Wu’er’s mouth gaped open, his dark, large eyes filled with longing as if he saw chunk after chunk of crispy, sweet watermelon, and bowl after bowl of cool, tangy plum juice. He clapped his chubby little hands and said, "Older sister, let’s go and build an ice cellar!"
Cai Wei poked his forehead and laughed, "You little foodie, just hearing about chilled watermelon and plum juice gets to you. Building an ice cellar is a big project; it’s not something you can decide to do just like that. Besides, if we were to build it, it would only be after we have bought a house in the capital. Why the rush?"
"Does older sister plan to buy a house in the capital in the future?"
Wen’er picked up on the underlying meaning in Cai Wei’s words and asked.
Cai Wei nodded and said, "All our family’s business is in the town, and you both will eventually go to school there too. The manor is nice, but commuting so much every day is a waste of time, so I’ve always been thinking that it’d be better to buy a big house in the town when we have the money!"
Lady Du heard this and gave a bitter smile. As for this, she didn’t want to say much. She couldn’t control her daughter’s decisions, nor did she want to. If she said she wanted to buy a house, she would definitely buy a house; if she said she wanted to build an ice cellar, then an ice cellar would certainly be built...
That afternoon, Cai Wei returned to her room, and the first thing she did was to summon Huan Qiu and ask about Fei’er.
Fei’er’s abnormal behavior had greatly puzzled Cai Wei. She had always valued family more than herself; thus, she was concerned about her younger sister’s unusual actions.
Huan Qiu was originally a servant assigned to Cai Wei by Nangong Yi, and was naturally closer to Cai Wei than to Fei’er. Seeing Cai Wei’s inquiry, she straightforwardly recounted everything about that day when Fei’er had sneaked into Duke An’s Mansion, got schemed against by Du Yuheng, and was then rescued by Mo Ziqi, leaving out the matter of the crown prince of Guangling asking for her hand in marriage, which she didn’t know about.
Hearing that Fei’er had nearly been insulted, Cai Wei became so angry her face turned blue, and she felt like she could kill someone immediately if it would mean going to Duke An’s Mansion to castrate that damned Du Yuheng.
She was extremely protective by nature. Today, Fei’er was merely teased a bit by Young Master Ji, and she felt unbearably heartache; let alone that Fei’er had almost been tainted!
"Brother Ying, go, help me check where that beast Du Yuheng is now?"
Cai Wei’s face turned cold as she dismissed Huan Qiu and then called for Brother Ying. Logically, dealing with such scum would be easier at night, but Cai Wei couldn’t wait any longer. She felt letting Du Yuheng live another minute was sinful.
Brother Ying flew away, and Cai Wei quietly went to Fei’er’s room, wanting to have a talk with her.
Though Fei’er was gentle by nature, she was stubborn to the core. Once she decided on something, she hardly ever changed her mind.
Now, her heart had just begun to experience romance, and the object of her affections was none other than the nephew of Empress Mo. Empress Mo was always cold and arrogant, looking down on everyone, and the Mo family members were mostly the same. Cai Wei believed Fei’er was worthy of any man in the world, but the Mo family would not think so. To avoid future harm to Fei’er, she felt compelled to warn her, lest she fell too deeply.
As she entered the room, Fei’er was organizing her jewelry at the dressing table. Fei’er didn’t have many pieces of jewelry, but each one was exquisite. Last time at the Empress Dowager’s Shangsi Festival Banquet, apart from a set of diamond jewelry Huo Yuan had given her for dancing, he also gave her a set of head decorations for regular wear. After returning from the Palace, Cai Wei had given that set of jewelry to Fei’er, including the pink pearl flower Fei’er was wearing today, which she had won at Lin’an Prefecture by guessing Cao Jin’s lantern riddle, and had also given it to her younger sister.