Chapter 5

This matter He Zhiran also felt it was necessary to inform them in advance, moreover, Mo Jiuye reminded in person, it would be more convincing than her, a newcomer, speaking.

"Alright, I'll send someone to invite them over immediately."

He Zhiran gave instructions to several servants outside the door to go to the different courtyards to invite people. Then, she returned to the room again.

She asked Mo Jiuye, "Do you have any good arrangements in mind?"

"You and the Sisters-in-law can take the divorce letters and leave." At this moment, the only thing Mo Jiuye could think of was that the fewer people involved, the better.

To this, He Zhiran did not refute.

Although she did not have much contact with the eight Sisters-in-law, she could see that they were all kind-hearted people.

It was pitiful enough for them to be widowed at such a young age. Following along to be exiled and suffer, it was indeed unbearable.

As for herself, she did not think too much about it.

She sympathized with the Mo family's fate, and hoped to change Mo Jiuye's fate of early death with her own ability.

Not long after, Old Lady Mo and the Sisters-in-law successively arrived in a hurry.

He Zhiran could see that the concern on everyone's faces for Mo Jiuye did not seem fake.

Old Lady Mo was the first to come to her son's bedside. Although there were tears in her eyes, she still looked tough to others.

"Jiuye, how are your injuries?"

"Mother, your son is fine. They are just some flesh wounds."

"Ninth brother, how did you get injured?" asked the fourth Sister-in-law in concern.

Mo Jiuye looked around.

"When all the Sisters-in-law are here, I will tell everyone together."

Hearing Mo Jiuye say this, no one asked any more questions. Instead, they sincerely cared about his injuries.

After a while, the few Sisters-in-law who were farther away also arrived.

He Zhiran vigilantly went out and instructed the servants to guard the door well and not allow anyone in.

Mo Jiuye felt very warm at He Zhiran's thoughtfulness. At the same time, he also had a big change in his previous understanding of He Zhiran.

If not for this encounter, perhaps he would have tried to get along well with the other party and spent his whole life with her.

Unfortunately, fate makes fun of people, and the heavens did not give him such a chance.

Mo Jiuye collected his stray thoughts and said in a deep voice, "Mother, Sisters-in-law, today I was bullied by the Emperor in the palace and was severely beaten 50 times."

Hearing this, the Sisters-in-law were completely uneasy.

"Ninth brother, what exactly did you do wrong that the Emperor would beat you like this?"

"That's right, Ninth brother. 50 heavy beatings is no joke. Are your injuries serious?"

"Ninth brother..."

Hearing the string of concerns, even a tough guy like Mo Jiuye felt a warmth in his heart.

Such a harmonious family would probably cease to exist after today.

Although reluctant, he still had to do what he should do.

"Mother, Sisters-in-law, from today's events, it can be seen that the Emperor can no longer tolerate the existence of my House of Mo. I'm afraid he will soon issue an decree to punish us, either lightly by exile or heavily by beheading."

Mo Jiuye deliberately made the matter sound more serious, hoping that those Sisters-in-law would know when to retreat.

Hearing this, the eyes of the eight Sisters-in-law unanimously looked towards He Zhiran.

When they left the bridal chamber earlier, the Ninth brother and sister had reminded them similarly.

At that time, they did not take it seriously, thinking the Ninth siblings were babbling gloom and doom.

However, after hearing such words from Mo Jiuye again, they had to take it seriously.

He Zhiran met those inquisitive eyes and just solemnly nodded slightly to confirm that she was not talking nonsense earlier.

"Jiuye, are your words true?" Even the usually calm Old Lady Mo was a little uneasy now.

"Mother, the chances are eight or nine out of ten." Mo Jiuye did not make his words definite, after all, he had only heard it from He Zhiran and combined some of his own analysis.

Hearing this, Old Lady Mo's body shuddered.

"To think that my Mo family has been loyal and upright for generations, yet in the end the men in the family died for the country, only to get such an outcome?"

As she spoke, Old Lady Mo even let out a cold laugh.

"Back then, I advised your father to return to civilian life. What good are fame, fortune and official positions compared to a family living in peace and contentment? But he just refused to listen.

He said the mission of the Mo family is to protect the Great Shun Dynasty. This one sentence of his cost me my husband and eight sons.

So what if we used our lives to guard the Great Shun's lands?

Hah... What a joke..."

The eight Sisters-in-law were also filled with righteous indignation.

"This is too much. What wrong did our Mo family do to deserve this?"

"I do not accept this. I will go back to my maiden home now and ask my father to help say some good words."

"I will also find my elder brother to see if he can help."

Mo Jiuye shook his head.

"Sisters-in-law, just give up! The Emperor is determined to eradicate the Mo family. How could he possibly listen to advice?"

"Then what should we do? Are we just going to wait for someone to arbitrarily pin a crime on us?" Seventh Sister-in-law Yang Man asked indignantly.

Mo Jiuye did not answer, but looked towards Old Lady Mo instead.

"Mother, your son thinks it'd be better to take this opportunity to give the Sisters-in-law divorce letters, rather than letting them be implicated along with our Mo family."

Old Lady Mo pondered for a moment, then said solemnly, "Hmm, what Jiuye said makes sense. You Sisters-in-law are already pitiful enough. Our Mo family should not continue to implicate you all. And the same for the Hes. Having just married in, it would be unjust for her to be implicated along with the Mo family."

"Mother, Ninth brother, I do not want a divorce letter. I, Cui Biteng, was born as a Mo, and I will die as the Mo's ghost."

"Me too. Even if the entire Mo family is executed, I, Xie Fang, will keep the Mo company till the end."

"I also do not want a divorce letter. I will stay and live and die with the Mo family."

"I promised my late husband that no matter what, I will be filial to his mother on his behalf."

"I'm not leaving either."

"..."

The eight Mo widows were filled with righteous indignation, and none were willing to leave with a divorce letter.

Even if it was the only way out, they did not want it. They were determined to live and die with the Mo family.

Seeing that the eight daughters-in-law could be like this, Old Lady Mo was moved. At the same time, her gaze turned to He Zhiran.

"Young Lady He, what about you?"

"I want to stay too." He Zhiran answered loudly without even thinking.

Old Lady Mo looked at Mo Jiuye again, "Jiuye, you see, the women of our family are all strong-willed. Mother also wants to gratify them."

Hearing this, Mo Jiuye solemnly looked at everyone. There was a sense of admiration in his eyes.

"Sisters-in-law, we only have one life. If one can live, who would choose to die? I hope you all do not let your sense of righteousness get the better of you in this matter."

"Ninth brother, my mind is set. Please do not say any more."

Led by the Eldest Sister-in-law, the other Sisters-in-law made the same choice again.

Old Lady Mo knew the temperaments of these daughters-in-law very well. Although there might be some minor friction when everyone was together on normal days, none would become deserters at the critical moment.

This was how the Mo women should be.