All Missing
Feng Fen Dai’s obstinant insistence on staying her course left the fifth prince, Xuan Tian Yan, feeling very exasperated. There were quite a few times that he thought of simply giving up on this girl to ensure that he could continue to live a peaceful life; however, he could not forget that beautiful snow dance that Fen Dai had performed.
Forget it, it was determined that he would be ruined by that beautiful snow dance. The way his earlier years had been lived would be how he lived the rest of his life. He simply accepted his fate and accepted this girl’s meddling. At worst, he would be dragged into an endless hell and die with her. That was nothing. Even if Feng Fen Dai did not appear, he had been living a life without any desire to live. There were countless women at his side, and their cries could be heard each night. This caused the Emperor to feel disgusted just by looking at him. In any case, his days now were better than they were before. Just handling this girl’s messing around was nothing worth mentioning.
Xuan Tian Yan smiled and patted Fen Dai’s head, “Alright, we’ll do it as you want. My life is yours.”
Feng Fen Dai was still young. She could see that Xuan Tian Yan was showing her love; however, she could not see the intention behind his love. Hearing that Xuan Tian Yan would do as she desired, she thought that he had finally expressed that he would go and compete for the throne. Unbeknownst to her, however, Xuan Tian Yan had set his mind on playing this game with her until death. Not only would he himself die, Feng Fen Dai would also die with him.
“Right!” Fen Dai suddenly recalled something, “Feng Yu Heng and the Feng family have already severed ties, so she no longer has any reason to reach her hands into the Feng family. The little bastard that was left behind by Han shi, along with the wet nurse, maidservants and grannies at its side, those are all Feng Yu Heng’s people. When we get back, chase them all out for me.”
Xuan Tian Yan nodded with a smile, “Alright, they’ll all be chased out.”
“Without anyone taking care of that little bastard, if Feng Yu Heng does not want to watch him starve to death, she will need to immediately take him away. From this day forward, the residence will be cleaned out.”
The Winter Hunt continued for another three days. In truth, the Emperor had wanted to return to the capital on the day that Xuan Fei Yu was hurt, but the imperial physician and Feng Yu Heng both shook their heads. They both said that Fei Yu’s wound had just been sutured and could not handle the bumpy ride. If the wound opened up from the ride, the stitches would have been for naught. Only then did the Emperor helplessly stay for another three days.
After three days, Xuan Fei Yu’s wound was recovering quite well, and the Emperor finally announced the return to the capital. Everyone immediately began to pack their things, while Feng Yu Heng handed the little white tiger to Huang Quan, telling her: “Hold onto it. You must not allow anything else to happen.”
Huang Quan nodded. They all knew the importance of Feng Yu Heng’s advice. The little white tiger had been stolen and ended up injuring Fei Yu. If it happened once, it was very likely that it would happen a second time. As for that second time, what if the Emperor got hurt. That was an outcome that none wanted to imagine. Huang Quan cautiously held the little white tiger, and even Wang Chuan stayed with her to keep watch to protect against the potential problems. When nearly everything was packed up, an imperial guard’s voice came from outside the tent, saying: “Imperial Daughter, Palace Princess Wu Yang has arrived and wishes to see you.”
Feng Yu Heng personally went over to the entrance and lifted the flap to bring Xuan Tian Ge inside. Xuan Tian Ge entered and immediately said: “A-Heng, when I first arrived at the campsite, I sent someone back to the capital to investigate the matter with the imperial carriage. Unfortunately, the person that was usually responsible for taking care of the carriages has already gone missing. I heard that the person that feeds the horses say that not long after we left, that person left the palace with the excuse of needing to buy something. After that, he never came back.”
Feng Yu Heng patted her shoulder and helplessly said: “That comes as no surprise. The imperial carriage had been tampered with, and it’s most likely that it was already damaged before leaving the palace. Just thinking about it, it’s clear that there was some embezzlement. But now that he’s run away, and there’s been such a long time since that matter, to find him now would be as hard as finding a needle in the ocean.”
Xuan Tian Ge also said: “That’s right. The hidden guards were able to return very quickly, but the felt unreconciled. They searched around the capital for a couple days but could not find him. Only then did they come back and report this morning.” While she spoke, she let go of Feng Yu Heng. She paced around the tent a couple times then said in a very worried tone: “What should be done? If the palace is not safe, what sort of place is safe? The enemy has already reached my home. If they just tamper with the imperial carriage, it’s a small matter, but what if there comes a day when they want to take my life. Then wouldn’t I not even…”
“You’re thinking too much.” Feng Yu Heng quickly comforted her, “You are a palace princess, and you have so many hidden guards protecting you. If they really wanted to take your life, how could the enemy do it so easily? Also, there’s no need to take this matter to heart. As I see it, whether or not they wanted to harm you remains to be seen. It’s possible that they were coming at me. When setting out for the Winter Hunt, it was very likely that I would be traveling in your imperial carriage. With your carriage being tampered with, you were not the only one to fall. There was also me.”
“You’re saying that they wanted to harm you?” Xuan Tian Ge thought about it for a while then shook her head and said: “But tampering with my imperial carriage in hopes of harming you, this is too vague of a hope, isn’t it. Hah! When you caught Imperial Concubine Li, you made sure that it wasn’t her that did it? Or rather, can her word be trusted? What if she just didn’t want to admit it?”
“That wouldn’t be.” In regards to this, Feng Yu Heng had quite a good grasp. She told Xuan Tian Ge, “Based on what Imperial Concubine Li did on that day, even if this wasn’t added on, it would have been the death penalty. Adding on this extra charge would still be the death penalty. There was no real difference, thus there was no need for her to hide anything from us. Tian Ge, what you said was also correct. Ruining your imperial carriage to take aim at me, this hope was a little too vague. That’s why you also need to stay vigilant. No matter what is said, you are Da Shun’s only palace princess. There are some people that have ulterior motives that are keeping watch. It’s possible that they have set their eyes on you. Nobody can say for certain about such things. Being a little more careful would be best.”
Xuan Tian Ge nodded, “I understand. Don’t worry. Right, when we head back to the capital, will you still be sitting with me?”
Feng Yu Heng shook her head, “No, I need to stay at Fei Yu’s side. I am worried that the shaking of the carriage will cause his wounds to open up. Before you climb into your carriage, you need to inspect it carefully. It would be best to not sit in a pre-determined carriage and change one at the last moment.”
The two spoke for quite a long time before Xuan Tian Ge finally felt at ease and left. At this time, the insides of the tents had mostly been tidied up. Everyone had begun putting their things in their carriages. Feng Xiang Rong’s side was just her with her maidservant, Shan Cha, going back and forth, one trip at a time. Even with the day being cold, the two were drenched in sweat from exhaustion.
It had to be said that they did not have much stuff when they arrived. It was just the clothes that Xiang Rong would change into each day, and they were traveling very light. But their trip back was different! During the few days of the Winter Hunt, Xuan Tian Yi had already lost his position as prince, and he was the one that had the most spare time. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would go and hunt. During the few days, he had obtained quite a few pelts, and they were all sent to Xiang Rong for her to take back to make things.
At first, Xiang Rong did not want them, but the fourth prince’s generosity was hard to turn down. If she did not accept it, that person would pace around in front of her tent each day, and he did not just limit himself to pacing around. He would even shout at the top of his lungs. There was nothing that Xiang Rong could do and could only accept whatever he sent. As she continued to accept things, she accepted enough to fill half of a carriage.
While Shan Cha moved the pelts, she smiled and said to Xiang Rong: “His Highness the fourth prince really treats young miss very well. These pelts can be turned into many sets of clothing after we get back. One can even be made for Concubine Mother An. In the past, the one that His Highness the fifth prince gave to the fourth young miss, it looked quite amazing when the fourth young miss wore it. She even walked around the residence a few times while wearing it.”
Xiang Rong did not appear to be particularly happy, only saying in a calm voice: “She can wear her things. Anyone that wants to envy it can envy it. We won’t compare.”
“Right, we won’t compare.” Shan Cha happily said, “Either way, we will be able to make a number of clothes. Young Miss will definitely be seen by her if you wear it. When that time comes, who knows just how angry she’ll get. Haha, just thinking about it is entertaining.” The servant had suffered quite a bit in the residence at Feng Fen Dai’s hands, but when her young miss was able to have a good showing, she laughing quite heartily. “Hah, if His Highness the fourth prince was still a prince, how great what that be. Based on his feelings for young miss, young miss would sit as equals with the fourth young miss. There’d be no two ways about it.”
“Don’t speak nonsense!” Xiang Rong shot a glare at Shan Cha and tightly furrowed her brow, “What fourth prince or not the fourth prince, there’s nothing more than a relationship of master and disciple between us. Where would feelings come into this? Cease your nonsense. Casually inventing stories about princes is a crime worthy of the death penalty.”
Shan Cha stuck out her tongue. No longer speaking about the fourth prince, she could not hold back and said: “Young Miss, could it be that you’re still thinking about His Highness the seventh prince?”
Xiang Rong stopped moving then very quickly recovered. Stuffing the things that she was carrying into the carriage, she climbed into the carriage without any help. Sitting in the carriage, she did not speak.
Shan Cha knew that she had made her young miss unhappy, thus she did not dare say another word while also climbing in.
Very quickly, everyone finished tidying up, and the group slowly began to head back toward the capital.
Feng Yu Heng sat in Xuan Fei Yu and the second prince’s imperial carriage. Xuan Fei Yu held onto her and asked her to tell stories, thus Feng Yu Heng picked some fairy tales that she could remember from the modern era. This left the child feeling astonished. Feng Yu Heng, however, helplessly said: “How old are you? Why do you still listen to stories? Shouldn’t you be learning about the Four Books and Five Classics?”
The second prince also said: “Did you hear that! In the future, you needed to devote some more effort to your studies. Don’t just spend your days playing around and causing a fuss. Just yesterday, your Imperial Grandfather tested you on your homework, and you couldn’t answer. It was just because you were injured that he didn’t punish you.”
Xuan Fei Yu shifted closer to Feng Yu Heng’s side and said in an unreconciled tone: “It’s not like I haven’t learned anything. I haven’t dedicated myself too much to my studies, but my martial arts skills have received quite a bit of praise from Master!”
“Even like that you were still reduced to such a state by that little thing?” The second prince smiled bitterly. He just could not understand. His son was not small in size, he had the strength, and he had learned some martial arts from his master. How was it that he still got bitten by a cat?
Xuan Fei Yu replied very naturally: “That’s a tiger!”
“But it’s not even the same size as a cat!”
“No matter how small, it’s still a tiger!” Xuan Fei Yu was very dissatisfied, “I was suddenly bitten in a situation where I was not prepared in the slightest. How could I still have the mind to fight? Also, even if I did fight, master only taught me about fighting with people but nothing about how to fight a tiger?”
The young child’s words caused Feng Yu Heng and the second prince to laugh loudly. Only when Feng Yu Heng advised Xuan Fei Yu to pay more attention to his studies did Xuan Fei Yu tell her: “After the new year, I will be going to Xiao Zhou. Just like Zi Rui, I will be entering Yun Lu Academy. Elder sister need not worry about academic matters.”
Only then did Feng Yu Heng calm down. She comforted Xuan Fei Yu and told him that the injury on his arm would definitely be better by the new year. It would not interfere with his studies.
The group traveled for numerous hours. When they finally reached the capital, it was already night time. The officials returned to their own homes after entering the capital. The princes sent the Emperor back to the entrance of the imperial palace before kowtowing and bidding farewell. As for Feng Yu Heng, upon entering the imperial daughter’s manor, Qing Yu stepped forward with a bit of news: “Young Miss, Madam Yao and Feng Jin Yuan have both gone missing.”