Mo Huawen stood by the opening of the gate, although he was the last person the duchess expected to show up – it should have been the old madam, surrounded by servants and maids. The duchess was amazed by his improper behavior. After all, Mo Huawen was a man and shouldn’t greet her at the gate.
Those who didn’t know the truth might think they were having an affair for him to greet her warmly in person.
Mo Huawen’s wife was dead and he could get married again, but duchess wouldn’t marry anymore . Besides, in order to help his son become a duke, she not only couldn’t get married, but also had to act faithfully. She definitely couldn’t have improper relations with a man outside of Duke Zhenguo’s manor.
She couldn’t imagine Mo Huawen would humiliate her like a rascal. Was this supposed to be done by a third-class official?
“Let’s go back to our manor!” she said through gritted teeth. She held the nanny’s hand and hurried into the carriage without greeting Mo Huawen, who had a slight smile. The carriage turned back, and she hurried back to the manor with the servants of Duke Zhenguo’s manor.
Sitting in the carriage, the duchess let out her anger and slammed the table so hard that the teacup fell.
The duchess’s confidant, Nanny Tian, picked up the teacup and poured the remnant tea into the barrel under the table. Then she lifted the boiled water by the other side and made another cup of tea, placing it in front of the duchess.
“Madam, don’t be worried. Many people know about yesterday’s incident. It’s not like the one in Mo Manor with only a few servants seeing it, which could be easily solved with some warnings. An unmarried girl hugged a man by the side of the road. She was saved and even stayed in that man’s bedroom for a whole night, which a hundred mouths could not explain away. With such a scandal spread, she had no other choice except for being a concubine in our manor. Once she marries into our manor, her life will be in your hands.”
“That little bitch Mo Xuemin has no good manners, nor did her father. No wonder he had such a disgraceful daughter who seduced her younger sister’s husband. She was a disgraced bitch, indeed. She couldn’t be a good daughter in such a family and should be honored to be a concubine in our family,” The duchess said.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right. By the time she is in our manor, you’ll have plenty of time to teach her. A concubine’s daughter can’t be well-behaved at all. There was no main wife in Mo Manor, and thus all the misses are taught like concubines. You shouldn’t be too worried in case you hurt yourself. There is a long way to go!” Nanny Tian said with a smile.
After Nanny Tian’s words, the duchess felt a little better and sipped at her tea. Her eyebrows creased as she set the cup down. “I wonder how Yun’er’s wound is doing. Even though he could survive this time, that wound on his face will stay with him forever.”
Though the doctors took care of it last night, some of the doctors shook their heads and said that there might be a scar left on His Excellency’s face, which made the duchess very worried.
The wound and the scandal would shame him for life!
“Madam, don’t worry. When I went out this morning, I heard that they brought in a specialist. It is said that, with proper rest, the wound on His Excellency’s face may not leave a scar.” Nanny Tian said with a smile. This morning, madam had stormed to Mo Manor, so she didn’t dare to say much.
“There might be no scar on Yun’er’s face?” the Duchess asked, surprised.
“Yes, madam, with appropriate rests. The wound wasn’t that serious,” Nanny Tian said.
“Okay. Once Yun’er gets recovered, I’ll get a main wife for him. She doesn’t have to be very beautiful, but she does need to be able to handle Yun’er and his two concubines. When Mo Huawen’s two daughters become Yun’er’s concubines, Mo Huawen would never talk about manners and rules in front of Yun’er. When they enter our manor, I’ll teach them how to be qualified concubines.” The duchess’ face was frigid.
Thinking that the two girls from Mo Manor ruined Yun’er’s reputation time after time, she hated them even more.
In front of the gate of Mo Manor, Mo Huawen coldly looked at Mo Xuemin, who was dressed in rags and covered in bloodstains, her hair disheveled.
Mo Huawen had gone to sleep early the night before, so he’d only been informed of the situation on his trip to the front gate.
The nanny by the back door had let Mo Xuemin out. After she got out, she somehow ran into Sima Lingyun, who had been driven out of the palace . They might have said something intimate in the carriage, and then the wagon crashed into a tree. Then it was said that Sima Lingyun tried to rape Mo Xuemin, but was stabbed by Mo Xuemin with a sharp chip of porcelain.
No matter what others thought about this nonsense, Mo Huawen didn’t believe it at all! Sima Lingyun was a teenager with much strength. Besides, the boys from famous families always learnt kung fu to protect themselves. Though Sima Lingyun just learned a bit, he could easily handle a delicate girl. A dozen girls like Mo Xuemin couldn’t hurt him a bit.
Besides, from the message spread from the palace, Sima Lingyun and Mo Xuemin had already had improper relations, so the rape was impossible. Everyone in the palace was saying that what really happened was the first daughter was trying to frame the third daughter.
While this rumor was obviously untrue, it was widely spread. Mo Huawen, who was politically sensitive, felt strange about it.
Mo Huawen avoided Mo Xuemin’s pitiful eyes. “Inside!”
He turned around and went directly into the study without waiting for her. He had spent so much time and energy on her, thinking she was the best of all his daughters. Now, Mo Huawen was sure that Mo Xuemin had gone out to meet Sima Lingyun in order to deal with Mo Xuetong.
She wanted to frame her own younger sister and make her marry Sima Lingyun, who was a useless duke’s son! It wasn’t as simple as it seemed. Duke Zhenguo’s manor which had no real power wanted to have Tong’er. In the past, he didn’t stop Sima Lingyun from visiting at times for the sake of the Duke.
But he didn’t expect Sima Lingyun to stoop to framing Tong’er with Mo Xuemin. Tong’er would never marry a man like him!
Moreover, there was Auntie Fang’s affair…
“Dad!” Mo Xuemin’s voice came from behind.
“Get yourself changed and then come to my study,” Mo Huawen said, not turning around.
He was so disappointed. She looked gentle and generous from the outside, but she was just as evil and stupid as her ugly concubine. She wanted to be in control of Tong’er’s life forever. Wanting Tong’er to get a bad marriage was unkind, but this was simply evil!
This was even more resentful than using Auntie Fang’s unborn child to frame Tong’er. Now, thinking about everything Auntie Fang did, he realized Mo Xuemin might be behind it. Auntie Fang wasn’t smart enough to come up with this plan on her own.
Mo Huawen used to feel bad that Mo Xuemin had such a terrible concubine, but now he realized that he had been wrong. Auntie Fang had simply failed while attempting to enact Mo Xuemin’s schemes. As a mother, she would never tell the fault of her own child, so Mo Xuemin still lived next to him as a gentle first miss in Mo Manor.
But things weren’t so simple. In the palace, Yu Mingyong’s later words saved Mo Xuemin from losing her dignity. Yu Mingyong was the younger brother of Consort Yu, who was the emperor’s most beloved consort. Mo Huawen knew well about his arrogance and it must have taken a powerful person to make a him change his story.
Then Mo Xuemin and Sima Lingyun’s secret dating was revealed, but somehow the story was changed to rape. It seemed to be protecting Mo Manor from losing its dignity, but in fact, Mo Manor was hurt the most. If it was only Mo Xuemin and Sima Lingyun’s secret dating and no one did anything to the carriage, the carriage wouldn’t have crashed into the tree without any reason, and they wouldn’t have exposed themselves.
He had to admit the person who set this all up was very powerful!
But it was clearly not the same person who made Yu Mingyong change his evidence, or he wouldn’t have made the story that Sima Lingyun wanted to rape Mo Xuemin, which was clearly different from the story that they already had improper relations. It’s reassuring that Mo Huawen didn’t feel much hostility from the second person who schemed everything outside the palace, which could be seen from the talk that Mo Xuemin fought against Sima Lingyun.
Though Mo Xuemin’s reputation was ruined, the fame of the daughters in Mo Manor wasn’t! It was much better to be an unlucky girl who fought for her chastity and failed than an unmarried miss who had had improper relations with a man.
It was obviously a scheme. But if Mo Xuemin didn’t go out, such a thing couldn’t have happened!
The nanny at the back door confessed that it was first miss’s maid Mo Xiu who bribed her to open the back door. They just said first miss wanted to eat Rose Pastry on New Year’s Eve.
Mo Xuemin almost confessed to having improper relations with others. If the truth got out, it would be more unbearable than it was now. Maybe even Feng’er and Tong’er’s marriage would be affected.
Mo Huawen sat in the study, clenching his fists while taking deep breaths, trying to calm down.
This daughter was no good!
