Chapter 465: 465: I Have Some Questions For Father_1

Before Madam Bai could say anything, Wei Ruo added, “Since the wine is originally from Taizhou Prefecture and my father will be returning there in a few days, Prince has ordered someone to deliver the wine directly to the General Residence in Taizhou Prefecture to avoid the hassle of transportation.”

As soon as Wei Ruo said this, Madam Bai, who had just begun to develop some expectational thoughts, was instantly silenced, gritting her teeth in frustration.

Nevertheless, Madam Bai continued, “I have heard that this wine is hard to buy, may I ask where the Prince got this whole cartload from?”

As she spoke, a sense of bitterness seeped into her eyes.

Wei Ruo replied with a smile, “Auntie, the Prince’s position is prestigious and hence unlike ordinary people. Where we had trouble finding, the Prince could easily obtain.”

“Yes… yes… it is my own stupidity.” Madam Bai responded with a forced smile.

Madam Yun said to Wei Ruo, “We greatly appreciate Prince’s generosity. On behalf of our husband here, we thank His Highness.”

Wei Ruo further added, “For my elder brother, I have prepared several boxes of stationary from the Four Treasure House. Mother, please remember to deliver them to him later – I know he has been rather busy lately, so I didn’t want to disturb him.”

Wei Ruo’s decision to not visit Wei Yichen was partly because Wei Yichen would soon be joining the court, so it would be inconvenient to bother him with his plethora of tasks.

But it was also due to her uncertainty on what to say to him, hence the decision not to visit.

“We appreciate it, your Highness. Upon hearing this, your elder brother will certainly be very happy.” Madam Yun agreed.

We Ruo then spoke to the others, “The Prince has also prepared gifts for the elders. I hope you won’t mind.”

“We sincerely appreciate His Highness.” Madam Mo replied.

“Of course, we wouldn’t mind. We are honored by the kindness of the Prince and the Queen.” Madam Bai added.

Madam Bai thought to herself, since the gifts prepared by King Rui for the elderly were all valuable items, the other gifts would no doubt be fantastic as well – she expected to benefit from them.

However, what Madam Bai was unaware of was that aside from the valuable gifts already announced by Wei Ruo, the rest were just ordinary ceremonial gifts – such as brown sugar, cloud cakes, apples, and common teas.

The many bags and boxes might look impressive, but they were not worth much money.

Madam Yun couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Just now, Wei Ruo specifically mentioned the gifts prepared for Wei Yilin, Wei Mingting, and Wei Yichen, but she was left out.

She had an uncomfortable, blocked throat feeling but didn’t know how to express it.

Afterwards, everyone had lunch together in Shou’an Hall.

After lunch, Wei Ruo, accompanied by Madam Yun, went to the Anxin Pavilion to see Mr. Wei Mingting.

“Father, I pay my respects to you.”

“You needn’t be overly formal.”

“Father, there are some questions I wanted to ask.”

Wei Mingting’s eyes deepened, and after a moment’s sigh, he turned to Madam Yun, “Madam, could you wait outside for a moment? I have some things I need to discuss with Ruoruo alone.”

Madam Yun couldn’t help but be surprised, not understanding what her husband wanted to say to her daughter that he’d rather not have her present.

Although they were a family of three, she felt excluded from her husband and daughter’s conversation.

But since she always obeyed her husband’s wishes, she obediently left the room, filled with confusion and melancholy.

Once Madam Yun had left the room, Wei Mingting turned around, saying gravely, “I know what you want to ask.”

“Knew all along whom I was marrying before I took the vow?” Wei Ruo asked.

“Yes,” Wei Mingting affirmed.

“Is that what you thought was best?”

“I don’t know, but I do know he won’t hurt you. This is better than having you marry someone like Marquis Xuanping, so I didn’t challenge him.”

Wei Ruo couldn’t deny it. This choice wasn’t entirely bad for her.

Wei Ruo asked again, “Father, I have another question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Why would you take such a risk back then?”

“His maternal grandfather was my benefactor and a person I respected. I firmly believed that he was wronged. So when they entrusted their child to me, I couldn’t refuse.”

“Thank you, Father,” Wei Ruo said.

“Why are you thanking me?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Thank you for protecting him. He means a lot to me, and I am grateful to you for allowing him to live.”

Wei Mingting turned to Wei Ruo, his brow furrowed in serious contemplation, “Ruoruo, could it be that you have feelings for him…?”

Wei Ruo shook her head, “I was certainly not aware of it before, and therefore had no such feelings for him. But I am genuinely fond of him. He considers me a sister, a family member, and I feel that he is good to me.”

Lit by another sigh, Wei Mingting said, “I am not sure then if this would be a good thing for you.”

“I think it should be,” Wei Ruo confirmed.

Even though she finds her current relationship with Wei Jinyi somewhat problematic and is somewhat angry, she could not deny the fact that her situation has been better than she expected.

“So be it,” Wei Mingting said, looking at Wei Ruo with guilt-filled eyes, “I’ve failed you as a father. I haven’t been able to do anything for you, and even your marriage didn’t turn out as you had wished.”

Wei Ruo was touched, “Father, there is no need to blame yourself. You have given so much for our nation, working hard and sweating, bleeding in your military duties. I understand.”

Hearing Wei Ruo’s words, all Wei Mingting could say was, “Despite all this, I feel I have failed you.”

“Father, do not say such things. Today is a good day – my return, and I have brought some gifts for you.”

“What did you prepare for me, Ruoruo?” Wei Mingting asked.

“A cart full of Thyme. I had it sent directly to the General Residence in Taizhou Prefecture,” Wei Ruo replied, “and there is one other thing.”

As she spoke, Wei Ruo ordered her servant to bring in the armor.

The silver armor was stored in a large wooden box. When the armor was first brought in, Wei Mingting was not quite sure what it was.

However, when the box was opened revealing the shiny silver armor, Wei Mingting’s expression changed.

He moved closer, squatting down to touch the armor.

There is one major problem in making armor – hardness and weight cannot be balanced. Generally, if an armor set is made strong, more metal is used, hence making the armor heavy.

Heavy armor greatly decreases the agility of the soldiers, drastically reducing their combat abilities.

The armor currently worn by most soldiers, such as the Black Glow, Clear Glow, Double Resistance, Chainmail, and Ma Kai armors, all have this problem.

The armor in front of him was a fish scale armor, composed of small pieces of metal. It looked rather heavy.

However, when Wei Mingting picked it up, he was surprised to find it to be much lighter than he had expected.

Wei Mingting looked puzzled. He turned to Wei Ruo and asked, “Why is this armor lighter than I expected?”