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Zirui kneeled for a long time before hearing someone speak, saying: “Feng Zirui? Who is Feng Zirui?”

Before Zirui could respond, someone immediately said: “Elder sister, do you not know? Feng Zirui is the son of the former left prime minister, Feng Jin Yuan! The failure of a prime minister who ended up being instructed by the Emperor to feed horses. Have you remembered?”

The person who had spoken earlier let out an “oh” sound and pretended to come to a sudden realization: “So it was a child from the Feng family, then wouldn’t he be Princess Yu’s younger brother? Tsk tsk, he looks good. It’s just a pity...” She dragged out the last word before saying something that stabbed Zirui in the heart, “It’s just a pity that you lost a finger.”

Losing a finger was a humiliating matter for Zirui. It was not that he minded being crippled, but this missing finger was a result of falling to his father. Every time that he thought of this, he would recall the Feng family and the unfair treatment that he had endured there. This would cause his heart to ache.

But right now, he could not say anything because the words had come from a member of the imperial harem. He had no right to argue back, nor did he dare stand up. Even if his legs were starting to hurt from kneeling on the ground, he could not say a single thing. He just hoped that these women would be benevolent and not deliberately cause him too much trouble. It was fine if they said some mean things. It was also fine if he spent a bit more time kneeling, but absolutely nothing else must go wrong. In this Imperial Palace, it was always better to have one less problem. Moreover, the current Imperial Palace was no longer the Imperial Palace that he once knew.

However, things very rarely developed in the way that people desired. These members of the imperial harem who were deadset on currying favor with Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu could not possibly be willing to let go of Zirui. To them, Feng Zirui’s appearance was not just perfectly timed, but it also represented a chance to leave a good impression on Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. Thus the four exchanged glances and immediately reached an agreement, which was: They would definitely not let this young man go so easily.

At the same time, everyone standing in the garden was near a small pond. It was not large, but it had flowing water, thus it had not frozen over. Even if there was no ice, looking at it on a cold winter day was still quite chilling. One of the noble ladies came up with an idea, as she removed a hairpin. Without saying a single word, she threw it into the water. It was only after the golden hairpin fell into the water that she let out a shrill scream: “Ah! My hairpin fell into the water! What should I do? That’s my favorite hairpin!”

Someone to the side immediately went along with it, saying: “Is it that golden hairpin with many gems? That’s something that’s quite coveted!”

“That’s the one.” The noble lady who threw it into the water was very good at acting. While she spoke, tears began to well up in her eyes. “That’s something that my family sent to my last year. Apparently, it’s the only one that exists in Da Shun. Even Her Highness the Empress praised its beauty, but now...”

“Then someone must quickly go and fetch it!”

With these two causing a fuss, the two concubines to the side also chimed in. Looking at Feng Zirui, one said: “Going into the water to search for a hairpin is not something a girl can do. When we came out, we only brought out maids and did not bring any eunuchs. Right now... the Feng family’s young master is the only man here. Say, how should this be handled?”

“Your Highness Concubine Mei!” Before Feng Zirui could speak, Yue Rong could no longer bear to continue watching and immediately pointed out this person’s identity, saying: “The Feng family’s young master is still young. He will only be eleven years of age after the new year, and he still does not know how to swim. How are you hoping to have him go and find it? Also, on such a cold day in winter, the water in the pond will be freezing. If someone went down to look for it, even if they did not freeze to death, a layer of skin would be lost. The Feng family’s young master was personally invited into the palace by His Majesty. If he fell ill, and His Majesty inquired about it, I fear that this servant would have a hard time providing an explanation.”

“Impudent!” Concubine Mei glared at Yue Rong and felt that this servant was a little bit familiar; however, she was unable to remember where she had seen her before. After thinking a bit more, Feng Zirui was an outsider, and the palace maid at his side was someone from the palace. Having been in the palace for a long time, who would not look familiar? Thus she viciously said: “The masters are speaking. Where is there any room for you to interject?”

“But...”

“No buts!” Concubine Mei interrupted Yue Rong then turned to her palace maid and said: “Go and slap her for this One!”

Without saying a single word, the palace maid rushed over and grabbed Yue Rong’s collar to begin slapping. The slaps came so fast that Yue Rong could not say a single word.

Zirui became frantic and quickly kowtowed, saying: “I beg Your Highness to forgive sister Yue Rong and stop hitting her. Zirui knows how to swim. Zirui will go in and look for the hairpin. I beg Your Highness to quickly stop!”

“Stop!” Concubine Mei raised her hand and stopped her palace maid’s beating; however, blood was already dropping from the corner of Yue Rong’s mouth. Her face was also quite badly swollen. Concubine Mei sneered and asked Zirui: “Do you really want to go down and look for the hairpin? This is your own desire. Don’t blame this One for not reminding you that today’s is a cold day. If you go down, be careful that you can’t come back up.”

“Your Highness, don’t worry. Zirui wants to do this. This matter will be unrelated to Your Highnesses.”

“Good!” Concubine Mei’s group was very happy with this outcome, thus they said to Zirui: “Then go on! If you delay any longer, who knows where that hairpin might end up.”

Zirui knew that today’s problem could not be avoided, thus he gritted his teeth and stood up, walking over to the pond.”

Yue Rong was panicked from seeing this and wanted to stop him, but four palace maids quickly came over to stop her. She bitterly pleaded: “Your Highness Concubine Mei, please be magnanimous! Young master Feng is too young and is unable to endure this sort of thing. How about... this servant goes down! Although this servant is not very good at swimming, even if I die, Your Highness’ hairpin will be found.”

“You?” Concubine Mei suddenly laughed, “What sort of thing are you? Do you have the right to touch a noble lady’s golden hairpin? Hmph! Keep a close eye on her. Don’t let her carry on with her shouting.” Having been given the order by Concubine Mei, the group of palace maids went and covered Yue Rong’s mouth to prevent the scene in the garden from getting too loud.

At this time, a “plunk” sound could be heard. Feng Zirui had no other choice and hopped into the pond. The ice-cold water assaulted his body and froze Zirui to the point that he could not move his fingers. He swam a couple strokes before beginning to sink toward the bottom of the pond.

Despair filled his heart. This pond was too cold, and his body was instantly frozen. Not to mention finding the hairpin, but could it be that he would be losing his life here? Zirui felt a bit of regret. How great was obediently staying in that little courtyard? Why bother coming over to this garden? Sure enough, the people in the Imperial Palace were vicious, and the prettier a person was, the viler their innards. He just could not understand it. Of all the things that these members of the imperial harem could do, why must they look to cause trouble for someone?

Of course, Yue Rong’s words echoed in his mind. These people were all close to Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. They were all close with Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu! Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu was the eighth prince’s birth mother, which meant that she was the ninth prince’s opposition. Was it not natural to take care of him?

While he was thinking this, his body continued to sink. Zirui felt that as though he was about to lose his soul to the cold. It felt as though knives were stabbing his entire body. He was no longer thinking of finding any golden hairpin. That was nothing more than an excuse that the other side had come up with, but the real goal was to cause his death. The other side would only be satisfied if he died, right?

Seeing the child sink to the bottom of the pond without much movement, Yue Rong was already fully panicked, biting the hand of the palace maid that covered her mouth. The palace maid lifted her hand from the pain, letting her go. Unable to worry about anything else, she just ran. Concubine Mei’s group also saw Yue Rong begin running, and they quickly ordered their palace maids to give chase. Noble Lady Qi worriedly asked: “He shouldn’t have died, right?”

Another noble lady, Noble Lady Liu, spoke up: “If he really died, will it cause trouble for us?”

Concubine Xiang, who had remained quiet up to this point, finally spoke up: “It should be fine. After all, there is Imperial Concubine Shu protecting us from that side! It’s just the ninth prince that’s frightening. What if he goes crazy and comes in waving his whip around...”

Once this topic was brought up, the group could not help but shudder. Even Concubine Mei shuddered, but she quickly regained her composure. She could not help but laugh: “Don’t worry, things today are different from in the past. The palace is controlled by the eighth prince and Her Highness Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. Do you think that the ninth prince could get into the inner palace so easily? Not to mention whipping people, but it’s possible that he would be captured by the imperial guards the moment that he enters the palace. We can just watch the show at that time.” After saying this, she glanced into the pond once more, but her brow slightly furrowed. Though she said this, Concubine Mei was quite apprehensive. If Feng Zirui really did die, would they really be fine?

Just as she was thinking this, the sound of footsteps came from behind. Before the group could turn around to take a look, they heard a “plunk” sound. Someone had leaped into the water, quickly heading for the bottom of the pond.

Noble Lady Qi had sharp eyes and said in a daze: “It seems that it’s a eunuch.”

Concubine Liu was a bit more descriptive: “It’s one of Her Highness the Empress’ eunuchs.”

It was only now that the group managed to react, turning their heads in unison. There, they saw Yue Rong leading the Empress in their direction. While walking, she pointed at them and said: “Your Highness, it’s them. They deliberately threw a hairpin into the pond then forced the Feng family’s young master to jump in and look for it.”

There was a girl in red clothes accompanying the Empress. On such a cold day, she was wearing very thin clothes, and she did not even have a cloak on. That girl was none other than Feng Zhaolian, who was currently residing in Jing Ci Palace. To a person who was raised in Qian Zhou, Da Shun’s winters were truly too laughable. He truly did not find it cold in the slightest.

But this merely extended to his body. His heart, however, was freezing colder and colder.

When the group drew closer, and when Concubine Mei’s group saluted the Empress, Feng Zhaolian looked at the group with a look of disgust. Without saying a single word, he raised his leg and kicked one into the water. That person also dropped into the pond with a “plunk.” It was Noble Lady Qi, the person who had deliberately thrown her hairpin into the water.

Concubine Mei was extremely shocked. Staring at Feng Zhaolian, she wanted to begin throwing accusations, but when she saw Feng Zhaolian’s face, she did not know what to say. This person was too beautiful. This was a good thing. This person was so beautiful that she was too embarrassed to say anything. What sort of situation was this?

While Concubine Mei was too embarrassed to say anything, Feng Zhaolian did not have any concerns. He pointed at the remaining three and said to the Empress: “Such disgusting women should all be chased out of the palace to live in a nunnery. What’s the point of keeping them in the palace? I can’t fault the old emperor for not visiting them for over 20 years. They’re too ugly.”