Chapter 110 – The Turn Of Events: Clothes That Remained To Be Hemmed
“Why would I let you, a half stranger who’s just been assigned to my courtyard, do such a thing for me instead of the other maids who are closer to me?” Wei Yuewu’s eyes were so cold that Qianxi didn’t dare to raise her head to look into them!
“It’s precisely because I’m not Sixth Young Lady’s closest maid, and that I used to be Madam Dowager’s maid, so that when something happened, Sixth Young Lady could blame me for everything.”
Qianxi naturally insisted on her argument at this moment.
Her argument was clear: Wei Yuewu chose her because she was not Wei Yuewu’s most trusted servant. If anything went wrong, Wei Yuewu could blame her for it. In addition, she used to be the Madam Dowager’s maid. Even if she did something wrong, she might be spared for the Madam Dowager’s sake.
Anyway, the only option for her today was to accuse the Sixth Young Lady for asking her to do all these. Otherwise, the Second Lady would definitely not spare her.
Wei Yuewu pointed at the clothes in Nanny Hong’s hand and asked again, “So you took that dress for me?”
“Yes, definitely. I took it for you. I carefully examined it before taking it away. It’s exactly Imperial Academician Xie’s dress.” Qianxi loudly testified.
With Qianxi’s testimony, Xie Qingzhao sneered and was about to speak when Wei Yuewu asked, “Imperial Academician Xie, do you think that the words of this maid of mine really make sense and just fit in with your own words?”
Hearing these words uttered by Wei Yuewu, Xie Qingzhao didn’t know how to respond for a moment. That was what he intended to say. He didn’t expect Wei Yuewu to speak the same words ahead of him. He was stunned for a moment!
“Imperial Academician Xie, I don’t care your purpose of coming to our mansion. Whatever your purpose is, it has nothing to do with me. I just feel it is so strange. Ever since you stayed in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, incidents had happened again and again in the backyard. And every time you seemed so innocent. This is the same with Fifth Elder Sister’s incident!”
Wei Yuewu’s words clearly accused Xie Qingzhao of harboring unspeakable intentions against the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Sullenness crept over the eyes of the Madam Dowager who was sitting up there. She turned to look at Xie Qingzhao with a bit more scrutiny in her eyes.
“Sixth Miss Wei, you’re slandering me.” Xie Qingzhao’s face blushed. He was a dignified imperial academician, but was now being accused by Wei Yuewu of having malicious intentions that were related to the inner courtyard. He was instantly filled with mortification and indignation.
“Well, we’ll see who speaks the truth today.” Wei Yuewu sneered. She sat down on a chair and instructed Shufei who had come with her, “Shufei, spread the dress and let grandmother see whose clothes they are. Let’s see whether they belonged to Imperial Academician Xie as this maid said.”
“Yes!” Shufei nodded readily. She walked over and took the clothes from Nanny Hong. She walked to the Madam Dowager and curtsied respectfully before saying, “Madam Dowager, this is a new dress my mistress has made for Lord Marquis. My mistress has embroidered the characters ‘Hua Yang’ on the hem of the cuff. Besides, this dress is not yet completely hemmed.”
Shufei sneered after uttering those words. She shook the clothes in her hand. A few strands of thread and needles immediately appeared in front of everyone.
The Madam Dowager took a closer look. Sure enough, this was still an unfinished dress that remained to be hemmed. A line made by folding could even be seen inside the folded part of the new dress.
When placed together, the embroidered patterns of “Hua Yang” could be vaguely and alternately seen at the folded cuffs.
Qianxi’s face suddenly turned deathly pale. She was almost paralyzed on the ground. She looked at the clothes in Shufei’s hands in panic and only felt her head buzzing.
She had secretly put Imperial Academician Xie’s clothes into the cabinet. How come these clothes turned into a dress that Sixth Young Lady made for Lord Marquis?
“Qianxi, you said that Miss asked you to take this dress. Do you know that servants who dare to frame their owner will not only be caned to death, but their family will also be implicated?” Shufei sneered at Qianxi.
After saying that, she also knelt down to the Madam Dowager and kowtowed. She angrily pointed at Qianxi and said, “Madam Dowager, please do justice to my mistress. Although my mistress has just returned to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, there is no doubt that she is a young lady of this mansion. But now, even a servant dares to gang up with an outsider to frame her.”
The outsider was of course Xie Qingzhao. Instantly, the expression on everyone’s face was quite a spectacle. Xie Qingzhao’s face became exceptionally gloomy. He frowned tightly but didn’t know how to answer. He was an imperial academician who was naturally good at writing. However, that didn’t mean he could handle such a backyard battle.
“Grandmother, father is going back to the capital. I have not seen father for so many years. As his daughter, I couldn’t think of another way to show my love for him than to make a dress for him by myself. I planned to give it to father face to face after he was back in the capital. I never expected to cause such a big trouble.” Wei Yuewu lowered her head, her eyes cold and indifferent. Anyone could see her grievances.
It was originally a matter of good will for a daughter to make a dress for her father, whom she hadn’t seen for many years. This was a way to express her feelings. However, now, she was accused of secretly admiring Xie Qingzhao and secretly hiding Xie Qingzhao’s clothes. Anyone in such a position would feel wronged.
Huamo also came over and knelt in front of the Madam Dowager. She respectfully kowtowed and said, “Madam Dowager, please do justice to our mistress.”
“Someone, pull this girl out and cane her forty times.” Since things had gone so far, the Madam Dowager had no choice but to speak so. Anyone could tell by now that Qianxi framed Wei Yuewu.
Qianxi never expected such a sudden turn of events in this matter, which she thought would be accepted as sure as a gun. She collapsed to the ground and was unable to speak. Two menial old maidservants came over and grabbed her hands, wanting to drag her out.
Shufei poked at Huamo and said in a low and surprised voice, “Forty times. This is going to kill her.”
The Madam Dowager wanted to cane Qianxi to death! When she was being dragged out, Qianxi’s mind was totally blank!
“She’s pitiful indeed. I heard that she had a mother who was elderly and seriously ill. If she dies as a scapegoat, her mother won’t be able to live alone.” Huamo’s voice wasn’t loud, but it just so happened that her words caught the ears of Qianxi who was dragged past her. Her low-pitched words sounded like thunder that awakened Qianxi.
When she was about to be pulled to the door, Qianxi suddenly mustered all her strength and pushed aside the two menial old maidservants who were dragging her. She staggered and crawled to the Madam Dowager but did not dare to hold the Madam Dowager’s legs. She only tightly clutched at the legs of the table. She was about to plead when Wei Yuewu’s cold voice sounded.
“Grandmother, how about dealing with her later? Imperial Academician Xie is waiting here. As for this internal affair, we can look into it by ourselves.”
Wei Yuewu smiled faintly, but her eyes fell on Xie Qingzhao. Anyone could see the coldness and ridicule in her eyes. There was no hurry with the matter concerning the maid. She was aiming at a bigger fish!
The room became strangely quiet. Even the Madam Dowager followed Wei Yuewu’s gaze and looked at Xie Qingzhao with traces of coldness and scrutiny in her eyes. Xie Qingzhao did not seem innocent no matter how she looked at him!
The gaze changed Xie Qingzhao’s expression drastically.
“Pull this maid aside first. Nanny Hong, take Imperial Academician Xie’s servant to search other courtyards of our mansion. Perhaps something else will happen.” The Madam Dowager had made a decision in her heart. The meaning behind her words was that everything that had happened in the mansion had something to do with Xie Qingzhao.
Xie Qingzhao’s face flushed red, but he couldn’t explain it. He was a well-learned scholar, a compiler of the Imperial Academy, but now he was suspected of getting involved in matters in the inner courtyard. If this spread out, people would readily gossip and say something unpleasant.
Qianxi heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that the Madam Dowager would not deal with her for the time being. Her eyes were filled with hope again. When the Second Lady knew of her misfortune, she would definitely extend a helping hand to her. Therefore, she did not say anything at this time and obediently followed a menial old maidservant out.
Wei Yuewu’s courtyard was the only one that was inhabited by members of the first branch. Therefore, the next courtyard to be check was naturally the inner courtyard of the second branch. Lady Li and Wei Yan were both locked up in a corner of the mansion. However, procedures had to be gone through for form’s sake under such circumstances. Thus, Nanny Hong went to Lady Li and Wei Yan’s residence with other servants. Wei Yuewu accompanied the Madam Dowager and waited for them to return.
Xie Qingzhao had wanted to leave, but the Madam Dowager asked him to stay. Now he was having a fitful chat with the Madam Dowager, but he could clearly sense the Madam Dowager’s indifference towards him. The old lady was no longer as polite to him as before. Of course, this was because of Wei Yuewu’s hint earlier.
He turned his eyes to Wei Yuewu and coincidentally, Wei Yuewu also raised her eyes to look at him. Her face was so exquisite and stunning. There was a faint cold smile on her face. She just straightforwardly looked at him. Her clear and sharp eyes seemed to be able to penetrate his heart.
She was so delicate and demure that she was like a peony, the queen of flowers, yet she also looked so above worldly matters, like an orchid in a wild valley.
There was a kind of power in her beauty that allowed her to see through people’s hearts.
Was such a young girl really from the countryside? This was the first time he had seen such a self-contradictory yet perfect being. Even though Wei Qiufu held an unshakable position in his heart and he had always believed that a gentle and talented girl like Wei Qiufu was his ideal partner, he had to put Wei Yuewu on par with Wei Qiufu.
Unfortunately, why couldn’t such a beautiful girl tolerate the gentle and talented Wei Qiufu? When he thought of this, his eyes couldn’t help but become gloomy.
It wasn’t long before something happened in Wei Yan’s place. Nanny Hong went to Wei Yan’s place with other servants. She found a bundle there too and saw some men’s clothes in it. Wei Yan held the bundle tightly in her arms and didn’t allow them to take it away from her. Therefore, Nanny Hong took Wei Yan to the Madam Dowager too.
The bag of clothes was heavily thrown onto the ground and the contents scattered all over the ground. There were men’s clothes, from coats to underwear, almost piece a man needed. At this time, Xie Qingzhao’s face was not only red, but also black. The scattered clothes happened to belong to him.
The Madam Dowager’s face was ashen with anger. She glared fiercely at Wei Yan, who was kneeling in front of her and in a state of panic. She slapped her hand heavily on the table and said angrily, “What’s going on?”
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