When Mrs. Le was hopeful, in the Sheng Family, Sheng Lanci rejected his wife's suggestion immediately, “I know my father wants to set our sweetheart up with that boy from Xu Family. If she doesn't like that boy, however, he can never force her into the marriage.”

“As for She, I can't see any love from our sweetheart to him.”

“Elder Sister has always been insisted on discipline. Indeed, she has been very nice to our daughter while there is a huge difference between niece and daughter-in-law. Xuanyu She is her only child, and he will always be her priority.”

“Our sweetheart is spoiled by us, so she can never be virtuous enough to get up in the late night to serve her mother-in-law and husband.”

“At that time, Elder Sister will be upset, and our hearts will be broken, which could ruin the relations.h.i.+p!”

Although Madam Feng could always convince her husband, she trusted him on important issues. She was shocked after listening to her husband's words, “I thought it was great and almost agreed on it! Now I think it is inappropriate.”

Sheng Lanci said thoughtfully, “I will talk to Elder Sister and your mother, without putting you on the spot.”

“It's the same. Our sweetheart's marriage is too important to be a favor. My mother and Elder Sister are reasonable people, and they won't break with us because of the refusal.” Madam Feng sighed and frowned, “However, it is time that we look for a husband for our sweetheart.”

She said thoughtfully, “She's our only child, a naive girl! I will never let her marry someone far away! So, we can only choose her husband from boys in Nanfeng County. However, in this county, there aren't many boys of her age, let alone those who can pair up with us. Surely, we can't find our pretty sweetheart a crooked guy. What's more, we should also consider their personality, families and inheritance….”

Madam Feng got upset gradually, “We don't have many choices.”

If they couldn't decide it quickly, while those outstanding guys get engaged now, what will Sheng Weiqiao do two years later when she should get married? They can't steal someone's husband away with their fortune!

Sheng Lanci also felt worried about this problem. To him, none of the boys in Nanfeng County was good enough for his daughter. After all, even Xu Baomo, the son of his friend, who has the perfect family background, talent, and personality, couldn't measure up to his standard. However, like Madam Feng, he didn't want his daughter to marry someone far away.

However, the Nanfeng County was so far away from Chang'an that distinguished talents, especially those who eager for greatness, would not stay here for long.

Therefore, if they wanted their daughter to stay in the county, they shouldn't require much of the ambition and talent of their son-in-law.

“Turn down the suggestion now!” Sheng Lanci thought for a while, then sighed, “As for our sweetheart's marriage… it's not urgent enough to make an immediate decision, so we can discuss it later.”

When the couple just settled on this issue, the servant of Old Madam Zhan arrived.

Hearing the report from the servant, the couple was dumbfounded. They both said that they needed to think it over in terms of the suggestion of Mrs. Le.

After the servant left, Madam Feng said to her husband, “Xuanyu She is not right for our sweetheart. How about Zhiyi?”

“What's good about him is that we've known him all his life, and we know that he's good-natured. Even though he's not deep in love with our sweetheart, he won't mistreat her.” Seng Lanci frowned and paused for a while. “However, to be honest, he is quite mediocre. Our sweetheart deserves way better.”

“If he were talented, he would be in the National Academy in the future like you did before. By that time, our sweetheart would have to leave Nanfeng County, then we can't see her often.” Madam Feng, however, was quite optimistic about it. For her, the only thing she asked for is that her daughter was well-treated. She didn't care much about the talent of her son-in-law. After all, even if he achieved nothing for his whole life, the dowry would ensure her daughter's luxurious life.

Sheng Lanci's expression changed. At last, he said, “We will discuss it later. This is a once in a lifetime issue, which must not be taken lightly.”

Madam Feng knew clearly about her husband, who had always been praised and envied by others as the role model for people of his age. Even though he was sophisticated enough to hide his emotion, he was proud deep inside. As much as he wanted his daughter to marry someone in the county, he instinctively resisted a mediocre son-in-law. It was natural for him to hesitate when it came to this issue.

She paused for a while without saying anything, thinking, “In this county, there are only three influential families: Feng Family, Xuanyu Family, and our Sheng Family. Xuanyu She is Elder Sister's only child, while his mother doesn't want our sweetheart as her daughter-in-law. We can only choose our son-in-law from the Feng Family if we want someone who could pair up with our sweetheart.”

However, when she wanted to share her thoughts, Sheng Lanci changed the subject intentionally, “By the way, where is our sweetheart? I haven't seen her for a whole day.”

His sweetheart was in the second branch. Because the relations.h.i.+p between Madam Feng and Madam Bai was kind of b.u.mpy, Sheng Weiqiao seldom came over. This time, she came here specially to see Sheng Weirao.

Since Sheng Weirao returned home, she has lived a simple indoor life and stayed in her “Huafei Mansion” for most of the time.

Sheng Weiqiao had seen that coming, while she was also worried that her cousin may get sick by staying at home all the time. Therefore, she visited her with Gongsun Yingjiang and Gongsun Yingjiang to bring her some joy after reading some funny stories.

However, when she walked in the second branch, she was stopped by Madam Bai on the porch with a fake smile. Madam Bai said slowly, “Well, well, it's you. The apple of the Sheng Family's eyes, our Second Miss. What are you doing here? Why don't you rest in the eldest branch, or admire flowers and birds in the garden?”

Back then, Sheng Weiqiao would mouth off immediately under this circ.u.mstance. However, because of Sheng Weirao, she felt guilty when facing Madam Bai, so she just pursed her lips, swallowed the grievance, and curtsied, “Second Aunt, I come here to visit Third Sister.”

“Stop calling her 'Third Sister'!” Hearing that, Madam Bai sneered. She smoothed her glossy sideburns, flicked her satin handkerchief, and squealed, “She wouldn't have suffered that much if she were not your so-called 'Third Sister'! It is good to be your Seventh Sister….”

Then she gave the perplexed Seventh Sister, Sheng Weiwu, a cold stare, and squinted at Gongsun Yingjiang, who looked down and kneaded her clothes, then said, “Or your niece. While it is extremely hapless to be your Third Sister!!!”

As a high-fed young lady, Sheng Weiqiao couldn't stand Madam Bai's cynicism. For a moment, tears welled in her eyes. She thought, “Why should I suffer?! It is the Han Family who took Third Sister for me, and I have never asked them to hurt her!!! Besides, as dad said, Third Sister and I wouldn't have been left behind, if Second Aunt had never played up to Brother Xu, and made Grandmother forced me into the team. Second Aunt also made mistakes, while she only blamed it on me! This is unreasonable!”

After a moment, she felt sorry for them, “Third Sister is the daughter of Second Aunt. Things did happen, after all. If I don't give in to Second Aunt, it will be devastating for both of them.”

After struggling with herself for a while, Sheng Weiqiao didn't argue with Madam Bai at last, but she didn't require to visit again. She winked away the tears on her lashes and said in a choked voice to the girls, “Never mind. Now that Second Aunt doesn't want us to bother Third… Sister Rao, we should just leave!”

Gongsun Yingjiang answered in a good manner, pretending not to see her red-rimmed eyes.

Although saying anything, Sheng Weiwu threw Madam Bai a harsh glance before keeping up with her sister.

After leaving the second branch, Sheng Weiqiao was just about to put herself together and talk to her sister and niece, while Sheng Weiwu beat her to it, “Second Sister, I just remember something and have to go back now. Let's call it a day!”

Sheng Weiqiao felt quite upset and didn't give her words much thought. “Just go. Be careful. You don't want to fell over!” She said casually, and then watched her cousin leave with servants.

Then she walked Gongsun Yingjiang back to Qiongpa House and went back to Zhuying Mini Villa. From inside out, the villa was filled with chrysanthemum (also known as “Zhuying” in Chinese), which was Madam Feng's favorite, hence the name. In this season, there was no bud at all, so the villa was covered by different shades of green.

Maybe Sheng Lanci was afraid that his daughter couldn't enjoy any view except for autumn, so he dug a pond in the backyard two years ago. There were water lilies in the pond, with wisteria hung aside. Now the water lilies began to blossom, while the wisteria had already been luxuriant. Lots of flowers and stamens were brought to the ground by the soft breeze, which attracted many koi fishes to chase or eat them, adding the liveliness of this small yard.

Sheng Weiqiao made the servants step down, and then walked to the pool alone. Leaning over the white marble railing, she looked at the view of the pond and cried again before she knew it. If nothing had happened to Little Jiuniang and Weirao, they should have been enjoying the sights and having fun together in the garden now.

Thinking about those carefree days shared with her sisters, Sheng Weiqiao cried even harder!

Tears dropped into the pond, rippled the water, and blurred the reflection.

Sheng Weiqiao didn't know how long she cried. When the pond was quiet again, she surprisingly found another reflection that came out of nowhere standing next to hers.

In black clothes and cloak, the man wore a silver crown and a jade hair clasp. He had das.h.i.+ng eyebrows and bright eyes. Looking through the wisteria under the sunlight, his slightly pale face was glittering and almost translucent.

He smiled when he knew himself was found. The beautiful but cold expression changed into a warm and nice one in a second. He said briskly, “Sister, why do you stop crying?”

“Why are you here?” Sheng Weiqiao asked surprisingly. She turned around, dabbed her face with a handkerchief in panic, turned back, and croaked, “What can I help you?”

“Yingjiang told me that you were out of sorts, but she dared not to ask. So, she had me check on you.” Sheng Shuihe looked her up and down with a smile, said casually, “I know enough not to ask what happened. You went to the second branch and had a hard time, right?”

“No!” Sheng Weiqiao choked a bit on his words, and then said fretfully, “Is there anything else? If not, please leave me alone!”

After the journey to Daimao Island, she hardly held strong repulsion to Sheng Shuihe and even felt pity for his childhood. However, they hadn't spent much time together, so they were not involved with each other emotionally. Noticing the sarcasm in his word, Sheng Weiqiao was even more upset and asked him to leave.

“Sweet little girl, do you know why Second Aunt treated you like that?” Sheng Shuihe smiled and patted her head. Sheng Weiqiao tried to stay away while he was quicker. She got rid of him at last after getting rubbed on her buns. Sheng Weiqiao fixed her hair angrily and stared at him, “I'm not a kid! Why are you keep doing this like I'm of the same age as Seventh Sister?”

Sheng Shuihe ignored her words and kept talking with a smile, “Second Uncle has always been fickle in relations.h.i.+ps. If it were not for grandmother, who requested father in your name to mediate between them, Second Aunt might have been divorced now. Even if she were ungrateful, everyone here knows clearly that you are the favorite of Sheng Family. At this point, she, however, doesn't even try to please you. Instead, she puts on airs and gives you the face all the time. Isn't that strange?”

“….” Sheng Weiqiao was shocked, then realized, “It is weird indeed!”

Looking up at Sheng Shuihe, she asked, “Do you know why?”