Wei Luo naturally didn't know that these madams thought this way.

She had heard that Duke Ying's household had also been invited as guests. First Master Wei Min and Fifth Master Wei Kun had been among the people in House Wei, who had come to celebrate. Wei Chang Yin and Wei Chang Hong had also come. She wondered if she would be able to see them in the future.

Although Wei Luo had only recently married, she grew up with close relatives at her side. If she couldn't see them today, she would miss them dearly.

Unfortunately, this Princess Consort Yong An was very warm in her hospitality. Not only did she order the servant girls to bring fruits and pastries, she also invited her and Gao Wan to play ma diao. Wei Luo wasn't interested in this game. The only two things that interested her right now were Zhao Jie and her family. Besides, she had never played ma diao before. She always felt that this was something only irresponsible madams would do. As they played ma diao, they would gossip about other families. And so, she shook her head and said, "You two play. I'll watch from the side."

(T/N: Mahjong evolved from ma diao during Qing Dynasty. Unlike mahjong, it's a semi-cooperative game of three people against the fourth player that acts as the banker.)

Gao Wan had already sat down at the flat-surfaced beech table inlayed in gold. When she heard Wei Luo's words, she looked at her and said, "It's not fun to just watch. Imperial sister-in-law, come play with us. I'm very good at this game."

Wei Luo smiled, "Is that right? Then, all the more reason I shouldn't play. If I lose to you, I'll lose face as your elder sister-in-law."

"Is that it? I'll go easy on you then." Gao Wan insistently pulled Wei Luo to the ma diao table. There were four players in this game. Besides Gao Wan and Wei Luo, the other two people were Princess Consort Yong An and Gao Qing Yang.

There were a total of forty tiles in ma diao. There were four suits of tiles: eleven coins, nine strings of coins, nine myriads of string, and eleven myriads. Each person was given eight tiles. In counter-clockwise rotation, they would each play a tile. The highest tile would win each round. The end goal was to defeat the banker.

Since Gao Wan was skilled in this game, she would be the banker in the first game. Because Princess Consort was deliberately trying to allow her to win, Wei Luo didn't understand the right strategy at the moment, and only Gao Qing Yang was blocking her; Gao Wan won the game as the banker.

As Gao Wan gathered together the gaming chips, she said with a smile, "Imperial sister-in-law, is this the first time you're playing this game? Your actions seem very inexperienced."

Wei Luo honestly nodded and said, "I haven't played this game before."

Gao Wan put forth high stakes and the other people could only follow. Wei Luo didn't mind, but Princess Consort Yong An was somewhat pained. These inner court madams all had set monthly allowances, even a princess consort. Besides, her husband was only an outer prince. Their declining household was actually hard-pressed for money. After only a few games, Princess Consort Yong An left the game and someone else took her place.

Wei Luo gradually understood the game better. She was clever to begin with and learned things quickly. The situation gradually reversed so that her side was winning. After Wei Luo won three rounds, Gao Wan's expression started to become slightly worried.

Before the last game, Gao Wan had a servant girl place all of the gaming chips onto the table. A small jade fish, a pair of jade bracelets, and two pearls from the south sea were also added. She said, "If imperial sister-in-law can win this game, I'll give you these items."

Wei Luo had originally decided to stop playing. She didn't care about the gaming chips she lost. But when she thought about the chips she had initially lost, she sat back down again and said, "Okay, let's play one more game."

Wei Luo would be the banker in the last game. Gao Qing Yang was sitting next to Wei Luo and she also played very well. There were two crucial rounds where she played small tiles on her turn, so Wei Luo easily won those two rounds .Wei Luo would be winning this game without a doubt.

In a slight complaining tone, Gao Wan asked, "Older sister Qin-er, why did you only play small tiles? Whose side are you actually on?"

(T/N: She's calling her sister instead of cousin to show closeness.)

Gao Qing Yang gave Wei Luo the rest of her gaming chips and lightly said, "I only had small tiles left in my hand."

Wei Luo won a lot of money. She turned her head to look at Gao Qing Yang. Previously, because she was Gai Dang Yang's younger sister, she hadn't thought much about her. But right now, she could see that Gao Qing Yang's appearance didn't lose at all to Gan Dan Yang. Her skin looked white and soft and her face looked like a beautiful apricot. She was even more beautiful than Gao Dan Yang.

Wei Luo searched through her mind. She remembered that when she was seven years old, she went to Xin Yan with Liang Yu Rong on Zhao Liuli's birthday. There had been a young girl that was arranging peanuts into a picture of "Wild Gooses in Flight". She had gotten angry with them when Liang Yu Rong took her peanuts. So they had already met then, but hadn't seen each other since that day.

(T/N: This scene originally occurred in chapter 20. But, the text said it was Empress Chen's birthday and Wei Luo was the one that took her peanuts not Liang Yu Rong.)

After the group dispersed, some went to play tou hu (ancient party game of throwing arrows into a pot) and others went to admire flowers and chat. Gao Qing Yang wanted to play tou hu and Wei Luo wanted to go see Wei Kun and Chang Hong, so the two of them started walking downstairs.

In the stairwell, Wei Luo asked Gao Qing Yang, "Miss Gao, why did you let me win?"

Gao Qing Yang turned her head and froze for a moment in surprise.

Wei Luo smiled brightly. "I saw that you had a hundred myriad tile and a thousand myriad tile. If you had played these two tiles, I might not have won." She had said "might not have" instead of " couldn't". Wei Luo was very confident in herself.

Gao Ying Yang was silent for a moment. Her words didn't convey her meaning she said, "Your Highness, you secretly looked at this subject's tiles?"

Wei Luo shook her head. She wouldn't do a shady thing like that. "I paid attention when you put the tiles back in the pile and happened to see those two tiles."

Gao Qing Yang's expression eased, but then it subtly changed. With a controlled expression, she said, "This subject wanted to be slightly yielding since this was the first time Your Highness was playing ma diao."

Wei Luo really liked her answer. Gao Wan had said she would go easy on her at first, but she had forgotten everything once the game started and only cared about winning. Someone like Gao Qing Yang who could silently throw a game was rare. At minimum, it showed that this person was very careful, low-key, and wasn't hasty with taking credits for her achievements.

Wei Luo walked down the stairs with her. In front of Wei Luo and Gao Qing Yang, there was a group of young women gathered together in circle under a nearby plum tree and throwing arrows into a blue and white porcelain bottle that was at their center. Wei Luo saw a familiar figure sitting beneath a plum tree and she immediately became spirited.

Wei Chang Hong was leaning against a plum tree. He was surrounded by a riotous profusion of plum blossoms. The flower petals were falling down like raindrops. His hand was holding onto the tail feather of an arrow. After he aimed the arrow, he easily threw the arrow into the bottle.

Several young women sneakily looked at him, but he didn't show any reaction. His expression continued to be calm and indifferent. It was exactly because of this lofty coldness that the young women became even more fascinated with him. The more he ignored them, the more the young women wanted to attract his attention.

However, young women from noble families had restraint bred into their bones. Coupled with the upbringing they had since they were children, they only dared to sneakily glance at him despite their desire to attract his attention.

Wei Chang Hong looked up and saw Wei Luo at the entrance. His eyes slightly brightened and he said to the Department of Appointments' assistant minister's heir, who was next to him, "Excuse me, I have to leave."

But, the heir wouldn't let him leave. He insisted that Chang Hong finished the game first.

Chang Hong furrowed his eyebrows. There were still three more arrows in his hand. In one breath, he threw all three arrows into the bottle. Before the surrounding people could return to their senses, he had already left.

On the other side, Wei Luo was just about to walk forward. But a figure in yellow appeared out of nowhere and arrived in front of Wei Luo. Flustered and exasperated she shouted, "Wei Luo, stop!" Before Wei Luo could respond, she raised her hand and pelted it down like hail towards Wei Luo.

Wei Luo tilted her head and faced Li Xiang's furiously red eyes.

Wei Luo instinctively leaned back. Gao Qing Yang deftly grabbed Li Xiang's hand and raised her eyebrows. "Li Xiang, why are you acting so crazily?"

Prince Ru Yang's household hadn't been invited to his banquet, but Li Xiang had insisted on entering this residence. It wouldn't be good for the servants to stop her, so they could only look the other way and let her inside.

Li Xiang seemed to have been provoked by something. She fiercely glared at Wei Luo. "Was it you? You had to be the one that instigated older cousin Prince Jing into framing my father. My father is in prison right now. He might be sentenced to death. Are you happy?"

What was this nonsense? Although Wei Luo didn't know the full story, she couldn't influence Zhao Jie's actions. She expressionlessly looked at Li Xiang and coldly asked her, "Why would I have to anything to do with your father being in prison?"

Li Xiang's expression seemed slightly crazy. Disregarding everything, she said, "How is it not related to you? My father was framed. He didn't secretly stash weapons, much less have any intentions of rebelling. Older cousin Prince Jing deliberately framed him..."

Xu Zhou's prefectural magistrate had found a large quantity of weapons that Prince Ru Yang had hidden in Xu Zhou's southern mountain. Prince Ru Yang had already been caught and escorted back to the capital to await Emperor Chong Zhen's judgment. House Li only received the news of this yesterday. Li Xiang had heard about this news from someone and firmly believed that Xu Zhou's prefectural magistrate was one of Zhao Jie's people and that everything was just Zhao Jie and Wei Luo's scheme. As soon as she heard that Wei Luo was at Prince Yong An's residence, she rushed over here.

As she said those words, she reached her hand out to grab Wei Luo and looked like a crazy girl that was going fight Wei Luo as if her life depended on it. Gao Qing Yang couldn't stop her.

Fortunately, Wei Chang Hong reached her in time. He grabbed her wrist and viciously tossed her to the ground. He coldly said, "Insane woman, you're spouting nonsense!"

Li Xiang's head coincidentally collided into a flowerpot on the side. The flowerpot cracked and the wound on her forehead started to bleed.

Li Xiang's servant girl helped her up. As she wiped the blood, she tried to persuade her, "Miss, let's go back...." Li Xiang would only be making a disgrace of herself if she stayed.

Li Xiang had indeed calmed down after being thrown onto the ground. She swayed left and right as she stood up. She glowered at Wei Luo and Wei Chang Hong, "Just you wait. I'm going to go plead with Her Majesty. My daddy will definitely be okay."

She had come here in rage and left in the same way. Even when she had walked far away, the crowd was still in a state of surprise and disbelief.

--------

After such a huge fuss was made, this news couldn't be hidden from Zhao Jie.

Princess Consort Yong An invited Wei Luo to the reception pavilion and repeatedly apologized to her with an uneasy expression. "It's my family's fault for letting someone offend Your Highness. I'll have to ask Your Highness to please forgive us...I already ordered someone to bring a doctor over to check Your Highness's pulse after you suffered through that horrifying incident."

Wei Luo was actually feeling fine. Gao Qing Yang had helped her and Chang Hong had protectively stood in front of her. Li Xiang didn't have a chance to hurt her.

However, she was slightly curious. Did something really happen to Prince Ru Yang? Zhao Jie rarely talked to her about imperial court matters, so Wei Luo didn't know much. If Li Xiang hadn't run over to tell her this, she really wouldn't have found out.

Princess Consort Yong An ordered the servants to punish the guards at the entrance and had the doctor check Wei Luo's pulse. After confirming that Wei Luo was fine, she finally let out a long sigh in relief.

Prince Jing was so ruthless and vicious. If he found out that something happened to Princess Consort Jing while she was at Prince An Yang's residence, then the hundreds of people in her residence would have no hopes of living.

Even though she had these thoughts, Princess Consort Yong An and Gao Wan wouldn't have expected that Zhao JIe would personally come over here.

Zhao Jie had probably just come back from outside and didn't have time to change. He was wearing a deep black robe embroidered with a pattern of golden hornless dragons and a belt that had jade pieces.

He seemed like the stern-faced underworld god that judged the dead. His expression was ice cold as he stood at the reception pavilion's entrance. Without even saying a word, his aura intimidated the womenfolk enough that they didn't even dare to breath. His dark eyes looked around the room and stopped on Wei Luo's body. He walked to her side.

Princess Consort Yong An returned to her senses and hurriedly led everyone to salute him. "This subject greets Your Highness Prince Jing."

Zhao Jie didn't pay attention to them.

The surrounding people thought he would say angry words or lift his hand to strike Wei Luo down. After all, his expression truly looked terrible.

Gao Wan couldn't resist saying, "This matter isn't imperial sister-in-law's fault. It was because that girl from House Li insisted on coming here and offended imperial sister-in-law by saying a bunch of hogwash..."

In the next moment, Gao Wan closed her mouth shut.

Because Zhao Jie had reached Wei Luo side and gently and carefully placed his hand on her cheek. He asked in a distress tone, "Li Xiang slapped you?"

Wei Luo nodded. She raised her teary eyes and said, "But, Chang Hong and Miss Gao helped me, so she wasn't able to hit me." She thought of Li Xiang's words and grabbed his wrist. She blinked and said, "Let's go home to talk about it."

Zhao Jie nodded. There had been an autumn rain when he came over here. The rain was heavy, but it was very cold. Worried that Wei Luo would feel cold, he took off the black cloak lined with fur that he was wearing, draped it over Wei Luo's body, and fastened the cloak's ties. He acted as if he was touching a priceless treasure. When they passed by Princess Consort Yong An, he said, "Many thanks for entertaining the princess consort in your esteemed home. This prince and princess consort will be leaving now."

Princess Consort and Gao Wan froze in shock for a moment. Princess Consort Yong An saluted them and said, "Respectfully sending off Your Highnesses."

Who said that Prince Jing didn't treat Princess Consort Jing well? This treatment was simply beyond good.

Gao Wan watched Zhao Jie and Wei Luo's back figures as they left with complicated feelings.

Zhao Jie was personally holding up an oilpaper umbrella with a two-ring pattern with one hand and the other hand was protectively placed on Wei Luo's waist. The umbrella was tilted mostly to Wei Luo's side while the rain drenched his shoulders. Wei Luo seemed to noticing that he was getting soaked and unsuccessfully tried pushing the umbrella towards his side. She didn't hear what Wei Luo said to Zhao Jie. She only saw that he moved the umbrella a little bit to his side after Wei Luo spoke to him. But most of the umbrella was still being used to block the rain from Wei Luo as if she was his heart's treasure. He couldn't bear for her to get wet and cold from the rain or let her suffer the slightest mistreatment.

Gao Wan recalled Li Xiang's actions today. She couldn't help clenching her hand around her silk handkerchief as she considered the words that Li Xiang had said.

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(T/N: Below is a picture of ma diao tiles.)