Chapter 79

Chapter 79 The First Lady Was Sick Again!

“We are sisters. Don’t even mention it.” Qu Qiuyan gave Qu Moying a smile, looking a bit complacent. She couldn’t take anything from Qu Moying, but she could give her things as she wanted.

However, not every person deserved her gift!

The two young ladies said goodbye to each other friendly at the Old Lady’s yard door and left the different directions.

Strolling to her yard, Qu Moying held the hairpin in front of her eyes and watched those pearls clattering each other. It was indeed an exquisite hairpin, unique enough for her to remember it till now.

She saw the same hairpins at the empress’ place. There was a set of four hairpins sent to the empress as a tribute. That day, the empress invited her over to pick some accessories. When she got to the empress’ place, Noble Consort He was there too. After the set of hairpins was presented to them, Noble Consort He’s eyes lit up, and she asked the empress for the hairpins immediately, saying that it would be a nice gift for Lord Jing’s future wife. Plus, the number four was a sign of good luck in their culture.

At that time, she noticed Noble Consort He picked County Lady Jingyu as her son’s wife candidate. Hearing Noble Consort He’s request, the empress looked a bit unwilling and even signaled her to ask for those hairpins too. She thought it was unnecessary to compete with Noble Consort He over some hairpins and ignored the empress’ hint.

In the end, Noble Consort He got the hairpins while she was scolded by the empress in private.

The empress even asked her if she didn’t want to bring good luck for her and the Crown Prince’s marriage and blamed her for being useless.

Moreover, the empress didn’t let her leave the royal palace until Pei Luo’an came to explain for her.

Now, everything had changed, but surprisingly, she saw the same hairpin again, giving her a complex feeling.

Two of the four hairpins were in Qu Qiuyan’s hands. She claimed herself to be the future Madam Jing, but Lord Jing didn’t seem willing to make their relationship public. Not to mention, his heart had been wavering between the Guardian General’s daughter and County Lady Jingyu.

The more complicated the situation became, the more amusing it felt for Qu Moying.

“My lady…” Noticing Qu Moying fell into silence, Yu Dong looked at the distance and reminded her in a low voice. He sensed some noise and movement as he had better sight and hearing than ordinary maids.

Qu Moying shook her head quietly and didn’t turn back to look at him.

Suddenly, an old maid rushed out behind a tree in front of them and bumped into Qu Moying rudely. As Qu Moying lost her balance and staggered back, Yu Chun and Yu Dong hurriedly went up to steady her.

“Hey, watch out! Didn’t you see us here?” Yu Chun said in rage while holding Qu Moying’s hand.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m really sorry!” The old maid kept apologizing with her head lowered.

After standing still, Qu Moying frowned, “Let’s go!”

That hit was pretty hard just now, and her arm still hurt.

“Thank you, my lady. Thank you, my lady.” The old maid turned around and ran away immediately.

Everything happened too fast. Before they realized it, the old maid had already disappeared.

“My lady, I couldn’t even see her face,” Yu Dong said in an annoyed voice, looking in the direction where the maid left. No matter how good his sight was, he couldn’t see the person clearly since the old maid moved too fast and kept lowering her head during the whole time.

“There’s no need.” Qu Moying shook her head and looked down at her empty hands, moving her fingers.

“My lady, where’s the hairpin?” Yu Chun noticed it at the same time and exclaimed in shock.

“It dropped,” Qu Moying said carelessly.

“It dropped? Where?” Yu Chun looked at the ground and searched around. But no matter how carefully she looked, she couldn’t find the pearl hairpin, making her more and more flustered. “My lady, Third Lady said she wants to wear the same hairpin with you. But it’s gone now! What should you wear later?”

“Just the one I’m wearing right now,” Qu Moying said calmly, looking at the distance. It was such good timing. Right after she got the hairpin from Qu Qiuyan and held it in her hands, an old maid came out of nowhere and bumped into her, making her lose the hairpin.

The hairpin would probably be handed to Qu Moying’s maid if the old maid came out a bit later. The person behind it set the timing right after Qu Moying got the hairpin, guessing she would take a careful look at it first.

“Yu Chun, Yu Dong, speak louder,” Qu Moying whispered to her two maids with a smile. They were standing beside Qu Xuexin’s yard, and she noticed a maid peeked at them through the slightly opened door and returned inside.

Knowing their master’s intention, her two maids immediately started to talk in a loud, flustered voice, “My lady, we have to go tell the Old Lady. It is the old maid’s fault that you lost the hairpin.”

“My lady, that old maid did it on purpose! She must’ve seen the Third Lady giving you the hairpin and waited here for you to steal it. But the odd thing is, how did she know the Third Lady would give you the hairpin?”

“My lady, let’s go to the Old Lady’s yard.”

“Yeah, let’s go right now. Maybe someone wants to set you up.”

The two maids talked loudly, feeling aggrieved for their master.

“It’s no big deal. We can tell Third Sister when we see her later,” Qu Moying said carelessly.

“My lady, it is a big deal! You have to do it as soon as possible!” Yu Dong’s voice was stern.

“Alright, I will tell Third Sister later,” Qu Moying sounded more indifferent. With her two maids, she passed by Qu Xuexin’s yard. As she glanced at the yard, the slightly opened door moved a little bit, but no one came out.

When they returned to their yard, the lunch had already been served. Qu Moying ate a little and asked her maids to clean the table up. Not in a hurry to go out, she took a sip of the tea served by Yu Dong, slowly put the teacup down, and asked Yu Chun, who had just come back from outside, “Is First Sister feeling unwell again?”

“Yeah, her maid says her coughing is pretty bad, and she is still lying on her bed. She really wanted to accompany you this afternoon, but she couldn’t make it.” Yu Chun sighed, “How come the First Lady’s body is so weak? Her health condition seems even worse than the Old Lady’s.”

At least, the Old Lady was not lying on her bed all day long. She looked less energetic than usual, but she could still spend some time chatting with her granddaughters.

However, the First Sister’s sudden sickness seemed very odd.

Yu Chun always thought her master had been a weak girl and often got sick when they were back in the village. Moreover, Qu Moying’s sickness even lasted for years. But even so, if she could, Qu Moying would definitely get off from her bed unless it was terrible. Hearing the First Lady had to lie on her bed, Yu Chun wondered how heavy her sickness was.

As she thought so, Yu Chun also felt it was unfortunate that the First Lady got sick right now.

The Third Lady clearly was not holding any good intention. If the First Lady could go with them, she would be a help.

“The First Lady is a smart girl, and smart people always know when is the right time to get sick,” Qu Moying blinked at her confused maid and said with a smile.

“My lady, do you mean…she’s pretending she’s sick?” Yu Chun understood it immediately and asked in shock. She was never a foolish girl. Hearing Qu Moying’s hint, the odd feeling she got immediately found its answer.

In her opinion, her master and the First Lady didn’t have conflicts in terms of benefits, living in separate mansions. The Fourth Lady had always treated the First Lady respectfully, and the latter always looked polite and mild. Yu Chun couldn’t understand why the First Lady would do such a thing.

“Of course, she is pretending. The last time she got sick was after she left with the Second Lady and the Third Lady at the market. The Fourth Lady was suspected, and the Second Lady got into trouble that time while she was gone, saying she was sick. Now, the Fourth Lady needs her companionship, and here she is, sick again. If she is really sick to the point where she can’t get off her bed, why hasn’t she sent a servant to leave the temple and call a physician over or just return to the mansion directly? The Qu’s Mansion is not too far away from the Dabei Temple.”

Yu Dong, having a better grasp of the situation, pressed his lips and said disdainfully.

“The First Lady is indeed smart. Knowing the Third Lady is going to frame the Fourth Lady, she chooses to avoid it to protect herself. Consequently, no matter what happens later, she will have nothing to do with it.”

“How can the First Lady do that?! She is…but she is the First Lady…” Yu Chun took a deep breath in shock and muttered. She never expected the First Lady, who always looked mild and gentle, to be such a person.

“Even though our family lives in two separate mansions, the West Mansion is the main one since my father has a higher official rank than my uncle. First Sister is a smart person, so she will never offend Qu Qiuyan. Maybe she will even choose to help Qu Qiuyan bully me, depending on the situation. Right now, her doing nothing is the best I can get from her,” Qu Moying said carelessly.

None of the ladies in the Qu Family treated Qu Moying sincerely. But Qu Moying didn’t care about it since she had no feelings for them too.

The only person she cared about was the Old Lady, and right now, the thing she wanted to figure out the most was her grandmother’s “health problem”. If the Old Lady was healthy, things wouldn’t get to the current point, but unfortunately, she was sick while Qu Moying needed her the most. However, unlike Qu Xuexin, who hid in her room and faked her sickness, Qu Moying could tell the Old Lady was really sick with her own eyes.

“How’s the arrangement with Chun Xiu?” Qu Moying pulled herself back from her sarcastic thoughts and asked Yu Dong. While sending Yu Chun to visit Qu Xuexin, she also ordered Yu Dong to make some arrangements with Chun Xiu.

Since Qu Qiuyan spent so much effort on freeing herself from the blame after her evil plan was carried out, Qu Moying certainly would not let that happen.

She would make Qu Qiuyan fall into the trap she set herself…

A maid showed up at Qu Moying’s yard door. She curtsied to the main room and asked in a loud voice, “My lady, the Third Lady asks can you leave now?”

The room fell into silence for a few seconds, and then Yu Chun walked out. He beamed to the maid, “We are ready to leave. If the Third Lady is prepared too, let’s go.”

“Okay, then I will go back to report to the Third Lady. Have you asked the First Lady? If you haven’t, I can go to invite her when passing by her yard.” The maid Qu Qiuyan sent was a clever one. She clarified everything quickly and even thought about inviting Qu Xuexin.

If it were before, Yu Chun would just react to what she said. But right now, she was calm and confident, having her master’s explicit order. Yu Chun shook her head with a smile, “The First Lady sent maid tell us she’s sick and can’t get off from her bed for a while. She said you can go without her, and she will hold a dinner party to apologize to you later when she feels better!”

“The First Lady is sick again?” the maid asked in shock. However, the trace of surprise on her face didn’t seem natural, as if she faked, knowing it was going to happen anyway. Hurriedly, she said, “the First Lady has always been quite weak. I hope the Third Lady won’t mind.”