Feng Yu Heng immediately re-adjusted her emotions and returned her expression to normal.
But even if she did this, it was still caught by two pairs of eyes.
One belonged to Xuan Tian Ming and the other to Xuan Tian Hua.
"Have you been going to the barrack more often recently?" Xuan TIan Hua looked to the side and quietly said.
At this time, Lord Ding An kowtowed to the Emperor one final time, signalling the end of his time as an imperial lord.
"Yes." Xuan Tian Ming's expression did not sink, instead becoming slightly more dignified.
In the hall, there were already people who helped Lord Ding An out. With this year's Mid-Autumn banquet, the only imperial lord of Da Shun was relieved of his duty.
As for Wang Nuo, who had just been named as a groom, he also lost his position along with the rest of the Ding An family. All that was left to him was his ugly wife.
"The Bu family met with a disaster today. Thinking about it, that Bu Cong should be returning. I can not help over at the military camp, so you be more careful. That girl... I fear will not have many good days left."
"Hmph!" Xuan Tian Ming snorted. "When has she ever had good days? It's fine. Don't worry, seventh brother."
Feng Yu Heng naturally did not know what the two were talking about. She only noticed that the two of them had looked in her direction in concern, which caused her to feel a little warm inside.
With the banquet having been disrupted to such a degree, there was no possibility of it continuing.
Everyone stood up then knelt, waiting for the Emperor to announce the end of the banquet.
The Emperor was also quite tired. Waving his hand, he dismissed everyone, but just as Feng Yu Heng prepared to leave with everyone else, he called out: "Heng girl, Our head is hurting a little. Remain for a little while longer!"
Feng Yu Heng did not know why the Emperor wanted her to remain, but she could only stop and reply: "Yes." She then saw Feng Jin Yuan's pleading appearance and knew that her father wanted for her to ask for forgiveness for Chen Yu.
Feng Yu Heng could not be bothered to deal with Chen Yu's matter. Although both were from the Feng family, it was clear that the Imperial family had no intention of placing any guilt on her, she did not want to discuss it.
Seeing Feng Yu Heng refused to look at him, Feng Jin Yuan became anxious and could not help but quietly call her: "A-Heng."
Frowning, she glanced sideways at him and felt that this father was shameless. Based on Feng Jin Yuan's intelligence as a prime minister, it should have been impossible for him to not have seen through Chen Yu and Qing Le's plans. Yet, he still wanted the victim to go ask for forgiveness. This bias was truly great.
"Father." She spoke, her voice very quiet and without a hint of emotion, "If that cat had appeared in my hands, what would have happened?"
Feng Jin Yuan was startled and could not respond for a while.
When he looked at Feng Yu Heng again, he found that this daughter was already walking towards the stage. Atop the stairs, the Emperor looked at her with a fatherly smile.
At this very moment, Feng Jin Yuan felt that he himself was an outsider. That child was not his daughter at all, and she did not view him as a father in the slightest.
He bowed and retreated, escaping Liu Li courtyard. Walking quickly to catch up with the crowd, he hid within it.
The Emperor merely glanced at Feng Jin Yuan's retreating figure before looking away. It was as though he had not seen anything, as he said to Feng Yu Heng: "Heng girl, accompany Us on for a walk."
The moon of the Mid-Autumn banquet was very round. The distinction between the four seasons in Da Shun's capital were very clear. The cold wind on the night of the Mid-Autumn festival caused people to shiver from the cold.
The Emperor's attending eunuch Zhang Yuan gave a cloak to the Emperor and had a palace servant give one to Feng Yu Heng as well. She simply walked behind the Emperor all the way to Winter Moon Palace's gates.
The Emperor finally came to a stop. Raising his hand, Zhang Yuan brought the servants that had been following and Huang Quan further away. This left just the Emperor and Feng Yu Heng alone.
Feng Yu Heng was a little curious about the Emperor and imperial concubine Yun. An imperial concubine with such a personality was able to keep the Emperor interested for so many years. If the two did not have a special story, she absolutely would not believe it.
Tonight, the Emperor had kept her behind then brought her to Winter Moon Palace's gates. Feng Yu Heng secretly guessed that it was possible the Emperor normally did not have anyone to speak to, especially when it came to imperial concubine Yun. Given Xuan Tian Ming's personality, there was no way for the Emperor to discuss personal matters with him. Thinking about it, there was only a future daughter-in-law that he could speak with.
Feng Yu Heng advanced a couple steps with the idea of gossiping. Looking at the Emperor, she waited for him to bring up his secret thoughts.
Who knew that the Emperor would actually turn around and look at her, directly asking: "Ming'er's legs, can you fix them?"
Feng Yu Heng was stunned and took some time to gather herself before properly saying: "Of course I can fix them."
"Hahaha!" The Emperor suddenly laughed, "We knew it. We knew that all those imperial doctors were worthless. It truly is the Yao family's younger generation that is most reliable."
Feng Yu Heng blinked, Yao family's younger generation? Un, speaking about it this way is good too. Although she had not yet seen anyone from the Yao family, based on the memories of the body's original owner, the family far away in Huang Zhou was much more kind than the Feng family. Especially the maternal grandfather, Yao Xian, was someone that Feng Yu Heng really wanted to meet.
"The imperial doctors told Us that Ming'er's legs could not be saved. We were truly saddened." The Emperor's gaze once again turned in the direction of Winter Moon Palace. Muttering to himself, his voice became heavy, "But, Ming'er told Us that he would definitely be able to stand once more, as long as he married you. That is the reason We promised Ming'er he could marry the Feng family's daughter."
Feng Yu Heng understood.
Thinking about it, in regards to this marriage, the Emperor was unhappy about it at first. He only did it to allow Xuan Tian Ming to get better; otherwise, he would not have agreed.
She thought for a long time and simply said: "A-Heng is Yao family's daughter."
The Emperor nodded, seemingly very satisfied with this answer, as his expression finally calmed down a little.
Since the topic was on Xuan Tian Ming's illness, Feng Yu Heng really wanted to hear the Emperor ask her if his other area could be fixed. After all, there were rumors floating about everywhere, and she did not receive a proper response from Xuan Tian Ming. She always felt a little lost.
But after waiting for a long time, the Emperor only looked at Winter Moon Palace. He seemed to have no intention of bringing it up.
Unable to endure, she asked: "His Highness' face..."
"That is unharmed." The Emperor waved his hand, "So long as you can fix Ming'er's legs, We will not need to worry about anything."
Feng Yu Heng also let out a sigh of relief. She had deliberately asked about the face under the golden mask, but the Emperor's response had given her a certain amount of relief. Thinking about it, that area should be fine.
The two did not speak any further. Feng Yu Heng accompanied the Emperor in looking at Winter Moon Palace for a long time before the Emperor decreed a return to his chamber.
Feng Yu Heng was then invited by Mo Bu Fan to check on the Empress one more time.
She knew that treatment was not the main goal. Mo Bu Fan must have been wanting to get some more medical pills. The Empress had been overly frightened. Calming medicines were things she naturally had, but she did not want to take them out just like that.
Looking at Mo Bu Fan's expectant gaze, Feng Yu Heng saluted the Empress on her bed and said: "Today, A-Heng came to the palace for the banquet and did not expect such things to happen. There were no preparations made for medicine. How about when the sun comes up, Sir Mo goes to Hundred Herb Hall to buy some."
Mo Bu Fan did not know whether to laugh or cry, but this future Princess Yu truly would not let slide any opportunity to increase her Hundred Herb Hall's reputation. If people knew that even the Empress went there to ask for medicine, who knows how popular that place would become.
After being held up by the Empress, when Feng Yu Heng finally left the palace, the sky was already bright.
Because there was a palace banquet last night, this morning's court session was canceled. Upon exiting the palace, Feng Yu Heng saw the Feng family's carriage parked outside. On the outside of the carriage, the word Feng was written clearly on a wooden board.
The palace maid that escorted her out of the palace smiled and said: "It must be that they are waiting to bring princess back home. Having been delayed in the palace for a night, Lord Feng must be quite anxious."
The palace maid was merely engaging in some small talk. She knew nothing of what the Feng family was truly like, but she knew that there was a daughter that did not return, so it was natural to prepare a carriage to pick her up.
Feng Yu Heng did not share this optimism. Turning her head, she saw that Feng Chen Yu and Qing Le were still knelt before the palace gates.
Chen Yu's red dress was dirty and wrinkled. Her originally beautiful hair that cascaded down like a waterfall was now scattered and untidy. Having knelt for an entire night, her legs could no longer support her, and she was basically just sitting on the ground. The dark makeup used to darken her face was now splotched, as certain parts of her face returned to its original white, while other parts became even darker. All together, it looked like a ghoul's face. It did not match up with the rumors that had spread of the Feng family's daughter to the first wife looking like a goddess.
Looking then at Qing Le, her bare head was disgustingly exposed. The pustules on her head were covered in pus and some had leaked down onto her cheeks. She no longer had the strength to wipe them, so they just continued to leak. From her cheeks down to her neck, her entire collar was stained.
But Qing Le's consciousness was much more lively than Chen Yu's. Chen Yu's eyes both stared straight down at the ground and was without vigor for a long time. If she were not just outside the palace's gates, she would have fallen asleep long ago. As for Qing Le, she was still completely upright. Her eyes filled with hate, as she glared towards the palace gates. Both her hands were balled up tightly into fists, and her face had a scarily ferocious look.
There was an old granny that kept watch over them to the side. While sipping tea, she watched Qing Le glared at the palace gates. Disdainful, she said: "There is no point no matter how much you glare. You will never be able to set foot in this imperial palace ever again. From today onward, there will be no more Lord Ding An. Qing Le girl, you should hope that the palace quickly hands down a decree bringing your penance to an end. If you continue kneeling like this... well, as a former child of royalty, how could your bones handle it."
Regardless of whether the palace granny was punishing her or cursing her, it was something that happened quite easily. These few words poked at Qing Le's scars, and caused Qing Le to tremble in anger.
As for Chen Yu, the granny left her quite a bit of face, especially since the Feng manor's carriage was parked just to the side. Lord Ding An had been demoted to a commoner, but that did not mean Prime Minister Feng had lost his power. The people of the palace knew what was appropriate and knew how to act accordingly. Although they treated Qing Le terribly, they did not even look in Chen Yu's direction.
Feng Yu Heng took a few steps towards where they were kneeling. The granny that had been watching over the two saw her coming over and quickly put the cup of tea on the table, stood up and trotted over to welcome her. Before she even got close, she put on a smile and sincerely said: "This old servant pays respects to Princess Yu!"
The words Princess Yu caused Chen Yu and Qing Le both looked over.
After this banquet and having experienced the personal approval of this future daughter-in-law by the Emperor and Empress, and having witnessed the Emperor allowed Feng Yu Heng to directly call him father Emperor, who still dared to not recognize her as the ninth prince's official princess?
Feng Yu Heng did not hold back. She watched the granny perform a grand salute before slightly raising her hand: "Granny, please get up."
Before the granny could stand up, a shrill woman's voice suddenly shrieked "Feng Yu Heng! I will kill you!"