Thorough Usage of the Pharmacy Space
That group of palace maids was comprised of four people. Each of them held a basket in their hands. They walked quickly and walked along the side of the main road. With their heads lowered, it was clear that they did not want to be noticed by others.
Unfortunately, despite their care, they were still seen by Feng Yu Heng.
The palace maid that was sending her out noticed Feng Yu Heng looking over, thus she also took a look. She then took the initiative to explain: “Those are the servants that take care of concubine An Pin. Thinking about it, it must be his Highness Prince Xiang sending something to An Pin.
“Hm?” Feng Yu Heng was puzzled, “If I have not made a mistake, An Pin should be the fifth prince’s birth mother. Why is Prince Xiang sending her things?”
The palace maid said: “County princess may not know, but ever since that matter happened with his Highness the fifth prince, his Majesty has never gone to see An Pin. Because of this, An Pin became a little deranged, as she began to hate his Highness the fifth prince. Normally, his Highness the fifth prince would send things into the palace, but as long as she heard that they came from him, she would immediately begin to break them. Instead, it has been his Highness the third prince that has been taking care of An Pin over these years. He will occasionally send things like food and clothes to her.”
“Oh.” Feng Yu Heng nodded. She knew about An Pin being a little crazy; however, she did not think that the third prince would do such an act. Xuan Tian Ye was a person that definitely would not do it out of the goodwill in his heart. Where there was no profit, he would not act. What was he taking care of An Pin for?
She turned her gaze over in the direction that the group of palace maids was walking toward. She could not mistake it. In that group of palace maids, there was one person that she recognized. The person that had taught Fen Dai the snow dance, Hong Yun, was among them.
“Concubine An Pin’s personal palace maids are quite beautiful.” She pretended to say this inadvertently. When she looked once more, the group of palace maids had already walked off.
The palace maid at her side told her: “That’s because An Pin, for the sake of regaining his Majesty’s favor, has raised a number of beautiful women in her palace. Not only this, she has them learn that snow dance. Unfortunately, ever since that incident, his Majesty has never gone to the palace again.”
“Did his Majesty not send an imperial physician to examine An Pin’s lunacy?” She asked the palace maid, “How many years has it been, yet there still does not seem to be any improvement?”
The palace maid said: “Imperial physicians were naturally invited, but his Majesty is not interested in this matter, so how could the imperial physicians treat it seriously. They are merely going through the motions.”
“So it’s like that.” Feng Yu Heng pondered for a while until they reached the palace’s gates when she finally said: “Then when I come at a later date, I will go over and take a look at her!”
The palace maid smiled and said: “County princess really is compassionate.”
Whether or not she was a Bodhisattva, Feng Yu Heng did not know. She just felt a desire to go and check on something that she had been skeptical of the entire time. It seemed that things were about to develop in a way for the truth to be revealed.
Xuan Tian Ming’s carriage was waiting in front of the palace’s gates, and Feng Yu Heng stepped toward it. Before she could climb in, she heard a voice from behind: “County princess, please wait!”
She was startled and turned around. There, she saw a group of palace servants carrying a number of large boxes out of the palace. At the lead was a granny that took care of the Empress, Chun Lan. Upon seeing that Feng Yu Heng had stopped, she quickly chased over and said with a smile: “Greetings county princess! This old servant has an order from her Highness the Empress to send a dowry to the Feng manor.”
Only then did Feng Yu Heng remember that there was talk about the dowry being brought in with the Cheng shi sisters marrying into the Feng manor.
She nodded, “That’s fine. Just come along with me.”
The dowry of the Cheng shi sisters could not be considered a grand amount, but it definitely could not be considered little. There were a total of 16 red wooden boxes. All of them were completely filled. Following behind Feng Yu Heng’s carriage, it looked quite magnificent.
Because someone had gone to the Feng manor ahead of them to report, when they arrived, Feng Jin Yuan and the Feng matriarch led everyone to wait in the front yard.
The Feng family now had a head wife, two new concubines and three lower concubines. Speaking of, even though the head wife was considered the formal and legal head wife, her dowry was still in Qian Zhou. It had not yet been brought over. An shi, Han shi and Jin Zhen had even less of a dignified air. Even the late Chen shi was promoted from concubine to head wife, so they did not even go through the motions.
That was why, the Feng family had only ever enjoyed the scene of a daughter-in-law bringing her dowry into the manor, aside from the time Feng Jin Yuan married Yao shi. Now that the Cheng shi sisters’ dowries were carried from the palace to the Feng manor, the matriarch felt a bit emotional.
Granny Chun Lan had the 16 red boxes placed inside the Feng manor then said to the matriarch: “Her Highness the Empress said that her Highness’ elder brother passed away early, leaving behind these two sisters. If it were not for hearing that the Feng family’s new head wife was too lacking when it came to educating children, she truly would have been reluctant to send her own nieces. She hopes that Prime minister Feng will take good care of them as a sign of care for her Highness.”
Feng Jin Yuan quickly said: “Would granny please tell her Highness that this official will definitely take good care of the Cheng family’s sisters.”
The matriarch also expressed herself: “The Feng family definitely will not mistreat them.”
Granny Chun Lan nodded to them before expressing that she could rest easy and report to the Empress.
After she left, Cheng Jun Man walked forward and said to her personal servant: “Take out the supplements and medicine from the dowry and send them to mother Han in Yu Lan courtyard.” She then turned around to say to Feng Jin Yuan: “Husband, sister Han is currently pregnant. Any supplements naturally must be sent to her. Of course, although supplements are good, when it comes to what she eats, it naturally should be left to the doctors to decide.”
Feng Jin Yuan nodded then repeatedly praised, saying: “You having a generous heart is my Feng family’s good fortune.”
Jun Mei also took a couple steps forward, arriving before the matriarch. Bowing, she said: “The supplements have been given to sister Han. As for the other things… this concubine heard elder madam say that husband spent a great deal of money on the wedding and for furnishings for madam, basically depleting the communal funds. Since us sisters have entered the Feng manor, this place is also our home. If the family suffers any hardships, we must naturally help out. That’s why the other things in these boxes will be given to elder madam to help refill the communal funds!”
Cheng Jun Mei’s words caused Kang Yi’s face to become flustered. She had already lost a great deal of face to Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng over the past two days. Who knew that she would be humiliated by two concubines. She truly felt that she had no face left.
Feng Yu Heng, who had returned along with the dowries, added: “When a woman marries into her husband’s family, without a dowry to follow, it is truly quite shameful. Her Highness the Empress sympathizes with the two concubine mothers and refilled the Feng family’s communal funds, relieving us of an urgent problem.”
Kang Yi endured the anger that she felt, saying: “The dowry being added to the communal funds is a result of younger sister being generous, but with the two younger sisters entering the manor, it would be best to look in the boxes to see if there is anything that can be used to save on buying more things.”
She was looking for polite things to say, but who knew that the matriarch would become gloomier and snort then glare at Kang Yi.
Cheng Jun Man said: “Many thanks madam for your kind thoughts. Us sisters are just concubines and do not have many needs. The manor already provides enough in terms of food and clothes. There is no need for anything else to supplement us. The things that we have decided to give to the manor will be given to the manor.”
“Since that is the case, it was me that said too much.” Kang Yi lost even more face and decided to just shut her mouth.
The matriarch looked at Feng Jin Yuan then said: “With new people entering the manor, you should accompany them. You should stay at Jin Fu courtyard tonight.” This was the first time that the matriarch so clearly made a statement on Feng Jin Yuan’s private life, as she spoke very directly. Kang Yi’s heart felt extremely dejected, as she felt that she nearly could not breathe.
She was the head wife, and she had been at the manor for three days and two nights, yet she had not even spent a night at her husband’s side. Han shi finally did not need him at her side, yet two concubines had come. She glanced at Feng Jin Yuan, her eyes containing a trace of grief.
Feng Jin Yuan also yearned for Kang Yi, but when he thought about it a little more, the Cheng shi sisters were sent by the Empress! He had already ignored them the previous night, and the dowry had already arrived at their manor. If he continued to ignore them, it would be improper. Thus he could only let Kang Yi down. Avoiding her gaze, he said to the matriarch: “Son will remember.”
That night, Feng Jin Yuan stayed in Jin Fu courtyard, consummating his marriage with Cheng Jun Man.
However, he did not know that his daughter, Feng Chen Yu, sat in her room with a resentful expression.
Xing’er was at her side and carefully asked: “Is eldest young miss worried for eldest princess? Don’t worry. A concubine, in the end, is a concubine. The eldest princess is master’s formal and legal wife. Her position is safe. Moreover, those Cheng shi sisters are just daughters of a concubine. Even if they were raised in the palace from a young age, what of it? With their status as a daughter of a concubine, it is already quite good that they can be the concubine of a prime minister.”
Who knew that this consolation was worse than if nothing was said. Feng Chen Yu’s gloominess and anger became even more pronounced, causing Xing’er to not know where she had made a mistake.
“That’s right! In the end, they are daughters of a concubine!” Feng Chen Yu finally spoke; however, she said: “This is the fate of a daughter of a concubine. They are unable to make their own decisions. Even if they are her Highness the Empress’ own nieces, they are nothing more than chess pieces in her hand. They can simply be sent anywhere they are needed. In the past dynasties, even if one was an imperial princess, as long as they were not born in the main palace, they could not avoid the fate of being part of a political marriage. This is a daughter of a concubine! And I… am also the daughter of a concubine.”
“Eldest young miss…”
“It’s fine.” Chen Yu hid the anger and gloominess that had appeared on her face; however, a coldness appeared in its place, “One’s fate must be changed using one’s own power. I definitely will not allow myself to be tied down by the status of a daughter of a concubine. Just wait and see! The position of Feng family’s daughter of the first wife will sooner or later be returned to me.”
Feng Chen Yu was gnashing her teeth and thinking about her own plans. Meanwhile, in Tong Sheng pavilion, Feng Yu Heng was in her pharmacy space conducting an experiment.
She brought some snow from the yard into her space and placed it in a glass bowl.
During the day, she had asked for ten Tianshan snow lotuses. She was thinking that she could raise them inside her space. Not only could the space automatically refill its supplies, it would also take care of things automatically. There was no need to worry about the shelf life of anything that was placed inside. It was as though time had stopped in her space.
She had a bold thought. If the snow that she brought in could remain in the same state, she could raise snow lotus in her space. Although she already had something like snow lotus in her space, those were dried. They could not even be mentioned in the same breath as freshly picked snow lotus.
The more Feng Yu Heng thought, the more joyful she became. If she did not know that the thousand-year frozen ice of Qian Zhou could preserve them, she really would have thought about going to Qian Zhou herself to get some snow.
Carefully placing the bowl of snow on the counter, she decided to wait for three days. If it had not melted after three days, it meant that it was possible.
When Feng Yu Heng came out of the space, she was a bit excited. She even began to think that the space’s functions were not limited to just this. If someone that was on the verge of death was moved to the space, would it be like her food that did not go bad, and the injuries would not get worse?
She was a little excited from thinking about these things. She was even thinking about whether or not she should get some lab rats to test it. Suddenly, Ban Zou’s voice came from somewhere, “Stay in the room and don’t come out! There are assassins!”