Chapter 52
Chapter 52 The First Seed Planted
Many madams started to give Ming Xian’er small purses as tips, and it took her a while before she left the pavilion. There was another show waiting for her to perform, which was not hers originally but became hers.
Ming Xian’er stood under the pavilion as the smile on her face faded away and her eyes darkened. She raised her eyes and let out a deep breath. Right now, she was nothing and had no power to reject these madams. But in the future… In the future, she would let these prideful madams kneel in front of her.
After suppressing her rage, Ming Xian’er turned back to the beautiful, polite performer and even showed a faint smile on her face.
She turned around and headed backstage.
“Miss Ming, please wait.”
Ming Xian’er stopped and looked at the side path where the sound came from. A cute maid was standing there, who looked pretty and wore an amiable smile.
“What’s the matter?” asked Ming Xian’er.
“Please, Miss Ming. The lady wants to talk to you,” said Yu Dong politely. The bright smile on his face looked harmless.
“Who’s your master?” Ming Xian’er asked warily. Right now, they were standing under a tree at a crossing. She looked around but didn’t notice anyone passing by, feeling unsettled.
“Miss Ming, please!” Yu Dong ignored her question and said firmly.
However, Ming Xian’er was a different woman than the others. She quickly calmed herself down and nodded at Yu Dong.
She followed Yu Dong all the way to a rockery where a small pavilion was located. She climbed up and saw a slender figure standing inside with a long, wide veil tied on the face. Even though half of the lady’s face was covered, Ming Xian’er still found her gorgeous.
As a performer, she had traveled around the country when she was younger and met all kinds of people, which gave her a sharp eye. So, although she didn’t see Qu Moying’s whole face, she could still tell how beautiful the lady was.
She recalled what the Crown Prince told her before. Judging by Qu Moying’s clothes, she quickly figured out the identity of this lady in front of her.
Ugly? Blind? Ming Xian’er thought people who spread the rumors were actually blind! She was sure that Fourth Lady Qu was totally not the person as people said.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Fourth Lady Qu.” The unsettled feeling was gone after recognizing Qu Moying. Ming Xian’er walked up and bowed to her.
It was said that this lady had a solitary, odd personality and grew up in a village. In the Qu’s Mansion, no one really treated her like a lady. They just regarded her as a poor, abandoned girl. Even Ming Xian’er thought she was in a better position than this lady.
“Have you seen my cousin?” Qu Moying sized her up and said in a flat tone.
“My lady, do you mean the Crown Princess? She has been feeling unwell. I’m afraid… there’s not much time left for her!” Ming Xian’er answered her with a bit of disdain.
She would never show this kind of attitude if she were with those madams and ladies before. But facing a poor, powerless girl like Fourth Lady Qu, she didn’t need to care about her manners.
“Slap her!” Qu Moying yelled coldly.
“What…?” Before Ming Xian’er had any reaction, Yu Dong already rushed forward and slapped hard on her face. Startled by the sudden pain, she stepped back and almost fell off the rockery. She hurriedly grabbed a bulging rock next to her to support herself as she pulled a long face.
“Fourth Lady Qu, what do you mean by this?”
“You are just an opera performer. How dare you curse my cousin? What do you think I mean by this?” Qu Moying asked her in an icy voice, standing on the stairs and looking down at her.
“Fourth Lady Qu, do you know I work in the Eastern Palace?” Ming Xian’er covered her face and said in embarrassment and anger.
“I don’t care if you work in the Crown Prince’s palace or you are the Crown Prince’s woman. It doesn’t matter for me,” Qu Moying said without any emotion.
Her words directly tore apart Ming Xian’er’s disguise, making her fly into a rage immediately. Funny enough, she heard the same words before, but from a different person, Ji Youran, the Crown Prince’s second wife. Ming Xian’er still remembered the disdainful look on her face at that time. Even though she couldn’t see Lady Qu’s face right now, she could tell through her tone that she was wearing the exact same look as Ji Youran. Ming Xian’er couldn’t feel angrier about it.
She was powerless facing Ji Youran, but she couldn’t accept being insulted by a blind girl from the Qu’s Family.
“Fourth Lady Qu, since you know I’m the Crown Prince’s woman, how dare you slap me?” With no one around, Ming Xian’er didn’t care about maintaining her disguise anymore.
Qu Moying was just an abandoned, blind lady living in the Qu’s Mansion that no one cared about. Ming Xian’er thought it would be easy to deal with a weak girl like her.
Qu Moying’s eyes darkened after hearing her shameless admission. She pressed her lips into a straight line, and the look on her face became more displeased. “It’s good that you admit it. How about you go to meet my grandmother with me and say the exact same words to her again?”
“Fourth Lady Qu, are you stupid? Why will I tell the Old Lady about it? Since no one else heard what I said, people will not trust your words. Moreover, if the Crown Prince knows you threatened me, he will not go easy on you.”
Ming Xian’er’s voice was arrogant.
“Slap her!” Qu Moying said shortly. She didn’t want to waste one more second on talking.
Yu Dong stepped forward and gave her another two slaps. As a man, he was naturally more robust than a woman, and the impact made Ming Xian’er directly fall on the ground. Her fair face became red and swollen at once.
Ming Xian’er couldn’t believe she was punished by a blind girl whom she looked down upon. Thinking about the insult given by Ji Youran in the Eastern Palace and the current situation, she almost lost her mind due to rage. She struggled up and rushed toward Qu Moying, aiming for her hair and face. She wanted to make a scene here so that she could tell people that Fourth Lady Qu bullied her.
With the Crown Prince’s support, she thought nothing of this blind lady.
What was the meaning of her noble identity if this lady ended up having a more miserable life than a low-life opera performer?
Yu Dong rapidly reached out and pressed her shoulder to stop her.
“You want to make a scene? The Crown Prince apparently disobeys the etiquette by letting a young woman stay in his palace when his wife is sick. There’s nothing wrong if I drive you out of there in my cousin’s name! To be honest, you are just an opera performer. Do you really believe you will become the next Crown Princess?”
Qu Moying slowly walked down the stairs and stopped next to Ming Xian’er, who was controlled by Yu Dong. She looked at her and suddenly smiled, “If I were you, I would really think about my future. No matter who’s the real master in the Eastern Palace, no one would accept you. The Crown Prince? Do you really believe he loves you? I heard his true love is the Crown Princess, but look at how she ended up. I wonder what will happen to you.”
Qu Moying said it carelessly as if she was talking about something totally unrelated to her. There was no pain but only disdain and sarcasm left in her words. She said it to mock Pei Luo’an and also mock herself in her past life.
She was indeed blind as Ji Hanyue, even blinder than her current self, a physically half-blind girl. She was ignorant of everything, herself and the people around her, and her ignorance brought harm to her father and younger sister.
So, when she was physically blind in this life, she actually felt better. In this way, she could see herself and other people more clearly.
After finishing her words, Qu Moying passed by Ming Xian’er, who was stunned in shock. “After you think it through, you can come to meet me. I want to know my cousin’s situation. If you couldn’t figure it out, I promise your life will become miserable after one year!”
She said it in such a straightforward way to put pressure on Ming Xian’er. Ji Youran wasn’t as kind and ignorant as Ji Hanyue, and she wouldn’t let Ming Xian’er have a peaceful life in the palace!
Qu Moying was not afraid of Pei Luo’an if he investigated her after knowing what happened from Ming Xian’er. Pei Luo’an was an extremely skeptical person, but she was not worried about her situation at all. Ji Hanyue was one of the few people who treated Qu Moying well and even sent a doctor to check on her eyes, which Pei Luo’an was aware of.
Back in the village, she didn’t really go out because of her solitary personality. But since she came back to the mansion, it would be reasonable for her to ask about the Crown Princess. Even though she did say some rude words, who would blame a blind, poor lady who grew up in a village? Everyone would just think it was her usual behavior.
If Pei Luo’an still wanted to keep up with his character of a loyal man who deeply loved Ji Hanyue, he couldn’t possibly blame her for doing it.
As for Ming Xian’er, her matter couldn’t be exposed in public, especially when Ji Hanyue was still heavily sick…
After knowing Ji Youran’s true colors now, Qu Moying was sure that Ming Xian’er would have a tough life in the Eastern Palace. All the well-educated behavior she saw before was merely Ji Youran’s disguise. Now without Ji Hanyue, she probably had become the real princess in charge.
Qu Moying was not offering Ming Xian’er a way to survive but planting a seed in the Eastern Palace.
One seed, two seeds, three seeds…
She would give herself enough time and patience to complete her revenge. She wanted to refute a significantly unjust verdict, and her enemy was the noble Crown Prince…
She was no longer the dignified Crown Princess but just a Qu’s daughter who was looked down on by everyone and almost got abandoned. Coupled with the breaking off of her engagement, her reputation as Qu Moying was utterly ruined.
Fortunately, she never expected herself to get married in this life. A person whose life was at risk anytime didn’t have the time and energy for that…
“Call someone from the opera group over and take her away,” Qu Moying said to Yu Dong, who followed her to the foot of the rockery.
“Yes, my lady.” He left hurriedly.
Both Qu Moying and Yu Dong left, leaving Ming Xian’er alone, who was sitting on the ground with a sullen face. She stayed in the same position for a while and still couldn’t believe she was hit by that useless Fourth Lady Qu. She touched her face – it hurt and felt swollen. Everything that happened just now was real.
A few days ago, Ji Youran hit her; a few more days ago, Ji Youran’s maid hit her; even before that…
Everyone treated Princess Ji as the real princess in charge of the Eastern Palace now. Before that happened, she was respected by both Ji Hanyue and Ji Youran and had the Crown Prince’s love. The Crown Prince even promised to arrange a wedding ceremony for her and marry her as his concubine after Ji Hanyue and his wedding.
The Crown Prince said she was born in a decent family, so her name could be justified. As long as she stopped working as a performer and regained her identity as a lady, he was willing to do anything for her.
But right now, everything he said didn’t come true, and her life was tough, almost terrible.
“Miss Ming? Miss Ming?” a familiar female voice came from below. It was a woman from her opera group.
Ming Xian’er leaned on a rock and supported herself up. Her voice was hoarse, “I’m here!”
The woman walked up anxiously, “Miss Ming, you…”
She froze once she saw the red, swollen slap marks on Ming Xian’er’s face.
“H-How did you know I’m here?” Ming Xian’er raised her head and asked.
“A maid told me that you are here. She said you were arguing with someone…”
It seemed that Fourth Lady Qu was not worried about her making a big scene at all. Ming Xian’er lowered her head, bit her lips, and fell into silence for a while. Then she said, “Nothing happened. Let’s go!”
