Chapter 116 The Storm Is Brewing
"..." Mu Xi did not answer, but gradually realized who the two people were.
He was seriously injured in an attack on his way out of the city to Yangyi Temple. He later recuperated at a farmer's house. There was a couple living at the farm, so these must be the two people in the family.
Mu Xi did not answer.
Ma Zheng then addressed Qing'er, who was kneeling on the ground, saying, "Repeat what you told me before in front of all the distinguished guests present."
Qing'er's hair was disheveled, and her clothes looked as if they hadn't been changed for days. Her eyes were filled with fear. She slowly raised her head and glanced in Mu Xi's direction, then immediately lowered her head like a startled rabbit: "This servant... this servant was in Xihua Mountain, once... once when I was bringing bathwater for the young master, I accidentally saw... saw..."
“Say it out loud whatever you see,” Ma Zheng said, standing to the side to encourage Qing’er.
Qing'er shuddered, and her voice became even lower: "I saw it...I saw it...The young master is a woman."
The sound was soft, but it was no less than a thunderclap.
An uproar erupted in the hall.
Mu Xi remained unmoved, her face as cold as ice. As the original owner's memories were loaded, she vaguely recalled that there had been an accident, but it did not cause any problems afterward, and so many years had passed, and no one had paid any attention to it.
Ma Zheng then asked, "Can you be so sure just by looking at it?"
Qing'er shrank back, not daring to raise her head: "When I carried the hot water in, there was no one in the outer room, so I thought it would be better to take it directly to the inner room. I didn't expect that when I lifted the curtain, I saw... I saw... the young master in the bathtub... the young master's upper body..."
"How can you be so sure you didn't mistake someone?" Ma Zheng pressed repeatedly, wanting to make sure everyone present heard it.
Qing'er nodded like a quail: "Although I was discovered immediately and kicked out by Sister Tao'er, it's easy to tell if someone is a woman at a glance. Besides, I also suspected that I was seeing things, so I secretly went around to the back window to listen carefully. I heard Sister Tao'er say something like, 'She probably didn't see anything, right? In the future, the young master should be careful when bathing. Why is there no one guarding the outside?' Then she blamed Sister Zhelan for not guarding the gate properly and letting a rough maid barge in."
Qing'er spoke with such conviction that everyone in the hall turned their attention to Mu Xi.
Mu Xi sat still, wondering about one thing.
Ma Zheng continued his questioning: "And then?"
Qing'er continued, "My mother is Granny Li, who serves the young master. That day, after I accidentally barged in, my mother was implicated. She was probably scolded by the young master and didn't return until very late. When she came back, she looked unwell and gave me a good scolding. I asked my mother if I was seeing things, and she said I was. But even though I was seeing things, I was still punished and made to do rough work, and I was never allowed to get close to the young master again."
The original owner had always had such a scheming little maidservant by his side, yet he never noticed and wondered what she had been doing all along.
As for Granny Li, she was an old woman who served the original owner's birth mother and should have been very reliable. However, due to her advanced age and poor health, she stayed behind at Xihua Mountain and did not return to Moyang City with her.
But now that Qing'er is here, she wonders where Granny Li is.
Just then, Mu Xun returned and whispered to Mu Xi, "The guards of the Court of Justice have been surrounded outside. They dare not act rashly. However, Father is entangled with Liu Qi and his men and cannot get away for the time being. You don't need to say anything. I will handle the Left Supervisor."
Mu Xun had just said he was going to deal with Ma Zheng.
Ma Zheng also spotted Mu Xun returning and pointed to the two kneeling behind Qing'er: "The young master doesn't recognize these two, but surely the second young master should."
Mu Xun then glanced at the three people kneeling in the hall. He froze the moment he saw the peasant couple, recognizing them immediately.
Ma Zheng didn't wait for a reply and raised his voice, saying, "That day, the Crown Prince encountered bandits in the suburbs. The matter was reported to the Court of Justice, which tracked down the bandits. Unfortunately, the bandits were cunning and had disappeared without a trace. However, they unexpectedly found this farmer. Chen Wei, tell me about what happened that day."
Ma Zheng was referring to the peasant woman.
The peasant woman, Chen Wei, knelt on the ground, trembling. "This humble woman...this humble woman...about two months ago...a carriage arrived, along with many men on horseback carrying swords. The young master carried another wounded young master from the carriage; his wound was on his chest. They gave my family a lot of silver, asking me to arrange rooms, heat water, and clothes. Oh...right, they also brought their own doctor...and..."
"Get to the point," Chen Wei said, somewhat incoherently, prompting Ma Zheng to remind her.
Chen Weishi, already flustered and inexperienced, was completely speechless after being frightened by Ma Zheng: "My lord, I don't know what the important thing is... I didn't see anything... I didn't see anything at all... They gave me silver and told me what to do, and I did it. I don't know anything else..."
Having no other option, Ma Zheng pointed in the direction of Mu Xi and Mu Xun: "Tell me first, were the two young masters you saw that day the same two?"
Chen Wei looked up shakily and said, "Ah...ah...the young master standing there is...is...the other one I can't see clearly."
"Can't see clearly?" Ma Zheng turned to the farmer, "Chen Dali, you speak."
The farmer, who had been keeping his head down, raised his head and glanced in Mu Xi's direction with his blurry old eyes. Whether he saw him clearly or not, he nodded: "Yes, it is the young master who was injured that day."
Ma Zheng was finally satisfied and kicked Chen Weishi again: "I peeked through the gaps in the crowd and saw that the injured young master was not a man, but a woman."
Another uproar erupted in the hall.
"Why are you so sure? And why were you peeking?" Ma Zheng had clearly asked this question many times before.
As Chen Weishi gradually adapted to the situation, her speech became smoother: "I didn't peek. It's just that the master was supposed to deliver the item, but the young master insisted that I deliver it. When I went in, he was very protective and secretive, as if he had something he couldn't let anyone see. I was puzzled. What's wrong with a man being injured? In our village, if someone gets injured, they're usually exposed in broad daylight and smeared with soot... So I just took a few extra glances."
Ma Zheng continued to guide the conversation: "Tell me what you saw when you took a second look?"
Madam Chen thought for a moment longer: "Ah... that young master had an arrow shaft stuck in his chest, his eyes were closed, and he wasn't reacting..."
"Get to the point, how did you figure out it was a woman?" Ma Zheng reminded him again.
Chen Wei said, "This woman is a woman, how can you tell?"
"Hehe, really? So sure?" Ma Zheng's slanted eyes revealed a lewd smile. "Look again, is that the one sitting up there? Doesn't the seriously injured young master look exactly like that young master?"
A storm is brewing.
Mu Xi watched coldly; how Chen Weishi responded was no longer important.
I just can't understand why, when Gao's birth mother and wet nurse exposed her before, she didn't immediately go public but instead tried to negotiate with her privately. Was it because the Jin Fangjun family's fortunes were intertwined, and their losses were shared?
Today's drama was clearly orchestrated by the Gao family behind the scenes, but now that she has been exposed in public, isn't the Gao family afraid of being implicated again?
There was supposed to be a big show waiting for her to perform tonight, but Gao is up to her old tricks again. What is she trying to do?
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