The affairs of the Ji Mansion had little impact on the Qu Mansion. Madam Qu only frowned when she heard that the Ji Mansion was disrespectful to Madam Ling Anbo and that the lady of the second house even used the offerings in front of the spirit tablet for her own use.
This is not only disrespectful to the deceased, but also full of malice. She doesn't believe that this is really because the Xiao family is short of money.
Even though the Ling'an Marquis's Mansion was in decline, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and there is still the concubine.
It's really embarrassing to have such a thing happen.
But no matter how embarrassing it was, it was someone else's business. After instructing Qu Moying not to visit Ling Anbo's mansion, he brought up the matter of the scroll. Qu Minghui also felt embarrassed about this matter.
The scroll was originally a good thing to bring honor to myself, but I didn't expect that such a thing would happen. Not only was the painting fake, it was also stolen from in front of the spirit tablet.
If the Zhou family really finds out, how will Miss Zhou Er look at me
Originally, Miss Zhou Er fell in love with him because of his knowledge. Now if she knew that he couldn't even find out that it was a fake, this... How could he explain it!
After much thought, Qu Minghui felt that the key to this matter still lies with Qu Moying, so he spent an afternoon traveling from the West Palace to the East Palace to look for Qu Moying.
Hearing that her elder brother was coming, Qu Moying was stunned for a moment. Why did Qu Zhihui come to see her at this time
After putting down the needle and thread, her hands were fully healed and she could already embroider a few stitches.
"Miss Qi, I'll go take a look!" She stood up and said to Qi Xiangyu beside her.
"Miss Fourth, please do as you please. I'm not in any hurry anyway. I came here just to talk to you." Qi Xiangyu said with a smile. Although she was deft with her hands, she was alone after all. The most important thing was the people she brought with her. She was only helping Qu Moying. Other things were not her business.
Qu Moying met Qu Minghui in the side hall.
"Fourth sister, that matter... could you please not tell Miss Zhou Er?" As soon as he saw Qu Moying, Qu Minghui blushed and explained his purpose.
"What's the matter?" Qu Moying asked and sat down aside.
"It's about the scroll... It's all my fault. I almost got into trouble. I trusted that person too much." Qu Minghui slapped himself on the head and said angrily.
I felt lucky that nothing else had happened, otherwise it would have been really embarrassing.
"That person... why do you believe him so much, is he your classmate?" Qu Moying asked curiously.
"We were not classmates, but I met him when Miss Zhou Er was buying calligraphy and paintings. I thought he was trustworthy, but I didn't expect... I really didn't expect it." Qu Minghui sighed, "But, it's not his fault. It was his cousin who cheated him. This is really an accident!"
Seeing him making such an excuse, Qu Moying's heart moved: "When did Miss Zhou Er buy calligraphy and paintings? Miss Zhou Er likes calligraphy and paintings so much?"
"Miss Zhou Er is an elegant person with great talent and learning. She also has a lot of insights into calligraphy and painting in general. That's why I want to pick out a good calligraphy and painting to send to her as a betrothal gift, so that they won't look down on our family." Qu Minghui explained.
Look down upon? The meaning of this sentence is even stranger!
"Why do you look down on our family? My uncle is a censor, and my father is now a minister. In those days, two Jinshi in one family made many scholars envious. Why do you say you look down on us? Didn't the Kangyang Marquis's Mansion fall into decline a long time ago?" Qu Moying
She raised her sparkling eyes and looked at Qu Minghui in confusion, not understanding why he was so humble.
Although my adoptive father is nothing and is not from an old aristocratic family, his rise is obvious now and his foundation seems to be good. How could he be looked down upon by Miss Zhou Er, who doesn't even have a title
From what elder brother said, it seems that I am marrying above my station
"Father and Second Uncle are naturally good, but Miss Zhou Er values my own abilities. I am nothing now. Although Miss Zhou Er's family was in decline before, it still has a rich heritage. Their ancestors have produced prime ministers, ministers of six ministries, and even crown princes, concubines... They are far from comparable to our family."
Qu Minghui said.
Qu Moying didn't understand, and asked, "But aren't those also from our ancestors? Besides, these things in their family... should all be from the previous dynasty, right? Is it interesting to talk about things from the previous dynasty in this era?"
Since Qu Minghui is not allowed to attribute his father and uncle's achievements to himself, why can the Zhou family talk about their ancestors' affairs? Isn't this even further away? And this is something from the previous dynasty.
Wouldn't that be even more boring
“What I’m saying is… Miss Zhou Er’s family background is profound and knowledgeable, which is incomparable to people like us. Even if her family is in decline, Miss Zhou Er is still a lady from a famous family with extraordinary talent.” Qu Minghui choked and explained hurriedly.
"So, since Miss Zhou Er is so nice, big brother must be very attracted to her and want to please her wholeheartedly. He doesn't want Miss Zhou Er to know that big brother was deceived this time, lest Miss Zhou Er look down on big brother?" Qu Moying smiled and summarized what Qu Minghui said today and asked with a smile.
"Yes, yes, that's what I mean!" Qu Minghui was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.
"Ms. Zhou Er, is it really that good?" Qu Moying chuckled and tilted her head, with a bit of the cute look of a young girl.
Qu Minghui blushed, but nodded hurriedly, fearing that Qu Moying didn't understand what he meant: "Ms. Zhou Er is really good, and Fourth Sister will know when she sees it."
"It'll be soon, we'll be able to see it soon. Miss Zhou Er will soon become big brother's fiancée. Don't worry, big brother. I will definitely treat Miss Zhou Er well that day, and I won't let her know about this." Qu Moying smiled and raised his hand.
"That's good, that's good, thank you fourth sister." Qu Minghui secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly stood up and bowed.
"Brother, but what if Miss Zhou Er already knows about this?" Qu Moying smiled slightly and took his hand back.
"I already know, this... this is impossible, no one would tell her such a thing." Qu Minghui was stunned for a moment, and then he said repeatedly, "Impossible, impossible!"
"Brother, why do you think it's impossible? Is it because you think the Ling Anbo Mansion won't tell anyone about this? After all, it would be even more embarrassing if they told anyone about it?" Qu Moying knew that Qu Minghui must have thought of this when he saw his expression, and then changed the subject, "Brother, you only considered this aspect. Have you ever thought about that brother that day? Since he knew Miss Zhou Er, could he have passed on the message?"
"This... isn't possible!" Qu Minghui hesitated.
"How is it impossible? If that person is really good, he would not have sent the painting to you, brother. From what you said, this person must also be very knowledgeable about calligraphy and painting, otherwise he would not know Miss Zhou Er. If so, could he really not see that it is a fake? Just based on his cousin's words, let you be fooled?"
Do you really know nothing, or do you know something? "
Qu Moying continued to ask with a smile.
“He… he wasn’t like this in the past…” Qu Minghui was still stammering in his defense, but it was obvious that he already had doubts.
"He was not like this in the past, so big brother believed it. Maybe this brother has already told Miss Zhou Er about the matter, but the fault may be big brother's." Qu Moying said again.
Word by word, Qu Minghui's original belief was repeatedly broken into pieces and then shattered.
After all, Qu Minghui was not a complete fool. He lowered his head, his face darkened, and after a long while he said, "Thank you, Fourth Sister. I'm afraid the people I made friends with are not good people."
"Brother, you should not have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against others. There is no hatred without reason in this world, and there is no love without reason."
Qu Moying smiled slightly and continued typing another sentence.
Compared with other brothers and sisters in the mansion, this eldest brother is still very honest.
After hearing Qu Moying's last sentence, Qu Minghui said nothing more. He just thanked Qu Moying again before turning around and leaving with his head down.
He was in a hurry when he came, and lowered his head and frowned when he left, which shows that he really cares about it.
Qu Moying sent him to the gate of the courtyard, watched him leave, and then turned back to the main house.
In the main room, Qi Xiangyu saw her come in and asked curiously, "What's wrong with your big brother? Why is he so unhappy all of a sudden? Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened. I just remembered some troubles of Miss Zhou Er. Does Miss Qi know Miss Zhou Er?" Qu Moying sat down, picked up the embroidery stand beside her, and asked casually.
"The newly restored second young lady of Kangyang Marquis's Mansion?" Qi Xiangyu took a sip of the teacup beside her, shook her head, and said bluntly, "The title of Kangyang Marquis' Mansion has been taken away for so many years. Miss Zhou Er was still young at that time! Her status has not been high enough for so many years. I don't know her!"
Qi Xiangyu knew that the eldest son of the Qu family was going to marry Miss Zhou Er, but she had never seen her before, and had never even heard of her before. However, the matter of Marquis Kangyang being restored to his title was a bigger matter, and she occasionally heard about it.
"I heard that the title of Marquis Kangyang was revoked because of the involvement of Duke Yu's Mansion. But the strange thing is that although Duke Yu was no longer powerful, his title was still there and did not decline. However, the title of Marquis Kangyang Mansion, which followed Duke Yu, was taken away. So this time when Duke Yu rose up, the first thing he did was to ask the emperor to restore the title of Marquis Kangyang Mansion."
This is what people outside said, and this is also what Qi Xiangyu knew.
"I heard that Miss Zhou Er has excellent hobbies and is a rare talent." Qu Moying pondered for a moment and said thoughtfully.
"Talented women, talented women! There are at least 800 of them in the capital, if not 1,000. They are all said to be elegant and beautiful. To keep up with the fashion, every family would say their daughter is a talented woman. Even I... was forced to write a few crooked poems and spread the reputation of a talented woman."
Qi Xiangyu said disapprovingly.
What she said was so true that Qu Moying couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing it. The two of them had been together for a long time and felt that they got along well and liked each other's personalities.
Qi Xiangyu now really likes to come over to help Qu Moying embroider, and Qu Moying also appreciates Qi Xiangyu's straightforward temper...