She looked down at Mo Xuetong with a complicated expression in her eyes. As she gazed at Mo Xuetong’s beautiful face that made her jealous of, her lips spontaneously curved into a mocking smile which also contained a hint of bitterness.
She really couldn’t compare with such a woman!
In the past, she thought that Mo Xuetong just relied on her pretty face to win Bai Yihao’s heart. In that way, she was not scary. She would lose his favor before she got old. Besides, Bai Yihao was not a person who judged others by their appearance. A useless woman with a pretty face was not a big deal. After a few days, she realized that she was completely wrong.
Mo Xuetong was such a smart woman. How could she be a match for her?
Mo Xuetong stared at Qing Zhu and said frankly, “Qing Zhu, I think the two of us have the same goal. We won’t make things too difficult for your master. Can we have a better cooperation? You don’t have to treat yourself as a maidservant. You can treat us as partners. If we can take the ancestral root of the Yuxiao Flower out of the Lan family as soon as possible, it will save your master a lot of trouble.”
She had no other acquaintances in the Yan Kingdom and could only ask Qing Zhu for help. Although Qing Zhu was hostile to her, she believed in her loyalty to Bai Yihao.
Qing Zhu stared at Mo Xuetong in silence.
Of course, she would rather Mo Xuetong settle this matter herself. Bai Yihao was so busy every day but he had to find herbs to make an antidote for this woman. It was really tiring. However, he had ordered her not to tell Mo Xuetong about it. Even though a portion of it was something that Mo Xuetong had asked casually, Qing Zhu had exposed the other parts to her. She wanted Mo Xuetong to go to the Lan family to find the herb by herself.
But now, as Mo Xuetong was really going to do that, Qing Zhu hesitated. If something happened to her, what should she do?
“Don’t worry. I will be careful and won’t make trouble for you and your master.” Mo Xuetong stood up, took Qing Zhu’s hand and said sincerely, “Do you want your master to confront the Lan family and directly go against the Empress at this time?”
This sentence completely moved Qing Zhu as a trace of determination flashed in her eyes. She nodded hard, gritted her teeth and said, “Okay, I’ll make an appointment with Minister of Public Works for you.”
Even though Bai Yihao was strong, this was not the best time to confront the Empress. After all, the Empress had not done anything to him on the surface. If it ruined his big cause because of Mo Xuetong…
Qing Zhu silently made up her mind that she would protect the person in front of her. If something really happened to her, she would be willing to pay with her life!
Mo Xuetong stopped her, saying, “Don’t act yet. The Lan family has just noticed me. If I take the initiative to come to them at this time, they will look down on me. The best is the thing you can’t get. I believe that since the Lan family has already reached out to me, they won’t give up. We just need to act as usual these days.”
Qing Zhu was not stupid and certainly knew this. But after thinking for a while, she still asked, “What if the Lan family doesn’t take any action these days?” Minister of Public Works, Lan Yanwen, was never a simple person. Although Qing Zhu really wanted to help her master, she didn’t dare to let Mo Xuetong have a mishap. She had always known how differently His Highness treated this woman.
“They won’t take action. Even though the consort selection is delayed, it won’t be delayed for too long. If I enter the East Palace, the Lan family won’t be able to reach in,” Mo Xuetong explained with a confident smile.
The Lan family wanted to make use of her because they wanted her to get information about Bai Yihao for them after she entered the East Palace. With his strength, Bai Yihao had built the East Palace like an iron bucket. Even though the Empress was powerful, she could not reach in to it. As such, they would definitely be anxious. That was why there was the Beauty Contest.
Even though Mo Xuetong did not understand why the cousins of the Lan family had come that day, she knew that the people of the Lan family would not appear for no reason. She was just an orphan and had no valuable things. She had nothing worth a large noble family to plot. The only thing was that she could take advantage of the Beauty Contest to have a meteoric rise and enter the East Palace.
“That’s good. You’d better have a rest first. I’ll inform you when the people of the Lan family come again.” After thinking for a while, Qing Zhu nodded and agreed that this was the best way.
The Lan family didn’t let Mo Xuetong wait too long. On the third day, Lan Yuyan came over in person and asked Mo Xuetong to go out together at night, claiming that the direct descendants of the Lan family wanted to see her and specially giving her a box of precious jewelry to show their kindness. She said that the main branch of the Lan family said that as the daughter of the Lan family, she could not dress up so shabbily.
They were going to tell her their intentions!
Mo Xuetong understood what was going on. Hesitating for a while, she agreed. On the surface, she was an orphan daughter of the Lan family. Even though she did not like the main branch, it was still related to filial piety. It was said that the person who had come was her uncle, so she had no choice but to meet him.
She was a girl who had entered the palace to join the Beauty Contest, so it was impossible for her to leave the palace. She didn’t know what Lan Yanwen had done to bring her and Lan Yuyan out of the palace smoothly.
When they got out of the palace, there was already a carriage waiting for them at the gate. Mo Xuetong got on the carriage with the help of Qing Zhu. Lan Yuyan also got on the carriage, followed by their two maidservants.
Mo Xuetong did not expect Lan Yanwen to be already sitting inside. He smiled when he saw Mo Xuetong enter and even reached out to help her. However, she avoided him quietly.
Because Lan Yanwen occupied the innermost seat, Mo Xuetong and Lan Yuyan sat on either side of him, and the two maidservants sat down at the door of the carriage beside them.
On the surface, they were cousins, but in fact, they were polite.
Mo Xuetong looked down slightly to hide the coldness in her eyes as she asked lightly, “Minister of Public Works, where are we going?” The horse carriage had already started. It was silent, and Mo Xuetong could only hear that the atmosphere outside had turned from cold to lively, and then to desolate. The road seemed to be headed for the wilderness.
“Don’t be afraid. We’re heading to a house of the Lan family. Since it’s in the west side of the city, it’s a little far away. Don’t worry, we’ll be there in a while,” Lan Yanwen answered with a gentle smile.
“Sister Lan Luo, don’t worry. We’ll be there soon. The scenery there is great. It’s full of red flowers in spring. It’s very beautiful,” Lan Yuyan said, giggling.
Mo Xuetong did not respond. She looked up at Lan Yanwen and Lan Yuyan warily. Then she nodded slightly and closed her eyes. Her long lashes cast two rows of shadow like fans under her eyes. She looked even as pretty as jade and her skin was snow-white and clear.
Lan Yanwen was sitting close to her. He smelled a faint and elegant fragrance from her body, mixed with some subtle medicinal fragrance. Not only did it not smell bad, but it made people feel peaceful and quiet for no reason.
“Sister Lan Luo, you’re in poor health. What kind of medicine are you taking? If you need something, tell cousin later. He will help you find something better,” Lan Yuyan smiled.
Mo Xuetong opened her eyes and glanced at her indifferently, replying, “It’s not expensive. Just some materials to clear away heat and toxic. It’s not precious medicine. It can be seen everywhere. I won’t bother Minister of Public Works.”
She looked as if she was keeping people at arm’s length. Coupled with her cold and elegant expression, one could only feel that the woman was as beautiful as a piece of jade, and that her beauty was breath-taking. With only a glance at her from the corner of the eye, it was enough to frighten one’s heart beat like a drum!
The grudge between the Lan family and her was complicated. No wonder she was so warily at such a young age.
“Sister Luo, are you poisoned? Do you want me to see you?” Lan Yanwen asked, his face covered with concern.
“Good, good. Elder brother’s medical skills are the best. It is the best if you see Sister Luo. It will save Sister Luo the trouble of having medicine every day.” Lan Yuyan also wore a kind expression on her face as she answered for Mo Xuetong with a smile on her face.
Mo Xuetong retracted her head as she looked at Lan Yanwen’s outstretched hand. She looked at the two of them warily and shook her head with a cold smile on her lips. “Many thanks, Minister of Public Works. Miss Lan, I’ve never been in good health. It doesn’t matter if the disease cannot be cured. I won’t trouble the two of you.”
Although she really wanted Lan Yanwen to visit her, she knew that it was not the right time!
She was sounding out the Lan family, and the Lan family also didn’t believe her. If she asked for too much at this time, it would only make them suspicious!
“Miss, you should ask Minister of Public Works to…” Qing Zhu was tempted by the suggestion and she nudged Mo Xuetong’s hand gently.
“Qing Zhu, don’t talk nonsense.” Mo Xuetong’s face darkened as she glared at Qing Zhu angrily. She did not seem to like the fact that the maidservant chipped in right now.
“Yes, Miss, but, Miss…” Qing Zhu lowered her head under Mo Xuetong’s glare and shrank back in grievance. Then, she looked at Lan Yanwen with her red eyes full of unwillingness. But as she saw Mo Xuetong’s watery eyes that squinted at her, she hurriedly lowered her head, not daring to speak anymore.
It was obvious that she was a maidservant who was worried about her mistress’s health but was afraid of being scolded by her mistress.
“Sister Luo, we are a family. Don’t be so polite. When did you get ill?” Lan Yuyan asked with a smile. In the past three days, the Lan family investigated everything about Lan Luo carefully, so they naturally knew that Lan Luo was not sick before. She wasn’t sick or hurt when she was a child.
“It’s not a serious illness. I’m just unhealthy. I can just have medicine. It’s nothing.” Mo Xuetong smiled at her.
The lights in the carriage were on, and when the lights fell on her face, she looked a little pale and there was a very light green between her eyebrows. Lan Yanwen’s eyes grew deep.
He could not help but ask, “Sister Luo, when did you get sick?”
“I go with my uncle to do business, so sometimes I will go to different places. Once we went to the Qin Kingdom, but somehow I became in poor health when we came back,” Mo Xuetong answered. She didn’t want to hide the fact that she was poisoned, and she also knew that she couldn’t hide it. So she just said it openly and frankly. What was more, she was bound to plot against the Lan family’s ancestral root of Yuxiao Flower. It was necessary for her to let them know that she was poisoned.
She was poisoned in the Qin Kingdom? Lan Yanwen turned speechless. He glanced at Mo Xuetong and frowned, not saying anything for a moment.
Seeing that both of them were speechless, Lan Yuyan also did not know what to say for a moment. The carriage was strangely quiet, and the atmosphere became a little weird.
