Chapter 296
The maid Hong Mei had been following Qu Xuexin. After returning to East Mansion, she couldn’t help but ask Qu Xuexin, “Lady, did you take a fancy to Young Master Xiao?”
Qu Xuexin’s face was still gloomy. Hearing Hong Mei’s words, she sneered. “It’s not about fancy. He is an option. At the very least, he might have a bright future.”
Xiao Hanyuan was not bad, but his family couldn’t compare with those aristocratic families in the capital. He was not the best choice. If possible, Qu Xuexin still wanted a better option.
Luo kept telling Qu Xuexin that although she could not enter Lord Jing Mansion like Qu Qiuyan, she should at least marry into a big aristocratic family, or she couldn’t hold her head up in front of Qu Qiuyan in the future.
Qu Xuexin had thought that marrying Third Young Master He was not bad, but it turned out that Third Young Master He was a monster. Thinking of this, she broke out in a cold sweat.
“Go and find out about He Mansion.” Qu Xuexin instructed another maid, Bai Mei.
“Yes, Lady. I will go now!” Bai Mei answered and was about to leave.
“Wait a minute, go to the Liu Family…” Qu Xuexin suddenly shut her mouth, a hint of anger appearing on her face.
The two maids did not dare to speak and quietly waited at the side.
Qu Xuexin took a deep breath, waved her hand, and said irritably, “No, forget about it. Just go find out about He Mansion.”
She was not sure about what happened in He Mansion, but County Lady Jingyu should have heard about it. Why didn’t she warn her?
Did County Lady Jingyu really not know, or did she not remind her on purpose?
If it was the latter, Qu Xuexin thought she would have to be wary of County Lady Jingyu.
In Qianyue House, Yu Dong took out a golden hairpin from his sleeve and handed it to Qu Moying. “Lady, Third Lady’s new maid gave this to me.”
Qu Moying didn’t pay attention to the new maid just now. “A new maid?”
Yu Dong said, “Yes. I heard that it was Second Young Master who picked her for Third Lady. He picked her from East Mansion and specially sent her to Third Lady. The maid looked clever. But no matter how clever she is, she could not afford to buy such a golden hairpin.”
“Is the maid trying to make friends with you?” Qu Moying asked as her gaze fell on the golden hairpin.
“Yes. She wants to make friends with me or bribe me. Her name is Qing Mei. She is quite interesting!”
Yu Dong had seen quite a few people, and he had received quite a number of gifts, so he could basically guess what the others were up to when they sent gifts to him.
“Since she wants to make friends with you and did not make any excessive demands, you should be kind to her. After all, you accepted her gift.”
Qu Moying pushed the hairpin away, indicating for Yu Dong to have it himself. “Since she has given it to you, just keep it!”
Yu Dong smiled and said, “Thank you, Lady!”
Since he had shown the hairpin to Qu Moying, it belonged to Qu Moying. Now that Qu Moying asked him to keep it, it meant that she gave the hairpin to him.
Granny Zhou came in and reported, “Lady, Second Young Master sent a gift over.”
“What?” Raising her head, Qu Moying looked a little surprised. Why did Qu Mingcheng give her a gift at this time? It was not a festival.
Granny Zhou said, “Second Young Master’s lad servant said that Second Young Master saw a few nice brocades when he was outside, so he bought them for you and Third Lady and let his lad servant send it over. Third Lady also got the gift.”
Qu Moying nodded thoughtfully and said, “Let the lad servant in!”
Yu Dong helped her tie up the eye veil again.
The lad servant walked in with a brocade box in his hand. After walking in, he presented the brocade box to Qu Moying. “Fourth Lady, I’m Second Young Master’s lad servant. When Second Young Master went out today, he saw a few good new brocades in a shop, so he specially bought them for you and Third Lady. He bought two pieces of brocade for each of you.”
Yu Dong stepped forward, took the brocade box, and placed it on the table. Then, he opened the brocade box. There were two pieces of brocade inside. One was red, and the other was pinkish-grey. When the two pieces of brocade were placed together, they set off each other’s beauty.
Qu Moying glanced at it and smiled. “Thank Second Brother for me.”
The lad servant smiled and said, “I will. I will report to our Young Master now. But…”
“What’s wrong? Is there anything else?” Qu Moying raised her eyebrows and looked at the lad servant, who clearly didn’t finish his words.
“It’s not a big deal. I shouldn’t have said anything!” The lad servant hurriedly answered, looking a little flustered, which made people feel that there must be something going on.
Qu Moying asked coldly, “What is it?”
The lad servant stuttered, “Second Young Master went to He Mansion.”
Hearing his words, Qu Moying asked, “Why did he go to He Mansion?”
“It’s not a big deal. He went there for Third Young Master He’s matter. He wanted to ask about it…”
Qu Moying suddenly stood up, and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes, “Are you saying that Second Brother went to ask about the proposed marriage between me and Third Young Master He?”
The lad servant hurriedly explained, “Yes. Second Young Master said that since the proposed marriage is still under discussion, we should make it clear to them as soon as possible. We have to break off the marriage so as to avoid implicating you, Fourth Lady.”
Qu Moying slowly sat down and sneered, “Then I really have to thank Second Brother. What happened after he went to He Mansion?”
It seemed that Qu Mingcheng was helping her, but what he did would make the thing known to the public. If people knew that Third Young Master He had proposed to her, her reputation would be ruined beyond redemption.
A woman’s reputation was truly fragile. It was clearly not Qu Moying’s fault, but she would be blamed in the end. She could even imagine what others would gossip about her. They might even say that she was a jinx or something.
If Qu Mingcheng further escalated this thing, what happened to Yu and the dispute with He Mansion could become a weapon against her.
Qu Mingcheng could no longer wait, and as expected, he had also given himself away.
Although she did not have any expectations for marriage, she could not tolerate others plotting against her.
“I don’t know what happened after Young Master entered He Mansion. I came back from outside. Second Young Master ordered me to send gifts to you and Third Lady. Fourth Lady, please rest assured. Second Young Master will definitely avenge you.”
At this time, the lad servant stopped stuttering. He looked very clever. Needless to say, everything he had said before was taught by Qu Mingcheng.
Hearing the lad servant’s words, Qu Moying sneered, “Thank him for me. Please also tell him to think twice. We are in the same mansion. If I suffer, he probably will not end up well. Maybe his future career as an official will be affected.”
Since Qu Mingcheng wanted to plot against her, she would not be nice to him.
The lad servant didn’t expect Qu Moying to reply so bluntly and relentlessly. Although he was clever, he did not know what to say for a moment. He forced a smile and said, “Yes. I will report to my young master now.”
Anyway, since Qu Mingcheng had already entered He Mansion, a farce must have already broken out in He Mansion, and perhaps everyone in the capital had known about this thing!
Yu Dong was already impatient. He glared at the lad servant and shouted angrily, “Leave now!”
Since Qu Mingcheng wanted Qu Moying to suffer, Yu Dong naturally would not be polite to the lad servant. He picked up the brocade box on the table, closed it, and pushed it towards the lad servant. “Thank your young master for his kindness. But our lady doesn’t like this color. Please bring it back to your young master. Our lady appreciates his kindness.”
Yu Dong only obeyed Qu Moying in Qu Mansion. As for the other masters, if they treated Qu Moying and him well, he would temporarily regard them as his masters, but if not, he would not bother to care about them.
As someone from Lord Yun Mansion, he did not need to worry so much!
Yu Dong’s behavior was extremely presumptuous. He refused the gift before Qu Moying said anything. What he did was like a slap on Qu Mingcheng’s face. The lad servant was so angry that his face turned red. Qu Mingcheng was the only young master in West Mansion, and he was Qu Mingcheng’s trusted lad servant. People always smiled at him when they saw him, but now a mere maid actually dared to be so rude to him.
“Fourth Lady…” The lad servant still wanted to say something, but Qu Moying turned around and walked straight in, totally ignoring him.
“Why aren’t you leaving? Our lady is tired!” Yu Dong said arrogantly. He put his hands on his hips and looked like a rude and unreasonable maid.
The lad servant was so angry, but he was nothing more than a lad servant now. He could only glare at Yu Dong, take the brocade box, and turn to leave. Anyway, Qu Mingcheng had gone to He Mansion, and Qu Moying’s reputation would soon be ruined.
He believed no one would dare to marry Qu Moying in the future. Even if the other party was from somewhere far away, he would definitely refuse to marry Qu Moying as soon as he found out about her.
Qu Moying could no longer be arrogant when the time came, and so were her maids. Thinking of this, the lad servant decided not to argue with them. He decided to report it to Qu Mingcheng and let the latter deal with it.
The lad servant left angrily.
Yu Dong ignored the lad servant. He turned around and entered the inner room. Seeing Qu Moying sitting in front of the dressing table with a gloomy face, he hurriedly said, “Lady, I will leave the mansion now to ask for help from my Lord.”
“It’s too late to go now!” Qu Moying shook her head with a gloomy face. At this time, the thing must have already been made public. She could only think about remedies now.
Since Qu Mingcheng targeted her and asked his lad servant to inform her with the excuse of sending the brocade box, it meant that he was sure that she could not stop him. She could only helplessly watch as the thing unfolded and her reputation was ruined. Moreover, he did it in the name of “good wills”. Therefore, she could not stop him. She was angry and depressed.
Even if Old Lady Qu asked Qu Mingcheng about it, he could say that he did it in order to avenge Qu Moying, and that he was too impulsive that he made such a mess!
He was indeed vicious!
Yu Dong shook his head and said with certainty, “Lady, it’s not too late. We can deal with it. Don’t worry.”