Chapter 4

Ever since that day when Wen Weili 'intimided' the princess and others in the palace who were trying to take control of her small kitchen, no one in the palace had asked about her for many days, as if they had forgotten her in this corner.

"Zhiyun, is there nothing happening in the palace?" Wen Weili fiddled with her fingers boredly. She had already thought of how to act more arrogant.

"Miss, you don't know this. It's very lively in Prince Huai's Mansion. Yesterday, Madam Hui just fell in the garden because of Madam Shu. Today, she brought her good sister Concubine Wan to ask the princess for help. They cried, sang, and fought. The main courtyard was very lively... Besides, Madam Shu was not an easy person to deal with either. She started to quarrel right away..." Zhiyun smiled and narrated the lively things in the palace one by one.

Wen Weili smiled, "It's really lively, I want to join in the fun too."

Zhiyun rubbed her forehead with a headache: "My dear lady, please be quiet. Why don't you make some new dishes in the kitchen? The prince said that someone sent some special ingredients. Don't you hate to deal with those troublesome things in the past?"

Hearing this, Wen Weili laughed out loud, "Zhiyun, then I must go to the main courtyard to enjoy it, otherwise I would be letting Xinxin down."

Zhiyun followed the young lady out of the courtyard, muttering to herself, "Can Prince Huai still expect peace in the harem?" Eighty percent of the young lady was fooling her again.

The spacious and bright main courtyard was bustling with people at this time. Madam Hui was crying bitterly, and Concubine Wan beside her was comforting her in a soft voice. Madam Shu was furious and wanted to say something to the princess. Princess Niu frowned, tapped the table lightly with one hand, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Princess, it's so lively here, but I came at an untimely time?" Wen Weili approached with a smile.

The servants beside them quickly knelt down to plead guilty to the princess, "Please forgive me, Madam Li insisted on breaking into the main courtyard, and we dared not stop her."

"Princess, am I not allowed to enter the main courtyard?" Wen Weili, like before, neither addressed the princess respectfully nor used humble words, which made the princess's eyebrows twitch.

How unruly! Wang Po had always been a protective "dog" beside the princess. She took a deep breath and scolded her harshly: "Little lady, how dare you be so presumptuous in front of the princess!"

The princess signaled Madam Shu to remain silent for the moment. She stared at Wen Weili with eyes that showed no emotion, and scolded her, "Grandmother Wang, I've already said that Madam Li is different from the other sisters in the palace. She has the prince's special permission and can do whatever she wants."

"You are also an old man by my side. If you continue to act impulsively like this, I am afraid I will no longer tolerate you. Today, I will fine you half a month's silver. Do you accept it?"

After a few words, the concubines' disgust towards Wen Weili deepened. Wang Po was even more disgusted and gnashed her teeth. She reluctantly admitted her fault: "It is my fault. I spoke too hastily. I hope Madam Li will forgive me."

Generally speaking, if the maidservant serving the princess apologizes, the concubine should at least forgive her verbally. As for holding a grudge, that is another matter.

But Wen Weili is not an ordinary person. She came here with the intention of finding trouble. How could she not use the excuse that Wang Po handed to her for her to get angry?

Wen Weili flicked her sleeves and strode towards the princess. The princess was sitting on a mahogany chair, looking at Wen Weili who was striding towards her with her head held high, and was a little frightened. She held her breath unconsciously and was on high alert. Unexpectedly, Wen Weili walked to her side, passed her directly, and slapped Wang Po in the face!

After slapping her, Wen Weili rubbed her hands and told Wang Po nonchalantly, "This slap is because I'm unhappy with what you said, do you understand?"

The place where Wang Po was slapped quickly became red and swollen. Her face flushed red and she stared at Wen Weili in disbelief, opening and closing her mouth several times. Finally, she looked towards the crowd for help, and then looked at the princess in panic.

Wen Weili caught a glimpse of a woman in a light green shirt, presumably a beauty, a position lower than a concubine. She sneered, "Why? What advice do you have, Princess?"

The princess's long nails scratched across the small rug on the chair. She forced a smile and said, "Madam Li, you are being a bit too presumptuous. I have already punished Wang Po, so why are you causing more trouble?"

"Am I causing trouble? No, I'm warning you." Wen Weili acted like a smug and arrogant person. She raised her bright face high and scanned the courtyard with her bright eyes. "Although I am a lady, I can also serve as a princess! The prince loves me and has granted me the right to manage Prince Huai's mansion. Do you understand?"

The courtyard was dead silent. Some people felt disdain, some secretly jealous, and some were in disbelief. The princess suddenly stood up from her seat and shouted frantically, "This is impossible!" Niu was terrified and resentful. The prince had clearly married her and made her his princess, so how could he let someone else perform the duties of a princess?!

"Because the prince loves me," Wen Weili seemed to see through the princess's thoughts. She leaned close to the princess's face and whispered, "I remembered you. You are Niu Ying, the prime minister's daughter, who asked the prime minister to ask the emperor for a marriage. Do you know that he reserved the position of the prince's principal wife for me? I will ask the emperor for a marriage as soon as I am happy."

The princess felt dizzy and fell back into her chair. Tears streamed down her pretty face as she murmured, "Impossible, impossible..."

Wen Weili grew increasingly proud. "You know the prince has repeatedly refused marriage proposals to the emperor for my sake, but your father, the prime minister, incited public opinion and forced the prince to marry you into the palace!" She smiled gently. "But the prince certainly didn't touch you, did he? He only wants to stay with me, hahahaha... cough cough cough..."

Tired of laughing, Wen Weili reached out to signal Zhiyun to pass some water, but she didn't expect Zhiyun to respond. She turned around and saw Zhiyun looking at her in shock, with a face full of "My young lady can't be so vicious" and "Is my young lady really having an affair with Prince Huai?"

Wen Weili cleared her throat twice and said, "Let's make it clear today. If there are any dirty things in the future, you can ask me to make the decision. Zhiyun, let's go."

One of the concubines, who was quite quick-witted, immediately and respectfully bid Madam Li farewell. "Madam Li, take care. I heard you're quite knowledgeable about antiques. I've recently acquired some new finds. Could I bring them to you tomorrow?"

"Of course, no problem," Wen Weili smiled happily. "Oh, right. It's getting late today. Let's discuss the matter between Madam Hui and Madam Shu in my courtyard tomorrow."

After saying that, Wen Weili left leisurely, leaving the shocked concubines looking at each other in bewilderment.

Concubine Xu, one of the concubines, was very anxious. "Are we really going to let Madam Li act so arrogantly in the mansion? She's so arrogant and domineering even in front of the princess. How can we live in peace in the future?"

Concubine Sha beside the princess remained calm and silent. She looked at the expressions of the princess and concubines thoughtfully. No wonder she had never seen Prince Huai since she entered the mansion. No wonder Prince Huai had never touched them. He actually had someone he wanted to be with for the rest of his life!

Perhaps, this Madam Li will be the breakthrough point of her mission... Concubine Sha whispered, "I didn't expect that the prince actually has a beloved. From now on, I'm afraid I won't be able to see his face again. The night is long, how should we sisters cope with it?"

Yes, the more the prince likes Madam Li, the more miserable they will be in the mansion! Concubine Sha's words awakened the concubines who were ready to rely on Madam Li. They were hesitant and said goodbye to the princess one after another.

Princess Niu Ying ignored them, as if she was heartbroken, and just waved her hand to let everyone leave.

The main courtyard was quiet. Niu Ying looked around and trotted into the side room, telling the maid to guard the door. He pulled a piece of yellow paper from the back of the closet and wrote down the day's events with a special pen. He called his trusted maid and told her to deliver it home as soon as possible.

The confidant girl nodded vigorously, feeling sorry for her master, but there was nothing she could do. She could only hope that the Prime Minister could give her master some help, preferably to suppress Madam Li's arrogance.

In Wen Weili's courtyard, a small maid with a bun in her hair hurried to her room to report the situation. "The princess's trusted maid took some things to the Prime Minister's residence. The two concubines are silent. Three wives brought gifts home, and five trusted concubines went out. The beauties haven't made any major moves. The beauty in the light green dress you mentioned is named Lu Yi, a singer sent by the Third Prince."

"Is that the singing girl sent by the Third Prince?" Wen Weili was quite interested in Lu Yi. "Go check her out. I think we can dig out something even more interesting."

The little girl responded, carrying the empty snack plate out of the room, and bowed to Zhiyun who was waiting outside, "Hello, Sister Zhiyun, the young lady was looking for you."

"Looking for me? Humph, she has hidden so many things from me, I won't go to see her." Zhiyun pursed her lips, took a piece of silk cloth in her hand, turned around and started wiping in the yard.

Soon, Wen Weili's door was pushed open from the inside. Zhiyun pricked up her ears, but her face was serious as she concentrated on wiping the flower stand in her hands. Zhiyun thought, unless the young lady explained the whole story clearly, she would not let her off easily.

But Wen Weili seemed not to notice Zhiyun and walked towards the side door of the courtyard.

"Little..." Zhiyun wanted to follow Wen Weili, but when she thought that the young lady seemed to have not noticed her at all and walked away on her own, a feeling of grievance surged into Zhiyun's heart. She was so sad. She was obviously not sick, so why did she feel so uncomfortable...

In the small kitchen, Wen Weili was busy working in front of the stove prepared specifically for her.

She pulled out a handful of beans from the wooden barrel, their color as bright as rouge. Though small, they were plump and round, and their redness became even more juicy when they were rinsed in water. She also took out a handful of pearl rice, pure white as snow, and rinsed it three times in clear water.

Wash the beans and rice, set the beans aside to drain, and soak the pearl rice in milk. Then, light the stove and bring the water to a gentle boil. Pour the beans in. When they are half cooked, the beans will bloom like clusters of red flowers in the water.

At this time, add the soaked pearl rice, cover the pot and simmer slowly.

She sat by the stove, slowly adding firewood into the furnace, not at all as domineering as she was in the main courtyard. Occasionally she stood up and stirred the pot with a copper spoon with moderate force.

After a while, a faint bean fragrance spread in the air. Wen Weili opened the lid of the pot, took a deep breath of the aroma of the bean porridge, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

She picked up the milk that had been placed in the well and poured it into the pot along the edge. The aroma of milk became more lingering in the aroma of beans.

Wen Weili thought that Zhiyun must be very angry today, so why not use this bowl of bean porridge to cheer her up.