Chongfei Manual pt. 1

43.2

After Wei Luo left fourth branch’s courtyard, she coincidentally met Wei Ya and Wei Zheng on the way back to her room.

Since the time that third madam Liu-shi’s had harmed her, Wei Chang wasn’t cold or warm towards Liu-shi. In addition, Liu-shiparents’ family had gone through troubled times. Several years ago, Liu Zhang Qing was removed from his position as a Salt Department official. Liu family had fallen in the world and their days were difficult.

Li-shi had been depressed this entire period. Her parents’ family had declined and Wei Ya had reached a marriageable age. She started to worry about the problem of Wei Ya’s dowry. Every time she thought about this, she couldn’t help thinking about the chests of dowry jewelry that she had given to Wei Luo. Her heart couldn’t ache any worse. She had told these things to Wei Ya. So that when Wei Ya saw Wei Luo now, her expression would become very uncomfortable.

At a distance, these two girls were both slender and graceful. Wei Ya was wearing a golden honey jacket, an embroidered white skirt, and a wood-colored satin cloak that had golden flowers everywhere. Her outfit was slightly monotonous.

In contrast, next to her, Wei Zheng was dressed more glamorously. She was wearing a red satin jacket with a golden treasure pattern and a green skirt that was embroidered with golden thread. The red and green colors didn’t look vulgar when worn on her body. Instead, these two colors highlighted her beauty.

She was more beautiful and clever than Wei Ya and her eyes were also sharp. Without a trace of politeness, she looked at Wei Luo who was across from them. She didn’t call out “fourth elder sister” or greet her. Instead, she pulled Wei Ya and turned around to leave.

Wei Luo watched them leave. Contempt flashed in her eyes for a moment, then she continued walking.

——–

When she had returned to Pine Courtyard, Wei Kun and Chang Hong were currently in the main room discussing the Spring Lantern Festival. During this time of the year, the capital would be livelier than during New Year. There were lanterns hanging at the entrances of all the houses.

Inside the capital, in Qujiang district, there were tens of thousands lanterns floating in the river. It looked as if the beautiful and bright Milky Way had been placed on the ground. Wei Kun thought that since the children had been restricted for a year, he intended to let them go outside to be lively and enjoy the excitement on the streets. This was why he was discussing the arrangements with Chang Hong for that night.

Wei Luo walked inside the main room. In a glance, she saw the teenage boy sitting on the ironwood chair. He was wearing a lilac colored robe with a persimmon pattern. His figure was slender and his face was handsome and bright.

His head was slightly bowed as he listened to Wei Kun. His thick eyelashes casted a shadow on his cheeks and hid the expression in his eyes. Hearing a sound, he raised his head. Seeing that it was her, a brilliant glow emerged in his eyes as his eyes became soft and warm, “Ah Luo.”

Wei Luo walked forward and sat down in the chair next to his, “What was daddy saying earlier?”

Wei Kun picked up the cover his teacup, drank a sip of maofeng tea (T/N: a type of green tea), and slowly said, “The day after tomorrow is the Spring Lantern Festival. I’m busy that day, so I told Chang Hong about my plan to have Song Hui take the two of you outside to walk around.”

Wei Luo was slightly surprised, but soon after she smiled, “Isn’t elder brother Song Hui busy with studying for his exam? Does he have free time?”

Last year, Song Hui had taken the Provincial Imperial Exam. During the next two years, he would be preparing to take the Imperial Civil Service Exam. For most of this year, he had been spending his time at home studying. Wei Luo hadn’t seen him in a long time.

Wei Kun nodded and said, “I had asked him in advance. He said he was free that day.”

Wei Kun had a selfish motive for doing this. His daughter was growing up. Her engagement with Song Hui should be settled soon. It would be the best if the marriage could be set before Song Hui took the exam. He knew that with Song Hui’s abilities, Song Hui would definitely be able to place within the top three in the Imperial Civil Service Exam. Emperor Chong Zhen valued people with talent. If Song Hui could distinguish himself in the Imperial Civil Service Exam, then his future career potential would be limitless.

Wei Luo dragged out a single, “Oh.” Then she said, “I’ll listen to daddy.”

On the side, Chang Hong pursed his lips in displeasure, but he didn’t say anything. He hadn’t like seeing Song Hui from the beginning. After all these years, his feeling still hadn’t changed. It wasn’t known what Song Hui had done to offend him to the point of disliking him this much.

Just as Wei Luo finished her words, they saw Wei Zheng standing at the doorway. There was subtle change on her face as she said, “Daddy, I want to go too.”