Chapter 360 – Who Instigated Him To Do So?
Chapter 360 Who Instigated Him to Do So?
Hong Mei asked with concern, “But our madam heard from Her Ladyship that this eunuch did not come for something good. Did anything bad happen to Fourth Lady?”
Yu Chun furrowed her brows. It seemed that something bad had indeed occurred.
Seeing her reaction, Hong Mei sensed something and continued to ask, “What? Did something bad really happen?”
“Nothing serious. He just took a casual look and felt satisfied with the pine tree in our Qianyue House. He said that the pine tree was good, but then he said he didn’t want it. We are really confused by what happened in our yard today.” Yu Chun sighed and reached out to press her forehead, complaining.
“Is there anything wrong with that pine tree?” Hong Mei also knew about the pine tree. She heard that it was quite old, but that was all.
“I don’t know about this. Maybe it was because the pine tree was old that he was satisfied with it.” Yu Chun said vaguely. It could be seen that she was not clear about the situation.
Hong Mei continued to ask, “Why didn’t he want it later?”
“I don’t know. This eunuch came at the right time, right after Young Master Xiao left.” Yu Chun sighed.
Hong Mei didn’t know about this, so she asked, “Did Young Master Xiao come to Fourth Lady’s yard?”
Yu Chun said angrily, “Yes, I heard that he was instigated by someone to cause trouble. Our lady is going to talk to Her Ladyship about this. I wonder who instigated this simple-minded Young Master Xiao. We will know as soon as we investigate whom he has met before coming to see our lady.”
“Perhaps he came out of his own thoughts.” Hong Mei felt a little guilty. Qu Xuexin had met Xiao Hanyuan just now, and she gave him a cold shoulder.
If the Old Lady knew that Xiao Hanyuan met Qu Xuexin before going to Qu Moying’s yard to make trouble, there would probably be extra trouble.
Thinking about this, Hong Mei got restless. Since she couldn’t find out about anything, she quickly straightened up and said, “I feel better now. Sister Yu Chun, you can go and do your work. I can manage to walk by myself.”
Yu Chun asked worriedly, “Are you really alright?”
“I’m okay. I can do it.” Hong Mei took a few steps, slow but steady.
Seeing that she was fine, Yu Chun did not say anything else and left.
Seeing Yu Chun leave, Hong Mei turned around and strode away. She hurried back to East Mansion. When she saw Qu Xuexin, she gasped and reported on what she had heard from Yu Chun and also the matter that Xiao Hanyuan went to Qu Moying’s yard to make trouble.
Sure enough, Qu Xuexin was immediately attracted by Xiao Hanyuan’s matter.
She gritted her teeth in hatred. Why was Xiao Hanyuan causing trouble at this time? She didn’t want to have anything to do with Xiao Hanyuan anymore, but she couldn’t cut off from him for a while, and it was inconvenient for her to go directly to him now.
After pacing back and forth for a while, Qu Xuexin finally thought of a way. She came to West Mansion with Hong Mei again, but this time she went to find Qu Mingcheng…
“Lady, I waited at the side door that led to East Mansion. As expected, I saw First Lady come back with Hong Mei. But they didn’t seem to head to Third Lady’s residence nor Her Ladyship’s yard. Instead, they seemed to head to the yard where Second Young Master is resting.”
Yu Chun reported.
Qu Moying nodded and was not surprised. She put down the qin cover in her hand. It didn’t have much embroidery, but it was very carefully embroidered. Two butterflies were so vividly embroidered that they appeared to be real ones. This was the work of her previous life, and she was still familiar with it now. She knew how to embroider butterflies without thinking.
She used an embroidery template at first, but she then gave up on using it. She decided to embroider as she liked.
She had always been skilled in embroidering butterflies and flowers, so she didn’t need embroidery templates.
She let Yu Chun go out to create chances for others to enquire about what happened. After all, among the people around her, only Yu Chun seemed to be the most approachable for enquiry.
She had expected that Yu Chun would see Qu Xuexin.
It seemed that Qu Xuexin was going to discuss something with Qu Mingcheng. Qu Moying would like to see how capable Qu Mingcheng was. Qu Mansion only had four young ladies in total. Now, it seemed that the four of them were all entangled with the royal family. Qu Xuexin, who she thought was least likely to have anything to do with the royal family, was also entangled with the royal family.
This was not totally a bad thing for Qu Moying, but she would not let Qu Mingcheng off the hook so easily.
“Let’s go. I want to see grandmother.” Qu Moying said. She sat in front of the dressing table, and Yu Chun skillfully wore the eye veil for her. Then, they went to the Old Lady’s yard together.
Qu Moying thought to herself, “Since Qu Xuexin went to see Qu Mingcheng, she would definitely tell him something that can’t be made known to others. I must let the Old Lady know it so that she won’t think that the people in the mansion really regard me as a family member.”
The Old Lady had already received the news and was about to go to Qu Moying when Qu Moying came over. She hurriedly pulled Qu Moying’s hand and sat down. “Did Eunuch De Fu say anything?”
The Old Lady was extremely anxious as she stared at Qu Moying with her dim-sighted eyes.
Qu Moying smiled as she clasped the Old Lady’s hand and comforted her, “Don’t worry, Grandmother. I’m fine. Granny Yan stopped that eunuch. He originally wanted to enter my room.”
“So, he directly went back?” The Old Lady breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn’t know what exactly happened, she guessed that it was not a good thing. Someone that worked for the deceased Empress Dowager had come to her mansion at such a time and even went straight into her granddaughter’s yard. She didn’t think it was a good thing.
Qu Moying said, “Grandmother, I heard that this eunuch is looking for the purest girl to pray for the Empress Dowager.”
“What? Still doing it?” The Old Lady was stunned at first, but then she understood. Her face immediately darkened. She must have remembered such a matter.
It had been many years since this matter was first brought up, and people basically did not take this matter seriously now.
“He meant that because I grew up in the village, I rarely saw my father, let alone other men. Moreover, Marquis Yongning’s Mansion cancelled the engagement with me. He thought I was hurt by men and was unwilling to get married, so he thought I was suitable to pray for the Empress Dowager.”
Qu Moying said.
“What nonsense was he talking about?” The Old Lady was furious. She slapped the table heavily and said angrily, “Who told him you don’t want to get married?”
“I don’t know. From what I saw just now, my father doesn’t seem to know why this eunuch came. When the eunuch came to my yard, he said that he wanted to see me. Fortunately, there is Granny Yan.” Qu Moying said thankfully again. Her little face was slightly pale, and it could be seen that she was also frightened just now.
The Old Lady felt sorry for her. She held Qu Moying in her arms, patted her on the back and comforted her, “Don’t worry. Everything will be alright. It will be alright.”
Qu Moying quietly leaned into the Old Lady’s embrace with an obedient and respectful look.
After a long while, the Old Lady let go of her and pulled her to sit aside. She was still in shock, and her face was still full of fear. If Eunuch De Fu really chose Qu Moying, Qu Moying’s life would really be ruined. The Old Lady did not believe that this matter came out of nothing.
“Grandmother, fortunately, this eunuch came late. Before he came, Cousin Xiao wanted to make trouble with me. He came right after Cousin Xiao left my yard.” Qu Moying also seemed to be frightened. She reached out and pinched her handkerchief, slightly closing her eyes.
The Old Lady’s heart skipped a beat, and her expression turned serious. “Hanyuan went to your yard?”
“Yes. He said some strange words. I don’t know what he meant. He seemed to be blaming me. He suddenly mentioned Third Young Master He and then talked about the matter that happened last night. He spoke righteously as if he was seeking justice for my Eldest Sister. Perhaps he thought that it was my fault that my Eldest Sister fell into the water last night.”
“Fortunately, I reacted and let him go first. Otherwise, if the eunuch bumped into him and knew what had just happened, he would really believe that I dislike men.” Qu Moying said with a bitter smile.
It was not a bad thing to be mistaken for hating men in normal cases. It was indeed terrible if a lady was known to have an affair with a man. However, it was dangerous to be mistaken for hating men in such a situation because Eunuch De Fu was looking for the purest girl to pray for the deceased Empress Dowager, and no noble lady would be willing to do such a thing!
“Who instigated him to do so?” The Old Lady was so angry that the veins on her forehead bulged.
Of course, she didn’t think that Xiao Hanyuan just happened to go to Qu Moying.
“I… I don’t know about this.” Qu Moying said vaguely. She pulled the Old Lady by the hand and shook it, “Grandmother, it’s all over. We don’t have to take it too seriously. Forget it.”
The Old Lady said furiously, “I can’t just let it go. I have to find out who instigated him. The one behind this sold you out today, and he could sell the entire Qu Mansion out tomorrow.”
She hated this kind of behavior the most.
“Grandmother, in fact, I asked Cousin Xiao who instigated him to do so, and he told me it was…” Qu Moying was obviously hesitant. She looked at the Old Lady’s face.
The Old Lady said coldly, “Say it!”
“It was Second Brother!” Qu Moying said. This matter could not be hidden from others. As long as the Old Lady asked Xiao Hanyuan, he would definitely tell the truth.
“Granny Wu, go and inquire about it.” The Old Lady nodded and directly gave an order to Granny Wu.
Qu Moying talked with the Old Lady for a while. Then, Granny Wu came back in a hurry. Qu Moying heard Granny Wu whisper a few words into the Old Lady’s ear, including “Second Young Master” and “First Lady”. She knew that Qu Xuexin was found to be in Qu Mingcheng’s place. Judging from Granny Wu’s reaction, she guessed that Granny Wu must have seen something more than the fact that Qu Xuexin and Qu Mingcheng were close to each other.
Qu Mingcheng and Qu Xuexin were siblings, and Qu Mingcheng lived in East Mansion most of the time, so it was nothing if they were close to each other. It seemed that Granny Wu had heard something else.
Qu Moying knew that it was time for her to leave. She stood up and said softly, “Grandmother, I have something to do, so I’ll go back first. Father might look for me later.”
“You don’t have to go back. Go and sit in the inner room!” The Old Lady grabbed Qu Moying’s hand and didn’t let her go, which surprised Qu Moying.
She raised her eyes and looked at the Old Lady. If she stayed, she might have to fall out with Qu Mingcheng and Qu Xuexin.
But the Old Lady always wanted them to live in harmony.
“Stay here. Let’s listen together, lest you don’t even know how you are set up in the future.” The Old Lady raised her head and looked at Qu Moying. She seemed to have aged a lot all of a sudden. Her voice trembled unconsciously, and her eyes were filled with grief!
“Grandmother…” Qu Moying felt a lump in her throat and nodded slowly and forcefully…
