"What? Who entered Lanzhou City?" Feng Jinyuan was also panicking. He hurriedly walked around the table to Fu Ya, dragged her into the house, and then closed the door of the study. He asked anxiously, "Tell me everything clearly, in detail. What happened?"
Fu Ya took a sip of the tea on the table, and then she told Feng Jinyuan about seeing Xuan Tianming on the street, and especially emphasized that Xuan Tianming had taken over as the commander of the Biannan army. After that, she asked Feng Jinyuan in panic: "Father, what is going on? Isn't it said that the Southern Realm is the territory of the Eighth Prince? Aren't the 300,000 troops in the South the Eighth Prince's? How come it suddenly became the Ninth Prince? What should we do when he comes? What happened to the Eighth Prince? Why didn't the governor of Lanzhou say anything in advance?"
Fu Ya's question was exactly what Feng Jinyuan was thinking at the moment. He didn't understand why it suddenly became like this. It was impossible that there was no news of such a big thing in the capital. At least the prefect of Lanzhou should have received the news. Was it concealed from everyone, or just from their family?
As Feng Jinyuan was thinking, he suddenly realized a more important question: "How did His Highness the Ninth Prince come? How many people are there? Is Feng Yuheng here?"
Fu Ya shook her head. "I don't know whether Feng Yuheng came or not. I only saw him riding on a tall horse, followed by an army that stretched as far as the eye could see. I didn't notice anything else. Father, I was panicking at the time and didn't even bother to check whether Feng Yuheng came or not! I trembled when I saw the purple lotus between the Ninth Prince's eyebrows. Father, why don't we just run away! The Eighth Prince can't quench his thirst with distant water. Even if he wants to protect us, it's too late!"
"Don't be anxious yet." Feng Jin calmed Fu Ya down, "You won't be able to accomplish anything if you panic like this." Feng Jinyuan calmed down for a moment, then said to Fu Ya, "No matter what, we still have to ask Master Ji first. Since we arrived in the Southern Realm, our communication with the Eighth Prince has been through him. Now that something like this has happened, he must give us an explanation."
Feng Jinyuan didn't wait a moment, and walked out after making his decision. Fu Ya hurriedly followed him: "Father, I'll go with you!"
Unexpectedly, when the two of them just walked to the gate of the mansion and the door opened, the first thing they saw was a purple figure sitting on a tall horse, and behind him was an army of more than 100,000 people coming from Kyoto.
Feng Jinyuan almost fell to the ground. He felt the shock brought by the Ninth Prince much more strongly than Fu Ya. At this moment, he could not only think of all the absurd and willful behavior of the Ninth Prince that he had heard and seen in the court for so many years, but also personally experienced several suppressions from the Ninth Prince after Feng Yuheng returned home. Feng Jinyuan could still remember the Ninth Prince whipping Shen Shi and breaking Fen Dai's wrist. He couldn't help but shudder, and the foot that had already stepped out of the door trembled and retracted.
Fu Ya was so scared that she dared not even breathe. She hid behind Feng Jinyuan, occasionally peeking ahead and then immediately looking away. Even though Xuan Tianming did not even look at her, she still felt guilty. After all, she was pretending to be someone else's fiancée. If the Ninth Prince got angry, wouldn't it be the same to kill her like killing an ant?
However, Xuan Tianming obviously did not want to start a massacre today. The army had just entered the city, and he could not whip this person who was still the Princess Ji'an in the hearts of some people in front of so many people in Lanzhou. If she died without any evidence, it would be bad for her wife. He did not want those people who were still kept in the dark to be kind and hold a funeral for this fake Princess Ji'an. It was really unlucky.
He ignored his old acquaintance Feng Jinyuan, but just raised his head slightly, stared at the plaque on the gate and muttered to himself: "Feng Mansion? There used to be a Feng Mansion in the capital, but it has become dilapidated. I don't know if this Feng Mansion has any connection with the Feng Mansion in the capital." While pondering, he asked Bai Ze beside him: "Do you think they are from the same family?"
Bai Ze said loudly, "I don't know! But according to my analysis, it is possible that the people from the Feng Mansion in the capital moved here. After all, they can no longer stay in the capital. Feng Jinyuan can't even pay the wages of the servants in the mansion. He sells the indentured slaves one after another. I heard that he has to rely on his fourth daughter to get money from her fiancé to keep him alive."
“Oh!” Xuan Tianming nodded. “Tsk tsk, it’s still really miserable! But just now when I entered the city, I seemed to hear someone say that Princess Ji’an was also here? When did my wife come to the Southern Territory? Hasn’t she been sorting out the county affairs in Ji’an County? I received a letter from her a few days ago, saying that she would come back after I’ve settled things here.”
Bai Ze said again: "That's true. It's impossible for the princess to arrive in Lanzhou ahead of time. I will go and find out tomorrow who is impersonating Princess Ji'an in Lanzhou."
"Yes." Xuan Tianming said nothing more, just raised his head to look at the plaque of Feng Mansion again, then turned his wrist, swung the whip violently, and with a "snap" the plaque was broken into two pieces.
The plaque fell down with a "crack" and broke into pieces. Looking at Xuan Tianming's army again, it was found that they were already marching towards the south from the gate of Feng Mansion, stepping on the broken plaque.
Feng Jinyuan and Fu Ya stared at this scene in a daze. It took more than an hour for a 100,000-strong army to pass by the gate, but after the army passed, the onlookers were very patient and none of them left. At this moment, they were standing on the street staring at Feng Jinyuan and Fu Ya, their faces full of confusion.
Someone analyzed to himself: "The Ninth Prince just now is definitely the real one. After all, there are so many soldiers and he still holds the military power. We all saw him entering the city. But the Ninth Prince said that this princess is fake. Could it be..."
Someone answered, "I think there's something fishy about this. Think about it, most of us in Lanzhou have seen the Eighth Prince. Although he's also majestic and imposing, when you see the Ninth Prince today, don't you think that in terms of appearance, the Eighth Prince is more than a level lower?"
People nodded in agreement. The Ninth Prince was so good-looking that ordinary people like them didn't know how to describe his appearance. They just felt that he was not only good-looking, but also had a hint of evil in him, especially the natural purple lotus growing between his eyebrows, which made him even more weird.
Then someone else said, "Everyone in Dashun knows that Princess Ji'an has been engaged to the Ninth Prince since she was a child, and the two have a very good relationship, but why did she suddenly give up the Ninth Prince and choose the Eighth Prince? Judging from his appearance alone, unless Princess Ji'an is blind, there is no way she would give up the Ninth Prince and choose the Eighth Prince."
"Not only in terms of appearance, but also in terms of military power, the Eighth Prince is incomparable to the Ninth Prince. Not to mention that the 300,000 troops in the southern border have been assigned to the Ninth Prince, just in terms of other places, I heard that the Ninth Prince is in charge of the entire northwest region and the entire northern border army. The conquest of the Qianzhou Kingdom was under the jurisdiction of him and Ji'an County. Why doesn't Princess Ji'an want the Ninth Prince?"
"It is said that after the opening of Baicaotang in Lanzhou, with Princess Ji'an in charge, we don't have to worry about seeing a doctor and taking medicine. But look at her these days, she either hides in the mansion and doesn't come out, or makes excuses and refuses to see patients. What does this mean? In my opinion, she is a fake and can't see a doctor at all!"
As soon as these words were spoken, people's suspicion of Fu Ya instantly rose to a higher level. The looks they cast at Feng Jinyuan and Fu Ya were full of suspicion and were extremely unfriendly.
Feng Jinyuan finally reacted, and quickly pulled Fu Ya back to the house, then slammed the door shut. But at the moment the door closed, he glanced at Fu Ya, and saw that the girl's eyes were fixed on the direction where Xuan Tianming left, with some complicated emotions.
Feng Jinyuan didn't want to think too much, and only reminded Fu Ya: "Don't think about useless things. We have worked so hard for so long, and we must not lose our composure as soon as the Ninth Prince enters the city. And wait in the mansion. Even if we don't go to the prefectural mansion, Lord Ji will definitely come to our place. You know, the two families are tied to the same rope. If we don't live well, he won't be able to live well either."
Fu Ya came back to her senses instantly, nodded subconsciously, and said only: "Don't worry, father, your daughter knows what to do." But her words no longer had the confidence she had before, and there was some incomprehensible emotion in them.
Feng Jinyuan watched Fu Ya turn around and go back to the courtyard, feeling worried, always having a bad feeling. All along, the reason why their play could be performed in Lanzhou was entirely because of Fu Ya, because she looked almost the same as Feng Yuheng, which was why they could hold the stage. If Fu Ya suddenly changed and didn't cooperate, and there was no protagonist in the play, then what was the point of performing?
Feng Jinyuan was a little anxious and wanted to see Ji Lingtian urgently, but he didn't dare to leave the house because the people outside who were pointing and talking hadn't left yet, and they were gathering more and more. He could only think that when everyone left at night, Master Ji would definitely come to his Feng Mansion.
As for Fu Ya, who had returned to the courtyard, her mind was now filled with the analysis of the people outside the palace gate about the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince. From appearance to military power, it was very detailed. She only realized the gap between the two today, but unfortunately she had no choice. The Ninth Prince was Feng Yuheng's, and even if she looked exactly like him, she was irreplaceable. She had seen the love between the two in the Northern Realm, so how could someone like her get in?
Fu Ya knew that her only way out was the Eighth Prince, but could the Eighth Prince still be trusted?
That night, none of the three masters in the Feng Mansion could sleep properly. Yao Shi had another attack of illness. She ran to Fu Ya's room and hugged Fu Ya tightly, calling her "Ah Heng Ah Heng" all the time, which made Fu Ya upset. She wanted to push Yao Shi away, but Yao Shi hugged her tightly, and she actually used a lot of force. Fu Ya was furious and also used a lot of force. She broke free in an instant, but Yao Shi fell to the ground, then stared at Fu Ya in a daze, and suddenly said: "You are not my daughter! You are her! She is here, right?"
Fu Ya stamped her feet and said, "Mother, please don't talk nonsense. That person is still in Beijing!"
"You are it!" Yao pointed at Fu Ya and shouted, "You came to the Southern Territory and took my daughter away. You evil man, give my Ah Heng back to me!"
The mother and daughter had a quarrel here, but Feng Jinyuan was unable to wait for the arrival of Lanzhou Governor Ji Lingtian.
Ji Lingtian did not come to the door, but that night, a loud noise was heard in the quiet Lanzhou City, and soon someone on the street shouted, "The Ninth Prince attacked Gu Shu overnight!"
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