When it came to experts in undoing gu spells, no one knew their identity better than Old Lady Mo in her heart. It was none other than her ninth daughter-in-law, He Zhiran. After all, she had personally helped undo the gu spells afflicting several of her sons. She just didn’t know what identity He Zhiran would appear before Nan Rui with. Of course, she also knew this wasn’t the time to ask questions.
What worried Old Lady Mo the most was He Zhiran’s condition. After many years of marriage among the nine Mo sons, they finally had a daughter-in-law who was pregnant. She was afraid He Zhiran doing these things would cause some accident to happen to her body.
She signaled to Mo Jiuye with her eyes, reminding him to take good care of his wife.
Mo Jiuye understood his mother’s meaning. “Don’t worry, Mother.”
Nan Rui didn’t know the hidden meaning behind the interaction between the Mo mother and son. He thought Mo Jiuye might encounter danger while looking for the expert, so he gratefully cupped his fist towards Mo Jiuye.
“As long as the gu in my Imperial Mother can be removed, even if I must trade my life for it, I would not hesitate.”
Mo Jiuye returned the courtesy. “I can only say I will do my best to find someone, but I dare not guarantee I can fulfill your wish.”
At this time, he could not make absolute promises, otherwise it would easily arouse Nan Rui's suspicion.
Mo Jiuye went straight out the door towards the foot of the mountain.
He Zhiran saw he still hadn’t come after a long time, so she entered the space and ate some fruit. By the time she came out, she saw Mo Jiuye striding quickly towards her.
The two returned to the space again, and Mo Jiuye recounted the situation with the Imperial Concubine that he had just learned.
He Zhiran more or less already knew.
“Based on the current condition of the Imperial Concubine, she has been eroded by the gu worms.”
What was called erosion by gu worms was when the spell caster activated the mother gu to torment the person carrying the child gu. If it persisted for too long, the host of the child gu would not be able to withstand the resistance and the gu worms inside the body would spread towards the heart.
This process was very fast, generally not more than five days before the host of the child gu would die.
According to what Nan Rui said, the Imperial Concubine had already been in a coma for two days. That meant the gu worms must be removed from her body within three days, otherwise her life would be in danger.
Three days was ample time for He Zhiran.
Even preparing for major surgery wouldn’t take this long, so Mo Jiuye was in no hurry to bring back news of finding the gu-dispelling expert either.
They could stay outside for one more day, then bring the news back. This way it wouldn’t arouse Nan Rui’s suspicions.
The husband and wife happened to have rare free time, especially outside, without having to worry about their family finding it odd when they couldn’t find them after entering the space.
He Zhiran hadn’t enjoyed the carefree life inside the space for a long time. She first played with her darling Rice Ball for a while before going to the warehouse with Mo Jiuye.
By now, the most abundant things in the warehouse were all kinds of crop seeds and the fruit tree saplings she had stored.
These were all going to be planted in Xi Ling Village after the spring.
Aside from these seeds, He Zhiran had also left a lot of food behind, with even more variety compared to the produce markets in her past life.
There were also the fish in the ponds that she hadn’t taken out to feed her family for a long time. She decisively chose to catch all those fish, then after cleaning them, delivered them into the warehouse for storage.
Anyway, the space came with a preservation function itself, so they would be fresh no matter when they were eaten.
There were also those cows and sheep that He Zhiran had slaughtered batches of using the control panel, before buying more calves and lambs to raise.
She would also need to prepare some to raise outside later. It would be pretty good if there were more adults too.
Mo Jiuye felt distressed for his hardworking wife, who had been enduring bitterness with him all this time without even being able to nurture the pregnancy well like other women.
They finally had some alone time, so he was determined to show off his skills.
He Zhiran didn’t know that Mo Jiuye had secretly used her phone to buy a modern cookbook from the Taobao Mall recently. He would diligently study it whenever he had free time.
After learning for so long, today was finally a chance to show off what he had learned.
He pulled He Zhiran back to rest in the bedroom while he busied himself in the kitchen.
Anyway, the warehouse had all kinds of ingredients, so all he needed to do was display his skills.
He Zhiran woke up from her nap to Mo Jiuye pulling her to the dining table. The scene before her made her stunned speechless.
“Where did all these dishes come from?”
Mo Jiuye grinned as he supported her into her seat. “Of course your husband made them.”
“You made them?” She would never believe that even if she was beaten to death.
There was no way the guy who was burning dishes beyond recognition not long ago could make so many beautifully plated dishes, right?
Mo Jiuye knew she wouldn't believe him, which made it even better as he'd be giving his wife a little surprise.
"Of course I made them."
To prove himself, he put the cookbook he used in front of He Zhiran for her to see.
"I followed the methods in here to learn."
He Zhiran truly didn't know when her sneaky husband had secretly learned cooking. Still, she felt rather touched.
"Dear husband, thank you for everything you've done for me."
Mo Jiuye lovingly stroked her head. "Silly girl, compared to everything you've done for me, how can this measure up?"
As he spoke, he picked up a piece of braised pork ribs, her favorite, into her bowl.
"Try the taste first."
Unlike other pregnant women, He Zhiran didn't suffer from severe pregnancy reactions, and her symptoms had only lasted a few days before going away.
Now, her appetite had greatly increased, especially for meat.
Mo Jiuye indulged her preferences, making several meat-focused dishes, which made He Zhiran suddenly feel like her index finger was twitching to dig in.
After eating a piece of the ribs, He Zhiran kept nodding. "It's really delicious."
Hearing his beloved praise his cooking made the corners of Mo Jiuye's lips quirk up instantly.
"If you like it, I'll make it for you to eat every day from now on."
He Zhiran didn't doubt this at all. With how good Mo Jiuye treated her, he was completely capable of doing this.
It was just that this was ancient times after all, and the propriety of men staying out of the kitchen was still valued by people. If Mo Jiuye was cooking meals for her at home, their family would probably feel uncomfortable about it.
Although she possessed a modern soul, she had never forgotten the principle of conforming to local customs when abroad.
Mo Jiuye liked doting on her, so it was enough when it was just the two of them in the space.
Moreover, the meals at home were all handled by her sisters-in-law and Lan Er. They didn't need this big man to get involved at all.
After happily enjoying the delicious meal brought to her by her husband, He Zhiran felt somewhat full.
Thus, she and Mo Jiuye casually strolled around in the space together.
She was relatively casual in the space, wearing an outfit made of pure cotton fabric commonly worn at home.
This was the type of clothes she often wore inside the space, but today they felt a bit tight, especially around her lower abdomen.
Glancing down, her stomach was clearly bigger than a normal three-month pregnant woman's, either because she just ate too much or her little one inside was growing too fast.
Seeing her slightly protruding belly, He Zhiran finally realized that after such a long time, she still hadn’t properly examined herself.
