Changying The Lady

As Song Zaishui expected, Wei Changying didn"t fall asleep either, but she was not as lively as usual. She said quietly, “Cousin, the case today has pa.s.sed.”

“….” Song Zaishui kept silent for a while and said, “I"m sorry.”

“You have said to Changfeng that we are in a family,” Wei Changying turned her face towards Song Zaishui and said softly, “Since we are in a family, there"s no need to be too polite.”

Song Zaishui sighed and said, “I didn"t mean to cause you into trouble, but…the person my father sent here to take me away is about to arrive. I was…I was too scared that I will never have a chance like this after he comes….”

Wei Changying was stunned. Her eyes looked bright in this dimly lit room. She then said with surprise, “Uncle Song has sent someone to take you away? When? Who?” When Wei Changying told Madam Song that Song Zaishui wanted to go sightseeing, she noticed something from her mother"s words, but Wei Changying didn"t know what was going on because Madam Song refused to tell her too much…. Since Madam Song didn"t even tell her daughter, how would she tell her niece?

“I don"t know,” Song Zaishui made a wry smile as she said, “I"m just guessing.”

“….”

Song Zaishui stopped for a while before she said, “These days I have been thinking how to avoid being taken back to the capital…, and Madam Song also knew about this. Most importantly, Shen Zhou is about to arrive in Fengzhou. However, she did not only agree with me to come out but also let you and Changfeng accompany me. Maybe it"s because since I have come to the Wei Family, I"m only familiar with you. But at the same time, though she attaches great importance to your case, she still lets you accompany me…. I think she has known that I will go back to the capital soon, so she did this out of pity.”

Wei Changying was shocked!

…Sometime before, when Madam Song agreed with Song Zaishui"s request, Wei Changying had asked her why, and her answer was what Song Zaishui had just said!

Madam Song didn"t even notice, or maybe she was affected by her complex emotions, which were caused by her daughter and niece"s marriage. Even if she and Old Madam Song had covered up the news that Song Zaitian was coming with the envoy of the Emperor, she had revealed the truth by agreeing with her niece to go sightseeing!

—Perhaps Song Zaishui was aimed to sound out the news when she proposed going sightseeing!

No wonder that Song Zaishui insisted climbing up to the hilltop after she had seen the tablet inscription on the hillside…. She was neither interested in Wei Boyu"s former residence nor the Little Bamboo Hill. From the very beginning, she was looking for a suitable place to cut her face….

Wei Changying bit her lip and kept silent for a while. She then said, “Our grandfather is one of the six senior commanders of the Vi Dynasty. If you are hurt and disfigured by accident, maybe the royal family won"t blame you, but…. Have you ever thought about yourself? The appearance is the most important thing in a girl"s whole life, and it"s not worth hurting yourself at this price, at least not for the Eastern Palace.”

“This is not the point….” Song Zaishui said as she sighed heavily. Because they were in the dark, and the light was outside the bed curtains covering with a thick veil, the girls couldn"t see each other clearly. Therefore, Song Zaishui let her tears fell without worries, but her voice was still calm. She said, “Tell me, what"s the smallest cost to cancel my engagement with the royal family besides doing this?”

“Yes, appearance is the most important thing in a girl"s whole life. But even if I look good, the rest of my life will be scheming against the woman in the palace,” Song Zaishui said. She then laughed coldly and said, “If the Crown Prince is a man of great talent and bold vision, I won"t be so reluctant to marry him! But…he has already got concubines and children before marrying me. If he needs power from the Song family, he should give me a face, but he didn"t. Tell me, if such a man has ascended the throne in the future, what advantage can I get? I would rather be disfigured and marry an educated, poor man of a collateral branch. After all, I"m my father"s only daughter. Even if he hates me because I don"t become the Crown Princess, he will give me my dowry anyway. Then I can live on my dowry…. After all, I"m still the First Miss of the Song Family!”

She already had such a plan, but it was her first time telling it to others. She didn"t even tell her maidservants. Now, Song Zaishui felt relief after saying those. She said, “I didn"t mean to trouble you and make Changfeng angry. I just thought that since my father was a brilliant person, and that he has sent someone to take me back, I"m afraid…I can do nothing after the person arrives. Therefore, I can only do this today so that I won"t be hopeless in the future.”

Wei Changying sighed and said, “I"m not blaming you. Changfeng is still young, and he doesn"t know that you don"t want to marry into the Eastern Palace. That"s why he was angry with you. Today, he also felt regretful that he nearly missed the best time to let the doctors diagnose you….”

Song Zaishui said, “Whatever, I am the one who has caused your injury.”

“There"s no need to say such things,” Wei Changying thought for a while and said, “What are you going to do next?”

Song Zaishui was stunned and said, “Of course I can"t hurt you anymore….”

“Not this case,” Wei Changying said immediately, “I think it"s unworthy to disfigure in order to cancel the engagement. Also, we have been injured this time, so we can"t let go of this opportunity.”

“Oh….” Song Zaishui began to think deeply. However, Wei Changying continued and said, “You use your arm frequently. Though your arm was dislocated, the doctors have relocated your joints. However…your knees are also wounded….”

In the dark, Song Zaishui"s eyes also brightened!

Wei Changying lowered her voice and whispered beside Song Zaishui"s ear. “Knees are important joints,” she said, “You are a delicate young lady, so if such injury causes you any problem on walking…. You know, a Crown Princess has to greet the Empress frequently, and she also has to attend ceremonies….”

Even in ordinary families, anyone who had a disability was not allowed to approach the place of sacrificing ancestors, let alone the royal family. A Crown Princess could either be plain, ordinary, or lack the quality of being a motherly model of the nation, but she could not be a cripple!

“… You are my lucky star!” Song Zaishui said word by word as she suddenly grabbed Wei Changying"s wrist. She forgot that her arm had just recovered from dislocation and was still in pain.

However, Wei Changying was not as happy as Song Zaishui. She said, “The Empress and Uncle Song will definitely ask a doctor to diagnose you. If you insist on pretending that you are disabled in front of others, they may not know whether you are really crippled or not, because you have a good reputation, not like me. But… there are also some disadvantages in doing this.”

“Firstly, if you pretend to be a cripple for years, you may really become disabled!” Wei Changying looked serious as she said, “Secondly, you are one year older than me, which means you are 18 now…. As long as the royal family doesn"t decide who is to be the Crown Princess, you can never go back to normal! Even if they have decided, you cannot ‘recover" immediately! Therefore, you may miss the best years to get married….”

“This is much better than being disfigured!” Song Zaishui was much more decisive than Wei Changying. She said, “As to the problems of pretending to be a cripple, it"s easy to solve. I don"t like to go outdoors actually, so I can say that I was frightened after I fell and that I dare not to go to forests and hills anymore! Then I can hide in my room for years. As long as my maidservants don"t reveal this secret, who knows whether I am crippled or not? The Empress and my father can"t keep an eye on me every day. Even if I have to go out, I can say that I don"t want others to see me cripple, so that I can travel by sedan.”

Song Zaishui took a deep breath and said, “If I am disfigured, I will also have to wait for years before I get married. In this case, I was planning to attract men to marry me for my dowry. Now that I have to thank G.o.d that I don"t have to cut my face, how can I be so greedy?”

Wei Changying thought for a while and said, “If so, I suggest you should say that your legs hurt tomorrow.”

“I know!” Song Zaishui couldn"t compress her surprise and excitement. However, she suddenly felt anxious and said, “I"m afraid I will cause you trouble if I do so. The elders….”

Wei Changying didn"t know about the royal court, and Wei Huan and Old Madam Song had never told her how much threat Zhiben Hall had against them. She had thought that as long as her grandfather was here, the Wei Family would always be powerful as it used to. She said, “Cousin, you also know that my grandmother and mother love us the most, so they will only scold us. How will they punish us? Also, since I"m injured, I guess my grandmother won"t even scold me.”

Since Wei Changying had said so, Song Zaishui felt relief. But she was cleverer anyway. “Well, I will say that my legs hurt,” she said, “and then fall several times deliberately in front of the others. Then I"ll say that I can"t feel my knees, but I"ll look alright after they hold me up. After pretending several times, my ‘situation" will become worse on the way to the capital…. What could cause the deterioration of my ‘illness"?”

“I don"t know whether Uncle Song will suspect….”

“Even if the servants carry me back to the capital on their backs, my father will still suspect!” Song Zaishui frowned as she said.

The girls made up their plan in the night. Song Zaishui saw hope in canceling her engagement. She was so nervous and excited that she had discussed several details with Wei Changying so that she could deceive the elders. After they finished their discussion, the girls slept with satisfaction.

The next day, Madam Song didn"t come because she had visited the girls yesterday. She ordered Granny Shi to bring the private doctor of the Wei Family"s to diagnose them. Granny Shi also gave them fruit and desserts. She then told Wei Changfeng to take care of his two sisters, and told them to return to the Ruiyu Hall as soon as the girls recovered.

After a night, Wei Changying"s waist had swollen. She could hardly move, let alone getting up. As to Song Zaishui, she insisted on greeting Granny Shi when she heard that Granny Shi arrived.

Standing by the fence, Song Zaishui was in a light-colored dress. She walked towards Granny Shi with a smile as soon as Granny Shi arrived. After Granny Shi had told Song Zaishui twice that she should sit down and rest, Song Zaishui suddenly looked surprised and stumbled in front of the people. She was about to fall!

Fortunately, Huatang had put Madam Song"s words in her mind, so she had led some servants and followed Song Zaishui out. Seeing that Song Zaishui was about to fall, she immediately held her. Huatang and the frightened Granny Shi supported Song Zaishui back to the living room. In the living room, Song Zaishui was examined by Doctor Ji, who had used to diagnose Wei Huan and the other people in the Wei Family. However, Song Zaishui"s pulse was in good condition. Doctor Ji was a famous doctor in Fengzhou, and he didn"t realize that Song Zaishui was cheating them, so he attributed her falling to the congestion, which was caused by yesterday"s injury.

Chunjing immediately brought the prescription written by the doctor who was called by Wei Qing. It was applied for dispersing blood stasis.

There was nothing special about this prescription. Doctor Ji knew the two doctors who had come yesterday, and they were even friends. Having seen that nothing was wrong on the prescription, Doctor Ji gave it back and said, “You can use this prescription.” He then said that Song Zaishui would recover soon after taking it for several days.

Although Granny Shi was worrying why Miss Song couldn"t even stand, she felt relief after hearing what Doctor Ji had said.

Doctor Ji then entered the inner room to take Wei Changying"s pulse outside the bed curtains. He added a prescription that could refresh Wei Changying—it was all he could do.

Granny Shi told the girls what Madam Song and Old Madam Song had exhorted. She then scolded the servants and left in a hurry.

After she left, the girls asked the servants to leave them alone and began to whisper, “This Doctor Ji is interesting.”

“I told you that no one would suspect you since you have such a good reputation,” Wei Changying chuckled as she said, “Now that his diagnose has helped you. He is my grandfather"s doctor, so our family believes in him. He gave you a good start, so now you have an excuse to continue pretending to be crippled.”

Song Zaishui sighed and said, “Thank G.o.d! We are so fortunate today!”

“It"s not enough if you just fall for once….” Wei Changying reminded.

“I know, I will do that again in front of the maidservants….” Song Zaishui turned her eyes and said, “I won"t just do it for Granny Shi.”

On this day, Song Zaishui had fallen three times, but she was supported by others each time.

Thanks to Doctor Ji"s diagnosis, the people were not too worried about Song Zaishui. They thought that she would recover in a few days and that Wei Changying was the one they should really concern about.