Chapter 323: The Gift for He Han Yue Was Thoughtfully Prepared

Chapter 323: The Gift for He Han Yue Was Thoughtfully Prepared

After an all-night interrogation, the Cui family confessed that, apart from some women and children who were not involved, everyone else had participated in the wrongdoing.

Meng Huaining felt that not only was the former Magistrate Cui extremely guilty, but the entire Cui clan was rotten to the core.

Therefore, he imposed severe penalties on the Cui clan members.

Three days later, the entire Cui clan was exiled to the Western Region to work in mines, never to leave.

The officials received orders and rushed to Xiling Village overnight to apprehend all the Cui family members, waiting for Meng Huaining to prepare the official documents in three days to send them away.

All the land and properties of the Cui clan were confiscated by the state, providing another opportunity for the Mo family to expand their estate.

This time, Mo Jiuye did not consider his own family alone.

The plots of land at the foot of the mountain and the wasteland were already sufficient for their use. He planned to help his subordinates who returned home to visit their families acquire some farmland, which could be considered compensation for these brothers who had followed him through thick and thin for many years.

Living in the countryside meant adapting to local customs, engaging in farming and weaving every day. With the cleverness of his wife, they would also earn money together.

In summary, living in the same village in this manner was a good thing.

Upon hearing that Mo Jiuye wanted to buy the Cui family's assets, Meng Huaining agreed without hesitation.

Moreover, the price was set at its lowest.

Unexpectedly, the Cui family's one act of evil actually benefited the Mo family.

Now, in Xiling Village, apart from the original residents, the Zhao and Zhou families, there were the Mo, Fang, and Xie families.

It was expected that life in Xiling Village would no longer be troubled by people like the Cui family.

The turmoil caused by the Cui family soon passed, and the Mo family continued their various constructions with great enthusiasm.

After more than ten days of effort, the rabbit hutches were finally completed.

Together, they transferred all the existing rabbits to the new hutches.

The area of the new hutch was dozens of times larger than the original one. Even though the female rabbits were breeding rapidly, they still only occupied one-fifth of the new hutch.

He Zhiran had initially planned to use foreigners as an excuse a few more times to purchase some rabbits from the space for breeding.

Later, she discovered that the original female rabbits were pregnant again, and the number of adult female rabbits was increasing. She believed it would soon reach the desired breeding quantity.

Of course, with the expansion of the rabbit hutch, He Zhiran had new plans.

Her sisters-in-law had once mentioned that dyed rabbit skins, if made into cloaks or clothes, would be very beautiful.

He Zhiran had never forgotten this point.

Modern chinchilla fur clothing was not only beautiful but also warm. If successfully made, it would bring in significant income.

He Zhiran had already raised a large batch of chinchillas in the space, and today they had reached adulthood; some were even pregnant with baby rabbits.

It was time to let them see the light of day.

Fortunately, Mo Jiuye was not busy that day, so the two of them drove into the city, taking out all the rabbits from the space along with their cages and placing them in the rented courtyard.

As usual, Mo Jiuye took his brothers and hired ox-carts to transport everything back home.

Although it was troublesome, this method had proven effective, and the family had become accustomed to their couple buying things from foreigners.

The arrival of the chinchillas once again delighted the women of the family.

Especially when the sisters-in-law heard that chinchilla fur could be made into beautiful clothes, they liked them even more.

With the increasing number of rabbits being raised, it was impossible for Brother Wu and Sister Wu to manage everything alone.

Brother Wu and Sister Wu had learned a lot about raising rabbits and were now more proficient than He Zhiran, the leader.

They would continue to be responsible for the rabbit hutch work, but they needed to hire more people to assist them.

This way, Brother Wu and Sister Wu would not be too busy and could have some free time to do other things.

Considering the newly added chinchillas and the upcoming batch of newborn rabbits, the Mo family's rabbit breeding had increased dozens of times compared to the initial stage.

With the increasing number of rabbits, slaughtering male rabbits daily to make cold-eaten rabbit became a very laborious task.

Therefore, He Zhiran hired three men in the village specifically to slaughter male rabbits every day.

Additionally, she hired six more people to feed and clean the rabbit hutches.

Brother Wu and Sister Wu were responsible for supervising and managing the food for the rabbits.

After careful planning, the Mo family's rabbit breeding had entered a stable phase.

As for whether to further expand the scale in the future, it depended on Tang Mingrui's business situation.

Speaking of Tang Mingrui, he truly lived up to his reputation as a future major merchant.

In just a few months, through cooperation with the Mo family and his own business sources, he had accumulated a considerable amount of capital.

Upon hearing that the Mo family was expanding their rabbit breeding, he was even happier than the Mo family.

It should be noted that the cold-eaten rabbit produced by the Mo family was no longer sold solely to the inns in the prefecture.

Due to the increasing number of cold-eaten rabbits, he had contacted several other cities' inns and signed long-term sales contracts with them.

The expansion of the Mo family's rabbit breeding greatly increased his profits.

He had been visiting the Mo family particularly frequently lately, and only by making the cold rabbit dish fresh every day could they ensure its freshness.

Now that Tang Mingrui had money, he could easily hire someone to fetch goods from their house, but he insisted on doing it himself.

Over time, he had almost worn out the threshold of the Mo family’s residence with his frequent visits.

Not only that, Tang Mingrui often brought small gifts he had collected during his outings.

While everyone received gifts, after a few times, He Zhiran noticed something unusual.

Tang Mingrui claimed to have prepared gifts for everyone in the Mo family, but upon closer inspection, the gifts for Mo Hanyue were the most thoughtful.

For example, the first time he brought gifts to the Mo family was just after the first month of the lunar year.

He had gone to another city for business, where the local specialty was osmanthus cake.

Although the cakes were called osmanthus cakes, there were several flavors available.

Tang Mingrui bought the basic sugar-flavored cakes for the other members of the Mo family, while the box he gave to Mo Hanyue contained three different flavors.

Moreover, the osmanthus cakes in that box came in various shapes, making them almost too beautiful to eat.

A few days ago, Tang Mingrui also gave each member of the Mo family a piece of fabric.

While all the fabrics appeared valuable, the one he gave to Mo Hanyue was especially unique.

The Mo family, being aristocrats in the Imperial City, recognized fine things when they saw them.

Everyone immediately identified the fabric Tang Mingrui gave to Mo Hanyue as Shu brocade.

This was a rare and exquisite fabric. Even the ladies in the palace had to please the Emperor immensely to receive enough of this material to make just one outfit.