Chapter 202 Lan Xinru Causes Herself Trouble
After watching such a scene unfold, nobody was in the mood to look at the flowers in the garden. Mo Xueqiong was taken back to her courtyard. It was made clear to Consort Qing that, if she didn’t handle the manor’s affairs well, she would also be asked to leave. After hearing this, she went from the clever and skill hostess to her shy former self. She served the old madam with careful diligence, not daring to speak.
When she looked at Mo Xuetong, her eyes filled with envy.
The trap had not been Mo Xueqiong’s creation, of course. Consort Qing had recruited Qing’er. Mo Xueqiong just knew about it. After Consort Fang’s incident, Auntie Qing thought fortune had finally smiled on her. When Auntie Fang, the mother of the eldest son, lost her chance to become Mo Huawen’s legal wife, she thought she would become the primary candidate.
Inside, Consort Qing had been thrilled. Now that she was in charge of the family, she had much more money under her control. Even the servants were obedient when they saw her. It made her feel proud to be treated with respect. She had only been in charge of the family for a few days and had so much money. If she could be in charge all the time, it would all belong to her.
She used to be under Auntie Fang’s thumb and didn’t dare to move. Now that Auntie Fang had fallen, her life had gotten so much better. She couldn’t just let it go. She became greedy for money and recognition. Besides, Mo Xuemin’s incident reminded her that if the same kind of thing happened to Mo Xuetong, the whole manor would belong to her and her daughter.
She didn’t expect the shame would fall on her own daughter, which made Consort Qing grind her teeth with rage.
Old Madam asked someone to block the news but gossip still spread to the outer yard. Mo Huawen’s face turned pale at the news. If there hadn’t been guests watching, he would have come in and slapped Consort Qing in the face.
The feast had already started, so he had to stay outside and entertain the guests. After the feast, he didn’t feel so well and held onto his servant a bit for support. He was obviously drunk.
He was already had so many things to deal with, so he was even more annoyed when he thought about Mo Xueqiong. He couldn’t resist drinking more, eventually apologizing and excusing himself, leaving Mo Yufeng to treat the guests. He held his servant’s arm for support and wobbled back to his study. Seeing a bowl of alcohol waiting, he had the servant help him drink another bowl and wobbled to his bed. His servant covered him with his quilt and left, closing the door carefully behind him.
The servant guarded the outside of the door, but the weather was still nice. He found a bench and lay back to sleep in the son. General Mo would sleep for quite a while, and the guests would leave soon. He had nothing to worry about.
Right as he sat down, he saw a little maid sneaking near the doorway. She saw the servant napping and blinked.
“Little brother? Little brother?”
She said and waved her hand at the same time.
The servant was only eleven years old. He stood up and walked over, looking confused.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
The little maid smiled.
“Little brother, can you help me to look for Young Lord Mo? Old Madam wants to ask him about something.”
The servant hesitated. He was Mo Huawen’s servant. He couldn’t worry about trivial errands.
“I can’t. I have to guard General Mo. Maybe you should find someone else?”
She circled him nervously, begging for help.
“Little brother, please help me. I have other things to do too, but Old Madam asked me to find him right away. I really have no time. I walked all the way here but didn’t find anyone else. If Old Madam gets angry at how long I’m taking, I’ll be beaten.”
Seeing her so worried, the servant eventually nodded. It wasn’t far to the feast. It would be easy to send a message to Young Lord Mo.
The maid thanked him profusely and hurried out.
“Thank you, little brother. Thank you, little brother. When I get a reward from Old Madam, I’ll give you a treat.”
The servant went into the room and saw Mo Huawen soundly asleep. He walked out quietly and closed the door to the yard. He had to walk a long time before he met a servant he could send to the young lord. When he got back, the door was shut. It was quiet, so he assumed the general was still asleep and relaxed.
He sat back under the tree and dozed off. He was so tired; he had no idea how much time had passed. He woke to somebody yelling.
“Hey, hey, wake up, wake up!”
The servant immediately opened his eyes. Blearily, he realized he was looking at one of Old Madam’s servants. She let him to the Old Madam. She was surrounded by several other ladies and madams. He woke up instantly, greeting Old Madam properly.
The old madam’s expression was not kind.
“Where is General Mo?”
The servant didn’t understand Old Madam Mo’s meaning, so he answered carefully.
“Old Sir drank too much this afternoon and is sleeping inside. I’ll call him up right away.”
“There is no need. I shall go by myself,” the old madam said coldly She gathered a group to follow her into the study.
By the time they arrived at the door, a few of them with sensitive ears could hear a woman’s breathy gasps and another man breathing heavily. The intruders all hesitated. They were married women who knew that sound, and they looked at the old madam, not believing she planned to keep walking.
Old Madam Mo nearly tripped as she kicked the door. She and the people with her hurried in angrily. The young servant was too scared to breathe. He didn’t know why there was a woman in the room. She had to have come in while he was fetching a servant.
Walking past the screen, they found a food basket that had fallen on the ground, food spilling all over the floor. Behind a curtain, a disheveled man and a woman were locked in the throes of passion.
They didn’t notice the intruders at all.
Old Madam went pale with anger.
“You, you…” She turned around and sat down. The other women stared at their feet in embarrassment, not sure what to do.
Old Madam gritted her teeth.
“Stop them and take them outside.”
Two servants pushed past the curtain and the sounds stopped. After a moment, a woman screamed.
“Why are you? Why are you… Who are you?”
The question was followed by a series of crashes and thuds.
“Who are you? Who are you…”
“Old Madam, what’s wrong today? Why do you bring all the ladies into my study?” somebody asked from the doorway.
Mo Huawen stood there, blinking sleepily.
Everyone looked up at Mo Huawen. He stood by the door, hands folded behind his back. He looked tired, but mostly in good spirits.
If Mo Huawen was outside, then who was there inside? The old madam stood up, and her face turned from anger to horror.
“Huawen, you, why are you out here? Then who is in the study?” she asked, voice shaking like she’d seen a ghost.
Mo Huawen smiled slightly and walked in. Then he bowed to his mother and the other elders.
“I just woke up and went out for a walk. Now I’m back. Is there somebody in my room? I had no idea. Maybe some guest got drunk and stumbled inside to rest.”
“Who are you? Go away, go away! Who are you?” The woman behind the curtain shouted. Mo Huawen frowned. “Old Madam, who’s the woman inside?”
The old madam was lost. She opened her mouth but didn’t say anything.
“Go inside and check! Who broke into my study?” Mo Huawen’s face became more serious. “There are all documents inside. If one of them is missing, it might cost the thief’s life.”
Everyone stood in shock.
A woman walked out from behind the curtain. He clothing was rumpled and her hair was a mess. She rushed to the old madam.
“Aunt, that’s not my cousin inside. Who is he? Who is he? How come? How…” Lan Xinru cried.
Old Madam Mo understood what had happened. She held Lan Xinru up.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Why are you in there?” she asked. She couldn’t let Lan Xinru talk like this anymore. If anyone found it was a scheme, she would be too humiliated to stay.
Mo Huawen’s face fell instantly.
Lan Xinru was very confused and couldn’t speak a complete sentence. She just kept asking Old Madam Mo the same question.
“Aunt, aunt, it wasn’t my cousin inside. Why wasn’t he my cousin? My cousin should be in there…”
Mo Huawen hummed disdainfully.
“Get the one inside of the room out and let Miss Lan recognize who he really is,” he told a servant, “in case she blames it on me.”
Everyone there looked at Old Madam Mo and Lan Xinru with suspicion.
Just a moment before, Lan Xinru’s maid came in. She claimed Miss Lan and her were delivering alcohol to Mo Huawen. The minute they walked in, the general had grabbed Lan Xinru. The maid hurried to get Old Madam Mo for help. Now they walked in to find someone else entirely in bed with Lan Xinru, and the girl talking as if she’d expected the general.
Mo Huawen was known to be filial and obedient. Though he wasn’t blood-related to the old madam, he had always been respectful to her, and now she treated him like this. Some people looked at Old Madam Mo with scorn. It turned out the old madam had only asked all the people in the yard here to force her son to obey her order and marry her niece.
Seeing everyone look at her with suspicion, Old Madam Mo was embarrassed. Lan Xinru, however, was still talking nonsense as if she didn’t know what had happened. She slapped Lan Xinru hard.
“What are you talking about? I’m asking how you got here?”
After the slap, she went silent for a moment and covered her face with her hand. Slowly, she peaked out and looked around her and found Mo Huawen’s face in the crowd. Somehow, she got the courage and threw herself on Mo Huawen. Then she cried,
“Cousin, cousin, I’m here to give you the drunk decoction. I…” she cried.
Mo Huawen’s stepped to the side, and Lan Xinru stumbled and heavily fell on the ground. Her already loosened robe fell forward and everyone could see that her neck and chest were covered with red hickeys…