Having left the east wing and entered the west wing, Wei Changying saw that Duanmu Xinmiao was neatly dressed, leaning against her bed and leisurely drinking tea. All the servants were standing behind her with their hands by their sides. Everything looked so peaceful. It seemed that nothing had happened.

Nevertheless, on taking a look, Wei Changying saw her using her left hand to drink tea while carefully resting her dominant right hand on the table. She realized that the maidservant who came to report earlier had definitely been right. Duanmu Xinmiao's right arm must have been hurt by the hairpin.

Seeing Wei Changying come in, the maidservants, who had been assigned by Mrs. Huang to keep an eye on Duanmu Xinmiao in case she went to fight with Deng Wanwan, quickly curtsied. Wei Changying emphatically raised her arm in the large sleeve, telling them to leave.

When there were only two of them left in the room, Wei Changying asked, "Where are you hurt? I saw that Wanwan was covered in bruises, so I guessed the servants must be applying medication to you as well! Have they done it already?" To anyone else, it would appear that Duanmu Xinmiao should be the one who was stronger, but in Wei Changying's view, both of them were delicate young ladies. If Deng Wanwan was badly hurt, Duanmu Xinmiao would be, too.

Duanmu Xinmiao said causally, "My right arm was badly cut, so I have bound it up a bit. In terms of the bruises elsewhere, going back to a bath with medicinal herbs will be better than using the ointment. I am a doctor. I have my own ways of dealing with these injuries. I don't have to use common ways like hers."

Wei Changying sat down beside her, saying softly, "What should I say about you? Duke Cai and his mother are far away. Even if you had been able to make Deng Wanwan and her brother suffer a lot, you aren't able to help them! Honored Consort Deng can't do anything to Duke Cai and his mother. Even if she could, as a high-ranking concubine in the palace, she isn't someone whom you can intimidate easily anyway. As I just said in front of Mr. Deng, perhaps once she heard that something had happened to Mr. Deng, she would immediately do something to Duke Cai and his mother, preventing you from daring to make a move!"

"I know." Duanmu Xinmiao blew at the hair in front of her forehead, shrugged, and helplessly said, "If Honored Consort Deng hadn't threatened me, there would have been no need to do anything. Since she has said those things, if I hadn't done anything, she would have thought she could bully me and would have bullied me as much as she wanted!"

Wei Changying said, "You want to make Honored Consort Deng scared of you, instead of treating you as someone who is easy to deceive and threaten. Then you should have told me! Wouldn't it have been better if I had given you a comprehensive plan? You did these things without telling me. Look at what has happened! You had a fight in the middle of the night. Fortunately, Deng Wanwan knew what she shouldn't do and didn't shout out the truth! Otherwise, it would have been impossible to hide the farce and it would have become a serious issue!"

Duanmu Xinmiao disagreed, "Deng Wanwan doesn't want to get herself and her brother killed, so how could she dare to tell the truth? Besides, if she behaves childishly, I have plenty of prescriptions to make her go mad, and by then no one will believe her."

Seeing her talk about Deng Wanwan indifferently, Wei Changying dismissed the idea of getting the two to at least pretend to make peace, saying, "Deng Wanwan told me that since she fought you well this time and hurt you with the hairpin, you and Mr. Deng don't owe each other anything. There will be no need to be in contact with each other. What do you think?"

Duanmu Xinmiao raised her eyebrows, saying, "No contact with each other? Do you think it is possible?"

Wei Changying frowned. Unsurprisingly, Duanmu Xinmiao continued, "If my elder sister and nephew are fine, I won't bother with them. However, if something happens to my elder sister and nephew, I will vent my anger on them even if it isn't Honored Consort Deng's fault. Nobody won in the fight today because I just want to teach Honored Consort Deng a lesson, letting her know that I am not someone she can mess with! I didn't use much poison on them. Otherwise, you saw the cut on Deng Wanwan's cheek, didn't you? Although it is a tiny cut, if I had really wanted her life, all the people in her room would have died because of it!"

"She has said that if something bad happens to Mr. Deng, she will come after you!" Wei Changying said calmly, "Your attitudes are so identical that I couldn't do anything even if I wanted to ease the situation. Now it seems there is no other way but to separate you."

Duanmu Xinmiao said casually, "Changying, you do whatever you like."

Two of them stayed silent for a while. Wei Changying sighed, "Actually, it is my Shen Family problem that has caused your trouble! In a few days, when my husband is almost fully recovered, I will find an excuse to get you back to the capital. By then, nothing will trouble you."

Duanmu Xinmiao bit her lip and said, "I'm worried that His Majesty will want me to stay here."

"It's a long way from the capital to Western Liang. Who would want to wait for the imperial edict?" Wei Changying said with a smile, "Besides, you are only here because Honored Consort Deng suggested it to His Majesty. You were not sent here by the official order of the imperial edict. You don't have to ask for permission from His Majesty to go back. By the time His Majesty receives the news, you will probably be arriving in the capital soon!"

"That would be good." Duanmu Xinmiao breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "When I return to the capital, I will guard my elder sister and nephew! No one will be able to separate me from them!"

Wei Changying thought to herself, "If there is an imperial edict, you won't be able to protect them." But she didn't tell her this harsh reality. Instead, she said, "However, you have to get Gu Rouzhang to agree to go with you two."

Duanmu Xinmiao frowned, asking, "We two? You're not talking about me and Deng Wanwan, are you? Aren't you worried that something will happen on the way?"

"That is why Gu Rouzhang must go back together with you!" Wei Changying said, "With her in the group, I think she can keep an eye on both of you with her martial arts skills. Of course, you must not go too far or deal with her with your drugs!"

Duanmu Xinmiao was not convinced, saying, "But Gu Rouzhang has been like a bird out of a cage these days. No one can find her. Last time, when I bumped into her in the corridor, she took out a handful of pine nuts and gave them to me, saying that she personally picked them on the North Mountain outside the city. I don't think she hates the cold and harsh environment here. Instead, she enjoys being here. Gu Yiran and Gu Xinian are not here at the moment. She came here to visit her brothers, but she hasn't seen either of them! Is she willing to go back? I have heard that her brothers are stationed in places where no matter which, it would take several days to make a round trip. Especially now, it's snowing heavily. Changying, you are planning to ask me to leave with Deng Wanwan when Cangfeng is almost recovered, aren't you?"

Wei Changying was surprised, saying, "You may have been staying in the courtyard these days, but you have heard a lot of things, haven't you?"

"The noble in the capital have given their orders. Since I have vented my anger on Deng Wanwan and her brother, I should behave so that they won't feel offended." Duanmu Xinmiao said these words, looking at the teacup in her hand and saying, "I bet Gu Rouzhang will be very reluctant to go back! You have failed to get her back to the capital. You want to get rid of her again, but it won't be so easy this time either!"

"So, it's your turn." Wei Changying squinted, saying in a low voice, "I will take Gu Rouzhang's horse away. Then you will bring some knockout drops to knock her out and take her to a carriage. When you are quite far away from Western Liang City, you let her wake up naturally. By then, she will not be able to come back."

Duanmu Xinmiao looked at her strangely, "Are you not worried that while she is sleeping, Deng Wanwan and I will fight brutally?"

"New Year's Eve is approaching." Wei Changying said insipidly, "Before we arrived, the New Year's gifts had already been sent on the road. But some of them specially asked for by our family in the capital weren't ready. They have been readied recently. I have asked and people said they were not in a hurry to get them. They have agreed that we can deliver them after New Year's Day. In Western Liang, spring isn't very obvious. The snow is deep and carriages move slowly. I will get you or Deng Wanwan to go with that group first, and then get Gu Rouzhang and the other person to catch up and join the group."

Duanmu Xinmiao asked in confusion, "Things need to be delivered to the capital. A new group can be formed, so why not let us go separately? Why do we have to involve Gu Rouzhang?"

Wei Changying snorted, saying, "You also know that the troublesome First Miss of the Gu Family has been to the North Mountain to pick pine nuts, don't you? Do you think this is the time to pick pine nuts? On that day, relying on the strength of her mount, she got rid of her servants and went up the North Mountain to have fun. She had nothing else to do, so she ignored the snow and picked pine nuts! She was having fun. However, the guards, who I gave her and who were looking for her at the bottom of the mountain, almost had to commit suicide. Compared with Gu Rouzhang, Wanwan and you only cause trouble within the mansion. She is the one who keeps distracting me! I really can't spare my time nowadays. Otherwise, I would have got either Gu Yiran or Gu Xinian back and told them either to send her away or to take her with them!"

"Changying, since you are so annoyed with Gu Rouzhang, why don't you force her to go to Gu Xinian?" On hearing Wei Changying's words, Duanmu Xinmiao couldn't help but giggle. She seemed to have forgotten about her own situation and future arrangements, and gave Wei Changying suggestions, laughing.

Wei Changying said, "You don't think I have sent letters to Gu Xinian? That guy sent his servant to give me a bunch of excuses. For example, they said it was not suitable for women to go over there. He was too busy with the army to get away, and he asked me to take care of her. In the end, seeing me looking impatient, the person told me the truth with a long face, saying that his young master cannot stand Gu Rouzhang. Since Gu Rouzhang hasn't gone to visit him, he is so relieved that he is just leaving her in Western Liang City for me to worry about!"

Duanmu Xinmiao stamped her foot, laughing and saying, "Oh, how fun Gu Rouzhang is! She has annoyed her half-brother that much."

"You think it's fun, so you three should get to know each other on your way back to the capital." Wei Changying said, "Mr. Deng's leave will finish soon. He probably won't take Wanwan to his camp to wait for me to get you all back to the capital. I think my husband is recovering fast, so you should be able to go back right after the first month."

Unsatisfied, Duanmu Xinmiao said, "Who is like you as a mistress of the family? I haven't said I will leave, but you are so determined to get rid of me and are counting the days for me. It seems that you are worried about me not leaving by that time!"

"Haven't you seen how tough and fierce Wanwan is?" Wei Changying gently tugged her sleeve. There appeared the bruises on her arm. She said, "I'm busy and can't pay attention to all of you all the time. Look at you. How delicate you are! But now you are wounded and how bad it looks! You are here but worrying about Duke Cai and his mother. I would like to keep you for a long time because it is brutal on the battlefield. With your teacher or you around, everyone would feel a sense of safety. But are you willing to stay?"

Duanmu Xinmiao snorted, saying, "Deng Wanwan has also been badly beaten up!"

Wei Changying gently touched her with her finger, asking, "Is the cut on your arm alright? Will it leave a scar?"

"Scars won't matter." Duanmu Xinmiao didn't mind, saying, "It's on my arm anyway. I can't see it myself."

Seeing Wei Changying want to say something else, Duanmu Xinmiao added, "I don't plan to get married. Besides, if I were married, how dare he mind the scar on my arm! Would he want to die?"

Seeing that she was really not bothered by the cut on her arm, Wei Changying didn't want to nag her much at this time of the day and got up, saying, "I'll have someone escort you back to the courtyard. Don't catch a cold on the way. Be careful when you go down to the courtyard. Don't fall over."

Duanmu Xinmiao said yes and then said, "Changying, you should also watch your step on the way back."

However, Wei Changying didn't leave immediately but reached her hand out to her.

Duanmu Xinmiao looked puzzled, asking, "What?"

"Where is the antidote to Ten Night Blood?" Wei Changying didn't fall into the trap, saying, "Didn't you say before that your clothes had been soaked with medicine and that anyone who touched them would be poisoned? You have already given Wanwan a lot of bruises. If you make her scratch herself for ten nights... Believe it or not, if she scratches herself for just one night, with the love and care that Mr. Deng has for his sister, even if he is good-natured, he will come into your backyard with his sword and fight you to the death!"