In truth, none of the members of the imperial harem were ugly. After all, these were all people who had been selected to enter the palace. Their looks were all very good. But this sort of beauty was dependent on who was being compared. Compared to Feng Zhaolian’s face, the difference was far too great. Describing it as being the difference between heaven and earth really was not enough. Feng Zhaolian could scarcely be blamed for saying such a mean thing. These three could not even muster a single word of argument.

  The Empress coldly looked at the group then glanced into the water. It was only after seeing the eunuch appear at the side of the pond with Zirui in tow that she felt a little more at ease. She then looked down at Concubine Mei and coldly asked: “Who was it that gave you the right play tricks on a guest invited into the Imperial Palace by His Majesty? Did you know that this child is Princess Yu’s younger brother? That’s a relative of the imperial family. Where exactly did you find the courage?”


  Concubine Xiang and Noble Lady Liu did not dare make a sound, but Concubine Mei was a little bolder, saying: “It was the Feng family’s young master who willingly went in to look for it. It was not this concubine’s group who vilely tricked him. I hope that Your Highness will investigate this clearly.”


  “It’s clearly……” Yue Rong only said half of her sentence then looked at Concubine Mei. She suddenly remembered what had just been said to her by Her Highness Imperial Concubine De before coming over. Right now, the Imperial Palace was under the eighth prince’s control, and the inner palace was under Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s control. She had to remember to try and avoid them. If she could not avoid them, she should try to stay in their good graces. She must not oppose them. That would cause harm to the Feng family’s young master. Yue Rong thought of this and suddenly changed her tune. Lowering her voice, she said to the Empress: “It was young master Feng who was kind, taking the initiative to go and help Noble Lady Qi look for the hairpin. Who knows if he found it or not.”


  The Empress looked at Yue Rong but did not find this unexpected. She no longer continued to speak with Concubine Mei’s group and walked over to Zirui, who had been brought out of the water. At the same time, she ordered her servants: “Call an imperial physician to Jing Ci Palace and call a sedan over. Send the Feng family’s young master to Jing Ci Palace.” After saying this, she leaned over and pulled a hairpin out of Feng Zirui’s hand. Looking at it for a while, she said: “It does look quite good, and this One will be keeping it. If there’s nothing else, you can go back. It’s a cold day, and there’s not much to see in the garden.”


  After saying this, she turned around and left. Feng Zhaolian immediately stepped forward and picked up Zirui. Increasing his pace, he followed the Empress out to quickly meet up with the sedan that had come.

  As for Concubine Mei’s group was left in a daze, loudly shouted: “Noble Lady Qi is still in the pond!”


  However, nobody would pay any attention to them. It seemed as though there was never an appearance from Noble Lady Qi. The Empress’ group very quickly left the garden, getting further and further away. Their group was left to stare at the surface of the pond, and they saw that no more air was coming from Noble Lady Qi.

  Concubine Xiang shuddered and hesitantly said: “There’s definitely no saving her, right?”


  “What else?” Concubine Mei asked: “Do you feel that any of us can go down and save her?” After saying this, she asked the palace maids at her side, “Do any of you know how to swim?”


  The palace maids shook their heads, “This servant does not know.”


  “Then that’s how it is.” Concubine Mei said: “There’s no need to fear. It’s just a person who died. It’s quite a normal thing. The inner palace had been calm for over 20 years. It’s about time someone died. Moreover, she was kicked into the water by someone from the Empress’ side. There’s no need for us to worry about anything else. We just need to tell Her Highness Imperial Concubine Shu about what happened today. There’s no need for us to worry about nobody standing up for Noble Lady Qi. Let’s go!”


  In just a few words, there was nobody left to worry about the person who had fallen into the water. Only Noble Lady Qi’s palace maid was left behind to kneel by the pond while sobbing.

  In the imperial physician’s side, it was Sun Qi who took on this job. Bringing his assistant, Xu Mao, they headed to examine Zirui. These people were the ones sent into the palace by Feng Yuheng, but they were very different. One had given Feng Yuheng a fright with Concubine Liu’s matter, and the other was Wang Lin’s cousin who remained on Feng Yuheng’s side. Of course, Feng Yuheng never told anyone else about these things. To the Empress, these were just two normal imperial physicians.

  Though Feng Zirui had spent a long time in the pond, there was nothing majorly wrong. Warming him up and giving him some ginger soup, his condition had already begun to improve. Sun Qi wrote a few prescriptions for Zirui to help warm him up before leaving with Xu Mao. Immediately before leaving Jing Ci Palace, however, he turned around and glanced at the Empress. This glance happened to meet with the Empress’ eyes, and this caused the Empress’ heart to drop. She wanted to call for him to stop to ask for clarification, but Sun Qi had already left the inner hall with Xu Mao. At this time, it just so happened that Feng Zhaolian said to her: “What is it? Have the imperial physicians in the palace all sided with Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu?”


  The Empress was flustered for a moment but felt that she had been overly sensitive. Feng Zhaolian was right. Sun Qi was definitely one of Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s people. Coming to Jing Ci Palace was just putting on a demonstration for Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, thus there was that look of warning. It was unrelated to anything else.

  This was merely an act of self-comfort, but aside from this, what else could she do? Turning around, she immediately saw Feng Zirui begin to wake up. Shaking her head, she said: “If this had happened in the past, what sort of person in the palace would dare to bully the younger brother of Imperial Daughter Ji An? Even His Majesty would need to treat you as well as Feiyu. Unfortunately, things have changed. Not to mention you, but even this One no longer has the influence of an empress.” As she said this, she reached out to feel the child’s wet hair then continued: “Your elder sister is definitely thinking of something outside of the palace. Just endure it a little longer. This One refuses to believe that Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu really can continue being so arrogant.”


  Feng Zhaolian sat to the side and said with a bit of disdain: “In the end, you’re the empress. Didn’t the Emperor not say anything about giving your position to Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu? Then you should continue to have the appearance of an empress! Shouldn’t you do something about Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s personality? This is something that ought to be handled by the person responsible for managing the inner palace, right?”


  “It can’t be managed.” The Empress spoke truthfully, “My own position is hard to protect. What else is there that I can do about others?”


  Feng Zirui felt a little anxious from hearing the conversation between the two. He really was worried that the two would begin to fight, thus he quickly sat up a little to try and thank the Empress for her grace; however, he was pushed back down by the Empress: “Don’t worry about being courteous with this One. Your body has not yet recovered. Just keep lying down! In this One’s eyes, you’re just a child, yet you must endure this sort of trouble. It really is a pity! At present, this One is also unable to protect you. That’s why you need to be careful on your own. In the future, don’t go to places like the imperial garden if you can avoid it.” After saying this, she coldly looked at the still-kneeling Yue Rong and said: “You’re from Imperial Concubine Shi De’s side, right? Since your master sent you out, you should take good care of young master Feng. You are someone who has been in the palace for a long time and should know what sorts of places can and can’t be visited. This One does not wish to see a repeat of today’s situation. Do you understand?”


  Yue Rong quickly kowtowed, “This servant knows her mistakes and will definitely take good care of the young master in the future. Would Your Highness the Empress please pardon this offense.”


  After she said this, Feng Zhaolian’s temper flared: “You have quite the bearing of an empress when speaking with Imperial Concubine Shi De’s servant, so why can’t you summon some will when in front of Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu? If I knew that you were so sharp before, I should have kicked all four into the pond to have them all drown.”


  “Hmph!” The Empress snorted coldly, “You really have had your thrill, and you’re quite aloof on this matter, but who knows what sort of waves Noble Lady Qi’s death will cause in the inner palace. Do you think that Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu will just let this go? This is a debt that this One will need to shoulder.”


  “What of it?” Feng Zhaolian curled his lips into a smile, “I will ask you, with things as they are now, are you still afraid of her looking to cause trouble? Are you still afraid of someone coming to settle a debt with you? Isn’t the Emperor’s debt one that will eventually need to be settled?”


  The Empress sighed and said nothing further. Feng Zhaolian was right. Right now, she had nothing left to fear. This life was always been in his control, and she was merely being used as bait. Since the fish has not appeared, her position in the central palace was untouchable. As for in the future, once the fish bit, it would not matter how careful she was. Thinking like this, she felt a little more at ease, thus she nodded her head and said: “This is true.” She then said to her palace maid Fang Yi: “This One felt that Concubine Mei from today was not much of a good person. Go and announce this One’s intent. Concubine Mei is to be demoted from her position and removed from the main hall of her palace to live in the side hall!”


  Zirui’s illness was nothing serious, but the Empress did not dare give him the medicine sent by the imperial physicians. She just had the people in Jing Ci Palace prepare some ginger soup to drink. It was only after night fell that he was sent back on a sedan.

  Zirui was very remorseful about the day’s events, especially towards yue Rong. It was only after returning to his room that he said to Yue Rong: “Sister Yue Rong, I’m sorry. It was I who implicated you. It was I who insisted on going out. It was all unrelated to you, but all of the responsibility was pushed onto you in front of Her Highness the Empress. Zirui is unable to accept this.” As he said this, he looked at Yue Rong’s swollen face and quietly thought to himself that he would definitely be more careful tonight. If his elder sister came tonight, it would be best if he could see her and help ask for some medicine to treat Yue Rong’s injuries.

  Once again, Feng Yuheng entered the palace around midnight and silently hid in Feng Zirui’s room to quietly watch the child. She had not yet heard about what had happened in the palace, but she felt that something was off about the child tonight. Otherwise, why else would he remain seated in bed and not go to sleep? His eyes looked all around, as he seemed to be looking for someone.

  Not long later, Yue Rong pushed the door open and entered the room, helplessly saying: “This servant saw that the candle in the room had not been blown out and knew that young master had not yet slept. What is it? Why are you unable to fall asleep?”


  Feng Zirui did not hide it from her: “I was thinking was waiting for my elder sister. If she entered the palace to see me, I can ask her for some medicine for sister Yue Rong. Your face is getting more and more swollen. This is not good. My elder sister’s medicine is very effective. It doesn’t hurt and it isn’t bitter. Not even the imperial physicians can compare with her.”


  Hearing Zirui’s words, Feng Yuheng finally noticed that Yue Rong’s face was swollen. There was also a trace of blood from the corners of her lips. Confusion filled her, as she furrowed her brow. At this time, Zirui and Yue Rong had begun to discuss what had happened earlier in the day. Like this, Feng Yuheng gained a clear understanding of what had happened.

  It turned out that someone in the palace had bullied her younger brother!

  Feng Zhaolian had killed one by kicking them into the pond. Un, this was very good. The Empress had demoted another one. Un, this was also quite good. Feng Yuheng would remember these two graces, but she did not think that the demotion was particularly entertaining. After all, Zirui and Yue Rong had both pointed out Concubine Mei as the main culprit. It was she who had pressured Zirui to jump into the pond. Of course, there were the other two, and she should not let them go so easily.

  She appeared next to the table and gently placed bottles of medicine for swelling and cold prevention on the table. Only then did she hide herself and leave.

  To the three still living, I, Feng Yuheng, will personally deliver your retribution!