"Have you been enjoying her service lately?"
"It's alright, but she always cries and whines when she's in bed." Wei Pingxi didn't take this seriously and replied casually.
Yu Zhi, who had come to report, suddenly heard these words through the curtain. Her legs went weak, and she felt both ashamed and angry.
The fourth young lady was ashamed, saying that she was always crying and complaining. She was also angry that the fourth young lady would say all sorts of things to her mother!
"Is one concubine enough?"
"It's enough. If I say it's not enough, Mother, are you going to send me a few more concubines?"
Madam Wei hesitated for a moment, then said, "It might not be a bad idea."
“Mother, how can you spoil your child like this?” She smiled brightly.
"Whatever makes you happy." Madam Wei couldn't bear to watch her fiddling with those things, so she slowly looked away.
"When you go to the capital, spend some quality time chatting with your maternal grandparents. Don't always think about going to the palace, lest you get distracted by all the glamour and temptations there."
“What are you saying?” Wei Pingxi put away the jade pen that had only one use: “What do I have to do with all this colorful stuff? I’m going to visit my aunt and uncle, not to cause trouble.”
She touched her truly intimidating face: "Does Mother think I'm not beautiful enough? A fairy like me, it's a blessing for anyone to even glance at me."
Madam Wei smiled indulgently: "You."
"Come in quickly, you're just standing outside eavesdropping again."
When the fourth young lady spoke, Yu Zhi angrily lifted the curtain.
Not wanting to act coquettishly in front of Madam Wei, she bowed and put down the plate of pastries: "Here's your walnut shortbread."
"You have no manners, feed me."
She opened her mouth.
Lady Wei, not wanting to witness her daughter flirting with her concubine, turned and stepped out the door.
The matter of going to the capital was now settled.
"Tell me, am I really a member of the Wei family?"
"What do you mean by 'planting'? That sounds awful."
The fourth young lady had a beautiful concubine by her side, and even needed to be fed a cup of tea. When she was told that the words were unpleasant, she swallowed the tea and said, "Tell me, am I really a daughter of the Wei family?"
"Probably. Otherwise, how could the Marquis have allowed you to run rampant in the manor all these years?"
"That's not necessarily true. For the past eighteen years, it's been the same whether I have a father or not. Whether he lives or dies has little to do with me."
The fourth young lady smiled and said, "You're quite bold; you dare to answer my question."
Yu Zhi scolded her, "You asked me first. If you asked and didn't expect me to answer, then why did you ask? Are you bored?"
Wei Pingxi liked this spirit of hers; when she was clothed, she was arrogant and spoiled, but when she was naked, she was very sensible and considerate.
"Give me a piece of candied fruit."
She seemed to have no hands, so Yu Zhi helplessly picked up a piece of candied plum from the plate and fed it to her lips.
Sweet and sour, Wei Pingxi said, puffing out her cheeks, "I'll ask Jade and Agate about that, but they certainly wouldn't dare answer."
"You dare to answer, so you are my concubine. The Wei family is a murky place. I look left and right and still can't see where Wei Hanqing got the ability and good fortune to give birth to a fairy like me."
She called herself a "fairy," and Yu Zhi couldn't help but look at her face. If the Fourth Miss didn't speak, she truly was a fairy.
"A large family, so full of vulgarity. It must have been tough for me." She sighed, half-jokingly, "Do you remember the conversation my grandfather had with me the day my eldest brother was castrated?"
Yu Zhi thought for a moment and said, "I remember."
Don't you think something's strange?
"The relationship between you and your grandparents is already strange."
Wei Pingxi was slightly taken aback: "That's right, you're right. My grandfather disliked me from when I was very young. He looked at me as if I were his enemy from a past life. But that's not what I wanted to say."
She squinted and tilted her head to spit the fruit pit onto the carved jade plate: "My eldest brother was crippled, and my grandfather questioned me. I asked him if I was really of the Wei family bloodline, and his reaction was strange."
"What's wrong?"
She reached out and pulled Yuzhi into her arms, her slender arms encircling her waist. Yuzhi's face flushed as she was held in her embrace, and she strained her ears to listen.
“He hesitated.” Wei Pingxi said coldly, “He shouldn’t have hesitated. He hesitated for a moment, and that’s his weakness.”
"I suspect he knows something, even if he doesn't know the truth, he probably has some suspicions. The dignified old Marquis was a powerful figure on the battlefield in his youth, and he wouldn't even flinch when a knife was held to his throat."
"Why is it that when I ask such a person the most obvious and ordinary thing, he doesn't scold me but hesitates first?"
"I've thought about this problem for a long time."
She gently pinched Yu Zhi's pert breasts: "You don't know yet, do you? My mother's true love is not my father, but someone else. I'm wondering if I'm that person's child."
"That person... ah, that person, who is it?"
The beauty's alluring demeanor, brimming with irresistible desire, eased Wei Pingxi's melancholy. He pressed his lips close to hers: "Want to know?"
The cat in the Jingzhe Courtyard meowed a few times, startling the birds flying in the trees.
Birds fluttered their wings and flew from one tree to another, out of the Jingzhe Courtyard, and into the quiet and silent Liulan Courtyard.
Madam Wei stroked the eyebrows and eyes of the person in the painting: "Your daughter, she has grown up."
The inner room was quiet. The person in the painting was elegant and beautiful, with the appearance of a tall mountain and a jade tree, and the brightness of the clear moon.
Silence begets silence.
Yan Qing smiled gently: "She didn't choose the way of life of an ordinary woman. She boldly took a concubine. The concubine was beautiful and charming. She was from the Liu family of Jinghe."
"You know the Liu family of Jinghe. Every few generations, they produce a descendant who is alluring and seductive, so seductive that she is captivating to the bone. With just a glance from her, countless people would be willing to live or die for her."
"She's a bit timid, and her flirtatiousness is somewhat restrained. With proper care, she might be able to recapture the glory of the Liu family of Jinghe."
"My daughter has been with her for a long time and she still hasn't gotten tired of her. I would like to send Pingxi ten or eight beauties, but unfortunately, she doesn't touch any of the beautiful women in Juanxin Villa."
"Too cautious, or perhaps they don't find that kind of looks appealing. Just as picky as you."
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly with a hint of melancholy: "Will you miss her? No, you won't."
Madam Wei, holding the painting, slowly closed her eyes: "A-Si..."
She gave birth to three sons, and only later did she have a daughter—the fourth in line, who was as beautiful as a fairy and carried that man's blood.
For these three reasons alone, she is willing to love her very, very much.
"Fourth Miss..." Yu Zhi called out to her impatiently.
Wei Pingxi hugged her affectionately: "Do you like it?"
"I...I like it..."
Her alluring charm melted away, flowing like water. Wei Pingxi leisurely sized her up, and asked in surprise, "When women get to this point, some become so intense that they can't control their expressions and their faces turn ugly. How come you're different from them?"
Yu Zhi's knuckles turned white as if she were a drowning person clutching her clothes.
"You're so beautiful, your allure is just right."
She pulled her hand away, and Yu Zhi trembled as she buried her face in the crook of her neck, sobbing softly.
"Don't cry, your voice is hoarse."
She gently patted Yu Zhi's back, and Yu Zhi generously soaked her clothes with her tears.
"What a crybaby."
If she cries like this now, what will she do when she goes to the capital?
A dark glint flashed in her eyes; she had plenty of good stuff waiting for her concubine to try.
...
Once Madam Wei made her decision, there was no turning back, and the matter of going to the capital was put into practice.
Winter day, cold wind.
Marquis Yiyang stood at the door, earnestly instructing his wife. Lady Wei, her fingers twirling prayer beads, had a serene expression.
Wei Pingxi carried his favorite concubine into the carriage early in the morning, leaving his parents outside in the cold wind.
"Alright, alright, I won't say any more."
Wei Hanqing glanced at his wife with concern, then turned to give instructions to the guards who had accompanied them. His words were cold and stern, conveying a resolute and ruthless determination that anyone who did anything to his wife would pay with their life.
He finally looks like a marquis.
The carriage was filled with the fragrance of cold plum blossoms. Wei Pingxi hadn't slept well last night, and now he was nestled in Yu Zhi's arms, enjoying the beauty's favor.
A slender, white hand massaged her temples, and she sighed comfortably, "Why haven't we set off yet? Do you have so much to say?"
Yu Zhi laughed at her bad temper: "They can say whatever they want, you can sleep as you please, it doesn't bother you."
Miss Wei snorted softly and indeed shut her mouth. Before long, her head tilted to the side and she fell into a deep sleep.
She had another nightmare last night.
Yu Zhi, who had been her bedmate for a long time, was awakened by the Fourth Miss's crying for the first time.
It turns out that it wasn't that I wasn't saddened, but that I was too restrained.
She deceived herself first, then went on to deceive others, and all people remembered about her was her eccentric and unpredictable temperament.
Born into a treacherous and competitive family, the Fourth Miss would never have grown up to be so arrogant and unruly if she had only relied on Madam Wei's protection.
As the fourth young lady slept, the smile and sharpness she had when she was awake faded, replaced by gentle eyes and a sweet face. Yu Zhi held her in her arms, and after looking at her for a while, her heart began to pound.
Her body felt slightly hot, and she wanted to lift the curtain on one side to let in some fresh air, but she was afraid that the cold wind would blow in and hurt the delicate skin of the fourth young lady.
The more than one hundred days and nights of intimate companionship seemed to have seeped into Yu Zhi's very blood. Her blood was surging, and she wanted to push him away, but her movements froze. She lowered her eyes and sighed silently.
It must be said that her body does indeed favor the Fourth Miss.
She didn't feel like she was losing out by submitting herself to Wei Pingxi.
There are countless people in the world who would do anything to have a fling with the Fourth Miss, but she was fortunate enough to have one with her again and again.
He's quite lucky with women.
Yu Zhi was helpless with herself, and helpless with the person in her arms.
Her face flushed, and she trembled as she removed the woman's restless hand. The carriage was quiet, and snow was falling outside the window.