Chapter 256: Chapter 257 - Complicated Situation

Jian Xubai naturally accompanied his wife to come there. When they entered the warm chamber, they saw Daiguo Grand Princess sat on the seat of honor and members of the Jiang family were all here except Jiang Muting.

They were all expressionless, so the atmosphere in the warm chamber was thick with tension. Ji Mingfei was kneeling down alone on the ground while he looked very leisure. When he saw Jian Xubai supported Song Yixiao to the chamber, he even looked up and down the pearl head-ornaments beside Song Yixiao’s temples.

Seeing this, the couple both frowned, and they subconsciously thought of something!

A moment later, they finished regular salute, and Daiguo Grand Princess asked them to sit down. When they were seated, she directly asked, “Xubai, you and your wife come here just in time. It is said that when Yixiao left the banquet to sober up today, she ran into the girl of the Jiang family. At that time, Prince of Wei and Marquis Boling were also present, right?”

“Aunt, at that time, I was immersed in the beautiful scenery in your garden. When I went to the foot of the rockery, I indeed heard that Prince of Wei and Marquis Boling were talking behind the rockery.” Song Yixiao compressed her lips and evaded the crucial point, “That rockery is really unique. If it was not for the fear of interrupting the conversation between Prince of Wei and Marquis Boling, I would have climbed up to take a look! Later I knew that Muting was on the top of the rockery. However, I could not see her at the beginning because she was on the top. If she hadn’t called me to return to the banquet, I would have thought that I was the only person among all ladies who took a walk there today!”

There were implications in her words. First, Jiang Muting appeared on the rockery because she was purely attracted by the scenery. She didn’t have any ulterior motives. Second, Prince of Wei and Yuan Xuepei might not know that Jiang Muting was on the rockery, so it was just a coincidence that they met each other. Third, Jiang Muting later called her to return to the banquet together. This point made people feel that Jiang Muting was eager to avoid arousing suspicion when she met other men who were enjoying the view.

After all, even Prince of Wei heard that Jiang Muting wanted to marry Yuan Xuepei. It could be seen that this matter had been spread out more or less. Hence, whether Jiang Muting and Yuan Xuepei encountered each other by coincidence or not, it would be difficult for them not to be discussed.

Song Yixiao was deliberately covering the truth for Jiang Muting.

The Jiang family knew it well, so they showed her a grateful look after hearing the words.

However, Daiguo Grand Princess didn’t hope that this matter was understated. She said with a smile, “That rockery? If a person hides on the top of the rockery, people at the foot really can’t find him. Just now, Prince of Wei told me that when the girl of the Jiang family opened her mouth, he was also startled! You were also behind the rockery at that time? So, you heard their dispute?”

Without waiting for Song Yixiao to reply, she directly turned to the Jiang family and said, “It is the fault of Prince of Wei after all. Since he marries my daughter, he shouldn’t disturb the girl of your family anymore! You may hear of the rumors circulated on the mountain recently. In the final analysis, Prince of Wei has a childhood friendship with the girl in your family. Even though they don’t get married, they are still like brother and sister! After hearing the rumors, he is so impulsive that he finds Marquis Boling and thus they two are locked in a face-off. Out of expectation, Prince of Wei later chose to leave after being scolded by your girl.”

“Your Highness, my daughter is rude to Prince of Wei, so we’ll discipline her later. However, we need to ask for justice about today’s matter anyway!” Hearing this, members of the Jiang family were all cold-faced. Their leader, who was in his fifties and had an air of scholar, even sneered, “After all, our whole family respectfully came to celebrate your birthday, while Muting at the banquet was locked in the same room with your nephew for no reason! Have you ever considered the feelings of our family?”

Hearing this, Jian Xubai and his wife then understood why Ji Mingfei was kneeling down on the ground. It turned out that he and Jiang Muting were locked in the room together!

Ji Mingfei really dared to do such reckless things. However, his hobby was no secret in the noble circle. He was obsessed with women who were already married, and had the least interest in girls from respectable families. Even if Jiang Muting was in love with Yuan Xuepei, Yuan Xuepei always kept a distance from her, and she was not married, either. Therefore, she didn’t seem to be Ji Mingfei’s type!

The couple did not utter their analysis, while inwardly they were suspicious of Daiguo Grand Princess.

The Jiang family obviously thought the same way. That man spoke with a fierce look. He stroked his stubble on the chin and said with a sneer, “We’ve heard about the stories of the First Young Master Ji. Obviously, my daughter is not to his liking! If it is said that Master Ji did this, we will not believe it even if he recognizes it personally!”

“I also don’t believe that my nephew will do such a thing!” Daiguo Grand Princess heard the words, but she didn’t show an embarrassed or guilty look. She nodded and said impassively, “That is why I summoned the wife of Xubai to reply. You know the room where they two were locked is the lounge of Mingfei. And servants along the way can prove that the girl has gone there by herself! She also admitted it just now.”

Song Yixiao couldn’t help changing her countenance slightly when she heard the last sentence!

Daiguo Grand Princess noticed it and said with a smile, “Yixiao, do you have anything to say?”

“Aunt, what’s going on?” Song Yixiao composed herself, and decided to ask her directly, “We only know that Muting hasn’t returned to the banquet, but we don’t know much about the rest! Aunt, can you simplify the whole story?”

“To put it simply, shortly after the girl of the Jiang family returned to the banquet with you, she received a message from a servant in the name of Marquis Boling. The servant told her to meet Marquis Boling in a room, so she simply went there.” Ignoring the ashen faces of a group of people of the Jiang family, Daiguo Grand Princess said slowly, “Unexpectedly, the place she came was the room of Mingfei, and Mingfei was still taking a rest at that time! After she came in, the door of the room was locked, and that is why they didn’t show up at the end of the banquet.”

She added, “Later, the Jiang family found me and said that the girl had disappeared. As a result, I sent people to search around. During this period, I happened to see that the door was locked, so I ordered people to cut it off before they got rid of embarrassment.”

Song Yixiao thought it was indeed a trap. Nevertheless, Jiang Muting didn’t act tactfully. Today was the birthday of Daiguo Grand Princess, and they were in her side yard. Who was Yuan Xuepei? He was the political opponent of Daiguo Grand Princess, and there was even personal animosity between him and her daughter as well as son-in-law!

If Daiguo Grand Princess hadn’t celebrated her birthday ceremoniously and invited almost all the families in the mountain, he couldn’t have received the invitation!

Under such circumstances, how could he entrust the servant here to send a message for him?

Even a teenager could understand such a simple truth, while Jiang Muting was jerked around. Song Yixiao could do nothing but sigh that the girl who had fallen into love was really slow-witted when it came to her beloved!

“Even if Muting was not well taught and planned to meet Marquis Boling, it’s just a matter between my family and Marquis Boling’s mansion!” The Jiang family fell into silence for a moment, and then they directly admitted that Jiang Muting admired Yuan Xuepei. Although they were unable to justify Jiang Muting’s behavior, it did not mean that they could not investigate the whole thing. “The problem now is that the First Young Master Ji was locked in the room with my girl!”

“I know what you think!” Daiguo Grand Princess sipped her tea and said lightly, “You think that it was my scheme, right? I dare not to say that I am broad-minded, but your girl has never offended me, so why do I need to lead her to a trap on my birthday? Especially today, my brother has come to my mansion!”

Her explanation was reasonable. Nevertheless, the Jiang family was about to offend her openly. They didn’t care about her feelings and came straight to the point, “Your Highness, our family recently has allowed Muting to find Marquis Boling. Don’t you have any ideas about this?”

“Just now I want to let Marquis Boling stay.” On hearing this, Daiguo Grand Princess uttered a snorting laugh and said, “In this way, it will be convenient for us know the whole story. To my surprise, he left away on the pretext of his injury on the leg! This clearly shows that he doesn’t have any thoughts about your girl! Even if you let your daughter stay in the summer villa of the Yuan family all day, can she become his wife when he shows such an attitude?”

She disdained to say, “What’s more, the worst result is just that the girl’s reputation is discredited today. Even if she marries Mingfei later, will you make a crucial decision because of a girl you usually love when it comes to the future of your whole family?”

Members of the Jiang family were speechless at her words. She was right. Today, the Jiang family was greatly humiliated and annoyed, while in terms of the actual loss, Jiang Muting was the only victim.

Besides, even if Jiang Muting finally married Ji Mingfei, it didn’t mean that the Jiang family would stand on the side of Prince of Wei. The Jiang family really doted on Jiang Muting, but no matter how much they loved her, a girl couldn’t compare with the future of the whole family!

Prince of Wei was not born by Virtuous Consort Jiang, but he was brought up by her after he was at birth. Virtuous Consort Jiang herself had no son, so he was almost regarded as her blood son for so many years. Even so, the Jiang family didn’t support him.

This was not because that Jiang Muting was once betrayed by Prince of Wei. A family that could occupy a place in the court and teach their children well certainly could discern the cardinal principles. It’s impossible for them to drag the whole family into the mire because of an individual!

It would be foolish for Daiguo Grand Princess to set such a trap to win the favor of the Jiang family or to prevent them from swinging to the Eastern Palace.

However, if this was not her purpose, she didn’t need to do harm to Jiang Muting by her identity, age and status.

Perceiving the hesitation of the Jiang family, Daiguo Grand Princess put down the tea bowl calmly, and said, “You know what my brother had done for the Eastern Palace before. To tell you the truth, these days I have been worried about Prince of Wei all the time and had repeatedly taught Princess Consort of Wei not to be arbitrary and mischievous. Today, when Princess Consort of Liang lampooned me in public before the banquet, Princess Consort of Wei came forward to argue with her and finally chose to leave the spot! If it was in the past, I even wouldn’t treat Noble Consort Cui politely, let alone her daughter-in-law who was raised in the manor.”

The grand princess sneered, “Although I am arrogant in the daily life, I actually know what I should do and should not do. After all, I have witnessed how my brother endured the past pains. It is true that Prince of Wei and Princess Consort of Wei have a brush with the girl. However, at this crucial time, how can I risk provoking your family?”

She glanced at Jian Xubai and his wife, snorting, “I am actually helping the Eastern Palace if I do that!”

Her words were convincing. The Jiang family was silent for a moment and couldn’t help asking, “Well, Your Highness. Do you think who does harm to our girl this time?”