Chapter 450 Troubles and the Ding General Manor’s Counterplot
Feng Yuran’s eyes glimmered and reached out to hold her hand. He said lovingly, “How is that considered narcissistic? Am I not someone like that? Otherwise, why would Tong’er like me?”
He sounded as if he was joking but his eyes were sincere as he looked at Mo Xuetong. His gaze was heated and it made Mo Xuetong’s heart beat wildly. The maids and Feng Yuran’s guards were standing outside and must have heard him. He was really shameless to say something like this in broad daylight.
She glanced at him, pretending to be angry. However, her pale ears blushed as she tried to wrench her hands out of his grasp to no avail. She could only look down to hide her shyness. However, she felt syrupy sweet deep down inside. She even understood that Feng Yuran picking on what Feng Yuzhen had done for another important reason. He was trying to avenge her!
She immediately felt warm and contented in the heart.
She could hear his lazy and charming voice by her ear. Her heart started beating like a drum before she even looked at him. He asked, “Tong’er, you don’t like me?”
He moved his hands and pulled Mo Xuetong to him from across the table. His handsome face glowed and his eyes curved up in a smile. His tone was charming and bright.
Her hands were held in his. They felt numb and her heart skipped a beat. Mo Xuetong pouted naturally; her eyes were as clear as water. She looked at Feng Yuran, showing her displeasure. She pinched him viciously before she said anything. However, she did not have much strength and it did not hurt him much.
“Tong’er, you must like me!” Feng Yuran’s eyes darkened when Mo Xuetong did not reply. However, he immediately started to look serious and appeared domineering. He reached out to hold Mo Xuetong’s hand lightly. He was gentle but firm. He had never been an altruistic person. Tong’er was his and could only be his.
It did not matter who else wanted her. He would not allow it!
He looked at Mo Xuetong deeply and shook her hand. He looked like he would only be satisfied when she gave him an answer.
Mo Xuetong was startled. She did not expect the charming and devilish Feng Yuran to behave so childishly. However, she could sense his sincerity behind his childish determination. When she thought of how this romantic and handsome Adonis was so deeply in love with her, she felt as if she was thrown into a completely different world.
Everything was so perfect and wonderful she could not believe it!
In her past life, she had paid for this with her life but had not received it!
She looked up with her clear and beautiful eyes. There seemed to be a faint layer of mist in her eyes that glimmered and rippled. There was a sense of sorrow in her beautiful eyes that seemed to have been enveloped in a light layer of mist. It was like a dream or an illusion. She seemed beautiful and frail.
Feng Yuran’s eyes grew even softer and he let go of her. He walked up to her and held her hands once more, pulling her up from her seat. He wrapped her into a gentle hug and patted her back. He said, lazily and domineeringly, “Tong’er, don’t be sad. No matter who it is who bullies you, I will have them know that there are some people that they can’t bully.”
He was arrogant and proud. The world was large and those with power would claim victory!
Mo Xuetong had never doubted Feng Yuran given his place in Emperor Zongwen’s heart and the power that he had gathered secretly. She leaned into Feng Yuran’s chest quietly and blinked her long lashes. A small smile appeared on her lips. This man made her feel very safe. She felt as if she could sleep in peace without any worries in his arms.
She did not have to worry that others might plot against her, and neither did she have to worry that someone might try to hurt her. She did not have to worry about anything else. She moved her lips and murmured, “Yuran, I like you!”
Her voice was very soft. It was so soft it almost disappeared behind her soft and upturned lips. However, Feng Yuran heard her. Several different emotions appeared in his almond-shaped eyes immediately. His eyes glowed heatedly and he could not help but tighten his hold on the girl in his arms. His tenderness and love entered Mo Xuetong’s heart through his embrace.
She felt soft in the heart! The feeling of sweetness felt like honey flowing through her heart!
Ling Rui’er was feeling very troubled now. She was so annoyed that she almost left Duke Ding behind in a fit of anger. She used to be the Third Miss of the Ding General Manor. Furthermore, she was the daughter of the legal wife. Outside of the manor, she was respected because of who Duke Ding was. As such, even though her elder sister was the most beautiful girl of the capital, her elder sister still had to bow down to Ling Mingyan, the true eldest legitimate daughter, much less herself.
However, it was now different for her. She was King Chu’s first consort. Given King Chu’s current status, he was no longer as before. If Feng Yuxuan were to ascend the throne, she would be the empress and rule over the rest. There would be no other woman who would be as noble as her. The Ding General Manor would have to bow down to her in the future.
“Uncle, I am not being arrogant and willful. The people in that shop is too much. I did not want the situation to come to this. Uncle, why don’t you shut down that shop lest there are rumors.” Ling Rui’er pressed her hands onto the table and spoke coldly with a calm expression.
Duke Ding, Ling Yu, who was trying to reason with her, was shocked. He did not expect his usually gentle and obedient niece to argue with him. He was shocked speechless.
“What are you talking about. Quick, apologize to your uncle. Is this something a consort should say?!” Ling Hai, who was seated by the side slapped his hand on the table and berated Ling Rui’er.
“Father…” Ling Rui’er was shocked and her eyes grew red. She was still shocked by what happened earlier. She thought of how she still had to see Feng Yuxuan later when she returned to the manor. She did not know what Feng Yuxuan would think. When she thought of how rumors would say that she was meeting her lover in secret in that shop, she felt very much aggrieved. She had only just wanted to give something nice to her elder brother. How did something like this happen?
“Apologize.” Ling Hai said angrily, unmoved even when he saw the aggrieved expression on his daughter’s face.
“Uncle, Rui’er did not mean to do that. I was just very angry. Why did so many things happen when I just wanted to buy something from the shop? It is obvious that someone was trying to frame me.” Ling Rui’er cried and covered her face with a handkerchief as she curtsied at Duke Ding. She could not hold her tears back any longer and she started to sob.
Duke Ding frowned slightly. Given his many years of experience, he knew that someone was trying to frame Ling Rui’er. However, the problem was that they did not know who it was.
“Rui’er, don’t be upset. Since you know that someone is trying to frame you to get to King Chu and the Ding General Manor, then you must not act rashly even more so. You have to know that you are now King Chu’s consort. Everything you say and every move you make represents King Chu. We still don’t know what King Chu thinks of the incident today. How can you be so rash?”
When he mentioned Feng Yuxuan, Ling Rui’er paled immediately. She did not dare to be rash any longer. She said uneasily, “Uncle, then what should I do?”
Ling Rui’er’s maid, Xiangyun, who was behind her, immediately handed her a clean handkerchief. Ling Rui’er accepted it and wiped her tears before sitting down again.
“This person seems to bear malicious intentions towards the Ding General Manor as well as King Chu’s Manor. Furthermore, the person knew that you were going to come to the Ding General Manor today, which was why they could set up such an intricate plot on the way here. Rui’er, tell me, why did you suddenly want to get that brush washer?”
Duke Ding asked Ling Rui’er confusedly. Why did she suddenly want to buy a brush washer when all she had to do was visit Ling Yang? Furthermore, it was said that she had seen the brush washer a few days ago and did not have any intention to buy it afterward. Why did she suddenly want to buy it again!
Ling Rui’er put down the handkerchief she used to wipe her tears and thought for a moment. She replied, “Uncle, when I went to see the brush washer last time, I thought that it suited Elder Brother very well. Furthermore, Elder Brother likes collecting brush washers. He would definitely like it. However, we didn’t buy it because we couldn’t come to an agreement about the price. I forgot all about it after returning to the King’s Manor. I went out today to visit Elder Brother. When I arrived at the intersection, I suddenly remembered this, so I got Xiangyun to buy it. Who would have known that, that… then that happened.”
“Did anyone mention the brush washer to you?”
“No, I saw the shop through the window and thought of it.” Ling Rui’er thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. No one had spoken in the horse carriage then, and neither did she hear about it from anyone before or after leaving the manor. If she hadn’t seen the shop and thought of the brush washer, she would not have gotten Xiangyun to get off the horse carriage then.
“Xiangyun, how did the argument start after you got off the horse carriage?” Duke Ding saw that he could not get any information from Ling Rui’er and turned to ask Xiangyun, who was behind her.
Xiangyun was so frightened that she lost strength in her legs. She knelt down with a plop and quickly explained, “Sir, I didn’t say anything. I just asked where the brush washer went. The shopkeeper said that it had been sold to someone else and it had been sold for a thousand taels of silver. His tone was filled with scorn for My Lady, so I got mad. How can the shopkeeper be such a snob? My Lady had said that she would return to buy it. Why didn’t he ask My Lady before selling it then? The shopkeeper couldn’t explain himself when he heard that and started arguing with me.”
Xiangyun knew that some things could not be said and pushed all the blame to the shopkeeper. She also did not forget to mention that she had been standing up for Ling Rui’er. Those people had been so hostile, and they were obviously trying to humiliate Ling Rui’er.
“Uncle, look. Xiangyun said that the brush washer was mine, but those people still dared to do that. This… If this isn’t them bullying me, that what is? I am Consort Chu, am I not allowed to be as stubborn as a mere shopkeeper? Listen to the rumors that they are spreading. They said that I have a lover because…”
Ling Rui’er thought of what those people said behind the horse carriage. Her eyes reddened again and she started to cry. She did not want to hear those words again in her entire life. She was Consort Chu but had been humiliated on the streets by those people. Even though she used to be the Third Miss born by a concubine of the Ding General Manor, she had never been treated like that.
“Elder Brother, what do you think?” Ling Hai asked with a frown. Things hadn’t been going well for him recently either. First, his son fought with Consort Yu’s younger brother, Yu Mingyong. His arm and leg had been broken because of a woman. The Emperor even pushed all the blame onto his son.
He had wanted to plead with the Empress Dowager for help but the servants of Cining Palace came to say that the Empress Dowager was gravely ill. They were not to bother her if it was nothing serious. The two brothers of Ling knew that the Empress Dowager was displeased with them.
He had planned to enter the palace and try to see what the Empress Dowager would say and try to butter up to her. After all, the Empress Dowager was the Emperor’s mother on paper. She was the most distinguished and honorable woman of the Qin Kingdom. They could not afford to offend her anyway.
However, who would have thought that more trouble would arise even before the first was solved? Ling Rui’er had gotten into trouble on the way back to the manor!
How could Duke Ding not feel like a cat on hot bricks? He did not even have a place to stand still and plan for his next move.