Feng Yu Heng realized the possibility that there was a problem with the clothes, but the clothes were given to her by Xu shi. She did not have any suspicions about Xu shi, so where did this problem come from?
Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brow and thought for a while. She did not even pay attention when Xuan Tian Ge and Xiang Rong were speaking, as she said: “I’m going to speak with eldest aunty for a bit. You two go ahead.” After saying this, she turned around and went toward the back.
Xiang Rong looked back in confusion; however, Xuan Tian Ge pulled her back: “Let’s continue on our way. Your second sister has her own ideas. If we follow her, we’ll cause her trouble.”
When Feng Yu Heng reached Xu shi’s side, Xu shi was pulling Lu Yao along and saying: “Heavenly Hall cannot be compared to the imperial garden. In the end, the places where the madams and young misses gather will have more relaxed rules. Heavenly Hall has noble officials, princes and even the Emperor. Everything that we say and do will need to have some consideration. Just remember that speaking more will lead to mistakes. Regardless of what other people do, we just need to watch our own mouths.”
Lu Yao nodded obediently and said: “Daughter-in-law will heed Mother’s teaching.”
Xu shi said: “It can’t be considered a teaching. It’s just a reminder.”
While the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were speaking, Qin shi and Miao shi hid to the side. Of course, they did not feel distant from Xu shi, but they just did not like Lu Yao.
Seeing that Feng Yu Heng came over, Xu shi patted Lu Yao’s arm, “Go and speak with your friends. I saw that you have not had a chance to go and see them since coming into the palace. Me holding onto you the entire time is not proper. Go on!”
Lu Yao glanced at Feng Yu Heng then nodded. She then said to Xu shi with a smile: “Many thanks, Mother, for understanding. Daughter-in-law will go and find my friends to chat for a while before coming to take care of Mother.” After she finished speaking, she bowed slightly and began to head toward the back.
Only then did Xu shi warmly receive Feng Yu Heng and ask: “A-Heng, is something the matter? I saw that you were enjoying your walk with Palace Princess Wu Yang. It seems that you suddenly came in this direction.”
Feng Yu Heng comforted her, “It’s nothing major. I thought that I couldn’t just leave aunty in the back here. I ought to come back here and accompany you for a while.”
The two chatted for a while, and Feng Yu Heng deliberately directed the conversation toward the clothes, as she feigned ignorance and said: “Aunty’s stitches are really good. Even Palace Princess Wu Yang praised these clothes for looking good.”
Xu shi laughed upon hearing this and said: “I spent a number of days working on these clothes. I was worried that you wouldn’t like them. But to speak truthfully, the young misses of each family are competing in terms of beauty. I feel that these clothes may be a bit lacking and does not live up to your status.”
Feng Yu Heng said: “Nothing of the sort. Clothes made by relatives are a layer of intimacy. This is unrelated to status. Aunty also knows the situation of the Feng family and of my mother… If it wasn’t for aunty looking after me, perhaps A-Heng would not be able to wear clothes sewn by her own relatives.”
When she mentioned Yao shi, Xu shi also felt helpless. The two sighed for a while before Feng Yu Heng said: “At first, I was worried that Lu Yao would be jealous of these clothes that aunty made, but I saw just now that she was very polite when speaking with aunty. Only that allowed me to feel at ease.”
Xu shi smiled wryly, “When I was making these clothes, of course, it was seen by her, and she asked who I was making them for. Hearing that I was making them for you, she began to help out.” Xu shi was someone that had always been kind hearted. If she could avoid thinking poorly of someone, she would do her best to avoid it. Although she had some unpleasant feelings about Lu Yao, she definitely would not avoid praising her when she did something good. “I thought of this kindness as her feeling regretful about that matter with Xiang Rong from before the wedding.”
Feng Yu Heng did not say anything else. She was not completely sold on the conspiracy, but there were some truths that were placed in front of her. If she did not wake up, she would be an idiot. She was already completely certain that there was a problem with her clothes, and this problem was definitely related to Lu Yao.
She accompanied Xu shi and chatted for a little while before finding an excuse to leave. Right before leaving, she took a look toward Lu Yao and Lu Yan. Although the two sisters were together, there was not the slightest bit of communication. Lu Yan would occasionally look sideways in disdain toward Lu Yao, as contempt was written all over her face.
Very quickly, the womenfolk arrived at Heavenly Hall’s entrance. The Empress also knew that the madams and young misses that had just ridden horses were not doing too well. Fearing that they would go against the vibe of the banquet, she had palace servants bring them to the inner hall to be taken care of. Feng Yu Heng also used this to take a short leave. Finding a place where there were no people, she quickly shifted into her space.
The clothes were removed very quickly. Looking more carefully, there did not appear to be anything around the collar, but when she felt it with her hand, she found that there seemed to be something in the collar. Before wearing these clothes, she had not inspected it too carefully. It was all because it was sent by Xu shi. The trust that she felt caused her to forget the caution that she usually had. She even forgot that the Yao family now had a Lu Yao residing within it.
Feng Yu Heng immediately used a pair of scissors to tear open the collar. It would be fine if it was not opened, but once it was, she found that there was indeed a space inside the collar.
But speaking of, the thing that caused the itch was not much. It was just a few weasel hairs from a writing brush. But the thing that caused her to feel some pain was actually countless tips of needles! It was not hard to see that these tips were all taken from the sewing needles. Counting carefully, there were over 20.
Feng Yu Heng frowned. Although this was not very noticeable, it caused her to feel very uncomfortable. It was such that she felt unpleasant during this banquet. Aside from this, the clothes were made by Xu shi. By using the feelings that she had toward the Yao family, Xu shi would not be able to avoid this responsibility. Lu Yao, oh Lu Yao! You really came up with a good idea.
She threw the clothes on the ground, and an angry expression surfaced. It seemed that she had been too forgiving of Lu Yao. Some people just would not cry without seeing a casket. She had tolerated her because of Yao Shu time and time again; however, she never thought that her own tolerance would be met with ruthlessness. A sharp look flashed through Feng Yu Heng’s eyes. She no longer had any plans of forgiving that woman!
Changing into some clothes that she had kept prepared inside her space, she found that there was nobody around after coming out of her space. Feng Yu Heng then quickly headed toward Heavenly Hall.
At the same time, a girl that had arrived late also arrived at Heavenly Hall under the guidance of a eunuch. The eunuch had a slightly confused expression, but he was very polite to the girl. When they arrived, the girl said: “You can go back. I will go in on my own.” The eunuch did not think at all. He just saluted then retreated.
As for the girl, she did not go into Heavenly Hall. Instead, she wrapped around to the side courtyard and stopped beside a bit of rockery. With a hand on her chest, she breathed deeply.
This was the imperial palace? Fu Ya looked at the Heavenly Hall that was not far away. The music and sounds could clearly enter her ears. From time to time, palace servants and dancers would move around in front of the hall, and it was very lively.
Fu Ya was very nervous. This was her first time entering the imperial palace, and she had only come because of Yao shi inciting her. The bit of confidence that she had summoned while outside the palace had already been completely eliminated without anything remaining. She had come late. When she entered, she heard the servants from the imperial garden say that everyone had gone to the horse track, thus she rushed in that direction. But when she arrived there, she heard that the Empress had brought everyone over to Heavenly Hall. She immediately went and found a random palace servant to bring her to Heavenly Hall. She did not know why, but when the eunuch saw her, he was very respectful. There was even a bit of reverence and fear. At first, Fu Ya thought that it was because she could enter the palace, which caused the eunuchs to feel that her status was very high, which made them act this way. But it was later on that she found that this was not the case. The reason that they feared and revered her was that she truly looked too much like Feng Yu Heng. Because these eunuchs had seen Feng Yu Heng at the horse track earlier along with what she wore, they did not immediately make a mistake, but in the end, they were dazed. They did not dare acknowledge it and did not dare offend her.
After Fu Ya sent off the palace servants, she did not dare enter the hall. She found a courtyard to sit and rest for a while. The imperial palace was truly too large. She went from Rui Gate to the imperial garden. She then moved from the imperial garden to the horse track and from the horse track over to Heavenly Hall. She never stopped moving, and she was almost dead tired from walking. To enter the hall like this would be too lacking in decorum.
Fu Ya had originally planned on sitting there to rest for a while; however, who knew that before she could catch her breath, she saw a girl walk past the courtyard. She looked to be around 13 or 14 years of age and was wearing a pink dress. She was very beautiful. The girl casually glanced inside the yard and saw Fu Ya. The girl that looked over was given a fright. Her calves trembled, as she stopped in her tracks.
Fu Ya’s heart leaped into her throat, as she watched the girl walk over to her. She then looked her over then stared at her face. After a while, she asked in confusion: “Imperial… Imperial Daughter Ji An? You changed your clothes?” After thinking a bit, Feng Yu Heng had just been riding a horse too. There were too many people that recognized her, thus changing her clothes would be normal. Thus she happily saluted: “Greetings Imperial Daughter, why is Imperial Daughter standing over here? Are you not going into the hall?” Odd, she had spoken with Feng Yu Heng for quite a while earlier. Why did she feel so unfamiliar now? It was as though it was a different person. But this did not make sense. This was clearly Feng Yu Heng’s face.
Lu Yan was extremely puzzled, but this did not show on her face. She very warmly grabbed Fu Ya and chatted for a long time. As a result, the more they chatted, the more awkward the atmosphere became. As she continued to speak, the girl that she had called Imperial Daughter Ji An went from being dazed to looking helpless. She was able to hear everything but did not give a single response. This personality differed from Feng Yu Heng’s by far too much. Although Feng Yu Heng would also ignore people that she looked down on, they were still on speaking terms.
Gradually, Lu Yan began to realize that something was not quite right. Looking carefully at the person in front of her, she very quickly found that she seemed to be a bit thinner than Feng Yu Heng. She also seemed to be a little bit taller. The hairstyle was also different, as was the makeup. Feng Yu Heng did have time to get changed, but in such a short span of time, how could she have redone her hair, changed her accessories and even redone her makeup? Things were off by too much.
Her face became solemn. Finally, a bold thought appeared in her mind, “You aren’t Imperial Daughter Ji An?”
Fu Ya helplessly said: “I never said that I am Imperial Daughter Ji An.”
“Then why did you never refute it while I was speaking?”
“You were speaking the entire time. I didn’t have any chance to interject. How should I refute it?”
Lu Yan was very shocked, but she also remembered a matter. She had once heard her father speak with her mother. He seemed to have mentioned that a girl that looked extremely similar to Imperial Daughter Ji An had appeared, and she had been recognized by the insane Yao shi as her own daughter. She had already been taken to live in a different courtyard…
“You…” Lu Yan hesitantly asked her: “You’re her?”