"What does Madam Qi mean?" Madam Qu asked in surprise, looking at the old woman from Duke Qi's mansion in front of her.
"We all feel guilty about the matter of Madam Qu Er. The old Duke almost wanted to go to Jiangnan to plead guilty to Madam Qu Er's father, but the Duke disagreed. After all, the old Duke is old. I heard that Miss Qu Si is going to have a coming-of-age ceremony. Our Madam wants to make a set of clothes for Miss Qu Si."
The maid sent by the Duke of Qi's mansion was very good at speaking. She sighed, felt sad, and finally looked very eager.
The people from the Prince of England's Palace came and left with great fanfare, and after a little inquiry, it was known that the Prince of England's intention was to make a set of clothes for this Miss Qu to wear when she came of age.
"His Royal Highness the King of England has already sent someone." Madam Qu was not very happy. The Duke of Qi said that they felt guilty towards Ying, which made her feel even more guilty. She originally wanted to take advantage of the coming of age event to make plans for her granddaughter.
I didn’t expect that first it was the Prince of England’s Palace, and now it’s the Duke of Qi’s Palace.
She couldn't and shouldn't refuse the Prince of England's Palace, but the words from the Duke of Qi's Palace were much more far-fetched.
"I heard that His Royal Highness the King of England wore a formal dress and had two sets of changes. Our lady-in-waiting wanted to ask your opinion whether we could make such a set for our house as well?" The old woman from the Duke of Qi's mansion smiled like a flower and spoke more and more politely. Even if the lady-in-waiting wanted to refuse, she couldn't do so for the time being.
After a long while, he said, "Since you are so polite, I will trouble you."
"It's not a trouble. It's what our family should do. Fourth Miss Qu and our family have been friends for generations. How can it be a trouble?" The old woman from the Duke of Qi's mansion said with a smile.
He said a few more flattering words before leaving Qu's residence to go back and reply.
When they arrived at the Duke of Qi's Mansion, the old woman got off the carriage and hurried back to report to Madam Qi. After turning two intersections, a man suddenly rushed out from the opposite side and the two almost collided. Fortunately, everyone reacted quickly and managed to stop.
"What's the matter? Are you in such a hurry?" The old woman who had just got off the carriage said unhappily. The person opposite was an acquaintance and they had a good relationship in the past, so there was no need to be polite.
"I'm not that anxious, but you are. Has something happened?" The old woman coming over asked in surprise.
"Nothing, I just came back from Qu's house, and asked something for Madam Tai." When asked by the maid opposite, the maid felt that she might have left in a hurry, so she smiled bitterly and said, "Madam Tai asked me to report as soon as I came back, so I left in a hurry."
"What's the hurry?"
"It's not a big deal. The Madam wants to make a set of clothes for the fourth young lady of Minister Qu's mansion to wear when she reaches the age of 15." The old woman sighed, "I don't know what's so good about this fourth young lady Qu. The Madam cares about her more than her own granddaughter."
"You can't say that!" The second woman pulled her sleeve, and the first woman finally reacted. She looked around and didn't see anyone else. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I won't say any more to you. I'll go report to the Madam first. She's still waiting for my reply!"
"Well, then you should go quickly, and don't walk too fast on the road. It would be bad if you bump into someone again." The old woman behind him reminded diligently.
"Okay, thank you very much." The old woman in front responded hurriedly and left in a hurry.
The woman behind was not in a hurry. She stood there and watched the woman in front of her disappear. Then she sighed twice, curled her lips and said to herself: "It's really
, she is just a young lady from a family of old friends, but you care so much about her... Even my own granddaughter can't care for her enough!"
When the young lady came of age, the lady really didn't pay much attention to it. She just let the sewing room in the mansion do it, and there was no one who would pay attention to it.
The old woman went to the back door in a roundabout way. After arriving at the back door, she said a few words to the old woman at the back door. Someone knocked on the door outside. The old woman guarding the door opened it and led a carriage in.
The old woman stood there and watched the excitement for a while, then chatted with a maid who got off the carriage.
It was a maid from Minister Liu's house who specially brought some fresh fruits. Since there were not many, she didn't go around to the front door.
Just come in from here, unload the goods, and ask the maid from the Duke of Qi's mansion to find someone to deliver them to the kitchen.
This kind of thing happens from time to time, and the two families don't take it too seriously.
The old woman who was watching the fun seemed to think nothing was happening, so she stood aside and watched the whole scene. After Minister Liu's maid left, she pinched the bulging purse in her sleeve and left in a very good mood.
"Make a set of clothes for the fourth young lady of the Qu family? For her coming-of-age ceremony." Qi Xiejiao, wife of Minister Liu, slowly put down the teacup in her hand and asked leisurely.
There was no one else in the room except a maid who came to report. Her eyes dropped slightly, and her eyelids seemed to droop particularly heavily, making her look very gloomy.
"That's what she said. It was the old lady's idea. It seems like she takes it very seriously." The maid continued.
"She cares?" Madam Liu curled her lips in a mocking tone. She spoke softly, as if she was talking to herself. "So what if she cares? Does she dare to bring up the past?"
The maid lowered her head, not daring to move. As her personal maid, she naturally knew what kind of person her master was. If she aroused suspicion from her master, she would be killed without a burial place.
Several maids and old women in the yard disappeared without anyone noticing. It must be because they knew too much.
"Go and call Manager Wen over!" said Mrs. Liu.
"Yes!" The maid didn't dare to say another word. She retreated carefully and only turned around when she reached the door.
Manager Wen is the manager of the outer courtyard and the manager that Madam Liu trusts the most. It is said that Madam Liu encountered robbers when she went out earlier and it was this Manager Wen who saved Madam Liu. Since then, Madam Liu has put more trust in Manager Wen and all the shops on her dowry are managed by this Manager Wen.
Manager Wen arrived fairly quickly. When he heard that the lady had summoned him, he quickly put down his work and came over.
He was a middle-aged man in his thirties, looking somewhat elegant. At first glance, he looked more like a middle-aged scholar than a servant in the mansion. He smiled gently when he looked at people, and his behavior was very decent.
There is also a rumor in the mansion that the reason why this steward Wen became the steward of the Liu Mansion was, on the one hand, because he was indebted to Madam Liu, and on the other hand, because his own family had fallen on hard times and he had no choice but to find a place to stay, and he happened to meet Madam Liu.
Just as he arrived in the yard, the maid served him tea, then came out and stood outside the door waiting.
The distance was neither far nor near. She could see what was happening in the house, but she could not necessarily hear clearly the voices inside. As long as the sound inside was soft, she could not hear it clearly from this position.
She couldn't hear clearly, let alone what was happening in the yard outside.
The maid tried not to listen to what was said inside. She knew that this steward not only helped the lady to manage the dowry store, but also
He is a son-in-law and often gives advice to his wife.
Now Madam has a difficult problem to solve, so of course she has to talk to Manager Wen about it.
Madam Liu's voice was neither too loud nor too low, and the maid could hear that she was talking about the affairs of the Dowager Lady of the Duke of Qi's Mansion, exactly the matter of helping the fourth young lady of the Qu Mansion to wear her coming-of-age clothes, which had caused much criticism.
She is not your biological granddaughter, so there is really no need to go this far.
"Madam, what do you think it means?" After hearing what Madam Liu said, Manager Wen picked up the teacup beside him, took a sip, and looked up at Madam Liu.
Madam Liu snorted coldly, and lowered her voice a little: "He must have known something."
"That's for sure." Manager Wen nodded.
"What should we do now?" Madam Liu smiled coldly, "You don't really want to recognize him, do you?"
"Of course it's impossible. If you want to give in, I'm afraid you would have accepted it long ago. When the princess came back, I felt so. Now, after these few days, there has been no movement, which shows that you don't dare to do it." Manager Wen said leisurely, "Madam, don't worry about this matter."
"I'm not worried about this matter, but it's not good. That girl is going to marry the King of England now. This... is not good!" Madam Liu frowned. This matter was becoming more and more difficult to handle. She originally thought that it was just a little girl who could die at any time, but Yu could take her life at any time.
She didn't expect things to turn out this way, and what made her even more uneasy was the King of England's intervention.
"I heard that the King of England even made clothes for her. He thinks so highly of her?" Madam Liu's uneasiness came from the King of England, Pei Yuanjun. This person was not someone they could deal with.
"So what if she made the clothes? I heard that it was just the intention of the palace to let the King of England make a face for her. After all, this Fourth Miss Qu has been criticized for so many years, there is nothing to say about her. It is really not presentable. She loses face, and the King of England loses face too."
Manager Wen said disapprovingly.
"What does the palace mean?" Madam Liu frowned. Once the palace was involved, she had to be careful.
"Don't worry, madam. That's just what the palace said and what the King of England gave the order. Given the character of the King of England, do you think he would be interested in any woman?" Manager Wen asked.
Madam Liu thought about it carefully and nodded. She had secretly checked the information of this King of England in the past. This man was not a man who was gentle with women. That was the fate of the most beautiful woman back then, let alone Qu Moying.
He had seen her from afar that day and found her to be extremely beautiful, but the King of England had seen all kinds of beauties and had never been soft-hearted for a beauty, let alone was he truly in love with her. Moreover, she looked so frail and fragile, and very immature. As for his previous visit to Qu's house to see her, it was even more of a joke.
"So... what should we do now?" Madam Liu asked subconsciously. Many of her decisions came from this manager.
"If Madam is worried, you can talk to the county lady. The county lady's status is always much higher than that of Miss Qu Si." Manager Wen suggested, seeing that Madam Liu was upset.
“Jingyu…” Madam Liu was somewhat moved.
"Madam, please think about it again. If the county lady can do a little, maybe this matter... won't require your involvement at all..." said the steward Wen.
"This is not good... Jingyu can't cause any trouble." Madam Liu was still hesitant.
"It's different now, it's different now!" Manager Wen smiled, and his words were quite meaningful...