Chongfei Manual pt. 1

17

Duke Ying wasn’t in the residence, thus only Wei Kun went to the reception pavilion to receive Count Zhongyi’s successor and his wife.

Song Baiye and Madam Xu weren’t aware of Madam Du’s matter yet. Arriving at the reception pavilion, they saw only Wei Kun, but not Madam Du, leading them ask curiously: “How come we didn’t see the fifth madam?”

Wei Kun wasn’t willing to mention the issue. Furthermore, he didn’t want people from Count Zhongyi’s residence to meddle in his family’s affairs, so he spoke concisely: “She’s made a mistake, she’s currently reflecting on herself in seclusion.”

Hearing that, the two people were considerably startled. Madam Du had made a mistake, this mistake could be big or small, in the end, what kind of mistake was it? No one had told them of this matter, so they naturally weren’t clear about the inside story. They had a mind to ask for the details, but seeing Wei Kun’s closed off expression, they kept quiet a bit embarrassed. They had come with a request this time, so it wouldn’t do to make a disturbance because of Madam Du. Not to mention Madam Du was merely the distantly related second wife. A married daughter was like spilt water, they didn’t have a reason to care too much.

Madam Xu considered for a bit, and said a few fords of praise for Madam Du as a show of support, “Before Yueying got married, she had the utmost understanding of etiquette…”

Done speaking, she saw that Wei Kun wasn’t in the mood to listen, and tactfully changed the topic, bringing up next month’s feast in honor of the Empress’ birthday. Empress Chen was 35 this year, the legitimate daughter of Huaihua’s great general. Coming from a general’s family, her moral conduct was righteous. During the time they were recapturing Wurong, she had fought alongside with the then Crown Prince, Emperor Chong Zhen. Battling the enemies, they were able to defend Daliang’s landscape. Empress Chen and Emperor Chong Zhen’s mutual affections had developed as they followed each other in life and death on the battlefield, it was deeply moving. It had already turned into a beautiful story in the capital through word of mouth. Empress Chen had given birth to two sons and one daughter. The oldest prince hadn’t reached ten before dying an early death. The second prince, Zhao Jie, was 15 this year. There was also the precious princess, who was only seven years old.

Empress Chen had been born in a rich and powerful noble family. What treasures hadn’t her pair of eyes seen before? Preparing a gift for her was, therefore, a truly difficult task.

While the adults were speaking, the several children naturally couldn’t sit still. Song Hui could still be regarded as sitting properly, but the other kids weren’t behaving. Song Ruwei was glancing left and right, Changhong’s head was bowed as he played with his coiled nephrite waist ornament, Wei Zheng was absent-mindedly peeling peanuts, as for Wei Luo…Wei Luo?

Song Hui raised his eyes, and saw a small head pop out from behind the ironwood chair that Wei Kun was sitting on. The small head shifted slightly and revealed a pair of round sparkling eyes. With an adorable smiling face, Wei Luo quietly extended a tiny finger and pointed at the door, meaning that she wanted Song Hui to lead her outside.

Song Hui quickly understood, smiled gently, and stood up. After paying respects to Wei Kun and Song Baiye, he said: “Father, fifth Uncle, I want to take Ah Luo and the little sisters along for a turn in the backyard.”

Wei Kun was quite satisfied with Song Hui, this future son-in-law, thinking that he was not only intelligent, but also considerably tolerant, and had a sense of propriety. Over time, he would surely turn into a fine young man worth entrusting one’s lifetime to. Having heard what he’d said, he nodded and pulled Wei Luo to come out from behind his back with a smile: “Don’t hide, Daddy already saw you.”