A Miss from an aristocratic family, who lived in a nunnery for observing mourning for her parents like Shao Wanru, could enjoy a great reputation and be highly praised. But a Miss, who had to live in a nunnery because she came from a poor family and had no relative to rely on, would have a bad reputation even if she was brought back to her relatives’ mansion. People would even doubt her family education.
It was understandable that Mo Qiuyi’s uncle and aunt were worried about this and did not want Mo Qiuyi to show up in front of the nuns of the Yuhui Nunnery.
“Shuqi, go and fetch the painting!” Shao Yanru handed the sketch back to Mo Qiuyi and gave Shuqi an order in a soft voice.
“Miss, if I leave, there will be no maid around you.” Shuqi looked at Mo Qiuyi and the two maids behind her and said vigilantly.
“First Miss, shall my maid go with your maid?” Mo Qiuyi asked with a smile.
“Okay!” Shao Yanru said with a smile and then told Shuqi, “It’s okay. Miss Mo and I haven’t seen each other for a long time. We can have a chat!”
Hearing her master’s words, Shuqi had no choice but to leave in a hurry. Mo Qiuyi waved her hand, and one of her maids went after Shuqi.
“Miss Mo, who’s your uncle? Where does he work?” Shao Yanru looked at Mo Qiuyi curiously and said, “If I hadn’t met you in the Yuhui Nunnery, I probably wouldn’t have recognized you!”
“My uncle is just a minor official. He might be a nobody in your view, but he’s my only closest relative in the world. Fortunately, I have an uncle. Otherwise, I am afraid that I have to stay in the Yuhui Nunnery for the rest of my life,” Mo Qiuyi said with a bitter smile and looked up at the scenery in front of her. Standing in a high place, she could see most of the scenery of the Yuhui Nunnery.
“Miss Mo, when sorrow is at an end, then comes joy. The period of time you lived in the Yuhui Nunnery is nothing but a kind of experience. The rainbow comes after the storm. Miss Mo, do you agree with me?” Shao Yanru comforted her gently with an increasingly elegant smile.
Mo Qiuyi turned her head and looked at Shao Yanru’s gentle and elegant smile with gratitude in her heart. She bowed deeply to Shao Yanru and said, “Thank you for your comfort, First Miss Shao!”
Although she was now a Miss from an official’s family, there was still a great gap between her uncle’s mansion and Duke Xing’s Mansion. Mo Qiuyi was very moved that Shao Yanru could comfort her so amiably.
Since she moved to her uncle’s mansion, she had lived a miserable life in spite of being educated by an etiquette instructor. Her uncle had his own children. Although he took good care of her, those cousin sisters were aggressive and always thought of various ways to insult her. She was moved by Shao Yanru’s words.
“I didn’t mean to comfort you. I just said that because you seem to be a little sad. After I go down the mountain later, you can come to visit me when you are free,” Shao Yanru said in an increasingly gentle tone with a gentle smile.
It meant that she wanted to make friends with Mo Qiuyi. As a Miss from a minor official’s mansion, Mo Qiuyi could be considered claiming higher class connections with a friend of such high status like Shao Yanru.
“Thank you, First Miss Shao!” Mo Qiuyi expressed her gratitude again, regretting that she didn’t develop a profound friendship with Shao Yanru when she was on the mountain. It would be a good thing for her if she developed a profound friendship with Shao Yanru long before.
One of them intended to make friends, while the other showed a smiling face, so they talked happily with each other. After a while, Shuqi came back with the painting. Mo Qiuyi took it, and became overjoyed after looking at it carefully. She thanked Shao Yanru again and again, and then went down the mountain with two maids.
Shao Yanru stood on the mountain and watched them leave with her smile fading away.
“Miss, why did you give the painting to her? Pushan Nun didn’t make it clear that it was not for you!” Shuqi felt indignant for her master and complained.
It was not easy to get Pushan Nun’s painting. Since it was sent to her master, why couldn’t her master keep it?
Moreover, it was stamped with Pushan Nun’s private seal. As Shao Yanru’s personal maid, Shuqi naturally knew that her master did not have a painting stamped with Pushan Nun’s private seal. Why did her master give away the painting?
“Did the maid do anything unusual when running the errand with you?” Shao Yanru said lightly without turning her head.
“She kept asking about the Fifth Miss. It seems that she went there for the Fifth Miss rather than for the painting. After entering the courtyard, she even asked to stay in the courtyard and looked around. She’s obviously up to no good, and I find her quite unpleasant to the eye.”
Shuqi said in anger. The maid not only asked about the Fifth Miss on the way, but also looked around outside the Fifth Miss’s silence room. She was nothing like a principal maid of a Miss, and even an inferior maid was smarter than her.
“Did you say what you should say?” Shao Yanru raised the corners of her mouth and said with a sneer.
“I’ve said everything you told me to say. Miss, do you think it strange? During the five years she lived here, she had no relatives. Now there suddenly came a biological uncle, who was willing to raise her. Where has he gone before? It’s really unreasonable that he took her back to his mansion after such a long time!”
Shuqi said doubtfully.
“Do you also think it suspicious?” Shao Yanru said, as she walked back slowly. It was almost time for her to go back.
Shuqi followed her closely, nodded and said, “I think it suspicious!”
“Since it has nothing to do with us, there is no need to ask about it. Just wait and see. It’s good that she’s interested in the Fifth Sister. Let’s wait and see. If they fight at outrance, it will have nothing to do with me,” Shao Yanru said casually.
“First Miss, has Pushan Nun also hidden something?” Feeling her heart skipping a beat, Shuqi asked with a pale face. Pushan Nun had a deep connection with her master. If Pushan Nun did any wrong, her master could be implicated.
“No matter what she has hidden, it has nothing to do with us. I just learn painting from her,” Shao Yanru said meaningfully, glancing at the high wall below. Standing here, she found that the high wall couldn’t block her view, and she could see those courtyards behind the high wall. Since there were plenty of courtyards, there must be plenty of imperial concubines of the previous emperor.
Seeing Shao Yanru look towards another direction, Shuqi also looked over there and said with a sigh, “The imperial concubines with no children are really pitiful!”
Shao Yanru withdrew her cold gaze and continued going down. An imperial concubine with no children could only be someone else’s stepping stone. She was going to be a member of the imperial harem as well. But one thing she was sure of was that she was going to live a life different from that of those imperial concubines below. She was destined to step on all kinds of stepping stones to reach the highest place…
“Miss, I saw Miss Mo, who is said to have lived over there for five years. She was differently dressed, but I still recognized her at first glance. She and the First Miss talked happily with each other. With no one else there, I did not dare to get close to them, so I could not hear their conversation. Nevertheless, both of them were joyful, and Shuqi led Miss Mo’s maid to fetch a scroll of painting!”
Qing’er reported to Shao Wanru. She came back after Shao Yanru. Nevertheless, she was an inferior maid, who was the most inconspicuous in the entire courtyard. Besides, she was so agile that she wouldn’t be discovered even if she followed Shao Yanru.
“Miss Mo? The girl who begged grandma before?” Shao Wanru said with her face darkening slowly, and stopped knocking on the wooden fish after rolling her watery eyes.
“Yes, exactly. She didn’t look like the peasant girl she used to be, but was dressed like a Miss, followed by two maids. She left after fetching the painting,” Qing’er said.
Shao Wanru fell silent, thinking that there must be some secrets in the painting.
“The painting is the one Pushan Nun intended to give Shao Yanru. Not long after Shao Yanru got it, Mo Qiuyi came to ask for it. Shao Yanru just gave it to her without saying anything and even talked happily with her?” Shao Wanru whispered. When Shuqi came to fetch the painting, Yujie had seen it and reported it to Shao Wanru.
“Miss, since the painting of Pushan Nun is not left to the First Miss, it should be left to Miss Mo. But at that time, the one sent by His Highness has shown up, Pushan Nun found it inconvenient to give it to Mo Qiuyi directly, so she entrusted it to the First Miss.” Qing’er rolled her eyes and connected a series of weird things.
However, after saying that, she found it impossible. It seemed that these things should not be connected in this way. It was not a shady deal for Pushan Nun to give a painting to someone. Besides, she could entrust it to other nuns, who could give it to Mo Qiuyi. It was unnecessary to take such a round-about way. Moreover, the First Miss seemed to be astonished, so she did not instruct Shuqi to bring the painting with them.
She was far away from them at that time, but she saw that Mo Qiuyi seemed to have shown something to Shao Yanru. After that, Shao Yanru instructed Shuqi to fetch the painting. Did Mo Qiuyi show Shao Yanru any evidence?
It was just a painting. Did Mo Qiuyi need to show the evidence before getting it?
“The painting should be left to Mo Qiuyi. The reason why Pushan Nun sent it to Shao Yanru was probably that Pushan Nun didn’t want His Highness to notice the painting or Mo Qiuyi. Of course, there might be other reasons. Anyway, she doesn’t want Mo Qiuyi to be noticed. Qing’er, send someone to keep an eye on Mo Qiuyi to see if there’s anything strange!”
Shao Wanru gave an order after thinking for a moment. She had an intuition that Mo Qiuyi was very strange. She had thought that since Mo Qiuyi had secretly gone down the mountain, what she did would have nothing to do with her. But now, she was obviously wrong. Based on the fact that Mo Qiuyi’s maid kept looking towards her room and even attempted to come over secretly to have a look, she could tell that Mo Qiuyi paid attention to her.
No matter Mo Qiuyi was an ordinary girl or a Miss, Mo Qiuyi had nothing to do with her. Why did Mo Qiuyi’s maid pay such great attention to her when coming to fetch the painting? She had little contact with Mo Qiuyi and only nodded with a smile when they met and Mo Qiuyi bowed to her. What made Mo Qiuyi suddenly pay such great attention to her?
Thinking of how Mo Qiuyi knelt in front of her grandma and begged her grandma that day, she thought that there must be something fishy.
“Yes, Miss. I’ll do it later!” Qing’er answered.
“Miss, I think could it be possible… that the target of the girl Qu Le and I met yesterday was the two paintings held by Qu Le and me?” Yujie asked hesitantly after hearing their conversation.