The nephew was ill, so the aunt couldn't only think about her birthday. Wei Changxian asked the maidservant and found that she was just thinking about Mrs. Su's order and waiting for her here, but she didn't send anyone to inquire about the specific situation. She immediately scolded the maidservant for her stupidity. After that, she frowned and said to Wei Changying and Song Zaishui, "I don't know what's going on. Gui is so weak and this maidservant is so stupid. Now I'm not at ease. I want to go to my sister-in-law and have a look. Changying, please accompany Miss Song here for me for a moment."

And she apologized to Song Zaishui.

But Wei Changying said, "Let's go and visit Gui together."

"All right." Wei Changxian originally thought that Song Zaishui had a special status, so she couldn't force her to visit Wei Shangui. That was why she asked Wei Changying to stay with her. But now since Song Zaishui had no objection, although Wei Shangui was a boy, he was still very young now, and there was nothing they needed to avoid. Naturally, she wouldn't care if these two people came together.

Surrounded by servants, they went to the yard of Wei Changxu and Mrs. Su. When they entered the courtyard, Mrs. Su just got informed and rushed out to meet them.

Mrs. Su looked thin and plain and was average in appearance. At that moment, because she was concerned about Wei Shangui, her second son, the two painted cinnamon leaf-shaped eyebrows were almost wrinkled into a ball, which made her sadness beyond expression and even less beautiful. However, her manner and conversation were still very elegant. After all, she was the daughter of the Su Family in Qingzhou, the family of the same level as the Wei Family and the Song Family.

As a matter of fact, Mrs. Su was not only Wei Changying's elder sister-in-law, but there was also another important relations.h.i.+p. She was a niece of Madam Su, who was Wei Changying's future mother-in-law. Although she was not in the same branch, she was also from the capital. For this reason, both Old Madam Song and Madam Song told Wei Changying to behave better in front of her sister-in-law, so as not to send any unpleasant words to the capital, which could make Madam Su hate her future daughter-in-law before seeing her.

However, Mrs. Su was not difficult to get along as a sister-in-law, especially compared with Wei Changxian. Wei Changying's impression of this sister-in-law was much better than that of Wei Changxian, but she listened to her grandmother and mother's advice and respected Mrs. Su all the time. After they greeted each other in a hurry, Wei Changxian couldn't wait to ask, "Su, how is Gui now? What's going on here?"

"Just now the doctor has given him acupuncture. He is much better." Of course, Mrs. Su knew the reason why these sisters-in-law came together. She reluctantly smiled and said, "It's all due to the carelessness of the wet nurse. Last night, she indulged him to play with ice. As a result, he was attacked by the cold air, and fell sick when he ate today."

"Gui is always weak. How can he play with ice?" Wei Changxian frowned and said, "This wet nurse is too stupid!"

Mrs. Su had seen Song Zaishui who looked unfamiliar, but answering Wei Changxian's questions, she couldn't spare time to ask. At that moment, she finally got a chance to say, "Let's not talk about these now.... I haven't seen this young lady before. I heard something on my way back just now, that Miss Song of the Song Family came to congratulate you in person today."

Song Zaishui was naturally humble and gentle to talk to her. For the arrival of Song Zaishui, Mrs. Su acted courteously and politely like the little Mrs. Liu. Of course, this courtesy also came with the reservedness that a well-known family always had, so it didn't feel flattering anyway.

After exchanging greetings for a while, Mrs. Su invited them to take a seat inside.

That was where Wei Shangui was set. They entered the door with comity, turned the screen, and saw a little boy lying on the glazed couch by the west window. He was looking at them with his dark eyes. Undoubtedly, this boy was Wei Shangui. He was three years old. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he never worried about food and clothing. But he looked almost as old as a two-year-old boy, which made people all worry about him. Now he had just vomited, and his little face was sallow, without any blood color. He looked so sick with lackl.u.s.ter in his eyes, which made people feel sorry for him.

Beside the couch, in addition to several terrified maidservants, there was a boy in embroidered clothes who accompanied Wei Shangui quietly. He was Wei Shangui's first brother, Wei Shans.h.i.+, a four-year-old boy. Fortunately, he was a healthy and pretty child, or Mrs. Su's heart would break.

The two brothers knew Wei Changxian and Wei Changying, but they were strange to Song Zaishui. With Mrs. Su's reminding, Wei Shans.h.i.+ tidied up his clothes and saluted to her in a formal way. Wei Shangui was not in good health and could not get up, but he also paid his respects in a tender voice.

Song Zaishui, of course, hurried to stop him and help him up. She came here in a hurry and didn't bring a gift to the kids. Fortunately, she was not a person advocating the beauty of simplicity. She had a lot of jewelry and hairpins on her. At that time, she picked two of them to give the kids. The two kids looked at Mrs. Su. Seeing that Mrs. Su finally nodded her head after refusing Song Zaishui for a while, they thanked Song Zaishui and accepted the gifts.

After that, Wei Shans.h.i.+ went back to the couch where Wei Shangui lay, and accompanied his younger brother quietly.

Little boy's friendly and quiet look was very touching. Song Zaishui couldn't help praising them for their manners. Wei Shans.h.i.+, who just sat down, heard it and hurriedly got up again to salute and thank her. It was particularly interesting for a child to make such a solemn and upright look as an adult. His answer was also very polite and clear, "Aunt Song, I feel overpraised. My brother is so young. I wish I could take his illness with my own body...."

"You're talking nonsense again." Mrs. Su hurriedly interrupted him and said gently, "If someone can take Gui's illness, it will be me. You're so young, too."

"That's how to show love and respect as good brothers should and the meaning of filial piety and fraternal duty." Song said in a gentle voice, "This also shows that Cousin Wei and you brought up your children properly. The Wei Family in Fengzhou is famous for the propriety, after all. Even the little kids are so extraordinary."

A lot of Courtesy Officers came from the Wei Family. Several ancestors of this family had written annotations of etiquette. Of course, their juniors liked to listen to such words. Mrs. Su said modestly, "The Song Family in Jiangnan is also a famous family throughout the country. Miss Song, you got the appreciation of the emperor when you were so young, which shows the Song Family's style. My sons can get your praise. It is really their blessing."

Wei Changying laughed in her heart, and sure enough, Song Zaishui, who was always gentle and kind, was frozen. She recovered after a deep breath. She said reluctantly with a smile, "Mrs. Su, you overpraised me." She was afraid that Mrs. Su, like Mrs. He, would compliment her that she will be a motherly model of the nation, and hurriedly said, "Little master needs to have a rest now. I'm afraid that we'll disturb him if we keep staying here. It's about time to stop disturbing you...."

Mrs. Su hurried to say, "Today is the birthday of Changxian. I should be helping her. It happened that Gui fell sick and bothered you to come here specially. How could you disturb me? It's me who was impolite to neglect you."

She also made a special apology to Wei Changxian. For the sake of her nephew, Wei Changxian was generous and didn't fuss about her sister-in-law. These people talked a few words, because Wei Shangui was very weak though he didn't vomit at that moment. Originally, Wei Shangui's vomiting was caused by his wet mother's carelessness. So even if there were servants, Mrs. Su couldn't feel free to leave here to prepare the party for her little aunt. After all, it was better to wait until Wei Shangui recovered totally, so she had to explain it politely to Wei Changxian.

After hearing this, Wei Changxian said, "I said that there is no need to throw a party. Every year, you send out the invitations. Today, Gui is not good. I don't even want to go to any banquet myself...."

Mrs. Su quickly cut off her words and said, "Changxian, you are complaining about me!" Although she was concerned about her second son's body, she also did not know whether to cry or to laugh about this. Wei Changying and Song Zaishui were here because of the invitations. What Wei Changxian said clearly meant that she disliked them for coming to congratulate.

Mrs. Su secretly sighed that the little aunt was getting more and more grumpy now. When she was about to force herself to explain for her, the reason to change the topic came. A maidservant came in to report that Wei Chang'e, the sixth Miss, had arrived. She went to the little Mrs. Liu to pay her respects first. Unexpectedly, she learned in Wei Changxian's yard that everyone came to visit Wei Shangui, so she hurried here.

So Mrs. Su said, "Chang'e is here! I remember not seeing her for two months, and I don't know how tall she is now!"

Wei Chang'e, the sixth Miss, was only 13 years old now. It was exactly when girls started to grow. Her appearance changed in almost every one or two months, so Su said so.

Wei Jiong, Wei Chang'e's grandfather, was the weakest of the three sons of the Head of the Family Wei, and even his heir was adopted from Wei Huan's branch. However, Wei Chang'e was very popular among her peers, which happened for a reason. She was wearing a short grape-pattern lines red jacket with crossed collars and a white silk skirt with silver mud and pink ribbon, and had two hair buns on her head. She walked in gracefully, and the atmosphere in the whole room became relaxing.

It was not to say how beautiful this girl was. In fact, Wei Chang'e was born to be comely with regular features. Let alone comparing her with Wei Changying, who was always s.h.i.+ning brightly and in high spirit. Even Wei Changxian was prettier than her. But this girl's appearance made people feel comfortable. She was not stunning, charming, enchanting or out of the world. She just had the loveliness that was hard to describe.

Her mouth was crooked, with a full smile. A pair of dimples on her cheeks were very deep. She saluted all the people first, and then answered the greetings of Wei Shans.h.i.+, "I got up late today. I thought I would be the last one here. I didn't expect that the second sister's place would be so quiet. I thought that the third sister also got up late. I was secretly happy. Then I heard that everyone had come to the place of my eldest sister-in-law."

Then she asked about the situation of Wei Shangui.

Mrs. Su repeated what she said before and introduced Song Zaishui.

"I've heard that the third sister's lineal cousin is the future Crown Princess." Song Zaishui was looking at Wei Chang'e with a solemn and amiable smile, but she was almost desperate when hearing this! It was just that no one but Wei Changying knew that Song Zaishui hated to hear such words most. They all thought that since Song Zaishui was going to be Crown Princess. For her glorious status, whether it was sincere congratulations or just being polite, they should respect her. Wei Chang'e obviously thought so, so she said with a smile, "I thought I was in Fengzhou, so it's hard to go to the capital in my life. Even if I go there, I may not have the blessing to see Crown Princess. I'm afraid that I will never know what the motherly model of the nation looks like. Unexpectedly, I see it here today."

In all fairness, her words were not offensive at all. It was cute and flattering, showing the social skills of the daughter of the Wei Family.

But...

Song Zaishui pinched her palms for a long time to be able to maintain her dignified and virtuous image. She smiled politely and said, "Miss Wei, you overstated that." After such a dull remark, she said solemnly, "Today I'm coming with Changying to visit you. About the Crown Princess, if you don't blame me for being bold, just call me Zaishui or Cousin Song. If you mention something about Crown Princess again, I'll think that you dislike me!"

Mrs. Su and others all understood the traditional code of conduct. Although they somehow wondered why Song Zaishui didn't want to listen to such words like "Crown Princess," Song Zaishui made her words clear. They also got the message, and they finally stopped mentioning such words as "Crown Princess" and "motherly model of the nation" that poked Song Zaishui's heart.

Aware of this, Song Zaishui was relieved. Secretly, she glared angrily at Wei Changying again, if this unreliable cousin had not dragged her here, she would not have suffered such a hards.h.i.+p!

It was just that Wei Changying was so tired that she was not afraid of her angry glare. Instead, she looked at her jokingly. Obviously, she was happy to see that "the model of young ladies" in many elders' heart had such a hard time in social activities.