Chapter 718: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 718: A Counterplot and Courting Disaster (3)
“Yan girl, don't be so polite! Everyone has their troubles. Your family has helped us so much in the past, so now that you’re facing difficulties, we can’t just stand by and watch. If you need anything, just ask!”
Mo Yan nodded repeatedly, grateful for the villagers' kindness.
The group chatted a bit longer, and seeing that Mo Yan and her siblings looked somewhat better, they felt reassured. Knowing it wasn't appropriate to linger at the Mo family home, they bid Mo Yan farewell and gradually left.
Before leaving, they voluntarily helped clean up the remnants of the feast, taking away their tables, chairs, and benches as they departed.
A dozen or so women who had come early in the morning to help and hadn’t had time to eat quickly grabbed a bite before continuing to assist the Mo family. They washed dishes, pots, and pans, and cleaned the house.
It wasn't until the kitchen was spotless and the smell of alcohol had dissipated from the rooms where the feast was held that they took the rice, flour, vegetables, and meat that Mo Yan insisted on giving them. After offering some more words of comfort to Mo Yan and her siblings, they finally left the Mo family home.
The Mo residence, bustling all morning, returned to its usual tranquility.
Mo Yan gathered her younger siblings in her room, mustering her strength to comfort them. Only when they were convinced that their sister had a plan to save their father and that he would safely return home did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Once her siblings had left, Mo Yan excused herself from Liu Tinglan, who wanted to stay with her, and after closing the door, she entered her hidden space.
Inside, everything was as serene and beautiful as ever, untouched by the troubles of the outside world. After the day's overwhelming events, only here could her chaotic mind find true peace.
The little white ball of fluff and the five beasts spotted their master from afar. Sensing that she needed quiet, they refrained from rushing over as they usually would.
Mo Yan also had no mind to play with them. As she harvested the herbs that had grown too large for their space, she pondered the situation surrounding her father’s alleged exam cheating.
On the day her father returned from the examination hall, something was off—he had nightmares about someone trying to harm her. On the night the results were posted, even though he was drunk and unconscious, he grabbed her hand and vowed to protect her from any harm. And today, even Master Liu mentioned that given her father’s abilities, he shouldn’t have ranked just 101st, yet her father had excused it as nerves affecting his performance...
All these signs pointed to her father knowing that someone was planning to frame him through this examination. As for the motive… it was likely aimed at her, with the ultimate goal of undermining Crown Prince Chu Heng. Many knew that she had saved Chu Heng and had a connection with him. It wasn’t impossible that some might think Chu Heng was using the exam to repay her or had other plans.
Among those with both the motive and the means to orchestrate such a scheme and directly report it to Emperor Huian, the first that came to Mo Yan's mind was Prince Heng and the Lin family, whom she had gravely offended and who bore deep hatred towards Chu Heng.
Other princes who once coveted the throne might also have such motives, but their suspicion was far less than that of Prince Heng and the Lin family.
With these suspects in mind, Mo Yan's mind began racing, devising a plan to rescue her father. Before the exam, someone from Prince Heng or the Lin family must have contacted her father, likely attempting to give him the exam answers. When he refused, they used her to coerce him into cheating.
Her father wasn’t foolish; agreeing to cheat would inevitably lead him into their trap. But if he refused, they would find another way to frame him, forcing him to agree in the end.
The simplest way to escape this plot would have been to withdraw from the exam. But after years of hard study, having the opportunity to finally take the imperial exam again, who could bear to let all that effort go to waste?
(The End of this Chapter)
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