When lady Zhou arrived, the Feng manor’s guard was giving an explanation to housekeeper He Zhong: “They really were all dressed as performers. This one carefully looked at them.”
He Zhong angrily stomped his feet, “Idiot! What’s the point in only looking at their clothes? Do you not recognize their faces? Fourth young miss has gone out for so long yet she still has not returned. Who can endure being investigated by the elder madam?”
He Zhong had a bitter expression, as the fourth young miss had dressed up as a performer and left the manor. She had also been noticed by eldest young miss, who had been wandering around in the front yard. Although she did not get a clear look, the fourth young miss presently was not in the manor. Eldest young miss had already gone to inform the matriarch, so how could this be good?
Just as he was frantically running around in circles, the guard who had been scolded turned his head and happened to see a carriage stop before the manor’s entrance. From within the carriage, two people exited, with one of them being very familiar. Carefully looking, if it was not the Feng family’s fourth young miss, then who else could it be?
“Fourth young miss has come back!” He extended his hand and pointed, “Housekeeper, look. Is the fourth young miss or not?”
He Zhong looked over, and of course, it was Feng Fen Dai exiting the carriage while wearing performers clothing. By her side was a madam with an abnormal aura. This ended up giving He Zhong a great fright! He was a housekeeper, so he was excellent at recognizing people. Ever since lady Zhou had come to the Feng manor to deliver betrothal gifts, he carefully remembered her appearance. He never thought that lady Zhou would once again appear. This time, she was actually with the fourth young miss!
He Zhong had originally let out a sigh of relief that Fen Dai had returned to the manor, but before he could completely relax, lady Zhou caused him to become tense once more.
He quickly went forward and bowed to lady Zhou: “This lowly one pays respects to madam.”
Lady Zhou glanced at He Zhong then pointed at Feng Fen Dai, saying: “This girl says she is the Feng family’s fourth young miss. Do you recognize her?”
He Zhong glanced at Fen Dai and nodded: “Responding to madam, this is indeed the fourth young miss. That is correct.”
Lady Zhou coldly snorted, “The people of the Feng family really are intriguing
when the young misses from other families go out, they do their best to look good. The young misses of the Feng family, however, go out like this. It truly is strange.” She said this while entering the manor, “Now that Prime minister Feng is not in the capital, who is it that is in charge?”
He Zhong quickly followed her and obediently replied: “It is the elder madam. Madam, please follow this lowly one to sit in the main hall. This lowly one will send someone to invite elder madam over.”
“Un.” Lady Zhou did not say anything and followed He Zhong towards Peony courtyard’s main hall. Behind them, the guard trotted towards Shu Ya courtyard.
When they arrived at Peony courtyard, Fen Dai quietly asked a servant: “Has second sister come to the manor today?”
That servant shook her head, “Responding to fourth young miss, she has not.”
Fen Dai excitedly curved the corners of her lips up and waved her hand: “You may go.” Feng Yu Heng still had not come out at this point. This was truly good news.
Lady Zhou sat up straight in the guest chair, while a servant brought up some high-quality tea. He Zhong had also specially ordered for a charcoal brazier to be placed in the center of the hall. He then explained to Lady Zhou: “Elder madam’s back has been injured the past few days, so her movements will be a bit slower. We will be troubling madam with waiting a little longer.”
Lady Zhou nodded, “No rush.”
However, even if she was in no rush, the matriarch was. She had already been worried about Feng Yu Heng’s matter for the past few days. Now, at the critical moment, lady Zhou from the Yu Palace personally came. This caused her to think in a bad direction no matter what.
While sitting in her chair and rushing towards Peony courtyard, she asked granny Zhao: “Say, lady Zhou shouldn’t have come to condemn us, right? A-Heng and his Highness the seventh prince really…”
“How could that be possible.” Granny Zhao did not believe that the always attentive Feng Yu Heng could do that sort of thing. She then added “Even if you do not believe in second young miss, you must believe in his Highness the seventh prince, right? How could a person like that do something like this? If it were spread, perhaps nobody in the world would believe it.”
“That is also true.” The matriarch felt granny Zhao’s words were very logical. Thinking a little more of Xuan Tian Hua’s personality, her heart began to calm down. But she still had some worries about lady Zhou coming to the manor, “Why exactly has she come to our manor?” She said this while looking at Chen Yu. Only then did she remember that when the servant came to report about lady Zhou’s arrival, Chen Yu had just entered the courtyard. She did not even have a chance to speak with Chen Yu, as she was hurriedly getting changed. “Chen Yu.” Finally finding a chance to speak, she asked: “Did you have something you needed to see me about?”
Chen Yu had originally gone to the matriarch to report on Fen Dai leaving the manor. She now spoke with a concerned expression: “Granddaughter was wandering around today and just happened to arrive in the front yard. There, I saw three people preparing to go out. They were wearing performer’s clothing and said that they were lacking some props for their play, so they were going out to buy some. But one of the three really closely resembled fourth sister. Granddaughter was puzzled, but they left in a hurry, and it was inconvenient to chase after them. After that, granddaughter went to fourth sister’s courtyard and saw that she was not there. Only then did I come to tell grandmother. Did fourth sister tell grandmother before leaving the manor? If not, hopefully nothing happened!”
“Fen Dai left the manor?” The matriarch’s eyes lit up, “How come I did not know?”
The guard who had been following them finally found a chance to speak, “Responding the elder madam, fourth young miss did indeed leave the manor with a group of performers.”
“How troublesome!” The matriarch became furious, “How are you doing your job? Fourth young miss leaving the manor like that, how come you did not stop her?”
The guard dropped to his knees, but the matriarch was in a rush to meet lady Zhou. How could they stop. After he kneeling, he saw that the master did not bother waiting for him, so he quickly stood back up and trotted over to the matriarch’s side and hastily said: “It was all this servant’s fault for being neglectful. Elder madam, please hand down your punishment. But at that time, fourth young miss was dressed exactly like the other performers, and this servant truly did not recognize her!”
At this time, Chen Yu settled her mind and pondered this matter carefully. She then immediately realized the situation and could not help but say: “Grandmother, just now when granddaughter went to Shu Ya courtyard, this guard just happened to arrive as well. Granddaughter saw him say to the maidservant of Shu Ya courtyard that lady Zhou arrived.”
“Yes.” The guard nodded, “Eldest young miss is correct. This servant and housekeeper He received lady Zhou into the manor together, also… also lady Zhou had come together with fourth young miss.”
“What?” The matriarch was stunned, “Why would Fen Dai be together with lady Zhou?” The more she heard, the more she hurried the people carrying her: “Quick, go a little quicker. We absolutely can not allow that noble person to wait too long.”
The servants carrying her increased their pace. In the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, the matriarch had already arrived at Peony courtyard.
Fen Dai stood at the entrance. Upon seeing the matriarch enter, she quickly went to receive her. But before she could speak, the matriarch raised her cane and hit Fen Dai’s back. This hit caused Fen Dai to yelp in pain.
“You still have the face to scream!” The matriarch trembled with anger, but she did not dare shout too loudly, fearing that lady Zhou would hear inside. She could only lower her voice and reprimand her: “Was it you that invited lady Zhou to the manor? Despite your young age, what sort of heart are you hiding?”
Fen Dai teared up from the pain. Fen Dai yelled at the matriarch: “It is a kind heart! I am also worried that something happened with second sister, and the Yu Palace would place the blame on the Feng family. Grandmother, you can not always be so biased towards second sister and not care at all whether us other sisters live or die!”
She said this while looking at Chen Yu, hoping that Chen Yu would speak up for her. But Chen Yu did not understand her pleading look, instead saying: “Fourth sister, you have acted too rashly on this matter.”
In reality, Chen Yu hated Feng Fen Dai to death.
If this under normal circumstances, she would definitely have worked together with Fen Dai to attack Feng Yu Heng, but she truly feared that something would go wrong with Feng Yu Heng at present. Only with Feng Yu Heng peacefully living her life would her matter be safely resolved. Once something happened to Feng Yu Heng, what should she do? This Feng Fen Dai did not choose to launch an attack earlier or later, instead she chose this critical moment. How could she not be furious.
“Grandmother, we should go in quickly.” Chen Yu helplessly hurried the matriarch, “Do not keep lady Zhou waiting.”
The matriarch quickly raised her hand and had the servant continue carrying her in.
After arriving in the main hall of Peony courtyard and seeing lady Zhou seated in the guest seat, the matriarch was filled with panic and got out of her chair with the support of granny Zhao. While her back could handle sitting straight, bending was extremely difficult, as the matriarch wanted to bow in salute.
Lady Zhou saw that the Feng matriarch was not pretending and waved her hand, “Elder madam has a chronic illness, so there is no need for the courtesy. Let us sit.”
“Many thanks madam.” The matriarch’s face revealed gratitude. With the help of granny Zhao, she sat in the main seat, but she did not forget to ask about the important matters: “May I know if there is a reason madam has come to visit?”
Lady Zhou glanced at Feng Fen Dai, who had returned to the main hall with the Feng matriarch. Visibly confused, she said: “Was it not the Feng family that dispatched the fourth young miss to the Yu Palace to invite this old one over?”
Feng Fen Dai trembled. These words told her that lady Zhou was the same type of person as Feng Yu Heng.
But her going to the Yu Palace was the truth, and she had gone there secretly. Now, she had been placed before the matriarch, and she had nothing to say.
Seeing Fen Dai lower her head in silence, the matriarch used her cane to fiercely slam the ground, loudly saying: “Kneel!”
Fen Dai dropped to her knees and knelt, but she continued to speak about the matters at Tong Sheng pavilion, unwilling to let it go: “Grandmother, Fen Dai is also doing this for the good of second sister. If this matter were told by an outsider to the Yu Palace, this matter would be different!”
Lady Zhou looked at the Feng family’s fourth young miss, her gaze filled with more and more disdain. Previously, she only knew about the extreme disturbance of the mother, and she had heard that the eldest daughter was not someone who was easily dealt with. Now, she saw that the Feng manor truly was a den of wolves. Even a ten-year old little girl was adept at scheming. Their future Princess Yu truly had a difficult life!
“Elder madam, what exactly is the matter you are speaking of? Could you resolve this old one’s confusion? It sounds as though it is related to our future princess?”
“This…” Hearing lady Zhou begin questioning, the matriarch did not know how to respond for a while.
Fen Dai, however, was first to respond: “It’s the matter I told you about at the palace entrance! Second sister and his Highness the seventh prince have been living in Tong Sheng pavilion together for many days, and his Highness has not come out.”
“Fen Dai!” The matriarch’s heart trembled. This girl was actually so bold that she brought this matter to report it to the Yu Palace. Did she find that the Feng manor had been too peaceful, and she wanted to find a way to create trouble? “Cease your nonsense!”
“It’s not nonsense!” Fen Dai insisted on this resolutely, “That many pairs of eyes saw it. How could Fen Dai dare speak nonsense?”
“Lady Zhou.” The matriarch quickly explained, “This little child is unreasonable. Please do not listen to her spouting nonsense. I will definitely punish her thoroughly later on. If that is no good, we can also send her out of the Feng manor. I absolutely will not allow her to ruin A-Heng’s reputation.”
“Your Feng family is tarnishing the princess’ reputation!” Lady Zhou suddenly became furious and suddenly slammed the table, which caused the tea on the table to bounce up slightly. “Princess is in the county princess’ manor treating his Highness Prince Yu’s legs. His Highness the seventh prince brought a message from his Majesty to the county princess’s manor. How is it that when this reached the Feng family, it became his Highness the seventh prince and Princess Yu having a sexual affair?”