An old eunuch sat in the corner of Old Madam Xu’s yard. There were a few palace maids holding clothes, cloth and jewelry boxes standing behind him.
The door curtains lifted and two young ladies entered. The older girl was about 14 or 15. She wore a long pink dress with blue peacock prints. Her skirt danced above the ground and she wore a white satin shirt outside her skirt, showing off the elegant peacock print on her print shirt. Her skirt and sleeve cuffs were edged with silver-white clouds. Yes, she was slender and good looking. She was beautiful!
The younger girl wore a simple white dress with a light blue floral skirt. There were faint floral patterns only at the bottom of her skirt. Her black hair twisted into a skewed bun, pinned up only with a silver jade hairpin. When one looked at her, she looked gentle and weak and made one want to dote on her. She was not tall, and she had her head lowered when she entered. As such, he could not see her face clearly. He could only tell that she had not yet matured and was about 12 or 13.
“These two must be your granddaughters. They are both rare beauties. No wonder the queen boasted that you are a blessed woman when she saw them in the palace. Your granddaughters both look like beautiful flowers. I can see that they are both your granddaughters.” The old eunuch had a silver tongue and teased them with a smile. Old Madam Xu who was seated beside him smiled widely.
Mo Xuetong followed behind Luo Mingzhu and stood beside Old Madam Xu without speaking after she greeted them. She only looked at the old eunuch secretly. She could tell his grade from his robe. Usually, low level eunuchs wore grey robes with horizontal stripes. Some of the powerful eunuchs could embroider two silver stripes on their sleeves. Only lead eunuchs who served the masters of the palaces could have three gold stripes on their sleeves.
There were three stripes on the old eunuch’s sleeves. He had come from the Empress’ palace. How could the lead eunuch from the Empress’ palace be compared to other lead eunuchs from other palaces? He did not have to flatter a titled woman outside the palace. Even if her granddaughter was a good lady, it had nothing to do with the Empress. What was the Empress up to?
“Many thanks, Eunuch Liu, for your praise.” Old Madam Xu said with a smile. Then, she pointed at Luo Mingzhu and Mo Xuetong, introducing them. “This is my son’s daughter, and that is my daughter’s daughter.”
Eunuch Liu’s gaze fell on the little girl who looked shy and pitiful. He paused for a moment and looked at the delicate and pitiful Mo Xuetong who stood there dazedly. He grew hesitant and sized her up and down again.
The Old Madam’s other granddaughter seemed to be a smart one. She stood by the side, looking beautiful with a small smile on her face. Even though she would glance at him from time to time, she seemed delicate and smart. She looked dignified. A woman like this was better.
She stood by the side and still had not risen her head, standing dazedly beside the Old Madam, not even daring to raise her hand. Even though she looked delicate and adorable, she was so dazed and looked unsophisticated. She did not look like a noble lady. How could she be…
Was there a mistake? He came up with a new plan right there and then and no longer felt like wasting time.
“Ladies, since you are both here, please accept the Empress’ gifts so that I can go to visit the other ladies.” Eunuch Liu smiled and gestured or the palace maids behind him to present two sets of ruby headdress, two sets of luxurious cloth. Each of them was gifted a peacock hairpin made from soft gold. There were pearls and stunning precious rocks engraved into the hair pin. They were both stunning and looked expensive. It was a gift worthy of the most doted on concubine in the palace, much less two children.
The Old Madam who had been smiling all this while looked surprised. However, she politely told the girls to give thanks. The royal family gifting them such objects meant that they were not only precious, but they had been given face as well.
Mo Xuetong followed behind Luo Mingzhu carefully. She kneeled and bowed to the gifts, thanking the Empress for them. She kept her head down, looking as if she was a girl who was afraid and had never attended any grand occasions. It made Eunuch Liu who had been looking at her carefully shake his head secretly. The Empress must have made a mistake. A girl like this can’t even be a palace maid, so how could she attract the attention of King Xuan? Perhaps the wild King Xuan was in a good mood then and had just poked his nose into someone else’s business then.
What another thing could it be!
Eunuch Liu had been wondering if the ungracious Miss Mo had annoyed King Xuan and he had intentionally started the who mess to get her into trouble. Then, he thought of King Xuan and his wild moods and behavior. He had no cares at all. The girl in front of him looked dazed and stupid and had not even lifted her head until now. She was probably not very good looking and might have annoyed the handsome King Xuan.
He thought that was very likely. He glanced at the kneeling Mo Xuetong again and looked rather disinterested. He bade the Old Madam farewell. He did not take the servants anywhere else but hurried back to the palace.
He feared that the Empress still did not know about it. He had to inform her of the situation.
In General Manor, the Old Madam got Luo Mingzhu and Mo Xuetong’s servants to take the things away but did not tell them to leave. Then, she sent others out to listen for news while she asked the girls carefully about what happened at the banquet. She especially asked what happened to both of them.
However, she did not receive much news. They only said that the wild King Xuan had helped Mo Xuetong and had found the person who had framed her for knocking into him. Mo Xuetong did not dare to mention that she and the devilish King Xuan had met before. She said that this was their first meeting and she was wondering why he would help her.
“Grandmother, Grandmother. Why did the Empress gift us with such expensive things?” Luo Mingzhu was born in a noble family and naturally knew that the items were unusual. She knew that she had not been exceptional that night. Even her performance at the Qin had been outshone by Mo Xuemin later. She did not shine at all at the event. So why did the Empress especially sent gifts to her? Furthermore, she had especially given the stunning Mo Xuemin’s gifts to her Mo Xuetong. Even if Luo Mingzhu had never been the careful sort, she felt that something was up.
“Tong’er, other than the matter with the princes, are you sure you didn’t meet anyone unusual or that nothing unusual happened?” The Old Madam thought of this and asked with a frown.
Was there anything else that was unusual? Something to do with the Empress and the Princess? Mo Xuetong bit her lips and said slowly, “That day at the banquet, the Empress sent for me but I met Princess Royal and she kept me behind to speak with me. Grandmother, were the Princess and my mother friends when they were young?”
“Princess Royal saw you?” Even though the Old Madam was smiling, her hands which were hidden under her sleeves shook slightly.
“Yes, Princess Royal even asked about Mother and her life in Cloud City.” Mo Xuetong keenly caught the fluster and shock in the Old Madam’s eyes. She continued smiling sweetly.
“What did you say?” The Old Madam asked urgently.
“Nothing much, I just said that she lived well in Cloud City. But her health was poor, so she…” There was an intense look of sadness in Mo Xuetong’s eyes. She bit her lips and her clear eyes clouded over.
“It’s alright, there there. It’s alright now. Your mother would not want you to be so sad if she were around. Don’t think too much.” The Old Madam reached out and hugged Mo Xuetong. She caressed her face and comforted her, ” Princess Royal is a widow and you should not see her often. If you meet her again on any other occasion in the future, stay away from her politely.”
Is she asking her to keep a distance from Princess Royal?
“Grandmother, why? The Princess is very kind.” Mo Xuetong lifted her pale face and asked in confusion. She wiped her tears away with a handkerchief.
“The royal family and their matters are too far away from us. Tong’er I am worried that you will fall into it if you were not careful. After all, the Empress has noticed you. If the Princess notices you again, it would be unfortunate.” Old Madam Xu took a deep breath. She caressed Mo Xuetong’s long dark hair. However, she was not looking at her and there was a bitter look at the corners of her lips.
An expression like that on the Old Madam who had always been praised for being a gracious and dignified woman made one suspicious. However, the Old Madam did not speak about the matter again. She only talked about what girls were interested in. Then, the person she had sent out for news returned and she sent the girls back to their courtyards.
Mo Xuetong returned to her room and laid on her bed. She tossed and turned and could not fall asleep. She kept feeling that what the Old Madam had said today was very odd. It was very unlike her grandmother.
After tossing and turning on the bed, she sat up suddenly and brought Mo Ye and Mo Lan outside for a stroll. There was a hint of worry in her eyes and she felt as if she had forgotten something. Her grandmother’s anxiousness today, and her asking Mo Xuetong to distance herself from the Princess. The Princess was a widow, but her mother had died young and she was not considered a blessed person herself. So what was there to avoid? Furthermore, Princess Royal was just a princess, she did not have any children. So why would the princess involve her into the matters of the royal family…
What was her grandmother worried about? And why would she ask Mo Xuetong to distance herself from the Princess? She did not understand!
Because of these matters weighing down her mind, she entered a path in the corner. She did not see many people walking by and only saw a few maids hurrying past. They curtsied to her politely and left. The servants in the manor were all long informed that the Mo cousin was visiting. They looked at her and knew that she was the most doted on the granddaughter of the Old Madam and did not dare to be impolite.
Mo Xuetong grew up in Cloud City. When she was a child, Luo Xia had brought her back to the capital twice, but that had happened when she was really small. As such, she was not familiar with General Manor. She walked further and further away as she was preoccupied with her thoughts.
“Miss, where is that place? It looks like Mistress’ place. Even the camphor tree at the door looks the same.” Mo Lan suddenly stopped and pointed over to a tall wall in surprise.
Indeed, there was a tall wall in front of them and the wide doors were tightly locked. There was a tall camphor tree in front of the door that looked exactly like the one in the old manor at Cloud City. Was this her mother’s place?
She recalled that she had once visited this place when she came to General Manor as a child. However, when had it fallen into such disarray?
The lock on the door was rusty. Even though the outside was clean, weeds grew everywhere inside. One could tell with a single look that no one had been by to clean it for a long time. The mud layer on the wall had already fallen off and a few reeds poked out from it. It made the place look even more desolate and quiet. There was not a single voice around them.
Her heart beat wildly. She touched a green plant at on the corner of the wall with shaky fingers.
She remembered that this was her mother’s place. Or she should say, where her mother used to stay. Her mother stayed in this place until she turned 10 and before she moved somewhere else. Her mother had talked about this place before and she remembered her mother saying something…But she was too young then, or she did not care then. She could not even remember what her mother said then, and had even forgotten about this place.
There must be something going on. The Princess’ behavior, her grandmother’s behavior, her mother’s inexplicable death. There were secrets about her mother she did not know…Perhaps she could unravel the secrets surrounding her mother.
“Mo Ye, go in and open the door!” There was a buzzing sound in her mind and she could hear her cold and light voice.
