Chapter 117 – Always March Forward
Chapter 117 Always March Forward
“I don’t know who…set me up. It’s just I didn’t notice anything unusual when my younger sister was with me. Then she said she needed some fresh air outside because she felt unwell. I helped her walk out, and then…she never came back. Soon after she left, I…I felt my whole body heated up as the Crown Prince walked up to me and wanted to ask about her.”
Qu Qiuyan cried sorrowfully, “Then I didn’t know what happened later. I only…only remember Your Royal Highness and other people came inside…”
She didn’t directly say it was Qu Moying, but her indication was clear enough to understand. She meant that Qu Moying framed her after she helped her walk out.
Of course, Qu Qiuyan didn’t have direct proof, but she didn’t need it since she didn’t directly say Qu Moying was the one behind it.
“Your younger sister doesn’t seem as simple as she looks!” Pei Yusheng stayed silent for a second and said with a displeased look on his face.
“I…I don’t know. Moying was a simple girl who grew up in the village. I don’t think she framed me on purpose. I’m just…just afraid…” Qu Qiuyan took a short pause. She looked up at Lord Jing with her teary eyes and shook her head firmly. “Moying seems different from what I remember.”
“How?” Pei Yusheng sat back on the chair in front of Qu Qiuyan and asked.
“Moying moved to the village when she was still a child. She doesn’t like meeting people or talking and never learned anything. She should only know some basic things. But…But to me, the way she behaves seems even more well-mannered than ordinary noble ladies. Is…is she…?” Qu Qiuyan wore a flustered look on her face.
Hearing her words, Pei Yusheng’s eyes darkened as he started to take it more seriously. “Do you mean she is not your real younger sister?”
“I…I don’t know. If she’s my real younger sister, I don’t believe she will harm me. But if she’s not, then who would she be? How did she get into our mansion? What’s her intention?” The expression on Qu Qiuyan’s face suddenly changed as if she had thought about something horrible. She clenched the chair arm, looking scared.
With one sentence, she convinced Lord Jing that Qu Moying was guilty.
She really learned things from her mother, Yu. With a few words, she had already drawn Lord Jing’s suspicion on Qu Moying.
On the roof of the opposite building, Qu Moying stood behind Pei Yuanjun while grabbing his arm tightly. Bold as she was, she couldn’t really enjoy staying on such a high rooftop and standing on a small platform at midnight.
Besides the small platform was empty space. If Qu Moying missed one step, she would fall off and die immediately.
She didn’t want to die right now, or to say, die for such a stupid reason. All she could do was stay as close as possible to Pei Yuanjun, grab his arm with one hand, and hold onto his sleeve with another hand to steady herself. Meanwhile, the guard behind them read Qu Qiuyan and Pei Yusheng’s lips and interpreted their conversation.
She had never heard about the lip-reading ability and felt amazed by it. Even though she couldn’t hear Qu Qiuyan’s words with her own ears, she knew what the guard said was the truth.
“So, you killed one thousand enemies while sacrificing eight hundred of your soldiers?” Pei Yuanjun suddenly turned his head and cast a glance at her.
When her eyes met him, her face became stiff. She could feel the coldness in his eyes even when she couldn’t see his pretty eyes clearly in the darkness.
This was the real Lord Yun, who could stop a baby from crying in a blink and prevent all the noble ladies in the capital from admiring him with just a look.
However, she could smell suspicion besides coldness from those eyes. She narrowed her eyes and tried to maintain her calm look. Staring at those dangerous eyes, she answered in a flat tone, “I didn’t sacrifice eight hundred. Three hundred, at the most. But even if I needed to sacrifice eight hundred of my soldiers, I still would do it. After all, one thousand is still more than eight hundred, right?”
She didn’t think she could hide anything from him, nor did she need to.
A sharp look crossed Pei Yuanjun’s eyes in the dark as he reached out to lift up Qu Moying’s wide sleeve. Part of her arm skin was still red and swollen, with dried medicine on it, looking horrible. “Three hundred?”
“This is the best outcome I can get!” Qu Moying nodded and gave him a smile.
She didn’t even bother to cover her injured arm with her sleeve again, leaving in under the judgmental gaze from those pretty eyes of Lord Yun.
Without any power, she didn’t mind hurting her enemies at the cost of injuring herself.
She believed Pei Yuanjun would do the same thing in a similar situation!
“Indeed, you sacrificed three hundred of your soldiers to kill one thousand enemies. Third Lady Qu is saying that you are a fake one. Actually, I’m curious about it too. Are you the real Fourth Lady of the Qu Family?” Pei Yuanjun’s darkening eyes locked on Qu Moying’s slender figure.
This small platform was only enough for two people to stand on, but they had to stay very close to each other. Right now, if Pei Yuanjun moved a step, Qu Moying would immediately fall off.
Moreover, his posture totally blocked Qu Moying’s feet as if he would kick her off at any second.
Qu Moying lowered her eyes as if she didn’t notice her dangerous position as her lips twisted into a gentle smile. “My lord, who do you think would pose as Fourth Lady Qu? Who would impersonate an insignificant lady who can be killed by her family in any second, and for years?”
She knew her change after her rebirth was huge, which could draw anyone’s suspicion, who even knew her only a bit. But she was not afraid of anyone’s investigation since she was indeed Qu Moying. This was the truth that no one could change, although her behavior and intelligence seemed suspicious.
Even if Qu Qiuyan didn’t mention it today, someone would say it sooner or later.
But she had been prepared for it.
Qu Qiuyan said it because she wanted to get rid of her with Pei Yusheng’s hands. It was also a good chance for Qu Qiuyan to check Qu Moying’s real identity, which meant she and Yu did have doubts in their minds.
“Fourth Lady Qu in the rumors is a solitary person who doesn’t like talking or meeting people,” Pei Yuanjun asked, feeling amused.
“My mother died when I was still a child, and my father only cares about his other son and daughter but not me. My life means nothing to him. In a story like this, anyone would think I’m an introverted, solitary girl who wouldn’t think about coming back to the Qu’s Mansion,” Qu Moying said naturally. Meanwhile, her eyes locked on the two people still talking in the opposite building.
The guard had stopped reading their lips. But she could see Qu Qiuyan was the one talking while Pei Yusheng kept nodding at her like he found her words convincing.
Without the guard’s interpretation, she could guess Qu Qiuyan was talking about her behaviors different from the rumors.
“People all said Fourth Lady Qu is ugly and ignorant. It’s not possible to gain so much knowledge in a day. You are not worse than any lady in the capital in terms of manners. I wonder where did you learn those from?” Pei Yuanjun’s chuckled sounded crispy and gentle, but somehow, it sent a cold shiver down Qu Moying’s spine.
Qu Moying knew he had never been a good-hearted person. If she had lied to him today, she wouldn’t get off the platform safely.
“So, in the rumors, Fourth Lady Qu is an ugly girl. What do you think about my appearance after seeing it, my lord?” Qu Moying lifted her head and looked straight into Pei Yuanjun’s eyes with confidence.
“You have a beautiful appearance. Peerless, I would say,” Pei Yuanjun said idly, amused by her question. But Qu Moying couldn’t sense any emotion from his words, which meant it was just a compliment out of politeness.
“Different than the rumors, right? As for the knowledge, I consider myself a passionate learner. My grandmother also put effort into my education before and hired a tutor to teach me things. Later on, the tutor left the village after she felt she had nothing more to teach me. Then my cousin sent a person to teach me too,” said Qu Moying.
A long time ago, the Old Lady indeed hired some tutors for Qu Moying. One of them taught her for several years, but she never paid too much attention to Qu Moying’s study since she was bribed by Yu. Under Yu’s order, she even quit her job, saying that Fourth Lady Qu was too foolish to learn things.
Since then, the rumors about Qu Moying being ugly and ignorant had spread out.
During the following two years, Ji Hanyue sent a granny to the village to teach Qu Moying some basic manners and rules of etiquette, along with the doctor who helped treat her eyes. But when Ji Hanyue married into the Eastern Palace, that granny went missing, and no one knew her whereabouts.
That female tutor who taught Qu Moying for years disappeared too after she received the payment from Yu and spread the rumors about Qu Moying. It was said that she moved far away from the capital and went back to her hometown, but Qu Moying guessed she was killed long ago.
With one dead and one missing, no one could prove the truth anymore. No matter how powerful Pei Yuanjun was, he couldn’t possibly find anything.
Pei Yuanjun couldn’t find any sign of scare in her eyes except for a trace of coldness. He asked jokingly, “Aren’t you afraid that I will find anything?”
However, Qu Moying didn’t dare to see it as a joke. She could feel his cold gaze falling on her as a chill shiver rippled over her skin.
“My lord, you can investigate me if you want,” she said calmly.
“Oh, so you are not afraid at all.” Pei Yuanjun glanced at the opposite building’s window and then turned his head to look at her again. His voice was lazy, “It seems that Third Lady Qu wants to convince Pei Yusheng to make a move. He treats her pretty well, and I guess he will definitely marry her. What should you do by then?”
“What should I do? I take one step forward at a time.” Staring at the darkness, Qu Moying showed a faint smile. Her clean but adorable face looked like a white lotus flower blooming at night. “They will still try to take my life if I do nothing. I don’t care who is my enemy and how powerful the person is. I will always march forward even it’s at the cost of blood.”
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