Chapter 294 – Flustered Qu Xuexin
Chapter 294 Flustered Qu Xuexin
“What? Something happened to He Mansion?” When Old Lady Qu got the news, she was so shocked that she could hardly stand still. Granny Wu hurriedly reached out to support her.
“Yes. It’s said that the ex-Third Madam He died from an unknown reason.” Granny Wu wiped the sweat on her forehead. She just got the news. After hearing this news, she knew something bad was going to happen and hurriedly came to report to the Old Lady.
The Old Lady didn’t get it and asked anxiously, “Was she killed? Who killed her?”
“I don’t know. There seemed to be some matters regarding beautiful maids.” Granny Wu blushed. She was too embarrassed to continue, so she faltered, “They were tortured to death. The things are still under investigation. I don’t know if they are true or not.”
This time, the Old Lady understood what she meant. She was stunned at first, and then she became furious. She pointed outside in exasperation. “Madam Li… How… How can you…”
Seeing that the Old Lady’s face flushed with anger, Granny Wu hurriedly comforted her, “Your Ladyship, please don’t worry. Fourth Lady is blessed by the heavens. She could even keep out of such a thing, which means she will definitely be blessed in the future. Please don’t worry!”
“This is too much. How… How dare she…” The Old Lady said angrily. She had thought that Madam Li made the match for Qu Moying out of kindness. She had even said to her son that it was not bad to marry Qu Moying into He Mansion. At least He Mansion was powerful enough to protect Qu Moying. She didn’t expect that Madam Li was up to no good.
Qu Xuexin walked over with a pastry in her hand and asked with a smile, “Grandmother, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
She accompanied the Old Lady to walk in the garden. The Old Lady was tired from the walk, so she rested here, and Qu Xuexin personally went to the big kitchen to make a pastry. In the past few days, she had been accompanying the Old Lady in West Mansion. She was so devoted that the Old Lady pitied her even more. The Old Lady kept saying that she would talk to Luo about Qu Xuexin’s marriage after Qu Moying’s marriage was settled.
She would definitely get Qu Xuexin a good marriage.
Unlike Qu Moying, Qu Xuexin’s mother would take care of her affairs. For so many years, Luo had never asked the Old Lady to intervene in Qu Xuexin’s matters. If the Old Lady intervened rashly, Luo would definitely be unhappy. However, the Old Lady couldn’t bear to see her obedient and sensible eldest granddaughter not having a good marriage, so she couldn’t help but vow to help Qu Xuexin.
Even if Luo would get unhappy, she had to intervene and get Qu Xuexin a good marriage.
Hearing Qu Xuexin’s question, the Old Lady answered angrily, “Moying’s proposed marriage is set to fail.”
Qu Xuexin was overjoyed. She pursed her lips hard to suppress the excitement in her heart. As expected, with Qu Qiuyan’s help and the fact that Third Young Master He had taken a fancy to her, she would be the one to marry Third Young Master He.
Seeing the Old Lady’s angry look, she immediately showed a panicked expression. “Grandmother, why? Moying is so good. Did they have any complaints?”
There was a bit of anger in her panic, which precisely echoed the Old Lady’s angry look.
Qu Moying couldn’t help but sigh at the good show Qu Xuexin has put on. At this time, she was still pretending perfectly.
The Old Lady’s eyes turned red as soon as she saw Qu Moying. She reached out to grab Qu Moying, who was about to bow to her, and said, “Ying, here you are. My poor child…”
She could no longer continue. She hugged Qu Moying and patted her on the back, already choking.
Qu Moying had a hard life, and the Old Lady nearly pushed her into a fire pit this time. Thinking of this proposed marriage that was almost settled, the Old Lady was angry and resentful.
He Mansion was the prime culprit, and her son was also to be blamed.
Qu Zhizhen didn’t care about his daughter at all. The Old Lady asked him to investigate Third Young Master He. He came to tell her soon that Third Young Master He was good in all aspects and would definitely be valued by the emperor in the future, and that was all.
As Vice Minister of Works, Qu Zhizhen could definitely inquire about something else, but he knew nothing.
The Old Lady couldn’t help but feel a mixture of hatred, anger, and grief in her heart.
“Grandmother, what’s wrong? It’s fine. Nothing will happen.” Qu Moying comforted the Old Lady softly. She had already received the news and knew that Third Young Master He had been exposed. However, she did not expect that the scene would be bigger than she had imagined.
She secretly sent a message to the good-for-nothing First Young Master He. She thought he could at most expose a case with his ability. As for the rumors in the inner yard and the thing about the ex-Third Madam He, they must be spread by He Mansion’s people. This must be done by First Young Master He.
With so many cases against him, Third Young Master He would not end up well, and even Lord Jing might also be implicated. It was an unexpected surprise.
Qu Xuexin comforted Qu Moying, “Moying, you should also comfort Grandmother. It’s Third Young Master He’s loss that he didn’t take you. You deserve someone better.”
Qu Moying helped the Old Lady sit down on a stone bench and looked at the polite and gentle Qu Xuexin. She was now sure that Qu Xuexin was not as kind as she looked. She had seen Qu Xuexin being with Liu Jingyu, and it seemed that she wasn’t mistaken.
Qu Xuexin really hid her true self well. If not for the episode of the marriage this time, Qu Moying wouldn’t have known her true personality. She had thought that Qu Xuexin was kind and gentle despite being bullied by Qu Qiuyan and what Qu Xuexin needed was luck.
Although Qu Xuexin was comforting Qu Moying, she could hardly conceal her joy, which was really ironic.
Qu Moying asked with a smile, “Eldest Sister, don’t you know about it?”
Qu Xuexin was stunned by the question. “About what?”
Qu Moying said slowly, “Don’t you know about He Mansion’s proposed marriage?”
“I… I really don’t know. Moying, what do you mean by this?” Qu Xuexin blushed and looked at the Old Lady with grievance. “Grandmother, I really don’t know. I… I just knew that He Mansion broke off the engagement with Moying. I only saw Third Young Master He from afar with Moying once. I… I really don’t know anything!”
Looking at Qu Moying, Qu Xuexin panicked. Did Qu Moying know something? She was not afraid of Qu Moying. Even if she poached Third Young Master He away from Qu Moying, so what? What could Qu Moying do to her? Qu Moying’s mother had died, and her father did not care about her. Qu Xuexin didn’t think she could compare with her.
However, she was afraid that Qu Moying would cry in front of the Old Lady and affect the Old Lady’s decision. These days, she served the Old Lady attentively in order to make the Old Lady pity her, hoping that when He Mansion proposed to marry her, the Old Lady would agree.
Still looking at Qu Xuexin, Qu Moying asked, “Eldest Sister, you really don’t know?”
Looking at the two of them, the Old Lady frowned in confusion.
“I really don’t know. Grandmother, look, Moying is suspecting me.” Tears fell down from Qu Xuexin’s eyes, which made her look more pitiful.
“What… did you do?” The Old Lady asked uneasily. How could she not sense the weirdness in the conversation between her two granddaughters? She even found that Qu Xuexin looked a bit guilty.
Qu Xuexin was afraid that the Old Lady would be suspicious and said anxiously, “I didn’t do anything. Grandmother, please believe me. I have nothing to do with He Mansion canceling the proposed marriage.”
Since He Mansion was not going to propose to Qu Moying, Qu Xuexin thought she would be the one to marry into He Mansion. He Mansion would talk about her with the Old Lady later. She was afraid that the Old Lady would think that she did something to ruin Qu Moying’s proposed marriage. If the Old Lady did not agree, she would probably have difficulty marrying into He Mansion.
Although her parents had the final say on her marriage, they would have to consider the Old Lady’s opinion.
But no matter what, she would insist that she did not know anything. She did not know why He Mansion would propose to her. She did not know the reason why He Mansion would refuse to marry Qu Moying. She believed that the Old Lady would agree to her marrying Third Young Master He in the end. After all, it was a desirable proposed marriage, much better than her previous ones, and Third Young Master He had a promising future.
Qu Xuexin thought a lot and fancied a bright future for herself. She thought she could even witness how Qu Qiuyan was subservient to her after Third Young Master He prospered in his career. After all, Liu Jingyu had told her that Qu Qiuyan could not be Lord Jing’s Princess Consort because there had been many incidents before, and Lord Jing did not make up his mind. It was hard to say what position Qu Qiuyan would have.
But Qu Xuexin was sure that she would be Third Young Master He’s legitimate wife.
She got excited at the thought of this, but she showed more sadness and panic on the surface.
“Eldest Sister, surely I believe you. But why are you so nervous? It makes me feel a little confused.” Qu Moying looked up at Qu Xuexin, who was pretending perfectly.
The Old Lady looked at the two of them thoughtfully. She knew clearly that Third Young Master He’s case couldn’t have anything to do with Qu Xuexin. However, the way Qu Xuexin acted and the words she said did make people doubt that she had played a part in it!
“Moying, I’m afraid that you don’t believe me. I was anxious to explain just now because I was afraid that we would be alienated from each other.” Qu Xuexin reacted quickly. She wiped the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief and said bitterly, “Ever since you entered the mansion, I have been congenial to you. If we are estranged from each other, what should I do?”
Qu Moying smiled and said, “Thank you, Eldest Sister.”
Seeing that Qu Moying seemed to believe her, Qu Xuexin heaved a sigh of relief. She wanted to say a few more words, but the Old Lady held Qu Moying’s hand and said, “Ying, the proposed marriage with He Mansion is not a good one. We can’t accept it. Third Young Master He…”
The Old Lady paused for a moment. There were some things that she could not say in detail, especially since her two granddaughters had not married yet. She could only cough in a low voice and vaguely say, “Third Young Master He is not a good guy. He has done bad things to several maids in his mansion, and he is now under investigation.”
Qu Moying nodded with a calm expression, “Grandmother, I will listen to you.”
Qu Xuexin felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She stood there in a daze, her eyes wide open as she looked at the Old Lady. She opened her mouth, but she didn’t know what to ask first. She only felt dizzy, and she staggered…
