Chapter 140: Beggars in the Way
Translator: Antonia
The boy behind him replied respectfully, “Eldest lord, don’t worry about the seventh lord. If he doesn’t appreciate your kindness, your effort will be useless after all.”
The man in purple sighed, “This time, it’s different. Since he came back from the Tianxiang city, he changed totally. Probably, this time he will listen to me.”
**
Mo Qianxue went out of the palace ate and breathed a long sigh of relief, but her knotted brow didn’t loosen.
Nanny Mo, Chiyi and Shiwu had been waiting at the gate. Seeing her coming out, they hurried to held her, feeling a little restless when they saw the three feet white silk on her, asking carefully, “Lady, why do you wear this white silk?”
The imperial palace was operated under strict grades and rules. This white color might bring misfortune to lady. Mo Qianxue said coldly, “This is a grant from the Empress. When we get back home, you and Chuyi be quick to make it into a mourning suit before dawn.”
Nanny Mo, perplexed, nodded and smiled with relief, “The Empress still valued her friendship with your mother…”
She continued the comment, when Mo Qianxue stopped her footsteps and planned to tell her the truth, but glancing around and finding there were people around the palace, she swallowed the words, marching hastily to the carriage, ignoring Chiyi and Shiwu and jumping onto the carriage.
Nanny Mo thought she was just too tired and didn’t care, hurriedly following up from behind.
After nanny Mo followed Mo Qianxue to sit in the carriage, Mo Qianxue finally started at her in the eye and said word by word, “But when the Empress granted it to me, she said this was to hang me.”
The smile on nanny Mo’s face was instantly frozen.
White silk! She should have figured it out. The stiff smile at once turned into fury, “Madam treated her well. What an ungrateful woman!”
Mo Qianxue snorted and stopped speaking. Within the walls of the imperial palace, gratitude was the last trustworthy thing.
Having just returned, she hadn’t found a suitable driver yet, so the driver now was still Awu. Nanny Mo, although furious, wasn’t an unruly person. Seeing Mo Qianxue didn’t say much, she ordered on her behalf, “Awu, set off!”
As the carriage was moving, nanny Mo put a blanket on Mo Qianxue and said caringly, “Take a rest, lady, if you’re tired.” Even though the Empress had granted the white silk, since lady had walked out of the palace safely, she believed it was because of the Emperor’s protection.
Now that lady was somewhat frightened, let her take a rest first and ask for more details of the fact when they were home, so as to work out countermeasures.
Yesterday, they had been running and fighting under high spiritual pressure, and at night there had come the forth wave of attackers which led to Ning Shaoqing’s washing away by river. Mo Qianxue had been searching for Ning Shaoqing for the whole night along the river without any break.
Earlier today, they rushed all the way to the capital. When she got back to the Founder mansion, she had firstly established her authority and then launched a wit war with the three lords and then in the afternoon she was summoned to the imperial palace to take part in such a spectacular drama of battle of wits and courage.
Mo Qianxue was exhausted, but at this moment, she wanted more than ever to streamline her thoughts in quietness. In such a crisis, every minute was fatal!
Before the main entrance of the imperial palace, there were no obstruction, so the carriage ran smoothly.
What the Emperor wanted was her wooden token, and what the Empress wanted was her life. The Mo clan wanted her duke title. And in the dark, there hid greedy eyes and cruel hands. How to strike a balance between all these…?
Soon after she closed her eyes, the carriage suddenly stopped.
Mo Qianxue lifted a corner of the curtain. As she was immersed in her thought, the carriage had arrived on the major street. A few beggars approached, “Please, give me food.”
Here was the capital, the imperial city at the foot of the Emperor, so every word and movement must be careful. Awu feared that knocking down the beggars would cause trouble for Mo Qianxue, so he timely stopped the horse.
The stinky smell and the sound of asking for money came at the same time. Mo Qianxue frowned. In the capital city, since when where were so many beggars who dared to surround a lady’s carriage.
How did the city mayor do his work?! It seemed that the capital city needed order.
Once the carriage stopped, a dozen more beggars flooded over to seamlessly besiege her carriage. In the blink, the carriage could neither go forward or back.
“Lady, please be kind…” The voice of begging for money came from outside. Mo Qianxue, frowning, asked nanny, “Do you have copper coins?” At this time, throw out far the coins, and the beggars would naturally go to pick them up, so that the current trouble would be solved too.
Nanny Mo understood Mo Qianxue’s intention and took out a purse, “Here are some tiny bits of silver. Lady can use these.”
Mo Qianxue took over the purse. Nanny Mo felt lucky that she was clever and had asked the butler to prepare many coins and tiny pieces of silver upon coming back because she knew these were useful to do things more smoothly in the mansion.
Now, it wasn’t the time to care about money. Mo Qianxue didn’t count how much was there in the purse, pouring the silver bits out and throwing to the far side of the road.
As expected, there were people going to pick up the silver on the ground.
However, these people were ordinary folks. Instead of picking up the silver, the beggars cornering the carriage seemed to be rushing over and starting a riot.
Mo Qianxue, in a hurry, ordered nanny Mo and all the others outside the carriage, “Kill! Kill all of these beggars!”
“Lady?” Nanny Mo, sitting in the carriage, looked to Mo Qianxue with confusion.
Just a moment ago, Mo Qianxue looked calm as dead water. She seemed to have predicted nanny Mo’s confusion, “Kill them. They’re real beggars. Kill them all.”
Nanny Mo understood at once, flying out to stand before the carriage. Just now she had thought that these beggars were poor-sighted and didn’t see the silver flying out of the carriage.
However, it could be understood that one of them was poor-sighted. But it wasn’t normal that all of them were poor-sighted.
Although nanny Mo had flown out to protect the carriage, she didn’t start to kill as Mo Qianxue ordered. Here was at the foot of the Emperor. She must think twice before killing.
Lady must have been bullied in the imperial palace and wanted to vent out her anger. But she couldn’t listen to her and act recklessly.
Although Mo Qianxue gave the order to kill, she herself didn’t plan to get off the carriage. She wasn’t the modern Mo Qianxue anymore or the Mo Qianxue in the Wang village. Now, she was the daughter of Founder.
She was different from other noble ladies because of the duke title. Now, every word she said and everything she did represented the solemnity of the Founder.
There weren’t beggars who saw money and didn’t go to pick it.
Evidently the current incident was pre-organized and premeditated. Even though she didn’t know whether the man behind the scene was one of the Mos, it didn’t matter and she didn’t mind warning the person by a slaughter.
“Kill! Kill all that dared to stand in my way. Kill them all. I’m take the responsibility.” Seeing her guards didn’t dare to move, Mo Qianxue scolded without blinking.
The beggars stopped their steps hearing Mo Qianxue’s words. What they wanted was money. That man had told them that as long as they managed to humiliate the lady in the carriage, they could get two hundred taels of silver. Even the cheering men could get ten taels of silver. This was a huge amount, far more than the silver bits on the ground. Certainly, nobody went to pick those up.
But they still feared of losing their lives for that two hundred taels of silver.
“Lady, we’re in the capital!” Not in the wilderness… Asan and Awu found themselves in a pickle. Even if the people from the most high-profiled imperial family or the most powerful noble families didn’t dare to kill people on the street.
“Don’t be afraid. They offend the daughter of Founder and deserve death.” These words were equal to a judgment. This was the benefit of noble privileges. When a folk man offended a noble or imperial member, he would be sentenced to death.
Instantly she figured out what those beggars intended to do.
They just planed to humiliate her publicly.
Even if they didn’t get their way at last, in front of everybody, as long as her hand or the corner of her clothes was touched by one of them, her fame would be ruined completely.
Then rumors would be spread that she was insulted by a dozen beggars in public. And very likely the rumors would be told in an extremely erotic way. At last, what didn’t happen at all would become a fact in the mouth of others saying that she was…by the dozen beggars.
Thinking of this, she sweated cold sweats!
She was the daughter of the Founder, the heir to the duke title, so by then… By then, the Emperor would never tolerate her as a laughing stock, let alone inheriting the title. Even if the Emperor kept her alive because of the wooden token, she wouldn’t be living a comfortable life.
A woman losing her chastity on the street and touched by the dirtiest men wouldn’t be tolerated by anybody…
Not to mention the duke title…
Although she didn’t value the title too much, she wouldn’t give it to the Mo clan.
As long as the Founder mansion existed there, and as long as the duke title was still there, Mo Qianxue was a noble lady whose killing act against an offender didn’t count as a crime, no matter how disadvantaged or powerless she was and regardless of the fact that she had little power. At most, she would be criticized by the historian-official…
Being criticized wouldn’t cost her life immediately. At most, it didn’t sound nice. But at this time, should she be afraid of being criticized?
Probably the criticism would become a good thing! Make the incident bigger would put the Mo people into panic and make them easier to deal with.
Mo Qianxue brainstormed. The beggars saw Asan and others only pulling out the swords but not killing, and instantly got relived and further cornered her.
“Kill!” At first, Mo Qianxue was a little hesitant to kill so many people, but now the hesitation and mercy disappeared totally.
She pulled her face, said coldly, “Kill! Kill all of them. If any of them remains alive, then kill yourself instead.”
If any of the beggars remained alive and spread rumors, the slaughter would be meaningless. If she had decided to kill, then do it utterly…
Taking Mo Qianxue’s order and seeing the beggars approaching again, Asan and Awu stopped hesitating and instantly waved their swords, “Get out of the way, or you’ll die.”
The cold gleams on the blade glistened, and the on-looking folks who were picking up silver were instantly startled and all stepped back.
Since ancient times, the folks didn’t fight with officials. Although Mo Qianxue wasn’t an official, she was the daughter of the Founder and the heir to the duke title. Before her son was born and became an adult, she had the same identity with those noble lords. Those folks didn’t dare to offend her.
The folks liked to watch dramas, but they also liked their lives. Upon Asan and Awu drew out their swords, immediately, half of the on-lookers left and the rest quickly stepped back, but…
But the beggars seemed to have a power behind them and believed Asan and Awu were merely scaring them and didn’t care at the sight of their swords.
One of the beggars even shouted loudly, “Murder! Murder! The Founder daughter is so cruel and merciless. She’s gonna kill us on the street. She doesn’t deserve the title!”
As expected, their target was the duke title.
Asan instantly waved his swords at the yelling beggar, whose blood slashed all over the ground and whose body collapsed to the ground and died immediately after a short groan.
Before the other beggars understood what was happening, they already became targets of Asan, Awu, Mo Yan and Mo Xing, who rushed over in all directions.
Asan, Awu, Mo Yan, Mo Xing, and even Chuyi, Shiwu and nanny Mo all had undergone numerous battles. Being stopped and cornered on the street, there was already a flame of rage in their hearts and now it was time to vent it out, since lady had ordered to kill all the beggars or themselves.
They weren’t soft-hearted people themselves, so at once they started the slaughter, killing the fake beggars one after another. In a moment, a dozen died.
Those beggars had believed that they pulled out the swords only to scare them and hadn’t expected they meant it. At once, some of them, red-eyed, still wanted the previously-promised money, but more of them were frightened and wanted to leave.
However, another voice rang in the group of the beggars.
“The Founder daughter is so shameless that she hangs out with men during her parents’ mourning. In fact, she is a slut…”
“Poor upright Founder to have such a shameful daughter…”
Would a beggar make such a speech?
The the expression of the on-looking folks who waited to watch the drama instantly changed, and they at once dropped the silver in their hands as if they were biting and all disappeared in a blink.
Even the stores on both sides of the street closed the door and stopped operation.
The people who survived in the capital weren’t stupid. The secrets of the aristocrats mustn’t be heard. Since the Founder daughter had already killed so many people, very likely she would kill all others present.
Life was most important!
All of a sudden, on the street, there was nobody except for Mo Qianxue and the beggars.
A few of the beggars even knew a little martial art, but they weren’t a rival to experienced martial artist like Asan and Awu at all.
In a while, another batch of beggars were eradicated.
On the outer periphery stood several more panting heavily. In view of the situation, they fled into a small valley connecting the main street.
Before Asan and the others caught them, a team of police officers arrived right on time.
The leisurely way they walked over suggested that they didn’t hasten to get here after receiving a report but had been waited there for a long time.
Mo Qianxue was crystal clear when she saw them showing up from the dark.
The officers probably had planned to wait until the beggared succeeded so that they came out to take the troublemakers to jail… Then, there would been hard proof and then public discussions.
Even if the beggars had succeeded, Mo Qianxue had no other choice but to swallow her falling teeth. For the sake of her fame, she must deny it instead of accusing the beggars.
Anyway, in the end, there would be heated discussion over her chastity. As she couldn’t accuse them, the beggars would be released after a few days of detaining.
A good calculation!
Mo Yan, Mo Xing, Asan and Awu weren’t cowards and, seeing the beggars running away, they instantly caught up and killed them right before the eye of the police officers.
The officers walking out of the dark hadn’t expected that the guards didn’t stop even at the sight of them and dared to kill in the face, so they drew out swords too.
But they didn’t dare to walk nearer, daunted by the murderousness around the guards.
The air was frozen at once. Asan, Awu, Mo Yan and Mo Xing stood there like stone pillars, and the officers didn’t dare to come forward.
In view of the tense confrontation, a man wearing official suit walked out from behind.
In a rage, he pushed away the officials in front of him and loudly questioned Mo Yan and the others, “You…you’re despising the imperial city to kill on the street! It’s murder!”
He shouted, a little daunted because just a moment ago he had witnessed the several guards killing people and there was still blood dripping off their swords.
The man wearing an official uniform seemed to have a say, so Mo Qianxue got off the carriage.
Seeing Mo Qianxue stepping out, that man instantly felt bold again, putting on an air and commanding his people, “Don’t stand still. Take away the murders.”
No matter how daring this woman was, she must think twice before killing an official on the street in the capital city.
Mo Qianxue walked over hurriedly and said, “I’m Mo Qianxue, daughter of the Founder. These people tried to rob a noble lady in the bright daylight, an act disregarding the laws and despising the Emperor. I’ve sentenced them according to law. It’s a justifiable defense. How can you say it’s murder?”
Her voice wasn’t high but sounded solemn.
As Mo Qianxue said, she gave a quick and secret glance to nanny Mo.
At this moment, nanny Mo had understood the conspiracy and took Chuyi and Shiwu to begin to check the dead bodies on the ground. When they weren’t sure, they stabbed again to guarantee that all of them died completely.
Under the circumstances, there wasn’t a better choice than destroy all possible testimony.
Even if there were folks who could testify, they had only witnessed that these beggars had rushed to the horse carriage, refused to pick up the money thrown out by the Founder daughter and even further cornered the carriage to rob! The dead couldn’t talk anymore. Now the testimony was all up to her.
The official was confused about what Mo Qianxue was doing. Didn’t they say that this woman was as timid as a mouse and would only hide behind her nanny and cry when troubles got her? Why was she so different from the rumors?
Besides, every of her words sounded reasonable and right to the point. At a time, he didn’t know how to respond.
As he remained silent, Mo Qianxue asked again, “Which unit do you from? How dare you to detain the Founder daughter!”