The next day Mrs. Huang went out before noon and intended to pay a visit to Ji Qubing who lived in the east of the city. Shen Cangfeng was on duty in the palace as usual. Wei Changying had nothing to do, so she asked people to take out the pair of male-female treasured swords given by Shen Xuan on the day of serving tea to take a closer look at them.

This pair of male-female treasured swords had the same patterns, but the female sword was thinner and shorter, which was more suitable for women. They were simple and unpretentious, which was very different from the magnificent elegance of the "Lu Hu" Sword. Not to mention the hilt of the swords, even their scabbards were only wrapped in shark skins, which weren't good-looking at all.

Of course, the swords sent by Shen Xuan were swords without tassels dedicated to military officers. Wei Changying pulled out the female sword. It showed a section of pitch-dark blades, which was different from the "Lu Hu" Sword. As soon as the "Lu Hu" Sword was pulled out from the sheath, it glittered coldly in the sunlight. Therefore, the female sword was very unremarkable in its appearance. However, Wei Changying was not disappointed. The Shen Family had been proud of their martial arts for generations and they had been collecting weapons, just like the Wei Family who had been collecting the ancient books and records. If the weapon was not good enough, the Shen Family wouldn't put it into the arsenal in case it might stain the reputation of the family. Even if their appearance were so common, they were Shen Xuan's gift sent to his proud son and the bride at their first meeting, how come they were only ordinary objects?

She looked closer and saw that the sword's spine was covered with fine diamond lines like fish scales. Near the hilt, there was an inscribed text about the size of a rice grain— "Yue Yuan"(the Chinese character of "the full moon").

She speculated that this should be the name of the sword. Looking at the male sword again, she discovered the engraved word "Hua Hao"(the Chinese character of "the blooming flowers") at almost the same position as expected. "Hua Hao Yue Yuan" also symbolized auspiciousness. However... Wei Changying looked at the swords over and over again for a while, and did not find any marks on them that could be connected with "Hua Hao Yue Yuan" except for the sword's name.

"Well... maybe it was because the father-in-law wanted to employ this pair of swords as a wedding gift, and temporarily sought someone to engrave these two auspicious names on them?"

Wei Changying thought so and she was dumbfounded.

While Wei Changying was fiddling with the swords, Zhu Lan said crisply outside, "Young madam, the manager of the front yard sent the fish to the door. Do you want to call them in now?"

"Fish?" Wei Changying froze for a moment before recalling it. Mrs. Wan once said that the small pond in the southeast corner of the outside could be used for keeping carp or goldfish to watch. Shen Cangfeng didn't care which kind to keep, so he let Wei Changying make the decision. Wei Changying then chose the goldfish— This was a rule of the Shen Family. When a bride entered the door of the family, they would give the newlyweds a yard. The cost of renovating the entire yard would also be paid by the family as long as it was not excessive.

Therefore, after she had chosen the goldfish to keep, she didn't need to send people out to buy them. As long as she sent the message to the chief steward, the latter would find someone to do it. Now she heard that the front yard manager had brought them over, and she just ordered, "Tell them to move the goldfish in and ask Granny He to pay attention to it."

After a moment, Wei Changying heard Mrs. He chatting with someone through the window, and after a long while, the yard returned to quiet. Mrs. He came in and said, "The manager put the fish in the pond in person. Totally, there were twenty goldfish. The manager said this was to wish you and young master's perfection in every respect. I had seen that among the twenty goldfish, ten were gold and the other ten crimson. All of them were lively and robust. The moment they entered the water, they swam away and tried to look for the leaves of waterlilies to hide."

Wei Changying nodded and said, "The water in the pond is as green as the sky and there are waterlilies in it. It is quite suitable to raise goldfish in such bright colors. If they are black and white, they won't stand out."

Mrs. He said again, "I had awarded them some wallets."

"This is what it should be." Wei Changying said, "Granny, these things are up to you."

Mrs. He was about to retreat and looked out for the maids. At this time, Mrs. Wan, who was always stable and sober, suddenly rushed in actively, gave her salute and hurriedly said, "Young madam, the second branch had sent someone, saying that second young madam was quarreling badly with second young master for Lvqiao. Now Grand Preceptor, Madam, first young master, and third young master were absent. First young madam had sent people to call fifth young master and sixth young master— Young madam, please go and try to stop the quarrel!"

Wei Changying was taken aback, and said, "Is second sister-in-law back?"

"Ah, isn't she?" Mrs. Wan sighed, "Madam specially asked second young madam to come back to deal with the matter of Lvqiao, and didn't expect...Young madam, you'd better go ahead first. It was said that they had argued fiercely in the Wuhua Courtyard and it might cause an accident!"

Wei Changying saw that Mrs. Wan was in a hurry. Although she didn't care about the second branch very much, the whole family had tried to persuade them, so she had better not fall behind. Fortunately, as she was just married, her dresses were all new, and she didn't need to change them on purpose. Therefore, she curtly combed her hair on the temples and checked that she didn't have anything disrespectful. Then she went out with Mrs. Wan.

At the entrance of Jintong Courtyard, Wei Changying saw that the maidservant sent by the second branch for help was waiting already. At the sight of Wei Changying, her eyes turned red before she opened her mouth. Then she said, "Third young madam, please come with me."

Wei Changying followed the maidservant, who was almost trotting all the way, to the Wuhua Courtyard in a hurry. Before she entered, she heard the persuasions of fifth young master Shen Cangji and sixth young master Shen Liankun one after another, "Second elder brother, you should calm down. Calm down!"

"Second sister-in-law had always been dignified and virtuous. Since she wanted to sell Lvqiao, there must be a reason. Why don't you cool down first and listen to second sister-in-law to talk about her reason?"

In their voices, there seemed to be Mrs. Liu consoling Mrs. Duanmu... Wei Changying didn't expect that she was the last one to come as she had hurried along the way. She couldn't help but have a headache. When she braced herself and entered the door, she saw that the courtyard was in a mess—Shen Lianshi's face flushed with shame and he was excited; Shen Cangji and Shen Liankun held him tightly by the waist and the shoulders respectively; Mrs. Duanmu was also haggard with hair disheveled, and she was surrounded by Mrs. Liu's arms.

A jade hairpin fell in two pieces at the feet of the two sisters-in-law, and it was not known whether it had been broken by accident in the quarrel or had been deliberately broken.

A large group of servants were at a loss. Some were standing on the porch and others were standing in the hall. They were all embarrassed and didn't know where to put their hands and feet....

Also, a few people were kneeling tremblingly on the ground. Among them, there was a woman who was 18 or 19 years old. Her dress was neat, but she only wore one shoe. The other one was bare foot covered in mud. Bowing her head, she was sobbing with her face covered by a veil.

The moment Wei Changying stepped into the door of the courtyard, Shen Lianshi was still struggling. He pointed at Mrs. Duanmu and scolded, "You bitch…."

Shen Cangji smiled bitterly and reached out his hand to cover Shen Lianshi's mouth, "Second elder brother, can you behave yourself? Now that there are so many people, shall we go into the house and talk?"

Mrs. Duanmu and Shen Lianshi were fairly well matched. This sister-in-law had been married to the Shen Family for eight years. She attentively looked after her parents-in-law and was often praised by her elders. Although she still had no son till now, she had two lineal daughters. The concubine also gave birth to a girl. Among them, the lineal younger daughter Shen Shuyan was a famous prodigy all over the capital. She enjoyed a good name both in the Shen Family and in the capital— Now Shen Lianshi scolded her bitch for a concubine in front of the public. When it was spread out, how could the Duanmu Family not come to ask for an explanation?

What's more, it was said that a child should be scolded face to face while a wife should be instructed at the behind. If Shen Lianshi's behavior was propagated, others would deem that he was too ruthless to his wife. Though Mrs. Duanmu was the decent first wife, he did not spare a little thought for her...

Sixth young master Shen Liankun also pushed his elder brother into the house hard, "Second elder brother, you are annoyed now. You should get in the room to drink a cup of tea first. And let second sister-in-law freshen up and get things done before getting down to business."

Wei Changying walked to Mrs. Liu and didn't know where to start her question. She asked quietly, "First sister-in-law, second sister-in-law...?"

"Why was it necessary for both of you to get impatient?" It was inconvenient for Mrs. Liu to say more at the moment, so she sent a hint with her eyes and held Mrs. Duanmu, saying in a small voice, "Second younger sibling, let's go back to clean up and slowly talk to second younger brother later after he finishes drinking the tea. How could you hurt a little concubine when we all knew what you were like? We have to ask second younger brother clearly who was talking nonsense and stirring up troubles between you two. You shouldn't let him go!"

In this way, both sides were coaxed and even pulled. After all, the couple were led off to their rooms by force.

Wei Changying followed her two sisters-in-law into the rear courtyard of the Wuhua Courtyard. She noticed that this courtyard was much livelier than Jintong Courtyard. There was a grape trellis with a swing set under it. A ball was thrown on the corridor. A pair of thrushes hung on the railing and tweeted tactfully— Anyway, there were three children in the second branch.

The furnishings of Mrs. Duanmu's house were similar to those of Wei Changying's. Everything was neatly arranged and put in order. Wei Changying thought that she hadn't heard the news of Mrs. Duanmu's return before noon, so she estimated that Mrs. Duanmu had just come back. The house that hadn't been lived for a few days was still so neat and clean. It did show that Mrs. Duanmu had always demanded the servants to do so. Even if she was absent, the room was still ready for her to use at any time.

Wei Changying couldn't help thinking that just by looking at the furnishings in this room, it was easy to know this sister-in-law was really a harsh person...

Because of Mrs. Liu's presence on her side, Wei Changying was distracted for a while. When the maid came in with a barrel of water and Mrs. Duanmu washed her face in tears, it turned out that there were two red marks, which were already slightly swollen, on one of her cheeks.

Wei Changying was stunned for a moment before reacting. It was probably caused by a slap in the face that wasn't completely dodged. No wonder that when Wei Changying entered the door, she saw that Shen Cangji and Shen Liankun stopped Shen Lianshi as desperately as they could, and even had no time to greet her. It was that Shen Lianshi had raised his hand to hit his wife.

This could be even worse than insulting Mrs. Duanmu in the public. A good daughter was beaten. The Duanmu Family was bound to claim for an explanation after they knew the truth. Otherwise, how could the girls of the Duanmu Family live in dignity?

Of course, the Shen Family was not afraid of the Duanmu Family. The problem was that the Duanmu Family was also a family that the Shen Family couldn't neglect at will. Especially Old Madam Deng now counted on Mrs. Duanmu to ask her sister of the same family Duanmu Xinmiao for treatment. After all, Ji Qubing was expected to treat her personally—At this critical moment, Shen Lianshi hit Mrs. Duanmu. Even if Mrs. Duanmu was still willing to go to her mother's house for help, how could Duanmu Xinmiao calmly pay a home visit when she saw Mrs. Duanmu's face?

Let alone pleading for mercy for Old Madam Deng in front of Ji Qubing!

Wei Changying couldn't help but think, was it because Shen Lianshi caught the evidence of Mrs. Duanmu's murdering of Lvqiao's unborn children, so that he became out of control?

Otherwise, on the day of Wei Changying's serving tea, Shen Lianshi looked amiable and cordial. It was unlikely that he could be a man who scolded his wife frequently.

At this time, Mrs. Duanmu washed her face and looked at the traces on her face in the mirror. She then wept bitterly again. Mrs. Liu was busied with persuading her and comforting her, and Wei Changying also echoed it—They had a hard time coaxing Mrs. Duanmu. The front yard sent some servants, saying that Shen Lianshi had promised to listen to Mrs. Duanmu's explanation before speaking again.

So the two sisters-in-law accompanied Mrs. Duanmu to the front hall. As expected, Shen Lianshi, with a sullen face, was sitting between his two younger brothers. Though he didn't look well, he just grunted and said nothing as he saw Mrs. Duanmu come in.

Mrs. Liu and Wei Changying helped Mrs. Duanmu to sit on the right. After sitting down, Mrs. Duanmu still shed big tears and felt extremely wronged. Mrs. Liu, the first sister-in-law, couldn't help but criticize Shen Lianshi for a few words... Fortunately, Mrs. Duanmu had managed her emotions. Then, her first sentence made everyone stunned, "Lvqiao carelessly lost her baby and was afraid of being punished, therefore, she contrived to get the abortion pills, put them in the tea bowl and deliberately planned to frame others, thus provoking the rear courtyard's discord of the second branch. Considering the fact that she had ever served you, I didn't want to punish her. I just intended to sell her when she was out of the time of childbirth... What was wrong?"

Shen Lianshi also froze for a moment, then he sneered and said, "Did you have the evidence to prove that Lvqiao lost the baby herself?"

Wei Changying bit her lower lip, and thought that it was really... Shen Lianshi deemed that Mrs. Duanmu had harmed his heir so that he was in a rage... It was unknown how Mrs. Duanmu would wind this matter up now. She had always enjoyed a good name. Shen Lianshi would not believe it without the evidence.

Mrs. Duanmu said chokingly, "Of course I had the evidence, otherwise why would I say the words of selling Lvqiao today?" She then began to elaborate her stories one by one, and called the servants inside or outside of the room from time to time to prove her words. As she listened, Wei Changying just felt that Mrs. Duanmu's words were perfect and unassailable, and she was awed inside.

She couldn't pick out a loophole in her stories. Shen Lianshi pondered for a long time, and asked a few questions. Mrs. Duanmu's explanation was quick and reasonable. Both Shen Cangji and Shen Liankun secretly wiped their sweat and said, "Second elder brother, as you listened, we had said that second sister-in-law had always been virtuous. Why would she murder your heir? Was your child not the second sister-in-law's child?"

Shen Lianshi could no longer find any mistakes, and was mocked by his younger brothers. As Mrs. Liu also supported them, Shen Lianshi had to make an apology to Mrs. Duanmu with a last trace of instinctive suspicion....