Chapter 94 Chapter 94: Uncovering the Adultery 1+2
Fortunately, the tea had cooled down and wasn't scalding hot, otherwise it would have burned her skin. However, her dress was incredibly absorbent, and once soaked by the tea, it immediately clung to her skin, highlighting her curves and causing Zhao Mingjing to frown uncomfortably.
"Oops, sorry, I accidentally bumped into you."
Zhao Mingjing looked up at the girl in front of her who was pretending to apologize, and pursed her pink lips tightly.
Zhao Mingjing knew the person apologizing. She was the fourth daughter of the Wen family. Her father was a colleague of Minister Zhang, and she was also close friends with the young lady from the Zhang family. Zhao Mingjing glanced at Zhang Hanliu, who was watching the excitement from the side, and she understood a little better. Was she coming to defend her good friend?
Zhao Mingjing didn't say anything, but suddenly stood up and walked to the table where brushes, ink, paper and inkstone for painting were placed.
When Wen Yingying saw her suddenly stand up, she subconsciously took a small step back, thinking that she was going to hit someone, but she didn't expect that Zhao Mingjing ignored her and walked straight to the table.
Wen Yingying breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Hanliu had said that she had changed, but now it seemed that was not the case. Without Zhao Mingsheng by her side to protect her, Zhao Mingjing would still be bullied by them.
Just as Wen Yingying was about to leave, the girl who had finished writing stood up and raised her hand to stop her.
"Mrs. Wen, are you planning to get my skirt dirty and run away?" Zhao Mingjing stared into her eyes and said slowly.
At this time, Zhang Hanliu, who was watching the fun on the side, came out and helped, "Sister Zhao, you're overthinking it. Yingying is not that kind of person. She will take responsibility." Zhang Hanliu gently tugged at Wen Yingying's sleeve, signaling her not to overdo it.
Then he smiled at Zhao Mingjing again: "Yingying didn't mean it. Sister Zhao, you are such a kind person, you will definitely not make things difficult for her, right?"
Zhao Mingjing chuckled. She finally understood what was going on. One of these two people played the good guy, and the other played the bad guy. All they needed was to set up a stage and start singing.
One is white lotus and the other is green tea, which is also a perfect match!
"Isn't it just that your skirt is dirty? I'll wash it and send it back to you." Wen Yingying snorted lightly and said nonchalantly.
"Mrs. Wen is not very knowledgeable and may not know that the material of my clothes cannot stand water. It will be ruined if it touches water. There is no need to trouble Mrs. Wen to wash my clothes."
Wen Yingying's eyes widened. Who was going to wash her clothes? He meant to have the servants wash them and then give them to her, but Zhao Mingjing made it sound like he was going to wash her clothes himself.
But that’s not the focus right now.
Wen Yingying touched the silver in her purse and gritted her teeth, "Okay, I can't wash it. I'll just compensate you."
Having achieved her goal, Zhao Mingjing raised the corner of her lips slightly, raised the paper in her hand and said happily, "Okay, then please sign this document, Madam Wen."
Wen Yingying reluctantly took the paper handed to her by Zhao Mingjing and casually glanced at the contents. The paper simply said: B accidentally destroyed A's skirt today, and agreed to compensate A with an identical skirt within three days, or directly compensate with money.
Wen Yingying scoffed inwardly. It was just a torn skirt, how could it be so expensive? He wrote it so seriously, was he afraid she wouldn't pay for it?
But when she saw the price written on the paper, she was stunned.
One thousand taels of silver?
"Impossible! How can this dress be worth one thousand taels!" She couldn't control her voice for a moment and shouted in a shrill voice.
Before Zhao Mingjing could explain, someone spoke for her.
"Madam Wen, you are wrongly blaming the young lady from the Zhao family."
A young girl with a graceful demeanor like an orchid walked out from the crowd of onlookers.
When Zhao Mingjing saw her, she was stunned. The person who spoke was the daughter of the Zhai family of the Dali Temple. She had a good relationship with Zhao Mingsheng on weekdays. She didn't expect that she would speak for her today.
Zhai Xiu's ancestors were people who were enshrined in the Taimiao. She was influenced by them since she was a child, so she was naturally knowledgeable. She could tell at a glance that the material on Zhao Mingjing was extraordinary.
Zhai Xiu pursed her lips and smiled, saying softly, "Madam Wen and her family have only recently arrived in the capital, so it's normal that they haven't had any experience with these expensive fabrics. The fabric that the young lady from the Zhao family is wearing is a specialty of the Western Regions. There are only three pieces of it in the entire capital, and one of them is now on her body."
"And the workmanship..." Zhai Xiu gently lifted Zhao Mingjing's sleeve and shook it off, saying softly, "The cloud lines and the edges are sewn with gold thread, right? And the seams are dense and fine, not a single stitch visible. It really looks like Yunniang's handiwork."
Yunniang is an embroiderer at the Imperial Clothing Workshop. Her embroidery skills are unmatched even by those of the other embroiderers in the palace. To hire her for a job requires at least five hundred taels of silver. And it's not enough to just be rich; you also have to wait in line.
Hearing this, the young ladies around all looked at him with envy.
"It's that material, right? It's called Yuxiusha, right? It seems to come from that legend in the Western Regions, where people wear fur coats in the morning and gauze in the afternoon, and eat watermelon around the fire."
"Hey? Is it that powerful?"
"It's actually Yunniang's handiwork, no wonder it looks so good!"
"I've also queued up with Yunniang, but I guess I won't be able to get it until next year."
The whispers of the young ladies around her sounded like a mockery to Wen Yingying. Even though Zhai Xiu hadn't said anything, Wen Yingying felt like a country bumpkin who had just arrived in the city and knew nothing about anything. Her face flushed red, and she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
"So, it's really not too much for the young lady from the Zhao family to ask you to pay only one thousand taels of silver."
Wen Yingying was speechless.
She set her sights on the second solution. Could she just compensate her with an identical dress?
But soon, she rejected this idea.
There were only three bolts of material, so where would she find the other two? Even if she could get Yuxiu yarn herself, besides preparing the gold and silver threads, she would also have to ask Yunniang from the Imperial Clothing Workshop to sew it herself. The total cost would probably be more than a thousand taels.
Wen Yingying's legs went weak and she really couldn't stand this time. If Zhang Hanliu hadn't supported her, she would have sat down.
She received twenty taels of allowance every month, but she was a spendthrift and could not save any money at all. How could she come up with a thousand taels now?
With her monthly salary of twenty taels, how could she possibly come up with a thousand taels? His mother could certainly afford it, but if his mother and father knew that he had paid a thousand taels for this matter, they would definitely break her legs when they got home.
Wen Yingying looked at Zhang Hanliu's face as if asking for help.
"Han Liu..."
She had just opened her mouth for two words when the person who was originally supporting him seemed to sense something, and he pulled his hand away and even took a small step back, as if he wanted to distance himself from her.
Watching the quick movements of her 'close friend', Wen Yingying felt as if she had swallowed a fly, and the stuffiness in her chest made it almost impossible for her to breathe.
Wen Yingying suddenly recalled that if Zhang Hanliu hadn't kept whispering in her ear about how Zhao Mingjing bullied her today, how could she have impulsively come and cause trouble for Zhao Mingjing?
Now, she took a step back as if it had nothing to do with her. Wen Yingying felt very cold in her heart. She seemed to have seen through this person.
"Okay, I'll compensate you!"
Wen Yingying was so angry that she didn't even use the brush, and directly covered her fingerprints with cinnabar.
Zhao Mingjing gently blew dry the ink on the document, turned around and handed it to Zhong Cuijiang for her to keep.
"Please, Madam Wen, send the money to my house as soon as possible." Zhao Mingjing glanced back at Wen Yingying and said with a smile, "Also, I'd like to kindly remind Madam Wen that if you are sick, you should seek treatment as soon as possible. If you delay, it may not be cured."
This was like lighting a powder keg. Wen Yingying angrily said, "What's wrong with me?"
"My limbs are so weak that I can bump into people even when walking on the street. Isn't this muscular dystrophy?"
After saying this, Zhao Mingjing no longer paid attention to Wen Yingying's rage, put on the cloak handed to her by Zhong Cui, turned around and left.
I have to change out of these wet clothes quickly. Even though the weather is hot, it’s still uncomfortable to have wet clothes sticking to my body.
Wen Yingying wanted to catch up and ask for clarification, but she was tripped by the protruding bricks under her feet. She screamed and then fell heavily to the ground, and her carefully prepared skirt was torn on the ground.
Wen Yingying sat on the ground in a state of embarrassment, but no one sympathized with her. This was all her own fault. No one bumped into her; she had fallen because she hadn't stood firmly. Just as Zhao Mingjing had said, her limbs were completely powerless!
After this incident, Wen Yingying's image was completely ruined.
After the crowd of people watching the show dispersed, Zhang Hanliu returned to Wen Yingying's side and wanted to support her, but was pushed away by Wen Yingying.
"You don't have to pretend to be kind here!"
After this incident, she finally saw what kind of person Zhang Hanliu was!
Wen Yingying pushed her hand away, stood up, and limped away.
The place where the gentlemen were playing was only separated from the young ladies by an artificial lake, with the boys and girls facing each other on the other side. Compared to the young ladies who were still relatively reserved over there, the young gentlemen's place seemed much more lively.
Drinking, reciting poems and composing essays, I feel so happy and comfortable.
A man in crimson-purple clothes was gathered in the center of the crowd. Even Li Zong was cautiously accompanying him on the side. It made people curious about the origin of this purple clothes.
The man in purple seemed to be troubled by something. He drank one cup after another, and soon the whole pot of wine was empty. But he still didn't feel it was enough, so he took another pot and continued to drink.
This made Li Zong, who was standing by, terrified, and he asked cautiously.
"Prince Qi, have you had any worries lately?"
Qi Shang didn't say anything, just glared at him. Li Zong knew that he had asked a question he shouldn't have asked, so he quickly shut his mouth.
Qi Shang drank the wine in the cup, but the annoyance in his heart could not be driven away. As the saying goes, drinking to forget sorrow only makes you more sorrowful.
Actually, it was nothing serious. I just don’t know why my father seemed to be in a bad mood recently. He was dissatisfied with everything and took it out on me when he got home. As a result, he was scolded several times.
After drinking several glasses in a row, the aftereffects of the alcohol began to take effect. Qi Shang felt his face starting to burn and his head felt a little dizzy.
Li Zong, who observed this scene, asked flatteringly, "Prince Qi, this wine is quite strong. If you are drunk, would you like to go to the backyard to rest for a while?"
Qi Shang originally wanted to go back to Prince Jin's Mansion directly, but when he thought about facing his father's reprimand again, he agreed.
"Okay."
Hearing Qi Shang's agreement, Li Zong hurried forward to help him over, but was waved away.
"You don't need to help me!" Qi Shang said while holding on to his shaking body, "Just find a servant to lead the way for me."
Li Zong smiled apologetically and responded, directing the servants behind him: "Hurry up and take the prince to the side hall to rest."
After finally seeing off the giant Buddha, Li Zong finally had time to sit down and wipe the sweat from his forehead.
The young man who usually played with him came over and wanted to find out some information.
"What happened to Prince Qi?" he asked.
Li Zong poured himself a glass of wine and gulped it down in one gulp before saying unhappily, "Who knows?"
After he finished speaking, he also felt that his tone was a bit aggressive. He came to his senses and called out to his friends around him, "Come on, drink, drink."
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Zhao Mingzhu, who escaped from the Marquis' Mansion, relied on her memories of her previous life to walk all the way to the Earl of Yong'an's Mansion. Taking advantage of the fact that there were many people here today and she was dressed in a maid's clothes, she easily slipped in through the corner door of the Earl's Mansion.
She had originally wanted to take this opportunity to strike up a conversation with Prince Jin in order to escape her predicament in the Marquis's Mansion. However, she had just walked into the garden when she ran into a servant, followed by a man in purple.
Zhao Mingzhu looked closely and saw that the man in purple was none other than Prince Jin!
She was just thinking about how to avoid this servant and start a conversation with Prince Jin when she saw the servant coming straight towards her as if he had found his savior.
When the servant was halfway there, he suddenly felt an unbearable stomachache. Fearing that he had eaten something wrong, he hurried to the toilet to solve the problem, and casually stopped a maid who was coming towards him.
He lowered his voice and whispered to the unfamiliar maid, "Sister, I have a sudden severe abdominal pain. Please take this guest to the side hall to rest."
Zhao Mingzhu was just trying to find an opportunity to get in touch with Prince Jin, but unexpectedly, someone came to bring her a pillow just when she was sleepy. She tried hard to suppress the upward curve of her lips and nodded in agreement.
"Okay, go ahead. I'll take this guest with me."
Looking at the servant's back as he left, Zhao Mingzhu turned around and couldn't wait to say something to Prince Jin, but she found that he was drunk and his eyes were frighteningly red, obviously he was very drunk.
"Prince?"
Zhao Mingzhu called out softly.
As he walked, Qi Shang felt more and more uncomfortable due to the smell of alcohol and drunkenness. He was now dizzy and just wanted to vent.
At this moment, the little maid who suddenly appeared in front of him was like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth.
He grabbed the maid in front of him, pressed her against the rockery wall next to him, and began to tear her clothes without saying a word.
Zhao Mingzhu was still dazed when she was pulled over. Her back hit the rockery hard, and she cried out in pain. Before she could recover, she felt the man in front of her start to tear her clothes off.
Faced with the man's sudden animalistic behavior, Zhao Mingzhu was terrified for a moment. She was about to call for help, but the events of her previous life flashed through her mind.
In her previous life, she had been tormented in the Earl's mansion, dying before the age of thirty-two. Her entire life had revolved around a man in that small courtyard, and she knew nothing else. So, even after her rebirth, she still didn't understand many things.
However, before she died, there was a major event that shocked the capital, and even a woman like her who never left the house heard about it.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, Prince Jin led his troops in a rebellion!
After a day and night of fighting, Prince Jin successfully ascended the throne. His son, Qi Shang, was named Crown Prince. A hundred years after his death, Qi Shang would be the next emperor!
As the woman of Prince Qi, she would be the future Crown Princess! Even the future Queen!
Zhao Mingzhu was faced with such a huge temptation, how could she not be tempted?
Gradually, Zhao Mingzhu gave up resisting and got into a fight with the man, with her clothes scattered all over the floor.
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Zhao Mingjing followed Zhong Cui to a side shop in the mansion that was provided for young ladies to change clothes. Halfway there, Zhong Cui suddenly realized that she was missing a belt, so she had to go back to the carriage to get it.
"My dear lady, I accidentally left my belt on the carriage. Please walk along this road to the end and turn right. It is the women's dressing room. Please wait there. I will be back soon."
Zhao Mingjing nodded to show that she understood: "Okay, I understand. Please go and come back soon."
After Zhong Cui left, Zhao Mingjing continued walking down the road. When she was about to reach the fork in the road, she suddenly heard some unusual noises coming from the road on the left.
It seemed to be a woman's voice.
Although she knew that it was a side hall where men rested, Zhao Mingjing still quietly moved closer out of curiosity.
After walking around a bunch of tall bushes, Zhao Mingjing saw a girl dressed as a maid being pressed against a rockery by a man in purple clothes. They began to kiss and hug each other in broad daylight.
The woman's face was covered, making it difficult to see clearly. However, Zhao Mingjing saw the man's face clearly, and it turned out to be the Prince of Jin!
Zhao Mingjing's eyes widened in shock.
We really should call those ladies who adore Prince Jin over here and take a good look at what kind of beast in human form this gentle, polite, and elegant gentleman they talk about is!
They actually did this kind of indecent thing in broad daylight, in someone else's house!
For some reason, Zhao Mingjing felt a sense of familiarity when she saw the maid's clothes. Just when she wanted to take a closer look, a big hand covered her eyes from behind.
"It's better for you to watch less of these, little girl."
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