Chapter 823: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 823: Engagement and Land Reclamation (4)
Upon hearing this, Mo Yan pinched her younger brother's ear and said, "Do you understand the importance of thinking before you act? Before doing something, first think about whether it’s possible, what consequences it might bring, and whether you can bear those consequences. If you consider these three points, you'll know what to do."
This boy was clever, and the older he got, the more schemes he came up with. Especially with Yun Zhao, who was a bit devious, every time the two of them teamed up to do something bad, they could really drive a person crazy. Whenever she tried to punish them harshly, their clever excuses would leave her laughing and crying, losing her temper.
Zhen'er sniffled, his face scrunched up with a pained expression. "Alright, I’ll try to think more and not make Father angry in the future!" But it really seemed difficult!
Yun Zhao, always one to adopt the "let's stick together" attitude, maintained the appearance of a good brother. Seeing his younger brother so troubled, he patted Zhen’er’s shoulder with a sense of camaraderie. "We brothers share both blessings and difficulties. If something happens and you’re not sure what to do, come find me. If you still make a mistake and Father wants to punish you, I’ll take half the blame for you."
"Really?" Zhen’er looked at Yun Zhao suspiciously, his face full of doubt. He had been tricked by this older brother too many times and had developed some trauma.
"Really!" Yun Zhao swore earnestly. "Every time Father wanted to punish you, didn't I help you?"
Zhen’er thought bitterly, "That’s because you helped me, I ended up getting punished even worse!" He didn’t even understand why that always seemed to happen.
Mo Yan squeezed her silly younger brother’s face and smiled helplessly. The little guy was so clever, yet he only used his cleverness for mischief, without the ability to bear the consequences. Even though he had learned a lot from Yun Zhao, he couldn’t keep up with his brother’s "evolution" and ended up getting tricked.
These were the joys of brotherhood. Outside, Yun Zhao protected his brother, not teaching him anything too inappropriate, to ensure he wouldn’t be easily deceived in the future. She and her father didn’t interfere much, trusting the adults to keep an eye on them so that they wouldn’t really do anything out of line.
Outside the study, Mo Qingze had not actually left. Listening to the innocent words of the children, the sorrow in his heart gradually dissipated like a miracle. Thinking back to Xiao Ruiyuan’s words earlier, a relieved smile appeared on his face.
After taking a long, deep look at the study, Xiao Ruiyuan raised his foot and left.
Mo Yan and Xiao Ruiyuan’s engagement was officially settled.
As for the formalities and rituals, they had to be followed. Xiao Ruiyuan didn’t dare be careless and, upon returning to the capital, immediately sought someone to calculate the best auspicious day for the ceremony.
Since the new year hadn’t yet arrived, the rituals would have to wait until after the first month.
Chu Heng let out a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this news.
Although Emperor Hui'an had not brought up the matter again, Chu Heng knew that things were not yet over. The reason he had been holding off was that he was waiting for the emperor to come to his own conclusions.
Both cousins had tactfully concealed the matter from Emperor Hui'an. By the time the emperor became aware, the two families would already have exchanged their letters and conducted the preliminary rituals. Even though the emperor was a powerful ruler, it would be difficult for him to interfere at that point without good reason.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the lively Lantern Festival had passed. The festive atmosphere of the village of Liuyang faded, and the villagers were back to working the fields, preparing for the spring planting.
The Mo family was also very busy, preparing materials for the second phase of the wine estate that would be built in the spring, while also planning to reclaim the more than twenty barren mountains they had bought to plant fruit trees.
There were many saplings required for the twenty-something mountains. Transporting them from the south was unrealistic due to the high cost, but luckily, Xue Tuanzi had been prepared. Using the fruit trees from the space, she cultivated many saplings, especially grapes. A small piece of grapevine, as small as a pinky finger, could grow into a high-quality grape seedling.
In just a few days, Xue Tuanzi had cultivated all the saplings. Once the saplings grew large enough to transplant, she sealed the spiritual energy and controlled the flow of time to match that of the outside world. They would only wait for the barren mountains to be reclaimed before transplanting the saplings.
As for the origins of the saplings, that was only possible with Xue Tuanzi’s dream technique. Without her, Mo Yan wouldn’t have dared to take such a big step. The secret of the space had to be kept safe at all costs.
With so many barren mountains, even if all the laborers from Liuyang Village were mobilized, three months wouldn’t be enough. So, Mo Yan reached out to Yang Bao, asking him to inform the village heads of the surrounding villages, so they could send additional workers to help. The wages would be the same as those for the villagers of Liuyang.
(The End of This Chapter)
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