Chapter 279 – A Showdown
Chapter 279 A Showdown
The room quieted down. For a moment, no one spoke. Even the sound of low and rapid breathing could be heard, and then it slowed down…
“Young Master Xu, may I ask you whether you are here to blame me or for something else? If you are here to blame me, what did I do? Who asked you to come here? Do you think that no one is gossiping about us, so you come to provide a topic for others?” Qu Moying added.
Xu Lipeng’s face darkened. He didn’t want to hear any more gossip about him in the capital.
Because of the previous matter, his original appointment as an official had been shelved. Until now, it had not been settled. Moreover, he had been very low-key recently because of the matter with Yu Qingmeng. He just wanted others to forget about it.
However, when he saw Yan Yujiao’s letter, a surge of anger surged in his heart. For some reason, he felt depressed and angry. He felt that all of this was because of Qu Moying. He was not doing well, but Qu Moying had a relationship with his friend Yan Yu. He realized why Yan Yu had not come to him during this period of time. That was because Yan Yu was feeling guilty.
He asked someone to keep an eye on Qu Mansion. When he heard that Qu Moying had come to Yue’s Clothing Pavilion today, he came to the shop with anger. But upon hearing Qu Moying’s words now, he immediately felt that something was fishy.
He was not stupid. At this time, he already felt that there was something wrong. He suddenly stood up and said, “Fourth Lady Qu, I still have something to do, so I’ll take my leave first.”
With that, he turned around and strode away.
“Lady…” Looking at the disappearing figure of Xu Lipeng, Yu Dong curled his lips. He thought, “He is so impolite! How could he come and go at will?”
Qu Moying shook her hand and stopped Yu Dong. “Go and see if Young Master Xu’s fiancee has come to the door! If she is really here, let her in!” If there was anyone who would cause trouble upon seeing Xu Lipeng and her being together, it must be Imperial Banquet Minister’s Mansion’s Second Lady, Duan Jinxiang.
Yu Dong hurried over.
Sure enough, as soon as Xu Lipeng went out of the shop, several young ladies came over. The one in the front was Xu Lipieng’s fiancee, Duan Jinxiang.
Seeing Xu Lipeng come out, Duan Jinxiang was stunned for a moment, and her face darkened. She just knew that Qu Moying was in this shop, and this shop belonged to Qu Mansion.
Thinking of the joking words of the young ladies just now, Duan Jinxiang couldn’t help but get angry.
“Greetings, Young Master Xu.”
A lady who knew Xu Lipeng greeted him. Duan Jinxiang also greeted him. She looked up at Xu Lipeng, only to see his gloomy face and cold eyes. He looked at her with an unfriendly gaze and asked, “Second Lady Duan, why are you here?”
This question made Duan Jinxiang angry. She looked at Yu Dong who was beside Xu Lipeng, knowing that this was not Xu Lipeng’s maid. Xu Lipeng brought a lad servant with him, and the lad servant was behind him.
“Since this is a shop, if you can come, I can naturally come as well.” Duan Jinxiang said.
Yu Dong took two steps forward, bowed to Duan Jinxiang, and said politely, “Second Lady Duan, please come in. Our miss has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Yu Dong’s action stunned everyone. Did she mean that Qu Moying had already made an appointment with Duan Jinxiang?
Duan Jinxiang was stunned for a moment and was about to reprimand Yu Dong. However, Xu Lipeng looked at her again and said indifferently, “Since you are here, come in together. I have been waiting for you for quite a while.”
After saying that, he turned around and walked in. He seemed to have come to pick up Duan Jinxiang.
Just now, when he saw Duan Jinxiang’s angry face, he quickly realized that he had said something wrong. While he was feeling annoyed, he heard Yu Dong’s words, which provided him with an excuse. It was not proper to talk here because his reputation might be ruined no matter what they talked about, so it was better to go in and talk.
“Second Lady Duan, please.” Yu Dong smiled and led the way.
“Ladies, wait here for me for a while.” Duan Jinxiang said to the ladies around her. At this time, she had to go in and take a look.
If she found out that Qu Moying and Young Master Xu were still meeting each other in private, she would definitely not let them off.
Qu Moying was a blind person whose engagement had been cancelled. Did she want to be Young Master Xu’s concubine? Duan Jinxiang would never allow such a thing to happen.
She came out for a walk today. She had made an appointment with a few close ladies to come out today. When they walked here, they talked about the case that had caused a storm in the city, so they stopped at the shop to take a look. A lady said that the shop’s door was open, and she wondered if Fourth Lady Qu was there.
Another lady said that she saw Young Master Yongning when she got off the carriage, and she joked that perhaps Qu Moying had asked Young Master Yongning for help because they used to be engaged.
These words made Duan Jinxiang angry, so she came over to see what was going on. She did not expect to really see Xu Lipeng come out from inside. For a moment, she was both jealous and angry.
She walked behind Xu Lipeng with her maid. When she entered the room, she saw Qu Moying sitting inside. There were several large account books on the table, and Qu Moying was reading them. Hearing the footsteps, Qu Moying looked up and saw Xu Lipeng again, not feeling surprised at all. Then, she looked at Duan Jinxiang.
“Young Master Xu, please deal with your personal affairs yourself.” She said indifferently and read the account book in front of her again.
She didn’t want to get involved in the matter between Xu Lipeng and Duan Jinxiang at all. They were just two persons who were drifting away from her. They didn’t deserve her slightest bit of efforts. She invited the two of them in because she was afraid that Duan Jinxiang would make a scene at the entrance of her shop and ruin her business.
As for etiquette, she would be polite to people who were polite. But to Duan Jinxiang who had come to cause trouble, Qu Moying didn’t want to waste her time with her. She could tell from Duan Jinxiang’s resentful and gloomy eyes that she had never felt guilty about ruining others’ engagement.
“Fourth Lady Qu, what do you mean?” Duan Jinxiang said angrily as soon as she saw Qu Moying.
Qu Moying’s face darkened, and she said harshly, “Second Lady Duan, if you want to quarrel, go quarrel with Young Master Yongning. I also want to know who instigated Young Master Yongning to come to me in a rage. Second Lady Duan, your arrival is even more unexpected. You come here at such a time. Do you want to ruin Young Master Yongning’s career or the engagement between the two of your families?”
Yu Dong was very clever. He pointed outside and said, “The young ladies who came with Second Lady Duan are all outside watching the show now. When I came in just now, I heard them whispering that there was fun to watch.”
Just now, Yu Dong deliberately stayed behind and observed the young ladies behind him. He saw that these young ladies were looking into the shop together. They whispered to each other. Yu Dong could almost guess what they were talking.
It seemed that someone had planned this, so there must be a gossiper among them.
After hearing what Yu Dong said, Duan Jinxiang’s face turned cold, and she calmed down a little. She knew the ladies with her well. A few of them liked to gossip about others. If she really made a scene here, there would be unpleasant rumors soon.
Duan Jinxiang clearly knew how she got engaged with Xu Lipeng. It was she who destroyed Xu Lipeng’s engagement with Qu Moying. She didn’t think that Xu Lipeng wanted to marry Qu Moying, but after Yu Qingmeng’s matter happened, Xu Lipeng warned her that he would break up the engagement with her if she caused any trouble.
Now that she heard what Qu Moying said, she panicked. She could not help but look at Xu Lipeng, only to see that his face was gloomy and that his eyes were cold and fierce. He was clearly angry, and she couldn’t help but be flustered.
She had racked her brains to be engaged with him. She would not let her engagement be cancelled.
“Of course, I’m not here to cause trouble. I just want to make things clear. Fourth Lady Qu, please behave yourself. After all, you have nothing to do with Young Master Xu now!” Duan Jinxiang forced herself to be calm. Thinking of the possible consequences, she no longer dared to act recklessly. She even deliberately stood next to Xu Lipeng as if she was on his side.
She was bluffing.
Judging from her reaction, Qu Moying knew that this matter would not get big. She looked at Xu Lipeng and asked indifferently, “Young Master Xu, what do you think?”
At this point, anyone who was not stupid to the extreme would find something fishy in this matter.
It was too much of a coincidence. If Duan Jinxiang had rushed in when Xu Lipeng was still here just now, there would have been a big quarrel. Duan Jinxiang was so jealous and angry just now. She might say some terrible words and do some unexpected things, and so many people were waiting to watch the fun.
In that case, Qu Moying wouldn’t end up well, and neither would Xu Lipeng.
“Yan Yu’s sister told me those words.” Xu Lipeng said coldly. This time, he did not hide it.
“I am not familiar with Miss Yan. Why did she do this to me? I’ve seen her before, and she didn’t seem to like me. She was with County Lady Jingyu at that time. I wonder if Miss Yan has been sending messages to you in the past, or is this the first time?” Qu Moying asked calmly, her eyes under the eye veil as calm as water.
Qu Moying sneered in her heart. She was now sure that this matter had a great deal to do with Liu Jingyu, but she didn’t know why Liu Jingyu hated her so much that she kept plotting against her. Liu Jingyu was so vicious, and it seemed that she would not stop unless she destroyed her.
Xu Lipeng frowned. He naturally knew Yan Yujiao. She was Yan Yu’s younger sister. They would greet each other when they met in the past. They would talk for a while if Yan Yu was also there. However, she had never sent him a message before. But this time, she sent him a message saying that Yan Yu wanted to marry Qu Moying and asked him to see Qu Moying to confirm the issue.
At that time, he didn’t doubt it at all. He felt extremely angry. That was why he had people keep an eye to make sure whether Qu Moying had left the mansion. Now that he thought about it, there were many doubts. Why did the well-behaved Yan Yujiao do such a thing? Was it really because he was Yan Yu’s friend?
And what did Liu Jingyu mean? What did she have to do with this?
