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“Nothing wrong. It’s just…the earl is heavily sick right now. He usually doesn’t see guests.” The smile on the chief maid’s face became even more awkward.

“But I’m not an ordinary guest. He’s my uncle, and our families are related. Shouldn’t I visit a sick elder in the family?” Qu Moying asked back.

It was natural for a youngster to visit a sick elder unless the two families didn’t want to keep in touch.

A second ago, the chief maid said the two families should get closer to each other. But right now, she said Qu Moying was just a guest. Her words were clearly inconsistent, obviously rejecting Qu Moying. Shocked by the maid’s rude behavior, everyone looked at her with confusion.

“Emm, I mean the earl is too weak to see people. He doesn’t have the energy to meet guests now.” The maid’s explanation was unconvincing.

Sitting in the center, the Old Lady frowned and suggested, “How about I let Ying’s father go visit the earl?”

It was indeed a bit inappropriate for Qu Moying to visit them alone since she was still an unmarried lady. But Qu Zhizhen’s identity would make a lot of sense. Even though the earl was lying in bed, he could still go meet him.

“I…I think this is a bit inappropriate. The Second Madam doesn’t allow anyone to disturb the earl. Madam, if you really want Fourth Lady Qu’s father to visit the earl, I need to go back and report it to the Second Madam first.” Tiny beads of sweat started to show up on the chief maid’s forehead. The conversation went totally different from Second Madam Ji’s prediction.

Everything had become wrong since Fourth Lady Qu asked to visit the earl.

“Madam, since I’ve sent the gifts here, let me report back to the Second Madam first. Please take your time to consider the thing I mentioned before. The Ji Family proposed it with sincerity.” The chief maid from the Ji Family didn’t dare to stay any longer. She excused herself to leave after curtsying to Old Lady Qu and Qu Moying.

The Old Lady looked at her in confusion and nodded.

Old Lady Qu’s permission was a big relief for the chief maid. In a rush, she left with the people she brought here.

Watching the group from the Ji Family leaving, the Old Lady twisted her brows into a frown. The chief maid’s reaction was far away from her expectation. Did they have any other intention?

Noticing the expression on the Old Lady’s face, Qu Moying guessed there was something she didn’t know about. She walked up, reached out to hold the Old Lady’s hand, and asked, “Grandmother, did she say something else before I came?”

Old Lady Qu remained silent as her gaze fell on Qu Moying’s face. After a while, she waved her hand and dismissed all the other servants in the room, only letting Granny Wu and Yu Chun stay inside.

“Ying, the Ji Family proposed a marriage,” the Old Lady sighed with no trace of delight on her face. “I thought they came with sincerity, but it doesn’t seem to be like that now. Clearly, they don’t want to get close to us, but why did they propose marriage to you? What’s their intention?”

If the chief maid didn’t reject Qu Moying’s request, the Old Lady thought this marriage would be surprisingly good for Qu Moying.

Although it was not Qu Moying’s fault that her engagement with the Marquis Yongning’s Family was broken off, people would still speak ill of her. Plus, Qu Moying’s own condition was not good enough, which made the Old Lady even more worried. She had already planned to sacrifice her own ego to take Qu Moying out more and give her chances to meet people.

Surprisingly, the marriage proposal from the Ji Family suddenly came, which was great news for the Old Lady.

But then things went in a weird direction beyond the Old Lady’s expectation. The chief maid from the Ji Family kept saying that the two families should get closer. But why did she insist on rejecting them when they wanted to visit Earl Ling’an? Even the chief maid’s explanation was so unconvincing.

She clearly didn’t want the Qu Family to visit the Earl Ling’an’s Mansion.

Then why did they make the marriage proposal initially?

“What? Marriage proposal?” Qu Moying was stunned for a second and almost laughed aloud because of anger. So, this was Xiao’s intention. No wonder Ji Youran kept trying to improve their relationship. Because they felt her suspicion, they wanted to take her into their family to stop her, even Yue Wenhan, from investigating their secret.

If Yue Wenhan was just an ordinary young master, he wouldn’t be a threat to them. But he was the vice minister of the Dali Temple, an expert at investigations. If he found out anything, that would be a disaster for the Ji Family. So, the best way was to force him to stand on the Ji Family’s side.

That was why they kept approaching Qu Moying.

She finally figured out their plan and connected the clues all together because of this one thing.

“Yes. The chief maid said Old Lady Ji and Second Madam Ji suggested it. They both have a good impression of you, so they sent some gifts to ask about my opinion first. If I agree, they will send a suitable person to officially make the marriage proposal,” the Old Lady nodded and said.

A marriage between two noble families wouldn’t be agreed in one time. The two families needed to communicate privately first to avoid an awkward rejection in public that would make both families lose their faces. After both agreed, the man’s family would send a person to make an official proposal.

“What did you say, Grandmother?” Qu Moying asked.

“I told her that I need to ask for your own opinion first. Your mother confirmed your last engagement, and I thought it was a good one too. But who knows…he’s like that? This time, I want to give you the freedom to choose. No matter how good the engagement looks, I want you to choose the one you like.”

The Old Lady let out a deep sigh. She wholeheartedly wanted to take good care of this poor granddaughter and wished her all the best.

“Thank you, Grandmother.” Her words were a big relief for Qu Moying. The most worrisome thing for her was that the Old Lady or Qu Zhizhen confirmed another engagement for her without telling her ahead. She totally could understand her grandmother’s sincere love for her from her consideration. “Grandmother, my engagement with Young Master Yongning just broke off. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to get engaged again immediately after. People will speak ill of our family. I’m not in a hurry since all the other older sisters haven’t got married.”

Qu Moying’s current focus was her revenge. She had no time to consider her marriage.

“Your First Sister is an unlucky one too… You don’t know it since you were still in the village at that time. She was engaged with a man before, but he…had a relationship with his cousin and broke off the engagement. Your First Sister was very upset about it, so her marriage has been delayed.”

The Old Lady explained reluctantly, “Since there’s no update on your First Sister’s marriage yet, your Second Sister can’t get engaged before her. But you and Yan are from the West Mansion. Although we are still one family, people from the West Mansion and the East Mansion don’t have to be related closely. If Yan gets married, you don’t need to wait for your other two sisters.”

The East Mansion and the West Mansion were only bound together because of Old Lady Qu. But in actuality, they considered themselves two separate families. They would still go together if they attended banquets but send gifts separately. It was a common situation in the capital, and people could all understand it.

When it came to the ladies’ marriages, Qu Moying only needed to let Qu Qiuyan settle it first. She could still wait for Qu Xuexin, but it was not necessary.

“Then I’ll wait for Third Sister to settle down first.” Qu Moying nodded at the Old Lady and felt relieved. Qu Qiuyan’s dilemma wouldn’t be easy to overcome. Lord Jing intended to marry her as his second wife or concubine, but Qu Qiuyan wouldn’t accept it. After what happened in the Eastern Palace, there was still a long way to go before Qu Qiuyan and Lord Jing’s marriage was confirmed.

“Even so, if there is a decent one, it will be better to confirm it as soon as possible. Ying, you are at the appropriate age to get married now, and there’s not much time left for you. After your engagement is confirmed, we still need some time to observe the other family,” Old Lady Qu nodded and persuaded Qu Moying softly. In her eyes, her poor granddaughter was just scared by Xu Lipeng’s shameless behavior. Then she added, “Not every young master is as pretentious as Xu Lipeng. We can choose a reliable one for you. If it comes to the worst situation…”

The Old Lady took a pause and looked at Qu Moying with pity. “If it comes to the worst situation, we can choose one from the pass list of the Imperial Examination. We pick one from a simple but virtuous family. For me, fame and wealth are not as important as your own happiness.”

Their status as a vice minister’s family was not high enough to connect through a marriage with a royal family. Yet, it was far beyond sufficient for a scholar’s family. The Old Lady’s words brought warmth into Qu Moying’s heart because she was really speaking for Qu Moying. Maybe the Old Lady would still consider Qu Qiuyan and Qu Zhizhen, but she truly put herself into Qu Moying’s shoes and thought for her.

Her sincerity and love were touching enough for Qu Moying.

Qu Moying leaned over, gazed at the Old Lady gratefully, and nodded. “Grandmother, you can decide it for me later. But we can’t accept the Ji Family’s proposal. Their behavior is really suspicious. Why they don’t let us visit Earl Ling’an? When Cousin Yue visited them before, they didn’t let him meet my uncle either.”

She didn’t care about who would be her future husband, but it couldn’t be her enemy in the past life.

The Ji Family was acting weirdly, and she needed to make the Old Lady mentally prepared. At least, the Old Lady had to understand the Ji Family was not reliable or had some evil intentions.

Recalling the chief maid’s strange reaction, the Old Lady nodded. She felt unsettled about it, too, since the chief maid acted too differently before and after. Experienced in life, the Old Lady could not trust the Ji Family anymore. Therefore, the Ji Family wouldn’t be the best choice for Qu Moying’s marriage.

“Ying, don’t worry and leave it to me. I won’t let anyone decide your marriage randomly. I will keep an eye out and let you make the final decision by yourself,” the Old Lady said with pity. Nobody cared about this granddaughter, so she would show her more care, even though it seemed a bit inappropriate for others.

“Thank you, Grandmother.” Qu Moying felt relieved. With the Old Lady’s promise, even Qu Zhizhen couldn’t decide her marriage for her, which was her biggest worry before. That scum father didn’t seem to be as simple as he looked.

After the short talk they had in the study, she didn’t feel Qu Zhizhen was a person that could be easily tricked by Yu.

Something felt weird, but she didn’t know what it was yet, as if she had missed something important. The whole situation still looked like a mess for her without a clear clue…

What was that vital thing she missed? She lowered her head and fell into deep thoughts, recalling Qu Zhizhen’s behavior and the weird part about it…