Chapter 57 - Reunion of Aunt and Niece

When Yun Fenghuang and Xi Le arrived at Tong Xia Palace, Duchess Yi, the wife of Shizi and Ms. Xie had been sitting for a while.

Seeing her coming, Duchess Yi smiled and said to Noble Consort Shu, “We’d better leave, and let them have a good chat.”

Ms. Xie immediately said that there was no need to be like this. She said, “Since we are family, there is no need to leave us some space specially, right?”

Then she added, “Fenghuang always went to your mansion to find Fourth Miss in the past. Duchess, you always took good care of her at that time.”

Although she said so, Noble Consort Shu asked some maids to take her and Yun Fenghuang to Xiao Hua Hall finally.

“Fenghuang!” As soon as they entered the Hall, the smile and calmness on Ms. Xie’s face suddenly disappeared. She looked at Xi Le, holding back her emotions, and asked softly, “How is everything since you joined the Imperial Harem?”

Yun Fenghuang said, “I was Bao Lin at that time, but I am Gui Ren now. Everything is good, isn’t it?”

Ms. Xie felt ashamed, saying that Yun Ju should be blamed for ruining the whole life of Yun Fenghuang. She said, “Your mother sent a letter two days ago and asked me about the background of the two families I chose for you before. I don’t know how to reply.”

At the beginning of the year, Ms. Xie took her niece out for entertainment. Several ladies were very interested in Yun Fenghuang. They felt that Yun Fenghuang was beautiful and gentle, though not from a rich family, she was matched with their second or illegitimate sons. Ms. Xie discussed with her daughters-in-law, chose two families in the end, and then wrote a letter to ask the wills of Xie Jian and his wife Ms. Jiang.

The sisters-in-law had communicated twice about this matter. Ms. Jiang thought at that time that her daughter’s marriage interview could be arranged, but there was no need to hurry because Yun Fenghuang was still young. Ms. Jiang also suggested that she’d better know the intended persons well first before they made the final decision… Ms. Xie agreed to delay the marriage and sent relevant news occasionally to the north.

However, Yun Ju and Yun Zhao intervened this. As a result, Yun Fenghuang was cordially invited into the Imperial Harem. Now, Ms. Xie received the letter from her sister-in-law, asking about Yun Fenghuang’s intended marriage. How could she not be shameful?

“What’s done is done. You should tell my mother the truth.” Yun Fenghuang frowned slightly, “My mother hasn’t known my joining in the Imperial Harem? I thought you have told her when I learned the rules.”

Ms. Xie embarrassedly said, “I… I don’t know how to tell her.”

If it were her other sisters-in-law, it would be easy, but Ms. Jiang… To be euphemistic, this one was decisive and resourceful; but blankly speaking, she was crafty and cruel. As her only daughter, Yun Fenghuang was always the apple of her eye. After Xie Fenghuan’s mishap, Ms. Jiang took everything into consideration for her only daughter. Knowing that Ms. Xie was willing to take the niece to Dijing City, Ms. Jiang even wanted to knee her to show her gratitude.

However, for a person like Ms. Jiang, if you failed to finish the thing she asked you for by kneeling, she would definitely make reprisals.

Ashamed and fearful, Ms. Xie delayed it unconsciously…

“You still have time.” Yun Fenghuang glanced at Ms. Xie, being a little sympathetic towards her. She pondered for a while and then said, “Aunt, you can tell my mother about this when you write back this time, or she will always be concerned.”

Before Ms. Xie replied, she asked about the current situation of Ms. Lan and others. Ms. Xie said that everything was fine, but they always felt sorry for Yun Fenghuang who had been in the Imperial Harem.

Yun Fenghuang smiled faintly, only saying that it would be useless to say more, because the thing had happened, and they should continue their life.

Ms. Xie hesitated to say something, and couldn’t help but advise with a low voice finally, “Noble Consort Shu is in a high rank, even if you don’t live in Tong Xia Palace now, you’d better submit to her.”

“Did Duchess Yi and Noble Consort Shu say something to you?” Yun Fenghuang said disapprovingly, “They should be guilty to say so. When did I disrespect and act against her?”

After all, Ms. Xie’s status was not high among those Titled Madams, so she knew the news of the Imperial Harem mainly from Duke Yi’s Mansion. Hearing this, she was stunned and then said, “Noble Consort Shu said nothing, but on my way to the palace, what the wife of Shizi said indicated that… that…”

“I was not in the side of Noble Consort Shu but that of Her Highness after I joined the Imperial Harem?” Yun Fenghuang continued the topic and sneered, “I wanted to be her good sister, but she sent me to Hu Zhu Palace at the very beginning! The hostess was Consort Yue, who is Jie Yu Yue now. Aunt, though you are out of the palace, you must know what kind of a person the hostess is, right?”

“Noble Consort Shu is virtuous and gentle, what can I do? If I hadn’t worked for Her Highness, I’m afraid that I would have died for a long time! If so, you would be more ashamed to explain to my parents, wouldn’t you?”

Ms. Xie was embarrassed, saying haltingly, “Fenghuang, I am not blaming on you but worried about you!”

“Aunt, are you in the mood to worry about me now?” Yun Fenghuang said with a smile, “I think you should be more worried about yourself.”

Seeing Ms. Xie looking blankly at her, she lifted her chin towards the main hall, “If Noble Consort Shu is unsatisfied with me, I can rely on Her Highness, so she can’t embarrass me. Your family, however, might be threatened by Duke Yi’s Mansion!”

“… If that is the case, then we deserve it.” Ms. Xie sighed, “Since your uncle made the mistake, and it’s the custom for a son to pay his father’s debts, your cousins and sisters-in-law cannot blame it on you. It’s all your uncle’s fault. He asked for what’s gonna happen to himself. Why did he get you, a poor girl, involved in this?”

Hearing this, Yun Fenghuang kept silence for a moment, and then lost her interest to continue the chat, “If nothing else, aunt, you’d better go back now. You should pretend to be angry after going out and complain to the ladies in Duke Yi’s Mansion about my disobedient behaviors on the way. If they ask you to extort me next time, you can tell them that I disobey you… They can’t embarrass me for the time being.”

“What are you saying?” Ms. Xie became excited immediately, and burst into tears, “I originally proposed to take you to my family, and your parents sent many things over the years. It’s embarrassing to say that in the past two years, our family has been consuming your family’s things in terms of food and money… But we failed to find a good family for you and let you trap in such a dirty place instead! If I even make you our buckler, w… we will be shameless!”

She wiped her face casually, sobbing, “You should take care of yourself in the Imperial Harem and do not worry about us! At least your uncle shares the same clan with Duke Yi, so Duke Yi would consider the relationship no matter how dissatisfied they would be with us!”

Yun Fenghuang sat quietly, neither persuading her nor comforting her. Seeing that Ms. Xie sobbed for a long time and gradually calmed down, she said, “Queen Mother of Honor only allowed us to meet for a while, so if you stay here for too long, I’m afraid Noble Consort Shu will be awkward.”

Ms. Xie stood up with tears, and said that she would come to see Yun Fenghuang with Duchess Yi next time.

Before going out, Ms. Xie took Yun Fenghuang’s hand and repeatedly told her that she must be patient when dealing with affairs, and it didn’t matter to endure some grievances because being alive was the most critical thing. She also said something alike… Yun Fenghuang…Yun Fenghuang listened to her, but wondered secretly that who would be her punching bag later?

When they reached the main hall, Duchess Yi and Noble Consort Shu saw the tears on the face of Ms. Xie. They both sighed, “Fenghuang has joined the Imperial Harem for a few days, but why are you so sad? At least next time you can still see her.”

Ms. Xie thanked them first, and then said with a smile, “The child has been raised by me for the past two years, and her sisters-in-law also like her. So, she missed us very much after joining the Imperial Harem. We talked a lot about our family, and I really… Fortunately, her sisters-in-law didn’t come, otherwise they would be very distressed.”

She also said that she would like to thank Noble Consort Shu for taking care of Yun Fenghuang, “The child said she bothered you a lot because of something happened these days.”

“Fenghuang, is my younger sister, just like Qingman.” Noble Consort Shu smiled elegantly. Yun Qingman was now sitting next to Duchess Yi. She smiled when she heard the words, “Protecting the younger sister is the right thing for the elder sisters to do, isn’t it?”

Duchess Yi said, “Indeed! I have always told Her Lady and Qingman that the most important thing among sisters are harmony and unity. Others see you as a family, and you must be intimate, which is the way for the family to prosper itself.”

The wife of Shizi and Ms. Xie agreed instantly.

It was about the meal time after they said polite words for a while. Noble Consort Shu wanted them to stay for meal, but Duchess Yi feared that Queen Mother Ji would blame her daughter if they stayed for too long, so she persisted in leaving.

Noble Consort Shu took the lead to send them to the gate of the palace, and asked Yun Fenghuang whether she would stay in Tong Xia Palace for meal.

“But I’m moving to a new place.” Yun Fenghuang refused, saying that yesterday the Empress had just filled her manpower, and now it was the time that everything in her residence was in a mass. She also had to supervise Jie Yu Yue’s copying. Therefore, she dared not leave too long.

“Hu Zhu Palace is a little more remote.” Noble Consort Shu nodded when she heard the words, and did not show any displeasure, but said, “Jie Yu Yue is not easy-going, so I plan to ask Her Highness to change a place for you after a few days! There are actually a few empty halls and buildings in Tong Xia Palace. If you can come, it will be more convenient for our sisters to contact.”

Yun Qingman’s eyes lit up when she heard this. She asked instantly, “Sis, really?”

Noble Consort Shu nodded with a smile, looking forward to Yun Fenghuang’s attitude.

Yun Fenghuang just smiled, “Will it bother you, My Lady?”

Noble Consort Shu said that it was okay. Glancing at the maids around her, she lowered her voice, “After all, Noble Consort Gui is pregnant, so Her Highness relies heavily on me these days…”

“Then.” Yun Fenghuang pondered, and saluted, “Thank you, My Lady.”

After chatting with her sisters for a while, she went back.

After leaving Tong Xia Palace, Xi Le, who had kept silence before, said, “Gui Ren, do you really want to move out of Hu Zhu Palace?”

“Absolutely not.” Yun Fenghuang sneered, “I can’t be a hostess for a while. If I move to other palaces, I have no hostess to rely on but have to be restrained by the hostess. What’s more, I disheartened the hostess of Hu Zhu Palace difficultly, so why should I move out?”

Xi Le let out a sigh of relief, and said with a smile, “Hu Zhu Palace is the most remote palace. If you go to Tong Xia Palace, other things will be fine, but if you want to see your old friends, it is not easy.”

She reminded Yun Fenghuang to think about the excuse of refusal earlier, “Since Noble Consort Shu mentioned so, I am afraid that she was sure that she can persuade Her Highness.”

Yun Fenghuang didn’t care about that, “If I don’t want to live in Tong Xia Palace, even if she ties me up there, finally she will beg me to leave.”

After saying this, she pondered for a while, and then asked, “Well, is Her Highness still at Mian Fu Palace?”

Xi Le said, “Yes, Her Highness seemed not to return to Yan Fu Palace yesterday, and Duke Ye’s Mansion also sent a lot of medicinal herbs there… But according to the rumors in the palace, Queen Mother of Honor is not very seriously ill.”

“Maybe they want to fix their relationship for Xiaozong’s affair in the past.” Yun Fenghuang said, “These things are irrelevant with us now… Is Zhao Yuan Ji also at Mian Fu Palace?”

Xi Le said yes, and added, “Like Her Highness, she didn’t go back yesterday. Several ladies of Ji’s Family have also entered the palace today, and they might be ordered to have a talk at Mian Fu Palace.”

Yun Fenghuang thought about it for a while and said, “Well, let’s go back first. There are still some things to deal with.”

She planned to solve the house-moving issue as quickly as possible, but as she went back to Xi Xing Building, there was a eunuch coming to deliver a message, saying that Emperor Chunjia would arrive after a while.