Mo Xuemin woke up bleary-eyed, holding her head. She did not know where she was and could hear the voices of people talking and yelling. An urgent sense of danger gripped her, and her mind quickly cleared. She turned around to find a man she did not know lying on the large couch behind hers, his clothes in disarray.
Looking down, she saw that her clothes were equally untidy…
She heaved herself into an upright position. She remembered everything. She was coming to Qingfang Pavilion with Mo Xiu earlier. They had taken a more secluded path, because it was shorter. The shortcut was much darker than the main roads, which were lit brightly. She had intended to take the main roads when she reached Qingyu Pavilion .
You Yuecheng had mentioned in his letter that Qingyu Pavilion was meant for people to rest in, especially on holidays, such as today. The emperor would be at the festival as well, which meant the empress and the other consorts would go with him. With so many members of the nobility present, there had to be a place for them to rest while they kept the New Year’s vigil.
The palace had already set up an area for places similar to Qingyu Pavilion for people to rest in. The pavilions had one distinguishing feature – they were all built close to the main road. It was interesting to view the lanterns in the pavilion as well. There were a few pavilions that were meant for the emperor and his consorts.
Most of the other pavilions were for the young lords and ladies to rest in. After all, the emperor said he would come, but he probably wouldn’t stay long.
Mo Xuemin’s plan had been simple.
The empress had been present when the nobles were eating on the islands, so they couldn’t fully enjoy themselves. Now that they could relax, a few of the weaker young ladies would find somewhere to rest, and Qingyu Pavilion was a good spot. Should someone mention going there to rest, there would definitely be young ladies who would go.
The young ladies had all brought their brothers along, so there would be a crowd to witness Mo Xuetong and a man rolling around with their clothes in disarray, and her sister would be too embarrassed to live. Causing trouble while the emperor enjoyed the festivities with his people would not only embarrass her, it was also disrespectful towards the emperor.
Then, even if Mo Xuetong did not want to die, the emperor would decree that she did. Of course, even if the emperor was benevolent because of her father and let Mo Xuetong off, she would never be anything more than a concubine. Mo Xumin had asked Sima Lingyun to find a useless man who had many concubines. Mo Xuetong was the legal daughter of a third-grade official, and such a scandal would not only be an embarrassment to the Mo family, but also to the General Manor.
Then, if Mo Huawen were to marry Auntie Fang, their granddaughter would be a concubine, and the General Manor would be too embarrassed to interfere.
Mo Xuetong would probably die of depression after being used by the useless man, and Auntie Fang would become the legal wife without any hindrances! Mo Xuemin had planned everything with minute detail.
One thing Mo Xuemin hadn’t planned for was getting dizzy when she approached the shortcut to the pavilion. Her sight turned black, and she lost consciousness. Mo Xuemin, who had always been a plotter, knew that she had fallen into a trap.
She could make out the muted sounds of conversation outside. The doors and windows were high and there was nothing around them that was blocking them. It would be impossible for her to get out of here without being seen. Mo Xuemin pushed the man away and smoothed down and retied her dress. She saw a cup of tea on the table and her eyes brightened.
The man’s swollen face grew red. Judging by the smell of alcohol surrounding him, he had been drinking and passed out in this room. The tea had also been there for some time, and was growing colder in the chill winter air, certainly cold enough to wake a drunk.
The cold tea splashed onto the man’s face and trickled down his neck.
The man leaped up and raised his right hand, wiping off the liquid with his wide sleeves before he even opened his eyes. “Who did that?” he shouted. “It’s freezing, and you dare to pour cold water on me? I’m going to tear your skin off!”
He did not even see who it was before he started yelling. He was, indeed, a fool.
Mo Xuemin didn’t hesitate – she picked up a white ceramic vase with a narrow neck and handed it to the man with the neck facing him. All he could make out was the liquid in his eyes, and he could not see clearly who was opposite him. He only felt someone stuffing something into his hand. It was the size of his wine bottle, and he accepted it.
The laughter and chattering of a few young ladies from outside was growing louder, interspersed with male voices.
They were getting closer and closer. They were here!
It would be too late if she did not act now!
A cold viciousness flashed in Mo Xuemin steeled herself. Guiding the man’s hands, she lifted the vase high, gritted her teeth, and smashed it down violently…
There was a dull thud, followed by a scream.
Mo Xuemin crawled to the door, opening it just as a maid dressed in yellow was reaching for the handle on the other side.
She fell on the maid, screaming “Help! Help! He tried to kill me!” She pitched her voice to sound shocked and afraid. It was something she had a lot of practice with as a noblewoman, as it was the kind of reaction people expected her to have.
The young ladies behind the maid yelled in shock. A young master wearing pink long robes walked up and stood in front of them and asked the figure, “Who are you?”
Everyone looked at the woman who had emerged from the pavilion. She was clearly flustered, with blood flowing down from a cut on her head. There was so much blood, one could not even see her face clearly, and her luxurious clothes were askew from rolling on the ground with the maid. Mo Xuetong was a pathetic site to behold.
A few young ladies with sharp eyes recognized her, even through the blood. “It is First Miss Mo!” A few young ladies with sharp eyes realized it was Mo Xuemin. If this had been any other time, others would not be able to recognize her. Her hair was messed up and her face was smeared with blood. However, after tMany of the nobles had been present at the fake poetry incident, so Mo Xuemin couldn’t keep a low profile, even if she wanted to.
“First Miss Mo, what happened?” a woman in the crowd asked in shock.
“There’s someone inside who wants to kill me. I saw, I saw…” Mo Xuemin pressed her hand to her chest. She seemed so afraid that she was about to faint.
The maid dressed in yellow whom she had knocked down had since gotten to her feet. She was annoyed that Mo Xuemin had knocked her down and embarrassed her before so many handsome young masters, but didn’t dare say anything about it now. She leaned down to help Mo Xuemin up.
Meanwhile, the crowd chattered in confusion. “Did Mo Xuemin see something she was not supposed to? Was that why she was being pursued and almost lost her life?”
A few of the bolder young masters charged into the pavilion immediately. They saw the man who was sitting up from the bed with his clothes in disarray. He was still holding on to the vase that was drenched in blood.
Without hesitation, two strong young masters pressed him down on each side. The bloodied vase fell from his hands and smashed on the floor.
As the culprit was dragged outside, there was more murmuring from the crowd.
“It’s him!”
“How could it be him?”
“How could he be here today? Didn’t the rumors say that he found a beauty at Qingxiang House whom he is smothering in affections the past few days and won’t leave her?”
“Your news is out of date. Last night, he even fought for an actress with Minister Li’s son. I heard that Minister Li found his son went out and then brought him home by force, leaving the actress behind.”
…
A few others recognized the man and they looked at each other. The crowd began to mutter to themselves. Those who recognized the man all looked at the man with disdain. He was being pressed down onto the ground and was struggling to get up.
“Let me go! What are you doing? Why have you pinned me down?” The man on the floor shook his head around and struggled angrily. Despite his blurry vision, the scene swam into focus as he realized the seriousness of the situation.
“Yu Mingyong, what are you doing here? You assaulted First Miss Mo with a vase! When did you stop caring for women?” The voice was smooth and mocking.
The crowd spread apart, and a young man wearing dark red robes with gold embroidery emerged from the middle. Had it not been for his roguish smile, he would be considered handsome. Despite the chill, he was vigorously fanning himself with a fan, unconcerned for those around him.
Mo Xuemin knew that there would be trouble as soon as she saw him.
It was Li Youmo.
When Mo Xuemin thought of how he had once slapped her without mercy, not only did her hand hurt, her face hurt, as well. She shuddered involuntarily. She hadn’t expected Li Youmo to be here. They were on different sides, and she didn’t know how Li Youmo would use this situation, considering the current relationship between their two families.
She could only pretend to be weak and wait to see what would happen next. She dived onto the maid, pretending to faint.
Yu Mingyong freed himself from the grasp of the two men holding him. He stood up and yelled, pointing at Li Youmo,”You again? You failed to win Little Red Peach from me, so you’ve gotten this slut to frame me. You can’t fight me in public, so you’ve tried to do me in secretly. When have you become so shameless?”
Of course, the two men who had been holding Yu Mingyong down now recognized him for who he was, and they immediately backed off. This wasn’t something they wanted to be involved in.
Everyone knew that Li Youmo was considered the biggest playboy amongst the wealthy sons of the capital. The only man who could be considered his equal was Yu Mingyong. Like Li Youmo, he also had a formidable backing, as his sister was Imperial Consort Yu of Caiwei Palace, much doted on by the emperor.
