Chapter 982 Who Is Childe w.a.n.g? And Miss Zhao?
When Yan Xi returned to the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, he was so tired that he could barely open his eyes. After taking a short bath, he skipped the meal and went straight to sleep.
“Young Master! Young Master!” The voice of his servant seemed to come from afar.
“Young Master! Young Master!” This time, this voice was right by his ear, and someone was pulling him.
Yan Xi suddenly opened his eyes and looked blankly above. There appeared the anxious face of his servant. “Young Master, Young Master, please get up quickly. Some officials are here!”
Yan Xi’s vision gradually cleared. He sat up, his hands covering his dull head. Then the servant helped him get dressed.
Yan Xi had hardly woken up. With a headache, he took a sip of tea brought by the servant and asked, “Officials?”
“They said they were from the Ministry of Justice and were coming for you!” The servant reported in a low voice.
Yan Xi frowned and stood up. “Why would people from the Ministry of Justice look for me now? I have had nothing to do with them. Was there something wrong with the Palace Examination?”
His temples throbbed violently for a few times, which instantly sobered him up. His face darkened. If it was true, something terrible must have happened.
He stood up and hurried out.
The two officials from the Ministry of Justice were waiting outside. When they heard the footsteps in the room, they turned around and sized Yan Xi up. Then, they asked in a solemn voice, “Are you Childe Yan?”
“What’s the matter?” Yan Xi asked, trying hard to suppress the discomfort in his head.
“Childe Yan, we have something to ask you. I don’t know if it’s convenient for you to go to the Ministry of Justice with us!” The officials of the Ministry of Justice were very polite. Although Childe Yan was someone important, he was in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, so they had to show him some respect.
......
“What is it?” Yan Xi remained where he was and asked again.
He wouldn’t leave without knowing what had happened. Seeing his uncompromising att.i.tude, the two officials of the Ministry of Justice exchanged a look and gave in. After all, that lady didn’t die. So, even if Childe Yan discarded her, it was a small matter. They didn’t have to offend him and the Marquis Xing’s Mansion for a servant girl.
One of them coughed in a low voice and got straight to the point. “Did you marry a woman and give birth to a child? Then, regardless of your child’s illness, you abandoned them. Is it the truth?”
The owner of Number One Scholar Restaurant told them that the woman was a servant girl. But since the owner got the message from some Young Madams of the aristocratic family, they didn’t know if it was true.
“I... was married? And I have a child?” Yan Xi was stunned. He thought it was about the Palace Examination, but he didn’t expect it to be his personal affairs. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say for a while. How could he not know when it happened?
“What nonsense are you telling us? Our master has been studying in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion since he entered the capital. Hardly had he seen an outsider. How could he be with any woman, let alone marry her? When he entered the capital, our elder master asked Marquis Xing to help him look for a good wife. How is it possible that he had a child?”
The servant was so angry that he retorted, glaring at the two people from the Ministry of Justice. “How could they come up with such a ridiculous thing?”
The two people from the Ministry of Justice looked at each other again and carefully observed their performance. Although their expressions were different, they were full of shock, which did not seem to be faked.
“Who tells you this? Who is it that framed me up like this?” Yan Xi rebuked furiously. Finally, he came to his senses. His face first became pale with astonishment, and then red with anger.
How could there be such a rumor that ruined his reputation for no reason? How could he not be angry!
“Childe Yan, you’d better come with us to the Ministry of Justice and see that woman! She wanted to jump down from the Number One Scholar Restaurant and seemed not in her right mind. She must have been drugged. It was she that kept accusing you of abandoning your family. Fortunately, someone saved her, and now she is still in the Ministry of Justice!” The staff of the Ministry of Justice said.
“Oh! The woman was going to jump to her death from the Number One Scholar Restaurant? It’s right at the place where he came out. If she jumped down at that time, he might not prove his innocence.”
Thinking of this, his face immediately turned dreadfully pale. He knew what consequences he had to bear if that woman succeeded in killing herself. He would come to no good end, even if he pa.s.sed the exam. There would be no evidence to clear his suspicion once the woman died.
“Let’s go!” Without any hesitation, he nodded and walked out with his servant, too busy to inform Marquis Xing.
When they arrived at the Ministry of Justice and saw the woman inside, Yan Xi’s expression changed drastically.
“Childe Yan, do you know her?” An official from the Ministry of Justice, who had led him here, asked. Judging by his reaction, he knew Childe Yan was acquainted with her.
“Yes. She is Miss Zhao’s servant girl. How does she have anything to do with our Young Master? Abandoning her and their child?! She isn’t even qualified to be our Young Master’s concubine. Let alone her, even Miss Zhao is not qualified!”
The moment the servant saw the woman, he shouted angrily while pointing at the woman who was still in a confused state of mind, “Our Young Master saved Miss Zhao, but from then on, she has been pestering him, angling for sympathy. But on the other hand, she had an affair with Childe w.a.n.g.”
Thinking of the grievance his young master had suffered, the servant was so angry that his eyes turned bloodshot.
He had thought that Miss Zhao was a nice lady. To his astonishment, not only did she hook up with Childe w.a.n.g in private, but she also wanted to plot against his young master.
Upon hearing the servant’s words, the officer of the Ministry of Justice asked hurriedly, and his eyes lit up. “Who is Childe w.a.n.g? And Miss Zhao?”
The Number One Scholar Restaurant’s owner had told them that this woman came with another woman who was very likely to be Miss Zhao. The officer of the Ministry of Justice was keenly aware that this matter should be related to Childe w.a.n.g and Miss Zhao.
The doctor had already come to check her over that the woman had been drugged. Before that, she had been told more than once to repeat these words. Therefore, in a state of mental numbness, she kept repeating these words and doing movements as instructed beforehand.
Jumping off the building was one of the preset movements.
Someone must have plotted all of this, targeting at Childe Yan. What his servant said also proved it.
The prime suspects in the case would be Miss Zhao and Childe w.a.n.g, whose backgrounds and purposes were still unknown to them. It looked like they had a grudge against Yan Xi.
After listening to the possible cause and effect of the incident from Yan Xi, the officers of the Ministry of Justice were more confident that this was a scheme with evil intentions aiming at Childe Yan, of course. It was obvious that w.a.n.g Shengxue had found an unknown woman and set a trap for Childe Yan. However, the woman dragging him into the trap was supposed to be Zhao Qingyu. Somehow, it became Zhao Qingyu’s maid.
Zhao Qingyu must have seen through w.a.n.g Shengxue’s intention and deliberately led the trouble to her maid.
The Ministry of Justice sent some people to get w.a.n.g Shengxue and Zhao Qingyu from their residences.
In Zhao Qingyu’s residence, they found Zhao Qingyu, who was about to escape. At this time, w.a.n.g Shengxue had not received any news. To avoid suspicion, he didn’t come to Zhao Qingyu’s place and was caught in Zhao Qingyu’s house.
When the two princ.i.p.al suspects were caught, the whole thing would come to light. First of all, the waiter of the Number One Scholar Restaurant recognized that Zhao Qingyu was the woman who accompanied the maid before. It was she who left the woman alone and got out of the restaurant.
At this time, Zhao Qingyu, who was Ning Caixian, confessed to everything, telling them that w.a.n.g Shengxue plotted against Yan Xi with her. She put all the blame on w.a.n.g Shengxue.
w.a.n.g Shengxue knew that he could not escape this time, so he could only admit his crime. He was jealous that Yan Xi was valued by the Lord Protector’s Manor, so he set up such a trap to ruin Yan s.h.i.+’s future.
There was no more information to get out from them.
The Ministry of Justice put them in custody for the time being and decided to get the facts straight. w.a.n.g Shengxue could do such a thing out of jealousy. It sounded reasonable, but they still felt that something was missing. The Marquis Xing’s Mansion had never been good to w.a.n.g Shengxue. How could he plot against Yan Xi merely because the mansion treated him with some respect?
It was already dark when Yan Xi returned to the Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
A supervisor had been waiting for him when he got out of the carriage. He came up and saluted. “Childe Yan, our marquis wants to see you!”
“At a time like this?” Yan Xi looked at the dark sky and asked in surprise. Marquis Xing had never looked for him when it was late.
The supervisor said with a smile, “You should have a good rest after the exam, but my master heard the Ministry of Justice had sent some people to look for you, so he is worried and specially asked me to wait for you here!”
Since such a thing had happened, it was reasonable for Marquis Xing to inquire about it.
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“I see.” Yan Xi nodded and followed him inside.
Marquis Xing, Shao Jing, met him in his courtyard. There was his study next to the main room. He had been sitting gloomily in the study for a long time without turning on the light. The servants stayed outside and didn’t dare to enter.
When someone reported to him that Yan Xi was here, Shao Jing ordered someone to light the candle and invite him in for a talk.
After Yan Xi saluted him, they took the seats for the owner and guest, respectively. Then, Shao Jing said, “What happened to you? Why would the people of the Ministry of Justice find you? If there’s anything, tell me. I can always help you!” Shao Jing said gently. His benign smile looked very kind and convincing.
“Thank you, Marquis Xing. It’s about Childe w.a.n.g of our mansion...” Yan Xi frowned slightly when he said this. w.a.n.g Shengxue was Marquis Xing’s nephew. Though they were distantly related, he was Marquis Xing’s junior. After all, the following words wouldn’t sound pleasant to the ear.
“w.a.n.g Shengxue? What’s wrong with him this time?” Shao Jing’s brow furrowed, and his smile faded. “What a good-for-nothing brat. He always causes trouble. I have criticized him several times, but he had no intention of making any change. What did he do this time?”
From his words, Yan Xi could tell that w.a.n.g Shengxue was really not a well-behaved person. He felt increasingly grateful to Princess Chen. If it weren’t for her reminding him, he wouldn’t have seen w.a.n.g Shengxue’s true face.
“But why didn’t Marquis Xing remind me? He is clear that his nephew is not a good one and that I have been close to him.
“Other people might not know about the affairs in the mansion. How could Marquis Xing not know about them?”
Because of Shao Jing’s words, some doubts emerged in his heart. This situation had never happened before.