Chapter 68 - Meet with the Empress Dowager

Song Yixiao didn’t want to mess with the problem in Prince of Hengshan’s mansion, but as a saying went, if you played with fire, you got burned. She was not the one who played with fire only but the one who grew up with the fire and still hadn’t stopped!

Therefore, having sensed Wei Mengying’s intention, Song Yixiao felt worried about Lu Guanlun and meanwhile couldn’t do anything but to look after Lu Guanyun well first.

Probably because Wei Mengying had talked well to Lu Guanyun before, after she left, he clung to Song Yixiao then.

He insisted on her feeding him, pouring water for him, playing with him and even sleeping with him at night. Song Yixiao had no other choice but to yield to his request.

She was in “recuperation” so she had nothing to do. It was okay that her brother clung to her tightly.

As such, she had no time to inquire about Wei Chan.

When Song Yixiao just took off her coat for a bath the next day, she heard Lu Guanyun urge outside the bathroom, “Sister, are you done? Why don’t you come out yet?”

She heaved a sigh and said to Jinxun helplessly, “Tell Ms. Zhao later to ask Chan whether she was offended at the birthday feast!”

Jinxun found an opportunity to deliver the message to Ms. Zhao and then Ms. Zhao asked Wei Chan in a roundabout way. However, Wei Chan still kept denying with a smile.

Anyway, Ms. Zhao was only a maid. Since Wei Chan didn’t feel like talking about it, she couldn’t force a lady regardless! Hence, she could report to Song Yixiao as it was.

Song Yixiao glimpsed her brother who was grasping her skirt hem and crying for her to hug him, saying smilingly, “How about asking Mother whether she can ask about it?”

Now that she was occupied by her little young brother!

Ms. Zhao reported this to Wei Mengying as per Song Yixiao’s order. The Wei Family sent people here before Wei Mengying summoned Wei Chan. It was said that Madam Mu was going to take her children to attend her maiden niece’s wedding soon so Wei Chan was asked to make preparation in advance.

Song Yixiao suspected the Wei Family came here to take Wei Chan back with an excuse because she suffered wrong and sent word back home secretly.

“But since Ms. Zhao has tried her best to fly her kite, how come Chan didn’t say anything at all?” Song Yixiao felt very confused, “She seems to resent me, but she is not such a girl!”

However, regardless of her suspicion, she couldn’t stop Wei Chan from congratulating on her cousin’s wedding. Therefore, she just prepared several items for Wei Chan to bring along.

The next day after Wei Chan left, the imperial decree sent by the Empress Dowager mentioned by Jian Xubai arrived. This time, the eunuch didn’t bring the decree scroll. Instead, he only delivered Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s order. “Their Highnesses Princess Changxing and Yushan came to congratulate Dowager Consort of Hengshan on her birthday and afterwards told Her Majesty the Empress Dowager about the feast. Her Majesty is rather intrigued and thinks of the marriage arrangements this year. Some of the ladies haven’t met with Her Majesty before and some of them haven’t visited Her Majesty for some time. Therefore, Her Majesty orders the ladies who have received the imperial decree of marriage arrangement this year for a meeting in the Qingxi Hall in the Palace of Mingren in three days!”

Wei Mengying received the eunuch enthusiastically. After seeing him off, she summoned her daughter and gave her careful reminders. At the end, one thing suddenly occurred to her, “Miss Sikong seems to have told you that Miss Jiang wants to meet with you?”

“Yes.” Song Yixiao slightly frowned, “Speaking of this, I want to ask about your opinion. Miss Jiang is not close to me but she did help me at the Shangsi Festival feast and she was nice to me even after the event. However, now it seems that she has held grudge against me… Mother, why is her attitude changed? How should I explain to her?”

Wei Mengying said sneeringly, “No need to explain to her. At the feast of the Shangsi Festival, she was the lady of an influential family while you were only a girl living under the roof of others; she was the future Princess Consort of Wei while you were only an onlooker. However, every dog has its day. She fails to be the princess consort and becomes the laughing stock. Yet, unexpectedly, you can marry into the purple. If you want to make her feel better, you must live a more miserable life than her!”

“Miss Jiang doesn’t look like this kind of person…”

Song Yixiao was interrupted amidst talking, “Fine, the current problem is not what kind of person she is but the date of appointment is not properly set. You are supposed to enter the imperial palace the day after you meet with her! If she makes a fuss and delays your return or she hurts you like Princess Changxing did out of anger, what can you do?”

Wei Mengying made a decision casually, “Reject it! You haven’t even attended any feast held in the imperial palace, let alone meeting with the Empress Dowager. I have a lot of things to teach you within three days! How can you have time to handle Miss Jiang?”

“But…”

“There is not ‘but’!” Wei Mengying was determined, “If Miss Jiang really takes you as a friend sincerely, and she learns that you will go into the imperial palace to meet with the Empress Dowager, she should propose canceling or postponing the appointment! If she really resents you for breaking the promise, it only means that she doesn’t think for you at all! Why do you regard her as a friend then?”

She felt that her daughter was narrow-minded. “The Virtuous Consort’s niece is noble indeed but a girl’s identity depends on her husband anyway! Rumor had it that Miss Jiang was going to be Princess Consort of Wei but she was beaten by Commandery Princess Nanzhang in the end. Without accident, she can’t live a life as good as you! Why do you fear her? After you get married, those ladies inferior to her are not even qualified to meet you!”

“What about Miss Wei?” Song Yixiao knew that it was no use mentioning Jiang Muting so she could only change the way, “She is close to Miss Jiang and she is the sister of the Crown Princess!”

Wei Mengying didn’t regard her words as right, “It’s fine! I will take the blame for you. When you two meet again, you just shift the blame onto me! Faced with the options between the Empress Dowager’s summoning and the girls’ appointment, other mothers will make the same decision like me! Any sensible person should show understanding!”

She glimpsed her daughter and guided her with sincere words and earnest wishes, “There are only two kinds of people who don’t understand you. One, they don’t make friends with you sincerely so they are especially harsh; two, they are stingy and easily offended! Neither of them is suitable for you to nurse intimate friendship!”

Song Yixiao was muddle-headed but she couldn’t make her mother change her mind. She could only request, “According to Miss Sikong, Miss Jiang believes that I have offended her. Since you don’t want me to meet her, please ask the messenger to put it in a nice way and not to make her angrier. Otherwise, it will be harder for me to make an apology!”

She added, “It will be great to fix another time that is suitable for both sides.”

Wei Mengying agreed with pleasure, “How can Mother do harm to you? Just rest assured!”

Then she looked back and ordered Ms. Bo, “No need to offend Jiang Muting, but you shouldn’t cosset her. Now that Daiguo Grand Princess has spent a lot of effort in making her daughter marry Prince of Wei, who doesn’t know what she is up to? Virtuous Consort Jiang is not the birth mother of Prince of Wei, but she has raised this son since he was in the infancy. They can’t stand or fall alone! Jian Xubai is an ally of the Crown Prince. How can Yixiao stay close to Miss Jiang!”

Moreover, the daughter of Daiguo Grand Princess took away Jiang Muting’s fiancé-to-be. As to Jiang Muting’s good friend, how could she not be defensive and hostile? Daiguo Grand Princess and Jinguo Grand Princess were real sisters. Wei Mengying didn’t want to see her daughter piss off the sister of her mother-in-law-to-be before getting married!

Of course Song Yixiao didn’t know about her mother’s effort.

As three days passed, the date of meeting the Empress Dowager finally arrived. Before dawn, she woke up, took a bath and got dressed up. After cleaning herself, she came to meet Wei Mengying with Lu Guanyun and meanwhile asked her to see whether she was properly dressed.

Wei Mengying seized the time to tell her about the restrictions of the imperial palace. When it was about time and the servants who went out to scout for information also came back to report that those who lived far from the gate of the imperial palace had departed, she finally said, “Go ahead. Keep in mind what I have told you. Be careful!”

As the meeting was initiated by the Empress Dowager and Song Yixiao travelled by carriage of the prince’s mansion, she entered the imperial palace smoothly.

The imperial city of this dynasty was handed down from the previous dynasty. Due to the invasion of barbarians into the central plains, after setting the capital, Great Rui didn’t change the names and rules of the palaces in order to recover the nation and inherit the civilization.

Only the palace where the Empress Dowager resided was renamed as the Palace of Mingren, which had been named as the Palace of Renshou. Because when the previous West Yong Dynasty was the Palace of Renshou was destroyed by the alien intrusion, the previous Palace of Renshou was burned by the Empress Dowager and she also threw herself to the fire with the young emperor. They both died for their motherland.

Afterwards, the Great Rui took the imperial capital back. As the Palace of Renshou was ruined, the Palace of Huishu, where the Empress Dowager resided in the early years of West Yong Dynasty, was refurnished and renamed as the Palace of Mingren. It also became the exclusive dwelling for the empress dowager.

When Song Yixiao was conducted to the Qingxi Hall by the imperial maid, Commandery Princess Nanzhang and Pei Yourui had arrived before her.

It was not that she came late but they were brought by Daiguo Grand Princess and Jinguo Grand Princess respectively. She could never enjoy the same privilege.

Although she entered the imperial palace smoothly, she was daughter of an official only. How could she get in here without different levels of reporting? The two grand princesses could go into the palace without hindrance. Even if they arrived at the gate of the imperial palace later, they could reach the hall before her anyway.

Luckily, the Empress Dowager didn’t care about waiting for such an instant. When Song Yixiao greeted her, she said in an amicable way, “Get up. I have been longing to see the sweetheart of Xubai for a long time!”

“Not only Mother is curious, but also I am looking forward to seeing her!” The Empress Dowager wanted to meet her granddaughters-in-law. Now that the two daughters were here, of course her daughters-in-law wouldn’t be absent. Now Empress Su spoke, “Look at her pretty face. Fortunately, Xubai has been raised by Mother and hence, he has a good eye!”

Since Empress Su said so, Noble Consort Cui, Virtuous Consort Jiang and the others all chimed in.

“Princess Changxing went to Prince of Hengshan’s mansion to make trouble for me and even hurt me.” Song Yixiao was not surprised about the Empress’s attitude, “Now even if it was only an act for the Empress Dowager and Jinguo Grand Princess, the Empress can’t make it difficult for me.”

What she cared about was the Empress Dowager’s and Jinguo Grand Princess’s attitude.

The former one raised Jian Xubai, who was incomparably exalted, and the latter was his birth mother, who was a royal descendent.

If they got a bad impression of her, even though Jian Xubai didn’t treat her shabbily, she would live a tough life in the future.

However, the more important people spoke later. The imperial concubines praised for a while and even Daiguo Grand Princess said, “This girl is impressive in bearing and she is in Xubai’s league indeed.”

Jinguo Grand Princess, who was fondling the lynx on her knees, eventually raised her head and looked Song Yixiao up and down, saying with a casual air, “She looks quite sensible, but she is so sensible that I can’t help feeling worried about her.”

Her plain comment didn’t show her attitude at all, but basically all the people in the hall knew what she meant. Her daughter-in-law-to-be was too sensible to mention the grievance that she suffered from Princess Changxing but she felt sorry for her daughter-in-law-to-be.

The Empress Dowager was having tea quietly while Daiguo Grand Princess, Noble Consort Cui and the others all looked at Empress Su.