“What’s this?” Mo Huawen saw the gold hairpin in Yu Mingyong’s hand and asked coldly.

It was a totally undistinguished gold hairpin, utterly commonplace. Although Mo Huawen did not quite know women’s jewelry, he could still tell that this gold hairpin was unremarkable.

“Who gave you this?”

“A housekeeping nanny by Third Young Miss Mo’s side. That nanny even kept a door open for me. She wanted me to sneak into your ancestral hall with the other servants.”

“What did she say when she gave you this?”

“She said Third Young Miss Mo had fallen for me. She wanted to meet me under the moon.”

“Since she has arranged a rendezvous, why did you climb the wall? Why had you fallen from the wall into the courtyard?”

“I wanted to enter through the door. But a nanny saw a figure whizz by and escape in a panic. In order not to disappoint Third Young Miss Mo, I could only climb the wall. But they thought I was a burglar. I had been wrongly accused.” Yu Mingyong was determined to stick to his story. The story had been well thought out and had no loopholes. He sounded as if he was telling the truth.

The Old Madam became silent. The expression on her face seemed angry and frustrated, but a flash of complacency flashed across her eyes.

The thief had stuck to his story which seemed to be true. Ignoring whether it was the truth or not, Mo Xuetong had lost face. A fly will not attack an uncracked egg. This is a generally accepted dictum. Why was Yu Mingyong interested in no one else but her? Wasn’t it because she was coquettish and frivolous?

Mo Xuetong had encountered Yu Mingyong and beaten him up so badly. Consort Yu would not let him off.

She smugly cast a glance at the nanny by the side and nodded appreciatively.

Since Mo Xuetong was too embarrassed to enter the palace, Yan’er could go on her behalf. If Yan’er met an eminent personage in the palace and marry into a distinguished family, no one would look down on her. So what if she was to be a concubine? Perhaps Yan’er could get herself imperial conferment. She could inherit a post by deign of her elevated status. She would be among those who could earn it.

Mo Xueyan was still not reacting. But the Old Madam was already overjoyed. She almost could not hide her elation.

Mo Huawen was still cross-examining the man, sentence by sentence.

“You said that you and Tong’er had fallen for each other. So why did you say Tong’er was the one who had arranged the rendezvous? When did you see her?”

“Third Young Miss Mo has taken a fancy for me. So she arranged a rendezvous. Clearly, we are in love with each other. As for my first meeting with her, it was of course during the imperial banquet.” Yu Mingyong was not outstanding in anything but in women. The moment he became entangled with a woman, he would become extremely excited. So right now he could argue his case craftily.

He would stick to this story no matter what.

The joy in the Old Madam’s eyes almost could not be restrained. She took the opportunity of drinking tea to disguise her smile.

“Are you sure it was the servant of this yard? Are you sure it was a nanny dressed in this attire? And are you sure you were asked out by the owner of this hairpin?” Mo Huawen asked three consecutive questions, not stopping to take a breath.

Yu Mingyong immediately replied without hesitation. “I’m sure it’s someone from here. If it wasn’t someone in this attire, you could jab my eyes, Sir Mo. The owner of this hairpin has sent her personal item to me. Of course, she must have fancied me.”

Yu Mingyong said all this in one breath. Suddenly, they heard some noise from behind a screen. It seemed to be some bench being overturned.

Mo Huawen cast the screen a cold glance. “Who’s there?”

“Un… Uncle… it’s me!” A trembling voice rang out from behind the screen.

Old Madam heard her and felt that something was amiss. She was about to speak when Mo Xueyan created this racket from behind. She frowned, signaling one of the grannies to go and find out what was wrong.

The granny left and saw Mo Xueyan sitting on the ground, dazed. A maidservant by her side was trying to pull her up but she did not react. Her entire person was shivering and her pallid face seemed almost transparent, not understanding what had ensued. The maidservant helped her up. Outside, things were getting interesting. They did not care for her and the granny turned around and departed, standing by the side to watch the scene.

Mo Huawen knew it was Mo Xueyan behind. He was too lazy to care. He said to a servant by his side, “Go and look at that hairpin.”

The servant assented and took the gold hairpin from Yu Mingyong’s hand. He stared at it, turning it repeatedly in his hand, and suddenly said, “Old sir, this hairpin isn’t third miss’s. There’s a character on it… Let me see.” The servant lifted the hairpin under the bright lamp and cried out in shock. “Yan. The character is a ‘Yan.’ ”

The character “Yan” on the gold hairpin?

The Old Madam, who had just bitten a mouthful of orange from the nanny, instantly choked. She coughed vigorously. The nanny behind her also panicked, patting her back forcefully. Another servant started to caress her chest. Finally, she recovered.

The Old Madam drank a mouthful of water and recovered. She pointed at the hairpin in the servant’s hand and said anxiously, “Bring it here and let me see.”

There was a “Yan” on the hairpin. Other than her own granddaughter in the manor, no one else’s hairpin would be engraved with the character “Yan.” No wonder she found the hairpin familiar! The Old Madam started to panic. She could no longer care about her equable bearing.

Another granny came and took the hairpin, bringing it to the Old Madam. The latter looked at it and nearly fainted from anger. It was really Yan’er’s hairpin.

“It’s second miss’s hairpin.”

“That’s second miss’s hairpin.”

“So second miss was too lonely and created all this trouble.”

“No wonder he had to climb in by the wall. The second miss’s yard is quite similar to this one. Only the maids of second miss and we would wear robes in such a color.”

Sarcastic comments resounded from outside the screen. Mo Xueyan’s mind was in a complete blank. She started to feel her ears buzz.

“That must be why second miss had tried to get into our yard. She was pretending to be third miss, meeting her lover. What was she thinking? Was she trying to deceive her man? When what’s done cannot be undone, this man would have to admit to the affair.”

…

“Where was this hairpin from? Someone must have engraved this character to frame Yan’er.” Old Madam’s face flushed green and red by turns. She grabbed the hairpin from the granny and threw it vigorously on the ground. She even got up and trampled on it, twisting her feet twice—as if that would make the hairpin disappear.

How could it be Yan’er’s? This hairpin must have been stolen from Mo Xuetong’s dressing case before Auntie Fang’s servants departed Qingwei Garden. How could it be someone else’s?

“Old sir, this is certainly not third miss’s belonging. Third miss’s jewelry is left behind by Madam. Given General Manor’s finances, they would not come up with something of such poor workmanship.” The servant was still trying to explain. He had been a follower of Mo Huawen and had seen him judge cases. So he obviously knew a thing or two about deduction.

He started to explain eloquently. It was hard for anyone to refute him.

Yu Mingyong now detected something was wrong. He was lost in a daze, watching Old Madam’s face turn green and black by turns. Then he glanced at the nonchalant Mo Huawen. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

“It’s Third Young Miss Mo, it really is her,” he remarked in great alarm. He got up strenuously and tried to offer more evidence, but found himself with none.

“Sir Yu, you sneaked into an official’s manor and were in cahoots with burglars. You stole our possession in the fracas and tried to frame my niece. I must report this matter. Men, take Sir Yu to the prison. Tomorrow, I will report this case to His Majesty and get my justice.” Mo Huawen was not interested in taking part in this scene anymore.

He instructed his men to drag the yelling Yu Mingyong away. He would try him as if he was a criminal case.

When Yu Mingyong had been dragged away, the Old Madam said hurriedly, “My son, it really isn’t Yan’er. She’s a good girl. Why would she do such a thing? It must be that libertine trying to smear her name.”

Mo Huawen looked disappointingly at the Old Madam, grief and sadness clouding his eyes. When he was young, he always thought that she was the most impartial. In his memory, this mother, his father’s concubine, had always been a magnanimous and gentle woman. She always treated he and his second brother equally well. Everyone in his clan would praise her for her fairness.

After he grew up and won for himself honors in the imperial examination, his second brother became a businessman. Although they seldom met each other, the two brothers were still amicable and loving thanks to this mother. He did not expect some of their relationships to have soured after many years. They were no longer as loving as before. Whether it was because of the environment or his mood, he wondered if she was the same tender-hearted mother she once was.

For the sake of her own granddaughter, she would sacrifice Tong’er to help Mo Xueyan.

“Uncle, it really wasn’t me. I don’t know him.” Mo Xueyan dashed out from behind the screen, running to Mo Huawen’s front and sobbing.

“Old Madam, please take a rest first. There’re burglars in this manor and everything’s topsy-turvy. I need to inspect the other yards. Tong’er has hurt her leg. I wonder if the physician’s here.” Mo Huawen stood up and said quietly. He ignored Mo Xueyan, turning to leave.

He really did not wish to continue watching this farce!

He had been a judge for years. He did not need to say anything when he could discern the truth.

It was clearly the Old Madam trying to frame Tong’er. She got Yu Mingyong to confess, trying to force Mo Huawen to give in. If that person was a man without any status, they could easily beat him up and kill him. No one would know. But Yu Mingyong was not undistinguished. His sister, Consort Yu, had been reprimanded a few days before but she was still the Emperor’s beloved. If she learned that her only brother was in trouble, she would not let them off.

Letting Tong’er marry such a libertine—the Old Madam’s scheme was too vicious!

When he thought of this, Mo Huawen’s rage surged. That was why he had ignored Mo Xueyan and left, waving his sleeve.

He had already made up his mind. Before the two of them fell out, he must send the Old Madam away. If she remained in the backyard, she would stir up more trouble. First, it was the affair of Lan Xinru. Now, it was worse. She had even tried to hurt Tong’er. When he thought of Tong’er’s snowy-white and innocent face, Mo Huawen started to panic.

He could not see where Mo Xueyan was superior to Tong’er. She could make Old Madam scheme so viciously. If they succeeded, Tong’er’s life would be ruined. Although he had received the Old Madam’s kindness as a boy, he could not sacrifice Tong’er’s life in exchange. He felt himself to have swallowed a fly. He felt nauseated yet regretful.

The reason he did not continue trying the case was that he felt there was no more need to. He would treat it as a simple case of burglary. If another romantic affair was unraveled in Mo Manor, even Tong’er’s reputation would be besmirched, even if the offender was Mo Xueyan. After all, they were both daughters of the manor.

So he stormed out, returning to his study. Before he reached the study’s door, he heard his butler report that Mo Xuetong’s leg was badly hurt. She would not be able to walk for at least a month. He furiously kicked the trunk of a slanting tree. Unable to relieve his rage, he cursed, “Bastard!”

The butler stared agape at Mo Huawen. He did not expect his refined master to act so abnormally.