Chapter 187: Mr. Jia
Translator: Antonia
It seemed she had been too soft-handed on them when they were kicked out of the Wang village.
She saw the three people clearly, turned back and replied, “Your majesty. They are all bowing their heads, so I can’t see clearly. I fear I might make a mistake. Please, your majesty, let them raise up their heads so that I can see clearer.”
She planned to torture these people mentally to vent out her anger.
The Emperor took glances at them, something meaningful flashing in his eyes, didn’t hesitate and scolded at the three kneeling behind Mo Qianxue, “You look up to show your faces, and have a look at her and check whether she’s the one you call Mrs. Ning.”
The Emperor was at least polite to Mo Qianxue, but to them grassroots, his tone was awful.
The scolding of the son of heaven could hardly be born by an ordinary person.
On the Emperor’s words, the three began to shake bodily and slowly looked up in hesitation. Mo Qianxue sneered inwardly. Using these useless fools to pull her down? Did they believe she was a stupid pushover?
Before the three said anything, Mo Qianxue leaned slightly over and said in a cold piercing voice, “Open your stupid eyes big and see clearly who I am. If you dare to tell a lie, even if I don’t blame you, our wise fair Emperor won’t forgive you for offending a lady!”
She could also be an apple-polisher. Use words to freeze up the Emperor, and later when the play reached the climax, he would have no way to back down except for taking the cold.
Zhao Ergou and sister Zhao looked up while trembling, and, being gazed and scared by Mo Qianxue, their hearts beat even harder like a drum.
They tried best to calm down and took a glance at her. Instantly they were shocked. The girl was indeed Mrs. Ning. The face was the same, but the clothes and temperament was totally different. For a time, they couldn’t give an answer.
As they looked at her, Mo Qianxue displayed a ghost of contempt and snorted scornfully.
The couple was nothing but vogues and never experienced anything huge. In the palace, they had been already freaked out and now, given a snort by Mo Qianxue, trembled again, face pale, cold sweat crawling densely on their foreheads.
Zhao Ergou already lied on the ground, shievering but still pointing at Mo Qianxue, his voice trembling, “Mrs. Ning. She…she is Mrs. Ning.”
He had been promised with a bag of gold. Also, for his son’s life and to revenge for being kicked out, he decided to do it. Besides, he wasn’t lying.
Hearing his words, sister Zhao struggled to loosen the trembling gritting teeth, and added, “Yes. She…is Mrs. Ning, the luck wife of Mr. Ning…” No matter what, she could be no one but Mrs. Ning. Even for the bag of gold, the words wouldn’t change.
The testimony of the couple seemed to give the scholar a little courage, and his shaking body stopped for a moment as if he was a tough man, “At this moment, do you still want to deny it? Your majesty, please do me justice.”
Shameless. Even if this had been truth, it was a shame on a man who was abandoned by his wife and asked others to do his justice. Didn’t he just want to become rich and noble by accusing her before the Emperor?
There were only stories of disloyal men who abandoned their poor wives after success, but never stories that women gave up their husbands after becoming rich. Shame on him.
A shame on all men!
All the officials viewed him with contempt.
Of course, the censors standing in the rows had received the warning beforehand from master Xie, so they all stood up and spoke for the man, even if they looked down on him.
“Your majesty. Mr. Ning has made the whole story clear, and Miss. Mo didn’t deny that she knew them. Obviously, she has committed the crime of Deceiving the Emperor.”
“Your majesty. Mo Qianxue’s crime is hideous in that she totally disregarded female virtues…”
“Your majesty. The matter has a far-reaching horrible influence…”
Mr. Jia, standing among these officials, blew his beard from rage.
They couldn’t be more shameful to bully a woman. Yet, Mo Qianxue hadn’t said anything to deny, so he couldn’t speak for her even though he wanted to.
Everything could only come to a conclusion after the body check… He believed that Miss. Mo was innocent. With his wife there, it wouldn’t be wrong. Thinking through this, Mr. Jia closed his eyes, refusing to see those disgusting faces.
The Emperor leisurely sat in his high chair to watch the show. The humble couple was flustered truly, but he could easily tell their familiarity with her. He was waiting, for Mo Qianxue to panic and to beg him.
Then, he could exempt her from death penalty but not other punishment. He could still put her into jail, in real terms, disregarding anyone’s begging for forgiveness.
Then, when she was dampened, he would talk to her personally about the black token. Everything was negotiable as long as she submitted the token. She could still be the lady of Founder mansion and enjoy the fame and wealth. If not, he would reduce her to an official prostitute…
He believed any woman knew how to choose between being prostitute and fame and wealth.
Mo Qianxue ignored the three rats and didn’t argue with those censors. She leaned back and kneeled upright again, “Your majesty, I know them all.”
Confident he would win, the Emperor looked more majestic and scolded loudly, “Then what else do you want to say?”
Mo Qianxue said grimly, “Although I know them, I don’t agree with what they said. Your majesty is wise to know that they are law-breakers who cheated you. I request the on-site death of them so as to uphold the justice and the imperial authority.”
Hatred emanated out of his eyes. He didn’t believe it that at this point, Mo Qianxue could still deny and bite back.
He patted on the dragon chair and sprang up, “How dare you!”
All of the officials kneeled down and said in unison, “Please don’t be anger, your majesty…”
The Emperor pointed at Mo Qianxue, “Stubborn! The evidence is right here, and you not only refuse to confess but also try to quibble. But for Tianfang who ledged loyalty for me for years, I’ll behead you right now. Come and put Mo Qianxue in jail.” He suddenly felt bad and didn’t want to give her a chance or himself to show how wise and nice he was as an emperor.
Mo Qianxue remained calm, eyes clear and sharp, waist upright, well-organized in speech. All of these formed the source of the Emperor’s anxiety.
The decision came so suddenly that it instantly broke the plans of many people at court.
When the Emperor was angry, the officials must kneel down to ask him to calm down. It was a common practice, a convention, and a reflective reaction of the cowardly censors who had been disciplined by the Emperor for years.
As everyone kneeled down, Su Jinyu also pulled down Su Qi. Feng Yuchen also kneeled too, because he was the Emperor, the son of heaven. Besides, it was not proper if they stood while others were kneeling.
At once, the palace was full of kneeling men, except for a few princes and elderly ministers. Everyone begged the Emperor to stop being angry.
Afterwards, Feng Yuchen looked up, his pretty face a little anxious, “Please don’t be mad, your majesty. I can promise with my head that my cousin Mo Qianxue is telling the truth. These three people are talking nonsense. Please look into it. On that day, my cousin disappeared, and father was so restless and ordered me to investigate at once. When I found cousin…”
She didn’t need it but was still moved by him when Feng Yuchen could stand out and speak for her at this moment. Whether he moved on or not, as long as he didn’t take it to a problematic extreme, he was her brother. As long as she was alive, she would try all out to help protect the Feng family.
According to nanny Mo’s tone, the Feng family had to keep a low profile also because of that matter.
Many years ago, after the Emperor proposed with the Feng family and was turned down, he had held a grudge at it and always tried to suppress the Feng family over so many years.
If it hadn’t been the protection of the Founder, the Feng family would be similar to if not identical to the degraded Lan family.
The Emperor didn’t wish Feng Yuchen to finish his words, satirizing in rage, “What do I need your head for? You happen to remind me that the Founder has entrusted her to your family, but you didn’t take care of her and now let her make so many troubles. She being wrong-doer is closely related to your family too…”
As he was in rage, several guards with swords already stepped into the palace from outside and prepared to drag Mo Qianxue away.
To protect Mo Qianxue, Feng Yuchen could sacrifice his life, but couldn’t risk the whole family. Thinking about it fast, he already made a decision to send a letter by pigeon and invite grandfather here after he got back home.
The Emperor didn’t respect him, but his grandpa was a minister for three generations and a family master who had also supported the Emperor with the Founder. The Emperor would do him a favor…
Su Qi looked stern, which was rare. This was a battlefield without swords, where he couldn’t fight a bloody way out by weapons. In this matter, the Su family had no stance to speak.
However, even without a stance, he couldn’t watch her being dragged into that kind of place again. Last night already almost killed him with guilt!
Su Qi rationalized his thoughts, took a deep breath and was about to say something, when an old but solemn voice came.
“Wait!” It was Mr. Jia, one of the few who didn’t kneel down and beg.
The guards stopped but didn’t look at the Emperor. They lowered the heads and listened. Things changed in every second at court. They couldn’t easily carry out an order even it was the Emperor’s.
If they acted too quick, caught the wrong person, or the Emperor regretted, they would be the one who paid for the consequences.
Mr. Jia stopped the guards and turned to the Emperor, bowing, “Please don’t be angry, your majesty. I have something to say.”