Chapter 238 - To Cower or Not? (1/2)
Song mama dragged her feet as she approached the Empress dowager's ”tea” making room. She was dreading her meeting with the Empress dowager at the moment. A week ago, she would not have been cowering over something like this.
Then she knew that even if the Empress dowager would get angry, she would understand that it was not her fault and would definitely not blame her for it.
But now with recent events and the Empress dowager's increasingly bad mood, her hands began to tremble a bit as she approached the doors.
As soon as she entered the room, the Empress dowager calmly said without even looking up from her activity, ”Send them in.”
Song mama gulped and then hesitantly said, ”Y-your majesty, I...I- I could not get anyone.”
The Empress dowager's hands froze and then she slowly turned to Song mama with a questioning gaze and menacingly asked, ”What?”
Song mama immediately fell to her knees and bowed her head as she explained, ”T-the girls I had been prepping all this time suddenly -... They said the Emperor forbade them from going to any other palace except for Noble consort Lei's palace. When I tried to solicit their help another way, t-they just left...Your majesty, it seems the Emperor is - is already suspicious!” Song mama finished kowtowing to the ground.
”Suspicious?” The Empress dowager menacingly asked as she clenched her fists and banged them on the table, ”I should have just gotten rid of her already!... This is all your fault, you said to use her, what use is she to me right now?!” The Empress dowager barked.
Song mama trembled and quickly apologized, ”...Your majesty, there will be another way. With time the Emperor will forg-”
”I don't have time!” The Empress dowager barked throwing whatever she could get her hands on in Song mama's direction. The Empress dowager took shaky breaths as her chest heaved in anger. She had not told Song mama about the Emperor wanting to send her away simply because she did not plan on going anywhere.
”Your majesty, why don't you go for the slow approach? Even if she becomes Empress, you are still the Emperor's mother and she will have to show you respect. We can wait until they let down their guard. For now, you can just accept her...” Song mama quickly said to pacify her irate mistress.
”You want me to apologize?” The Empress dowager asked in disbelief with knit eyebrows.
Song mama glanced up at the Empress dowager and shakily, ”Your majesty, isn't that what you initially decided on? Y-you can still do it...Moreover, it's not like she will become Empress tomorrow, it will take at least a month for the preparations to be ready and by then...there will be fewer obstacles.”
The Empress dowager's frown intensified as she glared at Song mama's beseeching face. It is true that she initially was intending to accept Lei Xing's bow. If not for the Emperor showing up and irritating her all over again everything would have gone smoothly. But now for her to apologize and plead her way?
With the way things stood, that may be her only option if she wanted to stay, but still, she could not do it. It was beneath her, they were beneath her.
”Get out.” The Empress dowager coldly said.
”Your majesty -”
”I said Get OUT!” The Empress dowager barked. Song mama jumped and quickly shuffled to her feet and ran out. The Empress dowager glared at the door and then held her head as a stabbing pain shot through it.
{...I do not cower. They should be the ones bowing to me!..}
***
The Emperor woke up much earlier than usual and just laid on his side watching Lei Xing with a small smirk on his face.
Last night was amazing.
Lei Xing was a lot more active than usual. It was, she was just perfectly wonderful. If he had felt at all aggrieved by her withholding information from him last night, he had definitely gotten over it now. She made sure of it.