Chapter 4 The Crown Princess's Concerns

Wei Changying graciously took over the frozen cheese served by Lvfang and personally handed it to Song Zaishui, "My dear cousin, you need to calm down," she said, "It's all because of Changfeng! He didn't tell me about this! I thought he would send someone to thank you. Cousin, please take a look at my face. I've been badly tanned and just came back home to bathe and change my clothes. I haven't even recovered yet! "

Song Zaishui took a bite of the frozen cheese and said angrily, “You deserve it! Knowing that everything will be fine if you just yield to me. But you are so stubborn every time. From my perspective, this is only because your mother's temper is too good to be so courteous to you. Otherwise, you have already been punished by the family doctrine! "

"How is that possible?" Wei Changying smiled and said, "She is my mother. If she doesn't love me, who loves me?"

Song Zaishui sneered and said, "Knowing that he loves you so, you are heartless enough to take advantage of this! You thought that you have excellent health so that you chose to kneel down at the place under the sun without any shade, while you asked your aunt to stay in the cool house. This made her feel worse than putting her heart boiled in oil. I really don't know where you got such a cruel heart! "

"How did I take advantage of my mother? My mother was sitting comfortably in a room with ice, but I was actually tanned badly by the sun." Then Wei Changying asked eagerly, "By the way, did my mother say that I don't need to practice any sewing and cooking in the future?"

"You think too much!" Song glared at her and sneered, "My aunt pretended to be fooled by you and let you go. She then urged me to go back to the capital..."

Wei Changying said guiltily, "Oh well, my dear cousin, I dare not to forget it next time. I was just too careless this time. I know my cousin is the most generous person. Please forgive me this time! Or...do you want me to beat Changfeng up to make you feel better? "

"You just always sell your brother out without any hesitation!" Song Zishui ate a spoonful of frozen cheese with exasperation. She glanced at her and said, "But there are also things that I didn't make it right for you..." She suddenly smiled viciously, "I didn't want to answer your mother's question about my return date to the capital. So I mentioned your marriage and talked a lot about Madam Su's preferences! Your mother really wants to know more about this now! "

Wei Changying stagnated, knowing that the Madam Su she talked about was the mother of Shen Cangfeng, her fiancé betrothed when still in womb by the two families. She is also the Head Mother of the Shen Family in Western Liang. Although Wei Changying was ready to deal with Shen Cangfeng, she wouldn't be able to wave her fist at her mother-in-law as well. She got a little nervous as she heard about her future mother-in-law and said, “What?"

Song Zaishui smiled insidiously, “Mrs. Su likes the dignified and elegant daughter-in-law the most, such as the Shen Family's eldest daughter-in-law Mrs. Liu and the second daughter-in-law Mrs. Duanmu. They are all truly virtuous and docile women!"

She deliberately emphasized the words "truly" and "docile" and squinted, "Your mother was once softened by you kneeling on the ground, but when she heard about Madam Su's preferences, she decided to educate you to become Madam Su's favorite daughter-in-law by all means. Oh well, your true trouble is behind!"

Wei Changying groaned, then grabbed and shook her arm, “Cousin, what a ruthless heart you have! I'm your real cousin!"

"My real cousin? How dare you to say my heart is ruthless?" Song Zaishui was shaken by her so intensively that she couldn't hold the bowl. She quickly put down the frozen cheese on the table to prevent getting her dress dirty. She sneered, "You dare to pull me into this mess, but you didn't help me at difficult times. Who will be a better choice than you to be used as an excuse for myself?"

Wei Changying touched her forehead and moaned, "Cousin, are you trying to kill me? Now I don't even have time to practice martial arts, how can I have time to learn about being dignified and elegant? Moreover, it will be enough to learn those things superficially. What the use of learning those things so profoundly? Why don't you and mother just kill me now! "

"You don't have to learn if you don't want to!" Song Zaishui suddenly approached her ear and said with a smile, "How about you go greeting my Grandaunt? If you help me to make my Grandaunt not to send me away, I'll help you convince your mother not to force you to learn the things you don't want to learn. How do you think of this deal?"

"We are cousins!" Wei Changying immediately held her hand and said affectionately, "Even if I don't help anyone, I will always help you!"

Song Zaishui glared at her cousin who changed faster than flipping a book, “I would never believe in the words of you brother and sister!"

Wei Changying did not take it seriously and said with a smile, "My grandmother likes me the most. Cousin, you can rest assured and I will go and tell my grandmother to let you stay here for more days to accompany me."

"I'm afraid you'll have to get a better way to put it." Song Zaishui looked gloomy. She sighed and looked at Mrs. He, Lvfang and others, then whispered to Wei Changying, "My father wrote me a letter saying that the Royal Astronomical Observatory has already begun to discuss the auspicious date for the marriage..."

Because of Song Zaishui's status as the Crown Princess, Mrs. He and others had always been afraid to talk too much in front of her. It was only now that they had the courage to say, "This is truly a great thing! We maidservants should congratulate Miss Song!" According to the rumors they heard, the Empress promised Song Zaishui to become the Crown Princess after she turned fifteen. However, Song had already turned fifteen for three years. Instead of moving to live in the Eastern Palace, she still lived in the Wei Family. Servants were all wondering whether the Empress's promise had changed. Thus, when they heard this news, they all started to busy congratulating Song Zaishui.

However, Song Zaishui just glanced at Mrs. He and held back the words she wanted to say. She then said faintly, "You are very considerate, Granny He."

She then turned to Wei Changying and said seriously, "I’m all counting on you now."

Wei Changying swallowed grapes immediately and said surprisingly, "What? My dear cousin, you are still not going to go back to the capital as soon as possible?"

Song Zaishui glared at her and said, "What the use of you caring so much? Will you help me or not? "

"This is not about whether I will help you or not." Wei Changying answered surprisingly, "How can I help you with this? What a big deal it would be if the wedding of the Prince is delayed?"

Song stamped her foot angrily and said to the rest of the people, "You guys get out first!"

Mrs. He and others glanced at Wei Changying and saw she also nodded. They then put down the things in their hands and left the inner room. After the last person closed the door, Song Zaishui immediately threw away her elegance and compliance, rolled up her sleeves and grabbed Wei Changying's neck. She gritted her teeth and said, "You have no conscience! Only because you have a good fiance, you started not to think for others? The Prince...he is not married yet. However, not only there are already women lived in the Eastern Palace but also he has five children. I would rather be a nun my whole life than to marry this bastard!"

Song Zaishui was a normal girl of a noble family that she did not practice martial arts like Wei Changying. She also did not use all of her strength so it was nothing for Changying to get pinched by her. Wei Changying let her vent her emotions and begged for mercy, saying, "It's not that I don't want to help you! You know that if the Royal Astronomical Observatory had decided the date, no matter how much my grandmother loves me, she wouldn't let you stay in Fengzhou anymore! My grandmother is also your Grandaunt, will she not help you if she can? "

Wei Changying's words made Song Zaishui feel bitter. She immediately let go of her and choked with sobs, “Why my life is so miserable?"

"How much is my life better than you?" Wei Chang sighed and said, "My grandfather arranged me to marry Shen Cangfeng with a pair of jades, yet I haven't met him so far. The Shen Family carries on their inheritance through martial arts, but our Wei Family studied literature from generation to generation. This huge difference makes two of us not match at all! When I get married next year, I don't know how I can live my life..."

Song Zaishui wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and said with a sneer, "I have heard my brothers saying that Shen Cangfeng is actually a good man! If you think that you feel aggrieved to be his fiancee, just think of my situation. I would consider you are deliberately mocking me!"

Wei Changying looked at Song Zaishui, who immediately became cynical when she mentioned the Prince and the capital, and replied fretfully, "Why would I mock at my cousin? You know I have been practicing martial arts hard for many years. But I have always been the one who is afraid of being hardworking the most. If I am not afraid of being bullied after getting married, why should I work so hard all these years? "

"...This is different." Song Zaishui calmed down a bit and said coldly, "The Vi Royal Family has obviously declined in the past two generations. And the Crown Prince… Oh well, He is the third named Crown Prince during this dynasty. Before him, all of the previous Crown Princes were abandoned and ordered to suicide after their mothers died or fell out of favor. And you already know what happened to those Crown Princesses! No matter how bad it is for you to marry Shen Cangfeng, you don't have to worry that he won't be able to stay alive because he is out of favor with his father, right?"

Wei Changying frowned and thought for a while, then said, "But the biological mother of the Crown Prince is now the Queen."

"Yes, as a daughter from a collateral branch of the aristocratic family, she was just a royal mistress when she entered the palace. In just a few years, she defeated all the imperial concubines and became the head of the nine concubines. Her son was appointed the third Crown Prince. Moreover, she was even designated to the Empress last year!" Song Zaishui sneered, "She actually is the most skillful in playing tricks among the Six Palaces. However, when has the Emperor favored anyone for such a long time? She is now old and not as good-looking as she used to be. Thus, even if she tries desperately to coax young beauties for the Emperor in order to firm her status, she is now in danger of losing her position!"

Seeing that Wei Changying did not fully agree with her, Song Zaishui glanced at her and whispered, "This is the message specially sent to me by my second brother!"

"Then why does your father still urge you to go back to the capital?" Wei Changying asked in surprise.

Song squinted and replied, “How do I know what my father is thinking? The eldest brother also refused to help me. Fortunately, my second elder brother occasionally sent me some news...Otherwise, I would have already gone back to the capital to take care of my father when he wrote me the letter last time saying that he was sick!"

With her sullen face, she said, "Therefore I want to put it off as long as I can. My second elder brother said that the Empress had not seen the Emperor for three months. Now, the most favored one is Jieyu Miao, who only entered the Palace last year. She hasn't given birth yet, but she is now raising the young sixteenth and seventeenth son of the Emperor. Who doesn't know her intention of keeping them by her side? Changying, please help me with this. This is a lifelong matter, and I really can't reconcile with it …. If you are willing to practice martial arts for 12 years only not to be bullied by Shen Cangfeng, you should understand our women's helplessness to be married to a bad husband. I have always been thinking. What if the Empress falls out of favor and the Crown Prince is abandoned or even ordered to suicide, so I don't have to get married?"

Wei Changying said vexedly, "Of course I will help you. But as you know, my grandmother loves me, yet she doesn't always listen to me. Moreover, if the Empress isn't ousted in a short amount of time and the date of the marriage is decided, there's nothing more I can do about it."

Song Zaishui exhaled and said gloomily, "It's always 'Man proposes. God disposes'. I won't blame you for the things you can do nothing about. But if I don't try my best to resist this fate, how can I be reconciled?"

Glancing at her again, she then said, "I sincerely advise you to stop keeping making your mother angry by taking advantage of her love for you. Your mother did not live an easy life. Not to mention the pressure she has as the eldest daughter-in-law in the Wei Family before you were born, I also heard my grandmother said that your mother already had a strength of character when she still lived in her mother's home. Yet her father's health was never very well. When your grandfather returned to his hometown due to his illness, your uncle should have succeeded your grandfather as an official in the Royal Court, but now it is your second uncle who has inherited the position in the capital...Now that your grandaunt and granduncle are still alive so that your family branch can still have a good life. Unless Changfeng grows up into an outstanding man in the future, I am afraid your family will be suppressed by the second branch! "

Wei Changying smiled bitterly when she heard these and said, "Cousin, you also said that she is my own mother. How can I intentionally make her angry? I just want to have a better life after I get married. But if I follow my mother's advice, my life will still be in the hands of others, right? And if my own way of living is effective, I don't have to recall before I die that the only happy days of my life is the few years before I get married. I know, my idea is ridiculous. But I have been practicing martial arts for so many years. How can I know there's no hope if I don't try? In a word, I don't want to live my life catering to others' joys and sorrows all the time."

"Oh, well!" Song Zaishui sighed distraughtly and said, "Whatever. All in all, you should be more considerate of your mother. For me, the reason I am suffering now is that I lack the help from my mother! Now my father and my eldest brother, God knows what they are thinking about. They are trying to make me marry into the Royal Family by all means! Only my second brother is willing to help me. Yet he is the younger one in the family. How can he convince his father and elder brother? If my mother is still here, I would have used the disgraceful stories of those women and the Crown Princes in the Eastern Palace to return back that piece of Ruyi Jade! No matter how much my father insisted on this, it will always be better to have my mother back me up than to only have my second brother take care of me now. My second brother was scolded by my father every time he mentioned declining the marriage. And he was even punished by my father last time! If my mother had dealt with this thing, she would have always done things in my favor more! "

Speaking of this, Song Zaishui couldn’t help but turned her eyes red with tears.

Wei Changying sighed, "Don't be sad. I think it's impossible for my uncle not to love you, or there is something hidden unspoken in this. Besides, my uncle only asked you to go back to the capital, but he didn't say anything else. What if he wants to dissolve the marriage after you return to the capital?"

"I hope the reality is just like what you said." Song said calmly, "My second brother has already talked about this directly to my father for me. Yet my father still insisted on this and said that as long as I was his daughter, I had to marry the Crown Prince!"

"..." For a moment, Wei Changying did not know what else to say to comfort her. They then thought of their own sorrows and did not want to speak anymore, so they just sat there lazily and let the inner room be silent. Until the middle of the day, Mrs. He had no choice but to knock the door, “Miss Wei and Miss Song, it's time to greet the old lady now. Are you two ladies going to visit her today? If not, I will send someone to tell the old lady about this."

Wei Changying answered listlessly, “Yes, yes. Come in and serve me now!"