Chapter 374
Fourth Lady He was unwilling to give in. She glared at Qu Moying and wanted to say something more, but Liu Jingyu had already softly ordered a maid to take her to change clothes. Since Liu Jingyu had ordered so, Fourth Lady He could only leave angrily.
Liu Jingyu sat down and apologized to Qu Moying softly, “Fourth Lady Qu, Fourth Lady He is not like this normally. I don’t know why she gets so angry after seeing you today. ”
“Is it because of Third Young Master He?” Hearing what she said, someone immediately remembered that there had been something between Qu Mansion and He Mansion before.
A lady asked, “Is it really First Lady Qu to whom Third Young Master He made a proposal?”
Another lady asked, “Isn’t it First Lady Qu?”
The questions came one after another and then stopped.
Qu Moying looked up at Liu Jingyu calmly. “County Lady, it has already become a past event. My grandmother said that it was an accident, and no one should be blamed.”
She said peacefully, completely different from Fourth Lady He, who was full of hostility just now.
As a matter of fact, the matter between Qu Mansion and He Mansion was indeed an accident. Although Third Young Master He proposed to a young lady of Qu Mansion, it was not officially settled. In fact, it was not a big deal. It was more like a blind date, and many ladies had been on such a blind date before getting engaged, but such an accident had not happened to them.
As for the matter that He Mansion’s people went to Qu Mansion to propose marriage, it was more like Third Young Master He had gone mad and deliberately did it to ruin Qu Xuexin’s reputation. Anyone who was involved in this kind of thing would feel unlucky.
Qu Xuexin was now cultivating as a home-based nun in Qu Mansion, and no one knew how long she would cultivate, perhaps a lifetime. The matter that happened on Qixi Festival was the main cause that led to Qu Xuexin’s current situation, but the matter about Third Young Master He was also a cause. It seemed that Qu Xuexin had really suffered a great grievance.
How unlucky Qu Mansion was!
Therefore, when Fourth Lady He came back and mocked Qu Moying again, she found that no one echoed her.
Although she had a lot to say, she couldn’t continue and could only sulk aside.
Liu Jingyu deliberately started the topic, but she didn’t expect Qu Moying to answer so flawlessly. However, Liu Jingyu reacted quickly. She froze only for a moment after Qu Moying finished speaking. Then, she stopped paying attention to Qu Moying and began to talk to Prefectural Princess Xiangrong. It was as if she did not care about what had just happened.
She seemed to be even more magnanimous.
Liu Jingyu asked, “Prefectural Princess Xiangrong, why hasn’t Prefectural Princess Yiyu come yet? It’s already so late!”
Prefectural Princess Yiyu was Grand Princess Mingzhu’s daughter. She was on good terms with them and was in their circle.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong replied with a smile, “She’s not feeling well, so she didn’t come today.”
Liu Jingyu asked with concern, “Is she sick? Is it serious?”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong answered, “She’s alright. She was fine before, but today she said she was sick. She asked us not to take it to heart and said she would apologize to us in a few days.”
Liu Jingyu suggested appropriately, “Then let’s go to visit her later. We can’t wait until she recovers!”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong thought about it and nodded. “Okay… let’s go to visit her when the gathering is over. If she’s fine, we will wait for her apology next time.”
Liu Jingyu nodded, looked around the reception hall, and asked with a smile, “It’s a good idea. So, is the gathering held here today?”
“Of course it is not here. There is nothing prepared here.” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong stood up and said to the ladies with a smile, “Almost everyone is here. Ladies, come with me. Let’s go to the waterside pavilion. It’s cool there, and we can enjoy the scenery. If you want to draw, painting tools are also prepared there.”
Liu Jingyu also stood up and asked with a smile, “Is it the waterside pavilion you like the most?”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong nodded. “Yes, that’s it. I mentioned it to you before.”
Liu Jingyu said with a smile, “That place is really good. Although every place here in Grand Princess Mansion has a good view, that place is the most beautiful and suitable for holding a gathering.”
“I chose it after hearing what you said. After thinking about it, I thought that place was the best.” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong walked in the front, and Liu Jingyu chatted and laughed with her and followed her out.
The young ladies stood up one after another and walked out together. Today’s gathering was mainly for fun. Without the presence of the elders, everyone was relaxed. They walked forward in twos and threes. However, Qu Moying was still walking behind the others. She didn’t know anyone here, so it was reasonable for her to walk slowly.
However, she did not expect that the person walking in front of her was actually Yan Yujiao. Moreover, Yan Yujiao seemed to have something to say to her because Yan Yujiao turned to look at her from time to time. She was so different from what she used to be that Qu Moying couldn’t fail to notice her.
Yu Dong also saw Yan Yujiao’s abnormality and reminded Qu Moying in a low voice, “Lady, please be careful of her.”
Qu Moying shook her head and said, “It doesn’t matter! I don’t think she is going to make things difficult for me.”
She had observed Yan Yujiao just now. If it were in the past, Yan Yujiao would have long echoed Liu Jingyu intensely to go against Qu Moying, but she didn’t say anything just now, which was quite interesting.
It seemed that Yan Yujiao was not completely ignorant of everything.
“Then why is she looking at you from time to time?” Yu Dong asked in confusion. Yan Yujiao’s action was too conspicuous, and she was in front of them. She kept turning back. It was impossible for him not to pay attention to her.
“Don’t worry about her. Let’s take our time.” Qu Moying shook her head and looked up at the front. Prefectural Princess Xiangrong and Liu Jingyu had already walked out of Qu Moying’s sight, and the other ladies were walking in twos and threes.
From afar, Qu Moying could already see the waterside pavilion. It should be built near the lake in the mansion.
There were willow trees and a lotus pond. It was really beautiful there.
As expected, although Yan Yujiao weirdly kept turning to look at Qu Moying, she didn’t do anything else. It seemed that she was not going to pick a fight.
They finally arrived at the waterside pavilion.
It was built near the lake, and it enjoyed great scenery. The lotuses were blooming on the lake.
The waterside pavilion had two floors. Some people liked to be close to the pond so that they could reach out from the window to touch the water in the pond. The water rippled and was beautiful.
One could gaze into the distance on the second floor. Although the second floor was far away from the water, it provided a better view.
On the other side of the waterside pavilion, there was an artificial hill. It was high, and the water flowed down from the top of it, making a pleasant sound. There were also tall banana trees planted there, and the water flowed down from the banana leaves, which made the scene even more pleasant.
Qu Moying was the last to arrive. She looked around and saw that the seats on the first floor were basically all taken, so she brought her two maids to the second floor.
There were only two young ladies on the second floor. When they saw Qu Moying, they only looked up at her briefly and continued to chat with each other. They did not intend to chat with Qu Moying.
Qu Moying sat by a window. She found that this window here was somewhat different from the window in her mansion. This window could be pulled open directly, and there was a balcony outside the window. One could go out on the balcony from this window and get a better view of the scenery.
The balcony outside the window was not small, and it would not be dangerous to view the scenery outside the window. Moreover, there was a small circle of railings at the outermost part of the balcony, which was very low, only to the ankle. It was only a little bit higher than the ground. Although the railing was a bit low, it provided an open view.
It was a very good place.
In comparison, the first floor was much more crowded than the second floor. Moreover, it did not provide such a good view. However, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong and Liu Jingyu were both there, so those ladies didn’t choose to come upstairs. These two ladies were here only because the seats on the first floor were all taken.
The window next to Qu Moying was close to the artificial hill. The sound of flowing water outside was clear and pleasant, and there was no noise made by people. It was a nice and quiet place.
A maid walked up and saw the three ladies upstairs. She smiled and said, “Prefectural Princess Xiangrong sent me to ask if you three ladies need drawing tools or something like a qin?”
“No need. We have it ourselves.” The two ladies waved their hands, indicating for the maids who followed them to come forward. A maid held a drawing board and some other drawing tools in her hands. It seemed that her master was going to draw a picture here. Another lady’s maid walked forward, and she held similar things in her hands. The two ladies seemed familiar with each other, and they should have agreed on drawing together.
The maid from Grand Princess Mansion looked at Qu Moying. “Fourth Lady Qu, what do you need?”
Qu Moying shook her head and pointed at the qin in Yu Dong’s arms and said, “Thank Prefectural Princess Xiangrong for her thoughtfulness. But I brought a qin myself. If I need anything else, I will ask for her help.”
“Alright, then I will leave first.” The maid smiled and went down.
After a while, a few more maids came up and placed pastries, fruits, and other things in front of the three of them. The two ladies over there did not care about Qu Moying at all.
A maid came up and wanted to carry a chair down, but she could not do it herself. She looked at Yu Dong who was not far from her and walked to him. Then, she anxiously pleaded in a low voice, “Sister, can you help me carry this chair down?”
Yu Dong looked at Qu Moying and said hesitantly, “I… I can’t walk away now.”
The maid pleaded in a low voice. “It will only take you a while. You can come up as soon as you help me carry it downstairs. It won’t take long.”
Seeing how pitiful she was, Yu Dong placed the qin in Yu Chun’s hands, walked over to Qu Moying, and told her about the situation in a low voice. Qu Moying glanced at the maid and nodded slightly.
The maid was overjoyed and bowed to Qu Moying from afar. Yu Dong went over and moved the chair with her.
The chair was made of redwood, and it was so heavy that it was difficult for even the two maids to lift it. They couldn’t exert their strength properly when moving it, and they only moved it for a short distance after quite a while.
Yu Dong couldn’t help but look at Yu Chun, who was standing beside Qu Moying. “Yu Chun, come over and help me! Help us move it to the stairs. It won’t take long.”