Mo Xuetong’s mouth opened but she did not make a sound. Her fingers, which were hidden under her sleeves, clutched the table tightly. Her eyes tightened as if this would give her strength.
The pot holding the Yuxiao Flower was covered with pieces of jade and covered more than half the pot. The flower grew on top of that. It looked very auspicious and beautiful. Mo Xuetong once looked at the flower for a long time and had once wondered whether the flower meant anything. However, she had never thought of searching the flower pot.
Did the jade token cause Emperor Zongwen to fear the Fu General Manor in her past life? Then how was he going to deal with the jade token that appeared today?
“Is there something wrong with the jade token?” Mo Xuetong sighed and calmed down as she turned to look at Luo Bin.
Luo Bin nodded to himself in approval when he saw how Mo Xuetong quickly emerged from her shock and how her question was quick to the point. He walked to have the servants waiting outside move three feet away before he entered the room and closed the doors.
He returned to his seat and sat down. He looked at Mo Xuetong with a fiery gaze as he said softly, “This jade token can dispatch the royal secret guards. It is a token that His Majesty gave to King Jin but it disappeared with the fall of King Jin’s manor. The emperor once sent people to investigate the matter secretly but it had disappeared without a trace.”
“So the Emperor was reminded of what happened after he saw the token?” Mo Xuetong looked at the jade token with confusion. She asked, “It was the previous emperor who fought with King Jin for the throne, right? Since King Jin Manor has already fallen, why is His Majesty investigating this matter now? Furthermore, the secret guards are from the royal family and are loyal to the current emperor. Is there anyone who can use this token to give orders?”
Being able to order some of the secret guards in the royal family might be useful in the era of King Jin. However, that was two generations ago. The emperors had changed and so, the jade token must be useless now. The jade token was just a simple jade token now and no longer had the power it once had.
There was something else she did not say. If her mother was really King Jin’s daughter, then she was his descendant. Was Emperor Zongwen going to find her mother and kill them all?!
The incident had happened more than 30 years ago. Her mother had only just been born then. Why had the Emperor searched for a newborn girl child for more than 30 years? This was not logical.
“King Jin rebelled and everyone in the manor was killed. Their resplendence is something of the past, leaving behind only King Jin’s manor. Back then, some of the precious items in King Jin’s items went missing during the investigation. This jade token was one of those items. His Majesty wants to find these objects so he immediately had me investigate when he saw the jade token to see if there is anything similar. I heard that there are other similar jade tokens.” Luo Bin’s expression was one of worry.
Second Uncle was the assistant minister in the Ministry of Justice and the original owner of the pot of flowers. It was right for Emperor Zongwen to leave this matter to him. However, why did her second uncle look for her and tell the matter to a weak woman? He had not dared to meet her openly as well and had thought up of a ruse and used her grandmother to invite her here. Did her second uncle know about her mother’s background?!
“Then, Second Uncle, you asked me here today to…” Mo Xuetong looked at Luo Bin and asked him in astonishment. She pretended to be confused and she forced her wildly pounding heart to calm down.
“Your grandmother prepared some jade and pearls when your mother married your father. Your grandparents bought a lot of jade and pearls because your mother liked them. A lot of the things they bought were very precious. Since the Emperor wants to find a jade token like this, perhaps there would be some in your mother’s dowry. That’s why I asked you here to ask you about this. This is a matter of the Ministry of Justice and it is not good for a girl like you to be involved in this. That’s why I used your grandmother to ask you here.” Luo Bin explained with a smile.
That sounded reasonable and she could not find any flaws in his arguments. If Mo Xuetong did not know that her mother was King Jin’s daughter. She would not suspect Luo Bin and think that he was being considerate towards her by asking her to come secretly. However, she would not think like that now.
Her mother hiding in the Fu General Manor might not be a well-kept secret. There were some people who knew that, for example, her grandmother and her second uncle. Perhaps there were others that she did not know of. She suddenly felt a pain in her heart. Her mother had lived in such circumstances. She knew who she was then.
Was she fearful and uneasy or was she lonely and fragile?
She was an orphan with no family. Even though she lived in the manor, she would not dare to be careless. Even though the matters of King Jin manor had nothing to do with Emperor Zongwen, had King Jin been successful then, he would not be the current emperor. When she thought of that, Emperor Zongwen might be enraged and want to get rid of King Jin Manor completely.
This must be one of the reasons why her mother married her father!
Otherwise, why would she, a legitimate daughter of a general manor marry an insignificant fifth-grade official? Furthermore, she lived far away from the capital after she got married. Could this be the reason for the fight between her mother and the Princess Royal?!
No wonder her mother had always had poor health in her memories. She had such a heavy burden on her heart and she did not tell anyone about this, not even those closest to her. She was a weak woman, how could she take this?
Mo Xuetong’s eyes grew warm for some reason. It was as if she could see the ill and weak woman. She seemed fearful even though she smiled gently. She was always so careful in protecting her family and did not want others to realize that she was different. As such, she allowed her husband to take a concubine so that he could have illegitimate children just like everyone else.
If they surrounded themselves with commoners, they would not be discovered!
Her heart hurt and pain clawed at it. Yet, she smiled. Mo Xuetong looked at the jade bangle she wore and stretched out her hand in front of Luo Bin. She said, “Second Uncle, I have not seen such a jade token in Mother’s dowry. There are not many such high-quality jade pieces but the bangle I am wearing is passable. Do you want to take a look?”
She was going to take it off for Luo Bin to take a look at it.
Luo Bin looked down to see the clear jade bangle. He reached out to stop her and looked at the jade carefully. Then, he released her hand and said, “Tong’er, you don’t have to take it off. This jade did not belong to your mother’s dowry. It belongs to the person you are betrothed to. This was the jade bangle they gave. The jade bangles come in a pair, just like couples do. That happened not long after you were born. No one mentioned it after so many years, it probably does not count anymore.”
So that was true!
“Is this the item from back then?” She asked. A slight frown marred Mo Xuetong’s forehead as she waved the jade bangle on her hand.
“You were one then. I went to visit your mother and your mother brought it out to show me. She asked me to be a witness and if someone was to bring the other jade bangle in the future, I can speak for you.” Luo Bin smiled when he recalled what happened. Luo Bin’s voice gradually dulled and pain flashed through his eyes.
Second Uncle was truly good to her mother! That was why even though he smiled when he mentioned her mother, he also seemed sad and lonely.
“Second Uncle, it is possible that Tong’er did not look through them clearly. I will return to the manor to check again later. There is a lot of jade precious stones and gold in Mother’s dowry. Father already organized a few boxes. I did not pay attention to them in the past and did not look through all of them.” Mo Xuetong gave it a thought and smiled sweetly. Her long lashes fluttered and she hid the bitterness in her eyes.
“Good, good. Then Tong’er, go home and take a careful look. It is not a good thing to have the jade token in your hands. Just like the jade flower, if we had not sent it to the palace on our own accord, it would be troublesome for the jade token to be found in our hands.” Luo Bin smiled and tousled Mo Xuetong’s hair. The love in his eyes could not be hidden.
“Why?” Mo Xuetong asked. She blinked and her eyes were filled with confusion. She bit her lips and hid the shock she felt.
She had wondered why the Fu General Manor would fall from grace and why she had ended up like that in her past life. The Princess Royal was part of the reason but she was still a woman after all. She was just a princess without any power. Was she really so powerful to grasp the fate of the entire General Manor in her hands?
With a second chance at life, she could see the Princess Royal’s helplessness. Even though she wanted to protect someone, she could only do certain things. The Princess Royal was completely unlike how Mo Xuetong thought she was in her past life. She was not entirely powerful and could not get everything she wanted.
Then the problem was how Sima Lingyun found the pot of Yuxiao Flower at the Fu General Manor, or perhaps, one should call it the jade token.
“This jade token cannot order around the royal secret guard now. However, King Jin manor had secret guards back then. After what happened… some of the secret guards from King Jin’s manor disappeared without a trace.” Luo Bin sighed when she saw how determined Mo Xuetong was. He said softly, “If they find the jade token here at the manor, His Majesty might think that the Fu General Manor are supporters of King Jin…”
Mo Xuetong already understood before Luo Bin could complete his statement. If she had not been sitting, she would have fallen. So this was the reason for what happened.
The Princess Royal might have started the matter, but this was the most important reason. No wonder Sima Lingyun would step on the Fu General Manor to move up the ladder. With Duke Zhenguo’s background and status, he would definitely be aware of it even though it was a royal secret. He had immediately gone to the palace and received credit from Emperor Zongwen after getting the jade token from the pot by chance.
He could even add fuel to the fire and say certain things. Some things might not be suspicious alone but if Emperor Zongwen had started to suspect the Fu General Manor for hiding her mother, and coupled with the fact that the secret guard jade token was hidden in the manor, the two incidents would have become proof that the Fu General Manor was up to no good.
Her First Uncle was in charge of soldiers guarding the borders. If he really had the intention, he could create huge chaos. As the emperor, that would be what he was most afraid of. He would rather kill by mistake than to let anyone off. In her past life, the Fu General Manor had fallen because of the jade token. It had caused so much trouble and her life had become a tragedy because of this jade token.
Mo Xuetong gritted her teeth to force the tears that were about to fall back. She held her shaking hand to her chest. Her chest hurt as if there were a fire burning through it. She could not breathe, think, or act. Her mind was blank and her memories were reduced to ashes…
Luo Bin had left for some time but she remained seated. She did not move at all it was as if she had become petrified. Slowly, and with some difficulty, she recalled the tragedy she encountered in her past life. The scenes flashed before her eyes, she used to feel so helpless and desperate. There was no one who could protect her.
She was forced to marry Sima Lingyun and her already distant relationship with Mo Huawen was broken. Then, with Auntie Fang’s interference, she did not have a family to depend on even though she had one. Her most beloved maternal grandmother had died just 6 months later after the fall of the Fu General Manor, and she did not have any support at all. She had no choice and wanted to drag Sima Lingyun and Mo Xuemin to hell with her…
That was how pathetic she had been in her past life. She had not only been tricked by Mo Xuemin and Sima Lingyun, in the end, but she also could not even find the reasons that led to the tragedy that was her life!
“Miss, are you alright? The Old Madam is awake and is looking for you!” Mo Lan knocked lightly and entered to find Mo Xuetong sitting in a daze. Her face was as pale as a sheet and she looked listless. Mo Lan was immediately flustered and she hurried in to hold Mo Xuetong while calling out, “Miss, Miss…”
She patted Mo Xuetong’s shoulder.
Moments later, Mo Xuetong turned around to look at Mo Lan dazedly. She emerged from her reverie. There was a faint metallic taste on her lips. She had bitten through it. She asked hoarsely, “Where is Second Uncle?”
“Second Sir has something on and he went out. Old Madam heard that you were here and she got out of bed happily looking for you. Can you head there now?” Mo Lan helped Mo Xuetong up and asked her worriedly after they took a few steps. Even though she did not know what happened to her mistress, something major must have happened to ruffle her usually calm and composed mistress. Her mistress’ expression was a little stiff.
Mo Xuetong knew what was going on. She stood up and shut her eyes, composing herself. When she opened her eyes again, she had regained her usual graciousness and calmness. She said, “Mo Lan, it is fine now. Let’s go and see Grandmother.”
No matter what, everything had changed in this life. The jade token that had once caused the fall of the Fu General Manor had eased the suspicion of Emperor Zongwen because they had handed it up. The emperor had even ordered her second uncle to investigate the matter. This meant that Emperor Zongwen trusted the Fu General Manor. They had evaded the trouble.
The Fu General Manor would not fall and her grandmother would not pass away so quickly!
In this case, her life had taken on a completely different trajectory than it had in her past life. In her past life, the Fu General Manor had been implicated because of her. She had felt guilty even until her death. In this second chance at life, she had been worried at all times, afraid that she might bring trouble to her grandparents if she was not careful. It was great now. The heavy burden in her heart could finally rest.
Why did she have to feel upset then? One should look forward. With hope, she believed that she would be able to better protect those she wanted to protect! She would not let the tragedy that happened in her past life happen again.
