Chapter 380
Chapter 380 A Slap, a Pledge
The Madam Dowager slapped Wei Qiufu hard on the face, causing Wei Qiufu to stagger and directly squat on the ground in front of the bed.
“Grandmother…” Wei Qiufu stared at the Madam Dowager in shock. Her eyes were filled with visible grudge, anger, and disbelief.
All this while, she had seen Wei Yan being disciplined and scolded. She had always been the role model of the daughters of aristocratic families. She had never thought that she would be slapped by the Madam Dowager one day.
“Y-You swear!” The Madam Dowager barked harshly. “I want you to swear to Yuewu that you didn’t do any of this, and you didn’t want to hurt her.”
“Grandmother…” Wei Qiufu had a wronged expression on her face.
“Swear!” The Madam Dowager snapped hatefully.
Under the pressure from the Madam Dowager, Wei Qiufu had no choice but to kneel on the ground and began to swear with tears in her eyes, “Sixth Younger Sister, I didn’t want to hurt you. I had nothing to do with the clothes in the palace. I’ll let the Heavens punish me if I have ever tried to harm you!”
“Grandmother, Fourth Elder Sister, w-what are you doing?” Wei Yuewu was shocked. Just like Wei Qiufu, she seemed to be unable to realize what was happening. She stood in place in bewilderment and even forgot to help Wei Qiufu up.
It was obvious that Wei Yuewu was befuddled and never thought that the Madam Dowager would do something like this.
“Yuewu, come here!” The Madam Dowager waved at Wei Yuewu lovingly, but she turned a blind eye to Wei Qiufu, who was kneeling by the bed.
“Grandmother,” Wei Yuewu muttered obediently, looking as if she had not yet recovered from her shock. Then, she slowly walked over.
The Madam Dowager sat up straight and took her hand. “You have become thinner after staying in the palace for the past few days. Before entering the palace, I’ve told you to stay away from the Empress. Her Majesty doesn’t like your mother, and she definitely won’t like you. Even if she won’t do anything to you, there are many people in the palace who will drop down a stone on people who have fallen into a well.”
The Madam Dowager sighed. She sounded very sincere, and she even mentioned the Empress. Even Wei Qiufu seemed a little touched. For a moment, she couldn’t help but wipe her tears with a handkerchief.
However, she was not touched. She didn’t understand why Wei Yuewu was so damn lucky. The hairpin that irritated the Empress had nothing to do with her, but in the end, the Empress despised her. The coldness in the Empress’ eyes at that moment made Wei Qiufu have nightmares for a few days.
“Grandmother, what happened in the palace might really have nothing to do with Fourth Elder Sister. She also entered the palace for the first time. How could she do such a thing? Her Majesty’s maids discovered the Third Princess’ seven-colored clothes in Fourth Elder Sister’s room!” Wei Yuewu stretched out her hand, wanting to pull Wei Qiufu up.
Wei Yuewu knew that the Madam Dowager was just putting up a show for her, or perhaps for her father as well to see!
Wei Yuewu sneered in her heart. The Madam Dowager had really put in a lot of effort in order to clear Wei Qiufu’s suspicion. She even pretended to be sick. Of course, she was not the sole audience of the so-called show.
She did it as if she didn’t want Wei Luowen, who was waiting outside the room, to listen to their conversation, so she ordered Nanny Hong to guard the door and not let anyone in. However, the curtain had no sound insulation whatsoever, and the Madam Dowager made quite a big commotion just now. With Wei Luowen’s hearing as a general, he must have heard everything clearly.
The third branch was weak, and it was even weaker without Wei Luowen’s support. So what if Wei Qiufu was outstanding?
Previously, the Madam Dowager tried to scheme against her for the sake of the second branch’s Wei Yan, but now she was putting on a show for the third branch’s Wei Qiufu. The Madam Dowager was really good at scheming and acting fair and righteous. She had been indifferent to her for many years, but now, she put on a disguise as if she cared about her the most.
Sure enough, the Madam Dowager was shameless enough!
Seeing that Wei Yuewu helped Wei Qiufu up in such a gentle manner, the Madam Dowager looked at Wei Yuewu lovingly. “The two of you are now the only legitimate daughters in the mansion, so you are different from the illegitimate children. No matter how capable they are, they are still illegitimate children. You are different. You are noble and are closer by blood. In the future, even if you get married, you have to support each other. Only then can you go further!”
The Madam Dowager was separating Wei Yuejiao and Wei Qiuju out of the context. This was the first time that the Madam Dowager had put Wei Yuejiao and Wei Qiuju on the same level. Her words were even more justifiable and reasonable, as if she was really an old woman who was truly entrusting the affairs before she died.
Wei Luowen, who was sitting outside, heard it clearly. A trace of tears appeared in the corner of his eyes. Thinking about it, for so many years, the Madam Dowager could be said to be very attentive to him, even though he had some resentment towards the Madam Dowager because of the matter with Rui’er back then. The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang actually treated him graciously.
However, he knew that the reason why Rui’er had become heartless to him was largely because of him. If it had not been for… Rui’er wouldn’t have died not long after giving birth to Yuewu. It was difficult to restrain his sorrow. Even though he was such a tough man, at this time, he lowered his head to hide the pain in his eyes.
In fact, Wei Luowu also heard it clearly. His eyes flashed across Wei Luowen’s face, and then he lowered his head quietly.
“Eldest Brother, Second Brother, what is Mother doing inside? Why did she call these two girls in alone?” Wei Luoli, Wei Qiufu’s father, was the clueless one of all. He heard the loud commotion earlier, but the volume of the conversation was so low that he couldn’t hear anything. He curiously looked at his two elder brothers.
Seeing that they both looked down and were deep in thought, he couldn’t help but ask.
Wei Luowen raised his head. Although the corners of his eyes were red, he still looked normal. He reached out and patted his third brother on the shoulder. Compared with his second brother, this third brother was not ambitious at all and was righteous. Although everyone said that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang’s third branch was the most useless, Wei Luowen was good to Wei Luoli.
“It’s nothing! Mother is teaching two girls a lesson,” Wei Luowen said lightly.
Originally, Wei Luowen was also very concerned about the matter of his third brother’s daughter plotting against Yuewu. That girl from the third branch tried to step on Yuewu to rise to the top. Of course, he would not support the third branch. However, when he heard his old mother’s words and saw his third brother’s ignorant face, he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
Originally, he thought of not supporting Wei Qiufu, the legitimate daughter of the third branch, because of her nasty characteristics, but now…
At this time, the door curtain was lifted, and Nanny Hong walked out with a smile. “Lord Marquis, Second Master, Third Master, the Madam Dowager said that she is fine, and she asked you to leave. She still wants to talk to Fourth Young Lady and Sixth Young Lady and ask them about the matters in the palace.”
Wei Luowen nodded and stood up. “Second Brother, Third Brother, since Mother wants to talk to the two girls, let’s go back first!”
Each of them had many things to do in the outer courtyard. Now that the Madam Dowager was fine and dismissed them, it meant that she didn’t want to be interrupted as she had a few words with the girls. Of course, they all stood up tactfully and asked Nanny Hong to convey their messages. Then, they left Tranquility Courtyard together.
In Tranquility Courtyard, the Madam Dowager tried to explain the situation. When she saw Wei Yuewu pull Wei Qiufu up, her face could not help but reveal a happy expression. “Both of you are magnanimous. You should have been nicer to each other since you are sisters! Qiufu, I slapped you just now because I was disappointed and really thought that you wanted to hurt Yuewu. Now that I think about it, I was wrong. How can you, a girl who just entered the palace, control the matters in the palace?”
“That’s right. Speaking of which, I still have to thank Fourth Elder Sister. She told me about many things in the palace!” Wei Yuewu smiled and pulled Wei Qiufu’s hand even harder. “Grandmother, you have no idea how much the Crown Prince adores Fourth Elder Sister. His Highness even invited her alone during the lantern festival.”
A trace of surprise flashed through Wei Qiufu’s eyes when she saw Wei Yuewu’s affectionate expression. She had already understood the Madam Dowager’s intentions. However, when she thought of the two sets of clothes she had given to Wei Yuewu before, she forced a smile. “Sixth Younger Sister, you’re too polite. It’s just that… the Crown Prince spotted me on some special occasions.”
“Is it true? The Crown Prince actually treated Qiufu like that?” The Madam Dowager’s face was full of excitement, and her entire spirit seemed to have been lifted.
“Yes, the Crown Prince treated Fourth Elder Sister very well. Grandmother, you may rest assured. I believe that the Empress will definitely issue an edict soon and give Fourth Elder Sister an official title.” Wei Yuewu smiled.
These words not only made the Madam Dowager happy, but Wei Qiufu also lowered her head shyly. Wei Qiufu felt that she had some confidence in the matter of the Crown Prince Wen Tianyao. No matter how she looked at it, the Crown Prince treated her differently from others.
Her plan in the palace had indeed succeeded!
Feeling the swelling pain on her face, Wei Qiufu looked at Wei Yuewu with a bit of coldness in her eyes. Now was not the time to fall out with Wei Yuewu. She needed her uncle’s selfless support.
Hearing that the Crown Prince was very good to Wei Qiufu, the Madam Dowager asked a few more questions with satisfaction. She was over the moon when she heard that the Crown Prince gave Wei Qiufu many presents. She reminded them a few more words before dismissing them. She didn’t mention a thing about the fire in the kitchen that was caused by Wei Yuejiao’s jealousy.
Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiufu walked out of Tranquility Courtyard with their maids. Wei Qiufu turned her slightly swollen face aside and smiled at Wei Yuewu. “Sixth Younger Sister, how about we walk together?”
“Okay.” Wei Yuewu nodded lightly.
The two of them walked into the garden together and chatted for a while before Wei Qiufu finally got to the point. “Sixth Younger Sister, I really don’t know what’s going on with those two sets of clothes. When I saw these two sets of clothes in my wardrobe, I felt that these two sets were the most outstanding, so I gave them to you. I didn’t know that these clothes were actually the Third Princess’…”
“So, are you trying to tell me that you were the victim in this matter, you didn’t know anything about it at all, and someone deliberately threw the clothes over and over again at your place?” A trace of cold ridicule appeared in Wei Yuewu’s eyes as she spoke bluntly.
“Sixth Younger Sister, even the Empress said that someone might be trying to harm the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Why are you so stubborn? When I enter Crown Prince Mansion in the future, I can help you with whatever you want!” Seeing Wei Yuewu’s appearance, Wei Qiufu decided not to beat around the bush.
She was very confident that Wei Yuewu would settle things peacefully. Her promise was supported by the Madam Dowager’s reputation and her future reputation. No one could refuse the conditions offered by a person who was about to be doted on by the Crown Prince!
However, in the next moment, she could not help but cry out in alarm. Her entire body was pushed down, and her hand pulled tightly onto the fence on the side…
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