The entire Ji Mansion was filled with wailing. The servants who walked in and out all had red eyes and looked very sad.
"It's still early, ladies, would you mind going out for a walk with me?" A young lady of about fifteen or sixteen stood up and suggested with red eyes.
Qu Moying knew this person, Xiao Haitang, Xiao's niece.
There are only three young ladies in the Ji Mansion of Marquis Ling'an. They are the eldest lady Ji Youran, who is from the second wife, the second lady Ji Hanyue and the third lady Ji Yanyue, who are from the first wife. In addition to them, there is the eldest son Ji Yuanxing from the second wife, who is Ji Youran's biological brother. As for the second son, he was also born to the second wife, but he is a bastard.
Because the eldest branch of the family has no heirs, everyone knows that this young master Ji will inherit the entire Ling'an Marquis Mansion in the future.
Even if the title belonged to his uncle before, it will eventually fall on him.
Therefore, the second branch of the Ji Mansion has considerable power, and the servants in the mansion are all aware that in the end everything will be given to the second branch. However, although the first branch has no son, the current title belongs to the first branch, and he is a first-rank general Jianwei. In addition, Ji Hanyue is the future Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, so the servants in the mansion dare not offend the first branch.
The relationship between the two houses had always been very balanced. After the death of Lady Dayue, the responsibility of managing the house fell to Xiao from the second house. However, even though the wife of the second house was in charge, she treated the first house very well. Not only did she treat the first house the same as always, but sometimes she even took the initiative to give in. To outsiders, the second house in the Ji Mansion did a good job and was quite loyal.
Ji Hanyue also thought so before, and even felt that Xiao and Ji Youran were wholeheartedly good to them. But now thinking about it, it was just a joke. Given her status at the time, Xiao and Ji Youran had to curry favor with her, so how dare they treat their eldest wife badly
What would this wealth and title mean if they came into contact with overwhelming power!
As for Xiao Haitang, the woman in front of him, since there were no other unmarried young ladies in the Ji Mansion, it was a very normal thing for her to help Xiao with the reception. Moreover, Qu Moying knew that Xiao was very satisfied with this niece and wanted her to marry in. It was really a big joke that the Ji Mansion had expressed its intention to marry her in before.
After hearing what Xiao Haitang said, Qu Xuexin looked at the lady-in-waiting, and the lady-in-waiting nodded.
Qu Xuexin stood up and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Xiao."
They knew each other originally.
Qu Qiuyan and Qu Caiyue also stood up. Qu Moying hesitated for a moment, then looked up and said, "I have difficulty moving, so I won't go out with my sisters. I'd rather stay with my grandmother."
"It's okay, we can just take a walk. If we are tired, we can sit down and rest." Xiao Haitang advised.
"Girl Ying, go ahead. I don't have anything to do here. Just talk to Madam Ji. You can go out for a walk with your sisters. Come back when you are tired." Madam Qu also advised, fearing that Qu Moying would be too bored following her.
"Let's go and take a look together, Miss Qu. When Miss Qu came here yesterday, she didn't accompany Miss Four for a good walk. Now is the time to go and take a look." Xiao also advised.
It was as if there was no conflict between him and Qu Moying yesterday.
After hearing what they said, Qu Moying could only stand up, bow to a few people, and follow everyone out of the flower hall.
Qu Moying walked the slowest and fell behind after walking only a short distance.
"Miss Qu Si, are you tired? Do you want to go over there and rest for a while?" Xiao Haitang led everyone to wait for Qu Moying to come over.
Come, he looked at her with a smile.
Qu Moying looked up at the pavilion on the side and shook her head: "No need, Miss Xiao, just walk on your own. I walk slowly, so if you get tired, you can rest on your own."
"How can we do that? Miss Qu Si is not in good health, and it is not convenient for us to walk fast. How about this? Miss Qu San has been to our house before. Why don't you accompany Miss Da and Miss Er for a walk? I will have someone lead the way for you, and I will stay behind with Miss Qu Si, okay?"
Xiao Haitang made appropriate arrangements.
Qu Moying's heart moved, he stopped and looked at Qu Qiuyan, only to see that Qu Qiuyan also nodded and said very readily: "Okay, then we will wait for you to come over in front."
"Okay!" Xiao Haitang nodded softly, called the maid to lead the way, and led the way in front of the three people, while she stayed to accompany Qu Moying.
"Miss Qu Si, I am the niece of Madam Xiao Er. I'm afraid Miss Qu Si has never seen me!" When Xiao Haitang saw the person in front of her leave, she also walked away with a smile and said to Qu Moying very friendly.
"I have been in the manor before." Qu Moying explained with a subtle smile.
"I know. I heard that Fourth Miss Qu has had poor health since she was a child and has always been kept in seclusion. Is she feeling better now?" Xiao Haitang's eyes fell on Qu Moying's long veil and asked with concern.
"It's okay now!" Qu Moying said vaguely.
"Miss Qu Si, the scenery at the corridor is nice. Let's go sit there and take a short rest. I'm actually a little tired after coming all the way here." Xiao Haitang pointed to a corridor in front. There was not only a corridor, but also several purple peonies in full bloom.
The flowers are in full bloom, making the corridors and windows even more beautiful.
Qu Moying nodded, and the two of them walked over with the maid and sat down at the turning of the corridor. A breeze blew, and the branches of flowers swayed, and the petals trembled slightly, making the flowers lively, charming, and colorful.
"Miss Fourth Miss Qu, I heard that you broke off the engagement with the Yongning Marquis' Mansion before, and that it was because the Yongning Marquis's son fell in love with the second lady Qu's niece, and then jumped into the lake to save the second Miss Duan?" Xiao Haitang turned his gaze away from the flowers and asked softly.
Although this was inappropriate, her gentle demeanor mitigated the sharpness of the words, as if she really asked this out of concern for her.
"I actually don't know!" Qu Moying shook his head, but his eyes did not retract, still falling on the flowers in front of him.
"I used to think that the Prince of Yongning was a good person, but now... it seems that he has a bad character. Fourth Miss Qu has been really wronged. She will definitely find a good match in the future." Xiao Haitang could see that Qu Moying didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she tactfully dropped the subject and comforted Qu Moying.
"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Xiao." Qu Moying nodded.
The two of them were silent for a while, as if they didn't know where to start, and the air was heavy.
Qu Moying was admiring the flowers in front of her calmly, as if all her attention was on the flowers. The one who was anxious now was not her, but Xiao Haitang. She was just a person admiring the flowers.
Sure enough, Xiao Haitang turned around and said to a maid behind her, "There should be a snack room nearby. Go get some new snacks."
"Miss, the eldest master made this specially for you. Would you like to take it?" After the maid took a few steps as ordered, she suddenly turned back and asked.
Xiao Haitang felt a little embarrassed by the question. She took a handkerchief and wiped her slightly red face.
He put his face close to hers before saying, "Go get it!"
After the maid left, Xiao Haitang shyly turned to Qu Moying and explained, "My cousin knows that I love to eat dim sum, so he used to bring some new and different varieties. He happens to have some today, so Fourth Miss Qu will try them later to see if they are delicious."
"Ms. Xiao, you are so polite." Qu Moying thanked her.
"This... is nothing." Xiao Haitang blushed and shook her hands, seeming to be more embarrassed by what Qu Moying said. "My cousin actually wanted to eat it himself. He said he brought it for me, but in fact he ate most of it. It was a big plate of snacks, and he ate more than me."
"Young Master Ji is very close to Miss Xiao." Qu Moying gave this conclusion with a smile.
"This... is actually nothing. After all, we are cousins who grew up together, so our relationship is naturally different." Xiao Haitang lowered her head shyly and explained.
The current situation is exactly like this: the more you try to hide something, the more obvious it becomes.
At this point, how could Qu Moying not understand what was meant? It was obvious that this Miss Xiao knew about the Xiao family's plan. Was she trying to show him that she and Ji Yuanxing were childhood sweethearts
This means that she is the one that Ji Yuanxing has chosen.
"Congratulations, Miss Xiao." Qu Moying congratulated with a smile.
Xiao Haitang looked at Qu Moying with some suspicion, and saw that she was smiling very generously and appropriately, and her expression was not the same at all.
"There's nothing to congratulate about. It's just that my cousin is a really nice person." Xiao Haitang said shyly.
At this time, the maid of the Ji Mansion had brought over snacks. There were five plates in total, all of which were extremely exquisitely made. However, one plate in the middle stood out the most. It was a flower-shaped pastry, and the exquisiteness exuded a pleasant fragrance. When you smelled it, the faint peach blossom fragrance emanated from the pastry, which was very appetite-stimulating.
"This is..." Qu Moying's eyes turned cold, but she didn't show it on her face. She pointed at the cake in the middle and asked in surprise, "Why does it smell so good?"
"This is peach blossom cake. It is not only fragrant but also delicious. It is made of clean peach blossom petals. However, it is different from ordinary peach blossoms. I heard that it is not a flower species native to the capital." Xiao Haitang explained with a smile, picked up one of the pieces and took a bite. "Miss Qu Si, try it!"
So, this is indeed the peach tree that my mother planted in her yard? There are several different kinds of peach trees there, and they look like the ones in this cake.
And not only that, the recipe for making peach blossom cakes was also a recipe in Ji Hanyue's dowry. It was given to her mother when she married into the Yue Mansion, and then passed on to herself. When she was in the Ji Mansion, she never took it out to make it. If it wasn't for Nanny Zhou showing it to her when she was sorting out the dowry that day, she wouldn't even know that there was such a cake recipe.
But now I see it in Ji’s house. Needless to say, it was brought by Ji Youran.
In other words, all her dowry went to Ji Youran.
Pei Luoan and Ji Youran took my life and took my dowry with a clear conscience! A trace of hostility appeared in his eyes.
"Is this the peach blossom cake? Is it made according to the recipe? I heard that adding peach blossom petals to cakes and pastries can have the opposite effect if not handled properly." Qu Moying concealed the hostility in his eyes, but did not show it on his face. He asked slowly, with a bit of curiosity.
This sentence made Xiao Haitang's hand stop on the cake awkwardly...