Chongfei Manual pt. 1

6

Supporting the small body, Wei Kun asked with surprise : “What is Ah Luo saying? Madam wants to sell you? Didn’t she take you to burn incense at Huguo Temple? Where is everyone?” Since he mentioned them, he looked around, and not seeing a trace of Madam Du, furrowed his brows, “How did you come back?”

The maidservant, who had delivered Wei Luo to the reception pavilion, muttered quietly: “Fourth Miss was brought here by a bodyguard… At that time, there was no one else with the fourth Miss.”

That was a serious issue — Madam Du had led her out, but the girl had come back alone. No matter what, Madam Du hadn’t properly looked after Wei Luo. Wei Kun’s complexion wasn’t very good. Ah Luo was crying as well, the tears soaking through his clothing material. His heart hurt for her. He squatted down and held Ah Luo’s small face, asking gently: “Ah Luo, tell Daddy clearly, what has actually happened? Who was that guard? What about Madam?”

Wei Changhong, who was standing nearby, was equally distressed. His older sister was crying, but he had no idea why. He stepped forward to comfort her, but didn’t know what to say.

He slowly reached for Wei Luo’s hand, his grip tightening the longer he held it, “Ah Luo…”

Wei Luo was crying very pitifully, out of breath, her beautiful little face was red. She was wiping her tears and at the same time piling up the accusations: “After we finished burning incense, we passed through a forest on the way back, and two people were waiting there… Elder sister Jin Lu heard them, Madam said she was going to sell me to them…”

She repeated everything that had happened that morning. Her words were child-like and simple, but each spearhead was pointed at Madam Du. She was the one, who had contacted the slave traders, had prepared the sedative medicine, and had wanted to snatch her forcefully… The more she cried, the more dejected she looked. Finally, she asked Wei Kun in a terrified way: “Daddy, did Ah Luo make a mistake? That’s why Madam doesn’t want me. Daddy tell Ah Luo, Ah Luo can change…”

Wei Kun’s complexion was black like the bottom of a pot. His thumbs gently wiped the tears from her face, his tone was doting: “Ah Luo hasn’t made any mistakes. You’re Daddy’s little treasure.”

He had barely spoken, and Wei Zheng, who had heard everything from beginning to end, shouted angrily from the entrance: “You’re saying nonsense! My mother didn’t do that, she’s not a bad person. You’re lying to Daddy!”

Although Wi Zheng was five, she could roughly understand what was going on. Wei Luo complained to father, saying that mother had done something wrong. She saw that father looked very angry, and would certainly punish mother later. She subconsciously knew she had to protect her own mother, couldn’t let Wei Luo’s scheme prevail.

Wei Zheng wasn’t aware of the whole truth behind this matter. Madam Du alone had planned it all in secret. Today, Wei Zheng had wanted to go to Huguo Temple together with them, and even threw a fit that Madam Du was favoring Wei Luo, only taking her. Madam Du had had no choice but to tell her, as long as she behaved, she wouldn’t ever see Wei Luo again. After considering for a while, Wei Zheng had nodded in agreement.

Wei Zheng and Wei Luo had never gotten close. Wei Zheng’s temper was very similar to Madam Du — competitive, doing anything to fight for first place, wanted to be more outstanding than anyone. So whenever Duke Ying praised Wei Luo, she couldn’t accept it in her heart.

Where was Wei Luo better than her? Why did everyone like her? Mother had said that Wei Luo didn’t have a mother, that she was an illegitimate child. She quietly bore these words in mind, therefore had always thought Ah Luo’s status was lower than hers. Now that she saw Wei Kun being so good to Wei Luo, she got even more furious.