MFURCC -Chapter 55 The Painting Has a Problem

The handkerchief was placed right in Liuzheng’s courtyard, and it even had her name embroidered on it…

He had stolen it with his own hands, without involving anyone else. How could he have made a mistake?

Fu Yunqi’s expression kept shifting like storm clouds, unwilling to accept what he was seeing.

Feng Lunian had completely lost his patience.

“Second Young Master Fu, are you wasting my time?”

He glared coldly at Fu Yunqi.

“No… this is impossible…” Fu Yunqi shook his head desperately. “I couldn’t be wrong. This is indeed Ruan Liuzheng’s handkerchief. She… she personally gave it to me!”

Liuzheng looked at Fu Yunqi with cold eyes.

“The evidence is right in front of you, and yet you still slander me with empty words? I truly don’t understand why you’re targeting me like this. How have I ever offended you?”

Madam Yuan also spoke coldly: “Second Young Master Fu, the person you are slandering is a General of the Third Rank! You, a mere scholar, dare to slander a Third-Rank General?”

Then she turned to Fu Yunsheng: “General Fu, will you just stand there and watch your younger brother slander General Ruan? I insist that my husband report this to His Majesty!”

Hearing this, Old Master Fu became even more anxious than Fu Yunsheng himself.

He quickly stepped forward and bowed deeply. “Madam Yuan, General Ruan, my son was indeed rude. I will have him kowtow and apologize to you immediately! I hope you can take pity on my age and let this matter be settled…”

As he said this, he kicked Fu Yunqi hard. “How dare you not kowtow and apologize?! You don’t care about your own reputation, fine, but must you drag your elder brother down with you?”

Fu Yunqi inhaled sharply several times from the blow.

Although it hurt, it cleared his mind somewhat.

“This isn’t right!”

Fu Yunqi said, “Madam Yuan, this handkerchief might not even have been embroidered by her! She could have had one of her maidservants or an embroiderer do it for her!”

As he spoke, his conviction only strengthened.

“Exactly! It must be like this! Otherwise, this situation couldn’t have happened. Perhaps you two already agreed on this story in private!”

Liuzheng scoffed. “I had no idea you were going to slander me, so how could I have prepared in advance? Besides, a handkerchief given to a close friend—would I hand it over to someone else?”

Madam Yuan added: “Even if Liuzheng had a maid do the embroidery, the workmanship of a professional would be much finer than ours. But look at this handkerchief. The dragonfly is vivid, yes, but the stitching is coarse. It’s obvious it wasn’t done by a skilled embroiderer!”

Liuzheng: “…”

Madam Yuan hesitated and said, “I’m not criticizing the way you did the embroidery.”

Liuzheng tugged at her lips. “I know.”

She felt a little wistful. She had spent three days and nights practicing.

Sometimes, it seemed, talent truly outweighed effort.

Watching the two of them still exchanging subtle glances, Fu Yunqi’s anger grew.

“Whether it’s true or not, neither of you gets to decide!”

“Then what? You decide?” Madam Yuan asked.

Fu Yunqi replied, “Even if I say so, it doesn’t count! Seeing is believing. If General Ruan is truly innocent, then let her embroider something in front of everyone! Once it’s done, we’ll see for ourselves who is lying!”

Fu Yunsheng frowned.

“Second brother, how can you still be so stubborn? How long do you intend to remain confused?”

Feng Lunian’s patience was even thinner.

“Who is behind this plot against me? Are all of the Fu family blind? You still can’t figure out who is orchestrating this?”

“Big brother, General Feng, please believe me this once! The one setting us up is definitely her!” Fu Yunqi pointed at Liuzheng.

Fu Yunsheng frowned, about to speak, when Liuzheng said:

“I can embroider. But I need to make this clear first: if it turns out that the handkerchief Second Young Master Fu showed isn’t mine, and you’ve slandered me and wasted so much of my time, I will collect interest for that.”

Old Master Fu and Fu Yunsheng both asked at the same time, “What does General Ruan want?”

Liuzheng replied: “Cut his tongue strap so he can never slander anyone again!”

Old Master Fu’s face changed.

Fu Yunqi was already a scholar. If he passed next year, he might qualify for the imperial examination.

But the court would never allow a mute to participate.

Moreover, cutting the tongue strap wouldn’t cut the tongue itself, but it could cause unstoppable bleeding.

If the bleeding wasn’t controlled in time, it could be life-threatening!

“General Ruan, you can’t… this is really—”

Liuzheng said, “Fine, I won’t cut it. Then I’ll request His Majesty to judge. A Third-Rank General being slandered—what punishment should the culprit face?”

Old Master Fu waved his hands frantically.

“No! That’s not acceptable!”

Facing His Majesty, it wouldn’t be as simple as cutting a tongue strap and making someone mute.

“Then do as I said.”

“This… this…”

Old Master Fu didn’t know which way to turn, sweating profusely, unable to speak for a long time.

Finally, Fu Yunqi spoke: “Father, don’t be afraid of her! Facts speak louder than words. I am telling the truth, you don’t need to worry about me!”

“Bastard! If this is a misunderstanding, you’ll become mute! You’ll never have a chance to take the exams again!”

Old Master Fu could no longer distinguish truth from lies.

But he didn’t know Ruan Liuzheng, he only knew Fu Yunqi.

This son was cunning from a young age and often went wandering…

So he wasn’t willing to give in easily.

“Father! Just agree! I’m not afraid. Why are you? Or do you also think I am the one setting this trap? What benefit would it bring me?”

Liuzheng said, “Since Second Young Master Fu himself has said this, let’s write an agreement! So you can’t back out later!”

“Are you afraid I’ll back out? If it turns out you were the one plotting against us, what then?”

Liuzheng: “I’ll do the same as you—cut my tongue strap!”

Madam Yuan was shocked.

“Liuzheng, you don’t need to go that far…”

Liuzheng: “Sister Yuan, rest assured, I have nothing to fear if I am innocent. What’s there to worry about?”

Madam Yuan saw her determination and reluctantly consented.

“Then let’s each write an agreement!”

Even if he couldn’t destroy Liuzheng’s innocence, making her mute would at least satisfy Ruan Mingzheng.

Liuzheng said without hesitation: “Bring the paper and brush!”

Soon, ink, brush, paper, and inkstone were all ready.

Old Master Fu still wanted to stop her, but Fu Yunsheng held him back.

“Father, you must believe Second Brother.”

“Fine, fine… I won’t interfere!!” Old Master Fu threw up his hands, turning away as Liuzheng and Fu Yunqi wrote their agreements.

Once written and exchanged, a servant brought a basket with needles and threads.

“What should I embroider?” Liuzheng asked.

Fu Yunqi said, “Embroider the picture of the immortals presenting longevity that you gave me!”

Liuzheng looked at him in surprise.

Even her nanny had thought she was embroidering a wild duck, yet Fu Yunqi could recognize it as a crane?

It seemed the two of them truly had a tangled fate.

“Fine, then embroider the Immortal Crane Presenting Longevity!”

Liuzheng picked up the needle and thread and began to embroider.

Fu Yunqi waited by her side, his face full of anticipation.

Soon, he could cut Liuzheng’s tongue strap and make her mute!

Or, if luck favored him, she might even die from it!

This would be even more perfect than his previous plan.

Previously, he still had to marry her!

He didn’t like women like Liuzheng. Who knew what she had experienced at the frontier—whether she had lost her chastity while mingling with soldiers?

He certainly didn’t want to marry a “ruined woman”!

Feng Lunian, standing nearby, was also looking forward to it.

From their previous encounter, he loathed Liuzheng immensely.

And with the emperor intending to hand him command of the Chang Sui army, he worried that after taking over, the soldiers would remain loyal to Liuzheng rather than him.

Once Liuzheng became mute, the Chang Sui army would have no distractions.

The more Feng Lunian thought about it, the more excited he became, even planning to have servants set off firecrackers to celebrate!

Fu Yunsheng, however, looked at Liuzheng deeply but showed little emotion.

Madam Yuan was full of anxiety.

Everyone had different intentions, but Liuzheng remained completely focused, eyes on her embroidery.

Her movements seemed clumsy, her expression serious, as if embroidery were extremely difficult for her.

Seeing this, Fu Yunqi smirked.

Is that all? How could a fine embroidery come from that?

Ruan Liuzheng’s tongue—he would have it!

In this strange quiet, Liuzheng finished her embroidery.

To prevent any private interference, Madam Yuan had been forced to stand far away.

Now, seeing Liuzheng finish the last stitch and cut the final thread, Madam Yuan hurried over.

Fu Yunqi, fearing she might swap the handkerchief, moved ahead to block her.

“Let me see!”

He snatched the handkerchief from Liuzheng, and in the next moment, his eyes widened in shock, nearly popping out of their sockets.

“This… how is this possible?!”

On the handkerchief, a crane in mid-flight held a longevity peach in its beak.

The crane was lifelike, its feathers shining, and the peach was large and round.

Though not flawless, it was clearly of a different embroidery quality from the handkerchief he had stolen from Liuzheng’s courtyard.

Instead, it matched the embroidery quality of the handkerchief in Madam Yuan’s hands.

“Impossible… impossible…”

He could not have stolen the wrong one!

The thought of the agreement he had signed drained the color from his face. He swayed and fell to the ground.

Feng Lunian quickly stepped forward, grabbed the handkerchief, and immediately knew the truth.

He glared at Fu Yunqi, yanked him up by the collar, and slapped him hard across the face.

“You bastard! How dare you trick me twice?!”

The crisp slap made Fu Yunqi’s eyes suddenly light up.

He grabbed Feng Lunian’s sleeve like a lifeline.

“It’s the painting! The painting she gave me has a problem! General Feng, have you seen the ‘Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains’ painting she gave me?”

Feng Lunian froze.

He had indeed handled Liuzheng’s painting before, when she said it was a birthday gift for Fu Yunqi.

“That painting… what’s wrong with it?”