Seeing the friendly interaction between the county magistrate and the Mo family couple, the Zhao and Zhou family members seemed to understand something as well.
Today, several people from the Mo family came over to rent a courtyard to spend the winter here, but because of the threat from the Cui family, even though they had vacant courtyards, they did not dare to agree.
Not only did they lose a lot of income, but they also seemed to have offended these people.
They only hoped that the Mo family would not take it out on them common folk and tell on them to the county magistrate, isolating them was not their original intention...
He Zhiran also noticed these villagers peeking over the walls, but did not know what they were thinking.
At this moment, she only hoped to see her family sooner and give the antidote to the Fifth Elder.
With a group of officials, everyone headed towards the foot of the mountain mightily.
Just as they approached, a black and white furball came staggering towards them.
Rice Ball ran straight towards He Zhiran's direction, while Mo Hanyue chased after him.
"Rice Ball, don't run, auntie will be back soon."
Rice Ball tumbled a few times on the road and dove straight into He Zhiran's arms.
At this time, Mo Hanyue had caught up.
This was a bend in the road. Because Mo Hanyue was in a hurry chasing Rice Ball, she did not pay attention to her footing and was suddenly tripped by a large rock.
Her whole body lunged forward instantly.
At this moment, Mo Jiuye's attention was completely on the Rice Ball in He Zhiran's arms. When he realized his sister was falling, it was already too late to come to her rescue.
At the critical moment, Meng Huaining leapt from his horseback and steadily caught the falling Mo Hanyue.
"Be careful, miss."
Having been taught the etiquette and rules of noble households since childhood, upon feeling physical contact with a strange man, Mo Hanyue quickly took a few steps back.
After steadying herself, she looked towards her savior.
She saw that Meng Huaining was in his early twenties, handsome and dignified in his official county magistrate uniform, making him look mature yet dashing.
At this time, Mo Jiuye had also rushed over, asking with concern,
"Hanyue, are you hurt?"
Mo Hanyue shook her head. "I'm fine brother, thanks to this gentleman for saving me."
Mo Jiuye had also witnessed Meng Huaining saving his sister. He had been too concerned about his sister just now to thank him immediately.
Seeing that Mo Hanyue was unharmed, he clasped his fist towards Meng Huaining, "Many thanks to Brother Meng for lending a hand."
Seeing that this gentleman was acquainted with her brother, and even addressed each other as brothers, Mo Hanyue immediately felt much more at ease than before.
She politely bowed to Meng Huaining, "Thank you for saving me, sir."
Meng Huaining had only thought the girl falling was a Xi Ling Villager when he went to save her instinctively. He did not expect that coincidentally, it turned out to be Big Brother Mo's sister. Only now did he look closely at the girl before him.
The girl had a pair of clean, bright eyes, curved willow leaf eyebrows, and a very endearing smile. Her way of speaking was natural, completely different from other young ladies he had met from prominent families.
In front of the Mo family, Meng Huaining never saw himself as an official, only wishing to interact with them as friends.
After a brief silence, he clasped his fist in return to Mo Hanyue.
"It was effortless on my part, Miss Mo need not stand on ceremony."
This was Mo Hanyue's first time interacting at such close distance with a man other than her father and brothers. Seeing the dignified county magistrate return her gesture with no pretense at all, she felt a little embarrassed and ran off to find He Zhiran with her head lowered.
She had accompanied Rice Ball the whole day today and had been terribly frightened when Rice Ball suddenly ran off just now. Now seeing Rice Ball snug in auntie‘s arms, Mo Hanyue instantly felt relieved.
Mo Jiuye was also anxious to return, beckoning Meng Huaining to keep walking towards the foot of the mountain.
By now, it was nearing dusk. As they had failed to rent a house in the village, simple stoves had already been set up outside, with the women busy preparing dinner.
When Meng Huaining first arrived at the foot of the mountain, he was stunned by the dilapidated houses there.
At the same time, he felt even greater resentment towards Deputy Magistrate Cui for his abuse of power.
"Big Brother Mo, how can people live in houses like these? Why don't you all temporarily stay with me at the county government for one night? Tomorrow I will reassign you all proper lodging."
He had already promised Mo Jiuye to let them continue residing at Xi Ling Village. Despite the harassment from the Cui family, he believed that he could deal with this perfectly once he stepped in personally.
How would Meng Huaining imagine that the houses given to them at Xi Ling Village turned out to be like this.
The more intact ones were lopsided, while a large portion had totally collapsed...
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had already made up their minds and did not want to change locations.
"I think this place is not bad. Next spring, we will buy this place and renovate it properly. By then, Brother Meng can come back and see that the scene will not be like this."
Meng Huaining shook his head helplessly, he also saw that Big Brother Mo was determined to stay here and it was not suitable for him to persuade them otherwise.
Mo Jiuye formally introduced Meng Huaining to his family and briefly told them how they got to know each other. The Mo family's impression of Meng Huaining improved even more upon hearing that he had been specially arranged to come to Yun City to be the county magistrate.
Meng Huaining had also just learned that Mo Chuhan and Mo Chongyuan were still alive, and felt genuinely happy for the Mo family.
The entire Mo family being exiled was already too unfair. For them to find two living male members of the family now was simply like heaven blessing them.
Meng Huaining had always greatly admired the heroism of the Mo men. Hence, he behaved very respectfully towards Mo Chuhan and Mo Chongyuan, referring to them as Fifth Elder and Eighth Elder like Mo Jiuye.
His form of address to Mo Jiuye had also changed to Ninth Elder.
He carefully surveyed the surroundings. If not for the surrounding dilapidated houses being too shabby in contrast, based on just the location, it was indeed not a bad settlement place.
To further understand the situation here, Meng Huaining called over one of his officials.
"Who do these courtyards belong to?"
Ma Junshan who came forward was relatively well-informed about this place.
"My lord, these courtyards all belonged to the ancestors of Xi Ling Village villagers. I heard that these used to be where their elders lived.
Because of occasional raids from barbarians, the elders of the few families here decided back then to move their residences to the village center for safety. Over time, these houses had all become vacant.
And due to being neglected over many years, this is how they became today."
After listening to Ma Junshan's account, Meng Huaining had another headache.
"Brothers, the location here is indeed good, but if there are raids from barbarians, it would be very troublesome. Why not..."
Mo Jiuye knew that Meng Huaining still intended to persuade them to change locations. He interjected,
"Brother Meng need not worry. Even if barbarians come to raid, their numbers will not be too significant. With us brothers around, there is absolutely no need to worry."
