How Is the Capital This Shabby
Concubine Liu’s illness claimed the lives of everyone in the Liu family. Nobody thought that Feng Yu Heng would be so violent in her actions. The members of the eighth prince’s faction were all shaken by this horror, and they no longer dared to take any actions, choosing to submit. After all, Feng Yu Heng had too much influence, and the ninth prince had just returned from a victorious campaign. This truly was not a good time to launch a counterattack.
There were even some who said that the case of the Liu family was a result of a failure in the eighth prince’s judgment. He did not understand enough, such that it caused this big mistake. For a while, the people had numerous complaints about the eighth prince, but it was not enough to completely collapse the faction. It was just that more people chose to observe and would not participate in the eighth prince’s plans.
Of course, Xuan Tian Mo would not be so foolish as to forge ahead in this sort of situation. Speaking of, Liu Huai’s case was mostly just to probe Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng. It was just that the outcome of this probe caused him to feel worried. His opponent’s methods were so cruel that they really caused quite a headache.
Liu Huai’s execution was set for the end of Autumn. Through Xuan Tian Ming’s efforts, everyone in the capital knew what the Liu family had done to make the Emperor mad enough to execute their entire family. Harming a member of the imperial harem and harming Princess Yu, which one of those were entities that people could tolerate being offended, especially Princess Yu. To the people of the capital, Feng Yu Heng’s life was their life. If there was anyone that did not get along with Feng Yu Heng, that would be the same as having all of the people in the capital as enemies.
At the beginning of the ninth month, the days were getting colder. Qing Yu brought a stack of accounting journals to Feng Yu Heng. This stack was much thicker than when she was in the imperial daughter’s manor, and Qing Yu told her: “Aside from the shops from our imperial daughter’s manor, there are also the shops from the Yu Palace. Eunuch Zhang already organized them and had this servant bring them for Young Miss to take a look at. Also, there is one from the third young miss’ embroidery shop…” As she spoke, she pulled out a journal that was a bit thinner, “Concubine Mother An entrusted this servant with the shop in the capital before heading to Ji An Prefecture. This servant already told concubine mother An that someone would be sent over with a report every three months. Right now, Young Miss happens to be in the capital, so it was brought over for Young Miss to take a look first.” While she spoke, she flipped through it a bit, “A small embroidery shop truly cannot compare to our shops in terms of sales, but that shop has a storage room sealed up. The things in that storage room are worth a bit of money.”
“Oh?” Feng Yu Heng froze, “What is it?”
Qing Yu told her: “It’s the dowry that was scammed from the prefect of Luo Province. Before leaving, concubine mother An told this servant that those things were also brought to the shop when they moved out of the Feng residence. Originally, they should have been part of the third young miss’ dowry, but the third young miss already said that she does not want those things. She wanted to leave them to be added to young miss’ dowry. She also said to have it brought to the Yu Palace after Young Miss returned to the capital. Earlier, Hundred Herb Hall was reopened, and a medical school was opened. This servant was so busy that I forgot about this matter.”
Hearing her say this, Feng Yu Heng also recalled that there was indeed such a thing, and she recalled that Xiang Rong had not provided a gift with Xuan Tian Ge and the others for her wedding in the South. It turned out that the reason was that it had been left in the capital, and she had left for Ji An Prefecture early on, thus she had no way of bringing it. But… “What would I want that stuff for?” She smiled bitterly, “Xiang Rong, that girl, is the same as her mother. She thinks about too much. She is my younger sister. It’s always the elder sister that provides a gift for the younger sister. She has not gotten married yet. What is she giving me a gift to add to my dowry for?! How could I be lacking for anything. Just leave them for her!”
Qing Yu nodded and did not advise her any further. Those things might be good to Feng Xiang Rong, but to her young miss, they really were not worth much. Of course, between sisters, the niceness of things did not matter. It was just that she also felt that the Feng family’s third young miss should leave some for her own dowry. After all, the Feng family no longer existed, and her mother did not have a particularly noble status. To marry into a nice family, aside from wealth, there was nothing that she could rely on.
“It’s the end of Autumn. It’s about time to prepare new clothes for the new season.” Feng Yu Heng said to Qing Yu: “This time, things also need to be prepared for the Yu Palace. You need to put in some effort and must not be negligent.”
Qing Yu nodded: “Young Miss, don’t worry! A few days ago, Lady Zhou already brought it up, saying that the Yu Palace has its own tailors. His Highness the ninth prince also has a textiles shop. In the past, their clothes were handled by the textile shop. This servant was thinking that this custom will be coming to an end this year. After all, His Highness the ninth prince’s shop is the best in the capital. If we go out and look for our own, we won’t be able to find any better. If the quality of the clothes are worse than previous years, it would look bad. How about young miss thinks about it from a different angle. See if something extra can be provided to the servants?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Then hand the job of making clothes for the imperial daughter’s manor to the textiles shop. In the future, no matter what the situation, both sides will be receiving the same things. They must not be treated differently. It will keep the servants from feeling disappointed.”
Qing Yu took note of everything that she said. She then brought up needing to provide material benefits for the medical school, and they would be paid the same as the clerks of the other shops. Feng Yu Heng had no objections to this.
She was now living in the Yu Palace, and the valuable fabrics that had originally been in the imperial daughter’s manor were brought over. Feng Yu Heng had originally wanted to use the five treasures to make clothes for Imperial Concubine Yun and Princess Wen Xuan, but she then felt that they definitely were not lacking for nice clothes. When it came to things like the five treasures, they might be valuable to others, but Imperial Concubine Yun could definitely get as much as she wanted. Princess Wen Xuan also did not seem like someone who cared about fabrics. She thought long and hard. To speak of giving gifts to the older generation, nothing could compare to the things that came from her space.
After sending off Qing Yu, she dodged into her space and began searching. She ended up finding quite a few pairs of new men’s and women’s socks. They were all compression socks with medical benefits. Not only were they comfortable to wear, but the women’s socks could even deal with sweat, while the men’s socks could get rid of odors. There were many designs for the socks, and she chose the best to be given as gifts. She also chose some normal ones to be given to the servants of both residences.
Aside from this, there was no shortage of the things that were often sent into the Imperial Palace and to the Wen Xuan Palace. Imperial Concubine Yun and Princess Wen Xuan had already been spoiled silly by her. They did not use common things. When washing their faces, they had to use cleansing lotion. When they washed their hands, they had to use hand soap. The towels had to be the ones that she brought out of her space. When it came to the facial skin products, it was even more important that they be modern products. Even toothbrushes were not normal toothbrushes. Instead, they were special toothbrushes that had come from her space.
Feng Yu Heng brought these things out of her space and sorted them out, placing them in different boxes. Seeing that the weather was quite good, she simply called Wang Chuan and Huang Quan to go out together. They headed straight over to the Wen Xuan Palace.
Everyone in the Wen Xuan Palace had always warmly welcomed Feng Yu Heng’s arrival, and this included the servants. This was because Feng Yu Heng was magnanimous when giving things out. When awarding servants, she gave out more money. Gold, silver, nuts, seeds, and other things would sometimes be given away in small handfuls.
Because of the relationship with Yao shi, her conversation with Princess Wen Xuan carried a bit of a sorrowful tone. Feng Yu Heng had no intention of having Princess Wen Xuan continue to wipe away tears, thus she found a reason to leave quickly. It was Xuan Tian Ge who said to her without any reservation: “That lip gloss thing, bring a couple for me next time. The orange one from last time was stolen away by Tian Yu.”
Coming out of the palace, the three did not get into the imperial carriage. Feng Yu Heng wanted to stroll around on this street and coincidentally ended up in front of An shi’s embroidery shop. Although An shi and Xiang Rong were not present, the foundation of this shop was quite good. There were still quite a few clients. Moreover, Qing Yu had taken over. Everyone working in the shop knew that the boss was Princess Yu’s younger sister. Now, Princess Yu had taken over, and the services that had been provided were improved in all aspects. That was why everyone from the seamstresses to the clerks was very dedicated to their work, not wanting to leave.
Feng Yu Heng saw this shop and remembered something, as she said to Wang Chuan: “Later on, go and visit Qing Yu and the others. Feng Jin Yuan is no longer around, thus she is no longer a concubine of the Feng family. In the future, she is not to be called concubine mother. Just call her Madam An.”
Wang Chuan nodded, “Don’t worry, Young Miss. This servant will go and tell Qing Yu later tonight.”
Huang Quan happily said: “I heard that the third young miss has sent back quite a few of the new embroideries from Ji An Prefecture. The shop in the capital is also displaying embroideries with those appearances. They are very well-liked by the madams and young misses of wealthy families. Speaking of, Madam An’s embroidery shop was not this busy back then. When we were still living in the Feng manor, this servant had come to take a look. It was just a small business. Over the course of a month, there would be tens of taels of revenue. It was extremely shabby. Who knew that with the Feng family collapsing, business would actually pick up. It seems that the Feng family really was no good. As long as one leaves the Feng family, they will have a better life than before.
This was something that Feng Yu Heng agreed wholeheartedly with. It was the idea of a happy family making everything better. The family would live in harmony, and their life would naturally develop in a better direction. But if it was like the Feng family, feelings of resentment would build up between the family members. Any good fortune would be dispersed. This was not a superstition. It was a natural result of people facing matters with a different mental and emotional condition.
The group stood in front of the shop while chatting. The clerk inside recognized Feng Yu Heng and happily came out to greet her, but just as this clerk opened their mouth and before a single word could come out, the sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels came from the North. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a carriage speeding in their direction from the North. It was moving very quickly and kicked up the dirt from the ground.
The clerk of the embroidery shop hastily stepped forward. While moving Feng Yu Heng toward the side of the road to prevent injury, they said: “Whose carriage is traveling so arrogantly? When traveling through these streets, they don’t even slow down a bit. What would they do if they hit someone important?”
Once these words came out, it seemed as though the driver heard it and really slowed the carriage by a bit. When the carriage was seven or eight paces away from Feng Yu Heng, it gradually came to a stop, but the driver clearly had not done this because of the clerk’s words. Instead, it was because a young maidservant had lifted the curtain and poked her head out. While looking at the two sides of the street, she said: “The capital is just like this! The roads are so narrow, and the people wear such shabby clothes! There are even beggars there!”
While the girl spoke, she turned around to speak with someone inside the carriage. Not long later, another person dressed as a maidservant looked out of the carriage and looked in the same direction that the earlier girl had pointed then immediately began to laugh: “But of course! The capital even has beggars? I originally thought that the capital was a particularly noble place. Not to mention the roads being paved with gold bricks, but there should, at the very least, be glittering jewels everywhere. Why is it so unseemly? Look, even the entrances of these shops are so shabby, yet there are actually so many people that come to buy things. They really are quite unpleasing! Why is the capital so unrefined?”