FID – Chapter 283

Except for her back injury, Fu Yuzheng’s vitality had recovered well and there was no need to continue taking medicine.

Having surmised this, Liu Yusheng no longer stayed.

Before leaving, she turned her head to the woman and said, “I heard that on mid-autumn night, if a man gives a woman a lotus lamp, it means he likes her. I wonder if it’s true.”

She swiftly slipped away after imparting.

Inside the room, the rosy tint that had just faded on the woman’s cheeks bloomed once more.

She looked at the lotus lamp that was placed nicely on the bedside pillow, and emotions welled up in her eyes.

It was a green lotus.

“I saw it when I was strolling on the street, so I bought it. I’ll give it to you. It’s out of the mud but unstained, clear off ripples and without treachery, like you.” When the lantern was given to her, the handsome man said so.

She never accepted men’s gifts easily, but at that moment, she was bewitched and accepted it for some reason.

Perhaps it was because of the hidden pity in his eyes when he looked at her.

Perhaps because his tone contained his unconcealed appreciation.

He once said that there were always people in this world who were worthy of her trust.

He was one of them; she was willing to believe.

At noon, Feng Qingbai came back on time for lunch.

The young emperor, who hadn’t been seen for a few days, trailed behind him.

Liu Yusheng was standing in front of the flower hall, waiting for the man’s return.

The moment the boy saw Liu Yusheng, he sprinted off in a huff and complained, “Aunt Liu, you didn’t come to see me yesterday for the Mid-Autumn Festival! Imperial Uncle did not even go to the palace banquet and left me alone to face that old witch for reunion. I didn’t even have a good reunion dinner!”

“Then eat more later to make up for it.” Liu Yusheng laughed and pinched the little boy’s cheeks. She brought him into the flower hall and let him take a seat.

“I’m going to eat,” barely had the boy’s buttocks settled down, and he shouted, “Aunt Liu, can you help me plead with Imperial Uncle?”

“What’s wrong?”

Feng Mohan heaved a sigh. “Last night, the old witch said that she was going to pick a concubine for me! She’s so anxious to stuff people around me.  Can you help me ask Imperial Uncle to find a way and help me delay it? I’m only ten years old. Even if I want to choose a concubine, they should wait until I become an adult! “

“…” Liu Yusheng’s mouth twitched, not knowing what to say.

She glanced at Feng Qingbai and found that the man’s expression was faint, as if it wasn’t at all weird to select concubines at the age of ten.

“He is the emperor, and the selection of his concubine can not be refused. First, he isn’t observing a period of mourning. Second, there’s no need to postpone the event. So, there is no reason to reject it.”

Feng Mohan dropped his head, “Aren’t I still young…”

“When you were five years old, you participated in the selection of concubines in the courts; at eight years old, you participated again. I beat all counsels on account of your young age in each incident.” Feng Qingbai lightly said, “Now that you are ten years old, you can bundle the crown in another two years. The selection of concubines to fill the harem is something you can not avoid.”

He paused for a moment and said, “If someone comes in, you can also temporarily raise her in the harem. It has no effect on you. No one is forcing you to perform the act now.”

Not to mention Liu Yusheng, Feng Mohan, who was familiar with the rules of the harem, has a faint blush on his face.

His Imperial Uncle didn’t know how to censor his words at all.

“Why is Consort Liu so eager to choose a girl for Xiao Feng?” Liu Yusheng was puzzled. 

“Because the Liu family’s age-appropriate women have reached the age. If it’s delayed for two more years, they’d be over the age. There is no way they’d be selected into the palace,” Feng Qingbai’s eyes brought a touch of ridicule.

Under the flag of selecting concubines, Consort Liu’s real purpose was to arrange women from the Liu family to enter the harem in order to gain more real power and increase her bargaining chips.

If a woman from the Liu family could climb to a high position in the harem and give birth to an heir to Feng Mohan, then after Feng Mohan’s tragic death, the entire empire would fall into the hands of the Liu family. This was one of the livelihoods that Consort Liu planned.

“Now that Consort Liu is the only one in the harem, it is reasonable to say that there is still the Empress Dowager above her. Does the Empress Dowager really not care about anything?” Liu Yusheng did not know much about the affairs of the court.

Being together for so long, she had hardly heard Feng Qingbai mention this person.

The first time she was enthroned in the palace, she didn’t go to pay her respects either. Could it be that even the Empress Dowager was being steadily overpowered by Consort Liu and has lost control of the harem?

Feng Mohan snorted at the side. “The Empress Dowager really doesn’t care about anything now. She’s nestled in her Yangxin Palace all day long, knocking wooden fish, reciting Buddhist scriptures, and cultivating her body. Not to mention that she does not care about things, even if she does, she will not stand by me and Imperial Uncle’s side.”

The Empress Dowager’s two sons, who had the most potential of ascending to the throne, both died under his Imperial Uncle’s sword. Therefore, she wished she could peel off his Imperial Uncle’s skin and drink his blood. She also loathed him to her bones, the one who supposedly stole her sons’ throne. How could she help them?

He was afraid that if the Empress Dowager did come out of her Yangxin Palace, she would unceasingly do tricks and add more trouble to them.

However, there was no need to tell Aunt Liu these bloody, shady things, lest he frightened her, and she conjured a bad image of his uncle in her heart.

Liu Yusheng looked at the depressed boy and rubbed his head.

Sitting in that position looked idyllic,  but in fact, there were a good deal of things that he has no command of.

This boy had to bear so much beyond his peers.

In the postmodern era, what was a ten-year-old boy doing? Carrying a backpack to elementary school, talking to playmates about Ottoman, playing chicken with a phone, and pouting in front of his mother about what and what toy to buy him tomorrow.

Feng Mohan, on the other hand, has to cope in a treacherous environment, face a life controlled by others, but he has learned not to express happiness or anger.

“Eat lunch first. I’ll take you out for fun after lunch.”

The boy’s eyes immediately lit up. “Where are we going to play? Aunt Liu, what are we going to play?”

“I’ll keep it a secret for now. If I tell you, there will be no surprise.”

The boy quickly ate during this meal, sha-sha-sha and his bowl of rice was done. Afterward, he immediately raised two eyes and waited on the side, looking straight at Liu Yusheng. He blinked and urged her with his eyes, Aunt Liu, hurry up, just wait for you!

With his uncle right by his side, he just didn’t dare to urge her verbally. His uncle would beat him if he dared to do so. 

Liu Yusheng smiled. This time, the boy really resembled a young boy, an appearance he should have.

After the meal, Liu Yusheng whispered a few words in Feng Qingbai’s ear. Feng Mohan stretched his ears but failed to hear what the young girl said. However, he saw that his uncle was slightly surprised, and then he nodded.

The curiosity in Feng Mohan’s heart was like a cat scratching.

Where exactly was Aunt Liu going to take him to play, ow!

He followed the two on the royal carriage, but he has yet to know where they were actually going.

The carriage sped through the city and finally came to a slow stop in front of a workshop in the eastern suburbs.

Feng Mohan opened the curtain and looked at the sign erected in front of the workshop. “Nanfeng Dyeing Workshop?”

The corners of his mouth twitched. Aunt Liu didn’t bring him here to play with dyeing cloth, did she?

Turning his head to look at the young girl, he received an affirmative nod.

Feng Mohan instantly wailed.

“Are we really going to play with dyeing cloths? Aunt Liu, what’s the fun of getting all dirty? Take me somewhere else. It’s better to go shopping!”