Chapter 197 – An Old Place Revisited
“It’s different today. Fengyao has made some rearrangements to the inner courtyard. It’s very different today.” The Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an was in a hurry to enter the inner courtyard. Therefore, his words were quite exaggerated because he was afraid that the Fourth Prince would not believe him and refuse to go to the inner courtyard with him.
When he thought of the young lady who had held him in spell, the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an felt more and more restless!
“The heiress-apparent has rearranged the inner courtyard? Is she going to entertain guests?” A young master asked casually.
“Of course. The young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang are all here. Of course, Fengyao has to rearrange the inner courtyard. It is really different from before. I guarantee that you won’t regret having a walk around.” The Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an was determined to get everyone into the inner courtyard and therefore kept praising Wei Fengyao.
“Congratulations, Your Heir-apparent, for marrying such a smart and deft beauty.” A young master flattered the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an.
In fact, it was only a few months since Wei Fengyao married into Prince Nan’an Mansion. The two of them could be considered newlyweds. Because Marquis Hua Yang was guarding the border, when Wei Fengyao returned to her maternal home shortly after their wedding according to the custom, Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an went with her and met everyone from the second branch and the other elders in the mansion, but he didn’t see the other young ladies who were still unmarried.
After that, he had never been to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang again. Therefore, apart from Wei Yan, he had only heard of the other young ladies in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang without seeing them.
“Thank you very much!” The Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an responded politely. Then, he turned to the Fourth Prince. This time, he purposely lowered his voice. “I heard that Marquis Hua Yang’s two daughters are both extremely beautiful…”
He didn’t finish the whole sentence, but everyone understood the message he wanted to convey!
The Fourth Prince pondered for a moment and he actually stood up. “Let’s go and see Her Heiress-apparent’s newly-arranged courtyard.”
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an proudly instructed his lad servant, “Alright, hurry up and find a place with a good view. Have someone set it up. The Fourth Prince and I are going there for a drink.”
His mother, Princess Nan’an had repeatedly warned him not to go to the backyard to join the fun, but now it was not him who wanted to join the fun, it was the Fourth Prince. Therefore, it had nothing to do with him! Even if Princess Nan’an became angry, he was not to blame.
In Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an’s courtyard, Wei Fengyao was receiving her sisters politely. They were seated as host and guests in order of seniority, forming quite a happy and harmonious scene.
The four puppies were held in the hands of four maids, each standing behind their own master. The golden collar and the ruby on it contrasted beautifully with the puppy’s snow-white curly hair.
Wei Yuewu was seated in the lower place by Wei Qiuju. Wei Qiuju looked sideways at the puppies. If the four puppies didn’t appear at the same place, their difference could not be found. But compared with the puppies of the other three sisters, her puppy was obviously furrier and its hair was longer, almost covering half of its face.
Normally, people would think that her puppy was lovelier. However, the other three puppies looked more energetic. Only her puppy was sluggish and could not even open its eyes. As a result, it didn’t look attractive at all. Even Wei Yuejiao, who had always been competing with her, didn’t show the slightest bit of interest after a quick look at her puppy.
After saying a few words, Wei Fengyao stood up and said with a smile, “Sisters, follow me to pay respects to the princess!”
“Yes!” The few of them stood up at the same time. As a matter of fact, they had come according to the Madam Dowager’s instruction. Although the puppies were gifted by Wei Fengyao, they had to thank Princess Nan’an personally to show the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang respected Prince Nan’an Mansion very much.
This was also an important reason for the four of them to bring the puppies here together. Their visit was intended to please Princess Nan’an with the hope that Princess Nan’an would help build up the reputation of the young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang by speaking favorable words about them.
There were also three or four noble old madams who were visiting Princess Nan’an. When they heard that the young ladies from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang were coming, they all looked over curiously.
These old madams’ statuses were very noble, so when Wei Luowu celebrated his birthday previously, it was impossible for them to go to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and congratulate him without being invited.
The four sisters entered the room one after another, stood still, and bowed to Princess Nan’an in unison.
“Mother, this is Third Younger Sister, this is Fourth Younger Sister, this is Fifth Younger Sister and this is Sixth Younger Sister!” Wei Fengyao smiled and introduced them. She then pointed at the maids behind them who were holding the puppies and saluting to Princess Nan’an and continued, “Grandmother specially asked the four sisters to come over and thank you for your gifts.”
Although the gifts were sent by her, she was now Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an. Naturally, the puppies could be considered as gifts from Prince Nan’an Mansion to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
“Your grandmother is too polite. That’s not a big deal! Now be seated!” Princess Nan’an looked at the collars around the puppies’ necks with satisfaction. She was very satisfied with the Madam Dowager’s respect for her. As for Wei Qiuju’s puppy that didn’t have a collar, she did not care at all. Anyway, she was just a concubine-born daughter.
Moreover, she was not an outstanding concubine-born daughter, and Princess Nan’an did not feel that she needed to care too much about her.
Perhaps that was also what the Madam Dowager of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang meant.
The few of them sat down again. The atmosphere was quite harmonious and there wasn’t any sign of competition or conflict between them as it was rumored outside the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
“Fengyao, weren’t there only three puppies? This extra puppy…” After they sat down, Princess Nan’an felt a little surprised. She looked around at the puppies and asked.
“Mother, the heir-apparent found another one for me. After all, I must treat the four sisters equally!” Wei Fengyao smiled.
A trace of deep understanding flashed through Wei Yuewu’s eyes. Indeed, her puppy must have been specially found for her by Wei Fengyao!
“Fourth Miss Wei and Sixth Miss Wei, you accompanied the two princesses to admire plum blossoms. I heard that Sixth Miss Wei even blocked the sword for the Crown Prince?” An old lady asked as she looked at Wei Qiufu who was gentle and magnanimous and Wei Yuewu, who, though somewhat childish, had an extraordinary bearing.
Compared with Wei Yuejiao and Wei Qiuju, two concubine-born daughters, Wei Qiufu and Wei Yuewu received much more attention from aristocratic families.
The incident at Plum Blossom Temple had damaged the reputation of Fourth Miss Wei, who was unlikely to become the Crown Princess as a result. However, this did not mean that Wei Qiufu had lost all hope. Indeed, after all that had happened, no one could tell what the Crown Prince’s decision was. Before any conclusion was reached, no one dared to underestimate Wei Qiufu.
As for Wei Yuewu’s being valued by the Crown Prince, who even interfered in her affairs in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, everyone had heard of it.
Since she was mentioned, Wei Yuewu stood up generously, bowed to the old lady and replied in a gentle voice, “Blocking the sword for the Crown Prince was just a coincidence.”
From the looks on her face, it was obvious that she was extremely well-bred to behave so appropriately. The old madams present and even Princess Nan’an nodded their heads repeatedly.
Of course, they had heard rumors about Wei Yuewu before. But now, they were filled with admiration for Wei Yuewu’s maternal grandmother. Since she was able to raise such an extraordinary granddaughter in a small place, she must also be a talented person.
Since they were all young ladies, Princess Nan’an didn’t want them to feel restrained as they appeared in their seats. She waved her hand and said with a smile, “Fengyao, take your sisters to the garden for a stroll. There are no outsiders here, so there’s no need to worry about anything!”
Hearing that, the few of them stood up and bowed to Princess Nan’an to express their gratitude before walking into the courtyard together.
“Your Heiress-apparent, His Heir-apparent is coming with the Fourth Prince!” A maid walked out from behind the tree and whispered in Wei Fengyao’s ear.
“Then you can go directly!” Wei Fengyao did not know why the heir-apparent would appear in the garden at this time. Princess Nan’an had told him to receive guests in the outer courtyard. Originally, she had thought that she would have to spend some effort to bring them here. Unexpectedly, the heir-apparent actually came in uninvited.
Of course, he came at the right time. For the moment, she didn’t have time to guess why the heir-apparent had suddenly entered the inner courtyard.
“Come, let’s go to the pavilion in front of us. It is high over there and it is a nice place to enjoy the view. Although the scenery in winter is not as good as in spring, we can have a panoramic view of Prince Nan’an Mansion. It is indeed an elegant place.” Wei Fengyao suggested.
Actually, she was the hostess today and the eldest of all the five sisters. The others certainly would not object to what she said.
As a result, the group of people headed towards a certain pavilion in the backyard.
Looking at the increasingly familiar scenery, Wei Yuewu couldn’t help but smile bitterly. It was really a good place to play around. She remembered that it was here that she met Yan Huaijing, where she happened to hear the conversation between Yan Huaijing and the Third Princess.
After getting on the pavilion not far away, Wei Yuewu could not help but sigh. Well, after so many twists and turns, she actually revisited an old place today! The courtyard down there should be the one where Wei Yan fell in trouble back then. From here, she could see that the courtyard’s door was locked tightly and the courtyard was empty. There was no one in the courtyard.
Wei Yuewu had been observing Wei Fengyao. Although Wei Fengyao had been talking, she was obviously absent-minded. As she moved, she looked at the stairs from time to time. The corners of Wei Yuewu’s lips curled into a faint cold smile. It seemed that this was the place Wei Fengyao had chosen for her.
She turned her head to the side and said, “Huamo, give the dog to Jin Ling. You go and close the curtains over there.”
Huamo nodded and handed the dog in her hand to Jin Ling. She went behind Wei Yuewu and pulled down the curtains beside her.
A maid suddenly hurriedly walked up from downstairs and ran to Wei Fengyao panting heavily. After the maid whispered something to her ear, Wei Fengyao’s brows furrowed, and she also stood up with a somewhat helpless expression on her face, and she gazed at the faces of the several sisters in turn.
“Eldest Sister, is something wrong?” Wei Qiufu asked softly.
“Actually, there is nothing. It’s just that the Fourth Prince is coming over.” Wei Fengyao frowned helplessly.
“Then… let’s leave now!” Wei Qiufu suggested, and the sisters stood up one after another.
‘”Well…Actually, we cannot leave yet. Something happened to the Fourth Prince and…” Wei Fengyao’s face was filled with embarrassment. She was really caught off guard when the incident happened! Of course, it was she who had arranged for the appearance of these people, but she had such an expression on her face as if she really didn’t know anything!
“What happened?” Wei Qiufu asked.
“Whatever it is, how could it have anything to do with us?” Wei Yuejiao’s expression was somewhat impatient. She inexplicably didn’t like the Fourth Prince with whom she had an unpleasant encounter last time. It was a humiliating experience for her. She really didn’t want to see him at this time.
“Eldest Sister, we… we had better leave now!” Wei Qiuju also said timidly.
Wei Yuewu did not say anything. Although she followed the others to stand up, she did not say a word.
Just as they were speaking, a group of people were ascending the stairs with the Fourth Prince in the front and accompanied by the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an beside him. They actually barged in like this.
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