Chapter 53 - Staying Low

However, Wei Liuying was not too worried about her mother and her second sister. They were a bit too obvious in their action at times, which made it easy for her to read through them like an open book.

She was paying more attention to the move that Wei Xiao Hua might do. Fortunately, Wei Xiao Hua didn't seem to want to do anything.

All she did was to go to the academy, stroll around, and have a talk with Prince Ji Shu.

There might be more things that she did in private, but those were the ones that circulated outside and Wei Liuying heard from time to time.

Once the two weeks were up, Wei Liuying continued back to her routine of sparring. However, she was never seen outside her residence, so many people thought that she was still sick. Even on the day her father had his birthday, Wei Liuying didn't show up. Some guests even thought that she had died, but it was quite impossible for Wei Hong to not put on a show if that truly happened.

After all, she was still his daughter. If it was a concubine who died, it was fairly normal for no one to know. After all, even if a concubine was to be deposed without any hint of news, it was not strange. But if a daughter died, it would be weird for Wei Hong to not put on any show.

Still, some rumors were circulating in the capital city.

"Miss, because you don't attend the birthday party, there are so many rumors about you," Xiao Yu said in clear annoyance. She felt that it was unfair that there were so many people talking about Wei Liuying even when she did nothing.

But it was precisely because she did nothing that they talked.

Wei Liuying put down the book that she read. Her wounds have already healed, but her mother forbade her from going out because Feng Chun didn't want her to disturb her father's plan in the birthday party. Besides, both of her parents didn't really like to see her face.

"It doesn't matter," Wei Liuying said calmly. "The rumors won't kill me."

Xiao Qing was speechless. Well, it was true that the rumors wouldn't kill her Miss, but it still wouldn't do her good to have people talk about her.

"Besides, I'm nothing more than a concubine daughter. After a day or two, the rumors will surely die down," Wei Liuying added.

"Still, it's bad."

Xiao Yu was still pouting when she prepared the meal for Wei Liuying. She didn't like the idea of having so many people talking bad about Wei Liuying. It just left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Rather than that, I wonder what my two sisters are doing."

It has been more than a month since Wei Liuying was staying inside her quarter all the time. The two of them never visited her and always seemed so busy. She had heard that the two sisters seemed to compete in the academy.

"First Miss challenged Second Miss in embroidery just a week ago. The handkerchief that First Miss made was so beautiful that many young masters were eyeing her. However, the handkerchief landed in the Fourth Prince's hand. There are many who said that he had been using it," Xiao Yu started to babble. When it came to rumors, she was the best to gather them as she had fun with hearing many nonsensical things.

Wei Liuying sighed. "It's rare for the Imperial Family members to openly show their affection like this."

It was more common for the two to never meet with each other until the night of their marriage. However, Prince Ji Shu simply didn't care for such matters. While the crown prince and the second prince abided the rules more, Prince Ji Shu was known to be unrestrained.

But since the story was also interesting, the crowd turned blind eyes.

The Emperor himself turned blind eyes of Prince Ji Shu's sudden impulse to continue visiting his fiancée. Who were they to meddle with the Imperial Family's matter?

They still want to keep their small life.

"First Miss is really lucky," Xiao Yu said in annoyance. "What did she do to deserve the love from the Fourth Prince?"

"Is it really love?"

"Miss?"

Wei Liuying was silent for a moment before she shook her head. "No, it's nothing."

Xiao Yu was looking at her Miss with confusion. If it was not love, why would the Fourth Prince even cared so much for Wei Xiao Hua? There was simply no other explanation that was possible.

While Xiao Yu was confused, Wei Liuying was thinking of the view that he saw back then. He had seen the Fourth Prince's gaze when he was looking at Wei Xiao Hua. At that time, there was only some interest like a predator who had seen an interesting prey and wished to play with her.

However, it has been some time since that time.

The interest might have grown to something completely different. Wei Liuying didn't have any intention to meet with the Fourth Prince again just to confirm her guess. That day had already left quite a deep impression on her.

Even if she wished to go against him, she would never confront him head on.

She didn't want to fight a battle that she wasn't sure she would win.

"How about Second Sister?"

"Second Miss is pretty upset about the result. She wanted to challenge First Miss to play guzheng, but there was no time that day. They planned to have their battles at another time instead." this time, it was Xiao Qing who answered.

Wei Liuying nodded. "Second Sister is very competitive."

"Would you like to compete too, Miss?" Xiao Yu asked curiously.

"Silly girl, what can I compete with them? I don't want to make fun of myself," Wei Liuying rejected the idea immediately. She was not familiar with the arts that most women learned. The only one she was good at was only the math, but why would she want to compete in math with Wei Xiao Hua?

She was not interested in the glory and fame that was possible to be obtained through such things.

It was better for her to stay low and hide her real capabilities.

"Did you hear anything from father's birthday party?" Wei Liuying asked.

The two of them shook their heads. All they knew about the birthday party was the fact that Prince Ji Shu came to attend. It made some people think that the marriage between Wei Xiao Hua and Prince Ji Shu would be a grand one since the prince willingly showed up for her countless times.

"How about Uncle?"

"Second Master came during the birthday party, but he didn't make an inquiry about you at all, Miss," Xiao Yu was a bit dissatisfied with this.

Wei Liuying nodded, not feeling that it was weird at all. In any case, Wei Lu was also busy because he was arranged to be the leader of some project. The fact that she was close to her uncle must never be revealed. Wei Lu is smart, so he knew that he shouldn't ask something like that in public.

Xiao Qing checked the time. "Miss, it's already time."

"Help me change my clothes."

It was the day after the birthday party. Wei Liuying had promised to have a spar with Wei Hong Zheng again. Hopefully she would be able to gain more information from her brother.