Chapter 108
Chapter 108
The lamplight in the room was hazy and indistinct.
In the silence, the night wind could be heard clearly as it rattled the propped-open window.
Ren Fengjue held his ground, observing the expression on “Xia Ximo’s” face.
“A few days ago, I sent people to Xiling County. My original intention was to look for the ‘Crazy Cousin’ Mu Tingting that Miss Xia mentioned.”
“By the time they arrived, Mu Manor had already dismissed its servants. Only a steward, a gatekeeper, and a handful of old servants remained to watch over the residence.”
“Everything was indeed as Miss Xia described. Miss Mu had suffered from hysteria and disappeared after injuring someone…”
Across from him, “Xia Ximo” listened quietly, as though the matter had nothing to do with her. Not the slightest trace of strangeness showed on her face.
Ren Fengjue continued, “So my men looked around the Mu Manor residence. To their surprise, the place where you lived, ‘Miss Xia,’ was actually called Tingshui Warm Pavilion?”
“Xia Ximo” paused, but a smile surfaced at the corners of her mouth.
Then she lowered her head slightly. When she raised her eyes again, her gaze had, for no reason, begun to dodge.
Compared with the impression she had given a moment earlier, it was as though she had become an entirely different person.
“Tingshui Warm Pavilion was originally my cousin’s boudoir. Because I have always been sensitive to the cold, my aunt… allowed me to stay there.”
Ren Fengjue half-lowered his long eyes, taking in every one of those tiny changes. Then he asked, “So, Miss Xia is fond of needlework?”
At the word “needlework,” “Xia Ximo” trembled faintly again and answered hesitantly, “Yes…”
“I… am not in good health, and I cannot often go outside. In my free time… I can only do some embroidery in my room.”
Ren Fengjue smiled faintly. “When you went to Duke Du’s Mansion that day, I visited your room. Your skill was indeed exquisite. It was clear it came from years and years of practice.”
“However, such work strains the mind and damages the eyes. It may not actually be suitable for you…”
“I remember that a few years ago, my father once said that the Number One Female Painter of Great Qi loved painting as much as her own life.”
“When you were still an infant in swaddling clothes, she would often paint by candlelight until dawn. Yet she would place the young you directly on the worktable, beneath that candlelight for the entire night. How could your eyes have endured that?”
“So much so that later, when she wanted you to learn painting, she discovered that if your eyes focused on one thing for too long, your vision would blur and you would feel unwell…”
Though he spoke lightly, “Xia Ximo” clearly shuddered as she heard those words.
Guiltily, she said, “How could I… possibly remember something from when I was so young?”
Ren Fengjue did not seem to mind in the least. He continued, “Indeed, you were a little too young. Then surely you would remember when you were older?”
“After you moved into Mu Manor, the Marquis Mansion would send a batch of precious medicinal ingredients to Xiling County at regular intervals.”
“Among those ingredients were several aromatic medicines from the Western Regions. They were extremely rare and could never have been obtained in Xiling County.”
“Do you have any impression of them?”
The fingers hidden inside “Xia Ximo’s” sleeves began to tremble. Even Ren Fengjue could see how panicked she was in that moment.
“The medicine was always decocted by the old maids in the household. I do not understand such things very well…”
“Now that is strange.”
Ren Fengjue’s expression turned solemn. “Every time, it was Mu Manor that sent over a list of herbs, claiming the list had been written by someone formerly of the General’s Manor. Only then did the Marquis Mansion purchase the ingredients according to that list.”
His voice suddenly sharpened. “Miss Xia, after taking that medicine for so long, how could you not know?”
At that, “Xia Ximo” abruptly rose to her feet. “I truly do not know!”
Seeing such a strong reaction from her, Ren Fengjue slowly stood as well and stared at her. “You do not know because-you are not Xia Ximo at all.”
“Am I right, Miss Mu?”
From his sleeve, he drew out a copied ledger, his expression growing colder still.
“This is Xinglin Hall’s ledger specifically for that medicinal ingredient. None of those batches of medicine were ever used on Xia Ximo. Instead, your Mu Family took them straight to the pharmacy and resold them.”
“And the person you claimed suffered from hysteria was not called ‘Mu Tingting’ at all. It was Vice Minister Mu’s Concubine, Lady Liu!”
“The reason Lady Liu developed hysteria was because her son died seven years ago. Yet you claimed that child was killed by ‘Mu Tingting’…”
As she listened to him, Mu Tingting stood rooted to the spot for a long while without a word. Her petite body trembled nonstop.
She bit her lower lip and lowered her head, as if struggling with something deep inside.
Ren Fengjue’s voice was cold as he continued, “Did you think that because your father used his position as Vice Director of the Secretariat to force the Xiling County office to suppress the truth about Lady Fan hanging herself in prison, that meant you could make up whatever lies you pleased?”
“What happened the night before Lady Fan was imprisoned could not be hidden simply because you dismissed every servant in the household!”
“Everything you and your mother have done to Xia Ximo over the years-your father, Mu Zheng, admitted it all two days ago!”
“Mu Tingting, you stole another woman’s identity and deceived the Marquis Mansion. Even now, are you still going to deny it?!”
Mu Tingting suddenly clenched her fingers. When she lifted her head again, a strange smile was spreading across her face.
She challenged him coldly. “What a terrifying line of reasoning, Young Marquis.”
Ren Fengjue also sharply sensed that in the span of a single breath, the feeling this woman gave off had… changed again.
“After saying all that, don’t tell me you plan to expose me in front of the Marquise and the Marquis?”
Mu Tingting’s tone was disdainful. She even swayed her waist lightly as she took two steps closer to him.
“All I’m saying is, regarding this ‘Xia Ximo’ identity, there is really no need for you to take it so seriously, Young Marquis. If you met the real Xia Ximo, you might not necessarily like her.”
“Since the Marquise acknowledges me, since the entire Marquis Mansion acknowledges me, and even the whole capital acknowledges me, what harm is there in treating me as her?”
Hearing that she felt not the slightest remorse and even spoke as if all of this were perfectly justified, Ren Fengjue felt a chill of disgust in his heart.
“You couldn’t possibly think that once my mother learns the truth, she will still acknowledge you and protect you!”
“Stop indulging in such delusions. There will never be a place for you in the Marquis Mansion!”
“Young Marquis, don’t be so quick to say that.” Mu Tingting was still smiling, utterly fearless. “I know the Young Marquis must despise me terribly.”
“Perhaps you even wish you could throw me into the Ministry of Justice Prison and have me tortured again and again, all to vent your anger on behalf of your real fiancée…”
“But the Young Marquis has always been meticulous, not a reckless man. Tonight, you were suddenly summoned back to the Marquis Mansion. Did you truly not notice anything strange?”
Ren Fengjue’s heart went cold on the spot.
It was as if someone had struck him over the head with a club.
Could it be…
For an instant, he lost all ability to judge. He immediately flung open the door and rushed out, nearly colliding head-on with Rong Shu, who had come to report.
“What happened to Mother?” Ren Fengjue asked instinctively.
Rong Shu was startled. “Madam… has just gone to sleep.”
Then she added, “This servant came to inform you, Young Master, that Vice Minister Yu has suddenly arrived and says he has an important matter to discuss with you.”
Still worried about his mother, Ren Fengjue went to see her in person. Only after seeing Lady Rong lying on the bed with nothing amiss did he let out a slight breath of relief.
He did not dare let down his guard. Turning back, he ordered sternly, “From this moment on, you are to stay by Madam’s side without leaving her for even an instant. That ‘Miss Xia’ is not to be allowed anywhere near her!”
“Also, call two older maids over. Have them send her to the North Courtyard and lock her up there for now. No one is permitted to see her!”