Luo Mingzhu had slimmed down. Even though she was not fat to begin with, her figure was still very charming. Now, she was wearing a light green coat, which was a little too big for her body. When she saw Mo Xuetong standing at the door, her eyes turned red and she seemed to be about to cry.
But when she noticed that there were so many people at the door of the courtyard, she restrained herself and showed a stiff smile on her face.
“Second Cousin, what’s wrong? Do you feel unwell?” Mo Xuetong walked forward and warmly held Luo Mingzhu’s hand as they walked in together. It was as if there was no estrangement between the two of them recently. When they arrived at the door of the house, Mo Lan lifted the curtain and lowered it when she saw the two of them entered arm in arm. Then she stood outside with Luo Mingzhu’s maidservants.
Judging from Luo Mingzhu’s expression, the maidservants could tell that she had something to say to Mo Xuetong, so they all left tactfully.
“Cousin Tong…” Luo Mingzhu opened her mouth the moment she sat down on the chair. However, when she spoke, tears could not stop flowing down. She picked up her handkerchief and covered her mouth. As a result, she could not even speak clearly for a moment.
“Second Cousin, what’s the matter? Did something really happen? It doesn’t matter. Just tell me slowly. We might have a solution if we discuss it together. Look at how wronged you are. Did Sir Li bully you?” Mo Xuetong picked up a handkerchief beside her and handed it to the other woman while she comforted her softly.
A hint of worry flashed across her eyes. Luo Mingzhu was obviously out of control today. She had always been straightforward and careless, and had never been so wronged.
Luo Mingzhu’s tears flowed more and even faster when she heard Mo Xuetong’s concern. She covered her lips with the handkerchief but could not hold on no matter how hard she tried. As such, she started to sob. She had planned to talk about the matter properly when she first came. However, when she saw Mo Xuetong, she felt a mixture of emotions. Her heart was filled with pain, hate, grievance, and a little guilt. She felt that she could not even open her mouth.
After a long while, she managed to recover under Mo Xuetong’s persuasion.
Mo Xuetong ordered a maidservant outside to bring in a basin of water. After the maidservant waited on Luo Mingzhu to wash her face, she ordered her to leave.
“Second Cousin, have a cup of tea first. Let’s talk about it after a while. Don’t hide it in your heart if there’s anything. We are cousins, so there’s nothing you can’t talk to me.” Mo Xuetong pushed the teacup in front of Luo Mingzhu and said softly, “Take a sip first. If there’s anything, it’s better to discuss it with another person than to bear it on your own.”
Looking at the sincere concern on Mo Xuetong’s beautiful face, Luo Mingzhu lowered her head and let out a long sigh. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she looked up at Mo Xuetong and stated, “Cousin Tong, do you know that your mother is not grandmother’s biological daughter?”
Her words exploded in Mo Xuetong’s heart like thunder.
“Pa!” Mo Xuetong could not hold the lid in her hand steadily and slammed it against the teacup. She collected herself, looked at Luo Mingzhu and asked hoa.r.s.ely, “Second Cousin, how, how could you say something like that? If my mother is not grandmother’s daughter, could she be someone else’s daughter?”
It was not that she was unwilling to tell Luo Mingzhu about it. There were many things involved in this matter. Perhaps, the entire Fu General Manor would be implicated. Something related to King Jin’s Manor was a big deal of treason. Even though the current Emperor did not find King Jin’s descendant publicly, he did not seek justice for him. No matter what, Mo Xuetong’s mother’s ident.i.ty couldn’t be disclosed.
Furthermore, the matter of saving her mother had happened more than 30 years ago. At that time, King Jin was a real rebel. If such a thing were exposed, Fu General Manor would definitely be implicated. Mo Xuetong would not allow such a thing to be exposed. If the current Emperor really did not care about it, why was he still looking for the old objects?
In her past life, she had been muddle-headed. Therefore, she did not discover the shocking secret that surrounded her, nor did she discover that the tragedy of the people around her was all because of this matter. It involved so many people’s blood and lives. Mo Xuetong did not dare to take the risk to tell others, even if it was Luo Mingzhu.
She desperately wanted to know how Luo Mingzhu knew about this matter. Could this be the cause of her second cousin’s estrangement from her?
“Cousin Tong, it’s true. Father and Mother were arguing that day. I was afraid that they would fight like cats and dogs, so I went to the back to listen…” As Mo Xuetong did not believe her, Luo Mingzhu made up her mind. She held Mo Xuetong’s hand and said anxiously in a low voice, “I heard Mother say that Aunt was not Father’s biological younger sister. Father did not refute her at that time. I… I was scared, terrified and shocked. I did not know what to do, so I went back myself.”
As for the part that her mother said that her father liked her aunt, Luo Mingzhu hid it. It was not that she did not believe in Mo Xuetong, but that she felt ashamed. In the eyes of Luo Mingzhu who had always attached great importance to family ethics, she could not believe it no matter what. Her mother must have said it because she was angry. It must be so.
Mo Xuetong’s expression darkened. She held Luo Mingzhu’s hand back and asked anxiously, “Did Second Uncle and Second Aunt say that?”
Her second aunt also knew about this matter! Her second aunt had only been married into Fu General Manor for a few years, and at that time, the weird courtyard was supposed to have been desolate, and her mother had already married into Cloud City. There were no clues left in Fu General Manor. How did her second aunt find out about it?
Mo Xuetong knew that she was suspicious because she had been reborn and had memories of her past life. However, what about her second aunt? How did she know? She felt that the answer was right in front of her, but she could not figure it out for a moment, as if a layer of fog had hidden the answer in front of her eyes. She could see it vaguely, but she could not reach it.
“Yes, I heard it very clearly. Mother and Father argued about this matter for a while. Then, Father left with a flick of his sleeves.” Luo Mingzhu nodded.
She could not recall the exact scene at that time now. However, those words echoed in her ears again and again, as if they were a curse. She could not eat or sleep well. When she woke up, she felt a sword hanging high above Fu General Manor. But even so, she wanted to hide it.
Like Mo Xuetong, Luo Mingzhu subconsciously felt that she could not tell others about it. If she told others, it would only be a scandal of Fu General Manor. She would not allow such a scandal to embarra.s.s Fu General Manor, her grandmother, and her father. She even avoided Mo Xuetong subconsciously.
“Second Cousin, do you believe it?” Mo Xuetong looked at Luo Mingzhu seriously.
“I, I…” Luo Mingzhu did not know what to say. Her heart was filled with all kinds of emotions. She did not know how to answer. At one moment the words struck her as credible, at another as implausible. Besides, she had no idea what she should do. She only felt as if a great disaster was about to befall her, but she could not find a direction.
“I believe it!” She gritted her teeth and told what she thought. If she didn’t believe it, why did she have no appet.i.te for food these days? She just wanted to think about it alone and have a quiet time.
For this reason, she even took the opportunity to the courtyard and asked some old servants. Unlike Mo Xuetong, Luo Mingzhu had been born in Fu General Manor since she was a child. She was familiar with small things in Fu General Manor. Of course, she knew who to ask. From several old servants’ words, she could vaguely get a rough idea of what had happened, which made her scared.
If what she had guessed was true, then the entire Fu General Manor would be implicated. She thought about it for a while and had no choice but to come to find Mo Xuetong. No matter what, her cousin was smart. Her cousin was the one who had discovered that pot of Yuxiao Flower and saved Fu General Manor from a grave crime.
“Cousin Tong, believe me. I went back to the manor to investigate and found that someone had lived in the desolated courtyard behind Aunt’s house.” Since Luo Mingzhu wanted Mo Xuetong come up with an idea, she would not hide it. She told Mo Xuetong about how she had secretly asked a few old servants after she returned home.
Mo Xuetong had always wanted to do these things, but she did not dare to do anything out of fear of alarming the people in Fu General Manor. When she heard that Luo Mingzhu had asked about it in private, she frowned and thought for a moment. Then, she asked, “Those people said that someone had lived in the back courtyard. When did that happen?”
“It’s said that it has been a long time. It should be 23 years ago. The servant who was asked couldn’t explain it clearly. It seemed that a few distant relatives of Fu General Manor lived there, but they didn’t live there for a long time. However, the food given to the yard was the same as that given to Grandmother. At that time, Grandmother just gave birth to Aunt, so all she had was food for nourishment, and the new distant relatives also had it.”
Luo Mingzhu told Mo Xuetong what she had found out and then let out a long sigh! She felt as if a heavy weight on her heart was a little lighter. She had not told others about these things and she was almost out of breath. Consort Jin, did Consort Jin live there?
“Tell me when did those people leave?” Mo Xuetong thought for a moment and asked. She did not care about what her cousin said. She wanted to find out the other conclusion from Luo Mingzhu’s investigation, so she asked very carefully.
“They didn’t stay for long. I didn’t ask so clearly at that time.” Luo Mingzhu thought for a while and added, “The old servant said that most people left later, and it seemed that only two people were left. They stayed on for a while and also left. After that, the yard was locked up. Then, there were bad rumors. The courtyard became more and more desolate. In the end, no one could remember the past.”
There was a hint of contemplation in Mo Xuetong’s eyes. She picked up the cup of tea beside her hand and took a sip. She could not help but ask, “Then is there anything different about it later?” The painting was also a secret Mo Xuetong could not say. She was even less able to track it than Luo Mingzhu was.
Even though her mother was young then, she was already a few years old. Did Consort Jin still live in Fu General Manor at that time?
Luo Mingzhu frowned and answered, “No. Later, it was said that there were servants dying there. And because it’s remote and no one lived there at ordinary times, Grandmother asked people to lock it up. Then it becomes desolate like that.”
She didn’t care about that courtyard at first, but she didn’t expect that there would be such a thing, which aroused her doubts. When she was a child, she was told not to go there as it was not clean there. Since it was a desolate courtyard, and there was nothing interesting, Luo Mingzhu was very obedient and had never been there.
There was only one time when her kite was hung on a tree branch inside that courtyard. She brought her maidservants and secretly entered there through a small hole by the door. Then she saw a white figure flash by. The little girl did not even dare to take the kite and ran back with a pale face. She did not dare to tell anyone about it and did not dare to go there after that.
