Qu Moying walked in without stopping.
The Buddhist temple was not big, with only three Buddha statues, the largest one in the middle and two smaller ones on both sides. There were several cushions in the temple, and a woman was kneeling on one of them. She had faint white hair and was wearing coarse cloth clothes. She was kneeling there quietly. When she heard Qu Moying's footsteps coming in, she didn't even turn her head.
"Are you Aunt Xiang?" Qu Moying asked in a low voice, looking at the somewhat familiar figure from behind.
"Yes, who are you? You are not from this mansion, so how can you come here?" Aunt Xiang said coldly without even turning her head, still kneeling in front of the Buddha.
"I am the fourth lady of the Qu family." Qu Moying replied.
After a moment of silence, Aunt Xiang slowly turned her head and looked towards the door.
She was a beautiful middle-aged woman in her forties, but she looked very old. Her hair was half white, making her look ten years older.
He looked at Qu Moying with a moved expression, and his calm eyes fluctuated.
Qu Moying, who was standing at the door, was petite, with a long veil covering her face and hiding her complexion. But even so, seeing the long veil, Aunt Xiang was still excited. It was indeed that child, and only that child would wear a veil all the time.
Eye disease. If it weren’t for the eye disease, the child wouldn’t still be wearing an eye veil.
"You...your eyes are not healed yet?" Aunt Xiang calmed herself down and asked with concern.
Qu Moying walked in according to the light from the door, quietly came to the side of Aunt Xiang, knelt down on the mat beside her, and shook his head gently.
When Aunt Xiang saw her coming, she held on to the futon and tried to stand up, as if she wanted to greet her.
Qu Moying reached out and held her down: "Aunt Xiang, I know about your situation. My cousin told me about it before. My cousin said that the letter you sent was missing. It has nothing to do with you. You don't need to blame yourself, and you don't need to suffer until now."
Aunt Xiang was a maid who came with Ling Anbo's wife, Lady Dayue. Unlike Madam Zhou, after she got married, Lady Dayue opened her face and she became Ji Yongming's concubine.
Ling Anbo originally had two maids who served as servants in the same room with him. Later, they were promoted to concubines. Together with Concubine Xiang, he had three concubines in total. This was considered rare among the young masters of the aristocratic families in the capital. Moreover, the reason why Concubine Xiang was promoted to concubine was also the idea of Dayue. She did not want Madam Ji to control the two concubines and compete with her.
This is how Aunt Xiang came into being.
Although Xiang Yi Niang was a concubine, her most loyal person was still her master, Dayue.
He also helped Dayue to deal with the difficulties caused by Madam Ji and protected Dayue wholeheartedly.
But even so, Madam Ji still disliked her daughter-in-law and sometimes even made things difficult for Dayue.
After marrying into the house of Lord Ling'an, Da Yue gave birth to two daughters but no sons. This made Lady Ji very unhappy. She wanted to find a woman with a clean family background as a concubine for Lord Ling'an. She even thought about letting Ji Yongming marry a concubine so that the child born would be a legitimate son.
Ling Anbo loved his first wife and had no intention of marrying again. He used the excuse that he already had three concubines and it would be inconvenient to have more, and he repeatedly put off Madam Ji's wishes.
When Dai Yue was seriously ill, Ji Yongming was not in the capital but in the frontier. Dai Yue wanted to see Ji Yongming for the last time, and the letter was sent by Xiang Yi Niang, but Ji Yongming did not see it. Later, when Ji Yongming returned to Beijing, he was also in Dai Yue.
After Madam Xiang passed away, Madam Ji scolded her for this, and she also blamed herself for it.
After Dai Viet's death, he asked to come here to guard the temple, and on the other hand, he also confessed his sins in order to seek Dai Viet's forgiveness.
It has been three years since she entered the Buddhist temple, and until now, she has no intention of coming out again.
Before Ji Hanyue married into the Eastern Palace, she had expressed her intention to invite Concubine Xiang to come out and help Xiao manage the internal affairs of the Ji Mansion, but Concubine Xiang herself said that she was unwilling to do so, saying that her heart had died with Dayue, and she was content to live out her days in seclusion. She did not want to appear in front of anyone again and was disheartened about everything.
After Ji Hanyue tried to persuade him several times, he had no choice but to retreat.
"Madam Xiang, my cousin said that she believed you wrote the letter and knew that you must have hoped that your uncle would come to see your aunt for the last time, but the letter disappeared. It was not your reason, but the second lady's intention. If she withheld the letter, no one in the mansion would know."
Qu Moying said.
She didn't understand in the past, so she never thought that Xiao would withhold the letter, but now she understands everything.
Since the letter was withheld, my mother could not see my father, and the responsibility for this fell on Concubine Xiang. Concubine Xiang would definitely be punished, so both my mother and Concubine Xiang were dealt with at once. As for the other two concubines who were promoted from maids, they had always been in the hands of the Madam Dowager and her, and they could do whatever they wanted with them.
From then on, the first wife had nothing to do with the management's affairs, which also meant that he and his father were always unaware of the second wife's plans and were kept in the dark.
"Is it... Second Madam's intention?" Seeing that she was so sure, Aunt Xiang couldn't help but believe it a little, and her expression became cold.
"Yes, my cousin said that she found out all this, and she was going to investigate further, but...but she had just married into the Eastern Palace when something happened, and then...then she said that something had happened to my uncle and cousin, and now my uncle is dead, but...but the Ji family has not allowed my cousin and I to see my uncle's remains. I think there is something wrong here."
Qu Moying bit her lip with a sad look on her face, her voice choking unconsciously.
She would not say that there was something wrong with Ji Hanyue's death. That was not something that Aunt Xiang could touch upon at this stage. Right now, she only asked about her father's death and her sister's accident.
"What... Miss Three is in trouble too?" Aunt Xiang's face changed drastically.
"Didn't Madam Xiang know?" Qu Moying was slightly stunned. She really hadn't expected this. She asked tentatively, "Did Madam Xiang know that my uncle passed away yesterday? And that the Crown Princess also passed away before?"
"I know about the Crown Princess and Lord Bo, but...but Third Miss...I don't know about Third Miss!" Aunt Xiang's voice trembled, her face became agitated, she reached out and grabbed Qu Moying's hand, and asked anxiously, "When did Third Miss get into trouble? What happened? Where did she go?"
"I don't know either. The rumor out there is that my cousin died of illness, but because it interfered with my cousin and the prince's wedding, the news was not made public and she was hastily buried. But there are other rumors among the aristocratic families, saying... that my cousin eloped with someone, but my cousin was only ten years old!"
Qu Moying's voice also trembled unconsciously and became excited.
Her ten-year-old sister, who had always lived in the backyard, actually eloped with someone? This kind of thing that Feiyi could not imagine actually happened. It was really ridiculous. She would never believe it.
"Impossible, impossible
, they said they would take good care of the Third Miss, impossible, impossible!" Aunt Xiang said in panic, loosening her hand and shaking her head anxiously.
"Who are they?" Qu Moying immediately grasped the most crucial point and asked anxiously. Could there be some reason that he didn't know about
"Madam Tai and Second Madam, I have been guarding the Buddhist temple for Madam for three years. After three years, I also want to go out to take care of the eldest and third daughters. But Madam Tai and Second Madam said that if I go out now, it will be bad for the eldest and third daughters. The eldest daughter will marry into the East Palace, and the third daughter will have to stay in the boudoir. How can I, a concubine who has made a mistake, take care of the eldest and third daughters?"
"They asked me to stay in the temple and build a good reputation for the eldest and third young ladies. They said that if I go out, I will have to help the second lady manage the household. It's not nice for a concubine to manage the household. It's better for me to stay here and guard the lady. As for the third young lady, the second lady said she would take good care of her."
Aunt Xiang spoke word by word.
"Is this the reason why you repeatedly rejected your cousin's kindness and asked you to leave the Buddhist temple?" Qu Moying asked in a trembling voice.
"I am just a concubine, and a concubine who has made mistakes. But this is the Earl's Mansion after all, and the eldest wife is the principal wife. If I come out, although I cannot be in charge of all affairs in the mansion, I will definitely need to help the second wife to manage things. I used to help the madam to manage things. Since I am in charge, I also need to manage the affairs of the third lady. Compared with the principal wife, it is not good for the reputation of the third lady to have a concubine like me in charge."
Aunt Xiang also understood at this time and slowly explained the whole story.
Qu Moying felt a chill in his heart. He realized that all these things had been prepared long ago. The Second House had also had the intention of wiping out his entire lineage long ago.
He reached out and took Aunt Xiang's hand, pulled her up from the futon, and said with a serious face: "Aunt Xiang, I suspect that something is wrong with my cousin, and I also suspect that there are other reasons for my uncle's death, but now neither I nor my cousin have the ability to ask the Ji family to open the coffin for inspection."
They are the younger generation, and are the closest relatives of the Dayue family. Although they are relatives of the Ji family, they are not the closest relatives of the Ji family. The only one who can help them now is Concubine Xiang. After all, Concubine Xiang is not only her mother's dowry maid, but also her father's concubine, a legitimate concubine.
"They... they dare to murder Master?" Aunt Xiang was stunned.
"If there was something wrong with my cousin, why wouldn't they investigate if my uncle was fine? But it's very strange that the time when my cousin got into trouble was similar to that when my uncle got into trouble, it seemed like they happened at the same time. And now that my cousin got into trouble, my uncle died right away. The Ji family rushed to make a final conclusion and dared not let anyone see it. It really makes people very suspicious."
Qu Moying analyzed.
Aunt Xiang had already understood what Qu Moying meant. She gritted her teeth in anger and said with red eyes, "If this is really unusual, I won't let them harm the uncle and the third young lady. Cousin, I will go to the mourning hall now."
Qu Moying nodded, knowing that this was the best option. If the matter proceeded according to the normal thinking, the next person to be dealt with by the Ji Mansion would be Concubine Xiang. After all, keeping Concubine Xiang would become a trouble.
In the past, I could stay for some fame, but now that no one is in the main house, there is no need anymore...
She wanted to expose the truth, but she couldn't let Xiang Yi Niang die...