Chapter 88

Chapter 88 Big News! The Crown Princess Passed Away

“I have my own ways. Don’t worry about it. All you need to do is be a noble lady, staying in your room, doing some embroidery, and reading some books until the situation calmed down. As for Qu Moying, we still have your father’s support, remember?” Yu sneered.

“Okay. After Father comes back, I will teach that low-life girl a good lesson!” Qu Qiuyan said resentfully. She had never lost this big before, and she would make sure to ask her father to give Qu Moying some proper punishment.

Father trusted her and her mother the most. If she and Yu both said the same things, Qu Qiuyan was sure that her father would make Qu Moying pay for what she did.

When Qu Zhizhen came back, it was fifteen minutes before one pm. Hearing he first went to the Old Lady’s yard, Qu Qiuyan couldn’t wait anymore and hurried there with her maids. When she arrived at the Old Lady’s yard gate, she saw Qu Zhizhen coming out and rushed over.

“Father, Moying framed me!” Seeing her father, Qu Qiuyan walked up and said pitifully as tears formed in her eyes.

She knew that her father liked her mother acting feebly, so she learned well from her mother. As long as Qu Qiuyan showed this sad face, Qu Zhizhen was willing to promise her anything she wanted.

However, Qu Zhizhen pulled a long face and threw her a glare, “Talk to me later when I have time.”

He passed by his daughter directly this time, totally ignoring her complaint.

Such a thing never happened before. Stunned by her father’s reaction, Qu Qiuyan thought of the Old Lady immediately. That annoying old woman must’ve said something to her father. Although she tried to rush over as quickly as possible, she still didn’t make it in time.

“Father, it’s true. Qu Moying tried to frame me, but Grandmother…Grandmother always protects her. Father…” Qu Qiuyan walked up and grabbed Qu Zhizhen’s sleeve, the look on her face even more heartbroken. She raised her head and stared at Qu Zhizhen with those watery, pitiful eyes.

If it were before, Qu Zhizhen would immediately stop and comfort his daughter. However, he didn’t have time for this right now.

“I still have something to do. Go tell your mother about it,” he said impatiently while shaking off Qu Qiuyan’s hand.

The impact made Qu Qiuyan stagger back and almost fall to the ground. She looked at her father in shock, “Father, Mother can’t help me either. Since Moying has Grandmother’s protection, what can my mother do about it?”

“If she can’t even deal with these trifles, what else can she do?” Qu Zhizhen blurted, almost irritated by his daughter’s persistence, and then he left quickly.

Meanwhile, Yu was rushing over as well. When she walked to a flowering shrub not far from them, she heard what her husband said. His impatient words hit Yu’s heart hard. As the expression on her face suddenly changed, she covered her belly, leaned on a maid’s shoulder with her eyes turning red.

She had never expected her obedient husband to say such words and blame her for mismanaging the family. Did he think she was incompetent to deal with the trifles in the mansion?

She hurried over because she also got the news that Qu Zhizhen went to the Old Lady’s yard immediately after returning. However, she didn’t expect to hear such hurtful words from him. Feeling heartbroken, Yu started to doubt if she was just a mansion butler in her husband’s eyes.

“Mother!” Qu Qiuyan saw Yu and rushed over with her full speed, feeling aggrieved. Yu tried to avoid her subconsciously, but they still bumped into each other since Qu Qiuyan ran too fast. If Hai Lan didn’t try to pull Qu Qiuyan away, she would definitely make Yu fall to the ground because of her carelessness.

However, Yu still curled up in pain. The abrupt bump seemed to hurt her a lot.

“Second Madam, how do you feel?” Seeing Yu’s reaction, Hai Lan was so anxious that she pulled away Qu Qiuyan immediately. “Second Madam, are you alright?”

“My…my belly hurts…” Beads of sweat flowed down from Yu’s forehead. She clenched Hai Lan’s hand hard as the veins were bulging on her hand.

“Hurry! Help the Second Madam go back immediately. She needs to see a doctor.” Hai Lan asked the maids to support Yu, and the group hurriedly headed back to Yu’s yard as Qu Qiuyan followed behind.

The chaotic situation was finally settled after a while. Qu Qiuyan was convinced to leave long ago, and the doctor went to pick up some medicine. At this moment, Yu was lying on her bed only with Hai Lan accompanying her.

“Second Madam, you should be careful next time. Luckily, the Third Lady didn’t make you fall on the ground just now.” Fear was still lingering in Hai Lan’s heart.

“I’m fine. I just need some rest.” Yu rubbed her belly. The doctor said she was pregnant yesterday, but she didn’t have time to tell Qu Zhizhen yet. Right now, she changed her mind. She was not in a hurry to inform Qu Zhizhen anymore since the doctor said he needed some time to observe her health condition, and she’d better have some good rest first.

Did he mean that her pregnancy was not stable yet? Hearing the doctor’s words, Yu felt a bit flustered.

“Second Madam, how about telling the Old Lady and the Second Master first? They will be happy to know,” noticing her silence, Hai Lan reminded her in a low voice.

“I might not be able to keep this baby. I want to…wait for a bit first. I don’t want to give them hope and disappoint them later.” Yu was still rubbing her belly that had been hurting a bit for a while. The pain was bearable but still uncomfortable.

After marrying into the Qu Family, it was not the first time she got pregnant. But every time, her pregnancy ended in miscarriage. The longest time she had been pregnant was six months, but she still lost the baby in the end. So, she wanted to keep it a secret this time until three months later. It was said that the baby in her womb wouldn’t get startled in this way, and her pregnancy would be more stable afterward.

She initially planned to tell her husband today but almost lost her baby again. What happened just now was very worrisome for her, so she decided not to tell anyone about it until it was safe.

“Second Madam, so we don’t tell anyone about it now?” Hai Lan still thought it was better to tell others about Yu’s pregnancy.

“No, we don’t tell anyone now!” Yu nodded at her firmly.

“Second Madam, did something big happen? I’ve never seen the Second Master acting so anxiously. No matter how urgent the thing he needed to do, he would always inform you first,” Hai Lan changed the subject of their conversation.

“It should be, and I assume it’s something severe.” Yu nodded since it was also the first time for her during all the years after she married into the Qu Family.

As she expected, Granny Wu arrived at her yard soon.

“The Crown Princess passed away?” Hearing the news, Yu couldn’t hold her excitement and sat up on her bed immediately. She used to have a big scruple while dealing with Qu Moying since the Crown Princess was Qu Moying’s cousin. The Crown Princess’s death was great news for her.

“Yes, the Crown Princess passed away. The Old Lady says the whole family should be in mourning for ten days, abstaining from eating meat and wearing white mourning belts,” said Granny Wu.

She glanced at Yu and let out a sigh inwardly, feeling unsure about her choice. When the former Second Madam was still alive, she was such a gentle, kind woman but unfortunately ended up like that. Then Yu became the lucky one who got her position.

Well, it was mainly because Yu gave birth to a daughter and a son.

“Second Madam, do you feel unwell? Have you seen a doctor? If working is too much for you right now, how about we ask First Madam Luo of the East Mansion to help you manage the mourning affairs?” asked Granny Wu. She thought Yu was sick seeing her lying on the bed.

“I’m fine. It’s not a big deal. Granny Wu, please tell the Old Lady that she doesn’t need to worry about it, and I will try my best to handle it.” Yu never liked Luo from the East Mansion. Although Luo didn’t say anything about her, she always had the feeling that Luo looked down on her as if she was a real noble lady while Yu was just a low-life, shameless woman.

They rarely saw each other, and even when they met, they never talked. Holding a grudge against Luo, Yu didn’t want her help at all. Otherwise, this would give Luo more reason to disdain her.

Also, it was not Luo’s place to manage the West Mansion. Since the Second Master had a higher official rank than the First Master, the entire Qu Family gave priority to the West Mansion. If they invited Luo to help manage the mansion, those outsiders would think of the East Mansion as the more important one in their family.

Yu spent so much effort on climbing up to her current position. She would never allow anyone to stand in her way.

“I’m glad to hear that you are alright, Second Madam. The Old Lady wants you to start preparing the mourning clothes and belts first for all family members in the mansion. The mourning clothes should be made of sackcloth, and every person should have four sets. We need to ask the embroidery workshop to stop all the work at hand and start to make these first. If they don’t have enough time to make all four sets, they need to finish at least one for each person as soon as possible. Except for the clothes, we also need to prepare some sacrificial offerings.”

Usually, the mourning clothes didn’t have to be white since the most basic colors like grey, dark blue, or black should all be proper. There shouldn’t be any patterns on the clothes. During these ten days, people couldn’t wear any bright-colored or luxurious clothes and exquisite accessories except for mourning clothes and a mourning belt on the waist.

However, the Qu Family was a different case. Since Qu Moying was related to the Crown Princess, they had to wear white sacking clothes and go to the funeral in person.

“Granny Wu, leave it to me. I will start the arrangement right now. You can leave to report back to the Old Lady first,” said Yu.

Since Yu sat up immediately and seemed quite energetic, Granny Wu nodded at her and got ready to leave. But before she walked out, she was stopped by Yu suddenly. “Granny Wu, did the Second Master say when he would return?”

“I’m afraid the Second Master won’t be back for a few days. He and his colleagues from the Ministry of Works need to stay in the Eastern Palace to help the Crown Prince manage the mourning affairs. He will probably be swamped with work these days,” said Granny Wu.

“Alright, I see.” Yu nodded at her.

After Granny Wu left hurriedly, Yu got off the bed with Hai Lan’s help.

“Second Madam, how do you feel?” Hai Lan asked her worriedly while observing her face.

Yu let go of Hai Lan’s hand, calmed herself down, and started to walk outside. She said, “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Call the manager of the embroidery workshop over. I want to instruct the manager in person about this.”

Since the work assigned to the embroidery workshop was the most important right now, she had to handle it in person and avoid any mistakes. There was nothing better than the death of the Crown Princess for her. In Yu’s opinion, the Crown Princess should be dead long ago. Her existence had been dragging everyone’s feet and made many people exhausted.

Thinking about it, a sick pleasure showed in Yu’s eyes.

Due to Qu Moying’s relationship with the Crown Princess, the entire family needed to attend the funeral in the Eastern Palace. Then she had to pay extra attention to making some arrangements about those mourning clothes. Otherwise, such a great opportunity to frame Qu Moying would become a waste. If Qu Moying did something wrong on her own cousin, the Crown Princess’s funeral, she had to make up for it with her death, and even the Old Lady couldn’t do anything about it…

Knowing the Crown Princess was dying soon before, Yu actually had already started to make preparations. But it was even sooner than she expected…