RVW-41.1

In the Chonghua Palace, the Empress Dowager sat on the Kang¹The bed with fireplace under it so it would be warm in winter gloomily. Facing her was Emperor Chongde, who was in deep thought.

Emperor Chongde thought it over for a while, then spoke, “Mu hou, winter is about to come. Isn’t it inappropriate to let Su Wang fei go to Tongcheng at this time?”

The Empress Dowager shot him a glance, saying as she pursed her lips, “Do you think Ai jia is so inhumane? Ai jia may not like Su Wang fei, but Ai jia also wouldn’t trouble her like this. However, AnYang Tai fei, that woman clearly wants to trouble Su Wang fei. She was willing to sacrifice one of her spies this time just to warn Ai jia that as long as Su Wang fei remains in the capital, she will trouble Su Wang fei and Ai jia! In such a bitterly cold place like Tongcheng, how could women who went there not suffer hardships? AnYang Tai fei, that despicable woman, must have wanted to let Su Wang fei go and accompany Ba Ning in Tongcheng as a punishment. Hmph! That despicable person’s scheme is so malicious. If something happened to Su Wang fei while she was under Ai jia’s care here, no matter what the truth is, Ba Ning would have a heart knot for Ai jia. This is clearly driving a wedge between Ai jia and Su Wang’s mother and son relationship!”

The more the Empress Dowager spoke, the angrier she became. Towards the end of her speech, she covered her aching chest from anger and resentfully cursed “despicable woman, despicable woman). It can be seen that AnYang Tai fei had indeed successfully irritated the Empress Dowager once again.

Emperor Chongde also knew of the feud between his mother and AnYang Tai fei where they schemed and took revenge on each other. This is how they communicate their emotions with each other, the two have fought for a lifetime, all to agitate and anger the other. Emperor Chongde had always known that AnYang Tai fei is a clever woman, and she was only irritating the Empress Dowager but won’t do any harm. At most, her move was only to punish Su Wang fei. This move would not only make the Empress Dowager lose face, but also avenge her grandson’s loss to Ah Nan. Killing two birds with one stone, why not do it, right?

However, such an outcome made him unsure of how to tell Chu Banning. Before Chu Baning left the capital, he had promised his brother that he would order people to take care of Su Wang fei. But who would know that such a thing could happen in the palace. Now, Su Wang fei is forced by AnYang Tai fei to leave the capital….

However, Emperor Chongde also couldn’t do anything to AnYang Tai fei because of this incident. Because regardless of what happened, back when the late Emperor was alive, the struggle for the throne between the dozen or more princes had been tragic and made people fearful. And the reason why Emperor Chongde could ascend to the throne so smoothly was also because of AnYang Tai fei’s assistance. Emperor Chongde isn’t a ruthless and ungrateful Emperor, so as long as it wouldn’t interfere with the country’s affairs, he has allowed AnYang Tai fei’s little scuffles, including her constant little feud and mutual schemes with the Empress Dowager, though they are pretty perfunctory, not hurting nor tickling. Emperor Chongde dismissed it with a laugh most of the time. Therefore there were times when no matter how the Empress Dowager scolded, Emperor Chongde didn’t take any harsh actions.

Emperor Chongde believed that AnYang Tai fei is smart, and knew that “Dragons have a reverse scale, and anyone who touched it would die.” Therefore her little tricks wouldn’t touch his bottom line. But the Empress Dowager didn’t believe AnYang Tai fei would be so merciful. She assumed that she must have planned something else. If something really happened to Ah Nan in her Chonghua Palace, how would people see her? They must be thinking that she, as the mother-in-law, was dissatisfied with Ah Nan’s background and had then made things difficult for this daughter-in-law. It’s also not impossible that it could cause some crack to form between her and her son’s relationship.

The Empress Dowager absolutely wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen!

“Your Majesty, Ai jia wanting to send Su Wang fei not only to avoid AnYang Tai fei’s scheme, but also for Ba Ning.” The Empress Dowager became excited and began to rant over to the Emperor. “Your Majesty, you also knew that Su Wang isn’t that young. There are many men his age who have already have grandchildren. In this regard, who knows how many times Su Wang has been ridiculed by those people outside. Ai jia also know that Su Wang ought to have at least one descendant. However, you also know of Su Wang’s eccentricity, how could Ai jia not be worried about this? If Su Wang fei won’t follow after him, who would serve Su Wang? He is unwilling to accept the women Ai jia bestowed to him. What could Ai jia do except for sending Su Wang fei over to him?”

Towards the end of her speech, the Empress Dowager was both frustrated and discontented. At the end she could only sigh ruefully.

The Empress Dowager’s insinuation is indeed sufficient: What does being a wife mean if she won’t go and serve her husband ah! How could she get pregnant and have children if they aren’t together ah?

Even though the Empress Dowager had spoken with such emotions, Emperor Chongde’s lips couldn’t help but give a slight twitch. This argument of the Empress Dowager——truly was justified. Moreover, it is rare for the Empress Dowager’s words to be in line with his heartfelt wishes.

“Mu hou, Zhen thinks Ba Ning wouldn’t want Su Wang fei to go to Tongcheng.”

Emperor Chongde had witnessed with his own eyes the first time that his blood brother, the one with an expression as solemn as an old man, had looked so gentle as he spoke “Tongcheng is in the extreme north, the weather is cold and resources are scarce, not suitable for a woman’s survival.” Even at such an old age, Emperor Chongde had never seen this resolute and domineering little brother, who is both solemn and cold inside and outside, so protective of a person. For this reason, he was also willing to assign someone to secretly protect Su Wang fei, just so that his little brother could be at ease.

“Hmph, this is Ai jia’s decree. If he doesn’t want Su Wang fei to go, then Ai jia will send a few sturdy and easy to raise women over!” The Empress Dowager threatened hatefully, almost dying of anger because of her youngest child in Tongcheng.

Obviously the son is travelling a thousand miles away, and she, as a mother, was the one who worried and missed him the most. But as she recalled her son’s behaviour that really could struck people’s lungs, she once again felt a burst of anger! How could she, the mother, be treated like that by her own son? The one she gave birth to was a son, not a respected Bodhisattva she should attend to.

Emperor Chongde was exasperated. He knew that since Mu hou became the Empress Dowager, there’s no longer anyone who could suppress her and thus became unrestrained all at once, her temper had become increasingly stubborn. No wonder her youngest son became more  expressionless and dismissive towards her. This kind of thing where she justified her behaviour as doing it “for your own good,” but was actually doing something the other wasn’t happy about, could indeed incur people’s dislike.

However, children couldn’t talk back to their mothers. So no matter what the Empress Dowager did, he, as a son, couldn’t say anything.

“Mu hou, is it really not good for Su Wang fei to stay in the capital to accompany you?” Emperor Chongde tried to change Empress Dowager’s mind, “Zhen will resolve the dispute with AnYang Taifei. Zhen believes that she would give Zhen a face! Moreover, since Su Wang fei entered the palace, Zhen saw that your spirit and complexion has gotten a lot better. Your speech has also gotten more enthusiastic, making Zhen’s heart feel at ease.”

“……” The Empress Dowager’s expression stiffened, her fingers clutched at her handkerchief. She looked at Emperor Chongde with aggrievance, suspecting that this son came here just to hit her sore spot.

The Empress Dowager really wanted to roar at this Emperor son of hers: Where do you see Ai jia having good spirits? Ai jia was so aggrieved by that unfilial daughter-in-law that her whole body aches! If she were to remain in the palace, Ai jia’s life span might be cut in half!!!

The Empress Dowager held back her anger and dully said, “Your Majesty, it is the wife’s duty to serve her husband. It is also Su Wang fei’s duty to go to Tongcheng. You don’t have to persuade me anymore, Ai jia has made up her mind!”

The Empress Dowager tried hard to suppress her urge to glare at him. While she knew that the person in front of her was her son, but he was still the Emperor, the ruler of the nation, so she couldn’t be so impudent. “Your Majesty, do you still remember Chu Niang zi? Since Chu Niang zi was willing to resolutely abandon the prosperity and flourish of the capital to follow her husband to defend the borders, Su Wang fei should also be able to! You just need to dispatch more manpower to safely escort Su Wang fei to Tongcheng.”

Emperor Chongde inwardly sighed, gloomily thinking: That Chu Niang zi was angered by her mother-in-law, He Shi²The Shi here indicate from which clan the woman is (usually it indicates the woman’s maiden’s family), thus the mother in law is called He Shi because she had already become part of the He family for so long and is more known that way., squeezing women in for her newly married husband, and thus angrily decided to follow her husband along. This imperial decree of yours, wouldn’t it also make people think that you and that He Shi have the same virtue, and be the joke of the whole capital as the evil mother-in-law who wants to deliberately make things difficult for her daughter-in-law?

This Mu hou ah….. Why does she always do these kinds of annoying things?

Seeing that the Empress Dowager had already made up her mind, Emperor Chongde once again became worried. He really didn’t know how to explain this matter to his younger brother. Also what should be done to calm him down? He was certain that this Empress Dowager’s decision would definitely make Chu Baning angry.

After Emperor Chongde finally left Chonghua Palace, the Empress Dowager let someone invite Ah Nan over.

The Empress Dowager knew that compared to the prosperous and comfortable capital city, Tongcheng has a much harsher environment. Therefore, when talking to Ah Nan about this decree of hers, the Empress Dowager used her rarely used gentle and compassionate tone.

The content of what the Empress Dowager said to Ah Nan is basically: serving one’s own husband is the wife’s duty, giving birth to children for the husband is also your duty. Ai jia would like to hear good news from you once you come back from Tongcheng. If there is no good news….. Hmph! Just wait for a Shu fei to enter the picture.

Ah Nan: =__=! Empress Dowager please cool your head! Are you sure your threat could even succeed? Could your son even obediently marry a Shu fei?

Ah Nan has also begun to think of a plan. Going to Tongcheng means she could meet her family’s Wang ye, which is incredibly good news for her since she wouldn’t have to wait until next year. As for the weather in Tongcheng being cold and harsh…. Anyway, as long as she prepared the winter supplies well, won’t it be the same as spending it elsewhere? However, she also couldn’t just go as she wishes, lest she became the talk of the town saying she is a reckless woman. It wouldn’t be good for her reputation. Hmmm, it’s still a task she has to solve. Since it’s a decree from the Empress Dowager, then she would have to obtain the Empress Dowager’s seal on the decree. After considering all of these, Ah Nan still has to consider her Wang ye’s thoughts. What if he doesn’t like his wife being sticky and would run over from a thousand miles away just to find him? Wouldn’t it be a tragedy? So she still has to look for an excuse to get away with it.

Hence, after thinking it over, Ah Nan bashfully smiled at Empress Dowager who was waiting for her response. She first expressed her willingness to go to Tongcheng to serve Wang ye as it is her duty as a wife and that she wouldn’t shirk over her responsibilities. After showing her dedication, Ah Nan anxiously looked at the Empress Dowager, naively asked for the Empress Dowager’s stamped decree straightaway.

Ah Nan’s reasons were very compelling, “Mu hou, this daughter-in-law heard that Tongcheng is in the borders where it’s their custom to be tough. The common people there have straightforward character, and would just say whatever they wanted. Although they might not have any ill will, it wouldn’t be good for this daughter-in-law to directly go there like this, it might become a joke to them. Yes, Mu hou see. May Mu hou draw up a decree for this daughter-in-law. If this daughter-in-law could get ahold of the decree stamped with Mu hou’s seal, then those people would consider Mu hou’s face and certainly say that this daughter-in-law is virtuous and filial. Then this daughter-in-law would also feel more at ease.

The Empress Dowager’s face twitched. What does your “virtuous and filial” have to do with Ai jia ah?! The Empress Dowager has finally understood. This daughter-in-law’s mind isn’t something that could be comprehended by ordinary people! Moreover, this daughter-in-law will be going soon, but she still wanted to anger her?

However, this also isn’t such a big deal. With a wave of her hand, The Empress Dowager let the palace officials prepare a decree with her seal and gave it to Ah Nan.

Ah Nan took it with great joy and sincerely thanked the Empress Dowager for her grace. She held onto the Imperial decree as if it was a family heirloom. Seeing her like that, the Empress Dowager’s mood became better, thinking that maybe Ah Nan isn’t so irksome.