Chapter 1028 Invitation

　　The Imperial Palace was in lock-down. Other than opening up during morning court session, there were no other summons during the rest of the day, and no one was allowed to enter. For the ministers who have ended the morning court session, those who have duties would handle them at the Administration Hall. For those who do not, as long as they leave the palace gates, they could forget about returning to the palace that day. Even the princes were no exception, seeing their Imperial Concubine Mothers in the harem could only be a fantasy.

　　For these things, Xuan Tianyi have already heard about them on the way back to the capital, but he did not believe them at all. Based on what he understood about the Emperor, this was impossible. With that Emperor’s personality, he was anxious for his sons to enter the palace to see him the whole day. Though he had good sons, bad sons, and all of them had their own secrets, as a parent, he looked forward to having a harmonious family and was happiest seeing his children and grandchildren gathered together. Therefore, Xuan Tianyi ignored his servants’ reports about the Imperial Palace and rode straight for Deyang Gate on his horse.

　　However, the palace gate which was tightly shut during the day stopped him in his tracks outside of the Imperial Palace.

　　With the deep frown, Xuan Tianyi looked at the large doors in front of him. Sitting on his horse, he listened to the announcement made by the palace guard below him: “The hours of the morning court session is over, the lock-down of the palace has begun. If Fourth Prince wishes to enter the palace, please enter tomorrow morning during the morning court session.”

　　He looked down at those palace guards. They were unfamiliar faces and looked very arrogant, acting as if they were better than him, a prince. In fact, after saying these words, another palace guard added on: “Fourth Prince, please go back!”

　　He flared up and really wanted to copy Xuan Tianming, waving his whip to deliver a lashing to these worthless idiots. Unfortunately, he did not have Xuan Tianming’s level of power. He never did in the past, and it was even more so now. He was still a prince, but he lost his right to the throne. In addition to his dark history of participating in Old Third’s overthrowing of the Emperor, his position in the capital had dropped drastically. If not for the fact that he had a big heart, he would have died a long time ago.

　　But in the end, there were some questions he could not hold in, he asked the two palace guards: “Why is there a palace lock-down? Who issued this order?”

　　One of them said: “Answering Fourth Prince, the order for the palace lock-down was issued by the Emperor. As for the reason, please forgive this servant for not daring to question the imperial order.”

　　“Imperial Order?” Xuan Tianyi scoffed coldly, “I’m afraid it’s not an Imperial Order, but the intentions of your Master?”

　　The palace guard replied smoothly: “This Servant guards the palace, the Emperor would be our Master, this is naturally the intentions of the Emperor.”

　　“Hmph!” Xuan Tianyi did not plan to say any more to these servants, flicked his horsewhip and left while kicking up some snow: “Forget it, I’ll come again tomorrow.”

　　Staring at Xuan Tianyi’s horse running off into the distance, the two palace guards guarding the gate looked at each other and saw scorn in each other’s eyes. One of them said: “He is just a prince stripped of his power, how can he come here and act so high and mighty?”

　　The other people followed suit and said: “That’s right, did he think that we would forget about him carrying out a rebellion?”

　　Xuan Tianyi’s horse ran further and further away and only stopped when it reached the gate of Ping Palace. It was only during this moment did the worries he had on his way back to the capital peaked to its maximum. Instinct told him that changes will be occurring in the palace, and this unforeseen event this time would continue to the point of no return. He suddenly had some regrets about returning to the capital. If he knew things would be like this, he would do everything to keep that girl Xiangrong in Ji An Prefecture. Living happily over there was always better than being involved in this disturbance. That girl was Feng Yuheng’s younger sister and Feng Yuheng was married to Old Ninth. He felt that this matter would implicate a large number of people sooner or later and even Xiangrong would not be spared.

　　“This won’t do, I will convince that girl to go back tomorrow!” Xuan Tianyi mumbled, and at the same time, he said in self-mockery: “I am a prince who has been stripped of the right to the throne, what else can I do in the capital? I don’t even have a valid reason to attend morning court sessions.”

　　In Yu Palace, Xuan Tianming had not returned. Xiangrong was currently talking about Ji An Prefecture, she told Feng Yuheng: “Ever since the Sixth Prince left, the major issues are being handled by Prefect Qian. For the smaller and miscellaneous matters, Mother and I will make the decision. Ji An Prefecture is developing well right now, looking much better than Yu Prefecture and Hai Prefecture. Prefect Qian always said that after being an official for so many years, he could not match up to Princess Ji An who lived here for a short few months. He said that he had never seen such good management like what was being done in Ji An Prefecture in his whole life. Especially those public horse carriages making it very convenient for people to travel between counties. And because the price is reasonable, the many people who do not have enough money to rent a horse carriage but wish to visit their relatives and friends can occasionally come out and travel.”

　　Xiangrong was excited when she spoke, from public horse carriages, she talked about the governance in Ji An Prefecture, and even talked about the school opened by the Sixth Prince, as well as the Hundred Herb Hall and the jade mine, all of them were flourishing. In the end, she concluded: “I have always lived in the capital and felt that the outside were all lands belonging to barbarians and they would not flourish as well as the capital. But after Ji An Prefecture, I feel that compared to the capital, Ji An Prefecture is the best place in Da Shun. Right now everyone’s hearts are united in the same direction and are motivated towards the same place, everyone hopes that the prefecture can improve and become better developed. Second Sister, when can you return? Everyone misses you.”

　　Listening to Xiangrong talk about Ji An Prefecture, Feng Yuheng also felt excited. It could be said that developing Ji An Prefecture was an experiment carried out in Da Shun based on the structure of society in the future era. Ji An Prefecture’s success allowed her to see some hope, when this method of governance spreads further one day, it would be truly bringing benefits to the people. But, would that day really come? Thinking about the current political situation, she could not help but feel melancholic.

　　At this moment, Madam Zhou’s voice was heard from outside: “Princess, this old servant this something to report.”

　　Wang Chuan quickly opened the door and Feng Yuheng quickly brought her in: “We already told Madam that you do not need to address yourself as ‘this old servant’ when in the palace. Neither the Ninth Prince nor I view you as a servant.”

　　Madam Zhou stepped forward with a smile and bowed while speaking: “That is the kindness shown by the Masters, but this old servant cannot be unable to distinguish the good from the bad.” As she spoke, she bowed towards Xiangrong and said: “Greetings, Third Miss.”

　　Xiangrong quickly stood up and bowed, and spoke as if she was overwhelmed by the unexpected favour: “Madam Zhou is a First Rank Noble Lady, Xiangrong is just a normal citizen. Madam Zhou’s bow is too much for Xiangrong.”

　　Madam Zhou looked at Xiangrong and laughed softly: “Third Miss has really grown up, this old servant remembered that when I first went to the Feng Manor to deliver the dowry and saw Third Miss for the first time, you were a timid young girl hiding behind your family.”

　　Xiangrong blushed and also remembered her state at that time, and could not help but show a troubled smile: “That’s right, why was I such a coward at that time?” With one sentence, everyone laughed.

　　Madam Zhou faced Feng Yuheng again: “His Highness sent me to pass a message, he said that he went to Chun Palace directly after leaving the Imperial Palace and said to invite the Princess over there in the afternoon to eat dinner with Her Highness Imperial Concubine Yun at night.” After saying this, she held out an invite in her hand, saying: “This is an invitation sent from the Imperial Palace, for the Imperial Banquet during the New Year. Not only did was Princess invited, Third Miss was also invited.”

　　“Invited me?” Xiangrong got a shock, “Why would I be invited? Without the Feng family now, I am just an ordinary citizen, what’s the point of inviting me? In addition, I just returned to the capital today! How did the Imperial Palace know of my return?”

　　Feng Yuheng took the invitation, not thinking that it was strange, she just said: “See, we can’t avoid it, something has to happen at every Imperial Banquet, it’s not clear how much trouble we will be given this time. As for you returning to the capital, those people probably knew this before you even entered the city gates.” As she spoke, she looked towards Xiangrong: “It’s because you’re my younger sister, understand?”

　　Xiangrong nodded, she was able to use her brain well now. Feng Yuheng only needed to say one sentence for her to understand the situation. Because of Feng Yuheng’s unique position, being the younger sister, she would also be kept under watch. Even during the Imperial Banquet this time, some unexpected incident might end up happening to her. However, Xiangrong was not afraid, being able to fight at her Second Sister’s side was something she always wanted. She told Feng Yuheng: “Since they invited me, then I will go, I will observe with Second Sister and see what kind of incident they will cause.”

　　“Okay.” Feng Yuheng was very satisfied with Xiangrong’s attitude: “This is befitting of being my younger sister. Let me tell you, no matter what happens, don’t be afraid, there will always be a solution no matter what happens, those that wish to cause trouble will not be a match for me.” After saying this, she patted Xiangrong’s head, showing a warmth as if she was caring for a young child: “Come with me to Chun Palace after this, you can take the chance to greet Her Highness Imperial Concubine Yun.”

　　Once she heard that she needed to go to Chun Palace, Xiangrong, who managed to obtain a strong spirit, withered in an instant. Both her hands started to play with the hem of her clothing subconsciously, causing Madam Zhou’s eyes to shine with amusement. She only know that the Third Miss of the Feng family was still a child and could not hide the matters of her heart. She just did not know what results would come of Xiangrong’s feelings towards the Seventh Prince.

　　Feng Yuheng brought Xiangrong to Chun Palace, bearing a signal that she was here to visit Imperial Concubine Yun. When Xiangrong returned from Ji An Prefecture, she did bring some embroidery she made herself and wanted to give them to some good friends after returning to the capital. This included people like Xuan Tiange, Feng Tianyu and Ren Xifeng. But on the way back, she heard that Ren Xifeng went to Ji An Prefecture to visit Bai Furong and the two of them had used different routes and missed each other, so she had an extra present. By chance, she would be able to give it to Imperial Concubine Yun today, even though the gift was light, she knew that Imperial Concubine Yun had everything. Anything she gave was unnecessary, so it was just a show of sincerity. The good thing was that this embroidery pattern was special and had not appeared in the capital yet.

　　The two of them arrived at Chun Palace, but heard that Xuan Tianming had just left to the Justice Department to have a discussion with Xu Jingyuan. When he left he asked Feng Yuheng to wait for him at Chun Palace and that he would come back for dinner.

　　Feng Yuheng did not mind, she was a frequent visitor to Chun Palace, and Imperial Concubine Yun was living here now. A daughter-in-law coming to visit her mother-in-law was completely justifiable. It was just that Xiangrong was a little uneasy seeing Imperial Concubine Yun. After handing over the greeting gift, she hid behind Feng Yuheng and instantly reverted to her behaviour a few years ago.

　　Feng Yuheng showed a troubled smile and expressed her own opinion to Imperial Concubine Yun: “Daughter-in-law’s third sister is nervous seeing Imperial Concubine Mother!”

　　But Imperial Concubine Yun spoke in disapproval: “What’s there to be nervous about seeing me? I don’t eat people and this is not the Imperial Palace. This is only family members meeting each other, there are no rules. Third young girl, sit down as well!” Leaving the Imperial Palace, she stopped referring to herself with ‘this one’, showing a wild temperament, asking Xiangrong to sit down while looking at the few pieces of embroidery, expressing her wonder with a click of her tongue as she did so: “These are really good! Not only is the embroidery skill good, I have never seen these patterns, this…… what are these things?”