Chapter 404 The Brothers of the Ding Manor Marry off Their Daughters
In King Chu’s Manor.
It was early evening by the time Feng Yuxuan returned to the manor. The night was approaching and the lights on the streets were already lit. He stood in front of the window and breathed out slowly, releasing the pent up energy in him. A cold and sinister smile appeared at the corners of his lips. No matter what would happen, a crack had appeared in the relationship between Feng Yuzhen and the Ding General Manor. Why would a woman plot against Ling Fengyan for no reason? If she had truly done something like that, it could only be because of her husband.
This meant that Feng Yuzhen had killed Ling Fengyan!
The enmity had begun.
The Empress Dowager had planned to have the Ding General Manor stand on Feng Yuzhen’s side because he was her blood kin. It seemed that the effect of that was going to be greatly reduced. Furthermore, there was the Grand Secretariat Wang. His two daughters had gotten into trouble one after another in Feng Yuzhen’s hands. Could he truly not care and continue to be a loyal subject of the Empress Dowager?
“Your Highness, the Second Young Master of Ding General Manor wishes to see you.” A little eunuch entered and stopped at the door respectfully, looking at the dark and unlit room.
The Second Young Master of the Ding General Manor was Ling Fengyan’s father and was the brother of Duke Ding. Even though Duke Ding was now the patriarch of the family, the Second Young Master of the Ding Manor did not become a branch family. He was now working as a censor in the Yamen and was Lord Qin’s assistant. Together, the two brothers had their hands in the military and the civil service. They both benefited from this arrangement. Even though Second Young Master Ding was not Duke Ding himself, he was still a powerful man.
“Quick, invite Second Young Master in.” Feng Yuxuan strode out with wide steps.
He was the Emperor’s son and was a prince. No matter how powerful Second Young Master Ding was, he was still a subject in front of Feng Yuxuan. How could he approach the man instead? The middle-aged man who appeared to be in his 40s hurried forward and tried to bow.
“Father-in-law, there is no need to be so polite. Please come in.” Feng Yuxuan said hoarsely and hurried forward to hold the man up.
He had spent the entire afternoon in the palace. He had been questioned in the Princess Royal’s palace and his voice was now strained. When he spoke, he sounded exhausted. There were traces of blood in the corners of his eyes and he looked extremely pale. It was as if he had aged several years in just a day. He appeared exhausted and sad.
“Your Highness, is Yan’er truly gone?” He asked with a trembling voice as he looked at the prince.
Even though the news from the palace had come early, he did not believe that his beautiful and young daughter had passed away just like this. The last time he saw her, she had been a newlywed and returned to her maternal home for her first visit. Even though she had been thin and weak, she seemed to be in good spirits. Later, he heard that she was ill and sent servants to visit her. They only said that she was gravely ill.
However, they all felt that she was young and would get over the illness.
Who would have thought that that would be the last time he saw her? Even though Ling Hai was a heartless man, his heart could not help but softened. His eyes welled up with hot tears as he thought of his beautiful daughter. His voice trembled.
“Father-in-law…” Feng Yuxuan’s voice was filled with sadness. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but then could not find the words for what he was about to say. He sighed and pulled Ling Hai into the room. When they reached the living room, he directed Ling Hai into a seat and then knelt down with a thud. “Father-in-law, I was incapable. Fengyan was hurt by someone… your son-in-law was useless…”
When he thought of the incident that pained him to the extremes, he could not even speak. He clutched his chest and punched the floor. His fist hit the stone ground and tore. Blood stained the stone floor red.
Ling Hai heaved a secret sigh of relief when he saw how sad and hopeless the man before him was. He stood up suddenly. He was just an ordinary official. How could he accept such a great show of courtesy from Feng Yuxuan? Feng Yuxuan was the high and noble, and powerful King Chu. He pulled Feng Yuxuan up hurriedly and said, “Your Highness, please don’t say that. It is my ill-fated daughter who doesn’t have the good fortune to serve you.”
“It is not Fengyan who does not have the good fortune. It is I, who was incapable of protecting her.” Feng Yuxuan’s eyes were filled with pain, anger, and sadness.
The intense feeling of losing his partner and having to go on alone from now on in Feng Yuxuan’s eyes made Ling Hai feel much better. King Chu did love Yan’er. The hatred Ling Hai felt for King Ning grew. He felt that King Ning was too vicious to come up with such an evil plot. He had killed Ling’er, and Ling’er had passed on at such a young age. Wasn’t his intention to break the relationship between King Chu and the Ding General Manor?
He was trying to make it so that the Ding General Manor could only support him!
He and Duke Ding were brothers and were also brothers of the current Empress. King Yan, Feng Yuyan was the son of their cousin. They were considered to be close. As such, they were more willing to support Feng Yulei, who was closer to them in terms of blood and not the grandson of the Empress Dowager, King Ning, Feng Yuzhen. Furthermore, the most important thing was, it was perfectly justified for King Yan to take the throne.
King Ning was just a hostage son. What right did he have to ascend the throne?!
If he insisted on taking the throne, he would have to revel. The Ding General Manor was a large and successful family. Why did they have to do take this path of no return?
As long as the Ding General Manor did not rebel and as long as he insisted on supporting King Yan and stood on King Yan’s side, they would still become the empress’s family. That glory and honor were equivalent to being part of the royal family. Why would they rebel then? The cost was too great and the benefits were too little.
If they succeeded, they would only become the empress’s family.
If they did not, they would be sentenced to committing a crime that would lead to the entire family’s death!
As such, the two brothers of the Ding General Manor had always only appeared to support the Empress Dowager but was truly supporting the Empress in helping King Yan onto the throne. However, who would have expected King Yan to have enraged Emperor Zongwen? He had been imprisoned so swiftly nothing could be done about it. The Ding General Manor had not even had the time to react.
Of course, they were even more suspicious that the Empress Dowager had been behind that. However, they did not have any evidence and they did not dare to argue with the Empress Dowager about it.
On the surface, they seemed to be compliant to the Empress Dowager and supported King Ning. However, the two brothers thought that King Chu, Feng Yuxuan, was more likely to become Emperor. Ling Fengyan had already married Feng Yuxuan. If she had a son, the relationship between the two factions would be even closer. Furthermore, if Feng Yuxuan became the Emperor, the child would be the true legitimate son of the palace. The child might be able to rule in the future.
The royal family of Qin would flow with the blood of the Ding General Manor. Just the thought of it overwhelmed the siblings of the Ding General Manor with excitement!
Meanwhile, Ling Fengyan would be nobler than the current Empress in the future. After all, the current Empress did not have any sons. That would always be a mark against her.
Given Ling Fengyan’s beauty and grace, it would be easy for her to catch Feng Yuxuan.
However, what they had never imagined was that Ling Fengyan would die in the hands of Wang Yueyue. The woman had broken the relationship between King Chu and the Ding General Manor just like that. The two brothers of the Ding General Manor hated the Empress Dowager. If she had not done anything, would Feng Yuzhen dare to do something like that?
If the two brothers had not sworn to be loyal to the Empress dowager before the deathbed of their father, they would have already fallen out.
When they received news that Ling Fengyan had been poisoned to death by Wang Yueyue, the two brothers immediately shut themselves in the study and started discussing the matter. The conclusion they got to was that they must not lose their connection with King Chu no matter what would happen!
Ling Fengyan was not the only daughter from the Ling family!
With that thought in mind, and seeing how upset Feng Yuxuan was, Ling Hai felt satisfied. The sadness he felt at the passing of his daughter lightened. He helped Feng Yuxuan into a seat and then leaned over. He said sorrowfully, “Your Highness, I can see how much you love my daughter. Thank you, Your Highness. The Ling family is not fated with Your Highness!”
He turned Ling Fengyan into the Ling family! His intentions were clear!
“It is all my fault. I did not take notice of her and managed to let that evil woman succeed. Father-in-law, I will definitely seek revenge for Fengyan.” Feng Yuxuan was very upset and he clutched his chest with his bloody hand. He was very agitated, and coupled with his hoarse voice, he seemed to have been dealt a severe blow. He seemed unable to express how he felt with his words and was unlike the usual gracious and elegant King Xuan.
Ling Hai noted all of this and was secretly delighted. It seemed that the plan his elder brother mentioned would not be an issue. As long as King Chu was unable to forget his love for Feng Yan, this matter would be a done deal. His mind was full of plans and he completely forgot his sadness.
“Your Highness, please don’t say things like that. If Yan’er knows how much you love her, she would definitely feel grateful to you. Your Highness, when Yan’er was still alive, she had once said jokingly that if she passes on, she hopes that her younger sister would be able to serve you so that she would not let you done. She does not need you to give her status and only hopes that she can take care of you. Your Highness, I did not expect that she would pass on just like that after saying that. I, I… My heart hurts so badly!”
Ling Hai hit his chest and cried while he spoke.
There was a message lurking beneath what he said. Ling Fengyan’s younger sister was Ling Rui’er, who was also the legitimate daughter of a duke’s manor. If she were to truly marry into a king’s manor, how could they not give her status? Furthermore, King Chu loved Ling Fengyan deeply and would not allow her younger sister to suffer. The position of King Chu’s first consort would still end up in the Ding General Manor. They would still be able to support Feng Yuxuan secretly.
Even though Ling Fengyan had been replaced by Ling Rui’er, they were both legitimate daughters of the Ling family. They would become the empress in the future and the child they had would be the legal eldest son… When he thought of that, Ling Hai could not help the flash of satisfaction that passed his eyes.
Feng Yuxuan noticed the look of satisfaction and a hint of ridicule flashed in his eyes. He said sadly, “Father-in-law, how can you say that? I was the one who let Fengyan down. After I send Fengyan off, I will ask Father to grant my marriage and ask to marry Fengyan’s younger sister as my first consort. I will not forget Fengyan’s love for your son-in-law.”
He had changed the way he addressed himself to “son-in-law”, making their relationship sound close and affectionate.
Ling Hai grew even more pleased and he pretended to sob for a while longer. Then, he left, satisfied, and about to prepare for Ling Rui’er’s impending marriage. Ling Fengyan’s death meant that the royal family owed the Ding General Manor. As long as King Chu asked to marry Ling Rui’er, it would not be an issue for the girl to enter King Chu’s manor. Even though Ling Rui’er would be King Chu’s second wife, and there would not be a big celebration, she was still the legitimate daughter of the Ding General Manor. They would not allow others to look down on her. As such, he would have to return and quickly get her dowry made.
He had already gotten over the death of his eldest daughter. She was already dead and no longer had value. It had not been easy for him to cry earlier.
Feng Yuxuan smoothed out his pained expression as he watched Ling Hai leave, pleased with himself. Feng Yuxuan’s expression turned dark and a cold smile appeared on his lips. Ling Fengyan, who had cuckolded him was dead and was being exchanged with the obedient and stupid Ling Rui’er. He had not made a loss at all. Ling Fengyan had dared to plot against him and embarrass him on the day of their wedding. He would not have let her live no matter what would happen.
Feng Yuxuan felt annoyed when he thought of that slut. If that slut had not wanted to drag Mo Xuetong down with her as she was dying, nothing like this would have happened. Feng Yuzhen would not have been able to escape. However, the current situation was not bad either. A chasm had appeared between the Ding General Manor and Feng Yuzhen. Feng Yuxuan would see how much more power Feng Yuzhen had to fight him.
“Your Highness, the servants are asking if you want to see the lady.” A little eunuch asked cautiously.
Ling Fengyan’s body had been brought back long ago. They had to clean it and was waiting for it to be placed in the coffin. In the Qin Kingdom, it was said that the deceased had to be placed in a coffin with their family present before they can be reincarnated. If they did not have any family to place them into the coffin, they would be reincarnated as beasts. As such, the steward has asked the little eunuch to ask the prince.
“It’s alright. Help me bathe and get changed. Then, send some wine and food in. I have not yet eaten.” Feng Yuxuan flicked his sleeves and walked into the room.
“Yes.” The little eunuch did not dare to say anything else and hurried to carry out his orders.