Chapter 68 You Know Too Much

  Thank you annibaobei16, Mei in flying~?, heart heart quiet 1 pink vote, thank you prepared 3, perfect little fish 2, red bean Ni 1 anniversary cake reward, thank you ansons, Qing yuan cc? reward peace symbol...

  After the prince left with everyone, Yang Wenhua soon dispersed the banquet. After the banquet was dismissed, Yang Wenhua sent the noble ladies out of the mansion. Many noble ladies took the opportunity to run to Qingyao's side and have a warm conversation with her. However, not a single person went to Qingjin's side, but only glanced at Qingjin with a complex and envious gaze when passing by her side.

  Qing Jin ignored the complex gazes of the crowd, and only when they left the Yang Manor did she walk towards the carriage of the An Ji Marquis's residence with her eyes fixed straight ahead. As Yang Wen Hua was seeing off the noble ladies at the manor gate, he brushed past Qing Jin and whispered something in her ear, not waiting for her response before brushing past her again to see off another noble lady onto her carriage.

  Qing Jin gazed deeply at Yang Wen Hua's back as he walked away, then stepped onto the carriage of An Ji Hou Fu.

  Angie Hou Fu, Qing Jin brought several sisters including Qing Yao into the mansion and was immediately informed by the person guarding the gate that the old lady had summoned her.

  Qing Jin was worried about Qing Yao, while Qing Xia was gloating over her misfortune. Under Qing Qi's hesitant gaze, she followed the maid sent by Grandmother Shen to wait at the door for a long time and walked towards Grandmother Shen's courtyard as if nothing had happened.

  In the morning mist courtyard, Qing Jin knew that her grandmother, Shen Shi, must have known about what happened at the Yang family banquet as soon as she saw everyone being cautious and reserved in their words and actions.

  As expected, as soon as Qingjin walked into her grandmother Shen's house, Shen was furious and smashed a teacup in front of Qingjin, then Qingjin was punished to kneel in the ancestral hall.

  It was night, and the ground had cooled down a bit. The temple hall was also chilly, even though she was kneeling on a cushion. The coolness still seeped through the cushion into her bones. After the people outside left, Qingjin's originally straight kneeling posture relaxed instantly, and she couldn't help but let out a sigh. A moment later, there was only a soft creaking sound from the door behind her. Qingjin didn't even turn her head; at this time, who else could it be besides Yuanyang by her side?

  "Miss, Yuanyang has brought you some clothes." Yuanyang said, holding a bundle of clothes and bedding, addressing Qingjin's back.

  "You shouldn't have come." Qing Jin said calmly.

  Upon hearing Qingjin's words, Yuanyang's footsteps faltered. However, she still pretended to be nonchalant and quickly walked to Qingjin's side, helping her put on the clothes she had brought.

  Qing Jin didn't pretend to say that she wasn't cold, and instead cooperated with Yuanyang's movements to put on the thick clothes Yuanyang had brought. After a while, a faint warmth rose up from her body.

  The mandarin duck laid out the brocade quilt she had brought and turned around to see Qingjin wrapped in her clothes with a comfortable expression.

  "Miss, I don't understand, why did you have to tell that story today and play such a tune?" Yuanyang couldn't help but ask.

  "What, you think the story is not good to hear, or that song was played too badly?" Hearing Yuanyang's words, Qingjin raised her slightly narrowed eyes and asked.

  "The slave girl liked that story very much, and the tune you played was also nice to hear, even better than what Fourth Miss plays. But, miss, you clearly know... it's not suitable to tell such a story or play such a tune in this kind of setting. What makes Yuanyang even more heartbroken is that you didn't tell Yuanyang anything."

  "Alright, where did you learn this abandoned wife's expression from?" Qing Jin said with a smile, changing the subject and teasing Yuanyang.

  Upon hearing Qingjin's words, Yuanyang gave her a resentful glance and lowered her head, clearly showing that she was upset.

  Qing Jin looked at the sulking Yuanyang and sighed, "These days, maids are even more temperamental than their masters. They throw a tantrum and still expect their master to coax them out of it."

  When Yuanyang heard Qingjin say this, she was slightly moved. She raised her head and looked at Qingjin, opening her mouth as if to speak, but hesitated for a moment before closing it again in frustration, turning her face away and refusing to look at Qingjin anymore.

  "What's the point of this, if you want to know, I'll tell you, don't you think it's fun to tell a sad and beautiful story in that kind of setting?" Qingjin said with a half-truthful tone.

  When Yuanyang heard Qingjin's words, she turned her head around, blinking her eyes to look at Qingjin as if distinguishing the truth from falsehood in Qingjin's words.

  Qing Jin's calm and composed demeanor seemed to convince Yuanyang, who looked at her with a trusting expression. "Miss, you're absolutely right," he said. "If it weren't for the arrival of the Crown Prince and the other princes, your story and song would be perfectly fine. However, the problem is that the Crown Prince brought all those princes and even the young master, and you must have known they were coming when you started telling your story!" The last sentence was a statement, not a question.

  Yuanyang's last words fell, and she stared steadily into Qingjin's eyes. After a two-second stare, Qingjin looked away and said, "Yuanyang, you don't know that being too clever can put a lot of pressure on the master?"

  "With the understanding of the young lady's character, she should have had enough time to prepare another story in advance knowing that the prince and other princes would be present, as well as other men. However, she still told that inappropriate story and sang that song, why?... The young lady couldn't possibly be trying to attract attention from others because she is already engaged to Master Gao. Although Master Gao doesn't have the same noble status as the prince and princes, he is not inferior to them in any other way. Given the current situation, I don't know how other noble ladies would react, but the young lady still told that story. If she wasn't trying to attract the attention of the prince and princes, then she was intentionally ruining her own reputation."

  After listening to Yuanyang's reasonable analysis, Qingjin's gaze shifted to Yuanyang's body, a gloomy smile: "Yuanyang, you know too much!"

  "Miss, I want to know why you want to sully yourself and ruin your reputation?" Yuanyang looked at Qingjin, insisting on an answer.

  Qing Jin heard Yuanyang's question, and his gloomy smile was withdrawn. He lazily leaned to one side and said: "How do you know I'm not infatuated with vanity, wanting to climb up the social ladder and gain wealth and glory, intentionally using a special way to attract the attention of the Crown Prince and other princes?"

  Upon hearing Qingjin's words, Yuanyang's eyes couldn't help but dim slightly. Is the young lady still unwilling to tell her? Feeling a bit wronged, she also knew that she had overstepped, but thinking about how the young lady wouldn't share things with her made her feel uncomfortable, and upon hearing Qingjin's words, she felt even more so. "The young lady is not that kind of person." These words were spoken firmly.

  "Don't you think that I, your daughter-in-law, am too excellent and others will feel pressured?" Hearing Yuanyang's firm words, Qingjin smiled slightly and spoke again seriously.

  "Is what Miss said referring to Fourth Miss?" Upon hearing Qingjin's words, Yuanyang's dull eyes began to shine brightly.

  Qing Jin heard Yuanyang's words and was deeply moved by her unspoken emotions.

  "Speaking of which, I'm a bit confused too. Although Fourth Miss is slightly inferior to you in every aspect, I think she's not bad either. But now that you mention it, I've noticed that when Fourth Miss is with you, there seems to be something... something that doesn't feel right, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Just like this time, if you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have thought about it, but today the Crown Prince hadn't even said anything about punishing you, and Fourth Miss rushed out to take the punishment with you. At the time, I was moved by her sisterly affection for you, but now that I think about it, it feels off somehow. Usually, Fourth Miss is very proper and well-behaved too!" Yuanyang looked at Qingjin with a puzzled expression.

  What Qingjin said earlier actually had another meaning, and unexpectedly, Yuanyang connected it to Gu Qingyao's body. Hearing Yuanyang's words, Qingjin, who was still a bit distracted, suddenly thought of Gu Qingyao's abnormal behavior when facing her several times recently, and if Yuanyang hadn't mentioned it, she wouldn't have noticed.

  She had indeed been a bit too careless in her interactions with Gu Qingyao, and after she got engaged to her cousin, she thought there wouldn't be any conflicts of interest between them, so she let her guard down around Gu Qingyao. But now that Yuanyang mentioned it, thinking back on Gu Qingyao's words and actions over the past few times, they did seem to contain some hidden traps. Although Gu Qingyao was very clever about it, there were still signs to be found. So why was Gu Qingyao doing this? Was she jealous of her? It didn't seem like Gu Qingyao had these kinds of petty moves in their past life...

  Qing Jin began to recall the scenes of her recent interactions with Qing Yao, while the Mandarin Duck beside her saw Qing Jin's expression and thought she was right, so she didn't disturb Qing Jin's thoughts and quietly accompanied her.

  Qing Jin didn't know that in her past life, Gu Qing Yao was also a bit jealous of her at first. However, with the guidance of Su Shi by her side, coupled with Qing Jin's shortcomings and impulsive nature, she would often get herself into trouble within a few days. Adding to this, her flashy personality from her past life meant that although there was initially some distance between Qing Yao and her, due to her cunning and unrealistic behavior, Gu Qing Yao slowly gained the upper hand in all aspects, feeling confident and not bothering with petty actions.

  Later, Gu Qingjin encountered Long HanYuan on the street and everything he did was to get close to Long HanYuan. When a person is obsessed with something, they will inevitably neglect many other aspects.

  When people are in the same stage, they can't help but compare themselves with others at the same stage. Two equally excellent people always can't help but compare and want to suppress each other. No one can avoid this comparison, just like Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, young Bao Zheng and Gong Sun Ce.

  The result of this contrast is either a fight to the death or you belong to him. Humans, especially women, are a species that likes to kill each other, so examples of fighting to the death are obviously more common than turning enemies into friends.

  In her past life, Gu Qingjin didn't need anyone to frame her, she herself created trouble and got into an awkward situation. As long as Gu Qingyao stood out at the right time, she could win people's favor and applause.