Better to Throw Sand That Can’t Be Held Together
The letter had been written by Feng Yu Heng and sent to the sixth prince, Xuan Tian Feng. It was because Xiang Rong’s name had been written on the envelope that it had been sent to the embroidery shop.
The one sending the letter was Xuan Tian Feng’s attendant. After entering, the letter was handed to Xiang Rong. Looking over to the side, he saw Xuan Tian Yi, who was standing to the side, and he could not help but become extremely shocked and ask: “Your Highness the fourth prince, you wouldn’t happen to have escaped from the capital, right?”
Xuan Tian Yi angrily smacked the attendant’s head: “What escape? Have you heard of anyone fleeing to this sort of place to arouse the attention of others?”
“Then how could you be here?” The attendant held his head and had a bitter expression, “Who doesn’t know that you were sentenced to house arrest by the Emperor? Not to mention the capital, but you could not even leave your own palace. How could you suddenly appear here?”
“It was Father Emperor that allowed me to come!” Xuan Tian Yi said with a heavy expression: “The Feng family’s third young miss is my master. My master has run off, so how could I, as a disciple, not also come? Otherwise, who else would teach me? Don’t worry, just tell this to His Highness the sixth prince. If he doesn’t believe it, just sent a report into the capital to ask and see if Father Emperor allowed me to come. Oh right, remember to have my sixth brother come and visit me here. Fourth brother has come. He should have something to express.”
The attendant weakly nodded his head then asked Xiang Rong: “Third young miss, is there anything urgent in the letter? If there isn’t, this servant will go back and report to His Highness. If there is, this servant also needs to report to His Highness to discuss what should be done.”
This had originally been quite a normal question, but when they looked at Xiang Rong’s expression, her entire face slackened with a look of sadness. Xuan Tian Yi and the attendant were both confused and did not understand what had happened. Xuan Tian Yi was rather cheerful, as he directly snatched the letter from Xiang Rong’s hands to take a look. He then casually said to the attendant: “Oh, there’s nothing major. It’s just that someone died. Feng Jin Yuan died.”
The attendant pondered for a long time before finally reacting and could not help but click his tongue. Feng Jin Yuan, was that not Imperial Daughter Ji An and third young miss Feng’s father?! Although he had heard that their relationship was not good, they were still related by blood. Now that he had suddenly died, it was no wonder that third young miss Feng would have this sort of expression. For a while, he did not know how to console her. Neither leaving nor staying were correct choices.
It was Xuan Tian Yi that helped solve this problem, as he chased that person to the door. While opening the door, he said: “Go back and tell His Highness the sixth prince the truth. Tell him that there’s no need to worry about this side. Everything can be left to me.” After saying this, he pushed the attendant out the door then shut the door tight.
In summary, the letter was Feng Yu Heng reporting a death to Feng Xiang Rong. Feng Jin Yuan and Yao shi’s causes of death, as well as their changes at the very end, were all recorded very fairly by Feng Yu Heng; however, she did not express her own opinion. Instead, it was left to Xiang Rong to think about for herself. It would be based on her own feelings for that father.
After Xuan Tian Yi sent that attendant out, he quietly returned to Xiang Rong’s side and quietly dismissed his own attendant, as well as Xiang Rong’s maidservant. It was only after all but the two left the shop that he finally said: “If you feel unhappy, just cry. Having a father die, you should cry a bit. Although that father of yours was truly not very good.”
Feng Xiang Rong also knew that Feng Jin Yuan was not a particularly good father, but in any case, he was still her father. She thought to herself that she should cry a bit, right? Her emotions stirred for a long time before she raised her hand to wipe her eyes; however, she found that not a single tear had come out. There was nothing that she could do, as she bitterly said: “I’m unable to cry. Aren’t I quite cold?”
Xuan Tian Yi shook his head: “It was caused by Feng Jin Yuan himself. How could this be blamed on you? If you don’t believe it, just ask your second sister. Ask her if she cried when Feng Jin Yuan died.”
Xiang Rong smiled bitterly, “Tears definitely did not come out. The relationship between second sister and father was even colder. The things that father did to second sister truly made him unworthy of even having second sister call him father. But he could be considered a bit fortunate. Right before dying, he had second sister at his side. Originally, when she had heard that he had gone South with Madam Yao and Fu Ya, she had thought that even if he died, there would be nobody to take care of looking after him.” As Xiang Rong spoke, she took another look at the letter, “Second sister said that right before he died, he began to regret the things that he had done. Unfortunately, it was too late. If he could have come to understand it earlier, the Feng family would not have suffered its current fate. You don’t know it, but the Feng family was quite good, but that sort of good was limited to the time before second sister was sent to the Northwest. After that, Chen shi became the head wife, and everything changed.”
She let out a long sigh, as countless emotions welled up inside her chest. All of her memories of the Feng manor from the moment that she could form memories began to surge forth, and this brought out a few tears.
Xuan Tian Yi was not very knowledgeable about how to console crying girls, and he recalled that Bu Ni Shang had also cried in front of him a few times. He gritted his teeth and endured it. In the end, when he could no longer endure it, he left with a flick of his sleeve; however, he had been unwilling to say a single word of consolation. Now, however, when Xiang Rong was crying, he could not stop himself from raising his arm to use his sleeve to wipe her tears. He even very naturally said: “Don’t cry. It’s all in the past. In the future, won’t there be good days to come?!”
Xiang Rong cried in a different way than Bu Ni Shang. When Bu Ni Shang cried, she would act spoiled while crying. Also, while acting spoiled, she would want to get revenge. Xiang Rong just sat there with a straight back while remaining completely silent. Tears dripped like beads, and it looked like she was not making any sound; however, it was quite a distressing sight.
Xuan Tian Yi felt that he really was quite distressed; however, he truly did not know how to console her. After holding it in for a while, he managed: “How about I sing you a song?”
Xiang Rong immediately let out a laugh. The sadness that she had felt from Feng Jin Yuan’s passing was immediately reduced by quite a bit. She helplessly let out a sigh: “I’m not actually hurt. It was just a result of blood relations that tears began to start falling. It’s a natural reaction by the body and does not have much relation to my feelings. But regardless of what is said, I must thank you to make it so that I am not completely alone when I found out about my father’s passing. That would truly be miserable!”
Only then did Xuan Tian Yi smile: “Right! My little master should rejoice a little. When Feng Jin Yuan was alive, he did not provide you with a good life. Whether he lives or dies, what sort of effect does that have on you? Either way, the Feng family is already the way it is. There’s no difference from if it had disappeared. As I see it, it would be better to bring your mother to this side. Didn’t you say that Feng Yu Heng provided you with a residence? Bring her over, and you two can live together. How great!”
Only then did Xiang Rong manage to react, “Right! Father is dead. My mother is a concubine and did not get added to the family register. Now, it’s natural that she would be free.” She finally began to move, thinking about how she would bring An shi to Ji An Prefecture.
Xuan Tian Yi saw that she had recovered once more. Only then did he nod with a smile, expressing his satisfaction. Feng Jin Yuan had died? This was very good. That old thing was someone that he had disliked for a long time. He had been thinking that if that damn old thing continued to bully his little master, he might have just taken action himself to send him to heaven. “There’s no need to rush!” Xuan Tian Yi joyfully said to Xiang Rong: “Tomorrow morning, I will send someone back to the capital to bring Madam over here. Leave this matter to me to handle!”
Xiang Rong gained a trouble-making fourth prince, thus her days were quite lively. As for back in the capital, Feng Fen Dai had also received the letter sent from the South by Feng Yu Heng. Sent along with the letter was a porcelain canister. Inside were Feng Jin Yuan’s ashes.
Feng Yu Heng’s letter to Fen Dai was even simpler. It just wrote simply about the happenings before and after Feng Jin Yuan’s death. It was the other letter that had been sent along with it that was rather emotional. It was the letter that Feng Jin Yuan had written to Fen Dai before his death. On the night that he had drank with Xuan Tian Ming, he had handed it to Xuan Tian Ming, requesting his help in sending it to Fen Dai.
The letter eloquently told Fen Dai to clearly look at all situations, to think more about her time growing up in the Feng family, think more about the family relations and to no longer oppose her second sister. It also told Fen Dai that only by following her second sister could she have a good and peaceful life.
When Fen Dai read this letter, her face was completely expressionless. It was as though she was reading a letter from a stranger and was completely unrelated to her. The maidservant at her side, Dong Ying, asked: “Young Miss, what did the letter say?”
Only then did she faintly reply: “It’s nothing much. It’s just to tell me that Feng Jin Yuan died.”
“What?” Dong Ying was extremely shocked, “Master, he… died?”
“Un.” Fen Dai faintly said: “Don’t be so surprised. It was a matter of sooner or later. Just based on how he was acting, it would be strange if he didn’t die. Hmph!” She stood up and coldly snorted, saying: “Seeking support from the eighth prince? Going to help a fake daughter? It really is no wonder that he could think up and do something like that! Leaving me, the official princess of a prince, alone, he goes to take care of a daughter that is not the slightest bit related to him. If this sort of person did not die, what would he be living for? As I see it, he died late. He should have died a long time ago. It also would have saved the Feng manor’s reputation from being ruined.”
After saying this, she laughed with disappointment, and self-mockingly said: “Feng Manor? What Feng Manor is there still remaining? I once thought that this land was so small. When we just moved in, I felt that it was cramped. But looking at it now, I feel it’s quite large. Living in it on my own, it feels quite empty. Even if there were more servants, it can’t be compared to the former joy in the Feng family. Dong Ying!” She called for her maidservant, “Have someone take down the sign outside tomorrow! This place is no longer the Feng manor.”
“Then what should be placed there?” Dong Ying was also a bit emotional. Such a large family was scattered just like this?
Fen Dai, however, could not think of anything, thus she just said: “Leave it open for now. There’s no need to hang anything. When I think of something good, we’ll discuss it then. Or we can simply just not hang anything up in the future. Most of the people in the capital know who is living in this residence. I also very rarely interact with outsiders. Aside from those that I am familiar with, there are basically no other visitors. It’s just a sign, and it does not really matter if it’s there.”
Dong Ying wanted to advise her a bit more and said: “Then what if the third young miss or the second young master come back? There’s also concubine mother An. Young miss, how about thinking about it some more?”
“Them?” Fen Dai smiled bitterly, “They won’t come back. Don’t worry! This place has been left to me alone for a long time. The Feng family has stopped existing for a long time. Even if we set fire to this residence and burned it down, there won’t be anyone to voice a single complaint.” She was a bit absent-minded, stumbling back toward her courtyard. Looking all around, she suddenly began laughing loudly. After a long time, she said: “In the past, I had always dreamed of being the only one worshipped in the Feng family. Everything would revolve around me. There would come a day when I would trample all over them! Now, sure enough, the Feng family only has me to worship; however, who knew that it would be like this. It turns out that obtaining something means losing something. If I were to want to get even more, what else would be lost?”
Her gaze was cold, and her eyes were squinted. Suddenly charging back into the hall, she picked up the canister of Feng Jin Yuan’s ashes and began to walk out until she reached the street. There, she raised the canister high above her head and fiercely smashed it on the ground.
At this time, a gust of wind suddenly blew past, carrying off all of the ashes, until nothing was left.
“He did not keep me when he was alive, so I don’t want him after he’s dead! Scatter them! Death ends all troubles!” Sure enough, Fen Dai did as Xuan Tian Ming had said, scattering Feng Jin Yuan’s ashes!