Chapter 152 – Buck Passing
Chapter 152 Buck Passing
After searching through Yu’s place, Granny Wu came to Qu Qiuyan’s Furong House.
“Granny Wu, what’s the matter?” Qu Qiuyan, who was sitting in front of the dressing table, stood up in surprise and looked at Granny Wu and the several rough servants behind her.
“Greetings, Third Lady.” Granny Wu stepped forward and bowed. Third Lady was not like Yu. Yu’s current situation was not good, but it did not mean that Third Lady’s situation was bad as well.
Granny Wu was someone by the Old Lady’s side. Of course, she knew that there was a relationship between Qu Qiuyan and Lord Jing. No one was sure what would happen in the future.
“Granny Wu, you are too polite. Do you come here because something happened to Grandmother?” Qu Qiuyan asked softly, her face full of surprise.
“The Old Lady lost a pair of bracelets. I went to Madam’s place just now. Madam said that the bracelets might be with you, Third Lady, so she asked me to have a look here.” Granny Wu said very tactfully.
“Bracelets? What kind of bracelets?” Qu Qiuyan frowned, looking a bit confused.
“Third Lady, may I take a look at the dresser?” Granny Wu asked with a smile. Although her words were euphemistic, there was a bit of force in them.
Since the Old Lady had called for an investigation, and since this matter was also related to Princess Ji in Crown Prince’s Mansion, she naturally had to investigate clearly. Even if the bracelets were nowhere to be found, she had to know the reason.
“From Mother? And it’s a pair of bracelets? They must be invaluable ones. Granny Wu, will you take a look and see if this pair is something you’re looking for?” Qu Qiuyan seemed not to hear the toughness in Granny Wu’s words. She reached out and casually fetched a jewelry box from the dressing table.
The jewelry box was casually placed there, and the owner did not seem to care about it.
“It should not be this pair…” Granny Wu said, but then she stopped. Staring at the jewelry box opened by Qu Qiuyan, she was in surprise. It was actually the pair of bracelets she saw!
Granny Wu found it astounding that the bracelets, which were Yue’s dowry, and were said to be very valuable, were just randomly placed on Third Lady’s dressing table!
Could it be that Third Lady really did not know anything?
“Third Lady, these bracelets are so beautiful. Why do you never wear it?” Granny Wu calmed herself down and asked in confusion.
“Granny, is this pair of bracelets what you’re looking for?” Qu Qiuyan smiled.
“Yes, exactly.” Granny Wu nodded. “Third Lady, do you not like them?”
The bracelets were so exquisite, beautiful, and invaluable. With Third Lady’s temperament, how could she not like them?
“Indeed, they are beautiful. It’s just that they were originally not with me. They were just sent to me by Mother not long ago, so I have no time to put them on yet,” Qu Qiuyan explained softly.
“Not long ago?” Granny Wu looked up at Qu Qiuyan, only to see that her eyes were flowing, her complexion was not bad, and she looked very gentle and honest, without any sign of covering anything up.
“Yes, just recently. What is the matter with these bracelets?” There was anxiousness on Qu Qiuyan’s face. “Granny Wu, did something that I don’t know of happen? Is there something wrong with the bracelets? Did Mother piss Grandmother off again? If it is so, I will explain it to Grandmother.”
“Third Lady, it’s nothing. It’s good that we found them. It’s all right now.” Of course, Granny Wu would not tell Qu Qiuyan the details, so she only replied vaguely.
“But why did Mother possess Grandmother’s bracelets? And why did Mother give them to me?” Qu Qiuyan wouldn’t be fooled easily. She reached out and pulled Granny Wu’s sleeve. Her face became serious as if she had just realized that something was wrong.
The more she asked, the more inconvenient it was for Granny Wu to speak, and her words became vaguer. Granny Wu laughed awkwardly. “Third Lady, it’s really nothing serious. Maybe the Old Lady rewarded them to the Second Madam in the past and forgot about it, so she specially asked me to look for them.”
Granny Wu said as she reached out and gently pushed away Qu Qiuyan’s hand, who had lost her manner. Then Granny Wu closed the jewelry box and waved goodbye to Qu Qiuyan. “Third Lady, I have to report to the Old Lady. I will take my leave now.”
“Is there really nothing serious?” Qu Qiuyan asked.
“Really.” Granny Wu said with a smile. She turned around and left with her people. This matter was not certain at the moment. Of course, she would not reveal it to the Third Lady.
Since the Third Lady took the initiative to take out the bracelets, it could be seen that the Third Lady did not know anything about it, and the Second Madam must have known about it. Having been able to find the bracelets without investigating directly, Granny Wu breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, she did not want to shed all pretense of cordiality in front of the Third Lady.
Compared to the Second Madam who was nearing her ends, Third Lady was the one who could not be offended.
Returning to Kangming House, Granny Wu presented the jewelry box and reported everything to the Old Lady. The Old Lady pondered for a moment, looked at the jewelry box in front of her, and asked thoughtfully, “Yan doesn’t seem to know anything?”
“I think so. The Third Lady doesn’t seem to know anything. Otherwise, such a precious thing that is inconvenient to show off should have been hidden away. But Third Lady just casually placed it on the dressing table. It seems that she doesn’t know the twists and turns in this matter.”
Granny Wu nodded.
There were only the Old Lady and Granny Wu in the room. They had been master-and-servant for so many years. Naturally, Granny Wu could say some things at this private time. She knew what the Old Lady was worried about, which was that the Second Madam would bring Third Lady and Second Young Master astray.
For so many years, the Old Lady had never liked the Second Madam, but she liked the twins that the Second Madam gave birth to very much. Second Young Master was sent to East Mansion to study. He did not visit West Mansion often. The Old Lady arranged this so that he could stay far away from Yu and would not be affected by Yu.
As for Third Lady, she was called over from time to time to be reprimanded, but no one knew if the Third Lady understood the Old Lady’s painstaking efforts.
“It is indeed good if Yan really does not know.” The Old Lady said, but the expression on her face was still stiff. Her brows were furrowed even tighter. “But if she deliberately acted out for us to see, then she would be more scheming than Yu, and also more…”
The Old Lady didn’t continue. In fact, she didn’t want to judge her granddaughter in this way, but the feeling that Yu gave her was really too bad.
“Old Lady, don’t worry. Normally, Third Lady would say whatever she wanted. She isn’t the kind of person who thinks too deeply. This matter really seems to have nothing to do with her,” Granny Wu advised. She knew what the Old Lady meant.
The Old Lady nodded, and her expression relaxed a little. “It should be. Yu is not a good person. Fortunately, Yan and Mingcheng are different from her, and they are not very close to her.”
“Old Lady, you have done a good job in teaching them. Naturally, Third Lady and Second Young Master will not go the wrong way,” Granny Wu smiled and replied.
“Give the jewelry box to Ying later.” The Old Lady nodded and her gaze stopped at the jewelry box. “What does Princess Ji want to do? Why does she want Ying to wear this pair of bracelets?”
This pair of bracelets were given to Yue and her sister at that time. Even though Ji Youran was Princess Ji from Eastern Palace, she had no direct relationship with Yue, Earl Ling’an’s wife. The pair of bracelets must have been given to the Crown Princess as a dowry. However, the Crown Princess was gone. Could it be that all these things had fallen into Princess Ji’s hands?
But this also did not make sense. Even if Princess Ji now took over these things, why did she want Ying’s bracelets?
These two matters were clearly unrelated.
The Old Lady couldn’t figure it out for a moment, but she still asked Granny Wu to send the bracelets to Qu Moying’s Qianyue House.
Hearing that Granny Wu was here, Qu Moying hurriedly asked Granny Zhou to welcome her in.
“Fourth Lady, this is Madam’s jade bracelet from back then.” Granny Wu smiled and presented the jewelry box.
Granny Zhou took it and opened it on the table. She looked at the bracelets on the jewelry box and her eyes turned red. It was indeed the Second Madam’s dowry bracelets. At that time, she had been working as the Second Madam’s servant, so she naturally knew that the Second Madam liked these bracelets very much. The Second Madam had always been wearing them.
“Granny Wu, were these bracelets not with Grandmother?” Qu Moying picked up a bracelet and looked at it a few times. A deep look flashed through her eyes.
When she looked carefully, she immediately saw a slight difference. But for what Granny Zhou had said, she would not have been able to see it at first glance.
There were slight differences in terms of details between eight petals and five petals. Moreover, three petals of this eight-petal flower were extremely small, almost sticking together at the top.
“Yes, they were found at the Second Madam’s place.” Granny Wu was silent for a moment and did not mention the Old Lady and Qu Qiuyan.
There might be a follow-up of this case in the future. It was clear that the bracelets were not found at the Old Lady’s place. As for Third Lady, it seemed that this matter had nothing to do with her.
However, the Second Madam wanted to hide the bracelets. That was why she sent them over. And the Third Lady didn’t know about this.
Since that was the case, there was no need to drag the Third Lady in. What the Old Lady disliked the most was seeing the two sisters quarrel and be on bad terms.
“Thank you, Granny Wu.” Qu Moying stood up and thanked them respectfully. She did not ask any more questions. This was not the right time. She would take back everything that belonged to Mother, but the time was not right yet.
Since this pair of bracelets implicated Ji Youran, they could also be used to implicate Mother’s stuff at Qu Mansion, but right now, they were the best medium.
When Granny Wu saw that the bracelets had already been delivered and that the Fourth Lady was generous enough to show no intention of investigating, Granny Wu heaved a sigh of relief in her heart and bid farewell to Qu Moying.
Qu Moying asked Granny Zhou to send Granny Wu out. The two of them were old friends. Back then, Granny Zhou had accompanied Yue to marry into Qu Mansion, and they had been on very good terms with Old Lady Qu.
“My lady, I heard that they even went to check on Third Lady.” Yu Dong said in a low voice. He had already investigated the matter.
Qu Moying looked at the blood jade bracelets and nodded silently. They were found at Qu Qiuyan’s place. She was not surprised. Yu seemed to be commanding everything, but she basically did everything for Qu Qiuyan.
“Did they stay long in Third Lady’s yard?” Qu Moying asked.
“Not long. I heard that Granny Wu came out soon after she entered. It was only a short while,” Yu Dong reported. He had just returned. He came back not long after Granny Wu arrived. When he encountered Granny Wu, he retreated to the side first.
“It looks like this matter has nothing to do with Qu Qiuyan.” The corners of Qu Moying’s lips curved silently, and her eyes were dark and sinister. Qu Qiuyan was more brilliant than she had imagined.
This feeling was very strange as if the Qu Qiuyan she saw before was not the Qu Qiuyan in front of her. After a short pause, she ordered, “Go and check who has gained Qu Qiuyan’s trust recently!”
If she guessed correctly, the difference in Qu Qiuyan was related to the people around her.
