“Ming Xian’er?”

“Right, her name’s Ming Xian’er. The group she belongs to, the Xifu Opera Group, is quite difficult to book for private performances. Since the Crown Prince is fond of one male-role performer in that group, they usually stay at his mansion and rarely take performance invitations from outside. I didn’t expect that they would agree to come this time. It’s truly surprising…”

The Old Lady was still talking. Since the matter about Qu Moying was settled, the Old Lady finally had some spare time to consider her birthday banquet. She was in a good mood and started to share this pleasant thing with her granddaughter.

Qu Moying listened to the Old Lady’s prattle smilingly. Gradually, the sound faded away as she lost in her own thoughts. This was not the first time she heard the name “Ming Xian’er,” and she could even be considered acquaintance in her past life.

Ming Xian’er was known as the star of the Xifu Opera Group, but few people knew that she was the real owner behind it. A female opera performer could become the owner of an opera group, which was because, of course, she was the Crown Prince’s mistress.

Qu Moying only suspected it in her past life, but now, she felt assertive.

Because the Crown Prince enjoyed the Xifu Opera Group’s performance, he arranged a yard for them in his mansion so that he could watch their performance anytime. The outsiders were told that the Crown Prince liked another famous male-role performer, but in fact, the one liked by the Crown Prince was Ming Xian’er.

Ming Xian’er had a coquettish appearance, which was even more stunning after she dressed up.

Ji Hanyue ran into them twice, seeing Pei Luo’an and Ming Xian’er standing together, talking and laughing intimately. But except for this kind of intimate behavior, she didn’t see anything else. When Ming Xian’er noticed her, she didn’t act flustered at all. All she did was bowing at her politely and leaving. Her manner was graceful, almost perfect.

However, Ji Hanyue’s instinct told her that something was wrong between the two. She argued with Pei Luo’an about it, and he promised he would send the Xifu Opera Group away and never see Ming Xian’er again.

In her past life, she trusted the Crown Prince deeply and never doubted his words. But now she knew the true colors of this man, and the mist that once blinded her was gone.

“Ying? Ying…?” Seeing her staring at the air, the Old Lady called her worriedly.

She didn’t realize it until Yu Dong gently pulled her sleeve. Qu Moying blushed and lowered her head, “Grandma, I was thinking about Lady Yu…”

The Old Lady thought she was still upset and felt more sorry for her. “It’s already over. I will find you a better man in the future. A person like Young Master Yongning doesn’t deserve to marry my granddaughter!”

“Don’t worry, Grandma. I’m alright. I don’t care about that man.” Qu Moying shook her head, “I’m only worried that the Xu’s Family will find a reason to blame it all on me!”

“I won’t allow it!” The Old Lady glared with rage. Even though it was the man’s fault to cause the engagement to be broken off, the outsiders still tended to speak ill of the woman. Moreover, Qu Moying’s eyes hadn’t recovered yet, and there were already rumors about her. If the Xu’s Family dared to shift the responsibility to her, the Old Lady would bring the affair between Yu Qingmeng and Xu Lipeng to light.

“Grandma, that’s what I think as well. It shouldn’t happen, but it’s still better to be careful during your birthday banquet,” Qu Moying said softly.

“Don’t worry. I will.” The Old Lady didn’t think about it before, but after Qu Moying’s reminder, the alarm was sounded in her mind.

They had chatted for a while. When Qu Moying noticed her grandmother started to get tired, she stood up and took her leave.

She didn’t hurry back after getting out of the yard. With Yu Chun and Yu Dong, she rambled towards the garden. As the weather got warmer these days, many flowers bloomed there. It was a good time to enjoy the view.

However, she didn’t expect to meet Xu Lipeng. From a distance, she could already see the gloomy look on his face. Qu Moying stepped back and gently bowed to him.

At this moment, they were no longer connected by the engagement.

Xu Lipeng was invited here by Yu today to take back some valuable items that were part of his betrothal presents to the Qu’s Family. After he saw Qu Moying, he stopped as his eyes darkened.

Qu Moying kept the same position for a while but didn’t hear anything from Xu Lipeng. Wasting time with him was never her intention. She stood up and turned around, wanting to leave.

“Are you satisfied now, Fourth Lady Qu?” He asked with his teeth gritted, glaring at her resentfully.

Qu Moying raised her head, gave an indifferent glance at him, and curled up her lips, “I’m sorry I don’t understand what you said, Young Master Xu. Since our families are no longer connected by the engagement, we should keep a proper distance from each other. Please allow me to take my leave first!”

As she turned around, Xu Lipeng flew into a rage and quickly stepped forward, trying to grab her hand. Yu Dong rushed in between them and protected Qu Moying from his grip.

“What do you mean by this, Young Master?” She pulled a long face and stopped.

“You framed Qingmeng, and now you want to get around it?” Xu Lipeng had nowhere to vent his anger. Last night when he went back home, he was scolded by his mother and almost got punished. She let him go inside at last but blamed everything on Yu Qingmeng. She said if Xu Lipeng still wanted to marry her, she could only be an ordinary concubine, not even a decent concubine!

“I framed her? Didn’t Yu and Yu Qingmeng try to frame me at first, and then Yu Qingmeng accidentally got involved with Mr. He when she came to watch me suffer?” Qu Moying directly looked into Xu Lipeng’s eyes as she pressed her lips into a straight line. Then under his gaze, her lips slowly curled up.

Even though most of her face was covered by the veil, her pink, delicate lips somehow gave him the impression that she was a beautiful woman.

It felt like she was born with an aura of grace, as elegant as a blooming flower.

For the first time, Xu Lipeng seemed to see the real her clearly. He knew her eyes behind the veil were staring at him. His heart missed a beat as an awkward look showed up on his face. “Qingmeng wouldn’t do that!”

“I don’t care if she would do it or not. That has nothing to do with me anymore. Young Master Yongning, I just want to tell you – when you try to frame a person, don’t ever think of him as some kind of plant that doesn’t think, like a flower or a grass. A person is a living creature that has his own thoughts and preferences. Also, to be honest with you, I just don’t like you!”

Qu Moying finished her words coldly and left with no hesitation.

If he didn’t maintain his sanity at the moment, he would rush over and hit her immediately. Was this girl still the Qu Moying he heard of? Wasn’t she supposed to be a gloomy but weak, timid girl who didn’t have any strong opinion? She felt like a completely different person from the rumors. Had she known everything about him and Yu Qingmeng ever since she came back to the mansion while he was trying hard to keep the engagement like an idiot?

“Qu Moying, you will regret it!” Xu Lipeng clenched his fists and said resentfully, with his eyes filled with rage.

Qu Moying didn’t turn around, walking at the same pace, as if she didn’t hear Xu Lipeng’s words or she didn’t care about them at all. She just strolled away under his furious gaze.

Xu Lipeng couldn’t believe that she treated him like this. Did she really think she was some kind of goddess who was high above everyone?

Watching her leaving, his face blushed with anger, but he couldn’t utter another word.

The young servant standing next to him lowered his head and didn’t dare to say anything. It was the first time he saw his gentle young master being pissed off by someone like this. He didn’t know what Xu Lipeng would do in the next second. The young master was so furious that it seemed like he would hit the Fourth Lady at any time. He surely hoped his master wouldn’t do that because they were still in the Qu’s Mansion right now!

“Let’s go!” After a while, Xu Lipeng said to the young servant coldly and strode away. It took him some time to regain his sanity, but fortunately, he made the right decision.

It was a big relief for the servant. He hurriedly caught up with his master as his heart was still pounding in his chest.

He remembered the last time when they met the Fourth Lady in the garden. His young master was having a walk with the Third Lady and Lady Yu at that time. When Xu Lipeng passed by the Fourth Lady who was bowing at him, he ignored her directly and didn’t say anything as if he just saw a maid of the mansion instead of his own fiancee.

Every dog had its day. Now it was the Fourth Lady’s turn to treat the young master as a servant…

“The Qu’s Family is going to hold a birthday banquet for the Old Lady. Why haven’t we received an invitation from them?” Pei Yuanjun was lying on the couch at the back of a room while a woman was playing a stringed instrument in front of him. He wore a loose white robe with his long, black hair untied, looking like those free and easy gentlemen in the Wei and Jin dynasties.

However, the sharp and insidious look in his eyes had nothing to do with freedom and ease.

“My lord, Vice Minister Qu won’t dare to do so!” Ji Hai said smilingly.

“Why? They think I will do something bad to them?” Pei Yuanjun raised his brow.

“Of course, they won’t dare to think like that. It’s just people from the Mansion of Vice Minister Qu never interacted with you before, so they won’t send you an invitation abruptly. My lord, if you want to attend the banquet, I can ask Vice Minister Qu to send one here.” As a servant, Ji Hai was always clever and tactful.

“No need. I’ll just go if I want to. How’s the preparation going?” The young lord curled up his lips. The smile lit up his eyes, making the insidious look fade away.

“My Lord, do you mean you want ‘Lady Liu’ to accompany you on that day? But the Fourth Lady will be very busy.” Ji Hai understood his master’s intention and asked cautiously.

“So what? She will be useless if she can’t even deal with this kind of thing!” Pei Yuanjun said in an indifferent voice. He chose her because she’s a special girl. This would be his true test for her to see if she really deserved his support.

“Yes, my lord. I will let Haizi inform the Fourth Lady,” Ji Hai said hurriedly.

Pei Yuanjun waved his hand at him, and Ji Hai left in a hurry.

Graceful music flew under the woman’s finger and echoed in the room. This was her first day at Lord Yun’s mansion, so she’s working very hard. When she was sent here by the Crown Prince, he told her repeatedly that she would be killed if she got returned by Lord Yun. She had to please the lord to make herself stay at his mansion.

She was a beautiful woman, picked by the Crown Prince himself. She noticed that even the Crown Prince was attracted by her. If Lord Yun didn’t return to the capital all of a sudden, she would have already become the Crown Prince’s mistress. But right now, she had no choice but to come to Lord Yun’s mansion.

“Clang!” – a string suddenly broke.

The woman’s face turned pale immediately with fear. Shivering, she knelt on the ground and begged him, “Please forgive me, my lord! Please forgive me!”

She dared to ask for the Crown Prince’s love, but for Lord Yun, she didn’t even expect him to have a pity for her. When he looked at her, she noticed that his eyes were so cold, as if he came from hell. In his eyes, she was not a living person but a dead object…