Everyone in the room and on the roof suddenly changed their expressions.
Ji Hong stood up anxiously and said, “That, that voice sounds like Liu Hong’s!”
Liu Hong?
Du Ruo and the maid looked at each other, both feeling uneasy.
The three of them looked outside.
A large red lantern hung under the eaves, and they could only see the occasional swaying of tree branches in the wind. Beyond that, it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen clearly.
“What should we do?” Du Ruo glanced back at the still bed curtains and asked Ji Hong softly.
Ji Hong bit her lip and whispered, “The Second Madam has just fallen asleep. Shouldn’t we find out what’s going on before reporting to her?”
Masters despised noisy servants the most.
The maid gathered her courage and, holding Ji Hong’s arm, said, “Why don’t I accompany you to take a look, sister?”
Ji Hong looked at Du Ruo.
Du Ruo quickly said, “I’m scared. I’ll stay here to serve the Second Madam.”
Hearing this, Ji Hong’s face darkened slightly, but she still went out with the maid.
Du Ruo saw them off at the door.
Master Duan breathed a sigh of relief.
He then saw Du Ruo look left and right, and seeing no one, she quickly ran back, lifting the bed curtains while softly calling, “Second Madam, Second Madam.”
Master Duan felt confused.
This Du Ruo seemed a bit odd!
He couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
The bed curtains were lifted, and the brocade quilt embroidered with sapphire-colored jade hairpin flowers was pushed aside. The bed was empty, with no sign of Miao Ansu!
Master Duan was shocked.
He looked up and saw Song Mo’s figure appear in the small courtyard behind the adjacent flower hall.
This was bad!
Master Duan immediately understood.
In any wealthy household, there were always a few hidden places, designed for doing things discreetly without others noticing.
The back chamber where Madam Miao was resting seemed secluded, but in reality, it was only separated by a wall from the warm room in the back courtyard of the flower hall where the Prince of Liao was being entertained.
There should also be a secret door leading directly to the wing room where Madam Miao was resting.
Although he didn’t know how Song Mo had appeared alone in the back courtyard of the flower hall, or how Madam Miao had suddenly disappeared, he instinctively felt that Song Mo had fallen into a trap!
Without much thought, he prepared to jump down to warn Song Mo.
But as he gathered his qi in his dantian, his body suddenly sank, and he could no longer move.
Master Duan was terrified.
A chilling voice came from beside his ear: “Don’t move, or I’ll make sure you die without a burial place!”
Master Duan wanted to curse loudly.
If he was dead, why would he care about having a burial place?
But as the words reached his lips, they turned into a faint groan.
He felt both regretful and resentful.
He regretted being too careless these past few years due to his smooth sailing, knowing that the people around the Prince of Liao were skilled, yet not raising his guard. He resented that after receiving so much kindness from Dou Zhao, he couldn’t help at this critical moment.
His teeth gritted audibly.
He watched helplessly as Song Mo walked into the warm room.
Liu Hong, who had disappeared earlier, suddenly emerged from somewhere.
She called out “Young Master” sneakily and pushed open the door of the warm room.
“Who is it?” Song Mo’s low but serious voice questioned from inside the warm room.
“This servant is Liu Hong from the Second Young Master’s side…” As she spoke, she suddenly let out a high-pitched scream.
The piercing sound echoed through the courtyard.
The Prince of Liao and Song Yichun, who should have been drinking in the flower hall, appeared in the small courtyard at an unbelievable speed.
The Prince of Liao’s attendants seemed prepared, dispersing to various corners of the courtyard, firmly locking down every entrance and exit of the small courtyard.
Master Duan wished he could slap himself.
“What happened? What happened?” Song Yichun shouted, his voice tinged with excitement, as he pushed open the door of the warm room before the Prince of Liao.
Soft lamplight poured out like moonlight.
Master Duan saw a woman huddled in the corner of the arhat bed, wrapped in a quilt, while Song Mo stood in front of the bed.
It’s over, it’s over!
That woman must be Miao Ansu!
Having an affair with his sister-in-law, whether there was evidence or not, the Young Master couldn’t clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River!
He closed his eyes.
But then he heard Song Mo’s slightly mocking voice: “I didn’t expect Father to be so impatient as to bring Your Highness the Prince of Liao here. Ah! I originally just wanted to teach Song Han a lesson, but with you doing this… how am I supposed to end this?” He continued, “Your Highness Prince of Liao, family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public. I’ve made you witness an embarrassing scene!”
Huh?
What was going on?
Master Duan opened his eyes.
In the bright light, the expressions of Song Yichun and the Prince of Liao looked somewhat comical, especially Song Yichun, whose mouth was wide enough to fit an egg.
He looked more closely.
Song Mo was indeed standing in front of the Arhat bed, but Song Han was hiding behind the bed curtains, his clothes in disarray.
Master Duan blinked.
Suddenly, he felt lighter.
Without thinking, Master Duan jumped up.
A light chuckle came from behind him: “Master Duan, my apologies.”
Master Duan turned his head.
In the moonlight, Lu Ming was smiling at him, his face upturned.
Master Duan’s fists clenched, making cracking sounds.
Lu Ming, however, was unfazed and pointed towards the warm room.
Master Duan had no choice but to swallow his dissatisfaction and, confused, crouched on the roof with Lu Ming to peer into the warm room.
“Come out,” Song Mo coldly looked at Song Han and said, “Hiding any longer won’t make sense!” As he spoke, he casually tore down half of the bed curtain and threw it over Song Han. “Let’s go to the front to talk. In your current state, what kind of appearance is this?”
Song Han’s gaze seemed somewhat dazed, as if he had been frightened stupidly, or as if he didn’t understand what was happening. He woodenly stood up, supporting himself on the bedpost, mumbling “What… what happened to me?” Gradually, his eyes regained their focus, and he became more alert, asking sternly “What is going on here?” as he looked around… Then his expression suddenly changed as he turned to Song Yichun, “What… what exactly is going on?”
Song Yichun’s gaze darkened, his face as if covered in frost. But before he could speak, the woman on the arhat bed began to cry softly: “Duke, I don’t know how I ended up here either! I was serving the Second Madam in the room, Liu Hong went to the latrine, and Ji Hong went to look for Liu Hong. When I lifted the bed curtains to check, the Second Madam was gone. Just as I was about to call for someone, everything went black, and I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found myself lying on this bed, with the Young Master standing in front of me… I don’t know what happened! I didn’t have a secret meeting with the Second Young Master…”
Master Duan’s jaw nearly dropped.
Du Ruo was in the back chamber just moments ago, how did she end up in the warm room in the blink of an eye?
Who had orchestrated this?
And where had Madam Miao gone?
What roles did Ji Hong and the others play in this incident?
How did the Young Master discover that someone was trying to frame him?
He looked towards Lu Ming.
Lu Ming smiled and nodded at him, indicating that he should continue watching for now.
In the warm room, Song Yichun let out an angry roar: “Shut up! What ‘secret meeting’? Who said the Second Young Master was having a ‘secret meeting’ with anyone?”
Du Ruo suddenly realized she had misspoken.
She looked at Song Yichun in terror.
Song Mo chuckled and said to the Prince of Liao, “Indeed, how could Song Han have a secret meeting with his father’s concubine? It must be that Song Han drank too much and entered the wrong room, got into the wrong bed. This is completely a misunderstanding!”
The Prince of Liao’s expression had returned to its original jovial state. Hearing this, he laughed heartily and said, “Yantan sees things. Song Han just got drunk and went to the wrong place, that’s all.” Then he said to Song Yichun, “Let’s go! It’s all a misunderstanding!”
Song Yichun forced a smile on his face and bowed slightly, inviting the Prince of Liao to go first: “Indeed, indeed. Let’s go back to drinking!”
The three of them walked out.
Song Han seemed to want to say something but held back.
Liu Hong, who had been hiding in the corner, suddenly jumped up to grab Song Mo’s leg.
Song Mo nimbly dodged.
Liu Hong fell to the ground, her mouth bleeding from the impact. Disregarding everything, she crawled towards Song Mo: “Young Master, save me! I was forced by the Second Young Master! If I didn’t do it, he said he would sell me to a brothel. Please, Young Master, save my life. I’m willing to tell everything…”
Song Han’s eyes blazed with anger. He stepped forward and viciously kicked Liu Hong twice, making her cough up blood.
But Liu Hong knew that if she couldn’t make Song Mo turn back, what awaited her would be a fate worse than death.
She shouted recklessly: “Young Master, it was the Second Young Master who made me give the Second Madam the drug, and then had someone lure you to the warm room while the Second Madam was unconscious, to make others think you were having an affair with the Second Madam…”
This Song Han, how did he handle things?
Since the truth was exposed, he should have silenced this lowly maid immediately. How could he let her ramble on?!
He turned back to glare at Song Han, wishing he could swallow him whole.
As for Song Han, his face turned pale with anger, and he kicked Liu Hong in the chest again.
Liu Hong let out a miserable cry, her eyes wide open, clutching her chest as she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Du Ruo screamed in terror.
Song Han stepped forward and grabbed Du Ruo’s neck.
Song Mo frowned slightly.
Suddenly, a voice with a hint of authority came from outside: “What’s going on here? Even if the maids have done something wrong, there’s no need for such violence. Our Duke Ying’s mansion is not some nouveau riche household. If outsiders hear about this, won’t it cause criticism?”
The Prince of Liao couldn’t help but turn around and see a young woman gently supporting a beautiful young woman of about seventeen or eighteen as they walked in.
She was quite tall, with long eyebrows extending to her temples, her eyes bright and spirited, exuding a valiant aura like a heroine from a storybook.
It was Lady Dou!
His eyes narrowed.
He had long heard that Song Mo greatly respected his wife who was a year older than him. When he saw her last time, he thought she was beautiful, but not like now, with her head held high and her graceful bearing unmatched.
Looking at the young woman beside her, who had her hair done in a married woman’s style and wore an emerald green jacket embroidered with gourd patterns, a pure gold hairpin in her hair, and gold-inlaid jade lantern earrings hanging from her ears, she was not tall but had some charm. Her expression showed great respect towards Lady Dou. This must be Song Han’s wife, Madam Miao.
The Prince of Liao inwardly smiled bitterly.
It seemed that this scheme had completely failed!
He decided to make a swift retreat.
“This is your family’s private matter. I’ll take my leave now!” The Prince of Liao smiled, nodded to Song Mo and Song Yichun, and left with his people.
The warm room fell into dead silence.
Song Han stepped forward and slapped Miao Ansu: “Where did you run off to? How dare you let that little hussy Liu Hong talk nonsense…”
Song Mo grabbed Song Han’s hand, silently glaring at him coldly.
His gaze flickered as he tried to break free from Song Mo’s grip.
But Song Mo’s hand was like an iron clamp, rendering him immobile.
“Enough!” Song Yichun shouted, “Haven’t you embarrassed yourselves enough? Let go of each other immediately!”