Chapter 269

Chapter 269 Has Mr. Ji Returned?

“Is it related to Duke Yu Mansion?” Qu Moying also received the news at this time. She was surprised. She did not expect Yu Qian to have connections with someone in Duke Yu Mansion.

“Yes, I heard that it was a manager beside Duchess Yu.” Granny Miao reported. She had just heard it from outside the mansion. Ever since Hai Lan had returned, no one in the mansion dared to gossip about this matter.

“Has Duchess Yu returned to the capital?” Qu Moying blinked her eyes and asked.

“I don’t think so. I didn’t hear about her. I only heard about the manager beside Duchess Yu. Master had just gone out. I heard that he went to Duke Yu Mansion.” Granny Miao connected the things that she had heard before and said.

Qu Zhizhen was out. He must have gone to explain to Duke Yu.

Qu Moying didn’t know much about the matter between Duchess Yu and Duke Yu in her previous life. She only knew that her father respected Duke Yu very much, saying that Duke Yu was the most valiant general in Great Zhou.

Duke Yu was much stronger than Ji Yongming and the Guardian General. Ji Yongming even said that if Duke Yu did not resign at that time, he would have a higher status than Ji Yongming himself and the Guardian General. When it came to the matter of Duke Yu being implicated by his wife, Ji Yongming would always say that it was fated.

But Ji Hanyue had never seen Duchess Yu, who was in poor health.

“Let’s stop here for now. I’ll go check this shop after I sort out the accounts. Granny Miao, go make a plaque for me first. I want to change the shop name.” Qu Moying no longer paid attention to Duke Yu Mansion’s matters. Since Qu Zhizhen had intervened in the matter, Qu Moying would definitely get back the shop.

It was just a matter of time.

Yu Qian’s matter should have nothing to do with Yu, but it was not a big deal because Yu was no longer of much use.

After saying “yes”, Granny Miao asked in surprise, “Are we going to change the shop name into the name that the ex-Madam had used before?”

“Yes, change it to Yue’s Clothing Pavilion.” Qu Moying nodded.

Yue’s Clothing Pavilion was Younger Yue’s dowry when she married into Qu Mansion, while Yue’s Gold Pavilion was the dowry when Elder Yue married into Earl Ling’an’s Mansion.

The two shops were adjacent to each other. Judging from their outlook, decoration and layout, it was obvious that they were owned by the same person.

After Yu took over Yue’s Clothing Pavilion, she didn’t want others to know about it, so she changed the name of the shop and decorated it, but their outlooks were still basically the same.

Now that Qu Moying wanted to change the name back to Yue’s Clothing Pavilion, it was because she wanted to link this shop with Yue’s Gold Pavilion.

Coincidentally, Ji Youran had also changed Yue’s Gold Pavilion’s name a while ago. She changed its name out of the same concern as Yu. She didn’t want Yue’s Gold Pavilion and Yue’s Clothing Pavilion to be related, and she didn’t want others to know that Yue’s Gold Pavilion was a part of the dowry of the ex-Crown Princess, Ji Hanyue.

Ji Youran didn’t want others to link these two shops together, but Qu Moying exactly wanted the opposite.

“I will take care of it in a while. Miss, when are you going to Yue’s Clothing Pavilion?” Granny Miao asked.

Qu Moying pointed at the account books in her hand. Granny Yan had sorted out part of the account books for her, but she had not finished reading them. “There’s no rush. I’ll take care of the accounts first. The Ministry of Justice needs time to go through the procedure. The shop will definitely be closed during this period of time.”

“Is the shop not doing any business at all now?” Granny Miao thought of a problem and asked. Because of this affair, the loss was inevitable.

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. It’s okay to lose money for the time being. I’ll take the chance to adjust the personnel. Granny Miao, ask Granny Zhou if there are any suitable people I can use. It will be best if they used to work for my mother in the past.”

Qu Moying smiled and said.

Granny Zhou knew the most about Mother’s matters, so it was better to ask her. Granny Zhou must know more about manpower and specific matters than Granny Miao.

“I get it. I will now go to Granny Zhou and discuss with her.” Granny Miao said. Just as she was about to retreat, Qu Moying stopped her.

“Granny Miao, wait a minute.”

“Miss, what else can I do for you?” Granny Miao turned around again.

Qu Moying pinched the account book in her hand and frowned slightly. “Granny, send someone to the village to ask if Mr. Ji is back.”

“Miss, is there anything wrong?” Granny Miao keenly sensed something and asked. In the past, Ji Luoxuan had been out quite often. Every time he left the village, he would prepare enough medicine for Qu Moying, and Qu Moying would not ask about his whereabouts. Now that Qu Moying asked about Mr. Ji, Granny Miao was surprised.

“There’s nothing wrong. I am just afraid that someone might look for Mr. Ji.” Qu Moying’s long eyelashes fluttered as she said. She faintly felt that Liu Lanxin’s matter was not over yet.

When she pretended to be Liu Lanxin that day, she said Liu Lanxin was about to leave. She let others inquire about it and knew that Liu Lanxin had indeed left the capital. The scene on the day Liu Lanxin left was quite big. It was said that Lord Yun sent her out of the capital, and Lord Jing was also there. Liu Lanxin had two lords send her off at such a sensitive time. It was natural for others to think about the meaning behind it.

Could it be that Liu Lanxin, the Guardian General’s daughter, would marry someone in the capital?

Qu Moying was not worried about whom Liu Lanxin would marry. She was afraid that Liu Lanxin would expose her if they met each other in the future. After all, she had been pretending to be Lady Liu for a while. She did not know who was going to the border this time, how Pei Yuanjun settled this matter, and what purpose he had.

Previously, she told Pei Yusheng that her eye disease had been cured, and that she would invite the doctor to treat Lady Liu’s eye disease. Qu Moying worried that she would be involved in the end.

She had enough trouble to deal with. She did not want to get involved with Lady Liu or Lord Jing at all, but she felt that this matter would involve her in the end, so she could not help but ask about Ji Luoxuan.

Qu Moying already had an idea in her heart. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she said to Granny Miao, “Inform me immediately when Mr. Ji is back.”

Granny Miao was the one who contacted the village. It was good for Granny Miao to pay more attention. Lady Liu’s matter was a little strange, so Qu Moying did not want Ji Luoxuan to get involved. If Ji Luoxuan could avoid this trouble by not returning to the capital, it would be the best!

“I understand.” Granny Miao nodded, “I have counted the days. Mr. Ji should be coming back soon. He didn’t leave much medicine before. He asked you to make do with it first, and he said that you could remove the eye veil after taking all the medicine. He said he would come back to see you in a while. Miss, you have used up the medicine now.”

Qu Moying had used up her medicine, and she could remove her eye veil now.

Qu Moying gently bit the corner of her pink lips. Her long eyelashes fluttered twice, casting a shadow on her fair face. “If Mr. Ji comes back, tell him not to go back to the village first.”

As for what to do exactly, she would deal with it when the time came. Liu Lanxin’s matter kept her uneasy. Pei Yuanjun would definitely not act without careful planning…

“Yujiao, does your Second Brother really like Fourth Lady Qu?” A beautiful lady exclaimed in surprise.

It was a pavilion in the mansion, facing a waterside pavilion. The burning sun couldn’t reach this place. There was only a gentle breeze. It was really comfortable.

There were a few young ladies in the pavilion, either drawing or writing poems. Two ladies were sitting in a corner and whispering. They were Liu Jingyu and Yan Yujiao.

Just now, Liu Jingyu’s voice was a little too loud, startling the surrounding ladies. They turned their heads in surprise. Perhaps they didn’t hear the words clearly. They all looked at them.

Were they saying that Yan Yujiao’s useless Second Brother had taken a fancy to Fourth Lady Qu? They wondered who this Fourth Lady Qu was. Was it Qu Moying?

Seeing that everyone had turned to look at them, Liu Jingyu shook the round silk fan in her hand with guilt and smiled apologetically at everyone. Then, she lowered her voice and said to Yan Yujiao, “I’m sorry, Yujiao. I overreacted just now.”

Yan Yujiao was originally a little unhappy, but after hearing Liu Jingyu’s words and seeing her face full of shame, she did not say anything else, and her expression softened a little.

She didn’t say anything else but focused on the qin music score in her hand.

They were the few most renowned noble ladies in the capital. Several like-minded young ladies formed a group to hold regular meetings in turn in their mansions. When they were together, they were quite at ease, writing, drawing, playing the zither, composing music scores, or even playing chess.

Without the elders around, they could all do whatever they liked, and everyone was in a good mood.

“County Lady Jingyu, which family is this Fourth Lady Qu from?” A young lady could not help but walk over and ask the two of them curiously. She wondered whether this Fourth Lady Qu was the one from Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion with an eye disease.

“I didn’t say which family she is from. You might have misheard me just now.” Liu Jingyu covered it up unnaturally.

However, such words made people more suspicious.

Yan Yujiao glanced at Liu Jingyu, and her face darkened again. She coughed and said, “She is from my mother’s family, but it won’t work! My father doesn’t like her.”

“We’ve never heard that your mother has a cousin surnamed Qu.” Someone doubted.

“Well, we all have distant relatives. Since that was the case, let’s not ask about it. I’ve heard a strange thing that happened in the capital recently. Have you guys heard of it?” Liu Jingyu switched the topic to help Yan Yujiao out while shaking the round silk fan in her hand.

“What is it? What is it?” Another young lady walked over.

“Really? Haven’t you heard that? It’s a scam of buying and selling a shop. The swindler was caught by the Ministry of Justice.” Liu Jingyu leaned against the railing of the window and said with a smile, “Everyone in the capital is talking about this matter now. I’ve never seen such an interesting thing!”

She was dressed in a light color dress, its gauze fluttering in the wind. Her hair was pinned with lotus hairpins with three strings of pearls. The pearls were round and shining, making her look even more beautiful and eye-catching. Moreover, she had a noble status, which made her the focus of attention in this gathering.

Hearing her interesting words, another two young ladies came over. “County Lady, we didn’t hear about it. Please tell us about it!”