Chapter 50 - Prying: Which Young Lady Was in the Room?

Wei Yan never expected that the weak-looking Wei Yuewu would beat her. She covered her face with her hand and stared at Wei Yuewu with wide eyes filled with disbelief.

“Wei Yan, don’t treat everyone as fools,” said Wei Yuewu. Her clear eyes emitted intense hostility that seemed to pierce through people’s hearts. “What is going on between you and Mo Huating has nothing to do with me, but Qin Ruo died because of you shameless couple.”

Wei Yan was inexplicably speechless under such a fierce gaze. She didn’t regain her senses until Wei Yuewu reached the door with Jin Ling, and she shouted instantly, “Wei Yuewu, how dared you slap me. When I go back home, I will tell grandmother that my face was beaten swollen by you.”

Wei Yuewu stopped and turned around. She raised her eyebrows and said, “If I remember correctly, all the guests saw the Fourth Princess slap you twice. Now you are trying to frame me up. I wonder if grandmother will believe you, or will she rather believe the words of all the young ladies who were here today?”

These words infuriated Wei Yan so much that her face turned livid and her body trembled with anger.

She bit her lips hatefully and waved her hand to sweep out a cup of tea with brown sugar on the table next to the bed.

“Second Elder Sister, the tea was specially prepared by Eldest Sister for you to warm yourself. Even if you are not satisfied with it, you don’t need to waste her kindness!” Wei Yuewu leisurely swept her eyes over the broken porcelain pieces that had fallen to the ground. After uttering those words with a faint cold smile, she turned around to walk out of the room.

Jin Ling was following behind her mistress. She glanced at Wei Yan who was embarrassedly wrapped in a quilt, and her eyes were filled with disgust. She chuckled sneeringly in a low voice, “You deserve it!”

She then followed Wei Yuewu out.

In the room, Wei Yan stared at Wei Yuewu’s figure with sinister eyes until Wei Yuewu disappeared. Then, she waved her hand at her maid, who was standing on the side, and slapped her fiercely, shrilling, “Are you dead? Didn’t you see the cup fell on the ground?”

Seeing Wei Yan’s nearly twisted face, the maid was so frightened that she didn’t dare to utter one word. She hurriedly squatted down to clean up the broken pieces.

No sooner had Wei Yuewu gone out of the room with Jin Ling than they caught an old maidservant coming stealthily from the corridor in front of them. When she saw them moving toward her, the old maidservant hurriedly dodged to the side and pretended that she was going to look after the flowers and plants in the courtyard.

Jin Ling pulled Wei Yuewu’s dress and Wei Yuewu nodded gently. Then, they slowly walked past the old maidservant.

Glad that she was not noticed, the old maidservant turned around and was about to go to the chamber where Wei Yan was staying.

“Hey, you, wait a moment. My mistress has something to ask you.” Jin Ling suddenly called the old maidservant.

“What… what is it?” The servant was hiding something in her heart, so she felt a little guilty. Although she did not know who Wei Yuewu was, she knew that all the young ladies who were invited today were either rich or noble. Thus she did not dare to neglect the young lady. She walked over with a dry smile and saluted.

“Our Sixth Young Lady fell into the lake and is having a rest inside. Go get a basin of hot water for her so that she won’t catch cold.” Jin Ling said as she pointed at the room where Wei Yan was resting. Previously, because Wei Yan fell into the water and was slapped unconscious by the Fourth Princess, she was helped to a room in a nearby yard to change her wet clothes.

“Is… is it really the Sixth Miss Wei who fell into the river?” The old maidservant was greatly surprised.

“Of course it is. What’s wrong?” Jin Ling asked in an unfriendly tone.

“They say it’s the Second Miss Wei who fell into the river.” The old maidservant got scared and answered hesitantly. She leaned back as if she wanted to find out who on earth was in the room.

Different versions of the accident were spread outside. Some said that it was the Second Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang who fell into the water, while others said that it was the Sixth Young Lady. Anyway, there were all kinds of stories out there.

“How dare you be so evil as to wish my mistress to fall into the water?” Jin Ling scolded angrily.

“No… No, how would I dare?” Seeing Jin Ling was so aggressive, the old maidservant did not dare to speak nonsense anymore. Considering Wei Fengyao, the wife of the heir-apparent, was this Second Miss Wei’s elder sister, she warned herself not to offend this Second Miss Wei, or otherwise she would be reprimanded by her mistress.

Although this Second Young Lady looked a little younger, her maid was really aggressive, so this young lady must be the Second Young Lady. After all, that Sixth Young Lady was raised by a small family. It was impossible for her to have a maid with such guts to speak in this way in the mansion of the Prince of Nan’an.

“Which yard do you belong to? Don’t you know how to behave yourself? How dare you ask a guest so many questions?” Jin Ling didn’t want to be merciful to the maidservant. She put her hands on her hips and took the chance to ask the maidservant.

“I… I am assigned to work in the outer courtyard. I am running an errand and happen to pass here. I don’t dare to disturb the Sixth Young Lady, so I’ll leave.” Since she had found out who was in the room, the old maidservant did not dare to stay any longer. She uttered those words with a forced smile, turned around and left in a panic.

“Miss…” Jin Ling stared suspiciously at the old maidservant’s back with a feeling that something was wrong with her.

Wei Yuewu looked in the direction where the old maidservant was heading, and her eyes revealed a trace of cold cruelty. She inadvertently curled the corner of her lips into a mocking smile. “Jin Ling, follow her and take a look.”

Given her agility, Jin Ling certainly wouldn’t be noticed when she followed an ordinary old maidservant.

Since some people wouldn’t stop plotting against her, well, it would be a coincidence that Wei Yuewu didn’t want to let them get away like this either…

Jin Ling looked at the old maidservant who was leaving quickly and said worriedly, “Miss, you’ll be here by yourself if I leave. How are you going to handle the situation?” Her mistress only took her here today. There would be no one left to serve her mistress if she went.

After all, they were in the mansion of the Prince of Nan’an and were not familiar with either the people or the place. She didn’t want her mistress to receive any possible disrespectful treatment!

Moreover, in Jin Ling’s opinion, the wife of the heir-apparent of the Prince of Nan’an was clearly ill-intentioned toward her mistress.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll have a rest in the pavilion over there.” Wei Yuewu pointed at a pavilion in front of her, which was on a man-made hill. It was half hidden by the hill and didn’t look far from here. Besides, it was an easily-recognized place.

It was really suspicious that an old maidservant from the outer courtyard would come here in that sneaky way!

After Jin Ling left and followed behind the old maidservant, Wei Yuewu went to the hill and took a seat in the pavilion. She intended to wait for Jin Ling to come back and meet her in this place.

Because many guests would attend the banquet, the mansion was afraid that female guests would be blown by the cold wind and became ill when they were enjoying the scenery. Therefore, the mansion put up a layer of curtain on three sides of the pavilion. Only the facade was left open so that guests could enjoy the scenery or climb the hill.

However, Wei Yuewu did not expect that the adjacent tall building was actually so close to the pavilion!

She could even hear the voices from the upstairs of the building. If there wasn’t the curtain, she would be able to see that handsome and elegant face now!

But now, Wei Yuewu could only smile bitterly and say to herself what a coincidence!

It was really coincidental. Hardly had she reached the pavilion when two people got to the tall building too. She knew who they were the instant she heard their voices!

And even more coincidentally, they were talking about her, which made her more careful not to make a sound.

“Your Heir-apparent, I heard that you came to the capital with the Sixth Miss Wei?” The speaker was the Third Princess. This princess’s voice was always very gentle. Wei Yuewu remembered it after she heard it last time.

It was said that the Prince of Nan’an was highly regarded by the Emperor. Indeed, this was true: two princesses came to the banquet today.

The building was very near the artificial hill. The hill was large, so from the front of the hill, Wei Yuewu could only vaguely see that there was a building behind it. However, she did not know that the building was actually so close to pavilion. The two places were almost connected with each other.

“Why did you ask about this, Your Highness? Are all the young ladies in the capital so concerned about men’s personal affairs?”

Although it was winter, it was a brilliantly sunny day. This building blocked the wind, but a little wind still blew in. The fox-fur cloak on the man was lifted by the wind, highlighting the affectionate eyes and the gentle, elegant air of the young man opposite the princess.

However, what this gentle voice conveyed was a blunt mockery of the young lady.

The Third Princess blushed and the handkerchief in her hand was almost torn by her. Yet seeing that Yan Huaijing didn’t look at her at all, she felt resentful as well as embarrassed. How could it be possible that she couldn’t compete with Wei Yuewu, who didn’t own anything?

“Your Heir-apparent, pardon Caidie for saying those words. I didn’t mean that. I was only expressing my concern about you. I just wanted to know if you had a safe journey. I heard that the Sixth Miss Wei had encountered some killers on the way.” The Third Princess had to change the topic to an insensitive one and then continued her inquiry.

“It was fine. Your Highness, I saw the servants of the Fourth Princess looking for you a moment ago. You should go to her. The Crown Prince will come here by himself later.” Yan Huaijing’s expression was extremely gentle. He jerked the fox-fur cloak he was wearing and walked facing the wind to another side. The wind there was so strong that his cloak was raised and flapping.

“Brother Crown Prince may not be able to come here in a while. I’d better stay with you for the time being, Your-Heir-apparent. I’ll tell my fourth younger sister about this later.” The Third Princess forced a smile and said. She wanted to follow him to that side, but the wind there was too strong. If she walked over there, her carefully combed bun would be blown into a mess.

That would be a disgrace to the Third Princess, who was always highly concerned about her appearance. Moreover, she was unwilling to ruin her dignified and beautiful image in front of Yan Huaijing.

“No need of that, I like to be alone. Your Highness, please go back!” Yan Huaijing smiled brightly, but he emitted an invisible pressure that could not be ignored.

The curtain outside the pavilion was actually not thick. Wei Yuewu could see through the curtain clearly what was going on in the building. She couldn’t help sighing in her heart at this extremely beautiful heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State. Despite his gentle, graceful voice and the seemingly amiable appearance, nobody would fail to perceive the hidden coldness and ruthlessness, as well as his unapproachable attitude.

Since Yan Huaijing had made his rejection so clear, even if the Third Princess longed to stay, she couldn’t insist doing so. After all, she was directly told to leave. Thus, she had to put up with all her grievances and maintained her proper and graceful manner. “Then I’ll take my leave and won’t disturb you, Your Heir-apparent.”

After the Third Princess left with grievances, Wei Yuewu still didn’t dare to make the slightest movement. Well, wasn’t it really a strange thing that she didn’t hear the footsteps of the heir-apparent leaving?

So she sat there without any movement and didn’t dare to make any noise for fear that she would startle the heir-apparent! She stretched out her hand to touch her leg and felt her feet a little numb. What was more, Jin Ling would definitely see him when she came back.

“Why, aren’t you going to invite me over?” The gentle and languid voice seemed to come from right behind her back! Wei Yuewu’s eyes widened in fright: why was the voice so close to her?