Chapter 539 At the Banquet of Qixi Festival, Mo Xuetong Entered the Palace
In the Consort Zhao’s Mingyue Palace, there was no one else but Consort Zhao. It was too spacious and empty. Shadow twisted in the candlelight. Then, the light leaped with a slight sound, which made Consort Zhao’s charming face look weird. Suddenly, the palace door creaked open. It was Caichun, her close maidservant in a common dress who came in from outside.
Looking at Caichun’s pale and nervous face, Consort Zhao asked, “How was it? Is there anything wrong?”
“There was nothing wrong with it. But I came across the maidservant of Consort Yu on the way back and was almost discovered. If I had not pretended to be from the Empress’ palace, they would have almost discovered me.” Thinking about what had happened just now, Caichun still wanted to tremble nervously.
Just now, on the way to the Mingyue Palace, Caichun happened to meet two Consort Yu’s maidservants to get the food from the imperial kitchen. The Emperor was said to rest in Consort Yu’s palace today again. Caichun went there secretly. So when she met the two maidservants at this time, she almost couldn’t avoid them and exposed herself.
Consort Zhao’s eyes fell on Caichun’s face and stared at her thoughtfully for a few seconds. Then, she nodded in consolation and said to Caichun, “It’s alright. Even if they saw you, they might not recognize you.”
There were few people available for Consort Zhao. Although Caichun was useful, she was a little old. Besides, she did know too much. If she was caught someday, some things could not be hidden any longer. So Consort Zhao thought she had to cultivate another trusted servant.
Caichun did not know that Consort Zhao had thought about killing her, but thought that Consort Zhao was comforting her. So Caichun immediately expressed her loyalty and said, “Yes, I am not afraid. Even if I am exposed, I will take all the responsibilities and won’t get Your Highness into trouble.”
She thought her words would make Consort Zhao have more trust in her, but did not realize that this would only make Consort Zhao warier of her. Consort Zhao had not made up her mind in the beginning, but now, she was confirmed that since Caichun knew too much, if Caichun was caught by others, the secret of Consort Zhao herself would be the weak points.
Smiling, Consort Zhao patted Caichun on the shoulder, nodded with satisfaction, and asked, “How is the preparation going on His Excellency side?”
“His Excellency said everything was ready for Your Highness’ order,” said Caichun.
“Okay, then go to prepare it. Don’t get exposed.”
“Yes, I know.” Caichun bowed to Consort Zhao hurriedly in a proper manner and left.
The seventh day of the seventh month was also known as the Qixi Festival. It was usually a women’s festival. At this time of the year, the Empress would be the main star in the palace, who would feast ladies in the palace. To show support for the Empress, the Emperor would also invite noble young masters to attend the banquet together. Some noble families would take this opportunity to choose the right person for their young master or lady of the right age. If the two took a fancy to each other, the man would send people to propose marriage for the woman. Therefore, there was more than one case of successful marriages achieved simply in the banquet.
With the auspicious implication of the Qixi Festival, it was easy to do such things. The Empress was also happy to see new matches made in the banquet she held. In the last life, although Mo Xuetong had not attended such a banquet, rumors had it that Sima Heyan fell in love with a young handsome master on such an occasion, and the two seemed to pledge to marry privately. However, Sima Lingyun finally flung his sister to another man’s bed for his own bright future.
Then, in order to change her brother’s mind, Sima Heyan tried to resist with death and elopement, and even threatened Sima Lingyun to change his mind by holding a knife to Mo Xuetong’s throat crazily. At that time, Mo Xuetong was pregnant but was dragged out by the frenzied Sima Heyan from the room. What was worse was that in front of the stiff Sima Lingyun, Mo Xuetong was almost killed by Sima Heyan with a stab.
Although Sima Lingyun kept apologizing to Mo Xuetong after the incident, claiming that he would not leave her in the lurch but just wanted to scare Sima Heyan. And in order to help Mo Xuetong get over the shock, he even gave Mo Xuetong a hairpin especially. It was the first time Sima Lingyun had given Mo Xuetong a gift since she entered the manor. So she was so excited that she completely took her mind off the fact that how heartless Sima Lingyun had been and believed his words.
Now when Mo Xuetong recalled the past, she realized that she was indeed the stupidest of them all.
Mo Xuetong thought, If Sima Lingyun had really cared about her, he would not have stood to see Sima Heyan held a knife to Mo Xuetong’s throat and refused to make a compromise even at the sight that Mo Xuetong was dragged out desperately in her pregnancy.
Mo Xuetong closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, and she seemed to smell the scent of blood welling up inside. She clenched her fists and said to herself repeatedly that the banquet this time was not that in her last life with Sima Heyan, and that the Duke Zhenguo’s manor had been reduced to ashes. Then, she could calm herself down gradually.
A maidservant led Mo Xuetong into the Empress’s Tianfeng Palace, curtsied respectfully, and said, “My Lady, the Tianfeng Palace is here. I will go to inform for you now.”
When hearing that Feng Yuran entered the palace, Emperor Zongwen sent people to get him to his palace at the gate. But led by the Empress’s maidservant, Mo Xuetong went to Empress’s Tianfeng Palace.
Mo Xuetong smiled and nodded.
The maidservant held her long skirts and was about to ascend the steps when she was knocked by a force, failed to stand steadily, and fell to Mo Xuetong. Fortunately, Mo Ye pulled Mo Xuetong aside swiftly. Then, the maidservant was tilted to Mo Xuetong’s side and fell to the ground heavily.
“I was wondering who it was. Well, it is Consort Xuan. I heard that there was a wild scene in Consort Xuan’s courtyard several days ago. If I had known it, I would have come to have a look that day as well.” Of course, it was Ling Rui’er who had a bitterly sarcastic smile on her face. She looked like a fairy in her gorgeous formal suit. Standing on the high steps with an arrogant look, She immediately mentioned what had happened on Mo Xuetong’s birthday banquet and mocked Mo Xuetong unsparingly.
She was still Consort Chu. Her paternal family was Ding General Manor of powerful background. Furthermore, she was the Empress’ niece and the Empress Dowager’s grandniece. Mo Xuetong could not compare to her by any means. Therefore, the noble ladies around Ling Rui’er stood certainly by her side.
Hearing Ling Rui’er’s sarcasm and looking at Mo Xuetong’s flawlessly beautiful face, no one was not jealous, and they thought Mo Xuetong was so enticing that she was like a seductive fox. And the young ladies around Ling Rui’er looked at Mo Xuetong with disdain, contempt, and ridicule in a hostile manner.
Another pretty lady shook the fan in her hand and said with a feigned innocent smile on her face and obvious provocation in her eyes, “Was Consort Chu talking about what had happened on Consort Xuan’s birthday? I heard that a concubine lost her child. As the incidents about people falling into the water, men intruding into the manor, and a concubine losing the baby emerged one after another, it’s really a mess in the King Xuan’s Manor.”
Mo Xuetong knew her. She was also a daughter of the Ding General Manor, to be exact, a concubine’s daughter named Ling Yu. It seemed that the Ding General Manor had good genes, otherwise, they could not have had a woman as beautiful as Ling Fengyan. And the woman in front looked pretty as well.
However, Mo Xuetong could tell that Ling Yu was as mean as Ling Rui’er at first sight, because Ling Yu defamed Mo Xuetong as a dissolute and ruthless woman by simply using an ambiguous sentence.
“Slap her.” Mo Xuetong said coolly, and her eyes skimmed over Ling Rui’er’s face and fell on the Ling’s Manor’s daughter’s small face. No matter what kind of attitude Ling Rui’er had as she stood in front of Mo Xuetong, or that it was Ling Rui’er’s intentions, or the Empress’ intentions, the words were all the same as slaps on Mo Xuetong’s face.
Mo Xuetong knew that as long as she softened her attitude today, the rumors would spread like the truth. It was easy to tell from the faces of the ladies standing beside. They took pleasure in the scene. However, Mo Xuetong thought that they were all wrong and stupid, as they had a fond hope that they could take advantage of her to get ahead. In fact, no one was allowed to bully King Xuan’s legitimate consort at will.
Hearing Mo Xuetong’s order, Mo Ye released Mo Xuetong’s hand, rushed over, and gave two slaps on Ling Yu’s tender pink face.
Ling Yu was shocked, and she covered her face angrily and said, “You, how dare you slap me?” The others were stunned as well. No one expected that Consort Xuan, who was always gentle and innocent as if ignorant of the world, would be so tough. Although Ling Yu was just a concubine’s daughter, she was still a concubine’s daughter of the Ding General Manor. With the Ding General Manor’s background, though with her humble status, she would still be able to marry a high official and become his legitimate wife. However, she was slapped by Mo Xuetong’s maidservant today. How could Ling Yu not fly into a rage?
However, even though Ling Yu was not an easy person to deal with, she glared at Mo Xuetong angrily, then turned to Ling Rui’er tearfully and cried. “Third Sister, she hit me!”
Ling Yu immediately changed to a delicate and weak look with silent resentment. She just stared at Ling Rui’er till Ling Rui’er turned to shout at Mo Xuetong, “Mo Xuetong. how dare you hit the person of the Ding General Manor!”
Even though Ling Rui’er thought she was the legitimate daughter and looked down upon illegitimate one, she still understood the principle that they were bonded together and shared honors and harms in public. So Ling Rui’er turned to the two maidservants by her side and said, “Hit them back. Beat heavily and beat the little slut to death.”
Upon hearing the master’s order, the two maidservants were about to rush over to seize Mo Ye.
“Consort Chu, remember your own identity. You are the daughter-in-law of the royal family now, representing the highest status. How dare you still claim to be from the Ding General Manor? Are you dissatisfied with your present identity and regretting marrying King Chu? Are you going to divorce King Chu and regain your identity as a lady of the Ding General Manor?”
Mo Xuetong smiled coldly and pulled Mo Ye behind her. Her smile was chilly. In fact, she was not afraid that the two maidservants would hit Mo Ye, but the fact that Mo Ye was proficient in martial art could not be revealed in front of others right now. In the palace today, she did not figure out who was plotting against another, so she had to keep a hidden card by her side. In this regard, she would not let others know that Mo Ye could play martial arts unless it was absolutely necessary.
Frightened by Mo Xuetong’s imposing manner, the two maidservants did not dare to raise their hands. No matter how daring they were, they did not dare to wave their hands at Mo Xuetong, as they knew that Mo Xuetong had arrogantly and triumphantly ordered to beat dozens of concubines of the King Xuan’s Manor to death several days ago. Who knew if she would rush in and order to beat the two maidservants to death as well?
Mo Xuetong’s words infuriated Ling Rui’er. She did not expect that Mo Xuetong would find out about her mistakes in her words and glared at Mo Xuetong with hatred and panted. But she did not dare to continue to say. “To divorce Feng Yuxuan?” If such words were to spread, she would lose her life obviously, and even the powerful Ding General Manor’s would not be able to reverse it, as they dare to defy the royal bloodline. As a daughter who was married, how could Ling Rui’er still consider herself a member of the Ding General Manor?
In any case, Ling Rui’er would not be able to bear such a crime.
She glared at Mo Xuetong in a fury.
When in a stalemate, a maidservant came from inside, curtsied to Mo Xuetong respectfully, and said, “Consort Xuan is here. Her Highness is inside and asking Consort Xuan to come in.”
Seeing the Empress’s maidservant come out, the noble ladies broke up immediately, and no one dared to behave unseemly in front of the Empress’s people. Even the indignant Ling Rui’er was dragged off by Ling Yu reluctantly.
Mo Xuetong smiled and fixed her eyes on the maidservant who had fallen to the ground. Seeing the maidservant struggling to get up, Mo Xuetong signaled Mo Ye to help the maidservant up, and Mo Xuetong herself lifted the hem of her skirt and walked inside. It was really odd today. Did Ling Rui’er change her temper because she had been taught a lesson by Mo Yarui’s matter?
This was really shocking!