Chapter 353
Xiao Hanyuan fiercely flicked his sleeves and snapped, “Alright, I would like to hear what your lady will say.”
Then, he followed Yu Chun inside.
In the main room, Qu Moying was already sitting there with the eye veil. Seeing Xiao Hanyuan come in, she stood up and bowed slightly. Then, she said indifferently, “Cousin Xiao, please sit.”
Xiao Hanyuan was here to make trouble and vent his anger, but he was stopped by Yu Dong just now and was angry at him. At this time, he could only sit down in a huff.
A young maid came in to serve tea and immediately left.
Qu Moying pinched her sleeves and elegantly picked up the teacup to take a sip. Then, she slowly put it down.
Xiao Hanyuan couldn’t hold it in any longer. Seeing Qu Moying put down the teacup, he immediately snapped, “Fourth Cousin Sister, I don’t know what’s the relationship between you and me that makes you deal with the Eldest Cousin Sister like this.”
No matter what Qu Moying said next, he had to make their relationship clear to Qu Moying. He would not hesitate. He wanted to stop Qu Moying from coveting him. If Qu Moying still wanted to be with him, he would make a big fuss. As a man, he was not afraid that his reputation would be tainted.
He thought to himself, “Even if my reputation will be tainted, so what? In any case, Eldest Cousin Sister’s reputation is worse than mine. If my reputation is tainted, I might suit her better.”
Xiao Hanyuan mustered his courage and glared at Qu Moying. He planned to refute Qu Moying no matter what she said, and he was determined to make it a mess. He would screw up the possibility of him marrying Qu Moying. Anyway, he would not marry Qu Moying. He disliked her very much.
“Cousin Xiao, I don’t know what you mean.” Qu Moying glanced coldly at Xiao Hanyuan without emotions.
“Don’t you understand? Then I’ll make it clearer. Fourth Cousin Sister, I felt pity for you when your engagement was annulled back then. However, there is nothing more than feeling pity for you. I won’t marry you. You don’t have to keep targeting Eldest Cousin Sister. No matter whom I will marry in the future, I am absolutely sure that I will never marry you. Your personality is too incompatible with mine. You are way out of my league!”
Xiao Hanyuan stood up and looked down at Qu Moying with contempt in his eyes.
He sounded to be polite. He said that Qu Moying was way out of his league and that they were incompatible. But what he meant was to tell Qu Moying not to covet him.
Seeing him like this, Qu Moying almost laughed out of anger. Needless to say, he must have come here because of someone’s instigation. Although she didn’t know who instigated him, she knew it was one of those few people.
Xiao Hanyuan really thought too highly of himself.
She smiled faintly and said, “Young Master Xiao, please rest assured. You won’t have anything to do with me, and I won’t target Eldest Sister for you. As for whether Eldest Sister is targeting me or not, that is not what I know.”
She was not in the mood to resolve Xiao Hanyuan’s doubts. Seeing how he acted, Qu Moying knew he was here to ruin her reputation, and she thought it was unnecessary for her to be polite to him.
She had no intention of calling him “Cousin Xiao” anymore.
“What… What do you mean by this?” Although Xiao Hanyuan was planning to make a scene, he was stunned when he heard Qu Moying’s words. He subconsciously asked. Qu Moying did not seem to be guilty at all.
She sat there steadily. Although he could not see her eyes, he could tell from her cold face that she was looking straight at him coldly.
“Young Master Xiao, let me make it clear to you. My marriage has already been arranged, and it has nothing to do with you. It was arranged by my grandmother and father, but it hasn’t been announced yet because it’s not the time. It has been arranged long before you came to our mansion.”
Looking at the self-conceited Xiao Hanyuan, Qu Moying said more and more impolitely.
Xiao Hanyuan was tongue-tied for a while, but then he found something suspicious, “How… how is this possible? Grandaunt said…”
He remembered that when he just came to study at Qu Mansion, his grandaunt had implied to him that he should get along more with Qu Moying. But what did Qu Moying mean now?
“Young Master Xiao, grandmother might have said something to you because she was ignorant of it at that time. In fact, my father has already prepared everything. I seldom met you after you came to our mansion because I have to avoid meeting men.”
Qu Moying said calmly.
She would definitely enter Lord Yun Mansion. Both the Old Lady and Qu Zhizhen knew this well, and they would not arrange any marriage for her. What happened in the palace that day and the water lotus that Pei Yuanjun asked Qu Zhizhen to send to her were adequately convincing.
Xiao Hanyuan shut his mouth and felt speechless for a moment. This was completely different from what he had thought before.
“Young Master Xiao, do you think that I have a grudge against Eldest Sister because of you? But my marriage has been arranged and it has nothing to do with you. Moreover, I have always been avoiding meeting you and have almost never talked to you in private. Do you still think that I am targeting Eldest Sister because of you?”
Qu Moying continued to ask with a calm expression. Did the one who instigated Xiao Hanyuan to come here just to make him make such a scene?
He made such a scene in Qu Mansion. Even if it was spread out, it would not be sensational. Compared with the matter that Qu Xuexin fell into the river and was rescued by a man in public, this was really a trifle.
“But… but why?” Xiao Hanyuan was stumped. His face flushed and turned pale. He felt quite ashamed.
“I don’t know. I don’t know who made you think this way. The person who made you think this way must be deliberately stirring up trouble, but I wonder which caring elder brother and sister did it?”
Qu Moying curled her lips in ridicule.
Her words were full of contempt, with a bit of mockery and indifference. Qu Moying was really indifferent to these siblings in Qu Mansion.
Xiao Hanyuan was stunned. He looked at Qu Moying in shock. For the first time, he seemed to see the young girl in front of him clearly. Even though she was wearing an eye veil and most of her face was covered, he still had to admit that she was actually beautiful. She was elegant and decent. Even though she was just sitting there, she still had a calm bearing.
This kind of bearing was more convincing than Qu Xuexin’s dignity and gentleness.
It seemed that Qu Moying was the paradigm of a noble lady.
However, what Qu Moying meant was so detached that it made his hair stand on end. But at the thought of what she had been through, he thought that he was not qualified to criticize her.
She had been abandoned for so many years, and she had no relatives to look after her. Wasn’t her pitiful to grow up like this?
For some reason, Xiao Hanyuan felt that Qu Moying’s words were credible. After thinking about it carefully, he directly said, “It’s Second Cousin’s guess.”
Qu Mingcheng was Yu’s son. Xiao Hanyuan had heard that Yu had plotted against Qu Moying before, and Qu Qiuyan had been discriminating against Qu Moying.
It was normal for Qu Mingcheng to be hostile to Qu Moying.
Xiao Hanyuan was a knowledgeable scholar, so he was naturally not a fool. It was just that he had been misled by Qu Xuexin and Qu Mingcheng before. At this time, Qu Moying’s words enlightened him. He figured out something he couldn’t in the past, and he even had some doubts that he had never had before.
“Does Eldest Cousin Sister really like me? Or am I thinking too much?”
“It seemed that a long time ago, Eldest Cousin Sister had been courteous to me. On one hand, she told me that I came to Qu Mansion because of Fourth Cousin Sister. On the other hand, she implicitly made me feel that she had a good impression of me. She took care of my daily life. She appeared near my yard from time to time. However, I rarely saw Fourth Cousin Sister, who lives in West Mansion. How come I meet Eldest Cousin Sister, who lives in East Mansion, so frequently?”
“Moreover, Fourth Cousin Sister said that her marriage has already been decided. If everyone in Qu Mansion knows about this, am I the only one kept in the dark?”
Xiao Hanyuan’s face darkened as he thought of this.
“So, it is Second Brother. He is Madam Yu’s son.” Qu Moying curled her lips. She was not surprised at all. She glanced out of the window. It seemed that there would be a follow-up. Moreover, probably not only the people of the inner yard saw that Xiao Hanyuan made a scene in Qianyue House.
“Cousin Xiao, since we’ve talked it out, please go back. Maybe there will be something else later. You’re preparing for the exam, so you’d better not get involved in this kind of thing.” Qu Moying stood up and smiled, indicating that he should go.
Hearing her words, Xiao Hanyuan was shocked. He immediately came to his senses. His main purpose in coming to the capital was to take the Imperial Examination. As for the marriage, it was not discussed seriously, so it couldn’t count!
He nodded and turned to leave. After taking a few steps, he suddenly turned around and asked with a serious face, “Fourth Cousin Sister, are you engaged to the owner of that boat?”
“Yes!” Qu Moying smiled calmly.
Xiao Hanyuan was speechless. He wanted to say something, but he saw Qu Moying’s indifferent smile. He knew that even if he continued to ask, Qu Moying might not tell him anything. Although he was full of doubts, he could not ask more at this time. He cupped his hands to Qu Moying and turned to leave.
Since he knew that Qu Mingcheng did not have any good intentions, it was obviously inappropriate for him to stay in Qu Mansion any longer.
When he reached the door, he looked back. Then, he left decisively. It seemed that Qu Mansion was not a good place for his study. He should move out. He decided to talk to the Old Lady and move out after talking to Qu Xuexin.
Qu Mansion was too complicated and was not a quiet place.
Although Xiao Hanyuan had mixed feelings, he already had the intention of leaving.
Not long after he left, a few people came over on the way, including Qu Zhizhen, but he was not the one who was the center of attention…
Coincidentally, they headed towards Qu Moying’s Qianyue House…