Chapter 262 - Besmirching Her Good Name (1/2)

“What’s this?” Mo Huawen saw the gold hairpin in Yu Mingyong’s hand and asked coldly.

It was a totally undistinguished gold hairpin, utterly commonplace. Although Mo Huawen did not quite know women’s jewelry, he could still tell that this gold hairpin was unremarkable.

“Who gave you this?”

“A housekeeping nanny by Third Young Miss Mo’s side. That nanny even kept a door open for me. She wanted me to sneak into your ancestral hall with the other servants.”

“What did she say when she gave you this?”

“She said Third Young Miss Mo had fallen for me. She wanted to meet me under the moon.”

“Since she has arranged a rendezvous, why did you climb the wall? Why had you fallen from the wall into the courtyard?”

“I wanted to enter through the door. But a nanny saw a figure whizz by and escape in a panic. In order not to disappoint Third Young Miss Mo, I could only climb the wall. But they thought I was a burglar. I had been wrongly accused.” Yu Mingyong was determined to stick to his story. The story had been well thought out and had no loopholes. He sounded as if he was telling the truth.

The Old Madam became silent. The expression on her face seemed angry and frustrated, but a flash of complacency flashed across her eyes.

The thief had stuck to his story which seemed to be true. Ignoring whether it was the truth or not, Mo Xuetong had lost face. A fly will not attack an uncracked egg. This is a generally accepted dictum. Why was Yu Mingyong interested in no one else but her? Wasn’t it because she was coquettish and frivolous?

Mo Xuetong had encountered Yu Mingyong and beaten him up so badly. Consort Yu would not let him off.

She smugly cast a glance at the nanny by the side and nodded appreciatively.

Since Mo Xuetong was too embarra.s.sed to enter the palace, Yan’er could go on her behalf. If Yan’er met an eminent personage in the palace and marry into a distinguished family, no one would look down on her. So what if she was to be a concubine? Perhaps Yan’er could get herself imperial conferment. She could inherit a post by deign of her elevated status. She would be among those who could earn it.

Mo Xueyan was still not reacting. But the Old Madam was already overjoyed. She almost could not hide her elation.

Mo Huawen was still cross-examining the man, sentence by sentence.

“You said that you and Tong’er had fallen for each other. So why did you say Tong’er was the one who had arranged the rendezvous? When did you see her?”

“Third Young Miss Mo has taken a fancy for me. So she arranged a rendezvous. Clearly, we are in love with each other. As for my first meeting with her, it was of course during the imperial banquet.” Yu Mingyong was not outstanding in anything but in women. The moment he became entangled with a woman, he would become extremely excited. So right now he could argue his case craftily.

He would stick to this story no matter what.

The joy in the Old Madam’s eyes almost could not be restrained. She took the opportunity of drinking tea to disguise her smile.

“Are you sure it was the servant of this yard? Are you sure it was a nanny dressed in this attire? And are you sure you were asked out by the owner of this hairpin?” Mo Huawen asked three consecutive questions, not stopping to take a breath.

Yu Mingyong immediately replied without hesitation. “I’m sure it’s someone from here. If it wasn’t someone in this attire, you could jab my eyes, Sir Mo. The owner of this hairpin has sent her personal item to me. Of course, she must have fancied me.”

Yu Mingyong said all this in one breath. Suddenly, they heard some noise from behind a screen. It seemed to be some bench being overturned.

Mo Huawen cast the screen a cold glance. “Who’s there?”

“Un… Uncle… it’s me!” A trembling voice rang out from behind the screen.

Old Madam heard her and felt that something was amiss. She was about to speak when Mo Xueyan created this racket from behind. She frowned, signaling one of the grannies to go and find out what was wrong.

The granny left and saw Mo Xueyan sitting on the ground, dazed. A maidservant by her side was trying to pull her up but she did not react. Her entire person was s.h.i.+vering and her pallid face seemed almost transparent, not understanding what had ensued. The maidservant helped her up. Outside, things were getting interesting. They did not care for her and the granny turned around and departed, standing by the side to watch the scene.

Mo Huawen knew it was Mo Xueyan behind. He was too lazy to care. He said to a servant by his side, “Go and look at that hairpin.”

The servant a.s.sented and took the gold hairpin from Yu Mingyong’s hand. He stared at it, turning it repeatedly in his hand, and suddenly said, “Old sir, this hairpin isn’t third miss’s. There’s a character on it… Let me see.” The servant lifted the hairpin under the bright lamp and cried out in shock. “Yan. The character is a ‘Yan.’ ”

The character “Yan” on the gold hairpin?

The Old Madam, who had just bitten a mouthful of orange from the nanny, instantly choked. She coughed vigorously. The nanny behind her also panicked, patting her back forcefully. Another servant started to caress her chest. Finally, she recovered.

The Old Madam drank a mouthful of water and recovered. She pointed at the hairpin in the servant’s hand and said anxiously, “Bring it here and let me see.”

There was a “Yan” on the hairpin. Other than her own granddaughter in the manor, no one else’s hairpin would be engraved with the character “Yan.” No wonder she found the hairpin familiar! The Old Madam started to panic. She could no longer care about her equable bearing.

Another granny came and took the hairpin, bringing it to the Old Madam. The latter looked at it and nearly fainted from anger. It was really Yan’er’s hairpin.