Wei Changying had already finished her dinner at about five o'clock in the afternoon, but she was still worried about the situation at the front courtyard, so she dressed up and waited after taking a bath. At about 8 o'clock, a servant at the front courtyard came and told Wei Changying that the guests had left. Only then did Wei Changying felt relief and ordered some servants to prepare hangover-cure soup and hot water for Shen Cangfeng.

However, Wei Changying had just finished ordering before another maidservant came and said, "Mr. Nian drank too much and now he is drunk. The young master said that Mr. Nian could stay for a night at the front courtyard."

Wei Changying immediately went through her mind every maidservant at the banquet. She then frowned and thought, "There were only two pretty maidservants at the banquet. Does Nian Shengyao have any intentions towards them?" It's okay for Mr. Nian to take a maidservant home as his concubine, but Wei Changying didn't want her maidservants to be treated like household courtesans. Therefore, she said, "A drunken person is much heavier than usual. I found that Mr. Nian is tall, so I'm afraid that the maidservants couldn't manage to hold him. Ask two strong women to take care of him, and remember not to let him get hurt."

Everybody in Jintong Courtyard knew what Nian Shengyao liked, so the maidservant immediately understood what Wei Changying meant. She smiled and said, "Okay."

After a while, Shen Cangfeng came back with a strong smell of wine. This day, he went to the Ji Family's mansion with Wei Changying, and then had a fight with Gu Yiran in order to try his new spear. After that, because Gu Naizheng had annoyed Duanmu Wuyou, Shen Cangfeng had to persuade Duanmu Wuyou to avoid things getting worse. He then met the guests after all these affairs until now. Although Shen Cangfeng was young and strong, he was still tired. After talking a few words to Wei Changying and drinking the hangover-cure soup, Shen Cangfeng went to take a bath.

After he finished the bath, Shen Cangfeng didn't joke with his wife but slept onto the couch immediately. After a while, his breath became smooth. Apparently, he was asleep.

Wei Changying knew that Shen Cangfeng had to go to work in the palace the next day, so she covered him with a thin quilt and ordered a servant to take away an ice utensil before she turned off the light and went to sleep.

However, Shen Cangfeng still got up late the next morning. The servant who used to wake him up found something's not right and woke him up. He then asked about the time and said "oh no" before he rushed out of the door without taking his breakfast.

Usually, Wei Changying would get up when her husband gets up, but she got up late today because Shen Cangfeng got up late. She washed and brushed hurriedly and rushed to the main room, but she was still the last one there. Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu had only half of the tea in their cups. Apparently they were already there for a while.

Because Madam Su had just praised Wei Changying yesterday, it was improper for her to be angry with Wei Changying's lateness right now. However, Madam Su's face looked sullen. She said coldly, "Why are you so late today?"

Wei Changying said carefully, "Many people came to visit my husband yesterday, and they had a banquet in the Jintong Courtyard. It was the first time that I met my husband's guests, so I was anxious that I would make him lose face. Therefore, I was so tired that I got up late this morning." She then said, "I knew that I was wrong, please punish me."

Seeing that she was obedient, Madam Su pondered and said gently, "There were indeed many people in your yard yesterday. I understand that you were in a great bustle since it was your first time meeting so many guests." She then said, "I'll forgive you this time. Don't be late next time... It's not that I don't sympathize with you that I kept you busy for a whole night and let you wake up early. It's just that as the wife of a distinguished family, you should be calm and confident. You still need some practice since you are so easily affected after a large event."

Madam Su then said, "You should learn more from your sisters-in-law!"

Wei Changying stood and accepted Madam Su's words. She found that Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu looked at each other with a proud expression. Wei Changying then understood: her lateness had given her sisters-in-law a chance to tell Madam Su that she was not competent enough to handle the affairs. Her sisters-in-law did this with the hope that they could be in power for a longer period of time.

Although Madam Su didn't mention anything about managing the family, she told Wei Changying to learn more from her sisters-in-law. Therefore, at least she wouldn't urge Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu to give their power to Wei Changying.

Wei Changying saw their expression and kept it in mind. She regretted that she didn't get up until her husband did, which had resulted in letting her sisters-in-law take advantage of her. She began to think about how to revenge on them.

Madam Su then asked how the guests were last night. Wei Changying settled her mind and replied carefully. After hearing Wei Changying's words, Madam Su nodded and said, "Although you were busy, you did a good job."

Hearing this, Wei Changying immediately said, "I wasn't clever enough. It was my first time hosting, and I knew little about the guests yesterday, except for my two cousins. Therefore, I could only serve them without knowing what kind of people they are, and I was worried that I would offend them! At the banquet, young master Gu from the Gu Family in Hongzhou have pushed the iced fruit without saying anything. I worried so much that I might have annoyed my husband's guest. Thanks to Granny, she told me that maybe young master Gu doesn't like iced fruit. We then served him another plate of fruit, and he ate it. After that, I knew that young master Gu have a weak stomach these days, and I began to wonder how was everyone else going. However, I dare not to interrupt their conversation since I was at the back. Hearing what you've said, I really felt relieved."

Madam Su understood that Wei Changying met the guests without preparation because they came without informing. Wei Changying had just got married a couple of months before, and it was her first time hosting such a banquet. What was more, the guests were not easy to please. Seeing that Wei Changying was humble, Madam Su secretly smiled and said, "I know something about the guests. Some of them are not easygoing. Gu Wei is famous for his silence, and anyone who meets him has to guess his mind. But you did a good job last night. After you get used to this situation, I hope you won't be panic by then." Madam Su's words were actually an encouragement for Wei Changying.

Seeing that Madam Su had understood what she meant, Wei Changying immediately said, "You are right! Sorry for being incompetent, I shouldn't have let you worry."

"You are still young. If you learn and observe more, you will be able to handle these things," Madam Su consoled. Seeing that the atmosphere was gradually easing, Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu couldn’t stay quiet anymore. Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "You are right, mother. People can seldom consider everything when they are young. I remembered when I had just got married, the eldest sister-in-law had just got married too. At that time, I didn't know anything either. Thanks to your teaching, I could assist you at that time."

Madam Su knew what Mrs. Liu meant. She said, "You did a great job at that time. You arranged everything after receiving my requirement."

Wei Changying frowned when she knew that Mrs. Liu meant to say that she was too young to manage the whole family by saying "people can seldom consider everything when they are young". Wei Changying's expression looked even worse when she heard Madam Su praising Mrs. Liu that she did a good job in hosting Shen Cangzhu's wedding.

At this time, Mrs. Duanmu said, "When I was just married, my husband also brought some of his friends here without telling me in advance. I performed worse than the third sister-in-law at that time. I didn't even know what to do. Then I came up with an idea to ask my first sister-in-law what I should do... I was not as competent as my third sister-in-law. She successfully hosted a banquet with eight guests without asking us, and even mother couldn't say anything bad about her."

Mrs. Duanmu's words almost pointed out that Wei Changying was doing things beyond her ability. Since she had no confidence to host the banquet, why didn't she ask her sisters-in-law and her mother-in-law? The sentence "she successfully hosted a banquet with eight guests without asking us, and even mother couldn't say anything bad about her" seemed to be praising, but actually Mrs. Duanmu was implying Madam Su that Wei Changying decided everything by herself even if she knew that she was not competent enough. Mrs. Duanmu's words meant that Wei Changying was not respecting the elders because she did things without asking.

Wei Changying held her handkerchief tightly and smiled as she said, "You are too humble, Mrs. Duanmu. I didn't consider so much as you did. At that time, it was hot, and I had just left our mother's courtyard. What was more, mother was about to take a nap by then, so I was afraid that I would bother her if I asked her. As to you, my two sisters-in-law, you have your family affairs to manage and have to take care of my nieces and nephews. I'm young and ignorant, so I feel ashamed when I couldn't share your worries, let alone making you worry about me. Also, my husband is nice, and I believe birds of a feather flock together, so I think his friends are nice too. What was more, two of my cousins were among the guests, so I thought they would help me for Madam Su's sake even if I performed poorly."

Hearing Wei Changying's words, Mrs. Duanmu's looked sullen. After her expression turned back to normal, she said, "You said you didn't consider much, but I think you were very thoughtful. I was too stupid and silly at that time, so I could only think of asking the first sister-in-law for help."

In Wei Changying's words, "I didn't consider so much as you did" sounded like be self-effacing, but Madam Su, Mrs. Liu, and Mrs. Duanmu understood that Wei Changying was implying that Mrs. Duanmu had sinister intentions. She didn't want to be blamed for an aborted hosting, so she mentioned Mrs. Liu in order to escape from the responsibility.

The part where Wei Changying explained the reason why she didn't ask Madam Su, Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu for help had shown that she was considerate. She then mentioned Su Yuliang and Su Yuwu to indicate that she didn't forget about her mother-in-law. Compared to this, Mrs. Duanmu was relatively inferior for asking Mrs. Liu for help.

Mrs. Duanmu had just finished talking when Wei Changying smiled and said, "Don't flatter me, Mrs. Duanmu. After all, our mother had told me to share my husband's worries, so I do everything with care in order to avoid losing our face."

This time, Mrs. Liu's face looked sullen. By saying "share my husband's worries", Wei Changying meant that she was superior because her husband was valued by the family. Was she qualified to represent the Shen family?

However, Wei Changying had also mentioned that it was Madam Su who had told her to share her husband's worries, so Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu dared not refute but smiled and said, "Why don't you admit that you are competent since our mother has said so?"

Madam Su watched this veiled strife among her daughters-in-law without saying anything. After they had stopped talking, Madam Su asked them about their family affairs and then let them go.

The three daughters-in-law remained friendly in appearance but estranged at heart. Now that they had veiled strife, their face all looked sullen as soon as they left the main room. They chatted a little at the crossing and went back to their own courtyards.

Wei Changying had planned to visit her eldest aunt Wei Shengxian today, but she got up late, which had made Madam Su angry, and her sisters-in-law had taken advantage of her. Although Madam Su had mentioned visiting Wei Shengxian yesterday, Wei Changying dared not to talk about it today. Therefore, she planned to go there tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

As she walked back to Jintong Courtyard, Wei Changying thought about how many account books she had to read today and how she should behave tomorrow. When she was about to cross over the threshold, a voice behind her said, "Wait, my third sister-in-law!"