The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

”For all the times I’ve pitied her for being inflicted by the poisonous insect, turning into an old hag and feeling heartache, she just calculated my sympathy and wanted to plot against me. Bah, this Ji wench is not worthy of sympathy!”

Empress Dowager Wang stood in the cleansing room, letting Lian Qiao and a few palace maids tidy her clothes, while complaining about Princess Consort Ji.

Lian Qiao smiled and said, ”You have always been kind-hearted. The Dowager probably saw this and dared to speak out, thinking about the Princess Consort and the Prince, it seems they’ve not consummated the marriage. If this marriage is annulled and he remarries, it’d be perfect.”

Empress Dowager Wang scoffed, ”It’s perfect for her, but did she not consider the new bride? Prince Min’s health might not last for a few more years, and he bears a guilty status. Which noble lady would be willing to tie her future to such a man? She’s thinking too naively and simply.”

”She naturally doesn’t compare to your foresight,” Lian Qiao praised again.

Empress Dowager Wang sighed, ”It’s not exactly that way. Perhaps she’s without options, as a mother, she only sees her child’s suffering and plans wholeheartedly for him, disregarding everything else. That’s a mother’s selfishness.”

”Look at you, scolding her for being unwise one moment, then lamenting her selfishness the next.”

”I, too, am a mother. I can understand from the selfish perspective, but from the perspective of righteousness, I disagree,” Empress Dowager Wang said lightly, ”The world already has one bitter person like Xia from Chongyang; why give that residence yet another Zhang, Wang, or Li?”

Lian Qiao adjusted the phoenix hairpin on her head and laughed, ”That’s why, you also have a kind heart.”

Though no noble lady or family is willing to risk their future, if the Imperial Family desires, could they really be refused?

Yet Empress Dowager Wang did not respond to Princess Consort Ji’s words; wasn’t that kindness?

Empress Dowager Wang, holding Lian Qiao’s hand, exited the cleansing room and returned to the east chamber, where she saw Emperor Chu sitting cross-legged on the Arhat bed drinking tea.

”The Emperor is here.” She held onto Lian Qiao’s hand and sat on the opposite couch, ”How come you found time to come here? Are state affairs not busy?”

Emperor Chu smiled and said, ”I can’t sit in the Imperial Study all day handling state affairs; coming to talk with Mother Empress to relieve boredom is necessary.”

”How could an old woman like me compare to those beautiful companions in your harem for relieving boredom? You’re teasing me,” Empress Dowager Wang chuckled, ”I’ve heard Lady Lu is with child, wouldn’t you go see her?”

”State affairs are pressing, and she has the Empress to care for her. I’ll see her when I visit the Empress’s palace,” Emperor Chu said flatly.

Empress Dowager Wang didn’t pursue the topic further, instead she took the initiative to discuss the purpose of Princess Consort Ji’s visit and made a few complaints.

”She’s dreaming, wishing the marriage grant doesn’t count, and wants to remarry. I’ve thought about it; it might be better as it is. If the Princess Consort divorces Xia and is only a Chu Family woman, it wouldn’t be problematic. What is the Emperor’s opinion?”

Emperor Chu raised his eyebrows, ”Mother Empress is sympathetic towards Prince Min’s Princess Consort.”

Empress Dowager Wang took a sip of tea and said, ”She’s a woman of misfortune. I see her as sensible and obedient, knowing her bounds. She’s clever, and if she can live a few days in peace, it won’t be entirely miserable.”

Emperor Chu smiled lightly, ”If she has a child, it’s no concern to have it born. I wouldn’t exclude a small child.”

This magnanimous?

Empress Dowager Wang glanced at her son, unsure if he spoke sincerely or falsely, or if he had ulterior motives.

Emperor Chu lowered his eyes, using the tea lid to stir the tea leaves in his cup; if there’s a child, would it awaken the dormant and feigning death serpent?