Chapter 150: Shouldn’t You Explain Yourself?
With a “bang,” Fu Jing was punched to the ground by Mo Ziyuan.
“Are you crazy? After so many years of brotherhood, you’re hitting me for some woman of unknown origin?” Fu Jing wiped the blood from his nose and angrily stared at Mo Ziyuan as he shouted.
Gao Yong and the others were all stunned by Mo Ziyuan’s sudden punch, only reacting when Fu Jing questioned out loud, and hurriedly helped him up in a flurry.
“Fu Jing, I think you’ve really gone too far. Miss Lin really isn’t that kind of person,” Gao Yong spoke up first for Lin Xin.
“Yeah, I also don’t think she has some other motive like you said. We’ve all seen what she’s done these past few years with our own eyes. I really think you’re overthinking it,” Chu Yu continued.
“That…” Meng Yixuan had just started when he felt the death glare from his younger brother standing beside him. He coughed dryly and said, “Everyone calm down. Don’t start fighting among ourselves before the enemy even makes a move.”
Though he hadn’t said it explicitly, Meng Yichen and Zhou Qi both caught his subtext, and their expressions changed slightly. He was siding with Fu Jing.
“Since you don’t believe Xin’er, there’s nothing more to say. I’ll bring Your Highness over right now, and we’ll take him back to the capital ourselves!” Mo Ziyuan said expressionlessly, then turned and walked out.
When he was almost at the door, Meng Yixuan grabbed him. He gave a bitter smile, “It was my words just now that were off. Don’t be angry first. Let’s discuss it properly!”
“Discuss?” Mo Ziyuan sneered, “Discuss what? Discuss how you clearly need to rely on Xin’er’s combat power to protect Your Highness, yet you’re using the dirtiest thoughts to speculate about her? Discuss how to use Xin’er to send Your Highness to the capital, then burn the bridge after crossing it and say she has ulterior motives?”
“This…” Meng Yixuan’s face flushed awkwardly for a moment, “No, how could we do that!”
Though he denied it quickly, no one present was a fool. Even Gao Yong saw that instant of embarrassment and knew his and Fu Jing’s thoughts were probably just as Mo Ziyuan had described.
“Holy crap, no way! Are you even human?” Gao Yong looked at the two of them like they were a pile of trash. “Meng Yixuan, have you forgotten? If Miss Lin hadn’t gone into the deep mountain to find that ginseng, you wouldn’t just be half-dead lying in bed right now—you might not even be alive. And now you’re scheming against your savior with Fu Jing?”
“Brother Jing, Brother Xuan, have you watched so many conspiracies that you can’t believe anyone anymore?” Chu Yu asked.
“Bro, I’m very disappointed in you!” Meng Yichen looked at Meng Yixuan with a face full of disappointment.
Zhou Qi and Cui Shi didn’t speak, but their expressions said everything.
“Hmph!” Mo Ziyuan coldly glanced at Fu Jing, “The only reason you’re opposing Xin’er taking Your Highness away early is that you’re afraid this merit won’t fall into your own hands.”
Fu Jing’s face instantly turned beet red. He pointed at Mo Ziyuan with a trembling finger, a breath stuck in his chest, neither up nor down. It took him great effort to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: “Is that how you see me?”
“Am I wrong?” Mo Ziyuan looked at his excited state without changing expression, pulled a letter from his bosom, and tossed it onto the table. “This is from your sister. She insisted I help you get this merit. The letter also says if I can help you, she’s willing to bring a huge dowry to marry me, and she can help me deal with my stepmother, ensuring I won’t lose the title of Heir of Dingguo Duke.”
If Fu Jing’s face had been red from anger before, after hearing Mo Ziyuan’s words, it turned deathly pale. He picked up the letter, but his trembling hand failed several times to pull it from the envelope. Meng Yixuan couldn’t bear to watch and helped him.
Fu Jing read the letter with shaking hands. He realized Mo Ziyuan had actually spared him some face. The handwriting on the letter was undoubtedly his sister’s, and the contents made him extremely ashamed.
The letter used extremely explicit language to describe the benefits Mo Ziyuan would get after helping him with this mission, like her bringing half the Fu family’s dowry to marry into the Mo family, or helping Mo Ziyuan deal with Qi Shi—even killing her if necessary. It even fantasized about their beautiful future after inheriting the Dingguo Duke’s Mansion.
Fu Jing’s face went ashen. He crumpled the letter into a ball of waste paper, clutching his chest with his other hand, unable to say anything.
Mo Ziyuan seemed to think the shock wasn’t enough and spoke again: “Though I didn’t hide my movements when leaving the capital, few people knew my purpose. Yet your sister knows it so clearly. Don’t you think you should explain? Compared to your shameless sister, isn’t Xin’er far more trustworthy?”
At these words, everyone’s expressions changed again.
“Zi Yuan, when did you receive this letter?” Meng Yichen asked seriously.
“I found it while packing my luggage,” Mo Ziyuan answered.
“Was it Zhao Jie?”
“I don’t know. After all, I can’t carry luggage on my back every day while traveling, but for it to go undetected the whole way, there are only two possibilities.”
“Which two?” Gao Yong asked.
“One is that the person was extremely meticulous, placing the letter without moving any things in the luggage, and chose a very clever timing. The other is that it was placed after I arrived at Willow Forest Village.” Mo Ziyuan spoke while staring intently at Fu Jing with his eyes.
“You… you’re suspecting me?” Fu Jing asked, his chest heaving violently.
Mo Ziyuan didn’t speak, just stared at him unblinkingly. Everyone’s gazes shifted from one to the other, unsure who to believe.
“It wasn’t me,” Fu Jing said angrily. “You have no evidence to prove I placed it!”
“I didn’t say you placed it. Are you jumping out so quickly because of a guilty conscience?”
“You…” Fu Jing was almost infuriated to fainting. “What do I have to feel guilty about? If I didn’t do it, then it’s not me. If you suspect me, then show the evidence!”
“Evidence?” Mo Ziyuan sneered coldly. “Did you have evidence when you suspected Xin’er? You just flapped your lips and dumped a basin of dirty water on her head. Now that the basin of dirty water is on your head, you’re asking me for evidence?”
“You… you’re deliberately faking this letter to exonerate her and frame me?”
“Old Cui,” Mo Ziyuan ignored him and turned to Cui Shi, “When you have time, check his eyes. It’s so obviously his sister’s handwriting, yet he can’t even recognize it.”
“You…” Fu Jing found himself speechless in the face of Mo Ziyuan’s mockery.
“Now everyone vote. Those who agree to let Xin’er take Your Highness away early, raise your hand.” Mo Ziyuan glanced at Fu Jing and said, raising his own hand first.
Everyone looked at each other. Gao Yong raised his hand second, followed by Chu Yu, Meng Yichen, Cui Shi, and Zhou Qi. Only Meng Yixuan and Fu Jing hadn’t raised theirs.
“Old Chu, this time you go with Xin’er and the others, in case there’s some emergency on the road and Your Highness is in danger.” Mo Ziyuan lowered his hand and said to Chu Yu.
“Got it. I’ll go pack right now.” Chu Yu didn’t hesitate, walked straight out of the room, and didn’t glance at Fu Jing or Meng Yixuan again.
