Chapter 396
Chapter 396 Severe Punishment for the Evil Concubine’s Lackey
The geomancer recognized the letter. It was clearly his handwriting on the letter! He wrote the letter to that woman, who was said to be a disfavored concubine in the second branch.
In fact, she was among the dozen or so concubines who were sent over to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, and she was the most unremarkable one.
The geomancer had his reason to take a fancy to her. She was an unpopular concubine who had been placed in that courtyard since she was sent to the mansion. She didn’t even get to meet Second Master.
Even if Second Master wanted to have fun with these concubines in the future, there would naturally be more beauties there that were more outstanding than her.
Even if he took such an unremarkable woman away with him, it wouldn’t make a difference. The geomancer had seen too many dramas in these big and prominent families. He presumed that such an unpopular concubine was even more insignificant than a maid who held a slightly important role in the mansion. Even if she disappeared, they would simply investigate as a pretense and forget about her.
That was what he thought, which was why he went to hook up with Concubine Yang. The other day, when the lad servant came back and told him that the matter was done, he was pretty smug and overjoyed. After all, he would leave and go far away when the matter was over here. It would be a delightful thing to have a beautiful woman to travel with him.
However, how did the letter end up in Sixth Miss Wei’s hands? The geomancer was really panicked.
Despite his panic, he was not losing his mind. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the seemingly delicate and weak Sixth Young Lady speak in a warm and gentle manner, “The concubines living in this mansion were sent by the heirs-apparent from Yan, Lu, Chu, and Qi. If any one of the concubines is missing, I think these four heirs-apparent will hunt her down and kill her!”
Her statement came so abruptly that Wei Luowen was taken aback, but he couldn’t see the letter in Wei Yuewu’s sleeve since he was standing behind her.
“Yuewu, what are you talking about? It has nothing to do with this! Just ask him which old maidservant told him this!” Madam Dowager snapped impatiently.
“Well, you’re right. I thought that he saw one of the old maidservants who are serving those concubines. Yes, they may not be favored, but they were sent over by the heirs-apparent, and nobody can ignore them. Otherwise, disasters will ensue.” Wei Yuewu smiled slightly and slid the letter back into her sleeve.
The geomancer trembled in fear. He had been dealing with all walks of society for so long that he knew how dangerous and cruel the four heirs-apparent were. More importantly, many men were at their disposal. If any of them wanted to pursue him, he couldn’t even escape from the capital.
At this moment, the geomancer secretly regretted his action. If he had known more about Concubine Yang’s background, he wouldn’t have seduced her. Sixth Miss Wei had his letter now. If anyone knew that he hooked up with one of these concubines, he would definitely die.
The rumors about the ruthlessness of the heirs-apparent spread in the capital like wildfire.
The geomancer involuntarily trembled in horror, and he stared ahead blankly. He felt as if his life was in the hands of Sixth Miss Wei.
“Since Nanny Dong is in charge of this, I’m sure you have seen her before!” Wei Yuewu changed the subject and suddenly smiled leisurely.
“Yes! Nanny Dong was the one who told me that there was no problem with the ink!” Wei Yuewu’s remarks were so vague and inexplicable that no one understood what she was implying, but the geomancer, who was sweating profusely, understood every word she said. He turned his anxious eyes to Nanny Dong and said decisively.
In his opinion, his life was more important than the old maidservant. Moreover, her Master was Concubine Dong, who was said to be most likely to become Marquise Hua Yang. The geomancer was certain that Concubine Dong would be able to come up with a plan to get away with it.
If she could get away with it, it meant that he would be out of danger too. This was the reason why he did not hesitate to push the blame on Nanny Dong.
Moreover, in this situation, he had to make Nanny Dong the scapegoat because the letter was equivalent to his life. If he said the wrong thing, even a tiny mistake, he believed that the seemingly delicate Sixth Miss Wei would definitely not let him off the hook.
It was beyond his imagination that such a fragile-looking girl would have such a pair of beautiful eyes with a bit of viciousness in them.
“What?! I…” Not expecting the geomancer to point his finger at her, Nanny Dong was so shocked that her face turned ghastly pale, and she almost collapsed to the floor. Why did he do this?!
Concubine Dong was also frightened to the point that her face turned pale, and her limbs spasmed unconsciously. She could even feel that her vision turned black, but she forced herself to look fine.
“Tell me, what exactly happened? Why didn’t you explain it clearly earlier?” Wei Luowen was so exasperated that the veins on his forehead popped up. He patted the table with a hint of killing intent.
He was a general on the battlefield, and he had a sense of ruthlessness. Coupled with the horrifying scar on his face, and thinking about his methods at the border, Nanny Dong had her heart in her mouth. With a plop, she knelt down and cried, “Lord Marquis, I-I… It’s none of my business! Someone is trying to harm me!”
“You are in charge of everything, including Grandmother’s medicine, Concubine Dong’s medicine, and the ink! Didn’t you say that you checked everything carefully? If so, why are there Five Drums Grass in the ink and their medicines?”
Wei Yuewu raised her eyes and looked at Nanny Dong coldly. She linked all of Nanny Dong’s statements together perfectly.
No matter how smart Nanny Dong was, she could not find any other excuses at this time. Previously, she thought that she would not be dragged into this matter, so she made her statement in a very straightforward manner and indicated that she was in charge of everything and assured that everything was fine. But at this moment, it was too late for her to shift the blame to others.
Panicked, she stole a glance at Concubine Dong, but no words came out of her gasping mouth.
Concubine Dong walked over with a pale face, gritted her teeth, and raised her hand to slap Nanny Dong in the face. “Nanny Dong, Lord Marquis and I think so highly of you, but you… you! You harbored resentment against me! I’ve always treated you kindly! Why did you do this to me?! Have you ever thought about your son and your newborn grandson?!”
Concubine Dong deliberately emphasized the word “grandson”, and Nanny Dong was so scared that her body trembled, and she collapsed to the floor. She knew that she couldn’t implicate Concubine Dong in this, and she must take the fall for this matter. Otherwise, her son’s whole family, including the newborn grandson, would be dead.
She knew Concubine Dong’s vicious methods very clearly!
“Lord Marquis… I-It’s all my fault. Last time, Concubine Dong didn’t reward me with a significant amount of jewelry, so I thought that she looked down on me. She was once a servant too, so what made her think that she could be so cocky? I was furious and wanted to punish her, so I put Five Drums Grass in her medicine.”
“But I don’t know why it ended up in the ink and Madam Dowager’s medicine too. Maybe the maid who decocted the medicine made some mistake. No wonder Concubine Dong was fine even after drinking the medicine for several days, because the Five Drums Grass was mixed into the ink. Lord Marquis, please forgive me. I was out of my mind and thought of doing the horrible thing to Concubine Dong. Also, I didn’t mean to implicate Madam Dowager and Sixth Young Lady into this!”
Nanny Dong knelt down and kowtowed continuously, crying loudly.
“Lord Marquis, you can’t forgive such a despicable maid who dared to harm her master!” Concubine Dong barked angrily, but then her expression changed to sorrow. “But… she has served me for so long. I couldn’t bear to see her being hit to death. How about having her beaten up and kicked out of the mansion?”
“But that’s too light a sentence for her action!” Wei Luowen hissed coldly.
Concubine Dong was the main cause of this matter, but Yuewu had been implicated. There was nothing he could say since Concubine Dong had stated her opinion. Moreover, he was satisfied with Nanny Dong’s professionalism and attitude when they were at the border.
“How about 50 flogs?” Concubine Dong secretly observed Wei Luowen’s expression and heaved a sigh of relief when Wei Luowen didn’t doubt what she said. In fact, Nanny Dong might not be able to endure 50 flogs, and Concubine Dong didn’t intend to save her life either. She just gave a sound reason so that Wei Luowen would not feel that she was heartless.
Despite that, she wanted to save Nanny Dong in the first place. Nanny Dong was her most trusted servant, so she couldn’t abandon her. However, she came to her senses after seeing Wei Luowen’s sinister face. At this moment, she must cut off her ties with Nanny Dong no matter what. She didn’t want Wei Luowen to suspect her, yet she couldn’t bear to be a heartless master.
Because of her conflicted emotions, she made such a gesture. It sounded as if she was pleading on Nanny Dong’s behalf, but she was actually cutting off her ties with her…
“Drag her to the outside of Madam Dowager’s courtyard and have her punished!” Wei Luowen frowned and ordered sternly.
Two bodyguards came over and dragged Nanny Dong, who was completely limp on the ground, out to punish her in the open space outside Tranquility Courtyard.
“I’ve never thought your maid would do such a horrible thing!” Madam Dowager finally understood the cause and effect of this matter and snapped with a displeased expression.
“Since this matter is settled, we should go on with the plan. Prepare a new batch of ink and send some trustworthy people over there.”
“Father, what exactly is going on with Mother’s courtyard? Why does it need to be sealed up and have talismans and runes all over the walls? I don’t get it, and I’ve never heard of such a thing. Is it true that Mother is considered to be an inauspicious or evil person? If so, why did she bring bad luck to herself instead of others? If she was so ominous, how come she ended up dying at such a young age?”
Wei Yuewu sneered at Madam Dowager’s behavior, but then her eyes became cold again. She raised her long eyelashes and stared at Wei Luowen.
Her gaze made Wei Luowen feel ashamed. His heart ached, and he couldn’t say anything.
“Don’t you have anything to say to Madam Dowager?” Jin Ling stood next to Wei Yuewu and said to the geomancer sternly, “Are those words of yours true? How dare you slander Marquise Hua Yang like this? Who ordered you to do so?”
Concubine Dong, who was slightly relaxed, became nervous again upon hearing Jin Ling’s remark. Her eyes swept over Wei Yuewu, and she saw the chill and firm look on the latter’s pale and fragile face. Concubine Dong’s heart skipped a beat, and she felt a chill down her spine. What was this bitch up to this time?!
She had used a lot of efforts to cut ties with Nanny Dong and push all the blame to the latter. If something were to happen again, she might not be able to deal with it.
“I…” At this time, all the geomancer wanted to do was to please Wei Yuewu. After receiving Jin Ling’s hint, he gritted his teeth and suddenly knelt down in front of Wei Luowen…
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