Chapter 373 – The Scapegoat Miss He
Chapter 373 The Scapegoat Miss He
However, the result was beyond expectation.
Zhu Yanrui also thought like every lady else and she was both angry and annoyed, but when she saw the jade fans clearly, her eyes immediately widened, “This…”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong finally asked, “What’s wrong?”
After looking at the jade fans in disbelief for a few moments, Zhu Yanrui suddenly laughed out loud. She extended Qu Moying’s jade fan forward, “Fourth Lady Qu’s jade fan is better.”
“What?” Liu Jingyu raised her head in shock and blurted out subconsciously. If Qu Moying’s jade fan was better, Liu Jingyu would be embarrassed. What she said just now was too complacent, so much so that it made her look a little ignorant.
“Impossible.” Fourth Lady He stepped forward and was about to snatch Qu Moying’s jade fan over.
Zhu Yanrui drew her hand back and did not let her grab it. Instead, she handed Liu Jingyu’s jade fan to her. “You can have a look at County Lady Jingyu’s jade fan!”
After saying that, she handed Qu Moying’s jade fan to another young lady beside her.
After looking at Qu Moying’s jade fan, the lady nodded in appreciation. Then, she took a look at the jade fan in Fourth Lady He’s hand and commented, “Fourth Lady Qu’s jade fan is better.”
Fourth Lady He said angrily, “I don’t believe it! Zhu Yanrui, don’t talk nonsense!”
Zhu Yanrui said disapprovingly, “I am not talking nonsense. There are so many ladies here who can prove it. Why don’t you believe it? Is it because you haven’t seen such a good thing? It’s normal that you haven’t seen a lot since you have just arrived in the capital.”
Fourth Lady He’s face was red from anger. She had only been in the capital for a few months and indeed hadn’t seen much. However, she felt humiliated when it was bluntly exposed in front of so many people.
Qu Moying’s jade fan was passed around for the ladies to take a look at it, and every lady nodded when they saw it.
Liu Jingyu did not go forward, but her eyes also fell on the jade fan. She also did not believe that Qu Moying’s jade fan was better than hers, but since so many ladies had said so, she could only believe it.
If she went forward to take a look at Qu Moying’s jade fan at this time, she would only be humiliating herself.
“Since Fourth Lady Qu’s jade fan is better than mine, then it is my fault. I actually used the same type of accessory as Fourth Lady Qu. I thought mine would be unique.”
She reacted quickly and immediately said with an indifferent smile, which showed that she did not care.
Her attitude was actually quite pleasing.
Qu Moying couldn’t help but sigh in her heart, “Liu Jingyu really is good at acting. Her words meant that she admitted defeat, and she didn’t want to continue arguing.”
“What she said made her look magnanimous.”
“With her status, others would think that she was magnanimous after hearing her say something like that. But if I say the same words, others will think that I am showing weakness.”
Liu Jingyu took her jade fan handed over from Fourth Lady He and casually handed it to the maid behind her. The maid carefully put it away but did not hang it for Liu Jingyu again.
It seemed that Liu Jingyu was not going to wear it anymore, or perhaps she was telling Qu Moying that she didn’t want to fuss about it anymore.
“County Lady Jingyu, thank you for your generosity. Just now, you took off the jade fan, and I thought you were going to argue with me. It turned out that I was wrong. Sorry, County Lady Jingyu.” Qu Moying bowed sideways with a sincere expression. Even though the eye veil covered her eyes, her sincerity could be felt.
The young ladies around strangely quieted down.
Qu Moying’s words reminded them of how Liu Jingyu had personally taken off her jade fan. If Liu Jingyu really was magnanimous and didn’t care about it, how should she explain what she had done just now?
It seemed that Liu Jingyu was just pretending not to care after losing.
It turned out that she was not as calm and magnanimous as she appeared to be. The ladies didn’t give much thought to it just now, but now they doubted Liu Jingyu more and more.
Seeing the complex expressions on the faces of the ladies around her, Liu Jingyu gritted her teeth in anger and clenched the fan in her hand to prevent herself from losing her composure on the spot.
“Alright, since County Lady Jingyu is no longer wearing the jade fan, what else is there to say? Ladies, come in and let’s chat. Don’t just stand here. It’s a rare chance for us to see each other. We should be happy. No one shall cause trouble here. Otherwise, not to mention me, even my mother will be angry.”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong finally came out to smooth things over. She smiled and moved aside to make way for the ladies.
These words made Liu Jingyu feel even more aggrieved, “What did she mean by saying I am no longer wearing the jade fan? Her words sounded like I had admitted defeat. Did my words just now make me a laughingstock?”
Liu Jingyu could hardly keep a calm face. However, she was sophisticated and remembered her mother’s previous scold, so her face just darkened for a short while and she quickly returned to normal. She pretended not to hear Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s full account but only heard her last two sentences. She followed Prefectural Princess Xiangrong inside as she said jokingly, “Of course I don’t dare to make trouble. Who dares to make trouble here?”
As she spoke, she walked past Qu Moying and ignored her completely. With such a contemptuous manner, it was obvious that she didn’t think Qu Moying was at the same level as her.
The ladies who followed Liu Jingyu also snorted and curled their lips with disdain while walking past Qu Moying.
Qu Moying did not mind. She took the jade fan handed over by a lady and let Yu Chun hang it for her again. Then, she turned around and walked behind the other ladies.
By the time she entered the hall, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong had already pulled Liu Jingyu to sit down next to her. Fourth Lady He turned her gaze and looked at the seat on the other side of Prefectural Princess Xiangrong. In her opinion, it was a perfect seat where she could talk to Prefectural Princess Xiangrong and County Lady Jingyu and it also showed that her status was extraordinary.
It just so happened that no one had taken that seat yet.
Fourth Lady He lifted her dress and was about to sit down.
A granny came from behind and reminded her in a low voice, “Fourth Lady He, please take another seat. This is Fourth Lady Qu’s seat.”
Fourth Lady He did not hear it clearly. “What?”
Zhu Yanrui said mockingly from the side, “Didn’t you hear it? This is Fourth Lady Qu’s seat. You should not steal her seat.”
Ever since Fourth Lady He had entered the capital, she and Zhu Yanrui had been in a tit-for-tat situation. If there was no one to restrain them, they would easily argue when something happened. The ladies around were used to it.
They sat down on the chairs calmly.
At this time, Qu Moying also approached and looked at the two ladies standing in front of the chairs. Did the two of them quarrel wherever they went?
“I will sit here today. What can you do to me?” Fourth Lady He sneered and turned to look at Qu Moying with an aggressive gaze. “Fourth Lady Qu, can you let me take your seat for a while? I don’t want Miss Zhu to pick on me again and again. When I return home, I will definitely prepare valuable gifts to thank you for your kindness.”
She was forcing Qu Moying to give up the seat.
She did not believe that Qu Moying, the daughter of a Vice Minister, would dare to contradict her. This matter was different from what had happened just now. If Qu Moying gave up her seat, it was a true concession.
Qu Moying smiled. “This chair belongs to Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion. Fourth Lady He, shouldn’t you ask Prefectural Princess Xiangrong about it?”
Fourth Lady He knew the proper limits. She dared to be arrogant with Qu Moying, but she did not dare to be arrogant with Prefectural Princess Xiangrong.
“You…” Sure enough, Fourth Lady He was angry and annoyed.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong said calmly, “Fourth Lady He, there are seats over there.”
“Fourth Lady He, sit here next to me!” Liu Jingyu spoke with a smile. The two of them spoke simultaneously, and Fourth Lady He could not afford to offend either of them.
Since the two of them had spoken, Fourth Lady He had no choice but to give up. She snorted and turned around to walk over. When she was about to walk past Qu Moying, she raised her foot fiercely. It seemed that she was going to trample Qu Moying’s foot.
She had attacked Qu Moying twice today, but she did not get any advantages at all. She felt very aggrieved.
Most importantly, Qu Moying was someone she despised.
Seeing Fourth Lady He rushing over angrily, Qu Moying was already prepared. She quickly moved her feet and dodged backwards.
Fourth Lady He thought that she would definitely step on Qu Moying, so she exerted a lot of strength and prepared to hurt Qu Moying. She did not expect Qu Moying to dodge so quickly. Her reaction was not as fast as Qu Moying’s. When she saw that Qu Moying had already stepped aside, it was too late for her to stop. Her foot landed heavily, her body staggered, and she fell to the side.
Fortunately, her maid quickly reacted and pulled her. But even so, she still slammed into a table on the side. The teacup on the table immediately fell down. Even if she retreated quickly, her sleeves still got wet, making her look extremely miserable.
After being stunned for a moment, the ladies all laughed, and Zhu Yanrui laughed the loudest among them.
“See, evil people have to pay.” Zhu Yanrui held her maid’s hand and laughed happily. She and Fourth Lady He were really at odds. How could she not be happy to see Fourth Lady He make a fool of herself?
Fourth Lady He could no longer control herself. After she steadied herself, she glared at Qu Moying and asked, “Qu Moying… what do you mean?”
Qu Moying said with a surprised face, “Fourth Lady He, I mean nothing. I just avoided you when your foot was going to accidentally step on mine. Are you blaming me for not letting you step on my foot?”
Hearing Qu Moying’s words, many ladies covered their mouths and chuckled.
Qu Moying’s words were a strong refutation to Fourth Lady He, and she also exposed Fourth Lady He’s evil intentions.
Fourth Lady He did not expect that she would suffer such a big loss. She was so angry that her face was livid.
“Alright, go and change your clothes first. Don’t make a fuss again.” Liu Jingyu stood up and smiled gently. She stretched out her hand and gently pulled Fourth Lady He by hand, looking like she was trying to patch up their quarrel.
Liu Jingyu’s attitude really made the ladies have a good impression of her and even lessened their doubts towards her. It seemed that Liu Jingyu was on good terms with Fourth Lady He, and she made a fuss with Qu Moying just now only for the sake of Fourth Lady he. However, she didn’t really care, and she was doing it to help Fourth Lady He out.
Unknowingly, Fourth Lady He became a scapegoat and took the blame for Liu Jingyu.
Looking at the gentle smile on Liu Jingyu’s face, Yan Yujiao, who was sitting next to Liu Jingyu, lowered her head and pressed her hands on her knees. She was afraid that she would lose control and slap Liu Jingyu in the face.
However, her mother said that she was no match for Liu Jingyu at all…
