Chapter 60 – Was The Opening An Accident Or A Plot
“Ye… yes?” Nurse Mei subconsciously replied as she was intimidated by Wei Yuewu’s impressive coldness. Her answer was actually true. She had sent someone to the Madam Dowager as soon as the accident occurred. At this time, the Madam Dowager should be on her way here.
In fact, what happened was very simple. Everyone could see that this man in front of them had nothing to do with the Sixth Miss Wei. It was obvious that someone had deliberately set up the Sixth Miss Wei. Looking at the Fifth Miss Wei who was tightly held by the man, all the guests felt that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang indeed was going through a turbulent time.
Shortly ago the Second Miss Wei fell into trouble, and now the Fifth Miss Wei encountered an accident.
“Bring this man down and rescue the Fifth Young Lady. He is an evil man. Ask grandmother to punish him severely. If she can’t deal with him, just send him to the local authorities!” Wei Yuewu instructed indifferently.
“Yes, yes, I know.” Nurse Mei did not dare to look at Wei Yuewu’s eyes that seemed to be able to see through people’s mind. She hurriedly lowered her head. This thin and weak Sixth Young Lady in front of her was so forceful that she didn’t dare to look directly at her.
A few old maidservants came to gag the ruffian with their handkerchiefs and pulled him away from Wei Qiuju, who had already fainted.
Hearing that they would send him to the local authorities, the ruffian got really anxious. If the issue was taken to the local authorities, it was impossible for him to end up well. Moreover, he wasn’t from the same countryside as Wei Yuewu. Seeing that two old maidservants rushed to him, he suddenly got strength that was born of pure panic. He slapped the old maidservants’ hands off him and jumped into the lake again. He swiftly swam in the other direction of the lake.
That was the direction from which he had swum over.
Since he was fleeing for life, the ruffian swam extremely fast. The several old maidservants who had been in the water before looked at each other, but none of them chased after him. They all pretended to be busy with saving Wei Qiuju.
Seeing the ruffian escape, Wei Yan involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief. There was even a hint of smile on her face. However, her smile froze the next moment.
“Miss, come here and see. This railing was not hit broken. Someone sawed it off. Look at the section. It’s so smooth.” Jin Ling yelled as she pointed at the broken railing of the pavilion. Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn by her.
The cut was too smooth. Even though the guests were all aristocratic young ladies who didn’t know much about such things, they could see how strange it was. It was obvious that someone had deliberately set up this Sixth Miss Wei. When they recalled that the Second Miss Wei was so vexed when she spoke of the Sixth Miss Wei, all of them took a step back in unison.
Anyone who was involved in this kind of thing would be in trouble. Even if they were close friends with Wei Yan, they didn’t dare to get involved in it.
It was Wei Yan’s maid who had fallen to the ground. Wei Yan had also pulled Wei Yuewu. When someone fell into the lake, Wei Yan thought it was the Sixth Miss Wei. After that, the man repeatedly said that he was in love with the Sixth Miss Wei, but in reality, he did not even know who the Sixth Miss Wei was. All the clues showed this wasn’t a simple accident!
Wei Yan’s face was as pale as snow due to the shock. She stared with astonished eyes at the incision. According to her plan, the railing was supposed to be loosened with a hammer. How could it be possibly sawn off? Did that old maidservant know what she was doing at the time?
“Second Elder Sister, who sawed off this railing?” Wei Yuewu’s eyes landed on the Madam Dowager who came over in a hurry. She then remarked softly with some mockery, “Second Elder Sister, the engagement between Marquis Jing Yuan and I doesn’t count. Actually, I’m not in your way.”
Her voice was soft but clear.
So many unexpected things occurred that Wei Yan failed to bear the shock for a moment. Wei Qiuju fell into the water unexpectedly; the ruffian rescuer fled in panic; and the sawing cut was found here in the pavilion. This string of unexpected things shocked her into a daze and drove her into intense nervousness.
Now Wei Yuewu asked her the question, she almost answered with instinct.
“I didn’t let her saw it off. I told her to….” At this point, Wei Yan became clear-minded, but when she saw the disdainful eyes in front of her, she grew pale and her body froze.
The Madam Dowager, who came here in a hurry, happened to hear those words. She got too anxious to have the time for stomping her feet. “Someone, take Second Young Lady away. She’s scared out of wits.”
In such a situation, it was simply impossible for the Madam Dowager to cover up those words. Wei Yan said them, and her words were heard by many people outside the mansion. Although they were young ladies of the aristocratic families who had been taught since childhood not to gossip, there were some things that couldn’t be absolutely forbidden. This was especially true with those who stood close to Wei Yan and Wei Yuewu.
These young ladies heard clearly the words “Marquis Jing Yuan.” It was very obvious that what happened today was designed to harm Wei Yuewu, but they couldn’t guess out who the plotter was for the time being. Now, however, they heard Wei Yuewu’s question and Wei Yan’s incomplete answer and saw Wei Yan’s subtle expression.
These young ladies weren’t stupid. They were provided with enough information to assume that the incident in front of them must have something to do with the Second Miss Wei and was also related to Marquis Jing Yuan.
In fact, it had long been thought that the engagement between Marquis Jing Yuan and Wei Yuewu would fail because of Wei Yuewu’s reputation. However, this Marquis Jing Yuan always seemed so devoted and was thus widely praised in the capital. Many ladies expressed that Marquis Jing Yuan was their ideal son-in-law.
But now, what did they hear? The relationship between this Marquis Jing Yuan and the Second Miss Wei didn’t seem to be clean. The Second Miss Wei actually liked her sister’s fiancée. Moreover, it seemed that she was trying to destroy the Sixth Miss Wei. Her lowly heart was far beyond what could be described as vicious.
In the end, the banquet in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang came to an unpleasant end. As the guests left, rumors were spread about Wei Yan and Mo Huating.
The rumors about Wei Yan and that young doctor hadn’t died down yet and new rumors got spread. The Second Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang was the hottest topic in the capital at present. Her good reputation was already ruined by a series of accidents.
The banquet in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang had to end earlier than scheduled. The Second Young Lady was said to be possessed. The Fourth Young Lady went to the temple to pray for the Madam Dowager. The Fifth Young Lady fell into the lake and was unconscious when she was pulled up. Worse still, she was held by a strange man for so long, which of course damaged her reputation. As for the Sixth Young Lady, it was her first time to attend such a banquet. From whichever point of view, the incident had nothing to do with her.
So how could this banquet possibly go on?
“Now tell me, what exactly is wrong with you?” The Madam Dowager’s eyes were frozen as she coldly looked at Wei Yan, who was kneeling in front of her. Her face was filled with disappointment.
She had long since had high expectations of Wei Yan because of her outstanding appearance. She had never expected that Wei Yan would fall for Marquis Jing Yuan, who was no more than a marquis. In the Madam Dowager’s heart, this position was far from meeting her hope…
“Grandmother, grandmother, it really isn’t me. I didn’t want to kill Sixth Younger Sister. I don’t know what was wrong with my maid. She accidentally fell. It was true, grandmother. I… I… don’t know why it would come to this.” At this time, Wei Yan was completely sober-minded. She clasped the Madam Dowager’s leg and cried uncontrollably with tears running down her cheeks.
Wei Yuewu stood quietly by the side. Her long eyelashes were drooped like butterflies’ wings that were folded for rest. No one noticed the trace of coldness in her eyes.
The matter was clear, but the Madam Dowager was still protecting Wei Yan. It sounded like she was punishing Wei Yan. However, after things went so far, no concrete punishment was instructed yet. The Madam Dowager couldn’t be more partial. She was probably thinking of censuring Wei Yan a little more and then letting this matter pass.
“You… what do you want me to say? If it weren’t for your father having only you as his daughter, this thing is enough… for me to put you in confinement for the rest of your life.” The Madam Dowager said hatefully, and the veins on her forehead bulged due to anger.
“Grandmother, grandmother, I will be careful next time. I won’t make such a mistake again. I am indeed to blame for what happened when Fifth Younger Sister fell into the water, but that railing really has nothing to do with me. Sixth Younger Sister was supposed to check the curtains around the railings of the pavilion. I don’t know why she didn’t find it out. The railing was actually cracked before the gathering.”
Wei Yan pointed at Wei Yuewu and concealed the hatred in her eyes. She was not stupid all the time. Previously, she had asked Wei Yuewu to check the pavilion. If Wei Yuewu had an accident, she could only blame herself for being careless.
On her way here, Nurse Xu had secretly passed her mother’s message to her. She heard that the ruffian had escaped. Since he had escaped, there was no evidence whatsoever. As for Wei Qiuju’s falling, she could say that it was because Wei Yuewu hadn’t had a thorough check that such an accident happened.
“Yuewu, is this true?” The Madam Dowager asked sternly as she looked at Wei Yuewu with a cold face.
“Grandmother.” Wei Yuewu walked out and calmly curtsied to the Madam Dowager. She had already guessed that the Madam Dowager would ask her in the end. “It was true that Second Elder Sister asked me to do this job, but no one came to the Lotus Courtyard to ask me go for a check. I thought that I was new here and those servant supervisors in the mansion probably didn’t recognize me, so I didn’t care about it. I can’t punish the supervisors when I was here only for a short period of time!”
“Sixth Younger Sister, how could it be possible that no one came to tell you? Someone must have reported. If you don’t believe, you can look into it.” Wei Yan was very confident since she had received Lady Li’s message.
Wei Yan believed that her mother had made arrangements with those supervisors for her. Now she even had the idea of blaming Wei Yuewu for this matter.
“Yuewu, tell me the truth. Do you really not know, or are you reluctant to tell me because you are afraid of taking responsibility?” The Madam Dowager looked at Wei Yuewu seriously.
Wei Yuewu sneered in her heart. Was this Madam Dowager in front of her forcing her to take the blame? What a wonderful thought that she would take the blame after they bribed a few supervisors! After all, she had only three maids around to help her.
However, the Madam Dowager asked just in time. Originally, it would take her some time thinking about how to deal with Nurse Mei. Now the Madam Dowager pushed this matter to her, she might as well use this opportunity.
“Nurse Mei, do you know whether those supervisors came to our courtyard?” Wei Yuewu turned her head in surprise and asked Nurse Mei, who was standing at the side. “I was sick at the time. Jin Ling and the others were busy waiting on me. You were in charge of all the matters in the courtyard. You didn’t let them in when they came to report to me?”
Today, she would let Nurse Mei know who her mistress was!
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢