"Second Young Lady, the Madam Dowager sent me to ask if the Sixth Young Lady has arrived. Have you met the Sixth Young Lady?" An old maidservant appeared at the door with two maids and asked. Her look was fairly calm and natural as if she didn"t notice the messy situation between the two young ladies in the yard.

Seeing that Nurse Hong, grandma"s most capable servant showed up at the door, Wei Yan suddenly froze and her hand stopped before Wei Yuewu"s face. She dared not go any further as she regained her sense in a flash and realized that she had come here to stop the little b.i.t.c.h without telling grandmother. Nervousness crept onto her face.

"Second Young Lady, is this the Sixth Young Lady?" Nurse Hong asked as she turned her eyes to Wei Yuewu.

"Yes, she is the one who claims to be my sixth younger sister." Wei Yan answered hatefully as she withdrew her hand slowly with great unwillingness.

"Sixth Young Lady, I"m Nurse Hong who waits on the Madam Dowager. The Madam Dowager is not very well, but she has been waiting for you for a long time. May I ask you to go with me to meet her?" Nurse Hong said smilingly as she went up with two maids beside her.

She spoke in a polite way, but who knew how sincere her politeness was?

Wei Yuewu sneered in her heart as she thought of the nurse"s good timing of showing up exactly at the crucial moment when she and Wei Yan were going to make the scene way too nasty.

In addition, her words seemed to imply that Wei Yuewu was to blame for being unfilial in keeping the Madam Dowager wait so long.

"Sure, please show me the way." Wei Yuewu replied in a respectful att.i.tude as she drooped her eyes. She didn"t want to argue with this old maidservant here because the Madam Dowager must have been waiting inside and ready to stage a show for her. Well, she would like to see what kind of person this Madam Dowager of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang was.

This time, it was Nurse Hong who led the way for Wei Yuewu and Wei Yan to the Madam Dowager"s residence. All the old female servants and maids they met on their way greeted them respectfully.

Wei Yuewu knew clearly that it was because Nurse Hong was leading the way.

The Madam Dowager lived in Tranquility Pavilion. When some servants caught sight of them walking over from a distance, a young maid immediately trotted in to report.

When they reached the entrance of the courtyard, Wei Yan snorted coldly at Wei Yuewu, and with a swing of her handkerchief, she walked in directly.

Wei Yuewu followed Nurse Hong into the house.

In the middle of the main chamber, an old lady was sitting on a warm couch. She was wearing an azure silk coat and a forehead band decorated with emeralds. And she had thin eyebrows and a pair of sharp eyes, which gave people an impression of shrewdness at first sight. Her eyebrows jerked at the sight of Wei Yuewu and a trace of unexpectedness flashed in her eyes.

Then her expression slowly changed into a smile, which made her look more gracious than before.

Needless to say, this must be the Madam Dowager of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, of whom Wei Yuewu only had a vague memory.

Wei Yuewu took two quick steps forward and kowtowed respectfully and gracefully to the Madam Dowager. "Greetings, grandmother."

Madam Dowager smilingly sized Wei Yuewu up and down. Then she turned to Nurse Hong beside her and said with a smile, "I didn"t expect Yuewu to be so beautiful. Before she came, it has been said for a long time that she is neither talented nor good-looking."

"I also wondered at first glance. The Sixth Young Lady looked so different from her childhood that I could not recognize her for a while." Nurse Hong agreed with a smile.

Wei Yuewu sneered inwardly. A trace of unfathomable calmness flashed in her eyes before she took on a look of shyness of meeting strangers for the first time.

So they still had questions about her ident.i.ty. Fortunately, she had been prepared before coming here. Today, she would not only have her ident.i.ty recognized by all the people in the mansion but also have the Madam Dowager"s consent to her breaking off the engagement.

The Madam Dowager"s face was full of loving kindness as she introduced Wei Yuewu to the family. "Yuewu, this is your Second Aunt, this is your Third Aunt, and over here are your three elder sisters."

Wei Yuewu turned around and saw the two women standing next to the Madam Dowager. She guessed the woman with a gloomy face in front of Wei Yan was Lady Li and the other one with two young ladies standing behind was Lady Zhang, the wife of the third branch of the Hua Yang mansion.

Wei Yuewu held up her loose sleeve again and curtesied to them. "Greetings, Second Aunt, Third Aunt and elder sisters."

Seeing Wei Yuewu manage her greetings so calmly and so decently, Wei Yan was so resentful that she almost ripped the handkerchief in her hand. Wasn"t it said that Wei Yuewu was ugly and stupid? Why did she look so gorgeous now?

Wei Yan was with her mother when the old maidservant came back to report to Lady Li that Wei Yuewu was not ugly but in fact very pretty. Jealousy had been surging in her heart since that moment. Besides, she didn"t gain any advantage over Wei Yuewu in their first encounter. Therefore the sight of Wei Yuewu"s delicate face now only increased her hatred and annoyance.

With her beauty, she would undoubtedly stand out in the circle of n.o.ble girls in the capital even though it had not grown into its full bloom.

How could Wei Yan, who had been self-conceited for her exceedingly beautiful appearance, not be jealous? Now her heart pounded violently as if the veins were going to explode.

Lady Li noticed Wei Yan"s restlessness. She stretched out to hold Wei Yan"s hand and gave a sidelong glance to warn her not to act in a rash. She was well prepared to deal with Wei Yuewu. Since this girl was such a hard nut, she must take care of her in person!

The third aunt, Lady Zhang, looked to be a warm-hearted person. She came up to take Wei Yuewu"s hand and carefully inspected her from head to foot. Then she turned to the Madam Dowager and cried out smilingly with faked annoyance, "Mother, look at this child. She looks so beautiful. Alas, all the servants sent out by our family were so useless. They didn"t have a clear view of her and even dared to slander her. She"s such a good girl, but the rumours out there are really damaging her reputation!"

These words made Lady Li"s face even gloomier. With a cold snort, Lady Li retorted in an angry tone, "Sister, it"s true that those servants were incompetent, but it was also because Yuewu"s maternal grandparents had kept her away from the outside world so well. They must have hidden Yuewu somewhere and found some maid to pa.s.s off as her. That"s why all the servants failed to recognize her."

Lady Li"s implication was clear: Wei Yuewu was not the same as the one the servants saw in her maternal grandparents" house.

"Well, forget about my babbling. Sister, don"t be angry. We do need to have a double-check, right? We can"t take the wrong person as our Yuewu." Lady Zhang laughingly dismissed her previous point and changed the topic to the ident.i.ty issue, clearly helping to stir up the trouble.

Wei Yuewu sneered inwardly at the people in front of her. They all talked about her ident.i.ty so naturally as if they only wanted to confirm who she was. But in fact, who knew what vicious intentions they had behind those words? They were all plotting against her.

She looked up and stared into Wei Yan"s jealous eyes, curling the corner of her mouth with contempt. She would like to see how Wei Yan and Lady Li would deal with her next!

As she expected, Lady Li couldn"t wait to make an attack at her.

A woman who was standing behind Lady Li came out, pointed at Wei Yuewu and shouted categorically. "Madam Dowager, she is not the Sixth Young Lady. She is a fake!"