The Ninth Prince of Hell Arrives!
Feng Ru Jiang advised Fu Ya to leave the manor to head to Hundred Herb Hall very resolutely. Regardless of how Fu Ya pushed it off, he could find reasons that she should go. For example: “The citizens have already insulted Hundred Herb Hall for selling fake goods. If Imperial Daughter still does not go, our Hundred Herb Hall closing down would be minor. Your reputation is more important! Right now, only with Imperial Daughter going can the people feel as though they have a pillar of support. Moreover, the battle in the South is also bitter. I heard that half of the territory in the South has already been conquered by Gu Shu. Right now, Lan Zhou’s people are feeling worried, and His Highness the eighth prince is not present, and only Imperial Daughter can be relied upon to support this side. Imperial Daughter, easing the hearts of the people is most important!”
With him saying this, it served as a reminder to Feng Jin Yuan. That’s right, easing the hearts of the people was important. Also, these hearts were not being eased for their sake. Instead, it was for His Highness the eighth prince. If this matter could be done well, there would be no need to fear His Highness the eighth prince not repaying this kindness.
Up to this point, they still had not received word that the army of 300 thousand had already been placed under Xuan Tian Ming’s command. In Feng Jin Yuan’s mind, His Highness the eighth prince was still the master of the South. Thus he immediately made the decision to have Fu Ya return to her room to get changed. She would follow Fang Ru Jiang to Hundred Herb Hall to ease the people’s hearts.
There was nothing that Fu Ya could do. She could understand Feng Jin Yuan’s intentions; moreover, Fang Ru Jiang also said it: “You are just going there to take a look. They’re just some normal commoners. They won’t trouble Imperial Daughter with personally acting to save anyone.”
She did not continue to think about it and quickly returned to her room to get changed. She then said a few comforting words to Yao shi. Only then did she follow Fang Ru Jiang out of the manor. This was also the first time that she had gone outside since the opening of the Hundred Herb Hall in Lan Zhou.
Along the way, Fu Ya acted like a criminal. Fearing that she would be recognized by someone, the feeling of walking in the streets of Lan Zhou were completely different from before. At that time, she was afraid that she would not be recognized, and she really enjoyed the feeling of being the Imperial Daughter, but now, she was afraid of being recognized and asked about things related to Hundred Herb Hall.
Fang Ru Jiang saw this and smiled internally. He thought to himself that a fake really was a fake. With this sort of temperament, how could she compare with the real Imperial Daughter?
Finally, the two arrived at the entrance of the Hundred Herb Hall in the city. From far away, they could see the long line of people that had come to fetch medicine and seek treatment. There was even one that repeatedly asked: “Did Imperial Daughter come today? When can Imperial Daughter come? Are there still any of those medical pills left? We brought money for the sake of buying those pills.”
As for Fang Ru Jiang, he did not care if Fu Ya was willing or not, as he raised his voice to shout: “Everyone, move aside. Imperial Daughter Ji An has arrived!”
The commotion caused by this shout was extremely large, and Fu Ya’s forehead began to ache upon hearing this. As for those commoners, they were like water that had just been boiled, becoming extremely excited. All of them turned their attention in Fu Ya’s direction, and someone recognized her, happily saying: “It really is Imperial Daughter Ji An! With Imperial Daughter coming, we can buy medicine! Our loved ones can be saved!” The people gathered around and happily began to speak with Fu Ya.
Fu Ya felt very annoyed on the inside. She hated that she could not just kick these people away, but she still remembered what Feng Jin Yuan had emphasized more than once: While out, she had to have an Imperial Daughter’s manner. She needed to think more about how Feng Yu Heng treated the citizens in the capital. Even if she could not copy it perfectly, she needed it to be close.
Fu Ya forcefully suppressed her anger and began to smile. She explained to the citizens that had come to gather around her: “I am truly sorry to everyone. I have never thought that I would have such a hard time adjusting to the climate of the South. It’s such that I have been exhausted the entire time, which made it difficult to come over here. After all, everyone is asking for medical help. Bringing a sickly atmosphere would make things worse for everyone.” She explained in a reasonable manner then added: “Doctors cannot treat themselves; moreover, it’s a problem with the heat, which is even harder to resolve.”
The people were able to accept this explanation, but no matter how they looked at her, this Imperial Daughter did not look like someone that had been ill for a long time. Her complexion had a red glow, and she clearly looked to be quite well. But the people did not think much of it, just repeatedly asking: “When will there be more of the medical pills that are sold in Hundred Herb Hall?! We all came to buy those pills. We heard that the capital had never run out of medicine before. Why would things be different here?”
Fu Ya blurted out without any thought: “Because medicine needs to be brought over from the capital. That’s what caused this situation. Everyone knows that Lan Zhou is truly too far from the capital. When I came, it was in a bit of a hurry and I could not bring that much with me.”
Just as she was speaking, there was a young man that rushed over from outside of the crowd. Arriving in front of Fu Ya, he kneeled and repeatedly kowtowed, saying: “I beg Imperial Daughter save my wife! The midwife said that it’s a difficult birth. The fetus cannot be birthed at all, and it will take both lives. I heard that Imperial Daughter knows a way of delivering children with surgery, which involves cutting open the woman’s belly then taking the child out before sewing the woman up. Both the adult and the child would be saved. I beg Imperial Daughter save my wife and my child!”
Fu Ya’s head ached once more, cut open the belly to retrieve the child? What sort of strange technique was this? But when she was in the capital, she had indeed heard that Feng Yu Heng knew this sort of thing. At that time, she had been quite frightened. Who knew that there would be someone that would beg her to cut their own wife’s belly open. How could she dare?
Fu Ya remained frozen in place, not knowing what to do; however, that person continued to plead: “Imperial Daughter, just save my wife and child! I heard that Imperial Daughter used this method more than once to help a woman give birth! It was all done with this method. I beg Imperial Daughter treat the people of Lan Zhou the same as the people of the capital!”
This placed a great burden on Fu Ya, and she became a bit dazed from anxiety. If she did not save them today, it would mean that she was looking down on the people of Lan Zhou? But in the end, she was not Feng Yu Heng. She really wanted to save them; however, she did not know how to do it. What should she do? At present, Feng Jin Yuan was not at her side, and she did not have anyone that could help her come up with any ideas. Fang Ru Jiang had already disappeared into the crowd of people and was saying to the people: “Everyone, don’t worry. Imperial Daughter has come. Everything can be resolved. Would everyone be at ease.”
Be at ease, be at ease my ass! Fu Ya really wanted to begin cursing at Fang Ru Jiang. This person was simply scamming her. For a while, everyone had turned their attention to her, and it was as though they were waiting for her response. Just as Fu Ya was at a loss over what to do, she suddenly heard a commotion from behind her, as someone shouted: “The general of the Southern Army has come! The general of the Southern Army has come!”
Her eyes lit up and subconsciously believed that it was the eighth prince. Because this was the South, everyone knew that the eighth prince was the general of the Southern Army. The matter of the ninth prince taking over the position had not been spread. Ji Ling Tian knew about it, but he was afraid that the people of the Feng family would become panicked, thus he forcefully suppressed this information and waited for additional orders from the eighth prince.
Fu Ya heard this sort of shout and rejoiced on the inside! She could no longer be bothered with the person kneeling there and begging her to save his family while holding onto the hem of her dress. Forcefully tugging her dress away from that person’s hands, she then turned around and ran over toward the advancing army.
But after running a few steps, she stopped, as she found that the person on the horse was not the eighth prince. Instead, it was the person with a purple lotus flower on his forehead. It was the evil and demonic ninth prince, Xuan Tian Ming.
Fu Ya felt as though she had suffered a sudden blow. It was as though the sky was collapsing. She could not stand steadily and only managed to avoid falling with some support from some unknown person. Her legs, however, continued to tremble.
Was it not said that the general of the Southern Army had come? Why was it the ninth prince?
Her mind was filled with questions; however, there were people that began discussing: “I heard that this person is the ninth prince. It’s Da Shun’s god of war, the ninth prince!”
“Right! The ninth prince settled the Northwest, supported Gu Mo’s newly appointed emperor and worked with Imperial Daughter Ji An to conquer Qian Zhou, turning all of Qian Zhou into Da Shun’s territory. Now that he has come to the South, could it be that Gu Shu’s army will quickly be pushed back?”
“Not just pushed back, but I think that the ninth prince will definitely launch an assault straight into the heart of Gu Shu and take Gu Shu as part of Da Shun.”
“Keep your voice down. Imperial Daughter Ji An is still standing there. She abandoned the ninth prince and ran over here to support the eighth prince; however, who knew that the general of the Southern Army had already changed. Say, will Imperial Daughter Ji An run away again?”
Fu Ya could not bear to continue listening. Her mind was filled with a buzzing sound, and she subconsciously retreated, running in the direction of the Feng residence without any considerations. There were a large number of citizens shouting at her from behind, but she refused to look back.
Xuan Tian Ming appeared in the South and appeared in Lan Zhou. This sort of attack was too great and was too frightening. It was as the people had said. She had finally managed to escape from the capital and hidden away in Lan Zhou. Why was the ninth prince like a persistent ghost, also coming here? Could it be that it was to deal with her? Or was it Feng Jin Yuan and Yao shi?
Either way, regardless of who it was for, it was a huge disaster for the three. She had interacted with Feng Yu Heng for such a long time, thus it was impossible for her to not know of the ninth prince’s personality. That person only treated Feng Yu Heng and his imperial concubine mother well. He also treated the seventh prince quite well, but to the ninth prince, nobody else was human! Everyone in the capital called him the ninth prince of hell. Now, this ninth prince of hell had come to Lan Zhou, and he had come as the general. What should they do?
Fu Ya did not know how she had returned to the Feng residence, but she had run very quickly. Even the maidservant behind her, Xiao Tao’er, was nearly completely left behind.
She barged into the residence and did not care that the gatekeeper inside had been knocked to the ground, as she rushed toward Feng Jin Yuan’s courtyard. Before she could even reach the yard, she began shouting: “Father! Father, it’s not good! A big problem has occurred!”
Ever since coming to the South, Feng Jin Yuan had regained some of his former style. When he had nothing to do during the day, he would do some calligraphy and read some poetry. He had a bit of that feeling of being the left prime minister once more. Although the matter of the Hundred Herb Hall also left him feeling anxious, he did not think that it was a particularly big problem. If things truly did not work out, he would just have Ji Ling Tian make an appearance and find an excuse to close up the Hundred Herb Hall. The responsibility could be pushed onto anyone.
But now that Fu Ya let out this shout, his heart trembled. His brush did not land steadily, and the entire thing was ruined.
Very quickly, the door to the study had been pushed open, and Feng Jin Yuan asked her with a frown: “What exactly happened that would make you so panicked? Look at yourself, what sort of appearance is this? You’re just shouting wildly, and even your makeup has run. Where is there any of an imperial daughter’s aura of dignity?”
Fu Ya repeatedly shook her head, and she was so tired that she was struggling to breathe. Holding the door frame with one hand and her chest with the other, she finally managed to catch her breath before urgently saying to Feng Jin Yuan: “Father, it’s not good. The ninth prince has entered Lan Zhou City!”