Chapter 5 Flying Thieves in Ziteng Garden
They could all see that Mo Xuetong was in a bad mood. They did not say anything else and all went out.
The room quietened down. Tears rolled down her cheeks silently and she bit her lips tightly, pressing down on the sadness that surged up. What had she missed in her past life? She had never suspected the cause of her mother’s death and only found out about it before her death that her mother’s death had been caused by Auntie Fang. Mo Xuemin’s vicious smile that day seemed to appear right before her!
This life, she had to investigate her mother’s death and seek revenge for her mother…
Mo Xuemin had not divulged many details when she had given Mo Xuetong poisoned wine. She had only said that Auntie Fang had caused her mother’s death. She would get her revenge in this life and make sure that the evil acts committed by the mother and daughter pair would be revealed to others.
Her mother had, in a letter left to Mo Xuetong before her death, said that she had left a jade bangle in her father’s study. Her mother told her to get it and keep it in remembrance of her. Mo Xuetong felt that this was very important. She had neglected too many things in her past life and she had not even been able to find out the reason behind her mother’s death…
Mo Huawen’s study had a secret compartment. Mo Xuetong knew about this long ago. Her mother had told her about it a few days before she passed away.
Mo Xuetong did not stay in Ziteng Garden for too long. Nanny Ming sent someone to send lunch to her, but she did not have much of an appetite. She only ate a little before going to Mo Huawen’s study.
She opened the secret compartment. There was indeed a clear jade bangle the color of water inside. The clarity of the jade showed that it was an extremely precious item. She went to Auntie Fang’s room after leaving her father’s study. She had many things in her sleeves when she emerged!
She was going to the capital to seek revenge this time. Revenge for her mother, herself, and her child. How could she not be more prepared when she was seeking revenge for the spilled blood of so many people!
Even though she felt weak, she was energetic. She even ate half a bowl of rice at dinner. This made Mother Xu extremely pleased and even said that it was great that miss was back in her own home for she could be happy and eat more.
After dinner, Mo Xuetong returned to her mother’s courtyard. She got Mo Yu to wait at the courtyard entrance and entered alone.
The courtyard was very quiet. Fallen leaves littered the ground and the autumn breeze was cold. There was only the sound of wind blowing on the screens. An indescribable sadness caused her eyes to fill. She bit her lips and walked toward the room door slowly.
However, an enormous force dragged her to the side just as she entered the room. A large hand wrapped around her throat and a sinister voice sounded beside her ear. “Shut up.”
The person dragged Mo Xuetong behind the screen where there was a narrow space behind the large bed. It was a good spot to hide. Mo Xuetong’s body was weak and she could not struggle out of the person’s grasp. She was easily pulled into the space. Her throat felt as if she was going to suffocate. Her back was pressed against a broad and hard chest and she could barely breathe.
The hand that was held against her neck relaxed slightly. Perhaps the person sensed that she was having trouble breathing.
“Loosen your hold… what do you want… get… it yourself!” Mo Xuetong stood there obediently and spoke in a whisper.
The person indeed loosed his hold after hearing that. She took a deep breath of fresh air. Just as she was about to speak a large hand pressed against her mouth. “Shut up if you wish to live!”
Without waiting for her to react, the large window on the right of the bed released a clear rustling sound. It was getting late and every sound in the quiet house could be heard. No one would be able to stay calm.
Mo Xuetong turned her head around in shock to see a person in black entering from the window. The person stepped on the windowsill lightly and entered it. Mo Xuetong did not light up any candles when she entered because she was going to leave in just a bit. She saw the person dressed in black rifling through her mother’s possessions through the weak light streaming through the window.
The jewelry boxes on the dressing table that her mother had left behind had been rifled through thoroughly. There were not many things in them originally and they had been scattered everywhere on the table. The person had been thorough in his rifling and peered at the jewelry under the light at the window a few times. However, he put them down in disappointment each time. It was evident that none of them was the object he was looking for.
Did the person think that these things were not of good quality? Mo Xuetong thought that her idea of the world was tilted. When do thieves ever look at the quality when they stole?
“Miss, Mother Xu has prepared the carriage for us to return.” Mo Yu’s voice suddenly rang from the entrance. The sound of her footsteps approached.
The person in black paused. The figure moved even faster and jumped out of the window, disappearing outside in just a moment.
“Get your maid to go away.” The sinister voice said calmly by her hear. The hand on her mouth loosened and went to her throat. Mo Xuetong believed that if she said something wrong, those hands would kill her.
“Mo Yu, hang on a while. I’ll be right out after cleaning up mother’s stuff.” Mo Xuetong said calmly, taking two deep breaths. She had to listen to the person in such a situation. Even together with Mo Yu, they were no match for the person behind her.
“Yes!” The footsteps stopped outside the door and then moved away. Evidently, Mo Yu had gone to speak with Mother Xu at the entrance of the courtyard.
“Let me go. I won’t shout. Those are all yours.” Mo Xuetong tugged on the person’s hand lightly and pointed at the jewelry scattered on the desk. She indicated that he could relax slightly. She would not cause trouble.
The person paused as if he had not thought that the weak looking girl would be so straightforward. He loosened his hands but kept her in front of him. He put his hands on her shoulders threateningly, “You’re the legendary weak and useless third miss of the Mo family. I did not expect you to be like this. You’re quite different from what the rumors say!”
She could not see his face because of his action and she had no inclinations of looking at the face of the person behind her.
“Do you really have the time and mood to care about this? Quick let me go and take the things.” Mo Xuetong laughed coldly and reached out with her slender hands, knocking on the hands on her shoulders.
“Are you really the third miss of the Mo family?” The person seemed to be interested and would not rest until he received an answer. Her calmness made her unlike a weak noble lady.
“Yes. Can you please let me go now?” Mo Xuetong huffed.
“Take out everything that’s worth money in your mother’s room. I’m not a regular thief. I don’t want these things. The person behind her bragged and held Mo Xuetong hostage as they walked forward slowly. Her shoulder was being crushed by the person. The force told her that her shoulders would break if he cracked down.
Mo Xuetong followed his nudging to the front of the table. The surface of the dressing table was scattered messily with gold and jade jewelry. There was indeed not many eye-catching pieces. But they all used to belong to her mother. She reached into the dressing table and found a few gold, silver, pearl and jade objects and placed them on the table. Her mother had used these to weigh down the table and they were usually placed at the very back. One would not discover them if they were not careful.
“The quality is too bad! Are you humoring a beggar?” The person behind her tsked. “Didn’t your mother give you any jewelry to wear for occasions?”
“Mother’s good quality items are all part of her dowry. They went with my father to the capital.” Mo Xuetong frowned slightly and said lightly.
“Your mother’s dowry all went to your father? Shouldn’t she leave it for her daughter, you?” The person behind her was very curious and had neverending questions. He did not spare a second glance at the gold and silver on the table.
“Should she leave it here for people to steal?” Mo Xuetong’s eyes glinted and she spoke coldly.
“You’re her daughter and you can’t even protect her dowry. No wonder the rumors outside say that you’re weak and useless. Looking at you, you might as well stay here and not be in any hurry to return to the capital!” The mocking statement had just ended when Mo Xuetong started struggling.
The person could not defend himself in time. Just as he was about to tighten his grasp, he felt a pain at his foot. He said angrily, “What are you doing?” Just as he said that, his left hand which was placed on her shoulder started to hurt immensely. He looked up as she tugged on his hand and bit on the back of it forcefully.
“Since you have time to stare at me, you naturally know what I want to do. I always seek revenge for wrongs done to me. I don’t dare why you’re staring at me, but I hope that you can see that I can only give you these accessories. The worse that could happen is that I would l lose them all. There are many more people who are wealthier than I am in Cloud City. You are so skillful you can steal from anyone, but you came to steal from a weak girl like me.”Mo Xuetong was especially calm. She shrugged off his hand forcefully. Then, she took a glass cup from the table and threw it on the floor decisively.
The loud sound spread far and wide in the quiet night.
“Miss, is something wrong?” Mo Yu’s anxious voice could be heard from outside. She had yet to come in but her voice could already be heard.
“Do you want to die!” The person growled viciously. His other hand that had not been bitten was clasped tightly at her shoulder. Her slender arm felt as if it was about to break.
“You can kill me out of pique right now, but is it worth it?” “You could have taken these things quietly but you stayed behind to be tortured by the person in front of you. If I’m not wrong, you have other motives. While I’m not someone important, it’d still be troublesome for you if I die. The people of Cloud City have to answer to my father and have to find a way to solve this case. Of course, your skills look good. You might be able to escape. But you might not be able to do whatever it is you want to do. Anyway, since the matter is not unsalvagable, you can compromise for now. Since I have bitten you out of anger, I won’t yell. Do whatever you want. We will not bother each other. That will be a win-win situation.” Mo Xuetong said calmly.
She knew that the person was not a random thief when he told her not to hurry back to the capital. How did the person know that she wanted to return to the capital? She did not think that she had any worth for an expert to secretly monitor her coming and going.
Then, it seemed that the person had other motives and had just spotted her. A person like this would not allow a random person to ruin his big job.
She was very certain that the person could not do anything to her!
Indeed, the breathing of the person behind her turned heavy. Even in front of him, Mo Xuetong could hear the sound of him grinding his teeth. Mo Xuetong felt a sudden warmth by her ear. Her ear was bit viciously before she could react. Following the piercing pain was a low evil voice, “I bit you too. remember, you owe me one!”
Then, the person dissapeared from the window in a flash.
“Miss.” The door was pushed open heavily. Mo Yu and Mother Xu rushed in frantically pass the screen. They only relaxed when they saw Mo Xuetong sitting quietly behind it.
“I broke mother’s cup by accident. “Mo Xuetong tampered down her wildly beating heart. For the first time, she was thankful that the sky had darkened early. They could only see her features vaguely and would not notice the flush on her face. Even though she was behaving calmly now, she was but just a girl. Her hand, which was placed at a corner of the table shook somewhat out of her control.
She had lived two lives but have never experienced such an intimate act! Yet, the thief whose face she had not seen had taken advantage of her. How could she not be flustered and annoyed?
“It’s alright if you’re alright, Miss.” Mother Xu and Mo Yu heaved sighs of relief. Another maid entered and picked up the messy table and floor. Mo Xuetong got Mo Yu to keep all her mother’s jewelry in a jewelry box and to take it with them. These were things left behind by her mother. While others might not think much of them, she treasured them.
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