Black Lotus Concubine's Case-solving Notes

Chapter 115 Life is like grass

I've heard before that Jiang Yuan's mother's family is a wealthy businessman in Youzhou. Eight out of ten businesses in the eighteen counties are handled by the Jiang family. They are truly wealthy enough to rival a country.

It seems that what he said is true.

"Why give it to me?"

"Because Sister Lan Zhao saved Yangyang's life!"

Feng Jia smiled and shook her head: "I have no other intentions in saving you."

"That's not what I meant!" Chen Yangyang's pretty face wrinkled. "I just want to thank my sister. Otherwise, I would still be kept in the dark by those bad guys! And it's not just to thank my sister. I also hope..."

Feng Jia raised her eyebrows: "What do you hope for?"

"I hope... I can be friends with my sister." Chen Yangyang's voice was as thin as a mosquito.

"I don't need these." Feng Jia ignored the winks from Song Huai and Qing Shu and said in a calm voice, "And you make friends by giving them gold and silver?"

Chen Yangyang was stunned.

Suddenly remembering something, she lowered her head, her face drooped, and her shoulders shrugged: "Sister Lan Zhao, I'm sorry... Because I did this before. When I was a child, I had no friends and only Chen Siyan was willing to play with me. But she was always unhappy and ignored me. Later, I found that as long as I gave her jewelry or gold and silver, she would immediately be happy... So I thought... I thought everyone was like this... I... I..."

Chen Yangyang was choked with sobs and couldn't speak.

Feng Jia stretched out her hand and lifted her face. A hot tear dripped onto the back of her hand, making her feel a little helpless.

Why are you still crying?

"Don't cry." Feng Jia handed her a handkerchief and patted her back gently.

Chen Yangyang bit her lip and looked at her with red and swollen eyes.

Feng Jia turned around and walked out of the apricot garden. Next to her was the stage used for watching plays in the mansion. She climbed the stairs, and Chen Yangyang followed behind her, holding up her skirt. The servants tactfully stood below the tall building.

Looking down from the high building, you can overlook half of the capital city, the scenery is unique.

"What did you see?" Feng Jia asked.

Chen Yangyang followed Feng Jia's line of sight and said, "There are pawnshops, rouge shops, jewelry shops, and many carriages. There are many people, some singing operas, some listening to music, and some going out for fun. There is everything..."

Feng Jia sighed, "My ears are filled with music and my eyes are dazzled. The house is filled with pearls and jades that surpass those of Wu Wa. I know that the fairy cave on the sea is just like the rich and powerful people's home."

"Miss Chen, you grew up in the capital, and you have been exposed to the wealth and prosperity of our Dali capital since you were a child. But do you know me?" Feng Jia looked at her, "I was abandoned by my father when I was a child and thrown into Shicheng, which is not like the capital. It is a poor and bad place. Maybe you can't understand what I said, but you should have heard about the drought in Yangcheng, right?"

Chen Yangyang nodded blankly: "I heard from my father that the drought in Yangcheng lasted for several months this time, and there is no sign of improvement. The court is helpless, and my father is very worried because of this!"

Feng Jia looked at the sky from afar. "When I came from Shicheng, I passed by Yangcheng and saw the disaster victims there. They were all people who had been farming in Yangcheng for generations. Farming was their livelihood, but a drought had hit, and the land was barren. They could only starve and wait anxiously for relief grain from the imperial city. But with so many disaster victims, the relief grain was transported from the capital to Yangcheng, and after being exploited at every level, how much was left for them?"

"Often, a family of four only has one bowl of bran for a day!"

"Bran?" Chen Yangyang's eyes widened. "But isn't that for..."

Feng Jia sneered, "In the capital, bran is indeed for pigs to eat, but in Yangcheng, it is a life-saving food that is more precious than gold and silver! A bowl of bran is not enough for a family of four, so they dig grass roots and eat tree bark! They even eat bird droppings! Because there are undigested grains in the bird droppings, but so many people are rushing to eat it, and soon, even the bird droppings are eaten up, what should we do?"

Chen Yangyang frowned tightly, her heart tightened: "What should I do?"

"Miss Chen, have you ever heard of cannibalism?"

Chen Yangyang thought of the scene and tears came out of her eyes. She sobbed softly and said uncertainly, "I've read in a book that the previous dynasty also encountered famine. Those people were so hungry that they couldn't bear it. They couldn't bear to eat their own children, so they exchanged their newborn babies and ate them..."

"But that's what the book says, I don't think it's true..."

Feng Jia shook her head: "Everything in the book is true, Miss Chen. Not only that, they even eat people alive!"

"A living person!" Chen Yangyang screamed in fear, and the handkerchief in her hand fell to the ground.

"So there is an unwritten rule in places where famine has occurred, that is, no matter what you do, don't walk alone, because you don't know if you will encounter people who are too hungry to bear it, their eyes turn green, and they will pounce on you to tear and bite you in order to fill their stomachs," Feng Jia sighed deeply, "Perhaps by that time, they can no longer be called human beings, but livestock, or wild beasts!"

Feng Jia returned her gaze to Chen Yangyang: "So Miss Chen, you and I are different. You grew up in the capital as a rich and beautiful girl, while I am a weed surviving in the cracks of a barren land. Our experiences, knowledge, and education are completely different! Even our perspectives on issues are completely different!"

"Do you remember what I just asked you, what did you see standing here?"

"You said you saw the wealth and prosperity of this capital city, but what I saw was the stink of dog meat outside and frozen corpses on the road!"

"Ms. Chen, you can empathize with that female student named Lu Qin. I can see that you are a kind person. If you have also been to Yangcheng and witnessed the cruelty of the drought with your own eyes, you will definitely agree with me. So I said this not to deliberately raise myself up or accuse you of having a superficial view of the problem while I have a profound view. I want to tell you that you and I have different perspectives and standpoints!"

"It's not your fault that you haven't been to Guangzhou. On the contrary, it's your luck. You live a wealthy life in Beijing. Although your mother died early, your father still loves you. You also have your grandparents as your backer. They all care about you all the time, but I'm different."

"My aunt died early, my father didn't love me, my grandmother didn't love me, my brothers and sisters didn't get close to me, and I'm all alone in this world. You've probably heard of my bad reputation. I killed the slaves, fought the stepmother, and drove out the eldest sister. In just over two months, I climbed from an unpopular concubine to my current position. It's obvious that I'm not a good person, Miss Chen. So, are you still willing to be friends with someone like me?"

Chen Yangyang was completely stunned.

Feng Jia raised the corners of her mouth with a hint of sarcasm, then turned and left. However, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her arms, tightly, as if using all their strength.

Feng Jia froze.

Chen Yangyang lowered her head, feeling extremely guilty and self-blaming, her big eyes filled with tears: "Sister Lan Zhao... I... I never thought you would have to go through this... I... I feel really bad for you..."

Her crystal tears fell to the ground one by one like beads, and she spoke incoherently: "I am very stupid, I am not good at schoolwork, and I am not as scheming as others. I give you those gold and silver not to show off how good my life is! But because! Because... these are all I have! Everyone in the world likes gold and silver, so I brought them all to you. I just... I just hope that Sister Lan Zhao can be happy!"

"If you don't like those, I will find someone to move out right away. If you don't like such a stupid Yangyang, then I will become smarter! I will work hard!" Chen Yangyang raised her head, "Sister Lan Zhao, I want you to know that you are not alone! You are so amazing, many people will like you! I like you too!"

"I will also work hard and become my sister's supporter!"

"Become my...backer?" Feng Jia murmured in astonishment. A warm current spread up from the bottom of her heart, and her frozen heart warmed up for a moment.

"It's tiring to be my backer." Feng Jia shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"I'm not afraid of being tired!" Chen Yangyang held her true heart in front of Feng Jia, "Sister Lan Zhao, I will also prove to you! We are the same! The scenery you have seen! The angle from which you think about problems! I will get closer little by little! I will stand with you in the end!"

After saying this, she seemed to have made up her mind. Suddenly, she picked up her skirt and ran away.

The servants downstairs followed Chen Yangyang and left. Feng Jia returned to Xingyuan and looked at the boxes and cases all over the floor. Each one was heavy and shiny when opened. He couldn't help but hold his forehead with his hand.

"Miss, what should I do?" Qingshu was also in a headache. "Just now I asked Miss Chen to take everything back, but she just wouldn't listen and insisted on giving it to you. I couldn't stop her!"

"Forget it, let's move into the yard first."

Several servants immediately started moving boxes of stuff into the yard. Song Huai stepped forward and sighed, "That girl ran really fast. I didn't even have time to ask her what happened to the earrings!"

"You think she did it?"

Song Huai immediately said, "She? A little girl who is so happy when you do her a favor. She has no ulterior motives at all. How could she have the means to harm others!"

Feng Jia smiled and said, "I guess she gave these earrings to the eldest daughter of the Chen family."

"You mean Chen Siyan?"

Feng Jia nodded, "Find a time to interrogate her."

Song Huai nodded immediately: "Understood!"

As she was talking, a servant hurried over from outside and shouted, "Young lady! Concubine Xiao's personal eunuch is here to tell you to go to the palace. The sedan chair is already waiting at the gate!"

"It comes so quickly!" Song Huai muttered to himself.

Feng Jia stood up and just smiled faintly: "Let's go to the palace."

Fighting Princess Xiao.