Chapter 8 The Plot Deepens as the Carriage Approaches the Capital
Mo Xuetong set off early in the morning on the second day.
The carriage had been waiting outside. Old Madam Luo from the general manor had especially sent her own carriage to pick Mo Xuetong up as she was worried that Mo Xuetong might feel uncomfortable. There was a soft seat in the carriage that was piled with thick leather blankets. There were a few cushions on the side as well, and there was also a desk. There was a little bookshelf with a few leisurely reads by the window.
Cloud City was not too far from the capital, but it was not considered near either. Mo Xuetong and the group of people accompanying her only arrived at the capital two weeks later. Nanny Li, after having been taught a lesson by Mo Xuetong in Cloud City, became more obedient. She did not dare to create trouble. She treated Mo Xuetong very respectfully on the surface and would ask Mo Xuetong for instructions on all matters. She did not dare to disobey Mo Xuetong at all and seemed to have really surrendered.
As such, the journey was considered smooth.
That day, nanny Li got the carriage to stop when she saw the capital in the distance. She went to Mo Xuetong’s carriage and said with a smile, “Miss, how are you feeling? Do you want to rest? It is still early, so we might as well prepare ourselves so that we won’t return to the manor in a mess. We shouldn’t embarrass you.”
“Miss, a maid of nanny Li already rushed back early in the morning. She said she wanted to visit her mother before returning to the manor.” Mo Xuetong had not yet spoken when Mo Lan reminded her softly.
Mo Xuetong understood. She closed her eyes and nodded before saying gently, “Thank you, Nanny Li. Let’s all rest.”
“Miss, the maid that nanny Li sent must have gone to do something. Why did you listen to her and stop for a rest? If she wants to go to report to Auntie Fang and Auntie Fang tries to do something to you? We had better return quickly and catch them off hand,” Mo He said anxiously as lifted the curtains and looked out. She saw that the two carriages of maids and nannies had all gotten off and she started to worry.
“What are you so anxious about? If they wanted to make preparations, they would have done so long ago.” Mo Xuetong opened her eyes and sat up with a faint smile. For the sake of her health, they had not traveled fast. After two weeks of rest, her complexion did not look as haggard. Her faint smile, pale skin and bright eyes made one want to dote on her.
How could she not know that Auntie Fang and Mo Xuemin would try to cow her? In her last life, she had lost her reputation at the city gates and became the arrogant girl that everyone hated.
Because of that, in the half a year after Mo Xuetong returned to the capital, not a single noble daughter in the capital wanted to befriend her and her marriage was postponed again and again.
Back then, if not for Auntie Fang and her daughter setting her up at the city gate, she would not have been ostracised by all the noble daughters right after returning to the capital. After that, Auntie Fang had plotted against her without fear. When she thought of all that, Mo Xuetong’s hands squeezed tightly under her sleeves. Her face grew pale and her eyes sharpened.
“Miss…”Mo Lan could sense her emotional turmoil and she reached out to hold her worriedly.
Mo Xuetong breathed out deeply and her expression relaxed. She relaxed her hands and accepted the tea that Mo He offered her. She took a sip before saying faintly, “Mo Lan, go and wash up as well and then see if there is an extra carriage behind us.”
Their group only had three carriages and in her last life, another carriage appeared behind them out of the blue. It was a carriage similar to that of the carriages from the Mo manor. And that incident outside the city gates had happened because of a deliberate act by the driver of that horse carriage. One knew without thinking who had planned the incident!
She looked up to see Mo He parting the carriage curtains. There was a cold light dancing in her eyes sharply. This time, she would definitely injure Mo Xuemin in one strike.
Mo Lan returned shortly after. She put down the curtains after getting on and said anxiously in a whisper, “Miss, there really is an extra carriage behind the third one. They stopped when our carriage stopped but no one from the carriage got down. There is only a burly teen driving the carriage and the style of the carriage looks like ours. I got a nanny to go investigate and the driver drove her away nastily.”
“How could that be? Didn’t the manor only send two carriages to pick up Miss?” Even Mo He, who was usually careless felt that something was wrong. Her expression was uneasy as she wanted to lift the curtains to look out but was stopped by Mo Xuetong’s outstretched hand.
“Miss, we’ve rested for a while and can set off now. If we return to the city now, we can make it in time for lunch at the manor. Everyone has had a hard time, we can have a good lunch and rest after. Old sir will be home then too. He’d be very happy to see Miss arriving.” Mo Xuetong had not yet spoken when nanny Li’s laughing voice could be heard.
Mo Xuetong gave Mo Lan a look and mouthed, “Buy time!”
“Nanny Li, thank you for your troubles. We have to wait for a little. Miss is a little dizzy from the ride and we have to rest for a while more before we can go.” Mo Lan raised the carriage curtains and smiled apologetically at nanny Li.
“But it’s getting late!” Nanny Li looked at the sky, flustered. There was a hint of anxiety in her eyes. She had sent the letter long ago and saw the horse carriage that had suddenly appeared them. She knew that Auntie Fang had planned everything and was waiting for Third Miss to fall into the trap. If they waited any longer, it might ruin Auntie Fang’s plans.
“Nanny, do you mean that we should ignore Miss and have to go to the capital immediately?” Mo Lan’s expression was icy cold.
It was not right for the servant to refuse her mistress rest when she was unwell. Nanny Li was speechless, she dared not say something like that. It was still early, and even if they dawdled, it should not be much trouble. As such, she agreed. The lady in the car was so sickly, and she could not afford anything to happen to her on their journey.
When nanny Li left, Mo Xuetong ordered softly, “Mo Lan, go with nanny Shen to the side of the road to see if there are any other horse carriages passing by. If there is, we will travel to the capital behind them.
Mo Xuetong had not guessed wrongly. Mo Lan could not hide her happiness as she got onto the horse carriage and told Mo Xuetong, “Miss, there is a horse carriage coming. It is very long and looks like it’s from a noble family. Are we going to follow them into the capital?”
“What did nanny Shen say?” Mo Xuetong glanced at her.
“Nanny Shen said she could not tell which family the carriage belongs to. There aren’t any signs on the carriage, but it is definitely from a wealthy and powerful family in the capital. She also asked you to be careful. The horse carriage following us has the Mo crest on it. It looks like it was sent by the manor to pick you up. But nanny Li did not mention it,” Mo Lan said carefully.
Mo Xuetong lifted a corner of the curtains and saw a luxurious horse carriage passing by. It was pulled by a pure white horse and from its strides, one could see that it was a good horse. The wind caused the satin curtains to flutter, but one could not see who it was behind it. But it was natural for such a large horse carriage to have blinds, so it was normal not to see anything. She scanned the curtains and saw a faint mark. Her pupils suddenly contracted and her hands, which were holding a teacup tremored lightly.
It was someone from the royal family. Only those from the imperial family could use the sign of the dragon. However, this was something she needed the most right now.
“Miss, what are we going to do now?” Mo Lan asked by her side.
Mo Xuetong looked down, her long lashes fluttered. When she looked up again, her eyes were cold and calm, making one feel assured. “Mo Lan, take this and ask to see the owner of the carriage. Say that someone is plotting against me and say that I’m willing to use this rare music sheet in exchange for their help to be our witness.” She took out name card of the General manor. The Old Madam had asked nanny Shen to bring it to her. Before considering victories, one had to first consider failures. She had to keep the upper hand.
“Yes.” Mo Lan knew that the matter was urgent. She took the name card and hurried off the carriage.
Mo Xuetong then ordered Mo He, “Take nanny Li to the side for a chat. And then tell her we are going to set off.”
Mo He replied in ascent and got off the carriage. The horse carriages set off again. In order to prevent any accidents, nanny Shen and Mo He intentionally swapped carriages. Nanny Shen got onto Mo Xuetong’s carriage and asked the driver to wait for seven or eight carriages to pass them before following at a sedate pace behind.
They could see the capital gates from afar. There was a hanging bridge that was set on the opposite end of the shore on the protective moat around the capital. It was noon and there were many people entering and leaving the city. They would occasionally see a few fast horses running by them with servants on their backs. They were members of the group following noble sons out to the countryside to play.
The only thing that the capital did not lack was noble sons who took their horses out to have fun.
Mo Xuetong’s horse carriage followed the horse carriages in front closely, slowly entering the capital. Nanny Li sat on the horse carriage at the back and only kept watch if the last carriage had caught up with them. She had not discovered that her own horse carriage had already joined another group. Because there were many people entering the capital, the horse carriage procession had lost its original formation. They were no longer following one behind another. Mo Xuetong’s horse carriage followed stealthily behind and was in the middle of another procession.
Nanny Shen went onto the first horse carriage. Nanny Li made an excuse of finding another woman at the back to speak about something and got onto the third horse carriage. They were about to enter the capital. Nanny Li pushed open the windows of the carriage at the back and took out a brightly colored handkerchief. She waved it outside the window and the carriage driver behind that had been following behind all this while immediately understood.
He pulled the reins forcefully. The horse neighed in pain and raised its forelegs into the air. Then, it charged into the fray. They had just entered the capital gates and others had realized that the horse carriage procession was not your usual procession. They had long let them past onto the main road of the city. It was not a narrow path and as long as the horse did not charge into a group of people, it would not knock into anyone.
However, the horse carriage charged into a group of people, causing them to scatter everywhere. There were startled screams, and then, there was a shrill scream. It sounded as if something heavy had fallen onto the ground. Following that, was a shrill voice, “Someone’s dead. Someone’s dead! The voice sounded old as if it belonged to an elderly person.
It had indeed happened. Mo Xuetong’s eyes grew cold as she sat up in the horse carriage.
The groaning sound was accompanied by a loud shout of pain. It was louder than the fussing crowd! The voice was not soft and it sounded fake.
The path became crowded since an accident had occurred. There were so many people that the luxurious carriage in front could not get onto the path and had to stop.
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