Chapter 70 – Complicated: The Empress Is Here
The room was silent. Only the light smoke of the burning sandalwood rose and floated in the air, emitting a reassuring fragrance. This was the scent of tranquilizing incense that could be found in many aristocratic families. It was not a special substance, but the incense used in the palace smelled better.
However, Wei Yuewu was keenly aware that the nature of this fragrance was actually completely different from that in the previous room. The smell was faint, only a little different from a normal one, and the difference was marked by a faint odor. If she weren’t proficient, she wouldn’t have discovered it. She remembered clearly that the source of this fragrance was somewhat special!
Some aphrodisiac effects could be resulted from very faint smells. Those who were not familiar with this kind of incense would not be able to notice it.
Actually, such faint aphrodisiac incense wouldn’t have a desirable effect. However, what if it had been burned for a long time in the room?
Under her long eyelashes, Wei Yuewu’s eyes slightly closed. No one saw the aloofness and decisiveness in her eyes. Her face, which was as exquisite as a porcelain doll, revealed only chilly coldness. And her temperament, which was absolutely incompatible with her age, made people inexplicably feel pity for her.
She was only a thirteen-year-old girl, yet she had no choice but to force herself into such a mindset. Was there anything else that could be more heart-wrenching?
However, such a young lady won absolute faith of Jin Ling from the bottom of her heart, especially when the maid saw some young ladies who had just returned coming into the courtyard.
Those aristocratic young ladies had all been dispatched to welcome Yan Huaijing for his captive-offering ceremony. Although there was no wind there, their hair and makeup became a little dishevelled due to the travel in the carriages along the way. Now they heard that the banquet was about to begin, they naturally must come to dress up first. Usually, even if they hadn’t been out, it was also necessary for them to dress their hair again and put on makeup before a banquet.
Not to mention the current situation.
As a result, all the young ladies of aristocratic families came to this resting place in twos and threes. If one was familiar with another, they would find a room to rest together, and while their maids applied makeup to their faces, they could chat with each other affectionately.
Suddenly, there came the sound of screams. Everyone stopped their steps and looked at the direction from which the voices came. They saw two young ladies standing at the door blushing and dumbfounded. All the rest didn’t know what had happened, so they hurried there.
The door was half open and the screen fell to the ground. From the door one could vaguely see a man and a woman tangled on a couch in messy clothes. Seeing such a scene, many unmarried aristocratic young ladies screamed in shock. Everyone was thrown into a panic, but none of them dared to walk away.
This sort of thing was not something that those unmarried young girls could manage. Moreover, they were accompanied only by their maids into the palace, without a single old maidservant.
Thus, the door remained half open. Strangely, no one stepped in. But at this time, no one had the mood to go into the other chambers. Their faces were pale. They stood in the courtyard at a loss. When they looked around, they didn’t see any working staff of the palace.
Some intelligent young ladies asked their maids to go to the gate to see if there were any eunuchs or palace maids passing by. They should at least report to the ladies or young masters of the palace what was happening here!
Just as everyone was panicking, a maid suddenly pointed at the roof and cried out, “Fire, fire. It is burning!”
Everyone turned around and saw burning flames at the door that was ajar. They couldn’t help but be shocked and ran to the gate one after another. If that room was really on fire, this row of chambers would fall into the same fate.
Wei Yuewu mixed herself in the crowd and ran out of the courtyard. She then stood behind a large tree and looked at the burning room with a cold and hostile expression on her face.
The plan to ruin her reputation was followed by the attempt to kill her. This Marquis Jing Yuan indeed took great pains trying to trample her into the hell so that he could fulfill his plan.
However, no matter what Mo Huating intended to do, his and Wei Yan’s plans were doomed to fail today…
“What happened?” A group of imperial guards ran over out of nowhere and the leader was exactly Mo Huating. He held a position in the imperial guards. Such a big incident as fire in the palace was of course reported to him immediately. Thus, as he was nearby, he led a group of guards here immediately.
“There are people inside. Quick, save them.” Someone called out.
Mo Huating looked from left to right. His eyes swept across the faces of the young ladies. Find no sign of Wei Yuewu in the crowd, he heaved a sigh of relief in his heart and a trace of joy flashed through his eyes.
“Bring me a bucket of water.” He instructed one of the guards beside him.
“Yes.” The guard lifted a bucket of water from the well on one side immediately. Mo Huating picked up the bucket of water, poured it down from his head and then rushed into the half-open door. The young ladies exclaimed with admiration, feeling that this Marquis Jing Yuan was indeed both handsome and manly, for he dared to rush in a burning house to rescue people the moment he heard that there were people inside.
He was truly extraordinary and could be considered a real man.
The fire inside the house was in fact not as big as it seemed from outside, but the smoke was so heavy that it blurred the view. As soon as Mo Huating entered, he saw two figures entangled in bed. At this time, both of them had fainted due to the smoke. He pulled the man away and looked at Wei Yan, who was half lying on the bed in disheveled clothes. Mo Huating hesitated.
Inexplicably, that pair of clear and expressively beautiful eyes flashed in his mind.
The hand that was originally stretched to cover the woman’s nose stopped for a moment. Then, with a trace of speculation flashing in his eyes, he made a new decision. He extended his hands and picked up the woman on the bed. He pulled off some of her outer clothes that were already half loose on her body before he carried her and rushed out.
When he was inside the room, quite a few people outside became anxious. At this moment, when they saw him carrying out a woman in disheveled clothes, they cheered immediately. But after the cheers, they were filled with jealousy. How could the hero in their hearts carry such a dirty woman?
Behind the tree, the corner of Wei Yuewu’s lips curled up silently and coldly…
“Isn’t… isn’t this the one who was with the man inside…”
“This is exactly that woman.”
“How disgusting! No wonder even the heavens wanted to punish her.”
“Isn’t… isn’t she the Second Miss Wei?” Someone with sharp eyes noticed Wei Yan’s face in Mo Huating’s arms and shouted those words.
“Second Miss Wei? She’s Second Miss Wei?” Everyone was shocked in an instant.
However, the one who was more stunned was Mo Huating. As he had expected, the one on the couch was no other person than Wei Yuewu.
Moreover, he had never actually seen the face of Wei Yuewu before. He was only impressed by her eyes.
Yet needless to say, the eyes were closed at the time.
Therefore, Mo Huating believed that the person was Wei Yuewu.
To his astonishment, the crowd was actually shouting that it was Wei Yan. He was shocked and hurriedly raised his hands to stroke away Wei Yan’s drooping hair and saw the familiar face. His heart seemed to be heavily struck and he almost spat out blood. A trace of hatred flashed in his eyes.
Wrong again…
There were rumors that the Second Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang did not observe a young lady’s etiquette. Earlier it was said that Wei Yan had an affair with a young doctor and she even pretended to be sick in order to have a secret meeting with him. Subsequent rumors had it that there was something between Wei Yan and Mo Huating.
Wei Yan took a fancy to her future sixth brother-in-law. The two of them didn’t seem to have a clean relationship either and Wei Yan even framed her cousin for this.
Of course, these were all rumors. There wasn’t much evidence to prove them. However, now, everyone witnessed this Second Miss Wei tangling with an imperial doctor. With the previous rumors, it wasn’t very unacceptable to the crowd that this Second Miss Wei breached a young lady’s etiquette.
What made it unacceptable to many young ladies was related to this “kind-hearted” Marquis Jing Yuan.
Just because he carried the Second Miss Wei who was in disheveled clothes out of fire, he would have to marry her. This prospect made many young ladies who secretly admired Marquis Jing Yuan stand on his side. They only felt that a woman like the Second Miss Wei who had committed such disgraceful behaviors was completely unworthy of Marquis Jing Yuan.
Why would Marquis Jing Yuan have to be mixed with the Second Miss Wei when she pursued a despicable and self-destructing course? Marquis Jing Yuan only went in to save people. Why should he get involved with the Second Miss Wei, who was so cheap?
In Empress Tu’s palace, the atmosphere was solemn. Mo Huating knelt there motionless. It was hard to see the expression on his face.
On one side of his knees was Wei Yan, who was crying bitterly. On the other side was Wei Yuewu, whose face was as pale as snow and who was almost on the verge of collapse. There were also some young ladies with high status around.
As the incident happened in the back palace and was of such a nature, it was the best for the Empress to deal with it.
“Marquis Jing Yuan, what do you have to say about it?” Empress Tu asked after a while. Her expression was dignified and graceful. She had the demeanor of an empress and deserved the title of Mother of the Country.
“Your Majesty, I have been engaged to the Sixth Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang since childhood. This was arranged by my mother and Sixth Miss Wei’s mother, so I would in no way break off the engagement.” Mo Huating kowtowed deeply to Empress Tu and uttered those words clearly.
There wasn’t any hesitation during his speaking. Nor did he cast a single look at Wei Yan, who was crying so hard.
“Your Majesty, I… I was framed. I… I went to look for Sixth Younger Sister. I didn’t know why I came to this after I woke up. I begged Your Majesty to do me justice.” Wei Yan was not all stupid. She knew that under such circumstances, she could not force Mo Huating to marry her. She could only cling to Wei Yuewu.
She felt it indeed inexplicable why she became like this. She only saw a black figure after entering the door, and then she fainted. As for what happened afterwards, she didn’t know anything. When she woke up, she was already in such a situation. Up until now, she still felt dizzy and couldn’t figure out how she had ended up in this situation.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢