“Has water entered His Majesty’s head? To think that he’d make that girl a princess!” Zhong Meiqing was also extremely angry. Wasn’t this just placing Du Xiaoli directly above her?!
“Mother, we can’t let that lowly wench become beside herself with joy. Before she attained a rise in status, she was already strutting around and showing off her power. Now that it’s like this, will there still be a place for us in the Du Manor?” Du Kexin said.
“What can we do?” Zhong Meiqing became even angrier as the conversation progressed to this point. “Who let you go to Mount Yan previously? You got yourself poisoned. What’s worse is that you even interrupted their plans, and they almost decided to do something to you!”
“They? Who?” Du Kexin asked.
Zhong Meinqing realized she misspoke and hurriedly changed the subject by saying, “In any case, don’t you dare act blindly without thinking. I will deal with that lowly wench.”
“But Mother…” Du Kexin said, feeling unwilling to accept it.
Zhong Meiqing shot her a glare and said reprimandingly, “What you need to do now is just wait until you reach marriageable age and then get married to His Highness, Prince Ren!”
“Mother, I heard news that His Highness, Prince Ren, took in yet another concubine a few days ago and that he even intended to make her his Third Imperial Concubine. He only dropped the subject when His Majesty the Emperor got in his way,” Du Kexin said and began wiping at her tears with an aggrieved expression. “Mother, Prince Ren hasn’t gotten married yet, but he’s already got many lovers. When I marry into his manor in the future, who knows what status I’ll hold there!”
The more Du Kexin spoke, the more aggrieved she felt and used her handkerchief to wipe off her tears.
“Prince Ren is a majestic prince. Where is there a man who does not have three wives and four concubines? Even your father who was so infatuated back then, didn’t he take in two young concubines? Let alone a prince!” Zhong Meiqing was not surprised when he heard Han Minghong had taken in another concubine. There were truly too many men like this, especially in comparison to men who were not fond of women.
“Mother, although Prince Ren already had a few concubines back then, he still treated me really well. But now, not only does he pay no attention to me, but he even refuses to meet me when I go over to find him. Mother, what should I do?” Du Kexin asked while crying.
“The hearts of men are unreliable! Right now, you still haven’t married into his family. Once you have, just show that you’re superior to those other concubines, and he’ll naturally see your appeal,” Zhong Meiqing said. “All right, stop crying endlessly here so early in the morning. Go back to your room and prepare for your coming-of-age ceremony. Leave the rest to me.”
Zhong Meiqing felt somewhat annoyed and did not have much patience to deal with Du Kexin, so she urged the latter to leave.
Upon seeing her mother annoyed, Du Kexin could only curtsey and leave. However, the resentment she felt towards Du Xiaoli grew deeper and deeper. In her eyes, all of her misfortune began after Du Xiaoli arrived and thus was caused by her.
In the imperial palace, the emperor and several imperial consorts were chatting inside the Empress Dowager’s Residence. The first thing they talked about was Du Xiaoli.
“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, just what is His Majesty the Emperor doing, bestowing that girl who grew up in a village with the t.i.tle of a princess? Moreover, with the status of a second-rank official? Once this gets out, it will be such a joke!” a concubine said.
“That’s right. Your Majesty, you really need to speak with His Majesty. Is the t.i.tle of a princess something that can be bestowed so casually? It’s still tolerable if it’s that young lady, Du Kexin. However, conferring the t.i.tle to a girl from the countryside… It truly sounds unpleasant just speaking about it!” another concubine said.
Seated in the seat of honor, the empress dowager continued drinking her tea in silence the whole time. She waited for the concubines to finish saying more or less everything they wanted to say before finally responding: “This matter has already been announced to the public. There is no longer any leeway for it to be reversed. Since His Majesty has made this decision, we must all respect it. Enough. I’m tired. All of you can go back first. Empress, stay behind for a while.”
As the empress dowager was driving them away, the concubines got up and left. “I, your servant, will take my leave.”
Once those concubines were gone, the empress dowager’s expression immediately darkened, and she threw the tea cup in her hand towards the empress.
Upon seeing the empress dowager get angry, the empress dropped to her knees.
“Your Majesty, please quell your anger!”
“Quell my anger? Tell me, just how exactly am I supposed to quell my anger?!” the empress dowager rebuked the empress angrily while smacking the table with her hand. “I told you to think of a way to deal with that Du Xiaoli, yet you let her get conferred the t.i.tle of a princess instead! Furthermore, without even the slightest inkling that it was going to happen! Just what are you doing beside His Majesty?!”
“Your Majesty, please quell your anger. I, your servant, went to the imperial study yesterday. At that time, His Majesty only mentioned the name, ‘Princess Anle’. He did not actually say that he wanted to bestow Du Xiaoli with the t.i.tle of a princess. I… I didn’t think this was important, so I didn’t report it to you,” the empress said, with her whole body trembling. “I, your servant, have done wrong. I beg Your Majesty to be kind. Please forgive me this one time!"
“Forgive you? The last time I had you do something, you didn’t do it well either and even lost so much manpower. If I forgive you again, you will never keep it in mind! Someone, bring me my whip!” the empress dowager said with a sneer.
Upon hearing the empress dowager wanted to take out her whip, the empress’ body began to shake even more intensely as she incessantly kowtowed and begged for mercy.
However, the empress dowager did not pay any attention to her at all and took the whip from an elderly female servant’s
hands. The whip struck the empress’ back, causing her so much pain that she screamed.
“You’re not allowed to scream!” the empress dowager commanded.
This was the empress dowager’s residence, but it was still difficult to avoid someone from hearing and seeing this scene.
Seeing the empress dowager’s dark expression made the empress grit her teeth and swallow her screams.
The empress dowager, who had always seemed weak and delicate to outsiders, was actually a martial arts pract.i.tioner. She had excellent control over the whip, and every lash landed on the empress’ body, leaving no part of it untouched.
References
1. — This could also be referring to an elderly female servant who was the empress dowager’s wet nurse, which is more likely to be the case, but I’m not sure as I don’t know the context. MoonWhisperer, TWIP"s Thoughts
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