Chapter Twelve: The Farce Ends

Marquis Chu saw the unpleasant look on Mo Zixiao’s face and, following Lady Liu’s words, softened his tone. “I wash my hands of this. You may deal with everything here.” With that, he waved his hand and turned to leave.

“Marquis, please wait.”

Mo Zixiao’s icy voice suddenly rang out behind him as he tried to slip away.

Having no choice, Marquis Chu turned back.

Mo Zixiao’s expression was cold and grim. “Are you angry with me, Marquis? You are leaving without even being willing to say a word to me?”

Marquis Chu gave an awkward smile. “General Mo, what are you talking about? I was so angered by them just now that I lost my head and forgot that you were here as well.”

Mo Zixiao asked again, “Could it be that the things I sent to the eldest young lady yesterday displeased Madam Marquis?”

As expected, the patience Marquis Chu had been struggling to maintain finally ran out, and his face darkened.

“General Mo, I was indeed displeased yesterday. The things you sent to the Marquis’s Residence crossed the bounds of propriety.” He actually spoke the truth, showing Mo Zixiao no consideration.

Rather than becoming angry, Mo Zixiao laughed. “Then it seems that my lack of etiquette was what angered you. But if that is so, why did you not come to me to argue your case? Why instead punish the innocent eldest young lady with the family law?”

Marquis Chu was rendered speechless. His lips opened and closed several times before he managed to say, “Even if General Mo was discourteous in some respects, Xier was also in the wrong.”

Seeing this, Lady Li hurried over to help Marquis Chu out of his predicament. Raising her voice, she said, “Xier, that brute Qian Kun pushed you down just now?”

She went to Chu Xi, lifted a hand, and tidied her disheveled hair, her face filled with concern.

“Oh dear, were you hurt just now?”

Seeing her hypocritical performance, Chu Xi could not help but sneer. “Heh, I’m fine. After three years in the Duke of Zhenguo’s residence, I learned long ago how to endure such things. The fact that I’m still alive is already a skill of mine.”

Her gaze was sharp enough that Lady Liu could not help releasing her grip on Chu Xi’s arm.

“Mother, I’m the one who was hurt! I was beaten today by a lowborn commoner. Are Father and Mother really going to stand by and watch without seeking justice for me?”

Chu Yue finally could not hold back any longer and wailed.

Qian Mengyun’s greatest fear had come to pass. Chu Yue was certainly not going to let this matter go today.

With a thud, she knelt down, tears streaming down her face.

“Father, Mother, this is all Yun’er’s fault. I still thought it was like before, that my sister and I were merely having a quarrel. I never expected her to lose control and rush forward to help her daughter. In the confusion, I failed to notice what was happening and could not stop her in time. Please, Father and Mother, do not blame me.”

In front of Marquis Chu and his wife, she did not call the Qian couple her parents even once.

“You wish!” Chu Yue snapped. “Do not think that shedding a few tears will make this matter disappear. If your mother is not punished today, I will have no face left to live, and the entire Marquis’s Residence will become the laughingstock of the capital.”

“I am the dignified second young lady of a marquis’s household, yet I was beaten by a lowborn woman—and beaten for nothing! How am I supposed to establish myself in my husband’s family after I marry?”

Once she said this, Marquis Chu and Lady Liu also felt that she had a point.

Lady Liu glared at Lady Xu and cursed, “You shameless servant, who do you think you are? How dare you raise your hand against my daughter in the Marquis’s Residence! You must be tired of living. It serves you right that General Mo twisted your arm. If I do not punish you today, this residence will become the laughingstock of the entire capital tomorrow.”

“Someone come! Drag her out and give her twenty strokes!”

Qian Mengyun’s heart sank, and she cried out inwardly, It’s over.

Lady Xu had believed that, with her own daughter present, the girl would continue protecting them and nothing would happen. She had never imagined that Lady Liu would order her to be beaten—and with twenty strokes at that. Would that not beat her to death?

She immediately fell to her knees in terror and wailed, “Madam, spare my life!” But before she could utter another word, several matrons had already seized her and dragged her away.

“Yun’er! Yun’er, save your mother!”

At that moment, Qian Mengyun’s face was covered in tears, and she desperately wanted to plead for Lady Xu. Yet, fearing that the marquis and his wife would grow distant from her because of this incident, she could only force herself to remain silent.

Chu Xi, however, felt somewhat unwilling to see such a scene.

“Twenty strokes will cost her her life.”

After saying this, Chu Xi turned her gaze toward Mo Zixiao. She was asking him to plead for Lady Xu.

Mo Zixiao had originally intended to stand by and enjoy the spectacle, but when he saw that Chu Xi could not bear it, he had no choice but to plead on her behalf.

“Madam, the Qian couple have committed serious offenses today—one pushed down the eldest young lady, while the other struck the second young lady. They ought to be severely punished. However, they do have a special relationship with the Marquis’s Residence, and I have already broken Qian Kun’s arm. Why not give Lady Xu five strokes as a warning? I believe she will never dare do such a thing again.”

After hearing this, Marquis Chu hurriedly cast Lady Liu a meaningful glance. Understanding him, she said, “Very well. Today, I will give General Mo this favor. But if they dare repeat such an offense, I will show them no mercy.”

The worry Qian Mengyun had been carrying for Lady Xu finally eased. She gazed at Mo Zixiao with gratitude and gave him a slight bow.

Mo Zixiao, however, turned his eyes toward Chu Xi and saw her smiling faintly at him.

In that instant, he felt that anything he did for her would be worthwhile.

Chu Yue also knew when to stop. Understanding that she had pushed matters far enough, she did not pursue the issue any further.

A few servants then carried Qian Kun away for a physician to treat him. With that, the farce in the front hall of the Marquis’s Residence finally came to an end.

After seeing Mo Zixiao off, Marquis Chu said to Lady Liu, “We cannot delay any longer. The longer we wait, the more unexpected complications may arise.”

Lady Liu nodded repeatedly. “I will send someone to deliver a message to the Chancellor’s Residence this afternoon.”

Marquis Chu looked at her and instructed, “We must keep this matter hidden from Mo Zixiao. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor still do not know that he and Xier were once betrothed. I fear that, if he finds out, he will take the matter straight to His Majesty. Mo Zixiao has military merit behind him, so we cannot afford to be careless.”

Lady Liu sighed. “That is precisely why we have endured Mo Zixiao all this time, for fear that some unexpected complication might arise. But this time, no one will be able to block my son’s return to the capital.”