Chapter 177: This Time, The Heir Of Marquis Zhaoyang Will Probably Be Replaced
These words were indeed full of momentum, but when spoken by the Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang, who was covered in cold sweat, pale-faced, and curled up on the ground like a big shrimp, Lin Xin felt that it definitely hadn’t achieved the effect he wanted.
Mo Ziyuan was still relatively kind-hearted. He waved his hand and said, “Young Master, rest assured, I absolutely have no intention of interfering in the grudge between you two. The reason I came over was just to see if you needed help. Now it seems I was meddling unnecessarily.”
The Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang didn’t speak. Although his gaze was still hostile, it no longer looked at them like enemies.
But these words solidly stimulated Fu Qing. She looked at Mo Ziyuan in disbelief, her lips trembling as she asked, “Zi Yuan brother, what, what did you just say?”
Mo Ziyuan acted as if he hadn’t heard, lowering his head to ask the Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang, “Do you need me to go notify your family? Or help you find a doctor?”
The Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang’s face darkened. He wanted to say something but held back in the end, arduously half-sitting up and leaning against the servant, cupping his fists toward Mo Ziyuan. “Then I’ll trouble the Heir of Dingguo Duke to go to my home and say something.”
Mo Ziyuan nodded, seeing him break out in another head of cold sweat from the earlier movement, and couldn’t help asking again, “Do you really not need me to call a doctor for you?”
The Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang moved his lips but didn’t answer, but Lin Xin saw clearly—he had silently mouthed one word: “Scram!”
Mo Ziyuan shrugged. “Alright then, I’ll go find your family right now.”
After saying that, he was about to leave with Lin Xin when Fu Qing suddenly rushed over from the side, shrieking, “Zi Yuan brother, how can you not help me!”
Although her words were directed at Mo Ziyuan, the direction she rushed was toward Lin Xin. Since they weren’t far apart to begin with, by the time Mo Ziyuan wanted to pull Lin Xin away from her frenzied pounce, it was already too late.
Seeing Fu Qing’s eyes full of malice and resentment, and her pair of carefully trimmed long nails drawing closer and closer to her own eyes, Lin Xin reacted extremely quickly by lifting her foot and kicking out—the spot she kicked was Fu Qing’s calf near the ankle.
A series of sounds rang out: “thud,” “ouch,” “crack,” “ah~.” Fu Qing was kicked to her knees on the ground. Unable to stop her momentum, her two hands stabbed straight into the ground in claw form. Except for her two thumbs, the other eight fingers immediately twisted into grotesque shapes—one look and it was clear they were broken.
Lin Xin withdrew her foot and said innocently, “This can’t be blamed on me! You came over too fast; this was all a subconscious reaction.”
“You…” After enduring a series of blows, plus the pain from her fingers, Fu Qing couldn’t catch her breath and fainted.
“Young Lady!” The little maid pounced over but didn’t touch Fu Qing with her hands.
She had fallen when Fu Qing pushed her away earlier. Her luck was a bit bad—there were several shards of porcelain behind her. When she fell backward, she braced herself with her hands, pressing one directly into the skin and flesh of her palm.
But she didn’t dare cry out in pain, only biting her teeth to pull out the shard of porcelain and tearing off a piece of her skirt hem to bind up the bleeding wound.
“Sigh! Let’s first find a doctor before going to Marquis Zhaoyang’s Manor!” Lin Xin sighed.
“That’s all we can do.” Mo Ziyuan agreed.
The Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang really didn’t want an outside doctor treating him, but Fu Qing not only had injured hands but had also fainted. If something happened because he blocked them from calling a doctor, he would go from having reason on his side to none at all.
In the end, he could only unwillingly say to Mo Ziyuan, “Then trouble the Young Master to have the household physician brought along when going to my home!”
“Good, I’ll go right now.” Mo Ziyuan readily agreed and pulled Lin Xin away.
The shopkeeper of Ten Fragrance Pavilion had an extremely ugly expression. Fortunately, it was past mealtime now, and almost everyone in the first-floor hall had left for dinner—otherwise, who knows how great the losses would have been!
Although Prince Fu was of a high generation, his actual age was only one year older than the former emperor. The two had grown up together since childhood. He was a staunch supporter of the throne, and the new emperor had been under his care quite a bit as a child, so Mo Ziyuan was also relatively familiar with him. Thus, when the shopkeeper saw Mo Ziyuan coming downstairs, he hurriedly came forward to greet him.
“Young Master, about this matter…” The shopkeeper had a wrinkled, bitter face.
“This Young Master saw this matter from start to finish and can completely testify that it has absolutely nothing to do with you. If testimony is needed, come find this Young Master.” Mo Ziyuan said.
“That’s great, many thanks to the Young Master!” The shopkeeper said gratefully. With such a powerful witness, neither Marquis Zhaoyang’s Manor nor the Fu family could manipulate him over Prince Fu.
“But you should still send someone to report to His Highness the Prince, lest he hear an inaccurate version from elsewhere—that wouldn’t be good.”
“Many thanks to the Young Master for the reminder. This one will go personally right away.” The shopkeeper was not just grateful now; from his posture, he looked ready to kowtow to Mo Ziyuan.
“Mm, explain it clearly.” Mo Ziyuan turned and pulled Lin Xin away.
“Really going to Marquis Zhaoyang’s Manor?” On the road, Lin Xin asked curiously.
“Of course? A promised matter must be done!” Mo Ziyuan smiled and replied.
“Why do I feel like there’s something going on here? You seem especially happy.” Lin Xin stopped and looked at Mo Ziyuan affirmatively.
“Haha, you saw through it,” Mo Ziyuan laughed, leaning his head close to Lin Xin and whispering, “I reckon the Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang is going to be replaced this time.”
“What’s going on?” This sounded like backyard intrigue from a great noble family, and Lin Xin’s curiosity was instantly piqued.
“Let’s walk first; I’ll tell you as we go.” Mo Ziyuan pulled her forward while recounting the melodramatic events at Marquis Zhaoyang’s Manor.
It turned out that the current Heir of Marquis Zhaoyang was not the legitimate son born to the Madam of Zhaoyang Marquis, but the eldest illegitimate son from the concubine most favored by Marquis Zhaoyang.
To let this concubine’s child inherit the marquis manor in the future, Marquis Zhaoyang had racked his brains. He first dosed the madam with drugs year after year to prevent her from conceiving. Only after three years of her being childless after entering the door did he have to stop the concubine’s contraceptives. Soon after, the concubine became pregnant and gave birth to a son at one go, who was then recorded under the madam and became the legitimate son.
When this child was one year old, Marquis Zhaoyang impatiently submitted a memorial to have him established as heir.
With his beloved woman secured for the future, Marquis Zhaoyang was content, and he grew lax in dosing the madam. As a result, two years later, the madam became pregnant.
Probably sensing something was off, the Madam of Zhaoyang Marquis paid extra attention to this hard-won child. She didn’t even tell Marquis Zhaoyang until her figure could no longer conceal it and everyone found out.
Marquis Zhaoyang threw a huge tantrum and arranged for several doctors to persuade the madam that the child in her belly was unhealthy, that even if born, the body would be weak and might die young, and so on.
But the Madam of Zhaoyang Marquis was determined to have her own child, and she had grown suspicious of everyone in the marquis manor. She brought back a midwife skilled in medical principles from her maternal family to care for her personally, ultimately persisting until the child was full-term. After birth, they discovered it was actually a boy.
Holding her son, the Madam of Zhaoyang Marquis wept her heart out. This should have been the marquis manor’s heir, yet his identity had been stolen before he was even born.
