There had never been a manor where so many people had been beaten to death. Under the spread of people with ulterior motives, the fact that a dozen concubines had been beaten to death in King Xuan’s Manor was spread around like the tide. It dispelled the previous controversy between King Xuan’s Manor and the He family. This matter had nothing to do with Consort Xuan. It was said that she fell ill because of the matter about the He family and was still in the West Hill Yard.
King Xuan had hurried back in order to protect the unborn child in a concubine’s belly. However, he was too late. The concubine had miscarried because of the other concubines in the manor. This matter was not kept secret and the bodies of the concubines had been thrown out. There was not even a corpse left behind and they were all burned.
Many lamented how cold and ruthless King Xuan and secretly felt fortunate that their daughters had not yet been sent to King Xuan’s Manor. Otherwise, they would not even know how their daughters had died. The families of those concubines had all moved far away when they heard that those concubines died because they had plotted against the child of the royal family. No one dared to go to King Xuan’s Manor to get revenge.
If this were true, these lives wouldn’t be able to make up for it.
However, there were censors who had come to denounce Feng Yuran for being so cold-blooded and heartless. He was not benevolent at all because he had ordered his men to kill a dozen weak girls. Emperor Zongwen was irritated. He summoned Feng Yuran to the palace and lectured him. However, after he had lectured him he spoke viciously in court that if anyone dared to harm the child of the royal family, their entire family would be exterminated.
Immediately, there was no other sound in the hall.
No matter how Feng Yuran had handled the matter, the person who dared to harm the child of the royal family would be killed along with their family. If this matter did not happen in the back courtyard, more people would be punished to death. There were only a dozen concubines who had been beaten to death. It did not seem to be a lot. Anyway, the matter had been resolved.
Furthermore, this was King Xuan’s family matter and with the Emperor backing him up, no one dared to get angry at him. If someone submitted a written statement to the Emperor, it would incur the Emperor’s wrath and would not benefit the person at all. All in all, it was not good at all.
Since the censors quieted, the other officials did not say anything else. They all returned to peace, and even the Empress Dowager and the Empress, who had sent those concubines to Feng Yuran, did not say anything. Who would dare to speak? It was a plot to kill the child of the royal family. There were a few officials who thought that it had something to do with the Empress Dowager and the Empress. It might even be a matter of fighting for the throne. Someone might have plotted against King Xuan intentionally.
Everyone knew that King Xuan was the last prince to succeed to the throne. One would know when they saw how much Emperor doted on him. But now that King Yan was locked up, King Chu and King Xuan were the only ones who were in power. This seemed to be another sign from the Emperor. If King Xuan were to have a son now, wouldn’t it be possible for him to get the throne?
Even if the Emperor didn’t want King Xuan to get the throne, he might give it to him for his grandson’s sake.
This matter was not certain, but the Empress Dowager and the Empress did not want King Xuan to be the one to take the throne, so they asked their people who were sent to King Xuan’s Manor to kill King Xuan’s child. This would make King Xuan lose a bargaining chip.
For the moment, everyone wanted to wait and see. The rumors about Feng Yuran quieted down immediately, and most people started to sympathize with him. He had lost his child, and it was because of the fight for the throne. This matter was too complicated.
When Feng Yuran returned to his manor, it was already after lunch. He had had some food at Emperor Zongwen’s Qianqing Palace. He got off the horse and went to the main courtyard where Mo Xuetong lived. He ordered the servants to clear her house up because Mo Xuetong would be back in a few days.
“Your Highness, Concubine Xiang refuses to eat and wants to see you.” Nanny Chen stood by the second door. When she saw Feng Yuran approaching, she hurried over to greet him and reported in a low voice.
Feng Yuran raised his eyes, with a hint of evil aura flashing through them. “She wants to see me? Good, I want to meet her too.”
Nanny Chen was Feng Yuran’s confidant, so she certainly knew some secrets. She sneered and said, “Yes, Your Highness. She’s lucky that she is still alive, but she still dares to challenge you. She really doesn’t know who she is.”
Feng Yuran waved his hand and led several manservants to the concubines’ courtyard. All of a sudden, so many concubines died in the manor, so at that time, everyone behaved quite well. When they saw Feng Yuran coming, they were stopped by manservants and didn’t dare to say anything. They all stayed in their rooms and watched Feng Yuran enter Concubine Xiang’s room.
Concubine Xiang’s maidservant wanted to follow and serve him, but she was stopped by Feng Yuran’s personal manservant. He glared at her and she didn’t dare to get close to Feng Yuran anymore.
Feng Yuran entered the door of Concubine Xiang’s room. Only when he narrowed his eyes slightly did he see clearly the woman who was lying on the bed and raising herself up after hearing people’s voices.
Seeing Feng Yuran come in, Concubine Xiang suddenly sat up on the bed and said excitedly, “Your Highness, Your Highness, I…”
“What do you want to see me? Tell me quickly. I still have something to do later.” Feng Yuran pulled a chair to a spot far from the bed and sat down.
“Your Highness!” Concubine Xiang looked at the obvious expression of disgust on Feng Yuran’s face and couldn’t believe it. She leaned over the bed and cried, “Your Highness’s son is gone. My, my heart is so painful. I’m really willing to go with the little prince…”
While speaking, she cried even more miserably.
This was her plan, but she failed to harm Mo Xuetong, and instead, those bitches fell into her tarp. Fortunately, the child in her belly had been killed by others. Feng Yuran seemed to be sad, and ordered to beat the bitches to death yesterday. Then she should be rewarded today!
If there was really a reward, she would say that she didn’t want it, and she just wanted to follow Feng Yuran.
When a beautiful woman cried tearfully, and she had just lost her child, any man would want to make up for it. When she officially got a title, she would have more confidence when she fought with Mo Xuetong in the future. From the way Feng Yuran looked, he cared for her and the child in her belly. Otherwise, he would not have punished the people that the Empress Dowager and the Empress had bestowed to him with the death penalty.
When those concubines were beaten to death yesterday, Concubine Xiang was also afraid. But later, she felt happier the more she thought about it. The more people were killed, the more Feng Yuran cared for her. That was why she dared to make such a scene today. She just wanted Feng Yuran to care about her more so that she could pick a good position. If she would become a second consort, she would have more confidence in victory when she competed with Mo Xuetong.
“Your Highness, if I hadn’t told you that I was pregnant in a hurry, Her Lady and all the other concubines wouldn’t have been so hostile to me.” Concubine Xiang raised her face that was bathed in tears and looked at Feng Yuran in hope that he would pity her.
She also slandered Mo Xuetong, but she forgot that everyone had seen how she framed Mo Xuetong that day.
“Where did you and I have a son? How did he become the little prince?” Feng Yuran’s pretty eyes lifted slightly as he looked at Concubine Xiang with an evil look. He enunciated each word slowly.
Little Prince, Concubine Xiang really dared to dream about it!
His words made Concubine Xiang stunned and stop crying. She was a little out of breath.
She took a deep breath and calmed down before she looked up at Feng Yuran pitifully and said, “I, I was wrong. It’s, it was a little princess, it was a daughter…”
“It doesn’t matter if it was a daughter or a son. It was just a bastard that belonged to you and another man. Do you really want me to recognize this bastard as my child?” Feng Yuran’s charming smile was a little ambiguous. His eyes were cold as if they were really made of icy substance.
How could it be? How could he know about that? A chill rose from the heart of Concubine Xiang. She was scared.
“Your Highness, what… what did you say?” She looked at Feng Yuran dazedly. Then, she suddenly shook her head and cried even more tragically.
Feng Yuran smiled slightly and the smile on the corner of his mouth grew even more charming. However, he stared coldly at Concubine Xiang on the bed. There was not a trace of emotion in his eyes, as if there was thousand-year ice in them. “Concubine Xiang, don’t think that I don’t know about you and your master. I don’t know who made you pregnant, but if you want me to think of it as my child, either you or your master is too whimsical. You both thought that I was easily fooled, right?”
His voice was cold, and his words were like thunder, making Concubine Xiang scared out of her wits. She only felt that her body seemed to be frozen, and her lips trembled heavily that she couldn’t even say a word. She felt like she was in an ice cave.
How was that possible? How did Feng Yuran know about it? Didn’t he never care about matters of the back courtyard? How could he be so clear about it? No, no, Feng Yuran was definitely trying to scare her. He had said that intentionally. Thinking of that, she said both hopefully and timidly, “Your Highness, I only have a man, and it’s you. If the child in my belly wasn’t yours, was it someone else’s?”
“Bitch! You’re as cheap as your master. You both carried other men’s bastards, but you want your children to be a royal. Unfortunately, you can’t make it, and nor can your master.” Feng Yuran smiled slightly, but in Concubine Xiang’s eyes, it was extremely cold. She opened her eyes wide as if she had heard something deadly. She tried her best to get into the bed, murmuring, “Your Highness, Your Highness, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please, please stop.”
“You framed Consort Xuan at her birthday banquet, trying to make others think that she couldn’t accept the baby, so you planned to kill the baby and pushed it to Consort Xuan. Unfortunately, Consort Xuan escaped. You wanted to take advantage of the bastard in your belly, and I also wanted to use it, so I watched you go on slowly. I can’t keep the bastard in your belly, so you should do me a favor. There are too many women in the backyard, and I have to get rid of them so that Consort Xuan can lead a happy life.”
Feng Yuran said casually, but clearly. His lips curved into a smile, as if he were talking about someone else. A hint of ridicule and disdain appeared in his beautiful eyes. Hearing his words, Concubine Xiang frightened and her face was as pale as snow. She had already been frightened out of her wits.
“Are you wondering why I know it’s a bastard? That man was brought here by your master, and I let him in on purpose. Besides, I wouldn’t touch such a bitch like you. Then how could you be pregnant with my child?” Feng Yuran sneered, stood up, waved his wide robe sleeves, and left the room without looking back.
“Somebody, bring the medicine in. Concubine Xiang is missing her child so much that she gets ill.”
Before Concubine Xiang could react, two older maidservants came in, and one of them carried a bowl of medicine. Before she handed it to Concubine Xiang, Concubine Xiang smelled sour smell. This was not the medicine to save people but medicine that could kill people!
“Your Highness…” Concubine Xiang screamed and tried to rush down from the bed to escape.
However, her cheeks had already been pinched by an older maidservant, and the latter forcibly poured the medicine into her mouth…
