Chapter Twenty-Four Must Leave the Mansion

  As soon as Old Lady Feng's words fell, Su Yu Ping's face flashed with a few points of embarrassment. It was indeed embarrassing for a friend to be spoken to like that by a servant, but it couldn't be blamed on the servant either. Wei Zhang shouldn't have mentioned the young lady's maiden name so casually. It was too frivolous and undoubtedly a provocation against the Yao family.

  General Dingyuan is formidable, but the Governor's Office of the Two Rivers is no pushover either.

  "Oh, sorry." Wei Zhang didn't argue with Feng Nian, but looked at Yao Yan and calmly said: "I only met you twice before, but I didn't know which family's young lady you were. Today I finally understood, and I lost my words for a moment, please forgive me."

  Su Yu Ping's interest was piqued after hearing this, and she smiled as she asked: "What? Xian Jun knew Miss Yao before?"

  "I don't know him." Yao Yan's words immediately interrupted Wei Zhang's words on the tip of his tongue, and she looked at this man with great dissatisfaction. Although she didn't understand what he meant, how could a noble lady like her possibly know a general who had been stationed abroad for many years?

  Wei Zhang, however, didn't match Yao Yan's gaze at all, and smiled leisurely: "Miss Yao, your memory is really ordinary, didn't we just meet a few days ago at Wang's Iron Shop?"

  Yao Yan couldn't ignore Su Yu Ping's playful gaze, so she steeled herself and said: "That day when I went to Wang's Iron Shop with Huan'er to pick up some things, I did see several young generals, but whether or not you were among them, please forgive me for being careless and forgetful."

  Wei Zhang smiled lightly, this girl was telling a lie. However, he had already detected the flash of anger in her eyes, so he suppressed his thoughts of teasing her again. Teasing could be fun, but if it went too far, it wouldn't be funny anymore: "So that's how it is, Understood, Wei Zhang."

  Yao Yan only slightly nodded and then said to Su Yu Ping: "If the young master has no other matters, I won't delay you and General Wei from appreciating the moon."

  Su Yuping nodded and stood there with a slight smile, her hands clasped behind her back: "Miss Yao, you must be tired, please go back and rest soon."

  Yao Yan replied with a "yes" and nodded at Wei Zhang before turning around to leave with the wet nurse and two maids.

  Wei Zhang stood still, feeling a faint scent wafting past the tip of his nose, like orchid and osmanthus, yet different from them. It was a special fragrance that seemed to come from his own body, slightly cool and extremely light, like a wisp of smoke that vanished as soon as it appeared, leaving a lasting aftertaste that was hard to forget.

  "Obviously." Su Yuping smiled and looked at Wei Zhang's expressionless face, took two steps closer, and asked: "Moved?"

  Wei Zhang smiled faintly and walked forward: "The young master is joking."

  "She is the illegitimate daughter of Governor Yao, you know that my third sister is Governor Yao's legitimate daughter. A few days ago she was very ill and the imperial physician said that this illness cannot be cured. Governor Yao sent this second lady to our mansion, originally intending to marry her to my third brother."

  Wei Zhang fell silent after hearing this and furrowed his brow slightly, feeling inexplicably annoyed.

  "It just so happens that since she arrived at our estate, my three younger siblings' illnesses have been getting better day by day." Su Yu smiled calmly with a hint of helplessness. "Some people say that this second young lady is a lucky star, bringing good fortune to her older sister, and is a girl with good luck. However...her good fortune was bestowed upon her older sister, while her own status has become awkward and embarrassing."

  "Now that her older sister has recovered, the matter of remarriage can't be mentioned. Can Third Master really set aside his wife and remarry?" Wei Zhang said this as if unintentionally, but after speaking, he himself felt strange. This was a domestic affair within the Dinghou Estate, what business did he have meddling in it?

  Su Yu Ping said these words to Wei Zhang for a reason. Firstly, he mentioned Yao Yan Yu's identity by name. Although she was the daughter of the Governor of Liangjiang, Yao Yuan Zhi, she was born out of wedlock and had been sent into the palace by her father as a potential bride for Su Yu Xiang, so her marriage involved more complicated matters. If Wei Zhang wanted to form an alliance with the Yao family through marriage, it would likely be troublesome.

  Secondly, Su Yuping had already discussed with her father that Wei Zhang was a rising star in the military, and his ancestors had the protection of General Wei. Although the Wei family had declined, they were still a meritorious family. Now that Wei Zhang had accumulated many military achievements, his future prospects were boundless. The Su family should try to win him over.

  The most stable relationship between the two families is the marital relationship, and marrying is the most common and best way. Ding Hou deeply agreed with his son's proposal and hinted that he could marry his niece Su Yuexuan to Wei Zhang as his wife.

  Compared to Su Yuxuan, Su Yuping naturally leaned towards her own younger sister. Although Yao Yanyu was Yao Fengge's younger sister, after marrying Wei Zhang, the Su family and Wei Zhang were also considered relatives, but brothers-in-law could not compare to sisters' husbands in terms of closeness.

  Moreover, he believed that Wei Zhang was more inclined towards his own sister, after all, they were both born out of wedlock, but Su Yu Xuan had the imperial family's blood in her veins, and she was the beloved granddaughter of the Empress Dowager. How could the illegitimate daughter of the Governor-General of the Two Rivers compare to the Empress Dowager's own granddaughter?

  Besides, Su Yuhuan is already 14 years old and will be eligible for marriage next year after her hairpinning ceremony. As a concubine's daughter who grew up in front of the Eldest Princess, she requires an even more cautious choice of husband. If the family background is too low, the Eldest Princess would not approve, but if it's too high, Su Yuhuan will suffer in the future after marrying into that family. Someone like Wei Zhang is a suitable candidate, and it's really hard to find someone like him in the capital city.

  Wei Zhang and Su Yuping walked side by side in the garden, neither of them was in a hurry to return to their seats, each lost in their own thoughts.

  Su Yuping didn't know about these things, but at this time, his mind was only replaying the flustered look of Yao Yan just now and her shy and fearful eyes when she bumped into his arms. Then he thought of the iron shop where she hid behind Su Yuxuan as if to avoid disaster, and that day when Sheng Jun returned to Beijing, she looked at him with a silly and big mouth.

  How can one person have so many different expressions? It's really too interesting. Wei Zhang couldn't help but wonder what expression she would have the next time he saw her.

  But Yao Yan walked quickly back to her own room, and as soon as she entered the door, she ordered Cui Wei: "Close the door."

  Cui Wei busily ordered the little maids who were carrying hot water to come and serve them to wash up, sending them all out, closing the door tightly, personally holding a copper basin to come forward, wringing out a towel to wipe Yaoyan's face.

  Madam Feng also came forward to serve, taking off the heavy dress on Yaoyan's body one by one. She was still angry: "That boorish man is just a guest of the young master, and Miss shouldn't be afraid of him. He's only a fifth-grade military officer, yet he dares to call Miss by her given name, and the young master just stands by and laughs, I really don't know what kind of etiquette this is."

  Feng's anger was actually directed at the Crown Prince, as the Yao family and the Ding Hou Mansion were proper relatives by marriage, and they were also aristocratic families. But the Governor of the Two Rivers shouldn't be too far off either, right? The Ding Hou Mansion being an imperial relative couldn't bully people like this.

  What Yao Yan really cared about was not that Wei Zhang called her own name, after all, names were given to be called by others, and as a modern person, she wouldn't bother with such trivial matters. It was just that this man's eyes were like those of a hawk, his gaze was like the edge of a knife, and his expression was mysterious and difficult to understand, making her heart flutter just thinking about it.

  Su Yu-ping's expression, which seemed to be smiling but not quite, was even stranger. What were these people up to? Yao Yan knew she wasn't a match for these masters of internal strife and just wanted to leave as soon as possible, so she sighed: "Mother, I don't want to stay in this Dingguo Mansion for another day."