Noble Lady Yuan, Are You Sick?
The Empress did indeed have many things that had been done involuntarily because she never had a choice. In this life, from the very beginning, things had already been decided.
She waved her hand and did not want to continue speaking with Noble Lady Yuan, only saying to her: “This One will try. Go back for now!”
Noble Lady Yuan was smart and definitely would not push too hard. Since the Empress was willing to say that she would try, that basically meant that there was hope. Standing up, she very politely saluted to the Empress then said: “Your Highness, take care of your health. The central palace still needs you to take care of it!” After saying this, she left with her palace maid.
A little while after Noble Lady Yuan had left, a pair of eunuchs supported Fang Yi back inside. Having been struck ten times, although the people in her own palace had been gentler when handing out punishment, Fang Yi was worried that Noble Lady Yuan would use this to try and look for trouble, thus she did not let them be too gentle. Although this paddling would not leave her unable to get up, her butt was bleeding, and it was difficult to walk.
The Empress felt distressed from seeing this and quickly had someone help her to the bed on the side. She then waved her hand to dismiss the eunuch before saying to Fang Yi: “You too, what are you getting into it with her for? Could it be that she has the ability to become the master of Jing Ci Palace?”
Fang Yi advised her: “Your Highness, make concessions to avoid trouble. If this servant being paddled makes Noble Lady Yuan mess around less with what she does and does not have, it would have been worth it.”
“How could she possibly not!” The Empress helplessly said: “Either way, she is someone with a handle on my situation. I fear that my entire life will remain uneasy. Who knows how many times something similar will occur.”
“What did she request of you this time around?” Fang Yi frowned, “She can’t possibly have asked you to advise His Majesty to appoint a crown prince, right?”
The Empress was startled and did not directly respond, only saying: “You saying that reminded this One. Next time, she won’t ask this One to ask help her request the position of the crown prince, right?”
“Your Highness, you must not agree!” Fang Yi endured the pain and propped herself up slightly, “Once the eighth prince takes that position, and once Noble Lady Yuan is placed in the position of empress dowager, although you are the head wife, how could you possibly stand up against those two? Moreover, that matter…”
“This One understands.” The Empress interrupted her, “We’ll deal with those matters as they come up. Right now, we need to think of a way to resolve the request that she brought up. You don’t know it, but that woman… She wants to return to the position of imperial concubine.”
Noble Lady Yuan wanted to return to the position of imperial concubine, and she had gone to threaten the Empress. On her way back to Cun Shan Palace, a smile had continued to remain on her face; however, at her side, her palace maid, Yue Xiu, still could not understand how it was that Noble Lady Yuan was able to benefit every time that she visited the Empress, and it seemed like the Empress was very afraid of her, but she understood that this was her master’s business. The things that she ought to know would be told to her without her needing to ask. As for the things that she need not know, if she asked, she might end up losing her head. There were many things where knowing less was better. That was what it meant to put one’s safety before matters of principle.
As the two walked along, they suddenly looked up, and Noble Lady Yuan stopped in her tracks. She then said in a cynical tone: “Oh, enemies really do share a narrow path.”
But of course, enemies did share a narrow path. Feng Yuheng had come into the palace today to visit Imperial Concubine Yun. She had just come out of Winter Moon Palace and ended up running into Noble Lady Yuan. Even Huang Quan quietly muttered: “You really do run into the ones you find most annoying.”
Feng Yuheng shrugged, “Since we ran into her, we need to speak a bit.” After saying this, she increased her pace and even said to Huang Quan: “Quickly, let’s take the initiative to meet up with her. Let’s not let her run away.”
Huang Quan was helpless: “Young Miss, why do you seem to be excited?”
“It’s not excitement. It’s that I saw the combative spirit on Noble Lady Yuan’s face. Let’s not disappoint her.” After she finished speaking, she had already arrived before the person in question. Smiling, she greeted her: “Greetings Noble Lady Yuan.” Though she said greetings, she merely nodded her head but did not perform a proper salute.
Noble Lady Yuan slightly furrowed her brow then replied: “Who would it be but Princess Yu? Speaking of, I am a noble lady of the palace, and you are just a princess of a prince. When seeing me, shouldn’t you be a bit more courteous? Could it be that you are looking down on a lowly, little noble lady? Remember, when I was still an imperial concubine, you needed to perform a grand salute.”
Feng Yuheng laughed and looked at her, asking in confusion: “Noble Lady really has a good memory and can still remember when she was an imperial concubine. Then you definitely will not have forgotten that aside from marrying His Highness Prince Yu, I am also a lower first rank imperial daughter of Da Shun, Imperial Daughter Ji An. The rank of imperial daughter is unrelated to whether or not you are a noble lady. In accordance with the ranks of female subjects, you are just a standard sixth rank noble lady. How could you ask a lower first rank imperial daughter to salute you?”
“That’s right!” Huang Quan also said: “If noble lady has any manners, you should understand who should be saluting whom.”
“You…” Noble Lady Yuan was left fuming with rage; however, she did not know how to defend herself. Indeed, when it came to a princess, she was her senior, but when it came to an imperial daughter, she was nothing. There were many ranks separating the two! She gritted her teeth and fiercely glared at Huang Quan before calming herself. It was only after she managed to calm herself down a little that she said: “Forget it, let’s not speak about the matters of saluting. I just left Jing Ci Palace and went to visit Her Highness the Empress and happened to see Her Highness the Empress drinking medicine. I heard that it was given to her by Princess? It really is good medicine. It smelled like a sweet tea. It really is quite enviable. You must know that we members of the imperial harem all need to drink the bitter medical soups made by the imperial physicians.” She still remembered how she had fallen ill upon hearing news from the South many months earlier, as she needed to drink the bitter medical soups for a full month. She had Xuan Tianmo go out to buy some good medicine, but Hundred Herb Hall had unfortunately been closed. When she finally managed to send people to the Hundred Herb Hall in Xiao Zhou, the people that had been sent were told that the patient needed to personally go and fetch the medicine. That had angered her quite a great deal. Now that she saw Feng Yuheng, she could not help but remember that matter and could not stop herself from telling her off a bit.
But Feng Yuheng became even more puzzled, “Noble Lady Yuan, are you sick?”
“You’re the one that’s sick!” Noble Lady Yuan subconsciously retorted.
However, she then heard Feng Yuheng say: “Then that’s odd. Since you’re not sick, is Noble Lady feeling envious or resentful? It really is funny. This princess has heard of people liking jewels or gold, and there are even some who like beauty; however, this is the first time hearing of someone liking medicine. But since noble lady likes them, it could be considered a matter of glory for me. Right now, Hundred Herb Hall has been opened once more. If Noble Lady is truly that interested in my medicine, personally come out of the palace. Seek treatment and get medicine. It’s very easy.”
Noble Lady Yuan felt as though she had made a very serious mistake, and this mistake was one that should not have been made. This was not her first time dealing with Feng Yuheng. The first time, she had lost her position as imperial concubine. Today, they had just engaged in some verbal jousting, yet she found that she still could not come out on top. Each and every word that Feng Yuheng said caused her to feel speechless and annoyed. It was enough to force her into a corner, leaving her with no room to retreat. Filled with hatred, she stood dejectedly for a long time, not knowing what she should say.
Yue Xiu could not bear to continue watching and bowed to Feng Yuheng then advised Noble Lady Yuan: “Master has been out for a long time. The days in winter are cold. We should quickly return!”
Noble Lady Yuan was waiting for this step to get away, thus she did not continue to worry about things and coldly snorted, leaving with a flick of her sleeves.
But just as she took a few steps, she heard Feng Yuheng ask: “I wonder how Her Highness the Empress’ health is? Noble Lady just came from Jing Ci Palace. How about you talk to me about it?”
Upon hearing this, Noble Lady Yuan became spirited once more, as she put on a shady smile and replied: “Princess Yu really is concerned; however, you must remember that knowing someone on the surface does not mean you know their heart. Don’t assume that everyone is a good person. That will make sure you don’t get bitten and get hurt.”
“Is that so?” Feng Yuheng faintly said: “Noble Lady, taking care of yourself is most important. Although whether or not someone is good is hard to tell, at the very least, I can see who is a bad person very clearly!”
Noble Lady Yuan was completely stumped by this. Stomping her foot, she did not continue to remain and quickly left.
Huang Quan furrowed her brow and seemed to have understood the underlying meaning. She could not help but ask: “Young Miss, the Empress…”
Feng Yu Heng waved her hand and cut her off. She then looked to the side and coldly spoke in the direction of a rock formation in a nearby courtyard: “Stop hiding. Come out!”
These words gave Huang Quan a start. She was responsible for protecting Feng Yuheng; however, she had been preoccupied just now with enjoying the scene of her young miss mocking Noble Lady Yuan. It was such that she did not notice someone hiding nearby. Hearing Feng Yuheng bring it up, she also became angry and soared in the direction of the rock formation!
Following this came a shriek, as a young palace maid was carried over to Feng Yuheng as if she were a chick. “Young Miss, she was the one hiding behind that rock formation.”
“Princess, spare me! Princess, spare me! This servant is not a bad person. Really, I’m not a bad person!” The young palace maid dropped to her knees in fear and repeatedly kowtowed to plead for forgiveness.
Feng Yuheng saw that she was a normal palace maid and did not have any martial arts foundation. Her earlier hiding had also been quite clumsy, thus she gestured for Huang Quan to help her up. Only then did she ask: “Which palace do you serve? Who is your master?”
The young palace maid spoke while trembling: “This servant takes care of Noble Lady Li in Jing Si Palace. Hearing that Princess came into the palace today, Noble Lady wanted to invite you to sit for a while in Jing Si Palace, and she sent this servant to wait on the path to Winter Moon Palace. At first, this servant did not want to hide, and I definitely did not hide because of Princess. It’s because I saw Noble Lady Yuan. Princess should also know about it, but our Noble Lady Li might be Noble Lady Yuan’s sister, but the relationship between the two is not very good. This servant was thinking that more problems are worse than fewer problems, thus I hid, but I definitely did not intend to eavesdrop on your conversation with Noble Lady Yuan!”
“Noble Lady Li?” Feng Yuheng was puzzled, “What does she want to see me for?”
The young palace maid shook her head, “This servant does not know.”
“Forget it.” Feng Yuheng thought for a bit then said, “In the end, she is sixth brother’s birth mother. Just for sixth brother, this princess should go and take a look. Let’s go! Let’s go to Jing Si Palace.”
At this time in Jing Si Palace, Noble Lady Li was craning her neck and looking out of the side hall, waiting. From time to time, she would adjust her clothes and ask her maid, Zuo’er: “How do I look? It isn’t undignified, right?”
Zuo’er calmly said: “As a noble lady, it’s perfect.”
“As a noble lady… then isn’t it a little too strict? Hah, no good, no good, how can strict be good. It will scare people. Let’s change into something else.”
Zuo’er grabbed a hold of her and pleaded with her: “You’ve already gone through three sets of clothes. She is Princess Yu, and she is a lower first rank Imperial Daughter Ji An. No matter what you wear, it won’t scare her. This is very good and conforms very well with the rules. Don’t keep changing.”
“Is it really fine?” Noble Lady Li felt her hair once more, feeling as though her hairpin was a bit tilted. She then had Zuo’er adjust it a bit before saying: “It’s nothing to me, but isn’t it for the sake of Feng’er’s image! Only by wearing something fitting can it leave a good impression on her. It will also be good for Feng’er.”
“Master!” Zuo’er became worried and stomped her foot, saying: “You must not say this sort of thing again. She is Princess Yu. What good would come from her being good to His Highness the sixth prince for no reason? If word of this got out, how do you want His Highness the sixth prince to live?!”
Just as they were speaking, the sound of the palace gate opening could be heard. The door was partially opened, as the servant that had been sent out brought Feng Yuheng and her maidservant inside. Noble Lady Li began to feel a bit nervous…