He Zhiran thought for a moment and said, "Even if I am willing to help Nan Rui's Empress Dowager dispel the gu poison, I cannot reveal my true identity."
Mo Jiuye agreed, "That's right."
It was simple for He Zhiran to not reveal her true identity. She only needed to buy some props and put on some makeup. No one would be able to recognize her.
"How about I pretend to be an old person and try not to speak as much as possible?"
Mo Jiuye nodded, "Okay, it's decided. I will notify Nan Rui in three days and tell him the gu poisoning expert has been found."
After settling the matter, the lovers lingered together before falling into a deep sleep.
The next morning, some officials arrived.
Because there had been a smallpox scare in Yuncheng the previous day, the original plan to have the officials come and survey the wasteland and mountainside had not happened.
Today, Meng Huaining was quite concerned about this matter and had sent people over early.
Mo Jiuye led the officials to survey the land. The wasteland was not much different from their estimated quantity, a total of 51 mu.
However, the estimate for the mountainside was way off. The officials only surveyed around the foot of the mountain and then casually decided to sell the entirety of the mountainside upwards to the Mo family. The area was extremely arbitrary, stated as just 100 mu.
For such a large mountainside, there was no way it was only 100 mu. Mo Jiuye estimated it was at least 300 mu. It was clear Meng Huaining had given instructions to the officials before they came.
In any case, the Mo family's relationship with Meng Huaining would not end like this. There would be plenty of chances to repay this favor in the future.
While Mo Jiuye was busy leading the officials in the survey, He Zhiran was not idle either.
The Zhou clan chief specifically sent someone to tell her the Cui family could no longer endure and planned to sell not only their fertile fields but also the house they lived in.
After thanking the Zhou clan messenger, He Zhiran decided to go take a look at the Cui family's situation.
Old Lady Mo was worried the Cui family would hold a grudge against them, so she had Liang Hao accompany He Zhiran, a weak woman with no martial arts skills, so she would be safe.
When He Zhiran and Liang Hao arrived at the Cui family's land, it was already surrounded by people.
Perhaps because the Cui family had spread the news about selling their fields and houses early, there were many unfamiliar faces among the onlookers.
They were likely outsiders who wanted to buy property and land here.
People from the Xie and Fang families had also come. They crowded around He Zhiran when they saw her.
After greeting them, He Zhiran maintained an observational stance.
She wanted to see if the Cui family could still play any tricks at this point.
Just then, an elderly Cui clansman loudly declared, "Heaven is unfair. It does not allow my Cui family to survive. We have no choice but to sell the houses and land in our hands."
The elder called over a young man and had him lead the outsiders to see the Cui family's fields for sale.
As the Cui youth guided the outsiders to the fields, He Zhiran and the Xie and Fang families followed along.
He Zhiran did not plan on buying the Cui fields. After all, the wasteland she had purchased was already enough. The only thing she was interested in was the abandoned fields and dilapidated houses at the foot of the Cui's mountainside.
She was just tagging along out of curiosity.
Indeed, it was just as He Zhiran expected. The Cui family was in a hurry to raise money for the fine, yet they still tried to rip people off.
As the Cui youth pointed to his clansmen's fields, he declared, "Look, this is it. These are all my Cui family's fertile fields. We have carefully cultivated these fields, so they yield much more than ordinary fields."
Upon hearing his words, He Zhiran almost laughed out loud.
She wondered how he could say such things. The people coming to look at the fields were basically all farmers. They could tell the quality of the fields at a glance.
Higher yield indeed! This was pure exaggeration...
Someone had already grown impatient with his inflated claims and urged, "Stop with the useless chatter. Just tell us the price per mu!"
The Cui youth had been coached by his clansmen, so he naturally knew how to quote prices.
"You probably can't find such good fields anywhere in Yuncheng. Our Cui family is in urgent need of money, so we are selling them at the low price of 12 taels of silver per mu."
As soon as the youth finished speaking, sighs of dissatisfaction arose from the crowd.
"It seems your Cui family is not in urgent need of money but wants to take advantage to make a huge profit."
"That's right. Do you think we are all fools? 12 taels per mu, how preposterous!"
"Forget it. I can't afford such expensive fields. I'm leaving..."
Amid waves of complaints, the potential buyers gradually dispersed until only He Zhiran and the Fang and Xie families remained.
However, they did not speak up but simply wanted to see how the Cui family would resolve this predicament of no one willing to pay their asking price when they desperately needed money to pay the fine.
Seeing the buyers leave, the Cui youth was no longer composed.
He knew very well that even 8 taels per mu would be fair for this land, yet they insisted on an inflated price. Of course people would walk away.
But so many clansmen felt their fields were good and only reluctantly put them up for sale. They all wanted to sell at a high price.
Now what? The deadline to pay the fine was tomorrow, but how could they come up with so much silver?
The Cui youth glanced anxiously at He Zhiran's group before dejectedly returning to his clansmen.
Seeing the buyers leave, the Cui clansmen were frantic with anxiety.
Especially the Cui elder, who hurriedly asked the returning youth, "What happened? Why did they all leave?"
The Cui youth grimaced. "As soon as I mentioned the price, they turned and walked away."
The Cui elder angrily rapped the youth on the head. "You fool, didn't I tell you? 12 taels was just the asking price, still negotiable. Why didn't you tell them that?"
The other Cui clansmen also scolded him. "That's right, 12 taels was just the asking price. Why didn't you say so?"
The youth was bewildered. "I got nervous and forgot..."
The Cui clan nearly wanted to give him a beating, but collecting money was most urgent now. They didn't have time for violence.
After discussing amongst themselves, the Cui family elders focused their hopes on He Zhiran's group.
Although they had not gone out much recently, they had heard the Mo family bought up all the abandoned fields at the foot of the mountain from the Zhao and Zhou families.
The reason the Mo family would buy such fields was because they could not find suitable fertile land to buy in the village.
Therefore, their last hope now rested with the Mo family.
They did not dare let that incompetent youth negotiate again.
This time it was the Cui elder who took the initiative to step forward.
To successfully sell their family's fields, the Cui elder lowered his stance as much as possible.
"Excuse me, is the Mo family head here?"
