Chapter 1145
Something Bad Happened At Heavenly Hall
Feng Tianyu told Ren Xifeng: “You also know that our home has a burden, my father is afraid that something bad will happen to me and does not allow me to go out, so this needs to be carried out by you. Enter the imperial palace and meet His Highness the Sixth Prince, the relationship between His Highness the Sixth Prince and Ah-Heng is still rather good. With His Highnesses the Ninth Prince and Seventh Prince not in the capital now, no one can make Ah-Heng listen to them. But His Highness the Sixth Prince might be able to do so!”
Once Feng Tianyu mentioned this, Ren Xifeng also felt happy, “That’s right! How did I forget about His Highness the Sixth Prince! Ah-Heng’s current state is so unstable, no one can do anything about it, but for someone like His Highness the Sixth Prince, he might stablise her. In this world, other than His Highness the Seventh Prince, the person who can combat action with calmness should be His Highness the Sixth Prince, aye aye, Tianyu, you contributed a lot, I will enter the imperial palace now, you shall stay in the manor and wait for my good news!”
Ren Xifeng was the type to prove her point with her actions, once she said she would do it, she would do so immediately, heading straight to the imperial palace after leaving the Prime Minister’s manor. But once she reached the imperial palace gates, that was when she finally thought about how she was supposed to get in? Unlike Feng Yuheng, she did not have the right to enter and leave the imperial palace whenever she wanted, and even though she was the first daughter from General Pingnan’s manor, it was not an easy thing for her to enter the imperial palace. Unless a master inside invited her, she could not enter at all.
Ren Xifeng stopped in front of Deyang Gate with a gloomy expression, the servant who was driving reminded her: “Master entered the imperial palace today and had not come out yet! Young Miss can wait at the imperial palace gates, and when Master comes out, we can have Master think of something.”
“No.” Ren Xifeng shook her head, “In the end, this is a problem from a female, how can I ask my father to get involved.” She thought for a while and thought of an idea. She immediately reached into her sleeve pocket and pulled out her money bag, then picked out the two largest pieces of silver, holding them in her hand and got off, handing it over to the imperial guard who was on duty, then she said: “Sir, I am someone from General Pingnan’s manor, I have some business with Eunuch Zhang Yuan, can you see if you can help to pass on the message?”
Even though the imperial guard guarding the palace did not recognise Ren Xifeng, looking at her attire and hearing her declare her family background, he could guess the identity of the other party. They were all people under Xuan Tianming and naturally knew the relationship between Ren Xifeng and Feng Yuheng and also knew that General Pingnan’s manor was standing on the Ninth Prince’s side. Therefore, that soldier did not give her any trouble, accepting the silver, turning around and entering to deliver the message. Ren Xifeng waited for a duration of two incense sticks and finally saw Zhang Yuan following the soldier and walking out from the imperial palace.
She quickly approached him and greeted him warmly: “Eunuch Zhang, Ah-Heng asked me to look for you.” Ren Xifeng was very smart, declaring Feng Yuheng’s name immediately. Firstly, it was such that Zhang Yuan would not end up not helping her in the end. Secondly, it was for these imperial guards to hear. With Feng Yuheng suppressing the scene, it would be easier to allow her into the imperial palace.
Once Zhang Yuan heard that Feng Yuheng asked her to come, he quickly asked for the reason. Ren Xifeng pulled him to the side and then spoke softly: “Ah-Heng has encountered some trouble, I came to see His Highness the Sixth Prince. But I cannot enter the imperial palace, without any other choice, I can only trouble Eunuch Zhang to help think of something, see if you can bring me in than allow me to see His Highness the Sixth Prince.”
Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes, thinking that what was said just now was just a lie! But something bad happened to Feng Yuheng, this surprised him greatly. He wanted to ask what exactly happened, but it was not good to speak here. Therefore, Zhang Yuan nodded and told Ren Xifeng: “Let’s talk after entering the imperial palace!”
Zhang Yuan was someone close to the Emperor, it was too easy for him to bring someone into the imperial palace. The imperial guards just let him through without asking anything. Of course, who would dare to anger someone close to the Emperor? The old Emperor valued this Eunuch more than his own life, if not for this Eunuch keeping him company and placating him every day, the old Emperor would have caused a huge ruckus again.
On the way from Deyang Gate to Heavenly Hall, Ren Xifeng summarised the situation with Feng Yuheng to Zhang Yuan, and after hearing this, Zhang Yuan commented with emotion: “It has been a long time since I heard any news from outside the imperial palace, I didn’t expect for such a thing to happen. It was correct for Young Miss Ren to come, as long as it can help Princess Yu, any method is worth trying. This Servant will bring you over to Heavenly Hall, you can definitely meet the Sixth Prince.”
The two of them walked towards Heavenly Hall, and when they arrived, they discovered that the Sixth Prince was discussing matters inside the Hall. At this kind of hour, the morning court had not even ended yet. Ren Xifeng did not understand and after gathering information, she realised that they were talking about the winter disaster in the northern border. It was entering winter now, the weather at the northern border would change abruptly. A disaster would occur every year, they could not succeed in avoiding it this year as well.
Ren Xifeng stood outside the Hall and listened to the proceedings inside the Hall, the positive Sixth Prince lost his temper. There was a winter disaster in the northern border, half of the army was recalled because of the battle at the eastern border. For the other half which was left behind, they were unable to receive the army supplies in time. Currently they did not have enough food. In the military camp, they had to depend on their own purchasing to ensure that the soldiers standing guard could eat their fill and dress warmly. But in the first place, the northern border was barren, seeds would not grow where they were buried, the food eaten by the citizens were imported from other provinces, how could it be enough to satisfy the needs of an army? Seeing that the soldiers were going to go hungry, how could the Sixth Prince not feel anxious?
But the ministers had an explanation, they had just entered winter, but the snow in the northern area had started falling since late autumn, and the snow was only getting heavier. It was not that the imperial court did not send food towards the northern disaster, but after passing through River Sky Manor, the roads became difficult to travel on, and then they encountered a large number of refugees. The food was plundered during the journey and when they were delivered to the army camp at the northern border, not even half of what was delivered remained.
Ren Xifeng frowned as she listened, Zhang Yuan spoke softly next to her: “This isn’t anything new. These things happen every year, the northern border is a frozen land, it would be strange if there was no disaster. In addition, they even included Qian Zhou now. Our Da Shun still has to be responsible for the citizens in Qian Zhou as well. It is like this in court ever day. Even though This Servant does not know anything about matters outside the imperial palace, This Servant knows about the matters within the imperial palace very well. His Highness the Sixth Prince is so busy that he would frequently not sleep night after night, and even with that, the political duties keep piling up.” As Zhang Yuan spoke, he shook his head and sighed, “His Highness the Sixth Prince is a little too serious, for His Majesty in the past, when he handled these matters, most of the time he would throw something on the ground and tell those Ministers that they chattered too much and not bother him about every little thing. The ministers would handle things well anyway, no one would dare to under-deliver. But His Highness the Sixth Prince does not dare! He is holding the position, so many eyes are watching him! With any small mistake, people would harp on about it. I really cannot tell what is so good about fighting for the position to manage all the important matters in this world.”
Ren Xifeng had the same thoughts, many people wanted to fight to become the Emperor, such that they were willing to harm their brothers and their father. But they did not know that after becoming Emperor, the burden on their body was higher than the sky. Once they sat on that Emperor seat, it was not as easy as just enjoying court greetings.
“Last night, His Highness the Sixth Prince went to visit Noble Lady Li again.” Zhang Yuan gossiped softly, “It was heard that when he came out, his expression was not that good. In the middle of the night, Jing Si Palace made a ruckus and said that Noble Lady Li wanted to hang herself, His Highness the Sixth Prince was called over after just having fallen asleep and he stood watch until this morning.” Zhang Yuan shook his head as he spoke. At this time, a Eunuch was seen walking out from Heavenly Hall, he quickly waved that person over, summoning that Eunuch to him.
When that Eunuch saw Zhang Yuan, he quickly wanted to bow, but Zhang Yuan stopped him, then told Ren Xifeng: “He is the personal Eunuch serving His Highness the Sixth Prince, his name is Sun Rang.” At the same time, he also introduced to Sun Rang: “This is the First Miss from General Pingnan’s manor, she has come to see His Highness the Sixth Prince. When court is adjourned, please make a referral.”
Once Sun Rang heard that this was someone from General Pingnan’s manor, he said quickly: “The old General is also inside!”
Ren Xifeng said quickly: “Do not bother my father, I came to see His Highness the Sixth Prince.” Thinking for a bit, she added on: “Princess Yu asked me to come.”
She brought up Feng Yuheng’s name and with the addition of Zhang Yuan’s referral, this matter proceeded smoothly. Zhang Yuan still had to return to take care of the Emperor and it was not convenient for him to stay. He took his leave after making the referral and Sun Rang accompanied Ren Xifeng in waiting outside the Hall, even telling Ren Xifeng: “Young Miss, there is no need to feel anxious, when court is adjourned, This Servant will bring you in.”
The good thing was that without waiting for too long, the announcement that court was adjourned was heard. Ren Xifeng stood behind a pillar, hiding her body as much as possible so people would not see that she was here. Hiding like this, she could hear the discussion between the ministers. Someone said: “His Highness the Sixth Prince is too indecisive! He is hesitating between the disaster refugees and the soldiers guarding the border. In my opinion, the matter of the border frontier is more important, the food should be delivered to the border frontier first. As for the refugees, there are refugees every year, there are people frozen to death every year, but we have never heard of any communities being completely wiped out from being frozen because of this.”
Someone also said: “His Highness the Sixth Prince changed a lot now. In the past, I only felt that he was a first rank scholar, and he is only good at being a scholar! Other than creating books for Da Shun, what else could be expected from him? But with his position of regent now, he is doing rather well, see, he can even lose this temper!”
“This is still rather good!” Someone lamented, “Even if His Highness the Sixth Prince loses his temper, he is still relatively peaceful. Think about it, what if the Regent was the Ninth Prince?”
“It would be good if it was the Ninth Prince!” Someone shouted loudly, “Not considering the Ninth Prince for the moment, because that Princess Yu is around, there are limitless possibilities for Da Shun’s future, and all those possibilities are inspiring!”
Ren Xifeng heard the people speak one about another as they voiced their opinion and she felt aggrieved on behalf of the Sixth Prince. The task of Regent was demanding and did not have much benefits. People might feel that you are not suited, but you still had to rule this country properly, this hardship could not be understood by the common people.
She hid behind the pillar, watching group after group of ministers leaving, Her father General Pingnan was one of them, as well as Feng Tianyu’s father Feng Qing. When everyone had left, this was when she returned to Sun Rang’s side. She wanted to say let’s go meet His Highness the Sixth Prince now! But she saw the servants leaving Heavenly Hall one by one and one of them even told Sun Rang: “His Highness the Sixth Prince gave orders, no one can enter the Hall, he also does not need anyone to serve him.”
“Why is that?” Sun Rang did not understand, Ren Xifeng understood even less. She then saw Sun Rang ask the people who came out from inside: “His Highness would not even allow me to go in?”
The other party answered: “His Highness said, no one can enter.”
Sun Rang frowned and told Ren Xifeng: “Logically, this shouldn’t happen! This Servant followed him from his residence, His Highness does not hide anything from This Servant, but this seems to have been said without any proper reason.”
Ren Xifeng thought: “Why don’t you let me try to enter! Princess Yu’s matter is also rather urgent, if His Highness the Sixth Prince wants to blame me, there is Princess Yu as protection.” She mentioned Feng Yuheng’s name again, and after Sun Rang nodded in agreement, she had to be amazed at how influential Feng Yuheng was! As long as her name was mentioned, everything proceeded so smoothly without any blockages.
She shook her head and showed a troubled smile, walking into the Hall, but unexpectedly, once she entered the inner hall and the sound of the closing hall door was heard, when she just saw the figure of the Sixth Prince, she saw the Sixth Prince Xuan Tianfeng coughing up blood uncontrollably……
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