Chapter 416
Nanny Hong quickly patted Madam Dowager’s back gently while reassuring her, “Madam Dowager, Eldest Young Lady is quite pitiful now, that’s why she had resentment toward the entire mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, Fifth Young Lady, and even you!”
“Resentment?! She still has the cheek to resent us! Does it never cross her mind that she could continue to be the Heiress-apparent because of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang’s backing?! Without us, she would either be locked up in the courtyard or be denounced!” Madam Dowager shivered in rage.
Wei Fengyao had the cheek to send someone over to directly inform Madam Dowager to bring Wei Yuejiao along tomorrow. Otherwise, she would not see Madam Dowager.
At that time, there were maids and old maidservants around Madam Dowager when the old maidservant from Prince Nan’an Mansion delivered such a crude and blatant message. The humiliation was equivalent to slapping Madam Dowager in the face in public, and she almost couldn’t control herself then.
Fortunately, Nanny Hong reacted quickly. She directly acknowledged the message, sent Prince Nan’an’s old maidservant off, and dismissed the maids and old maidservants in the room. Only then did Madam Dowager regain her composure.
“Madam Dowager, please think about it. Eldest Young Lady is injured, and her face has been scratched. Now, the only thing she feels fortunate about is her position as the Heiress-apparent. The Heir-apparent of Prince Nan’an protected Fifth Young Lady the other day, and judging from this, we can see that he adores her very much. If Fifth Young Lady goes to the mansion tomorrow, of course, Eldest Young Lady will be jealous.”
Nanny Hong continued to persuade Madam Dowager.
“Jealous?! Hah! She has the audacity to be jealous! She was also favored and adored after she married him! Everyone in Prince Nan’an Mansion praised her. But look at her now! She ended up like this and offended everyone there! If we don’t send one of our daughters over, the position of the next heir-apparent may fall into the hands of other families!”
Madam Dowager patted the edge of the couch hard, and her anger had not subsided.
None of her granddaughters had ever embarrassed her in front of so many people. Just the thought of it enraged her so much.
“Madam Dowager, what about Third Young Lady…” Seeing that Madam Dowager was still angry, Nanny Hong hastily changed the topic.
“Go, let her go with me! She wanted Yuejiao to go there, didn’t she?! Alright, let her go! I don’t know what is up in her mind to let Yuejiao go. Yuejiao is another good-for-nothing! Does she want Yuejiao to replace Qiuju? If so, she won’t be able to remain as the Heiress-apparent!”
Madam Dowager bellowed angrily.
“Eldest Young Lady wouldn’t think that way, would she?” Nanny Hong quivered anxiously.
“No one can stop her from digging her own grave. She’s an Heiress-apparent who loses favors from the Heir-apparent. Does she think she can defeat those daughters in the first branch? Although Yuejiao is a concubine-born daughter, her identity is not something that she can compare with as a cold-shouldered Heiress-apparent if that thing….” Despite her annoyance, Madam Dowager was calm enough to suppress her emotions and vaguely skipped some keywords.
“So… We’re going to let Third Young Lady go?” Nanny Hong said uneasily, worried that this was what Eldest Young Lady thought of.
In the past, Eldest Young Lady was smart and magnanimous before she got married. She was the first granddaughter in the mansion, so Madam Dowager pampered and adored her. Nanny Hong watched her grow up, so she didn’t want to see her end up in a worse situation.
“Impossible. Luowen adores Yuejiao very much. He will definitely not let Yuejiao be Prince Nan’an Mansion’s concubine. Luowen is smart enough to know that. Even if he doesn’t have a suitable candidate from the noble family as Yuejiao’s husband, he can choose a young man with a bright and promising future for her. After all, Yuejiao has been raised as the legitimate daughter for so many years.”
“But… she’s not a legitimate daughter, after all,” Nanny Hong said in a low voice.
“So what? Yes, Luowen adores her, but as long as Concubine Dong is not the legitimate wife, he has the final say even if Yuejiao wants to marry into a more prominent family!” Madam Dowager had already regained her composure from Wei Fengyao’s attack. Her eyes were gloomy as she grunted, “Bring Yuejiao along tomorrow and have someone watch over her. Don’t let Fengyao scheme against her.”
Madam Dowager’s hands were tied. She had to discuss something with Wei Fengyao tomorrow. When Wei Qiuju was married over, she had to serve tea to Wei Fengyao, the legitimate wife, according to the custom. If Wei Fengyao refused to drink the tea or make a fuss, it would be a disgrace, and Madam Dowager would feel very embarrassed.
Therefore, the wiser option now was to agree to Wei Fengyao’s request and tell her about the benefits of Wei Qiuju entering the mansion so as to calm her down and prevent her from doing something embarrassing.
Since she had asked Wei Yuejiao to go over, Madam Dowager would grant her wish.
“So, shall I send a maid to inform Third Young Lady about the news?” Nanny Hong gingerly probed.
“Yes. Go!” Madam Dowager nodded and suddenly called out to Nanny Hong, who was about to turn around and leave. “Send some things to Yuewu. Tell her that Fourth Prince specially sent them over.”
“Madam Dowager… W-What things?” Nanny Hong asked with a frown. The Fourth Prince did not send anything to the mansion.
“The gifts that Empress Dowager rewarded them when they entered the palace last time. Pick a few and send them to Yuewu,” Madam Dowager thought for a moment and said.
Nanny Hong knew that Madam Dowager wanted to express goodwill to Wei Yuewu on behalf of the Fourth Prince. In other words, she agreed to Marquis Jing Yuan’s suggestion. Thus, she smiled and nodded. “Okay. You can relax for a while once Sixth Young Lady’s marriage is settled.”
However, Nanny Hong frowned slightly without being noticed by Madam Dowager. Could Sixth Young Lady marry the Fourth Prince? Was that really okay?
“Relax?! How can I relax? Yes, the girls’ affairs have been settled down, but don’t forget about the boys!” Madam Dowager frowned and sighed. It was really inconvenient because there was no one in charge of the second branch. Wei Ziyang’s marriage had been arranged early, but there was no one in the branch who could go over to the bride’s family to discuss the matter.
Originally, Madam Dowager wanted him to get married as soon as possible. After all, Wei Ziyang was not young anymore. He should have gotten married by now if he had not been at the border and was unwilling to get married early.
On the other hand, Luowen said that he wanted Wei Ziyang to go to the border after the new year and slowly handed over the military power to him. In that case, Wei Ziyang would be even busier than now. They would have to drag the wedding for another year if he didn’t get married as soon as possible.
“Madam Dowager, please calm down. Didn’t Lord Marquis say yesterday that he was going to write a report asking the Emperor to appoint Eldest Young Master as the Heir-apparent? By then, Eldest Young Master can get married in the status of an Heir-apparent. It will be a glorious event!” Nanny Hong chuckled and advised as she could tell what Madam Dowager was worried about.
“But… it won’t be that easy, I’m afraid.” Madam Dowager shook her head and smiled bitterly. “In fact, Luowen always wanted to make Ziyang the future Lord Marquis, but the Emperor thinks that Luowen is still young and can still have a son soon. If Luowen has a son, it will be unreasonable to pass down the position of Lord Marquis to his nephew instead of his own son.”
This was what Madam Dowager was anxious about. She would be worried sick as long as Wei Ziyang could not become the Heir-apparent.
“Madam Dowager, you worry too much. Lord Marquis knows what to do and won’t make things difficult for you. You see, he hasn’t had a legitimate wife for so many years not only because of Marquise Hua Yang, but he is also concerned about you. He knows what he is doing, and he also respects you very much!”
Nanny Hong said with a smile.
“Alright. Go ahead. We shall see if the Emperor agrees this time.” Madam Dowager sighed and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll first convey the message to Third Young Lady and then send the gift to Sixth Young Lady.” Nanny Hong was very clear about the importance of her tasks, and she arranged the matter in an orderly manner.
In Lotus Courtyard, Wei Yuewu was drawing the picture on the screen she had previously seen. Although she could not remember every detail clearly, with her mother’s screen as a reference, so she could naturally draw the picture off the top of her head.
After thinking for a while, she drew a little. The room was very quiet at the moment, and only the smoke curling up from the incense burner on the table was dancing in the air.
“Miss, Nanny Hong is here. She said she is delivering a gift for you!” Shufei lifted the curtain and came in.
“A gift?” Wei Yuewu put down the writing brush in her hand and muttered to herself. Then, she smiled slightly. “Invite Nanny Hong in.”
It was neither the new year nor a festival day, so she didn’t know why someone sent her a gift at this moment. It should not be from Madam Dowager, so she wondered who the sender was that Nanny Hong had to specially come here.
“Sixth Young Lady, these are the gifts that the Fourth Prince specially sent to you. Madam Dowager asked me to deliver the gifts.” Nanny Hong came in with a bright smile and ordered the two maids behind her to put the gifts on the table. They were a roll of satin and a box of palace flowers.
They were not very expensive gifts, but Wei Yuewu could tell that they were from the palace.
The box was opened, revealing twelve colored palace flowers of different flowers. There were some gold pendants hanging from the corners, and the box was both elegant and beautiful. It was the style that girls liked the most nowadays.
“Were… Were these from the Fourth Prince? What about the other sisters?” Wei Yuewu raised her eyes and looked at Nanny Hong in surprise. She did not believe that the sly Madam Dowager did not understand the meaning of this.
When had she become so familiar with the Fourth Prince?!
“The gifts for the other young ladies have not been delivered yet, so I sent these over to you first. When Marquis Jing Yuan visited our mansion the other day, he also sent greetings to Madam Dowager on behalf of the Fourth Prince.” The smile on Nanny Hong’s face grew wider and wider.
“But… I don’t think it’s appropriate, Nanny Hong.” Wei Yuewu blinked her watery eyes, and there were ripples of emotions in them. She lamented in a gentle yet agitated tone.
“There’s nothing inappropriate about it. It’s Madam Dowager who gave them to you now,” Nanny Hong said.
Shufei’s heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly lowered her eyes. This meant that Madam Dowager wanted to marry Wei Yuewu to the Fourth Prince.
She didn’t have any objections to the Fourth Prince, but when she remembered that the Fourth Prince’s sister, the Third Princess, had framed Wei Yuewu, she was upset.
For some reason, she felt that there was another conspiracy in this matter!
“But I don’t know the Fourth Prince very well.” Wei Yuewu seemed as if she wanted to reject the gifts. “How about you send these gifts to Father?”
“Don’t worry, Sixth Young Lady. It’s not a big deal. You met the Fourth Prince when you were at Prince Nan’an Mansion, didn’t you? It’s not like you don’t know him at all. Maybe, you will meet him again when you go to Prince Nan’an Mansion tomorrow!” Nanny Hong said casually as she assumed that Wei Yuewu was shy.
“Will the Fourth Prince go to Prince Nan’an Mansion tomorrow?” Wei Yuewu raised her beautiful eyes, her long eyelashes flashed, and then she looked down again with a sweet smile on her face. “I’ll ask Third Elder Sister and the other sisters what their gifts are tomorrow.”
Nanny Hong couldn’t see Wei Yuewu’s expression clearly. At this moment, Wei Yuewu’s gaze turned gloomy and cold. She was thinking about how to get away with it, but it was just right since the Fourth Prince and Mo Huating offered such a chance to her…