Four Seasons Brocade – CH 136

Chapter 136 ☆、

Accountant Duan, hearing Cai-Mei’s words, simply lowered his head without rebuttal. Ah Wu had not expected him to be such a devoted lover.

On the contrary, Xiu-Yi’s question left Cai-Mei speechless, even with her usual shamelessness. No one present spoke up for her, and it seemed she was about to break down. She was not the biggest beneficiary of this situation; she was merely doing someone else’s bidding. She could not bear the blame in the end. Their mistake was that they had not anticipated someone else’s foresight; otherwise, they would not be in this predicament.

“It’s no wonder Cai-Mei is like this. Accountant Duan must have used some underhanded means to coerce her. She had no choice but to do this. We’ve known her for so many years; she’s the kindest, gentlest of women. Otherwise, she would not have contradicted us for the sake of Zi-Shan.” Mei-Ying knew she could not remain uninvolved any longer, or Cai-Mei would surely betray her under pressure.

Ah Wu turned to Accountant Duan. “Accountant Duan, do you have anything to say?”

Mei-Ying’s words were undoubtedly the final straw for Accountant Duan. He had already decided to take the blame for Mei-Ying, knowing he would not escape unscathed. But Mei-Ying’s words showed she had not valued his deep affection. How could he accept this?

Mei-Ying looked at Accountant Duan pitifully, as if pleading for mercy. But her words were merciless, recklessly squandering his feelings. Even if Accountant Duan were a reincarnation of a love saint, he would be heartbroken.

“Your Highness, I was bewitched today and made this mistake. This morning, Cai-Mei came to the outer courtyard to find me. She said that Miss Mei-Ying was so distressed and had stopped eating because Your Highness wanted to marry her off. She asked me to go and persuade her. I knew this was inappropriate and had already refused. But then Cai-Mei said that Miss Mei-Ying was very grateful for the things I had given her. She said that if I went and persuaded her again, I might be able to win her heart. I got carried away and…” Accountant Duan was no longer the charming rogue he used to be; he was now a heartbroken lover.

“What nonsense are you spouting!” Cai-Mei shrieked, denying everything.

Accountant Duan ignored Cai-Mei and continued, “Ever since I met Miss Mei-Ying, I’ve been unable to forget her. I often ask Cai-Mei to bring her rouge and face powder. I could not bear to see her suffer, so I always sent her Hezhi Pavilion’s Jade Hall Red.” Accountant Duan explained everything clearly.

Zi-Shan could not help but interject, “Did you not also ask Cai-Mei to bring me Hezhi Pavilion’s rouge, just not Jade Hall Red?”

Accountant Duan looked at Zi-Shan with some surprise and said, “How could I dare to be so disrespectful to Miss Zi-Shan?”

“Your Highness, Cai-Mei did indeed send me two boxes of Hezhi Pavilion’s rouge, saying it was from Accountant Duan. Luckily, I knew something was amiss and never used it. I am afraid they had already decided to falsely accuse me of having an affair with Accountant Duan, but little did they know that they themselves were corrupt and were instead smearing others.”

Ah Wu looked at Mei-Ying, whose face was deathly pale, and said, “This servant has never accepted any rouge from Accountant Duan. He’s filthy and shameless; he has impure intentions, yet he acts like a scoundrel towards this servant.”

“Whether you accepted it or not, a search of your room will suffice,” Zi-Shan said sarcastically. “It’s just a pity that someone so devoted has been ruined by you, and in the end, he even had an affair with another man.” At this point, Zi-Shan was almost gloating.

By this point, everyone understood what had happened. Ah Wu, not wanting to waste any more time with Mei-Ying, said, “Bring up the old woman guarding the gate.”

The old woman came forward, trembling with fear. Without needing to be asked, she confessed that Cai-Mei had given her two taels of silver to let Accountant Duan into the inner courtyard.

“Your Highness, Accountant Duan and Mingze are from the outer courtyard. What do you think we should do? This old woman, Mei-Ying, and Cai-Mei are from the inner courtyard. What does Nanny Hao think we should do?” Ah Wu turned to Chu Mao and asked.

Ah Wu’s heart skipped a beat as Chu Mao’s lips curled into a slight sneer. She already had her own plans.

Meanwhile, Xiangsi had whispered something in Nanny Hao’s ear. Nanny Hao said, “The matter is clear now. Mei-Ying and Cai-Mei conspired to ruin the reputation of Zi-Shan, who serves the Princess. However, there’s still something I do not understand: who pushed Mingze into the room? If it was Mei-Ying and the others, and they knew it was Mingze, why would they lock the door?”

“It was this servant who pushed Mingze in,” Wen-Mei suddenly stepped forward. “This servant could not stand Mei-Ying and Cai-Mei using such despicable means to slander Zi-Shan. Seeing Mei-Meng lurking suspiciously near Weixiu Garden, I seized the opportunity to distract her. I intended to stop Zi-Shan from going in, but then Mingze approached. Thinking it would be good to teach these troublemakers a lesson, I pushed Mingze inside. Mei-Meng came over and asked me, and I told her that Zi-Shan had just gone in, and she quickly went upstairs to lock the door. Fearing I would ruin things, she tricked me into going somewhere else, so I let her have her way.”

At this moment, not only did Mei-Ying gasp, but even Nanny Hao and Xiangsi were utterly astonished. They never expected that Ah Wu had so secretly bribed Wen-Mei.

Mei-Ying stopped arguing, only glaring hatefully at Ah Wu, saying, “Your Highness, what a cunning scheme! You set up your own trap and then unravel it yourself to frame me.”

Ah Wu scoffed, “You did not need me to set a trap for you. If you had not harbored malicious intentions, you would not have reaped the consequences.”

Nanny Hao was about to say something when Chu Mao gestured with his finger, signaling her to be quiet.

“Alright, Li Yanguang will be in charge of handling the others,” Chu Mao declared decisively. In this matter, Nanny Hao and Ah Wu had no further say.

However, Accountant Duan and Mei-Ying were no ordinary people. Hearing that Chu Mao had handed them over to Li Yanguang, they knew the situation was hopeless. Although Li Yanguang usually seemed cheerful, he was actually a ruthless and cunning man.

Ah Wu could not find out anything else, but the three people—Mei-Ying, Mei-Meng, and Cai-Mei—had vanished without a trace. Even the old woman and her family who guarded the gate had disappeared without a trace. Accountant Duan and Mingze were naturally nowhere to be found.

At midnight, everyone returned to their courtyards. Ah Wu followed Chu Mao nervously, knowing full well that her hastily staged, clumsy act tonight could not fool him. She just did not know if Chu Mao would listen to her.

When she saw Chu Mao’s footsteps turn towards Yulan Hall, Ah Wu’s heart immediately eased.

After they had finished washing up, Ah Wu lay on her side on the bed, wrapped in the blanket, her star-like eyes blinking as she said to Chu Mao, “Your Highness, I want to tell you about what happened today.”

“Hmm,” Chu Mao replied, feigning sleep with his eyes closed.

Ah Wu did not care whether he was truly listening or not. If she did not admit her mistake, she was just playing with Chu Mao’s feelings, a mistake she could not afford to bear. She then recounted in detail how Xiu-Yi had come to report Cai-Mei going to find Accountant Duan, all the way to how she had Xiu-Yi find a servant to observe Accountant Duan.

“I guessed this this morning, but Mei-Ying and Mei-Meng went too far. I originally intended to let it go for the sake of Your Highness, but they still tried to scheme against my people. Naturally, I could not tolerate it, so I played along. Please forgive me, Your Highness.” Even her apology was so self-righteous.

“Even if it was a tactic, did you really need to have Mingze go and annoy Accountant Duan?” Chu Mao’s voice carried a hint of amusement.

Ah Wu could not help but laugh. “I was just teaching him a lesson on behalf of the Prince. Although Accountant Duan was kept in the dark about this, his behavior was still wrong. He dared to covet someone close to the Prince, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to tease him. Who knew Xiu-Yi was so mischievous, choosing this Mingze, who turns out to be a split sleeve?”

One could imagine how disheveled Accountant Duan must have been after inhaling that aphrodisiac, having to control his impulses while avoiding Mingze. No wonder he arrived disheveled, with scratches on his face and neck.

Ah Wu smiled like a sly fox, but Chu Mao had not expected her to confess so openly, without hiding any ulterior motives. This was undoubtedly a novel experience for Chu Mao.

Seeing that Chu Mao remained silent for a long time, Ah Wu’s heart pounded. “Is Your Highness angry with me?”

“You are so clever, so good at being cheeky, so good at playing tricks, and yet you still honestly confess to me afterward. How could I dare be angry with you?” Chu Mao said with a slight smirk.

Ah Wu knew that her feigned honesty probably would not fool Chu Mao, so she smiled somewhat guiltily but still shamelessly said, “Your Highness flatters me.”

Chu Mao was almost amused with anger. But the beautiful woman lay on the pillow, her cheeks flushed, her skin as white as snow, and she was such a delicate young girl. Chu Mao did not know what to do with her.

Ah Wu, on the other hand, had been too busy and troublesome today. She was already feeling sleepy. Having poured out her “loyalties” to Chu Mao, and seeing that he remained silent, she closed her eyes to pretend to sleep for a while, but as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep sleep.

The room was very warm from the underfloor heating, but Chu Mao could not stand the heat. He threw back the covers, only draping them over his chest. Looking at Ah Wu, she was sleeping peacefully, her neck tucked into the bedding. If it were not for needing to breathe, she probably would have buried her face completely under the covers.

Chu Mao remained awake for a long time, but Ah Wu did not roll over to him again. She just obediently stayed in her small corner. For some reason, the canopy bed suddenly felt somewhat empty.

Ah Wu, fast asleep, did not have these thoughts. Early the next morning, while still dozing, she was dragged out of bed by Zi-Shan and others and dressed in full regalia to go to the palace to pay homage to the Empress.

Ah Wu suddenly thought that it would not be so bad if Chu Mao became Emperor. She would not have to get up before dawn to dress and go to the palace to kneel in worship and, if she was unlucky, wait in the cold wind.

Ah Wu, a Princess Consort, stood at the head of the line of noblewomen attending the court assembly, waiting outside the Dingci Gate of Kunming Palace. These ladies, no matter how dignified they were outside, became inferiors within the palace walls, left to wait in the cold wind unattended.

Ah Wu’s hand warmer was already running cold. An hour or two had passed since she got up and boarded her carriage, and she was still waiting anxiously outside Kunming Palace for Empress Tian to ascend the throne.

Ah Wu’s eyes, however, were fixed greedily on Princess Fuhui, who stood at the head of another column. She noticed how much older the Princess looked since the last time she saw her and wondered what troubled her.

Just then, the Imperial Princess’s eyes swept over her, and Ah Wu could not help but give her a sweet smile. This sight ignited a surge of anger within Princess Fuhui. Her precious son had been sent to the army for this woman, his life hanging in the balance, while she herself had married Chu Mao and was enjoying wealth and luxury.

Ah Wu was stung by the coldness on Princess Fuhui’s face. She cried out for her mother in her heart, yet knew that in Princess Fuhui’s eyes, she was no longer her daughter.

Just as Ah Wu felt her fingers stiffening, a young eunuch approached. As he drew near, he handed her a hand warmer from his robes, saying softly, “Your Highness, His Highness Prince Qi sent this to you.”

Ah Wu never expected that Chu Mao would even think to send her a hand warmer. A flurry of thoughts raced through her mind.