Wei Yan covered her lips with her handkerchief and her face was filled with shock. It seemed she had just discovered something wrong with Wei Yuewu’s new dress. She scolded Wei Yuewu, “Oh my goodness, Sixth Younger Sister, why are you wearing the same dress as the Fourth Princess? Didn’t I tell you not to pick dresses like this one? You… you’re really going too far.”
In fact, their dresses only looked similar at first glance. However, Wei Yan had already formed a preconceived judgment about the resemblance. Moreover, she had only taken a brief glance beside Lady Li at the dress intended for Wei Yuewu. Therefore, she did not notice that there was actually a big difference between the dresses worn by the princess and Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu also appeared shocked. She looked at the Fourth Princess’s dress and then at hers and asked diffidently, “Are you sure the two dresses are the same?”
“Of course they’re the same. How can they differ from each other? Look at you. I told you not to pick cloth of this color, but you didn’t listen. Now you wear the same dress of the same color as the Fourth Princess!” Under such circumstances, Wei Yan’s words were really meant to inflame the princess’s anger. She simply indicated that Wei Yuewu had deliberately chosen this dress in order to look the same as the Fourth Princess.
In order to increase the authenticity of the matter, she purposely wrinkled her nose and sniffed. “Sixth Younger Sister, the perfume you use is also the same as the one used by the Fourth Princess! How could you do this? Even if it is your debut, you don’t have to steal the limelight from the Fourth Princess.”
She uttered those words with a voice that was purposely lowered, but the “lowered voice” was actually loud enough for many people present to hear her.
In fact, the Fourth Princess was still some distance away from them, but Wei Yan deliberately acted like she could smell the princess’s perfume. No doubt, this was because Lady Li had already told her that they had selected the perfume the Fourth Princess liked the most for Wei Yuewu’s dress.
It was the first time that Wei Yuewu attended a banquet held by an aristocratic family in the capital. It was understandable that she wished to impress everyone. However, if she wanted to get what she wanted by taking advantage of the Fourth Princess, that would mean she treated the Fourth Princess as her stepping stone.
In other words, that meant utter provocation and complete defiance of the Fourth Princess’s identity and status.
“You use the same perfume as me? You…” The Fourth Princess’s look grew gloomier as she stared at Wei Yuewu. The palace maids and eunuchs beside her also wore antagonistic expressions.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. My sixth younger sister just came to the capital and doesn’t understand how things work here. She didn’t mean to provoke you!” Wei Yan stood in front of Wei Yuewu and apologized with a smile to the Fourth Princess, as if she was a good elder sister who cared about her younger sister.
She had a good reputation outside. It was widely known that apart from the plain-looking and untalented sixth young lady, there was a second young lady who was “talented and beautiful” in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. People thought highly of this second young lady. It was said that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang had been nearly packed with countless people who wished to propose to the second young lady.
“Wei Yan…” The Fourth Princess’s face turned livid.
“Your Highness, I know, I know. I will make my sixth younger sister apologize to you.” Wei Yan was pleased with herself and interrupted the Fourth Princess again.
“Second Elder Sister, I didn’t.” Wei Yuewu said softly behind Wei Yan with a blank expression on her face. She blinked her clear eyes and then looked at herself, as if she was dumbfounded.
“Okay, don’t speak any more. You have me here.” Wei Yan did not allow Wei Yuewu any chance to argue. She scolded her younger sister softly and smiled apologetically at the Fourth Princess, “Please forgive my sister for being young and ignorant, Your Highness. She only wanted to use you to attract attention.”
Those words directly described Wei Yuewu’s purpose as taking advantage of the Fourth Princess’s status so that she deliberately offended the Fourth Princess.
Wei Yuewu sneered in her heart. Wei Yan had actually convicted her on behalf of the Fourth Princess and didn’t even give her a chance to argue. The Fourth Princess wanted to speak several times but was interrupted by Wei Yan. It looked like Wei Yan intended to make the Fourth Princess explode with anger.
“You, come…” The Fourth Princess stretched out her hand as a signal for Wei Yuewu to come near. Wei Yan was standing between them, so it was extremely inconvenient for her to speak to Wei Yuewu. Moreover, the Fourth Princess had discovered that Wei Yuewu’s dress was obviously different from hers by now. As for the perfume Wei Yan had mentioned, it was also different from hers with a closer smell.
“Your Highness, please forgive my sixth younger sister. She is really a newcomer in the capital and doesn’t understand anything.” Wei Yan just didn’t want to give any chance for the Fourth Princess to speak so that the princess would burst with anger in the end. Thus, she interrupted the princess again and looked at her with a pleading face. At the same time, she grabbed Wei Yuewu by the hand and pulled her forward.
“Sixth Younger Sister, promise Her Highness that you won’t do this again next time. Plead for her forgiveness!”
“Second Elder Sister, I really didn’t choose the same dress. It was you who picked that dress, wasn’t it?” Wei Yuewu said in a very low voice. At this moment, Wei Yan’s attention was completely focused on the Fourth Princess. Seeing the Fourth Princess’s face had shifted between black and red, she couldn’t help being overjoyed in her heart.
At the same time, she kept pulling Wei Yuewu forward to pretend that she was trying to make Wei Yuewu apologize. She didn’t notice what Wei Yuewu said at all. She thought that as long as she dragged Wei Yuewu to the Fourth Princess, the princess would fly into a rage and push Wei Yuewu into the pond beside them. In that case, that set of dress would certainly become a laughing stock…
With this plan in her heart, she pulled Wei Yuewu with greater strength. As Wei Yan saw it, Wei Yuewu was just a skinny girl and could be easily dragged forward with a little strength. She didn’t expect that although Wei Yuewu was thin and short, she actually had such great strength.
As a matter of fact, it was not that Wei Yuewu possessed great strength, but that Jin Ling was grasping Wei Yuewu by the other hand. In terms of physical strength, Wei Yan was really no match for Jin Ling. So how could she pull Wei Yuewu to the Fourth Princess so that the princess would push Wei Yuewu down the pond to vent anger?
While they were pulling each other, the two sisters bumped into the angry Fourth Princess, causing the princess to stagger a few steps. At this moment, the Fourth Princess really burst into a fury. She stretched out her hands and pushed both of them. Her eyebrows lifted and she angrily said, “How dared you deliberately bump into me?”
Wei Yan had been grabbing Wei Yuewu all this time, while Wei Yuewu was seized by Jin Ling. As Jin Ling was very keen-sighted and agile, she immediately pulled Wei Yuewu to her side with all her might when she saw the Fourth Princess making a move. In the meantime, she stretched her right foot toward Wei Yan without being noticed.
An accident thus happened.
After the Fourth Princess gave them a hard push, Wei Yuewu was grabbed by her own maid. She staggered far back and almost fell down the bridge. Fortunately, she was pulled back. On the other side, Wei Yan was not so lucky. The maid behind her was not quick enough to pull her back. Wei Yan was thus pushed all the way to the verge of the bridge.
There came a flopping sound, and everyone saw Wei Yan falling into the pond.
“Help, help save her.” Someone reacted quickly and cried out anxiously. Wei Yan had a high status, and no one could take responsibility if something bad happened to her.
Hearing the shouts, several nearby old maidservants who could swim immediately jumped into the water.
When she was pulled ashore, Wei Yan was already unable able to speak. Her lips were pale and she could do nothing but tremble.
“Look at Second Miss Wei’s dress!” Suddenly, someone cried out in shock. Everyone looked at Wei Yan’s dress with strange expressions.
Wei Yan had been in the water for a while. After the elapse of such a period of time, much of the color of her dress had been washed away and a large amount of dye was lost.
Beneath the scarlet dye was revealed the same color as that of the dress worn by the Fourth Princess! Previously, everyone had focused their attention on Wei Yuewu. Now they found that Wei Yan’s dress looked exactly the same as that of the Fourth Princess!
What on earth was going on?
After the bright red on the upper layer of the dye was washed away, Wei Yan’s dress looked obviously identical with the Fourth Princess’s dress in both style and flower patterns.
Considering her previous behavior, wasn’t it evident that she had meant to frame up Wei Yuewu?
As for why she had added a color to the dress of the same cloth as that of the Fourth Princess’s dress, was it possible that she was mocking the Fourth Princess for being stupid?
Someone immediately recalled that the Fourth Princess had once said that she disliked Wei Yan.
Wei Yan not only failed to observe a young lady’s proper etiquette, but was also so bold that she dared to provoke the Fourth Princess…
There were some things that could be easily understood after a quick thought. The more people thought about them, the easier it was for people to get the hidden message. When there was something unreasonable, people would readily volunteer to offer a reasonable explanation.
The Fourth Princess was also shocked by Wei Yan’s sudden fall into the river. After all, Wei Yan was not an ordinary person. It would be difficult to deal with if something terrible really happened to her. However, at this moment, the princess’s face became livid and her breathing grew heavy. She felt that Wei Yan was deliberately provoking her. She rushed over and fiercely slapped Wei Yan’s delicate face twice.
Wei Yan was now cold and panicked. Her face was pale and her lips were trembling. Before she could figure out what was going on, she was slapped in the face by the Fourth Princess. She fainted instantly and those on the bridge were in chaos again.
At the same time, Wei Fengyao was taking care of the guests. Her gentle and graceful demeanor and dignified image as the wife of the heir-apparent earned general praise of the guests in the parlor. All the guests congratulated the Princess of Nan’an that she was indeed lucky to have such an obedient and properly-behaved daughter-in-law. The daughters from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang were all outstanding, especially the younger sister of the wife of the heir-apparent, who excelled in virtue, appearance, speech, and needlework.
A maid hurriedly ran in. “Your Ladyship, something bad happened, Second Miss… Miss Wei fainted.”
Because the maid was panicked and frightened, her tongue trembled a little. When Wei Fengyao heard her reporting, she naturally took it for granted that it was “Sixth Miss Wei” who had fainted.
Sixth Miss Wei was of course Wei Yuewu. This maid was the one she had sent to lead the way. Considering Wei Yuewu fell into the water in such a cold winter and in that humiliating situation, Wei Fengyao deemed it understandable that such a skinny girl like Wei Yuewu was unable to bear the situation and fainted.
“What was the matter? What happened? How would Sixth Younger Sister faint?” Wei Fengyao put on a shocked expression, and the teacup in her hand fell to the ground with a clang.
Everyone’s attention was immediately attracted. The ladies and young ladies in the parlor stopped talking and looked at Wei Fengyao.
“Your Highness, something has gone wrong. The Second Young Lady from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang quarreled with the Fourth Princess and fell into the river.” Another old maidservant ran in. This time, the report was directed at the Princess of Nan’an. The maidservant’s words were much clearer than those of the maid before, and she also mentioned the Fourth Princess.
The Fourth Princess was Empress Tu’s daughter and enjoyed a high status. How dared the Second Young Lady from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang argue with the Fourth Princess? After an eerie silence, the parlor became clamorous.
Wei Fengyao’s hand trembled and she almost fell. She hurriedly stretched out her hand to grab the table so that she did not fall on the spot.