Chapter 45 - The Dress That Was Modified

Chapter 45 The Dress That Was Modified

The handkerchief Wei Yuewu had been looking at was suddenly snatched away by a slender hand. She raised her head and subconsciously moved her eyes from the hand to Yan Huaijing’s face. With a confused expression, she looked at the handkerchief in his hand.

Yan Huaijing looked at her with a faint smile, and a gentle expression appeared on his face. He asked in a low voice, “Why are you so focused on pinching the handkerchief? Is it that beautiful?”

Yan Huaijing spoke slowly and his tone sounded gentle, making people feel like they were bathed in spring breeze.

With these words, he succeeded in causing everyone’s gaze to fall on Wei Yuewu’s face again.

She didn’t want to be the focus of other people’s attention or to be used as a shield. Nor was she willing to become the key for him to break the dilemma, in which case she would attract the attention of powerful figures like the Crown Prince.

Wei Yuewu almost couldn’t suppress her impulse to stretch out her foot and step hard on the foot of this elegant heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State. She grew inexplicably vexed, and only after she forcefully took two breaths did, she managed to quench her sudden berserk and suffocating annoyance.

She warned herself that this crafty man in front of her was one of the most powerful figures in the dynasty and that she couldn’t afford to offend him…

However, she also understood that this clever trick of his was indeed a good way to break through the present predicament!

It was just that she was not willing to be a part of it!

She calmly stretched out her hand and forcefully snatched back her handkerchief. Yet she put on a dignified smile on her face, “I don’t dare to disturb your conversation. Please excuse me.”

“It sounds boring to you, doesn’t it? Let me send you back.” Without caring about the handkerchief in his hand being plucked away by Wei Yuewu, Yan Huaijing elegantly stood up and languidly uttered those words to her.

“I… Please don’t, Your Heir-apparent. I don’t dare to bother you.” Wei Yuewu pursed her rosy lips and shook her head. She had seen through the door of the private room that her two maids were standing outside. They had found her here. “My maids are here now.”

She didn’t want to stay at a dangerous place for long!

Yan Huaijing, however, acted very cool and didn’t mind Wei Yuewu’s refusal at all. “No worries. I have no other thing to do anyway.” Then, he turned around and said to Wen Tianyao and Lu Yeli, “Your Royal Highness, Your Heir-apparent, I’ll treat you both when I have time, as an apology of Yuewu and me for leaving early today.”

As for the Third Princess Wen Caidie, he didn’t mention her at all.

At this time, Wei Yuewu didn’t have to look at the princess to know that the princess was looking at her coldly.

Yan Huaijing had successfully stirred up the princess’s hatred toward her, and the hatred seemed extremely deep. Wei Yuewu was speechless and wanted to grind her teeth. However, there was no way to explain such a thing.

Now that he had uttered those words, Wei Yuewu had no choice but to stand up with Yan Huaijing. Seeing that the two of them were determined to leave, Wen Tianyao could not force them to stay longer. He nodded immediately.

The two of them left the private room one after the other. At this time, the crowd surrounding the teahouse had dispersed. The ferocious-looking guards at the entrance had successfully quenched the curiosity of the passersby.

No matter how graceful and handsome this heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State was, ordinary people could only afford to have a feast for the eyes. If they really lost their lives for approaching him, it would not be worth it.

Wei Yuewu was surprised to see that her carriage was stationed beside Yan Huaijing’s shockingly gorgeous carriage. Needless to say, this heir-apparent’s men had moved her carriage there.

The two maids followed behind Wei Yuewu and looked at Yan Huaijing and the robust guards beside him. A sense of uneasiness rose in their heart.

“Your Heir-apparent, thank you for taking care of me along the way to the capital. I’ll take my leave first. I don’t dare to have you send me back.” Wei Yuewu stopped and curtsied deeply to Yan Huaijing. Previously, when they parted at the gate of the capital, she hardly had time to thank him in person.

“Yuewu, are you trying to distance yourself totally from me?” Yan Huaijing looked amusedly at the serious-looking little girl in front of him. Although she still had the look of a young girl, she put on this humorless expression on her exquisite face. Especially, when he saw her face filled with grievance and vexation, he felt an inexplicable amusement pervading his somewhat depressed heart.

“Your Heir-apparent, you are surrounded by escorts along the way, and I am just one of the passers-by. I don’t dare to share the grand spectacle with you.” Wei Yuewu tactfully expressed her desire to avoid going along with him.

A faint smile appeared on Yan Huaijing’s handsome face. He looked at Wei Yuewu with a deep and unfathomable expression, but did not force her. “Since you are not trying to distance yourself from me, Yuewu, please come too when I entertain His Royal Highness some days later!”

Wei Yuewu’s heart skipped a beat and the corner of her mouth twitched. She couldn’t help raising her head and fixed her eyes at this extraordinarily elegant heir-apparent. “Your Heir-apparent, the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang is very strict with the ladies’ going out. Today, if it was not because I had something to do, my grandmother wouldn’t let me out.”

It was in fact amusing to see the rigidly serious expression on her childish but exceptionally pretty face. Yan Huaijing glanced across Wei Yuewu’s face with his smiling eyes. He made a movement that Wei Yuewu would never expect: he reached out and touched her head.

His words made Wei Yuewu even more speechless. “Don’t worry about it. It’s my treat. The Madam Dowager will definitely agree.”

Wei Yuewu raised her head to look at him. On his handsome face there was a graceful and pure smile that easily covered up the coldness in his eyes and even created an impression of spotlessness in people’s hearts. The corners of his lips were curled up in a way that seemed to be bathing people in a spring breeze. However, there was no doubt that this heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State in front of her was mysterious and unfathomable.

Nevertheless, she was sure of one thing: he was unquestionably a scheming and cold-hearted person. Whatever he appeared on the surface was no more than a show…

The Brocade Clothing Store indeed deserved the reputation of being one of the few renowned large shops selling ready-made garments in the capital. It looked very impressive whether in terms of its facade or the street where it was located.

Wei Yuewu entered the store with Shufei and Huamo, and she directly asked to see the shopkeeper. Seeing the token Wei Yuewu showed to him, the shopkeeper addressed her Mistress Cousin. Apparently, he had already received a letter from her granny.

Wei Yuewu asked Huamo to take out the piece of cloth that had been cut from the corner of the inner cloth of the dress. Then, she asked the shopkeeper, “Do you have any clothes in this color?”

The shopkeeper took the piece and examined it closely near the window. He frowned slightly and glanced at Wei Yuewu as if he was swallowing back the words on the tip of his tongue.

“If you have anything to say, just tell me.” Wei Yuewu smiled.

The shopkeeper hesitantly said, “Sixth Young Lady, are you sure you want this color? I’ve seen many aristocratic young ladies coming here to buy tailor-made dresses these past few days. They especially avoided cloth of this color and didn’t even want anything similar. Therefore, there are a few such dresses in stock, but no one has asked for them.”

The cloth at the Brocade Clothing Shop was generally of high quality and beyond the affordability of ordinary families. It was a large clothes store that targeted its business at aristocratic families. Therefore, the shopkeeper naturally noticed this strange phenomenon.

This color was actually the most eye-catching. However, almost all the young ladies from great aristocratic families shook their heads when seeing it. The shopkeeper had also privately asked the maids and old maidservants who followed these young ladies from great aristocratic families about this strange phenomenon.

“I heard that the Fourth Princess would choose clothes of this color. Therefore, all the aristocratic young ladies who had received the news didn’t choose this kind of dress, so that they won’t be dressed in the same color as the Fourth Princess and prevent unnecessary trouble.” The shopkeeper’s words were very implicit, but they were clearly a reminder to Wei Yuewu that the Fourth Princess born to the Empress would choose clothes of this color.

Wei Yuewu fiercely clenched her fists. Her eyes grew cold as she thought: dressed in the same color as the Fourth Princess?

Sure enough, not only was the dress colored with a dye that easily faded, but the color was the same as that chosen by the Fourth Princess. And there must be more tricks. If she guessed right, the style of her dress must also the same as that of the Fourth Princess’s dress.

Lady Li and her daughters really wouldn’t give up before they put her to death.

Wei Yuewu had never seen or heard what kind of person the Fourth Princess born to Empress Tu was. However, when she thought about Empress Tu, who gave birth to the Crown Prince, she could judge that this Fourth Princess, with the Empress as her birth mother and the Crown Prince as her elder brother, was definitely not someone she could afford to provoke. Judging simply by the fact that those young ladies of aristocratic families avoided choosing the same clothes as the princess at the banquet, she knew that the princess must be extremely tough and domineering.

Wei Yuewu narrowed her eyes and asked, “What does the Fourth Princess dislike the most?”

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, but he still replied in a lowered voice, “The Fourth Princess takes all behaviors that displease her as a provocation!”

In that case, the princess would definitely not show any kindness to her upon seeing her dressed in the same clothes!

“Take out a similar set. I want to have a look.” Wei Yuewu blinked. Her eyes were cold under her long eyelashes.

Seeing that Wei Yuewu still wanted the clothes after he had explained so clearly, the shopkeeper had no choice but to ask a clerk to bring the dresses over. Actually, cloth of this color was rare. There were only three sets in the store. They were made of high-quality materials. Besides, there were dyed extremely well and had remarkably outstanding styles.

The three sets of dresses were spread out in front of Wei Yuewu. Her eyes first fell on the one on the far right. Coincidentally, this dress was the most similar to the one made for her by the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, in both the style and flower patterns. It was almost impossible to distinguish them from each other without placing them side by side.

Compared with this one, the other two sets were slightly inferior both in styles and flower patterns. One could tell the difference with a glance.

Of course, the difference could be easily noticed only by someone who was very familiar with the original dress.

However, could people really be that familiar with the cloth at which they had only cast a quick glance?

After thinking for a while, Wei Yuewu pointed at the dress and asked the shopkeeper, “Can this dress be dyed again?”

“Yes, it can, but it has already been dyed very well. If you want to dye it again, the original color must be removed first. This process will damage the fabric and it will be much less soft than it is now.” The shopkeeper said with an embarrassed look.

“There’s no need to remove the original color. You just add another color on it, for instance the red color.” Wei Yuewu smiled and suggested.

“The dress will also look good in red. The original color is light pink, and red can be perfectly dyed on this layer of light pink.” The shopkeeper heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the young lady said red. After all, red was in the same color series with pink, so it was much easier to dye the dress red compared to other colors.

“You don’t have to use a good dye. Just use one of poor quality. It’s best if the color fades easily when the dress is wet.” Wei Yuewu thought of an ingenious idea and suggested smilingly.

The shopkeeper was totally confused about Wei Yuewu’s intention. He looked at the dress and then at Wei Yuewu. “Are you sure you want to dye it this way, Mistress Cousin?”