Chapter 4 Secrets in the Old Manor

Someone else was here? Mo Xuetong withdrew her hand as if she’d been burnt and looked out into the alleyway. The door was mostly closed, so she couldn’t see anything clearly. She could just make out somebody in a leather robe. It looked like a young man. “You go first, big brother. I’ll come soon,” the man next to her replied lazily, stepping to hide Mo Xuetong from sight. He gave her a wicked smile and dropped the hand that had been blocking her. Then he turned around, smoothed his robe, and walked cheerfully outside. She could hear them speaking through the door. “Eighth Brother, I can tell you were off with a girl again. The old man is going to be angry if you don’t stop this.” His voice was warm and gentle. “Brother, if I see a beautiful girl, I can’t just leave and let her down! I have to stay and entertain her. He may not like it, but I don’t have any choice in the matter!” the other voice replied carelessly. As the young men moved out of hearing range, Mo Xuetong’s legs buckled. She had been too nervous and angry to notice how tired she’d gotten, but now it caught up to her. She gritted her teeth, willing herself not to faint, and held onto the wall until the dizziness passed. By the time her head started to clear, Mo Lan had returned. She helped Mo Xuetong to the carriage, telling the driver the maid was ill. If he thought it was cruel to make a maid travel in such a state, he didn’t comment . He listened to Mo Lan and did his best to drive steadily. Mo Lan helped her down from the carriage and to the back door of the manor, close to Qingwei Garden. They rounded a corridor where they were met by a maid in blue. The maid sighed in relief when she saw Mo Xuetong, stepping forward to help hold her. “Mother Xu was worried and asked me to meet you here. Mo He is scolding all the other servants in another room. They’re waiting for you now.” “There isn’t anyone in the courtyard, is there?” asked Mo Lan. She knew Mo Xuetong didn’t have much strength left. Even speaking tired her. “Old Madam sent a woman to visit you, so we said you’d fallen asleep and we didn’t want to wake you,” Mo Yu told her. “We said that if you were well enough tomorrow, you’d visit her then.” The courtyard was completely empty, though Mother Xu waited at the window. When she saw Mo Xuetong, she hurried out. She practically cried, seeing how weak Mo Xuetong was. Mo Xuetong forced herself to smile to show Mother Xu she was alright. Mo Yu and Mo Lan helped her lie down and drink a bowl of ginseng soup. They closed the muslin bed curtains and slipped out with Mother Xu. She did feel a bit better in the morning. She washed up and went to greet Old Madam Qin, then Madam Yu. Since she was so obviously sick, they didn’t ask her to stay long. She could see darkness in Madam Yu’s eyes, and a calculating grin on her face. After they left Madam Yu’s, she returned to the courtyard, leaving highly specific orders for Mother Xu and Mo He. She smiled, trusting them to take care of things. “Mo Yu, did Cousin Xuan manage to find that orchid for me?” Mo Xuetong asked with a smile. She sat on a couch by the windows. In her last life, Qin Yuxuan had helped her find a rare orchid to send to her father in the capital. The flower had not been appreciated. When she’d returned to the manor, she’d found it planted in front of the servant’s quarters, cared for no better than any of the weeds around it. “Young Master Xuan said he’d need a bit more time,” Mo Yu said, handing her a cup of tea. “But Miss, are you really going to send it to your father.” “A good flower should be given to someone who can appreciate it. Beautiful rogue should be given to beautiful people.” She didn’t answer directly, looking down so her long lashes cast a gentle shadow over her calm face. She smiled faintly as she took the tea. The warmth and delicate fragrance of the tea seeped through her and warmed her heart. Mo Yu assumed that meant she really would send the flower to her father. “Miss, the old master has long forgotten you,” she said angrily. “You are loyal to a father who ignores you instead of letting yourself have something beautiful.” “Mo Yu, don’t speak nonsense,” Mo Lan scolded. “I’m not speaking nonsense. Look at her. She’s so tired, and still thinking of him. But he… he has no pity for her!” Mo Yu said indignantly, then looked at Mo Xuetong. Her eyes began to turn red and a sob caught in her throat, silencing her. She was among the few people who had always been on Mo Xuetong’s side, watching everything she went through. “The old master does not get much news of his daughter. He does not know what we know. When we return, he will go back to how he was and treat her well,” Mo Lan said gently. Mo Xuetong’s face relaxed and her hard eyes warmed a bit more. In her last life, these people had stayed with her until the end. They had died because of her. Being able to sit beside them, listening to them argue, was a gift. As she sat listening, the rest of Qin manor was being thrown into chaos. Even Old Madam Qin was involved. Mo Xutong, prepared for this to happen, had sent Mother Xu to fan the flames. A concubine named Li was pregnant with Lord Qin’s child. She had been sent Cloud City for her protection. She was being treated with the upmost care, making sure she never fell or bumped into anything and giving her the best food and drink. Everyone wanted to see her give birth to a healthy young heir. Auntie Li had nothing to do today and had been feeling well, so she’d brought her maids with her to walk around the garden. After a bit, she’d gotten hungry. Rather than waiting for food, she went to the kitchens herself. When she got there, she saw Madam Yu’s personal maid, Yunshu, distracting the workers and slipping something into Auntie Li’s bird’s nest soup. It was a horrible thing, risking the health of an heir. No one would expect Auntie Li to keep quiet. She brought the matter to Old Madam Qin. Madam Yu had been able to offer no justification, and the evidence was against her. Madam Yu had been thrown out of the household and all the servants she trusted had been cut off. Some were sold. Yunshu was not so lucky. She’d been beaten to death. Mo Xuetong was at Qingwei Garden when Mo He had given her the news. She’d smiled. Yu Sirong might have been the one who disfigured Mo Xuetong, but Yunshu had been her accomplice. If she had not intentionally delayed treatment, the two wounds on her face would not have scarred so deeply. And without the scars, Sima Lingyun would not have been giving the opportunity to… As Mo Xuetong changed, the world around her would change too. She needed to make sure those changes played in her favor. Outside the window, she heard Mother Xu laugh joyfully. “Miss, miss, I have good news,” she called. “Old Madam has agreed.” She hurried inside, beaming. “Miss, Old Madam has given permission for you to return to the old manor.” Mo Xuetong could not help smiling too. “Then we’ll go tomorrow!” It had been more than a year since she’d last seen her mother’s courtyard. She wanted to go there before she left. There was still evidence and she had to get to it before Auntie Fang did. Since Madam Qin had already agreed, Mo Xuetong left the next morning, accompanied by Mother Xu and three of her maids. This was the official residence of Mo Huawen in cloud city, but it was no longer the stately manor it had been. Old Mo Manor had no master and had been allowed to fall into disrepair. The ancestral manor was bought by Mo Huawen when he was an official in Cloud City. Mo Xuetong had grown up there, but she hadn’t been back in years. When their carriage pulled up, Nanny Ming, who used to serve her mother, was already waiting for them at the door. When the carriage stopped, she hurried to open the carriage door. Nanny Ming had nursed Mo Xuetong’s mother and Mo Xuetong had always held the woman in great esteem. She greeted her respectfully, then reached out to hold her. Nanny Ming cried with happiness, and still held her as they walked inside Mo Manor. It was a small manor with only three main courtyards. Mo Xuetong did not return to her own old chambers, instead going to her mother’s Ziteng Garden. She barely made it through the door when somebody ran straight at her. Mo Yu stepped in front of her protectively. A young woman in a blue robe stood in front of them. “Madam is back! Yinchun! Yinchun, Madam is back. Quick, help her hold up the door curtains,” she said, with childish delight on her face. She looked a Mo Xuetong again, seeming confused. “Oh. This isn’t Madam.” The woman looked around in that same odd, frantic way. She muttered something to herself, then, as if something she’d seen had frightened her, ran out of the room. The air here was so stale that Mo Xuetong almost couldn’t breathe. “Nanny Ming, has Xuedong been like this since mother died?” Mo Xuetong asked. She’d managed to collect herself, but her hands were still clenched into fists in her sleeves. This was her first time seeing Xuedong since she went mad the night her mother passed away. She’d been one of the four old maids who’d sat by her mother’s side. Her father had been away at Auntie Fang’s the night. When he returned home, Mo Xuetong’s mother had already passed away. That was when the rift between Mo Xuetong and her father had started “Yes. After Madam died, Xuedong became like this,” Nanny Ming explained. “We lost the others as well. Yinchun was hit by a carriage. Xiangchiu died of illness. Nobody knows where Hexia is. Xuedong’s parents said she would not survive two years like this and refused to care for her. Old Master said she’d taken care of Madam with all her heart and sent her back here to be cared for. Everyone else moved away, so she works as a regular maid now. She helps clean up Ziteng Garden.” “Find a good physician to send her to. There are so few of mother’s people left,” Mo Xuetong told her. She leaned on the stove to help sit down, hands still balled into fists. She hadn’t even noticed her nails digging into her flesh. Her body felt as if her veins had been filled with ice water and fire. “Of course,” Nanny Ming said. She looked like she wanted to add something, but looking at Mo Xuetong’s pallid face, she closed her mouth. The house was eerily silent. “All of you may go,” she said, waving them off tiredly. “I wish to be alone.”