Chapter 32 - The Considerate Cousin

After a moment of silence, the Madam Dowager waved her hand at Wei Yuewu in disappointment as an indicator for her to retreat.

Curtsying to the Madam Dowager, Wei Yuewu respectfully retreated and brought the newly selected servants back to her Lotus Courtyard. Since she had just moved in, she had to be familiar with everything at her place.

“Mother, let it be if Yuewu insists in breaking off the engagement. Speaking of Marquis Jing Yuan, he is indeed not a good guy to do something like that. Yuewu is not to blame for wanting to break off the engagement. After all, marriage should be a matter for the good of two families. Considering how things stand now, it’s clear that he seeks both good reputation and benefits. He just wants way too much.”

Lady Zhang’s words sounded like she was trying to comfort the Madam Dowager, but she in fact indirectly criticized Lady Li.

Since Mo Huating and Wei Yan had an affair, it could be said that the reason Mo Huating wanted to assassinate Wei Yuewu was definitely related to Lady Li and Wei Yan from the second branch of the family!

Wei Yuewu’s existence in the mansion was indeed of great benefit to Lady Zhang, who finally got to have a share of power after Lady Li had controlled the back yard for so many years. Thus, Lady Zhang was now very pleased with Wei Yuewu in every aspect.

However, the Madam Dowager did not resonate with Lady Zhang’s words at all. She glanced at Lady Zhang with a sullen face, and gazed outside of the door. She was lost in her own thoughts without heeding Lady Zhang’s provocation.

However, Lady Zhang thought the Madam Dowager didn’t hear her words. She intended to get closer to her mother-in-law with a smile, but her sleeve was pulled by her daughter.

“Mom!” Wei Qiufu gently pulled Lady Zhang’s sleeve at the back. She pointed at the two maids who were picked by her and were standing outside. Then she inquired softly, “What to do with these two maids? I’ve already had a lot of servants at my place. Why don’t we leave them here for grandmother? She is old and needs more servants. We can also feel relieved in that way.”

“No need, Qiufu, you can have them for yourself. You have far fewer maids at your place than Yan’er. It’s no problem if you picked more today, but good ones had been chosen by Yuewu already. I’ll let you come and pick some when there are good maids next time.” The Madam Dowager withdrew her gaze that had been fixed to the outside. She answered as she kindly observed Wei Qiufu’s delicate face.

If it hadn’t been for Wei Yan’s advantage over Wei Qiufu in appearance and status, she wouldn’t have devoted the greater proportion of her energy to raising Wei Yan. In terms of temperament, Wei Qiufu was more dignified and modest than the Wei Yan. She was obviously qualified as a future chief mistress and a good mother of a family in every aspect.

Another reason for her decision to cultivate Wei Yan by herself had been that the Tu family’s young ladies had been said to be far fairer than other ladies, so she had wanted to defy what happened many years ago. Now witnessing the trouble Wei Yan had caused to hers, the Madam Dowager couldn’t lift her moods at all. Her expectations for Wei Yan were far higher than being the wife of Marquis Jing Yuan... n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

What astounded the Madam Dowager most was that Wei Yuewu was actually so good-looking. If she had known that, she would definitely have brought the girl back years ago to cultivate her in person. But now that the granddaughter had grown up, it was difficult to tame her…

Wei Yuewu did not know at the time that the Madam Dowager was filled with thoughts of receiving and taming her. Of the four new maids she had picked, she assigned two pretty and smart ones as her personal maids, and the other two as second-class maids. She also gave all of them new names.

The first-class maids included Shufei and Huamo, and the second-class maids included Ruzhu and Ruyu.

Now, Shufei, Huamo, and Jin Ling were her chief maids at the Lotus Courtyard. Old maidservants were all managed by her. The supervisor of the servants was Nurse Mei, who came from the Madam Dowager’s place. Nurse Mei was said to be part of the Madam Dowager’s dowry when she was married to the mansion, so she could be considered the Madam Dowager’s confidant. Nurse Mei managed all the affairs in the Lotus Courtyard for Wei Yuewu.

After everything was properly arranged and each servant was appointed to her duty, Wei Yuewu resumed her seat in front of the window. She didn’t have time to ask about what she had hinted Jin Ling to inquire about until now. She had asked Jin Ling to tip the female servant-seller and lead the woman aside to ask her a few questions because the woman mentioned the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan.

Although Wei Yuewu would often inquire about the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan when she was in her maternal grandparents’ house, second-hand information was not quite reliable because of the long distance between the two mansions. Wei Yuewu was more inclined to believe the information Jin Ling directly obtained.

As a servant-seller, the woman unavoidably frequented inner courtyards to do her business, and therefore she knew some secrets in inner courtyards.

Knowing both the enemy and oneself was the way to win battles. Since Mo Huating had been back to the capital for many days, Wei Yuewu didn’t believe that he hadn’t worked out any countermeasures yet. Since he had chosen to assassinate her rather than directly break off the marriage, he must have an irresistible reason not to marry her.

Wei Yuewu even had a feeling that the engagement involved not only Zhaoyi Tu but some other secrets as well…

“Miss, I heard that Marquis Jing Yuan has a cousin living at his mansion and the lady is now in charge of the matters of the mansion’s backyard for the Marquis. It was said that this cousin declared that she wouldn’t marry before the Marquis, so as to repay the Marquis’ mother for bringing her up. Miss, I think this cousin is a little suspicious.”

Jin Ling reminded Wei Yuewu as she told the mistress the information she had just got.

Wei Yuewu was surprised that Jin Ling had such a keen mind. She pondered for a moment and smiled thoughtfully. “Has this cousin been engaged?”

“Yes, she entered engagement a long time ago. It was said her parents made the decision and arranged it at her hometown when she was a little child. But her parents died later and she had to come to the capital to live with her aunt and uncle, so her marriage was delayed. And because of her gratitude for the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan, she said that she would not go back home until the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan had a formal mistress.

Jin Ling paused for a moment before raising her doubts. “I heard that although she is younger than Marquis Jing Yuan, she’s now at least fifteen years old. She will be over eighteen, maybe even nineteen or twenty, if her marriage is to be delayed for another three years. Can she still refuse to get married by then?”

Normally speaking, aristocratic young ladies got married after fifteen. They were considered a spinster if they were still not married at the age of eighteen or nineteen. If Wei Yuewu was to honor the engagement with Mo Huating, she would have to wait for at least three years before they got married. By then she would be fifteen. Although Wei Yuewu could wait, the question was, could this cousin afford to wait that long?

Or even if the cousin could wait, how about her fiancée?

This young lady said those words when she clearly knew that she couldn’t afford to wait. This showed things were not simple. Since this cousin sacrificed so much for him, if Marquis Jing Yuan failed her, it would really be a bit hard to explain…

“Jin Ling, you and Shufei go outside the mansion to buy some books for me, and then go near Marquis Jing Yuan’s mansion to have a look. If there is anything strange, find out and tell me.” Wei Yuewu blinked her watery eyes.

It hadn’t been long since she arrived at the capital, and she was still totally ignorant of the situation here. All she knew were just rumors. She didn’t really know what the real situation was.

Lady Li and Wei Yan suffered a huge loss yesterday. They would definitely deliver messages secretly to Mo Huating. But today, neither the mother nor the daughter appeared. It seemed that they had figured out a way to deal with her. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to stay so calm. She was sure that tomorrow’s meeting for breaking off the engagement was not going to be smooth.

Jin Ling was a little surprised, but she immediately understood. Then she took the order and left the mansion with Shufei.

The two maids went out early in the morning and came back after noon. They each brought a bundle of books in. When a servant reported it to the Madam Dowager, the old lady only nodded and instructed that the Sixth Young Lady could send her maids outside to get books whenever she wanted to read any book.

Since Wei Yuewu had just been back to the mansion, and her performance was fairly outstanding, the Madam Dowager naturally valued her more.

Jin Ling and Shufei hurried back to the Lotus Courtyard. Jin Ling then went to the back door with an anxious look. She had asked the maids she met on her way for directions because she was unfamiliar with the surroundings. Needless to say, such strange behavior was immediately reported to Lady Li.

“Mom, I’ll go have a look!” Wei Yan happened to be in Lady Li’s room. She jumped to her feet at the report and was about to go.

Lady Li pulled her. “No, you’re the Second Young Lady in this mansion. It is not decent for you to follow a maid over there! Remember who you are!”

“But that little bitch must have ordered her maid to do something. She’s just arrived in the capital. It is impossible that she has anyone to meet. She must be doing something that cannot be known by others!” Wei Yan only hated she didn’t have any handle against Wei Yuewu.

“Send someone over to keep an eye on the maid. If you go, you will disgrace yourself as a young lady of the mansion of Marquis.” Coldness flashed in Lady Li’s eyes. Her originally beautiful face was now covered in ointment, and with patches of red and white on it, her face was somehow ugly to the eyes. The maids and old maidservants lowered their heads, not daring to look at her face.

Wei Yan couldn’t bear looking at her mother’s face as well. She took the opportunity and said, “I understand, Mother. You have a good rest. I’ll go back to my yard first and have a woman keep an eye on that maid!”

“That’s good. Be careful in choosing the person. Don’t let that maid find out.”

Although Lady Li’s face had ointment on, she still felt a burning pain. Indeed, she was not in a mood, so after hearing Wei Yan’s words, she waved her hand and let her daughter leave.

Wei Yan nodded. As soon as she went out of Lady Li’s yard, she sent an old maidservant to hurry to the back door to keep an eye on Jin Ling. That little bitch Wei Yuewu was very shrewd. She couldn’t let Wei Yuewu discover that she had secretly sent messages to Mo Huating, and it would be even better if she could get a handle against that little bitch!

Early the next morning, the Madam Dowager brought Wei Yuewu and Lady Tu with her to the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan.

Normally speaking, it didn’t need Wei Yuewu’s presence to break off the engagement. The appearance of the Madam Dowager and Lady Tu alone already showed high respect for the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan. Even if Zhaoyi Tu asked about the matter, she would feel herself duly respected. However, since Mo Huating’s agreement was necessary to the cancellation, both Lady Tu and Wei Yuewu felt that Wei Yuewu’s presence would leave no room for Mo Huating to find any reason to disagree.

Wei Yuewu, of course, was waiting for the show to begin…

The Madam Dowager felt that she owed Lady Tu. Therefore, she agreed with Lady Tu’s proposal, although she hesitated slightly.

Mo Huating had already been waiting for them. As soon as he heard that the Madam Dowager arrived with others, he went to the gate of the mansion to welcome them in person. His acts attracted the attention of pedestrians passing by, who did not see why there was this big scene at the mansion. Folks had already heard a few days ago that the Sixth Young Lady who was engaged to Marquis Jing Yuan had come to the capital. Were they here to discuss the marriage?

“No need to be so polite, Marquis Jing Yuan.”

The Madam Dowager waved her hand with a smile, though she was somewhat displeased. Marquis Jing Yuan was no inferior to Marquis Hua Yang in terms of title alone. It was absolutely unnecessary for Mo Huating to greet her in such a grand manner. In fact, they all knew what would happen next about the engagement between the two mansions. There was no need to feign civility at the gate.

“I went to pick up the Sixth Young Lady last time. Although I was guided by the Second Young Lady’s maid, I was still lost. It was really my fault that the Sixth Young Lady was almost killed because of that. Now I apologize to Madam Dowager, Lady Tu, and Sixth Young Lady. Please forgive me for my mistake.”

Mo Huating bowed low to the Madam Dowager and the others, looking sincere and regretful. He was keeping an extremely low profile.

Wei Yuewu wore a veil, her deep eyes filled with icy coldness. She watched Mo Huating’s show and curled the corners of her lips into a mocking arc. Mo Huating really knew how to speak, and indeed he did his show well!