Days passed swiftly.

Wei Liuying returned back to her activity of going to the academy, got scolded and punished, then she would stay at home to make summarize. Her mother still didn’t allow her to study the arts for women even when she had already finished making the summary for her brother.

Instead, she would send her another book that she had to read. There were already several bamboo scrolls in her room. Most of them were books that she had to read for her brother.

The only time she would feel at ease was only when she visited the bookstore or when her uncle came. She had visited the bookstore again, but Shi Yan had already departed to the north, so she was unable to have another bout with that stupid friend of hers. As for Wei Lu, he could only come occasionally and gave her some gentle reminder while telling story about the outside world.

The stories were all very interesting, captivating Wei Liuying easily.

Unfortunately, those little joys could only happen occasionally as Wei Liuying was unable to go out often. She had things that she had to finish no matter what.

 “Miss, you need to rest,” Xiao Qing reminded.

Wei Liuying put down the brush and sighed. She nodded faintly. “Let’s have a short walk.”

“Yes!”

The quarter where Wei Liuying stay was quite large. She rarely walked around because she didn’t have the chance to do that. Besides, she was simply too busy in her own room to make the summarize of the book.

“Is there any new rumors?” Wei Liuying asked as she watched the view in the garden.

Xiao Qing blinked her eyes. “There are some news about His Highness the Fourth Prince, saying that he had set his eyes on First Miss. Just a few days ago, he came to deliver a batch of gift for her.”

“Is there anything else?”

Wei Liuying had heard about that and immediately ordered Xiao Yu to no longer watched over Wei Xiao Hua. With Prince Ji Shu’s character, it would only seek for trouble if she tried to continue watching Wei Xiao Hua.

“His Highness the Third Prince, Prince Ji Sheng is still staying in the capital city. There’s no order for him to return back to the frontline.”

“How about news regarding Second Sister?”

Xiao Qing pursed her lips. “Second Miss is still as usual. She would excel in class and attend some additional lesson by Concubine Chou’s friends whom she invited to come over. From what I heard, Second Miss had learned how to brew tea from the south.”

Wei Liuying nodded, not feeling that strange at all. Concubine Chou came from the southern area in Han Shi Kingdom. Even though she didn’t have high status as she was only the daughter of a small official, she must have learned some important skill for women such as brewing tea skill, cooking, and so on.

These kind of skills were not tested in the academy, but in some areas, it was quite important to master them because the man’s parents would like to test them.

“His Highness the Fourth Prince has come!”

Wei Liuying heard the order and turned around. “Let’s go to the main courtyard.”

“Yes, Miss.”

When an Imperial Family member came to visit, it was common courtesy for them to all gather and welcome him. Even if their intention was to visit someone else, they still had to show their faces to be polite.

“Greetings to the Fourth Prince.”

“You may rise,” Ji Shu said placidly.

“Thank you, Your Highness the Fourth Prince.”

Ji Shu’s eyes landed on Wei Xiao Hua. The others were tactful enough to know that he wanted to be with her. As Wei Hong was not present, they could only excuse themselves one by one to leave the two couple. They better not be the third wheel in these two’s relationship.

Wei Zilin bit her lower lip when they walked away. She wanted to stay there, but she didn’t have the courage. After staying behind last time, she was rebuked harshly and felt afraid whenever she saw Ji Shu.

Yet, she still wished to get him.

“Third Sister, help me.”

Wei Liuying, who intended to rest, was stunned. She looked over to Wei Zilin and pursed her lips. “Coveting something that didn’t belong to you is not good, Second Sister.”

Wei Zilin swung her arm lightly. “But I really want it!”

“There are countless others outside.”

“But no one is the same as him. Besides, he’s really high.”

Hearing that, Wei Liuying couldn’t do anything but sigh. She knew that those at the same status as Prince Ji Shu was very rare. The other princes were all have their own fiancée, so it was hard for Wei Zilin to contend with them. Each of them came from prestigious family.

The best chance was through Wei Xiao Hua, but it didn’t seem to be possible.

What kind of women would willingly share her man with her sister? People always said that wife who let their husband have concubine was virtuous. However, in the end, the battles were always fierce inside the residence. No one would want to be put in that pit of fire by suggesting concubines to her future husband.

That would be ridiculous.

 

---

What kind of women would willingly share her man with her sister? People always said that wife who let their husband have concubine was virtuous. However, in the end, the battles were always fierce inside the residence. No one would want to be put in that pit of fire by suggesting concubines to her future husband.

That would be ridiculous.

On the side, Wei Yijun glanced at Wei Zilin for a moment. His dark brown eyes seemed to be thinking of something, but he didn’t voice it out loudly. There were some thoughts inside his mind as he watched them. Somehow, he felt that all of his sisters were very ambitious.

“Let’s just go back and rest.”

Wei Zilin pouted. She turned around and trotted back to Wei Xiao Hua’s quarter.

The others chose to pretend that they didn’t see them as they returned back to their own quarter. Wei Liuying was not an exception as she no longer had any interest to meddle with Wei Xiao Hua. But if the latter wanted to mess with her, she would definitely not stay quiet.

“Miss,” Xiao Qing greeted when she saw Wei Liuying.

Wei Liuying nodded. “Where’s Xiao Yu?”

“Xiao Yu is taking some food from the kitchen for your lunch, Miss.”

“I see.”

Hearing that, Wei Liuying walked back to her room and picked up the book again. She still wanted to read the content again because there were some things that she felt confused. With her brother growing, the topic of the books become even more diverse and comprehensive.

Well, that was the basic for the scholars, so she should have expected that she would have to read and understand everything eventually. Looking at the content, she felt that she understood why most scholars were already over 20 years old. To be able to recite so many words without mistake meant that their memorization had to be good.

‘Well, Second Brother is good at memorization, but when it comes to improvement, he’s suck.’

In the examination, they would have to recite the paragraph just from the examiner gave them a sentence. Thankfully, not all books have to be memorized completely like that and only some. As for the rest of the examination, they have to be able to implement their knowledge to solve some problems.

For this part, Wei Liuying wasn’t sure that her brother would be able to pass with flying color. He was pretty bad at it.

“Miss! There’s a problem.”

Wei Liuying had just read a few sentence when she saw a servant came in. Her panicked expression made her heart drop, but she maintained a calm expression. “What is it?”

“Xiao Yu is caught when she’s watching.”

Watching?

Wei Liuying had already retracted the order for Xiao Yu to watch over Wei Xiao Hua’s movement. How come she get caught now? Thinking about Wei Zilin, Wei Liuying had the feeling that she might have a hand in this.

“I’ll go there.”

“Please hurry, Miss.”

Wei Liuying quickened her pace, but she still didn’t use her martial art. Her expression didn’t change in the slightest even after she entered the courtyard. Xiao Yu was kowtowing on the ground while Wei Zilin was wailing while holding onto her servant. Ji Shu was sitting with Wei Xiao Hua stood beside him like an obedient young girl.

“Third Daughter in Wei Residence, Wei Liuying greets His Highness the Third Prince,” Wei Liuying gave formal kowtow and greetings.

However, Ji Shu didn’t let her rise. He was looking at her with ruthlessness in his eyes. “Ben Wang* heard that you have been pulling string to interfere with Xiao Hua. Is that true?”

Wei Liuying calmly analyzed Ji Shu’s way of addressing. She knew that he had already put Wei Xiao Hua as part of his men, so he would surely care for her greatly. “This one is innocent, Your Highness.”

“Do you think I’ll believe your lies?” Ji Shu snorted. “Ben Wang is not stupid. If you didn’t try to interfere with Wei Xiao Hua, why would you send your servant to watch over her like this?’

“Subject Wei Liuying didn’t send her to spy on First Sister, Your Highness.”

“Your Highness, it’s true!” Wei Zilin almost screamed. “I only come here because Third Sister wanted to see you!”

Wei Liuying kept her expression intact. Even though she was looking down, which naturally meant that they couldn’t see her expression, she still didn’t want to show anything out. Her weakness had to be buried deep within her heart.

“Did Ben Wang ask you?” Ji Shu sent a glare to Wei Zilin, instantly shut her mouth. By now, Wei Zilin didn’t have the courage to do anything under Ji Shu’s glare. He was too frightening in her opinion.

Ji Shu averted his eyes back to Wei Liuying. “Raise your head.”

Wei Liuying lifted her head. Her black eyes were staring back calmly to Ji Shu, who was looking down at her. He looked at her eyes, which was completely pitch black. It was different with others who were mostly dark brown, close to black but not quite too.

“Can you still say that you’re innocent?”

“Subject Wei Liuying is innocent, Your Highness. I have never asked Second Sister to come here,” Wei Liuying replied.

Ji Shu looked back at Wei Liuying, his expression was still as cold as ever.