Changying The Lady Chapter 28 The Great Victory

Wei Changsui was nervously planning with the old servant about how to turn the situation around. By the end of June, Fengzhou, instead, received a piece of great news!

—The north of the province had a great victory!

Wei Changying's speculation before was actually right: there were indeed northern Rong tribes sneaking into Fengzhou. Liao City had heavy casualties due to the betrayed spies that three Jingguan were heaped up and only less than three tenth of people in the city survived!

This event was forcibly suppressed in a short time by Wei Huan. After all, the terrain of Fengzhou was long and narrow so that and the north and south sides were quite far apart. Although some rumors spread to the city of Fengzhou, the Wei Family never admitted this news and used its deeply rooted power in this province to pacify the people with both hard and soft tactics. Fengzhou was the hometown of Wei Family and the provincial officials were all the descendants of the Wei Family. Although there was fear among people in the province, out of the consistent trust in the Wei Family, a large scale of fleeing didn't take place immediately.

Now Song Han had a complete victory: he killed more than 200 people from the northern Rong tribes and captured hundreds of young people from the tribe. Such a great victory had rarely been seen in Eastern Hu and Western Liang in recent years. Thus, he could easily cover up the fact that Liao City had almost become an empty city.

It was after this great victory that Liao City's experience was understated. Before the victory, such tragedies would eventually be played down.

—Now, the most important and eye-catching thing was the asking for merits and celebration of the victory.

However, these were all official business. For the Wei Family, there was another private matter that could be confirmed due to this victory—Wei Gaochan's marriage.

Before, Wei Shengnian was persuaded by Song Han, and he had promised to consult with his parents and then betrothed the eldest daughter to Song Duan, the lineal eldest son of Song Han. But unfortunately, Old Madam Song was in a bad mood in those days. Therefore, after Mrs. Pei was rebuked, Wei Shengnian, who was cowardly, certainly did not dare to disturb his father's wife anymore.

On the other hand, Mrs. Pei also felt that her husband had always been credulous that the selected husband of the daughter of the concubine might not be as good as Song Han himself had praised. These days, after consulting with Madam Song, she sent someone to inquire about him. Mrs. Pei felt that Song Duan was just an ordinary person. Although he did not have a bad reputation, he was not good enough for Wei Gaochan to marry beneath. After all, Song Han was only from a collateral branch of the Song Family in Jiangnan....

But this time, Song Duan made great contributions to the great victory of the northern part of the province. Song Han emphasized in the letter of merit that the reason for achieving this great victory was that Song Duan had a flash of wit and set up a strategy to lure the northern Rong tribe into the trap. And then the army encircled them and wiped them out. Moreover, Song Duan also took the lead and killed more than ten northern Rong people!

These were all confirmed by the messengers sent by Song Han, and even Wei Huan happily praised Song Duan on the spot. Reporting such a great victory, Song Han, who was bent on promoting his eldest son, would never forget to mention his own children.

Despite the fact that Wei Huan praised Song Duan, he did not believe everything of this request for merit. He said to Old Madam Song, "Song Duan has not yet reached 20 years old, and he was not a very smart man in the past. It is possible for him to kill a few military men in the battle without fear of the enemy. Yet, about strategic planning, it would be eight out of ten that Song Han gave his credit to him. Song Han does know some military strategy and tactics."

Not to mention that she didn't have enough time to worry about her grandchildren, Wei Gaochan's marriage, who was not Old Madam Song's lineal granddaughter, didn't receive much attention from Old Madam Song. She said carelessly, "Song Han is from the collateral branch. Thus, even Song Duan is his lineal eldest son, he would be at a lower origin than Gaochan. Moreover, since Song Han is the vice-governor, it's his duty to expel the northern Rong tribe and defend the territory of Vi. Therefore, the Royal Court and the province should just reward him according to the rules. Don't tell me that he needs to be rewarded with our granddaughter in our family."

Wei Huan sighed, "If this was a few decades ago, I wouldn't agree with this marriage as well. There is indeed a great disparity. But now that the world is in chaos, although our family is well-known in the country, no one can say things certainly about warfare. The vice-governor of the province is capable. If we support him now, we will all be able to set our minds at rest in the future."

"Time has indeed become really bad." When he talked about this, Old Madam Song also frowned a little, "Jingguan can even be built in Liao City.... It's fortunate to win this time! Otherwise, with such a big thing happened in Liao City, you and Shengnian not only did not report to the capital but also did nothing when seeing the destruction of life in your jurisdiction. If you are found guilty because of this, even if you are not afraid this time, the clean image of the Wei Family will still be tarnished."

Wei Huan sneered and said, "It's not the first day that Wei Qi coveted Fengzhou! He now serves as the minister of Yanzhou. How short the distance is Yanzhou from the north of Fengzhou? If this event is not concealed, Wei Qi will certainly send troops into the north of the state under the excuse of defending the territory. If these soldiers entered Fengzhou, it would be hard to say when they would leave!" Sighing again, he said, "I know Wei Qi's thoughts well. Nothing will happen if I am still here. The only problem is that now Shengyi is the only one who serves in the Royal Court. My grandchildren are all very young, and I would not dare to give responsibilities to the ones from the collateral branch. Thus, it's better to be careful with everything and not to give Wei Qi any chance to make such an excuse."

Old Madam Song showed a look of disgust on her face and said, "Let's not be in a rush. Changfeng is now 15 years old. Thank for Heaven's blessing that our health is still good enough to handle the situation a few years for him. He is intelligent and is willing to work hard. He will certainly be able to prop up the family in the future. Although this old man, Wei Qi, has many descendants, which one of them can compare with Changfeng?"

Wei Huan heard the meaning of his old wife's words and meditated for a moment before he said, "Changfeng is the eldest grandson of the eldest branch and has a good natural endowment. If he can keep up with the practice and become a useful person, Zhenghong's everything should sure be given to him without saying anything."

"We have watched this child growing up, how could he not be a useful person?" although Old Madam Song had long considered everything of Wei Huan as something in Changfeng's back pocket, she still felt quite delighted when she heard Wei Huan directly say it. She said confidently, "It is really Heaven's blessing that the eldest branch can have such a pair of children. They are so smart and obedient!"

Although Wei Huan had been focusing on training his grandsons, he still knew that Wei Changying was a naughty one. Thus, he mentioned conveniently at this moment, "Changying used to learn martial arts, but now she is about to get married. Is it the time for her to learn to be gentle and quiet? After all, being a wife is not the same as being a daughter."

...Old Madam Song, like Mrs. He, could not bear to hear others say anything bad about her lineal blood. In particular at this moment, as Wei Huan just confided to hand over Fengzhou to Wei Changfeng, yet immediately questioned the sister of Wei Changfeng. Old Madam Song was oversensitive right away. She scowled and asked suddenly, "Did Changsui whine anything in front of you?"

Wei Huan said agonisingly, "How can you always blame the second branch for everything? Since Changsui went back to Fengzhou, apart from kowtowing in front of me on the first day, which day didn't he come to you first to greet? Did he ever meet me in private?" frowning, he continued, "Besides, he just came back home. There's no reason for him to inquire about his cousin's temperament at once. I watch Wei Changying growing up, too. How could I not know her temperament? How would I need Changsui to tell me about that?"

Old Madam Song sneered and said, "He didn't inquire about his cousin's temperament right away as he came back—did he have to do that? Before, who let out the information when Su Xiuman lectured at Changying?!"

"That was the fault of Zhiben Hall...."

"Who knows whether the second branch made use of the opportunity to gain their benefits?!"

"Didn't we agree not to mention this again? In any case, Shengyi has been very respectful to you over the years!"

"I'm his father's mother. Isn't it right for him to respect me?! Otherwise, should I be grateful to a concubine's son for his respect for me?"

It seemed that a big quarrel was about to take place as the old couple spoke. When the servants saw that the situation was not good, they came up one after another to persuade them not to fight about this. After that, none of them was in the mood to talk in detail about the marriage of Wei Gaochan. They felt dispirited and said, "Parents are the ones in charge of the marriage. Since Shengyan thinks this marriage is a good one, then we will just let him do what he wants."

When the third branch heard this, Wei Shengnian was very happy. As a concubine's son, he always had a low status in the family. Moreover, he had the elder brother Wei Shengyi, whose talent and shrewdness was far above him. Under such circ.u.mstances, although Wei Shengnian was born n.o.bly in gentlefolk's family, in fact, there had been nothing he could decide and say about in the whole family since he was a child.

Especially since he came back to hometown upon the request of Wei Huan and Old Madam Song returning home. While he was nominally the governor of Fengzhou, in fact, if his father Wei Huan had not taken care of it for him, he would have turned Fengzhou into a mess. Because he was so mediocre and incompetent, although Wei Huan took care of him, he was still very disappointed to him.

This time, Wei Huan and Old Madam Song agreed to Song Han's proposal of marriage without him asking for their opinion. He was worried for a while after being given a lecture by Mrs. Pei privately lest he would be questioned by his father and his father's wife.

Yet, he didn't expect that Wei Huan and Old Madam Song were too busy doing their own matters that they didn't have time to deal with him. Moreover, Song Han and Song Duan also did a great job this time. Although Wei Huan and Old Madam Song were not satisfied with the ident.i.ty of Song Han, they both agreed to the marriage—this was tantamount to agreeing with Wei Shengnian's decision.

For Wei Shengnian, who had not made many decisions that could make his parents agree since he was a child, such an agreement definitely lifted his spirits!

Happily, Wei Shengnian told his wife Mrs. Pei, "After all, Gaochan is our eldest daughter. Although there are rules in the family to differentiate between the lineal and concubine's child, it would be alright to prepare her better dowry than an ordinary daughter of concubines."

Mrs. Pei was afraid that others might say that she was not worthy as the Wei Family's wife and was determined to be a virtuous wife and mother who could be praised by everyone. She had no intention of mistreating Wei Gaogao, so she immediately agreed. "I think it would be alright to refer to Changyan's future dowry and cut down some pieces from it to prepare Gaochan's dowry. After all, Gaochan is our eldest daughter! Respect for seniority and even if the difference between lineal and concubine's child is more important, the difference should be minimalized to prevent her from feeling upset."

The couple discussed marrying their daughter, and this news was, of course, reported to Wei Gaochan. Because Mrs. Pei had always been treating the concubine's children well and the two daughters were born similar and had always lived together, as the maidservant told Wei Gaochan the news, Wei Changyan also heard it. She immediately congratulated her with a smile.

Although Wei Gaochan regretted that Song Duan was only from the collateral branch of the Song Family, this time Song Duan was so in the limelight. Along with the fame of the Song and Wei Family, her future must not be bad at all. With her age, she always liked the splendor praised by everyone: the great victory in the north of the province and Song Duan as the first merit. Such an honorable future husband diluted the regret of the gap between their family backgrounds.

Thinking about these, Wei Gaochan blushed on her face and angered her lineal sister not to say more about it.

The sisters in the third branch made a fuss so that this news soon spread through the Wei Family.

The Fourth Miss was going to be betrothed. For such a joyous event, each branch would certainly congratulate them. The third son of the second branch also happened to be in Fengzhou, so both the eldest branch and the second branch sent gifts to the third branch. This was to show due respect for the granddaughter and was also because they were indeed satisfied and delighted with the great victory in the north of the province. Wei Huan also held a family dinner in the house to treat cordially the messengers who sent back the news of the victory. And the first guest at the banquet was, of course, Song Duan, the soon-to-be son-in-law of the Wei Family.

On such an occasion, Wei Huan certainly would not forget his descendants. He asked Wei Changfeng to write an "Ode of Suppression Northern Rong Tribes" in advance, which he had personally read and revised. He instructed Wei Changfeng to memorize it to be in the limelight during the family dinner. It was aimed to make Wei Changfeng, his grandson with his high hope, to be distinguished. Of course, his other grandsons would also attend the event along with Wei Changfeng.

He was not the only branch in this dinner. Wei Huan also sent invitations to Duke Jingping Mansion and the Mansion of the County Head of Qu County. Therefore, nominally it was a family dinner to celebrate the great victory in the northern province, but it was in fact an opportunity for Wei's children to spread their fame through this good news.

However, since the banquet was held in Ruiyu Hall, both Duke Jingping Mansion and the Mansion of the County Head of Qu County knew very well that they could not go beyond the ways of spreading Wei Changfeng's fame no matter how many means they had prepared for their children and grandchildren to make their names.

Wei's branches had also informed each other privately so that they would not b.u.mp into the same subjects....

Wei Changying had nothing to do with such a feast. No matter how much Old Madam Song and Madam Song adored her, it would be impossible for them to agree to let her join in the dinner. Although Wei Changying was curious about the warfare in the northern part of the province, she could only count on Wei Changfeng as usual and force him to ask more about the details of the war at the banquet so that he could tell her later.

She had forced Wei Changfeng to do this kind of thing many times, and this time the matter was no secret. Therefore, Wei Changfeng only said a few words about the disciplines of being a proper woman to her as usual, and then he agreed helplessly when facing his sister's fierce eyes and waving fists. Yet, after the dinner was finished, Wei Changfeng hurried to the Xianshuang court with a strange expression on his face.

As soon as the Wei Changying saw him and smelled the faint smell of alcohol on his body, she immediately made a cold face and pinched her knuckles. She squinted at him and said, "Don't tell me that you forgot what I told you to do."

Wei Changfeng had already despaired of her sister's style, which was without the manners of a young lady and was almost reckless, and was in no mood to correct it. He frowned and said, "Sister, look at this."