Two days later, Zhao Jie was leaving for Shanxi.
He didn't see Wei Luo before leaving. She didn't know if it was because he was busy or because he had promised to give her time to consider. He had promised her that he wouldn't casually touch her until she was finished thinking things through. He wasn't Liu Xia Hui. Since the girl that he liked already knew his feelings, he couldn't resist wanting to be affectionate with her. Rather than not being able to control himself, it would better if they temporarily didn't see each other.
(T/N: Liu Xia Hui was an ancient Chinese politician known for his exceptional virtuous behavior. There's a story that on a cold night, he held a woman in his arms the entire night because he was worried that she would freeze to death and he wasn't tempted to do anything.)
And so, when he left the capital today, Wei Luo was watering flowers in the back courtyard's greenhouse. She didn't know that he had left.
At this time, it was already late spring. Other than the peony flowers, all of the flowers had already finished blooming.
Han-shi created a new type of rouge that had a natural color and she named it Hong Yang Fu. If a woman's face looked haggard, she could apply a little bit of this on her face. Her wan face would immediately shine with radiance. Although Wei Luo rarely used rouge, she felt that this rouge had practical use. She wanted Han-shi to give her small box of it, so she could put it in her dressing case and have it if she ever wanted or needed to use it.
This type of rouge was made from a type of peony that would produce a cinnabar red color.
After Wei Luo finished watering the flowers, she took a bamboo basket from Bai Lan's hands and was preparing to pick the petals from the peony flowers one by one. From out of nowhere, a child appeared, snatched the basket from her hand, and lifted it up as he said, "Older sister Ah Luo, which flower do you want? I'll help you pick it."
She looked down. Wei Chang Mi was wearing a sapphire blue robe with a Chinese unicorn pattern. His round, little face had a smile and his eyes were as bright as the full moon when he looked at her.
Since that time when Wei Luo protected him from Li Xiang, he had become even closer to her. Although he was young, he knew who treated him well and who didn't.
Surprised, Wei Luo said, "Oh? Do you know what flower I'm going to pick? Did you come here to cause trouble for me?"
Wei Chang Mi repeatedly shook his head and earnestly said, "I won't cause trouble. I'll pick whichever type of flower that older sister Ah Luo tells me to."
Seeing his deadly earnest appearance, Wei Luo couldn't resist smiling. Since he was in high spirits, she didn't reject his offer in helping her pick flowers. Unfortunately, the little fellow was still too young and didn't know how to properly pick the flower petals. His chubby, little hand went down and pulled out an entire flower. It couldn't be used like that.
In the end, Wei Luo couldn't let him continue like this. She had him stand at the side to watch as she picked the flower petals herself. He wasn't happy with this, so she had him stay by her side and carry the basket. Fortunately, the basket wasn't heavy. He had more than enough strength to carry it.
Not much time later, they finished filling more than half the basket with flower petals. The basket was sent to Han-shi's Orchid Courtyard.
On the way back to her room, they met second branch's daughter that had been born outside, Wei Bao Shan. Second Madam still wouldn't acknowledge her as a Miss from Duke Ying's family. Although she had Wei as her last name, her name hadn't been changed to match the naming tradition for House Wei's daughters. And, although she lived in Duke Ying's residence, she wasn't counted as one of his granddaughters or included in the seniority ranking. When the servants saw her, they would only politely call her, "Miss". Her position in Duke Ding's family was rather awkward.
(T/N: If she were included in the seniority ranking based on birth order, the servants would address her as “Third Miss” or “Fourth Miss” instead of only “Miss”. And Wei Luo and Wei Zheng would be changed to Fifth Miss and Sixth Miss, respectively.)
Wei Bao Shan was wearing a moon white top with a plum blossom design and a coral red, pleated skirt. Her walk was light and her bearing was graceful. She looked as fragile as a willow tree. Her style of character was lovely.
There was a servant girl dressed in a blue robe behind her. She had probably brought this servant girl from outside.
Wei Bao Shan was one year older than Wei Luo. But, because her body was weak and thin, her body wasn't as well developed. Although she was pretty, she didn't have a woman's sweet and charming beauty. People would feel her beauty was boring if they looked at her for too long.
Although she was a year older than Wei Luo, when she saw her, she still moved to the side and saluted, "Greetings Fourth Miss."
Wei Luo stopped and looked at her. Perhaps, it was because of Du-shi and Wei Zheng, she didn't have any good feelings towards a daughter born from the other woman. After a pause, she lightly said, "You don't need to be so courteous. You can stand up."
Then, in a few steps, Wei Luo left the area with Wei Chang Mi. She didn't have any intentions of talking with her.
Wei Bao Shan slowly straightened and looked at Wei Luo's departing figure for a moment, then she turned around and continue walking.