Feng Yu Heng did not understand what her own father’s words meant. Frowning, she looked at her own guard, hoping that they could provide an answer. Unfortunately, the guards did not know what the situation was and could only tell her: “Master Feng came last night. He came not long after imperial daughter left. Hearing that imperial daughter was not here, he has waited outside the entire time. The night was cold. This subordinate feared that he would freeze to death and asked Miss Huang Quan bring out a blanket.”
Feng Yu Heng could only sigh: “Feng Jin Yuan, you really are fortunate. Who knows what got into Huang Quan that made her too kind that would actually cause her to bring a blanket out for you. She is all too eager to see you freeze to death.” After she finished speaking, she flicked her sleeve and took large steps forward, “Come on in, don’t keep losing face for me outside the entrance.”
Upon hearing that he would be allowed in, Feng Jin Yuan let out a long sigh of relief and quickly followed. Perhaps he had been curled up outside for too long, as his body was a bit stiff. Unable to stand up steadily the first time, he fell back down. The guard at the entrance had no choice but to step forward and help support him until they arrived in the main hall.
Huang Quan came over upon seeing that Feng Yu Heng had entered the courtyard. Seeing Feng Jin Yuan, her face was filled with contempt. But her mood was clearly quite good. After entering the hall, she even told the guard to place Feng Jin Yuan in a chair. She then had the servants go and brew some warm tea, which left Feng Yu Heng extremely puzzled.
But how could Feng Jin Yuan be thinking about drinking warm tea. Upon sitting down, he raised his hand to wipe away some tears. While wiping away tears, he complained to Feng Yu Heng: “A-Heng, you are the daughter of the first wife. You need to do something about your fourth sister. She flaunts the fact that she has the fifth prince’s power and always looks down on others, including me, the father. At home, she beats me and insults me and has never given me a shred of face. This is also acceptable, who told me to live in her home and eat her food. Being beaten and insulted are both things that I can endure, but even the servants in the residence are listening to her, as they locked this master out! A-Heng, if you don’t help father, father will be left out on the streets!”
Feng Jin Yuan’s cries really came with quite a few tears; however, these tears were unable to move anyone. Also, no matter how they looked at him, he looked like an old woman trying to sell vegetables, as his irrelevant words sounded as if they were just gossip about another family’s matters. Feng Yu Heng hated hearing about this sort of thing the most; however, Huang Quan became interested, “What did you say? You were chased out by Feng Fen Dai? Hahaha! Master Feng, who knew that you would have such a day too!” When she said those final words, her expression became cold. She then turned to ask Feng Yu Heng, “Young Miss, this is really a reminiscent scene!”
“But of course.” Feng Yu Heng held a teacup in her hand, “Thinking about how mother, younger brother and I were chased out of the home and were unable to find a place to stay, we also cried quite a few tears. Hah!” She sighed, “It really is a reminiscent scene!”
Feng Jin Yuan’s sobbing stopped. With his hand lingering next to his eyes, he stared at Feng Yu Heng in a daze. A chill began to creep up from the bottom of his heart.
A reminiscent scene? Was she settling a debt with him? If that was the case, had he made a mistake in coming to the imperial daughter’s manor for help? How could this girl keep so many grudges? But… aside from the imperial daughter’s manor, where else could he go?
“A-Heng.” He thought for a bit then made up his mind, “The matters of the past are already in the past. Father also knows that what was done back then was wrong, but there was nothing that I could do. At that time, you were still young and did not know much of the situation. But you should know that your grandmother was still around at that time. With her around, she was the one that made decisions for the family. When the situation had occurred with the Yao family, your grandmother’s first reaction was self-preservation, given that she was a madam. There was not much wrong with that. That’s why sending the three of you away at that time was your grandmother’s intention. It was not father’s original intention!” As he spoke, he began to sob once more.
Feng Yu Heng facepalmed, “I really am speechless. Of the responsibilities that you should be shouldering as a man, you have not picked up a single one. If there is a matter, you push it on someone else. Not even the deceased grandmother was spared. This really is…” What could she say of him? It was as though she had said every negative thing possible; however, Feng Jin Yuan was shameless to the point that there was nothing that she could do. “Forget it, forget it, I can’t be bothered to settle this debt with you.”
Feng Jin Yuan’s eyes lit up, “Really? You won’t settle this debt?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “I’m tired.”
“That’s great!” Feng Jin Yuan practically leaped up, “Since you won’t, that means you’ve agreed to take me in? You agreed to let me move into the imperial daughter’s manor?”
Feng Yu Heng nearly spat out a mouthful of tea. Was there something wrong with this person’s brain? “I just said that I won’t worry about that debt, but how is that related to you moving into the imperial daughter’s manor? Don’t forget that we still have a new debt.”
“A new debt?” Feng Jin Yuan froze, “Where did this new debt come from? When did I start owing you for a new debt? A-Heng, I did not dare offend you in the slightest today! You can’t just place all of the debts on my head.”
“You did not offend me today, but based on my understanding of you, you are capable of offending me at any time and any place!” While she spoke, she shook her head, “To be chased from home by the daughter of a concubine, I really can’t understand. Just what exactly are you doing as a father?”
Feng Jin Yuan also did not know what he had done as a father. He was clearly living a decent life, so how did he fall so low to his current state?
He dejectedly sat back down on the chair, as a feeling of emptiness washed over him. An aura of death began to envelop him. Feng Jin Yuan thought that it would not take long before he died, right? Through the actions of his daughters, being insulted by one after another then being chased out of his own home, what sort of life was he living? What had he done? Had he not just gone to help out in the Lian residence for a day? How did this anger Feng Fen Dai to the point of no longer allowing him to enter the home? Him going to the Lian residence, how was that related to Feng Fen Dai?
The more Feng Jin Yuan thought about it, the angrier he became, but he no longer had the energy to fight for anything. He just hoped that he could quietly settle down. Regardless of whether it was in the Feng residence or the imperial daughter’s manor, as long as someone was willing to take him in, he did not want to strive for anything else.
He looked at Feng Yu Heng with a face filled with expectation, as this daughter quietly said something to her maidservant. After speaking for a while, the maidservant nodded then left, which left him and Feng Yu Heng alone in the room. For a while, it was frighteningly silent.
“A-Heng.” He tried to call her. He was clearly someone that was not yet 40 years old, but he already looked to be nearing 50. But who could this be blamed on? After all was said and done, it was all a result of his own wrongdoing. “A-Heng.” He sighed, “Help me out. If I spend my day sleeping on the streets, it wouldn’t be good for your name, right? I won’t ask for anything else. If you take me in, just give me a small room is fine. I won’t ask for a proper courtyard. Just a side courtyard is fine. If a side courtyard is inconvenient, how about… a firewood shed?”
His voice was filled with a pleading tone. For the first time, it did not have any additional requests. To Feng Yu Heng, this was truly hard to come by. She laughed in admiration for quite a while, causing Feng Jin Yuan to feel quite embarrassed.
“I say…” Feng Yu Heng leaned forward, “Just how exactly did you act as prime minister for all those years? Now that you were chased out of your position as an official, you actually don’t have any analysis ability remaining?”
“Hm?” Feng Jin Yuan did not understand what she meant, “What analysis ability? That’s not it, A-Heng, I am currently asking you to keep me in the imperial daughter’s manor. How is this related to when I was the left prime minister?”
“Of course, it’s related.” Feng Yu Heng leisurely sat in her chair. Holding a cup of tea in one hand and a pastry in the other, she asked Feng Jin Yuan: “To be an official, what else is required aside from knowledge and a good family background?”
Feng Jin Yuan froze, “What else is needed? I, I don’t know.”
Feng Yu Heng sighed, “That’s why I said I don’t understand how you managed to become the prime minister for so many years. You don’t even know that an official requires a clear mind. It seems that your former position as an official really did rely entirely on the Yao family’s backing.” She looked at Feng Jin Yuan, and a fierce look appeared once more. Scared, Feng Jin Yuan did not dare look up. Feng Yu Heng did not continue to scare him, only saying to him: “The clear and reasonable mind that I am speaking of is to remind you to analyze things more carefully. Perhaps with some analysis, you would not be in such an ugly situation.”
Feng Jin Yuan was completely dazed. He could not understand what Feng Yu Heng was saying in the slightest. What analysis. Could it be that just thinking a bit more would make Feng Fen Dai change her thoughts and allow him in? Were those not two completely different things?!
But Feng Yu Heng did not believe that they were unrelated. She told Feng Jin Yuan: “The current Feng residence was a condition from when the fifth prince wanted to marry Feng Fen Dai. Oh, it would be more accurate to say that it was a condition of the exchange. That residence was traded for your agreement to him marrying Fen Dai. It could be considered a purchase. That’s why it could be said that the residence can’t be considered a betrothal gift. That was a property that he gave you personally to… buy your fourth daughter.”
Although it sounded ugly, the reasoning had enlightened Feng Jin Yuan. After thinking a bit, it seemed that he had heard this subject before; however, how had he forgotten about this when being suppressed by Feng Fen Dai? Feng Jin Yuan felt as if he had been revived from the dead. He felt earlier that there was nothing left to live for, but when he thought about it like this, he was still very wealthy! He was not without a single possession. He still had a large residence!
Feng Jin Yuan happily leaped up and did not pay any attention to Feng Yu Heng. Turning around, he began to walk out. Feng Yu Heng looked at this father that had no conscience and could no longer be bothered with getting angry, but she was still quite happy to pour cold water on his happiness.
Thus while a smile still lingered on Feng Jin Yuan’s face, while the joy was still filling Feng Jin Yuan’s heart, a bucket of cold water was suddenly poured on him, “What is it, do you plan on going to the government office to get the deed then use it to settle a debt with Feng Fen Dai? You need to think it through carefully. The residence does belong to you, but the monthly expenses are provided to you by the fifth prince. If you offend Feng Fen Dai, there won’t be much of a good outcome.”
Feng Jin Yuan immediately froze in place and turned around like a robot. Looking at Feng Yu Heng, he opened his mouth and asked: “Then… what should I do?”
Feng Yu Heng spread her arms, “How should I know.” While she spoke, Huang Quan had come back in. She whispered a few things into her ear. After that, Feng Yu Heng raised an eyebrow and looked back at Feng Jin Yuan then coldly said: “Servant, escort Master Feng out of the manor. If he stays next to the entrance and refuses to leave, just beat him.”