“What a shameless woman! How dare she have an affair with another man?”
“This is the noble King Chu’s Manor. They are courting death.”
“I heard that the daughter of the Mo family is a gentle and virtuous girl. I didn’t expect her to be such a slut. Didn’t she claim that Consort Chu killed the child in her belly a few months ago? Perhaps it wasn’t King Chu’s child.”
“Consort Chu is a kind person. If that woman were in someone else’s family, she would have been beaten to death.” They brought forward the matter that Ling Rui’er had caused Mo Yarui to miscarry. Furthermore, everyone was on Ling Rui’er’s side. Hearing their conversation, Ling Rui’er was so smug that she almost could not remain the angry look on her face.
She killed three birds with one stone. Si Rong looked common but was very smart.
“After this incident, King Chu will definitely care more about me. Even the Emperor in the palace will feel that he was wrong and think highly of me. I’m going to get glory by taking advantage of the two sluts Mo Yarui and Mo Xuetong!”
Ling Rui’er was so proud of herself. However, she knew that she could not show anything at this moment. Her face was still pale and she looked mad. “Go and get His Highness here. Let him see for himself what’s going on. Also, ask His Highness King Xuan to come too and give King Chu’s Manor an explanation.”
“Yes, I’ll go right away.” A clever maidservant ran away.
Yesterday, King Chu worked in the study, and it was said that he had seen Mo Yarui’s cousin secretly left from the back door. With today’s evidence, Mo Yarui and Mo Xuetong couldn’t escape!
“Consort Chu, are you so sure that I have something to do with this?” Mo Xuetong faintly smiled and lightly asked Ling Rui’er whose face was livid with anger.
“Consort Xuan, can you give us any other explanation? You called away Mo Yarui and you also brought this man into the manor. Now they did such a thing. How can you explain it, Consort Xuan?” Ling Rui’er didn’t lose her temper but smiled when she saw how calm Mo Xuetong was.
“Something like that happened at your banquet in your manor. You caused a scandal for your manor, and you can’t stand to see how quiet our manor was and made such a thing in our manor. Consort Xuan, you are too selfish and scheming. This is King Chu’s Manor, the house of King Xuan’s eldest brother. You are just a sister-in-law. What do you want to do here to satisfy you?”
Ling Rui’er glared at Mo Xuetong and snapped in one breath.
The meaning of her words made all the madams think about it. A woman meddled in the affairs of her husband’s eldest brother’s manor. It was not a simple matter. Moreover, as a sister-in-law, she even intervened with the inner yard of King Chu’s Manor and deliberately messed up the inner yard. Was it because she couldn’t bear to see their peaceful life, or was there another reason behind it?
The madams looked at each other, but no one dared to say anything. They had better know less about such a royal scandal. Maybe someone would kill them. That matter had just happened in the palace, and such a scandal happened to King Chu’s Manor. Now that there was evidence to prove it, Consort Xuan would die this time.
Mo Xuetong knew that Ling Rui’er was determined to kill her when she saw how Ling Rui’er was pretending to be angry. Her smile grew even gentler as she said, “Consort Chu, are you trying to blame it all on me? Second Consort Mo wanted to see me, and I only told that I would go to her a while later. I rest beside the rockery. The madams have seen that man poking his head out, but did they see anything odd about me? As for sending the gifts yesterday, I only sent an older maidservant of our manor’s back yard to come. Why is there another man? Why are you trying to blame it all on me, Consort Chu? Could it be that the back yard of King Chu’s Manor is so loose that anyone can enter as they wish? Furthermore, taking advantage of the banquet, a man from outside came in and peeked at a female guest, but no one cared about it.”
“What if the man spies on an unmarried young lady and talks about it after he goes out?”
Mo Xuetong said the last sentence while looking at the older madams. The madams’ expressions changed when they heard that. They all had daughters. Since King Chu’s Manor had invited them this time, how could they not come? If their daughters were really seen by a stranger man and the man were to speak nonsense outside, it would ruin their daughter’s reputation. How could they not be nervous?
“Consort Xuan, you cry only when death is staring you in the face. Do you want to ask the eunuch of His Highness? I heard that they also saw a man sneaking away from the back door yesterday.” Ling Rui’er was so angry when Mo Xuetong had led the matter to the back yard’s security. However, a hint of pride appeared at the corners of her eyes. She thought Mo Xuetong was at her wit’s end and had no choice but to push the matter to the back yard of King Chu’s Manor. She grew even more relieved.
In her eyes, Mo Xuetong did this in order to wage a deathbed struggle.
While they were arguing, no one noticed that the two people in the quilt moved slightly.
Mo Xuetong smiled lightly and persuaded her unhurriedly, “Consort Chu, the things that you said earlier were all seen by the young and older maidservants of your manor. Aren’t they all servants of your manor? If their master has given them orders… Consort Chu, don’t make a fuss. It will not look good on everyone if you make a fuss.”
Ling Rui’er was Consort Chu, the mistress of King Chu’s Manor. It would be easy for her to get a few servants to testify against Mo Xuetong. It was not until then that the madams remembered that every strong evidence had just been given by the people of King Chu’s Manor… Could it be that Consort Chu was the one who framed Consort Xuan?
Everyone suspiciously looked at Ling Rui’er who was blushing because of Mo Xuetong’s words. Ling Rui’er was the one who had caused a lot of trouble in the palace. Was she angry that Consort Xuan had spilled watermelon juice on her in the palace? Did she come to seek revenge on Consort Xuan on her home ground?
If that was the case, then it could explain that the young and older maidservants rushed to reveal that the matter had something to do with Consort Xuan.
Ling Rui’er did not expect Mo Xuetong to be so crafty as to fight back from the points that she had not prepared. She and Si Rong had come up with all sorts of possibilities. They used every opportunity to lead everyone’s suspicion to Mo Xuetong and even destroyed all the evidence. The maidservant and manservant were not the servants of King Chu’s Manor. Even if Mo Xuetong wanted to investigate the entire manor, she would not be able to find them.
Mo Xuetong would not be able to defend herself as she lost these pieces of strong evidence!
However, Mo Xuetong did not start from defending herself. Instead, she suspected that the witnesses were all the servants of King Chu’s Manor. This was something that Ling Rui’er did not expect beforehand. She opened her mouth and felt that something was wrong. Then, she looked at the madams’ expressions and knew that they were all suspicious of her.
She was so anxious that she broke out in a sweat on her forehead!
However, there was no time for her to think too much on the spot. She could only harass Mo Xuetong and said, “Consort Xuan, everyone in the manor is a member of our manor. Those who saw you are of course from our manor. Are you trying to ask your two maidservants to testify for you? Look, one of your maidservants is not here. I wonder what she is up to now!”
Anyway, when Mo Xuetong said that the young and older maidservants in King Chu’s Manor couldn’t be trusted, Ling Rui’er said that Mo Xuetong’s two maidservants couldn’t be trusted. They were all servants, and they all listened to their mistress. Could it be possible that the servants in King Xuan’s Manor had better integrity than those in King Chu’s Manor?
Anyway, today’s matter fell on Mo Xuetong. As long as she could not defend herself, it would be her crime!
Mo Xuetong looked at Ling Rui’er and said meaningfully, “Consort Chu, you’re wrong. My maidservant went to get me some water. When I came, I asked one of the maidservants of your manor to wait for her. I guess she’s coming soon. But the young and older maidservants in your manor make me very suspicious. Consort Chu, how, how many young and older maidservants did you bring with you?”
“Two young maidservants and two older ones.” Ling Rui’er looked behind her. She was the mistress and had not gone out; furthermore, she was by the Sixth Princess’ side; so she did not have too many people to follow her. There were only two young maidservants and two older ones following behind her.
Mo Xuetong smiled gently at her and reached out to count her white fingers one by one. “An older maidservant said that she saw me talking to a man in the garden. A young maidservant said that she saw a man coming in with King Xuan’s Manor’s people who sent gifts yesterday. The other older maidservant said that she saw the man sneaking away from the back door yesterday. The last young maidservant said that I sent someone to call Second Consort Mo today.”
“Consort Chu, you only brought these four maidservants with you. Why did they look as if they have all been rehearsed and all seen what I did? Could it be that you planned all of this? Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence in the world?” Mo Xuetong’s watery eyes were wide open as they deftly darted from the faces of the young and older maidservants one after another. The coldness in her eyes seemed to penetrate the hearts of others and made these maidservants lower their heads uneasily.
It was too coincidental!
Ling Rui’er only thought about how to frame Mo Xuetong today, so the two young maidservants and two older maidservants she brought with her were all important witnesses. And these four people all testified against Mo Xuetong. They even saw what happened yesterday clearly, as if Ling Rui’er brought them out today just to testify against Mo Xuetong. It was so coincidental that it was almost flawless.
Could something like this happen? Some madams could not help but cry out in surprise!
This was too much of a coincidence!
Only in the case of Consort Chu deliberately framed Consort Xuan, this seemed to make sense!
Everyone had fought in the back yard, so they all knew this kind of thing!
Ling Rui’er’s face was at once blanched and livid when she heard Mo Xuetong’s words which sounded innocent but harsh. She pointed at Mo Xuetong and shouted hatefully, “Nonsense!”
“How could it be nonsense? Consort Chu, do you hate me because of what has happened in the palace? If that’s the case, it’s really my fault. I didn’t know that there was someone… sneaking into the imperial harem. If I had known that earlier, I would have persuaded you to find another place to change, and then the following things would not have happened! Consort Chu, I apologize. I hope you will be magnanimous and forgive me.”
There was a look of guilt on Mo Xuetong’s face as she looked at Ling Rui’er sincerely. She looked as if she truly felt guilty. She bowed to Ling Rui’er and spoke gently, as if she really wanted to reconcile with Ling Rui’er.
She spoke with pain while also explaining what Ling Rui’er meant. It was obvious that Ling Rui’er had made a fool of herself at the palace banquet—she had been seen by another man and that was why she had vented her anger on Mo Xuetong. She had set up this trap to frame Mo Xuetong today in order to get revenge.
The matter at the palace had been forbidden to spread. As such, Mo Xuetong had intentionally spoken it in vague terms when she mentioned it. However, the women beside the Sixth Princess and Ling Rui’er were all noble madams, and of course, they were present that day and had known about it without listening to others. Initially, they had some doubts about whether the person really saw Consort Chu’s body.
Now, they all understood that Consort Chu had indeed lost her chasteness. She had been seen by a strange man; otherwise, she would not be so vicious today and set up a trap. For a moment, everyone looked at Ling Rui’er with disdain. For someone like Ling Rui’er, she could only die if she lost her chasteness. However, not only did she not die, but she even grinned and tried to show off in front of others. Even if she was Consort Chu, others would look down on her.
Ling Rui’er was so angry she almost vomited blood. She did not expect Mo Xuetong to pretend to be wronged and a good person and even frame her. The fact that a strange had seen her body was the deepest secret in her heart and she had tried hard not to think about it for the past few days. Now Mo Xuetong had mentioned it. Looking at the disdain in the eyes of the madams, she could not remain calm.
She suddenly looked up at Mo Xuetong, her eyes blood red. She gritted her teeth and charged at Mo Xuetong. Bitch, she talked nonsense and ruined her reputation. She was going to tear her apart!
