Chapter 1211 - Chapter 1211 Seek Help on Her Own
Chapter 1211 Seek Help on Her Own
This was a remote corner of Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion. Few people came here in normal times. There was originally a side door in this place. Later, Consort Dowager Qing thought that it might cause possible danger and asked her servants to seal the place, so no one came here again.
The officers of the Ministry of Justice had come to the mansion to investigate today and had gone to a lot of places. They had also checked this place before but found nothing unusual about it.
After the investigation, they sent Wen Xichi over for interrogation.
Chu Qing came to him. Wen Xichi said that he hadn’t figured out some things and asked his deputy to perform another investigation. Chu Qing was afraid that there would be misunderstandings, so he helped lead the way in person. Therefore, the place was investigated again. At present, the rest of the people of the Ministry of Justice had followed Chu Qing to other places. After the second investigation, it became quieter here.
Wen Xichi appeared at the door of the courtyard only with a servant. He looked at a tall tree at the door with his hands clasped behind his back. He could also see this tree in the place where he carried out the investigation before. He had walked past it once before. At that time, he felt that the tree was quite tall, so he looked at it a few more times. He didn’t expect that Shao Jie’er would ask him to come here.
The door was half-closed. It should have been half-closed after the investigation just now.
Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a young servant girl looked around. When she saw Wen Xichi, she looked happy. She hurriedly pushed the door open and walked over. She bowed to Wen Xichi and said, “Greetings, Third Young Master Wen!”
Wen Xichi took a look and recognized that it was the servant girl of Shao Jie’er, Liuxiang. She was the servant girl from the Marquis Xing’s Mansion who went with Shao Jie’er when she got married, and not the servant girl who accompanied Shao Jie’er over.
“Where is your Young Madam now?” Wen Xichi asked calmly.
Liuxiang looked around carefully and said in a low voice, “Our Young Madam is in there. After you, Third Young Master Wen!”
Wen Xichi stepped into this deserted courtyard. It could be seen that no one lived here. He had checked it before.
At present, Shao Jie’er was standing in this deserted courtyard. When she saw Wen Xichi coming over, she suddenly lifted her skirt and took a few steps forward. Then, she knelt heavily and said, “Please save me, Third Young Master Wen!”
Wen Xichi stood still, looked at Shao Jie’er, and asked, “What do you mean by that, Second Miss Shao?”
“Please save me. If… if I stay any longer, I will die.” Shao Jie’er suddenly burst into tears. She had previously thought that she could be together with Chu Qing, but just now she made up her mind due to what Chu Qing had said. She looked at Wen Xichi pleadingly.
“Second Miss Shao, you are now the consort of Commandery Prince Qing. If there is nothing else, I’d better leave,” Wen Xichi said coldly and turned to leave.
Shao Jie’er didn’t expect Wen Xichi to leave without hesitation. She got very anxious and said hurriedly, “Third Young Master Wen, I know where that man from yesterday is.”
Wen Xichi stopped and asked, “You know that?”
“Yes, I do. As long as you can take me out of Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, I will tell you where he is!” Shao Jie’er said.
Wen Xichi glanced at Shao Jie’er in silence, as if trying to judge whether she was telling the truth.
“I did see it. A man was sent to Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion. He’s here. He is now… now…” Shao Jie’er stopped there and just looked at Wen Xichi pleadingly. “Please save me, Third Young Master Wen. As long as you take me out, I will tell you everything I know.”
“You saw it?” Wen Xichi raised his eyebrows.
Shao Jie’er was afraid that Wen Xichi would not believe her, so she said anxiously, “Yes, I saw it. I really saw it. I’m telling the truth.”
Wen Xichi took a deep look at her and said slowly in a low voice, “No matter why you want to leave Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, I can’t take you out. Although you have no status in the mansion for the time being, you will still be a consort. So many things have happened in this place. If you run away as a consort now, it will bring trouble to the Ministry of Justice, so I can’t take you out!”
“I’ll die if I stay here any longer. Consort Dowager… Consort Dowager Qing is a vicious woman. Mo Qiuyi, who is going to marry into the mansion, is also a vicious woman. They will kill me.” Hearing that Wen Xichi couldn’t help her, Shao Jie’er cried.
Because of panic, her words were incoherent.
Wen Xichi suddenly had an idea.
“Does Consort Dowager Qing not treat you well? Or does the Consort of Commandery Prince Qing, who is about to marry into the mansion, not treat you well? It’s not strange that she would dislike you because of your ident.i.ty. Since you’re a concubine, can’t you stand such grievance?” Wen Xichi said slowly. It was obvious that he didn’t take what Shao Jie’er said seriously as if she was joking.
Shao Jie’er shook her head violently, and her face turned red as if she had been greatly wronged. She said, “It’s not like that. That woman is in cahoots with Consort Dowager Qing. They come here from time to time and sometimes come very late. When they’re here, they will discuss something. Consort Dowager Qing keeps it a secret. They… they must be hiding something.”
Shao Jie’er remembered that when she went to see Consort Dowager Qing once, she saw the people who served the Consort Dowager guarding the courtyard from a distance. There were guards every five steps. She knew that she couldn’t get close to the courtyard, so she paid special attention to it. Then, she saw Mo Qiuyi leave, and Consort Dowager Qing even sent her out.
Shao Jie’er didn’t expect that the daughter of an insignificant official could be sent out by Consort Dowager Qing, who had always considered herself superior. She had an intuition that there was something wrong with it. For fear of being discovered, she hid behind a rockery and didn’t move at all. After Mo Qiuyi left, it took Shao Jie’er a long time to sneak back. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong. Obviously, there was some secret behind it. Mo Qiuyi’s ident.i.ty was not simple.
“They’re in cahoots?”
“Yes. Consort Dowager Qing is very polite to Miss Mo. She doesn’t seem to… don’t seem to be a daughter-in-law… who is going to marry into the mansion…” Shao Jie’er said repeatedly. She looked up at Wen Xichi and said anxiously, ” Third Young Master Wen, please save me. For the sake of our friends.h.i.+p since we were young, don’t let me stay here anymore. They… they will kill me.”
“Do you want to leave?” Wen Xichi asked with unclear eyes.
“Yes, I want to leave. I can do anything as long as I can leave here.” Shao Jie’er nodded and said anxiously, “If Consort Dowager Qing knows that I met you in private, I will definitely die.”
Wen Xichi thought for a moment and suggested, “If you want to leave, just send a message to Marquis Xing. He is your father. It must be better for him to speak for you in Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion!”
“No… no, it won’t work. Father won’t care about me, let alone at this time,” Shao Jie’er said in despair. She cried so hard, but she didn’t dare to make a noise. She could only hold her chin hard and choked with sobs.
If Marquis Xing’s Mansion could help her, she would have come to them a long time ago. If it were in the past, without her asking for Marquis Xing’s Mansion’s help, Consort Dowager Qing would not have dared to treat her like this. But now, things were different. Marquis Xing’s Mansion had declined, and she had no one to rely on. She could only ask Wen Xichi for help and make a deal with him using her information about what had happened yesterday.
She believed in Wen Xichi’s character. Even if he couldn’t help her, he wouldn’t rat her out. That was why she dared to take a risk.
If it were someone else sent by the Ministry of Justice today, Shao Jie’er would not dare to do such a bold thing. This matter was related to her life, so she had to be careful.
“No one cares about my life and death now. Either Old Madam or Father cares about me. I heard that he has a beautiful b.a.s.t.a.r.d daughter and is going to bring her into the mansion. She’s beautiful and will be the legitimate daughter, so she can be sent to any place she wants. Why would he care about a concubine’s daughter like me who has been sent out?”
Shao Jie’er cried so hard that she fell to the ground.
Shao Jie’er only heard from Chu Qing about what had happened to Shao Jing. Her father made a big fuss for a mistress’s daughter and was determined to make that girl his legitimate daughter, while she, who was originally his daughter in the mansion, ended up like this. Thinking of that, Shao Jie’er was full of resentment.
“Although I’m a concubine’s daughter, and I won’t gain power, that girl is just a mistress’s daughter. How could she be doing better than me? How could she?”
“What about your aunt? You can ask her for help.” Wen Xichi suggested to her again.
“What can my aunt do? Even if she is smarter than other concubines, she still has to please Madam Jiang all the time. Now that Madam Jiang is dead, what can she do? Father doesn’t take her seriously. Even if she is dead now, Father won’t take a second look at her!” Shao Jie’er said.
Thinking of her aunt, she couldn’t stop crying. Her aunt had advised her not to listen to Shao Yanru and not to marry into Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion. Commandery Prince Qing didn’t look like a good person, especially when he was unwilling to marry her later. However, at that time, she thought that Commandery Prince Qing was a good match for her and wanted to marry him.
Later, she had a second opinion because of Prince Cheng. Now when she thought about it, it was not her but her father who had a second opinion. “I was originally a victim, but now I’m regarded as a s.l.u.tty woman. I’m just going with the flow. Why should I be blamed for everything?”
Everyone in Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion looked down on her because of what had happened before.
“In fact… you still have a choice…” Wen Xichi said hesitantly.
“Please tell me, Third Young Master Wen.” On hearing Wen Xichi’s words, Shao Jie’er knew that he had a solution. She was overjoyed, wiped away her tears, and kowtowed hard to Wen Xichi three more times. “Please instruct me. I… am at the end of my rope now!”
She had thought about it for a long time but couldn’t find anyone to help her. She didn’t expect Wen Xichi to help her figure it out in such a short time. How could she not be happy?
Wen Xichi fell silent and looked at Shao Jie’er with indifferent eyes, which made her feel scared. After a long while, she heard him say, “Princess Chen can help you!”
“Princess Chen?” Shao Jie’er thought that she had misheard.
“Princess Chen is Fifth Miss Shao. With her ident.i.ty and status, she can take you away from here on the premise that you listen to her completely. Of course, it’s your business how to talk her into this!” Wen Xichi said slowly with indifference in his eyes, but his every word shocked Shao Jie’er. “Shao Wanru can help me?”