The second day was the time for Wei Changying to return to her parents' home. Madam Su was visiting her mother in her mothers' house, and she had stayed overnight. Shen Xuan had gone to the court in the morning. When the new couple went out, it was inevitably a little quiet and cheerless—Only Mrs. Liu came over to them and emphasized something. As soon as she gave the two an account of the presents prepared for their return, she hurried away again.

The rain hadn't stopped yet this day, so Shen Cangfeng took the carriage with his wife.

The carriage wandered out of the Grand Preceptor's Mansion. The streets of the capital outside the chiffon curtains were spacious and clean. The roads, where pedestrians came and passed by, were lined with pagoda trees and willows. The capital was much more prosperous than Fengzhou and the two cities had different styles and atmosphere.

... The capital was so vibrant that it couldn't be detected at all that there were sporadic wars in its north and west. Meanwhile, on the vast territory of the Vi Dynasty, robbers and bandits were also rampant. In many places, the situation was extremely serious that people could hardly survive.

On the way from Fengzhou to the capital, even though she was surrounded by guards and maids, Wei Changying still vaguely heard about the extreme poverty and distress of some of the counties on the road. The misery and helplessness of those people struggling to survive were beyond Wei Changying's imagination. After all, she was born to be living an extravagant life.

After seeing those ordinary people, and then looking at this prosperous and majestic capital, Wei Changying felt empty inside all along, suffering from inexplicable fidgets and anxiety.

Shen Cangfeng saw her staring out of the carriage, and reckoned that she was yearning for the scenery of the capital. He then said, “I will be on duty tomorrow. How about I show you around next time when I have a rest?"

"Ah?" Wei Changying refocused her mind and said, "It was not..."

While the two were talking, two horses with their masters on their back trotted from the side of the carriage. It seemed that they had seen the mark on the carriage, the two horsemen wearing the bamboo hat drew the rein to let the horse walk slowly and greeted the carriage, "Is that Brother Yaoye returning home with his wife in the carriage?"

Wei Changying also remembered this voice, and asked quietly, "Is it young master Gu?"

Shen Cangfeng nodded and uncovered the curtain on his side. Then he replied to Gu Yiran's words, "Exactly, how could Brother Ziming and Brother Gu be here?"

Wei Changying had seen Gu Yiran before, and at this moment she just nodded slightly towards him from the uncovered curtain— On the other horse beside Gu Yiran, a teenage man with long eyebrows and bright eyes still looked strong and vigorous, although he was wearing a bamboo hat and a coir raincoat. The two answered together, "We heard that Pingxu had been ill, so we changed shifts with others. Now, we are about to pay a visit to him."

"Pingxu had been ill? How come?" Shen Cangfeng surprisedly asked .

Gu Yiran glanced at the teenage man, and smiled bitterly, "We just heard the news. We are going to visit him and ask more about the details."

Shen Cangfeng exchanged a few more words with them, and then they said goodbye to each other.

Listening to the clip-clop of the horses fading away, Wei Changying asked, "Are they your best friends?"

"Yes." Shen Cangfeng was a bit absent-minded, and responded her casually.

Wei Changying then asked again, "Who is Pingxu? Why are you so worried about his illness?"

"It's Zhang Luoning, the lineal son of the Zhang Family." Shen Cangfeng murmured, "There might be some troubles... Before I went south to Fengzhou, I had heard the news in the palace. His Majesty intended to choose a husband for Princess Linchuan. At that time, he was recommended by someone."

Wei Changying knew that princesses were preferred in the current dynasty. The female descendants of royal families were very termagant, and it was quite common for princesses to scold and beat their husbands. Ordinary people might endure it. As for the sons of the eminent families, they were proud of their own families' traditions. Besides, they had also grown up with great amounts of love and favor, therefore, they would be unwilling to serve the princesses. As a result, the children of the distinguished families, especially the children of the lineal clan, would strain every nerve to pray for not being chosen when they heard the news of Royalty's selection of the son-in-law.

Trying to figure out Shen Cangfeng's meaning at the moment, she tentatively asked, "He... was this person reluctant?"

"No." Shen Cangfeng touched his chin and looked puzzled, "At that time, according to the imperial command, I asked him privately in a polite manner. Zhang Pingxu didn't have the intention of refusing this marriage." Then he continued his explanation, "Although Princess Linchuan was a bit cunning in her disposition, however, Zhang Pingxu was quite famous for his talents in the capital and Her Royal Highness liked his poems very much. She had praised him several times in front of His Majesty. Therefore, people around His Majesty thought that he could be the honored husband of Princess Linchuan and His Majesty also agreed.... Why would he be sick now?"

Pleading illness was a common trick employed by the male descendants of the distinguished families when they didn't want to marry the princesses. Moreover, this was mentioned privately to him in February. Until now, a definite message was about to come and even the decree was ready to be declared. At this moment, however, Zhang Pingxu was sick. No wonder that Shen Cangfeng would doubt it.

Wei Changying pursed her lips, "Did young master Gu say that he just got a minor illness? He did not mention it was a serious illness. Maybe he just had a headache or a fever, and he would recover in two days."

Shen Cangfeng agreed. Although Zhang Pingxu was conceited of his talents and was very familiar with the brothels and taverns of the capital, having a reputation for being romantic and arrogant, however, he wouldn't be inconsistent with his words. Since he had approved that he had no objection to marrying Princess Linchuan before, he should not change it now. Shen Cangfeng deemed that maybe he had thought too much.

He then smiled and introduced the two people they had met just now to Wei Changying, "Brother Ziming is also Gu Yiran. You had seen him before in Fengzhou. The man next to him, whose surname is also Gu, is a child of the Gu Family in Hongzhou and is the nephew of the Empress. He is called Gu Wei and he doesn't have a style name now because he is still under 20."

"I remembered Gu Ziming was a Standby Guard?" Wei Changying said oddly, "Is Gu Wei also a Standby Guard?" He was the nephew of the Empress. The Empress should have exalted her families by all means.

Shen Cangfeng shook his head, "Gu Wei is a Private Guard." And said, "When martial arts were practiced in front of His Majesty, our brothers were lucky and often won the competition, so we were closer to each other among the Three Guards. Brother Ziming is modest and tolerant. The majority of youngsters living in the capital got along well with him. The people he associates with are not limited to the Three Guards."

"What about you?" Wei Changying said with a smile, "I saw that your temper was also not bad, how come you seemed to be less popular than him?"

Shen Cangfeng looked at her with a vague smile, and said, "Ah, you thought my temper was not bad? Why was it not bad? Would there be a reward?"

"Your temper had been so good. What reward do you need?" Wei Changying responded quickly and said immediately.

"Are you forcing me to be a bit worse to you in the future?" Shen Cangfeng stroked her cheeks with his fingers and said with a smile.

Wei Changying habitually shook her tender fist at him, and scolded gracefully, "How dare you!"

Shen Cangfeng touched his chin and laughed out loudly.

The two exchanged banter with each other for a while and forgot Wei Changying's doubts. However, Wei Changying understood it after thinking a bit. Shen Cangfeng always took the first place, and even though he had a modest temperament, others would still be annoyed. How could he be compared with Gu Yiran?

Then, they arrived at the mansion of the Wei Family. The second young master— Wei Changyun and the third young master— Wei Changsui had been waiting outside the gate for a long time. Seeing the couple getting off the carriage, they came up to greet them.

After a few words of greetings, Wei Changyun smiled and said, "Father and mother have been waiting in the hall." They humbly let each other in first.

Wei Shengyi also took a leave to wait here for them today. When the two sides met and talked about the old days, it was inevitable that they would take a look at each other. It was the first time that Wei Changying saw her second uncle's wife. She found out that the outline of Madam Duanmu was quite similar to that of Mrs. Duanmu. After all, they were both daughters of the Duanmu Family. Like Mrs. Duanmu, Madam Duanmu was also sophisticated. Just after a few words, she looked at Wei Changying with her affectionate eyes as if Madam Song had been here—If someone had no idea of the truth, they would feel that the Wei Family was waiting for the lineal daughter to return home today.

Wei Changying's two cousins Wei Changyun and Wei Changsui helped Wei Shengyi to entertain Shen Cangfeng. Madam Duanmu then invited Wei Changying to chat in the back hall.

On the same day, Wei Changwan, the real First Miss of the Wei Family, also came back. She was beautiful and adorable, but she seemed to be indifferent because she took a lukewarm attitude toward Wei Changying. Occasionally, she looked at Mrs. Huang who accompanied the new couple with a chill. Having noticed that, Wei Changying couldn't help speculating what Mrs. Huang had done to this elder sister before, making Wei Changwan hate Mrs. Huang like this and even vent her anger on Wei Changying.

Instead, Wei Changjuan, the eleven-year-old Seventh Miss, was very enthusiastic. She took Wei Changying's hands to ask questions without a break, even Madam Duanmu could not intervene. Wei Changjuan was pretty and charming with bright eyes and white teeth. She was wearing a dark orange upper shirt with wide sleeves, decorated with branches of peonies. The upper shirt was tied with a white silk skirt with silver spots and pink ribbons. Her hair was raised in high double-buns. It seemed that she had similar attire and temperament with Shen Cangning. The two were both lively and noisy young girls.

At first, Wei Changying was asked to answer two questions, and it was not long before Wei Changjuan became the only one who was talking.

Seventh Miss had a clear voice and she had spoken fast. Her topics were also beyond imagination. From the food and clothing of the capital to other things in all aspects, Wei Changying felt dazzled as she listened. She even talked about the imperial harem— Wei Changjuan said that she was very familiar with several princesses in the palace. At this moment, Madam Duanmu broke into the conversation with a cough, and asked Wei Changying whether she was accustomed to living in the Shen Family and inquired about her husband's parents and her sisters-in-law.

Wei Changying of course said that everything was fine.

Madam Duanmu then said, "Originally, your first aunt and second aunt planned to come over. However, your first aunt had a cold two days ago and couldn't get up; As for your second aunt, I guessed that you had heard of the Su Family's accident…."

Wei Changying had three aunts who were still alive today. Among them, only her second aunt Wei Zhengyin was the lineal daughter of Old Madam Song, who only trusted her own flesh and blood. Old Madam Song had paid little attention to the descendants of the concubines, so she rarely mentioned them. Therefore, Wei Changying only knew that her first aunt Wei Shengxian was married into the Song Family, and third aunt Wei Shengshi was married into the Zhang Family. She was unaware of the details of their children.

However, she knew that these two aunts who were born by concubines were not supposed to be in the capital. At that moment, after listening to Madam Duanmu, she said surprisingly, "First aunt had been in the capital? What about my third aunt?"

"Your first aunt's husband had moved to the capital to work, so your first aunt followed him and came back. They just arrived about five or six days ago, and maybe they didn't have the time to send you a message." Madam Duanmu said, "Your third aunt was still living in Yanzhou with her husband."

Since Wei Shengxian had been mentioned, Wei Changying asked a few more words about her, and Madam Duanmu sighed, "Your first aunt got along well her husband. It was just that they only had two daughters after they had been married for many years. Recently, news came that people of the Song Family intended to persuade them to adopt an heir."

Wei Changying carefully asked, "Then how did first aunt feel?" Now that Madam Duanmu said so, she might have been entrusted by Wei Shengxian and deliberately waited for Wei Changying's return to let her know the details.

"Your younger female cousin Xiyue was already fifteen, unless the heaven pitied your first aunt, it was inevitable that the heir was bound to be adopted." Sure enough, Madam Duanmu sipped her tea and said with a frown, "It was just... your aunt's intention was that they hadn't had a son for years, so it was better for them to consider it later after your cousins, Ruxuan and Xiyue, got married."

Though Song Ruxuan and Song Xiyue were girls who couldn't carry on the family line, they were both the flesh of Wei Shengxian and her husband. Even if the heir was adopted, Wei Shengxian would always prefer her own children. However, once the heir entered the door, his status would be higher than that of the two daughters.

Not to mention that if the heir who was adopted had already been married, and his wife was not very virtuous...Besides, if the heir's parents and uncles were still alive and they privately instigated him to do something, the whole family would be messed up— Wei Shengxian hoped to steadily get her two daughters married, and she would give all the dowry and case-dough to them. At that time, they would have nothing to worry about when they adopted the heir— This was also human nature.

Hearing her words, Wei Changying knew that she was indeed waiting for her. Wei Shengxian had been annoyed because of the pressure from her husband's family, but the son of the Song Family she married with was also a collateral branch of the family. The Family Head of the Song Family was her grandfather. The next Family Head, her own uncle, was currently in the capital.

Although Wei Changying had never seen this uncle, he was the only elder brother of her mother. When they visited Song Zaishui, they could ask her to convey a message. It was expected that Song Yuwang would do a favor for his niece anyway. After all, for Song Yuwang, this was just a piece of cake.