Letting her guard down, Mo Qianxue got up, "Thank you, your majesty."
The Empress seemed to be satisfied with her humility, "I heart that you just returned today."
Mo Qianxue replied obediently, "Yes, your majesty. I just arrived at my mansion this afternoon." Having watched a lot of TV series, she knew how to talk to an empress.
The Empress turned to walk inside, "Everything was fine on the way?"
Mo Qianxue followed up, walking and replying, "Yes, your majesty. Everything was fine."
Upon going indoors, the Empress sat in the host position on the couch and chatted with her like a senior relative talking to children, "Where have you been in the past half year? I've been worrying about you day and light. Before your mother passed away, she and I were close as sisters."
Mo Qianxue replied carefully, "Half a year ago, I was unfortunate and washed away by river…"
To her surprise, the Empress suddenly shifted her tone, eyes containing no trace of compassion and turning sharp as a blade.
"But I heard that you've lived with a man for this half year, without a match-maker or betrothal presents. You're no long a virgin now." The words were sharply straightforward.
Mo Qianxue looked up, "Can I know who said this?" Now she was the heir of the Founder mansion. If she was proved not to be a virgin, then she was guilty of adultery, the punishment of which was similar to death.
The Empress gazed right in her eyes, "Just tell me whether it's true or not. Chastity is the most important thing for a woman. Your father enjoyed great fame for all his life. Your mother was also a role model of woman. You can't have any defilement on yourself."
"Yes, we lived together, but…"
"True! Then I'll grant you a three-feet white silk for the sake of your chastity as well as my sisterhood with your mother."
White silk! Did she want her to hang herself?
Mo Qianxue sneered secretly. Without hearing her explanation, she sentenced her to death immediately.
What kind of sister this was? This was obviously a foe.
The Empress's eyes turned gentle and graceful again, as if what she granted Mo Qianxue wasn't white silk but a piece of treasure, "I don't wish this happening either, but sister has entrusted me to take care of you. Sister is pure as snow. You, as her daughter, should be pure too. Just let the white silk wash the dirt on your body."
A nanny came out with white silk and handed to her.
Not accepting the grant from the Empress meant contempt and disrespect toward the royal power.
Mo Qianxue stared at it, silent for a long while, kneeled down as gratitude, "Thanks, your majesty."
Then, she gradually got up, took over the silk from the nanny.
Gleams of delight flickered in the Empress's seemingly pitiful eyes.
The nanny's eyes were filled with ruthlessness, as thought if she refused to take over the silk, she would send her onto the road to hell personally.
Seeing Mo Qianxue taking over the white silk, the Empress and the nanny exchanged a gratified look, smiling cruelly, "Nanny, walk Miss. Mo there and take care of her."
The matter had been nailed in the board. Mo Qianxue was a coward. Even if there was a change in the situation, the nanny would "help" her to give her a peaceful end.
"Yes." The nanny greeted and looked to Mo Qianxue, "Miss. Mo, this way please!" This was the Empress's palace, of course not a good place to hang herself.
Scanning with her eyes over the disgusting and cruel faces of the Empress and the nanny, Mo Qianxue said loudly, "Don't bother nanny. I can do it on my own."
In the surprised gaze of them, Mo Qianxue calmly spread the silk and covered on her body.
From now on, on the list of her enemies, besides the bitchy mother and son and the last batch who had attacked them on the way, there added a new name—the Empress.
The white silk, cold and pure, in that moment, should give her an air of dignity and nobleness, pure and defying infringement.
The Empress and the nanny looked at each other, puzzled, not knowing what Mo Qianxue was doing.
Wearing the white silk on her back, Mo Qianxue looked sad, "Your majesty is so considerate. I've just arrived in the capital and didn't make a mourning suit yet. Luckily, this white silk is enough to make one. I wear it home first and the suit will be finished by this evening, so as to pay my due filial piety to mother and father. I really appreciate your kindness, your majesty." What the Empress had mention was chastity, but it turned into filial piety by her tongue.
Even if the Empress didn't figure out how, she knew that her plan failed. At a time, she became speechless from rage. As she tried her best to fight back her fury, her eyes were bloody red and all her elegance disappeared.
Mo Qianxue wore the silk, looking even nobler. Her eyes looked downwards, but her back was straight, "Your majesty, I didn't finish my words just now. I was saved by him, but I'm still a virgin."
When the Empress announced to grant her the while silk, Mo Qianxue had thought through that even if she wasn't a virgin now, the Empress could only punish her according to the female rules but never dared to sentence her to death publicly.
She added this now, just to warm the Empress not to use chastity as an excuse.
Her father had achieved tremendous military feats to make the country possible. She herself was an heir of the duke title. Without an imperial edict from the Emperor, even the Empress could do nothing to her if she insisted not to hang herself.
The Empress only dared to grant white silk but not death, which proved her own guilty conscience. She feared of ears in the wall as well as criticism of the whole world.
Those words about chastity were loud and piercing, only to make her so shameful as to kill herself.
Then, the Empress could tell the world that she had lost her innocence and asked for the white silk.
And she, as the mother of the country, a good friend of Mo Qianxue's mother who was the role model of all women, only fulfilled her request.
By then, she would also throw dirty water at her—losing chastity, shame and suicide!
Loving stroking, terrifying, coaxing and persuading. Step by step, she aimed at letting Mo Qianxue put the white silk around her neck on her own.
What a vicious tactic!
If she were the real Xue, she would definitely walk step by step along the road she had designed. After all, the unmarried ancient girls attached more importance on chastity than life and valued the fame of parents more than anything else… The last time, Xue did have committed suicide and died. There weren't families or friends crying for a justification but there were people who tried all means to dig out more benefits from her death.
However, how would dare to question her, the noblest woman in the country?
As expected, the Empress immediately changed her attitude and went downstairs along Mo Qianxue's words, "It's good that you understand. Do observe mourning for my sister and the Founder."
She turned around but then urged the nanny, "Go to check where Miss. Mo is still a virgin."
Having her body checked by a nanny would inevitably incurred discussion about her chastity and stamped the shame on her in the future even if she was proved to be innocent.
Mo Qianxue's face turned pale because of anger, but her maintained a pure and graceful attitude, "If your majesty insisted to check my body, then I'd rather crash my head against this column, so that the world will know how the Empress cares her sisterhood with my mother in contrast to the way the Emperor treated the Founder."
Sisterhood? If she wanted to utilize this to attack on her chastity, then she could fight back with it too.
The Empress wanted her death but didn't dare to kill her openly. If she had really crashed her head against the column and died here, then the Empress was forcing the death of the Founder's only daughter. She couldn't afford to take this accusation or even just to try.
The Empress turned around suddenly, glazing at her, ferociously, "A real bitch of a bitch mother!"
Finally, she couldn't hide it and exposed her real face!
Although Feng Qingyu wasn't the modern mother who brought her up, she was the mother of this body that Mo Qianxue was using. She didn't allow others to show disrespect to her, even if this person was the Empress.
Anyway, the faces had been torn. There was no need to pretend anymore.
Mo Qianxue took a scornful glance at the Empress, "Who is the bitch? My mother is the intimate sister you've mentioned time and time again. If she was a bitch, then what are you?" A bitcher bitch?
As long as she bet her life on, she dared to defy the imperial power! In addition, Mo Qianxue didn't fear her. No matter how far her hand reached, she was nearly imprisoned in the imperial palace.
Publicly, she didn't dare to do anything to her. A person like the Empress obviously only appeared to be tough but actually weak inside. She valued fame and position more than anything else.
"You…" The Empress hadn't expected her to be so bold. For a moment, she choked on these words and shook bodily from fury but was speechless. Certainly she understood the implication.
"How dare you!" Seeing the Empress pissed off, the nanny scolded Mo Qianxue while walking to the Empress to gently pat on her back and calm her down, "Guards, Mo Qianxue committed the huge crime of offending her majesty; take her away…and wait for her majesty's sentence."
The Empress didn't say anything yet, so the nanny, as a servant couldn't decide on her own, so she had said 'wait for her majesty's sentence'.
Mo Qianxue satirized to herself and answered weakly, "I'm just a intimidated girl. Don't scare me because if I might be so frightened that I fall and hit my head against the column… Besides, I just returned to the capital today and was summoned here to greet your majesty… If I was detained here for no reason, I'm afraid the public discussion would annoy the Emperor."
Her father's military contribution to this country was unshakable, so his duke title was granted by the Emperor personally. Now she didn't make a mistake, so no matter what the Emperor's attitude was or whether he took her seriously, he wouldn't watch her dying under the eyes of the world.
Otherwise, the generals who supported the imperial family would be disappointed. By then, nobody would sacrifice his life for the sake of the imperial family.
No doubts the Empress understood this well, so she could only grit her teeth and ordered the nanny, "Let her kneel and say goodbye."
Before the nanny talked, Mo Qianxue bowed obediently and said, "Goodbye, your majesty." Then she walked away regardless of how they looked at her.
She left the Empress's palace like this, so naturally nobody dared to come over lead the way for her.
In the titanic imperial palace, it wasn't difficult for her to find the way out. She always had a good sense of direction and remembered the road once taken. Mo Qianxue walked out of the Empress's Kuning Palace, identified the direction and marched forward quickly. She didn't want to stay here for one more minute.
Go along the palace wall, turned the direction to pass by a small bridge, and then…she would be out of the palace.
However, as she took the turn, two nannies suddenly rushed to her. From the left and the right, they instantly knocked Mo Qianxue onto the ground.
Then, they hurriedly reached out to help her get up.
Yet, the reaching hands didn't really aim at helping her but fumbled all round her body.
The moment Mo Qianxue fell to the ground, the needles were already between her fingers.
The carotid arteries of the two women were right in front of her, and as long as they did anything strange, she would take their lives at once.
Having put their lives before her but only searching for something on her, they seemed not people from the Empress to kill her.
In this imperial palace, the people, not from the Empress, daring to search her so rampantly, must belong to the Emperor.
What was he looking for? The wooden black token?
Unfortunately, he wouldn't.
When Xue gave her the token, she had already taught her how to hide it. As long as she wasn't willing to take out it, nobody would be able to find it.
Mo Qianxue snorted coldly, relieved, and took back the needles.
The two nannies secretly finished searching her and did nothing else, respectfully helping her get up, cleaning the dust on her clothes and then leaving with an apology.
At the Yangxin Palace.
The Emperor was reviewing the memorial in the study, when his chief eunuch came to report.
The Emperor looked up, and the chief eunuch repeated what had happened in the Kuning Palace in detail.
The Emperor put down the memorial, frowning, "It means that the Empress was played by Mo Qianxue?" He didn't care whether the Empress did well or not. However, the Empress presented his imperial power. The humiliation on the Empress meant the humiliation on him.
The chief eunuch replied cautiously, "It seems…the Empress didn't get what she wanted." The Empress was played by others. Could this be said casually? Could the play be watched casually? Probably he would get involved in the consequences.
The Emperor's eyebrows flattened abruptly, and he laughed, "The Empress wanted Mo Qianxue's life, but unexpectedly forced out her claws."
The laughter hadn't finished yet when he suddenly pulled his face again and snorted, "The Xie woman is getting more and more stupid! If my plan is ruined by her, I don't mind having another empress. Anyway, the Xie family has many daughters."
The chief eunuch stood there, trembling over the selection of a new empress due to the feud between the Emperor and the Xie clan, and didn't dare to listen, let alone making a reply. Hence, he changed the topic, reporting, "Your majesty, just now I've been watching secretly. If anything happened to Miss. Mo, I would have come out to help her."
The Emperor nodded, noncommittal. If Mo Qianxue really did in the Empress's palace immediately after she returned to the capital, then the life of this chief eunuch would come to an end too.
Then another young eunuch came to report, and the chief eunuch ordered, "Let them in."
The two nannies walked in, heads lowering, and a few steps later kneeled down to greet the Emperor.
The Emperor didn't talk to them, so the chief eunuch asked, "Did you finish what I've told you to do?"
One of the nannies replied, "We just searched Miss. Mo carefully. There wasn't an ornament like a wooden tablet."
The Emperor had been pretending to read the memorials after the nannies came in. After their report, the eunuch waved to let them leave.
"Thank you, your majesty." The two nannies stood up, stepped backwards and then turned around to walk away.
Not having obtained the thing that was required, the two had been restless on the way here. Unexpectedly, the Emperor didn't punish them for that, so naturally they felt grateful.
Yet, only a few minutes later after they left, some people dashed out, dragging them to the dark, strangling and abandoning them into an abandoned dry well.
Only after the nannies left did the Emperor look up, "Were they cleared away?"
The black wooden token was the secret of all secrets. Certainly it shouldn't be known to others.
The chief eunuch understood what the Emperor meant, "Yes, your majesty, I've arranged in advance. These two people have been missing since last night."
The Emperor nodded indifferently. The death of two mere nannies wouldn't possibly stir a ripple in the eyes of the Emperor, who believed that the dead were the best secret-keepers.
He nodded as a praise to the eunuch and said, "Mo Qianxue can't die before I get the black wooden token. You go to warn the Empress and tell her not to act rashly. What's more, send more people to the Founder mansion. Be sure to find out the token as soon."
"Yes. I'm arranging these right now." The chief eunuch's face replied seriously, nodding, stepping back before turning around to walk away. His steps were light and breath long and deep. It could be told easily that he knew martial arts well.
Spotting the palace gate not far away, Mo Qianxue took a deep breath, wrapped the white silk around her, head slightly raising, and hastened forward.
She would let the Empress pay for this humiliation. Moreover, she would figure out the inside story of her father's death at war last year.
At this moment, in the depths of the high palace walls stood a man in purple clothes, with a reading attendant boy behind him.
He stood high and paid attention when Mo Qianxue walked out of the Kuning Palace wearing the white silk.
Living in the palace, he knew well what kind of person and identity the Empress was.
In the imperial palace, people were forbidden to wear white, although she would claim that this was a grant from the Empress for the sake of her filial piety.
But associating with it the fact that Mo Qianxue had been missing for half a year, everybody with common sense would know what the white silk meant, let alone the people living in the imperial palace for years.
The man in purple smiled meaningfully, "The daughter of the Founder mansion has both character and beauty. Her stubbornness matches my seventh younger brother well."