Chapter 182 – An Imperative Visit To The Imperial Palace
It was still the same piece of paper. There were only two lines of neatly written characters on it, which respectively read Prince Bei’an Mansion and the Crown Prince Tianyao. Other than these characters, there were only the tears left behind by Mother, which seemed to suggest something. However, Wei Yuewu could not understand the implied meaning. Even though she had seen something in Wei Luowu’s study today, she still did not understand!
Wei Yuewu’s fingers moved back and forth between the two lines of characters. Prince Bei’an Mansion was clearly the Prince Bei’an Mansion she saw today in Wei Luowu’s study, and another key point was a favored prince who had been locked up for life and was no longer mentioned by others.
But what did those have to do with the Crown Prince?
There was no doubt that the Crown Prince Wen Tianyao, emperor-to-be of the country, would succeed to the throne in the future. It was as if he was born to be the future of the country and a natural emperor.
There might be some other concubines favored by the emperor in the harem, but the empress’ status was unshakable. Besides, the empress was from the powerful Tu Clan, and the emperor had always respected the empress.
Since the Crown Prince was both the eldest son of the emperor and was born by the empress, the other princes had no reason to rebel. It was said that although the current emperor was born by the legitimate wife, he was not the eldest among his brothers. Besides, the current Empress Dowager was not the first wife of the previous emperor. Wasn’t this implying something?
However, Wei Yuewu could still keenly sense that Prince Bei’an and Crown Prince Wen Tianyao had one thing in common: they were both princes. Moreover, there must be some connection that she didn’t know between the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and the royal family. This connection came from Prince Bei’an, the Crown Prince, or even the mysterious Third Prince…
It seemed that the trip to the imperial palace was imperative!
“Eldest Sister, please save me. This matter really has nothing to do with me. I have just been to Sixth Younger Sister’s courtyard. She also said that this matter had nothing to do with me. I was standing beside Grandmother at that time. She saw it.” Wei Qiuju’s face was filled with sadness. She covered her face with a handkerchief and sobbed while secretly checking Wei Fengyao’s expression.
Wei Qiuju had a thin and frail shape. Now her tearful face was very charming and made people feel a bit pitiful towards her. However, in the eyes of Wei Fengyao, the legitimate wife of the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an, her expression was quite disgusting. The concubines who competed against her for the heir-apparent’s attention and favor looked exactly the same each time they cried. It was really hard for Wei Qiuju to impress her by crying like this.
However, the mentioning of Wei Yuewu by Wei Qiuju aroused her interest.
“Sixth Younger Sister said she wanted to testify for you?” Wei Fengyao wiped her hands with a handkerchief and asked.
“That’s right. Sixth Younger Sister also said that Eldest Sister must have interfered in this matter and she told me to be careful of Eldest Sister. But I think Eldest Sister has always treated me well. How would you have malicious intentions towards me?” Wei Qiuju cried as she wiped away her tears and secretly peeked at Wei Fengyao’s face through the seam of her handkerchief.
“Of course I don’t have any ill intentions towards you, Fifth Younger Sister, but Sixth Younger Sister misunderstood me.” Wei Fengyao sighed, her face filled with anger. “This is my first time returning to the mansion, and I don’t know why Sixth Younger Sister said that. Fifth Younger Sister, why don’t we go to Grandmother to explain it clearly?”
After saying those words, Wei Fengyao gestured to get up, but how would Wei Qiuju let her really go to the Madam Dowager’s place to confront her. She hurriedly stood up and said, “Eldest Sister, don’t go. If you go, Sixth Younger Sister will definitely know that I said those words. How am I supposed to live in the future? I… I might as well die!”
As she spoke, she sobbed as if she was going to hit the pillar beside her.
The two maids by Wei Fengyao’s side had already pulled Wei Qiuju. Whether Wei Qiuju was putting on a play, they would in no case let her really bump into the pillar here.
Wei Fengyao said, “Fifth Younger Sister, don’t make such a farce here. I can actually help you, but you have to help me vent my anger.”
Wei Qiuju stopped crying. She nodded and said knowingly, “Eldest Sister, if there is anything I can do for you, I will definitely be at your service.”
Although she wasn’t very clear about the grudge between Wei Yuewu and the second branch, she knew that Wei Fengyao would definitely hate Wei Yuewu. Lady Li and Wei Yan had ended up like this mainly because of Wei Yuewu. As Lady Li’s daughter, Wei Fengyao would naturally not let Wei Yuewu off.
However, although Wei Fengyao’s status was noble, as the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an, it was inconvenient for her to return to her parents’ house, namely, the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, to deal with Wei Yuewu. In other words, she needed helpers. Wei Qiuju felt that she could secretly help Wei Fengyao deal with Wei Yuewu.
Although she could not offend Wei Yuewu, it was clear that compared with this Wei Fengyao now in front of her, Wei Yuewu’s weight was rather inferior. This was also the reason why Wei Qiuju abandoned Wei Yuewu and gave up herself to Wei Fengyao.
As for the fact that she helped Wei Yuewu deal with Wei Yan, Wei Qiuju thought that it was impossible for others to know. Wei Yuewu would not mention it, and of course she would not mention it either. Therefore, she and Wei Fengyao could continue to be sisters…
Shufei and Huamo returned very quickly. Lady Zhang had heard Concubine Huang mention what had happened in Wei Luowu’s study. Of course, she didn’t keep the two of them anymore. As soon as Jin Ling made the request, she immediately agreed to let Shufei and Huamo go back.
Previously in the study, the loud shout of the old maidservant who guarded the flower gate was heard by a lot of people. At that time, Concubine Huang happened to be arriving at the study. When she heard that something had happened, she didn’t dare to enter the study. She hurriedly sneaked back. She knew that Wei Luowu was in a bad mood at that time and didn’t dare to show up and enrage Wei Luowu.
But along with Shufei and Huamo, there was actually Nanny Hong.
“Sixth Young Lady, the Madam Dowager instructed me to bring some snacks to you and take a look at your situation by the way. I heard that Sixth Young Lady was frightened at Second Master’s study and I wondered what happened?” Nanny Hong let the maid behind her give Huamo the food basket in her hand and said with a smile.
Well, although she could take the initiative to tell the Madam Dowager about what happened, it was a different thing for the Madam Dowager to send someone over and ask her. Wei Yuewu revealed a hesitation on her face. “Grandmother… has she asked Second Uncle and Eldest Sister?”
“Second Master is still entertaining the guests outside. Eldest Young Lady is now the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an Mansion. There are some things that the Madam Dowager cannot talk with her. Anyway, everything has happened and there are no serious consequences. The Madam Dowager feels that it is appropriate to ask Sixth Young Lady.” Nanny Hong said smilingly.
This meant that the Madam Dowager didn’t want to wait and ask the Second Master, whereas Wei Fengyao was now considered half an outsider, and domestic shame should not be made public to outsiders.
“It was just that… I was hit by an assassin in Second Uncle’s study, who knocked me out and stabbed a dagger on the desk. The assassin also left a piece of paper that contained a few blood-red characters, but Second Uncle didn’t let us see them.” Wei Yuewu replied thoughtfully.
“There was also a note with some characters?” Nanny Hong asked in surprise. She had only received news that the Sixth Young Lady was knocked unconscious in the Second Master’s study, and there was also a dagger, but there was not the slightest mentioning of the note.
“Yes, Nanny Hong. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Eldest Sister. At that time, except Second Uncle and his servant, there were only Eldest Sister and my maid in the room.” Wei Yuewu nodded and used Wei Fengyao as a shield.
“Why did the Eldest Young Lady go to Second Master’s study?” Sure enough, Nanny Hong’s attention was immediately diverted to this point.
“I didn’t know either. I was waiting for Concubine Huang to come. But unexpectedly, the Eldest Sister who was supposed to be helping Grandmother entertain guests in the inner courtyard came at that time.” Wei Yuewu’s face was filled with confusion.
Actually, she was still puzzled now, but there was one thing she was sure of. Wei Fengyao definitely had something to do when she went to Wei Luowu’s study. Since she wasn’t looking for Wei Luowu, she must be looking for something.
“Since Sixth Young Lady is fine, I will leave and report to the Madam Dowager, so that the Madam Dowager can feel relieved.” Nanny Hong was stunned at first, but she immediately seemed to think of something and she suddenly became nervous. She was in no mood to continue talking to Wei Yuewu. After announcing the conclusion of her visit, she left in a hurry.
Wei Yuewu looked at the shaking curtains of the door with a deep look in her eyes. It seemed that Wei Fengyao was really looking for something, and it was very likely that this item was in Wei Luowu’s study. The Madam Dowager obviously knew about this as well.
However, she wondered if it had anything to do with her!
Unexpectedly, there were quite a few secrets in Wei Luowu’s study. Not only were there secrets about Prince Bei’an Mansion that were forbidden to be mentioned by the previous emperor, there was also something that Wei Fengyao coveted, but the Madam Dowager did not want Wei Fengyao to see it!
Wei Fengyao probably didn’t want the Madam Dowager to know about this, so she warned her repeatedly. However, how could she let Wei Fengyao’s wish come true?
As the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an, Wei Fengyao did have a high status, but no matter what, Wei Fengyao was born in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and was the Madam Dowager’s granddaughter. If she kept trespassing the line drawn by the Madam Dowager, there would definitely be no good result for her…
“Miss, I was waiting in the kitchen just now. I didn’t hear anyone say that there was food for Miss. But after learning that I was coming back, Nanny Hong personally came over to deliver food to Miss.” Huamo opened the food basket and took out two plates of delicate pastry, one of which was made by Wei Yuejiao’s pastry cook.
“The pastry cook made more pastry than could be consumed at the banquet. There is still a lot left in the kitchen.” Seeing that Wei Yuewu’s gaze fell on the pastry, Shufei explained with a smile.
After saying that, Huamo covered her mouth and smiled, “Miss, you know what? After seeing so much flower dew, that pastry cook used all of it without saying anything else. At first, the cook thought that there might not be enough pastry. Later on, she realized that she had made too much pastry. I suggested that each table be served two plates of pastry. But even so, there was still some pastry left.”
Thinking back to the time when the nurse-in-charge in the kitchen was at a loss facing so much pastry, Huamo and Shufei felt very funny, and they admired Wei Yuewu more for her clever plan.
The Third Young Lady had wanted to use the lack of flower dew as an excuse to leave the banquet and set up Wei Yuewu. However, anyone who inquired and saw so much pastry on each table would know that she had lied.
Shufei suddenly remembered what Jin Ling had said before and restrained the smile on her face. Then, she asked, “Miss, I heard that the Fifth Young Lady just came and then went to the Eldest Young Lady’s courtyard. Will something bad happen?”
“Miss, did the Eldest Young Lady want to harm you and cause you to fall off the stage?” Huamo asked with concern.
Jin Ling had told them briefly about what happened before, and the two maids were extremely scared and worried. At this time, they were looking at Wei Yuewu, afraid that something was wrong with her.
“I’m fine.” Wei Yuewu smiled and shook her head. She picked up a piece of pastry and gently took a bite. She tasted it carefully. Sure enough, the taste of the pastry was different from the one she ate last time. She believed that the female guests at the banquet who were familiar with the flower dew they bought would definitely be able to find the difference as well.
However, Wei Fengyao had also misjudged her own weight. It was impossible for her to pick a fight without getting involved. With the Madam Dowager’s temperament, how could she allow Wei Fengyao to stir up trouble here in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, especially when it came to Wei Fengyao’s secret visit to Wei Luowu’s study.
Today, she went there in a hurry, but she did want to find out more secret items that were hidden in Wei Luowu’s study.
“Miss, I caught someone and brought her in!” Just as she was pondering, Jin Ling entered the room dragging someone like a dead dog!
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