Chapter 68 Pei Jingye
——Cuiyu Pavilion——
The raindrops hit the corners of the green tile eaves, forming several silver lines along the tilted dripping tiles. The leaden clouds pressed low on the courtyard wall, and the faint light leaking from the skylight seemed covered with a layer of dark gauze.
This is where Xu Qingyue lives now, a small courtyard located in the south courtyard of the Duke's Mansion.
This courtyard is relatively small. Apart from the main house, there are two side rooms on each side, as well as a storage room and an ear room. It is obvious that this is where concubines live. It is much more shabby than the previous Cuiyingxuan.
The clothes Xu Qingyue wore suddenly became much simpler from the bright and beautiful ones before, and even her face looked haggard and bloated.
Ever since Xu Qingyue was demoted to a concubine, she has been crying for several days in a row.
"What has the Crown Prince's wife been doing recently?" Even though she had been warned and punished like this, Xu Qingyue did not give up on finding out what Xu Qingyan was thinking.
Although she didn't dare to touch her for the time being, she had really remembered this grudge. Recently, she had been asking people to pay attention to Xu Qingyan, just thinking about whether she could get any chance to make Xu Qingyan the same as her.
Upon hearing this, the maid lowered her eyebrows and said timidly, "Madam, she plays with the eldest lady in the mansion every day. Sometimes she goes to the accounting office or to the Duke's wife to learn the ways of housekeeping. But occasionally, she also..."
As she spoke, the maid didn't dare to speak when she saw Xu Qingyue's face gradually getting gloomy.
Xu Qingyue was anxious, and she held the maid and shouted, "What's going on? Why don't you say anything?"
"I will go out to travel with the young master." The maid closed her eyes, prepared to bear Xu Yunyue's anger in the next moment.
There was a clanging sound on the ground. Xu Qingyue was so angry that she broke the teacups on the table again. This was the third pair of teacups she broke this month.
Xu Qingyue said with a grim look, "Why? I am abandoned by my husband and live in this broken courtyard every day, unable to even leave the house, but she can let the young master take her to travel around!"
The more Xu Qingyue thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. She couldn't help but curse, "No! I don't want Xu Qingyan to live anymore! When her mother died of illness in the countryside, why didn't she die of illness in such a harsh environment?
"You go back first and call Fangdong in!" Xu Qingyue ordered the maid in a cold voice.
"Madam, what do you want me to do?" Fang Dong finished the work at hand and walked in from outside nervously.
Recently, Xu Qingyue's temper has been really bad. She was not very polite to her personal maid who she brought from her mother's home, so Fang Dong was secretly afraid.
"Come here, help me find a few people, have them follow Xu Qingyan, and when she is alone outside, capture her for me..." Xu Qingyue's eyes turned fierce, and as he spoke, he gestured with his hand and scratched his neck.
Fang Dong was shocked when he heard this: "Madam, please don't be impulsive. If this is discovered, it will not be easy for us!"
Xu Qingyue could follow Xu Qingyan to do some dirty tricks, but she would never dare to do things like murder and arson.
But Xu Qingyue was not afraid at all, with a hint of madness on her face: "Let someone insult her first, throw her naked body in the alley, and create an accident, isn't that enough? If she dies in such a shameful way, then the Duke's Mansion will definitely not dare to report it to the police for the sake of their own reputation, so you don't have to be afraid."
Fang Dong was still terribly frightened. Her lips trembled slightly. She didn't dare to answer for a long time and said, "But..."
"But what buts? Now, do you dare not even listen to me?" Xu Qingyue yelled at Fang Dong again.
In desperation, Fang Dong had to do as Xu Qingyue instructed.
However, Xu Qingyue's plan was very good, but what she didn't expect was that when Fang Dong found the person, the other party offered a high price when he heard that they were going to rape and kill the wife of the Crown Prince of the Duke's Mansion.
"What! Sixty thousand taels of gold! Why don't they just rob?" When Xu Qingyue heard the price, she almost screamed. Fortunately, Fang Dong reminded her and she covered her mouth in time.
"Madam, they said that the Crown Prince's wife is a member of the imperial family. They won't do such a risky thing unless they have 60,000 taels of gold." Fang Dong said to Xu Qingyue with some embarrassment.
"Sixty thousand taels? Where can I get so much silver?" Xu Qingyue cursed in annoyance.
Her dowry was only six hundred taels of silver. Even if she took out all the valuable jewelry she had collected over the years and the private money she had saved over the years, she could only collect ten thousand taels of silver at most!
So, after Xu Qingyue became angry, she could only put the matter aside temporarily, but she still did not forget to ask people to keep an eye on Xu Qingyan.
A few days later, the Duke's Mansion welcomed a happy event. The eldest son of the second wife, who was originally working in Jiangnan, was promoted and transferred back to the capital.
——Lobby of the Duke's Mansion——
"Jingye! You have suffered a lot over the years! Now, you are finally back. You will stay in the Duke's Mansion from now on, right?" When the second wife Zhang saw her son Pei Jingye in official uniform, she was so excited that she went up to him and hugged him and cried.
Pei Jingye, now 20 years old, was assigned to Jiangnan after passing the imperial examination three years ago. With his outstanding abilities, he soon became the governor, and then continued to work diligently. Finally, his talent was discovered by the emperor, and he was transferred back to the capital to serve.
"Mother, I am an unfilial son and I am sorry to make you worry!" Pei Jingye said steadily.
After Pei Jingye helped his mother sit on the chair, he bowed to the Duke and the other elders in the Duke's Mansion. Moreover, he prepared gifts for everyone in the Duke's Mansion, from the Duke to the concubines in the backyard. There was no omission, and the etiquette was so thorough that no one could find fault with it.
After Xu Qingyan received Pei Jingye's gift, she couldn't help but exclaimed in her heart: "This is the eldest son of the second house, Pei Jingye, the affectionate male second in the book! It really implements the development law of the old romance novels. Since ancient times, the male second is affectionate and rich! Not only is he handsome, but he is also so generous. He gave gifts to everyone. His treatment of people is really refreshing. What a pity! Such a good man would be so blind to fall in love with Xu Qingyue!"
At this moment, Pei Jingye was smiling and responding to everyone's thanks, when suddenly his mouth froze. Who is talking? What the hell is this affectionate male second? And who is this Xu Qingyue?
Pei Jingchuan and other people who could also hear Xu Qingyan's thoughts were all shocked and puzzled: How could Pei Jingye like Xu Qingyue? Putting aside the problem of his vision, Xu Qingyue was his cousin's wife. Pei Jingye was gentle and polite, and definitely not the kind of person who would commit incest!
At this time, Xu Qingyue was completely unaware of the changes in them. She was standing aside and quietly opening the gift Pei Jingye gave her. When she saw that it was a heavy golden hairpin, her eyes suddenly lit up.
She was just a concubine of the Duke's son, and she could still get the golden hairpin from the second son. What kind of precious gifts would other people receive? Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look up to peek at other people, but she didn't expect that when she looked up, she suddenly met Pei Jingye's gaze towards her.
Pei Jingye was born with a pair of peach blossom eyes. Whenever his gaze falls on someone, it will give people a feeling of affectionate gaze.
At this moment, the look between him and Xu Qingyue made Xu Qingyue's heart skip a beat.
Xu Qingyue thought: He looked at me like this, could it be that he was interested in me? But, they clearly didn't know each other before?
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