Chapter 264 – Memory, Doubtful Qin Music
“Eldest Sister, listen to me. I heard that recently…” Seeing Wei Fengyao agreed, Wei Qiufu revealed a smile on her face. She turned her head and whispered in Wei Fengyao’s ear.
At first, Wei Fengyao still nodded, but later, she was completely shocked. She stared at this delicate Fourth Younger Sister in front of her with her mouth wide open, secretly becoming vigilant in her heart. Sure enough, she had underestimated Wei Qiufu, who actually knew about this kind of thing and even had the guts to take action. It seemed that she must advise her mother, Lady Li, not to act against the third branch in the future.
In the mansion of Duke of Jing, Crown Prince Wen Tianyao stood under a big tree with his hands behind his back, pondering silently.
Not far behind him was a eunuch, and a few guards stood further apart to protect him.
“The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang… qin music… Wei Qiufu… Wei Yuewu…” Wen Tianyao muttered to himself in a low voice, his handsome brows furrowed tightly together. There seemed to be a line connecting these words, but he was at a loss where to start the investigation.
The music he heard when he was a child was exactly the same as the one that Wei Qiufu played that day. Needless to say, it was produced using the same music score, which no one could play as far as he knew.
But that day in the Plum Blossom Nunnery, he heard the qin music flowing out of Wei Qiufu’s hands. How could that be possible! Even if someone was able to play the tune, it should be Wei Yuewu, Sixth Miss Wei. But why did it turn out to be Wei Qiufu?
This was completely different from what he thought!
The melodious sound of qin came from not far away, but it secretly matched the qin sound in his heart. Wen Tianyao listened carefully and raised his head to look to the left. There was an artificial hill over there, which happened to block his sight. Coincidentally, the sound of qin came from there.
His heart moved slightly. Without hesitation, he turned around and walked to the left. He was slightly excited.
The name of the qin music was Confession of Love, which was also played by Wei Qiufu back then. However, the player was more familiar with it than Wei Qiufu. Perhaps she was not as skillful as Wei Qiufu, but she must have practiced longer, and the finger movements were much smoother.
There was actually someone who could play this music that he could not find anywhere. Wen Tianyao was excited.
Turning around the artificial hill, he saw a winding corridor. A young girl was sitting in the corridor, playing the qin attentively. Her expression was focused as if she had not noticed someone coming over.
It was Yang Yuyan from the mansion of Assistant Minister Yang.
In fact, Yang Yuyan had already sensed that the Crown Prince was coming over. At this time, she was so nervous that she almost didn’t know what to do. But when she thought of Wei Yuewu’s warning, she suppressed the panic in her heart and pretended not to see the Crown Prince Wen Tianyao. Wei Yuewu had said that whether she could enter Crown Prince Mansion or not depended on this move today.
Having placed all her bets, she unexpectedly calmed down at this time and began to play with her heart and soul.
After finishing the tune, she raised her head and seemed to realize that Wen Tianyao was standing in front of her. She exclaimed, “Your Highness?” She hurriedly stood up, walked out, and knelt on the ground.
“You are…” Wen Tianyao felt that the woman in front of him was a little familiar, but he couldn’t remember who she was.
“My name is Yang Yuyan. I am the daughter of Assistant Minister Yang of the Ministry of Works.” Yang Yuyan did not even dare to raise her head.
“How did you learn to play this tune?” For a moment, Wen Tianyao didn’t remember who she was. He just nodded casually. He was more concerned about the tune Yang Yuyan played, not her name or identity.
“When I was a little girl, my mother had a close relationship with Marquise Hua Yang. I followed my mother to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. The Marquise loved me and specially taught me to play this tune.” Yang Yuyan followed Wei Yuewu’s instructions and answered slowly, but her heart was slightly trembling with nervousness. She didn’t know whether the Crown Prince would believe her or not.
“Your mother…” Wen Tianyao muttered to himself. According to his investigation, Assistant Minister Yang’s wife was indeed on good terms with Marquise Hua Yang. Perhaps there were some things that she knew.
“Where… is your mother now?” Wen Tianyao asked.
“My mother died young!” Yang Yuyan covered her face, crying. “But when my mother was on good terms with Marquise Hua Yang, she often took me to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang to play. When she came back, she always talked to me about Marquise Hua Yang.”
“What kind of things?” Wen Tianyao’s expression tightened as he asked.
“I can’t remember for a moment, but my mother told me a lot of things at that time. They seemed to be some private matters of Marquise Hua Yang!” Yang Yuyan wiped away the tears on her face with a handkerchief and stole a glance at Wen Tianyao. She could not see the expression on his face and could not help but become upset. She did not know if her words had any effect.
Was Wei Yuewu’s method really effective?
A guard trotted over. He bowed respectfully to Wen Tianyao and reported, “Your Highness, the Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State invites you over!”
“Have they arrived?” Wen Tianyao nodded and asked.
“Yes, all the four heirs-apparent have arrived. They are waiting for Your Highness!” The guard replied.
Wen Tianyao glanced at Yang Yuyan. At this moment, he came to realize that this daughter of Assistant Minister Yang was the woman punished by him in the Plum Blossom Nunnery.
After that incident, Wei Yuewu also said that it was a misunderstanding and that Yang Yuyan mistook her for someone else. But no matter what, Wen Tianyao didn’t have a good impression of her. Now, he had to think more about his decision.
The position of Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works was a little low. Nevertheless, she was still eligible for the position of a low-ranking concubine in the Crown Prince Mansion. Was that Marquise Hua Yang the same as he guessed? Wen Tianyao thought for a while before turning around and leaving.
Seeing Wen Tianyao leave, Yang Yuyan, who was nervous all over, almost collapsed. She leaned against the corridor and felt her forehead was covered in sweat. Was she really crazy? She actually believed Wei Yuewu’s words and played the music that Wei Yuewu had asked her to practice for a long time in front of the Crown Prince.
However, what if she didn’t do as she was told? Although she was valued by her father, how could she be tolerated by her stepmother and younger sister?
Besides, considering what happened in Plum Blossom Nunnery, although Wei Yuewu spoke in favor of her, this could only make some people believe that she mistook Wei Yuewu for someone else. There were still many people who despised her even more. In this case, it was quite difficult for her to marry well. Therefore, she could only anchor her hope on marrying into the Crown Prince Mansion.
As long as the Crown Prince took a fancy to her, how would those people dare to look down on her!
This was also the reason why she had no choice but to follow Wei Yuewu’s words and go all out after careful consideration. Her prospect of having a satisfactory marriage was getting bleaker and bleaker, and there was no other way out for her…
“Miss, I saw the Fourth Young Lady coming over from the direction of the Eldest Young Lady’s courtyard.” Jin Ling reported to Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu was watching Embroideress Yun repairing the screen in the wing room. The next day after she went to the embroidery shop last time, Embroideress Yun came to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and started repairing the screen for Wei Yuewu. However, the screen was damaged quite a lot, and it wasn’t an easy job to have it repaired. By now, only a small section of it had been repaired.
Wei Yuewu stood up and walked out, followed by Jin Ling.
In the room, Embroideress Yun suddenly put down the needle and thread in her hand and looked out of the window thoughtfully. This Sixth Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang really surprised her. At such a young age, she was already very noble in terms of both bearing and movements, and she appeared both calm and composed.
However, she immediately sighed again. She didn’t even have enough time to handle her own affairs, so why should she worry about others? Therefore, she lowered her head and began to repair the screen carefully. Huamo on the side acted as her assistant. From time to time, she would pass Embroideress Yun a needle, thread the needle for her, or ask her some questions about repairing the screen.
The room was very quiet, with only the sound of thread being pulled through the silk screen.
It was also very quiet outside the room. Wei Yuewu stood in the corridor and looked outside the courtyard. Her lips curled into a sneer. Sure enough, Wei Qiufu had helped Wei Fengyao. Otherwise, Wei Fengyao would not have been able to think of a way to avoid this disaster so quickly.
“Miss, why did the Fourth Young Lady offer to help the Eldest Young Lady?” Jin Ling asked in confusion.
“She was in need of help!” Wei Yuewu looked at a maid who was walking by and smiled thoughtfully.
“The Fourth Young Lady wanted to ask the Eldest Young Lady for help? Is that why she helped the Eldest Young Lady?” Jin Ling took a deep breath and asked. “What is it that even the Fourth Young Lady can’t do it herself so that she needs the help of the Eldest Young Lady?”
From Jin Ling’s point of view, Wei Qiufu was much more powerful than Wei Fengyao. She couldn’t understand why Wei Qiufu would need Wei Fengyao’s help.
“There’s… there’s one aspect in which Wei Qiufu definitely can’t compare with Wei Fengyao.” Wei Yuewu said with a faint and meaningful smile. “It seems that Wei Qiufu also knows she is in a terrible situation!”
Wei Qiufu’s token had been left behind long before, but there was still no message from the Crown Prince Mansion. Moreover, Wei Qiufu’s token had been kept separately at the end of the day in the sleeve of the eunuch. Despite such an extraordinary treatment, there wasn’t any subsequent message at all. Anyone in her position would feel that the situation was not good.
Apparently, Wei Qiufu wanted to take measures.
“The Eldest Young Lady is a daughter-in-law of the royal family, but the Fourth Young Lady isn’t!” Jin Ling had always been smart. After being reminded by Wei Yuewu, she immediately thought of something and answered truthfully.
“Right. Eldest Sister is the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an. It should not be difficult for her to see the Crown Prince. Perhaps she also knows some private matters of the Crown Prince…” Wei Yuewu blinked and said. “Go and see if Shufei is back. If she is back, ask her to come and see me first.”
When Wei Yuewu returned to Lotus Courtyard, she sent Shufei out on a mission.
“Yes, I know.” Jin Ling nodded and followed Wei Yuewu slowly into the courtyard. There were a few plum trees planted in the courtyard and they were all in full blossom. When the wind blew, plum blossoms fell and landed on Wei Yuewu’s shoulders, making her look even more beautiful.
“Get someone to cut down these plum trees!” Wei Yuewu stood under the trees and raised her head, her beautiful face revealing a faint smile.
“Cut… cut them down?” Jin Ling was shocked. She was so scared that she stuttered. Why did Miss want to cut down these trees?
“Yes, cut them down!” Wei Yuewu smiled even more brightly.
“Yes, I will go and find people to do it!” Although Jin Ling did not understand what Yuewu meant, she had always been obedient to Wei Yuewu. She immediately nodded.
Jin Ling hesitated for a moment before asking, “But Miss, if we want to cut down the trees, we will need the help of people from the outer courtyard. People in our courtyard…after all…”
Although there were also some maidservants doing menial work in the inner courtyard, it was more appropriate for male servants to do tough work like chopping trees. However, this was the inner courtyard, and Wei Yuewu lived here. It was really inappropriate to let male servants come here.
“It doesn’t matter. Go to the flower gate and tell the old maidservants who are guarding the door. Ask them to help find a few male servants from the outer courtyard. Let them come in and help me cut down these trees. Just say that these trees affect the fenshui in my courtyard and landed me in trouble again and again. I almost lost my life today!”
Wei Yuewu looked at her and the smile on her lips turned cold.
Well, weren’t they in need of a scapegoat for the time being? That was not a problem. She even thought of an excuse for them!
She would like to see what actions they were going to take next.
It was also time for her to fight back…
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦