Princes Also Gossip
Granny Zhao could never have thought that she would see the Bu matriarch exit the palace. She was even chatting and laughing with someone. She even received the courtesy of a managing palace maid.
The Bu family… was it not almost completely ruined? Head imperial concubine Bu had died, and Bu Ni Shang had been sent to live in a nunnery. How was it that the Bu matriarch could still live so comfortably?
She was unable to figure it out for a long time. After watching the Bu matriarch get in her carriage and depart, only then did she walk towards Xiang Rong.
Xiang Rong also saw the Bu matriarch, and her already nervous heart became a little bit more nervous.
Xuan Tian Hua was at her side, but he stood by with his hands behind his back. It was a cold day, and he did not even have a cloak on, yet he did not appear to be cold in the slightest. Granny Zhao went forward and called out at first: “Third young miss.” She then knelt on the ground and said to Xuan Tian Hua: “This old servant greets your Highness Prince Chun. Long live your Highness.”
Xuan Tian Hua raised his hand, saying: “Please rise.”
Xiang Rong went forward and helped granny Zhao up, saying: “Grandmother is worrying, right? His Highness and I have been waiting here the entire time, but second sister has not come out.”
Granny Zhao sighed, saying: “Elder madam did not even eat dinner, as she was worried about what was happening over here.”
Xuan Tian Hua looked at the two and helplessly said: “How about I bring you two into the palace. Continuing to wait here…” He said this while looking at Xiang Rong’s hands, which had turned red from the cold, “You will freeze out here.”
“Can we enter the palace?” The old granny became nervous for no apparent reason. She had entered the palace before with the matriarch, but it had always been for a banquet. Today would be different.
Xuan Tian Hua nodded, “Coming with me, you naturally can.”
Xiang Rong, however, did not agree: “We can not cause too much trouble for your Highness. It will be fine if we just wait outside the palace. It is cold outside, so it would be better if you did not accompany Xiang Rong in waiting. Now that granny Zhao has come, we can stay here and wait.”
Xuan Tian Hua did not respond to that, instead he pointed in the direction of the palace gates “Nobody needs to continue to wait. They’ve come out.”
The two looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, they saw Feng Yu Heng pushing Xuan Tian Ming towards the palace gates. Between the two, one wore white and the other wore purple. Walking in the snow, it was very beautiful.
Xiang Rong looked at the two and subconsciously muttered: “It seems that nothing should have happened, right?”
Xuan Tian Hua once again laughed, “I told you that you should have faith in her.” After saying this, he went forward to receive them.
“Seventh brother.” Feng Yu Heng called out to him from quite a distance, “How come you’re here?” Looking behind him, she saw Xiang Rong, whose small face had turned bright red from the cold. She also saw granny Zhao, whose face was filled with worry.
Xuan Tian Ming sat in the wheelchair and gave her an explanation: “It seems that your third sister went to find seventh bro, and the granny was sent by the elder madam.”
At this time, Xuan Tian Hua reached their side and nodded, saying: “Ming’er guessed correctly.”
Xiang Rong and granny Zhao rushed forward, the two hurrying to salute Xuan Tian Ming. When they stood up, both of them went forward and asked: “Second young miss, nothing happened to you, right? Second sister, did his Majesty punish you?”
Feng Yu Heng smiled, “I am just a young girl, and I did not break any rules, what is there to punish?”
Granny Zhao carefully looked at Feng Yu Heng then at Xuan Tian Ming. Based on their appearances, it did not appear that they had been punished. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.
“That’s good. This old servant can report to elder madam about your safety. Second young miss, will you be going back with this old servant? How about the third young miss?”
Xiang Rong pointed behind her: “I came in a carriage. Granny can go back first.”
“Good.” Granny Zhao was about to leave but was stopped by Feng Yu Heng, “We were just about to go to Refined Deity Building to eat. Granny, come with us. I will have the chef make some more food, so you can bring it back to grandmother.”
Granny Zhao felt this was also good and nodded, “Elder madam was unable to eat. Bringing back some food from outside will be perfect to give her something new to eat.”
The group then got in the carriage. Because Xuan Tian Ming’s carriage was sufficiently large, everyone sat together. Like this, Xiang Rong, granny Zhao, Huang Quan and Qing Shuang all sat in the same carriage. With the empty carriages following behind them, it was quite convenient.
Inside the carriage, who knows if it was deliberate or something else, but Xuan Tian Ming held Feng Yu Heng’s hand and said to her: “It’s fine. Don’t take it to heart. I never did want the throne.”
These words did not cause the others to react, but granny Zhao was given a shock. She could not say what the reason was, but the heart she had just calmed became a little nervous once more.
The throne? Could it be the Emperor still had plans of passing the throne on to the ninth prince? Now that his legs could not be healed, he finally gave up on this idea? If this were the case, then second young miss’ crime would have been too great!
She truly hoped that Xuan Tian Ming could say a bit more, so she could go back and analyze the situation with the matriarch. Unfortunately, Xuan Tian Ming did not say another word after that. The group quietly sat in the carriage until the carriage arrived at the lake where Refined Deity Building was. Only then did they heard an imperial guard say: “Your Highness, we have arrived.”
Once everyone got out of the carriage, a boat immediately came. The small boats were not large and could only hold two people. Feng Yu Heng naturally went with Xuan Tian Ming, and Xiang Rong was helped onto Xuan Tian Hua’s boat. Huang Quan and Qing Shuang naturally went together, leaving granny Zhao to quietly sit in the last boat with the servant Xiang Rong had brought, Mei Xiang. This did, however, give her a chance to ask the servant: “When the third young miss went to the Chun Palace, did his Highness the seventh prince say anything?”
The servant thought for a while, “His Highness only said for third young miss to trust second young miss.” The rest, she truly could not understand.
“Hah.” Granny Zhao let out another long sigh, “How should we believe in her!”
At the entrance of Refined Deity Building, the third prince, Xuan Tian Ye was standing at there talking about something to the shopkeeper. Seeing Xuan Tian Ming’s group arrive, the third prince could not help but smile widely: “Your shopkeeper said that there was no private rooms left, and this prince thought that I had wasted a trip. Fortunately, I have met seventh brother and ninth brother. How about letting this prince eat with you?”
Xuan Tian Hua maintained his pure smile, “Being able to share the spotlight with third brother is our happiness.”
Xuan Tian Ye waved his hand, “We are brothers, no need to say such things.” He said this while reaching out to push Xuan Tian Ming’s wheelchair, “I heard that there were some complications with ninth brothers legs. Third brother doesn’t know how I can help.”
Xuan Tian Ming continued to show his carefree appearance and did not speak. Instead, it was Feng Yu Heng who smiled and said: “Third brother taking away this errand of mine makes A-Heng look even more useless.”
“What sort of thing is younger sister saying. Third brother will return it to you.” As he said this, he returned control of the wheelchair to Feng Yu Heng.
When the group arrived on the third floor and was seated in the private room, Xuan Tian Ming finally spoke: “Third brother came alone? Then why try to find a private room. Wasn’t there plenty of space on the second floor.”
Feng Yu Heng nearly managed to injure herself from holding in her laughter, as she thought to herself, this person clearly wanted a “chance encounter.” How could you not give him this much of an opportunity.
“Third brother does not like sitting in the main hall.” Xuan Tian Ye, however, steeled his heart and insisted on this, “Us brothers have not gathered together for a long time. Running into each other today is heaven’s will.”
“Un.” Xuan Tian Ming nodded, “It is indeed heaven’s will.”
Not wanting to watch the brothers try to get along, Feng Yu Heng simply brought granny Zhao to a waiter. They ordered some food and told the waiter to place it in a food container after it was cooked. Granny Zhao was then told to wait in the main hall then go straight back to the manor.
Granny Zhao wanted to ask a few things but saw that Feng Yu Heng had no intention of saying anything else. She could only helplessly nod and comply.
When she returned to the private room, Xuan Tian Ye was speaking about the fifth prince, Xuan Tian Yan, and how he had taken in another concubine: “Apparently, it was his fourth concubine’s younger sister. In the end, when she was brought into the manor, the elder sister was so angry that she smashed herself to death, and the younger sister only held her nose and muttered about how it was an unlucky omen.”
Xuan Tian Hua helplessly shook his head, “Father Emperor has spoke about fifth brother’s problem a few times, but he still can not change it.”
Xuan Tian Ming coldly snorted, “Taking them in left and right, the concubines all look roughly the same.”
“Un.” Xuan Tian Hua nodded, “Especially the eyes, which are oddly similar.”
Feng Yu Heng could not help but facepalm when listening to these three talk, “When men gossip, they truly are not inferior to women.”
Nobody present was able to understand what she meant by “gossip.” But it was Xuan Tian Ye who could guess at its meaning, saying: “Either way, it’s just idle chatter. We just pick the newest thing to talk about.”
Xuan Tian Ming smirked and suddenly said: “It seems that there wasn’t just one imperial concubine who was beaten to death.”
This topic came to an abrupt end, and everyone fell silent. Xuan Tian Ye quietly sighed and asked Feng Yu Heng: “This prince also heard after the morning court session, can ninth brother’s legs truly not be healed?”
Hearing him ask about this, Feng Yu Heng became dejected and gave Xuan Tian Ming an apologetic look before replying: “It is A-Heng who is incapable and have already apologized to father Emperor.”
“Hah.” Xuan Tian Ye let out a long sigh, “It is hard to avoid injury or death when leading an army to fight a war. At that time, we advised ninth brother not to go to the Northwest, but he refused to listen.”
Xuan Tian Hua picked up on the conversation, saying: “Third brother should know Ming’er’s personality. The things he wants to do, when has he ever listened to others.”
While they were speaking, Feng Yu Heng looked at Xuan Tian Ye’s eyes a few times. She felt that this person had always looked angry, but he seemed to be a bit less so today. On the surface, his eyes looked to be filled with concern for Xuan Tian Ming’s injured legs, but there would be times when the greed would seep through. It would be very difficult for most people to notice, but Feng Yu Heng had done a great deal of detailed medical analysis on the eyes.
Just as she expected, Xuan Tian Ming’s leg injury was definitely a piece of good news for Xuan Tian Ye. And this person’s appearance here today was most likely to personally find out the truth. Feng Yu Heng knew that while she was sizing him up, he was also sizing her up. But she trusted that she was better at pretending than he was. She was able to notice some detailed things that Xuan Tian Ye could not.
“Father Emperor said that he was very disappointed in me.” Feng Yu Heng suddenly added this, her face becoming sad. Looking towards Xuan Tian Ming, her eyes revealed and endless remorse.
“What are you doing listening to him.” Xuan Tian Ming’s appearance did not change, as he still looked devilish and irresponsible. Holding a wine cup in one hand, he reached out with the other to pat Feng Yu Heng’s head, “The one marrying you is me and not the old man.”
Xuan Tian Ye laughed loudly, “In the end, it’s ninth brother who is most open-minded.”
Xuan Tian Hua also shook his head and smiled bitterly, “Only Ming’er dares to say this sort of thing.”
Feng Yu Heng reached into her sleeve and felt around for a while, pulling out a long and exquisite box. Fortunately, Winter clothing had larger sleeves and larger sleeve pockets. If Feng Yu Heng had pulled this box out of her Summer clothes, perhaps someone would feel that something was off. Winter clothes, however, made it fine.
She opened up the small box and everyone took a deep breath upon looking inside. Inside the box was the phoenix hairpin that Feng Yu Heng had won at the Mid-Autumn banquet.
They heard Xuan Tian Ming say: “This thing should be worn on your head or left at home. What are you doing keeping it in a box?”
Feng Yu Heng said: “I originally wanted to give the phoenix hairpin back to father Emperor, but just now I felt a little nervous and afraid, so I forgot.”
As she said this, she turned her eyes towards Qing Shuang, who was at her side. Her eyes clearly saw Qing Shuang’s fingers twitch out of habit upon seeing the phoenix hairpin.
