Wait to See Something Truly Lively
Fen Dai’s question was also something the matriarch was wondering. Why did Huang Quan come to the Feng manor in the middle of the night?
But Feng Yu Heng looked at Fen Dai in wonder, replying with a question: “What do you mean, your Feng manor? I am the Feng family’s daughter of the first wife. It should be our Feng manor. Also, as the daughter of the first wife, for me to send someone to patrol at night, could it be that I would need to ask permission from fourth sister?”
“You…” Fen Dai was rendered completely speechless.
That’s right, Feng Yu Heng was the Feng family’s daughter of the first wife. No matter what she did, was it something the daughter of a concubine could concern herself with?
“Fortunately, I sent Huang Quan to patrol, otherwise, if something this serious happened to third sister, what should be done?” She said this while looking at the matriarch. She then continued: “Although A-Heng spent the entire day in the manor reflecting on my mistakes, the manor’s servants can still go out. Yesterday, when Huang Quan visited the Yu Palace, she happened to see his Highness Prince Chun there. His Highness even asked how third sister was. A-Heng was wondering, if something really happened to third sister just now, I fear his Highness Prince Chun would come ask grandmother for an explanation.”
The matriarch had begun trembling, as she felt a true fear well up inside herself.
Fen Dai had never been one to let people off easily with what they said. She was unable to attain victory last time, but after a little thought, she spat out some more questions: “Wasn’t second sister punished with reflecting on your mistakes? How come you’ve wandered over to this side?”
Feng Yu Heng said without hesitation: “Reflection requires a peaceful state of mind. With you guys causing a large ruckus here in the middle of the night, how am I supposed to reflect?” Saying this, she turned her gaze towards Han shi. Although Fen Dai was between them, Han shi still stole some looks over and happened to notice this gaze. This scared her so much that her hair stood on end. After a couple gasps, she heard Feng Yu Heng say: “Why does concubine mother Han’s complexion seem worse than third sister’s?”
“I… I…” Han shi was unable to construct a sentence due to her nervousness.
Instead, it was Fen Dai who reacted and spoke up: “My concubine mother’s body is unwell, so her complexion will naturally be poor.”
“What?” Feng Yu Heng took another couple steps forward, “I am a doctor. How about I take a look at her?”
Han shi trembled and subconsciously retreated. Fen Dai also became anxious and quickly said: “No need, no need. Second sister is the daughter of the first wife, and concubine mother is nothing more than a concubine. We could not afford second sister personally examining her.”
She no longer insisted and stopped where she stood, saying: “Fourth sister remembering that I am the daughter of the first wife is good. Even if I was not, I am still your elder sister. Just the same, third sister is also your elder sister. If word of a younger sister disrespecting an elder sister were spread, I fear that younger sister will have a hard time when discussing marriage in the future. I hope you understand this reasoning.”
“Fen Dai is simply young. A-Heng, do not scare her.” Sitting on her soft chair, the matriarch suddenly said this. This was the first time she had ever spoken up for Fen Dai.
Fen Dai silently celebrated. It was rare that the matriarch would support her this once, so the young girl was a little moved. Grinning, she quickly rushed over to the matriarch and said in a fawning voice: “Grandmother, Fen Dai did not mean to cause second sister to get angry.”
The matriarch, however, did not have any thoughts of comforting her. In fact, she did not even look at her. Instead, she turned her gaze to Xiang Rong and said: “It’s good that you are fine. Now that you father is not in the capital, if something happened to you, what sort of explanation should I give to Jin Yuan!” The matriarch said this while wiping away a tear.
Xiang Rong looked at the matriarch without a shred of emotion. Calmly, she bowed and said: “Grandmother has been worried. It was all Xiang Rong’s mistake.”
Feng Yu Heng quickly followed up and said: “These past few days, I have been reflecting on my mistakes, so I have not gone to treat grandmother’s back. The medical plasters should be almost used up, right? A-Heng will send someone to deliver some more to grandmother tomorrow.”
The matriarch reacted and shook her head, “No need, no need. There is no need to continue sending them. I am already almost completely better. Just resting it a little more will be fine. A doctor from the outside prescribed a medical soup, and I found that it is pretty good, so I will not be troubling A-Heng with it anymore.”
Feng Yu Heng raised an eyebrow and faintly smiled. Sure enough, the matriarch still had the same problem as she did three years ago. Once she caught wind of any disturbance, she would hurry to cut relations. Three years ago, she chased out the former head wife and her children. Now, she was once again going to cut her relations.
“That’s fine too.” She said, “Recently, A-Heng has not been able to fend for herself and has not been able to take care of grandmother. With a doctor from the outside helping take care of you, grandmother can avoid being implicated if anything were to happen.” After she said this, she did not wait for the matriarch to react before turning to An shi and said: “Concubine mother must take good care of third sister. Do not worry, even without A-Heng, there is still his Highness Prince Chun. If third sister has any problems, she can go look for him.” After saying that, she turned to look at Chen Yu and asked: “Hm? What day is it today?”
Chen Yu was startled, and her heart began to race.
Feng Yu Heng continued to speak: “There aren’t many days left. I do not come to this side very often, so I hope eldest sister can help A-Heng take care of the younger sisters. Do not allow anything bad to happen to them.”
Chen Yu fiercely bit her lower lip, as an overwhelming feeling of being threatened filled her heart. But when she looked at Feng Yu Heng’s face, it clearly said: I am threatening you, but what can you do?
There was nothing she could not but nod: “Second sister, do not worry. I will definitely take good care of my younger sisters.”
“That’s good.” Feng Yu Heng smiled and did not say anything else. Bowing the to the matriarch, she held Xiang Rong and said: “Second sister will send you back. Along the way, I will give you an examination.”
Xiang Rong nodded then saluted the matriarch with An shi. Following Feng Yu Heng, she turned and left.
When the remaining people saw them depart, they all let out a long sigh.
The matriarch looked around at everyone. At the end, her gaze stopped on Jin Zhen and silently snorted: “Worthless!” She then waved her hand and returned to Shu Ya courtyard on her chair.
Jin Zhen felt wronged and angry. Fiercely glaring at Han shi, she then grabbed Man Xi and left.
The others did not remain for long, as they returned to their own courtyards one by one. It was the servants who were left dazed. One of the bolder servants asked housekeeper He Zhong: “Concubine mother An said that each person would be awarded 50 taels. Does her word still count?”
He Zhong pondered a little then said: “Concubine mother An’s words should still count. Today, however, is too late in the day. Everyone is dismissed for today. When the masters have woken up tomorrow, there should be an award.”
Only then did the servants calm down and return.
Feng Yu Heng returned with Xiang Rong and An shi to their small courtyard. Dismissing the other servants, she entered the room with only Huang Quan.
Upon entering the room, An shi quickly asked Xiang Rong: “You truly did fall into the lake, right? You were not truly careless and fell in on your own, right?”
Upon hearing this topic be brought up, the horror that Xiang Rong had forcibly suppressed once again rose up. Her small face became even paler, and her hands began to tremble as well.
Seeing this, how could An shi not understand. Pulling her to sit on the bed, she then looked at Feng Yu Heng and dropped to her knees: “This concubine thanks second young miss for the grace of saving her life.”
Feng Yu Heng quickly went to help her up: “What are you doing? Get up.”
But not only did An shi not stand up, Xiang Rong also knelt on the ground, saying in a trembling voice: “If it were not for second sister’s hidden guard happening to be at the side of the lake, Xiang Rong would already have become a watery ghost.”
There was nothing Feng Yu Heng could do. She could only watch the two finish giving their thanks before helping them up.
An shi asked Xiang Rong: “Did you see who did it?”
Xiang Rong nodded, “It was concubine mother Han.” She then followed up by recounting the things that had transpired. This angered An shi and nearly caused her to rush out and fight with Han shi.
Fortunately, she was stopped by Feng Yu Heng, who said: “Listen up. The reason I did not let Xiang Rong speak about Han shi’s disgusting matter is because Xiang Rong is still young. At that time, if Han shi insisted on denying, there would be nothing we could do. Secondly…” She coldly snorted, “If Han shi truly gives birth to a child for Jin Yuan, that would be most lively. At that time, even if we want her to live, Feng Jin Yuan definitely will not forgive her.”
After the experiences that night, Han shi was on edge for many days. Seeing that Xiang Rong’s side did not seem to be taking any action, she finally relaxed a little.
As for the courts, even more news came out saying that the Emperor had been spending his days with the eldest prince, Xuan Tian Qi. He also began treating the other princes much more coldly. Even the ninth son, whom he had always favored the most, Xuan Tian Ming, was being treated coldly.
Feng Yu Heng’s confinement was lifted, but another one of the Emperor’s imperial instructions arrived. County princess Ji An was not permitted to enter the palace without being summoned.
Each and every matter somehow managed to successfully make its way to the Feng manor and into the ears of the matriarch, along with each courtyard’s masters.
Everyone was beginning to feel panicked, but they did not know what they should do. Feng Jin Yuan was not in the capital, and nobody in the Feng family was able to make a decision. Even the matriarch became paralyzed. Aside from watching quietly, there was nothing else she could do.
Feng Chen Yu’s recent hatred for Xiang Rong had already reached a level that it had never reached before. Xuan Tian Hua, the person she had expended a great deal of effort to approach had now become Xiang Rong’s support. No matter what, she could not understand why things had become like this.
Yi Lin looked at the doll that had been poked with many pins that Chen Yu was holding. She could not help but feel waves of panic washing over her, “Eldest young miss, you absolutely must not devote all of your energy to dealing with the third young miss!” There was nothing she could do, so she decided to take the doll with Xiang Rong’s name written on it away, “Young miss’ monthly period came yesterday. We are nearly done with biding our time, so you absolutely must not make another mistake. Do you understand?”
Chen Yu’s expression slightly sank, and her hand went to her lower abdomen. This was the first time she did not feel annoyed by the pain of her monthly period.
Yi Lin was right. So long as she endured for a few more days, she could go find Feng Yu Heng. When this matter was resolved, she no longer needed to endure that girl’s threats.
“Has the money been prepared?”
“It has been prepared.” Yi Lin nodded, “Young miss, do not worry. Our side is completely prepared.”
Just as the two were speaking, a servant’s voice came from outside: “Eldest young miss, this servant has something to report.”
Yi Lin opened the door, and a servant walked in. Standing before Feng Chen Yu, she said: “Young miss, Shu Ya courtyard sent a message inviting you to visit after noon.”
Chen Yu frowned and asked her: “Just me alone?”
The servant shook her head: “They did not say, but thinking about it, that should not be the case. This servant heard from the person passing the message along said that it was the Emperor’s young grandson from the Yuan Palace’s birthday banquet. The invitation has arrived inviting all of our manor’s young misses.”
“Emperor’s young grandson’s birthday banquet…” Chen Yu pondered for a long while before her eyes lit up, and she suddenly asked: “What about the princes? Will they be going?”
“This servant does not know.”
Yi Lin felt her heart tighten and quickly pushed the servant out. Closing the door, she earnestly advised Chen Yu: “Young miss, you absolutely must not think about his Highness the seventh prince! That is absolutely no good.”
Chen Yu felt dejected, “Who said I was thinking about his Highness the seventh prince. Can I not think about his Highness the third prince?”
Yi Lin nodded, “You can. Thinking about the third prince is fine.”
Chen Yu was angered to the limit and was about to erupt, but she heard another servant’s voice come from the outside, saying: “Young miss, someone from the Jing Palace came to deliver something to you.”
Inside the room, both people were stunned. Yi Lin was unable to react and asked in confusion: “Prince Jing?”
Chen Yu, however, managed to react, but she was even more panicked “His Highness the eldest prince?”