Chapter 552: Mom doesn’t just praise anyone for no reason.

Chapter 552: Mom doesn’t just praise anyone for no reason.

Mrs. He glanced at He Ziming and spoke:

"Actually, your mother isn’t a stubborn person. After observing her recently, Lan’er is a good girl.

As Ziming said, she’s not just beautiful, but also well-educated and sensible.

In all respects, her behavior and manners are just as good as those noble ladies in the Imperial City.

The best part is, this young woman is diligent, perceptive, and handles everything competently.

Now that your eldest brother is determined to resign from his official position, I don’t think we need to be too picky about his wife’s family background.

Your eldest brother likes her, and she’s perfect in every way. As his mother, there’s no reason for me to say no."

In fact, even before He Zhiran returned, Mrs. He had already told He Ziming that she had no objections to this marriage. As long as his father agreed, their wedding could be scheduled.

After all, He Ziming is not young anymore, and many of his peers already have several children.

But when she told He Ziming her attitude, she didn’t go into as much detail as today, and she even highlighted Lan’er’s virtues.

He Ziming was surprised that his mother had such a good impression of Lan’er.

"Mother, do you think Lan’er is that great?"

Mrs. He was speaking from the heart.

"Of course, I don’t just praise anyone."

He Ziming felt incredibly happy right then. He thought that even if his mother agreed, it was just because she couldn’t say no to him.

He just wanted to share the good news with Lan’er and didn’t bother to ask his sister and brother-in-law about the situation in the Imperial City.

Mrs. He was also observant. Her daughter and son-in-law had been gone for a long time, and now they could finally reunite with the two little ones. She left with He Ziming.

Though she was concerned about the situation in the Imperial City, she could wait a bit longer.

On the third day after Mo Jiuya and He Zhiran returned home, the imperial edict arrived. Unsurprisingly, the contents were just what Mo Jiuya had asked for.

Though Mo Jiuya agreed to Nan Yu’s request for the Mo family to return to the court, he wanted the title of Prince of the West to go to Mo Qing. If he was unwilling, there were still many elder brothers in the family.

However, when he proposed this to his father and brothers, almost everyone opposed it.

Mo Qing was the first to refuse the title of Prince of the West. Not only was he old, but his legs, though still functional, were no longer fit for battle.

Moreover, the Prince of the West would be responsible for managing all affairs within the fiefdom. Apart from Mo Jiuya, he felt that neither his other sons nor himself had the capability for such a task.

The elder brothers felt the same. They all knew that this title was earned by their Ninth Brother, and they had no desire for it. Besides, as their father had said, they indeed lacked the ability of their Ninth Brother.

Undoubtedly, the title of Prince of the West belonged to none other than Ninth Brother.

Mo Jiuya did not decline, as building the fiefdom required a lot of help from his wife. Being the Prince of the West would make it easier to keep the secret of his wife’s space.

The moment he received the imperial edict, Mo Jiuya became the second non-royal Prince of the West since the founding of the Great Shun Dynasty.

Along with the edict came two military tokens.

These tokens were familiar to the men of the Mo family, as they had used them when they commanded the three armies.

At the same time, they were well aware that the reason Emperor Shunwu gave them two military tokens was as mentioned in the imperial decree: Mo Jiuya was appointed to the title of Prince of the West, responsible for guarding the western border of Great Shun, and the Mo family was tasked with sending someone to take charge of the Southern Region.

One military token was for commanding the troops in the western border, and the other for the Southern Region.

Naturally, it was Mo Jiuya, the Prince of the West, who would decide who would wield these tokens.

The imperial army dispatched to reinforce the western border was already on the move. Since the messenger had raced ahead on horseback, he arrived well before the main army.

Thus, the army would need at least two or three more days to reach the western border.

In the meantime, the Mo family needed to head to the western border to lead the local garrison in defense against the enemy.

Another segment of the army was dispatched to the Southern Region to await orders, ready to be led by a Mo family general.

Additionally, Emperor Shunwu symbolically compensated the Mo family with a few items.

Though the rewards seemed rather paltry, Mo Jiuya did not voice any complaints. No one understood better than he that his wife had emptied the national treasury, so it was no small feat that Emperor Shunwu could offer these items as rewards.

Had he and He Zhiran not set aside some wealth for Nan Yu, Emperor Shunwu might not have been able to offer even these.

Though the Mo family had been exiled to the Northwest, they had seen their fair share of fine things back in the Imperial City.

In fact, since arriving in the Northwest, their standard of living had not only remained as high as it was in the Imperial City but had even exceeded it. These trifles held no importance to them, and even rarer treasures would fail to catch their eye.

Though they looked down on these items, no one showed any sign of it in front of the decree messenger.

Moreover, when receiving the decree, Mo Jiuya made sure all the male members of the Mo family presented themselves. This was the best proof he could offer Emperor Shunwu that all the Mo men were still alive.

The decree messenger, an old acquaintance of Emperor Shunwu, was familiar with the men of the Mo family.

Seeing so many Mo family men before him, he was momentarily stunned.

To make sure he wasn’t seeing things, he rubbed his eyes vigorously in front of the Mo family.

Mo Jiuya saw no need to explain much. His only aim was for the decree messenger to report back to Emperor Shunwu what he had seen.

The decree messenger was perceptive. Since the Mo family was unwilling to explain, he simply reported what he saw.

Considering the decree messenger’s long and arduous journey, the Mo matriarch ordered the family to prepare a lavish feast to entertain him.

The decree messenger was a palace eunuch and a favorite of Emperor Shunwu. What delicacies had he not tasted in the palace?

Yet he was won over by the Mo family’s feast and voluntarily revealed Emperor Shunwu’s secret.

It turned out that Emperor Shunwu was indeed in poor health. For over a year, he had frequently experienced numbness in his limbs and uncontrollable drooling.

After being diagnosed by the imperial physicians, it was determined that these were signs of an impending stroke. If it weren’t for the medication he was taking, he might already be partially paralyzed.

Only a few people knew about this, including the decree messenger himself.

Emperor Shunwu had decreed that no one was to reveal this information, on pain of being charged with the crime of deceiving the emperor.

If it weren’t for this, he wouldn’t have considered grooming the fourth prince, leading to such a major incident as the Empress’s faction’s rebellion.