Gossiping in Winter Moon Palace

　　After leaving the bedroom, Feng Yu Heng found that the sky was already dark. She had actually slept for an entire day!

　　She could not help but facepalm, as she quietly whispered her blame to Xuan Tian Ming: “Why did you not wake me up earlier?”

　　Xuan Tian Ming told her: “There’s no point in waking up early. If the sky is not dark, imperial concubine mother will not wake up.”

　　Feng Yu Heng was a little disturbed. This damn Xuan Tian Ming had slept in the same bed as her. She did not think too much of it, but imperial concubine Yun would not be the same, right? She glanced at the palace maid that was guiding them. Hmph, see! This girl’s eyes had a dubious look. This was truly shameful.

　　She glared fiercely at Xuan Tian Ming and angrily walked toward the main hall.

　　When they arrived, imperial concubine Yun was sitting with a group of palace maids and gossiping. The topic of their gossip- “Our Highness was quite fierce with his actions. County princess was screaming quite loudly!”

　　“It seemed to come with a bit of crying.”

　　“When this servant was cleaning up the bathroom, the floor was completely covered in water, and there was no place to stand. All of the tubs of hot and cold water that had been prepared were not just used, they were spilled all over the floor.”

　　“But it seems like all of the clothes belonged to his Highness. Thinking about it, it must have been county princess herself that took them off.”

　　Imperial concubine Yun laughed: “That little girl has a fiery temperament, very good!”

　　These words happened to have been heard by Feng Yu Heng, nearly causing her to trip over the doorsill.

　　Fiery temperament! How was this word being used? She had it backward, right!

　　Seeing the two arrived, imperial concubine Yun giggled for a while. She then dispersed the servants and waved to them: “Come here.”

　　Feng Yu Heng pushed Xuan Tian Ming forward to salute. Imperial concubine Yun pointed to the chair at the side for her to sit. Immediately, a palace maid came forward to deliver tea.

　　She looked at the tea. Then, for some reason, a part of her brain short-circuited once more, casually saying: “Imperial concubine mother, why did you not prepare a red date soup for me?”

　　Imperial concubine Yun smiled and said: “You are only 13. If this brat dared to do anything, he would be a beast.”

　　Xuan Tian Ming was speechless.

　　Feng Yu Heng began to ponder to herself. How did that one saying from her previous life go? There were some things that would make you a beast if done, but if they were not done, you were even less than a beast.

　　She held in a laugh, nearly causing internal injuries to herself.

　　Fortunately, a palace servant quickly entered the hall with food. Upon smelling the fragrance of food, she immediately began to feel hungry. Thinking about it, she had not eaten for a full day and night. It would be odd if she was not hungry.

　　The rules in the palace were to remain silent while eating, but Winter Moon Palace did not have such rules. Imperial concubine Yun had always been one to live freely. In her eyes, there were not many rules to follow. There were many rules in the imperial palace, so she simply locked herself in Winter Moon Palace. Outsiders could enter, but those that could enter had to be people that she liked and received her permission. Otherwise, even if it was the Emperor, they could only stand outside and look at the palace.

　　That was why this meal was not quiet in the slightest. Imperial concubine Yun enjoyed a black chicken soup while faintly saying: “Thinking back to when This one entered the imperial palace, that beast’s imperial concubine mother found me to be unlikeable. Choosing a time when that old man was not here, she had someone whip This one 13 times. After that, it was your maternal grandfather that came to prescribe a medicine to heal my skin. This one spent 49 days soaking in that medicine before the scars on my body disappeared.”

　　It looked like imperial concubine Yun had said this casually, but a painful expression flashed in her eyes that did not escape the notice of the two.

　　Xuan Tian Ming gently said a few words to comfort her, causing imperial concubine Yun to laugh: “It’s fine. It’s already been so many years, and that woman was beaten to death by that old man. This one does not bear any grudges. I just feel that A-Heng was quite good with a whip. Some people have quite tight skin, and you can help them loosen up a little.”

　　While the mother and son spoke, Feng Yu Heng was thinking about the skin-healing medicine that imperial concubine Yun had spoken of.

　　Her maternal grandfather, Yao Xian, whom she had never met, was rumored to be a divine doctor. He was actually able to produce such a prescription?

　　She thought for a while then felt that the so-called skin-healing prescription was just an exaggeration of the old folks. Healing the skin was not impossible. In the 21st century, there was skin grafting, but it was not as miraculous as people believed. As for completely getting rid of imperial concubine Yun’s scars, Feng Yu Heng thought that it should be the case that Yao Xian had some sort of strong medicine that was used to get rid of scars. That sort of medicine was not exactly miraculous. In truth, she had plenty of that medicine in her space. Also, it was not that annoying to use, and it was not that complicated of a recovery.

　　While she was thinking about this, she heard imperial concubine Yun say: “A-Heng, This one must remind you that there should be news related to that bastard’s maternal family should very soon. Although Ming’er and Hua’er sent people to stop the flow of information, this sort of thing cannot be completely stopped. Counting the days, they should be arriving in the capital soon.”

　　Feng Yu Heng froze. This was the first time that she had heard about Xuan Tian Ye’s imperial concubine mother; however, she did not think that there would be a maternal family that even imperial concubine Yun took interest in.

　　She settled herself down then asked: “Has A-Heng caused trouble for his Highness?”

　　Imperial concubine Yun shrugged and smiled, “You have indeed caused trouble, but his Highness should not be afraid.”

　　She was puzzled: “What sort of people are the third prince’s maternal family?”

　　Xuan Tian Ming told her: “His maternal grandfather is a military official of the three Northern provinces. The three Northern provinces of Da Shun was not part of Da Shun at the time that it was founded. It was only after the second emperor ascended the throne that they were acquired through victory in a six-year-long war. Thinking about it, they have been part of Da Shun for five generations of emperors, but the majority of the people of the North are descended from people of Qian Zhou. They will say that they are Da Shun’s people; however, there is still a feeling among them that they have Qian Zhou’s blood flowing through them. Over the years, relations between Qian Zhou and Da Shun have been frozen. Even if they occasionally had the desire to provoke Da Shun, we did not have the right to dispatch soldiers in order to avoid confusing the people of the North.”

　　Feng Yu Heng listened while analyzing the situation: “I have seen a map of Da Shun’s territory. Although there are only three provinces in the North of Da Shun, those three provinces occupy a large area. If we look at it based on the central region, that area is enough for seven provinces.”

　　“That’s right.” Xuan Tian Ming nodded, “That place is large, and the number of people is high. If the day comes where there is any confusion in the hearts of those people, that would definitely not be a good thing for Da Shun.”

　　“That’s right!” She lamented, “If there is such a historical origin, the citizens of the North can be considered the descendents of Qian Zhou. Once Da Shun becomes unhappy with Qian Zhou, I fear…”

　　“I fear that the North will revolt.”

　　“Then why did you still bring up me wanting Qian Zhou to father Emperor?” Feng Yu Heng glared at him, “When you said it to father Emperor this morning, I was lacking a bit of understanding. Qian Zhou is indeed quite hateful, but we cannot fight a war without any preparation. Previously, I did not know that the people of the North had this sort of origin, otherwise, I would not have messed around with you like that.”

　　Imperial concubine Yun could understand what had happened, as she asked Xuan Tian Ming: “What did you ask the old man for?”

　　Xuan Tian Ming waved his hand, “It’s not much. He punished Heng Heng with kneeling for no reason. Did I not need to seek some reparations? I just said that since we find Qian Zhou to be quite irritating to look at, and we will need to fight them sooner or later, just give it to Heng Heng as a dowry after we have won!”

　　Imperial concubine Yun laughed, “This is a great idea.”

　　Feng Yu Heng facepalmed. Did this mother and son not find things to be too troublesome?

　　She reminded Xuan Tian Ming: “I beat the third prince to such a degree. His maternal family will definitely seek revenge. The three Northern provinces are very far from the central region. To say something very improper, that place’s military officer is a bit like a local tyrant? It’s inevitable that they will attack us in the future. That’s why, in the matter of attacking Qian Zhou, we will need to think about the long-term plans.”

　　“We will definitely need to think long term.” Xuan Tian Ming said: “At the very least, this matter will need to wait until after you have made the steel weapons and distributed them to a large portion of the army. This is the first step. Only after this is complete can we slowly begin to think about the things to follow.”

　　Imperial concubine Yun comforted Feng Yu Heng: “Don’t think too much about it. What can a military officer from the three Northern provinces do? Don’t you feel that the old man doesn’t mind too much?” She always called the Emperor old man. It sounded very impolite, but Feng Yu Heng could see that there was a trace of warmth in imperial concubine Yun’s eyes when she mentioned him.

　　Thus she nodded and said: “Indeed, if father Emperor minded, he would have handed down additional punishment after beating that person to that degree.”

　　Imperial concubine Yun lifted her cup of wine and took a sip, saying with a smile: “That’s why this fight is something that will end up happening sooner or later. Including Qian Zhou, don’t believe that nobody knows what sorts of things they have done over the years!” Saying this, she turned her eyes to Xuan Tian Ming’s legs, and a fierce look appeared in her eyes.

　　This meal went on for a long time before concluding. When Feng Yu Heng pushed Xuan Tian Ming out of Winter Moon Palace, the palace maid that was sending them out said to her: “This servant has something to say and hope that county princess will not blame this servant for speaking too much.”

　　She stopped and looked at the palace maid, saying: “Aunty has been at imperial concubine mother’s side taking care of her for many years. If you have something to say, I will listen.”

　　At first, the palace maid did not dare, but she then said: “This servant just wanted to say: whenever county princess has some spare time and can come to the palace, please come and visit imperial concubine some more. Living here alone in Winter Moon Palace, imperial concubine is quite bored, but she never says it. This servant has been at imperial concubine’s side for 15 years and can see that she likes county princess. Every time you come, she is even happier than when she sees his Highnesses. There are also the gifts that you bring. Every time, imperial concubine can fiddle with them for half a month or more. This servant is quite worried about imperial concubine. Would county princess please come over a little more often.”

　　These words caused Feng Yu Heng to choke up. Imperial concubine Yun had always been free and unconstrained appearance was quite good at blinding people. It made people uncertain whether she was actually happy, angry, sad or laughing. She had come a few times. Although she could tell that imperial concubine Yun was happy to see her, she never thought that the things that she had sent would be used for so long.

　　Feng Yu Heng sniffled and said to the palace maid: “A-Heng has remembered it. Many thanks, aunty for the reminder. In the future, A-Heng will definitely come to Winter Moon Palace more often.”

　　The palace made gratefully sent the two off. She then entered Xuan Tian Ming’s imperial carriage and had him send her to the county princess’ manor.

　　Xuan Tian Ming saw that she was not in a great mood and knew that she must have been thinking about that earlier matter, thus he took the initiative to say: “You don’t need to take it too seriously. The path that she is taking is one that she has chosen for herself. I figure she knew about it early on. After all these years, she must have become accustomed to it.”

　　Feng Yu Heng shook her head, “It’s not like that. Either way, I am her future daughter-in-law. There are some filial responsibilities that I need to fulfill.”

　　“A daughter-in-law fulfilling filial duties will also need to wait until after we are married.”

　　“Me doing them earlier can just be treated as currying favor, can it not?” She raised her small face, “In the future, I will be going into the palace more often. I still have plenty of new things. As for that skin-healing medicine that imperial concubine mother was talking about, I also have some. Also, it is better than what she had used. There is no need to do something so troublesome.”

　　Xuan Tian Ming smirked a little, as he subconsciously turned his eyes to her sleeve. Feng Yu Heng guiltily covered her sleeve. She did not want to give any explanation to resolve the curiosity that he felt; however, she furrowed her brow and said to him: “In truth, in regards to mother becoming addicted to spirit-altering drug, there is one detail that I have neglected…”