Chapter 314 - A Visit from the Assistant Minister, Hua Xiangfeng (2/2)

This meant that they wanted to pick another young woman from a n.o.ble family to back King Ning. The Empress Dowager had really put in a lot of effort for King Ning.

Feng Yuxuan’s expression grew solemn. Then, he sighed and said, “I do not have any objections if the Empress Dowager has such thoughts. When I am better, I will go to the Empress Dowager’s Cining Palace to thank her. She not only has to help King Ning, she thought of us as well. This is touching.”

While his words sounded nice, it did not sound like they were close. Fortunately, the two both knew what the Empress Dowager was planning and they did not care much about the familial relations.h.i.+p between them and the Empress Dowager. One of them would speak and the other would listen. As for what happened after, that was something spoken of in private. They just had to maintain a veneer of civility and respect.

Feng Yulei listened quietly and drank his tea. Then, he poured Feng Yuxuan a cup of tea and filled his own cup as well. He sighed and said, “Big Brother, you should go to Cining Palace to thank the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager went to Father especially when she found out that you were hurt and asked Father to send the royal physician over. Father refused since you were not badly injured. However, he was still worried about you, so he sent me here to take a look.”

“Oh, when I am better, I will visit the Empress Dowager to thank her.” Feng Yuxuan smiled blandly and looked at the chess play before him. He looked as if he did not hear Feng Yulei. There was a gust of wind and the scent of flowers washed over the place. It was the most fragrant time of Spring and the flowering trees exuded a faint fragrance.

The two of them chatted for a while before Feng Yulei left, saying that he had something on. Feng Yuxuan stood up and sent him off. Then, he turned around and sat down again. He waved his hand and everyone left. The smile on his lips grew cold and rather sinister.

“Your Highness, don’t worry. Since King Yan came to feel you out today, you just have to be more careful in the future and others will not find out.” The tightly shut doors behind him opened. Qin Yufeng emerged with a faint smile.

“Yufeng, did he come especially for King Ning’s matters or was he reminding me that the Empress Dowager is suspicious of me?” There was a flash of darkness in Feng Yuxuan’s eyes and a dark murderous intent filled the courtyard.

“King Yan came to sound you out and to remind you to be careful of the Empress Dowager. King Ning is already in the capital.” Qin Yufeng said with a smile as Feng Yulei sat down.

“What? He came to the capital secretly?” Feng Yuxuan’s expression changed drastically.

“Is there anything he did not dare to do? As long as the Empress Dowager finds him a consort from a n.o.ble family, he would not have come to the capital without permission. With the Empress Dowager’s help, who would check even if they knew that he was hiding in the Empress Dowager’s Cining Palace?” Qin Yufeng picked up a chess piece and placed it on the board. The deadlock situation came alive once more.

“Your Highness, we do not need to do anything now. We just need to stir this pool of murky waters.” Another chess piece landed on the board. This time, the piece that Qin Yufeng picked up was the opposite of the one he put down earlier. The moment he placed this chess piece on the board, the path on the board was immediately broken. The clear path that could be seen earlier disappeared.

…

Mo Xuetong slept deeply at night. When she woke up, it was already noon.

Before Mo Xuetong could oversleep, Mo Lan had already smartly gotten someone to inform Xu Yan that Mo Xuetong had been startled yesterday and had fallen ill.

Xu Yan hurriedly sent servants to visit and they found Mo Xuetong lying in bed with a pale face. They did not wake her up. They ordered Mo Xuetong’s servants to take good care of her and returned to Xu Yan.

Mo Huawen came home during lunch and wanted to visit Mo Xuetong when he heard that she was ill. However, before he could get up, he heard that the a.s.sistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Hua Xiangfeng was here. He spoke hurriedly to Xu Yan before leaving the courtyard.

Hua Xiangfeng was already waiting in the study. He smiled and bowed when he saw Mo Huawen. The two were of similar positions and were both highly regarded by the Emperor. As such, they met regularly and were familiar with each other. However, Mo Huawen did not know why Hua Xiangfeng was here. A servant served them tea and left.

They were both court officials and there were some things that a servant should not hear. As such, he left obediently.

“Sir Mo, I heard that your first wife is the eldest legal daughter of the Fu General Manor. Is this her?” Hua Xiangfeng walked around the study and saw a painting of a beauty in spring hanging on the wall.

Mo Huawen took a look and smiled. He said, “This is a painting done by my wife during her free time. There are no other meanings and she is not the eldest legal daughter of the Luo Manor.” Xu Yan had herself painted sleeping in spring just a few days earlier. The woman in the painting resembled her and also Luo Xia. There was some meaning to the painting, but Mo Huawen would not tell this to an outsider.

He was rather confused and did not know why Hua Xiangfeng would ask about Luo Xia. Hua Xiangfeng would not do anything without a concrete reason.

“Oh, I thought this was your first wife.” Hua Xiangfeng smiled and sat down. Then, he looked at Mo Huawen and said, “I found someone outside the city gates a few days ago who said they knew your deceased wife. They also said that they were a servant in her household.”

How would a mere servant in the General Manor know Luo Xia? Furthermore, they had mentioned Luo Xia especially. Mo Huawen looked at Hua Xiangfeng in confusion. His eyes darkened and he frowned, waiting to hear what came next. The people of the court would not mention past history for no reason. Furthermore, he and Hua Xiangfeng were not extremely close but he had come to talk about Luo Xia…

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