Chapter 249
People who had a clear conscience would not be afraid of ghosts, but Old Lady Ji had a guilty conscience, so she believed what she saw were ghosts.
“Your Ladyship… Your Ladyship…” Qu Moying called softly.
Old Lady Ji finally felt that she had come back to life. She could recognize the person in front of her was the Fourth Lady of Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion at a glance because she had seen her before. She felt relieved because the person wasn’t Ji Hanyue. She looked around and saw that there were many people around, including monks, pilgrims, as well as some madams and young ladies from aristocratic families.
“What happened to me?” Old Lady Ji touched her own hand. Her pale face turned a little red.
“When I came in with this master just now, I saw these people surrounding you. Did they harm you? If they didn’t, how could you faint here?”
“Are these my uncle and aunt’s eternal flames?” Qu Moying looked up at the eternal flames in front of her and asked.
She had been in the village all the time and had never been here, so it was normal for her to ask this question.
Hearing Qu Moying ask about Ji Yongming, Old Lady Ji felt her heart suddenly throb. What had happened just now came up to her again, and her hands were trembling uncontrollably.
“Your Ladyship, you actually brought so many things to worship uncle and aunt. You are really good to them.” Qu Moying looked around and said.
Old Lady Ji followed her gaze and saw the offerings on the side. Seeing that there was an unburned sachet in front of Yue’s memorial tablet, she almost fainted again.
She clearly knew how many offerings she had brought. There weren’t that many. However, those offerings looked the same as what she had bought.
There were incenses, candles, paper money, and other things, which were exactly the same as hers.
“Fourth Lady Qu, can you bring me the sachet?” Old Lady Ji said with difficulty.
Qu Moying nodded. Yu Dong went to the front of Yue’s eternal flame, took the sachet, and brought it to Old Lady Ji. Old Lady Ji held the sachet in her hand while trembling. When she saw the embroidered colorful butterflies and the orchid grass on it, her expression immediately changed. She was so shocked that the sachet immediately fell to the ground.
This kind of embroidery was Ji Hanyue’s favorite. She liked butterflies and flower embroidery. In the past, Ji Hanyue would embroider this kind of pattern on her collar and sleeves. Although Ji Hanyue was not good at embroidery, she could embroider butterflies well. The butterflies embroidery on this sachet was done in a somewhat different method from the other patterns.
Old Lady Ji immediately knew that this sachet was really embroidered by Ji Hanyue.
Dizziness overcame her, blurring her vision. She was flustered. It seemed that what she had seen just now was true. Ji Hanyue and Ji Yongming were really coming to kill Ji Youran and Ji Yong’an. What should she do?
“Your Ladyship… Your Ladyship, how did you faint?” Qu Moying asked gently as if she did not see Old Lady Ji’s fear. She pointed at the few scoundrels and asked, “Is it related to them? Otherwise, how could you suddenly faint? Why don’t we have someone investigate this place?”
“There’s no need to investigate. It was them who made me faint.” Hearing Qu Moying’s suggestion, Old Lady Ji hurriedly said. She was afraid that Ji Hanyue left something here to prove that she was killed unfairly, which would cause a great uproar. She was now in a panic, and all she thought about was making up for Ji Hanyue.
If she fainted alone, it might be because she was old and weak. However, not only her but also the two other persons fainted here together, so the former reason couldn’t explain this. Coincidentally, a few scoundrels came here, so they would be the guilty ones.
“Nonsense. What does it have to do with us?”
“We just came here. Your Ladyship, you can’t lie through your teeth.”
“Your Ladyship, we really just came over. We really have nothing to do with your fainting!”
The few scoundrels originally thought that it was nothing serious. Some people fainted, and even if the person was Old Lady Ji, it had nothing to do with them. They were just passing by.
They did not expect that Old Lady Ji would say that they had caused her to faint.
“Your Ladyship, is there anything wrong with this sachet?” Seeing that Old Lady Ji had been looking at the sachet, Qu Moying asked with a smile.
Old Lady Ji’s face was as pale as paper, and she was shaking as she looked at the sachet on the ground.
“Your Ladyship, don’t be too sad. If uncle and aunt see you so sad, they will be sad, and so will cousin sister. If cousin sister misses you, she will visit you in your dream. Your Ladyship… Your Ladyship…”
Before Qu Moying could finish her words, Old Lady Ji rolled her eyes and fainted again.
When she heard that Ji Hanyue would visit her in her dream, she could no longer hold it in and immediately fainted again.
The monks hurriedly sent Old Lady Ji to rest, and Qu Moying followed behind the Ji Family’s people. She had been supporting Old Lady Ji just now, so she naturally followed them at this time.
As for the few scoundrels, they were also brought along.
After taking a few steps, Qu Moying suddenly turned to look at Qu Qiuyan. “Third Sister, I’m really fine, and I don’t need you to seek justice from father. These scoundrels have nothing to do with me. It was lucky that I couldn’t find my mother’s eternal flame when I came over, so I went to look for the masters in the temple. Otherwise, these scoundrels would really run into me.”
After she finished speaking, she left with the Ji Family’s people without looking back.
Qu Qiuyan had already realized that she had failed again when Old Lady Ji woke up. She was angry, and she only wanted to sneak away.
Hearing what Qu Moying said, the pilgrims who had just watched the fun immediately looked at Qu Qiuyan. Qu Qiuyan’s face instantly paled.
“So she’s the Third Lady of Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion.” Someone in the crowd said. Qu Moying had just mentioned that she was Fourth Lady Qu, so they could tell that Qu Qiuyan was Third Lady Qu.
“It seemed that Third Lady Qu wanted to harm Fourth Lady Qu again.” Last time, Qu Qiuyan also set Qu Moying up in Dabei Temple.
Coincidentally, a few of them witnessed that thing last time.
“Of course. Otherwise, why did she say such words just now? She seemed to be sure that something had happened to Fourth Lady Qu. How did she know?”
“She is so vicious, yet she is from a noble family…”
Some shook their heads, and some sighed. Most people were gossiping. Even if Qu Qiuyan wanted to explain herself, she didn’t know how. Her face was dark with anger. She turned around, wanting to leave with Qing Ju.
Seeing that Qu Qiuyan was about to leave, some women who hated her for being vicious deliberately bumped into her because there weren’t many people around. Finally, Qu Qiuyan managed to squeeze out of the crowd. Her hair was already messy, and there were some handprints on her clothes, making her look really dirty.
Qing Ju also managed to squeeze out and chase after Qu Qiuyan.
Outside the crowd, Granny Qing paced uneasily. At this time, she’d better not follow them. She only wanted to follow them from a distance and leave. Seeing that Qu Qiuyan had gone far away, she left. Just as she turned around the gate of a courtyard, she suddenly felt a heavy blow on her back. She blacked out and fainted…
The monks had prepared a room for Old Lady Ji, in which Concubine Xiang and the Ji Family’s old maid were waiting upon her. They sent for a monk who knew medicine. The monk said that Old Lady Ji was alright. She fainted because she was too frightened. As for the old maid and Concubine Xiang, the monk said they were alright, too.
The old maid insisted that she fainted because of crying. She said she felt dizzy when she entered the hall, and then she fainted while crying. In fact, she knew that she fainted out of fear. She seemed to see Ji Hanyue and heard Ji Hanyue’s voice, but she did not dare to tell the truth. Anyway, she would echo whatever Old Lady Ji had said.
Concubine Xiang also said that she was very dizzy at that time, and now she was still dizzy. She touched her head and said that she seemed to pass out not long after entering the hall.
Since not only Old Lady Ji but even the old maid and Concubine Xiang gave the same account, the Ji Family’s people immediately got angry. They called the few scoundrels to the side to interrogate them one by one. They were determined to find out why Old Lady Ji, Concubine Xiang, and the old maid fainted together. When Old Lady Ji fainted just now, she said that it was related to the scoundrels.
The scoundrels kept shouting that they were innocent. However, the other party was from Earl Ling’an’s Mansion. Although Earl Ling’an’s Mansion was a bit weaker now, it was still powerful to them.
Just as they were making a ruckus, an old maid suddenly fell from the crowd. Maybe it was because she fell too hard that she fainted at once.
Yu Dong’s eyes were sharp, and he immediately noticed her. He shouted, “Is she Third Lady’s old maid?”
“Yes. Why is Third Lady’s old maid here? Did Third Lady send her to see miss?” Yu Chun also walked over, helped the old maid up, and patted her back. “Granny Qing, why did you come to see our miss?”
They immediately drew the onlookers’ attention. The onlookers thought to themselves, “Third Lady Qu was the one who wanted to harm Fourth Lady Qu just now, but there was no evidence to prove it. Is there going to be evidence now?”
The noise attracted the attention of the few scoundrels, and they looked over. When they saw Granny Qing clearly, they immediately pointed at her and shouted, “It was her. She secretly talked to Qian Li just now. It was Qian Li who took us to find the beauty and said that we would definitely find the beauty.”
“Yes, it was Qian Li who brought us there. This old maid was also there at that time.”
“Qian Li, so it was you who set us up. You said that she was from your family, but she was Third Lady Qu’s servant! Since when did Third Lady Qu become your family?”
A scoundrel punched heavily at Qian Li and said, “No wonder you said there was a beauty, and you wanted to take us to see the beauty just now. It turned out that you had ganged up with others to set us up.”
The Ji Family’s servants looked at Qian Li fiercely. It turned out that Qian Li was the culprit. Two people walked up to Qian Li and gave him two hard slaps in the face. Qian Li was in so much pain that he couldn’t even speak.
At this time, Granny Qing woke up. Qu Moying slowly walked to her with a cold expression. “Granny Qing, is it really your plot? Since that’s the case, let’s go and ask what exactly is going on. You are just a servant, but you dared to hook up with evil outsiders to plot against the masters. You deserve capital punishment!”
After saying that, she turned around to walk out. The onlookers had a good impression of Qu Moying because she had just saved Old Lady Ji. They immediately made way for her.
Granny Qing had just woken up. Before she could figure out what had happened, she was dragged forward by Yu Dong. She stumbled and almost fell down. She was still in a daze…