Chapter 129 – How About Marrying Lord Jing?
Chapter 129 How About Marrying Lord Jing?
“The youngest daughter of the Ji Family, Third Lady Ji, didn’t die of sickness. They didn’t hold a funeral for her, not because it would affect the wedding. That Third Lady is a misbehaved one who eloped with a man. To stop this scandal from spreading out, the Ji Family covered it up and only said Third Lady Ji died, and there’s no Third Lady Ji in the world. Having his two daughters ending up like that and his injury, Earl Ling’an surely couldn’t survive,” said Pei Yuanjun carelessly.
His words smashed hard on Qu Moying’s heart. So, this was the “truth” behind her younger sister’s death!
She grabbed a corner of the table and held back her tears. “But she…she is only ten years old!”
“So what? She is not the first little girl who elopes with a man at this age. Well, many of them got deceived, of course,” Pei Yuanjun gazed at Qu Moying and said in a flat tone.
So, her younger sister died while being accused of such shameless guilt?
Pei Yuanjun’s words cut her last bit of soft hope like a cold, sharp blade. As she expected, her younger sister was still dead. Pei Luo’an and Ji Youran not only killed her but also smudged her name with such a shameless crime…
Only this kind of reason was convincing enough because compared to such a scandal, her younger sister’s death was nothing.
Once a noble family found a thing like that, it was expected that they killed the people involved directly.
What an evil plan!
“It’s impossible! I don’t believe it!” Qu Moying shook her head hard with resentment in her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter how you feel about it. Everyone says so and believes so,” Pei Yuanjun said indifferently.
“I will find out the truth!” Qu Moying bit her lip and swallowed hard. She could taste the smell of blood around her throat. She was reborn. This was the chance, her only chance. She would not miss it.
“You really are not bad!” Pei Yuanjun suddenly smiled. His curled, downturned eyes made his stunning face even more peerless and added a trace of affection. Without his cold, gruesome aura, he was an attractive young man who could easily make every young lady blush and give him their hearts.
However, Qu Moying only saw the untouchable darkness deep in his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, she curtsied to him respectfully, “Thank you, my lord!”
In this transaction, Lord Yun’s position was much higher than hers. She should be aware of it and accept it!
“How’s Lord Jing?” With the usual lazy tone, Pei Yuanjun suddenly changed the topic. Qu Moying was caught in a daze for a second and then asked calmly, “My lord, what do you mean?”
Of course, he was not asking for her opinion on Pei Yusheng.
“How about letting you marry Pei Yusheng?” Pei Yuanjun raised his brow.
Qu Moying’s heartbeat increased as all her attention was caught by his suggestion. She stared at Pei Yuanjun and said firmly, “I don’t want to!”
“Why not? Maybe you can be his first wife and have a bright future!” Pei Yuanjun asked, sounding a bit surprised. Every one of his nephews had a good appearance and was powerful. It was the first time he heard a lady refuse to marry Pei Yusheng so decisively.
“That has nothing to do with me!” Qu Moying looked up into Pei Yuanjun’s eyes and said word by word. There was no shyness on her face as if she was talking about someone else. Her reaction was totally different than ordinary noble ladies’.
“If you want to become the real Lady Liu, I can make it happen,” Pei Yuanjun’s voice suddenly became meaningful. He reached out to take off the veiled hat on her head and exposed her attractive face. He looked into Qu Moying’s watery eyes and sized her up.
Qu Moying looked back at him calmly, shook her head, and said with no hesitation, “I’m not Lady Liu. I’m the Fourth Lady from Vice Minister Qu’s family.”
She was Qu Moying in this life, not Liu Lanxin. She didn’t want to become Liu Lanxin either.
Maybe Pei Yuanjun really had his way to make her the real Liu Lanxin and marry Lord Jing. As Lady Liu, she indeed had the chance to become Madam Jing. Since Lord Jing had brought the scroll of calligraphy with him in case he ran into her and left her no space to reject him, she could tell Lord Jing meant it to marry Lady Liu.
But this was not what she wanted!
“It’s okay if you don’t want it!” Pei Yuanjun didn’t force her. He curled up his thin lips, fetched Qu Moying’s long veil put aside, and walked behind Qu Moying. He carefully put the veil on her face and tied a pretty bow behind her head.
Then he checked her again in front of her, pleased by his own work. With a clean smile, he gently brushed the veil around Qu Moying’s eye corner to smooth the last wrinkle.
Then he waved his hand.
Qu Moying knew it was time for her to leave. She curtsied to him again and turned around to walk outside. Yu Dong had been waiting for her at the door. The two of them returned to the private room they had stayed in before. Granny Zhou was waiting inside, looking a bit flustered. Seeing Qu Moying back was a big relief for her.
Granny Zhou hurried up and said with concern, “My lady…”
“Is everything ready?” Qu Moying shook her head quietly as she talked.
“Yes.” Granny Zhou nodded.
“Let’s go!” Qu Moying left the room as Yu Dong and Granny Zhou hurriedly followed behind. They walked downstairs and got into the carriage, heading back to the Qu’s Mansion.
Next to a window on the upper floor stood Pei Yuanjun, who crossed his hands behind his back. Watching the Qu Family’s carriage leaving, he asked meaningfully, “Is it not good for Fourth Lady Qu to marry Lord Jing?”
Ji Hai said discreetly, “My lord, I don’t think Fourth Lady Qu likes Lord Jing.”
“Like? That’s not the right perspective to judge a royal member’s marriage,” said Pei Yuanjun carelessly. His long eyelashes fluttered as his eyes darkened. With a faint smile, he said, “it will be quite amusing if I let Fourth Lady Qu marry Lord Jing, won’t it?”
But Ji Hai didn’t dare to answer him this time, scared by the cunning smile on his master’s face. He didn’t like his master’s horrifying expression as if he thought of an interesting toy.
But Fourth Lady Qu was not a toy. She was a living human being.
Most importantly, Ji Hai felt Fourth Lady Qu was different, different from anyone before. But he didn’t think the lord realized it.
When Qu Moying returned to the mansion, she visited the Old Lady with Granny Zhou since the Old Lady still remembered this servant. When Qu Zhizhen was determined to blame everything on Granny Zhou and beat her to death, the Old Lady was opposed to her son.
Unfortunately, Qu Zhizhen was never an obedient son. Because of First Madam Ji’s interruption, Granny Zhou got the chance to leave and survived.
Now that everything had changed, the Old Lady was happy to see Granny Zhou back to take care of Qu Moying. She still remembered Granny Zhou was the most competent servant working for Yue.
The Old Lady let the person in charge write down Granny Zhou’s name and register her information again. Then she asked Qu Moying to pick a new set of mourning clothes, newly sent by the embroidery workshop. This time, all the clothes were sent to the Old Lady’s place, and she would hand them to everyone else. Since Qu Moying was back first, the Old Lady let Qu Moying pick first.
The Old Lady managed the mourning clothes in person in case similar things happened again, like the one in front of the Crown Princess’s coffin.
Qu Moying casually picked one set, made Yu Dong hold it, and walked back to the Qianyue House.
Granny Miao had been waiting for her for a while. Seeing Qu Moying returning, she hurriedly walked up and curtsied to her with a flustered look. Qu Moying noticed her unusual expression and walked in.
Qu Moying first introduced Granny Zhou to everyone else and let Granny Zhou and Granny Miao share the responsibility of managing the yard. Then she let Yu Dong take Granny Zhou to have some rest first.
After Granny Zhou left, Granny Miao said, “My lady, the Second Master went out today.”
With his injured ankle, Qu Zhizhen had taken days off and didn’t go out at all. Qu Moying asked Granny Miao to keep a close eye on him in the mansion.
“When?” He finally made a move.
“Around the same time when you left, my lady. Did you see the Second Master leaving?” Granny Miao thought for a little while and said. She heard it from other servants.
“I didn’t!” Qu Moying shook her head and had figured it out already. The one who eavesdropped on Qu Qiuyan and her conversation outside was Qu Zhizhen.
“Do you know why he went out? I thought his ankle hadn’t recovered yet.”
“I don’t know the exact reason, but it seems related to the Third Lady. Third Lady walked the Second Master out at that time!” Granny Miao said worriedly, “My lady, you didn’t even see Third Lady?”
“I did see her!” Qu Moying nodded. Not to her surprise, this was related to Qu Qiuyan. That was why Qu Qiuyan made the entire performance of loving sisters in front of her.
They were suspecting she was not Qu Zhizhen’s real daughter? If she could, she would rather not be his daughter at all. This father not only had favoritism but also would use any means to achieve his goal. If he started to suspect Qu Moying’s real identity and thought she was a trap set by his enemies, he would show no mercy to her.
“My lady, what should we do now?” Granny Miao asked, feeling unsettled, “My lady, you have to be more careful.”
“Granny, don’t worry about me. I know what to do,” Qu Moying comforted Granny Miao and pressed a spot behind her own ear where lied a mole.
“My lady, then what about now…?”
“We don’t need to do anything right now. If that couple comes to look for me again, just drive them away and threaten them that we will report them to the officials,” Qu Moying said carelessly.
“Yes, my lady,” Granny Miao understood the indications in Qu Moying’s words and answered her. On the way out, Granny Miao was suddenly called back by Qu Moying. “Granny Miao, come back first.”
“My lady, anything else?” Granny Miao returned to the room.
Qu Moying fell into thoughts for a few minutes, walked to her desk, and wrote down a letter. After the ink dried, she ripped the paper under Granny Miao’s shocked gaze. She threw some pieces away, then used a hanky to wrap the rest of the letter and tied a bow. Then she passed it to Granny Miao, “Go bury it secretly!”
