Changying The Lady

The imperial edict, which aimed to order Empress Qian to suicide, had accused her of murdering an imperial concubine. The victim was a young and beautiful royal mistress who had just entered the palace less than half a year ago.

The victim was just a royal mistress, but the Empress had murdered her at the cost of her life. What"s more, the royal mistress was born in an ordinary family, so even the ministers thought that the Emperor shouldn"t order the Empress to suicide for such a common woman. But perhaps His Majesty doted on the royal mistress very much, so he insisted on ordering the Empress to suicide.

What"s more, the Crown Prince was implicated. The Emperor regarded him as “the son of a b.i.t.c.h” and “an extremely unfilial son”. Like his lineal eldest brother, his t.i.tle of the Crown Prince was deposed, and he was shut down in a desolate courtyard.

This Crown Prince didn"t commit suicide, but he died because of melancholy some years later. He was the second tragic Crown Prince of this dynasty.

Knowing that the Crown Prince had died, the Honored Consort Deng was drunk that night.

The position of the Empress was vacant for the second time. This time, the Emperor had told the Honored Consort Deng personally that he was going to make her the Empress….

However—

The imperial edict had t.i.tled the Lady of Bright Deportment, who was born in the Gu Family in Hongzhou, as the new Empress.

Honored Consort Deng didn"t even receive a proper reward.

When Empress Gu entered the Changle Palace, she had already got a child, who was the ninth Prince of the royal family. Soon after that, she chose the lineal daughter of the Song Family in Jiangnan— Song Zaishui, as her child"s wife.

After that, the ninth Prince became the third Crown Prince in this dynasty.

Empress Gu"s position was so secure that although the status of the Honored Consort was only one level below the Empress, the imperial harems didn"t remember her….

As to the secret fight between the imperial harems, although Deng Zongqi had never asked his aunt, he could feel how terrible it was from what Honored Consort Deng had said.

Deng Zongqi didn"t like to be involved in their fight, but the Honored Consort had helped him a lot without asking for return. The old servants around his aunt had told him that although the Deng family had a lot of children, the Honored Consort particularly cared about him. The only reason was that he looked like the sixth Prince who had pa.s.sed away….

She said those in order to let Deng Zongqi believe that the Honored Consort treated him kindly with no other intentions. The Honored Consort was just reminiscing about the sixth Prince by treating Deng Zongqi well.

But this didn"t mean that Deng Zongqi could stand by and watch the Honored Consort suffer….

He remembered that before he left the capital, his eldest uncle summoned him for the first time in so many years…. Deng Zongqi"s eyes glistened, but he immediately changed into a determined look. The Honored Consort had treated him kindly without asking for return, and she didn"t plan to let him know that she had gone into trouble in the palace. If not his eldest uncle thought that the Deng Family shouldn"t bring up Deng Zongqi for free, Deng Zongqi would never know how Zhong Xiaoyi suddenly became powerful….

Of course, his eldest uncle did this because he had bad intentions towards Deng Zongqi. He extremely hated Deng Zongqi"s father. However, this uncle had said that Deng Zongqi could refuse to help the Honored Consort, but if something terrible happened to her, the Deng Family would be affected. When that time came, Deng Zongqi might not be able to stay in the Standby Guard any longer.

If he couldn"t stay in the Standby Guard, he could only return to Rong City….

Without mentioning the Honored Consort, Deng Zongqi didn"t care about his future himself. In such an age when the gentry and the royal family worked together to rule the world, he was doomed to be ordinary for his whole life because his uncle was unpleasant about him. However, he had a sister.

His sister, whose infant name was Wanwan, lost her mother since she was born, and her father died when she was only two years old. She relied on her brother Deng Zongqi since she was born. Thanks to Deng Zongqi"s thorough care, Wanwan had grown up in the Deng Family…. People always said that an elder brother is like one"s father, but no one could understand how it felt until they went through it.

Though Deng Zongqi was only five years older than Deng Wanwan, he treated his sister as his daughter. He could never forget how his mother struggled to tell him to look after his sister before dying of dystocia. He could never forget that cold winter day on which his father died: in the quiet mourning hall, the two-year-old Deng Wanwan looked at him with her eyes full of scare and confusion when she reached out her tiny hand and grabbed Deng Zongqi"s robe.

…Her expression showed that she was afraid of being refused and abandoned, which made Deng Zongqi feel sorry for her. Since he was enrolled by the Standby Guard with the help of the Honored Consort, he had spent all his salary on his sister. He had tried his best to offer Deng Wanwan what other girls in the Deng Family had.

However, Deng Zongqi still thought that he owed his sister. Before the Honored Consort helped him, they were too inferior and miserable during their stay in the Deng Family.

Now, the sister he had tried so hard to bring up was about to turn fifteen. However, looking for a perfect match for her was much more difficult than bringing her up and buying her clothes and jewelry.

Deng Wanwan was fourteen years old now, but she wasn"t engaged yet. If her parents had been still alive, they should have begun to arrange her marriage.

Although Deng Zongqi was also not married, he was a man, so as long as he gained some achievements, he didn"t need to worry about his marriage. However, as a girl, how many years could Deng Wanwan waste? Let alone her dowry—the property left by her parents was occupied by the Deng Family, so she couldn"t take it over without her eldest uncle"s permission.

…Deng Zongqi"s eldest uncle had promised that no matter Deng Zongqi succeeded in helping the Honored Consort or not, as long as Deng Zongqi offered help, he would treat Deng Wanwan as his natural daughter, find her a perfect match and arrange her marriage.

Deng Zongqi knew that although his uncle hated him and his father, he would keep his promise.

He had no reason to waver, whether for the sake of the Honored Consort or his sister.

However, though he had a good start, things fell short when it came to an end.

He didn"t meet Song Zaishui.

According to the Honored Consort, the Crown Princess Song Zaishui was extremely reluctant to marry into the royal family. Because of this, she stayed at the Wei Family and didn"t want to go to the capital.

If the one he had met on the Little Bamboo Hill wasn"t Wei Changying but Song Zaishui, who had been cultivated by the Old Madam of the Song Family as the future Empress, he would be suspected if he looked at her frequently. After all, judging from her family background, wisdom, and methods, Song Zaishui was qualified enough to be a Crown Princess.

If Song Zaishui suspected him, Deng Zongqi could take his next step. He would ask Song Zaishui to talk with him privately and discuss how to avoid her from marrying into the Eastern Palace. If he couldn"t convince Song Zaishui, his dagger could be used to deal with her….

Deng Zongqi thought that it was worth sacrificing himself to protect the Honored Consort"s life and his sister"s future.

Although he was ready to sacrifice himself, he had bad luck. On his way here, he received the message that Wei Changfeng and his sister, together with Song Zaishui, had left the Ruiyu Hall and lived on the Little Bamboo Hill. He tried his best to urge his companions and hurried here in order to meet them…. But now…, things were not so easy.

A few days later, Song Zaitian and Shen Zhou would arrive in Fengzhou. After he arrived, he would no longer allow his sister Song Zaishui to stay in the Wei Family.

However, even if they spared no effort to hurry to Qingzhou, they couldn"t arrive there within three days. What"s more, they had to spend time looking for Lady Zhong"s relatives…. Unless Song Zaitian stayed in Fengzhou with Song Zaishui until they returned, but how would it be possible?

Also, if Song Zaitian arrived, he could hardly carry out his plan even if Song Zaishui tried her best to cooperate.

Deng Zongqi had made up his mind before he finished his meal.

After they finished their tea and left the restaurant, their servants took their horses. They settled their saddles and reins, hopped on the horses, and then continued their journey. However, Deng Zongqi"s horse suddenly neighed and kicked Deng Zongqi so hard that he fell on the ground with a “Bang”. He tried to get up, but he failed.

“Zongqi?!” Gu Yiran and the other two were shocked! They hopped off their horses to check how badly Deng Zongqi was injured…. But Deng Zongqi had already puked blood!

In this case, they couldn"t continue their journey, but they also had to obey the imperial command, so they could only let Deng Zongqi rest in a nearby inn in Fengzhou to heal his wounds.

After watching his companions leave, Deng Zongqi ordered his servants to stay outside. He looked pale but calm. Looking at the top of the bed curtains, he thought, “Based on the power of the Wei Family in Fengzhou, they will visit him within three days and thank him for saving Wei Changying. However, Duke Changshan is clever enough to suspect me because I have just saved his granddaughter in the morning and refused his grandson"s invitation, but now I am hurt by my horse and have to stay in Fengzhou….”

But he had no other way. If he couldn"t destroy the covenant between Empress Gu and Song Yuw.a.n.g, Honored Consort Deng would be in danger. What"s worse, Song Zaishui had extraordinary thoughts and methods. Though she didn"t want to marry the Crown Prince, after she did and became the Crown Princess, she would help the Empress and the Crown Prince for her own sake. When that happened, Song Zaishui would become another enemy of the Honored Consort.

The Wei Family…. Since the Wei Family had allowed Song Zaishui to stay for such a long time, it seemed that although they didn"t support her canceling the engagement, they were not optimistic about this marriage. Though the Wei Family and the Song Family were united by marriage from generation to generation, they were still two families— after all, Song Zaishui wasn"t from the Wei Family!

In these years, Ruiyu Hall"s power in the Royal Court was declining, and Wei Changfeng was still young. Even if Wei Huan noticed it, he wouldn"t lay bare Song Zaishui"s thoughts. After all, Ruiyu Hall must keep a low profile and wait until Wei Changfeng"s generation grew up.

Wei Huan wouldn"t involve in such a conflict, even if it was for his grandniece Song Zaishui.

Of course, Deng Zongqi could enter Ruiyu Hall, using the excuse that he had saved Wei Changying and was now healing his wounds in Fengzhou, to persuade Song Zaishui to refuse the marriage. However, this would involve the whole Wei Family, and Wei Huan would hate him because of this…. But Deng Zongqi didn"t care.

After all, the Honored Consort was in the capital, so was Deng Wanwan.

Only he was in Fengzhou.

While Deng Zongqi was planning how to interfere with the Crown Prince and Song Zaishui"s marriage, Wei Changying, together with her brother and cousin, finally reached the foot of the hill.

Before they went onto the carriage, a guard came from a distance and said to Wei Changfeng, “Young Master, someone wants to climb the hill and appreciate the stele.”

“Ask him to wait,” replied Wei Changfeng. He was telling the servants to treat his sisters carefully. “Tell him we have ladies here, so he has to wait until we leave,” Wei Changfeng said. Since Song Zaishui decided to go sightseeing on the Little Bamboo Hill, the Wei Family had ordered people to search and block it. This was why Wei Changying had found no one on the hill that day. Now that the weather was not so hot, it should be the best opportunity to go outdoors. If not the Wei Family drove people away, how would there be no visitors since the hill had lush bamboos and the stele of “The Little Bamboo Hill”?

They were going to return to the Wei Family today, but they hadn"t left yet. Therefore, the Little Bamboo Hill was still blocked. The hill was one of the Wei Family"s properties. They had printed the authentic calligraphy work of “The Little Bamboo Hill” on the stele and had put it on the hillside so that everyone could appreciate it…. This was a gift from the Wei Family, so whenever they needed to block the hill, they could do it for granted.

The guard had replied to Wei Changfeng, but he was hesitating instead of leaving.

Wei Changfeng asked in surprise, “Anything else?”

“I think that person was not common…” the guard hesitated and said, “Maybe he has a status.”

After all, the insight of Wei Family"s servants was also beyond the reach of ordinary people. What"s more, Wei Family had cultivated a lot of outstanding people, so if that person could make the servant hesitate to obey Wei Changfeng"s order, he must be at least as excellent as the members of the Wei Family, even though he couldn"t exceed them. Not only did Wei Changfeng but also Wei Changying and Song Zaishui felt surprised. They asked, “How uncommon is he?”

The guard thought for a while and said, “Several years before, I have seen the Elder Master once. The manners and behaviors of the person over there were quite similar to him.”

Song Zaishui had never seen her uncle Wei Zhenghong, who had been in sickness for years. But Wei Changfeng and Wei Changying were surprised—although Wei Zhenghong seldom met people because of his illness, it was said that he was still so extraordinary that he had exceeded many other people from the n.o.ble families.

In these years, when talking about manners and appearance, the gentlefolks were always glad to be compared with Wei Zhenghong. However, only a few people had seen Wei Zhenghong, so they were just saying what they had heard. But the servant in front of Wei Changfeng had seen Wei Zhenghong personally.

So the person who came to climb the hill and appreciate the stele….

Wei Changying immediately whispered to her brother, “My cousin and I can get into the carriage, and you ask him to talk to you here so that we can see him from the carriage. I wonder what kind of person can be compared to our father.”