Chapter 318 – Playing Hard To Get
Suddenly, Ming Yan pushed open Wei Yuewu’s door and rushed in, followed by her panicked voice. When she realized Wei Luowen’s presence, she hurriedly fell to her knees. “Lord Marquis, please come with me! Fourth Young Lady wants to kill herself!”
“What’s going on?” Wei Luowen’s face darkened as he asked coldly.
“After what happened to Eldest Young Lady, Fourth Young Lady didn’t know how to explain herself, so she kicked me out of the room and wanted to hang herself!” A distraught expression painted Ming Yan’s face as she wailed hastily while pointing to the door. “Lord Marquis, please go and talk to her! If I hadn’t gone in to check on her because I felt uneasy, she would have…”
“Let’s go!” Wei Luowen flicked his sleeves, turned around, and walked out of the door. As Wei Qiufu’s eldest uncle, he should go and take a look.
Standing behind them, Wei Yuewu silently curved her lips into a cold sneer. Wei Qiufu was indeed crafty and cunning. She clearly knew that Father had not left yet, so she came with this sly idea to get herself out of the suspicion through him.
Previously, Wei Fengyao should have also received her reminder…
“Miss…” Jin Ling tugged at Wei Yuewu’s sleeve.
“Let’s go take a look as well. After what she did, we can’t just stay here and do nothing.” Wei Yuewu smirked coldly. She was curious to see how Wei Qiufu would settle the dust.
It seemed that Wei Qiufu had thought of a way out. Coincidentally, something had happened to Wei Fengyao. If something happened to Wei Qiufu as well, it would be extremely disadvantageous for her. Therefore, for the time being, she did not want anything to happen to Wei Qiufu.
She knew that Wei Qiufu would not surrender without a fight…
Running ahead of Wei Luowen, Ming Yan rushed out and shouted loudly when she saw a palace maid passing by outside, “H-Hurry! Go and bring the imperial doctor here! F-Fourth Miss Wei attempted suicide!”
Hearing the shout, the palace maid was dumbfounded for a moment before coming to her senses and running out. This was a big deal. All the young ladies who were praying with the Third Princess were from prestigious aristocratic families. If anything happened to them, no one would be able to bear this responsibility.
Wei Luowen looked at Ming Yan in dismay, feeling that the maid was too self-righteous and impulsive. This was the imperial palace. Her behavior was inappropriate, and it would stir up more troubles if the news spread out.
However, he was not in the mood to argue with a maid. He turned around and entered Wei Qiufu’s room. At this time, Wei Yuewu also followed him in.
Turning around the screen, he saw that the inner room was in a mess. On the high eaves, there was a white silk cloth. It seemed to be tied up, but half of it was scattered down. There was a collapsed stool on the ground. Wei Qiufu fell on the edge of the stool with disheveled hair. She was wailing loudly while covering her face with a handkerchief.
“What happened?” Wei Luowen asked in a deep voice.
Upon witnessing the scene, Wei Yuewu walked over and squatted down to help Wei Qiufu up. Her gaze fell on a bruise mark on Wei Qiufu’s neck, and it seemed like a mark resulted from a ruthless strangle. Seeing the sight, she couldn’t help but squint slightly, her gaze becoming profound. This mark was much deeper than the one that Wei Fengyao had on her neck last time.
“Fourth Elder Sister, please get up. Why did you do this to yourself? After what happened to Eldest Sister, others will only say that you are guilty.”
“I… But I… Eldest Sister was injured. I-If I had pulled her harder at that time, nothing would have happened to her!” Wei Qiufu cried with a face full of grief, but she did not struggle. She stood up with the help of Wei Yuewu and sat on a chair at the side.
Wei Qiufu was really eloquent. She had transformed the suspicions towards her into self-blame for not being able to save Wei Fengyao.
“No one can blame you on this. It’s your Eldest Sister who took you there for no reason. Why did she get involved in the affairs of the heirs-apparent?!” Wei Luowen grunted with a displeased expression. He wasn’t sure about what happened as he was standing a little further away back then. Later on, the bodyguard recounted the entire event to him.
Therefore, he knew that Wei Fengyao had agreed to this matter and even pulled Wei Qiufu over. He was deeply dismayed by Wei Fengyao’s foolhardy action.
No matter how one looked at it, it was a kind of trouble for the heirs-apparent of the four great territories to enter the capital. Anyone who got closer to them might implicate themselves. What was his niece thinking at that time? Why did she agree to be their referee?
The battle between them had nothing to do with the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang as well as the Prince Nan’an Mansion. How could she agree to this matter?
Thinking of this, he felt that Wei Qiufu was a victim in this matter. Had Wei Fengyao not agreed and not gone over, Wei Qiufu wouldn’t have been suspected.
“B-But Eldest Sister was injured because I didn’t pull her! I’m sorry for disappointing Second Uncle and Grandmother!” At the mention of Wei Fengyao, Wei Qiufu became sadder and sadder. She covered her face with a handkerchief and cried at the top of her lungs as if she wanted to replace Wei Fengyao right now.
“I will explain this to your Second Uncle and grandmother. Right now, in the Palace, you represent the dignity of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, and you have to consider your status. Do you know how others will say about the ladies in our family after what you did?!” Wei Luowen scolded indignantly.
Wei Luowen couldn’t help but feel a bit enraged toward Wei Qiufu who had always had a good reputation.
“Yes… B-But… I feel sorry for Eldest Sister!” Wei Qiufu lowered her head humbly, and she sounded as if she couldn’t get over the hurdle in her heart. “Eldest Uncle, if only I had stood in front of her at that time, nothing would have happened to her. I… Even if I died for her, I would have no regrets!”
“You’re not to be blamed for this! It’s Fengyao who was too ignorant!” Wei Luowen suppressed his frustration and asserted in a gentler tone, “Even if you were dead, you couldn’t save her either, right? In fact, if you died because of this, how do you think she will feel?”
“Yes. Fourth Elder Sister, if something happened to you, Eldest Sister will be sad, just like how you are sad after what happened to her. You have a good sistership with her and share the same thoughts. She’s physically hurt now, do you want her to be hurt emotionally too?” Wei Yuewu advised.
A trace of ridicule flashed in the corner of her eyes.
Wei Fengyao and Wei Qiufu were indeed in a “good” sistership. Of course, they were not being considerate toward each other. Despite the abrupt incident, she was paying close attention to the two of them, so she saw what really happened. Wei Fengyao intended to pull Wei Qiufu out to block the arrow, but the keen Wei Qiufu forcefully dragged her back so that Wei Fengyao could not succeed.
What a joke. The so-called good sisters were thinking of the same thing. Both of them wished that it was the other person who was shot by the arrow.
This time, Wei Fengyao sustained quite a serious injury. The arrow was directly inserted into her shoulder. From the looks of it, she would not be able to use her hand freely. In the future, even if Wei Qiufu tried to rope Wei Fengyao in, they would not truly get along with each other…
Nevertheless, she was intrigued as to how this pair of sisters would work together in the future.
“I…” Wei Qiufu was choked by the implication in Wei Yuewu’s words. She suddenly raised her head and looked at Wei Yuewu, only to find that Wei Yuewu’s face was full of concern as if she was not mocking her.
“Fourth Elder Sister, you have to be brave and get well for the sake of Eldest Sister!” Wei Yuewu advised again.
“I will talk to your grandmother about what happened in the Palace. Don’t worry, no one will blame you for this. You should rest well,” Wei Luowen sighed and comforted her.
This promise from Wei Luowen was all Wei Qiufu wished to get. Hence, she swiftly thought of such a countermeasure as soon as she returned to her room before Wei Luowen left. Hearing that Wei Luowen would take care of the matter, she was relieved.
In such a circumstance, she would not commit suicide. She immediately pulled Wei Yuewu’s sleeve to stand up and knelt down in front of Wei Luowen. “Eldest Uncle, thank you for protecting me, or my only way out is to die.”
Her pitiful appearance, disheveled hair, and smeared makeup made Wei Luowen sigh again. After all, he watched her grow up. “Yuewu, help your Fourth Elder Sister up. Spruce up her appearance and treat the wound on her neck as well. Don’t let anything like this happen again. I can’t stay here for long, so I’ll leave the Palace first.”
This was, after all, the harem. It was inappropriate for Wei Luowen to be here, but His Majesty had asked him to investigate the assassin and sent Wei Yuewu back, so they turned a blind eye to him. However, it was not nice to stay here for too long.
“Yes, Father. Please go back safely. I’ll persuade Fourth Elder Sister. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.” Wei Yuewu nodded.
After making such a scene, Wei Qiufu would not make a fuss anymore. The first attempt was just a show. If she tried to hang herself again and did not die, it would look a bit too fake. With Wei Qiufu’s character, she would not do such a foolish act.
” I’ll go first!” Seeing that Wei Qiufu had calmed down, Wei Luowen bid farewell and left.
Jin Ling and Ming Yan had been guarding the door. Seeing Wei Luowen leave, they hurriedly rushed in to fetch water and clean up the mess. Then, they helped Wei Qiufu back to the chair and sat down.
“What happened?” They suddenly heard a man’s voice when they were busy in the room. Wei Yuewu put down the towel in her hand, looked at Jin Ling, and silently gestured to her.
Jin Ling nodded gently.
“Who is it?” Ming Yan asked and walked out.
“What happened here?” The man’s voice was cold and somewhat familiar. Wei Yuewu’s long eyelashes fluttered a few times to hide the coldness in her eyes. It was Mo Huating! He had unexpectedly appeared here at this time.
It was really a coincidence!
Although he was on duty in the harem, he hadn’t worked here for too long. Even the imperial doctor had not arrived yet, but he had already arrived.
It was hard to tell if their rooms were on his way or he came for another reason. When Wei Yan had an accident in the Palace, he was also the first to arrive. What about this time?
It seemed that Marquis Jing Yuan was really an unfathomable character.
“Ming Yan, see who it is. P-Please invite him in to speak!” Wei Qiufu began to sob again while wiping her tears. This kind of silent crying seemed to be even more pitiful than before.
Wei Yuewu stood up straight and slowly stepped behind the screen beside Wei Qiufu…
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m