A simple trick? Yet not a single person in the Capital was able to do the same thing.
Meng shi was fixated on the cup of tea. The peony flower slowly disappeared as she let out a small sigh.
Meanwhile, Wen shi’s eyes narrowed and she asked, “San xiaojie, what happened to your sleeves?”
When Wei Yang’s arms were relaxed by her side, it was not noticeable but the moment she lifted her arms, the sleeves were incidentally lifted as well, revealing the mismatched sleeves underneath. Li Wei Yang had been waiting for this question all along. She quickly dropped her arms and said with embarrassment, “It’s nothing.”
“What do you mean it’s nothing? It’s obvious your inner sleeves are very short!” Wen shi’s daughter, Li Chang Ru, purposely voiced out in a panic, as if she had discovered a huge secret.
As soon as she heard those words, Da furen stared fixedly at Li Wei Yang. Her gaze was sharp, like the edge of a sword ready to kill. She smiled and slowly said, “Wei Yang, what is this about?” Despite doing her best to hide her emotions, her tone was still stony and everyone present was able to pick up on it.
Li Chang Ru blinked her eyes excitedly and said, “Da baimu, can’t you see? Wei Yang’s clothes aren’t the right size for her! Aiya, how pitiful. She doesn’t even have something as simple as fitting clothes.”
Li Wei Yang lowered her eyes to the ground. She appeared nervous and uneasy, but on the inside, she was laughing. Da furen placed a huge significance on her appearance and dignity, especially when she was in front of Lao furen and the other daughter-in-laws. However, since Da furen had purposely neglected to provide her with proper clothings and neccessities, why should Wei Yang help save her face value? Even if Da furen became even more resentful of Wei Yang as a result, her reputation would be tarnished once it’s known to everyone that she mistreats the concubine’s daughters. The Prime Minister’s reputation would also be on the line and because of that, Lao furen would definitely get involved.
Wen shi laughed out loud and said, “Da sao, can it be that you still haven’t gotten a simple tailor for Wei Yang’s clothes? She’s already been back for a month.”
Meng shi looked at Da furen with impatience. Even if Da furen was a fierce person, her face still turned red at this moment.
Li Zhang Le quickly defended, “Mother had said before that she would get Wei Yang four new set of clothes. Why hasn’t it arrived yet? It must be those servants shirking their responsibilities!” Zhang Le darted her eyes towards Wei Yang. Even though she was reprimanding, there was also pity in her tone of voice as she stared at Wei Yang, as if she was staring at her most beloved younger sister, masking the iciness underneath. “San mei, you should have said something to me instead of wearing such attire out into the public. Wouldn’t it embarrass mother as well?”
Wei Yang’s mouth curved into a small grin, without a modicum of fear. “What da jie said is right, but our sizes are different, otherwise I would have bothered you already.”
Despite being the concubine’s daughter, she was nevertheless the Prime Minister’s daughter. How was it possible to let the Prime Minister’s daughter use hand-me-downs? Li Wei Yang knew for certain that Li Zhang Le had no intentions of giving her used clothings either, but she had chosen her words carefully and with meaningful intent so as to make Zhang Le speechless.
As expected, Zhang Le was forced to swallow down her defense as anger boiled up inside of her. All the other girls had always listened and showed their respect towards her and yet, Li Wei Yang was not one of them. Li Wei Yang must be crazy!
Da furen did not display any signs of anger. Even if she was angry, she would never show it on her face or voice it out loud. Doing so would undermine her elegant and benevolent image. But today Li Wei Yang had given her a slap to the face by appearing in public dressed improperly.
The room was dead silent, so silent that one could hear the sound of their own heart beating.
Making an enemy out of Da furen was not a good decision, but so what? Previously she had been obedient and submissive but still ended up as someone else’s pawn in a chess game. In that case, she would rather take the initiative to change her fate. Right now, she was gambling on Lao furen’s desire to protect the Li’s reputation.
Zi Yan, who had followed Wei Yang, had rolled her hands into tight fists underneath her sleeves as her body trembled. On the other hand, Wei Yang continued to maintain a smile on her face. There was not a flicker of fear or submission in her eyes.
Meng shi looked at Da furen and calmly said, “You’ve been quite neglectful.”