Chapter 404 – Lord Jing’S Jade Pendant Was Missing
Chapter 404 Lord Jing’s Jade Pendant Was Missing
The one who pulled Qing Mei away was a lad servant of Qu Mingcheng!
After pulling Qing Mei to the back of the artificial hill, the lad servant asked in a low voice, “How is it? I saw that you had handed the thing over to that maid just now, right?”
In fact, the lad servant had been following Qing Mei, and he had been staring at Qing Mei and Yu Dong from afar, but he couldn’t see them clearly because he was a bit far away from them.
Qing Mei said proudly, “Don’t worry, I’ve already handed it over.”
“Second Young Master gave this to you!” The lad servant took out a pouch from his pocket. The pouch was bulging, which showed that there were quite a few things in it.
Qing Mei took it and pinched it. She smiled and said, “Thank Second Young Master for me! Many thanks!”
The lad servant said, “You can go back now. I will report this to Second Young Master. If others see you in the outer yard now, there will be some bad rumors again.”
“Yes, yes, I will go back immediately!” Qing Mei said with a smile. Then, she turned around and walked back. However, when she turned around, she stole a glance at the lad servant and curled her lips in dissatisfaction slightly. “Second Young Master is interesting. He seems to believe me, but the fact that he asked a lad servant to keep an eye on me shows that he doesn’t completely trust me.”
She tossed the pouch in her hand in the air, looking quite complacent…
However, she did not know that all of this had fallen into the eyes of Yu Dong, who had been following her all the way here!
“Lady, Qing Mei went to the outer yard, but she was pulled away by someone on her way. It was a lad servant of Second Young Master. After talking with the lad servant, she left with a pouch, which looked the same as the one Second Young Master gave me. It can be seen that they were both the rewards from Second Young Master.”
After entering Qu Moying’s room, Yu Dong reported to Qu Moying what he saw when he secretly followed Qing Mei all the way just now.
He was not Qing Mei. He had methods to follow someone without being noticed. He followed Qing Mei all the way until the latter returned to Qu Qiuyan’s yard.
Qing Mei would never expect that Yu Dong, whom she thought she had instigated, had followed her all the way.
“Lady, I think Qing Mei is very strange!” Yu Dong found out something new. “I don’t think that she has much respect for Second Young Master!”
Qu Moying glanced at him and asked, “Why do you say so?”
“I saw her behavior and expression after leaving with the reward. She didn’t seem to respect Second Young Master. An ordinary maid will not dare to show contempt to a Master like her.” Yu Dong clearly saw a hint of contempt on Qing Mei’s face, which an ordinary maid would not dare to show.
“Lady, I heard from Qing Mei that she used to be a maid in another mansion, but she accidentally broke something and was chased out. After that, she was bought by East Mansion. Second Young Master thought that she was good and saw that Third Lady did not have enough maids, so he gave her to Third Lady.”
Yu Dong had already investigated Qing Mei’s background, which seemed to be normal.
Some strict families were very strict with their servants. If their servants displeased them, they would sell the servants as a punishment. This was not rare in the capital.
“No matter whom she works for, she can’t get away with it since she is involved this time!” Qu Moying sneered and looked at the thing that Yu Dong had just taken out.
It was a piece of jade pendant that Qing Mei had given to Yu Dong just now. Qing Mei said it was something that could let Qu Moying and Qu Qiuyan reconcile and benefit everyone.
Qu Moying picked up the jade pendant and looked at it carefully. She found that the jade pendant was made of top-quality jade, and it didn’t seem to have anything different from an ordinary jade pendant.
“Qing Mei said that this is Third Lady’s new jade pendant. She likes it very much. If she finds it missing, she will be anxious. At that time, if you say that you have found it and ask someone to send it to her, Third Lady will definitely thank you. Qing Mei will say something to persuade Third Lady like a peacemaker. Then, you and Third Lady will be reconciled.”
Qing Mei mentioned another benefit, but Yu Dong did not bring it up now because he felt disgusted at the thought of it. Qing Mei said that Yu Dong could follow Second Young Master if the two ladies reconciled, and Third Lady would not make things difficult for him in the future.
Hearing Yu Dong’s words, Qu Moying frowned. She took a closer look at the jade pendant, but she didn’t find anything strange about it. She stood up and walked to the window with the jade pendant in her hand. She narrowed her eyes to look at the jade pendant under the light coming from the window. Then, she found a tiny crack in the middle of the jade pendant, and her eyes became unfathomable.
Qu Moying handed the jade pendant to Yu Dong. “Yu Dong, do you see any words in this?”
Yu Dong took it and looked at it under the light. His eyesight was better than that of Qu Moying, so he immediately saw that there was a small word in the crack.
It was the word “Sheng”, which was not so common. Remembering that it was sent by Qu Qiuyan’s maid, Yu Dong immediately understood.
“Is it Lord Jing’s jade pendant?”
“It should be. They are taking a big risk!” Qu Moying sneered. She took the jade pendant from Yu Dong and took a closer at it. Finally, she confirmed that there was indeed the word “Sheng” carved on it. She got Lord Jing’s jade pendant, so the following part of the scheme would be unfolded with Lord Jing as an excuse.
It was Lord Jing’s belonging. It belonged to the royal family and also to a man. Qu Moying had nothing to do with Lord Jing, but she got his jade pendant now. Should she say that she picked it up somewhere?
If she picked it up, where did she find it? Recently, Qu Qiuyan had rarely come out of her Furong House, and Qu Moying had not visited her either. Therefore, the origin of this jade pendant would be suspicious. However, was only this jade pendant involved?
“Father, it’s a big deal. What should we do?” Qu Mingcheng stood in front of Qu Zhizhen, his face full of worry, “Qiuyan is so anxious now. If it is really lost, she will be in big trouble!”
Qu Zhizhen’s face was gloomy. “How did she lose it?”
Qu Mingcheng frowned. “I don’t know. Qiuyan has been staying in the mansion for the past few days. She has only paid respects to Grandmother these days. Other than going to Grandmother, the only person she saw might be Moying. But if Moying finds it, I think she will tell Qiuyan.”
Qu Zhizhen stared at him with a meaningful look.
“Do you think it is in Moying’s place?”
Qu Mingcheng shook his head. “I don’t think so. But perhaps a servant in the mansion accidentally picked it up and didn’t hand it in. He or she might think it was an unexpected fortune.”
His words made Qu Zhizhen’s expression ease up a bit. Qu Zhizhen nodded in agreement.
Qu Mingcheng asked anxiously, “Father, what should we do now? Lord Jing will come to our mansion tomorrow. When the time comes, he will probably ask us about the jade pendant. If we can’t take it out, what should we do?”
The jade pendant was accidentally dropped by Lord Jing in Qu Mansion that day. Lord Jing had sent someone to Qu Mansion to ask about the jade pendant, but they didn’t send the jade pendant back to him because he was going to come to Qu Mansion tomorrow. They could just return it to him tomorrow. It was temporarily kept by Qu Qiuyan, but Qu Qiuyan actually lost it.
This was not just Qu Qiuyan’s matter alone. How were they supposed to find the jade pendant before tomorrow?
Qu Zhizhen stood up and said, “Search each yard one by one. I’ll go and inform your grandmother so that she won’t be alarmed.”
Qu Mingcheng asked, “Father, do you want me to do it?”
“You do it. There are only a few places in the mansion. Find out where Qiuyan has been to in the past few days and the people she might meet on the way.” Qu Zhizhen looked at the sky outside. It was getting dark, but they had to find the jade pendant.
“Father, should I go to Grandmother’s place first or Moying’s place first?” These two places were where the jade pendant was most likely to be found.
“I will go to your grandmother’s place. You go to Moying’s place.” After thinking for a second, Qu Zhizhen added, “Take care not to disturb Moying.”
Qu Mingcheng nodded. “Father, don’t worry. I know. I will inform Moying first.”
Seeing that Qu Mingcheng was acting properly, Qu Zhizhen first brought people to check on the Old Lady’s yard, while Qu Mingcheng brought some lad servants and old maids over to Qianyue House.
Qu Moying had just finished her dinner when she heard the noise outside the yard. She exchanged a look with Yu Dong and waved her hand. Yu Dong understood and went out to check. After a while, he came back and reported, “Lady, Second Young Master is here. He said that something important is missing. He wants to search all the yards.”
Qu Moying asked indifferently, “What is missing?”
Yu Dong answered, “He didn’t say what exactly is missing. He just said that it is something important.”
Qu Moying stood up and held Yu Chun’s hand as they walked out. There were indeed quite a few people in the yard. There were three lad servants and about six old maids. They were clearly here to search the yard.
Qu Mingcheng walked in the middle and cupped his hands towards Qu Moying. He said gently, “Moying, I came in a hurry. Sorry to disturb you. It is truly my fault. However, I have to follow Father’s order. Moying, please take a rest in your room. I will leave after searching the servants’ rooms. I will apologize to you the other day!”
He made things clear with a few words, and he seemed to be sincere and honest.
Qu Moying sneered in her heart. “The real thief is trying to accuse someone else of the theft!”
“Second Brother, do as you please!” Qu Moying bowed politely. She did not show her emotions. Since it was her father’s idea, she could not stop Qu Mingcheng.
Qu Mingcheng ordered Yu Chun, “Yu Chun, help your Lady go in and rest. It will be chaotic outside!”
Yu Chun complied and helped Qu Moying into the inner room. Qu Moying sat down in the main room, picked up the teacup at hand, took a sip, and then slowly put it down. A hint of coldness flashed through her eyes. She was waiting for Qu Mingcheng to come to her…
Qu Mingcheng called out to Yu Dong, who was about to leave with Qu Moying, and said in a gentle voice, “Yu Dong, you are the senior maid of this yard. Take me to look around.”
Since he said so, it was inconvenient for Yu Dong to leave. He could only accompany Qu Mingcheng to search from the first room in the east. Granny Zhou came over in a hurry and saw this scene. She hesitated for a moment but still followed them.
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