Divine Doctor: Daughter of the First Wife (Yang Shi Liu) 801

959

That night, when the eighth prince returned home, Zhu Kongshan finally told him about her conversation with Imperial Concubine Li. When she brought up the small banquet, the eighth prince was very supportive, telling Zhu Kongshan: “Go and contact the girls and madams who helped you hand out congee. Have them all go into the palace to help support Imperial Concubine Li and add to the atmosphere; otherwise, we would need to rely on her to arrange the guests. We need to have her understand that even if she returned to that position, fighting alone is completely pointless. She needs to find a pillar of support, and there is none more suited to this than her family. If she is smart, she will convince her son to support us. If she is stupid, even if she has that position, she will be nothing more than a decoration and a laughingstock.”

Zhu Kongshan understood this reasoning but said to the eighth prince: “Then cousin needs to help ease eldest aunt’s side. Second aunt has ascended to that position. Even if she is a laughingstock, her status is still there. I just worry that eldest aunt will not feel at ease.”

Xuan Tianmo nodded; however, he also felt a bit bitter. His mother really was the type to easily get riled up over something like this. He would need to console her a bit more.

Feng Yuheng’s side naturally heard about Imperial Concubine Li’s matter. Xuan Tianming had even brought it up to her. To give consideration to the sixth prince, the Yu Palace could not stay silent. She asked Huang Quan: “Say, what would be a good gift?”

Huang Quan did not particularly like Imperial Concubine Li. With a look of resentment, she said: “As this servant sees it, nothing should be gifted. It’s not like Young Miss doesn’t know what Imperial Concubine Li is doing this for. If she has those sorts of ideas, it would be best if we stayed further away from her. This servant really doesn’t understand. Are all of the members of the imperial harem suffering from delusions? Noble Lady Yuan is deluded into thinking her son can be the emperor. This is a bit more reasonable, after all, he is an emperor’s son, and they are all equal. But that Imperial Concubine Li, Young Miss, you and His Highness the ninth prince have already gotten married. What is she thinking? Are there really mothers that do this sort of thing? If the ninth prince heard about this, who knows what sort of commotion would be caused. If things went poorly, His Highness the sixth prince will end up being implicated.”

Feng Yuheng felt that what Huang Quan had said was correct. She had nearly instantly guessed Imperial Concubine Li’s intentions, and she was also feeling unhappy. She thought for a bit then said: “I will write a letter to His Highness the sixth prince. In any case, we can have him communicate a bit with Imperial Concubine Li, but on our end, we still need to give a gift. Even if it’s not for Imperial Concubine Li, consideration should be given to His Highness the sixth prince. After all, he and I are benefactors, and he is currently managing Ji An Prefecture for me. In terms of both sentiment and reason, we cannot just ignore the matter with Imperial Concubine Li.”

Huang Quan sighed. When she thought of the sixth prince, her annoyance with Imperial Concubine Li dissipated a little. It was just that she felt a bit of pity for the sixth prince. He was such a good person, yet why did he end up with this sort of a birth mother?

“Just give her some banknotes and be done with it.” Feng Yuheng said: “Sixth brother is honest and upright and cannot compare with the other princes in terms of wealth. Over the years, Imperial Concubine Li has been unable to rely on her family for support in the palace, and she is unable to receive too much support from the sixth prince. The Emperor and the Empress can be relied upon even less. Thinking about it, her days could not be considered plentiful. Now that she has returned to the position of imperial concubine, there should be some expenses with all of the people visiting her to give gifts. Between members of the imperial harem, they will mostly give things like jewelry and ornaments. They look nice, but they cannot be spent. That’s why there’s no need for us to put too much thought into it. Just give her money.”

Just as they were speaking about this, a maidservant came to report to Feng Yuheng: “Princess, someone came from Hundred Herb Hall saying that the fourth son of the Yao family has invited you to immediately go over. There is something urgent.”

The fourth son of the Yao family was Yao An, and he was currently acting as a substitute for Wang Lin in the capital’s Hundred Herb Hall. Hearing that Feng Yuheng had been invited over and to go immediately, it was clear that there was definitely something happening at Hundred Herb Hall, and it was urgent.

She did not delay, hastily leaving the manor and climbing into the carriage. Huang Quan asked: “Would it be the eighth prince’s people coming to cause trouble?”

She shook her head, “It shouldn’t be. What he’s looking for right now is reputation. At this time, he will do everything possible to avoid conflict with me. At a time like this, he should not be looking for conflict.”

But if it was not this, what else could there be that Yao An could not resolve and insist on bringing her over? Feng Yuheng was also extremely confounded.

The carriage traveled hastily, and when they finally arrived in front of Hundred Herb Hall, they saw that there was a large crowd gathered around the entrance. There were some that had come for an examination, some that had come to fetch medicine, and some that had come to check out the action. The clerks wanted to close the doors to block the view inside; however, someone came out from the inside to stop them, as a girl’s voice loudly said: “If you have the ability, don’t close the doors. Do it openly and let the people judge to see how this matter should be decided!”

She furrowed her brow. This was Feng Fendai’s voice. What sort of madness was that girl getting involved in this time? With a bit of anger in her heart, she lifted the curtain and descended from the carriage. Huang Quan quickly followed behind her and quietly muttered: “The people of the Feng family really are a handful.”

The people saw that Feng Yuheng had arrived and opened up a path to allow her entrance to Hundred Herb Hall, as a citizen could faintly be heard saying: “What child does the Feng family’s fourth young miss want to take away? She said that it’s her younger brother, and he was taken away by Hundred Herb Hall.”

She understood the situation but did not understand why Feng Fendai had begun to think of that child.

Just as she set foot in Hundred Herb Hall, she heard Feng Fendai speak up in her typical acrimonious tone: “He’s my younger brother. Of course, he must live with me. Your Hundred Herb Hall does not have any blood relations to him. Why are you refusing to let him out? If I reported this matter, reason would stand on my side!” After saying this, she coldly snorted, “I know what sort of plans you have. That’s right, Feng Yuheng is both an imperial daughter and a princess, and the capital is her world. The governor also won’t speak up for me, thus reporting it would be pointless. But I must ask you, do you have any conscience? Do you have any siblings? Do you have any children? If your family members were raised by someone else, and you were unable to get them back, what difference is there between this and kidnapping them into slavery?”

Once these words reached Feng Yuheng’s ears, she felt that Feng Fendai really was becoming more and more like the late Chen shi. She had failed to learn any of Han shi’s softness. Instead, she perfected Chen shi’s bitter meanness and unreasonable attitude. With a hand on her hip and looking combative, where was there any resemblance to a 13-year-old girl?

She shook her head and took a couple steps inside before saying: “Do you think that we want to raise the child for you? Expenses for food, for clothes and for someone to take care of it. If you want to take it back, it’s naturally a good thing. For that child to be able to be with his older sister is better than being with strangers. But I am just unable to understand it. Back then, you hated that you couldn’t strangle it to death, so why is it that you’ve changed your mind and want to accept that younger brother?”