You Want This Imperial Daughter to Call You Sister-in-Law?
Normally speaking, a newborn child would be a bit yellow, and it would be hard to tell if their skin was light or dark, but if the skin color was too dark, some clues could still be seen.
Feng Jin Yuan was currently staring at the newborn baby boy in the hands of the midwife. The more he looked, the more he frowned. When Feng Yu Heng came out, he was even more direct with asking her: “This is the child that Han shi gave birth to?”
Feng Yu Heng laughed, “What is it, do you not even recognize your own son?”
Feng Jin Yuan waved his hand, “That’s not what I mean. I am saying, why is this child so dark?”
As for whether the child was light- or dark-skinned, Feng Yu Heng had already prepared herself mentally. In fact, she had prepared herself before this child was even born.
During the severe Winter, Han shi was extremely audacious and went to make use of a seed. It’s easy to imagine that boss Yue usually uses a large amount of white makeup. Under that makeup, however, was darker skin. It was just that he usually applied a thick layer of makeup. Even when he got off the stage, he would not completely remove his makeup. Even in his daily life, he was accustomed to wearing a thick layer of makeup. Because he was an actor, people would not think that it was particularly odd. Because he always kept a mask on, Han shi had no clue what sort of person boss Yue was. Whether he was dark-skinned or light-skinned, or whether he was loyal or a traitor.
Of course, he was not too dark-skinned. He was just darker than the average person, but Feng Jin Yuan was a very light-skinned person. He was the typical light-skinned scholar. Han shi was also a beauty with white skin with some pink showing through. It had to be said that if the two combined, unless there was a genetic mutation, the chances of a dark-skinned baby were less than one in one million.
But the world was unpredictable, and an actor got in the middle.
Back when Xiang Rong had fallen into the water, Feng Yu Heng had sent people to investigate. That actor’s original face could not escape Ban Zou’s eyes. That was why she waited and gambled. She gambled on the 50 percent chance that the child looked likes its father. She wanted to deliver a blow at Feng Jin Yuan’s foundation.
Currently, everything had gone as she had desired. The child was born with very dark skin. Although he was quite adorable, he did not resemble Feng Jin Yuan in the slightest. Feng Jin Yuan looked at this child with an extremely tangled feeling. After asking Feng Yu Heng for the reason, Feng Yu Heng did not reply properly. Instead, she also became puzzled with him: “That’s right, it really is odd. Father and concubine mother are both light-skinned people. How is it that younger brother is so dark?” While saying this, she glanced at An shi then said: “This truly is odd. Daughter has studied medicine from a young age and has never heard of two light-skinned parents having a dark-skinned child.”
An shi was ready to take the hint and understood that Feng Yu Heng was creating an opportunity for her. She immediately went to provide help: “It’s not just dark. Look at the child’s eyes. Why are they so small? Husband and younger sister both have large eyes, yet this child was born with proper phoenix eyes. It really is odd.”
With An shi saying this, everyone turned to look at the child’s eyes. Looking like this, the child really did have phoenix eyes. His eyes were long, and they slanted up at the outside extending from the outer corner of the eyes to the temple. It was indeed quite beautiful, but it did not resemble Feng Jin Yuan or Han shi.
Fen Dai was a little panicked and did not understand why she felt panicked. She basically subconsciously rushed forward and pushed aside the crowd, pulling the child into her own embrace and protecting him. At the same time, she loudly said: “Nobody is allowed to touch my younger brother! What sort of nonsense are you saying? This child is still so young. Can the color of its skin and appearance be seen? An shi, do not confuse people otherwise father will not forgive you!”
It seemed that An shi was a little afraid and took a couple steps back, looking at Feng Jin Yuan: “It was husband that said that the child was born with dark skin!”
Feng Jin Yuan snorted and looked at the child then at Fen Dai. Just as he was about to say something, Fen Dai said: “Daughter has already sent someone to inform the Li Palace. His Highness the fifth prince will most likely send the congratulatory gifts tomorrow morning.”
Whether or not congratulatory gifts were sent was not something that Feng Jin Yuan cared too much about, but he understood what Fen Dai’s words meant. They were reminding him that with the support of the fifth prince, as long as Feng Fen Dai acknowledged this child, the Feng family would need to acknowledge it. Right now, he was a person without any status. He could not compare to the future princess of a prince.
Feng Jin Yuan’s heart turned cold, but he still said: “Fen Dai is right. This child has just been born. What can truly be seen.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and said: “Indeed, but there is still something that I want to ask father on how to handle.”
“Hm?” Feng Jin Yuan furrowed his brow. Intuition told him that anything that Feng Yu Heng brought up would definitely not be anything good. But she had already said it in front of so many people, thus he had no choice but to ask, thus he could only ask: “What is it?”
Feng Yu Heng pointed at the child in Fen Dai’s embrace and said: “Earlier, the midwife and doctor both mentioned it. Concubine mother Han did not give birth to this child after a full term, but if we count the months starting from the end of last year, it has indeed been a full term.”
Feng Jin Yuan was stunned and finally recalled what the midwife had said about not being full term. At that time, he was only worried about whether or not the child could successfully be delivered. He had forgotten about this matter. Now that Feng Yu Heng mentioned it, and he thought about it, he quickly said: “What do you mean?”
Feng Yu Heng shrugged: “I do not have any personal meaning. It’s just that when I arrived at the manor today, I saw a person sneaking looks inside. After catching and questioning him, that person admitted to being a doctor for Han shi. Not only was he responsible for looking after Han shi, but he also gave concubine mother Han a birth-inducing medicine a few days ago…”
“Shut your mouth!” Fen Dai suddenly screamed. She was even more emotional than before. If it was not for her holding a child, perhaps she would have dove at Feng Yu Heng. Even if she held a child, it was not enough to occupy her feet. In her anger, she raised her feet and began to kick at Feng Yu Heng.
This time, Feng Jin Yuan was smart and raised a hand to stop Fen Dai. Glaring at her, he angrily said: “What are you doing? Where is your decency!”
Fen Dai became angry and loudly said: “Father, did you not hear her make slanderous accusations? What’s wrong with me kicking her? I am the official princess of a prince, and she is also the official princess of a prince. Thinking about it from the princes’ side, in the future, she will need to call me elder sister-in-law. What’s wrong with me kicking her?”
At this moment, Feng Jin Yuan wanted to go to the Li Palace to ask that fifth prince, what exactly did he see in this girl? And he insisted on taking her in. Not only did he get rid of all of the women in his palace, he was even willing to promise the position of official princess. Why exactly was this?
Everyone looked at Fen Dai as though they were looking at some sort of idiot. Cheng Jun Mei began to giggle for a while. She then suddenly stopped and coldly said: “Fourth young miss, don’t forget that your so-called younger sister-in-law is a first-rank imperial daughter that was conferred by his Majesty. SHe has lands and a manor. That was something obtained from her own efforts and achievements. Where did you find the courage to kick her?”
Fen Dai’s face turned white. Of course, she understood this reasoning, but understanding was just that. With the situation being forced down this path, if she did not become strong and say this, who knew how things would progress. With things as they were, no matter how dumb she was, she was also able to see the problems with Han shi’s child, but she could not say anything. She absolutely could not say anything. She had to find a chance to ask Han shi before she could make her next plan.
Holding the child, Fen Dai began to tremble. Who knew if it was from anger or fear. She did not dare look at Feng Yu Heng, dodging and hiding. There seemed to be a bit of a guilty conscience that was noted by Feng Jin Yuan.
Feng Yu Heng licked her lips and had a look as though it was unrelated to her. She then spoke once more; however, it was to complain about Fen Dai not knowing what was good for her: “This imperial daughter simply wanted to vent a little for concubine mother Han. After all, someone dared to give a drug to a female in the Feng family. This is not something to mess around with. It must be investigated clearly. Otherwise, Han shi was harmed yesterday, and the one that ends up being harmed tomorrow will be the child that fourth sister is holding.”
Cheng Jun Man immediately picked up on this topic: “That’s right, this is something that the Feng family definitely cannot ignore.” Saying this, she turned slightly and said to her maidservant: “Go and bring the person that the second young miss caught to the government office to file a report. Just say that this person poisoned a female in the Feng family.”
That servant did not even look at Feng Jin Yuan. After complying, she left. Feng Jin Yuan did not want to make a scene of it, but Cheng Jun Man had spoken. He knew that he would not be able to stop them. Because he felt that there was most likely something wrong, and it was nothing good, he felt irritated. The more he looked at this child, the more annoyed he felt. He simply decided to leave. But just as he raised his foot, and before it could land, his left wrist was suddenly grabbed as though it had been put in a vice. It was ice-cold and emotionless, and it was so tight that he felt as though his wrist would fall off.
Feng Jin Yuan was given a fright and suddenly looked back. He saw Feng Yu Heng glaring at him and saying: “Father, I saved the child for you and saved your woman’s life. Let’s go to the study to speak. We need to clear up the bargaining chip that was used today.”
Feng Jin Yuan recalled that matter from earlier. He wanted to refuse, but Feng Yu Heng had already begun dragging him out. With mid-Autumn approaching, the air was a little cool. A cold sweat appeared on his brow, and with the wind blowing, his head began to hurt.
The new manor was very small. Feng Jin Yuan’s study was not as dignified as before. The area was now less than half as big, and there was only one room.
This was the first time that Feng Yu Heng had come but the guiding servant did not be slow in the slightest. Bringing them all the way over to the study, they reached out and pushed the door open, bringing Feng Yu Heng and Feng Jin Yuan inside. Only then did they close the door. Huang Quan had her arms crossed in front of her. The servant took one look at her then left the room with their head down.
Only after entering the room did Feng Yu Heng let go of Feng Jin Yuan’s wrist. She then went to sit in a chair and said: “Since you will not provide me with an explanation, allow me to guess. Father, that elder princess of Qian Zhou, Kang Yi, deliberately planned to marry into the Feng manor. It was not something as simple as just conspiring secretly to place the third prince on the throne and regain the three northernmost provinces, right?”
Feng Jin Yuan trembled and did not speak.
Feng Yu Heng continued: “Kang Yi marrying on her own was not enough, and she also gave you another girl, and this girl was not raised in the manor. This is equivalent to Qian Zhou having some insurance. If anything happened to Kang Yi, at least there would still be Xiao Jing. If something happened to Xiao Jing, Kang Yi would also be able to know about it beforehand. Thinking like this, Xiao Jing is definitely not a normal maidservant. But let’s not talk about her true background. Father, I will just ask you. Do you… have something that Qian Zhou wants?”