Of course, the reason why Imperial Concubine Yuan Gui could not be touched was also because of her relationship with that Gu Master. Feng Yuheng could not confirm if that Gu Master would become agitated once Imperial Concubine Yuan Gui died.
She returned to Yu Palace but was a bit distracted and dejected. After Xuan Tianming listened to what she saw and heard in the imperial palace, he could not think of any ideas.
Death Heart Gu, this was truly a Gu technique which caused others to completely give up! Living is no good, death is no good, could it be that, for the sake of Da Shun’s might, he was really going to stop caring about the Emperor’s life? That old man, he and Imperial Concubine Yun would address him that way behind his back, but the words “old man” did not represent the lack of respect but contained a meaning of closeness. Now, the old man was being controlled by a Death Heart Gu, Xuan Tianming thought, for the sake of Da Shun’s might, he was afraid that in the end, he would have no choice but to make this cruel decision. But he did not know if his older brothers could understand his difficulties.
Husband and wife looked at each other, and after more than 2 hours, they did not speak.
However, when there did not seem to be a way forward in sight, a way would present itself. Just as they were about to lose heart in the face of the death heart Gu, Huang Quan came in and reported: “Yao family’s first uncle is here, he says he has something to discuss with Master and Princess.”
Yao family’s first uncle, that would naturally be Feng Yuheng’s eldest uncle Yao Jingjun. The Yao family had always been more low profile, though they are relatives, other than needing Feng Yuheng to make decisions with regards to Hundred Herb Hall and the school, they rarely came over to find Feng Yuheng. Especially the three uncles who were her elders, they were even more skilled in avoiding doing anything which may arouse suspicion, they did not want Yu Palace to feel that since Feng Yuheng had married in, the Yao family would come and curry favour. They were afraid that this would be bad for Feng Yuheng and cause the Yu Palace to have a bad impression of the Yao family and Feng Yuheng.
Therefore, the whole time, the Yu Palace rarely received visits initiated by the Yao family. But today, Yao Jingjun came personally and it was the second day of the New Year. Instinct told Feng Yuheng that her eldest uncle definitely did not come to give New Year greetings, something must have happened.
She was struck with a bad feeling, standing up with a “duang”, she asked Xuan Tianming with a pale complexion: “Could it be that something happened to Grandfather?”
Yao Xian grew older with every year, and even though there was a soul from the future inside holding it up, his body was from the original owner. At this age, he could get a serious illness any day, and she was most afraid of Yao Xian getting sick.
Xuan Tianming quickly grabbed her hand and felt that this girl’s hands were cold, she was clearly frightened. He spoke to reassure her: “Don’t worry, nothing will happen, didn’t we just see Grandfather before the New Year? He was still very healthy.”
Huang Quan also reacted to the fact that Feng Yuheng had thought of something bad, and quickly spoke: “Young Miss, you have misunderstood, Yao family’s first uncle came over wearing new silver robes with red trim. Though he wanted to see both Masters, his face contained signs of happiness and he even exchanged New Year greetings with Madam Zhou. Just based on his state, it does not seem like something bad has happened to Divine Doctor Yao!”
Once Feng Yuheng heard this, she finally relaxed, then told Huang Quan: “For First Uncle to come, there must be a matter to be dealt with, bring him to this courtyard, at the main hall.”
Very quickly, Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tianming met Yao Jingjun in the main hall. Yao Jingjun bowed to the pair first and was stopped by the two of them, then he did not make too much small talk and held out a letter to them directly, then he said: “Yao Shu sent a letter back to the family from the Southern border. When the Yao family received it, the wax seal had already been opened. Clearly someone opened it to read on the way. But on the surface, this letter only appears to be a normal letter written to home, that’s why it was sent to Yao Manor in the end. But look here.” He opened the letter and pointed to a few words at the end, “This was a method we discussed before Yao Shu left, once the information transmitted back is not convenient to be mentioned directly on the letter, then when writing the last letter, drag out the tail end of the characters in various ways, and this kind of character tail end with a hook, is the hidden signal that we should send it over to your side immediately after reading the letter.”
Feng Yuheng immediately recalled after hearing this, she had once given Yao Shu a type of pen, that was something commonly found in the future era. There was a special type of ink inside the pen, the words should disappear a few minutes after writing it, if they wanted to be read again, they needed to mix it with another chemical which was with her then lightly roast it over candle fire.
She had shown Xuan Tianming that sort of thing before, and once she heard Yao Jingjun say this, she immediately thought of it, Yao Shu definitely used that pen to write her a secret letter and was afraid that someone would steal it on the way, so he disguised it as a family letter and sent it to Yao Manor.
She took the letter from Yao Jingjun’s hands, then went in front of the table, asking the servants to prepare candle fire, she walked in front of an ancient shelf and pretended to open a box, but in reality, she was taking out that chemical from her Space. She put a few drops into the candlewick then lit the candle, and in front of the two, turned over the letter so that the back of the letter which did not look like it had any words were facing them. Then, keeping a distance from the candle fire, she started to roast it slowly. Very quickly, the back of the letter which did not have any words, had words appear on it.
Yao Jingjun was very shocked, and very quickly, that shock was attracted to the contents of the letter. Yao Shu said, the ruler of Gu Shu proposed a marriage with Da Shun, asking to marry Da Shun’s only princess, Xuan Tiange!
Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tianming were also a little stunned, marriage between two countries were a common thing, but as a nation who lost a war, and lost their land and had to pay compensation, what right did Gu Shu have to ask to marry the respected Princess of Da Shun?
Very quickly, the second half of the letter gave the answer, the reason why they dared to ask for a marriage to the princess was because Gu Shu had something to rely on. He pointed out directly that Da Shun has a concubine, whose birth family had close relations with a thousand year old Gu clan in Gu Shu. The birth family of that concubine had the surname of Liu. He could confirm that Da Shun’s Eighth Prince would not pass over this good opportunity. Once something related to Gu happened to Da Shun, and it was a crisis which could not be solved, he could personally come forward to help. And the reason why he had this confidence was so what if they were a thousand year old Gu clan? He was Gu Shu’s royalty, the most elite poisonous Gu techniques were in the hands of the royalty!
Once this words were laid out in the open, everyone immediately understood the situation. And as someone from the Yao family, Yao Jingjun had some understanding of this matter, he immediately said: “Surname of Liu…… surname of Liu, doesn’t that refer to Imperial Concubine Yuan Gui’s birth family? What the Gu Shu ruler means is……”
“It means he can solve the current crisis in Da Shun.” Feng Yuheng breathed a sigh of relief, but then she sighed sadly immediately after. The reason why she breathed a sigh of relief was because if they that the assistance of the ruler of Gu Shu, the Gu implanted in the Emperor could likely be removed. Though in her opinion, a death heart Gu could not be removed, Gu Shu’s ruler was correct, since Gu came from the great desert in the south, clearly, the most skilled Gu manipulators must be within the royalty, the Gu Shu ruler was likely to the best Gu Master in the world. And that sad sigh was because of the conditions set by that Gu Shu ruler.
Asking for Xuan Tiange’s hand in marriage! Could it be that to cure the old Emperor’s illness, they had to involve the rest of Xuan Tiange’s life? She asked Xuan Tianming: “I have seen Gu Shu’s Seventh Princess and seen one prince, but they are already that old, how old is the ruler? He should be about the same age as Father Emperor, right? Is he crazy? Asking to marry Tiange at her flower age with that age of his?”
Xuan Tianming was also frowning, deep in thought, not saying anything for a long time. It was Yao Jingjun who spoke: “No, that’s not right! The old ruler of Gu Shu has already passed away and passed on the throne, the current ruler is a new ruler, I heard he is less than 25 years old.”
“Hm?” Feng Yuheng jolted, “When was this?”
Yao Jingjun pointed at the letter in her hands: “This was mentioned in the family letter, you did not read the contents in front, so you were not aware.”
She quickly read the contents in front. Other than asking about the Yao family, Yao Shu did mention some gossip about Gu Shu. He did mention that there was a new ruler. It was the fifth son of the old ruler.
“The age won’t be a problem, but……” She looked at Xuan Tianming again, “But is this considered a marriage trade? Using Xuan Tiange’s happiness as a trade, I do feel some frustration about it.”
“Don’t think so much first.” Xuan Tianming said, “We need to think of how to meet Gu Shu’s ruler to research about what happens later, at least we have to know if he can remove the Gu implanted in the old man. As for Xuan Tiange, with her personality, if she knew about this, for the sake of the old man, for the sake of the country, she would be duty bound to do so. And this is a responsibility which the children of the royal family must bear. For marriage, if it’s not Gu Shu, there will be other nations. For Tiange to marry a normal person, the chances are too low. If this incident did not occur, for the new Gu Shu ruler to propose a marriage, this is not strange. But with this matter in front of us, the other party did state it clearly, and just like you said, with the undertones of a trade, I am unhappy about this as well.”
He analysed the matter and Feng Yuheng had to acknowledge it, with Xuan Tiange’s identity, marrying a normal person would be too difficult, and that was the reason why she did not have an engagement even though she was already past the initial marriageable age. Da Shun was keeping their only princess, waiting for a right time to sell!
“When faced with a national crisis, the Princess should think of the nation.” Half a beat later, Yao Jingjun voiced his opinion, “It’s not because I am cold hearted, or that I am not feeling any heartache towards Princess Wuyang, it is just that from the viewpoint of a subject, from the viewpoint of a Da Shun citizen, the people of the royalty have the duty to protect the stability of the nation, and give the citizens a good state of national politics. I do not think anything good will happen after the Eighth Prince inherits the throne, he is not a good Emperor whose heart is in the right place, and is even less of an Emperor who is devoted to the citizens, with Da Shun falls into the hands of this kind of person, the nation will no longer be a nation.”
Yao Jingjun’s words were understood by Feng Yuheng, but on this matter, they needed to make a choice. Did they want Xuan Tiange’s happiness or the stability of the nation? This was a difficult question.
“We can talk about it after finding a way to meet the Gu Shu ruler.” Finally, Xuan Tianming tapped the table and said to Yao Jingjun: “Uncle, send a family letter back to Yao Shu normally, as for this other secret letter, This Prince will make other arrangements.”
The few of them reached an agreement and split up to carry out their own tasks. Yao Jingjun replying the family letter was just a cover up, the real secret letter would be delivered by the goshawk which Xuan Tianming secretly raised and could fly into the clouds.
That letter was sent directly to the Gu Shu ruler, the specially raised goshawk could ensure that any divine archer would not be able to shoot it down from the sky. Of course, other than the gun used by Feng Yuheng.
There was only one sentence on the letter: Gu Shu has crowned a new ruler, it is time to personally come to the main country Da Shun to pay a tribute!
