Chapter 78

Chapter 78 Please Take This Pearl Hairpin as My Apology

Qu Moying lowered her head and curled up her lips, amused by Qu Qiuyan’s acting skill.

Not getting any response from Qu Moying, Qu Qiuyan inwardly cursed her for not being grateful. However, her acting was not affected at all. “Grandmother…Second Young Master Yan…Second Young Master Yan…”

“What’s the matter with him?” the Old Lady hit the table hard and said angrily. Yan Yu’s name was the last thing she wanted to hear now. For what happened before, he became a thorn in her flesh.

“He’s still in the Dabei Temple. I worry that if he…he will offend Moying, that will be bad,” Qu Qiuyan sounded concerned.

Qu Qiuyan talked as if there was something between Qu Moying and Yan Yu. Qu Moying lifted her head and stared at her coldly, “Third Sister, why won’t Second Young Master Yan offend you? Why does it have to be me?”

“I have nothing to do with Second Young Master Yan. I…” subconsciously, Qu Qiuyan argued back at once. Then she realized she had said something wrong. Lifting her eyes, she saw the Old Lady’s sullen face and fell into silence in embarrassment.

She intended to create a false impression on the Old Lady that Qu Moying and Yan Yu were interested in each other, but of course, she didn’t want the Old Lady to notice her intention.

She had already given enough hints to Yu Qingmeng. Knowing her cousin’s personality well, Qu Qiuyan was expecting something malicious from her.

“Third Sister, since you have nothing to do with Second Young Master Yan. I don’t understand why you said that just now,” Qu Moying’s voice was icy.

“Explain yourself, Yan!” the Old Lady added.

“Grandmother, I’m sorry. I-I might misunderstand something. I thought, I thought…” Qu Qiuyan stood up, curtsied to the Old Lady, and then said to Qu Moying with an apologetic look on her face, “Moying, I’m sorry that I misunderstood it. Luckily, no outsider is around to spread rumors.”

Qu Qiuyan meant she said it unintentionally, and it was no big deal since they were talking in private. Qu Moying’s eyes darkened. Except for the beginning when she was just reborn Qu Qiuyan used reckless methods to kill her, it had been quite tough to deal with her now.

She only sent a maid to murder Qu Moying because she underestimated her blind younger sister and thought it would be easy to get rid of her. Now, Qu Qiuyan was her normal self, planning everything carefully.

However, what did she want to do right now?

With Qu Caiyue and Yu Qingmeng doing all the dirty work for her, she didn’t need to do anything by herself!

The Old Lady’s look softened, and she nodded. “Second Young Master Yan has nothing to do with any of you. Even if you run into him on the way, just get away from him. Since you don’t have a brother to help you anyway, at the most, you can just make a curtsy to him from a distance!” the old Lady reminded them.

“Yes, Grandmother. Don’t worry, I will protect Moying. I have another thing to tell you, Grandmother,” said Qu Qiuyan smilingly.

“Yeah?” pleased by Qu Qiuyan’s respectful attitude, the Old Lady’s voice softened.

“My cousin came to the temple with Young Master Yongning too. If they run into…Moying, I feel it will be a bit awkward,” Qu Qiuyan took a glance at Qu Moying and said meaningfully.

People all felt pity for Qu Moying right now, whose engagement was broken off by accident. Meeting her ex-fiance and his newly married concubine? That certainly sounded embarrassing.

Although the Old Lady knew the engagement was meant to be canceled, she didn’t expect an accident like that happened on her own birthday banquet. Moreover, the accident became Xu Lipeng’s reason to break it off and put Qu Moying at a disadvantage, making the Old Lady dislike Xu Lipeng more.

“Just avoid them when you see them.”

“But she’s my cousin…” Qu Qiuyan muttered as she lowered her head and clenched the hanky in her hand. No matter what Yu Qingmeng had done, she was still Qu Qiuyan’s cousin who lived in the Qu’s Mansion for a long time and grew up with her. Qu Qiuyan was much closer with Yu Qingmeng than Qu Moying.

“Grandmother, if we see Lady Yu, Third Sister can go over to talk to her while I can just avoid her,” Qu Moying said in a soft voice while sneering inwardly.

Was this Qu Qiuyan’s excuse to leave her alone later? As Yu Qingmeng’s cousin, she had to talk to her when meeting her. Then, if something happened to Qu Moying later, no one could blame Qu Qiuyan for leaving Qu Moying alone. What a cunning girl!

However, Qu Moying decided to give Qu Qiuyan an opportunity to carry out her evil plan. Otherwise, she wouldn’t find any chance to fight back if Qu Qiuyan didn’t do anything…

“If you want to go talk to Yu Qingmeng, just go. I’ll ask your First Sister to accompany Ying then.” The Old Lady frowned at Qu Qiuyan, feeling displeased with the idea of Qu Qiuyan getting too close with anyone from the Yu Family.

The Old Lady didn’t find anyone good-hearted from the Yu Family – Yu Qingmeng and Yu were the best two examples. If Qu Qiuyan spent too much time with the Yus, they would definitely have a bad influence on her.

But after all, the two families were related, so the relationship couldn’t be suddenly cut off. They had to go through the formalities, at least.

“First Sister will go with us, too?” That’s unexpected for Qu Qiuyan. She lowered her eyes and fell into thoughts. She agreed to accompany Qu Moying in the first place because she could use the chance to take Qu Moying to a place and leave her alone there with a perfect excuse. But if they were with Qu Xuexin, it could be troublesome.

“Yes, I’ll just let your First Sister accompany Moying to worship the Buddha. If you have your own appointment, you don’t need to go with them,” the Old Lady sounded a bit impatient.

“Grandmother, I don’t have any appointments. I’m just worried that if I meet my cousin and she insists on talking to me, I will feel bad leaving Moying alone. If First Sister comes with us, that will be perfect. It’s the first time that Moying came to the Dabei Temple, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to her again.”

Qu Qiuyan surely knew how to pick her words. After she said so, the stern look on the Old Lady’s face softened immediately.

Pleased by her polite behavior, the Old Lady waved her hand at her two granddaughters, “Alright, you can go after having lunch. Go eat first, and make sure you leave the yard together.”

It was a bit late now. Since the Old Lady was still taking medicine, her lunch was specially made light. The Old Lady didn’t ask them to eat with her, thinking the young ladies wouldn’t prefer her bland food. So, every lady’s lunch was sent to their own yard separately.

“Grandmother, then we will take our leave,” said Qu Qiuyan.

Qu Moying stood up and excused herself as well. Then the two walked out of the Old Lady’s house.

“Moying, do you like the royal hairpins I sent?” Qu Qiuyan waited until Qu Moying caught up with her and then gave her a smile.

“Thank you for the hairpins, Third Sister,” Qu Moying said in a flat tone.

“Those don’t cost too much, but they are new products from the royal palace. You can wear them if you like. You’ve always dressed too plainly. I understand it won’t be a problem in the village, but now that you have come back to the mansion, we can’t let other people look down on our family. After all, our father is a vice minister. Moreover, your engagement was just broken off. It’s the critical time to show others your courage and confidence,” said Qu Qiuyan with a serious look.

Qu Qiuyan talked as if she was a good older sister who cared a lot about her younger sister.

If Qu Moying didn’t know her personality clearly, she would be misled by her acting and think she was nice.

After all, all the things that happened before, including Qing He’s attempted murder, might not be planned by Qu Qiuyan but rather her mother, Yu.

At least, that was how the Old Lady thought about it right now.

Qu Moying’s eyes looked up and fell on Qu Qiuyan as she curled up her lips. “Thank you for your concern, Third Sister.”

“Don’t even mention it. We are sisters, sharing happiness and pain together. Compared to First Sister and Second Sister, we are even more closely related. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you since it doesn’t do any good for me.”

Qu Qiuyan faked a smile.

These pretty words she uttered were quite impressive!

Qu Moying was almost amazed by her acting skill.

“Thank you, Third Sister,” Qu Moying repeated her gratitude softly. She was smiling, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

“How about we wear the royal hairpins together later? Then people will know we are sisters immediately,” Qu Qiuyan sounded a bit excited.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to wear those bright hairpins in the Dabei Temple,” Qu Moying said hesitantly.

“Oh dear, thank you for the reminder. I’m too happy to remember that we are in a temple. It’s indeed not appropriate, especially since we are going to worship the Buddha later. If people see us wear them, they will definitely think we are disrespectful. It’s my fault to suggest it.” Qu Qiuyan realized it in shock and patted her forehead gently.

She must’ve known it was inappropriate to wear such bright hairpins in the Dabei Temple, but Qu Moying didn’t know her intention of mentioning it yet. Quietly, she waited for Qu Qiuyan’s following words.

Suddenly, Qu Qiuyan pulled out a pearl hairpin from her head and passed it to Qu Moying. “Moying, I’m sorry for suggesting that. Please take this hairpin as my apology. I believe this one is much more appropriate to wear in the Dabei Temple. It took some time for Father to find the pearls on the hairpin. These twelve pearls are not the biggest ones, but each is particularly round.”

Qu Qiuyan shook the hairpin in her hand as the hairpin gleamed beautifully under the sunlight. Those pearls on it were purple, with pretty much the same size, which was rare enough. The hairpin might not be invaluable, but it matched well with their identity as a vice minister’s daughters, who came to worship the Buddha.

Qu Moying was also wearing a pearl hairpin, which had only one relatively big pearl on the tip of it but nothing else. It looked roughly made compared to the one Qu Qiuyan had that was clearly more exquisite.

Qu Qiuyan had always worn more like a real noble lady born in a wealthy family than Qu Moying. Even though they were in the Dabei Temple, she still wore three hairpins on her hair. They matched well with her whole dressing style, elegant but not showy.

“Father made a pair for me before, and I can wear another one later with you. It was Father’s gift for me, and now, I give one to you, Moying. I hope you like it,” Qu Qiuyan said smilingly. She pushed the hairpin closer to Qu Moying, looking like a generous older sister.

Qu Qiuyan’s attitude made it hard for Qu Moying to reject her gift. Moreover, they were still standing in the Old Lady’s yard while Granny Wu stood at the door, watching them leaving with an amiable smile. The yard was not big, so Granny Wu could see everything they were doing right now.

Qu Qiuyan’s words were pretty, but the implication was harsh.

Their father clearly showed his bias in terms of his two daughters. He pampered Qu Qiuyan while treating Qu Moying as a stranger, maybe not even close to a stranger.

Qu Moying gave a cold glance at Qu Qiuyan. She slightly moved her body aside to block Granny Wu’s sight and then took the hairpin from Qu Qiuyan. “Thank you, Third Sister.”

A trace of sarcasm flashed across Qu Moying’s eyes. It was a pair of hairpins or a set of four hairpins? This delicate hairpin was obviously not as simple as Qu Qiuyan said!

However, now Qu Moying had a good guess about Qu Qiuyan’s intention…