Chapter 47 - Peeping, the Accident Near the Festoon Gate

The carriage drove straight into the mansion of the Prince of Nan’an and stopped at the parking area in the backyard. Most of the carriages rode by female guests were driven here directly from the entrance of the mansion.

Outside the mansion, the carriages ridden by male guests stopped at the main entrance and were driven through the side door after passengers dismounted.

The guests from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang followed the steps of a large group of aristocratic young ladies as soon as they got off their carriages. There were quite a number of guests today. Since the Prince of Nan’an was the Emperor’s own brother and had the Emperor’s trust, it was natural for the prince to enjoy such an honor. Almost all great aristocratic families in the capital came to the banquet.

In a short moment, a swarm of beautiful figures came near a festoon gate at the back garden and sweet voices could be heard, presenting an attractive scene! Yet no one noticed that right near an artificial hill beside the wall of the gate, there were two people hiding there. One of them was a fat young man dressed in gorgeous attire, who was hiding himself in a tree near the artificial hill, grabbing the rock of the hill with one hand and peeping down.

“Your Heir-apparent, come down please. Come down. If you don’t, the Prince and the Princess will have me beaten to death.” Behind the young man was a lad servant, who pleaded anxiously in a low voice at this moment.

Wen Ruoming, the heir-apparent of the Prince of Nan’an, would in no way come down. There were so many pretty young ladies passing under the tree. How would he be willing to come down? In usual days, he would visit brothels in secret, after which he would be censured by his parents. Even Wei Fengyao would be angry and quarrel with him. Thus he simply had few chances to admire beautiful girls as he liked.

Now he caught the sight of so many beautiful ladies, how could he possibly come down so easily?

“Shut up. If anyone finds out I’m here, I will definitely punish you.” He turned around and warned in a low voice. Of course, he didn’t dare to speak loudly, but even so, his voice was loud enough for Jin Ling to hear, who was just passing under the tree.

Jin Ling looked up and saw Wen Ruoming behind the artificial hill. She immediately moved her body and stood in front of Wei Yuewu. Since Wei Yuewu was short and her body was not yet fully developed, her figure was completely blocked by Jin Ling.

Wei Qiuju who was walking with Wei Yuewu had a naturally timid but charming appearance when she faced people. Although her facial figures were not very exquisite, her beauty was enough to inspire men’s affection. Coincidentally, this corpulent heir-apparent Wen Ruoming was imbued with affection towards women. After a single glance, he instantly felt that this young lady in front of him was really too suitable for him.

However, he was also aware that those young ladies who came today were all from aristocratic families, so he didn’t dare to do rash things except peeping. At this moment, the lad servant kept urging him, so he had to come down from the tree. He should go to the front section of the mansion to receive guests. If he went there late, he would be scolded by his father.

The heir-apparent had no choice but to leave with reluctance.

None of the other female guests who passed through the festoon gate noticed this brief episode except Wei Yuewu, who noticed the voice overhead only because of Jin Ling’s actions that stirred up her alertness.

“Who is it?” She asked Jin Ling in a low voice without raising her head. Wei Yuewu had become conscious that Jin Ling was no ordinary maid on the way to the capital.

“I don’t know who it is, but I heard the lad servant calling him ‘Your Heir-apparent,’ and it’s a fat young man.” Jin Ling also lowered her voice and replied.

She had caught a clear sight of the person on the tree when she raised her head.

So the chubby young man was addressed as “Your Heir-apparent,” and he was peeping at young ladies near a festoon gate of the mansion of the Prince of Nan’an? Wei Yuewu pondered for a moment. She believed that the man was most likely the heir-apparent of the Prince of Nan’an, namely, her eldest brother-in-law. Her lips curled into a smile of mockery. It seemed that Wei Fengyao’s life in the mansion of the Prince of Nan’an was too care-free. That explained why she could collaborate with Lady Li and focus her mind on plotting against her...

In the parlor of the inner courtyard, Wei Fengyao was receiving guests with her mother-in-law, the Princess of Nan’an. She raised her head to look outside now and then, and reckoned that it was about the time for those from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang to arrive here.

Wei Yuewu was just a girl from the countryside, and she was now in the mansion of the Prince of Nan’an. Indeed, it wouldn’t require much effort to deal with her here. However, mother had repeatedly warned her and even specially sent someone to tell her to put the blame on her mother-in-law, namely, the Princess of Nan’an, regarding the matter of the cloth and to insist that the cloth was intended by her mother-in-law.

Actually, Wei Yuewu wasn’t worth so much effort. She was just a plain-looking and untalented girl. Even if she was better than described by the rumors on the street, so what? Could she possibly overturn all those rumors?

“The Third Lady has arrived with the four young ladies.” One of Wei Fengyao’s most trusted servants quietly came over and whispered in her ear.

Wei Fengyao nodded to show that she received the message. She looked to the entrance with a smile and saw Lady Zhang, her third aunt, bringing her younger sisters over. She walked toward them and welcomed them with a smile. After all, they were from her parents’ home. Although her mother did not come, she should still treat them with proper ceremonies.

Wei Yuewu walked at the end. She was the youngest and had a thin short figure, so Wei Fengyao did not see her for a moment. Not until Lady Zhang introduced Wei Yuewu to her did Wei Fengyao see Wei Yuewu’s fair face clearly. When she saw those beautiful clear eyes, Wei Fengyao was involuntarily stunned.

Was this girl the so-called plain-looking and untalented Wei Yuewu? This... was way too different!

Other ladies and young ladies were also surprised when seeing Wei Yuewu. This was the first time Wei Yuewu had appeared in the social circle. Looking at the Sixth Young Lady from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, no one would say she was homely. If a girl with such beauty could be rated as plain-looking, who else present could be considered beautiful?

What rumors the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang had spread! How came such a beautiful little girl was rumored to be plain-looking and untalented? If the rumor about “plain-looking” was far from reality, being “untalented” would also be incredible. Since Marquis Hua Yang’s wife was a peerless beauty, it was impossible that her daughter was plain-looking.

It seemed that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang had really disliked the deceased Marquise Hua Yang. Otherwise, the family must put in great efforts into cultivating such a beautiful young lady, and they would never allow her to live in the countryside with such a bad reputation to be circulated outside. Of course, Wei Yuewu’s debut today basically quashed all those rumors.

“So this is Sixth Younger Sister. I’ve already heard that you came to the capital. What a pity that I had no time to go back for a visit. Now that I see you, it turned out that you are such an adorable girl!” Wei Fengyao was not Wei Yan. Even though she was shocked at this moment, she immediately recovered and came near with a smile and took Wei Yuewu by the hand.

Her face was beaming with joy, as if she was truly delighted to see Wei Yuewu here. When she mentioned Wei Yuewu, she only used the word “adorable” to describe this younger sister without mentioning her appearance at all.

Wei Yuewu kept her gaze at Wei Fengyao. She was surprised at first by her manner, but she collected herself immediately. The intimacy she received almost led her to believe that this wife of the heir-apparent of the Prince of Nan’an was genuinely happy to see her as a new sister. Sure enough, Wei Fengyao was much harder to deal with than Lady Li and Wei Yan.

“You’re so lovely, Sixth Younger Sister. I’m sure the Fourth Princess will like you. The Fourth Princess was just talking about you!” Wei Fengyao said as her eyes swept across Wei Yuewu’s dress. She smilingly turned to a maid near her, “Go look for the Fourth Princess. Tell her that my Sixth Younger Sister is here. She just said that she wanted to see Sixth Young Sister.”

“Your Ladyship, did you forget? The Fourth Princess just said that we could take Sixth Miss Wei to the garden in the front when she arrived. The princess and other young ladies are all over there.” The maid answered cleverly.

“I can’t go now. I have to receive guests here. Sixth Younger Sister, I’ll have someone show you the way, is that alright?” Wei Fengyao looked around at the guests with an expression of hesitation. As the hostess today, she was naturally unable to leave for the moment.

“Eldest Sister, I know the way. I’ll accompany Sixth Younger Sister.” Wei Yan stepped out and volunteered. The very purpose of her visit here today was to see how Wei Yuewu would make a spectacle of herself.

“Third Younger Sister, Fourth Younger Sister, what about you two?” Since both Wei Yan and Wei Yuewu would go, Wei Fengyao had to ask the other two sisters.

Wei Qiufu shook her head and said softly with a smile, “I’ll stay here with mother. I don’t feel like looking for fun right now.”

Wei Qiuju originally wanted to go too, but after hearing that Wei Qiufu wasn’t going, she was fully conscious that she was only a daughter born to a concubine, and that it wasn’t appropriate for her to go if her nominal mother and the legitimate daughter didn’t go. Although her eyes were filled with reluctance, she still shook her head, “I’ll stay here and accompany Fourth Elder Sister and mother.”

Therefore, Wei Yan was the only one accompanying Wei Yuewu to the garden.

The garden in the mansion of the Prince of Nan’an was very spacious. Although it was winter and there weren’t too many flowers and plants to enjoy, the small bridges, the flowing streams, and the unique rockeries protruding upward on the ground displayed a scene of extraordinary elegance.

When they turned a corner, Wei Yuewu saw a group of noble young ladies walking towards them. The one who caught her attention most was a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl leading the group, who was dressed in a faint pink dress. The girl was extremely eye-catching and she was in the middle of the group. One glance was enough to tell that this girl was the queen of the group of young ladies.

Wei Yuewu looked at the dress that was almost identical to her original dress. Her eyes involuntarily blinked. She guessed this girl was the Fourth Princess, Wen Cailuan, who was born to Empress Tu.

This part of the garden was filled with pavilions on water. Therefore, they happened to meet near a small bridge.

The moment Wei Yuewu saw them, they saw Wei Yuewu as well. They especially noticed the set of dress Wei Yuewu wore. At first glance, the dress looked really similar to the one worn by the Fourth Princess. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“What! She wears the same dress as the Fourth Princess!”

“Which family is she from? Why didn’t I see her before?”... The young ladies who followed the Fourth Princess began to gossip in a low voice. While they were expressing their amazement at Wei Yuewu’s stupid ignorance, they secretly glanced at the Fourth Princess beside them.

Almost all great aristocratic families knew what kind of dress the Fourth Princess would wear today. Even the smaller aristocratic families had inquired about it in secret and got some information. Why was there still someone who was so out of tune as to put on the same dress as the Fourth Princess?

The Fourth Princess had always been notoriously arrogant and domineering in the capital! She hated provocation from others the most. When she got angry, she wouldn’t care who the other party was. She had even once beaten a favored imperial concubine. It was said that even the Empress couldn’t do anything about her temper.

Now, the Fourth Princess, Wen Cailuan, saw Wei Yuewu’s dress clearly. She glared at Wei Yuewu with an unfriendly expression. For her, it represented a provocation specially targeted at her. Especially when she saw Wei Yuewu’s exquisite eyebrows, she felt the scene was increasingly offensive to the eye.

She stepped forward towards Wei Yuewu aggressively...