Wei Changying hadn't seen her grandfather for a few days. She had planned to sweeten up with her grandfather and take the opportunity to ask what had happened with suppressing bandits at Fengqi Mountain. However it was unexpected something was up in Liao City, after a long tiring talk with Wei Huan and Song Han, it was enough for him to ask about the work of his grandsons, but he had no energy left for evading her granddaughter. She was a bit unhappy when she left the house, and while wondering about whether to ask the servants who followed Wei Huan to Fengqi Mountain, she heard someone call her from behind, "Third sister please stay!"

"Fourth sister, fifth sister, do you have something up?" Wei Changying heard that the simultaneous calling came from Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan, and paused her steps together with Song Zaishui and asked.

Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan sisters hurriedly followed up. Although they were half-sisters, they looked quite alike. Both had a pretty heart-shaped face with slender eyebrows, glistening almond eyes, white teeth and red lips. Wei Gaochan had tender eyes and looked elegant and demure because she was older; Wei Changyan was younger and had a fuller body, sweet and charming.

The two of them wore the same colored snow-cyan silk Yueluo Hezi dress, and at first glance looked even more alike. When the two of them got here, the older Wei Gaochan explained the reason for stopping Wei Changying," It is half a month until second sister's birthday, and we wanted to give her some gifts. However, we are not sure what would be good to give her, so we wanted to get third sister and cousin Song's opinion on it!"

Wei Changying added, "Before we learned that grandfather had come back just now, we were planning to go to the Caiping pavilion in the garden to escape the summer heat, now that it must have been cleaned up already there, if sisters you two do not mind, should we head over there to chat?" As she finished talking, the sisters looked at Wei Changying eagerly, afraid that she might say no.

The second sister Wei Gaochan was referring to was the granddaughter of Duke Jingping, Wei Changxian. In the Wei Family in Fengzhou, the former Family Head, Duke Jingping had three sons in total, which were the three main branches of the Ruiyu Hall. The head of the three branches was today's Duke Jingping Wei Huan, followed by the current Family Head Wei Huan, and the last was Wei Jiong, who was made the County Head of Qu because of his father.

Among the three branches, Wei Huan had the most descendants, and Wei Jiong had no children. He adopted a young child from Wei Huan as his heir, who had one son and one daughter, being the eighth young master Wei Chang'an and the sixth Miss Wei Chang'e. And the Duke Jingping who had never a.s.sumed the office of any government official was too focused on the Qingtan Idle Talk and the Huanglao Taoism, and he only had one son, being his royal heir Wei Zhengya.

It was fortunate that Wei Zhengya was not like his father, but more like his uncle Wei Huan, who was witty and curious to learn since he was young. Before he hit twenty years old, he was able to manage his family property well, and he had his own four sons and daughters. But although Wei Zhengya was neither into Qingtan Idle Talk nor the Huanglao Taoism, he was not willing to become a government official. In the past Wei Huan had recommended him repeatedly, but all were rejected by him.

There was one time that it even shook the Emperor himself. The envoy of the Emperor had held the imperial edict in his hands and come to Fengzhou to grant him an official position, but days of persuasion at the residence of the Duke Jingping was still fruitless. As a result, also Wei Zhengya hadn't become a government official, he had gained a good reputation among the government and in the public of being a person of high character and integrity who was neither in pursuit of fame nor profit.

The four children of Wei Zhengya were three sons and one daughter, being the first young master Wei Changxu, the second Miss Wei Changxian, the ninth young master Wei Changlin and the tenth young master Wei Gao'an. Apart from his wife, he also had one concubine who was his wife's maidservant from her dowry, and hence he had gained another reputation of being dignified and not into lechery.

Having such a father as a royal heir, these young masters and misses in the mansion of Duke Jingping all had lofty aspirations and expectations. Because Duke Jingping was the son of the wife, and Wei Huan was the son of the concubine, in their daily interactions, the mansion of Duke Jingping though highly of itself, and always had a sense of superiority over the branch of Wei Huan. As for Wei Huan, the second branch a.s.sisted the Capital and he had entrusted his brother and sister-in-law to help him deliver a share. Since Wei Huan was far away from the mansion of Duke Jingping, he was not afraid of their sour talk.

And for the eldest branch, Madam Song was notorious for being not to be pushed around before she married, and her brother Song Yuw.a.n.g had gained upper hand in the Royal Court. In the mansion of the Duke Jingping, it was known that the ways people were treated varied person by person, and n.o.body dared to say anything to the eldest branch. On the contrary, the third branch was more like a ready-made pushover.

And Wei Changxian in particular saw the third branch Pei as an eyesore. Whenever something happened at the mansion of Duke Jingping, she would purposely find fault with the third branch brothers and sisters to her satisfaction.

Just by speaking of this second sister would give Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan headaches. This year after thinking back and forth, they decided to come to Wei Changying for help.

Wei Changying knew very well of their intentions. Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan were afraid of Wei Changxian, but not Wei Changying, who was protected by her grandfather, grandmother, and mother. She was being counted on eagerly by her cousins, and thinking of that, she agreed.

Song Zaishui watched indifferently by the side. Until Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan were leading the way joyfully, she used the silk fan to cover her face and said softly, "They were going to make you the safety raft! Later if Wei Changxian weren't satisfied with the gift, they would simply say that it was your idea, and then it became you and Wei Changxian's problem." She had been staying in Fengzhou for several months, and was aware of this granddaughter of Duke Jingping, knowing that she had a bad temper and was particularly envious of the third branch.

"I have been annoyed with this second sister for quite a while now." Said Wei Changying softly, "I had pitied her earlier in the years, but Liu Jizhao wasn't killed by Pei Xi. After all, this foe should be the northern Rong tribe, but she had been venting on third aunt non-stop. For the past few years, third aunt had been tolerating her in all respects, what more does she want? Last year for her birthday, fourth sister had spent more than three months to make an embroidery by hand, but she spilled a cup of black plum juice all over it in front of everyone, and fourth sister almost cried out loud. With all these people present, she didn't even bother to tend to her, and even only cared about asking the maidservant to see whether the five-pedaled gold foiled porcelain bowl fallen on the woolen carpet was damaged. This year if she continues to make trouble, I won't let her. Does she really think our branch could be easily bullied?"

Wei Changxian had been married long ago, but now she had come back to her maiden family for her birthday, not to escape from the summer heat, because she had been living in widowhood now.

Speaking of which, she had quite some misfortune. Her dead husband Liu Jizhao was her cousin, and he was also Eastern Hu's Liu family's outstanding disciple. After their marriage they had been more in love. However, four years ago the northern Rong tribe invaded the Eastern Hu, and Liu Jizhao was ordered to fight in the war. In the middle of the war, in order to push aside a stray arrow aiming for his second-in-commander Pei Xi, he was distracted and pierced in his chest by an arrow shot by a premeditated archer. After a desperate rescue by his trusted soldiers, he struggled for three days and died because of severe injury.

And Pei Xi was Mrs. Pei's brother.

Wei Changxian had lost her husband early in her life, and it was a very loving one, so it was natural that she was grief-stricken. But after thinking back and forth, she thought that the reason Liu Jizhao was dead was largely because he saved Pei Xi. If not for that, the northern Rong tribe's archer might not be able to catch the chance to shoot him.

Even Wei Zhengya had persuaded her that on battlefield was that swords and lances had no eyes, and life and death was up to fate. Let alone Pei Xi was Liu Jizhao's comrade, and it was common that they would look out for each other on battlefield. It was not Pei Xi had forced Liu Jizhao to ward off the arrow for him. After Liu Jizhao was shot by the arrow, surrounded Vi soldiers were shocked and they scattered. It was Pei Xi who tried his best to restrain his subordinates and risked his life to kill the enemies so he could save Liu Jizhao off the battlefield. To do that Pei Xi was also bathed in blood and had injuries all over his body. As a matter of fact, Wei Changxian's venting on him was unreasonable. If she had to hate, she should hate that the northern Rong tribe had the ambition to covet over the fertile land of Zhongyuan.

But Wei Changxian was too grief stricken to listen to any reasoning. Ever since she went back to her maiden family, she had been finding ways to make trouble for Mrs. Pei and her children. As for Wei Huan, he had been tolerating her in silence for the sake of Duke Jingping, and also because he was sympathetic of her since she had lost her husband in her blooming years. But as a result, Wei Changxian had been even more capricious over the past two years.

Song Zaishui snorted and said, "She hasn't been messed with you, why would you make trouble for yourself? Now you rely on the elders in the family to support you so you're sure not afraid of her, but after you marry if you do the same and mind all other's business in your husband's house, you will definitely regret this sooner or later."

"How is this other people's business?" Wei Changying disagreed, "First of all, third aunt, fourth sister and fifth sister are all my family; second of all, if Wei Changxian keeps giving them trouble, wouldn't that be hurting our branch's propriety? Thirdly, even you have said it, I am not afraid of her at all, so what's the matter if I take care of this? As cousin you mentioned my husband's family, I'm not stupid, wouldn't I weigh it before I decide to take it on? I would help only if I am capable, and not take on everything without giving considerations."

Song Zaishui choked up on words hearing what she said. She had been taught by the rules of becoming Empress of the country who would take charge of the Six Palaces. It was natural that there would be a lot of disputes in the deep palaces, and Old Madam of the Song Family had been teaching her that it was better to do nothing instead of making a move. If there was not enough to gain, never take on anything, and being manipulated and used by others would be the worst to hate.

As for Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan, today they claimed they were asking Wei Changying and Song Zaishui to help with picking a gift for Wei Changxian's birthday which was coming up in half a month, but in fact, they were secretly using this opportunity to find a helper to turn to once Wei Changxian started to find fault.

Song Zaishui saw through their intention by one glance, and she was not happy about it. Although Wei Changying was aware of it as well, but she decided not to care for it. The cousins had different temperaments, and the way they viewed people and things were bound to be different. However, Song Zaishui failed to convince Wei Changying and instead was blocked by this sly and articulate cousin. As a result, she became the one that seemed stingy, so it was natural for her to put up an unpleasant face.

After arriving at Caiping pavilion, Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan became aware that Song Zaishui was upset, and they grew even more cautious with the situation.

After inviting them for a cup of the Agarwood drink, Wei Gaochan thought over and told them her initial selections for the birthday gift this year. Among them most were some needle and thread, collectables, and precious flowers. If she were a sister with a good disposition, any option among these should suffice. However, although Wei Changxian treated others pretty nicely, she was very critical of her sisters. Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan could only wish to bear less blame given the situation.

But Wei Changying raised her eyebrows and said, "Among these which option required the least effort and is the least valuable?"

Wei Gaochan was speechless for a while, and then she said, "The least valuable should be that square embroidered handkerchief. I embroidered it myself. And the one with the least effort would be the jade peach which was brought back by fourth brother during his outing.

"Well then just gift her the jade peach." Wei Changying knew that Wei Gaochuan didn't have much monthly allowance, so the jade peach he bought for her sister wouldn't be so valuable. She said, unconcerned, "You spent quite some effort on the embroidered handkerchief. As for the jade peach, even if you gift her that, you could still get your fourth brother to buy you another one!"

"But that jade peach isn't so nice of a gift...." Wei Gaochan spoke with embarra.s.sment, "I mentioned it because it would fit as a birthday gift... That jade is very common to find, I heard from fourth brother that you could easily buy it in any shop outside."

Wei Changying said, "Anything you gift her, second sister would find fault with it anyway. Last year fourth sister you worked so hard for a gift with such sincerity, but how did she treat it? Now why should you pay attention to her anymore? Just send something casually. I don't expect to hear any good words from her anyway, then why waste something nice on her?"

These words completely spoke into the heart of Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan. Although the Wei Family was a top-notch among the families and gentlefolks, but under the strict family traditions, the Misses who had not been married had to rely on their monthly allowance. The daughter of the wife could manage to get some change from their mother, but as a daughter of the concubine like Wei Gaochan, the budget for daily gifting had to be saved from the monthly allowance. As a matter of fact, the daughter of the concubine's monthly allowance was half of the allowance of the daughter of the wife, so even if Mrs. Pei could make the same dress for Wei Gaochan as for Wei Changyan, but the monthly allowance was a family rule set by the previous generation of the Wei Family, so it was difficult for Mrs. Pei to change the way things work.

Not to mention that last year the picture of the red-crowned crane offering lucid ganoderma was embroidered by Wei Gaochan herself st.i.tch by st.i.tch. Even for the birthday gift for her father's wife did she spent no more effort and sincerity, but it was treated by Wei Changxian like that in public, how could she have no complaints in her heart?

But if that would be the reason to gift Wei Changxian any gift, Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan were still a bit worried and they looked at each other and said, "But we are afraid that if second sister sees that we haven't put any effort in her gift, she would be even madder."

"Well, if she would be angry just let her be. She hasn't put up a good face at any banquet for the past two years anyway", said Wei Changying indifferently, "Later we shall leave together, if she says anything, just let me answer her."

Just after saying this, she was pinched in secret by Song Zaishui. Song Zaishui said, "As a matter of fact, if fourth sister and fifth sister you two don't want to see second sister, why should you make trouble for yourselves by going over to the mansion every time?"

While Wei Gaochan and Wei Changyan were happy to hear Wei Changying's promise, hearing what Song Zaishui said, all of a sudden, they didn't know what to say. After a pause, Wei Changyan then said, "But second sister had sent an invitation just now...."

"Nevertheless, second sister is our peer, right?" Song Zaishui smiled lightly, and said, "How can our peer compare with our elders? Right now is midsummer, and there has always been summer heat in Fengzhou. We the younger have to put filial piety first, so how could we leave our elders at home and go to a party for fun with our peer?"