Chapter 8 (1/2)

Chapter Eight

At the palace the emperor held a meeting with the court officials.

The empress, Pei Jin and Yan Shi Ning waited for the emperor in the De Fang chamber.

The empress was forty years old, but she maintained her youthful appearance and looked no older than thirty years old. The empress wore an intricately embroidered silk dress and she was seated high on a platform next to the chair reserved for the emperor. She smiled politely at Yan Shi Ning. ‘Little girl, I remember the first time I met you two years ago. I thought you were beautiful and I didn’t know who would be blessed to marry you. If I knew back then you would marry little nine then I would have asked little nine to come back to the imperial city earlier.’

The empress’ fake praises didn’t enter Yan Shi Ning’s heart. Although in the past Yan Shi Ning didn’t meet the empress often, it was clear to her that the empress’ loyalty was reserved for Princess Kang Hua and Yan Shi Ting. Princess Kang Hua hated her so there was no reason for the empress to love her. Besides, everyone in the palace had years of experience of giving fake praises, especially someone of a high status like the empress.

‘Imperial mother, you are too kind,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘I’m blessed to be married to ninth prince.’

Yan Shi Ning smiled politely at Pei Jin.

‘Imperial mother, I’m the one who is blessed to marry Xiao Ning,’ Pei Jin said sweetly and smiled warmly at Yan Shi Ning.

Yan Shi Ning refrained from vomiting earlier when Pei Jin called her ‘wife’ endearingly in front of the maids, but she felt more nauseous after hearing Pei Jin called her ‘Xiao Ning’ too sweetly.

The empress’ ears stiffened after hearing the newlyweds’ loving exchange. It reminded her of the year she married the emperor. Except the emperor married her to secure the throne. She didn’t know if the newlyweds’ situation was similar to her and the emperor… it couldn’t be, the deep love aura in Pei Jin’s eyes were too clear.

Suddenly the empress felt Pei Jin’s warm smile was too blinding. She picked up a cup, drank a sip of tea and hid her cold smile. She put the cup down and smiled politely. ‘I’m happy to see the strong bond between the two of you. My heart was saddened when little nine was heartbroken after the little girl Yewu… forgive a muddled elder like me, I shouldn’t talk about the sad past. You two should start eating. The imperial cooks made many delicious food.’

The empress saw Yan Shi Ning frown like she expected and she smiled brightly. She glanced at Pei Jin but his head was lowered while drinking tea.

Yan Shi Ning couldn’t remember who Yewu was and frowned. She thought deeply and finally remembered six years ago when Pei Jin was eighteen years old, the emperor arranged a marriage between Pei Jin and a court official’s daughter Yewu. Yan Shi Ning was overjoyed and relieved Pei Jin was going to marry Yewu, it meant he wouldn’t look for her in Xuan Qing and trouble her anymore. Unfortunately less than two months after their betrothal was announced, Yewu became severely ill and died. Then Pei Jin asked the emperor to allow him to visit his former teacher’s country home in Xuan Qing while he grieved for Yewu. The emperor consented and during Pei Jin’s grieving period, Pei Jin bullied Yan Shi Ning in Xuan Qing.

Yan Shi Ning’s heart laughed mockingly. The empress’ intention to strain hers and Pei Jin’s relationship was too clear. The empress wasted her saliva, even if Pei Jin married Yewu, she wouldn’t be depressed.

‘The emperor, crown prince and Consort Mu are approaching De Fang,’ a guard announced.

Everyone inside the De Fang chamber stood to kowtow and greet the emperor.

While Yan Shi Ning kowtowed on the floor she felt the emperor’s gold sleeve swept past and her anxiety surfaced. It was the first time she officially met her father-in-law who had the highest status under the sky.

‘Everyone can rise,’ the emperor said. ‘We’re all one family, there’s no need for imperial protocols.’

The emperor sat on his chair next to the empress and he accepted the cup of tea from the empress.

Everyone obeyed the emperor and sat down. The empress sat on the emperor’s left side and the crown prince sat next to the empress. Consort Mu sat on the right of the emperor and Pei Jin and Yan Shi Ning sat below Consort Mu.

The empress glanced at Consort Mu and was unhappy Consort Mu’s dress was more beautiful than her dress but she smiled politely. ‘Today little sister looks beautiful.’

Consort Mu had battled with the empress for decades and understood the empress always hid a dagger behind a praise. She knew the empress was accusing her of purposely outshining Pei Jin’s new bride.

‘No matter how beautiful I look, big sister is always more beautiful,’ Consort Mu said and sighed. ‘But the years and months haven’t been kind on me. I need to wear thick makeup if I want to go outside my chamber. I need to choose my dress carefully too, unlike a young bride who can wear any dress and still look beautiful.’

The empress sat upright. She glanced at the poor fabric quality of Yan Shi Ning’s dress and shook her head. Indeed her little sister Kang Hua hated Dung Thi and Yan Shi Ning deeply, it was clear Kang Hua didn’t want to waste a single silver tael on Yan Shi Ning.

The empress didn’t care if Kang Hua hated Dung Thi and Yan Shi Ning. What she cared about was Consort Mu using Yan Shi Ning’s ordinary dress to insult her. She knew Consort Mu implied that Yan Shi Ning’s family must be poor. How was it possible for a prime minister and his wife be poor? Then it was reasonable Yan Shi Ning was mistreated by Kang Hua, which reflected badly on her. Also Yan Shi Ning married Pei Jin, if she didn’t care about Yan Shi Ning’s appearance it meant that she was looking down on the emperor’s son and daughter-in-law.