Chapter 183

Chapter 183 Who Did It Back Then?

“Young Master Xu, my lady’s injuries are fine. Thanks for your concern.” Granny Miao went forward, bowed to Xu Lipeng, and then answered with a smile.

The person who had come was Xu Lipeng. It was also expected by her lady. Granny Miao’s gaze swept over the two old maids who were following behind Xu Lipeng.

The two old maids were both holding a gift box in their hands.

“This is a token of appreciation from my mother. She asked me to ask about the Fourth Lady’s injuries again,” Xu Lipeng said gently. Having been stopped by Granny Miao, who was a servant, he was not unhappy. His expression was as gentle as ever. This was also one of the reasons why he had a good reputation for so long.

“Young Master, I thank you for your kindness on behalf of my lady. But given the situation now… my lady does not dare to accept it.” Granny Miao appeared to be in a dilemma. She pinched the handkerchief in her hand and tactfully refused.

The two families were in such a mess. They had even called off the engagement that had been made so many years ago. Why should they keep in contact with each other now?

“Try to ask what Fourth Lady thinks. My mother feels very sorry about this matter. No matter what, Fourth Lady is the daughter of my mother’s good friend. Now, she has fallen to such a state. It is really our Marquis Yongning’s Mansion’s fault. My mother feels very guilty towards the Fourth Lady.” Xu Lipeng was as gentle as ever.

When he said this, it was not something that a servant like Granny Miao could decide.

“Well… I will go in and ask,” Granny Miao said helplessly. “Young Master Xu, please wait a moment.”

After saying that, she turned around and entered the yard. Then, she went to the main room. Xu Lipeng stood quietly outside the door. He raised his head with his hands behind his back and observed the familiar yard in front of him. He was in a trance.

It was still the same yard. In the past, he had come here to look for Qu Moying. Every time he came over, Qu Moying would always excitedly invite him in. But now, he no longer had the same treatment. Was it because the other part was another person now?

He pursed his lips slightly, and his eyes were deep.

Granny Miao hurried in and then came out very soon. With an apologetic face, she went forward to bow to Xu Lipeng, “Young Master Xu, I just came back from outside, so I didn’t know that the Fourth Lady was not in the yard.”

“Where did she go?” Xu Lipeng’s heart skipped a beat.

“It’s said that she went out for a walk to relax,” Granny Miao replied.

“Wasn’t it said that the Fourth Lady’s foot was injured, and she couldn’t walk?” Xu Lipeng asked in surprise.

“Yes, it was inconvenient for her to walk at first, but after Third Lady gave her a wheelchair, it became much more convenient.” Granny Miao smiled and replied.

Xu Lipeng was silent for a moment. He turned his body and pointed to the two old maids behind him. “Since I can’t meet the Fourth Lady today, let’s leave the gifts behind.”

The two old maids obeyed and were about to step forward. Granny Miao hurriedly stopped them. “Young Master Xu, our Fourth Lady is not here. I dare not accept your gifts.”

“The engagement between our two mansions has been called off, but does it mean the friendship between my mother and the Fourth Lady’s birth mother is gone as well?” Xu Lipeng’s expression turned cold.

“I dare not think so!” Granny Miao hurriedly lowered her head, but she did not step back.

Xu Lipeng sending the gift over so directly had breached etiquette in the first place. Even if the Marquis Yongning’s Mansion felt guilty towards Qu Moying, the gifts should not be directly sent to Qu Moying. They should be sent to the Old Lady first and then should be distributed after the Old Lady took a look at it, especially when the gift sender was Xu Lipeng.

He was Qu Moying’s ex-fiance, so he should avoid having direct contact with her.

Given the situation now, Xu Lipeng did not have a reason to directly give gifts to Qu Moying.

Seeing that Granny Miao was so persistent, Xu Lipeng could not hold back the smile on his face. The smile on his face had already disappeared. He snorted coldly and turned to leave. The two old maids glanced at him and hurriedly followed.

Seeing Xu Lipeng leave with his servants, Granny Miao raised her head and looked at their backs with cold eyes. This Young Master Xu’s character was really not good. It even made her believe that he was deliberately ruining her lady’s reputation.

Marquis Yongning’s Mansion had no direct relationship with Qu Mansion now. If Young Master Xu had a bit of self-knowledge, he should stay far away from her lady, instead of stirring up this kind of suspicious and ambiguous situation. This kind of thing might not be a big deal for men, but for women, it was possible to destroy their reputation.

What was this Young Master Xu up to? Did he want her lady to be his concubine?

Didn’t he look in the mirror what kind of person he was? In the past, her lady did not like him, and now it was even more impossible for her to fall for him.

Whether or not the letter of apology was written by him, it made people feel that they were deceiving themselves. It was extremely ridiculous!

After calling over one of the maids, Granny Miao gave a few instructions. Then, the maid understood and turned to leave. Granny Miao returned to the yard, but she did not go to the main room. Instead, she went to the wing room. Granny Yan, who came from the palace and taught her lady etiquette, lived there…

“Moying, let’s take a walk in the yard. I will send someone to report to Grandmother.” As soon as they left the yard, Qu Qiuyan went forward and suggested gently.

She said it in order to give Duan Jinxiang the chance to have a talk. If they really went to the Old Lady’s place, Duan Jinxiang would not have the time to talk to Qu Moying.

“Grandmother is waiting for me.” Qu Moying glanced at Qu Qiuyan indifferently.

“Grandmother must not know that Second Lady Duan came to you. If she knows, she will definitely ask you to treat your guest well.” Qu Qiuyan said with a smile.

Hearing her say this, Qu Moying pondered for a moment and nodded, no longer insisting.

The few of them turned their direction and headed towards an empty pavilion. Women guests would sometimes be entertained there.

The pavilion was not tall. There were a few green bamboos growing outside the window and a few peony trees, and they were in full bloom. It was very beautiful. When Qu Qiuyan walked past, she deliberately stopped and admired them before following the crowd to the pavilion.

The place to entertain guests was upstairs. Qu Moying held Yu Dong’s hand and walked at the last. Upstairs was the actual space to entertain guests.

When they finally reached the top, Qu Qiuyan had already asked Duan Jinxiang to sit down. Then she also sat down. The only chair left was close to the back window. There was a lotus pond. Although it was not the time for the lotus flowers to bloom, the leaves were full of dense green. There was a kind of elegance in the midst of the blue water.

As the wind blew, the lotus leaves swayed. It was extremely beautiful. Even if there were no lotus flowers, it was still a beautiful scenery.

Because this was the place to admire the scenery, the windows were several times larger than ordinary ones. A small part of the chair placed there was exposed outside. When one sat on the chair, many landscapes could be seen. It was a good spot to admire the pond and the scenery.

If one stood up, at least half of his or her body would be exposed in mid-air. When the window was open, there was a breeze blowing in.

Yu Dong held Qu Moying’s hand tightly, and Qu Moying’s hand gently patted Yu Dong’s hand. She slowly sat down on the seat that was specially reserved for her.

“Fourth Lady Qu, are you unwilling to see me?” As soon as she sat down, Duan Jinxiang began to make things difficult for Qu Moying. Although she still had a smile on her face, the smile looked extremely contemptuous.

The apologetic words she said to Qu Moying before were just an excuse.

“Must I see you, Second Lady Duan?” Qu Moying smiled and said coldly.

Duan Jinxiang was here to pick a fight, so Qu Moying didn’t need to be nice to her.

Hearing such a direct retort, Duan Jinxiang was a little embarrassed. “What do you mean?”

“I mean what you mean,” Qu Moying said indifferently.

Duan Jinxiang was here today to show Qu Moying her dominance. She had found out a lot of information while talking to Qu Qiuyan. She even found out that Young Master Yongning still longed for Qu Moying in his heart. Now, seeing Qu Moying’s attitude, Duan Jinxiang became angrier.

“Fourth Lady Qu, you are no longer Young Master Yongning’s fiancee! Please pay attention to your behavior.” Duan Jinxiang’s face sank.

“Please tell me, Second Lady Duan, when have I not paid attention to my behavior?” Qu Moying said calmly.

“You have already called off the engagement with Young Master Xu. Why do you still flirt with him at this time…” Duan Jinxiang shouted harshly, her face red with anger. She pressed her hand on the table and was about to stand up.

“Second Lady Duan, I heard from First Lady Duan that on that day, you followed her over?” Qu Moying asked calmly and directly interrupted Duan Jinxiang.

“What do you mean?” Duan Jinxiang was stunned.

“Second Lady Duan, don’t you think something is very strange? I have sent people later to investigate and found out that the fence there had already been damaged. It’d break with just a touch.” Qu Moying looked up at Duan Jinxiang. As long as Duan Jinxiang was not hopelessly stupid, she would definitely understand the meaning of this sentence.

Qu Qiuyan’s hand stopped, and she frowned. Yu was the one in charge of this matter. After that Qu Qiuyan did not interfere, so she did not expect that there would be such a thing.

If she had known earlier, she would have asked someone to destroy this evidence. Yu was really incompetent and had done nothing helpful. Having such a mother, Qu Qiuyan felt she was extremely unlucky.

“Did someone cut a hole in the fence?” Duan Jinxiang was stunned. She opened her mouth and subconsciously said, “It was not me. It was my first time coming to your mansion that day. It could not be me. I was just following my elder sister…”

As she said this, Duan Jinxiang stopped, and her expression changed drastically.

If someone were really plotting something and if it were not against her, then it must be against someone else. Someone was plotting against her elder sister, Duan Yuxiang. If the person who had fallen into the water at that time had been Duan Yuxiang, then would the person engaged to Young Master Yongning be Duan Yuxiang now?

“Is it done by the bitch, Duan Yuxiang?” Duan Jinxiang stomped her foot. The person who should have originally benefited from this matter wasn’t her, but her elder sister.

“First Lady Duan came to our mansion before?” Qu Moying said coldly. She did not have a good impression of Duan Jinxiang, and she showed her disdain even more now.

Duan Yuxiang had been to Qu Mansion? That was impossible. If it hadn’t been Duan Yuxiang, then who was plotting against another person? Duan Jinxiang could not figure it out for a moment. Her brow furrowed tightly.

“Moying, it has been so long. It is meaningless to talk about this again. Even if we really find out something, it won’t matter. After all, Second Lady Duan and Young Master Yongning have already engaged.” Qu Qiuyan advised, as if she wanted to ease the tension, but when she said this, Duan Jinxiang immediately frowned and glared at Qu Moying coldly.

She looked as if she was afraid that Qu Moying would mention this matter. No matter what, this engagement was made. Even if it happened by an odd coincidence, she would not let go of it. Now, Qu Moying deliberately mentioned this. What did she mean by misleading people this way?

“My lady, are those coming over Young Master Yongning and Concubine Yu?” Yu Chun, who was standing by the window in front of them, pointed outside and reported.

With this sentence, the expressions of everyone in the room immediately changed.