Chapter 41

Chapter 41 A Tiny Spark Can Start a Great Fire n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Seeing the chaos inside the room, Yue Wenhan pulled a long face. He took a glance at the situation and immediately recognized the people here. He rushed to stand in front of Qu Moying, blocked Qu Zhizhen’s hand that was about to fall on her face, and sneered, “Mr. Qu, why do you treat your ex-wife’s daughter so harshly after you just came back? I wonder if it’s because my family mistreated you when you stayed in the Yue’s Mansion during your trip to the South.”

Qu Moying’s mother Yue was born in a scholarly family in the South. The Yue’s Family was not powerful but had a decent reputation, respected by many civil officials.

Yue Wenhan was a previous principal graduate of the Imperial Examination. With his family background and great competence, he had already become the vice minister of the Dali Temple, a level-four official, at a young age. His rank was still lower than Qu Zhizhen’s, but he climbed up the ladder with his own abilities and had a promising future. No one dared to underestimate him.

Yue Wenhan was the nephew of Yue, which meant Qu Moying and him were cousins.

During Qu Zhizhen’s trip to the South, he stayed at the Yue’s Mansion. Yue Wenhan knew his private and official agenda, which even made Qu Zhizhen suspect that the Yue’s Family sent people to stalk him. Of course, he didn’t dare to investigate such a sensitive matter.

As the emperor thought highly of this young vice minister of the Dali Temple, Qu Zhizhen was not sure if this was an order from the emperor himself.

Moreover, the emperor himself suggested Qu Zhizhen stay at the Yue’s Mansion, leaving him no choice. Otherwise, he would rather stay at an inn.

It had been a long time since Yue passed away. He almost forgot about his ex-wife. Seeing her family would only make him recall the shame he bore because of her death. This was the memory he felt unwilling to think of, and he didn’t want to meet people related to her either.

“You stayed at the Yue’s Mansion before?” Yu pulled a long face and asked her husband immediately after hearing Yue Wenhan’s words. She didn’t know this young man since they never met before.

Same as her husband, she didn’t like mentioning things about this ex-wife, Yue, and prohibited any talks about her in the mansion.

Qu Zhizhen ignored Yu’s questioning, took back his hand, and pretended to dust himself off with a casual look on his face. “Mr. Yue, what brings you here?”

“If I were not here, I’m afraid your slap would be already on your poor ex-wife’s daughter,” Yue Wenhan said sharply with a cold look on his face.

Yu Dong was still sobbing on the ground, covering his face. Qu Moying was quiet aside, with her head lowered. Yue Wenhan had never met her before. Right now, he could only see the veil covering her eyes, but he knew that this girl was his cousin.

After moving to the capital, he once tried to visit Qu Moying, who was staying in the village at that time. But she refused his request to meet, saying it was inappropriate to meet a man in private. They lost in touch after that. But even so, Yue Wenhan dropped his work at hand and rushed over after receiving a letter from her.

“It must be a misunderstanding, Mr. Yue. I was just punishing a misbehaved servant,” Qu Zhizhen cleared his throat and said awkwardly. Then he pointed at another room, “Is there anything you want to talk about with me, Mr. Yue? Shall we have the conversation in my study?”

He just arrived home from a long trip a few hours ago. The unexpected visit from the vice minister of the Dali Temple unsettled him.

“There’s no need. I just want to ask you why you treat your ex-wife’s daughter this way. Mr. Qu, if you are not willing to raise my cousin, I’m sure my family can give her a good life,” Yue Wenhan said in a stern voice. He didn’t move an inch, with his hands behind his back.

“Mr. Yue, this is our family affair. It’s better that you stay out of it!” The look on Qu Zhizhen’s face became more displeased after Yue Wenhan kept questioning him in front of his own mother, wife, and children.

“Mr. Qu, did you forget that the Fourth Lady is also my cousin? I will not allow her to be mistreated by her family. May I ask why you are so angry with her?” Yue Wenhan didn’t show any intention to back off.

He always knew that Qu Zhizhen had been harsh on his cousin, but he didn’t have a reason to defend her because neither they were close nor did she say something about it herself.

“The Second Master tries to force the lady to marry Young Master Yongning. He says it’s great that Lady Yu, the Second Madam’s niece, has a relationship with the young master. Then the lady can be the first wife, and Lady Yu can be the second wife. He thinks Fourth Lady is useless, and she needs Lady Yu to capture Young Master Yongning’s heart.”

Covering his face, Yu Dong started to cry louder.

An ordinary maid wouldn’t dare to say anything at this moment, but this one was a different kind. Obviously, he would grab any chance to add more fuel to the fire.

Qu Zhizhen was so angry that he wished he could slap this rude maid again right now. He had never met a servant like her, who had no sense of the situation and dared to say such things at an intense moment. No wonder she came from the village. It seemed she urgently needed a lesson.

“Mr. Qu, you want her to be another first wife in name only? Are you trying to make her relive my aunt’s tragedy so that the lady of the Yu’s family can rise to the position after she dies?” Hearing Yu Dong’s words, Yue Wenhan flew into a rage.

The Yue’s Family still couldn’t let go of what happened to Yue before.

At that time, Qu Zhizhen made up a whole story about Yue’s death. He even paid a visit to the South and knelt down in front of the Old Master Yue to confess himself. He kept explaining that Yue insisted on moving into the convent when she’s pregnant, which triggered a premature delivery. No one knew about it, and he didn’t want it to happen either.

Qu Zhizhen stayed at the mourning hall for three whole days and fainted several times while wailing in front of his wife’s coffin to show his sincerity. Then the Yue’s Family reluctantly accepted his explanation.

The death of Yue had always been a wound of the heart for the Yue’s Family. Yue Wenhan couldn’t forget about this aunt who treated people gently and her miserable death.

The straight interrogation from a youngster made Qu Zhizhen lose face in front of his family. His eyes darkened, and he said with exasperation, “Mr. Yue, you only heard it from a maid. Don’t tell me you will trust one person’s words like this in your work too.”

“Father, I’m not going to marry him!” A cold voice came from the side as Qu Moying raised her head. Her sharp gaze fell on Qu Zhizhen’s face, and she repeated herself firmly, “Lady Yu and Young Master Yongning have had an affair since long ago. She can marry him if she wants, but I’m not going to.”

“I see. So, Young Master Yongning and Lady Yu started a relationship long ago. Now, you are trying to use my cousin as a cover for their scandal. Good. Great plan!” Yue Wenhan understood the situation immediately and glanced at Yu with a cold look. “The two generations of the Yu’s family surely know how to make good plans. It seems to be shared in your bloodline.”

Yu was startled by his sharp gaze and stepped back hurriedly. But then she thought she couldn’t act too weak, so she swallowed hard to calm herself down and faked a smile. “I’m sorry I can’t understand you, Mr. Yue. The Fourth Lady’s guessing can’t be taken seriously. Is this the way how you work on the trials?”

She already had figured out his identity.

“Madam Yu, do you mean you have nothing to do with my aunt’s death? Weren’t you using her to cover something?” Yue Wenhan’s tone was still sharp. He didn’t trust Qu Zhizhen’s words the most among all the Yues. But when he became an official in the capital, Yue had already passed away for over ten years.

He never got the chance to meet Yu before, and since now she offended him first, he apparently wouldn’t go easy on her. Yue Wenhan was known for his sharp interrogation, and his words left Yu nowhere to escape.

“How dare you!” Qu Zhizhen yelled with rage.

“Mr. Qu, I know my cousin is a daughter of the Qu’s Family, but a Yue’s lady gave her birth at the cost of her own life. Since my cousin doesn’t want to accept the marriage arrangement, please don’t force it. Otherwise, I’d love to make some investigation about how Young Master Yongning started a relationship with Lady Yu while being engaged with my cousin.”

Yue Wenhan sneered and rolled up his sleeves.

As the vice minister of the Dali Temple, he had a whole investigation team made up of competent people. It would be a piece of cake for them to find out the truth about a love affair. Moreover, those two had had a relationship for a long time. They never tried to hide it from other people in the Qu’s Mansion, not to mention Qu Moying.

Yu started to panic. She pulled Qu Zhizhen’s sleeve, trying to stop him. If Yue Wenhan really confirmed the relationship between Yu Qingmeng and Xu Lipeng, all the women’s names from the Yu’s Family would be affected, including hers. Not only her name as a madam would be ruined but also her unmarried daughter’s.

“I will take care of it as her father. I now ask you to stop your interference in our family affair!” Qu Zhizhen said with annoyance and anger. He couldn’t accept being scolded by a youngster in public anymore. He shook Yu’s hand off him as his eyes darkened, inwardly blaming his useless wife for acting so weak.

Noticing the couple’s petty actions, Qu Moying curled up her lips. None of them had any good intentions. Yu could climb up to her current position only because she knew well about managing family affairs, building intimacy with her husband, and never causing him any trouble.

But what about right now? All Qu Moying did was just throwing a tiny spark in a haystack.

If the investigation about Yu Qingmeng went deeper, it might cause bigger trouble. However, Qu Zhizhen would not be happy to see anyone mention his ex-wife’s death again.

Yu was determined to let Yu Qingmeng and Qu Moying marry Young Master Yongning, but she didn’t notice how similar the situation was to what happened among Qu Moying’s mother, Qu Zhizhen, and herself. She forgot that her husband only wanted to take it to his grave. Otherwise, his reputation as an official would be significantly affected.

Right now, it was the vice minister of the Dali Temple questioning him, whose job was making investigations. He surely knew how to interrogate people. Also, Qu Zhizhen cared a lot about his reputation since it was crucial to an official. That’s why he seemed to be at a disadvantage against this young man.

A tiny spark could be insignificant, but it could also start a great fire!

“How come a father will use his own daughter as a cover for someone else’s love affair? Mr. Qu, is it because there’s a secret connection between you and Lady Yu?” After all the interrogations he had done, Yue Wenhan’s good at picking the best words to say.

Qu Zhizhen’s face turned red due to rage. He was annoyed but couldn’t come up with a good explanation. He turned his head and glared at Yu, who was still trying to pull his sleeve. No one could still keep a good mood facing this situation right after coming back home.

“A father will never allow anything bad to happen to his daughter. Mr. Yue, please stop talking nonsense. You are ruining the ladies’ names!” Qu Zhizhen cleared his throat and said in a righteous and stern tone, but his words exposed his intention to back off.

A trace of sarcasm appeared in Qu Moying’s eyes…