Mu Jiang wiped his brow. The fourth prince’s words were another disaster that followed the first. But the situation had already progressed to such a degree. He no longer feared being bitten and simply decided to advance: “Your Highness, please speak.”
“Un.” Xuan Tian Yi was quite satisfied with his attitude, thus he said: “Monetary reparations are one aspect, but your daughter had beaten and cursed at third Young Miss Feng outside of the palace’s entrance. This sort of psychological damage is very serious. Third Young Miss Feng is still young and is only 12 years of age. I fear that this experience will affect her negatively in the future.”
Xuan Tian Ming felt that he truly had underestimated his fourth brother in the past. This old fourth seemed to be able to say anything when he was acting shameless, and he was even able to make it look quite official. Feng Xiang Rong was a lowly daughter of a concubine from the Feng family. Thinking of how bad her position was when Feng Jin Yuan was the left prime minister, she must have suffered beatings from a young age. Perhaps she might have become accustomed to it. How could it have a negative effect.
But with old fourth speaking like this, it was not good for him to expose it. After all, they were standing on the same side for this matter. Thus Xuan Tian Ming crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. He began to watch the play unfold.
Mu Jiang did not continue to wait for Xuan Tian Yi to plan his actions, as he heard Xuan Tian Yi say: “I won’t trouble you. Tomorrow, bring along your daughter that hits people to the Feng residence and apologize to third Young Miss Feng. After that, this prince will send someone to the posthouse where you reside to slap that violent girl as punishment.”
Mu Jiang felt extremely uncomfortable in his heart. He was being extorted out of money, and he would need to endure this humiliation. These princes of Da Shun really were quite a handful. He already knew that his daughter of the first wife was domineering and saw everyone as below her. At first, he did not want to bring her on this trip to the capital. The one that he favored most was his manor’s fourth young miss. Although she was the daughter of a concubine, she was the most sensible daughter. However, the fourth daughter fell ill right before departing. With no other choice, as he had already reported to the court that he would be bringing a daughter to the capital, he could only bite the bullet and bring the daughter of the first wife; however, he never thought that before she could even enter the palace, this sort of problem would be caused.
He nodded and complied, no longer daring to say a single word. He then saw the princes no longer had any other admonishments and finally retreated to his former spot.
Mu Jiang had retreated, but that was just how officials were. There would be people that some got along with, but there would also be some that they just did not like. At this time, someone present suddenly said: “I heard that the Mu family’s young miss pointed at third Young Miss Feng’s nose and insulted her second sister, saying that she relied on her man to obtain the position of imperial daughter. There were also a number of other things that were really disgusting.”
Mu Jiang’s heart trembled. He wanted to find the person that spoke. He would remember that person and hate that he could not think of a way to have that person offed after they left the palace. He had finally managed to get free. With these words, would he not be pushed back into a precarious position?
Unfortunately, after looking all around, he was unable to find who had said it. After all, there were too many people that came to the palace banquet. Thus, he could no longer worry about finding this person. He could only focus on Xuan Tian Ming’s reaction.
As a result, the people were surprised to find that the usually explosive ninth prince, Xuan Tian Ming, did not get angry upon hearing these words. Instead, he smiled with satisfaction and said: “What’s bad about that? Of course, my wife relied on me. It’s fine, this prince is reliable.”
The word “reliable” made some people unable to hold back applause for him. The princes, however, no longer continued with this topic. They all raised their wine cups and seemed to be toasting to their earlier victory.
At the same time in the imperial garden, there were some unfamiliar young misses from out of the province that went to Feng Yu Heng to try and get close to her. It seemed as though they did not know how they should open up. After thinking for a long time, one of them felt that having a common enemy would allow them to become friends, thus she began to turn the topic toward Young Miss Mu, trying to find some sort of common ground with Feng Yu Heng.
They heard that person say: “The Mu family’s young miss really does not know the depths of the world. She actually dares to say that Imperial Daughter obtained your position by relying on a man.”
Once these words came out, sure enough, the other young misses seemed to have finally found a topic. They all began to push away the Mu family’s young miss, and they seemed to hate that they could not cause some more trouble for her.
But after all of the talk, they did not see Feng Yu Heng form a bond with them over a common enemy. Instead, she said with a smile: “Rely on a man? That is also a kind of ability.”
The people were dazed. After thinking a bit, was that not true. To have a man like the ninth prince as a pillar of support, was that not a type of ability? Mu family’s young miss, if you have the ability, you find yourself a prince to get a position as an imperial daughter for yourself. Even then, those insults would be filled with jealousy.
With Feng Yu Heng saying this, the group lost interest very quickly. They found that Feng Yu Heng did not have any openings, thus they changed their target and began to concern themselves with Xiang Rong.
Xiang Rong was much easier to speak to. At the very least, the atmosphere would not be as awkward.
Not long later, a palace servant finally raised their voice: “Her Highness the Empress has arrived.”
Everyone immediately turned around and walked toward the center of the scene. Facing the head seat, they stood in wait until the Empress sat down in the seat. They then kneeled on the ground: “Long live Your Highness the Empress.”
The Empress had come out accompanied by Princess Wen Xuan and the seventh princess of Gu Shu. She was in a very good mood today. Raising her hand, she said in a warm but dignified voice: “You may rise.”
Palace servants then immediately spread out and led the madams and young misses to their spots.
Only then did things officially begin, as they heard the Empress say: “The Mid-Autumn Festival’s banquet should have been handled by the Emperor himself, but too many people came today. In addition to this, the court has business to attend to first, thus we can only begin with the male and female guests separated. When the banquet begins tonight, we will all be gathered together. I ask the madams and young misses not to mind.”
What a joke, who would dare to mind the arrangements made by the imperial palace. Thus the people began to politely chat with the Empress.
Xiang Rong quietly asked Feng Yu Heng: “Who is that at Her Highness’ side? Why does she not just look unfamiliar, but she also looks to not be someone from Da Shun?”
Feng Yu Heng told her: “That is the seventh princess of Gu Shu. She came into the capital together with an official from the South. In truth, she has been to the Feng manor before. She was with her elder brother when he asked for Kang Yi’s hand in marriage. You might have forgotten.”
With Feng Yu Heng’s reminder, Xiang Rong seemed to have recalled this matter, but she still did not have much of an impression of the seventh princess. She just felt that this sort of girl with a clear foreign look was truly beautiful, and she could not help but want to look for a bit longer.
Feng Zhao Lian reminded her: “She’s not that beautiful. She’s quite a bit worse compared to me.”
This was something that Xiang Rong acknowledged. After all, Feng Zhao Lian’s face was so beautiful that she could not defend against it, but Feng Zhao Lian’s attitude was not one that she could agree with. There was also the matter with the seventh prince. It was such that it made Xiang Rong feel a bit awkward when facing Feng Zhao Lian.
Feng Zhao Lian, however, did not have any feeling of being an enemy, but he was very clearly able to understand Xiang Rong’s feelings, as he did not forget to tell her: “Don’t think too much. Right now, we are in a competing stage. It’s still unknown who will win and who will lose.”
Xiang Rong ignored him angrily. Who wanted to compete with a man to obtain another man? Feng Zhao Lian had an abnormal state of mind. She must not get dragged into the ditch by him.
Feng Zhao Lian saw that Xiang Rong ignored him and did not think much of it. He just turned around on his own and went to speak with the other young misses. Either way, he was beautiful. He was so beautiful that even people of the same sex would not refuse him. Thus he was able to get around quite well in this setting.
On this side, the Empress had already presented the seventh princess of Gu Shu to everyone present. The people were praising her beauty while speculating internally. Why exactly had this princess from Gu Shu suddenly come to Da Shun?
Since it was a hundred-flower banquet, there would naturally be no shortage of flowers. Before everyone present had been seated for long, the Empress took the initiative to stand up and lead everyone further into the courtyard. While walking, she introduced everyone to the species of flowers that had been grown for this occasion.
Xuan Tian Ge and Feng Yu Heng’s group did not move toward the front. Instead, they just stood in the middle of the crowd. The Empress had Princess Wen Xuan accompanying her, while they would be able to interact with the madams and young misses of the officials’ families. Normally, gossip began to spread from populated areas. The places where women gathered would be even better breeding grounds for gossip, thus the two had succeeded in hearing a great amount of gossip, especially the gossip that came from the manors outside of the province. Feng Yu Heng even wanted to bring out a voice recorder to keep it all recorded.
In places where there were many flowers, the smell would naturally be thick. The young miss that had a sensitive nose helplessly retreated from the scene, finding a place where the wind blew and stopped. Feng Yu Heng saw it and did not say much; however, she could smell something different among the smell of flowers.
She wanted to slow her steps, while Xuan Tian Ge, who was rather sensitive, thought that Feng Yu Heng had seriously taken an interest in the flowers, thus she slowed down too. However, who knew that as they slowed down, they ended up toward the back of the group.
Here, there were a few young misses that were speaking with great disdain. One of them said: “Did you guys see the one wearing a veil in the back. What is she pretending? We’re all women here. What is the meaning of wearing that veil?”
Immediately following this, someone said: “Perhaps there is some sort of illness on her face?”
Someone immediately refuted this: “Impossible, how could someone with a disease on their face enter the palace? Do you think that this is the red-light district or something?”
That young miss thought about it and agreed, thus she changed her idea, “If it’s not an illness, then she must look especially beautiful. So beautiful that she does not want to reveal her face.”
“No matter how beautiful, just how beautiful can she be? It’s not like you haven’t seen Miss Lian that’s with Imperial Daughter Ji An. Even with that sort of beauty, she openly reveals it for all to see. Could it be that the one in the back is more beautiful than her?”
“That’s impossible.” Everyone sighed in unison, “It’s impossible for someone to be more beautiful than Miss Lian, unless… it’s a monster. But how could monsters exist in this world.”
“Exactly, exactly, not only is Miss Lian beautiful, but her personality is also good. The one in the back is different. I don’t think I’ve heard her say a single word. I really don’t know which family that young miss is from.”
Feng Yu Heng heard that Feng Zhao Lian was quite popular, and she could not help but smile to herself. She then slowed herself down a little more, and she very quickly ended up beside the veiled Lu Ping…