Chapter 116

Chapter 116 I Will Jump From Here if You Don’t Believe Me

“Ying, Yu has been ill recently, and her situation seems pretty serious. I wanted to lock her up in the family temple and tell the outsiders that she was sick, but I didn’t expect her to really fall ill. I want to let you and Yan manage the family affairs together. What do you think about it?”

“She’s really sick?” Qu Moying lifted her head and asked.

Judging by Yu’s personality, Qu Moying knew she wouldn’t give up like this. For Yu, the best way to get around with the situation was to take a step back. If Yu was too sick to even get off the bed, people couldn’t really do anything to her. This was what Qu Moying thought before.

Right now, what the Old Lady said seemed to be quite different than her expectation.

“It’s true. Even the Imperial Doctor we invited from the royal palace said it would be hard to treat her,” the Old Lady nodded with a sullen face.

It was not that easy to bribe the Imperial Doctors, which meant Yu’s sickness was true.

But the timing was still too suspicious since her sickness came in time to get her out of trouble. Qu Moying couldn’t find it convincing at all.

Something was definitely not right.

“Then…will she recover?” asked Qu Moying.

“Hard to say. Both Imperial Doctors from the royal palace don’t have a clear idea and need more time to observe her situation. They say she needs good rest, or she may really…” The Old Lady’s pulled a long face.

She didn’t like Yu, but she didn’t intend to make her son lose his wife again.

“Grandmother, whose idea is it to let me and Third Sister manage the mansion together?” Qu Moying changed the topic. She would find a chance to investigate Yu’s sickness, but her current focus was what the Old Lady said about letting her manage the mansion. It didn’t seem a good timing for her to take the responsibility of managing the family affairs.

On the one hand, she didn’t want to do it; on the other hand, she didn’t have to be the one who took the burden.

Qu Moying was supposed to be an ignorant lady who grew up in a village and shouldn’t have the ability to do any kind of management work. Although she didn’t fully hide her intelligence right now, managing the mansion should still be too much of a burden for her. If she really did it and did it well, this would easily draw people’s suspicion toward her real identity.

Her real identity was indeed Qu Moying, but she didn’t want to catch people’s attention because of this.

In terms of education, she could use Ji Hanyue as her excuse, saying that she was taught by the person sent by Ji Hanyue. But Ji Hanyue would never send someone to teach her about the management of family affairs.

If she did it well, people would suspect her; if she deliberately showed her ignorance, people would seize the chance to frame her again.

It seemed to be a great opportunity to learn things but was actually another trap. It should be either Yu or Qu Qiuyan’s idea.

“Your Third Sister told me that she wants to learn how to manage the mansion, but she is afraid that she can’t handle it alone. So, she asked for my help. But I think it can be a good chance for you to learn it too since you will eventually do it after getting married. My idea is to let you and Yan manage the mansion together under your aunt’s guidance. Does it sound good to you?” the Old Lady asked.

The Old Lady had considered it for a while and even discussed it with Granny Wu. Finally, she made up her mind to propose it to Qu Moying, thinking it should be a good idea.

In her eyes, Qu Moying grew up in the village and never got the opportunity to learn about mansion management. Even if she wouldn’t take the management responsibility in her marriage life, it would still be helpful for her to deal with things in her own yard in the future.

Since Qu Qiuyan needed to learn it anyway, Qu Moying might as well learn together with her.

“But my health condition is not too well, and I just came to the capital. Although my cousin sent people to the village to teach me some knowledge before, those were only basic things…” Qu Moying rejected in a polite way.

Her words made the Old Lady fall into silence since the Old Lady knew it might be too hard for Qu Moying to manage the mansion right now.

After a second thought, the Old Lady didn’t want to give up on her idea. She believed it would be helpful for Qu Moying’s future no matter how hard it could be right now. “Then, if you have time, stay with them more and watch how they handle things. Once you feel comfortable enough, you can start to do it. How about this?”

“Grandmother, thank you. I got it.” Qu Moying nodded as her eyes darkened. This was indeed a good solution since all she needed to do was watch them aside. She had the right to choose if she wanted to express her opinions on things without taking any responsibility.

Compared to the Old Lady’s last proposal, this one could give her much more freedom and convenience.

The discussion about managing the mansion was put to an end. After a short chat with the Old Lady, Qu Moying went back to the Qianyue House. It was a long day for her. She quickly finished her dinner and got onto the bed when the night just fell.

In her dream, she saw herself falling from the high Linyuan Pavilion. Then she saw a fire lighting up the dark night while Qu Moying lied on the ground feebly with her eyes covered by a veil. There was something heavy on her chest, and the suffocating feeling started to get stronger and stronger…

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and found herself staring at the peony flowers carved on the ceiling in shock.

After a while, she slowly released her hand that was pressing her chest as she regained her consciousness. Then she suddenly turned her head to look at the table where a candle was lighted up. On the middle chair sat Pei Yuanjun, wearing a dark purple robe. She could clearly see the delicate embroidered iris flowers blooming on his sleeves. The golden decorative pattern aside gleamed under the dim light.

A cup of tea was beside his hand, apparently poured out from the teapot on the table. Pei Yuanjun raised his pretty eyes and looked into Qu Moying’s. Under her shocked gaze, he idly took a sip from the teacup. If Qu Moying didn’t know this was her bedroom, his carefree look almost could convince her that they were in his mansion.

She sat up, calmed herself down, and asked, “My lord, what emergency brings you here?”

It was not Pei Yuanjun’s usual style to break into her bedroom in the mid of a night.

“I so happen to pass by here, so I come to visit you,” Pei Yuanjun raised his brow and said carelessly. After he put down the cup and leaned back in the chair, Qu Moying noticed he was even holding a paper fan in his hand. He gently knocked his fan on the table while saying, “Pei Yusheng is paying a visit here.”

“Right now?” Qu Moying fell in a daze and asked in surprise. Her eyelashes fluttered in shock, making her look even more stunning under the dim light.

She was more petite and slender than women at her age, looking like a young girl rather than a grown-up. As she sat on the bed, her long and black hair obediently lied behind her head, covering more than half of her body. Without the veil, her beautiful face was fully exposed.

Maybe because she wore the veil for too long, her eyes tended to be darker and waterier than ordinary women’s but so clear that they seemed to contain the reflection of everything around her. Her long, fluttering eyelashes added a fragile aura to her fair face. She looked like a black-and-white artistic painting, only with a hint of bright pink on her lips.

That tiny bit of light redness might not be noticeable on other people’s faces, but somehow, it brought vitality to hers. That tiny, palm-sized face showed a natural trace of coquettish charm, matching incredibly well with her elegant aura.

“Yes, right now.” Pei Yuanjun didn’t seem to notice her stunning beauty and cast a meaningful glance at her. Then he squinted her long, downturned eyes, “Do you want to go take a look?”

Pei Yuanjun didn’t have a reaction when seeing her whole face last time, which was another reason that Qu Moying could act honestly faced with him.

After all, no one could defeat Lord Yun in terms of appearance, including men and women. Seeing his own face in the mirror too many times, he probably grew a high standard that no one could reach.

Moreover, no matter how confident Qu Moying was in her appearance, she believed she was just a thing in Pei Yuanjun’s eyes instead of a living person. He never intended to take a good look at her. She was probably a pretty landscape painting to him, a still item, leaving no trace in his heart.

“My lord, you are Lord Jing’s uncle, right?” Qu Moying looked at Lord Yun, feeling speechless. She heard that Lord Yun was younger than all his nephews, though he was their uncle. But was it really okay for him to watch his nephew’s date with another woman?

His suggestion didn’t fit his identity at all.

“It doesn’t matter to me. Since I’m here already, let’s go take a look at them together!” Pei Yuanjun stood up gracefully, fetched a cloak in front of the screen for Qu Moying, and threw it on her bed. “Put it on and go with me. Maybe you can hear some important things.”

Some important things? Qu Moying was convinced and didn’t reject him again. She didn’t have any useful information in the Qu’s Mansion. If Lord Jing insisted on supporting Qu Qiuyan, it would make her his enemy and bring danger to her life. It was not a bad idea to eavesdrop on Qu Qiuyan and Lord Jing right now, since Qu Qiuyan probably would blame Qu Moying for everything that had happened.

Qu Zhizhen had set up a banquet for Lord Jing on the top floor of a building in the Qu’s Mansion. But right now, the host was replaced by Qu Qiuyan, who specially dressed up for this occasion. She sat in front of Pei Yusheng, sobbing pitifully.

“Your Royal Highness, do you really…think…I’m that kind of person? I was just kneeling in the altar room, and it’s the Crown Princess’s altar room. Even if…if I really…I wouldn’t do such a shameless thing. Moreover, you know…my feelings for you…Your Royal Highness… If you don’t believe me, I will jump from here to show you my determination.”

Crying, Qu Qiuyan stood up and rushed to the window. Startled by her sudden movement, her maid was in a daze and only screamed, “My lady!” After a few seconds, the maid remembered that she needed to stop her master. But it was too late.

Luckily, Pei Yusheng’s reaction was much faster than a weak lady’s movement since he had practiced martial arts. He grabbed Qu Qiuyan’s sleeve and pulled her back, making her fall back into his arms.

Before she fell off, Qu Qiuyan suddenly used all her strength to avoid his embrace and tilted her body aside. She couldn’t control her body while falling and ended up twisting her ankle. After a cry of pain, she knelt on the ground in front of Pei Yusheng, her face turning pale.

“Are you alright? Did you bump into anything?” The stern look on Pei Yusheng’s face softened as he reached out to check if she got hurt.

“Your Royal Highness, you don’t need to pull me up. Even though we… We can’t act too intimately right now,” Qu Qiuyan refused him in a soft voice and pushed his hand away.

Her maid hurriedly helped her stand up, but her face turned even paler because of the pain. Moved by her pitiful look, Pei Yusheng pushed the maid away with no hesitance, carried Qu Qiuyan in his arms, and put her down on a chair aside. “Don’t talk nonsense right now. Where are you hurt?”

“Your Royal Highness, I’m fine as long as you don’t misunderstand me,” Qu Qiuyan said while enduring the pain. The forced smile and teary eyes made her pretty face even look more pitiful.

Pei Yusheng let out a sigh, stood up, and lowered his head to look at her. “Alright, I trust you. Tell me who set you up?”