Chapter 359 – A Cunning Maid
Chapter 359 A Cunning Maid
“Someone, pull her down and beat her twenty times.”
“County Lady…” The old maid was so scared that her body went soft. She hurriedly looked up at Liu Jingyu, only to see Liu Jingyu’s slightly swollen eyes staring at her sinisterly.
She did not dare to continue.
Two lowly old maids came over and grabbed the old maid, whose legs had gone soft. The old maid did not dare to struggle and only looked at Liu Jingyu with pleading eyes. However, Liu Jingyu coldly watched her being pulled away.
Even if the old maid did not die after being beaten twenty times, she would be seriously injured.
“County Lady, don’t be angry. First Lady Qu always messed things up. She messed up the thing that night, and she also blew it today.”
A maid next to Liu Jingyu comforted her in a low voice. She was Hai Tang, one of the two senior maids that Liu Jingyu trusted the most.
“She is indeed useless.” As long as Liu Jingyu thought of what happened that night, she gritted her teeth in hatred. Qu Xuexin actually screwed up such a simple thing, causing the man surnamed Wang to come to her, which aroused the Crown Prince’s suspicion. After that, the Crown Prince asked her to bring that guy over.
However, that person surnamed Wang had run away a long time ago. Where could she find him?
At that time, the Crown Prince looked at her with unfathomable eyes. Apparently, he suspected her.
This was the critical period in which discussion of her marriage with the Crown Prince was under way, but something like this actually happened. How could she not be angry?
She could have gotten away with what happened to Qu Moying last night. Originally, no matter what filthy place Qu Moying would fall into, she would still be the mighty County Lady Jingyu, and no one would know that she was the mastermind behind the scenes.
However, she was suspected again and again because of Qu Xuexin. She heard that Qu Xuexin went to the Sea of Lanterns last night and had a quarrel with the Crown Prince’s Side Princess, Ji Youran. Because of this incident, many people knew that she had something to do with the Crown Prince. Now that she and the Crown Prince were not engaged, it was unfavorable to her reputation when people talked about them at this time.
Moreover, the royal family paid the most attention to reputation.
Back then, Ji Hanyue was able to be engaged with the Crown Prince not only because of her background but also because of her good reputation.
Ji Hanyue was a lady of high status and had a good reputation, which was the reason why the Crown Prince decided to marry her.
Liu Jingyu also knew that the Empress considered her at the very beginning but gave up on her and chose Ji Hanyue in the end, so she could only turn to Lord Jing.
Liu Jingyu said with a sneer, “Chase away the person sent here by Qu Xuexin.”
“Yes, I will do it immediately.” The other senior maid, Du Juan, replied quickly. She bowed to Liu Jingyu and retreated.
The maid sent by Qu Xuexin had been waiting outside for a while, but Liu Jingyu did not want to see this person, so she just ignored her. Now, she felt annoyed, so she asked Du Juan to drive the maid away.
Hai Tang observed Liu Jingyu’s expression and asked, “Lady, what should we do now?”
Just now, Mrs. Liu was angry and reprimanded Liu Jingyu. Hai Tang had never seen Mrs. Liu being so angry.
“I won’t do anything. Just wait!” Liu Jingyu gritted her teeth.
She happened to know that Eunuch De Fu was looking for the purest girl to pray for the Empress Dowager and that Eunuch De Fu had just returned to the capital, which was why today’s matter happened.
Only knowing the information was not enough, she also secretly informed Qu Mingcheng’s people, but it seemed that Qu Mingcheng was also useless.
Originally, she had given up on Qu Xuexin and tried to make use of Qu Mingcheng. Now it seemed to her that Qu Mansion’s people were all trash, and none of them was useful.
Her mother’s reprimand was still ringing in her ears word by word. She felt that she had never suffered like this before.
All of this was because of Qu Mansion. How could she not be resentful?
She lost an important agent, and her mother reprimanded her and told her to put everything aside. The most important thing for her now was to marry the Crown Prince.
Many people realized that the Liu Family was discussing marriage with the Crown Prince. Lord Jing had not come to the Liu Family for a long time, and it could be seen that he had also known about it.
Needless to say, Lord Jing had ceased to be an option. If she couldn’t get married to the Crown Prince, then she could only consider the other two princes. But neither Lord Wei nor Lord Yan was eligible for the throne. How could she be willing to accept such a result?
Her status was much higher than those women!
Her mother had also said that she was destined to be extraordinary in the future and that she would have everything she desired.
She had made two plans before. Now that the arrow had been placed on the bow, she could only aim at the Crown Prince. This was the only feasible plan. This time, she would not miss it again.
She thought her mother was right. The most important thing for her now was to marry the Crown Prince. As for the other things, she could put them aside…
“What? You didn’t see County Lady Jingyu?” Qu Xuexin was anxious. She originally thought that Liu Jingyu would pass some words to her, but she did not expect that the person she sent wasn’t received by Liu Jingyu.
So, why did Liu Jingyu send someone over earlier?
“I waited there because I was told that the County Lady happened to have something to do, but then I was told that the County Lady was busy, and I was asked to leave.”
Hearing this, Qu Xuexin became angrier. After turning around in place a few times, she waved her hand to let the maid leave.
“Hong Mei, go and see if there are any abnormalities with Fourth Lady.” Qu Xuexin instructed. She did not believe that something Liu Jingyu cared so much would end up so peacefully.
It seemed that Liu Jingyu even resented her now!
What exactly happened at Qu Moying’s place? Where was that eunuch from? Why did he come here? Why did Qu Zhizhen chase after him? Could it be that she had really made a mistake?
Hong Mei also felt that something was wrong and quickly responded, “Yes, I will go now.”
With a gloomy face, Qu Xuexin watched Hong Mei leave. Her brows were still knitted. Since she couldn’t rely on Liu Jingyu, she could only rely on herself. She needed to find a way to meet the Crown Prince. She believed that the Crown Prince would help her out.
Her mother told her that her grandmother and her father insisted on marrying her to Xiao Hanyuan. Her mother would not be able to stall the time for long. She had to help herself out quickly. Thinking of this, she sat down again and picked up the needle thread next to her hand. She began to embroider. It was too blatant to embroider a true love knot, so she decided to embroider twin lotus flowers that shared the same stalk.
Hong Mei entered West Mansion through the door that connected East Mansion and West Mansion. She took a small path to go to Qianyue House. It was not easy to walk on because it was too narrow, but it was a shortcut. Qu Xuexin barely took this path whenever she came to West Mansion, but Hong Mei had no better option now.
The road was indeed very narrow. Along the way, she was brushed by small branches. It was very difficult for her to walk. Only when she stood diagonally opposite to Qianyue House did she stop. She did not dare to walk any further, afraid of being discovered.
She just watched quietly for about an hour. The maids and old maids in and out were all very calm, as if nothing had happened. But she clearly saw the eunuch sent by the palace, and Qu Zhizhen chased after that person. Was there really nothing wrong?
Hong Mei rolled her eyes and looked at Yu Chun, who came out from the yard. Compared with the shrew Yu Dong, Yu Chun looked much easier to get along with. Yu Chun was also Qu Moying’s senior maid, so she should also know something!
Hong Mei knew that she should talk to a senior maid like Yu Chun or a granny in charge if she wanted to find out the truth.
However, none of Qianyue House’s grannies in charge seemed to be approachable. Hong Mei thought Yu Chun was a good option. It just so happened that Yu Chun came out, and she seemed to have something to do. That was great.
Hong Mei looked in the direction where Yu Chun was going and found that she seemed to be going to the kitchen. She calculated the time and took a shortcut to get to the front of Yu Chun.
Yu Chun was walking towards the kitchen, but she did not expect to bump into someone in a corner. Both of them staggered. Yu Chun reacted quickly and stabilized herself by holding the corner of the wall. Unfortunately, the person who bumped into her fell to the ground and cried out in pain.
Yu Chun took a closer look and found that she knew the person. It was Hong Mei. She held Hong Mei up and asked, “Are you alright?”
“I was in a hurry and didn’t notice you when I came over.” Hong Mei said apologetically. She did not deny her fault for bumping into Yu Chun. It was easy for the other party to have a good impression of her!
Yu Chun asked curiously, “Why are you in such a hurry?”
As Qu Xuexin’s maid, Hong Mei also appeared to be dignified and calm. She had never been so rash.
“I have an urgent matter. It’s about a eunuch…” Hong Mei felt that she had made a slip of the tongue, so she stopped and looked at Yu Chun with a somewhat embarrassed expression, not knowing whether to continue or not.
Yu Chun was stunned for a moment. Then, she became anxious. “A eunuch? Who?”
Hong Mei said hesitantly, “I don’t really know. It’s a thing related to the eunuch who came to our mansion.”
Yu Chun immediately understood and asked in surprise, “Is it the eunuch from the palace?”
“Yes, yes, it’s him. I heard that he is coming this way. I came to look for him. Our madam has something to say to this eunuch.” Hong Mei nodded and reached out to hold Yu Chun’s hand. “Have you seen this eunuch? I heard that he has a strong background. It’s not a good thing that he came to our mansion at this time!”
After Hong Mei finished speaking, she looked at Yu Chun’s expression. Seeing that Yu Chun’s expression changed drastically, she tightened her grip on Yu Chun’s hand. She observed Yu Chun’s expression, thinking that something really seemed to have happened.
“He is the Empress…” Yu Chun said anxiously, but she soon realized that she had made a slip of the tongue and shut her mouth quickly.
“Is he from the Empress’ palace? It… It can’t be!” Hong Mei held Yu Chun’s hand, not intending to let go of her and inducing her to continue.
“Why not? Granny Yan is already here. It was not strange if someone from the Empress’ palace came.” Yu Chun said disapprovingly, trying to defend her Master.
