Chapter 401 – The Feng Family Expresses its Stance Once More
The Feng Family Expresses its Stance Once More
Feng Chen Yu’s words caused Xu Jing Yuan’s eyebrows to pull together tightly. Puzzled, he asked: “Eldest young miss Feng, what do you mean?”
Chen Yu was nearly shouting: “When the people of Qian Zhou came to the capital, they brought in ten million taels of gold. The line of boxes extended from the county princess’ manor’s and filled the entire street. Since our Feng family brought out the dowry presented by that guilty woman from Qian Zhou for my lord to inspect, shouldn’t my lord also be a little fairer? The gold in her county princess’ manor should not remain.”
Xu Jing Yuan stared at Feng Chen Yu and just did not understand. Why was it that the more beautiful a person became, the more treacherous they were? No wonder county princess Ji An viewed this family as being filled with criminals. The people of this Feng family really were shameless!
He turned to the matriarch and asked: “There are two things that this official must ask elder madam.” Before waiting for the matriarch to reply, he directly said: “First, what is meant by our Feng family? What does she mean by her county princess’ manor? Could it be that the Feng family does not recognize county princess Ji An as its daughter? It’s a pity that his Highness the ninth prince gave county princess some face and pardoned you. If your family has this sort of attitude, this official will immediately report to his Highness and have this matter taken care of. Either way, you don’t recognize county princess as your family. Even if everyone within nine relations is exterminated, it would not affect her. Elder madam, what do you think?”
What did she think?
The matriarch’s lips had turned green with anger. If it was not for so many people being present, she really wanted to strangle Feng Chen Yu to death.
The matriarch had truly become angry. What sort of situation was this? The sword was already on their necks, yet she still had the mind to worry about the struggles of the inner courtyard. She truly was lacking in knowledge and experience. She had grown this beautiful face for nothing.
The Cheng shi sisters had a very special standing in the manor. Although Kang Yi was the head wife holding them down, they were still the Empress’ own nieces. Based on this point alone, who dared to treat them poorly? This imperial family had always had a problem with short tempers. Also, from top to bottom, they were all unreasonable. The Cheng shi sisters, as secondary wives in the Feng manor, actually lived even more glamorous lives than the head wife.
Especially right before Feng Yu Heng left, they had been entrusted with something. In addition to this, they had arrived at the Feng manor because Kang Yi had been labeled as not knowing how to raise a child. The Empress feared that the inner courtyard of the Feng manor would become chaotic, thus, in the short period of time since Feng Yu Heng left the capital, the education of the Feng family’s children was left to the Cheng shi sisters.
The two sisters looked kind and easy to talk to, but, as people that had grown up in the palace, could they possibly be easy to deal with? There was no need for them to torture anyone. They simply needed to mention the words “aunt Empress,” and Feng Chen Yu and her sisters would no longer dare to even breathe too loud.
Over the past few months, the Cheng shi sisters had provided them with no shortage of “discipline.” When Cheng Jun Man now went out and said to Chen Yu: “Eldest young miss, what you just said was inappropriate, and what you did was even more incorrect.” Feng Chen Yu immediately woke up and reflexively became obedient, following her back.
The matriarch asked Xu Jing Yuan with a smile: “My lord, the second matter was…”
Xu Jing Yuan snorted, “Secondly, it was you that took the initiative to bring out Qian Zhou’s dowry for us to confiscate. It was not this official that asked for it from you! Why should this official go to the county princess’ manor for her gold? That gold was brought to the county princess’ manor. It naturally belongs to county princess alone. Unless she herself desires it, nobody has any right to touch it!”
The matriarch was blindsided. Could it be that she had done something unnecessary? He had no intention of asking for the dowry? She angrily glared at He Zhong. That damn servant. It was all his fault for bringing it up.
He Zhong was also suffering. This was the matriarch’s temperament. Upon seeing something, she would end up being hoodwinked. Things were very clear for all to see. You brought it out, so he said it like this, but if you did not bring it out, would you like to see if he asks you to bring it out? You even want to compete with the second young miss. What sort of person was the second young miss? Could you compete with her?
Cheng Jun Man gently patted the back of the matriarch’s hand and comforted her. She then had servants prepare an umbrella and walked forward. Standing across from the governor, she gave a slight salute then said: “Lord Xu, greetings.”
Xu Jing Yuan was a little more polite to her and returned the salute, saying: “Madam.”
This was nothing more than a respectful term of address. Although they were secondary wives, the Cheng shi sisters had a different background. He could not treat them without any dignity.
But once these words entered the matriarch’s ears, they caused her to have another set of delusions. Right now, Qian Zhou had caused a great deal of chaos, and Kang Yi had been taken away on charges of inciting rebellion. This crime was a million times more serious than what had happened with the Yao family! The Yao family had merely caused the death of an imperial concubine, yet her Feng family had rushed to express its position. Now that Kang Yi had caused such a stir, the Feng family had to quickly state its position.
While she was thinking her nonsense, on the other end, Cheng Jun Man said to Xu Jing Yuan: “The guilty woman from Qian Zhou, Feng Zhao Jun, lived in a courtyard called Tian Xiang courtyard. Because she was a new head wife that entered the manor after the new year, husband added quite a bit of furniture. I hope that my lord will remember this when searching.”
Xu Jing Yuan understood what she meant and immediately said: “Madam, do not worry. If there are any suspicious items, we will take them away. As for the other items… to give face to madam, we will not touch anything else.”
Hearing this, the matriarch began thinking about something else. Face, the Cheng shi sisters face was equivalent to the Empress’ face. It was all her fault for having been fascinated by Kang Yi. The Cheng shi sisters were the best choice for the Feng family’s head wife!
The guards searched the manor for under an hour but managed to find a number of things. The matriarch looked carefully and found that they were mostly things from Tian Xiang courtyard that Kang Yi used on a daily basis. Although there were some things from before, there were also a few things that had been added after by the Feng family. As a whole, there was not too much of a loss. This allowed her to feel very satisfied.
Xu Jin Yuan cupped his hands to the matriarch: “Elder madam, I’ve disturbed you. This lowly official will bid you farewell.”
The matriarch remembered something and quickly said: “My lord, please wait. This old one still has something to report to my lord.” She went forward and continued: “With Qian Zhou revolting, eldest princess Feng Zhao Jun naturally cannot be considered unrelated. My Feng family is a citizen of Da Shun and definitely cannot have a head wife from an enemy country. Today, this old one announces that Kang Yi and our Jin Yuan will immediately end their marriage. Would my lord please take care of their marriage registration at the government office!”
Xu Jing Yuan nodded, “When I came, Lord Feng already said this too. Elder madam is an intelligent person. This official will take care of it later.”
Only then did the matriarch let out a sigh of relief.
After sending him off, everyone returned to Peony courtyard’s main hall. After the matriarch sat down, she waved away the maidservants before they could provide her with a cloth to dry herself. Looking at everyone, she said: “You all saw what happened today. Qian Zhou revolted, and Kang Yi will definitely be sentenced to death. It’s possible that we may hear news of her death tomorrow. Although our Feng manor has been pardoned, this pardon is not a golden ticket. We cannot choose to do nothing. We must express our stance.”
An shi thought quickly and immediately understood what the matriarch meant, “Word came from husband’s side, and elder madam has spoken with Lord Xu about annulling the marriage. What follows will be the Feng family’s new head wife.”
Once this was said, there was not much reaction from the hall. After all, Han shi was not present. An shi did not want the head wife position, and Jin Zhen knew that her background would not allow her to step forward. As for the Cheng shi sisters, they also had an understanding. At this time, the matriarch was definitely hoping to promote one of them to the position.
They were very clear on the result, but they still patiently waited for the matriarch to continue: “This old one has decided that from this day forward, secondary wife Cheng Jun Man will be promoted to Jin Yuan’s official wife and have control of… the communal funds.” Once the last two words were said, she felt distressed for a long time, but she still continued calmly: “Once the sun comes up tomorrow, we will send someone to the government office to handle this matter. Jun Man, from this day forward, you will be the Feng family’s head wife.”
Cheng Jun Man did not act humble or haughty, as she gracefully saluted the matriarch: “This concubine thanks mother for the grand grace.” She now began calling her mother.
This was not the end, as the matriarch turned her gaze on Cheng Jun Mei. Surprisingly, she added: “Also promoted… Cheng Jun Mei to auxiliary official wife. You will help manage the matters of the manor.”
Cheng Jun Mei did not appear to rejoice too much. Copying her sister, she stood up then kneeled in front of the matriarch: “Thank you, mother, for the grand grace.”
An shi looked at the two kneeling in the middle of the hall. In her mind, she sighed. One was the head wife, and one was the auxiliary official wife. Based on their backgrounds, suppressing the rowdy concubines and young misses of the Feng family would not be a problem. If the two were able to remain on Feng Yu Heng’s side, the Feng family may be able to remain peaceful for a while.
But Feng Chen Yu was unwilling to accept this, as she reminded the matriarch: “When Yao shi was implicated, the Feng family acted too hastily. What was the result? After three years, they staged a comeback. Not only did Yao shi receive a title as a first-rank noble lady, she was also able to receive an imperial decree from the Emperor for a divorce. That Feng Yu Heng has an even brighter future. Grandmother, why not think it over a little more. What if there is a day that mother… no, Kang Yi, what if there is a day when Kang Yi is also able to come back? What should we do then?”
The matriarch loudly shouted: “Shut your mouth! How is there any similarity between that guilty woman and Yao shi?”
The Cheng shi sisters already stood up, and Cheng Jun Mei comforted the matriarch. Cheng Jun Man, however, turned around and said to Feng Chen Yu with a somber expression: “Chen Yu, remember that attempting to assassinate the Emperor is a severe crime. Kang Yi is a member of Qian Zhou’s imperial family. Half of the people that attempted this assassination were her relatives. Not to mention the inevitability of a war between Da Shun and Qian Zhou, even if there is no war, she will not be able to live.”
Chen Yu inhaled sharply. Cheng Jun Man was not the same as before. Before, although she was strict with her discipline, she still remembered her standing and called her eldest young miss. Now, she directly called her name; however, she had to call her mother.
Cheng Jun Man’s words caused Chen Yu to become speechless.
All of the masters of the Feng family were gathered in Peony courtyard’s main hall. Even Fen Dai, who had sent Han shi to rest, returned. Although everyone was gathered together, the atmosphere was frozen. None were willing to go back and sleep, but nobody knew what to say. Like this, they just remained silent together. This felt a little bit bleak.
At this time, far away in Winter Moon Palace, Xuan Tian Ming was pinching Feng Yu Heng’s small cheeks. With a criminal tone, he said to her: “Dear wife, let’s go. Husband will take you out to play.”