Prime Minister Feng held the letter in his trembling hand and frowned.
Lady Feng looked at her husband with a worried face, she placed a hand on his lap.
"My lord?" She asked.
Minister Feng looked at his wife, his eyes filled with confused emotions.
"My lady, the emperor's decree it's—" he glanced at the emperor's messenger who was standing in front of him, since the emperor had asked for an immediate unwritten reply.
Wordlessly he gave the letter to his wife. Lady Feng skimmed through the letter quickly and her eyes widened in surprise as her face became ash white.
"My lord this letter..." She looked at the emperor's messenger, "We would like to discuss this matter in private, please wait outside."
"Yes, my lady," the messenger said and walked out of the room.
As soon as the messenger was out, Lady Feng pointed at a word in the letter which stood out the most.
"My lord there is a loophole in the decree," she said.
Prime Minister Feng frowned and reread the letter.
The following decree was written by Emperor Wang Jian Dan, before the Crown Prince Wang Chen Jinyao was crowned as the emperor.
This decree orders Prime Minister Feng Hui Zhong to give one of his children's hand in marriage to the then Emperor Wang Chen Jinyao.
"Children," Prime Minister Feng muttered.
"Exactly," Lady Feng said, "The late emperor and the now emperor are well aware that we only have sons, could this mean, they want us to give away one of our son's hands in marriage to the Emperor?"
"Such disrespect to our sons," Prime Minister Feng muttered under his breath, rather than anger he felt his heart turn cold at the betrayal of the late emperor who was more than a monarch he served. The late emperor was like a friend to him.
"We should have expected a power like this no matter how good our relationship was with the late Emperor, my lord," Lady Feng said with a sigh. She could empathize with her husband.
"However, our Feng Household is very powerful," she said, "Only we hold enough power to take down the Emperor. The emperor was well aware of this fact, therefore he..." She trailed off.
"We should discuss this with our sons," Prime Minister Feng said, "Only they have the right to decide."
"What if our son refuses?" Lady Feng asked.
Prime Minister Feng slowly smiled.
"Then we shall have to test how strong our family indeed is. We shall rebel."
Lady Feng nodded. She called for her head maid and ordered her to prepare for the afternoon tea right away and invite all of her sons.
The maid bowed and walked away.
"Let us head out too," Lady Feng said.
The two elder couple held each other's hand and walked out of the room.
The Feng family had four sons. After receiving their mother's message to meet for afternoon tea, they gathered at the meeting spot and talked among themselves.
"Mother must have something important to tell us," The second son— Feng Ming Zhi said, "I wonder what it is?" He wondered out loud.
"Probably to discuss our elder brother's marriage," the youngest son—Feng Zhong Lei snickered.
The eldest son Feng Qiang moved uncomfortably under the gaze of his younger brothers. He looked at his third brother and spoke.
"You all talk nonsense," he said, "Feng Xue tell them."
Feng Xue chuckled quietly and decided to step in and held his older brother.
"Second Brother, surely you must have juicy gossip which is more exciting than our Older Brother's marriage." He said.
Ming Zhi laughed as he cracked open his fan and fanned himself.
"Indeed I do!" He agreed.
Feng Ming Zhi was known around the city for his gossip. However, there was more to it, he collected useful information and lots of it too.
"I heard that the famously banished prince of the Southern Yan is currently living around here," Ming Zhi said.
The three brothers widen their eyes.
"In the city?!" The youngest asked.
"No!" Ming Zhi said, "In the forest leading to the palace! I heard he—"
"Sh, father and mother are coming," Qiang said.
They all straightened up and looked at their parents who were talking among themselves and walking.
They all bowed to their parents and after a while they all settled down. Snacks were bought and teas were served.
"Father, mother," Ming Zhi called, "Why are we called here altogether?" He asked.
Prime Minister Feng cleared his throat and spoke.
"We received a decree from the emperor," he said, "It was written while the old emperor was alive and I am afraid the decree is going to severely affect your life."
The brother looked at each other wondering what was written in the decree. They watched the Prime Minister pull out the parchment from his inner pocket and gave it to his eunuch who took it and passed it to the eldest son.
Qiang read the decree and his usual gentle giant exterior fell apart, his gentle face darkened. However, he said nothing and passed the letter to Ming Zhi who was practically jumping in his seat for the latest gossip.
He gaped at the decree.
"Had it not been our family's matter, this could have been the hottest gossip in the city," he muttered.
"Oh, I want to read it!" The youngest shouted and snatched the letter from Ming Zhi's hand who still looked in a daze and read the letter.
"Oh my," Zhong Lei muttered and wordlessly passed the decree to Feng Xue.
Feng Xue took the decree and read it. He felt all the blood drain from his face and in his mind a memory he had long ago buried came back to haunt him.
"Wait for me, love, I shall come for you and make you mine."
He stood by his promise, Feng Xue thought.
Feng Xue fixed his expression and looked at his father who had a solemn look on his face.
"What do we do father?" Qiang asked.
Prime Minister Feng let out a heavy sigh.
"One of you shall marry the Emperor."
