“What is the meaning of this???”
The moment he returned to the mansion, Wei Huaishu glared at Wei Qingchen, his beard bristling with fury.
Since taking command and leading troops into battle, he had never been so humiliated. It was all the fault of that rascal Wei Qingchen! To be rejected when proposing marriage on his behalf! What immense gall the Imperial Medicine Hall had!
Fortunately, household servants had rushed back with the news. The Grand Princess had already summoned the Old Titled Lady from the South Courtyard to the Front Hall. Leaning on her red sandalwood walking stick, the Old Titled Lady scolded, “What are you doing! Since ancient times, marriage has been by the parents’ command and the matchmaker’s word. At such a young age, what could Chen’er possibly understand about it!”
Wei Huaishu’s face was dark, wanting to retort that this was a bride your own grandson had chosen himself. But before he could speak, the Old Titled Lady had already pulled Wei Qingchen into her arms to comfort her. “Why do you look so terrible? Did your father frighten you? Don’t be afraid. Grandmother is here for everything. Have your mother take you back to rest.”
Throughout the entire exchange, Wei Qingchen had not said a word. She was led away by her mother right under her father’s nose.
“Mother, you can’t spoil him like this…”
The Grand General’s voice could still be heard from several yards away, startling the birds in the garden into whirring flight.
Mother and daughter passed through the covered walkway back to Jade Grain Courtyard.
“Oh my, what happened to the Heir?” Aunt Qi, feeling a bit unwell this morning, had not gone to the front and still didn’t know the details.
Wei Qingchen sat slumped at the small round table. If not for the Grand Princess’s usual strict discipline, she would have wilted entirely onto the tabletop.
The Grand Princess shot Aunt Qi a look. Aunt Qi nodded knowingly and closed the door behind her as she left.
“Speak. What happened at the Chu household today?” The Grand Princess moved a round stool over and sat facing her.
“Mother…” Wei Qingchen pouted, her tone even more aggrieved. “I don’t know what happened either. I didn’t even get to see Big Sister Chu’s face…”
“Change that form of address immediately!” The Grand Princess rubbed her aching forehead.
“Oh. I didn’t even get to see my future wife’s face…” Wei Qingchen couldn’t help snorting a laugh at her own words, then her face fell again.
“Are you doing this on purpose, you rascal!” The Grand Princess glared daggers at her.
“Sigh. In any case, I didn’t even get to meet the person in question before the Chu family very politely saw us out the door.”
“So who refused you?”
“Madam Chu, Mingxi’s mother.”
“Mingxi?” The Grand Princess looked at her askance. “Since when have you been so familiar with her?”
Wei Qingchen’s face reddened. As if to cover it, she picked up a piece of osmanthus iced cake from the table.
“Familiar terms are useless, you know. She still refused you.”
“Mother!!!”
“Didn’t you say she didn’t know your identity back then?”
“Yes. Perhaps she could tell my wounds were from a fight, the sharpness of the blades—but she certainly couldn’t have known I was from the Jingyuan Marquis Mansion, let alone that I am your child.” Wei Qingchen took a tiny bite of the cake, its rich fragrance filling her nostrils.
She licked her lips and slowly continued. “To evade pursuit, I threw every item that could reveal my identity into the valley below. Even my armor and weapons, I discarded. Walking along the road, anyone I didn’t know would only see a down-and-out beggar boy.”
The Grand Princess’s gaze fell on the missing corner of the iced cake, but her thoughts drifted back two or three years. “I keep feeling there are still suspicious points about that incident…”
“Right!” Wei Qingchen exclaimed in a low voice. The Grand Princess, thinking she recalled a detail about the ambush, narrowed her eyes. But this rascal merely set the osmanthus cake onto the small plate and cried, “It must be that she didn’t know my status, didn’t know the one coming to seek her hand today was me, so her mother refused so firmly!”
The Grand Princess: “…”
“No! I have to go find her!”
The Grand Princess rubbed her forehead again. Go ahead, go ahead—the more walls you run into, the better! I just hope that in the future you truly marry a capable daughter-in-law who can rein in this troublesome child!
The idea was excellent, but Wei Qingchen couldn’t set out the next day, because when she went to pay respects to the Old Titled Lady, the latter kept her in the South Courtyard. Doting on her, the Old Titled Lady had people ply her with all sorts of delicious food and amusing games, and also consoled her that she needn’t study that day, nor go to the Training Hall—just rest carefree for the day.
Wei Qingchen admitted she hadn’t spent proper time with her grandmother in a long while. That day, she obeyed and went nowhere, staying in the South Courtyard watching the household’s two Secondary Wives and a senior maid play mahjong with the Old Titled Lady.
Near lamp-lighting time, Wei Baoru was carried in by the wet nurse along with her mother. She was the only small child in the general’s residence at present—a little girl not yet three years old. Dressed in a brand-new silk outfit, she was brought by the wet nurse to the warm daybed, where she sucked on her finger and called out “Great Grandmother.”
The Old Titled Lady smiled and responded, reaching out from the nurse’s arms to stroke the little girl’s cheek.
After the evening meal, the lively, bustling day was finally over. Wei Qingchen chatted with the Old Titled Lady for a while. As she prepared to leave, the Old Titled Lady pulled her back into an embrace.
“Chen’er, Grandmother has heard all about yesterday’s incident. This matter was mishandled by your father. Don’t worry. After the new year, Grandmother will find you another good match.” As she spoke, she patted the back of Wei Qingchen’s hand, laughter in her words. “With my grandson’s looks, what kind of girl in the entire capital can’t we find?”
“Old Titled Lady!!” Wei Qingchen grew anxious. “Mingxi is wonderful! She simply doesn’t know the one who came to propose yesterday was me.”
“Mingxi?”
Wei Qingchen’s face flushed again, but she couldn’t afford to be shy. She pressed on. “Truly, if I go find her, she’ll recognize it’s me. Old Titled Lady, when you meet her in the future, you’ll like her too.”
The Old Titled Lady glanced at her sideways. “So you’re saying you like her very much?”
Wei Qingchen’s face grew even redder. “I… I…”
“I heard she once saved your life?”
“Yes…”
The Old Titled Lady slowly patted her hand and thought for a while. The several serving maids in the room looked at one another, none making a sound.
“Forget it. You’re young. She’s not yet married, and neither are you. For you to go find her yourself—what would that look like? Just have someone bring her a message. Whether it works out or not will depend on the fortune between you two.”
“Master Fashan said she and I are fated across several lifetimes…”
Old Madam Wei held her hand, her eyes on the flickering lamp flame, and spoke earnestly. “Our Wei family has never owed anyone. If she’s unwilling, you certainly can’t force her. She saved your life. If one day she is in trouble, you should do all you can to help. That will suffice.”
The summer lotus blossoms in the Chu manor’s reflecting pond were in full bloom. Chu Mingyu accompanied her mother around the pond, admiring them and chatting about the events of the previous days.
A servant hurried over: someone from the Jingyuan Marquis Mansion had arrived. Chu Mingyu curved her lips, a teasing glint in her eyes. “Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives!” she said, lifting her foot to leave.
“What are you going to do?” Madam Chu stopped her, then asked the servant who had come.
The servant replied that it was two well-dressed serving women, bearing many gifts, claiming to be from the Old Matriarch’s courtyard.
Hearing this, Chu Mingyu frowned. “Serving women? Hmph! Tell them there’s nothing to discuss and to go back!”
The servant looked to Madam Chu for instructions. Qi Xiaolong said, “Go tell them that the inner quarters are not convenient for receiving visitors. Ask them to return. And take the gifts back.”
“Yes…”
Later that evening, when Wei Qingchen went to pay respects to her elders, she already knew the Chu family had sent her people back again. Dispirited, she returned to her own room, tucked her arm behind her head, and gazed at the intricately patterned canopy.
The Old Titled Lady had dispatched serving women to discuss matters, but how could serving women possibly explain clearly? She should have insisted on going herself. Let her meet her once, and all would be well.
“My lord, how did you end up lying on the bed like this?” Jingyun, the senior maid from her room, came in from the courtyard and noisily dragged her up. “Go wash up quickly. You’ve been at the Training Hall again, haven’t you? Covered in dust head to toe.”
As she spoke, she dusted her with a handkerchief.
Wei Qingchen let herself be pulled under the lamp before saying, “Why keep patting? Wasn’t I just about to wash up?”
Outside, the young maids had prepared the bath. Jingyun pushed her towards the side room, still reminding her, “The wind picked up today. Don’t stay in the tub too long. Fresh clothes are behind the screen. You can reach them.”
“Look, just look.” Wei Qingchen tilted her face close to her.
“What’s wrong?” Jingyun studied her. She didn’t see any injury.
“My ears are growing calluses from your nagging.”
Jingyun flew into a little rage and swatted her lightly. “Only because you cause so much trouble. What kind of young lord bathes without several attendants? And you’re a Heir, at that.”
“Take those words to Father and Mother, and watch them scold you. Just the other day, even the Old Titled Lady was told off. Father said she spoils me too much.” As Wei Qingchen spoke, she took off her outer robe and draped it over the clothes rack.
Jingyun only grumbled. Over the years, the Heir had mostly taken care of her own matters. The servants all knew the Marquis and the Grand Princess were strict, and the maids had long grown accustomed.
She pursed her lips and closed the door behind her as she left.
Having studied military strategy since childhood, Wei Qingchen knew speed was paramount in war. Early the next morning, she found an excuse to leave the residence, bringing only two young personal attendants, and traveled all the way to the Chu Manor.
The young attendants submitted a formal visiting card. It was passed from gate to gate and reported inward. At the time, Chu Mingyu and her mother had just finished breakfast and were chatting. Hearing that the Heir of the Marquis Mansion had come in person, Chu Mingyu’s eyes brightened. She begged her mother to let her receive her in the guest hall.
Qi Xiaolong thought it over. “Fine. You go out and meet him. Speak politely. Since he’s come to our house three times over, he seems sincere. Don’t offend him too badly.”
In the guest hall, Wei Qingchen was looking up at a mounted scroll of calligraphy on the wall. Hearing a sound, she turned around, and a radiant young lady stood before her.
She cupped her hands in greeting and directly announced her name.
Chu Mingyu studied her for a moment before politely saying, “My name is Chu Mingyu. I’ve heard that the Heir wishes to see my elder sister. May I ask what for?”
Wei Qingchen blinked. Was this little girl a roadblock? “I have a few words to say to your elder sister.”
A maid served tea. Chu Mingyu looked down at the pattern on her skirt, but inwardly she was deliberating—this was, after all, a rare chance to handle something herself.
She didn’t speak, and Wei Qingchen didn’t press her, merely waiting patiently.
This is way too troublesome!! Chu Mingyu decided to be direct. “My elder sister isn’t home. She went to Minzhou.”
“Minzhou?” Wei Qingchen was genuinely stunned. Minzhou was in the south of the Eastern Radiance Kingdom, separated from the capital by half the realm’s territory and countless cities.
“Yes.”
“May I ask when your sister will return?”
“That’s unclear. She went to inspect the medicinal fields. Since Minzhou is so far, who can say for sure?”
Wei Qingchen felt an inexplicable lurch in her heart.
“When your sister returns, may I trouble you to send me a message?”
“No.” Chu Mingyu lifted her chin and refused flatly. “Little Heir, my sister already refused you. For the sake of her reputation, you’d best not come to our house again.”
“I… when your sister comes back, might I trouble you to relay just one sentence? Just say: an old friend from the Northern Region has come to visit.” Wei Qingchen rose, straightened her robes, and once more cupped her hands in a deep bow. “I must trouble you, young lady.”
