บท 16: The Past: Face of a Demon (Part 2)
บรรณาธิการ: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Feng Qingling saw that Feng Qingcheng had agreed and immediately looked happy about it. "I'll head off first. You must come tomorrow; I'll be waiting for you! Alright now, go and rest. I'll leave now."
The gate was slowly shut behind her, and the place fell silent once more. Feng Qingcheng stood in the courtyard for a short while before returning to her room.
The next day, Feng Qingcheng woke up early and washed up. She then changed into the clothes that were sent to her the day before and looked at herself in the mirror. She had seen this face for the past four years and had slowly gotten used to it.
After a while, the main gate of the courtyard was opened and two people came in, one servant girl and one servant boy.
The servant girl came in and noticed that Feng Qingcheng was already waiting in the courtyard, and she looked at Feng Qingcheng with disdain.
Her voice was clearly filled with disgust as she said, "Second Young Mistress, Eldest Young Mistress has sent me here to bring you over. If you're done, follow me out." She didn't bother sounding polite at all, even though she was a servant.
But Feng Qingcheng wasn't bothered by this. She looked quietly at the servant girl and said, "I'm ready. I'll follow you out."
The servant girl looked strangely at her and didn't know how else to mock her anymore. She gave up on the idea and turned around to lead the way.
When Feng Qingcheng appeared at the main hall, the lively chatter instantly stopped for a few seconds as everyone's eyes fell on her. It was followed by exclamations and screams as the people started to point fingers at her.
Feng Qingcheng thought that she had already accepted her looks, but when she saw their reactions, a sad look still appeared in her eyes.
Everyone around her was discussing this among themselves. "Who is this? This is so terrifying. How could a girl be this ugly?"
There were also those who were curious. "I don't know. This is the first time I'm seeing someone this ugly. But why is someone like her in the Feng residence? Today is supposed to be the coming of age ceremony for the Eldest Young Mistress of the Feng clan!"
Just after the crowd had gone into an uproar, Feng Qingling and a petite and adorable young lady walked towards the main hall. When everyone saw that the main star of today's coming of age ceremony had arrived, they stopped their discussion and looked towards the two ladies heading their way. They were all full of praise as they said, "The Eldest Young Mistress of the Feng family is really becoming more and more beautiful and mesmerizing each day. On top of that, she's a cultivation genius among her generation in Weiyang Nation. She's only fifteen, but she's already a high-level Spiritual Beginner."
"Isn't the person next to her Princess Xinyan? I didn't expect her to be here too!" There was much admiration and respect for Feng Qingling in this person's voice.
Everyone quickly rushed to greet Dongfang Xinyan and Feng Qingling as they walked in.
Someone else continued saying, "Besides that other prince, the crown prince is the top genius of Weiyang Nation. When he turned fifteen, he was already at Spiritualist First Tier, and now that he's twenty years old, he's already at Spirit Mentor Sixth Tier. Also, rumor has it that His Highness is a couple with the Eldest Young Mistress! The Third Princess must be here to support her future sister-in-law, right? Hoho!"
Someone else chimed in with more praise, saying, "Indeed, the other prince is too mysterious, and nobody knows exactly how powerful he is right now. But the crown prince is certainly worthy of being Weiyang Nation's crown prince. His prowess is above everyone else, and the Eldest Young Mistress of the Feng clan is also such a genius. These two are really a match made in heaven! They're perfect together!"
Someone sighed, "They are really perfect together… but it's too bad! The crown prince already has an engagement to the good-for-nothing Second Young Mistress of the Feng family, and that useless girl is going to become his wife."
The other person also sounded regretful as they replied, "Sigh… it's such a pity! Our outstanding genius crown prince is actually going to take a good-for-nothing as his wife…"
These words seemed to echo many of their sentiments, and many others voiced their agreement.
Feng Qingling was now a Spiritualist Third Tier cultivator and heard all these words, too. Her heart was filled with joy and she subconsciously puffed her chest out, but she continued to keep a polite and reserved smile on her face.
She had spotted Feng Qingcheng the minute she stepped into the hall. Nobody was willing to go near Feng Qingcheng, so she stood out like a sore thumb.
Feng Qingling raised her pretty brows slightly, and a brilliant smile spread across her lips. But if you looked carefully, you would have noticed a cold gleam that flashed through her eyes.
She quickly went over to hold Feng Qingcheng's arm. "Qingcheng, you're finally willing to come! I was afraid that you weren't willing to attend my coming of age ceremony… I'm so happy that you were able to come!"
The moment she said that everyone immediately went into a frenzy. "What?! This girl who looks like a demon is actually the Second Young Mistress of the Feng family, Feng Qingcheng?!"
Someone else was doubtful, saying, "If she's Feng Qingcheng, how did she end up looking like that? Besides, if she's really Feng Qingcheng, then she's going to become the wife of the crown prince. But if she looks like that…"
At this juncture, a young lady came forward. She gave a terribly disdainful look to Feng Qingcheng before turning to smile pleasantly at Feng Qingling and say, "Eldest Young Mistress, I am Chen Qianru from the army general's family. I would like to congratulate you on becoming an adult." After a short pause, she went on, "You called her Qingcheng earlier, so you mean… this person over here is the Second Young Mistress of the Feng family, Feng Qingcheng? But this face is really…" The disgust in her eyes was very apparent.
Feng Qingcheng clearly looked like she was in a difficult position. She really didn't want to face such stares and remarks from others, and she felt like she was trapped.
Feng Qingling smiled back and said, "Thank you, Miss Qianru, for coming to attend my coming of age ceremony."
She continued to speak a little apologetically, saying, "Everyone, so sorry about that. I forgot to introduce all of you to this lady here. She's my cousin, Feng Qingcheng. I believe everyone knows about how this cousin of mine was confirmed to be unable to cultivate four years ago and rarely stepped out of the house after that. Later, when my grandfather passed away, she was very depressed and became gravely ill for a period, and she looked like this after that. Our family has been trying our best to take care of her and to treat her, but her illness doesn't seem to get any better. The doctor says that her illness is an extremely rare one, and the possibility of getting well is almost zero." She sounded sad as she said the last part.
Then she continued, "After that, perhaps she felt that my parents weren't taking enough care of her and couldn't get well as a result. She probably misunderstood them and decided angrily that she wanted to move out and find a quiet place to recuperate. After that, she rarely stepped out of the house. Perhaps she was sad that she hadn't recovered and didn't want to meet anybody. Yesterday, I specially went over to invite her to my coming of age ceremony, and I'm so pleasantly surprised that you're here. I'm so, so happy that you were able to come." She smiled beautifully at Feng Qingcheng.
Immediately after Feng Qingling finished these words, Dongfang Xinyan walked over to Feng Qingcheng with a face covered with disdain and disgust. "So, you're Feng Qingcheng? You're the good-for-nothing with a demon-like face? You? You think you can be my brother's wife? You think you're worthy of being my sister-in-law? That's just your wishful thinking!"
Feng Qingcheng became frantic and didn't know how to answer the princess because everything she said was true…
But several displeased and contemptuous voices started filling the air around her.
One said, "What on earth? She's a good-for-nothing who can't cultivate, and she thinks she can still throw her weight about? Tsk, she's become ugly, and she still blames others for not getting her proper treatment?"
Another said, "The head of the Feng clan and his family are too kindhearted! This woman is just an ungrateful woman who bites the hand that feeds her, so she'd never appreciate their kindness no matter how nice they are to her. If you ask me, I'd just completely ignore this good-for-nothing."
Yet another said, "The Third Princess is right. Is she still dreaming of marrying the crown prince with this face?"
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