"Tell me, what's going on?" Qu Moying asked calmly.
"Miss, I originally wanted to keep this a secret, as it concerns Madam's reputation, but I have to tell you now. It was Madam who was originally engaged to Minister Liu, and both families had already agreed. Even this Lord Liu had met Madam and expressed satisfaction. When they were preparing to get engaged, the Duke of Qi suddenly took a fancy to Lord Liu."
Nanny Zhou's face turned red with anger. She still hadn't gotten over this matter and was extremely angry on behalf of her master.
"Yes?" Qu Moying was stunned for a moment, "Didn't you say that mother had hardly ever seen other outsiders before she got married?"
"It was a chance encounter. At that time, Lord Liu was just a candidate who had come to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He stayed at the Qu Mansion for a few nights. On that night, he happened to see the lady and was shocked by her beauty. He stood by the wall for half the night and proposed marriage to the Qu Mansion, saying that he would come to marry the lady after he passed the imperial examination. Mr. Qu did not agree yet and only said that he would talk about it after he passed the examination."
"After that, he passed the exam and sent someone to say that he wanted to continue the marriage. Mr. Qu was very satisfied, and his wife agreed, and even accepted the betrothal gift from the Liu family. But at this time, Duke Qi asked for an imperial decree to grant the marriage to Mr. Liu. At that time, his wife could only choose another good husband, so she chose the man who was on the list at the same time."
Nanny Zhou explained the whole story and sneered after finishing, "I don't know how they got such a big face. Not only did they snatch the wife's marriage, but now they want to deal with the young lady. Do they have the nerve to do such a thing? The wife's affairs were all caused by them."
"Who else are they?" Qu Moying bit her cherry lips lightly.
"Who else could it be other than the wife of the Duke of Qi? It must be that the wife of the Duke of Qi and Madam Liu came to the Duke of Qi together to ask for the marriage. Otherwise, how could a man like the Duke of Qi pay attention to such a trivial matter?" Nanny Zhou said disapprovingly.
Qu Moying fell silent, his fingers gently plucking the strings of the piano. The elegant music slowly passed by his ears. It was a very familiar melody, and it could calm his mind and spirit.
But she couldn't calm down right now.
When Nanny Zhou talked about these past events, she was able to explain some things that she couldn't explain before, but it also made her fall into some new doubts.
What happened to Eunuch Defu really has nothing to do with my mother, is it really just a coincidence
It happened so many years ago, it was just a coincidence, but now it has been used on me to harm me.
Is this the work of Jingyu County Lord? Or is it someone else's
Are there some helpers around Qu Mingcheng that he doesn't know about? Otherwise, it is impossible for someone like Qu Mingcheng to get in touch with the level of Eunuch Defu, and he won't be able to get any information even if he wants to.
As long as this matter has the slightest connection with Qu Mingcheng, Qu Moying cannot regard Qu Mingcheng as an ordinary scholar who only knows how to study, nor as an ordinary young master of aristocratic family.
Qu Moying was very clear about this.
At first, the marriage was arranged by someone's arrangement, but over the years, I heard that Minister Liu and Madam Liu were very affectionate. Minister Liu only had two concubines in his backyard, and it was said that this was many years ago. Minister Liu was an extremely self-disciplined person and loved his wife very much. In fact, he and Madam Liu were a loving couple.
This Minister Liu has no legitimate son, only a concubine's son, who is said to be born to a concubine. I don't know if it is the concubine who is currently by his side.
Or it was born to a concubine who is now gone.
This illegitimate son is very low-key, but I heard that he is good at studying. Judging from his age, he may be older than Qu Mingcheng.
The only legitimate daughter is the Lady Jingyu.
"Does the Duke of Qi love Madam Liu very much?" Qu Moying suddenly asked amid the melodious sound of the piano, but his fingers did not stop.
"Yes, I heard that the Duke of Qi loves Madam Liu the most, even more than his two sons." Nanny Zhou nodded, and she was quite resentful of the Duke of Qi. "If it weren't for the Duke of Qi asking for a marriage, Madam wouldn't have married into the Qu Mansion, and she wouldn't have been so young..."
Having said this, Nanny Zhou could not continue and her voice choked with sobs. In Nanny Zhou's opinion, all the tragedies that happened to the lady were caused by the Duke of Qi's Mansion.
"If it weren't for the Duke of Qi's mansion granting the marriage, and the master got so angry that he anxiously chose the second master for the young lady, the lady might still be fine now."
"In a hurry?" Qu Moying pressed the strings and felt the vibrations under her hand. She suddenly raised her head, her watery eyes turning into motionless darkness. "Why in a hurry? Even if it's not Minister Liu, is there no other choice?"
"I don't know about this. I only know that Master Yue was really anxious at that time. He asked someone to send the candidates who passed the exam. After seeing them, he chose the Qu Mansion. Then he sent someone to ask for the Qu Mansion's message. After a few days, the marriage was arranged. Later, the wedding was also very hasty. The young lady didn't even have time to embroider her embroidered clothes. She had to buy them outside."
Nanny Zhou said.
"So urgent? Is the Qu family so anxious?" Qu Moying frowned slightly. This matter was too unreasonable.
“Yes, I also asked the madam at that time, but she didn’t know why. She just said that it was Master Yue’s order. Madam Yue also repeatedly reminded us to get married immediately.” Madam Zhou shook her head.
She was Xiao Yue's personal maid at the time, so the person she could ask was naturally Xiao Yue, but Xiao Yue didn't know either. Of course, she had no way of knowing. She just felt that this marriage was so hasty, it must be related to the previous marriage in the Liu Mansion.
"Miss, I wonder if it's the Duke of Qi's Mansion's intention to snatch Madam's marriage away. They're also worried that it would be bad for Madam to keep her, so they're using their power to force Madam to get married quickly."
Nanny Zhou said indignantly.
Over the years, every time she thought of this kind of thing, she felt very upset for the Madam. The Duke of Qi's Mansion was really not decent and could do such a thing.
"Didn't they say that Duke Qi and my grandfather were good friends?" Qu Moying looked at the strings in front of him, pressing them hard with his fingers, and a pale color appeared on his fingertips.
"I have heard about this when I was in Yue Mansion, but it was just a rumor. I have never seen how close Yue Mansion and Qiguogong Mansion are. Qiguogong Mansion would not send anyone to congratulate them if something happened. Of course, we in Yue Mansion would not go there either. The so-called good relationship is just a rumor. I don't know if it is true or not."
Nanny Zhou said indifferently.
So, this so-called good relationship may just be an excuse to cover up.
But why is this
An image of an old man appeared in Qu Moying's mind. That was the Duke of Qi. What kind of mood did the Duke of Qi have when he met him that day? Did he need to meet him with his status? He just happened to think of his old friend's granddaughter. So when he was still Ji Hanyue, why didn't he notice that the Duke of Qi treated him differently
One is the daughter of Da Yue, and the other is the daughter of Xiao Yue. The only difference is that the daughter of Duke Qi snatched Xiao Yue's marriage and forced Xiao Yue to marry hastily. So does she feel guilty
Originally, Qu Moying thought that calling Nanny Zhou over would help sort out many of the tangled knots, but now she found that even more knots had appeared.
Those things seemed to have no solution, but it also seemed that I had overlooked an important point, so that these knots could not be untied one by one.
It is related to the Liu Mansion, the Duke of Qi's Mansion, and the Yue Family in Jiangnan, and may even be closely related to current events.
But the clues she got were too small to connect the cause and effect of these events.
"You go down first!" Qu Moying raised his slender fingers, and then slowly plucked the strings of the zither under his hands. As the melodious zither sounded, his eyes slowly became cold.
She was wondering where was the point that connected everything
Is it that I have overlooked something, or is it that this point has not yet emerged, and the things I have discovered are too superficial and do not really connect the dots...
Nanny Zhou calmed herself down, bowed to Qu Moying, looked at Qu Moying's half-lowered profile, sighed softly, and walked out.
When she reached the corridor, she stopped and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. These things were unfair to her madam.
Madam's life was so tragic that she died alone in the end. If there were no Miss in this world, who would remember Madam
Some things from the past came clearly to Madam Zhou's eyes, making her nose sore and hurt. She clenched her fists tightly and gritted her teeth. She would not let the lady down. For the lady, she would not mind being torn to pieces. She would protect the young lady.
Just as she had vowed that day at her lady's bedside.
But if the young lady really knew, she would not hide it. It’s just that the lady is really pitiful. If she has the ability, she would even want the young lady to know those things and avenge the lady.
The lady's death was never an accident, but now she is the only one who has doubts about it, because there are many things involved, and she has not even told Madam Ling Anbo about it.
Madam said that we should investigate when we have the ability. It would be a dead end if we investigate when we don’t have the ability. Besides, the young lady is also involved.
The lady has a kind heart and doesn't want the young lady to get hurt.
If you don't have the ability, just keep everything to yourself...
"Madame Zhou, what did the young lady ask just now that made you so sad?" Madame Yan's voice came to her ears. Madame Zhou and Madame Yan had become very familiar with each other in the past few days, and she knew that Madame Yan was now her young lady's confidante.
She tilted her head to one side and wiped her tears with her sleeve. Then Nanny Zhou turned around and shook her head: "Nothing happened. It's just that the young lady asked about some of Madam's past. Thinking of Madam... I felt sad."
Having said this, Nanny Zhou burst into tears again.
"Did the young lady just return a note?" Nanny Yan listened carefully. The sound of the piano was melodious, without a trace of disturbance. She couldn't help but secretly admire in her heart that although this master was young, she had an extraordinary demeanor. Even Nanny Zhou's emotions fluctuated to such an extent, but the sound of the piano was not disturbed at all.
Not only his demeanor, but also his piano playing skills are amazing.