Chapter 188 – A Puppy That Was Inexplicably Sent As A Gift
“Alright then, I won’t disturb Sixth Younger Sister anymore. I’ll think of a way first. If I can’t, I’ll go find Fourth Elder Sister directly.” Seeing that Wei Yuewu’s expression did not change drastically, Wei Qiuju nodded and said cautiously.
“Go and find Fourth Elder Sister. Since Fourth Elder Sister has sent this writing brush over, there must be some deep meaning behind it. Perhaps she wanted Fifth Elder Sister to enter the mansion of Imperial Academician Xie. Although he isn’t a high-ranking official yet, thanks to his talent, Fifth Elder Sister may have a good opinion of him. That’s why Fourth Elder Sister specially sent a writing brush of his over to you.” Wei Yuewu smiled and said.
These words were very meaningful. For a moment, Wei Qiuju’s face alternated between green and pale and she was speechless.
Wei Yuewu took advantage of this opportunity to turn around and leave with Jin Ling.
“Miss, that writing brush…” Yueya said timidly behind Wei Qiuju.
“Move. Let’s return it to Eldest Sister and say that Sixth Younger Sister refused to accept it at all.” Wei Qiuju stamped her foot helplessly. Wei Fengyao sent someone to deliver this writing brush to her early this morning and asked her to think of a way to give it to Wei Yuewu. Wei Fengyao also told her that Wei Ziyang would be back today.
She told Wei Qiuju that when she saw the two maids of Wei Ziyang in the courtyard, she should talk about Wei Yan to imply that Wei Yan died entirely because of Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu had never seen Wei Ziyang’s two maids before. But Wei Qiuju knew them. So when she saw the two maids, she immediately shifted the subject of their talk to Wei Yan. She didn’t expect that Wei Yuewu would not admit that Wei Yan’s death was related to her even when there were only the two of them. Besides, Wei Qiuju herself didn’t dare to prove Wei Yuewu’s involvement in the matter.
After all, Wei Qiuju herself also played a part in Wei Yan’s affairs at that time.
Now, not only did she fail to let Wei Ziyang know that Wei Yuewu was responsible for Wei Yan’s death, she even failed to persuade Wei Yuewu to keep the writing brush for her. How could Wei Qiuju not be anxious?
Of course, this writing brush wasn’t from Imperial Academician Xie.
“Miss, you promised the people of Prince Nan’an Mansion that you would definitely try to send the writing brush over.” Yueya gently reminded.
Thinking that she would offend Wei Fengyao if she refused to complete the mission, Wei Qiuju hesitated. She still wanted Wei Fengyao to help her clean up her reputation, so she naturally did not dare to offend Wei Fengyao at this time.
“Then… what should we do?” Wei Qiuju stomped her feet anxiously.
In terms of status, Wei Yuewu was far more insignificant than Wei Fengyao. Therefore, she must deliver this writing brush to Wei Yuewu. However, the problem was that Wei Yuewu had become suspicious and would definitely not agree to accept the writing brush.
“Miss, have you forgotten about the Eldest Young Master who was mentioned by the heiress-apparent?” Yueya suddenly rolled her eyes and reminded Wei Qiuju.
“Yes!” Wei Qiuju’s eyes lit up and she immediately thought of something. The gloominess on her face immediately faded and she nodded. She turned around and said, “Let’s go find Eldest Brother!”
Eldest Brother had just returned to the mansion. He must have prepared quite a number of gifts. She could go and talk to him or even give him some advice…
“Miss, Fifth Young Lady went back!” Although Jin Ling was walking forward, she had been paying attention to her back. She was relieved to see that Wei Qiuju did not chase after them.
Wei Yuewu continued to walk unhurriedly, the corner of her lips curling into a faint cold smile. “Ask Shufei and Huamo if they are familiar with Fifth Young Lady’s maid Yueya.”
“Miss, you want to win Yueya over?” Jin Ling reacted quickly. Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands. “That’s a good idea. With Yueya by Fifth Young Lady’s side, whatever Fifth Young Lady wants to do will be immediately known by you.”
“Yueya will not betray Wei Qiuju.” Wei Yuewu said lazily.
“Why? We can offer double payment to her. Isn’t she happy with that?” Jin Ling was puzzled. In her opinion, Wei Qiuju was not good to Yueya. Why was Yueya so loyal to Wei Qiuju?
“Ask Shufei and Huamo to investigate Yueya and find out whose maid she is, or who gave her to Wei Qiuju.” Wei Yuewu raised her eyes slightly. Every time she saw Wei Qiuju’s maid Yueya, she felt that this maid was very special.
When Yueya looked at Wei Qiuju, even though she appeared timid, she did not have any sign of resentment. By comparison, although Wei Yan’s maids were submissive to her, Wei Yuewu could always see hatred in their eyes. However, this maid of Wei Qiuju was different. It was really strange.
Wei Qiuju’s birth mother passed away early. It was said that she wasn’t very favored while she was alive. Therefore, Wei Qiufu didn’t attract Wei Yuewu’s attention, but now Wei Yuewu felt a little puzzled. If Wei Qiuju’s birth mother was still alive, she might know about some things.
“Yes, I will inform Shufei and Huamo in a moment.” Jin Ling nodded knowingly.
After returning to Lotus Courtyard, Jin Ling sent Shufei out. She sat down on a chair and took a sip of tea before hearing Huamo coming in to report.
“Miss, Prince Nan’an Mansion sent someone to say that there were invitations and gifts for the ladies. Madam Dowager asked someone to send the invitations and gifts to the ladies.”
“There are also gifts?” Wei Yuewu picked up a plum blossom that had just been inserted into the wide-mouthed vase and gently twitched it. The flower was refracted by the sunlight and emitted a hazy luster.
Usually, when people sent invitations, they would not send gifts at the same time. Moreover, Wei Fengyao had sent gifts over every day over the past several days. It could be said that she had made a sincere apology by sending gifts to the mansion. There was no need for her to send gifts over again at this time.
“Yes, Miss, and that gift for you… seems to be a living creature!” Huamo said puzzledly. When she saw something moving in the basket that was held by the maid who came to deliver the gift, she was shocked. “The person sent by the heiress-apparent said that the heiress-apparent specially sent the gifts over to the young ladies in the mansion to have fun.”
Silk cloth and jewelry had always been sent as gifts, but she had never heard of anyone sending a living creature as a gift. Therefore, Huamo could not guess what kind of gift Wei Fengyao had sent.
“Let them in!” Wei Yuewu carefully inserted the plum branch in her hand into the wide-mouthed bottle, her eyes slightly shining. She would like to see what trick Wei Fengyao was playing this time…
It was a very beautiful basket woven from bamboo and tied with a silk flower. After a layer of pink gauze scarf was lifted, people saw an extremely cute curly-haired puppy inside the basket. When it saw people looking at it, it rolled its big round eyes and stared at them with an extremely innocent and confused expression.
However, it was inexplicably pleasing.
“What a beautiful puppy!” Even Jin Ling couldn’t help but praise.
It had snow-white hair and a pair of pale green sparkling eyes, and no one could resist its cuteness.
“It is so cute and beautiful!” Shufei squatted down and touched the puppy’s head. The puppy obediently turned around and licked her palm twice. She giggled and turned to Wei Yuewu, who was still seated. “Miss, this puppy is so cute!”
The old maidservant from the Prince Nan’an Mansion introduced with a smile, “Sixth Young Lady, this is something that our heiress-apparent sent to the young ladies to play with. Someone gave some puppies to our heiress-apparent. She saw that there were four puppies and therefore decided to send them to the four young ladies of the mansion.”
Wei Yuewu was also looking at this puppy. It was really a cute puppy. Even she was attracted and liked it very much. She believed that any young girl would like such a cute puppy when they saw it.
“Who gave this to your heiress-apparent?” Wei Yuewu smiled sweetly, her watery eyes under the long eyelashes brimming with joy. Obviously, she really liked it.
The old maidservant from the Prince Nan’an Mansion heaved a sigh of relief. Her heiress-apparent had repeatedly asked her to observe carefully if the Sixth Young Lady really liked the gift. Needless to say, she must be very happy to receive this puppy.
“Sixth Young Lady, the puppies seem to be a tribute gift from a vassal state. I don’t know what kind of dogs they are. However, I heard that they came from a very far place. The heiress-apparent liked them at first glance. She thought that it would be best if the young ladies of the mansion could have fun by playing with the puppies. That’s why she asked me to send the puppies here along with the invitations.”
As the old maidservant said, she respectfully handed over the invitation.
The golden invitation had a bright red flower pattern that fitted in with Wei Fengyao’s identity as the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an.
“Sixth Young Lady, besides the four young ladies of the mansion, our princess also wants to see several other close guests. The heiress-apparent asked me to deliver all the invitations at a time. So I’ll take my leave now and send invitations to the other ladies!”
Looking at the puppy in the bamboo basket and then at the old maidservant who was all smiles, Wei Yuewu nodded and said, “Huamo, give her a reward!”
Huamo answered and smiled as she handed over a purse. The old maidservant accepted the purse and thanked Wei Yuewu in a natural and graceful manner before leaving happily.
Well, it seemed that the four young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang did have different personalities.
Third Miss Wei was proud, Fourth Miss Wei was gentle, Fifth Miss Wei was a little acrimonious, and Sixth Miss Wei was magnanimous. On the whole, Fourth Miss Wei and Sixth Miss Wei were better than Third Miss Wei and Fifth Miss Wei. After all, the latter two were concubine-born daughters. Although Third Miss Wei was Marquis Hua Yang’s favorite daughter, so what? She was still not comparable to Sixth Miss Wei.
The old maidservant decided to report it truthfully and let the princess make her own judgement!
“Miss, is there anything wrong with this puppy?” Jin Ling calmed down and asked as she looked at the puppy that was released by Shufei and circling around on the ground.
Wei Yuewu smiled and teased the puppy. “This old maidservant isn’t Eldest Sister’s servant.”
“Then whose servant is she?” Jin Ling was stunned for a moment and asked anxiously.
“She should be a servant of Princess Nan’an!” Wei Yuewu stood up leisurely and walked to the window. Outside the window, that old maidservant from Prince Nan’an Mansion was walking away with a smiling face. Her attitude was neither presumptuous nor timid, but it could be seen that no one knew her.
“Why is she a servant of Princess Nan’an but not the Eldest Young Lady?” Shufei also stopped teasing the dog and stood up to ask.
“If she is a servant of the Eldest Young Lady, there must be a few people in this courtyard who know her. Since the Eldest Young Lady was delivering gifts to her parents’ family, how could she not send her dowry maid here? For the past two days, the ones who came to deliver gifts were all old servants from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.” Wei Yuewu smiled faintly and said thoughtfully.
So why did Princess Nan’an interfere and let someone send gifts to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang in the name of Wei Fengyao?
“This puppy… could it be from Princess Nan’an? Why is Princess Nan’an so kind to the young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang?” Huamo asked in confusion.
Generally, a daughter-in-law must flatter the members of her mother-in-law’s parents’ family, but not the opposite. Besides, it was said that this Princess Nan’an had always been very overbearing.
Wei Yuewu smiled and shook her head. “The puppy should be a gift from the Eldest Young Lady, but this person who delivered the gift was chosen by Princess Nan’an.” She returned to her chair and sat down. Then, she received the tea from Huamo and after taking a sip, she put the cup aside and said with a light smile.
It seemed that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of Prince Nan’an Mansion each had their own plan!
Regardless of what Wei Fengyao had in mind, this Princess Nan’an had a different idea!
“Did the Eldest Young Lady have any aim by sending this puppy?” Jin Ling was worried about something else. The puppy looked really cute, but if it was really sent by the Eldest Young Lady, there must be something that deserved careful consideration.
“No matter what aim she had, bring the puppy along when we go to the Tranquility Courtyard this afternoon.” Wei Yuewu said meaningfully.
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