Chapter 27 – Princess Fengyi

Chiyun Yuexuan looked at Yan Feng with a puzzled expression. Yan Feng paused for a moment, trying hard to calm his mood. “Murong Zhining is a princess of Shangxia Country. When she was three years old, the rebels abducted her from the palace. Since then, her whereabouts were unknown.”

Chiyun Yuexuan looked at Yan Feng in surprise. The latter glared at him. “Shangxia never stopped looking for her. Her imperial father and mother have arranged eyes everywhere in the neighboring countries to find her. Some time ago, a Shangxia agent found her in my Chongde County, only then did I know, you actually left her all alone in Chongde!” Yan Feng said and punched the table, his face painful.

Chiyun Yuexuan creased his brows. “What does Your Majesty intend to do about this?”

Yan Feng replied with a solemn face, “Shangxia and Huayan have been maintaining a friendly and peaceful relationship for generations. A concubine of my imperial father is a princess of Shangxia and also Murong Zhining’s aunt. This time, Shangxia has sent an envoy to escort her back.”

Chiyun Yuexuan felt like a weight had been taken off his mind. “So Your Majesty wants to send Murong Zhining back to Shangxia. I have no objections.”

Yan Feng shot him a fierce glare. “What qualifications do you have to object? You only care about your own pitiful self-esteem. You’ve never once considered my dignity and Murong Zhining’s life and death.”

There was a hint of shame on Chiyun Yuexuan’s face.

Yan Feng supported himself with both hands against the desk. “Since you neither treat her well nor take her in as your concubine, I have decided to return her to Shangxia as a princess. You can leave now. Murong Zhining doesn’t know about this, I will summon her here now. You should go to Minghui Palace and see your sister.”

Chiyun Yuexuan left the Imperial Study with his mind in a mess and headed for Minghui Palace. He suddenly felt a pang of guilt towards Murong Zhining for what he had done.

Murong Zhining was on the way to the Imperial Study, Cai Sang and Luo Siyao quietly accompanied by her sides. A row of maids and eunuchs respectfully followed behind them with their heads bowed. This path was particularly familiar to Murong Zhining.

After she entered the Imperial Study, Murong Zhining was about to kneel when Yan Feng held her up. She retreated one step and still knelt down to pay her respects.

Yan Feng turned his body to avoid, his hand resting on his forehead and his face full of shame. “I have no face to see you again, yet I have to.”

Murong Zhining’s expression was completely calm. “Why would Your Majesty say such a thing? You don’t have to feel guilty about this servant, everything that has happened has nothing to do with you.”

Yan Feng was a little choked. “I could not protect you well and made you suffer. For this, my heart is deeply tormented. I called you here today to tell you about something.” Yan Feng dismissed everyone else, then leaned on the desk and stabilized his emotions. “Didn’t you tell me you had been pursued since you were little and didn’t know about your own identity?

Murong Zhining froze for a moment, before she spoke in a trembling voice, “Your Majesty has found my family?”

Yan Feng nodded. “You are Princess Fengyi of Shangxia Country. You were taken away by the rebels when you were three. Your imperial father and mother have always been searching for you.”

Murong Zhining’s legs went soft and nearly fell. Yan Feng hurried over to support her over to the chair. As her tears rolled down one after another, his heart ached so much that his eyes reddened. He handed her his handkerchief. “Your father has sent an envoy to receive you back. If you still feel unprepared, you can stay in the palace for a while before you go.”

Murong Zhining’s thoughts spun in her head. She remembered nanny’s last words, “Your mother is Shang… Shang…” At that time, she thought nanny wanted to say her mother’s surname was Shang. Now, she understood that nanny meant to say Shangxia.

Murong Zhining’s heart was in turmoil. She had never the right to decide her own future, but now that she did for the first time, she was confused. She had lost all sense of direction and didn’t know where to go.

Yan Feng’s voice was extremely gentle, “I know you can’t process everything right now. Just stay in Qixiang Palace for the time being and make your decision after you have calmed down.”

Murong Zhining was delivered to Qixiang Palace in a sedan chair. She didn’t even know how she entered this place, her head was a mess right now.

Qixiang Palace hadn’t changed at all since she left. Yan Feng had ordered people to put “Sonorous” back where it was. Murong Zhining thought she was in a dream. Cai Sang called her several times, but she didn’t respond at all.

In Minghui Palace, Chiyun Yuexuan was sitting at the stone table with Chiyun Ping, but his mind had wandered off. Chiyun Ping was talking about something, but he didn’t hear a word of what she said.

Cai Qin came over to serve tea. Finally seeing the man she liked, Cai Qin put on an unnatural face, trying to attract his eyes. When Chiyun Yuexuan had taken Murong Zhining with him, she was terribly jealous, but later, when she heard that he treated Murong Zhining badly, Cai Sang was so happy that she woke up from her dreams laughing many times.

When Chiyun Ping noticed that her brother was distracted, she asked, “I heard that His Majesty made you escort Murong Zhining back? Ever since you took that slave away, His Majesty has been unhappy all day long, my heart aches just looking at him. If I had known sooner, I wouldn’t have let you bring her away. We should have fulfilled His Majesty’s desire.”

Chiyun Yuexuan stood up to leave. “Everything was decided by myself alone and has nothing to do with Esteemed Consort. You don’t have to feel bad. My heart is in chaos today, I’ll be taking my leave.”

Looking at his retreating back, Chiyun Ping shook her head in confusion.

Murong Zhining sat at the stone table for a long, long time. Cai Sang had been talking to her, but she didn’t respond even once. She found it impossible to control her own thoughts.

Today was Luo Siyao’s first time in the palace. She curiously looked everywhere. “Thanks to Zhining, I have this chance to enter the palace and open my eyes. It’s really unbelievable, I actually got to see His Majesty! His Majesty is so handsome, ahh. If I hadn’t seen him with my own eyes, I would still believe him to be a gross old man.”

Irritated, Cai Sang roared, “Alright, enough! Can’t you see Zhining’s state right now? Stop fussing. Zhining has gone foolish, and you still have the heart to sight-see?!”

Murong Zhining was caressing “Sonorous” gently, still unable to tell whether this was reality. This frightened Cai Sang. She grabbed Murong Zhining’s hand, “Stop scaring me, Zhining. Can’t you tell me what has happened?”

“Impudent servant! You must call her ‘princess.’ Cai Sang, you aren’t allowed to be thoughtless from now on. You must finally learn some rules.” Yan Feng was standing at the entrance. With his hands crossed behind his back, he slowly entered Qixiang Palace.

Cai Sang pulled on Luo Siyao to kneel and pay their respects. “This servant greets Your Majesty. I’m stupid and don’t understand what you mean. How has Zhining become a princess?”

Yan Feng’s gentle eyes fell upon Murong Zhining. “It seems you haven’t been told this yet. Zhining is the lost princess of Shangxia Country, Princess Fengyi. You musn’t call her by her name again in the future, or we Huayan people will be laughed at for being ignorant of the rules.”

Cai Sang was visibly delighted. “Is our Zhining, no, is she really a princess?”

Yan Feng solemnly nodded.

Cai Sang walked to Murong Zhining and knelt down, hugging her legs laughing. “This servant greets Princess Fengyi. Now, no one would dare to bully our princess again. By the way, how did her imperial parents find her?”

Yan Feng replied, “Her imperial father’s agents in Chongde County recognized her at the first glance, saying she resembled her mother very much. Finally, they confirmed her to be the princess from her name.”

A single teardrop fell from Murong Zhining’s eyes. Even now, her feelings still couldn’t calm down.

Cai Sang thoughtfully nodded. “So that uncle we met in Chongde is an agent of Her Highness’ imperial father. To think that I used such harsh words against them, I’m so ashamed. Had they confronted us sooner, Her Highness’ suffering could have ended a bit earlier.”

Yan Feng waved his hand, “You can all retreat. I have something to talk with Princess Fengyi about.” He then walked over to Murong Zhining. Gently rubbing her shoulders, Yan Feng consoled her, “I know you can’t process it for the time being. If you don’t want to return, you can stay in my palace. You know, your imperial parents have never stopped looking for you. Do not blame them for this.”

Murong Zhining looked sad. “I don’t blame them, I’m just at a loss about my own future. I want to immediately return to them, but how will I get along with them after that? How do I once again adapt to my new life? I’ve never felt this scared before.”

Yan Feng gently patted her shoulders as he consoled her, “I have never once forgotten about you. I intend to send you back first, then after a while, send people to Shangxia and ask for your hand in marriage. Now that you are the princess of Shangxia and no longer a concubine of Chiyun Yuexun, nothing can stop us from being together.”

Murong Zhining was slightly touched, but her face was still frosty. “Fengyi is undeserving of your favor. While Fengyi is now a princess, I’m but a ruined woman and truly unworthy of Your Majesty’s affections. Not to mention, Fengyi has drifted around since little and suffered enough from displacement. After I return, I will remain to serve by my parents’ side and won’t marry off far away.”

Yan Feng’s expression was bitter. “You don’t I don’t care about that, it’s not your fault. In my heart, you are forever as pure as ice. You don’t have to use this excuse to reject me, I have made up my mind to do this.”

Murong Zhining shed a tear. “If Your Majesty insists on doing so, it means you want Fengyi to bear these feelings of shame for life.”

Yan Feng was exceptionally gentle, “I will give you time. No matter one, two, three or five years, or even ten, twenty years, I’m willing to wait. I’ll wait until your heart calms down and marry you. It’s not your fault, so it’s not you who should bear the shame.”

Murong Zhining was very firm this time. While Yan Feng’s words warmed up her bitter heart, they also made her more resolute than ever. She knew well enough to be ashamed of herself and wanted to quickly break away. “I only want to quickly reunite with my family. I ask Your Majesty to arrange my departure as soon as possible.”

Yan Feng’s eyes revealed a trace of pain and reluctance. “Your imperial father has sent an envoy to personally escort you back. When your imperial mother heard that you were found, she was anxious to see you as well. Tomorrow, I will send you off from the palace in accordance with the regulations for princesses.”