Chapter 267 – Longevity Banquet, And The Third Person Appeared
Li Mansion held a longevity banquet celebrating the birthday of their old lady. Many guests came. Even if it was only for the sake of the Crown Prince, everyone had to take this subordinate official of the Crown Prince Mansion seriously. Moreover, this tutor of the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law was a minister of the imperial court and the second master of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang’s status was so high that ordinary officials were not qualified to fawn upon it at all. It was even difficult for high-ranking officials to associate with and flatter the mansion.
However, Li Mansion was different. Since the position of the tutor of the Crown Prince was not high, it was easy for officials to associate with the mansion. Therefore, for a time, the longevity banquet of Li Mansion’s old lady was bustling with noise and excitement.
Many people from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang came. Not only did Wei Luowu come with Wei Ziyang and his two brothers, but Wei Luowen also gave Wei Luowu a big face by personally coming over. Although he decided to stay only for a while and leave, everyone knew that his old injuries had not yet recovered. Even the Emperor had not yet seen him. To be able to have his presence for a while was already a very proud thing.
Wei Yuejiao was ill and could not come. Wei Qiufu said that the Crown Prince had kept her token. Since the situation was unclear, she had better not go out. The Madam Dowager thought this reason was quite plausible and therefore agreed with her.
Therefore, Lady Zhang brought Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiuju to Li Mansion.
There were already servants waiting at the gate. When they saw the group of people coming over, they happily welcomed them in. Wei Luowen and the others went to the front yard, and Lady Zhang and the women went to the back yard…
“Father!” Wei Yuewu suddenly stopped and looked at Wei Luowen who was about to leave.
“What is it?” Wei Luowen turned around and asked. When he stopped, the others also stopped.
“Father… when are we leaving?” Wei Yuewu hesitated for a moment, but she still asked.
Seeing the look of dependence in his daughter’s eyes, Wei Luowen’s face softened, which made the scar on his face less ferocious.
“I’ll go back after a while. You stay here and have a good time. You don’t have to leave with me.” Wei Luowen thought that Wei Yuewu was afraid that she had to go back with him when he left. Therefore, he particularly asked her to have a good time. It was normal for little girls to be playful.
“Yes, father!” Wei Yuewu replied, as if she had really asked this question because of this reason.
Such a reason was quite natural for Wei Luowen. After all, she was only thirteen years old. However, Wei Luowu looked at Wei Yuewu with a bit of doubt and gloom. He had always been unable to figure out whether the recent accidents in the second branch were purely coincidences or were related to Wei Yuewu.
If these accidents were really just coincidences, it was too much of a coincidence! After Wei Yuewu returned to the mansion, the second branch experienced one accident after another. In the end, Wei Yan had no choice but to change her name and “escape with death”. However, it was also hard to believe that this niece had carefully planned all these accidents. She was so young, and she had just arrived in the capital. How could she be so resourceful?
But no matter what, Wei Luowu always had some doubts about Wei Yuewu. At this time, he also pondered the words that Wei Yuewu said to Wei Luowen, but he could not find anything at all.
Wei Luowen turned around and strode towards the outer courtyard, followed by Wei Luowu and the others.
As soon as they entered the flower gate, an old maidservant came over in a hurry. When she saw Lady Zhang, she immediately heaved a sigh of relief. “Is this the Third Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang?”
“Yes!” Lady Zhang and the others stopped in their tracks.
“Third Lady, what a coincidence that you are here. Our Second Lady has something to ask of you. I wonder if you can spare some time to see her?” The old maidservant said respectfully as she wiped the sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief. It was obvious that she was in a hurry to find Lady Zhang.
“Second sister-in-law is looking for me?” Lady Zhang asked in surprise. In the past, when Lady Li was living in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, she seldom interacted with her. Why was Lady Li looking for her as soon as she arrived?
“Yes, there are a lot of guests today and a lot of pastries have been made. However, none of them looked exquisite enough. The Second Lady wanted to invite you to take a look and she also wanted to ask if the pastry mold in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang is still available. The Second Lady heard that you are now in charge of the internal affairs of the mansion.” The old maidservant said with a smile.
Wei Yuewu looked at the old woman carefully from the side. She recognized that this was an old woman who served Lady Li in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. She should be Lady Li’s dowry maid when Lady Li married into the mansion. A cold look flashed in her eyes. Lady Li really couldn’t wait any longer. She was trying to draw Lady Zhang away.
“Alright, I’ll go take a look!” Lady Zhang was very happy that Lady Li gave her such a big face. She replied with a bit of pride.
In the past, Lady Li was in charge of the internal affairs of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and Lady Zhang had to borrow things from her. Now, the situation had been reversed, and it was Lady Li’s turn to borrow things from her. Lady Zhang increasingly felt that she was no longer insignificant as she had been.
“The two of you can go and play with other young ladies. I’ll go and take a look.” Lady Zhang said to Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiuju.
“Yes, Third Aunt!”
“Yes, mother!” Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiuju bowed together and answered. Lady Zhang followed the old maidservant to a small path.
“Fifth Elder Sister, let’s go in!” Wei Yuewu smiled and pointed to the path ahead as she spoke to Wei Qiuju, who looked slightly worried.
The reason why Wei Qiuju frowned and had a bitter face was that when they were in the carriage on their way to the Li Mansion, Wei Yuewu told her about the matter between Wei Fengyao and the Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an. Moreover, she hinted that Wei Fengyao had talked about her affair with the heir-apparent in the mansion of Duke of Jing at that time, and it was likely that Wei Fengyao’s words had been spread out.
Wei Qiuju was doubtful at first, but now she saw the young ladies and madams who saw her all the way pointing at her and a few who were more straightforward even had a look of disdain on their faces, she really believed Wei Yuewu.
She had not entered Prince Nan’an Mansion yet. Although Princess Nan’an said that she would give her a very high status that day, she could at best become Wen Ruoming’s concubine without a marriage contract. Therefore, she was worried that the situation might change before she entered Prince Nan’an Mansion. After entering the gate of Li Mansion, she had been in a low spirit.
Wei Qiuju tried to be calm, but in the end, she couldn’t hold on. She quickly walked a few steps to catch up with Wei Yuewu and asked, “Sixth Younger Sister… that day, how many people heard Eldest Sister?”
“Not many people!” This sentence calmed Wei Qiuju down, but her face immediately turned pale as Wei Yuewu went on.
“It seemed they used to be bosom friends of Eldest Sister and are now young madams of some big aristocratic families! I just came to the capital and I know few people. But I am sure the Heiress-apparent of Duke of Jing was among them. As for the other young madams, they probably have similar statuses!”
“They… they all heard it?” Wei Qiuju asked in a trembling voice. The handkerchief in her hand was almost torn apart by her. Wei Yuewu did not know who these people were, but Wei Qiuju knew! None of them was from an ordinary family. If they were really present at that time, gossips about her scandal in Prince Nan’an Mansion would probably have been widely spread by now.
This… How could he have the face to do this!
If news was spread out, even if she entered Prince Nan’an Mansion, what kind of high position would she get? Wei Qiuju felt extremely awful at the thought of this prospect.
A maid appeared at the intersection at this time. “Fifth Miss Wei?”
“What’s up?” Wei Qiuju asked weakly. As long as Wei Qiuju thought of the consequences, how could she be in the mood to care about others?
“Our miss is the Third Young Lady of the Zhang Mansion. When she heard that you had come, our miss was especially happy and wanted to invite you over to have a chat!” The maid said with a smile.
This Third Young Lady of the Zhang Mansion was a relative of Lady Zhang. Moreover, she was also a concubine-born daughter. In the past, she had a good relationship with Wei Qiuju. Since they were both concubine-born daughters, they had a lot in common. After seeing each other a few times, they became close friends.
In the past, if the two of them met, they would find a place to talk to each other. But the problem was Wei Qiuju was upset today and she did not have the mood to chat with this Third Miss Zhang.
She waved her hand and was about to refuse when Wei Yuewu reached out and grabbed her sleeve. “Fifth Elder Sister, since Third Miss Zhang invited you over, then you should go take a look. Anyway, Third Miss Zhang has specially invited you.”
Wei Qiuju struggled to break free. Just as she was about to explain, Wei Yuewu leaned over and whispered into her ear, “Fifth Elder Sister, take a brief walk and come back here to wait for me. I’ll help you think of a way out!”
“You can help me out?” Wei Qiuju was overjoyed and asked in a low voice.
Wei Yuewu nodded silently and let go of Wei Qiuju’s hand. Her expression was extremely calm. This gave Wei Qiuju great confidence, and she immediately became spirited.
“Let’s go. It’s been a long time since I last saw your Third Young Lady!” Wei Qiuju said to the maid with a smile. She just wanted to come back as quickly as possible and learn how Wei Yuewu was going to help her out.
Seeing that Wei Qiuju was following her obediently, the maid from Li Mansion looked at Wei Yuewu with great satisfaction. Lady Li was really clever. In this way, there would be no one else around this Sixth Miss Wei. Even if something happened later, there was no witness.
The so-called Third Miss Zhang was just an excuse to lure Wei Qiuju away. Lady Li had been in charge of the internal affairs of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang for a long time. She naturally knew with whom Wei Qiuju was on good terms.
It was extremely easy for her to lure Wei Qiuju away.
There were many maids from other mansions in Li Mansion today. Who could say for sure that this maid was from Li Mansion? This was Lady Li’s good plan.
As for what Wei Yuewu whispered to Wei Qiuju, the maid did not hear a single word, but she did not care either. It was just some private talk between girls, and it had nothing to do with her.
After Wei Qiuju’s figure disappeared at the intersection in front of them, Wei Yuewu slowly stepped forward. Her lips curled into a smile as she said to Jin Ling, “In a while, come here and bring the Fifth Young Lady to the front yard to find my father. If you can’t find him, go find my Second Uncle. Tell him that something has happened to me and ask him to come quickly!”
“Where are we going?” Jin Ling took a few steps forward to catch up with Wei Yuewu and asked in a low voice.
“I don’t know, but it should be not far ahead!” Wei Yuewu said with a smile. Since Lady Li was so anxious to lure all the people away, then the next target should be her.
Someone would probably come to lure Jin Ling away in a while!
Coincidentally, she could ask Jin Ling to bring Wei Qiuju to the front yard and bring Second Uncle Wei Luowu over. Her father Wei Luowen wouldn’t stay here for long. At that time, he must have already left. It was natural for her to look for her father when something happened to her. However, if her father was not here, this Second Uncle would also have the responsibility to protect her. Therefore, Wei Luowu would definitely come to take a look.
“Yes, I understand!” Before they came, Wei Yuewu had already given her instructions. At this time, she understood Wei Yuewu’s plan even better. However, this was Li Mansion and she was still a little worried. She asked again, “Miss, are you really sure you will be alright?”
“Nothing will happen. Look, the person is coming!” Wei Yuewu smiled and looked forward. Her eyes were cold. Lady Li really hated her to the core. In just a while, the third person appeared…
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