Xuan Tian Hua returned to the Chun Palace with the palace servant. From when he appeared to when he stopped, he did not take a single look in Prince Lian’s direction.
Feng Zhao Lian felt extremely surprised. He felt his own face and said to himself: “Could it be that this face has lost its effectiveness?” He then asked Feng Yu Heng: “Quickly help take a look for me. Could it be that I’m different from before? Has my face become disfigured? The makeup ruined?”
Feng Yu Heng was very helpless: “What’s the single thread of relation between whether your face is disfigured or your makeup being ruined?”
Prince Lian did not understand exactly what this meant but was able to guess the rough meaning, thus he said with great self-confidence: “Because my face is the best in the world, there is not a single person that is its match. There has never been a person that seen this face and not wanted to look at it. Even that damn Duan Mu An Guo had become interested when he saw this face. Unless your Da Shun’s seventh prince is not a man, there is no exception.”
Feng Yu Heng glared at him: “Seventh brother is a man. I can guarantee that, but one surnamed Feng needs to be clear on something. You are not a woman.”
“How am I…” He wanted to say how was he not a woman, but after thinking a bit, he could not say it this way, thus he changed it: “How do I not look like a woman?”
Huang Quan could not bear to continue listening and interrupted: “You do look like one. Do you think that everyone is as blind as Feng Jin Yuan? At least his Highness the ninth prince didn’t think that you were a woman when he first saw you! His Highness the seventh prince is no worse than his Highness the ninth prince. It’s natural that he can tell. Just stop dreaming.”
Wang Chuan also nodded along, “Right, do not harm his Highness the seventh prince.”
“How did it become harming him?” Feng Zhao Lian was very depressed, but there was nothing that he could do. At this time, Xuan Tian Hua’s carriage had already disappeared. There was no longer any purpose in staying. After some contemplation, he felt that it would be better to orchestrate a chance encounter with the seventh prince. Either way, they all lived in the capital. There would still be plenty of opportunities. Thus he waved his hand, “Forget it, I see that Ya Ya is also quite busy. I will be going back first. Let’s meet again.” After saying this, he left without looking back.
Feng Yu Heng was all kinds of speechless. Pointing at Feng Zhao Lian’s back, she said to the two servants: “Why do I feel that him bringing me out was for the sake of taking a look at seventh brother?”
The two servants said in unison: “Young miss only just figured it out?”
At this time, a guard appeared behind Feng Zhao Lian, and Feng Yu Heng was faintly able to hear the guard say: “Master, you must remain firm on this matter. Having your illness treated is most important. Otherwise, if this subordinate dies, I wouldn’t have the face to see the prince and princess.”
Feng Yu Heng helplessly waved her head, “Let’s go. We’re also going back.” After saying this, she grabbed Zi Rui’s hand and began walking back.
Zi Rui was puzzled and looked in the direction of Prince Lian, asking her elder sister: “Who was that elder sister? How did she end up looking so beautiful? She’s even countless times more beautiful than our former eldest sister.”
Feng Zi Rui was still young and had not seen many beautiful women. In his memories, Feng Chen Yu was the most beautiful one. But now that he saw Prince Lian, Feng Chen Yu was immediately suppressed.
Feng Yu Heng told him: “Whether it’s people or matters, you cannot only look at the surface. That person just now, for example, you feel that he should be a girl, but he’s actually a man. It’s just that he really is very beautiful. It’s such that there would always be people that think of him as a woman.”
Feng Zi Rui was completely shocked.
At that time, Xuan Tian Hua’s carriage advanced at full speed before finally arriving in front of the Chun Palace. From the moment that he exited the carriage, he looked toward the inside of the palace. He immediately felt that something was not quite right.
The usual low-key Chun Palace had disappeared. It had been replaced with a yard filled with flowers of all colors. There were also some small animals, with birds chirping clearly. Upon entering, he could immediately smell a fragrance wafting over; however, it was not the sandalwood that he was accustomed to using. It had been swapped for a fragrance of flowers and fruit. Although it smelled good, no matter how it smelled it, he felt that it was very feminine. The calm and quiet that he had been accustomed to had completely disappeared.
Xuan Tian Hua was completely shocked. Stepping into the palace, he found someone and had the gate closed. After taking just a few steps inside, two small dogs ran over and began circling him, but they did not bark. They just happily wagged their tails.
There were also a few very fat cats that came over and let out a few meows.
In the middle of the yard, the small birds were not held in cages. They just flew around inside the yard. From time to time, they would fly around behind him. This looked to be a very happy scene.
Xuan Tian Hua looked at the tall trees that had been moved in at some unknown point in time. There was also a bamboo fence on both sides of the yard, while colorful gauze hung between the trees. He truly believed that he had gone to the wrong place. This was not his Chun Palace. Instead, it was an exquisite grove. The entire scene was quite refreshing.
But when he looked at the servants in the palace, the way that they dressed had changed. They were no longer wearing the assigned uniforms. Instead, they were wearing what they wished. Every person wore something different. The male servants mostly wore burlap, while the female servants wore all kinds of colorful clothes. The female servants wore embroidered shoes, while the men used coarse burlap to wear as shoes. Not to mention them being barefoot, there were some that had their toes sticking out. They no longer took care of tidying up their hair, and it was all scattered, being tied up like mahua. This was the same for both men and women were the same, and not even the housekeeper could escape this fate.
This was not considered strange. When Xuan Tian Hua passed by the main yard and headed toward the second courtyard, he heard the sound of singing come from inside. There were a few words from a man, then a few words from a woman. They sang together really loudly and were shouting.
He paid attention to the lyrics for a while then gradually figured out the meaning.
The man sang: “You were on that side of the mountains! I was on this side of the mountains! You were on that side of the river! I was on this side of the river! Girl, oh girl, why do you not take one more glance at me!”
The woman sang: “I was on this side of the mountain! You were on that side of the mountain! I was on this side of the river! You were on that side of the river! Brave man, oh brave man, why do you not let me take another glance at you!”
This was a folk song!
Xuan Tian Hua had finally understood. It turned out that this was a folk song?
When he had passed through the hall and arrived in front of the yard, he finally saw the situation clearly. He saw the servants of the palace separated into two groups. There was a group of men and a group of women, with five people in each group. They stood on opposite sides of the courtyard. With hands next to their mouths, they sang to the other side. The lyrics were clearly that of a love song, but the people singing it were clearly not enthusiastic. Their expressions were all bitter.
The one at Xuan Tian Hua’s side was the one that had gone out to bring him back to the palace first. He quietly said with a bitter expression: “Your Highness, this is something that must be done in the palace recently. If it’s not sung to that miss’ satisfaction, we are not given food to eat.” As he spoke, he pointed forward and said: “There was a night when his Highness the ninth prince and imperial daughter Ji An suddenly sent that miss into the palace. They said that we must treat her as if she was a venerable ancestor, and we must do whatever she said. We had no right to refuse. If she wanted to plot a rebellion, we would have to help her.” This servant was extremely puzzled, “Your Highness, who exactly is this person? Have you seen how she made this palace look? We servants were all worried that if you didn’t come back soon, and there really came a day when she said that she wanted to start a rebellion, would we help her or not?”
Xuan Tian Hua facepalmed, “Yes, how could you not help. Didn’t they already say that this is a venerable ancestor.”
“Huh?” The servant was puzzled. She was so young, yet she was a venerable ancestor?
Xuan Tian Hua waved his hand: “Forget it. As long as she is happy, she can do what she wants! Just endure a little while longer. I will be going into the palace first to report.”
Seeing that Xuan Tian Hua would be going into the palace, the servant could not stop him. Stepping to the side, he gave way. But before Xuan Tian Hua could turn around completely, a shout came from behind: “Hua’er!” Immediately following this, a fragrant breeze drifted over.
Exasperated, he could only turn back around. Just as he steadied himself, he saw a person in white charge over. His entire body was embraced. A pair of thin arms wrapped around his neck quite tightly.
“Hua’er! You’ve finally come back! I’ve missed you to death!”
Xuan Tian Hua felt like crying, “Why are you here?”
The servant that had come back with Xuan Tian Hua was extremely shocked: “Brother Tian?”
A certain person let go of Xuan Tian Hua with a smile. She then patted the guard’s shoulder: “Well said, well said.”
Xuan Tian Hua grabbed imperial concubine Yun’s hand and walked toward a room. When they passed by the groups of singing servants, imperial concubine Yun loudly said: “You can leave for now. Let’s continue tomorrow. I need to talk in private with Hua’er.”
The servants had been given this order and left in a rush, fearing that she would change her mind if they were a little slow.
Xuan Tian Hua brought imperial concubine Yun into the hall of the courtyard then dismissed all of the servants. Only then did he helplessly remove the gauze covering imperial concubine Yun’s face, asking her: “Didn’t Ming’er send you back to the palace? Why did you come running to my place?”
Imperial concubine Yun blinked and said very seriously: “The palace, I’ve already gone back. I came back out.”
“Did you sneak back out again?” He was a little puzzled. How great was imperial concubine Yun’s ability that she was always able to escape?
Who knew that imperial concubine Yun would shake her head, “I didn’t sneak out. The old man agreed to it. With his permission, I walked out of the palace under his watch.”
“How could that be possible?” Xuan Tian Hua did not believe her, “How could father Emperor allow you out of the palace?”
“Why not? Hua’er doesn’t know yet, right? There is someone that wants to harm me inside the palace.” Imperial concubine Yun had a pitiful look, as she pouted and began venting her frustrations at Xuan Tian Hua.
What Xuan Tian Hua and Xuan Tian Ming feared the most was for their mother to use this tactic. When imperial concubine Yun showed this expression, the two would immediately soften up, “What is it? Who tried to harm you?” Xuan Tian Hua asked this then felt that something was not quite right: “There’s always been someone in the palace that wanted to harm you, right? Father Emperor has not gone to the inner palace in 20 years. Those imperial concubines might have begun hating you from a long time ago.”
“This time is different. They actually took action.” A fierce look flashed through imperial concubine Yun’s eyes, as she continued: “You probably still don’t know about it, but Winter Moon Palace was set on fire by someone. Nothing was left. It’s a good thing that I wasn’t in the palace. If I was, I definitely would have been burned to death.”
“What?” Xuan Tian Hua was extremely shocked. Even if he was a deity, he would never tolerate someone using this sort of tactic to try and harm his imperial concubine mother. “Who was it?”
Imperial concubine Yun shrugged: “How could I know. I…”
She was just about to say a few words, but a voice came from outside the room, saying: “Your Highness, there is someone outside the palace asking to see you.”
Xuan Tian Hua frowned: “I will not see any guests today. Go and turn them away!”
The servant outside did not leave, saying hesitantly: “We servants tried to turn them away, but that person said that you must see them even if you do not wish to.”
“Oh?” Xuan Tian Hua was startled, “Who was it that came?”
The servant replied: “He said… said that they are your… ancestor!”