Chapter 243 – I Can Leave If You…
Chapter 243 I Can Leave If You…
Granny Qing did take action at night. She walked very carefully and stopped at a turn to look behind every time. It was very quiet, and there was no one behind her. She walked around for a long time before walking to where sacrificial offerings were placed. Some offerings were placed there, but not many.
There were two sets of incense sticks and candles, some serving pastries, some rough straw paper, and a few ordinary offerings.
Since they were going to Dabei Temple, it was only natural for them to prepare the offerings to worship Yue.
The Old Lady was an elder, so she didn’t need to prepare much. Other than the incenses, there were only two ordinary sachets. Inside was the mugwort. It was just right to burn them together with the straw paper.
Noble families in the capital would prepare sachets if they were to worship deceased women.
A few sachets were enough. With sachets, it could show that the one being worshipped was a woman.
Each of the two bamboo baskets contained a set of offerings. Qu Moying did not ask for too many things. It meant that she would buy some herself. Granny Qing had heard that Yu Dong went out to buy some.
Granny Qing walked to the bamboo basket on the right, which was prepared for Qu Moying. She took out a sachet from the basket. Then, she put the sachet in her arms into the basket and turned to leave.
During the whole process, she didn’t even light up the candle but just took advantage of the light from the window.
“Miss, Granny Qing really went to the place where the offerings are placed.” Yu Dong came in to report, and Qu Moying was sealing the last sachet.
“What do you think it is?” Qu Moying asked without raising her head.
“I don’t think it is an incense stick. Incense sticks are long, but what Granny Qing just put is not.” Yu Dong thought for a while and said.
He followed Granny Qing very carefully. Originally, he wanted to get closer to Granny Qing, but Granny Qing was so cautious that Yu Dong could only follow her from a distance for fear of being discovered. Then, Granny Qing went in for a while and left. Yu Dong could not see anything.
“We’ll see tomorrow.” Qu Moying said indifferently. She put down the sachet in her hands. She had already washed up. Her long hair fell down, and her face became fairer and tender. Under the light, her long eyelashes cast a shadow under her eyes. Her eyes were darker than ordinary people’s.
However, when she looked up, her eyes were clearer than ever.
“Miss, I will help you clean up. You can go to bed now.” Yu Chun said.
Qu Moying nodded, walked to the bed, and lay down on it. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes.
After cleaning up, Yu Chun blew out the candles on the table and left with Yu Dong.
After Yu Chun and Yu Dong left, Qu Moying opened her eyes again. She stared blankly at the top of the bed and continued to think about the connection between Liu Jingyu and her.
If the girl she met when she was young was really Liu Jingyu, why did Liu Jingyu treat her like that? Noble ladies at that age should have been sensible, and Liu Jingyu was considered intelligent since she was young. She was friendly to others and had a good reputation.
She got the position of County Lady partly because she indeed had a better reputation than Qi Xiangyu.
Qu Moying couldn’t figure out why a woman like Liu Jingyu hated her so much. Liu Jingyu even deliberately pushed her to the corner of the table at that time. Qu Moying felt lingering fear as she thought of this. If no one came at that time, would Liu Jingyu be more violent? Was Liu Jingyu going to kill her?
She was older than Qu Moying, and at that time, she was already sensible. She looked better than Qu Moying, who was weak and had an eye disease. It was a piece of cake for her to deal with Qu Moying. At that time, she did not have maids to protect her. It was strange. Had the servants been negligent?
She frowned slightly. Liu Jingyu seemed to have said something at that time, but Qu Moying was afraid and painful, so she couldn’t remember it.
What was going on? Did Liu Jingyu plan to attack her back then? But Qu Moying was so young at that time, how could she offend the high and mighty Liu Jingyu?
Liu Jingyu was Duke Qi’s maternal granddaughter. Duke Qi doted on her even more than his paternal granddaughter. She was the only daughter of Minister Liu, who had a much more promising future than Qu Zhizhen. At that time, Qu Moying was just an abandoned girl. Her mother had passed away, and her father threw her aside. Yu had been eyeing her with hostility. From all aspects, Qu Moying was in a very bad situation.
Moreover, she had an eye disease, so her future was almost unpromising.
What was the connection between Liu Jingyu and her? Liu Jingyu couldn’t help but want to harm her at that time. Now, Liu Jingyu had grown up, but her hatred for Qu Moying had never disappeared.
Why?
“Do you have something on your mind?” Someone touched her eyebrows silently and asked. Qu Moying suddenly widened her eyes and tensed up in shock. She almost cried out in alarm, her hands clenching the corner of the quilt.
In the darkness, she saw a pair of cold and handsome eyes. After recognizing who the person was, she heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Your Highness.”
She glanced at the window at the side and found that the window was half open. Pei Yuanjun didn’t sleep but came to her room in the middle of the night.
“I saw the light in your room just now, but it was off when I came in.” Pei Yuanjun said lazily, putting his hand down from Qu Moying’s eyebrow and sitting down on the bed directly.
Qu Moying was pushed to the corner of the bed. She thought for a moment and then moved further to the corner of the bed. Then, she sat up. Her black hair fell down, making her face look even smaller and her eyes look even bigger.
“Your Highness, what brings you here?” Qu Moying said.
Pei Yuanjun came to Qu Moying’s room so casually, as if Qu Moying’s room was a street store. But he was never a man who followed the rules, so it was useless to reason with him.
Pushing Qu Moying’s slender body into the bed, Pei Yuanjun yawned ungracefully. “I am also tired!”
He leaned against the bed and closed his eyes.
“If you are tired, please go back to sleep! If you don’t go back, people in your mansion will be worried!” Qu Moying advised him.
“No hurry!” Pei Yuanjun said with his eyes closed.
Pei Yuanjun was not in a hurry, but Qu Moying felt anxious.
“Your Highness, it’s getting late. There have been a lot of assassins recently. If they see you, I’m afraid you will be in danger.” Qu Moying glanced at Pei Yuanjun, who was so relaxed that he seemed to be in his own mansion. He looked so casual, not minding Qu Moying at all. However, Qu Moying was an aristocratic lady. If people found out that there was a man in her room, she would feel too shameful to live.
“I have dealt with the assassin.” Pei Yuanjun said. Under the moonlight, he smiled faintly.
There was actually a hint of gentleness on his face.
Qu Moying felt that she must have seen wrong, but his words attracted her attention. She looked up at Pei Yuanjun in astonishment and asked, “Did he make a confession?”
“Yes!”
“Who sent him?” Qu Moying straightened up and asked anxiously.
“A petty official from the Ministry of Justice set him free and asked him to assassinate you. The official promised to help the assassin to get away. However, when we found the official, he had already died. Actually, he was already dead when the assassin went to assassinate you.” Pei Yuanjun said indifferently.
“They’re all dead, so there’s no evidence?” After being stunned for a moment, Qu Moying knew that this matter was tricky. Otherwise, the official wouldn’t have been killed.
“It doesn’t matter if they are dead or not. The manipulator behind this is probably from the royal family.” Pei Yuanjun said. He was half lying on the bed, and his collar was loose. The iris flower embroidered on the collar was eye-catching, and a small part of his exposed skin looked even fairer.
“Your Highness, what do you want to do?” Qu Moying’s heart skipped a beat. She asked anxiously, looking nervous.
“Nothing, but I have to tell His Majesty, lest he doesn’t know that his sons are so lawless.” Pei Yuanjun said lazily.
Tell His Majesty?
Qu Moying frowned again. She thought for a moment and said, “Those Lords and I have nothing to do with each other. They can’t deal with me just because I am the daughter of the Vice Minister. Isn’t it like taking a spear to kill a fly?”
“It isn’t if I am involved.” Pei Yuanjun said. Suddenly, a cold smile appeared on his face. “What they did really made me scared. How could they live at ease?”
Did the manipulator casually let others take the blame? It was so unreasonable. She knew who it probably was, but it was inconvenient to tell him.
After thinking for a while, she said carefully, “Your Highness, we haven’t found out the truth yet. If something really happens to those Lords, you will inevitably be suspected. You’d better be careful.”
She was not worried about him but just worried that he would implicate her. Pei Yuanjun could bear the consequences, but she could not. After all, she was just a weak young lady.
“I don’t need to be careful. Do you think they can testify against me?” Pei Yuanjun snorted. He reached out to push Qu Moying further inside and lay down at ease. “I am tired. I just came back from West Prison.”
Qu Moying was pushed to the corner of the wall. Seeing that Pei Yuanjun was really lying down, Qu Moying wondered if he really thought that he was in his own mansion.
“Your Highness, since you have planned to do this, you have to go back to your mansion. Otherwise, people will suspect you because you are not in your mansion.” Qu Moying said sincerely.
Pei Yuanjun narrowed his eyes and looked at Qu Moying’s serious face. He asked with a smile, “Why? Are you afraid of people suspecting you? Aren’t you bold?”
“I’m not bold. I’m just worried about your safety.” Qu Moying raised her face and said seriously.
“You want me to go back?” Pei Yuanjun raised an eyebrow.
Qu Moying smiled and nodded honestly. “It’s not good if you are found here!”
“I can leave, but…” Pei Yuanjun elongated his tone. Qu Moying immediately tensed up. Looking at her lively face, he could not help but laugh. She clearly wanted him to get out immediately, but she still pretended to be concerned about him. He found her really interesting.
“What do you need?” Qu Moying pursed her lips and felt that her cheeks were tensed. Then she calmed herself down and lowered her eyes to look at the corner of the quilt in front of her. She looked extremely respectful.