Chapter 289 - Meeting with Empress Dowager in the Palace Sets Her in a Dangerous Situation (2/2)

“You are too polite, please sit.” Consort Yu replied politely, smiling as if she had forgotten about the conflict with Mo Manor. Standing up, she pulled Mo Xuetong up and examined her for a while before replying to Empress Dowager. “Empress Dowager, you are being too polite, my beauty cannot be compared to that of Princess Anping, for it is the first time that I have seen such beauty since my birth. It’s all thanks to the rule of Empress Dowager that we can have such a beauty in the Qin Kingdom.”

Mo Xuetong did not understand how her beauty was related to Empress Dowager’s rule. However, she lowered her gaze in embarra.s.sment upon hearing the compliment of Consort Yu, unable to utter a word. Her watery eyes were full of panic as she stared at Empress Dowager, blinking innocently.

“Alright, alright. You scared her. Come here, Anping, come to me.” Empress Dowager gave a kind smile as she pointed to beside her. A smart servant had already placed a stool next to Empress Dowager for Mo Xuetong to sit on.

“Anping, I heard that your mother is Luo Xia from Fu General Manor. I’m sorry for her early demise. It’s truly a pity that she left you behind alone. Mingzhu used to be extremely close to your mother but then they fell out with each other, and thus she had not contacted you all these while.” Empress Dowager sighed and touched Mo Xuetong’s head, looking at her with a peaceful and loving gaze.

“My mother had always been in poor health. She suffered from her illness for years, and finally…” Tears welled up in Mo Xuetong’s eyes as she struggled to continue her sentence. On her jade-like fair skin, her bright eyes misted. Without any makeup, her face looked delicate and made people feel pitiful for her.

Sorrow was shown on her face but her mind was thinking of other things. “Princess Royal had a conflict with mother? What type of conflict resulted in two best friends splitting paths till death?” In her previous life, not only did Princess Royal not ask about Mother at all, but she also brought down Fu General Manor. Could there be other hidden secrets?

Smiling, Empress Dowager patted her hand as she stroked the rosaries with her other hand. She comforted her. “At least your mother left such a beautiful daughter like you. Now that you became Mingzhu’s daughter, and since she was your mother’s best friend, you should treat her as your real mother and love her as such. Mingzhu has had a bitter life too but at least now you can be her comfort.”

“Your Majesty, you do love Princess Royal greatly. It is her blessing to have you as her mother, how can she have a bitter life? It’s even better now that she has a daughter. In the future, when she gets a good husband, Princess Royal will enjoy her life even more!” Lady of Xian smiled.

“That might not be right. Given the princess’s position today, not anyone can marry her.” d.u.c.h.ess Mingyang continued this topic smilingly.

“That’s not true. Princess Royal will not want her precious daughter to marry any ordinary man, and I’m sure our Empress Dowager would want her to have a good marriage as well.” Consort Yu’s fan swayed as she laughed out loud, reb.u.t.ting d.u.c.h.ess Mingyang.

“Indeed, Consort Yu. But there are not many who can match up to the position of our princess other than princes and kings. However, many of them already have wives, granted by the Emperor. Furthermore, our princess is too young and it would be too late to marry her to them. If Empress Dowager had known that she had such a beautiful granddaughter long ago, she would definitely have married her into the royal family, making for a proper and delightful marriage. Princess Royal would be satisfied too.” d.u.c.h.ess Mingyang said slowly.

As she spoke, she turned around and asked Empress Dowager, “Your Majesty, isn’t that true?”

“Your words are indeed very sweet. No wonder the duke is so mesmerized by you, having only a few old concubines and no one new.” Empress Dowager chided her jokingly again.

d.u.c.h.ess Mingyang was immediately embarra.s.sed. Indignant, she continued, “Empress Dowager, don’t listen to those rumors! I dare not meddle with the duke’s matters. Furthermore, it was Empress Dowager who arranged the marriage for me. Talking about it now makes me embarra.s.sed.”

“Oh, it’s my fault now. Could it be that you are unsatisfied with the marriage I arranged?” Empress Dowager smiled and put down the rosaries to sip at the tea the maidservant had just presented.

“Your Majesty…” d.u.c.h.ess Mingyang was red with embarra.s.sment.

“So she is d.u.c.h.ess Mingyang, the sister of d.u.c.h.ess of Zhen Manor!” Mo Xuetong alerted herself as she realized that only the intentions of Lady of Xian were unknown. She did not believe that the other three merely wanted to talk to her as the sly Empress Dowager should not have much time for mere chats.

“What is their purpose for today? Their topics all centered on marriage, so could it be that they want to marry me to someone?”

Even though there was no direct order given as for her marriage, all those in the palace would have known what Emperor Zongwen wanted for her. If the Empress Dowager wanted to settle her marriage now, wouldn’t she be worried that she might enrage Emperor Zongwen? If she would grant Mo Xuetong a marriage, who would the Empress Dowager marry her to? Was he someone equivalent to a king or prince?

Even though Mo Xuetong was still smiling with embarra.s.sment, coldness flashed across her eyes. She immediately lowered her head to hide the harsh coldness in her pupils as she wrecked her brains to think of a possible target that could match up to potential emperors like Feng Yuxuan.

“King… Ning!” Mo Xuetong suddenly remembered someone and froze. Her pupils widened as she gasped on cold air! Indeed, King Ning Feng Yuzhen could be compared to the likes of Feng Yuran.

Empress Dowager wanted to marry her to King Ning Feng Yuzhen!

She would use her t.i.tle as Empress Dowager to force her. What could she do? What exactly could she do?

The best way was to leave when Empress Dowager had not started on the matter, but it was impossible for her to leave now!

Suddenly, her heart pumped faster as cold sweat covered her body!

Even Emperor Zongwen could not oppose the orders of Empress Dowager.

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