Chapter 586 (1/2)

The Frightening Bai Fu Rong

That afternoon, Xuan Tian Ming sent out two hidden guards along with a small group of soldiers to escort the bearded man and the other person along with Duan Mu Cong’s corpse back to Song Zhou.

Feng Yu Heng went to check on Fu Ya and found that she was still unconscious; however, there was nothing too seriously wrong with her. Her body was just weakened by excessive fatigue and fear. She would be better after a period of rest. She just did not know if the Fu family couple was still alive. This matter was the reason she felt guilty toward them. When it came time for her to enter Song Zhou, she would definitely search carefully.

Of the three northern provinces, Guan Zhou was the entrance, Song Zhou was the heart, and Jiang Zhou was closest to Qian Zhou while also being the true border. Taking Guan Zhou was easy. To get into Song Zhou, however, would not be as easy.

After dinner, Xuan Tian Ming gathered the troops and began to discuss the coming operation. Feng Yu Heng also participated. In regards to imperial daughter Ji An taking part in the army’s discussions, Da Shun’s soldiers did not voice any objections. This was not entirely because she was the general of the Divine Intent Army, nor was it because she had been conferred the Hou Yi Bow by the Emperor. As a person grows in power so too will their influence.* In truth, Feng Yu Heng had already become a mythical existence to the army; moreover, she had also killed Duan Mu Cong today. This was a scene that was clearly seen by the entire army.

Feng Yu Heng remained a mythical existence to the entirety of Da Shun’s army. With her at Xuan Tian Ming’s side, it gave everyone present at the strategy meeting a feeling of pride.

But she could not participate for very long. After the forward force entered Guan Zhou, the trailing group also entered the city. This group included Wang Chuan and Huang Quan, who had successfully caught up with Qian Li’s army along with Bai Fu Rong, who had been acting as her body double.

When Feng Yu Heng exited the meeting hall, Wang Chuan and Huang Quan both rushed over. Wang Chuan was relatively calm; however, Huang Quan could not control her emotions and hugged Feng Yu Heng. She was so sorrowful that tears began to stream down her face.

Feng Yu Heng helplessly patted her back, saying: “If you don’t let me go, you’ll strangle me to death.”

Huang Quan stomped her foot before letting go, but she still said: “If young miss still did not appear, this servant would have had to commit suicide in front of his Highness.”

Wang Chuan helplessly shook her head, but she also said: “Young miss’ movements this time were truly too dangerous. If we did not see young miss here, we were originally planning to think of a way to get into the city to try and ask around.”

Feng Yu Heng told the two: “It wasn’t as dangerous as you two think. Moreover, Ban Zou also came. With him here, I can be protected.”

Huang Quan snorted coldly, saying: “That brat at least knows to rush over here from the capital. It seems that young miss did not waste her time doting on him, but I saw him going to take a look at that Fu Ya earlier. Is that a mission assigned to him by young miss?”

Feng Yu Heng was slightly startled. Only then did she remember that she had indeed seen Ban Zou when she had gone to check on Fu Ya, but she did not leave Ban Zou with this mission. Who knew why that guy would be so interested.

Seeing that Feng Yu Heng did not say anything, Huang Quan wanted to continue asking; however, she was cut off by Wang Chuan: “Let’s not talk about that stuff first. Young miss, there is something that this servant has been thinking about this entire time.”

The three spoke while walking toward the inner courtyard of the prefectural office. After the women in the manor received Xuan Tian Ming’s promise to not pursue Zhao Tian Qi’s guilt, they finally calmed down completely. They took the initiative to clean up the inner courtyard, opening up some main rooms for Feng Yu Heng and the others to rest. When they were passing by courtyards and through halls, Wang Chuan stopped and pointed at a room in a courtyard, saying in a small voice: “The Bai family’s young miss is staying there. She came from the camp with us. Ever since his Highness’ army met up with Qian Li, when we saw the Bai family’s young miss, we felt that something was not quite right. Normally speaking, this is someone that we knew back in the capital. The Bai family’s young miss was beautiful, but it was not a beauty that came as a result of makeup. I have scarcely ever seen her with any powder. Even during major holidays, it would be at most some light makeup. But when we met up this time, she was covered in thick makeup, and she had a thick layer of red lipstick on, and she said that it looks very good.”

Huang Quan nodded, also saying: “We didn’t notice where it looked good. We just thought that it was weird, and it seemed like she was a different person. She is completely different from the previous Bai family’s young miss.”

Wang Chuan thought a bit then added: “Perhaps this makeup is for the sake of hiding something because this servant saw her coughing up blood one night.”

Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brow tightly. Bai Fu Rong using heavy amounts of makeup, coughing up blood and the handkerchief handed to her by Qing Le acted as constant reminders to her that something was definitely wrong. She originally wanted to bring this up with Xuan Tian Ming when they met up, but they ended up meeting on the battlefield. After that, she found that there was nothing off about Xuan Tian Ming, thus the matter was delayed. Now that Wang Chuan brought it up, she thought about it then simply went toward Bai Fu Rong’s room.

The courtyard was guarded by soldiers. After all, this was Guan Zhou, which had served as a staging ground for Duan Mu family for many years. Even if Xuan Tian Ming’s army had successfully taken it, there was no way to guarantee that a crisis would not suddenly occur.

Seeing that Feng Yu Heng came over, the soldiers saluted. Feng Yu Heng asked one of them: “Has the person resting inside ever come out?”

The soldier shook his head, “Replying to imperial daughter, no. Aside from adjutant Bai, who had come by earlier, there was nobody else to have come by this courtyard.”