Chapter 238 – Two Invitations From The Same Mansion
“Miss, the one sent in the name of Eldest Miss Jing arrived later than the one in the name of the mansion of Duke of Jing!” Hearing Wei Yuewu’s question, Shufei went to Wei Yuewu’s dressing table and took up the two invitations that were placed on it.
The two similar invitations were actually sent from the same mansion. One was sent in the name of the mansion of Duke of Jing, while the other was a private invitation from Jing Wenyan, the eldest young lady of the mansion of Duke of Jing.
“Miss, isn’t it Eldest Miss Jing’s birthday party? Not many people will be invited, right?” Jin Ling asked in surprise.
Normally, when an unmarried young lady from an aristocratic family held a birthday party, only her bosom friends would be invited. No grand banquet would be held. But this time, the banquet in the mansion of Duke of Jing was different from usual. Almost all the aristocratic families had received invitations from the mansion of Duke of Jing.
“It seems that the mansion of Duke of Jing which lost its territory wants to use this opportunity to do something big!” Wei Yuewu narrowed her eyes that looked both cold and sharp.
The Duke of Jing was the gorgeously dressed fat man whom Wei Yuewu saw at the entrance to the Plum Blossom Nunnery. He had recently been released because the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State let go of him.
However, facing the dramatic change from a duke with a fief to a duke with only a title, he probably wouldn’t be so willing to accept his fate!
However, although it was OK for Duke of Jing to think so, what was going on with this eldest young lady of the mansion of Duke of Jing, who seemed to be very smart? What was the use of sending another invitation to her? It was really unnecessary for her to do so.
Nurse Mei walked in to report with a smile, “Young miss, I inquired about it. The mansion of Duke of Jing also invited the Second Lady, Third Lady, and the other young ladies of our mansion. However, they only received one invitation delivered in the name of the mansion of Duke of Jing.”
Nurse Mei had been sent out to inquire about the news before.
“Nurse Mei, has such a thing happened before?” Wei Yuewu smiled and asked thoughtfully.
“No!” Nurse Mei thought for a while and said with certainty, “This kind of thing can’t happen. There should be only one invitation from the same mansion. Moreover, even if there was a mistake, the two invitations should be identical. It was impossible to send two different invitations to the same person.”
One invitation was delivered in the name of the Duke of Jing and the other in the name of Jing Wenyan, who didn’t seem to be someone likely to make such a mistake. That Eldest Miss Jing had always given her a feeling of shrewdness and competence. Last time, she decisively sent that rare copy of book to her. Judging from this, Wei Yuewu could tell that she was a person with a firm heart and clear goals.
“What did the messenger of Eldest Miss Jing say?” Wei Yuewu withdrew her gaze from the invitation and asked softly.
“She didn’t say anything except reminding Miss to be careful on the way!” Nurse Mei thought for a moment and said. When the invitation arrived, Wei Yuewu was away, so Nurse Mei received it.
Be careful on the way? This sounded really meaningful. Wei Yuewu’s expression remained unchanged as she asked, “Who else in our mansion will go to the banquet of the mansion of Duke of Jing?”
“The Second Lady is not here, so she can’t go. The Third Lady has a lot of things to do recently, so she can’t go either. The Third Young Lady said that she had made Lord Marquis angry, so she wasn’t going. The Fourth Young Lady said that she was being grounded, whereas the Fifth Young Lady was also instructed by the Madam Dowager to reflect on her mistakes…” Nurse Mei paused.
“So I’m the only one going to the banquet?” Wei Yuewu said leisurely.
“Oh, the Eldest Young Master, the Second Young Master, and the Third Young Master will be going.” Nurse Mei replied.
“Why is Eldest Brother going? Hasn’t the mansion of Duke of Jing invited only female guests?” Wei Yuewu was really surprised. It had never happened before for a young lady who hadn’t been married yet to hold such a grand birthday banquet.
“I don’t know. I heard that the mansion of Duke of Jing specially sent invitations to them.” Nurse Mei thought for a moment and suddenly seemed to have thought of something. She looked at Wei Yuewu and wanted to say something but hesitated.
“Did you find something unusual?” Wei Yuewu raised her eyebrows and asked.
“Are they… selecting a husband for Eldest Miss Jing?” Hearing Wei Yuewu’s question, Nurse Mei answered hesitantly.
“Quite likely!” These words reminded the maids, and Shufei hurriedly nodded in agreement.
“Miss, Eldest Miss Jing is coming of age. It’s time for her to get married!” When Jin Ling was still in Duke of Yan’s mansion, she had heard of the number one beauty in the State of Jing. She peeked at Wei Yuewu and said, “At that time, the State of Yan and State of Jing were considering a marriage alliance!”
She didn’t know if she should say this to her young miss, but she couldn’t help but say it.
“Why was it cancelled in the end?” Wei Yuewu asked curiously. If Yan Huaijing and Jing Wenyan married, they would really make a nice couple!
From whichever perspective, it was a perfect match for the number one young master and the number one beauty to tie the knot.
“I don’t know what exactly happened. It was said that the two states had been discussing the marriage alliance, and the mansion of the Duke of Yan even started preparing betrothal gifts. However, something happened afterwards, and no one mentioned this matter again.” Jin Ling thought for a moment and said.
The marriage alliance between two states was an extremely important issue. How could there not be any news leaked out? But in the end, it was inexplicably cancelled. It really made the people of the State of Yan suspicious and wonder secretly. Of course, most of them felt that their elegant and gentle heir-apparent was too good for the eldest young lady of the State of Jing.
Wei Yuewu pondered for a moment and instructed, “Nurse Mei, prepare a gift for me. Tomorrow, I will go to the mansion of Duke of Jing to celebrate Eldest Miss Jing’s birthday.”
“Yes, Miss!” Nurse Mei accepted the order and left.
“Jin Ling, let Yan Feng and Yan Yang secretly escort me tomorrow.” Wei Yuewu said unhurriedly.
Jin Ling nodded and retreated.
“Shufei, go and see if something happened to the carriage?” Wei Yuewu said coldly.
“Miss, do you think there’s something wrong with the carriage?” Shufei was shocked. They usually used Old Li’s carriage when they were out on a trip. When the last incident occurred, Wei Yuewu did not pursue the matter. Instead, she saved Old Li’s family. Since then, Old Li had become even more loyal to Wei Yuewu.
“I think so!” Wei Yuewu’s gaze landed on Jing Wenyan’s invitation again and said coldly. This time, she was the only female guest from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang who would go to the mansion of Duke of Jing. Although Wei Ziyang and the other brothers were also going, it was impossible for them to take a carriage like her.
Apparently, Concubine Dong had repeatedly corresponded with Lady Li with the aim of letting Lady Li deal with her…
“Yes, I will immediately go and check out.” Realizing the meaning behind it, Shufei was shocked and had cold sweat all over. She didn’t dare to hesitate any longer and hastily retreated.
“Miss, shall… shall we tell Lord Marquis?” An ominous feeling suddenly surged in Huamo’s heart.
Wei Yuewu shook her head. Her eyes looked cold and indifferent. Concubine Dong and Wei Yuejiao had been living with her father over the years. Without any concrete evidence, what could she say?
Besides, Concubine Dong and Wei Yuejiao seem to have nothing to do with the birthday banquet.
“Then… Miss, will everything be alright?” Huamo said nervously.
“No worry!” Wei Yuewu smiled indifferently. Her watery eyes landed on the screen and a trace of coldness flashed in her eyes. “Huamo, is there really no way to repair it?”
This screen was embroidered by her mother. How could she let Wei Yuejiao destroy it? But at that time, this screen was placed in Wei Yuejiao’s room. No matter how reluctant she was, there was no way to protect it.
“I… I really can’t. However, I heard that some people are quite skilled in embroidery, and the embroidery fixed by them looks almost the same as the original one. Even if people examine it carefully, they wouldn’t be able to see any difference.” Huamo thought for a moment and said.
“The embroidery workshops in the capital?” Wei Yuewu’s eyes lit up.
“I think that there might be such an expert in the embroidery workshop in the capital. Perhaps he can repair this screen for Miss. Do you want to go out and take a look?” Huamo nodded repeatedly.
“Wait a moment, wait a moment before we take the carriage!” Wei Yuewu nodded and said thoughtfully.
“Carriage? I will go and tell Old Li to prepare the carriage for Miss!” Huamo suggested.
“Wait until Shufei returns!” Wei Yuewu nodded her head, her eyes flashing with a trace of serenity. Since she had to take the carriage tomorrow, it would be better for her to use it today…
Shufei came back fairly quickly. As soon as she entered the room, she told Wei Yuewu, “Miss, when Old Li heard that Miss was going to use the carriage, he hurriedly went to make preparations. I asked him to inspect the carriage carefully and he found that one of the wheels was broken. If he drove a little faster, an accident might happen. Now he had driven the carriage outside the mansion for repairs.”
“How come it was broken at this time?” Huamo was stunned for a moment and asked. “Which carriage is our Miss going to use in a while?”
“I don’t know either, but a warmhearted coachman told me that Miss could use his carriage. The coachman is a newcomer, and his carriage is also new. People said that this carriage was specially prepared by the mansion after learning Concubine Dong and the Third Young Lady were returning to the capital. Because none of them is going out, this carriage is left idle.”
So, it turned out Concubine Dong and Wei Yuejiao had a newly built carriage for their exclusive use, whereas she, the legitimate daughter, didn’t have her own carriage and had to share an old carriage with others. The difference here was supposedly enough to make her angry about the unfair treatment and vie for control of this carriage…
That was also human nature, wasn’t it? Therefore, someone was expecting to see her using this carriage tomorrow!
“Come, let’s go out in this carriage and find out if there’s anyone who can repair the screen embroidered by my mother.” Wei Yuewu stood up.
“Miss, are you going out now?” Shufei didn’t expect that Wei Yuewu would actually leave immediately. She was stunned for a moment and asked anxiously. “But I didn’t know you were going out and didn’t instruct that coachman to prepare the carriage.”
“Isn’t it just perfect?” Wei Yuewu smiled coldly and said mockingly. She just wanted to spoil their plan. She was now 100% sure that Old Li’s carriage would definitely not be ready for use tomorrow.
Since this was a carriage specially “prepared” for her, she naturally had to enjoy it.
Wei Yuewu sent someone to Tranquility Courtyard to report to the Madam Dowager and then went out with Shufei. As for the screen, it would not really be taken along with her, in case it would be accidentally damaged.
By using the carriage one day earlier than they had originally expected, she caught them off guard. She would like to see what kind of conspiracy they had!
“Shufei, find two old maidservants to move the screen out!”
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