Chapter 59: Birds of a feather
Upon arriving at the Grand Commandant's residence, the family became quite unhappy.
Wei Ningyan was extremely dissatisfied with this marriage.
Grand Tutor Wei was one of the Three Dukes, second only to the Emperor, but he was old and would stand at the head of the court as a figurehead every day.
Although his son, Wei Yi'an, was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he was adept at understanding the emperor's intentions.
It was because Wei Yi'an could tell that the emperor had no intention of harming the crown prince that he did not stop his daughter from chasing after Xiao Ling.
Because the Grand Duke and the Emperor are natural allies, Xiao Ling and the Crown Prince are also natural allies.
But now the emperor has bestowed his own daughter upon the eldest prince as his principal wife.
Wei Yi'an pondered the emperor's meaning carefully, then suddenly frowned deeply.
He immediately got up and hurriedly went to Grand Tutor Wei's study.
"Father."
Wei Yi'an bowed and said.
The old Grand Tutor, his hair and beard all white, looked up at his son with his cloudy eyes.
"An'er, what brings you to your father?"
The old Grand Tutor spoke slowly.
"Father, what have we done to offend His Majesty recently?"
The old Grand Tutor listened, thought for a long time, and shook his head, saying:
"No."
"Then why did His Majesty bestow Yan'er upon the First Prince as his concubine?" Wei Yi'an asked.
The Grand Tutor said, "The eldest prince has made great military achievements and is ambitious. He is eager to compete with the crown prince."
Although His Majesty has no intention of changing the Crown Prince, given the First Prince's abilities, the outcome is uncertain.
Wei Yi'an frowned upon hearing this: "Father, do you mean to stake the eldest prince?"
The old Grand Tutor shook his head: "I have no intention of betting on anything. All this kindness and favor is the Emperor's grace."
The eldest prince, unwilling to relinquish his military power, set his sights on the ninth daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's family.
However, he repeatedly encountered setbacks with the Duke of Zhenguo.
At the Dragon Boat Festival palace banquet, Consort Shu also took a fancy to the young lady from the General Wei Wu's mansion.
This shows that the eldest prince still wants military power.
Perhaps His Majesty saw this, which is why he considered marrying Yan'er to him, thus extinguishing his hopes.
Wei Yi'an listened and nodded.
"So our Yan'er is just a scapegoat?"
The Grand Tutor nodded: "You could say that."
"Father, I don't mean to discourage you, but Yan'er might not like it and might make a scene..."
The Grand Tutor laughed upon hearing this: "Go and tell her that she is unwilling to marry him, and the First Prince is even more unwilling."
Tell her to calm down; the eldest prince has plenty of ways to ruin this marriage.
Wei Yi'an nodded in agreement.
"Go back and observe the situation," the old Grand Tutor said.
"Then, Father, I shall take my leave."
After saying that, he left the study.
After receiving the imperial edict, Wei Ningyan was at a loss for what to do for a while.
After that, he remained silent, lost in thought with his head down.
From afternoon until now, she has a general idea in mind to sabotage this whole thing.
Just as she was making detailed plans, she suddenly heard her father send someone to deliver a message.
After listening, Wei Ningyan fell into deep thought.
As for the eldest prince, he had been standing in the courtyard of his residence ever since he received the imperial decree.
He gazed at the horizon with an inscrutable expression, saying nothing.
However, after hearing that his mother had gone to see the emperor but was refused, he...
He then withdrew his gaze, turned around, and went back into his study.
On the desk in the study, two names were written.
Wei Ningyan.
Xue Weiyang.
After pondering for a while, he finally crumpled the paper with Wei Ningyan's name on it into a ball and casually threw it on the ground.
The next day, Wei Ningyan thought about it at home and finally wrote a letter, which she had her maid deliver to the First Prince's residence.
After receiving the letter, the eldest prince opened it, read it, and smiled:
“Interesting. This Lady Wei is quite interesting. I can’t bear to kill her.”
After pondering for a moment, he said, "Someone, go and tell Madam Wei that we should meet in three days at Room 1 of the Tianxing Tower."
The subordinate replied in a low voice, "Yes, sir."
He then walked outside.
Xie Yunyu received a message from Wu Yumin saying that Xue Weiyang was injured.
The two exchanged visiting cards and prepared to visit Xue Weiyang together.
The date was set for three days later.
On the ninth day of the fifth lunar month, the weather was quite hot, and some young women on the street were already wearing thin gauze skirts.
Xie Yunyu has always been someone who is afraid of the cold but not the heat.
She was still wearing a light blue spring shirt made of thin silk, paired with a light green shawl.
It looks cool and refreshing, and not luxurious at all.
Wu Yumin picked up Xie Yunyu early in the morning, and the two of them took a car together to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
Wu Yumin seems to have a preference for yellow, as she wore a yellow shirt with a gray shawl today.
On their way from the Xie family to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the road was blocked at the intersection of Ximen Street and Zhuque Street.
Wu Yumin lifted the carriage curtain and looked out, seeing a luxurious carriage coming from the opposite direction.
Upon closer inspection, the sign above belongs to the Wei family.
Wu Yumin then lowered the curtain: "It's Wei Ningyan."
Xie Yunyu listened and then pulled open the rear air vent of the car to look back.
Just then, they saw the eldest prince dismount his horse at the entrance of Tianxing Tower, while the Wei family's carriage was heading towards Tianxing Tower.
Xie Yunyu closed the vent and asked in surprise, "The Crown Prince and Wei Ningyan were only decreed to be married yesterday, and they can't wait to meet today?"
Curious, Wu Yumin opened the back window again and saw the two of them standing at the entrance of Tianxing Tower.
Then he turned around, stroked his chin, and said, "Could it be that the two of them were in cahoots all along?"
Xie Yunyu listened without speaking, but turned to Gu Yu outside and said:
"Go and have Xie Fu keep a close eye on their movements today."
Gu Yu nodded and turned to head towards Tianxing Tower.
The two arrived at the Duke of Zhenguo's residence and first paid their respects to the Duke's wife.
When Madam Xue saw Xie Yunyu, upon learning that she was the eldest granddaughter of the old Grand Tutor, she sized her up.
Seeing that Xie Yunyu possessed a scholarly air that surpassed that of ordinary people, he was very satisfied with his daughter's new friend.
If your own child only knows how to fight with knives and guns, having a scholarly person by your side to advise them will help them develop their brains.
She then smiled and took off the jade bracelet from her wrist, handing it to Xie Yunyu as a greeting gift.
Then he said to Xue Weiyang, "Xiao Jiu, take them to your place to play."
The three arrived at Xue Weiyang's courtyard, where they found it clean and tidy, but barren of any vegetation.
The courtyard was like a martial arts arena, with swords, spears, and halberds lined up on both sides.
The two entered her room, expecting to see black or gray, but to their surprise, it was mostly red.
Seeing Xie Yunyu's surprised expression, Xue Weiyang explained:
"This is my mother's idea. She said I'm suited to wear red, and she helped me decorate the house."
Xie Yunyu listened with a faint smile and said nothing.
Xue Weiyang led the two to the backyard, where there was a small lake.
The maids brought a tent, and the three of them sat by the lake, enjoying the breeze and chatting.
"I went to the palace the other day and didn't see you. Your mother told me you fell off your horse and hurt yourself. I was worried about you for a long time."
"Seeing you all behaved today, I knew it was just an excuse to avoid going to the palace."
Upon hearing this, Xue Weiyang's face immediately darkened:
"That's my excuse, but I do have some health problems."
Wu Yumin looked her up and down with concern:
"Are you really hurt? Where are you hurt?"
Xue Weiyang shook her head: "That day I went to Tianxing Tower, but I didn't expect to be followed by the First Prince's men."
They put a muscle relaxant in my tea; I almost fell for it.
Upon hearing this, Xie Yunyu and Wu Yumin both gasped in shock.
"Your Highness, how could you resort to such despicable means?" Wu Yumin said angrily.
Xie Yunyu then asked, "Are you alright? He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
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