The other young ladies were really burned, especially Wang Yilan. The burnt area on her leg was the largest, and the injury was also the most terrible. The female physician applied medicine to these ladies’ injuries again before leaving.
“Second Miss Yu, you were sitting right at the end. With no one on one of your sides, Miss Wang was sitting on the other side. Did you hit Second Miss Yu, Miss Wang?” Mo Lan walked forward and asked in Mo Xuetong’s place.
Wang Yilan also figured out what had happened back then. She glared at Yu Siyan in anger and answered with hatred, “I didn’t hit Yu Siyan. It was she who poured all the water on me.” She was burned the most. Although medicine was applied to her wound, she still felt bursts of heart-wrenching pain. Thinking of the weird behavior of Yu Siyan, she immediately realized that she had been used.
“Second Miss Yu, no one hit you, but you poured all the water in your cup onto Miss Wang and even pretended to be injured. Second Miss Yu, what do you mean by doing this? Could it be that Second Miss Yu was trying to enter Her Lady’s inner room intentionally?” Mo Lan looked up quietly and stared at Yu Siyan whose eyes were flickering.
“My Lady, that’s not the case, Siyan is like a child and is timid. When she found that her dress was wet, she thought that she had been hurt as well. She didn’t have time to see it clearly. My Lady, she is a child. It is inevitable for her to make a mistake when she was in a panic. And what happened to you… has nothing to do with Siyan… My Lady, you can’t vent your anger on her.”
Standing by the side, Mdm Chen tried to defend her daughter. She brought up the former topic again. It sounded as if Mo Xuetong had pushed Yu Siyan out because she wanted to vent her anger and hide the truth.
Mo Xuetong gave a cold smile and questioned sharply, “She is like a child? Mdm Chen, if I remember correctly, your daughter is older than me. How could you claim that she is like a child? As for venting my anger? Why should I vent my anger on her?”
Yu Siyan was very young, but the problem was that Mo Xuetong, Consort Xuan, was even younger!
“My Lady, King Chu’s robe and private letter have nothing to do with Siyan. My Lady, aren’t you venting your anger on her when you pushed her out?” Mdm Chen’s forehead was already covered with sweat. She had no choice but to fight back. She pointed at the robe and a few pieces of letters that were still on the ground that were written.
“Mdm Chen, who told you that it’s King Chu’s robe, and who told you that these are King Chu’s letters?” Mo Xuetong asked with a cold smile on her face. “Somebody, fetch the letter and let everyone see what’s in it.”
“Yes, My Lady!” Mo Lan picked up the robe and letters with a few maidservants from King Xuan’s Manor. They spread out the papers and placed them on the table. Everyone involuntarily looked at them.
They had not seen it clearly when these letters were on the ground earlier. At this point, they found that the letter papers were old and the color of the creases had faded a little. When they were flattened, everyone could see that the words on it were indeed written by a man. There were a few pieces of poetry written on it. When these people read them carefully, they realized that they were filled with sadness, and that each word expressed the author’s lovesickness and grief. And, they were signed by Mo Huawen.
“My mother made this robe for my father before, but she did not finish it until she was gone. When my father arrived in the capital, I stayed in Cloud City, and this robe was left with me. As I came to the capital, I brought it to miss my mother. After all, it’s the last robe left by my mother.”
“I didn’t give this robe to my father and just put it here. I intended to blame my father. Later, I found out that my father really missed my mother, so I sent it to him. When he sent it back, there were some pieces of poetry in this robe that express he missed my mother. Then I put the robe and poetry all away and hid them carefully. But I don’t know why they became the ‘evidence of my crime’, and I had to vent my anger on someone else.”
“Mdm Chen, you and Yu Siyan made such a scene today. Yu Siyan pretended to be burnt and entered my inner room. Then she deliberately turned over the books and even asked a maidservant to make up those stories to ruin my reputation. Do you really think that there are no people in King Xuan’s Manor? Somebody, arrest them.”
Mo Xuetong’s expression turned cold and she ordered sharply as she slammed the cup in her hand in front of Mdm Chen. Two old maidservants from King Xuan’s Manor had already come. One of them pulled Yu Siyan out of bed while the other dragged Mdm Chen out.
Until now, everyone had already understood that this was the plot planned by Mdm Chen and her daughter. They had intentionally accused Consort Xuan of having an affair with King Chu and wanted to frame Consort Xuan. Everyone had experienced fight in their manors and soon figured it out. Luo Xia had left the robe for Mo Huawen, and the poetry was written by Mo Huawen to miss Luo Xia. Since Luo Xia had passed away, it was normal for her daughter to keep them in her room.
Mdm Chen and her daughter wanted to use the robe to harm Consort Xuan. What a vicious idea! The young ladies who had been scalded gritted their teeth with hatred. They got injured all because Yu Siyan played tricks. When they thought that their burns might leave scars, they hated Yu Siyan and Mdm Chen even more!
“My Lady, so it’s Old Sir’s robe. This… the Yu family is too much. They have caused so much trouble!” Auntie Qing wanted to get out of this matter. The truth had already been known to everyone. Even though she could not understand why King Chu’s robe had become Mo Huawen’s, and the letter King Chu had sent to Mo Xuetong had become poetry written by Mo Huawen, the most important thing for her now was to get out of this matter.
“Auntie Qing, I heard that this maidservant’s birth mother is one of your old maidservants. Since this maidservant insisted that I did something, then call her birth mother and get to the bottom of it together.” Mo Xuetong stared at Auntie Qing with her charming eyes. She seemed to be smiling, but her smile made a cold sweat creep cross Auntie Qing’s back.
Being forced by Mo Xuetong’s invisible momentum, Auntie Qing turned around and scolded Honghua, “Honghua, how could you do such a thing? I trusted you and your mother so much and treated your whole family well. But… but you listened to Mdm Chen’s provocation and framed Consort Xuan. Do you know that it’s a serious crime that you could be sentenced to death?”
Honghua, who had insisted on framing Mo Xuetong, was shaking and could not even speak clearly. At this point, everyone could see that someone had set up a trap to plot against Consort Xuan. And the maidservant in front of them was the most crucial part.
When the truth was found out, there would be no other way for her but to die.
Looking indifferent at Honghua’s frightened eyes, Mo Xuetong ordered coldly, “Somebody, bring her mother and the other families here.” She spoke in a slow but clear tone. Her meaning was also very clear. Honghua’s expression immediately turned desperate.
“My Lady, don’t do that. Just deal with her alone. Anyway, it was this maidservant who has done the evil thing. We can’t let others say that our Mo Manor is unkind!” Auntie Qing was also startled and tried to persuade Mo Xuetong with a forced smile.
“Unkind? Are you referring to the royal family? I remember that it’s a great crime to frame the prince or the prince’s wife, the criminal would be condemned to death, as well as her family and relatives of nine generations. When did you have the power to feel it unkind? Hasn’t your aunt told you that offending the royal family is a major crime? Not only will your family and relatives of nine generations be sentenced to death, but you will also be put to death by dismembering the body.”
Auntie Qing was so frightened that she trembled. She could not even catch her breath and almost fainted. In horror, her face turned pale and bloodless. Her aunt was from King Ning’s Manor. Mo Xuetong seemed to know her.
“My Lady…” Auntie Qing unconsciously tried to defend herself.
Mo Xuetong’s expression suddenly softened as she said gently, “Auntie Qing, you don’t have to say anything else. I will handle the matter here. As so many guests have come to our manor, you should go and receive them.”
“My Lady…” Before Auntie Qing could say anything else, Mo Ye had already walked to her and gestured for her to leave.
At this point, Auntie Qing knew that their plan had failed. She did not dare to confront Mo Xuetong as she had done before. She walked out of Qingwei Garden in a daze while the handkerchief in her hands was about to be shattered into pieces. “No, I have to find a way to send the news to King Ning’s Manor and get Aunt to save me. Mo Xuetong is not easy to deal with.”
Even though Honghua would die soon and then there would be no evidence of what she had done, the coldness in Mo Xuetong’s eyes made Auntie Qing’s heart tremble. The situation had changed so much. Would everything that would happen according to their plan really work?
“No, I have to ask Aunt for help.”
Of course, she had no idea that her aunt had already been dead. She was still hoping that Nanny Qing could save her with the help of the Empress Dowager and King Ning’s Manor. She thought that no matter how powerful Mo Xuetong was, she couldn’t compare with the Empress Dowager. By then, as long as the Empress Dowager lent her a hand, Mo Xuetong would not be able to do anything to her.
Thinking of this, Auntie Qing calmed down again. She had already thought about it—she had already given all the jewelry she got in the past to her aunt; when she left the Mo Manor, her aunt had promised her that she would find a good job for her in King Ning’s Manor. No matter if she got married or did anything in the future, it had nothing to do with the Mo Manor.
After thinking it through, Auntie Qing stopped panicking. She walked out of the yard with her servants. However, as soon as she reached the door, she was caught by the guards who were waiting there…
Honghua saw the mastermind behind her, Auntie Qing, having been driven away by Consort Xuan, and a few old maidservants who were as ferocious as wolves and tigers walking out to capture her family, and then heard Consort Xuan saying that she would be put to death by dismembering the body. The punishment was to cut off the criminal’s flesh piece by piece, and the criminal would wail for seven days and nights before dying. Honghua was completely pale and she collapsed to the ground, shivering all over!
“My Lady, My Lady, let go of my family… It’s, it’s Auntie Qing who ordered me to do this. My Lady, Auntie Qing asked me to tell you that these are the private letters sent to you by King Chu…”
“Mo Lan, gag her and let His Highness interrogate you,” Mo Xuetong stated coldly. Then, she turned around and led her servants to the outer room. It would not be an ordinary matter of ruining reputation if Honghua continued talking. The people left behind did not dare to continue watching and thought about it carefully. Those people framed Consort Xuan to have an affair with King Chu.
It was not something that an ordinary person could do. Perhaps, it involved those princes fighting for the throne. No one was willing to get involved in this kind of thing.
The madams and young ladies in the room all exchanged glances. No one stayed and all followed Mo Xuetong out. Even the three injured young ladies all came out with the help of their maidservants.
It made sense. Those who had the ability to do something like that were not ordinary people. This kind of thing could lead to family raiding and extermination. Furthermore, everyone knew that King Xuan was the Emperor’s favorite son and that King Chu had been the most popular prince recently. The ruse offended the two of them in one stroke. The plotters were really courting death!
When the Mo Manor’s banquet started at noon, it was very quiet. It was so quiet that there was almost no conversation. Everyone had their meal in a hurry and all of them hurried to find an excuse to leave, afraid to get involved in this matter. The male guests said that King Xuan got a piece of news, and grew so angry that he overturned the table before rushing out in a huff.
Everyone felt that the atmosphere in the capital was increasingly tense…
