Intimidation Coming From Imperial Daughter Ji An
Fang Yi could see Feng Yu Heng’s reaction but believed that she just wished to avoid doing anything to arouse suspicion, resulting in her no longer moving forward. Lifting the curtain, she went in first and said: “Your Highness, imperial daughter Ji An has arrived, saying that she will take a look at your illness.”
At first, the Empress had been a bit unhappy from hearing what imperial concubine Yuan Shu had said. In addition to her body not being well, upon hearing that Feng Yu Heng had arrived, a bit of joy finally appeared on her face: “Quickly invite the imperial daughter in.” After saying this, she glanced at imperial concubine Yuan Shu and warned: “When it comes to certain things, do not speak nonsense. Old ninth’s wife is not someone that is easy to handle. Be careful that a dignified imperial concubine Shu will not be able to handle this situation.”
Just after her warning was given, she saw Feng Yu Heng walking in behind Fang Yi. At first, she bowed to the Empress, saying: “A-Heng greets your Highness the Empress. Your Highness, please be assured.”
The Empress was all smiles, quickly having Fang Yi help her stand up. She then said: “Over the past few days, this One has been thinking about you. If you didn’t come for this illness, perhaps it could not be treated.”
“Your Highness, don’t worry. Hasn’t A-Heng arrived!” She smiled and stepped forward. Looking at imperial concubine Yuan Shu, she grandly said: “This noble madam appears to be familiar. Thinking about it, I must have seen her at one of the imperial banquets; however, which imperial concubine is she?”
Imperial concubine Yuan Shu felt that she had lost face. In any case, she was the eighth prince’s birth mother, yet this imperial daughter Ji An had said that she did not recognize her. With a fake smile, she said: “This One is his Majesty’s imperial concubine Shu. You may greet me!”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and did not argue with her too much. She just bowed and said: “Greetings to imperial concubine Shu.” She then stood up on her own without wasting any words with imperial concubine Shu. Walking over to the Empress’ side, she did not say anything before grabbing the Empress’ wrist to begin the examination.
While checking the Empress’ pulse, imperial concubine Yuan Shu did not continue to speak; however, she continued to sit there, reluctant to leave. She wanted to see what sort of illness it was.
After being examined for a short while, Feng Yu Heng let go and told the Empress: “There isn’t anything too seriously wrong. It’s just physical weakness. You will just need to take some supplements.”
The Empress sighed: “The imperial physicians also said this, and I haven’t had any shortage of supplements, but it does not seem to be improving. This One always feels powerless. At the start, I could still walk around in the yard; however, even getting out of bed is difficult now.”
“Oh?” Feng Yu Heng was not too surprised. Getting sick in the imperial palace made it harder to get better than getting sick outside. First, the imperial physicians were more conservative, not daring to use some of the more potent medicines. Second, there were too many steps in the preparation of Chinese medicine. Any mistake on any step would result in a change in the quality of the medicine. This small mistake was also quite unexpected. She said to Fang Yi: “I will trouble aunty with retrieving the medicine being used by her Highness. If there is a medicine that has been prepared, bring it over for me to see.”
Fang Yi glanced at the Empress, and the Empress nodded: “Go ahead.”
She turned around and left. When she returned, she held a medicine along with the prescription. Behind her was a palace maid carrying the prepared medicine. It had a thick and bitter smell that caused imperial concubine Yuan Shu to frown.
Feng Yu Heng looked at the prescription then looked at the prepared medicine. Without even needing to look, she could determine what kinds of medicinal herbs were placed inside. After verifying the prescription, she handed it back to Fang Yi and said to the Empress: “There’s no real problem with the medicine. It’s just that the imperial physicians have always been too conservative. The dosage of the medicine was a bit light, which caused the recovery to be a bit slower.”
The Empress frowned: “The medicine is already so bitter, yet the dosage is still low?”
Feng Yu Heng told her: “It’s not the case that the more bitter a medicine, the more medicine there is. Whether medicine is bitter or not is unrelated to the effectiveness of the medicine.” While she spoke, she reached into her sleeve and felt around with her consciousness. Very quickly, she pulled out a few boxes of Chinese medical pills. “Your Highness, take these medicines.” She placed the medicine on the table, “Three times a day, one pill each time. You will be better after finishing these boxes.”
“Really?” The Empress’ eyes lit up. After opening up the boxes to look at the medicine, she could not help but rejoice, “I finally don’t need to drink those bitter medical soups. A-Heng, you don’t know this, but someone that isn’t sick will become a bit sick after drinking those medical soups. It’s really your stuff that’s the best. Even smelling it, there’s a faint smell of fruit. This means it definitely won’t be disgusting to eat.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and said: “There are some haws inside that help with the bitterness. When eating it, there won’t be any bitterness. There will just be a bit of a sour taste. It will taste a bit like a plum.”
Upon hearing this, the Empress immediately wanted to eat one, “It’s perfect. I won’t need to drink this bowl of medical soup. This One will eat one right now.”
She helped to remove the packaging and placed a medical pill the size of a ping pong ball in the Empress’ hand, “Your Highness can eat it like a fruit, one bite at a time. If you wish to drink water while eating it, you can drink water. If you don’t want to drink water, just finish eating it all before drinking some.”
The Empress went straight ahead. Sure enough, the taste was quite good. For someone that had become accustomed to drinking Chinese medical soups, this sort of medical pill that had some fruit taste added to it was truly a godsend.
Fang Yi saw that the Empress did not reject it and also felt at ease. She then began to thank Feng Yu Heng.
Feng Yu Heng politely said: “Aunty, there is no need to continue giving thanks. After returning from a trip far away, I should have brought some fresh things for her Highness. Unfortunately, there was an avalanche in Qian Zhou, and we were only focused on rescuing people from the disaster. We were unable to bring anything nice back.”
The Empress quickly expressed herself: “The matters of the country are most important. This One has long since passed the age of those trinkets. Instead, I’ve troubled you with thinking about it. With a person like you at his Highness the ninth prince’s side, thinking about it… younger sister Yun really can feel at ease.”
After thinking about it long and hard, she still brought it up. After all, although what imperial concubine Yuan Shu had said was preposterous, imperial concubine Yuan Shu was someone that had been in the imperial palace for a long time. She should know what sort of thing she should not say. Over the years, she had never spoken carelessly. She was also worried that if this matter was true, as the Empress of the palace, she would be the one that had to bear the brunt of the responsibility!
Feng Yu Heng had been able to guess the gist of the situation; however, she continued to feign ignorance. She only replied to the Empress’ question on a surface level: “A-Heng is very grateful to have received favor from his Majesty, your Highness and imperial concubine mother Yun.”
The Empress praised her for being understanding. The two chatted very intimately for a while until Feng Yu Heng saw that the Empress looked a bit tired. Only then did she bring up the main reason she had entered the palace: “A-Heng came today with a request of your Highness.”
“Oh?” The Empress heard this and rejoiced. Feng Yu Heng very rarely made any requests of her, thus she quickly said: “Speak. If it can be done, this One will definitely help you.”
Feng Yu Heng said: “It’s nothing major. My eldest cousin is about to get married, and my cousin’s fiancee had some accessories made at my jewelry store. As a result, right before the wedding date, my clerk accidentally broke them. Having them fixed right now will not allow them to make it in time. The craftsmen in the shop do not have the skills, thus I wanted to ask your Highness to see if I could borrow craftsman Bai for a few days, have him help resolve A-Heng’s problem.”
The Empress was startled, “How big of a matter is this?” She then said to Fang Yi: “Immediately give the word. Have craftsman Bai leave the palace today to help imperial daughter.”
Fang Yi nodded and went to inform the servants. Feng Yu Heng had already accomplished her goals, thus she did not continue to remain. It was just that right before leaving, she glanced at imperial concubine Yuan Shu and left behind: “Imperial concubine Shu, there are many disputes in the palace. Talking ill of someone behind their back is not good. I hope that imperial concubine will take care of yourself.”
“You.” Imperial concubine Yuan Shu never thought that Feng Yu Heng would suddenly counterattack like this. She immediately became furious and shouted: “Impudent! A lowly imperial daughter from outside the family actually dares to speak like this to this One! What sort of punishment do you think that is!”
Feng Yu Heng replied in an even tone, asking her: “Imperial concubine, what sort of punishment do you think it should be?”
“Of course, the death penalty!” Imperial concubine Yuan Shu’s Yue Xiu interjected, “Even if imperial daughter is coddled outside, our imperial concubine is a proper master. She is someone that has given birth to a prince. Could it be that imperial daughter feels that your own identity is even more respectable than imperial concubine Shu?”
Feng Yu Heng sneered and turned to ask the Empress: “If a palace maid speaks like this to A-Heng, your Highness, how do you think it should be handled?”
The Empress took a few deep breaths. She knew that Feng Yu Heng had naturally heard what was said earlier. Now, she had set her mind on letting imperial concubine Yuan Shu get a good look. In truth, what imperial concubine Yuan Shu’s group had said was not wrong. Even if the imperial daughter is coddled, her standing could not compare to that of an imperial concubine that had given birth to a prince. But this imperial daughter was not a normal imperial daughter. She was not the same as Qing Le of the past. She was someone that had produced steel for Da Shun and created the Divine Intent Army. During the disaster, she had saved refugees. She was someone with merits. Every single one of her accomplishments made it so that even she, the Empress, would need to welcome her with a smile, yet the lowly imperial concubine Shu did not even place her in her eyes.
The Empress did not think too much about it, her expression sinking, as she said to Fang Yi: “Slap her across the face.”
Fang Yi did not say anything and went forward to slap Yue Xiu 20 times across the face.
Imperial concubine Yuan Shu was dazed in fear. She never thought that Feng Yu Heng would actually be so domineering. Nor did she think that the Empress would be so protective. How should she continue speaking?
Yue Xiu had already dropped to her knees in fear, no longer daring to say another word. Imperial concubine Yuan Shu looked at the scene before her and gritted her teeth, saying: “This One will definitely go to his Majesty to file a complaint! Imperial daughter Ji An, just you wait.”
Feng Yu Heng, however, did not care for her words, only saying: “Imperial concubine Shu, do as you please. A-Heng will bid farewell.”
She bid farewell then left the palace. Fang Yi personally sent her out. While walking, she quietly asked Feng Yu Heng: “Imperial daughter was a little vague earlier, and this servant wished to ask once more. Was there really nothing wrong with her Highness’ medicine?”
Fang Yi had taken care of the Empress for over 20 years. She was very thorough in her thoughts. The matter of the medicine had left her feeling a little off.
Feng Yu Heng heard the question and did not hide it, saying: “In truth, what I said was not too vague. It was indeed the case that the imperial physicians did not use enough of medicine.”
Fang Yi could catch a glimpse of the true meaning: “Just how little?”
She replied: “Aside from being bitter, there was no use at all.”
“Hiss!” Fang Yi inhaled sharply. These words made it clear that it was not that the Empress’ illness was not improving with the help of the medicine. Instead, it was that she did not take any medicine. She had just spent a few months drinking bitter soup. She became furious, “Who would be so bold? Have the people at the imperial physicians’ college become tired of living?”
Feng Yu Heng lowered her voice and said: “The origin of this might not be related to the imperial physicians’ college. Aunty, do not raise your voice. If you can’t investigate this openly, you must defend against it secretly. Is this an infrequent occurrence in the palace?”
Fang Yi nodded and respectfully said: “Many thanks imperial daughter for the advice. This servant will definitely report on this advice to her Highness. Our Jing Ci Palace will remember it.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and did not say anything else. Only after she left the palace and was seated in her imperial carriage did Wang Chuan pat her chest and say: “Young miss is also quite bold. That imperial concubine Yuan Shu is the eighth prince’s imperial concubine mother. She also has a bit of power in the palace, yet young miss actually dares to speak to her like that.”
Feng Yu Heng’s expression sank but helplessly shook her head. What could she do if she was not forceful? Although she did not hear too much about imperial concubine Yun’s matters, it was not too hard to guess. She feared that imperial concubine Yuan Shu did not have any good intentions. She absolutely could not allow her to expose this matter. She hoped that the intimidation from today would cause imperial concubine Yuan Shu to think about it carefully. After all, whether it was imperial concubine Yun or the ninth prince, these were not people that could be offended lightly.
“Has his Highness said when he will be returning to the capital?” She asked Wang Chuan.
Wang Chuan smiled and said: “If we went to pick up imperial concubine, she should be able to return today.”
Feng Yu Heng let out a long sigh and said: “I just hope that they can make it in time!”
However, at this time, the carriage that had been speeding along suddenly stopped. The horses cried out, and the driver shouted: “What sort of person dares to stop imperial daughter’s carriage?”