Chapter 189 – Three Boxes
In fact, the Madam Dowager had already mentioned Wei Fengyao’s invitation this morning. She also said that she agreed to let the four sisters go to Prince Nan’an Mansion together, but she warned them to obey the rules and not to do anything out of line, which would damage the reputation of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
She even told them to come over to her courtyard together in the afternoon. Then, she would tell them some things about Prince Nan’an Mansion so that they would not do something unknowingly that might offend Princess Nan’an.
The reason why the Madam Dowager said this was because Wei Yuejiao only returned to the mansion once a year and missed the previous banquets of many nobles. Wei Qiuju was a concubine-born daughter and had never been to many mansions. Wei Yuewu was raised in the countryside and had never seen much of the world. On the whole, the Madam Dowager felt that of all the young ladies of the mansion, Wei Qiufu was the only one who was presentable.
However, who would expect that Wei Qiufu did such a thing when she was on the mountain? There was no message from the Crown Prince Mansion yet, and apparently, there was no hope for Wei Qiufu to be selected as the Crown Princess.
Thinking of this, the Madam Dowager felt that she had been quite exhausted, so she could not help but sigh in her room.
Nanny Hong saw the Madam Dowager be worried and advised her from the side, “Madam Dowager, don’t worry. Third Young Lady and Sixth Young Lady are both outstanding. Although they haven’t seen much of the world, they just need to learn a little and then everything will be fine.”
The Madam Dowager sighed again. She closed her eyes and leaned against the chair. “What do you think about Qiufu’s chance?”
“Fourth Young Lady’s chance…of becoming the Crown Princess…” Nanny Hong knew what the Madam Dowager wanted to say. She hesitated for a moment. Although she was a favored servant of the Madam Dowager, she knew that there were some things that she should not talk about. This was also the reason why she had been favored by the Madam Dowager for so many years.
“Well, it is clear that there is no chance of Qiufu becoming the Crown Princess. It is even hard to say if she can become a secondary or junior concubine. She has been a docile and smart girl. Who would expect that she actually made such a mistake? No matter how outstanding Yuewu is, the Crown Prince will absolutely not marry her. However, Qiufu actually did so many crazy things just to compete with Yuewu. She really has no brain.”
The Madam Dowager coldly snorted in displeasure.
Nanny Hong said with a smile on her face, “Madam Dowager, the Fourth Young Lady didn’t know that before. If she had known that the Sixth Young Lady wouldn’t compete with her but would instead bring her good luck, she wouldn’t have done so. But in the current situation, I’m afraid the Empress wouldn’t like the Fourth Young Lady either.”
The Crown Prince definitely disliked Wei Qiufu. Even though he retained her lot, he didn’t show any subsequent interest in her. He didn’t even say what to do next. He clearly meant to give her a cold shoulder.
“Well, I will have a try with the Empress even if I have to brazen it out. If Qiufu enters the Crown Prince Mansion, then there may be hope for her to become the Crown Princess. Or…” The Madam Dowager paused for a moment. Then she muttered to herself, “They surely will give face to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang for our contributions to the court over the years.”
Nanny Hong didn’t dare to echo with the Madam Dowager. Since she knew the inside story, she hurriedly lowered her head, pretending not to hear the Madam Dowager’s words.
“But on second thought, I had better see if Qiufu is worthy of my endeavor first. If she was as blindfolded as Yan’er who couldn’t see the situation clearly, then it’s better for her not to enter the Crown Prince Mansion. Otherwise, she may end up dying like a fool. That Yan’er! She is a dignified legitimate daughter of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, her father is a Minister, and her elder sister is an heiress-apparent. But who would expect that she was actually willing to debase herself to such an extent.”
The Madam Dowager opened her eyes and said sternly. When she recollected what Wei Yan had done, she was so angry that she couldn’t contain her anger.
Nanny Hong hurriedly poured out a cup of tea and handed it over, advising, “Madam Dowager, don’t worry too much about the Second Young Lady. Didn’t the Second Master say that in the future, when the situation improves, the Second Young Lady still has the chance of appearing in front of others again? Now, her death is just a pretext.”
“Good for her father! What kind of pretext is it? Is it that easy for a dead person to come back to life? He has been an official for so many years, how could he think of such a plan!” The Madam Dowager took a sip of tea and put down the cup heavily. She continued discontentedly, “Fortunately, he is Yan’er’s biological father. Otherwise, I would have suspected that he was trying to harm Yan’er.”
“Madam Dowager, you’re really worrying too much. Second Master has always loved Second Young Lady very much. How could he harm her? Second Master must have a plan, but it’s not convenient for him to tell you about his plan for the time being.” Nanny Hong explained with a smile.
“What plans could he have? He has always thought that the entire mansion of Marquis Hua Yang owed him something. However, he did not think about the situation at that time carefully. It was impossible for his father, the Old Master, to say no back then. Otherwise, the entire mansion of Marquis Hua Yang would be doomed.” The Madam Dowager slapped her hands on the table twice angrily, disappointed with the Second Master for his failure to consider the overall interest of the mansion.
If the topic was continued, it would only anger the Madam Dowager. Nanny Hong immediately changed the topic. “Madam Dowager, the young ladies are coming in a while. Do you want to give those things to them?”
As expected, the Madam Dowager’s attention was diverted when Nanny Hong mentioned the things she had prepared. Her expression relaxed a little. “Whether they were born by legitimate wives or concubines, daughters of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang are destined to be noble. Although those things are rare, they can prevent Princess Nan’an from looking down on the young ladies of our mansion.”
“What about Sixth Young Lady?” Nanny Hong hesitated for a moment and asked.
There were only three such things, but there were four young ladies. Furthermore, it was obvious that the Madam Dowager had prepared them long before. At that time, the Sixth Young Lady had not returned to the mansion. Although the Second Young Lady had previously been counted, and the Fifth Young Lady was omitted, Nanny Hong, who knew the Madam Dowager’s thoughts well, still omitted Wei Yuewu when talking about the allocation of the things.
“Give it to Yuewu first. Qiuju could wait!” The Madam Dowager frowned and then said after a quick thought.
“Well… Fifth Young Lady is actually quite pitiful.” Nanny Hong said meaningfully.
The Madam Dowager touched her own forehead and sighed with a sense of loss, “She could only blame it on her status as a concubine-born daughter of the third branch.”
“Madam Dowager, the Third Master was also your son!” Nanny Hong said cautiously.
The Madam Dowager’s expression turned cold. “The Third Master doesn’t know anything, and he won’t have any complaint. The problem is with the Second Master. He knows something, but he doesn’t know everything. Therefore, he thinks that I have always been biased towards the Eldest Master. In fact, it’s not a matter of whether I want to be biased or not!”
Thinking of her second son’s complaint in front of her, the Madam Dowager’s heart grew heavier and heavier.
“Madam Dowager, why don’t you explain the matter to the Second Master?” Nanny Hong asked cautiously.
“How can such a thing be discussed freely? People will get killed for discussing this kind of things. Although the Second Master is a high-ranking Minister, so what? The royal family can remove him from his position with a lift of their lips.” The Madam Dowager shook her head exhaustively. She used her hand to support her forehead, and a harsh look flashed in her eyes. “But now that I have tried so hard to maintain the situation, the royal family will definitely repay me someday!”
“That’s for sure, Madam Dowager. What you have done is worthy of the praise from both the Old Master and the royal family.” Nanny Hong immediately nodded.
“Those things are just for decorative purposes. It’s not a big deal. As long as they’re happy, Qiuju won’t have any problem with it. In the future, I will make it up by doing some additional favors to Ziyi and Zifeng from the third branch.” The Madam Dowager said.
“That’s right, Madam Dowager!” Nanny Hong knew that the Madam Dowager cared about her grandsons but didn’t really care about Wei Qiuju, a concubine-born granddaughter. She immediately nodded and echoed her.
Three boxes were placed in a row in front of Wei Yuejiao, Wei Qiufu, and Wei Yuewu. Only Wei Qiuju had nothing in front of her.
“Grandmother, what’s this? It’s so beautiful!” Wei Yuejiao was the first to pick up the item in the box. She shook it and said happily.
“Grandmother, what is…” Seeing this unknown object, Wei Qiufu also became curious. She lowered her head and carefully observed it.
Wei Yuewu’s gaze swept across the Madam Dowager and Nanny Hong’s faces. She smiled and also looked down at the item in the box.
Wei Qiuju looked left and right, and her face turned pale. Her gaze swept across the other three sisters. She couldn’t hide the jealousy in her eyes, but she immediately lowered her head.
“I heard that your eldest sister gave each of you a cute puppy. I remembered that when I was young, I also raised a dog. At that time, I even made three dog collars. Therefore, I let Nanny Hong take them out and give them to Yuejiao, Qiufu and Yuewu. Don’t worry, Qiuju. I will let someone make another one for you.”
The Madam Dowager said with a smile.
Hearing the Madam Dowager’s words, everyone felt that the item in the box before them was indeed a collar-like item. It was a round and pure-gold collar with a small golden bell hanging on each corner. On top of it were a few red rubies the size of rice grains. It looked extremely beautiful.
With a slight shake of the collar, the sound of a bell could be heard.
“Grandmother, such a beautiful thing is actually a collar for a puppy!” Wei Qiufu exclaimed, picking it up and shaking it.
The bell sound was crisp, beautiful and pleasant to hear, and the collar was worth a lot of money!
If the Madam Dowager didn’t say anything, people would believe at first glance that these items could be used as headwear for young ladies.
Nobody could imagine that such an exquisite item would actually be a collar for a puppy. They wondered how cute a snow-white curly-furred puppy would be if it wore such a collar to create a scene composed of the colors of gold, red, and white.
Wei Qiuju raised her head and stared at the box in front of Wei Yuewu. A burst of enthusiasm subconsciously flashed through her eyes and she thought to herself: That item should be hers, right? If Wei Yuewu hadn’t returned to the mansion, then one of the three collars would be hers, but now there was this Wei Yuewu…
It was all because of Wei Yuewu that she didn’t have this collar. How could such a beautiful and valuable collar be easily reproduced? Wei Qiuju knew clearly her position in the Madam Dowager’s heart. It was impossible for the Madam Dowager to produce an identical collar for her with the same materials.
As she thought of this, a trace of sadness flashed through her eyes. She looked at Wei Yuewu hatefully, bit her lips, and lowered her head. If someone could tell that hers was a copy at a glance, she might as well not have it.
Wei Yuewu smiled coldly. She had been observing the expressions of everyone in the room. Of course, she had also noticed Wei Qiuju’s expression. Wei Qiuju always looked like a lowly little white flower. She did not dare to confront other people, so she always took Wei Yuewu as her object of hatred.
When she received any unfair treatment, she felt that it was Wei Yuewu who had snatched her share! However, she never thought that even if Wei Yuewu hadn’t come back, there was still Wei Yan. The Madam Dowager hadn’t prepared anything for her at all in the first place.
Wei Qiuju was just this kind of person who appeared gentle and weak and made people feel pity for them. But in fact, they could spray venom at any time. There were completely ungrateful, just like Wei Qiuju who plotted against Wei Yuewu this time…
“Grandmother, how about giving mine to Fifth Elder Sister first?” Wei Yuewu smiled and pushed the box in front of her to Wei Qiuju.
Wei Qiuju was shocked and raised her head with a look of surprise.
“Sixth Younger Sister, are you telling us that you dislike Grandmother’s gift?” Wei Yuejiao immediately put down the collar in her hand and sneered.
“How can I dislike such a beautiful collar? I can’t thank Grandmother too much in my heart. It’s just that Fifth Elder Sister is elder than me!” Wei Yuewu said calmly.
Indeed, in terms of age, Wei Yuewu was the youngest among all the sisters, and she was indeed the one that shouldn’t have this collar.
Wei Qiuju’s eyes started to be filled with desire. The corners of her eyes were filled with tears as she looked at the Madam Dowager with much expectation. Of course, the Madam Dowager was the one who had the most say here.
“Yuewu, although you are younger, you are a legitimate daughter. I have already asked Nanny Hong to make another one for Qiuju.” The Madam Dowager glanced at Wei Qiuju and said indifferently.
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