Chapter 843 – Hijacking on the Road (1/2)
Hijacking on the Road
With this lobbying, nearly 80 percent of the maternal families of the imperial concubines in the palace had become part of the eighth prince’s faction in just a few short days. They were fully willing to support the eighth prince and to do all that they could to suppress the ninth prince and Imperial Concubine Yun. In the blink of an eye, the eighth prince, who had looked down and out, was back to full power once more. He was not careless about this matter. He was not worried about losing the money, as he had brought back more money from various areas. The profits from his businesses over the years had allowed him to have more than what was in the Sheng Palace. Especially in the South, his wealth was even more spectacular.
With money in hand, even if Xuan Tian Mo lay in his palace to recover from his injuries, he still had quite a bit of momentum. He just did not believe it. What part of the throne could be not competed for? He, Xuan Tian Mo, did not have anything that he was worse than old ninth in. If there really was anything, it would be the favor that their mothers received. But this was also to his benefit. He wanted to ask the people of the world. Do you want an emperor that relied on his own efforts to work for the world or one that relied on the favor that their mother received to become the emperor?
On the 26th of the first month, a female guard stood in front of Imperial Concubine Yun and expressionlessly told her about the happenings inside the capital. When the matter of the eighth prince contacting the maternal families of the other imperial concubines was brought up, Imperial Concubine Yun shrugged and smiled: “What were those old guys doing years earlier? They’ve finally thought to express their dissatisfaction of their daughters’ treatment? But it is indeed like that. From a moral point of view, I stole their husband. We are not in the right.”
“Oh! Imperial concubine, you must not think like this.” One of the old grannies at Imperial Concubine Yun’s side heard this and quickly said: “The competition for favor in the imperial palace is like this. Morals are completely unrelated to this. This old servant has been in the palace for a long time and has seen all manner of things. No matter how much favor you receive, you have not harmed anyone. But before you arrived, there were people that died and got hurt for the sake of being favored. Although our emperor has nine sons, it was not as if there were no daughters. Unfortunately, not a single one was born. They all died in the womb. What was the reason? Of course, it was the battle for favor. That’s why you must not feel sorry for anyone. As this old one sees it, it was imperial concubine that saved them. At the very least, there were not many that got hurt or died during the last 20 years in the inner palace.”
The head palace maid, Su Yu, also nodded along, saying: “That’s right. Imperial concubine, the inner palace does not have anything resembling morals. It’s the same as a battlefield. The strongest and fittest will survive.”
“Is that so.” Imperial Concubine Yun faintly asked but did not hope that anyone would truly respond. She understood the reasoning, but she did not like this imperial palace. That was why she found everything to be unlikeable, and she was unable to agree with the way of survival in the palace. “Su Yu, go to the Board of Astronomy. Last time, Jian Zheng did not finish telling the story of the twin stars!”
Su Yu facepalmed. The Board of Astronomy was a department of the palace that was both sacred and secretive. Even the Emperor valued it greatly, but when it came to Imperial Concubine Yun, it was a place that was responsible for telling stories. There was nothing that Su Yu could do and could only grit her teeth to go and invite them. As expected, they ended up listening to Jian Zheng ramble on once more.
But Jian Zheng did not dare to ramble on like this in front of Imperial Concubine Yun, and he obediently stood there to tell the story of the twin stars, telling Imperial Concubine Yun: “The star of the phoenix is bright and dazzling. Although it has already left the capital, it is still very lucky. There is no need for imperial concubine to worry. As for the other star of the twin stars, it is also blooming. The two stars are battling, and the main star will certainly win!”
In the Southwest, Feng Yu Heng’s group had already reached Yun Province’s Kun Zhou. Continuing forward would be Hai Zhou and Yu Zhou. They would quickly be approaching Ji An Prefecture’s border.
Because they had been delayed in Shu Zhou for a few days, they had been continuing their travels overnight and only stopped when the horses needed rest. They would also frequently sleep in their carriages at night and continue their journey upon waking up the next day.
On this day, they arrived in a small village. Wang Chuan asked Feng Yu Heng: “Young Miss, how about we find a peasant’s household and borrow it for the night?! There is a limit to the conditions in the village, but I think that taking a bath and wiping down should be fine.”
Feng Yu Heng also lifted the curtain to take a look outside; however, she was not too optimistic about it. “This village is too impoverished.” There were, at most, 20 households, and they were all crudely made houses that had two rooms at best. Even if they borrowed them, where would they receive so many people?
Wang Chuan looked for a while and felt that her earlier suggestion might not work. She could only helplessly say: “It seems that tonight will be spent in the carriage again. It’s fine for us servants, but it’s Young Miss and Third Young Miss that will suffer.”
Feng Yu Heng waved her hand, “There’s nothing to it. Thinking of when we had gone to fight in Qian Zhou, the conditions were worse than they are now.”
Xiang Rong also said: “Right, right, I am not that delicate. I am able to endure any hardship.” In truth, she already felt very blessed to be able to come with her second sister. No matter what sort of place she lived in or what sort of days she lived, it truly did not matter.
Wang Chuan nodded and did not say anything else. She just called for the carriage to stop then brought Huang Quan to take a look around. When she returned, she reported to Feng Yu Heng: “Young Miss, let’s just stop in the middle of the village. Wang Lin will go and greet a few of the families. They don’t have any room in their houses to rest, but they can lend us their stoves. In any case, we will be able to make a reasonable dinner.”
This was a good idea, as Feng Yu Heng said: “Take note of what our carriages have. Or just use some money to buy some stuff from the villagers. It’s fine to give a bit more. It looks like they are quite poor. With us eating their food, we should at least allow them to buy some more food.”