Politics underwent a large change following that. First, Emperor Zongwen was incensed and immediately sent someone from the inner court to investigate the matter between the two factions. Then, he immediately got rid of the most powerful figures. They were either all killed along with their families or banished from the country. Some were demoted or fired. A large number of positions became empty in court.
The inner cabinet was directly affected by Emperor Zongwen’s ire. They were all fearful and afraid that they would cause even greater trouble should they make the slightest mistake. The three adult princes were all in trouble, especially Emperor Zongwen’s favored son, the eighth prince, King Xuan. He still had not awakened.
Emperor Zongwen unleashed his frustrations and anger on his officials.
King Yan was affected as well. He knelt in the great hall and was harshly berated. He did not even know how a maid in his inner courtyard had died and dared to drink with others. The next time he got that drunk, someone might cut his head off!
King Yan felt that he had been scolded for no reason but did not dare to complain. He knelt in the hall and then was ordered to go home and study. This meant that he could not go anywhere and had to stay at home. If he was to go anywhere and make trouble again, the consequence would not be as simple as this.
King Yan was just collateral damage in this incident.
A huge reversal occurred in court and one could not tell whether Emperor Zongwen was supporting King Yan or King Chu. More and more people stopped to watch.
The trouble out there, however, had nothing much to do with the Mo Manor. Xu Yan finally married into the Mo Manor!
The wedding was very successful. Other than Mo Yufeng behaving like a mad man after drinking too much and saying something, nothing else happened.
Mo Xuetong handed over the household matters to Xu Yan on her second day of marriage. Mo Xuetong could relax and do what an unmarried young woman should do. The matters of the household would have to be handed over to Xu Yan in the end. Even though Xu Yan might not say much right now if Mo Xuetong took charge, it was not right as time passed.
Mo Huawen had already portioned out her mother’s dowry for Mo Xuetong. This was her portion and she would manage it herself. After the new year, she would manage that portion. When it finally reached her hands, she realized how great her mother’s dowry was. She had to admit that she had been weak in her past life and there was a reason why Auntie Fang and her daughter had plotted against her.
On the surface, the villages and lands were not shocking. It befitted her mother’s status as the legal daughter of the Fu General’s Manor. It was also said that Fu General Manor doted on their only legal daughter. However, when she looked at the situation carefully, Mo Xuetong realized that there were quite a few mysteries surrounding her mother’s dowry.
For example, there were 10,000 acres of land in her mother’s dowry. This was not especially high amongst noble ladies. However, if these 20,000 acres of land included ten villages and some of them had hot springs, the significance changed completely. These sorts of holiday villages took up several hundred acres. What was rare was there were hot springs, they were near mountains and waters. They were all very valuable.
However, this was just one part of the dowry. All of these exceptional dowries all meant that her mother’s dowry was very generous. It surpassed its surface value. Did her grandparents know her mother’s identity or did her maternal grandmother prepare this for her mother?
Mo Xuetong could not guess what the truth was. However, when she thought of her past life and how she did not even have silver to give to the servants and had to sell some of her jewelry to maintain the Duke Zhenguo’s Manor, she knew that Auntie Fang had swapped out her dowry.
Those villages had disappeared without her knowing. Now that she thought about it, she was really stupid. She believed when Auntie Fang had said that the lands were a little far, and took her suggestion to sell those and buy new ones. She had thinned out her generous dowry and then, Mo Xuemin had taken away a large chunk of it.
In the end, what was left behind could not even support her. She had never thought how much Auntie Fang had taken from her. She only realized in this life that while she had so much wealth, she had no power to protect it. How could she not have ended up so pathetic in her past life?
Life settled down after Xu Yan married into the Mo Manor. She visited Xu Yan every morning to pay her respects. Then, she would stay in Yanyu House to chat with her before returning to Qingwei Garden to have lunch. After that, she would rest a little. No matter how great the trouble brewing outside was, it did not affect the Mo Manor much.
Mo Xuetong loved those days. However, she did not expect the peaceful days to pass by just like that.
In the morning, the Fu General Manor sent someone to pick Mo Xuetong up. They said that the Old Madam had fallen ill last night and was making a fuss about seeing her granddaughter.
Mo Xuetong immediately got onto the horse carriage and went to the Fu General Manor. However, it was not her grandmother who was waiting for her in her grandmother’s room, but her second uncle.
“Second Uncle, what happened?” Mo Xuetong’s heart skipped a beat and she asked anxiously when she saw Luo Bin’s expression. She thought of how her grandmother was getting old. Did something… Her hands shook slightly.
“There’s nothing wrong with your grandmother, she just caught a cold. She just took her medicine and went to bed.” Luo Bing frowned. His expression was grave as he looked at Mo Xuetong with his deep dark eyes. He pointed at the room to their right and said, “Tong’er, let’s speak there.”
He wanted to avoid others! Her second uncle had tried to stop others from watching them and used her grandmother’s name to get her here. There must be something going on, and it was something that he could not speak with others. Mo Xuetong suddenly thought of her mother’s background and her eyes darkened. She followed Luo Bin into the room at right.
The room on the right was not large. Mo Xuetong followed Luo Bin into it. She sat down on a chair while Luo Bin sat near the window. Sunlight streamed through the window and fell upon him. It cast a shadow on his face, making it hard to see his expression. His gaze landed on Mo Xuetong and there seemed to be something in his look.
“Tong’er, the betrothal your mother made for you…” He said with some difficulty as if he had not known what to say. Then, he reached out to touch his head, creases appearing on his forehead.
“Second Uncle, you are talking about the family that sent me the engagement bangle. Nanny Ming said that that we are not in contact with that family, I don’t think they will reach out to us again.” Mo Xuetong had an idea of what would happen. After she mentioned the engagement, she spoke with her father in secret and knew that her father knew something about it.
However, her mother had told her father not to worry about it. The marriage would not happen!
This meant that other than the bangle that they sent, there was no other item that signified their betrothal. That family seemed to have just disappeared, so nobody paid any attention to them.
Mo Xuetong knew that that family had not appeared in her past life. She had been plotted against by Auntie Fang and her daughter in her past life and had no choice but to marry into the Duke Zhenguo’s Manor. If the family had really appeared, her life would have been different. However, what was in the past was in the past. Her mother had passed away long ago. Nobody could explain why she had agreed to such an odd betrothal, and nobody paid any attention to it.
“Tong’er, your mother set up this betrothal for you because she was afraid that you would be bullied after she died…” Luo Bin did not answer Mo Xuetong. He glanced at Mo Xuetong and a complicated emotion appeared in his eyes. His eyes shone with some unease and avoidance. However, if he was avoiding Mo Xuetong’s question, why did he bring it up then?
Mo Xuetong looked up with surprise. Was he explaining why her mother had set up this betrothal for her?
“Second Uncle, I am doing very well now. I have Grandmother, Uncle, and Father. They all love and dote on me.” Mo Xuetong’s smile was gentle. However, it also had a trace of coldness and dejection.
After her mother died, her past life had been terrible. But there was no one who pitied her. Did her mother’s plan go wrong or did that family not pay attention to the betrothal at all? Or perhaps her reputation then had been bad and they decided not to marry her? Or was it really for no reason at all…
Mo Xuetong did not wish to pursue the empty possibility. But in her past life, they had not taken care of her at all like her mother had hoped. Then in this life, even if that person was to appear, she felt that it had nothing to do with her at all. It no longer mattered whether her mother had placed her trust in the wrong people or not.
Most importantly, she did not want to have anything to do with that person who appeared out of nowhere and disappeared for no reason.
She would not allow what didn’t happen in her past life to happen in this life even if he was to appear!
That betrothal was just a mention. She doubted that anyone else would care about it other than her mother! Her mother had intentionally left that bangle for her. She had been thinking about that matter even on her deathbed. Was her mother serious about it?
“Tong’er, I asked you to come here especially not because of this matter. I cannot corroborate what happened then. Your mother only said that if someone comes to marry you with the bangle, that person would be the one! If no one comes, then the matter would be forgotten and your Father will be in charge of whoever you marry.” Luo Bin sighed and stood up. He walked up to a rack, picked out something and put it in front of Mo Xuetong.
“Tong’er, look at what this is.”
Mo Xuetong looked down at what Luo Bin brought out. It was a jade token the size of a person’s palm. There were patterns on it that made it look old. The jade was crystal-like and it almost looked as if there were water flowing in it. The jade looked moist and warm and it was obvious that it was a very high-quality jade.
“Second Uncle, what is this?” Mo Xuetong frowned and asked. She picked up the token and flipped it around in her hands. She realized that the same pattern appeared on the back as well. For some reason, she felt that the pattern was quite familiar but she did not know where she had ever seen it.
“Have you seen the pattern on this jade before?” Luo Bin did not answer her question but asked her one instead. He looked slightly nervous.
“Second Uncle, you must be kidding. Where would I have seen this sort of jade before? It looks like it’s from somewhere important. Where did you find it?” Mo Xuetong picked up the jade and glanced at it before looking at her second uncle in confusion.
“Tong’er, do you remember that pot of jade flowers that someone gave your eldest cousin?” A bitter smiled appeared on Luo Bin’s face.
That pot of Yuxiao Flower! Mo Xuetong suddenly remembered it. She heard that her cousin had sent the flower to the palace with an excuse. What happened!
“The odd flower bloomed with bright colors in the middle of winter. Of course, I remember it. Didn’t Eldest Cousin say that he sent it to the palace? What’s the matter?” Mo Xuetong asked curiously, her eyes flickering. While the Yuxiao Flower was amazing, she had looked over it several times and did not discover any relationship between the flower and the fall of her grandparent’s family.
How did Emperor Zongwen determine the Fu General Manor’s crime because of the flower in her past life?
In the noble and wealthy families, one wrong move could implicate an entire family. This was especially so for the Four Great Manors. Furthermore, while the Fu General Manor was powerful, it was not that powerful. If Emperor Zongwen could accept even the Ding General Manor and the other manors, why could he not accept her grandparent’s family?!
“This jade token was found in the pot of flowers.”
Mo Xuetong was stunned at what she heard. Coldness sprang forth from her heart and her head buzzed. Her face paled and a terrifying answer appeared in her heart. Her fingers, which were holding the jade token, relaxed. The jade token fell onto the table with a crisp thunk.
