It was the first time for Liu Xi to see King Xuan was concerned about a person. Worried about the lady’s poor health condition, King Xuan had confided in advance, for fear that his lady would feel a little wronged. In Liu Xi’s opinion, since His Highness, King Xuan, was His Majesty’s favorite prince, and the lady was His Highness’ treasured person. This weight was heavy enough to make Liu Xi, the lead eunuch who had been living in the palace for several decades, fawn on Mo Xuetong.
It turned out that Feng Yuran had ordered it. Looking at Liu Xi’s teasing eyes, Mo Xuetong blushed and lowered her head slightly, and felt warm in her heart. She knew that most of her things were in the palm of his hand. Although she did not ask Mo Feng to tell him anything, she believed that Feng Yuran had known it, otherwise, he would not have sent people to ask her to enter the palace as soon as she went down the Puguang Temple.
Then he had arranged everything well in the palace and did not let her feel a little wronged. Mo Xuetong’s heart felt as sweet as being soaked in the mulse. And now as her thoughts were seen through, her face turned red with abashment, and she could not speak a word.
Seeing Mo Xuetong feel ashamed, Liu Xi shifted the topic subtly and said to her with a smile, “His Majesty has approved the memorials for the whole afternoon and felt tired. Your Highness, could you please finish your words more quickly, as I will serve His Majesty to have some dessert and take a break.” Having been living in the palace for many years, Liu Xi was absolutely a clever person, since he was able to promote from a rock-bottom eunuch to a lead eunuch in charge.
Mo Xuetong said softly, “Yes, I know. Thank you for the trouble you’ve taken on my behalf, Eunuch Liu.” The blush on her face receded slightly. Her eyes became calm, and the abashment had faded away completely, as if she changed into another one in a blink. Liu Xi could not help praising her inwardly as he saw her change.
The lady did have the dignity and majesty that a king’s consort should have. Compared with Consort Xuan, Consort Chu was left far behind, as she knew nothing but make a scene shrewishly, and all the things she had conducted just brought shame to the royal family. She did not even accept that the king’s second consort conceived a baby, and did harm to the royal heir, which did violate the taboo in the royal family. On the other hand, Consort Xuan behaved decorously with the best upbringing and courtesy.
This was what Liu Xi thought, and so did Emperor Zongwen.
Sitting behind the high desk, Emperor Zongwen looked at Mo Xuetong who was kneeling on the ground respectfully, and he brightened into a satisfied smile. He was rather content with the daughter-in-law. Every time he thought that his son’s life could be saved thanks to the marriage with her, and Mo Xuetong was not as defiant as before, Emperor Zongwen thought it was right to allow Mo Xuetong to marry Feng Yuran.
The only thing that Emperor Zongwen felt dissatisfied was that Mo Xuetong was too young and still observing mourning for her mother, so she was unable to procreate for the royal family at the current stage. Emperor Zongwen thought Xuan’er would feel aggrieved at it. Now, Xuan’er had recovered and could marry a second consort admittedly. At least, the second consort could help Mo Xuetong manage the domestic problems lest Mo Xuetong should be too young to deal with a number of women in Xuan’er’s back garden.
Emperor Zongwen made up his mind and became gentler with Mo Xuetong. “Get up and take a seat.”
“Thank you, Father Emperor.” Mo Xuetong copied the way that Feng Yuran called the Emperor, so it sounded rather close, which made Emperor Zongwen rather satisfied. He nodded his head, signaling that she did not have to be punctilious.
Mo Xuetong respectfully made a bow and stood still with Mo Lan’s support. A palace maidservant came to lead Mo Xuetong to sit on a brocade stool on one side.
“Old Eight’s consort, what’s the matter that bothers you to come to see me?” Emperor Zongwen asked.
“Your Majesty, please redress the scales for me.” The moment Mo Xuetong was about to sit, she knelt down suddenly with her eyes turning red, as if she was crying. So Mo Xuetong turned her head to hide the grief in her eyes and quickly wiped the tears in the corner of her eyes to control her emotions. Although she felt wronged, she still behaved herself in a calm and easy manner.
Emperor Zongwen looked stern and asked gravely, “What happened?”
Mo Xuetong bit her lower lip and hesitated. She looked at Emperor Zongwen, nonplussed, afraid of irritating him. Her gingerly appearance showed her worry and fear, as well as the desire to speak but hesitation in a second thought, which made people itching to know what had happened on earth.
Emperor Zongwen frowned and asked, “Old Eight’s consort, go ahead. Tell me what happened.”
“King Yan, His Highness, King Yan said my fourth younger sister eloped with a man, and even claimed that it was I who incited her to do that. I felt extremely wronged. Since I was invited to offer incense in the Puguang Temple for no reason, such unexpected things happened to me. And the manservant that my fourth younger sister eloped with was King Yan’s close servant. Your Majesty, I felt scared and nervous. So I hurried down from the mountain. At the thought that my fourth younger sister is still in King Yan’s Consort’s hand, and I don’t know if my sister is still alive or dead, I feel greatly upset, not knowing what to do?”
After finishing speaking, Mo Xuetong seemed to be unable to restrain her grief, and the tears on the corners of her eyes dropped down uncontrollably. She knelt down on the ground and kowtowed again, as she said in a sad voice, “Your Majesty, please redress the scales for me and save my fourth younger sister. Let His Highness King Yan give a way out to my fourth younger sister. She is just a woman with a disfigured face. How could she get involved with elopement?”
Women who chose to elope were often passionate with others. In this regard, who would like to elope with a woman with a disfigured face? Besides, the man was King Yan’s close manservant. In fact, the status of such a close manservant was not so humble in the king’s manor, so he could choose a beautiful woman as he wanted, but why did he choose Mo Xueqiong, a woman whose face had been ruined?
Mo Xuetong expressed her thoughts clearly in her words.
Sure enough, Emperor Zongwen was furious at what she said, slapped heavily on the table, and shouted at Liu Xi, “Go to bring Old Three to me.”
Although Mo Xuetong didn’t say much, how could Emperor Zongwen not know what she implied? Originally, Emperor Zongwen had intended to make Old Three act dutifully. But judging from the current case, Old Three became more and more undisciplined that he dared to frame Old Eight, which did make Emperor Zongwen burst into rage.
Feng Yulei and You Yue’e came very fast. Before the Emperor’s decree was passed out of the palace, they had already come to the palace gate and hurried inwards, and they happened to meet Feng Yuran who were taking Mo Xuetong out of the palace. The four just confronted in the palace.
Feng Yuran raised his handsome eyebrows, stepped forward, and blocked Feng Yulei’s way. He made a bow with fists folded in front. Although he behaved respectfully, and his eyes looked sincere, his lips curled up with a slight sneer, which betrayed him and showed a sheer provocation to Feng Yulei. “Third Brother, haven’t you gone to the Puguang Temple and prayed for your mother? Why do you have time to enter the palace at this time?”
Feng Yulei almost vomited blood with anger. All the people in the palace knew that his mother’s memorial tablet was not in the Puguang Temple, and he arranged the Buddhist rites and prayed merely for You Yue’e’s mother. But Feng Yuran’s words would remind those in the know that Feng Yulei’s mother was also dead, and she died on the date before today. That was to say, Feng Yulei did not play Buddhist rites or pray for his own mother, but instead did that for You Yue’e’s mother. His behavior was rather suspicious.
But annoyed as Feng Yulei was, he had to pretend a smile on his face. He looked at Feng Yuran and still said deliberately, “Something happened in the manor, so I came to the palace especially. Eighth Brother, why did you return from the palace with the consort at this time?”
Feng Yuran didn’t answer his question, but stood upright, waved his big sleeves and put his hands behind his back. He assumed a careless and casual air and said slovenly, “Third Brother, the woman in your manor did screw up my consort. As her husband, I should back her up, right? It is a matter between men. How can it get women involved and let them be bullied, right?”
Feng Yuran’s words had special implications, which made Feng Yulei’s face turn livid. Feng Yulei was about to lose his temper, but seeing Feng Yuran’s casual and teasing look, he realized that it was not the proper time to get cross. So he gritted his teeth secretly, took a few deep breaths, and stopped You Yue’e who was about to flare up.
It was not the time to get angry. What had happened in the Puguang Temple would definitely cause the Emperor to doubt him. Feng Yulei had to prepare the explanation and did not let the Emperor perceive the least enmity, so he should reduce the effect of this matter as much as possible. Besides, Feng Yuran was well known for his casualness. Even if he would say something offensive, it would not be unusual.
But Feng Yulei himself was different. Since he was being grounded, he should behave himself without a tiny mistake.
And there was an insinuation in Feng Yuran’s remark, which was beyond the literal meaning. If Feng Yulei got angry at this time, didn’t he admit that he felt guilty?
“Eighth Brother, I am very sorry for you. I did not expect that Mo Xueqiong hated her sister so much. And she is so petty-minded. The difference between the legitimate and the illegitimate exists commonly in all the families, and the legitimate always enjoys the leading position. And how can she, an illegitimate daughter, feel grieved? Eighth brother’s consort, I’m sorry that you were frightened.”
Feng Yulei folded his hands to Mo Xuetong apologetically, as if he was apologizing on Mo Xueqiong’s behalf.
Mo Xuetong stood silently beside Feng Yuran. When seeing Feng Yulei mentioning her, she smiled softly to Feng Yulei to conceal the sneer at the corner of her lips, but did not answer him. Standing beside Feng Yuran, she needed to do nothing but be a king’s consort ignorant of worldly affairs.
An arrogant and irrational king with bad manners, and an incompetent and cowardly king’s consort who knew nothing but behaved submissively were such a perfect match present in public.
According to Feng Yulei’s remarks, because of the dispute for the legitimate and the illegitimate status, Mo Xuetong caused so much trouble as a result of Mo Xuetong’s place as a legitimate position and the suppression on her. Feng Yulei was really good at making up stories and even wanted to described Mo Xuetong as the cause of the matter, trying to explain what Mo Xueqiong had said and done did not count, and all were on her personal grounds, which had nothing to do with Feng Yulei himself.
Feng Yulei said it smoothly without any stop. It seemed that he had prepared the excuse in advance. If something unexpected happened, he would push Mo Xueqiong out to bear the blame. So even if there were any punishment, he would transfer the blame on the dispute between Mo Manor’s sisters, and even claimed that it was Mo Xuetong’s excoriation that led to such a consequence.
“Third Brother, is it possible? Did your second consort say this to you? Third Brother, I tell you it must be lies. You should let someone beat her up and see if she will spit out other reasons. She dared to murder her sister and elope with a man. She will be beaten to death for the elopement. No matter how ignorant she is, she won’t risk her life to harm Tong’er, will she?”
Feng Yuran laughed and answered. He touched on it lightly and described the forced confessions as ordinary things, and a hint of enchanting cunning flashed in his beautiful eyes, as if he were unaware of the stiffened smile on Feng Yulei’s lips.
The dispute between the legitimate and illegitimate would cause some frictions, which was rather common in all the manors. But no matter how terrible the dispute was, a person would not do harm to others at the cost of his/her own life. After all, it was not so grievous as murder and looting. Besides, Mo Xuetong was in the King Xuan’s Manor, while Mo Xueqiong in the King Yan’s Manor. The dispute before their marriage had petered out already.
Even a petty-minded person knew not to stir up so much trouble at this moment.
Obviously, Feng Yuran did tease King Yan with King Yan’s answer. At that moment, a trace of embarrassment took on Feng Yulei’s eyes. As the excuse was exposed directly, he could not accept it no matter how shrewd he was.
You Yue’e could not restrain herself any longer, looked up, and explained for Feng Yulei with a serious look. “Your Highness, it is impossible to guess Second Consort Mo’s mind.”
Feng Yuran narrowed his eyes and asked slowly, “Is the second consort still alive? I really want to see her.”
The words made You Yue’e unable to respond immediately. Her face turned white, and she answered dryly after some thoughts, “It should be decided by His Majesty.”
Feng Yuran did not grill them, and took Mo Xuetong’s hand and smiled at them. “Tong’er was frightened and feels tired now. I take her back to rest first. Third Brother, and Third Sister-in-law, please help to vent anger for Tong’er. A second consort dared to do that. She is as tactful as a man.”
Feng Yuran’s last sentence sounded like praise, and he put on a half-smile, which made Feng Yulei and You Yue’e lost in words at that moment. “She is as tactful as a man.” It meant that a woman in the inner yard was unable to do such a thing. There was an insinuation in Feng Yuran’s remark. How could Feng Yulei and You Yue’e not understand it? Sweat oozed from Feng Yulei’s forehead.
Feng Yuran finished his words and walked off with Mo Xuetong before they replied.
