With Me Here, Do Not Fear
Noble Lady Yuan’s words were the equivalent of opening up a window for Imperial Concubine Li’s mental block. In the past, Imperial Concubine Li had only focused on trying to gain some benefits from Feng Yuheng, doing whatever she could to have her find out how good the sixth prince was in hopes that Feng Yuheng would turn her attention to the sixth prince.
But this entire time, Feng Yuheng had repeatedly told her about how good her relationship with the ninth prince was. Those feelings could not be torn down, and this left Imperial Concubine Li feeling that she had fallen short of her objective. She felt that there was something wrong with her approach; however, she was unable to figure out what the problem was.
Hearing what Noble Lady Yuan said today, she finally understood that she needed to separate Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tianming. If she could not make any moves from the emotional angle, there was only one option- have Xuan Tianming die! Her elder sister was right. Only with Xuan Tianming dying would it be possible for Feng Yuheng to remarry. At the same time, with Xuan Tianming dying, her Feng’er would have one fewer obstacle. That throne would be a little closer to being within grasp.
Imperial Concubine Li felt that she now had a grasp on this “secret plan” to have Feng Yuheng marry the sixth prince. In an instant, she became elated. It was such that she did not sleep well that entire night.
That night in the Yu Palace, Feng Yuheng used Xuan Tianming’s arm as a pillow and brought up the matter with Feng Zhaolian.
Hearing her mention that Feng Zhaolian had basically acted like a rascal to remain in the Imperial Palace, even managing to get into Jing Ci Palace, Xuan Tianming was not at all surprised. He said: “That Prince Lian came to Da Shun with his own persistence. Coming to the capital, how could he not seek to get revenge for such a deep resentment? Don’t think that the death of Qian Zhou’s ruler would resolve the resentment in his heart. A perfectly good person was reduced to a state of being neither male nor female. Only he is completely clear on his misery.”
Feng Yuheng recalled earlier speculation about the Empress and asked Xuan Tianming: “Feng Zhaolian living in the Jing Ci Palace is because of the Empress, right? I keep feeling that Father Emperor must know about the Empress’ identity, but why has he kept her in that position?”
Xuan Tianming pulled his wife a little bit closer before saying: “There are some things that are left to the heavens. She has made no contributions nor made any mistakes, yet she cannot escape her fate. She has carefully kept it hidden for so many years; however, she will still need to deal with it being announced. Just watch! Following Feng Zhaolian’s actions, the day of truth should not be far away. Father Emperor understand this. The reason that he has not touched on her side is for the sake of fishing. Also, she is the mother of the country, and acting without due consideration would harm the country’s foundation. Just watch and see what path she decides to take. Whether she lives or dies, the decision is in her own hands.”
“Then Feng Zhaolian staying there, will it ruin Father Emperor’s plans?” She was a bit worried, “After all, I was the one who brought him in. If something happened, it would be difficult for me to provide Father Emperor with an explanation.”
“It won’t!” Xuan Tianming comforted her, “There are naturally people in the palace keeping an eye on Prince Lian. Him staying in Jing Ci Palace is nothing more than him having the same goal as Father Emperor and us. It’s for the sake of fishing, and this large fish is naturally the missing Duanmu Anguo.”
When Duanmu Anguo was brought up, both felt that this was something that nagged at their minds. From the moment that that person had gone missing to the present, he had never appeared; however, Feng Yuheng never believed that he had died. On the contrary, she had a bad feeling in her heart that there would come a day when Duanmu Anguo would stage a comeback and have a massive effect on their lives.
“Don’t worry.” Feeling that the wife in his embrace was troubled, Xuan Tianming gently patted her shoulder to comfort her: “Do whatever is necessary. There’s no need to worry about him coming out. What is worrisome is if he remains in hiding forward. He sent out so many chess pieces, and the Empress might be the one who has penetrated the deepest into Da Shun. As long as that old guy has the ambition, this piece will definitely not be wasted. We just need to stay vigilant.”
“There’s also one more.” Feng Yuheng propped herself up slightly and seriously said: “Bu Cong, who knows where Bu Cong went.”
Xuan Tianming said: “There was some information from inside Zong Sui’s border. They found traces of Bu Cong having been there, but they were unable to find out where he has stopped.” He reached out and pinched his wife’s cheeks, telling her: “Don’t worry. With me here, there’s nothing to fear.”
She nodded and returned to using his arm as a pillow. A feeling of safety washed over her once more. Closing her eyes, she peacefully fell asleep.
Xuan Tianming pulled her close and did not think of “eating meat” for the first time. He just enjoyed the faint scent of her hair, and his lips curled into a beautiful arc. Closing his eyes, he quickly fell asleep.
The next day at dawn, Xuan Tianming went to attend court. Feng Yuheng slept well into the morning before waking up. When eating breakfast, Huang Quan brought in a letter and handed it to her, saying: “It was sent from Hundred Herb Hall. They said that it was a servant who said that she knew young miss. They asked young miss to help send this letter.” While saying this, she handed over a strip of paper, “Although the letter was sent to Hundred Herb Hall, this strip also accompanied it. This servant took a look, and it should be from the Zhu family’s two maidservants.”
What Huang Quan had said was correct. The ones who sent the letter to Hundred Herb Hall was Zhu Kongshan’s maidservant, A-Ruo. The name was written on the strip of paper. Ever since meeting with Feng Yuheng outside of Zhang Ning Palace, they felt that if there was anyone in this world who could help them, it would definitely be Princess Yu. They were asking Princess Yu to help send a letter to the Zhu family in Peng Zhou to let the Zhu family know about the situation over here.
Feng Yuheng saw that the letter did not have a wax seal and shrugged, laughing, “These two maidservants are quite clever, knowing where to put their focus. They were so quick to think of Hundred Herb Hall.” As she spoke, she very naturally pulled out the letter to the Zhu family, “The envelope did not have a wax seal. This is also a good way of showing goodwill.”
The letter was written to the Zhu family’s eldest young miss, and the contents were within expectation. They were all about what Zhu Kongshan had done in the capital. It was very detailed and even mentioned the happenings in Zhang Ning Palace, but among the narration, there was even more of A-Huan and A-Ruo’s reviews and analysis of Zhu Kongshan’s actions.
Of course, these reviews were all negative. They were filled with the great dissatisfaction that the two maidservants felt toward Zhu Kongshan. This included Zhu Kongshan and the eighth prince working together to suppress them and distance themselves from them. It was such that they could not even send out a letter, which caused them to miss quite a few matters. Zhu Kongshan had done so many good deeds, but they were all attributed to the eighth prince and the two aunts in the palace. She had never said half a word for the Zhu family.
The two servants even jealously added that Zhu Kongshan was very bothered by her status as a daughter of a concubine, and she was very bothered that her mother was just a concubine, asking the eighth prince to support her in propping her mother up and to have the current head wife and daughter of the first wife of the Zhu family step down.
Feng Yuheng laughed while reading this, saying: “The two maidservants from the Zhu family really are talented! With this letter, Wang Chuan’s movements in Peng Zhou will be much more effective. Let’s also send a letter to Wang Chuan to tell her about the situation over here. We need her to move quickly. It would be best if this matter was not delayed until the new year.”
Huang Quan nodded and quickly went to make preparations.
Peng Zhou’s Zhu manor
The Zhu family’s head wife was not feeling well and brought in a doctor from Hundred Herb Hall to be examined. After the examination, the doctor wrote a prescription. There was a prescription for normal medicines and a prescription for Western medicine unique to Hundred Herb Hall. There were two prescriptions, and they were a bit complicated. The Zhu family’s eldest young miss, Zhu Kongyue, looked at them for a while then ordered a roughly-20-year-old maidservant: “A-Chuan, you go. Mother’s people are all busy. You handle are steady when handling matters, and I am at ease with leaving it to you. Go with the doctor.”
The servant called A-Chuan bowed then respectfully said: “Eldest young miss, don’t worry. This servant will definitely take care of it.” After saying this, she took the two prescriptions. Seeing that the doctor had received his payment for the examination, she also left the manor with him.
After the two left the manor, they continued with their heads down until they turned out of the street where the Zhu family lived. Only then did the doctor say: “It’s fortunate that the eldest young miss sent you out; otherwise, I fear that things would have needed to be done in a roundabout method. I was worried that you would not understand the signal that I was gesturing to you!”
The maidservant who had been called A-Chuan was none other than Wang Chuan, who had been sent to Peng Zhou to investigate. Ever since she had managed to get into the Zhu manor, she had quickly become favored by the eldest young miss and was brought over to be a personal maidservant. A sixth-ranked official’s family did not have as many rules as the former left prime minister’s manor or the Yu Palace. The use and lives of the servants were also not very complicated. It was mostly just being used when the master took a liking to them. The requirements for servant contracts also were not very strict; moreover, Wang Chuan quickly went to have fake identification made through Hundred Herb Hall as soon as she arrived. There were no problems when using it.
She replied to the doctor: “It’s fine. If I wanted to go out, there is nobody in the Zhu family who can stop me. Is there news from the capital? Has the young miss sent a letter?”
The doctor nodded, “There is a letter. One is for you and one is from the two maidservants that the young miss of a concubine from the Zhu family brought to the capital. But they were both sent by the boss. I just don’t know if the letter was intercepted or if the Zhu family’s maidservants sent them through the boss. The letter is still at Hundred Herb Hall. I will give it to you later.”
The two did not continue speaking and continued to Hundred Herb Hall. After arriving, they fetched the medicine first. After the doctor fetched the letters, he stealthily shoved them into Wang Chuan’s hands. Only then did Wang Chuan leave.
Returning to the Zhu manor, she brought the head wife’s medicine to the kitchen. She then returned to Zhu Kongyue’s side to help take care of her for a while. It was only when Zhu Kongyue was about to rest in the afternoon that she found a chance to return to her own room. She then opened both letters to take a look.
She was not interested in A-Huan and A-Ruo’s letter. She just carefully read the letter sent by Huang Quan. Not only did the letter provide a detailed account of the situation in the capital, but it especially emphasized that she had to sow discord in the Zhu family. They would have the Zhu family tear Zhu Kongshan down. Only like this could they obtain the best outcome. It would also prevent their young miss from dirtying her own hands.
Wang Chuan felt that this was a very good idea. She thought for a brief moment then placed Huang Quan’s letter in the fire to burn it. She then stuffed A-Huan and A-Ruo’s letter into her sleeve before hastily leaving the manor.
Not long after going out, she returned while openly holding the letter and headed straight to Zhu Kongyue’s room.
Zhu Kongyue was still sleeping, and Wang Chuan just woke her up. At the same time, she apologetically said: “It’s not that this servant wanted to disrupt young miss, but there is something urgent.” While saying this, she handed over the letter, “This servant just went out and wanted to buy some pastries that young miss loves to eat for after young miss woke up. But just after going out, a young child hastily handed over a letter. This servant saw that the Zhu family’s eldest young miss’ name was written on it, thus I quickly returned and woke you up. Young miss, quickly take a look!”
Zhu Kongyue heard that there was a letter and quickly received it. Looking at the envelope, she saw “To the Zhu family’s eldest young miss” and nodded, “It’s A-Ruo’s writing. Those two servants still remember that I am their master? I thought that they had followed Zhu Kongshan and had forgotten their origins!”