The Chun Palace Will Have a Female Master
That’s right, Feng Yu Heng had a plan, and it was a very risky plan. Right when Qing Le had entered Yuan Fei’s room, she had told Wang Chuan and Huang Quan about this plan. This shock caused the two to stare wide-eyed.
But any idea that Feng Yu Heng had set her mind to could not be changed. Just like when she had insisted on going North first. Aside from working with her, there was nothing else that could be done.
She told Huang Quan: “It must be implemented, and it must be done quickly. It will be implemented as soon as we arrive in Qing Zhou! When we arrive, you will remain in Qing Zhou for a few extra days and travel separately from me.”
After she said this, she picked up the handkerchief that Qing Le had left behind and helplessly shook her head, “Let’s sleep. I’m sleepy.”
Originally, there were two groups. One went North, while the other went East. But plans would never be able to keep up with changes. With a suggestion from Feng Yu Heng, the group going North split into two groups, and the group going East added imperial concubine Yun.
It was just that Xuan Tian Hua did not know that there was another “group” of people chasing after them…
To the East of the capital, a carriage advanced quickly. In this carriage were two children, one boy and one girl. It was none other than Zi Rui and the little girl, Ying Cao.
At this time, Zi Rui had opened up a cloth bag and was placing coins into a coin purse one at a time. He then placed this coin purse into his pocket and thought for a while. He then gave a bit of money to Ying Cao, telling her: “Put this somewhere safe. If we get separated, you won’t starve.”
Earlier this morning, he succeeded in having the palace maids and hidden guards of Winter Moon Palace send the two out of the palace. He then went to the imperial daughter’s manor to retrieve a bit of money. He lied to the guards, telling them that he would be going to Hundred Herb Hall to play. He then moved through the streets until he reached his carriage, which rushed out of the city.
Ying Cao stuffed the coins into her sleeve and furrowed her brow to tell Zi Rui: “I know that little elder brother wants to find your elder sister, but that is too dangerous. The mean guy that sent us into the palace said that if we came along, we would be captured by bad guys and eaten.”
Feng Zi Rui finished sorting out the contents of the bag then leaned back lazily against the carriage. He said in a criminal manner: “I know that going North will definitely be very dangerous.”
“Yet you will still go?” Ying Cao could not understand, “You clearly know that it’s dangerous, yet you will want to go. Little elder brother, you can’t be like this. If you don’t want to stay in the palace, we can just run out here. Don’t you have a family? Why don’t you go home instead of running out here? If we went, we would be holding young miss back.”
Zi Rui looked at Ying Cao, “You are quite understanding. Since you are understanding, don’t you know that by staying with me, you will also be holding me back?”
“That’s different.” Ying Cao stubbornly said: “The two of us are the same. Who is holding whom back! Speaking of, it was me that saved you back then. But young miss is different. Young miss is so powerful. If we went with her, she would need to split her attention to protect us. That’s why, little elder brother, we shouldn’t go North. Let’s go back, alright?”
Zi Rui raised an eyebrow: “Who said that I want to go North? It’s as you said. The North is so dangerous, and we would hold elder sister back. Why would I want to go?”
“Then we are…”
“We are going East!” Zi Rui revealed a smirk similar to one that Feng Yu Heng had, “Leading soldiers is my ambition. I am determined to train in the military camp. Who said that only the North has a battlefield? His Highness the seventh prince went to the East. As I see it, the East is not too peaceful, either!”
Zi Rui’s carriage went straight East. At this time, Xuan Tian Hua’s group had already passed through Lu Prefecture’s Peng Zhou and Ji Zhou. They were presently stopped three li outside of Ji Zhou’s city limits.
Imperial concubine Yun sat at Xuan Tian Hua’s side, a veil covering her face, while a bamboo hat covered her head. She held a cup of tea poured by the waiter, while she stared at Xuan Tian Hua. Gritting her teeth, she asked: “How should I drink this?”
Xuan Tian Hua looked at her then reached out to lift the bottom portion of the veil. Imperial concubine Yun rolled her eyes and began to drink the tea.
But Xuan Tian Hua waited for a long time but did not see imperial concubine Yun move her other precious hand to hold up this veil. She just held the cup of tea in one hand and drank. It made it clear that she wanted for him to continue hold it for her. One sip at a time, she drank very slowly.
Xuan Tian Hua very helplessly discussed with imperial concubine Yun: “Hold it up yourself.”
Imperial concubine Yun glared and lowered her voice to say: “Which one of the things that you’ve done for mother from a young age was not for yourself? What is it, now that you’ve grown up, you find it tiring to even hold up a veil for mother? Then how about you just remove this veil for me! I’m already wearing this hat, so what’s the point of wearing a veil? You really are doing something unnecessary.”
Xuan Tian Hua wanted to refute this, but after thinking a bit, imperial concubine Yun was correct. If she wanted to settle a debt from when he was young, there really was no way for it to be settled. Thus he accepted his fate and continued to hold up her veil; however, he did not express anything toward the latter statement.
Imperial concubine Yun let out a “tsk” sound. While drinking, she raised her hand and patted Xuan Tian Hua’s head, saying with a smile: “It really is Hua’er that is best.”
The scene of the two interacting was seen by all of the retinue and hidden guards. These people quietly got together and began to discuss this.
“How did a woman mysteriously get into master’s carriage? When did she get in?”
“I don’t know. She must have been hidden by master, but when did our master become interested in women?”
“This trip East is for the sake of replacing General Bu and regaining control of the Eastern Army. Although we are all soldiers of Da Shun, there are some different rules for different armies. They have followed Bu Cong for quite some time. I fear that they have lost their devotion long ago. It’s impossible that this extremely fierce master does not know. How could master bring along a woman for a mission like this?”
“This is also hard to say.” Someone analyzed more profoundly, sneakily saying: “Have you all forgotten about the earlier Yu Qian Yin? She also stayed at the palace for quite some time.”
“That girl doesn’t count. Master had a hard time, but the current one…” This person said this and subconsciously turned to look in the direction of Xuan Tian Hua. This caused everyone else to also look.
This glance, however, happened to catch Xuan Tian Hua raise a hand to wipe the corner of imperial concubine Yun’s mouth. After wiping it, he put the handkerchief away as if he had never used it. It constantly accompanied him.
These attendants were immediately on the verge of collapse.
Shocking! Too shocking! It was too unnatural!
The seventh prince, Xuan Tian Hua, had always been slightly obsessive about cleanliness. If he used a handkerchief himself, it would be fine, but once someone else had used it, he would not even want to touch it, not to mention after being used to wipe someone else’s face. But what had they just seen? Was this really their master, the seventh prince?
Someone summarized: “Looking at it like this, our palace will very soon have a female master.”
Although there was a bit of distance between Xuan Tian Hua and his attendants, his ears were extremely sharp, and his ability to read lips was great. He was able to see what these people were saying; however, he could only smile bitterly.
“Mother, you really have troubled son.”
Imperial concubine Yun, however, did not take exception to this. Rather, she pondered to herself: “You are no longer young. After we get back, it should be time to choose a princess for you. To speak about the matter of getting married, it’s your old Xuan family’s genetics that are no good. All of you children get married late. Up to this point, there is only one imperial grandson. Who knows what all of you are waiting for.”
Xuan Tian Hua reminded her: “Eldest brother’s palace will be having a celebration soon.”
“Un.” Imperial concubine Yun nodded, but it was clear that she could not be bothered to care about the eldest prince’s matters. She was entirely focused on Xuan Tian Hua’s side, “Pick a princess to help you take care of the home. Your ninth brother has someone to care for him and love him, thus I can be at ease a little more. It’s just your side that leaves me feeling worried!”
Xuan Tian Hua helplessly shook his head, “Son is still considering this and does not want to get married.”
“Is that something that you can decide just by saying you don’t want to?” Imperial concubine Yun reasoned with him: “Sooner or later, everyone will need to get married. Moreover, you are a prince. Hua’er,” She looked over at Xuan Tian Hua, “You shouldn’t still be eager for Heng Heng, right? Hah, listen to what mother says. There is only one of Heng Heng. That is the wife that your ninth brother was engaged to from a young age. Also, those two find each other congenial. Even if you are simply eager for her, there is no point! Hua’er, listen. Don’t steal from your ninth brother, alright? Aside from Heng Heng, if it’s anything else, mother will steal from that brat for you. Like when you were young, Ming’er received a sword. You only took a couple glances, but mother could tell that you liked it. Didn’t I wait until he slept to go into his bedchamber to steal it for you!”
Xuan Tian Hua facepalmed, “Back then, I just felt that the sword was no good; however, I could not understand why Ming’er liked it so much. That’s why I took a couple glances at it.”
Imperial concubine Yun smiled somewhat awkwardly, “Ah, so it was like that! It’s fine, let’s not talk about the entirety of this story, but mother’s love for you is indeed real.”
Xuan Tian Hua nodded. This was something that he knew better than anyone. Starting from a young age until now, imperial concubine Yun had devoted no less love and effort on him than for her own son. Just based on this alone, Xuan Tian Hua could never betray imperial concubine Yun, and he could never treat his only younger brother as an enemy. Thus he had to tell imperial concubine Yun: “I don’t have any other feelings for A-Heng. Helping and protecting her is just because Ming’er likes her. It’s like when we were children. Everything that Ming’er liked, I must protect.”
When he spoke, a sincere look appeared in his eyes. Although this sincerity carried some knives that stabbed at his heart, his facial expression still appeared to be calm like a spring breeze. Nobody could see that he was feeling extremely bitter at heart. Nobody could know that if this deity fell in love, that love would follow him for his entire life.
Imperial concubine Yun was startled then subconsciously said: “There’s no need for you to be so aware. I’m just joking around.”
Xuan Tian Hua nodded, “I know. Mother is always protecting us brothers. Hua’er does not have any intention of blaming mother. It’s just that mother should not say this sort of thing in the future. I fear that someone with ill intentions will hear it and deliberately cause trouble.”
Imperial concubine Yun waved her hand, “That… how about we change the subject.”
Xuan Tian Hua nodded once more, “Sure, then let’s change the subject.”
Imperial concubine Yun put down her cup of tea and thought for a while before saying: “I heard that there was a bit of gossip about you and the Feng family’s third girl?”