Chapter 225 – Who Was Scheming Behind The Scenes?
Chapter 225 Who Was Scheming Behind the Scenes?
The resting place of the womenfolk was not nearby. They walked around in a winding manner, and they could see that Duke Qi’s Mansion was really big. It was much bigger than Qu Mansion. As expected of a family that had existed for hundreds of years and had not declined even after several lifetimes of experience. In terms of the scale of Duke Qi’s Mansion, none of the ordinary residences was comparable.
The resting place of the womenfolk was not small either. There were three rows of wing rooms. Qu Moying was brought to the rightmost room of the first row. She pushed open the door and entered. The window was bright and clean, and it was very comfortable. Although there were not many decorations, it was very elegant. Just looking at it made one feel relaxed and refreshing.
The maids left. Yu Dong was there to help Qu Moying clean her hands. After she cleaned her hands, Qu Moying was not in a hurry to leave. She sat down on the couch in front of the window. The back window was open, and there was a breeze blowing in, making her feel quite comfortable.
Previously, they had walked in a hurry, and she felt a little stuffy. At this time, there was a cool breeze, and it was very pleasant.
“My lady, the scene by the back window looks even better!” Yu Dong looked out of the open back window and exclaimed.
Qu Moying stood up and walked to the back window. She looked out of the window. There was actually a yard outside. It looked not small, with bamboo plants. Outside the back window, there was a vat of water lotus that was in full bloom, making the water between the pavilions appear even clearer and more jade-green, and the bamboo plants looked more solid and pleasing to the eye. What was more surprising was that there seemed to be a qin beside the bamboo plants.
It was impossible to see clearly, because a corner of the qin was blocked by the rockery.
For people who loved musical instruments, this feeling was like having their eyes covered. It was very uncomfortable to hear only and not see.
Qu Moying was a little excited. She looked carefully and wanted to get a closer look at the qin. However, from this angle, even if she leaned against the window, she could not see it clearly.
A woman walked by. It seemed that she was a lady who had just come here. She had been walking in front of Qu Moying before and was wearing this dress.
“My lady, this is a place for womenfolk. We can definitely take a look. When we came in just now, I saw a few rows of female restrooms behind. Could it be that this lady was resting there?” Yu Dong suggested when he saw that Qu Moying really liked the place.
Qu Moying’s heart moved slightly. She thought for a moment and nodded.
“Alright, let’s go out and take a look.”
The two of them went out and found that the several ladies had already left. The yard was empty, and she did not see anyone else. So, they turned to the back of the house. However, they could not find a way out. They could only turn around a few more times and passed through a door. Finally, they found a small courtyard by following the direction that Yu Dong could sense.
The door of the yard was half open. It was a very simple small yard. It looked no different from usual. Qu Moying stopped.
“My lady, it is this yard,” Yu Dong said with certainty.
Qu Moying did not go in directly. She frowned slightly and looked at the yard in front of her.
“My lady…” Yu Dong looked at her in confusion.
Qu Moying slowly walked forward and gently pushed the slightly closed door. However, her footsteps had stopped.
The door suddenly opened without any warning. A maid was holding a basin of water in her hand. When she saw someone outside, she was shocked and the basin in her hands slid down.
Standing by Qu Moying’s side, Yu Dong hurriedly reached out to pull Qu Moying back, but even so, her skirt was still splashed with water.
“My lady, are… are you alright?” The Duke Qi’s Mansion’s maid did not expect that there was someone outside. She was so scared that her face turned pale and she trembled.
Qu Moying lowered her head and looked at the corner of her skirt. There were not many wet spots. Luckily, Yu Dong reacted fast, but even so, it would be disgraceful to wear a drenched dress like this.
“Who… lives here?” Qu Moying asked.
“This is where our, our lady, came to sit when she was resting. It is not a place where anyone lives. There are many ladies who came to the mansion today. Our lady specially ordered us to clean up this place. She said that some ladies might come over and sit for a while. I… I was just cleaning it up… I didn’t see you come to the door…”
The maid stuttered as she explained in panic.
“My lady, please come in and sit down first. I will go get your clothes. There are a few sets of clothes that our lady keeps here in case any lady dirtied their clothes today. That saves them the trouble of having to go and fetch their own clothes.”
“Your Lady prepared clothes here?” Yu Dong thought about Qi Xiangyu’s figure. Although she was a little taller than Qu Moying, the latter could still barely wear the former’s clothes.
The distance from here to the parking place of their carriage was not short. Although the carriage had a set of clothes, he could not let his lady walk around in this dirty set of clothes today. It was better for her to change into clean clothes first.
“Our Lady has prepared some clothes. My lady, please come with me,” the maid said, ignoring the basin that was still on the ground. She moved aside to lead the way, opening the door.
Qu Moying stood at the door and looked at her feet, but she did not move. Her eyes turned to where she could see in the courtyard and then she decisively turned around.
“Lady…” The maid, who was leading the way, was a little anxious. She turned around and wanted to persuade Qu Moying. However, she saw Yu Dong glaring at her with a sinister gaze. The maid was startled. How could she dare to stop Qu Moying anymore?
At first glance, she knew that Yu Dong was not a maid who was easy to deal with.
Qu Moying turned around and left decisively with Yu Dong. When they turned a corner, they suddenly heard noisy voices coming from the front. She brought Yu Dong to the side to make way. Then, she saw several young masters from aristocratic families walking over with smiles. The first one looked familiar. It was the one they saw in the bookstore that day.
The few of them looked very lively. One of the men’s clothes was dirty. It was unknown whether he had fallen or crashed somewhere. He was in a sorry state and was pulled over by a few other people. His laughter was especially loud.
Qu Moying hid behind a tree and watched the young masters walk past followed by a large group of lad servants. Her expression became cold and her eyes darkened.
Yu Dong’s expression also changed greatly. If his lady had really gone to change her clothes just now, this large group of men would have bumped into her at this time, which would be a disaster for an unmarried young lady. Moreover, one of them was in such a state and must wash up. In that case, her lady would have been doomed.
If something happened to his lady, the Old Master would definitely kill him. After all, he was sent here to protect his lady.
“My lady, who is it that wants to harm you?” Looking at the group of people walking over, Yu Dong gritted his teeth and said hatefully. He was almost schemed against too.
Qu Moying shook her head, her eyes cold.
One thing was certain. This person must have something to do with Duke Qi’s Mansion’s people. Moreover, this person was also very familiar with them. It was just that she had only met with Duke Qi’s Mansion’s people. She had never been involved with them before, so she did not know who was so intolerable toward her. Or, rather, why would the person do this?
Qu Moying brought Yu Dong out again and made a turn to go back to the yard. She saw the maid who led the way for her looking around. She seemed to be looking for someone. When she saw Qu Moying and her maid, she hurriedly ran over. She wiped the sweat on her forehead and said, “Fourth Lady Qu, where did you go? Did you go to the front yard? You can’t go there. The Eldest Young Master invited many young masters here today.”
“The front yard?” Qu Moying stood still and a trace of coldness flashed in her eyes. The wing room of a woman’s resting place was nextdoor to a yard that was connected to the front yard. From whichever perspective, it was suspicious.
“Yes, it is the yard behind the front yard, but in fact, it cannot directly be passed through, and it is unlikely to meet the men unless you deliberately bypassed it. Where did you go, Fourth Lady Qu? I almost thought that you went to the front yard, so I went to report to our lady. She asked me to look for you again. If I still can’t find you, I have to go to the front yard.”
Said the maid.
“I was just here looking around. I didn’t go anywhere. Maybe we missed it. You stay here with me. Yu Dong will go and get the clothes,” Qu Moying said indifferently.
In her current state, there were still stains on her dress, and she could not meet anyone.
“Alright, I will be back soon. My lady, wait here first. Don’t go anywhere.” Yu Dong said, afraid that it would be dangerous for Qu Moying to go away, so he especially reminded her.
Qu Moying nodded.
Duke Qi’s Mansion’s maid led Qu Moying to a few of the rooms. Qu Moying looked at the wing room on the far right and found that the room had been locked. A lock was put up, and it seemed that no one was allowed to enter now. However, it just so happened that she had been led there before.
“How is it that we could go in there just a while ago, but now we can’t?” Qu Moying asked.
“Actually, that place is not a place for the womenfolk to rest. In the past, when County Lady Jingyu came over, she would specifically ask to rest in this place. The scenery outside the back window was pretty good. The place that County Lady Jingyu liked the most was that room. Everyone in the mansion knew that this room was not for the other ladies, but just now, I did not pay attention… and I led you to the wrong room.”
The maid said apologetically.
She had made a mistake, so all the mistakes Qu Moying made after that were her own fault. However, the maid who was on the other side did not say such a thing. Duke Qi’s Mansion’s people were very strange. They seemed to have goodwill as well as malicious intent towards her. They even hated her to the point that they did not hesitate to harm her.
Did that person really have such a huge grudge against her as to set up such a trap to deal with her?
Yu Dong came back quite quickly. Qu Moying had only sat down to rest for a while when he hurriedly brought the clothes over. After Qu Moying changed into them, Yu Dong folded the dirty clothes. He did not let Duke Qi’s Mansion’s maid help deliver them to the carriage. After folding them, he put them into the clothes bag and carried them in his hands.
The master and servant followed the maid of Duke Qi’s Mansion to the pavilion.
Before she approached the pavilion, Qu Qiuyan saw her from afar and stood up in surprise. “Moying, where did you go? What happened? Why… why did you change your clothes?”
Her voice was not low, causing all of the other ladies to turn around and look at Qu Moying in surprise.
Qu Moying calmly walked over, her gaze indifferently falling on Qu Qiuyan. “Nothing, I accidentally fell. So I rested at the women’s yard for a while before returning.”
“Is there really nothing wrong?” Qu Xuexin also stood up, sizing up Qu Moying from head to toe, asking worriedly.
“It’s really nothing!” Qu Moying shook her head.
“Since it’s nothing, let’s go! Just now, an old maid said that Cousin Brother might bring people here to play. We’ve also been here for a long time. Why don’t we change to another place?” Liu Jingyu asked gently. Her smile was faint, neither too much nor too little. It was the most suitable look for a lady.
