Chapter 133 – Looking For Concubine Xiang’S Help
Chapter 133 Looking for Concubine Xiang’s Help
Qu Moying continued to walk in.
The Buddha hall was not very big. There were only three Buddha statues. The largest statue was in the middle, with two smaller ones on both sides. There were a few futons in the hall, and a woman was kneeling on one of them. Her hair was slightly greyish, and she was dressed in coarse clothes. She was kneeling there quietly and did not even turn around when she heard Qu Moying’s footsteps.
“Are you Concubine Xiang?” Qu Moying asked in a low voice as she looked at this somewhat familiar figure.
“Yes. Who are you? I don’t think you live in this mansion. You’re not allowed to enter this place.” Concubine Xiang replied coldly while kneeling in front of the Buddha statues without turning back.
“I am Fourth Lady from the Qu’s Mansion,” Qu Moying answered.
After a moment of silence, Concubine Xiang slowly turned her head and looked at the door.
Concubine Xiang was a beautiful woman about forty years old, but she looked very old. Half of her hair was already grey, making her look ten years older.
She looked at Qu Moying with a moved expression, and there was a fluctuation in her calm eyes.
Qu Moying, who was standing at the door, was petite. The long eye veil covered her eyes and hid her face. But even so, seeing the long eye veil, Concubine Xiang was still excited. It was indeed that child. Only that child would always wear an eye veil.
It was because of the eye disease that this child was still wearing an eye veil.
“Your… Your eyes still have not recovered yet?” Concubine Xiang calmed down and asked with concern.
Qu Moying stepped in through the light at the door and quietly walked to Concubine Xiang’s side. She knelt down on the futon beside Concubine Xiang and shook her head gently.
When Concubine Xiang saw Qu Moying come over, she wanted to prop herself up on the futon, as if she was going to bow at the latter.
Qu Moying reached out to hold her down. “Concubine Xiang, I knew about you. Cousin Hanyue told me about you in the past. She said that the letter you sent out was missing, and it’s not your fault. You don’t have to blame yourself, and you don’t need to suffer until now.”
Concubine Xiang came to this mansion as Yue’s maid when Yue married Earl Ling’an. Unlike Granny Zhou, she was promoted by Yue and became Ji Yongming’s concubine.
Earl Ling’an originally had two personal maids who were later promoted to concubines. Therefore, he had a total of three concubines, including Concubine Xiang. This wasn’t a big number compared to how many concubines other masters of the aristocratic families in the capital had. Moreover, it was also demanded by Yue that Concubine Xiang should be promoted to concubine. This was because Yue did not want Old Lady Ji to control the other two concubines to fight against her.
This explained Concubine Xiang’s promotion.
Although Concubine Xiang was a concubine, she was very loyal to Yue, her own master.
Concubine Xiang helped Yue to deal with Old Lady Ji and protected Yue wholeheartedly.
But even so, Old Lady Ji did not like her daughter-in-law, and sometimes she would make things very difficult for Yue.
Old Lady Ji was very dissatisfied with Yue because she only gave birth to two daughters after marrying Earl Ling’an, and they had no son. Because of this, Old Lady Ji intended to find another woman with a good family background to marry Earl Ling’an as his concubine. Old Lady Ji even wanted Ji Yongming to marry a second wife. In this way, their son would still be a wife-born son.
Earl Ling’an loved his wife and did not have the intention to marry a second one. He rejected Old Lady Ji’s suggestion again and again by stating that he already had three concubines and that it was inappropriate to marry again.
When Yue was seriously ill, Ji Yongming was not in the capital. He was still at the border. Concubine Xiang was the one who sent out Yue’s letter that stated her intention of seeing Ji Yongming before she passed away, but Ji Yongming didn’t receive the letter. When Ji Yongming returned to the capital, Yue had passed away. Because of this, Old Lady Ji reprimanded Concubine Xiang for her incompetence, and Concubine Xiang also blamed herself.
After Yue died, Concubine Xiang volunteered to guard the temple hall. She wanted to repent for her sins and ask for Yue’s forgiveness.
It had been three years since Concubine Xiang entered the temple hall. By now, she did not want to leave.
Before Ji Hanyue married the Crown Prince, she had said that she wanted to invite Concubine Xiang to help Xiao manage the Ji Family’s internal affairs. However, Concubine Xiang declined, saying that she was fine living in the temple hall. She refused to appear in front of everyone. She said that she had lost her soul on the day Yue died, and that she was content with the company of the candles and Buddha statues. She was disheartened by everything.
Ji Hanyue persuaded her several times to no avail, so the former had no choice but to leave.
“Concubine Xiang, Cousin Hanyue believed you. She knew that you wrote the letter and that you hoped my uncle would come back to see my aunt for the last time. However, the letter was gone. It was not your fault. It must be Second Madam’s idea. If she withheld the letter, no one in the mansion would know about it.”
Qu Moying asserted.
In the past, Qu Moying did not understand the situation, so she did not expect that Xiao would confiscate the letter. Now, she understood everything.
After confiscating the letter, her mother could not see her father, so Concubine Xiang would have to take the blame for this matter. Concubine Xiang was bound to be punished, and Xiao defeated both her mother and Concubine Xiang in one go. As for the other two concubines, who had been promoted from personal maids, they had always been in the hands of Old Lady Ji and Second Madam. These two concubines would always do whatever they ordered.
Since then, the first branch had nothing to do with the management of the family, which also made her and her father unclear about the scheme of the second branch. They were kept in the dark at all times.
“I-Is it Second Madam’s doing?” Seeing that Qu Moying was so sure, Concubine Xiang couldn’t help but start to believe it, and her expression became cold.
“Yes, Cousin Hanyue said that she had discovered this much. She wanted to continue investigating, but… but disaster struck after she married the Crown Prince. T-Then, my uncle and Cousin Yanyue also had accidents. Now my uncle is dead, b-but the Ji Family won’t allow me and Cousin Yue to see his remains. I wonder if there is something wrong with this.”
Qu Moying said sadly as she bit her lips. She unconsciously choked a bit.
Qu Moying did not say that there was a problem with Ji Hanyue’s death because she knew that with the current status, Concubine Xiang could not investigate the matter. Right now, she could only ask Concubine Xiang about her father’s death and her sister’s accident.
“What?! Third Lady also had an accident?” Concubine Xiang’s expression changed drastically.
“Don’t you know?” Qu Moying was slightly surprised as it never crossed her mind. She asked tentatively, “Do you know that my uncle died yesterday? Besides, the Crown Princess has also passed away.”
“I knew about the passing of the Crown Princess and Earl, b-but Third Lady… I didn’t know anything about Third Lady!” Concubine Xiang’s voice trembled, and she became worked up. She grabbed Qu Moying’s hand and asked anxiously, “When did it happen? What happened to her? Where did she go?”
“I don’t know either. It was rumored that she succumbed to her illness, but her death was not publicized as it collided with Cousin Hanyue and Crown Prince’s wedding, so she was buried hastily. However, there were other rumors in the aristocratic families that… she eloped with someone, but she was only ten years old!”
Qu Moying’s voice unconsciously trembled, and she became worked up.
How could a young girl, who was only ten years old and had always lived in the house, elope with someone? It sounded like a joke for such a ridiculous thing to happen. She would never believe it no matter what.
“Impossible, impossible! They said that they would take good care of Third Lady. Impossible! This is impossible!” Concubine Xiang quavered with a panicked expression. She loosened her hands and shook her head anxiously.
“Who are ‘they’ that you’re referring to?” Qu Moying immediately grasped the most crucial point and asked hurriedly. Could there be something that she did not know about?
“Old Lady Ji and Second Madam. I have been staying in the temple for Madam in the past three years. In the third year, I wanted to go out to take care of First Lady and Third Lady, but Old Lady Ji and Second Madam disagreed with that, claiming that it would be bad for both of them if I went out now. They said First Lady would become the Crown Princess, and Third Lady was still young. They thought I was in no place to attend to the two ladies since I was only a lowly concubine who had made a mistake.”
“They asked me to continue to stay in the temple hall and preserve the good reputation of First Lady and Third Lady. They said that if I went out, I would have to help Second Madam to manage the household. It would not leave a good impression on others if the news about a concubine managing the family affairs spread out. It was better for me to stay here and guard Madam’s soul. As for Third Lady, Second Madam said that she would take good care of her.”
Concubine Xiang said word by word.
“Is this the reason why you repeatedly refused Cousin Hanyue’s kindness to let you leave the temple hall?” Qu Moying asked in a trembling voice.
“I am just a concubine who has made a mistake. However, we’re in Earl’s Mansion, where the first branch should be the center of it. If I get out, although I can’t manage all the affairs in the mansion, I must help Second Madam run the household. This was what I did in the past to help Madam. Since it is the management of the entire household, dealing with Third Lady’s affairs is also a part of it. Compared to having the main wife take care of things, having me, a concubine, manage the household would tarnish Third Lady’s reputation.”
At this time, Concubine Xiang also understood the entire situation and slowly explained the ins and outs of the matter.
Qu Moying felt a chill down her spine. It could be said that the second branch had planned and prepared everything in advance. Second Madam wanted to get rid of the first branch completely, and this was also what she had planned for long.
Qu Moying reached out to hold Concubine Xiang’s hand and pulled her up from the futon. Then, Qu Moying informed her with a serious face, “Concubine Xiang, I suspect that something is wrong with Cousin Yanyue’s incident, and I also suspect that there is something fishy about my uncle’s death. But right now, neither Cousin Yue nor I have the ability to force the Ji Family to open the coffin and let us check my uncle’s remains.”
They were the Earl’s juniors. Although they were somehow related to the Ji Family as they were the closest relatives of Yue, they were not the Ji Family’s close relatives. The only one who could help them now was Concubine Xiang. After all, Concubine Xiang was not only the maid who came to the Ji Family as Mother’s dowry maid, but also Father’s concubine.
“T-They murdered the Earl?” Concubine Xiang was stunned.
“If my uncle was well and alive when something happened to Cousin Yanyue, wouldn’t he investigate the matter? Strangely, the time of Cousin Yanyue’s accident was close to the time of my uncle’s passing. In fact, my uncle immediately died after something happened to Cousin Hanyue, and the Ji Family hurriedly nailed the coffin and didn’t dare to show his remains to anyone. It was really suspicious.”
Qu Moying analyzed.
Concubine Xiang already understood what Qu Moying meant. She gritted her teeth angrily and snarled with bloodshot eyes, “If there is indeed something fishy about this matter, I will not let them get away with it after they harmed the Earl and Third Lady. Miss, I will go to the mourning hall to take a look now.”
Qu Moying nodded, knowing that this was the best solution. If things went according to the normal way of thinking, the next person the Ji Family would deal with would be Concubine Xiang. After all, Concubine Xiang would become a trouble now.
In the past, they kept her alive for the sake of their reputation. But now that everyone in the first branch had deceased, there was no need to keep her alive anymore…
Qu Moying wanted to expose their plot while keeping Concubine Xiang safe…
