"The third young lady from Minister Qu's house comes to visit the first lady?" Madam Ji asked in surprise.
She was very wary of the fourth young lady of Minister Qu's house, but she didn't know much about the third young lady Qu and didn't think she had any relationship with her family.
However, hearing that this Miss Qu San has a relationship with Prince Jing, Madam Ji no longer has the confidence to stop her from coming.
Originally, she thought that the eldest granddaughter would secure the position of Crown Princess, but now, after hearing from Mrs. Xiao that the Crown Prince might marry Lady Jingyu, the daughter of Minister Liu, Mrs. Ji became even more low-key.
Looking around, it seemed that no one could be offended. Mrs. Ji felt inexplicably sad. She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and tears fell.
If his eldest son and second granddaughter were still alive, such a thing would never have happened.
"Let her go and see him!" Mrs. Ji said choking with sobs.
The old woman who reported the matter hastily retreated.
"Madam, you are thinking about the uncle again. The uncle and the Crown Princess are both gone now. If they were still alive, they would not want to see you so sad. You are old, you can't hurt your body because of this!" Her personal maid, Madam Wu, advised.
"I... I know..." Madam Ji put her hand on her chest, "But I just thought of them. If they were here, why would I care about a young lady from the Minister's Mansion?"
In the past, let alone the Minister's Mansion, even the Shangshu's daughter, County Jing Yujun, had to salute her from afar when they saw her. The elderly ladies in the capital also came up to greet her one by one. It was nothing like the current situation. Madam Ji felt that her situation was miserable.
"Madam, don't be sad. You still have the concubine and the young master." Madam Wu advised.
Mrs. Ji's tears fell, "How can that be compared! Originally she was said to be the Crown Princess..."
Having said this, she immediately realized that she had said something wrong and stopped talking. She felt more and more miserable in her heart. If possible, she would not want to end up like this. Now she has done her best for the eldest brother's family.
At least I have reestablished the eldest son's family, given him a wife, and given him an heir. Even if I see my eldest son in the underworld in the future, I will have no regrets!
"Greetings, Madam Duan!" Qu Qiuyan stepped forward and bowed as a junior, speaking softly. In front of others, she was still the dignified young lady of the Minister's Mansion.
On the way here, Qu Qiuyan also thought about it and felt that the Buddhist scripture was most likely lent to Qu Moying by Madam Duan, the maid who had become her wife.
I heard that Qu Moying has a good relationship with this Mrs. Duan.
So, she came to visit Madam Duan first. This matter was most likely related to Madam Duan. Qu Qiuyan felt that it was not a problem to deal with a concubine who was a maid.
At this time, his complexion returned to normal.
Compared to a maid who was promoted from a maid to a regular maid, Qu Qiuyan really didn't take it to heart.
"Miss Qu San, you are too polite!" Madam Duan stood up and smiled gently. Although she was the wife of the late Ling Anbo, she was not Ling Anbo's wife. She did not have an imperial edict, and she was promoted to the position of wife by a maid.
The two of them sat down as host and guest, and were very polite. The maid brought tea. Qu Qiuyan took the teacup, took a sip, put it down, and then explained her purpose.
"Did Madam Duan lend a Buddhist scripture to my fourth sister?"
"Yes, I just borrowed it!" Mrs. Duan nodded.
Qu Qiu
Yan smiled slightly and looked at Qingmei who was standing behind him. Qingmei understood and took two steps forward. She and the maid behind her presented the gift box and placed it on the table in the middle of the room. Then they opened it, and the eyes of everyone in the room immediately lit up. There was not only brocade, but also ornaments.
The gift was quite generous, but the problem was that Qu Qiuyan and Madam Duan had never had any contact with each other.
"Mrs. Duan, this is a token of my love." Qu Qiuyan said.
Mrs. Duan asked in surprise, "What's the matter, Miss Qu San?"
"It is true that I have something I want to ask Madam Duan. For Madam Duan, this matter is just a piece of cake." Qu Qiuyan smiled slightly, and her heart became calmer.
She couldn't deal with Qu Moying for the time being, so could it be that she couldn't deal with a concubine who was promoted from a maid
As for these things, she believed that Madam Duan had never had them. She was promoted to Madam by the Madam Dowager of the Ji Mansion after the death of Mr. Ling Anbo. How could she have ever had anything good
"What's the matter? Please tell me clearly, Miss Qu San." Mrs. Duan asked tentatively.
"Could Madam Duan please tell Sister Qu Si that you took the wrong Buddhist scripture. That one was not the former Crown Princess's Buddhist scripture. It's just an ordinary Buddhist scripture!" Qu Qiuyan said with a smile.
This is a win-win situation and it doesn't require any effort. As for what the former Crown Princess said, Qu Qiuyan felt that since the person was no longer around, it wouldn't have much of a deterrent effect on the Ling Anbo Mansion, and they wouldn't offend her for a non-existent Crown Princess.
Of course, it would be different if Qu Moying was involved.
This matter could be big or small, so I need to deal with it before it gets out of hand.
"Buddhist scriptures? That's the one the Crown Princess used before!" Mrs. Duan frowned, seeming not to understand what Qu Qiuyan meant.
Qu Qiuyan looked at the servants in the room.
Madam Duan understood and waved her hand. The other servants withdrew, leaving only a confidant standing behind her. Then she said to Qu Qiuyan, "Miss Qu San, please speak clearly."
"The book was accidentally damaged by me and my fourth sister. My fourth sister is still trying to fix it. I thought it would be better to ask Madam for help, so I came here myself." Qu Qiuyan said tactfully.
What he meant was, of course, that Qu Moying and himself had ruined it together, so everyone was responsible.
"Oh, so that's it!" Mrs. Duan understood that this was an attempt to eliminate the cause of the disaster at its root.
"Of course you can, but..." Mrs. Duan frowned, as if she had almost no idea where to start, and moved her hands on her knees.
"Is there any difficulty?" Qu Qiuyan asked.
"I may have to leave the house to deal with this matter of Buddhist scriptures." Mrs. Duan said in embarrassment.
"Why?" Qu Qiuyan became displeased and her face darkened. She felt that this Mrs. Duan was deliberately making fun of her.
"When Miss Qu San and Miss Qu Si came to borrow the Buddhist scriptures, there happened to be someone there, so I asked someone to take them out. Now that they say it's not them, we have to tell people, lest it get out and cause bad things to happen." Mrs. Duan explained.
"Who else is here?" Qu Qiuyan's face straightened up. She didn't expect that there were other people involved.
"It's a lady who just happened to come over to talk." Madam Duan frowned tightly and looked up at Qu Qiuyan. "It's not a difficult thing to do. I can just go out and tell this lady, but..."
"Madam, what difficulties do you have?" Qu Qiuyan asked impatiently. She didn't expect that other people's affairs were involved in this matter. Originally, this kind of thing was not a big deal, but because it involved herself, Qu Qiuyan became a little annoyed.
"These few days, the Madam asked me to rest and recuperate at home. I'm afraid it's not convenient for me to go out." Mrs. Duan said implicitly.
As for rest and recuperation, Qu Qiuyan knows it best. She had also been "resting" in the mansion every day a while ago, and now she has relaxed a little. Now, Madam Duan is also resting and it goes without saying that she is not liked by Madam Ji in the mansion and has been punished.
"Madam, you can go and tell the lady-in-waiting of your family, and my maid can also speak to your people on your behalf." Qu Qiuyan pointed at Qingmei beside her.
Although this maid was only used for a short time, she was the smartest one and she handled the job skillfully.
"This..." Mrs. Duan hesitated.
"Madam, there is no need to think so much. If the lady of your house says so, it is also my fault." Qu Qiuyan said. Even if Madam Ji blamed her or even expressed dissatisfaction today, Qu Qiuyan had to take Madam Duan out of the house to avoid any future troubles.
Since Qu Qiuyan said so, Madam Duan could only send the maid beside her and Qingmei to ask Madam Ji for instructions.
The two of them went in a hurry and came back quickly. They said that when Madam Ji heard that they were going out together for something, she immediately agreed.
"Miss Qu San, your problem is not a big problem. After I talk to that lady, I will give another Buddhist scripture to Miss Qu Si to explain that the previous one was taken by mistake." Mrs. Duan showed a smile on her face and said to Qu Qiuyan gently, as if returning the favor.
"That would be the best!" Qu Qiuyan naturally would not be willing to go out with Mrs. Duan to meet people. It would be best if Mrs. Duan solved the matter herself.
Mrs. Duan was also prepared, and the two of them walked out together. But when they were outside the mansion, the two carriages turned in a different direction and went to handle their own affairs.
As soon as they left Ling Anbo's mansion, Xiao hurried to Madam Ji's yard.
"Madam, the Second Madam wants to see you." A maid came in and reported.
Mrs. Ji was crying again. She wiped her tears and nodded, saying weakly, "Let her in!"
"Mother, why did you let her go out? Isn't she ashamed of the mess outside?" Xiao said as soon as she entered the door.
"The third young lady from Minister Qu's mansion said she wanted to go out with her." said Madam Ji.
"So what? She's just a lady from a minister's mansion. What does it matter?" Xiao said angrily. She didn't care because she heard that the person who came was the third lady of the Qu family. If she were there at that time, she would never let the third lady of the Qu family take Duan away.
Although Duan doesn't have much ability and can't mess things up, it's always right to prevent her from going out.
Unexpectedly, despite all the precautions, Miss Qu San took advantage of the situation. Didn't this person say that he didn't get along with Miss Qu Si? What did this mean now
If we were to say who the Xiao family is most wary of, it would be none other than Miss Qu Si!
Xiao always felt that his family's affairs were all related to this Fourth Miss Qu, but when he looked carefully, he could not find any traces. But even so, Xiao felt that he should be wary of this Fourth Miss Qu.
But now she is the third young lady of Minister Qu’s mansion...