But the Empress knew they could do no more. She gritted her teeth, suppressed her anger, and looked back at Yan Miao, who was standing next to her.
Yan Miao had been with the Empress for a long time, and of course she knew what she meant. She immediately stood up from behind the Empress, came over to help Mo Xuetong, smiled, and helped her to a chair beside to sit down. “Consort Xuan, take it easy. Her Majesty is so angry today that she has just scolded Consort Yan into tears. His Majesty is waiting for Her Majesty to find out what has happened. She is upset. She’s not taking you personally,” Yan Miao said with a smile.
A clever maid brought a cup of tea and put it on the table in front of Mo Xuetong. “My Lady, please have some tea,” she said respectfully.
Mo Xuetong looked up at the Empress’ sullen face, and then at You Yue’e’s face, which was frozen by her words. She could not help smiling. After thinking for a while, she wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and said sadly to You Yue’e, “Consort Yan, you are the master of King Yan’s Manor. Of course I know that. But anyway, my fourth sister was given to Feng Yulei by His Majesty. You should spare her for the sake of His Majesty. Couldn’t you stand her? Or Consort Yan, it’s because you don’t like me?”
You Yue’e was so angry that she almost vomited blood and her eyes were red. She could not help rubbing her handkerchief with more force. In front of the Empress, Mo Xuetong accused her of having an evil heart, saying that she could not tolerate others, and finally said that she had a bad relationship with Mo Xuetong, so she hurt Mo Xueqiong.
You Yue’e had never seen such a sharp Mo Xuetong, which made her temporarily forget to pretend to cry. She did not know how to answer, and the Empress, who was sitting high, glared at her angrily. The Empress was dissatisfied with You Yue’e. No matter the origin or the status now, You Yue’e was better than Mo Xuetong. Why did Mo Xuetong have the advantage?
“Well, you’ll both be quiet. You are related. What are you talking about? Sit down, drink some tea, and discuss how to make His Majesty satisfied. Don’t annoy him. Otherwise, I can’t help you,” said the Empress grimly.
After being contradicted by Mo Xuetong, the Empress knew that it was not easy to fool Mo Xuetong. She could only think of another way of speaking now, in what seemed to be the fairest manner, as if she were not taking sides.
“Your Majesty, I have anger in my heart.” Mo Xuetong lifted her eyes and looked at the Empress with a low cough. She was not faking it. Her heart was throbbing with the excitement of the moment before. Mo Ye and Mo Yu were blocked outside the palace gate, so there was no one to serve her while her cool pills were with them.
Recently, she felt a little heat in the body, and sometimes she couldn’t sleep well in the afternoon, not knowing if it was because of the weather, or soaking in the hot spring in this kind of weather. Feng Yuran found a prescription and made some heat-clearing pills for her. She would feel extremely comfortable after taking the medicine. But now, though she felt a little hot, she could only endure it.
“What are you angry about? You just cursed Consort Yan. She’s your sister-in-law. A sister-in-law is like a mother. Even if she did do something wrong, you shouldn’t scold her like that. Besides, she didn’t annoy you,” the Empress scolded with a scowl on her face.
“Your Majesty, if I had killed one of Consort Yan’s sisters, I would have been willing to pay for it with her scolding. I really don’t mind getting yelled at a lot if people’s lives are so worthless.” Mo Xuetong said coldly. It was too cheap to pay for the life of a criminal if he was scolded.
“Consort Xuan, how dare you! Did Consort Yan ever murder your fourth sister? It was your fourth sister who did not obey the rules of womanhood, eloped with another man, and then hanged herself in disgrace. What does this have to do with Consort Yan?” The Empress could not help but scold Mo Xuetong for her repeated confrontations.
Her hand struck the table so hard that the tea almost fell out.
If Mo Xuetong was a timid person, she was likely to be frightened by the imposing manner of the Empress. But Mo Xuetong knew the Empress was trying to keep her down. If she was really pinned down by her, she was going to bear all the blame, so she couldn’t compromise.
She looked up at once and peered with contempt. Ignoring the Empress’ words, she lifted her chin up at You Yue’e and said, “Consort Yan, can you ask yourself if you didn’t hurt my fourth sister? Can you say that you didn’t miscarry Mo Yan and cause her to have significant bleeding? Consort Yan, she was a maid, but the baby in her belly was the real royal blood. How could you do that?”
“I didn’t hurt the bastard in that maid’s belly? It was your fourth sister who kicked her and caused her to miscarry. What does that have to do with me?” You Yue’e had been in a weak position today. Her cheeks were blanched and livid, and she was about to burst. At this time she could not contain her temper and cried angrily.
Mo Xuetong smiled and turned to the Empress, who was about to put on an angry expression due to her ignorance. “Your Majesty,” Mo Xuetong said, “you see, if any woman who is pregnant with King Yan’s son or daughter is not Consort Yan herself, the children will all be bastards. I wonder what Consort Yan thinks of the royal family’s bloodline. I remember the matter about Consort Chu a few days ago. Consort Chu was reprimanded for a second consort lost her baby, and was finally reduced to an ordinary concubine.”
That was not the only reason Ling Rui’er was punished, of course. But Mo Xuetong took it out of context, and no one else could say she was wrong. After all, that was why it happened.
“I will plead her cause. What happened at the King Yan’s Manor was that a concubine died, and a woman and her baby of royal blood in her womb died. Why did Consort Yan blame me for causing problems when she was fine? What about Consort Chu? Who asked her if she had been wronged?”
At this time, Mo Xuetong said rightfully. She defended Ling Rui’er as if she were totally devoted to it. Looking at the Empress sitting high with an expression of slightly displeasure on her face, You Yue’e knew that she was thinking about children that Mo Xuetong had just mentioned.
After all, neither the King Chu’s Manor nor King Xuan’s Manor had any children in their palaces. If King Yan’s Manor had a son, it would be of great benefit to King Yan and would help him to fight for the throne. But the problem was that the child had nothing to do with King Yan, and it was the result of her eldest brother’s calculation of Mo Xuetong.
Thinking of this matter, You Yue’e felt more aggrieved. It was not the prince’s child at all but was the child of an escort of her eldest brother. If the baby did come out, that would be a scandal for the royal family. But she could not speak of it, or there would be a lot of trouble. If the Emperor found out that King Yan was really calculating King Xuan, they would be in great trouble.
But now Mo Xuetong insisted that she killed King Yan’s children and compared her to Ling Rui’er. For this reason, even the Empress’ face darkened. She was obviously very unhappy with her. You Yue’e laughed angrily, pointed at Mo Xuetong, and said angrily, “Ling Rui’er is vicious, and it’s her own business. I wouldn’t do such a wicked thing. What happened at the manor was a deliberate attempt to frame me.”
She was so angry that she could not think normally. She only knew that she was furious and acted against Mo Xuetong. Whatever Mo Xuetong said, she objected, but she forgot that Ling Rui’er was the Empress’s niece. No matter how far she went, Ling Rui’er was the daughter of the Ding General Manor. The Empress was embarrassed when she spoke of Ling Rui’er’s demotion.
The Empress looked even angrier as You Yue’e spoke without thinking. She ignored them with a cold face. A maid came up, and tried to say something in the Empress’ ear, but she gave her a cold grunt and glared at her. Frightened, the maid did not dare to say anymore, and immediately retreated to the side.
“Consort Chu was wicked to do that. Consort Yan, were you born to be charitable? You did such a wicked thing, but still scolded Consort Chu.” Mo Xuetong caught a glimpse of a gorgeous train in bright red and argued even more for Ling Rui’er. “Consort Chu is usually arrogant, but in fact, she is not a wicked woman.”
When she heard Mo Xuetong still talking about her malevolence and saying that she was not as good as Ling Rui’er, You Yue’e was even angrier. She had always despised Ling Rui’er and snapped. “Why isn’t Ling Rui’er a wicked woman? The divorce is too light a punishment for her. Such women should be sentenced to death.”
In order to show her innocence and how much she hated such women, she scolded Ling Rui’er unkindly, as if only in this way could she show her innocence and prove that she was a completely different woman from Ling Rui’er. At the moment, her mind was completely following Mo Xuetong, and she just felt that she hated Mo Xuetong so much that she compared Ling Rui’er with her.
She went so far that the Empress, who was sitting high, snorted coldly and said, “Consort Yan, that’s enough. You’re not here to talk about Consort Chu. Let’s talk about the matter about the two of you.”
The Empress was pissed off by You Yue’e. She sounded more and more like she was coming to denounce Ling Rui’er, and she called her mercilessly in front of her, which was like slapping her in the face. No matter how bad Ling Rui’er was, it was a private matter for the Ding General Manor, and the daughter of the Mingguo Manor had no right to swear at her.
She tried to force the conversation back, but someone interrupted her. Just as she finished speaking, another cold voice came. “Aunt, Your Majesty, I didn’t expect that when the daughter of our Ding General Manor was cursed by the Mingguo Manor, you ignored it. Is what they say true? Aunt, Your Majesty, are you going to live on Consort Yan? So even though she insulted me, you didn’t stop her.”
Everyone turned and saw Ling Rui’er, dressed in a bright red royal dress, entering from the entrance of the hall. Her face darkened with anger. She gave You Yue’e a nasty look and then sneered at the Empress. She had been here for quite a while. You Yue’e’s words made her mad enough to pop up. Just now, seeing her enter the palace, the maid wanted to inform the Empress, but the angry Empress ignored her.
“Rui’er?” The Empress did not expect that Ling Rui’er would suddenly appear. She paused for a moment, ruthlessly glared at the maid who had come to her before but did not report her arrival.
“Ling Rui’er?” You Yue’e was shocked too. She was swearing fiercely when Ling Rui’er turned up unexpectedly. Like a car that stopped suddenly, her face darkened and she froze.
Mo Xuetong was the most graceful. After the initial shock, a faint smile appeared on her face. She stood up and nodded to Ling Rui’er. She looked at her formal dress with a twinkle in her eye, but a little more curiosity than contempt. This made Ling Rui’er, who had been sensitive these days, less hostile to her. Mo Xuetong even said some good words for her just now. At this time, she saw Mo Xuetong was a lot easier on the eyes. She raised her nose and slightly snorted, as a greeting to her.
