Reborn to Be A Noble Wife - Chapter 148

Chapter 148 Search for a Maid

Qu Zhizhen had been inside the inner room for a while, but he had not come out. The people in the inner room spoke very softly. Those who were outside could only hear faint voices, but they couldn’t hear what the people inside were saying.

Both the couple and Qu Qiuyan were on pins and needles now.

Qu Qiuyan crumpled the handkerchief in her hand into a ball. She released the handkerchief a little, and then wrung it again. She was restless.

After a long time, they heard a voice coming out from the inner room. Qu Zhizhen walked out first with anger. He sat behind the desk and glared coldly and sharply at the couple kneeling below.

His glare frightened Li and Liu Shan so much that they lowered their heads and did not dare to look up.

“Guards, take them down. Flog them twenty times as the punishment for falsely claiming the official’s daughter as theirs, and then send them to the court,” Qu Zhizhen shouted harshly.

When Li and Liu Shan, the seemingly honest yet cunning couple, heard this, they immediately knew that their scheme had been exposed. They hurriedly begged for mercy, “Please forgive us! Sir, please forgive us!”

If they were sent to the court, and if the judge found out that it was a fraud, they would be banished to the border. The couple did not expect such an outcome. Didn’t the person promise them that they would be fine? Didn’t he say that someone would help them? But it seemed that, among all the people here, only the Third Lady beside them could help them.

“Third Lady, save us! Third Lady, save us!” At this time, Li said whatever flashed across her mind. She immediately raised her head and shouted anxiously.

“I… I…” Not expecting that Li would directly call her for help at this crucial moment, Qu Qiuyan was startled in shock. Then, a trace of indignation appeared on her face, and she snorted coldly, “How dare you ask me to save you after falsely claiming Moying as your daughter? You’re disrespectful to our Qu Mansion?!”

At this time, Qu Qiuyan knew that the plan had failed. There must be nothing on Qu Moying’s right leg, and hence, Qu Moying did not have anything to do with the couple. Anyway, Mother was the one who did everything, and she did not involve in this matter directly. That said, Mother was so dumb. She was sure that she would succeed this time. How the hell did it end up like this now?

What a fool!

Sensing the coldness in Qu Zhizhen’s eyes, Qu Qiuyan hurried forward and bowed at Qu Zhizhen, huffing angrily, “Father, since this is a scam, we must not let them go. They falsely claimed that Moying was their daughter. They even made up such a plausible story that you and I bought it and suspected Moying. They deserve to die for their crime. Father, you should beat them to death.”

As Qu Qiuyan spoke, she included Qu Zhizhen into her statement, indicating that she did doubt Qu Moying just now, just like how Qu Zhizhen doubted Qu Moying too.

Hearing her say this, Qu Zhizhen shifted his gaze from Qu Qiuyan to the couple kneeling on the ground. His young servants had already come over to take them away.

Seeing this situation and hearing that they might be beaten to death, Li and Liu Shan struggled with all their might as they loudly quavered, “Sir! We don’t mean to falsely claim your daughter! Someone asked us to do it on purpose!”

Qu Zhizhen waved his hand, and the young servants silently retreated.

“Talk!”

“Sir, a few months ago, a man found us. He told us that Fourth Lady Qu was seriously ill when our daughter was missing, and he said that we could claim Fourth Lady Qu as our daughter. He gave us money and told us to secretly put a note in Granny Gu’s sachet. Then, he told us to come to the capital, find Yu Dong, and tell Yu Dong that we couldn’t find a job. Fourth Lady Qu asked Yu Dong to help us by giving us clothes and money at the back door.”

“Just yesterday, someone sent us a bag of pastries and asked us to say that Fourth Lady Qu asked us to come here this morning to claim her. First, we needed to go to the breakfast shop in front of Qu Mansion to spread the news. Then, we came here and insisted that Fourth Lady was our daughter. He even told us that he would give us a lot of money after the deed was done and would send us back to our hometown.”

Li wiped her tears as she cried. She was really afraid now, so she told the ins and outs in detail. Liu Shan nodded repeatedly and hurriedly kowtowed to Qu Zhizhen to beg for forgiveness. At this time, there was nothing they could think about but to survive.

“Man? What man?”

“He looked like a manager. H-He told us that it was his Master’s order. We met him a few times later, but he always left mysteriously, and we didn’t know where he went,” Li answered quickly. She told everything she knew.

“Why didn’t you keep an eye on him?” Qu Zhizhen asked coldly.

“W-We didn’t dare to. I-It seemed that someone always brought him to us,” Liu Shan stammered.

“Then how can you prove that you did not plan this? You’re plotting against an official’s family member, a young lady! Do you have any idea how heavy the punishment of such a crime is?” A glimmer of light flashed in Qu Zhizhen’s eyes. He frowned tightly, and his eyes were full of rage.

“N-No! It was not us. Sir, it really wasn’t us!” Hearing this kind of accusation, Liu Shan became more and more panicked and waved his hands frantically.

“The maid! Yes! Sir, the maid who sent us pastries yesterday told us to say that this was a gift from Fourth Lady. I recognize her!” The panicked Li suddenly thought of something. They didn’t know where to look for the man who looked like a manager, but Li believed that the maid worked in the Qu Mansion.

She heard that this pastry was newly made by the Qu Mansion.

“Y-Yes, sir! We can recognize her. The maid is about twelve or thirteen years old. She’s not very tall. I think… she’s almost the same as her! She is quite petite and looks pretty. If only you can let us identify her from a lineup, sir…” Liu Shan hurriedly said as he came to his senses now. They saw the maid not long ago, so he remembered her look.

Liu Shan was referring to Qing Ju, who was by Qu Qiuyan’s side. Hearing his description, Qing Ju’s face turned ghastly pale, and she almost collapsed. She hurriedly lowered her head.

“Someone, call all the maids who are twelve to thirteen years old to the yard,” Qu Zhizhen ordered with a livid face.

The young servant went away to give the order. Soon, the yard was full of early-teen maids of the Qu Mansion. Li and Liu Shan were dragged out to the yard to recognize the maid.

However, after looking at them one by one, the couple didn’t find the maid, and they were taken aback.

“So, can you recognize the maid?” Standing in the corridor, Qu Zhizhen watched the couple recognizing the maid. Seeing them stop, he asked.

Qu Moying put on the eye veil again and helped Old Lady to sit on the chair in the corridor, quietly watching the rogue couple recognize the maid.

“S-Sir, she’s not here.” Liu Shan was so scared that he was about to cry.

“Is anyone absent today?” Old Lady turned to Qu Qiuyan and asked, “Are all the maids here, all the twelve- to thirteen-year-old maids?”

Right now, Qu Qiuyan was in charge of the mansion affairs with Luo’s assistance.

“I’m not sure about that. Qing Ju, go and ask who has left the mansion today.” Qu Qiuyan instructed Qing Ju who was standing at the side.

Qing Ju responded and left. After a while, she came back with the news. There were quite a number of twelve- to thirteen-year-old maids who were not in the mansion today: two maids from Yu’s yard, one from Qu Qiuyan’s, one from Old Lady’s, and two from the front yard.

Qing Ju went forward to report this matter. Everyone had a reason to go out, and Old Lady sent her maids out herself. The manager at the front yard sent the two maids out. There was no mistake.

“Take the couple out, flog them twenty times, and throw them to the door of the mansion. Tell others that they’re charged with falsely claiming the daughter of an imperial official,” Qu Zhizhen instructed coldly and decisively. He had already had the culprit in his mind. Yu’s maid was not in the mansion, right?

Two servants came over and dragged the couple out.

“Mother, let’s end this here for now!” Qu Zhizhen turned around and said to Old Lady, who was rubbing her forehead.

Knowing that he was planning to gloss the issue over, Old Lady glanced at him and snorted in dissatisfaction. Then, she stood up, held Qu Moying’s hand, and said, “Let’s go back, Ying. Your father is in charge of this matter, so he will clear your name, for sure. Our family will be the laughing stock of the capital if these nuisance comes knocking on our door every day.”

“Yes, Grandma.” Qu Moying nodded gently and helped Old Lady out.

“Grandma, I will go with you.” Qu Qiuyan said hastily after coming to her senses. She marched forward and wanted to hold Old Lady’s other hand.

“Stay here and help your father deal with this matter. Now, you are in charge of the affairs of the inner yard. When something like this happens, you need to rectify the inner yard. If this goes on, the entire inner yard will be in chaos. Find out why your sister’s sachet is gone from her room,” Old Lady reprimanded coldly.

Then, she held Qu Moying’s hand and left. She did not smile at Qu Qiuyan at all.

A trace of jealousy appeared on Qu Qiuyan’s face as she stood still. She gritted her teeth and suppressed the resentment in her heart. She and Qu Moying were both Old Lady’s granddaughters, but why did Old Lady treat her so coldly yet treat Qu Moying so well? Old Lady even hinted that she had something to do with this matter. It was none of her business!

At most, she had only said a few unnecessary words. Mother was the mastermind behind this. Why did Old Lady blame her for this?

As expected, Old Lady was an annoying old woman who had overstayed her welcome in this world.

“Father, where are you going?” Suppressing the resentment in her heart, Qu Qiuyan turned around and saw Qu Zhizhen striding out. She hurriedly asked.

“I’m going to see your mother,” Qu Zhizhen grunted without turning his head. However, when he spoke, he emphasized the last word, and it sounded as if he was gnashing his teeth as he said it!

Seeing the angry look on Qu Zhizhen’s face when he left, Qu Qiuyan trembled in fear, and a chill went down her spine. She reached out her hand, held Qing Ju’s hand, and squeezed it hard. She used so much force that Qing Ju was about to cry from the enormous pain.

“Should I go over and take a look?” Qu Qiuyan asked in a low voice, staring at Qu Zhizhen’s back. She could guess that even if there was no solid evidence, Father knew that Mother was behind this, so he went there to denounce her. Qu Qiuyan was wondering if she should go. If she went, she would be embarrassed if they had a huge fall-out, and she might even lead the disaster to herself.

But if she did not go, would Grandmother and Father think that she was too cold and indifferent?

“My lady, as a daughter, you can’t do anything about the matter between Madam and Second Master. Why don’t you take care of the things here first, and then go to see Madam later?” Qing Ju knew what Qu Qiuyan was thinking. She had been working for Qu Qiuyan for so long, after all. She endured the pain and offered Qu Qiuyan the very suggestion that the latter wanted.

Qu Qiuyan loosened her hands, and her face relaxed. Looking at the trembling young maids in the yard, she calmly nodded. “Yes, I will deal with the things here first before going to see Mother.”

She sounded as if she had planned to see her mother, but she was otherwise occupied at this moment…