Chapter 35 - Backfire: a Fight Between the Cousin and the Second Miss Wei
Suddenly, a faint fragrance in the air flew to its nose. The wolf dog had been starved for more than a day or two. When it caught the smell, its hair immediately stood up. It jumped to its feet, shook its body, and stared at the side door.
The fragrance was getting closer and closer. The wolf dog couldn’t endure it any longer and suddenly pounced forward. The long chain behind it was pulled along clattering as it dashed forward. Since the dog had been starved for several days, it could catch even the slightest trace of fragrance in the air. At this moment, it leaped out with sheer excitement.
Now the wolf dog sprang excitedly upon the figure at the door and opened its mouth wide…
Mo Huating didn’t expect that the wolf dog would pounce at him when he reached the side door. Fortunately, he was adept at martial arts. He took two quick steps backward and reached out to fend off the attack. However, the fragrance grew even stronger as his hand was extended. The wolf dog was almost driven crazy. Normally, if the dog saw a hand reaching out to its head, it would probably pause for a moment.
But now, the wolf dog had gone nuts at the smell. It simply didn’t care about anything. It lunged at Mo Huating and bit him in the hand. With a miserable cry, a piece of flesh was bitten off Mo Huating’s wrist.
Seeing this scene in front of them, the large group of people who followed in were so scared that they could barely stand on their legs.
Several young male servants following Mo Huating here were quick to react. Some of them came over to support Mo Huating, who had fallen to the ground, and others hurried to pull back the chain. The servants tried their best and finally held the crazy wolf dog in reign.
Mo Huating was helped up, his face pale with pain due to the bite that had taken a piece of flesh off his wrist. The wound was so deep that bones could be seen, and there was blood gushing out. As a man who practiced martial arts, he endured the pain by gritting his teeth. He took a strip of cloth from one of the young male servants and wrapped it around the wrist. Then he ordered anxiously.
“Hurry, hurry up to find the Sixth Young Lady. Make…make sure nothing happens to her.”
“Yes.”
A few stout young male servants nodded and scattered in all directions to look for Wei Yuewu.
The Madam Dowager frowned deeply at the scene in front of her. Lady Tu came in anxiously. Without caring about her fear of the wolf dog, she asked the maids and old maidservants who followed her here to help look for Wei Yuewu.
Judging by the ferocity of the wolf dog, it was highly likely that Wei Yuewu would be in grave danger if she had really rushed in here.
However, they did not find Wei Yuewu after searching the entire yard. Mo Huating felt the situation was out of his control by instinct. He somehow recalled the night when Wei Yuewu escaped from death. The plan was also nearly perfect at that night. But in the end, the one he discovered dead in the carriage was only a maid of Wei Yuewu, while Wei Yuewu herself had actually escaped. Then, what would happen to her this time?
Was it possible that Wei Yuewu escaped again?
Considering Wei Yuewu had managed to survive from that perfect ambush last time, Mo Huating inexplicably became alarmed and fearful of her. The pain on his wrist also seemed to be getting stronger. Cold sweat began to appear on his pale handsome face. Most of the sweat was caused by the pain, while the rest was due to his worry that things might turn out to be different from his plan.
“Marquis, where is Yuewu? Where on earth did you take her? If something bad really happened to her here at your mansion, Marquis Jing Yuan, we would definitely not let you get away with it.”
Lady Tu’s expression turned cold. She still remembered that her mother-in-law repeatedly told her before she came to the capital that Marquis Jing Yuan was not a good husband for Yuewu.
No matter how talented or handsome he was, a husband who assassinated his fiancee would never be a desirable husband.
“Marquis Jing Yuan, what exactly is going on?”
The Madam Dowager also asked with a grim face.
It was she who took Wei Yuewu along to the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan. If Wei Yuewu really encountered some accident here, the implication was enough to make the Madam Dowager stand by Wei Yuewu’s side without hesitation.
“Where is she?”
Mo Huating asked in a sharp voice as he turned his head and glared at the old maidservant who had reported the news.
“I saw the Sixth Miss Wei coming this way. She must have come here. But…but now I really don’t know where she is!”
The old maidservant who had reported the news never thought that she would make such a big mistake. She instantly dropped to her knee in a great fluster.
“You watched our Yuewu coming here. You also knew that there was a wolf dog here, but you didn’t stop Yuewu from entering this place. Instead, you ran a long distance to inform Marquis Jing Yuan of it. What exactly does that mean? Marquis Jing Yuan, what is the intention of your mansion?”
Lady Tu was so furious that her lips turned pale and her eyes were filled with anger.
“Marquis Jing Yuan, if something happened to Yuewu today, the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang would never be reconciled with you.”
The Madam Dowager was furious that Mo Huating should have brought about such trouble when she came to cancel the engagement. Her sharp gaze swept across Mo Huating.
As the situation had developed into such a mess, it was almost certain that Mo Huating had an unavoidable responsibility for Wei Yuewu coming to this place.
The veins on Mo Huating’s forehead bulged. He angrily shouted, “Someone, pull away this woman who didn’t know how to respond to situations. Give her a severe punishment.”
To say the old maidservant didn’t know how to respond Wei Yuewu was to shift his responsibility onto her and to blame her for having a slow brain.
“My lord, I...” The old maidservant panicked. She was unable to bear the responsibility. Before she could continue arguing, some strong young male servants had approached and stopped her. One of them gagged her and another pulled her backwards by the collar.
These young male servants, of course, were not ordinary servants. They were originally appointed to deal with today’s chaotic situation in front of the Madam Dowager and Lady Tu, namely to save Wei Yuewu. Their martial skills were undoubtedly excellent.
“Marquis Jing Yuan, where is our Yuewu?”
Lady Tu asked sternly. She wouldn’t in case let Mo Huating get away.
“Marquis Jing Yuan, where is Yuewu?”
The Madam Dowager knocked the ground hard with the walking stick in her hand. Her expression grew colder and colder.
Under the pressure of the two ladies and the influence of the pain in his wrist, Mo Huating’s eyes darkened and he almost fainted. Fortunately, a servant beside him supported him immediately, so he didn’t make a fool of himself on the spot.
Just as the situation here was in total chaos, a maid ran in from outside the door of the yard. She came in and cried in fluster at the sight of Mo Huating, who stood in the crowd with a pale face. “My lord, my lord, bad news. Miss Chen and the Second Miss Wei are fighting with each other. The Sixth Miss Wei is trying to stop them from fighting. Please go quickly and see what to do about it!”
Mo Huating hardly heard the first part of what the maid said. He only saw the maid’s mouth opening and closing. But he did hear the last part clearly. Therefore, Wei Yuewu was found and she was actually safe and sound!
At this moment, he didn’t know whether he should be happy or depressed, but it was obviously not the time to have such emotions. He calmed down and wiped the cold sweat off his hands. Then he ordered the maid, “Lead the way.”
He was confused why Wei Yuewu had gone to Chen Nianshan’s courtyard. He had told his cousin to trick Wei Yuewu into this place. Could it be that his cousin failed to shake off Wei Yuewu in the way and instead led her to her own courtyard?
Besides Wei Yuewu, he was also confused by Wei Yan’s appearance. Why did Wei Yan come in now? And why did she go to his cousin’s courtyard? Most importantly, they actually started a fight!
Previously, when Wei Yan sneaked into his mansion, some servants in the mansion knew about it, but they would not say anything. In addition, Wei Yan had been on good terms with Chen Nianshan. How come they were in a fight today?
And Wei Yuewu, the one who had been set up, was now trying to persuade them out of the fight.
What a mess! Everything was out of control!
As a result, a whole group of people rushed over to Chen Nianshan’s courtyard. Mo Huating didn’t have the time to properly bandage his wound. He hastily took some medicine and hurried over.
The medicine, of course, was originally meant to be used by Wei Yuewu when she was in a bad situation. Now Mo Huating was the person who used the medicine. Probably he was lucky…
As for Wei Yan, she had come here at this juncture because she wanted to denounce Chen Nianshan for what she had done.
That old maidservant who had followed Jin Ling to the back door said that she saw a maid. Moreover, this maid was sent by the cousin at the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan to warn the Sixth Young Lady that she was not a worthy fiancee for Marquis Jing Yuan. But of course, the maid also mentioned Wei Yan.
“Second Young Lady, that cheap maid said that Miss Chen said you didn’t follow the etiquette of ladies and behaved dissolutely, and you lost the dignity that a young lady from an aristocratic family should have. She also said that Marquis Jing Yuan could accept you as a concubine at most, because there was neither matchmaker nor betrothal to announce a real engagement between you and the marquis. The marquis had seen too many women like you who readily offered themselves to the marquis. And she said that the only woman the marquis wanted to marry was his cousin.”
The old maidservant’s voice slightly trembled as she reported this matter. Yet she couldn’t hide it from her mistress. After saying what she had heard, she groveled on the ground and didn’t dare to move a bit.
Wei Yan trembled out of wrath and smashed the teacup in her hand onto the ground right away. She then picked up several delicate porcelain vases on the flower shelf and smashed them into pieces. Before she stopped her impulses, she actually wanted to rush to the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan to condemn Chen Nianshan.
The maids and old maidservants beside her all clasped their arms around her body lest she should cause any trouble. In the end, it was they who would be punished after all.
In the end, Wei Yan’s nanny succeeded in calming her down. The nanny told her that the Madam Dowager would go to the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan the next day. She could go after the Madam Dowager left, so that she would not be discovered by the Madam Dowager. After the Madam Dowager was seated in the front hall, Wei Yan could have an old maidservant come out to send a message. After receiving the message, she could enter the mansion through the back door to avoid running into the Madam Dowager.
There was no need to provoke the Madam Dowager on this day.
Wei Yan thought about her current situation, and surprisingly, she accepted her nanny’s suggestion.
Therefore, Wei Yan stayed up all night. Today, after the Madam Dowager set out with Wei Yuewu, she also secretly left the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. She then went to the back door of the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan and waited.
Wei Yan didn’t get off the carriage until the old maidservant beside the Madam Dowager came to report that the Madam Dowager had arrived at the front hall. Then she arrived at the back door of the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan.
The old maidservant at the back door knew Wei Yan. She thought that the young lady had come to look for the marquis as usual. The marquis had once instructed that the Second Miss Wei should be invited in whenever she came. Therefore, she directly let Wei Yan in.
Wei Yan also knew that she couldn’t go to the hall because the Madam Dowager, Lady Tu, and Wei Yuewu were all there. She would be courting death if she went there at this moment. Hence, she went directly for Chen Nianshan. When she arrived at Chen Nianshan’s courtyard, it happened that Chen Nianshan had just returned.
That was how the two met…