Mrs. He took a step forward, speaking in a low voice, "Someone from the rear courtyard has sent servants over to tell the guests in the front courtyard that Miss Duanmu was willing to treat everyone. They asked their fathers and brothers to be ready to see if there was a chance that Miss Duanmu could give them checkups. So people there were praising the women of those families for being filial and thoughtful. As a result, the seniors started to talk about the fourth young master. They said the fourth young master must be lonely since he had come to Western Liang without the fourth young madam. Gradually, they started to talk about giving the fourth young master some pretty maidservants."

As a wife, Wei Changying hated people like them the most, thinking, "The couple has a happy life. Shen Canghui hasn't said he wants concubines. Why are you worrying about it, old men?"

On hearing this, Wei Changying put on an angry look, asking, "Who has suggested that? And who wants to give Canghui these girls? What does Canghui think himself? Can't he cope with them because he doesn't want the girls or because he wants them but he doesn't want to say yes immediately?"

Having heard her rapidly asking so many questions, Mrs. He knew she was annoyed, sighing, "The fourth young master doesn't really want them." Her voice was low, but she lowered it even more, "The fourth young master and the fourth young madam love each other a lot. When we left for Western Liang, the fourth young madam was still pregnant, so soon after New Year's day, she will give birth! Besides, the servants that the fourth young madam has given to the fourth young master mention the fourth young madam to him from time to time. The person who passed the message to me is one of them. He kept saying that the fourth young master didn't want girls, but a few seniors insisted on it and laughed at him for being afraid of the fourth young madam. They have embarrassed the fourth young master so much!"

Wei Changying thought, "Shen Canghui has said he doesn't want them, but these old men still want to force them on him!"

Wei Changying sneered, saying, "I wish Meiniang were here right now to show these old people what she is capable of!" Pei Meiniang was somebody who had made Madam Su so angry that she had fallen ill when Pei Meiniang had just got married. If she had been here and had known that someone was daring to force her husband to have concubines, she might have left behind the reputation of being a generous lineal daughter of an aristocratic family and gone dashing to the front courtyard to question those old men as to why they were trying to put more people in her rear courtyard without asking her, the wife of Shen Canghui!

Mrs. He didn't like these people either, though they hadn't tried to give Shen Cangfeng girls this time. Since Pei Meiniang was not here and Shen Canghui seemed to be a soft-hearted person, he might be seduced by these pretty maidservants and begin to like them. Unfortunately, Shen Cangfeng was not here now! Without her husband being present in person to back her up, as she was still young and couldn't visit her brother-in-law very often, it could become a problem if these people should cause Shen Canghui and Wei Changying to fight for power!

She then suggested, "Because the fourth young master couldn't answer the question, he excused himself to go to the side room to sober up, saying he was too drunk. Should I send someone over to tell the fourth young master that he should go back to his place to take a break first and leave the seniors to do things as they please?"

"Yes, do it." Wei Changying coldly ordered, "Also, tell someone to note down the names of those who suggested that Canghui should have concubines and those who were prepared to offer them!" Wei Changying thought, "They failed to persuade Shen Cangfeng to have concubines, so now they are trying it on with Shen Canghui. These old men... The punishment given to Shen Chu and his wife wasn't serious enough, was it?"

Having let Mrs. He do those things and returned to her table, Wei Changying looked as calm as usual already. Smiling, she apologized to and thanked Mrs. Huo and the others. Then she started to chat with them as if nothing had happened. When the night was dark and the banquet ended, guests whose surnames weren't Shen went home to welcome the New Year. The men in the Shen Family needed to gather in the ancestral hall to prepare for the ceremony for the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The women were busy, too. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, it was customary for married women to return to their parents' families. Wei Changying could finally take a break and was about to ask her maidservant to massage her legs. With her eyes closed, thinking about which family she should visit first upon the third day, she heard people from outside saying Shen Canghui wanted to speak to her.

Recalling what had happened at the New Year's Eve banquet, Wei Changying went to the main hall with all the servants. When the brother-in-law and the sister-in-law met, they greeted each other and gave each other a blessing. Not surprisingly, Shen Canghui asked with a wry smile, "Several uncles have given me some girls, but I'm not interested in them. I hoped you could help me. Could you take them in, Changying?"

"I have heard about what happened at the New Year's Eve banquet. If you don't want the girls, why don't you tell them?" Seeing his helpless face, Wei Changying was upset. As a woman, even if it was a stranger, a man who had nothing to do with her, she always hoped that they could be more devoted, except for her enemies’ husbands. Pei Meiniang was far away in the capital, but Shen Canghui was willing to refuse the beautiful girls who came to his door. Wei Changying liked his attitude. However, seeing Shen Canghui being bothered by it so much, Wei Changying thought that her brother-in-law was so weak-willed.

If it had been her husband, Shen Cangfeng, the seniors wouldn't have dared to suggest it! But of course, if Shen Cangfeng had hosted the banquet on New Year's Eve and no one had suggested it to him, the reason would have probably been her.

Nevertheless, even if Wei Changying hadn't ruthlessly punished Shen Chu and his wife, as a decisive and strong-willed person, when Shen Cangfeng said he didn't want more girls in his rear courtyard, nobody would dare to try again, let alone laugh at him to his face for being afraid of his wife.

Wei Changying thought if it had been her "gentle and modest" younger brother, Wei Changfeng, he wouldn't have allowed the seniors to bully him to his face, either.

He couldn't stop them at the banquet. It was still reasonable to say that this was Shen Canghui's first time hosting a banquet like that, so inevitably, it hadn't been easy. If he had insisted, he might have spoiled the fun at the banquet. However, now the girls were here. They were only a group of beautiful girls. How could Shen Canghui, a lineal son of gentlefolks, be so bothered by them?

Shen Canghui didn't understand what his sister-in-law really meant, speaking worriedly, "Honestly, I refused them several times at the banquet, but the uncles insisted, so I was worried about spoiling everyone's fun. Later on, my servant suggested that I should leave the table early as being too drunk. I thought it would be the end of it, but I didn't know that when they left, they left these people here!"

Looking at this man, she didn't know whether to call honest or... Well, for the sake of her husband, she would say Shen Canghui was honest. After all, he was her brother-in-law. If the brother-in-law was too stupid and dumb, it wouldn't be great to be his sister-in-law, would it? She stayed silent for a short moment, asking, "So, you have come to me to ask for a place for these people?"

"That's right." Shen Canghui uncomfortably touched his nose, saying, "There isn't enough room for this many people in my courtyard. Besides, there are enough servants in my place."

Wei Changying squinted, looked at him suspiciously, and asked, "I haven't seen these people given by the uncles. Have you seen them, Canghui?"

"I was busy yesterday, but I saw them this morning." Shen Canghui hesitated for a moment, but he still said, "Some of them are of poor origins. Please treat them well, Changying."

On hearing that, Wei Changying smiled, asking kindly, "The prettiest ones or the loveliest ones?"

"Ah?" Not having expected his sister-in-law would suddenly ask such a question, Shen Canghui was a bit dazed.

Wei Changying became angry instantly, saying, "I haven't been married into the family for so many years, and Father, Mother, Uncle, brothers, and sisters-in-law are still well, so I shouldn't criticize you too much! However, they are not here. As I'm more senior than you, I must give you some advice! If you are willing to listen, then listen! If you don't want to, then forget it!"

Shen Canghui quickly said, "It is totally reasonable for you to criticize me. Please do, Changying!"

"At the New Year's Eve banquet, I heard that several uncles said that you didn't dare to accept those beautiful girls because you were afraid of your wife. You didn't answer them, did you?" Wei Changing was so furious. If it had been her brother, Wei Changfeng, she would have already been chasing after him in the courtyard, beating him!

But Shen Canghui was not only younger than her husband but also his cousin! Her mother-in-law had treated him gently, so Wei Changying could only hold down her temper and try to persuade him nicely, "You do know that they didn't ask for Meiniang's permission on whether you could have concubines, don't you? This should be treated seriously according to the rules. The uncles have united to bully you, and you didn't act and became so embarrassed! Can't you ask the elders to do things according to the rules? Because people from the lineal branch of the clan aren't here very often, people here have a lax attitude to the rules? Even the elders, who are supposed to be of high moral standing, like to do whatever they want!"

Shen Canghui's face turned red. He said in a low voice, "I said that, but the uncles said that as Meiniang is a lineal daughter of an aristocratic family and she was personally chosen by my eldest aunt, she must be very generous! If we hadn't had to come to Western Liang in a hurry, perhaps Meiniang herself would have prepared someone to serve me. I... I couldn't say that Meiniang had stopped me from having concubines here!"

"..." Mrs. Huang and Mrs. He bit their lips so hard in case they couldn't hold back their laughter, making Shen Canghui lose face. Even Wei Changying was stunned and almost laughed out loud. When Shen Canghui had helped his newly-wed wife and made Madam Su so angry, Wei Changying thought that this brother-in-law was purely ungrateful! Now it seemed that this brother-in-law actually hadn't grown up and he was just childish!

But if you said he was childish, he had remembered well what Pei Meiniang had told him to do.

Wei Changying was also the wife of somebody, so her heart softened. She softened her tone, saying, "Since that was the case, then why didn't you use the ceremony of worshiping the ancestors after New Year's Eve as an excuse? You could say soon it would be the ceremony and you didn't want to talk about it so as not to offend our ancestors. Or you could say that the elders sent you to Western Liang to escort me here to see Cangfeng and also to give you a chance to gain experience on the battlefield. The western tribes haven't been destroyed, so you are not in the mood to have beautiful concubines. Isn't it easy to find similar excuses?"

These words suddenly enlightened Shen Canghui. He felt ashamed, saying, "I am foolish. Without your advice, I couldn't come up with any of these excuses. I... I only thought that I mustn't say a word about what Meiniang had told me before I came to Western Liang!"

"..." Wei Changying helplessly put her hand on her forehead and waited a while before saying, "How about that? Let me give you a solution. From now on, no matter who comes to suggest it to you in the future, you should just say that before you came here, your father had told you not to only think about women and that you must assist Cangfeng. If those people want to argue with you that having a concubine or two doesn't count, you should let them know your view no matter how they argue. You should say they must not force you to disobey your father. If they don't care, you should get angry and scold them for being unfaithful and ungrateful and for even daring to drag you through the mud with them! You then come and tell me, so I can deal with these stupid people for you!"

Shen Canghui said cautiously, "But Father didn't say such a thing. If they knew..."

"I don't believe that Uncle didn't give you advice privately before you left!" Wei Changying impatiently slapped the table, shouting, "You may not remember every sentence Uncle has said to you. So how could they know everything he said?"