But Mo Xuetong always felt that it wouldn’t be that simple. In the first several years after Consort Zhao entered the palace, Consort Xian was favored. Consort Zhao was like a shadow around Consort Xian and looking after her. At that time, the He family could not get any benefit from her. Then Consort Xian passed away, and Consort Zhao was “protected” and favored.
During this period of time, even if Consort Zhao had connections with the outside world, it was secret. Therefore, it was impossible for her to speak well of the He family in the face of the Emperor. This time, as soon as the Mingyue Palace was open and Consort Zhao showed up in front of everybody, the He family hurriedly contacted her and even collaborated with Lian An.
Considering that they had not met for 10 years, and Consort Zhao had never brought any benefit to the He family since entering the palace, why did the He family think that Consort Zhao would definitely help them? Even if she was a member of the family, they had not been in contact for so many years. The family should not trust her when they met again. Besides, Mo Xuetong silently looked at the whole process of their contact.
Only one word could describe it—”fast!”
As if they didn’t need a run-in period, they hit it off.
Mo Xuetong had now confirmed that He Yufen had been able to successfully link up with Yu Mingyong, there was bound to have something to do with Lian An. It showed that as early as the He family came to the capital, Consort Zhao and the He family had joined forces, and at that time Consort Zhao’s Mingyue Palace hadn’t been opened.
On the one hand, it showed that Consort Zhao was powerful; on the other hand, it also showed that there was a relationship or interest relationship between the He family and Consort Zhao that made them trust each other more than blood relations. Yet Mo Xuetong keenly felt that their relationship was closer than that of ordinary interests.
The He family was obviously not of much use to Consort Zhao on the profit side, and Lian An was the one who was useful to her.
Of course, these were just Mo Xuetong’s conjectures. She needed to explore more deeply in order to know the things between the He family, Consort Zhao and Consort Xian. Thus, she had to make the He family and Consort Zhao fall out when appropriate. The destruction of their close relationship was of greater benefit to Mo Xuetong.
Besides, Mo Xuetong always felt that the woman living in the Peony Garden was similar to them.
This was really weird! How could the most popular courtesan of a brothel, who had nothing to do with the He family, have something to do with Consort Xian who had been in the palace for more than 10 years?!
Suddenly, Mo Lan lifted the curtain, came in and reported what Feng Yuran wanted to tell Mo Xuetong. “My Lady, His Highness said, he would sleep in the Jinwei Pavilion tonight, and you don’t have to wait for him, and if you are bored in the yard, you can hang out, see the fun, but you have to go out with Mo Feng. This time around it’s unsafe on the street.”
“Okay, got it.” Mo Xuetong nodded. Feng Yuran had told her last night. He would pretend to be frightened these days and live alone in the Jinwei Pavilion. He had asked the guards to defend the Jinwei Pavilion tightly, as if he was afraid of the assassin’s coming again. Only Mo Xuetong knew that most of the time Feng Yuran was not in the Jinwei Pavilion where was particularly strictly guarded.
The report meant that Feng Yuran told Mo Xuetong he would be out this night.
“Why is it unsafe on the street this time around?” Mo Xuetong’s attention turned to the other direction. Feng Yuran said that she could go out to see fun while telling her to be careful. Her curiosity was aroused.
“My Lady, you must have forgotten, the examination is coming soon. All the scholars in the country will gather to capital recently. Most of the people here really come for the examination, but some have other purposes. So there are bad as well as good people in the group. His Highness must be worried that someone offends you, so he told you these words,” Mo Lan explained with a smile.
The most talked about in the capital recently was the triennial examination. Once a man was successful in it, he would be the Emperor’s student. Who would not envy the Number One Scholar?
Mo Xuetong had a sudden thought and pondered before she said to Mo Lan, “It happened that we were free this morning. Let’s go out and have a look.”
Worried about Mo Xuetong’s health, Mo Lan persuaded, “My Lady, you are not well yet. You should not go out. I heard that the number of people on the street has increased several times in the past few days. We’d better not go out.”
“It’s okay. I have Mo Ye and Mo Feng! Besides, most of the scholars who come for the exam are studying behind closed doors. Few of them will hang out outside.” Mo Xuetong stood up disapprovingly and sat before the makeup mirror.
Although Mo Xuetong smiled softly, she was determined. Mo Lan had no choice but to walk to the dressing table and pick up the comb to comb Mo Xuetong’s long hair.
At the same time, Mo Yu went to prepare drapes and clothes for going out.
Mo Ye went to the outer yard to find Mo Feng.
Mo Xuetong lived in the inner courtyard of King Xuan’s Manor, so no one would hurt her. Moreover, it was inconvenient for Mo Feng who was a man to be around her. Mo Xuetong asked him to stay in the outer courtyard. When she needed him, she would order Mo Ye to find him.
With people coming and going, the street was a bit noisier than before. Mo Xuetong sat in the carriage and gently lifted the curtain to look outside. Some people on the street were distinctly non-locals, including young scholars, beautiful ladies, and servants who were bargaining with the hawkers.
Mo Xuetong didn’t use Feng Yuran’s ultra-luxury carriage, but only found an ordinary one. Although it was not gorgeous, the inside was spacious and comfortable. She and several maids in the carriage, straight to the capital’s most prosperous road.
Her birthday was only a few days away, so she had to prepare some necessary things. Now that she was free today, she came out to take a look.
Mo Xuetong had no intention of taking it seriously, but both her grandmother and her father said they would have a good birthday for her. Mo Xuetong knew that they wanted to compensate for her. Her previous two birthdays were spent in the Qin family. And they were cheerless, and only Mother Xu made a bowl of longevity noodles.
There were lively hotels on the busiest street.
When scholars came to the capital to take the exam, this kind of hotel was the liveliest because they could discuss papers, meet friends, and maybe make friends here. In a few days, these people would be on the same list soon. The relationship between friends made before they succeeded in the exam was deeper than those made after it.
In a large private room on the second floor sat a young man in a cyan robe. Maybe because the exam was coming and he was too hard at study, he appeared sick—his face was too pale, making his lips bloodred. With a careful look, one would found that he looked handsome, but he still looked sick and weak. At first glance, one would know that he was in poor health.
His eyes penetrated the high curtain, and fell upon a clothing store opposite the hotel.
It was a woman’s clothing store. A carriage was parked at the door, and a pretty maidservant was helping a graceful woman get out of the carriage. Although he could not see her face clearly, he could still see her excellent figure. It should be a peerless beauty. The young man just watched them casually.
However, when he saw the pretty maidservant’s face, he suddenly slammed down the blue and white porcelain teacup in his hand, and a bit of amazement flashed across his calm eyes. Then he got excited, and he stood up, pressing the table and seemed to leave.
At the moment, someone lightly knocked on the door of the private room.
The young man paused and sat down again, answering, “Come in.”
A manservant-looking person walked in and respectfully said, “Sir, Mr. Qin has come, and he is downstairs.”
It turned out that the person he had an appointment with had arrived. It seemed that he could not leave now. Looking out of the window, he saw several maidservants surrounding the woman into the store opposite, and the carriage stopping to the side of the road. They were not leaving for a while.
“Go there and ask whether it is the Mo Manor’s carriage, and whether it is Third Young Miss Mo who just got out of the carriage.”
Pointing out of the window, the young man said to the manservant.
Third Young Miss Mo? The manservant was confused. He blinked his eyes and didn’t understand what the man said. His master was always indifferent to women. Although there were many women in his manor, there was never a woman who could get the master’s attention, let alone be mentioned by him. Who was Third Young Miss Mo?
“You don’t have to ask more. Go and ask.” As the manservant didn’t speak for a while, the young man’s face darkened. He was a little unhappy.
“Yes, the minions will go on.” Seeing that his master was displeased, and the eyes grew cold, the manservant shuddered. He didn’t dare to say anything at all, and instead turned out of the private room. Then he saw a handsome young man who came up led by the waiter. He stood on one side saluted him, and hurried down the stairs.
Since the master cared about Third Young Miss Mo, the girl must be of use to him. The manservant recognized his master with all his heart, so he would do whatever the master told him to do.
Qin Yufeng walked into the private room, and the sick young man had stood up. At the sight of Qin Yufeng coming in, he smiled and cupping his hands, saying, “Brother Qin, please.”
“Please, Brother Xiang.” Qin Yufeng also raised his hand as a courtesy.
The two of them sat down together.
“Brother Xiang, have you brought that book?” Qin Yufeng asked with a smile.
Xiang Xieyue smiled slightly, took a seemingly broken book from an old box on the chair beside him. He placed it on the table, pushed it to Qin Yufeng, and asked suspiciously, “Brother Qin, what do you want this book for? It’s all about weird things that shouldn’t be true.”
Qin Yufeng took the book and flipped it slightly, with an expression of joy on his face. Then he closed the book and laughed at himself, replying, “Nothing. I just like to read these mystery stories. Just for relaxation. The exam is coming, and sometimes I feel very stressed. Forgive me.”
“I heard you are a knowledgeable, gifted scholar, Brother Qin. Are you also nervous?” Xiang Xieyue asked curiously.
Qin Yufeng was a well-known gifted scholar in the capital. Three years ago, he was famous in the capital with a gorgeous poem. At that time, everyone thought he would take the exam, and succeed. However, he didn’t want it then, and he didn’t even try.
Many people felt sorry for it.
If he took the exam three years later, he should be more confident than he was three years ago!
“How could I not be nervous? Actually, Brother Xiang, although you are not well-known, you’re a talent. I admire you,” Qin Yufeng said politely.
They met in front of a famous building, where Qin Yufeng had been to many times, just to hang out. Surprisingly, the man in front of him was reciting a poem based on the scene, the poem was a famous, eternal work. Qin Yufeng was excited and wanted to know the talent who recited the poem.
Turning around the building, he found that it was a thin and weak scholar.
The two of them chatted for a while, and felt like old friends. They actually liked each other. When they sat down and talked, they both thought that the other was a talent. Impressed by each other, they gave each other their names.
