Chapter 40 Shifting the Blame
Upon hearing this, Wen Jin’An breathed a sigh of relief.
Once her house arrest was lifted, she could go to Sacred Mountain to treat her face.
Second Brother’s letter said that under the double nourishment of Sacred Mountain spring water and the skin-nourishing secret ointment, not only could her wounds heal, but her skin could also regain its radiance.
“Fourth Brother, will Sister go back on her word?”
Her eyelashes fluttered as she looked at Wen Jinli, adopting a pitiful demeanor, and softly sobbed, “If even Crown Prince Brother can’t help me, then wouldn’t I……”
Wen Jinli hastily comforted her, “Jin’An, don't be afraid, Brother is here.”
He thought to himself, if Wen Xueling obediently handed it over, he wouldn’t break ties with her. If she didn’t, he would even put a knife to her throat to get that ink formula for Jin’An to lift the house arrest.
Separated by a door, Wen Xueling coldly listened to their conversation.
The sunlight, filtering through the withered branches in the courtyard, cast shadows on her eyes, illuminating the indifference within them.
Memories from her previous life blurred, swirling before her eyes.
“Ling’er.” Mu Qingyu’s gentle yet resolute voice pulled her from the oppressive gloom she couldn’t escape.
She looked up and responded with a smile, “Mother, Ling’er is here.”
Today, the winter sun was unusually warm, melting the snow on the ground, which ironically made the chill feel deeper.
Before lunch, Wen Jinli’s pageboy came to collect the secret ink formula.
The door to the Small Building in the North Courtyard remained closed.
When Wen Jinli angrily rushed over, he found no sign of the mother and daughter. After careful inquiry, he learned that she had taken her mother to Jin Yu Tower for lunch.
“Mother, Jin Yu Tower’s eighteen delicacies are famous far and wide. Ling’er had Tang Chun reserve a table many days in advance.”
“You must eat more today.”
These past few days, Wen Xueling had noticed that her mother’s appetite was diminishing day by day, which greatly worried her.
Mu Qingyu saw the concern in her daughter’s eyes and nodded with a smile.
Through the half-open window lattice, the voice of a storyteller from the hall downstairs resonated. Coincidentally, he was recounting the incident of the unusual phenomena at the Prime Minister’s residence.
“Speaking of the strange phenomenon at the Prime Minister’s residence, it’s rumored to be a disaster brought by his country bumpkin ex-wife and daughter. The stepmother, being generous, and the legitimate daughter, being kind-hearted, took the blame for the evil spirit to protect the mother and daughter from public criticism.”
“This is too much! It's clearly the fault of that mother and daughter, how can General Xie’s granddaughter be made to take the blame!”
“People from the countryside are just uncultured. They even have the audacity to let the Prime Minister’s legitimate daughter take the blame for them. If you ask me, they should be driven back to the northern region.”
Wen Xueling’s heart sank.
She didn’t need to think to know who was behind these words.
The Imperial Preceptor had personally declared that there was an evil spirit in the Prime Minister’s residence, and the common people believed it implicitly. People even threw rotten vegetables outside the Prime Minister’s residence.
However, pushed by her scoundrel father, public opinion in the market placed all the blame for the evil spirit's havoc at the Prime Minister’s residence on Wen Xueling and her mother, completely absolving Wen Jin’An and her family, and even earning them a reputation for kindness.
As for him, by not driving Wen Xueling and her mother out of the residence, he gained a reputation for being loyal and righteous among the people.
As for the truth of the matter, the common people were unaware.
Wen Xueling’s face darkened. She had Tang Chun and Tang Xia escort Mu Qingyu back to the Prime Minister’s residence first.
After they left, she slowly rose and walked to the railing on the second floor, her gaze sharply fixed on the storyteller in the center of the hall downstairs.
She raised her hand. A sleeve arrow whizzed out from her wrist, aimed at the several men who had been speaking the most loudly.
Several cries of pain simultaneously erupted.
The arrows found their mark without fail. The hall quickly descended into chaos, and the injured men fell to the ground, their faces pale.
“Which bastard ambushed me! Come out!”
The man who spoke was the only one who had dodged the sleeve arrow. The arrow had grazed his arm, leaving a bloody mark. He held a long sword, indicating he had some martial arts skill.
He scanned his surroundings, then looked up, meeting Wen Xueling’s cold eyes, which regarded him as if he were already dead.
“Heh, where did this wild girl come from, with the guts to ambush me? Are you tired of living?”
Wen Xueling’s cold eyes swept chillingly over the idle men below.
“How dare you arbitrarily discuss the Imperial Preceptor’s Heaven’s Knowledge divination in the capital? I think you are the ones with the guts of a bear and a leopard!”
Her voice was strong and clear, chilling to the bone.
The people below, who had initially dismissed her as a mere woman, not worth fearing, instantly changed their expressions upon hearing “Imperial Preceptor.”
“You little girl, don’t spread alarm here. What does this have to do with the Imperial Preceptor?”
“Exactly! When have we ever spoken ill of the Imperial Preceptor? Don’t wrongly accuse us.”
Wen Xueling knew better than anyone that to inspire fear, one must have a person or power that others feared and dared not oppose.
And the Imperial Preceptor, who was second only to the Emperor, was more effective than the Prime Minister.
“The Imperial Preceptor divined through Heaven’s Knowledge that Wen Jin’An is an evil spirit reincarnated. You placing the blame for the evil spirit on innocent people, is that not speaking arbitrarily? Is that not questioning the Imperial Preceptor?”
“Or are you saying......”
Wen Xueling’s gaze was as sharp as a blade, “You think your abilities are even greater than His Excellency the Imperial Preceptor’s?”
Her face was covered with white gauze, so those below couldn’t see her true appearance, but her aura was strikingly similar to the Imperial Preceptor's: cold and noble.
They gradually fell silent, their eyes shifting, one by one, filled with fear and uneasiness.
Wen Xueling’s words directly shifted the conflict from herself and her mother to the Imperial Preceptor and them.
They dared to speak like this behind her back only because they believed women were weak, and even if she found out, she couldn’t do anything to them.
But the Imperial Preceptor was different.
In Rong Kingdom, no one dared to question the Imperial Preceptor’s Heaven’s Knowledge divination.
The hall suddenly fell silent.
Until the several men hit by Wen Xueling’s sleeve arrows writhed and wailed in pain on the ground, their faces pale, their injuries appearing exceptionally severe.
“What kind of arrow is this? It’s exploding in my flesh, like barbed needles piercing me, it hurts so much!”
“It hurts so much! I feel like thousands of insects are gnawing at my entire body.”
“Where’s the doctor—why isn’t the doctor here yet—”
The old doctor, hastily summoned by the young waiter from Jin Yu Tower, saw the sleeve arrows in their chests and quickly knelt to examine them.
A quarter of an hour later, the old doctor’s forehead was beaded with sweat. He had examined them for a long time but didn't know how to proceed.
“This arrow is truly strange. If the shaft is broken, these barbs will remain in the body. Unless the bone is scraped and the flesh cut away, it will be difficult to remove them completely.”
“This, this, this......This old man’s skills are not good enough. I dare not remove the arrow rashly. Gentlemen, please seek another expert.”
After saying that, he carried his medicine box and left in a hurry.
Later, the waiter invited many other doctors, but each one, after examining them, said they couldn’t remove it.
The injured men were now in too much pain to speak.
By the time they realized that the one who tied the knot must untie it, and wanted to beg Wen Xueling to let them go, they found that she was no longer on the second floor.
In a private room on the third floor.
The man in red raised an eyebrow with interest, curiously staring at Wenren Yi across from him, and teased, “This woman is quite clever. She knows to use your identity to her advantage.”
Across from him, Wenren Yi’s eyelids lifted languidly, his face devoid of any expression, merely staring deeply at him.
His friend immediately begged for mercy, “Alright, alright, I spoke too much.”
“However, upon arriving in the capital this time, I have something to tell you. Young General Liang secretly dispatched a dark troop three days ago to a place called HuaXi County......”
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