Chapter 27
“Young Master Yongning sent those flowers to Third Lady and Lady Yu. These two extra pots were supposed to be sent to Second Madam, but she wanted you to have them. So she sent me over,” the senior housemaid explained with a grinning face.
“For me?” With a doubtful look, Qu Moying asked.
“Yes, Second Madam said that Fourth Lady is still young and must love flowers. Even if you can’t see the flowers, it’s still delightful to smell them. Such beautiful flowers are always pleasing to look at. If they were just ordinary kinds, Second Madam wouldn’t let me come.” The senior housemaid that Yu had sent here indeed knew how to say pretty words.
Her glib talk sounded as sweet as a song.
However, the things she tried to imply truly were provoking.
What did she mean by saying Qu Moying could still smell them? What was she trying to imply by mentioning the beautiful flowers and the ordinary kinds?
Yu Chun’s face turned red in anger. If Qu Moying hadn’t told her to stay calm, she couldn’t bear it any longer. The senior housemaid was trying to say that Qu Moying was just a blind and ordinary girl.
It had been a long time since Qu Moying had come back to Qu’s mansion, and only until now did Yu Chun realize that every servant here felt that Fourth Lady was both ugly and blind. Yu Chun felt so indignant because she knew how pretty her lady was. Now Second Madam even tried to mock at Fourth Lady with that. That was just outrageous!
“Please thank Second Madam for me, but you have to take the flowers back.” Qu Moying smiled as if she didn’t understand what the senior housemaid had been implying.
“Fourth Lady, Second Madam is one of the elders for you in the family. You can’t give back the flowers she sent to you.” The senior housemaid who had been smiling suddenly put on a long face.
“I can’t?” Qu Moying asked in a flat tone.
“One should never return an elder’s gift. Second Madam was just being kind to send you the flowers. How can you disgrace her like that?” The senior housemaid spoke louder indignantly.
Their loud conversation had been heard by the maids and senior housemaids outside the room. So they all approached to listen to what had happened.
“Yu Chun, slap her,” Qu Moying said lightly.
Yu Chun took a few steps forwards and slapped the senior housemaid hard, making the latter’s head tilt to one side.
As she turned her head back, she was already steamed up. Then she said with a sharp voice, “Fourth Lady…”
“Tell Second Madam that I have no place to keep the flowers here and that she could put them in the house that I’ll move in. Grandma is getting old; I can’t live here forever. I was told that it would take two or three days to clean it up. Now it should be ready!”
Qu Moying ignored the senior housemaid’s twisted face and said with a calm look.
When she came back, Yu had said that the yard prepared for her still needed cleaning and sent her to a small one far from the main house. After the fire, Qu Moying had to live in Old Lady Qu’s place. Yu probably had already forgotten about the house she promised her, which was the one that Yu Qingmeng stayed in every time she came.
Yu had known that Qu Qiuyan sent Qing He to set Qu Moying up and didn’t expect that Qu Moying would survive. Therefore, the house she mentioned became an empty promise.
However, now that Yu offered her a chance, she would take the yard then.
“No… no…” The senior housemaid didn’t know what to say. Never did she realize that things would become like this. What Yu had taught her to say was completely useless.
“Now go back to report to Second Madam. I’ll move to that house tomorrow. Second Madam promised me a few days ago. I can’t stay here and disturb grandma forever.”
Qu Moying put down the embroidery frame in her hand with her cold gaze falling on the senior housemaid.
Now it looked like the senior housemaid had stirred up things deliberately by saying those things.
However, the senior housemaid was well aware that if she went back with that message, Second Madam would be furious.
Yu Qingmeng lived in Qu’s mansion tonight. Tomorrow morning, Qu Moying wanted to move into that house. That was impossible. However, the slaps that she had taken made her realize that the Fourth lady was no longer the girl who would swallow hard all the time.
The most important thing was that Fourth Lady was reasonable.
“What? You can’t decide by yourself?” Qu Moying leaned back and said smilingly, “Do you need me to invite Granny Wu over?”
“No… there’s no need. I’ll go to report to Second Madam now.” If Granny Wu was here, Old Lady Qu would know about this too. The senior housemaid began to sweat. Everyone in this mansion knew that Old Lady Qu didn’t like Second Madam.
The senior housemaid had wanted to make trouble for Qu Moying. However, not only had she failed, now even Old Lady Qu might be informed. She really didn’t dare to say anything now. Then she told someone to carry the flowerpots and left at once.
Seeing the senior housemaid leaving without saying a word, Yu Chun applauded gleefully, feeling a lot better now.
“My lady, why did Second Madam send you flowers at this moment?” After Yu Chun closed the door, she asked curiously.
Qu Moying stood up and sat in front of the drawer. She still couldn’t overuse her eyes. Doing embroidery under the light was merely for killing some time. Now it was time for her to rest. “Yu Qingmeng wants to be with Xu Lipeng, so they would figure out a way to break off the engagement. But Xu Lipeng wants me to bring it up first. Because in this way, only my reputation will be ruined, not his.”
Yu Chun walked over to take off the veil for Qu Moying.
The girl in the mirror had delicate features. She closed her eyes tightly with her long eyelashes lowered, looking like a tired butterfly, quiet, peaceful, and gorgeous. The light pink color on her eyelids made her look very enchanting. And her long curly eyelashes added more to her charm.
However, the cold look and her lips that were pressed together weakened the tenderness on her face.
Yu Chun was amazed by Qu Moying’s pretty face every time, especially the last few days. Back in the old days, Qu Moying looked beautiful like a doll but had no energy at all with a dull look every day. The expression in her eyes made her look like an old woman who had been through a lot of things and lost hope for this world.
There had been no liveliness in those eyes. In the past, it’s like Qu Moying had been shrouded in darkness with her eyes being dull the whole time. Yu Chun felt happy for Qu Moying’s change. Even if her eyes were closed, Yu Chun could still feel that she was lively, unlike the spiritless and inanimate girl whom she had used to be. Back in the old days, there had been a few times that Yu Chun had had a feeling that Qu Moying might kill herself at any moment. ‘My lady is awesome now!’ Yu Chun thought. “My lady, are you sure you are going to break off the engagement?” Yu Chun put down Qu Moying’s hairpin and asked after a short hesitation. She had to know her lady’s real thoughts.
“The engagement has to be broken off. Since Xu Lipeng wants it to happen without ruining his own reputation, he’ll try to blacken my name, let alone with Yu Qingmeng’s help.” As Qu Moying said that, she slowly opened her eyes to look at herself in the mirror while smiling coldly.
“Yu Qingmeng and Xu Lipeng truly love each other a lot. Since then, I’ll give them what they want.”
Xu Lipeng never said he would break off the engagement but had been intimate with Yu Qingment for a long time. Meanwhile, he also pretended to care about Qu Moying. All these things already showed his personality.
In her previous life, she had also been fooled by Xu Lipeng’s act and thought that he was a good person. She had even recommended him to the Crown Prince. Pei Luoan, the crown prince, said that he would keep an eye on Xu Lipeng. Later, he said that Xu Lipeng was a promising man. Maybe now the Crown Prince had already drawn Xu Lipeng to his side, and it was only a matter of time the latter became an official.
To think it deeply, maybe Young Master Xu had asked to break off the engagement because of Ji Hanyue, the girl whom she had used to be in her previous life. After all, she had always given some gifts to Qu Moying, and as the Crown Princess at that time, Ji Hanyue had had fine prospects.
However, things were different now. Ji Hanyue had already died. Although this information had been covered up, there were also rumors going around that the Crown Princess had lost her power. Since Ji Hanyue was no longer powerful, there was no need for Xu Lipeng to keep the engagement with Qu Moying.
So, if anything happened to Qu Moying, Marquis Yongning’s family would definitely seize that chance…
Yu and Yu Qingmeng were about to do something. But Qu Moying happened to want to make a move too. After they all did as they planned, Qu Moying would know if Xu Lipeng was on Pei Luoan’s side.
“They are so shameless!” Yu Chun cursed that indignantly. She had felt sorry for Qu Moying that the latter lost a good fiance. However, after she was reminded by Qu Moying, Yu Chun realized that Xu Lipeng was just a scumbag. As she thought about it, she got worried and said, “My lady, will Lady Yu give the yard to you tomorrow? She has been living there for too long, after all. It’s like she’s the lady in this family.”
The real lady could only live in a small, shabby yard, and the madam’s niece could stay in the best house in this mansion. That really pissed Yu Chun off.
“No.”
Qu Moying said firmly.
“Then, what should we do?” Yu Chun goggled in anger, “My lady, let’s drive her away tomorrow. Do you need Granny Miao and me to bring some people there?”
“No!” Qu Moying shook her head. The girl in the mirror let down her black hair with her eyebrows slightly raised, looking very calm.
“They will take action themselves!”
That was what Qu Moying wanted. If they didn’t, she would make them…
They had to move out tomorrow…
“What? She’ll move in tomorrow?” Yu Qingmeng’s face turned red in anger. Then she turned to Yu with tears in her eyes, “Aunt, is she trying to drive me away? You have prepared this place for me, and I have been living here for a long time. You told me that I could come whenever I want to. What… What did she mean?”
She wanted to provoke Qu Moying but never expected her scheme backfired on her.
Yu was also outraged. However, she was still calmer than Yu Qingmeng and only pressed on the latter’s hand, saying, “You should get ill tomorrow.”
“Aunt, you want me to pretend to be ill?” Yu Qingmeng felt even more aggrieved, “Why should I pretend? I can’t pretend forever.”
“Not too long. As long as the engagement is broken off and Qu Moying becomes someone’s concubine, that disgraced girl will be too ashamed to live in the best yard in this mansion! I’ll tell your uncle to send her to her future husband’s mansion in a small sedan,” Yu said with a malicious voice while looking in the direction of Old Lady Qu’s yard.