The two doormen, who looked like wilted eggplants, immediately sprang up from their stools and stared wide-eyed at the stopped carriage.
First, a young woman came down from up there, carrying a small bundle on her arm. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old and had a pretty face.
The young woman got out of the carriage and looked up at the plaque above the Wei family mansion. After seeing the words clearly, she became visibly excited. Turning to the carriage, she said, "Mother, this is definitely the Wei family! We've found the right place!"
The two gatekeepers of the Wei family exchanged a glance. "Could they be relatives of the master?"
The other person nodded in agreement: "It's probably true, judging from their appearance, they're here to find their relatives!"
"Then I'll go and inform the master and madam right away!"
As he spoke, one of the gatekeepers hurried back to the Wei family home, heading straight for Zhaoshui Hall. Along the way, he shouted, "He's here! He's here! Uncle is here!"
The one who remained couldn't just stand there and neglect the distinguished guest, so he smiled and stepped forward to ask earnestly, "Young lady, are you a relative of our Wei family?"
"Exactly!" The young woman nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, but then paused, looking at the gatekeeper with wide eyes: "But how did you know?"
"Hi~ I've been here to welcome you since early this morning! We've finally been waiting for you and your family!" the doorman said with a fawning smile.
But the young woman was even more puzzled: "Early in the morning?"
"Of course."
"But we didn't send you any advance notice that we were coming to the capital..."
The gatekeeper's smile froze, and he vaguely sensed that something was amiss. However, as a servant of the Wei family, he couldn't directly ask the young lady's name. Just as he hesitated, he saw the curtain on the carriage being lifted from the inside, and another person stepped down.
However, this time it wasn't the maternal uncle who came down, but a woman, who, judging by her age, should be the mother of the young lady from before. Although the mother and daughter looked somewhat alike, the mother seemed to have suffered hardships since childhood. Her clothes were quite expensive, but the skin on her face and hands was rough, obviously from years of hard work in the sun and wind, only recently achieving a comfortable life.
"I wonder who this lady is..." the gatekeeper asked tentatively, forcing a smile.
The woman raised her hand to adjust her high bun, seemingly still somewhat unaccustomed to such elaborate attire, then coldly glanced at the gatekeeper, her tone revealing an arrogance even the masters of the Wei family had never displayed:
"Tell me, did the Wei family move here from Wu County two years ago?"
Although the gatekeeper felt somewhat snubbed, he still replied politely, "Madam is right, this is indeed the former Wei family residence in Wu County."
“That’s right!” the woman said, still with her upper eyelids turned up.
The gatekeeper patiently asked, "Is the lady here to visit relatives?"
Now he guessed that it might have been a misunderstanding. These two people did not look like his uncle's family members. They might be other relatives of the Wei family that he just did not recognize.
Unexpectedly, the woman suddenly exploded like a firecracker, glaring angrily and saying, "Open your dog eyes and look carefully! How did I become a visitor to relatives? I originally belonged to the Wei family!"
The gatekeeper was seething with anger. Although he was a servant, the Wei family masters treated him very well, and no one had ever called him a dog. Besides, what about this woman resembled a member of the Wei family?
He immediately lost his temper: "You say you're a member of the Wei family, but do you have any proof?"
The woman, furious, put her hands on her hips and shouted, "Evidence? What do I need evidence for when I'm back in my own home?!"
“That’s right, my mother and I are from the Wei family, so we are your masters too. How dare you, a mere servant, ask your masters for proof?” The seemingly dignified young woman also lost her temper and stood up for her mother.
As the three were arguing, someone came out from inside the door.
Earlier, when another gatekeeper went to Zhaoshui Hall to report the news, Sun Lurong and Wei Shuwan couldn't sit still. The mother and daughter rushed out to greet them, each trying to outrun the other. But when they arrived at the gate and looked towards the carriage, they didn't see the relatives they had been longing to see.
"Xingjian?" Sun Lurong asked in confusion.
Before the gatekeeper who was arguing with the mother and daughter could explain, the gatekeeper who had returned spoke up: "These two should be female relatives of the uncle's household. They must have come separately."
"Female relatives?" Sun Lurong and Wei Shuwan both asked in surprise.
Wei Shuwan chuckled lightly: "My uncle has guarded the border for eighteen years and has never married. Where would he get any female relatives?"
The gatekeeper, who had turned back, was taken aback. Had they guessed wrong?
The doorman, finally getting his confirmation, suddenly became imposing, pointing at the two incredibly arrogant mother and daughter and saying, "So you two really are imposters!"
"What uncle? What female relative? Who are we impersonating? What are you talking about?!" The woman was also confused and bewildered.
The young woman, however, seemed somewhat clear-headed. She looked at Wei Shuwan with a scrutinizing gaze, her tone neither tactful nor forceful: "You should also be a daughter of the Wei family, right?"
"Also?" Wei Shuwan smiled mischievously. "What, are you one too?"
The young lady arrogantly raised her chin: "The old lady of the Wei family, Madam Wei Wen, is my maternal grandmother, so she is indeed a cousin of the Wei family."
Wei Shuwan frowned slightly, "You are..."
Before she could even ask the question, Wei Shuwan heard a sorrowful and aged sobbing voice behind her: "Ping'er...you are my Ping'er?"
When Wei Shuwan turned around at the sound, she saw that her grandmother had pushed away the nanny who was helping her over and was walking unsteadily toward the mother and daughter.
Reaching the woman, Madam Wei raised her hand and touched her face. "It's Ping'er..."
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