Big Sis Does Not Lack National Treasures
“Nonsense!” Feng Jin Yuan angrily tore the letter in his hands to shreds. Xuan Tian Ye was truly too infuriating!
“Master.” The hidden guard naturally understood what Feng Jin Yuan meant; however, he had to remind him, “Master, think before taking action. We absolutely must not be disrupted by second young miss.”
Feng Jin Yuan took a deep breath. It was as though there were two small voices in his head that were fighting, one favoring Xuan Tian Ye and the other favoring Feng Yu Heng. One was his own daughter, and the other was the prince that he had chosen to support after many years of neutrality. Feng Jin Yuan was unable to decide and began to stomp around his study once more.
But the hidden guard reminded him at this time: “Based on the current situation, there is no hope for his Highness the ninth prince to become the crown prince, so the one that second young miss is helping should be his Highness the eldest prince. But if that relation disappears, who can guarantee what will happen to his Highness the eldest prince after he is appointed.
“You are advising this prime minister to continue standing on his Highness the third prince’s side?”
The hidden guard quickly kneeled: “This servant is a hidden guard and is only responsible for protecting master’s life, but since master wanted this servant to carry letters to and from his Highness the third prince’s side, this servant said a little too much.”
Feng Jin Yuan nodded, “Get up. This prime minister had no intention of blaming you.” He said this then picked up the pieces of the letter that he had ripped, “This matter requires further consideration.”
That night, Feng Yu Heng slept better than ever before. It was as she had said to Huang Quan, now that there were so many hidden guards and imperial guards, not even a bird could fly in, let alone a living person.
But Huang Quan was not so optimistic. After taking care of Feng Yu Heng falling asleep, she slept for a while on the sofa in the outer room. There was nothing Feng Yu Heng could do about her, thus she accepted it.
In truth, she had thought about it. As soon as the information about the steel-making process was leaked, she would definitely become a target for the entire world. Not to mention the people from other countries coming to target her, even the people within Da Shun’s borders would make attempts at her at all times.
But she did not need to worry at all! The method for producing steel was in her head. If they wanted the method for producing steel, they would need to capture her alive. For her, so long as she was alive, she could enter space at any time and any place. How could she be in any danger.
What she worried about right now was not her own safety from external forces. It was the danger that came from within the Feng manor…
The next day, she woke up extremely early. After washing up, she brought Zi Rui and went to Shu Ya courtyard.
When she arrived, the matriarch had not yet finished eating breakfast. Seeing that Feng Yu Heng had come so early, she thought that something had happened, causing her mind to become panicked. But when Feng Yu Heng said to her that she had just come to pay respects, she immediately felt at ease.
“A-Heng is the most sensible. This is something that grandmother knows.” The matriarch smiled and stopped eating. Pulling Feng Yu Heng’s hand, she began expressing her thoughts: “This time, not only did you gain face for the Feng family, you even gained face for Da Shun. Who knows how his Majesty will show his gratitude! In truth, you were always the most important granddaughter in grandmother’s heart. Hah, but your sisters are all unreasonable. Sometimes, in order to calm them, it is inevitable that you will suffer some grievances. A-Heng, do not take it to heart.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and said: “What is grandmother saying. A-Heng is the Feng family’s daughter of the first wife. How could I argue with my sisters of concubines. But many things happened before the end of the year, so I did not have too much of a chance to worry about what happened at home. I hope grandmother would please excuse me for that.”
The matriarch listened to her very reasonable words, and she could not help but smile even more.
Feng Yu Heng half turned and received something from Huang Quan’s hands, “This is something granddaughter prepared for grandmother before the new year but did not have a chance to give. I originally wanted to give it after the palace banquet on the first day of the new year, but who knew that that sort of thing would happen. Only bringing it to grandmother today, grandmother won’t blame A-Heng, right?”
She said this while opening up the item. It was outerwear made of silk. Things made of silk were thin and cool. They could not be worn in the Winter, but it would look very pretty when worn on the outside in the Spring and Summer.
The matriarch only felt that this sort of silk was extremely high quality. Its dark green color looked completely natural and did not look like it was dyed. When she reached out to touch it, it was as though she could not feel anything. She poked it a few times before feeling that she did indeed poke the material. Other fabrics would at best feel extremely high quality, but this thing was like nothing else. This caused her to feel surprised.
The matriarch stared at this garment and felt a little cold. It was granny Zhao, who was at her side, that cried out in shock “This is… moon palace silk?”
“What?” The matriarch was dazed, “What silk did you say?”
Granny Zhao said: “Moon palace silk! Elder madam, it’s moon palace silk! Second young miss sent a garment made of moon palace silk to you!”
“It really is moon palace silk?” The matriarch’s chin nearly dropped from the shock. No wonder this thing looked so good that it should not be worn by people. But she did not think that it would be moon palace silk, one of the five national treasures. She could not help but look at Feng Yu Heng for verification.
Feng Yu Heng smiled and nodded to her: “It is indeed moon palace silk. A-Heng has been back in the capital for half a year. Thanks to grandmother for looking after me, but there was not much suitable as a gift, so I found someone to make a garment using moon palace silk. Although it cannot be worn during Winter, when the flowers bloom in Spring, it will feel most comfortable for grandmother to wear it then.”
The matriarch practically laughed herself silly. If it were not for Feng Yu Heng still being before her, she definitely would have kissed the moon palace silk a few times. She had lived a long time, and she already had half a foot in the grave, but she never thought that she would receive clothes made from one of the five national treasures. Thinking about it, there was nobody in this world that could be more generous than Feng Yu Heng.
“Good granddaughter, grandmother’s efforts were not in vain.”
However, she was suddenly a little troubled and said: “Hah, if I knew earlier that Qian Zhou’s eldest princess would be coming to the Feng manor as a guest, A-Heng would not have gifted moon palace silk to grandmother.”
“Hm?” The matriarch was unable to react. Why would she not gift it if the Qian Zhou people were coming?
Granny Zhao understood and quickly said: “Moon palace silk is offered as a tribute by Qian Zhou. Second young miss definitely feels that it would not be too good to use this sort of thing in front of the people from Qian Zhou. After all, it is too valuable, and I heard that the imperial family of Qian Zhou does not even get to use it, as it is all sent to our Da Shun as a tribute.”
The matriarch nodded, “Our A-Heng is really thoughtful. When thinking of things, she is always thorough. But, it’s fine. Either way, this precious item cannot be worn right now. Grandmother will store it safely and not allow the eldest princess of Qian Zhou see it.”
Feng Yu Heng, however, shook her head, still looking quite troubled: “That is not the only reason. Instead, granddaughter remembered that Qian Zhou’s princess Ru Jia managed to acquire an award from father Emperor. In his joy, father Emperor awarded two bolts of moon palace silk. Qian Zhou’s eldest princess already brought four handkerchiefs for us sisters. Thinking about it, now that she received another two bolts, she will definitely prepare something for grandmother as a greeting gift. In that case, wouldn’t A-Heng’s thin garment appear too shabby.”
“You are saying that the princess of Qian Zhou will give me moon palace silk?” The matriarch’s eyes were focused, and her mouth formed a wide smile. Granny Zhao also smiled, saying: “It seems that elder madam will have good material to make clothing for Spring and Summer!”
Feng Yu Heng also said: “But of course, even if Princess Ru Jia is unwilling to give both bolts of moon palace silk to grandmother, they should be able to give at least one bolt, right?”
“One bolt is enough, one bolt is enough!” The matriarch did not hope to receive all of it, as she began to calculate: “If it’s for Summer clothes, one bolt of fabric is enough for two sets of clothes.”
Feng Yu Heng blushed and said: “That’s why I hope that grandmother does not dislike this insignificant garment.”
“Oh, I do not dislike it!” For the matriarch, the more nice things like this, the better. How could she dislike it. She once again grabbed Feng Yu Heng’s hand. She continued talking for a long time until she went with granny Zhao to the kitchen, saying that she had to personally watch over the preparation of the food. She would also be adding another four dishes because of the moon palace silk.
As soon as the matriarch set foot out of Shu Ya courtyard, Feng Yu Heng brought Huang Quan and Zi Rui over to Peony courtyard. Zi Rui walked and asked her: “Will the princess of Qian Zhou really bring moon palace silk over? When I was at the academy, I heard a schoolmate say that there are times when Qian Zhou may not be able to produce even one bolt of moon palace silk in five years. It’s really valuable.”
Feng Yu Heng patted his small head. Smiling, she did not say anything, but she did say to Huang Quan: “If they really do bring it, our nice things would truly be wasted.”
Zi Rui did not understand what the two were saying, but he did not ask. He only smiled and followed Feng Yu Heng towards Peony courtyard, “Headteacher said that I only need to worry about studying well and to participate less in family matters. I will listen to headteacher. As long as I know that sister is not being bullied, everything is fine.”
In order to welcome the two princesses to the manor, Feng Jin Yuan also went to the front yard early in the morning, personally directing the servants with their work.
Han shi was also more understanding on this day, and she also helped out. She would occasionally go give a helping hand when the servants were struggling. This scared Feng Jin Yuan, who quickly called someone to bring her back to Yu Lan courtyard to avoid her having complications with her pregnancy.
But how could Han shi remain in Yu Lan courtyard. She quickly walked over towards Yu Lan courtyard. Upon arriving, she saw that all of the females were sitting there, thus she also sat down. With nothing to say, she looked for something to talk about: “I really never thought that Qian Zhou’s eldest princess was a philanthropist. Our fourth young miss is fortunate. Being able to look up to such a great person, she will be coming back with her!” She had asked around and finally heard that Fen Dai had been saved by the eldest princess of Qian Zhou and had gone with her. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief, as her impression of the eldest princess rose. In addition to not seeing Feng Chen Yu come out, she felt even more that Fen Dai was many times better than Chen Yu.
She spoke on her own for a bit but found that not a single person in the room paid any attention to her. Resentful, she shut her mouth. Everyone sat there quietly until a servant ran in and said: “The honored guests have arrived. Elder madam invites everyone to receive them in the front.”
Feng Yu Heng was the first to stand, leading the way out.
Today, Kang Yi wore a plain Winter coat. Only the collar, cuffs and waist area had some peony-colored flower designs. It appeared elegant but without any aura of celebration. As for Princess Ru Jia, she wore a lake-blue Winter coat, serving as a clever foil that surprised people.
The matriarch and Feng Jin Yuan stood at the front. Upon seeing the princesses get out of the carriage, the matriarch was about to kneel, but Feng Yu Heng, who was behind her, stopped her, quietly saying: “There is no need for such a grand salute for a foreign princess.” The matriarch thought about it a little then straightened her body.
Feng Jin Yuan and Kang Yi were familiar with each other. After exchanging some pleasantries, they were invited into Peony courtyard’s main hall.
Sure enough, Fen Dai had returned with them, and she appeared to be just fine, which allowed Han shi to relax.
Upon entering the hall, Kang Yi did not sit but first went to help the matriarch be seated. She then saluted the matriarch and said: “Kang Yi suddenly came to visit and caused many troubles for elder madam. I hope elder madam will forgive this one.” Beautiful and dignified, she was thorough with her courtesies. The matriarch nodded and quietly praised Kang Yi. Sure enough, a daughter raised by the imperial family was not the same.
Kang Yi saluted then received something from her attendant’s hands and brought it over to the matriarch, “Kang Yi was invited rather abruptly by Lord Feng and did not have much time to prepare a gift. Fortunately, I brought a handkerchief made of our national treasure, moon palace silk that can be given to elder madam. I hope elder madam will enjoy a year of good fortune.”
She brought the item over to the matriarch and originally thought that she would be able to see a bit of pleasant joy in her expression; however, she never thought that the matriarch’s smile, which had been on her face the entire time, would suddenly come crashing down…