Deceived
Feng Yu Heng glanced sideways at Chen Yu, her lips forming a smile.
Was this the truth?
“Eldest sister, we are in the same boat.”
The two went in separate directions at a fork in the road. Feng Yu Heng carefully looked in the direction of where Chen shi was living, but she could not see Huang Quan. Instead, she quickly headed towards the matriarch’s side.
When she arrived, the matriarch was sitting and chatting with Yao shi and An shi. When she entered, she heard the matriarch say: “Speaking of Xiao Zhou’s Ye family, they truly are the pride of Da Shun. Qian Rou, you being friendly with princess Wen Xuan is a good thing.”
Yao shi understood that the matriarch intended to have her speak up on behalf of Feng Zi Hao. She, however, did not want to care about these things. Instead, she simply gave a forced smile and did not say anything.
The matriarch was a little embarrassed. When she raised her head again, she saw Feng Yu Heng walk in and immediately placed a smile on her face, waving to her: “Good granddaughter, come over here.”
Feng Yu Heng took a few steps forward and saw Wang Chuan give her a reassuring look from behind Yao shi. Only then did she calm down. It seemed that Yao shi had gone straight to the matriarch first, so Huang Quan’s side should be empty.
“Has grandmother’s waist pain improved at all?” She smiled and advanced, looking at the desserts on the matriarch’s table, “Are these desserts from the temple? How wonderfully exquisite.”
The matriarch smiled and shook her head: “How could the temple have such good desserts. These were brought from home by your concubine mother Yao.” As she spoke, she personally handed one to Feng Yu Heng, “Come, have a taste.”
Yao shi continued by saying: “I originally wanted to deliver it to the head madam as well, but thinking of her condition… I worry that she would not eat the desserts I made, so I did not go.”
The matriarch nodded: “No need to worry about her. It’s good enough if she doesn’t starve to death.”
Feng Yu Heng accepted the dessert and held it in her hand. Bringing it to her mouth, she secretly sniffed it twice and found there was nothing strange.
As she ate the dessert, she began to ponder. Could it be that she really was too sensitive?
Looking over at granny Sun, she only saw that old woman stand by Yao shi with her head lowered. There was nothing abnormal about her facial expression, but her two hands tightly held her sleeves.
Feng Yu Heng knew this was a sign of anxiety.
The people in the room once again began to chat. An shi casually asked: “Why do we not see Zi Rui? Third young miss really likes Zi Rui and is always wanting to go play with him.”
Feng Yu Heng was startled and suddenly realized a very important problem. She had been deceived.
Lure the enemy away from their base.
She quickly got up and saluted the matriarch, saying: “Granddaughter remembered there was still some things to attend to. I will be retiring first.”
The matriarch did not keep her, merely telling her that the mountains winds at night are cold, so she should use an extra blanket.
Wang Chuan followed Feng Yu Heng and left. Seeing that she was walking ahead very quickly, she could not help but ask: “Young miss, has something happened?”
Feng Yu Heng spoke as she walked: “That’s still uncertain for now. It’s just I have a bad feeling about something. Let’s quickly return and see Zi Rui.”
Wang Chuan also anxiously followed. When they came out, Zi Rui was sleeping alone in the room. Huang Quan had gone in the direction of Chen shi. Even if she had come up empty, she would have very quickly returned. Even so, there still would have been a bit of a gap.
The two hurriedly returned to their living area. When they entered the yard, they saw Huang Quan anxiously pacing around the door. Seeing them return, she quickly came forward and pulled Feng Yu Heng in to the room.
Feng Yu Heng’s heart started thumping. Sure enough, it was within her expectations. Something had happened.
The three entered the room, and Huang Quan closed the door behind them then pulled them over to the bed. Pointing at the empty bed, she said: “This servant went to where Chen shi is living to stop madam and waited for a while. Noticing that madam did not go in that direction, I returned. But upon my return, I noticed that second young master was missing.” As she spoke, she picked up a piece of paper from the pillow and handed it to Feng Yu Heng, “But this was added.”
Feng Yu Heng received the piece of paper and spread it open. On it was written: If you want to save the child, walk towards the back of the mountain at one hour past midnight.
The writing was strong and forceful. It should have been written by a man’s hand.
Feng Yu Heng took a deep breath and did her best to adjust her emotions. It was very clear that Zi Rui had been kidnapped. Furthermore, she was very certain that Zi Rui’s kidnapping was definitely not for a ransom.
“Young miss, do you want this servant to go out and search around?” Huang Quan was a little anxious, “Perhaps they have not gone very far. How about having Ban Zou give chase?”
Feng Yu Heng shook her head, “No need. Firstly for this matter, we must not raise an alarm. Although the enemy’s goal is to lead me to the back of the mountain, Zi Rui should be safe for now. Like this,” She advised the two servant girls: “I will bring Huang Quan to the back of the mountain. Wang Chuan will remain behind to watch the room.”
Wang Chuan nodded. She knew that she was injured and would become burden if she went out, so she had no objections. Moreover, there was still Ban Zou hidden away. She was very reassured.
The three continued to talk for a while until they heard the sound of voices coming from the yard.
Feng Yu Heng got up to take a look and saw that Yao shi had returned with granny Sun. She quickly walked over to Yao shi and said: “Zi Rui has become tired from playing too much and gone to sleep. There is no need for mother to worry. I will have a servant bring dinner to the room. Tonight, Zi Rui will remain in my room and accompany me.”
Yao shi pondered it for a little while. She felt that it was Zi Rui clinging to Feng Yu Heng again, so she helplessly smiled and said, “It’s only you that spoils him. How old of a child is he to still be so clingy.” But she did not say anything else, returning to her room with granny Sun.
Feng Yu Heng thought of Xiang Rong’s illness. Turning around, she reached her hand in to her sleeve and pulled out an anti-fever medicine from her space. She had Huang Quan deliver it to Xiang Rong.
Waiting was the longest part. Night finally fell, and Feng Yu Heng and Huang Quan snuck in to the back of the mountain.
Vaguely, they could still hear the monks who had not slept lightly tapping wooden fish1. This should have been a peaceful and happy holy land, but this sort of situation had occurred. It truly made people feel bitterly disappointed.
Feng Yu Heng was someone who never feared anything. She had long made preparations should the enemy take action. She also would not blame herself after the fact for not being more careful in watching over Zi Rui. But she did take away some lessons from this experience so that she would have more methods to guard against this happening again.
The moonlight looked like strands of silk, and the stars dotted the sky. The sky was clear and fine, but after the two looped around the top of the mountain, in the blink of an eye, the moon set and stars dimmed.
Masked men in black clothes rushed forth from all sides, completely surrounding Feng Yu Heng and Huang Quan. In their hands were swords and sabers that let out a cold light, making it impossible for people look directly at it.
Feng Yu Heng did not know if these were from the same group as the one from the river side. She merely lamented how she so often ran in to these sword fights. When it rains, it pours.
Huang Quan, as before, was back to back with her, dividing the fight in to two sides. One of the surrounding people held Zi Rui as a hostage and stood before Feng Yu Heng.
Seeing that the child had his eyes closed and had remained unconscious, she knew that he had been given a knockout drug. She could not help but furrow her brow tightly.
“Feng family’s second young miss.” This time, the other party followed the script a kidnapper should. He also brought a knife to Feng Zi Rui’s neck and began negotiating with Feng Yu Heng, “Trade your life for the life of this child. Does the Feng family’s second young miss think this is worth it?”
“As expected it’s targeting me.” She slightly raised a corner of her lips, “Since you know I am the Feng family’s second young miss, you still boldly dare to do this. Do you not fear the Feng family’s retaliation?”
“Hahaha!” The person acted as if he had heard a joke, “Hmph! Even if the Feng family wanted to retaliate, they would need to have that ability. Moreover, if the Feng family’s second young miss lives, then all is fine. If you died, do you feel that your father would grieve for you and seek revenge, or would he secretly be happy?”
These words were not without merit, and Feng Yu Heng had no way of refuting it; however, she continued to display a smile on her face, persistently reminding the enemy: “It’s possible that the Feng family will secretly rejoice, but you must not forget, I have Prince Yu’s Palace as a support!”
With these words having been said, Feng Yu Heng no longer waited, loudly yelling in to the air: “Ban Zou! Save us!”
From somewhere in the air, an ghostly shadow dashed out. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of the criminals. The criminal, who had been arrogantly negotiating, had his head cut off in an instant. Feng Zi Rui was caught by that ghostly shadow and disappeared with a flash.
The group of masked men still had yet to react, as they froze for a moment. Only then did someone loudly scream: “Kill!”
Immediately, almost twenty people clad in black rushed toward Feng Yu Heng and Huang Quan.
This time was different from the previous time. Previously, they had been ambushed, so they had been caught unprepared. Furthermore, they did not have Ban Zou at their side, and the number of people they met was larger than currently. Also, the enemy had poisoned arrows, which are impossible to guard against.
Moreover, she now had Ban Zou at her side. That hidden guard was just like her shadow, silent and formless but always protecting her from the shadows.
Three people fighting against twenty was actually not that tiring. Feng Yu Heng knew that Zi Rui had already been brought to a safe place by Ban Zou. Having made no mental plans, she used an anesthetic shot and stabbed into someone’s back then simply stole that person’s saber.
Unfortunately, she had absolutely no skill with a saber. After waving it around a couple times, even Ban Zou frowned at her. Huang Quan just pulled her back: “Young miss, quickly throw away the saber.”
She also felt her form had been quite ugly, thus she abandoned the saber and continued to use the needles she was accustomed to.
After a few back and forths, not many people dressed in black remained. Seeing that the situation was dire, the remaining enemies all reached in to their waist area looking for something.
It seemed that Ban Zou and Huang Quan had some experience with this matter. Huang Quan, upon seeing the enemy move, immediately called out: “Do not allow them to use their hidden weapon!”
As for Ban Zou, he floated over like a ghost at the same time as Huang Quan. In a few strikes, he took care of most of those that remained. As for the other three, they had been struck by Feng Yu Heng’s anesthetic needle.
Not long later, all of the masked men were taken care of. Feng Yu Heng had originally planned to investigate and see if anything of interest could be found on their bodies; however, she found Ban Zou and Huang Quan frozen in place, staring at her.
“Uh….” She lowered her head and looked at herself, “Is there something wrong?”
Huang Quan wiped away some sweat, “Young miss, what hidden weapon did you use that was so amazing?”
Ban Zou did not speak, instead he stared at Feng Yu Heng and waited for an answer.
Feng Yu Heng fell silent for a while. Seeing the two have no intention of giving up, she could only vaguely reply: “It’s just a needle that has been soaked in mafeisan.” Then pointing at the people on the ground, she told Ban Zou: “The ones hit by me didn’t die. They only fell unconscious. Do you want to take care of them?”
Ban Zou did not say another word. Making use of his martial arts, he walked around in a loop. There was no sign of him making any moves, but when he stopped walking, he told them: “There are none left alive now.”
Feng Yu Heng was helpless: “We should have left one to torture for information.”
Ban Zou shook his head, “They are people from Yama’s Palace. There is a marking on their body.” As he spoke, his body seemed to move once more, and in the blink of an eye, he carried Feng Zi Rui back from who knows where.
Feng Yu Heng had just received the child, when she heard a person’s voice come from the direction they had come from. They could even vaguely see the brightly-lit flames.
Huang Quan was surprised for a moment, “I fear that someone is coming.”
As she said it, they heard someone call out “Second young miss! Where are you? Second young miss!”
There was yet another person who angrily yelled out: “Criminals who have kidnapped the second young miss, please do not harm my family’s young miss. No matter how much money you ask for, we will pay it all. We just ask that the second young miss remain alive!”
1: Percussion instrument used by monks while chanting scriptures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_fish