Lu Song was already feeling very worried about being found out. Now that he was being stopped by Feng Yu Heng like this, even more fuel was added to the fire. Suddenly, he stared at Feng Yu Heng. It was as though his mind had reached enlightenment, as he rushed to say: “It’s you! It was all you, right? Everything was orchestrated by you!”
Feng Yu Heng sneered, “Has the left prime minister gone crazy? There were this many sets of eyes watching and ears listening. Under the premise that the Lu family’s second young miss, Lu Yao, knew how to swim, why did she not save herself and insisted on waiting for the Lu family’s eldest young miss to leap in to save them. The exact situation is really worthy of some thought. Also, that venomous bug from the South, why would it appear in the imperial palace? I just hope that the governor will be able to give us an explanation.”
“What explanation!” Lu Song became furious, “It was an accident that they fell into the water. This prime minister lost a daughter, and my other daughter’s face was ruined. This is the outcome!”
“I fear that is not the case!” Feng Yu Heng shrugged, “It’s precisely as I said earlier. The Lu family’s second young miss clearly knew how to swim, so why did she need someone to save her? Also, the reason for them falling into the water needs to be investigated clearly. I am also curious, with so many people near the lotus pond, why was it just the two that fell in? Put simply, this matter still requires the Lord Governor to come and provide us with an explanation.”
“You…” Lu Song was rendered speechless. In front of Feng Yu Heng, he would always be stifled like this, but in the end, even if the Lu family met with such a tragedy, he still had quite the guilty conscience. Thus if he could avoid an open confrontation, he would turn his crosshairs onto the Yao family, “Imperial Daughter, please give way. This prime minister still must go and get an explanation from my son-in-law, Yao Shu.”
Feng Yu Heng, however, shook her head and never moved, “Prime Minister Lu is of standard first rank as the left prime minister. You should have some sort of bearing. If you have any matters, tell them to me. This imperial daughter is enough to represent the Yao family. Prime Minister Lu, what do you think?”
What did he think? It was very bad.
Lu Song angrily gritted his teeth; however, it truly would not be good to tear at Feng Yu Heng’s face in the palace. Turning his head, he saw that the governor, Xu Jing Yuan, had already brought people and were heading in this direction. His heart was filled with anger, as he felt that thorns were growing all around this place. He did not want to remain in this place, thus he moved to the side and avoided Feng Yu Heng. He quickly ran in the direction of the palace’s gates.
Before he could take many steps, he heard Feng Yu Heng’s voice once more: “Prime Minister Lu, are you leaving like this? Of your two daughters, one is dead and one is injured. You’re just going to leave them here without a care?”
Lu Song waved his hand, “Just have the governor look after them!”
Sure enough, he did not care.
A smile of disdain appeared on Lu Ping’s face. She understood her own father too well. This father would always look at returns when doing anything. It was all for his own benefit. Raising this daughter with a hidden illness, was it not because he had valued her exceptional beauty. He was hoping that this face would be able to find a different path for the Lu family. The Lu family would expand its bloodline in many directions for the sake of remaining in power, regardless of which prince ascended the throne. However, who knew that today’s events would result in both her and Lu Yao being wasted. They would become useless people to the Lu family. How could Lu Song feel even the slightest bit of sympathy.
Looking up once more, Feng Yu Heng had already walked over to her side. The governor had already arranged to tidy up Lu Yao. The corpse was carried off very quickly. The governor then came over and said to her: “Eldest Young Miss Lu, please do not worry and take care of your wound. In a few days time, this official will be inviting young miss to appear in court for some questions.”
Lu Ping nodded and watched the governor greet Feng Yu Heng before leading his people away from the lotus pond. She gently tugged at Feng Yu Heng then quietly said to her: “Imperial Daughter, I helped you today, and I helped myself. My face will never be desired by the Lu family from this moment onward. It’s just… Imperial Daughter, if Lu Ping has a request to make in the future, I hope that you would be willing to help me for the matters of today.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Although you put in no shortage of work today, no matter what is said, you saved my aunt. This grace, I will remember it. If you come to look for me at the imperial daughter’s manor, you just need to ask for me. I will not just watch on from the side.”
The ruckus at the lotus pond could finally be considered resolved. It was just that in this crowd of people, there was a girl, who was staring fixedly at Lu Ping. Her eyes carried a faint joy.
Very good! The girl snorted coldly to herself. Very good, Lu Yao had died, and Lu Ping’s face was ruined. In the current Lu family, the only person that her father could rely on was Lu Yan alone. And the person that had caused all of this was not Lu Yan. Instead, it was her own two sisters that caused their own demises. She had picked up a cheap victory. It really did not take any effort!
With things happening as they did in this banquet, even if the palace was not closing down, the people were no longer in the mood to remain. From the left prime minister’s family, one daughter died and one was hurt. To the people in attendance, things had gotten a little out of hand, and it happened that the person that was implicated was the Yao family’s eldest madam. In the end, the governor also took part. Adding on Left Prime Minister Lu Song’s attitude, this matter seemed very strange, no matter what they thought.
There were some that speculated. After returning to Heavenly Hall, there was a great deal of discussion. In the end, the Emperor waved his hand, and the banquet came to an end. Although the people were not enjoying things to the fullest extent, since someone had lost their life, continuing the music and dancing would not be too reasonable.
Wave after wave of people left the palace. The time that it took for people to enter the palace was long. Leaving the palace also was not easy. There were too many people, and it was very dark. Looking from far away, they looked like ants.
The Emperor stood at the top of the third floor of Heavenly Hall. Looking at these people, he sneered to himself and asked Zhang Yuan: “Little Yuan, say, how many people in this crowd are thinking of the court? How many people have begun to have different thoughts?”
Zhang Yuan’s head swelled from hearing this, “You are the emperor. How can you ask that of this servant, a eunuch? How can this servant dare to speak tactlessly about the court’s matters.”
The Emperor snorted coldly, “Has there been any shortage in the things that We have asked you? Is there anything that you don’t dare say? Really, Zhang Yuan, have you gotten old? Why is it that you are overly cautious whenever you do anything?”
Zhang Yuan glared, “You’re the old one.”
However, who knew that the Emperor would happily acknowledge it, “We are old. If We did not get old, those people with improper thoughts, We would personally have taken care of them! How could they have been kept until today?! Don’t assume that We don’t know what nonsense old eighth is doing down in the South, but what’s the point of knowing?” The Emperor’s mood sank once more, “What’s the point of knowing? We are old and can no longer go out on expeditions and leave the capital. I also don’t have as much energy to care about those whelps. In the past, when they were young, We hoped to let them train themselves. When the time came, We could choose the best to ascend the throne.”
Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes, “Are you regretting it now? It’s already developed in this direction, and the country has been formed. They all have great ambition, and they are doing their best to obtain this throne; however, you don’t even think about allowing them to compete fairly, right?”
The Emperor glared: “How do I not? We have always planned on letting them compete fairly. But you have also seen it. Can they perform better than old ninth? Hah, it’s not that We are biased! We do treat old ninth well, but it’s not entirely because of Pian Pian. Of course, Pian Pian does play a part, but the most important part is that old ninth himself is competent.”
In regards to this point, Zhang Yuan was in agreement, “It’s not just himself that’s good. His wife is also good.”
“Of course!” With Feng Yu Heng being mentioned, the Emperor became even more spirited, “Otherwise, why would I say that old ninth was born to be the ruler? Look at the wife that he chose. How many of Da Shun’s threats were taken care of with A-Heng’s help? Today, that matter with the thousand-fragrance perfume, Da Shun did not lose face, right?! This was a small matter, just look at the steel. That did not just elevate Da Shun’s bearing, it also improved our soldiers by a level!”
Zhang Yuan nodded. After thinking a bit, he continued: “Does Your Majesty still remember the prophecy from the Board of Astronomy?”
“Of course.” With this being mentioned, the Emperor’s expression darkened, “The Northwest, at that time, A-Heng was still in the Northwest, right?”
“That’s right.” Zhang Yuan said: “Feng Jin Yuan feared that the matter with the Yao family would implicate the Feng family, and he sent Yao shi and her children to a village in the Northwest. That year was also the final year. As for the ninth prince, after that matter, he also brought it up with Your Majesty. He and imperial daughter met on the night that the Board of Astronomy spoke of the lightning. Imperial daughter’s miraculous hands treated His Highness’ leg. Your Majesty, isn’t this just fate?”
The Emperor laughed and said with certainty: “Of course, that’s just the fate of the phoenix! Fate of the phoenix!”
On this side, the Emperor was sighing with emotion. On the other side, the Board of Astronomy was also talking about the same thing, and the person that was hearing the story was Imperial Concubine Yun, who had taken over Zhao He Hall on her own ever since returning to the palace.
Jian Zheng said: “Speaking of the star of the phoenix from before, there has been a strange occurrence of two stars appearing. Imperial Concubine might not know, but this official is always observing the stars and found that there appears to be something of a shadow that’s hiding behind the star of the phoenix. Wherever the star of the phoenix goes, it will go too. It also has the potential to replace the star!”
Imperial Concubine Yun had been eating some seeds. Upon hearing these words, she immediately threw away the seed in her hand and sat up straight: “Replace? A small shadow wants to overthrow its master? One telling the story, is your information accurate?”
Jian Zheng from the Board of Astronomy wiped away some sweat. For an official like him that observed the stars, why was it that he could never raise his head in front of this master? One telling the story, that was how she called him! But the master had asked a question, and he had to reply, thus he respectfully said: “This official does not dare speak nonsense.”
“Then it’s true?” Imperial Concubine Yun sneered, “Ever since ancient times, there have been too many people that do not know the weight of the world. They always want to go and assume positions that they should not have. They keep wanting to do things that they should not do. However, they do not know that the thing they should not do will burn them severely.”
The pitiful Jian Zheng could only nod his head and express that he agreed with this sentiment.
Imperial Concubine Yun then said: “Then do say, is there any way of resolving this issue? We can’t just allow a shoddy shadow to affect the life of the star of the phoenix.”
Jian Zheng said: “At present, there isn’t any effective method. That shadow is being maintained by the star of the phoenix deliberately. It will all depend on how the star of the phoenix handles it. Will they get rid of it or keep it, it will all depend on the star’s own feelings.”
“What choice is there?” Imperial Concubine Yun was very angry, “Keep the master and remove the lesser, how simple of a matter is it. Since that shadow is seeking its own death, just do as it pleases. This sort of thing that does not know the depth of the world, as this One sees it, killing it would be the most effective.”
Imperial Concubine Yun’s words were filled with resolution. Even Jian Zheng from the Board of Astronomy could feel it, and he could not help but inhale sharply. But after thinking a bit, that shadow should indeed be killed for affecting the movements of the star of the phoenix.
“Who is outside?” Suddenly, inside the hall, a woman in the hall let out a shout. Following this, their gaze went toward a corner outside the window.
