Feng Yuran did not stay for long. He only looked at her color and turned to leave, leaving behind a confused Mo Xuetong. Her lively eyes blinked. When had she become so close to the charming King Xuan? She had always treated him respectfully and distantly, but to be honest, she was grateful to him.
He had saved her yet again. She wanted to distance herself from him but after saving her twice, she would not be able to keep a distance even if she wanted to.
Feng Yuran had just left when Qin Yuxuan came.
Qin Yuxuan came to inform her that they would leave Qingliang Temple in a while. No one was in the mood to stay after so many things happened. It was said that the Yu family had already left. Fortunately, Mo Xuetong did not have many things. Mo He had already packed up and Qin Yuxuan ordered the servants to take her things with them.
Qin Yuxuan went up to Mo Xuetong when he saw that everyone was busy. He looked at her guiltily and gloomily, and said, “Younger Sister Tong…I’m sorry!”
He felt angry whenever he thought of how Yu Sirong wanted to hurt Tong’er. The anger pressed down on him and he wanted to unleash it. He knew of what had happened and the incident was clear to him after careful investigation. Yu Sirong, that slut, how dare she try to act against Tong’er? If Mdm Qin had not told him again and again, he would have already gone to the Yu family to get justice!
How could he be in a good mood when he knew that Tong’er had suffered but he could not get revenge for her! He looked rather frustrated.
“Cousin Xuan, what are you saying? What have you done to apologize to Tong’er? It is not your fault. Let’s go, or grandaunt will be worried and wonder what we are doing to hold everyone up. Let’s go, let’s go!” Mo Xuetong’s expression was delicate and gentle as if she did not understand what he was saying. She tugged on his sleeve and smiled at him, behaving just as she usually did.
She had self-consciously defined her relationship with Qin Yuxuan as siblings. She had not understood why Yu Sirong was so vicious towards her to ruin her reputation and disfigure her. But she understood after her rebirth. It was because Cousin Xuan liked her.
She had always paid attention to her opponents after her rebirth, but she had neglected Cousin Xuan’s reactions. While he might not like her very much right now, she had to stop him from falling for her deeply.
In her past life, Qin Yuxuan and Yu Sirong had ended up together, but she feared that they were not fated to in this life. After what happened, Yu Sirong would probably be sent to the family temple. Which family would marry their daughter to a useless gangster? There was not only one daughter in the family, so they would not allow a single daughter to ruin everyone’s hopes.
If the other young ladies of the family all gained a bad reputation, they would not be able to marry well!
According to what happened in her past life, Cousin Xuan had wasted his life away after marrying Yu Sirong. It seemed right now that while he was a little sad, he did not really waste away. He was still a young man full of spirit and vigor and this was something Mo Xuetong liked to see.
She would take this opportunity while Qin Yuxuan was interested in someone to bring their relationship as siblings to the surface.
A sibling relationship. Was there just a sibling relationship between them? Qin Yuxuan felt as if there was a large rock pressing down on his chest and he could not speak for that moment. He felt suffocated and the tens and thousands of words that he had prepared were all stuck in his heart, forming a large blockage that almost suffocated him. However, he could not push the blockage away.
What could he say? Could he say that he liked Younger Sister Tong? He had already lost his chance when Mdm Yu did something like that to her. He was devastated to find out that he would no longer be able to get his Younger Sister Tong’s heart. Their relationship was just that of cousins. And as they grow up, this relationship would grow fainter and fainter until they no longer had one.
This thought made his heart hurt and he clenched his hand tightly into a fist, forcing down the pain in his heart. He smiled and nodded. “Then let’s go, Younger sister Tong. Grandmother would blame me if she does not see you.”
What could he say? What else could he say? He did not even have the opportunity to express his feelings for her. He could only hide the love he felt deep in his heart. He looked at the tender face of the girl under the sunlight and his heart hurt so much he could not breathe. Mdm Yu was truly vicious but he respected his older brother. He could not fight Mdm Yu in the open or to get revenge for Younger Sister Tong. How could he stand it?
“Alright, Cousin Xuan, you’re the best. You must come over to play when you are free. Cousin Feng comes by really often.” Mo Xuetong’s eyes gleamed and she changed the topic when she saw his weird expression. Perhaps Cousin Xuan felt really bad right now, but she believed that the spirited Cousin Xuan would get better and find his own happiness. After all, she had never responded to his feelings. Even if he was really interested in her, his feelings for her would not be too deep.
“Eldest Brother visits your manor especially?” Qin Yuxuan asked, stunned. He admired his eldest brother very much.
“Cousin Feng goes there often. I heard he went even more frequently while I was not there. Come with him next time, won’t you, Cousin Xuan?” She looked up with her crystal-clear eyes. Her eyes were clear, filled with innocence and beauty.
Qin Yuxuan’s eyes darkened and he turned away, replying softly, “Alright!”
Then, Mo Xuetong headed down the mountain with the Qin’s carriage.
Mo Xuetong’s carriage parted with the Qin’s on the road, heading straight for the Mo Manor. She had been gone for days and should return earlier.
While traveling, Mo Xuetong thought for a while and decided to head to the south of the city. She remembered that her mother had a shop there that was in her dowry. It was an embroidery shop. She was very curious why the shop had ended up in her hands in her past life. It was the shop that made her the most money amongst the shops she had. Fortunately for the shop, she did not have to worry about the lack of funds while she was in the Duke’s manor despite her paltry dowry.
However, why didn’t Auntie Fang take such a good shop? Auntie Fang was very clear about what was in her mother’s dowry. She had given Mo Xuetong some bad business and also some that did not earn money. There was only Xiuning Workshop which earned Mo Xuetong several hundred taels of silver every month since she took the helm of it.
After that, the rest of her shops all ended up in Sima Lingyun’s hands no matter whether they made money or not. She only kept this shop through it all. Sima Lingyun had never asked about it. In her past life, she had been focused only on Sima Lingyun and never cared about these things. Now after she had been reborn, she was full of questions.
Why did Auntie Fang and Sima Lingyun leave such a money-making shop in her hands for no rhyme or reason?
The experiences of her past life had made her realize how vicious Auntie Fang and Sima Lingyun were. Why would they allow her a way out? The only answer was that they could not get their hands on it or they were shocked by something and did not dare to act. Then what exactly was the differences of this shop that her mother left behind!
Xiuning Workshop was in the south of the city and it was a specialty shop that sold products women used for embroidery. Manager Xing was the most loyal person to Mo Xuetong in her past life. He was very diligent and sent money to the Duke’s Manor on time and never once lined his own pockets. Mo Xuetong felt sad every time she saw his thin face.
She had lived two lives and had seen many things. And that was why she treasured the ties of friendship even more.
She brought Mo Lan and Mo Ye into the shop and made her identity known. Mo Xuetong smiled and asked, “Manager Xing, it’s been hard on you. How is business here?”
She took a look at the patrons in the shop when she entered. Business was not bad and the products sold were varied from the low-end to the high-end. Most of the products were mid to high-end and the shop was meant for the common population.
“Third Miss, you are too kind. Business is alright and is considered slightly better than similar shops. I have been managing this shop since Madam went to Cloud City. I report to Old Sir in the manor every month and manage the shop the rest of the time.” Manager Xing replied respectfully, telling her all the things she wanted to ask without her having to.
Mo Xuetong curtsied and said with a smile, “You have played an important role in managing the shop so well. In the past, while we were in Cloud City, you had to deal with problems yourself. Now that Father and I are both back in the capital, go to the manor and have someone tell us if there is any problem.”
While she looked young, her words were gracious and she was humble. It made others have a good impression of her.
Manager Xing approved of her secretly and treated her with even more respect.
“Third Miss, you are too kind. Even though Madam had gone to Cloud City she would still take care of troublesome matters. In the past, when we encountered trouble…we also depended on Madam for help.”
Mo Xuetong was shocked by this and the doubts she had grew. Her mother had never taken charge of the household while they were in Cloud City. Her health was poor and she had always been taking medication and rarely had the energy to do these kinds of things. The holdings that they had in Cloud City had always been managed by her father, so how did her mother have the energy to manage the business in the capital, much less settle the trouble here?
“Manager Xing, has mother always been the one to take charge of the accounts?”
“Madam does not really take charge of the account often. She would send someone to Cloud City every half a year or so. She leaves me to make the decision the rest of the time.”
Her mother had sent someone all the way to Cloud City just for the accounts of one shop. Couldn’t she have entrusted it to her family!
“The people mother sent must have been smart and capable. I wonder if they are still in the manor?” She pretended to ask casually. However, she clutched on to her handkerchief under her sleeve and was slightly nervous.
“They were Madam’s senior maids who went to the Mo Manor with her from the General Manor. Sometimes, one would come and at other times, two. They would come and stay for four or five days to settle the accounts of the last six months.” Manager Xing smiled calmly.
Her mother’s four senior maids? Mo Xuetong was stunned. The four senior maids were either dead, injured, disappeared or mad. She could not get ahold of a single one to ask her questions. When she thought about it carefully, one of the four would always not be around. When she asked about it, her mother would always say that they were busy with something in their own family. She was still young then and had not cared about it.
Now that she thought about it, the whole situation was dubious. Her mother came from the General Manor and in her dowry, this shop was not the largest nor the one that made the most money. So why did she care so much about it and even sent her personal servants to come and check the accounts? The time it took for them to travel back and forth was more than the time it would take to check the accounts.
Mo Xuetong did not believe that her mother had done that for no reason. What exactly was her mother hiding? She could not think of an answer right now!
The manager accompanied Mo Xuetong as she toured around Xiuning Workshop. She did not discover anything different about it other than that the business there was slightly better. Nothing else stood out. Even the signboard at the door seemed as if it was very old. While the characters on the board were written well, they had faded a lot over time.
Mo Xuetong boarded the horse carriage after she left Xiuning Workshop. She closed her eyes and thought carefully. There were many thoughts running through her mind, but there was no way for her to verify them!
