Chapter 1.2 - Fang Fei (1/2)

“You don’t seem surprised.” Princess Yong Ning said, “Could it be that my dear Shen has already told you?”

My dear Shen… the way she called him was so intimate, Xue Fang Fei felt something sweet in her throat, and she almost couldn’t hold it back1. After a short moment, she weakly said: “I am waiting. I am waiting for him to tell me himself.”

Xue Fang Fei was not stupid at all; she was extremely smart and Xue Huaiyuan had taught her well. After she fell ill, she realized that she was under house arrest, and her every move was monitored by someone. Thus, she made the connection from beginning to end. What happened to her, and even the death of Xue Zhao, she found that there was something amiss about it.

She tried to gather bits and pieces from the mouth of the servants, and finally understood what had happened.

Shen Yurong passed brilliantly as the top scorer in the imperial examinations, achieving great success at a young age, and now his identity was no longer the same. Although Xue Fang Fei was talented and a beauty, in the end she was just a county deputy’s daughter. Shen Yurong caught the eye of Princess Yong Ning, or perhaps they had already met under the cover of the night long before that. In short, Xue Fang Fei had become the stumbling block preventing him to take the golden branch offered by the princess’s household.

Xue Fang Fei recalled the incident and the guests invited by Madam Shen on that day. Princess Yong Ning was also part of the guests. Thinking back, she remembered that the corner of Princess Yong Ning’s mouth was raised, a pleased smile on her face.

At this point, the truth came to light.

“My dear Shen is soft-hearted,” Princess Yong Ning sat down carelessly, looking at her, “This princess2 is not a ruthless person and originally wanted to help you. Who would have known that you were not willing to comply.” She glanced at the bowl of medicine on top of the table, then sighed and said: “Why must you do this to yourself?”

Xue Fang Fei couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

Receiving a daily bowl of medicine, she had already felt that something was wrong. Once she realized that, she poured the medicine into the flower pot. They wanted her to look like she had died from an illness, which would naturally allow Princess Yong Ning to marry into the family. Contrary to their expectations, she did not die easily. Since young, Xue Huaiyuan had taught her, if you haven’t reached the end yet, you must find a way to survive. Furthermore, for what reason? For what reason should she comply to these adulterous couple, who schemed to frame her yet asked her to take the initiative to seek her own death? In their dreams!

With a voice filled with ridicule, she said: “To forcibly break two people’s marriage apart, murdering the original in order to replace it, killing the wife and harming the offspring, for Your Highness’s “kindness”, Fang Fei thanks you.”

In a split second, Princess Yong Ning’s fury flared up, but she quickly calmed down after a moment. Standing up from her seat, she walked to the front of the table and picked up the pot of already withered cherry-apple tree. The palm-sized pot of cherry-apple flower was lovely. Princess Yong Ning turned it around in her hand while smilingly said: “Do you know how your younger brother died?”

Xue Fang Fei’s back stiffened at once.

“Despite his young age and against all expectations, your brother,” princess Yong Ning had a look of admiration in her face, “He was unexpectedly able to find something amiss in this matter, and even managed to find evidence. He said he was going to file a suit, and almost uncovered the involvement of this princess in the root of the matter.” Princess Yong Ning patted her stomach, as if she had a lingering fear. “He could be considered smart, and that same night he was able to find Magistrate Yin. But he didn’t know that Magistrate Yin has a good relationship with me. So he immediately informed me about this matter.” Princess Yong Ning spread her hands and regretfully said: “A pity, his age was still very small, and this princess feels that his literary and martial ability were not bad. If not for this matter, maybe he would have been a prominent official. What a pity.”

Xue Fang Fei gritted her teeth until they nearly broke!

Xue Zhao! Xue Zhao! She had suspected that there was something strange about Xue Zhao’s death. In Tongxiang, Xue Zhao learned martial arts under a master. He was skilled since young, how could he die in the hands of mere bandits! But she really did not expect the truth to be like this! It turned out that her brother died in order to find justice for her after discovering Princess Yong Ning and Shen Yurong’s affair. With his blood boiling, he thought of looking for an official to file a lawsuit. Who would have imagined that the official was covering for others. That official was, in fact, the enemy!

She shouted: “Shameless! Shameless!”

Princess Yong Ning’s eyebrows raised, then coldly ridiculed: “So what if you are of noble and virtuous character? Every day you stayed here and didn’t go out. I’m afraid you haven’t received news of your father. When your father found out about the matter of you ruining the family name as well as your younger brother’s death, he died from anger!”

Xue Fang Fei froze and involuntarily shouted: “Impossible!”

“Impossible?” Princess Yong Ning laughingly said: “You may go out and ask the servant girl, ask them yourself whether it’s possible or not!”

Xue Fang Fei’s mind was in a state of chaos. Xue Huaiyuan did not care about fame and fortune3. Throughout his life, he was peacefully working as the county deputy in Tongxiang, he clearly was an upright person. How did he end up this way? To have his own child pass away before himself, upset to the point he died from anger. Xue Fang Fei really couldn’t imagine how Xue Huaiyuan must have felt after hearing the news.