Reborn to Be A Noble Wife - Chapter 83

Chapter 83 Everyone Was Playing the Blame Game

It was Liu Lanxin’s private maid, Chun Xiu.

This maid was even more beautiful than many noble ladies in the capital, and it was hard not to notice her in the crowd.

She was trying pretty hard to squeeze in, which irritated the people around her. Those angry people were all about to scold her. But they fell into silence and even made some space for her after seeing her gorgeous face.

Chun Xiu moved into the crowd with a curious face, standing towards Pei Yusheng, who was outside of the circle.

In fact, Liu Lanxin was the most suitable wife candidate in Pei Yusheng’s heart, and he planned to give the other two hairpins to her. If her maid told her that he gave two of the hairpins to Qu Qiuyan, it would totally ruin his big plan.

County Lady Jingyu noticed the hairpin in Qu Moying’s hand and took a careful look at it. Then she said in a low voice, “That pearl hairpin…looks quite familiar.”

She turned to glance at Pei Yusheng with a meaningful look on her face.

Hearing her words, Pei Yusheng suddenly remembered something. When his mother wanted to pick County Lady Jingyu as his wife, she once mentioned that she wanted to give her a set of hairpins, which was a tribute to the royal family. Maybe County Lady Jingyu even knew that the Crown Princess wanted it too, but his mother asked them from the empress.

“Moying, is it…the hairpin I gave it to you before?” Qu Qiuyan whispered to Qu Moying, reminding her again while touching the one on her head.

She thought Qu Moying would ask her why she got something from the royal palace.

“Third Sister, did you give me another one? You didn’t give this one to me? You couldn’t possibly have such a valuable hairpin!” Qu Moying had been waiting for this question from Qu Qiuyan for the whole time. Before, she was even worried about how she could pass the buck to Qu Qiuyan if she didn’t say anything.

“Moying, what…what do you mean?” Qu Qiuyan was stunned for a second and opened her eyes widely in shock, “I gave it to you when we were at Grandmother’s yard, and Granny Wu even saw it! Are you saying that I’m lying?”

“Granny Wu was indeed there, right behind us when you gave the hairpin to me. How about we invite her here and ask her about it?” Qu Moying said in a flat tone. At that time, she purposefully blocked Granny Wu’s sight. Granny Wu indeed saw Qu Qiuyan giving a hairpin to Qu Moying, but she definitely didn’t see which one.

“Then where’s the hairpin I gave to you?” Qu Qiuyan’s face turned pale due to anger. She never expected Qu Moying to be so bold to use what she said and blame it on her.

“After I said goodbye to you, an old maid bumped into me and made me lose the hairpin. It happened in front of First Sister’s yard, and I saw her maid standing at the door at that time. She should’ve heard everything,” Qu Moying continued.

Qu Xuexin was a smart girl, and a smart person knew how to make the best choice in this kind of situation. She would definitely not choose to lie and cause herself trouble.

“Third Sister, you already asked me once. Didn’t I tell you the same reason before? You even said you were going to tell Grandmother. Haven’t you forgotten it already?” Qu Moying seemed even more undisturbed.

Hearing her words, Qu Qiuyan remembered she did say something similar before. But she was talking about this pearl hairpin. Why did it suddenly become a totally different hairpin? It sounded not right at all.

And she became the person related to Gao An?

It even sounded like she was the one trying everything to frame Qu Moying and ruin her name. Qu Qiuyan took a glance over people’s faces and found them all looking at her with suspicion.

She started to feel irritated and anxious.

Qu Qiuyan calmed herself down and scolded Qu Moying loudly, “Moying, it is your business. How can you blame it on me? I gave you a hairpin out of good intention. I don’t care if you gave it to someone else, but how can you involve me in your trouble? How can you be…so ungrateful?”

“Don’t be so ridiculous, Third Sister! You’ve never seen eye to eye with me before. Why would you give me such a valuable hairpin? You just gave me an ordinary hairpin, and I accidentally lost it soon afterward. We don’t have any evidence to prove our words, and I agree! But now, a man has a hairpin that looks exactly the same as the one you have on your head, and you say you gave it to me before. Third Sister, I don’t understand what you are talking about. Besides, if you really gave it to me, where did you get it in the first place?”

The look on Qu Moying’s face was still calm, but her words were very sharp.

“Third Sister, how about you tell us where you got the hairpins, and then we can talk about who gave it to this man.”

Qu Qiuyan flew into a rage. She was always in the position of controlling other people and couldn’t accept being framed by others, let alone her useless, blind sister. Without thinking, she said furiously, “This hairpin is…”

“Third Lady Qu, this hairpin was lost by me. When did you get it?” A cold voice came behind the crowd and interrupted Qu Qiuyan.

As the crowd moved away to two sides, Pei Yusheng and his group walked closer. He was wearing a displeased look on his face and gave Qu Qiuyan a stern glare.

Qu Qiuyan was overjoyed seeing Pei Yusheng, thinking with his support, Qu Moying couldn’t get around with it. She hurriedly moved up to him but was scared by his glare. She stood there, looking at him pitifully, and didn’t even listen to what he said.

“Lord Jing, it’s an honor to meet you here.” Qu Moying curtsied to him.

By then, Qu Qiuyan realized her misbehave and curtsied to him hurriedly.

“Third Lady Qu, this pair of hairpins belong to me. But I lost them after a thief paid a visit to my mansion. Could you tell me where you bought them?” said Pei Yusheng.

He had no choice but to put an end to this drama because of Chun Xiu and County Lady Jingyu’s words.

He glared at Qu Qiuyan with a sullen face, fearing that she would say they were his gift.

“Where…where did I buy them?” Qu Qiuyan’s mind was totally blank. She didn’t know what to do, only repeating his words.

“Yes. Where did you buy this pair of hairpins, Third Lady Qu? Please tell me, and I will really appreciate it,” Pei Yusheng said with a righteous look.

Qu Moying took a step back and gave the stage to this couple who was really secretly dating. But ironically, it didn’t seem that Lord Jing wanted to admit it anymore.

“I…I…indeed bought them somewhere outside. I…I bought them from a person I ran into before on the street. I found them really pretty, so I bought them,” Qu Qiuyan stuttered. She finally understood Pei Yusheng’s intention and explained it to him as her eyes turned red. She looked at him pitifully.

No one would know about the hairpins better than them two.

“Alright. Thank you, Third Lady Qu.” Pei Yusheng cupped his hand in front of his chest and bowed to her slightly. He glanced at Gao An, who was standing aside anxiously, and said, “You can’t just believe whatever other people say to you. A maid said the hairpin belonged to Fourth Lady Qu, and then you just believe it. But Fourth Lady Qu couldn’t possibly own such a thing. You are a scholar, and you can’t even read people properly? Get lost, now.”

Pei Yusheng swung his arm in anger as his long wide sleeve flapped in the air. His expression was frigid.

Everything started with this man, which already gave Pei Yusheng enough reason to dislike him. He didn’t think Qu Qiuyan had something to do with this man, but he could see that Qu Qiuyan was trying to frame Qu Moying.

He had known Qu Qiuyan disliked Qu Moying since long ago. Of course, this was none of his business, so he didn’t care even though he found it a bit annoying. But Qu Qiuyan kept emphasizing how innocent her mother Yu was, set up by Qu Moying’s mother. That was why Yu ended up marrying into the Qu Family as a concubine, and she didn’t even dare to mention her history. Qu Qiuyan also felt ashamed in front of other noble ladies.

But judging on the situation right now, Qu Qiuyan must be behind it.

Pei Yusheng had unexplainable anxiety deep down inside, finding Qu Qiuyan less pleasing than usual.

At the same time, Gao An felt very regretful. He thought it was just a tiny thing that people wouldn’t notice – sending a wallet to someone, letting people find it out, and revealing the hairpin and the note. That was it. All the work would be done by the young servant, and he didn’t even need to show up in public.

He didn’t expect to cause such a big scene and irritate Lord Jing. He still needed to pass the royal exam and start his career in the political field. He couldn’t leave a negative impression on Lord Jing.

He quickly came up with a plan, turned around, and bowed to Qu Moying deeply. “Fourth Lady Qu, I’m very sorry. When I stayed in the village, I actually never met you. It’s just I was irritated hearing the maid saying that she sent this hairpin on behalf of Fourth Lady Qu. So, I lied about meeting you before since the maid told me you were easy to recognize with the long veil. After I take a second thought about it now, someone probably is trying to set you up. Fourth Lady Qu, it is my fault. Please forgive me.”

Gao An quickly passed the buck off himself.

Now, he became a righteous man who met a misbehaved lady and wanted to teach her a good lesson. With the note he wrote before, people’s impression of him was even better.

Plus, his handsome face and gentle aura made things more convincing. At this moment, many people nodded at him, thinking he made the right choice but just got misled.

Qu Moying was indeed the easiest person to recognize among all the people. Her long veil almost became her unique symbol. Even people who didn’t know her would find her immediately in the crowd after learning her feature.

“Your Royal Highness, it is my fault, and I will lock myself in my house as self-punishment. Please forgive me, Your Royal Highness.” Gao An hurriedly walked up to Lord Jing and bowed to him politely. Then he walked away, leaving all the trouble behind. What would happen next had nothing to do with him anymore.

As Pei Yusheng’s eyes fell on Gao An, he showed a meaningful look with a trace of respect instead of annoyance.

Everything was witnessed by Qu Moying. She raised her brow, impressed by his decisiveness and cruelness. He pushed all the responsibility on Qu Qiuyan and got himself out of trouble without any hesitation, leaving Qu Qiuyan no chance to defend herself. It seemed like she needed to carry out an investigation on this man later.

“Don’t leave. Explain it to me. Who gave you the hairpin?!” Qu Qiuyan was about to chase him as her face turned pale in rage.

Pei Yusheng reached out his arm to stop her…