Chapter 147: Has Nothing To Do With Me
Duke Ding’an’s Wife sent her and Yang Luo back to the courtyard house, having seven or eight servant women take turns guarding outside the door.
Of course, this couldn’t keep Mo Zheng in.
However, when she came out to spy in the evening, there was one more person.
Mo Zheng was not startled, lying steadily on the roof, eavesdropping through the gap she had previously chiseled open.
Wei Jiao also did not shout loudly to alarm Duke Ding’an and his wife, but listened secretly on the side.
At this point, she had heard about all that needed to be heard.
Mo Zheng did not respond to Wei Jiao’s words, made a walking gesture, and leaped down from the roof.
Wei Jiao sneered and followed.
Standing on the rockery in Duke Ding’an’s Mansion garden, Mo Zheng smiled at Wei Jiao.
“Captain, are you here to carry out an espionage task?” she said. “You’re lucky; you’ve heard everything that needed to be heard.”
This dog of a thing could respond to anything with his pretentious act; compared to him, she was truly a straightforward and honest gentleman.
“Duke Ding’an doesn’t need me to spy on him,” Wei Jiao said, smiling brightly as he looked at the woman before him. “I’m here to see what reaction Miss Yang has upon hearing with her own ears that her father doesn’t want her.”
As soon as the words fell, Mo Zheng covered her face and squatted down, letting out whimpering cries of “whimper whimper whimper.”
Wei Jiao laughed heartily: “What are you pretending for?”
“How is this pretending?” Mo Zheng said, slightly lifting her head to look at him.
Because the New Year was approaching, more lamps were lit in Duke Ding’an’s Mansion garden. The night was deep and dark, with scattered lamp lights reflecting on her face, bright yet eerie.
Wei Jiao looked at this face, then saw her eyes curve into a smile.
“Captain, didn’t you cry when your father and mother didn’t want you?”
Perhaps because almost no one had ever dared to say such a thing to his face, for a moment Wei Jiao was somewhat dazed, wondering if he was dreaming.
No, it wasn’t a dream; the daze had just arisen when the thought flashed through.
Earlier, when he was sleeping here, he had also heard this sentence, and then he… had an episode.
He knew it was this dog of a thing who did it!
Wei Jiao’s face still wore a smile, but his gaze darkened as he reached out to grab Mo Zheng.
Mo Zheng seemed to be blown by the wind stirred by Wei Jiao’s hand, and before it could touch her, she toppled downward…
“Captain, I’m not joking anymore. I’ll tell the truth: I won’t cry,” she said steadily as she landed on the ground, looking up at Wei Jiao on the rockery. Without waiting for him to speak again, she continued, “The matter of my father not wanting me is something I’ve known since childhood. Besides, whether he wants me or not has nothing to do with me; it’s his business. Why should I be sad…”
Whether he wants me or not is his business and has nothing to do with me.
Wei Jiao retracted the foot he had been about to leap down with, overlooking the figure in the night shadows below the rockery, listening to the soft voice continue.
“I didn’t come here to seek kinship either.”
“I’m here to find the murderer who killed my mother and the civilians of White Horse Town.”
“So, Captain, rest assured: I won’t make a big fuss just because my father doesn’t want me.”
Wei Jiao jumped down from the rockery and looked at her: “So, the matter with Ji Ying was your doing. Miss Yang is impressive; even a censor obeys your commands.”
“Ji Ying’s bloody clothes and bloody letter were sent by someone on my behalf,” Mo Zheng said. “I told the Captain before that I had helpers to survive, but the censor is not under my command.”
She sighed lightly as she said this.
“Fortunately, in this world, there are conscienceless officials like Ji Ying, but also upright and just officials like Censor Li Bu.”
Wei Jiao chuckled twice; like hell he believed her.
“If the Captain doesn’t believe it, please investigate to see if Censor Li Bu is acting on my orders,” Mo Zheng said earnestly. Then she curtsied. “Although I’ve come home, the teacher left homework, and I still need to do reading tomorrow, so I’ll go rest first.”
Wei Jiao said nothing, watching as this woman turned and disappeared into the night garden in three steps and two.
Captain, he let out a scoff. What? Not in front of others, so no more pulling and tugging, no more calling him senior brother every other word?
He took a step back, leaning against the rockery, avoiding the lamp lights swaying in the wind.
She won’t make a big fuss over seeking kinship?
Wei Jiao scoffed again.
But she can make others make a big fuss.
Wait and see; this matter isn’t as simple as Ji Ying neglecting his duties by substituting a death row prisoner for a mountain bandit. The excitement hasn’t even started yet.
Wei Jiao yawned, sat down leaning against the rockery, and looked at the garden in the night. The night shadows and lamp lights shimmered, seeming real and illusory. Gradually, splendid lights appeared before his eyes, noisy crowds, and packs of hunting dogs running in the dark night.
Laughter, music from string instruments, scolding voices, dog barks, and a woman’s soft call.
“A Jiao, A Jiao—”
Wei Jiao involuntarily tensed and looked toward the brilliant lights, but amid the noisy sounds, another woman’s voice rang in his ear.
“He doesn’t want me, and it has nothing to do with me; it’s his business. Why should I be sad…”
Wei Jiao let out a laugh, and the illusory scene vanished instantly. Before him was the winter garden of withered desolation that the lights could not hide, along with the bone-chilling cold brought by the wind.
Duke Ding’an’s power could not compare to Zhao Tan’s, and the garden managed in Duke Ding’an’s Mansion could not compare at all to Zhao Tan’s back then.
People change, things change.
All those past people and events are gone.
Wei Jiao pulled up his cloak to cover his head and face, wrapped himself tightly, and curled up, blending into the rockery stone.
……
…….
“How did it go?”
Seeing Mo Zheng climb in through the window, Yang Luo, who had been sitting at the desk guarding the candle flame, quickly stood up and asked softly.
Mo Zheng said softly: “Wei Jiao came too.”
Yang Luo was slightly startled: “He… was he sent on orders?”
“No need to mind him,” Mo Zheng said with a smile. “He’s just here for the spectacle.”
With that, she sat down and looked at Yang Luo.
“Duke Ding’an said His Majesty knows Yang Luo’s true identity.”
Yang Luo was momentarily speechless, then smiled.
“Right? I knew it,” she said. “Zhu Yunxiao said he would give an explanation to the Imperial Palace.”
So in that life, besides Uncle Duke Ding’an standing outside the door, the emperor father in the Imperial Palace was also watching, watching her die.
Mo Zheng gently patted her arm.
Yang Luo smiled at her: “I’m fine. This is a guess we’ve had for a long time.”
No matter the guess, hearing it confirmed still hurts. Mo Zheng patted her again to comfort her. Though cruel, the words that needed to be said still had to be said.
She said: “Duke Ding’an said His Majesty ordered to maintain the status quo, for you to continue pretending to be someone else’s daughter.”
Yang Luo nodded: “Just as expected.”
After all, up to her death in the previous life, she was the daughter of Duke Ding’an’s cousin’s family, not his own sister’s daughter.
With that, she looked at the flickering candle flame and smiled.
She truly wasn’t sad. She had come back once not to grieve over anyone not wanting her, and the matter with Ji Ying wasn’t about seeking or rejecting kinship either.
“Rest up. We’ll gather our strength; the excitement should start next.”
……
…….
In Marquis Yichun’s Mansion, Marquis Yichun and his son had no sleepiness at all.
Duke Ding’an had the news sent over as well.
“His Majesty actually knows…” Chai Yuan was shocked.
Marquis Yichun felt it was fine.
It wasn’t strange for the emperor not to investigate this Miss Yang’s identity, as he trusted his childhood playmate Duke Ding’an greatly.
It also wasn’t strange for the emperor to investigate this Miss Yang’s identity, as he cared deeply about the Yang Family, almost treating himself as a member of it, even prying into the family matters of collateral relatives.
Marquis Yichun sneered: “So he knows; so what.”
Chai Yuan breathed a sigh of relief: “I told you long ago, one daughter—what big deal is that? See, he doesn’t care and refuses to acknowledge her.”
Marquis Yichun frowned slightly: “Why doesn’t he acknowledge her?”
Chai Yuan chuckled: “Of course because of our family…”
Marquis Yichun glanced at him, and Chai Yuan, uncharacteristically sharp this time—knowing his father disliked hearing arrogant words—quickly rephrased.
“…because he thinks it’s shameful.”
Marquis Yichun withdrew his gaze and shook his head.
If it were because of their family, then back when Deng Shan was on the verge of great success and ascension to the throne, he shouldn’t have disregarded everything to go back and pick up this Yang family woman. If it were because of shame…
Deng Shan, that thing who crawled up from the bottom ranks, wouldn’t have made it this far if he cared about face.
There must be some reason for this matter that they didn’t know.
Marquis Yichun frowned; even if Miss Yang wasn’t important, something still felt off about this.
Ji Ying still couldn’t be traced anywhere, and the suddenly appearing Censor Li Bu also couldn’t uncover any backers.
Li Bu had a simple background and simple daily relationships, never close to anyone. Could it really be that he saw the bloody letter and bloody clothes at his ancestral grave and then justly and uprightly began investigating this matter?
How could that be?
Marquis Yichun had never seen such a person in his life.
So was it truly the emperor’s doing?
And it happened right when Yang Luo disobeyed the Empress.
Now, with Yang Tong of White Horse Town dying with eyes wide open in tragedy, and the emperor stating he knew Yang Luo’s true identity, they couldn’t keep harping on the disobedience.
Just for this?
Marquis Yichun pondered; he felt something was off somewhere, but couldn’t pinpoint where.
“Marquis—”
The old servant came in from outside, voice low.
“The Empress has sent a message.”
