Chapter 384
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong did not find Ji Youran. After asking the servants, she knew that Princess Ji had already gone back, and the Crown Prince was with her.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong had already known that the Crown Prince “happened to be” in the mansion today.
Therefore, she was even more careful not to go to his brother’s place, afraid that she would offend the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was not officially married, and several young ladies present were actually suitable to be the Crown Princess. Even if Liu Jingyu was said to be the future Crown Princess, she hadn’t become the Crown Princess yet.
There were unlimited possibilities!
Accidents might happen. If anything happened, Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion would not be able to bear the responsibility.
However, although Prefectural Princess Xiangrong took care to avoid her brother and the male guests, the Crown Prince actually came with Ji Youran. She heard that Ji Youran and Liu Jingyu had a dispute because of Qu Moying. They were both unhappy, and Liu Jingyu’s behavior was suspicious.
But now the accident was over. Prefectural Princess Xiangrong asked someone to find the few young ladies who were strolling in the mansion and let them have a rest in another place.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong ruled out the previous gathering site because it was in a mess. Moreover, the traces that were not cleaned up on the second floor would remind the young ladies of the accident just now. She said that place was unsafe and let the maids bring the young ladies to another garden.
The servants of Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion acted very quickly. Soon, they prepared another site for the gathering. Although it was prepared in a rush, its scenery was also very good. There were towers and pavilions around it, and a cool breeze constantly blew over. It was a good place to admire the scenery. The platform on the second floor was surrounded by high fences. Even if someone walked to the platform, accidents that happened in the waterside pavilion would not happen here again.
Moreover, the second floor was big enough.
A maid in Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion found Qu Moying and led her to the new gathering place. When Qu Moying came over, she saw the young ladies chatting and laughing harmoniously.
Seeing Qu Moying come over, a maid immediately greeted her with a smile. It seemed that she had been waiting for Qu Moying here for a long time. “Fourth Lady Qu, our Prefectural Princess invites you to go upstairs.”
Qu Moying went upstairs. On the spacious second floor, the young ladies were chatting and laughing in twos and threes. It seemed that everyone was in a good mood after the previous farce. There was no uneasy expression on their faces. As for what they were actually thinking, Qu Moying couldn’t tell at a glance.
Seated among the ladies, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong gently shook the round silk fan in her hand, looking quite at ease. Liu Jingyu, who was sitting next to her, also smiled elegantly. Her hair was almost dry, and she did not look as embarrassed as before. She was smiling as if nothing had happened.
Liu Jingyu was the first one to see Qu Moying come in. She waved at Qu Moying with a big smile and said softly, “Fourth Lady Qu, here you are. Come here!”
She called Qu Moying so intimately as if she really had a close relationship with Qu Moying.
Qu Moying sneered. Liu Jingyu was really good at acting. No wonder she had always been gentle and courteous in the eyes of other young ladies.
Qu Moying stepped forward and bowed to Liu Jingyu and Prefectural Princess Xiangrong, “Greetings, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong, County Lady Jingyu!”
“Fourth Lady Qu, please save the formalities. Just now, Prefectural Princess and I have been sending people to look for you. I am afraid that something will happen to you again!” Liu Jingyu said softly. She stood up with a gentle and concerned expression. Then, she bowed to Qu Moying. “Just now, I wanted to find out who plotted against me. I was too anxious that I overreacted. If I offended you, please forgive me!”
Qu Moying dodged sideways to avoid Liu Jingyu’s bow, and the expression on her face remained unchanged. She glanced at Liu Jingyu. This Liu Jingyu was indeed not easy to deal with. With just a few words, she had explained her previous mistakes. Moreover, she portrayed herself as a victim like Qu Moying.
Her words implied that it was impossible for either her or Qu Moying to be the mastermind because they were both the victims.
“County Lady, it’s really polite of you. I really did not see who did that to you just now. Sorry to let you down.” Since Liu Jingyu acted so well, Qu Moying naturally would not show the white feather. She placed her hand to the side and also bowed sideways. “County Lady, don’t worry. Prefectural Princess Xiangrong will take care of it.”
Liu Jingyu spoke first before Prefectural Princess Xiangrong, the host, said anything. She was being impolite in whichever aspect.
Sure enough, a look of displeasure flashed across Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s face. Today’s Liu Jingyu was indeed different from what she used to be. She was a little too sharp, which was very different from her past self!
Could it be that she really played a part in the incident?
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong glanced at Liu Jingyu subtly. At this time, Liu Jingyu also reacted. She hurriedly replied to Qu Moying with a smile. Her expression was extremely gentle, but she cursed Qu Moying in her heart. “This blind woman is really hard to deal with!”
She was trying to defend herself, but now she made Prefectural Princess Xiangrong suspect her, making her previous words completely useless.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong pointed to an empty chair beside her and said, “Fourth Lady Qu, please sit!”
Qu Moying thanked her, stepped forward, and sat down.
“Fourth Lady Qu, you were frightened just now. I apologize to you with this cup of tea as a toast.” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong picked up the teacup at hand, raised the teacup to her lips, and took a sip with a smile.
Qu Moying quickly said, “I don’t deserve this. Thank you very much.” Her tea had not been served yet, so she could only stand up and lower her head to express her gratitude.
Then, she sat down again and asked, “Prefectural Princess, did you find anything?”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s face darkened. It seemed that the matter had been investigated clearly, but in fact, she had gained nothing. The two maids were from her own mansion. It seemed that this matter was only related to her own mansion.
Seeing Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s expression, Qu Moying smiled. “Prefectural Princess, are there many people who are familiar with the previous gathering place?”
She raised her head and looked around. The meaning in her words was very obvious. She was asking whether these ladies knew the previous gathering place or not. Besides, she seemed to know something that she wanted to talk to Prefectural Princess Xiangrong in detail.
“No!” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong shook her head and looked at the young ladies around her.
All these young ladies were clever. They immediately understood what Prefectural Princess Xiangrong meant. She had something to say to Qu Moying alone, so they all stood up and left.
They smiled and went somewhere else to talk.
Liu Jingyu did not want to leave. She was afraid that Qu Moying would say something to make Prefectural Princess Xiangrong suspicious of her. However, since everyone else had left, it would be too strange if she didn’t leave.
Liu Jingyu thought for a while and had an idea. She did not beat around the bush and said to Prefectural Princess Xiangrong directly, “Prefectural Princess, can I stay and listen? After all, this matter has something to do with me.”
Since she said so, it was inappropriate for Prefectural Princess Xiangrong to reject her directly. Moreover, this matter really had something to do with Liu Jingyu.
“Prefectural Princess, why don’t you talk to County Lady Jingyu first? I’ll go sit by the side first.” Qu Moying stood up with a smile. It seemed that she wanted to let them talk first. Of course, it could also be said that she didn’t want Liu Jingyu to sit here. After all, the two of them didn’t seem to get along well with each other.
Even if Liu Jingyu had explained to her, she still minded.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong felt that Qu Moying was too narrow-minded. She just wanted to discuss today’s matter with the two of them. Why did Qu Moying want to talk to her alone? But if Qu Moying insisted, she could only do as Qu Moying wished because it seemed that the one behind today’s matter really targeted Qu Moying.
Most importantly, Qu Moying was someone that Lord Yun had taken a fancy to.
It was impossible for Prefectural Princess Xiangrong not to care about her.
“I have already talked to County Lady Jingyu. I want to hear your opinion now. Fourth Lady Qu, please sit!” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong said casually and then looked at Liu Jingyu apologetically, “County Lady Jingyu, can you have a seat somewhere else? I’ll talk to you after I finish talking with Fourth Lady Qu.”
Liu Jingyu could hardly believe what she had heard.
She was actually asked to leave by Prefectural Princess Xiangrong, and it was because of Qu Moying, whom she looked down on the most. She felt extremely humiliated!
She never expected this. After hearing Qu Moying’s words just now, she mocked Qu Moying for being too narrow-minded in her heart. She thought Qu Moying’s words were in vain, and Prefectural Princess Xiangrong would not respond to her request. However, she didn’t expect that Prefectural Princess Xiangrong not only granted Qu Moying’s request but also let her sit elsewhere.
Liu Jingyu’s face flushed with anger, but she tried her best to suppress her anger and stood up with a calm expression. “Alright, I’ll go over there and wait for you, Prefectural Princess!”
She pointed to a place, but there was no one in that place now. There were only two seats over there. There was also Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s qin. Obviously, it was the place where Prefectural Princess Xiangrong usually played the qin. Since Prefectural Princess Xiangrong didn’t sit over there, the other young ladies knew better than to sit over there.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong said amiably, “Alright, you may wait for me over there!”
Liu Jingyu nodded at Qu Moying again and went to wait in the place she had just pointed. She still wore a smile. She looked gentle, decent, and dignified. However, her slightly blushed face showed that she was not as calm as she appeared to be.
She was probably about to die from anger!
Qu Moying watched Liu Jingyu leave with a smile. Liu Jingyu was showing off the relationship between her and Prefectural Princess Xiangrong. She was so close to Prefectural Princess Xiangrong that she did not need to care too much about the formalities. She was also trying to warn Qu Moying that no matter what Qu Moying said, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong would tell her in the end, so Qu Moying had better not talk nonsense.
Since Liu Jingyu could turn herself from the future Princess Jing to the future Crown Princess, she was obviously no ordinary person. Her shrewdness could be seen from the few simple words she had just said.
It was not surprising for such a person to become the future Crown Princess!
The reason why Liu Jingyu made a slip of the tongue before was that she fell into the water, which made her embarrassed in front of so many ladies. What’s more, she was deliberately angered by Ji Youran. Now, she probably had regained her composure.
A clear-minded Liu Jingyu was even more difficult to deal with.
Liu Jingyu took her seat over there elegantly and smiled at them. She didn’t seem to be forced to leave by Qu Moying at all.
Qu Moying really admired her for being so capable and thick-skinned…