When Lady Lan woke up, the sun was already slanting westward. She rubbed her neck, remembered the bundle, and immediately started searching for it.
When she couldn't find it anywhere, she suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"How could this happen?! How could this happen?! My silver!" She got up dejectedly and leaned against the wall to barely support herself and walk forward.
It was almost dark when Mu Yanming returned. At that time, Mo Qinghuan was sitting on the swing in the yard, enjoying the evening breeze.
Suddenly, the light was blocked by a tall figure. Mo Qinghuan turned her head and saw Mu Yanming standing behind her.
She was just about to get off when Mu Yanming reached out and gently pushed the swing.
Bai Ke thought he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and it was still the same scene.
Dan'er stepped back with a knowing look on her face, wearing a smile that seemed to say "I understand it all".
Mo Qinghuan was still thinking about the matter of the 750,000 taels of silver notes. She jumped off the swing at once and pulled Mu Yanming into the house.
Mu Yanming pursed his lips. "Is the princess really that impatient?"
Mo Qinghuan was petrified on the spot. She let go of his arm. "I have something important to tell you."
Mu Yanming raised his eyebrows and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "Fine, this king will reluctantly believe you."
Then he took her hand and led her inside.
After entering the room, Mo Qinghuan opened his wardrobe, took out the small box. When she turned around, she found Mu Yanming was very close.
She was startled, and the box in her hand fell, hitting Mu Yanming's foot.
Mu Yanming frowned tightly. Mo Qinghuan quickly picked up the box, put it on the table and opened it. "Look."
Mu Yanming didn't show much emotional fluctuation. "Where did you get this?"
Mo Qinghuan covered her mouth and laughed. "I snatched it on the street."
"Snatched it on the street?" Mu Yanming thought he had misheard and confirmed again.
Mo Qinghuan nodded proudly. "A whole 750,000 taels of silver notes!"
The smile on her face was hard to hide. She was smiling brightly and boldly, which made Mu Yanming think that she did it on purpose. Did she think she could cause trouble for him like this?
"How could there be someone carrying a bundle of 750,000 taels and waiting for you to snatch it on the street? Besides, since you snatched it, why did you tell this king? Aren't you afraid that this king will confiscate it?"
Mo Qinghuan originally didn't plan to tell Mu Yanming. But this sum of money was too large. If Lady Lan reported it to the government, she might not be able to keep this money. So she chose to tell Mu Yanming.
"I don't think the king will do that. Otherwise, I could have just not told the king. But I chose to trust you."
Mu Yanming closed the lid. "This king will keep your dowry and this sum of money for you. But..." He looked into Mo Qinghuan's eyes. "This king also has something for you to keep." As he said, he got up, turned around and took out a bunch of keys from a box.
"These are the keys to the mansion's treasury. From today on, this king will entrust them to you."
He picked up Mo Qinghuan's hand and put the keys in her palm.
Mo Qinghuan took the keys and inexplicably felt a heavy sense of trust.
The two looked at each other and smiled.
...
Lady Lan returned to the General's Mansion. The moment she stepped through the main gate, she collapsed to the ground.
When Mo Yao heard the news and rushed over, Lady Lan had already been carried into the room.
She sat by the bed, looking at her mother with tears all over her face. "Mother, what's wrong with you?" She turned around and shouted at the maid. "Cuier, what happened to my mother?"
Cuier knelt on the ground with a thud. "Second Miss, this servant doesn't know!"
Mo Yao stared at her. "You're my mother's personal maid. You don't know? Then what's the use of the General's Mansion keeping you!"
Cuier lowered her head and recounted what had happened during the day. "It was the madam who didn't want this servant to follow, so this servant doesn't know what happened."
"My mother went to the Regent's Mansion... Could this have something to do with Mo Qinghuan?"
Thinking of Mo Qinghuan, she gritted her teeth. "Has the doctor been invited yet?"
"He's here, Miss." The maid led the doctor in.
Mo Yao stood up to make room for the doctor. After the doctor finished feeling Lady Lan's pulse, he got up and said to Mo Yao, "The madam was overwhelmed by anger, which caused the qi and blood to rush upwards, thus leading to the coma. This old man will prescribe a few doses of calming medicine for the madam. Remember not to let the madam get overly emotional, either extremely happy or extremely sad."
Mo Yao nodded. After seeing off the doctor, she began to sort out the context of the incident.
Just then, Ning Yao came to the door.
Mo Yao looked at him coldly. "Oh, isn't this Young Master Ning? I didn't expect you to still dare to come to the General's Mansion!"
Ning Yao knew that Mo Yao was easy to deceive, so he squeezed out some tears and knelt in front of Mo Yao. "Yaoyao, I was wrong. I shouldn't have treated you like that." Then he started slapping himself. "Do you know how I've been these days? I've been thinking about you every day. I can't stop thinking about you. Just thinking that I might never see you again makes me feel so restless!"
Mo Yao found his words ridiculous. "Ning Yao, you don't think I'll still believe you at this point, do you? Do you really think I'm as stupid as Mo Qinghuan?"
Ning Yao showed regret and pain on his face, but in his heart, he regarded Mo Yao as his last straw. So, even though he was disgusted, he had to come back.
But now Mo Yao seemed a bit different. He had to act more pitiful and affectionate.
He thought for a while and knelt on the ground with a thud.
"Yaoyao, you can not believe me, but I swear that my feelings for you will never change again. If I lie to you, let the heavens strike me dead with a thunderbolt!"
Mo Yao widened her eyes and looked at Ning Yao. She knew how much Ning Yao cherished his life and was afraid of death. Making such a poisonous oath should mean that he was truly repentant and that he still had feelings for her in his heart.
But she didn't know that before coming, Ning Yao had spent the only ten taels of silver he had left to invite a celestial master to check the sky and confirm that there would be no thunder, lightning or fire meteors today. So, he boldly made this oath.
And women were just stupid. They just believed in poisonous oaths.
"Get up first."
Seeing Mo Yao's softening attitude, Ning Yao quickly got up and grabbed her hand.
The moment he grabbed her hand, he found that her arm was as stiff as a dead person's.
He stared blankly at Mo Yao. "Your hand?"
"Don't you remember? It was Mo Qinghuan who poisoned me. And look at my mother. Our mother - daughter pair have really suffered a lot because of Mo Qinghuan."
Mo Yao suddenly remembered something. "Well, if you want to show that you've really changed your heart, go find Mo Qinghuan and capture her for me! Then I'll believe you!"
Ning Yao thought for a while. "Now Mo Qinghuan is in the Regent's Mansion. It won't be that easy to deal with her. In my opinion, we have to find professional killers to do this."
"I don't care what method you use. I want to know where Mo Qinghuan's key is! After you find out the whereabouts of the key, kill her immediately for me!"
Ning Yao curled the corner of his mouth. "Okay, kill her! But bribing the killers will cost a lot of..."
Mo Yao turned around and gave a look to the maid behind her. The two went back into the room.
When they came back a while later, the maid handed Ning Yao three silver notes worth 500 taels each.
"Brother Yao, don't blame me for not warning you. If you can't handle this matter well, these three silver notes will be your death warrant!"