Chapter 109
“Sixth Young Lady, Sixth Young Lady, save me please. Tell the Madam Dowager that it was not my idea. I’m just a servant. Why…why would I want Imperial Academician Xie’s clothes?”
The clothes were scattered all over the ground. It could be seen that they were not skirts for girls but clothes for men. Considering Qianxi’s previous words and her current behavior, she was almost saying that Wei Yuewu had sent her to get the clothes. How would she, a maid, have the guts to take Xie Qingzhao’s clothes?
Nanny Hong walked out of the room. Her eyes blinked and then landed on Wei Yuewu, who was calmly shaking her legs. Traces of suspicion came across her eyes!
Shufei pulled Qianxi away and shouted, “Qianxi, how dared you touch these clothes? Where did you find them?”
“Sixth Young Lady, I… I have to say, Sixth Young Lady, or the Madam Dowager will cane me to death. Please tell the Madam Dowager that you… you asked me to get them. Please save my life, Sixth Young Lady.”
Qianxi ignored Shufei and continued crying loudly and pleading. By those words, she pushed all the blame onto Wei Yuewu.
“You said I asked you to get these clothes?” Wei Yuewu’s fingers slowly wiped the hook of the teacup. The corners of her lips curled silently into sharpness, but her expression was extremely calm.
“Sixth Young Lady, I dare not hide it or I will die. Please save my life, Sixth Young Lady.” Qianxi cried pitifully with tears and snot. Each of her words was intended to frame Wei Yuewu.
“I told you to get Imperial Academician Xie’s clothes?” Wei Yuewu smiled coldly and shifted her eyes from Qianxi’s face to Nanny Hong’s. “Nanny Hong, where did you find these clothes?”
“This… this maid accidentally knocked into the cabinet at the head of the bed and the clothes rolled out of the cabinet.” Nanny Hong’s expression looked unpleasant as well. She had only wanted to search the maids, but now Wei Yuewu got incriminated. Even though Wei Yuewu wasn’t favored by the Madam Dowager, she was still a mistress, and more importantly, a first daughter of the mansion. This turn of events was not good.
“Sixth Young Lady, how about coming with me to explain it to the Madam Dowager?” Nanny Hong had no choice but to propose the suggestion under pressure. Now that things had gone so far, it was not something she could solve alone. Although she was the Madam Dowager’s most trusted servant, it was not within her power to deal with such a thing.
“Slap her!” Wei Yuewu said coldly.
Before Nanny Hong could react, Shufei had come over to slap Qianxi fiercely in the face twice. Qianxi’s eyes turned black and she subconsciously covered her mouth in pain.
“Sixth Young Lady, you….” Nanny Hong said awkwardly.
“Nanny Hong, I wonder how our mansion of Marquis Hua Yang will deal with this kind of maids who dare to plot against their mistress?” Wei Yuewu asked as if she didn’t know Nanny Hong’s dilemma.
“If… if they really betrayed their owners, they would be caned to death.” Nanny Hong had no choice but to reply.
“Well then, let’s go!” Wei Yuewu put down the teacup in her hand and calmly stood up. Her clear eyes flashed with a trace of an icy smile as they landed on Qianxi. The maid who had been pretending to cry involuntarily shivered. She felt those beautiful eyes were filled with ice. The single glance made her feel she was seen through.
However, she immediately told herself that Sixth Young Lady was bluffing. Sixth Young Lady must have panicked when she saw those men’s clothes that were found out from her room. No one noticed her when she secretly put the clothes into the room.
Moreover, the bag of clothes remained exactly where she had left them. It was impossible that Sixth Young Lady noticed the clothes.
As the matter stood like this, it could only be brought to the Madam Dowager. Nanny Hong had to take Wei Yuewu, Qianxi and a large group of other people back to the Madam Dowager’s courtyard.
Upon entering the courtyard, Nanny Hong glanced at a maid on the side as a signal for the maid to report to the Madam Dowager. Unexpectedly, before that maid made a move, Qianxi had already stumbled in quickly. She shouted, “Madam Dowager, Madam Dowager, save me. It’s really not me who want Imperial Academician Xie’s clothes. Sixth Young Lady asked me to take them.”
She directly rushed into the Madam Dowager’s chamber, her hands covering her face. The Madam Dowager in the room was startled.
Xie Qingzhao was also sitting in the room. This kind of thing was infamous after all. Moreover, he was a well-known imperial academician. At this moment, he looked up and saw a pair of beautiful eyes filled with coldness. His attention was attracted.
She walked in so gracefully, without the panic or shyness he had expected.
She wasn’t disturbed by Qianxi’s words at all. A girl who could still maintain her peace of mind in such a situation was truly surprising. The aura she gave out was completely different from the impression that people got from her delicate and pure face.
She was actually able to remain so calm on such an occasion! Xie Qingzhao’s eyes tightened and he felt his heart pounding wildly!
“Greetings, grandmother.” Wei Yuewu walked in and curtsied to the Madam Dowager, who was sitting up there with a long face.
“What exactly is going on?” The Madam Dowager asked sternly.
“Madam Dowager, it really wasn’t me. Sixth Young Lady asked me to take them. Sixth Young Lady admires Imperial Academician Xie, so she asked me to take his clothes. If Sixth Young Lady hadn’t asked… I… I wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing even if I was given the guts ten times bigger than my own.”
Qianxi cried even louder and kowtowed heavily on the ground. She had been slapped twice by Shufei before she rushed in. She was now in a terrible state, as if she had been abused. Her appearance made her words truly convincing. For a moment, all eyes in the room fell on Wei Yuewu.
Everyone in the room looked at Wei Yuewu silently. As the maid cried out loud and made a scene there, not a single person stood out to speak for Wei Yuewu. The Madam Dowager in particular, was also looking at her without the intention to stop Qianxi. Wei Yuewu sneered in her heart.
Since this was the case, there was no need for her to have misgivings.
“Shut up!” Wei Yuewu said coldly. Her sudden anger made the Madam Dowager and Xie Qingzhao cast several looks at her.
Now that Qianxi put up the show so far, she had no choice but to continue. At this moment, she felt more composed. This was the Madam Dowager’s Tranquility Pavilion. The facts were presented right in front of everyone. Even if Sixth Young Lady wanted to explain, she could not explain it clearly. She became bolder.
She thus talked back, “Sixth Young Lady, I don’t dare to say anything if you order me to shut up. But the Madam Dowager is here. Sixth Young Lady, even if you want me to take the blame, you can’t ignore the Madam Dowager. I know that I let you down, but if I admit it, I will be caned to death!”
As she spoke, she covered her face and burst into tears again. The more she cried, the louder her voice was, as if she was extremely wronged.
“Nanny Hong, what’s going on?” The Madam Dowager said with a cold face.
The single sentence succeeded in making Qianxi lower her voice. Although the maid was still crying, she tilted her ears and listened to Nanny Hong’s report.
“I don’t know what’s exactly going on either. This maid led me into the room after Sixth Young Lady had given her consent. However, she accidentally tripped over the cabinet at the head of Sixth Young Lady’s bed. Then, these clothes fell out from that cabinet.”
Nanny Hong was holding the clothes that had been taken out from Wei Yuewu’s room. She knew the rules of the mansion well and she kept the clothes wrapped together without the slightest sign of being unpacked.
Xie Qingzhao saw that the clothes exposed outside was exactly the dark blue ones he had lost. He flew into a fury. He stood up and glared at Wei Yuewu, shouting angrily, “Sixth Young Lady, what’s going on? Why did you take my clothes? Sixth Young Lady, you can’t say that you took the wrong ones, can you?”
“Imperial Academician Xie’s clothes?” Wei Yuewu’s eyes fell on Xie Qingzhao and she smiled coldly.
“Isn’t that so?” Seeing that Wei Yuewu still refused to admit it, Xie Qingzhao said with disdain, “Could it be that Sixth Young Lady has other men’s clothes?”
Wei Yuewu was an unmarried young lady. It was impossible for her to have men’s clothes around her. Xie Qingzhao’s words were actually implying that Wei Yuewu did not follow the rules for young ladies. Such words should not have come out of such a gentleman. However, for some reason, when he saw Wei Yuewu’s calm face, those words just slipped out of his mouth.
Traces of embarrassment appeared in the Madam Dowager’s expression.
“Imperial Academician Xie, what makes you think that this dress belongs to you? Why do you believe in a maid’s words so much and think that I took your clothes?” Wei Yuewu smiled and looked at Xie Qingzhao coldly. She uttered those words calmly, without the slightest trace of panic due to Xie Qingzhao’s accusations.
“One of my lost clothes is dark blue.” Xie Qingzhao said righteously.
“Do all dark blue clothes belong to you, Imperial Academician Xie?” Wei Yuewu said with ridicule. She had no good impression of this person, who was once a bangyan.
Her words were of course not polite either. Ever since Xie Qingzhao had appeared in front of her, he had always been trying to frame her. He seemed to be born to stand against her. Whether it was because of his own intention or because someone else asked him to do so, Wei Yuewu had no good opinions of Xie Qingzhao at all.
Xie Qingzhao was a smart person. Otherwise, he couldn’t become a bangyan. At this time, he took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his heart. He glared at Wei Yuewu and asked, “I wonder where you got those clothes, Sixth Miss Wei?”
Wei Yuewu ignored Xie Qingzhao. She looked at Qianxi and asked with a cold expression, “Is this the Imperial Academician Xie’s dress I asked you to get?”
Qianxi’s turned from sobbing into loud crying, as if she had suffered a great grievance. She was about to cry her heart out.
“Shut up!” Wei Yuewu shouted harshly. Qianxi’s heart trembled. She felt that Wei Yuewu carried an indescribable majesty. She did not dare to cry loudly all of a sudden.