Too high to reach

Chapter 145 Feeling Great
Mo Wen finally admitted that Mo Yi had already left the Mo family and reached a height that he could not reach at present.

So, how should we get along with her?
Suddenly remembering something, I got up and went out of the house.

Mo Yuan's door was open, and the room was a mess. She was rummaging through things with Liu Shi and her daughter.

"Third Aunt..." Mo Wen arrived, "What is Fourth Sister doing?"

"Third Sister is here? Did you learn how to organize things from Hongyan and the others? Tidy up a bit."

"Do you need my help?"

Mo Yuan chuckled inwardly: This person must have something on their mind.

"No need! I packed it myself, I know where everything is. Mom, why don't you go have a cup of tea and relax for a while!"

Liu's temper has been unusually good lately. Knowing that Mo Wen came for something, she even wanted to listen to the excitement, but her daughter sent her away.

In the past, she would definitely have said some harsh things to Mo Wen, but now...

Go ahead and leave, I'll come back and ask again later.

Mo Wen sized up Mo Yuan... She had changed quite a bit. Although she still had a touch of coquettish charm, she was no longer so frivolous.

"I came to ask what you plan to give as a birthday gift to my fourth sister tomorrow. Let's discuss it together; we're sisters, so let's not be too different."

Mo Yuan made a face. "I'm a poor man, what rare things do I have to give her? Besides, she doesn't even care about ordinary things these days."

She spoke sincerely, but Mowen felt a tightness in her chest.

Mo Yuan thought for a moment and said, "A few days ago, Aunt Liu came and brought two bottles of perfume. They smelled quite elegant. I'll give her one of them! You don't know how expensive these are in those shops."

"It's not cheap. I've shopped around a lot these past few days and checked prices..."

"How are the dowry preparations going?"

"I'm completely overwhelmed, there's so much to do. I wanted to go to class with you guys, but where would I find the time?"

Mo Yuan chuckled inwardly, but nodded to show she understood. She then went on to explain her views on dowry, asking, "So what are you giving Mo Yi? Forget about face powder... Look at this, I got it from her. How delicate is this powder? It makes your face look radiant. In the shop, there's only this small box... It cost over twenty taels of silver!"

“These things are expensive. I have a set of paints on hand; she likes to paint, so I'll give them to her.”

"That's a good idea!" Mo Yuan said nonchalantly.

"In the blink of an eye, we've all grown up so much," Mo Wen remarked.

"Yes, in a few months you'll be getting married..."

Mo Wen smiled and said, "You've come at a good time! Your eldest uncle got promoted, and your second brother also got a good position. You can go to the banquet with your fifth sister. Later, I can also invite you to the Xu family. That way, you'll have more connections!"

"That's really true!" Mo Yuan said proudly. "From now on, the three of us sisters will help each other. No matter what happened before, once we're married and no longer together, we'll only think about the good things about each other."

"You're right."

These are the words that Mo Wen came to hear.

This is a roundabout tactic; she doesn't want to lower her status and ease tensions with Mo Yi, but she can win over Mo Yuan to achieve her goal.

After exchanging a few more casual words, Mowen left.

Watching her leave, Mo Yuan gave a disdainful smile...

Do you regret falling out with Mo Yi?
They wanted to use me, so they naturally eased the tension in our relationship.

Ah, Mowen, you think too much.

It was such a trivial matter, we're sisters, why go through all this trouble?

If it were me, I'd go straight to Mo Yi and say: "Sister, I regret what I did before, and I apologize. From now on, we'll be close sisters and support each other..."

One-on-one, straightforward and frank. Wouldn't that be better?
It's truly baffling. She's clearly quite intelligent, yet she insists on resorting to such underhanded tactics. And to make matters worse, even my second aunt, with her straightforward nature, can't bring herself to lower herself…

In the past, we would listen to her in the dining room, but now she doesn't say a word!

"I'm really impressed by you guys..." She completely forgot that this roundabout way of speaking and playing the strings was originally her favorite thing.

I picked up my things to tidy up, but then put them down again.

The person I met at the embroidery shop that day was none other than the son of a nobleman, and he struck up a conversation with me…

It's just that it's not very good-looking, what's its name again? Something like "treasure"?

Being able to leave makes all the difference! Back in the Zhao family, those ladies certainly gave me quite a few looks... I'll ask Mo Yi to talk to Granny Zhao again and ask her to put in a good word for me!
She was very pleased.

Mo Yi is also about to have something really exciting happen...

Early on the morning of her birthday, Granny Zhao arrived with her maids.

She had a maid comb her hair and change her clothes.

Seeing that it was still early, the two sat down to drink tea and chat.

The maids went to comb Mo Yuan's hair.

Mo Wen's initiative to make friends had a remarkable effect, and Mo Yuan also invited her over.

"His Highness has sent you a birthday gift and asked me to bring it over." Granny Zhao took out a brocade box and handed it to Mo Yi.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Mo Yi blushed slightly as she opened the package.

A mutton fat jade bracelet?!

It's so real at first glance! Generous, rounded, definitely a fine piece...

It's even whiter and more lustrous than the one Zhao Mama wore. It should be about the same size as the one on Lady Jing'an Marquis's wrist. Is this mine?! I almost burst out laughing.

"This is so beautiful. It's so valuable, I feel a little embarrassed." Mo Yi picked it up, feeling its smooth texture against her skin. Her eyes were glued to it, and she remembered to say a few polite words.

"This is indeed a fine item, but what's even more precious is that it belongs to our Empress..."

"Ah..." Upon hearing this, Mo Yi quickly gripped the bag tightly, afraid of any mishap.

"They were originally a pair. When the Empress was in her boudoir, she liked to practice with swords and spears. Once she forgot to take them off, and one of them was accidentally broken. After that, she was much more careful when wearing this one."

“This is too precious…” Mo Yi quickly put it back into the brocade box.

"There's no need for that, young lady. Her Majesty has plenty of good things to offer. But what Her Majesty cares about most is our Prince. I hope that you, young lady, can treat the Prince with utmost sincerity."

"Yes. Mo Yi remembers." Her face flushed slightly as she solemnly agreed.

“That day at the Zhao family, you met the prince’s two concubines and three children. I haven’t told you about the prince’s mansion before, but now that I have a little time, I’ll tell you a few words.”

Mo Yi closed the brocade box and placed it steadily on the table. "Please speak, Granny."

"The prince's previous wife was named Zhou Li, the birth mother of Princess Wenxiu. She came from a prestigious family, was extremely beautiful, and quite talented. Back then, she was the most outstanding young lady from a prominent family in the capital."

Pampered and spoiled since childhood, with refined tastes in food and clothing, she possesses an innocent nature and a fondness for romance and poetry. And the prince…

As you can probably tell, the prince has been devoted to official duties since he was a child, and has never stopped working on them.

The two of them... don't quite understand each other.

Princess Zhou was already in poor health, and after giving birth to Xiangxiang, she fell ill. At that time, I had important business to attend to elsewhere, and the Prince was not in the capital either. The Princess went to a hot spring resort to recuperate, but unexpectedly, after only two days, her condition suddenly worsened into an acute illness. Being far from the capital, the local doctors couldn't save her. What a pity…”

“Consort Feng is the Prince’s sister-in-law and a distant cousin of the former Crown Princess. Back then… when the Feng family was in trouble, the Prince brought them back and handed them over to me…”

Granny Zhao briefly recounted this, "Consort Feng has been in charge of the household affairs for several years now."

Mo Yi blinked.

Granny Zhao saw this but didn't explain anything. She continued talking about Consort Tian, ​​"This consort's family are wealthy landowners. They own numerous businesses, including canal transport, security escort agencies, salt fields, tea plantations, and silver shops!"

"Is it the prince's money bag?" Mo Yi asked.

"Mutual benefit and assistance." Granny Zhao looked at her reproachfully.

“It was Mo Yi who misspoke… I’ve only seen Consort Tian twice, and she always wore the finest things.”

Zhao Mama shook her head helplessly. This girl only knows how to look at this. "Consort Tian's dowry is well managed by herself. The Tian family also supports her, so she is not short of money."

“Good days…” Mo Yi smiled.

"She was indeed lucky. There were many things that the girl had never experienced before, such as the Tian family. When she was still young, her shoes were sewn with pearls, which was extremely luxurious. But when she got married, she rarely married well. She became a concubine, a second wife for an old man, or the mentally challenged or disabled son of an official or wealthy man..."

"But why is that?"

"It's just about family interests! Besides, the prince has three concubines. In the future, there may be new women entering the household..."

Seeing Mo Yi's shy and somewhat helpless expression, she said, "The Mo family rarely has concubines or illegitimate children. But in some families, this is perfectly normal. It's not a matter of good or bad, it's just that in life, there are always things you have to adapt to..."

"From a worldly perspective, the prince is of noble birth and handsome. Zhou Li is a lady from a prestigious family and exceptionally talented. They should be an enviable match. But they don't quite qualify as such..."

Although you are young, you are intelligent, calm, know when to advance and retreat, and have your own opinions.

The prince treats you differently too. There's something else… you'll know tomorrow. But, the prince…”

Granny Zhao looked somewhat sorrowful.

Mo Yi felt a pang of anxiety when she thought of the information Liang You had gathered.

"I hope you can accompany the Prince on his journey through life smoothly and peacefully!"

“Moy understands…”

"Yiyi, Granny Zhao!" Mo Yuan excitedly pulled Mo Wen along.

Mo Wen's smiles towards Mo Yi and Granny Zhao became much more sincere and friendly.

Both of them had their hair done, makeup applied, and clothes changed...

"Do we look good?" Mo Yuan asked, while Mo Wen seemed a little embarrassed.

"You two are so beautiful!" Mo Yi had to admit that they were indeed beautiful.

Granny Zhao chuckled, “The Mo family girls all have beautiful hair… You know, that’s a huge advantage. They can style it in many different ways, and their jewelry can hold up well. If they had little hair, their jewelry would be heavy, and that would be a real ordeal.”

Around noon, the whole family had arrived.

Even Mo Da has returned. This time, he feels he needs to pay more attention and can no longer send calligraphy books; he should send a brush instead.

Madam Zhou frowned upon seeing it, opened her dowry chest, and took out a very nice hairpin...

Wang felt awkward inside and out. She stuffed a purse into Mo Yi's hand, which contained fifty taels of silver. "You're going out a lot these days. If you need any tips or anything, don't be stingy."

This tone...

The family sat there happily, enjoying their meal immensely.

Mo Bao gave away the latest trendy gadgets at school. Both little ones drew a beautiful picture.

In any case, everyone was thoughtfully given a gift.

Only Mo Qing, with empty hands, said, "I'm young and poor..."

(End of this chapter)