Chapter 652 - Ancestor Visits
Chapter 652 Ancestor Visits
Very well! Ancestor really meant ancestor.
When Xuan Tian Hua saw the two standing at the entrance of the palace, his mind truly was on the verge of collapse.
The Emperor and Zhang Yuan were dressed up as a counselor and a servant. No matter how he looked, it was awkward. Who knew where the Emperor picked up his clothes. They were a bit skinny, and the buttons were also tight. It looked very funny.
Xuan Tian Hua did not receive them at the entrance. He just stood in the front yard. There was a bit of distance until the entrance; however, he was already able to see clearly enough.
The Emperor glared at him angrily and shouted: “You still aren’t going to invite this ancestor in!”
Xuan Tian Hua felt his head swell; however, he quickly waved to the guards at the gate: “Let them in!”
The guards never thought that this old man would say such a rude thing, yet he was still permitted to enter the Chun Palace. Also, when they looked at the seventh prince, it seemed that he was not angry. What sort of situation was this? Recently, the Chun Palace had been too weird! First, there was a strange woman, and now there was a strange man. The word ancestor had been used haphazardly, right? His Highness the seventh prince was a prince. His ancestor would be…
The guards all clearly had the same thoughts, as they subconsciously looked at each other. They all saw the same message in the others’ eyes. Someone silently mouthed: “The Emperor?”
The others nodded. In this world, who, aside from the Emperor, would dare to say that sort of thing to his Highness the seventh prince?
Thus they withered. What was it that they had just done? They had stopped the Emperor! Did they no longer want to live? They had not lived long!
Everyone lowered their heads and began counting the days that they had left to live.
Speaking of the Emperor and Zhang Yuan, the two entered the yard and were welcomed first by the cats and dogs inside the Chun Palace.
Animals did not care for a person’s status. Also, these were animals that liked humans. Upon seeing that someone had come, they very happily charged forward. While wagging their tails, they dove forward!
The Emperor was stunned at first then reacted to what was happening. He looked around the Chun Palace in surprise. From the forest of flowers to the birds flying around, from the cats and dogs running around to the bamboo fences, his gaze finally landed on the colorful gauze that hung from the trees. For some reason, his eyes suddenly became moist.
Raising a hand to wipe his face, he no longer had the same majesty as before. It was replaced with a look of oldness that he had never wanted to acknowledge, as he looked very nostalgic.
Zhang Yuan was able to understand a bit and took half a step back, giving way to the Emperor.
The Emperor turned to the left and walked toward a fence that had a sky blue piece of gauze hanging from it. That piece of gauze was not large. It was a long strip and was roughly the length of half of a forearm; however, it dragged the Emperor’s thoughts back to over 20 years ago.
At that time, he had left the palace in plain clothes. He was middle-aged and had deliberately escaped from the guards at his side. He entered the mountains on his own. He ended up straying into a village. A young girl that had just become of marriageable age saw that his arm had been tugged at by some small animals, and she was very anxious. Retrieving some medicinal herbs from the mountain, she tore her own dress to take care of the wound. She also asked the village leader on his behalf to allow him to stay temporarily.
He had been born into the imperial family. The girls that he had met were all noble. They would not expose their feet when walking, nor reveal their teeth when smiling. Any bad behaviors would be corrected by the families.
But the girls of that village were totally refreshing and completely changed his views. It allowed him to understand that girls with their sleeves rolled up to reveal some skin were actually quite beautiful. It turned out that girls could also wade into rivers barefoot with their pant legs rolled up to try and catch fish. It turned out that girls could also get mad and curse at people. They were also able to loudly express their love toward someone in front of others. At the same time, they could smile as though these were things in line with the desires of the heavens and the earth. There was no need to feel embarrassed nor worry about being mocked by others.
And if you agreed, you would take her hand and visit her parents. In a few instants after bowing to the heaven and the earth, you could live together happily. If you did not agree, you would also say it clearly. The girl would not feel too ashamed. They would continue smiling while advising you to find the girl of your dreams. They would then turn around and continue singing or dancing if they wanted. They would very quickly cast these thoughts to the back of their minds.
He was a very able person, and his appearance naturally was not plain. In addition to this, with him being from the imperial family, he was good in both martial arts and academics. He very quickly gained some fame within the village. During one bonfire gathering, there were six girls that had expressed their love to him; however, he only accepted the hand of the girl that had torn her dress to treat his wound. Her name was Yun Pian Pian.
Yun Pian Pian did not know what sort of person he was at that time; however, she was duty-bound to not turn back, thus she married him. The two lived together for a very long time until a plague started and ruined this entire situation. If it was not for the Emperor taking her away at a timely moment, perhaps Yun Pian Pian would have lost her life as well.
The two left the mountain, and the guards received them. They found the best doctors to treat her, and Yun Pian Pian finally discovered what sort of person her husband was.
The Emperor had begun reminiscing and did not want to stop for a long time. Xuan Tian Hua, however, could not allow him to continue reminiscing, thus he went forward and quietly called out to him: “Father Emperor.” His voice was clean and was most adept at calming people down.
The Emperor regained his senses and put on a bitter smile. He reached out and poked the piece of gauze; however, he knew that it was not the same piece as before.
“Your mother… is she well?” He asked Xuan Tian Hua, “You just returned to the capital and should have seen her, right?”
Xuan Tian Hua nodded but smiled bitterly, saying: “When has mother ever grieved her situation. Father Emperor should know just by looking at what she did to son’s palace. She’s very well.”
The Emperor was a bit emotional and asked Xuan Tian Hua: “You… can you think of a way to have her see me?” Regardless of whether they were inside the palace or not, the Emperor did not dare go and see imperial concubine Yun rashly. He had called to her from the outside and messed around. He had the ability to stir up trouble; however, he definitely did not have the courage to push the door open and enter. In his heart, Yun Pian Pian was above all else. Back then, if he had not been in a rush to treat her illness, he would have done everything to ensure that he did not expose his identity so easily.
The Emperor’s request caused Xuan Tian Hua to feel troubled. He said: “When the servant came by earlier, mother said that if father Emperor came, she… would not see you.”
“She won’t.” This reply was not too unexpected; however, he still put in some effort: “Go and say to your mother that We… just say that I came to ask and see if there is anything that she wants added to Winter Moon Palace while it’s being repaired.”
Xuan Tian Hua was helpless and could only say: “Then father Emperor, please wait here for a while. Son will go and ask.”
He quickly left. At the same time, he brought along all of the servants in the front yard. Imperial concubine Yun had created a garden in the second courtyard. Seeing that Xuan Tian Hua had come over, she took the initiative to speak without waiting for him to speak: “I said that I will not meet with him no matter what. I already saw him once in the palace. We will meet once every 20 years. Just go back and tell him that.”
Xuan Tian Hua helplessly returned but saw that the Emperor was no longer standing. Instead, he was sitting with his legs crossed. Facing the bamboo fence and garden, he was petting a small dog that was sticking to him.
He sighed to himself but did not know how to pass along what imperial concubine Yun had said. Seeing each other once every 20 years. How should he tell this old father?
He just sighed faintly and walked forward. Sitting down cross-legged at the Emperor’s side, he said: “Son has just returned from the East and wanted to go into the palace to report after seeing mother. Since father Emperor has come, son will tell you about the situation in the East.”
The Emperor nodded. It was as though the earlier matters had never happened. He just said: “Speak.”
The Chun Palace had been completely changed. On the other side, after Feng Yu Heng dragged Zi Rui back to the imperial daughter’s manor, she found that Feng Jin Yuan still had not left. He sat in front of the imperial daughter’s manor and was sleeping.
She walked forward and stopped in front of Feng Jin Yuan; however, because he was in too deep of a sleep, he did not notice that there was someone at his side.
Feng Yu Heng looked at this father. He was not yet 40 years old, yet there was already quite a bit of white hair near his temples. His face was also getting quite wrinkled. Even though his eyes were closed, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were still visible.
She admitted that she had never been a benevolent type; however, it was not to the point that she would not leave people with a chance at life. Even if Feng Jin Yuan had tried to harm her many times, she had left him alive.
For example, she knew that Feng Jin Yuan had come for a matter. For this person to remain outside for an entire night without leaving, it was not something that Feng Jin Yuan could do. Thinking about it, it was definitely something difficult that he would request of her.
Feng Yu Heng thought about it. If the request was not too excessive, and she could provide some help, it was possible that she could help. Thus she coughed and tried to get the person on the steps to wake up.
Feng Jin Yuan was immediately woken up. Upon seeing that Feng Yu Heng had returned, his eyes immediately became joyful. His gaze then landed on Zi Rui. An intense fatherly feeling that he had never felt before suddenly appeared.
He spread his arms and shouted toward Zi Rui, full of expectation: “Son, come to father’s side.”
He thought at first that Zi Rui would happily dive into his embrace. As a result, the child just calmly looked at him then politely cupped his hands. This could be considered as having given a greeting, but he did not even call out to him.
Feng Jin Yuan’s gaze immediately landed on the hand that was missing a finger. This caught his attention and reminded him again and again of what he had done to his children. His old face immediately became gloomier. The arms that he had spread remained lifted. He could neither put them down nor keep them lifted. He felt very embarrassed.
Feng Yu Heng could not bear to continue watching this and tugged at Zi Rui, saying gently: “Father is calling you. You should say something.”
Zi Rui looked at his elder sister. Although he looked puzzled, he still listened to her and called out without any emotion: “Father.”
“Hah! Hah!” Feng Jin Yuan immediately felt emotional, and a couple of old tears appeared in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and finally felt a bit relieved of the awkwardness.
Feng Zi Rui, however, was completely unmoved by this. It was as though Feng Jin Yuan was putting on a play, which caused him to feel weary.
“Father did not leave for an entire night. Is there something that you need from me?” Feng Yu Heng did not want to put on a performance, thus she went ahead and asked.
Feng Jin Yuan heard her and quickly stood up. He had not slept for an entire night, and he had also sat there for the majority of the day. It was such that he swayed a bit upon standing up.
In the end, Zi Rui was still a child. He hated the person before him, but when he saw that he was about to faint, he still subconsciously went to support him.
Feng Jin Yuan was so emotional that he wanted to pat Zi Rui’s head; however, Zi Rui dodged this and quickly returned to his elder sister’s side. He did not force the issue. He just laughed at himself. For some reason, he unexpectedly asked a question that caused Feng Yu Heng to lose all of her kind feelings. He said: “The girl that came to find you this morning. Are you two familiar? Where did she go?”