Wei Changying did not open the inner room’s door until Shen Cangning had left. She said with a smile, “Is it Cangning’s intention?”

“She has been spoiled by father, so she always thinks about something impossible and causes troubles.” Shen Cangfeng replied, smiling, “Anything wrong with your hand?”

Wei Changying blushed and said, “It doesn’t matter.”

Shen Cangfeng naturally pulled her hand and touched it. He nodded his head and said, “Yes, it is OK.”

“...” Wei Changying found that no servants were in the room. She bowed and asked beside his ear, “Why did you not ask Cangning something about second sister-in-law?”

“You did not kiss me, so I was too sad to ask her,” said Shen Cangfeng with a faint smile, holding her hand and kissing it.

Wei Changying pinched his face, faintly smiling, and said, “Really? Don’t you remember that I was famous for killing assassins and the leader of them? If you did not tell me the reason, I would quarrel with second sister-in-law. At that time, how would you explain it to second brother?”

Shen Cangfeng said, grinning, “Is it exaggerated? There are more exaggerated versions talked by people.”

After teasing her, Shen Cangfeng thought for a while and whispered, “You can ask Granny Wan about this thing later. I don’t know about things in rear courtyard. Granny Wan might know something.”

“OK.” Wei Changying wanted to ask more, but as she looked at Shen Cangfeng, she swallowed her words. She only asked, “You don’t care about putting carp or goldfish in the pond. Do you have an arrangement of the courtyard?”

Shen Cangfeng answered, “Now, some of my teachers and friends live in the front yard while others have their own house in the Capital City. In the future, I will discuss with them in the hall of the first courtyard or the study. The empty rooms in the first courtyard can be arranged for guests. If we talked too late and missed the curfew, they could live in guest rooms.” He added, “Servants for them are needed.”

Wei Changying got what he said in mind. After thinking for a while, she asked, “Male servants or female ones? Male servants cannot stay in rear courtyard. It is perhaps not convenient. However, there are few maids here, why?”

“I do not need so many servants. There were some pretty maids here, but they left after being picked up by people.” Shen Cangfeng smiled and said, “You can pick up some honest maids with agility. Beautiful ones are not proper in case they would be replaced from time to time.”

Wei Changying asked again, “What about servants in the second courtyard?”

“I don’t have special requires. It’s all up to you.” Shen Cangfeng replied, shaking his head.

Wei Changying thought for a while and did not have any questions. She ordered Mrs. Huang and servants to come into the room.

When servants came into the room, Mrs. Wan who had escorted Shen Shuyan also came back. She held a basket and said, “Second young madam has ordered servants to buy cherries. She told me to bring some to young master and young madam to have a try.”

Wei Changying increasingly found that second sister-in-law was strange. If she was kind, why did she sow discord when Wei Changying came here? If she was bad, why did she order Mrs. Wan to bring cherries? Wei Changying could not figure out Madam Duanmu’s intention.

Shen Cangfeng was silent. Mrs. Wan had waited for her reply. Wei Changying tried to calm and said, “I should thank second sister-in-law. Would you like to help me send a gift back to her?”

Mrs. Wan answered with a smile, “Second young madam said that you must be busy now. And a basket of cherries is not valuable enough. You don’t need to mind it. You could bring something for her if you ordered servants to buy food next time.”

According to Madam Duanmu, Wei Changying was also unwilling to open the box to pick a gift for return. She asked Mrs. Huang to wash cherries and gave them to servants.

Cherries were not prepared. After watching the time, Shen Cangfeng suggested, “We did not have a look at the courtyard completely. What about wandering around it? After that, we can have dinner.”

“OK.” The suggestion was accepted by Wei Changying. They ordered Mrs. He and maids to stay in the room. Accompanied by Mrs. Wan and two maids, Wei Changying and Shen Cangfeng started to ramble around the second courtyard where they lived.

It was not necessary to walk around the inner room and the hall. The tiny study Mrs. Wan had mentioned before was in the east. Behind the study, there were bamboos. In front of it was a corridor. Outside the corridor were some banana trees. They stood against the red rails. Therefore, trees became greener and rails redder. It was a gorgeous scene.

The tiny study was actually not small, but the room for books was not big. There were only a few bookshelves. Wei Changying glanced at them and found that half of books were about military arts and strategies and half of them about poems and history. The study was equipped with desks, chairs and Four Treasures of Study, including writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper. On the contrary, there were a few jade articles. Except these, the study seemed a little empty. According to Mrs. Wan, when servants arranged the study, Shen Cangfeng had already been to the south, so they did not know how to deal with it. The result was that the study had been a little empty now.

Wei Changying got it. The study was in the second courtyard. Half of books in it were about poems. Obviously, it was prepared for her and Shen Cangfeng. Therefore, she could decorate it. She ordered Qin’ge, “Let Granny Huang and Granny He pick up some articles and decorate the study with them.”

Other rooms in the second courtyard were still empty. Wei Changying did not know how to deal with them, so she ordered servants to close them.

Crossing round "moon-gate" in the southeastern part of the second courtyard, they arrived at the first courtyard. They saw a young man in green carefully practiced material arts under an ancient buttonwood tree.

The young man glimpsed at Shen Cangfeng and Wei Changying. He stopped his action and came to salute them.

Wei Changying remembered that he was Shen Ju, a servant responsible for cleaning. He and Shen Die who was a servant of Shen Cangfeng, were children of servants of the Shen Family. It seemed that they were cousins.

Shen Cangfeng waved his hand to let Shen Ju leave. Shen Ju did it but he did not dare continue practicing material arts. He put down his hands and stood in distance to wait for orders.

Wei Changying asked in a low voice, “Do servants here all practice material arts?”

“Not at all,” answered Shen Cangfeng, shaking his head. “People who practice material arts have to eat meat for a long time and have a herb medicine bath to avoid accumulation of internal injuries. If all the servants did so, there would not be enough money to afford them. Therefore, if people are children of servants of the Shen Family and have a gift for material arts, they will get tutored in practicing them. In our courtyard, only Shen Die and Shen Ju have this opportunity.”

Wei Changying secretly let out a sigh of relief. She thought in mind, “Luckily, that is to say, when I fight with Shen Cangfeng, I have four assistants, such as Qin’ge, while he has only two.”

Shen Cangfeng did not know her plot. He told her the arrangement about this first courtyard. The training field was exactly in front of the hall of Jintong Courtyard. Mrs. Wan had fixed up everything in the hall. In the upper seat was placed a colored glazed screen. A man with a sword on a horse along a river was pictured on it. Beside the screen was a wooden couch made of lignumvitae. Between seats was a table with two layers. There was a Boshan censer on it and a pot of beautiful begonias under it.

There was a woolen dark blue carpet embroidered with peonies twined by branches on the floor. The walls were decorated with decomulberry paper. The simple and manly style fitted with the Shen Family who was famous for material arts.

On the left side of the hall were empty rooms except the study. It was a second-story pavilion on the east end. Compared with the tiny study in the second courtyard, the study here had more books. The whole pavilion was not tall. It was as tall as the first floor of the hall. On the contrary, it was grand. There were plenty of books and was a place for discussion in the inner part. However, the study did not look narrow.

Shen Cangfeng and Wei Changying wanted to go to the second floor, but were stopped by Mrs. Wan, “The second floor is low. Third young master can touch the ceiling directly by hand. It is a dusty utility room.”

If so, the couple gave up the plan. They had to wander around another place.

The third courtyard was a place where servants lived. Kitchen was also here. There were many flowers and grass in the yard. Now, servants were busy with dinner in the kitchen. There was a row of rooms for maids. Only a few were available at present. The third courtyard was still messy, so the couple roamed around here for a while and then returned to the second one.

After sitting down, Wei Changying came up with ideas on the guest rooms of the first courtyard. Shen Cangfeng agreed with her. Wei Changying asked him what else was in need. Shen Cangfeng answered, “Do it as usual. Guests cannot live in here for a long time, but for one night.”

Wei Changying said to Mrs. Wan politely, “I will arrange it later. Granny had better give me some advice in case I would make mistakes.”

Mrs. Wan immediately replied, “Young madam is too kind.”

After they talked for a while, servants entered into the room and asked whether the couple would have dinner. They nodded.

When meals were placed on the table, the clatter of raindrops sounded outside and a gust of wind blew violently. It was rainy.

The rain came so suddenly that it was dark now. Mrs. Wan and Mrs. Huang ordered servants to light candles.

After dinner, Mrs. Huang and maids served Wei Changying to have a bath. By the means of the clatter of raindrops beating the iron horses under the eave, Mrs. Huang asked Wei Changying in a low voice, “What did fourth miss and in-law talk about just now?”

“Granny, didn’t you hear that?”

“Mrs. Wan stayed with maids, and it was not proper to hear the talk before her.” Mrs. Huang answered with a smile, washing Wei Changying’s shoulders.

Wei Changying tossed her head and whispered, “Cangning claimed that she would revenge for him. She wanted to frame the Liu Family by ancient books, one of my dowries. However, she was punished by copying books by him.” She went on, “It is a strange thing that he did not inquire about something on the second branch. Granny, what do you think of Madam Duanmu?”

Mrs. Huang firstly criticized her, “You have gotten married with in-law. Why do you always call in-law as ‘him’?” And then she added, “Is it fourth miss’s plot? I thought that she had been incited by Madam Duanmu to embarrass you deliberately.”

Wei Changying got angry and said, “Let it go. What about Madam Duanmu?”

“I heard that the Shen Family value virtuous descendants. As for the Head Family, descendants who are lineal or common will not be treated differently.” Mrs. Huang washed Wei Changying’s shoulder with a wooden ladle and said with a light smile, “Now in-law is most appreciated by Grand Preceptor, but who can expect what will happen in the future? Some young masters have grown up now. Don’t they want to be the Head Family?”

Wei Changying said with a snort, “Is it for this? Why did she give us cherries?”

“How much is a basket of cherries?” Mrs. Huang said with a smile, “What is more, cherries are brought by Mrs. Wan before in-law. When Madam Duanmu sowed discord between you and fourth miss, in-law was not there.”

“Eldest young madam and second young madam are adored by Madam. For these years when I live in the Capital City, I heard that people consider that two young madams are kind and filial.” Mrs. Huang said with a sneer. “On the contrary, you are new here. Last year, you were mistaken and gossiped. If you showed any dislike to second young madam, people would scold at you. If in-law was not sensitive enough, he would think that you were narrow-minded and did not get along with sister-in-law on purpose.”

Wei Changying snorted and said, “So, when I came here, she obviously sowed discord. Did she fear that I could not notice her malicious intention and not quarrel with her?”

Mrs. Huang said, “In my view, eldest young madam also harbors bad intention. Otherwise, when second madam sowed discord yesterday, why did eldest young madam stand aside and not help you?”

Leaning on the bathtub, Wei Changying thought for a long time and said, “Did they expect that I would have a quarrel with them? Did they think that I was a fool?”

“Do you remember that today fourth miss has brought younger fourth miss here?” Mrs. Huang said with a smile. “Younger fourth miss has a gift for poems, so she is beloved by Grand Preceptor and Madam Su. In-law sent her back just now. If she told Madam Su that she had not been well treated in Jintong Courtyard, Madam Su would accuse you of not dealing with it. She would not scold at in-law, because he is her son. What is more, we cannot prevent people from entering our door. If younger fourth miss came here all the time and caused troubles, why did you, a beloved lady of the Wei Family, tolerate her?”

Pondering for a few minutes, Wei Changying inquired, “Granny, what should I do now?” Madam Duanmu made use of her youngest daughter. Wei Changying couldn’t be serious about the child even if she was unreasonable. If Shen Shuyan came here every day, Wei Changying did not know how to cope with it.

Mrs. Huang said with a smile, “It is not difficult, now it has a chance to...”