When Wei Changying had just got married, she had learned that Shen Canghui's wedding date was two months later than hers. It was only half a month away now but they were just starting to ask people from the Grand Preceptor's mansion over to help out. Wei Changying thought about how complicated her own wedding had been, and inevitably worried about whether there was enough time for them.

When she returned to the Jintong Courtyard, she asked Mrs. Huang about it. Mrs. Huang smiled and said, "Young madam, you knew that the fourth young master's wedding date would be two months later than yours. After all, he and the young master are cousins, and the fourth young master was raised by our Madam as if he were her own flesh and blood. I think that when the people from the Grand Preceptor's mansion were busy preparing for the young master's wedding, they must have been doing the same thing for the fourth young master's. A month and a half ago, you were married into the Shen Family and many things were already prepared, so it should be much easier to welcome the fourth young master's new wife."

After she said this, Wei Changying realized it and was embarrassed, "I forgot about it."

Mrs. Huang smiled, "Young madam, you are still young. Although you're married, you haven't done anything like that yourself, so it's not surprising that you can't think of it."

Wei Changying asked, "So what should I do when I get there tomorrow?"

"Young madam, I'll be honest. Count Xiangning asked Madam and the young madams to go over to help with the fourth young master's wedding, but he actually just wants to invite two people, Madam and the first young madam." Mrs. Huang smiled, saying, "Young madam, do you remember Madam Qian who brushed your hair when you were getting married?"

"I remember the Twenty-first Aunt." Wei Changying suddenly understood, "She is a well-blessed person?"

"Young madam, you're right. This wedding is a joyous event, but it will be unlucky unless the people who handle it bring good fortune." Mrs. Huang smiled, "She, the first lineal daughter and the First Miss of the Count Xiangning, has been looking after the rear courtyard of her family since she returned to her parent's home, and she is the wife of the first lineal son of the Su Family, so what can't she do? She doesn't just do these things because of her high status!"

She lowered her voice, "Madam and the first young madam are well-blessed because their parents are healthy and have many children, and they also live happily with their husbands. Young madam, there is nothing wrong with you, but you are just married and have never dealt with such things before. I think the Count Xiangning invited you over out of courtesy. Madam will take you there and will probably just show you around. Madam won't ask a very young madam like you to help with the wedding in case something goes wrong. The second young madam doesn't have children, and the ladies in her rear courtyard also don't have male heirs either. There are fewer male heirs in Count Xiangning’s mansion than the Grand Preceptor's mansion, so why would the second young madam be allowed to help with the wedding of the fourth young master?"

Wei Changying nodded, "I see. Tomorrow when I get to my second uncle's, I will listen and watch more."

The next day she saw Shen Cangfeng off and then went to the main room to pay her respects to Madam Su.

Seeing that all her daughters-in-law were here, Madam Su sipped her tea and said, "Let's go over there."

This time because Madam Su would go over there personally, and Wei Changying had just been married for a month, Shen Cangzhu, the first lineal daughter of Count Xiangning and the First Miss of the Shen Family, would go to the corner gate to greet them personally.

Shen Cangzhu should be less than thirty, but she looked as if she had been almost forty. She should have looked very beautiful but instead, she looked very melancholy. The corners of her almond-shaped eyes that used to be shiny were saggy. They had once been like clear water but now seemed to have dried up, looking absent and dull.

Although she was out to greet her elders, she still looked depressed.

Her kind of melancholy was different from Lady Zhong's. Lady Zhong was beautiful with a slight sorrow, and that wisp of sorrow added to her charm, but Shen Cangzhu truly looked sad and worried.

As she was a widow, she dressed very plainly, wearing a white upper shirt with a crossed collar, a water-colored dress. Her hair was in a coiled bun with two flat hairpins. From her clothing to hair accessories, there were no extra decorations.

Madam Su was her aunt, but she looked younger than her. Seeing her niece looking this way, Madam Su felt worried, holding her hand and asking gently how she had been recently.

Shen Cangzhu smiled miserably and said, "My aunt, thank you for your concern. Everything is fine with me."

Madam Su sighed and said, "You need to relax a little bit. There is nothing we can't overcome in this world. Don't be too harsh on yourself. Now that you are in your own home, you can make decisions about everything. If you can't, you will have us to help you."

"My aunt, you're right." Shen Cangzhu obviously didn't want to talk more about herself, so she just said a few more words. After greeting Mrs. Liu, Mrs. Duanmu and Wei Changying, she started to talk about Shen Canghui's wedding, just as Mrs. Huang had thought, "When my third brother married the third sister-in-law, the fourth brother's wedding was also prepared. As for the rest, father said, we would just use something similar to the third brother's. Now most of the things have been bought by the servants sent by my father, so I haven't touched anything. My father put all the account books and the register book in the dining room when he went to the Royal Court this morning. Shall we go over there now?"

Madam Su said, "Then let's go over and take a look."

When they were in the dining room, Shen Cangzhu asked servants to serve tea but refused to touch any books. She repeated what Shen Zhou said, showing everything to Madam Su. The Shen Family was a well-known clan and the lady would be their first daughter-in-law, the wife of the first lineal son from Shen Zhou's branch, so the complexity of the ceremony and the exquisite decorations were no less than at Wei Changying's wedding.

Since Wei Changying was young when she was getting married, she was carried through the door in her sedan. She didn't know how much effort the Shen Family had been put to. Shen Cangzhu kept listing the things yet to be prepared, which took a long time to finish, and still, she added, "Father said he doesn't quite know how to use some of the things, so he'd like to ask you to help, my aunt."

Madam Su said, "The big objects are mostly all in place, even if we missed something, we could use what we used for Cangfeng and Changying, so it will be fine. It's just that there are a lot of small things missing, and it's going to take some effort to get them all together, so Yi'er, come over here and write them down."

Then Madam Su listed the things one by one and spoke for a long time. At the end, Shen Cangzhu still reminded her of a few more pieces, so Mrs. Liu wrote them down too. Wei Changying was totally lost, realizing that it wasn't easy for a big family to prepare for a wedding. She was also amazed that though Shen Cangzhu looked drawn, her memory was very good. Madam Su said less than Shen Cangzhu and asked Mrs. Liu to take notes. However, Shen Cangzhu was afraid of harming her brother with her bad luck, so she didn't want to touch the books but memorized everything by heart. This might just be her fate. If Su Yuxian hadn't died of illness, Shen Cangzhu, the second young madam of the Su Family, who was smart and capable, wouldn't have looked much older than her real age.

It took until noon, discussing what other things to buy. Thanks to the wedding of Shen Cangfeng and Wei Changying, which had happened not long ago, Madam Su and Mrs. Liu who had been in charge of that hadn't forgotten how to do it, so they finished the list before lunch. Shen Cangzhu finished reading the list from a distance and had people call in the managers from various places for Madame Su to command.

After sending out the managers and having lunch at Count Xiangning's mansion, Madam Su wanted to send her second and third daughters-in-law, who weren't asked to do anything or allowed to touch books all morning, back home, "It's not good if there is no one looking after our mansion, so you should go home first. I'll just have your first sister-in-law to help me."

This was just Madam Su trying to save face for the daughters-in-law. Not to mention that Mrs. Duanmu didn't have children and Wei Changying being just married was still too young, she allowed them to sit with her until now, and then gave them an excuse to go back.

Mrs. Duanmu and Wei Changying were both well aware of this. Wei Changying was just married so she didn't care so much about it, but Mrs. Duanmu squeezed her handkerchief hard. Everyone knew the second branch didn't have children, even though she was prepared for it, she still felt very sad when being mentioned.

Both of them stood up, saying yes, and were about to leave, when Shen Cangzhu seemed to recall something, saying quickly, "My aunt, the second sister-in-law has been married into the family for many years, so I think she will be able to take care of everything in the mansion. The third sister-in-law can stay and help you so that the first sister-in-law won't have to work so hard."

Madam Su was surprised. She liked her niece so she wouldn't refute Shen Cangzhu in such a matter. Although she was puzzled, she said, "In that case, you stay here, Changying."

Mrs. Duanmu bit her lip and curtsied, "I will go back first."

Shen Cangzhu had kept Wei Changying but not Mrs. Duanmu in front of everyone so she felt a bit awkward, she then stood up and said, "I'll see the second sister-in-law off." Accompanying Mrs. Duanmu out, she planned to explain it and apologize to her.

As soon as they went out, Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "The third sister-in-law and the third brother have been living harmoniously together. Is this a request from the Pei Family? They hope that after their Miss is married into our family, she will also live harmoniously with our fourth brother."

Madam Su smiled, she also knew that the couple from the third branch loved each other very much, but in Madam Su's opinion, Wei Changying had been married into this Family for only a few days, so if her husband had already lost interest in her, she would have had to be very useless.

Madam Su thought her third son, Shen Cangfeng, was such a righteous husband. As long as Wei Changying didn't do anything wrong as his wife, it would be fine. Nowadays, it was about marrying a woman into the family, not marrying a daughter to someone else. If Shen Canghui needed to learn something, he should learn from Shen Cangfeng, so there was no need to keep Wei Changying here to help with the wedding. He could go over to their mansion to ask Shen Cangfeng. Madam Su said calmly, "Maybe Cangzhu just wants to show her obedience."

Mrs. Liu said quickly, "Mother, you are right. I was just joking with the third sister-in-law."

Wei Changying was used to the behavior of her sisters-in-law seizing every opportunity to prick and provoke, so now she didn't bother to think deeply about why Mrs. Liu said this. Instead, she took the opportunity to ask, "I still don't know which young lady of the Pei Family the fourth brother will marry?"

Mrs. Liu saw that Madam Su was looking at the book, not having any intention of answering, so she said, "My third sister-in-law, you are just married. We forgot to tell you the lady our fourth brother will marry is the Fifth Miss of the Pei Family, whose name is Meiniang."

"I saw the ladies of the Pei Family in the Weiyang Palace yesterday, but the Fifth Miss wasn't there." Wei Changying said.

"Perhaps she knew we would be there, so she was too shy to see us." Mrs. Liu smiled slightly and said, "Before this marriage was set, our mother personally went over to choose for the fourth brother. After that, the Fifth Miss keeps avoiding seeing our mother, as she is very shy."

Being a young lady was different from being an imperial madam, so she didn't have to say anything if she wasn't present.

Wei Changying had thought that there hadn't been a Fifth Miss in the Pei Family, or that the Fifth Miss hadn't been in the capital, but it turned out that she was just too shy to meet her future mother-in-law.

After this Fifth Miss of the Pei Family was married, she would become the mistress in Count Xiangning's mansion, yet she was so shy, Wei Changying didn't know whether to laugh or cry, saying. "My first sister-in-law, you are right. I didn't know this future fourth sister-in-law would be so shy."

At this moment, Shen Cangzhu came back from seeing Mrs. Duanmu off and happened to hear her, so she smiled and explained for the Fifth Miss of the Pei Family, "Meiniang didn't mean to avoid my aunt and you yesterday. She had too much ice put in her room overnight two days ago, so she coughs a little now."

Wei Changying and Mrs. Liu were joking, so they meant no harm, but Shen Cangzhu had heard it and had tried to explain. They felt a little embarrassed, apologizing. "We talked too much about the future fourth sister-in-law."

Shen Cangzhu said politely, "My first sister-in-law and third sister-in-law, you don't have to be like this. I just wanted to tell you the truth. In fact, this future fourth sister-in-law hasn't been married into our family yet, so I don't know what kind of person she is, but thinking that she was chosen by our mother, I believe she can't be bad."

Then Mrs. Liu and Wei Changying apologized to Madam Su.

Madam Su flipped through the book, saying, "It's not a problem to have a laugh among sisters-in-law, but just don't overdo it." She didn't sound angry, so the two daughters-in-law were relieved.

Madam Su asked Shen Cangzhu, "Changying is young and not very experienced. You keep her here but she can only serve us tea." This was the issue that Mrs. Liu and Madam Su had thought of and Wei Changying didn't understand, but now that she heard Madam Su speak about it, she attentively listened.

Shen Cangzhu smiled a bit awkwardly and said, "Father mentioned it this morning, saying that the third sister-in-law has good fortune. That's why I asked the third sister-in-law to help out, hoping the fourth brother and fourth sister-in-law will share the third sister-in-law's good fortune."

She also knew that it would embarrass Wei Changying if she said this, so the more she said, the smaller her voice became. Wei Changying was incredibly embarrassed, thinking, "Saying I have good fortune is good, but the good fortune Shen Zhou thinks is that I could get out unharmed from the assassination in Fengzhou, and then I was able to meet a husband like Shen Cangfeng who doesn't mind, isn't it?

"These are all true, but according to what Shen Zhou, the second uncle, said, why do I feel what he really wants to say is that it isn't good fortune, but rather good luck that I can always turn calamities into blessings? Does he see me as something which can expel evil spirits and summon auspiciousness? Er, never mind. My mother-in-law and husband's elder sister are here, it's better not to think about it."

So Wei Changying smiled reluctantly, "Uncle and the eldest sister think I'm good enough to be here, so how dare I just do nothing? It's just that I'm young and don't know anything, so I'm hoping that you, my mother and first sister-in-law, can teach me more."