Chapter 213

After comparing the words Wei Yuewu and Wei Yuejiao used to address Concubine Dong, everyone started to look at Concubine Dong with contempt.

One could see that the concubine must be quite ambitious because she even allowed her own daughter to call her “mother”.

“Your… your clothes…” Concubine Dong was dumbfounded and almost fainted as she looked at her gorgeously dressed daughter.

Inside the carriage, Wei Luowen stared at Wei Yuewu’s face with a complicated look. The book in his hands was tightly pinched together.

“I know you made the dress stitch by stitch for me. I will certainly cherish this dress.” Wei Yuejiao hurriedly changed the topic because she was afraid that Concubine Dong’s words might expose the fact that she had taken Wei Yuewu’s dress by force. At this time, she found many people out on the street. So she immediately stopped using “mother” to address Concubine Dong.

“Isn’t this dress made for Yuewu?” Wei Luowen asked in a deep voice inside the carriage.

“I… I really don’t know what’s going on. Perhaps, the person who delivered the dress sent a wrong message!” Concubine Dong had a quick mind and she immediately changed the topic. She knew there must be something wrong. But based on her daughter’s look, she believed that her daughter didn’t want others to talk about it.

“Delivered a wrong dress? This dress really fits her and doesn’t look like the wrong dress!” Someone in the crowd suddenly said.

“Exactly. This dress really fits her size and is obviously larger for the Sixth Young Lady. This dress really fits the Third Young Lady.”

“This is clearly made for the Third Young Lady.” Someone else in the crowd immediately echoed. In particular, those people who had witnessed Wei Yuewu falling off the carriage a moment ago all spoke in favor of Wei Yuewu.

Concubine Dong couldn’t suppress the hatred in her heart. She did make the dress according to Wei Yuejiao’s size because she believed that Wei Yuewu should have a similar size with Wei Yuejiao who was less than two years older than her. Moreover, a larger dress could still be worn whereas a smaller one would be of no use.

“Greetings, Father!” Wei Yuewu had already stood up and bowed to Wei Luowen in the carriage. Although Wei Luowen’s image had faded away in her memory, she remembered that her father was the only one having a scarred face.

“Yuejiao, this dress…” On the other side, Concubine Dong hurriedly asked Wei Yuejiao in a low voice.

Upon finding that her painstaking effort was going to become useless, Concubine Dong was very anxious because she not only failed to gain any good reputation this time but also received people’s contempt. This time, Concubine Dong was determined to become the new Marquise Hua Yang. How could she bear such a big mistake as soon as she arrived at the capital?

“Sixth Younger Sister, you wore a gorgeous outer dress while wearing another dress made of coarse cloth inside. What do you mean?”

Wei Yuejiao wasn’t stupid either. She received her mother’s signal and thought for a moment. Then, she went on to challenge Wei Yuewu, “Yuzhu, take that dress out and let everyone see what my Sixth Younger Sister was wearing a moment ago.”

Wei Yuejiao suddenly remembered the outer coat that Wei Yuewu had been wearing. So she instructed Yuzhu in the carriage before getting out of the carriage herself.

Yuzhu took out a small bag from the carriage and opened it. Wei Yuejiao received the bag took out a dress that was made of quality materials and shook the dress in front of everyone. “Look, this is what my Sixth Younger Sister was wearing. I don’t know where she has got the dress she’s now wearing, nor do I know why she deliberately decided to show up with this kind of clothes in public.”

Wei Yuejiao’s implication was clear. She wanted everyone to know about Wei Yuewu’s malicious scheme and to know how Wei Yuewu had framed her and Concubine Dong by wearing such a dress.

Inside the carriage, Wei Luowen quietly looked at the situation without saying anything, as if he was turning a blind eye to Wei Yuewu’s salute.

Wei Yuewu didn’t care too much about Wei Luowen’s cold response. Actually, she didn’t have any deep emotions towards this so-called father. The fact that he had ignored her for years was enough to show his attitude. However, when Wei Yuejiao and Concubine Dong were so aggressive, his silence did make Wei Yuewu feel sad.

But in the next moment, such sadness was quickly replaced by coldness. Since this Marquis Hua Yang didn’t treat her as his daughter, why should she take him as her father? Wei Yuewu knew from her childhood that she only had a mother and she never had a father. Perhaps this would also be the case in the days to come!

Wei Yuewu’s gaze shifted from Wei Luowen to Wei Yuejiao. Then, she said calmly, “Third Elder Sister, this is your dress. Look at the size. Or, could it be that you think this dress fits me properly?”

“I… This is not my dress. This is yours!” Wei Yuejiao never expected that Wei Yuewu would refuse to admit that this was her dress. So Wei Yuejiao immediately became furious.

“My dress? Then, why is it so big?” Wei Yuewu asked in confusion.

Just now, Wei Yuejiao especially demonstrated the dress in order to convince the people. At this moment, everyone could tell that the dress fit her perfectly, but it was obviously larger for Wei Yuewu who had a slender figure.

“Third Young Lady, please let go of our miss!” Huamo suddenly said with tears in her eyes. “Just now, my miss said nothing when you pushed her off the carriage. You are free to wear whatever you like. However, please don’t say this is the dress of our miss. She doesn’t care about a dress at all.”

In the crowd, Xie Qingzhao tried to move forward. Obviously, he had a target for coming here today.

Xie Qingzhao’s target was Wei Yuewu!

He had planned to help Wei Yuewu in front of Marquis Hua Yang at the right moment. But the ongoing situation confused him.

Wei Yuewu was now in a vulnerable position and everyone would naturally have sympathy for her. Therefore, Xie Qingzhao believed that no one would notice him if he stood out and spoke in favor of Wei Yuewu at this moment.

The current situation was different from what Wei Qiufu had anticipated before, in which Wei Yuewu was despised by the crowd and he could attract everyone’s attention by standing out and speaking in favor of Wei Yuewu.

So, Xie Qingzhao hesitated. But after thinking for a while, he decided to stand out and speak up for Wei Yuewu. In this way, he could at least attract Marquis Hua Yang’s attention.

Unexpectedly, just when he was about to take action, he happened to meet a pair of cold eyes when he subconsciously raised his head. He didn’t expect that pair of gentle, calm, and handsome eyes suddenly became so chilly with an awe-inspiring.

Had the heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State kept looking at him upstairs?

Xie Qingzhao trembled and hastily withdrew his feet. He lowered his head but felt that his heart was still beating wildly. Before he noticed Yan Huaijing’s gaze, his behavior was quite natural. But at this moment, he immediately felt his body stiffened.

He felt as if everything he had done was clearly captured by that pair of eyes and he didn’t dare to stay any longer. Then, he calmed down and walked away without hesitation.

Few people noticed the interaction between Yan Huaijing and Xie Qingzhao. Almost no one had discovered Xie Qingzhao’s previous movements except Yan Huaijing’s guards.

Upstairs, Yan Huaijing stared coldly at Xie Qingzhao’s back. He waved his hand and the guard in the crowd silently retreated to follow Xie Qingzhao.

“I… I didn’t deliberately push her out of the carriage!” Upon finding that everyone’s gaze was getting more and more contemptuous, Wei Yuejiao was furious and explained. “It’s because she scared me with a bug. That’s why I pushed her out of fear.”

“Bug? Are you kidding, Third Young Lady? The carriage is so clean. How could there be any bug in it? Moreover, you were sitting inside the carriage all the time and the Sixth Young Lady was exactly sitting near the door. Even if there was a bug, she should be the first one to discover it…”

Huamo felt unconvinced and she argued.

“Enough. Huamo, stop talking. Father, let’s go back to the mansion!” Wei Yuewu waved her hand and stopped Huamo from further argument. She seemed to be more considerate about the overall situation and didn’t want to quarrel in public. But this made people start to look at Wei Yuejiao and Concubine Dong with disdain.

Wei Yuejiao was so angry that she couldn’t stop trembling. She wished she could scratch Wei Yuewu’s delicate and calm face. When the two of them were in the carriage, she merely pretended to push Wei Yuewu out of anger. She was clear that she could not push Wei Yuewu with too much force because Wei Yuewu was sitting at the door.

But unexpectedly, Wei Yuewu suddenly took out a red and yellow bug and even put it on the back of her hand. She subconsciously cried out and pushed Wei Yuewu in the hand. As a result, Wei Yuewu and her maidservant fell off the carriage. Well, she didn’t mean to push Wei Yuewu off the carriage.

“Where is the bug that the Third Young Lady talked about?” Huamo retorted in a low voice.

“Alright… Alright. Since you insisted to see the bug, Yuzhu, find the bug!” Wei Yuejiao said sternly while urging Yuzhu who was in the carriage to find the bug.

With the bug as evidence, Wei Yuejiao was certain that people would stop speaking in favor of Wei Yuewu without reservation.

Concubine Dong didn’t stop Wei Yuejiao. She looked at Wei Yuewu with some fear and waited patiently for further development. If her daughter could win this round, it would be quite helpful for her plot.

However, Concubine Dong wondered if the situation in front of her eyes was really an accident.

Wei Luowen, Marquis Hua Yang, remained silent in the carriage. In everyone’s eyes, this showed that he had silently accepted what Wei Yuejiao said. Thinking about the fact that this Sixth Young Lady lost her mother at a young age, people believed that Wei Yuewu must have a difficult life because even her own father treated her as cold as a stranger after so many years of separation.

Moreover, Wei Yuewu was poorly treated by a concubine-born daughter.

For a moment, more and more people stood on Wei Yuewu’s side and started to feel indignant for Wei Yuewu.

“Miss… Miss, there’s no bug inside!” Yuzhu’s anxious voice came from the carriage.

“How could it be? It must be inside the carriage.” Wei Yuejiao reached out her hand and lifted the curtain. When she got out of the carriage, she seemed to see a red and yellow bug. How could it disappear so quickly?

The carriage was clean, except for some old leaves near the door.

“Third Young Lady is really good at telling jokes.”

“What bug? She clearly pushed her legitimate younger sister out of the carriage. She is really vicious!”

“Sure enough. She was born by a concubine and was good at pretending. She even claimed that it was merely an accident. The Zhang Family living next door to my house has a similar concubine and a concubine-born daughter. They plotted to become a legitimate wife and a legitimate daughter of the family and they dared to do anything. They are so good at pretending.” Another person spoke with disdain.

These words sounded like a direct reference to Concubine Dong and her daughter. Concubine Dong’s face immediately blushed.

“Let’s go back. Yuejiao, go to the carriage behind!” Wei Luowen in the carriage frowned and said.

“Father…” Wei Yuejiao felt she was wronged and was unwilling to leave.

“Go!” Wei Luowen shouted harshly.

Wei Yuejiao did not dare to disobey Wei Luowen and she walked backward with the grievance. There were quite a few carriages in Wei Luowen’s fleet and some carriages still had vacant seats. The persons inside the carriage behind Wei Luowen’s carriage got off. They took another carriage and offered the carriage to Wei Yuejiao.

“Yuewu, get in the carriage. Let’s go back!” Wei Luowen said coldly to Wei Yuewu with his eyes closed.

“Yes, father!” Although Wei Yuewu’s heart was still aching, she didn’t show any sign on her face. She bowed respectfully to the carriage and retreated to the side to make way for Wei Luowen’s carriage before getting into her own carriage.

Old Li drove the carriage at the end of the fleet and slowly headed towards the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.

“Your Heir-apparent, Imperial Academician Xie went straight back to his mansion. He didn’t go anywhere else!” A guard came in and knelt on the ground while respectfully reporting to Yan Huaijing.