Luo Daoqing thought for a moment and accepted the gold-flecked paper.
He reasoned that the “Luo Daoqing” of this moment was successful and famous; it would be natural for him to fly into a rage if rejected. As long as he accepted the love poem and coaxed him a little, they should be able to coexist peacefully.
“Thank you, Lord State Preceptor,” he said softly. “Miaomiao is of meager talent and shallow learning; I am humbled by your lordship’s generous affection.”
A wave of low gasps immediately erupted among the banquet guests.
“Truly shameless...”
“The Wang family’s reputation has been completely thrown away by her...”
Before he could even hear clearly what the people were whispering about, a hand gripped Luo Daoqing’s wrist.
He was led away from the banquet.
Then.
In a daze, he was ushered onto the State Preceptor’s carriage.
Before long, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the Minister of Rites’ manor. He forced a smile and bid farewell to the “Luo Daoqing” on the carriage.
On the first night, Luo Daoqing tossed and turned in bed. Fortunately, nothing happened, and he survived until the second day.
“Miss! Miss!” Her personal maid burst into the inner chamber, her face pale as a ghost. “Something has happened!”
Luo Daoqing bolted upright.
“What is it?”
The maid said timidly, “Last night, while drinking and making merry with his friends, the State Preceptor actually said that while you look pure and noble on the surface, you are actually quite loose. He claimed you threw yourself at him while in the carriage.”
“Is his face made of thick leather? How can he lie like that?”
Luo Daoqing was instantly furious.
How had he never realized before that he had such a foul mouth?
“Help me dress. I need to see the State Preceptor!”
About the time it takes for half a stick of incense to burn, he left the Minister’s manor in a small sedan chair and entered the State Preceptor’s manor through a side gate.
The “Luo Daoqing” was waiting for him in the study.
“Lady Wang.” He stood up and walked toward him, a hint of lewdness in his eyes. “You’ve come to find me. Is there something you need?”
Luo Daoqing stood his ground, watching the face that belonged to “himself” draw closer and closer.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of intense nausea.
He didn’t even know why he felt so disgusted.
He just felt revolted and wanted to vomit.
“Lord State Preceptor.” He suppressed his roiling emotions and tried to keep his voice steady. “There are rumors in the city today slandering Miaomiao. I ask that your lordship step forward to clarify the situation.”
“Rumors?” The “Luo Daoqing” raised an eyebrow and sat back in his chair nonchalantly. “What rumors?”
“That you and I are... involved in a private affair.”
He replied, “Lady Wang, you accepted my love poem. We are both willing participants; how can those be called rumors?”
Luo Daoqing closed his eyes, hardly able to believe that this rogue-like man was once himself.
He truly wanted to stab him to death.
But he couldn't; the disparity in strength between a man and a woman was too great.
He was currently a delicate young girl; how could he possibly win a fight against a grown man?
“Lord State Preceptor, you have misunderstood.” He spoke with restraint and tact. “At the spring banquet that day, I only accepted that love letter because I didn't want your lordship to lose face...”
“Wang Miaomiao, what are you pretending for?”
The “Luo Daoqing” suddenly pinched his chin. “Stop playing hard to get with me.”
“...”
Luo Daoqing felt completely and utterly speechless.
This greasy, arrogant poser was actually himself?
“Lord State Preceptor, please don't be like this. I truly have no such feelings for you! I only came to find you because I wanted you to clear up the rumors!”
“Let go of me, I want to go home...”
“Hehe, Lady Wang, do you think the State Preceptor’s manor is a place where you can come and go as you please?”
“I have business in the palace to see His Majesty now. You stay here quietly. When I return, I’ll take my time with you.”
Luo Daoqing was locked in the study.
By the time he finally found a way to escape the study and return to the Minister’s manor, it was already the third day.
Just as he thought he might survive this time, he ran straight into Wang Miaomiao’s parents as soon as he entered the gate.
The Minister of Rites and Madam Wang were sitting in the main hall like two expressionless, cold clay statues.
Luo Daoqing’s footsteps faltered.
“You rebellious girl!”
The Minister of Rites said, “Where were you last night?”
Luo Daoqing knelt down.
“Father, your daughter went to the State Preceptor’s manor yesterday to ask him to clarify the rumors. Who would have thought he would lock me in his study? It was only with great effort that I managed to escape...”
“Silence.”
The Minister of Rites stood up.
He walked over to Luo Daoqing and looked down at him.
The morning light shone from behind him, casting his face into deep shadow and making his expression unreadable.
“You stayed out all night, consorting with a man outside the family and causing a scandal that has spread through the entire city, yet you still dare to make excuses?”
“It’s not like that, Father. I was locked up...”
“Rebellious girl, still making excuses!” The Minister’s voice suddenly rose an octave. “You shamelessly entangled yourself with the State Preceptor in public at the spring banquet, then threw yourself at him in the carriage, and now you’ve spent the night at his manor. Which of these things is a false accusation?”
Luo Daoqing was stunned.
He wanted to say that every single one of those things was a false accusation, but he didn't know how to argue back.
Because he truly had accepted that love poem, he truly had boarded the carriage, and he truly had gone to the State Preceptor’s manor.
As for the first matter, there were witnesses, but they could only prove that he had indeed been seen interacting with the “Luo Daoqing.”
As for the latter two matters, he had been alone with the “Luo Daoqing.” How could he possibly prove his innocence?
“Someone, bring the white silk.”
Seeing a maid bring over a length of white silk, Luo Daoqing instinctively tried to get up and run, only to be held down by two elderly servant women.
The Minister of Rites walked behind Luo Daoqing and wrapped the three-foot length of white silk around his neck. “Your reputation is now utterly destroyed. If you continue to live in this world, you will surely bring shame upon your sisters. Only by using your death to prove your innocence can you clear your name.”
“Go in peace.”
The white silk tightened into his flesh bit by bit.
Luo Daoqing’s legs kicked frantically at the ground.
“Mother.” He turned toward Madam Wang, his eyes bloodshot—not from crying, but because his throat was being constricted, forcing blood to his head and straining every capillary to the limit.
“Mother, save me... I truly didn't...”
Madam Wang said in a low voice, “Miaomiao, once a noble daughter loses her purity, there is only one path left for her.”
The Minister of Rites increased his strength.
Luo Daoqing began to lose the ability to breathe.
His mouth opened wide, like a fish gasping on dry land, desperately trying to pull in a sliver of air.
But the white silk locked his throat tight, making even a single breath of fresh air an impossible luxury.
Before long, his vision began to fade to black.
Death by strangulation.
Returning to that strange space from before, Luo Daoqing clutched his neck, collapsing to the ground and gasping for air.
To be strangled to death was such a painful ordeal...
It took a long time before he regained his composure.
“Luo Daoqing, even now, do you still feel that Wang Miaomiao’s death has nothing to do with you?”
Yun Shu looked at him. “You thought those were just a few careless words spoken while drunk, but you did not know that in this era, rumors and gossip can kill more effectively and invisibly than a blade.”
This time.
What she wanted to break was feudal ethics!
Luo Daoqing’s face was covered in tears. “I’m sorry... I’ve wronged Wang Miaomiao. It was I who harmed her. I never imagined that it was so difficult for a woman to live in this era...”
“How could they strangle a living person to death just because of a few rumors?”
At this moment, he was the perfect illustration of the saying:
Unless the blade stabs your own body, you can never truly know how much it hurts.
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