Chapter 205
Qu Moying’s heart throbbed. She raised her watery eyes and looked at Qu Qiuyan who was sitting opposite her. She saw the slight curve of Qu Qiuyan’s lips, and Qu Moying’s eyes darkened.
“It’s rare for the two Lords to come over. Invite them in.” Dowager Consort Qu smiled in a good mood.
The eunuch exited, and soon two princes came in side by side.
Both of them were very handsome. Lord Jing looked a bit more heroic, and Lord Wei was a bit weak, but both were outstanding.
After the two came in and greeted Dowager Consort Qu, Dowager Consort Qu smiled and invited them to sit down.
The palace maid delivered tea and stood on the side shyly.
“Lord Jing and Lord Wei, why are you here today?” Dowager Consort Qu looked at the two princes with a smile.
“When I walked past with Qingmin, I thought I hadn’t seen you for a while, Dowager Consort, so I specially came in to ask for a cup of tea,” Lord Jing Pei Yusheng replied with a smile.
“We might have to trouble you, Dowager Consort. I am a little tired,” Lord Wei Pei Qingmin said with some tiredness. It could be seen that he was a little low-spirited.
It should be that he was exhausted after walking for a while.
Lord Wei’s health condition was not good. It was something that the entire royal palace knew about. In the past, when he was tired from walking, he would rest nearby. However, Lord Wei rarely walked a lot in the royal palace, and he would not walk too far. This time, Dowager Consort Qu was also very surprised to see them here.
However, as she swept her gaze over the young ladies in front of her, Dowager Consort Qu knew what was going on.
The person that Lord Jing was interested in was Third Lady Qu Qiuyan. She had also heard of it, but she thought it was just a rumor. She had not expected that Lord Jing would really care about her. Anyway, that was good. Although they were of the same surname, sometimes, the meaning of having the same surname did not simply mean benefits.
Dowager Consort Qu’s smile became even gentler.
After being around in the palace for so long and still here at this time, Dowager Consort Qu naturally would not be someone as simple as she appeared to be.
If there was a chance, she naturally would not be willing to silently bury herself in this deep palace.
Coincidentally, after Lord Jing arrived, Qu Qiuyan and Qu Moying both retreated. Qu Xuexin and Qu Caiyue also retreated. These two were currently sitting in the first. The one sitting next to Lord Jing was Qu Qiuyan, and the one next to Lord Wei was Qu Moying.
“Someone, bring Lord Wei to take a rest,” Dowager Consort Qu instructed.
Pei Qingmin stood up and bowed to Dowager Consort Qu to express his gratitude. After that, he looked at Qu Moying thoughtfully and then left with the palace maid.
“Dowager Consort, I have just sent someone to invite an Imperial Doctor over. Perhaps we will have to trouble you later. Third Brother will have to stay here for a little longer. I originally thought that everything was fine, but I didn’t expect that Third Brother would be so weak. It was certainly my negligence. Father surely will punish me again later.”
Pei Yusheng said in distress.
“No worries. Lord Wei is not in good health. Everyone in the palace knows this. You can’t be blamed. If your father reprimands you, I will help you testify,” Dowager Consort Qu teased with a smile.
“Thank you, Dowager Consort Qu.” Pei Yusheng was overjoyed. He stood up and bowed to Dowager Consort Qu.
Dowager Consort Qu smiled and waved her hand, indicating for him to sit down. He pointed at Qu Mansion ladies who were sitting with their heads lowered. “Lord Jing, since you are here, those are the ladies from Qu Mansion. Let me introduce them to you.”
As she spoke, she introduced them one by one.
Qu Xuexin and the others stood up and bowed to Pei Yusheng.
Pei Yusheng smiled and asked them to sit down. His gaze swept past the faces of the few ladies and finally landed on Qu Moying’s face. “The rest of the ladies, I have not seen much. However, although Fourth Lady Qu has only just entered the capital, I have seen her several times.”
“Where did you see her?” Dowager Consort Qu asked curiously.
“At the Crown Princess’ funeral.” Pei Yusheng smiled.
Qu Moying raised her eyes to look at Pei Yusheng. Her eyes were calm, and her lips were slightly pursed. She did not say anything but turned to look at Qu Qiuyan.
Qu Qiuyan did not understand what she meant for a moment. She suddenly remembered what had happened that day, and her expression became bad for a moment. In fact, something had happened to her that day, but she had suppressed the matter. However, this did not mean that others did not know, especially the people in front of her right now.
Seeing that Qu Qiuyan’s face was red, Pei Yusheng also recalled that matter. He coughed in displeasure and looked at Qu Moying. “I heard that you and the Crown Princess were very close, Fourth Lady Qu.”
“Yes. In the past, when I was in the village, only my cousin had been looking after me,” Qu Moying said indifferently.
“I heard that the Crown Princess once sent a doctor to take a look at your eyes. Is that true?” Pei Yusheng asked warmly.
“Yes!” Qu Moying answered in surprise.
“Have your eyes recovered, Fourth Lady Qu?” Pei Yusheng’s gaze fell on her. He noticed her hair that was as beautiful as silk, and the thick black hair made her clear skin stand out. This meeting seemed to be somewhat different from the previous ones. In the past, there was a hint of timidity that was inadvertently revealed. Now, she looked natural and graceful, and her behavior was much more appropriate.
The color of her lips was neither strong nor light, and it was a contrast against the charm and elegance of the eye veil.
“Almost,” Qu Moying said vaguely.
“Well, then take down the eye veil. Dowager Consort Qu is your elder. It’s not good to wear an eye veil when you meet her, is it? This is the main hall, and there is no strong light. If there is anything wrong, we can get the Imperial Doctor to take a look.”
Pei Yusheng suggested.
Qu Moying gently pursed her lips and glanced at Qu Qiuyan. Needless to say, this excuse of “no strong light” was definitely something that Qu Qiuyan had told Pei Yusheng.
“Thank you, Lord Jing. It’s just that I still have to wear the eye veil for a while. Recently, I have been using medicine on the eye veil to make my eyes heal faster,” Qu Moying explained calmly. She refused Pei Yusheng’s reason neither lightly nor heavily. No matter what Pei Yusheng’s motive was, Qu Moying would never think that he was doing it for her good. “The doctor that Cousin Hanyue invited for me is very good.”
Her expression was extremely calm, and she was not hiding anything at all. Even if Pei Yusheng wanted to find trouble with her, he couldn’t find anything at all, especially when the Crown Princess was mentioned. Everyone in the palace was very clear about how the Crown Princess died, and the Crown Princess was also respected by many people for her character.
Pei Yusheng was rejected, so his face was a bit gloomy.
“I am a little tired here. Lord Jing, I will trouble you to accompany them to have a walk outside, okay?” Dowager Consort Qu smiled and helped them out of embarrassment.
“Sure. I have to wait for the Imperial Doctor to come over anyway.” Pei Yusheng did not refuse. He nodded and stood up.
Since he stood up, the ladies naturally stood up as well.
“I’ll accompany you ladies for a walk and do my part as a host while the Dowager Consort takes a brief rest.” Pei Yusheng said with a smile, but this was only said to Qu Qiuyan alone.
Qu Qiuyan nodded shyly and followed behind Pei Yusheng. Since she moved, the others looked at each other and followed behind her.
Qu Moying walked at the back and slowly walked out. When she came out of the main hall, she saw that Qu Qiuyan and Pei Yusheng had already gone down the stairs. Qu Xuexin followed closely behind. Although she looked slow, she was actually not slow. She still followed closely behind the two people in front of her.
Qu Xuexin seemed like someone who followed Qu Qiuyan and Pei Yusheng around, and the two people in front did not care either. They continued to talk with much interest.
“Moying.” Qu Caiyue stood by the door. Seeing Qu Moying come out, she hesitated for a moment and said, “Moying, I think we don’t have to follow them!”.
Everyone could tell that the only person Lord Jing wanted to invite was Qu Qiuyan.
“Then let’s go to other places and take a look!” Qu Moying nodded and said indifferently.
Her gaze fell on the bottom of the stairs. They had just reached the last step. It was a little far away. Qu Xuexin seemed to have turned her head to look at them from a distance. Qu Moying could not see her expression clearly, but she was sure that she was smiling. She could not help but have a strange and familiar feeling surged up.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes were filled with astonishment as she looked at the back of Qu Xuexin, who had followed Qu Qiuyan and Lord Jing far away.
It was actually not far, and she was following closely behind.
“Moying, Moying…” Seeing that Qu Moying was standing there and looking down thoughtfully without any movement, Qu Caiyue called out to her in a low voice.
Only then did Qu Moying come back to her senses. When she turned her head, her eyes were full of ridicule. The old saying was indeed correct. “What goes around comes around. It is only a question of time.”
“Let’s go!” Qu Moying said. After going down the steps, she did not walk out of the palace gate. They only walked around the palace and then turned in another direction. They did not follow behind Pei Yusheng and Qu Qiuyan.
They did not look like they wanted to bring them along for a stroll anyway.
When Dowager Consort Qu said she needed to rest, it was more like a reason to give Qu Qiuyan and Pei Yusheng a chance to have a walk together.
There were many side halls in this palace. The scenery was also not bad. It was the time of the crossover of spring and summer. Between the luxuriant leaves, there were faint flower buds poking out. It seemed to have an additional charm than the full bloom of flowers during spring.
Qu Moying once again sighed at Dowager Consort Qu’s palace. Although it looked a bit desolate and remote, it was actually very good. It was even not much inferior to an ordinary main palace.
They were just casually walking around, and the palace servants did not follow them. Only the two maids they brought with them followed. Along the way, there were many places to admire. Unknowingly, they had already made half a circle of the place. The place was not small, and other than the few of them, there was no one else around.
“Moying, can we go there and rest for a while?” Qu Caiyue pointed to a place in front of them. The two of them had walked quite a lot along the way, and they were indeed a little tired. The scenery in front of them was not bad. Under a vine, there was a stone table and stone chairs. They were placed against a rockery, and there were several pots of blooming flowers in the gallery outside the rockery. One could faintly see them from the stone chair.
There was a kind of charm to this faintly discernible scenery.
“Sure!” Qu Moying nodded and walked over. Qu Caiyue followed closely behind.
A palace maid came over from the corridor. She held a tray in her hand. There were a teapot, teacups, and a few plates of snacks. She walked over and bowed to them. Then, she placed the teapot and teacups down quietly. After pouring two cups for them, she respectfully took a few steps back and left.
Qu Moying picked up the tea. The color of the tea was light green, and the faint fragrance of the tea overflowed. It seemed not bad.
Her lips gently moved forward. Qu Caiyue’s gaze fell on Qu Moying’s face, and her face was full of smiles…