Chapter 149

At the beginning, the Chen family’s people quietly followed behind the group of carriages, as they were still filled with anger; however, when the group neared the Feng residence, they no longer followed them.

The Feng family was definitely not grand. It was a simple little courtyard that had a scholarly feel to it.

When they arrived, there was already someone standing at the gate to welcome them. Feng Yu Heng looked towards that person and saw that it was an elderly person who looked to be at least 80. Wearing a blue robe, his hair, eyebrows, and beard were all pure white. Unlike the two elders from the Chen family, however, he body was not hunched. Instead, his face was rosy and posture upright.

Feng Jin Yuan and the matriarch quickly went forward and knelt before the elder, saying: “Clan elder.”

The members of the Feng family also quickly knelt down and said in unison: “Clan elder.”

On the way over, Feng Yu Heng had listened to Yao shi speak about the matters of this residence. Ever since Feng Jin Yun became an official in the capital, one by one, all of the Feng clan moved to higher positions, and not many people remained. It was basically only the old and the weak.

Recently, this clan elder had reached 80 and was from Feng Jin Yuan’s grandfather’s generation. He had great prestige within the Feng family. It was said that he was a very fair but strict person. He practically never got involved with matters between the younger generation, but once he became involved, he would definitely not show and bias.

While she was thinking, she heard the clan elder say: “Jin Yuan, you are the current prime minister. Logically, you should not be performing such a grand ceremony. But the Feng family’s rules can not be broken. You have come back to make offerings to our ancestors, so you can not miss out on a single courtesy.”

Feng Jin Yuan said: “Clan elder is correct.”

“Un.” The clan elder nodded, “You may all rise.”

Feng Jin Yuan was the first to stand up then helped the matriarch. Immediately after this, everyone in the Feng family stood up.

Feng Yu Heng noticed that the clan elder’s gaze seemed to have swept past her but did not stop. Sweeping his gaze over Chen Yu, it was simply just a glance as well before looking away. In the end, it fell on Jin Zhen.

Feng Jin Yuan immediately thought of something. The matter of taking in Jin Zhen was still unknown to the rest of the clan, so he quickly said: “This is a new concubine that grandson took in.”

The clan elder waved his hand: “There is no need to inform the clan of such trivial matters. A concubine will be unable to enter the genealogical record. You can decide things for yourself. Follow me in.”

After he finished speaking, he turned around and stomped into the residence with his hands clasped behind his back. Some servants guided the carriage drivers to where the carriages could be left, while the members of the Feng family entered the courtyard.

If returning to the ancestral residence were something that happened annually, then the rules would be fewer. For someone like Feng Jin Yuan, who had not returned for many years, the amount of rules was obviously higher.

Not giving them a chance to rest their feet and before the rooms were assigned, the old clan elder spoke: “The ancestral hall is already open. Jin Yuan, bring your mother, your official wife and daughter to your first wife along with me to pray in the ancestral hall.”

Once these words were said, Chen Yu wiped away some tears and grieved: “Clan elder, my mother has already passed away.”

The old clan elder glanced at Chen Yu and asked Feng Jin Yuan in confusion: “This is the daughter born to you by that concubine? Why does she not know the rules?”

Feng Jin Yuan felt embarrassed: “This is Chen Yu. She is not a concubine’s daughter. She is grandson’s eldest daughter to the first wife.”

“Daughter of the first wife?” The clan elder looked at Chen Yu and pondered for a long time, “Hm, I have a bit of an impression. Your eldest daughter is called Feng Chen Yu, but your eldest daughter is not the daughter of the first wife, the second daughter is!” As he said this, he looked towards Feng Yu Heng and waved to her: “You are A-Heng? Come over to great grandfather.”

A-Heng’s face had a graceful smile, as she walked up and bowed to the old clan elder: “A-Heng greets great grandfather.”

The clan elder slightly helped her and said: “This is my Feng family’s daughter to the first wife.”

Chen Yu’s eyes immediately filled with tears. She turned to face the matriarch and Feng Jin Yuan with grief-filled eyes, but with the clan elder standing there, the matriarch had become someone of the younger generation. What was there for her to say?

Feng Chen Yu gnashed her teeth ferociously. Feng Yu Heng’s existence was becoming more and more of a bother to her. She hated that she could not just throw that person deep into the mountains to feed the wolves.

Feng Jin Yuan knew that for the people of the family residence, Yao shi and Feng Yu Heng were still the head wife and daughter of the first wife. The people from the old home all adhered to old knowledge, and he did not want to argue too much with the clan elder at this time. He said to Yao shi: “Let’s go. Follow this prime minister in.”

Yao shi silently followed behind Feng Jin Yuan and the matriarch. Her face was expressionless. Even when she passed by the clan elder, she did not say a single word.

They entered the ancestral hall and knelt. Some servants then came forth and handed them some incense. Each person had three sticks of incense, and all were lit.

There was a clan member who was responsible for chanting. After this, they kowtowed. Finally, after the ritual was completed, the matriarch went forth and placed the incense in the censer. Only with this was the ceremony completed.

Feng Yu Heng and Yao shi acted in accordance with the rules for the daughter of the first wife and the head wife. Yao shi did not feel much of anything after this. She was, after all, the original head wife. She could not be any more familiar with these rituals. Feng Yu Heng, however, was a little troubled. If it were not for the servants directing her, she really would not know what to do. Even with this being the case, there were still times where her actions were incorrect, which caused the person who was chanting to look at her a few times.

But she did not care. After the incense was placed, she took the initiative to apologize to the clan elder: “A-Heng has lived for too long in a mountain village and has not worked with the rules of the clan residence. For the areas that were lacking, I hope great grandfather will forgive this.”

Feng Jin Yuan was so furious that he wanted to slap her across the face. Mountain village this, mountain village that. She would not forget to mention the mountain village regardless of where she went. Was she afraid that others would not know that she had lived in a mountain village or something?

His facial expression was clearly seen by Feng Yu Heng, who could not help but secretly sneer at him.

Now you know that this sort of thing was easy to say but sounded bad? At the time, what were you thinking when you promoted a concubine over the head wife? The shameless things you have done are done, but now you want others to go find face for you? Not only will I, your grandaunt, not go find you any face, I absolutely must tear off another layer before I have had my fun.

“The matter of A-Heng and concubine mother Yao coming to the ancestral hall to pay respects today, I hope great grandfather will make sure nobody else will speak of it to outsiders.” A troubled look appeared on Feng Yu Heng’s face. As she spoke, she turned her head in the direction of where Chen Yu was, a nervous expression appearing on her face.

The old clan elder was completely puzzled: “Why?”

“Because… A-Heng is not the proper daughter to the first wife, after all. Concubine mother Yao is also not the head wife! Just now, the Chen family’s people blocked the road to the county and shouted about beating and killing. If they found out A-Heng and concubine mother Yao came to the ancestral hall, while eldest sister did not, perhaps… they might get violent.”

“They dare?” The clan elder’s eyes became pointed and his beard trembled. Thinking about what Feng Yu Heng had said, he asked the matriarch: “If your family has always been such a mess, there was no need for you to return and make offerings!”

The matriarch trembled with fear. Hastily bowing, she said: “Clan elder is exaggerating. The matters of the family were mishandled by this old one. It will not happen again.” As she spoke, she internally blamed Feng Yu Heng. There were times to reveal a secret, but she had to do it before the clan elder. Actually, it did not matter whether they worshiped this old home, but her husband was still buried here!

Feng Jin Yuan also said: “The matters of the family have inconvenienced you. The Chen family is nothing but a disorderly mob that is not worth mentioning.”

The clan elder nodded then looked at the group of people standing in the yard, especially Feng Chen Yu. That appearance made him feel that she was no good.

He had lived for over 80 years and met countless people. He had heard that Feng Jin Yuan had given birth to a daughter with the aspect of the phoenix long ago, but if it was Feng Chen Yu… no matter how he looked, she did not look like it.

“Forget it, you can go rest. There will be servants who will bring you to your rooms. As for the matter of daughter to the first wife and daughter of a concubine, no matter how you decide, it is your own matter. But here, the Feng family only recognizes Yao shi and A-Heng.”

Having said this, the clan elder left.

Feng Chen Yu turned her head, not wanting to look at him. She had already mentally cursed this old man 50-odd times.

Feng Yu Heng was happy with seeing Chen Yu’s expression. Dragging Yao shi, she left the ancestral hall. She then deliberately stopped before her and said: “We will be causing eldest sister some grievances during these few days. It is all the clan elder’s decision. A-Heng is powerless to do anything about it.” If you are unhappy, go speak to the clan elder about it! Do you dare?

What could Feng Chen Yu say? Turning around, she left with Yi Yue.

The matriarch asked the servants: “Where is young master Feng Zi Hao?”

The servants were slightly startled and carefully thought for a while before replying: “Madam is speaking about the young master watching over the grave, right? He has been living in the mountains. The clan elder built a small room for his next to the grave. He also left a personal servant to attend to him.”

The matriarch felt sorry for him and could not help but glare at Feng Jin Yuan.

Feng Jin Yuan did not think that the clan elder would actually chase Zi Hao into the mountains, but it was him that said for Zi Hao to watch over the grave. Now, that child was truly watching over the grave, so what could he say? He could only comfort the matriarch, saying: “Early tomorrow morning, I will go up the mountain to see him.”

The servants led everyone to their rooms. Feng Yu Heng helped Yao shi get settled first. After seeing her lie down and rest on her bed, she returned to her own room.

Wang Chuan helped her with the bed sheets, while Huang Quan received the meal sent by the servants, “Young miss, come eat a little. I saw some servants sending food over to madam’s side as well.”

Though there were not many masters at the Feng clan residence, there were plenty of servants. Most of them were kept around in preparation for clan members who occasionally returned.

When Feng Yu Heng ate, she glanced around this room once more. She noticed that there was a brush and ink. In the blink of an eye, an idea came to her.

She walked over to the table with the brush and ink. The two servants were confused and could only follow. They saw Feng Yu Heng tear a piece of paper, raise the brush and wrote some poorly-written words on it.

Huang Quan facepalmed: “Young miss, have you been practicing the whip for too long that you have regressed?”

She rolled her eyes at Huang Quan: “Take a good look and see whose handwriting does this resemble?”

Wang Chuan was more serious and looked at the writing. She saw that Feng Yu Heng had written: “Come to Qi Feng Mountain tonight. This handwriting and tone… Feng Zi Hao?”

Feng Yu Heng gave her a commending look then placed it in Wang Chuan’s hands, “Find a chance to place it in Feng Chen Yu’s room. Make sure she sees it.”

Huang Quan was confused: “Why is that?”

Feng Yu Heng did not keep her guessing, explaining: “Feng Chen Yu had put in such great effort to bring us to Feng Tong county. Why is that? Did you truly believe it was to make offerings?”

“Young miss believes that she and Feng Zi Hao have planned to frame you?”

“It is just a guess. Regardless of whether my guess is correct or not, causing trouble for her will not affect us.”

Having done something bad, her mood was good. Feng Yu Heng ate two bowl of food before lying down to rest.

Two hours later, Yi Yue discovered this note before the bed. Puzzled, she brought it to Feng Chen Yu: “Young miss, please look.”

Chen Yu opened the note and glanced at its contents. She immediately determined it had come from Feng Zi Hao and notified Yi Yue: “Light a candle and burn this note.”

Yi Yue acted accordingly, but she also asked curiously: “Was it the eldest young master who sent it?”

Chen Yu glared at her and sneered, “If it wasn’t him, who else could it be. Tonight, you will accompany me on a walk up Qi Feng Mountain.”