King Yama Has Come to Visit
Unless she had the ability to kill Princess Xiang after getting married. Like this, she could follow the example of the Feng family and have the head wife replaced, with her making the decisions in the Xiang Palace.
That night, Feng Yu Heng slept while hugging gold, and Feng Jin Yuan slept while laying plans. The matriarch slept with all kinds of worries, and Feng Chen Yu was sleeping uneasily while thinking of how to forcefully usurp the position of Princess Xiang.
In truth, nobody in the Feng family was at peace. Han shi and Fen Dai also had complaints. They had endured the departure of one head wife, and Han shi’s belly had already grown so much, but she still could not climb to the position of head wife. But Han shi also had her own way of thinking. As she saw it, the Feng family’s head wife position was inauspicious. No matter who it was, as long as they took that position, they would definitely not meet a good end. Yao shi was now protected by her daughter, but when the Yao family was demoted, how miserable was her situation.
She explained this situation to Fen Dai, and Fen Dai felt that it seemed to be the case. Right now, the situation was unclear, and protecting their lives was most important, thus she did not beat Han shi over the head with the matter of becoming the head wife.
Early the next morning, the Feng matriarch sent granny Zhao to the county princess’ manor with Chen Yu’s engagement note. When Wang Chuan received the note at the entrance, granny Zhao craned her neck and peered inside the manor. Unfortunately, the imperial guards at the entrance blocked the view very well.
Granny Zhao helplessly returned to report. Not long later, Xuan Tian Ming’s imperial carriage arrived in front of the county princess’ manor. Feng Yu Heng brought along Wang Chuan and Huang Quan while pushing the wheelchair out.
The group went to the Xiang Palace like this. When Feng Yu Heng got out of the imperial carriage, the Xiang Palace’s guards were all solemn. When Duan Mu Qing returned yesterday, he had only told Xuan Tian Ye about Feng Yu Heng wanting to come and give a gift; however, he did not tell the servants to welcome her. Thus, for the guards, county princess coming was all too sudden, and… it was scary.
That’s right, scary. One of the younger guards even felt their teeth clack against each other. Gently using their elbow to prod the person at their side, he looked to the side and quietly asked: “Why has she come?”
The one to the side also felt his head swell. At the time, Feng Yu Heng had whipped the third prince in front of the palace, taking half of the dignified third prince’s life. The guards of the palace were nearly scared to death.
After nearly half a year, county princess Ji An had come to the palace once more. What was she here to do?
A larger guard said with a trembling voice: “She shouldn’t have come for a fight, right? Oh my heavens, his Highness the third prince is still lying in bed. If they were to fight again, would he not breathe his last breath?”
While the two spoke, Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tian Ming had already walked up the steps to the entrance. The guards looked at Feng Yu Heng, who had already left a deep impression on the entire Xiang Palace. They then looked at Xuan Tian Ming, who had regained his mobility at some unknown point. The shadow in their hearts gradually expanded.
Someone gritted their teeth and went forward, saluting and asking: “Your Highness, county princess, you two are…”
Feng Yu Heng jutted out her small chin and said: “We came to visit third brother. I have not seen him for many months. I wonder if his injuries have gotten any better.”
These words were like lines out of a play to the ears of the guards. These two had come to visit?
But even if they did not believe them, what could they do? One was a prince and one was a county princess. Neither of them could be offended, so they could only quickly go in to report. Not long later, it was Duan Mu Qing that personally came out to welcome them into the palace.
While going into the Xiang Palace, Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng saw no shortage of people with looks of fear and horror. Everyone guessed at the reason that they had come to visit. After Duan Mu Qing invited the two into a hall and two servants came forward with tea, they finally heard Feng Yu Heng say: “Yesterday, deputy leader came to visit and mentioned the matter of his Highness Prince Xiang wishing to marry the Feng family’s daughter of a concubine, Feng Chen Yu, and take her in as a secondary princess. Father and grandmother attached great importance to this and especially sent this county princess to bring the engagement note of the future secondary princess to the Xiang Palace.”
Only then did they understand, oh, so they had come to send an engagement note.
A servant went forward and received the engagement note. They then heard Feng Yu Heng continue: “Also, since this is the official exchanging of engagement notes for her to become the secondary princess, and although she will not become the head wife, she will be formally and officially wed, I wonder when the Xiang Palace will be sending its betrothal gifts?”
Duan Mu Qing squinted his eyes and looked at Feng Yu Heng. He then looked to the side at Xuan Tian Ming, who was calmly drinking tea. Remembering how the two had worked together to scam Qian Zhou of ten million taels of gold, he asked with some vigilance: “I wonder what sort of requests the Feng family has for the betrothal gift?”
Feng Yu Heng giggled, “This is not the first time that his Highness the third prince was getting married. He should be rather familiar with these rules, right! The one getting married from the Feng family is the daughter of a concubine. Everything just needs to be done according to the rules.”
Duan Mu Qing let out a slight sigh of relief, nodding, “Don’t worry. The Xiang Palace’s betrothal gift will be prepared today.”
“Un.” Feng Yu Heng also nodded then moved on to the next reason for her visit, “Where is third brother? This county princess brought a gift to come and see him. I wonder if it’s possible to see him?”
“Hah!” Xuan Tian Ming, who had remained silent the entire time finally spoke, “What sort of thing are you asking. You are his younger sister, and you are the county princess of Ji An. Moreover, isn’t this prince here too? If you want to see him, just go directly. What are you wasting your breath asking a lowly fourth ranked official for?” Saying this, he stood up and pulled Feng Yu Heng’s small hand while walking out.
Duan Mu Qing quickly stood up and said: “Please wait!”
Xuan Tian Ming’s eyes lit up, “Duan Mu Qing, do you want to die or do you not want to live? In front of this prince, when has there been a right for you to speak?”
Duan Mu Qing was a tyrant when in the North, but when he came to a place like the capital where powerful officials gathered, it really was as Xuan Tian Ming said. He was nothing more than a lowly fourth ranked official. But no matter how lowly an official, he was still the deputy leader of that special administrative area. Practically everyone had to give him some face.
Unfortunately, Xuan Tian Ming was not among that group.
Duan Mu Qing also understood. The strong position that he dared to show in front of the standard first rank official, Feng Jin Yuan, was something that he had absolutely no right to show in front of the ninth prince.
He realized this point and quickly shut his mouth. He also stopped in his tracks and watched, as the two walked toward the inner courtyard.
Duan Mu Qing felt that something seemed to be off. After thinking a bit, he asked a servant at his side: “What was the servant at county princess Ji An’s side pushing?”
The servant replied: “It’s a wheelchair.”
Another person with sharper eyes said: “It seems to be the wheelchair that his Highness the ninth prince was sitting in.”
Duan Mu Qing was confused, “His legs have already recovered. Isn’t he already quite lively and active? Isn’t pushing around a wheelchair doing something unnecessary? He…” He spoke up to this point then seemed recall something. He then stomped his feet and quickly followed the two people to the inner courtyard.
At this time, Xuan Tian Ye was lying in bed. He could speak, and he could move his head and hands, and with some effort, he could barely move his arms. But he could not roll over, and he could not raise his legs, so getting out of bed was even more impossible. Both of his knees were wrapped up in a white cloth with some bloodstains being barely visible.
At his side, aside from the servants of the palace, there was another person sitting there. That person looked to be in his early 30s, and he wore a long black robe. He was tall and his face was thin. His face was gloomy the entire time, as he stared at Xuan Tian Ye’s legs. He looked to be quite ghostly.
The Xiang Palace’s servants did not get too close to him, but because they had to take care of Xuan Tian Ye, they had to be in the same room as him. Looking carefully, the servants in the room walked while looking away. They did not want to look at that person at all.
When Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tian Ming entered the room, the servants all let out a sigh of relief, feeling that as long as an extra person entered, there would be a bit more positive energy in the room. But when they saw who exactly had come, they quickly lost the relief that they had just gained.
The servants kneeled on the ground and kowtowed to Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng; however, the person in black robes did not move. Even the third prince turned his head while lying in bed. With anger and hatred in his eyes, he glared at the two; however, Feng Yu Heng received it with a smile: “Third brother, have you gotten better?” As though she was chatting about daily life, acting as though he was completely without injuries to his entire body.
Xuan Tian Ye’s chest rose and fell angrily, and the person in the black robe finally spoke: “That’s no good. You must remain calm.”
“Right.” Feng Yu Heng nodded, going forward to stand at the side of the bed, looking for a while. She even reached out to press on his ribs and knees, causing a sweat to break out on Xuan Tian Ye’s forehead in an instant. The person in black robes wanted to stop her. Unfortunately, before Xuan Tian Ming needed to do anything, he was stopped by Huang Quan.
Feng Yu Heng squeezed and prodded then said: “Your internal organs have recovered quite well, but the treatment of your bones was not done in a timely manner. Although you have new knees, the technique was poor. The new bone and the joint are unable to reach the optimal fusion point. Even if you can recover to the point of bending your knees, it is impossible for you to stand once more.”
“That’s impossible!” Just as Feng Yu Heng finished speaking, the person in black robes spat out the word impossible. He then immediately said: “I chose from among 30 sets of legs and decided on this set. This was the set closest to the original bones. There was also extreme care paid to the time of transplant. It’s impossible that his Highness will never stand again! Cease your nonsense!”
“Tsk.” Xuan Tian Ming rolled his eyes, sitting down on his own and putting on an expression as though he was watching a play.
Feng Yu Heng looked at the person in black robes and raised her eyebrow: “Ghost doctor Song Kang?” She then let out a cold snort: “The leg bones of 30 living people and many decades of experimentation led to this sort of level?” She looked at Xuan Tian Ye’s knees then shook her head, saying: “Stumbling across a few successes netted you the name ghost doctor. This county princess truly thought that you were an amazing person. Today, it seems that you are just so-so.”
Ghost doctor Song Kang was stunned for a moment. A hint of joy then appeared on his face, as he stared at Feng Yu Heng and asked: “You are the capital’s county princess Ji An?”
Feng Yu Heng did not reply, as she also pulled a chair over and sat at Xuan Tian Ming’s side. A servant came up, giving her a cup of tea. Taking a sip, she looked at Xuan Tian Ye’s legs once more before slowly saying: “The wound is red and swelling badly, it’s clear that it has become infected.”
Song Kang blinked and looked expectantly at Feng Yu Heng, waiting for her to continue speaking.
Feng Yu Heng did not disappoint him, continuing: “It is lacking a sterile area. This is the main reason for an infection during a surgery. I will ask you, before you transplanted the bone, did you change into new clothes for this special occasion?”
Song Kang did not understand, but he still shook his head. He wore this set of robes throughout the year and never changed it.
“Then have you passed your tools through high temperatures to take care of them? Did you clean your hands?”
Song Kang shook his head once more, but he added: “I did clean my hands.”
Feng Yu Heng, however, said: “Using water to wash them is pointless.” Looking again at the small tools on the table, it was clear that they were primitive surgical tools. Unfortunately, they were too rudimentary. If she was not someone that also worked in this field, she would be completely unable to recognize them. “What are these things?”
Seeing Feng Yu Heng frown in confusion, Song Kang felt that he had regained a bit of face. Shaking free of Huang Quan’s grasp, he looked up and proudly said: “These are tools used to perform my secret techniques. Presently, I am the only person in the world that knows how to use them.”
“Oh.” Feng Yu Heng nodded then reached out and pointed at all of them, saying: “The scissors are too large, the head of the scalpel isn’t wide enough, and you don’t have pliers to stanch bleeding. What did you use to block the blood vessels?” While saying this to the dazed Song Kang, she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a complete set of surgical tools.