Chapter 351
“Xuexin’s marriage? Why?” Qu Zhilin was stunned for a moment before reacting. He had not thought about it since the accident.
The Old Lady said, “Xuexin is not young anymore. Her reputation has been tainted because of the previous matter with He Mansion. Now, there is the matter of her falling into the river. She even had a dispute with Eastern Palace’s Side Princess. Who would dare to marry her in such a situation? We should settle her marriage as soon as possible. She will be fine as soon as she gets married.”
Qu Zhilin stuttered, “But… but there is no one suitable for her right now.”
The Old Lady reminded Qu Zhilin, “There is. Xiao Hanyuan.”
“Xiao… Xiao Hanyuan?” Qu Zhilin was stunned for a moment. He really did not pay attention to Xiao Hanyuan. Although he had seen Xiao Hanyuan before, he thought he was too pedantic and didn’t pay much attention to him.
The Old Lady said in a low voice, “Yes, Xiao Hanyuan. I think Xuexin has a good relationship with him. After this accident happened to Xuexin, he was the most anxious. He came to me several times to inquire about her. It seems that he won’t look down upon Xuexin. Moreover, he is from the Xiao Family. After Xuexin marries into his family, I will ask people to take special care of her.”
Qu Zhilin pondered for a moment and nodded helplessly. Originally, he had great expectations for his daughter. Otherwise, he would not have let his wife take her on blind dates again and again. However, things happened to this daughter again and again. Even if he didn’t care about internal affairs in the family, he understood some things.
“Alright, mother. I will listen to you.”
The Old Lady wanted to make sure that Luo would know that Qu Zhilin had made the decision, so she reminded Qu Zhilin. “Tell Luo about this after you go back.”
“Mother, I know. I’ll go back and tell her now.” Qu Zhilin stood up. He had to discuss it with Luo. Luo had higher expectations for Qu Xuexin than him.
“Talk to her nicely. Don’t quarrel.” The Old Lady was worried and reminded him again.
“Mother, don’t worry.” Qu Zhilin nodded and turned to leave. At this time, it was indeed best to marry his daughter out. The more people knew about what happened last night, the worse Qu Xuexin’s reputation would be. It was best to settle her marriage before words got out.
At this time, Qu Zhilin only wanted to solve the matter as soon as possible. But he didn’t expect that Qu Xuexin was now full of expectations, feeling as if she was going to become a Side Princess of Crown Prince’s Mansion…
This matter had nothing to do with Qu Moying right now. At the moment, she was looking at a key in front of her nervously.
It was a key that was a bit familiar to her.
When she was Ji Hanyue, she had seen such a key in her father’s place, so this key belonged to her father.
She picked up the letter in her hand again and carefully read it. It was a letter from Madam Duan, saying that she had found the key in the secret compartment of Ji Hanyue’s mother’s old room.
The secret compartment used to be the place where Ji Hanyue’s mother placed some important items. However, after she passed away, the yard was left unused, and the secret compartment had not been opened until today. Today, when Madam Duan was cleaning the old room, she found this secret compartment and saw this key, so she sent it to Qu Moying.
The box she got from Earl Ling’an’s Mansion was put on the table. There was almost no pattern on the box, and it was much heavier than it appeared to be. There was a cloud pattern on each corner, and there was a tiger head pattern on one side, which contrasted with the cloud pattern.
Qu Moying put down the letter, picked up the key, and opened the box in front of her.
With a click, the box was opened. Such a heavy box was actually opened.
There were actually a few letters inside.
Qu Moying picked up a letter and read it. After reading it, she put it down and picked up the next letter. After reading the letters, she frowned.
These letters looked very ordinary. They were written by a man to a woman. Although they were quite affectionate, there was nothing special.
Qu Moying could know from these letters that the man who wrote them did not seem to be from Central Plains but from the North. He mentioned the local customs, local practices, geographical features, and so on in some letters, which showed he was quite an elegant man.
There were just a few thin letters. However, these letters were really nothing. Looking at these letters thoughtfully, Qu Moying felt that there was something special about these letters.
But after thinking about it for a while, she still couldn’t figure out anything.
These letters were so strange that she felt that they didn’t seem to be left by her father at all. They didn’t seem to be written by her father, nor did they seem to be written by her mother.
Who wrote these letters?
Did these letters mean literally? Or did these letters have any other meanings? Qu Moying keenly found that there was a seal at the end of a letter. One of the words imprinted was “Lie”, and the other word could not be seen clearly. It was hard to tell whether it was because the seal was not clearly imprinted or because it had faded with time.
Who was the man with the word “Lie” in his name? When she was Ji Hanyue, she was sure that her father had never mentioned such a person to her.
And he seemed to come from the North!
She frowned slightly. Just as she was thinking about it, she suddenly heard Yu Dong report from outside, “Lady, First Lady is here!”
“Qu Xuexin? What is she doing here at this time?”
Qu Moying put down the letter in her hand and closed the box again. Then she put away the key and the box together and said slowly, “Come in and tell me what happened.”
Yu Dong walked in. Just now, Qu Moying wanted to be alone for a while, so he went out.
Yu Dong said, “Lady, First Lady said she has something to tell you.”
“What is she doing here?” Qu Moying asked lightly. She did not think that Qu Xuexin still had the mood to chat with her at this time.
Yu Dong said angrily, “I don’t know. Anyway, I think she is quite anxious. Lady, there is no need to see her. She didn’t have any good intentions before.”
He was just a little suspicious of Qu Xuexin before, but he said it out bluntly now.
“Let her go back. Just tell her that I’m not feeling well.” Qu Moying said with a faint smile. No matter why Qu Xuexin came to her at this time, she was definitely up to no good.
“Yes, I will tell her now.” Yu Dong said cheerfully. He turned around and left. With Qu Moying’s words, he didn’t have to bother about Qu Xuexin.
Qu Xuexin was waiting anxiously in the yard. When she saw Yu Dong come out, she hurriedly walked up to him and asked anxiously, “What is Moying doing? Did she let me in?”
As she asked, she lifted her foot to walk in.
Yu Dong reached out and stopped her. “First Lady, I’m really sorry. Our lady is tired and is still asleep. I’m afraid she won’t be able to see you now.”
Qu Xuexin said unhappily, “Is she still not up? It’s so late.”
“First Lady, I’m really sorry. Our lady fainted yesterday. We asked a doctor to check her. If she hadn’t been to Eastern Palace with you, she would have long rested.” Yu Dong stood still with a fake smile, not intending to get out of the way.
Hong Mei raised her eyebrows and wanted to scold Yu Dong. But seeing Yu Dong look at her coldly, she was so frightened that she did not dare to speak.
“I have something urgent. You go and wake your lady up.” Qu Xuexin had no choice but to stop with a terrible look.
“First Lady, I’m afraid this won’t do. Our lady is really uncomfortable. At this time, she definitely can’t see any guests. Tomorrow, when she feels better, she will go to apologize to you.” Yu Dong refused to give in.
“You…” Qu Xuexin was so angry that her face turned pale. She almost couldn’t control herself and wanted to slap Yu Dong. But in the end, she took a step back and tried to calm down. “Well, when your lady gets better, let her come to me. I have something important to tell her, which concerns her future life.”
“Yes, I get it. See you, First Lady.” Yu Dong said with a cheeky smile. He didn’t seem to take it seriously at all.
Qu Xuexin was so angry that her heart ached, but it was not the right time to quarrel with Qu Moying, so she had to leave the yard.
After coming out of the yard, she stomped her foot forcefully and left in a huff.
She couldn’t be more anxious now. Ever since she heard from her mother that her grandmother wanted to marry her to Xiao Hanyuan, she was extremely anxious. She came to Qu Moying because she wanted to let Qu Moying express her desire to marry Xiao Hanyuan. She thought it was already a blessing for Qu Moying to marry Xiao Hanyuan, and she would not fight with her for him.
“Eldest Cousin Sister!” As Qu Xuexin was walking, she heard a surprised voice from the side. She had to stop, only to see Xiao Hanyuan coming over with an excited face.
The happiness on his face could not be concealed. Just now, Qu Zhilin had asked him some things, almost pointing out that he wanted to marry Qu Xuexin to him. How could Xiao Hanyuan not be happy? Compared with Qu Moying, he liked the gentle and decent Qu Xuexin more. Ever since he entered Qu Mansion, only Qu Xuexin would send people to his place and care about him from time to time.
He didn’t know when he had the intention to marry Qu Xuexin. Qu Zhilin told him that the matter of Qu Xuexin falling into the river tainted her reputation. However, he did not care because he knew Qu Xuexin was very good.
Xiao Hanyuan took a few steps forward and asked with concern, “Eldest Cousin Sister, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Cousin Xiao, if you have nothing to do, I will go back first.” Qu Xuexin said with a serious face as if she wanted to keep a distance from him.
Xiao Hanyuan was stunned and looked at Qu Xuexin in front of him in shock. In the past, when Qu Xuexin talked to him, she was always gentle, as if she had feelings for him. When she looked at him, she was a little shy. But now, she seemed to want to cut off all relations with him.
This made him very uncomfortable.
In the past, there was no relationship between the two of them, but now they were about to get engaged.
Xiao Hanyuan continued implicitly, “Eldest Cousin Sister, Eldest Uncle just said…”
Qu Xuexin rudely interrupted Xiao Hanyuan, “Cousin Xiao, if you have nothing else to do, I will leave first. I have something to do now. Moying is sick. If you are free, you can go and see her. I heard that she was also frightened by what happened yesterday.”
After saying this, Qu Xuexin left with Hong Mei without looking back.
When Hong Mei left, she turned back to look at Xiao Hanyuan. Xiao Hanyuan could clearly see a hint of ridicule and contempt in her eyes.
Xiao Hanyuan was so angry that his hands and feet went cold. He had been in Qu Mansion for so long, and the servants in the mansion were quite respectful to him for the sake of the Old Lady. He had never been looked at with such a contemptuous look by a maid. What did Qu Xuexin mean? If she didn’t want to marry him, she could just say it.
But why was she so close to him before?
“Cousin Brother, why are you in a daze here?”