Wei Zhengya was a member of Ruiyu Hall, who died in the hands of “northern tribes.” No matter how Wei Huan secretly planned and acted, he also had to pay his condolences.
Wei Changying was actually very reluctant to go.
At this time, Mrs. He had recovered and returned to serve her. Zhu Lan and four other maids were also picked up and continued to be second-class maidservants in Xianshuang Court. But they changed much as if they had been domesticated by a rigorous Granny. Originally, Zhu Lan and the others, as the decedents of Mrs. He and managers, were young and noisy. So no matter whether Wei Changying was in Xianshuang Court or not, the yard was lively all year round.
But this time when they came back, they looked well-behaved and calmer than before. Wei Changying was not strict with maids. If their chatter didn’t disturb her, she wouldn’t be angry with them. Seeing that they behaved more tamely, she gave them some praise. Zhu Lan and the others were always careful when dealing with things so that they could be picked out to serve her, whether they were noisy or quiet.
It was just that Lvfang and Lvbin, whom Wei Changying had always relied heavily on, did not come back. The reason was that the manager took a fancy to them; besides, they were old enough to get married, so they were granted special favors by Old Madam Song to marry and stay there. Mrs. He arranged for Wei Changying to send two congratulatory gifts there.
The real reason was revealed by Mrs. He in private. “I heard that the First Miss was in distress, but Lvyi and Lvchi not only failed to protect her but became a burden. The Madam was very angry, saying that such close maidservants were useless at all at critical times! Then the First Miss was still in Fengzhou. If she was married to other places, they would make her embarrassed. As a result, they were eliminated.”
“How about Qin’ge and Yan’ge?” Wei Changying asked doubtfully.
Mrs. He whispered, “Don’t underestimate them, First Miss. When these four came, I also felt that they were careless, since there was callus on their fingers! How could such persons serve First Miss well! So… I also talked to the old madam intentionally. As a result, the old madam called Qin’ge to the hall. In front of me, Qin’ge hit down the three or four guards outside the courtyard with her fists.”
Wei Changying understood that in this attack, after being shocked, Old Madam Song also began to remedy the situation. Previously, Wei Xinyong said that because Wei Huan was not the lineal eldest son, although he inherited Ruiyu Hall from the old Duke Jingping, he did not get “Biwu” because of his father’s wife’s words. But this time, the trouble of Wei Changying and Wei Changfeng gave Wei Huan the opportunities to take the power of this secret guard with both the stick and the carrot.
As soon as the secret guard of the tribe came into his hands, of course, Old Madam Song would first think of her grandchildren.
It was afraid that not only the maidservants of Wei Changying were changed, but new ones replaced those of Wei Changfeng in Liuhua Yard.
“They are really not careful enough, but since they came here not long ago, and it would take some time to know my habits,” Wei Changying said, “Granny can give them some advice when you are free.”
“You don’t need to bother for such trivial matters, First Miss,” Mrs. He smiled and said, “I do it all the time! It’s just that these people don’t have a lot of experience to serve people in the past. Overall, they are all right, but the details are terrible. They should be taught little by little.” Mrs. He’s requirements had always been harsh and stringent in making Wei Changying more comfortable.
Wei Changying said with a smile, “They are always around me, so if they can’t do something well, I will just point it out and ask them to remember it. I think the maidservants selected by my grandma are smart. If they can’t remember it once, they can remember it several times.”
Although Wei Changying was very forgiving to the new maidservants, she felt indignant at the absence of her chief maids who had served her for many years. Among them, Lvyi and Lvchi had died distressingly in the forest. “I must go to give my condolences. Otherwise, I really don’t want to go.”
Mrs. He had been very sympathetic to Wei Changxian, who had suffered the same fate as her. She even persuaded Wei Changying to live in harmony with Wei Changxian, but Duke Jingping murdered First Miss, Wei Changying, who she regarded to be always right. Her previous sympathy for Wei Changxian was immediately thrown out. Now, Mrs. He hated all of them in the mansion of Duke Jingping. With a hot temper, she was used to saying mean words, “First Miss, there is no need to pay your condolences. Just go to see what happened to the man who received retribution and to listen to the whines in the Duke Jingping Mansion. Isn’t it happy?”
The words made Wei Changying burst into laughter and stopped putting a gem begonia flower on her hair, “Granny was right. After all, I go nominally to pay condolences, so this colorful flower should not be worn. Change it with the frozen white pear flower!”
After choosing a suitable hairpin for the condolence, she put on a plain skirt, looking into the mirror and finding no error. Wei Changying got up and said, “The fourth sister and the fifth sister should have been prepared. Let’s go to wait for them on the back porch.”
Although Ruiyu Hall still hated the people in Duke Jingping Mansion, both sides fought against each other in private. Publicly, they were friendly and harmonious. Previously, Wei Zhengya denounced northern tribes for his niece; this time, Wei Huan came forward for Wei Changxu to confer his grandson.
Therefore, after Wei Zhengya died, Madam Song was reluctant to rejoice secretly. She had to change dresses quickly and took Pei together to “comfort” the little Mrs. Liu. Of course, comfort was the second; the most important thing was to help the funeral. After all, Wei Zhengya was the only son. Since Duke Jingping was keen on Taoism, he didn’t care about women. After his chief wife died, he didn’t even have a concubine, let alone to marry another wife. Although Mrs. Su was a capable daughter-in-law, she couldn’t preside over her father-in-law’s funeral.
At this time, of course, she had to get help from the family, especially the family head Wei Huan.
Madam Song and Pei had something to do, so they came early, leaving their children to come late. Wei Changfeng and his brothers went to the front door to ride horses and then went back to the back door to wait for their sisters. Wei Changying and her sisters got on the carriage from the rear courtyard, then went out the mansion through the back door, and then joined together to go to the Duke Jingping Mansion. Thus, they came together instead of entering in twos and threes, which could be impolite, making the greeting people busy.
So Wei Changying waited for the two sisters to go together.
She estimated time very accurately. After waiting for a while on the long corridor, she saw her sisters coming slowly with their maidservants.
Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan dressed in the same manner as Wei Changying did. It is said that the morning dress would make women more beautiful. For the misses of big families, they didn’t lack silks at all. Besides, the elders liked the juniors to dress up colorfully. Thus, apart from the funeral, the girls had no chance to wear plain clothes.
So the sisters who were accustomed to the gorgeous dress were shocked by their plain clothes, which showed a different kind of beauty. Seeing each other, they were stunned. Wei Changying teased the two sisters, “You resemble each other much more when dressing like this. If not Chang Yan is not tall enough, the scene that you two stand here is as if a mirror placed in the middle.”
Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan didn’t receive harmful treatments since they were young. Nevertheless, neither the grandmother nor their lineal mother cherished them very much, because their father was not a lineal son and their liner mother’s family was inferior. After all, Pei’s family was lower than Madam Song. She didn’t have the confidence to pamper her children, lest she would be ridiculed for her failure to bring up children.
Therefore, the sisters of the third branch had an introverted temperament and had always been very cautious in their words and deeds. They had always pursued the principle of not taking an unnecessary step or saying unnecessary words.
Of course, since they were about the same age, they could still make jokes with each other.
But this time when Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan saw Wei Changying, they appeared kind of surprised. Wei Gaochan opened her mouth and paused for a while to say, “Sister, you… are also going to the Duke Jingping Mansion?”
“Yeah.” Wei Huan and Old Madam Song concealed the fact from Wei Changying that the capital and Fengzhou had heatedly discussed her purity. Wei Changying thought that Wei Gaochan was curious that she could still peacefully go to give her condolences to the uncle who had hurt them after the ambush experienced by the three of her sisters and brothers, which was probably arranged by Duke Jingping Mansion. Wei Changying curled her mouth and said in a meaningful way, “After all, he is my uncle. Since he was killed by northern tribes, I have to express my condolences… Particularly, accompany the aunt and comfort her.”
Hearing that, Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan were silent for a moment, and then Wei Changyan said in a low voice, “Third Sister, you were frightened the day before yesterday; in fact, I think the aunt can forgive you even if you don’t go there.”
Since Wei Changying misunderstood that the two sisters persuaded her so because they had known that she was schemed against by Wei Zhengya, so she laughed and said, “It is not far from here. Since I am a junior, it is not appropriate to be absent in such a big event.”
Seeing that she insisted on going there, Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan looked at each other with some reluctance flashing. However, Wei Changying was favored by Old Madam Song, so they did not dare prevent her from going out.
They followed Wei Changying with a look of distress, which was even more intense when they came to the carriage. The carriage prepared by servants was extremely spacious, enough for the three sisters to sit together with their maidservants. This carriage was intended for women to travel together and talk with each other. Otherwise, a person with a carriage was not only uncomfortable but annoying.
Previously, the sisters of Wei Family took this carriage if they went out together, so Wei Changying didn’t think much about it. Among the three sisters here, she was the eldest, so she first got in the car through the help of Mrs. He, and then she raised the curtain for the sisters to get on.
However, after she entered the carriage, chose a middle position, and sat down, Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan still stood beside the car, looking at each other, very disturbed.
Wei Changying wondered and asked, “Why don’t you get on?”
“Third Sister… ” Wei Gaochan bit her lips, thinking for a moment, and said hardly, “I… I want to talk to Changyan… alone.”
Although Wei Changying and the two sisters grew up together since childhood, their relationship was not as close as her relationship with Song Zaishui, who she had only got along for a few months. Now, when the two sisters said that they wanted to say something without her, she wasn’t unhappy and just reminded them, “Aren’t we going to mourn for the uncle? What will you say now? The mother and the third aunt have already been there, and Changfeng and other brothers are still waiting for us at the back door. If we delay, it will be impolite when more people are there,” she persuaded, “If you want to say something, leave it until the funeral is finished.”
Since her words were reasonable, Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan couldn’t find other excuses. But they didn’t want to sit together with Wei Changying, so they whispered and said, “Emm… We… We will take another carriage and talk on the road.”
“Is there something so urgent to say?” Wei Changying suspiciously said, “Can another carriage be prepared at this moment?”