Da Shun’s steady heart, that was something that the Emperor would definitely be able to understand. He was getting old, and as each emperor through the generations reached this age, they would grieve this the most. Regardless of whether or not a crown prince was named, they had entered the period of time when struggles between the princes had already reached its most active time. The battles between princes took place in the court, and the imperial concubine mothers of these princes messed around in the inner palace. He could kill Imperial Concubine Li in the same way that he had dealt with Concubine An and Concubine Rui. Regardless of whether they were killed or simply tossed into the cold palace, it sounded all the same. It would all cause quite a disturbance.
He was the Emperor, and he wanted for the court to be at peace, thus he needed for the inner palace to not fall into total disarray. He could not push them too hard. Feng Yu Heng was right. A son like Old Sixth was someone that he liked, and he should not cause his heart to turn cold because of an ignorant mother.
“What you did was correct.” He extended his hand and patted Feng Yu Heng’s shoulder, his voice carried a bit of an emotional tone. “Old Sixth has a good personality; however, he happens to have this sort of mother. It’s almost the new year, and he will be returning. Things will be getting livelier and livelier.”
For the remainder of the night, Feng Yu Heng stayed in the imperial tent to keep an eye on Xuan Fei Yu. Zhang Yuan took care of the Emperor until the sun began to rise. Xuan Fei Yu had made it through the important first night. She checked the child’s temperature and found that he did not have a fever. Only then did she relax and hand him over to Zhang Yuan. She then brought Wang Chuan back to her tent.
When she returned, Huang Quan was sleeping while still holding the little white tiger. Upon hearing them return, she immediately woke up and went over to ask: “How is it? I heard that Imperial Concubine Li was already brought over to the Emperor by the second prince before being let out again. What happened with that?”
Wang Chuan helplessly said: “It was our young miss that granted her a grace and asked His Majesty to forgive her, thus she was only demoted to noble lady and confined to Jing Si Palace.”
“This… why?” Huang Quan was puzzled, “She was so bad. Not only did she curse the young miss, but didn’t Ban Zou say that Feng Fen Dai had sought her out, and the two had begun working together? What is Young Miss saving this sort of person for?”
The two servants could not understand what Feng Yu Heng was planning. As for Feng Yu Heng saying that it was done for the sixth prince, Wang Chuan had heard this in the imperial tent, but she did not believe it. She definitely did not believe that her young miss would just become compassionate for the sixth prince, whom she had never met before. Having been together for over two years, she understood Feng Yu Heng too well. She was not that sort of person at all.
Feng Yu Heng just smiled and did not say anything for the time being. At this time, Ban Zou also entered the tent. Upon entering, he said: “Fu Ya is no longer in the camping ground.”
“Hm?” Huang Quan was the first to get her question out, “Not in the camping ground? Where did she go? Back to the capital?”
Ban Zou shook his head, “She shouldn’t be. Noble Lady Yuan specifically brought her out of the capital, so there must have been a purpose for her. She can’t possibly be sent back so easily.” Ban Zou had a gloomy expression and said: “I thought that they would take some action at the hunting ground, and I was sitting here waiting for them. As a result, they left.” As he spoke, he immediately looked toward Feng Yu Heng, “What do you think of this matter?”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and said: “Being demoted from Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu to Noble Lady Yuan, what sort of disturbance are you hoping she would be able to cause? Bringing Fu Ya over here, she definitely had some sort of plan beforehand, but before she could put it in action, she fell on hard times. Thus Fu Ya coming to the hunting ground became a dead play. If she was not sent away, could it be that she would wait to be exposed?”
“Then where could she have been sent?” Huang Quan anxiously asked this question.
But Ban Zou did not have an answer to this. When Noble Lady Yuan had sent Fu Ya away, he was observing Imperial Concubine Li, thus the three turned their attention to Feng Yu Heng, and they heard her say: “Noble Lady Yuan once sent a letter and a painting to the South. It was to be sent to His Highness the eighth prince, thus it’s very clear that she wants to send Fu Ya to His Highness the eighth prince’s side. Either as his official princess or something else, either way, that face that closely resembles mine must appear at His Highness the eighth prince’s side. That’s why, when you think about it, where can Noble Lady Yuan send her?”
The three were stunned and exchanged some glances before Wang Chuan guessed: “To the South?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “It can be determined with just some thought, she is definitely going South. Being sent to the small court in the South under the identity of the Feng family’s young miss. That place is far, and it’s impossible for there to not be a single person that has seen me. That’s why it’s very likely that with her going down there, it will create a certain impression down there. In addition to this, there will be people in the background adding fuel to the fire by creating some rumors. This might have some benefits for His Highness the eighth prince.”
“Then why not quickly chase her down and bring her back!” Huang Quan paced around in circles from the anxiety, “Hah, young miss, how can you just remain so still? Fu Ya has run off to such a distant place. It’s impossible that there is nobody escorting her. At worst, there will be experts in qinggong sending her along. If we don’t hurry up and send people to give chase, it’s very likely that we won’t be able to catch up.”
Wang Chuan stopped her and said: “Don’t panic. Have you forgotten that His Highness the ninth prince is currently on his way back from the South. It’s possible that they will run into them.”
Ban Zou also agreed with this, saying: “Send a letter to His Highness. I’ll take care of intercepting Fu Ya.”
“Don’t!” Feng Yu Heng casually raised her hand and placed a piece of fruit in her mouth, “How boring would it be to intercept her? Since she wants to go South, just let her go. If she wants to be the Feng family’s young miss at His Highness the eighth prince’s side, just let her. Noble Lady Yuan wants to create a false scene of Imperial Daughter Ji An having gone South to become His Highness the eighth prince’s woman. She feels that if this can succeed, the citizens will trust that the country will end up belonging to His Highness the eighth prince. This really is the first time that I could have such a grand use. I’m just a living imperial decree.”
“But what if this sort of thing really does happen?” Huang Quan was worried, “The people at the border don’t know about the court. What if they really believe Fu Ya?”
“How could they believe it so easily.” Feng Yu Heng snorted coldly then ordered Ban Zou, “Go back to the capital tonight. Go to Hundred Herb Hall and find Wang Lin. Have him send a letter to the branch in the South telling them to prepare some more people. When Fu Ya arrives, just go and find her to see patients. At the same time, have them spread that Imperial Daughter Ji An is in the capital. I want to see just how Fu Ya will handle dealing with so many sick people. Also, tell the South that the Feng family’s young miss has steel weapons. To make the South stronger, have them ask Fu Ya for steel weapons.”
Feng Yu Heng’s idea caused Huang Quan’s belly to hurt from laughing so much. It was as though she could already see Fu Ya’s defeated appearance. Feng Yu Heng told them: “Everyone knows that the people of the border don’t really know much about the court, and His Highness the eighth prince has already constructed a small court in the South. Do you believe that they will respect the capital? Sooner or later, a fight will need to take place there. To have Fu Ya tread around in the muddy water is also quite good. It’s just that the people we send will need to keep an eye on her. It’s easy for her to go to the South, but if she wants to return to the capital, there’s not a single chance!”
When they heard that Feng Yu Heng had a grasp on the situation, they no longer worried about Fu Ya’s matter. Huang Quan even forgot about Feng Yu Heng having protected Imperial Concubine Li and began to take care of washing Feng Yu Heng to have her quickly sleep. But Ban Zou was still thinking about it, as he reached out to stop Huang Quan and said: “There’s no rush to sleep. Let’s have master clear up some more matters. Why did you protect Imperial Concubine Li?”
With him mentioning it, Huang Quan and Wang Chuan recalled the matter, thus the three stared at Feng Yu Heng once again, waiting for her to explain.
Feng Yu Heng looked at the three and helplessly said: “You three, to begin with, I felt that only Wang Chuan’s mind showed some promise, but why do I feel that after spending so much time with you two, she’s becoming dumber and dumber?”
Wang Chuan became embarrassed from being told off like this and lowered her head in silence. Feng Yu Heng did not continue to tease them and said: “I protected Imperial Concubine Li because there was indeed some consideration for His Highness the sixth prince, and I did not want to create another enemy. If His Highness the sixth prince really is the person that you say he is, he will not be affected by a birthmother like her. But if he isn’t… that would be perfect, as we can use Imperial Concubine Li to keep a leash on Feng Fen Dai. Oh right, she should be called Noble Lady Li. Hah, life really is full of twists and turns!”
She looked at the group and saw Wang Chuan nod. She understood, but Huang Quan and Ban Zou were still staring at her, waiting for her to continue, thus she had no choice but to continue: “Right now, Feng Fen Dai does not have any other choices. After searching all over, she went and found Noble Lady Li and the sixth prince. Then we’ll just keep this path open for Fen Dai. Otherwise, once Feng Fen Dai loses the help of Noble Lady Li, based on her personality, who knows who she’ll end up finding. Rather than driving her into a desperate situation, it would be better to use Noble Lady Li and the sixth prince to keep an eye on her. Compared to Noble Lady Yuan, Noble Lady Li’s thoughts are too simple to understand. His Highness the sixth prince is also much easier to interact with than His Highness the eighth prince.” After she spoke, she spread her hands, “These are my thoughts.”
Wang Chuan quickly said: “This servant thought that it definitely could not be just for His Highness the sixth prince. Now that you say it like this, it does indeed seem like a good idea. Blame can only be placed on Feng Fen Dai for not being smart enough for her ambitions. She has all kinds of wild ideas and even dragged in Noble Lady Li. She really is messing around.”
“Messing around is good.” Feng Yu Heng sighed, “This sort of messing around is still on a smaller scale. If they’re all like the third prince, fourth prince and the eighth prince, the ones with headaches would be us.”
Feng Yu Heng’s plans finally allowed the three servants to calm down and begin to take care of preparing her to rest. The three then took turns taking naps.
But just as she put her head down to rest, a commotion was starting in the fifth prince’s tent. Feng Fen Dai had been called over by the fifth prince, first thing in the morning. Xuan Tian Yan pointed in the direction of Noble Lady Li’s tent and angrily gritted his teeth, “Look, look! That’s is the outcome! Over the course of one day and one night, two imperial concubines, who are also birthmothers of princes, lost their positions and were demoted to noble ladies. You still don’t think things have gotten out of hand? I’ll tell you that Imperial Concubine Li is a crazy person. Old Sixth is also just a scholar. Have you got nothing better to do than go make schemes with them? Before you even came up with a single scheme, the other side has already sunk into the water. You need to develop a memory!”
Xuan Tian Yan’s advice for Feng Fen Dai really was entirely sincere. It was just that Feng Fen Dai did not take heed of what he was saying. Not only did she not develop a memory, not only was she not worried, she even felt that Imperial Concubine Li being demoted to noble lady was quite good, “She is already a noble lady. In the future, she will have even less ground to compete with us. This will also save me the need to keep threatening and deceiving her. From this day forward, if she still wants for her son to be able to be at peace, she will need to curry favor with us to take care of them. Xuan Tian Yan, you just wait and see. Sooner or later, everything that you don’t even dare think about will fall into your hands!”
