Chapter 126

Chapter 126 A Venomous Couple Blaming Each Other

Yue Wenhan and Ji Yong’an showed up nearby. Yue Wenhan was walking in front, and his cold gaze fell on Xiao’s face, sending a cold shiver down her spine. This one was not a weak girl like Qu Moying but the real vice minister of the Dali Temple, who had solved many cases and sentenced many people to death. Thinking about Yue Wenhan’s background, Xiao couldn’t suppress the fear in her heart.

No matter how tough Xiao was in front of Qu Moying, she was still a female and didn’t have the guts to confront a person like Yue Wenhan.

She threw a stern glare at Ji Yong’an, following behind Yue Wenhan, and cursed him inwardly for bringing Yue Wenhan here. How could Ji Yong’an bring a male to the inner yard?

Ji Yong’an had his own difficulty. Since Yue Wenhan tried every means to meet Ji Yongming for the last time after he entered the mansion, Ji Yong’an had no other choice but to bring him here. Ji Yongming’s body was not even here. How could they let Yue Wenhan see him for the last time?

Yue Wenhan’s continuous questions made Ji Yong’an more and more flustered. Then they mentioned Ji Hanyue during the talk, so Ji Yong’an offered to bring Yue Wenhan over to look at the Crown Princess’ old yard.

Since Ji Yong’an couldn’t show Yue Wenhan his older brother’s place, he could only show him his niece’s place. He couldn’t let Yue Wenhan go back empty-handed again this time. But Ji Yong’an didn’t expect his wife and Fourth Lady Qu to have a conversation here. The atmosphere seemed weird between them, and Xiao even provoked Fourth Lady Qu rudely.

More unfortunately, Yue Wenhan heard Xiao’s sarcasm. Hearing Yue Wenhan’s snort, Ji Yong’an realized the severity of the situation, but he had to bring Yue Wenhan over.

Seeing Xiao’s glare, Ji Yong’an threw a glare back at her, thinking Xiao was a useless woman who couldn’t even deal with an unmarried girl.

Could Fourth Lady Qu be comparable with Yue Wenhan? Not at all.

The married couple separately took care of one person, and both of them thought the one they were dealing with was tougher. Still, they were an old couple, after all. After they ran into each other and threw a glare, they realized the best solution was to separate Qu Moying and Yue Wenhan.

“Fourth Lady Qu, please follow me. We can continue our talk inside!” Xiao put on a gentle smile as if the sharp sarcasm came from someone else’s mouth. The fast change of her attitude was indeed astonishing.

But Qu Moying was not surprised at all. Sophisticated as Xiao, she could say anything needed in the situation. When she took care of Ji Hanyue before, she even treated her better than her own daughter. She faked a warm environment for Ji Hanyue and made Ji Hanyue deeply trust her and Ji Youran.

“Thank you, Second Madam Ji. But are you really unwilling to give me the shops my cousin promised before?” asked Qu Moying. Before, she planned to look for Yue Wenhan first and mentioned the shops again when he was with her. Now that Yue Wenhan so happened to be here, she might as well solve the problem right now.

In Yue Wenhan’s position, his words were much more influential than hers.

“What shops?” Yue Wenhan frowned, confused by Qu Moying’s words.

“They are…” Xiao didn’t expect Qu Moying to cause her trouble again and stuttered in shock.

“My cousin promised to give me two shops and some other stuff before her wedding. Second Madam Ji agreed to give me my cousin’s personal belongings, but she refused to give me the two shops. She said the shops were part of my cousin’s dowry and belong to the Crown Prince now,” Qu Moying chimed in to explain.

“Since it was the Crown Princess’s promise, the Ji Family should give them to you. They were part of the Crown Princess’s dowry, but she passed away already. Aren’t your family going to take the dowry back?” Yue Wenhan turned to ask Ji Yong’an in confusion. As a male, it was better for him to ask Ji Yong’an about it directly.

As long as the Ji Family asked for the dowry, the Crown Prince must return it.

All the noble families in the capital would do the same thing, let alone the future heir of the empire.

Ji Yong’an didn’t know about the letter yet, so he froze for a moment as his face turned red in embarrassment. Both Xiao and he didn’t intend to reclaim Ji Hanyue’s dowry because they wanted their own daughter to take it as her dowry. It could be a great help for their daughter to gain a foothold in the Eastern Palace.

Only after the Crown Prince was pleased, their daughter could have the chance to become the next Crown Princess.

So, they always thought of Ji Hanyue’s dowry as a gift for the Crown Prince and didn’t mean to mention it at all. But now, they had to answer Yue Wenhan’s question.

“We will…figure this out later. Right now…there are too many things to deal with in the mansion. And my big brother…my big brother…” Ji Yong’an started to sob again while wiping his tears with his sleeve.

It was indeed inappropriate to discuss property right after Earl Ling’an died. Even though Qu Moying had Ji Hanyue’s letter, she shouldn’t dig into it right now.

Of course, Qu Moying was aware of it and didn’t intend to take the shops back right now. All she wanted was a topic related to the Ji Family that she could mention whenever she wanted.

She would never allow Ji Youran to possess that dowry.

All of Ji Hanyue’s dowry was prepared by her parents, and Ji Youran’s was not even comparable with it. Qu Moying was determined to take back everything that Ji Youran stole.

“Cousin, let’s discuss it later,” said Qu Moying, “We can mention it after Uncle’s funeral ends.”

Yue Wenhan nodded at her and looked around the yard. “So, this is the Crown Princess’s old yard. Can I take a look inside?”

This was the purpose of Ji Yong’an when he brought Yue Wenhan over anyway. Hearing his words, Ji Yong’an immediately nodded. “Of course, you can take a look inside, Mr. Yue. But please don’t touch anything. His Royal Highness wants everything to remain the same as before. Whenever he comes here for business, he always stays here for a little while.”

“His Royal Highness is indeed an affectionate person,” Yue Wenhan sighed.

“The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess’s engagement had been confirmed since long ago. They are brilliant human beings and a perfect match. The Crown Prince also respected the Crown Princess a lot. But who would’ve known…their marriage would end like this. His Royal Highness has been in grief and always comes to stay here when he needs some time alone. After all, this was the place where the Crown Princess lived for many years,” Xiao finally came back to her senses and explained why Pei Luo’an showed up here just now with a smile.

Qu Moying stayed quiet. She planned to leave before. But now that Yue Wenhan was here, she was not in a hurry anymore. Therefore, she followed behind Yue Wenhan and stepped into the yard again.

Xiao wanted to stop her instantly. But she looked at Yue Wenhan in front of Qu Moying, decided to shut her mouth, and followed behind them with a sullen face.

The group only walked around the yard and didn’t step into the main room. As it was getting late, Yue Wenhan excused himself to leave.

Xiao and Ji Yong’an had been waiting for this moment and kept nodding.

Xiao called Granny Zhou over, prepared everything Qu Moying asked before, and asked servants to walk them out. After they left, the smile on Xiao’s face faded away. She waved her hand to signal the servants to leave and stood in the distance.

“Why did Yue Wenhan come today?” without the servants around, Xiao asked in exasperation. Yue Wenhan had visited their mansion many times recently, but Xiao couldn’t figure out his intention.

“He asked to see my big brother. I had no other choice but to take him here,” Ji Yong’an explained.

“Did you really not know His Royal Highness was here? It would be bad if he ran into His Royal Highness,” Xiao frowned at him and said in displease.

They just announced Earl Ling’an’s death today, but the Crown Princess’s funeral hadn’t finished yet in the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince always had been a loving husband to the Crown Princess in people’s eyes. It would cause him trouble if anyone else saw him in the Earl Ling’an’s Mansion instead of the Eastern Palace.

There was no way the Crown Prince cared more about Earl Ling’an than the Crown Princess.

Both the timing and location were wrong!

“His Royal Highness only stays here for a little while every time. He usually goes to Youran’s yard,” Ji Yong’an said carelessly.

He was forced to come up with this solution to stop Yue Wenhan’s questioning.

After finishing his explanation, he lost his patience and asked back, “Why did you bring Fourth Lady Qu here? Don’t tell me you couldn’t deal with a weak, unmarried lady like her and had to bring her here too.”

“I didn’t! She found this place by herself and even ran into His Royal Highness. Then she showed me a letter and asked for some things from Ji Hanyue,” Xiao was anxious.

“Couldn’t you just not admit it? What were you thinking?” Ji Yong’an said sarcastically.

“You think I didn’t want to? Many people know the Crown Princess’s handwriting. If that girl really spreads it out, will it do any good to us?” Xiao’s whole body was trembling in rage. Her lips shivered for a moment before she scolded, “We have to keep a low-key right now. Have you already forgotten what Youran said to us repeatedly?”

The look on Ji Yong’an’s face softened when he heard about his proud, brilliant daughter, who meant everything for him. They had spent so much effort and time for her, and their plan would finally succeed soon.

“Okay, okay. Since Youran said it, you have to be careful too.” Ji Yong’an waved his wide sleeve impatiently and left. He tolerated Xiao for so long only because of his dear daughter. Otherwise, he didn’t want to talk to her at all. Anyone among his concubines was so much better than Xiao.

However, he had to keep taking new concubines in because Xiao got rid of them maliciously one by one. Thinking about some beautiful concubines he really liked who died on Xiao, Ji Yong’an couldn’t be more irritated.

Behind his back, Xiao felt the same. She stomped hard on the ground to vent her anger and then left with her servants. She had to tell the Old Lady about Fourth Lady Qu as soon as possible, who was clearly a troublemaker instead of a good partner for her son.

Yue Wenhan’s carriage drove away from the Earl Ling’an’s Mansion, took a few turns, and stopped at a teahouse. Yue Wenhan got off his horse and threw the reins to a young servant while Qu Moying got out of the carriage with Yu Dong’s help. She looked at the quite crowded teahouse in shock and then turned to stare at Yue Wenhan.

“Let’s take a seat inside,” said Yue Wenhan.

Qu Moying nodded at him, knowing he had things to talk about.

The two of them entered the teahouse and found a private room to sit. Yu Dong ordered the tea, let the waiter serve them, and stayed behind Qu Moying.

“Cousin, do you have any questions for me?” Qu Moying took a sip from her teacup, slowly put it down, and asked while lifting her head.

She knew Yue Wenhan was a brilliant young man…