Chapter 199 - Lan Xinru’s Challenge (2/2)

“Grandmother…” Mo Xueyan whined. She glared viciously at Mo Xuetong. A moment ago, her grandmother had been on her side and she would have been able to go out and sneak a look, but Mo Xuetong had changed her mind completely.

“It’s already decided.” The old madam’s expression was cold.

“Aunt…” Mo Xueyan turned to look at Lan Xinru and tugged her sleeves pleadingly. Her aunt was around earlier when her grandmother had talked about letting her stand at the inner doors. How could she change her mind?

Lan Xinru looked at the old madam’s stoic expression awkwardly. Lan Xinru didn’t dare go against Old Madam Mo. The woman was the only reason she’d been allowed to stay here. After Mo Huawen had thrown her out, she’d had to stay in a hotel. She’d been forced to put all her money to rent and food.

“Yan’er, listen to your grandmother and don’t make her angry,” she said gently.

When Lan Xinru had entered the capital, her plan had been to marry Mo Huawen. She’d spent the rest of her money endearing herself to the old madam. In a few days, she’d be at the bottom of her purse.

As long as she stayed on the old madam’s good side, she might get help tomorrow.

“You’re all bullying me!” Mo Xueyan yelled. She shook off Lan Xinru’s hand, and, finding no one supporting her, ran out crying.

Mo Xuetong looked worried, as if she hadn’t expected things to go so badly.

“Grandmother, I will go and check in on Second Sister.”

The Old Madam’s expression softened when she saw how anxious she looked. She harrumphed and shook her head.

“Give her some time to reflect on her actions. There are some people you cannot afford to offend. If the princess had been so lenient yesterday, the poor girl would die without even understanding what had happened.”

Old Madam Mo doted on her legal granddaughter, but she knew when things should be taken seriously. The capital was full of officials and they could not afford to offend anyone. Mo Xueyan was just from a merchant family. She could not afford to offend the princess.

“That’s right. It will be fine. I will go and talk to her later. Third Miss is really kind. You must have been very troubled since yesterday. You even came over just to tell us. You have suffered.” Lan Xinru approached her and held Mo Xuetong’s hand in a friendly manner, but her words were sharp.

Come just to tell them? Did she mean that Mo Xuetong had come just to pick on Mo Xueyan?

The old madam’s eyes sharpened.

“Miss Lan, I did not come just to talk about this. The fifth princess wanted us to tell the elders what had happened. I think Grandmother Mo is the most respected person in our house and I cannot defy orders from the princess. So… I did not expect I would upset Second Sister so much. Grandmother, I will go and apologize to her now.” Mo Xuetong’s eyes grew red as she spoke. Her eyes were clouded with tears and she behaved as if she had done something wrong. “Grandmother, I will not speak such nonsense in the future again.”

The satisfaction in Lan Xinru’s eyes was replaced with annoyance. Mo Xuetong was right. No one could defy the princess’ orders. She had tried to insinuate and reprimand Mo Xuetong for coming specially to tell on Mo Xueyan. But if this was the princess’ orders, she had no choice. They could not risk word getting back to the princess.

The Old Madam shuddered as well. That was truly an order that could not be defied. She looked at how sad Mo Xuetong looked and glared at Lan Xinru, even comforting Mo Xuetong softly before telling her to leave.

Mo Xuetong returned to her own courtyard. As she walked back in, Mo Ye stepped up to whisper to her. Mo Xuetong nodded and told Mo Ye to rest.

“Miss, is Miss Lan going to stay at the Old Madam’s today and not leave?” Mo Yu asked in confusion. She picked up a stick of incense and lit it. She had already been thrown out from the manor. The old madam’s behavior was a slap to Sir Mo’s face.

“She will not stay here today. Anyway, the Old Madam would not make things difficult for Father,” Mo Xuetong said lightly. She leaned forward to pick up a porcelain cup of tea. “At most, she will just come again tomorrow. Father has always been filial, and he will not object if Old Madam mentions it.”

“What else does Miss Lan expect to gain? She is a young lady and was thrown out by a man. Now she still dares to show up here. Is she not embarra.s.sed?” Mo Yu pursed her lips.

Most people didn’t talk about what had happened in the study. One would only hear about it if they asked around.

Lan Xinru had dared slip an indecent drug into General Mo’s drink. When General Mo had found out, he made his anger known. Everyone in the manor found out about it. A lady from a good family would have been so embarra.s.sed that she would want to kill herself. Of course, if she had been a proper lady, she would not have tampered with his drink in the first place. She was hoping that the situation between her and Mo Huawen would escalate and that, once he’d taken her to bed, his honor would compel him to agree to marriage. She acted like a girl from brothel, not a respected guest.

“I heard that Miss Lan’s finances are tight. If she continues to stay at the hotel, she will soon be broke,” said Mo Lan. “The Old Madam can only help her out for that long. What’s the point?”

It was rare for her to say something like that.

“Since Miss Lan is interested in Father, she will not let go of him so easily,” Mo Xuetong explained, smiling slightly. “There will be some guests over tomorrow. If there was a stir, the elders would not give Father a chance to explain himself. And if Old Madam pushes father again, Miss Lan will more than likely get what she wants.”

“Oh no. What do we do?” Mo Yu asked anxiously. She knew that Mo Xuetong preferred Miss Xu Yan from the General Fu’s Manor. Since General Mo had already agreed to the arrangement, they could not afford any accidents.

Mo Xuetong smiled gently.

“It’s alright. Father is not an official for nothing.” She turned and picked up the tea leaves that Lan Xinru gifted her earlier. It was said that it was a specialty product from her “hometown” and that she had “picked and toasted them personally.” “Take these and make tea for Father. Tell him that Miss Lan just gifted them to me and I have tried them. They tasted good, so I am giving them to Father.”

She spoke gently, eyes confident. Father had encountered many things like this. He would know how to deal with them.

Not one person in the back courtyard knew what they were in for tomorrow…

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