“First Sister, would you like a cup of tea at my place? I’ve brought some good ones, but grandmother said she was too old for those. We can have some together,” Qu Qiuyan invited Qu Xuexin after Qu Moying and others left.

“First Sister, it’s really good. You have to try it. Lord Jing gave it to Qiuyan,” Qu Caiyue hurriedly added.

“I… I’ll pass it,” Qu Xuexin said softly and rubbed her temples. “I’m a bit tired. It was my fault not to keep an eye on Moying. I shouldn’t cause the trouble and make grandmother disappointed.”

“You have nothing to do with it! She’s not a child and can walk on her own legs. Does grandmother want us to tie a rope on her and go wherever she goes?” Qu Caiyue said disdainfully, “Everything was fine until she caused us such trouble. Does it mean anything she did at the market was related to us? It’s just because grandmother likes her more than us!”

“First Sister, come and have some tea with us!” Qu Qiuyan invited her again smilingly.

Qu Xuexin was hesitant. She looked at these two and turned to look in the direction where Qu Moying left. At last, she still didn’t accept Qu Qiuyan’s invitation, “What about tonight? Let me have some rest first, and I’ll come over later.”

“First Sister, how long do you want us to wait? Every time grandmother came here before, she took us three with her. Qu Moying’s the extra one this time. It’s not that we didn’t invite her, she just left too quickly. If grandmother asks about it, it’s not our fault that she left early. First Sister, don’t worry. You won’t be blamed for this.”

Qu Caiyue raised her eyebrow, looked in the direction where Qu Moying left as well and pressed her lips.

“Th-This is not appropriate. It’s the first time for Moying to be here…” Qu Xuexin frowned, her voice was still soft and gentle.

“First Sister, I know you just don’t want to spend time with us together. Second Sister, then let’s go!” Qu Qiuyan lost her patience after being rejected a few times. She raised her chin and showed a trace of exasperation on her face.

Qu Xuexin was the Old Lady’s first son’s first daughter, that is to say, she was the first daughter of the entire Qu Family. Usually, she should have the highest position among all the ladies. However, Qu Zhilin’s official rank was lower than Qu Zhizhen’s, so the entire family held more respect to Qu Zhizhen. Naturally, Qu Qiuyan thought more highly of herself than her eldest sister because of this, let alone she would become Madam Jing in the future. There was no point in wasting more time on Qu Xuexin since she wanted to make friends with that blind girl instead of her.

“Qiuyan, I’m sorry,” Qu Xuexin said in embarrassment, poked by Qu Qiuyan’s words.

“First Sister…” Qu Caiyue still tried to convince her. After all, Qu Xuexin was her own sister.

“Second Sister, will you come with me or not? If you don’t want to come either, just go back!” Qu Qiuyan sounded irritated.

“Yes, yes, I’m coming with you!” Qu Caiyue didn’t dare to disobey Qu Qiuyan and said hurriedly. She had no time to concern about her older sister anymore and caught up with Qu Qiuyan swiftly.

“Qiuyan, don’t be too upset about First Sister. It’s nothing serious. She’s just afraid that blind girl will report on us again. Let’s go have some tea. Speaking of the tea, it tastes amazing. If it weren’t for Lord Jing, I would never have such high-quality tea…”

“Because it’s a gift from Lord Jing. Even Father hasn’t had such good tea before…”

As they walked away, their voices gradually disappeared in the air, one flattering and the other one prideful.

Qu Xuexin quietly watched them leaving with a gentle look on her face as usual.

Her maid Hong Mei whispered, “My lady.”

“Let’s go!” Qu Xuexin turned around and headed to her yard. When they arrived at the entrance, she stopped and looked into Qu Moying’s yard next to hers. The door was slightly open with no one around.

“My lady, do you want to visit the Fourth Lady?” Hong Mei said hesitantly.

“Not now. Moying’s health condition has not been very good. She’s probably having a rest now.” Qu Xuexin shook her head and stepped into her yard. But right after she walked in, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples again.

“My lady, anything wrong?” Hong Mei held her hand to steady the lady and asked worriedly.

“I’m fine, just having a headache,” Qu Xuexin said and pressed her forehead again.

“My lady, go have some rest. I’ll ask Granny Wu for some medicine. I remember she brought some with her, including the ones you normally use.”

“Sure!” Qu Xuexin said softly.

Another maid Bai Mei heard the noise and came out too. The two maids helped Qu Xuexin get into the yard. Soon after, Hong Mei hurriedly walked out again, heading to Granny Wu’s place…

Meanwhile, a maid ran into the Old Lady’s yard, looking flustered, and she was noticed by Granny Wu immediately. Granny Wu knew all the maids they brought here but didn’t recognize this one. Moreover, her clothes didn’t look like the Qu Family’s maid uniform either. Granny Wu pulled a long face and asked, “Who is your master? What are you doing here?”

“I-I came to the wrong place. It’s not the right place…” The maid stuttered as she huddled in fear. After she finished her words, she turned around and tried to leave immediately.

“Catch her!” Granny Wu yelled.

The old maid who was guarding the yard was still in a daze. She was the one who let this strange maid in because the maid said she was sent by the Third Lady. The old maid knew the Third Lady had the most amount of maids. Although she didn’t recognize this one, who was not even wearing their uniform, she didn’t dare offend the most powerful lady in the family. The old maid just thought this maid might have something particular to tell the Old Lady.

After hearing their conversation and seeing the young maid trying to run away, the old maid realized she was used. Irritated, she rushed over, held the maid in her arms tight, and caught her successfully.

“Let me go! I-I just went to the wrong place. I thought… I thought this was my young master’s yard,” the maid screamed while struggling hard.

“But you said the Third Lady sent you just now,” the old maid yelled with rage, exposing her lie immediately.

“Invite the Third Lady over,” Granny Wu said coldly.

A clever maid ran out immediately and came back with Qu Qiuyan and Qu Caiyue soon after.

“Third Lady, this maid said you sent her here. Do you know her?” Granny Wu walked up to Qu Qiuyan, bowed to her, and then asked as she pointed at the maid.

Qu Qiuyan walked closer, sized the strange maid up, and shook her head. “Granny Wu, you should know all the maids I brought here. I don’t know who she is and why she ran into our yard in my name.”

“You said you were sent here by the Third Lady?” Granny Wu questioned her in rage, and the maid’s face turned pale in fear.

“I-I don’t know your Third Lady. My… My master is our Third Lady, not yours…” the maid argued back.

“But you just said you were looking for your young master. Why are you saying your Third Lady now?” Granny Wu stared at the maid sharply.

The noise in the yard was loud enough to alert the Old Lady. She sent out an old maid, asking Granny Wu to bring the caught maid inside.

The group of people followed Granny Wu into the main house. The guarding maid pushed the suspicious maid inside and made her kneel in front of the Old Lady.

Qu Qiuyan and Qu Caiyue followed behind and seated themselves on the two sides of the Old Lady.

“Tell us, who on earth is your master? A lady or a young master? If you lie again, we will send you to the officials immediately!” said the Old Lady slowly as she glanced at the maid, who was kneeling on the ground, shivering.

Hearing the Old Lady’s words, the maid was frightened. She hurriedly raised her eyes and said, “Madam Qu, I… I’m here to look for your Fourth Lady. I thought this was the Fourth Lady’s yard, and I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t know this was the wrong place. Please forgive me, Madam Qu.”

“You… You know we are the Qu Family?” Now the young maid sounded more suspicious to the Old Lady. Her eyes darkened, “Tell me, which family do you belong to? How dare they cause trouble here?”

“Madam, I-I-I am the Second Young Master’s maid. H-He w-wants to… ask Fourth Lady Qu… ask about… about…” the maid started to stutter with a scared look on her face. Clearly, she was not telling the truth.

“Who is this Second Young Master?” The Old Lady pulled a long face. Since Qu Moying’s engagement was just broken off, it would be terrible for her reputation if she got involved with another man right now. But the Old Lady didn’t think it was Qu Moying’s problem. She just came back to the capital and didn’t even have time to meet any young masters.

“The… The Second Young Master…from Earl Fengyang’s family,” the maid was still stuttering.

“The Second Young Master from Earl Fengyang’s family? Is he Second Young Master Yan?” Hearing the maid’s words, Qu Qiuyan’s expression changed.

“That playboy… Second Master Yan who’s notorious for hooking up with noble ladies?” Qu Caiyue directly spoke out what everyone was thinking. She covered her open mouth with her hanky in shock and turned to look at the Old Lady. “G-Grandmother, what does he mean by this? Is… Is he interested in Moying?”

“Nonsense! Moying hasn’t even met any man since she came back,” the Old Lady scolded her in rage.

“But… But why did the maid mention Second Master Yan? Is she still lying? Grandmother, we have to send her to the officials and let them give her a tattoo as a punishment for lying,” Qu Caiyue said angrily and nodded.

Hearing her words, the maid felt more frightened as she kept shaking her hands. “I-I didn’t lie. It’s true! It’s true! The Second Young Master fell in love with Fourth Lady Qu. He even gave her a gift at the market, and she took it. If she doesn’t like my master, why did she accept his gift?”

To free herself from the punishment, the maid didn’t dare to lie anymore. She said everything she knew as tears were rolling in her eyes. Then she bowed to the Old Lady and touched the ground with her forehead three times. “Madam Qu, if you don’t believe me, you can look for the gift in Fourth Lady Qu’s place. My master put one of his private items inside as a keepsake.”

“What is it?” The Old Lady said slowly, pressing the middle of her eyebrows to suppress her rage. She just got rid of her headache, but now it had come back. Her ears were ringing, and she felt like she was about to blackout. At the market? Which meant it happened just now?