"Sister, come and sit with me. I brought some good tea. Grandma said she is old and doesn't like to drink it. It's a good chance for us to drink it." Seeing Qu Moying say goodbye to the others and go back to the yard first, Qu Qiuyan invited Qu Xuexin.
"Sister, it's really delicious. It was given to my third sister by King Jing. You should try it. It's really delicious." Qu Caiyue also hurriedly followed suit.
"I... don't need it." Qu Xuexin said softly, reaching out to press her head, "I'm a little tired. It was indeed my fault just now. I didn't keep an eye on Fourth Sister and caused all these things, making Grandmother unhappy."
"What does this have to do with you? She has her own legs. She's not a child anymore. Why should we tie them up when she walks?" Qu Caiyue said disdainfully. "Nothing happened to her originally, but she caused all these accidents. Does everything that happens to her at the market have to do with us? Grandma is really biased."
"Sister, come over and sit with us!" Qu Qiuyan invited with a smile.
Qu Xuexin hesitated, looked at the two of them, then looked at the direction where Qu Moying left, but she didn't nod in the end: "Let's wait until night time! I'll go back and rest for a while, and then come to find you guys."
"Big sister, what time do we have to wait in the evening? In previous years, grandma always brought the three of us here together. This time there is one more person. Fortunately, she left. It's not that we didn't let her go. Even if grandma asks about it later, it's not our fault. Don't worry, big sister. This matter can't be blamed on you."
Qu Caiyue opened her eyes wide, looked in the direction where Qu Moying left, and curled her lips.
"This... isn't a good idea. This is the first time that Fourth Sister has followed Grandma up the mountain..." Qu Xuexin frowned and said softly.
"My eldest sister doesn't want to be with us. In that case, second sister, let's go!" Qu Qiuyan was a little angry. She raised her head and showed some anger on her face.
Although Qu Xuexin is the eldest daughter of the eldest son's family, and can also be said to be the eldest daughter of the Qu family, her father Qu Zhilin has a lower official rank than Qu Zhizhen. The entire Qu family is dominated by Qu Zhizhen's second son. In the past, Qu Qiuyan also felt that she was inferior to Qu Xuexin, not to mention that she is the future Princess Jing. If Qu Xuexin doesn't want to make friends with herself, then let her make friends with that blind girl.
"Third sister, I'm really sorry." Qu Xuexin was stabbed by her and her face was full of embarrassment.
“Big sister…” Qu Caiyue still wanted to persuade her, after all, Qu Xuexin was her biological sister.
"Second sister, are you leaving or not? If not, you can go back too!" Qu Qiuyan said with a bad look.
"Let's go, let's go, I'll leave now!" No matter how much Qu Caiyue was thinking, she didn't dare to disobey Qu Qiuyan's words. She hurriedly said, without caring about Qu Xuexin who was standing beside her, she took a few steps forward and caught up with Qu Qiuyan who had already started walking.
"Third sister, don't be angry with the eldest sister. The eldest sister is mainly afraid that the blind girl will complain again. It's okay, let's go drink tea. The tea tastes really good. If it wasn't for King Jing sending it, I have never tasted such good tea before..."
"That was a gift from King Jing. Even my father only had such delicious tea because of the gift from King Jing..."
One was fawning, the other was proud, and the voices of the two people gradually faded away.
Qu Xuexin silently watched the two of them leave, her face as gentle as always, but she was silent.
The maid Hongmei called out softly, "Little
sister."
"Let's go!" Qu Xuexin said, turning and walking towards her own yard. When she reached her own gate, she stopped and looked at Qu Moying's gate next to her. The gate was slightly closed and she didn't see anyone.
"Miss, do you want to go see Miss Four?" Hongmei asked after a moment of hesitation.
"No need. Fourth sister is not in good health. She probably needs to rest for a while now." Qu Xuexin shook her head, walked into her own yard, stepped into the door, reached out and pressed her forehead, and closed her eyes slightly.
"Miss, what's wrong with you?" Hongmei quickly reached out to support her and asked anxiously.
"It's nothing, just a headache." Qu Xuexin reached out and pressed her forehead again.
"Miss, please go and rest first. I will ask my nanny for some medicine later. I saw my nanny bring some medicinal herbs up here, and some medicines that Miss used to use."
"Okay!" Qu Xuexin replied softly.
Another maid, Baimei, also came out. Together, the two maids carefully helped Qu Xuexin into the yard. After a while, Hongmei hurried out to find Wu Mama who was beside the lady...
A maid ran into the Madam's courtyard, and her panicked appearance happened to be seen by Wu Ma. Wu Ma had seen several maids who went up the mountain today, but this one was not one of them. Judging from the clothes she was wearing, she was not from her own house. Wu Ma's face turned cold and she asked, "Which family's maid are you from, and what are you doing here?"
“I… I went the wrong way, to the wrong place…” The maid shrank her head, looked a little panicked, and stammered, then turned around and was about to leave.
"Catch her!" Wu Mama said sternly.
The old woman guarding the gate was still confused. She had let this maid in just now because she said that the Third Young Miss sent her. The Third Young Miss had the most maids around her. Even if she had never seen this maid before and her clothes didn't look like they were from her own house, the Third Young Miss had always been in power and the old woman guarding the gate didn't dare to offend her, thinking that she was going to ask the Madam for anything special.
But it doesn't look like that at the moment. After hearing what my nanny said and seeing the maid panicking and wanting to run away, the old woman guarding the gate became furious. She rushed over, hugged the maid, and grabbed her arm and held her.
“Let me go, I… I just went to the wrong place, I thought… I thought this was our young master’s yard.” The maid struggled desperately, screaming as she struggled.
"Just now you clearly said that it was the Third Miss who asked you to come over." The gatekeeper was furious and stepped forward to accuse her.
"Go and ask the third young lady to come over." Wu Ma said coldly.
A clever maid ran out and came back with Qu Qiuyan and Qu Caiyue soon.
"Miss Third, this girl said she was sent by you. Do you recognize her?" Wu Ma stepped forward, bowed to Qu Qiuyan, and then pointed at the maid.
Qu Qiuyan took two steps forward, looked the maid up and down, then shook her head: "Madam, there are only a few maids around me, and they are all people you know. I don't know who this one is, and I don't know why she used my name."
"You said that our Third Miss sent you here?" My nanny turned to the panicked and pale maid and asked sternly.
"I... I don't know your Third Young Miss. I... I am our Third Young Miss, not your Third Young Miss..." the maidservant repeatedly clarified.
"Just now you were talking about your young master, how come it suddenly became your third young lady?" My nanny cast a sharp gaze on the maid's face.
The noise in the yard had alarmed the lady in the house. A maid came out and asked my nanny to bring the person in.
Everyone followed my nanny into the main house. The gatekeeper pushed the maid in and made her kneel in front of the lady.
Qu Qiuyan and Qu Caiyue followed in and sat on either side of the lady.
"Tell me, which family are you from? Sometimes you're a young master, sometimes you're a young lady. If what you say is wrong, send you directly to the authorities for investigation!" The lady said slowly, looking at the maid who was kneeling on the ground and trembling.
When she heard that she was going to be sent to the official, the maid raised her head in panic and said hurriedly, "Madam Qu, I am... I am here to look for the fourth young lady in your house. I didn't mean to offend you. I thought this was the fourth young lady's yard, so I... came in. I didn't expect to go to the wrong yard. Please forgive me, Madam."
"You... knew we were from the Qu Mansion?" The Madam looked at the little maid on the ground suspiciously. Her heart moved and her face suddenly darkened. "Tell me, which mansion are you from? You actually targeted our mansion."
“Madam… I… I am… I am the maid of our Second Young Master. Our… Second… Second Young Master wants to… ask… Fourth Miss Qu… ask… ask…” The maid stuttered, her face full of panic, and it was obvious that she was not telling the truth and seemed a little guilty.
"Who is your second young master?" The lady's face looked unhappy. Qu Moying had just been broken off from engagement, and now she was involved with another man. Did she still want to keep this reputation? But she didn't think it was Qu Moying's relationship. Qu Moying, who had just returned to Beijing, had no chance to meet any second young master.
"It's... it's the second... second young master of the Fengyang Marquis's Mansion." The maid stuttered.
"Isn't the second young master of the Fengyang Marquis's Mansion the Yan... the second young master Yan?" Qu Qiuyan heard the maid's reply clearly and her face turned strange.
"That... that guy who has a bad reputation... the second son of Yan who specializes in hooking up with daughters of aristocratic families?" Qu Caiyue said more directly. She covered her mouth with a handkerchief, her face changed drastically in shock, and she turned her head to look at the lady, "Grandma... Grandma, what does he mean by this? Could it be that... he has taken a fancy to Fourth Sister?"
"What nonsense! Your fourth sister has never even seen a man other than her." The lady said angrily.
“But… but why did she say she was the Second Young Master Yan? Is she just talking nonsense? Grandmother must send this girl to the authorities and have them tattoo her to stop her from telling the truth.” Qu Caiyue nodded and said angrily.
Hearing her say this, the maid panicked and shook her hands: "This maidservant... This maidservant is not talking nonsense, it is true, it is true, our Second Young Master and Fourth Miss Qu are in love with each other, and just now he gave Fourth Miss Qu a gift. At the market, Fourth Miss Qu also accepted our Second Young Master's gift. Not only our Second Young Master is interested, but Fourth Miss Qu is also."
In order to get out of this situation, the maidservant said everything she wanted to say, not daring to hide anything. Her eyes were red from panic, and she kowtowed three times to the Madam Dowager: "If you don't believe me, you can go to Miss Qu Si's place to find our Master's gift. There is also a token of our Master in there."
"What is it?" The lady's head, which had just stopped hurting, began to buzz. She put her hand on her forehead, suppressed the anger in her heart, and spoke slowly, her eyes darkening. At the market? Just now