Emperor Zongwen comforted the Empress Dowager. Then, seeing the imperial physicians sent medicine over, he personally fed the Empress Dowager. He left after the Empress Dowager nagged at him to. The Empress stayed behind to serve the Empress Dowager medicine.
“Zhu’er, go back and rest as well. Your health is not so good either, don’t fall sick again.” The Empress Dowager looked slightly better after taking the medicine. Her brows relaxed and she patted the Princess Royal’s hand benevolently.
The Princess Royal Mingzhu’s illness relapses from time to time. She seemed slightly thinner than usual. She had rushed into the palace early in the morning and the bruises under her eyes could not be hidden even with the thickest powder she put on her face. The worry in her eyes was obvious and it was certain that she was truly worried about the Empress Dowager’s illness. She was just a princess without any power and her interests did not conflict with anyone else’s. As such, she was treated well.
She had grown up under the care of the Empress Dowager. After the Empress Dowager’s biological daughter, Princess Royal Yunruo was married off to the Yan Kingdom, the Empress Dowager lived alone and the Princess Royal Mingzhu was rather close to her. When she heard that the Empress Dowager was gravely ill, she did not even care about herself before she hurried into the palace. When she saw that the Empress Dowager was fine, she relaxed and felt cold all over.
“Mother, I am fine. I am just worried about your health, so I was in a hurry when I came here. I must have been too anxious.” The Princess Royal’s face was pale, comparable to how the Empress Dowager had looked earlier. She sighed and tried to smile.
“Princess Royal, you’d best return. I will take care of Mother lest you fall ill when Mother recovers. His Majesty will blame me for it then. There are truly many things happening in the palace lately and everyone is feeling anxious.” The Empress smiled and said warmly to the Princess Royal.
It did not sound nice at all, as if all that happened in the palace had been done intentionally. Of course, what happened in Cining Palace today was just a show as well.
Duchess Ding lowered her head silently, pretending that she did not exist.
One of them was her husband’s younger sister, the Empress. The other was her husband’s aunt, the Empress Dowager.
She could not offend any one of them.
“It is hard on you. If I get better, I will go to Buddha and ask him to protect the Qin Kingdom.” The Empress Dowager smiled warmly, touching the Buddhist beads by her pillow. The Princess Royal reached out to pluck out the beads with familiarity and passed them to the Empress Dowager.
“If the Empress Dowager does get better, it would be worth it even if my life is shortened. I will go with you to pray to Buddha.” The Empress smiled looking like a filial daughter. The atmosphere in Cining Palace was harmonious as if they had all forgotten that the lead eunuch of Cining Palace was being flogged right outside.
Meanwhile, Duke Zhenguo’s Manor was in chaos!
Yesterday, Sima Lingyun returned to find that not only Yun Yiqiu was poisoned, but Duchess Zhenguo and his younger sister were also both unconscious.
When he had the matter investigated, he realized that the three of them had eaten mushrooms with stewed chicken.
When he checked carefully, he realized that Mo Xuemin, who had never sent anyone to the kitchens, had sent her personal maidservant for soup on the day of the incident.
After what happened on their wedding night, Mo Xuemin, his legal wife, had been forced to beg his concubine for forgiveness. One would only need to think to realize what sort of status Mo Xuemin had in Duke Zhenguo’s Manor. Nobody cared about the Marquess’ new wife, and she was not even treated as an ordinary maid. She lived far away in an out-of-the-way spot. The food the kitchen sent her was cold.
However, Mo Xuemin had never gone to the kitchen to say anything.
Early this morning, Mo Xuemin’s personal maid, Qiu Qiao, had gone to the kitchen to ask for hot soup.
Because it was too early, there were not too many people in the kitchen. This was the time fresh ingredients were sent to the manor. Most of the servants had gone to fetch the ingredients and the mushroom stew was on the stove.
Duchess Zhenguo was from the south and loved such small mushrooms. Yun Yiqiu and Sima Heyan both enjoyed the same food. The dish was made for the three of them. Everyone in the manor knew because they were very careful when they made it. Even though most people had gone to work, they left a little maid to watch the dish.
Qiu Qiao entered then and got the little maid to make soup. The maid ignored her and was slapped forcefully by Qiu Qiao. The two bickered and then Qiu Qiao left angrily. After that, everything happened as normal and nothing extraordinary happened. However, something major happened.
“Marquess, these are the usual maids, and they are still working here. We know that Madam, Miss, and Auntie are eating this, so the servants did not dare to make any mistakes and poison the dish no matter how gutsy we are. We would not dare to harm our masters.” The old servant who was in charge of the kitchen screamed and knelt before Sima Lingyun. Her sobs were startlingly loud.
Now that the three female mistresses of the manor had taken ill, it was not something a small kitchen manager like her could take responsibility for.
Mo Xuemin! The veins on Sima Lingyun’s face twitched. There was no other doubt. Mo Xuemin must have done this.
It was not the first time that he had dealt with Mo Xuemin. He knew how vicious she could be. However, he did not realize it when they were working together to deal with Mo Xuetong. He only thought that she was very intelligent. She was now pointing the gun at him, and that was when he realized that she was extremely vicious.
No wonder she wanted to go to light incense with her younger sisters. She wanted to evade responsibility.
“Men, go to the Repayment Temple and ask Madam to return.” He gritted his teeth and said fiercely as he picked up a porcelain cup beside his hand and threw it onto the ground.
Did Mo Xuemin think that he would not be able to do anything to her since she was at the Mo Manor!
He had not even sent anyone out yet when a little servant suddenly ran in. He yelled as he ran in, saying, “Your Excellency, Your Excellency, go and take a look. Madam is back.”
She’s back. Mo Xuemin dared to return. Sima Lingyun said furiously, “Why aren’t you letting her in since she’s back? Do you want me to go and pick her up?”
“No, Your Excellency, Madam, Madam was sent back. She is outside the manor.” The little servant stuttered a little unclearly in his anxiousness. He pointed outside the door while he wiped off his sweat. He was so anxious he was jumping up and down.
How could he not be anxious? There were many people surrounding Duke Zhenguo’s Manor, watching the show.
“Your Excellency, you’d best take a look!” The little servant pointed outside and said nervously, “Madam and a man… there are many people watching.”
Mo Xuemin and a man were making a show outside his home, and there were people watching!
The veins on Sima Lingyun’s forehead throbbed and anger soared through him. He ran out, kicking aside the little servant as he said sharply, “Move!”
Duke Zhenguo’s Manor had become the butt of jokes again and again. The officialdom that was before his eyes moved further and further away. How could he not be mad?!
There were many people surrounding the empty Duke Zhenguo’s Manor. They were all here for the show.
There were two people who were tied up outside the doors. Their clothes were thin and tousled clothing revealed the inner bellyband. The two were tied up with a red rope tightly. The woman was a beauty and her hands were tied tightly behind the man’s back. The man was rather good-looking as well. His one hand was on the woman’s bellyband and his other around the woman’s slender waist.
No matter how the people looked at it, they found that the two looked like an adulterous pair caught in the bed.
They looked flustered when they saw so many people and they tried to escape their bindings. However, when they did that, the pitiful clothing that they wore almost fell off. The man’s hand was still on the woman’s chest. When he moved forcefully, her bellyband which hung off her neck, shook and was about to fall. The woman was so frightened she could not help but scream and she leaned into the man subconsciously.
“Is that the Marquess’ wife? What is she up to now?” The crowd standing outside pointed at them. Someone had already guessed that the woman whose clothes were in disarray was the famous wife of the Marquess Zhenguo from the startled yells of the guards.
“She can’t take it just after three days of marriage. This Marquess’ wife is really unique. Could it be that Marquess Zhenguo cannot satisfy her? It’s just been three days…” Someone said lecherously. They looked at Mo Xuemin as if they had wanted to pierce a hole through her with their eyes.
Mo Xuemin wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground. While she was usually vicious and ruthless, she was still a young lady and had never been so ashamed. She was not only hugging a man with her clothes in disarray, but the man’s hand was also on her chest. He was pressed against her in public. She was so ashamed she wanted to die.
She did not even know what happened.
Mo Xuetong fell off the carriage and the carriage hit a tree and toppled over on the cliff. She had not even celebrated that Mo Xuetong was finally dead while she was still alive when she hit her head against the horse carriage and lost consciousness. When she woke up, she was in this state. Furthermore, the words on the manor clearly read that it was Duke Zhenguo’s Manor.
She had been sent back to Duke Zhenguo’s Manor! How could she not be anxious!
She had thought that she would never return to Duke Zhenguo’s Manor again. To vent her frustrations, Mo Xuemin had gotten her maid to create trouble in the kitchens. She had put poison in the Duchess’ favorite mushrooms stewed chicken. She was going to poison the three sluts. Even if someone were to discover the matter later, Sima Lingyun would not be able to do anything if he couldn’t find her!
As long as she changed her identity, she could become Marquess Mingguo’s concubine. So what if Sima Lingyun recognized her in the future? Would the insignificant Duke Zhenguo dare to fight Duke Mingguo?!
Yet, her plans would never be able to catch up with how quickly things changed. What was happening? Why was she in front of Duke Zhenguo’s Manor again? Mo Xuemin was ashamed and angry, then, she felt frightened, nervous, and fearful. She was very afraid when she thought of what Sima Lingyun would do when he found her. She wanted to flee.
Before she could think of a plan, the doors of Duke Zhenguo’s Manor opened with a clang.
…
Sima Lingyun appeared at the entrance with a furious look. His vision turned red when he saw the scene before him. He glared at Mo Xuemin, his eyes were colder than ice. If he had a sword right now, Sima Lingyun would definitely stab Mo Xuemin with it. To him, Mo Xuemin poisoning his family was a small matter. The scene before him had thrown the entire Duke’s Manor into the deep end. After this, Duke Zhenguo’s Manor would be too embarrassed to even meet other people.
Mo Xuemin was such a slut who could sleep with anyone!
He hated Mo Xuemin to death. He felt that she was not only vicious and ruthless but also a wanton slut.
“Brother Sima, Brother Sima, save me, save me!” Mo Xuemin had not said anything when the man suddenly yelled urgently as he struggled to run towards Sima Lingyun.
There was a furor and everyone appeared shocked. The adulterer knew Sima Lingyun. Was the man stealing from his friends, pawing at his friend’s women? More and more people came to watch them and they surrounded the three. This was the most interesting gossip of the year. Marquess Zhenguo’s wife committed adultery with her husband’s friend!
