"Nonsense! Utterly baseless! Although Miss Wei's behavior may be eccentric, she is by no means unreasonable! There must be a reason why she stormed the palace!"
Among the literati, there are three factions: one is the rational party that gets to the bottom of things and emphasizes cause and effect; another is the "Shore Party" that defends etiquette and law, both loves and hates the Fourth Miss's actions, and dreams of her turning back to the right path.
There is another faction, deeply hidden and rarely revealing themselves.
They are the Mu Yan Party.
The so-called "admiration for beauty" refers to the Fourth Miss's naturally beautiful face. As long as she doesn't do anything heinous, even overturning the Emperor's desk, it's tolerable.
After all, His Majesty the Emperor was still the Fourth Miss's uncle. He was a gentle and kind person, and even though his desk was overturned, he wouldn't make a big deal out of respect for the Empress.
"It's good that you're back. Staying in the palace all day, you never know when you might cause an even bigger disaster."
Everyone agreed.
The Fourth Miss has been in the palace for several days, and they can't find her. Even when they're cursing, they've lost their momentum.
"I still need to go to the Grand Tutor's mansion another day to persuade the Fourth Miss to do good."
"Yes, yes, such a talented person, it would be so much better if they painted less serious pictures."
"That makes sense."
The intellectuals spontaneously reached a consensus, and the gloomy atmosphere was swept away.
Regardless of whether the outside world's opinions about the Fourth Miss were good or bad, under the insistence of the Old Madam, Wei Pingxi gave up struggling and became a helpless salted fish lying on the bed.
She's a very proud person; if she has an injury, especially in an embarrassing place, she won't let even her own maternal grandmother see it.
The old lady could only wait in the outer room, asking anxiously, "How badly are you injured? Is it serious? Should we call the imperial physician?"
Yu Zhi blushed as she applied the medicine to the fourth young lady.
Wei Pingxi lay there, saying, "Grandmother, please give your grandson some face. What a serious injury! To make such a fuss, anyone who doesn't know the situation would think something's wrong with me."
“You child, your maternal grandparents are doing this for your own good. Only if you suffer will the Empress Dowager, with her pride, not hold it against you, and your aunt won’t have to face immense pressure. My good grandson, just bear with it.”
Doesn't Wei Pingxi understand this principle?
She sighed in frustration, "Fine, fine, if Grandmother wants to invite the imperial physician, then let her. Invite Physician Song; she's Aunt's confidante. Just have her come to the Grand Tutor's mansion as a formality. I don't need her to examine my injury."
"Do you need to see about the injury? Are you alright?" Yu Zhi asked, whispering in her ear.
“It can work, why can’t it work? The head of the Imperial Medical Academy is none other than Yao Chenzi, his nephew. His medicine is better than the medicine in the palace.”
The old lady sent someone to invite Physician Song to visit, but when she overheard this, her heart, which had been pounding with anxiety, calmed down: "My dear grandson still has dealings with the Medicine God?"
"We have been in contact, and we can be considered friends despite the age difference."
"Oh, this is good, this is good."
The old lady was marveling at her grandson's wide circle of friends when Yu Zhi, with trembling hands, sprinkled fine white powder on him: "If it hurts, just scream."
Wei Pingxi acted as if he hadn't heard.
Thirty strokes of the cane were much lighter than the blow that broke her leg at the hands of the old master of the Wei family, but it was still thirty strokes. Even if it was just for show, it was enough to leave superficial injuries.
External injuries will inevitably cause physical pain; they may sound harmless, but they can be quite frightening to look at.
Yu Zhi suppressed her heartache and applied the medicine for her. When she went to check on her again, she found that the fourth young lady had fallen asleep on the bed.
She smiled and wiped away the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
Wei Pingxi slept until 7:45 PM, past the time for dinner.
A few stars lit up the sky, the winter wind was still cold, and the white plum trees proudly displayed their elegant plum blossoms. Madam Wei, carrying the dinner she had just prepared, knocked on her daughter's door.
“Mother.” Wei Pingxi propped herself up.
"Sit still and don't move around."
"Hey." The fourth young lady sat obediently on the edge of the bed. Yu Zhi tried to take the bowl from Madam Wei's hand, but was avoided.
"I'll take care of it, you go and rest."
Yu Zhi remained silent, glancing helplessly at the Fourth Miss.
“Mother, let her stay here. We still need her to cover her with a blanket at night.”
Yu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, as she thankfully didn't utter the words "warm the bed" in front of Madam Wei. Madam Wei couldn't persuade her daughter otherwise and let her have her way.
"You've seen what's happening in the palace. You can't act recklessly in the future, do you hear me?" Madam Wei sat on the edge of the bed and fed her rice porridge.
Swallowing the porridge fed to his lips, Wei Pingxi said dismissively, "Mother, there's no need to be afraid. In this world, good will always prevail over evil."
"Times are different now. In the past, when the Empress Dowager held power, she persecuted loyal ministers at will. At that time, Your Majesty's power was not yet strong enough, and you could not meet her head-on."
"Now, I saw His Majesty once in the Gan Ning Palace and again in the Imperial Study. Mother, do you know how His Majesty made me feel?"
Madam Wei was curious about her private meeting with that person and also wanted to know how she viewed the Emperor, so she asked, "What is your opinion?"
She smiled, then suddenly raised her eyebrows: "His Majesty the Emperor of my Great Yan Dynasty is diligent and hardworking, gentle and polite, but he is very dangerous."
"What kind of danger?"
"I can't say it." She licked her lips. "Mother, feed me two more bites."
After eating the rice porridge, Miss Wei Si finally felt a warm, comforting sensation, as if she had come back to life. She murmured, "Your Majesty has had a tough time."
"Your Majesty has indeed had a difficult time. Having a fierce and ruthless Empress Dowager like that would be difficult for anyone."
"Your Majesty has done a very good job."
Madam Wei felt proud: "No one in the world can say he did a bad job."
After feeding her rice porridge and watching her eat a few side dishes, I realized that my daughter had finally grown up and had a woman to warm her bed.
As it was late at night, she could not stay any longer and instructed Yuzhi, "Take good care of her, but don't spoil her; her injuries haven't healed yet."
Yu Zhi replied shyly, "Yes, Madam."
"No need to stand on ceremony, just call her Mother like she does."
Madam Wei left.
Yu Zhi stopped outside the door and looked in the direction she had left—so much had happened that day.
These past few days, the Madam's attitude towards her seems different from when she first entered the manor. The Madam seems to be blaming her for frequently bringing the Fourth Miss into dangerous situations.
They blamed her, but out of respect for the Fourth Miss, they couldn't do anything to her, so their attitude seemed strange.
She shook her head, suppressing those wild thoughts.
"What are you thinking about? Come to bed."
Wei Pingxi greeted her.
Yu Zhi turned to look at her and saw the fourth young lady's charming phoenix eyes in the lamplight, which suddenly made her feel much better.
In fact, she has already achieved many of her requests.
It was much better than she had initially expected.
Human nature is greedy.
She reminded herself not to lose herself in greed, lest she gain everything and then lose everything.
"Aren't you curious why I wanted to see His Majesty?" Wei Pingxi embraced her slender body and, in high spirits, kissed her fair neck.
Yu Zhi felt ticklish from her kisses; the kisses on her skin felt like being quickly brushed by the tip of a cat's tail.
She asked shyly, "What brings you to His Majesty?"
"Your mother's eye disease can be cured."
"What?!" Yu Zhi stepped out of her arms, her willow-leaf eyes brimming with surprise: "The medicinal herbs are all prepared?"
Her joy and excitement at this moment were entirely expected.
Wei Pingxi hugged her tightly again: "The medicinal herbs that Yao Chenzi wrote in the prescription are scattered all over the Great Yan Dynasty. It would be difficult to find them all. I went to His Majesty and asked him to open the private treasury, and that's how I managed to gather them all. Hmm... I guess you could say I took a shortcut."
Yu Zhi hugged her tightly with gratitude: "Thank you, thank you Xi Xi..."
The sooner we gather the medicinal herbs, the sooner we can begin treatment. Eye diseases cannot be delayed; if we delay, even with medicine, it may be difficult to cure.
The beautiful woman threw herself into his arms, filled with gratitude. The fourth young lady, her eyes captivating, said, "You've come with me; I'm merely doing my duty. I can't expect you to follow me for nothing. Otherwise, how am I any different from those scoundrels who deceive women?"
Of course there are differences.
Yu Zhifang's heart trembled: Even if the Fourth Miss is lying, she is still a uniquely bad person in the world.
"I also asked for something for you."
Wei Pingxi released her and took out the imperial gold plaque, a symbol of imperial power, from under the pillow. The plaque was inscribed with the words "immunity from death" and was extremely imposing.
"This...this is for me?" she asked incredulously.
"For you."
She casually placed it in Yu Zhi's soft palm and said, "Here, keep it safe and don't let anyone steal it. This is your second life."
"Why, why give it to me?"
Life is not something to be given away so easily.
Yu Zhi stared intently into her eyes.
Wei Pingxi's eyes lit up with a smile: "My woman naturally deserves to be treated with respect. This is the respect I'm giving you. Let's see who dares to bully you in the future. Anyone who bullies you, except me, is going against me."
Her tone was domineering and arrogant, but little did she know how captivating her words were.
Holding the imperial pardon, Yu Zhi was overwhelmed with emotion: "Are you this good to every woman you have?"
Miss Wei glanced at her lazily: "I only have you as my woman, and everyone else comes from there?"
The atmosphere was a bit strange, as if something beyond human control was happening.
She was someone who followed her intuition implicitly, and knowing the conversation couldn't continue, she hastily instructed, "Hurry up and put it away. It's time to rest soon."
Yu Zhi nodded, showing considerable respect for her.
She turned around and carefully placed the pardon, while Wei Pingxi sat on the bed, gazing intently at her graceful back.
The pair of porcelain dolls her aunt had given her resurfaced in her heart. She sighed and thought to herself: No matter how good she was to Zhizhi, it was only because of the promise she had made. Before she got tired of her, she was protecting her and not letting anyone bully her.
The same applies to asking His Majesty for medicine for Yu's mother.
The same applies to storming the palace to rescue people.