Chapter 23

Chapter 23 She Already Took the First Step

“Young Master Xu sent Lady Yu back home?” With a sullen face, Old Lady Qu looked at Qu Moying, who had just got changed.

When Qu Moying had entered the room with blood all over her clothes, Old Lady Qu nearly passed out in shock. Though she seemed better now, her face was still utterly pale.

“Grandma, don’t be mad. Maybe it’s because Young Master Xu is more familiar with Lady Yu. I don’t mind. But about what had happened…” Qu Moying paused a bit as she spoke of that. Then she looked at Old Lady Qu with a pale face.

Her ivory skin lacked redness because of the shock, and her lips were also pale. The long veil covered more than half of her face, making her look more pitiful. Old Lady Qu felt both worried and furious.

In the past, Old Lady Qu had thought that Xu Lipeng was a good man, and now she suddenly realized that maybe she had got it wrong.

After his fiancée encountered such a huge accident, Xu Lipeng hadn’t comforted Qu Moying and sent her home. Instead, he stayed with another girl and sent her home. This could lead to misunderstanding of other people. What’s more, Yu Qingmeng was Yu’s spoiled niece. Old Lady Qu really didn’t like her.

“What has happened?” Old Lady Qu, with her heart missing a beat, suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Old Lady, when the carriage crashed, Young Master Xu caught Lady Yu right away. They… Many people saw them together. What should we do? Before our lady was heading back, Lady Yu was still holding Young Master Xu’s hand. They walked over to our lady almost arm in arm.”

As Yu Chun saw Qu Moying being hesitant and embarrassed when telling the story, she said it quickly.

“What? Did that really happen?” Old Lady Qu’s face even turned paler with anger.

“Grandma, a lot of people saw that.” Qu Moying lowered her head while squeezing her handkerchief. Old Lady Qu couldn’t see the look on her face, but she assumed that Qu Moying must feel quite aggrieved now.

It was a fact that Qu Moying’s fiancé had held another woman’s hand in front of her face, even though he might have a reason to do so.

“Someone, call Yu over!” Old Lady Qu flew into a rage. She never realized that Xu Lipeng was that kind of person and that she had been wrong about him the whole time.

“Grandma, don’t call Second Madam over. It’s not her fault.” Qu Moying stopped Old Lady Qu at once. Her plan would work better if Yu Qingmeng could tell Yu the whole thing by herself.

“Fine, I won’t blame her for this now.” Old Lady Qu snorted, “But Marquis Yongning’s family has to give us an explanation, or I won’t let it go.”

“Grandma, they also owe Yu’s family an explanation. So many people have seen them. Marquis Yongning’s family may have to offer the Yu family a face-saving way out of this,” Qu Moying said gently in a composed tone.

“The Yu Family is nothing. You think Young Master Xu will really marry that girl?” Qu Moying’s words irritated Old Lady Qu at once. The latter couldn’t help thumping on the table.

Yu’s brother, who was also Yu Qingmeng’s father, worked in the Ministry of Works as an official, and his rank was much lower than Qu Zhizhen’s.

“Grandma, Lady Yu is also from an official’s family!” Qu Moying rolled her eyes and then reminded Old Lady Qu, “Even if she couldn’t be his wife, she could still…”

“How dare they!” Old Lady Qu snorted.

Old Lady Qu, who always thought highly of Xu Lipeng, totally fumed. She allowed her second son to marry Yu because she believed that Yu was a girl from a decent family. Little did she know that her second son had been having an affair with Yu long ago. Although Yu gave birth to a set of twins who were a boy and a girl, Old Lady Qu still didn’t like her.

After that, the daughter-in-law whom Old Lady Qu liked passed away, and that woman’s daughter was nearly destroyed. Yu was to blame for all of that.

Old Lady Qu would never let the same tragedy happen again.

“Grandma, Lady Yu is Second Madam’s niece… Father might be happy to see her being with Young Master Xu. If… if that’s what they want…” Qu Moying sighed slightly. When she talked about her engagement, she wasn’t very blunt, but she surely wasn’t like a shy girl who looked forward to get married.

Being heartbroken, Old Lady Qu held Qu Moying’s hand and spoke to her in a tender voice, “Ying, don’t worry. If Marquis Yongning does have betrayed you, we will break off the engagement. I just feel sorry for you. You two have been engaged for so many years but still couldn’t come to a good end. Your mom’s hope will be failed!”

Speaking of that, Old Lady Qu suddenly remembered Yue, Qu Moying’s mother, and she felt sad right away. Then she took out her handkerchief to wipe her tears in the corner of her eyes.

She really liked Yue, but her son failed that woman. Every time Old Lady Qu thought of that, she would get so angry. She hated her son for being unable to tell the good from the bad. Not only had he hurt his wife for Yu, but he had also left his wife’s daughter to her own fate.

“Grandma, if Young Master Xu truly loves Lady Yu, my mom would agree to break off the engagement too!” Qu Moying said that. Now was the best time to propose to break it off.

Of course, she knew that this matter wouldn’t be solved easily right away. Clearly, Xu Lipeng was hard to deal with.

As she expected, after she talked with Old Lady Qu for a while, a senior housemaid walked in to report Young Master Xu’s arrival. Old Lady Qu, who was still in anger, let go of Qu Moying’s hand and sat up, saying in a cold voice, “Go invite him in. I’d like to hear what he’s going to say!”

Before today, Old Lady Qu was satisfied with their engagement. However, after the conversation she just had with Qu Moying, she suddenly didn’t want Qu Moying to marry Young Master Yongning.

Obviously, the memory about Yu, Qu Zhizhen, and Qu Moying’s mother hit a sore spot in Old Lady Qu’s heart.

That was probably the saddest thing in Old Lady Qu’s life.

As Qu Moying raised her head, she saw Xu Lipeng, who had changed into a navy-blue brocade robe, but there was only an indifferent look in her eyes.

Xu Lipeng made obeisance to Old Lady Qu first. Then he turned to Qu Moying at once with an anxious look, saying,

“Fourth Lady, how are you feeling now? Did you get hurt? You must be freaking out. I’ve invited an Imperial Doctor for you. Do you need him to check on you?”

Qu Moying snorted inwardly. This Young Master Xu really was good at acting. When she left before, he hadn’t seemed so nervous. And now he just pretended to be so concerned about her in front of Old Lady Qu.

Old Lady Qu was surprised to hear that. She took a look at Qu Moying first and then at Xu Lipeng with confusion. Then, she decided to remain silent for the moment.

“Young Master Xu, did Lady Yu go back her yard?” Qu Moying raised her head and asked with a nonchalant look, having no intention to respond to his former words.

“She went back on her own, so I’m not clear about that.” Xu Lipeng said.

“Hasn’t Lady Yu been holding your hands just now? Why did she go back alone?” Qu Moying said gently in a surprised tone.

“When our lady left, Lady Yu was still hanging onto Young Master Xu.” Yu Chun seized the chance to murmur that.

Her voice was low, as if she was muttering to herself. However, she happened to speak after Qu Moying stopped talking. So everyone in the room heard it clearly.

Old Lady Qu’s face turned sullener.

Xu Lipeng had known that Qu Moying would be unhappy, but he assumed that she wouldn’t say anything. After all, as a noble lady, she couldn’t blame him for saving a person’s life at that time.

But he didn’t expect that it was not Qu Moying but her maid who had spoken it out in front of Old Lady Qu. Then with an angry look on his face, he thought, ‘The housemaid is truly so impolite. Her lady must be the same as her. If it were not for my reputation, I would never do this.’

Xu Lipeng didn’t think of himself as a shallow man who only loved good-looking women. Although he was more fond of Yu Qingmeng’s pretty face, he had never thought about breaking off the engagement. However, he still hoped that Qu Moying could break it off on her own.

Now he found Qu Moying not only ugly and blind but also short of vision. So he just liked her even less.

“Young Master Xu, why did you do that today?” Old Lady Qu asked with a long face.

“Old Lady Qu, that was just an accident. It all happened so suddenly. Before I came back to my senses, Lady Yu just flew to me. If I didn’t help her, she would fall to the ground for sure and might even get herself killed!” Xu Lipeng suppressed his impatience and explained with a gentle voice.

The Yu Family and the Qu Family were related, so he believed that Old Lady Qu would understand him.

He did guess it right. Even if Old Lady Qu didn’t like Yu Qingmeng, she still wouldn’t tell Xu Lipeng to leave her alone. However, after her conversation with Qu Moying, she remembered what had happened between Qu Moying’s biological mother and Yu. Therefore, Old Lady Qu, with simmering rage, scolded him directly, “Young Master Xu, if you want to marry Lady Yu, we’ll break off the engagement. You don’t need to find any other excuses. Please go back now. I’ll discuss this with your mother.”

“Old Lady…” Xu Lipeng never realized that Old Lady Qu would say that. He changed the expression on his face and said anxiously, “It was just an accident. No one expected it to happen.”

He didn’t want the engagement indeed, but he couldn’t be the one to be blamed.

Old Lady Qu snorted and then stood up with the help of Granny Wu, not giving a glance at Xu Lipeng. After that, she turned around to go back to her room and left Xu Lipeng alone outside.

Xu Lipeng felt super embarrassed. Back in the old days, Old Lady Qu always greeted him with a smiling face, and never had he been treated like this. After he calmed himself, he turned to Qu Moying because he knew that she was the only one who could help him.

“Fourth Lady, you are well aware of what has happened at that time. You knew I had no choice. Please explain to Old Lady Qu for me.”

“Young Master Xu, please go back. My grandma just saw me coming back with blood all over my clothes. She was just too concerned about me. This is not the best time to explain.” Qu Moying didn’t say what Xu Lipeng wanted to hear. With her beautiful eyes gazing at him, she said that to Xu Lipeng calmly.

Since she already began the plan of breaking off the engagement, she also had a clear picture of what she was going to do next.

Marquis Yongning’s Mansion had never mentioned breaking off the engagement for all these years, nor had he shown any concern for her. For all this time, he only enjoyed his great reputation in the capital. There must be a special reason for this. She would like to see what would happen next. After what had happened, the whole thing was not up to Xu Lipeng anymore.

She was afraid that this matter was not that simple. Luckily, the accident today gave her the opportunity to carry out her plan and propose to break off the engagement.

She would soon know what Marquis Yongning’s Mansion was planning. Since she already accomplished the first step of her plan, she still needed to deal with another thing.

Lord Yun had dropped her a hint before…

After she told Old Lady Qu the thing about Qing He, she still needed to go out again…