Chapter 252
This time, Old Lady Ji made up her mind that no matter what her second son and second daughter-in-law said, she would handle Concubine Xiang’s matter properly.
Yuanhai was not old enough to inherit the title now, but Concubine Xiang could immediately be promoted to a legitimate wife. Old Lady Ji was afraid that if she did nothing, Ji Hanyue would visit her in the dream again.
Thinking of this, Old Lady Ji became so afraid that her whole body shrank into the quilt.
The two old maids looked at each other and saw the fear in each other’s eyes. They put their hands together and bowed their heads to pray silently.
Old Lady Ji was so scared that she eagerly wanted to do something to make up for Ji Hanyue, so she decided to handle Concubine Xiang’s thing first. Even if Concubine Xiang became a legitimate wife, it didn’t matter at all to Old Lady Ji. As for whether it would be a problem for the second branch…
Old Lady Ji didn’t think she needed to consider this issue now.
She just hoped that Ji Hanyue would not come to her and take revenge on the Ji Family.
The Ji Family’s people beat the few scoundrels up and handed them over to Qu Mansion. Old Lady Qu accepted them and also let the servants beat them up.
The few scoundrels pushed all the blame onto Qian Li, saying that he led them over and that he colluded with Granny Qing.
Old Lady Qu released all the scoundrels except Qian Li. She had someone keep him in custody and decided to bring him back to the mansion to be interrogated by Qu Zhizhen.
After hearing Qu Moying’s words, she felt the thing was increasingly weirder. Granny Qing had only entered the mansion not long ago, but both Yu and Qu Qiuyan highly valued her. She thought Granny Qing was not ordinary, and maybe she was sent into Qu Mansion by Qu Zhizhen’s enemy to attract his attention.
It was already three o’clock in the afternoon when the capital’s gate opened, and Old Lady Qu knew about it even later. It was not the right time to go down the mountain. Moreover, Qu Zhizhen sent her a message, which made her feel much more relieved.
Something did happen to Qu Caiyue, but it was just that she accidentally fell into the lake in her panic. Someone immediately saved her, so it was not a big deal.
Qu Zhizhen’s description of this matter was implicit. He only said that Qu Caiyue did not see the road clearly on her way to find Lord Jing and suddenly fell into the lake. However, at the thought that Qu Caiyue had just entered Lord Jing Mansion yesterday and she was so anxious to find Lord Jing, Old Lady Qu thought Qu Caiyue misbehaved and felt ashamed of her.
She thought it was better to ignore Qu Caiyue’s matters from now on.
Qian Li was sent to Qu Mansion overnight, and Old Lady Qu also sent Qu Zhizhen a message, asking Qu Zhizhen to investigate him in detail. She also told Qu Zhizhen that Qu Qiuyan sent Granny Qing to set Qu Moying up. She said that she would definitely seek justice for Qu Moying after they returned to the mansion, and that she wouldn’t let Qu Moying suffer again this time.
Old Lady Qu was harsh with her words this time. She scolded not only Qu Qiuyan but also Qu Zhizhen. She said that he was muddle-headed back then to marry Yu, who made such kind of trouble again and again.
At night, Qu Moying wore a pure black cloak and left her yard. She followed the people sent by Pei Yuanjun and silently went to another yard.
The size of this yard was similar to the two yards for Qu Mansion, but the interior layout of this yard was much more exquisite. It could be seen that many objects were brought over by the one who lived here, and even the cushions were carefully made.
When she entered the room, the maid, Chun Xiu, was already waiting there. She skillfully came over to help Qu Moying freshen up. After helping Qu Moying change her clothes, she helped her to sit in the inner room. The curtain outside the room was a thin layer of gauze with pink embroidery. One could vaguely see the figure inside, but the view wasn’t clear.
Qu Moying took off her eye veil. She sat quietly on a large chair in the room without wearing the veiled hat.
Not long after she sat down, she heard a voice coming from outside. An old maid led Lord Jing, Pei Yusheng, in.
Pei Yusheng was wearing a simple green robe with a folding fan in his hand. He looked like an ordinary young master, and his expression was very calm.
As soon as Pei Yusheng entered the room, Qu Moying, who was behind the curtain, stood up and bowed deeply to Pei Yusheng. “Greetings, Your Highness.”
“Please save the formalities, Lady Liu!” Pei Yusheng waved his hand and sat down on the large chair in front of him.
Qu Moying also sat down inside.
“Your Highness, why are you so anxious to see me?” Qu Moying asked.
She came to meet him because he repeatedly invited her.
“Lady Liu, I heard that you are going back to the border?” Pei Yusheng turned the fan in his hand and looked at the figure behind the curtain with a gentle smile.
“Yes, it has been a while since I arrived in the capital. My father has sent people to ask me when I will go back several times. I think it is about time to go back.”
Qu Moying followed Chun Xiu’s instructions and said.
Lady Liu was going to leave the capital, and there was nothing for her to do in the future. Qu Moying breathed a sigh of relief because Lady Liu would not return to the capital for the time being.
As for the future, Qu Moying didn’t want to think about it now.
“Did General Liu say anything in his letter?” Pei Yusheng asked with a gentle smile on his handsome face, and he looked like a very good-tempered person.
However, if anyone knew that Pei Yusheng had just slapped Qu Caiyue, no one would think he was good-tempered.
“Nothing serious. My father just said…” Qu Moying paused as if she did not know what to say.
“What did the Guardian General say?” Pei Yusheng asked again.
“He asked me to thank you for taking care of me in the capital and also to thank Lord Yun.” Qu Moying said slowly.
Lady Liu followed Pei Yuanjun into the capital. Lord Jing heard that she had her own purpose in coming to the capital. The Guardian General asked Pei Yuanjun to take care of her, so it was natural that he would thank Pei Yuanjun. But why would he thank Pei Yusheng?
As a matter of fact, Pei Yusheng and Lady Liu had only seen each other a few times, and Pei Yusheng had never seen Lady Liu’s face because she always wore a veiled hat. Therefore, the Guardian General’s words were meaningful.
Pei Yusheng thought for a while and said gently, “That’s very kind of the Guardian General. Other than this, what else did he tell you?”
“There’s nothing else. He just let me thank you sincerely.” Qu Moying shook her head.
“Lady Liu, I don’t know when we can meet again. It’s such a pity.” Pei Yusheng said in a different way, looking at the gauze curtain with a bit of affection.
“Maybe I won’t come again.” Qu Moying said.
“Lady Liu, you are beautiful and outstanding. Are you really going to stay at the border forever? Noble ladies who are not as good as you can live a comfortable and noble life, but you want to accompany the Guardian General to suffer at the border, which is really admirable.” Pei Yusheng sighed and waved the folding fan in his hand.
“I naturally should follow my father.” Qu Moying said flatly.
“If you get married in the capital, you can stay here forever. You don’t have to live a hard life at the border.” Pei Yusheng said with a smile. His words were very casual, but it was a bit rude to say them to a woman. Fortunately, no one else was there at this time.
The one behind the curtain did not respond. She lowered her head and seemed to be a little shy, making her slender figure look even more enchanting behind the curtain.
Was she shy?
Pei Yusheng was in a very good mood. He was determined to get Lady Liu.
He thought Qu Caiyue, who had just been sent over by Qu Mansion yesterday, was stupid and unbearable. She came over with a maid to find him just because he ignored her yesterday evening. On her way, she happened to meet the assassin, and she was so frightened that she fell into the lake. For a moment, Pei Yusheng even wanted her to die.
But later on, he still sent someone to save her.
Today, when Pei Yusheng was about to go out, Qu Caiyue came to him and complained about her grievances in a coquettish manner. He was annoyed by her sobbing, so he gave Qu Caiyue a slap on the spot and knocked her to the ground. Then, she cried no more.
Pei Yusheng had compared Lady Liu with Qu Caiyue, Qu Qiuyan, and Liu Jingyu, and he was sure that Lady Liu was the woman he wanted. Although he had never seen her face, he had heard that she was a rare beauty. She was hailed as the most beautiful woman at the border, so she must be extremely beautiful.
Besides, Lady Liu’s background was even more powerful than that of the ex-Crown Princess, which would be a great help for him.
What Pei Yusheng cared about the most was military power.
Back then, the Crown Prince decided to marry Ji Hanyue also because of Earl Ling’an’s military power. Unfortunately, after Earl Ling’an returned to the capital, his military power was greatly reduced, and his value to the Crown Prince decreased significantly.
“It is not hard to stay at the border.” Her voice was not loud and sounded gentle.
“How can it not be hard? I think that a woman like you should live a life of luxury. All the beautiful things in the world should be delivered to you.” Pei Yusheng said in more gently and affectionately.
However, Qu Moying felt bored.
What Lord Jing meant was obvious. He was clearly hinting that Lady Liu could marry him and that she might even be the future Empress and get the best things a woman could get.
The best of the best was naturally being the Empress.
“I… am not that good.”
“No, you are the best woman in this world to me. All the women in the capital are shallow. They are far inferior to you.” Pei Yusheng was still praising her. The more he said, the more he agreed with himself.
Compared with the others, Lady Liu was indeed different. Other women, including Liu Jingyu, were coy when they saw him. However, Lady Liu always kept her distance from him, just like now. She used a gauze curtain to keep him away.
Pei Yusheng felt excited because of the distance between him and Lady Liu. She was about to leave the capital soon, and he thought he should see her face.
With this thought in mind, he stood up and walked in front of the gauze curtain. “Lady Liu, I have not seen your beautiful face yet. Now that you are going to leave, may I see your face?”