Chapter 43
Wen Weili coaxed Duanmu Huaixin and told him to stay in the palace without worry, but she herself walked out of the palace and went straight to the Queen's Fengxiang Palace.
"You are asking for death, girl! You just know how to be lazy! I will punish you by making you think about it tonight. Why did I bring you, this useless thing that looks good!!!" A scolding voice on the road reached Wen Weili's ears.
"Who's making a commotion in the palace?" Wen Weili asked coldly, "His Highness has ordered that no one should frolic here. Are you really that bold?"
"Who?" The person who was scolding was an ordinary palace maid who looked a little old. There was no rank mark on her collar. The one she was scolding was a young palace maid who looked to be about ten years old. Her tender little face was flushed red, and tears were in her eyes. She looked at Wen Weili with a timid expression.
The old maid was very wary. Seeing that Wen Weili was a stranger, she became aggressive and asked, "Who are you? Fengxiang Palace has never seen you before. Don't meddle in other people's business."
"Who am I?" Wen Weili glared disdainfully and pulled out a token from her bosom. "Is this a special dispatch from His Majesty the Third Prince? Is that enough?"
"Ah, ah, it turns out to be someone from His Royal Highness the Third Prince..." The old palace maid immediately became panicked. Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Third Prince did not get along well, she was just an old palace maid from Fengxiang Palace. How could she dare to offend a maid who could hold the token of the Third Prince? She was so unlucky today. How could she meet such a nosy person?
"Greetings to my elder sister." The little palace maid beside her hurriedly bowed and greeted Wen Weili, looking a little scared. She was even scared of the older palace maids of the same level, not to mention the more majestic maid in front of her. She was so panicked that tears streamed down her face.
"Why are you crying?" Wen Weili didn't even look at the young maid, only at the old one. "Let alone the fact that the Third Prince has commanded that silence be maintained around Fengxiang Palace, even the Consul Auntie should have commanded against any noise. Why are you so blatantly violating palace rules?"
The old maid was so frightened that she immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "Please have mercy, my lord. I just want to teach the new old maid some etiquette."
"If I remember correctly, aren't the rules of Fengxiang Palace governed by Aunt Consul?"
After hearing Wen Weili's question, the old maid trembled even more, but she insisted: "She eats and lives with me, and her hands and feet are not clean. I must teach her the rules!"
Even stranger, Wen Weili thought. She had only asked because she felt the old maid was being too bold to make such a noise on the side of the road. However, her attitude became even stranger. She said she was just teaching the rules, but her reaction was wrong.
If it was really just a matter of teaching the rules, even if the young maid was bullied, it would only be a matter of Fengxiang Palace, and she couldn't punish them on her behalf. But the old maid seemed a little scared after she raised her doubts, as if she really didn't want her to see anything beyond the "teaching the rules."
But since the old maid wouldn't tell me, what about the young maid? Did she know anything beyond the 'rules of the sect'?
Thinking of this, Wen Weili said unhappily, "How dare you! As an old maid in Fengxiang Palace, you bully a young maid in private. Is this the upbringing of Fengxiang Palace? I want to ask what the consul aunt has been doing. Little girl, come with me."
"Even if you are the Third Prince, you shouldn't interfere in the affairs of Fengxiang Palace!" The old maid refuted Wen Weili, but then pleaded softly, "Besides, this is how things have always been in the palace. My Lord must have urgent matters to attend to when he came to the palace. Why would you bother with such trivial matters?"
She was trying to change the subject, Wen Weili thought. She was bringing the whole thing up with the Fengxiang Palace's 'religious rules' and didn't want me to mention again that she hadn't obeyed Aunt Consul's orders.
The young palace maid looked left and right. She wanted to obey Wen Weili's orders, but she didn't dare to leave the old palace maid who could teach her a lesson. After all, even if she got justice this time, she would still have a hard time when she returned to Fengxiang Palace.
"In that case, I don't need to say any more to you," Wen Weili turned away in annoyance. "Even if I'm meddling in your affairs, I still have to teach you a lesson. Little girl, come with me. If you're worried about her causing trouble for you in the future, wouldn't it be more convenient for me to send you to serve Empress Shufei?"
Shu Fei, the mother of the third prince, was also one of the famous high-ranking concubines in the palace. The third prince’s arrogance in the previous dynasty was inseparable from Shu Fei’s strong support behind the scenes.
With Wen Weili's promise, the little maid finally made up her mind, "Please save me, sister!"
"What are you talking about, bitch?!" The old maid's face changed. "Don't try to get yourself killed!"
Is there something else going on? Wen Weili realized that things weren't as simple as she'd thought. The affairs of the older palace maids were mostly handled by the consuls of each palace. But not only was this older palace maid unwilling to go to the consul, she was also trying to frame the incident as bullying the younger palace maids. This could only mean that there was something more serious going on underneath.
"You can't leave," the old maid's expression became particularly firm. "As the saying goes, forgive others when you can. My lord, you are working for His Highness outside the palace and have no idea about the rules of the White House. If you take her away, you will be killing her!"
Wen Weili remained silent. She was even more surprised by the old maid's sudden burst of determination. She couldn't help but wonder, was she trying to deceive me? Or was there something deeper going on?
"No matter what, I'll take care of this matter," Wen Weili calmed down, "If there's anything hidden, just tell me, and I'll understand."
But no matter how Wen Weili tried to persuade her, the old palace maid firmly refused to tell her what the so-called "rules" were, nor did she want Wen Weili to take the young old palace maid away.
The old maid looked directly at Wen Weili and said, "Your Excellency is working for His Royal Highness the Third Prince, but it is truly inappropriate for you to extend your hand into Fengxiang Palace. If Your Excellency insists on taking this bitch away, I will have no choice but to send someone to see if His Royal Highness the Third Prince is attempting to interfere in our Fengxiang Palace!"
Even at the cost of implicating the Third Prince in his spying on Fengxiang Palace? Wen Weili wanted to know the truth even more, but this wasn't the Wen Mansion, nor was it Prince Huai's Mansion. It was the imperial palace, a place shrouded in mystery. The fact that she could use the name of the Third Prince's subordinate was already a bit eye-catching. If she made a big deal out of it, her trip to the palace would probably be over.
Wen Weili sighed softly and said, "Well, you have a point. I can't lose face for His Highness the Third Prince. This matter..."
In the little palace maid's expectant eyes, Wen Weili said something that made her extremely sad and angry: "Let's just leave it at that."
"As expected of the Third Prince, you are very sensible," the old maid said with a slight smile, as if the person she had just threatened was not her. "Then take care, and as for you——"
The old palace maid sneered: "You traitor! I'm not teaching you a lesson now to save face for you, I'll deal with you later!" She seemed to be scolding the young palace maid, but her implication was that she wanted Wen Weili to leave quickly.
Wen Weili looked at the little palace maid crying and could only accept the scolding from the old palace maid. It was not that she didn't want the old palace maid to stop scolding the little palace maid, but since she couldn't take the little palace maid away, saying it would only make the little palace maid more sad in the future.
The little palace maid's resentful and hateful gaze was like sticky glue. She didn't dare to look up at the adult's face, so she could only lower her head and hate him out of the corner of her eyes.
"You bastard, you dare to look at my Lord like that!" The old maid was very unhappy. When the young maid wanted to follow the Third Prince's people, she held back and didn't get angry. After all, she didn't want the matter to get out of hand, so she gave some face to the people outside the palace.
But this little girl who had been trying to survive under her hands was trying to bite her back. This was simply intolerable. Thinking of this, the old palace maid raised her hand high.
"Pah—Pah—Pah—"
Three loud slaps hit the little palace maid's face.
"Woo..." The little palace maid sobbed, but she didn't dare to cry out loud. Her face was burning with pain, but she didn't dare to get medicine. She could only wait for the old palace maid to give the order before she dared to move.
"Why are you doing this?" Wen Weili understood what the old palace maid meant. She was doing it to vent her anger and to show her.
"I can't take care of other people in Fengxiang Palace, but I can still clean up some of the dirty things around here." The old maid saw that the third prince's maid wanted to help the young maid, but since the maid gave in first, she could naturally be unreasonable, which also made her feel comfortable.
Wen Weili knew that as long as she stayed there, the old palace maid would be even more proud to teach the young palace maid a lesson. She had no choice but to harden her heart and not look at the young palace maid's face which was covered with traces of blood, and turned away.
"What are you looking at? You really think you're such a big shot! The adults out there are kindhearted and willing to help others, but you're nothing but the most despicable dog of the queen..."
The sound of scolding and insulting from the old palace maid behind her was endless, so Wen Weili had no choice but to quicken her pace.
If they were in the Wen Mansion, under their mother's strict rules, no one would dare treat their companions as if they were objects. Even in the Huai Palace, Duanmu Huaixin treated them as human beings, even if they were spies. In the market, everyone was a commoner, so naturally they just muddled through.
However, only the imperial palace was different. Except for the highest position, everyone else was just his property.
Wen Weili thought, so all the princes wanted to ascend to that position, and all those who were related to the princes would do their best to push the prince on their side to the position.
Maybe Xinxin is different. He thinks about eating, playing, and maybe even her? Wen Weili smiled unconsciously. Xinxin grew up under the protection of the Wen family and was influenced by her so that he didn't become like those people.
But who can be sure that people won't change? Wen Weili thought, therefore, I must be a good sister to Duanmu Huaixin. Only when she is still Xinxin's sister, Duanmu Huaixin, Prince Huai, or the future - will not be the same as everyone else in this palace.
Because wives must obey their husbands, princesses must serve the prince, and empresses can only obey the emperor. In the eyes of the world, only the identity of "eldest sister" is particularly special. She is pure, older, and has the right to discipline without being controlled by others.
Therefore, she absolutely could not accept Duanmu Huaixin's feelings. She had to keep her feelings within the controllable relationship of "sister" rather than the so-called "beloved one".
Even if it means disappointing Xinxin, even if it means deceiving Xinxin, even if it means dragging the Wen family into trouble, even if it means carefully hiding myself, it is worth it.
Moreover, her Xinxin was so well-behaved and obedient, which made her very happy. She was also the eldest daughter of the Wen family, and the Wen family was her responsibility. She would bring the Wen family into the game and would also bring it to the top.
What if Xinxin stopped listening? Wen Weili couldn't help but think of this, but she laughed at herself for thinking too much. Duanmu Huaixin had grown up with her, and her every move had been taught by her. Only Xinxin would never betray her.
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