Chapter 383 Dogs Biting Dogs, A Mouthful of Fur
Sima Lingyun continued without allowing Mo Huawen to question him, “That day at the palace gates, everyone saw Third Miss Mo exiting from the Mo Manor’s horse carriage. There were even people who said that they vaguely heard Third Miss Mo screaming. Third Miss Mo had appeared stiff when she was dragged onto the horse carriage. It was obvious that she had been taken hostage. Her two maids were left behind. Sir Mo, I ask, if Third Miss Mo had gotten onto the horse carriage normally, why would so many unusual incidents happen?”
She was a noble lady and had maidservants by her side at all times. However, her maids were left behind when she left the palace gates. Then, Mo Xuetong was heard screaming. There were also people who said that Mo Xuetong seemed stiff when she got onto the horse carriage. No matter how one saw it, Mo Xuetong seemed like she had been taken hostage.
If that was true, it would definitely besmirch Mo Xuetong’s reputation.
Sima Lingyun’s half-truths were difficult to refute. He had been on the horse carriage then and knew what exactly happened. With some embellishments on his part, it would make it difficult for others to find anything suspicious. Mo Xuemin was so furious she could not even pretend to be upset any longer. She wanted badly to tear Sima Lingyun’s face apart.
Grand Secretariat Wang who was seated by the side put down his teacup. His gaze turned from Mo Huawen to Sima Lingyun, and then onto Mo Xuemin’s face which had an expression of endurance. Yet, he did not say a single word.
Mo Huawen was startled by Sima Lingyun’s questioning. He started to feel anxious. If that was true, Tong’er’s reputation would be damaged. Fortunately, he specialized in dealing with cases and his feelings did not show on his expression. His eyes turned dark. Just as he was about to say something, a voice at the door stopped him.
“Your Excellency Sima, you are so aware of what happened. Were you present then and saw and heard what happened more clearly than others? If I did not recall wrongly, Sima Lingyun and Eldest Sister were removed from the palace together. I left the palace after the two of you, so how could you be so clear about what happened then?”
The sweet voice at the entrance was a little cold. Everyone could not help but turn to look at the door.
Mo Xuetong was dressed in a camel-colored Ruqun. The bottom part of her skirts had the image of butterflies flitting through hundreds of flowers. A belt of the same color was cinched around her waist with a jade pendant hanging from it. Her long black hair was combed up in the most fashionable hairstyle of that time. A tendril of hair hung down in front of her ears. A golden phoenix hair accessory with pearls draping from it hung in her hair. Her lips were as red as the sunset and her skin was as pale as snow. Her long lashes were like butterfly wings. Her eyes were clear and lively as she looked around her.
A few months had passed since they last met. Mo Xuetong had grown more beautiful. She was so beautiful that she could be described as stunning. However, there was a hint of coldness in her eyes. When she looked at Sima Lingyun and Mo Xuemin, one could not see any hint of warmth in her eyes. They were so cold they could freeze a person’s heart. Her lips curled up in a vague mocking smile.
Sima Lingyun was dazzled by her beauty. He opened his mouth but could not speak. However, he could not help but shiver when he saw her cold and sharp gaze. He could only watch dazedly as she entered and then curtsied to Mo Huawen and Xu Yan. Then, she greeted Grand Secretariat Wang before sitting down on Mo Huawen’s other side.
She was present today as King Xuan’s consort. As such, Grand Secretariat bowed to her first when he saw her and then quickly invited her to sit down.
“Your Excellency, what did you come here today to talk about? Please speak.” Mo Xuetong said coldly as she sat down. A flash of disgust appeared in her eyes.
She had felt the man’s treasuring her in her past life. She was determined to grow old with him but had died due to his heartless plots. When she looked at him again now, she only felt disgusted especially when he looked straight at her. A flash of infatuation appeared in his eyes and it made Mo Xuetong felt nauseated.
He could still feel something like that at a time like this. He was indeed a piece of crap.
She was truly blind in her past life to feel that he was gentle and loving. She must have been blind to think that he treated her sincerely.
Mo Xuemin was so furious her eyes grew red when she saw how Sima Lingyun looked at Mo Xuetong, infatuated. Her eyes were filled with jealousy and hatred. Sima Lingyun truly liked that slut.
Mo Xuetong’s eyes turned to meet Mo Xuemin’s. She looked at Mo Xuemin quietly. A cold smirk suddenly appeared on Mo Xuetong’s lips. A hint of ridicule marked her lips silently. Mo Xuetong lifted her jaw and then glanced at Mo Xuemin’s stomach. Then, she turned her head away disdainfully, ignoring Mo Xuemin.
The two had completely torn any veneer of civility. Mo Xuetong would not support Mo Xuemin now. She was just seeking justice for the Mo Manor and not seek any benefits for Mo Xuemin.
In her past and this life, Mo Xuemin had tried to hurt her again and again. There were so many vicious acts against her and she had to seek revenge for them…
The Duchess also saw the infatuated glint in her son’s eyes. He did not retort to anything Mo Xuetong said. The Duchess was furious at her useless son and she yelled, “Yun’er!”
It was unknown whether it was because the Duchess’ anger was evident in her tone or whether it was because of the cold glance he was given, but Sima Lingyun regained his wits quickly. He coughed twice and then got back into explaining, “My Lady, even though I left early that day, I was in a bad mood because I was framed. I wanted to find a few young masters to explain myself. As such, I returned after leaving, which was why I saw what happened.”
In order to stop others from questioning him, he had memorized these answers very early on. He did not feel that there were any difficult questions. As such, he was filled with confidence. Since he could even guess that others might ask questions like that, the other questions would not be difficult. It seemed that divorcing that vicious Mo Xuemin would not be an issue today.
“Your Excellency, you saw my eldest sister taking me hostage. Then, you followed the carriage and got onto it to save me. However, the horse carriage smashed into a tree unexpectedly and both you and my eldest sister were knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, I returned to the manor because I was afraid after I regained consciousness. Then, I did not dare to speak up for you because I was afraid, which caused that scene that was difficult to explain?” Mo Xuemin asked lightly.
This was what Sima Lingyun had thought up. He did not expect Mo Xuetong to mention it first. He nodded frantically but felt that it was odd after he said that. Wasn’t that what he wanted to say! He had an ominous feeling about this.
“Eldest Sister, do you think so as well?” Mo Xuetong smiled lightly and handed the baton to Sima Lingyun. She was not worried. She wanted to see how Mo Xuemin would retaliate. Given Mo Xuemin’s character, how would she admit to something that would doom her eternally? Being evil and vicious, attempting to kill her legal sister, or pressuring Sima Lingyun and forcing him to marry her; she would not be able to admit to any of that.
With Mo Xuemin defending herself, all she had to do was to watch the show!
A dog biting another dog would just result in both of them eating mouthfuls of fur. She believed that what happened next would be very interesting.
Indeed, when Mo Xuemin heard that Sima Lingyun wanted to direct the matter in that direction, she turned around and looked at Sima Lingyun coldly. She suddenly cried at Sima Lingyun, “Your Excellency, how could you say something like that? How could you abandon your wife for those two concubines of yours? How could you be so heartless? You are forcing me to death. Are those two women so good? One of them had a long-standing affair with you even before she entered the manor while the other once climbed onto Father’s bed. Does the Duke Zhenguo’s Manor only need sluts like that and cannot make a spot for me, your legal wife!”
She spoke with emotions and her lips trembled. She seemed as if she was so angry she spoke without thinking.
However, the meaning in her words was enough to make the Duchess’ and Sima Lingyun’s faces burn.
One of them had an affair before marriage while the other had climbed onto someone else’s bed. No one would take in concubines like that but the Duke Zhenguo’s Manor had taken two. Others would definitely laugh at them. How could others not? The Duke Zhenguo’s Manor was completely embarrassed.
“Bullshit. Qiu’er and Yun’er did not have any affairs.”
“Who said that Xinru’s been bedded?” The Duchess and Sima Lingyun retorted at the same time.
“Grand Secretariat Wang, if you do not believe it, you can go and check at the manor. That Miss Yun and His Excellency started having an affair a long time ago. The two of them even brought Yun Jiqiu into the manor after she got pregnant. As for what embarrassing deed Auntie Lan did, any servant in the Mo Manor knows about it. She wanted to crawl into Father’s bed, but Father found out about it and threw her out. That was when she tried to seduce His Excellency.” Mo Xuemin cried to Grand Secretariat Wang as she sat on the floor, looking aggrieved.
The matter turned from the kidnapping at the palace gates to Sima Lingyun abandoning his wife in favor of his concubines. It meant that everything Sima Lingyun did today was because he listened to his dratted concubines. They wanted to make trouble for Mo Xuemin, his legal wife, and kill her. The Duchess had joined in and behaved like this for her niece.
It was the truth and just a simple check would verify it.
Grand Secretariat Wang nodded and got someone to take away one of the Duchess’ maids and a servant from behind Mo Huawen. They were brought to the side for questioning.
Grand Secretariat Wang’s presence represented the royal family’s will. He even specially mentioned that he would call on two more people. If there were any errors, the side that was lying and their family would become slaves.
When they heard that, the two servants did not dare to say anything and immediately told the truth.
The Mo Manor did not have any pressure since they were telling the truth and it had nothing much to do with his master. It even made his master look good for he was not seduced by beauty. The servant from Duke Zhenguo’s Manor was very fearful and kept peeking at the Duchess while speaking. Her expression was pale and her voice grew softer and softer.
However, no matter how soft she was, everyone could still hear her clearly. Yun Yiqiu and Sima Lingyun had already long been together. The two had gotten together more than a year before Yun Yiqiu was brought into the manor as a concubine. This could not be hidden from those in the manor.
With such results, it seemed that Mo Xuemin was being truthful. Sima Lingyun had indeed abandoned his wife in favor of his concubines and that was why he was making things up about what happened at the palace gates back then.
“Your Excellency, you are from a noble family as well. You should rule a nation and manage a household peacefully. If you cannot even manage a household, what great things can you achieve?” Grand Secretariat Wang immediately said gravely.
This was basically the conclusion he made after he watched everything that happened!
It was such a boring farce!
He stood up and intended to leave. He was a grand secretariat. If not for someone asking for his favor, he would not have the time to watch a man abandon his wife in favor of his concubines.
Sima Lingyun did not expect something like this to happen. Talking about what happened that day could have established that Mo Xuemin was a vicious woman who tried to kill her younger sister. However, it had become him abandoning his wife in favor of his concubines and him having an affair. What was worst was that Lan Xinru had even been on Mo Huawen’s bed. How could he even look at others in the future? When he thought of that, the green veins on Sima Lingyun’s forehead twitched uncontrollably.
Calm down, calm down. He had to calm down now. He must not fuss about all that. He had to foil the evil woman’s plot right now.
He looked at Mo Xuetong and could see the hint of viciousness and satisfaction in her eyes. Rage flamed in his heart and anger appeared in his eyes. Slut. She wanted the position of his eldest legal son and wanted the bastard in her belly to be a child of the Duke Zhenguo’s Manor. That could not happen.
He would take her down with him today even if he had to die doing so.
…
Sima Lingyun bowed deeply to Grand Secretariat Wang when he saw that the man was about to leave. He said, “Hold on, Sir Wang, it is indeed not right for me to meet with my cousin in private. As such, even though we are cousins, she can only be a concubine. Then, if I meet other people in private, does that mean that they cannot become my wife either and can only be a concubine?”
Wasn’t Mo Xuemin unwilling to leave! Alright, then he would make her a concubine!
A woman would only become a legal wife when she publicly married a man, and she could only be a concubine if she first eloped with him. This was a truth that did not change with time. Even if the matter was brought up to the Empress, it would still be justifiable.
He did not believe that he would not be able to remove that slut from her position as his wife if he wagered his own reputation!