Feng Fen Dai had gone to the Lian Residence’s entrance in the middle of the night to begin cursing. After news of this arrived, Xiang Rong and An shi were both shocked. Xiang Rong had just returned, after all. She did not understand the situation clearly, thus she asked An shi: “Just how many days has that person been missing? Are we sure that he’s missing?” In regards to Feng Jin Yuan, even a child like Xiang Rong did not want to call him father.
With this matter being brought up, An shi was also filled with anger, telling Xiang Rong: “Probably three days! After the first night that he didn’t return, nobody thought much of it. Because you guys had gone to the hunting ground, the servants could only report it to me. I figured that there would be times when he might not come back. Who knew if he had gone out to drink and play around, thus I did not worry about it. Who knew that this departure would last over three days, and he still hasn’t shown up after all this time.” It had to be said that Feng Jin Yuan was not in the habit of drinking in the past. At that time, he was the left prime minister and had to keep a clear head at all times. This was also in the event an urgent matter came up in court, thus he very rarely touched the stuff. Even if he had to drink, he would do his best to drink very little and definitely would not get drunk. But ever since the Feng family fell, Feng Jin Yuan drank more and more. There were times when he would spend an entire night in a bar.
Hearing An shi say this, Xiang Rong furrowed her brow. Intuition told her that Feng Jin Yuan’s disappearance was definitely not something as simple as going out to drink, nor was it very likely that he had gone to a brothel and stayed in one for many days. After all, Feng Jin Yuan did not have money, and after he had stolen from the residence a few times, they all became smarter. None of their things would be kept here, as she and An shi would send their things to the shop. Even Fen Dai had found a safe place, so it should not be possible for her things to be touched. But if he had not gone to those places to play around, where could Feng Jin Yuan have gone?
“What is it?” An shi saw that something was off about Xiang Rong’s mood, thus she asked: “Could it be that something has happened? He…” Before she could finish speaking, she saw Xiang Rong suddenly stand up and move to walk out. An shi quickly grabbed a hold of her in shock, “Where are you going?”
Xiang Rong was startled and said: “Fourth Sister is standing in front of the Lian Residence and shouting curses. I need to go and take a look.”
“You can’t go!” An shi advised her, “You got to know that person in the Lian Residence through the second young miss. Now that we have severed ties with the second young miss, the one in the Lian Residence is still getting along well with her. If you go now, would it not be heard by others?”
Only then did Xiang Rong manage to react. She also knew that she had been a bit rash, thus she no longer brought up wanting to go and take a look, only telling the servants to continue to ask around. She then sat back down and anxiously waited.
As for Fen Dai, she stood outside of the Lian Residence’s entrance and shouted curses for nearly an hour. During this time, she repeatedly sent people to bang on the door, but regardless of how she cursed, there was not the slightest sign of movement inside. Even the neighbors nearby that slept late came out as a result of her cursing; however, not a single person from the Lian Residence poked their head out. This sort of attitude made Fen Dai even more certain that there was something wrong inside. That Miss Lian had definitely hidden Feng Jin Yuan, and she was refusing to make an appearance out of guilt. Thus she began to curse even more fiercely. In the end, she even wanted to have the people tear down the Lian Residence.
Finally, the surrounding citizens could no longer bear to watch and reminded her: “Stop messing around. There hasn’t been anyone entering or exiting the Lian Residence for five or six days. The gates have been tightly shut for the entire time. I heard that the master of the house has left the city to see the sights. There’s nobody in the residence.”
There was someone else that said something even more reasonable: “We have all seen Miss Lian. That person is exceptionally beautiful! How could she take an interest in the Feng family’s master? Aren’t you messing around? !”
Feng Fen Dai’s teeth nearly shattered from gnashing her teeth in anger. In addition to having so many people watching, she did not have the face to say anything, thus she simply gave a loud order to the servants: “Knock down the gates! Whether or not there is anyone inside, this young miss will find out by looking!”
When He Zhong heard this, he was given a fright, and he quickly said to Fen Dai: “Fourth Young Miss, we can knock on the door, but we can’t knock it down! After all, this is someone else’s residence. If we barge in like this in the middle of the night, it would be good if we could find him, but if we can’t, and the other side follows up on this matter, it will end up in court. Also, with Miss Lian looking like that, I heard that there were quite a few nice things inside the residence. If we just break in like this and accidentally break a couple things, or she insists that she lost something, when that time comes, even if the entire Feng residence is sold, it could not be paid for!”
The citizens also began to criticize: “Too domineering. She lost her own father and now wants to knock down someone else’s gate. What sort of situation is this?”
“That’s right, that’s right. That old thing, Feng Jin Yuan, is someone that we have all seen. If he still had his former position, it might work, but he’s now living worse than we do. How could Miss Lian allow him into the Lian Residence? So unreasonable.”
Someone else suggested: “How about we go and report it! Young Miss Feng is about to break in, and this is no different than being a bandit. We need to have the government lock them up. Miss Lian is someone that usually treats people quite well. We can’t allow someone to break into the Lian Residence without saying anything while she’s taken her younger sister to see the sights.”
“Right, right! Moreover, with them causing such a huge ruckus, our own homes aren’t at peace! My child that’s a little over one-year-old was scared by her shouting and began crying.”
The citizens discussed it for a while, and someone began to lead the way in heading toward the government office. He Zhong was given a fright and quickly led people to stop them. While stopping them, he said some kind words and advised Fen Dai to change her mind. Breaking into someone else’s residence absolutely must not be done. Only when Feng Fen Dai left in a huff to return to the Feng residence did the citizens give up on the matter. But the Feng residence still kept people to keep an eye out. If anyone came out, they would definitely be asked about it. This sort of relatively proper action was received with more support, thus the citizens only voiced their criticisms for a while before dispersing.
Feng Fen Dai, who had returned to the Feng residence had not vented her anger in the slightest, and it just happened that in the instant she entered her little courtyard, she was met with the cries of a young child. Each cry grated against her most sensitive nerve. Again and again, it struck until she could not longer endure and gave the order, “Gather up all of the servants at the little bastard’s side and chase them out of the manor! Don’t keep a single one!”
The servants of the manor looked at each other in dismay, as they all froze in place, not knowing what to do. Seeing that Fen Dai was about to lose her temper once more, Dong Ying quickly hurried them: “Did you not hear the young miss’ order? Now that the Feng residence and Imperial Daughter Ji An no longer have any relation, and the people at that little bastard’s side were all arranged for by Imperial Daughter Ji An, why should we keep them in the manor? If Imperial Daughter Ji An really is kindhearted, she will take that bastard away. Either way, our Feng residence no longer has any reason to raise it.”
The servants heard that it was this sort of reason, they felt that Feng Yu Heng had indeed not inquired about the Feng residence in a few months, thus they were not afraid. They did as Fen Dai ordered and went to chase the maidservants and grannies at the child’s side out of the residence.
Feng Fen Dai still felt unhappy. Feng Jin Yuan’s disappearance left her feeling as if there was a thorn in her heart that she could not pull out. She thought for a bit then said to Dong Ying: “Go to the Li Palace and tell His Highness the fifth prince. Have him send someone out to search. Even if the entire capital needs to be dug up, that old thing needs to be found!”
Dong Ying complied and left, leaving Feng Fen Dai to ponder for the entire night. Where exactly had Feng Jin Yuan gone?
That night, everyone related to this matter went without sleep. Although Feng Yu Heng had guessed the situation, she was still a bit worried about Yao shi’s matter. It was for no other reason than that face that she possessed that was exactly the same as the face her mother from her previous life had. There was no way for her to suppress these feelings.
At around 2 AM, she could not sleep and simply got up to sit inside her room. With her getting up, Ban Zou also drifted out of the shadows and appeared in front of her, saying very frankly: “Get changed. I will bring you to the Yao family’s other courtyard to take a look.”
Feng Yu Heng was startled and asked with a frown: “Why would I go there? I don’t want to go.”
“Don’t keep putting up a front. It’s written all over your face that you want to go and take a look. You think that nobody can see through it.” Ban Zou rolled his eyes at her and spoke as he did in the past without giving her any face.
Feng Yu Heng still ended up listening to Ban Zou and listened to her heart. Changing into some dark clothes, she had Ban Zou bring her along, as he used qinggong to sneak her into the Yao family’s other courtyard without anyone ever knowing.
The courtyard was extremely quiet. Neither Yao shi nor Fu Ya were present, and the servants in the courtyard had no master to take care of. There were some servants that had been taken away by Yao shi, while those that remained were some that would take care of standing guard. But how could these guards stop Ban Zou and Feng Yu Heng? In fact, they did not even see their shadows. They just allowed the two to enter Yao shi’s bedroom.
After Ban Zou entered, he remained at the entrance and maintained a vantage point that allowed him to see the entire room. Feng Yu Heng had her own goal and slowly walked around the room. She stopped next to Yao shi’s bed for a long time but did not find any clues of value.
In the end, she found a few pieces of paper in the drawer next to the table. There were some words written on these pieces of paper. It would have been better if she had not looked, but upon looking, a wave of depression surged up inside her chest. On these pieces of paper were written things such as: Ji An, return A-Heng to me! Ji An, why don’t you go die! Ji An, I hate you!
In the past, she knew that Yao shi viewed her as a knot in her heart because her changes allowed Yao shi to notice the differences. It was such that she resolutely said that she was not the original Feng Yu Heng. In regards to these things, Feng Yu Heng felt that she would be able to accept it after thinking things through. After all, whether the daughter was real or fake, others might not be able to tell the truth, but Yao shi was the mother that had carried her to term over ten months. She was the one that knew most clearly. Not even the slightest change could escape the eyes of a mother. She had accepted all of this, and she had already stopped arguing with Yao shi over her lack of intimacy and her fearfulness. But it was only at this moment that she understood that Yao shi had hated her. It was not just a lack of intimacy and fearfulness. It was hatred! In fact, the hatred had reached a point to where she wanted for her to die and repay one life with another.
Feng Yu Heng held the piece of paper, and her hand began to tremble. She could not tell if she was hurt or angry. She just stood in place and trembled, as her breathing grew rougher. Even the veins on her forehead had popped up.
Ban Zou watched from a distance and was finally unable to keep watching. Stepping forward, he firmly grasped her shoulders then swept a glance over the pieces of paper. He then comforted her with a worried tone: “Calm down a bit. All of this was expected, wasn’t it? We cut off ties with her long ago. Whether it’s hate or resentment, those are all her own matters. You’ve seen it, but just treat it as if you haven’t seen it. Don’t think about it.”
Just as Feng Yu Heng was about to reply, Ban Zou suddenly gestured for her to keep quiet then pointed at the door, quietly saying: “Sh! There’s someone outside the door.”