The Lucky Heiress

“Good.” Wei Ruo took the gift list and looked it over.

The gifts prepared by Madam Yun were not expensive, but they were appropriate for their status.

Too expensive would be inappropriate. Wei Mingting was a martial officer who had just been promoted a couple of years ago, and his salary was not large. The Wei family did not have many extra assets. If they gave too expensive gifts, they would cause others to question where the Wei Residence got its money.

“I think these are well prepared. The gifts for the prefecture’s office should not be expensive, but appropriate and given with good intentions,” said Wei Ruo before giving the gift list back to Madam Yun.

Madam Yun nodded in approval. This was also a kind of test for her elder daughter.

She wanted to see Wei Ruo’s handling and response capabilities in this aspect. Her daughter’s response gave her great satisfaction.

“Ruoruo has a point. The gifts aren’t expensive. They are just ordinary farm products and seafood. But I put a lot of thought into them. Even if the Military Prefecture went all out, they wouldn’t have caught Madam Yuan’s eye,” she said.

Shortly afterwards, Wei Qingwan arrived.

“Mother, sister.”

Wei Qingwan greeted Madam Yun and Wei Ruo upon entering the room, polite and docile in demeanor.

Wei Ruo was not surprised to see Wei Qingwan. She guessed that Madam Yun would insist that Wei Qingwan should accompany them to the prefecture’s office.

After Wei Qingwan entered the room, Madam Yun glanced at Wei Ruo. It was only after seeing that Wei Ruo had no reaction that she felt relieved.

Soon after, Madam Yun handed the gift list to Wei Qingwan for her opinion. “Wanwan, help mother look at this gift list and see if there’s anything else we need to add.”

After meticulously looking at the list, Wei Qingwan raised her head to look at Madam Yun, but didn’t speak.

“If you have something to say, just say it. There are no outsiders here,” Madam Yun said.

“I think these gifts are a bit too ordinary… I have some concerns…” Wei Qingwan said timidly.

She didn’t dare to say the whole sentence, for fear of making Madam Yun unhappy.

Madam Yun’s face fell. She then turned to look at Wei Ruo.

Wei Ruo remained silent, pretending to have heard nothing.

Whatever Wei Qingwan thought had nothing to do with her. She didn’t want, or bother, to comment.

Wei Qingwan turned uneasy at Madam Yun’s gaze.

“Mother, did I say something wrong?” Wei Qingwan asked cautiously.

“Wanwan, there are certain things that you should learn from your sister. I thought that since you help me with household chores every day, you would understand more about giving gifts than your sister,” replied Madam Yun.

Wei Qingwan had clearly disappointed Madam Yun. Madam Yun had assumed that Wei Ruo, who was always busy farming, would not be aware of such stuff and that Wei Qingwan would have learnt something since she spends much of her time with her.

However, the result was quite the opposite.

Wei Qingwan was startled, and then turned to look at Wei Ruo.

Wei Ruo still remained silent, oblivious of the conversation between Madam Yun and Wei Qingwan.

Madam Yun didn’t say anything more, but it was clear from her expression that she was much more pleased with Wei Ruo today.

Subsequently, Madam Yun left with both of them. On the way to the prefecture’s office, she repeatedly reminded Wei Qingwan:

“At the Yuan residence, do not say anything unnecessary. Perform the greeting when asked to do so but don’t say anything else.”

“When you meet Madam Yuan, do not speak excessively or display any trace of cowardice. I will not mention your past troubles today, nor do I expect Madam Yuan to change her impression of you. As long as you don’t create more trouble, it will suffice.”

“When you’re not sure what to do, just watch your sister and learn from her.”

Madam Yun wished to change Wei Qingwan’s image in Madam Yuan’s mind, but she also dared not force Wei Qingwan to annoy Madam Yuan.

Madam Yun’s admonitions were like sharp thorns, stabbing into Wei Qingwan’s heart.

Wei Qingwan recalled that not too long ago, when the three of them went out for the first time after Wei Ruo’s return, her mother’s reminders in the carriage were all for Wei Qingwan.

Now things have changed – her mother’s reminders were meant for her, indicating that she was the untrustworthy one in her mother’s heart. She has fallen behind Wei Ruo in her mother’s esteem.

“Yes, I understand,” Wei Qingwan replied softly.

As they had sent a visiting card in the morning, Madam Yun and her two daughters were immediately invited in upon their arrival at the Yuan Residence.

Madam Yuan received the three of them in the flower hall.

Wei Qingwan, mindful of Madam Yun’s reminder, made an effort to hide her unease and, though she dared not speedily speak, she behaved obediently and sat quietly on one side.

Wei Ruo sat comfortably, drinking tea. She had visited Madam Yuan’s estate many times, so there was no need for her to be formal.

She also did not interrupt or try to dominate the conversation, sitting quietly on the side, letting Madam Yun talk with Madam Yuan.

Madam Yun was, after all, from the reputable Loyal and Righteous Duke Residence in Capital City. Her speech was always appropriate; she was neither excessively attentive nor did she make the conversation awkward.

Madam Yun brought up past events: “I still remember the year I saw the Queen at the Duke’s residence in Xu. I realized that there could be such an astonishingly talented and beautiful woman in this world.”

Before marrying into the Loyal and Righteous Duke Residence, Madam Yun was also a lady from an official family. She had been to the then-prosperous Duke of Xu’s residence and had seen Madam Yuan’s mother, the Queen.

“In her youth, my mother had such an undeserved reputation. Unfortunately, I did not inherit my mother’s talents and beauty,” said Madam Yuan.

Madam Yun hurriedly replied, “What are you talking about, Madam Yuan? If you downplay your feats, where does it leave people like me?”

Madam Yuan continued, “As for being both talented and beautiful, my mother could not compare to the late Empress. However, the Empress was too young then. When the Empress came of age, she was declared the most beautiful woman in Capital City.”

Madam Yun sighed lightly, “What a pity that such a beautiful life ended early. The Empress passed away too soon.”

Madam Yuan exhaled: “If only nothing had happened to the Duke’s residence and the Empress hadn’t died. That would have been much better.”

Madam Yun dared not respond to this. She feared that her words would invite trouble.

Many years ago, the incident at the Duke’s residence had implicated many families. Many people had been punished as a result. Therefore, even after all these years, everyone was afraid to bring it up.

While the two of them were reminiscing about the past, a servant rushed in to report: The front courtyard is flooded.

Madam Yuan ordered the servants to go deal with the flood in the front courtyard and excused herself to go attend to it, after briefly exchanging words with Madam Yun and her daughters.

Left alone, Madam Yun turned to look at her two daughters. Both girls had been quiet and behaved appropriately while she was talking casually with Madam Yuan. She was pleased.

Just as she was about to say something to her daughters, a disturbance was heard outside.

“What’s happening? Wasn’t there just a flood in the front yard? Why is there such a commotion now?” inquired Madam Yun.

Just now, the Yuan family’s servant had reported a flood in the front yard, which was quite a distance away. If it were simply a flood, the commotion real shouldn’t have been this big.

Wei Ruo also sensed that something was amiss. She faintly heard the sounds of a fight going on outside, which seemed quite nearby.

That’s not a sound of a flood, right?