“What did you say?”
Lady Zhang thought she was hearing things.
The Momma immediately repeated: “The young mistress’s carriage overturned! She was thrown out, landed face-first and slid a long distance! Her face is ruined!”
Lady Zhang let out a wail, her vision went dark, and she fainted on the spot.
Seeing his wife collapse, Xie Ji didn’t help her up. Instead, he angrily smashed two more teacups in frustration.
It wasn’t until her personal Momma helped her up, pinching her philtrum and calling her name loudly, that Lady Zhang gradually regained consciousness.
She grabbed Zhang Momo tightly and immediately fired off a series of questions.
“Why did the carriage overturn? Who was the coachman?! Where were the maids attending her? Didn’t anyone protect her? Where is Zhiqiu now? Has a physician been summoned for her?!”
Zhang Momo’s face twisted in pain from Lady Zhang’s gripping nails, but she still answered each question one by one.
Learning that a physician had already gone to see Xie Zhiqiu, Lady Zhang wanted to go see her daughter, but her body felt weak and she couldn’t get up.
“Husband, how can all these things happen so coincidentally at once? Is someone targeting our Xie family? What exactly is going on? Say something!”
Xie Ji had broken a treasure brought back from overseas by the Minister, equivalent to offending the Minister. The second branch’s Xie Tianhai merely dabbled in some calligraphy and paintings, yet somehow ended up in prison. And now her daughter’s face was ruined…
“A woman with a ruined face, how will she ever find a husband in the future!” The more Lady Zhang thought about it, the more she felt as if the sky was falling. She couldn’t hold back her tears.
Xie Ji grew irritable from his wife’s crying and roared angrily: “Shut up! Your wailing is giving me a headache!”
“What are you shouting for? You caused trouble and now you want to blame me?” Feeling wronged by his shout, Lady Zhang wiped her tears and, supported by the Momma, went to see her daughter.
By the time she arrived, the physician had already wiped the mud and blood from Xie Zhiqiu’s face and was preparing to bandage it.
One look at Xie Zhiqiu’s face, and Lady Zhang nearly fainted again.
Xie Zhiqiu’s face was almost unrecognizable; the outer layer of skin was nearly entirely scraped off…
…………
While the Xie family was facing misfortune, the two groups waiting outside were utterly shocked.
The Chang Sui, who had just arranged for people to keep watch, hadn’t even returned to the Marquis’s residence yet when he witnessed Xie Zhiqiu’s carriage inexplicably panic and gallop wildly through the streets.
Then,
Xie Zhiqiu was thrown out, performing a face-first slide, skidding several meters away.
She fainted on the spot.
The maids only suffered minor scratches at most, the coachman landed almost steadily on his feet, and even the carriage itself was undamaged.
Apart from Xie Zhiqiu, only a few pastries rolled out and were crushed.
The Chang Sui was completely stunned!
He just felt the whole scene was incredibly eerie.
He remembered, Yue Yiniang cursed the little clay figure, saying she wanted her cousin to fall and ruin her face, right? And it came true so quickly!
He quickly ran towards the Prison Warden Office, intending to report this matter to the Marquis.
On the way, he encountered soldiers from the Prison Warden Office making an arrest. The person they arrested was none other than Xie Tianhai from the Xie family’s second branch.
The Chang Sui inquired.
It was said that Xie Tianhai was deceived by a friend and was reselling calligraphy and paintings.
The real severity didn’t lie in the calligraphy and painting scrolls themselves, but in the fact that someone had inscribed a poem on them. The poem praised Prince Chu as the rightful heir to the Mandate of Heaven, a brilliant ruler for the ages, and so on.
The crucial point was that prince had murdered his own brothers and had even plotted rebellion.
If that prince hadn’t killed all the Emperor’s sons, the Empress wouldn’t be in power now.
To openly praise a deceased prince as the rightful heir to the Mandate of Heaven was to express dissatisfaction with the current Empress, to show disregard for the sovereign! It was an affront to the imperial majesty!
It’s practically like throwing mud right in the Emperor’s face!
Who else would they arrest but you?
“Master,” Chang Sui rushed into the room excitedly, “Just after I had our people in position, I saw Xie Zhiqiu fall out of his carriage and get his face badly scarred! On my way back, I saw the prison officers going to arrest Xie Tianhai too!”
He Jiulin was handling official documents when he looked up at this report.
“So quickly?!”
“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes! That’s why I came to report immediately! Now only Xie Ji from the main branch of the Xie family remains unharmed!”
Chang Sui had been personally overseeing this matter from the beginning – from witnessing the Madame having Du Du bring out the little clay figure, to Xie Xinyue and others performing the curse, and finally to staking out the Xie residence.
As someone who had observed the entire process from start to finish, Chang Sui’s inner shock at this moment was beyond words.
He Jiulin remained silent for a moment, then asked Chang Sui to provide more details, sitting quietly and listening.
The man carried himself with noble elegance and cool detachment, like the autumn moon that no dust could touch.
From an omniscient perspective, one would notice the fingers beneath his sleeves slowly clenching, revealing he wasn’t as calm as he appeared.
“I understand. You may return to your post…” He Jiulin began.
Just then, Vice Surveillance Commissioner Zhang Hui barged into the room without ceremony.
“Old He, want to hear some fresh gossip?”
He Jiulin waved his hand, dismissing Chang Sui.
Zhang Hui started: “You know about that jade nine-lion censer that Minister Wen had shipped back from overseas, right? Heard it was a meter tall! Well, some minor official from the Ministry of Rites smashed it to pieces!”
He Jiulin’s eyelashes fluttered slightly.
“The Ministry of Rites?”
Wasn’t the main branch of the Xie family connected to the Ministry of Rites?
Unaware of his reaction, Zhang Hui continued gloating: “I went to see that jade nine-lion censer – it was truly exquisite! What a pity it got broken! Well, Minister Wen’s efforts have come to nothing. He won’t be able to present such a treasure at the chrysanthemum viewing banquet anymore!”
“I also heard that the official immediately knelt down and kowtowed, offering to pay compensation! Personally, I think even if he pays, it’s useless – Minister Wen must absolutely despise him by now! So, Old He, pretty fresh gossip, eh?”
Chang Sui, who had reached the doorway, shuddered involuntarily.
!!!
It’s happening! The curse is coming true!!
We just said only Xie Ji from the main Xie family remained unharmed! And now this happens!
The Madame hasn’t even left the Marquis’ residence. Could the curse really be working?
…
Meanwhile, Qingjue had also relayed the news back to the General’s residence.
Upon hearing the report, Xue Yanzhou raised his wild and domineering eyebrows slightly.
“If the last incident was a coincidence, this one definitely isn’t…”
The man’s eyes were astonishing, like two burning suns, his face unable to contain his excitement: “That’s my woman for you! Even when she’s crazy, she’s still this capable, ahahahaha!!”
Qingjue: …
He really wanted to remind him.
General, your woman is currently serving as the Madame at the Marquis’ residence.
But he worried that pointing this out wouldn’t discourage the General – it might even make him view the Madame through an even more favorable lens.
After hesitating for a moment, he said: “General, today is the 22nd. There are still eight days until the end of the month! You should focus on how to bring the Madame back!”
Xue Yanzhou’s laughter gradually subsided as he patted his subordinate’s shoulder.
“You’re right. I should start preparing!”
Qingjue asked curiously, “Besides me, Marquis Zhaoping must also know about this. After what happened, he definitely won’t be willing to let the lady leave. General, how do you plan to bring her back?!”
Xue Yanzhou replied, “Am I the kind of person who follows rules? If I can’t bring her back openly, can’t I just steal her in secret?! As long as the lady is willing to leave with me when the time comes, that little bastard He Jiulin will have no choice but to swallow his anger!”
Qingjue: …
He should have known—nothing decent ever came out of the general’s mouth.
Whatever.
When the general went to “steal” her, he’d just help distract Chang Sui and the others.