Chapter 128

Chapter 128 That Third Lady Might Not Be Dead!

Pei Yusheng walked in through the door.

He noticed the curtain splitting the room into two parts and politely stopped in front of it. Through the curtain, he could see a female’s ambiguous figure curtsying to him. Then his gaze fell on Chun Xiu, standing aside, and realized Lady Liu was behind the curtain. A faint smile showed up on his face.

“A pleasure to meet you, Your Royal Highness,” the female voice sounded soft but a bit low.

“Same for me, Lady Liu. I heard you are here and came in a hurry. Please forgive me for any inconvenience I may cause you,” Pei Yusheng said politely.

“Not at all, Your Royal Highness,” Qu Moying said softly.

Pei Yusheng sat down on a chair aside naturally and looked at the curtain. It was not thick, but the light behind it didn’t seem to be enough. He could only see a vague female figure with a veiled hat. Of course, he couldn’t see her face at all.

“I’ve been to your mansion several times but always left empty-handed in the end,” Pei Yusheng said jokingly.

“I’m all alone in the capital without my father. I have to obey the rules of etiquette carefully. Please forgive me for the inconvenience caused, Your Royal Highness,” answered Qu Moying.

She distanced herself from Lord Jing with a few words, indicating that it was inappropriate for Lord Jing to request to meet an unmarried lady alone.

“It’s actually not a big deal at all. I just wanted to ask you something about the Guardian General,” Pei Yusheng said smilingly, giving a perfect reason for their meeting.

“What…do you want to ask about, Your Royal Highness?” Qu Moying hesitated for a second, sounding a bit surprised.

“The Guardian General is no longer a young man. Does he have any intention to return to the capital?” Pei Yusheng asked with a smile with a naturally polite attitude. He then let out an exclamation, “I’ve heard about those incredible stories about the Guardian General since I was a kid. If I were not the emperor’s son, I would leave the capital and fight alongside the army at the border as a real soldier. It has been my biggest regret that I can’t go to the battlefield and fight for the empire.”

“Thank you for your compliment, Your Royal Highness. But I actually don’t really know…my father’s thoughts on this.” Qu Moying raised her watery eyes, starting to understand Pei Yusheng’s little plan.

After Earl Ling’an passed away, the capital needed another military man with actual power to take the vacancy. This would be the best timing for the Guardian General if he decided to return to the capital right now.

Of course, the best timing was for Pei Yusheng. Pei Yuanjun probably wouldn’t like this idea at all.

“Can I bother you to ask your father for me?” Pei Yusheng added, “Once the Guardian General returns, I want to learn military knowledge from him to make up for my many-year regret.”

“This…” Qu Moying hesitated for a moment and rejected, “I don’t really know about this kind of thing. My father doesn’t let me intervene either.”

If she agreed to his request now, more requests from Pei Yusheng would be waiting for her in the future. Moreover, it could create a perfect reason for Pei Yusheng to visit her at the mansion, which was the last thing she wanted to see.

“I heard Lady Liu is a heroic lady and the only daughter the Guardian General has. You even saved my uncle at the border before. How come you step back now? Do you think I’m not sincere enough?” Pei Yusheng chuckled gently. His tone was not sharp and even sounded like he was just telling a joke.

However, Qu Moying noticed something different from his words. She smiled and said, “These are all just rumors, Your Royal Highness. Please don’t take them seriously!”

“Lady Liu, since you don’t want to talk about this, could you please ask the Guardian General for me which military books he reads the most? I would like to know the Guardian General’s favorite military books. It would be best if I can have one with his notes,” Pei Yusheng continued as if he didn’t notice Qu Moying’s rejection in her words.

After being refused, he still tried to reduce the distance between Lady Liu and him. But the thing he mentioned was just a trifle that was not worth rejecting. Impressed by Lord Jing’s talking skills, Qu Moying had no other choice but to agree.

“Alright, I will ask my father for you, Your Royal Highness,” Qu Moying said.

Since Pei Yuanjun started it, she would leave this to him.

“You have my gratitude, Lady Liu.” Pei Yusheng stood up and bowed deeply to the curtain as Qu Moying hurriedly stood up and curtsied back.

“Since then, I will wait for the good news from you, Lady Liu.” Pei Yusheng straightened up and smiled. Then he turned around and nodded at a young eunuch behind him, who walked up and handed him a scroll that looked like a painting. “I heard the Guardian General is fond of calligraphy, so I have a gift for him. It’s a calligraphy piece. Please help me give it to the Guardian General, Lady Liu.”

Since Qu Moying had already agreed to his request before, she had to accept his gift now.

He managed every step carefully and didn’t leave her any space to reject him again.

“On behalf of my father, you have my gratitude, Lord Jing,” Qu Moying smiled as Chun Xiu walked up, took the scroll from the young eunuch, and stayed aside again.

“Lady Liu, then I will stop disturbing you and take my leave first,” Lord Jing said politely with a gentle and not aggressive attitude.

“Goodbye, Your Royal Highness.” Qu Moying curtsied to him again respectfully. After Pei Yusheng left, she sat down, and the curtain had already been curled up.

Chun Xiu put the scroll on the table in front of Qu Moying and asked, “My lady, do you want to take a look?”

“No need.” Qu Moying shook her head. Since she was not the real Liu Lanxin, she didn’t want to do anything unnecessary and just left the rest to Pei Yuanjun.

“Open it, and let’s have a look!” Pei Yuanjun’s voice suddenly came from behind as Qu Moying turned around in shock. Behind the chair she sat on before was a movable board, a secret door! Pei Yuanjun came out with the usual cold look on his stunning face. Many people didn’t dare to look into his ruthless eyes, frightened by his gruesome aura.

In those scared people’s eyes, no matter how peerless his face was, Pei Yuanjun represented an absolute horror like an endless hell filled with skeletons.

Qu Moying stepped back and let him sit on the main seat.

Chun Xiu answered and unfolded the scroll in front of them. It was a calligraphy piece with a vigorous and powerful style. Clearly, it was written by a calligraphy master.

“It is a good gift from Lord Jing. He knows that the Guardian General likes this kind of style. But I didn’t expect him to bring a gift like this with him in his carriage,” Pei Yuanjun rubbed his hands and chuckled. The smile faded the coldness in his eyes.

Noticing his gaze, Qu Moying nodded indifferently. She didn’t need to know what he wanted to do for the next step, nor did she care about it.

As for Pei Yusheng’s interest, she had nothing to do with it either since she was only impersonating Liu Lanxin for Pei Yuanjun temporarily. She didn’t know why Lady Liu chose to let someone else pose as her instead of coming to the capital herself.

Of course, it was not Qu Moying’s place to ask about it.

“You just came back from the Earl Ling’an’s Mansion?” Pei Yuanjun sat down on the main seat lazily. He stared at Qu Moying and suddenly chuckled.

“Yes, my lord!” Qu Moying’s heart was stung by a sharp pain as she lowered her head.

“Did Earl Ling’an pass away?” Pei Yuanjun asked casually while knocking his finger on the table.

“Yes!” Qu Moying bit her lips hard as tears started to form in her eyes. The feeling of sorrow gushed out of her heart again, carrying the intention of suffocating her.

Stabbed by the cold reality, her heart kept bleeding.

“What’s your plan?” Pei Yuanjun suddenly chuckled and threw a weird question at her.

Qu Moying paused for a second and lifted her head abruptly, “What’s your plan, my lord?”

“It doesn’t matter to me. But, as for you…” Pei Yuanjun smiled, seemingly amused by Qu Moying’s reaction. His eyes fell on her slightly clenched fists. “You seem to be in a bad mood!”

After a few seconds of silence, Qu Moying nodded and admitted to him, “Yes, I’m…in a bad mood!”

She couldn’t hide her boiling emotions anyway, so she didn’t need to try to hide them. Pei Yuanjun must have been aware of her hostility to the Crown Prince and the Ji Family. There was no point of hiding it away.

“What do you want?” Pei Yuanjun smiled again, for her honesty, and asked with curiosity. His raised downturned eyes added a trace of tenderness and charm into his temperament, making him far away from his horrifying image like a monster.

Ji Hai peeked at Fourth Lady Qu with a smile, pleased by the scene he saw. Then he quietly lowered his head again.

“I found my cousin’s and my uncle’s death very suspicious.” Qu Moying quickly calmed herself down. Her identity was the Crown Princess’s cousin now, so she had a reason to suspect these things.

“The Crown Princess was injured when protecting the Crown Prince and died of sickness. As for Earl Ling’an, I heard he was injured that night. After hearing the Crown Princess’s situation, he fell sick, threw out blood, and passed out. Then he finally broke down because of the Crown Princess’s death and passed away too. There’s nothing unusual about it,” said Pei Yuanjun carelessly.

So, this was another version of the explanation. The one Qu Moying heard was for ordinary people, while this one was the real version that explained why Earl Ling’an, a robust general, suddenly became so fragile.

Her heart shrank in pain. Pei Luo’an had prepared everything and even made up two versions of the explanation. With this, no one from noble families who knew the situation better would suspect the entire thing.

“Then…then what about my younger cousin? Why did she suddenly die…and so quietly…? They…they didn’t even hold a funeral for her…because it would affect my cousin’s wedding? Really?” Qu Moying’s heart started to pound in her chest as her eyes darkened.

“The Third Lady of the Ji Family?” Pei Yuanjun seemed to be more interested, raised his brow, and asked.

“Yes!” answered Qu Moying.

“That Third Lady might not be dead!” Pei Yuanjun gazed at her with a faint smile on his face and said meaningfully.

Every single one of his words stung her heart and made her heartbeat increase more. Qu Moying lifted her head in shock, almost losing control of herself. She opened her mouth several times, and finally, her weak, slightly hoarse voice rang in the room, “My younger…c-cousin? She…she is still alive? Nothing…nothing happened to her? Where is she right now?”

Was it a rumor made up by Pei Luo’an to protect himself again? Qu Moying still couldn’t help but look at Pei Yuanjun hopefully, with her fingers trembling.

Did he mean that her younger sister was still alive? She wished so much she could hear it from Lord Yun but still found it impossible. Ji Youran’s words and the bracelet on her wrist were enough to prove the authenticity of her story. For Ji Youran, she didn’t need to lie to a dying person at that time…

But she still hoped that Ji Youran was telling her a lie, even though the chance was very little…