This Grand Aunty Is Tracking All of the Debts
Feng Yu Heng looked in the direction that she pointed. Only by looking very carefully did could she see two odd things squeezed under the eaves of the roof.
She was curious and took a few steps in that direction. Only when she stood directly under did she find that there were two green birds the size of a pinky finger that had long beaks.
Yin Lan said: “Concubine An calls them emeralds. At first, she just raised them for fun. The people that saw them at most felt that they were a little novel and did not think too much about them. But one day, I saw these two birds fly out of the palace, but they did not return that night. I originally thought that they would never return, but when the sun came out, they had quietly returned to the eaves. If I had not been thinking about it, it would have been hard to have noticed them. As for the fifth prince, he has too many concubines in his palace, but among them, there is indeed a foreign girl that came to visit concubine An. He feels that he owes concubine An. If concubine An makes a request, the fifth prince will definitely agree.”
Yin Lan spoke to this point then stopped. Feng Yu Heng did not ask any further, but staring at the two birds, she began to have some doubts.
If she did make any mistakes, these were hummingbirds. It was a species native to South America. It was the world’s smallest species of bird, but she could not be too certain because, normally speaking, the climate in Da Shun would not be able to support hummingbirds in Da Shun. It was just that they looked like hummingbirds from the outside.
She reached out and moved her finger in a seemingly unconventional manner. When she stopped, she was 80 percent certain of her guess.
This bird was not a normal bird that was raised for fun. She had experimented using her finger earlier and found that it had undergone some special training. This sort of bird was one that excelled at being trained. It had a higher aptitude for learning than dogs, and it could be taught in half the time necessary for a police dog. With the fact that it was a bird, it could fly freely anywhere in the world, and it had a small body, while it had a much larger operating radius. This sort of thing was truly too good for committing crimes.
Feng Yu Heng retracted her gaze. When she turned around, Huang Quan told her: “Concubine An has woken up, and Yin Lan has left. Does young miss feel that something is off with that bird?”
She looked at the two birds once more. This time, one of them picked up a small pebble and flew up. Flying around in circles, it suddenly extended its wings and flew straight up into the sky. After a while, that pebble that had been lifted up fell straight into the well in the middle of the yard. The bird that had not moved also began to imitate this. Lifting up a pebble, it soared into the sky and also tossed it into the well.
“Did you see that?” She curled her lips into a sneer, “How accurate was that!”
Huang Quan also watched carefully. Just as she was about to say something, a palace maid ran over and bowed, saying: “Reporting to county princess, concubine An has woken up and wishes to see you.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded then followed the palace maid into concubine An’s bedroom.
At this time, concubine An had already been tidied up by her servants. In a new set of clothes, she sat on her bed and gently massaged her temples, sighing from time to time.
Feng Yu Heng walked up and bowed with Huang Quan: “A-Heng pays respects to concubine An.” A smile appeared on her face, but her voice was ice-cold without a trace of warmth.
In recent years, concubine An had not participated in a single palace banquet. She had only heard rumors of this county princess Ji An; however, she had never met her. It was her servants that told her that it was county princess Ji An that treated her mental illness with acupuncture. She had no choice but to give her thanks.
“Quickly get up.” She slightly raised her hand, and a palace maid went to help Feng Yu Heng up. She then said: “Be seated.”
After Feng Yu Heng gave her thanks, she calmly sat down. When she raised her head to look at concubine An, she saw an evasiveness in her eyes. She sneered to herself and turned her head. She just happened to see some fruit placed on the table, thus she said: “I came in a rush today, so I did not prepare any gifts for concubine. Concubine, please do not blame me. It would be good for concubine to eat more fruit on a regular basis. Next time, A-Heng will remember to bring some more over. That way, third brother won’t need to trouble himself every day.”
Concubine An trembled. She did not know if she had made a mistake, but it felt as though there was a hidden meaning to what this girl had just said; however, what she had said was reasonable. She could guess but not ask.
Feng Yu Heng saw that concubine An did not speak, thus she smiled and said: “Just now, I was playing with a bird in the courtyard with a servant. Thinking of how concubine has a frail and delicate body, you have done a very good job of raising those birds. Those birds should be capable of flying to any place within 100 li without any problems, right?” As she spoke, she leaned forward and stared straight at concubine An, “Even if they flew up into the sky, they were able to accurately drop a pebble into the well. Based on a hummingbird’s intellect, training them to this degree is not hard, but I wonder where concubine managed to get this sort of amazing bird. This is something that A-Heng is truly interested in.” She spoke while straightening out her body. Leaning back, she spoke as though she was talking about something trivial: “It seems that I will need to come and visit the imperial palace some more in the future. That will keep his Highness Prince Yu from saying that I lack experience.”
Concubine An subconsciously moved back on her bed. Her face had blanched, as it was clear that she had suffered a shock.
The servant at her side did not understand why concubine An would have such a reaction. Simply thinking that she was about to fall ill once more, she quickly said to Feng Yu Heng: “County princess, quickly examine concubine. Don’t let her fall ill once more.”
Feng Yu Heng very frankly stood up and sat next to concubine An. she grabbed her wrist and began to feel her pulse. Even if concubine An struggled desperately, she was unable to break free.
“She’s fine. Perhaps the charcoal being burned is causing the room to become too hot. Because of that concubine’s mind is a little muddled. Remove half of the charcoal. Concubine will recover better with a cooler room.
In truth, there was not much charcoal being burned in this room. The room would become too cold if half was removed, but Feng Yu Heng was a doctor. The people of the palace might not know anything else, but they did know that county princess Ji An was very famous. Anything that she said was bound to be right, thus they quickly went to remove charcoal.
Concubine An did not know if she was cold or if she was frightened, but she could not stop trembling. She tried a few times to pull her wrist from Feng Yu Heng’s grasp, but she never succeeded. She became a little panicked and asked: “What are you doing?”
Feng Yu Heng finally let go but said: “I am not doing anything. I just wanted to remind concubine that the room should not be too warm, otherwise, it can cause your mind to become muddled. I already heard that his Highness the fifth prince has a concubine from the Southern border in his manor. The people from the Southern border are most adept at studying odd poisons. Thinking about it, his Highness the fifth prince must have also learned quite a bit about it, right?”
Concubine An’s heart shook. With Feng Yu Heng talking about such a topic, it would be pointless for her to feign ignorance. Everyone said that county princess Ji An was fierce. Now that she had seen her, sure enough, she was worthy of that evaluation.
Concubine An finally recovered from her horror. Receiving the gaze that Feng Yu Heng cast at her, she finally spoke after a long while: “It’s not good for someone to be too smart.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and said: “Being too stupid is even worse. Things have never been resolved just by avoiding them. When the storm arrives, I can only face it head-on. If there is no path, then I will build on. That’s just how I am. I don’t have any considerations, and I don’t leave myself any ways out. I really must see, in the end, will I live, or will they die!” She stood up and coldly stared at concubine An, “I don’t care where you got those emerald hummingbirds, nor do I care who trained those birds to become like this, and I care even less how that person managed to convince you to do what you did, nor how you convinced his Highness the fifth prince to take action. When I do things, I don’t look at the process. I only look at the result. 30 thousand members of the Northwest Army were poisoned. I spent many days and many nights to save them. After that, in my exhaustion, I slept for a few days and a few nights. This is a debt that I am keeping track of and will collect!”
Concubine An was extremely shocked. She absolutely never thought that Feng Yu Heng would be so direct in tearing at her face. She was accustomed to speaking indirectly and waiting for her chance. After the time had passed, she would begin to scheme. The fights between women were always kept away from the open.
But this county princess Ji An had placed everything in the open. There was no place for her to hide and no place to escape to.
At her side, her palace maid was extremely frightened. Although she did not understand, she could guess the situation. Concubine An must have somehow offended county princess Ji An. County princess Ji An had come to get revenge, right?
Feng Yu Heng looked at concubine An for a while before raising her small face then looking at the palace maid to the side. She then said: “You can go tell the Emperor or the Empress about what this county princess said to your concubine today. But it would be best if you thought it through carefully. Without mentioning whether or not the Emperor and Empress are fond of concubine An, even if they were fond of her, you must think about who the Northwestern Army belongs to! To have taken action against his Highness the ninth prince, concubine An, you are courting death!”
She fiercely threw out those final words then turned and left. Huang Quan also glared fiercely at concubine An then quickly followed Feng Yu Heng. When the two exited the palace, Huang Quan finally said: “It turned out the poison was placed by concubine An. I truly never would have thought. But why would she want to poison the army?”
Feng Yu Heng told her: “When I went into the palace with his Highness the ninth prince yesterday, I heard one of the palace maids say that concubine An has blamed her loss of favor over the years on the fifth prince, but the third prince is treating her extremely well. From time to time, he would send food and clothes to Qing An Palace. Before the end of the year, we asked about the women in the fifth prince’s manor and heard that there was a beauty from the Southern border. At that time, I became suspicious, but I was without evidence. After seeing those two birds, what else could still remain unclear?”
Huang Quan angrily gritted her teeth, as some veins bulged from her forehead, “It seems that the third prince treating concubine An well was because of her birds. Our Highness’ military camp is so well protected, so if he wanted to do anything like this, he had to use this sort of strange idea. Normally, people that raised hawks and vultures were in the majority, but those things were too big. Thinking along those lines, if it was the two emerald hummingbirds that concubine An had, they really would not be easily discovered.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled bitterly. But of course, two small birds flying high in the sky, how much effort would need to be expended by the soldiers on the ground to see them?
“How does young miss plan to deal with concubine An?” Huang Quan pondered a little then said: “Also the fifth prince.”
Feng Yu Heng shrugged: “There is no need for me to deal with them. Those two will end up killing each other. Just wait and see. If Hong Yun wishes for me to save her life, she will definitely take action. Let’s treat it as watching a play. Let’s see how the mother and son will kill each other.”
The two chatted while walking towards the imperial palace’s gates. As they passed through the gate and walked towards the carriage, suddenly, it seemed as though a wild gust of wind came straight at them from the front.
Huang Quan immediately appeared in front of Feng Yu Heng; however, she heard Feng Yu Heng say: “When old friends meet, why is there always such a hostile atmosphere?”