But now, what Mo Xuetong said made Mo Huawen hesitate. Would everything be alright if King Xuan did not care about anything? He had originally thought that since King Xuan was the Emperor’s favorite son, it did not matter even if he were not ambitious. However, King Yan did not forget to hurt King Xuan even in his current state. Was he truly unable to let his lazy younger brother live?
If this was what King Yan thought, then what about King Chu? If the Emperor passed on in the future, who would take care of this younger brother of theirs?
Were all of them, no matter who ascended the throne, not going to let King Xuan off? Then what about Tong’er?
If King Xuan were charged with the crime of rebellion, the entire manor would be implicated. Mo Huawen could not help but shudder when he thought of that. He immediately regained his wits and clarity flashed in his eyes. He could not allow anything to happen to Tong’er and he would not allow anything to happen to her. Otherwise, he would not be able to face Luo Xia when he moved on to the afterlife.
“Tong’er, didn’t His Highness come today?” Mo Huawen asked with a frown.
“His Highness returned to the manor first. His Majesty asked him to handle some things and he went back to deal with them.” Mo Xuetong answered with a smile, pretending not to see the sharpness in Mo Huawen’s eyes. She accepted the tea a maid brought her and then stood up, bringing the cup to Mo Huawen. She said, “Father, have some tea. This is from me; do you like it?”
She spoke coyly and cocked her head, looking like the adorable girl she was before she got married. Her eyes were filled with her adoration for her father. Mo Huawen felt very pleased. He downed the tea without even taking a look at it and even said with a smile, “The tea from Tong’er is definitely good. I’ll drink it, I’ll drink it… Ah…”
He immediately spat out the boiling hot tea and started jumping around, almost upturning the table.
Then, Mo Xuetong watched in shock as her usually steady and calm father started to jump around in pain. She hurriedly called for a servant to bring them a cup of cold water. Mo Huawen took a few gulps of the water and then looked at Mo Xuetong a little embarrassed, and explained, “I wasn’t paying attention. It was too hot. Ha, haha!”
He looked rather pathetic and a little pitiful!
Mo Xuetong could not stop the smile spreading on her lips. Her eyes curved up as she laughed loudly, holding her stomach, “Father… Father. You… you were in such a hurry.”
Mo Huawen could not help the smile that reached his eyes when he saw the exaggerated smile on his daughter’s face and how adorable she looked. He put the cup of cold water down and reached out to pat Mo Xuetong’s head. It was just as if she had not yet gotten married and was still his sweet and thoughtful daughter.
She was not the dignified Consort Xuan, and he was not the stern lord mayor. They were just an ordinary father and daughter pair…
Mo Huawen decided there and then that no matter what, he would not just stand by and allow Tong’er to get into trouble.
The pair smiled at each other in a silly manner for a long while before they finally settled down. A maid helped Mo Huawen to clean up before leaving. The two sat down again and Mo Huawen asked with a serious expression, “Tong’er, how do you think the matter with King Yan’s Manor should be handled?”
Since he already knew what happened, he had to take a stand as well.
It was a fact that Mo Xueqiong was dead. The most important thing was that Mo Xueqiong’s incident had not gone through any trials before everyone involved died. Even the pregnant maid did not have a chance to speak. The only ones who had spoken were from King Yan’s Manor. They reported the incident to the Emperor and the matter ended without any conclusions. After that, it was all just gossip that floated throughout the city.
Some people said that Mo Xueqiong had been framed while others said that she was an immoral woman who had an affair and whose maid had an affair as well. They said that she was a slutty woman who had committed suicide because she had been caught by King Yan…
The first explanation had been prevalent in the very beginning. However, the second explanation started to grow popular after some time. The second explanation was a slap to the Mo Manor’s face. If the Mo Manor did not do anything, it would mean that they agreed and accepted that explanation. Even though Mo Huawen was not the least bit upset about Mo Xueqiong’s death, he would not allow the Mo Manor’s reputation to be damaged.
After all, he still had other daughters!
“Father, do you wish to seek revenge for Fourth Sister?” Mo Xuetong gave the matter some thought. Her smile vanished as she looked up at Mo Huawen.
“No!” Mo Huawen answered decisively without any hesitation. Anger was evident on his face. When he thought of how he used to dote on Mo Xueqiong and how she kept trying to hurt Tong’er and the Mo Manor, Mo Huawen felt that he should just treat it as he never had such a daughter.
Actually, ever since Mo Xueqiong had been bestowed to King Yan, Feng Yulei, by Emperor Zongwen, Mo Huawen had already decided to break off all relations with her. Mo Xueqiong had returned to the Mo Manor twice after that, wanting to visit Mo Huawen. However, he did not see her, claiming that he was busy with official matters.
“Father, since you do not wish to do so, there is no need to cause a fuss. However, you have to get King Yan’s Manor to give the Mo Manor an explanation.” Mo Xuetong said with a slight smile. There was a hint of coldness on her face. No matter whether it was Feng Yulei or You Yuecheng, they both tried to plot against her using this incident. Furthermore, they were still waiting. Did they think she was an easy target? Mo Xuetong was not without any power at all.
The circumstances behind Mo Xueqiong’s death were unclear, so King Yan’s Manor had to give the Mo Manor an explanation. Someone needed to go and make a fuss so that King Yan’s Manor would be embarrassed as well. If they blew the matter up, the tongues that wagged would take the Mo Manor’s side. The more silent they were, the more guilty they would seem.
However, they were not truly seeking revenge for Mo Xueqiong. As such, Mo Huawen did not have to go to the Emperor and ask for a fair judgment. He did not need to go straight to the Emperor.
Mo Huawen paused and asked hurriedly, “What do you mean?”
This was a problem Mo Huawen had been troubled with for the last few days. What should he do and how should he go about doing it so that it would be just right? It was something that was difficult to gauge, especially when the circumstances behind the entire situation was unclear. Mo Huawen did not think that acting rashly was a good plan. He managed to make it as a lord mayor, proving that he was not a rash person.
“Father, there is something I do not understand. What was it that made Fourth Sister betray me and the lives of the Mo Manor? Was it really for that servant? Fourth Sister has always been proud; it’s impossible for her to fall in love with that servant. She had done everything she could to steal the account books and secret documents of the King’s Manor. It does not make sense that she did this just to elope with the servant. There is something wrong about this.”
Mo Xuetong continued analyzing the issue, “With this loophole, King Yan’s Manor can only at the most insist that Fourth Sister was in the wrong. Otherwise, someone in King Yan’s Manor has to take the blame for not being able to accept Fourth Sister, or that they had tried to harm King Xuan. Father, which blame do you think our King Yan is more willing to accept?”
Mo Huawen’s eyes lit up at that and he nodded approvingly. Why did he not think of that?
If Mo Xueqiong had died unjustly, if Mo Xueqiong had not really intended to elope with a man, then all the blotches on her reputation would vanish. Then, others would start to think: Who wanted Mo Xueqiong to die an unjust death? Who had set up this plot to frame Mo Xueqiong?
Was it really because they could not accept the existence of a Second Consort or were they trying to use her to get to King Xuan, Feng Yuran? No matter who was to blame for it, they would all accept the first accusation rather than the second.
The first accusation was just jealousy between women and a matter of the back courtyard. Women of the back courtyard took the blame for such incidents most often. However, the second charge was one in which a man is suspected of attempting to take the life of his brother. Furthermore, the victim was the Emperor’s favorite son, the Eighth Prince, the spoilt King Xuan.
It was obvious which charge was more serious.
However, the crux of the matter was—how were they going to prove that Mo Xueqiong was innocent?
Mo Xueqiong was dead and even her two personal maids were dead. Who could stand up for her and be her witness? Even if Mo Xuetong brought up the letter from Mo Xueqiong, it would be useless because Mo Xueqiong was dead. They only had to say that Mo Xuetong had forged the letter and insist that they did not know about it. Mo Xuetong would not be able to prove Mo Xueqiong’s innocence with that.
Since Mo Xueqiong was dead, they could say anything they wanted.
The matter could be manipulated but the problem was: Who was going to manipulate the situation?
Mo Huawen understood what Mo Xuetong meant and nodded. However, he asked with a frown, “Tong’er, who do you think would be more suitable to do this?” He naturally could not do such a thing. Furthermore, if he were the one to do the confrontation, it would end up in front of the Emperor. He wanted to embarrass King Yan’s Manor, not fight with the Emperor. As such, it was extremely inappropriate for him to stage the confrontation.
Other than him, there was Xu Yan. She was Mo Xueqiong’s mother. As her mother, it was normal for Xu Yan to stand up for her daughter. However, Xu Yan was heavily pregnant. If there was pushing and shoving and she was not careful, accidents might happen. Furthermore, this was not something a titled noblewoman should do. If she caused trouble, she would not be able to run in the circles of noblewoman ever again.
Then, there was Mo Xuetong. She would be able to stand up for her younger sister. However, she was the high and mighty Consort Xuan. It was even more inappropriate for her to do something so crass, going to the King’s Manor front door and yelling like a shrew. Furthermore, she was involved in the gossip and if she did this, there might be more gossip about her. As such, she was not a good candidate as well.
“Auntie Qing!” Mo Huawen’s eyes brightened as he thought of a person. Mo Xueqiong’s legal mother could not stand up for her. However, Auntie Qing was Mo Xueqiong’s birth mother and was just a concubine. She would be the best candidate to do something like that.
Even if something were to happen, the blame could be pushed onto the concubine. Anyway, it was normal for her to say inappropriate things since she was upset and angry at the loss of her daughter. The Emperor was a wise leader and would not make things difficult for an insignificant concubine.
Mo Xuetong smiled slightly when she saw that her father understood her intentions. She drew patterns on the surface of the table and then looked up with a smile. “Father, that’s not enough. Fourth Sister’s reputation has been tarnished after all. If King Yan’s Manor insists that Fourth Sister was in the wrong, what are you going to say? The Censor might write about you and say that you have not managed your back courtyard well. He might say that you cannot help maintain peace throughout the country. Then, this will involve me and King Xuan. What will you do?”
Mo Xuetong decided that she had to remind her father lest he should get caught off-guard when others try to undermine him. Given her father’s current abilities, he would not allow others to put him at a disadvantage if he were prepared! Mo Xuetong had confidence in Mo Huawen.
The laws of the Qin Kingdom stated that a concubine who elopes with another man can be beaten to death. Even though Mo Xueqiong’s ranking was not high, she was still a Second Consort. She could only be punished if she was deemed guilty. However, the problem was that Mo Xueqiong’s reputation was now besmirched. If Feng Yulei were to use that against Mo Huawen, he could say that Mo Huawen had not taught his daughters well. That was why his daughters behaved immorally. Then, he could talk about Mo Xuemin, whose reputation was poor as well. After that, he could continue talking about Mo Xuetong or he might just criticize Mo Xuetong directly. That was possible as well.
They were all blood-related sisters. Since two of them were like that, how could they guarantee that the third was unlike the other two?
Mo Huawen grew frightened when he heard that and he immediately lost all the color in his face. He broke into a cold sweat. No wonder there were so many people who went to kick up a fuss at King Yan’s Manor. He used to think that these people got along pretty well with King Yan’s Manor and had secret dealings with King Yan. Why were they casting stones the moment King Yan descended from grace?
He only realized then that those people were setting him up. The matter was a double-edged sword. If he did not handle it carefully, he would injure himself. As such, he had to deliver a single fatal blow to King Yan’s Manor so that they would not even be able to speak. He had to deliver the strike that would silence them!
Mo Huawen thought through Mo Xuetong’s question and said gravely, “Tong’er, you mean…”
