Feng Qingyin had disappeared?

Though Feng Jiu’er did not think well of Yu Niang or Feng Qingyin as people, for Yu Niang to say this, it was unlikely to be baseless.

“Have you spoken to Father about this?” she asked.

Yu Niang nodded, then shook her head. “The Master does not care. These past days, with Qingyin not being… not receiving the favor of that lady, the Master has… has not been paying much attention to us mother and daughter.”

This time, Qingyin had entered the palace in the dead of night — Yu Niang had thought a fortunate turn had come. She never imagined it would be the last time mother and daughter would see each other.

It was not as though Feng Qingyin had never stayed in the palace before, but every time she had always sent someone back to report that she was safe, and every few days gifts and bestowals would be sent home.

But this time — nothing. Not even a word.

“I have already gone to the Master, not just once — the Master said that if Qingyin is truly in the palace, then it is a good thing, and there is simply no need to worry…”

“Is that not a good thing?” Feng Jiu’er did not see a major problem with it either. Surely Nanmeng Rong could not actually do away with Feng Qingyin?

Besides, Nanmeng Rong had always wanted to push Feng Qingyin toward Zhan Yuheng. Perhaps Qingyin was staying at Yuyang Hall right now to attend upon the Crown Prince — it was not impossible.

Now that Nanmeng Rong’s position as Empress had been revoked, she could only rely on the Crown Prince going forward. If she was not making every effort to win Zhan Yuheng over now, then when?

“You know perfectly well what sort of relationship I have with Noble Consort Rong, do you not?” What had happened to her in the palace, Feng Qingyin would certainly have recounted to everyone with embellishment and exaggeration.

Yu Niang was Feng Qingyin’s mother — how could Feng Qingyin not have told her?

“Feng Qingyin entered the palace — she must have gone to find Noble Consort Rong. You are asking me to go investigate? What is the difference between that and pushing me to my death?”

Yu Niang had nothing to say to that. Had she not been utterly desperate, she would not have dared come to Feng Jiu’er.

As Feng Jiu’er had said — given how terrible the relationship between her and Noble Consort Rong was, going to ask Noble Consort Rong about Feng Qingyin would be no different from sending a lamb into the tiger’s den.

“I am afraid I cannot help with this matter.” Feng Jiu’er gave her one last look, then turned and walked away.

It was not that she was heartless — but what business of hers was anything between Nanmeng Rong and Feng Qingyin?

To those two, she, Feng Jiu’er, was the true outsider. Moreover, how did she know this was not yet another scheme hatched by Feng Qingyin and Yu Niang — engineered specifically to bring harm to her?

Having been framed again and again, if she still had not a single shred of guard, that would not be kindness on her part — it would be stupidity.

Watching Feng Jiu’er walk away into the distance, Yu Niang collapsed weakly to the ground, her face vacant and despairing.

As a mother, she simply felt in her bones that something must have happened to Qingyin this time. But now, there was no one willing to help her.

Feng Jiu’er had been framed and bullied by the two of them time and again — how could she possibly feel pity and lend a hand?

Perhaps she even assumed this was another scheme of theirs — another plot to harm her.

But this time, Yu Niang truly was not scheming anything. It was that Qingyin had genuinely disappeared.

After entering the palace, she had vanished without a trace. There was no news of her anywhere within the palace walls. Even the maids she had paid to make inquiries said that Feng Qingyin was not in Xuanhua Hall and was not in Yuyang Hall either.

Her Qingyin had truly and completely vanished. Where on earth was she now?

Heavens — whatever had become of her daughter?

…

After more than a month apart, Jiu’er saw Yanu again.

Feng Qingyin’s disappearance was of no concern to Feng Jiu’er. On the contrary, she felt something close to relief.

If Feng Qingyin could stay in the palace indefinitely, that would be nothing but good news for Yanu. After a month away, Yanu now looked entirely at peace, living a life of calm contentment.

Seeing Feng Jiu’er return, he was visibly delighted and immediately went to the kitchen to bring her a great many good things to eat.

Though Yanu had no particularly fine delicacies to offer, watching him bustle about on her behalf and then eating the little pastries he had prepared for her, Jiu’er suddenly felt that the food in her mouth was extraordinarily delicious.

The feeling of home — solid, real, deeply reassuring.

“Yanu, while I was away from Feng Manor all this time, did anyone here bully you?”

Yanu shook his head and glanced back at her with a faint, quiet smile.

That face covered in scars — it looked as though it had been burned by fire, or perhaps wrought by some caustic substance. Whatever the cause, it was, in truth, not pleasant to look upon.

But Yanu’s eyes were beautiful. Beautiful to the point where one could scarcely look away.

Especially when a trace of warmth and amusement crept into their depths — that single glance of tenderness was like a spring breeze and gentle rain, softening the very ground of one’s heart.

Feng Jiu’er let out a quiet sigh. Eyes like those — noble, luminous, more beautiful than the stars themselves — and their owner was forced to spend his days doing a servant’s work within the manor, enduring Feng Qingyin’s bullying besides.

She pressed her lips together, feeling a pang of regret on his behalf.

“Yanu, I am planning to set up a small business in the imperial city. I will speak to Grandfather about it — when the time comes, you can come help me at my clinic. No one will bully you there.”

Yanu looked back at her, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.

Feng Jiu’er smiled and said, “It is true — I am going to open a clinic and run a little business.”

Though of course, the clinic was only the surface of it. What Jiu’er intended to do was far more than simply open a medical practice.

But Yanu was such a simple soul — there was no need to let him know too much.

Yanu was only surprised for a brief moment, then accepted this entirely, nodded, and assumed an air of being entirely at her disposal.

Gentle, easy-going, unbothered by the affairs of the world, untouched by the dust of earthly concerns.

Such a Yanu truly made one’s heart ache for him.

“Yanu,” Jiu’er said, holding a pastry, leaning over the table with her chin propped on her arms, blinking up at him, “do you have any wishes of your own? What I mean is — is there anything you want to do?”

Yanu finished tidying the bedding nearby, then returned to her side and stood looking at her steadily without a word.

That expression — Feng Jiu’er read it well enough. “You just want to stay by my side?”

Was there truly nothing else he wanted beyond following her around? She was hardly an attentive mistress — she was almost never home.

The days she was away, he was alone in this courtyard with not even a soul to talk to — though he could not speak, communication was still possible, was it not?

Yet Yanu never engaged with anyone. His life was like a pool of still water with no current — only when Feng Jiu’er was present did he have even that small measure of vitality and light.

“You… have not taken a wife yet, have you?”

Jiu’er thought about it, and immediately felt she had asked something truly absurd.

Yanu had lived in the Feng household for so many years — he had been by her side since she was very young.

Whether Yanu had a wife or not — who knew this better than she did?

“I am sorry, Yanu. I think my head must have slipped for a moment.”

Feng Jiu’er laughed awkwardly, pulled him down to sit beside her, poured him a cup of tea, and pressed it into his hands.

She smiled and said, “Yanu, what kind of young woman do you like? How about I think of a way to arrange a match for you?”