Become Even Closer and Become Even Happier
That morning, Feng Yu Heng ate breakfast while being “cheered on” by the gazes of her two maidservants. It was only after leaving the palace that she was able to let out a sigh of relief.
The two sat in Xuan Tian Ming’s imperial carriage and headed toward the Yao manor. Along the way, Xuan Tian Ming observed his wife’s expressions while thinking back to the joy of the previous night. That was quite nice. He lazily leaned back in the carriage and faintly said: “Dear wife is getting to be more and more delicious.” This infuriated Feng Yu Heng and made her decide to ignore him.
When they finally reached the Yao manor, a certain wolf finally became more normal, but his normal was rather oppressive. His face became stoic and devilish, while the purple lotus on his brow remaining visible. No matter how people looked at him, they would feel a bit of dread.
But he was definitely good looking. Xuan Tian Ming’s looks were definitely among the best in Da Shun. There had been people that had heard that His Highness the ninth prince and Imperial Daughter Ji An would be returning to the Yao manor on this day, and a large number of citizens gathered around to catch a glimpse of the two. In truth, there were no lack of young girls and young wives that had come out. There were even quite a few middle-aged women that had secretly come around to try and catch a glimpse of His Highness the ninth prince’s glory.
Feng Yu Heng walked into the Yao manor under these envious looks. Speaking of, her mood was a bit complicated; however, it was not because of these loving glances cast at her husband. Instead, it was a result of this residence being where the Feng family had previously lived. In the past, she had thought about it. There would come a day when she would marry into the Yu Palace, and when she needed to return home to introduce her husband, she would need to enter through this door. She would trample on the faces of the people in the Feng family while walking in, and she would beat them silly.
That was from the time when she hated the Feng manor the most; however, who knew that when this day came, the residence had already changed. The large Feng family disappeared just like that.
The Yao manor had turned this experience into a lively one. Starting with Yao Xian and continuing on to her three uncles and aunts, as her elders, they all held large red envelopes. As for Xuan Tian Ming, he had also made preparations. When leaving the palace, aside from the gifts that he had prepared, he had prepared red envelopes for Feng Yu Heng’s five cousins and Zi Rui. Inside the red envelopes were large sums of gold. The Yao family’s sixth oldest, Yao Xin, snuck a peek and found that banknote for ten thousand taels of gold.
He clicked his tongue. The ninth prince pulled out banknotes worth 60 thousand taels of gold just like that! These were not normal banknotes! This was a little too much! But this also made it clear just how much he favored their cousin. The Yao family, who has always loved daughters as much as they loved life expressed their satisfaction.
The new son-in-law had come, and there should have been quite a few rules about it, but since Xuan Tian Ming was a prince, they could not have him carry tea for the members of the Yao family, thus these were skipped. Either way, Yao Xian did not care about such things, nor did he have much of an understanding of the ancient world. He just knew that his granddaughter had chosen a good man. With just a glance at her actions and behavior, he could see the love that his granddaughter felt. This was enough. He was Feng Yu Heng’s grandfather. Although he had lived two lives, he was already in his sunset years. Who knew when this old bag of bones would meet its end? To have been able to witness his granddaughter get married, it could be considered as fulfilling one of his greatest desires.
During the family feast, those present were quite joyous. Zi Rui was relatively familiar with Xuan Tian Ming, and it was natural that they would be a bit closer. As for the five sons of the Yao family, they were a bit restrained at first, but they eventually found that the ninth prince might dress in a slightly exaggerated manner, and he might be a bit explosive and cold-hearted, but while sitting at the table as a family, he did not put on any airs. Especially when interacting with Zi Rui, he looked like a brother from a normal family. Gradually, they also found a bit of courage.
Xuan Tian Ming wanted to get along with the members of the Yao family, thus he asked the children: “Yao Shu is walking an official’s path, and he is already going South to take up that position. During the previous exam, Yao Sen and Yao Xuan came second and third, and both have already taken up positions in court. Then Yao An, Yao Nan, and Yao Xin, have you three thought about your futures?”
His question had hit the mark, as Yao An quickly nodded for both of his younger brothers, rushing to reply: “We have! Also, this is something that we need to discuss with younger sister Heng.”
Feng Yu Heng was confused: “Why does it need to be discussed with me?” The paths that men took were either the official’s path, the military path, or the merchant’s path, but none of those would require any discussion with her. Looking at her grandfather, she found that Yao Xian had an understanding expression, thus she could begin to speculate, asking: “Grandfather, do these three cousins wish to learn medicine?” The Yao family established itself as a divine doctor’s family. Although the younger generation had some understanding of medicine, there had been nobody who had expressed a desire to study this field. This had always been something that the Yao family had been completely helpless against. Even Yao Jing Jun had once expressed his regrets, but there was nothing that he could say. After all, even in his generation, there had been nobody that had seriously studied medicine. If the younger generation really did not have this sort of inclination, it would not be good for him to force them.
Hearing her ask, Yao An’s group rushed to nod before Yao Xian could even speak, as Yao Nan said: “That’s right! But what we want to learn is not the medicine that the Yao family had passed down. We read those things from childhood and have already grown bored of them, nor did they arouse any interest in learning medicine. But after returning to the capital and seeing younger sister Heng’s Hundred Herb Hall, as well as those new medical techniques, we became interested. We grew up in the Yao family and have a more solid foundation in medicine than other people. If younger sister Heng is willing to teach us those medical techniques, we will definitely remain loyal to Hundred Herb Hall for the remainder of our lives.”
Feng Yu Heng was stunned. It turned out that these three cousins from the Yao family had taken an interest in her modern medicine. Of course, she could understand. After all, as long as one was a medical practitioner, there would be none capable of resisting the benefits of those superb medical techniques. Medical techniques that traversed eras would not just be considered the pinnacle, but they would even be viewed as divine techniques. She still recalled that Song Kang had seen her perform surgery then immediately dropped to his knees, begging to become her disciple. The members of the Yao family began learning medical knowledge from a young age, so how could they possibly not be moved?
She looked toward Yao Xian and raised an eyebrow, asking: “Grandfather, why don’t you teach them? You know all the things that I know!”
Who knew that Yao Xian did not avoid it at all, directly saying: “These little ones don’t have faith in me. They only have faith in you, believing that what you have a grasp of is the source, while I learned it from you. They said that if they were to learn, they would want to learn it first hand and not second hand from me.”
Very well! She smiled bitterly, telling Yao An and the others: “In truth, grandfather’s medical abilities can only be said to be equal or better than mine. They definitely are not worse. It’s just that I spread the use of these techniques. But if you want to learn, that’s obviously a good thing. The Yao family has its foundations as divine doctors. There needs to be someone to join the family business. For cousins to have these aspirations, I am truly happy.”
“Then younger sister Heng has agreed to teach us?” The three were so moved that they immediately kowtowed and saluted her, scaring Feng Yu Heng into stopping them: “We’re family. What’s with the formality?” She then turned her head and said to Yao Xian: “I had been wanting to discuss opening a medical school with grandfather. It would specifically teach the new style of medicine that I know. Of course, the people that can join this school need to have their backgrounds clearly investigated back eight generations. There absolutely must not be anyone with ulterior motives allowed to join. Since you want to learn, it would be better to arrange for that school to be built first. Hundred Herb Hall needs a large number of doctors. No matter how many there are, there are never enough. How about my three cousins help take care of management?”
Yao An and the others heard this and were very moved, immediately agreeing to it. Whether it be Yao Xian or the three aunts and uncles of the Yao family, upon seeing that there were finally people in the Yao family wanting to take up medicine, they finally let out sighs of relief.
With the happy and joyous matters out of the way, the matter that Feng Yu Heng had struggled to bring up was still something that needed to be brought up. It was related to Yao shi. She began, but Xuan Tian Ming interjected and said: “In the end, it was a result of this prince’s order that Madam Yao died. For this, I am truly sorry to the Yao family.”
When Yao shi was mentioned, the family banquet fell silent. The members of the Yao family put away their joyous expressions and began to sigh. After a while, Yao Xian spoke up: “A-Heng already wrote about this matter in a letter. Qian Rou is my daughter. For the white-haired person to send off the black-haired person*, as a father, I am indeed quite saddened. But the things that she did and the way she acted over the past couple years are something that we have all seen, especially when she was actually muddled enough to go South with Feng Jin Yuan and that vile girl! On the day that she left, I no longer recognized her as my daughter. That’s why everything that she ran into and her final demise is a result that she sought herself. Nobody in our Yao family has any complaints. In truth, it was I, as a father, that failed in teaching that daughter, and this caused you a lot of trouble. Your Highness the ninth prince, there’s no need to say that you are sorry to the Yao family. If a discussion about this matter really is to begin, it’s the Yao family that is sorry to Your Highness.”
Yao Jing Jun also said: “That’s right. Younger sister passed away, and we are saddened, but the Yao family is a reasonable one. We definitely could not do something that goes against our conscience and ignore scoundrelly deeds.” As he spoke, he looked at Yao Xian and continued: “Father, there’s no need to self-criticize. At the root of this, the blame should be placed on the Feng family. Before younger sister got married, she was not like that. It all happened after she spent years married into the Feng family that her entire person was broken by the Feng family’s twisted ways. It was because of that that she became twisted. As for the Feng family, it has also suffered the retribution that it deserved. For this matter… just let it pass!”
The magnanimity of the Yao family caused Xuan Tian Ming to feel emotional. Speaking of, he felt intrigued and a bit of envious of the sort of family that the Yao family had. Where would there be any intimacy in the imperial family? Where would there be any trace of brothers respecting each other? He never believed that a large family could produce such a harmonious scene until the Yao family appeared, and he came to know more about the Yao family. There was nobody that could resist this sort of family. Even if he was a prince, he was very envious of this, and he even rejoiced that this was Feng Yu Heng’s maternal family. Now, they were related to him.
A certain person thought about things like how great the Yao family was, but it must not be destroyed by an outside influence. The situation with Yao Shu and Lu Yao had already been quite awkward. The remaining five must not be harmed by those with such intentions. Thus he began to ponder such things. He also had a younger sister. If Tian Ge was married into the Yao family, they would become even closer, and everyone would be happy with it, right?
Nobody knew what Xuan Tian Ming was thinking, and this included Feng Yu Heng. She did not even have the heart to think about it. Her entire body was sore. At this moment, she was thinking that she would simply go and sleep inside her space. That would save her from sleeping in the wolf’s den and getting eaten. If they went at it again, she really would collapse!
A certain person pitifully looked at the “husband” beside her. As for whether or not she would be spared was something that she could not grasp for certain!
Marriage, marriage really was something “damaging to the body…”
*TN: White-haired person would mean old, black-haired person would mean young.