Madam Qi was looking at the front. The words on the back were very small and fell in the corner. At first glance, they looked more like a few ink dots.
When I looked carefully, I found that they were actually words, but very small.
is a date.
The handwriting is a bit old. The reason why I thought it was an ink spot is that it is not only small, but also has faded a little over time.
Mrs. Qi looked at the date in astonishment. She didn't understand what date it was. The date on it was more than 30 years ago, and she didn't know where her daughter found the note.
Mrs. Qi didn't understand what the mystery was. After taking another look at it, she folded the note into the script. Maybe she just wrote it like that, and just said the date. After all, according to the date, her daughter was still young at that time, so how could it be related to her daughter
Still young
His hand on the script suddenly stopped.
My daughter must have been born only a few days ago at that time. I felt a sudden stir in my heart, as if I had forgotten something important, but when I thought about it carefully, it seemed nothing.
I turned the note that was originally intended to be put into the booklet and put it into my sleeve. I always felt that I seemed to know this date, but when I thought about it carefully, I had no impression of it.
“Madam…” the old woman said in surprise when she saw Madam Qi put away the note.
"Put it away first!" Madam Qi said indifferently, leaning back and closing her eyes to rest.
Seeing that Madam Qi didn't want to talk, the old woman didn't dare to say anything more. She closed the two scripts and put them aside. Since it was related to the eldest lady, the madam would definitely ask the eldest lady in person.
There was the story of the cat replacing the prince, the story of sisters getting married off, and also this date, and the two lines of words above. The old woman sensed something inappropriate. During the rest of the journey, she did not dare to talk much to the lady, and just sat quietly aside.
Although the carriage was moving slowly, it finally stopped at the parking lot of the Duke of Qi's Mansion. Along the way, Madam Qi said nothing more, but just sat there quietly, her brows slowly frowning.
The old woman helped Madam Qi get off the carriage.
"Go to the old Duke's study first." Madam Qi ordered.
In the study, hearing that the old Duke had returned, he ordered someone to invite the Lady Dowager in.
The lady left all the servants around her outside and went into the old duke's study alone.
Behind the desk, the old Duke waved his hand casually, signaling the Madam to excuse herself from the formalities: "How is it going? How is the matter going?"
"Not very good. It seems that the Qu family looks down on the Yongning Marquis' Mansion and thinks that their fourth young lady can marry someone better and at a higher position." After sitting down, Madam Qi curled her lips with a mocking smile.
The old Duke didn't notice the sarcasm on her face and frowned: "How could this happen? Didn't we agree on this before? Why do you not like it?"
"Maybe he wants to find a better partner!" said the lady.
The tone of her words finally brought the old Duke back to his senses. He looked at the old lady with dissatisfaction: "Even if you want to marry someone higher, so what? The fourth young lady of the Qu Mansion is the blood of our Qi Mansion. She is not worthy of anyone else!"
"Yes, yes, yes, they are both suitable. Their statuses are equal. You should also think about it, Duke. Even if we acknowledge her identity, it is not something that can be made public. If her identity is known to others, not only will the Yongning Marquisate not dare to marry her, no one will dare to marry her!"
The lady looked serious
The way of color.
After saying this, the old Duke fell silent for a while, lowered his head, and looked very unhappy.
"Tell me how you could be so bold to do such a thing. If you were really discovered, and you were in that situation, I'm afraid that everyone in our mansion would have to sacrifice their lives for your idea. How could you be so bold?"
Mrs. Qi started to babble.
When the old Duke first told her about this matter, she didn't think much of it, but the more she thought about it, the more scared she became, and the more dangerous it seemed.
This is a crime of deceiving the emperor! Who dares to accept such a crime? At that time, the Duke of Qi's Mansion was in such a situation. All the eldest house was locked up, and only their lineage was struggling to support it. They couldn't withstand the wind and rain at that time.
The old Duke didn't say anything, but lowered his head even more. The silence in the study was awkward.
Mrs. Qi felt that her words were a bit too harsh, and sighed softly: "At that time, you really didn't think about it!"
"I really didn't think it through at that time!" the old Duke suddenly said.
The old lady was shocked, but she was still very happy that the old Duke could respond like this. She nodded quickly and said earnestly: "We have done our best for Big Brother and Big Sister-in-law. Even if they are in the afterlife, Big Brother and Big Sister-in-law should be grateful to us and will not blame us for Xiao Yue's matter."
Thinking that the old Duke bowed his head because he blamed himself for Xiao Yue's matter, the Dowager Lady persuaded him that she sincerely felt that her family had done enough. They saved the only blood of their eldest brother and sister-in-law despite the crime of deceiving the emperor. What else could their family do
“Yes, we have done enough, we...but we..." The old Duke suddenly raised his head and said in a choked voice.
"Is the Duke hiding something from me?" Looking at the slightly red eyes of the old Duke, the Lady Dowager was silent for a moment and suddenly asked.
"Nothing!" The old Duke tried to calm down.
"Could it be... that there are other things about Xiaoyue that you are hiding from me?" The old lady and the old Duke have been married for so many years, and they know a lot about the old Duke. Especially today, she always feels a little uneasy in her heart.
"That's not the case." The old Duke shook his head decisively.
"Old Duke, the faster you deny it, the more trouble there is." The lady said doubtfully.
"Yes... it's really nothing, you're overthinking it, I just thought of Xiao Yue and my elder brother... I couldn't control myself for a moment, I was sad, that's all." The old Duke explained with a wry smile.
The lady's eyes fell on the old master. She looked him up and down and said slowly, "When the incident happened, I had just given birth to a child and didn't have the energy to pay attention to you. When did you bring the child out?"
The lady had always wanted to ask for more details about this matter, but every time she asked, the old Duke would brush it off with one sentence. Now she couldn't help but ask one more question.
"It's been so long, what else is there to say?" The old Duke waved his hand and said, "Well, since this marriage is not going to happen, we can think of another way. We can ask the Qu family for their opinion. If they are interested, we can find a way to make it happen. We can't let this child down."
"Old Duke, is it really because this child is the descendant of our eldest brother?" Seeing how he was trying to compromise and caring wholeheartedly about Qu Moying's marriage, the lady could not help but ask.
Regarding Qu Moying's matter, how
It seems that his temperament is different from that of the old Duke.
Even if it was his own grandson, the old Duke wouldn't be so concerned. Could it be that he was really feeling guilty about the Yue family's affairs? No matter how you look at it, the old Duke must be guilty.
The lady took out a piece of paper from her sleeve and slowly handed it to the old Duke. "On the way back just now, I bumped into a maid from the Liu Mansion. She threw down two playbooks in a panic and a piece of paper fell out of it. Look at the date and the two lines of words on it. What do they mean? I feel like this is from the time when the accident happened."
Just now, when she closed her eyes to rest in the carriage, the lady had already remembered some circumstances of that day, but they were not exact. At that time, she was in confinement after giving birth to a child, and the affairs outside the mansion were handled by the old Duke. It was a mess at that time, and the entire Duke Qi's mansion was in chaos.
All she could do was to keep the children with her. She was very tired even during the confinement period. Her poor health now was largely due to the fact that she did not take good care of them at that time. But under the circumstances at that time, there was not much she could do to help the old Duke, and she was even more helpless with other things.
When the lady handed him the paper, she showed him the date side first.
The old Duke frowned after taking a look at it. He was startled when he saw the date on it. "This is just a few days before the anniversary of my eldest brother and sister-in-law's death."
At just one glance, he recognized the date on it. The old Duke always remembered the anniversary of his elder brother and sister-in-law's death very clearly.
"During that time, you went to the Tianlao, right? I remember you went there at least two or three times. Was this the last time you went there?" The lady tried to make herself look calm.
He spoke slowly and calmly.
"Yes, this is the last time I visit my eldest sister-in-law." The old Duke was reminded by the Lady Dowager. After thinking about it, he nodded affirmatively.
"That's the day you... are going to bring the child out?" Mrs. Qi's breathing quickened.
The old Duke was reminiscing about the past and didn't notice Madam Qi's misbehavior. After thinking for a while, he said, "It should be."
“That child…was brought back and then sent away directly?” Madam Qi’s voice trembled.
She knew nothing about that incident. Although it was because there was chaos in the Duke of Qi's Mansion at that time and she was in confinement after giving birth, another major reason must be that the child was sent away overnight, otherwise she would not have known anything and it was impossible for her to have known nothing for so many years.
"Yes... I was afraid of being discovered... I wrote another letter overnight and sent someone to deliver it to the Yue family in Jiangnan." The old Duke said. This matter could no longer be concealed. Of course, he would not hide it anymore, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the lady.
"I remember... I remember that day... you came to see me... and then went to see the child. After that, you left in a hurry saying you had something to do. When you left, I didn't see you." The lady's voice was trembling with a hint of sharpness. Just now in the carriage, some things that had been forgotten for a long time suddenly appeared in her mind.
However, it was intermittent before, but now it is clear and definite.
"I..." The old Duke didn't expect that the Dowager Lady would suddenly attack him. He was stunned for a moment. He looked up at the Dowager Lady with red eyes in astonishment and didn't know where to start.
"So, you... tell me, what is this?" Madam Qi did not wait for the old Duke to say too much, and suddenly turned the note over with her hand. The handwriting on it was clearly visible: Li Dai Tao Jiang, but Feng Jing was mistaken for Ma Liang.