Scent Of Time

Chapter 30

After returning to the King Jin Mansion, I called for Cui Zhu because the maid that Hua Shen said had sent word for him to stay honestly in the backyard was her.

Cui Zhu looked confused but answered honestly: “Mrs. Hua couldn’t see Young Master Hua, so she asked me to look for him and explained that there were many people at the banquet and not to move around.”

“Then have you told anyone else that Hua Shen is in the backyard?” I asked again.

Cui Zhu frowned and pondered before shaking her head, “No.”

Mrs. Hua also said the exact words, but I still asked Cui Zhu to check if I missed something.

Seeing I was silent, Cui Zhu carefully asked, “Princess Consort, did I do something wrong?”

Meeting Cui Zhu’s innocent eyes, I sighed and didn’t say much, “It has nothing to do with you. Don’t think too much.”

I stayed in the courtyard for a day and a night and didn’t even move a single chopstick of the meal Qian Zhi sent over.

On the second day, when the sky gradually sank, I woke up from a dream. I took a deep breath and lifted my steps to go outside.

Out of the courtyard, seeing Hua Rongzhou standing at the entrance, I paused and said, “King Jin’s hand was heavy, and your previous injuries were not light, so you don’t need to guard here. Go back to rest.”

“I’m fine.” Hua Rongzhou didn’t move a muscle.

I didn’t say anything else. After all, I had more important things to deal with.

The guards stopped me when I arrived at the Mu Yao’s courtyard. I did not get angry and only said, “Inform the side consort. She will be willing to see me.”

The guard hesitated and looked at my calm appearance. But he still went in to inform. In a moment, he returned and invited me in.

Into Mu Yao’s courtyard, I saw her holding a book while sitting under the oil lamp. The words ‘Book of War’ are written in the book. Her panic appearance yesterday completely vanished. I wasn’t shocked. I found a chair and sat down.

Then, she raised her eyes to look at me. I met her unfluctuated gaze and smiled: “Waiting for me for a long time, right?”

Mu Yao put down the book in her hand, looked at me, and said, “If you’re here to plead for Hua Shen, then shouldn’t you lower your stance?”

I didn’t care about the mockery in her tone and replied, “Hua Shen hasn’t made a mistake, so why should I plead for him?”

Mu Yao’s eyes trembled as she stared at me.

“Mu Yao, I have always thought that you, as a female …… Zhong Yelan’s sweetheart would not use this tactic, and now I realize I was wrong. You are no different from ordinary women.” I sighed.

Mu Yao’s face remained unchanged, without any hint of embarrassment at being poked and prodded.

I looked at her and felt like a traveler who had suddenly lost way, so it turned out that the so-called heroine would also do whatever it took. Doesn’t she love Zhong Yelan? Then why choose this route to utilize him?

“I didn’t want to come, but you’ve designed it painstakingly. So I should cooperate with you, lest I let your hard work go down the drain.” I lowered my head and chuckled.

I couldn’t tell what I felt in my heart, “I said I wouldn’t fight with you for Zhong Yelan anymore, but you never believed me.”

Mu Yao looked at me as if she was looking at a piece of dead wood, “Do you think I did it for Ah Lan?”

“What else could you be doing it for?” I looked straight at her and asked.

After a long time without seeing any words from Mu Yao, I ran out of patience, so I got up and spoke, “Since you set out to design Hua Shen, I won’t turn a blind eye this time. ‘To seek revenge and collect debts, you must find the right target and not involve others.’ In the future, if you involve the people around me for no reason, I won’t show any mercy.”

After saying that, I raised my steps and walked out the door. I suddenly heard Mu Yao laugh. She laughed so loudly that I couldn’t help but frown and turn back.

I saw her laughing with tears in her eyes. After a long time, she takes a handkerchief to wipe the tear stains at the corner of her eyes and speaks, “‘To seek revenge and collect debts, you must find the right target and not involve others.’? How do you have the nerve to say these words?”

Not waiting for me to retort, she added: “Your Hua Family are all so selfish and self-centered that they can’t distinguish right or wrong. You say Hua Shen is not at fault?”

I felt uneasy but still held my tongue and said, “The matter at the wedding banquet was all designed by you, right? Although Hua Shen is despicable, he has never had any bad intentions towards you.”

Although Hua Shen was a playboy, he wouldn’t lie to me, and since I’ve warned him so many times, he would never go against my wishes. Mu Yao, as the female lead, wasn’t the type of persona that panicked and cried when she got shocked, so there’s only one possibility; she’s pretending, and then the purpose was obvious —

Mu Yao tilted her head to look at me, the sarcasm in her eyes getting deeper. “That’s right, that day’s incident was all designed by me. Hua Shen did not make a move against me.”

Her painful confession froze me for a moment. I was silent, waiting for her to continue. She didn’t care if I answered or not. Then, she continued, “I heard that a maid died at the entrance of the Hua Residence two days ago, but I saw Young Master Hua was safe and sound at the wedding banquet. Hua Family is so powerful. The life of a mere maid can’t even enter your eyes.”

My heart jumped as I frowned and spoke, “What are you trying to say?”

Mu Yao looked at me, but she seemed lost in thought for a long time before she spoke. Her tone was not sad or happy, “That maid who killed herself at the entrance of the Hua Residence was my maid …… Ling Long, she was an orphan, growing up in the Border City with me since she was a child.”

My heart jumped. My hands and feet went cold.

Mu Yao saw this and did not spare me. She got up and spoke while walking step by step: “You schemed our Mu family and made us banished. But the Mu family’s domestic slaves were all put on sale. A slave will be the same as whoever buys them. I also told myself this before. But — why did Hua Shen buy Ling Long?”

My mind suddenly recalled what Hua Shen had said to me that day – “That maid is a criminal, an orphan with no relatives.”

Mu Yao walked to my side, looked at me, and spoke, “So, Hua Qian, where on earth did you get the strength to say in front of me that Hua Shen is not guilty? The lowly concubine who died at the entrance of your Hua Residence, in your eyes, was someone I love as a sister.”

“I ……” Opening my mouth, I felt as if I was a bit out of breath. I knew this matter was Hua Shen’s fault, but — I inadvertently left Hua Xiang to deal with it. I knew that Hua Xiang would favor him, but I still did so. Was it because I subconsciously also felt that it was nothing more than a slave girl?

Mu Yao pointed out this fact that I had been trying to ignore, that I had always favored the Hua Family because of their status.

Mu Yao tugged tightly on the lapels of my robe, forcing me to meet her hate-filled eyes, ”You once told me that you wouldn’t target me anymore, and I was almost willing to believe you. But what happened to Linglong made me realize that there was no way I could choose to forgive you because of what you did to the Hua Family. There are still countless people suffering in the darkness, and I can’t pretend to be unaware of it any more just because I can’t see it.”

“So …… Is this why you framed Hua Shen? To avenge Ling Long?” I pulled up the corners of my mouth, feeling that the forced smile I was trying to keep up must be worse than crying.

“Since no one punishes him, I’ll let him pay the price he deserves. A maid’s life is unworthy for all of you, so can I, as a side consort, make Hua Shen shed a layer of skin?” Mu Yao finished speaking and ruthlessly loosened her hand and pushed me.

I crashed against the door in a sorry state. My left hand subconsciously rested against the door. I immediately felt a stabbing pain.

“Even if to use such means? Using the one who loves you?” I curled my fingers slightly.

Muyao turned her back. I couldn’t see her expression, only heard her say, “As long as I can deal with your Hua Family, any means is clean.”

“Okay …… I understand.” I opened my mouth, yet I couldn’t hear my voice.

The identity of Mu Yao’s side consort was something I held up, and Hua Shen’s matter was something I deliberately avoided. I always felt that in this world where there was only class and no fairness, it was only right that I naturally chose to forgive Hua Shen because I was wearing Hua Qian’s skin.

Today, Mu Yao could stand up for her maid Ling Long, but if Ling Long didn’t have this relationship with Mu Yao, wouldn’t she have to die with a grudge? She was only a maid, a maid who later on wasn’t even mentioned in the novel. It was a human life that I saw but chose to ignore.

I raised my steps and walked outside. Mu Yao ignored me. She had declared war on me. No matter what the cost, she and the Hua Family would fight until one of them died.

As if walking on red-hot flames, every step burned my heart. Qian Zhi rushed to help me, asking me what was wrong with a tense face, but I was powerless to respond.

“What are you doing here?”

In a trance, I heard Zhong Yelan’s voice, and when I looked fixedly, he was standing at the entrance, frowning at me.

“In the future, without my permission, you are not allowed to step into Ah Yao’s courtyard.” He opened his mouth in extreme disgust, flinging his sleeves and about to pass me.

Subconsciously pulling his sleeve, before he broke free, I said, “That — day if the Emperor didn’t block it, will your sword fall on me?”

Zhong Yelan turned back to look at me, his gaze as heavy as the midnight.

I didn’t think about his answer, so I smiled miserably and spoke, “The answer must be that it would, right?”

Zhong Yelan pursed his lips, drew out his sleeve, and raised his steps toward the courtyard.

“Is that jade pendant that important? Is it really that important who accompanied you to guard the tomb when you were a child? Zhong Yelan, do you like someone just based on the jade pendant and memories?” Looking at his back, I finally couldn’t help but speak.

Zhong Yelan’s figure paused. He didn’t walk any further but didn’t turn back either.

“I lied to you. But I have never done anything unfavorable to you. I almost lost my life for you. Is it still that hard for you to forgive me? Can’t you talk to me properly?”

Perhaps because I felt aggrieved, I couldn’t hold back my tears.

Behind Mu Yao, there was Zhong Yelan, Zhong Xiwu, and Wu Shuomo. All of whom supported her without hesitation. And behind me, there was only a declining Hua Family.

Zhong Yelan slowly turned back and looked at my tearful face. He stiffened and spoke only after a long time: ”What are you doing now? Showing weakness in front of me for Hua Shen?”

The desert in my heart grew bigger and bigger. I wiped my tears, took a deep breath, and stabilized my emotions before speaking, “If King says it is — then it is.” After saying that, I turned around and left.

Whether it’s a novel or life, it’s all irreversible. Those things that happened in the past are like blown-away dandelions that fall to every corner. Then, it takes root, germinates, and eventually grows into an ocean beyond control.

Zhong Yelan didn’t love Hua Qian was a setting, Hua Shen being lustful was a setting, and Hua Xiang’s lust for profit was also a setting. I can change the plot, but I can’t undo the damage that was already there before.

Mu Yao’s words reminded me that countless people were still struggling to survive in the darkness because of the former Hua Family. I privately thought preserving Mu Yao’s family was peace, yet numerous other people I hadn’t noticed were still in pain because of the previous Hua Xiang and Hua Qian. That was the true face of the family I had been trying to save.

What makes a villain a villain is never formed by doing something as trivial as stepping on an ant and scolding others, but by creating countless sufferings for their good. Mu Yao’s words were like a knife, cutting through the peace I’ve been trying to build up.