Chapter 387
Under the eye veil, Qu Moying’s eyes slightly contracted. Then, she looked at Qi Xiangyu calmly as if she really did not know anything.
Qi Xiangyu was indeed more and more surprised. “It is an item from your mother’s dowry?”
Qu Moying answered with a smile, “Yes. Is there anything wrong?”
Qi Xiangyu hurriedly waved her hand. “No, no. There is nothing wrong. I’m just interested in your qin. Can I take a closer look at it later?”
Qu Moying said without hesitation, “Okay!”
Qi Xiangyu was overjoyed and repeatedly thanked her.
Liu Jingyu looked over from the other side of Prefectural Princess Xiangrong and saw that Qu Moying and Qi Xiangyu talked happily, so she asked with a smile, “Cousin Sister, what are you talking with Fourth Lady Qu? You two seemed to be very happy.”
“Nothing. I just ask Fourth Lady Qu what books she usually reads.” Qi Xiangyu’s smile faded slightly. Although she still smiled, her smile seemed alienated.
Liu Jingyu seemed to be curious as well, and she asked, “Then what books do you usually read, Fourth Lady Qu?”
Qu Moying shook her head. “I just read casually. I read whatever book at hand. There is nothing like a must-read book.”
Hearing such words, Liu Jingyu had no clue to continue the topic, so she glanced at Qu Moying and continued to talk to Prefectural Princess Xiangrong.
The hostess and the guests all enjoyed the meal. After the banquet was over, everyone began to take their leave.
Qi Xiangyu followed Qu Moying upstairs to see the qin.
Yu Chun put down the qin on the table, took off the qin cover, and revealed the qin case.
Qi Xiangyu took two steps forward, held the qin case in her arms, and carefully examined every inch of it. She was so shocked and excited that she couldn’t say anything for a moment. She just touched the carved patterns on the qin case with her trembling hands and slowly opened the qin case…
Yu Dong looked at Qu Moying in surprise. He did not understand why Qi Xiangyu was so excited. He thought even if Qi Xiangyu liked this qin, she had been overreacting to some extent.
However, Qu Moying was very calm. She looked at Qi Xiangyu, lost in thought. “Is this qin really related to Duke Qi’s Mansion as I thought?”
After a long time, Qi Xiangyu raised her head and looked at Qu Moying. She asked again, “Is this really your mother’s dowry?”
Qu Moying nodded. “Yes!”
Qi Xiangyu forced a smile. “That… That’s too surprising!”
Qu Moying looked at Qi Xiangyu, whose face was still filled with excitement, and asked, “Miss Qi, can you tell me why you are so surprised?”
“I… I have heard of this qin. I heard that it was an excellent qin. Previously, I just caught a glimpse of it and couldn’t help but want to see it clearly. Sorry to make you laugh.” Qi Xiangyu said. She gently pressed the handkerchief on her face and suddenly smiled. “I might have been too excited. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this qin.”
Qu Moying asked implicitly, “What is special about this qin? I don’t know about its background.”
“I accidentally read about this qin in a book. In fact, it might not have been recorded in other books. It has a good name. I knew that it was destroyed in the chaos of war, so I kept it in mind. It seems that it is another wrong rumor. It turned out that it was not destroyed, but your mother’s maternal family got it.”
After all, Qi Xiangyu was a young lady of Duke Qi’s Mansion. At this time, she also knew that she had lost her composure just now. She explained calmly, and her expression slowly returned to normal.
Qi Xiangyu and Qu Moying talked about the qin for a while. Seeing that it was late, Qi Xiangyu invited Qu Moying to leave together.
At this time, some of the young ladies had already left. Qu Moying looked out of the window and found that it was indeed time to leave. She let Yu Chun and Yu Dong pack up the qin. Then, she went downstairs to say goodbye to Prefectural Princess Xiangrong with her two maids.
Seeing that Qi Xiangyu and Qu Moying insisted on leaving, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong didn’t insist to keep them and invited them to come again next time.
“Fourth Lady Qu, it’s your first time here, but I feel that we are very congenial. You were frightened just now, so I specially prepared a gift for you to express my apology.”
After Prefectural Princess Xiangrong finished speaking, a maid behind her walked out with a small tray in her hands, on which there were two bolts of brocades and a pair of jade bracelets. One could easily tell that the pair of jade bracelets was not ordinary.
Qu Moying refused, “Prefectural Princess Xiangrong, you are too polite. I really don’t dare to accept your gift!”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong walked up and held Qu Moying’s hands intimately, “Fourth Lady Qu, are you reluctant to forgive me for my negligence?”
“Of course not!”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong said, “Since that’s the case, please accept it. Although it’s not something particularly good, it’s a token of my appreciation.”
Since she had already said this, Qu Moying would appear too pretentious if she did not accept it. She had no choice but to let Yu Dong accept it and prepare to return a gift after she was back in Qu Mansion.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong turned to Qi Xiangyu, “Miss Qi, why don’t you sit for a while longer? Just now, County Lady Jingyu said that we few close friends could sit for a while longer and talk.”
Qi Xiangyu shook her head with a smile. “Prefectural Princess, I still have something to do, so I couldn’t keep you company.”
This was clearly a refusal.
Therefore, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong asked someone to lead them out. Looking at their backs, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong narrowed her eyes. She felt that the relationship between Qi Xiangyu and Qu Moying had suddenly improved.
Qi Xiangyu was not an approachable person in the past. Why did she get along well with Qu Moying so quickly this time?
It was quite unexpected…
However, this was just a trifle for Prefectural Princess Xiangrong now. The one she paid the most attention to was Liu Jingyu. Just now, a maid reported to Prefectural Princess Xiangrong that Liu Jingyu’s maid lowered her head when she left and raised her head when she came back. As for whether the maid who came back was the one who had gone out before, the guard was not sure.
The guard said that he didn’t see that maid clearly when she first left the mansion.
Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion suffered a loss in vain on this matter. Only if the old maid was caught could Liu Jingyu be testified against.
This matter was a thorn in Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s heart. Now that Liu Jingyu was still here, she wanted to see Liu Jingyu would put on the next part of her show…
The young ladies who didn’t leave were close to each other. Prefectural Princess Xiangrong talked with them for about two hours before seeing them off.
After the last young lady left Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s expression turned cold, and she led her people to the main yard behind.
It was Grand Princess Changyu’s yard.
Hearing that her daughter had come, Grand Princess Changyu asked her in.
As soon as Prefectural Princess Xiangrong entered the door, she said angrily, “Mother, it must be Liu Jingyu. I didn’t expect that her gentle appearance was actually fake. She is good at acting. She looks aloof and noble, but in fact, she is really…”
“Xiangrong, watch your words!” Grand Princess Changyu scolded Prefectural Princess Xiangrong in a low voice. Compared with her daughter, Grand Princess Changyu looked much calmer.
She had already known everything that had happened today. A part of the story was inquired by her, and the rest was explained to her by her daughter’s maid.
She had figured out the cause and effect of the matter.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong was unconvinced. “Mother, Liu Jingyu’s is just a petty being. Why can’t I talk about her?”
Grand Princess Changyu reminded Prefectural Princess Xiangrong, “She is not important now, but she will become the Crown Princess in the future.”
Hearing her words, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong became angrier, “Mother, the ex-Crown Princess was really an impeccable person. Only because she was no longer around could Liu Jingyu…”
Grand Princess Changyu’s face turned cold. “Xiangyu, did you forget what I have told you?”
Seeing that her mother was angry, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong did not dare to continue, but she was still very angry.
Grand Princess Changyu looked at her daughter, her expression slightly softening. She asked, “Do you feel very aggrieved?”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s face was red from anger. “Mother, how dared she?”
Grand Princess Changyu said meaningfully, “She dared to do so because she is going to become the future Crown Princess, and this is enough.”
“But… but she is not yet, and it is not certain what will happen in the future. Moreover, these are all the Crown Prince’s family affairs. Why did they stir up trouble in our mansion?” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong said angrily. She almost had to take on a big responsibility. She was annoyed at Liu Jingyu.
If she didn’t have to save Liu Jingyu’s face, she would have asked Liu Jingyu to leave on the spot.
“The Crown Prince…” Grand Princess Changyu sighed, “He made such a mess in the mourning hall that day, and now something related to him happened in our mansion. We’d better try our best not to be involved with things related to Crown Prince’s Mansion in the future.”
There were some things that Grand Princess Changyu could not say in front of her daughter. Originally, she felt that Pei Luo’an’s position as the Crown Prince was stable, and Pei Luo’an was gentle and affectionate. However, the more she saw, the more she found that the situation was not like what she had expected. When did the fight between Pei Luo’an’s women come to this point?
She thought of the chaos in the mourning hall that day and the fight between Liu Jingyu and Ji Youran today. Moreover, now that she heard Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s words, she also thought that the matter that happened today was caused by the fight between Liu Jingyu and Ji Youran. She thought that both her family and Qu Moying were made use of by Ji Youran and Liu Jingyu.
No one would be willing to be exploited in such a thing. Was Pei Luo’an’s position as the Crown Prince stable? He couldn’t even control his inner yard, so how could he expand his power and manage the country…
It seemed that the Crown Prince was not good at dealing with women. Since ancient times, many emperors came to a miserable end for the sake of women. As the Crown Prince’s elder, Grand Princess Changyu was a little worried.
Of course, she was also a little annoyed. No matter what the Crown Prince did in his own mansion, he shouldn’t have allowed such trouble to take place in her mansion.
Grand Princess Changyu said earnestly, “From now on, you should keep a distance from County Lady Jingyu. Be careful not to be used by her again. Otherwise, you might be a blind donkey exploited by her to the last drop of your blood!”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong nodded in agreement. “Mother, I understand. I will gradually stay away from her.”
In the future, she would stay far away from Liu Jingyu. Even if Liu Jingyu entered Eastern Palace and became the Crown Princess, she might not have the last laugh. The Paramount Empress was the woman that the Emperor loved the most back then, but she was grounded in the Cold Palace and died there in the end.
Liu Jingyu did not know that her arrogant move had made Grand Princess Changyu doubt her and even alienate her. In the later disputes, Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion no longer stood on her side and helped her…
At this time, Qu Moying had already left Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion in her carriage, but she did not expect to be stopped halfway…