TICIEC Chapter 9.2

The faint light of morning light scattered, illuminating Lingxue Pavilion, and the windows were bright and clean.

A woman in a lotus-colored long dress, with her three thousand strands of black hair casually tied up, walked out with the support of a palace maid.

She wore no makeup, and her eyes showed signs of tiredness, but one could still tell she was a beauty.

Shu Fei glanced at Ning Wanyin and thought to herself: she is indeed a beauty, but there has never been a shortage of beauties in the harem, and countless have perished.

“I pay my respects to Shu Fei. It’s hard for Shu Fei to come visit me in person…” Ning Wanyin said with a smile.

Shu Fei, too lazy to waste time with such a fool, said directly, “The Empress Dowager has decreed that you are disrespectful to her and sent you to the cold palace for reflection!”

Ning Wanyin was surprised.

“Why does Your Highness Shu Fei say that? I have always been respectful to Your Highness the Empress Dowager.”

“You are so arrogant and rude that you don’t pay your respects to the Empress Dowager. This is extremely disrespectful and unfilial!” The chief eunuch of the Cining Palace, who was accompanying Shu Fei, angrily accused her.

Ning Wanyin looked aggrieved, “I’m not feeling well, not being rude or arrogant. Besides, it was Your Majesty who exempted me from paying my respects… Could it be that I shouldn’t have listened to Your Majesty? Is this what Shu Fei meant?”

Shu Fei choked. This was truly using the Emperor’s casual words as a shield…

She didn’t know whether to call her arrogant or foolish.

She wouldn’t respond to these words, “That was not my intention. I was simply following the Empress Dowager’s orders.”

At this moment, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the door. Wang Degui and a group of eunuchs hurried over.

He looked at the scene before them, hurriedly saluted, and said: “Your servant pays respects to Shu Fei and Ning Guiren! It’s all my fault for not being able to rush to the Cining Palace earlier to convey the Emperor’s instructions. Your Majesty has said that Ning Guiren has worked hard in the Emperor’s bedchambers, so His Majesty has specially exempted her from paying respects to the Empress Dowager today. I hope the Empress Dowager will be tolerant.”

As he spoke, he looked at Shu Fei with an apologetic look on his face.

“Thank you for coming here, Shu Fei. Ning Guiren meant no disrespect and was simply following the Emperor’s orders. It’s all my fault for being a step too late. I wasn’t able to get to the Cining Palace in time to explain the situation to the Empress Dowager, which led to this misunderstanding.”

The truth, of course, was…

The Emperor had only sent him to convey the instructions to the Empress Dowager after hearing that the Cining Palace had sent people to arrest Ning Wanyin.

How could a servant like him say that it was His Majesty’s negligence that he failed to inform the Cining Palace in time?

Naturally, he could only say that he ran too slowly…

Wang Degui thought to himself: His Majesty did not seem to be negligent. It seemed as if he was deliberately waiting for the Empress Dowager to make trouble so that he could slap her back in the face himself.

Shu Fei’s originally casual expression became more serious after she saw Wang Degui.

It turned out that this was the Emperor’s intention.

She had known for a long time that the Emperor and the two duke families were not on good terms.

The year the Emperor first ascended the throne, he hinted to her to distance herself from the Cen family. After all, her family was only related to the Cen family by marriage, and it wasn’t like she had to be surnamed Cen.

She had a son and great power, making her the perfect candidate in the harem to suppress the Xue and Cen families.

However, Shu Fei pretended to be stupid and did not understand.

Her position was secure, so why would she take such a risk and become the target of such hatred?

Smart people always like to hide behind the scenes, watching others fight while the fisherman benefits, and will never put themselves in the limelight.

It seemed that the Ning Guiren in front of her was the target set by the Emperor.

Shu Fei couldn’t help but look at Ning Wanyin. She had almost misjudged her earlier, thinking she was a fool.

It turned out that all this was coordinated with the Emperor.

However, not everyone can be a chess piece.

One wrong move, and you can lose your life.

If she has the guts to be a target, she will have to have the brains to survive.

Shu Fei naturally wouldn’t interfere in the fight between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

She glanced at Ning Wanyin as if she were looking at a dead person, then smiled at Wang Degui, and said, “You are too kind, Chief Eunuch. Since His Majesty has given the order, I will return to report to the Empress Dowager.”

Shu Fei turned around and boarded the imperial carriage¹*鸾, luán: mythical bird related to phoenix

辇, niǎn: (archaic) man-drawn carriage / an imperial carriage / to transport by carriage with a normal expression. However, the chief eunuch of the Cining Palace looked furious and glared at Ning Wanyin viciously.

After Wang Degui saluted Ning Wanyin, he followed her to the Cining Palace.

 

 

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