Chapter 47 – First Deception
Piercing panicking voice travelled to her ears, Murong Xue stopped what she was doing and laughed to herself, she should have known this about her brother.
Murong Ye would not enjoyed the birthday celebration peacefully, but she did not expect things to escalate this quick, he got into this trouble not even one hour after his departure. Indeed, Murong Rou could not wait any longer.
She understood undoubtedly that she being sick could be excused from the celebration. Murong Hua was the general of Zhen Country and the son-in-law of house Wu An, his presence was crucial no matter what. He must have tried to protect himself from Murong Rou’s setup.
Murong Xue turned to look at the person, “what happened? Tell me.”
The messenger was Murong Ye’s steward, Feng Tao, based on his looks; she guessed she was probably only fifteen or sixteen years old. He was panting hard from the running, “My lady… Master gambled with Master Song… And he lost…”
Mu Rong Hua was young, thus his skill might not be as good, and therefore it was normal for him to lose in gambling, “How much did he lose?”
“Hundred Thousand!”
“What?” Mu Rong Xue startled. Mu Rong Hua did not usually lost this much when he was gambling, the most was only few thousands.
Feng Tuo said bitterly, “They made a lot of high bets, it was around five to six thousands per round, I told him to stop when I saw him losing but he wouldn’t listen, that’s why I came over to tell you…”
Murong Ye forgot about everything once he started gambling, such pampered child. He could still control his desire even if it’s Murong Rou’s trick.
With that amount of money, the normal citizens could not even finish them for centuries! Did he realize how difficult and how long it would take for them to earn back these twelve thousands?
Murong Xue was in fury, “where is Murong Ye now? Bring me to him!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Feng Tuo cheered up promptly, “please wait ma’am, I will go and prepare the carriage…”
“There’s no use in doing that, we go right now by using the short way, I want to reach the house of Wu An as soon as possible.” Murong Xue retorted. She was very well aware on Murong Ye’s addiction in gambling, Feng Tuo spent so much time coming back here to find her, he must had gambled a few more rounds, who knows he could be losing more money than before, if they wasted time on preparing carriage, that amount of a few hundred thousand that they had just collected would be vanished in the air just like that.
Murong Rou knew how much he loves to gamble and used this weakness to set him up, how smart.
“Noted!” Feng Tuo replied in confidence and left the mansion with Murong Xue. He guided her along the way and after a few turnings, finally they reached their destination.
The shimmery golden signboard above the door which wrote “The House of Wu An” could be seen under the ray of sunshine. The head of governments, people with big titles and important generals were walking in and out of the main door, laughing happily as they passed.
Lavish gifts were stacked up like a mountain, and the housekeeper ordered the maids to arrange the presents.
Murong Xue had a sulk on her face, she thought, “Murong Rou, I’m here to clear off our debts, are you ready for this?”
Behind the house, Madam Song Lao was sitting in the garden with her elderly friends, wearing a set of emerald outfit with a red gemstone on her head.
“Madam Song Lao, it’s your big day today, why didn’t your first daughter-in-law come out and attend the guests?” Liu Jia Pu Zi’s incident was a huge hit in the city; Murong Rou had discredited the house. Madam Lin came here today was not purely because she was a close friend of Madam Song Lao, but also to hear the truth.
With that question, the nobility and others looked at Madam Song Lao with pure interest. That occurrence had been manipulated by others into different versions, now that they were all here with the victim herself, they wanted to know in details.
“I’ve asked her to repent in the temple as a punishment!” Madam Song Lao replied casually.
“Why is that?” Madam Lin asked knowingly.
“It was her fault after all.” Madam Song Lao sighed loudly. “She acted so politely and she was such as gentle girl, I trusted her to let her manage everything in the house, but I did not expect her to steal from others, it was really unlucky for us to have her now…”
The crowd looked at each other and pitied the old lady. It was Murong Rou’s mistake but the house’s reputation was dragged along with her misconduct.
She was the head daughter-in-law in the house, because of what had done; the house had to bear all charges, what a shame…
Feeling the crowds, Madam Song Lao hid her smile. It was true indeed when Murong Rou stole from the other house, this was known by everyone and she could not deny the fact, therefore she admitted it in front of everyone and cut through the details, so that people would not consider her as the culprit.
Her strategy went smoothly as how she had planned.
“It is rare for us to see each other so often, let’s not talk about this miserable event, Hui Hui, please go to the kitchen and take out the crystal jelly for everyone.”
Hui Hui was the second daughter-in-law in the house; she had extraordinary social skills, now that Murong Rou was not here to disparage her movements, Hui Hui strode towards the kitchen in gladness.
Madam Lin praised, “This daughter-in-law of yours are so intelligent, was she the one who organized everything today?”
“Exactly, but it is her first time doing this, there was so much to handle, such a poor girl…”
Murong Rou who was standing behind a fake hill, heard every single word she said. This celebration was her achievement, she would not mind at all if Madam Song Lao wanted to build Hui Hui up.
But how could she say so deceitfully about the event in Liu Jia Pu Zi? Everybody in Wu An had entire possession she took from there…
Just then, a maid came forward and reported, “Ma’am, the lady of Zhen Country has arrived!”