Chapter 264 – Evidence? That is Necessary!
Evidence? That is Necessary!
Feng Yu Heng said with a smile: “Grandmother was concerned for A-Heng and younger brother, since we have not spent the new year in the capital for many years. You specially sent eldest sister to Tong Sheng pavilion to remind A-Heng. A-Heng is very grateful. But I was in a rush to leave in the morning to pick up Zi Rui, so I did not even have a chance to look at the gifts that were brought.”
She said this while pushing Zi Rui forward. The young child had spent a few months in Xiao Zhou, and he had become a little more clever. Seeing that his elder sister pushed him forward, he immediately ran over to the side of Feng Chen Yu’s bed and knelt. Raising his clear and childish voice, he said: “Zi Rui thanks eldest sister for the concern. Eldest sister went to pick me up in kindness, but elder sister also suffered from the ambush. Zi Rui is very remorseful. But would eldest sister please be at ease. Grandmother will definitely get justice for us!”
The matriarch was still wondering when she had told Chen Yu to pass along a message, but she was given a great shock by what Zi Rui had said. She anxiously asked: “What did you say? Ambushed?” She then looked at the injury on Chen Yu’s head. She originally thought that it was from a fall, but she never thought that it would be from an ambush.
Chen Yu lay in bed and cried. The matriarch was felt that she had been wronged, so she could not help but say: “Chen Yu, don’t worry. Grandmother will definitely not allow this matter to be ignored. To dare to take action against my Feng family’s children, I will see which criminal is tired of living!”
Chen Yu’s cries suddenly stopped, as though something had blocked her throat, making her unable to make a single sound.
The matriarch’s words had given her a shock, but when she thought about it, there was nothing for her to fear. She knew that aside from the hawk that her third uncle was secretly raising, the people who had been sent to kill Zi Rui were all hired. Even if the matriarch were to investigate, she would not find out anything.
Thinking of this, the blockage in her throat cleared up, and she resumed her crying.
The matriarch was upset by her crying, but she also felt that the injury to the forehead was a bit shocking. With this bit of flesh missing, Chen Yu’s appearance was wasted. The confidence that she had just regained in this granddaughter not too long ago was once again lost. She could not help but scold: “Stop crying. The doctor has already been called!”
Chen Yu once again had something block her throat and needed Yi Lin to help calm her down slightly.
The matriarch gave granny Zhao a look to help Zi Rui up. She then asked him: “How were you ambushed?” Thinking a little more, she looked at Feng Yu Heng, “How was it that only your eldest sister was injured?”
Zi Rui replied: “On the way back to the capital, I was ambushed by over ten people in black clothes. Fortunately, sister Wang Chuan hid me in a pile of snow. Only that allowed me to avoid this crisis. But… sister Wang Chuan was taken away by the bad guys. It seems that we were lacking in luck.” Reaching this point, the child began to feel saddened, lowering his head in tears.
He had a deep relationship with Wang Chuan and Huang Quan, especially Wang Chuan, who took extra care of him after going to Xiao Zhou. She would often go visit him at the academy. Remaining alone and away from home at a young age, to say that he did not miss home would be a lie. Seeing Wang Chuan was like seeing family, which made him feel very comfortable.
Seeing that Zi Rui was reduced to tears and could no longer speak, the matriarch turned to Feng Yu Heng and said: “Your turn to speak.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “That’s how it was on Zi Rui’s side. As for us, our horse was running perfectly fine, but it had its eye poked out by a goshawk that suddenly dove from midair. The carriage began bouncing, throwing me from the carriage. The goshawk dove once more and caused the wound on eldest sister’s forehead.”
Zi Rui interjected: “I think that the hawk was definitely set out by someone else. It was meant to make it so my elder sisters could not come to pick me up.”
“Ah!” The matriarch was shocked just from listening. She then asked Feng Yu Heng “Then were you hurt in the fall?”
“Thank you grandmother for the concern. A-Heng is in a bit of pain, but there are no serious injuries. But eldest sister… grandmother absolutely must investigate this matter!”
The matriarch nodded, “I will investigate. Daring to injure the daughter of a first rank official near the capital, this sort of person should be flayed alive! Zi Rui is right. That hawk must have been deliberately sent out by someone. Otherwise, why would it suddenly peck at people while it was flying along? Granny Zhao” She began to give orders: “Send someone to make a report. Just say that the young master and young miss from the prime minister’s manor were ambushed in the outskirts of the capital. Have the governor investigate this matter thoroughly!”
“Yes.” Granny Zhao was about to inform another servant to make the report, but the matriarch added: “Tell the governor that Prime Minister Feng Jin Yuan will be returning to the capital tomorrow. He will personally be inquiring on this matter.”
Granny Zhao nodded then quickly trotted out. She knew that since the matriarch was willing to use Feng Jin Yuan’s name to scare the governor, it meant that she was quite angry. Thinking about it, that was the case. Feng Zi Rui had been ambushed! Presently, the Feng family only had this one heir. If something were to have happened, would the Feng family line not have been broken?
Hearing that the matriarch wanted to file a report, Chen Yu hastily said from the bed: “Grandmother, what use is there in reporting this? We don’t have any clues for the governor. Those assassins did not leave any trace or any bodies. How should they investigate?”
Although the matriarch felt that Chen Yu was reasonable, as this sort of case was often reported but rarely solved, and she always knew about the governor’s ability to get things done. But, she had heard that the previous governor had done something wrong, causing the Emperor to suddenly demote him. Now that a new one had taken office, she did not know if he would be capable.
Feng Yu Heng heard Chen Yu’s words then looked at the matriarch’s expression. How could she not understand what they were thinking. Unfortunately… she secretly smiled to herself. Because of the matter with the orphans, she wrote a letter to Xuan Tian Hua. She never thought that someone who appeared as calm and steady as Xuan Tian Hua would act quickly and resolutely. She had sent the letter in the afternoon, and the matter was resolved by evening.
The capital had a new head official, a notice was circulated. The government also dispatched people to report this to the homes of the large officials. Naturally, the Feng family was among the first to receive this news.
But nobody knew that the change in officials had been because of a few words from Feng Yu Heng.
“It’s not like we are completely without evidence.” She suddenly spoke up. Looking at Chen Yu, she slightly squinted, “There is no need for grandmother to worry about the thing eldest sister is contemplating.”
These words caused Chen Yu to tremble in bed from the shock. Turning her head to look at her in horror, her heart had leaped into her throat.
She heard Feng Yu Heng say: “Something like evidence, granddaughter truly has it.” Saying this, she changed her tone and shouted towards the outside “Huang Quan! Bring in the evidence!”
Huang Quan very quickly entered the room. When she came in, she was holding up a very large thing in her hand. Covered by a black cloth, the contents remained unknown.
Feng Yu Heng said: “Open up the evidence. Let grandmother and eldest sister take a look.”
“Yes.” Huang Quan complied and put down the thing in her hand. Lifting the black cloth, a cage was placed before everyone.
The matriarch took a look inside the cage then retreated in fear, nearly spraining her back once more! Fortunately, a young servant supported her from behind, but this allowed her to realize that the matriarch’s entire body was trembling.
Not only did the matriarch tremble, the servants also trembled because the cage held a goshawk, and it was roughly half Zi Rui’s size. Its sharp beak was half the length of a young child’s hand. Although it lay in the cage with its eyes closed, it still caused people’s hearts to tremble with fear.
“Thi-this is…” The matriarch suddenly reacted “This is the hawk that attacked you?”
These few words caused Chen Yu to suddenly sit up in bed. Looking at the cage in horror, it was as though she had seen a ghost.
Yi Lin held her down, fearing that she would hastily say something that she should not, thus she repeatedly said: “Young miss, please calm down. Although that hawk caused your injury, what’s most important is your body. You absolutely must not get angry!”
Hearing her say this, everyone believed that Feng Chen Yu’s actions were that of a person meeting their enemy and becoming angry. This was something that could be understood. But only Feng Yu Heng knew that Feng Chen Yu might be on the verge of collapsing from seeing the hawk, that she thought had flown away, suddenly appear.
“Grandmother.” She kicked a couple times towards the cage, “Granddaughter will have a servant bring this hawk over to the government office and personally hand it to the governor. This sort of hawk is very special. Look, there is still a golden hoop on its neck. It was clearly raised by someone. As long as the governor is not too stupid, I trust that he will be able to follow up on this clue and discover some truth.”
The matriarch truly took a look towards the hawk’s neck. Of course, there was a golden hoop there. She nodded, saying: “Send it over! Have the governor make sure that he investigates this matter thoroughly. For there to actually be someone who dares to make an attempt on my Feng family’s children. This absolutely will not be tolerated!” After she said this, she turned to Chen Yu then said: “Don’t worry. Grandmother will definitely find the culprit and seek revenge for you!”
Chen Yu nearly fell from the bed in fear, but the matriarch only thought that she had been angered by the hawk, saying: “Take care and rest. A doctor will be here soon.” She originally wanted to have Feng Yu Heng take a look first, but when she recalled the matter with Fen Dai’s face, she was truly too embarrassed to speak. “Your father will be back tomorrow. At that time, he will also support you.”
Chen Yu’s eyes rolled back, as she completely fainted.
That night, Feng Yu Heng and Yao shi split time they would accompany Zi Rui into the first half of the night and the second half. The young child held Feng Yu Heng’s hand and continued to tell her stories from Yun Lu Academy, and the siblings would occasionally laugh together. Zi Rui told her: “Headteacher said that I can participate in a provincial examination when I turn eight years old. Either way, it will just be playing around. There will not be much pressure. I will just be going to get a feeling for it.”
“Eight years old?” Feng Yu Heng put her head in her hand, “Isn’t that a bit early?”
Zi Rui tilted his head and asked her: “Is it early?”
Was it not early? It would be fine if he did not place well, but what if he scored well. Would that not cause the lonely students who have suffered hardships to die from anger?
She asked Zi Rui: “I remember that you previously said that did not really want to become an academic, instead wanting to learn military tactics.”
Zi Rui said: “Right now, I still like military tactics. Those subjects are simply things that I must learn. Every day, I spend four hours memorizing books before head teacher personally teaches me about military tactics. Elder sister, I can now recite two military books by heart. Although I do not have a full understanding, head teacher said that I should memorize it first. He will then teach me a little at a time.”
Feng Yu Heng could only applaud this child’s intelligence. Although she did not like the way Feng Jin Yuan conducted himself, he still took one step at a time and became the prime minister. The genetics for intelligence truly were not just for show.
That night, Tong Sheng pavilion was joyous and harmonious, while Feng Chen Yu did not sleep the entire night.
When she found out that a piece of flesh from her forehead had been eaten by that hawk, she nearly had a mental collapse. She hated Feng Yu Heng, and she also hated Chen Wan Lian; however, Yi Lin had to remind her: “We must inform third master about the hawk and have him find a way to swap out the hawk in the government office.”
“Don’t swap it!” Her face was contorted from the anger, and her voice was ragged, “Just let the governor find out about it! It would be best if they are all discovered and killed! Yes! Kill them! Kill the hawk! Kill the Chen family! Kill Feng Yu Heng!”