Yan’ge came back with Madam Song, whose eyes were full of blood streak. Seeing her mother’s haggard face, Wei Changying also changed her facial expressions and yelled at Yan’ge, “I only asked you to talk to Granny Shi. How dare you also disturb Mother?”
Madam Song smiled reluctantly, waved her hand, and said, “Don’t blame Yan’ge. I just said I was going back to sleep for a while, but how can I actually sleep? Before Yan’ge came, your grandmother sent someone to tell me about your return. But I thought you might need to have a rest after taking a bath, so I didn’t come to bother you. Therefore, when Yan’ge went to me and I knew that you’re awake, how can I not come and have a look?”
Wei Changying’s eyes turned red when she heard that, and she said with sob, “I’m all right, Mum please rest assured.”
Madam Song already knew from Old Madam Song that Wei Changying had returned safely and Shou Gong Mark was still on her arm. Coupled with the disguise of Wei Changfeng before, Madam Song thought that this event could be covered up this time. Thus, she could still keep calm at the moment. Madam Song looked at her daughter’s ruddy face after she took a nap and said softly, “God bless you! My daughter is finally back!”
However, she was able to stay calm for only a moment. After she finished her words, Madam Song, who had always been dignified and reserved, suddenly got up, threw herself on the couch and hugged Wei Changying tightly!
Wei Changying was stunned and felt that Madam Song was hugging her with almost all her strength that her fingernails almost pinched into her flesh under such excitement. She felt a sense of bitterness for no reason and hugged Madam Song back. Everyone in the room understood the situation and kept silent to let the mother and daughter hug each other for a long time. When Madam Song released Wei Changying, her face was covered with tears and the shoulders of Wei Changying’s shirt were all wet. She wiped with a veil while looking at her daughter foolishly. She tried to say something but the sobs choked up her throat.
At this time, Granny Shi persuaded, “First Miss and the fifth young master have now returned safely, so it can be seen that auspicious people have God’s blessing. Madam should thank God very much. Now that First Miss has not recovered her spirit, I am afraid she will be even more tired to cry with you.”
Seeing that this could not stop Madam Song’s sadness, she reminded, “That the little Mrs. Liu brought Mrs. Su over today, and the poor young lady was woken up during her nap to perfunctory them.”
As expected, Madam Song wiped her face when she heard the words and said with a venomous look in her eyes, “Wei Zhengya and the little Mrs. Liu…No matter what my parents do, I will fight with the Duke Jingping my whole life!”
“Mother.” Wei Changying knew that Madam Song didn’t have good health now so that Wei Changying could not bear Madam Song to worry about her anymore. What’s more, although it was already known that Duke Jingping was one of the masterminds behind this ambush, it was still not easy to find evidence that could be got hold with the fact that this ambush was planned beforehand, and “Biwu” was in the hands of Wei Zhengya. Without evidence, even if Wei Huan was the Family Head, with the status of Duke Jingping as the lineal and the elder in the family, there was nothing Wei Huan could do openly.
As a matter of fact, Wei Huan had been the Family Head for many years. He was shrewd and sophisticated, and he had lots of heirs that especially his second son and lineal grandson were all talented people. Under such circumstances, Wei Zhengya still dared to plan to take back the position of Family Head. In addition to this, he firmly held “Biwu” in his hand and won the name of a famous scholar within the country. How could he only be the kind of person that had an undeserved reputation?
Maybe he had been at a disadvantage position, but it was still not so easy to eradicate and retaliate him!
This time, Wei Huan was still at the mansion of Duke Jingping and did not hear the words that his granddaughter told Old Madam Song. However, even if Wei Huan had known the whole story before he went to the mansion of Duke Jingping, it was still impossible for him to talk about this openly. The only thing he could do was to use the excuse that “Biwu” was ineffective in rescuing the important descendants of the clan to ask Wei Zhengya to rectify “Biwu.” Therefore, he could seize the power of “Biwu” and weaken Wei Zhengya. If the action was done openly, people all over the country would talk about Wei Huan’s greed. Because he already had the position of the Family Head, the senior commander, and the Duke Changshan, but he still wanted the position of the Duke Jingping which was inherited by his lineal brother. On the contrary, this would give Wei Zhengya and Zhiben Hall a chance.
So Wei Changying pursed her lips and said seriously, “There is no need for Mum to be angry. Let’s not talk about the event this time, our whole family will remember it! There is a long way to go. The other side has both the identity as the ones from our family and the lineal elders within the clan. If we are not sure about this, we should not act rashly. And if we have the opportunity, how can we forget about this event? What’s more, they paid a lot this time yet only killed a group of our servants and didn’t get any benefits! I came back well with Changfeng. I heard that Gaochuan was injured, but there was no worry about his life. Despite the fact that the little Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Su came to ‘visit’ me every day, maybe they were so angry in the Duke Jingping mansion that they had to send the servants away to give vent to their anger!”
Madam Song was giggled by her daughter, and then her hatred faded. She said softly, “Good! I will listen to you no matter what you say!” She then reached out and caressed her face, and said with fear and emotion, “Fortunately, you are all fine! Otherwise, how can I tell your father?”
Wei Changying came back safe and sound, so the boulder in the heart of the people in Ruiyu Hall fell to the ground.
Even Old Madam Song also believed that after appeasing the frightened three grandchildren, the next thing was to help Wei Huan to plot out “Biwu,” planning to retaliate against Mrs. Liu, Zhiben Hall, Empress Gu and so on.
As gentlefolk, they were no stranger to intrigue. Since both granddaughter and granddaughter were fine, Wei Huan and Old Madam Song were patient enough to take revenge.
So more than half a month had passed, Ruiyu Hall had returned to normal. Fengzhou was quiet, and there was no bad news.
Just when everyone was about to forget the attack, a large piece of clay carefully was carried into the back hall. This let Old Madam Song stare for a long time and then asked with a livid face, “This is…what does this mean?!”
The couples who sent this clay in were Wei Zhengya and the little Mrs. Liu.
Wei Zhengya, who was nearly fifty years old, deserved the name to be a famous scholar within the country that his demeanor was very extraordinary. His face was very similar to Wei Zhenghong, and his demeanor was graceful and elegant. He said at an appropriate speed, “Second Aunt, this is what happened: A few days ago, Changying and several other kids were assassinated outside Fengzhou, which was really a surprise! Thanks to the loyalty of the servants that they sacrificed their lives, these kids were able to return safely under their protection.”
Old Madam Song said impatiently, “This matter is over, and the three children are very scared. Now let’s not mention it. What are you doing with this clay?”
“I thought the reason for the safe return of the three nieces and nephews, apart from God’s protection, was the loyalty of their servants. So we should cite them for meritorious service. We need not set up a monument but to write a short note to establish the name for them. It’s just a small thing for us, but the loyal servant will be praised for a thousand years!” Wei Zhengya talked eloquently, unaffected by Madam Song’s frowning brows, and said, “I think that I don’t need to let this kind of small thing bother the second uncle and the second aunt too much so that I originally planned to come to report this after I finished preparing. However….”
He pointed to the clay in front of him, which was about six feet long and four feet wide, with some roots and turf attached to it. But the things that had not yet completely withered were the footprints.
And among at least three or four pairs of footprints which similar in size, a pair of footprints which was far more slender than other footprints were so distinctive in the eyes of Old Madam Song. This was also the reason that Old Madam Song would livid her face after seeing it.
It was just that Madam Song was determined not to admit it, so she said faintly, “but what?”
“I’m going to write an article praising the servants who escorted the return of my three nieces and nephews. Recently, I happened to have a lot of free time, so I took some people along into the forest to take a look at what happened to the nephews in the forest so that I could figure out some new words and sentences.” For a famous scholar like Wei Zhengya, it was a big deal to study and polish new poetries. Therefore, it was not surprising for him to make an arduous journey to grasp a blink of inspiration for a sentence or a word in the poetries. His explanation was reasonable. “However, following the footsteps, I found the place where Changying and Changfeng separated. Only to find… the one who was escorted back by Jiang Zheng seemed not to be Changying?”
Old Madam Song said coldly, “That’s funny. Who will it be if it was not Changying? Changfeng? Those righteous men in the forest invited Changfeng. There are differences between men and women. Don’t they have eyes!” It was natural that an explanation would be needed for the fact that Wei Changying and Wei Changfeng didn’t return together.
It was difficult to reveal the truth that they were saved by a bandit who was secretly cultivated in Fengqi mountain by Wei Xinyong, a traitor in Zhiben Hall. So Ruiyu Hall’s external explanation was that when Wei Changying and Wei Changfeng were surrounded by assassins, a line of common people went into the forest to collect medicine, and after hearing the noise, they rescued them.
After that, Wei Changfeng and Wei Changying wanted to thank the righteous men in the forest, but they could not reject their hospitality. So Wei Changfeng asked his sister to return home first and paid a visit to his benefactor. Therefore, it took him two more days to come back.
“Second Aunt doesn’t know about.” Wei Zhengya smiled faintly and said, “The place where this piece of soil was excavated was deep in the forest, with luxuriant branches and leaves and all evergreen trees so that the light was very dim. It is said that it was raining that day? Both Changfeng and Changying came back with hats, so it is not impossible that one of them attends the appointment on the behalf of the other person!”
“What do you mean by that?” Old Madam Song immediately turned hostile and slapped the case angrily, “The one who came back first was obviously Changying! In those days, didn’t royal heir’s wife, your first daughter-in-law and lineal daughter, come to visit her all day long? Which time you find it was Changfeng? Tell me about that!”
Wei Zhengya smiled calmly facing the old lady’s anger, and said, “Second Aunt need not be angry. I am just thinking, although the footprints on this clay billet seem to have Changying’s, but … It is also possible that it was because after Changfeng left with the righteous men in the forest who saved them, Changying was reluctant so that she chased them on the spot for a few steps.”
He changed his saying in a short amount of time, and his intention was unpredictable. Old Madam Song frowned and did not answer this remark. She only said, “The one who comes back first was Changying. And I am not so old as not to distinguish my granddaughter from my grandson. Speaking of this, these three children were ambushed on the official road and then forced to flee into the woods. In addition to this, the assassins weren’t all caught yet, how could you take such a risk and run into the forest? If you met a bandit in there and something went wrong, how about your wife and daughter? A man who is about to turn fifty years old, how can you still be so reckless! Is it so important to polish new poetries that you have to go into the woods?”
Wei Zhengya hurriedly thanked her aunt for her concern and replied, “Besides, those righteous men in the forest saved Changying and Changfeng. Even if the two children went with them to take a visit and thanked them, it didn’t matter. How could a girl attend to the appointment on behalf of Changfeng? So I got this clay today, of course, not because I suspected my niece but for another reason.”
Old Madam Song sipped her tea, thought about it quickly, and then said faintly, “What’s the matter?”
“It was only when our first daughter-in-law was given something from her mother’s house yesterday that we heard it.” Wei Zhengya and the little Mrs. Liu looked at each other, and the little Mrs. Liu sighed and said softly, “Second Aunt, this is what happened: Yesterday, someone from the Su Family sent something to first daughter-in-law, mentioning something that recently happened in the capital. It is said that people with a Fengzhou accent stopped the ceremonial match of the vice-premier Wei Qi!”
“Because the vice-premier heard that he was from Fengzhou, thinking of the affection of his second uncle, he especially got off the carriage to ask about it. Who knew that man cried in the street, saying that he was originally an innocent commoner in Fengzhou. And only because he went into the forest to cut wood, he accidentally found that Changying was hijacked by several men so that he was hunted by our family!”
The little Mrs. Liu looked worried, “The most important thing is that it is said that that man has painted a portrait of Changying. But I don’t know if it’s true or not? Now, this matter has been in an uproar in the capital. I am afraid that the people from the Shen Family are already on their way!”
“So we hurriedly sent someone to dig up the soil there so that the Shen Family would not know about this.” The little Mrs. Liu said thoughtfully, “Now all the footprints that can still be found there have been dug up or destroyed, so Second Aunt please rest assured. Even if the Shen Family went to see it in place, they would never find traces that should not be found.”
With a clang, the tea bowl in the hand of Old Madam Song was turned over directly on the case.