<Old Lady Mo>'s words had just fallen when <Mo Hanyue> walked in, her face flushed red.
"Lord <Meng>, may <Mo Hanyue> make a request?"
At this remark, everyone present except for <He Zhiran> was somewhat shocked.
What family's daughter would personally step forward to make requests about her own wedding?
<Mo Hanyue> really had no other option, so after thinking it over, she decided it would be best to speak out before the wedding.
Very quickly, <Old Lady Mo>'s face darkened as she said in a displeased tone: "Hanyue, your wedding matters will be handled by your mother and eldest brother. What reason does a young lady like you have to step forward yourself?"
Heaven knows it took <Mo Hanyue> an enormous amount of courage to come here. Now that she had already spoken, she had no reason to back down.
She stubbornly lifted her chin and said, "Mother, <Mo Hanyue> has been learning medicine and herbology from <Ninth Sister-in-law> for over half a year now. I've just started trying to plant medicinal fields, and I hope that after we marry, Lord <Meng> can agree to come back here every day to help me tend to my medicine fields."
<Ninth Sister-in-law> said that no matter what you do, you have to see it through to the end and not give up halfway.
She truly enjoyed medicine and herbology, especially watching the medicinal plants she sowed with her own hands grow a little more day after day. That gave her a sense of satisfaction she had never felt since she was little.
Although she was also fond of <Meng Huaining> and willing to marry him, if that meant she could no longer continue doing what she loved, she would rather not marry for her whole life.
<Mo Hanyue> had just recently thought this through clearly.
Because <Meng Huaining> had brought up their wedding, she started thinking about the future.
Among the nine sister-in-laws in her family, apart from <Ninth Sister-in-law> who had her own will, the other eight sister-in-laws spent their days following routine in that kind of hopeless way.
That wasn't the life she wanted. She wanted to be like <Ninth Sister-in-law>, to have her own skills and through her own hard work, create more value.
At first, <Meng Huaining> thought that <Mo Hanyue> coming here meant she was unwilling to marry him!
He was so frightened his back was already drenched in cold sweat.
He didn't expect that the young girl's request would be this small.
He instantly felt relieved. Seeing that the future mother-in-law was about to scold her, he quickly stepped forward.
"That's no problem. I was planning to get a residence anyway. If Miss Mo feels that West Ridge Village is suitable, I don't mind building a courtyard here just like the new Mo manor."
This was also one of <Meng Huaining>'s small intentions.
Today when he went to the foot of the mountain, he saw the new Mo manor. Its structure was very different from the norm, and it made people feel very comfortable after seeing it.
Moreover, he had no family or friends in Yuncheng, so he might as well satisfy his delicate wife.
If he happened to be very busy with work, <Mo Hanyue> would have her family to look after her, so he wouldn't need to worry either.
In fact, <Meng Huaining> hadn't seen the completed new Mo manor.
If he had, he certainly wouldn't have tried to find so many reasons to build a house here. Just the word "comfortable" alone would have made him choose to do so without hesitation.
Speaking of building the same courtyard, everyone in the Mo family knew that the beautifully unique new manor was all <He Zhiran>'s contribution.
Therefore, everyone's gazes landed on <He Zhiran> at the same time.
<Nan Rui> wanted to build the same kind of house and <He Zhiran> didn't object, so she was even less likely to have any objections to this future in-law wanting to build one.
"Since Brother Meng has this intention, why don't we Mo family build it? We'll consider it one of Hanyue's dowries."
Over the past few days she had been thinking about what would be an appropriate dowry for <Mo Hanyue>.
She had just seen the betrothal gifts <Meng Huaining> sent, which were definitely sky-high in Yuncheng. This showed how much he valued <Mo Hanyue>.
Since this was the case, the Mo family couldn't lose etiquette either.
She had also asked the villagers about it. When the big families in Yuncheng married off their daughters, they would often send gifts like shops, houses, or manors as part of the dowry.
Since <Meng Huaining> liked living here, they might as well send him a courtyard just like the Mo family's.
Then later, preparing some jewelry and other items would complete <Mo Hanyue>'s dowry.
Although she had plenty of these kinds of things in her space, after all they were still 'dirty items'. If they accidentally caused unnecessary trouble it wouldn't be worth it, so <He Zhiran> planned to buy some different styles on Taobao Treasures.
Anyway, there was still around two months until their wedding date, plenty of time for her to prepare.
From <Old Lady Mo>'s understanding of her daughter-in-law, the Ninth Daughter-in-Law was generous and reasonable. Now that she was running the household, she naturally wouldn't shortchange <Mo Hanyue>'s dowry. The old lady never imagined that her daughter-in-law would offer to build an identical house with one remark.
One had to know, although the house didn't look like much from the outside, the construction costs were extremely high. Especially the glass used for the windows, which was purchased from foreigners. How could the prices be low?
Moreover, there was only so much of the stuff. Once it was used up, getting more wouldn't be easy.
The family had nine daughters-in-law. Even if the Ninth Daughter-in-Law was generous, it was hard to guarantee the other daughters-in-law wouldn't feel unhappy about something like this.
She couldn't disregard the other daughters-in-laws' feelings just for the sake of her own daughter's dignity.
"This..." Wasn't it a bit too extravagant?
<He Zhiran> knew what the mother-in-law was thinking. She was worried that <Mo Hanyue>'s dowry being too abundant might upset the other daughters-in-law.
<He Zhiran> had considered this before she spoke.
She thought that there was only this one young sister in the family. The amount of silver she had could be described as enough to rival a nation. She wouldn't care at all about the dowry she was giving <Mo Hanyue>.
Moreover, she didn't plan to withdraw this money from the public accounts.
"Mother, my husband and I have already discussed it. Hanyue's dowry will be paid from our private funds, and won't touch the Mo family's public accounts."
Ever since settling down in West Ridge Village and starting to raise rabbits, <He Zhiran> had recorded the family's income and expenditures in a small notebook.
On the last day of every month, she would gather the family and make the account book public, and distribute wages to everyone. Of course, the wages were allocated based on work, so no one would have any objections.
<Old Lady Mo> knew the couple had a lot of money, but that was their personal assets. How could she tear down the east wall to mend the west, using her son's money to help her daughter?
But she wasn't an ignorant country woman who had never seen the world either. Now that the daughter-in-law had already spoken in front of the future son-in-law, there was no way she could kick the ball back.
"Since that's the case, Mother has also saved up some private funds. I'll take it out to build Hanyue a house too!"
The filial children in the family would all give her some of their wages every month, and she earned some herself from making dolls with the daughters-in-law. <Old Lady Mo> did have some savings.
But to build a courtyard like that, she was still worried it might not be enough. Thus, <Old Lady Mo> didn't speak with much confidence.
