Too high to reach

Chapter 176 Pushing the envelope
When Mo Yi got home, she went straight to her room.

With the future so unpredictable, how could she not feel fear and confusion?
How should I talk to my father?

What to do with the shop?
And also, the dowry!
Things have only settled down a little in the last few days.

If we were to bring up the dowry and wedding at this point, it would truly be a waste of resources and manpower.

My mother started preparing my sister's dowry a long time ago. Even so, after the engagement, she, my aunt, and my uncles were busy with the preparations for more than half a year.

She was the second daughter and wasn't favored by her mother. Although, it was impossible for her to completely ignore the situation as she had previously stated.

But right now, even if she wanted to manage it, her abilities would probably be very limited.

Moreover, this was in the presence of the Prince's Palace.

Qizhenlou... Can I brazenly include it in my dowry list?
His skin is as thick as a city wall.

But she couldn't just wear a wedding dress and ride in a sedan chair to the prince's mansion, could she? Besides, she didn't even make the wedding dress herself...

Good heavens... I feel so dizzy.

If you can't figure it out, just pull the covers over your head and go to sleep.

The autumn rain pattered on the roof, having a very soothing effect, and the bed was warm and cozy. Soon, she drifted off to sleep.

But after only a short while, he heard the maid speak, "Mo Yuan has arrived."

"Why are you sleeping at this hour again?" Mo Yuan said with disdain.

"I've been so tired these days. Fourth Sister, please sit down. Is there something you need?" Mo Yi yawned.

Mo Yuan sat down, smiling beautifully, "I just wanted to ask you, what did you think of Young Master Xu that day?"

"Which Young Master Xu?"

Mo Yuan clicked her tongue: "I saw him once at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, and again at the Liu family's residence. He was wearing a dark blue robe, tall, and quite fair-skinned. He's already a scholar who passed the imperial examinations. And his father..."

"Okay, okay, I don't remember. I wasn't paying attention..."

"Then... General Liu, you probably didn't notice either, right?" Mo Yuan was very unhappy. "He knows the Zhao brothers."

“I recognize the Zhao brothers, but I don’t recognize General Liu.”

"Look at you! So you only care about a woman's clothes?"

"It would be strange if I went out and stared at the man! Mo Yuan, what's going on between you and Zhang Debao?"

“Friend,” Mo Yuan said coolly.

"He considers you a friend too? What kind of friendship is that between a man and a woman?"

"Why isn't there one...?"

"Mo Yuan, a year ago, if a man like this liked you, you'd be overjoyed. But now..."

“Things are different now!” Mo Yuan interrupted. “Back then, you weren’t even the future princess yet. Did I need to remind you of the changes in the Mo family?”

"The changes are significant, but it's only slightly better than before. We're still far from those centuries-old families. We lack a solid foundation, and we haven't produced any particularly outstanding talents. And we can't seem to move up the ranks!"

"Aren't you a particularly outstanding person?" Mo Yuan asked with a smile.

“I’m talking to you seriously. Fourth Sister, this can’t go on with Young Master Zhang. He clearly likes you, and if you continue like this, you’ll break his heart sooner or later, and then he’ll leave and never come back.”

Mo Yuan pouted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"Furthermore, such things spread the fastest. With him around like this, who would propose to you? Have you seen what happened to Mo Wen at the Liu family? There might be something we don't know about."

Don't give them any leverage. Putting aside everything else, even if you look down on Zhang Debao, if his family were to propose marriage, getting past his mother would be difficult..."

Mo Yuan sneered, unconvinced. "Once you become a princess, that hurdle won't be so difficult."

"Yeah, right! Countless people are waiting to see me make a fool of myself in this marriage!"

"Impossible!" Mo Yuan disagreed.

After all that talk, she still has no way to solve it.

She didn't want to marry Zhang Debao, yet she couldn't bear to give up all the benefits he brought her. Putting everything else aside, just mentioning Sun Ying'er was enough for him to find out the news... even Mo Yi wasn't as fast as him!
"Alright, stop talking about me. You're so lucky. You're not even married yet, but you're already helping your husband's family manage their businesses and even representing the prince at banquets. You're so well-off. I don't know where you got such good fortune."

"It's not as easy as you say... Today, Granny Zhao said that it's possible I'll get married by the end of the year!"

"Really!? That's great! Oh my god, that's wonderful!" Mo Yuan jumped up, her eyes shining with excitement.

"What good?"

"Tsk, you silly girl." Mo Yuan slapped her on the back. "To be honest, I've always felt this was like a dream. Wouldn't it be better to make it real?"

Mo Yi had nothing to say.

"Besides, you're going to live in the Prince's mansion! Isn't that a hundred times better than this dilapidated house and courtyard of ours?"

"You're giving me a dowry?" Mo Yi glanced at her.

“I didn’t.” Mo Yuan shook her head and said, “Why are you thinking about these things? When the prince wanted to be engaged to you, didn’t he know what the Mo family was like? To the prince’s mansion, we were just poor people.”

"If that's the case, why are you worrying about it? Even if you took the entire Mo family estate, including their houses, it wouldn't be worth as much as a single item they own. What's there to worry about?"

"Easier said than done... Would you really be willing to go out in just a wedding dress? If that were the case, I'm afraid it would be a laughing stock for years to come."

“Fool, the prince is willing to marry you, how could he not think of you? If he lets people laugh at you, wouldn't he lose face too? Look at you, what are you dressed like from head to toe? Even I am benefiting from this! Don't worry, he will prepare everything for you.”

"Is what he's preparing still my dowry?" Mo Yi asked helplessly.

"Uncle, second uncle, and second aunt, we can't let you go naked, we'll definitely give you something."

"Yes! Then I got married and left, leaving you all to starve!" Mo Yi chimed in quickly. Since it concerned her own interests, Mo Yuan just scoffed and didn't mention it again.

Suddenly, she said again, "Hey Moyi, you've lived in my courtyard for so long. Now that you've married into the royal family, I want to go live there too..."

Mo Yi smiled wryly. She really did it. "How heartbroken my father would be if he knew?!"

"In my opinion, you're just overthinking it. If the Emperor has made a decision and the Prince has also made one, what right does our family have to object? You have to marry when the time is set for you."

Seeing Mo Yuan's excited anticipation... Mo Yi, however, had no confidence in the future whatsoever.

……

Inside the palace, Li Jing reported to his father.

The emperor watched as he pulled out his own memorial from that strangely shaped pocket.

"What is this?"

"Leather bag".

The Emperor extended his hand, and Li Jing had no choice but to hand it over.

The emperor rummaged through it, then opened it and saw a whole bunch of things inside... Wow, quite a lot!

"These are hides from the Western Regions, aren't they?"

"Yes."

...The emperor felt that talking to this son was pointless.

The head eunuch beside him chuckled, “Your Highness, when our Emperor was young, he stayed in Zhucheng for a while. There were quite a few things like this there. There were even leather trunks! They were quite durable. It’s just that none of them looked as nice as Your Highness’s. Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”

"Where did this come from?" the emperor asked.

"It was made by that girl from the Mo family," Li Jing said gently.

The emperor didn't immediately realize who he was talking about.

"Oh, Your Majesty, it seems Miss Mo is truly kind to our Prince. You even asked about the wedding date the other day..."

The Emperor coughed lightly before saying, "Yes. When do you plan to get married?"

Li Jing had originally planned to say the end of the year, but then she thought again: "My son also wants it to be as soon as possible, but Miss Mo is worried that her dowry is meager and she'll lose face if she marries into the family. So, she's putting up some money to open a small shop to sell these things and earn money to prepare her dowry. This will probably take two years..."

Two years?

Did he really not get married for two years?
The Emperor's face darkened. "How old are you? Two years from now... how dare you say that!"

"But she said she had no dowry."

"She didn't have a dowry, and you're only finding that now? Your princess is going to live off a dowry?"

"My son thinks so too, but back then, Mother's ten-mile-long red bridal procession... was so magnificent... What woman wouldn't want that?"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor also remembered, and a smile appeared on his face. "Speaking of your mother's dowry... In her generation, there were many brothers, but she was the only legitimate daughter. Her dowry was the envy of my brothers."

He stood out among his brothers, partly due to the support of his wife's family and partly due to his wife's financial management.

Thinking of this, a touch of tenderness rose in the Emperor's heart.

His first wife, though of average appearance, had a magnanimous personality and was generous in her actions. There was never a moment of unhappiness with her.

And his eldest son, Ming'an... his Ming'an!

“A woman’s dowry is indeed a lifetime’s glory. Your mother’s dowry is in your hands, so give it to her…”

“The Empress Dowager’s things will be managed by her after she enters the household. But it’s not appropriate to use them as her dowry, is it?” Li Jing shook his head.

Fine, I owe you!

"Fine, I'll give her some money... Liu Su, bring me the account books and let him choose a few items to take back as dowry for the Mo family girl."

"Father, your belongings, though all of them are the finest of the finest, are not suitable as her dowry... They can't be given away, nor can they be used as money, and they have to be kept as precious possessions. Perhaps we should give her something that can generate more money..."

He's really... pushing his luck... the Emperor thought angrily.

……

Mo Yi decided to lay the groundwork with her father early on.

Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, Mo Ruhai shook his head vigorously.

"No, no, no! Stop talking, I don't agree. Even a prince doesn't take things by trickery or force. He has to be reasonable! Who marries off two daughters in one year?"

Mo Yi laughed when she heard that... Didn't she?

What reason is this?
Mo Ruhai not only disagreed, but also went to talk to the prince with great arrogance.

"As his father, I must tell him: the wedding date should be at least a year later!"

As a result, he forced himself to maintain the airs of his father-in-law and the conversation didn't last long.

He came out, holding something in his arms. His expression was bewildered, a mixture of sadness and joy.

If Zhao Zuo hadn't been supporting him when they went downstairs, they would have slid down.

Mo Yi waited in the tea room on the first floor. "Father, what's wrong?"

“Daughter…you’ve struck it rich!” Mo Ruhai murmured.

I'll post a 3,000-word chapter first, and then we'll go to the bridal chamber tonight.

(End of this chapter)