diskusbooks Chapter 295 Do you even care about your reputation?!
Chapter 295 Do you even care about your reputation?!
Princess He didn't know what she had done wrong. All she knew was that Xia Mo suddenly turned cold towards her, and Princess He felt inexplicably flustered and uneasy.
Huangfu Qian, who was standing by the bridge, took matters into his own hands. He swiftly glided across the river, reached into the water, grabbed the person by the hair, and pulled them ashore.
Princess He glanced at Huangfu Qian, then at Xia Mo, stomped her foot, and left angrily.
Lou Tingting asked softly, "Why is Princess He angry at the end of summer?"
Xia Mo shook her head: "I don't know, it doesn't matter why she's angry."
Xia Mo took Lou Tingting's hand and led her down the bridge.
The sleazy man, who had been dragged ashore by Huangfu Qian by the hair, lay on the ground pretending to be unconscious. His whole body was wet and cold, and he couldn't stand the cold night wind, so he was shivering uncontrollably.
Jiang Feng stepped forward, now with the mindset of trying to redeem himself after committing a crime. He drew his sword from his waist and placed it against the neck of the lewd man who was pretending to be unconscious.
"Will you speak yourself, or should I cut off one of your fingers first before you speak?" Jiang Feng asked.
The lewd man, who had been pretending to be unconscious, couldn't keep up the act any longer. He deliberately acted as if he had just woken up, asking in a trembling voice with a bewildered look, "What... what happened? Why am I all wet?"
They even tried to pretend to have amnesia.
"Looks like he wants to cut off one of the fingers first," Jiang Feng said, his sword severing one of the lewd man's fingers.
"Ah ah ah..."
The lewd man cried out in pain, "It hurts...it hurts...I'm going to die..."
"Since you're not going to talk, then cut off another finger," Jiang Feng said coldly, raising his sword once more.
The lewd man realized that Jiang Feng wouldn't hold back, so he dared not pretend to know anything anymore. He simply pointed at Xia Mo and said, "She sent me to meet her in secret. The An family head said that she didn't dare to directly break off the engagement with King Jiang, so she wanted to use some extreme measures. At that time, she would lose her innocence, and King Jiang would definitely have to break off the engagement with her. Then we could be together."
The sleazy man immediately started making accusations, clearly determined to get his revenge.
Jiang Feng raised his sword again, and without hesitation, sliced off another of the lewd man's fingers.
The lewd man looked at the two severed fingers in front of him, clutching his bleeding hand, and cried out in pain.
"Not going to talk?" Jiang Feng looked at Huangfu Qian.
Huangfu Qian raised his hand, and immediately another bodyguard appeared from the shadows.
"Investigate this person's family and arrest them all!" Huangfu Qian ordered expressionlessly.
The lewd man's breath hitched, his eyes widened in disbelief, and for a moment, he didn't even feel the pain anymore.
"What I did has nothing to do with my family!" the sleazy man shouted.
Jiang Feng rolled his eyes and said, "They deserve to be unlucky if they get involved with family members like you."
The lewd man was first taken aback, then knelt up in fear and kowtowed repeatedly to Huangfu Qian.
"I confess, I confess! It was the Lou family who gave me a hundred taels of silver to smear the reputation of the Anjia family patriarch," the lewd man raised his hand, ignoring the blood streaming down his face, and slapped himself repeatedly, saying, "I deserve it, I shouldn't have been greedy for money, I know I was wrong... I deserve it..."
Lou Tingting, who was standing nearby, heard the lewd man's confession and shouted, "Impossible!"
Lou Tingting's pupils trembled as she glanced at Xia Mo beside her, then looked away without daring to look, glaring at the lewd man.
"You're talking nonsense, aren't you?!"
Lou Tingting asked in a trembling voice.
"I dare not lie. It was indeed someone from the Lou family who contacted me. Although the person was masked, I was careful. I pretended to leave, but actually followed them secretly. After watching them enter the Lou residence, I didn't leave immediately. Instead, I waited for two more days, recognized the person by their voice, and confirmed that it was the maidservant by the side of the Lou matriarch before accepting the job," the lewd man replied loudly.
"Nonsense, you're talking nonsense!"
Lou Tingting didn't look at Xia Jiareng, but lowered her head and choked out, "I'll go back and ask around. If... if..."
Lou Tingting's voice trembled with sobs, unable to utter a complete sentence.
In fact, Lou Tingting vaguely felt that what the sleazy man said was probably the truth.
But why...?
Why would her mother use her to lure Xia Mo out? She's her mother! How could she... scheme against her own daughter like that?!
Lou Tingting couldn't speak a complete sentence, covered her face, and quickly left.
Xia Mo separated a wisp of her divine consciousness and attached it to Lou Tingting. She wanted to see how Lou Tingting would react after learning the truth so she could decide what to do next.
Lou Mansion —
Lou Tingting rushed straight into the main courtyard and stood in front of her mother.
Lou Tingting's eyes were red, and she looked as if she had suffered a great injustice.
Lou's mother frowned and said coldly, "Who are you trying to impress with that deadpan face?"
"Mother, tonight, on the bridge... someone lunged at me..." Lou Tingting wanted to say that the person lunged at Xia Mo, but thinking of something else, she changed the subject and deliberately said that.
"boom--"
Lou's mother glared angrily, her eyes wide: "Nonsense! Shut up! That person was clearly heading towards the An family patriarch! How can you say it was towards yourself?! Don't you care about your reputation?!"
"Did you arrange this?" Lou Tingting, who had been crying just now, suddenly stopped crying and stared blankly at her mother.
Lou's mother realized that her daughter was trying to trick her into revealing information. Her face darkened, and instead of thinking she had done anything wrong, she coldly rebuked her: "Is this how you treat your mother?!"
"When you took me to the lantern festival in the hometown of Joan, did you ever think that I was your daughter?!" Lou Tingting asked through gritted teeth.
"Hmph! You can't even handle such a small task! Go out and say you're my daughter, it's utterly shameful!" Mother Lou said sternly.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
When she reached a certain breaking point, Lou Tingting stopped crying and started laughing.
"So, you used your daughter for your own purposes too," Lou Tingting asked. "Does Father know about this?"
Seeing that there were only the mother and daughter around, Lou's mother didn't need to hide anything and said directly, "It was your father who told me to do it."
Lou Tingting swayed and fell to the ground, covering her face with her hands.
This whole thing was orchestrated by her parents; how could she possibly face Xia Mo now?!
"What are you crying for!" Frustrated, Madam Lou slammed her hand on the table. As she got up to leave, she didn't forget to order her servants, "Don't let her sit on the ground for too long, lest it affect her ability to have children!"
"Yes!"
Lou Tingting used to think that her mother was just a bit strict, but now, listening to her mother's words, she felt a chill in her heart.
After Lou Tingting returned to her room, she made a decision that caught her mother off guard, leaving her unable to stop her in time...
The next day—
Yesterday's Lantern Festival featured many wonderful performances, but...
Everyone is talking about yesterday's Lantern Festival and the story of "a man having an affair with the head of Anjia Township".
Even if things aren't as they're said to be, the people spreading the rumors hope they are.
Following this, the Lou family released the latest news: the lewd man's real purpose yesterday was to smear the reputation of the Lou family's eldest daughter.
The Lou family bribed the person spreading the rumors, but they couldn't figure it out for a moment. They stopped spreading the rumor that "the man had an affair with the head of Anjia Village." After a short while, the rumor changed to "the lewd man's real target was Miss Lou, but he was afraid of offending the Lou family and thought that the head of Anjia Village was easy to bully, so he dragged the head of Anjia Village into it."