This time, Huang Quan happened to be standing at the entrance of the tent and asked: “Which family are you from? What have you come to deliver to our young miss?” As she spoke, she lifted the curtain and allowed the person inside.
The person that had come was a male servant, but because there were many people that had come to the hunting ground, there was a rule set by the court. Regardless of whose servant it was, they would need to have a wooden identification sign hanging from their waist. The character “Lu” was clearly written on the servant’s identification, which caused Huang Quan to have some misgivings. What was one of the Lu family’s servants doing in their tent? Was it not the case that the Lu family did not get along with the imperial daughter?
With these questions in mind, Feng Yu Heng did not speak, but Wang Chuan asked: “Servant of the Lu family? What have you come here for?”
The servant extended his hands, and a delicate little heater appeared in the palm of his hand. There was also a brocade material covering it. The embroidery was also very proper and very beautiful. He bowed toward Feng Yu Heng then replied: “This servant is indeed from the Lu family. Lord Prime Minister had this servant give it to the third young miss, but when the third young miss saw it, she immediately said that if she used such a nice thing, it would be a waste, and she insisted on having this servant come and deliver it to Imperial Daughter. Third Young Miss said that she hopes that imperial daughter does not dislike it and will accept her intentions.”
“The Lu family’s third young miss? Lu Yan?” Huang Quan was puzzled and asked: “What exactly was she thinking? To actually send something to our imperial daughter? How is there any shred of relation between the two?”
The servant was troubled and said: “Miss, this servant is usually at the prime minister’s side and is also unclear about the young miss. Today was a matter of happenstance, thus this servant came to deliver it for the third young miss. As for why she would send this heater, this servant really does not know and hopes that Imperial Daughter will not press this servant. Please just accept this heater. Even if you do not like it, you can just throw it away, but if this servant brings it back, based on the third young miss’ temper and how the prime minister dotes on her, Imperial Daughter, please take pity on this poor servant. I’m begging Imperial Daughter.”
The servant also sounded quite pitiful. After speaking, he kneeled on the ground with a look of, ‘if you don’t accept it, I won’t get up.’ This left everyone feeling quite helpless.
Feng Yu Heng waved her hand, “Forget it. Since it’s already been brought over, we’ll accept it. I see that the heater looks quite excellent, and it looks quite good.”
Upon hearing that Feng Yu Heng would accept it, Huang Quan quickly stepped forward to receive the heater. The servant kowtowed for a while and said a great deal more before leaving. Wang Chuan was prudent and lifted the curtain to sent the servant out. The servant even politely said: “Miss, please stay. Miss, please stay.” Only then did he turn and leave.
Wang Chuan stood at the entrance for a while until she saw the servant head in the direction of the Lu family’s tent. Only then did she turn around and say to the two imperial guards standing outside: “If someone else comes, just loudly ask who they are. Regardless of who they are, you need to make some sound to let the master inside know that someone has come. Do you understand?”
Because the imperial guards worked in the imperial palace, they were usually very proud. They even looked down on some of the common officials, much less the womenfolk in this camp. They were only responsible for standing guard. When it came to reporting things or stuff of that nature, they would not concern themselves with it. But the tent that these two were guarding was different. They understood that this was Imperial Daughter Ji An’s tent. Even if they were extremely proud, they could not treat this person poorly. Moreover, the control of the imperial guards was held by the seventh prince! Based on the relationship between the seventh prince and ninth prince, Imperial Daughter Ji An must not be offended. Thus they quickly nodded and complied. Wang Chuan did not treat them poorly, as she reached into her sleeve pocket and pulled out a silver ingot for each.
When she returned inside the tent, Huang Quan was holding the heater while sitting in front of Feng Yu Heng and inspecting it. While looking it over, she said: “Currying favor for no reason is not a good sign. Young miss, what do you think that Lu family’s young miss is thinking? Why would she send this?”
Feng Yu Heng shook her head, “How could I know. There are some people that normal people will never be able to understand.”
Wang Chuan stepped forward and received the heater from Huang Quan. She lifted the lid and carefully looked it over. She then shook her head in confusion, “I can’t see anything special about it.”
Huang Quan also said: “That’s right, I also looked it over. There’s nothing special about it, but for that sort of person to send something, even if we can’t find anything immediately, we cannot trust it so easily. Heaters need charcoal to warm up. Perhaps things will be different once charcoal is added. Let’s give it a try.”
What Huang Quan had said was correct. Without a moment of delay, they immediately pulled out a few small pieces from the brazier and placed them in the heater. After some thought, the heaters was moved a bit further from Feng Yu Heng. “It would be best if no poison or anything comes out as the charcoal burns. Wang Chuan, keep an eye on the young miss. How about you two go sit by the entrance? If something has been done to this heater, nothing can be noticed if I take it outside to test it. The winds are strong outside. With a gust of wind, it will be completely dispersed, thus it will be done inside the tent.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled bitterly, “It’s fine. You can test it. Even if it has been meddled with, it won’t immediately kill someone. There will be a chance to escape.”
Wang Chuan saw that she was relaxed, thus she asked: “Young Miss means that there should be no problem with this heater?”
She laughed, “What problem could there be? If Lu Yan came to harm me so openly, that would be a problem with her brain. But any tests should still be done. What if it wasn’t sent by Lu Yan? That servant merely said that he was from the Lu family. In addition to this, he had the identification plate from the Lu family, and we thought that he was. But who knows if that was stolen or not. Go ahead and test it. We need to make sure that it’s completely fine.”
Huang Quan very seriously heated up the heaters for a while until the charcoal became ash, but nothing could be seen. Only then did she have no choice but to accept Feng Yu Heng’s first explanation: “It seems that Lu Yan isn’t a fool and did not do anything to it.”
Wang Chuan, however, became a bit more cautious and still did not allow Feng Yu Heng near the heater, “We servants will continue to take care of it. We’ll do as told originally and just leave it to look pretty. There’s no need to give her face and hold it in your hand every day. This does look good, but if Young Miss likes it, it’s not as if something better than this can’t be found. This absolutely must not be used.”
Feng Yu Heng agreed with what she said, thus she did not continued to press the matter. She just watched Wang Chuan place the heater on a chair, and the little white tiger, that had been pacing around on the ground, pulled it to the ground with a few swipes and began to roll around while holding it.
The group saw that it could be used as a toy by the little white tiger, thus they felt that it was quite good value.
That night, everyone slept peacefully. Outside the tent, there were only imperial guards that would occasionally make their rounds to ensure the safety of the camp. As for the rumors from the madams and young misses that wild beasts could be heard in the dead of night, Feng Yu Heng really paid close attention but did not hear anything. This caused Huang Quan and Wang Chuan to mockingly laugh at her for quite a while.
During idle times, Feng Yu Heng had become accustomed to waking up early to practice martial arts. This hunting ground was in the mountains, and the air was very good. She naturally did not want to miss this opportunity, thus just as the sky lit up, she hurried her servants to get up and get washed. She then changed into her usual training clothes and lifted the tent flap to go out.
The imperial guard on duty saw that she was heading out, thus they asked if she wanted for them to follow for protection; however, they were left at the tent. Wang Chuan told them: “Just keep an eye on the tent. Nobody is permitted to enter.” After giving the orders, the three began to jog to warm up their bodies. Slowly, they began to head toward the outskirts of the hunting ground.
This hunting ground was surrounded by mountains on three sides. The only entrance was also being watched by a large number of guards and soldiers to ensure the Emperor’s safety. Feng Yu Heng ran to a small path leading to a mountain peak. As signs of human habitation grew fainter, the air began to improve in quality. In addition to this, the weather was also quite good, as the first rays of sunlight appeared. It was quite a pleasant sight. She simply decided to pull out a whip and begin to practice with it. From time to time, she would spar with Huang Quan and Wang Chuan; however, it was never as fun as when fighting with Xuan Tian Ming. After a few rounds, she lost interest and stopped. Wiping away the sweat, she aimlessly looked toward the forest to the left of the path for a while before suddenly curling up the corner of her lips and calling out: “Come on out! Running with this Imperial Daughter for such a distance, you’re panting loudly. With such loud movements, who are you hoping to hide from?”
In regards to these words, Huang Quan and Wang Chuan were not curious in the slightest. It was very clear that the two servants noticed that someone was following along behind them and hidden in the forest. It was just that the other side truly did not pose a risk to Feng Yu Heng, thus they did not make a sound. Now that Feng Yu Heng had said this much, the two maidservants also began to laugh, as Huang Quan said: “Some people just think they are so smart and don’t think about whether or not they have the smarts.”
After saying this, the three looked toward the forest. It was a very thick tree, and it was as if the three could see through it. They were very certain that the other person was hiding behind that tree.
Without any suspense, the person behind the tree came out. It was none other than the Lu family’s third young miss, Lu Yan.
She sent a heater the previous day, and now she was following them. Huang Quan looked at Lu Yan and truly could not be bothered to deal with her. She just rolled her eyes. She did not want to pay any attention to this stupid and unlikeable person.
It was Lu Yan that spoke first, saying to Feng Yu Heng with a smile: “Imperial Daughter really has good hearing. It’s Lu Yan’s fault for trying to show off in front of a master. Imperial Daughter’s martial arts are exceptional. How could you not know that someone was following behind you?” As she spoke, she stepped forward and very seriously saluted to her before saying: “Would imperial daughter please not take offense. Although Lu Yan followed you to this place, I do not have any bad intentions. I just wanted a chance to discuss something with Imperial Daughter, thus I followed.”
“Oh?” Feng Yu Heng smiled and said, “The Young Miss Lu really happened upon a great opportunity. This Imperial Daughter got dressed at the crack of dawn and left my tent, and it happened that Young Miss Lu also got dressed and left her tent. If you did not run into me, where was Young Miss Lu intending to go?”
Lu Yan had clearly prepared for this ahead of time and immediately said with a smile: “Father always says that the air in the mountains is very good, especially early in the morning. If I could get up early to breathe it a bit, I would feel extremely alert during the day. That’s why I specially rushed to get up at this time. It was for the sake of breathing some of the fresh mountain air.”
“So that’s what it was.” Feng Yu Heng faintly replied then looked toward Lu Yan, but she did not say anything else.
Lu Yan felt a bit awkward and gently cleared her throat. She finally brought up the reason that she had come, “Imperial Daughter, the main reason that Lu Yan followed you today is… to discuss a deal with you.”