Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Chapter 56 Been A Long Time, My Enemy

On the street in front of the Dabei Temple, the locals ran a market, selling candles, meals, native snacks, and some toys for children. Tourists who came to the Dabei Temple would also take a walk here to have some fun.

Yu Chun stayed in the yard to clean up while Qu Moying brought Yu Dong to meet with her sisters. The other three ladies all brought one maid with them. They were just a tiny group, not conspicuous.

The Dabei Temple was well known in the capital and received many guests every day. Ladies and young masters from noble families could be seen everywhere in this place. Compared to many of them, the four ladies from the Qu Family could only be considered ordinary. Anyway, they should keep a low profile here, which the four all bore in mind.

Because for those real aristocratic families, their family was literally nothing.

There were all kinds of booths in the market. Among those, jewelry booths were the most popular ones, crowded with young ladies and madams. Once they saw those beautiful, sparkling things, they stopped moving as their eyes lit up.

There were times they went out to do some shopping before, but all with the elders in the family. Today was the first time they visited a market by themselves, so everyone was in a relaxed mood. They wandered around the booths and sometimes stopped to buy things they liked.

Qu Moying didn’t have much savings, but the Old Lady gave some to her before they left the mansion. Right now, the money she had was enough for her to feel comfortable on such an occasion.

However, Qu Caiyue was quite poor compared to them, but there was a lot she wanted to buy. After spending all her money, she could only watch the others shopping with envy. Of course, she didn’t dare to feel jealous of the First Lady and the Third Lady. Qu Moying was the only one she could vent her exasperation on. She couldn’t accept Qu Moying, whom she looked down on, had more money than her and cursed Qu Moying inwardly.

The Old Lady must have given money to Qu Moying in private. When she thought about it, she started to blame her grandmother for showing partiality. Both she and Qu Moying were her granddaughter, but why Qu Moying had money while she didn’t?

The stupid girl only knew blaming her grandmother but totally forgot that Yu barely gave Qu Moying money for all these years. The money Yu sent to her was actually even less than what a concubine’s daughter should get. When Qu Moying lived in the village, she seldomly spent money on anything except for her daily necessities. Even with her frugal lifestyle and the financial help from the Old Lady and Ji Hanyue from time to time, she only made a minimal amount of savings.

Since Qu Moying just came back to the mansion, the Old Lady asked Granny Wu to give some extra money to her. But technically, this was what she should get in the first place.

Qu Caiyue’s face was twisted in jealousy. She clenched her hanky hard and opened her mouth but ended up staying quiet. She looked at Qu Qiuyan, who threw a glare at her, making her lower her head immediately. She felt free to do anything to Qu Moying. Yet, Qu Qiuyan’s words were like law for her since she had been the Third Lady’s loyal follower and bullied people under her leadership.

Qu Moying noticed their petty actions, but she chose to ignore them. Suddenly, Qu Xuexin was attracted by one booth as the others stopped with her. It was a booth selling kites, all kinds of kites. They were made delicately, with exquisite paintings on them. The booth decorated by the kites was an incredible view, catching many people’s eyes.

They started to pick the kite they liked. Since the ladies would stay in the temple for a period, flying kites sounded like a nice entertainment.

They were all together when Qu Moying bent over and looked at the kites. But when she stood up and turned around after some time, the other three were all gone. The only person she knew around was Yu Dong next to her.

“Where did they go?” Qu Moying put down the kite in her hand and asked. Everyone said they wanted to buy a kite a moment ago, and now, they had all disappeared.

“The Second Lady said she saw something she liked and asked the First Lady to go take a look with her. The Third Lady followed them and left too.” Yu Dong had kept a close eye on them. He pointed to one direction, “They went that way. This place is too crowded. I lost sight of them after they walked away.”

The whole street was packed, and they melted into the crowd long ago.

“My lady, do you want me to look for them?”

“No need. We can just have fun by ourselves!” Qu Moying said carelessly. She wondered what they were up to this time.

The crowd suddenly started to move to the sides as something was happening in the middle of the street. Qu Moying was standing in front of the kite booth but got shoved by people to the gap between the booths. If it weren’t for Yu Dong, she would have fallen to the ground already. She held Yu Dong’s arm and turned around. A large group of people was walking in her direction.

The person at the front was apparently well-respected by the others. Surprisingly, it was someone she knew.

The leading woman wore a showy, gorgeous dress embroidered with delicate and vivid butterfly patterns, making her look as beautiful as a fairy. Her beauty was not the peerless kind, but the dress definitely added to it. At first sight, she looked a bit similar to Ji Hanyue, and even her earrings seemed so familiar. It was a pair of butterfly-shaped earrings shining in the sunlight.

Ji Hanyue loved butterflies, so many of her clothes had embroidered patterns of butterflies and flowers, and most of her jewelry was butterfly-shaped.

Qu Moying clenched her fists hard. In her mind, the woman’s fancy dress, her beautiful jewelry, and even herself were all covered with blood, the blood of Ji Hanyue and her entire family. Ji Youran climbed up to her current position at the cost of Ji Hanyue and her families’ lives!

Staring at that woman, Qu Moying bit her lip so hard that blood started to flow into her mouth from the wound. Her mouth was filled with a metallic taste, but it was also the taste of hatred.

“My lady, my lady!” Yu Dong pulled her sleeve hurriedly and called her with worry. When he was observing the surroundings, he didn’t forget about his master. He noticed Qu Moying was staring at that woman with an almost manic look on her face. In a daze, she bit her lips and didn’t even know she was hurting herself.

Fortunately, Yu Dong’s voice pulled her back to reality. She lowered her head, calmed herself down, and wiped the blood off her mouth.

“What’s the matter, my lady?”

“I’m fine!” Qu Moying shook her head and said softly, staring at the ground. Slowly, she suppressed her anger and hatred. The taste in her mouth reminded her that she was still alive. Right, she was still alive, but not as Ji Hanyue. She was Qu Moying right now.

Ji Youran not only killed Ji Hanyue but also took everything away from her. Ji Youran’s clothes, jewelry… They once all belonged to Ji Hanyue. The most ironic thing was she was using this method to act as Ji Hanyue. Qu Moying couldn’t help but wonder if Pei Luo’an would feel angry seeing her ridiculous impersonation.

Princess Ji in the Eastern Palace? How wonderful the title sounded!

For this title, Ji Youran killed Ji Hanyue’s whole family!

“Your Royal Highness, these kites look amazing. Do you want to buy some?” It was Ji Youran’s private maid, Shui Yan’s voice.

“That sounds like a good idea, Your Royal Highness. You can pick the ones you like, and we can fly them for you later,” another person said with a high thin voice, sounding like a eunuch.

Their suggestion drew Ji Youran’s attention. She picked up some kites to take a look and put them back down again. Then her eyes fell on Qu Moying, who was still standing in the narrow gap between the booths. When Ji Youran came, all the other people left to make space for her, and only Qu Moying and Yu Dong were stuck here.

Qu Moying was holding a kite in her hand. She picked it up before but hadn’t got time to buy it.

It was a beautiful butterfly-shaped kite with delicate embroidered patterns on its wings. No matter how people looked at it, there was no doubt it was well-made.

“Present the kite to Her Royal Highness,” the eunuch immediately demanded when he saw Ji Youran looking at the kite in Qu Moying’s hands.

“Our lady got it first,” Yu Dong said, feeling annoyed.

“Her Royal Highness wants to take a look. Give it to her, quick!” The eunuch sounded impatient.

Qu Moying stopped Yu Dong before he continued to argue and passed the kite to Ji Youran. Her glance fell on her dress first and then moved to Ji Youran’s hair. She left some long hair lying down in front of her ears, which looked a bit unusual.

Ladies typically had a little hair in front of their ears. However, Ji Youran made it longer and thicker, even covering part of her face as if there was something under which she wanted to hide. It looked inharmonious with her whole dress-up style.

Ji Youran touched the butterfly kite and nodded. She gave a glance at Qu Moying, who was wearing a veil. Ji Youran hadn’t met a lady who had an eye problem or was blind, so she didn’t pay much attention to her and nodded to the eunuch indifferently.

“This one is not bad. Her Royal Highness will take it!” The eunuch surely knew how to please his master. He quickly took out some money and gave it to the booth owner.

“But the lady picked it first.” Yu Dong felt aggrieved.

“You should feel blessed to have the same taste as Her Royal Highness. Don’t tell me you want Her Royal Highness to lower herself and give it back to you!” the eunuch said coldly and flicked a disdainful glance at Qu Moying and Yu Dong.

Qu Moying stopped Yu Dong before he talked again, quietly staring at Ji Youran. She suppressed her boiling emotions and twisted her lips into a smile.

It was not the right time yet.

“Are you the Fourth Lady from the Qu Family?” After Ji Youran walked a few steps away, she suddenly stopped and turned around, sizing Qu Moying up curiously.

The Crown Prince mentioned her before, but Ji Youran didn’t pay much attention to it at that time. She suddenly remembered it just now.

“Yes, Your Royal Highness,” Qu Moying answered and slowly bowed to her.

“So, it’s really you! I thought I was wrong,” Ji Youran said delightfully as she turned back and walked over. She reached out enthusiastically, trying to hold Qu Moying’s hands.

However, Qu Moying hurriedly took two steps back, looking at her warily.

It was not surprising that a girl who grew up in a village felt scared and nervous when she saw such a big scene. Qu Moying’s reaction made sense with her background. If she didn’t do so, Ji Youran would probably be suspicious.

“I know you are the Crown Princess’s cousin. I’m her cousin too but from her father’s family. I heard about you from her before, and she said you had lived in a village. It’s great that you came back. She will be so happy after knowing it,” Ji Youran’s voice was soft. She was wearing a bright and genuine smile, looking like a graceful, gentle lady.

For years, she had always acted like this in front of Ji Hanyue.

Gently and smilingly, she destroyed Ji Hanyue’s life. The stairs she stepped on were built by Ji Hanyue’s families’ flesh and blood, leading her all the way to the Eastern Palace…

How could Ji Hanyue be happy about it since she was already dead? How ironic her words were for Qu Moying! Yet she did feel happy, for a different reason. She was happy to see Ji Youran alive because it meant she could avenge herself, her father, and her sister’s death with her own hands…

“Since we both are the Crown Princess’s cousin, technically, we are also related. If you don’t mind, you can call me cousin too,” Ji Youran said with an amiable smile. She had been looking for an excuse to prove how close she and Ji Hanyue were for a while. Luckily, the chance came itself!