Let's not mention for the moment the two people who left the door sobbing. Fu Zhen had been through such intense emotional upheaval just now that even after calming down, her heart was still pounding and she felt tight - chested.
After comforting Lady Bai, she leaned on Cui Huan and walked out of the door.
Before she could quicken her pace, someone appeared beside her. She turned her head and met Chen Tingfeng's cold eyes.
"If cousin has such situations a few more times, I'm afraid she won't have many years to live," he said softly, then walked away without looking back.
Fu Zhen stared at his back as he walked out of the mansion and was in a daze for a moment.
"Is he cursing me to death?" she said in disbelief.
Cui Huan closed her eyes. The young master's words were really ambiguous. What did he mean by not having many years to live? Wasn't this clearly cursing someone?
She stepped forward to support Fu Zhen. "Don't be angry, miss. The young master is always cold. He..."
She opened her mouth but couldn't come up with any explanation.
Fu Zhen clenched her fists and frowned, saying irritably, "He really can't say anything nice. From now on, I'll just avoid him to save myself from his inexplicable words."
Cui Huan was silent and could only gently pat Fu Zhen's back to comfort her.
Chen Tingfeng came back after receiving the news.
There were informants all over the mansion. As soon as Chen Huanyun begged Lady Bai, he received the news.
After hearing the whole story, he immediately set off back to the mansion.
Lady Bai was good at scheming and tactics, but she was just too soft - hearted. Although she was angry at first and wouldn't agree, when Chen Huanyun cried and threatened to kill herself and brought the whole family to plead, she might soften her heart and agree.
But this matter was clearly a Hongmen Banquet set by the Fang family from beginning to end.
Whether she could succeed in proposing a marriage or not, it was obvious that she would be humiliated.
But what was the Fang family anyway? It was just a so - called old - fashioned noble family that was almost eaten up by moths. With just a gentle push, it would collapse. How could they dare to let the mistress of the Marquis Mansion come to them in person?
No one was suitable to handle this matter, so he had to step in.
Thinking of the dissolute and idle appearance of the second son of the Fang family, a look of disgust flashed in his eyes.
He even began to dislike Xie Yan, who was slumped in the chair in front of him.
Xie Yan could tell what he was thinking at a glance. He got up from the chair and sat upright, saying helplessly, "Do you come here to vent your anger after getting angry at home?"
Chen Tingfeng had been like this since childhood. He valued his family very much and was extremely protective of them. When he got angry at home and couldn't vent it on his relatives, he would vent it outside. If someone happened to cross his path, he could calmly make that person unable to get out of bed for half a month.
Thanks to being childhood friends, Xie Yan was occasionally used as a punching bag, but at least he had never suffered any real harm.
But looking at Chen Tingfeng's cold face was still tough. "I've said before that that family is not good. Why did you let her in back then?"
Why?
Chen Tingfeng glanced at the other person. Of course, it was to guard against you.
Back then, seeing Xie Yan and Fu Zhen getting closer and Chen Huanyun showing interest in Xie Yan, he came up with the idea on the spur of the moment to let her in to cause some trouble for these two people.
Who would have thought that Chen Huanyun was so useless that she gave up as soon as she found Xie Yan hard to catch. She even turned her hostility towards Fu Zhen and accidentally helped the relationship between these two people warm up, which was extremely annoying.
Thinking of this, Chen Tingfeng's mood worsened a bit.
Sure enough, all of his fourth uncle's family were useless. None of them were promising.
Seeing his face getting colder and colder, Xie Yan sighed. "Forget it. Let's not talk about this."
He straightened his face. "Winter is over, and the grass has grown on the northern grasslands. The cattle and sheep have food, so they can survive well. The border has been quite peaceful for a while, but I'm afraid it won't last long."
It was well - known that the current emperor was muddle - headed. Fortunately, there were still capable officials and generals in the court, so they could temporarily suppress those with ulterior motives.
However, the barbarians in the north didn't suffer heavy casualties this winter. They probably saw that the court didn't want to launch a large - scale attack on them, so they might be quiet on the surface but more eager to cause trouble secretly.
The old emperor ignored state affairs but firmly held on to power. Now he didn't even let Xie Yan get involved at all. Xie Yan couldn't do anything even if he wanted to. He was completely restricted.
Chen Tingfeng took a sip of tea. After a while, he said, "Don't be in a hurry. If the enemy doesn't move, we don't move. Now they are in the open and we are in the dark. Acting secretly always gives us a better chance of winning than acting openly."
Xie Yan of course knew this principle, but he couldn't help feeling a bit depressed. "Xie Guang can show his talents on the border and win over court officials, but I, who am in the capital, am under supervision in every move. It's really annoying!"
"Isn't this good?" Chen Tingfeng looked up at him, his eyes calm. "Do you think there are fewer informants on Xie Guang than on you?"
Xie Yan was stunned.
He used to only speculate whether the old emperor sent Xie Guang out to secretly test his ability to pave the way for him to become the emperor in the future.
He worried about this day and night. For a moment, he was so obsessed that he didn't think about the possibility that Chen Tingfeng mentioned at all.
Yes, at this time, when Xie Guang went to the border, anyone could see that the old emperor must have important matters to tell him. Everyone would have the same thought as he did before. But in this way, everyone's attention would be focused on Xie Guang, while he...
"Who on earth does that old guy favor?" Xie Yan frowned tightly, completely puzzled.
"Does it matter who he favors?" Chen Tingfeng said lightly. "If he doesn't favor you, are you just going to let others slaughter you?"
Xie Yan's eyes moved. He looked up at him. Chen Tingfeng met his eyes and said straightforwardly, "Why bother about what others say? As long as you want something, just fight for it. You have to get it even if it costs you a lot."
"Only the things you get in your hands are really yours."
This was also his philosophy of life.
Arrogant, selfish and insidious, he had never claimed to be a good person. But in this world, good people didn't live long.
Xie Yan was kind - hearted. This was both good and bad.
In today's court, there were wolves all around. If a kind - hearted person ascended the throne, within three months, he would be swallowed up by the jackals below.
In such a world, there was no room for a monarch of preservation.
Xie Yan was silent for a while. Suddenly, he drank up the tea in front of him in one gulp. When he put down the teacup, there seemed to be a slight change in his eyes.
He clinked his empty teacup against the one in Chen Tingfeng's hand. "To you."
Although he and Chen Tingfeng were of the same age, Chen Tingfeng always seemed to be three points more insightful than him.
Those involved in the situation were often confused, especially those who were to be monarchs.
Fortunately, he had a friend like this. It was his great fortune.