891 Aristocratic Family (2)
Consort Jing sneered. “Sister, you’re still so glib-tongued. It seems like you trust Princess Consort Rui very much and have decided to side with her.”
Empress Xiande did not comment.
“But there is only so much you can do.” Consort Jing suddenly smiled. “You can help her for a while, but you can’t help her for the rest of her life. Prince Rui won’t just have one woman. Even if my fourth sister doesn’t have the luck to marry him, someone will.” Looking at Empress Xiande’s face, Consort Jing said, “His Majesty doesn’t seem to like Princess Consort Rui very much.”
Empress Xiande said, “Prince Rui’s matter is not something the two of us can interfere in. He knows what to do.”
“I don’t dare to interfere.” Consort Jing smiled. “I just want to give you a piece of advice. You’re not a Bodhisattva. Even if you’re so kind-hearted that you want to help everyone, you don’t have the ability.” With that, she seemed to have regained her confidence. She raised her head proudly and left with the maid.
The gentle smile on Empress Xiande’s lips gradually disappeared, and a trace of worry flashed across her eyes.
In the carriage, Shen Miao asked, “What did the emperor say to you?”
“Some trivial matters in the imperial court,” Xie Jingxing said.
Shen Miao knew that if it was really a trivial matter, Emperor Yong Le would not specially summon Xie Jingxing. Without thinking, she could guess that it must be related to her. Today, Emperor Yong Le’s attitude had already shown that he did not like Shen Miao, nor did he like Xie Jingxing to think highly of her. Perhaps it was because Shen Miao’s identity was too sensitive, or perhaps… Emperor Yong Le had found someone better for Xie Jingxing.
Seeing that Shen Miao did not speak, Xie Jingxing turned around and pinched her face. “But you’ve impressed me today. I haven’t seen you so fierce in a long time.”
“Fierce?” Shen Miao asked.
Xie Jingxing sighed and said as if he was reminiscing, “Back then, when I saw you in the Wolong temple in Ming Qi, you struck me as a fierce woman. I was wondering which young master would be unlucky enough to marry such a shrew in the future.”
Shen Miao looked at him calmly. “Do you want to quarrel?”
Xie Jingxing smiled and said, “That’s right. This is the right attitude of the Xie family.”
After being interrupted by him, Shen Miao’s displeasure with Xie Jingxing hiding what Emperor Yong Le said disappeared. She said, “It’s fine if you don’t tell me what the emperor told you, but who is Consort Jing? The emperor seems to dote on her very much, but…” She deliberated over her words.” I don’t think there’s anything special about her.”
Xie Jingxing said, “Consort Jing is the eldest daughter of General Lu. General Lu… is equivalent to your father.”
Shen Miao raised an eyebrow. So it was a family with military power. No wonder Emperor Yong Le was especially tolerant of her.
“The Daliang Dynasty is different from Ming Qi. Ming Qi has very few generals. The Shen family and the Xie family each have half of the military power. The Daliang Dynasty has many generals, among whom, General Lu is considered the most powerful. It’s precisely because of this… that he’s a little impudent lately.” At this point, a trace of coldness flashed across Xie Jingxing’s eyes.
“Just by looking at Consort Jing’s attitude in the harem, I can tell what kind of status the Lu family has in Long Ye,” Shen Miao said. The women in the harem often represented the family behind them. The more influential a family was, the more fearless they were. For example, in her previous life, if not for the Shen family backing her, Fu Xiuyi would probably not even be bothered to look at her.