Chapter 87

Chapter 87 Mother, I Don’t Hate Ying

“What is she frightened about?” Yu Dong asked out loud subconsciously. After finishing his words, he realized it immediately as his eyes opened wide. “Is the Second Lady afraid that Second Madam will sacrifice her to protect the Third Lady too?”

Qu Caiyue always fawned on Qu Qiuyan, doing whatever she was asked to do. Sometimes, she would even do things on her own to flatter Qu Qiuyan.

“As she should be. Compared to her, Yu Qingmeng was much closer to Yu as her niece. Before, Yu Qingmeng had a higher status in the Qu Family and was more favored by Yu. Yet, Yu was even willing to sacrifice her own niece, let alone Qu Caiyue,” Qu Moying said in a flat tone.

“My lady, that was obviously a trap set by the Third Lady and Lady Yu together. Does the Old Lady really believe what the Second Madam said?” Yu Chun was concerned about another thing and said aggrievedly.

“Of course, the Old Lady believes it,” said Qu Moying coldly.

“But this is so fake! The Third Lady already tried to burn you before. After her plan failed, now she came up with a new one to destroy you. Even I can tell how malicious she is. I don’t believe the Old Lady can’t see that!” Yu Chun said in surprise.

“It doesn’t matter if the Old Lady can tell it or not. Right now, it is the best outcome she can get,” a trace of coldness showed in Qu Moying’s soft voice.

Sometimes, she could understand it logically, but it still felt bad.

Even though the Old Lady saw Qu Qiuyan’s true colors and liked Qu Moying more, but after all, they were both her granddaughters related by blood. She couldn’t choose one over another…

The only one that Qu Moying could depend on was herself now!

Qu Moying clenched her fists hard to suppress the upset feeling. When she raised her head again, the look in her eyes returned to the firm one she usually had. She knew it better than anyone that everything would be on herself from that moment she was reborn. No one would care about her and protect her at any cost like her father did before!

If she still put hope on other people, she would just be the same soft-hearted, weak person. And a weak person was not suitable for revenge.

“Yu Dong, tell me about what you heard outside,” Qu Moying said slowly.

“Yes, my lady. I heard that those old maids sent by the Second Madam said…” as he walked, Yu Dong reported in a low voice to her.

“Tell me, what on earth is going on?” After the ladies left, the Old Lady pulled a long face and stared at Yu and Qu Qiuyan, kneeling on the ground.

Feeling flustered, when Qu Qiuyan was about to speak, her hand was held by Yu. Yu pinched her, signaled her to stay quiet, and started to wipe her own tears with a hanky again.

“Mother, I know Qingmeng made a big mistake. It’s my fault that I didn’t educate her well and that she disobeyed the etiquette and tried to frame the Fourth Lady. Luckily, nothing happened this time. Mother, I promise you that she will never do that again. She’s just a concubine of the Marquis Yongning’s Family, and we have nothing to do with her anymore. I will not allow her to step into our mansion again.”

Knowing the Old Lady’s intention, Yu was not flustered since she had prepared for this already. She deliberately showed anger, regret, and determination on her face.

“It’s all Yu Qingmeng’s fault?” the Old Lady fell into silence for a few seconds and asked.

“Yes, she did everything. Yan is just a victim who has nothing to do with it. When it happened in the Dabei Temple, Lord Jing saw it too and was quite angry. Maybe he will even ask the Second Master about it later,” said Yu hurriedly.

Yu had known well about what the Old Lady cared about and what she didn’t. If Qu Qiuyan really married Lord Jing, it would be beneficial for the whole family.

This was a critical thing related to the future of the Qu Family, so the Old Lady wouldn’t allow it to be hindered!

The Old Lady sat quietly with a long face for a while, and then she asked, “Yu, what if Yu Qingmeng refuses to admit her fault?”

“Mother, Qingmeng is just a concubine. Since Young Master Yongning hasn’t married his wife yet, she can’t leave their mansion. Even if she wants to say something about it, who can she talk to? Moreover, no one will believe her anyway.” Yu sounded irritated, “She first framed Yan, then it’s Ying. For me, she’s not my niece anymore.”

The Old Lady stared at her suspiciously. She could always tell that Yu treated her niece very well. Because of Yu’s attitude toward Yu Qingmeng, the Old Lady even felt more aggrieved for her own granddaughter, Qu Moying, who had to live alone in the village without anyone’s protection.

“Mother, don’t worry. I can handle this,” Yu added immediately. Seeing the Old Lady’s hesitant face, Yu knew that she was partly convinced already.

“What about the Marquis Yongning’s Family? Young Master Yongning is also involved this time,” the Old Lady’s voice was still cold.

“Mother, it’s all Qingmeng’s fault. Even though Young Master Yongning is involved, it has nothing to do with us. To be honest, Young Master Yongning owes the Fourth Lady anyway since he broke off the engagement first,” said Yu as if she felt aggrieved for Qu Moying. “The Fourth Lady’s marriage hasn’t been settled, and it’s all because of Young Master Yongning.”

Still kneeling on the ground, Yu moved closer to the Old Lady and bowed her head on the ground three times with all her strength. When she lifted her head again, her forehead was red and swollen as tears flowed down her cheeks. “Mother, I’ve treated Qingmeng well, and I always wish she could be a good-hearted lady. I didn’t expect her… I didn’t know that she had been secretly dating Young Master Yongning. Otherwise, I would drive her away to a nunnery and prevent her from shaming herself and our family long ago.”

Then she covered her face with a hanky while wailing, and her whole body curled up in pain as if she felt it genuinely.

Qu Qiuyan, kneeling on the ground behind Yu, moved closer to her mother and reached out to hold her. She called her mother pitifully, “Mother, Mother, don’t be so upset. It’s not…it’s not your fault that my cousin did it. Who would’ve known that…that she would do this?”

Their crying echoed in the whole room, sounding pitiful.

The Old Lady quietly watched the mother and the daughter holding each other and wailing together for a while, and then she gave out her final warning, “Yu, I know you don’t like Ying. But no matter what, Ying is also Zhizhen’s daughter. She and Yan are both ladies of the Qu Family, and their name and future are bound together!”

“Mother, I don’t hate Ying. It’s just she reminds me of Sister Yue a lot. Sister Yue died of dystocia, but I always feel it’s my fault. If I didn’t marry the Second Master at that time, she might be still alive right now. Ying looks like her a lot, and the more I look at her, the more sorry I feel for Sister Yue. That’s why I didn’t dare to see her all those years. It’s not because I dislike her.”

Yu raised her head. The tears on her face and the bruise on her forehead made her look very pitiful.

“At that time, if it weren’t for the two babies in my womb, I’d rather die instead of shaming myself and irritating Sister Yue. It was all my fault that…that Sister Yue ended up like that. I owed her a lot. If I had a chance to relive that moment, I would choose to die with my two babies in my womb together.”

Her crying worked well this time, and the Old Lady fell into silence again. The Old Lady knew that it was Yu’s fault for shamelessly hooking up with her son. But she was still her granddaughter and grandson’s mother. Moreover, Yu gave birth to Qu Zhizhen’s only son. No matter how much the Old Lady disliked Yu, she never wanted to see Yu and her children die at that time.

The past memories hit the Old Lady hard and filled her heart with sorrow. She leaned back, closed her eyes, and waved her hand feebly at Yu. “Just mind your behavior in the future. You can leave now!”

“Yes, Mother. I promise I will treat Ying as my own daughter. I’ve done it so wrongly these years. Because I didn’t dare to see Ying, who looks like Sister Yue a lot, I’ve ignored her and made all the servants disrespect her. I’ve realized that it’s all my fault. I won’t do it again,” Yu promised.

The Old Lady didn’t say anything else but only waved her hand to let them leave. Granny Wu looked at Yu to signal her. Yu understood it immediately, pulled up her daughter, and excused herself to the Old Lady. Then she and Qu Qiuyan hurriedly left. After they walked out of the Old Lady’s yard, they asked their maids to stay away from them and started to whisper to each other while walking.

“Mother, Young Master Yongning won’t go easy on us,” Qu Qiuyan said worriedly.

“So what? He did start to date Qingmeng long ago,” Yu sneered.

“But you allowed it to happen, right? What if he uses you as an excuse?” Qu Qiuyan was confused. Yu had encouraged Yu Qingmeng a lot after knowing she was interested in Xu Lipeng. Technically, Yu was a big reason why Yu Qingmeng could hook up with Xu Lipeng in the beginning.

“He can’t get around with it anyway. He won’t dare to say more about it,” Yu sneered carelessly.

“But what about my uncle…” Qu Qiuyan still sounded worried.

“A daughter who married someone as a concubine and is almost impossible to be a wife, and a niece who can help his career in the future. Your uncle can surely tell which one is more beneficial to him,” Yu said carelessly.

She had sent a letter to the Yu Family and was sure that her older brother could have a good grasp of the situation.

A daughter who was a concubine didn’t have much value for him anymore. No matter what happened, Yu Qingmeng couldn’t be degraded into a maid with Yu’s support. Moreover, Xu Lipeng himself also had responsibility in it, so he couldn’t do anything to Yu Qingmeng.

“Okay. Mother, it’s all thanks to you this time. Otherwise, I will be doomed.” Qu Qiuyan still couldn’t calm herself down due to the fright and worry she had before. She bit her lips as a trace of maliciousness showed in her eyes. “Mother, it must be Qu Moying. That low-life girl must’ve done something, or things wouldn’t go like this.”

“It couldn’t be Qu Moying. She’s not able to do such things.” Yu shook her head. She didn’t believe Qu Moying could be so thoughtful.

“Mother, I indeed gave Qu Moying that hairpin, and she lied about it. She said I gave her another one instead of the purple one, and she lost it after getting bumped by a person. She doesn’t even have any evidence to prove it.” Seeing her mother didn’t believe her words, Qu Qiuyan felt anxious.

“Don’t worry about it. I have ways to deal with that low-life girl,” Yu sneered as her eyes darkened, and she looked in the direction of Qianyue House. Yu wanted to do her own investigation first to see if it was an accident or a trap set by Qu Moying. After all, her daughter was still inexperienced in judging this kind of situation. Maybe Qu Moying just didn’t want to admit the truth because she was afraid of being framed.

Maybe she just tried to save herself from trouble instead of purposefully framing Qu Qiuyan. But no matter what, what she did indeed caused problems to Qu Qiuyan, and even her death couldn’t make up for it. Yu would never go easy on that bitch’s blind daughter again.

“What’s your plan, Mother?” Qu Qiuyan leaned over and whispered.