Chapter 85

Chapter 85 An Unintentional Mistake?

No one expected Yu to hit the maid at the mansion’s gate, making a big scene here. Noticing the noise, a few passers-by stopped walking and looked in their direction curiously.

It was not strange that a wealthy family punished their maids, but usually, they all chose to do it inside their mansions. No one would want to make a big scene outside and shame the family name.

Standing at the gate, the Old Lady was trembling in rage. Before she was about to walk down, Granny Wu hesitantly whispered something in her ear, making her stop and stare at Yu and others with a stern look.

“You low-life girl, don’t you know which hairpin the Third Lady usually wears?” Yu pointed at Qing Ju and asked furiously.

“Second Madam…I…” Startled by the sudden slap on her face, Qing Ju didn’t know what to say. She covered her aching face and started to sob.

“Are you in charge of managing all the Third Lady’s hairpins?” Yu’s finger was trembling in anger as if she held her rage for a long time and finally vented it out.

“Y-Yes, it’s…it’s me…” Qing Ju nodded, crying.

Right now, she was Qu Qiuyan’s only private maid. Another spot had been vacant since Qing He left.

“Since you are the only private maid that the Third Lady had, managing all her accessories, shouldn’t you know the Third Lady has two similar pairs of hairpins? They are both purple pearl hairpins. One pair was gifted by the Yu Family for the Third Lady’s birthday. Another pair was bought by the Third Lady herself when she went shopping outside.”

The expression on Yu’s face was furious, her voice cold and angry, “These two pairs looked similar. But this time, in the Third Lady’s accessory box were the pair she bought and one from the pair given by the Yu Family. Didn’t you notice it when you packed her luggage? Is it how you normally do your job?”

Hai Lan, who was standing behind Yu, walked up and presented the hairpin in her hands.

It was a hairpin decorated with quite big pearls, and the color of the pearls was also purple, looking pretty and exquisite. But there was only one hairpin in her hands.

“I…I…” Qing Ju talked helplessly and looked at Qu Qiuyan, seeking help. “Third Lady, I…I…”

Hai Lan took back the hairpin and put it in an accessory box held by another young maid. Then she stepped back behind Yu again.

Although Hai Lan didn’t say anything, the accessory box was big enough for everyone to see it clearly. There were two delicate frames in the box, particularly for hairpins, and now one of the hairpins was missing.

The big scene they made attracted many people’s eyes, and even those far away walked closer and surrounded them.

Watching Yu putting on this big show, Qu Moying sneered inwardly. No wonder Yu hooked up with Qu Zhizhen before she married into the Qu Family and made Qu Zhizhen abandon his first wife and daughter. Qu Moying started to feel lucky that she somehow survived after all those years. Living in the village kept her away from this malicious and cunning woman. Yu did make a few attempts at killing Qu Moying before. However, after her plans failed, luckily, Yu didn’t put much effort into continuing since Qu Moying was too far away to affect her life.

A girl abandoned by her own family was truly powerless. After Qu Moying moved back to the mansion, Yu tried to use Qu Qiuyan’s maid to kill her again. But no one knew that at that moment, Qu Moying was reborn in the fire.

Otherwise, she would’ve been long dead.

Compared to her daughter, Yu was a wily old fox, malicious but much more thoughtful. Qu Moying had already predicted Yu’s next step, and the only question was who she would pass the buck on.

A maid’s unintentional mistake couldn’t be enough as an explanation to help Qu Qiuyan get around with the current situation.

If Yu didn’t have a thoroughly considered plan to get Qu Qiuyan out of trouble, she would never make a scene at the mansion’s gate.

Yu must’ve planned to make a big sacrifice to help her daughter. Since she had already made the opening, Qu Moying didn’t even need to do anything now. However, Qu Moying would make sure to add some fuel to the fire later so that Yu would lose big this time…

Under the veil, Qu Moying’s eyes raised and fell on the Old Lady, who was standing in front of the gate, holding Granny Wu’s arm and watching them quietly. Qu Moying couldn’t help but let out a sign in silence. No matter how much the Old Lady liked her, she was also Qu Qiuyan’s granddaughter. There would never be a person like her father protecting her at any cost in the past life. Thinking about it, tears started to form in Qu Moying’s eyes. She lowered her head and bit her lip, suppressing the sorrow and hatred in her heart.

“Do you have any other excuse? You helped the Third Lady pack up her luggage, including her accessory box. The Third Lady should wear the hairpin given by the Yu Family, and the one she gave the Fourth Lady should be from the Yu Family too! Although these two pairs look similar, they are still different. It was fine that the Third Lady didn’t notice they were mistaken, but as her private maid, shouldn’t you know about it? Also, when you packed the hairpins for the Third Lady, why did you only take one from this pair?”

Yu continued, her voice annoyed, “Because of your mistake, the Third Lady and the Fourth Lady were framed by someone else. Our family name has even been affected. Even your death can’t make up for the loss you caused!”

“Second Madam, it’s not me. It’s really not me… I remember I packed up everything correctly…” Qing Ju started to cry out loud.

Those onlookers didn’t know what had happened in the Dabei Temple, but clearly, it was something serious. They looked at each other and kept watching them quietly, feeling confused.

“It’s not you? Then who would it be? Do you mean someone else somehow reached the Third Lady’s accessory box and changed the hairpins inside? In the temple, who else had been to the Third Lady’s room? Who could reach the Third Lady’s accessory box without you and her noticing?” Yu said angrily.

Qu Moying raised her eyebrow, understanding Yu’s intention. So, she wanted to make Yu Qingmeng the real culprit instead of Qing Ju. It was indeed more reasonable since a maid shouldn’t make such a big mistake.

At this moment, Qing Ju figured out Yu’s purpose as well and immediately started to cry louder, making herself sound more aggrieved. “Second Madam, Lady Yu came to the Third Lady’s yard before… It was Lady Yu! She went to the Third Lady’s bedroom while I…I was serving tea to the Third Lady. I didn’t pay attention to her since Lady Yu is the Third Lady’s cousin. I didn’t think she would do anything to harm the Third Lady.”

“Qingmeng?” Yu looked shocked. She suddenly lost all her strength in her legs and almost passed out.

Hai Lan hurriedly went up to steady her.

At the same time, the Old Lady twisted her brow into a frown but didn’t say anything.

“Yes, Second Madam. I felt strange about it at that time. When Lady Yu arrived, it seemed that she wanted to have a good chat with the Third Lady. But she left soon after she spent some time in the Third Lady’s bedroom. I was wondering why she acted like that, but I…I didn’t think too much about it. I heard after leaving the Third Lady’s yard, Lady Yu went to visit the Fourth Lady and started an argument with her…”

Qing Ju was still sobbing, but her words became more organized.

Since she figured out Yu’s intention, she started to work with Yu to finish her drama.

“My cousin…? Why…Why did she?” Qu Qiuyan quickly responded as tears already flowed down her pale cheeks. She said sorrowfully, “But she is my cousin!”

She surely learned acting skills from her mother Yu.

Qu Moying stood aside, quietly watching this mother and daughter acting.

“My lady, remember? Lady Yu married Young Master Yongning right after he broke the engagement off with the Fourth Lady. Lady Yu has…has never seen eye to eye with the Fourth Lady…” Qing Ju didn’t care if she offended Yu Qingmeng and even mentioned Xu Lipeng, desperately trying to get herself out of trouble.

The show of buck-passing amused Qu Moying. It was not time for her to speak yet.

“You mean…You mean Qingmeng did…it b-because she didn’t like the Fourth Lady?” Yu muttered as her whole body was trembling in shock and anger. Then she fell straight down on the ground and lost consciousness.

Hai Lan held Yu in her arms and said hurriedly, “Second Madam…Second Madam, are you alright?! Maybe Lady Yu was just too impulsive at that time and decided to use the Third Lady. She is still young, and young people inevitably make wrong choices. You can’t be too upset about it! Being angry is terrible for your health!”

Qu Qiuyan pushed Qu Caiyue aside, rushed over, and took her mother from Hai Lan’s arms, crying pitifully. “Mother, it’s my bad. I was too careless. I thought I was wearing hairpins from the same pair and gave one to Moying. I didn’t expect the one I gave Moying was from another pair. Who would’ve known my cousin put two different hairpins in my accessory box? After I came back and saw there was only one hairpin left in that box, I thought the one Moying had was the same as the one I wore. Mother, it’s all my fault.”

As she talked, her sobbing became more sorrowful. At the moment, all kinds of noises spread in front of the mansion’s gate.

“What’s the point of making a scene in front of our mansion’s gate?! Take them inside first!” the Old Lady said coldly.

Granny Wu nodded at her and asked a maid to walk into the mansion with the Old Lady. Then she walked down and started to control the situation. Qu Qiuyan was pulled aside by someone, and Yu, who was still in a coma, was carried back to her room. Granny Wu comforted Qu Qiuyan, who was still crying, and then took all the ladies inside.

Qu Moying was walking at the end of the group. Her eyes behind the veil were dark and expressionless, as if they could absorb everything inside.

What a show! But she liked it!

This was truly the end for Yu Qingmeng. Not only her, Xu Lipeng, her husband, was affected as well. He just broke off the engagement with the Fourth Lady of the Qu Family and soon married a concubine, who was hostile to his ex-fiancee and even tried to frame her. It seemed like this newly married couple was not as intimate as they looked. From now on, people would doubt if Xu Lipeng’s behavior of saving Second Lady Duan was out of real kindness.

This time, Yu responded quickly by sacrificing Yu Qingmeng to protect Qu Qiuyan. Although her explanation was still a bit suspicious, Yu’s purpose was achieved anyway, which was getting her daughter out of trouble. Now, this became a fair battle between Yu and Xu Lipeng, who was a hypocritical and shameless man, trying everything to protect his good reputation. No matter who was the final winner, Qu Moying would happily see it through.

But things hadn’t ended yet. Knowing Yu’s personality, Qu Moying expected her to make some preparation for the next step. Standing on the stairs, she turned around quietly, recognized an old maid in the crowd, and pressed her lips. The old maid worked for Yu. Qu Moying called Yu Dong over and whispered something to him. Yu Dong nodded at her and walked down the stairs, heading to the carriage Qu Moying took before.

He stopped the coachman, “Wait! The Fourth Lady has something left in the carriage!”

The carriage stopped, and Yu Dong climbed into it to look for something. Meanwhile, people started to discuss what had happened before outside the carriage…