Her guards

Chapter 64 Ask Clearly

Wei Jiao tapped the table impatiently.

"Why is it so slow?" he said, raising his voice towards the inside. "Haven't you finished making up what to say yet? Do you need any help? We have a lot of people here who are good at making up lies."

After saying that, he waved his hand and called out a few names.

Several of the embroidered guards standing to the side responded in strange voices and went into the inner hall.

"I'm coming."

The voice of the Lady of Ding'an came from inside, her voice tinged with tears, and her eyes were red as she came out.

"Please forgive me, Captain. The family members reminisced about the past."

Wei Jiao looked at Duke Ding'an and saw that his face was pale, as if he had lost his parents.

Wei Jiao couldn't help but laugh, then looked at the girl being led by the hand of the Lady of Ding'an, raising an eyebrow slightly.

At this moment, everyone else in the room also turned their attention to the girl.

She changed into a light yellow dress, styled her hair in a bun, and although her face was still plain, perhaps it was the dress and hairstyle that made her eyebrows seem a little more curved, her thin eyelids a little softer, her nose a little more upturned, and her thin lips a little glistening. Her whole person was as elegant as a pear blossom.

The boy guards from before have vanished without a trace.

"Ah Sheng." Liu Chan went over to her, looked her up and down, and said happily, "You look even better in women's clothes."

Mo Zheng smiled at her without saying a word. She could sense that Liu Changqing glanced at her with a serious expression and then looked away. Cheng Yuan, a young man, stared at her curiously for a couple of seconds before returning his gaze to his junior sister. Only Wei Jiao remained.

Wei Jiao stared at her, looking her up and down, left and right, back and forth, circling around her without stopping.

Even Lady Ding'an, watching from the sidelines, found it hard to bear; she felt that Wei Jiao was about to strip the girl of her clothes at any moment.
That madman could actually do something like that!
She quickly reached out and pulled Ding'an Gong.

“Captain, this is indeed my sister’s daughter,” Duke Ding’an said in a hoarse voice.

"You're from Baima Town, huh?" Wei Jiao ignored the Duke of Ding'an, still looking at Mo Zheng, and raised an eyebrow, saying, "You didn't burn to death?"

Mo Zheng looked at him, her eyes somewhat blank, as if she didn't quite understand what he was saying.

Duke Ding'an and his wife were taken aback for a moment, surprised that Wei Jiao knew about Baima Town, but they quickly understood.

There was nothing the Embroidered Uniform Guards didn't know about their spying.

"Captain, the one you're talking about is my own sister," Lady Ding'an said hurriedly, tears welling up in her eyes. "My sister and niece have both passed away."

After saying that, he pulled Mo Zheng along.

“This is our uncle’s sister’s daughter. Our uncle has two daughters.”

"This cousin of mine is pitiful. She passed away a few years ago. Her husband remarried, but he's a good-for-nothing and doesn't care about the child. My uncle even wrote to ask us to take care of her, but I never expected..."

Yang Luo chimed in from the side: "My master wanted to marry Miss to an old widower, so Miss and I ran away."

As she spoke, she raised her sleeve to cover her face and began to cry.

Upon hearing this, Liu Chan grasped Mo Zheng's hand, her expression furious: "So, Asheng, you have such a father. No wonder you said it's better not to mention it."

Mo Zheng lowered her eyes: "I will start my own business and no longer rely on him."

Lady Ding'an wiped away her tears and scolded, "What do you mean by 'establishing a household on its own'? Our Yang family isn't short of people." Then she looked at Liu Changqing and said, "Scholar Liu, this child ran away from home, saying he wanted to establish a household on his own, so he came to the capital. He met Miss Liu, saw that she was sick and had an invitation, so he took the invitation and used Miss Liu's identity to take the exam to become a princess's companion."

Liu Changqing frowned, about to say something, but Liu Chan spoke first.

“Father, this was my own choice,” she said. “I couldn’t take the exam at the time, and I didn’t want to come to the capital for nothing, so I agreed to give myself to Miss Yang…”

Although she hadn't said it that way before, now that she knew Ah Sheng's true background was so pitiful, she wanted to speak up for her.

Someone is banging on the table.

"Then why wasn't it Miss Yang who went, but this one..."

Wei Jiao said that his gaze finally shifted from Mo Zheng to Yang Luo, who was a step behind, but it only turned around once before returning to Mo Zheng.

"...A maidservant? In your household, even the maidservants can read?"

“I was born into a wealthy family, but my family fell into ruin, and I was sold into slavery.” Yang Luo stepped forward and said loudly, “I was educated at home.”

This was common in the new dynasty and not surprising. With each new emperor came a new court. New nobles and powerful families rose to prominence by bribing the servants and even the women of the fallen old noble families.

Wei Jiao didn't speak, only looking at Mo Zheng, seemingly only listening to her explanation. Mo Zheng looked up at him, her expression calm: "I ran away from my arranged marriage. I was afraid my family would look for me, so I had to hide my identity. Being a servant could avoid attracting attention, so I switched identities with a maid."

Wei Jiao scoffed, "Well, you really put in a lot of effort, pretending to be a servant and enduring two cuts."

“If my identity is exposed and I am captured, I will surely die,” Mo Zheng said calmly. “I would rather die at the hands of you, Commandant, than at the hands of that old widower.”

Wei Jiao laughed: "This is the first time someone has wanted to die by my hand."

Mo Zheng's gaze then swept over his face, and she said, "At least the captain is young and handsome."

Perhaps no one expected her to say such a thing. The Duke of Ding'an and his wife were stunned. Liu Changqing frowned, and Liu Chan chuckled. Seeing his junior sister laugh, Cheng Yuan also laughed.

"Don't talk nonsense, child!" Lady Ding'an scolded her hastily, snapping out of her daze. How dare she flirt with Wei Jiao?!

Wei Jiao leaned back in her chair, her eyes crinkling with a smile: "How can this be nonsense? I am indeed young and beautiful, and it would be worth it for me to die by your hand."

Lady Ding'an didn't know how to respond to that.

“I made up Miss Yuan’s identity. My maternal grandfather sent someone to visit me before, and I learned about my aunt’s sister from the servants.” Mo Zheng continued, “I used Miss Yuan’s identity, combined with the reason why I left home, to have my maid lie to the captain.”

Wei Jiao said "Oh": "So, you didn't know that Miss Yuan did indeed run away from her wedding?"

Mo Zheng was taken aback, then looked at the Lady of Ding'an with a questioning expression.

Lady Ding'an instinctively retorted, "No, how could that be? How did you know?"

Wei Jiao kept her eyes fixed on the two women, watching their reactions. At this moment, she smiled and said, "Oh, me? A while ago, I happened to come across a carriage outside the city. The young lady inside was crying and shouting. I'm always a kind-hearted person, and I stopped the carriage to ask her what was wrong. I learned that she was Miss Yuan, who was related to the Duke of Ding'an's family. She had come to the capital to escape her arranged marriage, but was kidnapped and sent back by you, Madam."

Lady Ding'an's face flushed red.

Duke Ding'an glared at her: "I told you it would cause trouble."

“So, this Miss Yuan is also…” Mo Zheng sighed softly, then gave a self-deprecating smile, “It seems that few women have smooth marriages.”

Wei Jiao sat up straight with interest: "I think there might be something wrong with the feng shui of your Ding'an family. Why do all the women seem to be marrying the wrong men and want to run away from their weddings?"

Upon hearing this, Duke Ding'an's originally pale face instantly turned red: "Wei Jiao, it's not your place to give advice on our family's feng shui!"

Wei Jiao wasn't intimidated by the sudden outburst of anger from the duke. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Why can't I say anything? Are you getting angry out of embarrassment?"

"You speak ill of my family's women at will, defaming my family's reputation. I will take this to His Majesty," said the Duke of Ding'an angrily.

Lady Ding'an stopped him, saying, "Alright, it's just a word, stop talking." She then comforted Wei Jiao, "Family matters are troublesome, and the Duke is not in a good mood either. Please bear with me, Commandant."

Liu Changqing, who had been watching silently the whole time, finally spoke up.

“I don’t care about your family matters. Impersonation is a violation of the law,” he said. “Since my daughter didn’t get in, her name shouldn’t be on the list of students at the National Academy. I will definitely go to the National Academy tomorrow to explain the situation and bring my daughter home.”

"That won't do! Miss will be driven out of the capital and taken home!" Yang Luo, who was a maid and had no right to speak, shouted, looking at Mo Zheng with a wronged and anxious expression, and then covered her face and cried.

Liu Chan panicked and ran to her father's side, pleading, "Father, please don't do this..."

Liu Changqing rebuked, "How can you do this? Impersonating someone else, even if you got in through your own ability, is not the way of a gentleman. What kind of place is the National Academy? They even selected a princess as a companion. This kind of behavior is a serious crime of deceiving the teacher and the emperor."

“Scholar Liu is right,” Mo Zheng said, shaking her head at Liu Chan. “We acted on impulse before, even though we knew it was wrong.”

After saying this, he curtsied to Duke Ding'an and his wife.

"After I went to Beijing, I did not come to see my uncle and aunt because I wanted to be independent and did not want to rely on my family anymore. However, I did something wrong and ruined my uncle and aunt's reputation."

After saying that, he straightened up and looked at Liu Changqing.

“I will go to the Imperial Academy with Scholar Liu to explain the situation and ask the Imperial Academy and the princesses to hold us accountable. I will take full responsibility.”

Yang Luo wiped away her tears, saying, "Miss, this is going to cause a huge uproar."

Mo Zheng said calmly, "It's just death. I originally planned to hang myself on my wedding day anyway, so I'll live a few more days now."

Has this blown up?
The Imperial Academy and the princesses will question me? That will inevitably reach the Emperor...

"That won't do," said the Duke of Ding'an and his wife, their faces turning pale again.

"Don't panic! Let's think of a solution."

(End of this chapter)