In silence, Pei Yuanjun walked to her. He pulled a chair in front of her and sat down in a domineering posture under her surprising gaze. Wearing a judgmental look, he stared at her quietly as if he could pull her down to hell without uttering any word.

The atmosphere in the room couldn’t be more frightening, especially on a night like this.

His anger came out of nowhere, making Qu Moying confused. Was he suspecting her because he saw her face?

Qu Moying clenched the other hand under her quilt. Showing no expression on her face, she asked slowly, “Is there anything I can help you with, my lord?”

Pei Yuanjun sized her up. Without the veil on her face this time, he could see her watery eyes clearly, which had a trace of confusion. Still, there was no fear or panic, as if seeing him in her room was just a usual thing.

The anger in his eyes gradually faded away, but his face hadn’t softened yet. “How dare you?”

It was a question that didn’t need to be answered because he had already known everything.

“Does fear help?” Qu Moying chuckled, and her smile lit up the darkness. Her long eyelashes fluttered, adding a trace of childishness to her face, but there was no actual joy in her big eyes.

“Certainly not!” Pei Yuanjun gazed at her and said affirmatively.

“Then why do I need to be scared? My lord, if you intend to kill me, you don’t need to be here in person. You can just ask Yu Dong to do it and then secretly push the responsibility on Lord Jing,” Qu Moying said with a serious look as she raised her eyebrow and pressed her lips.

“You believe I should think like that?” Pei Yuanjun leaned back on the chair, looking a bit more relaxed.

“Shouldn’t you, my lord?” Qu Moying asked him back. Seeing his posture, she felt a bit relieved.

“And your reason is?” Pei Yuanjun’s downturned eyes were wide open as his attention was caught. However, the aura of threat exuded by him was still lingering in the room. That playful, amorous lord people saw was never the real him.

“I’ve met Lord Jing while impersonating Lady Liu, but I believe you must keep some kind of evidence to prove it was actually me, Qu Moying. If anything bad happens to me now and you show people the evidence you have, Lord Jing will be the first one to be blamed. Then, you, my lord, who can ruin Lord Jing’s future at any time, will gain definite dominance over him.” All kinds of thoughts were racing in Qu Moying’s mind.

It was just her guessing at the beginning. But the more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed to her, which sent a chill down her spine.

As the Crown Prince’s uncle, Lord Yun had a stranglehold on all the emperor’s sons. Even the Crown Prince himself had to show respect to him. However, those ambitious royal members wouldn’t allow this situation to last long.

A man with absolute power besides the emperor never had a good ending. When the next emperor ascended the throne, this man’s life would be pretty much over. If Pei Yuanjun wanted to find a way out, he must control the next emperor. Right now, it seemed that he put the bet on Lord Jing. If so, everything made sense now.

It would be easy to help the Crown Prince gain the throne since he was the heir approved by the current emperor anyway. So, the Crown Prince probably would disobey Pei Yuanjun after gaining more power. However, Lord Jing was a different story. Pei Yuanjun needed to spend a lot of effort destroying the Crown Prince to help Lord Jing climb up. In return, Lord Jing would hold much gratitude to him. Plus, Pei Yuanjun had strong evidence that could ruin his life. There would be no reason for Lord Jing not to obey him.

“Are you frightened?” Pei Yuanjun chuckled, reached out his hand, and touched Qu Moying’s face. The coldness in his eyes felt the same as the chill of his hand. She was startled by the freezing touch, but then she raised her brow. “I’m just a weak woman. If this is what you believe in, I have nothing else to say, my lord.”

Pei Yuanjun could feel her subtle movement when his cold hand touched her soft and warm face, but then he was surprised by her courage, feeling her calm gaze. Those clear, watery eyes somehow settled the anxious feeling in his heart. He was just taking a walk outside. Seeing the light from her yard, he decided to check on her on the spur of the moment. Now he felt this visit was indeed worth his time.

“My lord, shouldn’t I feel frightened?” The words she said were similar to those she uttered before but worked as different answers to different questions, even though they sounded contradictory.

But they both sounded reasonable as if she didn’t try to wear any disguise. They all felt genuine from her heart!

Qu Moying grabbed Pei Yuanjun’s big hand and pushed it away with a bit of displeasure. “My lord, I know no one can see us now, but etiquette is meant to be kept, not broken.”

Amused by her reaction, Pei Yuanjun showed a lazy but sophisticated smile on his face and stood up. “You are doing a good job!”

“Thank you for the compliment, my lord!” Qu Moying straightened up.

“Good thoughts too!” Pei Yuanjun lowered his head and looked into her eyes, trying to find fear in them.

“Thank you!” Qu Moying said calmly as if they just talked about some petty, ordinary things. However, his second compliment was different than the first one as his tone exuded an overwhelming pressure.

It locked on her, leaving her nowhere to escape.

“I’m impressed!” Pei Yuanjun said and chuckled again. Suddenly, he patted her head and sized her up while getting ready to leave. “You should be born in a general’s family instead of that coward Qu Zhizhen’s.”

Qu Moying pressed her lips, staying in silence.

Pei Yuanjun didn’t expect her to say anything either. He walked up to the window, jumped out, and disappeared into the darkness.

Not until Lord Yun left did Qu Moying realize the clothes on her back were soaked by her cold sweat. As her whole body got loosened, she couldn’t feel her legs and leaned straight back. Her head hit the bed frame heavily. The pain made her curl up, and she covered her head with her hands.

There was no way she was not afraid. She was so afraid that she had goosebumps all over her skin. If using her to get rid of the hazards on his way was really Lord Yun’s intention, her life would end up being miserable again.

Thank god… Thank god that was not his intention…

She lay on her bed for a while before she sat up again. Then she walked to the window and made sure it was well locked this time. Leaning beside the window, her body was still trembling uncontrollably. She had to bite her lip hard to suppress the fear deep inside. The water in her cup was still a bit warm. She picked it up from the table and drank the water up…

This night, Qu Moying didn’t sleep well, spending most of her time dreaming. The nightmare in the Linyuan Pavilion of the Eastern Palace kept repeating in her mind. She saw herself falling into the water and drowning again and again.

Qu Qiuyan was another one who had a tough time sleeping tonight, rolling on her bed back and forth. After hearing Lord Jing’s arrival at the Dabei Temple, she secretly sent a servant to require a meeting but was given the cold shoulder. Lord Jing told her to enjoy her time in the temple. Even though he would stay here for a few days, he might not have time to meet her.

How would Qu Qiuyan accept his rejection? The Dabei Temple was the place where she and Lord Jing met for the first time. She could tell that Lord Jing was interested in her by then, so was she.

They clearly had feelings for each other. Even though everything was still under the table, they were both aware of it. But how come Lord Jing couldn’t squeeze some time for her when he was already here?

What else could he do in the temple? When they met here last time, Lord Jing spent most of his time accompanying her. Qu Qiuyan felt that he just made up an excuse to avoid her.

Was he accompanying another lady? The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it felt.

The unsettled feeling occupied her whole heart, making it hard for her to fall asleep. When she went to give obeisance to the Old Lady, Qu Qiuyan looked exhausted.

In fact, none of her other sisters and cousins looked any better than her.

Qu Xuexin’s face was still a bit pale. It seemed like she hadn’t fully recovered after taking the medicine. Qu Xuexin had never been a robust girl. When the Old Lady got sick, she would feel unwell too from time to time. Seeing her weak status, the Old Lady was not surprised.

As for Qu Caiyue, she was expected to be upset after involving in the scandal yesterday. On her way to the Old Lady’s yard today, all the guests she passed by stared at her with a weird look on their faces. The Qu Family had their conversation with their door shut tight, but all walls had ears. Qu Caiyue didn’t want to be a concubine, let alone a concubine of Second Young Master Yan, who was notorious for being a playboy. Of course, she couldn’t have a good sleep last night.

Right now, Qu Caiyue’s whole face was full of exhaustion.

It was the same as Qu Qiuyan and Qu Moying’s faces. Looking at her granddaughters’ gloomy faces, the Old Lady felt more displeased. Besides, what happened yesterday had already ruined her trip.

The Old Lady’s gaze first locked on Qu Caiyue as she pulled a long face.

“Grandmother!” Qu Caiyue knelt down in panic and started to wail.

“What’s the meaning of crying right now? Why did you do it in the first place?” the Old Lady scolded her with rage.

Qu Caiyue didn’t dare to utter a single word, just crying loudly.

“Grandmother, Caiyue has always behaved well. How come… how come this happened? Please forgive her this time, Grandmother. Luckily, Second Young Master Yan didn’t say anything except that he sent the gift to the wrong place.” With a pale face, Qu Xuexin stood up and knelt down next to Qu Caiyue.

She asked Qu Caiyue about what happened yesterday and got to know everything.

“Xin, get up first.” The Old Lady suppressed her anger and let Granny Wu help Qu Xuexin up. Then she said to Qu Caiyue with a stern face, “Don’t go out during this period. Stay in the yard and take some time to reflect on what you did.”

“Yes, Grandmother.” Qu Caiyue was helped up by a maid, still sobbing.

“Grandmother, you don’t need to lock Second Sister in her room. Second Young Master Yan said it was just a misunderstanding. If Second Sister is punished, people will believe she really did something wrong,” Qu Qiuyan defended for Qu Caiyue.

Qu Caiyue still held quite some value to her. She couldn’t be locked in her room when Qu Qiuyan still needed her.

Since Qu Qiuyan’s words were reasonable, the Old Lady became hesitant.

“Grandmother, if Caiyue is locked in her room, Qiuyan will feel bored by herself,” Qu Xuexin added.

Qu Moying took a glance at her three sisters as her eyes darkened. These three girls grew up together and seemed to have a good relationship, making Qu Moying look like an outsider.

But indeed, she was an outsider.

“Ying, what do you think?” the Old Lady took some time to think and then turned around to ask Qu Moying.

“I agree with First Sister and Third Sister. Second Sister should be treated the same. If she is punished, it will give people a reason to spread the rumors more. With all those people outside our yard yesterday, even though Second Young Master Yan didn’t admit anything, they will still get suspicious,” Qu Moying said calmly. Actually, people should already be convinced that there was something between Qu Caiyue and Second Young Master Yan.

Dating secretly was already a big mistake. Who would be so careless and send a gift to the wrong place, taking the risk of being exposed?

However, since the other two ladies were determined to free Qu Caiyue from her punishment, Qu Moying had to add more fuel to the fire…