"Thank you, Your Highness."
Seeing Yan Huaijing agreed to her proposal, Wei Yuewu felt relieved. His few words excited her nerves and got her palms slightly sweaty.
"Well done!" Yan Huaijing suddenly wore a seemingly pleased expression on his face and said meaningfully. "Hope you can do better in the future!"
If she should do better in her next steps, she would have a chance to go with him. Otherwise...
Wei Yuewu clearly understood the implied threat in his second sentence.
There was nothing right or wrong. Her value to him was the only criterion for Yan Huaijing to decide whether he should lend her a helping hand or not!
The door of the inn was wide open. Mo Huating was sitting on a chair in the middle. Beside him sat an official surnamed Wang. As the local magistrate, he was invited here by Mo Huating. Several guards from the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan were standing near him, but somehow they did not order other common people to leave.
At the moment, the inn was crowded with people inside and outside. Everyone was whispering and gossiping with one another. It turned out that they were all talking about the murder of the daughter of Marquis Hua Yang, who passed by the place last night.
Magistrate Wang stood there trembling with fear. He felt very upset as he wiped his sweat with his handkerchief.
How could he not be filled with shock and dread after the first daughter from a aristocratic family was murdered within his jurisdiction? What's worse, the case involved not only Marquis Hua Yang, who was a most important official, but also Marquis Jing Yuan, who became an upstart in the court recently. As a low-ranking official with no influential connections whatsoever, he could not possibly afford to offend either of them.
"Magistrate Wang, do you want me to report this crime committed by roving bandits in person to the court?"
Mo Huating said coldly as he looked at the sweating magistrate.
Everyone instantly looked at Magistrate Wang.
"No, absolutely not necessary, Your Lordship. I will report the incident to the court immediately. There were cases of bandits before. I have no idea where these bandits came from. Perhaps they had already been following the victim in places long before entering my jurisdiction. This is quite an injustice to me."
The magistrate immediately realized what Mo Huating wanted after being reminded by his question. He hurriedly tried to clear himself as he made bows to Mo Huating.
Speaking of the matter, he himself felt confused too. This place under his jurisdiction had long enjoyed peace and cases of such nature actually had never occurred before. How come such a serious incident happened? Where did the so-called bandits come from? And why did they choose such a weak girl, the first daughter of Marquis Hua Yang, as their victim? How bitter was the feud between them so that they killed all those who accompanied her?
Of course he dared not ask Marquis Jing Yuan these questions.
Mo Huating tightly knitted his brows and showed a sad expression, "If I had come earlier, Miss Wei would not have been killed. Now I have lost her forever, but I will set up a memorial tablet for her in my house, and she is still my first wife!"
"It's so kind and righteous of Your Lordship to do that! If Miss Wei knew that Your Lordship did these things for her, she would be totally gratified in the other world."
This time Magistrate Wang responded quickly and flattered Mo Huating right away.
Echoing Magistrate Wang's flattery, all the onlookers nodded in agreement and remarked, "This young lady was indeed so unlucky that she missed such an excellent husband."
"If this Sixth Miss Wei were not dead, it would be a blessing accumulated over several generations for her to marry such a husband!"
Mo Huating was an expert in manipulating people. He knew that it was really suspicious for him to show up here at such a time. Now seeing the public were convinced of his words, he was very complacent but did not show his feelings on the surface. He assumed a grave expression and said, "Please spare me your praise, Magistrate Wang. I only hope you can catch the murderers so that I can avenge Sixth Miss Wei. The family of Marquis Jing Yuan will offer a grand reward to you!"
After those words, he stood up and made a deep bow to the magistrate. His status was much higher than that of a local magistrate, but he showed such great respect to Magistrate Wang for the sake of Miss Wei. Seeing this, several onlookers who had had been suspicious of him could not help but believe him. Their views were quickly changed in favor of Mo Huating.
Mo Huating was really skilled at calculation as Wei Yuewu expected. Having watched for a while, Wei Yuewu sneered and spoke aloud to Mo Huating who was enjoying his show, "Are you Marquis Jing Yuan?"
The crowd looked in the direction where the voice came from.
Wei Yuewu's guard led the way in front of her and, as the crowd moved aside to make space for them, she walked in.
Mo Huating was also surprised. He turned around and looked at the girl who was walking slowly towards him.
The girl had long bangs that almost covered her eyes. Her thickly-powered face looked unnaturally white and was not easy for people to recognize. Her thin figure made her clothes look a bit too loose and she looked dreadful and gloomy.
"Yes, I am!" Mo Huating frowned and replied with displeasure. He was sure he had never seen the girl.
"Are you sure that Sixth Miss Wei was dead?" Wei Yuewu looked up and down at Mo Huating and asked him. Her eyes flashed with coldness.
In Wei Yuewu's mind, the words of the stewardess who had come to pick her up and take her back to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang suddenly sounded. She remembered the woman saying, "Sixth Miss, how lucky you are to have a fiancé like Marquis Jing Yuan. A young man as promising as him is thought to be the best future husband by all girls from respectful families in the capital. But he is so deeply in love with you that he declared that he would have no one but you to be his wife. And he insisted on bringing you back to the capital in person when he heard you were returning."
He did come, but the purpose was not to pick her up but to kill her. So many were killed, and so much blood was shed that large stretches of snow were tainted red....
Wei Yuewu took a deep breath and suppressed the hatred in her eyes. She glanced across the crowd. Mo Huating had allowed these people in on purpose; then let him bear the consequences!
Mo Huating sized up Wei Yuewu. Finding she was just a plain-looking girl, he retorted impatiently: "Who are you? What does it have to do with you?"
"It has nothing to do with me, but it has something to do with her."
By now Wei Yuewu had come near Mo Huating and she pointed to the right side behind him. Mo Huating looked back subconsciously to find there was only an ordinary guard behind him. He became alert at once. He saw out of the corner of his eyes to the left, and found that a slender hand was stretching towards him.
As a military officer, he was quick to respond. He reached out his hand to block Wei Yuewu's hand without looking back.
But another person moved even faster!
A bodyguard in a pure black robe quickly pulled the two hands in opposite directions and stood in front of Mo Huating, just in time to fend off Mo Huating's hand.
A guard of Yan Huaijing?
The moment Mo Huating was stunned, the guard who was standing at the right side behind him let out a scream like a woman.
Everyone stared at the guard whose hat was pulled off by Wei Yuewu. Long dark hair immediately hung down.A woman?There was a great uproar in the crowd!"Shuiyun, do you know who I am?" Wei Yuewu put on a gruesome smile as she lowered her head and looked at the maid, who had collapsed in panic. Seeing her pale and stiff face, the maid who had just propped herself up then lost all her strength and fell to the ground again."You... you are a ghost... ghost...." The maid screamed. She was so horrified that she couldn't even complete her sentence.She was with Mo Huating last night when he and his men were carrying out the murder in the forest. She was responsible for giving directions for them so that they could lie in ambush in the place Wei Yuewu must pass by.Despite the heavy blizzard, she clearly saw that the richly-dressed girl in the carriage had indeed been shot dead by Mo Huating on the spot! Blood
Mo Huating was extremely alarmed at what Shuiyun was going to say.As he was blocked by Yan Huaijing's guard, he gave a wink at one of his guards standing on the other side. The quick-witted guard moved forward and chopped at Shuiyun's neck with his palm, rebuking her with a harsh tone, "You are a spy. How dare you sneak into the marquis' guards? Are you trying to assassinate the marquis?"Shuiyun became speechless instantly. She rolled her eyes and fainted in the ground."Why didn't you let her go on, Marquis Jing Yuan? I'd like to know what is the matter between you and my second elder sister. Why would her personal maid show up beside you in such clothes? "Wei Yuewu stood up. She fixed her eyes on Mo Huating's face and assumed a smile that concealed the coldness in her eyes.She had already expected that Mo Huating would not allow Shuiyun to finish her words, which actually suited her wish. Since she had no real ev
Such a proposal as to break off the engagement should not have been put forward by Wei Yuewu. But in the current situation, everyone felt that her request was completely logical and reasonable!The onlookers had witnessed a string of scenes: Shuiyue had been knocked unconscious by Mo Huating's guard when she was just about to tell the truth; the guard cried out some words that exposed his attempt at covering up the truth; and the drastic changes in the attitudes of Mo Huating, who had appeared so true to Wei Yuewu before she showed up and who now seemed furious rather than delighted to find that his fiancée had escaped from death in a great catastrophe.Gradually and unconsciously, they had become more sympathetic towards Wei Yuewu.The Second Miss Wei—her personal maid—Marquis Jing Yuan—the murder of the Sixth Miss Wei....Many bystanders couldn't help but sorted out such a line in their mind and felt that the marquis had been sim
"Magistrate Wang, I would not have been able to survive this time but for the prince of Yan State. I wonder if you can prepare a gift for me so that I can express my gratitude to him? I will ask my father to reward you when I am back in the capital."Wei Yuewu asked the magistrate earnestly with profound meaning.She mentioned Yan Huaijing on purpose to remind the magistrate that the prince was also involved.As she expected, when Magistrate Wang heard the mentioning of the prince, he was at a loss at first, but in an instant his eyes brightened and his worry disappeared. A big smile appeared on his face again. He immediately accepted the request and ordered his servants to prepare the gift before he followed Wei Yuewu to visit the prince of Yan State.In such a situation, Mo Huating couldn't find any reason to stop Magistrate Wang from following Wei Yuewu even if he wanted to. Mo Huating could only stand by and watch them leave.
A broad and gorgeous carriage stopped casually at the side of the road. Yan Huaijing, who was dressed in a light white robe, had already got off the carriage under the protection of his guards. He had the air of a banished immortal that impressed others with an extraordinary bearing even at a far distance.With a keen sense of Yan Huaijing's glance at her, Wei Yuewu slowed her pace involuntarily. She picked up her pace again only after she saw Yan Huaijing turn around and walk towards the pavilion on one side.Yan Huaijing stopped. He stood in the pavilion and looked back at Wei Yuewu who was slowly walking to him. There was a gentle smile on his face. His eyes were deep and gave out a feeling of tenderness and affection. Any girl would secretly feel pleased and became shy under such a gaze.As much as Wei Yuewu was preoccupied with worries, she could not help but acknowledge that this prince indeed deserved the reputation of the most handsome
That was quite an unexpected request. Although the object Wei Yuewu wanted was only a small emblem, it represented special meaning. For a person who had not yet arrived in the capital, it was almost impossible to fulfil this request. But Wei Yuewu believed Yan Huaijing must have a way. Such a request was just a piece of cake to the future lord of Yan State whom even the emperor would have to deal with meticulously...The carriages began to move slowly again. The snow-white horses were galloping in a uniform manner. People were attracted to look back at them before they had reached the gate of the city. The pedestrians could judge from the general appearance of the procession that the passengers inside must not be ordinary people, though they did not know exactly who were sitting in the carriages. It was simply impossible not to catch people's attention.The carriages were separated at the gate when they entered the city. The broad and magnificent carriage h
"Why did you hit me?" The coachman was beaten to see stars. He shouted angrily as he struggled to get up."How dare you bump the carriage from the mansion of Duke of Yan State into the river?" Wei Yuewu's coachman was one of Yan Huaijing's men. At this point, he fiercely punched that coachman who had just got up, directly knocking him down again."I ... I didn't mean it." The coachman was shocked and had the bad feeling immediately. He had not expected the carriage he collided with was from the mansion of Duke of Yan State. He only received an order to bump the Sixth Miss Wei's carriage into the river, and didn't know that the carriage belonged to the mansion of Duke of Yan State. He secretly felt resentful of the messenger who had not made it clear. But under the circumstances, he could only hold on. "Get up. Let's go to the yamen." The coachman from the mansion of Duke of Yan State would accept no excuse at all. He grabbed the
Seeing things did not turn out as planned, the coachman just wanted to get away from the scene. Therefore, he didn't notice at all that someone from the crowd was silently following him...The maidservant from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, who had also seen things turn out so unexpectedly, hurriedly squeezed her way out of the crowd. She must hasten to report to the Second Lady that the sixth young lady did not die so that the Second Lady could be prepared in advance.The maidservant was too eager to pass on the message to be aware that she would expose herself by squeezing her way out and running like that away from the large crowd. More than one people looked back at her doubtfully.Of course Wei Yuewu noticed her running away as well. She slightly narrowed the corner of her eyes, her lips curled with a sneer.Wei Yan, how should I avenge the hatred of blood that you and Mo Huating had incited in me...Jin Ling st