A Surprising Upgrade
Xuan Tian Yan was startled. One million taels? This was a bit much, but it was not impossible to accept. This Feng Jin Yuan was always someone that loved money. Upon noticing that he was a fool, he wanted to smack him on the head, but he decided to accept this deal. After all, he had already prepared himself for getting scammed. Whose fault was it that he, Xuan Tian Yan, was a fool for so many years; however, he ended up falling into that girl, Feng Fen Dai’s hands.
Xuan Tian Yan smiled bitterly and nodded, “That’s fine.”
Feng Jin Yuan was startled, and it seemed that he did not think that this fifth prince would actually accept so easily. He thought that he would need to say a little more, but he ended up nodding in agreement. Feng Jin Yuan felt a little regrettable and suddenly realized that he had previously placed hope in Chen Yu followed by Xiang Rong. Who knew that the true cash cow of the family would actually be the arrogant fourth daughter. If he knew that this would be the case earlier, he should have said two million taels! Or three million, five million, or perhaps… Feng Jin Yuan’s train of thought immediately became derailed. For some reason, he suddenly thought of how Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tian Ming had extorted the two people from Qian Zhou of five million taels of gold. He could not help but beat his chest and stamp his feet, as this thought nearly caused his intestines to turn green.
Xuan Tian Yan had been absurd for half of his life; however, he was no an idiot. Feng Jin Yuan’s sudden change in mind was noticed by him, and a look of disdain appeared on his face.
“Lord Feng.” He quietly said: “This prince came to the manor to mourn and was willing to negotiate with you today because of the fourth young miss’ face. To be a proper person, one must know when to be satisfied because you must understand that times are different now. You are no longer the prime minister, and this prince is still a prince. If I forcefully decided to take a daughter of a concubine from the Feng family, a fifth-ranked official like you is unworthy of this prince.”
Xuan Tian Yan said this with a cold expression, and every single word stabbed at Feng Jin Yuan’s heart, causing a cold sweat to break out all over his body. The excitement that had been aroused by his greed was put out by a bucket of cold water, as waves of fear replaced it.
That’s right, how could he have forgotten. A prime minister that was no longer the prime minister, but a prince would always remain a prince. He was just a lowly fifth-ranked official. He was an official that could not attend court. Who gave him the courage to negotiate with a prince? Who was it that gave him the courage to try and extort a prince?
After Feng Jin Yuan realized this error, he immediately corrected his resolve and gave Xuan Tian Yan a deep salute, saying: “Your Highness is mistaken. This official is rejoicing for my youngest daughter. Not to hide it from your Highness, but this official’s fourth daughter has caused a lot of ruckus over this engagement. Just a few days ago, before her grandmother passed away, she had asked her grandmother to support the marriage with your Highness. This official dotes on that daughter and wanted to support her, but this official was foolish in the past and canceled the engagement. Fearing that your Highness would remember this matter, I did not dare bring it up. Now that your Highness has come here today to bring it up, this official is truly too happy for Fen Dai!”
Feng Jin Yuan’s words were partially true and partially false, but Xuan Tian Yan’s heart was truly filled with thoughts of Fen Dai, thus he felt a little emotional from hearing this. He sighed and waved his hand: “It’s a matter of the past. It’s fine if it’s not mentioned again. There were also times when this prince had let down the second young miss, hence why the matters of this engagement have been delayed for so long. Lord Feng, our matter will be agreed upon like this. This prince will have someone send the one million taels in banknotes to the manor later along with the new engagement note. I hope that lord Feng will also prepare an engagement note for the fourth young miss. Also…” He stood up and solemnly said: “This prince is asking to marry the fourth young miss as the- official princess.”
“What?” Feng Jin Yuan was practically assumed that he had heard wrong. The official princess? But… “But Fen Dai is the daughter of a concubine!” He was completely unable to understand what Xuan Tian Yan was thinking. She was the daughter of a concubine of a fifth-ranked official, yet he actually wanted to bring her in as the official princess?
But Xuan Tian Yan had a serious look on his face and nodded, telling him: “That’s right, the official princess. Lord Feng, there is no need to be surprised. The official princess of my Li Palace passed away two months ago. This is no secret. When the engagement note has been prepared, this prince will naturally go into the palace to report about this matter. I trust that father Emperor will agree to it.”
Feng Jin Yuan did not know what he should say. He felt both excited and nervous. He was excited that the Feng family would finally have a prince to rely on after suffering all kinds of blows. Although the fifth prince did not have the same weight as the ninth prince, he was still a prince. It would still be much better than a normal family. Moreover, the daughter of a concubine had become the official princess of a prince. This was truly something that was honorable no matter where it was said.
Seeing the emotion on his face, Xuan Tian Yan reminded him: “Lord Feng, I heard that the manor’s third young miss has become engaged to the Bu family’s general?”
Feng Jin Yuan had only been focused on being and happy and did not think much of it at all, only nodding and saying: “That’s right, my third daughter, Feng Xiang Rong has been engaged to the Bu family’s son of the first wife, Bu Cong.”
Xuan Tian Yan’s expression became fierce, and his eyes became cold. Using a commanding tone, he said: “Cancel that engagement! Immediately!”
Hm? Feng Jin Yuan was startled. He was getting married to Fen Dai, so why did he want for Xiang Rong to have her engagement canceled? Could it be that he wanted both of them?
Seeing that Feng Jin Yuan did not manage to react, Xuan Tian Yan helplessly reminded him: “Think of what happened last night.”
Feng Jin Yuan’s mind had been completely filled with the thoughts of the joy and glory that Fen Dai had brought to him, and he had completely forgotten about what had just happened the previous night. Having been reminded, he finally recalled what the hidden guard had told him about the chaos from the previous night. Thinking like this, his face immediately turned white. He was no longer able to worry about Xuan Tian Yan, who was still sitting there, as he rushed to the door of the study and said to the male servant outside: “Go quickly. Go to the Bu family and cancel the third young miss’ engagement!”
The servant was stunned then said: “But master, there was news this morning that the Bu family was no longer in the capital. The Bu manor is already empty.”
Feng Jin Yuan inhaled sharply. Bu Cong had truly acted quickly. He quickly then said: “That’s fine. Go to the government office to report and say that my Feng family is canceling this engagement. Then have people spread this news and stick up posters around the capital. Make sure that everyone knows about this.”
The servant was quite amazing. After complying, he trotted off to take care of the matter.
Feng Jin Yuan turned around and saluted Xuan Tian Yan. This time, he was very sincere and said: “Many thanks to your Highness for the reminder.”
The Feng manor had once again agreed to an engagement between the fifth prince and Fen Dai. This news made it to Yu Lan courtyard after Xuan Tian Yan left the Feng family. After Han shi heard this, she was so happy that she could not bring her lips together. She quickly ran over to Fen Dai’s bed and told her about this good news.
Fen Dai was awake at this time, but the injury from being kicked by Feng Jin Yuan was a little severe. For a while, she was unable to sit up. Hearing that the fifth prince had come to discuss a marriage once more, and her father had finally agreed, the girl cried from being overwhelmed with emotion. When she cried, her chest hurt, but the pain could not compare to the emotions that she felt.
This was not the end of it, as the servant that had come to report the news said: “Fourth young miss, this is just one of the pieces of good news. There another piece of news that is even better!”
Fen Dai asked while sobbing: “What other piece of news could be even better?”
The servant was on smiling very brightly, “The even better news is that his Highness the fifth prince has promised fourth young miss the position of official princess!”
“Wha-what?” Fen Dai practically believed that something had gone wrong with her ears. She expended all of the energy in her body to grab the servant, anxiously asking: “What did you say? Say it one more time!”
The servant was also extremely excited, immediately saying in a loud voice: “His Highness the fifth prince will be taking fourth young miss into the Li Palace as the official princess!”
“Official princess?” Fen Dai was completely dazed, and Han shi was also dazed. The two were stunned for a long time until the servant in the room began to feel afraid. She feared that her extreme joy would lead to sorrow, but she finally heard Fen Dai let out a heaven-shaking laugh: “Hahaha!”
The servant was so scared that she immediately covered her mouth and anxiously said: “You cannot laugh! Fourth young miss, you must not laugh! Right now, the manor is in mourning. Young miss may have a matter to celebrate, but you must not anger master because of this matter.”
Han shi also advised her: “Right, you must calm down this time. Remember, you are the official princess of the Li Palace. You will be of the same standing as second young miss in the future. That’s why you must calm down. You must have the bearing that the official princess of a prince should have. You must ruin this plan because of a moment of anger.”
Fen Dai quickly put away her smile and nodded seriously. She then pulled the maidservant’s hand away, saying in a serious tone: “Concubine mother, don’t worry. This time, I will definitely not allow for anything to go wrong. I just need to endure, right? I can endure. It’s just four years. After those four years, even father will need to bow and salute when greeting me.”
Han shi nodded, “That’s right. Fourth young miss, you are the Feng family’s hope. You must have a bright future.”
Just as they were saying this, A servant quickly ran in from the outside. She also had a joyous expression on her face.
Fen Dai was filled with joy because of the earlier news, but she still remembered the warning that she had just received and reminded the servant: “You must not smile.”
The servant realized that she had made a misstep and quickly hid her smile then said: “Young miss, master sent people to bring you some things. They are all supplements. They are said to be good for your body.”
Just as she said this, a group of servants bustled in with all kinds of things in their hands. One pack at a time, they all smelled of medicine and they were all high-tier supplements. One of the servants said to Fen Dai: “Master is very concerned about fourth young miss’ injuries, thus he personally brought out the precious medicine that had been hidden away in the manor for fourth young miss. He hopes that fourth young miss can recover quickly. Also, master said that fourth young miss has definitely heard about the joyous news, but he can only trouble fourth young miss to endure a few more days because of the funeral. Once the elder madam’s mourning period has concluded, there will definitely be a celebration for fourth young miss.”
Fen Dai was smiling very brightly on the inside, but she still kept a straight face. Han shi was also constantly giving her looks from the side. She understood what Han shi meant and did her best to keep calm. Nodding toward the servants that had brought the medicine, she said: “Many thanks to father for the concern. I am already fine and will definitely be up to send grandmother’s coffin out on the day after tomorrow.”
The servant nodded and put down the thing in her hand, saying: “His Highness has also left word that he will be bringing the betrothal gifts on the mourning period. Fourth young miss, recover well. You must personally receive these gifts.”
Fen Dai and Han shi looked at each other, and they saw looks of sheer ecstasy in the eyes of the other.
At this time in the county princess’ manor, Feng Yu Heng was wondering about the embroidery that Xiang Rong had brought back and was holding in her hand. Puzzled, she asked Wang Chuan: “What has she embroidered?”
Wang Chuan looked at it for a while then said: “It’s most likely a mandarin duck.” After looking a little more, she added: “IT’s uglier than a duck!”
Qing Yu was also at the manor today and was taking care of the new tea leaves that had just been brought back. After hearing this, she craned her neck to look. While looking, she laughed: “I heard that this was something that third young miss had forced the fourth prince to embroider. For a grown man to embroider something this well, it’s quite good.”
As the group was chatting and laughing, Huang Quan quickly ran in from the outside with an unhappy look, saying: “His Highness the fifth prince came to discuss a marriage once more, but lord Feng actually agreed to it this time. Young miss, don’t you think that he is too lacking in resolve?”
Feng Yu Heng had prepared herself mentally for this a long time ago. When had Feng Jin Yuan ever had resolve? She then muttered to herself: “Maternal grandfather has come back to the capital for so long. He cannot live in the county princess’ manor forever…”