Borrow an Identity
Pay respects to imperial concubine Yun?
The palace maid thought that if he truly could go and pay respects, she would not be in such a troubled spot. Imperial concubine, oh imperial concubine, you willfully left the palace; however, you never expected that his Highness the ninth prince and imperial daughter Ji An would send a child over, right? If this was anyone else, it would be fine if Winter Moon Palace did not grant them entrance, but this child had to be imperial daughter Ji An’s younger brother, and it was his Highness the ninth prince himself that gave the order to send him here. Not only this, he said that they would not be allowed out until they returned from Qian Zhou.
Heavens! The palace maid looked at the sky and sighed. Return from Qian Zhou, that would need to be counted in years, right? Was this not just waiting for it to be exposed?
Feng Zi Rui saw that the expression on the palace maid’s face was constantly changing and was very puzzled, “Won’t you bring me to see imperial concubine? What are you standing there frozen for?”
Ying Cao was also puzzled, “Wasn’t it said that the palace is very disciplined? Why does it seem to be lazy and strange?” The earlier eunuch was already not like a eunuch, so why was it that this palace maid also did not seem like a palace maid? In the past, the slave merchant had told her that once someone purchased her, that person would be her god. If her master was in danger, even if she had to put her own life on the line, she would need to block a sword for her master. Ying Cao had managed to figure out the relation between master and servant with great difficulty; however, it had begun to collapse after entering the imperial palace.
How exactly should one be a servant? She was still young. In the past, she had not interacted with anyone else aside from being beaten and cursed by the slave merchant?
For a while, the three looked at each other, and the atmosphere was quite strange.
After a while, it was the palace maid that managed to react; however, she told Feng Zi Rui: “Imperial concubine has already gone to rest at this time. How about paying respects tomorrow. This servant will arrange a place for young master to stay, is that alright?”
Feng Zi Rui looked up at the sky, and a trace of confusion appeared in his heart. He had been brought out of the military camp after noon. Apparently, a hidden guard had pressed on a pressure point to keep him unconscious. When he woke up, the sky was already dark. Having hurried along for an entire night, they finally entered the capital. Now, it was not even time for lunch, so what was imperial concubine Yun resting for? Would this be considered dozing off after waking up or an afternoon nap?
“Let’s go!” The palace maid did not want to explain too much and copied Zhang Yuan, holding the child’s hand, she advanced forward.
Finally, Feng Zi Rui and Ying Cao were brought to a guest room. The palace maid that welcomed them told him: “The bedroom inside will be for young master. The bed outside will be for the maidservant. Just sleep there for now.” She then closed the door with a “thunk.”
Ying Cao trembled with fear and carefully asked Zi Rui: “Young master, we shouldn’t have been locked in, right?”
Zi Rui shook his head: “That’s impossible. They just closed the door. They did not lock it from the outside. As long as we reach out and push the door, it will open. Moreover, do you know who imperial concubine Yun is?” Seeing Ying Cao shake her head, he said: “She is my brother-in-law’s imperial concubine mother. Right, you’ve seen him. It’s the ninth prince that wears the gold mask. That’s why we’re here. Our safety is guaranteed, but…”
“But what?” Ying Cao was a little nervous. After all, this was her first time coming into the palace. Although the eunuch and palace maid did not really look like servants, the imperial palace would naturally exude a pressure that was as though the sky was pressing down on her chest. This caused Ying Cao to feel as though she had returned to her days living under the slave merchant.
Zi Rui wandered around the bedroom a couple times then said: “But if we want to go out, it will be a bit difficult.”
Ying Cao ran over to him and quietly asked: “Young master still wants to run away?”
Zi Rui nodded, “Un! Elder sister and them did not keep their word. They said that they would bring me to the North. As a result, they used this method to send me back. I am no longer a child. How could I endure such great shame? I must think of a way to get out of the palace. If they won’t bring me to the North, I will go on my own!”
“How is it on your own? Young master, do you not want Ying Cao?” She was a litte anxious, “I don’t care. Either way, Ying Cao will definitely follow little elder brother. Although I feel that the imperial palace is definitely very safe, if little elder brother wants to escape, Ying Cao will escape with you! Ying Cao still needs to act as a sword for little elder brother!”
Zi Rui looked at Ying Cao and immediately seemed to understand why her elder sister and brother-in-law had sent him back. He now had a feeling of wanting to get rid of Ying Cao. He felt that this girl would definitely drag him down.
The two young children sat in the bedroom and looked at each other. In the end, Zi Rui made a decision: “Let’s eat!”
“Young miss, let’s eat!” Huang Quan brought in the steamed buns that had been distributed by the boatmen. After taking a look at them, she cast them to the side and said with disdain: “Let’s eat what we brought.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded and suddenly recalled something. She quickly received the pastry that Huang Quan had brought out and quickly stood up: “We should send food to the young master and young madam. This is our duty as servants. We need to perform this play out in full. Do not allow anyone to see through it.” While she spoke, she began to walk out.
Huang Quan quickly followed. When the two exited the room, they clearly looked like servants.
Feng Yu Heng held the pastry in her hand, and Huang Quan raised her hand to knock on the door to Wang Chuan’s room, “This servant has come to deliver pastries to young master and young madam.” While she spoke, a river breeze just happened to blow past, and the fragrance of covered up the nasty smell of the disgusting steamed buns.
Who knew that these pastries would cause someone to become jealous.
Just as Wang Chuan said “come in” from inside the room, a voice came from the side. It was an angry voice that said: “Hey! The ones holding the pastry, hold on!”
Feng Yu Heng and Huang Quan turned their heads in unison then saw a person coming over. The maidservant in a pale-blue dress had an arrogant expression. It was the local magistrate’s maidservant. Following behind the maidservant was the magistrate that had a bitter expression.
Huang Quan stepped forward and moved smoothly to stand in front of Feng Yu Heng then glared at the maidservant and impolitely said: “Who are you calling to?”
The maidservant raised an eyebrow: “You are holding pastries, so it’s naturally you.”
Huang Quan was someone that worked for a prince. Even if she was sent to Feng Yu Heng, she was still one of the imperial daughter’s people. Even back when Feng Jin Yuan was the prime minister, he did not dare show her any ugly expressions. How could she possibly endure such a look from the maidservant of a local magistrate? She immediately lost it, “If you don’t know how to speak properly like a human, just shut your fucking mouth! Don’t believe that wearing a shoddy dress will make you seem noble. It’s not even a properly embroidered dress, yet you are not ashamed to show it off. If you want to be a maidservant, act as a proper maidservant. Remember your own identity. If you don’t want to be a maidservant, put in a little more effort and have your man bring you into the family. There’s obviously no hope of taking the main house, but you will be able to become a concubine. That way, you won’t come out without any proper standing and act arrogant. If you have no shame, that’s fine, but don’t implicate the man behind you into losing face as well.”
Huang Quan covered her face and cursed until the maidservant was dazed. It was not just her that was dazed, as even the local magistrate behind her was also dazed. He was given a start. He had been an official for many years, and he still had at least this bit of judgment ability. His maidservant was arrogant because she felt that he could support her, but it seemed that the opposing maidservant did not have the same sort of relation. Thinking like this, one problem became very clear: The person inside the private room was a big deal.
Upon thinking of this, he quickly stepped forward and asked Huang Quan: “May I ask this girl, where are you coming from?”
Huang Quan rolled her eyes at him, “The capital.”
The magistrate trembled and fiercely glared at his own maidservant then immediately apologized, saying: “It’s a misunderstanding. It’s all a misunderstanding. Would you two please not take offense.”
The maidservant behind him also managed to react. Although she was a little dissatisfied, she could only keep her mouth shut.
Normally speaking, the matter should have been resolved at this point, but Feng Yu Heng thought quickly and asked: “You called out to us for no reason, is something the matter?”
The magistrate just wanted to say that it was nothing; however, the maidservant rushed to say: “I saw that the pastries in your hands were quite good. Our madam was wanting to eat some, and we wanted to… buy some from you.”
“Huh?” Huang Quan was practically certain that she had misheard. One could be shameless in this manner too?
Feng Yu Heng, however, felt that this was a very good opportunity, thus she quickly interjected: “This is something that us servant can decide. Would the two of you come in and discuss this with our master!” After saying this, she did not wait for the magistrate to stop her. Reaching out, she pushed the door open and loudly said: “Young master, young madam, there are two people outside that want to buy our pastries.”
Once this was said, the magistrate could no longer take it back. He could only bring the maidservant inside. Looking once more, he found that the two people inside were very young, and he could not help but begin to ponder once more. This was most likely to be the son of an official in the capital, right?
Wang Chaun and Yuan Fei saw Feng Yu Heng wink a few times at them upon entering, and the two immediately understood, as they heard Wang Chuan say: “These are just some pastries. Just give them some. What’s the need to talk about buying them. But…” She looked at the magistrate, “Giving away some pastries is nothing major, but, in any case, we need to know who we are giving them away to.”
Before the magistrate could even speak, the maidservant behind him rushed to say: “This is the local magistrate of He Tian Prefecture, Lord Lu.” In her mind, a standard sixth rank magistrate was no longer a low-leveled official. Moreover, He Tian Prefecture was closest to the capital, thus it would be a little more important than the other provinces. With the two people across from her being so young, how could they be any sort of proper masters. They were most likely the children of a wealthy family. Upon seeing an official, should they not kneel immediately.
However, she did not know that aside from those two, the other four were all related in some way to the Emperor. A lowly local magistrate was nothing in their eyes.
Wang Chuan smiled and glanced at Yuan Fei, “So it was a magistrate from He Tian Prefecture.” She then moved around this subject and suddenly said: “Right before coming out, father said that the jars of apricot wine that was buried 20 years ago would be brought out soon, and he wanted us to return quickly before the new year.”
Once this was said, Yuan Fei’s mind immediately went to work, as he looked at the magistrate.
He was a hidden guard and had a set of martial skills. Although a large amount had been covered up by his robes, the aura was still there. This glance caused the magistrate to feel his heart turn cold, as he broke out into a cold sweat. Immediately following this, he heard the young man say in a heavy voice: “My father is prime minister, Fung Qing.”