When the New Year's Eve banquet had finished, Madam Su got hold of Wei Changying and asked why Princess Anji had sat at her side during the banquet.

Wei Changying didn't know whether it was right or wrong to tell Princess Anji about Huo Zhaoyu. Since there were other people around, she was worried that others might overhear them and she would make enemies if she said it. She said vaguely, "Princess Anji and I only made a small talk."

Madam Su didn't believe her at all. She was a First Rank Madam who would certainly go to the palace during festivals and who usually visited Weiyang Palace. Princes were not people whose lives she could pry into, so in order not to upset anyone, she wasn't nosy. All she knew of them were things everyone knew, but in terms of princesses and infantas, she knew them well.

Only Princess Linchuan among all the three unmarried princesses in the palace could possibly speak to the imperial madams at the New Year's Eve banquet. Perhaps Princess Qingxin could? But it would definitely not be Princess Anji.

However, as Madam Su had heard this, she knew that it was not something they should talk about in public, so she changed the subject, saying, "It's windy here. You should put your hood up. Don't get cold."

Having heard the instruction, the people around Wei Changying went up to help her with her clothes.

So, they went back to their mansion. As they were too tired from the banquet that night, they didn't talk about anything about the banquet. The next day, it was the first day of the lunar New Year. The family must offer sacrifices to the ancestors, so they had been busy until the evening. It was only then that Madam Su had time to ask about what had happened at the New Year's Eve banquet.

Wei Changying didn't dare to hide it from her mother-in-law, so she told her everything. At first, having heard that she had agreed to find a suitor for Princess Anji, Madam Su was a bit displeased, "Why do you have to get involved in this? The princess is so fierce. It's well known throughout the capital. Who from prestigious families would want their sons to marry her? The common people are not worthy of her either! How will you give her an answer now that you have agreed to do so?"

Each of the daughters-in-law was standing in front of her mother-in-law obediently this day. Mrs. Liu didn't make a sound, but Duanmu Yanyu couldn't let the opportunity to embarrass Wei Changying go. She said with a gentle smile, "My third sister-in-law, don't blame Mother for being too harsh on you, but it really scared Mother when she saw Princess Anji sit with you at the New Year's Eve banquet! At that moment, I and our first sister-in-law were worried about you, not to mention Mother!"

Wei Changying knew she had done wrong. She smiled apologetically and explained a bit more. When Madam Su heard that she had recommended the lineal eldest son of the Huo Family in Yunxia, she looked upset, saying coldly, "You've only just arrived in the capital. You're not familiar with all the families here, but you dared to recommend someone to the princess. Princess Anji is neither polite nor gentle. Aren't you worried things will go wrong?"

Wei Changying looked down, saying quietly, "I think the first young master of the Huo Family must be a nice person..."

"A nice person means he is a pushover?" Madam Su reproached her, "Who are you to Huo Zhaoyu? Are you his elder? Or did you save his life? You can make decisions on his marriage? You recommended him to the princess without even speaking to him?"

"I heard the princess say that she wouldn't necessarily marry the first young master of the Huo Family. She was just curious about who I was talking about, so..." Wei Changying was so scolded by her mother-in-law that she couldn't raise her head anymore. She hesitated for a while before she could answer her.

Madam Su said with a scowl, "Since you are a married woman, you are no longer a young lady at your own home! Stop behaving childishly and taking everything for granted! If you have no idea about something in the future, you can come and ask me! Or your two sisters-in-law! You were so confident that you thought you could make all the decisions, right? Though you are getting older, you're still acting like a child. Is this fine?" Madam Su gave Wei Changying a lecture, but she knew she was pregnant with a boy. She took a sip of tea, saying, "It's late. You have to go back to your home tomorrow. You should leave now."

Having left the main room and embarrassedly said goodbye to her two sisters-in-law, Wei Changying dejectedly went back to Jintong Courtyard. This time she knew she deserved to be scolded, scolding herself how useless she was. She had clearly decided not to tell Princess Anji about Huo Zhaoyu even if she hadn't had knowledge of his situation or whether he wanted to marry her, but then why had she said it?

If Princess Anji wanted to marry Huo Zhaoyu, but Huo Zhaoyu didn't want to be her husband... Wouldn't this as though she harmed this gentle first young master of the Huo Family? Maybe the whole Huo Family would suffer as well!

The more Wei Changying thought about it, the more she felt she had done wrong, feeling extremely upset.

She went back to her place frustratedly. As soon as she sat down in the room, Zhu Shi ran in and said, "Xinxin from the first young madam's house came in by the side door and said she had something to tell you, young madam."

Naturally, Wei Changying quickly told her to bring Xinxin to her. Xinxin was Mrs. Liu's maid, about the same age as Zhu Shi. She greeted Wei Changying in her clear voice. Without saying anything else, she went straight to the subject of why Mrs. Liu had sent her here. Actually, she was here to explain why Wei Changying had been scolded today.

Apart from her rushing to agree to find a suitor for Princess Anji, what made Madam Su angry was that she had recommended Huo Zhaoyu, who was one of Madam Su's potential sons-in-law for Shen Cangning!

Although in Madam Su's mind, Huo Zhaoyu was not the first choice. But considering Shen Cangning's temperament, he could be a good choice. Generally, when mothers-in-law chose their sons-in-law, they didn’t want to attach themselves to a family in power. But they hoped that their sons-in-law would be good-natured and magnanimous. Huo Zhaoyu... In this capital, it was not only Wei Changying alone who had noticed Gu Naizheng, who was like the touchstone.

For years, the weird things Gu Naizheng had done and the way he acted made all the gentlefolks and aristocratic families avoid him. He had toughened the brothers from the Huo Family, his best friends since childhood. How could a mother who really loved her daughter in the capital want to miss Huo Zhaoyu or Huo Chenyuan?

However, Wei Changying, who had had no idea about what was going on, had recommended Huo Zhaoyu to Princess Anji! In Madam Su's opinion, Wei Changying had stolen her sister-in-law's fiancé and had given him to Anji, so of course, she was not happy.

Having heard Xinxin's words, Wei Changying suddenly realized it and was very embarrassed.

Xinxin reported what Mrs. Liu had said, comforting her, "The first young madam said, you do not need to worry too much, my third young madam. Although Madam had this intention before and had told the first young madam to learn about the first young master of the Huo Family, she hadn't decided that it would be the first young master of the Huo Family. After all, our Fourth Miss's status is high and she is beautiful, but she is still young, so there is no need to worry that she couldn't marry a better person than the first young master of the Huo Family. Madam likes the first young master of the Huo Family because of his good temperament."

She then added, "The first young madam said, you should take good care of yourself now, my third young madam. When you give birth to the new young master in a few months' time, Madam won't remember any of this but will love you so much!"

Wei Changying snorted with laughter, looked at the people around her, and said, "Listen to her, isn't she sweet?"

Everyone said that Xinxin was as sweet as honey. Wei Changying rewarded her with two silver ingots, which made the maid almost jump for joy, keeping on saying nice words. Mrs. Huang told someone to give her some pastries to take away as well.

When Xinxin left, Wei Changying said with sadness, "Thinking about it now, I know I have done things wrongly."

"Princess Anji is brave and prudent. In my opinion, Princess Linchuan and Princess Qingxin, who are favored by the Empress, are not in a better situation than Princess Anji. If you help her now, how do you know there will be no return?" Actually, Mrs. Huang disapproved of Wei Changying's getting involved in something she shouldn't. Now that Wei Changying was already regretting it, she started to comfort her, "Besides, Xinxin has said that Madam didn't plan to marry the Fourth Miss to the first young master of the Huo Family. She has only considered him as an option."

"Though it's been said like that, Mother told the first sister-in-law to check him out, so it's clear that at least she had once considered him." Wei Changying sighed, feeling down and saying, "I hope my fourth sister-in-law won't blame me."

Mrs. Huang smiled, saying, "Young madam, don't worry. The Fourth Miss is lively and Madam hasn't made the decision, so why would she tell the Fourth Miss this?" Otherwise, Shen Cangning might have accidentally told it to others. Even if the Huo Family would take the initiative to send people over to propose marriage, Shen Cangning would have lost face.

Even though Madam Su scolded and beat Shen Cangning, she truly loved her daughter and would not compromise her marriage. Madam Su loved her young daughter but in a harsh way, and Madam Su didn't believe that Shen Cangning...

Feeling a bit relieved, Wei Changying spoke to Mrs. Huang about things here, drank a bowl of warm goat's milk, and fell asleep.

The next morning, when she was shaken awake, it was not yet dawn. Inside and outside of the curtain of her bed, there were candles everywhere. She could hear several servants whispering outside the screen and someone whispering in astonishment. Clearly, something bad had happened!

Wei Changying immediately woke up driven by the shock, asking Mrs. Huang, who had taken a candle within her curtains and had shaken her awake, "What's wrong?"

The news Mrs. Huang told her made her relieved but shocked as well. Mrs. Huang, looking calm as if she had known it, said briefly, "The Second Madam of our family is gone!"

"What?" What Wei Changying worried about most was something that might happen to Shen Cangfeng. The next thing she worried about was things in Fengzhou. And then it would be the elders of her husband's family here. Since she heard it was her second aunt, she stopped worrying about her husband and the relatives in Fengzhou and her husband's family, but then she was shocked, asking unthinkingly, "How come?"

Mrs. Huang said casually, "On the lunar New Year's Day, she seemed to have eaten something bad, so she had appendicitis! Yesterday afternoon, they sent someone over to the Ji Family to find Miracle Doctor Ji, but the firecrackers people used during the festival in the city were too noisy for Miracle Doctor Ji, so he went to live in the house outside the city at the beginning of the last month. Although the servants rushed out of the city immediately, they didn't know where Miracle Doctor Ji's house was. She had kept going until just now, and so she's gone."

Wei Changying asked unthinkingly, "How about Duanmu Xinmiao?" After all, they were relatives. Although Duanmu Xinmiao was very cold towards her family members, she had always been polite. Her reputation was not as bad as that of her teacher, Ji Qubing. Even if Duanmu Xinmiao couldn't cure appendicitis, couldn't she still keep her alive? And Duanmu Xinmiao should know where to go to find Ji Qubing's house outside of the city, shouldn't she?

However, Mrs. Huang said, "Late last month, Dowager Duchess Cai dreamed of the late Duke Cai at night, so she sent a letter to the Emperor, requesting to take Duke Cai to the late Duke Cai's tomb to pray. The Eighth Miss of the Duanmu Family was worried that Dowager Duchess Cai and Duke Cai are both frail, and Lingzhong is not as developed as the capital, so she went with them."

The late Duke Cai, the fourth prince of the Emperor, had been conferred a posthumous title and would also be allowed to be buried with the Emperor in Anling, the tomb that the Emperor had prepared for himself. From the capital to Anling, even using a fast horse, it would take one day and one night to gallop there. Instead of going to pick up Duanmu Xinmiao, it would be better to count on Ji Qubing who was closer.

But apparently, neither the teacher nor the disciple could help.

"Where are the other imperial doctors?"

"Imperial Doctor Qu said he had done his best." Mrs. Huang said indifferently, "There was nothing we could do. Even if Miracle Doctor Ji and his disciple had both been there, they couldn't have done anything either."

Appendicitis could kill people, but it was generally caused by improper diet. Her second aunt hadn't been a person who overate. Moreover, on the first day of the New Year, the wife of the house had been so busy that she hadn't had her proper meals, let alone overeating to cause appendicitis.

Wei Changying suddenly recalled that Mrs. Huang had said something like "no hope". Seeing that Mrs. Huang was incredibly calm, Wei Changying seemed to have realized something, whispering, "Granny, what had happened?"

Mrs. Huang didn't hide it from her, saying calmly, "The Second Madam insulted the Old Madam in public and a lot of people heard it. Duanmu Wuse has embarrassed everyone in the Duanmu Family. Many daughters of the Duanmu Family who have married, like our second young madam, were affected by Duanmu Wuse and went home to their parents and brothers to complain. The Duanmu Family didn't want to lose face because of another daughter of theirs, so they had promised the Old Madam that they would clean their house."

Wei Changying murmured, "Didn't this happen several months ago?"

"The Duanmu Family said that Duanmu Wuse had only been sent back by the Song Family at that time and that it would be too obvious if another daughter from the Duanmu Family died suddenly then." Mrs. Huang said, "Therefore, they discussed with the Old Madam. Until these days, the first month of the lunar New Year, when every family was busy with the holidays and they would have no desire to know more details, things could be done quietly."

"Alas!" Wei Changjuan had kept making things difficult for Wei Changying. Mrs. Duanmu, her second aunt, had been protective towards her daughter, and she had insulted her grandmother. So there was no doubt that Wei Changying hated the mother and the daughter. Then, as her grandmother had been insulted by Mrs. Duanmu, Wei Changying had beaten Mrs. Duanmu while Mrs. Huang had drugged Wei Changjuan during the chaos. Wei Changying had thought it had vented her hatred.

But now when she knew that what her grandmother had casually said made the Duanmu Family have their daughter killed, she became melancholy.

She was lost in thought for a moment before saying, "She was, after all, my second aunt... I must go to give my condolences. Tell someone to bring the mourning apparel over."