Chapter 624 (1/2)
First Shock After Returning to the Capital
Who knew how Lu Yao thought it through. She knew that Feng Yu Heng had returned to the capital, and she knew that it was possible that Feng Yu Heng would visit the Feng residence; however, she believed that with her status as fiancee of the Yao family and if she lowered her stature and came to “apologize,” even that imperial daughter Ji An would not completely tear away her face.
But she never thought that Feng Yu Heng would actually have this sort of attitude towards her upon appearing.
Seeing a girl in a pink dress quickly walk through the crowd, Lu Yao’s lips began to twitch slightly. Feng Yu Heng’s movements created a breeze. Even if she wore a long dress, she was not able to take very large steps. But with her stature, the onlookers felt as though the air around her was freezing. The air of the early Autumn has begun to freeze.
The sorrow in Xiang Rong’s heart reached its apex upon seeing Feng Yu Heng’s arrival. Trotting a couple steps, she dove toward her and called out with tears in her eyes: “Second sister.”
Feng Yu Heng sighed internally and reached out to pat Xiang Rong, “Don’t be afraid. Second sister has come back.” She then turned her gaze to Lu Yao, who was frozen in place and asked in confusion: “Second young miss of the prime minister’s manor, why do you not kneel upon seeing this imperial daughter?”
A cold sweat appeared all over Lu Yao’s body. Quickly kneeling on the ground, she shouted: “This humble girl, Lu Yao, greets imperial daughter Ji An!”
The surrounding citizens also reacted, kneeling and shouting loudly: “Greetings to imperial daughter Ji An.”
Feng Yu Heng did not even look at those unruly people. Dragging along Xiang Rong, she walked over to Lu Yao and looked down to ask her: “This imperial daughter’s question, did you hear it?”
Lu Yao was startled and finally recalled that Feng Yu Heng had just asked “what exactly were you thinking.” She thought to herself for a while before saying: “This humble girl was thinking of giv… giving financial assistance.” She found it a little hard to continue. Earlier, she had said that she was giving Xiang Rong a gift. It felt as though there was a bit of a charity meaning behind it. But now that she was before Feng Yu Heng, she truly felt guilty.
Feng Yu Heng was puzzled and asked Xiang Rong: “Was the spending money left by second sister not enough?”
Xiang Rong shook her head, “It’s enough. The majority of it still has not been spent at this moment.”
“Is concubine mother An’s embroidery shop lacking an embroiderer? Have you helped embroider there before?”
“No.” Xiang Rong shook her head, “The embroiderers from the shop were all brought from Jiang Nan. Their skills are the best. Without comparing with the embroiderers in the palace, they can be considered among the best in the capital. My skills cannot be compared to those embroiderers, and the family doesn’t let me show my face in public. That’s why I’ve never done anything with the shop. This time, it was young miss Lu that said that it had to be me that embroidered it; otherwise, she would make it so our shop could not continue to remain open in the capital. There was nothing that I could do and could only accept the job.”
Feng Yu Heng had truly heard the funniest joke in the world, “This imperial daughter’s younger sister opened a shop, and whether or not it can remain open will depend on what the second young miss of the prime minister’s manor said. Who was it that gave you this power?”
Lu Yao repeatedly waved her hand: “Not at all, not at all. I never said such a thing. I really never said it!”
Xiang Rong, however, pointed at her maidservant and said: “That day, the shopkeeper of the embroidery shop brought this maidservant to the manor and personally said it before me.”
Lu Yao did not say anything and slapped the maidservant: “You really are bold! Who was it that allowed you to speak like that?”
The servant had a look of sorrow on her face. When she looked at Lu Yao, however, she understood that her young miss was wanting to push her away. Gritting her teeth, she kowtowed toward Xiang Rong: “Third young miss, spare my life. It was this servant that spoke nonsense. It’s really unrelated to our young miss! I beg third young miss for mercy!”
While she spoke, she grabbed the hem of Xiang Rong’s dress. Xiang Rong frowned and took half a step back, saying a bit angrily: “Who said that I wanted your life. Why would your servant spout so much nonsense?”
Lu Yao fiercely glared at the maidservant then fiercely said: “Third young miss Feng has been magnanimous. Why have you not given your thanks!”
The servant began kowtowing once more.
Feng Yu Heng watched the two. It was as though they had gone back to a time when the Feng family was very powerful. She had fought her way through this sort of environment, one step at a time. She had come out of that environment by fighting through conspiracy after conspiracy. So many people had lost their lives during that battle of the inner courtyard. She knew just how frightening that matter could be. When she looked at this Lu Yao, however, she did not dare think about what would happen if she married into the Yao family. How could she allow the great Yao family to be harmed by her?
Seeing that Feng Yu Heng’s eyes became colder and colder, the dread in Lu Yao’s heart became more profound. Her father, Lu Song, had finally managed to assume the position of left prime minister. The feeling of superiority coming from being below only one and above all the rest that the Lu family had only just begun enjoying was suddenly destroyed by Feng Yu Heng. She felt unreconciled, but she also knew that the person before her must not be offended. Not only could she not afford to offend her, perhaps the entire Lu family’s power could not.