Mother Xu immediately steeled herself as she spread the news to Mo Xueqiong's courtyard. Fourth Miss had always been interested in the duke's son, and it was no secret in the manor. Since Eldest Miss wanted to ruin her mistress' reputation, then it was right that they drag Mo Xuetong into trouble as well since she had always been mean to Mo Xuetong. Mother Xu would not forget how Fourth Miss and First Miss had joined hands to make her mistress unhappy.
"Mother Xu, come find me after a while." Mo Xuetong smiled at Mother Xu.
Mother Xu smiled when she heard that. Indeed, with Fourth Miss around, her mistress would come out clean. The gracious First Miss was about to get into trouble.
Mo Xuetong brought her servants to Mo Huawen's study. The study was two doors away and was not far. The servant outside saw her approaching and had already informed Mo Huawen. She was immediately welcomed into the study when she reached the doors.
"Tong'er, don't need to be so polite. Come and sit. How's your grandmother?" Mo Huawen put down the documents in his hands and asked with a smile.
"Grandmother is well. She was feeling a little poorly a while ago, so cousin invited Sir Bai to come and take a look at her." Mo Xuetong greeted her father and then got up to sit at the side.
"Sir Bai? Sir Bai Yihao?" Mo Huawen took a sip of tea and then smiled, asking with interest.
"Yes. I heard that this Sir Bai is the Crown Prince of Yan Kingdom. Father, then why did he come to Qin? I heard that the Yan Kingdom is a strong nation and is not any weaker than Qin!" Mo Xuetong looked up with her clear eyes. She saw the love in Mo Huawen's eyes and blinked naughtily.
Unlike her previous life, she could feel her father's love for her more and more!
"The Yan Kingdom and Qin are both strong and the royal familes are related. So he's not truly a hostage. If we really were to discuss it, the Emperor hopes that he would be the future ruler of Yan Kingdom. Of course, he could not really lock him up. The hostages of both countries are just in name." Mo Huawen was delighted when he saw how adorable his daughter was. He talked about politics with Mo Xuetong that he rarely talked about with his daughters.
"Hostages? Father, did the Qin also send a prince to the Yan Kingdom?" Mo Xuetong's smile grew sweeter.
"The Qin Kingdom had not sent a prince, but sent the King of Ning Feng Yuzhen." Mo Huawen saw the puzzled look in Mo Xuetong's eyes. He knew that his daughter had been living far away and did not know who the King of Ning was. So he explained, "The King of Ning is the Emperor's oldest brother's son. He is the true grandson of the Empress Dowager. He is of noble status and is the nephew of the Yan's Empress. So he is the most suitable to be hostage."
The King of Ning might be of noble status, but isn't the son of Emperor Zongwen more noble? Mo Xuetong would naturally not ask this. In her past life, the King of Ning, Wang Fengyu had died in the Yan Kingdom and never had a chance to return. It was also unlike what her father said. Being the nephew of the Yan's Empress did not guarantee his safety.
"All these things are so complicated. Tong'er doesn't understand. Father, don't talk about such things that your daughter doesn't understand. "Mo Xuetong said cutely. She reached out and took the box that Mo He was holding. She opened it and put it in front of Mo Huawen and said "Father, cousin told me to give you this inkstone. I wanted to give you this and I came here straightaway upon returning. Father won't blame Tong'er for such behavior, would you?"
Mo Huawen loved to collect ancient inkstones, so Luo Wenyou had given him the right gift. The relationship between the Mos and the Luos had never been good. Since Mo Xuetong had returned, the Old Madam naturally wanted to better the relationship. Luo Wenyou had given the inkstone to her after she got on the carriage to give to her father as a show of goodwill.
Mo Huawen had been playing in politics for a long while and naturally knew about this. His heart immediately softened when he saw his daughter's gentle appearance and how much she wanted to please him. He laughed and said, "Good, good. How will I blame you? You don't need to ask if you can come here. Come whenever you want to."
The two were chatting when a male servant ran in. He said, panting, "Old Sir, there's trouble. First Miss and Fourth Miss are fighting."
"What's the matter?" Mo Huawen's face darkened.
"I don't know exactly. But I heard a servant in the inner courtyard say that they seem to be fighting over the duke's son. They were fighting..." The servant did not dare to continue and he cowered on the ground.
Mo Huawen understood and his anger showed in the bulging veins on his face. This was not the first time Mo Xuetong had done something like that. She would try by all means to meet Sima Lingyun every time he came over. It was very annoying. He did not expect something like this to happen today and was furious. He stood up forcefully and said coldly, "Where are they now?"
"They're at Third Miss's courtyard." The servant said fearfully.
"My courtyard?" Mo Xuetong stood up in shock. She turned around to look at Mo Huawen and said, "Father..."
"Tong'er, let's go and take a look together." Mo Huawen did not understand why they would be in Mo Xuetong's courtyard either. He took a deep breath and tempered down his anger and left.
When they arrived at Qingwei Garden, the place was in a mess.
Those on Mo Xueqiong and Mo Xuemin's side were separated clearly. The two people being surrounded by others were looking ruffled. Their clothing was messy and their hairpins falling out. One glance at them and one could tell that the two had fought. Sima Lingyun stood to the side awkwardly. He could not leave, but neither could he stay. Mo Lan and Mother Xu stood at the entrance of the courtyard, looking down and their hands placed together. They looked as if they dared not to even breath too heavily.
"Who's going to tell me what happened?" Mo Huawen brought Mo Xuetong through the door. He swept his eyes at the scene and asked coldly.
"Father, Eldest sister brought His Excellency to the courtyard and kept him company the entire afternoon. They were together alone. Father, how could she behave like this as a noble young woman? I was just here to advice eldest sister." Mo Xueqiong complained first. One could see the jealousy and hate that flickered past her face.
"Why has His Excellency come to our manor?" Mo Huawen ignored her and turned to look at Sima Lingyun. His question was polite, but his eyes were cold. Anyone could see that he was unhappy.
Sima Lingyun frequented the Mo manor often. However, entering the courtyards so brazenly had never happened before.
"Sir Mo, this is a misunderstanding. First Miss said that Third Miss had a music manuscript. Lingyun was curious and asked First Miss to come and help me ask Third Miss. But Third Miss wasn't around, so we waited in the courtyard. I did not mean to be impolite." Sima Lingyun wanted to dig himself a hole in the ground. However, he could not help but explain humbly.
"Tong'er, if you still have the music manuscript, then take it out and let His Excellency have a look." Mo Huawen said coldly with a frown. However, he kept his eyes on Mo Xuemin, looking at her darkly.
Mo Xuetong walked by quickly and greeted Sima Lingyun with a curtsy. She said in surprise, "I've never had a manuscript. Where did Your Excellency hear about that? And when have matters of the inner courtyard spread so quickly to the outside?"
Mo Huawen's expression grew even darker when he heard that.
"It is possible that Lingyun was mistaken. My apologies, ladies." Sweat could be seen glistening on Sima Lingyun's head. He stuttered slightly as well. How would he dare to say that it was Mo Xuemin who had told him so?
"If Your Excellency has nothing else, then please go back. I won't walk you out." Mo Huawen said irritatedly. His tone was cold.
"Then I shall take my leave." Sima Lingyun looked pathetic and did not dare to say anything else. A servant came up and said evenly, "Your Excellency, please," before leaving the courtyard. Sima Lingyun hurried after her.
Mo Huawen only unleashed his wrath then. He looked at his daughters and their messy clothes and said angrily, "Come in, all of you!" Then, he entered Mo Xuetong's room.
Mo Xueqiong followed him immediately. Mo Xuemin adjusted her clothes before following them.
"Tell me, what's the matter?" Mo Xuetong sat down on the couch and slapped the table, asking them sharply.
"Father, it's really nothing. It's all Min'er's fault. I saw that His Excellency has close ties with the family and really wanted to see the manuscript. But Fourth Sister misunderstood." Mo Xuemin fought to speak before Mo Xueqiong. She knelt down and unlike Mo Xueqiong who blamed others, accepted responsibility.
This appeased Mo Huawen slightly.
"Father, don't be angry. Eldest sister has always been gracious and knows her etiquette well. How would she do something so rude?" Mo Xuetong consoled by the side. Then, she turned to ask Mo Xueqiong, "Fourth sister, have you misunderstood eldest sister?"
Misunderstood Mo Xuemin? If Mo Xuemin had been misunderstood then she would have to be the one getting into trouble today.
Mo Xueqiong was flustered when she heard that. She took two steps forward and knelt down before Mo Hawen. She cried into her sleeves and said, "Father, I didn't misunderstand eldest sister. I really saw the two of them behaving intimately when I arrived. Eldest sister was making tea for His Excellency and the two were so close to each other. Furthermore, the inner courtyards shouldn't be a place to entertain male guests. Even though His Excellency is close with father, eldest sister shouldn't have done something like that. I went up to ask eldest sister about it, but she pushed me..."
"Fourth sister, don't speak nonsense. We waited for Third sister for a long while. I was afraid that His Excellency would be bored, so I treated him as I would any guest. We didn't do anything inappropriate." Mo Xuemin gritted her teeth. She had already let Mo Xueqiong off earlier, saying that it was a misunderstanding. This was so they could be done with the matter. However, Mo Xueqiong was so stupid to not let the matter go.
"Then why did you push me guiltily?" Mo Xueqiong asked.
"I did not..."Mo Xuemin tried to defend herself, especially when she saw Mo Huawen's expression growing darker and darker. No matter how glib her tongue was, she could not say anything against Mo Xueqiong's pressing questions.
"Fourth miss, it is I who pushed you, not First miss...I saw you walking over fiercely and thought that you were about to hit First miss, so I pushed you..."Mo Jin, who was standing behind Mo Xuemin suddenly knelt down in tears.
"You slut, you're speaking nonsense. You were standing by the side then, how could you push me?" Mo Xueqiong was enraged. She stopped crying and was so angry she wanted to stand up and hit Mo Jin. However, she was held back by her maid, Mo Yan, and could not get up.
There was a kerfuffle.
"So who made the first move?" Mo Huawen stood up and smashed the cup in his hand on the floor. The porcelain breaking made a crisp sound that caused all the sounds in the house to stop.
Mo Xueqiong was flustered when she saw Mo Huawen's sharp eyes. She had always been afraid of Mo Huawen, and had mustered up all her courage to place all the blame on Mo Xuemin. That was why she cried and made a fuss. Now that she had calmed down, she recalled that there were many present and that it could not be hidden. Her face paled and her lips trembled. However, she did not say anything.
Now, it seemed that the truth was out. Mo Huawen bellowed, "Mo Xueqiong!"
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