After returning to the inner room, Wei Changying didn't even give a look to Shen Cangfeng and went to bed directly.

Shen Cangfeng followed her immediately. They flirted for a moment, then Wei Changying had hesitated for a long while before she eventually kissed Shen Cangfeng on his cheek reluctantly. He then explained to Wei Changying about the poem. The title of Nian Shengyao's poem was "A Lady Thinking about Her Husband," but there was only one lady in the Min Family that day, so their servants naturally knew who Nian Shengyao had seen.

The problem was, the lady in the Min Family was not married. It was quite rude for Nian Shengyao to peep at the lady from the outside of her yard, but he even wrote a poem, saying that she was thinking of her husband! No wonder he was beaten by the Min Family's servants.

Wei Changying didn't know whether to laugh or not when she heard this. She said, "Miss Min was so unlucky. She was just appreciating the view on the tower but was offended by Nian Shengyao in such a way.... Thank goodness you were at the scene. Or else, Nian Shengyao’s leg would have been broken if Miss Min's father and brothers had known what he had done!"

Shen Cangfeng made a wry smile and shook his head as he said, "It was not all because of me. He was lucky. Although Miss Min is the granddaughter of the Duanmu Family, her father, Min Zhixia, comes from an ordinary family. He was from a remote branch of the Min Family, and his ancestors had no property, so he only has the title of a gentry's son. Min Zhixia then studied hard and has visited a number of distinguished families in the capital, where he eventually received help from the Duanmu Family. He didn't become famous before the Duanmu Family has arranged marriage for him and recommended him to the emperor. Because of what he has undergone, he is generous to scholars, no matter rich or poor. Therefore, although Mr. Nian has offended his daughter, the servants didn't care much about this because their master thinks highly of scholars. If Mr. Nian offended a lady from another family, he would be sent to the court. In this case, even if I were at the scene as Min Rannuo's colleague, I couldn't help Mr. Nian at all."

Wei Changying and Shen Cangfeng then slept after having a small chat.

The next day, Shen Cangfeng went to work, and Wei Changying went to Madam Su's courtyard to know about the family rules.

After a good night's sleep, Madam Su looked much better. She sipped the tea Wei Changying made for her, and then nodded to express her satisfaction.

Madam Su's daughters-in-law then began to praise Madam Su. Seeing that Madam Su was in a good mood, Mrs. Liu asked, "I forgot to ask yesterday. Why didn't fourth sister come back with you?"

Hearing this, Wei Changying felt ashamed. After all, she had just come to the Shen Family three days before Madam Su took her daughter to take care of Old Madam Deng, so Wei Changying had not yet been familiar with the Shen Family. Although Shen Cangning was outgoing and naughty, Wei Changying didn't even notice that she didn't come back with Madam Su....

Compared to Wei Changying, Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu didn't ask until now because they were busy quarreling yesterday, and they didn't have time to ask. Even so, Mrs. Liu asked about Shen Cangning before anyone else.

Although Shen Cangning was Madam Su's youngest daughter....

When Madam Su heard the word "fourth sister," she immediately changed her expression and said coldly, "It's better that she doesn't come back! Yesterday, if your grandmother and aunts hadn’t stopped me, I would have broken her leg!"

They immediately persuaded Madam Su not to be angry, or else her health would be harmed. Mrs. Liu slapped herself on the face and said, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have asked about her since I know that you have just come back from the Su Family." She then pleaded for Shen Cangning, "Fourth sister is still young, and she is naive. If she made you angry, don't care about her. After all, she's just a kid. When she grows up, she will naturally become dignified and virtuous. When we were as young as Shen Cangning, we were also the headache to our elders."

Madam Su said angrily, "Young?! She is old enough for us to make her engagement, but she is not well behaved at all! Some days before, she learned to do a Bloody Tear Makeup from Yufei and Yuyin. Thank goodness I saw her in the daytime! If I saw her at night, I would think she did it deliberately to freak me out! I didn't pay attention to her these days because I was tired, and she was filial recently.... However, she got into trouble again!"

Of course, her daughters-in-law all told her to calm down. They didn't ask about the details until Madam Su had recovered from anger.

"Several years ago, the people in Qingzhou brought some gifts to the capital, including ten long-tailed parrots. The parrots had beautiful feathers and were much cleverer than other parrots. However, because they were brought up in the south, they couldn't adjust to the climate here, so eight of them had died before we arrived in the capital. As to the survived two, one was given to your grandmother, and the other to your fifth cousin Yuwu." Madam Su sipped the tea and continued, "But soon after, your grandmother's parrot had also died, but Yuwu's parrot remained alive."

Mrs. Liu and the others had a sense of premonition and asked carefully, "So... how's the parrot now?"

"That evil thing wanted to eat braised parrot tongue, but she thought it too ordinary to cook the dish with common parrots. So...so she had an idea to cook that parrot!" Even now, Madam Su still felt embarrassed when talking about it. She said, "How large can a parrot's tongue be? One parrot only has one tongue! She sneaked into the third branch's house and stole the parrot, and she even forced the cook to cook it! I wonder how she found that tongue among so many tongues! Yuwu has read numerous books and learned from the servants who take care of the birds, only to keep that parrot alive.... Last year, he fired two maidservants because they were careless when they fed the parrot. But Shen Cangning.... The day before yesterday, when Yuwu knew about this, he rushed into the kitchen and whipped the cook several times when he saw the feathers in the corner. Luckily, your third aunt stopped him on time."

"What's more, Yuwu was angry because no one told him when Shen Cangning brought the parrot to the kitchen, and he insisted on firing all the people working in the kitchen. Your grandmother worried that his anger would have a bad influence on his health, so she promised to do as he said. But the kitchen manager is your eldest aunt's dowry maidservant, so your third aunt was in a dilemma. She not only has to apologize to your eldest aunt but also explains to your grandmother...."

Madam Su covered her forehead with her hand and said desperately, "These days, the Su Family has been busy enough because of your grandmother's illness. However, when your grandmother has recovered, and everyone felt relieved, Shen Cangning has got into such trouble, which caused misunderstandings between your eldest aunt and your third aunt! Now I don't even know how to explain to your two uncles!"

She then said angrily, "Shen Cangning's uncles and aunts stopped me from beating her, so I told her that I would punish her harshly after coming back! But I didn't expect that she would be so naughty. Yesterday when I came back, I couldn't find her. Then I knew that she was hiding in Yufei's room! I asked Granny Tao to find her, but she then ran towards your grandmother and cried that she would be beaten up by me after going home.... Your grandmother is always kind-hearted, so she was on Shen Cangning's side immediately and let me come back first.... This... this evil thing!"

After saying these, Madam Su's face was livid, and she pounded the table angrily.

No wonder Madam Su was furious. Besides displeasing the Su Family, Shen Cangning was already 14, so she should have an engagement even if her parents hoped that she could live carefree for a few more years under their protection. Since she is at such an age, people shouldn't regard her as a kid, but she still has done such a ridiculous thing.... Even if the Su Family didn't tell others about Shen Cangning's childish for the Shen Family's sake, Madam Su dared not engage her naughty daughter to anyone!"

At first, Madam Su's daughters-in-law thought that Shen Cangning had only plucked the parrot's tail feathers. They were about to say something like "maybe it can grow new feathers someday later," "it was just some feather, fifth cousin is always generous, so he won't care too much." But they didn't expect that Shen Cangning was so wild that she had cooked the parrot and eaten it!

The three daughters-in-law with good eloquence were silent for a while before Mrs. Liu made a wry smile and said, "Well... since it was from Qingzhou, maybe they can bring another parrot if we write them a letter."

Madam Su sighed and said, "When they brought the parrots here, you were not married yet. Parrots of this kind are also rare in the south and are hard to catch. Last time they have got ten parrots in total, so they decided to bring here and see whether the parrots could live. But eight of them had died on their way to the capital, and your grandmother's parrot died soon afterward. If the number of parrots was below ten, I'm afraid that none would survive before they arrived in the capital. What's more, your grandmother has given the parrot to your fifth cousin because he had the best performance at school. Your other cousins were upset because they didn't get the parrot. Therefore, at that time, your grandmother has promised that if the people in Qingzhou bring some parrots here next time, she will give them to the other cousins except for your fifth cousin.... Unless everyone can receive a parrot, your fifth cousin won't be able to get a new one."

Shen Shujing was already ten years old, and Mrs. Liu had married into the Shen Family for more than eleven years. So it meant that Su Yuwu had kept the parrot for more than eleven years! No wonder Shen Cangning dared not come back with her mother, Madam Su would definitely beat her up to atone for what she had done.

But Shen Cangning couldn't live in the Su Family forever. Since it seemed that Madam Su would harshly punish her daughter, the daughters-in-law could only think about how to let Shen Cangning back. Therefore, they began to discuss how to make up for Su Yuwu, and persuade Madam Su to forgive Shen Cangning.... Mrs. Liu said, "It's almost the third cousin's birthday. What about bringing Shen Cangning back, and let her prepare an apology present? The fifth cousin will attend the third cousin's birthday party, so Shen Cangning can give the present to the fifth cousin on that day and apologize to him in public."

Mrs. Duanmu said, "After all, they are lineal cousins. No matter how much the fifth cousin liked the parrot, how will he think that a pet is more important than his cousin? Although he will be furious at that time, it won't last long."

When it was Wei Changying's turn to talk, Mrs. Duanmu had an idea and gave a hint to Mrs. Liu with a glance. She then covered her mouth with her handkerchief and said with surprise, "I forgot that our third sister's aunt-in-law is the fifth cousin's mother! Our third aunt cares about her nephew and niece the most. Now that she feels pity for the fifth cousin, if Changying persuades our third aunt, she will definitely forgive Shen Cangning for the sake of Wei Changying's face!"

Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "You have reminded me! Wei Changying is not only Su Yuwu's aunt, but also his cousin, so it will be better to let her communicate with them. However, Wei Changying has not yet stayed here for a month, so she can't go out. How can she persuade our third aunt and comfort the fifth cousin?"

Mrs. Duanmu said with a smile, "Grandmother has just recovered, so the third aunt still has to take care of her! But we can invite the fifth cousin here, and let Wei Changying persuade him.... After all, it will be the first time for Changying to meet the fifth cousin, so he will give a face to Changying."

She then turned to Madam Su and said, "Mother, the parrot was eaten, and we can't give the fifth brother another parrot now. Even if we brought another one from Qingzhou, it can't take the place of the one that the fifth cousin has kept for more than ten years. All in all, we can only try our best to compensate him.... But the fifth cousin is always filial. If mother asks him, he won't ask for anything, but he will still feel sad. Therefore, if we let Wei Changying persuade him, we can solve the problem and resolve the embarrassment between the eldest aunt and the third aunt."

Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu took turns to talk, and Wei Changying didn't have a chance to speak at all. At first, Wei Changying thought it was nothing to comfort Su Yuwu, because they were lineal cousins after all. Even if they hadn't met each other before, Su Yuwu wouldn't put Wei Changying in a dilemma because of Old Madam Song and Wei Zhengyin.

After all, they couldn't bring the parrot back to life.... Shen Cangning was also Su Yuwu's lineal cousin, so he wouldn't beat Shen Cangning even if he was so angry that he had whipped the cook and fired his eldest aunt's dowry maidservant. After he calmed down, he would know that this was so far he could go. If he continued to be angry because of this, the elders would consider him narrow-minded. After all, he shouldn't bear a grudge against his cousin for the sake of a parrot.

However, Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu meant to let her eliminate the misunderstandings between the first madam and the third madam of the Su Family.

The first madam of the Su Family wouldn't believe in her because she was the third madam Wei Zhengyin's niece. What's more, how would she have the authority to mediate the disputes between two elders who were not from her family?

Therefore, Wei Changying said seriously, "Mrs. Liu, Mrs. Duanmu, please don't blame me for speaking too straight. I have just come to the Shen Family, and I'm still learning from you! If you ask me to comfort the fifth cousin because I have Old Madam Song as my grandmother, and Wei Zhengyin as my aunt, I will agree on doing this. However, I dare not intervening in the Su Family's affairs."