Chapter 122 – Looking For A Past, Loyal Servant
Chapter 122 Looking for a Past, Loyal Servant
“Good to see you, First Master Ji!” Yue Wenhan bowed back and said frigidly, “I received a message from your family saying that my uncle suddenly passed away. So, I came here to see if you need any help. Please don’t mind me if I’ve done anything inappropriate!”
“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Yue. Please follow me inside.” Ji Yong’an cast a glance at the carriage next to Yue Wenhan, wondering who was inside. Yue Wenhan hadn’t married yet, so he had no idea who it could be. But it was not the right time to ask now.
Ji Yong’an led Yue Wenhan into the gate in person and accompanied him to the place where the carriages parked. Then he saw Qu Moying getting off the carriage and was stunned for a moment.
Qu Moying’s outfit was different than ordinary people’s. The long veil on her face could let people immediately figure out her identity. Even for people who had never seen her before, they could tell who she was right away.
Qu Moying got off the carriage, walked up to Ji Yong’an, and curtsied elegantly. Ji Yong’an was counted as her elder, so she couldn’t neglect the formality.
But no one could see those eyes behind the veil filled with cold hatred!
“My cousin wants to come and help too, so I brought her here. We both wanted to visit our uncle but couldn’t even see him for the last time when he was still alive. Can we go see him right now?” Yue Wenhan crossed his hands behind his back and asked Ji Yong’an while staring at him coldly.
Qu Moying quietly stepped back. With Yue Wenhan here, she didn’t need to be the talking one.
Yue Wenhan’s words made Ji Yong’an’s heart pound in his chest. See him? How? They had nothing to let Yue Wenhan see!
“It’s not the time to see him now because we are still cleaning him up. He had been sick for too long. He even said himself that if he passed away, he didn’t want people to see him. He had been a brave and robust man for his entire life. It will be really saddening to see him…like that…” Ji Yong’an started to sob. He quickly turned aside to wipe his tears, looking sorrowful.
“Do you mean you won’t let people see his body?” Yue Wenhan frowned at him and asked.
Usually, close relatives and friends ought to be able to see the body for the last time before it was buried. Yue Wenhan’s relationship with the Ji Family was not too close but not too strange either. If he wanted to see his uncle’s dead body, they should let him see it.
But it would also make sense that he was rejected since he didn’t contact the Ji Family very often. Moreover, he was just a youngster for them.
However, Yue Wenhan still found it strange. Because they had prevented him from meeting Earl Ling’an many times before, and now they even rejected him again after the earl passed away.
He worked in the Dali Temple and was an investigation expert. For this kind of thing, he also could react quickly. Apparently, the Ji Family just didn’t want him to see Earl Ling’an. But he couldn’t figure out the reason.
It would be so absurd if Earl Ling’an died because Yue Wenhan wanted to see him for the last time.
This didn’t make any sense, and it was impossible! Yue Wenhan dropped this idea immediately. He would never consider that Ji Yongming was actually killed by the Crown Prince long ago. Nor would he think that the Crown Prince covered Ji Yongming and Ji Hanyue’s deaths up to hide his own crimes.
“My brother had been a great hero for his entire life, and he was so unwilling to end up like this. He often told us that he didn’t want other people to see him so sick and haggard if he passed away. Mr. Yue, I hope you can respect the wish of the deceased. This is his last wish!” Ji Yongming said while wiping his tears.
The grief he showed left Yue Wenhan no space to argue back. If Yue Wenhan insisted, that would be a disrespect for the dead, let alone it was his uncle.
Yue Wenhan fell into silence for a few seconds and said, “Since then, my cousin and I will stay here to help you with the preparation today. We also brought some candles with us. You can directly use them if you need.”
“Thank you, Mr. Yue. I really appreciate it,” Ji Yong’an stopped wiping tears and said gratefully. “Fourth Lady Qu, please head to the inner yard to have some rest first.”
Qu Moying glanced over Ji Yong’an and curtsied to him again. Then she followed an old maid to the inner yard.
The familiar environment and plants on the way reminded Qu Moying of the painful past and filled her eyes with resentment. The only family who treated her whole-heartedly turned out only to be her father and her younger sister.
But they were both gone, and this place was no longer her home!
Coming back again, she had already become Fourth Lady Qu, not Second Lady Ji, the prideful Crown Princess.
She suddenly stopped behind some blooming peony flowers.
The old maid didn’t dare to urge her, only standing still and waiting.
“The earth here looks new to me. Were there any other flowers planted here before?” Qu Moying stared at the peony flowers in front of her and asked softly, only her smile cold. There used to be orchids here, and she loved to play an instrument and watch the beautiful blossom of orchids when she had free time. Not far away should be a pavilion, but it was gone too.
They really cleaned up every trace of her family.
“There used to be orchids here, but the plants all died somehow. Then the Second Madam ordered to plant peony flowers, which were the First Lady’s favorite,” the old maid gave her a perfectly polite answer with a smile. If Qu Moying didn’t know the truth, she would never know that the old maid lied.
“What is there?” Qu Moying lifted her hand and pointed at where the pavilion used to be. “That place seems to be just renovated. What was there?”
As Qu Moying talked, she walked in that direction curiously. The old maid tried to block her, but scared by Yu Dong’s sharp glare, she immediately gave up on her attempt.
The old maid had never seen a maid so aggressive as Yu Dong.
Qu Moying walked in front of the place and only saw a few big floor tiles left. The pavilion that used to be on top was long gone. This was the place where she killed her time by playing an instrument and looking at the flowers. Those orchids would still be blooming even in autumn or early winter.
She would let people surround the pavilion with some heaters and enjoy some cups of tea when the weather was cold.
The past unfolded as she heard her younger sister’s voice in her mind.
“Sis, I love this pavilion. We should come here more often.”
“Sis, these flowers are so pretty. I want to pick some and take them back.”
“Sis…”
Her cute voice was still lingering in the air, but that little figure was long gone. She thought about the cruel and bloody scene Ji Youran described to her the next moment. She could feel all the blood freezing in her body because of the pain and the hatred that almost tore her heart apart.
Then, the blood started to flow in her body again, with bloodthirsty will and anger crawling through her veins.
“What was here?” Qu Moying looked up at the old maid and said frigidly.
“There…used to be an old pavilion here…but it was broken. So they plan to build another one,” the old maid stuttered. She didn’t expect Fourth Lady Qu to wander around here instead of heading to the inner yard. As she couldn’t figure out Qu Moying’s intention, her answers became more discreet.
“The Ji Family seems to have changed everything here!” said Qu Moying as she strode forward. The end of this path was not the inner yard.
“Fourth Lady Qu, we can’t get to the inner yard through this path.” The old maid didn’t have time to worry about Yu Dong and hurriedly stopped Qu Moying.
“You don’t want me to go there? Can I just go there and come back later?” Qu Moying asked coldly. Of course, she knew where this path led to, and actually, that place was her real destination today.
“No, it’s not like that. Fourth Lady Qu, you haven’t greeted the Old Lady and the First Madam yet…” the old maid explained disjointedly, feeling inexplicable aggression from the young lady in front of her. Somehow, she got the same feeling when she faced Second Lady Ji before. However, since Second Lady Ji was a dignified lady, the future Crown Princess at that time, Fourth Lady Qu should be incomparable with her.
Even so, the old maid couldn’t help but feel nervous.
“I’ll go greet them later. I want to take a walk around first,” Qu Moying’s voice was cold.
Yu Dong walked up and grabbed the old maid to pull her aside. The old maid tried to struggle, but once her eyes met Yu Dong’s cold ones, she started to shiver immediately. Did those eyes really belong to a lady’s private maid? Why did she grow fear as if she would be killed by this maid? She even lost some strength in her hands and legs for some odd reason.
Qu Moying continued to pace ahead, with the old maid following behind. She walked along the path and arrived at a yard door. The yard looked old and shabby, locked up tightly with grass growing wildly around, but the words carved on the door could still be seen clearly. It was apparently an abandoned yard.
Only three months had passed. It used to be an old and empty yard but taken good care of because this place belonged to Ji Hanyue’s mother. After her mother passed away, Ji Hanyue still asked people to maintain the yard and clean it up regularly as if someone still lived inside. However, right now, the yard looked like being abandoned for years.
“Fourth Lady Qu, this is the yard that used to…belong to our deceased First Madam,” the old maid told her reluctantly. She could tell Fourth Lady Qu wanted to walk inside and take a look. But if the Old Lady and the First Madam knew about it, they would definitely kill her.
“So, this is my aunt’s yard. How come it becomes like this? Is there anyone staying inside? I heard from my cousin before that people have been taking care of my aunt’s yard,” Qu Moying slightly squinted her eyes and asked, staring at the yard door.
“There’s someone taking care of this yard, but she is a bit too old. Maybe the work is too much for her to finish,” the old maid explained with a forced smile.
“But I heard from my cousin that a group of people should be taking care of this yard. How come there is only one now? What about the others?” Qu Moying asked frigidly as her eyes glanced over a small side door. The door was slightly opened as if someone had just passed through, which was a relief for her. That person should still be here. Nothing seemed to have happened to her.
“Other people…will help too, but Granny Zhou is in charge. She said she could handle it by herself, so everything was left to her… If she can’t finish her work, the First Madam will send other people to help her,” the old maid said nervously. Even though Fourth Lady Qu was wearing a veil, the old maid could still feel her cold gaze falling on her face and sending a shiver down her spine.
“Granny Zhou? Then where is she?” Qu Moying asked slowly.
“I…I don’t know.” Questioned by Qu Moying, the old maid became more flustered.
“Let’s go inside and take a look,” said Qu Moying as she stepped forward. Since she was already back here, she had to take a look at her mother’s yard. Because she knew something that other people didn’t know…
