Chapter 40

Chapter 40 The Irresponsible Dad Is Back!

The old stories about the Qu’s family had been dug out and spread in the capital, including the one that Qu Zhizhen had made his concubine a madam.

Yu had done a great job as a madam for all these years. People all regarded her as a qualified madam. However, rumor had it that she had treated the former madam’s daughter badly and was even responsible for the latter’s blindness. What’s more, she had also directed her maid to frame this legal daughter of Vice Prime Minister Qu, trying to destroy Qu Moying’s reputation. After her plan had failed, she had sold the maid right away and told the trader to find a good family for that maid.

It meant that she was supporting the maid who tried to hurt the lady.

There’s another rumor about Vice Prime Minister Qu’s ex-wife. It was said that she had been set up by Yu who had been a noble concubine. Yu had given birth to her children not long after she had married into that family, even earlier than the madam at that time. There must be something wrong. Someone also mentioned that the former madam had gone to the nunnery when she had still been pregnant and died of giving birth to that child there.

No one believed that Yu had nothing to do with it.

Why would a madam from a noble family leave her mansion when she was about to give birth to a child?

Now all the things had been exposed, including the ones which people hadn’t known before and the ones which had just happened. People then started to have some unspeakable guesses.

Yu’s good reputation was completely ruined.

Even Qu Qiuyan was implicated.

Someone heard that Qu Qiuyan’s senior housemaid had tried to push Fourth Lady Qu into the pond under the command of this Third Lady Qu. It was said that the senior housemaid had already confessed.

While everyone was making all kinds of assumptions, Qu Zhizhen went back home.

It was already afternoon when Qu Moying got the news. She heard that he had come back this morning. Anyway, she never cared about this father.

Compared to Ji Hanyue’s father, Qu Zhizhen was just a stranger who happened to be her father to her. To be more precise, her father was no better than a stranger.

Hearing that Qu Zhizhen was back, she sent someone to invite her supporter at once. Since Yu had her rescuer, so did she.

When Qu Moying arrived at Old Lady Qu’s yard, she heard laughter from the room before she got in.

After the maid reported her arrival, she lifted the curtain and entered the room slowly. Then she saw Qu Zhizhen who sat beside Old Lady Qu. He was a good-looking guy around thirty. Right now, there was a smile in his eyes. Qu Qiuyan who was talking with a sweet voice suddenly stopped as she heard the sound coming through by the door. For the moment, people in the room all fell their eyes on Qu Moying.

Yu, Qu Qiuyan and Qu Zhizhen who had only shown up until now were all there.

Qu Qiuyan no longer wore the veil and her face was nearly recovered. She hadn’t wanted to meet anyone, so she hadn’t got involved in Yu Qingmeng’s affair.

When Yu told her the whole story, she regretted it very much and said that if she had been there, she wouldn’t let anything happen to Yu Qingmeng and would try her best to destroy Qu Moying’s reputation.

Now as she saw Qu Moying, she said with a smile at once, “Fourth sister, you are here. Father has been waiting for you for a long time.”

After saying that, she took a few steps forward and tried to hold Qu Moying’s hand as if she and Qu Moying truly were beloved sisters.

However, her words seemed to be suggesting that Qu Moying had been late on purpose.

Old Lady Qu looked at the girls with a smile. She loved to see the sisters being close to each other. Although she didn’t like Qu Qiuyan, the latter was still her granddaughter, unlike Yu who was not related to Old Lady Qu.

Qu Moying avoided Qu Qiuyan’s hand silently and stepped forward to give obeisance to Old Lady Qu. After that, she bowed to Qu Zhizhen and Yu. At last, she walked to Old Lady Qu and stood beside her.

Old Lady Qu held Qu Moying’s cold hand and said gently, “Don’t be scared, this is your father. He truly cares about you.”

Qu Zhizhen cast his eyes on Qu Moying’s veil with a displeased look. A blind daughter would be of no help to him. In Qu Zhizhen’s view, the only good thing about her was that she could marry into Marquis Yongning’s family. Qu Zhizhen thought that Young Master Yongning truly was a great person.

He thought that Xu Lipeng was a guy with great character and capability.

Qu Zhizhen had been looking down upon Qu Moying and thought that Qu Moying should feel honored to be engaged with Xu Lipeng. Also, he didn’t think a girl with that look would attract Xu Lipeng. So, he didn’t understand why Qu Moying had a problem with Yu Qingmeng marrying Xu Lipeng as a concubine since Yu Qingmeng might be of help to her.

“I heard you were unsatisfied with your engagement with Young Master Xu?” Qu Zhizhen said straightly with a glum voice.

Yu had told him that story right after he had come back. Qu Zhizhen agreed to let Yu Qingmeng become Xu Lipeng’s wife or noble concubine, because he thought his niece was more reliable than his daughter. In this way, his family and Marquis Yongying’s family could also support each other in the future.

He couldn’t rely on Qu Moying only!

“Yes!” Seeing that Yu was also there, Qu Moying already realized what had happened and answered calmly.

“How dare you! A girl could only follow her parents’ orders and the matchmakers’ suggestions. How could a lady like you say something like that?” Qu Zhizhen thumped the cup on the table and said with a cold voice.

Old Lady Qu frowned and compressed her lips into a thin line.

“Master, don’t get mad. Fourth Lady is still too young and thoughtless. She has been living in the village after all. How could she understand that?”

Yu tried to coax Qu Zhizhen tenderly at once.

Qu Moying snorted inwardly. Yu and her daughter were so alike. Qu Qiuyan had just sowed discord between Qu Moying and her father and now Yu also suggested that Qu Moying was an untalented girl who had bad qualities.

“She’s young? A fourteen-year-old girl is not young anymore. You should invite a granny over to teach her the disciplines, in case she would ruin this family’s reputation after she marries into the Marquis Yongning’s family.”

Qu Zhizhen said angrily.

He was talking about inviting a Discipline Granny. Some of the old grannies who retired from the royal palace would become Discipline Grannies of the prestigious families.

The Discipline Grannies were all very strict. The girls who were taught by them would be favored by the prestigious families and wouldn’t bring humiliation to their own families for sure.

“Ok, ok, I see, Master, don’t be so angry. Fourth Lady will behave herself from now on.” Yu said with a sign of remorse on her face, “It’s all my fault. When Fourth Lady was back, I felt that she was too weak and delicate. So I just let her do whatever she wanted. Little did I know that so many things would have happened.”

She talked as if she was just a loving mother. Loving mothers all had spoiled kids. So Yu was the loving mother and Qu Moying was the spoiled kid?

Qu Moying flashed a malicious look in her eyes. Yu and Qu Zhizhen truly were a great pair. The words came out of their mouth all sounded so disgusting.

“Father, Lady Yu said that she and Young Master Xu have been in love for a long time and advised me to break off the engagement!” Qu Moying ignored Yu’s gross voice and said that.

After she had been reborn, she had known that she would have to face Qu Zhizhen one day.

If Qu Zhizhen truly cared about her, he wouldn’t have neglected her for so many years. He had never invited anyone to teach her disciplines. Now he suddenly started to act like a strict father. This was just ridiculous.

“Even if Yu Qingmeng marries into that family, she’ll only be a noble concubine or at most Young Master Xu’s second wife. Just look at yourself. Even if you marry into Marquis Yongning’s family, Young Master Xu wouldn’t have eyes for you anyway. Why can’t you and Yu Qingmeng both marry Young Master Xu, so that she could help you? You could still be the madam. The words she said were all out of a girl’s jealousy. Don’t take them seriously.”

Qu Zhizhen waved his hands.

Qu Moying, angry as she was, even wanted to laugh. There was a sarcastic look in her eyes behind the veil. Qu Zhizhen must think that she was a girl who knew nothing. His words sounded too ridiculous.

Qu Moying wondered if Qu Zhizhen had already regarded Yu Qingmeng as his daughter.

Not only did he take the side of Yu Qingmeng, he even intended to trample Qu Moying’s dignity. If Qu Moying was still that self-contemptuous and solitary girl she had used to be, maybe those words would have crushed her. No wonder why Qu Moying had felt that life was so meaningless before.

How could her father be so despicable?

Luckily, Qu Moying had already come up with the solution. Since Qu Zhizhen could speak out such shameless words, she would like to see what he would do next.

There was a thump all of a sudden. However, this time the sound was not made by Qu Zhizhen but Old Lady Qu who really couldn’t bear it anymore.

“I insisted on breaking off the engagement. Since Yu Qingmeng is such a nice girl, just let her marry Young Master Xu. Why do you have to drag Ying into this?” Old Lady Qu looked at Qu Zhizhen with a sullen face. She had used to think that her second son was a good man. However, ever since he had got married with Yu, Old Lady Qu just found him so dumb.

“How stupid are you that you could speak out those words? And you just believe everything Yu has said?” Old Lady Qu thought.

If everything happened in a family could be explained like that, there wouldn’t be any dispute.

“Mother, Marquis Yongning’s family has kept the promise for years and never asked to break off the engagement. How could we propose to break it off first? What would the others think of me?” Seeing his mother’s attitude, Qu Zhizhen explained reluctantly. Then he raised his head and looked at Qu Moying who was standing beside Old Lady Qu. “Just look at her, is there any other guy who’ll be willing to marry her?”

Qu Moying gave him a gloomy feeling. Qu Zhizhen felt that she was nothing compared to Qu Qiuyan who always spoke in a sweet voice and looked so pretty. If he wasn’t so sure of Yue’s faithfulness to him, he might even think that Qu Moying wasn’t his daughter.

Though he couldn’t see Qu Moying’s face clearly, he assumed that she was an ugly girl, at least uglier than Qu Qiuyan. He hadn’t seen her for so many years. He wondered if she had just got uglier.

“Father, I won’t marry into Marquis Yongning’s family even if I have to stay single forever.” Qu Moying raised her head and said nonchalantly while glancing at Yu Chun who was standing by the door. Yu Chun who had been lifting the curtain winked at Qu Moying at once.

‘Time is ready! He’s here!’ That’s what Yu Chun was trying to say.

Qu Zhizhen flew into a rage and thumped on the table. He stood up all of a sudden and pointed to Qu Moying, “Stay single? You want to rely on me forever?”

“If you don’t want to support me, I’ll leave this mansion on my own.” Qu Moying didn’t yield at all and said with force and nerve.

“How dare you, how dare you, how dare you retort me!” Qu Zhizhen burst into anger. After he strode over, he raised his hand to slap on Qu Moying’s face.

Yu Dong reacted fast. He pulled Qu Moying back while stepping forward. Then the slap fell right on his face. He, feet getting weak, fell to the ground at once. Then he covered his face and said with a sharp voice, “Master, don’t beat our lady. She’s so fragile. She couldn’t bear it!”

A senior housemaid was guiding the way for a handsome young man. As they arrived by the door, they heard the voice inside. With an angry look on the man’s good-looking face, he pushed the senior housemaid away and walked in at once.