Chapter 77

Chapter 77 Don’t Ever Think About the Royal Hairpins

“Cousin, wait.” Qu Qiuyan gnashed her teeth.

That low-life bitch’s existence reminded everyone of Qu Qiuyan’s mother’s shameful history at any second. Only her death could make people completely forget about it.

“Cousin, I think Young Master Xu looks mad. I need to go check on him.” Yu Qingmeng noticed the sullen look on Xu Lipeng’s face and got anxious.

“What are you going to do now? Let him vent his anger on you? I think I saw Second Lady Duan following behind Young Master Xu just now. If you are there with Young Master Xu, she will definitely make you suffer,” Qu Qiuyan sneered and released Yu Qingmeng’s sleeve from her hand.

“Then…what should I do?” Yu Qingmeng felt more flustered. She heard that Duan Jinxiang was a shrew, and she was mad at Xu Lipeng marrying Yu Qingmeng. It was possible that Duan Jinxiang beat her out of anger, and Yu Qingmeng couldn’t afford to be insulted like that in public.

But when did she get to the Dabei Temple? Did she come for Young Master Xu?

“You can’t do anything right now. Just wait a bit. I’m not sure if the person I saw is really Duan Jinxiang. Maybe I was wrong!” Qu Qiuyan’s voice was sarcastic.

“I’ll go to meet him later,” Yu Qingmeng said immediately.

Qu Qiuyan was pleased to see Yu Qingmeng acting obediently, and then she asked, “How’s the preparation? When will you do it to Qu Moying?”

Qu Moying’s good reputation had no benefit for Qu Qiuyan. In fact, it would only bring adverse effects. She couldn’t allow people to have a better impression of Qu Moying than her.

“Second Young Master Yan said he will help me, but…” Yu Qingmeng sounded hesitant.

“Then do it fast. The longer we wait, the more trouble we will have. Don’t wait until you miss the chance,” Qu Qiuyan said coldly. “It’s not about me, Cousin. My life won’t be affected by her anyway, but yours is different. If it weren’t for her, you should be Young Master Yongning’s righteous wife instead of just a concubine. You are not even a noble concubine. Cousin, I really can’t understand what you were thinking. How can you agree to be just a concubine?”

Qu Qiuyan’s voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Hearing her words, Yu Qingmeng pulled a long face in embarrassment.

Before, Yu Qingmeng always told Qu Qiuyan confidently that she would be Young Master Yongning’s wife. She said it was pretty much confirmed already because Xu Lipeng loved her so much and wouldn’t make her suffer from anything.

Qu Qiuyan’s words rubbed salt on her wound. Feeling shameful, Yu Qingmeng didn’t even know what to say.

If she could go back to the past, she would never brag about Xu Lipeng’s love for her again.

“I get it. You… The royal hairpins…you mentioned last time…” lowering her head, Yu Qingmeng bit her lip and asked.

“Don’t ever think about the royal hairpins,” Qu Qiuyan said coldly as she sized Yu Qingmeng up. “Cousin, it’s not that I don’t want to trust you, but you make it hard for me. Those royal hairpins were my backup plan. Since they were given to me by Lord Jing, I won’t be blamed even if anything happens. If the Crown Prince sees them…maybe my plan will work even better than I expect. So, I have to use them carefully.”

Qu Qiuyan meant the royal hairpins were her backup plan after Yu Qingmeng failed, so she wouldn’t let Yu Qingmeng use this method.

Getting distrusted even before doing it certainly didn’t feel good. Yu Qingmeng pulled a long face and stamped her foot heavily in aggrievedness, “Cousin, don’t worry. I promise it will work this time.”

“Then that would be great, and I don’t need to worry about it. I’ll go back by myself first, or people will laugh at me if they see me walking with a concubine like you. I think Qu Moying probably will go to worship the Buddha sculpture later, so get yourself prepared. My grandmother is a devout Buddhist, so she will definitely ask Qu Moying to express her appreciation to the Buddha for giving her such good luck.”

Qu Qiuyan curled her lips into a sarcastic smile. After she reminded Yu Qingmeng, she walked away, leaving Yu Qingmeng behind.

Standing awkwardly, Yu Qingmeng gnashed her teeth and looked resentfully at the direction where Qu Moying disappeared long ago. This time, she had to make it.

After the Old Lady heard what happened, she sent Granny Wu to look for Qu Moying immediately. Qu Moying hurriedly got washed and changed after she returned to their yard. Then she followed Granny Wu to the Old Lady’s yard.

“Ying, are you alright? Did you get hurt?” Seeing Qu Moying coming in, the Old Lady stood up at once. She grabbed her granddaughter’s hand and sized her up carefully. After making sure Qu Moying was safe and sound, the Old Lady let out a sigh of relief and then sat down with her.

The Old Lady was so worried hearing the news that she almost passed out.

“Don’t worry, Grandma. I’m fine. It’s just I met some assassins when I went there, and then I yelled for help. I didn’t do anything else,” said Qu Moying, looking a bit embarrassed.

“How come you went there? That door has always been locked, and I don’t think ordinary people can get in.” After hearing Qu Moying’s description of the place, the Old Lady remembered she had seen it a few times. She could tell there must be some secret hidden behind that mysterious door.

Even the Old Lady was curious at first and wondered if she could get inside. But after seeing a lord’s wife was stopped outside, the Old Lady gave up on the idea of entering.

Too many people died of knowing too much, which she was clearly aware of!

The Old Lady had always been discreet about the unknown and kept a low profile since she was not born in an aristocratic family.

“Grandmother, I don’t know. Somehow I just walked there and saw the door open, so I went in to look around. I didn’t e-expect…” Qu Moying lowered her head as a trace of fear showed on her face.

Any noble lady would be scared in this kind of situation.

“Fortunately, nothing big happened. You have to go worship the Buddha later for the good luck he gave you.” Imagining her granddaughter’s situation at that time, the Old Lady felt a bit scared too. She rubbed her forehead and said, “I will go with you.”

“Madam, you haven’t recovered yet. It’s better not to move too much,” Granny Wu reminded her hurriedly.

The Old Lady had been having this health problem for a long time. Although she felt better after taking some medicine, she still needed a lot of rest. Before she came to the Dabei Temple, she thought she would have some chill time with her four granddaughters. However, unexpected things kept happening, and every one of them was related to her youngest granddaughter, which made the Old Lady more flustered.

“I’m fine. It will just be some walk. No big deal,” said the Old Lady.

Seeing the Old Lady’s determined attitude, Qu Moying said, “Grandmother, I will be totally fine going there by myself. Nothing happened to me, even when I met some assassins, which means the Buddha has been protecting me. Don’t worry. Your granddaughter has some really good luck. It’s just worshiping the Buddha. Nothing dangerous will happen.”

“I still can’t let you go there alone. Ask your First Sister to accompany you this afternoon,” the Old Lady said after thinking for a few seconds.

Qu Moying still wanted to persuade her, but the Old Lady had made up her mind. Knowing there was no use in rejecting her, Qu Moying nodded at her obediently, “Okay, I will do as you ask, Grandmother.”

“Good, good!” Qu Moying’s words were a big relief for the Old Lady. Among all her granddaughters, her oldest granddaughter was the most reliable one and seemed to have good relationships with the other three. The Old Lady would be the least worried if Qu Moying was in Qu Xuexin’s hand.

Yet, another thing came across the Old Lady’s mind.

“Was it really Lord Yun?” the Old Lady asked hesitantly.

“Yes, everyone said so,” answered Qu Moying.

Then the Old Lady started to talk in a low voice, telling Qu Moying everything she knew about Lord Yun.

“Lord Yun is the emperor’s cousin, and the emperor has liked him since he was a kid. He grew up in the royal palace, but he asked the emperor to assign him to the border after becoming a teenager. Since then, he rarely came back to the capital. During this period, his father, old Lord Yun, gave his position to him and left to travel around. The emperor has asked him to come back from time to time, but he rejected the emperor most of the time, saying he had some emergency to deal with at the border…”

Qu Moying knew the Old Lady told her this because she was worried that Qu Moying, growing up in the village, didn’t know anything about Lord Yun. The Old Lady was trying to remind her in case she did something inappropriately and offended Lord Yun.

He rejected the emperor, saying he had some emergency to deal with? It was very arrogant of Lord Yun to do things against the emperor’s will. Pei Luo’an thought Lord Yun’s attitude towards the emperor showed enough of his ambition and always felt annoyed about it.

However, the emperor couldn’t do anything to him!

Pei Luo’an once said the crucial reason that stopped the emperor from opposing Pei Yuanjun’s will was his military power. However, the emperor’s weak reaction even led to further development of his power. Every time Pei Luo’an mentioned Pei Yuanjun, he seemed irritated. No one expected Pei Yuanjun, who used to be a weak boy, would find his place at the border and become a dragon one day.

Naturally, Pei Luo’an’s goal was to cut Pei Yuanjun’s wings and trap him.

In her past life, her father knew better about Pei Yuanjun’s story and told her about it before. However, Qu Moying sensed something different from the Old Lady’s words. She only thought Pei Yuanjun was a threat to the throne, and the emperor would get rid of him sooner or later, but it was a while ago. The situation was totally different now since Pei Yuanjun had become the most powerful person except for the emperor within such a short period…

“Grandmother, how’s Moying?” Qu Qiuyan’s voice came from outside as she showed up at the door.

“Where have you been? How come you come back so late?” Sizing up Qu Qiuyan, who was gasping a little bit, the Old Lady sounded displeased.

“Grandmother, I was looking at the peach flowers. After I heard about what happened to Moying, I headed back immediately.” Qu Qiuyan walked up to the Old Lady and curtsied to her gracefully. Then she turned to Qu Moying with a concerned look, “Moying, how are you? Did you get hurt?”

Her sincere attitude and the sweat on her forehead were very persuasive. If it was someone else who held a grudge against her, the person would probably believe her words and feel a bit touched.

However, Qu Moying was not someone else. A trace of sarcasm showed up in her eyes. She wasn’t really freaking out in the back mountain and saw people around clearly. She noticed Xu Lipeng, Qu Qiuyan, Yu Qingmeng, and some other young masters and noble ladies were all present.

Qu Qiuyan dared to act in front of Qu Moying probably because she believed Qu Moying was too panicked to notice her at that time.

“Thank you for your concern, Third Sister. I’m alright.” Qu Moying stood up and curtsied to her.

“Really? Let me have a good look at you. I heard many people died there.” Qu Qiuyan’s face was pale, and her words sounded horrifying, making the Old Lady worry again. Qu Moying didn’t mention to her that many people died just now.

Qu Moying held the Old Lady’s hand and patted it gently to reassure her. Then she said to Qu Qiuyan, “Because some assassins tried to ambush Lord Yun and had a fight with Lord Yun’s guards. I saw it from a distance and ran away immediately because I was so scared. After hearing my scream, some young masters took their servants there to rescue Lord Yun.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Talking about it too much will bring us bad luck. Qiuyan, since you are back, go to worship the Buddha with your sister later,” the Old Lady gave a glare at Qu Qiuyan and said.

“Emm, Grandmother, but…I might…” Qu Qiuyan sounded very hesitant. She looked at Qu Moying awkwardly as if she was asking for Qu Moying’s help.