good season

Chapter 253 Substituting One Thing for Another (Two chapters combined)

With a registered household and a job, and knowing that the time was almost up, Wenqing followed Jiandeng's instructions and spread the word at the vegetable stall frequented by the old woman who bought groceries in the Wei family kitchen.

The next day, the purchasing woman told the steward of the mansion what she had heard at the vegetable stall. The steward then reported to Master Wei, who was already preparing to take his son's coffin back to his hometown for burial, but Wei Ya'er had disappeared, and he was very anxious.

Upon hearing that someone had seen Wei Ya'er on Porcelain Street, he immediately led his men there without hesitation.

When they arrived at the porcelain street, Master Wei was completely lost. Fortunately, no one here recognized him, but he couldn't just ask around rashly. So he had someone pretend to be a customer buying porcelain and check each shop.

The carriage was stuffy and hot, and Master Wei was in a bad mood, so he got out of the carriage to get some fresh air.

Not far away, there was a large locust tree with a cool shade. When Master Wei walked over, he saw a dirty woman sitting on a large rock under the shade of the tree. The woman had unkempt hair and a foul smell.

Master Wei almost vomited. Is this guy crazy?
Master Wei turned and left. What bad luck!
I had only taken a few steps when a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from behind me: "Ah—"

Master Wei was startled. He turned around and saw the madman with his missing teeth open, shouting at him as if he was about to pounce on him.

Master Wei moved with lightning speed, quickly returning to the carriage. After sitting down, he suddenly paused, wondering why that madman looked somewhat like Wei Ya'er.

Master Wei immediately forced himself to dismiss the thought. That bitch, she wouldn't go crazy no matter who else did!

Thinking of Wei Ya'er, Master Wei gritted his teeth.

It's all my aunt's fault. Of all the girls in the Wei family, how could she have fallen for that slut Wei Ya'er?

If Wei Ya'er weren't a county princess, whether she was beaten to death or drowned, she would simply be dead.

But he has the title of county princess, which means he can neither die nor lose it. The weather is getting hotter and hotter, but he cannot take his son's body back to his hometown for burial. It's all that wretched woman's fault.

But for some reason, Master Wei thought of that madman again.

Just then, his men returned one after another. They searched the entire porcelain street but couldn't find Wei Ya'er.

"By the way, sir, there's something I'm not sure if I should say," a subordinate said hesitantly.

Master Wei snapped, "Speak up if you have something to say, or shut up if you have something to say!"

“Sir, I asked the vendors, and they said that recently, apart from pedestrians, there has only been one woman on this street, but she is a madwoman.”

Master Wei shivered for no reason. Could it really be that madman?
No, it's not, it absolutely isn't!
Master Wei narrowed his eyes, summoned two trusted confidants, and gave them instructions.

The next morning, Porcelain Street was bustling as usual, until someone was the first to notice: "Hey, that madman is gone!"

"Great! That madman is filthy and smelly; he's scared away so many customers."

Before leaving the capital, Master Wei requested an audience with Consort Li, posing as her nephew.

In terms of seniority, he was indeed a nephew of Consort Li's maternal family, but they were very distant in terms of blood relation, and could only be considered as relatives at most.

However, Madam Wei was his own aunt.

Now that Madam Wei is living in the palace, Master Wei can only see her through Consort Li.

Normally, one shouldn't enter the palace when there's a family funeral, but Master Wei insists on seeing him now.

Upon entering Cining Palace, Consort Li did not even show her face. Instead, a nanny led Master Wei to see Old Madam Wei.

When the aunt and niece met, both of them shed tears.

Thinking of his son who died young, Master Wei burst into tears.

To date, the prime suspect in this case remains Wei Ya'er.

If those maids hadn't been beaten to death, they might have been able to clear Wei Ya'er's name. However, Wei Ya'er, in her own cleverness, killed everyone who could have proven her innocence, so in the end, she had to bear all the blame.

It was only after confirming that Wei Ya'er had killed Wei Wubing that Lord Wei ordered the Ministry of Justice to release her.

Master Wei's original idea was that if Wei Ya'er stayed in the Ministry of Justice, it would be a disgrace to the Wei family; if Wei Ya'er was convicted, it would also be a disgrace to the Wei family; and if the emperor stripped Wei Ya'er of her title, it would still be a disgrace to the Wei family.

Therefore, the best solution is to first get Wei Ya'er out of the Ministry of Justice, lock her up in the dungeon for a while, and then go to the palace to discuss with Old Madam Wei how to deal with Wei Ya'er after he has finished arranging Wei Wubing's funeral.

However, before the funeral was even over, Wei Ya'er ran away, disrupting Master Wei's plans.

He lowered his voice and told Old Madam Wei about the madman.

"Where is he?" Old Madam Wei asked in a low voice.

Master Wei made a throat-slitting gesture, and Madam Wei breathed a sigh of relief: "You did the right thing. A woman who disgraces the family like this doesn't deserve to live."

Master Wei asked, "But what about the county princess's title and the marriage with the Prince of Liang?"

Madam Wei looked at him with a half-smile: "Didn't you already have a plan?"

Master Wei said awkwardly, "I do have someone in mind who looks somewhat like that slut, but no matter how similar they are, they are still two different people. They can fool the Liang Prince's Mansion, but they can't fool those in the capital who have seen that slut."

"Resembles that vile woman? So she's also your flesh and blood?" Old Madam Wei asked.

Master Wei hurriedly said, "She was born to my nephew's mistress. She is a year younger than that slut. She is gentle, beautiful and intelligent. You will surely be pleased when you meet her."

Madam Wei snorted coldly: "I will not see that vixen's lowly offspring. I do not want to offend my eyes."

“Nephew knows that you are intolerant of any woman and would not look down on children born to other women. But right now, there is no one else, is there? The second and third sons also have daughters, but they do not look like that slut. Besides, the second and third sons cannot know about this. Their wives are not easy to deal with. If word gets out, it will be difficult to handle.”

After much thought, my nephew concluded that this was the only option available.

Although Madam Wei favored her own family, she favored the legitimate members of the Wei family. Not to mention illegitimate daughters who didn't even have a proper title, even concubine's daughters were not worthy of her attention.

If it is a male, then it is a different story.

Wei Ya'er is a county princess, and she is to marry into the Liang Prince's mansion.

The marriage between the county princess and the Prince of Liang's mansion should not be allowed to benefit anyone else.

Old Madam Wei closed her eyes, and Master Wei held his breath, not daring to speak.

After a long while, Old Madam Wei opened her eyes and asked, "What's that little slut's name?"

Master Wei was stunned for a moment before realizing who the "little slut" that Old Madam Wei was talking about was.

"Her name is Qian'er, Wei Qian'er."

Old Madam Wei snorted: "Is this lowly servant's mother still alive?"

Master Wei's heart sank, and he had a bad feeling, but he dared not hide it, there was no need to hide such a thing.

"Still alive," he said cautiously.

Madam Wei: "Yes, he's reached the end of his life."

Master Wei: "Yes, nephew understands. Once he leaves the palace, I will send someone ahead so that he will never be seen again."

Madam Wei was very satisfied. As expected of her most beloved eldest nephew, he acted decisively.

"And then there's Wei Qian'er's face. Although they look similar, as you said, they are two different people."

She could fool the Liang Prince's mansion, but she couldn't fool those in the capital who had seen her.

Rather than doing that, it's better to just ruin this face.

"And the murderer who killed the innocent should also be caught by now." After receiving the instructions, Master Wei bid farewell to Madam Wei. Madam Wei raised her hand, gestured for him to leave, and then closed her eyes.

Master Wei cautiously went out, and as soon as he stepped out of the side hall where guests were being received, he saw two palace maids playing with a cat.

"Huh, which palace do these two cats belong to? I've never seen them before."

Master Wei paid no attention and turned to walk out of Cining Palace.

It wasn't until Lord Wei stepped out of the palace gates that he finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

However, when he thought of Wei Qian'er's beautiful face, he still felt a little regretful.

As for Wei Qian'er's birth mother, Aunt Du, he felt no reluctance.

He fell in love with Aunt Du at first sight when he was young, but unfortunately, she came from a poor background and had been someone else's concubine. If he were to take a concubine, she would definitely be a virgin, not a woman like Aunt Du who was not innocent.

He kept Aunt Du outside the home. Although Aunt Du did not give birth to a son for him, she gave birth to a daughter named Wei Qian'er.

Wei Qian'er was more charming than Wei Ya'er. Seeing that he liked Wei Qian'er, Aunt Du had improper thoughts and wanted to use her daughter to gain status and become a concubine in the mansion.

Master Wei naturally didn't let her succeed. Fortunately, Aunt Du knew when to stop and didn't mention entering the mansion again. The two lived peacefully for more than ten years. Aunt Du grew old and lost her beauty, and Master Wei hadn't stayed at her place for a long time.

Let him die; he's just superfluous to remain in this world.

Even before Wei Ya'er was imprisoned in the dungeon, Master Wei had already secretly sent someone back to fetch Wei Qian'er.

I reckon Wei Qian'er is almost at the capital by now.

Today, Zhen Wuduo rode his beloved little donkey out of town to go to the market. Zhao Shiqing didn't go with him because the family only had one donkey, and both the grandfather and grandson wanted to ride it. They played rock-paper-scissors, and Zhao Shiqing lost.

The loser couldn't bear to see others riding donkeys, so she refused to go with them.

Zhao Shiqing lay on the old man's Xiangfei chair, which was said to have been used by Yang Guifei. The old man bought it for five thousand taels of silver.

Zhao Shiqing took a nap on it and felt that she had become more beautiful when she woke up.

She decided to come and lie down here every day from now on, hoping that even if she couldn't outshine the moon and shame the flowers, she could still make fish sink and geese fall from the sky.

She leaned back in the beauty chair in a very comfortable position, with her legs raised and mouth open, waiting for Lingbo to feed her.

Lingbo tossed a peeled grape into Zhao Shiqing's mouth. Zhao Shiqing choked for a moment, but still ate it in a few bites: "Watch out, you're throwing it all down your throat."

"Meow--"

Two cat shadows landed one in front of the other, one on Zhao Shiqing's chest and the other on her stomach, making her dizzy and almost causing her to vomit up the grapes she had just eaten.

"Gently, gently, you unfilial sons, you're going to smash my old bones to pieces."

"Meow--"

The little demon glared at her reproachfully; this was how she had ruined the cat's reputation.

The cat came back from the yard, but didn't want to tell you what it had seen; cats hold grudges.

Zhao Shiqing was taken aback. She knew where the big courtyard the little demon was talking about was—it was the imperial palace!

There are many cats in the palace, and Little Demon and Big Fatty have a lot of influence among them.

Zhao Shiqing immediately revealed her servile and obsequious side, scratching and rubbing Xiao Yao's ears in a fawning manner. Da Pang couldn't stand it and hesitated several times before speaking, but Xiao Yao glared at him and stopped him.

It wasn't until Xiao Yao was finally moved that he decided to forgive her this time.

The cat saw that old hag.

Zhao Shiqing was stunned.

The capital city is so interesting; anything is possible, except for things she can't even imagine.

The Wei family actually wanted to substitute one woman for another and marry her off to the Liang Prince's mansion.

Well, this not only treats Zhao Tingxuan as a good-for-nothing, but also as an idiot.

However, this matter must be told to my older sister and brother immediately so that they can make plans as soon as possible.

Wei Ya'er's title is Changling, and Changling is very close to Liangdi.

However, the post horse is slow. Zhao Shiqing is going to Tongzhou next month. She is worried that by the time her older sister and brother start to take action, she will have already arrived in Tongzhou and will miss the excitement.

That evening, Zhao Shiqing brought Xiao Yao and Da Pang to the vicinity of the Wei residence in the capital.

"Go into this big courtyard and see if any of these houses have cats. If they do, try to get along with them so you can hear about things here even when you're not here."

Big Fatty showed great interest, but Little Demon rolled her eyes at him. "I've been here before. That idiot was lured away by me."

She didn't like the people in this courtyard. They treated the cats badly, so the cats didn't like them either.

A cat came here; there are no cats or dogs here anymore.

This was the first time Xiao Yao had ever seen a large courtyard without cats.

The people who live here don't keep cats, and there are no stray cats in the yard.

Hearing that there were no cats here, Zhao Shiqing looked at Xiao Yao and Da Pang with a pained expression.

"Since there are no cats, then you two will have to do the work. Don't worry, I'll have Lingbo grill some more dried fish, so you can have plenty to eat and take home."

Big Fatty agreed, but the little demon stared at him menacingly, and Big Fatty lowered his fat head in fright.

That's terrifying, the little demon's death stare.

Little Demon: [You have to give that silly dog ​​a bath; it stinks like crazy.]

The silly dog ​​that Xiao Yao was talking about is Xiao Ye.

That kid, relying on his dark complexion, refused to take a bath.

Zhao Shiqing assured her with both hands, "Don't worry, I'll put Xiaoye in the basin as soon as we get back."

Even a sycophant needs to be cleaned; he's been around idiots and picked up their stench.

Ah Huang is a sycophant.

This was the first time Zhao Shiqing had ever seen a cat bargain with a person, with the two dogs ultimately bearing all the costs.

In the end, Zhao Shiqing agreed to cooperate with Xiao Yao on the condition that she would give Xiao Ye and Ah Huang a bath.

Little Demon and Big Fatty arrived at the Wei residence. As soon as they landed, a steward-like fellow came over with a large broom to chase the cat away.

"Hurry up, hurry up, I hate seeing cats, don't let me catch you and make you fight like dragons and tigers."

Without saying a word, the little demon pounced on the manager and scratched him hard across the face.

The steward flew into a rage, grabbed a large stick, and chased after the little demon and the fat man.

The two cats were quick and dashed towards the residence of the County Magistrate of Changling, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

(End of this chapter)