Chapter 57
Even if yesterday's news was devastating, today was still a new day. When the early morning sun shone over the western courtyard wall of the City Lord's Mansion, Wen Weili had already finished washing up. She declined Chengpi's invitation to have breakfast together, deciding to give herself the morning to regain the courage to face the present.
Wen Weili took out the pearl rice that was sent to her and rinsed it gently under running water. The high-quality pearl rice appeared in the ceramic water basket like tiny crystal pearls, exuding its own light rice fragrance.
The washed pearl rice is placed in a thick dragon kiln purple clay pot, making it appear even whiter. Pour in cool spring water filtered through rocks and light the fire.
Cut a little thin shreds of ginger and plump autumn vegetables and set them aside. Wen Weili cut open the backs of the freshly caught stream shrimps, removed the shrimp threads and antennae, and waited for the pearly rice to bloom in the pot like flowers, then gently poured it in.
The gradually rising fragrance seemed as ethereal as the past, and Wen Weili gradually recalled her childhood.
When Wen Weili was young, her mother paid no attention to her and never asked anyone to look after her. She let Wen Weili play freely in the Wen Mansion. The reception hall, study, servants' residences, livestock breeding grounds, courtyards that had been uninhabited for a long time, corners of the walls, etc., the entire Wen Mansion was a place for Wen Weili to explore.
Wen Weili was raised by her mother and had a strange control over the Wen Mansion since she was a child. The servants provided Wen Weili with what she needed and never dared to interfere with any of her decisions. Whatever she wanted, as long as the Wen Mansion could do it, it was almost impossible for her to fail to achieve it.
Therefore, the little Wen Weili could always keenly feel the alienation between people in the Wen Mansion. The maids who occasionally appeared would look at Wen Weili with a complicated and concerned look. Some guards followed Wen Weili loyally, but soon they disappeared. Most of the time, Wen Weili grew up alone in such an inexplicable atmosphere.
It was not until Wen Weili was brought into the palace that her mother Mei Wuchen seemed to have discovered that she had a child, and gradually began to care about Wen Weili. However, Mei Wuchen was not very experienced, and Wen Weili had already developed the ability to distinguish. She could feel that her mother did not love her wholeheartedly, and of course Mei Wuchen did not love Lord Wen either. She always lived indifferently in the Wen Mansion until Wen Weili grew up. She seemed to have lived in seclusion in the Wen Mansion, neither allowing Wen Weili to greet her nor seeing anyone. Sometimes, Wen Weili always felt that the eldest lady in the Wen Mansion was no longer her mother. Perhaps, maybe that was not her real mother.
Wen Weili's father was even more like a ghost. He went to court, reported for duty, and took days off as planned. Even when he had social events with colleagues outside, he would occasionally run into Wen Weili taking Prince Duanmu Huaixin out for a tour in the imperial city, and he would pretend not to know him. In the Wen Mansion, he would only follow his wife Mei Wuchen and do funny things in an attempt to get a smile from her. Unfortunately, Mei Wuchen seldom smiled. Perhaps there was no one or thing in the Wen Mansion that made her happy, but Lord Wen still tried very hard to follow his wife, as if he was afraid that she would run away.
Even though Lord Wen seemed to love Mei Wuchen very much, this did not prevent Lord Wen from taking some concubines into the Wen Mansion. There were also some sisters and brothers of Wen Weili in the Wen Mansion, but for some unknown reason, Lord Wen only knew about Wen Weili, and those children did not dare to come in front of Wen Weili at all.
There once was a little girl who was proud of her beauty. She was either instigated by the people around her or was unwilling to give in. She acted like a good girl in front of Lord Wen to please him. She thought that Lord Wen also had some pity for her in his heart, so she came to Wen Weili proudly to show off her power. Even though they had no conflict, she still wanted to step on Wen Weili.
By then, Mei Wuchen had rarely appeared. Perhaps the girl thought she had picked a weak target, but she didn't expect Wen Weili to be so easy to bully. Even after Wen Weili's servants pinned her to the ground, she was still unconvinced and wanted to go to Lord Wen to make a decision. Lord Wen only listened to what the guards around Wen Weili said, and ordered people to move the girl and her mother to a more remote courtyard, and reduced their monthly allowance by 40%. After that winter, the mother and daughter disappeared from the Wen Mansion.
However, the mother and daughter did not die in the Wen Mansion. When they were about to starve to death, the girl's mother clearly realized that Lord Wen was not a man she could rely on. She took her daughter and waited day and night at the place where Wen Weili might play, until Wen Weili really appeared. She begged Wen Weili to show mercy and let them live, and was willing to be used by Wen Weili.
Wen Weili agreed, and the mother and daughter survived. From then on, their wealth was in her hands, at her beck and call. But many in the Wen residence saw this as even more terrifying. What if Wen Weili showed no mercy? What if she was seeking revenge? These and other thoughts kept the illegitimate sons and daughters at bay within the Wen residence. While there was nothing wrong with trying to please Master Wen, they simply had to avoid getting in Wen Weili's way, and their lives would be better.
But even so, Wen Weili could not feel the fatherly love of Master Wen, just as she could only feel the faint love of her mother.
Wen Weili couldn't help but sneer when she recalled the past. It turned out that there were signs of everything, but she didn't understand at that time and just played ignorantly. Now she thinks that her mother didn't want to stay with her father at all. She might want to return to Kuncheng, or maybe she wanted to travel around the mountains and rivers, but she would never be trapped in the small Wen Mansion and unable to escape.
And perhaps her father had his reasons, but the time had not come yet, and Wen Weili didn't know. But Wen Weili no longer cared. If by chance, she naturally wouldn't mind knowing their past story, which would fulfill her wish.
The fresh aroma of stream shrimp and rice rose up. Wen Weili stopped adding pine wood to the furnace, and the flames gradually became smaller. She then put chopped red ginger, autumn vegetables, and a little salt into the casserole and simmered it over low heat.
The porridge was cooking quietly, and Wen Weili vaguely thought of Duanmu Huaixin. He was a very cute child since he was young, always following her obediently and listening to Wen Weili's words. Duanmu Huaixin was favored by the emperor and could go anywhere in the palace, and Wen Weili could go wherever she wanted too. Wen Weili said today that she wanted to go to the treasury to play, and tomorrow she would see the things she liked appear outside the door of the room.
After Wen Weili and Duanmu Huaixin had strolled around the palace enough, they went to various places in the imperial city to play. They went to gardens, to enjoy the scenery, to walk in the streets, and to visit alleys. They had a lot of fun, ate a lot of delicious food, and saw a lot of interesting things. Only at that time could Wen Weili forget the strange atmosphere in the Wen Mansion and fully enjoy the time playing with her companions.
But, I am still Mei Wuchen's child after all, Wen Weili thought. Now it seems that she is like a mother. No matter how deep their friendship is, she used Duanmu Huaixin without mercy, and even abandoned him very decisively.
As for Duanmu Huaixin, would he, like Lord Wen, turn into an even more dead puddle of mud, or would he, like a pitiful and adorable little dog, desperately follow her, trying to find her? If Wen Weili didn't want to stay in Kuncheng to further observe 'Destiny', she really wanted to find time to visit him. After all, he was her 'good brother'.
The aroma of rice porridge rose in the air, and the moisture wet Wen Weili's eyelashes. She gently scooped out a bowl of porridge and had breakfast with crisp radish. Even if these past events were disturbing, Wen Weili decided to only give herself time for breakfast. At the moment, she was more interested in Kuncheng, so she decided to concentrate on it.
After breakfast, Wen Weili seemed to be back to normal. She took the initiative to find Qingsong and asked her what she was going to do today.
"Is there anything you want to know, sir?" Qingsong raised his eyes and glanced at Wen Weili inconspicuously, and found that she no longer showed the sadness that the city lord mentioned. He couldn't help but admire her in his heart. She really had the style to do great things.
Wen Weili thought for a moment and said, "Please take me to meet the city lord."
Qingsong brought Wen Weili to Zhenhongzhai, "The city lord is still dealing with official documents, I will first..."
"Hey, sister Wei Li, you're here!" Cheng Pi realized that Wen Wei Li was indifferent, so she naturally wouldn't take the initiative to bring up Wen Wei Li's sad story. Cheng Pi smiled and moved closer to Wen Wei Li, "My dear sister, where do you want to go today? I promised you that I would accompany you wherever you want to go~"
"I want to know more about Kuncheng and 'Destiny', is that okay?" Wen Weili's words were like thunder exploding in Chengpi's ears.
Chengpi couldn't believe that things were going so smoothly. Although Wen Weili learned about Mei Wuchen's affairs, she did not fall into negative emotions such as resentment. Instead, she was more willing to learn about the affairs of the church. How could this not be a surprise?
"Alright, let's start reviewing these official documents today," Chengpi quickly found a few documents marked with red ink on the study table. "Here, the last batch of kids who went out have come back and summarized some of their thoughts. My dear sister, do you think it's interesting?"
"Well, the autumn harvest is almost here. If you have time, why not go and take a look?"
"Also, the transfer order for supplies needs to be annotated. Does my sister know how to use a seal?"
Orange Pi was very enthusiastic. He held something that was considered confidential and showed it to Wen Weili without any hesitation.
"Autumn harvest?" Wen Weili was a little confused. She thought Kuncheng relied on the mountains for its livelihood, but it seemed that was not the case.
"Yes, how can outsiders know the power of our 'Destiny'?" Orange Peel shook his head and took a sip of tea. "Oh, this snow bud leaf is really fragrant. Sister, let's have some tea first and let me explain in detail."
The servant immediately came over and poured Wen Weili a cup of tea. Wen Weili sat on the couch and sipped the tea. It was indeed good tea with a long-lasting fragrance.
"Sister Wei Li, do you know what the mountain where Kuncheng is located is called?"
"Of course I don't know."
"In fact, it is the famous Yuanhan Mountain, which is only a hundred miles away from the Imperial City." Orange Peel said lightly, which made people dare not think too much. It is so close to the Imperial City, and Orange Peel also said that Kun City has an autumn harvest, and there must be large areas of grain planted. With such control around the Imperial City, the strength of "Heaven's Destiny" has been clearly demonstrated.
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