Chapter 419 – Take a Walk With This County Princess
The servant from the Bu family was also a little surprised, but it was someone from the palace, and it was the Chun Palace. He definitely did not dare express his dissatisfaction, thus he moved to the side, giving some space.
An shi’s expression was not too good and gave a look to Xiang Rong, but how could Xiang Rong have any mind to look at her. Her eyes were fixed on the maidservant that had been sent by the Chun Palace.
It was an older maidservant, and she looked to be around 17- or 18-years-old. In terms of appearance and bearing, she was very graceful. She first went to salute Xiang Rong then bowed to An shi before saying: “His Highness Prince Chun returned from out of the province and brought back some fresh things, and he specially prepared some for county princess and third young miss.” While saying this, she brought the thing in her hands to Xiang Rong then said: “It’s nothing particularly expensive. It’s just some dried fruit. It’s a specialty from that area. Third young miss, please do not dislike it.”
Xiang Rong waved her hand, “I don’t dislike it. I don’t dislike it.” She was in a bit panicked and a bit happy, and she was also at a bit of a loss over what to do. Personally receiving the dried fruit, she held it like it was some sort of treasure. Even an idiot could see the joy on her face.
The person that had come from the Bu manor was a little embarrassed. He felt that he had found some sort of secret. It was a secret that the master of his own family might not know about. There was someone in the heart of the Feng family’s third young miss!
An shi could see that the atmosphere was not right, thus she quickly began to take care of the situation. Smiling, she said to the maidservant from the Chun Palace: “Did miss come from the county princess’ manor?”
The servant nodded, “Indeed.”
An shi pulled Xiang Rong and secretly pinched her then added: “From a young age, county princess has gotten along well with third young miss. Normally, whenever she gets something nice, she would leave some for third young miss. Who knew that when his Highness the seventh prince sent dried fruit, third young miss would also get to try some.”
That servant was a smart person and naturally understood what An shi meant, thus she did not expose it. She just smiled at the two of them and bowed before leaving.
The servant from the Bu family did not have any reason to continue staying, thus he bid them farewell and followed the maidservant out.
Just after they left, An shi snatched away the dried fruit that Xiang Rong was hugging and fiercely said: “Third young miss! You must wake up a little! If your attitude today was to become known by the Bu family, you will be left eating bitter fruits! Even in the years leading up to your marriage, the Feng manor will not treat you well either!”
Xiang Rong became spirited from her shouting, her small cheeks becoming bright red. She tried a few times to snatch the dried fruit back from An shi but could not do it. Thus she simply turned around and swept all of the things that had been brought by the Bu family onto the ground.
What Bu Cong had sent was nothing particularly good. It was nothing more than some pastries that had been purchased on the side of the street. With Xiang Rong spilling them all over the floor, they shattered upon contact.
An shi angrily raised her hand to slap her, but she was unable to bring her hand down. Because the girl in front of her was not just her daughter. She was also the third young miss of the Feng manor. Although she was her birth mother, as a concubine, she did not have the right to slap her.
The mother and daughter pair stared at each other then suddenly began crying together. An shi grabbed Xiang Rong and pulled her into a hug, helplessly saying: “Child, if you have anyone to blame, blame your mother. It’s because mother was lacking in ability and could only become that person’s concubine. If I was the Feng family’s head wife, perhaps... perhaps I could help you accomplish your desires.”
Xiang Rong was given a shock and quickly pulled away from An shi’s embrace. She then stared at An shi: “Concubine mother, you absolutely must not think this way. Xiang Rong has never despised you before, and I have never complained that you were just a concubine mother. The position of head wife is not something that good. It absolutely must not be coveted. Moreover...” She pondered a little, “Even if I was the daughter of the first wife, being with his Highness the seventh prince... would still not be possible.”
An shi sighed. While wiping away Xiang Rong’s tears, she said: “I was just thinking about it. What position of head wife, concubine mother does not have that intention. I am just hoping that you can marry into a good family then happily live out the rest of your life. It’s just, you must remember that unless you have the same ability as second young miss, the young misses of every family is like this.”
Xiang Rong suddenly understood the reasoning, but for her to learn to Feng Yu Heng’s abilities, even if she was beaten to death, she would not be able to. The young girl was saddened and began crying while squatting on the ground.
At this time, Feng Yu Heng was seated in her room in Tong Sheng pavilion. She was eating the pastries sent by Xuan Tian Hua. Wang Chuan and Huang Quan stood to her side, but Huang Quan’s expression was a little ugly. With a face full of resentment, she said: “I just dislike watching her act like that, copying young miss in every way. Where exactly did she hear about young miss acting like this?”
Wang Chuan advised her: “Don’t act to emotionally. What if that’s just her natural disposition?”
“How could that be possible!” Huang Quan rolled her eyes, “How about we make a bet on something. If she’s really like that, I will... I will..” She repeated that for a while but could not say anything of substance.
Feng Yu Heng waved her hand, interrupting their conversation, asking: “Take a guess, who sent Yu Qian Yin?”
“Hm?” The two were puzzled. Wang Chuan thought for a bit then asked: “Young miss means to say that she has some sort of background?”
Feng Yu Heng shrugged and smiled, “To be able to force seventh brother to play along, or rather, to have seventh brother have no choice but to play along with this play, what sort of bargaining chip does the other side have?” She asked the two servants, but at the same time, she also thought that there had to be some sort of critical matter.
She was a little upset. At this time, a servant entered and reported, saying: “Someone came from the Yu Palace.”
The three looked at the door and immediately saw Bai Ze, who looked a little rough.
Feng Yu Heng waved to him: “Bai Ze, come in.”
When Bai Ze entered, his face looked very unhappy! Huang Quan was puzzled, “Did his Highness punish you?”
Bai Ze shook his head.
Wang Chuan also asked: “Was it some sort of difficult job?”
Bai Ze shook his head once more.
In the end, Feng Yu Heng asked: “What is it? Did you go out and have someone steal your wallet?”
Bai Ze was startled at first then actually nodded.
Huang Quan was gloomy, “How old are you now? You were actually able to have your money stolen?”
Only then did Bai Ze speak: “It’s not me that was stolen from... It was Princess!” He looked at Feng Yu Heng, his face was on the verge of crying, “That ghost doctor something Kang is wasting food! And he’s wasting chicken.”
These words caused Feng Yu Heng to feel extremely confused, “I can understand wasting food. Perhaps he is eating too much, but what do you mean by wasting chicken?”
Bai Ze told her: “That ghost doctor something Kang said that he wants to practice medicine, but he always used living people int eh past to practice. Now, he cannot. Thus he switched to using live chickens. Over these past few days, over 200 have died at his hands. The Yu Palace is eating chicken for all of its meals, and his Highness can’t take it anymore.”
Feng Yu Heng facepalmed. What the fuck, Song Kang, are you stupid! This was the first time that she had heard of someone using chicken to practice medicine.
Bai Ze then said: “Master told me to come and ask princess. To harm chickens like this, is there any medical purpose? If there’s no purpose, we won’t keep giving him chickens to kill.”
Feng Yu Heng waved her hand, “It’s pointless, it’s pointless. It’s completely pointless. But if he wants to kill chickens, just let him kill them! If he can kill all of the chickens in the world for me, this county princess will accept him as an apprentice.”
The two servants recalled the matter of her being afraid of chickens, thus they nodded and said: “Right, let him continue killing them. If you truly cannot bear to continue eating it, just send them to the residence in the suburbs. Those children love eating it.”
Bai Ze then said: “Right! How could I have forgotten about this. That’s fine. This subordinate will go back and that something Kang to continue killing them. As long as there is an outlet, our palace will not need to continue taking care of it on our own. Killing some chickens is affordable.”
Feng Yu Heng expressed her satisfaction then said: “I know his Highness’ intention. That Song Kang needs to calm himself down. Whether or not that person can be used, and how he should be used are things that I need to think a little more about.”
Bai Ze put on a stern expression and said: “That’s fine. Also, there is news from the military camp. Everything is progressing smoothly with the production of steel. Would princess please be at ease.”
Feng Yu Heng heard this news and let out a sigh of relief. All this time, the matter of producing steel was still something that she worried about. She feared that some sort of error would be made. At first, she thought that she would go to Xiao Zhou after returning to the capital then immediately return to the military camp. Who could have expected that so many things would happen. Aside from sighing, there was nothing that she could do. She could only make the most of her time and take care of things quickly. Aside from that, there was nothing that she could do.
After Bai Ze left, she asked Wang Chuan: “Has Princess Xiang been informed?”
Wang Chuan nodded, “According to your miss’ instructions, princess has been told about everything. Princess Xiang asked the Empress to invite the palace’s most experienced granny. On the day of the wedding, she will be brought directly from the imperial palace to the Xiang Palace. There will be no mistakes.”
“Very good.” She closed her eyes slightly, her mood seemed to have improved a great deal from before.
Feng Chen Yu, it’s not that it would not be handled, but the time has not yet come. When the time has come, everything will be handled.
“I’m hungry.” With her mood improving, she informed Huang Quan: “Quickly go tell that chef from Refined Deity Building to prepare some pork shoulder for me.”
Huang Quan smiled and went out. Wang Chuan said: “Young miss did not eat much at lunch. Eat a bit more for dinner.”
In truth, there was no need for Wang Chuan to remind her of this. Feng Yu Heng was someone that would never mistreat herself. She alone was able to eliminate a pork shoulder from Refined Deity Building.
Today, however, after the pork shoulder was brought up, her mood dropped once more after just a few bites.
Wang Chuan was puzzled, asking: “Young miss, what’s wrong?”
Huang Quan frankly said: “Could it be that it does not taste good? Either the chef put in too little flavoring, or he forgot how to cook after changing kitchens.”
Feng Yu Heng fiddled with her chopsticks and continued to poke at the skin on the pork shoulder. While poking, she said: “It’s unrelated to the chef. This pork shoulder is still as delicious as before. It’s just that when I eat, I am reminded of Yu Qian Yin. It’s like there is a bump in my heart. It’s really irritating.”
“This servant is also irritated with her.” Huang Quan snorted, saying: “To speak of what young miss likes eating, this is not hard to find out. After all, you order those two dishes every time you go to Refined Deity Building. But that Yu Qian Yin is a little too obvious. What does she think she is fooling?”
Feng Yu Heng did not speak for a long time, but the chopsticks stopped poking at the pork shoulder. Not long later, an idea popped into her mind. SHe ordered Huang Quan: “Go tell the chef to have him make another pork shoulder. This time, have him add sugar. Make it very sweet.”
Huang Quan did not understand what this meant and only thought that her young miss suddenly wanted to eat something sweet, thus she went to give this order.
One hour later, another pork shoulder was brought up. Feng Yu Heng took a look at the luster of the skin on the pork shoulder and knew that there was no shortage of sugar. A smile appeared on her face. With her eyes slightly closed, she told Wang Chuan: “Go find a food box and put this inside. You two shall accompany this county princess on a walk.”
“Where will young miss be going?”
“Where?” She shrugged and sneered, “Isn’t there someone that loves eating pork shoulder? Let’s be nice and send one to her.”