When Feng Jinyuan returned to the mansion, he saw Jin Zhen standing at the gate of the mansion from a distance, looking at him non-stop. He was quite emotional for a moment. He had had so many wives and concubines, the mistress of the Feng family alone had had four, and now he had a concubine, but at this time, the one who could stand at the gate of the mansion to greet him was Jin Zhen, who was promoted from a slave to a concubine.
Feng Jinyuan got off the carriage, and Jin Zhen came up to him immediately. He put his arm around Jin Zhen's shoulder, patted her twice, and said in a deep voice, "Let's talk inside." He put his hand down, held Jin Zhen's small hand tightly, and pulled her into the mansion.
Jin Zhen was a little worried and wanted to ask a few questions, but she felt that Feng Jinyuan looked too bad, so she was scared and didn't dare to open her mouth. But she couldn't help but remind her: "The old lady got angry because of the eldest lady's matter. She was still crying when I came out. I wonder how she is now."
Feng Jinyuan held his hand tighter, sweat appearing on his forehead.
Before the two of them even reached the door, they heard the old lady yelling, "Burn all her things! Don't leave any of them, it's disgusting!"
Feng Jinyuan paused, then walked in quickly. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, a scepter flew over with a whoosh, followed by the old lady's angry scolding: "How dare you come back! If you hadn't indulged that girl time and time again, could she have caused such a big mess for the Feng family? Could she have harmed her sister again and again? The Feng family relies on Ah Heng, not Feng Chenyu at all. Do you understand?"
When these words came out, no one expected that the usually quiet Xiangrong would suddenly sneer and then said, "Grandma's mind changes so quickly. If it had been like this at the beginning, it would have been better. Second sister wouldn't have to live such a hard life."
Mrs. An, who has always been cautious in her words and actions, did not stop her this time and silently expressed her support for her daughter.
Feng Jinyuan turned his face upside down, "Why is it so hard for her?" When he said this, he clenched his teeth. Anyone could see that this father hated his second daughter to the extreme.
If it were in the past, Feng Jinyuan's attitude would be approved by many people, at least Fendai and Han would definitely be on his side. But this time it was different. Fendai not only did not agree with him, but whispered: "Third sister is right."
"What did you say?" Feng Jinyuan almost thought he had heard it wrong.
But soon, Han, An, the Cheng sisters, and even Jin Zhen all began to attack Feng Jinyuan. Especially Han, she was seen holding her belly and said: "It's okay for the eldest lady to be undisciplined, but she has to be sent to the Xiangwang Mansion to embarrass herself. It doesn't matter if she dies alone, but don't let others be implicated!"
Feng Jinyuan was so angry that his face turned blue. He pointed at everyone in the room and asked, "It's true that something happened, but Chenyu was sentenced to be beheaded. Why don't you have any mercy? She is your relative!"
His words did not receive any response. Although the old lady stopped crying, she did not look happy. She had no way to vent the shock Feng Yuheng had given her, so she could only throw it all to Chen Yu.
After a long time, so long that Feng Jinyuan thought no one would speak, but at this moment, he suddenly heard Xiangrong say coldly: "She deserves it!"
The word "you deserve it" expressed everyone's thoughts. It can be imagined that Rong and Anshi were speaking up for Feng Yuheng, while others were calculating their own gains and losses. They could watch Feng Chenyu commit suicide, but if it was related to their life and death, then she definitely deserved to die.
Feng Jinyuan felt a chill emanating from his body. Did the hearts of this family finally begin to collectively shift towards Feng Yuheng? He was so angry that he pointed at Han and asked, "How many benefits did that girl promise you? And you—" He looked at Fendai again, "Do you understand who is the head of the Feng family?"
Han was too timid to say anything. Seeing her father was angry, Fendai also bowed her head and kept silent. At this time, Cheng Junman spoke up: "Master, don't blame women and children. It's not that the county lady promised anything good, but that the eldest lady promised too many bad things. At this time, shouldn't the master think about how the Feng family can avoid this disaster? Or should you feel ashamed and angry that the Feng family can raise such a daughter, but why are you so obsessed with blaming the county lady? This matter has nothing to do with the county lady at all."
The old lady thought the same thing. She asked Feng Jinyuan, "What does the palace say about this matter?"
Feng Jinyuan finally came to his senses and realized that now was not the time to pursue responsibility. What was important was the attitude of the palace, but... "I didn't see the emperor at all."
Cheng Junmei asked: "Did the master not go, or did the emperor not see him?"
Feng Jinyuan replied, "The emperor has not seen it."
The whole family fell silent again, and everyone was wondering in their hearts what kind of disaster this incident would bring to the Feng family.
Outside the hall, the housekeeper He Zhong rushed in again, his face full of panic, his voice trembling: "Madam, Master, someone from the palace has come to deliver an imperial decree."
Feng Jinyuan felt a "boom" in his ears, and his body tilted and he almost fell. Jin Zhen helped him up, but he didn't have much strength, and his hands were shaking.
The old lady was helped by Cheng Junman to stand up from the ground, and everyone supported each other as they walked out of the front yard. Feng Jinyuan looked and saw that it was Zhang Yuan who came in person to deliver the order.
Although Zhang Yuan was a eunuch, he was the emperor's personal eunuch and was very favored. He would not easily serve as an official to deliver imperial edicts. Although it was not the first time that he had delivered imperial edicts to the Feng family, the last time was to send Hou Yi bow to Feng Yuheng. What was he going to do this time?
Feng Jinyuan took a few steps forward and said, "Eunuch Zhang, what is the order that requires you to come here in person?"
Zhang Yuan glanced at Feng Jinyuan with a very unfriendly expression, and then glanced at the crowd, his expression became even more unfriendly.
"Why didn't you see the county lady?"
Feng Jinyuan was stunned for a moment, then said: "She may be in her own house. Does the eunuch need her to come over to receive the decree?"
Zhang Yuan waved his hand, "That's not necessary. It's just that the new chef in the palace made roast duck, and the skin is very crispy. Before we left, the emperor specifically asked us to bring one for the county lord to try. Since the county lord is not in Feng Mansion, let's have someone send it to her mansion." As he spoke, he raised his hand again, and the two eunuchs carrying food boxes who followed him immediately turned around and left the mansion and went to the next door.
Feng Jinyuan wanted to say, could it be that Zhang Yuan came here specially to deliver ducks to Feng Yuheng?
Obviously, his idea was too good to be true. Then, Zhang Yuan saw the imperial edict in his hand tremble, and he said loudly: "Feng Jinyuan, accept the edict."
The Feng family members knelt on the ground in a huff, and the voice of the imperial decree followed: "Left Prime Minister Feng Jinyuan did not teach his daughter strictly, disregarded the dignity of the royal family, and damaged the reputation of the Dashun royal family. He should be killed. However, I think of the hard work of Ji'an County Princess for the country, and I can't bear to punish her family severely. Therefore, I will spare the Feng family the death penalty, and demote Feng Jinyuan to the fifth rank of Zhongji Palace Grand Secretary, and he will not have the right to attend the morning court from now on. I decree this."
As soon as she finished speaking, the old lady fell to the ground with a plop. Cheng Junman took her in her arms without showing much surprise. This ending was not too much for Feng Jinyuan.
Seeing that Feng Jinyuan was still kneeling on the ground with no reaction, Zhang Yuan closed the imperial edict in his hand and handed it forward: "Master Feng, accept the edict!"
The prime minister became a university scholar, and the first rank was downgraded to the fifth rank. Feng Jinyuan's mind and heart were in a mess, and he almost unconsciously reached out his hand to take the imperial edict.
Zhang Yuan added: "I haven't thanked you yet."
He then kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Lord, for your grace."
The old lady's wails started again, gradually becoming louder, and Zhang Yuan was crying so hard that he frowned.
Feng Jinyuan was already in a bad mood, and the old lady's crying made him even more upset. He couldn't help but yelled, "Stop crying!"
He had never spoken to the old lady like this before, and she was really frightened by his sudden action. Her cries got stuck in her throat, neither going up nor down, and she kept coughing.
After waiting for her to finish coughing, Zhang Yuan said, "Old lady, don't cry yet. We have something to remind Grand Secretary Feng." He looked at Feng Jinyuan coldly, raised his head and looked around the Feng Mansion, and then said slowly, "This house was originally given by the emperor to the first-rank Zuo Cheng. Now that Master Feng has been demoted to a fifth-rank Grand Secretary, he naturally can't live here anymore. Of course, the emperor still sympathizes with Master Feng, and specially ordered people to select another house in the southwest of the capital and give it to the Feng family, and the Feng family is required to move out within five days."
"This..." Feng Jinyuan was stunned, "Move away? This house was originally given by the emperor!"
Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Master Feng, didn't you understand what I just said? It's true that the house was given by the emperor, but the emperor gave it to the prime minister of the dynasty. Now that you are no longer the prime minister, it is natural to take it back. But the Feng family does not have to move. The emperor said that if the Feng family wants to continue living here, they have to pay 8,000 taels of silver to the Jingzhao Yin every month as rent. The first six months of rent, Master Feng only needs to pay 48,000 taels of silver to the government office."
Feng Jinyuan wiped his sweat. Eight thousand taels a month was not a small sum. Even during the heyday of the Feng family, it would have been difficult to come up with such a large sum of money without the support of the Shen family. Now the public account had no money left, so where could they get the forty-eight thousand taels?
The old lady had stood up with the help of Cheng Junman. When she heard such a large sum, she almost fainted again. She discussed with Zhang Yuan: "Can't it be less?"
Zhang Yuan said to the old lady, "If you want to bargain, and you can't negotiate with us, please go to the palace and talk to the emperor. But..." He paused, and then said, "The emperor has another oral order for the old lady. The old lady is weak, so there is no need to kneel down. We will say this, and you just stand and listen. Considering that the old lady was the mother of the left prime minister, the emperor specially conferred you the first-rank imperial edict. Now your son is only a fifth-rank official, and he is not even qualified to attend the court, so your imperial edict title will be taken back as well."
The old lady was numb. The successive blows made her mind muddy. She didn't care about thanking him. She just kept asking Feng Jinyuan: "Should we move or not?"
Feng Jinyuan was still thinking about something and was in no mood to talk to her. Cheng Junman sighed and said, "We have to move. There is no money in the account now. Even if we sell our belongings, how long can we hold on? This house will be lost sooner or later."
Zhang Yuan nodded, "Madam is right." Then he said to Feng Jinyuan, "If Lord Feng has no doubts, then I will come to the mansion on the fourth day, oh, that is, the day after the execution of the eldest lady. At that time, please ask Lord Feng to hand over the title deed of this mansion to me so that I can go back and report to the emperor."
Feng Jinyuan shuddered. Land deed? The daughter of a genius doctor
...
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