Chapter 276 – An Audience With The Empress Dowager
Behind the news that the Crown Prince had selected Yang Yuyan as his junior concubine, there was much more that most people didn’t know, and it had shocked all the aristocratic families in the capital…
Empress Tu sat on a high seat in Feng Yi Palace. She gracefully picked up the teacup beside her hand and took a sip. Then, she gently put it down and asked softly, “Princess Nan’an, what do you think of the young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang you met last time?”
“Your Majesty, of the four unmarried young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, I think the two legitimate daughters, namely the Fourth Young Lady and Sixth Young Lady, each have their own merits. By comparison, the Third Young Lady and Fifth Young Lady are much inferior.” Princess Nan’an thought for a moment. She had already sent her subordinates to take a look before, after which she had also personally taken a look at them.
“The Fourth Young Lady has already been shortlisted by the Crown Prince. Now, there is only the Sixth Young Lady left. She looks pretty good…” Empress Tu paused for a moment and seemed to feel a bit regretful.
After carefully observing the expression on the face of Empress Tu, Princess Nan’an smiled and said, “Your Majesty, it actually doesn’t matter if you want the Sixth Miss Wei to enter the Crown Prince Mansion. After all, something happened to the Fourth Miss Wei, and she is just a legitimate daughter from the third branch of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. It doesn’t matter if she’s only given an ordinary title.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Empress Tu shook her head and frowned. “The Empress Dowager is going to meet a few old ladies later. The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang’s Madam Dowager is also among them. I heard that she would bring all the unmarried young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang with her. If… the Empress Dowager likes the Sixth Miss Wei and wants to marry her to the Crown Prince, you have to tell the Empress Dowager that I want to marry her to the Fourth Prince.”
“Your Majesty, you don’t want the Sixth Miss Wei to enter the Crown Prince Mansion?” Princess Nan’an blinked twice and immediately understood.
“The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang already has a young lady who is going to enter the Crown Prince Mansion. It is unreasonable if the Sixth Miss Wei is also selected!” The Empress nodded. “The Fourth Prince is about the same age as her. The two of them make the best couple.”
“Your Majesty, the Crown Princess has not been selected yet, and the Second Prince and the Third Prince don’t have legitimate wives either. If the Fourth Prince is engaged before his three brothers, I am afraid…” Princess Nan’an was surprised and suggested. This was the most unreasonable thing. She didn’t know why the Empress cared so much about the Fourth Prince.
Fourth Prince’s birth mother was Zhaoyi Tu, who was also a daughter from the Tu clan. However, the Fourth Prince wasn’t the Empress’ own son. While her own son and the other two elder princes hadn’t been married yet, she was focused on the marriage of the youngest Four Prince. This was too suspicious.
“Well, just say to the Empress Dowager as I told you first. After the Crown Princess has been selected, I will choose wives for the Second Prince and Third Prince. I am just afraid that the Empress Dowager will take a fancy to the Sixth Miss Wei and betroth her to the Crown Prince. That’s why I asked you to remind the Empress Dowager later.” Empress Tu said with a smile.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Although Princess Nan’an didn’t understand the meaning of the Empress, she still answered respectfully.
In any case, this matter had nothing to do with her. All she needed to do was passing the Empress’ words to the Empress Dowager. Maybe the Empress was doing this at the request of Zhaoyi Tu or the Fourth Prince.
Princess Nan’an suddenly figured it out. She recalled last time in Prince Nan’an Mansion, she saw the Fourth Prince and Sixth Miss Wei secretly talking on the side. Could it be that the Fourth Prince was very fond of this Sixth Miss Wei?
“Alright then, when the Empress Dowager mentions it, I will advise her as instructed by Your Majesty?” Princess Nan’an asked tentatively.
“My thanks!” The Empress didn’t give a positive answer. Instead, she stood up with a smile. “It’s getting late. Let’s go to the Empress Dowager’s place!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Princess Nan’an also hurriedly stood up and replied, secretly calculating in her heart. It turned out that the Empress had intercepted her when she was halfway to the Empress Dowager’s Jing Chen Palace because she wanted her to pass a message to the Empress Dowager.
Wei Yuewu rode on a sedan and arrived outside the Empress Dowager’s Jing Chen Palace.
When she got out of the sedan, she stood to the side with Wei Qiufu and the others. The four unmarried young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang stood in line behind the Madam Dowager. The other old ladies also had young ladies standing behind them. The one with the least had two young ladies, and the one with the most had five young ladies.
Each and every one of the young ladies was charming and beautiful. It was obvious that this wasn’t an ordinary trip to the imperial palace.
“Sixth Younger Sister, what… what am I supposed to do here?” Wei Qiuju said timidly, hiding behind Wei Yuewu.
“I don’t know either!” Although she had a guess in her heart, Wei Yuewu would not reveal it at this time. Looking at the other gorgeously dressed young ladies, her long eyelashes fluttered and then drooped down, hiding the indifference in her eyes.
Sure enough, upon hearing the news of Yang Yuyan becoming the Crown Prince’s junior concubine, many aristocratic families could not remain calm. Apparently, they were all planning to send their daughters into the imperial palace!
Originally, the Madam Dowager would not bring Wei Qiuju with her. Moreover, considering the Third Princess’ fasting event, the Madam Dowager should only bring two young ladies with her. But now, she brought all the four unmarried young ladies with her. Of course, her target was not only the Third Princess’ fasting event. Presumably, many people came here today with ulterior motives.
Therefore, Wei Yuewu didn’t want to look eye-catching at all. She only washed up a little and didn’t even put on any makeup.
A eunuch walked out and announced, “Here is the Empress Dowager’s invitation for all the old ladies!”
“Yes!” One by one, the old ladies with heavy makeup bowed respectfully in the direction of the main palace. Then, they entered the palace with their granddaughters according to their respective ranks.
Wei Yuewu walked at the end of the team led by the Madam Dowager. She lowered her head and followed everyone in. Her ankle injury was not serious. Besides, the Madam Dowager sent her some extremely effective medicine. As long as she did not exert much strength with that foot, it would not be a big problem.
“Greetings, Your Majesty!” Wei Yuewu knelt down with the crowd.
“As you were. Her Majesty now grants the old ladies each a seat.” A eunuch announced, and palace maids came over to help the old ladies up and be seated.
The young ladies they brought were still standing behind them.
The Madam Dowager was seated right behind the Empress Dowager. Wei Yuewu looked up and stole a glance. She guessed that the one who looked kind should be the Empress Dowager. On the other side of her were the Empress and Princess Nan’an. Palace maids kept coming and going without making any noise.
Wei Yuewu was the smallest. She also deliberately hid behind Wei Qiuju because she did not want to attract the attention of the Empress Dowager and the other two on this occasion. There were so many young ladies here, and it was not a real talent show. The Empress Dowager should be just taking a glimpse.
Sure enough, soon after the several old ladies sat down and said a few words, the Empress Dowager released the young ladies.
Wei Yuewu obediently followed behind the crowd.
After walking out of the sight of the Empress Dowager and their elders, the young ladies all looked relieved, and their expressions were much more relaxed than before.
“Young ladies, please take a stroll just around Jing Chen Palace. Don’t go too far.” A eunuch came out and ordered.
All the young ladies agreed and dispersed in twos and threes. Wei Qiufu knew a lot of people and was soon dragged away. Although Wei Yuejiao did not know anyone, she was not willing to walk with Wei Yuewu. She snorted coldly and with a flick of her handkerchief, she left alone.
After a short while, only Wei Qiuju and Wei Yuewu were left. “Sixth Younger Sister, let’s have a walk together!” Wei Qiuju said to Wei Yuewu.
“Let’s go!” Wei Yuewu nodded, her eyes flashing. Nothing here looked the same as what she remembered, which meant that this palace was not the one in her memory.
Jing Chen Palace was quite large. Although they did not leave the Empress Dowager’s Jing Chen Palace, the dozen or so young ladies did not encounter others while walking around.
It began to snow. Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiuju did not bring an umbrella and could only hide in a corridor.
The two of them stood there and chatted.
“Young ladies, are you from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang?” A palace maid appeared at one end of the corridor with two umbrellas and asked loudly when she saw the two of them.
“Yes!” Wei Yuewu answered with a light smile.
The palace maid came over and bowed. Then, she handed over the umbrellas in her hand to the two of them and said with a smile, “Young ladies, you two have walked a bit too far. The Empress Dowager is about to summon the young ladies from the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang!”
Today, they went into the imperial palace to have an audience with the Empress Dowager. Their maids and old maidservants all stayed outside Jing Chen Palace. Therefore, there was no one to serve them.
“Did the Empress Dowager summon all the young ladies of our mansion?” Wei Yuewu was stunned for a moment. She did not think that she would be summoned by the Empress Dowager so soon. With Wei Qiufu in front of her, she was safe for the time being.
“Yes, please go quickly with me. The Empress Dowager has summoned you just now.” The palace maid said anxiously and handed over the umbrella in her hand to Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu’s heart skipped a beat. As she took the umbrella, she lowered her head and asked, “Has any prince come?”
“The Crown Prince is here!” The palace maid nodded.
The Crown Prince Wen Tianyao came, and the Empress Dowager summoned the young ladies in to have an audience with her. Wei Yuewu frowned and felt something was wrong.
Although she knew the matter of Yang Yuyan would shock the Madam Dowager to such an extent that she would inevitably bring the unmarried young ladies of the mansion with her to the imperial palace. In that case, she could also look for the palace in her memory. Moreover, Yan Huaijing also asked her to enter the palace.
But she didn’t want to enter the Crown Prince Mansion. After accomplishing all the things she had to do in this life, she just wanted to marry an ordinary person and live a normal life free from conspiracies, schemes, and backstabbing, just like how she had lived in the past few years.
The Crown Prince Mansion was a place where all kinds of conspiracies were concentrated. She was in no way willing to be a part of it!
But now, she could not refuse. Looking at Wei Qiuju’s beautiful face that was heavily powdered, Wei Yuewu quietly took a step back and let Wei Qiuju walk in front of her.
When they arrived in front of the main palace, Wei Qiufu and Wei Yuejiao were also arriving. Then, the four of them waited at the entrance of the palace. Not long after, a eunuch came out to announce the decree, “Here is Her Majesty’s invitation for the four young ladies of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang!”
The four of them answered together and entered in order. As the youngest, Wei Yuewu naturally walked in the end.
There was laughter in the hall, as well as the deep voice of the Crown Prince Wen Tianyao. The four of them approached together and respectfully kowtowed to the Empress Dowager who was sitting in the middle.
After the Empress Dowager asked them to spare the ceremonies, they got up and stood behind the Madam Dowager.
Although Wei Yuewu lowered her head, she could still feel someone staring at her for a long time, and she inexplicably became nervous. She clenched her hands slightly. This time, it seemed a little different…
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶