Ninth Imperial Glorious Phoenix Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Practicing

<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>

This statement was both soft and hard. Even Consort Xiao and Imperial Consort Min couldn’t believe that Mingzhu could say such a thing. Both of them were stunned, looking Mingzhu up and down. Mingzhu didn’t care. She just wanted to convey her message. She wasn’t afraid of Consort Xiao and her son.

Originally, both sides had this relationship. Although the Fu family needed to win over Consort Xiao and her son, Consort Xiao and her son also needed to rely on the Fu family. Moreover, now that she was married to Yuwen Chu, who was far superior in every aspect to Yuwen Long, she had the upper hand. She had to let those who couldn’t see the reality clearly understand it. She wanted to completely suppress Jiang Shanshan. Now, she could use Consort Xiao, who had come to her door without knowing the situation, as a practice target!

Do we still want to live our lives happily? Was she implying that if I provoke her again, I won’t have a good life anymore? Consort Xiao felt a pang of sorrow. She was being bullied by such a junior; she really had no face to live. Just as she was about to stand up to leave to express her protest, Imperial Consort Min quickly grabbed her, speaking softly and apologetically, “Sister, don’t bother arguing with a child. She’s still too young and doesn’t understand. Even the Great Empress Dowager can’t do anything about her.”

Yes, even the Great Empress Dowager couldn’t handle her, so what could she do? Consort Xiao felt uncomfortable. She glanced sideways at Mingzhu without saying anything.

Imperial Consort Min tried to smooth things over. “Mingzhu, quickly apologize to Consort Xiao.”

Mingzhu smiled and did give a courtesy to Consort Xiao, but her words were still infuriating, “I spoke the truth. I am a bit clumsy and don’t know where I went wrong to make Consort Xiao so angry. But since my Royal Mother said I was wrong and asked me to apologize, then I apologize.” This was to save face for Imperial Consort Min, not for Consort Xiao. Moreover, anyone who dared to say how good Jiang Shanshan was in front of her in the future would face the same consequences!

Consort Xiao was so angry that her liver hurt. This was even more infuriating than not apologizing. But since she had already admitted that she was clumsy and didn’t understand, what else could she do?

Imperial Consort Min sighed inwardly and didn’t want to say much to Mingzhu anymore. She dismissed her, “Go and sit and eat something. Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet, so don’t force yourself.”

Mingzhu was happy to comply and left. Funing had prepared a bellyful of nasty words to disgust her, but she didn’t have the chance to say them at all. She was completely ignored, and this feeling was uncomfortable. She reluctantly wanted to approach Mingzhu, but after taking two steps, Imperial Consort Min warned her with a glance, so she immediately retreated. Later, when the ceremony was over, she wanted to follow Jiang Shanshan to go out and see the excitement, but she didn’t want to ruin this rare opportunity because of Mingzhu.

Mingzhu saw that there was an empty seat at the head of the Hua Yang Wangfei and guessed that it should be her seat. She smiled friendly at Hua Yang Wangfei and Dai Wangfei, and then greeted them one by one, “Fourth sister-in-law, Seventh sister-in-law.” Then she stood straight and nodded to the concubine of Fu Wang, “Second sister-in-law.”

The three of them stood up and returned her greeting politely, neither too affectionate nor too cold. Mingzhu waited until Dai Wangfei had taken her seat before sitting down. She smiled and invited the concubine of Fu Wang, “Second sister-in-law, please sit too.”

The concubine of Fu Wang was a bit older but still looked good. She was also from a scholarly family. However, she was lucky to have given birth to two sons who were promising. In the absence of the main wife, she was the one who had to fill in for her in some occasions to save face. Without the main wife, others still addressed her as “Second sister-in-law,” which was a glory bestowed by the Great Empress Dowager. Therefore, she was particularly polite to Mingzhu. When she saw that the palace attendant responsible for serving tea had not yet come over, she gave her own portion to Mingzhu first, saying, “Please use mine first. I haven’t used it yet.”

Mingzhu wouldn’t accept it, but it was just a gesture of goodwill between them. After pushing it back and forth a few times, when the palace attendant brought the tea and snacks, the concubine of Fu Wang let it go and instead began talking to Mingzhu, Dai Wangfei, and Hua Yang Wangfei.

In fact, Mingzhu was familiar with these few people. Dai Wangfei had a difficult life as an orphan with a widowed Royal Mother, so she was a bit eccentric and stingy with money at home. Hua Yang Wangfei was actually older than her but had a baby face. She came from a noble family but didn’t grow up in the capital, so she couldn’t speak good court language. The Momos in the prince’s mansion also restrained her tightly, but she was a strong-willed person, so she deliberately kept a high profile wherever she went, fearing that she would show weakness.

These two people, if treated respectfully, were not difficult to get along with. Mingzhu, relying on her understanding of them, deliberately tried to befriend them. Although they didn’t immediately become close after a few words of conversation, they at least showed a smiling face to Mingzhu. As for the concubine of Fu Wang, it goes without saying; she was even more enthusiastic. She wished she could cut out her own heart and present it to Mingzhu, hoping to secure a good future for her two sons.

These people and these matters were things Mingzhu in her past life wouldn’t bother to care about or pay attention to. It’s rare to see her managing them so carefully now, and it does bring a slightly different taste. If people are polite to her, she’ll be polite back; if they’re arrogant towards her, she’ll push back. But there are always some people who neither treat her politely nor arrogantly. A little push makes them enemies, but a little pull makes them friends. It’s probably something like that.

Yuwen Chu said that in her past life, she didn’t care about anyone, regardless of whether they lived or died. So even if she had some friends, there weren’t many. When it came to trouble, not many people were willing to speak up for her. He also said that people develop a sense of connection when they meet, so she should get along well with these people; being too unsociable is also not good. So she made an effort to interact with these people. She couldn’t possibly find everyone as annoying as Jiang Shanshan and her lackeys, right? She wanted to completely suppress Jiang Shanshan. Without An Xiaogu and others helping, she needed to develop new allies.

Mingzhu smiled charmingly. “Speaking of which, I haven’t really gotten to know my nieces and nephews yet. I’ve prepared some interesting little gifts this time, but I don’t know if they’ll be accepted.”

The concubine of Fu Wang hurriedly said, “This matter should be handled by Dai Wangfei. Wangfei usually loves to play with the children, and they listen to her the most.” There’s a clear distinction between the legitimate and illegitimate children. Even though Fu Wang ranks higher, she still has to respectfully address the Wangfei.

Mingzhu naturally knew that Dai Wangfei was the most familiar with the children in the royal family. Because Dai Wangfei was an orphan, a widowed Mother and had no man to support her, she had to have a closer relationship with the women of various mansions so that she could find someone to help when needed. However, it wasn’t appropriate for her to speak up directly, so it was best to have the concubine of Fu Wang act as a mediator.

Dai Wangfei indeed said, “Six sister-in-law is a bit shy, so I’ll take you to greet the elders of the royal family first, and then they’ll bring their children over for you to meet.”

<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>