Chapter 241 – Blood Is Thicker Than Water (2)
“It must still be in her purse now. If you don’t believe it, you can search her purse,” Su Xinmei said, in a desperate attempt to save herself. She knew that the position of the imperial physician was a lost cause, but if she were to spite the academy too she would have nowhere to go. So, she would rather offend the Huang Family than being expelled from the academy.
Huang Fuxiang tightly held her purse and nervously said, “I didn’t steal her key, she gave it to me.”
“Headmaster, now that the truth has been revealed, do you still need to continue the investigation? If you still think the evidence is insufficient, let Jin Wei investigate,” Qi Jin said in a deep voice.
It was well-known that if Jin Wei were to investigate, the end would be much more terrible.
Huang Fuxiang had been scared several times today. So much so that now, the mere mention of Jin Wei, sent her trembling in fear. She hid in her mother’s arms and pitifully said, “Mother, I shall not be involved in this incident. It was Su Xinmei’s idea. She said Lu Yaoyao had the key to the glasshouse. As long as there was an incident in the glasshouse, she would definitely be expelled from the academy…”
“So you stole the key and caused destruction to the medicinal herbs?” Ye Zhen coldly demanded.
“All this is because of you! If it were not for you, these medicinal herbs would have been fine!” Leaving her mother’s embrace, Huang Fuxiang shouted. “Lu Yaoyao, you have no sense of shame! You even seduced Brother Tang. How could you be in possession of his silver whip? Go to hell! Go die!”
“I had a fair and square archery competition with him last time. My elder brother was even there. Huang Fuxiang, how could you say I’m shameless?” Ye Zhen glared at Huang Fuxiang; her voice neither loud nor too low, cold yet calm; confident but not furious, assertive and not audacious.
“Then why doesn’t he pay attention to me?!” Huang Fuxiang cried.
“You should ask yourself this. How can others know?” Ye Zhen smiled and replied.
“Shut up and don’t ever mention that bane of existence again!” Madam Huang reprimanded her daughter. She had already lost face in the capital because of Tang Zhen. She thought that as long as she said a few nice words, her nephew would certainly be grateful. However, Tang Zhen had declared that the Tang and Huang families had already severed their ties and refused to recognize her as an aunt. What’s more, he didn’t even acknowledge the relations between the two families.
Although she had distanced herself from the Tang Family in the fear that it would bring trouble to the Huang Family before, she hadn’t expected the decision would break off the relationship for a lifetime. Now that the ship had sailed, there was no use harping over it.
So what if he were an influential man now, someone the emperor heavily relied upon, there was no dearth of young and promising men for her daughter who hailed from a prestigious family. So what if he used to be her nephew, someone without gratitude was unsuited to be a son-in-law.
At her mother’s words, Huang Fuxiang’s rage knew no bounds. She stomped her foot and said, “Mother, if you had not been heartless back then, Tang Zhen would have not denied our family’s marriage!”
“What did you say?” Madam Huang was livid, upset at her own daughter.
“If Brother Tang hadn’t ignored me, I wouldn’t have framed Lu Yaoyao. Mother, this is all your fault!” Huang Fuxiang flounced out, threw her purse to the ground, turned around, and ran away wailing.
Picking up the purse, Qi Jin opened it. Indeed, inside there was the key to the glasshouse. She looked at the headmaster and said, “Head Master, how do you think this incident should be handled?”
The headmaster glanced at Ye Zhen, and then looked at Imperial Physician Huang and said, “Since the truth has been revealed, we shall deal with it in accordance with the regulations of the academy.”
Imperial Physician Huang looked at Su Xinmei coldly, and said to the headmaster and Qi Jin, “Since the headmaster will handle this matter according to the regulations of the academy, it would not be necessary to make the matter a trivial one. It is better for the academy to handle it by itself.”
The implication was that she just didn’t want Qi Jin to report the incident to the empress dowager.
Qi Jin revealed a faint smile. She may not report the matter to the court, but she must let Imperial Physician Huang owe her a favor. “For Imperial Physician Huang’s sake, we can be lenient. However, Huang Fuxiang can no longer be a student in the medical academy.”
“Very well, then!” Imperial Physician Huang gnashed his teeth and agreed.
Had she known that her niece had done it, she would not have gotten involved in the matter.