When arriving at the manor, Mo Xuetong happened to see Old Madam storming out, taking her son and granddaughter to Yushui Street. She looked as if they would never return. Mo Huawen coldly saw them off at the gate.
After such a thing, though they didn’t talk about it straightforwardly, they all knew it perfectly well in their hearts. People weren’t necessarily unaware of something even though they didn’t discuss it openly. Yu Mingyong’s confession was presented on her father’s desk. For only an invitation to the royal banquet, Old Madam should want to destroy her, which was too vicious. It made sense that Father would drive her away.
Mo Xuetong got off the carriage and waited aside with hands on her both sides. When Mo Huayan walked past her, supporting Old Madam, she only politely curtsied.
Old Madam frowned and didn’t even look at Mo Xuetong. She strode past the latter, putting on airs, as if she weren’t driven away but walked out on Mo Huawen because he had pissed her off.
When walking past Mo Xuetong while supporting Old Madam, Mo Huayan wanted to say something; however, Old Madam pulled him with force, and he had to walk directly past Mo Xuetong.
Mo Xueyan walked at the end of the line and hinted with her lips pursed. “Didn’t Third Sister decide not to attend the royal banquet because of her sprained feet? Why is she hurrying there now? Is she meeting someone?”
Mo Xuetong rose up and blankly glanced at Mo Xueyan. Seeing Mo Xueyan’s smug face, Mo Xuetong knew that she must be very satisfied with her marriage. Mo Xuetong raised her lips in a cold sneer. “Mo Xueyan really thinks it easy to marry into Mingguo Manor! A person like You Yuecheng will only let his brother marry a woman outside the royal palace like Mo Xueyan when she’s of use to him.”
“Mo Xueyan won’t know what she dies of eventually.”
She didn’t let her expression betray her thought, so she just faintly said, “Since His Majesty summoned, I have to go. I won’t try to ruin anyone’s reputation simply for an invitation, so I’m not going to meet someone at all!”
Mo Xueyan knew the incident about Old Madam; therefore, when she heard Mo Xuetong bringing it up again, she grew increasingly guilty. Immediately, she bluffed. “Why are you happy? If Grandmother didn’t order us to keep your things secret, you can’t go out to face anyone.”
Mo Xuetong lightly smiled, and calmly looked at Mo Xueyan, smilingly saying, “I heard Yu Mingyong’s confession has been passed to His Majesty. When scolding her brother, Consort Yu said she wanted to punish the mastermind behind. Second Sister, I wonder if Consort Yu will attend your wedding ceremony with the master from Duke You’s manor.”
After such an episode, Yu Mingyong’s official career had already ended. He could at most be a useless playboy, and wouldn’t be of any use to Consort Yu in the royal palace. How could Consort Yu not hate the person who lured his brother to make mistakes, which was Mo Manor’s Old Madam? The next was Mo Xueyan. It was hard to tell if she would spare them or not.
Mo Xueyan involuntarily trembled at the words, but she didn’t want to surrender. She lowered her voice, stretched out her finger to point at Mo Xuetong’s nose, and said in a low voice, “Don’t you ever think you can get away. So many people saw Yu Mingyong sneak into our manor. If my marriage goes wrong, I’ll tell others you have an affair with Yu Mingyong. If something happens to me, I’ll make sure they happen to you as well.”
Jealousy filled her heart like a viper circling her bones. Mo Xueyan’s eyes were red and she glared at Mo Xuetong as if she wanted to tear Mo Xuetong into pieces. “Why? We’re all legal daughters from Mo Manor. Why does Mo Xuetong enjoy high status and enormous prestige before people while I can only hide behind others and be looked down upon?”
Mo Lan couldn’t bear it anymore. She stepped forward, reached out to knock Mo Xueyan on the hand, and said coldly, “Second Miss, please lower your hand. And don’t forget, you’re pointing at the royal Princess Anping. Second Miss, you’ve been the first one to have pointed at a royal princess and insulted her.”
“How dare a servant treat me like this!” Being scolded by a servant like this, Mo Xueyan couldn’t stand it and raised her hand, ready to slap Mo Lan in the face. However, Mo Ye stopped Mo Xueyan and forcibly dragged her to the side. If Mo Xueyan’s two maidservants hadn’t reacted quickly, Mo Xueyan almost had lost her balance and fallen into the dust.
Glancing at Mo Xueyan with disgust, Mo Xuetong then directly ignored her and turned around to face Mo Huawen.
Behind her, Mo Xueyan’s voice rang through clenched teeth. “Mo Xuetong, wait and see.”
Mo Xuetong didn’t even answer her. She followed Mo Huawen into the manor. When the thick gate was closed with force, and when she heard the bam, she felt like it was in another life. “In this life, Father even drove away the ill-intentioned Old Madam. Does that mean I finally get away from last life’s entanglement?”
Seeing her absentminded, Mo Huawen thought she was worried about the Old Madam, so he turned around to tried to change the topic, and affectionately asked, “Tong’er, is everything going well in the royal palace?”
Mo Xuetong lightly smiled and followed Mo Huawen into the manor. Maybe because Old Madam had been gone, she felt somewhat comfortable, and even her expression looked relaxed. “Everything’s fine. It’s just that Fifth Princess’s pet monkey has scratched some consort’s face.”
Mo Huawen knew too well of the situation in the palace. “Though Tong’er didn’t say anything, things can’t be as easy as what she said. It’s lucky that she came back safe and sound and I can finally stop worrying. I know what His Majesty wants, but if we look at things closer, I don’t think King Xuan will be a good husband.
“But there’s nothing I can do now. I only hope the playboy can change his mind and really care for Tong’er.”
Mo Huawen put his hands behind his back. He walked in front of her and looked a little gloomy. “Later, some sirs from Duke Zhenguo’s manor will come visit us. Tell Nanny Ming to receive them. If they propose a marriage, she can just agree on it. I only need you for your mother’s mourning. As for if those poorly-behaved ones stay in mourning or not, your mother won’t care and neither will I.”
Mo Xuetong was shocked. “Father means that Duke Zhenguo’s manor wants Eldest Sister to marry into their manor now?”
Mo Huawen’s face looked terrible because the matchmaker Duchess Zhenguo sent to propose a marriage talked scornfully. When he thought of it, he felt the veins on his forehead bulging. “They said their heir was severely injured from saving your eldest sister and would faint from time to time. So they want your eldest sister to bring them good luck through marriage. He got injured because of her, and of course, she must be responsible for it.”
In the matter between Sima Lingyun and Mo Xuemin, when they said Sima Lingyun saved Mo Xuemin, they were simply trying to save face for the two manors. They didn’t expect Duke Zhenguo’s manor to openly try to get some “interest” from Mo Manor. They said it was because of saving Mo Xuemin. However, who really caused this, anyway?
Even if Duke Zhenguo’s manor had been so shameless to say it out loud, Mo Huawen really couldn’t bear to hear it out. However, when he thought of Mo Xuemin’s cruelty and rebellion, Mo Huawen nearly couldn’t wait to send her into Duke Zhenguo’s manor. Therefore, he decided to ignore the way people from Duke Zhenguo’s manor talked. Anyway, Sima Lingyun wasn’t a nice guy whatsoever.
Mo Xuetong would be more than glad to see Mo Xuemin marry the unfaithful guy, Sima Lingyun. However, she was before Mo Huawen now, so she deliberately knitted her slender brows and said, “Will Eldest Sister agree on it?”
“In her last life, Mo Xuemin framed me to death just to marry Sima Lingyun. In this life, I want to see how you two will end up without me!”
Neither of them wanted to marry the other now!
A burning fire seemed to flash before Mo Xuetong’s eyes, and in the fire, Mo Xuemin’s grim laugh seemed to ring somewhere. Mo Xuetong’s eyes turned vicious. “I’ll have them taste the desperate hate and bitterness in the netherworld!”
Mo Huawen looked stony and his tone carried a trace of disgust, which was something that never happened before. “Things have come to this point. On what grounds can she refuse?”
Mo Manor and Duke Zhenguo’s manor lost face because of the forced marriage. Even now, when some peers talked about this, they kept the sentence unfinished with a smile on their lips, which Mo Huawen all took as jeers. Toward such a daughter, how would Mo Huawen care about her?
Mo Xuetong flashed her bright, watery eyes and enchantingly smiled. “Yes, I’ll tell Nanny Ming right away. I’ll ask her to prepare a dowry for Eldest Sister. She’s Father’s eldest daughter and the dowry must be well-prepared. Father, you should prepare yourself too. In a few days, the new concubine mother will move in. We should wait after she moves in to decide on some things. We really need a new mother to be in charge of the matters in the inner residence.”
Mo Huawen felt somewhat awkward talking about his marriage with his daughter. However, now, in the inner residence, he could only discuss matters with this daughter, and now she was managing the inner residence. Mo Huawen hesitated and still said, “You can do it in your way. We’re just trying to save face for your grandmother’s family. You don’t need to make it too fancy, that’s all.”
He meant the ceremony shouldn’t be too grand.
Mo Huawen was marrying a new wife and she turned out to be his previous wife’s younger cousin. There should not be too many rules. They could just go through the procedures and send her into the manor.
Though not having held such a ceremony, Mo Xuetong knew that when moving into the manor, the new wife needed to pay her salute to the former legal wife. Therefore, the rituals should be simple. Moreover, Father even cared less about it. He only hoped to satisfy her grandparents. However, Mo Xuetong didn’t think so. She already lost her mother and Father had only one son left. When Xu Yan married into the manor, Mo Xuetong hoped she could give birth to sons for Father to pass on the family bloodline.
To end Auntie Fang and her daughter’s dream for good!
To pave the way for Xu Yan’s future son to earn good status, the wedding ceremony should be magnificent. When a woman married into her husband’s family, how the family treated her decided her future power in the manor and decided if she could be superior to those concubines. She had to let Xu Yan get in charge once marrying into the manor, and then Xu Yan could help Father run the inner residence.
Mo Xuetong obediently said, smiled and looked at Mo Huawen to promise. “Rest assured, Father. I have Nanny Ming’s help, and I’ll surely arrange this well. When my new mother enters the manor, I’ll no longer have to run the inner residence.”
Her bright eyes were as tender as water. Mo Huawen looked at the pair of remarkably similar eyes and felt a heartache. He reached out to stroke Mo Xuetong’s head. At that moment, he was lost for words. Through the pair of eyes, he seemed to see another woman. Though bedridden, the woman still smiled as gently as water.
He remembered the encounter when they were young, the joy on their wedding night, the happiness of their life after marriage, the perfection when Tong’er was born, and finally, her death. However, she left him with such a problem. Sometimes, he would also blame her and felt angry with her. After so many years of marriage, she should never mention it. A couple’s coordinated power could cut gold. However, when did she ever remember that?
She kept all things to herself, suffered and felt startled all by herself. In the end, she hid it from him even after she had been poisoned and she died eventually. How could Mo Huawen’s heart not ache!
Closing his eyes and breathing out heavily, he suppressed the emotion welling up inside him. He felt mixed feelings and in the end, there was only bitterness left.
He turned around, paused and asked to change the topic. “Tong’er, King Xuan just sent an invitation for some Qin gathering. He said you would find it useful?”
He remembered that Tong’er said she would not go out. How would she find the invitation useful?
“Father, people are already talking about me. There are things I can’t avoid. I didn’t go to the royal banquet, yet they sent letters home. And I nearly became the heroine of an affair. Father might not know that last time in the Lantern Festival, someone tried to assassinate me. If I hadn’t been lucky, I might never return.” Mo Xuetong looked into Mo Huawen’s eyes. This was why she accompanied him to the door of the study.
Things changed fast in the capital. She couldn’t let her father be kept in the dark and get set up. She needed to clarify something sooner. Her father was in charge of civil security. He must have known what she meant.
Mo Huawen was shocked and eagerly asked, “What, someone tried to assassinate you? Who are they?”
“I didn’t know who they were, so Father must be careful too.” Mo Xuetong hesitated, bit her lips, and still carried on, “I heard King Ning is Empress Dowager’s biological grandson. When he was kept as the royal hostage in the Yan Kingdom, he was on good terms with those princes from the Yan Kingdom. Back home, in the Qin Kingdom, he’s also the ruling Grand Secretariat’s student.”
At that moment, Mo Huawen couldn’t follow her daughter’s words. He looked at Mo Xuetong in shock. Then, he suddenly realized and his face changed dramatically. He drew back his hands and walked on the spot to and fro. He didn’t have time for Mo Xuetong anymore. After sending her away, he immediately ordered people to investigate.
When it was dinner time, a file was placed on his desk! Indeed, it was intelligence he had ignored.
It read: King Ning, Feng Yuzhen, has secretly returned to the capital!
