Chapter 344 (1/2)

She was curious and took a few steps in that direction. Only when she stood directly under did she find that there were two green birds the size of a pinky finger that had long beaks.

Yin Lan said: “Concubine An calls them emeralds. At first, she just raised them for fun. The people that saw them at most felt that they were a little novel and did not think too much about them. But one day, I saw these two birds fly out of the palace, but they did not return that night. I originally thought that they would never return, but when the sun came out, they had quietly returned to the eaves. If I had not been thinking about it, it would have been hard to have noticed them. As for the fifth prince, he has too many concubines in his palace, but among them, there is indeed a foreign girl that came to visit concubine An. He feels that he owes concubine An. If concubine An makes a request, the fifth prince will definitely agree.”

Yin Lan spoke to this point then stopped. Feng Yu Heng did not ask any further, but staring at the two birds, she began to have some doubts.

If she did make any mistakes, these were hummingbirds. It was a species native to South America. It was the world’s smallest species of bird, but she could not be too certain because, normally speaking, the climate in Da Shun would not be able to support hummingbirds in Da Shun. It was just that they looked like hummingbirds from the outside.

She reached out and moved her finger in a seemingly unconventional manner. When she stopped, she was 80 percent certain of her guess.

This bird was not a normal bird that was raised for fun. She had experimented using her finger earlier and found that it had undergone some special training. This sort of bird was one that excelled at being trained. It had a higher aptitude for learning than dogs, and it could be taught in half the time necessary for a police dog. With the fact that it was a bird, it could fly freely anywhere in the world, and it had a small body, while it had a much larger operating radius. This sort of thing was truly too good for committing crimes.

Feng Yu Heng retracted her gaze. When she turned around, Huang Quan told her: “Concubine An has woken up, and Yin Lan has left. Does young miss feel that something is off with that bird?”

She looked at the two birds once more. This time, one of them picked up a small pebble and flew up. Flying around in circles, it suddenly extended its wings and flew straight up into the sky. After a while, that pebble that had been lifted up fell straight into the well in the middle of the yard. The bird that had not moved also began to imitate this. Lifting up a pebble, it soared into the sky and also tossed it into the well.

“Did you see that?” She curled her lips into a sneer, “How accurate was that!”

Huang Quan also watched carefully. Just as she was about to say something, a palace maid ran over and bowed, saying: “Reporting to county princess, concubine An has woken up and wishes to see you.”

Feng Yu Heng nodded then followed the palace maid into concubine An’s bedroom.

At this time, concubine An had already been tidied up by her servants. In a new set of clothes, she sat on her bed and gently massaged her temples, sighing from time to time.

Feng Yu Heng walked up and bowed with Huang Quan: “A-Heng pays respects to concubine An.” A smile appeared on her face, but her voice was ice-cold without a trace of warmth.

In recent years, concubine An had not participated in a single palace banquet. She had only heard rumors of this county princess Ji An; however, she had never met her. It was her servants that told her that it was county princess Ji An that treated her mental illness with acupuncture. She had no choice but to give her thanks.

“Quickly get up.” She slightly raised her hand, and a palace maid went to help Feng Yu Heng up. She then said: “Be seated.”

After Feng Yu Heng gave her thanks, she calmly sat down. When she raised her head to look at concubine An, she saw an evasiveness in her eyes. She sneered to herself and turned her head. She just happened to see some fruit placed on the table, thus she said: “I came in a rush today, so I did not prepare any gifts for concubine. Concubine, please do not blame me. It would be good for concubine to eat more fruit on a regular basis. Next time, A-Heng will remember to bring some more over. That way, third brother won’t need to trouble himself every day.”

Concubine An trembled. She did not know if she had made a mistake, but it felt as though there was a hidden meaning to what this girl had just said; however, what she had said was reasonable. She could guess but not ask.

Feng Yu Heng saw that concubine An did not speak, thus she smiled and said: “Just now, I was playing with a bird in the courtyard with a servant. Thinking of how concubine has a frail and delicate body, you have done a very good job of raising those birds. Those birds should be capable of flying to any place within 100 li without any problems, right?” As she spoke, she leaned forward and stared straight at concubine An, “Even if they flew up into the sky, they were able to accurately drop a pebble into the well. Based on a hummingbird’s intellect, training them to this degree is not hard, but I wonder where concubine managed to get this sort of amazing bird. This is something that A-Heng is truly interested in.” She spoke while straightening out her body. Leaning back, she spoke as though she was talking about something trivial: “It seems that I will need to come and visit the imperial palace some more in the future. That will keep his Highness Prince Yu from saying that I lack experience.”

Concubine An subconsciously moved back on her bed. Her face had blanched, as it was clear that she had suffered a shock.

The servant at her side did not understand why concubine An would have such a reaction. Simply thinking that she was about to fall ill once more, she quickly said to Feng Yu Heng: “County princess, quickly examine concubine. Don’t let her fall ill once more.”