Chapter 62 – Who Would Seize The Opportunity?
Nurse Mei used to be the Madam Dowager’s confidant, but after today’s incident, she was conscious that she would no longer be trusted by the Madam Dowager. Therefore, Wei Yuewu was the only person she could cling to now.
Wei Yuewu took the tea handed over by Shufei and took a sip of it gracefully. She raised her head and asked softly, “Nurse Mei, you’re grandmother’s confidant, right?”
“Yes, I am. Her Ladyship asked me to report everything that happened here to her.” Nurse Mei kowtowed to Wei Yuewu and uttered those words honestly without the slightest hesitation.
Actually, they were already well aware of this fact. However, when it came from Nurse Mei’s mouth, it carried significant implication—Nurse Mei’s allegiance to Wei Yuewu.
“Nurse Mei, aren’t you afraid that grandmother will get angry with you? I heard that no one in this mansion dares to disobey the Second Lady and Second Young Lady.” Wei Yuewu looked coolly at Nurse Mei with a smile at the corners of her lips. Any servant who wanted to follow her must be loyal. She didn’t want fickle servants.
Nurse Mei felt a shiver when she thought of the Madam Dowager’s anger and the means the Second Lady might use against her. She raised her head and looked at Wei Yuewu, saying with a bit of panic, “I will be loyal to you in the future, miss.”
She had no alternative but to swear allegiance to Wei Yuewu in the current situation. Nurse Mei had witnessed everything that happened today. She wasn’t the Madam Dowager. She wasn’t blinded by the Second Young Lady. After witnessing the whole incident, she was utterly shocked by the Sixth Young Lady’s manoeuvre.
Although she was still a little girl, she was able to handle tricky matters so skillfully that she succeeded in revealing the truth of today’s incident that was originally intended to trap her. She had even contrived to make the Second Young Lady blurt out her dirty work. She appeared so weak and fragile, so delicate and charming, yet she gave people a strange feeling of eerie coldness.
Had Nurse Mei disobeyed the Second Lady and the Second Young Lady? Yes, she had. And no one in this manor who disobeyed them would have a good ending.
Therefore, she could not retreat. And she had no other way out either.
Fortunately, she had the Sixth Young Lady who she was sure would be able to protect her, just in the same way as it had happened in front of the Madam Dowager. As much as the Madam Dowager was angry with her, the old lady could not hold her responsible. The Madam Dowager even asked Nurse Hong to send the Sixth Young Lady back.
When thinking about this point, Nurse Mei gradually relaxed. She said once again with certainty, “Sixth Young Lady, I will be loyal to you.”
This time, she was no longer panicked or frightened. It was as if a heavy load was lifted off her mind, and she looked much more at ease.
“Jin Ling, help Nurse Mei up.” Wei Yuewu smiled faintly. She was fighting alone in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. It seemed that she had completely defeated Wei Yan and Lady Li so far, but actually her foothold here was very weak. Therefore, she needed her own confidants, especially people like Nurse Mei who was familiar with the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
Moreover, Nurse Mei was the servant supervisor of her courtyard. She would be very worried if such an important position was taken by someone else’s confidant.
She believed that after what happened today, if Nurse Mei was smart, she would definitely stand on her side. Otherwise, Lady Li wouldn’t let her get away!
Jin Ling reached out to help Nurse Mei up and stood to the side. Just as Nurse Mei was about to speak, Huamo suddenly hurried in.
“Miss, Nurse Hong is coming again.”
The people in the room were surprised. Nurse Hong had just left and shouldn’t be far from the Lotus Courtyard by now. Why was she heading here again?
“How many people are coming with her?” Wei Yuewu asked with a frown.
“I saw that there is a maid who seems to be from the Madam Dowager’s courtyard. Nurse Hong didn’t have this maid beside her when she came here a moment ago. And she seems to be in a hurry, like she has something urgent to report,” said Huamo.
Nurse Hong returned after leaving here and a maid from the Madam Dowager’s followed her. After pondering for a second, Wei Yuewu understood that the Madam Dowager must have something important to have the maid pass on to Nurse Hong. That must be the reason why Nurse Hong returned.
“Huamo, invite Nurse Hong in,” Wei Yuewu said to Huamo after pondering for a while. She then waved her hand at Nurse Mei, who knowingly retreated.
Just as Nurse Mei left, Nurse Hong came in smilingly with a maid. “Congratulations, Sixth Young Lady. Congratulations.”
“May I know the reason for that?” Wei Yuewu looked at her and asked calmly with a soft voice.
“Sixth Young Lady, the Madam Dowager got an invitation from the palace just after you left. You are invited to a banquet in the palace tomorrow.”
Nurse Hong said delightedly. She was so exhilarated because this invitation was a very rare opportunity. It was originally thought that with the Fourth Young Lady out of the mansion, the mansion would receive one invitation at most. Unexpectedly, the Sixth Young Lady was also invited, which was truly a pleasant surprise to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
Indeed, this invitation from the palace was really precious especially after the Second Young Lady and the Fifth Young Lady were involved in the previous accidents.
“What… is tomorrow’s banquet?” asked Wei Yuewu with a smile, her clear eyes revealing a trace of surprise. “Why was this invitation sent so suddenly?”
Even an aristocratic family would normally send an invitation some time ahead of a banquet so that the guests would have time to make arrangements and get prepared. No family would send an invitation only one day before the banquet. What was more, this invitation was from the palace. There was no time for preparation at all.
“I don’t quite know why either. I heard that it has something to do with the Duke of Yan State, about offering captives or something.” Nurse Hong smiled. Even though she was a close confidant of the Madam Dowager, she only paid attention to the inner courtyard. Now the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang received one more invitation, it was indeed a great honor.
Yet she had never thought about the meaning of the Duke of Yan State offering captives.
Wei Yuewu’s heart skipped a beat. A trace of deep thought flashed through her bright watery eyes. Yan Huaijing came to the capital to offer captives. When she met him that day, she heard the heir-apparent of the Duke of Lu State mentioning this matter. She did not care about it at that time. When she thought about it now, it was absolutely not as simple as it seemed to be on the surface.
If Yan Huaijing came to offer captives, to whom did the captives belong?
Why did the owner of the captives let Yan Huaijing arrive to the capital alone instead of coming with him? Moreover, was the date of offering the captives only a coincidence? Otherwise, the palace would not be in such a hurry to hold the banquet. Therefore, that would mean even the palace had not expected him to offer captives tomorrow. Was the mansion of the Duke of Yan State so powerful, or did the palace fail to obtain intelligence in time?
Did this sudden banquet represent the royal family’s compromise or a move to throw the mansion of the Duke of Yan State into fire? To put it further, what did that scheming heir-apparent want?
Although myriads of thoughts occurred to her mind, Wei Yuewu did not reveal anything on her face. She asked in a seemingly casual manner, “Nurse Hong, is there anyone else in this mansion that will go with me?”
‘”The Second Young Lady will. You and the Second Young Lady are invited. The eunuch who sent the invitation said the palace knew that the Fourth Young Lady was filial and that she wouldn’t be able to go. Otherwise, the palace would definitely send her an invitation too. In the past, only the Second Young Lady and the Fourth Young Lady would be invited, but now they’ve also invited you, Sixth Young Lady.”
Nurse Hong answered with a face full of smiles. She was totally overjoyed. To be able to attend such a banquet in the palace was an honor for the whole mansion. Moreover, there was a deeper meaning behind this.
All invitees were young ladies born to wives, not concubines!
“Have you heard of the thing about offering captives?” Wei Yuewu nodded with her lips curled up.
“Yes, I have. Earlier on when the heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State entered the capital, folks were saying that they heard that the Duke of Yan State acted on his own initiative and that the dukes and marquises of the fiefs fled back to the capital. They didn’t know who were caught or why the war started so suddenly.” Nurse Hong was not clear about this matter either, so she could only repeat the rumors.
Then she handed over the invitation that had a golden-edged red cover.
“Is grandmother going?” Wei Yuewu asked casually as she let Huamo take the invitation.
“No, the Madam Dowager isn’t going. Only young ladies are invited. The Second Lady can’t go in her present state, so the Third Lady will take you and the Second Young Lady there.” Nurse Hong answered with a smile.
Nurse Hong said a few more words on behalf of the Madam Dowager lest Wei Yuewu didn’t understand the meaning behind the invitation. Then she departed again with the maid and said that if Wei Yuewu needed anything, she could send someone to tell the Madam Dowager and the Madam Dowager would get the things prepared immediately.
After Nurse Hong left, Wei Yuewu thought for a moment and walked to the desk in her boudoir. She wrote a few characters, looked at them and smiled faintly. Her eyes were so clear under the light that they looked like crystal or diamond. The writing might not be of use, but it was always better to get prepared…
Tomorrow? It seemed very urgent!
However, no matter how urgent it was, she was sure that Lady Li and Wei Yan would not let go of such a good opportunity…
What a coincidence it would be to give them a deadly blow!
Since there was a banquet tomorrow and Wei Yan and Wei Yuewu were invited, the Madam Dowager rubbed her eyebrows and let Wei Yan go back. Lady Li had already sent a servant to wait for Wei Yan. When she heard that Wei Yan was released, she heaved a sigh of relief. She then walked towards Wei Yan’s courtyard with a few servants.
“Mother, have you prepared the drug I gave you last time?” Seeing Lady Li enter her chamber, Wei Yan raised her head and uttered those words hatefully with a sinister and resentful expression.
Lady Li waved her hand as a signal for the others to retreat. She then walked to Wei Yan and sat down on her daughter’s side. Her expression turned cold too as she answered, “There’s no hurry about the drug. Tell me, what was the matter with that pavilion? I asked you to be careful. Why did Wei Qiuju fall into the water?”
“Mother, I have no idea either. That little bitch was too cunning. Mother, don’t worry. I won’t give her another chance to get away this time.” Wei Yan gritted her teeth and said.
“I’ve told you many times that you must take care when dealing with her. Think about who you are and who she is. If you are jade, she is nothing but rubble. There’s nothing she won’t do. Well, I was too hasty so that she got the upper hand. This time, I’ve made arrangements. You only need to be careful after you enter the palace.”
Lady Li said coldly. A trace of hostility flashed in her eyes. She was surprised that bitch was actually so smart that she managed to avoid this disaster. She had thought that Wei Qiuju’s suggestion was a surprisingly good plan that could successfully trap this girl. She didn’t expect Wei Yuewu to be so cunning.
“Mother, there won’t be any mistakes this time?” Wei Yan was a little uneasy because she was outwitted by Wei Yuewu several times
“Don’t worry. We will make her meet her doom this time.” Lady Li smiled viciously. This time, of course, she was not as rash as before. The scar on her face was twitched, adding a hint of ferociousness to her originally beautiful face. She defeated even Wei Yuewu’s mother years ago. How could she possibly let a little girl get the upper hand?
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