ASTRP -Chapter 27 The Old Fox of the Feng Family Pretends to Faint to Lure the Prince Out

Xiao Jinghan turned to look at her without saying a word.

Feng Jinge seemed to think of something and added, “No, that’s not right. He should be begging me—begging me to let you go back. After all, we’ve swapped bodies now, haven’t we?”

As she spoke, Xiao Jinghan suddenly said, “Do you think he would come and beg this prince for your sake?”

Feng Jinge froze for a moment. Instinctively, she was about to say, “Why wouldn’t he?”

But before the words left her mouth, she recalled the information she had gathered about Feng family’s eldest daughter, Feng Jinge.

The Feng family’s eldest miss had lost her mother at a young age, wasn’t very bright, and was not favored in the Feng household.

So…

Feng Qiancheng kneeling here wasn’t because of her.

Suddenly, the name Feng Yunxiao popped into her mind.

So that’s how it is.

She had just snatched the Regent Prince’s dishes earlier.

For that, she could only give herself two words—seeking death!

Having figured out the key point, Feng Jinge lowered her eyes and gave a bitter smile.

“Even though I know he wouldn’t beg the prince for my sake, I still couldn’t help but hope… just a little.”

“Unfortunately, reality is always cruel.”

There was an indescribable bitterness in her voice.

Xiao Jinghan looked at “himself,” and an inexplicable feeling surged in his heart.

Something like… sadness.

He pressed his lips together and said slowly, “Then let him kneel for another hour.”

Another hour?

Feng Jinge frowned. She vaguely remembered that in ancient times there were twelve shichen in a day.

One shichen equals two hours in modern time.

Feng Qiancheng had already been kneeling for one shichen.

Add another—

Wouldn’t that make it four hours?

Feng Jinge glanced silently at the blazing sunlight streaming in through the window.

Four hours.

He might get heatstroke, right?!

Xiao Jinghan paid no attention to what Feng Jinge was thinking. He turned and walked to the desk, sitting down slowly.

“Tell this prince—were there any important matters in the memorials you reviewed last night? And what happened at court this morning?”

At the mention of court, Feng Jinge immediately thought of the matter of the princes leaving the capital.

She turned back, dragged a stool over, and sat across from Xiao Jinghan.

“Your Highness, let me tell you—I almost got killed by that Grand Tutor Yuan this morning…”

“Oh?” Xiao Jinghan’s eyes lit up slightly, interest piqued. “What did he do this time?”

Feng Jinge recounted everything that had happened in court in detail.

Xiao Jinghan listened quietly, his expression unchanged.

It wasn’t until she mentioned that the civil and military officials had nearly come to blows over the issue that a slight shift appeared in his expression.

“If such a situation happens again in court, you don’t need to stop them.”

Feng Jinge was stunned.

Don’t stop them?

Wouldn’t that turn the Taiji Hall into a full-on brawl?

Seeing her silence, Xiao Jinghan glanced at her, immediately reading her thoughts.

“Civil officials and military officials have never seen eye to eye.”

“Fighting each other is common.”

“If you want to deal with them, it’s simple.”

“After they finish fighting, keep the main instigators behind.”

“Make the military officials study literature, and the civil officials train in martial arts.”

Feng Jinge silently gave him a thumbs-up. “Your Highness, that move is truly brilliant!”

A faint smile curved at Xiao Jinghan’s lips.

“As for the matter of the princes leaving the capital—how do you plan to handle it?”

“Me?” Feng Jinge widened her eyes, then waved her hands. “Your Highness, I don’t dare handle that.”

“You’d better decide it yourself. I’ll just follow your instructions.”

Xiao Jinghan neither agreed nor disagreed, simply changing the topic.

“Tell me about the memorials.”

Feng Jinge had no choice but to follow along.

There wasn’t much to say about them.

Just that Xiling and Chen State were planning to cooperate and possibly mobilize troops.

She had just finished speaking, before she could even mention that the young emperor had already handled it, Xiao Jinghan calmly said: “They won’t dare act.”

Feng Jinge frowned, about to ask why, when Xiao Jinghan continued: “The Emperor of Xiling is gravely ill. Several princes are busy fighting for the throne—how would they have the mind to cooperate with Chen State?”

“Without Xiling’s support, Chen State wouldn’t dare move.”

Feng Jinge looked at him. “Your Highness, do you have spies in the Xiling palace?”

“No,” Xiao Jinghan denied.

Feng Jinge frowned even deeper. “No?”

She curled her lips. “Who are you trying to fool? News of an emperor’s illness wouldn’t be widely announced—it’s internal information. So—”

Xiao Jinghan interrupted her, “So I forgot to tell you—Xiling has issued an imperial notice, seeking renowned physicians across the land to treat the emperor.”

“So it’s not just this prince who knows. The other two states know as well.”

Seeking doctors?

She was good at that!

Too bad she was stuck in Great Jin—and in Xiao Jinghan’s body, no less.

Otherwise, she would have packed up overnight, rushed to Xiling, treated the emperor, and extorted a hefty reward.

Take the silver and run, buy a mansion, keep a bunch of handsome men—live the life of a rich lady!

Hehehe…

Lost in her fantasy, Feng Jinge let out an involuntarily lewd chuckle.

Her laughter was sudden—and suspiciously creepy.

Though Xiao Jinghan didn’t know what she was laughing about, seeing “himself” with that foolish and slightly obscene expression told him enough.

Whatever she was thinking—it definitely wasn’t anything good.

He raised his hand and tapped the table lightly.

Feng Jinge snapped back to reality.

Xiao Jinghan’s cold face filled her vision.

She paused, her thoughts returning to normal, quickly wiping away the strange smile on her face.

Her expression turned calm.

She stretched out her hand toward him.

Xiao Jinghan frowned. “What?”

The word “silver” had just reached her lips when—

Bang!

The door was suddenly slammed open.

The loud noise made both of them turn instinctively.

Qing Shan rushed in. “Your Highness, Feng Qiancheng has fainted!”

Xiao Jinghan and Feng Jinge exchanged a glance.

Xiao Jinghan stood up first. “Let’s go take a look.”

After Feng Qiancheng fainted, the steward had immediately ordered someone to carry him to a shaded area and sent for the residence physician.

Before the physician arrived, Feng Jinge and Xiao Jinghan got there first.

The two walked into the front hall—only to find the courtyard completely empty.

Their brows furrowed.

Before they could speak, Qing Shan suddenly appeared from nowhere. Seeing the empty courtyard, he immediately shouted:

“Where is he?”

Feng Jinge and Xiao Jinghan both turned to look at him.

Qing Shan panicked. “Your Highness, he was still lying here when I left!”

“Could it be that he pretended to faint to send me away—and as soon as I left, he got up and ran off?”

As soon as he said that, he earned two eye-rolls.

Feng Jinge pursed her lips and scanned the area. Feng Qiancheng was nowhere to be seen.

Pretending to faint… was indeed possible.

It was early spring now. The sun looked fierce, but it only felt warm on the body.

A grown man kneeling for a few hours wouldn’t be a big problem.

So it was very likely that Feng Qiancheng realized kneeling like this wouldn’t solve anything—

And came up with the trick of pretending to faint, just to lure Xiao Jinghan out.