Chapter 149 – The Torn Swaddling Cloth
Chapter 149 The Torn Swaddling Cloth
“Granny Zhou, did Mother leave these for me?” Qu Moying suddenly stood up and looked at the small package in front of her in shock.
There were two reasons why she took Granny Zhou with her. Firstly, Granny Zhou led a difficult life in Earl Ling’an’s Mansion. Secondly, Granny Zhou was Second Madam Qu’s dowry maid, so Granny Zhou had a good understanding of what happened to Mother.
When she came back, Granny Zhou did tell her some things about the past. Back then, Yu gave birth prematurely and blamed it on Mother. After a big quarrel, Qu Zhizhen reprimanded Mother and asked her to go to the convent for a period of time. Though Mother was pregnant at that time, she had no choice but to leave.
Because of this, Mother was heartbroken. The sorrow affected her health and led to her premature childbirth. Then, Mother died in difficult labor. Old Lady only managed to see Mother one last time when she rushed over, while the so-called Father did not even see Mother before Mother passed away. After he came over, he blamed the matter entirely on Granny Zhou.
“Actually, Madam did not leave this for you. I was the one who took them away as a memento. Now, I’ll return them to you, my lady.” Granny Zhou lowered her head and cried, wiping her tears.
She didn’t want to mention what happened back then, but there was a reason why she had to.
Qu Moying bit her lips and felt a lump in her throat. Her eyes fell on the package in front of her. It was a bright red swaddling cloth. The material seemed to be of high quality, but the color and pattern on it faded a little due to the long period of time. There was a large double-colored peony flower embroidered on it. The golden thread was very beautiful and the embroidery was very delicate. It went without saying that it was excellent embroidery work.
For some reason, there was a tiny hole in the swaddling cloth. She wondered when it was torn.
Her heart moved and she felt that something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was!
Her gaze then fell on a set of children’s silver accessories. There were silver bracelets, a silver necklace, silver anklets, and something that looked like a bell.
“Were these things not used back then?” Qu Moying asked as she reached out to touch the silver ornaments.
“Madam used the swaddling cloth a few times and then replaced it with a new one. She didn’t get to use the silver accessories. At that time, I wanted to take Madam’s and your things with me, so… I took them.” Granny Zhou lowered her head and sobbed.
Qu Moying was silent for a moment and did not speak.
The room quieted down. For some reason, there was a strange and eerie serenity. After a long time, Qu Moying said in a hoarse voice, “Thank you for keeping these things for me, Granny Zhou.”
“My lady, this is Madam’s last wish. Originally, I would have sent these things to you before, but you were in the village, and it was inconvenient for me to go there.” Granny Zhou asserted as she wiped her tears and looked up with her bloodshot eyes. Qu Moying could see that Granny Zhou was in panic.
When Granny Zhou came to Earl Ling’an’s Mansion, she was wholeheartedly devoted to Qu Moying’s Mother in the Ji Family. Later, she became an important assistant to Mother. Even before Mother died, Granny Zhou was the one who helped to manage the affairs. Qu Moying was extremely gratified towards Granny Zhou for what Granny Zhou had done in her previous and current lives. She reached out and pulled Granny Zhou to sit down.
She ordered Yu Chun to put away the things and keep them well.
Yu Dong served her tea. Qu Moying took a sip and calmed herself down. Then Qu Moying told Granny Zhou the reason why she was called over just now— Qu Moying wanted to inquire about something.
After Granny Zhou arrived at the Qu Mansion, she had quietly helped Granny Miao.
Granny Miao was good at dealing with things in some aspects, but she was indeed inferior to Granny Zhou in managing the daily affairs of the yard. After all, Granny Zhou had once helped her Master manage the inner yard back when she was at Earl Ling’an’s Mansion. Since she had no problem in managing so many yards, it was a piece of cake for her to manage Qianyue House now.
Granny Zhou had helped Granny Miao a lot the minute she came here.
“Granny Zhou, how is Second Young Master Ji?” Qu Moying asked.
“Second Young Master Ji?” Granny Zhou was taken aback and asked.
“Yes, Second Young Master Ji.” Qu Moying nodded.
“When he was in the mansion, Second Young Master had always had a good relationship with Third Lady. They were about the same age. Although they were in the first and second branches respectively, they got along very well. In the past, when Second Young Master went outside, he would bring things back for Third Lady. When they were young, they played together. When they grew up, they kept their distances to avoid people’s gossips, but Second Young Master would still come to see Third Lady from time to time.”
Granny Zhou recounted as she composed herself. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
This was similar to the Ji Yuanhai in Qu Moying’s memory.
“Granny Zhou, if Concubine Xiang, whom you mentioned the other day, wants to recognize Second Young Master Ji as Uncle’s son, do you think it’s possible?” Qu Moying asked again.
Although Qu Moying knew some things, she could not say it, let alone do anything. But with Granny Zhou here, it was much easier. Others would only think that it was Granny Zhou who told her something so that she knew about the inside story of the Ji Family.
“Concubine Xiang wants to recognize Second Young Master Ji as General Ji’s son?” Granny Zhou was surprised.
“Yes, she wants to do it.” Qu Moying nodded hard. The Emperor was informed of this matter. Cousin Yue said that there was no news yet, but it didn’t mean that there was no chance. However, the possibility was not high since Princess Ji was on their opposite side.
Tomorrow was the day of Crown Princess’ funeral, and Qu Moying had to attend it.
“It would be great if she could make it. Second Young Master Ji would definitely investigate Third Lady’s matter, but… but I’m afraid she won’t succeed. First Lady Ji is now Princess Ji in the Eastern Palace. I heard from the maids in the mansion that First Lady might be the Crown Princess in the future…”
Granny Zhou stopped at this point, as if she had something to add.
However, she had stated the key point. If Ji Youran became Crown Princess, Ji Yuanhai would never inherit the title. Ji Youran’s brother, Ji Yuanxing, would become the new Earl Ling’an, but Qu Moying did not want to see this happen.
How could she let an enemy inherit Father’s everything?
All she wanted to do with the current Earl Ling’an’s Mansion was burn the place and the people down. Only when they turned into ashes would she be able to calm down from her vengeful hatred.
Ji Youran cooperated with Pei Luo’an to plot against Qu Moying’s Father and even her sister. Hence, Qu Moying was certain that the Ji Family released the news about her Father’s death, as well as the rumors about her sister. Even though the servants in the mansion did not know what was going on, the Masters, who was in charge of the Ji Family, would definitely know.
That day, no matter what she said, the Ji Family refused to open her Father’s coffin because they knew there was something doubtful about General Ji’s death. Therefore, they insisted the coffin should be shut so that the secret would not be revealed.
Ji Yong’an, Xiao, Ji Youran, Ji Yuanxing, and even the highly respected yet credulous Grandmother were all part of the scheme.
Every time Qu Moying thought of this, she felt her wrath of hatred burning intensely inside her, as if a faint bloodthirsty aura was surging in her heart. Her entire family had been murdered in miserable ways, but the people who killed them used her family as the stepping stones and enjoyed the glory that should not have been theirs.
The so-called family affection meant nothing as compared to the personal gains and benefits in their eyes.
Qu Moying pursed her lips tightly. She pursed her lips for so long that she felt a faint, bitter taste of blood in her mouth. Only then did she slowly speak, “What if Ji Youran is busy enough with her own affairs?”
“My lady, if we can make Princess Ji not interfere in this matter, or make Crown Prince’s Mansion announce that this matter has nothing to do with them, this matter will be feasible,” Granny Zhou answered after giving it some thought. She raised her eyes to look at Fourth Lady in front of her, complicated emotions surging in her gaze. Fourth Lady was supposed to be her Master, the little Master whom Madam had instructed her to protect.
However, because of what had happened back then, she had no choice but to leave. Thinking about how Madam looked that day, Granny Zhou felt a lump in her throat again. She had let Madam down for not properly protecting her lady.
Fortunately, her lady was intelligent. Ever since she came here, she could see clearly that her lady was surrounded by clever people. For example, although Granny Miao was not as good as her in managing the household affairs, Granny Miao was very capable in other aspects and was particularly loyal to her lady. Thus, Granny Miao was a great help to her lady.
Madam must be happy if she saw the current Fourth Lady. If… If Madam… When Granny Zhou thought of the past incidents and the people, she turned her head and wiped her tears, unable to hide her sadness.
She did want to say something, but it wouldn’t make any difference if she said it! She would tell her lady if her lady found something, but now… She did not know where to start!
“I understand.” Qu Moying nodded, and a trace of coldness flashed through her eyes. Ji Youran was the key to the Ji Family matter. Of course, Pei Luo’an, who was behind Ji Youran, was even more crucial. Faced with such a thing, even without Pei Luo’an’s order, many people would volunteer to aid him and Ji Youran’s brother.
After a moment of silence, Qu Moying suddenly raised her head and asked, “Granny Zhou, do you know that Mother had a pair of bracelets in her dowry?”
She asked this question because she wanted to shift the topic to the Mother in her previous life. Yue had a pair of bracelets which she gave to Ji Hanyue and her sister. Now, they should be in Ji Youran’s hands.
Ji Youran had always coveted the bracelets! Given Ji Youran’s character, she would definitely send her people to search for the bracelet even if Ji Hanyue, namely Qu Moying now, fell into the lake with it back then.
After falling from such a height, Qu Moying was certain that the bracelet would be broken into pieces, but Ji Youran would not give up no matter what. Even if the bracelet was broken, Ji Youran should have the fragments.
“Yes, I know about the bracelets. Not only Madam, but Yue also had a pair. The bracelets were given by Old Lady Yue before they got married. There were four bracelets that were made into two pairs, and they were given to Madam and Yue respectively,” Granny Zhou asserted with a nod. “These two pairs of bracelets look the same, but they are actually a little different.”
“What’s different?” Qu Moying was stunned for a moment, and a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes. She originally thought that Qu Moying did not have them. After all, after she became Qu Moying, there was nothing about this pair of bracelets in her memory. She had just wanted to change the topic, but she did not expect that it would really lead to something that she did not know about.
“The two pairs of bracelets were made from a piece of jade, and the jade was a family heirloom of Yue’s ancestors. I heard that it was ancient objects from a long time ago. In the Yue Mansion back then, Old Lady Yue gave these two exclusive pairs of bracelets to the two madams when they got married, hoping that the sisters could maintain a close and harmonious sisterhood in the future. Both the madams would live in the capital after the wedding, which was far away from the Yue Mansion, and the two sisters should get along well…”
Granny Zhou explained.
Yue’s ancestors were of high renown among the scholars in the South, but they had a relatively unsolid foundation in the capital. The reason why Old Lady Yue gave the bracelets to the two sisters was that she hoped they would always be on good terms and support each other. Yue was elder, while Second Madam Qu was younger.
Their personalities were slightly different. As the eldest sister, Yue had a fierce personality, while Second Madam Qu, as the younger sister, was soft-spoken and gentle. The two bracelets that Old Lady Yue had given them were made from the same piece of jade, so they were similar. It was a red blood jade with two pieces of tear-shaped, green gems as the pendant of the bracelet. However, there were some differences.
The difference was subtle. If Granny Zhou hadn’t seen the two pairs with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference…
