“Elder Sister He Xia, are you feeling better?” Mo Xuetong held her hand and took her pulse.
“I am fine, Miss. I need to see Madam immediately. I have something to tell her.” He Xia said firmly. Then, she sighed heavily and slowly calmed down.
“Elder Sister He Xia, Mother has already passed away.” Mo Xuetong said slowly, rubbing He Xia’s icy cold hands as she looked at her. Her mother had already been dead for two years. He Xia had never returned to the manor but had drifted about outside. Why was this so?
“Madam is gone?” He Xia was stunned. It was as if she could not understand what Mo Xuetong had said. She held Mo Xuetong’s hand and asked her the same question repeatedly.
“My mother passed away two years ago. She passed away shortly after you left.” Mo Xuetong’s eyes filled with sadness. She could almost see her mother’s smile when she looked at her mother’s ex-maid. She bit her lips softly as tears filled her eyes.
It had been two years. She had been left behind in Cloud City after her mother’s death. The people in the Qin Manor had never allowed anyone to mention her mother. They only said that it was bad luck. So whenever she thought of her mother and wanted to pray to her mother, she could only do it secretly. There had never been anyone who cared about her mother. How could she not feel sad upon hearing how emotional He Xia was when she spoke of her mother?
“Madam is gone. No. No, that can’t be. Even though Madam was ill, she can’t just pass away like that. The physician said that she would be fine with some rest.” He Xia held Mo Xuetong’s hand anxiously. It was as if she was searching for a different answer from her. How could her Madam be gone?
Madam was so gentle, so kind. She was always smiling. How could she be dead?
“This can’t be true. It can’t be true!”
“He Xia, Madam is truly gone. Not only is Madam gone, Ying Chun died in front of her memorial table and Xiang Qiu died of illness not long after. In the end, even Xue Dong went mad. You are the only one left of Madam’s four maids.” Mother Xu said. She was an elder in the manor and had been promoted to this job by the Madam. She used to be close with the Madam’s four personal maids and could not help but sigh when she saw how they had ended up.
“He Xia, why did you leave then? How was Mother’s health when you left?” Night had fallen and candles were lit in the room. Mo Xuetong’s face was equally pale under the light. Now that she had been allowed to live again, she had to find out what happened to her mother. She would make sure her mother received justice.
Her mother was beautiful and gentle in her memories. She had never offended anyone. Why would she die such mysterious circumstances!
He Xia seemed unable to accept what happened. She held Mo Xuetong’s hands and refused to let go. She muttered, “Ying Chun, Xiang Qiu, Xue Dong… How could they…”
“He Xia, don’t ask about this. Tell me first, what did Mother ask you to do. Why did we not know when you left? The people in the Manor all thought that you disappeared only after my mother’s death.” Mo Xuetong’s face was pale and her lips trembled slightly.
Her mother had passed away, and then, various things had happened to her four personal maids. No one brought the matter up again afterward. Then, it was as if everything were hidden in the mist. In her past life, she had not thought about the suspicious circumstances behind her mother’s death even until her own death. She had also never met He Xia. Mo Xuetong had struggled bitterly in the back courtyard and had never once suspected anything.
Yet now, there were some things that she could not help but feel suspicious about.
He Xia looked up and slowly let go of Mo Xuetong’s hand. She sat up, her eyes calmed down gradually. She took a cup of tea from Mo Lan and drank it before looking up at Mo Xuetong. She said, “Miss, Madam told me to come to the capital to check the accounts of Xiuning Workshop. That was why I left secretly.”
Xiuning Workshop? Mo Xuetong recalled the shop that was a dowry her mother had left her. She had gone to check it last time but it was just an ordinary shop. She did not find anything odd about it other than the fact that the shopkeeper seemed slightly soberer and steadier.
“Why did Mother want to check Xiuning Workshop’s accounts? Didn’t Mother ask you guys to check it only a few days ago?” Mo Xuetong could hear her own cold voice asking the question.
They only checked the accounts once a year but He Xia went to check it twice. It was just a little shop, was there a need to put in that much effort to travel such long distances to check the accounts again and again?!
He Xia did not expect Mo Xuetong to know about Xiuning Workshop and that she would know that He Xia had gone to check the accounts not too long ago. Since Miss already knew some things, there was no reason for her to hide any longer. While Madam was around, Madam was in charge, but now that Madam was no longer around, Miss was in charge. This was what Madam had told her over and over again back then.
“Miss, the accounts are fake. I came here to meet somebody. I will meet with that person every time I come to the capital using the accounts as an excuse. I will then bring things back for Madam.” He Xia told the truth.
“Who is it?” Mo Xuetong could not stay calm any longer. Her voice shook.
“I do not know who the person is either. That person would come alone every time we met in the backyard of Xiuning Workshop. It was a man. The maids stay in the room, and the man would leave some letters at the front. We just had to take the letter and bring it back to Madam. However, the man did not come on a schedule. That is why we had to wait in Xiuning Workshop for about a month sometimes.” He Xia recalled.
She knew that meeting the man was a matter of chance. She stayed in the room with Ying Chun that day. When they realized that someone was there, they did not dare to make a sound. They could not see anything in the dark and Madam had told them not to speak. They only had to wait inside. The two of them stayed in the room and saw the tall slender figure put down something before turning to leave. He Xia saw a pair of long black boots when he turned away.
Only court officials wore boots in this style. However, there were so many court officials in the capital. He Xia could only tell that the person was a man because of this.
“Since you were working for Madam and nothing happened all this while, what happened this time?” Mother Xu asked in confusion.
“I was really unlucky. I was not careful when I came out and lost the money bag I brought with me. Then, I had to beg for a living. It took me great difficulty to get to the capital and to Xiuning Workshop. Then, I found someone. I saw him at Madam’s before and he threatened Madam with a sword then. Xue Dong saw it and screamed, and he got scared off.”
“I caught a glimpse of him while he was escaping. I did not dare to enter Xiuning Workshop when I saw him going in, so I waited outside. However, I realized that there were a lot of people who were walking around outside Xiuning workshop with swords. I waited outside for a few days but could not enter. So I thought of going back to Cloud City.”
“But I did not have money, so I could only stay with beggars and led a vagrant life. I was begging outside the capital a few days ago and a few gangsters started hitting the beggars on the street. I was hit by them and ran away in a fluster. Then, I don’t know what I knocked into and fainted. I found myself here when I woke up.”
They found He Xia on the streets of the capital but hearing what He Xia said, she had already left the capital. So why had she appeared in the capital again and why did she appear right in front of her carriage? Did someone set this up intentionally? Or was this unintentional? After the painful experience of her past life, Mo Xuetong would rather believe that this was all done by somebody.
Someone had threatened her mother with a sword. Who was it? Her mother was just the wife of an official based in Cloud City. Even if she was from the General Manor, it should not matter. Why were there so many suspicious circumstances surrounding her mother?
It was as if there was a thread weaved around a ball of thread. However, there were too many threads in her hands right now and she could not untangle it.
“Elder Sister He Xia, did you know that Auntie Fang was trying to kill Mother? Was she the one who killed Mother?” Mo Xuetong said after a moment of deep thought.
“Auntie Fang did want to hurt Madam. Madam was weak because she had been poisoned by Auntie Fang. But Madam had precious medicine that could neutralize the poison. Madam said that she would recover after eating that. Later, she sent me to the capital and I don’t know what happened after that. Madam’s condition was not bad then and she would not have died so quickly even if she did not eat the medication,” He Xia said tearfully, “or perhaps, Auntie Fang might have increased the dosage after that.”
Auntie Fang had indeed poisoned her mother!
Mo Xuetong gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. Auntie Fang had killed her mother just for her mother’s position. No wonder Mo Xuetong had told her viciously that her mother had been killed by them while she had forced Mo Xuetong to drink poison. Then, Mo Xuetong had died in their hands, and there was Yu’er…
A blood debt was to be paid with blood. In this life, the vicious mother and daughter pair had killed her mother. She was here for revenge. She was willing to drag them to hell with her.
“Miss, have a cup of water to warm you up.” Mo Lan placed a new cup of tea by her hands thoughtfully.
Her hands were icy cold and she sat before the window silently for almost an hour. The room was lit and the faint light outside reflected off the drizzling rain outside. It had started to rain. The snow on the ground outside was slowly starting to melt. The snowfall had been heavy yesterday but the weather was already turning warm today. The weather changes were really quick.
“Put it there. I don’t want to drink it.” Mo Xuetong said lightly as she looked out of the window. The lights outside the window shone on her face which were marred with two tracks of tears. Her mother’s death definitely had something to do with Auntie Fang’s poison. Auntie Fang had killed her.
She felt terrible when she thought of how her gentle and kind mother had laid on the bed silent and pale!
She had been so helpless then. Her father had not left Auntie Fang’s courtyard and her mother had already passed on. She was only a child of 11. She was so helpless, so afraid. Her mother seemed to be her everything. She did not know anything and could only cry and shake as she held her mother’s hand.
She had been so afraid it was as if her entire world had collapsed…
Her mother would not have died if not for Auntie fang. Without Mo Xuetong, her past life would not have been so miserable! She had struggled in hell. She would definitely get revenge even if she were to be crushed into pieces!
“Miss, do you want to have some dinner first? You did not eat much during lunch at the Princess Royal’s manor. How can your body take it if you do not eat.” Mo Lan persuaded her gently.
“Get someone to set up dinner later. Is anything happening at Lihua Garden recently?” Mo Xuetong composed herself and asked Mo Lan coldly. Auntie Fang and her daughter had not yet gotten what they deserved. How could she fall now?
“Young Master snuck in to visit Auntie Fang once. First Miss did not. However, First Miss’ maid, Mo Xiu went several times. She went there at night once. A few maids and elder servants from our courtyard went out when there were works done to the back courtyard.” Mo Lan said meaningfully.
“The ancestral hall is almost done, so that matter must be about settled. Sima Lingyun’s marriage has been settled, so Eldest Sister must not be able to stay calm for much longer.” Mo Xuetong laughed coldly. Mo Xuemin had been defeated by her time and time again and she must be about to reveal her sharpest dagger. Auntie Fang’s fall would be the biggest blow to her.
She would never be able to become a legitimate daughter!
