Chapter 355

Chapter 355 – The So-Called Purest Girl

Chapter 355 The So-Called Purest Girl

Eunuch De Fu sneered and glared at Qu Zhizhen. “With your daughter’s status, she couldn’t be any prince’s Princess Consort, right?”

Qu Zhizhen felt guilty from being stared at and hurriedly said with a smile, “No… no.”

“Since she will not be a Princess Consort, it doesn’t matter. The Empress Dowager’s matter is more important.” With a scornful smile, Eunuch De Fu looked at the slightly closed main room and slowly walked over.

It seemed that he was going to see Qu Moying.

Cold sweat began to break out on Qu Zhizhen’s forehead. Ignoring the fear in his heart, he hurried forward and said, “Please hold on, Eunuch De Fu!”

“What? Don’t tell me your daughter is going to be a Princess Consort?” Eunuch De Fu said coldly. He was indeed a little angry at the person who told him about Qu Moying but did not tell him that she was engaged. However, he did not intend to give up now.

Since she would not become a Princess Consort, he could still convince the Emperor.

After all, he had been looking for such a purest girl for a long time. After so many years, he finally found a girl who had a clean history and disliked men. It was not easy.

It was impossible for a girl to be totally pure, but it was fine as long as she was close to that level.

Eunuch De Fu thought that such a girl would not be happy even if she entered a prince’s mansion because she disliked men, so it would be better to sacrifice her freedom to serve the Empress Dowager. He wanted to let her pray for the Empress Dowager at her mausoleum. It would also be beneficial to the fate of the entire Great Zhou Kingdom.

“Eunuch De Fu…” Qu Zhizhen’s fingers trembled, and his face turned red.

“What? Do you still have something to say?” Eunuch Fu De sneered and continued to walk forward. Behind him, Qu Zhizhen was anxious but helpless. With his status, he could not stop Eunuch De Fu at all.

A woman walked out of the wing room and stopped in front of Eunuch De Fu. “Greetings, Eunuch De Fu.”

It was Granny Yan!

They both served the Empress Dowager back then, so they could be considered old acquaintances.

Eunuch De Fu stopped and asked in surprise, “Granny Yan, why are you here?”

He didn’t expect Granny Yan to be here.

“Her Majesty sent me here.” At this time, Granny Yan did not conceal anything and directly mentioned the Empress.

Eunuch De Fu finally started to take this matter seriously. “Did Her Majesty send you here to take care of Fourth Lady Qu?”

Granny Yan nodded calmly, “Yes. I’ve been here for a period of time. I was sent here since Fourth Lady Qu’s engagement was made.”

“Which prince is she engaged to?” Eunuch De Fu was stunned for a moment. Even if the lady was the future Crown Princess, the Empress would not assign someone to serve her like this. It seemed that Granny Yan was specially sent here to protect her.

He thought to himself, “I haven’t been in the palace recently. Did anything that I don’t know happen?”

“It’s not a prince. You know who His Majesty cares about the most, right?” Granny Yan looked at Eunuch De Fu with a faint smile.

After thinking for a while, Eunuch De Fu’s expression changed greatly. He stretched out his finger and trembled slightly. “That one?”

Granny Yan said meaningfully, “Yes, that one. Fourth Lady Qu is the only woman he wants to be with.”

Eunuch De Fu took a deep breath and looked at the door of the main room with a little fear. Then, he decisively turned around and looked at Qu Zhizhen.

“Vice Minister Qu, Why didn’t you say it just now?”

“I… I don’t dare to say it!” Qu Zhizhen breathed a sigh of relief, but then his heart was up in the air again. Eunuch De Fu didn’t seem to be happy.

Eunuch De Fu sneered. “Since Granny Yan has been sent here, why don’t you dare to say it? Are there any other reasons?”

“I…” Qu Zhizhen still wanted to explain, but Eunuch De Fu flung his sleeves and turned around. “I don’t want this pine tree anymore. Take it as a gift for Fourth Lady Qu. Vice Minister Qu, you should behave yourself!”

With that, he strode away.

Qu Zhizhen was stunned for a moment before hurriedly chasing after him.

He did not dare to offend Eunuch De Fu.

After watching Eunuch De Fu leave, Granny Yan turned around and returned to the main room.

In the main room, Qu Moying was sitting on a chair and listening to the sound outside quietly. When she saw Granny Yan come in, she smiled and calmly asked, “Does this eunuch know Lord Yun?”

“Lord Yun grew up in the palace. When he was a child, the Empress Dowager was still alive. But she didn’t like him, and she told His Majesty about her dislike of Lord Yun many times. However, His Majesty never took it to heart. She once punished Lord Yun, and he was unconscious because of his poor health. His Majesty angrily argued with the Empress Dowager, and after that, he didn’t see her for a long time. After Lord Yun recovered, His Majesty allowed him not to pay daily respects to the Empress Dowager.”

Granny Yan said.

At that time, she was the Empress Dowager’s servant. She knew that the Empress Dowager had never liked Lord Yun. But no matter how much she disliked Lord Yun, the Emperor liked Lord Yun very much. The Emperor liked Lord Yun even more than his own sons, namely, those princes.

The Emperor liked Lord Yun so much that the Empress Dowager was jealous of Lord Yun. She even dealt with Lord Yun, who was then still a little child, out of jealousy.

But even so, she did not get what she wanted.

Later, she took advantage of her birthday to make a concession, so the Emperor made peace with her.

From then on, the Empress Dowager and the people around her knew that they could not afford to offend Lord Yun. Moreover, Lord Yun was no longer a delicate child many years later. Instead, he became a decisive and ruthless fiend. A mere head eunuch of the Empress Dowager was just a petty being to him, not to mention the fact that he enjoyed the Emperor’s favor.

Eunuch De Fu had no choice but to give in.

“Granny Yan, why are they looking for the so-called purest girl?” Qu Moying continued to ask. She had expected that Eunuch De Fu would be frightened and give in, but she didn’t expect that it could be this easy. She also didn’t expect that Pei Yuanjun had once had a conflict with the deceased Empress Dowager when he was a child.

“This started before the Empress Dowager passed away. At that time, the Empress Dowager was sick, and she said that she wanted a purest girl. It would be best if this girl has never seen or rarely seen a man since she was a child, unlike those noble ladies who frequently meet their male relatives. If such a girl was found, she would be asked to become a nun and pray for the Empress Dowager.”

Granny Yan said after thinking for a while. She knew this because she served the Empress Dowager back then.

Qu Moying’s heart skipped a beat and she asked, “How long ago did it start?”

Granny Yan said, “It should have been more than ten years!”

“Did it happen before I was born?” Qu Moying raised her eyebrows and quietly looked at Granny Yan.

Granny Yan replied, “Yes… It should be the case. Because of this, His Majesty had people expand the scope of the search and go to the South to find such a girl.”

“Who suggested it? Or did the Empress Dowager think of it herself?” Qu Moying’s face darkened. She thought of another possibility, but she felt that it was impossible. There was no way to verify it now, but she still asked carefully.

For some reason, she felt that this matter had something to do with her.

“The Empress Dowager was sick those days. She had nightmares for several days on end, so she invited a nun and a female Taoist to the palace to explain her nightmares. Later, a female Taoist of Qingyun Temple mentioned such a method, and her peers agreed with her, so this became the key to curing the Empress Dowager.”

“Qingyun Temple?” This was not the first time Qu Moying had heard of this place.

“Yes, Qingyun Temple. The first abbot of the Qingyun Temple was a member of the royal family, so the Qingyun Temple had a close relationship with the royal family. The next abbot was also capable, and she was quite famous, but she was implicated in something at that time and had to seek asylum in Qingyun Temple. She was much appreciated by the first abbot, so she later used Qingyun as her Taoist name. She was called Qingyun Zi.”

Granny Yan was very clear about this thing. Seeing that Qu Moying was interested, she told her at length.

While listening, Qu Moying thought about it carefully. These things strangely overlapped with some of her mother’s things.

At that time, her mother did not see anyone. Outsiders only knew that there was a Second Lady in the Yue Family. However, even those close relatives of hers would find it hard to see her. She was said to be sick all the time.

According to this, her mother could be considered a purest girl. Moreover, the decree of finding a purest girl was sent to the South, which meant that the palace wanted to find such a girl in the South.

“After finding such a girl, this girl will be asked to be a nun. She will live alone in a Buddhist Temple for the rest of her life, which is why she’d better not like men, or like what Eunuch De Fu has said, it is best that she has been hurt by a man, which is the case with me.”

“But was mother also hurt by a man?”

“Who broke mother’s heart? How did mother manage to avoid being chosen?”

Qu Moying was puzzled for a while. She gently bit her lips and felt that she might be wrong. She stopped thinking about it and asked, “But what is going on now? The Empress Dowager has passed away. Why are they still looking for a purest girl?”

“Although the Empress Dowager is gone, before she died, she asked His Majesty to find such a girl and let her become a nun to pray for her. In this way, she said that she would be able to have a next life. After saying this, she passed away not long after. His Majesty remembered it and asked Eunuch De Fu to look for such a girl. However, after so many years, he had not found a suitable one, so this matter was delayed!”

Granny Yan explained in detail.

Hearing this, Qu Moying thought to herself, “Therefore, Eunuch De Fu came to my yard today. Xiao Hanyuan wanted to make trouble with me just now, and there was the matter that Xu Lipeng had broken off the engagement with me. On the surface, it seemed that I have been hurt again and again by men, so I might dislike men.”

“I am indeed the most suitable one!”

She frowned. Something seemed to be connected strangely again. Thinking about it for a while, she couldn’t help but clench the handkerchief in her hand. If what she thought was true, things were not as simple as what she saw.

Who was it that set up such a big trap so long ago and continued to…