RPAGF Chapter 183 A Dream of Yellow Millet
Chapter 183 A Dream of Yellow Millet
Wei Qing looked at me and said, "Your face looks exactly like Consort Duan when she was young."
I was stunned for a long time, still processing what he had said.
I have never met my biological mother. Since I can remember, all I have seen and met are my father, my aunt, and my older sisters. I always wondered why all the other children in the neighborhood called their mothers "A-Mother" while I had to call my sister "A-Mother".
Later I found out that I was born to a concubine, but I never saw that woman, not even once.
“I was born in a small mountain village in Fu’an city. There were only six or seven households there. My father’s surname was Feng and his name was Feng Shizhuang. My mother… my stepmother, I have never met her. My father never mentioned her, and neither did my stepmother.”
These words, however, caused Wei Qing to fall silent as well.
There are so many people in the world, and there are many who look alike. But she, her face, her features, all look exactly like Consort Duan when she was young. He would not mistake her for someone else, nor would he mistake her for someone else.
"What's the name of that farm?"
"...Fengjia Village".
Knowing their origins and surname, why...?
Wei Qing wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how, and in the end, it all turned into a sigh.
"You can stay here with peace of mind. I will investigate the rest."
I rose and knelt before him, my voice filled with sorrow: "Young master saved me from this brothel. No matter the outcome, I have no way to repay you. If you ever need my help in the future, I will certainly not refuse!"
"Please get up. It was nothing, just a small favor. Besides, I will take my elder sister's request to heart. However, it would be best if Miss Yun didn't go out for the time being. There are too many people and too much gossip in the capital, and you look so much like the late Consort Duan..."
"Don't worry, young master, I know what's important and won't do anything to put you in a difficult position."
"I'm sorry for the troubles in the manor, Miss Yun."
I smiled and joked, "It's not a bad thing. Staying in such a beautiful mansion for even one day is worth it."
"The spring scenery outside is just right, would you like me to take you out for a walk?"
"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Yun."
Wei Qing found the conversation with her very pleasant, and felt relaxed, so he agreed to her suggestion.
……
Life at the Imperial Uncle's residence was so comfortable that I almost forgot I was still poisoned and burdened with a shady mission.
Three months have passed in the blink of an eye, but the investigation that Wei Qing mentioned still has no results.
The Feng family is just a farming family, so investigating them is easy. But how do you investigate a concubine with no background in a farming family?
Feng Shizhuang was a coward who couldn't withstand being frightened or threatened. As soon as he saw that the person was from Beijing, he immediately confessed.
Actually, he wasn't quite sure where the woman came from or where she was from, but she had a face that made people drool.
Having grown up in a mountain valley, Feng Shizhuang had never seen such a beautiful woman even when he went to town. So, he was overcome by lust and dragged her to an uninhabited hunting lodge in the mountains and locked her up.
He tied her hands and feet to prevent her from escaping, and gagged her to stop her from screaming. For the next few months, he would often take some food and go into the mountains to check if the woman had starved to death. Once she was fed, he could do other things...
Not long after, the woman went mad and her belly grew large.
Because his wife hadn't given him a son yet, he didn't abort the child in her womb. He even gave her the meat and rice that he usually wouldn't eat himself, hoping she would give birth to a beautiful son.
But a few months later, the woman gave birth to a boy. Feng Shizhuang was very angry, but the child was still his. He took the child with him, but he never went to see the woman again.
When the child grew up and looked more and more like the woman, Feng Shizhuang finally remembered to go and take a look at the hunting lodge, but there was nothing left but a rotting skeleton.
To avoid being discovered, Feng Shizhuang burned the place down completely, leaving nothing behind.
But Feng Shizhuang's wife, Zhao, told a different story.
Because her family was poor, Zhao's family married her off to Feng Shizhuang at a young age. At least with Feng Shizhuang, she wouldn't starve and could eat meat a few times a year.
Not two years after marrying into the family, Zhao became pregnant with her first child, but unfortunately, she gave birth to a girl.
Zhao knew that Feng Shizhuang had always wanted a son, as the family line needed to continue, so she was desperately trying to have a son, even if one wasn't enough, she would have two.
She had already given birth to four children, but still couldn't have a son. Her husband became increasingly disappointed in her, and she became increasingly disappointed in her own womb, only thinking that maybe the next one would be a son.
During that time, Feng Shizhuang kept running away from home. Once or twice wouldn't have been a problem, but the family's money and food supplies dwindled. Zhao was worried he might pick up some bad habit. One time, she secretly followed him when she saw him leave, but what she saw was... well, it was...
Zhao became angrier the more she thought about it. After Feng Shizhuang left, she wanted to go up and slap the woman twice, but when she saw the woman's crazy, bound hands and feet and heavily pregnant appearance, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Her husband was a good man. Even though he couldn't have a son, he never let the girls in the family go hungry. So why would he do this?
why! ! !
Zhao was devastated, but in the end she pretended not to know anything and never asked about his whereabouts, until one day Feng Shizhuang brought a child back, a little girl.
Since then, Feng Shizhuang has never gone into the mountains again. Zhao Shi, however, is afraid that the woman might die and that Feng Shizhuang might become a murderer, which would ruin their family.
This time, Zhao would secretly go to the mountains every few days to bring food to that woman, for as long as four or five years.
Zhao dared not let the woman out, fearing that she was faking madness and would take their family to court. But as time went on, Zhao realized that she was truly insane and that even if she were released, she would not live long.
Zhao still had her own selfish motives, perhaps to atone for her sins. She took care of the crazy woman in this distorted way for four or five years until the woman fell and injured her leg while picking persimmons and couldn't get out of bed for several months. Only then did the matter come to an end.
This fall was probably a relief for Zhao, and for that madwoman...
From the madwoman's fragmented words, Zhao only pieced together the fact that her surname was Luo and that she was an abandoned daughter of a wealthy family; she knew nothing else.
……
The poison of the Heart-Eating Pill was indeed worse than death. I curled up in the corner, covering my mouth tightly, afraid to make a sound.
The cold clung to me like a leech, my skin felt like it was being gnawed by a thousand ants, and my heart felt like it was being pierced by countless needles.
He broke his promise, and I still haven't received any medication to alleviate the effects of the poisoning.
Or is this a warning to me because I did something wrong?
"Tch, how pathetic, like a dog..."
The door was still tightly closed, but I heard a voice coming from somewhere, followed by a "ding" sound. Something rolled to my feet, and without even thinking, I grabbed it, opened it, and poured it into my mouth.
A bitter taste spread through my mouth, but the pain in my heart gradually subsided, and the coldness slowly receded.
The candlelight that remained in the room had long been extinguished. In the darkness, I couldn't see who had brought the medicine, nor did I know how long they had been there or how long they had been watching the play.
"Master, what are your orders?"
I was still trying to alleviate the pain from the poisoning and had no desire to move.
"Pay close attention to Wei Qing's every move, and next time, present him with every detail, no matter how small."
After a moment of silence in the dimly lit room, I replied, "...Yes, I understand."
"squeak"
The window opened and closed as if nothing had happened. I knew that person had left, and she was all alone in the room.
The person who can come and go freely in the Imperial Uncle's residence must be no ordinary person. Why are you asking about Wei Qing's every move? Are you trying to guess what Wei Qing is thinking?
My body finally felt less pain, so I tried to stand up, walk to the window, and push it open.
The moonlit night was lonely, and the light moonlight shone through the open window onto the floor inside the room, making it barely visible in the dim light.
I looked around the room, then closed the window and went to the bed.