Giving You a New Wife
Madam Lu would naturally stay at Qian Xi’s side. It was just that it was not for the sake of suppressing her fear. Instead, it was for the sake of keeping an eye on her, such that she did not run away.
Feng Yu Heng washed up then applied makeup. Although she did not wear a shawl, her hair was still covered properly. Satisfied with holding tightly onto madam Lu, she was led out of the inn. Amidst the laments of the other guests staying at the inn, she went through the front door and climbed onto a sedan prepared by the palace. The granny that had come to teach her rules and madam Lu stood on opposite sides of the sedan. Like matchmakers, they followed closely.
Feng Yu Heng sat inside the sedan and closed her eyes to rest. In regards to the leader of the North’s palace, she was filled with curiosity and expectation.
When the sedan arrived at the gates, the palace was already filled with people. Everyone had come for Duan Mu An Guo’s birthday celebration, and it was very lively. A portion of the officials from Da Shun had already thought things through. Either way, they could not leave. Either way, they would lose their lives. It would be better to just remain in this place. Perhaps they would be able to find a better way out.
The sedan stopped outside for a moment, as the granny and madam Lu went to help Feng Yu Heng out of the sedan. She heard someone quietly whisper: “I heard that she isn’t of marriageable age. She is even younger than the last one.”
“Lord Duan Mu’s hobby really is becoming more and more profound.”
The granny held her a little tighter, practically dragging Feng Yu Heng into the palace. After countless turns, the noise from the front yard gradually began to diminish. Only after they entered a small courtyard did they manage to leave the uproar behind. The granny let out a “tsk tsk” and said to her: “Lord leader has shown quite a great deal of favor toward you. This courtyard is apparently one that the fifth madam, who was his most favored, had lived in. It’s just that the fifth concubine’s life was too short, dying after just two months. From that moment on, great leader has kept this courtyard off-limits. In order to memorialize the fifth madam, he has never allowed any other concubines to enter.” While she spoke, she did her best to hold onto Feng Yu Heng’s hand, reminding her: “Remember what you said last night. After entering the palace, if you end up having a bright future, you must not forget about me.”
Feng Yu Heng said in a joyful and celebratory voice: “Granny’s grace, Qian Xi definitely will not forget about it.”
“Oh!” Madam Lu also became anxious, “Qian Xi, don’t only remember granny. You also have this master here. I am the benefactor that allowed you to enter the great leader’s palace.”
Feng Yu Heng sneered to herself internally but still spoke in an extremely grateful voice. She suddenly stopped and grabbed madam Lu’s hand: “Madam, Qian Xi is truly very nervous and need to go to the toilet. I don’t recognize the way around this palace. Madam, can you accompany me?”
Madam Lu was stunned, “You need to go to the toilet?” She then glanced at the granny, very clearly looking to see if there were any objections.
The granny thought for a bit then nodded, “Go ahead.” While saying this, she pointed in a direction, “It’s in that direction. Stay close to her. You must not allow the new young madam to get lost.”
Madam Lu knew that fearing that she would get lost was not real. Fearing that she would run away was real, thus she held onto Feng Yu Heng very tightly, practically as though she was escorting a criminal.
Feng Yu Heng’s ears moved slightly and paid close attention to the movements outside. After they made a turn, madam Lu stopped and suddenly lifted part of the headcover then said to her: “We’ve arrived. Go in on your own. I will wait for you out here.” As the noble madam of an official’s family, it would be impossible for her to accompany a maidservant into the outhouse, even if this girl was about to become Duan Mu An Guo’s concubine.
Feng Yu Heng curled the corner of her lips up into a strange smile. She could still be certain that there was nobody else aside from the two of them in this area.
For some reason, this sort of smile caused madam Lu’s heart to go “thunk.” A bad feeling welled up inside her. This sort of feeling immediately became “This girl is definitely going to run.” Thus she reflexively grabbed her and anxiously said: “Running? Don’t even think about it. This place is the leader’s palace. There are guards everywhere. As long as you have come in, it will be impossible to escape!”
Feng Yu Heng’s smile remained on her face, and it became even more apparent. She told madam Lu: “I won’t run. I finally managed to get in with great difficulty. Why would I want to run?”
“Hm?” Madam Lu was stunned, “Managed to get in with great difficulty? What do you mean?”
“It’s as I said.” Feng Yu Heng spoke and suddenly raised her hand to smack the back of her head. The opposition did not have any chance to react and fainted to the ground.
Feng Yu Heng snorted coldly, only thinking to herself that dealing with these people that had no combat power was truly boring. She only needed to raise her hand to easily take care of it. Who knew where she found the courage to actually dare to plot against others.
She squatted down and tossed madam Lu into her space. She then stood around for a little longer. After calculating the time, she figured it would be about time that she returned along the original path.
The granny still stood there, waiting for her. Upon seeing her return, she was startled at first then looked behind her; however, she could not find madam Lu. She could not help but frown and ask: “Why was your head cover lifted? Where is your madam?”
Feng Yu Heng said: “Madam said that something came up and returned to the front yard using a side path. She told Qian Xi to come back first. There was nothing that Qian Xi could do and could only lift the head cover to watch the path.”
The granny waved her hand and unfurled the head cover once more. She then impatiently said: “Forget it, forget it. That futureless creature from a small home. You call her madam now, but when your foundation has stabilized, she will need to try and curry favor with you.” While saying this, she pulled Feng Yu Heng toward the room. The maidservants that took care of this courtyard gathered around and said their congratulations to Feng Yu Heng then opened the door, inviting her inside.
The granny sat in the room for a while. After giving Feng Yu Heng some advice, she told Feng Yu Heng to sit on the bed, while she went out to take care of some business. Just as she left the room, she immediately ordered: “Lock the door and keep an eye out. Don’t even let a fly out of the room!”
A quick-witted servant immediately replied: “What is granny saying. This room is extremely clean; moreover, it’s an extremely cold day. Where would a fly be found.”
The granny snorted and left behind another message: “Either way, keep watch. I will be going to bring great leader over here. Based on the leader’s personality, if a new madam enters the palace, even if it is the day of his birthday banquet, he will definitely need to come over and take a look first.” After saying this, she flicked her sleeve and left.
Upon leaving, the sound of the door being locked could be heard from the outside. Feng Yu Heng curled her lips up and removed the head cover. She then looked around and found that there were two rooms, inner and outer. In the middle, there was a screen between the two. The windows and doors were tightly shut, and she could see many wooden strips through the paper window. It was truly just like a prison.
She sneered and got up. The bed that she sat on had quite a bit of work put into it. It was covered in a red blanket, and a pair of mandarin ducks were embroidered on it. Even the pillow was made of red jade, and it was covered in marten fur. It was extremely extravagant.
She did not wait any longer, quickly bringing madam Lu out of her space and throwing her onto the bed. She then quickly moved to remove all of her clothes. After thinking a bit, she simply tossed them back into her space. She then placed her under the blankets. After doing all of this, she reached out and pressed on the acupuncture point in the back of her head. After being pressed a bit, the person woke up.
But just after waking up, Feng Yu Heng used the silver needles in her hand to quickly stab at a few acupuncture points on her body. Madam Lu immediately felt her body go numb, and she could no longer move. Not only could she not move, but she also could not make a single sound, yet her eyes could still move. She was also completely awake. She just stared blankly at Feng Yu Heng, a bottomless horror filling her heart.
She really wanted to ask Feng Yu Heng who exactly she was, but she could not get a single word out. Just worrying was pointless. At this time, Feng Yu Heng was looking down at her, a smile appearing on her face. The look of having control over everything was without any reservation. Where was there any sign of a servant that had been sold by her master?
Madam Lu finally realized that she had been scammed. But why did this girl want to scam her? Who exactly was this person? Also, where exactly was she lying down? Why did she feel as though she was without clothes?
Countless questions filled her mind. Unfortunately, Feng Yu Heng could not give her an answer. She just opened her mouth and faintly said: “Since you really want to curry favor with Duan Mu An Guo, just use the most direct method. What’s the fun in sending a servant. If someone should climb into this bed, it should be you.” After saying this, she raised her hand and a large red bridal veil covered madam Lu’s eyes. This left her seeing nothing but red.
Feng Yu Heng straightened out her body and faintly smiled. She then leisurely walked around the room. Once she was certain that there was nothing worth discovering, she did not delay any further. Placing her right hand on her left wrist, she made use of her space to walk out.
Her goal was the temple where the head madam was. That granny had told her about it while talking about the rules. Whenever a new concubine entered the palace, they would need to visit the temple to kowtow to the head madam, but the head madam never met them. Thus, in the end, this part of the procedure was skipped. Instead, it became a servant bringing a nameplate to the temple for the head madam to see.
The courtyard that Feng Yu Heng had been sent into happened to have a servant that was going to the temple to deliver the nameplate. She followed along, coming out then hiding again from time to time. Only when she arrived at the path in front of the temple did she make her move and knock out the servant. She then sent both the nameplate and the person into her space. After thinking a bit, she simply also went in. After she put on the servant’s clothes, she came back out and found that she had become one of the servants of the leader’s palace.
She quickly walked toward the temple. Passing through a winding corridor, she arrived at a moon gate. Not unexpectedly, she was stopped by two female guards that had some martial arts ability. One of them asked her: “Where did you come from?”
Feng Yu Heng quickly replied: “This servant was ordered to bring the new madam’s nameplate.”
“New madam?” The female guard snorted coldly, “Truly every insignificant being has no shame and will refer to themselves as madam.” Saying this, she reached out a hand to Feng Yu Heng: “Bring it out.”
Feng Yu Heng had a troubled expression and said: “There is no nameplate this time.”
“No nameplate? If there’s no nameplate, what are you here for?”
Feng Yu Heng quickly explained: “Because the new madam that entered the palace has a slightly awkward background, lord leader ordered for a nameplate to not be made. He just told this servant to come and tell the head madam.”
“Oh?” The two female guards could tell that there was something amiss. The two exchanged glances, and one of them asked: “What is the identity of the new madam?”
Feng Yu Heng sighed and said: “It’s lord leader’s… grandniece.”