Chapter 55: Why Didn't I Think of That?
"I'm slandering people? Li Qingqing, you know best what you did! Boan was born May eighth. If you count back, you became pregnant with Boan in the eleventh lunar month! Yao Zhenting, what were you doing last lunar month? Haha… Boan ah, Father can't bear to part with you… But Father can't allow you to acknowledge the enemy as your father! Don't worry, Father will wait for you down below at the nine springs… I won't let you be lonely…" Wu Zicheng laughed mournfully, then committed suicide by biting off his own tongue.
As Yao Mowan watched Wu Zicheng take his last breath, a trace of darkness flashed through her eyes. Zhong er, are you lonely down there…
"No… Lord… Wu Zicheng's lying! Boan looks so much like you, how could he possibly be someone else's son!?" Li Qingqing crawled over to Yao Zhenting and hugged his legs fearfully.
"Why didn't I think of that… Why didn't I think of that!? Servants, drag this wretch out and beat her to death! Beat her to death!" Yao Zhenting abruptly get up and kicked Li Qingqing aside. His eyes were so bloodshot they looked about to split. As he pointed at Li Qingqing, his hand trembled uncontrollably.
"Lord, Qingqing's wrongly accused! Boan really is your son! He really is! Last eleventh month… Last eleventh month we did have intercourse!" shouted Li Qingqing even as she coughed blood.
"Last eleventh month, you said yourself that the eleventh month is right before the new years and offending the God of the year would make it difficult to gain a son. This old man was worried about injuring your damned body and drank inhibiting medicine every time! Even if we had intercourse, it wasn't possible to have a child! You bitch!" bellowed Yao Zhenting, his eyes sinisterly red.
Yao Mowan seemed to see tears in Yao Zhenting's eyes. But that's to be expected, after all, he had celebrated for nothing yet again.
"No… Lord… Lord! Qingqing can give birth to another one! Qingqing can give birth to a son for you, Lord! Lord! Please spare Qingqing…" Li Qingqing kneeled fearfully on the ground as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Alright! As long as you tell me where Boan… Where that bastard child is, this old man will spare your life!" Yao Zhenting walked to Li Qingqing with Yao Tu's help. Destructive desire filled his dark eyes.
"Lord…" Li Qingqing looked towards Yao Zhenting fearfully. Inside, she was struggling over the decision.
"Qingqing! Hurry and tell him! Tell the prime minister where that bastard child is!" Father Li crawled to Li Qingqing's side like a dog and urged her loudly.
"Qingqing, just tell him. You're still young… You can still give birth to another one…" implored Mother Li while sobbing.
"Lord… Wu Zicheng was the one that hid the child. Qingqing doesn't know where he is…" No matter how selfish she was, she couldn't bring herself to send her own child into the gates of hell. Li Qingqing knew that if Yao Zhenting found out where Boan was, Boan would definitely die a tragic death.
"Alright! Drag these three out and beat them to death!" bellowed Yao Zhenting. Servants immediately came in to start dragging Li Qingqing and her parents out of the hall.
"Lord! Please have mercy! Qingqing knows she was wrong!" Li Qingqing begged desperately for her life, but she still didn't reveal Boan's whereabouts. Yao Mowan inwardly sighed in relief since Li Qingqing had given her a reason to help. If Li Qingqing had revealed Boan's whereabouts just to save herself, she would've ended up sealing her own fate.
When Ye Junqing heard Yao Mowan's quiet instructions to Liu Xing, his expression finally relaxed slightly.
"Lord, Yao Tu will help you back to your room to rest?" suggested Yao Tu worriedly when he saw how Yao Zhenting was still trembling incessantly.
"Steward Yao, let Wan er do that! You should stay here and attend to Ye Junqing." Yao Mowan took advantage of this chance to get up. Before walking over, she shot Ye Junqing a meaningful look.
"You have to wait for me, otherwise I'll be disappointed." After saying this, she walked over to Yao Zhenting and supported him out of the main hall.
Ye Junqing was still bewildered even after Yao Mowan had left. How did she know that he had been planning to leave? Was he that easy to read!?
"Prince, please wait for a while. This old servant will immediately instruct a servant to bring tea." Yao Tu walked over to Ye Junqing's side and bowed respectfully.
"There's no need…" Ye Junqing subconsciously got up to leave, but then he recalled the words Yao Mowan spoke and reflexively sat down again.
Outside the room, Yao Mowan told Ting Yue to guard the doors before helping Yao Zhenting into his bedroom.
"That damned Li Qingqing! Even killing her isn't enough to vent this anger! Cough cough…" Yao Zhenting had been muttering similar words this entire time and he continued to curse even in his room.
"Father, don't let the anger ruin your health." Yao Mowan helped Yao Zhenting to the bed, then walked to the table to pour a cup of tea with a faint cold smile.
"How can I not be angry! First it was Su Muzi, and now it's Li Qingqing! These two wretches actually dared to do such improper things behind this old man's back! And the most hateful part of it was that they actually gave this old man hope! A son! But both of them turned out to be wretches! How preposterous! This old man must find that bastard child and hack him to death!" Yao Zhenting didn't accept the tea Yao Mowan offered and continued to bellow angrily.
"Hm, then of all the women you've had, Mowan's mother was the only one who hasn't betrayed you before. Even Dou Xianglan had fooled around with an entertainer before." Yao Mowan leisurely sat down on the chair by the bed while rubbing the rim of the cup. It was high grade snow porcelain. Since it was polished perfectly smooth, it had a very nice feel.
"Mo Li… It's a pity Mo Li didn't give birth to a son, otherwise…" Yao Zhenting was in the middle of complaining when his dark gaze suddenly shot towards Yao Mowan in shock.
"Otherwise you wouldn't have allowed Dou Xianglan to bully Mother and poison Mother's food, right?" Yao Mowan's expression remained as calm as a still lake. The slight hook of her lips made it hard for Yao Zhenting to believe his own eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What? Did Mowan say something wrong? Actually, Mowan has never understood this. Even if Mother hadn't given birth to a son, she had at least given birth to an empress. Yao Suluan was nothing but a noble consort, so normally shouldn't Father be afraid of Mother rather than Dou Xianglan? Father's way of dealing with things sure isn't something that normal people can understand," said Yao Mowan as she took a sip of the tea.
"Mowan… You… You're not a fool anymore? How's this possible!?" Yao Zhenting's eyes widened in astonishment.
"This is possible, but Father's hope for a son is definitely impossible." Yao Mowan's cold glance felt like blades to Yao Zhenting.
"Why?" demanded Yao Zhenting indignantly.
"Does Father still remember that pot of Daughter's Red Mowan had brought back from the palace?" asked Yao Mowan lightly with a bright smile.
"I remember. What about it?" Yao Zhenting soon got over the shock and looked towards Yao Mowan coldly again.
"While drinking it, did Father notice that aside from the mellow fragrance of the wine, there was also an astringent taste? It was very faint, but if you had sampled it carefully, you should've noticed it." Yao Mowan used the lid of the cup to gently push aside the delicate leaves in the cup.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Yao Zhenting looked towards Yao Mowan in alarm. Even though he was seeing this with his own eyes, he still couldn't bring himself to accept that the foolish daughter that only knew how to laugh and cry from back then now had such a deep, unreadable air.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
