There were already dishes placed on the table, and they were all Mo Xuetong’s favorites. Feng Yuran did not ask the maidservant to serve her. Instead, he scooped up a bowl of fragrant rice for Mo Xuetong and a bowl for himself. He glanced at Mo Xuetong with his beautiful eyes and raised his brows. “Do you have something to ask me?”
“How did you know I wanted to ask you something?” Mo Xuetong could not help but feel strange. She did have something to say earlier. However, as she saw how tired he looked when he entered, she did not ask anything else. The banquet today had proven that there was no good wine or good banquet. Such a big thing had suddenly happened.
“I can tell just by looking at your appearance.” Feng Yuran picked up some shrimp, which was Mo Xuetong’s favorite, and placed it in her bowl. “The Sixth Princess’s face was badly injured and the corners of her eyes were scratched by Ling Mingyan. One of her eyes was bloodshot and she could not open it. The imperial physician said that she might not be able to save one of her eyes.”
“One of her eyes was hurt as well?”
“Yeah, Ling Mingyan had used all her strength this time. This is also the retribution of Feng Xuehe. I don’t want to care about what happened between her and You Yuecheng. But she dared to reach out her claws to you. Wasn’t she afraid that her claws would break?” Feng Yuran gave an evil smile, and there was a hint of coldness in his eyes. His eyes were as sharp as something solid, and there were faint ripples in them, which made others’ hearts involuntarily beat fast.
Mo Xuetong blinked her watery eyes, suppressed the warmth in her heart, and asked softly, “Did Ling Mingyan go crazy because she heard something?”
Ling Mingyan was naturally unwilling to give up after such a thing happened. However, she wasn’t supposed to confront the Sixth Princess directly. Furthermore, it was a life-and-death situation. By the time Mo Xuetong arrived, things had already happened. Even though Ling Mingyan knew that it was the Sixth Princess who had framed her, she was not as crazy as she was at that time.
Then she went crazy all of a sudden. She must have heard something!
“The room for Ling Mingyan to rest is in next to You Yue’e’s room. There is a small air vent near the beam. However, since it is high above the ground and is covered with a cloth curtain, no one would notice it.” Feng Yuran’s lazy voice was seductive and attractive, and it brushed her heart like a feather.
Mo Xuetong’s heart softened when she saw how his handsome eyes were filled with gentleness as he told her the whole story without holding anything back. Even if he did not say it, she knew that he really cared about her, about everything concerning her and her own safety.
Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental that Hu Qianyue had heard what the Sixth Princess said?
Mo Ye had already received Feng Yuran’s message from the outer courtyard that Mo Xuetong could not stay in the place where the female guests rested! He told her not to go to the rooms. Even if she had to go to the rooms, she had to leave immediately and could not stay there any longer. It was Mo Feng who sent the note to Mo Ye, and then Mo Ye handed it to Mo Xuetong.
That was why Mo Xuetong left immediately with Luo Mingzhu without staying for long.
She was the reason why the Sixth Princess’s eyes and face were scratched by Ling Mingyan! Otherwise, in the current situation, the Sixth Princess and Hu Qianyue were confronting each other. It was the right time for them to fight against each other. To deliberately take down a chess piece would make the whole situation tilted, and some plans could not be carried out better.
She could not help but frown. For a moment, she had two mouthfuls of rice in a row, but it was tasteless.
A smile crept up on the corners of Feng Yuran’s lips when he saw Mo Xuetong frown and look listless. He picked up another piece of fish for her and carefully picked out the bones before placing it in her bowl. “Don’t worry. Feng Xuehe is such a scheming woman. It’s better to get rid of her as soon as possible. And we’ll also get rid of Hu Qianyue by the way. The two women are both so vicious. It’s not safe to leave them there.”
“What happened to Hu Qianyue?”
“When she found out that the man she loves pushed her into another man’s arms, how could she, a proud and arrogant person, bear it?” Feng Yuran replied lightly. He could not hide the smile in his dark eyes when he saw that Mo Xuetong had subconsciously picked up the fish that he had given her. There was also a hint of doting and gentleness in his eyes.
Being stared at like this, Mo Xuetong could not help but blush. She glanced at him unhappily and knocked his bowl with her chopsticks. She pretended to be impatient and said, “Hurry up and eat. Don’t talk too much. Don’t you know that you shouldn’t talk while eating?”
“Hahahaha!” Feng Yuran’s mood got even better when he saw her flushed face. He did not say anything else and quickly had a bowl of rice. Then, he added another bowl for himself. He put food in Mo Xuetong’s bowl in a good mood as he ate. Mo Xuetong would take the initiative to serve him food from time to time.
It was quiet in the room. Only a handsome man accompanied a beautiful woman. Their every move was like a leisurely landscape. One of them looked at the other with doting eyes, and the other was attached to him. As they looked at each other, there was no need to say anything more, as if they could be like this forever…
The Sixth Princess’s face had been disfigured and the corners of her eyes had been mercilessly scratched. The one who had scratched her was Marquise Mingguo and the legitimate daughter of Ding General Manor. This matter had nothing to do with the Empress Dowager. However, because of Ling Mingyan’s ident.i.ty, she had no choice but to step forward. No matter what, Ling Mingyan was the daughter of Ding General Manor and it was related to the future marriage of Ding General Manor’s girls.
If someone were to say that Ding General Manor’s girls were vicious, who would dare to marry one of them in the future?
Learning that the Emperor invited her, the Empress Dowager did not delay and brought people with her to the Emperor’s Qianqing Palace.
King Ning had kept a low profile recently, and so did the Empress Dowager. She had kept such a low profile that she did not even walk out of her own palace.
Consort Su and Imperial n.o.ble Consort Wen were in charge of the palace affairs. They were supposed to go to the Empress Dowager’s palace to pay their respects, but the Empress Dowager asked someone to tell them that there were too many things going on in the palace, so they didn’t have to visit her every day. If they had time, they could come to chat with her, so they didn’t have to come to see her every day.
As for the Empress, since she had volunteered to go to Buddha Hall, there was no need for the imperial concubines to see her.
As soon as Mo Xuetong and Feng Yuran had just finished lunch, they were summoned by the Emperor to the palace. When they reached the entrance of the palace, they noticed that Feng Yulei was helping You Yue’e off the horse carriage. On the other side, Feng Yuxuan was walking ahead, and Mo Yarui lowered her head and followed him. When she saw Mo Xuetong coming, she only bowed slightly to her with a smile and did not say anything.
“Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law, how are you feeling?” Feng Yuran brought Mo Xuetong up to greet them.
You Yue’e looked very bad, as if she had lost all her vitality. She sat on the sedan chair that had been brought especially. She looked solemn and lifeless. She looked at Mo Xuetong for a long while before she seemed to have noticed who she was. A faint smile appeared on her face. “Many thanks for your concern. I’m fine.”
After that, she closed her eyes feebly without looking at others. The corners of her eyes were red and swollen.
Seeing her like this, Mo Xuetong knew that You Yue’e was not in the mood to chat with anyone. She took several steps back and returned to Feng Yuran’s side. Then, she followed Feng Yuran into the palace.
The air seemed to be a little oppressive. After the three brothers greeted each other, they all went to the Qianqing Palace.
What happened to Princess Caifeng was more or less related to the women of their manor. And at that time, they were all present. Emperor Zongwen asked them to deal with the affairs of the Sixth Princess and Ling Mingyan together. As the main victim, You Yue’e was also taken here. In fact, it was not difficult to deal with.
Even though the two men did not know who had asked them to go there and who had brought them into the manor and sent them to the fancy boat, there had to be some clues if someone really wanted to investigate. Mo Xuetong did not know if the others had gotten some clues, but she believed that Feng Yuran definitely had some clues about the Sixth Princess’s moves.
However, it was not a good time to take it out. The opponents were Ding General Manor, King Yan’s Manor, and the power of the Sixth Princess and Imperial n.o.ble Consort Wen. There was something of each in the other. It was complicated. If they did not really understand the situation, no one could figure it out. It was also a wonderful move for them to fight and kill each other.
In her past life, Mo Xuetong had lived in a state of ignorance and was killed in the back courtyard of the Duke’s manor. In this life, she had fought against fate. She would not show mercy to those who wanted to kill her. No matter if it was the Sixth Princess, You Yue’e, or Ling Mingyan, they had all harmed her. As such, even though she felt sorry for You Yue’e’s child, she would not stop Feng Yuran from taking action.
That road was originally full of blood. Either their opponents would die or they would die. She was not so great as to use her own life to help her opponents.
In this life, even if she had to go to the sea of blood, she wanted to go with Feng Yuran! She had been reborn not just to get revenge on Sima Lingyun and Mo Xuemin, but also for him, who had never met her in her last life. He was the man who had always protected her by her side.
Her life, as well as his, had flashed like a meteor in the previous life!
In this life, she and he had to live a good life. They would cherish their lives and would never give the enemy a chance to harm them…
They finally walked through the gate of the Qianqing Palace together.
Before they reached the hall, they saw the Empress Dowager’s and the Empress’s palanquin. Consort Su’s and Imperial n.o.ble Consort Wen’s people were all standing outside the door. They all lowered their heads and were silent. When they saw the princes and their consorts approaching, they all curtsied respectfully. Even the people from the Empress Dowager’s palace did not dare to say anything else. They all recoiled, hung their heads, and did not dare to move or look around casually.
The incident that happened today had already spread throughout the palace. The Sixth Princess had such a big incident and her face had been disfigured by an official’s daughter. This was a scandal of the royal family. If the Emperor did not punish the culprit forcefully, how could the royal family maintain their dignity? However, that culprit also had a high status. It concerned two duke’s manors, and the culprit had a close relationship with the Empress and the Empress Dowager. If the Emperor did not deal with it well, it would disappoint the old officials.
That was why the interrogation had been decided.
The Empress Dowager was not the only one who came, as the Empress, the four princes, and the people from the Four Great Manors all came as well.
Feng Yuzhen was the last one to come with Princess Caifeng. Originally, this matter had nothing to do with him. However, since Princess Caifeng was his fiancee and he was going to marry the princess of another country, he had to come on such an occasion. He had gone to see Princess Caifeng to find out more about the situation before. The two of them talked for a while, so he came a little late.
Crown Prince Xieyue didn’t come. It was said that he got angry because of what had happened at the banquet, and had a recurrence of an old illness. For the time being, he couldn’t even get out of bed. At this time, imperial physicians had gone to see him. The Sixth Princess, who was going to marry into his country, had such an incident. If something bad happened to Crown Prince Xieyue, it would be a big deal.
Half of the imperial physicians in the palace had gone to treat Crown Prince Xieyue according to the Emperor’s order. Of course, the Emperor also intended to check Crown Prince Xieyue’s illness. How could it be so coincidental that he fell ill at this time?
Coincidentally, news came from the imperial physicians outside the palace that Crown Prince Xieyue was really ill. He was so ill that he became unconscious and could not get out of bed. Emperor Zongwen was shocked and sent a few more imperial physicians over. The Third Prince of the Southern Barbarian Lands had not arrived yet, so Crown Prince Xieyue must be fine.
Everyone was present and stood in the hall. Emperor Zongwen looked around with a grave expression and was ready to interrogate them. He had to give the Qin Kingdom, the Southern Barbarian Lands, and everyone an explanation for what had happened…
