Mo Xuetong didn’t imagine the Princess Royal’s mansion to be this fancy before visiting here.
On the way, she saw ancient trees stretching to the sky. By the fake mountains, strange-looking boulders stood, surrounded by streams. Zigzagging hallways connected pavilions and houses on terraces. From time to time, she could find new scenery she had never seen. Moreover, after the snow yesterday, the branches, rooftops, and trees were all white. Several red plum blossoms stuck out from the snow at the corner of the walls.
The blossoms made the scene fresher and more romantic. A breeze blew off pieces of snowflakes, falling like raindrops on Xuetong’s shoulders. They playfully glided across her jade white face. Mo Xuetong’s cold and beautiful eyes didn’t seem to belong to the immortal world. Fluttering long eyelashes, she slowly rolled her eyes, looking indescribably attractive.
While observing the scenery, Mo Xuetong didn’t expect herself to be the scenic view in others’ eyes.
The maids led her into a parlor, where many guests had seated themselves there. They all turned out to be young girls who dressed glamorously and looked delicate. When Mo Xuetong stepped in, many of them paused. Some misses was already asking the people around them who she was. “Who is this young miss?”
“Didn’t you know? She’s the third miss from Mo Manor.”
“She’s the Third Young Miss Mo. She looks so gorgeous…”
Mo Xuetong nimbly rolled her watery eyes and saw Luo Mingzhu and some other misses who were waving at her the moment she entered. Then, Mo Xuetong walked toward them.
Luo Mingzhu grabbed her hand while smiling. Luo Mingzhu asked her to sit by the side and teased. “I knew Princess Royal invited you. So I’ve been waiting here watching the door. But you really came so late.”
A slightly surprised voice rang, carrying a trace of exaggeration. “Miss Luo, this is your cousin. She’s so beautiful. In a few years, she’ll be known as the most beautiful girl in the world.”
Mo Xuetong looked up, only to see a girl in a blue shirt and red dress. She was about 15 or 16 years old, sitting next to Luo Mingzhu. She had a pretty face and a pair of tender and charming eyes.
Luo Qingzhu introduced. “This is Grand Secretariat’s second daughter, Wang Yueyue. Yueyue, this is the third miss from Mo Manor.”
Grand Secretariat’s second daughter was none other than Wang Xiuxiu’s younger sister. Mo Xuetong didn’t expect that one of the siblings was elegant and calm, while the other was mild and stunning.
Mo Xuetong lightly smiled. “It’s so kind of you. But I’m afraid the most beautiful girl in the Qin Kingdom is surly Second Miss Ling. That day, when I saw Second Miss Ling’s beautiful figure from afar, I was even ashamed of myself.”
Receiving Mo Xuetong’s bland flattering, Wang Yueyue looked a little displeased. However, soon, she warmly smiled. “You’re right. I’m being impolite. When I just saw Third Young Miss Mo, I was impressed by your beauty and said something so arrogating. Is Third Young Miss Mo first time here? If so, you’d have to follow me to make yourself a name board.”
Mo Xuetong blinked, confused. “What’s a name board?”
Luo Mingzhu stood up with a smile and grabbed Mo Xuetong to lead her to the inner part of the parlor. Following them, Wang Yueyue also smilingly nodded and rose.
Out of the parlor, after taking a few turns in the hallway, did Mo Xuetong understand Luo Mingzhu’s words and couldn’t help thinking it funny and boring.
This time, the Princess Royal invited only unmarried misses and masters. Once in a while, the Princess Royal would convene a gathering of young misses and masters for some unimportant reason. It was because the princess was bored that she decided to throw these parties.
After lunch, the attending misses would put on performances. Since it was improper for men and women to rest in the same place and there was an artificial lake in the Princess Royal’s manor, boys and girls would rest on separate sides. At that time, the princess would have people prepare boards with names carved on them. Boys would pick girls’ name board while girls would pick boys’. After they drew someone’s name board, they could ask the board’s owner to sing, dance, write or play the Qin.
If they would like to, they could join the owner to perform together!
Therefore, Wang Yueyue asked Mo Xuetong to also make herself a name board.
It was really easy to make one because blank boards were already ready for use. Thus, Mo Xuetong lifted a brush and wrote her name on it in Small Seal Script. Then, it was done.
Of course, if she wanted to add a personal touch to it, she could paint some simple patterns on it or wrote a few lines of poems. However, Mo Xuetong didn’t want to stand out among the girls so she decided to go casual with it. Therefore, except her name, she decorated the board with nothing else.
The three turned around to walk out of the room. Wang Yueyue left to attend to her business, while Luo Mingzhu dragged Mo Xuetong to a nearby pavilion.
Making sure there was no one around, Luo Mingzhu lowered her voice to say, “Cousin Tong, is your elder sister really marrying Sima Lingyun of Duke Zhenguo’s manor?”
Mo Xuetong smiled back in doubt. “She might be. Where did Second Cousin hear the news?” It was kind of a secret. After all, it was a scandal and the palace had reminded people inside to keep it low-key.
Seeing Mo Xuetong at a loss, Luo Mingzhu burst into a laugh. “You can’t hide this kind of thing. People in Duke Zhenguo’s manor are all talking about it. And Sima Lingyun has already been released. How couldn’t we find out? Something in the palace is well hidden, but they do leave traces. And, the palace won’t pay too much attention to this kind of affair, covering up the most of it will do.”
In other words, the Empress didn’t forbid aristocratic families from spreading this kind of matter.
Indeed, they all knew Duke Zhenguo’s manor fell. Among the noble and exalted families, with such a reputation, even if Sima Lingyun took up a post in the court, he could only land some nominal position. His legal wife was a concubine’s daughter. Moreover, she had tainted her reputation. In that way, he couldn’t even socialize through his wife’s connections.
A concubine’s daughter with a blemished reputation married the man she had an affair with. Even if the two loved each other, people would despise them. Additionally, their relationship was revealed on the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet. If the people in the palace took it seriously, they could have punished the couple. Now, in this way, it could be said that the Empress had helped Duke Zhenguo’s manor and Mo Manor save face and suppress the ugly incident.
Nevertheless, they couldn’t stop people from gossiping about it.
Luo Mingzhu lowered her voice and pointed at Fifth Princess nearby with a solomen face. “Cousin Tong, keep an eye on Fifth Princess.”
Mo Xuetong was dazed, not because of the name Fifth Princess, but because she didn’t expect Fifth Princess had made the entire city know she was envious of every woman around Bai Yihao. Furthermore, if she carefully looked into their relationship, she didn’t think there was anything romantic between them.
Luo Mingzhu held Mo Xuetong’s hand and looked at her two maids. “Do you remember when that elder sister of yours came to the palace to attend the flower-appreciating party?” Her two personal maids understood her. One walked out to the exit of the corridor, and the other stood by the pavilion.
Seeing Luo Mingzhu being so alert, Mo Xuetong was startled, and Mo Ye also returned to stand by the pavilion.
Luo Mingzhu drew near to Mo Xuetong’s ears and whispered. “Do you know what happened in the palace back then?” Looking from afar, people could only see them two merrily talking to each other.
Mo Xuetong frowned while pondering. Something crossed her mind but she failed to catch them. “They said my elder sister made an appointment with King Chu through secret letters. Fifth Princess found out about them and Mo Jin took the blame. And my elder sister was sent out of the palace.”
Luo Mingzhu twisted the handkerchief and said, hinting at something else. “King Chu is careful and different from Fifth Princess. How could Fifth Princess have caught him? In a situation like this, you can either say your elder sister seduced King Chu, or you can say King Chu was having an affair with your sister. With his personality, how could King Chu be caught by Fifth Princess and thus be criticized by people?”
King Chu, Feng Yuxuan, was never a simple person. Compared to him, Fifth Princess was much less experienced in scheming. Except for Feng Yuran, now it was just the time for the two princes to fight for Emperor Zongwen’s favor. How could Feng Yuxuan let others know his secret meeting with Mo Xuemin at such a time? If he didn’t want to be discovered, he could hide it in a million ways.
For example, he could send people to destroy the letter and have Mo Xuemin scolded. Why did he have to spread it in the entire palace? What good would that do to him? It would only annoy Emperor Zongwen, because a prince should be so casual, which wasn’t decent at all. Furthermore, judging from the situation on that day, Feng Yuxuan didn’t really love Mo Xuemin.
Suddenly, something occurred to her. Mo Xuetong blinked her watery eyes and somewhat doubtfully asked, “Did King Chu… want to get exposed or…” Before finishing, Mo Xuetong denied the idea. Though she hadn’t met with him often, she could tell that he must treasure a good reputation very much.
He was said to be elegant, well-mannered, and respect the wise and scholarly. How could he taint his reputation for Mo Xuemin? Mo Xuetong involuntarily twitched her mouth; a trace of surprise flashed through her watery eyes.
Noticing Mo Xuetong’s surprised eyes, Luo Mingzhu knew that Mo Xuetong had realized, so Luo Mingzhu lowered her voice even more. “That first miss in your manor isn’t simple. You need to watch out. Even if she marries Sima Lingyun, she won’t give up. If she gets involved with King Chu… you know, you’d better marry her to someone soon.”
Mo Xuetong fell silent. In quite a while, she collected herself and asked, “Where’s Mo Jin?”
Since they only told a half-truth at that time, Mo Jin should still be here. She heard that Mo Xuemin was granted marriage to Sima Lingyun mostly because of the sachet she left in Repayment Temple. Mo Xuetong knew that sachet. Afterward, Mo Jin collected the sachet and then it appeared on the Empress’s desk.
Luo Mingzhu shook her head. She didn’t really know if a maid was dead or alive. Back then, no one would have noticed that. “I don’t know! They only said when Fifth Princess was lured there, your elder sister’s letter was just found. Though it was tossed aside, King Chu seemed to have read it. And they said King Chu was about to go out at that time…”
King Chu, Feng Yuxuan, didn’t fancy Mo Xuemin. Mo Xuetong could tell that in the flower-appreciating gathering. However, why would King Chu want to meet with Mo Xuemin? Who lured Fifth Princess there? What on earth happened in the palace? Why hadn’t any news spread after so long?
Mo Xuetong felt she was at her wit’s end. Since the noble King Chu, Feng Yuxuan, didn’t fancy Mo Xuemin, why did he see her? If Mo Jin, who was taken away back then, was already dead, then why did Mo Xuemin’s sachet reappear on Empress’s desk? All of the mysteries were extremely complicated and difficult to unravel. She couldn’t crack them and feel like running out of her wit.
Luo Mingzhu stared at Mo Xuetong with her bright eyes and lowered her voice again. “I heard a Fifth Princess’s main maid is close to your elder sister. You need to watch out. Last time, your sister got to appreciate flowers in the palace because the maid put in a good word before Her Highness.”
Mo Xuetong suppressed her anxiety and regained a calm face. “What about last time in Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet?”
Luo Mingzhu answered, “I don’t really know about the thing in Her Majesty’s birthday banquet, but Fifth Princess seems involved. I heard Fifth Princess likes your elder sister. Have your eyes on your sister while you’re at home. Don’t let her make trouble again in case you take the blame for her before Fifth Princess.”
Mo Xuetong realized she was referring to the incident in front of the school that day. Mo Xuetong knew Luo Mingzhu was worrying for her, so Mo Xuetong then smiled and nodded!
