Ever since Kang Yi had interacted a few times with Feng Yu Heng, she began to pay close attention to every word that was said. Who knew which word would end up being a trap. She had to be careful with her response.
Hearing her ask about this bracelet, Kang Yi pondered a little. She had not made any mistake with the bracelet, thus she said with a smile: “This jade bracelet was awarded to me by my father emperor for my 16th birthday. It has been inlaid with gold and carries a meaning of harmony.”
“Oh.” Feng Yu Heng nodded, “If you say it like that, then choosing to give this bracelet to concubine mother Jun Man at this time is quite appropriate timing. But…” She furrowed her brow and pondered for a while, “Mother received this bracelet at your 16th birthday. Not three months later, you were married to your husband. As far as I know, at the time that mother was married, this bracelet should have been on your wrist.”
Kang Yi was startled. She did not think that Feng Yu Heng would actually be able to stifle her by slyly shifting to this topic. This caused her to not know how to respond.
Feng Yu Heng continued on this topic: “I have only heard hearsay of the things that happened in Qian Zhou that year, but the early death of your husband was not much of a secret, and there is no need for us to hide it. Mother’s previous marriage could not even be considered remotely harmonious; however, you turn around and gave this to concubine mother Jun Man. To put it nicely, you are jealous of concubine mother receiving favor. To paint it in a negative light, are you cursing father with an early death?” Her voice became more and more fierce until her final words were practically denouncing Kang Yi, “Father has not treated you poorly. You did not wish to marry Gu Shu and end up far from home, so father went to ask his Majesty to be permitted to bring you into the manor; however, who knew that you would use that sort of thing to curse father. Eldest princess, what sort of heart do you have?”
Nobody in the Feng family thought that Feng Yu Heng would suddenly become so fierce, as each word drove Kang Yi into more and more of a dead end. She was no longer willing to even put on a facade of being calm. What exactly was going on?
Kang Yi’s heart, however, had already begun to tremble. For some reason, she suddenly recalled the odd and inexplicable fire that had been started at the Xiang Palace a few nights prior.
Feng Yu Heng’s ferocity left Kang Yi with no place to hide. She had clearly emphasized earlier that it was an award from her 16th birthday. It had a message of harmony, and it had been given by the emperor. If one flatly denied that such a great thing was not worn at their grand wedding three months later, there would not be a single person that believed it, right?
Kang Yi was left without any options, so she turned around and kneeled in front of the matriarch, saying desperately: “It was daughter-in-law that was not thorough in her thinking. Daughter-in-law just wanted to give younger sister a gift, but mother, you know that daughter-in-law’s dowry has not yet arrived. It is still on the way to Da Shun, and I truly do not have anything good on hand. Without giving it much thought, I gave that bracelet to younger sister. I absolutely did not have any intention of cursing husband!”
The matriarch had become infuriated from what Feng Yu Heng had said. She did not care why Feng Yu Heng would act so fierce toward Kang Yi. Just based on this bracelet, Feng Yu Heng was correct. Such an unlucky bracelet was brought out. What exactly was Kang Yi thinking?
The matriarch angrily slammed her cane on the ground and looked at Kang Yi, saying: “You are an eldest princess, and the ruler of Qian Zhou is of even more noble standing. What is there that I can say? But Jin Yuan is my son. I definitely will not allow anyone to harm him.” Saying this, she looked once more at Jun Man. Her tone stabilized slightly, but it still had a trace of disapproval: “Take that bracelet off and return it to her!”
Cheng Jun Man’s eyes had already turned red, as she tried to take the bracelet off. When Kang Yi gave it to her, it was easily put on, but for some reason, when she put in a great deal of effort to take it off, she could not.
Cheng Jun Man was a little anxious, so she frankly decided to not worry about any injuries. Gritting her teeth, she finally managed to remove the bracelet at the cost of a layer of skin on both sides of her hand. She then placed it on the ground, as though it was hot to the touch, then stood next to Feng Jin Yuan.
Cheng Jun Mei, who had been watching from the side, was finally unable to continue watching. Quickly going forward, she inspected her elder sister’s injury. Seeing that she had lost skin on both sides of her hand, the once white skin now had traces of blood. Cheng Jun Mei lost it and looked at Feng Jin Yuan then said: “Husband, you must support elder sister!”
Upon seeing Jun Man in her current state, how could Feng Jin Yuan not feel distressed. He could not help but turn his anger-filled gaze to Kang Yi. But, in the end, he was unable to say anything. After all, when it came to this marriage, he felt that he had mistreated Kang Yi. If Kang Yi felt any resentment toward the sisters because of this, that would be considered normal human nature.
Kang Yi saw Feng Jin Yuan looked at her like this and suddenly began to understand Feng Yu Heng’s goal. County princess Ji An was doing her best to ensure that she and Feng Jin Yuan did not consummate their marriage. She was coming up with plans to create distance between them. For each day that she did not consummate her marriage with Feng Jin Yuan, it would be impossible for her to become closer to Feng Jin Yuan. If the two did not get closer, how could her future plans possibly succeed?
Kang Yi glared at Feng Yu Heng and felt that this girl was truly resolute and daring in the way she did things. She left herself practically no wiggle room. Doing things in such a manner was beyond her expectations. For Kang Yi, she would still give herself some wiggle room, even when it was something that she had total control of. Even when it came to dealing with someone that she absolutely despised, she would act carefully to not leave behind any clues.
But Feng Yu Heng was completely the opposite. She did not care if she left any clues. In fact, it seemed that she was worried that people did not know that it was her. She was so brazen and secure in knowing that she had a strong backing.
In truth, Kang Yi did not know that the way Feng Yu Heng acted was not just beyond her expectations. It was completely beyond everyone’s expectations. Of course, everyone did not include Xuan Tian Ming.
In general, she and Xuan Tian Ming were the same type of person. If there was enmity, they would seek to resolve it on the spot. If you insult me, I will hit you. If you hit me, I will kill you. If you plot against me, I will bury you without marking your grave.
This was the standard way of doing things for Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tian Ming. Kang Yi was originally not a good person, but when faced with someone like Feng Yu Heng, it had a bit of a feeling of a scholar running into a soldier.
She helplessly lowered her head, “It was all Kang Yi’s fault. If husband wishes to hand down a punishment, then hand down a punishment.” Kang Yi understood that her relation with Feng Yu Heng could not continue to deteriorate like this. She came to Da Shun with the goal of raising Prince Xiang to the position of emperor. From there, Qian Zhou would receive three provinces. Her goal was not to participate in the struggles of the inner courtyard. Her most important mission was to capture Feng Jin Yuan’s heart and to improve Prince Xiang’s standing in court. If this matter was successful, there would be plenty of time to take care of county princess Ji An. Thinking like this, her attitude softened slightly, as she kowtowed to the matriarch, saying: “All of the wrongs were committed by daughter-in-law, but I ask mother to believe that daughter-in-law had no intention of cursing husband. Daughter-in-law has suffered hardship and managed to find such a perfect marriage with great difficulty. I have not even had a chance to treasure it, so how could I possibly bear such evil intentions? This was just Kang Yi not being thorough. Kang Yi wishes to apologize to sister Jun Man and will accept any punishment.”
Saying this, she turned to face Jun Man. Without standing up, she continued to kneel and said: “Elder sister has made a grave mistake today that also ended up causing injury to younger sister. This is something that regret will not fix. Elder sister is willing to pay for this mistake and hope that younger sister is willing to be lenient.”
The head wife had already performed such a grand ceremony. If Cheng Jun Man continued to stand, it would be her that was in the wrong. She quickly kneeled; however, she did not express her thoughts. Instead, she looked at Feng Jin Yuan and asked him: “Husband, Jun Man belongs to husband. Every decision will be made by husband.”
Feng Jin Yuan nodded then looked at Kang Yi’s face that was filled with regret and bitterness, causing his heart to soften a little. Personally helping the two stand up, he then said to Kang Yi: “Today’s situation was just a coincidence. You are my rightful wife. I will naturally believe that you are being considerate of the family. This bracelet…”
Without saying a word, Kang Yi bent down and picked up the bracelet. Raising it high above her head, she smashed it on the ground, immediately shattering it.
“Things that are unlucky should not be kept around. No matter how valuable it is, it cannot compare to the Kang Yi’s feelings for husband.” She expressed her feelings for Feng Jin Yuan, which caused Feng Jin Yuan to pity her slightly.
Feng Yu Heng watched this play and could not help but nod. The eldest princess of Qian Zhou was indeed quite adept at adapting to the circumstances. She really was not one to look down on. She really wanted to see what sort of scene this woman could cause after joining up with Feng Jin Yuan, but… “Mother, it would be best to smash all of the unlucky things in your possession. Otherwise, it would be inevitable that mother would appear much more passive when A-Heng remembers something and must remind you.”
Before Kang Yi could say anything, Cheng Jun Man spoke up first: “Many thanks county princess for providing a reminder today. Otherwise, if this concubine continued to wear that bracelet, a great disaster would have occurred.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled slightly and did not say anything else.
At this time, Fen Dai, who had been sitting to the side silently, suddenly spoke up, as she said to the matriarch: “Grandmother, have you forgotten about the matter of someone poisoning concubine mother Han? The culprit still hasn’t been found, and Yu Lan courtyard is always on pins and needles, fearing that concubine mother will end up eating something bad. Concubine mother is also worried. Last night… she did not sleep well once more.” Saying this, she looked at Feng Jin Yuan.
The matriarch snorted and unhappily said: “It’s no good if she continues like this. She needs to take care of herself. She cannot always rely on others.” She said this, but she was also thinking about the person that had taken to using poison, thus she brought out the earring once more. Holding it in her hand, she allowed everyone to see: “Although this earring fell in the kitchen, proving that there is a real suspect, it is at least a clue. Everyone should think about it. Who has worn this before?”
for a while, everyone began to think.
At this time, they heard Chen Yu suddenly say: “This earring is very familiar. It seems…” She said this then looked at Jin Zhen. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, as she loudly said: “Concubine mother Jin Zhen has worn it before!”
Jin Zhen trembled in fear, as she looked at Feng Chen Yu in horror. With a face filled with disbelief, she asked her: “Eldest young miss, even if I am someone that knows what you have, you should not frame me like this!”
This time, it was Chen Yu that was startled, blankly asking Jin Zhen: “What are you saying? What do I have?”
Feng Jin Yuan could tell that there was something at play here, thus he looked at the two with a downcast expression. After a while, he asked Jin Zhen: “Does that earring belong to you?” He seemed to have seen Jin Zhen wear something that looked similar before, but he was a man, how could he possibly be clear on such things. In his eyes, all women’s accessories were more or less the same.
Hearing Feng Jin Yuan ask this, Jin Zhen quickly shook her head, flatly denying it: “No! That thing does not belong to this concubine.” Before waiting for Feng Jin Yuan to ask, she dropped to her knees and loudly said: “Husband! Elder madam! Since things have become like this, this concubine has no choice but to say it. Eldest young miss! It was eldest young miss that wanted to harm elder sister Han!”