Feng Yu Heng’s Flaw
With Feng Yu Heng’s order, Wang Chuan very quickly brought the soldiers back. This time, they rushed straight into the hall and very impolitely arrested Feng Jin Yuan.
Feng Jin Yuan was about to collapse, loudly shouting: “I am your father! I am the head of the Feng family! If I die, what benefit is there to you?”
Feng Yu Heng shook her head: “There’s no benefit, but if you die, we can continue living. But if we allow you to continue living, we will all die with you.”
Her words were a bit of a tongue twister, but people were still able to understand. In this world, there were no walls that did not leak. If Feng Jin Yuan truly brought Xiao Jing into the manor, it would be exposed sooner or later. At that time, the Feng family would truly be unable to speak for itself.
In this family, things had already developed to this point. In truth, there was already nobody that would stand at Feng Jin Yuan’s side. However, there was still Fen Dai. Although she could not accept this matter, and she was still feeling outraged for her concubine mother, if Feng Jin Yuan was truly taken away, the first thing that she thought of was her marriage. She feared that the engagement that had been agreed upon with great difficult would become void, and she feared even more that she would not have the Feng family to rely on. Even if the fifth prince married her, she would have no ability to stand on her own.
Upon thinking of this, Fen Dai quickly stepped forward and loudly said: “No! You can’t take my father away.”
Feng Jin Yuan was so moved that he nearly cried. He had never favored nor doted on this fourth daughter. He never even looked at her much when she was growing up, but only Fen Dai was willing to stand up for him at this critical moment.
Fen Dai’s face was covered in tears, the majority of which were a result of being scared. She turned and begged Feng Yu Heng: “Second sister, in any case, he is our father. Can you let him go?” Before waiting for Feng Yu Heng to replying, she added: “If second sister will not let him go, I will go and find his Highness the fifth prince.” As she said this, her voice became sharp, and some anger appeared in her eyes. Fen Dai reached out and, like Feng Jin Yuan, pointed at Feng Yu Heng. Using the same words, she asked her: “With father being taken away, what benefits are there?”
Once these words were said, not to mention Feng Yu Heng, even the others could not bear to continue listening. Anshi spoke up: “Fourth young miss, second young miss is saving us.”
Xiang Rong also added: “It’s not second sister that told them to take him away. It’s father that committed a crime. It’s the government that wants to take him away.”
Fen Dai loudly screamed: “I am going to look for his Highness the fifth prince. I will have his Highness ask for father’s forgiveness!” Saying this, she moved to go out; however, she heard Feng Yu Heng giggling behind her. The sound caused her scalp to feel numb.
“You can go look for him.” Feng Yu Heng said: “This imperial daughter wants to see if his Highness the fifth prince will dare to do anything about this matter. Even if he does, will the governor dare to listen.” After saying this, she turned her cold gaze over to Fen Dai, “Listen up, if that woman is allowed to enter the manor, the entire Feng family will be executed, sooner or later. But if this shameless father is gone, from this day forward, you will be my, imperial daughter Ji An’s younger sisters. When you get married, your status will be much nobler than just the daughter of a fifth-ranked official.”
Perhaps Fen Dai did not take the first part to heart, but the last words were too tempting to her. The person that had been moving to call for help immediately stopped. A light appeared in her eyes, as they carried a bit of expectation.
Feng Jin Yuan noticed that the atmosphere seemed off and quickly confused Fen Dai: “Even if father does not die, you will still be her younger sister.”
Fen Dai thought about this and figured that Feng Jin Yuan was correct. For a while, she was a little hesitant. After thinking a little more, she frankly negotiated with Feng Yu Heng: “How about we save father then take care of the woman outside?”
Normally speaking, this would be the best method; however, once Fen Dai’s words came out, Feng Jin Yuan immediately let out a yelp, “No! Nobody is allowed to touch her! If anyone dares to touch her, I… I…”
He repeated the word “I” for a while and was unable to make anything of it. Instead, it was Feng Yu Heng that said: “You will not forgive us even if you become a ghost.” She shrugged and suddenly felt extremely tired. When the matriarch had passed away, she had thought about the body’s original owner’s grandmother and father. As long as they were not too excessive, she would allow them to live until they died of old age. That would also fulfill the filial piety of this body. But the matriarch had passed away from a slight misstep. When she now looked at this father, she was unable to find even a shred of sympathy. The exhaustion that she felt was mental, and it caused her to feel an urge to kill this person, bringing all troubles to an end. In the future, she would feel more at ease.
But there were so many eyes watching. She closed her eyes slightly and suppressed the feelings in her heart. She waved her hand, not wanting to say anything. She just said to the officers: “Quickly take him away. This imperial daughter never wants to see him again.”
The officers were all Xu Jing Yuan’s people. In other words, they were Feng Yu Heng’s people. Hearing her speak, they took Feng Jin Yuan away without another word. Feng Jin Yuan continued to shout and struggle; however, he was still dragged out of the manor.
Cheng Jun Man had a cold expression and took the initiative to say: “I will naturally find someone to take care of the woman in the other courtyard. You should all be a little more careful. This matter absolutely must not get out. Otherwise, even if I go beg aunty for forgiveness, it would not be enough to protect our lives.”
The members of the Feng family knew that anything related to Qian Zhou would be considered treason, thus they all nodded. Fen Dai even said: “We absolutely must do things well. It would be best to burn the corpse. We cannot leave a single trace behind.”
Cheng Jun Man glanced at her and slightly frowned. A child of merely eleven years had such a fierce heart. How exactly did the Feng family raise its daughters?
Feng Yu Heng did not remain too much longer in the Feng manor. Bringing Zi Rui, Wang Chuan and Huang Quan, she returned to the imperial daughter’s manor. Xiang Rong remained to accompany An shi for a while.
The Feng family had been busy for an entire morning. The sounds were loud and could be heard from the imperial daughter’s manor. When Feng Yu Heng returned to the manor, she saw Yao shi sitting under a date tree in the front yard. A maidservant had washed some fruit and placed it on the table beside her; however, she did not even look at it. Yao shi’s hands were occupied with prayer beads that she had obtained at some unknown time. They were made of white jade. In the past, Yao shi did not have the habit of praying with prayer beads. She had simply taken them because she felt that they were beautiful. Currently, however, Yao shi had a gloomy expression and continued to fiddle with the beads. This caused the servants in the yard to also become gloomy.
Feng Yu Heng felt helpless. Sighing quietly, she walked over to Yao shi and quietly called her: “Mother.”
Yao shi finally recovered from her daze and turned her gaze over. She then looked at Feng Yu Heng and said after a while: “You’ve returned?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded and sat down on the stone chair opposite Yao shi. She casually picked up a fruit from the plate and handed it over: “Mother, eat some more fruit. If there is anything that you want to eat, tell the servants. We can have it made.”
In regards to Yao shi, Feng Yu Heng understood clearly that she only lost when it came to her face. Yao shi had a similar appearance as her mother in her previous life. This caused Feng Yu Heng to always feel a little flustered. It caused her to feel that there would be a channel for her to remember her previous life. This was very good. Even if Yao shi was ingrained with the teachings for women of this era, even if she was not intimate, as long as she could quietly observe, it was a kind of comfort.
She extended the pear in her hand forward a little more, “Mother, eat a little.”
Yao shi looked at the pear in her daughter’s hand and suddenly felt a little saddened. Her eyes became moist, and she could not control it. She averted her gaze and raised a sleeve to wipe her eyes. Just as Feng Yu Heng felt that Yao shi must be feeling that this sort of scene was very heartwarming, she heard Yao shi say: “I never eat pears. In the past, when we were in the Feng manor, I did not eat them. Later on, when we were in the Northwest, I did not eat them. Even if I was starving, and my daughter brought some pears from the mountains, I would not touch them because I was nearly poisoned by a pear when I was pregnant with our A-Heng. From that moment forward, I never ate them again.”
When she said this, she calmly looked at Feng Yu heng. It was as though she was telling a story that was unrelated to her. But these words caused Feng Yu Heng’s heart to go “thunk.” She felt flustered, and her hand trembled, causing the pear to drop to the ground. It was then picked up by Zi Rui.
In her mind, she scoured the memories of the body’s original owner. She finally realized where her flaws were. It was not her sudden change in personality, nor was it the learning of martial arts and medicine from a Persian teacher. rather, it was in the small details. A pear had caused Yao shi to suspect for a long time.
She had made a mistake on this part. After searching through the memories of the body’s original owner, she did indeed find something relating to Yao shi not eating pears. It was just too trivial that she had completely ignored it, and this pear…
In her previous life, her mom loved eating pears the most. After passing away, her dad would always place three pears that had been washed in front of her mom’s picture. She never thought that Yao shi would not eat pears; however, she was stubborn in believing that Yao shi would definitely like eating the things that her mother from her previous life enjoyed. Even if she did not favor them, pears were indeed delicious fruits. Sending her some more was always a good thing.
Unfortunately, her kind intentions were mistaken. This single mistake caused her to not know how to provide an explanation.
Yao shi’s gaze did not shift from her, and Feng Yu Heng did not avoid it. Just like this, the two looked at each other; however, traces of grief and unfamiliarity appeared in Yao shi’s eyes. There was even a trace of resentment. She recalled how Yao shi had just said “my daughter” and “our A-Heng.” These words were making it clear that she did not accept her identity. It was just that she did not fully say it.
This was the first time that Feng Yu Heng had lost in a stare down, and she had lost quite badly. She quickly averted her gaze, but she did not know where she should look.
At this time, she saw Zi Rui wipe the pear on his shirt and place it in front of Yao shi once more. Just as Yao shi was looking puzzled, he said: “Elder sister is elder sister. Mother, why would you become like this? Elder sister treats us very well. Why do you not know how to be satisfied? If it was not for elder sister, we would still be in the Feng manor’s Willow courtyard. It’s also possible that we would have been killed by someone. Mother, think about when we just returned to the manor. The medicine that the head madam sent to me at that time. Think about how many assassins we ran into on the way back from the Northwest. Think about this. What is there to not be satisfied with.”
Zi Rui’s words caused Yao shi to feel a little moved. She pulled the child into her embrace and said without an ounce of control: “She is not your elder sister!”