Imperial Concubine Yun’s pondering of these embroidery pieces caused Xiangrong’s tense nerves to relax instantly. What are these things? Why did it feel like she was possessed by Xuan Tianyi? When that guy first saw these novel embroidery samples, he also said this.

  Therefore, Xiangrong took the initiative to explain, she told Imperial Concubine Yun: “What is embroidered are European countryside buildings. These buildings are different from ours, they are not built from wood but from stone. And the picture below, a person is sewn on it, her name is Mona Lisa, a foreigner.”


  “Foreigner?” Imperial Concubine Yun thought for a while: “Qian Zhou? Gu Shu? Those foreigners?”


  Xiangrong shook her head: “Not so close, they are foreigners very very far away from us, on the other side of the ocean.” After saying this, she looked at Feng Yuheng and said: “All these patterns were provided by Second Sister, she probably saw them from that Persian Master, right?”


  “That’s right! I saw them there.” This was the explanation Feng Yuheng gave everyone: “On the other side of the ocean, the people there look different from us, their architecture is also different from ours and speak a different language. I have never been there before, this is what my Master told me. Even these pictures were what he had left for me at that time. I said that I wanted to bring Xiangrong over to see Imperial Concubine Mother and thought that Xiangrong would think that she would be unable to take out anything as a gift, so Daughter-in-law decided to have her bring these embroidery pieces over to relieve Imperial Concubine Mother’s boredom and see something new.”


  “Hm.” Imperial Concubine Yun nodded, “It is rather novel.” After saying this, she looked up and stared at Xiangrong for a long time, and suddenly threw out a sentence: “You’re a good child, but good children do not only hide behind others. If you like our Hua-er, then pursue him! Sometimes, there is nothing wrong with the girl taking some initiative, don’t learn from those wishy-washy embroidered pillows, they won’t amount to anything. Look at your second sister, when she got along with our Ming-er, wasn’t she rather proactive?”


  (T/N: Embroidered pillows refer to people who only look attractive but are useless in everything else.)

  Is that so? Fu Yuheng facepalmed, it was that guy who was proactive, alright? At most, she was considered not too reserved, but it did not really seem to match the definition of proactive! However, she was really curious, “How did Imperial Concubine Mother know that Xiangrong likes Seventh Brother?”


  “Only idiots would be unable to tell.” Imperial Concubine Yun started to display the carefree attitude of “Brother Tian”, and even crossed her legs in a manly way. She pointed at Xiangrong and told Feng Yuheng: “Look at her, look at her, she has been showing a love-struck face ever since she walked in. Her cheeks are red, her face is bright, her eyes are shining, she totally looks like a girl in love who is going to shyly meet the man she fancies. That love can’t be directed at me, right? And to you, even less so! Then the only possibility left is that she has set her sights on Hua-er.”


  “Oh.” Feng Yuheng nodded, “Imperial Concubine Mother’s observations are really detailed.”


  Xiangrong listened to these two people discuss this kind of embarrassing topic as if she did not exist and really wanted to find a hole to hide into! At the same time, she rewrote her understanding of the existence known as Imperial Concubine Yun. Was she really an Imperial Concubine from the Imperial Palace? Why did she feel like she was with Xuan Tiange and the others instead? Could it be that the people who were related to her Second Sister have that kind of personality?

  “Sigh!” As she was thinking, she heard Imperial Concubine Yun sigh and speak softly: “Many things have occurred in the capital recently, Hua-er hasn’t been able to eat well. Third young girl, since you’re here, don’t make a wasted trip, giving me a gift is not important. Mostly importantly, you need to attend to the person you like. Can you make desserts?”


  Xiangrong nodded in a daze and heard Imperial Concubine Yun talk again: “Then why are you still sitting here? I might be his mother, but for these matters, I would not be able to interfere even if I am his mother, he needs to be willing to do it. Therefore, it’s useless even if you spend time with me here, if you have the skill, go to the kitchen and study. Make some delicious desserts to give them to Hua-er. Settle his stomach, then you can capture his heart! Understand?”


  The corners of Xiangrong’s mouth twitched when she heard this, why does it feel like this mother was selling off her child? Imperial Concubine Yun sold the Seventh Prince just like that? Xiangrong sighed, filled with emotion, the dessert strategy was really a little too crude, but at least…… at least his mother did not reject her! She felt a little agitated, stood up quickly and bowed, saying: “Many thanks to Your Highness Imperial Concubine Yun.” Then she turned around and headed outside.

  Feng Yuheng was awestruck, wondering if Imperial Concubine Yun’s personality made it easy to influence others. Under Imperial Concubine Yun’s strong instigation, Xiangrong reverted to her behaviour when she was with Xuan Tianyi. At this moment, Imperial Concubine Yun added on: “Don’t make them too sweet! Hua-er does not like to eat sweet things, I also do not like eating sweet things!”


  Feng Yuheng facepalmed once again, “Imperial Concubine Mother, are you the one who wants to eat, or is it Seventh Brother who wants to eat?”


  “We all have to eat!” Imperial Concubine Yun patted the back of her hand: “There’s still quite some time before dinner, you also need to eat some to stave off the hunger a little. I see that your third younger sister is rather good, she looks rather timid on the surface, but in reality, she has quite a large potential to develop. With Hua-er’s personality, he needs someone like that at his side to influence him more and make him more human-like.”


  “But once Xiangrong sees Seventh Brother, she would wither.” Fu Yuheng spoke frankly, “But when she’s with Fourth Prince, her personality would be livelier.” In the end, she still felt that Xiangrong was more suited for Xuan Tianyi, which person could make her sister happy, as an older sister, she could see this clearly.

  But Imperial Concubine Yun did not think so, she said: “The reason why she withers upon seeing Hua-er is because she does not see Hua-er often. After not seeing each other all the time, she would be nervous when suddenly meeting up! If they meet each other every day, she will get used to it.” Saying this, she glanced at Feng Yuheng, giggling, “However, you and Ming-er did not meet each other often in the beginning, yet I have never seen any kind of bashful expression from you at all!”


  Feng Yuheng wanted to roll her eyes, and called out in exasperation, “Imperial Concubine Mother.”


  “Alright, alright, I understand, you’re more outgoing than that Third young girl, and my son is the thick-skinned type, both of you are a perfect match! For someone like Hua-er, if I don’t help him handle it, I’m really worried that he would be single his whole life. He would have such a hard life then.”


  Feng Yuheng thought, outgoing? Just be direct and say she was thick-skinned! But she did not want to dispute with Imperial Concubine Yun. She already knew what kind of person Imperial Concubine Yun was; it was exactly the same as the Emperor. She acted like an Imperial Concubine in the Imperial Palace, but once she left the palace, she would show her true colours and say the most outrageous things and do the most outrageous things, so Feng Yuheng was no longer surprised by this. Thinking about it again, based on having a mother-in-law like Imperial Concubine Yun, then Xiangrong marrying the Seventh Prince was really a good thing, at least the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would be harmonious.

  Reality proved that Imperial Concubine Yun had a really active imagination. Just as Feng Yuheng was in a daze, she suddenly said: “Oh my! If she and Hua-er really get together, then in the future, should she call you Older Sister, or should you address her as Older Sister-in-law?”


  “Imperial Concubine Mother, can we change the topic?” Feng Yuheng panicked a little after hearing this, wasn’t she thinking too far ahead? However, she also tried to imagine it and had a thought. Even if Xiangrong did not end up with Xuan Tianhua and got together with Old Fourth, this problem would still exist……

  Imperial Concubine Yun also felt that she seemed to be thinking a little too far, so she waved her hand, “Forget it, forget it, let’s watch what they do! I just hope to have more people around me. With it being livelier, I don’t need to think of unnecessary things all day. Hua-er’s birth mother died early. At that time, I was really annoyed at Xuan Zhan’s women and children, but that child Hua-er had an innate aura that made others unable to be irritated with him and reject him. Ever since I first laid my eyes on him, it was destined that I would raise him like my own son. However, I ended up raising a deity, if he ends up not marrying his whole life, I will feel uneasy.”


  “Actually being single is quite good.” Feng Yuheng advised Imperial Concubine Yun. “Not everyone needs a partner.”


  Imperial Concubine Yun shook her head, “That is different.” Saying this, she looked at Feng Yuheng and showed a serious expression, “If Hua-er is not attracted to anyone, and wholeheartedly wishes to keep that deity aura until he dies, then I won’t care about him. But he is clearly capable of liking someone, I can’t just watch him be alone his whole life because of that person. With me saying it like this, do you understand?”


  Feng Yuheng shuddered inwardly and nodded quickly, “Ah-Heng understands everything, but Ah-Heng’s heart can only hold one person, that’s all there is.” This was the first time Imperial Concubine Yun mentioned this seriously. She could see Xuan Tianhua’s feelings towards her and Imperial Concubine Yun was not an idiot, she could naturally see it. It was just that Imperial Concubine Yun never spoke about it seriously and mostly joked about it, but that did not mean that her heart did not care.

  Feng Yuheng felt lucky that her position was firm. With this kind of shrewd mother-in-law, if she even wavered a little, she would have committed what the other party considered a taboo? Of course, once she wavered, Xuan Tianming would not have allowed it.

  “Let’s not talk about this.” Imperial Concubine Yun changed the topic, yet her expression did not relax. Instead she brought up the topic of Gu to Feng Yuheng. She said: “Recently, I remembered. A person from the Gu clan came to my village in the past. I was still young at that time, around 7 or 8 years old. I remembered it was a woman but don’t remember her appearance that clearly. I can only remember that she wore a lot of silver accessories on her and wore bells on her legs. The bells rang as she walked, they sounded really nice. I’m not sure how she arrived at the village, but the village agreed to let her live here and she slowly fell in love with a young man in the village. The two of them got along for a period of time, then I heard that the woman wanted the young man to leave with her to go back to Miao village. The young man did not agree, the two had a fight and the young man proposed breaking up. The young lady did not say anything much but killed herself that night. The next day, that young man also died in a crazy way. His stomach was bloated and it exploded suddenly. From inside, a lot of bugs crawled out.”


  Imperial Concubine Yun tried to recall as much as she could as she spoke, “Those bugs were alive when they crawled out, but they died quickly. They also found these bugs on the woman’s body, but they did not crawl out from her stomach, but her mouth. I was very afraid that that time, and also disgusted. The people of the village said that those two might have went deep into the mountains and got bitten by a poisonous insect to end up like that. But there were people who said that it was impossible for it to be a bite from a poisonous insect, because anyone who comes to our village do not have to fear any mountain insects. Once we are born, a herb would be burned around us the whole day, and once we’re adults, we will carry that smell on our bodies and no insects would bite us. As for the reason for both their deaths, the old village chief provided an answer in the end, he said, it was a heart Gu.”