Emergency at the Military Camp
Fen Dai leaned back in the carriage and slightly closed her eyes, beginning to think about a great many things. After just a moment, she ordered Pei’er: “When we return to the manor in a bit, find someone to go investigate the Li Palace. I must know about everything related to the Li Palace. Also, go investigate what exactly is going on with the white crystal earrings. Eldest sister gifted me such a thing and pushed me into the deep pit known as the Li Palace, so we must use this opportunity to fill up the hole.”
Han shi was a little scared, “What exactly are you going to do?”
Not waiting for Fen Dai to respond, Pei’er pondered a little then began to comfort Han shi: “Concubine mother, fourth young miss is right.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Han shi angrily pinched Pei’er, causing a couple tears to appear from the pain.
Fen Dai, however, rolled her eyes, faintly saying: “Why are you in such a rush? Why do you not let Pei’er finish speaking?”
Han shi angrily said: “What good things can she possibly say?”
“Concubine mother!” Pei’er felt wronged and said: “Fourth young miss’ way of thinking is indeed correct! Think about it, which manor does not have wives and concubines? Not to mention that this is a prince’s palace, even our prime minister’s manor’s master took in quite a few!”
Upon hearing this, Han shi became infuriated, but she did not act out. Instead, she endured and allowed Pei’er to continue speaking.
Pei’er continued: “Prince Li is a prince, so it’s normal for him to have a few more women. Moreover, they were all brought in before he met the fourth young miss. There is no need for us to get angry. What’s important is to not look at what Prince Li has done, instead we must look at what he will do!”
Han shi frowned, “Your meaning is…”
“So long as fourth young miss can capture his Highness Prince Li’s heart, wouldn’t all those concubines need to kowtow to young miss? As for the other secondary princesses, either way, they are not favored. They can be slowly taken care of later on. So long as his Highness’ heart is with our young miss, the power will be with young miss.”
Han shi’s mind finally reached an understanding, but she continued to frown, “How do you plan on capturing the heart of a man like that? Just how old is fourth young miss? It’s possible that his Highness the fifth prince’s heart will grow cold before you even marry into the palace.”
“Then we will keep him under wraps the entire time! Wouldn’t it be fine to just make sure he does not become cold.” Pei’er looked at Fen Dai and said: “After returning to the manor, this servant will immediately send someone to investigate the matter with the white crystal. We must think carefully and thoroughly to capture his Highness the fifth prince’s heart. So long as young miss receives his favor, nobody will dare to trouble us.”
Fen Dai grinned from ear to ear, “That’s right. Oh Pei’er, it’s no loss that you are my personal servant. Sure enough, you think very similarly to me. I was originally curious as to why the fifth prince would take an interest in me, but it truly is related to that pair of earrings. This is also good. At least it provides us with a place to start.”
“That’s also good.” Han shi felt that Fen Dai seemed to have matured, and her plans seemed to have become more and more grand. Even though something like this had happened, she did not become too flustered. Instead, she could immediately analyze the situation and make a decision. If this were her instead, she definitely could not do it. “But I am still a little worried about eldest young miss. She turned around and gifted that pair of earrings, clearly harboring an intention of harming you. What if she continues to scheme against you after you return?”
“Then I will also scheme against her, and we will see who outsmarts who!” A stern look appeared once again in Fen Dai’s gaze, “Feng Chen Yu is nothing more than a ruined flower. Does she still dream of becoming the Empress? My ass! SHe does not even take a look at what she has become.”
Pei’er advised her: “It’s good enough for fourth young miss to know it, but these sorts of words should still be said carefully. Also, eldest young miss can not be ignored. After all, she still has the support of the Chen family, so we must not allow them to try any other secret tricks.”
“Right.” Han shi also reminded her, “Only after the new year will you truly be eleven years old. That will mean another four years until you can marry. A long delay means trouble, so you will need to carefully think things through.”
“Do I fear a long delay that leads to trouble?” Fen Dai lifted the corners of her lips, “Although there are many women in the Li Palace, but as I see it, there should not be many noble ladies. Most of them were found by his Highness among the common rabble. Merely looking at the arrogance of that concubine earlier made it clear that the secondary princesses in the palace most likely do not have any standing. Fortunately, I have the backing of the prime minister’s manor. Even if his Highness the fifth prince did not give face to the monk, he still had to give face to Buddha.1 It would not be good to go back on one’s words.”
“This servant will go investigate the origins of the official Princess Li later.” Pei’er said: “This should be easy to investigate. Once her origin is understood, we can make arrangements earlier on.”
While she spoke, Fen Dai turned her attention towards Han shi.
Han shi retracted her neck in fear. She feared this gaze from Fen Dai the most. Every time she showed this appearance, it was the prelude to her being scolded.
Sure enough “Concubine mother must also reach an understanding. Think about it, if I become the Feng family’s daughter of the first wife, no matter what the situation with his Highness the fifth prince, he will still need to give face to the prime minister’s manor, right? When the time comes to marry into the Li Palace, who would still dare to abuse their power? Thus, concubine mother, whether or not I can stand out will rely entirely on your belly!”
Fen Dai’s hand gently felt Han shi’s lower abdomen, causing Han shi to break into a cold sweat from the dread.
For the sake of protecting her engagement to the fifth prince, she thought up many means. On the other side, Feng Yu Heng’s carriage was rushing towards the exit of the city. Huang Quan sat at her side. Puzzled, she asked her: “Why did you help fourth young miss?”
Feng Yu Heng smiled, “Because I suddenly wanted to follow that person’s plans. Accept the mistake and adapt to it.”
“His Highness the third prince?” Huang Quan still did not understand, “But what is the benefit in doing it like this?”
“There are plenty of benefits. Just wait and see. They want to scheme against me? There will come a day where he will know that he is still lacking.” A shallow smile was affixed to Feng Yu Heng’s face, comforting and calming those that saw it.
Huang Quan liked this confident appearance the most and could not help but become happy. She then recalled the scene of her young miss skinning the snake in front of the third prince and could not help but begin giggling “His Highness the third prince’s defeated appearance was very interesting.”
Feng Yu Heng, however, did not respond. Instead, she got up and lifted the curtain herself, “Have we left the city?”
The driver was Ban Zou wearing a bamboo hat. Seeing Feng Yu Heng come out, he pointed ahead, saying: “Look.”
Feng Yu Heng followed his finger and looked in that direction. Not too far away, she saw another magnificent carriage stopped on the road. The carriage was made of rosewood with nephrite inlays, even the curtain was made of the very rare smokey silk gauze.
She immediately became happy, “Didn’t he say that he would wait for me at the military camp? Why is he here?” Feng Yu Heng stood outside her carriage and waved towards the other carriage. She even put her hand next to her mouth and shouted: “Bai Ze! Bai Ze!”
The person standing next to the carriage was none other than Bai Ze. He had already noticed Feng Yu Heng long before she began waving. Now that she shouted out, and he saw the young girl standing on the carriage, Bai Ze became a little absent-minded. His mind immediately returned to the mountains of the Northwest. At that time, Feng Yu Heng was just a child, who had a bit of medical knowledge. How could he have thought that a wild mountain child would actually be the young miss from the prime minister’s manor? How could have thought that this chance encounter would actually be with the future official princess of the Yu Palace?
“Master!” He became joyful and turned to lift the curtain, “Princess has arrived.”
The person in the carriage was Xuan Tian Ming, who always wore a set of purple clothes. He still sat in his wheelchair, but the legs under his robes had already regained some strength. They could even handle taking a few steps forward.
When Bai Ze looked at Xuan Tian Ming’s legs, his affirmation of Feng Yu Heng became even more profound. To have found a divine doctor as a wife, his Highness truly had good fortune!
Very quickly, Feng Yu Heng’s carriage arrived. Without waiting for the carriage to come to a complete stop, she jumped down and hopped over towards Xuan Tian Ming.
Ban Zou angrily gritted his teeth, “Take your time! Do you not fear falling to death.”
Smack!
Huang Quan fiercely smacked him from behind, “Is your mouth incapable of holding back a bit?”
Ban Zou silently snorted but did not speak.
At this moment, Feng Yu Heng had already climbed into Xuan Tian Ming’s carriage. Bai Ze laughed loudly while pointing at Ban Zou. Without another word, he set the carriage in motion.
Ban Zou and Huang Quan followed along behind them, heading in the direction of the military camp in the suburbs of the capital.
“Last time, you said something about a surprise, so I thought about it. If I told you that I would wait for you at the military camp then I secretly came here, that should count as a type of surprise, right?”
Xuan Tian Ming lightly caressed Feng Yu Heng’s head. Looking at this girl lean her chin on his leg, she looked a bit like a small pet. If she could peacefully remain like that, it would be pretty nice too.
Unfortunately, Feng Yu Heng was not someone who was capable of being like a pet. He only patted her hair twice before the girl became unhappy, knocking his hand away “I am not a puppy, so why are you always patting my head?”
Xuan Tian Ming’s gaze was serene, “Then what about other places?”
Feng Yu Heng thought quickly and reached out her small hand: “Take it.”
He became gloomy and grabbed hold of the small hand. Silently snorting, he no longer spoke.
Grinning widely, she retracted her hand and sat on the ground in front of him. She then began to examine his legs.
“Recovery is going well. The bone should be completely healed.” She raised her head to look at him, “In a few days, when I remove the plaster, you can try to do some rehabilitation and try to walk around a bit every day.”
“Good.” He nodded, feeling a little happier inside. “When my legs have healed, I will take you out to wander around.”
“Really?” Feng Yu Heng’s eyes lit up, “Will I be able to go anywhere I want?”
“Un.” He nodded, “Either way, the world is only so big.”
She giggled, as she really wanted to tell him that the world really was very big. It was not just limited to the four countries surrounding Da Shun. Far away, there were even more countries on the other side of the ocean. There were also many where the people did not resemble the people of Da Shun.
She could not say it. There were many things she could not say. She would be considered nothing more than a demon, and she did not want to be seen as a demon. In this era, there were still many things that still needed to be done.
“Master!” Suddenly, Bai Ze shouted out. Following this shout, the carriage came to a sudden stop.
Feng Yu Heng got up and returned to sitting next to Xuan Tian Ming. Seeing the curtain lifted, Bai Ze poked his head in and said: “Deputy general Qian has arrived.”
“Hm?” Xuan Tian Ming was startled then explained to Feng Yu Heng: “Deputy general Qian is my deputy at the military camp. Normally, he would not leave the camp, unless…”
“Unless something happened.” Feng Yu Heng’s expression sank. The general was not present, and now the deputy general had rushed out. Could it be that something happened at the camp?
“Let him in.”
“Yes.”
Bai Ze turned around and very quickly, a middle-aged man climbed into the carriage.
The man was nearly eight feet tall, which was a height rarely seen in this era. He was very clearly surrounded in an aura of boldness. This was what Feng Yu Heng was accustomed to. He had the feeling of a soldier who fought.
The person did not think that there would be a girl in the carriage and could not help but freeze; however, he quickly retracted his gaze and saluted Xuan Tian Ming, hurriedly saying: “General, something happened at the military camp.”
1: One must give face to a third party or powerful backer.