The Princess Wei Yang

At night, Li Wei Yang swiftly approached He Xian Yuan. The Yatous lifted the curtains to allow her to enter and then smilingly informed, “Xianzhu, Lao Furen is waiting for you.” Li Wei Yang smiled lightly and without faltering in her steps, she quickly entered. As Li Wei Yang walked in, she saw Lao Furen who was sitting on her chair and was being served tea by Luo Mama. Li Wei Yang gave her blessings after which Lao Furen said smilingly, “Rise. You have sincerity to be here at this hour to see me.” Li Wei Yang rose and thanked Lao Furen. Lao Furen pointed at the pastries on the side and said, “Your muqin sent these over in the morning, give them a try.” Li Wei Yang smiled as she walked over and noticed the colorful pastries sprinkled with bits of gold, seemingly very appetizing. She casually picked up a piece, placing it in her mouth and involuntarily praised “The taste is very refreshing, what is this called?” Lao Furen smiled without saying a word, Luo Mama said “Xianzhu, these are golden cakes, Da Furen made these with her own hands. They are refreshing and fine, both appetizingly sweet and sour. Lao Furen really enjoys eating them.” Moments later, Li Wei Yang recollected the taste and asked, “These are made with hawthorns?” Luo Mama nodded and said “Da Furen has sincerity, Lao Furen recently caught a cold and didn’t have the appetite to eat anything, and these are perfect!” Li Wei Yang smilingly said “Muqin has put in a lot of effort, it is a blessing that Lao furen has such a great daughter-in-law.” Her words and laughter didn’t reveal even a slight bit of her true intentions. After she finished speaking, she walked to the side and took the teacup and brought it to Lao Furen. Lao Furen watched how respectful and humble she was, she didn’t utter a word and drank a sip before she slowly smiled and said “Such a great yatou, yet you are here doing trivial things for me, such a waste.” Li Wei Yang said quickly “What rubbish is Lao Furen saying, sun nv is clumsy so I don’t even know if I am doing everything well. If I can be as intelligent as muqin, I would have prepared some snacks and sent them over every day.” Lao Furen smiled, “Look at the words coming from your mouth, I can’t pinpoint anything bad from them and they always make me happy.” After she finished this sentence, her smile vanished and she began to speak with a straight face: “There is something I have to speak with you today.” Li Wei Yang knew this was coming yet her face didn’t show any trace of her thoughts “Lao Furen, please go ahead.” Lao Furen gave her two glimpses and then gradually said: “Why Jiang Yue Lan was married into the family, we both know exactly the reason behind this. I have only one thing to say, since she married into the Li family, I will treat her as my family. Observing her now, she is definitely an intelligent person, she handles everything well and knows what to prioritize. We certainly didn’t take in a bad daughter-in-law.” Li Wei Yang listened carefully as she had thought that according to rationale, Jiang Yuelan was forced onto them by the Jiangs and so Lao Furen felt only disgust towards her. But looking at the situation now, it was evident that Jiang Yuelan’s schemes were not average. She was able to make Lao Furen see her in a different light. Lao Furen watched as she listened attentively, she slowly revealed a smile and said, “I do care a lot about you so I am telling you this now. Min Zhi is getting fatter these past two days?” Although they were just talking about a different topic, the conversation changed to Min Zhi. Li Wei Yang pretended to not notice and only slightly smiled, “Min Zhi is doing great, and it’s all because Lao Furen has looked after us.” Lao Furen calmly chuckled, “He is my grandson and also very lovable. I would, of course, wholeheartedly care about him.” Li Wei Yang’s face showed her usual smile yet her heart had been sealed by everlasting ice, her back unconsciously straightened. Lao Furen carefully observed her and then her usual harmonious expression returned, she softly said: “You are a great child, but sadly you weren’t born from a furen or else you would have an auspicious future, and even becoming the crowned princess would have been a possibility. Min Zhi is also like this, even though he is born from a yiniang, your father and I have loved him as if he was born from the furen to prevent him from suffering pain in the future. So, we’ve already discussed this, we are going to let him be raised under Jiang Yuelan’s care.” While listening to this, Li Wei Yang already saw this coming but she still showed shock on her face. “Wei Yang, what I’m doing is all for Min Zhi, I’ve already held you up, I can’t let another good child be held up.” Lao Furen watched her as she continued, “After all, Min Zhi is my grandson, and I will not let him suffer. Under Jiang Yuelan’s care, if she is even one bit negligent, I will not let her off easily!” 
Li Wei Yang knew this very well, if Jiang Yue Lan took the child and didn’t care for him attentively or something bad happened, Lao Furen, who only has this male heir left, would not let her live! From a normal person’s perspective, to be under the di mu’s care seemed to be certainly better than to be under the care of a yiniang. But because of this, Min Zhi will be held captive by Jiang Yue Lan. Whatever she does, the first thing she would have to consider was if Min Zhi would be affected, that wouldn’t be a good thing! However, Li Wei Yang couldn’t tell Lao Furen the truth since Lao Furen only thought about her grandson being raised under the di mu which is equivalent to being the son of the di mu and beneficial for his future! Li Wei Yang smilingly said, “Wei Yang of course understands Lao Furen’s good intentions.” Lao Furen questioned, “About Qi Yiniang ---“Li Wei Yang smiled softly: “Qi Yiniang will understand and definitely wouldn’t have any opinions towards Lao Furen’s decision. Lao Furen, rest assured.” Seeing how Li Wei Yang simply agreed, Lao Furen was extremely ecstatic, she spoke: “Don’t you worry, whether it’s you or Min Zhi, I won’t sit back and let others bully you.” Li Wei Yang expressed her gratitude, “Thank you Lao Furen, the person we can rely on is only you.” Lao Furen’s gaze fixated on her wrist before she nodded towards Luo Mama. Luo Mama immediately walked over to the side and brought out a jewelry box. Once the box was opened, there was a bracelet put together with eighteen pearls and two imperial jaded beads inside. From one glance, it was easy to know that these were invaluable items. Lao Furen hung the bracelet onto the edge of Li Wei Yang’s blouse and smilingly said: “This was one of the pieces that accompanied me when I married into the family. As I age, I can’t find any occasions to wear this, so I want to gift it to you, Wei Yang, do you understand my intentions.” Li Wei Yang whispered: “Wei Yang understands.” Lao Furen gently said: “You are the one that knows better.” She stopped for a second, “Oh, even though Jiang Yuelan is young, she is your muqin, even if she does something wrong, you should let her have her way.” She continued, “Of course, as long as I am alive, I will not let her start any troubles!” Li Wei Yang lightly smiled without saying anything. Lao Furen nodded and said: “Good, go back and rest.” Once she stepped out of the He Xiang Yuan, she saw Jiang Yue Lan and Li Chang Le strolled over together. Seeing Li Wei Yang, Jiang Yue Lan smiled and looked at her, “Wei Yang is here as well, if I would have known earlier, then we would have come together.” Li Wei Yang smilingly said: “Yes, I didn’t know muqin and dajie would come here. I’ve just tried muqin’s golden cakes, they were very delicious.” Jiang Yue Lan nodded and smilingly said: “If you like, I can send some over to you.” Li Wei Yang spoke: “I wouldn’t dare to make muqin any busier.” Li Chang Le seemed to show a forced smile on her face so it was difficult to read her true inner thoughts. “It’s not much trouble.” Jiang Yue Lan smiled and suddenly said: “I’ve already hired a new wet nurse for Min Zhi, I wonder when he can be brought over to me?” Li Wei Yang’s brows knitted tightly together yet her smile was still warm, “This … Qi Yiniang said, for the past two days, he has been constantly spitting out milk, I must wait a while before I can bring him over to muqin.” Her expression was humble but Li Chang Le, who was standing on the side, felt that Li Wei Yang’s smile was cold and consciously took a step behind Jiang Yue Lan. Jiang Yuelan didn't make it hard for her and only smilingly said: “I have lots of brothers and sisters at home, it’s inevitable for babies to spit out milk. If it doesn’t get better in a few more days, there is no harm in letting me give it a try.” As she spoke, she held onto a yatou’s hand and walked in. Li Chang Le watched Li Wei Yang, her eyes were indefinitely murky. On the step, Jiang Yue Lan turned her head and warmly said: “Chang Le!” Li Chang Le answered with a “yes”, gave Li Wei Yang a side glance and then quickly strolled forth. Jiang Yue Lan happily grabbed her hand as both closely walked in. Bai Zhi disparagingly said: “A dog biting others on the strength of its master!” She was talking about Li Chang Le. Li Wei Yang smiled: “Yes, she used to constantly bark at others, now that she’s become quieter, I am not used to it.” It was midwinter season and the days became dark quicker. As the day approached sunset, the skies were already dark. On that day, heavy winds stopped and the whooshing sounds could no longer be heard. There remained quietness amidst the darkness. In such a soundless world, the night colors seemed darker. If it wasn’t for the candlelight seeping through the edges of households, the entire capital would have been covered with darkness. And it was this darkness that made Li Wei Yang’s candle-lighted room seem brightly lit. Under this candlelight, Li Wei Yang smiled as both of her hands were held over the heater. There were already four pans of heater that had been burning red in her room but her body temperature hadn’t become any significantly warmer, which showed how cold it was outside. She had just returned from Li Xiang Yuan. Now, she watched Qi Yiniang as she used a rattle drum to make little Min Zhi laugh and couldn’t help but let out a sigh. Little Min Zhi opened his pair of clear black eyes and curiously turned his head as he watched his sister from a distance. Tan shi smiled as she caressed his head and she showed an expression that conveyed the feeling that everything was okay now that she had a son. In this solitary evening, the three of them had already been absorbed into another world with such warmth and comfort. Tan shi felt odd satisfaction but she knew that this kind of tranquility had been fought for by her daughter. If she didn’t have Wei Yang’s protection, she would never have such days so she expressed her gratitude towards heavens for blessing her with such an intelligent and courageous daughter. It’s only that today Wei Yang’s wasn’t in a good mood and it seemed really bad. Tan shi looked at her son who was blowing bubbles and then looked at her daughter, who was deep in her thoughts. She smiled, rose and walked to the side. She bent to pick up a pair of tongs and grabbed the ashes in the fire pan as a scent was released. Bai Zhi smiled as she went to take a hold of Tan shi’s tongs. Tan shi shook her head to indicate she wanted to do it herself, Li Wei Yang smiled: “Smells nice! Smells like roasted potatoes!” Tan shi smilingly said: “I know you like to eat this, I just buried two within the pan, now it’s ready.” As she spoke, she placed the roasted potatoes in the pan; Bai Zhi had already washed her hands beforehand to help Li Wei Yang peel the skin. Li Wei Yang actually shook her head and said: “Just bring them over.” Bai Zhi hurriedly smiled and consented, her hands held onto the red potatoes whose skin had already been split opened and brought them to Li Wei Yang. Li Wei Yang wasn’t afraid of them being hot and quickly peeled off the skin of the potatoes. The candlelight in the room was well-illuminated and revealed the sweet scent of the red potatoes. Tan shi smiled and summoned a few yatous over: “Come here.” Zhao Yue was the first one to react but she looked at Li Wei Yang and her legs didn’t move an inch. Li Wei Yang smiled: “Go ahead.” Yatous merrily sounded, Zhao Yue, Bai Zhi, and Mo Zhu all gathered around the fire pan and began to search inside for red potatoes and chestnuts. As Zhao Yue ate, she constantly touched her ear; it was evident that it was very hot. The atmosphere in the room was very relaxing and warming. Li Wei Yang watched and suddenly stopped eating and her gaze fell on her young brother Min Zhi, who had his eyes open and gaped at everyone with curiosity. Tan shi noticed her absent-mindedness and smilingly ordered: “Bring all these things out and share it amongst yourselves.” The yatous stared at one another and then simultaneously looked towards Li Wei Yang. Li Wei Yang nodded and they happily thanked Tan shi. They quickly dug out the food in the fire pan, carried them on a tray, and then carefully left.