The Fury of the Ninth Prince and the Seventh Prince
“Imperial daughter!” The wet nurse suddenly turned toward Feng Yu Heng and said with a pleading expression: “Just now, this servant heard a maidservant say that the imperial daughter had come over to this side. I wonder if imperial daughter saw who killed our eldest young master? I beg imperial daughter to say it clearly! I beg imperial daughter!” While saying this, she began to kowtow.
In an instant, everyone’s gazes focused on Feng Yu Heng. Feng Yu Heng recalled that they had bumped into a servant while returning to the front yard. Thinking about it, that servant must have mentioned it. This was not much of a problem, but because of Lu Cuo’s death, it placed her where the waves were fiercest.
But what of it? Suspecting her? What a joke.
Feng Yu Heng snorted coldly, “That’s right, this imperial daughter did come because his Highness Fei Yu and Zi Rui saw a strange man standing near the bridal courtyard while they were running around and playing, thus I came over to take a look.”
The wet nurse was startled and rushed to say: “A strange man? Imperial daughter, what do those words mean? Our young miss only just married into the Yao manor. Imperial daughter, must not place this accusation on our young miss!”
Feng Yu Heng was puzzled, “What accusation? When did this imperial daughter accuse anyone of anything?”
The wet nurse’s tongue was tied, but she still reluctantly said: “Imperial daughter just said that there was a strange man standing near the bridal courtyard. This, this is not good for the new madam’s reputation.”
“That Lu Yao is able to secretly meet up with a man. What reputation is there to worry about?” Huang Quan could not bear to continue listening, “When we came over, we saw your young miss getting tied up with this dead person. They were speaking in a very veiled manner.”
“This…” The wet nurse was extremely shocked then began to deny it, “Miss, this absolutely must not be said!” As she spoke, she quickly kowtowed to Yao Jing Jun and loudly said: “Eldest master, you need to support our young miss! That’s right, young miss came out to see the eldest young master, but that was because the eldest young master has been out of province this entire time. He didn’t even make it back in time for when our young miss left the family home. When he finally arrived, he wanted to come over and speak with our young miss. They are brother and sister, and it’s normal that they would see each other. He even gave her a jade ruyi inlaid with gold.* If eldest master does not believe it, send someone to the bridal courtyard to check. This servant knows that young miss coming out on her own is improper, but no matter how improper, he was her elder brother. It’s completely different from what imperial daughter meant!” The wet nurse was becoming emotional. While speaking, she wiped away some tears then bitterly shouted toward Feng Yu Heng: “Imperial daughter, please be benevolent and forgive our young miss!”
Feng Yu Heng nearly laughed from hearing this and thought, wasn’t this wet nurse in too much of a rush to slander her? There were some missing links here!
But the wet nurse’s words were clearly understood by everyone. Put plainly, this matter was quite simple. It was just an elder brother that had come to see his younger sister and gave a wedding gift. What was wrong with that? The important matter was still why had the elder brother died. This wet nurse’s meaning was…
“Hey!” Suddenly, Xuan Tian Ge spoke up and asked the wet nurse: “Is there something wrong with your brain? Your eldest young master has died, yet you don’t ask Yao family’s eldest master to help find the culprit. Why is it that you’ve taken a bite at A-Heng? Open your eyes and take a look. Is this someone that you can afford to offend? You really are a crazy person!”
The wet nurse’s face turned pale, as the hands that held her up began to tremble. She thought to herself that this trial would truly be difficult to pass. Not to mention an imperial daughter, there was also the only palace princess of Da Shun helping her. What should she do to successfully get around this? Turning her head to look at Lu Cuo’s corpse, a look of disdain flashed across her face; however, she quickly returned to normal.
The wet nurse did not know what she should say for a while. It was one of the maidservants that accompanied Lu Yao that said with a trembling voice: “The, the culprit wouldn’t be imperial daughter, right? She had just come over in this direction!”
“Ha!” Feng Yu Heng ended up laughing. Looking at the three kneeling servants, she felt that if she argued with them, it truly be an insult to her intelligence! But she could not choose to not say anything. After all, there were so many people watching. It was possible that there would be some fools. This situation had occurred in the Yao family home. Even if she did not do it to appease them, she had to provide an explanation to the Yao family. Thus she stopped smiling; however, the corners of her lips remained lifted. For anyone that looked carefully, her current appearance very closely resembled that of the ninth prince, Xuan Tian Ming.
She asked the servant, “There are quite a few people moving around. Why is it that this imperial daughter is the culprit? This imperial daughter and your young master have never been acquainted. Why would I kill him?”
The servant spoke very logically: “Imperial daughter and eldest young master are not acquainted, but imperial daughter and our young miss do not get along well. It’s hard to avoid the innocent being caught up. Also, there are indeed plenty of people moving around, and there are even more servants, but eldest young master is a man. He is also a bit skilled in martial arts. How could a normal servant kill him. Thinking about it… thinking about it, only someone with imperial daughter’s martial ability co-could do it.”
The more she said, the quieter her voice became. It was not that she felt that she was unjustified. Since she had already planned to frame someone else, she would not be stopped by something like justifications. It was just that she had accidentally seen Xuan Tian Ming’s gaze when looking to the side. That gaze was like that of a wolf’s, and it nearly scared her into biting her own tongue.
This servant’s analysis was very logical, but the people present were not idiots. They were all clear on what sort of person Feng Yu Heng was. Because of enmity with Lu Yao, she would kill the eldest young master of the Lu family in the Yao manor. This was something that imperial daughter Ji An would not do unless her brain was filled with water.
Before Feng Yu Heng could speak, the eldest prince became furious and loudly shouted: “Utter nonsense!”
The second prince agreed, saying: “Servant of the Lu family, have you gone crazy? Do you know what sort of crime it is to slander an imperial daughter?”
The wet nurse also became fierce, saying with a trembling voice: “But if… if it isn’t slander?”
“Elder brother!” Just as the wet nurse finished speaking, a shriek came from the direction of the bridal courtyard. Immediately following this, there was a girl wearing a red wedding dress dashing over. If it was not Lu Yao, who else could it be.
Yao Shu subconsciously went over toward her. Lu Yao ran over to him, and Yao Shu helped support her; however, she was staring fixedly at the corpse. Tears began to stream down uncontrollably.
“Elder brother!” She rushed over to the corpse’s side and cried herself hoarse. She endlessly shouted: “Elder brother, who could be so cruel? Who was it that killed you? Elder brother! You rushed back from out of the province for the sake of seeing your younger sister get married. The jade ruyi that you sent us hasn’t even been shown to my husband yet, but how did you already die! Elder brother! Don’t scare me. Open your eyes and look. It’s Yao’er! It’s the younger sister that you’ve doted on for your entire life! Elder brother!”
Lu Yao’s cries were sincere, causing the madams and young misses present to also wipe away tears.
Yao Shu repeatedly consoled her from the side: “Yao’er, don’t ruin your health. Quickly get up.”
“Husband!” Lu Yao suddenly began to beg in front of Yao Shu: “Husband must support elder brother! Elder brother died in the Yao manor. Husband must not ignore this!”
Yao Shu was feeling distressed for Lu Yao, but Yao Jing Jun did not like hearing what she had said, snorting coldly: “Who said that it would be ignored? What sort of family is my Yao family? Since this matter occurred, it must be investigated. To dare come to my Yao family and kill people, I really must ask who has this courage!”
Lu Yao trembled. Everyone said that the Yao family’s masters were peaceful people, but Yao Jing Jun was no less frightening than her father, Lu Song, when angry.
“Yao’er, get up first. Get up to speak.” Yao Shu was still tugging at Lu Yao.
At this time, the wet nurse and maidservant had rushed over to Lu Yao’s side. Both of them cried: “Young miss, eldest young master died an unjust death. This matter cannot be unrelated to imperial daughter Ji An!” Nobody saw it, but when the wet nurse spoke, she forcefully pinched Lu Yao then continued: “Even the servants of the Yao family in our courtyard said that they saw imperial daughter Ji An here then quickly depart. Imperial daughter has always had a bit of enmity toward young miss; however, who knew that this enmity would be directed toward the eldest young master. Eldest young master truly died an unjust death!”
Feng Yu Heng?
Lu Yao’s mind quickly spun. In truth, she had faintly heard about the situation over here earlier. She knew that her servants had already turned their aim on Feng Yu Heng. There was currently no other course of action. Acting along with them would be the safest option, thus she gritted her teeth and loudly said to Feng Yu Heng: “Why exactly must you kill my elder brother? If you have enmity, come at me. Why must you kill my elder brother?”
“Such a beautiful play about the profound love between siblings!” Xuan Tian Ming finally spoke up. Before Feng Yu Heng could speak, he could no longer bear to continue listening.
Xuan Tian Ming was the youngest of the princes; however, he was also the one that could most easily evoke feelings of horror in others. At this moment, not a trace of indignation could be seen on his face, as he still had his usual look of indifference. He even had an arm resting on Feng Yu Heng’s shoulder, casually helping to remove a dead leaf that had fallen onto her hair. However, the words that he said caused the members of the Lu family to begin sweating in fear, “Not to mention that this prince’s wife didn’t kill him, but even if she did, what of it? You’re called… Lu what was it again? This prince does not understand. Who do you think you are? What do you think the Lu family is in this prince’s eyes? Who could have known that Da Shun would have someone that dared to provoke this prince’s beloved consort. Has your Lu family prepared itself to accept this prince’s fury? Can it endure the aftermath of this prince’s revenge?”
His lips were curled in a wicked smile, as he stood at Feng Yu Heng’s side. The beautiful scene was like a picture. But this picture was frightening and could kill. It was such that Lu Yao did not even dare look over, fearing that Xuan Tian Ming would kill her with just a glance.
Nobody from the Lu family dared to speak again; however, they heard a gentle and elegant voice speak from the group of princes, saying to a servant: “Go to the Lu manor and bring prime minister Lu over. If he asks for a reason, just tell him to come and collect the corpse!”
Xuan Tian Hua never said more than was necessary, and he very rarely said anything fierce in front of others. These words left everyone staring wide-eyed. The words “collect the corpse” allowed everyone to know that the Lu family had not just offended the ninth prince. There was also the seventh prince.
His Highness the ninth prince was one that would start fires to seek revenge over any little thing.
His Highness the seventh prince was very talented and would not anger easily, but once he did get angry, the retribution would be even fiercer than what his Highness the ninth prince would deliver!
TN: Ruyi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruyi_(scepter)