Chapter 242
When Qu Moying first met Liu Jingyu, she saw Liu Jingyu’s unfriendly gaze from afar. Liu Jingyu set her up in Duke Qi’s Mansion last time, and the incident fully reflected her malice.
Several things happened to Qu Moying in Duke Qi’s Mansion: her clothes were wet by a maid. When she was going to change her clothes in the yard, the Eldest Young Master of Duke Qi’s Mansion came over with a group of young masters. Then, Yan Yujiao, who later left with Liu Jingyu who appeared at the scene “by accident”, suddenly got angry with her.
The last thing was done by Qu Qiuyan. She must have planned it long ago. Duchess Qi investigated the affair, but she found nothing. If Liu Jingyu had also intervened, it would make sense. After all, she was Duchess Qi’s most beloved granddaughter. In Duke Qi’s Mansion, she was more like a master than Qi Xiangyu.
Thinking of Liu Jingyu, Qu Moying felt a heavy blow in her heart. She didn’t remember seeing Liu Jingyu before, but as she tried her best to recall, she suddenly realized that perhaps they had really met before.
When she was a little girl, she seemed to have met Liu Jingyu.
It was a long time ago. At that time, she was only about seven or eight years old. A mother with her daughter passed by to take shelter from the rain in the village. They were dressed in gorgeous clothes. Were they Mrs. Liu and Liu Jingyu?
At that time, Qu Moying was a loner and didn’t like to talk. She avoided Granny Zhou and hid in a wing room. The wing room was in the front yard, so she saw the girl who was taking shelter from the rain. Was the girl Liu Jingyu?
If the girl was Liu Jingyu, then Liu Jingyu had hated her since then.
When the young Liu Jingyu saw Qu Moying, she first asked Qu Moying if she was the Fourth Lady Qu and mocked that she was not as good as a maid. Then, she gave a hard push to Qu Moying before leaving. Qu Moying was so thin that she was pushed to the corner of the table. However, Liu Jingyu didn’t seem to be satisfied and even wanted to beat her.
At that moment, someone’s voice came from outside. Liu Jingyu did not make any further movements and turned to leave.
Qu Moying was left alone, covering her bloody forehead and lying on the ground with tears in her eyes.
It had been many years since this matter happened. Qu Moying hadn’t recalled it before because it happened too long ago. But as she recalled it now, she felt a sense of familiarity. That girl resembled the current Liu Jingyu. It should be her!
“Miss… Miss…” Seeing that Qu Moying remained silent and seemed to be deep in thought, Yu Dong called her a few times.
Qu Moying came back to her senses and looked at Yu Dong.
“Miss, should we catch that old maid and interrogate her?”
“No need, let’s wait and see.” Qu Moying shook her head. She really didn’t understand why Liu Jingyu hated her so much. Liu Jingyu’s hatred for her was similar to that of Qu Qiuyan. It was as if she had done something bad to Liu Jingyu which caused the latter to hate her so much.
But why did Liu Jingyu hate Qu Moying when they were both so young? Qu Moying had not seen many people at that time.
Qu Moying was not sure whether or not Liu Jingyu was the person who plotted against her. She had to observe first. If Liu Jingyu really had done it, Qu Moying would deal with her without mercy. Now, she had to find out the truth carefully. It was probably a big deal. However, she had to focus on Yu and Qu Qiuyan now.
“Fourth Lady, Third Lady sent someone over.” An old maid reported loudly from the corridor.
Qu Moying glanced at Yu Dong, who immediately understood what she meant. Yu Dong lifted the curtain, walked out, and soon brought in an old maid from Qu Qiuyan’s yard.
Qu Moying asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Fourth Lady, Third Lady asked if you need to bring anything to Dabei Temple tomorrow. If you need anything, please tell me. I will go and prepare it right away.” The old maid said with a smile.
Qu Qiuyan was in charge of most of the affairs in the mansion, so it was reasonable for her to send someone to ask Qu Moying. Although Qu Qiuyan wanted to tear Qu Moying apart, they were still sisters on the surface. Qu Qiuyan had to feign sisterhood in front of others, and she couldn’t let the Old Lady find out she hated Qu Moying.
“Did Grandmother prepare anything?” Qu Moying asked after thinking for a while.
“The Old Lady has prepared a set of ordinary offerings.” The old maid replied with a smile.
“Prepare a set for me as well, just like the Old Lady’s. As for the rest, I can prepare them myself.” Qu Moying said.
She needed to prepare one more set of offerings because Yue’s eternal flame was also lit at Dabei Temple.
“Yes, I get it.” The old maid did not try to please her. She nodded and then left. She was just here to ask about the offerings, not intending to do anything else. Now, everyone in the mansion knew that Qu Moying and Qu Qiuyan were not on good terms. She was just a servant, and she’d better not get involved. Although Qu Moying didn’t seem to be powerful, she had been doing well after entering the mansion.
The servants in the mansion used to look down upon Qu Moying the most, but now no one dared to take her lightly.
“Miss, what other offerings do you want to prepare?” Yu Dong asked after the old maid left.
Qu Moying walked to the window, thought for a moment, picked up a brush, and wrote down the sacrificial offerings she needed on the paper. After the handwriting was dried, she handed the paper to Yu Dong and said, “Go to this shop to buy these things for me.”
She pointed at the shop name at the bottom of the paper.
“Miss, I have never heard of this shop before. It isn’t a famous one, right?” Yu Dong looked at the name of the shop and thought for a while. He really couldn’t remember that there was such a shop selling offerings.
“Yes, it’s not a big one, but I want theirs. Although it is not famous, its goods are not bad’.” Qu Moying said. Then, she told Yu Dong about the way to the shop.
It was indeed not a famous shop, but because it was related to Earl Ling’an’s Mansion, Old Lady Ji would always send people to buy goods from this shop whenever she needed to buy offerings. Since Qu Moying had suggested this trip to Old Lady Ji, she would naturally use the same offerings as her.
“Purchase two sets of offerings according to the paper. Then, go to another shop to buy three sets of ordinary offerings. Bring these three sets back to the mansion. As for the first two sets, tell the shopkeeper that you will collect them tomorrow. After you go out tomorrow, go get them first. Then, order a carriage and go to Dabei Temple by yourself. Don’t bring these offerings into the mansion.”
“Miss, you don’t want others to know that you order these offerings?” Yu Dong immediately understood.
Qu Moying nodded and said, “Others don’t need to know. I am going to worship my uncle and cousin sister. I don’t want others to know.”
“Okay, I understand. I will go now.” Yu Dong nodded and left.
“Yu Chun, bring me the needle and thread. I am almost done with the sachet.” Qu Moying said softly, turning around and sitting down on the chair.
Yu Chun knew what she was talking about. She went to the inner room and took out the needle and thread box. Qu Moying picked out a half-done sachet from the box and began to seal it carefully. Although she was not good at needlework, she could do basic sewing. It was just that she was a little lacking in doing exquisite embroidery work.
Whether in her previous life or this life, she was only at an ordinary level in terms of needlework. But even so, she had started preparing this sachet long before. Actually, she had prepared a pair of sachets. Her mother in her previous life and her mother in this life were both her mothers. She prepared one for each of them.
The second sachet was not sealed yet.
“Miss, let me help you.” Yu Chun knew that Qu Moying was not good at needlework, so she reached out to help.
Qu Moying shook her head and said, “No need, I can do it myself.”
She had prepared something long ago. These two sachets were the only things she needed to prepare now. Although they were not well-made, they were personally made by her. She bit her lips and inexplicably shed tears. Her heart was filled with sorrow.
After rebirth, it was not that she was no longer weak, but that she could rely on herself for everything!
No matter how difficult the situation was, she had to hold on. She had no one to rely on except herself.
Although she spoke gently, her words were very firm. Yu Chun had no choice but to step aside and help her thread a needle.
“That’s it?” Qu Qiuyan flipped over the thing in her hand and asked impatiently.
It was a small sachet. It was neither eye-catching nor delicate. It was just one of the ordinary sacrificial offerings, embroidered with very rough patterns. Inside it was the most ordinary herb called mugwort, which had a strong smell and didn’t smell good.
“Yes, this is it. I haven’t put that thing in it yet. It will be used tomorrow.” Granny Qing moved closer to Qu Qiuyan and said in a low voice.
There was no one else except the two of them in the room.
“Will it work?” Qu Qiuyan was still looking at this sachet, and then she saw that there was indeed a small opening at the bottom of the sachet. If she did not look carefully, she would not see it. She had thought that the opening was due to the rough needlework.
However, it was used for burning, so it would not be a big deal if it was not properly sealed. Nobody would care about this.
It was not for the living.
“I will stuff the medicine in it. Once it is lit, the smell will come out. It will make people dizzy and weak.” Granny Qing said.
“It will work, right?” Qu Qiuyan asked.
“Yes, I promise it will work well. When I was in the palace, there was such a thing, and Imperial…” Granny Qing stopped talking at once, knowing that she had made a slip of the tongue.
“Imperial what?” Qu Qiuyan looked sideways and asked. It seemed to relate to an imperial concubine who had fallen into the trap, but she did not know who it was.
“I was wrong. I heard it from the other maids. Please don’t take it seriously.” Granny Qing hurriedly shook her head. Her face was slightly pale, and she did not dare to continue.
It was really something she heard from other gossipers. She had heard of it by chance. If she had really been involved in it, she would not have been able to live until now.
Thinking of the scene of blood flowing like a river in the royal palace that day, Granny Qing shivered. She didn’t dare to say anything more. People who gossip about such a thing would be killed. Even her Master couldn’t bear the consequences, not to mention her. She would never mention it again.
“It’s not true?” Qu Qiuyan frowned, feeling a little annoyed. She couldn’t help but raise her voice and ask, “You mean it’s useless, and what you said before is not true?”
“No, Third Lady, that’s not what I mean. Of course, it’s useful. It has been used in the palace, but I shouldn’t talk about the exact thing. Moreover, I don’t know about the details of that thing. The only thing I know is that it is definitely useful. You can rest assured.”
Seeing that Qu Qiuyan had misunderstood, Granny Qing hurriedly explained.
Hearing Granny Qing’s words, Qu Qiuyan looked at the sachet doubtfully and then looked at Granny Qing’s expression. She threw the sachet to Granny Qing and said, “Then go do it. Be careful. Do it at night. Don’t make any mistakes.”
“Yes!” Seeing that Qu Qiuyan did not ask any further, Granny Qing heaved a sigh of relief and nodded. She was going to swap the things prepared by the mansion, and it was indeed more appropriate to do it at night…