Chapter 292 - A Startling Appearance and an Old Reason (1/2)

Mo Xuetong’s mouth opened but she did not make a sound. Her fingers, which were hidden under her sleeves, clutched the table tightly. Her eyes tightened as if this would give her strength.

The pot holding the Yuxiao Flower was covered with pieces of jade and covered more than half the pot. The flower grew on top of that. It looked very auspicious and beautiful. Mo Xuetong once looked at the flower for a long time and had once wondered whether the flower meant anything. However, she had never thought of searching the flower pot.

Did the jade token cause Emperor Zongwen to fear the Fu General Manor in her past life? Then how was he going to deal with the jade token that appeared today?

“Is there something wrong with the jade token?” Mo Xuetong sighed and calmed down as she turned to look at Luo Bin.

Luo Bin nodded to himself in approval when he saw how Mo Xuetong quickly emerged from her shock and how her question was quick to the point. He walked to have the servants waiting outside move three feet away before he entered the room and closed the doors.

He returned to his seat and sat down. He looked at Mo Xuetong with a fiery gaze as he said softly, “This jade token can dispatch the royal secret guards. It is a token that His Majesty gave to King Jin but it disappeared with the fall of King Jin’s manor. The emperor once sent people to investigate the matter secretly but it had disappeared without a trace.”

“So the Emperor was reminded of what happened after he saw the token?” Mo Xuetong looked at the jade token with confusion. She asked, “It was the previous emperor who fought with King Jin for the throne, right? Since King Jin Manor has already fallen, why is His Majesty investigating this matter now? Furthermore, the secret guards are from the royal family and are loyal to the current emperor. Is there anyone who can use this token to give orders?”

Being able to order some of the secret guards in the royal family might be useful in the era of King Jin. However, that was two generations ago. The emperors had changed and so, the jade token must be useless now. The jade token was just a simple jade token now and no longer had the power it once had.

There was something else she did not say. If her mother was really King Jin’s daughter, then she was his descendant. Was Emperor Zongwen going to find her mother and kill them all?!

The incident had happened more than 30 years ago. Her mother had only just been born then. Why had the Emperor searched for a newborn girl child for more than 30 years? This was not logical.

“King Jin rebelled and everyone in the manor was killed. Their resplendence is something of the past, leaving behind only King Jin’s manor. Back then, some of the precious items in King Jin’s items went missing during the investigation. This jade token was one of those items. His Majesty wants to find these objects so he immediately had me investigate when he saw the jade token to see if there is anything similar. I heard that there are other similar jade tokens.” Luo Bin’s expression was one of worry.

Second Uncle was the a.s.sistant minister in the Ministry of Justice and the original owner of the pot of flowers. It was right for Emperor Zongwen to leave this matter to him. However, why did her second uncle look for her and tell the matter to a weak woman? He had not dared to meet her openly as well and had thought up of a ruse and used her grandmother to invite her here. Did her second uncle know about her mother’s background?!

“Then, Second Uncle, you asked me here today to…” Mo Xuetong looked at Luo Bin and asked him in astonishment. She pretended to be confused and she forced her wildly pounding heart to calm down.

“Your grandmother prepared some jade and pearls when your mother married your father. Your grandparents bought a lot of jade and pearls because your mother liked them. A lot of the things they bought were very precious. Since the Emperor wants to find a jade token like this, perhaps there would be some in your mother’s dowry. That’s why I asked you here to ask you about this. This is a matter of the Ministry of Justice and it is not good for a girl like you to be involved in this. That’s why I used your grandmother to ask you here.” Luo Bin explained with a smile.

That sounded reasonable and she could not find any flaws in his arguments. If Mo Xuetong did not know that her mother was King Jin’s daughter. She would not suspect Luo Bin and think that he was being considerate towards her by asking her to come secretly. However, she would not think like that now.

Her mother hiding in the Fu General Manor might not be a well-kept secret. There were some people who knew that, for example, her grandmother and her second uncle. Perhaps there were others that she did not know of. She suddenly felt a pain in her heart. Her mother had lived in such circ.u.mstances. She knew who she was then.

Was she fearful and uneasy or was she lonely and fragile?

She was an orphan with no family. Even though she lived in the manor, she would not dare to be careless. Even though the matters of King Jin manor had nothing to do with Emperor Zongwen, had King Jin been successful then, he would not be the current emperor. When she thought of that, Emperor Zongwen might be enraged and want to get rid of King Jin Manor completely.

This must be one of the reasons why her mother married her father!

Otherwise, why would she, a legitimate daughter of a general manor marry an insignificant fifth-grade official? Furthermore, she lived far away from the capital after she got married. Could this be the reason for the fight between her mother and the Princess Royal?!

No wonder her mother had always had poor health in her memories. She had such a heavy burden on her heart and she did not tell anyone about this, not even those closest to her. She was a weak woman, how could she take this?

Mo Xuetong’s eyes grew warm for some reason. It was as if she could see the ill and weak woman. She seemed fearful even though she smiled gently. She was always so careful in protecting her family and did not want others to realize that she was different. As such, she allowed her husband to take a concubine so that he could have illegitimate children just like everyone else.

If they surrounded themselves with commoners, they would not be discovered!

Her heart hurt and pain clawed at it. Yet, she smiled. Mo Xuetong looked at the jade bangle she wore and stretched out her hand in front of Luo Bin. She said, “Second Uncle, I have not seen such a jade token in Mother’s dowry. There are not many such high-quality jade pieces but the bangle I am wearing is pa.s.sable. Do you want to take a look?”

She was going to take it off for Luo Bin to take a look at it.

Luo Bin looked down to see the clear jade bangle. He reached out to stop her and looked at the jade carefully. Then, he released her hand and said, “Tong’er, you don’t have to take it off. This jade did not belong to your mother’s dowry. It belongs to the person you are betrothed to. This was the jade bangle they gave. The jade bangles come in a pair, just like couples do. That happened not long after you were born. No one mentioned it after so many years, it probably does not count anymore.”

So that was true!

“Is this the item from back then?” She asked. A slight frown marred Mo Xuetong’s forehead as she waved the jade bangle on her hand.