Chapter 685: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 685: Two Imperial Edicts - Fortune and Misfortune Await (2)
Soon, the incense table was set up in the spacious courtyard. It was adorned with incense burners and trays of fruit and pastries. Mo Qingze personally placed incense in the burner.
The edict was for Mo Yan and the five beasts. Since the beasts could neither kneel nor show humility to the highest ruler of mankind, they stood quietly beside the incense table, observing the proceedings.
Mo Yan and her family knelt before the incense table, loudly proclaiming, “Long live His Majesty, the Emperor!”
Xiao Ruiyuan, not being the one to proclaim the edict, knelt beside Mo Yan and her family. The remaining officials, including the departing constables, Yang Bao, the village elders, and the six scoundrels who had extorted the Mo family, also hurriedly knelt, filling half the courtyard with people shouting in unison, “Long live His Majesty, the Emperor!”
The voices were surprisingly uniform.
The proclamation eunuch nodded in satisfaction and, with a serious expression, opened the imperial edict. His sharp voice rang out as he read, “By the Emperor’s decree, the eldest daughter of the Mo family, Yan, and her five beasts have rescued the imperial descendants from danger… The eldest daughter Yan, virtuous and chaste, is a model for all women. Therefore, she is bestowed the title of ‘County Princess’, with ten pieces of jadeite, ten bolts of silk, and ten measures of pearls…”
As the proclamation eunuch’s voice continued, the rewards were carried into the Mo family’s courtyard by young eunuchs. Even before the edict was fully read, ten redwood boxes, each tied with bright yellow satin, were already set up in the courtyard.
The honor of receiving an imperial title from the ruler was supreme, and the subsequent rewards, though their exact value was hard to calculate, were enough to make everyone present gape in amazement: The Mo family was truly on its way to wealth and nobility!
Those who had good relations with the Mo family were genuinely envious and delighted for them. Those with merely average connections secretly regretted not having formed a closer alliance with the Mo family sooner. Now that they were rising in status, would they still pay attention to them?
The most dismayed were the likes of Sister Wang, who had long had conflicts with the Mo family. Even when the Mo family was wealthy before, they weren’t afraid. But now, having caught the eye of the Emperor, they were mere ordinary villagers and dared not oppose the Mo family any longer.
Human nature often works like this: if others are slightly superior, envy may arise; but if they surpass by a significant margin, and one cannot even hope to catch up, envy can become powerless.
Mo Yan remained calm, not overly concerned with the rewards but surprised by the title “County Princess” granted by Emperor Huian. She was more worried that, having received such rewards, the beast tokens for the five beasts might be forgotten.
Previously, in the Phoenix Mountain Palace, she had requested no rewards, only a “legal” status for the beasts. The Emperor had promised to issue imperial beast tokens allowing them to enter the human realm.
Now, with such extensive rewards and no mention of the beasts in the edict, she feared that the Emperor might have forgotten about this request.
It turned out Mo Yan’s worries were unfounded! Even if Emperor Huian had forgotten, his attendants would not, and if the Emperor recalled it later, he would not consider himself forgetful.
After reading the list of rewards, the proclamation eunuch finally reached the part about the five beasts: “…The five beasts are endowed with exceptional talent and unmatched bravery, regarded as auspicious beasts granted by Heaven! Therefore, they are bestowed with gold beast tokens to commend their loyalty and courage! Given this decree—”
Mo Yan’s concern did not materialize. Her eyes brightened, and she glanced at the composed five beasts beside her, unable to hide the smile on her face.
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