Chapter 177 – Wei Yuejiao’S Yearning
The Fourth Prince subconsciously stretched out his hands and stared at the young girl in his arms with a dumbfounded expression.
“You… who are you? You actually dare to intrude into the inner courtyard!” Wei Yuejiao pushed away the man in front of her in panic and scolded him angrily.
How could she not be angry? Obviously, her target was the elegant and charming Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State. Why did he change to the man in front of her? Even though this man looked not bad and seemed to be from either a wealthy or aristocratic family, how could he compare to the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State?
Previously, when she was in the crowd, her attention was attracted by the charm of this heir-apparent of Yan with just a single glance. Now, her own affairs had been basically settled. When she heard that Yan Huaijing was in the backyard, she hurried over.
How could she be kind to the Fourth Prince in front of her who had made her feel so disappointed?
“Who are you? How dare you speak like this!” The Fourth Prince had never been scolded like this by a woman. He was instantly enraged and his expression turned cold.
Yan Huaijing stood on the side with a lazy smile on his handsome face.
Such a smile made Wei Yuejiao even angrier and it also made the Fourth Prince feel even more embarrassed. Although he could not become the next emperor, he was still a prince.
“I’m Marquis Hua Yang’s daughter. Don’t you know that since you’re here?” Wei Yuejiao raised her head and said proudly.
The Fourth Prince sneered, “Marquis Hua Yang’s daughter? You must be a concubine-born daughter, right? A small concubine-born daughter dared to be so arrogant in front of a prince. Well, I was just going to visit the Madam Dowager. Therefore, I might as well ask the Madam Dowager to explain it to me by the way.”
Marquis Hua Yang’s legitimate daughter was Wei Yuewu, whom they had just seen. Therefore, this young lady must be Wei Yuejiao who was said at the banquet to be hanging out with a lad servant. The Fourth Prince’s gaze carried a trace of contempt.
Previously, the female seats were quite noisy over this issue, so how could he not notice it at all?
“You… Greetings, Your Highness!” Wei Yuejiao was shocked. This person in front of her was actually the Fourth Prince. Her face immediately turned pale. How could she dare to mouth back? She immediately bowed respectfully and curtsied him. “I didn’t know that you are the Fourth Prince. I hope Your Highness will forgive me for having offended you!”
“There’s no need to stand on ceremonies. I just hope that Third Miss Wei will take care in the future not to run into anyone else and remain arrogant.” The Fourth Prince said coldly. In his eyes, this Third Miss Wei in front of him was just a woman of loose morals.
After Wei Yuejiao showed up at the banquet, her gaze landed on Yan Huaijing again and again. How could he not see it? Considering the rumors about her hanging out with a lad servant, the Fourth Prince extremely loathed this Third Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
“Yes… yes, I don’t dare!” Wei Yuejiao said repeatedly, not daring to look at Yan Huaijing anymore. She carefully retreated to the side and waited for the two of them to go over.
After the two of them passed by, she raised her head again and looked at Yan Huaijing’s back with a bit of infatuation. This Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State was truly peerlessly handsome.
Moreover, the Fourth Prince was clearly standing behind the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State and didn’t dare to stand in front of him. This was a clear indication that his identity was a bit inferior to the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State. Anyone would be mistaken about the identities of the two of them!
On the opposite side of the path, Wei Qiufu walked over with light and elegant steps. Seeing this scene in front of her, she stood still and the corner of her lips curled into a thoughtful mockery.
As expected, Wei Yuejiao had taken a fancy to the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State! So her previous efforts really worked.
She turned her head while Wei Yuejiao was still in a daze. Just like that, she leisurely left without being noticed by anyone.
There weren’t many people who saw this episode that occurred in the inner courtyard. Because none of them said anything about it, almost no one knew that Wei Yuejiao had crashed into the arms of the Fourth Prince.
However, at some unknown time, the women began to spread rumors that the one who had been hanging out with the lad servant before was not the Third Young Lady, but the Fifth Young Lady.
“Who is Fifth Miss Wei?” A madam asked the other madam beside her in a low voice.
Compared with Wei Yan and Wei Qiufu, Wei Qiuju was really little known to outsiders. They only knew that there was such a young lady, but very few people paid attention to her.
The madam thought for a moment and said, “I heard that she is a concubine-born daughter of the third branch of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.”
“Really? Then what did that Third Young Lady do? Why did she lie?” Someone was suspicious.
“Of course it’s true. Did you see that Fifth Young Lady when watching the performance in front of the platform?”
This madam hesitated after being questioned like this. “Well, no…she wasn’t there!” At that time, there were many people, and the Madam Dowager was surrounded by many madams and young ladies. Who knew which one was Fifth Miss Wei?
“That’s right. Cousins are similar to each other. Some servants mistook it for Sixth Miss Wei, and then they thought it was Third Miss Wei. Actually, Third Miss Wei was investigating this matter at that time, but she couldn’t tell anyone about it, so she casually gave an excuse.”
The madam said confidently as if she had seen it with her own eyes.
“Really?” Seeing that she was speaking so seriously, the surrounding madams all asked in surprise.
“Of course it is true. An old maidservant of mine and another old maidservant of this Third Young Lady are cousins. I just found out that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang is now managed by the Third Lady. However, the Third Lady is obviously unable to do as well as she wishes. I heard that the next person in charge is Concubine Dong, who has been following Marquis Hua Yang. The Third Young Lady just did that to relieve her concubine mother of some burden.”
The madam was getting more and more energetic as she talked. She covered her face with a fan and lowered her voice as she spoke to the other madams.
Well, her words made perfect sense.
The third branch of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang was indeed the most inconspicuous sect. The Third Lady really overestimated herself if she wanted to take charge of the mansion. In the past, it was always the Second Lady who took charge. But now, something had happened to the Second Lady and she had returned to her parents’ house to recuperate. At this juncture, Marquis Hua Yang was returning to the mansion. Therefore, it was really possible that this Concubine Dong who had been following Marquis Hua Yang would take charge.
Moreover, Third Miss Wei was the oldest of all the young ladies who hadn’t married yet, so it was more reasonable for her to stand out and run affairs.
Some things that were not easy to understand instantly became quite logical. Therefore, the message was quickly circulated, and everyone immediately overturned the previous controversy. They felt that Fifth Miss Wei must have acted recklessly and done something that was shameful.
However, not everyone thought so. There were still some madams who were skeptical and felt that this matter was too odd to be true.
Overall, however, more than half of the young ladies and madams bought the story.
Rumors spread silently among the women who attended the banquet, and even more coincidentally, Wei Qiuju was not by the Madam Dowager’s side.
After Wei Fengyao used it up, she left for a while and reappeared to accompany Madam Dowager.
Wei Yuejiao was sent away by the Madam Dowager, and Wei Yuewu seemed to be shocked and injured. It was impossible that the Madam Dowager would ask Wei Yuewu to show up. Wei Qiufu made a mistake recently and was still grounded. Therefore, Wei Qiufu was absent from the banquet. Even if Wei Qiuju did not have any sensibility, she did not dare to appear in front of the Madam Dowager. So, she left shortly after the banquet started…
The news spread quietly.
But all these had nothing to do with Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu was thinking about something. She watched as Yan Huaijing and the Fourth Prince disappeared from the intersection. After pondering for a while, her eyes suddenly lit up. The corners of her lips revealed a smile. So this was the opportunity!
She immediately stood up and chased after Yan Huaijing and the Fourth Prince.
“Miss, where are we going now?” Jin Ling took a few quick steps to catch up with her and asked.
“Second Uncle’s study!” Wei Yuewu pursed her cherry lips and a sharp look flashed in her eyes. The guests who attended today’s banquet were quite unexpected, and Wei Luowu must be extremely busy. Everyone in the mansion had something to do.
“Miss, are you going to check Second Master’s study?” Jin Ling was stunned for a moment before she understood Wei Yuewu’s intention. She hurriedly took two steps forward. She reached out to stop Wei Yuewu and said, “Miss, you can’t go there at this time. It’s very conspicuous for you to go to the outer courtyard at this time.”
“Who said I’m going there alone at this time?” Wei Yuewu smiled and waved her hand as an indicator for Jin Ling not to be anxious.
“I’m going to the flower gate of the outer courtyard. You go to the inner courtyard to see Concubine Huang. Today, some affairs were handled by Concubine Huang. You go find the old maidservant and the maid who made false charges against me. Tell Concubine Huang that I want to interrogate the two servants personally and ask her to bring them over.”
Today was the birthday of Second Master Wei Luowu, and it was really unreasonable if no one from the second branch was in charge of something. Therefore, Concubine Huang became the person who assisted Third Lady Zhang.
“Well… these two servants may not be under Concubine Huang’s control.” Jin Ling didn’t understand what Wei Yuewu meant for a moment.
“It doesn’t matter. Concubine Huang has to interfere. If she refuses to interfere, tell her that I’ll go and see the Madam Dowager or Second Uncle.” Wei Yuewu smiled silently and said meaningfully.
Whether Wei Yuewu was going to see the Madam Dowager or Wei Luowu, it was bound to make matters worse. Concubine Huang wanted to show off in front of Wei Luowu, so she would definitely not let Wei Yuewu cause trouble outside.
“Will Concubine Huang…” Jin Ling didn’t get it at first, but her eyes lit up and she understood what Wei Yuewu meant. She nodded quickly and said, “Yes, Miss. I will go immediately.”
However, she immediately thought of something and said awkwardly, “Miss, it is not proper for you to go to the outer courtyard alone.”
As the legitimate daughter of an aristocratic family, Wei Yuewu had to be accompanied by someone to serve her wherever she went. Otherwise, gossips might arise sometimes and it was hard for her to explain. However, the situation today was different from usual. Shufei and Huamo were both called away to help with the banquet, and Jin Ling was the only maid who kept Wei Yuewu company.
“No problem. Isn’t there someone over there?” Wei Yuewu smiled and said meaningfully.
The flower gate was right in front of them. In the past, there were at least four old maidservants at the flower gate, but today, there was only one left. Moreover, this one did not look well. She lowered her head and knelt there with a bitter face.
This old maidservant also felt that she was really unlucky. Originally, she was left alone to guard the flower gate, and she felt it was far more comfortable than going to help out everywhere.
Nothing special occurred as she felt lucky being assigned this task, but who would expect that the Fourth Prince and the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State would trespass on the inner courtyard in such an unruly manner?
She stepped forward and asked a few questions before being knocked over by several guards. Then, she was ordered to get on her kneels on the side as a punishment. She did not dare to stand up even after the Fourth Prince and the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State left.
She kept regretting it in her heart. If she had known earlier, she would have pretended not to see anything. Then, everything would be OK. How could she, a poor old maidservant whose job was guarding the flower gate, stop the Fourth Prince?
This matter was inexplicably linked to the Fourth Prince Wen Yi. In the old maidservant’s eyes, the Fourth Prince was the emperor’s son. Of course, he was the leader when this matter happened. Moreover, she could not distinguish the difference between the guards of the Duke of Yan’s Mansion and the guards of the Fourth Prince.
The old maidservant knelt in a nice place, where there was actually sunshine. On such a winter day, she bathed in the warmth of the sunshine. Moreover, there was a pillar on the side. The old maidservant leaned against the pillar and narrowed her eyes to bask in the sun. From afar, it looked like she was on her knees as a punishment. She made a perfect show.
The old maidservant was feeling comfortable, cozy, and warm when she suddenly heard a gentle and elegant voice. When she heard the words clearly, she couldn’t help but shiver.
“Have the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State and the Fourth Prince passed by?”
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