Chu Wang Fei

Yun Xuan Zhi paused in handing the congee over, then he smiled and said, "Qing'er, what are you talking about? This is just normal congee."

Looking at Yun Xuan Zhi's expression, Su Qing suddenly laughed, a desolate and sorrowful laugh. She then coldly said, "It's been so many years already, do you think I still don't know you? Today, the reason you let Wang mama admit all the crimes was just to prevent inciting my brother's temper while still giving Fu Guo Gongfu an explanation. Yun Xuan Zhi, you planned it so meticulously. You used Wang mama's loyalty to me and now you're using my trust. You are the one who won the battle. It was a waste for me to give up so many things for you all these years. Even then, in your heart, I still can't compare to honors and glories! Are you really heartless or am I just too dumb?"

While speaking, Su Qing cried. Tears of sorrow trailed down her cheeks, but her eyes stared at Yun Xuan Zhi with hatred, as if wanting to remember his face forever in her mind. Even in the next lifetime, she would never forget the face she had memorized deeply because of hatred.

The smile on Yun Xuan Zhi's face slowly faded, leaving him with a gloomy expression. He retracted the hand that was feeding congee to Su Qing and placed the bowl on the table beside the bed, then coldly voiced out, "You don't trust me? Do you know how bad I felt? Even though you killed my child, did I even say anything bad to you? If I hadn't let Wang mama take the responsibility, do you think you'll be able to stay alive? When have you ever understood my intention for you? And now you're accusing me of turning on you? For all these years, although you are not the furen of xiangfu in name, inside the fu, has there been any difference between you and a legal wife? Even Meng'er needs to live under your will. Qing'er, have you no conscience?"

Yun Xuan Zhi's words were cold and towards the end, Su Qing's expression became even more somber and ghastly pale from anger. If she did not love him so deeply, she would not be this infuriated.

Snorting coldly, she and waved a hand in dismissive manner in front of Yun Xuan Zhi, stopping his explanation. A satirical smile appeared on her face as she slowly said, "Such dignified excuses! Everything that I possess now was meant for me, but nothing you've promised me has been fulfilled. Yun Xuan Zhi, you planned everything so thoroughly. Aren't you afraid that I would spread everything that happened before? Either way, I am no longer able to live after today, so I don't need to cover for you anymore."

Faced with Su Qing's threat, Yun Xuan Zhi only smiled coldly while wearing a reassured look. He then calmly stated, "Qing'er, you need to think over your words clearly. If I were really to lose my power, the ones who would suffer the most are none other than the two children. Even if they have their jiujiu, Su Yuan, the fact that you sent Pan Lan over to Su Yuan as a yiniang has already attracted Su furen's resentment. Are you sure that your two children will be treated well in Su fu?"

Yun Xuan Zhi's words had struck Su Qing. A while ago, she had only been thinking of releasing her tempter on Yun Xuan Zhi, she had totally forgotten about her two children.

But thinking of her daughter who had been cruel enough to tear off her brother's arm, Su Qing's heart became cold again. Yun Ruo Xue was not like her, how could she even do something like that to her family? The image of her son's disabled body appeared in Su Qing's mind, which made her burst into tears again and lose the will to argue with Yun Xuan Zhi.

"Let me see my son!" Su Qing said slowly yet full of determination, suppressing the great pain in her heart.

"He's still too small. I already left him with mother to be taken care of. Mother has already brought up so many children. I believe that our son will surely grow up strong under her care." Yun Xuan Zhi said, shaking his head.

Yun Xuan Zhi had mixed feelings right now. He had hoped for this son to come for so long, but now that he was finally here, Yun Xuan Zhi noticed that his joy was already gone. Looking at his disabled son, Yun Xuan Zhi felt troubled and he just wanted to send the child to somewhere he would not have to see the child ever again.

Slap!

After hearing that Yun Xuan Zhi had given her son to the old madam, Su Qing immediately jumped up from her bed and slapped Yun Xuan Zhi across the face. She then pointed at Yun Xuan Zhi with shaking fingers and scolded him, "You think that a disabled child would be a disgrace to his Prime Minister father, don't you? That's why you gave him to the old madam to be taken care of. Yun Xuan Zhi, even a tiger wouldn't devour its cubs, yet how can you be so heartless? You know that the old madam holds a grudge against me, but you still sent such a small child to her? Could she possibly treat that child fairly? You've really disappointed me, to think you were actually this terrifying!"

Su Qing quickly rose, intending to rush over to Bai Shun Tang even without wearing her shoes. But right after she took a step, she was immediately pulled back by Yun Xuan Zhi, then thrown to the bed mercilessly. Yun Xuan Zhi then turned, laid on top of her and said fiercely, "While you are criticizing me, could you please think about what you've done all these years? I am still considering the relationship we had before and still planned to spare you. But if you continue to act rudely, then not only will your life be gone, even your two children will suffer as well."

Su Qing kept on resisting aggressively, but because she had just given birth and had not eaten anything since, her body was too weak. Being forcefully pressed down by Yun Xuan Zhi, she felt as if her limbs were being torn apart. But the pain in her body still could not be compared to the pain she was experiencing in her heart. She hated Yun Xuan Zhi so much, yet could not do anything but glare at this man on top of her.

"Now, be obedient and have this congee. Don't worry, I won't take your life." Once she had calmed down, Yun Xuan Zhi used a hand that was originally pressing Su Qing down to grab the congee. But Su Qing unexpectedly regained her strength and suddenly bit his other arm fiercely. She looked like a beast that had lost all reason and only wanted to fight off its enemy.

The sudden severe pain startled Yun Xuan Zhi. He turned around and saw that his arm was already covered in blood, but Su Qing still had no plans of letting go. He was so angry that he took the jade pillow on the bed and smashed it at the back of Su Qing's head. Su Qing felt dizzy and immediately fainted, so Yun Xuan Zhi was able to remove his arm from her mouth. He saw that a sliver of flesh had almost been bitten off, blood flowed down his arm onto Su Qing's body, and eventually the bed, creating a bloody scene.

Yun Xuan Zhi lost all his patience. He called the yatou waiting outside in and told them to pour the congee down Su Qing's throat. He endured the pain in his arm and watched until the whole bowl of congee went in Su Qing's stomach then quickly went out of the room and left Feng He Yuan.

Two days later, Mi mama went into Yun Qian Meng's room in a hurry. Seeing that Yun Qian Meng was practicing calligraphy, she stood aside with a joyful and satisfied expression, and waited for Yun Qian Meng to finish.

Yun Qian Meng wrote down one last word then told Ying Xia and Mu Chun to bring the paper farther away. Yun Qian Meng examined her work from right to left but felt that her writing was barely passing; thus, she smiled and shook her head, then put down her calligraphy brush. Seeing that Mi mama had already waited for quite a while, she asked, "What happened to mama today? Why do you look so happy?"

When Yun Qian Meng was finally finished, Mi mama smiled and approached her to tell her the good news, "Xiaojie, I have news from Feng He Yuan. They said that Su yiniang was so furious that she became vegetable!"

Hearing that, Yun Qian Meng's paused in cleaning her hands, then she glanced at Mi mama while in thought.

Vegetable?

She had never heard of anyone becoming a vegetable out of anger. No matter how great one's hatred was, the worst thing that could happen was dying because of anger. It was weird that Su Qing actually became half dead.

Most probably, there was someone who wanted to keep her mouth shut but also could not afford to let her suddenly die. That was why she became like that.

Even Su Qing would never have expected of this kind of ending for her life.

Hearing this unexpected but reasonable outcome, Yun Qian Meng did not laugh happily like Mi mama, but knitted her brows. Her eyes contained brilliant yet cold look.

"Does xiaojie think anything is amiss?" Ying Xia and Mu Chun were naturally also happy. But not only did Yun Qian Meng not applaud and celebrate with them, she even frowned. The two of them also started to think that this incident was really too strange and dubious.

"Nothing! Order someone to prepare a carriage to Fu Guo Gongfu to visit biaojie." Yun Qian Meng kept her thoughts and calmly ordered.

"Yes!" with no further questions, Mu Chun bowed towards Yun Qian Meng and left the room.

In an incense stick's time, Yun Qian Meng entered Qu Fei Qing's Chu Yun Ge. Qu Fei Qing was sitting under a banyan tree, doing embroidery wholeheartedly that she did not even notice Yun Qian Meng standing behind her.

It was exactly noon time, the autumn sunlight showered on Qu Fei Qing's body, as if covering her whole body in a light glow. And because Qu Fei Qing was quietly doing embroidery, looking at her was akin to looking at a magnificent traditional Chinese painting.

Yun Qian Meng raised her right hand, placed it in front of her eyes to peek up at the sun. She felt that the sunlight was bright and might easily hurt people's eyes. Hence, she ordered the yatou to bring her a paper umbrella. She then personally opened the umbrella and raised it above Qu Fei Qing.

Qu Fei Qing was deep in concentration with her needlework. When she felt a shadow covering the light and disrupting her sight, she raised her head and looked, only to see Yun Qian Meng standing behind her with a smile on her face. Qu Fei Qing smiled and said, "Naughty girl, why didn't you say anything?"

Yun Qian Meng stuck her tongue out then smiled. She handed the umbrella to Mu Chun then stooped to look at Qu Fei Qing's work. Seeing that the bright red silk was embroidered with the image of mandarin ducks playing in the water, she smiled and said, "Is biaojie embroidering your own dowry? Biaojie's skills are superb! This image is so lively! Meng'er is very impressed!"

Hearing Yun Qian Meng's praise, Qu Fei Qing slightly blushed, but Yun Qian Meng caught the shyness underneath her eyes. Yun Qian Meng had only wanted to tease her and thus whispered to Qu Fei Qing, "Biaojie, could it be that Meng'er is right?"

Hearing that, Qu Fei Qing only blushed even more. She stood up and pretended to hit Yun Qian Meng, but was easily dodged. Chu Yun Ge was suddenly filled with clear laughter of people.

"Naughty little girl! How could you laugh at me? I'm preparing this for you!" after chasing Yun Qian Meng around for a while, Qu Fei Qing eventually realized that Yun Qian Meng was really good at escaping. Although her speed was not very fast, she was rather nimble and able to dodge quickly whenever Qu Fei Qing was about to catch her. Qu Fei Qing eventually gave up on chasing her. She told the yatou to keep all the embroidery tools while she seemingly angrily glanced at Yun Qian Meng. She then said, "I'm not going to chase you anymore. Come back! You're lucky today. I told the yatou to make tea out of the new tea leaves the Empress Dowager sent over, you should try some."

Yun Qian Meng carefully examined Qu Fei Qing's expression. Seeing no trace of her having the intention of chasing after her again, Yun Qian Meng obediently approached her with a smile. The two of them then went inside together.

"Sorry for bothering biaojie of helping out with my dowry." Yun Qian Meng held Qu Fei Qing's arm and thanked Qu Fei Qing with twinkling eyes.

Qu Fei Qing poked Yun Qian Meng's head and smiled, "So many things happened in xiangfu recently. I think no one there would actually remember about you, and your own skills cannot be counted on, so I would naturally help out whatever I could. Aside from me, mother and laotaijun have also started to prepare for it."

At Qu Fei Qing's words, Yun Qian Meng knew that she had surely heard about what happened in xiangfu, but it was not as if it was worth keeping them as secrets anyway; thus, Yun Qian Meng also smiled.

When the two of them sat down, Le Yao immediately served each of them a cup of tea. Yun Qian Meng took the small delicate tea cup and took a sip. She felt the fragrance of the tea immediately spread throughout her organs. The warm tea smoothly flowed down her throat and left her with the fragrance lingering in her mouth. "Good tea indeed!"

"The tea is naturally good, but the person who brought the tea was somewhat annoying." Seeing that only Yun Qian Meng and her trusted yatou were present in the room, Qu Fei Qing spoke her mind. The worries of a young lady could be seen in her expression now.

Qu Fei Qing then moved her index finger along the edge of the teacup, but did not have the urge to take another sip of the tea. Yun Qian Meng then put down her cup and softly asked, "Could it be that this was given by the family of the man the Empress Dowager picked for you?"

Right after Yun Qian Meng had spoken, Qu Fei Qing immediately raised her head and looked at Yun Qian Meng with a resigned expression, then she slowly nodded. She seemed rather melancholy, when she added, "The person has good family background indeed, but…"

Before she finished her sentence, Qu Fei Qing blushed yet again.

At this reaction, Yun Qian Meng immediately understood the reason, but she was still curious how Qu Fei Qing, a young lady who barely left her house could have had the chance to know someone outside and even fall in love with them.

But seeing her shy expression right now, Yun Qian Meng felt even more perplexed.

"Oh, why did you come over today?" apparently, Qu Fei Qing did not want to talk about her own matters so she quickly changed the topic.

Looking at the hidden nervousness and shyness in her eyes, Yun Qian Meng did not press her any more, continuing on, she said, "That day at the Imperial Banquet, Xiao Nie daifu's drug helped a lot. Meng'er came today to thank him."

Yun Qian Meng then unexpectedly saw happiness flash in Qu Fei Qing's eyes. Although it disappeared quickly, Yun Qian Men had caught it.

"You didn't come at the right time. Recently, father's body is already been back to normal, Xiao Nie daifu only comes for a check-up every three days. He just went back to Rong Shan Tang yesterday, and will only come back here after two days." Qu Fei Qing said smilingly. Unlike a while ago, when she was talking about the tea, her bright smile now even contained some sweetness. It made Yun Qian Meng more certain of her assumption.

"That's unfortunate. Since that's the case, then I should just go to Rong Shan Tang instead. But biaojie knows that I am not too familiar with Xiao Nie daifu. It would be inappropriate for me to make a sudden visit, why not come with me. Is that fine with biaojie?" Yun Qian Meng slowly said, all the while staring closely at Qu Fei Qing.

Qu Fei Qing was naturally very willing to do as she was asked. Her expression became more joyous and she immediately said, "I also happen to have some questions regarding some of father's medicine. I might as well go with you!"

Afterwards, Qu Fei Qing let Le Yao help her change into a more sedate and adorable light purple dress. She took off the golden magpie hair ornament given by the Empress Dowager and replaced it with some delicately carved white jade hair clips. She then left Fu Guo Gongfu together with Yun Qian Meng.

"It has been a while since I've left the fu. The last time we went out together was the day of the Qi Qiao Festival. Unfortunately, we met with assassins at that time, it really frightened me so much. Good thing you were there then; otherwise, I might not have been able to survive that night!" opening the curtain, Qu Fei Qing looked at the lively street outside with admiration.

Yun Qian Meng was continuously looking at Qu Fei Qing's actions, and only answered back when she resumed the conversation, "If biaojie had been the one that was caught at that time, I believe that biaojie would also protect Meng'er. But I heard that recently, a lot of officials are inviting the guests from Northern Qi to their houses. It seems that they have already forgotten the blood debt that day."

Hearing Yun Qian Meng's words, Qu Fei Qing could not help snorting, then said, "Those people just want to curry favor with the powerful. After Hai Tian junzhu was granted a marriage with the Crown Prince of Northern Qi, they all think that their daughters are safe now. But what would they know? The Eldest and the Tenth Princes of Northern Qi both haven't gotten married yet. As long as Rui wang is still in the hands of Northern Qi, if the two of them were to ask, so long as the favor isn't too excessive, how could the Emperor deny them? Moreover, that Princess Qi Ling'er is so beautiful, that those gongzi all wanted to see her. They are just using the invitations as excuses to see the princess. After all, they're all just a bunch of lechers."

Qu Fei Qing's words were so sharp today, unlike her usual gentle self. Yun Qian Meng pulled Qu Fei Qing over and stared straight at her. There was still some anger in her eyes, but Yun Qian Meng merely smiled. "What happened, biaojie? It's as if your loved one is among those gongzi!"

Sadness flashed in Qu Fei Qing's eyes. She smiled as if laughing at herself, then slowly said, "Can the rich and influential families live more freely and calmly than normal citizens?"

Afterwards, she looked out again and seemed to admire the free life in the city very much.

Hearing her words, Yun Qian Meng did not say anything. There was a moment of silence in the carriage. Fortunately, they arrived at the gate of Rong Shan Tang in a short while. Yun Qian Meng felt that outside was not as loud as moment ago anymore. When she went down the carriage, she saw that Rong Shan Tang was situated on the southwest corner of the capital. Although it was not the most remote area in the capital, there was not a lot of people around either. Thus, it seemed extraordinarily quiet.