ebookland Chapter 166 The Empress Dowager guessed the relationship between the two.
Chapter 166 The Empress Dowager guessed the relationship between the two.
"Shall we have breakfast together?"
Shen Sangwan tentatively spoke, glancing back and forth between Wen Yuening and Cen Yan.
"As Your Highness wishes."
Wen Yuening stood obediently beside Shen Sangwan, reverting to her seemingly composed and gentle demeanor as the Empress.
Cen Yan had no objection, and the three of them sat at a table in a harmonious manner.
But before they had finished eating, Qingque came with a worried expression to deliver a message.
It is said that Consort Yi whispered to the Empress Dowager that the Empress always pretended to be sick and did not leave the palace, which was disrespectful, and that her illness was just an excuse.
The Empress Dowager is currently heading to the Phoenix Palace, ostensibly to visit the Empress, but everyone knows that she is actually there to test the waters.
In the past, the Empress Dowager readily helped the Empress conceal her departure from the palace to Wuzhou for disaster relief out of respect for Shen Sangwan. However, if she pretended to be ill and did not go to Chonghua Palace to pay her respects, she would inevitably be the subject of gossip.
"Look at you, staying here with me every day, you're just asking for trouble."
Shen Sangwan put down her chopsticks and poked Wen Yuening's head.
"Then Your Highness must help Yue Ning."
"Since it's Mother going herself, I won't help, lest she scold me. You'll have to figure it out yourself."
Shen Sangwan pretended to be scared.
Her indifferent expression made Cen Yan want to kick her.
"Then Yue Ning is likely doomed today. Alas, what a pity—"
Wen Yuening spoke calmly, got up, straightened her clothes slightly, and prepared to climb over the wall to get back before the Empress Dowager arrived at Fengluan Palace.
"Hey—you should at least beg for mercy a little, give me a way out, I was just joking with you."
Shen Sangwan quickly stood up and pulled Wen Yuening away, "I'll go tell Mother, you just stay here."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Your Highness."
"..."
Shen Sangwan wanted to slap herself twice, telling herself she had spoken too quickly and was too eager to surrender.
Seeing the other person's smug smile, Shen Sangwan felt even more depressed.
Together with Qingque and Shuyi, they hurried towards the Phoenix Palace.
"Your Majesty, look, the Empress isn't even at the Phoenix Palace, yet she feigns illness every day to avoid paying her respects. Clearly, she doesn't care about you. Who knows where she is right now—"
The speaker was Consort An, who lived in the same palace as Consort Yi. Originally, she was just a minor noblewoman, but because her brother was someone Shen Yuchen wanted to promote, he also found an excuse to raise her rank and fill the position of Consort Yu.
She was originally the daughter of a minor official. If it weren't for her beautiful appearance, she probably wouldn't have entered the palace. Now she's being used as a pawn by Consort Yi without realizing it, and she's still trying to sow discord between the Empress and the Emperor.
Shen Sangwan, who arrived slightly late, did not have anyone announce her arrival. Instead, she stood outside and listened to all the criticisms leveled against her Empress.
Seeing that the Empress Dowager was on the verge of exploding, Shen Sangwan and Qingque went inside.
"Oh my, the Empress's palace is quite lively today. Even at the birthday banquet a few days ago, I didn't see so many people coming to pay their respects."
Shen Sangwan's somewhat sarcastic tone slowly drifted into the ears of the concubines who had come to watch the show.
"I have met Her Royal Highness, the eldest princess."
Although they disliked Shen Sangwan, her status was undeniable, so even if they were dissatisfied, they had to obediently kneel down and pay their respects.
"Why are you here, Ah Wan? Are you here to see the Empress?"
"My son has met his mother."
Everyone knelt before Shen Sangwan, but she pretended not to see it and directly went to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager.
"Your Majesty, I came here specifically to plead for the Empress after hearing that you had brought people to visit her who has been ill for a long time."
"Your Majesty, look, the Eldest Princess is pleading for the Empress. It seems the Empress is doing this on purpose..."
Before she could finish speaking, Shen Sangwan gestured for Shuyi, who was following her, to go up and slap the person twice.
The two slaps were quite loud.
Shuyi's hands were a little sore from hitting him. She lowered her head and grimaced slightly, praying in her heart that her Highness would not make her do such things again in the future, as it was really hard on her hands.
"The Eldest Princess—"
An Zhaoyi was somewhat dazed by the two slaps from Shuyi, staring at Shen Sangwan in disbelief.
“I heard every word you just said. You slandered the Empress so blatantly. I’m only doing this because I didn’t have you beaten. I didn’t want to hold it against you because of the Empress Dowager. I didn’t expect you to be so unrestrained.”
"Ah Wan, what's wrong...?"
The Empress Dowager glanced at Shen Sangwan with some confusion, wondering when her daughter had become so close to the Empress.
They're actually protecting their own to this extent.
Isn't the Empress a daughter of the Wen family? Shouldn't she keep her distance?
"Your Majesty, I have something to say to you in private. It concerns the Empress, so please come to me."
Upon hearing Shen Sangwan's words, the Empress Dowager guessed that the Empress had been sent to work elsewhere by her daughter again.
Therefore, instead of moving, he directly dismissed all the concubines who had come with him.
"Tell me, where have you taken the Empress this time?"
The Empress Dowager's knowing tone startled Shen Sangwan for a moment, but recalling the previous incident in Wuzhou and seeing her own actions just now, it wasn't hard for her to guess.
"The Empress Dowager is indeed a wise woman."
Shen Sangwan was somewhat of a sycophant, and she eagerly clung to the Empress Dowager's arm, flattering her.
"Stop trying to fool me, and tell me the truth."
“Isn’t A Ning a disciple of the Carefree Medical Sage? Yuan An was seriously injured while saving me, so I asked A Ning to help me. But I don’t want others to know that she knows medicine.”
So I had no choice but to let her feign illness so she wouldn't go to Chonghua Palace to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager. If the Empress Dowager wanted to blame me, she should punish me, but she mustn't take her anger out on A-Ning.
Shen Sangwan spoke with such persuasive reasoning and emotional appeal.
“Ah Wan, when did you become so close to the Empress? Now you call her Ah Ning all the time.”
The Empress Dowager seemed to have discovered something terrible.
A pair of sharp eyes scanned Shen Sangwan, enveloping her in scrutiny and questioning.
"Well... this—"
"No, Your Majesty, are you perhaps focusing on the wrong thing?"
Shouldn't the focus be on Xiao Yan Yan's life-threatening situation?
Why are you paying attention to my name, Empress?
"Um--?"
Shen Sangwan didn't want to reveal her relationship with the Empress to the Empress Dowager right now, but it seems she can't avoid it now.
"Your subject... Your subject..."
Shen Sangwan, still pondering a solution, stammered for a long time without uttering a complete sentence.
Seeing the situation, the Empress Dowager had a rough idea in mind, but she didn't say it. Instead, she directly dismissed Shen Sangwan.
"Since Awan doesn't want to talk about it, then she can tell me when she wants to."
"Hmm? Xiaotong, has the Empress Dowager already guessed something?"
"Your Majesty, judging from the Empress Dowager's expression, it's almost certainly true."