Chapter 391

Chapter 391 Possible Grudges Between the Elders

Granny Yan looked at Qu Moying in surprise, “She was hostile to you the first time she saw you? And she directly made a move against you this time?”

Granny Yan was just a palace maid when she first saw Qu Moying, but even she disdained Qu Moying at that time. Why did an exceptionally noble person like Liu Jingyu have such a strong hostility to Qu Moying?

Qu Moying wore an eye veil, so her beautiful face could not be seen completely, which would not cause other women to be so jealous of her. Moreover, she had an eye disease, and she looked a little weak. Different from ordinary women’s coquettishness, Qu Moying’s fragility was in her bone. However, others couldn’t help but pity her because of her fragility coupled with her eye disease.

Even if Liu Jingyu didn’t like the frailty of women, she did not need to hurt Qu Moying.

After all, the two of them had nothing to do with each other!

Only if the two of them had something to do with each other or if their families had a grudge would Liu Jingyu directly make a move against Qu Moying disregarding her identity.

Granny Yan guessed, “Lady, if there is no conflict of interest between you and County Lady Jingyu, the reason why she is so hostile to you might be a grudge between your parents.”

Her guess was similar to Qu Moying’s guess.

“But I have never heard of any grudge between our mansion and the Liu Family.” Qu Moying gently pursed her lips. She had never heard of any grudge between Qu Mansion and the Liu Family, and she had even heard that as Qu Zhizhen’s immediate superior, Minister Liu treated Qu Zhizhen quite well. Although the relationship between Qu Mansion and the Liu Family was not that deep-rooted, they were still on good terms.

Granny Yan looked at Qu Moying and reminded her, “If it’s not related to Qu Mansion, then it might be related to the deceased Madam.”

Qu Moying lowered her head and forced a smile, “My mother passed away not long after giving birth to me!”

Granny Yan knew that this Madam Qu was indeed a woman with a poor destiny. She sighed in her heart and continued to guess, “I guess there must be something wrong between Madam and Mrs. Liu.”

This was the only reason that Granny Yan could think of. She couldn’t think of any other reason for now, and this reason was the most plausible one.

“I heard that my maternal grandparents wanted to engage my mother to Minister Liu at first, but Duke Qi went to the palace to ask for a marriage to be granted to his daughter.” Qu Moying spoke out what she had hidden in her heart. She looked up with a gleam in her usual cold eyes, which were so dark that they were almost unfathomable.

Granny Yan was stunned. She really did not know about this matter. She pinched her handkerchief hard and asked, “Could it be that Mrs. Liu hated the Madam before and then switched her hatred towards you?”

Qu Moying said slowly, “But ever since my mother married into the capital, they had nothing to do with each other. Moreover, she was the one who foiled my mother’s marriage.”

This was the most puzzling point. Mrs. Liu successfully snatched Minister Liu away from Qu Moying’s mother. How could she still be so jealous of Qu Moying’s mother? Moreover, Qu Moying’s mother had passed away. Was Mrs. Liu going to switch the hatred from Qu Moying’s mother to Qu Moying?

Why was her hatred so overwhelming?

After a moment of silence, Granny Yan continued to guess based on Qu Moying’s train of thought, “Lady, if this is really the reason, I am afraid that Mrs. Liu is not living a happy life!”

Hearing this, Qu Moying was also silent for a while before she said, “I heard that Minister Liu treats Mrs. Liu very well. Although Mrs. Liu only gave birth to a daughter, he did not really mind. They were a loving couple. Minister Liu has only one son who was concubine-born, and that concubine used to serve Mrs. Liu. There are not many other women in the mansion.”

Since she knew something in the past, Qu Moying began to pay attention to Minister Liu’s House.

“Lady, what an aristocratic family show in front of outsiders could be fake. A loving couple might not get along well with each other at all. Someone with a good reputation might not deserve it, but someone with an ill reputation might be a nice person. There are too many rumors. Moreover, there are too many shady things in such a big mansion. If they don’t want others to know about their scandals, they always have ways to gloss things over.”

Granny Yan analyzed.

Qu Moying agreed with this point. In her previous life, Earl Ling’an’s Mansion was such kind of a family.

After that big accident, Earl Ling’an’s Mansion covered the shocking truth and continued to be friendly with Crown Prince’s Mansion as if things happened on that bloody night had never taken place.

“Granny Yan, do you think Mrs. Liu hates my mother because she doesn’t live a happy life? She and Minister Liu were not a loving couple known to outsiders, so she vented her anger on my mother? But since my mother has passed away, I became a new object of her hatred?”

Qu Moying told Granny Yan her whole guess. She could only consult Granny Yan about this kind of thing. Compared with Granny Miao and Granny Zhou, Granny Yan was more experienced in this aspect, so she had a better chance to help Qu Moying find out the truth. However, even Qu Moying found her own guess too wild.

The death of a person was supposed to write off all past grudges. Moreover, the one who died was the victim. Anyway, Mrs. Liu should not have acted like this.

After thinking for a long while, Granny Yan finally said with a frown, “Lady, I think your guess is reasonable. Perhaps Mrs. Liu really lives an unhappy life, and she might have been complaining in front of County Lady Jingyu ever since the latter was a child, which made County Lady Jingyu hate you, and that was why she was hostile to you the first time she saw you and kept making a move against you whenever there was a chance.”

This was the only reason Granny Yan could think of.

Her other guess was that there was a stake between Qu Moying and Liu Jingyu, but now she thought that the first guess was more likely to be the real reason.

Qu Moying nodded. “I think so too! Granny Yan, do you think it is possible to find out what happened back then?”

This was what she really wanted to ask. Things happened so many years ago, so it was not simple and almost impossible to find out what happened back then.

Granny Yan said, “Lady, I’m afraid it will be very difficult to investigate it now. Have you asked Granny Zhou about it?”

“Yes. She only knew about the engagement. After my mother married my father in a hurry, she had nothing to do with Mrs. Liu. Granny Yan, was it possible that Mrs. Liu had been holding a grudge against my mother before snatching Minister Liu away from my mother?”

Qu Moying continued to ask.

“This… might not be the case!” Granny Yan said hesitantly. “I heard that -Madam grew up in the South, but Mrs. Liu grew up in Duke Qi’s Mansion in the capital. The two of them must have never seen each other before, right?”

“Yes. But they probably knew about each other. Duke Qi has a good relationship with my maternal grandfather. Although their daughters didn’t have any contact with each other, they must know each other. Despite that, Mrs. Liu still snatched my mother’s marriage. Was it an accident? Or did she do it intentionally?”

Qu Moying frowned.

This was what she suspected most. She thought the relationship between her mother and Mrs. Liu was not so simple. Mrs. Liu was also from a noble family, so she should be well-educated. Moreover, the two families had a long-term good relationship. Even if Mrs. Liu really lived an unhappy life, she shouldn’t have hated Qu Moying’s mother. Even if she hated Qu Moying’s mother, the one who was hated had already died. Why didn’t she let Qu Moying off?

Qu Moying felt that Mrs. Liu really did not intend to let her off!

Qu Moying asked tentatively, “Granny Yan, could it be that Mrs. Liu can’t tolerate my existence because of my mother?”

Although she was intelligent, she had to rely on Granny Yan to verify her guess at this time.

Granny Yan asked in shock, “Why… why can’t she tolerate your existence?”

Qu Moying shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know. That’s my guess. Otherwise, how could County Lady Jingyu be so keen on dealing with me?”

Granny Yan did not think this guess was convincing, but seeing Qu Moying’s look, she felt confused. She thought for a while and hesitated, “If… if this is really the reason, Mrs. Liu wouldn’t stop before getting rid of you. Lady, you have to be more careful!”

Granny Yan was not afraid that Qu Moying would be at a disadvantage against Mrs. Liu. County Lady Jingyu would marry into Eastern Palace, but Qu Moying also had a strong background. Pei Luo’an’s position as the Crown Prince was not that stable. It was said that Lord Jing was the Emperor’s favorite son.

However, if Mrs. Liu harbored such a deep grudge, no one could expect what she would do. Granny Yan thought Qu Moying should be more careful lest she should accidentally make a mistake and end up in big trouble.

“Granny Yan, what reason do you think she has to get rid of me? Is my existence so intolerable to her? What harm do I do to her?” Qu Moying kept throwing out questions. The last question confused her the most. “It has been so many years. She has never made a move on me before.”

In fact, Mrs. Liu had made a move on her before, but she was still a little girl at that time, and the one who carried out the move was Liu Jingyu. It was hard to explain the matter, so Qu Moying hid it from Granny Yan.

Although Qu Moying had experienced other accidents, they were all done by Yu, and they were few in number.

Qu Moying suddenly pressed her hand against the corner of the table. She suddenly froze. Perhaps she was wrong. Among those who wanted to kill her, there might be someone who was instigated by Mrs. Liu. However, Qu Moying had never suspected Mrs. Liu before, and she thought there was no one other than Yu who wanted to hurt her.

Granny Yan guessed according to Qu Moying’s thoughts and made the most reasonable explanation, “Lady, if Mrs. Liu really wanted to kill you but didn’t make a move before, it was probably because she thought you couldn’t pose a threat to her in the village.”

Granny Yan was now very clear about Qu Moying’s experience. It actually confirmed the previous rumors to some extent. Qu Moying used to be a nobody even in Qu Mansion, not to mention in the capital. Her mother had passed away, and her father didn’t like her. Moreover, her stepmother was hostile to her, so how could she make her way?

It wasn’t that Mrs. Liu hadn’t made a move in the past, but it was probably that she didn’t take Qu Moying seriously, and she didn’t mind even if her schemes failed or succeeded. Qu Moying narrowed her eyes, revealing a trace of coldness. She felt like her heart was pressed so hard that she couldn’t breathe. Her hand that was pressing the corner of the table slowly relaxed.

Qu Moying was unwilling to give up, and she continued to ask, “Granny Yan, if I want to investigate the matter between Mrs. Liu and my mother, whom could I consult?”