Chapter 316 – Accident, Arrow In The Face
On the field, there were the four heirs-apparent’s bodyguards as well as the guards from the imperial palace. Many people held bows and arrows in their hands and aimed at the target. Wei Fengyao and Wei Qiufu stood under the tree that was quite a distance from the target. Logically speaking, the arrows would never reach Wei Fengyao.
However, the truth was that there was an arrow that came out of nowhere and headed straight for Wei Fengyao’s face.
Wei Fengyao had been chatting with Wei Qiufu in a low voice, discussing why Wei Yuewu came unscathed, so they did not pay attention to the archery field. When she heard the shrill scream and saw an arrow coming at her, she did not have time to avoid it at all. She subconsciously grabbed Wei Qiufu’s hand, wanting to drag Wei Qiufu in front of her.
At this time, Wei Qiufu found that something was wrong. As she sensed that Wei Fengyao was pulling her, she leaned to the side with all her strength, and at the same time, she moved Wei Fengyao a bit.
The arrow flew like a shooting star, and it struck Wei Fengyao in the shoulder. With a shrill cry, Wei Fengyao held her shoulder and fell to the ground.
At this moment, Wei Luowen sighed in relief as he saw that Wei Yuewu was fine. Disregarding the drowned eunuch in the lake, he urged the palace guards to rush to the field while ordering someone to call the imperial doctor over.
On the other side, Qi Yunhao and the other heirs-apparent were equally stunned. Originally, they were sitting in the front waiting for their subordinates to formally compete in archery. However, before the competition began, something terrible happened to Wei Fengyao, and they all stood up at the same time.
No matter what, Wei Fengyao was the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an!
“What’s going on?” Qi Yunhao asked the bodyguards with a gloomy face.
“We don’t know either!” The few bodyguards had bows and arrows in their hands, which meant that no one had shot their arrows, but Wei Fengyao had been shot!
“Check who shot the heiress-apparent!” Chu Fangnan demanded nervously. Compared with the other places, the power of the Chu State was the weakest.
“Not here.”
“Not here either!”
“Everyone has their arrows!” One by one, the bodyguards reported…
Wei Yuewu rushed over with Wei Luowen. On the field, Wei Fengyao’s eyes were tightly closed. She held her shoulder with one hand and blood flowed all over the ground. She had already fainted, but her other hand was tightly holding Wei Qiufu’s hand as if she didn’t want to let her go. Wei Qiufu was in a panic, trying to pull Wei Fengyao’s hand away.
“Fourth Elder Sister, what’s wrong with Eldest Sister? W-Why are you pulling her?” Wei Yuewu exclaimed.
“I-It’s not me! It’s Eldest Sister who pulled me!” Wei Qiufu raised a blood-stained sleeve and hurriedly shook her hand.
“O-Oh… You didn’t pull her… I-I was mistaken. It reminded me of something that happened in the Plum Blossom Nunnery the other day…” Wei Yuewu bit her lips with a blank expression on her face, but she saw Wei Qiufu’s stiff expression in an instant.
Her long eyelashes flickered twice, and she concealed the coldness in her eyes.
This scene was really similar. It was just like when she was stabbed with a sword. At that time, Wei Qiufu was also pulling her. Now, Wei Qiufu was pulling Wei Fengyao, but Wei Fengyao was shot by an arrow.
“It’s Fourth Miss Wei again!” Qi Yunhao’s words were like a divine stroke, directly reminding everyone present of that matter. They looked at Wei Qiufu with a bit of doubt.
These heirs-apparent were in the Plum Blossom Nunnery too when that incident happened. Later, there were many rumors going on. But no matter what, the scene back then was the same as the scene in front of them, and speculations started to flash in everyone’s minds.
“N-No… This has nothing to do with me. It’s Eldest Sister… No, someone shot an arrow at her!” Being stared at by so many suspicious glances, even though Wei Qiufu was sophisticated and profound, she couldn’t help but panic, and she waved her free arm frantically.
“Maybe someone has missed their target, but he can’t possibly miss by such a big margin. Fourth Miss Wei, you are standing here all along, so you should be the one who saw everything clearly. What exactly happened?” Qi Yunhao looked at Wei Qiufu with a face full of suspicion and asked.
“I-I was talking to Eldest Sister. An arrow came out of nowhere and flew at her. She wanted to hide and pulled me back, but she didn’t manage to dodge it!” Wei Qiufu took a deep breath and explained.
“Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an is really benevolent. In such a situation, she still wanted to pull you away.” Lu Yeli looked at the scene in front of him and then looked at Wei Qiufu while asserting.
“I-I don’t know… I really don’t know…” Feeling that she was being suspected, Wei Qiufu hurriedly shook her hands. Suddenly, she saw Wei Yuewu at the side. She reached out to grab Wei Yuewu’s dress.
But coincidentally, Wei Yuewu happened to turn around to talk to Wei Luowen, so Wei Qiufu didn’t manage to grab her.
At this moment, the imperial doctor arrived in time. The Crown Prince, Wen Tianyao, and Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an, Wen Ruoming, who were in the Palace, also tagged along.
After a mess, Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiufu were sent back to Chu Xiu Palace.
In the end, they did not find out who had shot the arrow and injured Wei Fengyao.
Without evidence, even the royal family could not force anyone to take the blame. After all, the dukes of the four lands were no ordinary dukes. Even His Majesty had to resort to conciliation.
Wei Luowen personally sent Wei Yuewu back to her room, but he did not leave immediately.
Now that the Crown Prince had taken over the matters in the Palace, it was naturally inconvenient for him, Lord Marquis, to interfere in this matter.
“Yuewu, was it really your Eldest Sister and Fourth Elder Sister who asked you to go over?” Wei Luowen could not hide his doubts. He sat down in Wei Yuewu’s room and could not help but ask again, feeling that something was off. Could it be that his two nieces did not like Yuewu and deliberately wanted to hurt her?
“Yes, but it should be a coincidence. Eldest Sister and Fourth Elder Sister did not know that there were assassins!” Wei Yuewu took the cup from Jin Ling and placed it in front of Wei Luowen while smiling indifferently.
This matter had manifested on too large a scale, and she didn’t want Wei Luowen to get involved, so she just quipped briefly.
“You’re right.” Wei Luowen nodded. No matter how capable her two nieces were, they would never know that an assassin would come. It seemed that it was just a coincidence.
However, he exceptionally felt that it might not be the case.
“Father, what did you talk about with His Majesty?” Wei Yuewu changed the subject with a smile because she didn’t want to continue this topic.
Since even Qi Yunhao was involved in this matter, it seemed that that person was also related to Qi Yunhao. Now that she thought about it, she felt rather ridiculous to say that the Crown Prince’s so-called status was as stable as a rock. Most probably, everyone was hiding in the dark and targeting his position stealthily.
Speaking of this topic, Wei Luowen hesitated for a moment and felt that it was not good to tell her about it, so he stuttered, “I-It’s nothing. His Majesty asked about my injuries. By the way, I might be staying in the capital for a period of time. You can come to me if you have any problems.”
As for the matter of His Majesty bestowing a marriage to him, Wei Luowen didn’t know how to tell Wei Yuewu. Furthermore, he didn’t know whom he was going to marry, and His Majesty gave him a list of ladies of aristocratic families.
“Father, did His Majesty not bestow a marriage to you?” Wei Yuewu had a surprised look on her face, but her blatant remark agitated Wei Luowen even more.
“You know nothing! Just accompany the Third Princess to pray!” Wei Luowen stood up and was about to leave when Wei Yuewu conceded.
“Father, the Third Princess told me before that her Third Aunt is very nice. Just now, Zhaoyi Tu invited me to visit her palace!” Regarding Wei Luowen’s marriage, Wei Yuewu did not intend to let him go so easily. Wei Yuewu could accept His Majesty’s proposal. All she wanted to do now was ruin Concubine Dong’s plan.
“Zhaoyi Tu talked to you?” Sure enough, upon the mention of Zhaoyi Tu, Wei Luowen stopped and mouthed with a serious expression.
“Yes. I met her when I was praying with the Third Princess, and she invited me personally. There were many young ladies present at that time, but she specifically talked to me. Is it because of your marriage arrangement?” Wei Yuewu guessed with an innocent face.
“Well…” Seeing Wei Yuewu raise her childish face with a hint of caution, Wei Luowen suddenly felt inexplicably sad.
“Father, I don’t mind you marrying another lady from a prestigious family. I believe that Mother won’t mind either. You have lived alone for so many years. Mother and I are both grateful to you. If it were not for the fact that Concubine Dong’s background is too low, she is actually a good choice. For so many years, she has been taking care of you and Third Elder Sister!”
When Wei Yuewu said this, she slowly lowered her head. Her long eyelashes, which were like butterfly wings, fluttered twice. It was obvious that she was somewhat sad.
Yes, Concubine Dong did take care of Wei Luowen and Wei Yuejiao, but she left out Wei Yuewu. The unfamiliarity in this was enough to make Wei Luowen’s heart clench tightly.
“Yuewu, I’m not…”
Wei Luowen wanted to explain something, but Wei Yuewu interjected with a smile, and she wiped the tears in the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief. When she raised her head again, she was already smiling brightly. “Father, Mother will not blame you!”
Wouldn’t she blame him? When the image of Rui’er’s resentful glare before she died appeared in his mind, Wei Luowen felt his heart ache. Rui’er had never forgiven him. She didn’t forgive him at that time. If she saw him abandoning Wei Yuewu alone in her parents’ house, she would not let him off the hook. Could he really marry again?
Maybe he should marry Concubine Dong as his official wife instead. After all, Rui’er gave her consent for her to be his concubine since she had accepted the tea offered by Concubine Dong.
“Father, the hairpin that Concubine Dong gave me is really beautiful! Even Fourth Elder Sister likes it very much!” Wei Yuewu had been observing Wei Luowen’s reaction. Noticing the pain on his face, she sneered. When they talked about his marriage and Concubine Dong, it was obvious that more emotions were stirred when the subject changed to Concubine Dong. It seemed that he was more inclined to marry Concubine Dong, but she would never agree with this. Therefore, she suddenly changed the topic.
“Hairpin? What hairpin?” Wei Luowen was in a daze as he couldn’t keep up with Wei Yuewu’s change of subject.
“I heard that it was the betrothal gift that you gave to Mother. I didn’t expect it to be kept by Concubine Dong for so many years. You have to thank Concubine Dong for me. I have only heard of it in the past, but I haven’t really seen it. I’m grateful that Concubine Dong has been keeping it and giving it to me.”
The smile on Wei Yuewu’s face was gentle and grateful.
“Did you bring that hairpin into the Palace?” Wei Luowen’s expression changed slightly, and he suddenly asked coldly.
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