Madam Song was worried, but Wei Changying smiled calmly and said, "Since the two sisters-in-law are virtuous women, even if they were jealous of this pair of hair clasp, they would only say something out of jealousy. If I am in a good mood, I will ignore. But if I am not, I will respond to their words. After all, they are my sisters, so I don"t think they would do anything to me."
"Virtuous women?" Madam Song sneered as she said, "Only one kind of woman in the plutocratic families could be praised as a virtuous lady because of her kindness— a girl like you who has not yet married and is under the protection of powerful elders! Let"s just talk about the servants. In a family like ours with so many servants, we all agree that there"s a distinction between masters and servants. However, in the collateral branch of the Wei Family which is in poverty, the servants never have such a life as our servants, let alone the personal attendants of the masters. To us, these people are servants; to the others, they might be more respectable than we thought! People are not like logs. Take Granny Shi and your wet nurse Mrs. He as examples, they are loyal servants as well as humans, so they also have desires. Though they dare not betray you, you know whether they would play tricks on you or not? Do you think you can manage them only because you are virtuous?!"
She taught her daughter earnestly, "Now that your two sisters-in-law have a reputation of being virtuous, they must have powerful means! If you really think that they are easy to get along with, you will count money for them without knowing you are sold!"
Madam Song was talking seriously, but Wei Changying kept smiling and said, "Since the Shen Family has the same status as our family, it has rules too. It wouldn"t be so easy for them to betray me. First of all, they are just my sisters-in-law, not my mothers-in-law. They can never look down on me like elders. Secondly, according to your and grandmother"s speculation, the pair of red jade hair clasp Madam Su gave me means that she has admitted Shen Cangfeng"s status in the Shen Family. Therefore, since my sisters-in-law are virtuous people, the elder one should take the initiative to give me the power of managing the family, and the younger one should respect me! Or else, they are embarra.s.sing Shen Cangfeng. Even if Madam Su doesn"t care about me, she will definitely care about Shen Cangfeng."
"When I hear the beginning of your words, I think you have become smarter. However, you are still silly!" Madam Song sneered soon after she heard what Wei Changying had said. She touched her daughter"s forehead with one finger and slightly scolded, "They can"t bully you, but they can oppress you using the order of seniority! As to giving you the power of managing the family..., tell me, based on your ability, even if your sisters-in-law play no tricks, could you manage the whole Shen Family? Su Xiuman cares about Shen Cangfeng, so if you are too useless to share burdens with Shen Cangfeng, how do you think would she treat you?! She would at least find two concubines for Shen Cangfeng! How would you feel then? Angry? Embarra.s.sed?"
"Managing a family will not be too difficult." Wei Changying said in a lazy voice, "After all, I was born in a big family. Although I do not learn about the methods, I can infer things from what I"ve seen. Will it be difficult to copy? Also, I will have servants going with me. Since you and my grandmother love me so much, you will arrange some capable ones for me. When the time comes, I can listen to their advice. Their future depends on me, so they will never betray me! As to the concubines... hha...."
Apparently, she didn"t care about the concubines, and Madam Song knew why. When she was about to talk, Wei Changying smiled and said, "Speaking of virtuous, isn"t my cousin Song Zaishui virtuous? But she could do nothing to me."
Hearing the first part of her words, Madam Song thought that although her daughter was too optimistic, her plan was feasible. However, the second part made her so angry that she hit Wei Changying"s head with a round silk fan and said, "Zaishui compromised because you are her cousin! Or else you would have died more than ten times if she had used the means learned from your grandmother!"
"That"s impossible." Wei Changying said with confidence, "I am protected by my grandmother and my mother, and my cousin could never be powerful than you are. So no matter whether she hates me or not, I will be fine!"
"...." Madam Song was silent for a while. She then stood onto her feet angrily and said, "You evil little thing disappoints me! Why are you still so lazy in such an urgent situation! You still don"t care! If you don"t pay attention, I"ll beat you!"
She was roaring, but her hands were carefully hitting Wei Changying with the round silk fan. Madam Song hit her daughter so light that the Chinese rose beside Wei Changying"s hair clasp remained intact....
How could such a mother frighten her daughter? Wei Changying didn"t even dodge. She supported her head with one hand as she smiled and said, "Don"t be angry, mother.... After all, the sisters-in-law have not borne a deep grudge against me. Not all the daughters-in-law in the Shen Family can get the hair clasp. They should blame their useless husbands. The hair clasp is to give the wife of the one who takes over the Mingpei Hall. If they refuse to accept it, they should encourage their husbands to fight for the position— and that"s Shen Cangfeng"s business!"
"How dare you say this!" Madam Song became angrier after hearing what Wei Changying had said. "Shen Cangfeng, Shen Cangfeng," Madam Song said with anger, "what"s your relationship with him?! A couple should be seen as a whole. Will you be happy if he is schemed by his brothers?! If he loses his power, what do you think your situation will be?! In those days when you said you didn"t want to come to grief after marrying him, I was for you because I"m your mother! Now you are hoping Shen Cangfeng loses power?! Do you want to p.i.s.s me off?!"
"Don"t be angry, mother. Listen to me!" Seeing that her mother was really in anger, Wei Changying stood up immediately and made a cup of tea for her. She then said, "Shen Cangfeng is neither the lineal eldest son nor the eldest child of all, and he is now still under 20 years old. The Shen Family has many heirs, but Shen Cangfeng is chosen to be the next Family Head at such a young age, which indicates that he is either more capable or more beloved than anyone else! Anyway, his brothers are defeated by him. Now that the Shen Family has made such a decision, it"s difficult to beat him down. After all, the position of the Family Head is no trivial matter. Since the Grand Preceptor has made such a choice, he will not change his mind in a long time. I"ve heard that my grandfather had used the power of a Family Head for a decade before my great grandfather gave him the position!"
Madam Song looked sullen and said, "Now that you know Shen Cangfeng is a good person, stop thinking about your stupid plan of beating him up! Your grandfather always has a good eye on people. Otherwise, why would he make time to talk with Shen Xuan about your engagement that year when he was hurrying back Fengzhou to recuperate?"
She lowered her voice and told her daughter about the secret. "At that time," she said, "you were not the only granddaughter who was suitable to marry Shen Cangfeng! For example, Changwan in your second uncle"s branch, four years older than you and two years older than Shen Cangfeng, could also marry him! Although your second uncle is the son of a concubine, he is the most capable one in your father"s generation. At that time, Changfeng has not born yet! If we didn"t have Changfeng, the status and t.i.tle that your grandfather possesses today would belong to the second branch. So why do you think did he choose you?!"
Wei Changying was stunned. Madam Song continued, saying, "He did it all for our branch! Without Changfeng, I and your father had to adopt a son from other branches! We only have one daughter, and who knows what the adopted son will do after you get married? Of course, your mother can not get bullied easily, but the heir could play tricks. If your second uncle"s branch gains power, and your father is the lineal eldest son, we first branch will live a lonely life. But if you have a good marriage, even if your grandparents can not protect us anymore, your second uncle dares not disrespect us! Only in this way can we first branch stop worrying about being oppressed by your second uncle. That"s why your grandfather engaged you to Shen Cangfeng, but not that Changwan who was more suitable for the Shen Family!"
"My father is the lineal eldest son of my grandfather, so he is treated differently from other children," Wei Changying said. She seemed to realize something after hearing Madam Song"s words, and said seriously, "I must be obedient and live up to grandfather"s hard work."
Madam Song was pleased to see that her daughter was so sensible. However, she didn"t know what this evil little thing was thinking while saying those words. "Since Shen Cangfeng has gained success at a young age," Wei Changying thought, "he must be an arrogant person! Even if he looks humble in front of the elders, who knows if he will show pride facing the younger generations, let alone how he will be after returning to the backyard! If I cannot serve him well, he will dislike me....How could this happen?! I am the First Miss of the Wei Family in Fengzhou, and I have never been so inferior during the time when my grandparents and my mother brought up me. Why should I please others after getting married?! If so, what"s the difference between a wife and a maid?"
Wei Changying thought it was too terrible!
She clenched her fist secretly, deciding that such a terrible thing should not come true in any case!
Soon after she had comforted Madam Song, Wei Changying went to find Jiang Zheng immediately to practice martial arts. She had made a vow that she should use her own fists to fight for a good future, at least as good as her life in the Wei Family....
Seeing Wei Changying so stubborn, Madam Song had no idea what to do. Therefore, she made time to consult with Old Madam Song. "The wedding day is coming," Madam Song said, "but she is still obsessed with practicing Wushu. She has not possessed any characteristics of Wei Family, what should we do?"
Old Madam Song was also worrying about her granddaughter, but it was hard to make a decision. Both Madam Song and Old Madam Song were experts in cultivating children. Because they were both born in a distinguished family, they knew what kind of wife the gentlefolks would prefer. But they could only judge from the perspective of the mother-in-law or sister-in-law. If Wei Changying really wanted to have a mutual affinity with her husband, all she could depend on was fate.
If Wei Changying had been her daughter-in-law, Old Madam Song would have the same requirements as every other Head Mothers of the n.o.ble families would have— virtuous, sensible and having a lot of children— features of a daughter-in-law that every mother-in-law would like.
But Wei Changying was the lineal granddaughter as well as her only granddaughter. Old Madam Song hoped that Wei Changying could be preferred by her father-in-law and mother-in-law, as well as being respected by her sisters-in-law. Most importantly, she hoped that Wei Changying could live a harmonious life with her husband! When Old Madam Song was young, she had suffered from her own mother-in-law, because her husband Wei Huan was the son of a concubine. Wei Huan didn"t s.n.a.t.c.h the position of the Family Head from Duke Jingping. It was because Duke Jingping was too useless to take charge of the Wei Family that had made him lose the position. However, Duke Jingping"s mother, the wife of the former Duke Jingping couldn"t feel any worse seeing the benefits that used to belong to them had now belonged to Wei Huan.
Wei Huan"s situation at that time was similar to Wei Shengyi"s. Duke Jingping was too obsessed with the Qingtan Idle Talk and the theory of Daoism that he didn"t care much about having an heir. Therefore, he had the only son Wei Zhengya at an old age, and his son was still little when the former Duke Jingping pa.s.sed away. The former d.u.c.h.ess Jingping must have had the same plan as Old Madam Song— if her son couldn"t take charge, she would support her grandson! She couldn"t let the heir of a concubine take advantage of her branch, for it was related to the interests of the future generations.
The late birth of Wei Zhengya disappointed former d.u.c.h.ess Jingping. However, Old Madam Song had suffered a lot from her mother-in-law because of Wei Huan. She didn"t want her granddaughter to experience what she had undergone. But Old Madam Song also knew that the most important thing in a marriage was not receiving love and respect from parents-in-law and sisters-in-law, but being loved by the husband.
Especially for Wei Changying, who was born in a family with the same status as Shen Cangfeng"s, such a perfect match had default rules. No matter how Su Xiuman disliked Wei Changying and how she embarra.s.sed and alerted Changying, her power was limited. If she exceeded the limitation, not only would the Wei Family rebel, but the Su Family, as well as the Shen Family, would also prevent her from corrupting their family reputation.
Wei Changying"s sisters-in-law were all born in n.o.ble families. As long as the Wei Family was here and Wei Changfeng could replace Wei Zhenghong to take charge as she planned, Old Madam Song thought Wei Changying needn"t be afraid of her mother-in-law, let alone the sisters-in-law.
After all, Wei Changying"s relationship with Shen Cangfeng worried her more.
Although people always said that one should marry a virtuous woman, Old Madam Song was clear after so many years that a virtuous woman would be preferred by the people, but might not be preferred by her husband.
In these years, Old Madam Song kept ordering the servants in the capital to gather information about the Shen Family and told her daughter to visit the Shen Family frequently. She knew that Shen Cangfeng was a typical child of famous families who had excellent talent but was humble and tolerant. However, for Old Madam Song, these praises were not the most important things. She paid attention to Shen Cangfeng"s hobby— studying military strategies and taming fine horses. When Shen Cangfeng was just 15, he ignored other people"s persuasion and insisted to tame a spirited horse which they had just received from the western Di tribes. He was then strictly punished by Shen Xuan. From this case, Old Madam Song noticed that Shen Cangfeng"s nature might not be so humble. How would a humble person insist to tame a spirited horse, putting himself at the risk of breaking a leg or losing his life?
Every child from the n.o.ble families knew that he who was born in a distinguished family should not put himself at risk.
But this case lined with the style of the Shen Family in Western Liang. Western Liang bordered on the territory of the western Di tribes, so the children in the Shen Family had grown up in the war between the two for hundreds of years. The western Di tribes were ignorant and cruel, without courage, how could the Shen Family guard the boundary?
... Chen Ruping had also said that the Shen Family didn"t put emphasis on cultivating literati as the Wei Family. Since Shen Cangfeng was a typical heir of the Shen Family, maybe he wouldn"t like to have a virtuous and quite wife who had been cultivated under the rules in the n.o.ble families.
However, things were not sure. If Shen Cangfeng had the ambition to fight on the battlefield, what he needed was a virtuous wife to take care of his family.
After all, their fate was hard to tell. Although Old Madam Song and Madam Song were both worrying that Wei Changying would face difficulties after getting married, they still got hope— what if Chen Ruping"s words came true?
If they forced Wei Changying to change, they might not only destroy her future by hand but also make her sad.
After thinking for a long time, Old Madam Song said, "Now that her personality has formed, it"s difficult to change. If we force her, I"m afraid that it will be worse. In my opinion, just let her do what she wants. Perhaps she is lucky."
They could only bet now.