Getting Addicted to Being an Imperial Daughter

  Of course, the people were not fools. Although they had heard that Imperial Daughter Ji An had come to Lan Zhou with Feng Jin Yuan and Yao shi as a family of three, they were a bit skeptical about the rumors of Imperial Daughter Ji An severing ties with His Highness the ninth prince to turn and support His Highness the eighth prince. Everyone felt that this was not too likely. Imperial Daughter Ji An and His Highness the ninth prince had experienced turbulent times and difficulties together, and they had worked together to conquer Qian Zhou. How could they have possibly suddenly split up? This imperial daughter would not happen to be a fake, right?

  These sorts of thoughts gradually began to spread from one person to another. The accessory shop that had suddenly become quiet with Fu Ya’s arrival had now become filled with discussion. There was true doubt about Fu Ya’s identity.

  Fu Ya saw this and felt anxious, but there was nothing that she could do. She wanted to speak up and argue, but she also felt that it was not much, and it would lower her status. As for her maidservant, Xiao Tao’er, she quietly whispered: “Imperial Daughter, keep calm.”


  Fu Ya calmed her emotions. There was nothing that she could do at the moment aside from calm herself. Before coming out, Feng Jin Yuan had told her that she must not expose herself. In Lan Zhou, she was Feng Yu Heng. No matter who came out and questioned it, this identity could not be changed.

  The people discussed for a little while longer before someone expressed their own opinion: “You’re all saying that it’s unimaginable that Imperial Daughter Ji An would split up with His Highness the ninth prince, and this matter is indeed unimaginable, but no matter how unimaginable it is, it’s something between them. Now that Imperial Daughter Ji An came to Lan Zhou, she did not come on her own. The previous left prime minister and her mother, Yao shi, have both come with her. Also, our lord prefect frequently goes to visit with his madam. I have personally seen the lord prefect kneel and salute Imperial Daughter Ji An when he ran into her in the streets.”


  “Right!” Someone agreed and said: “It is indeed like this. I also saw it that day. Lord Prefect is the caretaker official of Lan Zhou. In the past, aside from His Highness the eighth prince, when had he ever kneeled to greet someone?! If Imperial Daughter Ji An was a fake, Lord Prefect would not be unable to tell the difference.”


  “As I see it, it’s impossible for her to be fake. Lord prefect and his madam went to the capital last year, and they had met Imperial Daughter Ji An. I also heard that they had interacted before, and they are very familiar. Since they are familiar, how could they make a mistake?”


  “Right, right, right! Lord prefect can’t possibly have made a mistake! The one before is really is Imperial Daughter Ji An!” Someone shouted this, and the people immediately reacted and kneeled, saying in unison: “Greetings to Imperial Daughter Ji An! Greetings to Imperial Daughter Ji An! Long live Imperial Daughter!”


  The anxiety that Fu Ya had been carrying around was finally put down, and did her best to get as close to the way Feng Yu Heng spoke and acted, as well as the way she carried herself. Gently raising her hand, she said: “You can all rise! This place is not the palace, nor is it the capital. There aren’t that many grand rules. We all came here to take a look at accessories. There’s no need to be so courteous.” When she spoke, she spoke with a faint smile, and her appearance was truly very similar to Feng Yu Heng.

  Having ascertained her identity, the people relaxed their internal defenses. At the same time, they believed even more that Imperial Daughter Ji An had come to the South. Someone stepped forward to try and speak to her, and Fu Ya faced her with a smile. It was not intimate, but it definitely could not be considered distant. There were also some young misses that could not choose between accessories and asked her to help choose. Fu Ya looked for a while then shook her head with a bitter smile: “If you asked me to differentiate between which weapons are better, I might be able to do it, but I have never been very familiar with accessories. Even with opening an accessories shop in the capital, it has always been managed by a subordinate. That’s why I am truly sorry. I am unable to choose.” This was her analysis of Feng Yu Heng. Ever since the day that she met Feng Yu Heng in the North, Feng Yu Heng had appeared very simple when it came to accessories. Although she was quite serious when it came to clothes and fabrics, she very rarely wore any accessories. She would occasionally wear a hairpin, and it was an extremely valuable piece, but it would just be the one piece. After returning to the capital, she removed her battle clothes, but there did not appear to be much of a difference. That was why she analyzed Feng Yu Heng as being proficient in battle but being less familiar with the small trinkets that girls enjoyed. But she continued to do her best to maintain Feng Yu Heng’s style and deliberately chose to not wear any out.

  Fu Ya’s words caused the madams and young misses to feel in agreement. Imperial Daughter Ji An’s prowess in martial arts had already been spread to the South. Although this place was ruled by the eighth prince, it did not affect the admiration that the madams and young misses would secretly feel. Now that they heard the imperial daughter “herself” that she was not proficient in differentiating accessories, they felt even happier. They felt that they had not made a mistake in their earlier admiration.

  Fu Ya saw their expressions and felt even happier, but she was still able to maintain her emotions, as she said to everyone: “Although I do not delight in things like accessories, I came to the South with my father and my mother, and I still wish to buy some accessories that are unique to this area for my mother. Since everyone is already here, could you help give me some suggestions?!”


  She was quite good at being a person, and she did not go to the second floor on her own. She just remained on the first floor with the madams and young misses, chatting and laughing. It was very calm and very down to earth. The things that were bought were quite common; however, they had a very southern style to them. In just a short period of time, she was met with great praise from the madams and young misses and even the shopkeeper of the store. Even when Fu Ya left, the people kneeled on the ground to send her off, which put Fu Ya in a great mood.

  Who knew that just as she exited the accessory shop, she would see a wounded person completely covered in blood collapse next to the entrance of the shop, shocking everyone nearby.

  It was a young man, who looked to be no more than in his early 20s. His hands covered his chest, and it was clear that there was damage to his chest. From time to time, he would cough up blood, and it was the blood that he had coughed up that had soaked into his clothes. The sight was very horrifying to him. Who knew how far that person had walked? Looking in the direction that he had come from, the ground was covered in blood. The people passing by pointed, and someone recognized the wounded: “Isn’t that the young one that helps people write letters?”


  “Right, right, right, it’s him.” A witness had seen the process of him getting hurt and explained to everyone: “He was trampled by a horse. I personally saw it. The person riding the horse was one of the soldiers in the Southern Army. He looked very dark and was very bulky. The horse was moving very quickly, and this little one had just written a letter for someone and was saying that he would be closing up shop earlier today, as a restaurant on the western street requested to have him write up a new menu. Who knew that just as he reached the end of the street, he would end up suffering from heavy injuries from being trampled by a horse? The person riding the horse, however, did not even stop to take a look at him. He even waved his whip and hit him, cursing at him for blocking the way. The Southern Army has always been arrogant, treating human life as nothing more than trash. It really can’t be tolerated by the heavens!”


  The person spoke with hatred, and his tone expressed dissatisfaction with the Southern Army, which caused the other citizens to agree, saying: “In the South, the Southern Army is the law. Even the prefect, Lord Ji, needs to give them some face, much less a lowly scholar. Hah, this little one has been injured to such a degree, yet he continued to walk in this direction. Could it be that he was still wanting to go and write that menu for the restaurant to get the few hundred copper coins?”


  While they spoke, the young man on the ground regained consciousness and muttered: “I need to go. My mother is waiting for those coppers to buy medicine.”


  “Hah! You yourself are already injured to such a degree. Even if you earned those copper coins, you would need to get yourself treated first! Who knows if you can even survive, so what are you thinking of earning those copper coins for?!”


  The people sighed; however, they saw the young man continue to crawl forward, and they could not help but sigh with emotion. They felt even more resentment toward the Southern Army.

  At this time, there were quite a few madams and young misses that had come out. Some of the young misses were a bit more cowardly and used handkerchiefs to cover their eyes. There were also young misses that had some more intestinal fortitude that began to pity the scholar, as they pleaded with *Fu Ya: “Imperial Daughter, your medical abilities are outstanding. Quickly help examine this young man! With him hurt like this, he will definitely die out on the streets.”


  There were even more madams that reminded: “I heard that Imperial Daughter has recently been getting along with His Highness the eighth prince. His Highness the eighth prince is the head general of the Southern Army! For this sort of thing to happen, it’s very bad for the reputation of the army. Imperial Daughter, you must not refuse to save the dying.”


  Fu Ya felt her head swell from hearing this. It was not that she did not want to save him, but how would she save him? After all, she was not the real Feng Yu Heng. She did not know medicine, and she did not even know how to perform an examination through a checking one’s pulse. What would possibly be done?

  It was Xiao Tao’er that was sharp and said on her behalf: “But our imperial daughter came out for the sake of buying accessories for the madam and did not bring out her medicine kit, nor did she bring out any medicine! How can injuries be treated without medicine?”


  The people heard this and agreed! Even a great woman could not make rice without the grains. Imperial Daughter Ji An’s hands were empty. How could she possibly save the patient?

  Fu Ya’s thoughts were not wasted on her, as she thought quickly and came up with an idea. She quickly said to Xiao Tao’er: “No matter the situation, saving the person is most important. I am not familiar with the South. Do you know where the nearest medical clinic is?”


  Before Xiao Tao’er could reply, someone replied from the crowd of people: “There’s a clinic not too far up ahead!”


  *Fu Ya immediately said: “Good! If there’s a medical clinic, there’s nothing to fear! This imperial daughter will ask two kind people to help bring this young man over to the medical clinic. You will not be doing it for free, as each will get five taels of silver. Also-” She said to Xiao Tao’er: “Take out all of our money!”


  Xiao Tao’er immediately understood her intention and did not hesitate, quickly taking out the shattered silver and banknotes from her sleeve pocket. Some had just been used when buying accessories, and the remaining banknote was worth a full 100 taels, and there were a few taels of scattered silver. She handed it to Fu Ya and said: “Imperial daughter, it’s all here!”


  Fu Ya nodded and thought a bit, turning to the clerk of the accessory shop and saying: “Clerk, I’ll trouble you with accompanying them. This is will be for the examination fee. It should be more than enough. Go and send the person over. Have the doctor use the best medicine. This person must be saved. If there’s not enough money, come to my residence. Don’t worry, I will not neglect your portion.”


  The clerk heard this an immediately said in a loud voice: “Imperial Daughter Ji An really is a living Bodhisattva! What sort of thing did this young man do to be able to meet with such a kindhearted person?! Imperial Daughter, don’t worry. This lowly one will definitely do this well for you!” After saying this, he turned around and requested leave from the shopkeeper then immediately stepped forward to arrange for this person to be carried off. The people on the streets saw this scene and finally understood. It turned out that this kindhearted girl was the rumored Imperial Daughter Ji An that had already come to Lan Zhou!

  Someone immediately said in a loud voice: “I heard that Imperial Daughter Ji An is a divine doctor and has opened Hundred Herb Halls in many places around Da Shun for the sake of benefitting the people. Now that Imperial Daughter has come to Lan Zhou, it’s a blessing for us!”


  *TN: The author has referred to Fu Ya as Feng Yu Heng multiple times this chapter. I’m not entirely sure if that was intended, but I’m assuming it wasn’t.