Chapter 101 – The Crown Prince Might Be Tempted
“What does Your Heir-apparent want?” Wei Yuewu frowned. She didn’t believe that Yan Huaijing was joking with her on purpose. The qin was not laid at a place where one could perform.
“Take this qin and the score with you. If you can find someone who is willing to play Confession of Love for me, give this qin to her.” Yan Huaijing said meaningfully.
“Don’t tell the person you are acting on my behalf.” Yan Huaijing smiled gently and waved a slender finger in front of Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu saw the qin but not the score. However, if the heir-apparent said it was there, she believed that it must be there!
Wei Yuewu frowned notwithstanding. She really couldn’t understand what this heir-apparent was trying to say. Although it would damage a girl’s reputation to play Confession of Love for a man, it would be a happy ending if Yan Huaijing asked for it in the first place and was to accept the girl.
There should be a number of young ladies who were willing to play Confession of Love for Yan Huaijing if they knew he had this intention.
Then why was there the need to kick up a cloud of dust?
“Your Heir-apparent doesn’t want to marry in the capital?” Wei Yuewu asked confusedly as she thought about all those things that had happened recently.
“Yes, I do.” Yan Huaijing gracefully stood up and flicked the wide corner of his clothes in a casual and elegant manner.
“Then… why…” Wei Yuewu was bewildered. This heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State had been acting like he did not want to marry at all. In addition, the four heirs-apparent who had come to the capital were all unmarried, which inevitably thronged people’s mind with thoughts.
“Come here.” Yan Huaijing looked at Wei Yuewu with a faint smile. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Wei Yuewu’s hand. His hand was big and firm and he held Wei Yuewu’s slender hand in his palm, leading her to the window.
Outside the window stood a lot of bamboo and strange rocks. There came a rustling sound as the wind blew past.
“There’s a bamboo grove in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, right? It’s right behind Wei Luowu’s study.” Yan Huaijing asked softly.
Wei Yuewu was initially shocked by his sudden grip on her hand. She was about to pull out her hand but he firmly grabbed it and led her to the window. At this moment she heard what he was saying. She was shocked and forgot about her hand that was still in his hand. She raised her clear eyes in astonishment and said, “There is a large bamboo grove, but my grandmother doesn’t allow me to go there, because I would disturb Second Uncle if I got close to his study.”
There was one more reason Wei Yuewu didn’t mention. Although that place was at a corner of the garden, one could go directly to Wei Luowu’s study in the outer courtyard through the bamboo grove. Men from outside the mansion might appear in the outer courtyard, so it was extremely unsuitable for ladies from the inner courtyard to go there. Therefore, as soon as Wei Yuewu moved in, Nanny Hong had been ordered by the Madam Dowager to warn her about it.
“Mo Huating is meeting Wei Luowu privately.” Yan Huaijing said leisurely. The corners of his handsome lips curled into extremely pleasant smile!
“So, if Marquis Jing Yuan intends to rebel, Wei Luowu might know it?” Wei Yuewu’s eyes tightened as she asked cautiously.
“Well… I don’t know. You will help me find it out.” Yan Huaijing smiled as he looked at Wei Yuewu and occasionally played with her smooth-skinned and delicate hand in his hands.
Wei Yuewu’s heart skipped a beat. Her eyebrows furrowed tightly. Anything involving rebellion was no small matter. Wei Luowu was an important official. Logically speaking, it was impossible for him to be involved in this kind of thing. However, she believed that Yan Huaijing would not say so without proper consideration.
What was more, the matter concerning Wei Yan was indeed a bit strange if one thought carefully about it. When Wei Yan fell into her present situation and her entire life was almost destroyed, only Lady Li got anxious but Wei Luowu didn’t stand up for his daughter. Was it because Wei Luowu didn’t value his daughter much or was there some other secret?
Mo Huating had tried desperately to stop her from breaking off their engagement. Wei Yuewu was sure that Mo Huating had a reason because he would rather kill her than break off the engagement. Wei Yuewu believed that there was definitely some reason, although she didn’t know what it was.
But what about Wei Luowu…
If Wei Luowu really had anything to do with the so-called rebellion, the entire mansion of Marquis Hua Yang would be implicated. When a nest collapsed, how could the eggs remained complete? And now, Wei Yuewu was living in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang!
“I’ll give this qin to you! I heard that you have no helpers in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. There’s no need to make haste in the issue of Mo Huating and Wei Luowu. It won’t be late to look into it until you have a grip on the entire mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. As for Confession of Love, I heard that the Fourth Young Lady of your mansion is very interested in the Crown Prince. If this tune was played in a real sense, the Crown Prince might be tempted.”
Yan Huaijing said meaningfully in a lazy manner.
Wei Yuewu’s eyes widened. She raised her head immediately to look at Yan Huaijing. Reflected in her large clear eyeballs were two handsome figures. Her eyebrows involuntarily furrowed.
“Fourth Elder Sister admires the Crown Prince…”
“Is it strange? The Crown Prince is unmarried, and so is Fourth Miss Wei! Wouldn’t it be a good match! The Crown Prince likes listening to Confession of Love. I wonder if Fourth Miss Wei is willing to become his better half!” Yan Huaijing looked at Wei Yuewu and suddenly chuckled meaningfully.
However, the smile on his handsome face faded away soon, leaving only evil coldness, a domineering aura and a hint of bloodthirstiness.
“Remember, your life is mine.”
Wei Yuewu was completely shocked by Wei Qiufu’s adoration for the Crown Prince Wen Tianyao. She did not notice the last sentence of Yan Huaijing.
Wei Yuewu could never have guessed it. Didn’t the Fourth Young Lady Wei Qiufu, who looked as pure as clear water, have a secret relationship with Xie Qingzhao?
Wei Qiufu could still stir up trouble in the mansion after leaving. Although Wei Yuewu met this Fourth Miss Wei only a few times, she never deemed Wei Qiufu as a simple character. However, she had never expected that Wei Qiufu aimed so high as to set her eyes on the position of the Crown Princess.
To marry the Crown Prince and become the mistress of the Eastern Palace meant that she could be the empress when the Crown Prince ascended to the throne.
Wei Yuewu was astonished at the ambition of her Fourth Elder Sister who looked pure-hearted. At this moment, she suddenly understood why Wei Qiufu took measures against her. Her eyes were filled with coldness.
Wei Qiufu was the lowest among the first daughters of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. The position of the Third Master was not high. It could be said that Wei Qiufu would never have a chance to become the Crown Princess without the backing of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. However, things were different with the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang as her support.
Both Marquis Hua Yang and the Second Master, Lord Minister, were highly valued by the Emperor. One was an official in the imperial court and the other was a general in the military, and both of them held high positions. This was enough to make the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang more distinguished and respected than other ordinary mansions. As a result, young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang enjoyed much higher social statuses than other aristocratic young ladies.
However, there were quite a few young ladies in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, four of whom were in the direct line. Therefore, Wei Qiufu did not have an advantage.
On her way back, Wei Yuewu carefully thought about this Fourth Miss Wei. If Wei Qiuju hadn’t set herself against her out of the blue after Wei Qiufu left, she wouldn’t have noticed Wei Qiufu, who always kept a low profile and seemed to have nothing to do with her at all. Moreover, this Fourth Elder Sister was one of the few people who treated her kindly.
Yet Wei Qiufu always had a role in all those incidents. It was not until Wei Yuewu asked Jin Ling to obtain news from Xie Qingzhao’s that she was certain Wei Qiufu was secretly maneuvering the scheme of Li Lady and her daughter. A trace of coldness flashed in Wei Yuewu’s eyes.
The qin given by Yan Huaijing was in her arms. Wei Yuewu didn’t have many personal belongs in the mansion and had little silver at hand. If she wanted a good qin, she couldn’t afford it at all. The qin Yan Huaijing gave her was obviously not of ordinary quality. She gently plucked the strings and the sound was excellent.
In the past when she was at her maternal grandparents’, her granny also gave her a good qin because she preferred quietness. Before she came to the capital, that qin had always been her favorite and its sound was very good. She heard that her granny specially asked someone to find it. However, it was obviously much inferior to Yan Huaijing’s qin.
What was more ingenious was that the musical score could actually be hidden in that kind of place…
When she returned to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, Wei Yuewu went to the Madam Dowager’s first with Shufei. She met Wei Qiuju along the way.
Only one day had elapsed since their last meeting, and Wei Qiuju looked much gloomier. Wei Qiuju was blank for a moment when she saw Wei Yuewu. She suddenly paused.
Her eyes fell on the qin bag Shufei was tightly holding. A trace of jealousy flashed in her eyes as she waved her handkerchief and mocked, “Sixth Younger Sister seems to be in a good mood. Are you coming back from outside?”
She was born in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and raised in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Why did she end up so miserably as to become Xie Qingzhao’s concubine? Even though she had admired Xie Qingzhao before, she felt a wave of hatred surging in her heart when she thought that he had already had an affair with Wei Qiufu and plotted against her.
At this moment, she found another target for her anger. She felt that Wei Yuewu was the cause of all this, so how could she find Wei Yuewu pleasing to the eye at this time?
Moreover, Wei Yuewu was much easier to deal with than Wei Qiufu.
Wei Yuewu glanced sideways at Wei Qiuju who had a mean look on her face. She said indifferently, “I just came back from the outside after buying some cloth.”
Wei Qiuju was unhappy, so she lost her usual gentleness. Seeing that Wei Yuewu didn’t give much attention to her, she spoke to Wei Yuewu sarcastically, “Sixth Younger Sister, so many things have happened to Second Elder Sister and you still have the mood to buy cloth.”
Everyone in the mansion knew about the conflict between Wei Yan and Wei Yuewu. Wei Qiuju felt displeased and vented all her anger at Wei Yuewu. However, she never thought that it was she who had schemed against Wei Yuewu. If Wei Yuewu had fallen to the trap, she would have ended up more miserably than her!
Wei Yuewu looked in the direction of the path she was taking. A mocking smile appeared on the corner of her lips. “Fifth Elder Sister, are you going to see Second Elder Sister? This way doesn’t seem to lead to the family temple.”
This road did not lead to the family temple, but to where the second branch lived, namely Lady Li’s courtyard. Judging by the direction Wei Qiuju was walking in, she had just been to Lady Li’s.
She must have been there to ask Lady Li to think of a way for her, but to no avail!
Now that her mind was seen through by Wei Yuewu, Wei Qiuju’s face was filled with embarrassment, anger, and hatred. Wei Qiuju was about to say something else when she saw Wei Yuewu slowly leaving with Shufei.
Wei Yuewu looked like she didn’t even care to cast a glance at her.
Wei Qiuju was so angry that her face alternated between white and blue. Her expression was ferocious. She almost couldn’t help rushing over to scratch Wei Yuewu’s face. She fiercely pinched the arm of her maid Yueya, who was beside her. The little maid hissed at the pain and tears were about to fall, but she didn’t dare to move at all.
“Fifth Elder Sister,” Wei Yuewu suddenly stopped and turned her head. Her clear eyes narrowed slightly, but the coldness in her eyes was evident, like a sharp blade piercing into Wei Qiuju’s eyes, which made Wei Qiuju have to avoid her eyes.
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