Chapter 573 – You Touched Me? (1/2)
You Touched Me?
It had to be said that Duan Mu An Guo’s Winter Palace looked magnificent and glorious to people that had never been to Da Shun’s imperial palace, but to Feng Yu Heng, who entered and exited the imperial palace as if it was her kitchen, this was clearly a smaller version of Da Shun’s imperial palace.
Thinking about it, the Duan Mu family’s founding member was extremely familiar with Da Shun’s imperial palace. It was passed down to Duan Mu An Guo’s generation, such that even if he had not been the imperial palace many times, he was still able to clearly remember every detail of the imperial palace.
Feng Yu Heng sneered to herself. Duan Mu An Guo, you have a bold ambition. Just the three northern provinces is not enough. Your appetite really is quite large.
The illusionist group entered the palace through the front then immediately turned left and followed a winding small path. Upon entering the palace, Feng Yu Heng saw Ban Zou dressed up like a guard while holding a spear in his hand. She held in a laugh and lowered her head to continue advancing; however, when she passed by Ban Zou, she forcefully stomped on his foot, succeeding in hearing a grunt from Ban Zou.
She had made use of the Illusory Hall to get into the Winter Palace; however, Ban Zou had used some unknown methods to enter the Winter Palace as a guard. Feng Yu Heng was even more certain of her hidden guard’s abilities.
The illusionists were led to a place called Li Huan Pavilion. This place was apparently behind where the 100 family banquet would be occurring. This was the most convenient place to reach the banquet hall. The woman with the surname Qi said: “Li Huan Pavilion was specially made by lord Duan Mu for our Illusory Hall. It has already been this way for over ten years. To be able to come here today is your good fortune.”
Another middle-aged man also said: “That’s right. Our illusion performance has always been the finale for the 100 family banquet. That’s why you still have time to prepare now. If you want to take a look at the Winter Palace, it is permitted, but limit your range of movement to within 100 paces of Li Huan Pavilion. This is also considered a special treatment that lord Duan Mu has granted us. After you have changed into your performance clothes, you can move as you please.”
The girls heard this and began to cheer. There were even some that gave their thanks to the middle-aged man.
Feng Yu Heng snorted internally, only thinking that there was no such thing as something unconditionally good. For the other side to actually give them this much freedom, there were clearly some ulterior motives.
She then looked at Shen Yu Ning and Zhang Ling Xi and found that the two also had worried expressions. Shen Yu Ning saw her look over, thus she pulled her over and quietly said: “They said that we can take a look at the Winter Palace, but who doesn’t know what sort of ideas they have. I heard the lord Duan Mu’s family’s sons will also frequent these sorts of banquets. For the sons, the thing that they value most is girls, and lord Duan Mu will always be magnanimous in handing them over. Even if the sons do not come, the grandsons will come. Lord Duan Mu himself might even come over. Over the years, it’s hard to say for certain just how many girls have been sent into the Duan Mu family by the Illusory Hall. For him to be able to stay in power for so many years without falling is not without its reasons.”
Feng Yu Heng facepalmed. The knowledge here was too complicated! But it did give her a proper excuse to get separated from the group. She said to the Shen and Zhang girls: “Since we’ve come, either way, there will be an ending. It would be better to wander around a bit. That way we won’t stand out so much if everyone else leaves.”
Zhang Ling Xi faintly sighed and was the first to leave the room, “Let’s go. Xiao Ya is right. Either way, the ending will come. Since we’ve already come, what is the point of arguing.”
Just like this, the three girls also left Li Huan Pavilion then went their separate ways.
Feng Yu Heng saw everyone walk further away, and the closest person to her was 30 paces away. She smiled then quickly walked down a small path.
If she did not guess incorrectly, there should be a small pond if she continued down this path. At this moment, Feng Yu Heng opened up a mental map of Da Shun’s imperial palace then slowly converted it to this Winter Palace. It was just that this small pond would definitely exceed the limit of 100 paces. Feng Yu Heng thought to herself that she did not know if the other girls would be like her and go outside the limit of 100 paces.
If she had not guessed incorrectly, there should be a man-made pond at roughly 150 paces. This pond would be much smaller than the one in Da Shun’s imperial palace, and the difference was that the one in Da Shun had flowing water. During the Winters, it would not freeze over; however, the one in the North was a very thoroughly frozen pond. For such a pond to be frozen would take more than just one day, and it caused everyone that saw it to feel cold.
Feng Yu Heng took a couple more steps forward then passed by some rockery. She suddenly heard a “bang bang” sound enter her ears. It sounded as though someone was working on something heavy, and each strike used a great deal of force.
Puzzled, she looked through some spare pine trees, and she only saw a woman in red clothes. She was holding a pickaxe and was chiseling away at the surface of the ice. Bang, bang, bang, again and again, the sound caused Feng Yu Heng to smirk.
The girl looked to be very slender. Even if it was the Winter time, and everyone was wearing thick Winter coats, this girl was still noticeably in love. It was just that the pickaxe was too heavy, and it was truly too unsuited to her slender frame. Feng Yu Heng watched and felt that this was similar to a little monkey playing with a big hammer. Everytime that she swung it, she would fear that the girl would end up getting flung away or that her arm would break.
She took a few more steps forward and stood at the side of the frozen pond. There was only one-third of the pond between the two. She did not know who this girl was, but to be able to appear in the Winter Palace and to dare to arrogantly chisel away at this ice, it should be some favored concubine.
Looking around, she did not notice any servants accompanying her. It seemed that this was the only girl that was here. She had a very serious expression on her face, and she would carefully take a look after every swing. She would then shake her head in dissatisfaction and continue her work.
Feng Yu Heng simply chose a rock and sat down. Crossing her legs, she rested her cheeks in her hands. She could not really tell how old this girl was, but she felt that she looked to be 17 or 18 years of age; however, she acted as though she was 12 or 13 years of age. She would occasionally wipe away some sweat, and she would look to be over 20 years of age. But she was very pretty, to the point that even Feng Yu Heng would compare her to the late Feng Chen Yu, and she still felt that this girl was a bit better.
She became curious and could not help but ask her: “Hey! What are you doing?”
The girl suddenly tossed the pickaxe. Having been frightened, she quickly looked around. When she finally saw Feng Yu Heng, she patted her chest and exaggeratedly said: “You scared me to death! Are you a person or a ghost?”