Chapter 305 – Love Poems For More Than A Decade
Seeing Wei Qiufu turn to a rockery and look up, Wei Yuewu asked in surprise just as she lifted her skirt and was about to go up, “Fourth Elder Sister, a-are you sure you want to go up?”
This rockery was not big. The curved path leading to the top was only wide enough to fit one person.
“I-I’m curious!” Wei Qiufu instantly smiled when she saw that Wei Yuewu noticed her and knew that she was acting a little too bizarrely. Could it be that Wei Fengyao’s intelligence was wrong?
Shouldn’t the Crown Prince come to the Orchid Courtyard at this hour? Could it be that he was occupied today?
Wei Qiufu was full of doubts, but she restrained herself from exposing her thoughts to Wei Yuewu. However, realizing that Wen Tianyao would not come today, she felt dejected.
“Sixth Younger Sister, I am tired today. Let’s go back and rest.”
“Now?” Wei Yuewu looked around and seemed to be reluctant to leave. “Let’s hang out for a while longer. It’s still early.”
She wanted to see what kind of painstaking arrangements Wei Qiufu had made.
“Let’s come back tomorrow. It’s too late. We don’t know the rules in the Palace. It’s better to go back and rest early. Let’s go!” Wei Qiufu stood up and smiled.
They had strolled around here for a while. If the Crown Prince had not appeared at this moment, he probably wouldn’t have come today. It was their first day in the Palace. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
“Alright.” Wei Yuewu stood up and looked thoughtfully at the dozen or so pots of orchids in the corridor, which were arranged in a dense way.
Previously, the orchids were placed in perfect accordance with the arrangement. They were carefully organized and looked remarkable at first glance. However, there seemed to be no order of this batch of orchids.
It was as if these orchids were arranged here to grab the onlookers’ attention.
Wei Yuewu could not tell what kind of orchids they were. They were very fragrant, and they exhumed a kind of elegant beauty as the flowers were half rolled up in the night. They were more charming than the other orchids for their richer colors. The leaves and branches were lush, providing a harmonious greenery sight.
This kind of greenish color and the captivating flowers enhanced the beauty and refreshing feeling of the surrounding environment. The scene was really attractive.
Just like that, Wei Yuewu was unconsciously attracted by the sight.
However, sha had examined these flowers again because of Wei Qiufu. Wei Qiufu had always been feeling uneasy, but even so, her eyes would occasionally fall on those flowers, especially when she walked over to admire the flowers just now. Wei Yuewu could clearly see that she seemed to have picked up something and stuffed it into her sleeve.
Wei Qiufu had always been a scheming person. She was exceptionally calm and meticulous when she schemed against others. Therefore, it was quite unusual to see her losing focus like this.
The flower was really eye-catching…
When the two of them walked out of Orchid Courtyard’s door, an old nurse guarding the door bowed deeply to them and retreated to the side.
Wei Qiufu walked by with a smile. When Wei Yuewu saw the old nurse, she stopped and asked politely, “Excuse me, do you have the encyclopedia of the orchids in this courtyard?”
In some mansions with precious flowers, there would be some drawings and atlas about them. Orchid Courtyard’s unique construction already represented that it was extraordinary. The orchids inside also had a kind of uniqueness, and Wei Yuewu didn’t know much about them. Although she knew some when she was in her maternal grandparents’ mansion, her knowledge was incomparable to the rare orchids in the Orchid Courtyard.
What was more, the orchid must be extremely precious since they enjoyed such meticulous care and the warm flooring.
Hearing Wei Yuewu’s question, Wei Qiufu stopped in front and looked at Wei Yuewu with displeasure quietly, not knowing what the latter was up to this time.
“Sixth Miss Wei, we do have the encyclopedia, but I don’t have it,” the nurse answered. She saw Wei Fengyao bring Wei Qiufu and Wei Yuewu over during the day. From their conversation, she knew that she was the Sixth Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
“May I know where I can borrow the book for a look?” Wei Yuewu asked in a gentle tone.
“The encyclopedia is in the hands of another person, but she is on her break now. Please come again in the morning,” the nurse replied respectfully.
“Alright, I’ll send someone to borrow the encyclopedia for a look next time.” Wei Yuewu smiled.
“Okay.”
It was not a big deal to borrow the encyclopedia. There were so many orchids in Orchid Courtyard and many precious breeds. Many people liked the orchids, but it was inconvenient for the ladies to come often, so they could only borrow the encyclopedia for a look.
“Let’s go!” Wei Qiufu grunted impatiently as she didn’t see the person she wanted to see.
“Alright, Fourth Elder Sister. I’ll be right there!” Wei Yuewu replied. After nodding at the nurse guarding the door, she picked up her skirt and crossed the threshold.
After entering Chu Xiu Palace, they walked towards the rooms where the two of them lived. The rooms where the two of them lived were side by side. Wei Yuewu’s room was inside while Wei Qiufu’s was outside. To get to Wei Yuewu’s room, they had to go around Wei Qiufu’s room.
“Go and rest early.” Standing at the door, Wei Qiufu said with concern.
In the eyes of outsiders, Wei Qiufu was always perfect.
“I will. You should rest early too,” Wei Yuewu answered softly while pinching the paper in her sleeve. Why did the paper look so similar to the paper found in her window?
Back in the room, Jin Ling lit a candle for her. Wei Yuewu sat in front of the dressing table and allowed Jin Ling to remove the hair ornament on her hair. She then took out the paper from her sleeve.
Under the candlelight, she saw the shape of the flower was folded beautifully, just like the paper in her memory.
“Miss, where did you get that from?” Jin Ling was taken aback for a moment when she saw the note and asked.
“I took it from the writing brush washer in Qiufu’s room. Go and see if there is any note in my writing brush washer,” Wei Yuewu instructed while looking at the paper in her hand carefully. She was not in a hurry to unfold it.
“Okay, I will go take a look.” Jin Ling put down the comb in her hand and went to the writing desk in the outer room. She picked up the writing brush washer and looked at it closely. “Miss, there is nothing.”
It was a beautiful and delicate writing brush washer, but there was nothing in it.
“Have you checked the other ornaments in this room before?” Wei Yuewu put down the note in her hand and asked Jin Ling, who was walking back.
This question startled Jin Ling. She stammered, “I-I didn’t check everything thoroughly. I just casually looked through some things.”
Wei Yuewu’s eyes fell on the paper again. Jin Ling had always been cautious, but even she did not notice this note. It seemed that Wei Qiufu really did not notice it.
That was to say that this paper had always been there before.
Everything in the room was cleaned up, which meant that someone had been cleaning up this place frequently. If so, they would clear everything and would not leave this paper behind. Since it was in the writing brush washer, it meant that someone wanted to keep it there.
Perhaps, this was a harmless little piece of paper.
At the thought of this, Wei Yuewu silently unfolded the paper.
When she was in the mansion, Wei Yuewu had folded the other note in her hands several times, and she was also skilled at unfolding it.
“Love is missing someone when you’re apart, but feeling somehow warm inside because you’re close in heart.”
The two lines of words were written in such masculine and powerful strokes. It was obvious that they came from the hands of a man at first glance.
However, this poem was meant to express his feelings of missing a woman. It made her wonder what was the intention of the person who left it in the writing brush washer so openly. Whoever used the writing brush washer would definitely see it.
Although most of the palace maids and eunuchs were illiterate, many of them could read. It would be a disaster as long as someone unfolded it out of curiosity.
However, this person put it there as if he or she wasn’t afraid of being discovered.
“M-Miss, how can someone leave such a thing here? This is Chu Xiu Palace! It is a place where they choose concubines for the Emperor, Crown Prince, and the Princes!” Jin Ling shrieked in horror when she saw the poem on the paper in Wei Yuewu’s hand.
This slip of paper was almost the evidence of an illegitimate affair. If someone had looked into it, they wouldn’t have been spared from the punishment no matter who they were.
Wei Yuewu’s gaze slowly fell from the words to the folded mark on the paper. The folded mark was very deep, and it could no longer be smoothed even if she unfolded it and spread out. Despite its good quality, the folded mark was so deep that the note could be torn apart if she was not careful.
The paper was completely different from the paper that she had received. The latter had a very new crease, and with just a touch, it had become even.
This is a piece of aged paper…
It was a private affair that happened many years ago, but the person kept the paper around. It was clearly deliberately left there for people to look at it. In other words, the person left it there with the intention of letting someone see it. It was very bizarre.
“This time, the consort selection for the Crown Prince also took place in Chu Xiu Palace?” Wei Yuewu asked with a frown since she did not know much about the specific affairs of the Palace.
“Yes. Basically, most of the consort selections for the Emperor, Crown Prince or the other princes took place in Chu Xiu Palace. Of the concubines in the Palace, nine out of ten were chosen from here.” Jin Ling had specially studied these matters in the Palace before, so she answered after thinking for a while.
Wei Yuewu’s eyelashes flickered, and she asked thoughtfully, “When was the most recent selection?”
“It should have been ten years ago. I heard that the Palace had once given His Majesty a nation-wide selection ten years ago. I don’t know what happened before that, but there should be small selections from time to time,” Jin Ling replied.
The nation-wide selection was a huge expenditure that involved a lot of spending and manpower, so they basically wouldn’t do it frequently. However, small selections occurred quite often. To replenish the harem, small selections would be conducted once every several years by picking the daughters of the aristocratic families. Of course, there were also those whom the Empress had personally selected due to their extraordinary virtue and talent, but it was a rare case.
The consort selection was the only way for the daughters of noble families to enter the Palace. For those who were directly selected, it was often because of some special reasons or because their father and brothers had directly made great contributions. In this case, if the Emperor did not manage to give them rewards, he would choose their daughters as his consorts. In some cases, the Emperor would choose the ladies to enter the Palace due to his suspicion after some predicament.
Judging from the folded marks on the paper, it must have been at least a decade, but it was still placed here. Thinking back to the troubled look on the nurse-in-charge’s face that day, Wei Yuewu felt her heart fluttering. Did this mean that no matter how many times the selections had happened, no one had been allowed to live in this room, and it was still the same as before?
Did it also mean that it was not a coincidence or intentional for the two rooms to be identical, but it had been this way since the beginning?
Could it be that there was some sort of secret hidden within?
Wei Yuewu even had a faint guess that even Wei Fengyao did not know this secret. To be able to keep two rooms that nobody was allowed to live in Chu Xiu Palace, which had always been used for consort selections, this Master could be said to be extraordinary. So what if Wei Fengyao was the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an? She did not know everything.
There were many Masters in the Palace who were favored, but not many of them could be so powerful for so many years.
Who was this Master behind the scenes? With her strength, how would she care about Wei Fengyao…
Lying on the bed, Wei Yuewu still stared at the darkness with her eyes wide open. She had some speculations running in her mind, but she couldn’t grasp them.
“Miss, Fourth Young Lady is still awake.” Jin Ling, who was lying on the pedal in front of the bed, suddenly pointed to the window and said in a low voice.
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