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In the Empress’ Pepper House Hall.

The eunuch knelt on the ground and explained everything that he had seen and heard today in Lord Yun Mansion in detail.

After he finished speaking, he stayed kneeling and did not dare to move.

After a long while, he heard the Empress’ voice from above his head, “You may leave!”

“Yes!” The eunuch did not dare to say another word. He lowered his head, stood up, and walked backwards. When his eyes saw the door frame behind him, he turned and left in a hurry.

In the middle of the hall sat a woman with a dignified expression who looked to be in her forties. This was Empress Zhu, the birth mother of Crown Prince Pei Luo’an, the most distinguished person in the entire harem.

Although she was a little older, she had maintained her appearance well. It could be seen that when she was young, she was definitely a rare beauty. However, at this time, her brow was tightly furrowed.

Sitting next to her was a woman in her thirties. She was dressed glamorously. Seeing that the Empress was silent, she smiled and said, “Your Highness, it seems that Lord Yun is not satisfied with this Fourth Lady Qu!”

The one speaking was Consort Xiang, who was conferred by the Emperor. Although she was a consort, she was not a consort with a title. In the harem, she had no power. In the past, she had always been on the Empress’ side, and because she did not have any children, she was not a taboo to the Empress. They could be considered to be on good terms. Every time she came to send her regards to the Empress, she would stay to chat with the Empress.

Her personal relationship with the Empress was very good. The Empress also trusted her very much. Even the Empress’ nephew from the Empress’ mother’s family married Consort Xiang’s niece from Consort Xiang’s mother’s family. The two of them could be considered in-laws. The most important thing was that the interest between the two families was closely connected.

Everyone in the palace knew that shared interest was more reassuring than mere friendship.

There were some things that Consort Xiang could take action when it was not convenient for the Empress. Of course, when Consort Xiang had gone too far, the Empress could also protect her.

In short, the relationship between the two was not only close, but also tied together. As for the marriage between the two families, only very few people knew about it.

“Is he really dissatisfied, or does he have another plan?” The Empress’ brows were still tightly knitted, and her words sounded more like she was talking to herself.

“Your Highness, don’t think too much. What kind of person is Lord Yun? If he likes a lady, he could just tell the Emperor directly. The Emperor won’t disagree with him, right? As long as he speaks, the Emperor will definitely send a decree. At that time, Fourth Lady Qu will directly marry into his mansion. Even if he really set his mind on something, others can’t plot anything against him.”

Consort Xiang said indifferently.

She really didn’t think that Lord Yun would be such a tender person. For this Fourth Lady Qu to be “fancied” by him, it seemed to be more of a trouble than a blessing.

When the Empress heard Consort Xiang say this, her eyebrows slightly relaxed, and she nodded. “It seems that Fourth Lady Qu is just someone he casually used as an excuse.”

That day when the Empress left the palace, it was in the name of Ji Hanyue and Lord Yun.

She talked about Crown Princess’ burial first. Considering her past feelings for Crown Princess, the Empress especially suggested to the Emperor that she wanted to leave the palace to send Crown Princess off. She also said that she was grateful that Crown Princess had saved Crown Prince even though in the end she lost her own life. Although the Empress was an elder, she must attend Crown Princess’ funeral to thank Crown Princess.

Then, she mentioned Lord Yun’s marriage and said that this was a good opportunity.

She said that she wanted to meet a few ladies on behalf of Lord Yun. In the past, it was always inconvenient to meet them in the palace. Those ladies were always too restrained. It was really hard to see what kind of temper they had. Therefore, the Empress took advantage of the rare trip out of the palace to invite some ladies to Eastern Palace. She met them in a secluded place. This way, she could see them more clearly.

Of course, the most important thing was to ask Lord Yun to come over and take a look at the ladies for himself. She could not let these ladies know that it was the Empress who assisted Lord Yun. And if Lord Yun took a fancy to anyone, she would go back to the palace and discuss it with the Emperor.

Although the timing was not very suitable, considering that the Empress usually would not go out of the palace, and it was for the sake of Lord Yun’s marriage, and this matter was kept secret, the Emperor later agreed. Pei Yuanjun’s marriage was something that he was especially concerned about. Therefore, he went to inform Pei Yuanjun and told him that he must go to Crown Prince’s Mansion.

The Empress dressed up and left the palace. Of course, her real purpose was not to find a Princess for Pei Yuanjun. The most important thing was to find a suitable Crown Princess for her own son.

However, what the Empress did not expect was that Pei Yuanjun did come to Crown Prince’s Mansion, but he bumped into Fourth Lady Qu from Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion. She also heard that he injured Fourth Lady Qu and then hurried back.

Pei Yuanjun did not manage to see her at all in Crown Prince’s Mansion. Therefore, some things that she originally wanted to suggest to the Emperor through the matter of Pei Yuanjun could not be mentioned.

This Fourth Lady Qu from Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion caught the Empress’ attention.

The Empress had sent people for an investigation. This Fourth Lady Qu fell under the care of her stepmother Yu after her birth mother passed away. When she was young, because of Yu’s “carelessness”, Fourth Lady Qu’s eyes were burned and she had an eye problem. After that, the Old Lady made the decision and sent her to the village. Since then, it had been many years that Fourth Lady Qu had been raised in the village.

It was said that her appearance was not outstanding and that she had not received much education. She could at most read a few words. Moreover, she had an eye problem. Would such a woman catch Pei Yuanjun’s attention? The Empress was the first to not believe it.

After that, the Empress felt that Fourth Lady Qu’s tricks were not bad. The Empress had heard that Fourth Lady Qu had bumped into Lord Wei Pei Qingmin before, and now, she had bumped into Lord Yun Pei Yuanjun.

If there was only one such incident, the Empress would think that it was really an accident or that Pei Yuanjun had other plans. However, Fourth Lady Qu had really bumped into Lord Wei before, and it was an accident according to Ji Youran. Two accidents were definitely not just accidents.

The Empress felt that Fourth Lady Qu was a scheming person. She must have known that she was having a hard time in Qu Mansion, so she deliberately planned such a thing. Her goal was obviously to climb up the ladder in the palace. Whether it was Lord Wei or Lord Yun, both of them had royal blood and were extremely noble.

If such a woman were sent to Lord Yun, it would be a good thing.

Since Lord Yun had casually used Fourth Lady Qu as an excuse, the Empress felt she could rope Fourth Lady Qu in. Perhaps Fourth Lady Qu would become a pawn of her to infiltrate into Lord Yun Mansion in the future.

From this point of view, the Empress felt that this was a good thing. After consideration about this, the corners of her eyes relaxed slightly, and she nodded. “Since Lord Yun mentioned Fourth Lady Qu, she would definitely marry into Lord Yun Mansion in the end.”

This was the first time that Pei Yuanjun stopped being resolute in delaying his marriage. As long as she was a lady of a noble family, the Emperor would definitely approve it. She was not going to be the Princess Consort. She would just become a Princess. Having a Princess married into his mansion first would be an opening to Lord Yun’s marriage, and the matter of Princess Consort could be discussed next time.

“Yes, Your Highness, you should befriend her.” When Consort Xiang heard the Empress’ words, she immediately understood what the Empress meant and smiled.

The Empress also smiled, and she looked at Consort Xiang. “It’s not very convenient for me to do this now. How about you handle it?”

The Emperor, too, meant to listen to Pei Yuanjun’s decision. They would wait and see first. Pei Yuanjun’s Princess could be considered to have been decided, but whether Pei Yuanjun really wanted to marry her in the end was still unknown. In other words, Pei Yuanjun was the one who had the final say in Qu Moying’s status. If he really didn’t like her, she would then just be a concubine left aside. At most, it was just like feeding one more person in the mansion.

However, nothing had been decided yet. The Empress had a distinguished status, so she naturally was not the one who could say anything or do anything in person.

“Your Highness, I know.” Consort Xiang smiled slightly. She had a clear understanding in her heart, and a hint of a smile flashed in her eyes. Her status was a bit higher than that of Fourth Lady Qu, but there was a Qu Mansion’s member in the palace. Although the kinship was a bit distant, she was still a member of the Qu Family.

“Those were sent from the palace?” Qu Moying looked at the gifts in front of her in surprise.

Another bunch of gifts were delivered to her. Each one of the gifts was extremely exquisite. It was obvious that they were not ordinary.

“Yes, the Old Lady said that Dowager Consort Qu from the palace sent them to us. She specifically mentioned you, Fourth Lady. Then the Old Lady asked me to send them over. I also brought over a Granny who serves Dowager Consort Qu,” Granny Wu said with a smile.

“Dowager Consort Qu?” Qu Moying raised her watery eyes and said in surprise. In her memory, there was no such Dowager Consort Qu. Was there actually someone in the palace a member of the Qu Family?

“Yes, it is Dowager Consort Qu. Although Dowager Consort Qu does not have much of a relationship with our mansion and does not come from our branch, in fact, many years ago, she was our nominal relatives. In fact, Fourth Lady, you have to call Dowager Consort Qu ‘Grandaunt’,” Granny Wu explained.

Qu Moying pondered for a moment and finally understood the relationship between her and this person. It was a very distant kinship, so distant that they were not from the same branch. It was just that they had the same surname. Many years ago, they were considered relatives. Maybe they even descended from the same ancestor, but it should be a very long time ago, so maybe no one cared about it anymore.

For so many years, Qu Moying had never heard that this Dowager Consort Qu had interacted with Qu Mansion.

“Does Dowager Consort Qu go to Xinning Monastery?” Qu Moying asked.

The child-less concubines of the late Emperor went to Xinning Monastery to cultivate. This was not a secret in the capital.

“Dowager Consort Qu had a daughter in the past. When the late Emperor passed, the lady was still young, and she also passed away later. At that time, Empress Dowager pitied Dowager Consort Qu and let her stay in the palace,” Granny Wu said.

So that was how it was. No wonder there was a Dowager Consort Qu in the palace. Anyway, this Dowager Consort Qu should be a low-key person. In her last life, Qu Moying had never heard of her.

“Dowager Consort Qu said she would like to invite Third Lady and Fourth Lady into the palace in a few days. She said that she wanted to see the descendants of the Qu Family,” Granny Wu said with a smile.

Although Dowager Consort Qu did not have any real power in the palace, the fact that Qu Family had someone in the palace was also somewhat useful. It would only bring benefits but no harm to Qu Mansion.

Qu Moying’s engagement had just been called off. Currently, no one came to propose marriage. The Old Lady was so worried that she could not sleep at night. Now, Dowager Consort Qu’s invitation was good news. Maybe with Dowager Consort Qu’s identity, she could arrange a good marriage for Qu Moying. This was the reason why Granny Wu was so joyful.

The Old Lady could finally rest assured.

“Fourth Lady, these bolts of brocades are good. Old Lady wants the embroidery workshop to make a few sets of clothes for you first. You can wear them later.” Granny Wu smiled and pointed at a few bolts of silver brocade.

The sunlight from the window shone in. The brocade flashed with a silver light and stung her eyes…