Hearing Mo Xuetong’s words, no matter how much Mo Yarui wanted to argue, she immediately gave up. Anyway, she was King Chu’s second consort. She could not stop an unmarried young lady and ask for money. Furthermore, Mo Xuetong seemed to have no intention of helping her. She could only nod. “It’s all up to Consort Xuan.”
“Second Consort Mo, you’re wrong. This is a matter of King Chu’s Manor. I’m the first consort of a different manor. How can I make the decision? Second Consort Mo, you’d better take care of it yourself,” Mo Xuetong refused with a smile. As Consort Xuan, she should not care too much about the matters of King Chu’s Manor. The matter that happened in the palace had not been settled yet. Even though there was no rumor about it, what if there were more rumors about it now!
“Yes, I’m in charge. I lost my mind just now.” Mo Yarui immediately understood what Mo Xuetong meant and knew that what she said earlier was inappropriate. She hurriedly apologized.
Mo Xuetong smiled and shook her head, indicating that she did not have to be so polite.
Mo Yarui turned her head, restrained the anger in her eyes, and said with a smile, “Since you didn’t take enough money today, please send it to King Chu’s Manor tomorrow. Somebody, take this old woman away and clear the embroidery. Don’t neglect this distinguished guest.” She displayed her noble manner, which made the young lady opposite her look more arrogant and unreasonable.
The lady did not seem to have expected Mo Yarui to let her go so easily. She was stunned, but then, she was overjoyed. She did not really want to offend King Chu, Feng Yuxuan. She said those words because she just had a loose tongue, and could not afford to embarrass herself. Now that Mo Yarui was very gracious, she certainly nodded.
“Okay, that’s it.” Pointing to the maidservant in yellow by the side, she proudly said, “Go and settle the account, so that they will not think that we are greedy for such a few taels of silver.”
What she said was so sharp that Mo Yarui’s face darkened. She forced down the anger in her eyes, and not wanting to say anything else to her, she left with Mo Xuetong.
Mo Yarui was still in charge of the affairs of King Chu’s Manor, so she left first. It was rare for Mo Xuetong to come out, so she was not in such a hurry to go back. Thinking for a while, she asked the coachman to drive to the bookstore. She was reading a medical book these days, but there were some points that she couldn’t figure out. She wanted to find some similar books and comprehended it as an analogy.
The carriage stopped in front of the bookstore, and Mo Xuetong got off. Before she steadied herself, she saw Mo Yu before who was in front of her startled. The maid pointed at a figure not far away and yelled in a low voice, “Miss… My Lady…”
“What’s wrong?” Mo Lan patted her shoulder and followed the direction where her eyes were looking. But she only saw people coming and going and did not notice anything odd. She turned around and asked Mo Yu curiously, “What did you see?”
Mo Yu’s face was slightly pale. She blinked and looked ahead. The familiar figure had disappeared and she muttered to herself, “It’s impossible, impossible. I made a mistake. I made a mistake!” It could not be her. How could it be her? How could she appear before her perfectly?
She must be wrong. Absolutely!
“No… nothing!” Hearing Mo Lan’s question, Mo Yu did not dare to speak nonsense because she did not see clearly earlier. She hurriedly put on a smile on her face and replied, “I thought I saw an acquaintance. I did not expect that I was wrong.”
“Even the wrong person startled you. Are you seeing a ghost?” Mo Lan teased. Then she lifted her dress and followed Mo Xuetong into the store. As a few maidservants getting off the carriage, and they were all well-dressed, the shop assistant knew that they were from a wealthy family. He came at once and served them respectfully.
Mo Xuetong entered the bookstore with Mo Lan and Mo Yu. Mo Ye also entered after telling something to the coachman.
The bookstore was rather big. There were two floors up and down. Mo Xuetong walked through the first floor and took her maidservants up the second. The books below were all ordinary while a few books on the second floor were of high quality. There were also books that were expensive but had no buyers.
Mo Xuetong found a few books and sat on a chair to flick through them. Her maidservants accompanied her, and when they saw that there were no other people, they also picked up the books by their side and started reading as well. Mo Xuetong’s maidservants were all able to read. When she was in the Qin Manor, Mo Xuetong had nowhere to go, and she taught her maidservants to read in the yard.
Mo Lan and Mo Yu were both studious and knew all the commonly used words. Although they could not read the complicated words, all the words they knew were enough for them to read books. Mo Ye had been a secret guard since she was a child, and thus she knew how to read and write. At the moment, the three maidservants gathered around Mo Xuetong, picked up their own books, and flipped through them casually.
A woman came into the bookstore from outside. Regardless of the shop assistant’s question, she went to a bookshelf. The bookshelf was full of articles by the top three talents of contemporary society. Wondering if the little woman could understand, the shop assistant shook his head. As she didn’t pay attention to him, he went to greet other guests.
The woman looked up and narrowed her eyes. She was standing right below Mo Xuetong. Through the cracks between the wooden floors, she could see clearly that Mo Xuetong’s face was so beautiful that it made people dizzy. She did not expect Mo Xuetong to be more beautiful after not seeing her for a few months.
As she looked at her stunning face, the woman’s eyes flashed with cold jealousy. She reached out to touch her face, and her eyes were full of hatred…
Mo Xuetong, who was seated upstairs, might have felt that someone was watching her as she looked up to her left. The woman downstairs hurriedly lowered her head and did not dare to peek at Mo Xuetong again. When she sensed that Mo Xuetong lowered her head in confusion, the woman looked at her viciously again. This time, she did not make any delay. She picked up a book by her side and hurried to the counter of the store. She paid the bill and held the book in her hand before leaving.
Mo Yu, who was standing upstairs, only saw a familiar back. She looked at it for a while and found nothing unusual, so she continued to read the book in her hand.
None of them noticed the abnormal behavior of the woman. Mo Ye sensitively saw the woman’s face but she did not notice anything unusual.
The woman walked into the crowd with a book in her hand. After a few steps, she stopped and hid behind a pillar. She looked at the handsome young man in front of her with obsession and pain in her eyes. If that matter had not happened, she would have married him. She was sure of it!
She thought all of her misfortunes were caused by that slut, Mo Xuetong. If she was not happy, she would not allow that slut to be happy either.
“Elder Brother.” Qin Yuxuan felt that someone was looking at him. He glanced left and right but did not find anyone. Then he did not care about it and urged anxiously, “Tell me where the painting is. Grandmother is searching through the boxes and cupboards now. She even called me over and scolded me just now.”
Thinking that he was scolded for no reason, Qin Yuxuan felt very wronged. He really didn’t do anything but just showed the painting to his elder brother. He didn’t understand how such a thing could happen. If he had known this, he wouldn’t have listened to his elder brother to secretly take out the painting.
“Tell Grandmother that you’ve damaged it and thrown it away.” Qin Yufeng walked forward slowly with his hands behind his back. There was a slight smile on his lips as he spoke lightly. His manservant walked behind him, holding an examination box. Qin Yuxuan was seeing his brother off.
Hearing Qin Yufeng’s irresponsible words, Qin Yuxuan jumped up on the spot and said hurriedly, “Elder Brother, how can you do this? Grandmother will break my legs.” When he escaped from the house in a hurry just now, he heard that his grandmother was looking for him in the whole manor. He had wanted Qin Yufeng to think of a solution before, but now he realized that he was really helpless because his elder brother was going to take the exam, which made him feel very embarrassed.
“It’s alright. Grandmother won’t do anything to you.” Hearing his words, Qin Yuxuan felt a little less worried. He thought about it and realized that it made sense. Could his grandmother really force him to death for a painting? However, Qin Yufeng’s next sentence had successfully frozen the smile on his face.
“She will break your legs at most.”
She would break his legs at most! The relieved smile on Qin Yuxuan’s face quickly turned to a bitter one. He looked at Qin Yufeng angrily and said, “Elder Brother, are you really going to take the imperial exam? Are you sure you can understand the examination paper, instead of not understand it? If my legs are broken, they will never recover.”
After saying that, Qin Yuxuan wanted to jump again. However, Qin Yufeng held his shoulders down, smiled lightly, and said, “If you think it’s inappropriate to break your legs, I have an idea.”
Qin Yuxuan was overjoyed to hear that. He looked at Qin Yufeng and said eagerly, “Then tell me quickly.” Wasn’t he here to get Qin Yufeng to think of a solution for him? Furthermore, this matter actually had nothing to do with him. Even though he had damaged many of his grandmother’s paintings since he was a child, this one was not damaged by him.
It seemed that the karma was really coming back to him.
“You can go to King Xuan’s Manor and ask Cousin Tong to help you think of a solution. Perhaps she has a good idea,” Qin Yufeng suggested with a casual smile. There was a hint of ridicule on his handsome face.
Qin Yuxuan flushed when he heard that. He had always considered himself as Mo Xuetong’s protector. How could he not feel embarrassed in his proud heart when he was asked to ask her for help? However, when he thought about it, he felt rather expectant. He had not seen Mo Xuetong since Mo Xuetong married into King Xuan’s Manor. He did not know how she was doing and if the lawless King Xuan had treated her well.
However, it was really unreasonable for him to visit her! Although the two families were relatives, they were not siblings. It was impolite for him to come to see her rashly.
“I heard that many things happened in the palace that day and has tried to do Cousin Tong wrong. You can go and ask her about it on behalf of Grandmother.” Qin Yufeng smiled and patted Qin Yuxuan’s shoulder. “If you don’t think it’s good to go alone, there’s still His Excellency of Luo Manor. I heard that the two of you are having a good time together.”
Luo Wenyou? Qin Yuxuan’s eyes lit up and he immediately had an idea. Then he was not in the mood to see Qin Yufeng off anymore. He stood at the intersection and said loudly to Qin Yufeng, “Elder Brother, I wish you to become the Number One Scholar this time. I can also benefit from you. I won’t send you off now since I still have something else to do.”
Then, without waiting for Qin Yufeng’s response, he ran off in another direction. The manservant behind him had no choice but to chase after him. What else could he say when he followed the frisky Second Young Master? “Just run!”
Qin Yufeng’s elegant gaze landed on a few people on the side of the road through Qin Yuxuan. One of them was dressed in luxurious clothes and smiled. He looked gentle and elegant, and it was King Chu, Feng Yuxuan. He had brought his men to see Qin Yufeng off personally, which meant that he tried to win him over. It was a pity that he had understood something and some things had changed.
He was no longer the man who had been devoted to building up establishment behind King Chu…
