Revenge of the Sixth Young Lady - Chapter 71
Chapter 71 – Unexpected: Mo Huating’S Rejection
“Wei Yuewu, what’s your story?” Since Wei Yuewu was mentioned, Empress Tu naturally had to ask her. She looked at Wei Yuewu up and down and then asked softly.
‘”I was injured and the Third Princess brought me back. I went to the door on the left first, but I felt that room was a little cold, so I picked another one on the right and went in. Then the palace maid brought my clothes over. After changing my clothes, I took a rest in the room and remained there until the fire broke out.”
Wei Yuewu also kowtowed to Empress Tu. She raised her feeble small face and answered slowly.
Everyone could see that she was short of energy and mustered all her strength to keep the kneeling posture. As for the matter of her injury at that time, it was now made known to all.
“Wei Yan, how did you get into that room?” Empress Tu nodded and asked Wei Yan.
“I heard that Sixth Younger Sister was injured so I hurried to that room. I saw a strip of her sleeve stained with blood hanging there. I thought that she was there, so I pushed the door open. But there was someone else inside and I was then knocked unconscious. So… Your Majesty, I don’t know what happened next.”
After finishing her words, Wei Yan burst into tears again. She had to say those words to prove that someone had deliberately set her up.
Below the stairs, a clamor went through the other ladies.
These people included not only young ladies but also many ladies who had fought their way up after surviving the plots and schemes in big houses. Upon hearing Wei Yan’s words, they immediately understood that this incident was probably directed at this Sixth Miss Wei. It seemed far from being a simple accident. If this Sixth Miss Wei entered that room at the time, she would certainly become the victim.
Looking at such a thin and frail girl who seemed unable to stand in a breeze but still struggled to hold on despite being shocked and frightened, the ladies really felt pity for her.
When they thought that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang had never sent anyone to pick her during all those years, they felt that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang was much too cold-hearted.
In this matter, the most innocent person was not the Second Miss Wei who was crying with tears all over her face, but the slightly-trembling Sixth Miss Wei who had been holding back her impulse to cry. It was truly heartbreaking to see her forcing herself to be strong.
“Your Majesty, please do me justice. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to die.” Wei Yan cried and bent down again to kowtow to Empress Tu twice.
In Wei Yan’s current situation, if she couldn’t marry Mo Huating, she was indeed doomed to meet a dead end.
“Marquis Jing Yuan, what’s your…” Empress Tu pondered for a moment. Considering that fact that Wei Yan’s father was a powerful official who could not be completely ignored, she kicked the ball to Mo Huating.
“I only want to marry Sixth Miss Wei.” Mo Huating’s words were firm and forceful, but they only made Wei Yuewu sneer silently in her heart.
What a faithful and righteous answer! If she hadn’t escaped from death back then, she wouldn’t have been able to see Mo Huating being so affectionate and devoted toward her. Unfortunately, it was all for show.
“Your Majesty, I… am willing to cancel the engagement and let Second Elder Sister fulfill her wish.” Wei Yuewu also kowtowed. She looked at Wei Yan with tears in her eyes. However, the tears at the corner of her eyes did not really fall. She looked more pitiful than Wei Yan, who was crying hard with tears running down her cheeks.
Since they were putting on a show, she would do it too!
Now Mo Huating was playing the role of a devoted fiancee and Wei Yan was in a desperate state. Of course she must let the two of them have their way by sacrificing herself…
“Your Majesty, my engagement is not important. What is important is Second Elder Sister’s life. If Second Elder Sister died because of my engagement, I would in no ways stick to the engagement. However important this engagement is, how could it make me disregard my dear sister? Your Majesty, please allow me to withdraw from the engagement with Marquis Jing Yuan and let Second Elder Sister marry Marquis Jing Yuan.”
“Sixth Miss Wei, how could you…” Mo Huating’s hands on his knees tightly clenched. He suddenly turned his head and met Wei Yuewu’s misty eyes. He was stunned for a second. A trace of darkness flashed in his eyes, and his gaze quickly swept across Wei Yuewu’s face.
This was the first time he faced Wei Yuewu squarely. Under the long black eyelashes on her delicate face, her watery eyes were filled with injured sadness as well as confusion. Any young lady who encountered such a situation would be in her current state. However, Mo Huating knew that this was all fake!
He was very clear of how cunning this weak girl was!
When Wei Yuewu met Mo Huating’s eyes, a trace of coldness flashed in her eyes. She did not believe that Mo Huating could slip away from the present situation. Didn’t he and Wei Yan love each other? She would allow them to be together so that they could love in a real sense…
She hid the coldness in her eyes behind her long eyelashes, lowered her head and said to Mo Huating, “Marquis Jing Yuan, please… please leave a chance for Second Elder Sister to live.”
“I…” Mo Huating was speechless for a moment and became anxious and restless.
“Second Elder Sister, speak to Marquis Jing Yuan yourself. If he doesn’t agree, I… I don’t know how…” Wei Yuewu turned to Wei Yan, making a heavy attack on Wei Yan’s line of defense that was on the verge of collapse. If Mo Huating said that he didn’t agree to marry Wei Yan in front of so many people, it would be forever impossible for Wei Yan and Mo Huating to be together.
Wei Yan turned around and looked at Mo Huating with tears in her eyes. Her expression was most bitter and wretched. “You… really can’t marry me? Have you forgotten about our…”
At this time, Wei Yan risked her life. Even if she had to expose their private affairs, it was better than the current situation. No matter what, she must let Mo Huating agree to marry her today.
In the past, she might have taken into account Mo Huating’s thoughts and helped him make plans that would kill or cripple Wei Yuewu and allow her to take Wei Yuewu’s place. However, now it was different. Their interests were actually on opposite sides and she was at a critical moment of life and death.
Hearing Wei Yan’s insinuating words, a few people, even though they were in Empress Tu’s palace, couldn’t help whispering to one another. Did Wei Yan mean that she had an affair with Mo Huating?
Then why was it that Mo Huating had always pretended to be affectionate towards Sixth Miss Wei?
Even the dignified Empress Tu looked at Mo Huating now.
Mo Huating didn’t expect Wei Yan to imply the matter of the affair between them at this time. He couldn’t help but curse in his heart that Wei Yan was such an idiot that she was going to ruin his big plan.
“Second Young Lady, I only want to marry Sixth Miss Wei.” In this situation, Mo Huating could only say so. His long narrow eyes swept past Wei Yuewu. When he saw the perfectly calm expression on Wei Yuewu’s pale and weak face, the depths of his eyes grew even darker.
“Then what about those… you gave me…” Wei Yan revealed a miserable smile. She was already desperate at this time. Mo Huating wrote a lot to her since a long time ago and those letters were of course kept well by her.
Hearing Wei Yan’s half sentence, Mo Huating suddenly remembered those letters he had sent to Wei Yan in private. He realized they would cause a terrible turn to situation. As he was a decisive person and knew that Wei Yan would probably stake everything on this last blow, he immediately interrupted her, “Your Majesty, now that things stand like this, I am willing to obey Your Majesty’s order, but I do feel ashamed to fail my deceased mother and Marquise Hua Yang.”
This engagement was arranged by Wei Yuewu’s mother, Marquise Hua Yang, and the then Marquise Jing Yuan. Failing to keep the engagement was indeed unfilial to the two ladies. Moreover, under such circumstances, everyone could see that Wei Yan’s reputation had been ruined. No one would be willing to marry her. Besides, there were quite a few men who had a dubious relationship with Wei Yan.
Even though the rumors of the past were incredulous, what they are witnessing now is definitely truth!
Even if everyone believed that, as Wei Yan had said, someone had plotted against this Sixth Miss Wei, but in the end, this Second Miss Wei became the victim, when they tried to find out who was the person that had a grudge against this Sixth Miss Wei, it seemed that it could only be this Second Miss Wei.
Or could it be said that this Second Miss Wei lifted a rock only to drop it on her own feet?
Those ladies and young ladies with a quick mind became more disdainful of Wei Yan after they thought of this possibility. Now that they saw Marquis Jing Yuan being so aggrieved as to have no choice but to marry Wei Yan at the expense of being unfilial to his own mother, they despised Wei Yan to the extreme.
If it weren’t for their consideration of the Empress who was sitting up there, they would have make a loud noise at this moment.
Hearing Mo Huating intention to yield, Wei Yan heaved a sigh of relief and sat on her legs on the ground. She looked at Mo Huating with grateful eyes, feeling that Mo Huating was truly affectionate and loyal towards her, for he agreed to marry her under such great pressure.
Wei Yuewu kept her head lowered, as if everything around her had nothing to do with her. Yet a hint of dark light flashed in her eyes. This Marquis Jing Yuan was increasingly unpredictable. He suppressed Wei Yan’s words with just one sentence and made everyone sympathetic for him and feel that he was forced to compromise.
The trap that he had set up fell on Wei Yan in the end who bore all the consequences.
However, even if they got married, Wei Yan was already on a hopeless path, because no matter how Mo Huating treated her in the future, people would only think that whatever Mo Huating did to her was right.
Originally, Wei Yuewu thought that Mo Huating had at least some feelings for Wei Yan. However, from the argument between them just now, Wei Yuewu only saw the unfathomable depth of Mo Huating and his strong desire to marry her. Was their engagement really as simple as an ordinary engagement?
Although her father was Marquis Hua Yang who was trusted by the Emperor to guard the border, Wei Yan’s father was not inferior. As the Minister of Rites, her father served the Emperor closely, so he actually had an advantage over Marquis Hua Yang. So, why must Mo Huating keep the engagement with her?
Even if he didn’t truly want to marry her but in fact wanted to kill her, he still kept expressing his filial piety to his late mother and affection towards her…
Wei Yuewu was on guard in her heart. Fortunately, she could heave a sigh of relief at one thing. No matter what Marquis Jing Yuan’s plan was, or what he wanted to obtain from her, the engagement between them was completely broken off now. With Wei Yan’s incident today, the engagement would be an absolutely impossible thing in the future.
However, this way of breaking off the engagement was indeed open to contemplation. It would be really interesting to ponder over the underlying meaning of it…
She raised her beautiful eyes and met the furious and icy-cold eyes of Mo Huating…