Dowager Consort took the moral responsibility and she even took Song Yixiao was brought up by Prince of Hengshan"s mansion as her backing, thus she had a point anyway.

Wei Mengying made every effort to reach her goal, but the only result she got was that her daughter should get married within this year, "Mother, you"re afraid that Yixiao may bring troubles on Kou"er and her sister, so you asked Yixiao to get married. But Mother, if Yixiao get married when she just came back from Marquis Boling"s mansion. People will doubt that there is something fishy behind this. By then, thing would be more harmful for Kou"er and her sister. If we wait until the rumor subsides, it shows that we have no guilt, am I right?"

"But she can"t go to Marquis Boling"s mansion any more! From now on, she"d better stay at the Hanxia Villa all the time!" Dowager Consort took "caring about the reputation and integrity of her granddaughters" as an excuse, but, her real aim was to clear barrier away for Lu Guanlun, thus Lu Guanlun could be the inheritor of the prince"s mansion. So it didn"t matter whether Song Yixiao got married or not immediately. The key was that she could not be the right-hand of Wei Mengying.

Then she made a little compromise and said coldly, "Even though you don"t care about Kou"er and Chai"er, you should care about Zhuo"er. She is you own daughter!"

Song Yixiao and Wei Mengying left the courtyard of Dowager Consort in a bad mood. As soon as they went back to Wei Mengying"s place, Wei Mengying immediately ordered the servant to drive all the people away. She scolded as soon as the door was closed, "That old woman bullied us too much!!!"

Ms. Bo and other personal maids, who were still at present, immediately patted her back to make her breath smoothly, and they all persuaded her softly.

Wei Mengying"s anger died away after a long time. She pushed the maids" hands away and said to her daughter, "Have you seen it? Even your mother is Princess Consort, and she even gives birth to a son and a daughter for the Prince, but she can"t do anything when Dowager Consort says something to her!"

Song Yixiao listened silently, and she signed in her heart.

Sure enough--

"Two days ago, you said that I let you get close to Marquis Boling, which made you can"t live in the future! Now are you aware that only child will say those words?" Wei Mengying sneered, "Now the Prince is still alive, but you need to get married when Dowager consort asks you to get married. If the Prince pa.s.ses away in the future, and your brother is not the inheritor of the prince"s mansion. How could we do? We would be kicked out immediately."

She added, "Even if Dowager Consort did not force you to marry somebody today, won"t you rely on your brother after you marry someone in the future? Why did your mother live a hard life in the Song Family? Why did Dowager Consort look down on your mother? As for talent and appearance, your mother is not worse than others. In the final a.n.a.lysis, the Wei Family is just an ordinary family, and we are not dignified enough! If you brother is the inheritor of the prince"s mansion, even if you are not the young lady of the prince"s mansion, who dares to belittle you?"

Wei Mengying said pleasantly but sternly, but Song Yixiao just kept her head down and played her clothes with her fingers. She pressed her lips tightly and refused to say anything. Wei Mengying knew that Song Yixiao"s heart must like tangled hemp now, thus she did not force her to make decision. She waved her hand and said, "You could go back and think it over now! Now I"m old, what else can I do except for caring about you and your brother?"

Song Yixiao walked out in a crestfallen mood, then she calmed down immediately. But Jinxun, who accompanied her all the time, almost freaked out!

When returned to the Hanxia Villa, Jinxun told Ms. Zhao all the things. Ms. Zhao was also in a panic after hearing Jinxun"s words, "Originally, it"s not right for the young lady to live in the prince"s mansion. If her reputation was damaged, who will marry the young lady in the future? Even if there is somebody who is willing to marry the young lady, let alone this man is good or not, how can the young lady live after marrying?"

"Dowager Consort doesn"t really want to drive me out of the prince"s mansion, and she just doesn"t want Guanyun to become the inheritor of the prince"s mansion." Song Yixiao knew Dowager Consort"s mind well, but she could not decide the thing. "As long as I keep my nose clean and don"t get close to those n.o.ble people who can help Guanyun, Dowager Consort won"t care if I stay in the prince"s mansion for another two years. But... Mother is unwilling to take her lumps!"

She"s afraid that Wei Mengying would arrange her to meet Yuan Xuepei frequently!

What should I do?

Song Yixiao thought hardly.

She didn"t know that Wei Mengying"s plan was doomed to fail. Yuan Xuepei didn"t plan to let her accompany his younger sister in recent days because she had sent the news to them. Moreover, as for the position of Marquis Boling"s wife, the Yuan Family had already regarded it as its own property. Several nieces of Madam Liang would fight for this position. What"s the matter with others?

But Yuan Xuepei was Marquis Boling after all. Even if he had injured his legs, he was not a person that Song Yixiao, who was a weak girl, could compare.

He didn"t mind his step-grandmother and aunt"s words. After getting through this trouble, what he worried about most was his sister"s marriage.

It"s also reasonable, because Yuan Xue"e was at the age of sixteen.

At this age, many girls had already got married, but her marriage was still a shadow. Two years ago, Madam Tu wanted to introduce a marriage for her, but Yuan Xuepei was a hostage in Wuhuan at that time, and he had not died, so Wei Mengying refused the marriage for her, "Since ancient times, the marriage is dominated by parents. If parents are not alive, the marriage is dominated by elder brother and elder sister-in-law. I never heard that when the elder brother was still alive, step-grandmother would intervene in the marriage of her granddaughter without telling her elder brother!"

Madam Jin of the prince"s mansion wanted to p.i.s.s Wei Mengying off with Stepmother. Even though Wei Mengying was very angry, she also used it on Madam Tu. Anyway, Madam Tu was only an elder lady of the Marquis Boling"s mansion, and she even could not get along well with her offspring. Of course Wei Mengying dared to bully her.

Now Yuan Xuepei had returned back, and he had solved all urgent things. What he wanted to do now was to get his sister married, thus his sister would not delay her youth!

This was different from Song Yixiao"s marriage. As for Song Yixiao"s marriage, Wei Mengying had thought about this at the end of last year, but it was still a shadow until now. As for Yuan Xue"e"s marriage, Yuan Xuepei had got it early--Lu Guanlun.

After all, Yuan Xue"e was simple-minded. If Yuan Xue"e"s husband was not a sincere person, Yuan Xuepei would be always afraid that his sister might suffer losses.

Especially now he had lost his legs, so he would live all his life with the rank of Marquis Boling. He would feel unreconciled if his sister married somebody who had a lower family background. But if his sister married somebody who had a higher family background, he could not provide any protection for his sister.

So it seemed that Lu Guanlun was the only suitable man. Lu Guanlun was the first son born by the legal wife in the prince"s mansion, and he was also the first nephew of the Yuan Family. He was a good-nature people.

But...

"I"m afraid that it is a little difficult to deal with it now." Yuan Zhan, the old man left by Yuan Xuepei"s father and the head of the bodyguard who accompanied him on the expedition six years ago, persuaded him, "Now Dowager Consort and Princess of Hengshan had a great difference in selecting the inheritor of the prince"s mansion, thus Prince of Hengshan couldn"t make decision easily..."

Speaking of here, it was not hard to guess the following words. At this point, Dowager Consort only wanted to introduce a good marriage for her grandson, so as to increase the chance for determining her grandson to be inheritor of the prince"s mansion.

If Yuan Xuepei returned triumphantly as a hero, and became a promising young hero in the eyes of the public, and plus his friendship with Jian Xubai, he would have chance to fight for his sister. But now?

Yuan Zhan peeped at Yuan Xuepei who had a cold expression. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "It"s said that Duke Jian refused to marry the princess who was mentioned by the Empress Dowager and the Empress. Duke Jian always had a good relationship with you. Although our young lady is innocent, as for talent and appearance..."

"Never think about this thing!" Yuan Xuepei shook his head immediately. "Xubai doesn"t like Xue"e. If I"m not his best friend, he will never be so patient with Xue"e. Can"t you see it?"

"Duke Jian and you are brother"s keeper. The reason he scolded the young lady was that he"s afraid you would worry more if the young lady lost herself in a panic. He"s afraid that you were tired." Yuan Zhan thought that it was easier to match Yuan Xue"e with Jian Xubai than to match Yuan Xue"e with Lu Guanlun. Then he reminded, "When the news, Duke Jian refused to marry the princess, came out, many people in the Imperial Capital wanted to marry Duke Jian, but Duke Jian all refused, am I right?"

The more he said, the more fluent it became, "Obviously, now Duke Jian doesn"t like anybody, but somebody need to in charge of thing happened in the Duke of Yan"s mansion. In particular, Duke Jian has engaged in politics. Jinguo Grand Princess is born in the purple, and she also has her own Grand Princess"s mansion, so it"s impossible for her to preside over the harem for Duke Jian. Otherwise, the Empress Dowager will not urge Duke Jian to marry quickly! Even though Duke Jian does not like the eldest young lady now, they will live a better life after marrying, am I right?"

"Do you know the reason why Xubai refused to marry the princess?" Yuan Xuepei looked at him, then he sneered and said, "Although Xue"e is not as n.o.ble as the princess, Marquis Boling"s family is different from ordinary marquis"s. Marquis Boling"s family is a family with hereditary system! At this point, even if I lost my legs, Xue"e could not be Madam of Duke of Yan. Do you understand?"

Seeing that Yuan Zhan was still confused, Yuan Xuepei pinched his eyebrows and then lowered his voice, "His Majesty was ill for a long time, but the Crown Prince has only been crowned for four years. Although the Crown Prince is smart and benevolent, officials in the court are all descendant of the n.o.ble family. They are senior ministers and great soldiers. They have ability and they are sophisticated. It"s sure that His Majesty would worry about this."

"Xubai is the son of Grand Princess, and he is brought up by the Empress Dowager, and he also owns the rank of Duke." He took a breath and then continued, "With his age and family background, his status is too high now. If he married the princess or a girl from the n.o.ble family, would the Crown Prince dare to use him in the future? Even His Majesty doesn"t want that there is another couple of Marquis Fuyang appeared in the court, let alone Crown Prince!"

The couple of Marquis Fuyang referred to Marquis Fuyang--Ji Weiguan and Daiguo Grand Princess.

Here we should mention something happened in the past.

Emperor Xianjia had more than 40 brothers and sisters. Although he had the name of legitimate son, he was neither the eldest son nor the child his father liked best. The reason why he became the Crown Prince first and then became the emperor was that he had his own excellent means, and some courtiers always supported the emperor to determine legitimate son as the inheritor. Besides, the efforts of his sisters who had the same mother with him could not be ignored.

He had five sisters who had the same mother with him, but now only Jinguo Grand Princess and Daiguo Grand Princess were alive.

The other three all died in their youth. Two of them even didn"t have children.

The result given by the Imperial Academy of Medicine was that they all died for depression. They all became ill for a long time, and then they never recovered.

Even Jinguo Grand Princess submitted a message to the emperor and demanded to divorce with the first prince consort when Emperor Xianjia just ascended the throne for less than three months.

Among the five sisters, Daiguo Grand Princess had the best fortune. She fell in love with Marquis Fuyang at first sight. They loved each other very much, and they had a son and a daughter. It could be said that they lived a very happy life.

But Emperor Xianjia worried about her most.

Because this Grand Princess was fond of making troubles. She tended to put her fingers in every pie, such as affairs of state, frontier fortress, women of harem and so on.

She even said reasonably, "In the past, when Brother needed my help, I gave you a hand immediately. Now I just wanted to share the worries of the country for Brother. Would Brother have doubts on me?"

It would be OK for Grand Princess to share the worries of the country for the brother. After all, she was just a woman.

However, although her husband--Ji Weiguan was only a marquis, he surely had a strong power since Emperor Xianjia was willing to gain his support by sending his own sister to him!

How could Emperor Xianjia not worry about this?

He reminded of his three sisters who had died, and he remembered that his father said Jinguo Grand Princess was elegant, graceful and quiet. But in this dynasty, she became a well-known chippie, and many clans were even unwilling to mention her. His sisters should had enjoyed glory and kept arrogance for a lifetime. But now only Daiguo Grand Princess lived like the daughter of the emperor.

He couldn"t bear it.

Even though Emperor Xianjia could bear his sisters who had shared difficulties with him, he would not allow the same thing happened again in the court.

If Jian Xubai wanted to have himself in key positions in the court, how could he marry a princess?

"Xubai must hold the power in his hand." Yuan Xuepei said with his eyes focused on a blooming apricot flower outside the window, "This thing is related to his life. So you could not say such things that would drag him back later."

Yuan Zhan wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and bowed in fear, "Yes!"

"By the way, I asked Xue"e to write a letter to Miss Song of Prince of Hengshan"s mansion. You find someone to send it to her later." Yuan Xuepei was about to wave his hand to let him go, and then he suddenly remembered something, "Since you have known that the Empress Dowager wanted to introduce a marriage for Xubai, other people would also know this. I"m afraid that many young ladies will fight for this position recently. Miss Song is beautiful and intelligent, but she does not have father and brother to support her. Now Xue"e could not go out since I"m injured. If she goes to those occasions alone, she may be treated as a soft persimmon to make an example to others. At this point, she"d better avoid it."

After all, in the past six years, Wei Mengying and Song Yixiao had taken good care of Xue"e. Now Yuan Xuepei could return the favor back easily, so he would not miss this opportunity.

What"s more, it"s a pity that such a clever girl was ruined by others.

But Song Yixiao did not receive this message. Dowager Consort of Hengshan was old, thus her eyesight was not well. She leaned against the couch. After listening to Lanhui--her first maid read the message which was grabbed in the back door, she sneered, "They are really good sisters...burn it!"