Chapter 298 – Who Exactly is Family with Whom?
Who Exactly is Family with Whom?
“Not to hide it from fifth brother, but A-Heng saw servants from Qing An Palace walking around Fei Cui Hall yesterday. I hope that fifth brother will investigate this matter carefully. Fourth sister does not know anything about it, as she was only worried about attaining fifth brother’s love. There is no need for fifth brother to support fourth sister.”
Feng Yu Heng’s words made Xuan Tian Yan immediately freeze. The three words Qing An Palace immediately allowed him to know what had happened, as his face immediately collapsed. It was as ugly as it could possibly be.
Feng Jin Yuan angrily snorted: “Your Highness, please go back. Although my Feng family’s daughter is not as honorable as a prince, she will not be given away in such a disorderly manner.”
Xuan Tian Yan did not have anything to say this time; however, he did throw a look at Fen Dai, sincerely saying: “Don’t worry. This prince will definitely provide an explanation for this matter.” After saying this, he turned and left.
Fen Dai was dazed. Seeing Xuan Tian Yan leave, the tears in her eyes flowed out uncontrollably.
Chen Yu also sighed, making a very sympathetic took, as she consoled Fen Dai: “Fourth sister, think about it a little more. Don’t we all need to listen to father for our marriages? We are just daughters of concubines, so we originally should not have too many requests.”
It would be better if she did not console her, as this consolation made Fen Dai even more depressed, causing her to not just cry louder, but she also glared at Chen Yu and said: “Now you’re happy! I am no longer able to be the secondary princess, so you are happy!”
Chen Yu cried from being cursed at, “I know that sister is grieving, and elder sister does not blame you. If cursing at elder sister will allow you to feel better, just go ahead.” After saying this, her cries became just as miserable as Fen Dai’s.
Feng Jin Yuan felt his head swell. Looking at Chen Yu and Fen Dai, he finally made a decision “After the eighth, fourth young miss will go to Pu Du Nunnery to calm herself and may only return after personally copying sutras 1000 times.”
“What?” Han shi was shocked, “1000 times? Until when will she be copying these sutras?” A book of sutras could not be copied in just one day, this meant that she would be copying for many years! She could not stand this and immediately made her position clear, “If husband truly wants to send fourth young miss to the nunnery, then this concubine will go with her!”
“Nonsense!” Feng Jin Yuan scolded her, “She is being punished!”
“This concubine accept this punishment with fourth young miss.” Han shi steeled her heart. She definitely could not allow Fen Dai to be sent to the nunnery. If she went, who knew how long it would be before she could return.
The matriarch watched Han shi cry bitterly, and she could not help but become anxious: “You woman, how many times have you been told that you must not cry. Even if you do not worry about yourself, you must worry about the Feng family’s child that you are pregnant with!”
Hearing the matriarch mention a child, Kang Yi looked at Han shi’s belly in surprise. Because it had not been a full three months, Han shi’s belly did not stick out, and Kang Yi had not heard about any of the Feng family’s concubine mothers becoming pregnant. Hearing this suddenly caused her to feel doubtful.
But she also quickly followed up, using her customary calming voice to defuse the situation, as she said to Feng Jin Yuan: “Lord Feng, nothing is more important than the well-being of the child. Now that fourth young miss’ birth mother is pregnant with a life, please think it over.”
Feng Jin Yuan originally had a belly full of anger, and he was unwilling to listen to what anyone had to say; however, he found that only Kang Yi’s voice was pleasant to listen to. He could not help but glance at Kang Yi and say apologetically: “I’ve allowed eldest princess to see something unseemly.”
Kang Yi shook her head, “I can’t be avoided.”
The matriarch truly did not want to see Fen Dai’s crying appearance, and she had already felt that the fifth prince and eldest prince were not guaranteed. They were unlike Feng Yu Heng’s ninth prince, which was a pre-arranged engagement. They found each other congenial and suited each other very well. What could Chen Yu and Fen Da’s situations be considered?
“Quickly send fourth young miss back to her courtyard!” The matriarch gave an order, and even Han shi, who was wiping away tears, followed her back.
Fen Dai not being sent to the nunnery was a blessing. If she was only being sent back to her own courtyard, it naturally meant that there was no real complaint, but right before she left, she really wanted to beg Feng Jin Yuan for forgiveness; however, Feng Jin Yuan did not even look at her. This made her feel unhappy.
Everyone once again returned to the feast. After such a commotion, there was no trace of a celebratory mood. The matriarch heaved a deep sigh and repeatedly shook her head. Feng Jin Yuan also had an angry expression. The other concubines were even more unable to speak up. Looking about, only Feng Yu Heng had the right to speak at this sort of time.
But Feng Yu Heng refused to speak, as she sat there and continued to sip tea.
Feng Jin Yuan truly felt too embarrassed. Thinking a little, he spoke up: “The one in Qing An Palace is just a lunatic. Ever since the year that the Emperor completely gave up on the fifth prince because of that matter, she began to go crazy. But her madness is not out of hatred for the Emperor. It is out of hatred for her own son and the women that look a little like that imperial concubine. There are so many women in the fifth prince’s palace; however, he does not dare bring a single one into the palace because he is afraid of trouble. It’s also my fault for forgetting about this matter; otherwise, I definitely would have kept a close eye on Fen Dai.”
Kang Yi originally had no understanding of this situation, but after what had happened at the banquet, she took the initiative to ask around when she had gone back. Only then did she clearly understand why the Emperor would be so angry over Fen Dai’s snow dance. Now that she heard what Feng Jin Yuan said, she had a bit of knowledge about the fifth prince’s birth mother.
“Hah!” Feng Jin Yuan sighed and no longer spoke on that topic. Instead, he turned around to apologize to Kang Yi: “Originally, eldest princess was invited to the manor to celebrate the new year. Who knew that this sort of thing would happen. This is truly embarrassing!”
Kang Yi, however, shook her head and was very understanding: “There is no need for Lord Feng to mind. It is inevitable that such unseemly things would happen. Even in my Qian Zhou, although the country is small, there are also things that are quite unseemly that happen. Of course, when the Emperor was enthroned, the palace had found that there were two fake eunuchs. This caused the imperial family to lose a great deal of face.”
That was how people were. When running into something, if someone only focused on comforting you, you would not feel particularly happy. But if they picked at their own scars and chose to share, you would naturally feel much better.
Kang Yi had been born as a girl in the middle of a power struggle, so she was all too familiar with all of these tricks. Sure enough, once she said this, not only did Feng Jin Yuan not feel as embarrassed, even the matriarch’s impression of her improved. She felt that, even though Kang Yi was the eldest princess of a foreign country, she was very kind to other people, and she did not appear arrogant. In fact, she was even able to reveal such a secret about Qian Zhou’s imperial family for the sake of comforting the Feng family.
The matriarch looked at Kang Yi and could not stop herself from nodding.
She did not know whether she had reacted to her attitude, but after she finished speaking with Feng Jin Yuan, she turned to say to the matriarch: “All of this commotion is not good for your body. I see that this lotus seed stew is quite good. Elder madam, try it. It is very good for calming the mind.” Saying this, she picked up a bowl and spoon then personally poured the matriarch some stew.
The matriarch was a little flattered by the sudden favor, as she repeatedly said: “I am not worthy of this, I am not worthy of this!”
Kang Yi, however, continued to pour her this stew. She then brought it over to the matriarch and said: “There is nothing about worthiness. Since today is your family’s feast, then elder madam is the only elder at this celebration. Kang Yi pouring some soup for you is something that should be done. Moreover, in our Qian Zhou, there is no rule of someone not being able to hand out portions because of their rank. Even if I am the eldest princess, I still must be respectful when meeting elders.”
The matriarch liked this statement very much. She then looked at Feng Jin Yuan and saw the love in his gaze when he looked at Kang Yi, thus she had an even better understanding. She drank the lotus seed stew while pondering. Right now, the Feng family did not have a head wife. Feng Jin Yuan was a standard first rank official in Da Shun. Speaking of, joining with a princess from a foreign country would not be considered aiming above one’s social standing. Moreover… she secretly stole a glance at Ru Jia. Not only had this princess been married before, she also had a daughter. From that perspective, it was a good match.
She had also heard that this eldest princess from Qian Zhou was heavily relied upon by the ruler. If she entered the Feng family and became one of the Feng family’s people, in the future, Feng Jin Yuan would be able to deal with the relationship between Qian Zhou and Da Shun. Being able to share the Emperor’s burdens, that was a great accomplishment.
The matriarch pondered to herself. The more she thought, the more she felt that this was a good deal. If her family had an eldest princess as a daughter-in-law, how glorious would that be!
Thinking like this, she looked at Kang Yi with an even warmer gaze.
Kang Yi saw that the matriarch was becoming closer, thus she was very happy. She stood up once more to give the matriarch some more food. The two ate and chatted and appeared very close.
Feng Jin Yuan was happy to see the two be able to chat, as he began to take care of Ru Jia.
This scene made Chen Yu, Xiang Rong, An shi and Jin Zhen look at each other in dismay, as there was a feeling that those four were truly a family, while they were the guests.
Feng Yu Heng, however, did not care about these things. She was very hungry. She had woken up too early in the morning, and the energy from small amount of congee that she had eaten was already exhausted. Others did not eat, but it was impossible for her not to eat.
Feng Jin Yuan watched her concentrate on eating. Originally, he wanted to have her pay attention to appearances, but he gave up after thinking about it a little. Originally, he and Feng Yu Heng spoke very rarely. Now that there were honored guests that had come, he did not want to provoke that irritation. Thus he simply decided to ignore her and allow her to continue eating.
Ru Jia was very close with Feng Jin Yuan, as she called him uncle Feng very warmly. Hearing it made Feng Jin Yuan’s eyes bloom with a smile. Feng Yu Heng heard Ru Jia say: “The Emperor awarded me two bolts of moon palace silk, right. When the Summer comes, Ru Jia will pick a darker colored bolt and use it to make uncle Feng a cool garment.”
She went “pft” and let out a laugh, as Chen Yu and Xiang Rong’s expressions became ugly.
Make clothes for Feng Jin Yuan? This sort of thing was done by either the matriarch, a daughter, or a wife or concubine. No matter what perspective it was from, it should not come from a foreign princess?
Jin Zhen saw Feng Jin Yuan’s happy expression, and tears began to flow even more uncontrollably. She understood at heart that the days where she was favored had come to an end. She glanced at Feng Yu Heng and greatly hoped that Feng Yu Heng would be able to look at her at this time. Unfortunately, Feng Yu Heng was only occupied with eating, so she had no intention of paying attention to anything else. She felt a little despair. When she looked again at Kang Yi, her gaze carried hatred.
At this time, who knew what the matriarch and Kang Yi were talking about, as they suddenly began laughing.
Everyone raised their heads to look at the matriarch, and they saw that she held Kang Yi’s hand and sincerely said: “Going out with a child is not easy. No matter how nice the post house is, it can’t compare to your home in terms of comfort. I don’t know how much longer you will be remaining in Da Shun, but as I see it, how about you come and live in the manor. There are many courtyards here, and there are many servants. It would be quite convenient.”
Feng Yu Heng raised an eyebrow. She was beginning to try and pull her into the family?