This Evening and Past Evenings
When Fen Dai said to drown it to death, it was as though the child was able to understand. Not only did it cry even louder, it began to struggle in the wet nurse’s embrace. The wet nurse did not think that a newborn child could have so much strength. With a single slip, she actually lost control of the child, and it slipped. The child fell from her embrace onto the ground.
Fen Dai saw the child fall on the ground and smiled while her eyes lit up. She even subconsciously moved to look for some sort of weapon that may be lying around. It would be best to throw that on the ground for the child to fall on and lose its life.
But before she could find this thing, the child had only fallen part way in his freefall. Suddenly, a whip came from behind Feng Fen Dai and wrapped around the child. Being pulled back, the child was dropped into someone’s embrace.
Everyone looked over and saw Feng Yu Heng there with a calm expression. She held a whip in one hand and the child in the other. She was staring straight at Fen Dai.
Feng Fen Dai was given a fright and angrily rushed to say: “What are you doing here? This is my courtyard!” While asking, she looked behind her but did not see the fifth prince, Xuan Tian Yan.
Feng Yu Heng was confused, “I am the daughter of the first wife of the Feng family. This place is the Feng manor. Is there any place that I cannot go?”
Fen Dai became angry, “You also know that you are the Feng family’s daughter of the first wife? I’ve never heard of any daughter of the first wife that did not save their father’s life!”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Un, then you’ve heard about it today. You have not lived this life in vain.”
Fen Dai was a little afraid, asking in confusion: “What do you mean?”
Feng Yu Heng did not reply. She just stuffed the whip back into her sleeve then looked at the child in her arms. He still had very dark skin, and he could open his eyes a little more than yesterday. He still had long and thin phoenix eyes. Who knew why, but the crying child had fallen silent upon being picked up by Feng Yu Heng. Not only did it stop crying, it also opened its eyes with great difficulty to look at who was holding him.
Feng Yu Heng was originally in a bad mood. After arguing with the fifth prince, she had angrily left that room. She had wanted to walk around at random, but the Feng family’s new manor was one that she was not familiar with. She somehow ended up arriving in Fen Dai’s courtyard.
This sort of mood was dispersed by the serious look coming from the newborn child’s eyes. She reached out and poked the child’s small face and teased him, saying: “Still such a small thing, yet you already know how to evaluate people.”
The corner of the child’s lips rose into a smile from being teased.
Feng Yu Heng smiled along with him, as she heard Fen Dai say from not too far in front of her in a sarcastic voice: “Second sister really knows how to take care of children! How about just taking this child back and raising it on your own! You spend all of your time messing around with martial arts and weapons. If there comes a day when you are not able to bear a child, in any case, you will be able to have an adopted child.”
When Fen Dai spoke, the child’s smile disappeared. Its lips parted, and it immediately prepared to begin a new round of crying.
At this time, Huang Quan had also come over. Upon seeing Feng Yu Heng hold the child, she quickly went forward to hold the child. Feng Yu Heng did her best to coax the child that was about to cry and did not allow Huang Quan to hold him. She just said to her: “Go and wait in front of the palace gates. As soon as Prince Yu comes out, have him come rush over to the Feng family’s side. Just say that the Feng family’s fourth young miss is missing him greatly. She cannot spend even a moment away from him.”
Huang Quan glared at Fen Dai and saw that Fen Dai’s face became pale upon hearing Feng Yu Heng’s words. She could not help but remind: “Fourth young miss, are you certain that you are missing his Highness the ninth prince? Then this servant will go and wait in front of the palace. I pass along this message without missing a single word to his Highness. Fourth young miss, take care.”
After Huang Quan said this, she turned around to leave. Fen Dai was frightened and quickly called out: “Wait! Who said that I was missing his Highness the ninth prince? Why would I be missing him? I said that Feng… I said that second sister is very close to this child.”
Feng Yu Heng coaxed him a few times, and the child no longer wanted to cry. The child grabbed Feng Yu Heng’s clothes and refused to let go. Feng Yu Heng glanced at Fen Dai and expressionlessly said: “I just heard you say that you want to drown him to death?”
Fen Dai denied it: “I did not. It was the wet nurse that could not keep a hold on the child. You saw it yourself. It nearly fell on the ground. It’s completely unrelated to me.”
Feng Yu Heng practically laughed, “You and Feng Jin Yuan really are father and child. It seems that you are indeed related.”
“What do you mean?” Fen Dai could never understand what her second sister meant.
Feng Yu Heng said to her: “My meaning is that you and Feng Jin Yuan are the same. You are never able to remember where you have fallen in the past. You make the same mistake over and over. You really are stupid.”
“You…” Fen Dai was angrily grasping at air; however, she did not dare say anything. She could only throw a tantrum in place.
Feng Yu Heng, however, reminded her: “Regardless of whether this child is related to Feng Jin Yuan, he is indeed your younger brother by your mother. Even if you do not pity him, you cannot kill him. Don’t believe that I did not hear what you just said. Feng Jin Yuan killing his wife and daughter, you truly have learned to be just as cold.”
Fen Dai was rendered completely speechless; however, she continued to shake her head. She was resolute in saying: “He is not my younger brother! I don’t have this sort of younger brother!”
“Retaliating against a child does not take much skill.” Feng Yu Heng frowned and said: “He cannot choose his own birth. There is not a single person that would choose to be born into the world in that manner. If you want to vent your anger, go strangle your shameless mother and that bastard performer.”
After she said this, she walked forward and placed the child in the wet nurse’s hands. She then said in a cold voice: “Raise it well. If there is even a trace of wrongdoing, this imperial daughter will definitely not forgive.”
Leaving Fen Dai’s courtyard, Feng Yu Heng began walking toward Yao shi’s side once more. Huang Quan recalled that child and could not help but ask her: “Young miss, do you think that fourth young miss will secretly do anything to that child?”
Feng Yu Heng helplessly tapped her head, “I did indeed neglect this point. Reassign one of his Highness’ hidden guards over to that side to keep an eye out. It’s just a young child. It would be best if it was not killed by Feng Fen Dai so easily.”
Because Yao shi was severely injured and could not be moved, she remained in the Feng manor temporarily. It was not that Feng Yu Heng had not thought of taking Yao shi back; however, with so many sets of eyes watching, it was too easy to make mistakes. Helpless, she could only alternate keeping an eye on her with Yao Xian. She could not relax for a single instant.
The anesthetic wore off on Yao shi the next day, but the pain from the wound was a little hard to bear for her. Under Yao Xian’s recommendation, another round of anesthetic was provided. When she woke up the next time, she should have recovered a great deal.
Feng Jin Yuan ended up waking up on the second night. Song Kang had gone over to take a look. When he returned, he reported to Feng Yu Heng, saying: “As I see it, his recovery was a little quick. Although there is no hope for that important area in this lifetime, the wound on his lower abdomen has healed abnormally quickly. It should be that someone has given him some sort of miracle medicine.”
Feng Yu Heng could not help but snort coldly upon hearing this, “Qian Zhou has sent some hidden guards to Feng Jin Yuan’s side. Although they are not close enough to protect him in his sleep, they cannot just watch Feng Jin Yuan suffer a severe injury without treating it. If they want to treat it, just let them.”
Song Kang nodded then seemed to recall something. After laughing for a while, he said: “Speaking of, he woke up once earlier in the morning. It’s just that when he heard that he was crippled, he fainted from the anger.”
Feng Yu Heng also laughed. She could imagine Feng Jin Yuan’s miserable appearance. If he did not die from the illness, he would eventually die of fear.
That night, after Xuan Tian Ming returned from the palace, he went to the Feng family to accompany her. Feng Yu Heng told him many times that he did not need to keep her company, but this prince was not at ease, put euphemistically: “If this prince did not come, what would you do if someone tried to bully you?”
Feng Yu Heng was tangled. This was also true. Xuan Tian Ming was able to not worry about anything and whip people. She, however, could not give someone like Fen Dai a beating similar to the one that she had given Ru Jia.
She waved her hand: “You can stay if you want to.”
With Xuan Tian Ming present, he was able to act as a companion. The two sat in Yao shi’s room and chatted overnight. Xuan Tian Ming told her: “Tomorrow is the mid-Autumn festival. Because of the heavy flooding this year and the citizens not yet being back on their feet, the national treasury sent a large amount of money to the various provinces. Father Emperor also canceled the palace banquet.”
After hearing him say this, Feng Yu Heng suddenly noticed, “It’s already time for another mid-Autumn festival.” She vaguely recalled her time during the previous mid-Autumn festival. She had arrived in Da Shun not too long prior, and that was when the battles in the Feng manor were at their fiercest. Regardless of whether it was Feng Chen Yu or Feng Yu Heng, both had an aura of being unwilling to admit defeat. They both seemed quite energetic.
If it was not for the girls of this era being too precocious and too ruthless, it could not be more normal for sisters to have some disputes. Even in the 21st century, sisters getting into fights and arguments was quite normal. You caused me to cry today, so I will scratch your face tomorrow. This sort of thing was quite common, and the adults would often just provide treatment with smiles on their faces. The two would then be scolded, and that would be all. On the second day, perhaps the two children would be close once more, and perhaps they would be the closest of sisters.
But in Da Shun, this was not possible. When Feng Chen Yu and she fought, they fought with their lives. Each attempt was on her life. Every strike was aimed at her heart. Even if she wanted to love her sisters, they would not give her a chance.
One step at a time, they fought. In the blink of an eye, a year had passed. The Feng family had fallen, and Feng Jin Yuan was still refusing to obey. She really did not know what was going through the minds of these people.
She sighed heavily and said to Xuan Tian Ming: “I will spend some money. As a doctor, I would always hope for people to live healthy lives. Unfortunately, my power is limited. I will subsidize the village of the people living outside the city. Also, I have planned for many Hundred Herb Halls to appear in the other provinces. I will continue opening them. I have already made preparations to bring out large quantities of medicine from my space. When the time comes, I will be able to ensure that every Hundred Herb Hall will be able to sell them.
Xuan Tian Ming nodded, and a bit of expectation appeared in his eyes. He understood the effects of the medicine too well. Compared to the bitter medical soups of this era, they were much faster.
The two chatted for a little while longer. During this time, they chatted about the previous year’s mid-Autumn festival, and they would laugh whenever they spoke of something entertaining. However, this laughter was a bit heavy. They appeared happy on the outside but were worried on the inside. Da Shun’s situation was not as relaxed as the Emperor made it seem.
At dawn the next day, Xuan Tian Ming went to attend court, and Yao shi woke up in the morning. After waking up, the first thing that she asked was: “Feng Jin Yuan, did he die?”