Chapter 384 Bird’s Nest Soup (1)
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With the Great Empress Dowager taking action, all the women in the hall fell silent. Can they be more overbearing than Empress Dowager Min and Longsheng Great Eldest Princess? These two people, one couldn’t even lift her head after being scolded, and the other was driven out of the palace on the spot, both were in a sorry state.
This matter couldn’t be attributed solely to the Great Empress Dowager’s efforts. Without Mingzhu’s preparation, she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to act. Therefore, it could be considered as a perfect collaboration between aunt and niece, working together to strike. Some people with ulterior motives couldn’t help but gossip a bit more. Were the Great Empress Dowager and Ying Wangfei pretending to be at odds, setting a trap for others?
Mingzhu timely raised her head and smiled at the Great Empress Dowager, taking two steps forward cautiously. She didn’t know if the Great Empress Dowager still wanted to dote on her as before, but she knew that at this moment, in front of others, she absolutely couldn’t let anyone discover the problems between them, or else everyone’s days would be difficult.
Seeing Mingzhu’s subtle movements and cautious gaze, the stern expression in the Great Empress Dowager’s eyes gradually softened. She understood the principles that Mingzhu understood, of course. She reached out to Mingzhu, “Come here! Being pregnant doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself! What harm will it do to say a few less words?”
Mingzhu immediately leaned towards the Great Empress Dowager and whispered softly, “Keeping anger in will only harm oneself.”
The Great Empress Dowager sighed and gestured to everyone, “It’s about time, let’s begin.”
So everyone, according to their rank and status, came forward to pay their respects and congratulations to the two empress dowagers. After the formalities were completed and the dishes were prepared, everyone sat down to toast and offer congratulations. Mingzhu also obediently returned to her seat, ready to raise her glass and join in the toasts with everyone else.
She didn’t want to drink anything from the palace, and was thinking of discreetly pouring the wine into her sleeve without anyone noticing. However, to her surprise, the wine cup was already empty, there was no wine at all. She couldn’t help but look up, only to see the Great Empress Dowager looking solemnly ahead and speaking to everyone, while Mu Gugu smiled gently at her.
Mingzhu’s eyes became slightly warm. Perhaps the Great Empress Dowager didn’t like her and Yuwen Chu having a child, but she also didn’t want to take action against her. The food and drink at the banquet were the most difficult to guard against, and she couldn’t afford not to attend the banquet due to her status. The best solution was to deceive everyone’s eyes and pretend to drink from an empty cup.
As time passed and everyone became more relaxed, the Great Empress Dowager called Princess Changhua and Yuwen Xue forward and rewarded them with fine wine, emphasizing the importance of observing feminine virtues and striving for self-reliance and glory for the country after marriage.
Princess Changhua and Yuwen Xue listened with tears in their eyes, expressing their determination not to do anything that would disgrace their family and country.
Empress Dowager Min also took the opportunity to say a few words and called for Anle County Princess to be brought over. Today, only female relatives of the imperial family were present. According to reason, Anle County Princess, as the daughter of a prince of another surname, had not yet officially married into the imperial family and should not appear in such occasions. However, both empress dowagers wanted her to get accustomed to such occasions in advance, so they deliberately allowed her to attend the banquet.
While the two empress dowagers were talking to Anle County Princess, everyone else relaxed a bit. Hua Yang Wangfei, feeling embarrassed, asked Mingzhu, “I heard that there’s a Doctor Tang Chunlai in your mansion who has a secret formula for bearing children. Can you ask him for a prescription for me?”
Doctor Tang Chunlai has a secret formula for bearing children? Mingzhu hadn’t heard of this matter. However, because she suspected she might not be able to conceive, she had indeed asked her family to look for some remedies. She immediately agreed, “I don’t know if he has this secret formula, but I can ask him to help you. I also have a few prescriptions. I’ll invite you to my mansion another day and give you the prescriptions.”
Hua Yang Wangfei was pleased to hear her full agreement. Seeing that she wasn’t touching her food, she tactfully said, “The food at this palace banquet is really not delicious. It’s been cold by the time it’s served here. Many dishes are stewed until they’re mushy to avoid any mishaps. It’s not very appealing.”
Mingzhu agreed with her, but for her, these were secondary reasons. The main reason was that she dared not eat indiscriminately. However, whether due to improvement in morning sickness, the cold weather, or the exhaustion from her recent confrontation with Longsheng Great Eldest Princess, she suddenly felt hungry, and couldn’t tolerate it.
Just then, a senior palace maid from the Great Empress Dowager’s side quietly approached and placed a warm glass cup in front of Mingzhu, smiling and saying, “The Great Empress Dowager is afraid that the Wangfei won’t eat enough, so she specially rewards this to the Wangfei.” She then leaned in close to Mingzhu’s ear and whispered softly, “Rest assured, I personally prepared it, there won’t be any problems.”
Su Lan lifted the glass lid off, revealing a bowl of bird’s nest soup inside, which seemed to have been simmered for a long time. Mingzhu hesitated, but Xianxian handed her a silver spoon with a smile, suggesting she try it, saying, “Wangfei used to love the bird’s nest soup I stewed the most. Why not give it a taste?”
Mingzhu was very nervous. She could refuse to eat other things from the palace, and the Great Empress Dowager would understand. But this bowl of bird’s nest soup was something she couldn’t refuse. She couldn’t even show the slightest hint of rejection, or else the Great Empress Dowager would truly be heartbroken. To resolve this, the only way was for something unexpected to happen, forcing Xianxian to leave. Otherwise, she could hardly think of any other way to smoothly handle the situation.
Should she bravely gamble with her life, betting on the bond between her and the Great Empress Dowager? Or should she proceed cautiously, ignoring all consequences? Refusing even the gifts from the Great Empress Dowager would reveal too much to others. In just an instant, Mingzhu broke out in a thin layer of sweat, feeling particularly unbearable.
She couldn’t gamble with the bond of affection, she could gamble with herself, but she couldn’t risk the life of the child in her womb. Mingzhu made a decision in an instant, casually glanced at Donghui, smiled, calmly took the silver spoon from Xianxian’s hand, lowered her head, and pretended to be ready to eat.
Donghui discreetly stepped on the skirt of the maid behind Hua Yang Wangfei, preparing to cause an accident by herself. Suddenly, someone rushed over to Xianxian and exclaimed urgently, “Gugu, the Great Empress Dowager wants to reward County Princess Anle. A pair of gold-threaded phoenix hairpins is missing.”
Xianxian had no choice but to give Mingzhu a bow and said, “I have to go and check.”
Mingzhu had long wanted her to leave, so she hurriedly said, “Go, go, don’t mind me.” After Xianxian left, Mingzhu pretended to scoop a spoonful of bird’s nest soup to her mouth, then suddenly covered her mouth, put down the spoon, stood up, and walked to the side pretending to be about to vomit.
Afraid she couldn’t really vomit, she even discreetly cleared her throat. Some people saw her pretending to be extremely ill and immediately averted their gaze.
Mingzhu walked back slowly, naturally pushing the glass aside. Hua Yang Wangfei took a few bites of the cold dishes at the banquet and shook her head, saying, “Not tasty.” When she saw the bird’s nest soup in the glass, she suddenly couldn’t resist her craving, “Such a good thing shouldn’t go to waste, give it to me.”
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