Chapter 130: Prince’s little quilt 5 (part 2 of 2)
The little guy seemed to have placed him under a demon spell, making him unable to tolerate a moment of it’s absence after just half a month of it’s presence. Even if he was very worried, he still couldn’t even bear to say a single fierce remark. The injury in it’s small corner, had even made him incapable of sleeping the entire night.
The next morning, Feng Luan, the current Empress Dowager, graced the Prince’s mansion with her arrival, in order to see her son and grandsons, and plans to stay in the mansion for two short days, then return to the palace on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month*.
*Laba rice porridge festival: the date makes more sense
Empress Dowager Feng’s carriage driving out the palace was definitely an important event, but she had made it clear that it must be kept quiet, as well as in concern that a.s.sa.s.sins would take this opportunity to cause trouble. Thus, the imperial family’s imperial carriage drove into the gate almost silently, without even the displays of the loud gongs and drums, so many people in the mansion was even unaware of this. Only the masters, as well as the more important individuals, such as the head steward and the personal maids serving the master, was allowed to pay respect to the Empress Dowager. They simultaneously knelt down the ground to reverently and respectfully wish the Empress Dowager bountiful blessings.
“There’s no need for courtesy, you may rise.”
After saying so, the Empress Dowager looked over at each and everyone with a kind smile. She was especially concerned about the health of her son, Prince Qi, and also inquired her grandson, Yuwen Zhengyang, about his studies, then inevitably brought up her other grandson, Yuwen Yin, on why he hadn’t come over.
Princess Qi, at the side, immediately replied: “Ershizi* was born with a weak const.i.tution. He accidentally contracted a cold two days ago, and fell seriously ill.”
*refers to Yuwen Yin
She very coincidentally mentioned the words ‘weak const.i.tution’. No one likes a sickly person. Being a girl would have still been alright, but to still be very sickly all day long as a boy, would not only make the Empress Dowager subconsciously feel inwardly disdainful, but would also involve Yuwen Yin’s biological mother, and secretly imply that Yuwen Yin was born with meager fortune.
In spite of this, the worried look Princess Qi feigned appeared very sincere, as she continued to say: “The doctor had already visited, and this concubine had personally visited several times as well, and was told he wanted to rest. Moreover-……”
But as she was talking about this part, an unusually loud commotion was suddenly heard from outside the hall, which couldn’t help but make her pause. The Empress Dowager’s brows had also furrowed a bit as a result of this. In response to this, the momo* next to her, who had followed her for more than a decade, immediately signaled the nearest imperial guard upon observing the changes of the Empress Dowager, hinting for him to go out and check what was going on.
*elderly lady / wet nurse
The people who had come over, was exactly Guang Qing and Shun Sheng, who had just been released by Yuwen Yin.
There were naturally not among the personal maidservants and head steward arranged, so they were completely unaware about the matter of the Empress Dowager’s visit. So they didn’t have any hesitation as they immediately rushed over and cry out their grievance to Princess Qi. The two of them were still injured when they were thrown in a corner by Yuwen Yin and tied up like beasts all night. The grievances they felt through the pa.s.sing of time had brewed to the max. They had still been thinking in how to send a letter to the outside for help, and had never expected to be really set free by Yuwen Yin in accordance to the words he told them yesterday. So, they desperately ran out without another thought, and went straight to the main courtyard to look for their master.
The imperial guard was really very swift and efficient, and had instantly returned to report to the Empress Dowager: “It’s the two servants under Ershizi, who said they wanted to see the Princess niang niang*.”
*refers to the female head of the household.
“Could something have happened to Ershizi?” Although the Empress Dowager already felt disdainful towards Yuwen Yin deep inside, but she still couldn’t just look unfeelingly and let her grandson die, so she said: “Let them in.”
The two servants, who had been cut to a sorry figure, were led in the hall. It was also too late even if Princess Qi wanted to stop them. Guan Qing and Shung Sheng instantly knelt down and knocked their heads to the ground: “Begging niang niang to give help to these servants!”
“Could the illness of your second young master have worsened again?” Princess Qi felt vexed to the troubles these two were going to cause deep inside, but still maintained her deeply concerned and worried pretense, as she implicitly warned: “The Empress Dowager is here today. Let’s talk about it later, if you still have anything more to say. If something really happened, even if I am insignificant, the Empress Dowager would still be able to help you.”
Guan Qing and Shun Sheng weren’t that stupid either. They primarily couldn’t help but freeze because of the two words ‘Empress Dowager’, so they accordingly bit the bullet and immediately did a slight change to correct the words they had originally wanted to say. Guan Qing was the first to speak: “The servants had taken care of Ershizi for more than 5 years, and haven’t taken any credit for all our hard work. But Ershizi is often moody because of his illness, scolding and beating the servants. Last night, he directly smashed the bowl on this servant’s body because of the medicine’s bitterness, and made this servant remove the outer clothing and kneel on the courtyard all night. In this kind of weather, it only takes a few hours of kneeling outside to lead to certain death. Shun Sheng pleaded to him on my behalf, but was unexpectedly hit till blood bled from the head instead……”
After saying so, he pointed to the blood on Shun Sheng’s forehead, then cried, adding details while talking about the injuries the two of them had suffered, and fabricated a tale of Yuwen Yin’s usual violent behavior out of thin air.
“Such audacious servant!” Princess Qi immediately pretended to reprimand angrily: “It’s normal for a sick person to be in a bad mood, and it’s only natural for a master to beat their servants. Your master had only beaten you for a few times, yet you already dare to come and complain. –Come, drag these two servants to the punishment hall.”
This sentence was actually a direct affirmation of Yuwen Yin beating his servants. Masters beating their servants was truly a right and due course. But the current imperial dynasty uses benevolence and righteousness, propriety, and filial piety as criterion. Therefore, harsh treatment towards the servants will inevitably receive a lot of condemnation. Not to mention, that Yuwen Yin had yet to become an adult, being so vicious at such a young age, was really chilling. The Empress Dowager’s complexion had already become very ugly. Although she didn’t stop Princess Qi from punishing the servants, but she had completely lost interest in this concubine borne grandson, and no longer had any intention of mentioning him afterwards. However, just before Guan Qing and Shun Sheng were dragged out, the imperial guard from before came in again to report: “Ershizi is kneeling outside, requesting to meet the Empress Dowager.”
As soon as this statement was delivered, everyone in the hall suddenly stilled with different expressions.
No one had expected for Yuwen Yin to actually come over at this time, especially Princess Qi, who felt even more unbelievable and couldn’t help but flash a look of slight panic and unease.
Although Yuwen Yin’s steps were slightly unstable, but his back was especially straight, and walked with calm and firm steps as he came in. After coming in, he performed the special obeisance in meeting the Empress Dowager without glancing anywhere else: “Grandson has met Imperial grandmother, and offers obeisance to Imperial grandmother. Wishing Imperial grandmother a long and healthy life.”
This meticulous ceremonial observance, bearing as well as this demeanor, did not have a bit of semblance to the vicious person that those pair of servants had described. Seeing was believing after all, so the Empress Dowager’s impression towards Yuwen Yin that had already fallen to the lowest of the low had been slightly raised all at once.
She couldn’t help but carefully examine this grandson who she hadn’t seen for many years. The other had a handsome appearance, clear and bright eyes, and a straight back. He was unexpectedly the one who resembles the emperor’s demeanor the most among all other descendants. Aside from having a very pale complexion, thin body, worn-out clothes, and fabric which seemed to be much worse than the servants who had just complained.