Chapter 206 – The Most Ambitious Woman
The Madam Dowager was quite sophisticated and had certainly realized some implied meaning in Wei Yuewu’s words. She frowned tightly and looked at Wei Yuewu thoughtfully.
Princess Nan’an was a formidable person. If this incident really had nothing to do with Wei Fengyao, she would certainly ask the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang to apologize. But now, Princess Nan’an didn’t make a fuss, and she even acknowledged the relationship between Wei Qiuju and the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an, and she intentionally showed her favor for Wei Qiuju. In consideration of these, the Madam Dowager believed that Wei Qiuju must enjoy a high status even if she was merely a concubine in Prince Nan’an Mansion.
That meant Wei Qiuju would become a properly-recognized concubine of the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an.
On the surface, it seemed that Prince Nan’an Mansion had suffered a loss. But why did Princess Nan’an accept it all?
Finding Wei Yuewu had successfully handled the risk, Wei Qiufu said with a smile, “Grandmother, could it be that the Sixth Younger Sister didn’t know how to raise dogs and therefore fed the dog something unusual so that the dog ended up with such mad behaviors? Third Elder Sister, what do you think?”
Obviously, she was trying to blame Wei Yuewu for making the dog go mad. Moreover, she was asking Wei Yuejiao, and everyone could see the discord between Wei Yuejiao and Wei Yuewu.
Wei Qiufu really wouldn’t let go of any chance to cause trouble. She was more like a venomous snake always seeking an opportunity to attack…
Wei Yuejiao had been trying to cause some trouble for Wei Yuewu. She was quick to seize the chance and with a sneer, she said, “Sixth Younger Sister, we each have a dog. But why did your dog suddenly become mad when our dogs were fine?”
Wei Yuewu smiled and looked deeply at Wei Qiufu. The corners of her mouth curled into a smile, “Are both of you claiming that our mansion of Marquis Hua Yang should be held accountable? Are you blaming the people of our mansion for not knowing how to raise dogs?”
Hearing these words, the look in the Madam Dowager’s eyes turned sinister. She swept her gaze over Wei Qiufu and Wei Yuejiao. She snorted coldly and directly stopped the topic by saying, “There’s no need to mention this matter anymore. Prince Nan’an Mansion should be held responsible since the dog was given by Prince Nan’an Mansion and the maid who caused this trouble also belonged to Prince Nan’an Mansion. Now, let’s talk about Qiuju!”
She shifted the topic to Wei Qiuju.
“Qiuju, is there really nothing special between you and the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an?”
“Grandmother… that’s really a temporary measure I came up with in an emergent situation. I never thought that things would turn out like this. I beg you to forgive me, grandmother!” When Wei Qiuju found that the topic had been switched back to her again, she covered her face with a handkerchief and cried.
“Grandmother, Princess Nan’an has already said that she would give Fifth Elder Sister a fair and justified result. She also said that she would go into the Palace to explain this matter personally. Moreover, the Eldest Sister also admitted her guilt over this matter.” Wei Yuewu said softly.
Only with Princess Nan’an’s intervention did Wei Fengyao take the blame for the incident. Considering the inexplicable disaster Wei Fengyao experienced and Princess Nan’an’s attitude, the Madam Dowager was now certain that Wei Fengyao must be the key to explaining why the puppy delivered to Wei Yuewu had something wrong and went mad to such a degree that it even hurt people. These must have something to do with Wei Fengyao.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for Princess Nan’an to do so, nor would it be possible for Wei Fengyao to really admit her guilt over this matter. Their responses today were obviously intended to turn the big dispute into a trivial matter and even to nothing.
The Madam Dowager pondered for a moment, then she coldly swept her gaze across Wei Qiuju and said, “I’ll send someone to ask Princess Nan’an about this incident. All of you can go back now!”
“Grandmother, how about the Eldest Sister’s face…” Seeing that this matter would probably be settled in this way and Wei Yuewu didn’t receive any punishment, Wei Yuejiao became somewhat unwilling.
“This is something that Princess Nan’an should worry about. Your Eldest Sister is now the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an Mansion and she has a wide range of rare medicine supplies. You don’t have to worry about that. If you do care about your Eldest Sister, why didn’t you speak to show your concern for her in Prince Nan’an Mansion?”
The Madam Dowager almost blurted out these words. She was full of anger at this time and she was suppressing her anger. But Wei Yuejiao’s talk was rather irritating to her. So it was not surprising at all that Wei Yuejiao would be scolded by her.
Wei Qiufu knew that the Madam Dowager was venting her anger on Wei Yuejiao. So she immediately lowered her head and restrained herself from talking anymore, nor did she dare to say anything else.
“Grandmother, I…” Wei Yuejiao was scolded inexplicably and started to weep at the moment. She covered her mouth with a handkerchief and sobbed.
“Third Elder Sister, don’t cry. Grandmother is old and can’t stand it!” Said Wei Yuewu.
Older people naturally didn’t want their juniors to be crying in front of them all day long. They believed it was rather disappointing and caused them bad luck. Now, the Madam Dowager was thinking about Wei Fengyao’s wounded face and was feeling uncomfortable. So when she found Wei Yuejiao was even crying in front of her, she quickly showed a trace of disgust in her eyes.
“What are you crying for? All of you, get out of here!” She snorted coldly.
Her tone was extremely harsh. Although she said these words to all of them, she was looking exactly at Wei Yuejiao coldly. Wei Yuejiao trembled as she found her grandmother’s gaze today was completely different from the usually amiable gaze in the past. So Wei Yuejiao dared not cry anymore. Then, she turned to stare at Wei Yuewu with a gloomy gaze and went out with everyone else while wiping tears in her eyes.
Wei Yuewu never cared about such gazes that couldn’t cause substantial harm to her. So she ignored that gaze and didn’t even look at Wei Yuejiao after leaving the Madam Dowager’s courtyard.
Wei Yuejiao knew that she was severely humiliated due to Wei Yuewu this time. She walked to the gate of the courtyard, stomped her feet hatefully, and turned away.
Wei Qiufu wanted to stay and talk to Wei Yuewu. But she could only restrain when she found Wei Yuewu showed her a polite smile and nodded before leaving with her maid.
A trace of thoughtfulness flashed in Wei Qiufu’s eyes. Wei Yuewu was becoming more and more difficult to deal with! She didn’t really know if the investigation had any progress. If it was true, she ought to come up with a more careful arrangement.
It was not an appropriate time to have any direct conflict with Wei Yuewu until the matter was clear…
“Fourth Elder Sister!” Wei Qiuju’s timid voice came from behind.
“Let’s go back as well!” Wei Qiufu nodded and said gently to Wei Qiuju.
“Yes, Fourth Elder Sister… I… what should I do next?” Wei Qiuju nodded. Seeing Wei Qiufu walking forward, she hurriedly trotted a few steps to catch up with Wei Qiufu and asked in a low voice.
Wei Qiuju was indeed at a loss at the moment. When the incident happened, she didn’t do anything but insisted that she had developed a special relationship with the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an. Later, the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an tried his best to protect her, which made her feel safe.
But when she returned to the mansion, she became more and more afraid. When she was still in the carriage just now, Wei Qiufu also hinted that the reason why Wei Yan “committed suicide” was also to protect the reputation of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Otherwise, with Wei Yan’s temperament, it would be impossible for her to go so far as to “commit suicide”.
This confirmed Wei Qiuju’s previous thoughts, and she believed that her own affair was also dishonorable. Upon thinking that the Madam Dowager could even punish Wei Yan so severely, Wei Qiuju believed that the Madam Dowager definitely would not let her off. So Wei Qiuju was both shocked and afraid. She had long forgotten how Wei Qiufu had framed her up. She only felt that Wei Qiufu’s words were reasonable and wanted to rely on Wei Qiufu for help.
Naturally, she would listen to Wei Qiufu whatever she said…
“Miss, why do the Fifth Young Lady and the Fourth Young Lady become so close with each other again?” Huamo turned to look behind and asked in surprise.
“Because Wei Qiufu is useful!” Wei Yuewu’s eyes lifted slightly as she said indifferently.
When Wei Qiufu was asking Wei Qiuju to take the same carriage with her, Wei Yuewu had already known that the two of them would reconcile.
Fortunately, she didn’t have any good impression about Wei Qiuju, who was always sarcastic and would become selfish and vicious at critical moments. This time, the reason why she helped Wei Qiuju enter the Prince Nan’an Mansion was to let her fight with Wei Fengyao. Since both of them had conspired to plot against her, she would rather help Wei Qiuju enter Prince Nan’an Mansion for them to have internal fights with each other.
But when it came to Wei Qiufu, Wei Yuewu believed that Wei Qiufu had no reason to be involved in this matter, nor did Wei Qiufu need to contend with Wei Fengyao. However, Wei Qiufu did interfere in the matter and it seemed that Wei Qiufu had won Wei Qiuju’s trust. Was she going to help Wei Qiuju fight with Wei Fengyao? Or was she optimistic about Wei Qiuju?
What Wei Qiufu did was rather strange. She hadn’t settled her own personal affairs yet, but it seemed that she was actively ganging up with others to form her own cliques. In Wei Qiufu’s seemingly indifferent eyes, Wei Yuewu could occasionally find traces of ambition.
Even the Madam Dowager probably didn’t expect such an ambitious woman to appear in the most insignificant branch of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang!
Unfortunately, Wei Qiufu wanted to climb high by sacrificing Wei Yuewu…
Back in Lotus Courtyard, Nurse Mei was also surprised by Wei Yuewu’s sudden return. However, Nurse Mei still asked Shufei to go to the kitchen to get lunch for Wei Yuewu. Fortunately, the Madam Dowager had already asked the kitchen to prepare lunches for the young ladies. But even so, the maids sent by several young ladies still have to wait in the kitchen for a while.
“Why are there so many fresh vegetables?” Shufei asked in surprise while looking at the baskets of fresh melons and fruits in the kitchen. When she came into the kitchen in the morning, she didn’t see so many vegetables.
“We just received a message today. Lord Marquis and Concubine Dong would soon come back to the capital. If they are not delayed, they would be at home by noon tomorrow. The Madam Dowager especially asked the kitchen to make preparations, and more vegetables will be delivered tomorrow.” The charging maidservant answered with a smile as she sat on a small bench, trimming vegetables for cooking.
“Today’s message?” Shufei was stunned for a moment and asked.
“Indeed. I just received the message not long ago. Look, those fresh vegetables were immediately delivered to the kitchen. The Madam Dowager must feel sorry for Lord Marquis since he didn’t have many fresh vegetables at the border.” The maidservant replied.
After that, she looked around and found no one noticed her. Then, she reached out her hand and waved to Shufei.
Shufei hurriedly squatted down and moved her head closer…
“In fact, Concubine Dong likes fresh vegetables the most. At this time every year, when Concubine Dong comes back, our mansion would always prepare similar vegetables. It’s really not easy to find fresh vegetables at this time of year.” The maidservant complained while pointing at the baskets of vegetables in front of her, “We need to sort them out today. Tomorrow, new fresh vegetables will be delivered. By then, we need to pick the freshest vegetables, stir-fry them, and serve them to the table.”
“You do so every year?” Shufei asked with a blink of her eyes.
“Yes, we do. Once upon a time, we didn’t get prepared in advance and not many fresh vegetables were served on the table. I heard that Concubine Dong refused to have any food. Nanny Hong even sent people to punish us. As a result, every of us had our salary deducted.”
The maidservant’s voice became even lower, and there was a trace of indignation in it.
Well, Concubine Dong was merely a concubine in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Although there were many concubines in the mansion, no one ever came up with such particular requirements. Especially, no concubine would ever disgrace the kitchen servants as soon as she was back. So it was only natural for the maidservant to have some grudge against Concubine Dong.
At this time, the kitchen had already finished making the food for Lotus Courtyard. A junior maid brought it over for Shufei. Shufei stood up and returned to Lotus Courtyard with the lunch.
On the other side, the dishes for the other young ladies were also ready one by one, and the maids from various courtyards walked out with lunches in their hands.
Wei Yuewu was watching Huamo working on the embroidery screen. Huamo only had time to occasionally work on the embroidery pattern, so she had just finished a small part of it. However, the overall pattern was already visible. Obviously, the pattern was basically identical to one of the patterns she found at Wei Yuejiao’s place.
However, although the pattern looked similar, it was still only a fake. The real screen that her mother had embroidered was still in Wei Yuejiao’s possession.
Thinking that the screen was embroidered by her mother bit by bit, Wei Yuewu showed a harsh look across her eyes.
“Miss, I heard that Concubine Dong will be back tomorrow. The Madam Dowager asked the kitchen to prepare a lot of vegetables. It’s said that those vegetables are specially prepared for Concubine Dong. But in this season, there might not be such vegetables tomorrow. So, the Madam Dowager asked the kitchen to send some vegetables to the kitchen today.” Shufei reported as she placed Wei Yuewu’s lunch on the table.
The Madam Dowager cared way too much about Concubine Dong! One would believe that Concubine Dong were Madam Dowager’s favorite daughter.
Wei Yuewu stood up and received the towel from Jin Ling. She wiped her hands and asked indifferently. “What else did the kitchen say?”
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