Lu Yao’s request seemed preposterous, but the two had already bowed to heaven and earth. They were already a properly married couple, and it could not be considered too improper.
Yao Shu had a kind heart. Seeing that the culprit of Lu Cuo’s death had already been found, and although he felt a bit uncomfortable about Lu Yao’s people framing Feng Yu Heng, she was now his wife. They had concluded the proper rituals, and it was already properly filed with the government. In any case, he should provide his wife with some protection. Thus he did not say anything and helped Lu Yao while guiding granny Gui to the bridal courtyard.
With such a thing happening at the wedding, nobody was in the mood to continue. But the people enjoyed gossipping. The results of Lu Yao’s body examination had not yet come out, thus there was nobody in a rush to leave. They just slowly sipped on the tea brought up by the servants. At the same time, they wanted to laugh at the expense of Lu Song, who was still kneeling at the feet of the seventh prince.
Feng Zi Rui was at his elder sister’s side and quietly said to her: “Cousin-in-law looks really fierce. I really don’t know what eldest cousin sees in her.”
Feng Yu Heng laughed and said: “You’re still young, but you seem to understand quite a bit.” But after thinking a bit, didn’t most children mature earlier? Thinking back to when she had just returned to the capital, Xiang Rong and Fen Dai were no more than ten years old. Xiang Rong was still a little more innocent, but that Fen Dai even knew to try and seduce Xuan Tian Ming. Looking back around at the nine-year-old Zi Rui, she did not dare treat him as a young child any further.
Looking over again at Lu Song, who was kneeling there with his head down, he felt that he could not show his face. A dignified standard-first rank official was kept kneeling like this in front of so many people. If this was in court, it would be fine, but this was just a family’s residence. What sort of situation was this?
But the complaints in his heart and the feelings of shame were pointless. The person that had him kneeling was the seventh prince, Xuan Tian Hua. Normally, he was kind and gentle to all; however, everyone knew that he was the one person that must never be angered. Today, the Lu family had fallen into this situation. Lu Song thought to himself that this trial would most likely not be easy to pass.
Feng Yu Heng tilted her head shifted herself slightly to say to Xuan Tian Ming: “Take a guess. How will seventh brother mess with prime minister Lu?”
Xuan Tian Ming shrugged: “I don’t know, but it will be enough suffering. Offending this prince just results in being whipped, but offending seventh brother can result in any number of outcomes. Let’s take a look at Lu Song’s luck and the results of the body examination.”
Xuan Tian Ge also came over at this time and began to gossip with the two: “Say, if that Lu Yao does not have a pure body, how should this matter be handled?” While she spoke, she looked toward Feng Yu Heng seriously, “A-Heng, would the Yao family acknowledge that granddaughter-in-law?”
Feng Yu Heng sneered, “If she really does not have any shame and lost her purity before marriage, this imperial daughter cannot do without cleaning house for the Yao family. Even if eldest cousin ends up hating me, this would be something that I must do.” At the very least, she could not allow Yao Xian to look at this sort of disgusting person every day. She did not have too many deep feelings for the other people of the manor. After all, the time that they had spent together was short. They were all good people, but when it came to feelings, it all relied on the blood relations with the body’s original owner. It had to be the case that Yao shi was incompetent and caused these blood ties to become a bit weaker. But with Yao Xian present, everything was different. The two were close. He was an existence that could not be replaced by anyone.
“I like this bit of your personality!” Xuan Tian Ge praised her sincerely, “Only someone like this will not be bullied by others.”
Xuan Tian Ming snorted coldly, “You think that you’re any better than her? This prince heard that when we were in the North, the son of lord Liao’s family went to inquire about marriage, and you threw all of the gifts that they had brought out of the palace’s entrance.”
“Tsk.” Xuan Tian Ge expressed her disdain, “Wasn’t it all learned from you guys. I wonder which elder brother it was that taught me to not hold back against the people that I do not like but still come to visit. Just hold them down and give them a beating first before talking. In any case, I gave them some face and did not really beat them.”
Xuan Tian Ming smiled bitterly. Was this not what he had taught her from a young age. In this generation, the old Xuan family only had this one little girl. There were nine grown boys that would occasionally conflict in their official business, but they all doted on this single younger sister. After thinking a bit, Xuan Tian Ge had reached the marrying age, but with her status as a palace princess and the only palace princess in Da Shun, how much room did she have to make her own decisions?
In an instant, all three thought of this, and the atmosphere became a bit gloomier. Zi Rui noticed that something was off and went to tug on Xuan Tian Ge’s hand, quietly saying: “Elder sister Tian Ge, how about you marrying our cousin! We still have so many cousins, and they are all good boys. The Yao family is really good. You won’t be bullied if you marry into the family.”
Xuan Tian Ge let out a “pft” then laughed. Pinching Zi Rui’s small cheeks, she said: “How could this palace princess be bullied.”
Feng Yu Heng also laughed, “It’s already good enough if she doesn’t bully others.”
While they spoke, Feng Fen Dai stomped over to their side. Following this came the fifth prince with a worried expression.
Speaking of, the fifth prince, Xuan Tian Yan, had been quite worried about Fen Dai, especially when he saw Feng Fen Dai heading over with a provocative look. Xuan Tian Yan even thought of pulling her back. But there were many people nearby and could not really charge forward.
At this time, Fen Dai had already arrived. She first saluted the ninth prince and Xuan Tian Ge. She then said to Zi Rui: “Younger brother returned to the capital but didn’t come to play in the Feng residence. Fourth sister really missed you.”
Zi Rui was always very courteous in front of others, thus he gave Fen Dai a salute then respectfully said: “Fourth sister.” The words that then came out of his mouth were not at all lacking in dignity: “If fourth sister is saying for Zi Rui to go and play in the Feng residence, pick an appropriate day. Zi Rui will prepare a gift and visit properly. But if you’re saying to go home and take a look, I can go at any time.”
These words caused Fen Dai to lose her temper. She repeatedly thought to herself that with a sister like that, the younger brother would also be the same. Feng Zi Rui’s mouth was becoming more and more similar to his elder sister’s. However, she did not know how Yao shi gave birth to these two strange ones. Thinking of Yao shi’s weak personality, it was completely different from these two siblings! But she immediately recalled the time Yao shi had stabbed Feng Jin Yuan, thus she knew that she just did not explode. When she exploded, she would move straight to using a knife.
She settled herself. Her goal with coming over naturally was not to concern herself with Zi Rui. It was to cause Feng Yu Heng to feel disgusted. At this moment, she deliberately looked around then feigned shock when asking: “Today is the wedding of the Yao manor’s eldest young master, but why do I not see madam Yao in attendance? She is the eldest young master’s aunt!” She then looked at Feng Yu Heng with a smile that had bad intentions, “Could it be that second sister did not have a chance to go and visit madam Yao after returning to the capital? This is second sister’s mistake. In any case, she is your mother.”
Xuan Tian Ming turned around and did not want to pay any attention to Fen Dai. The arguments between girls really were annoying. Fortunately, his A-Heng would not eat a loss; otherwise, he could not go without concerning himself with this. He did not mind shutting the Feng family’s fourth young miss’ mouth completely.
When he turned around, he happened to see the fifth prince looking over in his direction with an apologetic expression. Xuan Tian Ming looked away and did not continue looking. He did not need any sort of apology. If apologies had any use, what was the point of his whip? It was fine if his wife did not suffer any grievances, but once she was bullied, even if he destroyed the world, he would seek revenge until his wife was happy.
Once Fen Dai’s words were spoken, Feng Yu Heng did not rush to reply. She very calmly picked up her cup of tea and took a few sips. As for Fen Dai, she just stood in front of her while feeling awkward.
When Feng Yu Heng finally decided to reply, she ended up saying: “Fourth sister is so concerned about mother. Thinking about it, it seems that kindness will always be remembered! Second sister does not know how to thank you. How about this, when the banquet has come to an end, come with me to the Yao family’s other residence to visit her! Mother was talking about how she wanted to eat some grapes from Fan Jiang. Thinking about it, the fifth prince’s palace should not be lacking any. Fourth sister should bring some, that way you won’t be impolite for visiting without a gift.”
When she spoke, her voice was not quiet, and the fifth prince was only a few steps away. He heard every word that Feng Yu Heng said. It would be fine if he was not mentioned, but since he was mentioned, he had no choice but to immediately say: “If madam Yao likes red grapes, this prince will happily send some. Fourth young miss will go to the Li Palace later to fetch some. This prince will also go along to visit. Speaking of, we will also be related in the future. We naturally ought to go and visit.”
Fen Dai heard this. Not only had she not come out victorious, she even ended up taking a loss. For a while, she felt extremely indignant and wanted to say some more; however, the fifth prince was already giving her a look, warning her to not cause any further trouble.
Fen Dai would not listen to others, but she would still listen to some of what the fifth prince said. Thus she immediately closed her mouth and turned to return. But when she saw the girls at her original table looking over, they all knew that she had not come out on top. She did not want to go back and be laughed at by them. Looking once more, there was an empty chair next to the fifth prince, thus she simply turned once more and quickly walked over.
The fifth prince did not have any objections to this. In any case, it would be easier to keep an eye on her with her nearby. He just nodded apologetically to Feng Yu Heng before turning back to console Fen Dai.
At this time, it had been a while since Lu Yao had gone to the bridal chamber to be examined. Everyone craned their necks to look; however, they did not see her come back. They could not help but begin to discuss this.
Feng Yu Heng also felt that it was a little off. Just as she was about to send someone to take a look, they heard someone present suddenly say: “They’ve returned!”
Looking over, sure enough, Lu Yao’s group returned with granny Gui from the small path, and she could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
Xu shi personally went forward to greet granny Gui and respectfully brought her back. She did not express anything to Lu Yao, as she remained peaceful and at ease. She no longer expressed the same warmth as when welcoming in a new bride.
At this time, everyone’s gaze was focused on granny Gui, as they waited to see if she would say anything that would ignite discussion around the capital.
Feng Yu Heng, however, looked past granny Gui and looked straight at Yao Shu. She just saw that he was supporting Lu Yao with one hand and holding her shoulder gently with the other. It seemed that he had a very loving expression.
Her heart went “thunk.” At this time, she heard granny Gui loudly announce the result of the body examination: “Through this old servant’s personal examination, the Yao family’s young madam, Lu Yao, is… a virgin!”