Chapter 539 Apology (Part Two)
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“Aunt, please don’t mind me. This is my only chance to explain to Uncle. If I miss this opportunity, I’m afraid there won’t be another chance in the future.” Fu Zifei shook her head with tears in her eyes and looked up at Yuwen Chu, her voice trembling with emotion, “Uncle, your niece did something wrong today.”
She repeated what she had said to Lady Qian to Yuwen Chu, and ended up sobbing uncontrollably, “I was scared and didn’t know what to do, the more I tried to make up for it, the more mistakes I made, making Aunt sad, making her angry… Uncle, please don’t blame me, or… blame me if you must, but I beg you to cover up for me in front of Aunt, don’t let her worry about it.”
Yuwen Chu frowned deeply, looked at her for a moment, and said lightly, “Since you say it was an accident, then forget it, no need to apologize like this.”
If it wasn’t an accident, then what? What did he intend to do? Fu Zifei was frightened by Yuwen Chu’s gaze and quickly covered her face with a handkerchief, crying so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath. However, she cried very beautifully; in terms of charm, she had already outperformed Wenwen and the other girls by a long shot. Moreover, she looked a bit like Mingzhu when she was young.
Lady Qian felt something was amiss, but couldn’t pinpoint what it was. She just wanted to get Fu Zifei up first and then figure it out. But before she could do anything, Yuwen Chu had already turned around and walked away.
Fu Zifei cried for a while and then stopped herself, wiped her red eyes with the handkerchief, and apologized, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it just now, and made Auntie laugh. I have shallow tears; the more I think about it, the sadder and more scared I get, I can’t help but cry. And Uncle’s appearance is really scary…”
Seeing that she had stopped crying, Lady Qian also breathed a sigh of relief, “Your uncle is like that. Whenever it involves your aunt, he always takes it especially seriously. But he’s not a bad person, nor is he unreasonable. Just relax.”
Fu Zifei nodded gently and said, “Let’s go in and see Fourth Uncle.”
The Great Empress Dowager didn’t have much affection for Fu Mingzheng, her nephew by virtue of his illegitimate birth. Moreover, Fu Mingzheng had never liked to come to her, especially in recent times when he had allied himself with Yuwen Chu, which she disliked even more. To be honest, if Fu Mingcheng wasn’t currently of little use, the Fu Mansion wouldn’t be spared, and she wouldn’t care about Fu Mingzheng’s life or death.
Fu Zifei understood the reasoning behind this very well. Moreover, she had never liked this gloomy and sharp-tongued Fourth Umcle, so she only glanced at him briefly, inquired about his condition, and then asked about the details of what had happened before leaving.
After saying all the nice things she could think of, she tentatively tried to visit Fu Cong to convey the Great Empress Dowager’s condolences in person. However, she received a courteous response from Fu Lin, “Grandfather is too distressed and bedridden. It’s inappropriate to meet in this manner. He asked me to convey his thanks to the Great Empress Dowager and promised to visit the palace to express his gratitude another day.”
If it were another family, Fu Zifei could have forced her way in to see him under the pretext of disrespect if they refused. However, this was her own family, and Yuwen Chu was still sitting in Guanhai Residence. She didn’t dare to be presumptuous. Fu Zifei reluctantly glanced in the direction of Guanhai Residence, bid farewell with her entourage, and returned to the palace to report.
The weather in June was scorching hot, and the Great Empress Dowager was afraid of heat but also afraid of cold, so she only dared to place an iceberg in the corner of the Changxin Palace’s main hall and kept herself far away in the corner to rest. Liang Youyi escorted Yuwen Fu to class, and she didn’t like noise, nor did she like too many people around her. Therefore, there were only Mu Gugu and Sang Shen accompanying her in the spacious palace hall, where the sunlight couldn’t penetrate, making the hall appear particularly gloomy and empty.
The Great Empress Dowager had been particularly low-spirited lately, but few people knew. She even found it difficult to write with a pen, and she couldn’t concentrate on court affairs without the secret medicine. If she had to stay up late to handle political affairs, it would take several days for her to recover. Yuwen Chu’s reputation had been soaring recently, and she wasn’t unaware of the taboo, but her energy was simply insufficient.
She looked at the age spots on the back of her hand that had appeared at some unknown time, feeling particularly emotional, as if she had a feeling of not being able to wake up once she closed her eyes. Mu Gugu stood aside, looking at her like this, feeling particularly sad, feeling like she had a lot to say but didn’t know where to start.
The Great Empress Dowager sighed, “Has Zifei not returned yet?” Hearing that Mingzhu had given birth to a son, she was somewhat disappointed. Why wasn’t it a daughter? If it were a daughter, maybe she would be as soft, white, and cute as Mingzhu was when she was young.
Mu Gugu whispered, “Miss Zifei went to visit Ying Wangfei, and she also went to visit Madam Fu and Master Fu Mingzheng at the Fu Mansion. She also wanted to convey the condolences from the Great Empress Dowager to them. It’s not possible to return so soon.”
The Great Empress Dowager fell silent for a while and said, “Yuwen Cong, that old thief, can’t hold back anymore.”
“Yes.” Mu Gugu hesitated for a moment and whispered, “Your Majesty, this old slave has something to say, but doesn’t know if it’s appropriate…”
The Great Empress Dowager knew what she wanted to say and frowned, saying coldly, “Ah Shang, if you really cherish the bond between us, don’t make me unhappy.”
“What’s wrong with Grandma?” Fu Zifei walked in quickly, saluted the Great Empress Dowager, and gestured to Mu Gugu to leave quickly, avoiding stirring up trouble.
Mu Gugu sighed and left quietly.
The Great Empress Dowager asked Fu Zifei, “How is it?”
Fu Zifei lowered her head and said softly, “It’s all good. Great Aunt’s condition is stable. Eldest Aunt asked and said it’s temporarily fine. Fourth Uncle only has minor injuries, and his life is not in danger. Aunt and the little ones are all fine, but…”
“What is it?” The Great Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows.
Fu Zifei lowered her head, “Zifei is incompetent. Aunt drove me out.”
The Great Empress Dowager was shocked, “Why?”
Fu Zifei whispered, “She didn’t allow me to touch the child before, saying the child was delicate and couldn’t see strangers. Later, when Yingluo accidentally said something wrong, she got angry. No matter how I pleaded, she wouldn’t let me stay and had someone drive me out.”
The Great Empress Dowager trembled with anger. Not allowing Fu Zifei to touch or even see the child was clearly aimed at her! Yingluo accidentally saying something wrong was just an excuse and pretext. She had always disliked Changxin Palace and resented her! She steadied her spirit and said in a deep voice, “Did she have anything to say to me? How did she react to those gifts I sent for the child?”
Fu Zifei hesitated and dared not speak. The Great Empress Dowager anticipated the result but couldn’t help but get angry, “Speak!”
Fu Zifei knelt down, feeling extremely reluctant, “Aunt didn’t say anything, nor did she look at those gifts. She only asked the people around her whether His Highness was at home and what he said.”
The Changxin Palace fell into silence. After a long time, the Great Empress Dowager hoarsely said, “You may leave.”
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