Just like most aristocratic families in the capital city, when the master and his wife show courtesy to each other like Zhou Gong, the maids and servants would be waiting outside the door. After the master finishes, he would call them in to serve them. Under such circumstances, the master inside the bed could lower the curtain. If anything was needed, the servants just needed to pass it in through the curtain.
Although now that the Mo family has come to Xi Ling Village to live, they are not bound by so many rules and etiquette, those rules are still unshakable in the mind of the conservative old lady. Of course, she would not interfere with things that her children couldn't accept just because she herself couldn't accept them.
She saw that her daughters-in-law were all waiting for her to comment. She said indifferently, "I'm old now and cling to the past. I still prefer the original style of furniture. If you like them, feel free to use them."
With the mother-in-law's word, the sisters-in-law could no longer hold back.
The second sister-in-law hurriedly grabbed He Zhiran’s arm, "Sister-in-law, I like these new styles of furniture. Let's use this kind of furniture for the new house."
The third sister-in-law said excitedly: “Sister-in-law, I really like the furniture you designed. They will look very good when placed in the room in the future.”
The eighth sister-in-law pushed Mo Chuhan next to her and said, "Dear, we also want this kind of furniture."
Mo Chuhan nodded, "Well, whatever you say."
In fact, even if his wife hadn’t said so, Mo Chuhan would have chosen this new style of furniture anyway.
If he were say who in the family he most admired now, it would be his ninth sister-in-law. Everything she came up with was surprisingly good, beyond everyone's imagination.
Seeing this, the fifth, sixth, and seventh sister-in-laws also asked their husbands for opinions. Everyone agreed that they would choose the new style furniture for their future new houses.
Only the fourth sister-in-law, her husband was still recuperating in the room. She couldn’t wait to borrow the drawings and went back to ask her husband Mo Xiuyan’s opinion.
Needless to say, Mo Xiuyan also liked the new style furniture.
As for Mo Hanyan, the little girl was still a little shy, and only said, “I’ll leave it to ninth brother and sister-in-law to decide.”
The meaning was obvious. She also wanted the new style furniture.
So in the Mo family, only old Lady Mo’s new house didn’t need the new style furniture. He Zhiran was clear on this.
There was plenty of timber in her space. She could go in at night to chop and then process it into finished wood using the console. Then she would find a chance to deliver it to the yard they rented in the city.
This would not only save costs, but more importantly, also save Mo Jiuye the trouble of purchasing.
The couple were go-getters. That night, they chopped a large amount of pear wood in the space. The next day, they got up early and said they were going into the city to buy wood before heading to Yun City.
The carriage arrived smoothly at the yard they rented in the city.
With a thought, He Zhiran arranged all the finished wood processed in the space and placed it in the yard.
It was impossible to buy wood in such a short amount of time. In order not to arouse suspicion from the family, the couple planned to walk around the streets.
There were many pedestrians on the street. Mo Jiuye parked the carriage properly and led He Zhiran around, strolling leisurely.
Although desolate compared to other places, Xi Bei was still relatively prosperous in Yun City.
As they walked hand in hand along the busiest street, shop assistants were soliciting business in front of the shops on both sides. Some commoners were also selling goods produced by their families on the roadside.
There was an endless stream of pedestrians coming and going. Only two men caught Mo Jiuye’s attention.
When those two walked, they looked around, occasionally inquiring the stall owners by the roadside.
It was common for there to be outsiders coming and going anywhere, but the meticulous Mo Jiuye noticed a big problem.
Although the two men wore Da Shun people's clothes with their hair coiled up in a bun like the Da Shun people, and wore kerchiefs like the commoners, the shoes under their cheongsam gave away their identity.
Mo Jiuye was very familiar with the South Border. He knew that the South Border people believed in witch gods, and witch gods were born on the first night when the moon was in a crescent shape.
Therefore, South Border people used the crescent moon as a symbol for the witch god. They would embroider crescents on clothes, hats or even shoes and socks.
It was precisely because Mo Jiuye discovered this that he realized those two men had unnoticeable crescent moons embroidered on their shoes.
Seeing her husband staring at those two nondescript men, He Zhiran asked, "Dear, is there something wrong with those two?"
Mo Jiuye replied in a low voice, "They are from the South Border."
"South Border?" He Zhiran was obviously very shocked.
It should be known that the South Border was far away from Xi Bei, and Xi Bei was where the most barren areas of Da Shun were located. For them to come to Da Shun, they must have had some purpose other than just visiting such a place.
The two walked over to the stall owner the South Border people had just asked about earlier, acting as if nothing had happened.
He Zhiran took some coins out of her space and asked the man softly, "Brother, what did those two ask you just now?"
The stall owner happily took the coins and whispered: "They asked about the whereabouts of Xi Ling Village."
Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran immediately became vigilant.
For South Border people to ask about Xi Ling Village, they could think of no other reason than to find the Mo family.
Looking at those two men, they were already walking in the direction of Xi Ling Village.
He Zhiran knew that with her bulky body now, Mo Jiuye would be neglecting her safety if he kept worrying about her. Following those two men carefully would be difficult.
"Dear, follow them first. I'll go to the government office to find eighth brother and ask him to hurry over with the carriage to take me back."
If she hadn’t mentioned the eighth brother, Mo Jiuye would never feel assured letting her go back alone. Moreover, the government office was near, which made him feel more at ease.
"Alright, there are many people on the street. Don't wander around yourself. Go to the government office to find eighth brother. I may also need help."
There was no time to delay. Mo Jiuye exhorted her for a bit before tightly following those two South Border men.
He Zhiran did not wander off but went straight to the government office.
She happened to arrive just as Mo Chuhan was returning from patrolling with a group of people.
"Sister-in-law, weren't you with ninth brother buying wood? Why did you come here alone?”
He Zhiran felt it was inappropriate to talk about this in front of so many officers.
"Eighth brother, let’s talk over there.”
Mo Chuhan knew something was wrong. Otherwise, the meticulous ninth brother wouldn’t have left the ninth sister-in-law alone. He dismissed the officers and walked with He Zhiran to the side of the government office.
"Sister-in-law, what on earth happened?”
"Eighth brother, just now in the market, we discovered two sneaky South Border men. They were asking about the location of Xi Ling Village. My husband was worried there would be trouble at home, so he secretly followed them.”
When he heard the words South Border men, Mo Chuhan instinctively clenched his fists.
The person he hated most now were the South Border people because the perpetrator who had persecuted countless Mo men was Mr. Si Meng from the South Border.
Moreover, not long after the ninth brother and sister-in-law had just rescued three elder brothers from the South Border, South Border men suddenly appeared in Yun City asking about the whereabouts of Xi Ling Village. This couldn’t help but make him extremely vigilant.
