han Yue is well-supported. If any of us catch wind that she''s not enjoying her time in the capital, you better watch out because we won''t hesitate to pay you a visit and sort things out at your residence."

 Chapter 556: Never Say Never

    <h4>Chapter 556</h4>


    Meng Huaining knew that Mo''s brothers were very concerned about their sister Mo Hanyue.


    "Rest assured, brothers. I promise I will take good care of Hanyue and ensure she is not mistreated in any way."


    The Mo brothers surrounded Meng Huaining with their instructions, while the local officials who hade to curry favor with the newly-appointed King of Defending the West looked on in astonishment.


    The Mo Family''s ancestral tomb had been enshrouded in green smoke when he was granted the kingship, but for the magistrate of Yun County, Meng Huaining, whom they previously saw as their equal, to have also risen to such heights was truly astounding.


    The Emperor had personally issued an edict summoning him to the capital, appointing him to the position of Prime Minister...


    At this point, the provincial governor was already sweating profusely, reminiscing about the time when Meng Huaining hade to him pleading for silver to purchase grain seeds, and how he had dismissed him like a dog.


    If only he had known Meng Huaining would rise to such prominence, he would have dly given him all his wealth, let alone a paltry few thousand taels of silver.


    Meng Huaining, it seemed, held grudges.


    After exchanging pleasantries with his uncles, his piercing gaze fell upon the governor.


    The intensity of his stare caused the governor to tremble violently, and he immediately fell to his knees before Meng Huaining.


    "Your Excellency the Prime Minister, this humble official was short-sighted back then. Please, forgive my past transgressions and spare me this time!"


    The Mo brothers were aware of the background behind the governor''s actions, but the other magistrates who had apanied him looked utterly bewildered.


    They nced at one another, each wondering what the governor had done to offend Meng Huaining to the point of cowering before him upon learning of his new appointment as Prime Minister.


    Meng Huaining let out a cold snort.


    "You''vemitted many mistakes, and I willpile a dossier to be handed over to the King of Defending the West for his judgment."


    Although he had been granted the title of Prime Minister by the Emperor, he did not wish to overstep his boundaries in his Ninth Older brother''s domain.


    Upon hearing this, the governor was so terrified that he wet himself, repeatedly kowtowing and begging for mercy.


    Meng Huaining did not even deign to look at such a person.


    This, in turn, put Mo Jiuye in a difficult position. He had originally intended for Meng Huaining to temporarily assume the role of governor, assisting him in managing the affairs within his territory for a while. But he had not expected Nan Yu to summon Meng Huaining to the capital so swiftly.


    Meng Huaining had also nned to help Mo Jiuye share the burden for a time, as he was well-acquainted with the situation in the northwest, especially amidst the current turmoil, when the welfare and livelihood of the people were of utmost importance.


    After a moment of contemtion, Meng Huaining suddenly remembered two individuals.


    "Ninth Older brother, Uncle Fang and Uncle Xie have both served as officials for many years. Especially Uncle Fang, who started as a county magistrate. He certainly has the capabilities for this role."


    Mo Jiuye was well aware of this.


    However, Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai were currently branded as criminals exiled by the imperial court. Without an edict from the court, they could not serve as officials, even within his territory.


    It seemed that before his departure, there was one more task he needed to attend to: to have his trusted aide deliver a letter to the capital, requesting Nan Yu to issue an edict pardoning the crimes of the Fang and Xie families.


    Additionally, Hu Cong''s case was undoubtedly a wrongful conviction, so it would not be inappropriate for him to put in a good word on his behalf as well.


    Moreover, he believed Nan Yu to be an enlightened ruler, and upon receiving his letter, would surely arrange for suitable officials to reinvestigate the cases of these individuals and restore their innocence.


    However, for the time being, there was a need for a suitable person to manage his territory.


    This truly presented a dilemma for Mo Jiuye.


    Meng Huaining had already anticipated this problem.


    "Ninth Older brother, nothing is absolute. Although the two uncles cannot serve as officials due to their special circumstances, if they were to take on the role of Manor Stewards, would that not be an appropriate arrangement?"


    Meng Huaining''s words effectively awakened Mo Jiuye from his predicament.


    "No wonder the new Emperor values your capabilities as an advisor. Your mind is indeed agile."


    On this point, Mo Jiuye had to concede.


    Although he too was raised in an official''s household, his family had been primarilyprised of militarymanders, and he had never studied or considered such minor issues, leading to his current predicament.


    Since a solution had been found, Mo Jiuye immediately sent for Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai.


    In fact, there was no need to summon them, as Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai were already among the crowd of onlookers.


    At that moment, they were exining the situation to the bewildered vigers.


    "Did you see that? The golden character ''Wang'' (King) on Ninth Master Mo''s armor signifies that he is a king.


    And the golden characters on the armor of those generals indicate their high ranks."


    "So what you''re saying, Brother Xie, is that Old Ninth Mo has be a king?"


    "But that can''t be right. Wasn''t the Mo Family exiled by the imperial court as criminals? How could he be a king?"


    "Don''t just call him that anymore. From now on, when you see him, you must kneel and address him as ''Your Majesty the King''..."


    Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai had only learned of Mo Jiuye''s appointment as the King of Defending the West that day. While they were delighted for the Mo Family, they were also concerned for the men of their household.


    Throughout history, going to war meant risking one''s life. The Mo Family had finally reunited without any casualties, but this campaign could mean they might not all return alive.


    Nevertheless, they felt that regardless of the circumstances, the men of the Mo Family were made of sturdy stuff. If they were to lead a simple life of farming, it would be a waste of their skills and abilities. In any case, the Mo Family had endured hardships until their name was finally cleared, allowing them to be granted the kingship, proving their innocence had been recognized.


    Had the Mo brothers not been preupied with official matters and the arrival of the local officials, the two would have already gone to offer their congrattions.


    Now, with Mo Jiuye''s summons, they no longer needed to ponder when would be an appropriate time to pay their respects.


    The two men approached Mo Jiuye and, after offering their congrattions, sincerely advised the Mo men to be cautious on the battlefield, treating them as if they were their juniors.


    After exchanging a few pleasantries with them, Mo Jiuye broached the main topic.


    "Uncles, as you have likely heard, the Emperor has bestowed the northwest region upon me as my territory.


    Managing this territory requires capable individuals, and although it may be an underutilization of your talents, I would like to humbly request your assistance in this matter."


    Mo Jiuye''s words were sincere and showed the two men proper respect.


    "Your Majesty, in what capacity do you intend for us to assist you in managing your territory?" Fang Chuanzhou was willing at heart, but he was also aware of his current status. Although he and Meng Huaining had arrived at the same solution, he felt it would be better for Mo Jiuye to voice it himself.


    "Later, I will write a letter to the Emperor, requesting him to order a reinvestigation of your cases. Until your names are cleared, I can only trouble you with a temporary arrangement."


    Although Mo Jiuye did not explicitly state what the arrangement would entail, both men understood.


    Xie Tianhai was the first to respond, "Your Majesty, please be at ease. Even if it means serving as the Manor Steward, I have no objections."


    In the Great Shun Dynasty, the stewards of official households held significant ''authority'': in other words, they wielded considerable influence.

 Chapter 557: Can you Give Me Another Chance

    <h4>Chapter 557</h4>


    Therefore, the stewards of powerful and influential families in the Da Shun Dynasty were people that many dared not offend but also could not afford to provoke. Even a lowly servant would strut around giving orders, earning contempt yet also fear, with few earning a good reputation.


    If Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai were to help Mo Jiuye temporarily manage the affairs of his territory, they would likely bebeled as dogs relying on others'' power.


    But what did that matter?


    From the start of their exile, Fang Chuanzhou, Xie Tianhai, and their families had resolved to rely on the Mo family. Without the Mo family''s aid, not only would they have struggled to reach the northwest alive, even if they did, they would have worried about making a living.


    Although they were no longer court officials, with the Mo family''s continued support, their lives had beenfortable.


    As exiles,moners, or even less thanmoners, the fact that they could live withoutcking food or clothing, even having surplus provisions¡ªthis was something they never dared dream of when leaving the Capital city.


    Now, finally with a chance to repay the Mo family, the two men spared no effort. What did it matter if they werebeled stewards?


    They would have served as servants if it meant doing something for the Mo family...


    Seeing the two uncles''ck of hesitation, Mo Jiuye knew he and his wife had not misjudged them.


    "In that case, I thank you both."


    Mo Jiuye then brought them before the group of local officials.


    Since Meng Huaining had not yetpiled evidence of the Prefectural Magistrate''s crimes, Mo Jiuye could not use him recklessly.


    "The Prefectural Magistrate has conducted himself improperly. He is hereby temporarily relieved of his duties pending further judgment."


    With that, he summoned Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai to his side.


    "From this day forth, these two gentlemen shall serve as stewards of my manor. During my time away at war, all affairs within my territory shall be their responsibility."


    The former Prefectural Magistrate was so stunned he seemed like a wooden chicken, his guilty conscience making him fearful before Mo Jiuye.


    "Your Majesty, I know my mistake. Could you give me another chance?"


    Mo Jiuye had no patience for such a man. Giving him another chance would only cause more trouble.


    With a wave of his hand, he ordered, "Take him away."


    Soon, people came to drag the former Prefectural Magistrate away.


    Of the remaining officials, aside from one or two who felt their conscience was clear, the rest lowered their heads, not daring to look at Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye then instructed Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai directly.


    "Uncles, I have only just taken over this territory, yet I must depart for war immediately. I entrust all affairs here to you both.


    I hope to see significant improvements upon my return."


    Even without Mo Jiuye''s words, the two men knew what needed to be done.


    "Your Majesty can rest assured. We will do our utmost."


    Mo Jiuye nodded.


    "Good. If you encounter any difficulties, you can seek advice from my father at home."


    In truth, Mo Jiuye was notpletely without capable individuals at his disposal.


    He Ziming was well-versed in literature and had studied statecraft from a young age. He could have easily handled the Prefectural Magistrate''s position.


    However, Mo Jiuye understood his cousin''sck of interest in an official career. He Ziming was solely focused on studying medicine and had already purchased a clinic in the city, waiting only for preparations to open.


    During Mo Jiuye and his wife''s time in the Capital city, He Ziming had been unbound to a position he disliked. Mo Jiuye could not force his cousin into such a role for his own sake.


    So when considering potential candidates to assist him, Mo Jiuye had immediately ruled out He Ziming.


    Then there was his dear father-inw, Minister Hao, who had yet to arrive in the northwest, but whose presence there was only a matter of time.


    Minister Hao''s administrative capabilities were unmatched, but Mo Jiuye would still need to consult the elder''s wishes first.


    He could hardly ask the man to resign his official post only to thene manage his territory.


    For now, Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai were men he trusted, unable to leave this ce in any case.


    In the future, once Nan Yu cleared their names, whether they stayed or left would be their choice.


    But by then, it would be long in the future. Mo Jiuye believed he could cultivate capable subordinates by that time.


    Moreover, with his many brothers, particrly his calm and capable fifth brother, having them manage affairs here would not be an issue.


    Of course, those were matters forter consideration. For now, he needed to depart for the battlefield immediately with his troops.


    The officials who had apanied the former Prefectural Magistrate remained kneeling. Mo Jiuye surveyed them and said, "I have no need for your gifts. Conducting yourselves properly in your positions would be the greatest gift to me."


    He then waved his hand. "Rise. Take these things back. If you feel you have excessive wealth, use it to aid the impoverished citizens."


    These officials had expected King of Defending the West Mo Jiuye to take harsh measures against them after dismissing the Prefectural Magistrate. They never imagined he would simply let them off so easily.


    Looking at the gifts they had brought, what was there to hesitate about?


    Once back, they would immediately arrange relief efforts for those struggling citizens in poverty.


    With simple matters settled, the women of the Mo family came out to see their men off.


    He Zhiran held Zhu in her arms, while Mo Jiuye''s mother held little Mingzhu.


    The two approached Mo Jiuye together.


    He Zhiran took one of Zhu''s little hands and made a gesture of greeting toward Mo Jiuye.


    "Zhu, tell Daddy that Mommy will be a good boy waiting at home for you to return triumphant."


    As if understanding his mother''s words, Zhu stared at Mo Jiuye withrge, round eyes, making babbling noises before breaking into a smile.


    Mo Jiuye reached out and took Zhu''s tiny hand. "Son, Daddy goes to battle to secure this realm for you. Protecting thisnd will be your duty in the future."


    On the surface, Mo Jiuye appeared to simply be ying with Zhu in front of everyone. But in truth, those were his innermost thoughts.


    Initially, he had agreed to be the King of Defending the West for Nan Yu not solely because of the granted territory.


    As a father, he truly wished to leave something behind for his descendants.


    Thus, he epted the role of King of Defending the West¡ªthe two conditions were inseparable reasons.


    Mo Jiuye''s mother also approached, carrying Mingzhu.


    Seeing her father, Mingzhu smiled with crinkled eyes and babbled, imitating her brother in bidding her father farewell.


    Seeing the two adorable children, Mo Jiuye''s heart meltedpletely.


    Reluctantly, he stroked one child, then the other.


    The many uncles of the two little ones, though not interacting with their nephew and niece like the ninth brother, still felt softened in their hearts seeing the children''s antics.


    For the women of the Mo family, seeing their men depart for war was not the first such asion, apart from He Zhiran.


    The anxiety they currently felt could not be expressed in words.


    Though their husbands were still alive, the pain of receiving news of their deaths in the past still weighed heavily on their chests.

 Chapter 558: I’ll make the best of It.

    <h4>Chapter 558</h4>


    Old Lady Mo sighed heavily, for she had not only endured the pain of losing her husband, but also the anguish of losing countless children.


    Today, as she watched several of her sons heading off to battle, her heart was bleeding.


    The olddy handed the precious pearl she held to her eldest daughter-inw, then walked towards her sons.


    "My Mo men are no cowards. I know you fear neither life nor death, but this time you must all return safely without a single one missing. Otherwise, I shall consider you unfilial sons."


    These words brought tears not only to the women of the Mo Family, but even the stalwart men could not help having reddened eyes.


    Such a scene tugged at the heartstrings. Although she knew her sons were well-equipped for survival, she still worried for them.


    Yet there was nothing she could do, for the battlefield spares no one, and no one could guarantee there would be no idents.


    He Zhiran pulled Mo Jiuye aside, her eyes brimming with tears, "Husband, Zhu and I will await your safe return."


    At that moment, Mo Jiuye could not care less, embracing He Zhiran and Zhu in front of everyone.


    "Rest assured, your husband now has a doting wife and children. I would not easily throw away this life."


    He Zhiran gently pounded on his chest.


    "Just be careful out there, all right?"


    She pointed at the long, ck bag hanging on Mo Jiuye''s warhorse.


    "You have ample sniper rifle ammunition. Use it wisely instead of taking unnecessary risks."


    "I know. Capture the king before the thieves. I''ll make good use of it."


    In He Zhiran''s eyes,pared to her husband''s life, a sniper rifle was expendable...


    The Mo brothers were gone for two months on their campaign.


    Meng Huaining also took Mo Hanyue to the capital for work for the same duration.


    The first snow of the year fell in Xi Ling Vige as winter arrived.


    Over these two months, He Zhiran received several messages delivered by Little White.


    Mo Jiuye''s offensive against the Barbarians in the western territory was a resounding sess, emerging victorious in every battle with barely any casualties on the Da Shun side.


    The Barbarian Army had since retreated and encamped over a hundred miles from the western territory, while the Barbarian King had sent an envoy with a letter of surrender to Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye harbored less hatred for the Barbarianspared to those from the Southern Province.


    The Barbarians were not innately warlike, only invading Da Shun for food.


    However, this time was different. When interrogating prisoners of war, Mo Jiuye learned that they had been instigated by the Southern Province.


    The current Southern Province Emperor was once the prince who had taken the Fourth Princess of Da Shun as his consort.


    Back then, he seemed like a fool, but after ascending the throne, he revealed his ambitions to conquer Da Shun.


    Especially after the Mo Family no longer guarded the borders, he felt it was the perfect opportunity to seize Da Shun.


    Compared to its smaller neighbors, Da Shun was a vastnd with abundant resources and arger poption.


    Thus, the Southern Province Emperor believed that to conquer Da Shun, he needed to ally with the Barbarians to increase their chances of sess.


    In this alliance, he promised the Barbarians that whichever party upied a city would im it as their own territory after dividing up Da Shun''snds.


    With this two-pronged attack, even the Barbarians could see the benefits, butcked the audacity to invade Da Shun on their own.


    Once the Southern Province Emperor nted this idea, both sides quickly agreed to attack Da Shun.


    Being further from the capital, the Southern Province received newster than Da Shun thanks to theck of an intelligent beast messenger like Little White.


    Fortunately, Nan Yu was farsighted, convincing Mo Jiuye to return to court at the critical moment, minimizing Da Shun''s losses.


    By the time Mo Chongyuan led his troops to the southern border, the frontier had already fallen.


    The few remaining garrison troops had retreated to the next city.


    In other words, the Southern Province had already captured one of Da Shun''s southern cities.


    While dispatching reinforcements westward, Nan Yu also sent arge army south.


    However, the distance was great, and this army could not travel as swiftly as the Mo brothers, only arriving ten days after Mo Chongyuan reached the south.


    Before then, the Southern Province forces constantly harassed Da Shun, evenunching a major offensive.


    Thankfully, Mo Chongyuan''s private soldiers had explosives and repeating crossbows.


    Under the onught of these advanced weapons, the Southern Province troops could only retreat, with many soldiers terrified.


    They imed the Da Shun forces wielded "heavenly thunder."


    This "heavenly thunder" rained down from the sky, instantly obliterating countless men into unrecognizable corpses. Just imagining theirrades'' mangled remains made them shudder in horror.


    The Southern Provincemanders were also afraid. When they reported back requesting a withdrawal, the Emperor gave no response.


    With Da Shun reinforcements arriving, they walked on eggshells, fearing that one day the Da Shun forces would unleash their "heavenly thunder," not just destroying their army, but potentially razing the entire Southern Province to the ground.


    He Zhiran received this news a long time ago, as the Southern Provincecked a swift messenger like Little White.


    She guessed that, given the Mo men''s nature, they would surely pursue their advantage and press the attack.


    What she did not know was that Mo Chongyuan had already led arge force into the Southern Province capital, giving their Emperor no chance to surrender.


    That ce was a nightmare for several Mo brothers, but now it had be a nightmare for the Southern Province rulers...


    As for Mo Jiuye''s approach to the Barbarians'' surrender, he had his own ns, but such matters had to be reported to the imperial court for the Emperor''s final decision.


    When Mo Jiuye received the letter of surrender, he immediately had Little White deliver it to the capital that very night.


    Along with the Barbarians'' letter, Nan Yu also received Mo Chongyuan''s battle report urgently delivered from the Southern Province.


    Like the Mo Family, Nan Yu also harbored deep resentment towards the Southern Province.


    Especially their proficiency with poisonous venom - a harmful practice that was almost impossible to guard against.


    Nan Rui had once told him how the Southern Province controlled Consort De with a venomous creature to force him to do their bidding, nearly causing a grave mistake for Nan Rui to save Consort De''s life.


    It wasmon knowledge that the Southern Province people, regardless of age or gender, were fascinated with venoms and poisons.


    Even ordinarymoners with no special talent or funds in this area would try to keep a venomous creature as a pet.


    Who knew what harm such a creature could cause, even unintentionally?


    Therefore, Nan Yu would never allow the Southern Province another chance to harm others in this manner.

 Chapter 559: It’s so Good in the Northwest

    <h4>Chapter 559</h4>


    The instructions given to Mo Chongyuan by Nan Yu were to kill all the emperors, nobles of the Southern Xiang region, and enve themon people, denying them any chance of rebellion.


    Although Nan Yu''s approach was ruthless, for the sake ofsting peace and stability, he had to nip potential dangers in the bud.


    Nan Yu and Mo Jiuye became intimate friends, indicating that their thoughts aligned in many ways.


    Like Mo Jiuye, Nan Yu was not someone who would indiscriminately kill the innocent, but he could not feel any pity towards the Southern Xiang region.


    Simrly, every single man of the Mo family harbored deep resentment towards the Southern Xiang to this extent.


    However, the situation with the Barbarians was different. The Barbarians did not practice such crooked ways, so thosemon people were quite innocent.


    Their main reason for attacking Da Shun was to fill their bellies.


    Even when their attacks were asionally motivated by impure intentions, it was due to the greed of their rulers.


    The Barbarians had to be conquered and officially incorporated into the territory of Da Shun, but they would not be left with any rulers.


    Henceforth, there would be no nation called the Barbarians in this world.


    Of course, the task of governing the Barbarian territories absorbed into Da Shun would be directly assigned to Mo Jiuye by Nan Yu.


    When he had so readily agreed to grant the northwest as Mo Jiuye''s fief, Nan Yu had harbored this ulterior motive.


    Unbeknownst to Nan Yu, thispletely aligned with He Zhiran''s wishes.


    Initially, she had nned to find a way for Mo Jiuye to rent a plot ofnd in the Barbarian territories for livestock farming after pacifying the region.


    This was not a whim of He Zhiran''s - it wasmon knowledge that the Barbariannds were barren, with most areas being grasnds.


    Logically, the Barbarians could have chosen animal husbandry as their livelihood, but they could not find a market for the cattle and sheep they raised, so they gradually abandoned this idea.


    However, He Zhiran did not need to worry about the market for cattle and sheep.


    In her hands, no matter how many cattle and sheep, she could sell them all.


    Take the beloved hotpot from her previous life, for example - it was a delicacy made primarily of beef and mutton.


    There were also roasted wholemb, wind-dried beef jerky, and even cooked beef dishes.


    In short, He Zhiran had countless ways to consume beef and mutton. With all these methods of consuming cattle and sheep, how could she worry about ack of market?


    Just the other day, the long-awaited Minister Hao finally arrived in the northwest with Uncle Feng.


    He Zhiran took out a few copper hotpots that she had recently asked Hu Cong to make, and also purchased some charcoal from the vigers.


    On one hand, this was to wee her father-inw who had traveled from afar, but she also wanted her family to experience an authentic charcoal hotpot.


    Although she had previously prepared this way of eating, at that time, apart from the unprofessional cookware, there were also issues with the visible light exposure of many condiments, so it could only be considered a makeshift effort.


    Today was different. In autumn, Yu''er had already made several jars of garlic chili sauce ording to He Zhiran''s instructions.


    Recently, He Zhiran had also taught the family to make tofu, from which they produced fermented bean curd.


    The sesame seeds harvested from their ownnd were ground into sesame oil and sesame paste.


    In addition, He Zhiran had specially purchased a book about homemade condiments from the Taobao Mall and followed its instructions to make soy sauce and oyster sauce.


    Furthermore, various vegetables from their greenhouse had gradually matured, so they had an abundance of vegetables for hotpot.


    Not long ago, He Zhiran had personally visited a fishing vige and purchased arge quantity of seafood to make fish balls and shrimp balls.


    So, this hotpot feast was the culmination of He Zhiran''s long preparations.


    Minister Hao knew that the men of the Mo family were recently busy with military campaigns, so they had not yet had time to build their fiefdom.


    Especially since the Mo brothers had set out for their campaign inte autumn, there was no time left to construct a residence suitable for a prince.


    Moreover, before leaving the capital, he had not heard of the court allocating funds for the Prince of Zhenxi to build a residence.


    This was understandable - the national treasury was depleted, and they were also facing attacks from the Southern Xiang and the Barbarians.


    He had personally witnessed the empty national treasury. Fortunately, the new emperor had discovered arge sum of wealth in the treacherous Xue''s storehouses; otherwise, they might not have had enough funds to cover the expenses of this war.


    Even with these funds allocated to the military, they were still strapped for cash and had no means to provide for the construction of the Prince of Zhenxi''s residence.


    Considering that the Mo family had been stripped of their possessions by the court when they were exiled from the capital, they were essentially penniless. Even though Minister Hao and Madam He had provided their daughter with some savings, it was surely a struggle for such arge household to make ends meet.


    It was estimated that Mo Jiuye would be one of the poorest princes in history.


    Thus, Minister Hao had intended to help his son-inw, even if it was a meager contribution, as a gesture of goodwill from a father-inw.


    This was also the real reason for his dyed arrival in the northwest.


    To gather a satisfactory amount of silver for Mo Jiuye, Minister Hao had be increasingly frugal, selling the He family''s manors, shops, and properties only at prices he deemed eptable, and waiting patiently for better offers if the prices were unsatisfactory.


    However, upon arriving at Xi Ling Vige with the silver he had painstakingly umted, he realized that the Mo family was far from impoverished - they were living extravagantly!


    They had even used zed tiles as windows, just like Minister Hao and Madam He had initially imagined...


    Fortunately, Madam He exined these matters to him.


    At the same time, Minister Hao also understood why his wife and son hade to the northwest and did not want to leave.


    Apart from being able to frequently see He Zhiran, they were also captivated by this simple lifestyle.


    Mo Jiuye had instructed Hu Cong to construct a courtyard residence, and Hu Cong, out of gratitude towards the Mo family who had shown him kindness, did not want to dy this task even at the cost of putting aside other work.


    As a result, the courtyard residence he built for He Zhiran''s family waspleted at an astonishing pace.


    Not only was the architectural style identical to the Mo family''s residences, but even the interior furnishings were the same.


    When Minister Hao had pushed open the door yesterday, he was greeted by a wave of warmth, initially thinking that numerous braziers must have been burning inside the rooms.


    However, after searching all around, he could not find a single brazier.


    Madam He proudly exined to Minister Hao that this warmth was due to a unique heating method developed by their daughter and son-inw, called "floor heating."


    Not only was it safer than using braziers in the rooms, but it was also incredibly warm, and the temperature could be adjusted as desired.


    This once again broadened Minister Hao''s horizons. Under Madam He''s guidance, he walked barefoot on the floor, and the warmth felt like embracing a hot water bottle.


    Truly wonderful, the northwest was truly wonderful!


    This was Minister Hao''s genuine sentiment after arriving in the northwest, especially with his adorable grandchildren, who melted his heart as a grandfather.


    Moreover, yesterday afternoon, his son-inw Mo Qing had personally taken him for a tour of the surroundings, where he saw lush, green vegetables growing in the winter.


    And the varieties of these vegetables were ones he had never seen before.


    He even witnessed the once formidable Duke, deftly tending to these leafy greens.

 Chapter 560: What if he wants to get involved

    <h4>Chapter 560</h4>


    Mo Qing''s actions indeed surprised Minister Hao greatly, to the point where he even had the illusion that the person before him had undergone a change of heart.


    But seeing his father-inw busying himself with such enthusiasm, how could he not want to partake in the merriment?


    As a result, Minister Hao joined in.


    He rolled up his sleeves and pant legs without any regard for his image, just like Mo Qing, and proceeded to weed in the greenhouse...


    In the evening, He Zhiran personally arranged a banquet to wee and refresh her dear father.


    Compared to the pce banquets, the feast at the Mo residence far surpassed them, especially since the family had grown vegetables in their greenhouse, absolving He Zhiran of any concerns about the ingredients'' origins.


    For this reason, the dishes served at the Mo family table were as innovative as they came.


    The household had an abundant supply of various meats, with several batches of mature livestock from their farm having already been sold. In the eyes of the Mo family, this was a considerable source of ie.


    For the weing evening banquet, He Zhiran specially invited Xie Tianhai, Fang Chuanzhou, and Hu Cong to apany them.


    They had all served as officials alongside her father in the past, and there were no barriers between them, so they were quite familiar with one another. Having them engage Minister Hao in conversation would help liven up the atmosphere.


    Additionally, He Zhiran also wanted to inquire about the recent management situation within their territory and offer her own perspectives.


    Despite being a mere woman, no one dared to look down on her.


    Especially Xie Tianhai and Fang Chuanzhou, who were well aware of He Zhiran''s capabilities and held her in high regard.


    The two had even remarked that if He Zhiran were a man, she would undoubtedly have a ce in the imperial court.


    Regarding such remarks, He Zhiran merely epted them without dwelling on them.


    It wasn''t that she particrly enjoyed meddling in affairs; she had no choice. With her husband on the battlefield fighting enemies, she had to oversee the logistics at home.


    At this weing banquet in the Northwest, Minister Hao once again felt the goodness of this ce - thefortable amodations, delicious food, and the opportunity to see such an adorable pair of little children every day.


    He began to envy Mo Qing, for as fellow parents, thetter had enjoyed this familial bliss several months earlier than him.


    Fortunately, the incident caused by the Empress''s faction had allowed him topletely let go of everything. Fortunately, he did not persist in his stubborn ways as before. And fortunately, he was able to prioritize his family ties. Otherwise, where in his life would he have the chance to experience such a carefree and rxing time?


    Of course, his ability to think this way was also due to hearing that the war situation on Mo Jiuye''s front was progressing favorably. Once the Barbarian rebellion was quelled, the future in the Northwest would be one of tranquility.


    ...


    He Zhiran, along with the women of the household, brought out the hot pot and ingredients and set them on the table.


    She had specially invited Tang Mingrui for a reason - as the weather turned cold, it was the best time for the hot pot business.


    Moreover, the vegetables from their greenhouse and the mutton from their farm needed to find a stable market.


    Tang Mingrui knew that whenever Sister-inw He summoned him, it meant she had a new money-making idea.


    Like the Mo family, he had already experienced hot pot before. At that time, he had thought that if he could open a restaurant serving such fare, he would undoubtedly make a lot of money.


    However, Sister-inw He had said that due to the limited supply of hot pot seasoning and ingredients, especially chili peppers which were the soul of hot pot, they would have to wait.


    Today, upon arriving at the Mo residence, Tang Mingrui was once again astonished by the food arranged on the table and the special copper pot in the center.


    "Sister-inw He, is this also a hot pot?"


    He Zhiran knew that this man, whose mind was constantly upied with thoughts of earning money, would ask such a question.


    She had invited him to discuss starting a hot pot restaurant, so there was no harm in resolving his doubts now.


    "This copper pot was made by Brother Hu some time ago at my request."


    As she spoke, He Zhiran approached the table and pointed to various parts of the copper pot, exining their functions to Tang Mingrui.


    Upon hearing that the small lids on the pot could even adjust the heat, Tang Mingrui became increasingly impressed with He Zhiran.


    "Sister-inw He, I truly admire you to the point of prostrating myself. How did youe up with such an ingenious idea? It''s simply too miraculous..."


    Faced with Tang Mingrui''s praise, He Zhiran felt somewhat embarrassed, as this creation was not her own idea but rather a replication of achievements from her previous life.


    "Haha... It''s really quite simple. You just haven''t had the time to ponder it!" He Zhiranughed casually and continued introducing the ingredients and seasonings on the table to Tang Mingrui.


    Not only did Tang Mingrui listen attentively, but Mo Qing and Minister Hao were also listening with rapt attention.


    Earlier, Minister Hao had been led over by his wife, who told him that their daughter had prepared delicious food. Little did he expect that the table wasden with raw ingredients. How could he possibly swallow them?


    Could it be that there was a custom of eating raw food in the Northwest?


    He Zhiran''s next action immediately dispelled his doubts.


    The red broth in the copper pot had alreadye to a boil, filling the room with a fragrance he had never experienced before.


    He Zhiran picked up a few slices of meat and some fish balls and ced them into the pot.


    Without waiting for her to speak, Mo Qing immediately urged Minister Hao to start eating.


    At the same time, he picked up a thin slice of meat and put it in Minister Hao''s bowl.


    "Father-inw, this is mutton. It has a tender and fresh taste without any gamey vor. Just dip it in the broth and enjoy."


    This was Minister Hao''s first time witnessing such a way of eating. The mutton had only been in the pot for a short while, yet it was already cooked enough to eat?


    Madam He, who was sitting beside him, had eaten hot pot before and could not bear to see her husband hesitating. She gently nudged his arm.


    "My lord, our son-inw is not deceiving you. This mutton is truly delicious."


    Looking at the others at the table, in the blink of an eye, they had already devoured the ingredients He Zhiran had just added to the pot and promptly added more.


    No need to ask - judging by their expressions of enjoyment, and their unwillingness to even speak, this dish must be incredibly tasty.


    Minister Hao took a bite, and indeed, he could not stop eating.


    No wonder his wife and son were reluctant to leave aftering here. He had thought the dinner at the Mo residence the previous night was already enticing enough, but today''s hot pot was even more irresistible.


    He Zhiran had also retrieved the grape wine she had personally brewed in autumn.


    After being made, the wine had been stored in the cer. Although the weather in the Northwest was now cold, the temperature in the storage room had not reached freezing levels.


    At this time, the wine''s temperature was like it had been chilled, perfectlyplementing the piping hot hot pot - both refreshing and appetizing.


    Undoubtedly, the grape wine was praised by everyone.


    In his life, Minister Hao had only one hobby - enjoying a small drink whenever he had the chance.


    Yesterday, He Zhiran had indulged his preference by providing him with a jar of Wuliangye liquor, which Minister Hao had praised endlessly, even iming it was several times more delicious than the imperial tribute wine.


    Today, he had the opportunity to taste the grape wine brewed by his daughter herself, offering him a unique vor.


    Minister Hao could not help but silently repeat in his heart, "I love it, I love it..."

 Chapter 561: The People of Northwest China Completely Return to Normal Life.

    <h4>Chapter 561</h4>


    Tang Mingrui''s mind was already calcting numerous business ventures - even the prices of these ingredients were part of his initial n, especially for this delicious and refreshing grape wine, which he saw as an unlimited business opportunity.


    This unlimited opportunity was not about how much it could be sold for, but rather its exorbitant price.


    After countless coborations, He Zhiran was very satisfied with the prices set by Tang Mingrui, so this time she didn''t intend to worry too much either.


    After all, their business was profit-sharing, so the high or low price not only affected the interests of the Mo family, but also how much Tang Mingrui himself could earn.


    There was no need to keep the method of making copper pots a secret - anyone with a mind to learn could figure it out just by studying the pot a little.


    He Zhiran''s confidence in the exclusive hot pot business mainly came from the dipping sauce and soup base seasonings.


    These were unique recipes of the Mo family, especially the raw ingredients, which others simply couldn''t obtain.


    Therefore, she firmly told Tang Mingrui that the hot pot could be a long-term exclusive business, and even if someone tried to imitate it, they would pale inparison.


    Unfortunately, He Zhiran had only brewed wine from the mountain grapes in the courtyard this year, and hadn''t reached the stage of mass production.


    Moreover, she could also see that both elders seemed to have a fondness for this grape wine.


    So for now, this small amount of grape trellis could only be consumed by the family, and next year when the grape yield on the mountain was higher, she could produce it inrge quantities. At that point, she could cooperate with Tang Mingrui again, which would surely be a very considerable ie.


    Tang Mingrui felt deeply regretful that he couldn''t immediately cooperate on the grape wine business.


    However, he wasn''t greedy - as long as he and the Mo family maintained a sincere cooperation, all these businesses would eventually be his.


    Over the course of one meal, not only did Minister Hao be even more fond of his daughter''s side of the family, but He Zhiran also directly signed a contract with Tang Mingrui to open a hot pot restaurant.


    As before, the Mo family would provide the ingredients and seasonings, Tang Mingrui would be responsible for opening the shop and doing business, and the profits would still be split 50-50 between the two families.


    In addition, the mature vegetables from the Mo family''s greenhouse could also be supplied inrge quantities to Tang Mingrui''s restaurant.


    For this, Tang Mingrui was more than happy to oblige.


    This trip, he felt, was his biggest gain from the Mo family.


    How could someone destined to be a great merchant not see the enormous profits in the hot pot business?


    In any case, Tang Mingrui returned fully satisfied, and immediately began preparations to open his shop upon returning.


    Now with Mo Jiuye defending the western borders, the civilians in the northwest had fully resumed their normal lives.


    His opening of the shop would not be affected by the war, and moreover, his shops had already expanded to other prefectures...


    After the matter of cooperating with Tang Mingrui on the hot pot restaurant was settled, He Zhiran continued to develop other industries.


    ...


    Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the twelfth lunar month.


    On the road leading into Xi Ling Vige, Mo Jiuye led a group riding hard to get home.


    A month earlier, he had received orders from Nan Yu to capture the entire Barbarian Royal Family and nobles and escort them to the capital, in ordance with his instructions.


    The remaining civilians would continue their original lives.


    At the same time, this vast territory of the Barbarians also became part of Mo Jiuye''s own fief.


    Following He Zhiran''s advice, he first distributed some provisions to the Barbarian civilians to help them get through the winter, in order to appease their hearts.


    After spending a winter where no one starved to death, these civilians would surely be grateful to Mo Jiuye, and might even think that Da Shun''s conquest of the Barbarians was a great blessing for them.


    And indeed, that was the case - what did these ordinary civilians care about in their hearts?


    Nothing more than having their families fed and clothed, so whoever gave them this life, they would support.


    Sure enough, after receiving the provisions distributed by people sent by Mo Jiuye, the Barbarians knelt on the ground and imitated the Da Shun people, shouting "Long live the King of Defending the West!" Some even said they were willing to be cattle or horses for the King of Defending the West for the rest of their lives.


    It was uncertain whether they could really be cattle or horses, but Mo Jiuye could be sure that these people''s support for him was sincere.


    When spring arrived next year, he would follow his wife''s n and send the Barbarians horses, cattle, and sheep inrge numbers.


    Although the Barbariannds were quite barren, they were by no meanspletely devoid of resources - in fact, there were many.


    It was just that the seeds nted by the civilians with their ordinary methods yielded practically nothing, so over time, much of thend had been abandoned.


    Before leaving, Mo Jiuye had Liang Hao lead a group of men to stay behind, and appointed him as the governor of the Barbarian region.


    This governor position was no ordinary one.


    In the prefectures of Da Shun, there was usually a prefect as the head, and in some ces the imperial court would also appoint amander - that is, in most prefectures there would be one civil official and one military officer.


    Of course, the northwest was a special case, as there was arge army stationed in the western territory, so the prefectures did not have the position ofmander.


    In Da Shun, a governor was abination of prefect andmander - in other words, Liang Hao was both the prefect of the Barbarian region and the militarymander, leading a force of ten thousand men.


    These ten thousand men were the troops the imperial court had dispatched to attack the western territory. Under Mo Jiuye''s capable leadership and with arge number of bombs at his disposal, the entire campaign had resulted in almost no casualties for Da Shun''s side.


    Since princes with fiefs were allowed to maintain a certain number of troops, and the newly conquered Barbariannds could not be left unguarded, Mo Jiuye directly petitioned Nan Yu to request leaving behind some of the troops as guards.


    When Nan Yu had originally dispatched the army to the western territory, he had expected two to three tenths of the troops to suffer casualties. However, the report he received from Mo Jiuye stated that there were practically no losses.


    Since that was the case, he decided to go along with the circumstances and leave behind the portion of troops he had originally nned to lose in the campaign, while withdrawing the rest.


    This way, not only did it satisfy Mo Jiuye''s needs, but Nan Yu himself didn''t feel any loss either.


    After all, without Mo Jiuye leading the battle, those soldiers he had sent out might very well have never returned, so he didn''t feel he was losing out at all.


    Most importantly, it was because of his trust in the Mo family.


    When he had initially requested Mo Jiuye to take part in the battle, it was with the mindset of "trust those you employ, don''t employ those you don''t trust", and that remained true now.


    Mo Jiuye was not greedy either - he had his original veteran troops as private soldiers, and now this additional ten thousand imperial troops from Nan Yu.


    After the new year, he could slowly build up his forces, and didn''t need to worry about the number of troops at all.


    After settling matters in the Barbariannds, he swiftly led several of his brothers to hurry back home.


    In the past when going off to war, he had never felt such a longing in his heart.


    But now it waspletely different - he missed his beloved wife and two adorable children terribly.


    He had been gone for several months, and Ran Ran must havebored tirelessly for the sake of this family.


    Would the two children even be able to recognize him as their father?


    Full of eager anticipation, Mo Jiuye braved the bitter cold and traveled at top speed to reach Xi Ling Vige.


    After paying respects to his parents and briefly recounting the campaign in the western territory, Mo Jiuye hurried back to his own home without dy.

 Chapter 562: Do you still know Daddy

    <h4>Chapter 562</h4>


    Minister Hao and his wife had heard that Mo Jiuye had returned, but they were both very perceptive and knew that their son-inw had not seen his wife and children for a long time. They deliberately made excuses to be busy elsewhere, so as not to dy his reunion with his wife and children due to the need to greet them.


    He Zhiran also heard that her husband Mo Jiuye had returned, but at the moment she was alone, and her two children were already crawling around, so she could not leave them unattended. Even though she was eager to see her husband, she could only wait.


    Hearing footsteps outside the door, He Zhiran immediately opened the room door.


    Seeing his beloved wife whom he had longed for day and night, Mo Jiuye could not wait any longer and stepped forward to embrace her.


    Mo Jiuye''s body was icy cold, but He Zhiran did not mind at all. She put her arms around his waist in the same way, and the two held each other for a long time. It was not until the baby Mingzhu on the bed let out a series of coos and babbles that they reluctantly parted.


    Mo Jiuye took He Zhiran''s hand and walked towards the bed. Seeing that their adorable children had grown much plumper and bigger, he instantly beamed with delight.


    At the same time, the two little ones also stared at him with wide eyes.


    "Mingzhu, Zhu, do you still recognize Daddy?"


    Mo Jiuye nervously rubbed his hands, wanting to go forward and hug the two children, but worried that his chilly body would make them ufortable.


    Therefore, Mo Jiuye was now in a dilemma.


    He Zhiran quickly went forward and took off his cloak.


    Mo Jiuye took off his armor.


    The two little babies did not cry or make a fuss, they just sat there watching the interaction between their father and mother.


    Especially Zhu, who seemed to look at his father with a kind of admiration.


    This did not escape He Zhiran''s notice, as she was most familiar with their temperaments after spending so much time with the two children.


    Zhu was born with a pair of expressive eyes. Although he never cried or made a fuss like his sister, He Zhiran could judge his emotions by his eyes.


    But the admiring look in Zhu''s eyes today was something He Zhiran had never seen before.


    She tentatively asked, "Does Zhu think Daddy looks very heroic?"


    "Ah ah ah ah..." Zhu let out a string of baby sounds that outsiders could not understand, then opened his little mouth and smiled, revealing two small teeth that had just grown in, simply adorable enough to melt anyone''s heart.


    Zhu''s behavior was unprecedented.


    This child had been mature since birth, rarely showing any facial expressions.


    Today, not only did he make sounds in response to his mother''s question, but he even smiled with his mouth open.


    He Zhiran immediately picked up Zhu and kissed him.


    "My smart Zhu knows that Daddy is a great hero, doesn''t he?"


    Zhu continued to smile, looking at his mother who was holding him for a moment, then at his father, and finally, unable to resist, he reached out his two little hands towards Mo Jiuye.


    Mo Jiuye was simply overwhelmed with gratitude.


    He never expected that his own son would admire him so much. After being away from home for several months, not only was his son not unfamiliar with him, but he even admired him.


    With his son giving him such a great gift, he had to fully appreciate it. With his armor off and his body no longer so cold, ensuring that he would not make the child ufortable, he carefully took Zhu from He Zhiran''s arms.


    No sooner had he taken Zhu than Mingzhu on the bed pouted and started crying.


    Not only did she cry, but those teary big eyes kept staring at Mo Jiuye, looking so pitiful.


    He Zhiran also understood this behavior.


    She quickly went forward and picked up Mingzhu tofort her.


    "Don''t cry, Mingzhu. Daddy loves Mingzhu too. Daddy will hold you after holding your brother."


    Seeing his poor daughter crying so sadly, Mo Jiuye felt heartbroken.


    But he could not bear to put down his son either. In the end, he could only hold Zhu with one hand and free up the other to hold Mingzhu.


    Mingzhu''s crying was indeed due to jealousy of her brother, because Daddy did not hold her first when he came back, and the baby felt wronged.


    Once she was in Daddy''s arms, Mingzhu immediately stopped crying, but those tear-filled big eyes still reminded Mo Jiuye that Daddy had just been biased.


    Holding his longed-for son and daughter, Mo Jiuye''s sense of fulfillment was already overflowing.


    These were Mo Jiuye''s children, intelligent and sensible from such a young age.


    ...


    On the third day after Mo Jiuye and his brothers returned from the Western Territory, the Fifth Brother and others who had gone to the Southern Territory battlefield also came back.


    This time, with the participation of the men of the Mo family, the Da Shun Dynasty''s military campaign could be said to have been a great sess, and the army suffered almost no major casualties.


    Most importantly, this war had once and for all settled the two small barbarian territories that had harassed Da Shun for many years.


    From now on, the people of Da Shun could work hard to develop their economy under the leadership of Nan Yu, without having to worry about being invaded by others.


    With no more wars in the southwest, and as promised, Nan Yu agreed that the Mo family men no longer needed to guard the borders, and could continue to return to the northwest to live their own lives.


    During this period, He Zhiran worked tirelessly to expand their industries.


    Now the Mo family''s rabbit breeding industry had reached a considerable scale. Not only did the Mo family raise rabbits, but they also drove the people of Xi Ling Vige to do so.


    They purchased rabbit kits from the Mo family, and the Mo family people taught them breeding techniques. After the rabbits matured, the Mo family was responsible for buying them back.


    When the weather turned cold, clothing made from marten fur became highly popr among the people of this era.


    He Zhiran established a clothing factory in Xi Ling Vige, hiring surrounding women to make clothes, with wages calcted on a piecework basis.


    She was naturally generous, offering high wages. Now the surrounding women earned more silver money making marten fur coats than their families'' annual ie.


    Especially since He Zhiran had the dyeing techniques from her previous life,bined with the beautiful styles she rmended, the marten fur coats were sold at exorbitant prices by Tang Mingrui.


    With the women able to earn money, their status in their households also rose. Many women who had once been bullied in their inws'' homes now became arrogant and haughty.


    This was also one of He Zhiran''s main reasons for developing the clothing factory first.


    After living in Xi Ling Vige for a long time, she found that the status of women here was extremely low, and arge number of them suffered bullying from their inws'' families.


    Especially in some families that favored sons over daughters, if a daughter-inw gave birth to a son it was still okay, but if she gave birth to a daughter, her life could be described as being roasted over fire.


    As a woman, she really could not stand to see this, but she could not meddle in other people''s family affairs. The only way was to use this method to solve the problem once and for all.


    Moreover, the entire Northwest Territory, or even the Barbarian Territory, had now be Mo Jiuye''s territory, which meant that this entire area was their turf.


    Originally, He Zhiran''s intention in persuading Mo Jiuye to be a noble and take a territory was to create a different kind of utopia.


    Creating a utopia was not just about appearances; she wanted people topletely change their old mindsets and gradually ept a new quality of life.


    The women knew that the Queen Consort had put in a lot of effort, and they themselves did not want to be bullied as the daughter-inw in the family, so they worked even harder.

 Chapter 563: Fiefdom where the Dust Settles

    <h4>Chapter 563</h4>


    Apart from this, the jewelry workshop also presented a certain scale. In order to prevent leakage of the crafting techniques, He Zhiran specially went to an agency to buy back more than twenty craftsmen to be solely responsible for using molds to produce various gold and silver jewelry.


    Not only that, but skilled and dexterous craftsmen could also produce jewelry iid with various gemstones.


    On Tang Mingrui''s side, he had already opened more than a dozen hot pot restaurants, with booming business that goes without saying.


    As soon as the hot pot restaurants'' business got on track, he immediately set about preparing jewelry shops.


    No matter what era, the period before the New Year is always the most profitable for businesses.


    There is a habit among themon people to spend most of the savings they scrimped and saved over the year during the New Year period.


    Therefore, he had to make a big profit before the New Year.


    On He Zhiran''s side, the mold-made jewelry was not only beautiful in design, but the production speed was also iparable to handcrafting.


    In other words, the time it took to produce a hundred pieces of jewelry using molds might only allow for one piece to be handcrafted.


    Therefore, by the time she notified Tang Mingrui to prepare the storefront, the Mo Family had already produced countless pieces of gold and silver jewelry.


    After all, time was tight and it was close to the New Year, so Tang Mingrui couldn''t conveniently travel too far to set things up and could only temporarily open a jewelry shop within the provincial capital.


    However, he was also clear that these jewelry pieces were beautiful and special, and would surely be deeply favored by women. Relying solely on the purchasing power of wealthy families in the northwest would not achieve the desired effect.


    Fortunately, he had many connections in other ces, and He Zhiran cooperated very well by drawing a poster for a novel jewelry design using sketches. Although the realism could not match that of photography, it far surpassed the ink paintings of the era.


    Moreover, this poster was clearly a painting, so even if someone praised it, there would be no suspicion.


    In order for Tang Mingrui to share the poster with more people, He Zhiran purchased a copying machine from the Taobao Mall and ced it in her space, making hundreds of copies of the poster.


    This was a great help to Tang Mingrui. The posters were sent to various provincial capitals, and on the opening day of the northwestern jewelry shop, it was packed with people.


    Because these jewelry pieces had unique designs, they were naturally priced much higher, but even so, all the merchandise disyed in the shop that day was sold out.


    This trend was something Tang Mingrui had not expected. He knew that people''s consumption mentality would be stronger before the New Year, but how could it be this intense?


    In fact, the amount of jewelry He Zhiran supplied him with was not small, but in this era, those in the jewelry business were very cautious, after all, with the chaotic times, bandits and robbers could be seen everywhere. If they were robbed, it would be a total loss.


    Therefore, on the first day of Tang Mingrui''s jewelry shop opening, he only disyed an estimated amount, never expecting it to sell outpletely.


    If it were a food shop with goods selling out, that wouldn''t be surprising at all, but who has ever heard of all the merchandise in a jewelry shop being sold out?


    That could only mean that the shop''s ownercked the ability to disy more goods, or that the shop was having a clearance sale.


    However, it was neither of these reasons. Not only was there arge amount of merchandise, but there was even more than in other jewelry shops, and the prices were exorbitantly high.


    So it could only be said that these jewelry pieces fit the aesthetic of the people of this era too well.


    In any case, no matter the jewelry shop or the hot pot restaurants, Tang Mingrui and He Zhiran made a huge profit before the New Year.


    The dividends He Zhiran received were obvious to all, and could be legitimately used for the construction of their fief.


    The ie from the beaver and rabbit fur clothing was also remarkable, to the amazement of the Mo Family.


    Even Minister Hao''s family felt it was incredible - when did their daughter (sister) develop such a mind for making money?


    At the same time, He Ziming''s medical clinic also opened smoothly in Yun City. He Zhiran had Lan Er go to the clinic every day to help her elder brother, with the aim of allowing the two to deepen their affection before marriage.


    Of course, she was able to do this because her mother had persuaded her father to agree to their marriage.


    In the Capital city, an imperial edict was also issued before the New Year, exonerating Fang Chuanzhou, Xie Tianhai, and Hu Cong of their crimes.


    Nan Yu knew that Mo Jiuye was building his fief and needed people, so he left the decision of whether to stay or not up to the three of them.


    If they were willing to stay in the northwest to help Mo Jiuye, he would not recall them to take up positions in the capital. Conversely, if they wished to return to the capital, Nan Yu would also wee them with open arms, as he had just ascended the throne and needed people as well.


    After receiving the edict, the three immediately stated their willingness to continue living in the northwest.


    As for Hu Cong, there was no need to say more - he was naturally a carefree person. Moreover, like the Mo Family, he had already be utterly disillusioned with the imperial court.


    Especially now that he had carefully assembled his own engineering team, doing what he enjoyed every day, not to mention He Zhiran asionallying up with new things for him to work on.


    Hu Cong felt this was far more interesting than being some lowly clerk in the Ministry of Works in the capital.


    Moreover, he was now alone with no dependents, in a state of "one man eating fills the family," freely doing as he pleased every day - wasn''t this better than going to the capital and being restricted?


    Speaking of Hu Cong being alone, Old Lady Mo and Consort De had truly put a lot of effort into worrying about his marriage, having already found several matchmakers in the city to help Hu Cong find a partner.


    Hu Cong did not object to this, for he had already walked out of that shadow. He believed in Old Lady Mo and Consort De''s judgement - whoever they deemed suitable would certainly not becking.


    Just recently, Old Lady Mo and Consort De helped him take a look at a youngdy from a certain household.


    The youngdy''s family was very simple, with only her brother-inw''s family and a young nephew.


    Because her parents had passed away in sessive years, the youngdy had missed the best age for marriage due to observing the mourning period.


    The youngdy was now twenty-two years old, having long passed the prime age for marriage. Her brother-inw''s family did not want her to settle too much, so her marriage had been dyed until now.


    They had heard about Hu Cong''s situation, and although he was older and had previously been married, he was a capable man with no children or elders to care for, which was already a good condition for the youngdy.


    With Old Lady Mo and Consort De''s arrangements, the two sides had already gone through the formalities, and were waiting for after the New Year toplete the marriage.


    Hu Cong had now settled his livelihood in the northwest and was about to start a family, reaching a fulfilling life.


    As for Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai, they were deeply grateful to the Mo Family, which was the biggest reason they were unwilling to leave the northwest.


    Moreover, they were both advanced in years and did not have any particrly capable younger generations in their families, so even if they went to the capital, there would be no good positions for them.


    Previously, He Zhiran had mentioned establishing some kind ofpulsory education school, requiring every child aged six to fifteen, regardless of gender, to attend and learn.


    Most importantly, the school would not charge any fees.

 Chapter 564: Call me Grandpa

    <h4>Chapter 564</h4>


    They stayed in the northwest as minor local officials, with their son attending the academy to be a teacher. Although this life was not as illustrious as being a high-ranking official in the capital city, it was stable andfortable.


    Mo Jiuye sincerely hoped that the others would remain in the northwest to assist him, but he could not be so selfish, for they were all talented and aplished men who might have greater opportunities to put their abilities to use in the capital city.


    However, the others had made up their minds, and despite understanding the reasoning, they remained steadfast in their desire to stay in the northwest.


    Mo Jiuye was very gratified by this, and it also made clear that they were indeed men of honor and loyalty.


    Time flew by in the busyness.


    The Mo family weed their second Spring Festival in the northwest.


    This night was different from previous years, as it was the first time in over a decade that the entire Mo family was gathered without a single person missing for the reunion.


    In the past, even when there were no reports of the Mo men being killed in battle, there were always some who could not reunite with their families due to guarding the frontier.


    Old Lady Mo was the happiest today, as she saw her husband and sons all present, but more importantly, He Zhiran had given birth to a new addition to the Mo family this year.


    Seeing the harmonious scene of the entire family sitting together, the olddy could not help but shed tears of joy.


    Mo Qing saw his wife crying, and without asking, he knew the reason, for he too felt an urge to tear up at that moment.


    The women rushed tofort the two elders, while also reflecting on how precious this reunion was.


    Little Pearl was the best at lightening the mood. Sensing the elders'' emotions, she immediately made sounds to draw everyone''s attention.


    Soon, Pearl had captured everyone''s attention, and they all wiped away their tears, vying to hold this mischievous little one.


    Pearl truly had a knack for it: in an instant, the atmosphere in the Mo family had done aplete 180-degree turn, with broad smiles adorning everyone''s faces.


    Six yearster...


    In a sprawlingpound at the foot of Tian Xiang Mountain, located in the northwest''s provincial capital city.


    This was the King of Defending the West''s Mansion, personally overseen by Hu Cong in its construction over more than half a year.


    The mansion upied an extremely vast area, with over a dozen separate quadrangle courtyard residences within its walls, in addition to the requisite facilities.


    At first nce, itsyout resembled the houses the Mo family had built at the foot of Xi Ling Vige''s mountain.


    Most importantly, the mansion backed onto a great mountain, covered in various fruit and tea trees, giving a refreshing and invigorating feeling from afar.


    On this particr day of crisp autumn weather, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, both dressed casually, strolled along the bustlingmercial street in the northwest.


    Themercial street was always crowded, but most of the people were visitors from afar, drawn by its reputation.


    For the local residents of the territory were busy working at this time of day, with no leisure to wander the street.


    They would onlye here to spend their hard-earned money in the evenings.


    Indeed, there were now hardly any idlers in the northwest territory.


    This was because their princess was so formidable, having established countless factories and workshops, so that any of her subjects willing to work could find stable and lucrative employment.


    The children, too, boys and girls alike, all attended school daily.


    Moreover, with the cultivation of high-yield crops in the rural northwest, after paying the grain tax, the surplus could be sold to outside grain merchants, providing a considerable annual ie.


    Themercial street beneath Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran''s feet was established five years ago, the second year after the Mo brothers'' triumphant return.


    It was jointly nned and designed by He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye.


    Along both sides of the entire street were shops of the same scale and style.


    When themercial street first opened, He Zhiran proposed opening it up for outside merchants to purchase shops, but at that time, no one saw potential in the business environment here. Those merchants felt that the Princess of Defending the West was being fanciful, building these showy shops in the impoverished northwest just to make money.


    She did indeed intend to make money, but He Zhiran wanted to make a great fortune, while also hoping to introduce some businesses she hadn''t thought of to the northwest.


    Little did she know that those people simply didn''t recognize her approach, so when the shops first went on sale, there were no takers.


    Just because otherscked vision didn''t mean Tang Mingrui did too, after working with He Zhiran for so long.


    How could he not know the futuremercial value of these shops?


    At this time, although Tang Mingrui had earned some money, purchasing all the shops on the entire street was still a great burden for him.


    But if he gave up such a great opportunity due to this minor difficulty, he would not be Tang Mingrui.


    Tang Mingrui found a money house to borrow silver from, and ultimately bought more than half of the shops on the northwestmercial street.


    He never intended to transfer these shops to others for a profit differential once the street became prosperous. He wanted to use them all for business ventures in cooperation with the Mo family.


    And so it was: since He Zhiran disliked business and had no choice but to be a supplier, all the products from the Mo family''s workshops and factories now cooperated with Tang Mingrui''s ventures.


    Tang Mingrui''s business has grown everrger, now spanning all of Da Shun and its neighboring small kingdoms.


    Last year, at Meng Huaining''s rmendation, he contributed his hard-earned silver to the court to fund Da Shun''s construction of the Grand Canal and levees.


    For such a great contribution, Nan Yu would certainly not disappoint Tang Mingrui, bestowing a gilded signboard inscribed with the words "Imperial Merchant of Da Shun."


    Tang Mingrui had officially be a renowned imperial merchant, five years earlier than Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran knew from history.


    There were many shops on themercial street, but Tang Mingrui and He Zhiran''s cooperative businesses also dealt in many kinds of goods, so there was no concern about so many shops lying vacant.


    As for the remaining few shops, after Tang Mingrui established various businesses that drove the street''s economy, they too were quickly snapped up.


    Those people who hadn''t seen potential here in the beginning could be said to have regretted it bitterly.


    Nowadays, a shop on this street could scarcely be had for any amount of money.


    The owners were making more than enough, so who would be willing to sell?


    Themercial street''s reputation only grew more resounding, to the point that the wealthy from all regions of the Da Shun court wished toe here and open their eyes.


    The couple strolled leisurely along.


    "Lord Mo, Princess He..."


    This voice was all too familiar, and the two turned with looks of surprise on their faces.


    "Your Maj..."


    Mo Jiuye had barely uttered a syble when Nan Yu silenced him with a gesture.


    Nan Yu looked even more seasoned than six years ago, more mature, but the aura of imposing righteousness remained.


    "Just call me ''Third Prince.''"


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran exchanged smiles.


    "When did Your Third Highness arrive in the northwest? Why didn''t you inform us so we could receive you properly?"


    Nan Yu waved his folding fan, his face full of smiles.


    "I only just arrived today. I thought I would first take a look at Da Shun''s most famousmercial street, but I didn''t expect to run into the two of you."


    Speaking of themercial street, pride shone in He Zhiran''s eyes: this was her painstaking creation.


    "What does Your Third Highness think of thismercial street?"

 Chapter 565: Nine Boys Don’t want to Treat

    <h4>Chapter 565</h4>


    "This business street can absolutely be a major highlight of my Da Shun realm. Not only the business street, but I see the entire city is clean and tidy as well.


    If I hadn''t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have imagined that a city could be built like this."


    Nan Yu''s words had no ambiguous meaning at all. Ever since he inherited the throne, the troublesome wars were quickly resolved by the Mo Family Men. After that, he had been focused on various domestic constructions.


    Initially, it was to ensure that the people had enough food and clothing, which relied on the high-yield seeds provided by Mo Jiuye. Nowadays, in the Da Shun realm, as long as one is notzy, no one will go hungry.


    With the biggest livelihood issue resolved, the remaining tasks were various economic developments.


    Nan Yu certainly had his own ns, but after seeing the governance of Mo Jiuye''s fief, he scrapped the ideas he had previously conceived.


    It seemed that this trip was indeed not in vain. Because within this fief, there were too many good ideas that he wanted to adopt.


    "I just saw all kinds of snacks and restaurants on the business street. Ninth Younger Brother and Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, don''t you n to fulfill your duties as hosts?"


    Even if He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye didn''t understand these words, they would be fools. Nan Yu was asking the couple to treat him to a meal.


    It was just about noon, the perfect time for a meal.


    But the restaurants on the business street were no ordinary ces. At mealtimes, they would always be packed to the brim.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran didn''t bring any attendants with them this time, so they couldn''t send someone to queue up first.


    He had also issued a strict order prohibiting anyone from cutting the queue due to personal connections, even as the King of Defending the West himself.


    Seeing that Mo Jiuye was still hesitating, Nan Yu asked with a confused look:


    "What''s the matter? Does Ninth Younger Brother not want to treat me?"


    At this moment, Eighth Brother came by, supporting his pregnant wife.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, you''re here too?"


    Then he noticed Nan Yu and his attendants.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, who is this?"


    Mo Chuhan had never met Nan Yu before, so he didn''t know the identity of the man in front of him. But he wasn''tpletely blind either.


    Even though Nan Yu had a gentle smile, he couldn''t hide the aura of a superior that he naturally carried.


    This was on the street, so apart from Nan Yu himself, even Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were trying to conceal their identities. It wouldn''t be appropriate for him to directly reveal Nan Yu''s identity.


    "He is an honored guest from the Capital city. You can address him as Third Brother."


    Mo Chuhan was always a bit dense. Although he could tell that Nan Yu had an extraordinary demeanor, he wouldn''t overthink it on purpose.


    "Since he is a friend from the Capital city, is Ninth Younger Brother nning to treat him to a meal on this business street?"


    Saying this, he nced at the hot pot restaurant nearby, then shook his head helplessly.


    "Tsk tsk... It''s mealtime now, so it''s going to be difficult to dine on the business street..."


    These words piqued Nan Yu''s curiosity.


    "So even on his own territory, Ninth Younger Brother has to queue to dine?"


    Before Mo Jiuye could respond, Mo Chuhan jumped in again.


    "This is the rule set by Ninth Younger Brother and Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law. Regardless of who it is, they must queue to dine or shop within the fief, even they themselves can''t have any special privileges."


    Nan Yu gave Mo Jiuye an inquisitive look.


    Mo Jiuye exined, "Without rules, nothing can be aplished properly. If we want to maintain order, everyone must follow the rules, starting with me."


    Nan Yu nodded in agreement.


    "Well said, without rules, nothing can be aplished properly. I am impressed."


    He identally let the self-address "Zhen" slip out.


    Mo Chuhan didn''t let Nan Yu''s self-address go unnoticed. He stared at Nan Yu for a long while with wide eyes.


    Nan Yu coughed lightly with his fist against his lips, signaling Mo Jiuye to quickly bail him out.


    "Eighth Brother, don''t dwell on this for now. I''ll exin it to you when we get home."


    After Mo Jiuye exined and saw that Eighth Brother didn''t pursue it any further, he pointed at a few shops ahead and said:


    "I don''t know what kind of food Third Brother prefers, but I will treat you to lunch today."


    He could treat, but they would have to queue up. After all, Eighth Brother had just made it very clear that even if an emperor were toe, Mo Jiuye wouldn''t make an exception. Rules are rules, and no one can change that.


    Originally, Nan Yu didn''t have any high demands when it came to food, after all, he grew up in a difficult environment.


    But on the way to the northwest, he had noticed many restaurants bearing the Tang name everywhere he went. No matter what region, the Tang restaurants were always packed, which showed how booming their business was.


    Nan Yu was curious as to why other restaurants were deserted while Tang''s establishments were always crowded.


    To satisfy his curiosity, he brought his attendants to dine at a Tang restaurant, and only then did he realize that the food at Tang restaurants was indeed exceptional, even better than the imperial cuisine in the pce.


    No wonder their restaurants were so popr.


    "On the way here, I saw many crowded Tang hot pot restaurants, but I didn''t want to waste time queuing, so I didn''t get to try them. Why don''t we have hot pot this time?"


    Hot pot...


    That was the ce with the longest queue on the entire business street. As soon as mealtime arrived, there was already a long line in front of the hot pot restaurant.


    In fact, Nan Yu had never queued before, because the things served in these restaurants could all be made in the kitchens of his pce, and even better than what these shops offered.


    He could also tell Nan Yu''s intention, which was to test him.


    "If that''s the case, please don''t find it strange, Third Brother. Let''s join the queue together."


    After queuing for about half an hour, there was finally a table avable inside the hot pot restaurant.


    This was Nan Yu''s first time eating hot pot, and without a doubt, he hadpletely fallen in love with this way of dining.


    He truly felt that the half-hour queue was worth it.


    After eating the hot pot, the group strolled leisurely around the fief.


    Regarding the development of the fief and the various factories and workshops, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not conceal anything from Nan Yu.


    From the level of prosperity within the fief, it was evident that arge amount of capital must have been invested, which they did not hide from Nan Yu in order to dispel any suspicions he might have.


    The money they earned was all out in the open,ing from these industries. What could he possibly suspect?


    This was also the real reason why He Zhiran was willing to show Nan Yu around.


    As Nan Yu passed by the names of the factories and workshops, he was like a person with ten thousand whys.


    "Ninth Younger Brother, Ninth Younger Sister-in-Law, is the milk powder that tastes even better than cow''s milk produced here?"


    "Yes, we now raise arge number of dairy cows in the fief and amongst the Barbarians, producing a massive amount of milk. But milk is not easy to preserve.


    By using my unique technique to turn it into milk powder, it can be sold to more ces.


    Not only that, but milk is also divided into many types, suitable for various groups of people to consume."


    He Zhiran intentionally mentioned "unique technique" to tell Nan Yu directly that even if he saw the huge profits of milk powder, he shouldn''t get any ideas from her.

 Chapter 566: Zhu ’er Brother Mighty

    <h4>Chapter 566</h4>


    What an intelligent man Nan Yu is!


    "Don''t worry, Nine Sister. I know the fief also needs money for development, and I won''t have any ideas about that."


    Anyone can say pretty words, but He Zhiran doesn''t believe it. There''s no one who can resist the temptation of high profits.


    Anyway, she and Mo Jiuye don''t have anything to worry about. They have arge number of explosives, which Nan Yu knew about six years ago when they defeated the Southern Frontier and the Barbarians.


    Nan Yu chose not to inquire, which shows he has a brain, because even if he said something, the Mo couple wouldn''t reveal the method of making explosives, and it would only make people suspicious.


    The group continued walking, and Nan Yu kept asking questions along the way.


    "Nine Sister, is the snow-white paper we see on the market all from here?"


    "Yes, there are two paper mills in the Northwest, and the white paper you mentioned is for writing. Recently, a new paper mill has been established, producing tissue paper."


    Nan Yu is no stranger to this tissue paper.


    Because Tang Mingrui is efficient, he immediately sent some of each type to Nan Yu after obtaining the distribution rights.


    Tang Mingrui finds the tissue paper so useful that when using the restroom, it''s simply...


    "Tissue paper is indeed a good thing," Nan Yu couldn''t help but praise.


    They continued walking and continued asking questions.


    "Is this the canned food factory?"


    "Yes, the Northwest mountains produce arge amount of fruit, so I came up with this idea to sell them to distant ces."


    "And this is the sugar factory? The ce that makes that fine white sugar?"


    "Yes, I found that the Barbarian farnd is not suitable for nting crops, but the sugarcane yields are extremely high, so I had the people there grow more sugarcane to make the fine white sugar."


    Nan Yu kept nodding as he listened, and he knew clearly that Mo Jiuye didn''t have such a mind, and all these ideas must have been thought up by He Zhiran. What more could one ask for in a wife?


    Thinking about his own harem, although the number is not too many, those women only know how to dress up exquisitely to seduce him...


    Oh well, it''s for the sake of propagating the imperial family, otherwise he wouldn''t care about those powdery and gaudy women.


    Nan Yu''s thoughts were turning rapidly. He understood the principle of taking care of the business in his position the best. Now is not the time to think about those things. One reason he came to the Northwest was that he felt there was no one in the court with whom he could have an in-depth conversation, so he thought of Mo Jiuye. Their exchanges may not be frequent, but they have always maintained an equal attitude.


    In addition, he has also heard a lot of rumors about the Northwest, with some saying that the economy of the Northwest has surpassed that of Da Shun by countless times.


    Someone also told him that the business sources of the Da Shun imperial merchant Tang Mingrui are all from the Northwest now. He wants toe and see how the Mo couple have aplished this in just a few years.


    The most important purpose is that he also wants the people under his rule to live better. There are many things he couldn''t think of, and maybe he can have a clear understanding aftering to the Northwest.


    Indeed, that is the case. He saw factories for making refined salt, textile mills, pickle factories, wineries, tea factories, and so on in the Northwest.


    Not only these profit-generating factories and workshops, but the environment in the Northwest is also unmatched by Da Shun.


    Not only that, Nan Yu couldn''t even see any idlend in the Northwest. Even the surrounding mountains are all being properly utilized.


    The houses the people live in are all brick and tile structures, even rivaling the wealthy areas of the capital city in grandeur.


    Of course, this grandeur is only in terms of the style of the houses, not the size. These people''s residences are still iparable to the mansions of the noble families in the capital.


    But this is already enough. What does he, as the emperor, need to work hard for every day?


    Isn''t it just to let the people of Da Shun live a good life?


    Although he cannot fully emte the money-making techniques of the Mo couple, there are still many ces worth learning.


    After returning, he will encourage the people to reim more wastnd and turn those abandonednds into treasures.


    As for these high-yield crops, the Mo couple has never been stingy. As long as it doesn''t affect the economy of the Northwest, they can give Nan Yu a favor.


    In fact, they have already done so, and now these high-yield crops are also being nted within Da Shun. In recent years, whether it''s in the households or the national treasury, there have been ample food reserves.


    Even if there is a famine, not only can the court allocate arge amount of relief grains, but the people can also save themselves.


    Therefore, in the few years since Nan Yu ascended the throne, there have been no more cases of people starving to death.


    Although Da Shun hasn''t developed as rapidly as the Northwest, just the fact that the people are no longer starving is enough to prove Nan Yu''s remarkable achievements.


    Furthermore, there are also grasnd areas within the borders of Da Shun. After returning, he will also follow the example of the Mo couple and advocate for the people to raiserge numbers of horses, cattle, and sheep.


    Because the number of horses, cattle, and sheep being raised in the Northwest and the Barbarian territory is gradually increasing, Nan Yu has already abolished the regtion prohibiting the ughter of draft animals.


    Mo Jiuye has submitted a memorial saying that the cattle they raise are for meat, for people to eat.


    And he has also tasted the beef jerky from the Northwest many times, the vor of which is simply unbeatable, much more delicious than the pork he usually eats.


    Nan Yu can achieve a bnce, never letting unreasonable old rules affect his thinking.


    As for raising beef cattle, he also ns to discuss it with Mo Jiuye this time, with the aim of introducing some calves so that the people of Da Shun can also engage in animal husbandry.


    In short, after touring the Northwest with the Mo couple, Nan Yu can be said to have benefited greatly.


    Even though he is traveling in secret, he is still the sovereign of a nation, so naturally, Mo Jiuye has to entertain him at the highest level.


    Although there are countless delicacies on themercial streets of the Northwest, everyone knows that they are still inferior to the cuisine created in the royal kitchen.


    Nan Yu will be staying at the Wang Mansion and dining there as well.


    After walking for so long, the group is indeed a little tired, so Mo Jiuye suggested returning to the mansion to rest.


    As soon as they entered the mansion and turned a few corridors, they heard the cheers of children.


    "Big Brother Zhu is mighty!"


    "Big Brother Zhu is so powerful!"


    In the spacious courtyard, on the martial arts stage, stood a little boy who looked about six or seven years old.


    Zhu stood upright, holding a long sword that matched his stature, staring solemnly at the group of children, big and small, below.


    "Who else wants to challenge me?" Although his voice still had a childish tone, it carried a solemn aura of one in authority.


    The twenty-something children below all looked up at the stage, their eyes filled with admiration.


    At this moment, Yu Er came over carrying a basket of fruits.


    "Young Master, you''ve been training with the young masters and misses for the whole afternoon. Come and have some fruit to quench your thirst."

 Chapter 567: Are These the Mo Children

    <h4>Chapter 567</h4>


    Zhu skillfully sheathed his long sword behind his back, then nimbly jumped off the martial arts stage and walked towards Yu Er''s direction.


    He looked around, then called out towards the heights:


    "Rice Ball, Little White,e and have some apples."


    Little White came swooping down at arrow speed andnded directly on Zhu''s shoulder.


    Rice Ball had now grown into arge plump creature of over two hundred pounds. Upon hearing its young master''s call, it also nimbly climbed down from the treetop and, waddling its short legs and wiggling its bottom, scurried rapidly towards Zhu.


    Zhu first stroked Little White on his shoulder, then tossed an apple to Rice Ball.


    "You two are such good fellows."


    Rice Ball snuggled its fluffy big head against Zhu forcefully, then carried the small apple to one side to eat.


    At this moment, a group of little ones also swarmed around Zhu.


    These were the descendants of the Mo Family. Over these six years, except for He Zhiran, the sisters-inw had been pregnant one after another, adding more than thirty descendants to the Mo Family.


    The children before them were the older ones. They regarded Zhu as their eldest brother, and every day, both boys and girls studied and practiced martial arts together under his guidance.


    Zhu had the demeanor of an elder brother. Although this child had seldom smiled since young, he was still very considerate towards his younger brothers and sisters.


    For instance, Zhu now came to Yu Er first, and picked up the biggest apple. However, he did not put it into his own mouth, but instead turned and gave it to Ming Zhu.


    Next, his younger brothers and sisters had already lined up in an orderly queue, each receiving arge apple from their elder brother Zhu.


    At the end, there was only one smallest apple left in the basket, which Zhu took for himself.


    Such fraternal affection wasmonce in the Mo Family, but to Nan Yu, it seemed like a miracle.


    "Ninth Young Master, are all these children from the Mo Family?"


    "Most of them are from the Mo Family, but there are also my two cousins. They study and practice martial arts together every day." When Mo Jiuye spoke, his back was exceptionally straight.


    These children had lived together since young, with Old Lady Mo personally teaching them the rules.


    Every day, Old Lady Mo would instruct them that a family must be humble, harmonious, and united in their efforts.


    These children took her words to heart. Even the most mischievous ones would not lose their familial harmony over petty interests.


    Nan Yu was incredibly envious. He had once heard the old ministers in the capital city speak about this.


    The nine brothers of the Mo Family had been fraternal and harmonious since childhood, never engaging in the kind of infighting and schemingmon among the young masters of other wealthy families over interests.


    Having heard these stories, he also hoped that his own princes could emte them. Especially being born into the royal family, it was verymon for brothers to fight over the throne.


    But this was not what Nan Yu wanted to see.


    For this goal, he would take time to personally teach his sons.


    However, while these children could put on an act in front of him, behind the scenes, the situation was quite different ording to his spies.


    Therefore, seeing the harmonious sight of the Mo Family children, how could Nan Yu not be envious?


    A thought suddenly arose in his mind.


    "Ninth Young Master, I currently have four sons. Would you be willing to take them in and teach them?"


    Nan Yu did not think too much about it. He simply hoped that his sons could understand familial love and humility like the Mo Family children, so that they would not kill each other for the throne in the future.


    This surprised both Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.


    Mo Jiuye was of a different surname and heldnd and troops as a prince.


    In other situations, the ruler would want to send a son to the capital city as a hostage, but instead...


    He was sending his sons to them.


    How much must Nan Yu trust them as a couple?


    Mo Jiuye indeed had no disloyalty, but those in power had to consider many things, always wary of such situations. Sending his son to the northwest was like handing his own leverage to someone else.


    This was the thought that crossed the minds of the couple, which Mo Jiuye also voiced.


    "Does Your Highness have no reservations about sending the young princes to the northwest?"


    Nan Yu naturally understood what reservations Mo Jiuye was referring to.


    "If I cannot even trust the Ninth Young Master, then I cannot find anyone trustworthy in this world."


    In fact, Nan Yu was thinking far ahead. He was well aware of the Mo Family''s character and would never suspect them of doing anything to betray Da Shun.


    He wanted his sons to experience the Mo Family''s atmosphere, but he also had a personal motive - he hoped his sons could form friendships with the Mo Family children from a young age.


    No matter which of them seeded him in the future, the Mo Family brothers would be an ally.


    Of course, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could also discern this intention.


    However, as parents, they did not want to interfere too much in the choices of the younger generation.


    Therefore, the couple did not overthink the matter.


    "Since Your Highness has made this decision, we as a couple have no objections."


    In the end, Mo Jiuye was simply that kind of person - if you treated him sincerely, he would reciprocate with sincerity.


    ...


    Nan Yu stayed in the Mo Family for seven days. When he left, his heart was full of reluctance.


    He loved everything about the northwest, especially the simple yet warm life of the Mo Family that was so enviable.


    At the same time, he was also clear that the vastnds of Da Shun and itsrge poption made it impossible to develop like the northwest.


    But he had not forgotten his original aspiration. Even if he could not make Da Shun as prosperous as the northwest, he would ensure that the people lived withoutck of food and clothing.


    Moreover, he had a new idea - once he had groomed a suitable son to seed him, he woulde to the northwest to spend his twilight years.


    In the northwest, he had good friends, his own uncle, and the simple life he had always dreamed of.


    Unfortunately, his initial ambition and aspiration had led him to desire this position after learning of his true identity.


    Now that he had reached the summit, he understood even more clearly what it meant to be a lone and alienated ruler.


    This was something Nan Yu had not anticipated initially.


    But he had no regrets. Seeing the achievements he had created in the six years since his ascension provided him with the greatest psychologicalfort.


    Three monthster, Nan Yu indeed sent his four princes.


    Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran received them with a sense of responsibility. Since Nan Yu wanted the young princes to grow up in a clean environment like the Mo Family children, none of the attendants who had apanied them from the pce could remain.


    Who knew which consort had sent these people? What if they secretly taught the young princes unsavory things behind their backs? Would not all the efforts of the Mo Family be wasted, and would they not be betraying Nan Yu''s trust in them?

 Chapter 568: The Finale

    <h4>Chapter 568</h4>


    Although they were all princes, the Mo Family would not treat them differently.


    The children of the Mo Family had what the children of the Mo Family had, and the children of the Mo Family did not have what they did not have, resolutely treating everyone equally.


    In the days toe, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran continued to develop the industry and livelihood within their territory.


    Ten yearster¡ª


    The training ground of the King of Defending the West''s Mansion.


    There were viewing stands arranged around, with silk sunshades above the stands.


    In the central position sat Mo Qing and the Old Lady Mo, their hair now white, but still appearing vigorous and spirited.


    To their left sat Minister Hao and his wife, and to their right sat Nan Rui and Consort De.


    Arranged in order below them were the eight brothers of the Mo Family other than Mo Jiuye, along with their wives.


    At this moment, everyone was staring intently toward the training grounds.


    The younger generations of the Mo Family, both male and female, were lined up in order of age, including the four princes.


    Mo Jiuye, hand in hand with He Zhiran, walked slowly in front of the children, then Mo Jiuye shouted loudly.


    "The challenge begins."


    As his voice fell, someone immediately jumped onto the training grounds.


    "Ninth Uncle, let me go first."


    Sitting in the viewing stands, Mo Chuhan stroked his forehead and said to his wife beside him, "This kid takes after me, just as bold and courageous."


    "What''s good about taking after you? Look at Ninth Brother''s Zhu, he''s been outstanding in both literary and martial arts since he was young, never showing off this kind of brash courage," Eighth Sister-inw said helplessly.


    "The old saying goes, ''Dragons beget dragons, and phoenixes beget phoenixes; a rat''s child will dig holes.'' It would be strange if my child Mo Chuhan was good at studying."


    While Eighth Brother and his wife were exchanging words about their eldest son, someone had already jumped onto the training grounds.


    "Sixth Uncle of the Mo Family, Nan Shuhao, the untalented one, would like to spar with you."


    This was the eldest son of Nan Yu. When he first came to the Mo Family, he had an arrogant and condescending attitude, as if nothing mattered to him. Ten years had passed, and the children of the Mo Family''s diligent and brotherhood-cherishing mindset hadpletely changed him.


    Now, the brotherly affection between the four princes was as deep as if they were born from the same mother.


    Not only that, but the brothers all felt that Nan Shuhao was the most talented, and as the eldest brother, the position of Crown Prince should rightfully be his, while the others would only need to assist him.


    Today, Mo Jiuye held thispetition in the training grounds to send the princes off.


    Some time ago, Nan Yu received news that the Great Shun Dynasty was now peaceful and prosperous, and he had sat on that position long enough. So he wanted to call his sons back to take a look, and then let go of his position earlier, so that he coulde to the northwest and live the samefortable and rxed life as the Mo Family.


    Although thepetition involved just some half-grown children, their skills hadbined the strengths of the nine brothers of the Mo Family, making each of them, male or female, outstanding.


    In the training grounds, theypeted in martial arts, and in the afternoon, they would hold a literarypetition in the back garden.


    The results of thepetition were as before: Zhu won the martial artspetition, as the Crown Prince of the King of Defending the West''s Mansion.


    In the literarypetition, it was Ming Zhu who was most outstanding. The youngdy had been intelligent since she was young, able to grasp anything she learned effortlessly.


    Not only was Ming Zhu exceptionally talented in literature, but she was also proficient in all arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.


    This pair of twins were the most admired by the younger brothers and sisters in the family.


    Furthermore, the brother and sister had inherited the best features of their parents, with the brother being handsome and the sister being beautiful.


    The two children had been apanying their parents on trips within the territory since they were young, and many of themon people had seen their appearances.


    After seeing the two children, the people of the northwest couldn''t stop praising them as beautiful as if they had stepped out of a painting.


    Some superstitious pregnant women even hoped to catch more glimpses of the young prince and princess, so that the children they gave birth to would be as good-looking...


    The Mo Family had quite a number of grandchildren, reaching around forty or fifty, including those who had just learned to walk.


    But Mo Jiuye kept his promise and did not want his wife to suffer again, so even if He Zhiran wanted to have more children, he would not agree.


    As a result, the two of them, now in their thirties, only had this one son and one daughter.


    Fortunately, their brothers and sisters-inw did not share this view, believing that once they could give birth, the more children, the better.


    As a result, the poption of the Mo Family grew rapidly.


    From a young age, the children were filial, and after thepetition, they rushed towards Mo Qing and the Old Lady Mo, carrying the gifts they had won.


    Everyone was vying to present the rewards they had worked hard to obtain to their grandparents.


    Such scenes often urred in the Mo Family, and even so, the two elders of the Mo Family never tired of praising their grandchildren''s filial piety...


    Standing in the corridor at a distance, Mo Jiuye held He Zhiran''s hand, and the two of them watched the warm scene before them.


    "Ran Ran, thank you."


    "Thank me for what?"


    "Thank you foring, for giving me all this beauty."


    "As I''ve said before, we are family, there''s no need to be polite with me."


    "Of course, you are the benefactor of the Mo Family, and the love of my life, Mo Jiuye."


    Indeed, over all these years, Mo Jiuye''s feelings for He Zhiran had never changed.


    Even in private, the two were still as affectionate as newlyweds, as sweet as honey.


    He put his arm around He Zhiran''s waist, and the couple quietly watched the group of younger generations in the garden.


    "Ran Ran, Zhu has grown up, and this kid''s temperament is even more stable than his father''s, and his wisdom surpasses mine..."


    "What are you going to do?" He Zhiran seemed to have guessed something and interrupted him to ask.


    "I... I think I''ve been the King of Defending the West long enough, for more than a decade."


    "Zhu is still so young, can you bear to leave?"


    "I was leading troops into battle when I was sixteen."


    "What kind of father does that?"


    "Ran Ran, I want to travel around with you while I''m still young."


    "Uh... you want to roam the world?"


    This can be done...


    The end!


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