Chapter 336 – This Prince Just Wants to See if You Have Any Shame
This Prince Just Wants to See if You Have Any Shame
The Zhong Palace was definitely the most majestic part of the inner palaces. It was the largest and had the most servants, but it also had the most strict rules of the palace. The Emperor had given his love to imperial concubine Yun, and he had given power to the Empress. As for the other palaces, a few decades prior, favor was something that was evenly spread, but ever since imperial concubine Yun entered the palace, the other imperial concubines never saw a glimmer of favor.
When Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng arrived, the Empress was apparently in the Heavenly Hall with the Emperor taking care of some matters. An older female official led the two to the side room where Ru Jia was currently staying. She then said to Feng Yu Heng in a very familiar fashion: “At the time Princess Xiang came into the imperial palace to be treated by county princess, she also stayed in the same side room.”
Feng Yu Heng raised an eyebrow, “We did not come to treat her injuries.”
Xuan Tian Ming patted the back of her hand, “Hah! It’s fine to take a look; however, county princess’ fee for an examination is extremely high.”
Feng Yu Heng thought quickly and immediately understood, saying with a smile: “Right, at the time that I treated Princess Xiang’s illness, the price of her treatment was a jade mine. Princess Ru Jia has such severe injuries, so it will be much more problematic to treat than Princess Xiang’s illness.”
“Then county princess should ask for more payment.” While they spoke, they already arrived at the side room. The female officer reached out and pushed the door open, saying: “The palace has been sending an imperial physician every day to come and check on Princess Ru Jia’s condition, but even the imperial physicians said that Princess Ru Jia has suffered internal injuries that have reached her heart. The palace has already begun using its good medicine, but the injury does not seem to be getting any better. Also, even if she recovered from her internal injuries, the wounds caused by a whip will leave scars.”
The group entered the room just as an imperial physician was coming out. Seeing Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng, he quickly paid his respects.
Xuan Tian Ming asked him: “What sort of medicines have you given that princess?”
The imperial physician pondered a little then replied: “The ginseng and ganoderma from the imperial pharmacy are all being used. Her Highness the Empress said that we should just give her any medicine that is good. If she cannot recover even with this, that princess from Qian Zhou can only blame life for her bad luck. Us servants are powerless.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled to herself. Give her any medicine that is good. Without any concern about whether or not it was the right medicine, this was the Empress’ attitude. At the same time, it was also the Emperor’s attitude on this matter. Thinking of when Kang Yi had just entered the palace, it was clear that she had done some research into the imperial family of Da Shun. Playing the sympathy card, she prodded at the Emperor’s soft spot and successfully made the Emperor reminisce about his sister.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he thought about his sister, it could not compare to Ru Jia insulting Xuan Tian Ming. The Emperor could endure anything, but he would not be careless in the slightest when it came to imperial concubine Yun and her son. When imperial concubine Yun became angry, he had nearly killed head imperial concubine Bu Bai Ping, while also killing Lord Bu. Now that Xuan Tian Ming was insulted, look at his current expression. He was basically doing his best to kill off Ru Jia with medicine.
Feng Yu Heng would occasionally think that it was fortunate that Xuan Tian Ming was someone who worked hard and was worthy of the Emperor’s favor. If he was a worthless son, perhaps the entire Da Shun would be ruined in his hands.
While thinking of this, she pushed Xuan Tian Ming another few steps. At the same time, she said to the imperial physician: “Go write up a list of all the medicine that Princess Ru Jia has eaten. Write down how much of each was taken and keep track of it. You can go ask Qian Zhou for money later.”
The imperial physician’s forehead became soaked with sweat. When he first heard that they would be treating Princess Ru Jia like this, he understood that Da Shun was deliberately messing with Qian Zhou. When he heard that Princess Ru Jia had offended county princess Ji An, and the injuries to her body were caused by county princess Ji An whipping her, he could not help but wipe away some sweat and say: “This official will comply.” He then stood up and left the hall.
Feng Yu Heng’s group then walked over to the side of Ru Jia’s bed. Stopping three steps away, she covered her nose and asked the palace maid that was taking care of her: “What is this smell?”
The palace maid stepped forward to reply: “Replying to county princess, Princess Ru Jia has been suffering from incontinence. Perhaps…”
“Enough.” The female officer interrupted her, “You dare to say anything without fear of contaminating his Highness and county princess’ ears.” She then turned around and said to Feng Yu Heng: “Suffering from such a severe injury, if she is not treated immediately, I fear that she truly will not be able to recover.” While saying this, she shook her head and looked at Ru Jia, sighing with regret, “Such a young princess. It really is a pity.”
Ru Jia, who was lying on the bed, was wrapped up by a white cloth like a zongzi, with only her head sticking out. Hearing that there were people that had come, she turned her head to take a look; however, she happened to see Feng Yu Heng looking at her coldly. She just happened to hear the female officer say something that caused her to become desperate.
Upon seeing Feng Yu Heng, Ru Jia’s eyes turned red, as her entire body became beastlike. Gritting her teeth fiercely, she desperately tried to rush foward. Unfortunately, with her body wrapped up in sheets, she was completely incapable of moving. In addition to this, when she wriggled around, her wounds became agitated, causing her to tear up from the pain.
“Feng Yu Heng!” She gnashed her teeth, “Just you wait. Sooner or later, my uncle emperor will rush to the capital to get revenge for me. When that time comes, you will be cut into a million pieces!”
Feng Yu Heng frowned: “Your meaning is… as a vassal state, Qian Zhou will be rebelling? Quickly” She acted to grab the female officer’s arm: “Quickly report to his Majesty. Say that Qian Zhou will rebel. Ask his Majesty to quickly dispatch troops to suppress the rebellion!”
These words nearly scared Ru Jia to death, as she immediately screamed: “Wait! Th-there is no rebellion! Feng Yu Heng, do not make such vicious claims!”
Feng Yu Heng did not understand, “You said it yourself. Your uncle emperor would kill his way to the capital. If this is not a rebellion, what would be a rebellion?”1
Xuan Tian Ming also lost it, “My Da Shun has treated its vassal states quite well. Although it receives a tribute from your country every year, the amount of food that is provided every year is many times greater than what is given as tribute. Your Qian Zhou is covered in ice and snow throughout the entire year, and crops do not grow. The majority of the food that you eat comes from Da Shun. What is it, have the people of Qian Zhou not heard of repaying many times over for a favor received in a time of great need?”
“You” Ru Jia was about to begin cursing once more, as she was accustomed to doing, but the pain from her body successfully shut her mouth. She knew that she could not insult this person. Last time, she had been heard by Feng Yu Heng, leading to her being whipped to this degree. If she insulted him this time to his face, could her life even be preserved?
But the anger in her chest had no place to be vented. Holding it in caused her face to turn bright red and caused her eyes to bulge. She looked very frightening.
The female officer asked her: “Is princess feeling uncomfortable? Hm, the imperial physicians have been coming in a rotation, but princess’ wounds are too severe. They have already affected the heart. There is nothing the imperial physicians could do. Now, we were relying on thousand-year-old ginseng to wait until county princess Ji An arrived.”
“What are you waiting for her for?” Ru Jia had already become accustomed to seeing the looks of hopelessness on the imperial physician’s faces accompanied with them shaking their heads. She had even begun to plan for her own death. But… “Could it be that right before I die, I will be humiliated by this slut once more?”
Xuan Tian Ming immediately became infuriated. Moving the whip in his hand without even thinking, he let it fly. With great accuracy, it landed right on Ru Jia’s mouth.
Ru Jia only felt as though her lips had suddenly burst open. A surge of pain washed over her and nearly caused her to faint.
She gasped for air, as a palace maid went over with a handkerchief to wipe away the blood; however, she was pushed away. They saw Ru Jia lose her mind for a while. With her rabbit-like lips, she loudly asked Xuan Tian Ming: “You will actually hit women too?”
Xuan Tian Ming rolled his eyes at her, “In this prince’s eyes, there are no differences between men and women. I only differentiate between whether or not someone is shameless. You are shameless, so what should I care if you are male or female? Slut? Do you want to try and say it one more time? This prince can guarantee that as long as you say it, this whip will immediately wrap around your tongue and pull it out from the root.”
Ru Jia’s face blanched in fear. Were, were these two demons? There were actually people like this in the world, and they had actually become a couple. Heavens! If she knew sooner that the Feng family’s second daughter had this type of temper, even if she was beaten to death, she would not have come to Da Shun!
This young princess finally knew fear. Beginning to cry, she no longer dared to say a single mean thing. Although the imperial physicians have already said that she will not live for much longer, and she spent her days wrapped up like a zongzi, nor could she even go the toilet under her own power, but she still wanted to continue living. Every day that she was alive meant, what if… what if her uncle emperor could come and save her?
At this time, the female officer returned to the previous topic: “Princess, the reason we were waiting for county princess Ji An to come was to save you! Did you not know? The best doctor in Da Shun is not an imperial physician. It’s county princess Ji An!”
Ru Jia was stunned, as she repeated the words that she heard as though it was a funny joke. She looked over and asked the female officer: “Her? Save me? I was beaten to this degree by her. Now, not only have my old wounds not been treated, I have a new injury. In the end, has she come to save me or kill me?”
Feng Yu Heng took a couple steps forward and stared at her, saying: “Whether I save you or kill you depends on what you choose. Ru Jia, there already existed enmity between you and me; however, first, you should never have insulted his Highness Prince Yu. Second, if you can survive, go ask your mother what she did. I will tell you truthfully, whipping you is considered light. If there comes a day where this aunty becomes unhappy, even if I kill you, your mother will not dare say a word. Do you believe me?”
Ru Jia’s heart trembled. For some reason, she really did believe Feng Yu Heng. Them coming to Da Shun this time was already for improper reasons. If Feng Yu Heng killed her, would her mother seek revenge for her?
Her neck stiffened. She wanted to turn to look at Feng Yu Heng; however, she lacked the courage to do so. After a while, she heard Feng Yu Heng ask: “Whether you live or die, you need to choose now! This county princess is quite busy. How could I have the time to hang around here doing nothing?”
Ru Jia subconsciously said: “Live! I want to continue living!”
“Good!” Feng Yu Heng raised her voice and said: “If you want to live, that’s fine. This county princess will personally take care of saving you. Not only can I save you, I can also remove the scars on your body, but…” She paused, her tone became playful, but it also gave her a gloomy feeling, as she asked: “What sort of fee is your Qian Zhou willing to pay?”
“Fee?” Ru Jia was stunned, “What fee?”
The female officer took the initiative to say: “Princess of Qian Zhou, when being treated, there will naturally be a fee.”
Ru Jia thought quickly and said very intelligently: “I have entered the Feng manor with my mother. The Feng family is my family, so Prime minister Feng is my father. When a daughter falls ill, it is natural to ask the father for money for medicine.”
“Oh.” Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Good, then this county princess will have someone go back and ask. See how much father is able to pay. But there is something I must remind you of. In order to receive your mother, the one you called father has already spent all of the money in the Feng manor. Right now, he owes grandmother over ten thousand taels.”
Ru Jia’s heart went cold, as she heard Xuan Tian Ming suddenly say: “This prince has an idea. Princess, would you like to see if it is worth it or not.”
1: Same words, different meaning. Ru Jia uses a figure of speech, while FYH took them literally.