“What is it?” Qu Qiuyan asked.

“I-It’s a piece of clothes and a pair of earrings…” the maid said in a low voice with scare.

“This is outrageous! Grandmother, I’ll go to Moying’s room and let her return them to Second Master Yan immediately. How… How could she do this?!” Qu Qiuyan said furiously as her face turned red.

As Qu Qiuyan walked out with no hesitation, Qu Caiyue hurriedly said, “Grandmother, I’ll keep an eye on Qiuyan in case they argue with each other.”

Then she followed the Third Lady out immediately.

The Old Lady just got over with a daze and tried to stop them, but the two ladies had already left with their maids. Feeling giddier in anxiety and rage, she held Granny Wu’s hand and slowly stood up, “Let’s go take a look.”

“Madam, your body condition…” Granny Wu was worried.

“I’m fine. I just need to move slowly,” the Old Lady said weakly while holding back the pain in her head. Holding Granny Wu’s hand, she faltered toward the door. After every few footsteps, she would stop to take a break. In this way, she and Granny Wu moved to Qu Moying’s place very slowly.

Qu Qiuyan led the way. She walked fast and almost got to Qu Moying’s yard. To make Qu Qiuyan stop, Qu Caiyue shouted in agitation as she was trying to catch up, “Qiuyan, wait for me! Don’t go there first. Even if Moying is involved with Second Master Yan, there’s no use to return the things now!”

She found her words inappropriate after she said them all. Then she hurriedly looked around and saw a few guests passing by give her a curious gaze. Her face blushed with embarrassment immediately.

“Second Sister, don’t talk nonsense. Even if Moying accepted the clothes and earrings gifted by a man, it still might be a misunderstanding,” Qu Qiuyan stopped and scolded Qu Caiyue with a serious look on her face.

Her tone sounded like defending for Qu Moying, but she actually admitted that Qu Moying was secretly dating a man. She tried to cover up the truth, yet it was more convincing for other people who heard them.

The noise caught more people’s attention, and they stopped here to see what was happening. Someone was asking the ones who witnessed the whole thing; someone was telling people based on his guessing. But soon, everyone figured out that it was about a lady secretly dating a man. And these two were the lady’s sisters.

They all wondered which family was this shameless lady from.

“I-I misunderstood it. It’s my fault,” Qu Caiyue kept apologizing with a flustered look.

“Go knock on the door,” Qu Qiuyan said to her maid. The maid walked up, but before she put her hand on the door, it opened. Qu Moying came out with a calm look on her face.

Qu Qiuyan took a step back subconsciously and then realized what she did, feeling annoyed. She would become Madam Jing in the future. Why was she afraid of a blind girl?

“Moying, we need to talk to you about something. Can we go inside?” Qu Qiuyan calmed herself down and said, looking concerned.

“Third Sister, let’s just talk here. I didn’t do anything that couldn’t be heard by people. If we go inside, I’m afraid that people will think I did something that I shouldn’t do,” Qu Moying said in a flat tone.

“Moying, how…how could you accept a gift from some other man? And… and it’s a… a…” Qu Caiyue walked up to Qu Moying and scolded her in rage.

Qu Qiuyan stepped back quietly. This was the stage for Qu Caiyue now since she was more suitable for this kind of role.

“Second Sister, I don’t know what you are talking about?” The look on Qu Moying’s face was still calm. She looked around and noticed more and more people stopped and surrounded them.

“You… You are shameless.” Qu Caiyue’s face turned red. She stomped her feet with anger, but a trace of panic flashed across her eyes. She didn’t expect Qu Moying to be so confident to block her outside. She had prepared some great lines for her, but she couldn’t finish her full play in public for the sake of her own name.

If they had the conversation in the yard, what people heard outside would have nothing to do with her. But now, she felt flustered under the gaze of so many people. Everyone was witnessing her scolding Qu Moying.

“Second Sister, tell me, what did I do to make me shameless? What made you and Third Sister rush to my yard so furiously?” Qu Moying waited for her to finish her words patiently and then asked with calmness.

The Fourth Lady exuded a peaceful temperament, behaving calmly and confidently. Compared to her, Qu Caiyue, whose face turned red with anxiety, looked more suspicious.

“Moying, do you dare to let Second Sister search your room? Do you have something that you shouldn’t keep?” Qu Qiuyan stared at Qu Moying and asked. She was much more intelligent than Qu Caiyue. Even though she panicked for a second when Qu Moying didn’t let them in, she still reacted quickly.

When she found the hard proof, she doubted Qu Moying could say anything else to defend herself.

“Alright. Please come in, Second Sister. Third Sister, how about we wait outside together?” Qu Moying moved away from the door at once, without any trace of panic on her face.

Her calmness and confidence unsettled Qu Qiuyan. She looked at Qu Caiyue, trying to confirm again with her. Qu Caiyue nodded at her, signaling her to rest assured. After all, she saw the package being put into Qu Moying’s bag with her own eyes.

Seeing Qu Caiyue’s affirmative hint, Qu Qiuyan felt relieved. She smiled, “No problem. It will be the best for everyone if you can prove your innocence, Moying.”

Qu Caiyue entered the yard while everyone else was waiting outside. More and more people stopped to watch them, wanting to know how this drama would end.

After a while, Qu Caiyue hadn’t come out yet, and the sound of people discussing started to get louder. There shouldn’t be many things a lady brought on a trip. At the most, there were just some clothes and accessories since daily necessities were all provided by the temple. What took her so long to search?

She didn’t find it?

So, this was just a story they made up?

There were some noble ladies and madams among the guests. They recognized Qu Qiuyan and also recognized Fourth Lady Qu by her veil. She was Young Master Yongning’s poor ex-fiancee whose engagement got broken off.

The Second Lady and the Third Lady from the Qu Family blocked Fourth Lady Qu at the door, saying Fourth Lady Qu was secretly dating a man. But the Fourth Lady’s reaction seemed totally innocent. Judging on the situation, what the other two ladies claimed wasn’t very convincing.

Thinking of the rumors about Fourth Lady Qu and her background, many people chose to stand by Qu Moying’s side inwardly.

Her stepmother clearly didn’t care about her, the same as her father. Now it seemed like her so-called sisters were not good-hearted either, standing at her door aggressively and trying to make a big scene in public. Was Third Lady Qu really the one liked by Lord Jing? In people’s eyes, she didn’t look like a good wife candidate for the lord.

“Go take a look at Second Sister inside. What takes her so long?” Qu Moying turned to Yu Dong and said with a trace of sarcasm.

Yu Dong nodded and hurriedly walked in.

In the room, Qu Caiyue was still searching Qu Moying’s bag. There were not many things inside. She had checked everything several times, including every corner and drawer here, but she couldn’t find the thing she wanted. Meanwhile, Yu Chun was wearing a sullen face standing beside her.

“Second Lady, the Third Lady and the Fourth Lady ask you to come out.”

Yu Dong’s voice was cold. He would never be like Yu Chun, still treating her as a master. He glanced over the mess in the room and said, “Second Lady, are you here to make a scene today? What’s your purpose, checking the Fourth Lady’s personal belongings or taking something back with you?”

“How dare you!?” Yu Dong’s agitating words made her irritated immediately, especially when she felt lost, not knowing what to do. She couldn’t accept being insulted by a maid and threw a slap towards Yu Dong’s face at once.

How come the package disappeared?

“Second Lady, please leave. The Old Lady will be here soon. If she knows you were searching the Fourth Lady’s bag… and didn’t find anything….” Yu Dong would never let Qu Caiyue touch him. He swiftly stepped back, avoided her slap, and reminded her in a cold voice.

How complacent Qu Caiyue felt before was how flustered she was right now. The Old Lady would arrive in any second, but she had no evidence to prove that Qu Moying did it. Her grandmother would not go easy on her for making a scene today.

Moreover, the Old Lady disliked her most among all her granddaughters.

In a panic, her brain went blank, and she hurriedly rushed outside. She had to come up with a good explanation. She had to convince the Old Lady that she was not involved, and she was here only to find the evidence.

Meanwhile, the Old Lady had already arrived. Seeing the two young ladies standing in front of the yard door and the crowd outside, she almost fainted again. Granny Wu quickly went to steady her and said, “Madam, don’t worry. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine! Take it easy!”

“Grandmother, I’m fine. Don’t worry. I didn’t do it!” Qu Moying rushed over and grabbed her grandmother’s one hand from another maid. Her voice sounded confident and firm, filled with genuine concern about the Old Lady. The way she acted reassured the old woman a lot. “Grandmother, I need to prove my innocence, and that’s why I let everyone stand in front of my yard so that people can see it.”

“Ying, you have nothing to do with it?” Her words hit the spot, making the Old Lady much relieved. She flipped her hand to hold the young girl’s and confirmed with her again.

“Don’t worry, Grandma. I just came back for a few days. When did I ever have time to meet any man?” Qu Moying gave her a smile and comforted her.

Qu Moying’s calm behavior got the worry off the Old Lady’s chest. She was too concerned about her youngest granddaughter, who just lost her engagement. If she really was involved with that unreliable Second Master Yan, the Old Lady was afraid her life would permanently be ruined!

She had heard about Second Master Yan before. That young man rescued his cousin after she fell into a lake but was unwilling to take the responsibility to marry her. That poor lady was forced to marry a man living in a city far away from her hometown. The accident had passed over a year already, but people were still talking about it. Everyone said Second Master Yan was a jinx for young ladies, and whoever related to him would get her name ruined.

“Second Sister, did you find the thing you want?” Qu Moying’s eyes fell on Qu Caiyue, who just came out, looking nervous. “Second Sister, you tried really hard to push the blame on me. Are you afraid now that people will find out your little secret?”

“Stop talking nonsense!” Qu Caiyue flew into a rage as Qu Moying’s words rubbed salt right into her wound.

“Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, you should be the one who knows it best. Before you even had any evidence, you were already talking about it out loud in public, saying I’m secretly dating a man. After we agreed to search for the proof, you rushed into my room immediately. I guess my room is probably very messy right now. So, Second Sister, did you find it or not?” Qu Moying said coldly.

“I-I was just looking around…” The room was indeed a mess.

Qu Qiuyan stepped back quietly. Watching Qu Caiyue coming out empty-handed, she suddenly had a bad feeling. She lowered her eyes and quickly came up with a solution.