Chapter 213 The Harem Line, the Empress Dowager’s Decreed

Fifth Princess lay in her palace and had already thrown pieces of antique porcelain decorations. Several maids kelt by her, unable to say a word. Seeing them s.h.i.+vering, Fifth Princess felt angrier and picked up another long-neck white jade bottle to toss it away.

“Yu’er, behave.” A solomen voice rang by the door. The Empress, who was dressed up, looked unpleasant surrounded by her servants.

“Mother, mother, you must help me. It must be that nasty girl. I just made her kneel, and she dared to cause such trouble for me. She should twist my ankle. How did a daughter of a third-grade official dare to challenge the royal family? Mother has to summon her into the palace to beat her to death.”

Teeth gritted, Fifth Princess arrogantly said. How could things be so coincidental? In the morning, she made that wicked girl kneel, and in the afternoon, she fell from the horse. “She must have done this to me.”

The Empress waved to let the servants withdraw. She sat by Fifth Princess. “Yu’er, the third miss from Mo Family has stayed in a bookstore all afternoon. She hasn’t done anything to you. Plus, how can an official’s daughter get to your horse? It’s the royal family’s horse and special servants serve it.”

Mo Xuetong’s whereabouts were not secret. In the afternoon, she was transcribing in a bookstore but b.u.mped into the capricious King Xuan. It was said that the moment King Xuan saw her, he got unreasonable. He not only stopped the miss from returning home, but also had guards line up, forming a wall to tease the miss.

The Empress also heard that Third Miss Mo rushed out and even knocked down a beggar on the street in a hurry.

After hearing the news, the Empress felt really helpless. Could the willful kid act more rakish?

Thus, the Empress somewhat sympathized with Third Miss Mo. At such a young age, she met this little monster. Even the Empress failed to foresee what would happen. That little monster was really stubborn. Recently, he even injured Minister Li’s son while fighting him over a courtisan.

Minister Li’s son was also one of the playboys in the capital. However, after knowing his opponent was King Xuan, he didn’t dare to say anything. It could be seen that how caprious the prince was.

Nevertheless, the Empress secretly felt lucky that King Xuan didn’t see Fengyan’s portrait. Otherwise, one of her delicate girls would go to waste.

Recalling Lingyue’s words, Fifth Princess couldn’t let it go like this. Thus she tugged at the Empress’s sleeves and cried coyly. “Mother, Lingyue said it must’ve been that woman, and she also let my cousin treat me like this. It’s just like that. I made her kneel and cousin went over. Before, my cousin never minded me messing up with those women who fell for him. When did he do such things to me?

“Mother has to help me revenge myself. I don’t care. My cousin treats that woman differently.”

“OK, I’ll help you. Now, don’t cry. On the way here, I heard His Highness was visiting your grandmother. He’ll probably see you later. If he sees you crying like this, he won’t like it.” The Empress was annoyed by this tugging so she hurriedly comforted her daughter.

Fifth Princess’s eyes lit up and she sat bolt upright. Nevertheless, because of the jerk, she hurt the would on her feet again so she gasped. “My cousin will come over later?”

The Empress smilingly said, “You’re injured. His Highness has such good manners. He’ll definitely visit you. You two have been close since young. How come he won’t come to see you?”

Her daughter’s affection for Bai Yihao was not a secret in the palace. Even though other princesses also had a thing for Bai Yihao, they were not as n.o.ble as her daughter. In fact, the Empress didn’t want Fifth Princess to marry to somewhere so far. However, her daughter was willing to and she couldn’t persuaded her. Therefore, she decided to just let it be.

Gently ma.s.saging the muscle around her daughter’s injury, the Empress thought like this. If Bai Yihao didn’t want to marry Yu’er, that would also be fine. Marrying to another place and helping to establish good relations.h.i.+ps with the Yan Kingdom was indeed very honorable, but it still couldn’t compare with staying by her side. As for the status, she was the honorable Empress and would be Empress Dowager, if Yu’er stayed by her side, who dared to make trouble for her?

Rubbing her wound, Fifth Princess sat straight and suddenly rolled her eyes. Thinking of something, she tugged at the Empress’s sleeve again, saying, “Mother, isn’t Yan Kingdom’s first prince’s coming? I heard he wanted to marry one of the princesses. Mo Xuetong has a pretty face, I say, why don’t we give her to the first prince? We’ll toss her away and I won’t be upset again since I will never see her.”

…

Recently, the Yan Kingdom started to mention the first prince’s marriage. Not only Yan Kingdom’s emperor and empress, but also Princess Royal Yunruo also wrote. She hinted in the letter that they would like to marry the first prince to one of Great Qin’s princess to reestablish their good relationshops. In the letter, Princess Royal Yunruo directly wrote Fifth Princess would be the best candidate.

The Empress was very dissatisfied. First, she didn’t want her daughter to marry into the Yan Kingdom; second, even if Yu’er would marry to that faraway land, with Yu’er’s n.o.ble status, Yu’er could only marry the next empror. Why would she choose Yan Kingdom’s first prince over Bai Yihao? That being said, she couldn’t ignore Princess Royal Yunruo, who was Empress Dowager’s biological daughter. If she should upset Empress Dowager becasue of this, she couldn’t afford the consequence.

Therefore, for the past days, she had been selecting the candidate for this marriage. She wouldn’t send a princess. She could promote a duke’s daughter to be a princess and marry her to that first princess, which was also of custom. Since her daughter wouldn’t want to see that Mo Xuetong again, then she would do what her daughter wanted. It was not a big deal. She could just toss that miss away as her daughter had wished.

The Empress jokingly said, “OK, we’ll do what Yu’er wants. Happy, now? Go wash up and get dressed. Don’t let His Highness think you’re unpretty.”

Fifth Princess smiled coyly and rose, holding the bedpost. Thinking of that woman who was going to be dispatched away and never returned to the capital, she couldn’t help feeling spirited. “Trying to steal my cousin? She’d better weigh herself before she tries.”

Huanyue and Lingyue were summoned to help her wash and dress.

The Empress waited for another short while and left when she thought it was about time. If Bai Yihao came and she was here, two of them would feel uneasy. The Emperor was happy to marry Fifth Princess to Bai Yihao. Even though the Empress didn’t like the idea, she couldn’t express it so explicitly.

At Cining Palace.

The Empress Dowager was sitting high above, smiling mildly. She looked like a gentle elder, of medium weight, and dressed in brown. The collar and sleeves were decorated with fancy phoenix patterns, and only observant people could find those small pearls dotted on her brown clothes. Though small, these pearls were exceptionally round, which showed their high value.

Lady of Xian was sitting by the side and merrily talking with the Empress Dowager. They were talking about Sima Lingyun and Mo Xuemin’s affair

The Empress Dowager had been well-educated as a lady since young, so after hearing the news, she instantly hated Mo Xueming. “Are Duke Zhenguo’s son and First Miss Mo having an affair? It’s not right. The Emperor used to mention Mo Huawen to me, saying he’s honest and capable. How did he raise such a girl?”

Lady of Xian joked and treated it as gossip. “Empress Dowager, I heard many duke’s misses and masters saw what happened in the palace that night. At that time, Duke Zhenguo’s son and First Miss Mo’s affair had been confirmed. Though Consort Yu’s younger brother timely denied part of it, everyone saw that the two had something between them. Then, something should happen outside the palace again.”

King of Xian was Emperor Zongwen’s younger cousin. He worked in the military and had real power. Ding General Manor was also a family with military power. The two families had been on friendly terms. The Empress Dowager also liked Lady of Xian’s straight personality because every time Lady of Xian came to the capital, she would visit the Empress Dowager and could also talk with the latter.

The Empress Dowager amiably smiled. As a trace of something flashed through her eyes, she slowly fingered the rosaries in her hand. “Duke Zhenguo’s son is still locked up in prison.” People in the palace all knew that though Empress Dowager didn’t run things, she believed in Buddism. When she was the empress, she had a respected monk enshrine the rosaries and she valued them very much.

Lady of Xian empathically said, “That’s right. First Miss Mo and Duke Zhenguo even started before the thing in the palace. I heard they exchanged something early in Repayment Temple. Back then, a master from a wealthy family saw them and said there was also a sachet. It makes sense. First Miss Mo is just a concubine’s daughter. They must have done this because the d.u.c.h.ess doesn’t agree with their relations.h.i.+p.”

Lady of Xian was the most qualified to comment on this matter. Years ago, Lady of Xian had courted King of Xian because of King of Xian’s n.o.ble status. Though she was born into a relatively powerful family, she couldn’t be King of Xian’s main wife. If not for their determination and kneeling before Empress Dowager Cining Palace’s for a day, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t have agreed and sha couldn’t have been a legal wife.

The Empress Dowager looked annoyed. She heavily snapped the rosaries on the table and told an old eunuch beside her. “Such a thing had happened, does d.u.c.h.ess Zhenguo still want to refuse that Miss Mo because she was born by a legal wife? Ask the Empress to issue a decreed to marry First Miss Mo to Duke Zhenguo’s son. The thing that happened in those n.o.ble families will also shame the royal family. Even if d.u.c.h.ess Zhenguo doesn’t want the marriage, this time, she has to.”

The Empress Dowager said in a low voice. She was looking at the bigger picutre. Such a thing would startle all the n.o.ble families. Since establis.h.i.+ng the sovereignty, not a n.o.ble was put into prison because love affairs with women. If they punished Sima Lingyun, the common people would only say the royal family couldn’t choose the right people and the royal would therefore lose face.

Ding General Manor was also a n.o.ble family. Though Ding General Manor was a queen’s family, however, deep down, it was the same with Duke Zhenguo’s manor. They were bound together for good or ill. Only by suppressing the matter as much as possible could she offset the bad influence.

The common people only needed to know the two had an affair. Even if they gossiped, they would only talk about the two’s tainted integrity. Then, there was nothing else they could gossip about, and the royal family would continue to gain a good name among the people.

Having followed the Empress Dowager for years, the old eunuch naturally knew what the Empress Dowager wanted. He bowed and left. “Yes, I’ll do it right now.”

Lady of Xian smilingly flattered the Empress Dowager. “Your Royal Highness, that first miss from Mo Family really needs to thank you. You’re such kind-hearted and must have collected many merits. But for you, they would become another miserable couple. Probably, in some time, if one of them kills themselves for love. Then, everyone will be shamed.”

The Empress Dowager also chuckled and fingered the rosaries one by one. “Look, hear your words. Your words are indeed sweet. I haven’t seen you and heard your sweet words in a while. No wonder I’ve been missing you.”

“Your Highness is making me happy. I’m so glad to be remembered by Your Highness. There seem to be flowers blooming in my heart one after another. Before I came to the capital, King of Xian wouldn’t want me to, but I insisted. I said Her Highness might want to see me, and since then, he’d been laughing at my words. Now, hearing what Your Highness said, I will have every reason to come here in the future. I’ll see if he’ll stop me again or not.”

Lady of Xian affectionately said and looked very proud, which made the Empress Dowager burst into laughter and said, “You little monkey is more and more of a clever tongue. No wonder he loves you so much and knelt before my palace for so long back then.”

Mentioning the past, Lady of Xian blushed and rarely acted coyly. “Your Highness…”

Lady of Xian actually had a straightforward personality but now acted like a cute little girl. The Empress Dowager was so choked with joy that she was almost out of breath. Thus, she could only support herself on the table and shout. “Serve tea and send the guests away. I’ll laugh to death if you continue talking.”