Pei Luoan spoke very politely, but the meaning of his words clearly indicated that Qu Xuexin had bumped into him on her own.
There were many women who threw themselves at him, and Pei Luoan had avoided them in the past. The reason why he accepted this one was certainly not for his own reasons.
The most important thing is because of her current identity. She is the eldest daughter of the Qu family, and the fourth daughter of the Qu family is almost certain to be the Princess of Yun County.
In order to establish good relations with Uncle Wang, since the eldest daughter of the Qu family was willing to enter his East Palace, Pei Luoan did not mind having one more woman.
Pei Yusheng has two young ladies from the Qu family. If he doesn't have one on his side, it will be difficult to deal with the fourth young lady of the Qu family in the future, and it will be inconvenient to try to get the support of Uncle Wang. Even if he doesn't try, he can at least find out some information.
Although Pei Yusheng has two young ladies from the Qu family, I heard that their relationship is not good. I haven't heard that there is anything particularly bad about this one. It's just that there is one more woman in the mansion. If she is useful, just keep her!
This is also the reason why Pei Luoan reached out and hugged the person, and expressed his willingness to take responsibility.
Of course, the specific situation depends on how much this woman is worth and what status she deserves!
"Your Highness, Xin girl is not in good health. She fell ill when she went out today." Qu Zhizhen had to explain that taking her back now and formally mentioning her were completely different things.
"He fainted after seeing me. Well, Minister Qu, you go back first. I will go to Censor Qu's residence soon and tell him about this matter myself." Pei Luoan waved his hand impatiently, his expression turned cold.
Qu Zhizhen wanted to say something, but opened his mouth and said nothing in the end. He bowed respectfully to Pei Luoan and retreated. He knew clearly that if he continued, he would definitely anger the prince.
Since this is his niece's own choice, what can he, as her uncle, do
As for whether it was really a coincidence, Qu Zhizhen certainly didn't believe it. It was very unusual that his eldest niece had to come along today. The old woman who came just now suddenly said that Qu Xuexin had fainted. His son said he was worried that something had happened to his niece, so several people came out to look for her. They didn't expect to see this scene.
Qu Zhizhen was never stupid. If he thought about it carefully, he knew that his niece was really planning to enter the Prince's Mansion. She became so sick just to make her look more like a real person and more innocent.
But, it was still too stupid! Did he really think that he could control the prince like this? If the prince would definitely not admit this matter, could he still force him to admit it
As soon as he heard the prince's words, he knew that he understood. Thinking that his niece had done such a shameless thing in front of him, Qu Zhizhen lost the intention to help her. She was willing to degrade herself, so what else could he say.
"Second uncle!" Qu Minghui pulled Qu Zhizhen's sleeve. He was really worried about his sister.
"Go back first and discuss this matter with your father later!" Qu Zhizhen said calmly and walked towards a small path on the side, as if he had not appeared just now.
Qu Mingcheng followed closely.
Qu Minghui looked at his sister who was being held by the prince behind him, then looked at the prince's cold face, stomped his feet heavily, and left helplessly.
Qu Moying took Yuchun out and saw Yudong at the door. Two maids accompanied Qu Moying. Yudong had already discovered the prince when he arrived at the release pond.
"Miss, there is a woman over there who is watching you!" After walking a few steps, Yu Dong suddenly
Ran whispered, glancing over from the corner of his eye, and saw a woman wearing a veil. His age and appearance could not be seen clearly, but she was wearing a plain white dress. The material of the dress was also very ordinary, not even very clean, and had a somewhat dim color.
This color reminded Qu Moying of the light yellow that was stained on the white before. His heart skipped a beat and his face immediately turned ugly.
The woman was originally wandering on the road. When she saw Qu Moying and Yu Dong coming over, she seemed to debate for a while. Finally, her eyes fell on Qu Moying's face. The long veil was the most obvious mark.
After looking for a few seconds, he actually changed direction and headed towards Qu Moying.
"Let's hurry up!" Qu Moying said, quickening his pace.
Yudong motioned Yuchun to follow, and he stayed behind, staring at the woman who was running towards him.
When the woman saw someone stopping her, she seemed to hesitate and stopped, looked behind her, looked left and right, then turned in a different direction and disappeared from the sight of the three people.
"Miss, she's gone!" Yudong breathed a sigh of relief.
Qu Moying's pace also slowed down, a fierce look flashed in his eyes, and he continued walking forward without saying a word.
Suddenly, she stopped and saw the release pond from afar. She also saw several figures there. Qu Zhizhen was retreating, and then left with Qu Mingcheng and Qu Minghui.
Pei Luoan was still holding Qu Xuexin in his arms. He raised his eyes indifferently and met Qu Moying's gaze from a long distance.
Sure enough, Qu Xuexin "fainted" on Pei Luoan's body.
The corners of his lips curled up silently, revealing a faint smile, cold and sarcastic.
It was far away, so Pei Luoan couldn't see clearly, but he subconsciously pushed Qu Xuexin in his hand behind the eunuch, and walked towards Qu Moying.
Looking at Pei Luoan who was slowly approaching, Yu Dong's expression became nervous.
Not only him, Yuchun was the same, with a wary look on his face.
"That woman is coming!" Qu Moying said suddenly.
Yudong was startled and turned his head quickly. He saw the woman he had seen before running towards him in a panic on the path beside him. She was looking back as she ran, as if someone was chasing her.
Yu Dong and Yu Chun were standing a little further forward. Both of them were on guard against the approaching prince. Qu Moying was behind, so if this woman bumped into him, the first person she would hit would be Qu Moying.
Qu Moying reacted quickly and took two steps back. Yu Dong seemed to be frightened unconsciously and also took two steps back, just blocking the place where Qu Moying had retreated before. He raised his foot and kicked the woman who was running towards him hard.
Before the woman got close, she was kicked away by him and fell heavily to the ground.
Yu Dong also staggered back two steps and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Qu Moying behind him reached out and helped him up. He then staggered back several steps with Qu Moying before stopping.
He moved a little further away from the woman.
The incident happened suddenly. Pei Luoan had already approached. He frowned and looked coldly at the woman who fell to the ground.
"Who are you? Why did you bump into our lady?" After Yu Dong stood firm, he stood in front of Qu Moying and asked sternly.
“I… I…” The woman’s voice was weak and powerless. He could sense it when she kicked him just now. The woman was very weak, which further confirmed Yudong’s guess.
He gave Yuchun a wink, and Yuchun hurriedly supported Qu Moying and retreated two steps.
"You have smallpox?" Yu Dong interrupted the woman and shouted.
“I… I… No… I… I’m fine…” The woman frantically retracted her hands and feet, fearing that others would notice the marks on them.
A secret guard suddenly appeared and blocked Pei Luoan's way. Pei Luoan also took two steps back, looking alert.
"Who asked you to hit our young lady and harm her?" Yu Dong sneered, "Someone from the government office will be here soon. We'll see whether you can tell the truth or not."
He didn't even give the woman a chance to explain herself.
"You actually dared to murder His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. You should be punished by death and all nine generations of your clan should be killed!" Qu Moying said coldly behind him, pushing the charge even higher.
“Your Highness… Your Highness…” The woman was so panicked that she almost collapsed to the ground.
"The one across from you is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Don't say you don't know. Your Highness, how do you think this matter should be handled?" Qu Moying bowed to Pei Luoan from a distance and asked calmly, "This woman has ulterior motives. It looks like she is trying to murder you."
The woman turned around in panic and saw Pei Luoan surrounded by secret guards. But looking at his aura and the tight protection he was under, it was clear that he was not an ordinary person.
"No... I didn't murder His Royal Highness. Someone asked me to come and bump into a lady with a veil... and give her... smallpox."
Seeing the fierce and bloodthirsty look in the secret guard's eyes and the long sword in his hand pointing at her, the woman had never experienced such a scene before. Her lips trembled and she said.
She just wanted to collect some money and get the medical treatment. She really didn't want to murder His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. She couldn't bear the crime of murdering nine generations of her clan.
"Who asked you to plot against our young lady?" Yu Dong asked coldly.
"I... I don't know. It was... a maid. I... I don't know her." The woman just wanted to get away. She said whatever she wanted, fearing that Qu Moying wouldn't believe her. She added, "They also asked me to make some small clothes and socks for the deceased, as well as a coarse cloth belt to tie the waist... and... and a handkerchief to wipe sweat."
The woman finished stammering.
Pei Luoan's face darkened. He had only some doubts before, but now he was certain that this matter was related to the Qu Mansion. The Qu Mansion was holding a funeral at Qingyun Temple today, and these things were necessary. He had hosted Ji Hanyue's funeral before.
"Is your smallpox healed?" Qu Moying suddenly didn't respond to her. After looking her up and down, he asked.
“It’s almost done…” the woman said hurriedly.
"Are these things you sewed stained with scars and pus from your smallpox?" Qu Moying sneered. Fortunately, she was prepared, otherwise she would have really fallen into Qu Xuexin's trap this time.
When burning those clothes and socks, not only would your hands touch them, but you would also inhale them with your breathing. Even the handkerchief would be used to wipe the sweat off your face, as well as the belt. No matter which method you used, you were to torture yourself to death and make sure you were infected with smallpox.
The collision with the woman in front of her was just a preparation by Qu Xuexin for herself to escape.
If he really had smallpox, he would put the blame on this woman. With a pretext, the government would naturally stop investigating and would think that he was infected because he bumped into this woman.
But in fact, with such a collision, the contact is not much, and the possibility of transmission is not great. Only repeated heavy contact before can make you definitely infected.
Qu Xuexin's thoughts are so vicious that it's outrageous...