Chapter 501: How have you thought about the matter I asked you to consider yesterday?

Chapter 501: How have you thought about the matter I asked you to consider yesterday?

To put it bluntly, although the Mo family's current actions are to defend their home, in the eyes of outsiders, it is seen as a grave act of rebellion.

The men of the Mo family once had a strong sense of loyalty and dedication to the country. Though they are now in exile, none of them want to rebel unless absolutely necessary.

Helplessly, forced by the situation, they can only do their utmost to protect their own safety.

Mo Qing was still hesitant, but after hearing his fourth son, he quickly made up his mind.

"Alright, we will do as Mo Jiuya suggests. You take Mrs. He to the Imperial City first, and the rest of you will wait in the Northwest for your message."

Mo Jiuya had expected it would take a lot of convincing to get his family to agree to let him take He Zhiran to the Imperial City, but surprisingly, they agreed without much effort.

Still, he didn’t forget about He Zhiran’s concerns.

"Father, there's one more thing. My mother-in-law, Mrs. He, doesn’t know that Ran Ran is going to the Imperial City with me. I hope this matter can remain a secret until we leave."

This was also He Zhiran's wish. Last time, she did not contradict Mrs. He because she understood her temperament. If Mrs. He knew about the risks, she wouldn’t agree to let her go.

Even if Mo Jiuya hadn’t said it, she would have reminded him.

As a parent, Mo Qing understood exactly how Mrs. He felt.

He sighed. "Let’s keep this quiet for now. We’ll figure out how to reassure Mrs. He when you leave."

With Mo Qing's assurance, He Zhiran had nothing to worry about.

"Then I’ll have to trouble everyone to take care of my mother and elder brother."

The couple's trip to the Imperial City was already on the agenda, and Mo Jiuya was anxious to settle everything at home in advance.

After leaving the courtyard of the two elders, he went to Hu Cong's place.

On any other day, Hu Cong would not be home at this time. His construction business was thriving. He had not only made a lot of money but also gave a considerable share of the profits to He Zhiran.

Seeing the houses he built were both beautiful and practical, the business spread by word of mouth, and jobs kept coming to him, so much so that the projects in his hands were scheduled to be completed before winter.

Just yesterday, Hu Cong had taken on a big project to build a large courtyard house for a wealthy family in City Yun. The courtyard house will be similar to the Mo family’s, except it won’t have glass windows.

In the past, the courtyard houses Hu Cong built were the same size as the Mo family's. This time, the client wanted one twice the size. To finalize the layout, he stayed home to revise the plans.

Mo Jiuya explained the situation of the new courtyard house he was going to build to Hu Cong.

As for his great benefactor, Hu Cong naturally agreed without hesitation, and the construction period would be considerably shortened.

The location for the new house had already been chosen by Mo Jiuya, right next to Mo Hanyue's courtyard house.

The wasteland on the west side had not been fully developed yet. Both He Zhiran and Mo Jiuya intended to build several large workshops there.

For example, future milk powder business and other processing ventures could be done there.

In any case, the space left was large enough that even if a courtyard house for the He family was built, it wouldn’t affect the future construction of the workshops.

After explaining everything to Hu Cong, Mo Jiuya paid the deposit, with the final payment due upon completion.

Everything was proceeding according to Hu Cong's recent construction methods.

Since the construction was fully contracted to Hu Cong, Mo Jiuya didn’t need to go out and buy materials himself; he only had to supply the glass.

Meanwhile, He Zhiran wasn’t idle either, knowing that she and Mo Jiuya would be leaving for the Imperial City in a few days.

After leaving the courtyard of the elder couple, she headed back to her own home.

In her free time, Lan'er often visited her elder sister-in-law to gather materials for making dolls. Right now, she was sitting in her room, working on one.

However, today she kept making mistakes, and within a short time, she had already taken apart her work twice.

As Lan'er focused on the doll in her hands, she heard a knock at the door.

"Lan'er, are you there?"

"Ninth Madam, I'm here." Lan'er hurriedly stood up to open the door, feeling nervous and unsure of herself.

She hadn’t slept much, her eyes bloodshot and dark circles clearly visible.

He Zhiran stood at the door, glanced around briefly, and then stepped inside.

Noticing Lan'er still standing stiffly, He Zhiran gestured to the chair beside her. "You don’t have to stand. You know I don’t care for formalities."

Lan'er obediently sat down as instructed.

He Zhiran didn’t want to beat around the bush and asked directly, "What have you thought about the matter I asked you to consider yesterday?"

"Ninth Madam, I..." Lan'er felt it was hard to speak.

He Zhiran understood that giving her only one night to think was indeed a bit short.

However, she was about to leave for the Imperial City and didn’t have more time to handle this matter, so she hoped to resolve it before leaving.

"I know you always remind yourself to be mindful of your status in front of me, but you can see that I don’t care about these things. Besides, I’ve already regarded you as a friend. You can speak freely."

Lan'er hesitated for a moment, then pursed her lips and, as if making up her mind, said:

"He Ziming is from a prominent family, handsome and highly educated; such a fine man is rare. If Lan'er said she wasn’t moved by him, it would be dishonest.

But you know my situation, Ninth Madam. If the Fourth Princess were still alive, Yu'er and I would have dedicated our lives to serving her, so I never thought about my own future before then.

The Fourth Princess was tortured to death in the Southern Frontier. If it weren’t for Ninth Master and Ninth Madam, I wouldn’t be here today.

Like any woman, I’ve dreamed about my future, just like other girls do. But I am just a maid, and marrying He Ziming might tarnish his status."

Listening to Lan'er, He Zhiran understood what she was struggling with.

It was nothing more than the fact that her elder brother was a high-ranking official with a bright future and a father who was a minister. It was unheard of for a noble son from an official family to marry a maid.

He Zhiran didn’t care about these things. If she had to choose between character and background for her future sister-in-law, she would definitely choose character.

Living together was a lifelong matter, and besides, the He family wasn’t particularly concerned about status. It was just unexpected that He Ziming would fall for Lan'er.

To He Zhiran, none of these were issues. Not to mention whether her elder brother would resign from his official position, even if he didn’t, marrying a girl who suited his heart wouldn’t be out of place.