Chapter 183 There Were So Many Pieces of Jewelry
Lan Xinru didn’t come here to find Mo Xuetong, and she had planned the exact time of her arrival. She told her maid to ask the servant to watch Mo Huawen in order to know when he would come to Qingwei Garden. She even cooked for his daughter in person and hurt her hand.
It was unknown whether Mo Huawen tried to evade Lan Xinru on purpose. But when Mo Huawen went to greet Old Madam, Lan Xinru was not there. Lan Xinru would only stay at Mo Manor for a few days and didn’t have many chances to meet Mo Huawen, which made both Old Madam and Lan Xinru worried, so Old Madam came up with this idea.
Old Madam’s suggestion was to let Lan Xinru cook the millet congee and bring it over to serve Mo Xuetong carefully, which must be gentle like treating her own daughter. But Lan Xinru had a different idea – she came a bit late on purpose and served the porridge to Mo Huawen, himself. She had intended to show Mo Huawen her injured finger to make him care for her more.
But Mo Huawen didn’t show much concern. Instead, he asked about Mo Xuetong’s conditions. Therefore, all her anger was fixed on Mo Xuetong and she hated Mo Xuetong even more. But she knew she was in Mo Manor and had to flatter Mo Xuetong. She smiled and pretended to be attentively listening to their words until she felt Mo Xueyan pulling on her sleeve.
Mo Xuetong observed the whole process of the changes on Lan Xinru’s face and smiled to herself. She fixed her attention on her father again and gently said with a smile, “Dad, don’t worry. It’s probably because I went to sleep late last night. I didn’t dare go against the rules and talk too much, but I did chat with the princess for a while. I’m just not rested, which caused the pain to come back. Now I’ve almost recovered, and it will only take a few days more to get all well. When I used to get ill like this, I usually didn’t need to see a doctor or take the medicine, just more rest.”
“You used to get ill like this? Since when have you had this illness?” Mo Huawen asked with surprise. When they were in Cloud City, though Tong’er was weak, she didn’t get ill. She just used to be weak and delicate.
“It’s not a real illness; I just said it like that. You don’t have to worry about me. When we were in Cloud City last year, I just got ill for no reason; that’s when it started. Since then, every time I get too tired, I may fall ill again. Grandaunt found many famous doctors for me. They all said it was nothing serious, but I had to take care and couldn’t get too tired.” Mo Xuetong’s sweet voice sounded cute with a daughter’s tenderness, which comforted her father’s emotions, but Mo Huawen’s heart still ached.
This time last year, he took the other two daughters to the capital for quite a while. When it came to the New Year, Min’er and Qiong’er asked to make many clothes and jewelry for themselves. They had different clothes and jewelry every day and chatted happily like larks. They got everything they wanted and weren’t tired at all.
He did think of Tong’er at that time, but Auntie Fang confused him. She just said Tong’er didn’t want to come back to see her father. And the presents sent her were returned unopened. By then, he was quite sad and didn’t know his delicate daughter was ill in bed. Even if she said it lightly, it couldn’t be a small thing that she had this uncured disease.
“Tong’er…” Mo Huawen ashamedly looked at his daughter who was pale, but still smiled to comfort him. Then he recalled what his beloved first daughter had done and didn’t know what to say.
“Father, it’s New Year’s Eve today, and we can’t say anything sad on such a festive day. Aren’t you supposed to send me some presents? You haven’t sent me gifts for so many years!” Mo Xuetong pouted her little mouth, acting coyly to change the topic. There was indeed a tradition in Great Qin that the elders should send the youngsters gifts to ensure their safety.
But this was the custom when they were young and Mo Huawen hadn’t sent his daughters gifts for a few years. But now he felt warm when he heard the words. Looking at his little girl, he felt his tension melt away, and the sadness on his face was gone. He laughed out loud and walked to feel Mo Xuetong’s head, saying, “Yes, of course. I’ve prepared them for you, already.”
Then he took out an exquisite jewelry box from his sleeves and handed it over. Mo Feng, who was standing by her bedside, took it for her and opened it. There were many pieces of shining gold jewelry inside it. Lan Xinru and Mo Xueyan eyed the jewelry greedily.
Mo Xueyan was not too surprised. She was born in a merchant’s family, which was quite rich. Though she hadn’t seen jewelry much, she had seen some of it before. Lan Xinru’s family, on the other hand, had declined. Though she was said to serve Old Madam, everyone knew she was aiming for Mo Huawen.
Lan Xinru had already saw herself as Mo Huawen’s stepwife. When she saw Mo Huawen give a box full of jewelry to Mo Xuetong, she couldn’t help feeling the pity . Before she came, Old Madam promised to make her Mo Huawen’s wife, anyway. The jewelry should have belonged to her.
She was so jealous that she said, “Cousin, third miss is too little to use so many pieces of jewelry. Besides, she’s so pretty that the jewelry would seem shabby on her. Maybe we should wait until she gets older and pick some for her then.”
She smiled coquettishly towards Mo Huawen and threw a glad look to him.
Mo Huawen frowned even harder…
Mo Xuetong blinked her big watery eyes and asked Mo Feng who was carrying the box to come near and echoed Lan Xinru’s words. “Miss Lan, is the jewelry shabby? Aren’t they a gift from the palace? Mo Ye, does it say made in the palace at the bottom of the box?”
Mo Yu leaned over to see the box and saw the palace’s signs at the front and both sides. “Miss, it really says made in the palace at the bottom. You have such sharp eyesight and can see it from such a distance. As maids, we don’t have much knowledge of these things and also thought these were average accessories. The box of jewelry was actually a gift from the palace.”
Her words praised Mo Xuetong and belittled Lan Xinru at the same time. It’s common for the maids to be ignorant. But Lan Xinru was from a famous family who said they were shabby jewelry. This implied her knowledge was the same as those of the maids.
However shameless Lan Xinru was, she was ashamed and angry now. Her face turned dark and then pale. She felt so embarrassed that she glared at Mo Yu with hatred. However, the maid pretended to be looking at the box and ignored her looks which were as sharp as knives.
Seeing the jewelry made in the palace, Mo Xuetong rolled her watery eyes and knew it was the follow-up of yesterday’s experience. Last night, the princess proved that Mo Xuetong was in Mingzhu Palace to accompany her. And the princess said she liked Mo Xuetong and would give her some presents. “Father, this was given to me by the princess. You can’t lie to me and should give me something on your own.”
When she was in the palace, she saw the empress, imperial noble consorts, and other nobility. But aside from the princess, she wasn’t familiar with any of them, and they definitely wouldn’t give her any gifts. Besides, if it was given to her father, it must be honorable. Therefore, it couldn’t be anyone else except for the princess.
Seeing that his daughter was so intelligent, Mo Huawen started to laugh, “All right. My presents for you are ready, as are those from your grandparents. I’ll have them sent to you later.”
It would be quite a lot combing what Mo Huawen prepared with those sent by General Manor . It must be calculated first and then sent here so that Tong’er could have it on her own. When he saw Tong’er’s baggage for the first time, Mo Huawen felt bad for her. He had no idea his truly beloved daughter was so poor and miserable.
Auntie Fang had cheated him! How could he have believed such an evil woman? Leaving Tong’er under her protection was truly putting a little lamb into the hands of a hungry wolf!
His hatred towards Auntie Fang was only matched by his shame towards Mo Xuetong! And he thought of Luo Xia who protected him so much!
This was exactly what Mo Xuetong wanted. She hated Auntie Fang and Mo Xuemin so much. When she was burned in the big fire, she felt the pain in her soul and craziness in her heart. She hated Sima Lingyun and Lan Xinru, but she hated the mother and daughter the most.
Her face got disfigured by Yu Sirong, and she’d married Sima Lingyun because of Auntie Fang’s secret order. And she led a low and disgraceful life in Duke Zhenguo’s manor because of Mo Xuemin. She had treated them with so much love and trust, but they were just pretending to be nice to her. In the end, it was just a joke planned by them, and they would only treat her tragedy and pain like a joke. Mo Xuetong would never let go of such hatred.
What she had achieved was far from enough. Mo Xuemin had framed her over and over again, and she would make them as miserable as in hell!
She had been very thrifty for this day, which was only known by her and her maids. Coming back from Cloud City, Mo Xuetong carried nothing but a few taels of silver. Her mother’s dowry had already been taken to the capital with her father.
She ate and lived in Qin Manor, which also cost her a lot. Besides, she didn’t have a good relationship with Mo Huawen and never asked him for money. Therefore, she only had a little money which was given by her mother. But there was only a little money and a few accessories that were given by her mother in private. When she was in Qin Manor, she began to know how important money was.
When living in another’s house, if you weren’t generous and gave them money, even a servant could push you around!
So when she came to the capital, Mo Xuetong’s money had all been used up!
Those taels of silver were left by Mother Xu, who lived thriftily and saved it for an emergency.
Seeing them chatting and being emotional, Lan Xinru looked at Mo Xuetong with hatred. Though Old Madam’s idea was mean and cheap, once she married into Mo Manor, she would be the main wife and everything would be in her charge!
When she got back, she would prepare…