Chapter 112 – Leaving The Gifts In The Eastern Palace
Chapter 112 Leaving the Gifts in the Eastern Palace
“Her Majesty will soon start to pick the next Crown Princess among the noble ladies!” There were only a few words on the note. After making sure Ming Xian’er saw them clearly, Qu Moying put back the piece of paper and nodded at her. Then she turned around and walked to the side door connecting the altar room.
She wouldn’t support Ming Xian’er’s unrealistic plan, but she would still offer her a way out to ease her worry.
Hearing her footsteps, the maid outside hurriedly hid.
Then she saw Qu Moying show up at the side door with her two maids, without Ming Xian’er.
Qu Moying entered the altar room again and bowed to the coffin. Then she left with her two maids.
After seeing her hint, Ming Xian’er should know what to do as a smart girl. Ji Youran must think she was only one step away from the official hostess of the Eastern Palace, so did many people. After all, she married the Crown Prince because of the Crown Princess and had such a virtuous reputation.
But what if Qu Moying secretly spread out some different rumors? They were said to be rumors, but Qu Moying believed it was the truth.
Ji Youran used every means to get rid of her to become the Crown Princess. But there was one thing she had never considered – the most significant reason why Pei Luo’an married Ji Hanyue was her father.
It was not because of his position as Earl Ling’an but the Suppressor General. Ji Yong’an, Ji Youran’s father, could become the next Earl Ling’an after her father’s death. Still, he couldn’t possibly become the next Suppressor General. Ji Hanyue’s father got the position because of his countless victories on the battlefield. He earned it with his own hard word.
Ji Hanyue’s father’s death embodied the decline of the Ji Family. Ji Youran thought that with her father becoming the next Earl Ling’an, she was nothing different from Ji Hanyue. But in actuality, the gap between them was enormous. Ji Hanyue was qualified to be the Crown Princess, but Ji Youran was not.
Moreover, Qu Moying wouldn’t let Ji Youran’s family get the earl position.
For Pei Luo’an, everything was about power and status.
No matter what he had promised Ji Youran or how he misled her, it was time for Qu Moying to destroy Ji Youran’s unrealistic daydream.
Seeing Ji Youran’s status was only below the Crown Prince’s, everyone in the Eastern Palace must’ve thought Ji Youran would become the next Crown Princess. But what if some different rumors started to spread out? What if Pei Luo’an began to pick the candidates among other noble ladies, and even the empress intervened in the situation?
How could Ji Youran guarantee herself to climb up to the position of the Crown Princess?
After her arrogance was challenged, Ji Youran would not have enough energy to find Ming Xian’er trouble. After all, Ming Xian’er was just an insignificant concubine whose name couldn’t even be recorded on the royal family tree. At the most, Ji Youran would just find a chance to vent her anger on Ming Xian’er.
Her main enemies would be other noble ladies, those potential candidates for the Crown Princess.
Qu Moying believed Ming Xian’er would understand it and direct the situation. If she was a useless person, the Crown Prince wouldn’t bring the whole opera group into the Eastern Palace just for her.
Standing at the altar room’s door, Qu Moying looked back at the spacious, solemn place and felt ironic. This was the only thing she got from her marriage with the Crown Prince – this vast, pure-white altar room. She was indeed blind in her past life…
She walked down the stairs and strolled to her yard. Tomorrow was the day she packed things up and went back home.
“Moying, where have you been?” When Qu Moying arrived at her yard, Qu Xuexin was at the door. It seemed she had been waiting for a while.
“I went to visit the Crown Princess’s altar room,” Qu Moying curtsied to her and said. They lived together in the same yard, but it didn’t mean they had to be together all the time.
Or to say, the time they spent together here was not that much. Qu Xuexin would come to accompany her for a while. But whenever she said she was tired, Qu Xuexin would leave immediately and not disturb her again.
“Why didn’t you ask me to go with you?” Qu Xuexin asked softly.
“When I left before, I saw your door was closed and thought you were not in your room. So, I went out by myself. First Sister, if you want to mourn the Crown Princess, you can go right now,” said Qu Moying.
Qu Xuexin’s door had been pretty much always closed. Sometimes she would go out, but most of the time, she just stayed in her room, not making any sound. It was indeed hard to tell if she was there or not.
“Emm…I’ll pass it. I don’t want to go there by myself. Moying, before we leave tomorrow, let’s go to the altar room for the last time!” Qu Xuexin thought for a second, shook her head, and said.
“Okay,” Qu Moying nodded.
“Moying, when you were gone, Princess Ji sent some gifts to you, and I received them for you. You can come and take a look,” as she walked inside, Qu Xuexin said softly.
“Princess Ji sent some gifts over?” Qu Moying raised her brow. Ji Youran still had time to do this?
“Yes. I put those gifts in my room first. Come and take a look,” said Qu Xuexin. Qu Moying followed her to the main room and immediately noticed the gift boxes on the table.
Qu Xuexin walked up and opened one of the boxes. “They are just some cloth and accessories like hairpins. I don’t see anything too valuable, so I received them for you.”
Inside the opened box lied some cloth. Only by the looks of it, Qu Moying could tell it was high-quality cloth, probably a tribute to the royal family.
“First Sister, we are here because my body needs time to recover. We can’t accept gifts from Princess Ji at a time like this! The Eastern Palace is still holding a funeral. If we leave here with these gifts, how will other people think about us?” Qu Moying shook her head, frowning at the boxes on the table. It felt inappropriate to let others see them leaving with gift boxes.
They were staying in the Eastern Palace now, which was already a disturbance. Moreover, Qu Moying was a lady not favored by her family. She had nothing to make her deserve Princess Ji’s so many gifts. Even if Princess Ji sent them to show her care in the name of the Crown Princess, she didn’t need to send so many of them.
“But…I already took it. What can we do now? Give them back to her?” Qu Xuexin started to feel flustered and hurriedly asked for Qu Moying’s opinion. Clearly, she didn’t have a mind of her own.
Naturally, they couldn’t return the gifts that were already accepted. Otherwise, it would disrespect the Eastern Palace, which they couldn’t afford.
“We’ll leave them here tomorrow!” After a second thought, Qu Moying said, “If Princess Ji sends them again to our mansion, we can tell her that we accidentally forgot them here because we were too busy mourning the Crown Princess.”
Before they left, they had to mourn the Crown Princess one more time. If they brought these gifts to the altar room, it would be a disrespect for the Crown Princess.
These gifts came at the worst timing. Even though other people wouldn’t know when they left the guest yard, Ji Youran would know. She surely knew when was the right time to send these gifts.
Quietly, Qu Moying curled up her lips. She was not afraid the maids here would tell Ji Youran about Ming Xian’er and her conversation. She was destined to make Ji Youran her enemy.
The more arrogant Ji Youran was, the more Qu Moying wanted to smash her arrogance hard.
The next day, Qu Moying left those gifts in the guest yard as she said. Then she went to the altar room with Qu Xuexin again and got ready to leave. To her surprise, she ran into Ji Youran at the altar room’s door.
Surrounded by a large group of servants, Ji Youran looked haggard and a bit feeble. But when her eyes met Qu Moying’s, she still showed a faint smile with a trace of tenderness that would leave a good impression on anyone who saw her.
The exact same smile made Ji Hanyue wholeheartedly trust this cousin.
She had never thought one day, her cousin, the perfect lady in everyone’s eyes, would push her to hell.
“Cousin, are you heading back now? Have you fully recovered?” After Qu Moying curtsied to her, Ji Youran asked softly, with concern in her eyes.
The veil on Ji Youran’s face before was taken off. Except for her still hurting old wound, the skin on her face had recovered.
“Thank you, Your Royal Highness. I’m fine now!” Qu Moying’s respectful attitude showed a hint of distance. Instead of walking up, she even took a step back.
This step made people feel she was not close to Ji Youran.
“Did the Imperial Doctor tell you to be careful with anything?” Ignoring Qu Moying’s deliberate indifference, Ji Youran continued to ask with concern.
“The Imperial Doctor said it just needs some time to fully recover. All I need to do is use some medicine,” answered Qu Moying.
“I’m glad to hear that. I can’t believe this happened to you in front of the Crown Princess’s coffin. It was… If you need any help after going back, feel free to tell me about it. The Crown Princess is gone, so I’ll be your cousin for her.” Ji Youran surely made herself look like a good cousin by supporting Qu Moying.
Her pretentious acting made Qu Moying sneer inwardly. It was surprising that Ji Youran was still trying to improve their relationship after hearing the maid’s report. What a cunning person she was! No wonder she couldn’t notice the truth in her past life.
Actually, in her past life, Ji Youran sometimes still gave herself away, but Ji Hanyue had never considered the possibility. Now when she recalled her past, not everything was clueless. It was all because of her own mistrust.
“My cousin was my cousin, but Your Royal Highness, you are prestigious Princess Ji. It’s not my place to bother you on such trifles.” Qu Moying curtsied to her again, fully showing her respect but no intimacy. Then she left with her group without any hesitation. She had made herself clear that she didn’t want to get close to Ji Youran at all.
She did it on purpose because she could guarantee that the more repulsive she was, the more Ji Youran wanted to approach her.
Qu Moying pissed her off and even started to suspect the Ji Family. With Ji Youran’s personality, she would not go easy on Qu Moying.
The more Qu Moying provoked her, the more irritated Ji Youran would get. Qu Moying didn’t need to do anything since Ji Youran would not let her go anyway. It just so happened that Qu Moying wouldn’t go easy on her either!
No matter how sophisticated Ji Youran was, she almost lost her temper, repeatedly provoked by Qu Moying’s arrogance. The faked smile still remained on her face, but a trace of irritation showed up in her eyes. She cast a glance at Qu Xuexin, standing behind Qu Moying as her smile started to fade away.
Feeling her glance, Qu Xuexin panicked and lowered her head in a hurry. While she curtsied to Ji Youran, her whole body was stiff.
“First Sister, let’s go!” Qu Moying stopped and looked back at Qu Xuexin.
“Alright!” Qu Xuexin hurriedly stood up, curtsied to Ji Youran again, and rushed to catch up with Qu Moying.
Watching the two ladies leaving, a hint of maliciousness flashed across Ji Youran’s eyes. She would never let Qu Moying have any chance to marry the Crown Prince and get into the Eastern Palace. Her mother’s suggestion was better for the current situation, and Xiao had already implied her intention to the Qu Family. It should happen soon…
