"Have you heard about it, my third sister-in-law? Duke Ji has requested to stand guard over Dowager Duchess Ji's mausoleum for three years to show his filial piety and devotion." It was snowing in the afternoon, and snowflakes were dancing in the courtyard. Several maids were making snowmen, chattering. Mrs. Liu brought over Shen Shujing, the First Granddaughter Miss. They greeted each other, and then Mrs. Liu told Shen Shujing to play with the parrot. She herself came to play chess with Wei Changying. Within a few moves, she threw down her chess pieces and raised her head, saying, "Mother is very worried now!"

Wei Changying knew that the Shen Family was planning to change the crown prince. At first, she had suspected that Duke Ji was the candidate to replace the Crown Prince because after all, Duchess Ji, Shen Cangxiu, was Shen Xuan's eldest lineal daughter. However, a few days ago, the news came that Shen Xuan had fallen ill, so except Shen Cangfeng who was far away in Western Liang, Shen Cangli and the rest of his sons came to look after him day and night in turns. As a female family member, it was inappropriate for her to visit her father-in-law in his room. But having seen what was going on, she thought he was very sick.

So, now she was unsure about how the situation really was. Having heard Mrs. Liu's words, she sighed and said, "Yesterday Cousin Su came to see me and told me of something that happened recently. Apart from Duke Ji, it seems that Duke Yi has been frequently visiting the Ji Family these days, hasn't he?"

Mrs. Liu frowned, saying, "Yes. I know your old family members and Ji Qubing are friends. Since you are pregnant now, they don't want you to worry about these things, so they didn't tell you, but you have already learned of it. It is said that Duke Yi was very sad because of what he saw when Duck Ji was paying his condolences to Dowager Duchess Ji. He thought of Zhou Baolin who passed away and deeply felt the grief of the saying 'Children would like to repay their parents while their parents are gone'. So, he went to ask forgiveness from His Majesty and Madam Zhenyi, regretting that he hadn't fulfilled his filial duties towards His Majesty and Madam Zhenyi. You know, his foster mother, Madam Zhenyi, has been chronically sick for many years, so he thought he should ask Ji Qubing to treat Madam Zhenyi and even asked His Majesty to allow him to take Madam Zhenyi to his fiefdom after his wedding so as to fulfill his filial duties."

Wei Changying said, "Although I have only seen Madam Zhenyi from afar a few times at the banquet and I don't know anything about medicine, I can see that this Madam's illness is caused by her mental state. Even if Ji Qubing is an excellent doctor, mental problems can only be cured by the proper solutions, right?"

At that moment, since all the other people, including Mrs. Huang, had been told to leave, and Mrs. Liu visited Wei Changying very often, she spoke more freely with Wei Changying. She casually put one piece down and ate a few melon seeds before saying with a smile, "Even if Ji Qubing can cure Madam Zhenyi, how many years has she been out of favor? Basically, she has been sick since she fell out of favor. There is a saying 'Sickness comes on horseback but departs on foot'. Her illness is caused by her mental state and has gotten worse as her quality of life has gone downhill since she fell into disfavor. She hasn't sought treatment, so things keep getting worse. Therefore, it has become a serious chronic illness. Unless there are gods, nobody could cure her immediately!"

"Since Dowager Duchess Ji has only just passed away, according to the rules of mourning for concubine mothers, Duke Yi also has to mourn for nine months." Mrs. Liu spat out melon seed shells, saying, "Nine months later, he will get married. By then there will have been no reason for him not to leave the capital. Perhaps, Madam Zhenyi is the excuse he has prepared in order for him to be able to stay in the capital? In case it looks too abrupt when he suddenly says he wants to fulfill his filial duties towards Madam Zhenyi then."

Wei Changying took a sip of warm water, musing, "Madam Zhenyi... Princess Anji is not someone he can mess with!"

"She is all alone and weak." Mrs. Liu said, "We always avoid her because it is not worthwhile arguing with her, and there are no benefits by going against her! In the past, Madam Zhenyi and Princess Anji weren't in anyone's way, nor were they useful, but it is hard to speak of the future."

"If Duke Yi wants to stay in the capital, the Empress and the Crown Prince won't just sit back and watch." Wei Changying thought if Princess Anji noticed Duke Yi's intentions, she would definitely turn to the Empress so that she could find a way out for both her mother and herself.

When Mrs. Liu heard the words "Crown Prince", she looked awkward and paused for a moment before saying, "The Crown Prince has more concubines now."

Wei Changying thought, "I had heard that the Crown Prince is a womanizer when I was still in Fengzhou, so what's weird about him wanting more concubines now?" But knowing that Mrs. Liu was concerned about the Crown Princess, Liu Ruoyu, she tried to comfort her, "Just some concubines. After all, they are just playthings. They are so insignificant. My first sister-in-law, don't worry too much. You know, they attract someone by having sex, but as they get older and lose their beauty, they will be abandoned. These concubines are just a flash in the pan, aren't they?"

"If they had only been ordinary concubines, that would have been fine." Mrs. Liu sighed, saying, "You don't know. This time there is a Lady and a Consort. The Lady is the daughter from a collateral branch of the Qian Family in Xinghe, Qian Mo'er, which is fine. But the Consort is the Empress's niece. Although she is from a concubine of his father's, she and the Empress are relatives! The Crown Prince is already... Do you think that the Empress would treat her niece shabbily?"

"Qian Mo'er?" Wei Changying paused, thought for a moment, and vaguely remembered that she had heard of this name, "Tell me, is the Miss from the Gu Family in Hongzhou, who is the Consort, called Gu Meimei?"

Mrs. Liu said, "My third sister-in-law, you have heard of this?"

"Last year, when it was Princess Linchuan's birthday, I went to the palace for the first time. During that time, Princess Linchuan went to Qianqiu Pavilion to write, so I also went there to see it. On the way back, Qian Mo'er insulted me. It seemed that she was instigated to do it by this Gu Meimei." Wei Changying said, "At first, I only heard of Qian Mo'er. But later, when the fourth sister-in-law told me about it, I knew that Gu Meimei was the Empress's niece."

Mrs. Liu looked pale instantly, asking, "Do you mean that they will combine against Ruoyu?"

"My first sister-in-law, please calm down." Wei Changying quickly said, "Even If they gang up, they are only concubines after all. It sounds nice being a Consort, but she is not the Crown Princess. Compared with those unworthy concubines, they are, of course, the Crown Prince's proper concubines, but they are nothing compared to Ruoyu! If the Empress really loves her niece more than Ruoyu, why didn't she make the daughter of the Gu Family the Crown Princess?"

Mrs. Liu bit her lip, saying with a wry smile, "Alas, I don't want to hide anything from you now, my third sister-in-law! Ruoyu, she... I don't understand what she thinks now at all. Although the Crown Prince has many concubines, he has never given them any official titles. Qian Mo'er and Gu Meimei are the first two who have titles. The moment I knew about it, I found a way to get people to warn her that she must watch out for them and not let these two people give birth to their children before her! I also told her to befriend the Crown Prince's sons, especially the Empress's favorite young master, but she..."

Wei Changying asked with concern, "What did Ruoyu do?"

"Not only did she have no intention of raising the little young master, but she also didn't even take Qian Mo'er's and Gu Meimei's competition for favor seriously!" Mrs. Liu's heart was full of bitterness, saying, "Now everyone outside is saying that the Crown Princess is virtuous and noble, never bothering with the Crown Prince's concubines. Even on days like the first and fifteenth day of the New Year, the Crown Prince went to the others' rooms, the Crown Princess has never taught those people a lesson! You see, now they are just newly married, but they are like that. What will it be like in the future?"

Wei Changying knitted her eyebrows together, musing, "My first sister-in-law, since only we are here now, let me be honest. Ruoyu's attention is probably not on the Crown Prince at all, and that's why she doesn't care about him. She really doesn't care!"

Mrs. Liu said sadly, "My third sister-in-law, even you have noticed it. Do you think I'm unaware of it? I'm not saying that you are not as observant as me, but Ruoyu grew up under my watch, so I think I still know her very well. She is not interested in the Crown Prince, but the problem is now she is married! She is the Crown Princess! The Liu Family... Her father and mother don't care very much about her. If she is not even loved by her husband, merely holding a title, isn't the thing with Madam Zhenyi and Princess Anji a good example? Princess Anji is a royal princess, but she can't dress as well as our favorite maidservants! Ruoyu is still young..."

While the two sisters-in-law were talking, they heard footsteps in the corridor, followed by a knock on the door. Qin'ge spoke outside, "The first young madam and the third young madam, someone is here at the front courtyard, saying that an imperial edict has just been issued from the palace to promise a marriage for our fifth young master!"

"What?!" Mrs. Liu and Wei Changying were both stunned and surprised, "Isn't the fifth brother-in-law going to marry the fourth cousin of the Su Family? Why is there an imperial edict for promising another marriage for him?"

In the palace, there were two princesses who had reached marriageable age. One was Linchuan. It had been decided that she was going to marry Gu Wei, a descendent from the Gu Family in Hongzhou. The Emperor had personally approved the marriage and the bride was a princess, so there was no way to suddenly change it. The other one was Princess Anji. The two sisters-in-law were both terribly frightened, wondering why the Emperor had suddenly done this. Not only did he break up the promise of the marriage that had been agreed between the Shen Family and the Su Family, but he was also trying to force the Shen Family to take Princess Anji, who had the worst reputation among the princesses!

Neither of them could keep speaking of Liu Ruoyu, and they quickly called Qin'ge to come in and explain things.

Only when Qin'ge explained it to them in detail did they understand that the fifth young master whom she was talking about was not Shen Cangji, the fifth young master of the Shen Family, but Wei Changfeng, the younger brother of Wei Changying, the fifth young master of the Wei Family!

Wei Changying got nervous again, saying, "Which young lady has been promised to Changfeng by His Majesty?" Having thought for a while, she couldn't think of any request that was recently submitted by her grandfather to ask for the marriage for Wei Changfeng. In regard to Wei Changfeng's marriage, Old Madam Song had been considering it for several years but hadn't made a decision. Even if it had been decided, he should have at least mentioned it in the letter, in order to inform his own sister.

But the letter that she had recently received had never mentioned her younger brother's marriage. As she was thinking about it, she heard Qin'ge say, "That will be the Fifth Miss of the Su Family."

"Which Fifth Miss?" There were only four Misses of the Su Family that Wei Changying knew of. They were namely the First Miss, her lineal cousin, Su Yuli, the Second Miss from the eldest branch of the Su Family, Su Yulee, and the sisters from the second branch of the Su Family, the Third Miss, Su Yufei, and the Fourth Miss, Su Yuyin, but she was wondering how there was a Fifth Miss in the Su Family.

Fortunately, Mrs. Liu had grown up in the capital and knew all the families well, so she immediately explained to her, "It's not their maternal grandfather's family. It's their granduncle's family. She is the daughter of Princess Lingxian, and her name is 'Nianchu'."

Being told this by her, Wei Changying recalled that she had glimpsed her at Princess Linchuan's birthday banquet. At that time, Su Yuli had said that her cousin Su Nianchu had suggested that Princess Qingxin should learn to paint, but the Princess had no patience and she had made no progress, so she went to the Emperor to complain tearfully. The Emperor then had scolded Su Nianchu's father, his son-in-law, severely.

Actually, she was the Emperor's lineal granddaughter. But as her grandmother was Consort Huo whose title had been taken away for committing the crime of harming the Emperor's favorite Sixth Prince, she was just like any ordinary official's daughter. Although her father was a lineal child from the Su Family in Qingzhou, her grandfather had passed away. So, her father wouldn't possibly become the Family Head.

Wei Changying was so disappointed, saying uninterestedly, "Oh, it’s her. Cousin Su told me about her before, but I had forgotten about her."

Mrs. Liu was good at gauging people's minds, noticing that Wei Changying was dissatisfied with this sister-in-law. Now that the imperial edict for marriage had come, Mrs. Liu comforted her, "I have seen this fifth cousin of the Su Family twice. She is a gentle and considerate girl."

"I hope so..." Wei Changying was too distracted to talk to her more and was thinking of getting someone to find out the details right away. Why had the Emperor given Wei Changfeng, who had never been to the capital, an imperial edict for marriage without any reason? The Dowager Duchess Ji had just passed away, and a person had also died in the Wei Family recently. Under this circumstance, the Emperor suddenly issued an imperial edict for marriage. Obviously, there must be a reason behind this!

As Duke Ji and Duke Yi were both still in the capital, there was intense tension in the air in the capital. Wei Changying felt this was a bad omen. Mrs. Liu could tell she was anxious, quickly calling Shen Shujing to come over. Then the mother and the daughter said their goodbyes to Wei Changying and left together.