Wen Mingtang turned her head and glanced at Lin Fei, who was thoughtful and then looked at the carriage again. Although the person was hidden behind the curtain and could not be seen, the look on his face she had memorized it.

After the grand carriage left, Lin Fei spoke, “That person was His Royal Highness Yu, a charming man who appreciates beautiful women. Your zújiě, as beautiful as a peony, did capture his attention indeed.”

Wen Mingtang heard this and was about to say thank you when she heard Lin Fei say again: “He has an old grudge against your father.”

Wen Mingtang looked at him: she knew that the Wen family had committed something, but she didn’t care about the Wen family’s affairs. Everything that was known came from the original owner’s childhood memories. It was easy to imagine how much an eight-year-old child could know.

As for asking others about the Wen family’s affairs, not to mention that most people were also unable to know the specific details. Even if they knew the details, how many people dared to tell them face to face?

Therefore, she had only a partial understanding of many things.

But the person in front of her obviously dared to mention it to her face.

Lin Fei spoke up, “Though he had no chance at the throne, precisely because of this, he acted without restraint. A few years ago, he set his sights on a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, she was already married, and her husband happened to be your father’s student. Acting without restraint, he resorted to force, separating the married couple. Your father stood up for his student and filed a complaint against him. As a result, he was imprisoned for several months and kept under house arrest for more than half a year.”

Wen Mingtang understood that it would be strange for a person of King Yu’s level to not be jealous of Wen Xuance because he had probably never suffered such a big setback in his life.

Not only that, she also vaguely understood why Prince Yu would attack Wen Xiutang. Wen Xiutang was indeed beautiful, but her surname “Wen” was probably the key to his attack.

For people like Yu Wang, their feeling towards Wen Xuance was probably: Aren’t you trying to stand up for your disciple? Good! I won’t attack your disciple and his wife. I’ll attack your Wen family’s daughter. Are you satisfied?

Lin Fei probably thought of what Wen Mingtang thought of, and his eyes stayed on her face for a moment longer before he withdrew his gaze again. If he really wanted to vent his anger, compared to Wen Xiutang, Wen Mingtang was probably the person who could vent his anger the most.

However, he probably felt that compared to Wen Xiutang’s gorgeous and extravagant appearance, Wen Mingtang, who worked in the public kitchen all day long and had thick bangs on her head, seemed a bit “simple”. So King Yu did not “aggrieve” himself, and instead directly ordered his people to take action.

“Do you have any evidence on hand to prove that King Yu is chasing you?” Lin Fei asked Wen Mingtang.

Wen Mingtang shook her head and asked Lin Fei: “Lin Shaoqing, do you know who ordered the people who are chasing you and others today? Do you have any evidence?”

Lin Fei glanced at her and said, “I have some speculation, but no evidence. “

Wen Mingtang said: “Me too.”

For people like King Yu, why did he need to do it himself? The dead soldiers raised in the mansion were not just freeloaders.

Therefore, it was impossible to use this matter to bring down King Yu. Unless King Yu himself killed someone and submitted all evidence, there was no need to think about overthrowing King Yu.

“If you fail to hit the target, there will be another attack.” Lin Fei glanced at the Jiofang in front of him, turned around, and when he was about to leave, he said to Wen Mingtang, “Your father had offended many people back then, so you be careful!”

Wen Mingtang: “…”

She didn’t go into the Jiofang to reminisce with Wen Xiutang. They were sisters of the same clan, so she just cared about her. As for reminiscing about the past, not to mention that Wen Mingtang herself had no friendship with Wen Xiutang, she was also not the original owner. In her memory, the only things she remembered about Wen Xiutang, a clan sister, were snatching beads and flowers, grabbing skirts, and competing for favor in front of the elders.

Not all sister relationships were harmonious, so there was no need to force them.

After looking at the Jiofang, Wen Mingtang turned and left. She found a small restaurant for lunch, went shopping, and bought some ingredients that she might use before returning to Dali Temple.

While she was away, Ah Bing did a good job with Tangyuan. When she came back, he left an extra bowl of bīngfěn for her to try. After receiving Wen Mingtang’s praise, the two of them were even more happy.

Wen Mingtang looked at the happy Ah Bing and Tangyuan in front of her, rubbed the bun on Tangyuan’s head, took a short rest, and then went to the public kitchen to prepare the evening meal.

Today, in the evening, Ji Cai brought back a lot of snakehead fish, saying that they were caught from Zhuangzi’s side. They were intended for the kitchen of the Dali temple for the evening meal.

Wen Mingtang, A Bing, and Tangyuan dragged the dozens of plump snakehead fish to the well and started killing them one by one.

The three of them were busy working with their heads down, so they didn’t notice the entrance of the yard not far behind them. Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu were looking towards them from the entrance of the yard with complicated eyes.

“She is back, killing fish!” Liu Yuan said, watching the girl scraping the fish scales with a scale scraper in her hand. Her movements were neat and agile, but in the blink of an eye, the scales on a large snakehead several inches long were removed. After scraping it clean, the fish were killed.

Watching the girl holding the knife in her hand and cutting across it to separate the flesh and bones, then raising her hand, she sliced ​​the fish into thin slices of similar size and thickness in the blink of an eye. The skill of her hands was amazing, but at the same time, it inexplicably reminded them of the scenes at noon, where she killed the assassins with a boning knife in her hand.

Liu Yuan trembled and suddenly said: “The cook… there is really a hidden dragon and crouching tiger among the cooks. The serial murderer who had been hiding for many years…”

Before the words were finished, they were interrupted by Bai Zhu: “How can it be the same? That was a murderous criminal, and Master Wen is a delicate woman, a pitiable person!”

Liu Yuan glanced at Bai Zhu: “Of course, Master Wen is not a murderer who kills people randomly, but a weak woman… it’s really not possible, right?”

Bai Zhu said, “Wen Xuance made many enemies in the past, mostly petty individuals. Now, Master Wen has just left the palace, and there are already assassins sent after her. Within the palace, do you think she would receive fewer hindrances without someone to vouch for her?”

The girl’s silence doesn’t mean that her days in the harem are really easy. In fact, her life might be even more challenging than the pampered and wealthy Wen Xiutang. After all, she was Wen Xuance’s own daughter.

“She managed to safely endure until leaving the palace with all her limbs intact. While she received care from palace maids on the surface and wasn’t openly hindered, compared to the overt methods, the covert ones were more formidable.” BaiBai Zhu continued, “Without learning some survival skills from Ganzhiwei, whether she can survive until leaving the palace is really hard to say!”

Wen Mingtang, who was killing fish, moved the tips of her ears and listened faintly. When she came to the word “ganzhiwei”, she instinctively raised his head and looked toward the source of the sound.

Seeing Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu, who were in the middle of talking, move behind the courtyard wall, the girl smiled, then lowered her head again to continue preparing the fish. Since becoming this Wen Mingtang, she had been having a dream day after day, like a vague warning. How could she dare to casually roam around like an ordinary weak woman? Naturally, she had long started looking for ways to ensure her survival.

(End of chapter)

---