Unable to Reach a Tacit Agreement and Unable to Get Intimate
Xiang Rong said this, and Feng Yu Heng felt that this was a little unexpected. She did not understand what this girl was thinking. Moreover, Xuan Tian Hua was someone that shook every girl’s heart! If she had not met Xuan Tian Ming first…
Forget it, Feng Yu Heng shook her head. She did not want to think about what she may or may not have; however, she asked Xiang Rong: “Not to mention whether or not you can, second sister will ask you, why do you say you won’t?”
In regards to this matter, Xiang Rong had thought about it. Although she became a little bit flustered when thinking about this after being asked, she recovered very quickly and told Feng Yu Heng: “Because I am unable to develop as much of an understanding as second sister has with his Highness the seventh prince, and I am unable to become as intimate as second sister is with his Highness the ninth prince. I thought long and hard and did not even know where he and I would have any similarities. Even if we were forcefully pushed together, I would still only view him as a deity.”
In the end, she was still a young child. Her view of Xuan Tian Hua was that of a deity. In truth, it was not just Xiang Rong. Even Feng Yu Heng would not know how to look at Xuan Tian Hua. Thinking about it, the only word that came to mind was deity.
She patted Xiang Rong’s head: “Eleven-years-old, it’s an age where you should still be in school. I really don’t know what sort of sins the people of this era are committing, to actually rely on an eleven-year-old girl to bear the hopes of the entire family. To be forced to worry so soon about their own lives. Xiang Rong, if you trust second sister and want to live happily, forget about all of these things. This was never something that you should be worrying about. At the very least, wait until you are of marriageable age to worry about these things.”
There was a bit more that she did not say. In truth, even 15 was still early. At 15-years-old, one could go out and experience their naive first love, but for her to accept going out to get married at the age of 15 was quite a stretch. The reason that she did not resist Xuan Tian Ming too much was that she was already a soul in her 20s. But in this era, Xiang Rong had been taught to become like some sort of monster, and this made it so that she could not help but become interested. “If I ever have a daughter, I definitely will not allow her to fall into this from a young age.” She subconsciously voiced her own thoughts. She then saw a look of pleasant amazement on Xiang Rong’s face.
“Second sister, Xiang Rong is already eleven-years-old. I am already not young.”
She laughed. She knew that it was impossible for this concept to proliferate so quickly. She could only give up on this topic, only telling Xiang Rong: “Trust me and don’t think about it. Nobody is able to predict the future. You can’t, I can’t, and seventh brother also can’t. Relax and grow a little bit at a time. There’s no rush.”
Finally, it was the day for the matriarch to be carried out. Because the old home in Feng Tong county had already been ruined by the floods, the matriarch could only be buried in a cemetery 20 li to the West of the capital.
This day, aside from the pregnant Han shi, everyone else in the Feng family was present. The only son, Feng Jin Yuan, was at the front of the procession. The grandson of the first wife, Zi Rui, and the granddaughter of the first wife, Feng Yu Heng, were carrying the coffin. Behind them were Xiang Rong and Fen Dai. Even further back were the Cheng shi sisters, An shi and Jin Zhen.
There were two coffins accompanying this funeral procession. One contained the matriarch, and one was for Jin Zhen. To the outside, it was announced that Jin Zhen had died because of grief over the matriarch’s death. To the inside, it was directly stated that Jin Zhen would be buried to accompany the matriarch.
As for how Jin Zhen died, not a single person asked. Feng Jin Yuan wanted to kill Jin Zhen, thus there were at least 100 methods, and Jin Zhen deserved to die. This was also something that nobody doubted. Feng Yu Heng had never had a goddess’ heart. From her previous life to her current life, the principle that she adhered to was: If you treat me well, I will treat you better. If you treat me poorly, I will definitely make you want to die. When it came to these principles, she did not differentiate between care about familiar or not. Not a single person could change it.”
The matriarch’s funeral procession was rather decent. Although it could not be compared to when he was still the standard first rank prime minister, it was definitely more proper than anything that a standard fifth rank official’s family could do. Even the coffin had some gold wires.
The funeral lasted from dawn until noon. When the matter was finally concluded, the Feng family kowtowed three times in front of the matriarch’s coffin before things were completed.
On the way back to the manor, the group was a little subdued. In the past year, the Feng family had lost a number of people. From Chen shi to Feng Zi Hao, there was also Chen Yu and the matriarch, and even Jin Zhen could be counted in. Perhaps even Kang Yi and Ru Jia, who had been the wife and daughter, respectively, needed to be counted in. A formerly great family had suddenly been reduced to such a degree.
Feng Yu Heng sat in the Feng family’s carriage and listened to the sounds coming from outside the curtain. There were sounds of things being sold and negotiations. Occasionally, the sounds of playing around could be heard coming from the restaurants. There were also sounds of children crying. The sound of people around the city filled her ears. She felt that this was truly more human.
Life should have this sort of liveliness, unlike the Feng manor, where the various courtyards did as they pleased and there were battles to the death between concubines and siblings. In truth, she did not want for that many people to end up dying; however, people were not able to act as she had hoped. Once they had received a little, they would want more. Once they received more, they would want better. From Chen shi to Jin Zhen, they all sought hardship, yet Feng Jin Yuan placed all of the blame on her.
She asked Huang Quan and Wang Chuan: “Have you heard when the Feng family will be moving out?”
The two shook their heads, and Wang Chuan said: “I just know that his Highness the fifth prince gave lord Feng some money to allow him to buy back the deed from young miss. I also heard that his Highness the fifth prince gave the Feng family a new residence as a part of the betrothal gift to the fourth young miss. Thinking about it, the Feng family should be moving over there, and I have not heard how the residence granted by his Majesty will be taken care of.”
Huang Quan picked up on this: “How else can it be taken care of. It will inevitably be sold for money, which will then be squandered in a few days.”
Feng Yu Heng, however, shook her head: “The residence provided to an official by the court cannot be sold, but it can be mortgaged. But Feng Jin Yuan should not be lacking too much money right now. He should not reach for such an idea immediately.”
“What is young miss worrying about this for? If they want to do it, just let them do it. We have our imperial daughter’s manor. No matter what the Feng family does, you would be perfectly justified in not going.” Huang Quan spoke from the heart and frankly said: “When it comes to that family, it would be best if young miss got as far away from them as possible. Never coming into contact with them ever again would be best. This servant even feels that just looking at lord Feng will reduce our lifespan by a year.”
Feng Yu Heng laughed: “How could it be as severe as you make it sound. There is no need for us to go out of our way to avoid them. Either way, we will be returning to the military camp. Prepare yourself over the next few days. We will be moving as quickly as possible.”
The two servants nodded, and Wang Chuan said: “Previously, madam had been wanting to go to Xiao Zhou to accompany the young master. Now, divine doctor Yao has returned, and it seems that lady Yao no longers wishes to go to Xiao Zhou. Instead, it’s young master’s rest period that seems to have come to an end. He will not be able to remain in the capital for more than 20 days before he must return to Xiao Zhou.”
Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brow slightly. Although it was not very far from the capital to Xiao Zhou, it would still take a few days. Even if there were experts protecting him, she would still feel very worried every time that Zi Rui came and went. That child had to attend class and could not remain in the capital forever. After thinking a little, she said: “At that time, we’ll see if I can find some time. I will personally send him. It’s perfect. I also wanted to greet the head teacher.”
The Feng family’s group of carriages finally returned to the manor’s entrance; however, there was a group of people blocking it. There were citizens and soldiers.
Feng Yu Heng subconsciously furrowed her brow, and a feeling of irritation welled up inside her. There was never a peaceful day in the Feng manor. The matriarch had just been buried, and they had not even gotten into the manor. How was it that even more trouble had come?
She wanted to ignore it, but the carriage that she was seated in had already stopped her. If she just turned to leave, she would lose a bit of the bearing of a country’s imperial daughter. She could not help but sigh to herself before getting out of the carriage and walking toward the crowd of people.
Although she was still wearing mourning clothes, the people still recognized Feng Yu Heng immediately, thus they subconsciously opened up a path for her. As for Feng Jin Yuan, he was encircled by the group of people; however, Feng Yu Heng managed to get through without being stopped at all.
When she reached the top of the fourth step, she turned around and looked into the crowd. The waiting soldiers were the first to step forward. All of them kneeled and said in loud voices: “This subordinate greets imperial daughter.”
Feng Yu Heng was not in the greatest mood. The Feng family’s matters already caused her to feel annoyed. When she saw the soldiers now, she seemed to have recalled some things, thus she asked: “Have you come here to arrest Official Feng and bring him to justice?”
The person at the front looked up at her and said: “Replying to imperial daughter, that is indeed the case.”
These words caused Feng Jin Yuan to feel dazed, arrested and brought to justice? Why would they be arresting him?
An angry expression surfaced on his face. Pointing at Feng Yu Heng, he said: “What nonsense are you spouting?” He then asked the soldiers: “You really are bold! What crime has this official committed?”
The soldier in-charge was neither haughty nor humble. Facing Feng Jin Yuan’s questions, he calmly said: “Lord Feng, have you forgotten? At the time that imperial daughter brought you out from prison, it was just to conduct elder madam Feng’s funeral. Now that the elder madam has already been buried, lord Feng’s unresolved case would naturally be taken care of by the government.”
Feng Jin Yuan became furious: “What unresolved case? This official has already handed the Feng manor’s deed to Xu Jing Yuan’s hands. The documents have already been filed. Do not spout such lies!”
The soldier did not understand, “Lord Feng, you have indeed returned the deed, but that is unrelated to this case. The crime that lord Xu has listed against you is not for the deed. It is for deceiving the Emperor.”
Once the words deceiving the Emperor were spoken, Feng Jin Yuan felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured on his head, and even his heart chilled by half a degree. He suddenly realized that he had been mistaken. Although the deed had been returned, there was nobody that dared to pardon the crime of deceiving the ruler, unless it was the Emperor that followed up on it. But based on the Emperor’s personality, how could he follow up on it? The person that he had cheated was Zhang Yuan!
Thinking like this, the courage that Feng Jin Yuan had worked hard to muster had instantly collapsed. He swayed a few times and needed Cheng Jun Man’s support to remain standing.
There were a large number of people surrounding the entrance, and the majority were citizens. They all revealed looks of scorn on their faces after seeing him point and shout.
Feng Jin Yuan did not have the face to remain. He turned to Cheng Jun Man with a pleading expression, hoping that this head wife would think of something to help plead his case; however, he suddenly heard Feng Yu Heng speak up. Her voice sounded exhausted, as she said: “This imperial daughter will go into the palace to ask for forgiveness from father Emperor on this matter. We still have not passed the first seven-day period after the elder madam’s death. Go tell lord Xu. Just say that this imperial daughter will take care of it.”
Xu Jing Yuan was originally on Feng Yu Heng’s side. Feng Yu Heng had a great deal of influence in the capital government. Upon hearing that she would take care of this matter, the soldier did not say anything else. They just saluted her, got up from the ground then left without even looking at Feng Jin Yuan.
Feng Jin Yuan was a little puzzled. Why had this daughter that was always fighting against him suddenly become kind and willing to help him smooth things out?
But no matter what was said, him not being taken away by the soldiers was a good thing. Feng Jin Yuan let out a faint sigh of relief. Just as he was about to say a little, he suddenly heard a voice come from the crowd: “Lord Feng, imperial daughter has helped handle your crime, then isn’t it time for us to settle our debts?”