Chapter 424: Can’t Keep Her Even If I Want To

Chapter 424: Can't Keep Her Even If I Want To

Recently, with nothing much to do, He Ziran had already purchased all the dowry for Mo Hanyue at the Taobao Mall.

Her natal family gifted her a quadrangle courtyard house, which, although located in the countryside, was not something anyone could live in easily, especially with some modern amenities.

For example, flush toilets, underfloor heating, and glass windows, as well as beautiful and practical furniture.

In addition, the few acres of medicinal fields that Mo Hanyue cultivated herself were also given to her as part of her dowry.

He Ziran was very thoughtful, ensuring that everything needed for the bed in the quadrangle courtyard house was complete.

Moreover, all the fabrics were sourced from the Taobao Mall.

Ancient silk was extremely rare and expensive.

But it was different at the Taobao Mall, where there were various types of silk fabrics in ancient styles. She picked out those that matched the style of this era and also bought some cotton for making quilts, which was essential.

Not long ago, He Ziran had these items delivered to her eldest sister-in-law, asking her to help make the new wedding quilts with a few other sisters-in-law.

Of course, such beautiful fabrics naturally earned praise from the sisters-in-law, but they were not particularly surprised.

When they were in the Imperial City, high-quality fabrics would occasionally be sold in the cloth shops, but they were very expensive, and ordinary families couldn't afford them.

The sisters-in-law were already used to their ninth sister-in-law's generous and unexpected actions. When she brought out so many fabrics to make quilts for Mo Hanyue's new room, they only felt envious for a moment.

With the marriage of the Mo family's only daughter, quilts alone were not enough. The young girl had been hiding in her room recently, embroidering her wedding dress, saving He Ziran the trouble of organizing it.

However, jewelry and ornaments were also indispensable.

There was no problem with this either. In ancient times, the jewelry of wealthy families' women was mostly made of gold and silver, and better craftsmanship would add some gemstones as embellishments.

Such jewelry was abundant at the Taobao Mall, and both the designs and craftsmanship were far superior to those of this era.

If it were according to He Ziran's taste, she wouldn't like this style.

But she adapted to local customs, and the dowry for Mo Hanyue couldn't be too unconventional.

He Ziran had already prepared these items and was waiting for Mo Jiuye to have time to pretend to go to the city or the prefecture, where she would hand over the jewelry to him, pretending he had bought it on his trip.

After waiting for two days, Mo Jiuye brought back good news and finally had some free time.

The good news was that the iron sheets and iron beads had been successfully forged, and the fourth brother and father personally wrapped the iron sheets tightly around the bamboo tubes.

The fifth brother and others used the iron-clad bamboo tubes to make several experimental bombs, and the results were even better than expected.

During the experiment on the mountain, a few birds happened to fly by, and none of them survived the explosion.

How could enemies possibly gain any advantage against such power?

Seeing the effectiveness of the bombs, the brothers were highly motivated and produced dozens more that same day.

Their speed was impressive, and Mo Qing and Mo Xiuyan didn't dare to waste a single moment, starting their work early every morning to make bamboo tubes.

Unconsciously, the two felt that their bodies had recovered a lot of strength.

Especially Mo Xiuyan, who had been hesitant to exert himself after his hand tendons were reconnected by He Ziran.

Now, he didn't find it tiring to wrap iron sheets around the bamboo tubes.

Thinking about how they could contribute to the family, the father and son were enthusiastic about their work.

Seeing that the bomb-making process was gradually getting on track, Mo Jiuye chose an early morning to take the dowry and jewelry He Ziran had prepared for Mo Hanyue into the city by carriage.

This time, he was ostensibly buying dowry items for his sister, but he also had an important matter to attend to.

He planned to visit Meng Huaining.

Meng Huaining had been busy with wedding preparations and hadn't visited for a long time.

Even when his future father-in-law returned, this silly boy was unaware, otherwise, he would have lost his manners.

That was his future father-in-law, and he missed the best opportunity to show his face.

Actually, it was Mo Qing's stubbornness. Upon learning that his beloved daughter was about to get married, he felt very uneasy.

The little girl he had cherished since childhood was now of marriageable age, and he felt deeply guilty for the years of fatherly love she had missed.

Especially since Mo Qing had lost all his memories of the past eight years. In his mind, his beloved daughter was still a cute and obedient little girl. How could she be getting married as soon as he returned home?

This was a fact Mo Qing found hard to accept, yet he had to, as it was a natural law that men should marry and women should wed.

When a girl reached marriageable age, he couldn't keep her even if he wanted to.

Although Mo Qing understood this, he still felt uncomfortable about meeting the man who had taken away his beloved daughter.

Therefore, he specifically instructed Mo Chuhan not to reveal his return to the Mo family to Meng Huaining during his duty.

He wanted to wait for the man who had taken his beloved daughter to come to him unexpectedly.

Mo Jiuye went to see Meng Huaining mainly because he was worried about the situation in the Imperial City and naturally followed his father's wishes, not revealing his return.

Xiaobai had left for the Imperial City to deliver a message over ten days ago. Logically, he should have delivered the message long ago.

If Emperor Shunwu successfully found a master of insect cultivation, Fei Nanyu would immediately send Xiaobai back with the news.

But Xiaobai hadn't returned, and Mo Jiuye was concerned that General Jin's health might not hold up.

Thinking that Meng Huaining had connections with Fei Nanyu, he hoped to obtain some information about the Imperial City from him.

Mo Jiuyue arrived at an opportune moment; Meng Huaining had just concluded a case and was stepping out of the courtroom.

"Ninth Brother, when did you arrive?" Seeing Mo Jiuyue, Meng Huaining’s usual stern expression softened, and he smiled warmly as he approached.

Mo Jiuyue tethered his horse to a wooden post at the entrance of the yamen. Facing his future brother-in-law, he decided to get straight to the point.

"I came to ask Brother Meng about some matters."

Meng Huaining knew that among the Mo family, Mo Jiuyue was the busiest. If there were no urgent matters, he would never seek him out. He quickly made a gesture inviting Mo Jiuyue in and led him to the study where he worked.

After not seeing each other for some time, Mo Jiuyue noticed that Meng Huaining looked much more haggard than before.

"Brother Meng, you seem to have lost weight?"

He wasn’t one to indulge in idle chatter, but Meng Huaining’s noticeable weight loss prompted his concern.

Feeling the care from his future brother-in-law, Meng Huaining’s face turned slightly pale.

He smiled awkwardly, "I’ve just been a bit busy lately."

Mo Jiuyue didn’t doubt his words. As a magistrate, especially a clean and upright one like Meng Huaining, there were bound to be numerous trivial matters to handle every day.

Moreover, with the wedding to his sister approaching, it was only natural for him to be busier than usual.