Chapter 13: Retaliating With Someone Else’s Power
Li Wei Yang was full of confidence that once Lao furen drank her tea she would not be able to drink tea brewed by anyone else. Due to the fact that Tuo Ba Zhen was a tea lover, and wanting to make him happy, she had searched for reputable tea sommeliers and had received their tutelage. After eight years, she was confident enough to say that her tea brewing skills was superb and could not be surpassed by anyone else.
She was not afraid of Da furen investigating the matter either. All the xiaojies of the Li’s in Ping Cheng knew how to brewed tea. She had stayed in Ping Cheng for quite a while so it was logical that her tea brewing skills had improved as well.
Naturally Meng shi was very satisfied with the tea. She looked at Wei Yang as her smile became a lot warmer. “The way you brewed the tea is not like everyone else. Where did you learn your tea brewing skills?”
In the previous lifetime, because she was the concubine’s daughter born in February, she was always very cautious of her manners and speech. At all occasions, she would simply be sitting quietly in a corner and would never casually converse with Lao furen. However, she was no longer like that.
She replied, “Lao furen, when I was at Ping Cheng, they had invited Dong jia’s San Niang to teach the xiaojies how to brew tea. I had participated and learned a few skills as a result, but I’m afraid I’m still an amateur.”
Da furen’s expression turned for the worse. Even Li Zhang Le had furrowed her eyebrows. Had only learned a few skills and yet was able to brew such tea? If she had been seriously committed from the beginning then wouldn’t that mean. . .
Dong jia’s San Niang was a famous and highly respected tea sommelier. Unfortunately, she had difficulties moving and walking about so she had never left Ping Cheng. Li Zhang Le had once thought of inviting her to the estate but sadly there was no fate. To have heard such things from Wei Yang, for someone as prideful as Li Zhang Le, it was like a declaration of war.
Li Wei Yang had observed both mother and daughter’s expression, but did not show it on her face. She simply said, “Lao furen, can I borrow the cup of tea for a minute?”
Meng shi slightly nodded her head.
Li Wei Yang stepped forward, picked up the cup of tea beside Meng shi and gently swirled it around. Afterwards she placed it back down as Lao furen looked down and noticed that a peony flower had appeared inside the cup of tea. Steam rose from the cup, creating an illusive mood.
Sitting on the side, second daughter-in-law, Wen shi, was curious and scooted closer to take a look. As she looked into the cup, she was taken by surprise. “I had no idea a flower could be created like that! Your skills are truly exceptional!”
Li Zhang Le’s expression changed. Suddenly, she stood up and walked over. At the sight of the peony flower, she was immediately speechless.
Li Wei Yang humbly responded, “It’s just a simple trick but at least it could bring a smile to Lao furen’s face. Dong jia’s San Niang was able to create the mountains and river out of the tea leaves. Now that’s the kind of talent that makes other speechless with applause.”
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.”
Lao furen generally did not have any interest for the estate’s internal affair and had never reprimanded Da furen. Nonetheless, with this one sentence alone, it showed that Lao furen was taking Wei Yang’s side on this matter. Anger spread throughout Da furen’s body as her face became even redder, her breath became labored and she shot up from the chair. She was truly outraged now—angry to the point she could no longer maintain her façade.
Despite being the matriarch of the family, her husband was the Prime Minister and placed great value on respect and family rules. For that very reason, Lao furen must never be angered or disrespected. Not to mention, Wen shi was always looking at her with a pair of hawk-eyes, ready to nitpick at her faults anytime. She could no nothing except to tolerate and endure it. To top it off, she had to keep up with her image as the benevolent, sophisticated and fair Prime Minister’s wife and mother to all the concubine’s daughters.
Li Wei Yang was simply the concubine’s daughter. If she wanted to teach the girl a few lesson then the first thing she had to do was to calm down and not do anything rash and reckless. There was still many more opportunities left in the future to put Li Wei Yang into her place.
So, even though she was outraged, Da furen turned to Lin mumu with a serious look and shouted, “Kneel down!”
Lin mumu froze up in surprise. Everyone in the room was also taken back.