Chapter 149
The reason Wei Yuewu noticed him was because he was standing behind the Third Prince who suddenly appeared at the banquet, occasionally casting gazes at her.
Those gazes were too complicated, indicating that he was pleasantly surprised, sad, and angry…
Wei Yuewu couldn’t fail to notice such a person!
“Greetings. I wait on His Highness the Third Prince. I have come here at the order of His Highness to make an appointment with Sixth Miss Wei.” At this time, the eunuch behaved properly. After saluting Wei Yuewu respectfully, he stood to the side and announced his errand smilingly. The complex emotions in his eyes had dissipated.
“His Highness wants to see me?” Wei Yuewu asked in surprise.
Actually, this request did not conform to the etiquette. She was an unmarried young lady and had never met with the Third Prince all her life. However, why did the Third Prince send someone to visit her in private?
“Yes, His Highness said that there was something about Marquise Hua Yang that he wanted to tell Sixth Miss Wei!” When the eunuch heard Wei Yuewu’s question, he smiled and said calmly.
“My mother died of illnesses many years ago. At that time, His Highness might still be a little boy, right?” Wei Yuewu blinked her eyes and asked gently in a puzzled voice.
“When Marquise Hua Yang was alive, she once came into the Palace and happened to meet His Highness. She was very fond of His Highness. Besides, His Highness also felt that Marquise Hua Yang was quite like his own mother, so he asked His Majesty’s permission to follow her to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang and lived there for a short period of time.” The eunuch replied.
A trace of shock flashed in Wei Yuewu’s dark jade-like eyes. This meant that her mother raised the Third Prince for a period of time? Why had she never heard of such an important matter before?
She only heard that the Third Prince was like the solitary cloud and a wild crane, and he never got involved in the struggle for imperial power. Normally, he rarely appeared in the capital and was rarely seen by people. Therefore, everyone was surprised at his appearance in the Plum Blossom Nunnery this time. What Wei Yuewu didn’t expect was that an even bigger surprise was waiting for her!
“May I know to whom was His Highness born?” Wei Yuewu asked smilingly without revealing her surprise.
“His Highness was born by Shuyuan Lin who passed away when His Highness was still at a young age. That was why His Highness liked Marquise Hua Yang who was similar to Shuyuan Lin.” The eunuch was all smiles and replied quite articulately.
Wei Yuewu secretly frowned. The fact that a young prince who had lost his birth mother could grow up smoothly in the Palace represented something extraordinary. She had heard that the Second Prince was chronically sick because his birth mother was poisoned when she was pregnant with him.
The Second Prince’s mother was still alive, so his mother’s family was definitely much more powerful than this unknown Shuyuan Lin. Besides, his mother’s title was Concubine De, which was ranked first among the four imperial concubines. How could an insignificant Shuyuan be compared to her?
Even so, the Second Prince was still too sick to get out of bed. However, the Third Prince, who had lost his birth mother’s protection since childhood, had grown up safely. The meaning behind this was enough for Wei Yuewu to keep pondering over it.
“Where was Shuyuan Lin from?” Wei Yuewu had a curious expression on her face, as if she was really interested in this Shuyuan.
“Shuyuan Lin was chosen from among the palace maids. She wasn’t born in a noble family, but she was promoted to Shuyuan because she gave birth to the Third Prince. She should be from Jiangnan, I think.” The eunuch said hesitantly. It seemed that he wasn’t sure about the detail.
No matter how Shuyuan Lin was forgotten, as the personal eunuch of the Third Prince, how could he forget this matter?
“When will His Highness be free?” Wei Yuewu took a deep breath and asked. She had made her decision.
Regardless of the Third Prince’s intentions, she was at least moved by the story about his relationship with her mother. She was just regretting that she couldn’t investigate the matters concerning her mother. Now that the Third Prince said that he had something to tell her about her mother, it was a chance for her. So why not go and see him?
“His Highness will go to the main hall tomorrow morning to offer incense to Marquise Hua Yang. You can come over and have a chat!” The eunuch said, and then he explained, “Because of the previous connection, every time His Highness came to the Plum Blossom Nunnery, he would offer incense to Marquise Hua Yang. Everyone knows about this!”
But she didn’t know, and no one told her about it either!
Although Wei Yuewu’s expression was calm, there were faint ripples in her heart. Was it because the Third Prince had never appeared in public, or was it because someone had deliberately concealed this matter to her?
The matters in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang were becoming more and more puzzling…
“Then make it tomorrow!” Wei Yuewu nodded in agreement.
After receiving an affirmative answer, the eunuch bowed respectfully to Wei Yuewu. Then, he turned around and left. However, he didn’t take a few steps before he suddenly turned around. This time, Wei Yuewu clearly saw the pain in his eyes, but it was immediately covered up by a smile.
Jin Ling saw the eunuch off at the entrance of the courtyard. When she came back, she saw Wei Yuewu was still sitting there with a thoughtful expression. She couldn’t help but ask, “Miss, was the Third Prince really familiar with Madam? How old was he at that time? Why would Madam tell a child something that was so important?”
“Perhaps mother felt that she had certain special affinity with him!” Wei Yuewu restrained her thoughts. She smiled faintly and raised her eyebrows.
A madam had special affinity with a child, who was the Third Prince of the Palace. What was even more unbelievable was that the Third Prince was actually able to obtain His Majesty’s consent to stay in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang for a period of time on the grounds that Mother was very similar to his mother? All the details that were involved in this matter seemed so mysterious.
From whichever perspective, Shuyuan Lin couldn’t possibly have anything to do with mother!
Besides, Jiangnan area was a bit too large to be the exact native place of a person. Perhaps the native place of Shuyuan Lin was far from granny’s home, and she had never heard her being mentioned by granny before. Moreover, maternal grandfather was also from a small aristocratic clan. It was possible for a daughter of his family to be recommended as a candidate palace maid, but it was basically impossible to directly send a daughter into the Palace as a palace maid!
Could it be that this was just a coincidence?
Wei Yuewu didn’t believe that there would be so many coincidences concerning the matter. It seemed that she really must go and see this Third Prince!
As Wei Yuewu had guessed, since this Eldest Lady Yang was not ignored as much as she appeared to be, that Lord Yang would definitely be more anxious to protect her reputation.
When Wei Yuewu woke up from her nap, she saw Yang Yuyan, who was accompanied by the two eloquent nurses who came here last time. However, although the two nurses were articulate speakers, they did not dare to speak before Yang Yuyan said anything.
This showed that although this Eldest Lady Yang looked pitiful in the eyes of outsiders, but in fact, the inside story was not completely the same.
Yang Yuyan was actually wearing the clothes of an ordinary maid. If she hadn’t raised her head and looked at Wei Yuewu pitifully, Wei Yuewu wouldn’t be able to recognize her from among the maids.
“Sixth Miss Wei…” Yang Yuyan’s face was very pale. It seemed she wasn’t feeling well these past few days. Upon seeing Wei Yuewu, she rushed over with tears falling down her cheeks.
Jin Ling hurriedly stood out from the side and stopped her, “Eldest Lady Yang, our Miss is injured and can’t stand being hit!”
“I… I was too excited!” Yang Yuyan wiped away her tears. The expression on her face was pitiful. She stood a few steps away from Wei Yuewu and did not charge forward again. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief while crying, “Sixth Miss Wei, someone deliberately set me up that day. Someone told me to do those things. Sixth Miss Wei, I… I was also forced to do it against my own will.”
Wei Yuewu smiled faintly and took the tea Shufei had delivered to her. She used the cup lid to stir the tea leaves and leisurely took a sip before raising her head to ask, “Miss Yang, who forced you?”
“I… I…” Yang Yuyan suddenly panicked, and her eyes turned red as she looked at Wei Yuewu.
“So Eldest Lady Yang, you haven’t decided whether to tell me or not?” Wei Yuewu raised her eyebrows.
Yang Yuyan knelt down with a plop, saying “Sixth Miss Wei, you… you had better not ask me anymore. Knowing too much is not good for you. It’s better for you to pretend that you don’t know anything. I… Anyway, I let you down and I have come to apologize to you!”
Seeing Yang Yuyan on her knees, the two nurses were shocked. They wanted to say something, but after glancing at each other, they remained silent and also knelt down.
Wei Yuewu tilted her body slightly. She winked at Jin Ling and said with a fierce expression, “Eldest Lady Yang, you had better get up. I am not eligible to accept your kneeling!”
She and Yang Yuyan were both young ladies of aristocratic families. Even though her father’s position was higher than that of Assistant Minister Yang, this had nothing to do with her and Yang Yuyan. Therefore, she could not accept Yang Yuyan’s kneeling, nor did she want to accept it.
Jin Ling went over and gestured to help Yang Yuyan up, but Yang Yuyan suddenly cried out while sitting on her heels. “Sixth Miss Wei, please spare me! I really didn’t do it on purpose. I haven’t seen you before. What reason did I have to harm you? It must be my illusion! Sixth Miss Wei, please spare me!”
Yang Yuyan suddenly cried out so loudly that Jin Ling was shocked. After all, Yang Yuyan was a young lady of an aristocratic family. Jin Ling did not dare to take any action for a moment, so she turned to look at Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu was also stunned for a moment. She didn’t expect Yang Yuyan, who had humbly pleaded for mercy just now, to burst into tears. Moreover, the meaning behind her words had changed a little too quickly. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and a trace of sharpness flashed in her eyes as she reached out to stop Jin Ling’s movement.
Jin Ling retreated to the side obediently.
“Sixth Miss Wei, I really misunderstood the situation when it happened. I didn’t mean to harm you. From my angle, I clearly saw you pushing Fourth Miss Wei slightly, and then Fourth Miss Wei pulled your sleeve and fell out.” Yang Yuyan continued to cry as she used the handkerchief in her hand to rub her eyes that had become red.
She looked as if she wanted to reproduce the scene when the incident occurred that day.
Wei Yuewu sneered when she saw her eyes that didn’t shed any tear despite being red due to her rubbing them with a handkerchief. It turned out that someone had deliberately messed up the situation. Since that was the case, there was no need for her to show mercy!
Her eyes turned cold as she pressed her hand on the table and stood up. She looked down at Yang Yuyan with a condescending gaze and scolded coldly, “Eldest Lady Yang, you said what you saw at that time was like what you have described to me. Do you dare to confront me in front of the Crown Prince again? Say what you want to say to me in front of all the people who were present that day. Let’s see if all the other young ladies think the same as your younger sister, who said that it was because of a small dispute between the two of you that she testified against you without thinking about it properly! ”
Needless to say, Yang Yurou had retracted her testimony under the pressure from that assistant minister, but this reason was fine only when spoken privately. If it was spoken on an official occasion, Yang Yurou would be ruined. Wei Yuewu wanted to see if this cunning Assistant Minister Yang would bear to sacrifice his elder daughter or his younger daughter!
Yang Yuyan tried her best to argue, “Sixth Miss Wei, what I saw at that time…”
However, Wei Yuewu bluntly interrupted with a sneer, “Eldest Lady Yang, are you trying to say that the real situation you witnessed is like that? You still think you’re right, don’t you? Alright… Come on, Eldest Lady Yang, I’ll go with you to see the Crown Prince!”
Her watery eyes glanced out of the window and she sneered silently. Since someone was watching, the play had to continue!