Chapter 314 A Visit from the Assistant Minister, Hua Xiangfeng
King Chu welcomed King Yan, Feng Yulei, at his manor today.
King Chu being injured by an assassin was not really news. The news said that King Chu was badly injured but no one actually saw his injuries. The only information that was released was that the physicians were trying their best to treat him.
When Feng Yulei arrived, Feng Yuxuan was lying on the large empty grounds in front of his courtyard, suntanning. Other than his pale complexion and haggardness, he looked fine. On the long soft couch, two large marble screens shielded him from the wind. The sun shone down warmly upon him and it added some life to his dark eyes.
He reached out with his left hand and lifted the pitcher by his side with some difficulty. He poured Feng Yulei a cup of tea, his sleeves hiding the bulging veins of his hand. His hand felt so weak that he almost could not hold on any longer. His wound hurt but he kept a faint smile on his face. Putting down the pitcher, he pushed the cup of tea to Feng Yulei and smiled, saying, “Third Brother, why are you so free to come to my place today?”
Then, he ordered the little eunuch beside him, “Go, bring that chair over for King Yan.”
The little eunuch rushed off to bring over a nanmu wood chair with gold trimmings. He even put a soft cushion on it especially.
“Big Brother, how are your injuries? Our Royal Father and Mother are worried and told me to come and take a look.” Feng Yulei bowed and took a seat with a smile. He accepted the tea that Feng Yulei pushed over to him and took a sip. Then, he praised, “The tea here is good. The new tea that I have just gotten isn’t as flavorful as yours.”
Feng Yulei said and lifted the cup in his hands, peering at the color of the tea as he praised it.
“Take some back with you when you leave lest you keep saying that my King Chu’s Manor is better than your King Yan’s Manor. Even the same tea leaves have different flavors. I have to go over to your place to have a look to see what good things you are hiding.” Feng Yuxuan glanced at Feng Yulei with a vague smile as he spoke.
“It must be the people here then. They manage the tea leaves with all their hearts. I truly don’t have anything good that you might like.” Feng Yulei joked. Then, he put down his cup and asked with concern, “Big Brother, how are your injuries? Father is truly worried. Shall we get you a royal physician?”
Feng Yuxuan shook his head with a laugh, saying, “I have worried Father. It is no big deal; it is just a small injury to my arm. It’s better now but I have to recuperate for some time. It is hard for me to move around these days, so help me to tell Father this.”
“Of course. Are you figuring out chess plays alone?” Feng Yulei’s gaze landed on the white jade chess table in front of Feng Yuxuan.
“I was bored and playing against myself is considered a form of self-entertainment. It is not anything grand.” Feng Yuxuan lamented and shrugged.
“Big Brother, you have more and more chess play under your belt now. Look at this, you are much better than me now.” Feng Yulei picked up a chess piece and put it down. The chess piece landed in the middle coincidentally and blocked the formation that Feng Yuxuan was going for coincidentally as well. One could tell who was going to win immediately.
“Third Brother, and you were just saying that you are bad at chess. There is nothing else I can do after your move.” Feng Yuxuan picked up a chess piece and hesitated for a moment. He did not put it onto the board straight away. Instead, he knocked it against the board a few times looking like he could not make up his mind.
“I am truly bad at chess. Amongst us brothers, Yuzhen’s the best at chess. You win at having the most chess plays while I know some little tricks. Forget Eighth Brother, for he pokes around without any plays in his mind. He is just playing. Only Yuzhen has the plays of a chess master. He is the best amongst us and even grandmother praises him for it.” Feng Yulei said casually as he lowered his head and picked up the teacup by his hand. He took a sip while looking over the cup at the chessboard.
“No matter how good Yuzhen is, he is not here. He has been gone for so many years. Father once said that he will definitely allow him to come back when he gets married. It should be about time for that.” Feng Yuxuan looked at the chess pieces on the board and said leisurely.
Feng Yuzhen was the hostage prince who had gone to the Yan Kingdom but everyone knew that the hostage son Bai Yihao would eventually return. That meant that Feng Yuzhen would come back as well. However, he could not return before Bai Yihao did unless he got married. The rules of the Qin Kingdom stated that one had to worship their ancestors before getting married.
Feng Yuzhen’s ancestors were the ancestors of the royal family. He had to go to the family temple to pray and worship…
Even though the Qin and Yan Kingdoms had exchanged hostage princes, Bai Yihao was given more freedom. He could return to the Yan Kingdom from time to time while Feng Yuzhen rarely returned. On one hand, it was because Bai Yihao’s status was higher than Feng Yuzhen because he was the crown prince. On the other hand, Emperor Zongwen rarely had anything on for Feng Yuzhen to return. Without the orders of the emperor, returning secretly was as good as treason.
Feng Yuxuan smiled. He naturally understood why Feng Yulei had brought Feng Yuzhen up. However, there was no hint of that on his expression. He said with a warm smile, “Third Brother, why are bothering with his matters? Isn’t the Empress Dowager helping King Ning to pick a consort? I heard that the daughter of Grand Secretariat Wang is known for being demure. She should be the one!”
Grand Secretariat Wang was an official who worked under the previous Emperor. He was related to the Empress Dowager as well and would naturally be close to her. He would visit the Empress Dowager from time to time at Cining Palace and speak with her. His daughter would accompany him as well and she met with the princes several times as well. Judging by the Empress Dowager’s intent, it would be normal for her to pick Wang’s daughter.
“Big Brother, I heard that there are a few girls from noble families in the consort selection this time. Even though we have already picked our main consort, the spots for secondary consorts and concubines are still empty. The Empress Dowager wants us to pick a few for ourselves and for King Ning.” Feng Yuxuan changed the topic.
They had not yet married their main consort and were picking their secondary consorts and concubines. Even though this had happened before, it wasn’t very nice especially since the consorts they picked were noble young ladies from noble families. The Empress Dowager sending in more new people was not done very well. Furthermore, according to what they knew, Wang Xiuxiu was not chosen this time.
The Empress Dowager wanted to pick more women for King Ning.
This meant that they wanted to pick another young woman from a noble family to back King Ning. The Empress Dowager had really put in a lot of effort for King Ning.
Feng Yuxuan’s expression grew solemn. Then, he sighed and said, “I do not have any objections if the Empress Dowager has such thoughts. When I am better, I will go to the Empress Dowager’s Cining Palace to thank her. She not only has to help King Ning, she thought of us as well. This is touching.”
While his words sounded nice, it did not sound like they were close. Fortunately, the two both knew what the Empress Dowager was planning and they did not care much about the familial relationship between them and the Empress Dowager. One of them would speak and the other would listen. As for what happened after, that was something spoken of in private. They just had to maintain a veneer of civility and respect.
Feng Yulei listened quietly and drank his tea. Then, he poured Feng Yuxuan a cup of tea and filled his own cup as well. He sighed and said, “Big Brother, you should go to Cining Palace to thank the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager went to Father especially when she found out that you were hurt and asked Father to send the royal physician over. Father refused since you were not badly injured. However, he was still worried about you, so he sent me here to take a look.”
“Oh, when I am better, I will visit the Empress Dowager to thank her.” Feng Yuxuan smiled blandly and looked at the chess play before him. He looked as if he did not hear Feng Yulei. There was a gust of wind and the scent of flowers washed over the place. It was the most fragrant time of Spring and the flowering trees exuded a faint fragrance.
The two of them chatted for a while before Feng Yulei left, saying that he had something on. Feng Yuxuan stood up and sent him off. Then, he turned around and sat down again. He waved his hand and everyone left. The smile on his lips grew cold and rather sinister.
“Your Highness, don’t worry. Since King Yan came to feel you out today, you just have to be more careful in the future and others will not find out.” The tightly shut doors behind him opened. Qin Yufeng emerged with a faint smile.
“Yufeng, did he come especially for King Ning’s matters or was he reminding me that the Empress Dowager is suspicious of me?” There was a flash of darkness in Feng Yuxuan’s eyes and a dark murderous intent filled the courtyard.
“King Yan came to sound you out and to remind you to be careful of the Empress Dowager. King Ning is already in the capital.” Qin Yufeng said with a smile as Feng Yulei sat down.
“What? He came to the capital secretly?” Feng Yuxuan’s expression changed drastically.
“Is there anything he did not dare to do? As long as the Empress Dowager finds him a consort from a noble family, he would not have come to the capital without permission. With the Empress Dowager’s help, who would check even if they knew that he was hiding in the Empress Dowager’s Cining Palace?” Qin Yufeng picked up a chess piece and placed it on the board. The deadlock situation came alive once more.
“Your Highness, we do not need to do anything now. We just need to stir this pool of murky waters.” Another chess piece landed on the board. This time, the piece that Qin Yufeng picked up was the opposite of the one he put down earlier. The moment he placed this chess piece on the board, the path on the board was immediately broken. The clear path that could be seen earlier disappeared.
…
Mo Xuetong slept deeply at night. When she woke up, it was already noon.
Before Mo Xuetong could oversleep, Mo Lan had already smartly gotten someone to inform Xu Yan that Mo Xuetong had been startled yesterday and had fallen ill.
Xu Yan hurriedly sent servants to visit and they found Mo Xuetong lying in bed with a pale face. They did not wake her up. They ordered Mo Xuetong’s servants to take good care of her and returned to Xu Yan.
Mo Huawen came home during lunch and wanted to visit Mo Xuetong when he heard that she was ill. However, before he could get up, he heard that the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Hua Xiangfeng was here. He spoke hurriedly to Xu Yan before leaving the courtyard.
Hua Xiangfeng was already waiting in the study. He smiled and bowed when he saw Mo Huawen. The two were of similar positions and were both highly regarded by the Emperor. As such, they met regularly and were familiar with each other. However, Mo Huawen did not know why Hua Xiangfeng was here. A servant served them tea and left.
They were both court officials and there were some things that a servant should not hear. As such, he left obediently.
“Sir Mo, I heard that your first wife is the eldest legal daughter of the Fu General Manor. Is this her?” Hua Xiangfeng walked around the study and saw a painting of a beauty in spring hanging on the wall.
Mo Huawen took a look and smiled. He said, “This is a painting done by my wife during her free time. There are no other meanings and she is not the eldest legal daughter of the Luo Manor.” Xu Yan had herself painted sleeping in spring just a few days earlier. The woman in the painting resembled her and also Luo Xia. There was some meaning to the painting, but Mo Huawen would not tell this to an outsider.
He was rather confused and did not know why Hua Xiangfeng would ask about Luo Xia. Hua Xiangfeng would not do anything without a concrete reason.
“Oh, I thought this was your first wife.” Hua Xiangfeng smiled and sat down. Then, he looked at Mo Huawen and said, “I found someone outside the city gates a few days ago who said they knew your deceased wife. They also said that they were a servant in her household.”
How would a mere servant in the General Manor know Luo Xia? Furthermore, they had mentioned Luo Xia especially. Mo Huawen looked at Hua Xiangfeng in confusion. His eyes darkened and he frowned, waiting to hear what came next. The people of the court would not mention past history for no reason. Furthermore, he and Hua Xiangfeng were not extremely close but he had come to talk about Luo Xia…