Can This Sort of Thing Be Called a Father?

　　Feng Jin Yuan left the hall. When he returned, he had brought a deed. He handed the deed in his hand to Zhang Yuan, and Zhang Yuan received it then looked at it. He then handed another deed to Feng Jin Yuan, “Lord Feng, take care of it. This matter shall be considered resolved. Since the heavy rain has not stopped, his Majesty said that the Feng family can continue staying here for a few more days. You shall move when the rain has let up a little.”

　　The Feng family gave thanks for this “grace” then watched Zhang Yuan arrogantly strutted off, leaving the Feng manor under the Emperor’s canopy. Fen Dai casually remarked: “He’s just a eunuch, but why does he seem even more arrogant than a prince?”

　　The matriarch glared at her: “Disaster stems from words that were said! Shut your mouth!”

　　This gave Fen Dai a fright, rendering her too scared to say another word.

　　Cheng Jun Man glanced at Feng Jin Yuan and directly noticed that he was feeling a little shaken. The deed had become crumpled in his hands, and his knuckles had become white from being clenched too tightly. She raised the corner of her lips and said: “Husband, take care of the deed. Do not ruin it.”

　　Only then did Feng Jin Yuan recover, quickly straightening the deed. He then said to the matriarch: “Right now, there is no need to think about anything. Everything can wait until after the rain has stopped.”

　　The matriarch nodded. She also knew that they could not leave until the rain had stopped. She could only take care of everyone and have them continue eating. Feng Jin Yuan, however, had his own thoughts…

　　The next day, Xuan Tian Ming left the county princess’ manor after eating breakfast, bringing Ban Zou directly over to the imperial palace. Feng Yu Heng lazed about in bed for a while. Just as she was about to get up, Wang Chuan entered and told her: “Lord Feng has arrived.”

　　She furrowed her brow: “Why did he come here again?”

　　Wang Chuan said: “Older madam brought news saying that eunuch Zhang came to the Feng manor yesterday during dinner time. He exchanged deeds with lord Feng.”

　　“Exchanged?” Feng Yu Heng frowned, “Where did he get a deed to exchange?”

　　Wang Chuan shook her head, saying: “This is not too clear, but the older madam said that lord Feng did indeed exchange the Feng manor’s deed with eunuch Zhang for the deed of the manor’s in the Southwest side.”

　　Feng Yu Heng pondered for a while and whispered to herself: “He shouldn’t have created a fake to fool them, right?” She then stood up, “Let’s go take a look.”

　　When she arrived, Feng Jin Yuan had already waited in the hall for a while. Seeing Feng Yu Heng come out, Feng Jin Yuan felt a surprising anger well up. No matter how he looked at this daughter, he felt irritated, and his words became thorny, “Do you not even pay attention to the time? For you to have only just gotten up, you really do lack discipline!”

　　Feng Yu Heng shrugged and walked over to the main seat. While sipping on tea, she said: “I am in my own manor. I can get up whenever I want to get up. If you cannot get used to it, just get out.”

　　Feng Jin Yuan slammed the table in anger. Pointing at Feng Yu Heng, he continued: “You still have not married, yet you kept a man at your manor. The Feng family’s face has been completely lost by you!”

　　“Oh!” Feng Yu Heng let out a laugh, “The Feng family still had a face to lose? Feng Chen Yu losing her virtue before her marriage has already become a matter of laughter for the entire capital. Just how much face does your Feng family have that this did not cause it to be completely lost? To be able to leave some for me?” The more she said, the more she felt it was funny. “If you truly feel that Xuan Tian Ming living here is not good, go to the Yu Palace to talk about it. Or go into the palace to face his Majesty. Make sure to properly tell father Emperor about it… Oh right, how embarrassing. I forgot. You no longer have the right to enter the palace as you please, Official Feng.”

　　Feng Jin Yuan no longer had the energy to get angry. He just accepted his fate and looked at Feng Yu Heng. He suddenly found that he was on the verge of no longer being able to even raise his head in front of this daughter. Her words and laughter, and even just a single movement could cause him to collapse. As for the Feng family, if it wanted to continue, it would need to rely on this daughter.

　　But he was still a little unwilling to accept this. He stared at Feng Yu Heng and asked: “Now, you aren’t even willing to call me father?”

　　Feng Yu Heng retracted her smile, and her gaze became cold, “Father.” She muttered this, but it was not calling him. It was as though she was thinking of something. After a long while, she finally said: “it seems that I truly do not understand the definition of father. Everyone says that the father is a god to their children. They provide a good life and future for their children, but my father, however, tried all kinds of methods to take my life, and he protects the other people that tried to harm me and my little brother. This sort of thing, can it be called a father?”

　　Feng Jin Yuan felt his face go hot. Feng Yu Heng’s words were like knives that cut viciously at his face. He did not have time to dodge, and he could not dodge them. He could only endure it. Whose fault was it that he did all of those things. Whose fault was it that he did not clearly understand the situation. He did not think that three years in the Northwest would cause such a large change in his daughter. Ignoring the earlier conversation, he carried on very shamelessly: “Father… I- I came today to discuss something with you.”

　　“Oh?” Feng Yu Heng squinted her eyes and looked at him, “With me? Discuss?”

　　Feng Jin Yuan waved his hand, “No, it’s something I must beg of you.” While saying this, he pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve, “This is the deed for the Feng family’s need residence, “I would like to ask if I can use this to trade for the former Feng manor’s deed?”

　　Wang Chuan received the deed and handed it to Feng Yu Heng. She looked down. After just a glance, she looked back up and used a very puzzled gaze to look at Feng Jin Yuan: “Could it be that you feel that you are stupid, thus everyone else must be stupid with you?”

　　“Hm?” Feng Jin Yuan was startled, “What do you mean?”

　　Feng Yu Heng raised the piece of paper in her hand, “This new residence is not even a third the size of the current Feng manor. The location also cannot be compared. Estimating the price, it would be nice if it could even be 20 percent of the current residence. If you are going to use this damn thing to trade for the deed in my hand, what exactly are you thinking? Also,” She asked Feng Jin Yuan curiously: “I heard that this thing was acquired in exchange for the former residence’s deed. The former residence’s deed is clearly in my hands. What exactly did you have?”

　　Feng Jin Yuan’s expression became a little ugly, as he waved his hand, “There’s no need for you to worry about that. I came today to make this request. Would you please help me this one time, on the basis of me giving birth to you and raising you.” He knew that he was in the wrong, and he could not even bring himself to call himself “father.”

　　Feng Yu Heng shook her head once more, “I was born after mother carried me for ten months. I was raised and taught by my Persian master in the mountains of the Northwest. As for the previous years that the Feng family raised me, I already said it. Through Qian Zhou and Chen Yu’s matters, I will protect the Feng family’s safety. This will be considered repayment for those earlier years. As for anything else, do not mention it again.”

　　Feng Jin Yuan knew that the exchange of deeds was most likely not going to succeed, but he wanted to try his luck. What if it had succeeded? But, in the end, it was still this outcome. He helplessly shook his head and did not say anything else. He walked forward and retrieved the deed from Feng Yu Heng and only said: “Forget it, if you are unwilling, I will think of something else.” After saying this, he placed the deed in his pocket and quickly left the hall.

　　Watching him go back into the rain, Feng Yu Heng thought quickly then informed Wang Chuan: “Head into the palace and find eunuch Zhang. Have him carefully investigate the thing that Feng Jin Yuan handed him yesterday. It’s most likely… fake.”

　　The heavy rain fell for two days at an alarming rate. It still did not show any signs of clearing up. Feng Yu Heng had Huang Quan visit the residence in the suburbs. Fortunately, the roof of the residence was sturdy, and it did not leak. The children all hid inside, afraid to come out. The vegetables that they planted were stored in the cellar, ensuring that they did not need to worry about food or drink.

　　Ban Zou bring a few hidden guards and headed North, under the guise of sending the people from Qian Zhou back. Xuan Tian Ming had decided that they would take action 100 li after they left the capital. This would also provide them with an explanation that Qian Zhou would have no choice but to accept. After all, Da Shun attacking Qian Zhou was not realistic, and Qian Zhou also lacked the ability to attack Da Shun. If this matter was exposed, Qian Zhou would not dare to investigate, nor would they have the power to investigate. This would give Da Shun the time necessary to produce steel.

　　The Board of Astronomy watched the skies around the clock; however, they all furrowed their brows. Their final conclusion was: Natural disaster.

　　Xuan Tian Ming held a tiger tally in his hand and mobilized the troops to combat the flood; however, the results were minimal. Feng Yu Heng knew that as long as it continued raining, it was impossible to combat this flood. Something like a flood was even very difficult to handle in the 21st century. Even if helicopters were sent out to save people, there would still be countless lives that would be taken by the floods. Moreover, this was the ancient era that relied on manpower. They could only wait for the rain to stop. Even for her, Feng Yu Heng, faced with this sort of natural disaster, there was nothing that she could do.

　　These two days, a strange phenomenon occurred in the Feng manor. Feng Jin Yuan actually began to allow the courtyards to share equally. He even visited the courtyards of both Cheng shi sisters in one day. On the second day, he visited An shi and Jin Zhen’s courtyards during the morning and afternoon, and at night, he went to sit in Han shi’s courtyard.

　　The matriarch was a little worried and asked granny Zhao: “With Jin Yuan doing all of this, can his body endure?”

　　Granny Zhao did not understand what had happened with Feng Jin Yuan. Something had just happened with the eldest young miss, and he had been demoted. Now, there were torrential rains, and everyone was on the verge of being chased from the manor. How was it that he still had time at this critical juncture to show love to his wives and concubines, and it was even multiple times a day. This was not quite right!

　　But after some thought, She seemed to have understood some reasoning. She said to the matriarch: “Perhaps master has been feeling depressed with all of the things happening recently, and he has no choice but to vent a little.”

　　The matriarch snorted, “He’s feeling depressed? This was all caused by him. What is there for him to feel depressed over. Hah!” She sighed, “After we have moved, there won’t be such a large courtyard. It’s inevitable that some of the manor’s servants will need to be laid off. These matters will be left to you to handle.”

　　Grann Zhao complied.

　　In regards to Feng Jin Yuan departure from his normal behavior, none of the wives and concubines in the family understood. Jin Zhen and Han shi were quite happy, especially Jin Zhen. To be able to receive Feng Jin Yuan’s favor, she used her entire body to serve him. At the same time, she was also quietly hoping at heart, hoping that her belly would put up a bit of a fight and providing a man.

　　Until Feng Jin Yuan left, Jin Zhen was still unable to calm her emotions, thus she had Man Xi take care of her makeup to prepare in case Feng Jin Yuan visited once more. But Man Xi was puzzled and told her: “It’s odd. Why does it seem like many things are missing from the accessories drawer? The pair of jade earrings has gone missing. A gold hairclip is also missing.”

　　At the same time, Han shi’s side was also searching all over for some missing banknotes worth 1000 taels.

　　As for Cheng Jun Man and Cheng Jun Mei, they were sitting together, and Cheng Jun Mei said: ” Sis, how much do you think he managed to steal with this go around?”

　　TN: A tiger tally is used by generals to show that they have imperial authorization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_(tally)