Chapter 386
Chapter 386 Asking for Permission to Be a Monk
“Sixth Young Lady, we use that spot to make the ink,” the nurse-in-charge informed.
“The ink?” Wei Yuewu frowned. Only then did the nurse-in-charge remember the incident related to the ink and realize that Sixth Young Lady definitely did not like to hear about it. At the thought of this, the nurse-in-charge hurriedly explained, albeit vaguely, “It’s Concubine Dong’s order. We can’t contaminate the ingredients and food in the kitchen with the ink, so we especially use this spot for the making of the ink.”
“What is that over there?” Wei Yuewu raised her head slightly and pointed in a certain direction with her chin.
“Oh, that? It is used to brew Concubine Dong’s medicine for her health,” the nurse-in-charge answered with an awkward smile as she looked at a small stove not far from the ink.
The nurse-in-charge felt awkward because she just said that they had to clear the spot because they didn’t want to contaminate the food with the ink, yet Concubine Dong’s stove was placed exactly in that spot.
However, Concubine Dong had only taken the medicine once in a small amount, and this only happened recently, so the nurse-in-charge didn’t put two and two together.
A trace of frigidness flashed across Wei Yuewu’s eyes. Her long eyelashes flickered as she glared at the corridor with a bit of hostility.
It was a perfect setting indeed. No one would notice the oddity since the small stove was placed in the corridor not far from the place where the ink was mixed. They could easily pour the freshly brewed Five Drums Grass into the ink and mix them up without anyone knowing.
In this way, she would die in a mysterious way…
“It’s not good to place it in the corner.” Wei Yuewu eventually shifted her gaze back to Madam Dowager’s medicine pot and frowned in dismay.
“Okay. How about I put it in the corridor on the opposite side?” The nurse-in-charge suggested in embarrassment. Previously, the kitchen was already so packed that there was no extra space for anything more. The medicine pot was not an item in the kitchen, so now, the extra medicine pot complicated the already chaotic arrangement of the kitchen. Furthermore, Madam Dowager had specified that it was best not to place her pot near the cooking area, or the smell of medicine would be diluted.
In addition, the maid from Tranquility Courtyard informed her that they would make Madam Dowager’s medicine here temporarily, and it would be moved back to Madam Dowager’s small kitchen when it was repaired. Therefore, the nurse-in-charge did not mind about it. However, now that Wei Yuewu mentioned it, it finally dawned upon the nurse-in-charge, and she felt rather helpless.
“Well, you can do as you please since you’re in charge of this kitchen. Actually, I don’t know where to put it either,” Wei Yuewu uttered indifferently as she could not make the decision for the nurse-in-charge.
Then, she glanced at Concubine Dong’s stove before leaving with her two maids.
Her casual questions and ambiguous response put the nurse-in-charge in a dilemma. The nurse-in-charge scratched her head and tried in vain to come up with an idea.
Meanwhile, another old maidservant, who had been standing at the side listening to their conversation, thought of something and suggested to the nurse-in-charge, “How about you ask for Concubine Dong’s opinion? She arranged the matter of the ink. If she told you to retain the setting, you could push the matter on Concubine Dong when Madam Dowager asked about it.”
In other words, Concubine Dong was the decision-maker, and they only followed her orders.
The nurse-in-charge thought that it was a good idea, so she immediately went to Concubine Dong’s courtyard.
On the other hand, Concubine Dong was in a chaotic mess at the moment. First, Wei Yuejiao was scalded. After dealing with her injuries, Concubine Dong was informed that Wei Yuewu’s maid had spilled the ink and made a fuss at the construction site. Hearing this, Concubine Dong quickly went to take a look. The maids and old maidservants at the scene simultaneously complained about Jin Ling, and they also stated that there was nothing they could do since Wei Yuewu was watching them from not far away.
Knowing that Wei Yuewu had come over once, Concubine Dong was shocked and immediately asked about the overall process starting from when Wei Yuewu arrived at this place with her maids. Unfortunately, Wei Yuewu didn’t do anything herself, and only Jin Ling came to make a fuss. She was worried that Madam Dowager would hear about this matter. It would be nothing unusual on normal days. But now, Wei Yuejiao had damaged Madam Dowager’s small kitchen and enraged her, so it was a bad timing to explain herself.
Concubine Dong was thinking about the way to euphemistically complain about Wei Yuewu to Madam Dowager when Wei Yuejiao ran over crying. She said that Wei Qiufu had framed her and even deliberately accused her of smashing her. After that, Wei Luowen demanded that Concubine Dong should compensate for the damaged things. Hearing the series of events, Concubine Dong was so frustrated and exasperated that she almost fainted.
Concubine Dong was trembling all over and pointing at Wei Yuejiao while gasping heavily when the nurse-in-charge from the kitchen came over and asked, “Concubine Dong, Madam Dowager’s small kitchen was destroyed because of a fire, and her maids needed to use our big kitchen to brew her medicine, but the kitchen is as packed as it is now. Can I please move the ink a little further in the corridor so that we can brew Madam Dowager’s medicine alongside your medicine pot? What do you think?”
On her way to Concubine Dong’s yard, the nurse-in-charge had thought about the idea over and over again. She felt that this was a feasible and good idea.
“Good! Just do it!” Concubine Dong’s face was gloomy, and she was up in arms at this moment because of Wei Yuejiao. She was not in the mood to care about other things, so after hearing the nurse-in-charge’s suggestion, she directly waved her hand and agreed.
The nurse-in-charge wanted to tell Concubine Dong about Wei Yuewu’s visit to the kitchen, but she didn’t dare to say another word after seeing Concubine Dong’s annoyed expression. After getting her approval, the nurse-in-charge left.
Therefore, Concubine Dong had no idea that this matter was related to Wei Yuewu.
“What? Ziyang wants to become a monk?” Wei Luowen suddenly stood up in shock. He really liked Wei Ziyang. Although he was his nephew, Wei Ziyang grew up under his watch, and he was close to him as his own son. Therefore, he was bewildered when he heard such bizarre news.
“Yes, Lord Marquis. I am still trying to change his mind. Please go and talk to him. I don’t know what has happened to him, but he locked himself in the room for a few days without a word, and when he came out, he told me that he wanted to be a monk!” Han Ming was anxious, and his forehead was drenched in sweat although it was still in the middle of winter.
“Did something happen before this?” Wei Luowen asked in a low voice.
“Nothing. He just stayed at my place. Oh, right. A while ago, he went to Prince Nan’an Mansion with Madam Dowager to visit the Heiress-apparent of Prince Nan’an. Something unfortunate happened in the palace, and the heiress-apparent was seriously injured. After coming back from the visit, Ziyang locked himself in the room and never came out!”
Han Ming replied.
At that time, he did not go to Prince Nan’an Mansion with Wei Ziyang, so he did not know anything that happened there.
“Lord Marquis, please come with me and take a look at him. Ziyang seems to be very determined to become a monk. I asked him to discuss it with Madam Dowager and Second Master, but he refused and insisted that he wanted to become a monk!”
“I see. Let’s go! I shall meet him in person,” Wei Luowen said and strode out. Ham Ming had to trot two steps before catching up. They left the mansion in a hurry, hopped on their horses, and headed straight for Prefectural Prince Huai Mansion.
However, not long after they left, Madam Dowager arrived with Nanny Hong. After asking the lad servant in the study about what happened, she was so anxious that she almost fainted. Among her grandchildren, Wei Ziyan was the only one with a bright and promising future. The rest of them were too young and immature to manage the entire mansion of Marquis Hua Yang!
At the thought of this, Madam Dowager hurriedly ordered the servants to prepare a carriage and then rushed to Prefectural Prince Huai Mansion with several maids and old maidservants. She must stop Wei Ziyang from becoming a monk, or there would be no successor for the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. As long as she thought of this, Madam Dowager was anxious and felt that she could not wait any longer…
Inside Prefectural Prince Huai Mansion, Wei Ziyang looked at the table in front of him in a daze. He had been quiet for a long time.
Wei Ziyang’s personal lad servant looked at the door nervously, but Prefectural Prince Huai was nowhere to be seen. He was so anxious that he was about to cry. What should he do if Eldest Young Master became a monk?! Madam Dowager would definitely punish him for letting this thing happen!
“Eldest Brother, Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiufu are the reason why I became like this! They wanted to ruin the second branch! Just think about what happened to me, Mother, and Second Younger Sister. We have fallen into such a miserable situation because we were victims of their schemes! When you came back last year, we were still so happy and peaceful as a family. But look at us now! We end up in such a horrifying situation.”
Wei Fengyao’s curse and sob echoed inside his mind like a sound from hell.
“Eldest Brother, are you not going to avenge me and Second Sister? And Mother too! Do you really believe that Mother has that kind of illicit relationship with another man? Brother… Eldest Brother…”
Wei Ziyang refused to believe that any of this was true. He hoped that it would be like the good old times when he returned to the capital for a harmonious and happy New Year celebration with his family and went back to the border with his uncle.
But now, he knew what had happened to the second branch. He did not want to stay with the second branch simply because he wanted to forget about the past as much as possible. Wei Yuewu had told him about what had happened to his mother, and he had witnessed the incident in Li Mansion with his own eyes. It was his father who had punished his mother.
Wei Ziyang really could not believe that this matter had something to do with a young girl like Wei Yuewu!
But if it was none of Wei Yuewu’s business, the coincidence of this matter was too bizarre and unbelievable. It seemed that all the evidence was against his mother, so much so that his mother was exiled and could not even return to the mansion. He hated Lady Li because of this and could not understand why she could be so shameless as to commit such an atrocious thing.
On second thought after the resentment, he felt inexplicably sad when he saw how miserable Lady Li was. She was, after all, his mother, and he could not turn his back on her no matter what she had done.
However, every time he went to Li Mansion, Lady Li would insist that Wei Yuewu had framed her, but she couldn’t give a specific answer when he pursued the matter in detail. The ambiguity and hesitation were enough for Wei Ziyang to interpret the matter in a different way and realize something distinctive.
It was Lady Li at first, and now, something happened to Wei Fengyao. Wei Ziyang felt like something was strangling him, and he was in great despair. He didn’t know how to deal with this feeling, thus, he had the thought of escaping all of a sudden.
He could not stay with this family anymore! He wanted to become a monk like Master Fenghe. From then on, he would not have anything to do with these worldly matters.
The more he thought about this idea, the more he made sense out of it. Eventually, it became an obsession. He felt that he would solve all the troubles when he became a monk.
Just as he was deep in his thought, Wei Luowen walked in with a gloomy face.
“Eldest Uncle,” Wei Ziyang greeted and stood up quietly while looking at Han Ming. He knew that Han Ming, his dear friend, would go and invite Eldest Uncle over. Han Ming did the right thing. He couldn’t selfishly put the burden on Han Ming because of his personal affairs. Han Ming would have been blamed had he allowed him to become a monk without informing anyone in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
“What are you thinking? Are you out of your mind?!” Wei Luowen growled angrily as he glared at his outstanding nephew. In his heart, he treated his nephew as his own son.
It was unwise of Wei Luowen to adopt Wei Ziyang as his son because Wei Ziyang was his brother’s only son. Otherwise, Wei Luowen would have adopted Wei Ziyang officially, and it would be more justifiable for the latter to inherit the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang in the future!
This was what the first branch owed the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang in the first place!
“Eldest Uncle, I beg for your permission to allow me to become a monk!” Wei Ziyang abruptly knelt down and bowed to Wei Luowen. His expression was calm and composed as he stated his intention. Then, he took out something from his pocket and slowly revealed it to Wei Luowen. A cold light flashed. It was…
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