This question seemed to have pulled Prince Lian’s soul back. She reached up and felt her face, regaining her earlier smiling and cheerful face: “It’s nothing.” It was at this time that this unparalleled beauty seemed even more moving.
In truth, Feng Yu Heng understood herself very well. She understood that she never had any defense against beautiful people, regardless of whether they were men or women. Of course, if they did stuff to the same degree as Feng Chen Yu, they would be the exceptions.
That was why Prince Lian’s current expression, one where she was clearly troubled yet insisted on saying that nothing was wrong, caused her little heart to tremble. Practically without thinking, she said: “If there is something, just say it. If it can be settled, just think about it. If it can’t be settled, we can think about how to settle it.”
The beauty with looks that could eclipse the heavens suddenly slapped her thigh, “That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear!” She then moved closer, “Ya Ya, ever since a few years ago, I have been wondering. You don’t know this, but Duan Mu An Guo’s Winter Palace is truly a treasure trove. Rumor has it that their Duan Mu family’s wealth from over the generations has been placed inside the Winter Palace. It has been said to rival the wealth of an entire nation. I have always been wanting to find a chance to steal a portion if I had a chance. Unfortunately, I never found a partner. Are you interested? Let’s go and profit illegally tonight. What do you say?”
Feng Yu Heng looked at her in a daze, seemingly as if she had lost her mind. After a long time had passed, Prince Lian reached out and waved her hand before her eyes. Only then did she suddenly leap up from the bed. Without any shoes on, she just kneeled and said in reverence and awe: “Your Highness, please forgive my sins. This servant was suddenly possessed, and my mind muddled. I don’t even know what I said. If I said anything that offended your Highness, would your Highness please be lenient toward this servant!”
“Uh…” Prince Lian subconsciously let out a sound and stared at Feng Yu Heng, unable to react for a long time.
The two quietly looked at each other for a long time. Although neither spoke, it was clear that the message coming from her gaze was: “Are you insane?”
“You’re the crazy one.”
“You’ve been possessed, right?”
“Yup, I’ve been possessed.”
Finally, Prince Lian accepted defeat and left the bed with a bitter expression, moving to squat in front of Feng Yu Heng. This squat was pretty frank, as Feng Yu Heng was immediately given the impression that Prince Lian was using the bathroom.
“Ya Ya, you don’t know this, but that Duan Mu An Guo is a bad person who bullies men and is a tyrant toward women. There is a long mountain range near my hometown, and my ancestors have said that there is a treasure buried under this mountain range; however, a small portion of this range is on Duan Mu An Guo’s territory. My cousin that was in charge said that we must get it back, but Duan Mu An Guo promised on the surface, while he actually had a grand ambition. Not only did he not return that small portion to us, he even tried to steal the larger part. Ya Ya, Duan Mu An Guo is a bad person. He wants to take over our home. Lian’er will no longer have a home soon. Lian’er is so pitiful, wu.” As she spoke, she began to lean against Feng Yu Heng’s shoulder and cry.
A beauty crying herself hoarse from suffering, what sort of feeling was that? Feng Yu Heng was thinking about the list of rulers that had favored beauties over their countries. They most likely would not be able to handle these tender feelings either, right. Just like her, as she unconsciously placed a hand on Prince Lian’s back and gently patted her, saying: “Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared.”
Fuck, what nonsense about don’t be scared? Feng Yu Heng really hated that she could not slap herself. After having experienced Xuan Tian Ming and Xuan Tian Hua, who were both extremely high-quality men, she had gained some resistance against men, but who could have known that she would eventually fall into a woman’s hands?
Prince Lian cried even harder with being comforted. As she cried and cried, she actually climbed onto the bed!
Feng Yu Heng felt that something was not quite right. After some careful thought… “The bed you climbed onto is mine!”
Prince Lian used a corner of the blanket to wipe her tears, “You’re a newcomer and must be pretty lonely. I figure I should stay with you for a night. Come on up. We’ll sleep together!”
Feng Yu Heng wanted to facepalm, “I’m not accustomed to sleeping with people.” These words were a little false, thus she changed the way she said it, “I am not accustomed to sleeping with women.”
“It’s fine if you think of me as a man too.” Prince Lian spoke very seriously, “Come!”
“This matter is not up for discussion.” Feng Yu Heng retreated a step, simply pulling a chair over to the bedside. She then asked Prince Lian with a serious expression: “What you said earlier, Duan Mu An Guo’s goal is Qian Zhou?”
“What else did you think it could be?” Prince Lian grimaced, “Could it be that he is really submitting himself to Qian Zhou then waiting for Qian Zhou to give him these three provinces? These provinces were originally his. Da Shun’s emperor did not care about it much all of these years. Why would he do something so redundant?”*
Feng Yu Heng felt ashamed, “As an exceptionally beautiful and grand woman, can you not be a little more polite in the way that you say things?”
“Hah, there’s nobody else in the room!” Prince Lian said with a look of disdain, “Also, even if there was someone, who would dare to object? This great one would exterminate their entire family.”
Feng Yu Heng did not want to continue speaking with her, but Prince Lian had become spirited: “I’ll tell you. That Duan Mu An Guo is submitting to Qian Zhou in order to provoke a conflict between Da Shun and Qian Zhou. When the conflict is in full swing, he will only need to use a bit of energy to take control of the entirety of Qian Zhou. What’s that? You want to ask why he won’t take over all of Da Shun? Are you stupid? Da Shun is so, so large. It can take on a great many Qian Zhous. He, Duan Mu An Guo, no matter how great his appetite, would still die of bloating if he forcefully swallowed Da Shun!”
Feng Yu Heng rolled her eyes. Who asked you. You’re the idiot.
Who knew that Prince Lian, however, would suddenly have a change of tone, exposing a look of great sorrow. She said: “Originally, Qian Zhou was not a place that he could take either, but he has apparently been thinking of a way to find the location of our family’s treasure trove in his territory. It seems that he has almost figured it out. Once he has found that treasure trove, taking over Qian Zhou would be just around the corner. Hah, Ya Ya, Lian’er won’t have a home anymore.”
Feng Yu Heng saw the woman’s eyes quickly turn red, scaring her into quickly getting up and pushing her down onto the bed, “Aren’t you sleepy. Quickly sleep. Sleep until it’s evening. If you’re hungry, just get up to eat. If you’re not hungry, just wake up tomorrow morning.”
After saying this, she wanted to leave; however, her wrist was caught by Prince Lian: “Don’t leave. Stay with me. Lian’er is afraid of the dark.”
The corners of her lips twitched: “It’s still not dark out.”
“Oh.” After thinking a bit, “Then Lian’er wants to hear a story. If there isn’t a story, I can’t fall asleep.”
“Hear a story?” Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Alright, that is something that I can do. From the beginning of history to Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, I can tell you a plethora of ghost stories. What genre do you want to hear?”
As expected, Prince Lian’s face turned pale as she trembled, saying: “This prince suddenly feels rather sleepy. Girl, you are permitted to leave!”
Feng Yu Heng hummed a little tune and left the room; however, after she closed the door, she curled her lips into a sneer.
Duan Mu An Guo, you want Qian Zhou? However, you don’t know that this grandaunty also wants Qian Zhou. Let’s take a look and see who will be able to take it in the end. If I win, none of Qian Zhou’s imperial family, the Feng family, will be spared. Your Duan Mu family will also need to disappear completely from my world. Also, Prince Lian, why exactly are you telling me all of this?
However, there were some things that she just could not understand for the time being. She asked the servants which room Prince Lian had been staying in and very unreservedly went inside to sleep. Although the two servants charged with holding the lanterns were a little unhappy, there was nothing that they could do.
This time, she was finally able to sleep from the afternoon until the middle of the night. When she woke up, she could faintly feel that there was someone sitting at the side of the bed. Feng Yu Heng reached out and grabbed the person’s sleeve, shaking it a couple times and saying: “Ban Zou, when did you get here? Why did you not wake me up?”
The person whose sleeve had been caught unhappily tugged his sleeve free and said with dissatisfaction: “You’re still asking me when I got back. I’ve never seen you like this, able to sleep so soundly in Qian Zhou’s territory. Are you not afraid that an assassin will come in during the middle of the night to cut your head off?”
Feng Yu Heng tugged Ban Zou’s arm and sat up. Rubbing her eyes, she helplessly said: “If I can’t even get a proper night’s sleep, what is the purpose of keeping you around? You’re clearly hiding in a corner and protecting me. I can definitely sleep soundly without a care!”
“How did you know that I was hiding in a corner?” This time, the conversation had become sidetracked, “Weren’t you in a deep sleep? You were even drooling.”
Feng Yu Heng waved her hand, “Impossible! How could I be drooling.” She then rolled her eyes and told Ban Zou, “A woman’s sixth sense, do you understand it? I could feel you, thus I could guarantee that you were there.”
Ban Zou felt that there was no communicating with this woman, thus he simply bowed, “I’m just reminding you to be vigilant at all times. That Prince Lian from Qian Zhou is doing everything possible to try and please you for no reason. Someone who is exceedingly kind for no reason is hiding ulterior motives. Don’t be muddled because of her beautiful appearance. You must stay firm. Do you understand?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Don’t worry. I definitely will not be muddled by beauty.”
Ban Zou had a look of extreme disbelief and asked her: “What sort of plans do you have now? Leave the city? Or will you stay here?”
She told Ban Zou: “I’ll be staying. Let’s wait and see. At the same time, we can wait for Xuan Tian Ming. When he arrives, I will leave. Or I could stay here and help him open the gates to the city.”
Ban Zou left with an “are you stupid” look, disappearing in a flash.
Feng Yu Heng scratched her head then continued to sleep.
She decided to remain in Song Zhou. With this decision, she remained for another ten days. During these ten days, the story of “during the magic performance, great leader took an interest in a girl named Fu Ya, and she was stolen away by Qian Zhou’s Prince Lian” had managed to become a story that made its way around Song Zhou City.
During the new year’s celebration, the Fu family’s doors were closed tight. They announced to the outside that madam Fu’s illness was too severe, and they would not be receiving any visitors to keep it from getting too noisy. But inside the residence, master Fu, Fu Heng, and madam Fu, Jiang shi, and the real Fu Ya were warning each other: “The person that substituted for our daughter is our benefactor. No matter what, we need to keep this matter under wraps.”
However, on the eleventh day of the first month, one of the medicinal herbs needed for Jiang shi’s medicine ran out. There was nothing Fu Ya could do. She could only put on a bamboo hat and use a collar to hide her face before carefully going out. She was worried that she would be recognized if she went to the usual medicine shop, thus she had no choice but to traverse half of Song Zhou City to visit a different medicine shop.
However, who knew that even with her being extremely careful, the winds would be extremely strong and managed to push her bamboo hat out of position. Although she managed to react quickly and bring the bamboo hat back into position, who knew that this scene would be seen by two girls on the street. One of them let out a quiet “eh” sound and stopped in place. With a look of confusion, she said to her companion: “That girl just now, why did she look so familiar?”
*TN: The direct translation of this saying would be “why would he bother taking his pants off to fart?”