Ever since Yao family returned to the capital and moved here, they did not conduct any renovations on this manor, whether it was the main gate or inside the manor, it was basically the same as when the Feng family stayed here.
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The main gate was shut tightly, Yao family usually did not have the habit of opening the main gate, that woman stood at the manor gate and looked at it quietly, memories contained in her eyes, her emotions shifting quickly, there was nostalgia, yearning, lament, but most of it, was hatred.
The maid next to her did not understand, watching our own Madam in confusion, asking softly: “It is only a manor, what is Madam looking at? This Servant heard that this Yao Manor is that Princess Yu’s maternal home, the people living inside are her grandfather and uncles, we should not loiter in this place too long.” After saying this, she tugged on that woman’s sleeve lightly, wanting to remind her to leave quickly.
But that woman did not move at all and even freed herself from the maid’s pulling hand with some irritation, her gaze still staring at that main gate, mumbling: “Maternal family huh!” The hatred in her eyes dissipated and the signs of nostalgia increased.
She walked a few steps forward subconsciously and it looked like she wanted to touch that door, but the maid next to her was frightened and quickly pulled her back, saying softly: “Madam, what is wrong? What do you want to do?”
The woman was stunned and became aware of her state. Her footsteps paused and she waved her hand in dismissal, saying: “It’s nothing, I only heard that this place is related to Princess Yu and wanted to take a closer look.”
“This is something Madam should not take a closer look at.” The maid reminded her: “Before leaving, General instructed that Madam can stroll around the streets and buy whatever you like, but you cannot do anything which stands out too much. Just like right now, you know that Yao manor is ahead, for such a sensitive place, Madam should not come.”
“Are you my personal maid or someone the General arranged to keep watch on me?” The woman swept a cold gaze over the person next to her, looking unkind, “I am the General’s wife, why is it that when I go out, I will have to be controlled by a maid like you on where I go and what I do?”
“This Servant does not have such intentions.” The maid quickly lowered her head, “This Servant realises this mistake.”
“As long as you know.” The woman did not say anymore, her gaze returning to Yao manor’s main gate. Unfortunately, the main gate was closed tightly, she wanted to take a look inside, but she did not have the chance.
She stood like this for a long time, almost the time it took for one stick of incense to burn fully, finally, the woman spoke again, as if she was talking to herself, but also as if she was talking to someone next to her, it was just that no one knew who her words were directed to. But she was heard saying: “You accomplished your promise to me, I am very grateful. Causing Chen Shi’s death, causing the deaths of Feng Chenyu and Feng Zihao, and can even pull down the court’s Left Prime Minister from his position, this is something beyond my expectations, you are very capable. The group of people I hated the most used to live in this manor, but they are all dead now, the ones who still live have scattered, my heart is really satisfied. The process must have been very difficult, right? Unfortunately, I only heard about the gossips from others and did not witness it personally, that is regretful.”
As she spoke, she walked back and forth on the street in front of this manor gate, that maid did not dare to follow, only standing on the spot and watching. The woman was very absorbed as she walked, stopping occasionally to rub her foot against the ground, then on her face, sometimes a smile would appear, sometimes it would be an expression of loathing. When she finally stopped, she would say strange things in a self-absorbed manner again: “There is a corner missing on this brick, no one changed it during these years, it seems like the people here are not nostalgic about the past, they are just too lazy. When Zirui was young, he had tripped over the brick corner and Feng Jinyuan wanted to fix it, but what did Grandmother say at that time? She said it was a brick outside the door and was not a place inside the manor, why should it be fixed? They just needed to pay more attention in the future and not run outside.”
“Zirui...... I heard that child is studying at Cloud Mountain Academy in Xiao province and is even the disciple of Ye Shanchang, it’s really good, he’ll achieve great things when he grows up.” A smile appeared on her face. Even though she was not pretty, when this smile appeared, it was eye catching, even the maid watching from far away felt that her Madam would have occasional moments when she was attractive.
“Last night, the Sixth Princess died.” Hatred surfaced on that woman’s face again, “It’s good she died, and she died in that person’s hands, there was no need for the General to take action, how satisfying. Li Yue, ever since you captured Xiangrong, I wanted to strangle you to death. Unfortunately, I could not, because I still need to depend on Zong Sui to live, because my identity has been tied to Zong Sui since many years ago. I cannot kill you personally, and I do not wish to see my husband kill you, that would be disadvantageous for us. But you only have yourself to blame for not living, that person’s heart is cruel, but she treats her younger sister Xiangrong well, you actually dared to capture someone she is concerned about, what else are you seeking other than death?”
As she spoke to this point, her fists clenched, “Feng family does not know how to raise children after all, look at how they raised Feng Fendai until she is in this state? When I just left that place, that child had just turned 7, her domineering personality had already appeared then. So many years passed, and it became worse.”
After saying this, she turned around and faced the main gate, her gaze was cold and her voice was low, “Feng family, such faraway memories, Feng Jinyuan ah, Feng Jinyuan, you should know, your path of an official was not supposed to be this short, if you did not send us mother and children away, did not attempt to kill us at Xiping village such that we could not live on, I would not have lost that life and she would not have replaced me to return to this large mansion. There will always be payment for good and evil deeds, you did not think of that, right? I had thought death was final, but I did not expect that I would still have a chance to start over, but I was still a little too weak in the end, even if I was able to start my life again, I was still unable to immediately take revenge for my previous life. The good thing was that she was around...... she is really good, because if it was me, I would not have done as well as her. It’s just that......” A wave of pain rose up in her heart such that she had to forcefully suppress the fluctuation of emotion in her heart. “It’s just that she did not even spare my mother, this grudge, I have to take revenge for it!”
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As she was speaking, suddenly, the main gate of Yao manor was pulled open from inside, an older woman walked out accompanied by a maid, the gatekeeper behind them was still speaking: “Eldest Madam, is there really no need to prepare a carriage? The sun today is rather strong, if you really do not wish to ride the horse carriage, then have the maid hold an oil paper umbrella.”
The person who came out was the Eldest Madam Xu Shi, the words of the gatekeeper amused her and she turned around slightly to say: “It is only bright sun and it is not raining, wouldn’t holding an umbrella only invite mockery from others!”
That gatekeeper also had things to say: “Many nobles in the capital do this.”
“I am not that delicate.” Xu Shi said: “When we were at the barren province, the strong sunlight at noon was much stronger than in the capital, nothing bad happened from being shone on like that, it is not to the point that one has to act delicately after returning to the capital. I just wanted to walk around today, all of you do not need to worry.” After she said this, she turned around and stepped out of the manor gate. After walking down the stairs, she saw a woman standing in the alley in a daze and looking in her direction.
She looked 16 or 17, dressed like a young madam, her appearance was ordinary, but the gaze directed towards her actually showed her some signs of closeness. That gaze seemed to hold endless expectations, her mouth was trembling slightly, as if that young madam wanted to speak to her, but after moving for a few times, she could not say it.
Xu Shi’s heart trembled slightly, and actually felt slightly vexed when facing this woman. It was as if this was a familiar person she had not seen for many years, giving her an urge to rush forward and forge close relations. But regardless of how she searched her memories, she did not remember where she had seen this person, she was clearly unfamiliar, but why was there this feeling of familiarity?
That woman met Xu Shi’s gaze for half a beat and suddenly came back to her senses, immediately aware of her own wandering mind. She hurriedly bowed to Xu Shi, then turned around and wanted to leave hurriedly. But she heard Xu Shi call out to her from behind: “Wait a moment.” She turned back, but then saw Xu Shi approach and bend down in front of her, reaching out to hold a corner of her skirt, then straighten up and tell her kindly: “The corner of your skirt folded up, I helped you pull it down, else people might laugh at you.”
The woman jolted, looking down at her skirt corner which had been smoothened out, a strong prickling feeling in her nose. She covered her mouth then bowed at Xu Shi, then she did not stay any longer, leaving as if she was running away, bringing her maid along.
Xu Shi watched her back, suddenly feeling a sense of pity, thinking that the woman must have many stories and must be someone with a hard life. She though, because of this, that was why she felt pity, right? She asked her own maid: “Do you know who is that woman just now?”
The maid shook her head, “This Servant has not seen that person before. She is dressed normally, so she is probably not from an important family. It is likely that she passed by this place and wanted to take a look at Yao manor.” It was a frequent occurrence for people to stop and admire Yao manor when they passed by it, the people of the Yao family were also used to it.
Xu Shi did not ask anymore and went strolling down the streets with her maid. And that woman who “ran away” stopped at a corner, secretly watching Xu Shi’s back and she left, only retracting her gaze when she could not see it anymore, then she told the maid next to her calmly: “Let’s go, we are returning.”
The maid did not dare to ask too much, even if there were too many doubts in her heart, she suppressed them forcefully and did not ask. But she was planning in her heart that she must find an opportunity to tell the General after she returned. For the trip Madam took outside this time, it was really too strange, it was as if she was very familiar with Yao manor, and even if she did not clearly hear everything which was said, but she still vaguely heard two or three sentences, this caused her to feel rather uneasy, afraid that her own Madam was a secret agent from Da Shun.
But thinking about it again, this was not that possible, even though she was someone who served the General, she also knew that this Madam was the first daughter from an old General’s family in Zong Sui, and because of this, the General married this Madam who had ordinary looks and swore to never take in any concubines.
As she was thinking this, her heart was a little aggrieved, she was originally someone from the General’s house. Even though her status was low, she had thought of at least being a concubine, it was good even if she was only a courtesan. But she did not expect that Zong Sui’s old General was very overbearing, once the General took in any concubines, he would take back all of the military rights in the General’s possession. The General was controlled by that old General, so she could only follow this ordinary looking Madam, only becoming a personal maid.
How could the old General’s daughter be a secret agent? It was too ridiculous.
In the imperial palace, the Emperor sat in the plaza in front of Zhao He Hall. It was unknown where he had picked up a puppy, he was currently playing with it there.
Not long after, Zhang Yuan walked hurriedly from the direction of the court, bending over when he was in front, “Your Majesty, there is news from the morning court today, just last night, the Eighth Prince...... passed away.”
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