Chapter 181: Change of Mind

Before Wei Tingzhen could speak, Fan took a step forward and stood in front of Wei Tingzhen. She said to Madam Zheng coldly, "I don't know why Madam Zheng said that. Madam Zheng may not know that the old man in our house became interested in the Book of Changes in his later years. Whenever a boy or girl was born, he would have a fortune-teller told. There was even a Taoist master from Mount Longhu who came to visit. As a result, several old men in our family also acquired this hobby and liked to study the Book of Changes. Especially the Seventh Master, who once went to the palace to explain the Book of Changes to the Emperor. He was best at seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster. If our Fourth Miss is really like what Madam Zheng said, why did our Seventh Master never mention it?"

As she spoke, she turned and glanced at Wei Tingzhen. "The marriage between our fourth daughter and Marquis Jining was arranged since she was young, and the engagement letter was officially exchanged three years ago. To show his respect, the old Marquis Jining even asked the supervisor of the Qintianjian to personally compare the horoscopes of our fourth daughter and Marquis Jining. At that time, the supervisor of the Qintianjian said that this marriage was a 'match made in heaven'. The old Marquis Jining was so happy that he even gave the supervisor of the Qintianjian a piece of longevity stone. Everyone in the Dou and Wei families knew about this. How could Madam Zheng link the death of the old Marquis Jining to our fourth daughter?"

He added, "Birth, aging, sickness and death are common to all people. Madam Zheng and our family don't visit each other very often. I wonder where did you hear these rumors? Or do you just take it for granted?" His eyes were fixed on Wang Xu. "We are both women, but you are much older than our Fourth Miss. You should be called the elder. Don't you know how such words will hurt our Fourth Miss? How can you speak so carelessly!"

Mrs. Zheng's face turned red and white, and she still tried to defend herself: "Could it be that the fourth young lady of your family didn't lose her mother when she was two years old, and her grandfather when she was nine years old..."

Fan interrupted Mrs. Zheng angrily: "In a few months, it will be our Madam's birthday. The fourth young lady grew up by her side! Madam Zheng, please don't be so harsh!"

She and Mrs. Zheng were at loggerheads, making indirect accusations and using sharp, merciless language. No one present did not understand the implication of her words, and they could not help but fall silent. Some looked at Wang Xu, or at Mrs. Zheng or Wang Yingxue, but more of them cast their gazes at Wei Tingzhen, wanting to know what she would say.

Wei Tingzhen is Wei Tingyu's elder sister. Sometimes her attitude represents Tian's attitude, which in turn affects Jining Hou's attitude.

Even Mrs. Wang, who had just avoided the matter, couldn't help but hold her breath and prick up her ears.

Wei Tingzhen felt proud.

This is exactly what she wanted.

It didn't matter whether Dou Zhao was really born with bad luck against her relatives. What mattered was that as long as everyone knew about it, she could take advantage of the situation and make it more favorable to the Wei family.

"This..." Wei Tingzhen pretended to be embarrassed at the right time.

Sometimes, being hesitant is also an answer.

Some people shook their heads with regret, some seemed to be deep in thought, and some showed a schadenfreude of watching the show without fear of the high stage.

Wei Tingzhen tried hard not to laugh.

Fan thought that this would protect Dou Zhao's reputation, but she didn't realize that the more she did this, the more interested people became, and the more attention the matter attracted.

She was wondering whether to verify Mrs. Zheng's words by saying "my mother has been ill since my brother got engaged" or "when the horoscopes were matched, the supervisor of the Qintianjian also said that my brother's horoscope was good and whoever married him would be rich and prosperous. He didn't pay attention to whether the horoscopes of the fourth daughter of the Dou family were incompatible with those of the elders", when she saw her personal maid who was guarding outside the palace standing on tiptoe, sweating profusely, looking for her.

Wei Tingzhen was stunned and distracted, and paused before saying anything.

The maid saw her with an anxious look on her face. She quietly walked over and whispered to her in a hurried tone: "Madam, something terrible has happened! Marquis Jining was dragged to Nanfeng Pavilion by Miss Dou Si's cousin, Ji Jianming, the newly promoted third place winner of the imperial examination, and stayed there overnight... Ji Jianming had bad intentions, and it was thanks to the prince of the Duke of Ying who rescued him. Marquis Jining wants you to go back quickly!"

It was as if a bolt from the blue. Wei Tingzhen's legs went limp. If the maid hadn't quickly caught her, she would have probably collapsed to the ground.

Everyone noticed that Wei Tingzhen's expression was not right, and they all had different expressions.

However, the maid who was being stared at by so many noble ladies looked panicked and kept calling Wei Tingzhen "Madam" in a low voice.

Wei Tingzhen was startled and came to his senses.

My younger brother has always been well behaved, why did he end up at Nanfeng Pavilion?

And what about Ji Jianming? Since he is Dou Zhao's cousin, how could he have bad intentions towards his younger brother?

My younger brother said that it was the prince of the Duke of Ying who rescued him. Apart from Song Mo, how many other people know about this?

Questions came one after another, her mind was in a mess and she couldn't find an answer, but she knew that there was something more important than finding out the whole story at the moment - she had to act as if it was nonchalant and not let these cunning ladies and wives see the slightest hint of ridicule, otherwise she would have no chance of hiding the fact that her brother went to Nanfeng Pavilion.

If it were normal times, this would be just a trivial affair. But now the Dou and Wei families are about to formally propose marriage, and what my brother did is like a slap in the face to the Dou family. Will the Dou family make a fuss about this and take the initiative to cancel the engagement, thus ruining my brother's reputation?

Besides, how could this happen so coincidentally?

Dou Zhao's cousin Ji Jianming was also present. Could it be that this was all a conspiracy?

Wei Tingzhen didn't dare to think too much. She only knew that after what happened to her brother, she couldn't anger the Dou family again. Otherwise, the Dou family would bear a grudge against her and make a big fuss about her brother visiting Nanfeng Pavilion. That would be terrible.

She immediately changed her attitude and forced a smile, saying, "Mrs. Zheng, you are wrong! When the director of the Qintianjian was matching the horoscopes of the fourth daughter of the Dou family and my brother, he said that the fourth daughter of the Dou family would have many children and great fortune. When my father passed away, my mother was afraid that the fourth daughter of the Dou family would be wronged by having to wait for three years, so she couldn't wait to marry the fourth daughter of the Dou family and asked me to go to the Dou family to discuss the wedding date. Everyone in Zhending Prefecture should know about this."

So, it was Wang Yingxue and her daughter and Mrs. Zheng who were slandering the fourth young lady of the Dou family?

The whole place was filled with laughter.

Everyone looked at the three of them with some disdain.

Wang Yingxue, her daughter and Mrs. Zheng could not hide their surprise, and Wang Yingxue was even more confused.

It was Wei Tingzhen who brought it up. We had agreed on everything beforehand. How could she change it so suddenly?!

Her mother was afraid that others would not believe her, so she specially asked Mrs. Zheng to act as an intermediary.

Wei Tingzhen turned against the party in the middle of a battle. Wouldn't everyone want to blame herself for the incident? She had offended the Dou family and put her mother in a difficult situation...

Wang Yingxue was so angry that she went up to Wei Tingzhen to argue with him, but Wang Xu saw that something was wrong with her daughter and pulled her back, scolding her in a low voice: "Aren't you ashamed enough?"

"Mother!" Wang Yingxue felt very aggrieved and her eyes turned red in an instant.

Wang Xu had a gloomy face. Without waiting for the abbot of Daxiangguo Temple to start speaking, she and Mrs. Zheng, Wang Yingxue reluctantly said hello to a few acquaintances and left in shame.

Everyone surrounded Fan with laughter.

Fan could not help but secretly groan, but fortunately a bell rang and the abbot of Daxiangguo Temple began to preach Buddhism again. Everyone then returned to their seats, but from time to time two or three people would point at Fan or Wei Tingzhen and whisper to each other.

Mrs. Zheng was so upset after being fooled like this. Even though she had been currying favor with the Wang family for her husband's future, after leaving Daxiangguo Temple, she couldn't help but say to Wang Xu in a sarcastic tone, "Madam, you are too doting on your aunt," and then parted ways with Wang Xu and her daughter while Wang Xu was apologizing.

What can Wang Xu say?

If anyone is to blame, it's only his own daughter's inability to do things reliably.

Wang Yingxue hated Wei Tingzhen's sudden change of heart, and as soon as she got on the carriage, she scolded Wei Tingzhen. Wang Xu shouted "Shut up", picked up a palm leaf fan and threw it at Wang Yingxue's face: "I think I really spoiled you to the point of lawlessness! You have made your father lose face!"

Wang Yingxue lowered her head, and tears fell on the straw mat in the carriage.

Wei Tingzhen took advantage of everyone's inattention and left Daxiangguo Temple.

When she saw Wei Tingyu, she started beating him up.

Wei Tingyu protected his face and squatted in the corner, allowing his sister's fist, which had no killing power, to fall on him.

The maids and wives in the room hurriedly retreated, and no one dared to persuade them.

Wei Tingzhen was tired of beating Wei Tingyu and kicked him: "Get up!" With a face as cold as ice, he asked him what was going on.

Wei Tingyu dared not hide anything and told Wei Tingzhen everything that had happened.

"You idiot!" Wei Tingzhen could not help scolding, "What did I teach you? Only say half of what you want to say to others, and don't give your whole heart to others. But you did whatever they told you to do, and even got tricked into going to Qianfosi Hutong! If the Prince of England hadn't arrived, how would you have ended up..."

Wei Tingyu listened obediently.

The siblings, one scolded while the other listened, but the doubts in their hearts grew more and more.

Why did Ji Jianming treat Wei Tingyu like this?

A deliberate cough sounded in the inner room.

Wei Tingzhen and Wei Tingyu looked up at the same time and saw Zhang Yuanming walking in with a smile.

"Pei Jin is here too!" His smile was honest and warm, and he spoke to Wei Tingzhen in a relaxed tone, "What's the matter? Pei Jin is here with a stern face, why are you angry with him?" Then he winked at Wei Tingyu, "Brother-in-law just got a bottle of the best Lihuabai, go and have a couple of drinks with brother-in-law." He was obviously helping Wei Tingyu out of the predicament.

Wei Tingyu's courtesy name was Peijin.

He was very grateful.

If it were in the past, he would have run away with his brother-in-law long ago.

But Ji Yong's attitude was always like a sword hanging over his head, making him unable to sleep or eat. He didn't know when something would happen and put him in trouble. How could he dare to leave?

Wei Tingyu glanced at his sister timidly.

Wei Tingzhen snorted coldly.

Zhang Yuanming saw that the scene before him was different from usual. His smile gradually faded, his expression became serious, and he asked solemnly, "What happened?"

Wei Tingzhen was so angry that she didn't want to say a word.

Wei Tingyu looked at his sister's expression and stammered as he told her what had happened again.

Zhang Yuanming's expression gradually became solemn.

He thought for a moment and asked Wei Tingyu, "You mean, Master Gu left first, and then the Prince of Yingguo and Master Gu came to help you out?"

Wei Tingyu nodded obediently.

"Master Gu must have remembered it afterwards, or he may have mentioned it to the Prince of England by accident, and the Prince of England felt something was wrong, so he rushed to Qianfosi Hutong." Zhang Yuanming pondered, stood up and pulled Wei Tingyu: "Let's go, let's go find the Prince of England!"

Song Mo is not at home.

After smilingly seeing off the suspicious Gu Yu, he went to the moat outside Xuanwu Gate to race horses.

Xia Lian hid under the shady willow trees beside the moat to cool off.

Chen He stood aside, looking at the heroic Song Mo under the scorching sun, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, and whispered: "If you want to race horses, you can go to the farm in Daxing. It's dusty and hot here..."

Xia Lian, however, laughed and pointed at the official road not far away, saying, "Look at that little girl selling fruit. This is her fifth time passing by here. And the young woman entering the city has been sitting on the side of the road for an hour, staring at the prince without blinking. There are a few women in the teahouse over there who have not moved... Can you see such interesting things in the farms of Daxing?" He joked, "So as not to waste natural resources!"

Chen He glared at Xia Lian unhappily and muttered, "How can you say that about the prince..."

Before he could finish his words, Song Mo had already galloped over on his horse.

"Chen He," Song Mo's face was red from the sun, and he was sweating profusely. His moon-white summer shirt was soaked with sweat and stuck to his body, revealing his good figure with a sharp back and slim waist. "Let's go to the farm in Daxing!"

"Now?" Chen He looked at the sun above his head and widened his eyes.

Song Mo said "hmm", whipped his horse and rushed towards Xuanwu Gate.

Chen He couldn't help but touch his head.

Xia Lian wondered in her heart, was the prince going to Daxing or Zhending?

If she wanted to tell the fourth lady of the Dou family about Marquis Jining, should she remind the prince?

Miss Dou Si is such an intelligent person, she must have known the character of Marquis Jining. For some things, you can pretend to be deaf and dumb to keep things simple; once you know something, you have to make a decision. The marriage was arranged by my parents, can it be easily cancelled?

After all, the prince is too young and may not understand the ways of the world.

It is still the case that Fourth Miss Dou is very smart and intelligent, and she does things flawlessly... That Marquis Jining got it right!