Chapter 201 - The Fate of Betrayers (2/2)
“Yes, miss!”
Mo Ye walked forward and took the token from Li Xiu’an’s hand. It was a golden hairpin.
“This is the hairpin Old Madam gave to the young misses,” Mo Ye said. She turned it over “It can’t belong to my mistress. Her hairpin is on her head.”
Mo Ye pointed at Mo Xuetong’s hair which had been pulled into a topknot. All around, people turned to look. Her black hair covered half the pin, but the other half was visible. It was the same as the one Mo Ye held.
“The Old Madam gave one of these to each of the four young misses. Since Mo Xuetong still has hers, who does this one belong to?”
Mo Xueyan, quick to react, pointed at the hairpin in her own hair.
“It’s not mine, either. I’m wearing it too.” She didn’t own many accessories, so she was wearing basically everything she had today.
Mo Xueqiong hesitated.
She was going to point at her own pin, but her mother had bought her plenty of accessories recently. She’d worn them to try and look prettier than Mo Xuetong and left her old ones at home. Still, she’d told Qing’er to steal Mo Xuetong’s hairpin. How did she still have it? Was it possible Qing’er had stolen hers instead?
She turned around and glared at Qing’er like she wanted to tear her apart.
Qing’er was also confused. She’d snuck into Third Miss’s room and stolen the golden hairpin. How did Third Miss still have it?
Mo Xuetong looked icily at Mo Xueqiong’s.
“Third Sister, where is yours?”
Mo Xueqiong’s worry and confusion was genuine now.
“My, my… Mine is back in my courtyard…”
“Take some servants there and search her courtyard until you find the hairpin,” Mo Xuetong ordered, “and bring it here. Then Fourth Miss will be cleared.”
Mo Xueqiong had no choice but to send someone to look. She couldn’t believe Mo Xuetong had managed to avoid suspicion.
After a while, Mo Yan, Mo Xueqiong’s main maid, came breathing heavily.
“Fourth Miss, I didn’t find your hairpin. It’s missing!”
She hadn’t witnessed the previous scene and the maid who had told her to find the hairpin hadn’t explained things well. She thought Mo Xueqiong simply wanted to wear the pin and had come back to beg for forgiveness.
By now, Grandmother Mo had finished watching the show and was slowly walking back. When she saw the group of ladies blocking the path, she knew something terrible had happened. An older maid explained the whole thing to her, and she was becoming irritated.
She joined the crowd just in time to see Mo Yan report the missing hairpin to Mo Xueqiong.
Everyone present was shocked.
Mo Xuetong stood and knelt before the old madam, sweet eyes filled with tears.
“Grandma, Fourth Sister didn’t do it on purpose… She must have been misled! There’s no way Fourth Sister recruited this man. He must have stolen Fourth Sister’s hairpin. You should do her justice.”
Mo Xueqiong was dazed. She just opened her mouth as her face flushed.
Li Xiu’an saw the tide turning and spoke up again.
“No, it’s true, it’s…”
Mo Ye hated him so much that she just walked up and slapped him twice. This time, she didn’t hold anything back. She slapped him hard enough to leave him dizzy, face already starting to swell. Again, he was silent.
Everyone could picture what he would say. He would undoubtedly claim that Mo Xuetong framed him. It was easy to see this man was no thief. If he had snuck into the inner yard, somebody had led him. Fourth Miss had brought this man in intentionally.
She’d even used a maid from her older sister’s yard so that if something went wrong, she could push the blame onto Mo Xuetong. The man was from the outside. He couldn’t have known which miss made an appointment to meet him. Therefore, when he got caught, he mistook it for Third Miss.
“Grandma, Fourth Sister is still young and knows nothing about it,” she said, sounding heartbroken. “Please forgive her. She must have been tempted by the maids. You see, that third-class maid dared to talk with her. And the maid blamed it on me because she was worried that someone would know the truth… Grandma, Fourth Sister just made a stupid mistake!”
“Grandma, it’s not me. I didn’t do anything.” Mo Xueqiong also realized the picture everyone was starting to form. “I always kept my golden hairpin by my side. I really don’t know how it disappeared. I don’t know! It’s really not me!”
She hurriedly turned back and glared at Qing’er, but people just assumed she was trying to threaten a maid into silence.
Old Madam was furious and turned to the maid as well.
“Someone drag the maid outside and beat her to death. Beat the man hard as well. That should be fine as long as you leave him alive until he can be sent to the magistrate.”
After all this, she just wanted to keep this from getting in the way of her own affairs. Mo Xueqiong had never had a good reputation so this needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.
As two older maids began to pull him away, sticks in hand, Li Xiu’an started to shout.
“No, please! It wasn’t my plan to come here! Fourth Miss asked me to…”
“Cover his mouth up,” Mo Xuetong ordered. “How dare you slander Fourth Sister too!”
One of the servants shoved a rag into his mouth and he was dragged out. Qing’er had briefly fainted from fear. Now she had no strength to fight and could only beg for forgiveness, but there was little she could say. A maid who betrayed her own mistress was not allowed to live. No one would show mercy on her.