Chapter 67: Generosity
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Mingzhu pouted and grabbed Mu Gugu’s sleeve, pleading, “Auntie, auntie…”
“It’s no use begging me. The Great Empress Dowager is truly angry this time.” Mu Gugu sighed. The affairs of the Second Prince and others had always been the responsibility of Empress Dowager Min. As long as they didn’t go too far, the Great Empress Dowager wouldn’t intervene, which helped maintain a delicate balance between the two palace dowagers and the Fu and Min families behind them. It was beneficial for the political situation
Mingzhu’s false report of the Great Empress Dowager’s instructions wasn’t a big deal in itself, but soon the palace would misunderstand that the Great Empress Dowager intended to intervene in the upbringing of the princes.
Empress Dowager Min had always been narrow-minded and constantly on edge, fearing that others would encroach on her territory. She would definitely think that the Great Empress Dowager’s actions were aimed at meddling in the affairs of the other princes, warning and pressuring her. After all, the young emperor was not suitable to be an emperor. If it weren’t for his status as the eldest son, he wouldn’t have the chance to sit on the throne.
It could be imagined that Empress Dowager Min would immediately react to this, causing trouble not only in the palace but also in the court. All of this was because of Mingzhu’s mischievous arrogance.
If it were only this incident, it would be fine, but unfortunately, Ying Wang, who was extremely intelligent, happened to anger the Great Empress Dowager at the same time. With several incidents piled up, the Great Empress Dowager couldn’t help but get angry.
Mu Gugu was dazzled by Mingzhu’s actions and could only say, “The Great Empress Dowager is in a bad mood. Just go along with her.”
Avoiding trouble once doesn’t mean it can always be avoided. Mingzhu bravely walked in and saw the Great Empress Dowager sitting on the couch drinking tea, her expression unreadable. Mingzhu took a few steps forward, smilingly greeted the Great Empress Dowager, and exclaimed, “It’s so hot, I’m almost overheating!” She then instructed a palace attendant, “Bring me an ice bowl.”
But as soon as the Great Empress Dowager forcefully placed the teacup on the table, with a loud bang, the temperature in the entire hall dropped a few degrees. All the palace attendants lowered their heads, and Mingzhu felt a little scared.
After a moment of silence, she smiled at the Great Empress Dowager and pretended not to understand, “Aunt, why are you angry?”
The Great Empress Dowager’s face was as calm as water as she glared at her angrily. “Don’t you know?”
Mingzhu shook her head innocently. “Mingzhu doesn’t know.”
“You kneel down for me!” The Great Empress Dowager glanced at Mu Gugu, who then took all the attending palace servants away and gestured desperately at Mingzhu, indicating she shouldn’t be stubborn.
Mingzhu knelt obediently but stubbornly refused to admit her mistake.
She wasn’t wrong. If she didn’t provoke Empress Dowager Min, would Empress Dowager Min treat her and the Fu family kindly? No, she wouldn’t. She hadn’t done anything yet, but Empress Dowager Min had already started to interfere with her marriage openly and secretly. Not to mention the terrible things she would face in the future. Since she had the opportunity to confront Empress Dowager Min now, why not take action now instead of waiting for death? It’s better to tear off the fig leaf earlier and fight it out so that Aunt and her family would be wary.
Seeing Mingzhu’s stubborn appearance, the Great Empress Dowager couldn’t contain her anger. “Forget it. I’m just your aunt, not your biological parent. I can’t control you. Since that’s the case, you should leave the palace immediately.”
Mingzhu had long guessed that the Great Empress Dowager would resort to this trick. Back then, when she insisted on marrying Yuwen You, the Great Empress Dowager tried to persuade and coax her but failed. She was so angry that she drove Mingzhu out of the palace and refused to see her for almost half a year. But later, she couldn’t help but relent, and Mingzhu apologized, so they glossed over the matter. Now, is she going to use the same trick again?
Both Aunt and herself had strong tempers and couldn’t stand each other’s stubbornness…
Mingzhu looked up, feeling wronged, and said, “Why? What did I do wrong? Is Aunt going to stop seeing me from now on because she’s angry with me? I don’t want that.” She crawled two steps forward and hugged the Great Empress Dowager’s knees, tears streaming down her face as she remembered the difficult days before. “Last time, when Aunt drove me out, I was so sad that my heart ached. Now, you want to drive me away again for no reason. I won’t go!”
The Great Empress Dowager, originally with a hard heart, softened by Mingzhu’s crying. She tried to maintain a stern face and said, “Do you know where you went wrong?”
Mingzhu shook her head, refusing to admit her mistake. “I don’t know. I just went to see a few nephews. What did I do wrong?”
The Great Empress Dowager stared at her sternly, her cold gaze almost piercing into her heart. “You went to see people, but why did you hit someone? Why did you falsely report my words?”
Mingzhu justified herself confidently, “That servant was disrespectful. He clearly heard me conveying your instructions but still dared to stop the prince and me from speaking. Of course, I had to teach him a lesson! If I didn’t, should I just tuck my tail and leave? They were already secretly mocking me because of Yuwen You’s incident. If they knew I was afraid of a servant, wouldn’t they trample on me even more in the future?”
The Empress Dowager looked at Mingzhu’s defiant and arrogant demeanor, thinking about the trouble she had caused her. She was furious, cursing, “All you do is fight and compete all day long, indulging in eating, drinking, and having fun. What else do you know?”
Mingzhu cried with grievance, “I know I’m not good enough, but if Auntie tells me to change, I will. Since you don’t like it, next time someone bullies me, I’ll just avoid them from afar, even if it means I’ll get a swollen face, I won’t fight with them again, just please don’t be angry with me.”
This enemy of hers, she was angry with herself for provoking her, but where did it say she couldn’t fight back? The Empress Dowager was left speechless with anger, it took her a while to calm down before saying, “Let’s not talk about this for now. Let me ask you again, when did I mention the Second Prince and them to you, and tell them to come and pay respects to me?”
Mingzhu blinked, “I thought of them myself. I thought you must miss them too. Since you’re too shy to say it, I’ll go and teach them a lesson for you, teach them what filial piety is. Is that wrong? They used to play here often with you.”
“Impudent!” The Empress Dowager didn’t believe her at all. She slammed the tea table hard and said coldly, “You better tell me honestly, who taught you to do this? Was it Yuwen Chu?”
“I barely know him, why would I listen to him?” Mingzhu was puzzled. Why bring up Yuwen Chu again? He’s been enjoying some popularity these days.
Thinking that Yuwen Chu was currently kneeling outside as punishment, she immediately speculated, “Ah, I see. Auntie probably thinks he told me to go to the Yihe Palace to cause trouble, so she’s punishing him to kneel outside?”
Seeing the Empress Dowager frown without answering, she continued, “Although I’m happy he’s being punished, this has nothing to do with him.”
After speaking, she felt quite generous. Yuwen Chu always teased her, and just now, he gave her the cold shoulder, yet she didn’t accuse him! Knowing that she had just offended Empress Dowager Min, she couldn’t make more enemies, so she was considering the bigger picture!
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