Chapter 111 – Love Affair Exposed, Force Him To Marry The Notorious Wei Yan
“Grand… grandmother… I… I don’t know. These… these clothes definitely aren’t mine.” Seeing the scattered clothes all over the ground, Wei Yan wildly shook her hands and explained in panic with her eyes wide open.
“Didn’t you just say that these were all yours and you asked your maid to get them?” Before the clothes were scattered, Wei Yan had insisted that the clothes were hers and she had specially asked her maid to get them for her.
“I… I… I don’t know.” Wei Yan was really anxious. She really didn’t know why her newly-made clothes would turn into men’s clothes. This was clearly the bundle that Shuiyue had brought from the sewing room for her.
“Grandmother, don’t be angry. Although this is a matter of our mansion, it also concerns Imperial Academician Xie. Second Elder Sister’s current situation….” Wei Yuewu walked to the Madam Dowager’s side, lowered her body and whispered those suggestive words in the Madam Dowager’s ear. Such a matter was a scandal for the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Xie Qingzhao was the only outsider here, but he was also one of the parties involved.
Although Wei Yuewu hadn’t finished her words, the Madam Dowager understood her completely. She frowned and looked at Wei Yan, who was in an extremely awkward state. After pondering for a moment, she waved her hand. Nanny Hong immediately understood what she meant and ordered other servants in the room to retreat.
“Imperial Academician Xie, today’s matter concerns the reputation of the daughters of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Furthermore, there’s something mysterious in it. Why would that maid smear Yuewu for no reason? This matter clearly has nothing to do with Yuewu. Could it be that someone wants to hurt Yuewu? It looks like we’d better thoroughly interrogate that maid and find out who’s behind the scene.”
The Madam Dowager was indeed experienced and sophisticated due to her age. By virtue of those words, she immediately cleared Wei Yan of her mistake and determined the nature of this incident as such that someone wanted to scheme against the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and frame Wei Yuewu. In such a situation, if there was someone who wanted to hurt the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and Wei Yuewu, Xie Qingzhao was the most likely suspect.
After all, incidents happened successively these days, first to Wei Qiuju, then Wei Yuewu, and in the end, even Wei Yan. Furthermore, they were all connected to Xie Qingzhao. Xie Qingzhao was definitely not innocent no matter how one interpreted these incidents! If such a thing spread out, Xie Qingzhao’s future as an official would be affected.
Now that the maid Qianxi was in Madam Dowager’s hands, it could be said that the Madam Dowager could make the maid say whatever she wanted. Those words carried a hint of threat.
Xie Qingzhao did not expect that the Madam Dowager, who had always been polite to him, would actually say such threatening words to him. He looked at the Madam Dowager in astonishment.
“Grandmother….” Wei Yan also understood the implication. She couldn’t help but get anxious. She struggled to get up and wanted to speak to the Madam Dowager, but Wei Yuewu came over and reached out to stop her.
“Second Elder Sister, this matter concerns the reputation of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Although you have a bad reputation, you can’t get the entire mansion of Marquis Hua Yang into trouble.” Wei Yuewu lowered her head and looked at Wei Yan with a cold mockery. The coldness in her eyes made Wei Yan involuntarily shiver. However, Wei Yan immediately regained her senses and realized she had given the impression of weakness. She was instantly enraged and couldn’t help but shout loudly.
“Wei Yuewu, what do you mean? You accused me of getting the entire mansion of Marquis Hua Yang into trouble. What does the reputation of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang have to do with me? In what ways did I affect the reputation of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang? I….”
The Madam Dowager frowned more deeply. She suddenly picked up the teacup near her hand and smashed it down at Wei Yan’s feet.
Although Wei Yan was not hit, a fragment slid past her hand. The sting in her hand made her almost cry out in pain. Yet when she saw the Madam Dowager’s fierce eyes, she shuddered and was so frightened that she didn’t dare to speak presumptuously anymore.
The Madam Dowager was both disappointed and angry at Wei Yan’s behavior. She immediately made up her mind and swept her eyes across Wei Yan’s face. She then said to Xie Qingzhao.
“Imperial Academician Xie, what do you think we should do about this?”
Wei Yan’s reputation had already been ruined. She was so ignorant of the principles of propriety that the Madam Dowager had as much disgust toward her now as the expectations she had held for her in the past. The Madam Dowager felt that she was really blind to have regarded the shameless Wei Yan as a treasure in her heart.
The Madam Dowager even felt that if she kept such a selfish and thoughtless Wei Yan in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, something disastrous would eventually happen.
Now that there was a chance, she wouldn’t let go of it. As for Wei Qiuju’s matter, it was not something she would consider. Wei Qiuju was just a daughter of a concubine. Moreover, Wei Qiuju now clearly had more value than Wei Yan, who had lost her reputation and could only be locked up in the backyard for the rest of her life. Wei Qiuju’s incident happened at night and she wasn’t seen by many people that day.
Xie Qingzhao stared blankly at the Madam Dowager. He almost couldn’t believe what the Madam Dowager said. The Madam Dowager meant to force him to accept Wei Yan by taking advantage of this matter. As long as he thought of Wei Yan’s reputation and what she had done, he felt a wave of disgust.
“Madam Dowager, since my clothes have been found, I won’t disturb you anymore.” Xie Qingzhao stood up and wanted to leave after saying those ceremonial words.
Wei Yuewu looked coldly at Xie Qingzhao. A cold smile appeared on the corner of her lips. Xie Qingzhao wanted to get away. He had been waiting in the Madam Dowager’s place to see her falling into trouble. However, he wouldn’t be able to get away as easily as he thought. How would the Madam Dowager let him off the hook so easily, given her temperament?
Moreover, even if he wanted to get away, Wei Yuewu would not let him. Her long eyelashes fluttered and she quietly looked at the door. It was about the time that person arrived….
Xie Qingzhao, since you had helped create such a mess, don’t dream of getting away as an innocent person. A fatal blow was coming soon!
“Imperial Academician Xie, you and Yan can be considered to have mutual affections. I’m not that unreasonable. The incident with Qiuju last time is perhaps Wei Yan’s trick. It seemed there was some misunderstanding. I misunderstood Qiuju.” The Madam Dowager looked at Xie Qingzhao, her lips slightly parted. She now blamed Wei Yan for everything.
Xie Qingzhao, who was just about to leave, suddenly stopped and looked at the Madam Dowager in disbelief. Was she forcing him to admit that he had an affair with Wei Yan and asking him to marry Wei Yan?
“Madam Dowager.…” How could Xie Qingzhao be willing to accept this result? He shouted those words loudly. He didn’t believe that he, a dignified imperial academician, would be forced to accept a marriage. Moreover, the person in question was this Second Miss Wei, who had so bad reputation and who was widely reputed to be dissolute. Whoever married such a woman would be embarrassing their ancestors.
“Madam Dowager, the Fifth Young Lady is here. She said she had something to tell you.” Nanny Hong hurriedly walked over and reported to the Madam Dowager. After saying those words, she specially looked at Xie Qingzhao and added, “Fifth Young Lady said that it had something to do with Imperial Academician Xie. Fifth Young Lady said that her maid picked up a letter that day, a letter from the mansion’s… with the recipient being Imperial Academician Xie.”
A letter to him? Xie Qingzhao’s words choked at the throat. His expression changed greatly at this moment. His fists were almost trembling in his sleeves. His breathing unconsciously became heavy. Did the letter between him and Fourth Miss Wei fall into Fifth Miss Wei’s hands?
The Madam Dowager was just finding it difficult to make Xie Qingzhao agree on Wei Yan’s matter. When she saw that Xie Qingzhao’s expression greatly changed because of Nanny Hong’s words, she immediately made up her mind and said to Nanny Hong, “Let Qiuju in.”
Nanny Hong had anticipated the next step when she saw the Madam Dowager’s eyes sweeping over Xie Qingzhao. She retreated and not long after, Wei Qiuju went in with her maid Yueya.
Wei Qiuju seemed to have walked here in a hurry. It was winter, but her head was covered in sweat. Seeing Wei Yuewu and Xie Qingzhao were both here, she seemed to hesitate for a moment, but she still braced herself to walk in and curtsied to the Madam Dowager.
Xie Qingzhao had stopped at the side by now. His attention was all on them. He listened nervously to their conversation. Whether it was the letter that had been passed to him by Fourth Miss Wei or not, it would be easier for him to respond in accordance with each shift in the situation if he stayed.
The Madam Dowager coughed and asked, “Qiuju, where did you find the letter?”
“Grandmother, I was really wronged that day. I only went there by chance without any particular purpose. So, I went to the scene today for a check and found this letter. It was near a screen there. Please take a look at it, grandmother.” Wei Qiuju took out a letter from her clothes and respectfully handed it to the Madam Dowager.
Wei Yuewu looked at Xie Qingzhao and saw that his face was faintly pale and his expression became a little more nervous. The corner of his lips curled up silently. Since Wei Qiufu and Xie Qingzhao dared to plot against her and cooperated with Lady Li secretly, they must suffer the consequences when their schemes failed.…
She was no longer the Wei Yuewu she had been. If one repaid hatred with kindness, with what did one repay kindness?
The Madam Dowager took the letter from Wei Qiuju’s hand and read it. Her face immediately turned ashen with anger. Although she did not place as much hope on Wei Qiufu as she had done on Wei Yan, she still doted on Wei Qiufu. Compared to the overbearing Wei Yan, Wei Qiufu looked more magnanimous and behaved more properly. Besides, she was better at guessing the Madam Dowager’s thoughts.
Moreover, Wei Qiufu was known as a talented young lady and had an excellent reputation. She was also very kind to her sisters. Although Wei Qiuju was only a concubine’s daughter, she always took Wei Qiuju with her wherever she went. The two sisters were quite close to each other. The Madam Dowager was very pleased to see them in such harmony. As the Madam Dowager saw it, if Wei Qiufu had been born in the first or second branch, she might have a better prospect for her marriage.
Wei Qiufu’s gentleness and dignified demeanor were a perfect example for young ladies. Even the Empress had once asked the Madam Dowager about her. The Madam Dowager was extremely excited with what this thing meant.
Now this letter was like the last straw that pushed the Madam Dowager to make up her mind!
She looked at Xie Qingzhao and slapped the letter heavily on the table, asking with a cold expression on her face, “What, Imperial Academician Xie, aren’t you going to give the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang an explanation?”
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