Chapter 983 Having Doubts, Searching for Reasons
Marquis Xing had been very nice to him, and Yan Xi liked him. Their two families had a good friends.h.i.+p long ago, but the two of them had not contacted each other for many years. Marquis Xing was a respected elder who had done what was possible to help him.
“Does he treat me in real earnest?”
Thinking of this, Yan Xi didn’t show any hard feelings on his face. He nodded and said, “He set up a trap for me with a prost.i.tute. They drugged a maid of the prost.i.tute. When she was in a daze, she a.s.serted emphatically that I abandoned her and was going to jump down from the fourth floor of the Number One Scholar Restaurant!”
Yan Xi had a sense that the woman was not a good person. Since she was capable of plotting such a scheme with w.a.n.g Shengxue, she should not be the daughter of a good family and must be a prost.i.tute. Sometimes she was called Zhao Qingyu, and sometimes Ning Caixian. Perhaps, neither was her real name.
“What? How dare he do that?” Shao Jing was furious when he heard that. He slammed his hand heavily on the table and said, “You have been occupied with books and didn’t hang out with him often. Why would he hurt you like this?”
“He said that he was jealous of me because you valued me!” Yan Xi took out the reason he got from w.a.n.g Shengxue.
“Nonsense! That’s sheer nonsense!” Shao Jing stood up and turned around behind the table angrily. “If he is competent, how could I ignore him? If it weren’t for him… I have tried my best to help him achieve rankings in the imperial exam!”
After saying that, he walked out from behind the table and bowed to Yan Xi. “It’s all because I didn’t discipline him well enough that he finally slid into evil ways, getting you into serious trouble. He was so close to ruining your promising future. Please forgive me for not teaching him well!”
Yan Xi stood up hurriedly and avoided receiving Shao Jing’s salute. “Marquis Xing, please don’t blame yourself. This has nothing to do with you. It’s all his own business.”
“He is so disappointing. Originally, he had gained a good reputation and position with the desire to advance, so I have never expected him to become what he is today. His sister is dead, and he stayed outside alone, doing no good. It’s my fault. I should have found a proper job for him!” Shao Jing stood straight, with some bitterness in his eyes. “It’s all my fault for wasting his talent!”
Looking at his gloomy face, Yan Xi tried to soothe him. “You care about him so much, but he is jealous of others winning more attention from you. He has gone too far. Now that this matter is under the Ministry of Justice’s charge, they will investigate it thoroughly. You don’t have to blame yourself!”
Speaking of this matter, it had nothing to do with Marquis Xing. w.a.n.g Shengxue was merely a disappointing distant relative of Marquis Xing, but he took the initiative to should the consequences for him. “Marquis Xing is incredulously nice to w.a.n.g Shengxue!”
Such a seemingly absurd idea popped up and then mysteriously disappeared, leaving only a little trace in his mind.
......
“Anyway, I’m so sorry to let you suffer!” Shao Jing’s face was full of shame. He stood up straight and sat back behind the table. “What did the Ministry of Justice say about this?”
“If the facts of the case have been verified, w.a.n.g Shengxue will be charged with malicious accusation and murder. Although the maid is fine, if she were not stopped by the waiter of the Number One Scholar Restaurant, she would die.” Yan Xi said bluntly.
Even after the incident, he still had such a panic fear.
w.a.n.g Shengxue could have ruined his future, at the cost of a servant girl’s life. How vicious could his heart be? The dead cannot bear witness. If everything went on as w.a.n.g Shengxue had planned, there was nothing he could do to justify himself.
Thinking back, he could connect many things emerging in his mind. It was he who rented the courtyard. w.a.n.g Shengxue had taken him to see it several times, and many people saw him. Once that maid killed herself, all these things and people could prove that he indeed had some secretive connection with her.
Back then, w.a.n.g Shengxue and Ning Caixian lied to him, telling him that woman was not a maid at all. They took her in because they felt pity for her. The whole bulls.h.i.+t was a complete trap with logic. There would be no possibility for him to purge himself of the suspicion once he was trapped in it.
The deeper he thought about it, the more horrifying he became. w.a.n.g Shengxue calculated and manipulated him coldly, aiming to deprive him of all the good things he possessed. “Is it really w.a.n.g Shengxue’s idea?”
“How could a useless playboy make such a thorough plan? Did he spend so much effort just to defeat me?”
“Murder? Is that servant okay?” Shao Jing asked with concern. It could be seen that he really cared about w.a.n.g Shengxue.
“There is nothing seriously wrong with the maid, and she seems to be much clearer now. But in general, she is still suffering. The drug she took seemed to have seriously bad side effects. It is still unknown if it will have a big impact on her!” Yan Xi replied implicitly, “What will happen next depends on the judgment of the Ministry of Justice!”
Shao Jing stopped talking, sitting in silence behind the large desk, his brows knitted tightly together.
It was quiet in the room. Only the light on the table flickered and made a tiny explosive sound.
Yan Xi looked at the square tile before him. His attention seemed to be drawn by it as he waited quietly for Shao Jing to speak.
After a long while, he heard Shao Jing’s gentle voice. “Yan Xi, go back and rest first. You have been dealing with such a troublesome thing just after you finished the exam. I guess you don’t have much energy to handle it now. You’d better go back first. I’ll ask the kitchen to prepare dinner for you. Go to sleep after having a nice meal!”
“Many thanks, Marquis!” Yan Xi stood up and gave him a hold-fist salute.
He was indeed exhausted. At this time, he was struggling to hold on. Hearing Shao Jing’s words, he could barely wait to eat and rest.
Shao Jing nodded. Watching Yan Xi leave, he frowned tightly. He could not allow w.a.n.g Shengxue to be locked up like this. This matter could either be serious or trivial, and the key to the result lay in Yan Xi. Although the maid was also a victim, she was of little importance. Besides, her contract of selling herself was still in that woman’s hands, so the maid was not a big deal.
But it had never occurred to him that Yan Xi would pretend to be naive and stupid. He ignored his implications as if he didn’t understand what he meant.
No matter what, he must save w.a.n.g Shengxue; otherwise, something worse might happen!
As soon as Yan Xi returned to his room, his dinner was ready. All the dishes looked very delicious. The supervisor was very attentive and more respectful to Yan Xi than usual.
In the past, he would think the servants were used to fawning upon the rich and powerful persons. They thought that he might rank high in the exam, so they treated him even better. But after the incident related to w.a.n.g Shengxue, for the first time, Yan Xi felt that the reality might not be what he had thought.
After having a little bit of food, he asked the servants to withdraw it. He washed up and lay on the bed. However, for a long time, he stayed awake. Although he was very sleepy, his mind wandering to many other things wouldn’t leave him in peace. Tossing and turning in bed for a long time, he still couldn’t figure out why w.a.n.g Shengxue would plot against him.
How could he be jealous that Marquis Xing valued him more? Just now, when he was having dinner, he asked the supervisor about w.a.n.g Shengxue. The supervisor, who had done his best to flatter him, didn’t even drop a hint about w.a.n.g Shengxue. So, he did not get any useful information in the end.
This made Yan Xi even more suspicious. If there was nothing wrong, it should be easy to learn about many w.a.n.g Shengxue’s matters. Why did the supervisor of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion care so much and keep his matters strictly confidential? Was there any other reason?
In fact, the supervisor of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion was not to blame. Those things done by w.a.n.g Shengxue were really humiliating. Even as the supervisor of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, he felt that he was too shameful to talk about such things.
Ever since Childe w.a.n.g came to the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, he had never done anything good, and neither did his sister. She didn’t look like a good person either. In this situation, it could be said that he had brought trouble to himself. He could not blame anyone else.
Beyond that, Marquis Xing had asked him not to gossip about w.a.n.g Shengxue, which was another reason why he couldn’t reveal anything
Both Marquis Xing and w.a.n.g Shengxue appeared very strange. As a newcomer in the capital city, Yan Xi had met w.a.n.g Shengxue, and it was impossible for him to have a feud with w.a.n.g Shengxue. If someone else was behind w.a.n.g Shengxue’s plot, this person should know his whereabouts. When he came to the capital that day, he happened to see a vicious child, who was a bully, grab a woman by force. It was such a remarkable coincidence!
“Who else knew that I would come to the capital?”
An idea suddenly came to his mind that people in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion should know it. Except for the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, he couldn’t think of anyone else who could make all those things so real.
“Marquis Xing?”
Yan Xi was not familiar with people in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. He only knew about Marquis Xing and First Young Master in the outer court, and he seldom met those ladies in the inner court. Only Princess Chen had helped him; he might not even know one of them.
“Could I ask Princess Chen to solve my doubts?”
As soon as this thought came to his mind, he decided to put it into practice, eager to find out the truth.
“Tomorrow… Tomorrow, I will go to see Princess Chen. Perhaps she knows the answer to my questions.” In his mind, Yan Xi had subconsciously ignored Marquis Xing!
The next day, Shao Wanru met him in Prince Chen’s Mansion. When she heard him coming, Shao Wanru was stunned at first, but she still agreed. Yan Xi was led to a flower hall in the outer court, where he finally saw Shao Wanru.
As soon as he entered the hall, Yan Xi bowed deeply to the woman sitting in the seat of honor. “Thank you for your help, Princess Chen!”
“Not worth mentioning!” Shao Wanru smiled, raising the corners of her mouth slightly. She looked relaxed and said, “Childe Yan, how did you do in the exam?”
“It should be good!” Yan Xi answered, uncertainly. For many years, candidates had been persevering in their studies despite hards.h.i.+ps, but only a few could succeed. How could he be sure he would be one of the winners? Indeed, he was not bad, but it was the same with all the other candidates. Each one of them was a rare talent.
“Then, first of all, congratulations, Childe Yan!” Shao Wanru said with a smile.
“May I ask if you were also at the Number One Scholar Restaurant yesterday?” Yan Xi lowered his head and asked. The beauty of this delicate girl dazed him when he looked at her for a long time. He couldn’t help exclaiming that her heavenly beauty was unmatchable in all the land.
“Yesterday, I was near the Number One Scholar Restaurant and also saw what happened in it!” Shao Wanru knew what he was asking and did not deliberately hide it. Yesterday, she had mentioned “Second Uncle”. In fact, the Ministry of Justice would investigate it. It’s just that they hadn’t yet come to ask her questions. Part of the reason was that they had to show enough respect to Chu Liuchen.
“Yesterday… You saved the woman yesterday, didn’t you?” Yan Xi inferred it from the words said by the Ministry of Justice’s officers. He could not help raising his head excitedly and looking at Shao Wanru, who was sitting in a high position.