Yao shi and Feng Jin Yuan had gone missing. This news caused Feng Yu Heng to freeze, but she very quickly understood. She returned to her room with a heavy expression. Qing Yu, Wang Chuan, Huang Quan and Ban Zou were all present, and they were all looking at her, waiting for her orders. But they just stared at their master for a long time without seeing Feng Yu Heng have any sort of reaction. Huang Quan could no longer endure and asked: “Young Miss, what should be done?”
Only then did Feng Yu Heng recover and ask: “What can be done?”
Huang Quan was puzzled, while Ban Zou and Wang Chuan frowned. It was Qing Yu that spoke up, saying: “News of their disappearance came two days ago, with people saying that Madam Yao was no longer in that courtyard. But apparently, she actually disappeared three days ago. Because we removed our hidden guards from that courtyard, the information did not travel as smoothly. Speaking of, the disappearance saw movement from the Yao family’s side first. Following that, the hidden guard that we stationed in the Feng residence to keep an eye on the young master also reported that Feng Jin Yuan also disappeared. Up until Young Miss returned, the two are still missing.”
“Missing is missing, but how did those two end up together?” Huang Quan was completely stumped, “Those two people aren’t even close! Aren’t they enemies? Or perhaps… their disappearances were coincidences and are unrelated?”
Wang Chuan, however, snorted coldly, “How could there be so many coincidences? As I see it, they’re just working together.” After saying this, she asked Feng Yu Heng: “Young Miss, what should be done about this? Should we concern ourselves with it? If the two were plotting a scheme together, that would be a small matter, but if they are captured by another group…”
“You’re worried that Feng Jin Yuan will kidnap Madam Yao?” Huang Quan waved her fist around, “Not to mention Feng Jin Yuan not having the courage or ability, even if he did, that would just serve Madam Yao right. Our young miss has already cut ties with her. Whoever wants to kidnap her can kidnap her. Young Miss, we don’t care about it. This servant will immediately go and prepare a bath for you. You should get a night of good sleep, and the matters outside can go as they want. It’s completely unrelated to us.”
Wang Chuan stomped her foot and stopped Huang Quan before advising Feng Yu Heng: “Young Miss, don’t listen to Huang Quan. This matter needs to be thought about carefully. As this servant sees it, could it be related to Noble Lady Yuan?”
When Wang Chuan’s words came out, Feng Yu Heng finally let out a smile then praised: “Someone has finally shown some progress. If the situation is indeed true, with the two disappearing at the same time, it’s very likely that they were secretly sent to the South by Noble Lady Yuan in order to meet up with Fu Ya. Or perhaps they will meet along the way before they even get to the South.”
“Should we give chase?” Ban Zou asked her, but after thinking for a bit, he shook his head: “It’s already too late to give chase. After so many days, who knows just how far they’ve gotten. Although there is only one official road from the capital to the South, there are quite a few smaller paths. There’s not much that we can do.”
“We won’t give chase. What’s there to chase?” Feng Yu Heng shrugged. Receiving a cup of tea that had just been brought in by a servant, she took a sip then said: “Noble Lady Yuan is trying to create a false image of having Imperial Daughter Ji An make an appearance in the South. It’s natural that she will need to make sure that the play is acted out fully. How could having just Fu Ya be enough? To make people believe it, Imperial Daughter Ji An still has not gotten married yet. She alone would not be able to handle the situation. If her father and mother are also brought along, Feng Jin Yuan and Yao shi being out there would make things clear. That would be a truly grand play. Only like that can Fu Ya’s identity feel more appropriate.”
“Since it’s like that, why do we not give chase?” Huang Quan was exceedingly puzzled, “Young Miss, you’ve already analyzed what sort of effects would happen in the South, so why not send people to give chase? If one person alone can’t catch up, just send two. We have enough people, so we can just send some more people. Just send them down every path. Even if they have already reached the South, they can think of something to bring them back. We can’t just leave them to develop their strength!”
Huang Quan’s question also brought out the thoughts of the others. In regards to Feng Yu Heng’s decision not to give chase, even Qing Yu and Wang Chuan could not understand.
Feng Yu Heng smiled and said: “Don’t panic. I already said it before. Fu Ya’s days in the South will not be that quiet.” After she finished speaking, she asked Ban Zou, “Has Hundred Herb Hall been informed?”
Ban Zou nodded, “The order has been informed. Our information posts have been put to use. The speed at which Hundred Herb Hall can send information is very high.”
Feng Yu Heng let out an “un” sound then said: “Aside from this, the reason that I chose not to give chase is that someone will give chase for us.”
“Who?” Everyone voiced this question in unison.
Feng Yu Heng replied: “Feng Fen Dai! Think about it. Feng Jin Yuan and Yao shi, along with Fu Ya, this sort of amazing family of three is heading to the South. Who will they be helping? It’s clear that it’s the eighth prince! But what about Feng Fen Dai? She is the fifth prince’s future official princess. All of her plans and ideas rest on the fifth prince. This includes the collaboration with Noble Lady Li. All of this is for the sake of paving a road for the fifth prince’s success. But Feng Jin Yuan, as her father, ran to the South at this critical juncture to help the eighth prince. He joined back up with Yao shi. Say, based on Feng Fen Dai’s personality, would she not go crazy?”
“She would definitely go crazy.” Huang Quan understood at this point, “Young Miss means that Feng Fen Dai will definitely have the fifth prince send someone to chase them down? But how could she know where Feng Jin Yuan went?”
“Stupid.” Ban Zou rolled his eyes at her, “We just need to find a chance to leak it out to her.”
“That’s true.” Huang Quan accepted the scolding, “Then Young Miss won’t need to worry about this matter. The matter of spreading this information can be left to us. We can guarantee that Feng Fen Dai will head South tomorrow to give chase. Regardless of whether or not she catches up, with that young miss causing a fuss, the South will not be so peaceful.”
“Good!” Feng Yu Heng sighed, “It’s been so many years, we’ll give her a chance to find her father.”
Feng Yu Heng’s guess was accurate. In the Feng residence, upon hearing that Feng Jin Yuan had not returned to the residence for many days, having seemingly gone missing, Feng Fen Dai nearly exploded from the anger, as she loudly screamed: “Why can’t he just let people not worry so much about him! What has he gone to do this time?” After screaming, she grabbed He Zhong, who had come to report this news and asked in a shrill voice: “Where exactly has Feng Jin Yuan gone? Where exactly?”
He Zhong had a bitter expression: “Fourth Young Miss, if this servant knew where Master had gone, I would have brought him back beforehand and would not have waited to report to Young Miss.”
“Tea houses! Brothels! Red-light districts! Have you gone to search through these places?” Feng Fen Dai understood her father and immediately listed these places.
But He Zhong shook his head: “It’s impossible for him to have gone to those places. Master is penniless. How could he go?”
“It’s because he’s penniless that I’m having you go and search for him!” Feng Fen Dai said: “It’s most likely that he was beaten to death inside one because he had no money. They also don’t dare to file a report, thus they quickly buried him! That damn old thing. The Feng family’s face has been completely lost by him!”
Fen Dai just voiced her complaints in the front yard. Xiang Rong had returned with her and naturally heard it all clearly. Feng Jin Yuan’s disappearance was something that left her clueless, but she was not screaming wildly like Feng Fen Dai. Instead, she reminded He Zhong: “Just do as the Fourth Young Miss said and go search. Not to mention if it’s really as the fourth young miss said, it’s not like Father hasn’t taken money from the family before. If he wants to spend money, he’s able to sneak anything out of each courtyard and sell it, coming into some money like that.”
With Xiang Rong giving this reminder, He Zhong felt that this was quite reasonable, thus he quickly led some people to go out and search.
Fen Dai stood in the yard, but her anger had not dissipated. Her mind continued to spin, as she thought hard about where Feng Jin Yuan could have run off to. Xiang Rong, however, felt that this was uninteresting and did not say anything else. She just brought her maidservant along and began to walk back to her courtyard. As for the hides that they had brought back, they had been sent to the embroidery shop when they entered the capital. To her, the current Feng residence was little more than a place to rest. She would be able to leave on her own at any given moment. The home was not like a home, and it did not feel safe, nor did she feel anything for it. She even began to secretly save money to try and buy herself a residence at a later time. At that time, she would bring An shi in to happily live with her.
“Young Miss, where do you think Master went?” Shan Cha quietly asked her, “Could he really have gone to a brothel?”
Xiang Rong snorted coldly, “Who cares about him. He can go where he wants. It’s unrelated to us.”
As she spoke, they arrived at her little courtyard. An shi was standing at the entrance to the courtyard. Upon seeing her return, she quickly went forward and warmly asked: “You must be tired, right? You went for so many days, yet you didn’t bring many sets of clothes. Was the hunting ground cold? Was the Winter Hunt lively?”
Xiang Rong’s heart warmed up. Holding An shi’s hand, she finally found a feeling of family: “Mother, I am very well.”
An shi looked around and quietly said: “You should just keep calling me concubine mother.”
Xiang Rong resolutely shook her head, “That’s no good. Mother is mother. Where does the saying for concubine mother come from? Mother, don’t worry. The current Feng family’s days are already like this. Could it be that they still want to establish some rules? Who would heed them? This shabby place is just for us to get some sleep. Sooner or later, we will be moving out.”
An shi heard these words and did not continue to endure. Her daughter was able to call her mother, and she was happy. With this happiness, she woke up to the Feng family’s failures. If it was not for the Feng family collapsing, perhaps she would never have heard herself called mother.
The two walked together to An shi’s room, while Shan Cha happily followed behind and said: “Madam, don’t worry. Everything went well at the hunting ground. With His Highness the fourth prince taking care of her, she did not suffer any losses. She even brought back a number of animal pelts. When we entered the capital, they were sent to the shop. Madam, go and take a look tomorrow. A large number of cloaks can be made. They were all hunted by His Highness the fourth prince for the young miss specifically.”
The maidservant had also changed the way she called her. With Xiang Rong calling her mother instead of concubine mother, the maidservant now called her madam. The words that she had kept bottled up inside could no longer be held back. Holding onto Xiang Rong, she said: “As I see it, we simply should not continue living in this Feng residence. Over the past two years, the shop’s business has gone quite well. Even if we can’t afford a large manor, it’s enough for a courtyard that’s big enough for the two of you and a handful of servants. With you two saying mother and madam, I fear that something will end up happening if we continue to remain. The fourth young miss’ temper is also quite a big headache. Having something extra to worry about is worse than having one less thing to worry about. In front of her, we can’t refer to each other casually. Once we have left, we will live our own lives, and nobody can control them.”
Xiang Rong nodded and immediately agreed with this decision. Just as she was about to speak with An shi about Feng Jin Yuan’s disappearance and was wondering about when they would go and look at that residence, a servant trotted in from the outside. Arriving in front of the two, they quietly said: “Concubine Mother, Young Miss, the fourth young miss suspects that Master went to the Lian Residence. She is already standing outside of the Lian Residence and has begun cursing.”