So That’s What Happened That Year
The only person capable of forcing Zhang Yuan to shout like this was naturally the Emperor. Right now, the Emperor wanted to run, using the excuse: “Old man Yao has come back. No matter what, We need to go and see him!”
Zhang Yuan managed to catch up to him with great difficulty, while a group of imperial guards followed behind but did not dare go forward. The Emperor saw this situation and became unhappy: “What are you doing? Are you rebelling? We raised you to protect Us, not for you to point your spears at me!”
Zhang Yuan stomped his foot: “Who is pointing their spear at you?” Turning around, sure enough, there were imperial guards forming a semi-circle around them and pointing their spears at the Emperor. He angrily rolled his eyes: “Put those away! Is there anyone that would do things like this? When convincing his Majesty, you must use words and emotions to persuade him. What are you wanting to do by lowering your weapons?”
The imperial guards complaining in their hearts, saying, eunuch Zhang, you’ve already tried convincing him for such a long time. From inside Heavenly Hall to outside Heavenly Hall, they had seen the Emperor run across half of the imperial palace, yet the persuasion does not seem to have worked!
But these were words that could only be thought. They did not dare voice it. Although Zhang Yuan was just a eunuch, this eunuch was too amazing. A normal person really could not compare with him.
Thus the imperial guards raised their spears and rested them on the ground before continuing to watch Zhang Yuan continue his persuasion.
But, in truth, Zhang Yuan was nearly out of things to say. He had already said everything that needed to be said. The Emperor understood all of the reasoning, but he just continued forward with being unreasonable. He went against his conscience and said: “When old man Yao was sent out of the capital, We felt sorry for him. Now that he has returned, We must go out and personally welcome him. Little Yuan, you were still young at that time and did not understand. You do not know how deep of a bond old man Yao and I shared. That truly is.”
Zhang Yuan interjected, “I won’t ask, when you two old comrades became close, this servant was already twelve-years-old and had already taken care of you for many years. What is there that I do not know! Also, when the Yao family had been demoted, that was not entirely your fault. You only did it to protect him.”
The Emperor glared: “No matter what is said, that family has lived in that damn place called Huang Zhou for many years, and they have suffered quite a bit. We have missed him and must go out to see him.”
Zhang Yuan angrily and frankly tried to sow discord: “You say that you two are good comrades, then why did he not take the initiative to come into the palace to see you? You are the Emperor. Reason would have it that you should wait in the hall for him to come and see you. What are you in such a rush for? Can you not be a little reserved?”
“What is there to be reserved about!” The Emperor became angry, “Yao Xian has the same stubborn attitude as his granddaughter. At that time, did he not secretly send Us a letter saying that if We did not find a way to bring his daughter and granddaughter back, we would no longer be friends? Hah! In the end, We still were not able to be of help on that matter. I fear that he is truly angry!”
Zhang Yuan helplessly said: “Can we be a bit reasonable? If he was truly angry, why would he come back? It’s clear that he is the same as your Majesty and is unwilling to part with these feelings. That’s why your Majesty should just wait patiently in the palace for him. Lord Yao will come in sooner or later.”
“What do you mean by sooner or later? Clearly, he can come in sooner. Why has he waited for so long yet not come in?”
“Isn’t he treating the refugees?” Zhang Yuan was on the verge of running out of things to say, “Be a little reasonable, alright? He is a doctor, a divine doctor. With that many refugees outside the city, could he choose to not treat them? Could it be that he would watch his granddaughter die of exhaustion, while he entered the palace as if nothing was wrong? Right, the imperial physicians said that you are not to drink wine. No matter when lord Yao comes, you two can do whatever you want, but you cannot drink wine! If you do drink, I will tell her Highness the Empress. I will have her arrange for all of the imperial concubines to visit Zhao He Hall every day to take care of you. Then I will expose that to imperial concubine Yun, saying…”
“Alright, alright! Don’t say anything else!” The Emperor admitted defeat. This damn eunuch had become more skilled with his words. If this continued, he would not be able to outwit him. That’s not right… it seemed that he was already unable to outwit him!
The Emperor was very upset.
This scene was completely seen by Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tian Ming. Xuan Tian Ming helplessly said: “I was saying that we should have brought maternal grandfather into the palace first!”
These words did not hide anything from anyone, and these words were heard by the Emperor. He turned around and happened to see his son and daughter-in-law coming over from a small path on the other side.
Upon seeing Feng Yu Heng arrive, his eyes practically exuded light. Happily running over, he moved to grab her hands. As a result, just as he reached out, he was stopped by his son: “What are you doing? Be civilized and speak. This is my wife.”
The Emperor grabbed him: “We know that she is your wife. We just wanted to ask Heng, where is your maternal grandfather?”
Feng Yu Heng helplessly stepped forward and grabbed the Emperor’s arm while leading him toward Heavenly Hall. The Emperor unconsciously followed her and heard her say: “Maternal grandfather had indeed arrived at the capital a few days ago, and he happened to see us taking care of the refugees, thus he remained to help me. But father Emperor, it’s like this” She pointed at her own eyes, “After working hard for a few days, even a young girl like Heng has developed dark circles under my eyes. With maternal grandfather being so old, how could he endure it? As a matter of fact, he was sent to the Yu Palace to rest upon entering the capital. Father Emperor, do not rush. Just wait a little longer. Maternal grandfather will definitely need to get some good sleep. When he has recovered his energy, he will come to pay respects to father Emperor.”
While saying this, she pulled the Emperor towards Heavenly Hall. Seeing that the Emperor did not have any objections, Zhang Yuan wiped away some sweat. When he looked at Feng Yu Heng again, he had a grateful expression.
The Emperor was very open to listening to Feng Yu Heng. Upon hearing that Yao Xian had gone to sleep because of his exhaustion, he asked her: “Then can your grandfather still handle it? Huang Zhou is quite far. Just traveling is quite difficult. To then spend a few days treating people, he won’t die of exhaustion, right?”
Xuan Tian Ming was helpless: “What are you saying?”
The Emperor knew that his own words were unlucky and quickly changed his wording: “He won’t get sick, right?”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and told him: “He won’t. Heng has examined him. He is just overly exhausted. He will be fine after some rest.”
Only then did the Emperor relax and pat the back of Feng Yu Heng’s hand repeatedly: “If he is fine, We can be at ease.” Raising his head once more, he found that he was already back inside Heavenly Hall. He fiercely glared at Zhang Yuan then asked Xuan TianMing: “How is the situation outside the city? We heard that you did not suffer any shortage of hardship over the past few days.”
Xuan Tian Ming asked him: “The arrangements have been more or less taken care of. Do you want to have the imperial carriage prepared to go out for a visit? You should make an appearance at a time like this.”
The Emperor sat flat on the imperial throne then waved his hand, “Forget it. If this had happened ten years earlier, We would most likely have gone. But now, the world will belong to you, sooner or later. As long as the citizens are thinking of you two, it’s fine. We will not be going.”
He had always been an emperor that did not pay too much attention to his stature. As long as it was fine with the people that he was concerned about, he was fine with any joke. These words were spoken casually; however, it caused everyone to feel choked up. Even Xuan Tian Ming averted his gaze. He only spoke after a bit of time had passed: “Don’t imagine that it’s possible for you to can just say you don’t want to do it!”
The Emperor rolled his eyes and did not say anything. He just continued to ask all sorts of questions to Feng Yu Heng. Feng Yu Heng told him all kinds of things that had happened over the past few days, but the Emperor went around in circles, all to ask about Yao Xian.
When they finally managed to bid farewell to the Emperor, they did not even get a chance to visit imperial concubine Yun. They just hastily left the imperial palace.
Feng Yu Heng asked Xuan Tian Ming: “At that time, why was the Yao family demoted to Huang Zhou? Was that imperial concubine really killed by maternal grandfather’s treatment?”
Xuan Tian Ming smiled bitterly, “I thought that you would have asked about this a long time ago. Seeing that you never asked, I felt that you might have already known. After a long time, it seems that you don’t know anything.” He told her: “At that time, that imperial concubine had died a long time ago. The Yao family had just used that matter to leave the capital. At that time, I did not have too much military power, and my foundation was unstable. At that time, old third was winning and wanted to join forces with Feng Jin Yuan many times, but the Yao family continued to remind Feng Jin yuan that he definitely could not join forces with old third. From that moment, they became targetted. Father Emperor was able to protect them a few times, but the Yao family was a distinguished family and had a large number of people. There would always be places that could not be accounted for. After a few incidents, divine doctor Yao brought up the idea of leaving the capital, but his request was to bring you three along. BUt your mother had already married into the Feng family. It was not possible for them to bring you away. At that time, a few of your uncles’ lives were in old third’s hands. There was nothing that father Emperor could do, thus he used an imperial concubine that had died suddenly. Using this excuse, he sent the Yao family to Huang Zhou. You have heard that Huang Zhou was a desolate wilderness, but the truth is that place is filled with treasures. Heng Heng, I can guarantee that the Yao family has not suffered over these years.”
Feng Yu Heng did not care too much about the Yao family’s situation. After all, she was not truly of the Yao family’s bloodline. She was just confused. Since the Yao family had not truly been demoted, and Huang Zhou was not truly terrible, why did the Yao family never send someone to the Northwest to search for the three?
This question was brought all the way over to Yao Xian. After the three ate lunch at the Yu Palace, Yao Xian endured until they returned to the county princess’ manor to rest. Thus Feng Yu Heng sat in the imperial carriage and rushed back.
As for why they did not send anyone to the Northwest to search for them, Yao Xian told her: “In truth, the real Yao Xian died on the way to Huang Zhou. After I came here, I was always wondering who it was that took action against Yao Xian. After I developed a better understanding of Da Shun country’s situation, I felt that there were too many possible suspects. This included the third prince and Feng Jin Yuan. As my memory recovered, I had heard that you were sent to the Northwest and sent people to search. But, Heng, that Feng Jin Yuan is truly a bad person. He actually sent people to hide in the Northwest for long periods of time. The Yao family tried numerous times to get close to you but were blocked. He even made it clear that if the Yao family sent any more people, he would kill you. At that time, I decided to forget it. First, I did not want Feng Jin Yuan to kill anyone. Second…” He smiled bitterly at this point: “After all, I am Feng Yin. I don’t have too many deep feelings for the Yao family.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, expressing her understanding. She was the same. The reason that she did not show any mercy when dealing with anyone in the Feng family, young or old, was that she did not share any blood relations with them. She was unable to feel any pity for them.
The imperial carriage went straight for the county princess’ manor’s entrance. Before they could stop, they heard a very loud ruckus outside.
Sitting outside together to drive the carriage, Wang Chuan and Huang Quan brought the carriage to a stop. Huang Quan lifted the curtain and said to her: “Young miss, elder madam Feng has called a large number of people, and they are all blocking the county princess’ manor’s entrance. It seems that they are telling stories!”