A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 678 The Three Wei Sisters

Wei Siqi watched Li Yi's departing figure.

The young Shang Yizhi clenched his teeth and clenched his fists tightly inside his sleeves.

At the gate of the East Palace, countless officials were dispersing.

The summer wind in June carries heat, making people feel restless.

"Isn't that Marquis Cucumber? Why is he staring at Li Sikong's carriage?"

Someone laughed at their colleague next to them.

"Don't you know? That little Diaochan from the Wei family entered the Prince of Dai's mansion without a word three days ago and became the Prince of Dai's concubine."

"what?"

These words immediately attracted the attention of several officials. How many people in Chang'an did not know the name of Xiao Diaochan, Wei Tan Te?
"Wasn't Diaochan already engaged to the son of the Yang family of Hongnong?"

"Yes, it was ordered, but that's in the past. Back then, Yang Wang was quite powerful in the court, but he chose the wrong side at the end of the Great Cause. First, he supported Emperor Huang Tai in Luoyang, and later he supported Wang Shichong."

Once Luoyang fell, he, like Duan Da, was taken to the banks of the Luo River and beheaded.

With Yang Wang dead, how could his son, Yang Zhengben, possibly marry Diaochan?

Everyone understands this saying: people leave and the world grows cold; such is the nature of human relationships.

"How did Diaochan end up in the Prince of Dai's residence again?"

"I heard it was His Highness who bestowed the marriage upon us."

Xiao Diaochan was very famous in Chang'an, not only because of her beauty, but also because she was the legitimate daughter of the Yun Gong branch of the Wei family of Jingguang.

The three most beautiful sisters in the Jingguang Wei family were...
Wei Gui was the daughter of Wei Weiyuancheng, while Wei Nizi and Wei Tante were the sons of Wei Kuangbo.

They are all great-granddaughters of Wei Xiaokuan, whose grandfather was General Manager Wei. After General Manager Wei's death, the title was originally intended to be inherited by his eldest son, Wei Yuancheng, but he died young.

The title passed to Wei Kuangbo, and Wei Gui was even raised by Wei Kuangbo from a young age, growing up together with Wei Nizi and Wei Tante.

With their privileged backgrounds, beauty, and talent, the three Wei sisters were already very famous at a young age.

When they grow up,
Wei Gui married into the Li family of Bohai, becoming the daughter-in-law of Li Zixiong, a general of the Sui Dynasty. Meanwhile, Wei Nizi, while in Luoyang, married Wang Shichong's son, becoming the Crown Princess of Zheng.
Wei Sanniang was betrothed to the Yang family of Hongnong, the son of Yang Wang, the Minister of Personnel.

All three marriages were considered well-matched.

but,

Ultimately, Wei Gui and Wei Nizi both became widows at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and were then taken into the harem by Li Shimin. There was only one Wei Tante, who was still young a few years ago.

Everyone had assumed that now that Vayndand was sixteen, he would likely enter the new crown prince's palace.
Unexpectedly, when the news spread, the reward was given to Li Yi.

"The Wei family is getting married, but there's not a single announcement."

"Becoming a concubine to the Prince of Dai is basically just being a mistress, isn't it? What's the big deal? Besides, Lady Wei and Yang Zheng were engaged back then and exchanged marriage certificates. The Yang family hasn't broken off the engagement yet."
"Given that the Wei family has broken off the engagement and is now acting as a concubine for the Prince of Dai, are they probably too embarrassed to hold a grand ceremony?"

Just then, another official in a blue robe joined in, saying, "You probably don't know, but back then, this Wei Erlang even asked the Du family for Du Shiniang's hand in marriage."

"Du Shiniang, could she be the Princess Consort of Dai?"

"Yes, that's right."

An official in green robes recognized the old man in blue robes. "Isn't this Scholar Half-Drunken King? Don't talk nonsense when you're drunk. How can you just spout off the title of Princess Consort?"

Scholar Wang blushed and said, "I said I was coming to attend the ceremony early this morning, but I haven't drunk a drop of wine yet. Where did this drunken talk come from?"

Besides, while the Princess Consort of Dai is of noble birth, I am telling the truth. How many people in Chang'an know this? Back then, before the Prince of Dai rose to power, he was still running a private school at the foot of Shenhe Plain.”

His words still gave Li Yi some face. In reality, Li Yi had just left the monastic life and was selling tofu skin and fried dough sticks at that time.

Everyone was skeptical of what Scholar Wang said.
The old man had a flushed face, as if he were drunk all day long. Everyone called him Scholar Wang, but his real position was a ninth-rank official in the Secretariat. He had been temporarily transferred by Chen Shuda to the Chancellery.
He was known as Scholar Wang, but in reality, he was only a ninth-rank official.

But this scholar Wang was indeed very talented, writing excellent poetry. He came from the Wang clan of Taiyuan in Hedong, and was also the younger brother of Wang Tong, a great Confucian scholar of the Sui Dynasty.

Therefore, even though he's not doing well now and seems like a drunkard, ordinary people really can't sit at the same table as Scholar Wang.

As for the Prince of Dai, he plucked the most beautiful flower from Chang'an.
Most people felt envy.

Nobody thought there was anything wrong with it.

The Wei family was the most annoyed.

Wei Siren returned home.
Once the words were spoken,
The Wei brothers and their uncles were in an uproar.

The Crown Prince's sudden bestowal of the Third Sister upon Li Yi caught them completely off guard.

Li Yi took the man home without even saying hello, which caught the Wei family completely off guard, and they didn't seem to care.

But this matter can't be handled so carelessly.
Although the Wei family understood that the Crown Prince was deliberately trying to annoy Wei You, after all, the Wei family had previously failed to grasp the situation, even though both of their sisters were already in the Prince of Qin's residence.
But they actually wanted to send Third Sister into the palace of Crown Prince Jiancheng.
They wanted to bet on both sides, observing both sides.

As a result, on June 4th,

The crown prince succeeded in his coup with only eight hundred men.

Although Wei Sanniang has not yet been sent to the Eastern Palace, the matter has already reached the ears of the King of Qin.

They wanted to make amends by sending San Niang to the new Crown Prince's palace to atone for their sins, so they allowed San Niang to frequently visit the palace.

Unexpectedly, the new crown prince directly bestowed the person upon Li Yi and brought him to the Prince of Dai's residence.

This is truly a case of losing both wife and army.

The Wei family had no room to react at all.

She was now taking the initiative to approach Li Yi in an attempt to save face and see if he could cooperate in putting on a grand wedding procession. Who knew that Li Yi would give her such a response?

"This Li Yi is going too far!"

"We have to bring Third Sister back!"

Wei Siyan shook her head.

“Li Yi is currently riding high. If we confront him head-on, we won’t gain any advantage. In the end, it will only make our Wei family look bad and lose even more face.”

Wei Siqi was very dissatisfied with his elder brother's words, "So we're just going to keep our tails between our legs like this? Won't the Wei family lose face?"

"You're not a child anymore. Can't you use your brain when you do things? What good does yelling do?" Wei Siyan scolded her younger brother.

Seeing the eldest son unleash his power, the uncles had no choice but to keep quiet for the time being.

"Brother, what do you think we should do about this? We can't just ignore it like this, can we? If the Yun branch of the Wei family in Jingzhao loses face, the other branches will lose face too."

Wei Siyan isn't that old.

He is currently only a sixth-rank official, but his sixth rank is equivalent to that of a sixth-rank assistant minister.

"The one who tied the knot must untie it. In the end, it's because some people in our Wei family are too short-sighted."

If I hadn't been thinking of hedging my bets and offending the new crown prince, none of this would have happened.

Several uncles and elders in the hall blushed involuntarily.

They had been saying all along that the King of Qin wanted to exile him to the southern wilderness.
Wei Jiade quickly pledged his loyalty to Crown Prince Jiancheng, claiming that it was they who had advocated sending Wei Sanniang to the Eastern Palace.

On the same day,

Wei Siyan then sent his wife to the palace to meet his sister Wei Nizi and cousin Wei Gui.

The woman from the Wei family successfully entered the palace and met the Wei sisters.

Wei Gui had a daughter with her ex-husband.

Wei Siyan's wife stepped forward to pay her respects, secretly glancing at the bellies of the two nuns, which remained flat.

“It’s not good that Third Sister is currently in the Prince of Dai’s residence, all confused and disoriented. Our Wei family is a prestigious family in the capital, and Third Sister is the eldest daughter of our family. Even if His Highness has arranged this marriage to the Prince of Dai, there should still be proper etiquette.”

"Our family has also prepared a lot of dowry for Third Sister..."

Venus sat on the porch.
Listening to my sister-in-law's incessant nagging, I just watched the clouds drift and gather in the distance.

So-called prestigious families, with their arranged marriages of equal social standing, were all part of Wei Nizi's background. When she married Wang Shichong's son, it was entirely her family's arrangement, and no one cared about her wishes.

Luoyang fell.

It was another family arrangement that sent her to the Prince of Qin's residence.

Wei Guizi was no different.

She brought her daughter with her when she entered the Prince of Qin's mansion.

The two have been married into the household for several years, but they still don't have a son or two daughters.

They would oppose, but not particularly support, the idea of ​​their younger sister, Wei Sanniang, entering the Eastern Palace.

"actually,
If the family hadn't kept delaying Third Sister's marriage for the past two years, they would have married her off to the Yang family according to the previous agreement.
It's not necessarily bad.

Wei Siyan's wife quickly said, "The marriage with the Yang family was indeed a good match in the past, but nowadays, the Yang family, especially Yang Zhengben, is no match for our Third Sister."
We can't just stand by and watch Third Sister be thrown into a fire pit.

Wei Nizi turned his head and asked, "Are you satisfied with this result now?"

"Oh dear, it's not necessarily a bad thing that Third Sister has married into the Prince of Dai's household. If the Prince of Dai can treat Third Sister with the respect she deserves..."
That would still be a good marriage alliance.

The Prince of Dai is now a rising star, enjoying immense popularity.

Wei Siyan's wife was still there, nagging on and on.

Wei Nizi couldn't listen anymore.

"There's nothing I can do about this in the palace. Do whatever you want with it." After saying this, Wei Nizi ignored his sister-in-law, picked up a bunch of flowers, and began to trim and arrange them in a vase.

But Wei Gui,

Although they weren't blood-related siblings, Wei Siyan and Wei Sanniang still offered some serious advice.

"As long as the Prince of Dai treats Third Sister well when she enters the Prince's mansion as a concubine, that's enough. As for things like a grand wedding and pomp and circumstance, that's not necessary."
It was only a temporary period of glory.

"His Highness has already been very displeased with Third Sister's matter. It's better to leave it at that now and not stir things up any further."

"Oh dear, Third Sister is not only my sister, but also your sister. Besides, this matter concerns not only her, but also the Yun Gong branch of the Wei family of Jingzhao, and even the entire Wei family of Jingzhao. I wonder how many people are watching us and laughing at us right now..."

“Sister-in-law, so what?” Wei Nizi interjected.

"Sister-in-law, please pass on a message to my brother. Our family has had some past grievances with the Prince of Dai, partly caused by Erlang and partly by Wei Ting."

In short, the resentment hasn't been resolved.

The fact that Third Sister entered the Prince Dai's mansion this time may not be all bad.

Tell your elder brother not to always side with the Wei family in everything.

Li Yi is someone our Wei family can't afford to offend these days. We should take this opportunity to send some gifts and apologize; perhaps the misunderstanding will be cleared up, and we might even become relatives.

I believe that Minister Li will retain power in the court for at least another twenty or thirty years. Our Wei family should try our best to maintain good relations and avoid making any more enemies.

(End of this chapter)