Chapter 192 The Root of Trouble was a Strange Flower with Three Different Colors
Luo Mingzhu stopped and asked, and she confusedly looked at Mo Xuetong whose face suddenly turned pale, “Cousin Tong, What’s wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable?”
Mo Xuetong even hurriedly dragged Luo Mingzhu ahead and said, “No, nothing. I just felt a little dizzy. I’ll be fine in a while. Second Cousin, let’s go up there to check on the flower.”
She wondered how it appeared now and if they had prepared for the scheme for four whole years…
Three different colors of blooms grew on the same bud and showed no sign of fear with their bright colors in this cold winter day. The three different colors, which were bright red, light pink and light purple were blended together, and made it unbelievably beautiful. It was such an amazing thing for such a beautiful flower to survive in such cold weather and lived so well!
However, Mo Xuetong only felt the coldness straight from her head to her feet, which made her feel so cold. And it’s like there was a big hole in her heart and it swallowed away all her warmth. Her hands trembled hard and she thought that maybe it was now when the flower was sent into Fu General Manor. And she wondered who sent it into Fu General Manor.
“Cousin Tong, Cousin Tong…”
By her ears came Luo Mingzhu’s worried voice.
“Second Cousin, where is this flower from?” She heard herself asking with difficulty. Then she dragged Luo Mingzhu out of the crowd.
Seeing Mo Xuetong’s pale face which looked almost transparent, Luo Mingzhu held her hand to sit down, “Big Brother said one of his friends paid much for it and brought it here from a faraway place. Then he heard there would be a feast in our manor, so he sent it to my big brother. It hasn’t been sent to the manor until this morning. Cousin Tong, is there anything wrong?” A maid had already prepared a cup of fresh tea and placed it by her hand.
After taking a lip, Mo Xuetong recovered some of her consciousness. She couldn’t help fixing her eyes on the chatty crowd. There were many misses surrounding the flower and marveled at its beauty on such a cold winter day.
She calmed herself a bit and then said to Luo Mingzhu smilingly, “Second Cousin, I’m fine. I just felt a little dizzy. Maybe it’s because I have to come today and didn’t get enough sleep last night.”
Seeing her face get much better, Luo Mingzhu felt relieved. She poked Mo Xuetong’s forehead a bit with her hand, and said cutely, “You shouldn’t be too excited when going back to grandma’s now that you are in poor health. Your home is so close to mine and you can come at any time you want. Thus you don’t have to be so excited like that!”
“It’s because Second Cousin never comes to see me, so I miss grandma and you!” Mo Xuetong pouted to show her unwillingness and held Luo Mingzhu’s hand. She came closer to Luo Mingzhu, pointing at the direction and asking quietly, “Who is that friend of First Cousin who has such a great capability to find a strange flower like that? Is he Sir Bai?”
Bai Yihao had the power to get a strange flower like that, because it was said that the place the flower was from was related to the Yan Kingdom. It was in her last life that she looked up all the anecdote books to find out the answer for Fu General. In her last life, she never knew how the flower got in Fu General Manor and she had never seen it.
If Fu General Manor hadn’t fallen because of this flower, she couldn’t imagine such a flower leading to the falling of Fu General Manor and the biggest tragedy in her last life.
Luo Mingzhu answered smilingly without even realizing it, and she thought Mo Xuetong was just being curious, “It was not Sir Bai, but a friend my brother just met. I heard they got along quite well, so he sent him such a strange flower, which could add to the atmosphere to the feast in the manor.”
It’s lucky that it’s not done by Bai Yihao!
Mo Xuetong felt a little relieved, because in her last life, the impression Bai Yihao left on her had been too scary and he seemed to be undefeatable.
But what kind of friends.h.i.+p made them become so close in such a short time and made the friend offer such a flower?
The flower was called Jade Owl. This kind of flower didn’t grow on earth but in jade. The more exquisite the jade was, the more beautiful the flower would grow to be. Jade was warm in winter and cold in summer, which provided it with the conditions for the flower to grow. Therefore, its growth was not affected by the season but by the quality of jade.
In her last life, by the chance when Sima Lingyun went to Fu General Manor, he found the proof of her first uncle colluding with the enemies in first uncle’s study. Hence, Fu General Manor fell. Mo Xuetong didn’t know what the proof was, but she accidentally heard Sima Lingyun’s drunk talk and knew it was found in a pot of flower.
A strange pot of flower which grew from jade!
The flower had three different colors of blooms which all grew on the same stem as a whole.
When Sima Lingyun was drunk, he had proudly said that there was a secret in the flower and he was lucky to have cracked it and exposed it to the Emperor. Then the Emperor cleared up the entire Fu General Manor and he had the chance to climb to an upper position.
In the last life, she had only heard about this pot of flower from Sima Lingyun, but she had never seen it. Until now, she suddenly realized that it was a conspiracy.
Mo Xuetong coquettishly smiled as if she were envious, “First Cousin’s friend is so rich, which can be seen from the value of the jades in the pot. Second Cousin, First Cousin has such a great friend who can be called a friend until death. This friend even sent him stuff so precious.”
Luo Mingzhu was not stupid. When she heard the words, her complexion changed a bit!
Luo Mingzhu suddenly stood up. She realized the seriousness of the matter and said hurriedly, “Cousin Tong, there is something wrong with the flower… No, you wait here. I’ll go to ask my big brother.” Today’s feast was very important and it was said that several princes and princesses would come too. If something really happened in the manor, Fu General Manor would be in serious trouble.
Mo Xuetong stood up too. She held Luo Mingzhu’s hand and stopped her. “Second Sister, even if there is something wrong with the flower or not, you can’t get to First Cousin when he is meeting guests outside. Besides, now that the flower has already been in the manor, you shouldn’t attract others’ attention by sending it out. You may just wait until the feast is over and then ask First Cousin.”
She knew that the flower was of no danger now. She knew someone had set up a long line since now and would wait until she turned seventeen. Though they still had some hints now, they would all be cleaned up by then. All she could do was to remind her cousin to find the clue and the causes before everything got cleaned up, which would help them avoid that conspiracy.
Besides, the flower had been laid out and seen by many misses. If they took it back, it would cause others’ suspicion.
Luo Mingzhu hesitated for a while, and realized Mo Xuetong was right. Then she just hurriedly told Mo Xuetong a few words, “Okay, Cousin Tong. Then you’re supposed to rest for a while and I’ll go and look after them over there.” Then she walked to the crowd. Today every miss in Luo Manor were to be taken care of by her and she must take that suspicious flower out of their sights first.
Just after Luo Mingzhu left, Mo Yu rushed in and whispered by Mo Xuetong’s ear, “Miss, Second Miss is gone.” She had followed Mo Xueyan around. At first, Mo Xueyan just casually walked in the garden, and Mo Yu just casually followed her. But Mo Xueyan was out of sight just in a moment, which made her worried.
Mo Xuetong got stressed too. “Where did she disappear?” She wasn’t worried about Mo Xueyan, only the reputation of the daughters in Mo Manor couldn’t be disgraced any more. After Mo Xueqiong’s incident, Mo Xuemin caused such a disturbance. If Mo Xueyan caused trouble in Fu General Manor again, the entire Mo Manor would be disgraced.
“It was right at the pa.s.sage, which was only two turns away from the second door. Second Miss can’t have…” Mo Xueyan’s behavior was not a secret at Mo Manor and she had always been near to the second door. If Old Sir hadn’t gotten angry at her, she would have kept making trouble.
Mo Xuetong knew about that place, which was really not far from the second door. If she really went out and bothered that respected guest, even Fu General Manor would suffer.
Instantly, she made a decision, “Mo Yu, you go there through that path and I’ll go along this one. My Second Sister is unfamiliar with the road and may not be able to find the second door.”
Even if Mo Xueyan wanted to ask, she couldn’t say she wanted to go to the second door as a miss accompanied by a maid! Moreover, if it’s known by others, it wouldn’t benefit anybody. Mo Xuetong believed Mo Xueyan wouldn’t be that stupid.
Mo Yu hesitated and didn’t leave, “Miss, I’m worried about you being alone.”
Mo Xuetong only brought Mo Yu along because Mo Xueyan only brought a maid with her. Mo Yu just walked away because Luo Mingzhu was there with her. But now Luo Mingzhu wasn’t here, so Mo Yu couldn’t help worrying about her miss.
Mo Xuetong said then, “Don’t worry, this garden is full of maids and I’m familiar with this place. Don’t worry, I won’t get lost. Hurry up. Otherwise, if something really happens, it will be troublesome.” By then, Mo Xuetong was really anxious. After the whole set of incidents at home, she saw how big her father’s pressure was. If Mo Xueyan really did something troublesome at the point, her father would be totally disgraced.
Mo Yu didn’t dare to say anything more, and she had no choice but to walk towards the other door, “Yes!”
Mo Xuetong hurriedly walked out the door of the yard. She knew the next turn was behind the rockery, and there was a shortcut which would save her much time. It might help her catch up with Mo Xueyan. The rockery there was close to bawn of the inner yard. Only people familiar with the place knew more than half of the rockery was outside of the bawn.
The narrow path was tranquil. No maid was walking on the trail because it was so quiet. When stepping on the fallen leaves, she heard the leaves rustle, and the path seemed even more silent. Mo Xuetong had something to worry about in her heart and quickly walked by the rockery. When she was about to go across the rockery, she suddenly heard a girl utter a sound. “Ah”.
She suddenly stopped and leaned on the rockery. At such a time, she thought she should evade from anyone who would appear at this place.
She hid there and listened carefully, but she couldn’t hear anything. Maybe she had heard it wrong! Mo Xuetong hesitated for a moment. When she was about to walk out from the rockery, she heard a soft voice from a girl again, who sounded quite close to her.
This time, she heard it clearly. It was a girl’s voice which was on her left side, but she couldn’t see her.
A m.u.f.fled masculine voice came, “Tell me, how many studies are there in your manor besides this one?” Mo Xuetong crouched and didn’t dare to move anymore. A study. Someone was looking for studies in Fu General Manor. She suddenly remembered what happened at the old house in Cloud City that night.
Although it was proved later that one of the men in black was Feng Yuran, how about the other one! What were they looking for? Were they also looking for them in her grandma’s home?
The timid voice revealed that the girl was totally frightened, “This one is First Old Sir’s study… The one on the left belonged to Second Old Sir. His Excellency owns two. One is next to the outer yard, and the other is in the inner yard. The rest are small ones which belong to misses.” Her voice didn’t sound very clear, so maybe her mouth was blocked?
The voice came from the left behind her and wasn’t far from her. In that direction, there was a strangely shaped stone. Only if she moved a bit, she could see what’s behind the stone. Mo Xuetong thought for a while and stood up carefully. She touched the stone surface on the rockery and silently moved over.
The oppressive male’s voice lowered and asked sharply, “Where did your First Aunt use to live in the manor?”
Her mother? Somebody was asking about her mother again!
Mo Xuetong’s foot which reached out s.h.i.+vered and accidentally fell on a high rock, which immediately made a sound which was neither too light nor too heavy.
Someone shouted, “Who is it!”
Mo Xuetong was terrified! When she was about to step back, a hand reached out from nowhere and dragged her over. She was so frightened that she almost screamed. The other hand of the man tightly blocked her mouth. She unconsciously bit it.