After some small talk, Tang Mingrui got to the point.
"Big Brother Mo, Big Sister Mo, how come you didn't bring any dolls this time?"
He Zhiran spread his hands and told the truth.
"I don't know about Young Master Tang's recent doll sales, so I didn't bring any dolls with me. We rented a house near the pier to stay temporarily. It's convenient to store dolls there. Young Master Tang can go get goods anytime."
"Good. I'll go with Big Brother Mo and Big Sister Mo to your residence to get some dolls in a bit."
Tang Mingrui was eager to get the goods. He felt like even drinking tea had lost its flavor.
He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye didn't want to waste time on this kind of idle chat either, so they took the initiative to arrange to take Tang Mingrui to pick up goods.
Tang Mingrui knew their place of residence. He felt it was very convenient to pick up and deliver goods like this. Therefore, he only took fifty dolls today.
The income was relatively high this time. He Zhiran also raised the wages for the women's craftsmanship to one or two silvers per doll.
With the women's income increasing, the materials for making dolls ran out soon.
He Zhiran also planned to quit while ahead. Earning enough side money was good enough already. He couldn't cause trouble for this.
Tang Mingrui was too good at doing business. In seven days, he sold out all the dolls made by the women.
The Xie family and the Fang family divided fifty taels of silver again.
Now there were several dozen taels of silver in the hands of the two families because of making dolls.
As long as they used the silver wisely after arriving in the northwest, they could buy houses and land without worries about food and clothing for the whole family.
For this reason, the two families were increasingly grateful...
They thought they would have to stay here for some time, and had even prepared to spend the new year here.
Who knew plans couldn't keep up with changes?
The large army sent by the court to search for Nan Heng entered the city.
The leading General Jin received the Mo Family's kindness when he was at the border pass.
Originally, when the Mo Family property was confiscated and they were exiled, he wanted to secretly see them off.
However, Emperor Shunwu had long been wary of this. He ordered that everyone who had been close with the Mo Family must stay in the palace until the news came back that the Mo Family had left the city before releasing them.
General Jin's family members were also timid, afraid he would get in trouble with the Emperor because of the Mo Family, and strongly persuaded him not to make any moves.
For this reason, General Jin felt guilty for several days.
One of the reasons why he volunteered to come here was that he hoped to catch up with the Mo Family's exile and help them secretly.
But all the way until he reached the destination, he did not see the exiled convoy.
Just as General Jin felt he had missed crossing paths with the Mo Family on this trip, he could only routinely search the streets with his men. To his surprise, he saw a familiar figure up ahead.
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran went out to buy supplies. Hearing the sound of officers behind them, they deliberately hid by the roadside to minimize their presence.
But Mo Jiuye's back was still recognized by General Jin at a glance.
"Is that Young Master Mo of the Mo Family?"
Mo Jiuye stopped and turned his head.
"General Jin."
General Jin quickly dismounted, strode to Mo Jiuye, and carefully looked him up and down. Then he slapped Mo Jiuye hard on the shoulder.
"Good, you kid are still alive and well, great!"
Then he burst out laughing loudly, attracting the attention of all passersby towards them.
Seeing General Jin being watched by the public, his officers were very sensible to drive people away.
Seeing General Jin, Mo Jiuye also felt a sense of intimacy.
"Has the general come to investigate the disappearance of Prince Heng?"
General Jin looked Mo Jiuye up and down and asked quietly in his ear, "Tell this old man, is Prince Heng’s disappearance related to you?"
From the moment he saw Mo Jiuye, he had a feeling that Prince Heng’s disappearance must have had something to do with him.
"The general really makes things difficult for Jiuye. I have no enmity with Prince Heng. How could I make a move against him? Moreover, I am now a banished person. The court’s disputes have nothing to do with me anymore. I just hope my whole family can safely arrive in the northwest and live peacefully."
General Jin just casually asked. Seeing Mo Jiuye's solemn expression, he didn't look like he was lying.
"That's good that it wasn't you. Otherwise, this old man would have to think about how to help you escape."
Mo Jiuye smiled awkwardly, "The general worries too much. Prince Heng's disappearance has nothing to do with me."
"Okay, now I feel relieved," said General Jin. Then he looked again at He Zhiran beside him.
"Is this young lady from the He Chancellor's family?"
He Zhiran could see that General Jin was a friend rather than a foe.
She respectfully greeted General Jin with folded hands, "Hello, General."
General Jin laughed loudly again, "Very Good, very good. This brat Jiuye is lucky to have married such a beautiful daughter-in-law."
Mo Jiuye was happier than anyone when others complimented his wife.
"My wife is indeed good. She has suffered a lot with me along the way."
"Well, you two make a nice couple. Live well in the future and have more sons to continue the family line of Mo."
After a pause, General Jin said solemnly, "Niece-in-law, don't worry. Your father is a sly old fox who knows how to adapt to circumstances. He was not implicated because he is related by marriage to the Mo Family."
Just a brief exchange made He Zhiran see that this old general had a hearty and casual personality.
"Thank you for telling me, General. Please tell my father when you return to the capital that I am fine and ask him not to worry."
"No problem. I will pass the message for my niece-in-law."
After talking for a while, General Jin suddenly realized that Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were casually walking around on the street.
In his knowledge, exiled people would always be watched by officers. How could they be so unscrupulous?
"Young Master, how come you two are on the street?"
And holding so much food...
Mo Jiuye did not intend to hide the truth from General Jin's inquiry.
"Not to hide from the general, we get along pretty well with the officer in charge. He allows us to go out and buy some supplies occasionally."
"Very good. I was always worried that after you all left the capital, with your injury and no one to help deal with those officers, you would suffer.
Seeing you look well now, I feel relieved."
After a pause, General Jin sighed and continued.
"You don't know, on the day the Mo Family was ordered to confiscate property and exile, we ministers who were close with the Mo Family were all ordered by His Majesty to stay in the palace until you left the city before letting us leave."
So that was why her parents took so long to catch up after the exiled convoy left the city. It turns out they were not allowed to leave because of that treacherous emperor.
At the same time, she also thought that her sisters-in-law's families might be unable to see them off for the same reason.
It seemed her sisters-in-law had indeed wrongly blamed their in-laws.
