But she did not dare expose Chen Yu’s identity. Having brought into the manor in such a manner to check her virginity, it clearly meant that they did not want her to know where she was, nor who she was examining.
If she foolishly exposed all of this, she could only be left to die.
The old granny pondered quickly and very soon arrived at an understanding of the situation. Thus she said with a smile: “Young miss, this old servant was formerly a granny in the palace and have participated multiples times in the examining of noblewomen. Young miss, do not worry, this old servant’s eyes are top tier.”
“Un.” Chen Yu nodded, her expression becoming a little more kind, “Then I will trouble granny. If you need me to cooperate on anything, just tell my servant.”
Yi Lin bowed on the side to greet her.
The granny quickly said: “It’s too dark at night, so I need someone to hold a candle. Would this girl go light a couple candles.”
Yi Lin complied and went to prepare them, but the granny continued: “Young miss, please go lie down on the bed and remove your pants.”
Chen Yu obediently did as she was told without the slightest embarrassment of a daughter from a wealthy family. This caused the granny to feel very shocked.
Adding on how Chen Yu did not cover her face with a cloth or something, instead facing her head on, the granny became even more uncertain.
At this time, Yi Lin came in with two lit candles. Handing one to the granny, she placed the other in a candlestick.
The granny pulled out something that looked like a wooden clamp from the bag that she had brought. She then informed Yi Lin: “Girl, you can put down the bed curtain.”
Yi Lin glanced at Chen Yu and saw her nod. Only then did she back up a couple steps and lower the bed curtain. She then went outside to keep watch.
The granny moved the clamp in her hand towards Chen Yu’s place. Chen Yu felt a little pain then the candle approach. Immediately following this, she heard the granny inhale sharply, seemingly having suffered a great shock.
Her heart trembled, as she rushed to ask: “What’s wrong?”
The hand holding the candle was slightly trembling. Hearing Chen Yu’s question, she did not know how to respond. Thinking a little, she replied: “No-nothing. The light is too dim, so I could not see clearly.” She said this while looking carefully, but she her brow furrowed tighter and tighter, as she became filled with more and more fear.
Chen Yu was lying down, so she could not see her expression. She was only filled with anxiety. Patiently waiting for a little longer, she asked once more: “How is it exactly? Is it still in tact?”
The granny released the clamp and raised the candle. Calming herself down, she said: “Young miss is indeed still pure. This is something this old servant can guarantee.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Yu felt a large weight lift off her heart. Seeing that the examination was completed, she quickly got up and put her clothes back on. She then got out of bed.
Yi Lin naturally heard the words inside. Emotional and happy for Chen Yu, she entered the room, “Young miss, you can finally be at ease.”
“Un.” She nodded, forcefully holding back her jubilation. Looking again at the granny, she felt that she still had something to say. But at this moment, she had already been given plenty of pleasant surprises. Her mind was clearer than it usually was, and she could tell that the granny’s current appearance was mostly likely related to money. She could not help but sneer and say: “How could this young miss owe a servant like you money.”
Following Chen Yu rolling her eyes, the things the granny wanted to say were swallowed back down. Thinking a little more, that was indeed the case. How could someone who was able to do something about that place be considered mediocre. If she said anything more, not only would the doubting Feng family’s eldest young miss not thank her, perhaps the person who had taken actions would kill her. She was not one to take part in such a bad deal.
But she was absolutely unable to realize that Feng Chen Yu dared to show her face and stand before her because Chen Yu never planned on letting her live after the examination.
She then saw Chen Yu raise her hand and gently call out: “Come out.”
The hidden guard, who had been hidden in some dark corner, saw Chen Yu nod to him and understood that matters were completed. Without saying another word, he rushed forward and grabbed hold of the granny’s neck.
The pitiful old servant did not manage to make a sound before her neck was snapped. As for Feng Chen Yu’s secret, this was taken with her to the grave, leaving nobody to know about it.
The hidden guard nimbly picked up the corpse and left. Chen Yu suddenly began laughing loudly and wantonly, without caring whether or not the night was tranquil.
This time, Yi Lin did not stop her. She knew that her young miss had held this back for a long time. Now that she could finally raise her head once more, she could laugh if she wanted to. Even if it were heard by someone else, it would be fine. The Feng family’s eldest young miss was a beauty capable of causing the collapse of countries. She truly did not believe that the Feng family would allow her to become a waste within the manor.
Chen Yu only stopped after she had exhausted herself from laughing. But her original jubilant expression slowly sank. Feng Fen Dai and the fifth prince’s engagement was like a fly that had flown into her throat. She was so nauseated that she could not breathe.
She thought similarly to what Feng Yu Heng had said. His Highness the eldest prince was thinking highly of her, yet she had listened to his Highness the third prince, giving away the gift that she had received. But what about his Highness the third prince? Up to this point, he had not expressed a single thing. Now that Fen Dai had a mountain to rely on, based on that girl’s personality, she would definitely abuse her power. So what about herself? Who could she rely on?
“Yi Lin.” She recalled an important matter, “Write a letter to uncle tomorrow. Have him investigate his Highness Prince Li.”
“Does young miss feel that Prince Li suddenly discussing marriage with fourth young miss to be odd?”
“That’s not it.” Chen Yu shook her head, “Based on what Feng Yu Heng said, it was something related to the white crystal that caused Prince Li to take an interest, especially the earrings. Either way, this is not the key matter.”
“Then the key matter…”
“The key is what grandmother’s attitude is!” Chen Yu recalled this and became very curious, “Fen Dai is the daughter of a concubine, so if she could get married to a prince as a secondary princess, that is a great thing. But you also saw it, grandmother did not seem very receptive to the idea. In fact, she even tried to push it back. There was also An shi, who also did not seem to approve of it. Have third uncle investigate what exactly is going on with this situation. If this matter can not be clarified, I will not be at ease.”
Yi Lin nodded, “Young miss, do not worry. This servant will write a letter first thing tomorrow morning.”
The master and servant discussed this until late into the night before going to sleep. Chen Yu happily enjoyed a night of pleasant dreams. At first, she dreamed of marrying his Highness the seventh prince, Xuan Tian Hua. Then, she dreamed of being accompanied by his Highness the third prince, Xuan Tian Ye. In the end, she even dreamed of his Highness the eldest prince personally visiting the manor to discuss marriage, giving her an extremely great deal of face.
The next day, she woke up very early and hurriedly had Yi Lin help her wash up. She then went to pay respects to the matriarch at Shu Ya courtyard with a proud expression.
But when she arrived at Shu Ya courtyard, she discovered that the people who had come to pay respects were very few. Han shi and Fen Dai did not come, and Feng Yu Heng did not come. Only An shi and Xiang Rong had come, with Jin Zhen reporting illness. This caused her desire to show off to immediately decline.
At this very moment, Feng Fen Dai was in a good mood and had Han shi out of the manor. Getting into a carriage, the two were preparing to go out and stroll around the streets.
As the daughter of a concubine, Fen Dai very rarely went out. Adding on how Han shi did not have any family assistance, nor shops to supplement them, they could only rely on the monthly allowance provided by the manor. They truly did not have any other spare money to buy things.
But now, it was different. Fen Dai had an engagement to the Li Palace. No matter how unhappy the matriarch was, she still had to give a bit more, thus she announced the increasing of her monthly allowance three fold.
The girl was pampered. Even though his Highness the fifth prince did not have a good reputation, he was still a prince. Now that the situation at court was not clear, nobody could guarantee which prince would become the crown prince. At the same time, nobody could guarantee whether or not Fen Dai would become as much just as much of a beauty as Chen Yu when she reached 15.
Both of them were Feng Jin Yuan’s daughters, but Han shi was much better looking than Chen shi. Fen Dai was still young, and her appearance had not yet developed, so what if she ended up becoming an extraordinary beauty?
The matriarch was thinking that if there was no way for the marriage to be changed, she could only hope that the fifth prince would treat Fen Dai better than the other women. Fortunately, with the support of the prime minister’s manor, as long as Fen Dai played it smarter, she would have a proper standing within the Li Palace.
In short, she had to leave some wiggle room. The matriarch had understood this point clearly, so when Fen Dai had come to Shu Ya courtyard to request time out of the manor, she happily agreed. Not only did she agree, she even gave Fen Dai 50 taels. This was so she and Han shi could buy some things.
Fen Dai had never received this sort of treatment, and the matriarch had never treated her well. She had been hoping that Han shi could give birth to a younger brother for her then do her best to strive for the position of head wife in the Feng manor. Like this, she would also be able to bask in that glroy. She never thought that attending the birthday banquet at the Yuan Palace would allow her to enter the prince’s social circle.
Sitting in the carriage, Fen Dai became more pleased with herself the more she thought about it. Feeling incredibly proud of herself, she felt extremely elated.
Han shi watched Fen Dai and also felt happy for her. Being able to marry a prince, even as a secondary princess, was a heavenly grace for a daughter of a concubine. This would also allow her, as the birth mother, to also enjoy some of the limelight.
But…
She sneakily put her hand to her lower abdomen and suddenly felt some regret. At the time, she had been too hasty. If she had waited a little longer, could it be that she would not have had to take that sort of risk?
“What’s wrong with you?” Fen Dai could see that there was something off about Han shi’s expression and could not help but frown, “Going out to play, should we not be happy? Ever since you entered the Feng manor, you could probably count the number of times you’ve gone out on one hand, right? How come you have such a long face?”
“What long face.” Han shi forced herself to smile, “I was just thinking, why did elder madam seem hesitant to agree, even though this is an extremely good marriage?”
Hearing this mentioned, Fen Dai became angry: “Growing up, when had that old hag ever treated me well? Now that she sees I have a mountain to rely on, her not being happy is normal. At least in the future, she can no longer treat me as she did in the past. No matter how little, she still has to give his Highness the fifth prince some face. Think about it, when I went to request time out of the manor this morning, did she not agree and even give me money?”
Han shi nodded, “What you said is true.”
“But you must not be careless.” Fen Dai changed the topic to Han shi’s body, “Your belly should be more or less stable. In the next few days, I will invite a doctor into the manor to check your body. Giving birth to a son would be the safest.”
Han shi was startled, “What? Does the matter between you and his Highness the fifth prince rely on me giving birth to a son?”
Fen Dai rolled her eyes and said: “What does you giving birth to a son have to do with me and his Highness the fifth prince? Can you think a little more of the future? Think about it, once you give birth to a son, I will be the future Li Palace’s secondary princess. Like this, would we not have a better hold on the Feng manor’s position of head wife and daughter of the first wife? Once this matter is completed, think about it, could his Highness the fifth prince have the daughter of the first wife from the dignified prime minister’s manor be a mere secondary princess? At that time, father would not be happy with it. Thus” She curled the corners of her lips up, “So long as we can take control of the Feng manor, the position of official princess of the Li Palace will become mine in five years time!”