"Fourth sister, shall we go see third sister?" Qu Moying and Qu Xuexin came back together after paying their respects to the lady-in-waiting. When they were about to part at the courtyard gate, Qu Xuexin suddenly called out to Qu Moying.
In the past few days, Qu Xuexin came to the West Mansion almost every day, and met Qu Moying more often. Every time they met, she would ask Qu Moying with concern, and occasionally she would follow Qu Moying to Qianyue Residence to sit. In the eyes of the lady, the two of them seemed to be much closer.
This made the lady dowager very happy. She had always worried that Qu Moying would be too lonely after returning home. The sisters around her also treated her the same way, after all, they did not grow up together.
The eldest granddaughter is more considerate and is close to the younger granddaughter, which makes the lady feel more at ease.
Qu Moying shook her head, with a faint smile on her face: "Big sister, I won't go to see the third sister. Even if I go, the third sister won't be happy to see me."
It was difficult for her and Qu Qiuyan to maintain even superficial friendliness.
Others may not know about this matter, but Qu Xuexin must be aware of it.
"Fourth sister, what is there that cannot be explained? After all, the things of the previous generation are in the past. Who can hold on to them? After all, we are sisters. Third sister has also figured it out recently. Let's go and see her now. Even if she doesn't say anything, she will be happy in her heart."
Qu Xuexin advised.
Qu Moying looked at Qu Xuexin with a somewhat cold look. This elder sister who has always been "gentle and kind" has been in too many dramas recently.
Is it really caused by an improper marriage
Qu Moying had no idea what Qu Xuexin was like in the past, but she was sure of one thing: the Miss Qu in front of her was really not simple, as she actually took care of such matters.
"Since elder sister said so, let's go and take a look." Qu Moying said lightly. No matter what this Miss Qu meant, she should indeed go and see Qu Qiuyan.
Qu Qiuyan has been very quiet lately. This kind of quietness is totally unlike Qu Qiuyan's personality.
Qu Xuexin was very happy to hear her agree, and the two of them went to Furong Pavilion together.
There had been no maids guarding the entrance to Furong Pavilion for a long time. The old lady had removed the guards after Qu Qiuyan finished copying the Buddhist scriptures. However, Qu Qiuyan still lived a secluded life and rarely went out. She almost always stayed in the yard and looked extremely well-behaved. This was another reason why the old lady removed the guards.
Qu Qiuyan is extremely well-behaved without any need for supervision.
The rumors outside were extremely unfavorable to Qu Qiuyan before. Both the Madam and Qu Zhizhen were very upset. Now that Qu Qiuyan can behave herself, it is also very good in their opinion.
King Jing's attitude was unclear, and Qu Qiuyan's reputation was not good at the moment, so it was really hard to say what her final position would be. Qu Zhizhen did not dare to ask more about his attitude.
Qu Qiuyan looked like she was doing her duty, but she had already sent letters to Prince Jing's mansion in private, almost every day. However, she rarely received a reply in a few days. The letter contained only a very simple sentence, which seemed to be written casually, asking her to wait patiently. There was nothing else, which was completely different from her previous earnest words.
When Qu Qiuyan heard the maid announce that Qu Xuexin and Qu Moying were coming, she impatiently put down the letter in her hand, and Qinglian hurriedly took it.
"Please let them in." Qu Qiuyan said coldly.
A maid hurried out and asked the two young ladies to come in.
Qu Xuexin and Qu Moying went inside and saw Qu Qiuyan who had just stood up. She looked very unhappy, with a hint of paleness on her face.
Her cheeks had become much thinner, which made her look more pitiful and a little gloomy.
"Eldest sister, fourth sister." Seeing them come in, Qu Qiuyan stood up and said with a calm expression.
"How is third sister? I heard that third sister was sick, so I wanted to come over before. And fourth sister happened to be coming over, so we came together." Qu Xuexin took two steps forward and held Qu Qiuyan's hand. After looking at Qu Qiuyan's face carefully, she smiled with concern.
Qu Moying sat down on a chair at one side. There were no outsiders around at this time. Everyone present knew the relationship between her and Qu Qiuyan.
Yu Dong stood behind Qu Moying and looked at this "gentle and dignified" young lady. If he had not seen what he had seen before, he would have thought that this young lady was the same as she appeared.
He was a eunuch, and although he knew a lot of dark things in the palace, he followed his own prince and dealt with matters of killing and punishment, so he had never seen such a multi-faceted acting skill.
Whether the woman is in the backyard or in the harem, this kind of method is sometimes murderous without blinking an eye!
Fortunately, his master is a smart one. After Yu Dong felt very grateful, he felt more and more that only his master was worthy of his prince.
Ever since following Qu Moying, Yu Dong has increasingly regarded Qu Moying as his master from the bottom of his heart.
Just as she stood still, a maid next to her bumped into her. She looked up and saw that it was a maid she didn't recognize. She looked very innocent, about fourteen or fifteen years old.
Seeing Yudong looking over, the maid waved to her gently, then pointed outside to ask her to come out.
Yu Dong looked at Qu Moying and saw that his young lady was sitting there watching the two young ladies of the Qu family talking. His eyes moved and he shook his head at the maid, signaling her not to go out.
The maid had no choice but to continue standing there. When she looked at Yudong, she had a slight smile on her face and was very kind. This was a new maid, whom Yudong had never seen before at the Third Young Lady's place.
The new maid in the mansion
Yu Dong thought about it and just kept standing still behind Qu Moying.
Over there, Qu Qiuyan and Qu Xuexin had already sat down together. The two of them sat relatively close to each other, while Qu Moying sat relatively far away. Overall, Qu Qiuyan and Qu Xuexin seemed to be together, and she seemed a bit out of place.
This was originally what Qu Moying meant. Since they were in the same mansion and had to see each other, they should try their best not to see each other, or if they did meet, they should keep a distance from each other.
"Fourth sister, come closer." As expected, Qu Xuexin also saw the distance and waved to Qu Moying with a smile, "Sitting so far away, it's not convenient to talk."
"Big sister, it's okay. I'll sit here and hear you talking." Qu Moying said. She could hear you talking, but she didn't want to talk.
Qu Moying's meaning was very clear.
Qu Xuexin's eyes flashed with displeasure, which was quite disrespectful to her, but she immediately hid it behind a smile, "Since Fourth Sister feels comfortable sitting there, just sit there."
Qu Qiuyan glanced at Qu Moying and stopped talking. There was nothing left for the two of them to talk about today.
The maids brought tea and snacks.
"Third sister, fourth sister, let's just have some heart-to-heart talk and let the maids go down!" Qu Xuexin looked at the people around her, smiled gently, and suggested.
Qu Qiuyan looked at the people around her and saw that she was the most crowded. She waved her hand and the maids all left. Qinglian was still standing there.
After hesitating for a moment, he also retreated.
Qu Xuexin said something to the maid behind her, and the maid behind her also retreated.
Since both of them did this, Qu Moying should do the same. She turned around and glanced at Yu Dong, who understood and also followed her out.
After retreating to the outside of the door, Yu Dong stood in front of the door. This distance was closest to the people in the house. Even if something happened, he could rush in quickly.
Just as he stood still, he suddenly felt his sleeves being pulled: "Sister Yudong."
When she turned around, she saw the maid from before. She was looking at her with a sweet smile. She looked very lovely. Although her appearance was not outstanding, her smile made people relax.
"Who are you?" Yu Dong stepped back, a little further away from the door, and asked in a low voice. This maid had deliberately bumped into her before. Yu Dong deliberately looked at her a few more times and found that this girl was dressed very well. There were two hairpins on her head. Although they were not big, they looked like solid gold hairpins. It was really gorgeous for a maid to wear them.
"My name is Qingmei. I'm a new maid who comes into the mansion. I'm the head maid serving the Third Young Miss." Qingmei puffed out her chest with some pride.
Looks a bit naive.
"Are you the third young lady's new maid?" Yu Dong was extremely surprised. He hadn't heard that the third young lady had a new maid recently, nor had he heard that a matchmaker had come into the mansion.
"Yes, the second young master picked her in the East Palace and sent her to the third young lady, saying that she was missing someone. Sister Yudong, you look really tall and pretty." Qingmei looked Yudong up and down with envy, and then explained, "I heard that the person who follows the fourth young lady the most is sister Yudong, so I guessed it was you."
This means that a matchmaker was called in the East Palace to select the person, and then sent to the West Palace. No wonder there has been no news of it here.
Looking at this clever and self-familiar Qingmei, Yudong smiled and said, "I'm not pretty, but my sister is pretty."
Yudong doesn’t like people saying he is pretty at all. What does he need to be pretty for
As for his height, he was originally taller than the average maid, and the girl in front of him named Qingmei looked very small.
"Sister Yudong, I've just arrived at the mansion. If I don't understand something in the future, I may have to trouble you again. This is my heartfelt gift to you. I hope you won't despise it." Qingmei took off a hairpin from her head, handed it to Yudong, and smiled affectionately.
Although the hairpin is small, it looks solid and is quite substantial.
"This... How dare I accept it." Yu Dong shook his hand.
"Sister Yudong, we two hit it off right away. If you don't accept it, you'd be looking down on me. I just arrived at the mansion and I don't know anything. I'm sure I'll have to trouble you in the future. Sister Yudong, please accept my kindness." Qingmei reached out and held Yudong's hand, put the hairpin in her hand, and closed her hand for her, saying in a tender voice.
After finishing speaking, he pointed at Qinglian, who had a rather ugly expression on the other side, and said in a low voice: "Sister Yudong, I'm leaving first. If I don't leave now, Sister Qinglian will be angry. I just entered the mansion, but I dare not make Sister Qinglian angry."
After saying that, he turned around and ran towards Qinglian, but left the hairpin in Yudong's hand, which meant that he had to take it whether he wanted or not!
A maid's annual salary could not buy such a hairpin, but this maid was really generous. Yu Dong's eyes flashed with a hint of sarcasm. He was not a woman, so he did not think highly of such women's accessories. Besides, he was not short of money...