Mo Huawen had been sitting coldly by the side as if he had been an outsider. At this time, he looked up with a blank face. He knew Yu Feng was suppressing him with Consort Yu’s power, however, he had to kowtow to that power because he wasn’t a royal officer. Consort Yu was a consort in the palace, and now, she considered Auntie Fang from her parents’ home. If something bad really happened to Auntie Fang, Consort Yu would definitely demand an explanation.
Mo Huawen didn’t believe Auntie Fang’s words in the least. He was on the scene that day and saw how Auntie Fang pretended to be drunk, how she defended herself, and how she pushed the blame onto a maidservant. She did those without the slightest hesitation. This time, she brought this up because she estimated that he couldn’t possibly shun from the incident. Hence, right now, he hated Auntie Fang very much.
Yu Feng, too, stepped forward and sincerely stared at Mo Huawen. “Sir Mo, anyway, since such a thing happened, you must give an explanation to my younger sister. She’s a woman and has been reduced to such a desperate plight for her baby. If you don’t do justice to my sister, how can you convince all the people in your manor?”
“Old sir, I really didn’t do such a cruel thing. I’m also flesh and blood, how could I bear to lose my kid?” Auntie Fang timely added, crying, “Unless I was crazy, stupid! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done such a thing in a million years.”
Eyes downcast, Mo Huawen asked blandly. “What do you want?”
Eunuch Wei proudly raised his head and mentioned Consort Yu again. “I’ve seen many things in the palace, so I can at least recognize some. As long as Sir Mo let me walk around your manor, I’ll certainly sense it. After the tour, whether there is such a thing or not, I can at least have something to report to Her Highness.” He must be thinking that Mo Huawen feared Consort Yu very much.
Mo Huawen suppressed his anger, stood up, and got rid of Auntie Fang’s hands. He walked to the corner of the living hall and had a manservant fetch the prepared brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. After they were all settled on the desk, he pointed to the spread paper and said, “Sir Yu, today, you brought Eunuch Wei to visit your sister in my house, I didn’t have any problem with that. But if you want to check my inner residence, I’ll have to make some conditions.”
Seeing Mo Huawen so fierce, Auntie Fang had a bad hunch and nervously turned to look at Yu Feng.
Yu Feng shook his head at her, signaling her not to act rashly.
At this time, he finally remembered that Mo Huawen was no longer the low-ranked official in the capital. Now, he was an important one in court, and Yu Feng’s rank was lower. If Yu Feng really irritated Mo Huawen, Mo Huawen might insist on refusing his demand. He didn’t have another way to clear his sister’s name. After all, Auntie Fang was his sister, and no outsider knew her.
Therefore, Yu Feng immediately softened his tone. “Please go ahead, Sir Mo. To clear my sister’s name, I’ll do as you say as much as possible.”
When he talked, he deliberately saved himself a backup plan. He didn’t make his answer sound too absolute.
Mo Huawen didn’t care and pointed to the paper, fiercely saying, “Since you consider Auntie Fang as your sister, then you, her older brother, can act as her father and decide things for her. Today, after searching my manor, if you don’t find anything evil, you’ll have to bring your sister back. This sort of evil woman can’t be tolerated at my inner residence.
“Is he kicking Auntie Fang out?”
Both Auntie Fang and Yu Feng were stunned. They couldn’t believe their ears and stared blankly at Mo Huawen, unable to react.
Never did they expect Mo Huawen to drive Auntie Fang away. His only son was given birth by Auntie Fang, therefore, she felt confident about her status in the manor, and thought Mo Huawen couldn’t do anything to her no matter what she did. At most, he would lock her up in the yard to starve her for a few days. He wouldn’t really do anything to the mother of his only son, would he?
She didn’t expect Mo Huawen to be so heartless.
“Old sir, I’m Feng’er’s mother!” Auntie Fang just realized and then she wailed. As she was about to cling to his robe, Mo Huawen stepped back. Then, she fell heavily on the green stone ground and couldn’t make a sound because of the pain.
Yu Feng looked like he was worrying about Mo Huawen. “Sir Mo, how can you joke about things like this? Feng’er and Min’er are both your children. How will they see you if you treat their mother in such a way?”
“Sir Yu, if you want to search, sign the paper. Since you insist Auntie Fang is innocent, what are you afraid of? If you solve the case, don’t you think I’ll clear her name?” Mo Huawen said calmly. However, he looked very determined. “If you want to search my house, you’ll have to sign the paper!”
Eunuch Wei gently coughed and answered, “Sir Yu and Mrs. Yu, you’d better sign it since Sir Yu has spoken about his concern. It’ll be impolite if we still decline.” He blinked at Yu Feng, signaling that it was OK to sign since everything had been carefully arranged.
Receiving the old eunuch’s signaling, Yu Feng remembered their plan. Immediately, he felt there was nothing to worry about. However, to stop Mo Huawen from suspecting, he still put on an angry face on the spot. Walking to the desk, Yu Feng picked up the brush. “I’ll sign it. Why not? In time, please, you have to do justice to my sister.”
Nevertheless, Auntie Fang didn’t feel that confident. At the moment, when she saw Yu Feng lift the brush, soak it, and about to put it onto the paper, she was really anxious. She remembered in the past, she felt sure about the plans every time; however, she would inexplicably lose to that little wicked woman in the end. Thus, ignoring the pain, she scrambled to her feet, walked to Yu Feng, and dragged his hand, silently begging.
However, Yu Feng was convinced that he’d win. Noticing the fear on his sister’s face, he comforted her and hardened his voice. “Sister, don’t be afraid. You’re framed. If I don’t sign it, we’ll look guilty. Wait for your brother to clear your name. At that time, Sir Mo will give Feng’er and Min’er good status for your sake.”
“Good status? What’s a good status? Legitimate bloodline is the base of a family. Making Auntie Fang, a concubine, a legal wife is giving Mo Yufeng and Mo Xuemin good status. But making Auntie Fang my wife…” Mo Huawen sneered. “The Yu family really like to dream.”
At that moment, Mo Huawen didn’t respond. He saw Yu Feng pushed Auntie Fang away and put the brush down onto the paper under her startled gaze.
He signed it and it was a proof.
In the end, he even dipped his finger into the ink and left his fingerprint in the margin.
Mo Huawen pointed to another margin and called Eunuch Wei, “Does Eunuch Wei want this too?”
Just now, Eunuch Wei talked so confidently, therefore, now he couldn’t back off. He rose at once, walked to it, and left his fingerprint in the margin as well.
When the ink slightly dried, Mo Huawen ordered a manservant to put it away in the study, while he led a few people to the backyard.
Earlier, a maidservant went back to the backyard to remind misses of the arrival of strangers and told them not to walk out of the room. It was not a big deal for the old Eunuch Wei to walk around the inner residence, however, Yu Feng was still a man. Though he claimed to be Auntie Fang’s brother, he wasn’t a proper relative before he and Auntie Fang went through a family reunion ceremony. Furthermore, a concubine’s brother was never really a relative.
Mo Xiu held a cup of tea and sent it to the inner room. “Miss, Sir Yu brought a eunuch into the house.” Inside the room, Mo Xuemin was not doing needlework. She cautiously spread the cloth bag and used a silver needle to test the powders in it. She asked Mo Xiu to put the teacup on the table and carefully shook the powders off the needle into the tea.
The powders melted into the water, but it remained transparent. There was nothing unusual. Mo Xuemin sniffed and didn’t smell anything funny either.
Mo Xuemin picked up the cup and slowly swirled the tea in it. The water slightly rippled but stayed crystal clear. She couldn’t hide the satisfaction on her face. “Has Auntie Fang come out?”
Mo Xiu’s eyes involuntarily fell on the teacup. Her body shivered and fear spread in her eyes. “Auntie Fang has been released. She’s heading to third miss’s Qingwei Garden with Sir Yu and that eunuch. I guess they’ll arrive at third miss’s place in less than the time of a cup of tea.”
Mo Xuemin smilingly pushed the tea in front of Mo Xiu, saying, “Since a eunuch from the palace is present, Father can’t solve this in private even if he wants to. Lucky for that wretched Mo Xuetong. She even attracts someone from the palace. Alright, I’ll let her enjoy the attention before she dies.”
Mo Xiu looked up in fear and shrank back in terror. She wrang her hands behind her back. “Miss, do I have to drink that?”
Mo Xuemin glanced at the fearful look on Mo Xiu’s face and suddenly felt funny. She covered her mouth with the handkerchief and smiled. “Don’t worry. You won’t die. Remember, if the thing is exposed, you should testify for Auntie Fang. Don’t mention my name in this, in any circumstances. I’ll, of course, have a cure for you. You see, Mo Xuetong has been using it for so many days and she doesn’t feel unwell. I guess I should say the drug really isn’t effective.”
Seeing Mo Xiu still shivering, frozen on the spot, Mo Xuemin suddenly changed her face and snapped. “Are you thinking about betraying me?”
Mo Xiu was startled and flopped to the ground to kneel. She grabbed Mo Xuemin’s feet and screamed. “I don’t dare, Miss, I don’t dare.”
“What are you doing? Do you want to kneel before me forever? With such a crying face, how can you finger the third sister later? Look, your face is ruined. It’s going to end up bad.” Suddenly, Mo Xuemin grinned. “The nephew of your brother is pretty. I wonder if such a little kid can stand a few cups of this drink.”
Her eyes fell on the drugged tea.
Mo Xiu was shaking even harder. “Miss, I’ll drink it. I’ll drink it now. Please, spare my nephew. He’s young and knows nothing.”
After that, she grabbed the teacup on the table to gulp it down. Because she drank it too quickly, some of the water spilled onto her clothes, and she clapped a hand over her mouth to suppress her violent cough.
A grim smile appeared by Mo Xuemin’s lips. Evident jealousy, endless hate, and satisfaction from a successful plot were reflected in her eyes. “Be careful. This is precious stuff. I don’t want you to waste it. I have to save more for Mo Xuetong in case she wants more. She’ll be miserable if she can’t either die or live, right?”
She wanted Mo Xuetong dead. She wanted that wretched woman to die. Not only this, she wanted her to die in pain and desperation…
The drug had no cure. It was the top poison in the world! If that wicked woman took it for another while, even immortals couldn’t save her!
A somewhat twisted smile registered on her slightly green and pale face. In Mo Xiu’s eyes, Mo Xuemin looked as hideous as an evil monster. She coughed in pain and turned around, tears streaming down her face. She had no other way. Her nephew was in the hand of the first miss. She couldn’t withdraw even if she wanted to.
If the first miss fed this to her nephew who just turned one year old, how could such a small kid stand this?
Like her parents, her brother had only one son as well. The entire family put their hope on her nephew. How did she dare to risk her nephew’s life?
For her nephew, she had to drag third miss into this. She hoped that when she entered the underworld to accompany the third miss, the miss wouldn’t blame her.
