Old Cucumbers Need Green Paint
Following this, the hidden guard disappeared in an instant. Fan Tian Man let out a long sigh and said with concern: “Imperial brother, can this matter be done?”
“It must succeed.” Fan Tian He coldly said: “Each of Da Shun’s princes has looked at the throne for many years. Which of them has not looked for a support to rely on. How could the master behind that person’s back be willing to let go of my Gu Shu.”
“But…” Fan Tian Man was still worried, “Didn’t father emperor say that Gu Shu must maintain its current status, and we must not participate in Da Shun’s battle for the imperial throne? How come elder brother has forgotten?”
Fan Tian He reached out and patted her head for a while, “Is this something that you can choose not to participate in so easily? Think about the new report that we have received. Zong Sui has gotten close to Prince Yu, and the person behind Qian Zhou is Prince Xiang, I believe. Now, that general has set his eyes on us, all that remains is Gu Mo. Sooner or later, they will not be able to escape.”
Back in the Feng manor, Feng Jin Yuan was kneeling in front of the matriarch in the matriarch’s bedroom in Shu Ya courtyard. He explained his reasoning to the matriarch: “Mother, the Feng family can’t continue to remain without a head wife. But after looking all over Da Shun, who has a status that can compare with eldest princess Kang Yi? If I take ten thousand steps back, one could be found, but can you not sympathize with son this time? Son and Kang Yi are both happy. Mother, can you not look at this and agree with son’s request?”
The matriarch’s expression was serious. Looking at the son kneeling before her, she could neither curse nor beat him. In the end, it was she who had decided to bring Kang Yi into the manor. The interactions between Kang Yi and Feng Jin Yuan was something that she had seen, and they had filled her heart with joy.
But the events that followed truly caused her to feel regret. She had originally thought of finding an excuse to send Kang Yi back to the posthouse. After the 15th, they would leave the capital as special envoys. With such a great distance between the two countries, Feng Jin Yuan would no longer yearn for her.
But she never thought that the prince of Gu Shu would suddenly come and instigate matters. This caused Feng Jin Yuan to take the initiative to make the situation clear.
“Jin Yuan, you must know that the princess of a foreign country is not someone like Yao shi or Chen shi. Her position is lofty, and she has power. Will you be able to support her in any situation?” The matriarch spoke bitterly: “Moreover, she also has a child. Those are two princesses. How do you want for the other children in the manor to continue living?”
“Mother has been able to interact with Kang Yi for a few days. Could it be that you are still unable to see how dignified, stable and magnanimous she is? Son trusts that she will definitely treat the other children of the manor with just as much love as Ru Jia. She will not allow any of the children to suffer grievances.”
“Is that so?” The matriarch quietly snorted, “The matter of the lanterns today was already a pretty great grievance. What else are you wanting?” Upon mentioning this, she became quite angry. Even Bu Bai Qi was able to bring elder madam Bu out to look at the lights, so why was the son that she had raised only worried about his love life? Kang Yi had not even married into the family, yet she was already so favored. Not to mention the children, even she, as the mother, would end up being forgotten.
Feng Jin Yuan quickly explained: “That was all son’s fault. It is unrelated to Kang Yi. Also, didn’t Kang Yi promise to provide compensation? If a foreign country’s eldest princess said that she would protect them, how grand of a promise is that! Mother!” His expression became serious, as he lowered his voice, adding: “In truth, son is not just considering these things.”
The matriarch gave him a blank look, “Then speak. What are you thinking about?”
Feng Jin Yuan said: “If it were not for the matter with Gu Shu today, son would not have been too invested in this matter. After all, marriage between two countries is a large matter. It would always require the Emperor to agree. But now that Gu Shu has already spoken up, if we allow Qian Zhou and Gu Shu to be joined by a political marriage, that would be equivalent to placing Da Shun in vice between the two. Once the two countries join together, Da Shun would face two dangers at once!”
The matriarch furrowed her brow and suddenly felt that what Feng Jin Yuan had said made a good amount of sense, but she still felt uncertain: “Will the Emperor agree?”
Feng Jin Yuan saw that the matriarch had spat out an agreement, and he became filled with joy, “Mother, if the Emperor agrees to this matter, there will be no need for Da Shun to be worried about a political marriage between two other countries. Son will not mention this matter any further. If the Emperor agrees, mother should understand that son bringing eldest princess Kang Yi into the manor is truly for the sake of removing a great worry for the Emperor!”
The matriarch heard this and actually became moved. She had clearly been opposed to this just earlier; however, she nodded this time: “Yes! You are sharing a burden with the Emperor. You are a person of merit, especially when it comes to such grand matters. Thinking about it, only our standard first rank prime minister’s manor is worthy of the eldest princess of Qian Zhou. Jin Yuan, you have done well.” Saying this, she personally helped Feng Jin Yuan up. She then advised him: “When you go into the palace tomorrow, you must talk to the Emperor properly about this. You must clearly lay out the pros and cons then see what the Emperor thinks. Either way, we will do as his Majesty desires.”
Feng Jin Yuan nodded fervently, his heart soaring with joy.
At the same time in Jin Fu courtyard, Kang Yi sat under a wintersweet tree in the middle of the yard and thought about some things. She did not wear much, and she did not even have a Winter coat on. The servants that had been sent from Tong Sheng pavilion tried to give her one many times, but she had refused each time. In her words, Qian Zhou was covered in snow and ice for the entire year. The Winters in Da Shun were already considered warm.
Ru Jia sat across from her, her arms reaching across the table. Trying to reach Kang Yi, she said: “Mother’s meaning is Gu Shu coming to ask for marriage is something that someone else had ordered?”
Kang YI frowned but did not nod, but she did not shake her head either. Instead, she only quietly said: “Because Qian Zhou and Gu Shu are truly too far apart, there had practically never been any communication. The prince from Gu Shu said that he had seen This one many years ago on the border of Qian Zhou, but how could that be? The border area of Qian Zhou had always been a closely guarded important area. Even if a person from Da Shun were to appear, they would be secretly reported and transferred, much less a person with such distinct features as a person from Gu Shu.”
“Then Fan Tian He was lying?” Ru Jia frowned and asked: “Why would he tell this sort of a lie?”
Kang Yi was also pondering this question. After thinking for a while, she suddenly asked: “Say, him coming to ask for marriage this time, who was the most instigated?”
Ru Jia tilted her head: “Mother is saying… uncle Feng? I heard that Uncle Feng will be going into the palace tomorrow to speak to the Emperor of Da Shun about this marriage.”
Kang Yi nodded, “That’s right. If the prince of Gu Shu did not suddenly act out this play, the Emperor would not agree to this marriage. But now that Gu Shu had taken this step, for the sake of not allowing Qian Zhou and Gu Shu to become united through a political marriage, the Emperor will definitely sanction a marriage between me and your uncle Feng.”
“Then that prince from Gu Shu has come to help us!” Ru Jia was a little puzzled, “Does mother know him from before? Why would he help us? Or perhaps this means… he is one of Prince Xiang’s people?”
Kang Yi smiled bitterly, “Silly child, you don’t understand. How could this be considered help. This is clearly seeing the Feng manor as an abyss of misery, and they’re pushing me into it. The prince of Gu Shu definitely is not aligned with Prince Xiang. In fact, it’s the opposite. I fear that they may be the enemy, and they have prepared for a fight.”
Ru Jia smirked, “Then isn’t that perfect. Either way, mother has already decided to get married to uncle Feng. Ru Jia also likes him a lot. Who cares if he pushes us or not. It will be good if we can accomplish our goals.”
“That’s true.” Kang Yi let out a long sigh, “This one needs to take a look, just how much ability does the humble county princess Ji An have. The person in the background wishes to use county princess Ji An to have This one fall into a trap, and This one will not do as they desire.”
The next day, when Feng Jin Yuan entered the palace to meet with the Emperor, and he just happened to see the prince and princess of Gu Shu greeting the Emperor. The Emperor, as the third party ruler, naturally could not be biased towards his own people, and he could not allow Qian Zhou to be united with Gu Shu through a political marriage. Thus he said: “On this matter, let us hear what eldest princess Kang Yi has to say!”
What could Kang Yi say. That afternoon, she personally entered the palace and met with the Emperor. She wanted to get married to Feng Jin Yuan, and she wanted to represent a promise from Qian Zhou to never betray Da Shun.
The Emperor was very happy, as he personally sanctioned the marriage. He also set the 26th of the first month as the day of their wedding. For Kang Yi, with her status as the eldest princess, getting married was considered the greatest honor for Feng Jin Yuan.
The Emperor spoke up, and Kang Yi was no longer permitted to reside in the Feng manor. Because they would be marrying back into the family, there was naturally no need to pack up their things.
“Prime minister Feng returned to the manor alone. He was smiling so hard that he was practically incapable of closing his lips.” Back in Tong Sheng pavilion, Huang Quan was in the middle of explaining the situation of Feng Yu Heng, “I heard that the Emperor even set a date for the grand wedding. It will be on the 28th. Thinking about it, there is not much time. Perhaps the Feng manor will become much busier.”
Feng Yu Heng was feeding Zi Rui snacks. The chips that she had pulled out of her space caused Zi Rui to feel amazed. He had never eaten such a strange thing before. Feng Yu Heng told him: “After the 15th, you will be returning to Xiao Zhou, right!”
Zi Rui raised her head and asked her: “Wasn’t it said that father’s wedding will be on the 28th? Can’t Zi Rui stay and watch the ceremony?”
Feng Yu Heng looked at him blankly, “What ceremony is there to watch? He himself is disrespectful, so how could he ask his children to be filial.”
Huang Quan also said: “Just leave it to Princess Ru Jia to be filial to him!”
Zi Rui thought a little and felt that his sister was very reasonable, thus he nodded and said: “Then Zi Rui will listen to what elder sister said. This sort of ceremony is fine to not attend.”
“Un. This time, we will have Ban Zou send you off. We absolutely must not allow anything to happen again.” She asked Huang Quan: “Has there been any news from Xu Jing Yuan’s side? How many people from the Chen family have been captured?”
Huang Quan said: “There were not many captured in the capital. Because the other provinces are celebrating the new year, reports have not yet returned. We can only wait for a few more days for the results. Young miss, how about this servant sends young master back to Xiao Zhou this time. If Ban Zou is not here, this servant will truly not be at ease.”
“I can assure you that I will not leave the capital before Ban Zou returns. Is that enough? It’s fine. In the worst case, I can just borrow another person from Xuan Tian Ming.”
Only then did Huang Quan relax, but she did not forget to remind her: “Then young miss must not forget to go borrow people from his Highness… Forget it, this servant will go talk to him about it tomorrow.”
Feng Yu Heng was speechless. Was she so weak that she left her servant feeling uneasy? Huang Quan had clearly looked at her with admiration before the new year, so why had she returned to normal immediately after returning to the manor?
After playing with Zi Rui for a little longer, she had Qing Ling bring the child back to rest. Suddenly, a black shadow flashed past, and Ban Zou stood in front of her.
“After the prince of Gu Shu left the palace, he returned directly to the posthouse. All of his movements have remained within the posthouse. Nothing of note has happened. But before he entered the capital, he had contact with Bu Cong.”
“Bu Cong…” Feng Yu Heng’s eyebrows knitted together. She did have some understanding of Bu Cong, but she also did not really understand him. After all, the memories from the younger times belonged to the body’s original owner. She was unable to uncover too much information. Moreover, the changes in Bu Cong had been extremely large. They were large enough that she almost did not recognize him last time.
“Last time, Bu Cong’s horse nearly injured young miss. It can be seen that this person is lacking in discipline.” Huang Quan did not have a single good impression of Bu Cong, especially since she knew that Bu Cong had once asked for Feng Yu Heng’s hand in marriage. Since then, she found that person to be even more repulsive. “He is just a general, yet he goes to interact with a foreign prince. Could it be that he is going to rebel?”
Feng Yu Heng laughed, “He does not have the ability to rebel. The Xuan family’s country has been around for over 300 years. In the eyes of the citizens, it has already become ingrained in their hearts. Is this something that a humble general like him can uproot?”
Ban Zou picked up on this and said: “Since he is not thinking of leading a rebellion himself, there is someone behind him providing him with power.”
“That’s right.” Feng Yu Heng picked up a chip that Zi Rui did not eat and placed it in her mouth, “The Bu family’s young miss, Bu Ni Shang, was once engaged to the fourth prince. I fear that the fourth prince will not be able to avoid the responsibility for this. Ban Zou, continue to keep an eye on them. To have helped Kang Yi marry into my Feng family, I want to see if the tree that the prince of Gu Shu is leaning on provides good shade to cool off in.”
TN: Title means to pretend to be something you are not.