Chapter 864 - Oh Five Rings, You Are One More Ring than Four Rings*
Oh Five Rings, You Are One More Ring than Four Rings*
Word of the sixth prince, Xuan Tian Feng, staying in Ji An Prefecture to run a school was quickly spread. Of course, this was also something that only spread this quickly as a result of Feng Yu Heng’s deliberate arrangements. This time, the news did not just remain in Ji An Prefecture, nor did it just stop in Yu Zhou. it did not even stop in just the Yun Province. Instead, it spread all over. One of Da Shun’s princes had opened a school. This was something that had never happened before in Da Shun, and it was the sixth prince, who had helped with filling the imperial library. To be able to study under Xuan Tian Feng, that was extremely prestigious! There were even some wealthy families that were thinking that even if the sixth prince did not know how to do anything, as long as they could interact with a prince and become familiar with them, that would also be a matter of great glory. Speaking about it would bring great glory.
Thus the entirety of Yun Province went into a frenzy. Regardless of whether or not the school had been built, the people began bringing their children to Ji An Prefecture. There were also scholars that were attracted by his fame. In an instant, Ji An Prefecture’s two inns were completely filled. This caused the boss of the inns to burn incense at night to celebrate their decision to not give up on business because they needed to spend a few hundred taels on deeds, which would have caused them to miss out on this great business. Not only did this prefecture have an imperial daughter, but it also had a prince. The future development would be limitless. Ji An Prefecture would flourish!
Ji An Prefecture was small. How could a measly two inns be enough, thus the inns in Yu Zhou were also filled up by these people. Without exception, the people were talking about how the sixth prince would be opening a school. They also became extremely interested by Ji An Prefecture’s new appearance. There were even some wealthy families that began to stroll around in the streets during the day. They were looking for businesses to see if they could also mix in.
In regards to this, Feng Yu Heng was very happy and very welcoming. Ignoring the small size of Ji An Prefecture, if the wastelands that had not yet been reclaimed were added in, although it could not possibly be the same size as Yu Zhou, it would be nearly half. In the past, there had been few people in the prefecture, and the people lived in a central location. There were no people that wanted to reclaim or live in the wastelands. She had gone to take a look at it, and the wastelands were not suited to growing things; however, there would be no problems with building houses or shops. More and more people came to Ji An Prefecture with the intention of living there. The cost of houses in Ji An Prefecture quickly rose and allowed her to see unlimited business opportunities.
Feng Yu Heng never refuted the fact that she was quite greedy. Nobody would be unmoved by money. She had always felt that there was nothing reliable, and the only thing that could be considered reliable was keeping a bit of money on hand. No matter what happened, with a bit of money, she could live comfortably. But now, aside from living comfortably on her own, the battle in the South was the thing that occupied her thoughts the most.
There were times when she thought about it and felt that it was unfair! Feng Yu Heng often sighed. The mess that was caused by the eighth prince needed to be resolved by Xuan Tian Ming. Should it be like this? But if it was not resolved, the South would descend into chaos. Gu Shu and the numerous small countries in the desert were not fools. Once Da Shun delays the sending of troops to suppress them, it was very likely that they would try to take more. When that time came, the battle would have developed to a point that would make it difficult to tidy up. The ones to suffer would be the common citizens.
If the center of the city did not have enough living space, just expand the center of the city. Take in the outskirts of the city, expanding from one ring to two rings, two rings to three rings and three rings to four rings. At the beginning, who knew how many rings they would reach…
At present, Feng Yu Heng had these sorts of plans. She told this to Qian Feng Shou, and Qian Feng Shou approved of it. He also promised to help out as much as he could. With Qian Feng Shou helping out, there was no need for her to devote too much energy to it. Either way, Ji An Prefecture and Yu Zhou were situated very close to each other. With one side developing, the other side would also prosper. The two had even agreed to have the small road connecting Ji An Prefecture to Yu Zhou fixed up. This would allow the people to have an easier time traveling between the two. After all, Ji An Prefecture was limited in terms of space. There were still many people that needed to live in Yu Zhou. This could be considered a win-win situation.
With Feng Yu Heng present, Qian Feng Shou also felt a bit more confident; moreover, there was also the dignified sixth prince. That was a proper prince! As an official outside the capital, Qian Feng Shou would very rarely be able to interact with someone of the same high standing as a prince. He was still quite moved. In addition to this, he was clear on the relationship between Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tian Ming. His son of his first wife was a deputy general under Xuan Tian Ming. Speaking of, the two could be considered family. He and Feng Yu Heng would take care of the logistics, and this would be helping out his own son.
In regards to having his name used by Feng Yu Heng to develop Ji An Prefecture, the sixth prince, Xuan Tian Feng, faintly ignored it. He did not have much of a mind for business, and he could not quite figure out the trick to such things, nor did he want to understand them. He just knew that Feng Yu Heng had done everything with vigor and spirit. Moreover, she earned money for the sake of preparing military supplies. They did not enter her own coffers. This increased the level more than once. This was the first time living in this sort of environment. Watching his school be built up day by day, Xuan Tian Feng was also filled with hope for Ji An Prefecture.
Feng Yu Heng continued to busily carry on. On the first day of the second month, Lu Yan died from her illness. Coincidentally, on the same day that Lu Yan died, Xuan Tian Ming happened to be leaving the capital. Fearing that they would be committing some sort of taboo, the Lu family did not announce the death until two days later.
Three days of mourning followed by the funeral. The entire Lu manor sank into a state of sorrow. Among them, it was Ge shi that was the most heartbroken. The Lu family had three daughters, but Lu Yan was the only one that she had given birth to. She once had great hopes for this daughter; however, who knew that it was this hope that would harm Lu Yan. It caused her to die at a young age.
Lu Yao died, the Lu family had gone bankrupt, and now, Lu Yan had also passed away. For a time, Lu Song had lost interest in things and thought of giving up his post to return home. But no matter what, the Lu family felt that they could not swallow this anger. Losing two daughters, it had to be said that Lu Yao could only blame herself, but the Lu family also had a certain degree of responsibility. But what about with Lu Yan?
The Lu family knew that this was a murder, but the person that had drawn this up was the Empress, who had remained outside of the competition. This left them a little unable to determine the situation. But no matter what, they could no longer hope for the eighth prince’s side. But to support the ninth prince, they could not quite find the right opportunity. Lu Song thought that he still had a daughter that was like a deity. Although she had a hidden illness, given the Lu family’s current situation, he had no choice but to put some more effort into this daughter.
In Ji An Prefecture, after everything had been set on the right track, Feng Yu Heng finally relaxed and wrote a letter to Xuan Tian Ming. She wrote about her own situation then spoke about how the sixth prince had also come. Before this, Xuan Tian Ge had sent out a messenger eagle, she knew that Xuan Tian Ming had already set out for the South with the army. Now, he was on the way; however, she did not know if this letter would reach his hands.
She asked Ban Zou: “With the army in motion, will the eagle reach its destination accurately?’ In regards to the communication methods in the ancient world, she felt a little uneasy. At this moment, it was currently late in the evening. To the ancient world, this was already considered late at night. she just sat next to a pond in her new imperial daughter’s manor. While feeding the fish, she spoke with Ban Zou. Throwing in a large handful of fish food, the little fishes inside ate until their bellies were completely round.
Ban Zou looked at the fish food in her hands with disdain then replied: “Our eagles have been put through special training. They’re not as unreliable as you think. They’re much better than people. They’re not things that normal carrier pigeons can compare to.”
“Oh, it’s like that!” Feng Yu Heng felt a little more relieved. Although she did not know what the process of the training was, since Ban Zou had said it like this, there would definitely not be any problems. She no longer worried about whether or not any problems would occur with the letter and began to sigh over the manor that had been left behind by the Teng family: “It must be said that the Teng family really knew how to live in comfort! This manor is even more magnificent than the imperial daughter’s manor in the capital. It’s fortunate that Xiang Rong and His Highness the sixth prince are both here. Otherwise, with just me alone living here, it would feel a bit empty. Even with you guys here, the majority of the courtyards would be empty. Just thinking about it, it feels wasteful.”
“Even if it is wasteful, you can’t bring anyone else into the manor.” Ban Zou spoke sternly: “Third young miss Feng and His Highness the sixth prince are fine, but don’t bring any other outsiders in. There is a public court to take care of public affairs. This is a private residence.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “That’s natural, that’s natural. In the worst-case scenario, just find some more servants. With more people walking around the manor, it will not feel so empty. But I am afraid that I won’t be living here for very long!” She sighed, “At most, it will be another two months before I will need to go to the South.” She felt a bit neglected because when she thought about it, her birthday would be approaching in two months. She also recalled when Lady Zhou had visited the Feng manor three years earlier to present the betrothal gifts and had said to “endure another three years.” Now that the three-year period was coming to an end, she had not needed to endure that Feng manor for a long time, but she was also unable to wait for the wedding that was to occur.
It was not that she hated the idea of marriage, but to Feng Yu Heng, 15 years of age was not the age to get married, but she was not a 15-year-old soul. The feelings with Xuan Tian Ming had also ripened, and she really hoped to get married a bit sooner and live a fitting life. The two moving forward hand in hand would also be more convenient than in the past. Unfortunately, this was not something that could be accomplished just because she wanted it. In life, there were too many disturbances; however, who knew how long things would be delayed.
Her mood was a bit dejected, and Ban Zou could see this. Although he did not know what she was thinking about, he did not speak up to disturb her. He just stood to the side and silently watched Feng Yu Heng. On the other side, Wang Chuan and Huang Quan also just stood there. They just watched the fish that had eaten so much that they did not want to eat anymore. Finally, Ban Zou could not bear to continue watching and said: “Can you stop feeding them?” Before Feng Yu Heng could reply, he suddenly said: “His Highness the sixth prince has arrived.”
“Hm?” Feng Yu Heng turned her head. Sure enough, she saw Xuan Tian Feng standing outside the entrance of this small yard in his blue robes. This yard had originally been a vineyard. It had not yet reached the season, and the grape vines had not yet been hung, but the weather in the Southwest was good, and quite a few green leaves had begun to grow. “Sixth brother.” She took the initiative to greet him, “What are you standing there for? Come and sit!” She said to sit, but where was there any space to sit. She was sitting on the stone fence surrounding the pond.
Xuan Tian Feng was not as attentive to the rules as his other brothers. Feng Yu Heng had him come over and sit, thus he went over and sat. Sitting across from Feng Yu Heng, he was also seated on a stone fence. Wang Chuan went to prepare some tea for the two, and Huang Quan brought a few plates of pastries, placing them between the two. It seemed that Xuan Tian Feng would not be leaving after just saying a few words, thus Ban Zou quietly returned to the shadows. This left Wang Chuan and Huang Quan to take care of them; however, this hidden guard endlessly criticized the sixth prince internally, scolding him countless times…