In the main room of the back house, the curtain hung low, but it didn"t feel sultry. It was because there were tanks about half the height of a man filled with ice in the four corners of the room, and four little maids holding palm-leaf fans, fanning neatly and uniformly. Although it was in the summer, it was still cool and enjoyable like autumn. There were two pieces of frozen cheese to hand, and it was the most sleepy noon. Song, the wife of the Wei Family had just finished a day"s work and had lunch. It was a good time to have a rest so that she would be fresh to visit the old Madam later. But Madam Song tossed about for a while on the couch with the bamboo mat, and could not fall asleep.
"How is she now?" Madam Song thought over and did not feel at ease. She sat up with her hair down and asked her wet nurse, Granny Shi, who came to this family as her dowry.
Granny Shi answered embarra.s.sedly, "I just lifted the curtain and glanced through the window. Miss Wei is still kneeling in the sun. It looks very hot out there."
After hearing this, Madam Song hissed and asked, "Did anyone give her water?"
"I did not see that." Granny Shi said carefully, "Madam, it"s going to be a very hot day. I"m afraid that Miss Wei can"t stand it!"
Madam Song looked very bad. She slapped the small Bintangor table beside the couch with so great force that she almost turned it over. She said angrily, "Don"t worry about her! If she doesn"t admit her mistake, she won"t be allowed to get up! I didn"t say where to kneel in such a large yard. She chose a place that was not covered by the camphor tree to kneel deliberately, just to soften my heart. I"m not going to being soft-hearted today! Humph!" After saying that, she put on a poker face, lay down again, and commanded coldly, "No one is allowed to give her water! Let her kneel! If she doesn"t admit her mistake and gets sunstroke, you can just call a doctor to see her without telling me! This heartless little thing! Does she really think I can"t harden my heart to discipline her!"
Granny Shi answered carefully, "Yes!"
When Madam Song turned her face back and seemed to fall asleep. Granny Shi winked at Huajue and Huaping, the maidservants who were waiting by the curtain, and led them out of the inner room. When they got outside, Granny Shi murmured, "Do you understand what the madam just said?"
Huajue and Huaping looked at each other and whispered, "Shall we give some water to Miss Wei?"
"Take the frozen cheese to her as well. Tell her to eat slowly. It"s not good to eat too much cold food on such a hot day." Granny Shi reminded, "Then persuade her to kneel under the tree. In a word, we can"t let her stay in the sun any longer!"
Huajue and Huaping answered, and were just about to go out. Granny Shi said again, "By the way, ask her whether she is willing to admit her mistake. If not, persuade her to pretend to faint later."
Huajue said with a wry smile, "I"m afraid that Miss Wei will be stubborn. What if she refuses to listen to me?"
If the eldest daughter of the eldest branch of the Wei family was willing to pretend to faint, she would not refuse to lower her head to Madam Song. Granny Shi sighed, "If she is not willing to pretend to faint, you can coax her into going back to her room. Didn"t the madam say that if Miss Wei faints, we won"t need to tell her? If we don"t mention it, madam will think that Miss Wei is sent back to the room when she faints while kneeling."
The two maidservants understood the real meaning of the Madam Song"s words and thanked Granny Shi for her advice. Just when they were about to open the door, unexpectedly, the sound of footsteps came from the veranda outside, soon came to the door and knocked gently on it. A very gentle voice said with a smiling mood, "Can aunt see me now?"
"Quick, open the door!" Hearing this, Shi hurriedly ordered the maidservants to open the door and straightened her skirt again. The door opened, and a girl of about 17 or 18 years old was standing outside. Without any makeup, her eyebrows were black like the distant mountain, her eyes and teeth were bright, and her skin was white like the moon.
Her black hair was tied into a bun, and two Jeweled lotus hairpins were inserted obliquely. She was smiling, showing two deep dimples in her cheeks. Wearing a lotus colored shirt with wide sleeves, a moonlight covert skirt, and a light Fragrance Sachet on the waist, she looked generous and bright. As soon as the door opened, a very comfortable smile appeared on her face. Seeing Granny Shi, she immediately called her.
When Granny Shi saw the young girl, she couldn"t help showing her joy. Because the heatwave was rolling outside, she hurriedly invited her and the two maidservants in blue behind her to come in and talk. She closed the door and blocked the heatwave outside. Granny Shi didn"t have time to greet her and asked the young girl in a low voice, "Thank G.o.d that Miss Song is here. Are you coming for..." Through the door, Granny Shi also accurately looked to the place where Wei Changying was kneeling at that moment.
Cousin Song Zaishui was the niece of Madam Song. Like the Wei Family of Fengzhou, her family was the first-cla.s.s gentlefolk of Jiangnan, and she was the oldest daughter of the Song Family. Her father, Song Yuw.a.n.g, minister of public and also the Dazongbo, was the brother of Madam Song. His official career was in the capital, Haojing, and his mother, Wei, died prematurely. In the gentlefolks, the Wei Family of Feng Zhou and the Song Family of Jiangnan had an appointment several generations ago that they were united by marriage from generation to generation. Although they did not only marry people in each other"s family, they always preferred each other. Song Zaishui"s birth mother was an aunt of Wei Changying and Wei Changfeng, so the relationship between Song Zaishui and Wei Changying was more than close, and she called Madam Song aunt.
Wei died of an illness more than ten years ago. After her death, Song Yuw.a.n.g ordered Song Zaitian, the eldest son, and Song Zaijiang, the second son, to go back to Jiangnan for burial. Song Zaishui also came back with them. These three brothers and sisters stayed in Jiangnan to observe mourning for their mother. Unexpectedly, after the mourning, Song Zaitian received a letter from Song Yuw.a.n.g, which asked him to take his brother and sister back to the capital. Song Zaishui was unwilling to leave and took the old madam of the Song family for an excuse to stay. Considering that after Wei"s death, Song Yuw.a.n.g didn"t marry again, and Song Zaishui wouldn"t have any female elder to teach her if she came back to the capital, the old madam of the Song family also agreed to keep her around to teach her for some time.
This teaching let Song Zaishui stay until that year. At the beginning of that year, Song Yuw.a.n.g urged her to return to the capital again. Even Old Madam Song also told her to leave, so she left Jiangnan unwillingly. When she pa.s.sed by Fengzhou, she came to visit her Grandaunt, Old Madam Song, and her aunt, Madam Song and found an excuse to refuse to leave.
Although she stayed in the Wei Family for more than four months, refusing to leave after receiving letters from her family several times and made it clear that she wanted to stay in the Wei Family, no one in the Wei Family dared to despise her. The only reason was that before her mother"s death, Song Zaishui got the praise of Zhaoyi, who became the Empress now, and got the golden words of the Emperor, who gave her a Ruyi Jade and promised to let her be Crown Princess after she turned fifteen. This meant that she would become the Empress and a motherly model of the nation in the future!
Therefore, such a trusted old servant, Granny Shi, who regarded Miss Wei as half a daughter and sometimes blamed her, treated Song Zaishui with full respect whenever she saw her.
Although Song Zaishui was born in an honorable family and had a great future, she was not crafty or arrogant at all. Instead, she was modest and gentle, with demeanor. Listening to Granny Shi, she nodded and said in a low voice, "I didn"t know about this. Just now the fifth cousin came to see me. Is aunt in there? Is she asleep?"
Granny Shi admired Wei Changfeng"s smartness. In fact, she thought about inviting Madam Song"s niece to intercede. But Song Zaishui was the Crown Princess to be. How dare they disturb her except for Wei Changfeng?
She said quickly, "Miss Wei is still kneeling outside. How could the madam fall asleep? Miss Song Zaishui, please come in now!"
As expected, Madam Song couldn"t sleep. Not only couldn"t she sleep, but she was also picking up her ears to all the sound around. Hearing the footsteps different from that of Granny Shi and maidservants coming into the inner room, instead of turning over, Madam Song coughed with airs of greatness and said coldly, "Do you admit your mistake?"
Although she was scolding, the expectation in her tone could be recognized by anyone. The eager scold was more like a hint. The maidservant all bowed their heads and clenched their lips.
Song Zaishui also felt a little funny. She pursed her lips with force and called as usual, "Aunt?"
"Zaishui?" Madam Song immediately felt disappointed. She didn"t care to put on airs, turned over and sat up. When she saw that there was not even the shadow of her daughter behind her niece, she asked listlessly, "Why did you come here on such a hot day?"
"I couldn"t sleep just now and wanted to find cousin Changying to talk. Unexpectedly, her maidservants were in the room, but I was told that she was here with you." Song Zaishui went to Madam Song and sat down next to her warmly. She hugged her arm and said, "I thought it was quiet in the house now. Maybe my aunt hid something good for cousin Changying and I became suspicious, so I came here to have a look!"
Although Madam Song was full of worries about her daughter"s stubbornness, she couldn"t help laughing, "How could Changying be more obedient and sensible than you are? If I had hidden something good, I would certainly give it to you, not to her!"
"We must call cousin Changying in to hear that!" Song Zaishui smiled and said, "Let her be jealous!"
Madam Song said angrily, "Don"t call her in. As I just said, if she doesn"t admit her mistake, she won"t be allowed to get up!"
Her words were relentless, but for Granny Shi and Song Zaishui, the people who were familiar with Madam Song"s temperament, the real meaning was - after I just lost my temper like that, if she didn"t relent, how could I find a reason to ask her to get up?
Song Zaishui couldn"t laugh or cry in her heart, but she still said seriously, "Didn"t she admit her mistake long ago?"
"What?" Both Madam Song and Granny Shi were stunned.
Song Zaishui said, "When I just came by, my cousin was still there saying that she was sorry for letting you down!"
"Really?" Madam Song was stunned for a while. When did her daughter become so obedient?
"Certainly!" Song Zaishui said seriously, "If aunt doesn"t believe it, why not ask about Chunjing and Xiajing?"
These two maidservants both nodded, "We did hear Miss Wei saying so."
Song Zaishui took the opportunity and said softly, "It"s so hot outside. Aunt, look at my clothes. I changed them before going out. They just got wet on my way here. I don"t know how long my cousin has been kneeling outside. Don"t let her get sunburnt!"
Madam Song said with a poker face, "She deserves to be sunburned! She got it all by herself!" Just after saying so, she switched the conversation and said quickly, "Since she has admitted her mistake and Zaishui has interceded for her, I"ll let her off this time. Granny Shi, go and tell her to go back to her room! This ignorant girl! I don"t want to see her now!" When it came to the last sentence, she struck the table again! She was afraid that others couldn"t tell that she was actually a "strict mother".
Granny Shi tried her best to stop laughing. She said seriously, "I will go now."
As soon as she came out of the inner room, Granny Shi put out her hand to cover her mouth. Even so, she couldn"t help laughing out. Madam Song saw clearly that her niece and maidservants were lying, but she had been waiting for an out. Naturally, she can"t wait to believe it, but she thought it was disgraceful. She was afraid that her daughter would expose Song Zaishui"s lie when she came in and met them. Therefore, she had to put on airs, as if she had been still angry with her daughter, and ask her daughter to go back to her room directly.
Pity her! Madam Song couldn"t help it. Although her husband Wei Zhenghong was the eldest son of Wei Huan, the head of the Wei family, he had been bedridden with a lingering disease since he was young, so that Madam Song did not get pregnant for nearly ten years after she got married. It was until the ninth year that they found a good medicine, with proper recuperation, her husband began to get better and got Wei Changying and Wei Changfeng. Up to now, Wei Zhenghong still lived in a separate yard without Madam Song. It was not because the relationship between them was bad, but because Wei Zhenghong needed to rest quietly to recuperate and couldn"t be disturbed at all.
As the daughter-in-law of the family, in the first nine years after Madam Song got married, she was dreaming of having kids. So after having children, she really treated them with all the care, and couldn"t spoil them more. Her indulgence made her daughter Miss Wei Changying very stubborn. The things she believed couldn"t be challenged by anyone. Since she was told by someone that Wushu was the best when she was young, she got no interest in what decent girls must learn, such as poetry and needlework and planned to learn martial arts and make a "good future" in her husband"s family with her fists.
"Miss Wei is so smart. Ten years ago, she saw through the fact that madam would never be cruel to her own children." Granny Shi hid behind the door and laughed for a while. Then she refrained, wiped the tears out of her eyes, and started to worry again. "But next year, Miss Wei will get married. She doesn"t know anything except martial arts. How can she live like that? Madam can"t do anything with Miss Wei..."