Chapter 350
The scar was a legacy from Ji Hanyue to her. There was a time when her wound was almost completely healed, and she only needed to have enough rest. But then, something happened that involved Qu Moying.
Qu Moying was plotted against by Second Madam Qu, and Ji Youran was implicated. As a result, her wound that had almost recovered inflamed again, and it was swollen.
When the Imperial Doctor treated her, he said that the wound was hard to heal, but if she rested well, there was still a chance for it to recover.
It had been some time since then, but she still felt a dull pain in the wound. When the weather was bad, she could feel the pain. The wound was scabbed, leaving a scar near her temple. It was obvious that Ji Youran had no choice but to comb down two strands of hair beside her ears to cover the scar.
The scar disfigured her face, causing the Crown Prince to be displeased.
In the old days, the Crown Prince would definitely compensate her at a time like this. He would say some comforting words and might even promise her that she could be in charge of the things in the mansion after Liu Jingyu entered the mansion and that she would still have a chance to become the Princess Consort. But now, the Crown Prince lost his sympathy for her because of her appearance.
How could Ji Youran not be resentful?
She gnashed her teeth in resentment!
But there was nothing she could do. Ji Hanyue was already dead, and the Crown Prince repeatedly told her not to do anything to Qu Moying.
Ji Youran wiped her tears with a handkerchief. She knew that the situation had spiraled out of her control, and she could only see Liu Jingyu take the position of the Crown Princess. However, she believed it was not over yet. Liu Jingyu might not be the final victor, just like Ji Hanyue.
For so many years, Ji Hanyue believed that she would be in charge of Eastern Palace, and everyone else thought so.
But in the end, Ji Youran became the one in charge of Eastern Palace’s back yard, and Ji Hanyue died a long time ago.
“Your Highness, I understand. How about First Lady Qu?” Putting away all the resentment, Ji Youran asked softly. She wiped the tears on her face with a handkerchief and looked up again. There were only tears in her eyes, and there was no resentment at all.
“First Lady Qu?” Pei Luo’an asked indifferently, casually picking up a document.
“I heard that you stopped First Lady Qu today. May I know what you mean by that? If you like her, I will send someone to Qu Mansion to propose a marriage.” Ji Youran played the role of a submissive wife who did not fight for anything and asked Pei Luo’an gently. She did not mention a word about the grievances she suffered.
Her magnanimity and decency made Pei Luo’an feel a little better. He felt that he had not made the wrong choice, and he could turn a blind eye to her small mistakes.
“No need. I just asked her a few questions.” Pei Luo’an shook his head. He didn’t have any interest in Qu Xuexin, and he didn’t even remember what she looked like.
“But you specially stopped her to ask questions. If she…” Ji Youran said hesitantly. She seemed to be wholeheartedly thinking for Pei Luo’an.
“What she thinks has nothing to do with me.” Pei Luo’an said coldly and waved his hand. “You may leave. Qu Mansion has nothing to do with Eastern Palace, neither now nor in the future.”
How could a reckless woman have anything to do with him? Up until now, Pei Luo’an still did not quite believe that the sachet was embroidered by Qu Xuexin herself, but she said so affirmatively that he couldn’t do anything to her for the time being. He just kept the sachet and let her go.
“Yes, then I will take my leave first.” Ji Youran nodded.
“OK!” Pei Luo’an said impatiently. Thinking of the sachet, he was a little annoyed. His eyes fell on the document, but he was not really looking into it.
After Ji Youran left, he took out a sachet from the drawer next to the desk. It was the one he had taken from Qu Xuexin. He looked at it, and his vision gradually blurred. He seemed to see a beautiful girl smiling at him.
“Your Highness…”
He clenched the sachet hard, and the illusion in front of him disappeared. He felt so stuffy that he almost couldn’t breathe. He closed his eyes forcefully and let out a long breath. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes were filled with coldness.
“Everything is worth it. In order to secure my position, I have already paid enough, and I don’t mind paying even more.”
“As long as I win in the end, everything is worth it.”
“If I ascend to the throne, I could confer her a posthumous title as the Paramount Empress. If there is a next life, I will definitely make it up to her.”
It was a pity that all the belongings left by Ji Hanyue were burnt out in the fire that broke out in Eastern Palace. Otherwise, he would not have asked for a sachet from Qu Mansion’s woman. Even though it seemed to be Ji Hanyue’s handiwork, it was definitely not. Thinking of this, he was depressed, and he threw the sachet back into the drawer.
He continued to read the document, but he couldn’t calm down for a long time. He only felt that the words on the document formed an image of a beautiful smiling girl. Unlike usual gentle noble ladies, Ji Hanyue had her unique charm.
Pei Luo’an threw down the document in his hand and stood up. He felt upset and walked to the window with his hands behind his back. Seeing the scenery outside the window, he stood silently for a long time, unable to control his emotions…
Old Lady Qu looked at the three brocade boxes in front of her and asked in surprise, “Princess Ji rewarded you?”
Not only was this matter resolved quickly, but Princess Ji, who had refused to let Qu Xuexin go before, had even specially sent people to reward the three sisters. Old Lady Qu found it really strange.
“Yes, they caught up with us to reward us. Grandmother, it’s really strange. Did something we don’t know happen?” Qu Qiuyan glanced sideways at Qu Xuexin’s box and continued, “Eldest Sister’s brocade box is actually the most valuable. I really don’t know why this farce happened!”
“Alright, it’s good that it’s settled. It’s good!” The Old Lady sighed. She waved her hand and asked her granddaughters to put away the brocade boxes.
She glanced at Qu Xuexin and held back the words which sprang to her lips.
The granddaughters turned around one by one. Seeing their receding figures, the Old Lady sighed heavily.
Granny Wu comforted the Old Lady, “Your Ladyship, it’s the best result that the problem was solved like this. Eldest Young Master did that because he worried about First Lady. Now it’s all right.”
“But… what about Xuexin? Zhizhen has investigated the man whose surname is Wang. He is nowhere to be found now, but he is proved to be a bad guy.” The Old Lady sighed heavily again. Qu Xuexin’s reputation was ruined.
The man with the surname Wang was really not a good person. Qu Zhizhen said that he was related to a group of human traffickers, which was really shocking. The matter was still under investigation, but the most important thing was that the person with the surname Wang was nowhere to be seen.
“Do you think… Xuexin has something to do with this?” The Old Lady asked with difficulty, her eyes dim.
“It couldn’t be. How could a person like First Lady do this?” Granny Wu comforted the Old Lady again, but her words were extremely unconvincing. After saying that, even she herself could not help but sigh in her heart.
It seemed that this matter really had something to do with Qu Xuexin. As for what she did after this incident, it was even more ridiculous. She went to see Love Lanterns herself, and she even had a conflict with Eastern Palace’s Side Princess. Even if she had made an explanation, the Old Lady did not really believe her.
There were many doubts about this, and the biggest possibility was that Qu Xuexin lied!
Thinking of how her granddaughter had become like this, the Old Lady was speechless and annoyed.
“You go and ask Zhilin to come here later. Xuexin’s marriage can’t be delayed any longer.” The Old Lady sighed heavily and finally made a decision. Since Qu Xuexin was almost on the verge of becoming resentful because she couldn’t get married, the Old Lady decided to marry her to someone.
She originally chose Xiao Hanyuan for Qu Moying, but she couldn’t decide Qu Moying’s marriage now. Moreover, Xiao Hanyuan had obviously gotten along with Qu Xuexin. Even after witnessing Qu Xuexin fall into the water yesterday, Xiao Hanyuan still cared about her and tried his best to protect her.
This morning, he specially came to pay respects to her and beat around the bush to ask about this matter.
Since he was interested in Qu Xuexin and did not look down upon her, the Old Lady thought it was good to let Qu Xuexin marry him. Even if Qu Xuexin would misbehave, she wouldn’t end up too miserably with her protection. But the biggest problem was that Qu Xuexin’s marriage was not settled.
It was impossible for her to have a perfect marriage now. The Old Lady was quite satisfied with Xiao Hanyuan. She knew his background well, and he could have a bright future because he studied hard.
Granny Wu thought it was inappropriate and carefully asked the Old Lady, “Your Ladyship, will First Lady be unwilling?”
The Old Lady said grumpily, “In her current situation, it is already good that someone will marry her. Moreover, the Xiao Family is also a prominent one, so she has nothing to complain about. I will discuss this with her father later and settle this matter. I am planning to let her get married before the New Year. She is not young anymore!”
“Yes, you’re right!” Granny Wu could only say so. She was still a little worried, but now that the Old Lady was upset, she’d better not say anything else.
While they were talking, someone suddenly came from outside and reported, “Eldest Master is here!”
The Old Lady was happy. She was going to ask him over, so she straightened up and said to Granny Wu, “Go and let the Eldest Master in!”
“Yes!” Granny Wu left and soon returned with Qu Zhilin, the Eldest Master of East Mansion.
“Mother, how is it?” Qu Zhilin’s face was also full of worry. This matter concerned not only his daughter but also his son. How could he not worry about it?
Thinking it was about time, he came to the Old Lady to ask for information. He came here from the front yard and happened to miss Qu Xuexin.
The Old Lady said, “Don’t worry. This matter has been resolved. Not only did Princess Ji forgive Xuexin, but she even rewarded Xuexin with something.”
“That’s good, that’s good. It’s really scary!” Qu Zhilin sat down, picked up the tea on the table, and took a sip. He let out a long breath. Ever since he knew what had happened yesterday, he had been worried.
The Old Lady said seriously, “It’s good that you are here. I want to talk about Xuexin’s marriage with you.”