Chapter 927 - Have You Taken an Interest in Feng Yu Heng?
Have You Taken an Interest in Feng Yu Heng?
Xuan Tian Yan went to report in with Feng Fen Dai every day. Ever since Feng Jin Yuan’s ashes had been scattered, Feng Fen Dai had removed the sign indicating that this was the Feng residence, but who knew what she was thinking, as she had it put back up. Looking at it now, the Feng residence was still the Feng residence; however, it was extremely quiet inside. Autumn had just arrived, but the air was as cold as if it was a freezer.
Because of Xuan Tian Yan giving Feng Yu Heng a gift, Feng Fen Dai had begun arguing with him once more. It had to be said that Han shi had given birth to Fen Dai. Han shi was someone that had been raised in an arena of love, and she had a charming temperament. Even if she had a temper, it would just result in her quietly rolling her eyes. How could she even resemble Fen Dai’s hysterics.
In the end, Fen Dai’s temperament was more like Chen shi’s. Watching her from a young age, she felt that Chen shi had bright prospects. From seeing her climb to the position of head wife, a “radiant” impression was left on the proud little girl’s heart. As a result of this, she ended up learning a bit of her essence.
At this time, Feng Fen Dai was pointed at by the fifth prince, Xuan Tian Yan, and cursing: “Ever since the day that they got married, you have been sending gifts to the Yao family. Sending just one gift was not enough, and you actually needed to go and send another gift? Xuan Tian Yan! Have you also taken an interest in Feng Yu Heng?”
The fifth prince had already come to understand Fen Dai’s personality. Seeing her unhappy expression, he knew that things would be difficult to deal with. He had originally planned to not argue with her. He would make concessions to avoid conflict. But when he heard her shout this sort of thing, he could not hold back and retorted: “Don’t spout nonsense! Do you know what sort of outcome would come about if this sort of rumor got out?” He did not know about anyone else, but that ninth brother, Xuan Tian Ming, how could he not know him? It was fine to do anything, but one must not take an interest in Feng Yu Heng; otherwise, regardless of whether you were a brother or anything else, you would get hit by a whip. It would continue until not even your mother would recognize you.
But Feng Fen Dai would not listen to his advice. Not only did she not stop, but she became even more fierce: “What did I say? Also, what nonsense have I spouted? If you didn’t have any feelings for that woman, how could you have specifically sent a set of ancient medical books as a gift? The other princes sent normal congratulatory gifts. It was only you that sent a gift for Feng Yu Heng specifically. If this isn’t having ulterior motives, what is it? How about you give some ancient paintings or something like that? I heard that the eldest prince gave very common jewelry and an antique vase. Why is it that you alone were different from the others?”
There was nothing that Xuan Tian Yan could do, “How could I be that magnanimous? Do you know how much that chest of antiques cost? Even if I sold my Li Palace, it would not be enough. Also, the ancient medical books were things that I had obtained many years ago. Keeping them in my hands would be a waste. It would be better to get on someone’s good terms by gifting it. After all, one is my younger brother, and the other is your elder sister.”
“My ass! I don’t have such an elder sister!” When speaking of Feng Yu Heng, Fen Dai could never remain calm. When she was on her own, she might be able to think about the past and reflect a bit, and she was even able to feel regret; however, she also knew that she had already reached this point on her path. She could no longer turn back, thus it would be better for her to fight to the end.
Xuan Tian Yan understood her intentions, and he had lamented this fiancee more than just once. He felt even more resentment toward the Feng manor. Such a twisted daughter could only be produced in an environment like the Feng family. If Fen Dai had been raised in a different family, it was possible that she would be many times better than she was now. He was also a bit anxious and hoped that Fen Dai could grown up quickly. Like that, he would be able to quickly bring her into the Li Palace. From there, he would take good care of her in hopes that Fen Dai’s personality would slowly change for the better, and she would be able to show more discretion. Helplessly sighing, Xuan Tian Yan never argued with her directly, only telling her: “I have never been interested in your second sister. If you insist on having me say why exactly I sent her a set of medical books, it was for the sake of currying favor. That’s all. Also, using your own words, I need to make considerations for myself. I also need to prepare a way out for you. Father Emperor has so many sons. In the future, who knows who this world will belong to, but at the very least, it currently looks like the likelihood that it falls into ninth brother’s hands is the highest. That’s why, look, I am making preparations for our future. Regardless of what the future holds, we won’t be left without a path to walk.”
“Who wants this sort of plan?” Fen Dai viciously glared at Xuan Tian Yan, “What I have wanted has never been this!”
“I know.” Xuan Tian Yan continued to console her, “Then just treat it as something nice that has belonged to her from before. This is just a courtesy. In the future, when we get married, they will need to give you a gift. Old ninth is generous with his gifts. How could you possibly not get anything nice? The things you get will definitely be worth more than those old medical books.”
“Xuan Tian Yan, do you know what sort of enmity exists between Feng Yu Heng and me?” Fen Dai suddenly brought up this topic, “My father’s ashes were sent back by her. When he died, he could not even be buried to obtain peace. Instead, he was burned to ash. How cruel of a person could do this sort of thing?”
“It would be fine for you to not accept that sort of father!” When Feng Jin Yuan was brought up, Xuan Tian Yan did not have much of a good attitude, “You scattered his ashes. That was the right thing to do!”
“But I am unreconciled!” Fen Dai began to sob and suddenly felt a wave of grief wash over her, “I am unreconciled to lose to her like this! Ever since childhood, they have gotten more than me. The Feng family had four children, and two have been daughters of the first wife. There’s also Xiang Rong. She looks incompetent, but her concubine mother, An shi, has a shop as a dowry. There was no need for her to worry about food and clothing. There was only me, only I suffered the most. My concubine mother was a prostitute. They all looked down on me! Why would I not fight? If I still don’t fight, I will never be able to raise my head in this lifetime!”
“But things are different now!” Xuan Tian Yan grabbed a hold of her wrists, bitterly pleading with her, “Don’t think any more about the Feng manor. So what if things went well for them? Feng Chen Yu has already died. Feng Xiang Rong has nothing more than a shop to feed and clothe herself. But you are now the Li Palace’s future princess. Even when it comes to Feng Yu Heng, you will be able to stand on an even level with her. What more do you want? The current Li Palace does not have any other women. There’s no need for you to take care of your in-laws. In such a large palace, you alone will be able to make decisions. You won’t lose any more.”
“But I also won’t win!” Feng Fen Dai’s gaze became sharp. She completely refused to take in Xuan Tian Yan’s advice. She just continued to focus on her own emotions: “If I don’t fight now, I will never get a chance to beat her! Then what would be the point of my life?”
When Xuan Tian Yan left, Feng Fen Dai did not send him off. She even felt that the man that she had gotten along with was truly too vexing. They were both sons of the emperor, so why not take a look at how the other one was acting? What about him? In the past, he had taken an interest in one of the Emperor’s imperial concubines, and now he wanted to be a worthless person. So lacking in a bright future!
This tantrum had left Dong Ying absolutely terrified. Seeing the fifth prince leave in disappointment, she quickly advised Fen Dai: “Young Miss, in the future, you must not speak so wantonly! In the end, he is a prince. Now, you no longer have the Feng family to support you. If you end up offending him, what would you do if he decides to cancel the engagement? Also, that thing about whether or not he is interested in the second young miss, you must not speak them again! Saying it last time in Jing Si Palace to Noble Lady Li can be excused, but you need to completely forget about it after leaving Jing Si Palace. Otherwise, once that ninth prince follows up on it, he has never batted an eye over killing people!”
Fen Dai had been raised through fear over the years. Whether it was the ninth prince or Feng Yu Heng, who had not intimidated her before? She had even been beaten. She had long since developed a thick skin, and she could not possibly be any more shameless. Killing people without batting an eye? That could no longer scare her.
“Since I have already begun walking this path, why not fight a bit. What if I succeed? Even if I don’t succeed, it’s just death. Everyone in the Feng family has died. For me, I would be living in this world without any foundation. Just like rootless duckweed, I will have lost any direction. Dong Ying, I finally found a path, so I must continue down this path.” As she spoke, scenes from the Feng manor began to fill her mind. This time, even the cries of that child that Han shi had given birth to appeared, which left her no place to hide. “My concubine mother previously took good care of me.” She spoke of her own birth mother in a dejected tone that was filled with regret, “It’s just a pity that our fortunes were not that good.”
Ever since Feng Yu Heng returned to the capital, she did not really like going out for strolls. Aside from going into the palace, returning to the imperial daughter’s manor, or returning to the Yao manor, almost all of her remaining time was spent in the Yu Palace. She would occasionally receive letters from Ji An Prefecture. Some were written by Qian Feng Shou to report the situation, and the sixth prince was the same, also sending reports about the situation. There were also letters from Bai Fu Rong and Xiang Rong. They were just letters between sisters to communicate their feelings.
She had begun to miss the days in Ji An Prefecture. Ever since the capital’s Hundred Herb Hall closed up and the eighth prince had been occupied by the Board of Punishments, it seemed as though there was a lot of idle time. Aside from taking care of some plants in the Yu Palace and tidying out a medicine storage room in her courtyard, there was nothing much to do.
Seeing that she was spending her days complaining about being bored, Wang Chuan laughed and said: “Young Miss is just a worrywart. In truth, which girl from a large family is not like this? The Imperial Palace need not be mentioned either. At the very least, the girls on the outside are able to go out for a walk, and there are not too many rules. But once one enters the palace, unless there is some large matter, one could just give up on ever leaving the imperial palace. Look at Her Highness the Empress. Even with her noble position as the mother of all in the country, doesn’t she spend her days living in seclusion? Whether or not her days are boring, only she herself knows.”
Feng Yu Heng understood this reasoning; however, she was not quite as much of a worrywart as Wang Chuan had said. She just felt that the current peace did not feel too stable. In this large capital, when had there ever been peace? It was just giving them some time to rest. It was possible that the opposition was preparing their cards, and there would come a day when their plans would come out; otherwise, would those concubines that the eighth prince, Xuan Tian Mo, had reached out to not look even more pointless?
“Just wait and see! There will come a day when this capital will become lively once more. I will just use this time to rest and recover. After a little while longer, things will get busy!”
Wang Chuan did not know what Feng Yu Heng meant by getting lively once more, but as long as she thought about the enemy, she felt it really was impossible for things to remain peaceful. “Then Young Miss needs to treasure this period of tranquility. Un, make use of this time to give birth to a young prince. The Yu Palace is truly too quiet.”
Feng Yu Heng facepalmed, “Do you think a child can be born just by talking about it? Doesn’t a pregnancy require ten months? How could the enemy remain quiet for ten months?”
While the master and servant spoke, a maidservant came from the outside to report. Arriving in front of Feng Yu Heng, she saluted then said: “Princess, there are quite a few citizens gathered around the palace, and they’re saying that they must see you. They have something important that they want to discuss.”
“Something important? Citizens?” Feng Yu Heng was puzzled…