Not at all Reconciled
Jin Zhen and Man Xi were frightened and wanted to leave immediately. Unfortunately, they were a step slower than Han shi’s maidservant.
They saw a slightly sturdy servant hurriedly walk over. Glaring at Jin Zhen, she very rudely and loudly said: “Concubine mother Jin Zhen, what are you sneaking around here?”
This shout startled Han shi and Fen Dai. Even the performer on the stage stopped. Staring straight in the direction of Jin Zhen, Han shi did not have time to put away her smiling face before an angry expression surged forth. Just as she was about to attack, Fen Dai grabbed hold of her wrist. She then heard Fen Dai loudly say: “So it was concubine mother Jin Zhen. Pei’er, you’re being impudent. Quickly invite concubine mother over to sit.”
The servant called Pei’er turned around and bowed to Fen Dai, saying: “Yes.” Her expression then became stoic, as she gestured for Jin Zhen to go ahead: “Concubine mother, this way please.” Her attitude did not at all seem to be inviting her to watch a play. Instead, it was as though she were judging a criminal, which caused Jin Zhen to shudder.
Instead, it was Man Xi who reacted faster and quickly said: “We were just passing by here. Hearing that there were sounds of a play, we came to take a look. We will not continue to disturb fourth young miss and concubine mother Han.” As she said this, she pulled Jin Zhen and left.
But Pei’er moved very quickly and blocked the escape path. She did not say much, simply repeating: “Fourth young miss has invited you.”
Man Xi furrowed her brow, as she knew that today’s matter might not be too easy to deal with. Han shi clearly was looking for trouble. If it were just her, it would be easier to deal with. They were all concubines after all. Nobody was of a higher rank than the other. However, Feng Fen Dai was present. Although she was only the daughter of a concubine, her standing in the family was still higher than that of a concubine.
“Let’s go over and take a look.” Jin Zhen helplessly said and wrapped the cloak tighter around herself. She then walked over towards the garden.
Han shi watched as Jin Zhen approached step by step. Seeing that she wore an expensive Winter coat, her heart was especially uncomfortable.
A few days ago, Feng Jin Yuan somehow managed to acquire a bit of fabric. Without putting it into the manor’s funds, he directly used it to make a set clothing for Jin Zhen. There were many women in the manor, but there was only one set of clothing. She was extremely jealous, but she could only feel anxious about it.
Now that Jin Zhen wore this set of clothes before her, if she was not trying to cause trouble, then what was it?
Thinking of this point, Han shi’s anger surged forth. Glaring fiercely at Jin Zhen, she coldly asked: “What are you doing sneaking around here instead of obediently staying in your own courtyard?”
Jin Zhen had no intention of arguing, only saying: “Elder sister organized a play that half of the Feng manor can hear. Younger sister merely came to take a look out of curiosity and was about to leave.”
“Curious?” Han shi snorted, “Since you came, why did you not enter normally, instead choosing to sneak around?” She turned her eyes sideways towards the performer on the stage, “Younger sister should not have found the performer to have been charming and fallen in love, right?”
“Elder sister, do not speak nonsense.” Jin Zhen’s face turned red, “I really just wanted to come take a look, and I was just about to go back.”
Fen Dai glanced at Jin Zhen then said: “Concubine mother, don’t be in such a rush. Since you’ve come, why not sit with us for a while and watch. Oh right” She looked at the tea cups on the table, “We’ve run out of tea. We will trouble concubine mother with pouring some more.”
Jin Zhen gritted her teeth and thought to herself, this fourth young miss has enjoyed causing trouble ever since she was young. Even though she is much older, her problem has not been fixed.
But she did not dare go against Fen Dai. After all, regardless of whether she was dealing with the daughter of the first wife or the daughter of a concubine, a concubine was considered a servant and could not be presented. A young miss making use of one was not out of the question.
She walked over and picked up the tea pot to pour Fen Dai some tea.
She had originally been a servant to begin with, so she was not troubled with pouring some tea. She did not gasp, and her hands did not quiver, as she steadily poured a cup of tea.
“Fourth young miss, here is your tea.” Putting down the tea pot, she bowed.
Fen Dai picked up the cup of tea and brought it to her mouth. Suddenly, her expression became ugly, as she violently threw the tea cup to the ground.
The cup shattered upon hitting the ground, and the tea spilled to the ground.
“Do you want to burn me to death?” Fen Dai shrieked, then glared angrily while pointing at Jin Zhen: “What sort of heart are you hiding? Pouring such hot tea for me to drink, do you want to burn me to death?”
Man Xi could no longer endure watching and rushed to say: “The tea pot has already been placed on the table for a while. Fourth young miss has been drinking it for a long time. How could it be hot?”
“Are you speaking with me?” Fen Dai became furious, “Alright! Sure enough, you are the servants who formerly came from Jin Yu courtyard are more sharp-tongued than the other, but you have not learned any thing of the rules. What sort of status do you have? What sort of status do I have. I say, do you have any right to speak up?”
Man Xi knew that she had gone too far. For a while, she did not know what she should do.
Jin Zhen was helpless and knew that they had been unlucky to run into this mother and daughter pair. Feng Fen Dai was clearly martyring herself, but Man Xi had still spoken up and troubled her. Who knew what sort of trouble would come forth.
She gritted her teeth and deliberately put on a stern expression and scolded Man Xi: “You lack discipline! When the master is speaking, when is there a chance for you to speak? You should slap yourself!”
Man Xi knew that Jin Zhen was doing this relieve her offense, so she raised her hand without another word and slapped herself twice across the face.
Seeing Man Xi slap herself, Han shi and Fen Dai began to feel excited. Previously, Jin Zhen and Man Xi were both Chen shi’s people. Chen shi was the head wife and had always been arrogant and bossy. She even raised the status of the servants in her own courtyard. Each and every one of them was arrogant like crazy. Feng Fen Dai was just a daughter of a concubine, and these two had truly always looked down on her.
Now, however, it was different. Chen shi had died, and their statuses had changed. Adding on how Feng Jin Yuan was no longer at the manor to protect them, they were truly like featherless phoenixes.
But no, Feng Fen Dai did not believe the two were phoenixes. They were nothing more than toys for people to mess with.
“Hmph.” She glared at Jin Zhen and snorted. When a servant managed to fly to a branch, she was nothing more than a crow. If she wanted to become a phoenix, there was no chance.
Han shi suddenly came up with a distasteful idea “Jin Zhen, do you know how to sing?”
Jin Zhen was stunned then shook her head, “I do not.”
Fen Dai rolled her heads, “If you don’t know, then you can learn! Concubine mother Han loves watching these plays. Yesterday, father also said to her that we can invite acting troupes to the manor to perform. Today, the entire troupe just happens to be here. How about having the performers teach you. After you have learned, you can perform for us.”
Jin Zhen felt a wave of humiliation surge forth. No matter what, she was Feng Jin Yuan’s woman, yet Feng Fen Dai wanted her to learn how to act from these performers? How could she learn such a low profession?
Seeing that Jin Zhen stood there without moving, Han shi put on a stern expression, “What is it. Do you dare ignore fourth young miss’ orders?”
Jin Zhen was troubled and looked at Fen Dai: “If fourth young miss and elder sister Han want to watch a play, there are performers to perform. Jin Zhen truly…”
“I told you to perform, so you will perform!” Fen Dai suddenly exploded with her shouts. These shouts caused even Han shi to tremble. “What are you still standing there for? Go up on stage!”
The maidservant Pei’er saw that her master had become angry and quickly tugged at Jin Zhen. Putting in some strength into her hands, her pinch caused a great deal of pain in Jin Zhen’s arm. “Fourth young miss told concubine mother to go on stage, so quickly go up!”
Jin Zhen shook her head, “Fourth young miss, you can not do things like this.”
“Why can I not?” Fen Dai looked at her provocatively, “A concubine actually dares tell a proper young miss of the manor that she can not do something? Do you have that right?”
Pei’er intervened in a timely manner: “Concubine mother, think it through carefully. Fourth young miss has the surname Feng, while you are just a concubine who can not even use her own family name.”
With these words, Jin Zhen was sobered up.
That’s right. What right did she have to say no to Feng Fen Dai? Even if she clearly bullied her, what could she do?
Thinking like this, she no longer fought back. Turning around, she glanced at the stage where the play had stopped. Gritted her teeth, she walked up.
The performer moved to the side and gave Jin Zhen some space. He then gave Han shi a sweet smile and asked: “May I ask what this madam who has come up on stage is doing?”
Han shi giggled, “What madam. She’s nothing more than a concubine.”
Man Xi glared at Han shi and thought that this woman had already reached a certain extreme level of shamelessness. She was also a concubine, yet she actually said such a thing.
Jin Zhen had already lost interest in arguing with Han shi, only saying: “Younger sister truly does not know how to act. Elder sister, please do not continue troubling me.” In her heart, however, she prayed that Feng Yu Heng would come to the flower-viewing garden at this time. Feng Jin Yuan had left the capital, so the only one who could protect her was the second young miss.
Feng Fen Dai had picked up a new cup of tea and was looking towards the stage. With her eyes squinted, she asked Jin Zhen: “Everyone is a well-raised young lady and has some skill in the four arts. Even if you are not proficient in all of them, you should still be skilled in one or two of them. Which one of them can you do? You do not know any of the four arts, and you do not know how to act. What exactly can you do? How could it be that our Feng manor was able to raise such a good-for-nothing who does not know how to do anything?”
Feng Fen Dai’s words became uglier and uglier. Jin Zhen could only stand stunned on the stage. She felt that she had already been thoroughly insulted, but she did not have any power to resist.
Han shi waved to the performer: “Continue the performance. Change the tune to something that will suit the occasion.”
The performer was also quite good at catering to the desires of the crowd, as he sang about a servant who became a master, which caused Han shi to roar with laughter.
Fen Dai also laughed, but she also reminded Han shi: “You can not laugh too hard. Be careful not to cause complications with your pregnancy.”
Han shi let out another burst of laughter then patted Fen Dai’s head, “How could it be that fast! Fourth young miss is too young. It’s normal to not understand such things.” Although she said this, she was worried deep down about whether or not she could get pregnant. It had been so many years. When Feng Jin Yuan had favored her previously, she had only been able to give birth to Fen Dai alone. How could it be possible that this one time would cause her belly to take action? But if she truly did not get pregnant, not to mention Fen Dai’s continued complaints, even she would not feel reconciled.
Below the stage, the mother and daughter pair were extremely arrogant, while on the stage, Jin Zhen could not hold back a couple of tears while the performer continued his act. She did not know how long she would need to stand on this stage, as the second young miss did not appear as she had hoped. In fact, nobody else within the manor came towards the flower-viewing garden. She began to realize that she had been too impulsive and too nosy. It was impossible for such a loud act to take place without anyone else noticing, but they were able to pretend it was not happening, so why did she rush over? In the end, it was still a lack of ability.
Meanwhile, at this time, Feng Yu Heng was in her pharmacy space, making preparations to examine Xuan Tian Ming’s legs.
She could already determine that a type of comminuted fracture, but she had to wait for an x-ray before she could determine the severity.
None of the things in the pharmacy had an issue with their shelf life. In fact, even the medicine used for surgery would remain in their best moments. Her scalpel would not rust, and the cotton swabs would not become dry. Dust would not even land on her operating table. Yet, she still carefully cleaned the scalpel and other surfaces.
On the first day she arrived in this world, she had treated Xuan Tian Ming’s legs. At that time, she believed it had already been treated; however, she did not think that the legs she had personally treated would be injured once again at the hands of the officers from Qian Zhou. How should she feel reconciled by that?
