"Sir Qu, the opera troupe you invited is very good. I will ask them to come to my house in a few days to perform a play." Pei Yuanjun pointed at the female role who was made up in a charming manner and said lazily.
Qu Zhizhen hurriedly lowered his body and said, "Your Highness, I cannot make the decision on this matter. This group has been in the Prince's Mansion for a long time... Whether they want to take over or not is not up to me."
"Could it be that this king is not as good as Lord Qu?" Pei Yuanjun smiled sinisterly, "Lord Qu will talk to their class leader later. As for whether it will succeed or not, this king does not care!"
Qu Zhizhen felt a chill on his back and nodded hastily: "Yes... yes, I will pass on the message."
He suddenly realized that even if the Crown Prince was here, if the Prince of Yun wanted to hire a troupe of actors, not to mention that the troupe was in the Crown Prince's East Palace, even if they lived in the Emperor's palace, they would probably have no choice but to come and perform.
Pei Yuanjun showed his face briefly, but didn't stay for long. After saying something to Qu Zhizhen, he stood up and was about to leave.
Qu Moying also stood up.
Qu Zhizhen saw him off.
King Jing also wanted to leave, but was rejected by Pei Yuanjun. Then, accompanied by Qu Zhizhen, Pei Yuanjun and Qu Moying left in a swagger.
After they left, King Jing also left with a maid...
Halfway through the journey, Pei Yuanjun took a rest in an empty yard. Qu Zhizhen accompanied him outside tremblingly. After the Prince of Yun had a cup of tea, he took his people away. Qu Zhizhen accompanied him to the gate and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Prince of Yun's carriage leave.
Qu Moying waited until Pei Yuanjun left the empty yard accompanied by Qu Zhizhen before she took off her veil, wiped her lip balm, and left with Yudong who had been waiting there.
The guests were all watching the play at this time, so it was very quiet here. Standing outside, looking at the tall stage in the distance, Qu Moying curled the corners of his lips silently. Although it was a long way to get here, the noise could still be heard clearly when it got noisy.
On the stage, the female role sang with deep emotion and it could be heard clearly.
"It's not far ahead?" Qu Moying asked, looking up at the road ahead.
"Yes, it's just in front." Yudong nodded.
"Go and take a look!" Qu Moying said, her eyes darkening a little...
"Big sister left with a maid?" Duan Jinxiang asked in surprise, "I've never heard of anyone in Minister Qu's mansion being close to Big sister? Let's go and take a look."
"Second Miss, this is Minister Qu's residence, you'd better not follow us." The maid advised.
"If you're so bored, why not go and take a look? My good elder sister is not someone who would settle down peacefully." Duan Jinxiang said sarcastically, "My mother asked her to marry my cousin, but it seems she doesn't want to. She doesn't even look at her own status. She's a poor woman, what else can she ask for!"
The maid lowered her head. She had seen the second young lady's cousin before. Not only was he frivolous, but he also liked to touch her. Even though she was the second young lady's maid, he didn't intend to let her go. He flirted with her every time he saw her. He was really not a good person. If the eldest young lady really married this guy, she would be really ruined.
Although she was the head maid of the Second Young Miss, she really couldn't like this cousin.
"Second Miss, let's not do it..." the maid said hesitantly.
"Pa!" A heavy slap made the maid cover her face. Her eyes immediately turned red and she knelt down with a plop: "Second Miss."
"Are you my maid, or
Duan Yuxiang's maid? You are a traitor. If I hear you say that again, I will beat you to death." Duan Jinxiang said angrily.
Fortunately, they had already gone downstairs by this time, and were sitting under the shade of a tree downstairs. Only a few people noticed her from afar, and everyone who saw her frowned. They had heard that the Second Miss Duan was a fierce person, and now that she was in another family's house, she didn't know how to restrain herself. If any family married her, there would be unrest in the family.
Although I couldn't hear clearly what they were saying, even if this maid was really a bad person, there was still time to punish her when I got back. Why make a fuss at this time
The maid didn't dare to disobey the order again. She got up with red eyes and didn't dare to say anything. She just led the way and chased forward. She saw clearly the direction the young lady had gone just now.
Duan Yuxiang was also walking in a hurry. The reason why she walked so fast was that she found that one of her handkerchiefs was missing. How important are a girl's personal belongings? If her stepmother knew about this, she would not know what to say about it. There were many guests coming to Qu's house today, and it was possible that this handkerchief would fall into anyone's hands. By then, she would not be able to wash herself clean even if she jumped into the Yellow River.
She asked the servants of Qu's mansion vaguely whether they had picked up the handkerchief, and the servants agreed to ask.
The maid came to reply, saying that she saw a handkerchief but didn't know if it was the one, so she was asked to go and identify it. She didn't have to do it herself. However, the maid said that the handkerchief was not in her hand now, but in the hand of her own fourth young lady. She saw the fourth young lady pick up a handkerchief from a distance, but didn't dare to go up and ask. If she didn't say it herself, it would be inconvenient for her, as a servant, to say anything.
The female members of the family all knew that Miss Qu Si was not feeling well and had gone to rest.
Duan Yuxiang followed him down the pavilion, walked all the way, and finally stopped at a pavilion.
The old woman smiled and turned around: "Miss Duan, I will call Yuchun who is beside the fourth young lady over now. You can ask her yourself. The fourth young lady is resting now, so I'm afraid we can't disturb her."
"Okay, thank you, Ma'am." Duan Yuxiang said politely.
"Miss Duan, please don't go away!" the old woman said again.
Duan Yuxiang nodded and entered the pavilion. The pavilion was built along the lake, with most of it leaning against the lake. The view was nice. There were no large lotus leaves on the lake yet, but the scenery by the lake was very good. It was the time when willows were swaying, and although it was not as good as the ten-mile lotus flowers, it had its own charm.
"Come with me." The old woman beckoned the maid from the Duan mansion who was standing behind Duan Yuxiang.
"What's the matter?" The maid was stunned for a moment, not understanding why the old woman called her.
"Do you see the yard in front? That's where snacks and tea are kept. Go get some for Miss Duan. Miss Duan is here as a guest today. If I neglect your young lady, Madam will reprimand us." The old woman pointed and said, "It's not far, just go there. It will be quick."
The maid looked at the place pointed to and it was indeed not far away. It should be there soon. It would be safe for the young lady to sit here, so she nodded.
The old woman showed the way to the maid, bowed to Duan Yuxiang, and then left.
Duan Yuxiang leaned against the fence and sat facing the lake. There was a leisurely breeze and she had just left the noisy crowd. It was very quiet here, which was very much to Duan Yuxiang's liking.
Duan Yuxiang was not good at socializing, and when she thought about her family's affairs, she couldn't help feeling sad.
If she was really forced to marry her stepmother's nephew, she would rather die. She was so sad that she forgot that this was not her home and cried beside the fence.
.
"Oh, you're crying again, do you really think this is your own home?" Duan Yuxiang was stunned when she heard the familiar sarcastic voice. She quickly wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, turned around, and saw her second sister's mean face.
"Why is my second sister here?" Duan Yuxiang stood up stiffly.
"Why, elder sister can come, but I can't?" Duan Jinxiang looked around with a smile, "The environment here is so good, and she is hiding from others. Is elder sister here to express her feelings to someone?"
"Second sister, what nonsense are you talking about?" Duan Yuxiang blushed and said angrily, her voice rarely rising a few notches.
"Isn't it that I'm talking nonsense? Big sister, don't you know? Could it be that Big sister already has a brother-in-law, and she won't let me, her younger sister, take a look?" Duan Jinxiang sneered, "I want to see, since you don't like my cousin, whose junky is it that you're eyeing now?"
The second wife married by the Minister of the Ministry of Rites was originally of low status, and her daughter was extremely spoiled. She was arrogant and domineering in the mansion in the past. Now that she was angry, she didn't care that this was someone else's mansion. She said whatever she had to say, not considering herself an outsider at all.
Duan Yuxiang was trembling with anger. Even if she was timid, she could not care about much at this time: "Second sister, is this something a girl in the boudoir should say?"
"My elder sister has already done it, so why can I not say anything?" Duan Jinxiang always has the upper hand when she quarrels with Duan Yuxiang. Her mother is also a hot-tempered person and really doesn't take Duan Yuxiang seriously.
"Miss Duan, our fourth lady invites you over!" A voice suddenly interrupted, breaking the tense atmosphere between the two sisters.
The two sisters turned around together and saw a maid wearing a light red jacket outside the pavilion. This was the attire of the maids in Qu Mansion today.
"Okay, I'll be there right away!" Duan Yuxiang said hurriedly, as if she had been pardoned. At this moment, she just wanted to stay away from Duan Jinxiang.
"Hey, why didn't your Fourth Miss invite me to go with her?" Duan Jinxiang was unhappy. Fourth Miss Qu was also a useless person, so of course there was no need to be polite.
"Miss, who are you? Why must our fourth young lady invite you? Which family's daughter are you from? You are so ignorant!" Yu Dong was not going to give her a good look and said in a cold voice.
This Second Miss Duan obviously looked down upon her own young lady, so she said such rude words.
Yu Dong used to follow Pei Yuanjun. Not to mention this kind of delicate young lady who was raised in seclusion, even a general on the battlefield would have to bow his head when he saw him. How could he be attracted to such a fierce girl? He swept his sharp eyes over Duan Jinxiang, which scared Duan Jinxiang so much that she took a step back involuntarily.
Then he watched them both leave. When he came to his senses, his face turned pale with anger. He sat down where Duan Yuxiang had just sat down, full of hatred: "She is just an ugly girl born to a blind ex-wife. She really thinks she is the treasure of the Qu family."
She hated children born to her ex-wife like Duan Yuxiang the most. Who were they trying to show off their dignified and proper appearance to on a daily basis
After sitting down, she angrily patted the fence beside her. She had never felt so aggrieved before. She was actually intimidated by the maid sent by a blind girl. She should have chased after her just now. Could it be that Qu Moying dared to say no to her
Just like Duan Yuxiang, she is just useless...
Thinking this in my heart, I regretted not taking any action at that time. I clapped my hands again and leaned over. I heard the maid's scream and my body fell out uncontrollably with a "splash", splashing water everywhere...