The one who rushed over was the current mistress of the Ji family, Mrs. Xiao. After meeting Pei Luoan, she hurriedly bowed her head and saluted. When Pei Luoan's footsteps stopped, she looked up at the slightly closed courtyard gate again. A maid was standing at the door, behaving respectfully and saluting her.
"Where is your young lady?" Xiao asked coldly with anger on her face.
"Our young lady is inside." Yu Dong said standing at the door. The courtyard gate was behind her. She blocked the way but looked unaware.
"This is the Crown Princess's old residence. No one is allowed to come in casually." Xiao said angrily. She never expected that this Fourth Miss Qu would be so bold and actually found the Crown Princess's old residence.
When she heard the news reported by the old woman, she knew that something was wrong and rushed over in a hurry, but it seemed that she was still a step too late. Although the prince's expression just now was not clear, it was definitely not a good one.
"Mrs. Ji, I came to see my cousin's old residence. What's wrong with it?" Qu Moying came out from behind Yu Dong and said slowly.
"Is this the first time that Fourth Miss Qu is visiting someone else's home? Since you are a guest, of course you have to follow the manners of the host. How can you possibly do whatever you want in the host's home?" Xiao was angry and her expression naturally looked unhappy. The meaning of her words was not pleasant either, mocking Qu Moying for being an abandoned person who had never been a guest at someone else's home before.
I don’t know the etiquette of being a guest at the moment.
"Mrs. Ji, are you blaming me?" Qu Moying said indifferently.
"I dare not!" Xiao said coldly.
"Since you don't dare, that's the best. My cousin was very kind to me in the past. Before the wedding, she said she would give me a few things, saying that they were useless here. Then something happened to my cousin, so this matter was delayed. Now I want to take those things away, okay?"
Qu Moying said, taking out a letter from his sleeve and handing it to Xiao.
"What is this?" Xiao was stunned for a moment and his face turned grim.
"This is a letter from my cousin. Please have a look, Madam Ji." Qu Moying stepped aside and saluted, then handed the letter forward.
Xiao took a step back in panic, almost stepping on a maid's foot. She kept her hands in her sleeves, but looked up at Qu Moying in horror, her face immediately turning as pale as snow.
After a long while, he asked in a hoarse voice: "This... When was this letter sent?"
"Just before the Crown Princess married into the Eastern Palace." Qu Moying smiled slightly.
Hearing that it was before the wedding, Xiao's face looked a little better. She slowly took the letter and opened it. It contained some trivial things. She also told Qu Moying to take good care of his eyes and said that she was going to marry into the Eastern Palace. Some old things in the mansion were of no use to her, so she gave them to Qu Moying.
There weren’t many things, just a few simple items, but they were all what Ji Hanyue had been using in the past.
After calming down, Xiao had to accept the matter. Even if these things were valuable, they were dead objects after all. Moreover, Ji Hanyue's identity was extraordinary. Since she said so, she couldn't refuse: "Since it was the Crown Princess's wish before her death, Miss Qu Si can take these old things."
Although it was just a few simple words, Xiao felt that this Fourth Miss Qu would not be easy to deal with.
She was able to find the Crown Princess's courtyard and meet the Crown Prince, and she was so calm. Xiao immediately felt threatened. Is this person really the incompetent Fourth Miss Qu
Let her marry him
Son? Xiao suddenly felt that this idea was not so good.
As for the shops, forget about it. I don’t know what Ji Hanyue was thinking. She actually wanted to give Qu Moying two shops, saying that they would help her establish herself.
"Thank you very much, ma'am. I wonder if I can go in and get it myself now?" Qu Moying took the letter handed to her by Xiao.
The handwriting is Ji Hanyue's. Anyone who has seen Ji Hanyue's handwriting knows it. Of course, Pei Luoan knows it best, after all, he can write it too, so Qu Moying is not afraid of being checked.
"Miss Fourth Qu, even if the Crown Princess agreed to you, you are still a guest now." Xiao reminded Qu Moying coldly.
"Then I'll have to trouble Madam Ji." Qu Moying did not press forward this time, as if she did not understand the meaning of Xiao's words. She smiled softly and bowed sideways.
She had already looked at it just now. It didn't make much difference whether she took it or Xiao took it. Everything was placed the same as before. That was good!
The things were taken out quickly, including a zither, an incense burner, a desk screen on the table, and several scrolls of calligraphy and paintings, which were written and painted by Ji Hanyue herself. Finally, there was a set of emerald jewelry, which were the ornaments that Ji Hanyue left in the mansion and did not take to the East Palace.
"Madam Ji, is that all?" Qu Moying asked as she looked at the things the maids found.
"The store has not been sorted out yet. When the Crown Princess marries into the Eastern Palace, all of these things will naturally belong to the Eastern Palace. It is not convenient for us to ask for them right now."
Xiao refused unhappily, saying that the things could be given to Qu Moying but not the shops. These shops were indeed not included in Ji Hanyue's dowry, because they were originally intended to be left for Ji Yanyue. Now that Ji Yanyue was gone, these shops naturally remained in the Ji Mansion. How could Xiao be willing to give two of them to Qu Moying
"My cousin had just married into the Eastern Palace when something bad happened. She doesn't have any children now. Could it be that the prince wants to keep her dowry?" Qu Moying asked with a smile that seemed to be casual.
According to the rules in Beijing, if a woman dies without a son or a daughter, her parents can come to ask for a dowry.
Ji Hanyue had just married into the Prince's Mansion when something happened, so naturally she had no children. It was natural for her to ask for a dowry. It could even be said that as soon as it was mentioned, Pei Luoan would have to return all the dowry.
He is the crown prince of a country, and he cannot do such a thing as swallowing up the dowry. Moreover, many people know that the reason why the crown princess got into trouble was that she blocked the assassin for the crown prince and died to save the crown prince. Under such circumstances, the crown prince still wants to swallow up Ji Hanyue's dowry. His character is really bad.
The crown prince is the heir to a country, how can he do such a thing
But since the Ji family didn't say anything, Pei Luoan pretended not to know and left Ji Hanyue's dowry in the Prince's Mansion as Ji Youran's dowry. In other words, he hoped that Ji Youran could become the Crown Princess, and these dowries would become her dignity. Qu Moying knew exactly what the Ling'an Marquis' Mansion was planning, so he deliberately wrote such a letter.
And he also asked for two shops. She was sure that Xiao Shi would not give it to him so easily. She would definitely push it to Pei Luoan's East Palace. As a small woman, she did not dare to really confront the prince.
Hearing that Qu Moying even asked the prince for a dowry, Xiao's face became even uglier, and she scolded, "Fourth Miss Qu, this is a private matter of the Ling Anbo Mansion. It has nothing to do with Fourth Miss Qu, right?"
"It's unrelated originally, but if two of these shops are mine, that wouldn't be good." Qu Moying smiled.
, and then changed the subject, "I came here for another reason, which is to ask Madam Ji Er for an old servant."
This matter cannot be rushed. It is good that Xiao's shop is in the hands of the prince. There is no need to worry about not getting it. The only thing is that Xiao will not say so. Now that he has said so, it is only natural for me to intervene in some matters next.
Otherwise, with just the title of cousin, some things would still be inconvenient.
"Who?" Xiao had a bad feeling and turned her head to look at the old woman who followed her to report the news.
The old woman lowered her head in fear, and then she remembered that she was too panicked just now and did not tell the Second Madam about Nanny Zhou's matter.
"Madame Zhou." Qu Moying smiled.
"No!" Xiao refused without hesitation, saying righteously, "This is an old person in my house, my eldest sister-in-law's person. Now that my eldest sister-in-law is gone, the people around her should stay in the house and take good care of her. How can we give her away?"
"Madam Ji is wrong. I am only asking for my old servant. Nanny Zhou was originally my family's old servant and my mother's maidservant during her marriage. At that time, my aunt had a dispute with my father, so my aunt brought Nanny Zhou back temporarily to protect her. But she is still a member of our Qu Mansion in essence."
Qu Moying said calmly.
These words hurt Xiao so much that he was speechless and could not utter a word for a while.
Only then did she remember that this was true. When Nanny Zhou brought her back, she had already married into the Ji Mansion and naturally knew about this matter. She even advised Yue a few words at that time, but after so many years, she had long forgotten about this matter and also regarded Nanny Zhou as Yue's person. She didn't expect that Qu Moying would come to ask for her back now.
If that's the case, Nanny Zhou is indeed from the Qu Mansion, and Xiao can't stop her even if she wants to.
"Since she is from the Qu Mansion, you can take her away, Miss Qu. But you need to check her package when she leaves to prevent her from taking away other items from the mansion!" Xiao said unhappily.
"The other things in your house, do you mean my aunt's place? My aunt's yard is in a very dilapidated state. My uncle doesn't care about it because of his poor health. Does Madam Ji also not care about it? I heard from my cousin that my aunt's yard was always clean before, just like when my aunt was still alive. But now it is in a state of desolation. I wonder what this means?"
Qu Moying was not afraid of what she said. She curled the corners of her lips slightly and asked softly.
Xiao was so angry that she fell down and glared at the old woman who was following her. The old woman didn't say anything about this matter. From what Qu Moying said, she had already visited Yue's old residence.
Come to think of it, Qu Moying must have gone to the Yue family's old residence and then saw Nanny Zhou, and then remembered about Nanny Zhou. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to talk about Nanny Zhou at this time.
I just hate why this Fourth Miss Qu came here today. If I hadn't been so busy and chaotic today, I wouldn't be so passive now and be ordered around by a little girl. It's also a good timing for this little girl to come here, otherwise she would have gotten so many advantages.
"Miss Fourth Qu should pay more attention to the affairs of her own family. I heard that Second Madam Qu is very ill, but Miss Fourth Qu is not waiting by her bedside, but is running to other people's houses to give orders. I wonder what's the meaning of this?" Xiao couldn't help but sneer.
Everyone knew that Yu had harmed Qu Moying in front of the Crown Princess's spirit. Now Xiao said this deliberately to hurt Qu Moying's heart and let her know that she was nothing in her own house, not to mention that this was the Ling Anbo Mansion.
A cold snort came from the side, and the smile on Xiao's face immediately froze...