Minister Hao and his wife had heard that Mo Jiuye had returned, but they were both very perceptive and knew that their son-in-law had not seen his wife and children for a long time. They deliberately made excuses to be busy elsewhere, so as not to delay his reunion with his wife and children due to the need to greet them.
He Zhiran also heard that her husband Mo Jiuye had returned, but at the moment she was alone, and her two children were already crawling around, so she could not leave them unattended. Even though she was eager to see her husband, she could only wait.
Hearing footsteps outside the door, He Zhiran immediately opened the room door.
Seeing his beloved wife whom he had longed for day and night, Mo Jiuye could not wait any longer and stepped forward to embrace her.
Mo Jiuye's body was icy cold, but He Zhiran did not mind at all. She put her arms around his waist in the same way, and the two held each other for a long time. It was not until the baby Mingzhu on the bed let out a series of coos and babbles that they reluctantly parted.
Mo Jiuye took He Zhiran's hand and walked towards the bed. Seeing that their adorable children had grown much plumper and bigger, he instantly beamed with delight.
At the same time, the two little ones also stared at him with wide eyes.
"Mingzhu, Zhu, do you still recognize Daddy?"
Mo Jiuye nervously rubbed his hands, wanting to go forward and hug the two children, but worried that his chilly body would make them uncomfortable.
Therefore, Mo Jiuye was now in a dilemma.
He Zhiran quickly went forward and took off his cloak.
Mo Jiuye took off his armor.
The two little babies did not cry or make a fuss, they just sat there watching the interaction between their father and mother.
Especially Zhu, who seemed to look at his father with a kind of admiration.
This did not escape He Zhiran's notice, as she was most familiar with their temperaments after spending so much time with the two children.
Zhu was born with a pair of expressive eyes. Although he never cried or made a fuss like his sister, He Zhiran could judge his emotions by his eyes.
But the admiring look in Zhu's eyes today was something He Zhiran had never seen before.
She tentatively asked, "Does Zhu think Daddy looks very heroic?"
"Ah ah ah ah..." Zhu let out a string of baby sounds that outsiders could not understand, then opened his little mouth and smiled, revealing two small teeth that had just grown in, simply adorable enough to melt anyone's heart.
Zhu's behavior was unprecedented.
This child had been mature since birth, rarely showing any facial expressions.
Today, not only did he make sounds in response to his mother's question, but he even smiled with his mouth open.
He Zhiran immediately picked up Zhu and kissed him.
"My smart Zhu knows that Daddy is a great hero, doesn't he?"
Zhu continued to smile, looking at his mother who was holding him for a moment, then at his father, and finally, unable to resist, he reached out his two little hands towards Mo Jiuye.
Mo Jiuye was simply overwhelmed with gratitude.
He never expected that his own son would admire him so much. After being away from home for several months, not only was his son not unfamiliar with him, but he even admired him.
With his son giving him such a great gift, he had to fully appreciate it. With his armor off and his body no longer so cold, ensuring that he would not make the child uncomfortable, he carefully took Zhu from He Zhiran's arms.
No sooner had he taken Zhu than Mingzhu on the bed pouted and started crying.
Not only did she cry, but those teary big eyes kept staring at Mo Jiuye, looking so pitiful.
He Zhiran also understood this behavior.
She quickly went forward and picked up Mingzhu to comfort her.
"Don't cry, Mingzhu. Daddy loves Mingzhu too. Daddy will hold you after holding your brother."
Seeing his poor daughter crying so sadly, Mo Jiuye felt heartbroken.
But he could not bear to put down his son either. In the end, he could only hold Zhu with one hand and free up the other to hold Mingzhu.
Mingzhu's crying was indeed due to jealousy of her brother, because Daddy did not hold her first when he came back, and the baby felt wronged.
Once she was in Daddy's arms, Mingzhu immediately stopped crying, but those tear-filled big eyes still reminded Mo Jiuye that Daddy had just been biased.
Holding his longed-for son and daughter, Mo Jiuye's sense of fulfillment was already overflowing.
These were Mo Jiuye's children, intelligent and sensible from such a young age.
...
On the third day after Mo Jiuye and his brothers returned from the Western Territory, the Fifth Brother and others who had gone to the Southern Territory battlefield also came back.
This time, with the participation of the men of the Mo family, the Da Shun Dynasty's military campaign could be said to have been a great success, and the army suffered almost no major casualties.
Most importantly, this war had once and for all settled the two small barbarian territories that had harassed Da Shun for many years.
From now on, the people of Da Shun could work hard to develop their economy under the leadership of Nan Yu, without having to worry about being invaded by others.
With no more wars in the southwest, and as promised, Nan Yu agreed that the Mo family men no longer needed to guard the borders, and could continue to return to the northwest to live their own lives.
During this period, He Zhiran worked tirelessly to expand their industries.
Now the Mo family's rabbit breeding industry had reached a considerable scale. Not only did the Mo family raise rabbits, but they also drove the people of Xi Ling Village to do so.
They purchased rabbit kits from the Mo family, and the Mo family people taught them breeding techniques. After the rabbits matured, the Mo family was responsible for buying them back.
When the weather turned cold, clothing made from marten fur became highly popular among the people of this era.
He Zhiran established a clothing factory in Xi Ling Village, hiring surrounding women to make clothes, with wages calculated on a piecework basis.
She was naturally generous, offering high wages. Now the surrounding women earned more silver money making marten fur coats than their families' annual income.
Especially since He Zhiran had the dyeing techniques from her previous life, combined with the beautiful styles she recommended, the marten fur coats were sold at exorbitant prices by Tang Mingrui.
With the women able to earn money, their status in their households also rose. Many women who had once been bullied in their in-laws' homes now became arrogant and haughty.
This was also one of He Zhiran's main reasons for developing the clothing factory first.
After living in Xi Ling Village for a long time, she found that the status of women here was extremely low, and a large number of them suffered bullying from their in-laws' families.
Especially in some families that favored sons over daughters, if a daughter-in-law gave birth to a son it was still okay, but if she gave birth to a daughter, her life could be described as being roasted over fire.
As a woman, she really could not stand to see this, but she could not meddle in other people's family affairs. The only way was to use this method to solve the problem once and for all.
Moreover, the entire Northwest Territory, or even the Barbarian Territory, had now become Mo Jiuye's territory, which meant that this entire area was their turf.
Originally, He Zhiran's intention in persuading Mo Jiuye to become a noble and take a territory was to create a different kind of utopia.
Creating a utopia was not just about appearances; she wanted people to completely change their old mindsets and gradually accept a new quality of life.
The women knew that the Queen Consort had put in a lot of effort, and they themselves did not want to be bullied as the daughter-in-law in the family, so they worked even harder.
