Chapter 103 – Chapter 103 A Big Gift For Old Lady Ji
Chapter 103 A Big Gift for Old Lady Ji
“Cousin, don’t go now. Even if you do, you can’t find out anything or may even be framed by someone. When I was in the altar room before, I found that Princess Ji may not be as simple as she looks,”
Qu Moying hurriedly stopped Yue Wenhan. The reason why she had this conversation with him was to prevent him from doing something impulsive!
“Framed by someone?” Yue Wenhan stopped. For the first time, he found something was different about this cousin, who had always been weak and soft in his eyes.
“Cousin, if Princess Ji is truly involved in the Crown Princess’s death, do you really think you can find the truth so easily? If there is a secret behind the Crown Princess’s death, then what about the Crown Prince? Has he been really in love with her deeply? Shouldn’t he know everything that has happened in the Eastern Palace? So, if he knew but still watched the Crown Princess die, what does this mean?”
Qu Moying took two steps up. Her trembling voice sounded so low that she was almost like whispering, with an inexplicable trace of fear or anger. But no matter what, it was very bold of her to say such things in the Eastern Palace.
The recklessness and the rounded thoughts of this weak-looking girl shocked Yue Wenhan.
However, he quickly calmed himself down and sat back down on the guest chair. For the first time, he started to take it seriously.
“Cousin, you also feel something’s wrong with the Crown Princess’s situation?”
Qu Moying sat down with him and nodded. “Yes, I do, but we can’t make any reckless move. If there’s really something fishy behind it, Princess Ji shouldn’t be the only one involved. I noticed that none of the Crown Princess’s private maids stayed with her coffin. Cousin, this should be a good start point of your investigation if you want to find the truth. In terms of…”
Qu Moying suddenly paused and showed a hesitant look on her face.
“Please, just say it. I’m your cousin and also the Crown Princess’s cousin!” Yue Wenhan straightened up and said.
“Cousin, since you are here to accompany the Crown Prince today, you can use the opportunity to investigate the whereabouts of the two private maids. Also, I heard that the Ji Family has been here for the funeral, and the person who came is Old Lady Ji. Can you let me meet her later? Since I’m a female, it will be more appropriate for me to deal with other females,” Qu Moying proposed.
“But…are you feeling alright?” instead of approving her request, Yue Wenhan frowned at her and asked with concern.
In his eyes, Qu Moying was just a weak girl who didn’t have any power. That was why Yu dared to frame her like that. When he heard that Qu Moying wanted to visit Old Lady Ji and investigate independently, he couldn’t feel more worried.
“Cousin, don’t worry about me. I feel much better than before. I’ve been taking medicine. After a few days of rest, I will be totally fine,” knowing Yue Wenhan didn’t trust her competence, Qu Moying comforted him softly.
She really wanted to meet Old Lady Ji, who used to be her grandmother in her past life. However, she couldn’t ask Ji Youran for it since Ji Youran wouldn’t want Qu Moying to meet the Old Lady.
The only person who had the freedom and power to help her was Yue Wenhan. Moreover, both Yue Wenhan and Qu Moying were the Crown Princess’s cousins related to the Ji Family. Therefore, it was expected that Yue Wenhan would take her to visit Old Lady Ji to show the youngsters’ respect to the elders.
As for the Crown Princess’s two private maids, Wei Yu and Xie Feng, Yue Wenhan had his reason to ask about them, so even the Crown Prince couldn’t have any objection.
“Are you really okay?” Yue Wenhan still sounded worried, “How about calling an Imperial Doctor over to check on you again?”
“There’s no need. I’m really fine now,” Qu Moying shook her head smilingly.
“If you have any trouble in the future, just send someone to tell me. Just now, I caught up with your father and your family’s carriages, and then…” Yue Wenhan didn’t know how to continue his story. No matter how much he hated Qu Zhizhen as a person, he was still Qu Moying’s father. He felt so wrong to speak ill of Qu Zhizhen in front of her!
“Cousin, did you have an argument with my father? Did you get hurt?” Qu Moying never expected that Yue Wenhan would directly confront her father, and her voice sounded worried. She straightened up after hearing the news for fear that this would cause Yue Wenhan trouble. If Qu Zhizhen was an easy person to deal with, he would never climb up to the position of Vice Minister of Works at his current age.
“Well, when we were pulling each other, I accidentally made him fall off his horse and twist his ankle,” said Yue Wenhan carelessly.
Hearing his words, Qu Moying curled up her lips into a faint smile. She was not familiar with Yue Wenhan before, but now she realized her cousin was also an intelligent person. The way he talked about the conflict between him and Qu Zhizhen was so careless as if it was no big deal at all. Because he knew that Qu Zhizhen couldn’t do anything about it.
Moreover, with how Yu mistreated Qu Moying before, Qu Zhizhen was totally disadvantaged in the whole situation. He not only couldn’t argue back but also might be reported by Imperial Censors. Although it was just a family issue, everything started at the Crown Princess’s funeral, after all. If anyone wanted to take it seriously, they could just say Qu Zhizhen and his family disrespected the deceased Crown Princess.
No wonder Yu suddenly fainted, couldn’t get off her bed, and asked many doctors to check on her.
If she didn’t do so, not only she would be punished, Qu Zhizhen also would be involved.
“Thank you, Cousin.” Qu Moying stood up and curtsied to Yue Wenhan to show her sincere gratitude.
“This is what I should do as your cousin. Even if I didn’t do it, Vice Minister Qu couldn’t get around with the blame anyway,” said Yue Wenhan carelessly.
“But if you didn’t confront him directly in public, the scene wouldn’t be as big as right now,” Qu Moying said politely.
Those officials who attended the funeral here were not just ordinary people on the street. They knew what they should say and what they shouldn’t.
However, making a scene on the street was a totally different story. Yue Wenhan definitely talked about what Yu did again in public. With so many people witnessing it, no one could easily cover the whole thing up.
Qu Moying’s words convinced Yue Wenhan that his cousin looked soft and weak, but she was actually a brilliant girl.
He didn’t tell her the whole process, but she understood his intention immediately. Subconsciously, a pleased smile showed up on his face.
He did everything with his own will, and he didn’t need to explain it to others, yet having Qu Moying’s understanding was indeed a delightful thing.
Now, he didn’t hold as much worry as before about Qu Moying’s meeting with Old Lady Ji. He took a few seconds to think and then said, “Okay. I’ll ask around about the two private maids and then ask if Old Lady Ji has time to meet us.”
“Thank you, Cousin!” Qu Moying nodded at him.
Yue Wenhan was the only person who could help her in the Eastern Palace now. Besides, meeting Old Lady Ji was her main purpose of staying in the Eastern Palace due to her sickness.
After she was reborn, she hadn’t made any contact with the Ji Family yet.
The Ji Family and the Qu Family were related, but their connection was cut off after Qu Moying’s mother passed away. The Ji Family stopped contacting the Qu Family since then. Only Ji Hanyue had secretly sent gifts to Qu Moying sometimes when Qu Moying was still in the village. Right now, Qu Moying didn’t have a proper reason to contact the Ji Family unless she rebuilt the connection between the two families by herself.
It was necessary for her revenge plan. As the perfect chance presented itself now, she couldn’t miss it.
“My lady, I also can help you investigate the whereabouts of the two maids,” watching Yue Wenhan leaving, Yu Dong said in confusion. In his opinion, it was just about two maids in the Eastern Palace, no big deal. Qu Moying didn’t need to ask the vice minister of the Dali Temple to do it.
“How will you do it?” Qu Moying lifted her teacup from the table and took a sip slowly.
“I can just find some old servants here and give them some money. It shouldn’t be that hard,” Yu Dong said carelessly. It was just the whereabouts of two maids, nothing else.
“What if they refuse to accept your money?” Qu Moying said as she stared at Yu Dong coldly.
“No way. It’s such a small thing…” Yu Dong blinked his eyes in confusion.
“A small thing? Anything related to the Crown Princess’s death won’t be a small thing,” Qu Moying’s voice sounded indifferent.
Yu Dong subconsciously trembled, feeling a cold shiver through his spine. Of course, working for Pei Yuanjun, he knew that anything related to the Crown Princess’s death was not a small thing. However, didn’t the Crown Princess die of sickness?
Was there any secret behind it?
Yu Dong didn’t dare to answer her. He had never thought of this possibility before. But once hinted by Qu Moying, the more Yu Dong thought about it, the more suspicious he found it. Yu Dong started to feel scared – if it was true, another bloody storm would whip the whole city. Whoever murdered the Crown Princess must be planning something perilous and risky!
“My lady, will they tell Mr. Yue the truth?” Yu Dong still didn’t fully understand. If those people couldn’t tell others the truth, there should be no difference between him asking and Yue Wenhan asking.
“My cousin is a different case. He is a man and the vice minister of the Dali Temple. It will be normal if he finds anything suspicious and asks about it. If offering a bribe doesn’t work, he has every right to use violence. Before, he argued with my father for me. Now, it will be nothing strange if he asks about the whereabouts of two private maids for the Crown Princess. Even if…”
Qu Moying took a short break and then continued, “Even if someone notices him, their first priority should be making a proper explanation, not doubting if he finds out something.”
As a man, Yue Wenhan would naturally act more decisively. People would only find it normal if he asked about the two maids after witnessing the drama between Ming Xian’er and Ji Youran. It would even be weirder if he stayed quiet.
However, if Qu Moying asked about it, it wouldn’t fit her personality and would cause people’s suspicions. It was inappropriate for her to meddle with things about the deceased Crown Princess when she was severely injured.
Fortunately, Yu Dong was smart enough to understand Qu Moying’s intention. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be sent to her by Lord Yun in the first place. After he figured it out, more respect grew in his mind for Qu Moying. He fell into silence for a few seconds and then asked, “My lady, then…what should we do now?”
“Let’s prepare a big gift for the meeting with Old Lady Ji later,” Qu Moying said in a flat tone.
“My lady, we are staying here because of an accident. We didn’t bring any big gift with us.” Yu Dong shrugged awkwardly. What happened to Qu Moying was an “accident” because of Yu’s scheme, so they couldn’t bring anything luxury with them. Moreover, everything had to be simplified since they were here for a funeral. The only thing they had was the set of white mourning clothes they wore.
“There is a big gift prepared by me long ago,” Qu Moying said meaningfully.
The two maids looked at each other blankly. After a little while, Yu Dong’s eyes suddenly lit up. “My lady, do you mean that thing?”
