"Madam Zhou, are these what my mother left for me?" Qu Moying stood up suddenly and looked at the opened small package in front of him in astonishment.
She took Nanny Zhou with her, on the one hand because she was now living in the Ling Anbo Mansion and her life was very difficult, and on the other hand because she used to be a maid who came with her mother, Madam Qu Er, and knew a lot about her mother's past.
After coming back, Nanny Zhou did tell some of the things that happened back then. Yu gave birth prematurely and blamed the mother for it. Qu Zhizhen had a big fight with the mother and scolded her and asked her to go to the nunnery for a while. At that time, the mother was pregnant and had no choice but to leave.
Then my mother was heartbroken and physically ill, and she gave birth prematurely and died of dystocia. When the lady rushed over, she only saw my mother for the last time, but this stepfather didn't even see her for the last time. But when he came over, he pushed all the blame on Madam Zhou.
“Miss, actually it wasn’t something that Madam left for you. It was something that this old servant took away originally. I only kept it as a thought for it. Now I’m returning it to you, Miss.” Nanny Zhou lowered her head and cried, wiping her tears.
She didn't want to talk about what happened back then, but she had reasons to do so.
Qu Moying bit her lip, her nose felt sore, and her eyes fell on the package in front of her, which was a bright red swaddling cloth. The material should be very good, but as time passed, the pattern on it had faded a bit. It was embroidered with large two-color peonies, outlined with gold thread, in full bloom, and the embroidery was very delicate. It could be seen that the embroidery was carefully done.
But I don't know why a small piece of it broke, and I don't know where it got broken.
I felt a little uneasy, but I didn't know what was wrong.
His eyes turned down and fell on a set of silver jewelry worn by the child, including silver bracelets, silver necklaces, silver anklets, and something that looked like a bell.
"Were these useless at the time?" Qu Moying reached out and touched the silver ornaments and asked.
"The swaddling clothes were used and replaced, and the silver jewelry had not been used yet. At that time, I only wanted to take the Madam and the Young Miss's things with me, so... I took these away." Madam Zhou lowered her head and cried.
Qu Moying was silent for a moment and said nothing.
The room fell silent, with an inexplicable sense of peace. After a long while, Qu Moying said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you, Madam Zhou, for helping me keep these things."
"Miss, this is Madam's last wish. Originally, I would have sent these things to you, but Miss has been staying at the farm before, so it is inconvenient for me." Nanny Zhou wiped her tears and raised her red eyes and answered. It can be seen that she was still a little panicked.
Thinking that she had arrived at the Ji Mansion of the Ling'an Earl, she was devoted to Ji's mother and later became an important helper beside her mother. Before her mother died, she also helped to manage the affairs. She was grateful to Nanny Zhou for two lifetimes and reached out to pull Nanny Zhou to sit aside.
Tell Yuchun to put the things away.
Yudong brought tea. Qu Moying took a sip, calmed herself down, and then told her the reason why she called Nanny Zhou over: she wanted to find out something.
After arriving at the Qu Mansion, Nanny Zhou has been helping Nanny Miao quietly.
Nanny Miao is very useful in some aspects, but when it comes to managing the internal affairs of the courtyard, she is indeed no match for Nanny Zhou. After all, Nanny Zhou once helped her master manage the inner courtyard in Ling Anbo Ji's mansion. She can manage so many courtyards, so managing Qianyueju is not a big problem at the moment.
As soon as he arrived, he helped Aunt Miao a lot.
"Madam Zhou, Mr. Ji
What kind of person is he?" Qu Moying asked.
"Second Master Ji?" Nanny Zhou was stunned for a moment and asked back.
"Yes, Second Master Ji." Qu Moying nodded.
"When the Second Young Master Ji was in the mansion, he had always had a very good relationship with the Third Young Master. The two were of similar age, and although they were in the first and second rooms respectively, they had a very good relationship. Whenever the Second Young Master went out, he would bring things for the Third Young Master. When they were young, they played together. As they grew older and avoided suspicion, the Second Young Master would come to see the Third Young Master from time to time."
Nanny Zhou calmed herself down, wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said.
This is similar to the Ji Yuanhai in his memory.
"Madam Zhou, the concubine Xiang you mentioned last time wants to adopt the second young master Ji to your uncle. Is it possible? Is it feasible?" Qu Moying asked again.
Although she knew some things, she couldn't say them, or even do anything. But it was much better with Nanny Zhou around. Others only thought that it was Nanny Zhou who told her something, and that's how she knew the inside story of the Ji Mansion.
"Madam Xiang wants to adopt the second young master Ji?" Nanny Zhou was surprised.
"Yes, we want to adopt the second son of the Ji family to my uncle." Qu Moying nodded vigorously. This matter has been reported to the emperor. His cousin said that although there is no news yet, it does not mean that there is no chance. However, this chance does not seem great, after all, there is a prince's concubine on the other side.
Tomorrow is the day of the Crown Princess’ funeral, and Qu Moying will also be there.
"It would be great if I could adopt Second Young Master Ji. Second Young Master Ji would definitely investigate Third Young Master Ji's affairs, but... but I'm afraid that's unlikely. Miss Ji is now a concubine of the Eastern Palace. I heard from the maids in the mansion that Miss Ji might become the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace in the future..."
Nanny Zhou paused here, as if she had more to say.
The meaning of these words has already been fully expressed. If Ji Youran became the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, the title would never fall to Ji Yuanhai. Ji Youran's biological brother Ji Yuanxing would become the new Ling Anbo. But these are what Qu Moying does not want to see.
How could she want an enemy to get everything her father had
As for the current Ling Anbo Mansion, she just wanted to burn all those people there, so as to avoid the hatred when she thought about it.
Ji Youran was able to cooperate with Pei Luoan in plotting against herself, her father, and even her sister. The subsequent matter of her father being seriously ill and the rumors outside about her sister must have been spread by the Ji Mansion. Even if the servants in the mansion were unaware of it, how could the masters of the Ji Mansion not know about it
The reason why they refused to open my father's coffin that day was because it couldn't be opened, and those people also knew that it couldn't be opened.
Ji Yongan is one, Xiao is one, and there are also Ji Youran and Ji Yuanxing, and even his grandmother, who is highly respected but always credulous, is one of them.
Whenever she thought of this, she was filled with hatred and felt a faint bloodthirsty aura in her heart. Her entire family was killed, and their deaths were extremely miserable, while those who harmed them were still taking advantage of their remaining strength and enjoying the honor that should not have belonged to them.
The so-called family affection is not as important as the little bit of benefit in their eyes.
"What if Ji Youran can't take care of herself?" Qu Moying pursed his lips tightly for a long time, and even felt a bit bitter and a faint fishy taste in his mouth, then he slowly opened his mouth.
"Miss, if you can get the concubine not to interfere in this matter, or if the Crown Prince's Mansion can make it clear that this matter has nothing to do with them, then this matter is feasible." Nanny Zhou thought for a while and gave an answer. She looked up at the fourth young lady in front of her with a complicated look.
This was originally her master, the little master whom the lady had asked her to protect wholeheartedly.
But because of what happened in the past, she had to leave. Thinking of how the Madam looked that day, Nanny Zhou's eyes became sore again. She felt sorry for the Madam for not protecting the young lady well.
Fortunately, fortunately the young lady in front of her is smart. After coming here, she can see clearly that the young lady is surrounded by smart people. Take this Aunt Miao for example. Although she is not as good as herself in managing affairs, she is smart in other aspects and is especially loyal to the young lady. She is a great help to the young lady.
If the Madam saw the young lady now, she would definitely be happy. If it were back then... If it were back then the Madam... Thinking of some people or things from back then, Madam Zhou could no longer hide her sadness and turned her head to wipe away her tears.
It's not that she won't tell you some things, but what if she tells you! If the lady finds out something, she will definitely tell you, but now... she doesn't know where to start!
"I understand." Qu Moying nodded, a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. Ji Youran was the key to the affairs of the Ji Mansion. Of course, Pei Luoan behind Ji Youran was even more crucial. This kind of thing didn't even require Pei Luoan's signal, as there were plenty of people who would stand up for him and Ji Youran's brother.
After a moment of silence, Qu Moying suddenly raised her head and asked, "Madam Zhou, do you know that mother has a pair of bracelets as a dowry?"
This was actually just a question, and the purpose was to bring the topic back to the mother of the previous life. The mother of the previous life, Madam Ling Anbo, had a pair of bracelets, one was given to Ji Hanyue and the other was given to her younger sister. Now they should both be in Ji Youran's hands.
Ji Youran had always coveted this pair of bracelets! With Ji Youran's personality, even if she had fallen into the lake with the bracelets, she would have sent someone to look for them.
If it fell from such a great height into the water, it must have broken into pieces. Ji Youran is a person who will not give up until she reaches the Yellow River. Even if it was broken into pieces, she should have some fragments in her hands.
"I know that not only Madam has a pair, but Madam Ling Anbo also has a pair. They were all given by the Madam of Yue Mansion when she was still unmarried. The four bracelets are two pairs, one for Madam and one for Madam Ling Anbo." Madam Zhou nodded and said, "These two pairs of bracelets look the same, but they are actually slightly different."
"What's the difference?" Qu Moying was stunned for a moment, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. She originally thought that Qu Moying didn't have it. After all, after she became Qu Moying, she had no memory of the pair of bracelets. Now she just wanted to change the topic, but she didn't expect that it would actually bring up something she didn't know.
"The two pairs of bracelets were made from a piece of jade, and were passed down from the ancestors of the Yue family. I heard that they are very old antiques. When she was in the Yue Mansion, Madam Yue specially gave these two pairs of bracelets to the two ladies when they got married, implying that she wanted the two ladies to live in harmony in the future. The two ladies were married far away in the capital, and the two sisters had to get along with each other..."
Nanny Zhou told the story slowly and leisurely.
The first ancestor of the Yue family had his base in Jiangnan, and was very famous among the officials on the river, but his roots in the capital were a little shallow. Madam Yue gave two pairs of bracelets to each of the two sisters, naturally meaning that they would always be friends and support each other. Madam Ling Anbo was the eldest, and Madam Qu Er was the second.
The two people have slightly different personalities. Madam Ling Anbo is the eldest sister with a sharp temper, while Madam Qu Er is the second sister with a gentle temper. The two pairs of bracelets given by Madam Qu are together and naturally have similarities, red blood jade with two teardrop-shaped emeralds hanging below, but there are also differences.
The difference was so subtle that if Madam Zhou hadn’t seen both pairs of shoes with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have noticed it at first…