Spring flowers

Chapter 20 Mottled
Fang felt a little embarrassed and coughed lightly.

"This child, I haven't seen him say much before, but just by looking at his face, I know he's a good child." Madam Xu stopped looking at Madam Fang and focused all her attention on Master Wei.

“Siribi is right.”

The woman's name was Xu Qianbi. These words were spoken by Master Wei.

"Prajna, aren't you making a mountain out of a molehill?" Master Wei looked at Madam Fang with some disgust, feeling that this woman was making things complicated.

Although Fang was well-dressed, she could not hide the marks of time, with prominent wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. In Master Wei's eyes, this was a major shortcoming; she was not as young and beautiful as the two concubines, nor as obedient and charming as they were.

“Prajna, if this nanny is unwell, she can be sent to the estate to recuperate. The Wei family does not keep idle people.”

Master Wei's solution was still to send them away.

Over the years, Madam Fang naturally understood the disdain in Master Wei's eyes. She knew long ago that she was old and her beauty had faded, and that a woman's love would wane when her beauty faded. At this moment, she could no longer care about Granny Liu; she had to protect herself first.

After all, to secure a good marriage for his daughter Wei Yingzi, he needed to have a good reputation.

If word gets out that he mistreated his illegitimate daughter, that wouldn't be good either.

"I don't have a suitable nanny here. Do you have one, Sister Xu?" Madam Fang passed the buck to Madam Xu.

“Xinluo is a lovely girl who knows how to behave and be polite. If she were taught by her elder sister, Changya, she would be even better.” At this moment, Madam Lin suddenly spoke up.

The entire room fell silent for a moment. Then, Master Wei slammed his fist on the table and decided to have Wei Xinluo teach Wei Yishang manners.

He also instructed Xu to be strict to avoid any mishaps during their wedding.

Mrs. Xu accepted the job with a smile.

Firstly, she knew that the sisters had a good relationship.

Secondly, she felt that if Wei Xinluo could have the help of the newly appointed third-ranked scholar, her social circle would be different, and she would have a greater chance of marrying into a higher social class.

Thirdly, why not take this opportunity to strike a blow against the eldest son's family?

After leaving the house, Madam Xu went directly to Wei Xinluo's residence. Madam Lin stood at the door for a while and whispered to her attendant, "Quickly inform Mo Han about this matter."

Wei Yishang looked up at the azure sky.

"Miss, what are you looking at?" Cui'er asked Wei Yishang when she saw that she was engrossed in what she was looking at.

"Everyone says women should be gentle and virtuous, but it's all just shackles. This small courtyard is full of constraints. A woman's life and destiny are determined by a few words from a man. How terrible, how terrible."

Cui'er didn't understand what she was talking about, and scratched her head, "So, Miss wants to jump over this courtyard wall?"

"Beyond the courtyard walls, there are still courtyard walls; the courtyard walls in a woman's heart are inescapable."

After Wei Yishang finished speaking, Zhang Zhong came to inform Master Wei of his decision.

"Great, now I don't have to stand at attention during military training anymore." Wei Yishang lay down on the rocking chair, feeling very comfortable.

"Miss, the test results showed that there was medicine in that bowl of soup, but the dosage was not high enough to be fatal," Zhang Zhong reported.

"Sure enough, someone is about to make a move, but I don't even know who my opponent is. I'm in the open while they're in the dark; it's going to be difficult."

Wei Yishang took a bite of the mung bean cake made by Cui'er.

"From now on, Cui'er, remember to test everything you put in your mouth for poison."

"But Miss, are you really not going to pursue this matter?" Cui'er asked, puzzled. After all, this was close to murder, only it failed.

“Investigating now would only alert them. We should play along and see what they do next,” Wei Yishang smiled. “Cui’er, Zhong-ge, we all need to be on high alert. Before I marry into the Ye family, we all need to make sure we're alive and well.” Meanwhile, Fang Shi was humiliated and felt incredibly bad. Not only did Master Wei think she was troublesome, but he also disliked her appearance.

Now, Xu Shi got to be the good guy, which also made her look good in front of Master Wei.

Wei Yingzi came to visit her mother and was puzzled to see Fang Shi sobbing.

"Mother is always so generous and dignified, what's wrong today?" Wei Yingzi was wearing a light blue dress with the words "Qingming Family" embroidered on the hem.

Fang choked up as she recounted her day's events, not forgetting to scold Wei Yishang and Wei Xinluo.

“How can a few illegitimate daughters control their mother? And that Xu Shi, she's just a concubine, she got off too easily.”

Wei Yingzi dug her nails into her palm, feeling a fire ignite within her.

"Mother, don't worry, Wei Yishang, I'll take care of it. We'll talk about Wei Xinluo after Wei Yishang is done."

Wei Yingzi came up with a plan and told her mother about it.

After hearing her daughter's plan, Madam Fang smiled with satisfaction, "As expected of my daughter, the legitimate daughter is indeed different, those illegitimate daughters cannot compare."

Wei Yingzi saw that her mother's skin, which was exposed from her sleeve, still had many pink spots on it.

"Is Mother's skin condition any better?" Wei Yingzi asked, concerned about Fang's illness.

Back then, Fang could have had another child, but she inexplicably contracted a skin disease and was disliked by Master Wei.

So many years have passed, and this skin condition still hasn't healed.

Although Mr. Wei would stay overnight at her place on a regular basis, there was no longer any marital intimacy between them; it was merely to appease the old lady.

"Shall I get you a doctor to take a look?" Wei Yingzi knew that this was her mother's heart ailment, and also her own.

“No need, I still have the ointment your father gave me. The doctor keeps changing the prescriptions, and they all prescribe the same ointment, but it's not getting better.” Fang rolled up her sleeve, looked at the patches of red on her arm, and sighed repeatedly.

“Miss, the silk flower arrangement in this room is the same one that Master gave to Madam years ago. Master and Madam were deeply devoted to each other and didn’t care about such trivial things,” said Granny Gui, the head maid.

Looking at the still vibrant golden silk flowers, Fang's eyes dimmed even more.

"Back then, the master personally made that Xu woman a concubine and designated you, Madam, as his principal wife. He crushed her on the spot, and she's not so smug now," Granny Gui comforted Madam Fang.

"I know you're all doing this for my own good..." Madam Fang looked at her daughter and Granny Gui, and gently stroked her daughter's forehead.

The next day marked the start of the new school term, and Zhang, a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, officially became a teacher there. His lectures were lively and interesting, not limited to the Four Books and Five Classics, and the students all loved them.

"Uncle, do you speak any foreign languages?" Wei Yishang asked Zhang Juren with a smile that day.

"You little rascal, what kind of mischievous idea are you up to now?" Zhang, the scholar, asked his niece with a smile.

"Uncle, please teach me..." Wei Yishang's voice became sweet and coquettish as she pleaded with her uncle.

"Don't be like that. By the way, why are you learning foreign languages? Does Mingzhen have some kind of requirement for this?"

Scholar Zhang doesn't fall for coquetry.

Wei Yishang found it amusing. Ye Mingzhen? Did her uncle think Ye Mingzhen was testing her? And that she needed to know how to speak a foreign language?
Please, this isn't a 21st-century company that's going to force employees to work 996 hours a day, have only one day off a week, no social insurance or housing fund benefits, and no job openings for 35-year-olds. And certainly not one that requires you to demonstrate language skills during an interview.

"Then, a jar of peach blossom wine! And a beggar's chicken!"

Wei Yishang knew this was a fatal attack.

(End of this chapter)