Chapter 487 Extra Chapter 6: The Wei Clan's Story - Going All Out

There was no hint of ambiguity or lingering affection in his eyes, only pure appreciation and admiration.

Wei Liru pulled the handkerchief back and walked away with her head held high.

In fact, Wei Liru didn't like auspicious birds like phoenixes and mandarin ducks at all; she only liked ducks.

Chi Rui's praise touched her heart.

As a child, the old lady and her tutors taught her to be dignified and virtuous, and she became a model among the noble ladies of Lin'an. However, because of this, she had to abandon her base hobbies, such as embroidering her favorite ducks in secret.

But as soon as Wei Liru reached the door, she ran into the drunken Wei Tongyou, who hugged her and cried for a while.

From Wei Tongyou's fragmented words, she learned what had happened. Wei Liru called over a few maids to settle Wei Tongyou in before returning to her own courtyard.

Everyone has things they want but can't get; the only thing we can do is learn to make peace with ourselves.

That night, Wei Liru had a dream in which she turned into a little duck, happily foraging and playing in the water. She didn't need to pretend to be a noble bird; she could just be herself.

A month later.

People would often ask Wei Ting to send Wei Liru strange things. Wei Ting didn't stop them and was willing to act as the middleman.

The gilded bronze duck with its golden bell, the duck-beak-shaped whistle, the duck-shaped hand warmer, the mallard duck-shaped Yue kiln water dropper...

In front of others, Wei Ting's servant presented the items, and Wei Liru casually told him to put them down.

Afterwards, Wei Liru touched them thousands of times, wishing she could place them all in front of her bed and look at them every day.

One day.

Wei Liru noticed that there was an extra mirror on the dressing table in the room.

The back of the mirror is decorated with a relief of two ducks swimming in a pond with their necks intertwined. The mirror knob is tied with a five-colored silk ribbon and is also adorned with seven beads carved in the shape of ducklings.

Wei Liru's eyes were glued to it. She picked up the mirror and looked at it from left to right with great interest.

What's even more ingenious is that when you're doing your makeup in front of the mirror, the sound of the beads colliding is like the chirping of ducklings.

Wei Liru gently shook the diamond-shaped mirror and laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so heartily.

Perhaps it was when she was made a concubine? It doesn't seem so. At that time, she was very proud, and it was more of a satisfaction that her wish had been fulfilled.

Instead of this moment, this kind of carefree, simple happiness that doesn't need any particular reason.

"I made this, do you like it?"

A male voice filled with anticipation rang out.

Wei Liru was so relaxed that she didn't even notice that there was someone else at the door.

She quickly wiped the smile off her face, turned her head, and said, "I don't like it."

Chi Rui pointed to the mirror in her hand and laughed, "I saw it just now, your mouth was stretched all the way to your ears."

Wei Liru said coldly, "I can laugh if I want, it's none of your business."

Chi Rui looked at her and said, "You're beautiful when you smile. I love watching you smile. Can you smile more often?"

Wei Liru picked up the mirror, walked up to him, and said, "Just because I took your mirror doesn't mean I have to smile for you! Do you think I'm a giggler? I don't want this mirror anymore, you can take it!"

Chi Rui quickly shook his head and said, "That's not what I meant."

Wei Liru said, "Don't think that just because my elder brother sent a few things, I have any relationship with you."

Chi Rui said, "No, no, no, you've misunderstood me."

Wei Liru stared at him, her eyes filled with distrust.

Chi Rui said, "I just like you and I like seeing you smile. I haven't thought about anything else. Besides, whether I can make you smile from the bottom of my heart depends on my ability."

If it were anyone else, Wei Liru would definitely think this person was glib, but Chi Rui's eyes were too sincere, and she was too embarrassed to doubt him anymore.

Who could resist seeing adorable little ducks in all sorts of shapes and sizes every day?

At least Wei Liru couldn't do it; these ducks gave her something to look forward to in her life.

Eventually, Madam Wei found out about this. She had initially thought her grandson had finally seen the light, but it turned out he had only benefited someone else.

Old Madam Wei chased after Wei Ting with her cane, saying, "You impudent monkey, are you trying to drive me to my death?!"

Wei Ting ran backwards at a leisurely pace, saying, "Grandmother, you're so old, yet you can still run so fast. You'll definitely live another fifty years."

In a fit of anger, Madam Wei threw her cane at Wei Ting's face, leaving Grand Marshal Wei with a black eye while attending court.

When the court officials saw Wei Ting like this, they all laughed in secret.

Only Emperor Wusu dared to smile openly, and even joked with Wei Ting, asking if he should be granted a few days' leave.

Wei Ting declined.

If he were home, the old lady would inevitably invite some of her old friends over to find him a girl.

Madam Wei was desperate and grasping at straws. She even went so far as to say that since Wei Ting had previously taken a liking to Ji Qingwu, and now the Ji family also had Ji Qingyuan, and the sisters were similar, if he wanted to marry her, she would swallow her pride and go to Madam Ji to discuss the matter.

After court, Wei Ting deliberately took a secluded official road to avoid being treated like a rare species, but unexpectedly bumped into two female officials.

These two men were quite strong; one of them swung something at him, hitting the bruise on his face.

Wei Ting hissed.

He waited until the pain subsided before he could see who the two female officials were. One of them was Wei Tongyou, and the other was an unfamiliar face dressed in a bright blue official robe, who was frantically picking up a stone from the ground.

Just now, she hit him again with the stone in her hand.

"Please calm down, my lord. Oh, it's my elder brother. It's alright now," Wei Tongyou said, first surprised, then overjoyed.

Upon seeing the bruises on Wei Ting's face, Wei Tongyou said anxiously, "Big brother, your eyes..."

When the girl next to Wei Tongyou saw Wei Ting, she turned pale with fright and clutched the precious stone in her hand tightly.

Wei Ting didn't want to argue with the little girls. Seeing that they were scared, he said gently, "It's alright. Be careful. If you bump into someone, they won't be as easy to talk to as I am."

After saying that, he strode away.

Wei Tongyou pulled the female official beside her and said, "Wanbai, this is my elder brother. Do you think he is the same as you remember him?"

This female official was from a collateral branch of the Langya Wang clan. Her surname was Wang and her given name was Wanbai. She whispered, "It's different now."

Wei Tongyou nodded and said, "Ten years have passed, things will definitely be different now."

She said loyally, "Didn't you say you wanted to find an opportunity to thank my elder brother for saving you back then? I'll book a private room at Tianxiang Restaurant, and we can all sit down and chat. Once we get to know each other, you'll have a VIP presence in the court, and no one will dare to bully you anymore."

Wei Tongyou asked, "Wanbai, what do you think?"

Wang Wanbai mustered her courage and asked, "Tongyou, what do you think of me?"

Wei Tongyou said, "You are very good. You crawled out of a family where your father was unkind and your mother was unloving, and you came to the capital to pass the imperial examination and become a female official. You are resilient but have not lost your true self. You are really very good."

Wang Wanbai gripped the stone in her hand and said, "Okay."

At the time, Wei Tongyou didn't understand what earth-shattering information lay behind that single word, "good."

She thought she had found a good sister, but the other party was determined to become her sister-in-law.