Chapter 216.1

Chapter 216.1

After seeing off Huiniang, Yaoniang pondered for a long time, her delicate willow eyebrows still furrowed.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of causing trouble for herself since her reputation outside the palace wasn’t great anyway. Emperor Jin’an refused to expand his harem. Although he hadn’t mentioned the reason, rumours had long spread that it was because of her, and the label of “jealous woman” had been circulating for quite some time. Adding one more scandal wouldn’t make much difference.

What she was thinking about was how to deal with Li-shi.

There was no doubt that Li-shi was the root of all these troubles, and she could probably smooth things over this time. But what about the next time? She could ignore Li-shi, and her brother-in-law could do the same, but her sister Huiniang had to be considered.

When her sister spoke to her before, Yaoniang could clearly sense that there might have been a rift between her sister and brother-in-law. An argument had most likely happened just prior to entering the palace.

In the end, Li-shi was her sister’s mother-in-law, so it was impossible to not deal with it.

Seeing the empress lost in thought, Hong Chou and the others dared not disturb her. It wasn’t until Sibao came looking for her that the palace servants led her over.

“What’s going on now?”

Sibao didn’t speak; she just clung to Yaoniang’s clothing. Nowadays, it was nearly impossible for Yaoniang to wear tidy clothes unless she stayed far away from Sanbao and Sibao; otherwise, these two mischievous troublemakers would ruin her attire in no time.VịSit no(v)3lb/!n(.)com for new novels

Outside, there were sounds of greetings; Emperor Jin’an had arrived.

He was wearing his usual attire, a purple dragon-patterned robe with a black gauze crown. Emperor Jin’an’s demeanour had grown more imposing over time; while he used to have a cold and refined temperament, he now had a touch of maturity and majesty.

When Sibao saw Emperor Jin’an, her eyes lit up, and she struggled to get down. Yaoniang let her go, and she stumbled her way over to Emperor Jin’an, calling him “father” loudly. Of course, her voice couldn’t match the loudness of Erbao and Sanbao, but for the usually soft-spoken Sibao, it was quite remarkable.

Yaoniang felt a pang of jealousy as she watched her daughter rush to him and embrace his leg.

Emperor Jin’an, in a rare move, didn’t pick his daughter up but bent down slightly to hold Sibao’s little hand and walked towards her. Yaoniang blinked in confusion because normally, the father and daughter were very affectionate.

When they reached the bed, Sibao tilted her head to look at Emperor Jin’an, seemingly curious about why he didn’t pick her up. At that moment, Fu Cheng came over with a smile and lifted Sibao onto the bed. Emperor Jin’an then sat down opposite Yaoniang.

Sibao’s attention was successfully diverted by the puppy, and she played with it happily. Only then did Yaoniang inform Emperor Jin’an about Huiniang’s entry into the palace.

“How do you plan to handle this?” Emperor Jin’an asked.

Nowadays, whenever Yaoniang encountered something she could resolve on her own, Emperor Jin’an no longer took the initiative but first asked for her opinion.

Yaoniang was accustomed to it and said, “I’m thinking we can use the Shuntian Prefecture to scare her a bit, give her a lesson, so she remembers not to make the same mistake in the future.”

As she spoke, she looked at Emperor Jin’an, seemingly asking if he thought this approach was acceptable.

“Since you think it can work, then go ahead.”

This meant that it was fine for her to do so?

Yaoniang called for Hong Chou and instructed her to take care of the matter.

~

“Su Huiniang, you are unfilial, this old woman must make Cheng’er divorce you...”

Li-shi finally got tired of cursing and sat down on the chair out of breath.

It had been a long time since she referred to herself as “old lady.” Despite Li-shi’s temper, she cared about her reputation. When she walked outside, she consciously or subconsciously imitated the manners of those high-ranking officials’ wives. Although she often unintentionally made herself look ridiculous, she was no longer as coarse as before.

Li-shi’s agitation this time was stirred up by Huiniang.

This little troublemaker actually encouraged her son to lock her up.