Chapter 204 – Entering The Palace To Meet Dowager Consort Qu
Chapter 204 Entering the Palace to Meet Dowager Consort Qu
In the next few days, Qu Moying continued to learn the palace rules and etiquette. However, the number of students increased from one to two, and in the end, four.
First, Qu Qiuyan joined in, then Qu Caiyue. Finally, Qu Xuexin also received the news and learned the rules and etiquette with the three others.
Although Granny Yan did not seem very happy, at least she did not drive them away, and she even helped correct all kinds of mistakes made by Qu Moying’s three elder sisters.
Granny Yan taught seriously, and the four sisters learned diligently. A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Early in the morning, the people in the mansion began to prepare. Today was the time for the Qu ladies to enter the palace, and Qu Mansion had been preparing for this day.
The clothes that the embroidery workshop sent over were more and more exquisite. Qu Moying picked a light blue set of outfit. It looked very elegant, but there was a faint embroidery on the hem of the dress. It was the embroidery of lotus flowers, and it made the wide eight-sided palace skirt layers look colorful and vivid.
A waistband of the same color made Qu Moying’s waist even more slender. During this period of time, Qu Moying had grown quite fast. She was taller than when she had just arrived at Qu Mansion. As a young girl, her figure was delicate, and it made people feel that she was extremely beautiful just from her back.
However, the long eye veil made people sigh in their hearts that it was a pity that such a beautiful girl had such a flaw.
Qu Qiuyan’s dress was relatively more splendid. Her appearance was very outstanding, and her gorgeous clothes made her even more charming. Among the sisters, apart from Qu Moying’s long eye veil, she was the only one who could catch one’s attention. Her appearance was worthy of being praised as beautiful as jade.
Compared with West Mansion’s two sisters, East Mansion’s two sisters looked a little inferior.
In terms of appearance, East Mansion’s sisters could not compare with Qu Qiuyan. As for Qu Moying, of course, she was not the target of their comparison at all. So what if they won against a blind girl?
Qu Xuexin was as soft and dignified as ever. Her expression was gentle. When she looked at people, there was a hint of a smile on her face. She was born to make people feel that she wasn’t threatening and was also the easiest one to make people feel good about her.
Qu Caiyue’s dressing was just okay. The decorations on her dress weren’t exquisite, but they revealed a bit of elegance. Her flower hairpins were very beautiful, bringing out the beauty of her face. She couldn’t compare with Qu Qiuyan, but there was a bit of tenderness to her. It was unknown if it was because of what happened before, but her face was a bit pale, adding a bit of delicateness to her.
Seeing that her granddaughters each had their own merits and their own outstanding appearances, the Old Lady was very satisfied. After giving them a few more words of advice, she ordered them to leave.
There were four of them, so they used two carriages. It was the same old rule.
Qu Xuexin and Qu Caiyue shared one carriage, while Qu Qiuyan and Qu Moying shared the other one.
In the carriage, Qu Qiuyan and Qu Moying were very quiet. They both leaned to one side and closed their eyes to rest. They were so quiet that there was no sound. Only the sound of the carriage’s wheels rolling outside could be heard.
After about an hour, the carriages stopped at the palace gate. Qu Mansion’s ladies came down from the carriages one by one.
Standing there, Qu Moying looked up at the familiar palace gate. In her previous life, Ji Hanyue enjoyed endless favor and was free to enter and exit the palace gate from time to time, but this was the first time Qu Moying entered the palace.
She clenched her fists tightly and then slowly relaxed. She took a deep breath and suppressed the surging resentment in her heart.
The palace servant led the way, while Qu Mansion’s four ladies walked into the palace together and followed behind her, and they dared not take a wrong step.
Among the four people, only Qu Qiuyan had been to the royal palace in the past. It was the first time for the others.
But regardless of whether they had been here or not, they were all very well-behaved. There was not the slightest mistake in their words and actions. Even Fourth Lady Qu, who was said to be ignorant of etiquette, looked generous and appropriate in her manner.
The palace servant, who was leading the way, was secretly observing while walking forward. Finally, she focused her attention on Third Lady Qu. In her opinion, Third Lady Qu was the most blessed one. Previously, Lord Jing had sent people to especially inform the people in Dowager Consort Qu’s palace to take care of this Third Lady Qu.
The palace servant thought with envy. Third Lady Qu was really lucky. Lord Jing did not have a Princess Consort yet, but he was so deeply in love with Third Lady Qu. Even the matters of her entering the palace had been properly arranged by him.
Dowager Consort Qu lived rather far away. So they had to make more turns, and the route became longer. Finally, a palace appeared in front of everyone.
This was indeed something that Qu Moying had never seen before. It was a bit desolate. It should be in the northeast of the deep palace. The furthest one there was Cold Palace. When Ji Hanyue entered the palace back then, she had heard people talk about Cold Palace’s direction, but she had only heard of it. At that time, it was impossible for her to have any contact with Cold Palace.
The current Dowager Consort Qu seemed to be in a very ordinary situation, and there were not many people attending outside the palace gate, and the place she lived in was just so-so.
However, no matter how desolate her palace was, she was still the Dowager Consort of the palace, and she was not someone that ordinary people could treat harshly.
As an imperial consort of the late Emperor who could stay in the palace even though she did not have any children, Dowager Consort Qu should also be considered a unique one. From this, it could be seen that Dowager Consort Qu was definitely not someone simple.
Seeing the few of them come over, the palace maids had already gone in to report. Soon, a eunuch came out to invite them in.
The few of them entered the main hall in order.
There was a large chair in the middle of the main hall. An old woman sat on the chair. She looked at the young girls with a kind expression. There was a smile in her eyes.
The four Qu ladies came in and bowed together.
“Please rise. Have a seat!” Dowager Consort Qu smiled kindly. Her voice was gentle. If one only heard her voice, one might not think that she was someone so old.
Qu Moying sat down on the farthest chair at the table. As the youngest one, she could not sit too close to the front.
“Fourth Lady Qu, please sit closer.” A palace maid smiled and whispered to her.
Qu Moying was stunned for a moment. She subconsciously looked up and met the gentle gaze of Dowager Consort Qu, who waved to her warmly.
Qu Moying stood up and followed the palace maid to take the chair beside Dowager Consort Qu.
“Are you Qu Mansion’s Fourth Lady?” Dowager Consort Qu asked gently after sizing up Qu Moying.
“Yes, Dowager Consort.” Qu Moying lowered her head and said softly. Her voice was not loud, and it was very consistent with her identity and experience.
“Was it tiring to learn the rules?” Dowager Consort Qu asked softly.
“It’s alright. Thank you, Dowager Consort,” Qu Moying replied with a gentle expression. She did not say that she was not tired, nor did she say that she was tired. However, how could she not be tired after managing to learn so well in such a short period of time?
Dowager Consort Qu had originally thought that Fourth Lady Qu was the one who studied the etiquette for the shortest amount of time, so even if she learned well, she should still be lacking a bit. However, when she looked over just now, she saw that Fourth Lady Qu was extremely elegant and even carried an extremely natural noble aura. She was completely unlike what others had said about her, about how she had been raised in the village from a young age and was insensible and vulgar.
Sure enough, this girl was intelligent and was able to ensure suffering. She was different from the other ladies.
“I’m actually your Grandaunt. Just call me Grandaunt, alright?” Dowager Consort Qu smiled.
“Yes, Grandaunt!” Qu Moying narrowed her eyes and said gently.
If Dowager Consort Qu really intended to acknowledge her as a family, then even if they were distant relatives, she would indeed be considered Qu Moying’s “grandaunt.”
Of course, the chance of addressing her as her “grandaunt” was just an occasional one. Qu Moying couldn’t be so self-righteous just because she was being looked up to.
“Here, my girl. When I saw you, I thought of the time when I was young. At that time, I… also lost my mother early.” Dowager Consort Qu took a jade green bracelet from her wrist and put it on Qu Moying’s wrist.
“Grandaunt…” Qu Moying raised her head and looked at Dowager Consort Qu. She bit her lips lightly as if she didn’t know how to deal with the situation.
“Don’t be so polite. When I saw you, I just… liked you. I don’t have any descendants, so how could I not like you when I saw you all at the age of youth? Maid, bring out the gifts I prepared for those ladies.” Dowager Consort Qu smiled as she let go of Qu Moying’s hand and looked at the other young ladies of Qu Mansion.
Among Qu Mansion’s other three ladies, only Qu Qiuyan managed to make her take a few more glances. Her appearance was the most outstanding one among them, and Lord Jing had taken a fancy to her. It was hard to say what would happen in the future.
The palace maids took out four exquisite gift boxes from inside, placed them in front of the ladies one by one, and then opened them.
The objects in each gift box were similar, but each one was exquisite, and it was obvious that they were good things.
“These were all saved by me in the past and were bestowed by the late Emperor. Now I don’t need them, but they are suitable for young girls like you.”
Dowager Consort Qu said with a smile. Her gaze, with a hint of nostalgia, swept over the ornaments before falling on Qu Qiuyan, and she waved at her.
The palace maid hurriedly led Qu Qiuyan forward. The Old Lady also affectionately pulled Qu Qiuyan’s hand and gave the other bracelet on her wrist to Qu Qiuyan.
Qu Moying’s gaze swept over Qu Xuexin. Just now, she saw Qu Xuexin slightly raise her eyes to look at Qu Qiuyan. Her eyes did not look as gentle as before, but then Qu Xuexin seemed to notice Qu Moying’s gaze. When Qu Xuexin turned to look at Qu Moying, Qu Xuexin’s smile was as warm as ever. Then, she lowered her head, back to being as elegant and gentle as ever.
However, was this true?
On one side of Dowager Consort Qu was Qu Qiuyan, and on the other was Qu Moying. However, she was not very intimate with the two sisters from East Mansion. She only asked questions casually when they were chatting. The focus was firstly on Qu Moying, and secondly on Qu Qiuyan.
Dowager Consort Qu asked the most about Qu Moying’s life in the village. She asked about her eye condition and when she could remove her eye veil. These topics were all things that Qu Moying had experienced herself. She was not afraid of being asked about these things. Seeing that Dowager Consort Qu asked in detail, she also answered in detail.
There was not any slightest mistake.
Although she could hide some things well, the education she received in her past life was evident in her bones. Sometimes, even if she wanted to hide it, she failed. She could not even explain why her behavior was elegant. However, Granny Yan, whom Dowager Consort Qu sent over to educate her, solved her problem.
In the future, she could use Granny Yan as an excuse.
She had learned so quickly only because she was smart and attentive. But even so, some people would still be skeptical. One time, Qu Qiuyan and Yu found a couple to claim her as their child. It was also because of this suspicion that she could take advantage of the situation. At this time, she also responded in this way.
“Dowager Consort, Lord Jing and Lord Wei would like to see you.” A eunuch hurriedly came in to report.
