Chapter 181: Put Her in Jail
Translator: Antonia
Usually, when a lady was insulted about her chastity, the first thing was to take away the slanderer and beat him as punishment, and then to decide his final sentence according to the situation. There was no such a thing that a lady should show her cinnabar to prove her chastity.
That was what a folk girl did, but noble ladies’ cinnabar wouldn’t show it casually to others. Even a princess shouldn’t have said that.
After saying that, Mo Qianxue turned to look at the scholar, her eyes suddenly chilly and stern, shooting something like a glistening cold dagger. The intention of killing made him quivered involuntarily.
Such a coward! How dared he to claim to be her husband!
Mo Qianxue took a deep breath and suppressed her ridicule, “I think this man not only talked nonsense, but always cherished an evil intent, offending a lady while trying to deceive Princess. Such a man with vicious behavior and intention should be beaten to death right now.”
Hearing Mo Qianxue emphasized penetrating words, the scholar felt his feet feeble. If it hadn’t been Head Zhang’s secret lifting, he would have slipped to the ground.
Didn’t the person tell him that as long as he insisted Mo Qianxue was his wife, he could move to the Founder mansion and become the new master?
Princess Yuhe hadn’t expected Mo Qianxue to be so eloquent and instantly shifted the dagger to her while rightfully demanding the death of the scholar.
Thinking of her own fame and the words she just heard, she had to soften her voice, “Father governs the country with benevolence and thinks highly of scholars, who are observers of rules and never talk nonsense. If he was a slave, I wouldn’t believe his words and would have him executed before your request.”
“Benevolent Princess!” The scholar kneeled on the ground.
Princess Yuhe gazed at him, hiding her scorn with a righteous tone, “You said that Miss. Mo is your luck wife. Then, could you tell us the whole story? If you told a lie, I’ll immediately sentence you to death. Think well before you start!”
For his dream of being a master, the scholar went all out, “Yes. My name is Ning Shaoqin, from Tianxiang, and have been teaching in the village school in the Wang village, forty miles away from downtown. One day, I suddenly fell ill… We have been a couple in the Wang village for over half a year. Mo Qianxue is indeed my wife.
What I said is sheer truth. Princess, please help me prove my innocence and persuade my wife back to honesty. She’s a spoiled lady, and it’s forgivable if she did a wrong thing when instigated by her nanny. I only hope she could wake up to reality.”
Ning Shaoqin? A simple difference. Mo Qianxue even began to admire the wisdom of these people.
She didn’t give her any chance to explain but allowed a strange scholar to talk bare nonsense. Hum! The story was similar to that of she and Ning Shaoqing…and shifting the blame to nanny made it sound real… This Ning Shaoqin looked so loving when he talked, which was more pitiful…
They had gone too far!
Nanny Mo and Chuyi were alright because they had expected this to happen, but Awu’s face was completely dark and cold. For many times, he wished to rush over and tear up the face of this man, but he was stopped be Chuyi, who reminded him softly, “Don’t do anything before lady speaks, or you may ruin lady’s plan.”
When the scholar called Ning Shaoqin finished, Princess Yuhe looked to Mo Qianxue, “Miss. Mo, do you have anything to say?”
Certainly, she had nothing to say. At this critical juncture, she couldn’t mention Ning Shaoqing, according to him, today was crucial for him. It’d be better that she didn’t bother him.
Besides, before the situation was clarified, mentioning Ning Shaoqing would probably only speed up the losing of her life.
Ning Shaoiqng had told her that he had made a flawless arrangement by letting the whole of the Wang village spoke in the same tongue.
If anyone asked about the days in the village, the truth would be: Ning Shaoqing was indeed a teacher of the school village, but Mo Qianxue was merely a single woman who was saved by the villagers and took care of his daily life.
The villagers were greatly benefited from the couple, so certainly they were more than grateful towards them and agreed readily. Besides, the luck marriage didn’t have an official wedding and feast, it was merely words of the elders.
In the future, even if someone tried, he couldn’t find any witness.
Mo Qianxue looked at the man kneeling on the ground and smirked, “This nonsense-talking man said about the Wang village and I was his wife. How can you prove that?!”
The shameless man said, “Darling, why are you so cold-hearted? All the villagers are witnesses…”
Craps. Even if there were witnesses, they would only testify that Ning Shaoqing was a village teacher and that she was saved by the elders to take care of him. Who knew this strange man?
However, since they claimed there were witnesses, it meant they wanted to make the matter bigger. Alright, she would just utilize it and test whether the Emperor could still sit restful when her life was at stake. Whether he could or not, she would leverage his hand to give a lesson to the Empress.
Mo Qianxue said resolutely, “I’m unmarried and innocent. Even in the imperial court, I’m still saying this. If Princess insists to check on me, then wait until tomorrow, with the Emperor’s consent, I’ll let Three Madams do it. If I’m still a virgin, then, Princess, please apologize to me publicly.”
Princess Yuhe was dumbfounded, “Why should I apologize?” The hypocritical eyes swept over, filling with cruelty. Why should she apologize to a filthy disgusting girl?
Mo Qianxue’s eyes were sharp, “Because you are slandering me with that scholar.”
Princess Yuhe couldn’t fake her bearing anymore, “Craps!”
Mo Qianxue wasn’t moved by her anger. In this moment, she had a majesty, greater than that on Princess Yuhe, coming aggressively, “I’m unmarried, but Princess suspects me only because of others’ words and forces to check on me. This is the biggest insult against an unmarried lady. Princess, you’re wise and kind, so I think you understand it.”
Princess Yuhe could feel that the other carriages were almost convinced by Mo Qianxue, and thought to herself, even to apologize, she must be innocent first!
She, a withered flower, thought she was that eager to check on her? Huh! If she wished to lose face publicly, then let her get what she wanted. Tomorrow, she would invite Three Madams to take a check. What could the girl say by then?
Thinking this through, Princess Yuhe managed to restore her benevolent smile, “It sounds that it’s indeed my slip. No wonder! Miss. Mo is a great talent that I admire so much. I didn’t want any harm on your reputation and wished to end it as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, Miss. Mo values so much on rituals. The more I cared, the worse I handled it.”
Even at this time, she didn’t forget to praise herself and put on the fake smile. Mo Qianxue really admired her, “Since that’s the case, then I’ll leave now. Let’s meet tomorrow in the court. I’m waiting for your apology!”
Mo Qianxue turned to leave, when Princess Yuhe yelled, “Wait!”
Since the faces were torn, then it was no need to maintain a decent look. Princess Yuhe looked rightful, “Since Miss. Mo insists so, it would be improper for me to protect you due to our personal relations. This matter is serious. If Mr. Ning’s words are true, then you’re committing the crime of deceiving the Emperor. Only father can decide your sentence.”
Mo Qianxue stopped, when Princess Yuhe looked up at the sky and said, as if she was giving a huge grace, “Now it’s late and Miss. Mo has a special identity, so I can’t give you a judgment right now. Let’s put you in jail temporarily and wait for father to trail you tomorrow at court. Don’t worry, Miss. Mo, I’ll invite Three Madams to prove your chastity.”
Put her in jail?! Alright. She was afraid someone couldn’t sit restful if she was in jail today. Without stirring the water to make it muddy, how could she make a profit out of the messy situation?
Mo Qianxue was silent, and Princess Yuhe thought she was scared. Holding back her complacent expression, she turned to order Head Zhang, “Head Zhang, please take Miss. Mo to the jail. She can’t meet anyone before father’s summon tomorrow.”
Sound of coughing came out of a carriage. Princess Yuhe knew it was Academician Jia’s carriage, so she added one kind enjoining, “Let Miss. Mo stay in the special room and guard carefully. If she was hurt, speak with me holding your own head.”
Since ancient times, there were special rooms in jail for special prisoners.
Head Zhang walked over to catch Mo Qianxue, who hurriedly stepped back and smiled scornfully, “Don’t bother. I can walk.”
Only then did Head Zhang then realize that Mo Qianxue wasn’t a criminal now, so his manner softened a little and gestured, “Please, Miss. Mo!”
“Wait!” Seeing lady went forward, nanny Mo called him, “The jail is moist and cold. Lady can’t stand that. I’ll go together to take after her.”
Mo Qianxue said lightly, “Just follow me. Princess is kind and benevolent. I believe she wouldn’t forbid you.” Use her spear to attack her shield! Princess Yuhe had to agree.
Great. She happened to learn more things from nanny Mo!
As expected, Princess Yuhe gently waved her hand and agreed. This bitch was a lady, so it would hurt her fame if she didn’t allow a nanny to follow her to the jail before she was convicted.
Mo Qianxue got on the carriage of Head Zhang and turned back to comfort Awu, who was in rage, and Chiyi, whose eyes were reddish, “Go back to mansion. Tell butler I’ll be back tomorrow. Keep everything in mansion in order.”
The two replied in unison and bowed, “Yes.”
Then she left, without looking back.